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Saturday,
May 26, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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India well prepared,
says Ganguly
England favourites, says Waugh Gopichand 6th in world
rankings CBI questions Mark
Mascarenhas A host of Spanish baseliners raring to
go |
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Paes-Bhupathi duo
for French Open Sasikiran suffers
a setback Roller skating
trials on May 31 West Bengal, Manipur eves move into final Amritsar
triumph
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India well prepared, says Ganguly Harare, May 25 The Indians, on a high after a 2-1 Test triumph over world-beating Australia in March, will open their tour with a match against Zimbabwe ‘A’ in a three-day tie at Mutare on Monday. They will leave for Mutare on Sunday morning. Saurav Ganguly, who has won four of the six Tests he has captained so far losing just one, feels the team has the nucleus to break the hoodoo this time. “The team is shaping up well...We are well prepared,” the skipper said. India, who were the first opponents of Zimbabwe way back in 1992, enjoy a slight advantage over the hosts, having won two of the five Tests played between them and lost one at Harare by 61 runs in 1998. But India did not do well in 1992 here - barely avoiding the follow-on and drawing the Test. In 1998 they failed to chase a modest target of 234 runs and lost. India’s lack of rhythm in this African country is reflected in the batting form of its trump card Sachin Tendulkar who has made just 41 runs in three innings in two Tests. Zimbabwe, who have made important strides in recent months, winning a one-day series in New Zealand and blanking visiting Bangladesh 2-0 in Tests and 3-0 in one-dayers, will field a full-strength team to counter the visitors. They even rested a few of their key players against minnows Bangladesh in order to have a larger pool of players against India. Zimbabwe have unearthed a promising batsman in Dion Ebrahim, the first Asian to break into the national team. Zimbabwe’s ‘A’ team shows the depth the country has acquired in recent years. India too is expected to field a near Test-strength team in the tour’s opening fixture on Monday. Indian physiotherapist Andrew Leipus, who is to marry on June 2, will join the team on June 5. The Indian cricket team which arrived here today is taking measures to ensure no finger is pointed at them with regard to betting and match-fixing and its members will not be allowed to use mobile phones in the dressing room. Team manager Chetan Chauhan said among a number of other things use of “mobile phones within the dressing room will not be allowed”. The Indian response couldn’t have been more timely since the Condon report has stated that the Indian subcontinent is the “engine-room that had powered and driven cricket corruption”. “There is no need to have a curfew on the boys as such since they are well-behaved and understand their role vis-a-vis the board and the nation,” Chauhan told PTI aboard South African Airways flight on the way to Harare today. Skipper Saurav Ganguly was confident his boys were aware of what was expected of them. “I don’t really need to tell them what is expected of them. They are very well-behaved and know exactly what is expected of them,” said the stylish left-hander. Ganguly hinted the Indian cricket board will be helped a great deal if a clear sense of direction emanates from the game’s highest ruling body, the ICC.
PTI |
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England favourites, says Waugh Sydney, May 25 Australia have held the Ashes since 1989 and are favourites to win again this summer despite England’s sudden return to form. Australian captain Steve Waugh made an unconvincing attempt on the eve of his team’s departure to suggest England deserved to start favourites, though this reverse psychology went largely unnoticed by his team mates. Glenn McGrath, Australia’s main strike bowler, was in no mood to play mind games. “Deep down, they don’t really believe they can beat us,” he said. Top order batsman Justin Langer was also unconvinced by England’s recent return to form, saying he doubted they were mentally tough enough to compete with the Australians. “I think there’s got to be some pretty deep scars there. Over the last decade a lot of their players have played Ashes and lost Ashes before and hopefully we can open up some of those scars early and see how they perform under pressure,” Langer said. “If we can open up a few doubts they might start thinking `here we go again’ and that’s only going to benefit us.” Waugh, the only survivor from the last Australian team to lose an Ashes series in 1986-87, was more diplomatic than most but still no less confident about his team’s chances. He said England deserved to start as favourites after winning their last four Test series while the Australians had something to prove following their shock defeat by India. “England are playing well,” Waugh said. “We’ve lost the last two Test matches so we’ll go in as underdogs, I’m sure, in the first test.” “There’ll be no complacency, there never has been in this side.” The bulk of the squad will fly out of Sydney tomorrow but with Australia’s policy of selecting separate Test and one-day teams, a handful of Test players will stay behind before joining the party next month.
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Gopichand 6th in world rankings Cheltenham, May 25 However, the top position in the list was held by Malaysia’s Roslin Hashim who knocked Peter Gade off the number one spot in the latest world rankings. The ratings were announced ahead of next month’s world badminton championships in Seville. It means Hashim is now the top seed for the championships, being held in Seville from June 3 to 10. Hashim will be looking for his third consecutive tournament win in Seville to add to his Swiss and Japan Open titles. Denmark’s Gade has just one Grand Prix title to his name so far this year — the Korea Open, won in January — and has struggled to find form in his most recent tournaments. Seeds: (Men): 1 Roslin Hashim (Malaysia), 2 Peter Gade (Denmark), 3 Taufik Hidayat (Indonesia), 4 Chen Hong (China), 5 Lee Il-Hyun (South Korea), 6 Pullela Gopichand (India), 7 Marleve Mainaky (Indonesia), 8 Anders Boesen (Denmark), (Women): 1 Camilla Martin (Denmark), 2 Zhou Mi (China), 3 Gong Ruina (China), 4 Marina Andrievskaya (Sweden), 5 Gong Zhichao (China), 6 Julia Mann (England), 7 Mia Audina (Netherlands), 8 Zhang Ning (China)
Reuters |
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CBI questions Mark Mascarenhas New Delhi, May 25 “We questioned Mascarenhas for more than three hours. The questioning was done after scrutinising papers and documents seized from his house,” CBI spokesman S.M. Khan told IANS. CBI is probing financial irregularities in obtaining and re-selling of telecast rights for sports events by India’s national broadcaster Doordarshan. The agency registered a case last November against six former Doordarshan officials and three firms, including sports broadcasting major WorldTel, for causing huge losses to the state exchequer through illegal practices in the award of telecast rights for major sports events like the 1999 Cricket World Cup and the 1997 French Open tennis tournament. Mascarenhas, who recently signed ace Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar for a five-year contract worth Rs.1 billion for endorsing WorldTel, could be called again for questioning, said CBI sources. CBI is investigating allegations of undue benefits given to WorldTel by Doordarshan officials. In its complaint, the CBI said these officials had abused their positions and entered into a criminal conspiracy with the intention of cheating the state-owned broadcaster. Properties owned by former International Cricket Council (ICC) chief Jagmohan Dalmiya and Mascarenhas were searched by CBI agents last year. During these raids, CBI sleuths seized “incriminating documents,” which reportedly showed that bungling by Doordarshan officials cost the broadcaster billions of rupees. The CBI has also named the ICC and its subsidiary company as accused parties along with three former top Doordarshan officials and two other private companies. The agency is currently investigating the award of telecast rights to the ICC Knockout Cup 1998, French Open Tennis Tournament 1997, World Cup 1996, Wimbledon 1997 and Independence Cup 1997 cricket tournament. “As officials of global bodies like the International Cricket Council (ICC) and its subsidiary ICC Development (International) Ltd. were involved in negotiations with Doordarshan, there might be a need to question some of their officials during the course of our investigations,” said a senior CBI official. According to another official, the ICC’s anti-corruption unit chief Paul Cordon has promised assistance to the CBI in conducting its investigation into the scam. “Investigations have shown that Stracon, a very small company without any proper infrastructure at that time, was given sports telecast rights without any verification by Doordarshan officials,” the CBI official said. It appeared that Stracon was granted these rights in an illegal manner, as it allegedly had the backing of WorldTel, he said. Citing one such example, a senior CBI official said, “Doordarshan officials bought telecast rights of the French Open tournament for $90,000 and forwarded the same for marketing to Stracon. As per the deal, the tournament was to be aired over six days. But when that did not happen, Stracon asked for a refund, Doordarshan officials paid more money that was due.”
IANS |
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A host of Spanish baseliners raring to go Madrid, May 25 But a whole host of Spain’s natural-born baseliners are also queuing up to push the country’s claims if yet another long and punishing run proves too much for Ferrero, the scurrying fourth seed who is one of the favourites for the men’s singles title. Spain’s strength in depth in men’s tennis is exceptional, with 10 players in the top 75 on the ATP Entry System rankings and many others bubbling under. Five Spanish players — Ferrero, Fernando Vicente, Francisco Clavet, Alberto Martin and Albert Portas — have won ATP titles this year, while Felix Mantilla, Tommy Robredo and Carlos Moya have reached finals. All are instinctive clay-court players and even though Ferrero and Alex Corretja (13) are the only seeded Spaniards, the rest of their compatriots will provide stiff opposition in Paris over the next two weeks. Ferrero, a semifinalist last year, is quite clearly the form player on clay at the moment and he will be the man to beat — if he can overcome his fitness problems. He has three titles on the surface this season — four in total — and went 16 matches unbeaten on his way to the Masters Series title in Rome and the final in Hamburg, where he lost to Portas. His recent efforts have taken such a toll that he was forced to miss the World Team Cup in Duesseldorf and he warned that he might be forced to miss Roland Garros as well. But such a drastic step now looks unlikely, with the word from his camp this week being that he is back in light training and optimistic about his chances. “He needed a break or he could have torn a muscle and been out for a month,’’ said coach Antonio Martinez this week. “I’m hopeful that he’ll be back fit for the French, though. He’s had injuries like this before and come back in time.’’ While Ferrero should make the starting line in Paris, a question mark will remain over how far he can realistically expect to go in the tournament. The rest of the Spanish contingent should have no such problems with fitness after less spectacular, if still encouraging, runs this season. Moya, champion in 1998 and a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open this year, is the next most likely Spaniard to succeed after improving his backhand via intensive work with new part-time coach Jose Higueras. The classy Mallorcan may have lost out to Ferrero in an epic final to the Barcelona Open at the end of April but along the way he played arguably his best tennis since that Grand Slam success three years ago. He went on to reach the semifinals of the Mallorca Open before first-round defeats in Hamburg and Rome but he will go to Paris at peak fitness and with every reason to believe he can challenge for the title. Corretja, who lost to Moya in the final in 1998, was the man who beat him in Rome, going on to the quarter-finals and a 6-2 6-3 defeat to the inspired Gustavo Kuerten — probably the main threat to the Spanish brigade in France. Corretja, playing his usual solid rather than spectacular tennis, went out to Nicolas Lapentti in the second round in Hamburg but two victories in the World Team Cup in Germany this week provided enough evidence that he was back in touch. Fellow Davis Cup winner Albert Costa is also in pretty good shape, only losing out to Ferrero at the peak of his game in the semifinals in Hamburg. Portas, whose victory over Ferrero in Hamburg gave him his first title, can hardly be expected to repeat the trick in Paris but he could be a dangerous presence in the draw after climbing into the top 20 for the first time. The 22-year-old Martin, who beat Argentine sensation Guillermo Coria in the final in Mallorca, could be the surprise package this year, just as Ferrero was last time out. Robredo, 19, could also bid for that honour after reaching the final in Casablanca. “There is a lot of talent in the Spanish game at the moment,’’ Ferrero said recently. “Hopefully they’ll just get better and better and keep on challenging.’’ It is Ferrero himself, though, who is likely to put up the sternest challenge of all, provided he is somewhere close to full fitness. “I’m obviously confident after the win in Germany,’’ said Portas following his success in hamburg. “But you have to touch perfection to beat Ferrero at the moment.’’
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Paes-Bhupathi duo
for French Open New Delhi, May 25 “French Open has been one of our favourite hunting grounds. We have performed very well there and we are looking forward to the tournament,” Paes told reporters here today. Paes and Bhupathi were in the city for inaugurating a shoe outlet. The duo won the French Open title, alongwith Wimbledon, in 1999 when they reached the final of all the four Grand Slams. They ended the year ranked number one in the world.
PTI |
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Sasikiran suffers
a setback Lausanne, May 25 The Indian, seeded third, playing against the second seed, lost the first game and now needs to win the second, where he will have white to stretch the clash into the tie-breaker. In the second semi-final Andrei Volokitin of Ukraine, who shocked the top seed
Russian Ponomariov in the quarterfinals, drew with Lazaro Bruzon of Cuba. Meanwhile, in the placement matches for fifth to eighth place, there was good news for India, as Pentyala Harikrishna beat Lev Aronian of Armenia in his first game. Bacrot rated 2627, which is slightly better than Sasikiran’s 2611, had white in a Queen’s Gambit Accepted game. It went into the classical mould with sixth move of a6 from black. For early part of the game, Sasi seemed to have managed well in the face of the threats confronting him. But Bacrot, who plays very frequently in high level events in Europe, managed to eke out an advantage that he converted into a full point after 42 moves.
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Roller skating
trials on May 31 Chandigarh, May 25 The world games will be held at Ekita, Japan from August 16 to 26, world inline speed skating will be held in France from September 7 to 16 and the ninth Asian roller skating meet will be held in Taiwan from September 30 to October 7. The trials for speed skating will be held in Visakhapatnam while the trials for roller hockey will be held at Chandigarh simultaneously on May 31 and June 1. These will be followed by national coaching camps from June 2 to 15. |
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West Bengal, Manipur eves move into final Ludhiana, May 25 The Bengal girls dominated the proceedings and international Rinku Ghosh and Sujata Kar scored three and two goals, respectively, while Sayanti Nandi scored one goal for the team. West Bengal opened their account through Rinku Ghosh in the 11th minute on a pass by right winger Alpna Sil. Just after eight minutes, centre-forward Sujata increased the lead through an individual effort. The Bengal girls fired three goals in the last five minutes before the lemon break. In the 30th minute Sujata took the tally to 3-0. In quick succession, Rinku Ghosh scored the fourth goal and in the last minute before the breather Rinku Ghosh made it 5-0. After the interval, West Bengal made many attempts to increase the tally but just one minute before the long whistle, Syanti Nandi scored the last goal on a calculated pass from Alpana Sil. Manipur handed out a 5-0 drubbing to Bihar in the second semifinal. Manipur demonstrated speed, skill, and stamina to outclass the Bihar girls. Madhu and Anjana of Bihar tried their best to check the Manipur girls but failed to stop them. R.K. Sulochana started the victory march in fifth minute through a long kick on a pass from O. Bem Bem. Goalkeeper Ranjeeta caught the ball with both hands but she unfortunately fell into the goal. After just three minutes S. Rani increased the lead and three minutes before half time Tababi made it 4-0. In the second half, Tababi struck the last goal in the 76th minute.
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Amritsar
triumph Amritsar, May 25 Chasing a huge of total of 515 in 90 overs Ferozepore were bundled out for 122 runs. The local fast bowler Mayank Sharma took four wickets 49 runs while Vikram Sharma took two wickets for 25 runs, while more wickets were picked by their left arm spinner Sukaran Kalia. Brief scores: |
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