 |
|
| Saturday,
June 30, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
|
Sodhi,
Mohanty may get the nod SAURAV GANGULY WRITES Jeev
Milkha stays joint 3rd Paes-Bhupathi duo crashes
out |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Sheetal
Goutham wins grand double Colombian
soccer remembered for wrong reasons |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ludhiana
getting ready for games Army
sportsmen honoured Amritsar
take first innings lead Referee
charged with sodomy
|
|
Sodhi, Mohanty may get the nod Bulawayo, June 29 The two teams are playing each other after a gap of two years and with a lot of newcomers in both sides are unaware of their strengths and weaknesses. India, who have already assured themselves of a berth in the final, will like to treat the two matches with West Indies as a precursor to the title clash which in all probability would be played between the same teams. For the West Indies, who defeated Zimbabwe in the only match they played so far, it is a crucial game because theoretically there is still a possibility of their being relegated. The record is heavily tilted in favour of West Indies who have won 40 of the 63 matches played between the two countries with India winning 21. Indian captain Saurav Ganguly, after the last match against Zimbabwe, had said he would like to experiment with the team now that they were through to the final. Some of the players have not got a chance to play and might get their opportunity tomorrow. Pacemen Debasish Mohanty and Harvinder Singh and all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi have not played any match in this series so far and there were indications that all three may be accommodated tomorrow. That will mean well-earned rest for Ashish Nehra and possibly Ajit Agarkar and VVS Laxman who would get more time to let his injured left index finger heal. Sodhi has had a presence on the field in both the games against Zimbabwe coming on as a substitute fielder but for Mohanty and Harvinder this would be their first outing. Nehra has been the most outstanding bowler for India on this tour and has done exceptionally well both in the Tests and the one-dayers. He has bowled tirelessly and the team would like to preserve his energies for the final. The batsmen have come up with a very satisfactory performance in the series so far and with Ganguly finally getting runs in the last match, the line-up looks quite formidable. Though Ganguly was patchy in his 85-run innings, the team must be hoping that the captain has finally come out of his prolonged lean form. The team had some other reasons too to draw satisfaction. Dinesh Mongia played with a lot of confidence in the last match and vice-captain Rahul Dravid was in ominous touch. Though Hemang Badani and Virendra Sehwag were non-performers with the bat, the two have proved their credentials in limited overs cricket and can be relied upon to come up with useful knocks. For these youngsters, this would be their first experience of the famed West Indies pace attack which is quite formidable even in these bad days of West Indian cricket. It would be a test of their technique and temperament when they face the likes of Mervyn Dillon, Reon King and Cameroon Cuffy. Conversly, it would be interesting to see how the West Indian bowlers fare against the experience and class of Sachin Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid, three of the top batsmen in the world in both forms of cricket. Apart from Cuffy, Dillon and King, three men who are capable of demolishing any opposition with their pace, West Indies have spin variety too in the form of Mahendra Nagamootoo — a leg-spinner — and captain Carl Hooper who is very effective with his slow off-spinners. Though the inspirational Brian Lara is absent, West Indies have some very competent youngsters and they showed their prowess in the game against Zimbabwe the other day. Hooper and left-hander Shivnaraine Chanderpaul are the most experienced of the lot and they form the batting mainstay of their team. Openers Chris Gayle and Darren Ganga and Wavell Hinds are very exciting prospects with the ability of playing big knocks. The wicket looks to be perfect for batting and tomorrow’s game is expected to be a big-scoring one. Teams (from): West Indies: Carl Hooper (captain), Darren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul, Wavell Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Reon King, Cameroon Cuffy, Mervyn Dillon, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Marion Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarawan, Kerry Jeremy.
PTI |
|
SAURAV GANGULY
WRITES The third one-dayer against the West Indies starts tomorrow at the Bulawayo Cricket Ground. We are through to the finals but we are focused to win all the games leading to the final. This will provide us an opportunity to give a chance to the boys who haven’t spent much time in the centre. They deserve to play a few games since they are all quality players. I hope we get a good cricket wicket tomorrow for the tracks in the last two games had given a lot of upper hand to the bowlers and were not flat enough for one-day cricket. We played well in the last two one-day games. We batted superbly in the first game in Harare. Our fielding has been of the top drawer and on the whole it has been a very professional display. We could have bowled better in the second game in Bulawayo with the wicket seaming around. But I thought they handled the situation in a mature manner against a determined Zimbabwe team. This is a much better Zimbabwean side than it has been and I think they should rethink their strategy of playing a spinner, especially in one-day cricket because he can pick wickets when required specially against Indians because we look to take the spinners on. The West Indies are a pretty decent side. They played well against Zimbabwe in the first one-day game and we have to play good cricket to beat them. It has now boiled down to the all important game on the July 7 in Harare. Laxman’s fitness is a bit of worry for he is in great form and his coming in at No. 3 boosts our batting enormously. It will be a good opportunity for the boys who have not played and the conditions could be ideal for the two new seamers to bowl. We want to win these two games before the finals for it would be big confident booster before the final game.
(Gameplan) |
|
Jeev Milkha stays joint 3rd New Delhi, June 29 The 29-year-old Chandigarh-based pro shot a two-under 70 in his second round to aggregate eight-under 136 after 36
holes. That put him in tied third place along with Kazuhiko Hosokawa, Katsumasa Miyamoto (both Japan) and Eduardo Herrera of Colombia. Chin-Sheng Hsieh of Taiwan led the field at 12-under 132.He added a five-under 67 to his overnight 65 and opened a one-stroke lead over the big-hitting Brendan Jones of Australia. Jones, who was joint leader after the first round, shot a four-under 68 to tally 11-under 133 after two days. Jeev began the round with a birdie on the par-4 first hole, but slipped down the leaderboard with back-to-back bogeys on the par-5 fifth and par-4 sixth holes. He made the turn at one-over, but recovered with three birdies on the back
nine. These came on the par-5 10th, and par-4 13th and 18th holes. Daniel Chopra, the India-born Swede who is trying to make a comeback after almost 18 months of miserable form, shot a 3-under 69 to be five-under 139 at the halfway stage. Chopra was tied for the 18th
place. UNI |
|
Paes-Bhupathi duo crashes
out
London, June 29 The Indian duo winners here in 1999 lost to the unseeded pair, David Adams of South Africa and Michael Llodra of France in straight sets, 1-6, 3-6, 3-6. Pete Sampras was back to his imperious best at Wimbledon today as he strolled past Sargis Sargsian 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the last 16. The defending champion, bidding for a record eighth singles crown, equalled Rod Laver’s Wimbledon winning streak of 31 matches with the court one victory, and set up a clash with 15th seed Roger Federer. Only Bjorn Borg — with 41 consecutive victories — betters Sampras’s Wimbledon form. Sampras, taken to five sets by British wildcard Barry Cowan in the last round, never looked in trouble against his Armenian opponent. Serve machine Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia ended the dreams of US teen hope Andy Roddick to set up an explosive meeting with British counterpart Greg Rusedski in the last 16. Ivanisevic, three times runner-up here but a wildcard this time and desperate to prove himself after two seasons in the wilderness, outslugged the 18-year-old Roddick 7-6 (7/5), 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 amid a blitz of 41 aces and ripped off his shirt in a typical display of exuberance afterwards. Earlier, Britain’s Greg Rusedski served up a grass-court masterclass, smashing down a mere 15 aces to bludgeon Spanish eighth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero aside 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in one hour 36 minutes. Ferrero, a claycourt specialist and like Roddick playing in his first Wimbledon, had no answers despite some late resistance when he saved four match points at 3-5 in the third set in a game of eight deuces. He
bowed out when Rusedski held serve as the Spaniard netted a forehand
and Ferrero admitted he had been well beaten on the day.
Jennifer Capriati, playing well below her best, defeated Russian Tatiana Panova 6-4, 6-4 to reach the last 16 and stay on course for the Grand Slam of major titles. Capriati came back from 1-4 down, after two breaks of serve, in the second set as Panova’s game resistance to the American fourth seed’s power suddenly crumbled. Panova, seeded 32, caused the Australian and French Open champion major problems with her accuracy and length of shot, especially on her two-handed backhand, and she broke Capriati’s serve in the first game of the match. Capriati, (25) emerged from a flurry of breaks to take the set in 39 minutes on Centre Court and, after coming through a service game with eight deuces at 4-2, she pulled away to win. She plays Sandrine Testud, seeded 15, after the Frenchwoman beat Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-7, 6-2, 6-2. Fifth seed Serena Williams used sheer power to blast her way past Switzerland’s Emmanuelle Gagliardi 6-1, 6-2 and into the fourth round. The only game the 96th-ranked Gagliardi won in the 20-minute first set was on a break in the third when Williams, a semifinalist here last year, gave away every point with unforced errors. Germany’s Anke Huber, seeded 18, thrashed 10th seed Elena Dementieva 6-0, 6-2 to reach the last 16. Russian debutant Andrei Stoliarov saved two match points before completing a marathon five-set comeback victory over former finalist Cedric Pioline of France. Resuming a second-round match which was stopped due to bad light on Thursday with the score 5-5 in the fifth set, the 24-year-old Russian emerged with a 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 12-10 victory on court 18 after a total of three hours 52 minutes play. Scampering Stoliarov looked dead and buried when he lost serve to trail 8-7 and was 40-15 down on Pioline’s serve. The 92nd-ranked Russian faces Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer in the last 32. In early women’s action, 1994 champion Conchita Martinez of Spain moved into the last 16 with a 6-2, 6-3 dismissal of Lilia Osterloh of the USA and will now meet Lina Krasnoroutskaya of Russia, who ousted Austria’s Barbara Schwartz 6-3, 6-4. Bulgarian 12th seed Magdalena Maleeva beat Amy Frazier of the USA 6-3, 6-2 and could plays fifth seed Serena Williams next. Australian fifth seed Lleyton Hewitt had to endure three hours of gruelling work before reaching the third round of the men’s singles at Wimbledon yesterday with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3 win over US qualifier Taylor Dent. Hewitt, sporting a crew cut look this summer, having like compatriot Pat Rafter dispensed with his old ponytail, will now meet Morocco’s Younes El Aynaoui, who defeated Andreas Vinciguerra of Sweden 6-1, 6-4, 7-6
(7/4). Reuters, AFP |
|||
|
Sheetal
Goutham wins grand double New Delhi, June 29 Bangalore-based Sheetal had to wage a grim battle against unseeded Megha Vakharia before emerging winner in the three set marathon final that lasted about 175 minutes. All the three sets were taken to distance with first and third being decided in a tie-breaker. It was southpaw Megha who looked like creating yet another upset as she won the first set in tie breaker 7-6(2). However 20-year old Sheetal staged a fine rally and captalised on the unforced errors committed by her rival to win the next set and draw parity. The decider saw both the players committing many mistakes and unforced errors. However, Sheetal hit some good winners as Megha lost her nerve and cool in the crucial moments. Sheetal raised the level of her game at this stage and won the set in tie-breaker to emerge 6-7(2), 7-5, 7-6(1) winner. In the doubles final, the top-seeded pair of Sheetal Goutham and Liza Pereira were given a tough fight in the first set by Preeti Rao and Samrita Sekar. The top seed duo manage to get past their rivals 7-6 (7). However, it was a total washout for Preeti and Samrita in the second set as they failed to win even a point. Sheetal and Liza won 7-6(7)6-0.
UNI |
|
Colombian soccer remembered for wrong reasons Bogota, June 29 On the other, a sinister background of shootings, death threats and gambling rackets. In the last 10 years Colombia have produced some of the world’s most gifted and entertaining footballers and emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the international game. But not even soccer, a sport which is as loved in Colombia as anywhere else in South America, has managed to escape the lawlessness of one of the world’s most violent nations. Over the past two decades, referees have been threatened and shot, the championship has been suspended for a clean-up and the game has been awash with allegations of drug trade connections. From the pirate league of the late 1940s to the infamous murder of defender Andres Escobar after his own goal at the 1994 World Cup, Colombian soccer is often remembered for the wrong reasons. The latest blow came on Thursday when the South American Football Confederation (CSF) decided to move the Copa America from the Andean nation less than two weeks before it was due to begin. The CSF had given Colombia two chances in the previous six weeks, twice voting to press ahead with the event despite a spate of car bombings in the cities of Bogota, Medellin and Cali, which were all due to be venues for the tournament. But the final straw came this week when Hernan Mejia Campuzano, vice-president of the Colombian Football Confederation and a member of the CSF’s executive committee, was kidnapped on a rural road on Monday. He was released unharmed on Thursday by Leftist rebels but by then the damage had been done. The highest-profile incident involving Colombia came when defender Andres Escobar, who scored an own goal in a game against the USA in 1994 World Cup, was shot dead shortly after returning home to Medellin. His killer was later sentenced to 43 years in jail. However, Colombia’s problems go back long before then. In 1948, the country attracted some of the world’s top players by offering high wages but FIFA refused to recognise the competition and the bonanza lasted only a few years before collapsing. Colombia was back in the spotlight when it was awarded the right to host the 1986 World Cup, only to pull out two years before the competition was due to start because of a poor state of readiness. After that, the problems got steadily worse with referees among the favourite targets. In 1988, Armando Perez was kidnapped for 24 hours and told that officials who made wrong decisions would be killed. One year later another referee Alvaro Ortega was killed by two gunmen after officiating at a match in Medellin between Independiente Medellin and America. The government then intervened to try to clean out criminal elements from the country’s professional clubs and the championship was suspended even though Colombia had qualified for the 1990 World Cup. In February 1990, Colombia’s World Cup preparations were disrupted when a gambling group calling itself cleanliness in Colombian Soccer threatened to kill players, coaches and journalists if the influence of drug barons was not removed. Drugs and football have often been uncomfortably close. As long ago as October 1983, Colombian Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla claimed Medellin’s Atletico Nacional and several other professional teams were run by traffickers. A few months later he was assassinated and the government said drug barons were responsible. Two years later, Hernan Botero, a banker who the government said was a shareholder of Atletico Nacional, was extradited to the USA and sentenced to 30 years in jail for laundering money. Late drug lord Pablo Escobar, during his time in a luxury prison outside Medellin, used to invite Colombian players to play soccer with him and his henchmen in the prison’s soccer court. When Escobar was killed, an Atletico Nacional flag was draped over his coffin. Despite all this, Colombia’s performances on the field continued to improve, peaking with the historic 5-0 win over Argentina in Buenos Aires on a day in which Asprilla and Valderrama were in inspired form. The performance quickly made Colombia favourites for the 1994 World Cup, but before the tournament began US authorities refused a visa to a member of Colombia’s federation. “It seemed reasonably clear that the man had a long record of drug dealing,’’ said US organising chief Alan Rothenberg. Colombia were beaten 3-1 by Romania in their opening game and before their next match against the US, coach Francisco Maturana and midfielder Gabriel Gomez received threats of death if Gomez was not replaced by fellow-Atletico Nacional player Herman Gaviria. Gomez declined to play and Gaviria took his place but Colombia lost 2-1, with Escobar opening the score inadvertently with an own goal that later produced its tragic sequel.
Reuters |
|
Ludhiana
getting ready for games Ludhiana, June 28 Originally Punjab was allotted the National Games in 1989 which had to be postponed and then cancelled due to terrorism in the state. Before this Delhi played host to these Games in 1985, Kerala in 1987, Pune in 1993, Bangalore in 1997 and Manipur in 1999. The total expenditure on organising this mega event would be about Rs 50 crore. This amount is being spent on sports infrastructure, renovation and upgradation of existing infrastructure, procurement of equipment and conduct of the Games besides improving the civil amenities. More than 10000
sportspersons including officials are expected to take part in these Games. Performance during these Games would be taken into consideration while selecting the Indian contingent for the Afro- Asian Games slated to be held at Delhi in November. Competitions in 27 disciplines would be conducted at Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Anandpur Sahib, SAS Nagar, and Chandigarh. The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at Guru Nanak Stadium , Ludhiana. Ludhiana will play host to athletics, basketball, cycling, handball, volleyball and hockey (women). Tug-of-war and bullock-cart races will be demonstration games. The infrastructure required for these events at Ludhiana is either ready or will be completed by the middle of July. Athletics will be held at the newly re-laid synthetic track of the main stadium of Guru Nanak Sports Complex, volleyball and handball in the Multipurpose Indoor Hall. Competitions in basketball will be conducted at the new indoor hall at Guru Nanak Stadium while cycling and hockey (W) will be held at the Punjab Agricultural University Velodrome and the Astro-Turf ground of PAU respectively. At the cycling velodrome and hockey ground, new pavillions and changing rooms have been constructed. At these pavillions ultra modern facilities as per the international norms such as media centre, conference room, administrative office and workshop have been added. The synthetic track at Guru Nanak Stadium laid down for the 1989 Games had outlived its utility and has been laid afresh. The Punjab Sports Department was entrusted with the work of relaying this track. The laying of track has been done by a German firm, M/s Polytan. This work has already been completed at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore which includes sub-base, synthetic surface and allied facilities. Now it awaits clearance and acceptance by the joint acceptance committee of the Government of India. This track has been laid according to the specifications of the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF). The main feature is a 200 M warm-up track provided for the athletes. This newly laid track will be used by Punjab
athletes who will be attending the camp prior to their participation in the National Games. To save this track from misuse a high fence has been erected. |
|
Army sportsmen honoured New Delhi, June 29 Out of these, 11 belonged to Engineers, four were from the Sikh Regiment and one from Corps of Signals. Subedar Maj Gurtej Singh of Bengal Engineers Centre, Kerkee led these sportsmen. He has outstanding performance in rowing — with 13 gold, 1 silver and 5 bronze medals. Subedar K Gajendran of Madras Sappers, also in rowing , has three gold, three silver and one bronze medals to his credit. Other sportsmen from Sappers were Sapper Sunil Kakade (rowing), Ashish Singh (rowing), Satish Shirsat (Rowing), Jasbir Singh (rowing), Suresh L (rowing), G. Nagraj (rowing) NB Subedar P Anil Kumar (athletics), Lavi L. (boxing) and G S Shiva Kumar (boxing). Nb Subedar P Anil Kumar participated in Olympics 2000 and won gold in 100 meter (new record). |
|
Amritsar
take first innings lead Patiala, June 29 Brief scores: Amritsar (Ist innings): 315 all out Patiala (Ist innings): 239 all out (Binwant Singh 124, Rupeetinder Singh 29, Shiv Karan Singh 20; S.P. Singh 5/93, Mukesh Sharma 5/62) Amritsar (2nd innings): 17 for 1 (Abhnesh Sharma 10 n.o.). |
|
Referee
charged with sodomy Dehra Dun, June 29 Nand Kishore Bambu was sent to jail after he allegedly tried to sodomise a 14-year old boy in the state guesthouse here, police officials today said. “We have filed charges against Bambu for sodomising young boys,” Senior Suprintendent of Police, P.K. Joshi told PTI here. Bambu tried to sodomise Ashish Rawat and two others in a room allotted to state Sports Minister Narayan Singh Rana in the guesthouse here on Wednesday night, sources said.
PTI |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
