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Saturday,
May 19, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Graded payment for cricketers
likely Anand pulls off impressive
win India beat lowly Kazhakastan Kiwis halt Indian
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Jagwinder set to join elite
group Afro-Asian Games “a waste of money” Bathinda, Gurdaspur in last
4 Randhir Singh nominated IOC member Promoting hockey at grass-roots Bihar eves hold Punjab Saba Karim calls it a
day
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Hussain holds firm for England London, May 18 At the close England were 254 for four with Hussain 53 not out from 156 balls, including six fours. The skipper justified his decision to drop down the batting order from three to four with his highest score in England since his 61 here in the first innings against New Zealand in 1991. Nightwatchman and debutant Ryan Sidebottom was 4 not out. Disappointingly for England, Thorpe went shortly before the close, falling into a hooking trap when he miscued Pakistan captain Waqar Younis to Abdur Razzaq at long leg for 80, five overs after the new ball had been taken. The Surrey left-hander had faced 145 balls including 12 fours and was dominating the bowling. It was a reckless shot and signalled the entrance of Yorkshire left-armer Sidebottom in fading light against a fired-up Waqar. The son of Yorkshire and England seamer Arnie, the Sidebottoms became the 10th English father and son pairing to play Test cricket. It took Sidebottom junior nine balls to get off the mark but he did so with a confident straight drive off Wasim Akram. Hussain brought up his fifty with a clipped two runs off Waqar having faced 146 balls and struck six fours. Earlier, all-rounder Azhar Mahmood bowled Pakistan back into theTest as England, struggling to retain the initiative, reached tea at 146 for three. Mahmood, selected at the last minute ahead of off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq after the opening day was washed out by rain, took two wickets for no runs during 18 balls as England were forced on the back foot. The home side, put in on a pitch favouring swing and seam bowling, dominated the morning despite the overcast conditions by reaching 92 for one at lunch. But during the second session, ironically more conducive to batting as the sun broke out, they managed only 54 more in 28 overs as well as losing two more wickets. Mahmood was involved in all the wickets to fall as England’s batsmen made starts but failed to capitalise. Marcus Trescothick, after playing the shot of the morning with a beautifully timed on-drive for four off Akram, then drove at all-rounder Abdur Razzaq’s medium pace and was caught low down in the gully by Mahmood after making 36 of the first 60 runs. Mahmood then took over with the ball during the afternoon when Michael Vaughan, who moved up the order after Hussain’s demotion, glanced a swinging leg-side delivery to wicketkeeper Rashid Latif. Vaughan, however, had looked the part, with four fours, and a six over mid-wicket off part-time spinner Younis Khan in his 32. Michael Atherton, on 42, soon followed. After a series of fine boundaries off the pace bowlers in the morning, including a cover drive for four in Waqar’s first over and another off Wasim Akram just backward of square, he was bowled by a Mahmood inswinger to make it 114 for three. SCOREBOARD England (1st innings): Atherton b Mahmood 42 Trescothick c Mahmood b Razzaq 36 Vaughan c Latif b Mahmood 32 Hussain batting 53 Thorpe c Razzaq b Akram 80 Sidebottom batting 4 Extras: (lb-1, w-1, nb-5) 7 Total: (for 4wkts, 90 overs) 254 Fall: 1-60, 2-105, 3-114, 4-246 Bowling: Akram 22-7-71-0, Waqar 19-3-57-1, Akhtar 13-4-32-0, Razzaq 13-2-37-1, Khan 5-0-27-0, Mahmood 18-10-29-2.
AFP, Reuters |
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Graded payment for cricketers likely Mumbai, May 18 This was stated by a member of the board’s finance committee and Mumbai Cricket Association joint secretary Prof Ratnakar Shetty, who was asked by the BCCI to speak to the players regarding the contract system. Shetty told PTI today that this was just a suggestion which came from the players. A decision in this regard will be taken by the board’s finance committee only after going through all the aspects. Meanwhile, Indian captain Saurav Ganguly, who had talks with Shetty, said in Bangalore that the contract was likely to take shape after three more rounds of meetings with the board. Shetty returned here from Bangalore last night after speaking at length to Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, besides Ganguly. Asked whether such system will work in India, Shetty said: “It has to be seen after it (system) comes into existence. But for this, the players will have to turn professionals and also their tax and legal problems have to be taken into consideration”. “When a player gets injured and is out of the team for months, he does not get paid enough though the board bears his medical and travelling expenses,” Shetty said. “Hence, the players want something like a contract system which will give them a sense of security.” However, the players have not demanded a specific amount but asked for graded payment according to seniority as except India and Pakistan, the system is in application in almost all cricket playing countries, he said. Asked for his opinion on these suggestions, the former manager of the Indian team said that it will instill a sense of security among junior players who are knocking at the doors of the national side. Asked how long the board would take before coming to a final conclusion, Shetty said if everything went well, the system could be applicable by the next season. Asked if he had taken any tips regarding his lean patch from coach John Wright, who is also a left-hander, Ganguly replied in the affirmative. “I had asked Wright and couple of other guys to share their experiences. At the end of the day, what I feel best and suits me, I will do on the ground since everybody has his own technique and own way of playing.” “I may nick a few balls outside the off stump. But 70 per cent of my runs were scored in that area (outside the off-stump,” he pointed out. “It’s (lean patch) going to happen to a lot of cricketers in future. You are going to do well and sometime you don’t. But it’s important to keep your head high and come back.” Ganguly said two warm-up games were going to be a good preparation for the two Test matches in Zimbabwe. On players practising yoga in the camp, he said they were trying to get fit. “It’s got a lot to do with stretching. Main reason to get body and muscle stretch.” “We have got a lot of cricket ahead. Nine months of non-stop cricket with just four weeks in between each series. It’s important to keep fit and get strong.” “The team has been training hard. I hope yoga and lot of fitness work (that we have done) will work”. Ganguly justified inclusion of five seamers in the 15-member squad keeping in mind the pitches that favour fast bowling. “That’s good (five seamers in the side). It’s (pitches in Zimbabwe) going to seam around. It has always been the case. It’s winter in Zimbabwe and it’s going to be cold and damp. So we have picked the team according to conditions,” he said, echoing selection committee chief Chandu Borde’s remarks yesterday. As the six-day conditioning camp for the Zimbabwe series was being wound up at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here, Ganguly told reporters that the Indian team was in a positive frame of mind and was determined to win. “It’s been a good camp. We have prepared well for the series. We hope to do well. We are going to Zimbabwe with a positive frame of mind. We want to win,” Ganguly said.
PTI |
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Anand pulls off impressive win Merida (Mexico), May 18 The Indian, who sacrificed a pawn and then an exchange at one time, looked in danger of losing, but then pulled off a great win. In the other game of the tournament, former England No. one Nigel Short, who admittedly does not play as regularly as he used to, stunned the higher rated Alexander Khalifman, who crumbled under time pressure. At the end of the second round of the six-round four-player double robin event, Anand and Short share the lead with 1.5 points each, while Hernandez and Khalifman have half a point each. In the third round, Anand will have white against Short, while Khalifman has white against Hernandez. It was a closed variation against the Sicilian defence. And Anand with black was at his attacking best. Anand, who played a similar game against Garry Kasparov in the 1995 world title match in New York, first sacrificed a pawn on the 10th move. That made it clear he was going all out for a win and realising that a win with black would put him at a distinct advantage against Hernandez in the return game, when the Indian would have white. Anand did not stop at the pawn sacrifice, he followed that up with a brilliant exchange sacrifice and gained a huge positional advantage. But to Hernandez’s credit, the Mexican did not get scared with such sacrifices. He held his own and battled back. Even as the Mexican seemed to have given Anand a run for his money, there were many who felt that Hernandez may even have an outside chance to get into a winning position. But with time pressure mounting, Hernandez crumbled and lost a b-pawn, which proved fatal and he ran out of perpetual checks. And Anand, as usual, was at his swiftest best. Using just 90 minutes in such a complicated game, he once again vowed all, both experts and audience. There was a time when some of the Mexican International Masters and Grandmasters in the analysis room felt Hernandez was going in for a win. Some even cautioned that he was forcing too much and could pay the penalty for it. Thats precisely what happened. Even as the Fritz, the computer programmes, showed advantage to the Mexican, the Indian showed what the computer do not see: the Indian GMs quick-playing skills in tight play.
UNI Islamabad, May 18 India, who has already lost their chance to qualify for the World Cup, played a much improved game to defeat lowly rated Kazhakastan in four games, 26-24, 22-25, 25-19, 25-15 to record their second win in seven matches. Earlier they had defeated Chinese Taipei. Coach G.E. Sridharan said the team rallied well to defeat Kazhakastan which has lost all their matches in the tournament. Tomorrow India will finish their engagements playing against Australia, also looking for their first win. If India win, they will finish sixth in the final standings. Meanwhile, Pakistan crashed out of the tournament losing to Japan. Pakistan, who hired a Bulgarian coach to train their team played well to beat top teams like Korea. However, in today’s crunch match, Japan won 24-26, 25-23, 25-22, 25-18. With Pakistan’s loss, undefeated Saudi Arabia along with Iran, Korea and Japan remained in contention for the top three slots to get a ticket to play in the World Cup to be held in Poland in September.
PTI |
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Kiwis halt Indian progress Buenos Aires, May 18 India needed to topple New Zealand to qualify, but were frustrated by a New Zealand side which defended determinedly. The result means New Zealand and India are level on four points and have the same goal difference, but the Kiwis go through to the next round, having scored four goals in the tournament to India’s two. Argentina, South Africa and the Netherlands also advanced yesterday. In a dull game, New Zealand took few risks, spending much of the game camped in their own half. The Kiwis nearly took the lead after a sudden New Zealand counterattack, but India’s Masira Surin brilliantly cleared a shot off the goal line. Despite being the more positive side, India, as in previous games, suffered from poor finishing, wasting chance after chance from penalty corners, as New Zealand goalkeeper Gene Walker produced a series of excellent saves. But the New Zealanders almost paid the price for their defensiveness with two minutes left when India’s Adline Kerketta found herself through on goal, only to see her shot blocked by the omnipresent Walker. Earlier, hosts Argentina made it three wins out of three, recording a 4-0 triumph over South Africa to win pool C. First-half goals from Maria Cecilia del Carril and Claudi Burkart from a penalty corner put the home side in a dominating position by half-time. Two goals in the last five minutes wrapped up the proceedings with Carril grabbing a second and Florencia D’Elia adding her name to the scoresheet in injury time. Despite South Africa’s defeat, they join Argentina in the championship round as pool C’s second qualifier. In pool C’s final game, Spain beat Wales 2-0 in a finely balanced match which condemned Wales to last place in the group. Spain’s goals came early with Marta Prat and Gemma Busquets finding the net with 13th and 25th-minute efforts. The two teams will now take part in the knock-out competition, which will decide the rankings of those teams that failed to qualify for the championship round. In pool A, the Netherlands repeated Argentina’s feat by topping their group with nine points after a 6-0 thrashing of the USA. With the Netherlands already through and the USA condemned to elimination earlier in the week, it may not have been crucial match, but that did not discourage the Dutch from turning in a powerful performance. The Netherlands took an eighth-minute lead when Aukje de Groot scored the first of her three goals. Kim Lammas made it 2-0 after 15 minutes and De Groot made it 3-0 by half time. The avalanche continued in the second half with two goals from Nienke Van Ruiten in the 38th and 69th minutes and De Groot’s 48th-minute hat-trick goal. The result leaves the USA bottom of the group.
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Jagwinder set to join elite
group Chandigarh, May 18 Twenty-year-old Jagwinder, a resident of Mandi Gobindgarh, has been in the competitive arena since 1996. After joining Punjab Police in December, 1999, his career graph has registered marked progression. He has not only maintained his status as national champion since 1997 but has also established himself as a major force in the Asian circuit. Till now he has won five gold, four silver and three bronze medals in the Asian championships. After winning a bronze in bench press in China in 1998, Jagwinder took part in the World Powerlifting Championship in Hungary the same year where he finished fourth with a total lift of 680 kg. The following year, he struck gold, rewriting all records in Asian powerlifting with a total lift of 730 kg in New Delhi. When the Senior Asian Powerlifting Championship was held in Uzbekistan in 2000, Jagwinder won the silver with a total haul of 785 kg. And this year he shattered two Asian records, with a total lift of 827 kg. Born on September 4, 1980, Jagwinder has received full encouragement from Mr Sarabjit Singh, Director-General of Punjab Police, under whose patronage the force has made a mark in various disciplines. “In fact in his presence, I feel quite comfortable,” remarked the DGP in lighter vein while pointing to Jagwinder’s stout frame at the Punjab Police headquarters here today. Weighing 140 kg, Jagwinder trains for four hours daily with Sunday being rest day. His breakfast includes 2 kg of milk and about a dozen eggs. A good quantity of chicken also forms a part of his daily diet. At the international level, Jagwinder views Iran, USA and China as tough competitors. “The present record in Junior World Championships in squat is 372 kg. However, in practice I have already lifted 370 kg. At present I am aiming at 390 kg, and hopefully I shall achieve the mark in Bulgaria,” he says. If he does, the Head Constable, currently posted with the 82 Battalion, will not only join the elite group of national heroes but will also be duly rewarded. “We do have a policy to promote outstanding sportsmen. Many Olympic gold medallists are now IPS officers,” added Mr Sarabjit Singh, while giving a word of encouragement to the budding powerlifter. |
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Afro-Asian Games “a waste of money” Jabalpur, May 18 In a letter to Union Minister for Sports Uma Bharati, Dr Randhawa said the Rs 100 crore required to be spend on hosting of the Afro-Asian Games, besides the expenditure on other pre-requisites, could be utilised to build the much-needed infrastructure and amenities to bolster the Indian sports. Dr Randhawa said China, which had hosted Asian Games only once, in 1990, finished third in the recent Sydney Olympics. On the other hand India, who hosted the inaugural Asian Games in 1951 and the 1982 Asiad, could romp home just a bronze in the Sydney Olympics, he said. He expressed doubts over the contention that the country’s sportspersons would bring laurels after hosting the Afro Asian Games. However, he said, in the absence of Pakistan,
Indians could be favourites in hockey along with South Korea, he added. Mr Randhawa pointed out that for the past 20 years, there had been no takers for this mega show and despite the participation of nearly 96 countries, the games were not even recognised by the IOC.
UNI |
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Bathinda, Gurdaspur in last
4 Sangrur, May 18 Gurdaspur toppled last year’s runners-up Patiala 68-66 in a cliff-hanger. Patiala started on a bright note, taking an early lead and maintained it till the half time where they led 43-45. After change of sides Gurdaspur players adopted a different strategy which proved successful as they attacked the Patiala citadel relentlessly. Helped by Manpreet (23) Prabhjot (15) and Parminder (12), Gurdaspur managed to narrowly win 68-68. Paran Sneh and Shamsher played well for the losers. Bathinda, who also qualified for the semifinals, easily crushed Kapurthala 84-22. In another well-fought match Muktsar managed to beat hosts Sangrur 66-59. Sangrur were leading 31-26 at half time but after the interval tired looking Sangrur seemed unable to face the Muktsar attack. Rohit and Kulwinder scored 22 and 10 points respectively for the winners while Yadvinder and Harmohan scored 25 and 21 points respectively each for the losers. In another matches in the boys section, Patiala defeated Mansa 87-68; Gurdaspur defeated Fatehgarh Sahib 44-2; Hoshiarpur defeated Amritsar 60-42 and Ludhiana defeated Moga 47-23. In
another interesting match in the girls section, Gurdaspur defeated Muktsar 36-32 after trailing 18-21 at half time. Ravneet, with 17 points, was the top scorer for Gurdaspur while Veer Pal and Kiranpreet scored 8 and 9 points, respectively for the losers. Ludhiana girls thrashed Ferozepore 46-3. |
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Randhir Singh nominated IOC member New Delhi, May 18 The nomination was made by the IOC’s executive board at its meeting in Lusanne in Switzerland yesterday, the IAO said in a release here today. Randhir Singh is among seven candidates who will be formally elected during the 112th session of the IOC in Moscow in July. He is also Secretary-General of the Olympic Council of Asia and Vice-President of the Commonwealth Games Federation. A six-time Olympian from 1964 to 1984, the 54-year-old Randhir Singh follows in the footsteps of his father, the late Raja Bhalendra Singh, who was an IOC member for 45 years. “By nominating Randhir Singh as its member, the IOC has recognised India’s significance in the sporting world,” the IOA said.
UNI |
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Promoting hockey at grass-roots Chandigarh, May 18 The first official opening of hockey’s international year of the youth was held by France in Paris in November 2000. The year will culminate in October this year, coinciding with the Junior World cup for men to be held in Hobart, Australia. The Indian Hockey Federation accepted the proposal in March this year to have hockey activities for under-12, under-14 and under-17 events at Delhi, Haryana and few other places in the country. The motto of the youth programme states that a whole year to be dedicated to the youth, “a whole year of hockey fun, for all youth players of all hockey nations all around the world. Every young player would like to be a part of that”. Dr B.K. Sinha, Director Sports, Haryana, said their state was the first to go ahead with the IHF proposal. Though they wanted to host the marathon on stipulated date — May 12 and 13 — but could not do so as tournaments were already going on in the state. After the preliminary matches, the final tournament will be staged early next week where hockey would be promoted. Mr Chandersekhar, Vice-President of the IHF and also the President, Chandigarh Hockey Association, said they would like to have such events organised in the city. He said in May, students were busy with competitive and other examinations, so they would like convenient date to organise events to promote hockey. Mr J.P.S. Sidhu secretary, of the Chandigarh Women’s Hockey Association, though was not aware of such events. The Women’s Hockey Association of Maharashtra had celebrated the marathon on May 12 at Balewadi where international hockey stalwarts Dhanraj Pillai, Eliza Nelson, Rekha Bhide, Ajit Lakra, Gita Biswas, Namrata Shah among others were present. At other places in the world, marathons were held in South Africa, Macau, Ireland, France, Wales and Peru. |
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Bihar eves hold Punjab Gurusar Sadhar (Ludhiana), May 18 In the second half, Reenu Gupta of Bihar stunned the Punjab defence to take the lead for her team. Bihar could not sustain the lead and in the 72nd minute, Gurmeet Kaur restored parity for her team. In another match Sujata Karr stole the limelight as Bengal thrashed Assam 10-0. Sujata scored five goals, including a hat-trick. The Bengal girls dominated Assam through out the match. Right-winger Chaitali Kar started the victory march in the 19th minute. In the 28th minute Rinku increased the lead scoring a field goal. Sujata demonstrated the perfect combination of speed, skill and stamina and struck two goals in the 36th and 38th minute. Just one minute before the lemon break, Sayanti Nandi fired another goal and made the tally 5-0. After the breather, left winger Shamilla Sapui started the attack again with full zeal and scored the sixth goal for the team in first minute of the second half. After that Sujata blasted Assam defence, firing three consecutive goals. |
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Saba Karim calls it a day Kolkata, May 18 Speaking to newsmen here today, Saba Karim said he decided to call it a day as he was having problems with his eye following an injury sustained during the last Asia Cup in Dhaka. The glovesman, who represented the country in 34 one-day internationals since he made his debut against South Africa during 1994 and a Test match against Bangladesh at Dhaka last November, said: “After that injury in Dhaka, I don’t think I am fit enough to sustain the pressure of international cricket. So I have finally decided to retire. However, I am ready to play for my office in the Times Shield and club level cricket for East Bengal if needed,” Saba Karim, who is an officer in the Corporate Communication department of Tata Steel here, said, adding he would also like to coach and do commentary. Saba who played his first Ranji cricket in 1982-83 at the age of 15 and shifted to Bengal during 1994-95, was hit on his right eye in the Asia Cup match against Bangladesh on May 30 following a rising delivery from Anil Kumble which got deflected off the batman’s pad onto him. After that accident Saba was operated upon at Chennai besides being treated abroad. “After the accident I played in various domestic tournaments and also in the Test match against Bangladesh but my eyesight is giving me problems as the retina in my right eye was damaged.”
UNI |
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