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| Tuesday,
July 10, 2001, Chandigarh, India    |
Ivanisevic
wins Wimbledon in dream comeback
Venus
Williams keen to grab top spot |
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Tendulkar
to miss Lanka tri-series BCCI
chief discounts drug allegations Good
exposure for youngsters: Chauhan |
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Warne
worn out but can’t be written off Haryana
to host 4 Ranji ties Indian
grapplers finish 2nd Sriram
Jha wins Camp
begins sans top players
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Ivanisevic wins Wimbledon in dream
comeback
London, July 9 The 29-year-old, who lost three Wimbledon finals in the 1990’s, won the title on his fourth match point when Rafter netted a return. Ivanisevic, who said this week he felt it was his destiny to win the title, burst into tears and climbed into the players’ box to embrace his father. Ivanisevic is the first Croatian to win the sport’s most prestigious title and the first player to win one of the four Grand Slam crowns after entering on a wildcard. Rafter also lost last year’s final, to Pete Sampras. “I don’t know if it is a dream and I’m going to wake up and someone is going to tell me you didn’t win Wimbledon again,” Ivanisevic said. “This is a dream for me all my life.” The champion wins £ 500,000 ($703,000) and Rafter half of that. Ivanisevic was two points from defeat in the final set, 6-7 and 0-30 down, in front of a raucous Centre Court but he recovered to set up two break points in the following game. He won the game with a searing forehand return of serve and, after slipping 15-30 behind on his own serve, his 27th ace set up match point. With tears in his eyes, Ivanisevic served a double fault. On his second match point, Ivanisevic served another double fault and Rafter then saved a third with a superb lobbed return. But the Croatian made no mistake on his fourth. Ivanisevic, ranked 125 at the start of the championships, thought of giving up tennis earlier this year because of a shoulder injury and his poor form. He had won only nine matches in 2001 before organisers gave him a wildcard entry, allowing him to avoid having to qualify. Rafter has said this is probably his last Wimbledon. Rafter, who lost last year’s final to Pete Sampras, seemed nervous in the first set in front of a boisterous Centre Court crowd, many of whom had queued all night to reserve their place for the “people’s final”. Ivanisevic’s famed serve let him down in the second set which Rafter took with a break in the second game. Superb backhand returns helped Ivanisevic break Rafter in the sixth game of the third set as normal service returned on his delivery, and he took a two sets to one lead for the first time in his four finals. As the crowd frenzy reached a peak, Rafter earned two break points in the sixth game of the fourth set but Ivanisevic saved them both. A second serve “ace” down the middle was ruled wide on Rafter’s third break point and Ivanisevic threw his racket on the court and kicked at the net, before raging at the umpire. Rafter, twice the US Open champion, kept his cool to take the match into a decider. Early in the final set the Croatian broke the record for aces at Wimbledon - 206 - which he set in 1992 on the way to a final defeat by Andre Agassi - and the set went with serve until the penultimate game. Fans swathed in the national flags of Australia and Croatia, plus hordes of Britons sneaking the day off work, had flooded into the All-England Club for the first ‘people’s final’. It was the first time a men’s singles final at Wimbledon started on the third Monday of the championships. In 1988 Swede Stefan Edberg had to complete his final win over Boris Becker on Monday after rain suspended play midway through the first set on Sunday — but on that occasion, Sunday tickets were valid for the following day. Tickets on Monday were sold on a first come, first served basis.
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Venus Williams keen to grab top spot London, July 9 The 21-year-old, also the US Open and Olympic champion, dropped just two sets as she defended her crown, but says she has all sorts of plans to improve her game. “I think I can capitalise better,” she said after beating Justine Henin in the final. “Really work on more things in my game - moving forward, taking the ball early, just some new strategy that I can add to the next year coming.” The tall, powerful and uncompromising Williams enjoyed a phenomenally successful 2000, following Wimbledon with the US Open and Olympic titles, but she admits she was riding a wave and not really working at her game. “I didn’t practise that much for the US Open at the Olympics I hardly hit at all. I’d get out there. I’d be practising, I’d be just fooling around. Really if you start fooling around your game gets worse.” Williams’s game suffered towards the end of the year. She entered fewer tournaments, was distracted by college where she studied design and her form became ragged. Though she reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and won the Ericsson and German Opens, she entered only seven tournaments before Wimbledon in 2001, losing in the first round at the French Open and failing to capture the coveted number one spot in the rankings. Now she says the serious assault on that top spot, held for so long by Martina Hingis, begins in earnest. “I have to make it a priority. I have to play more. Either that or I have to win every Grand Slam which isn’t easy, so I’ll play a little bit more,” Williams said. Hingis has been all but forgotten after her shock first round Wimbledon defeat by little-known Virginia Ruano Pascual. Despite failing to win a Grand Slam tournament for two-and-a-half years she remains at the top of the rankings. For many months commentators have been writing her off as having a game that is too delicate and lacking in power to compete with the hard hitters of today’s tennis.
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Bhupathi-Likhovtseva duo beaten London, July 9 It was a tame affair as the Indo-Russian pair were defeated 2-6 2-6 in just over an hour. Bhupathi and Likhovtseva had also reached the semifinals of this year’s French Open.
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Tendulkar
to miss Lanka tri-series Mumbai, July 9 “Tendulkar needs two or three weeks rest. He will join the team for the last league match on August 2 against New Zealand,” cricket board secretary Jaywant Lele told reporters after the much delayed selection committee meeting here today. Getting a recall for the series, featuring India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, are left-handed batsmen Amey Khuresia and Yuvraj Singh and left-arm spinner Rahul Sanghvi. The team: Selection committee Chairman Chandu Borde, who arrived here two hours late from Pune due to heavy rains, said “as Tendulkar will not be playing in the first three league matches, we thought Khuresia was the right replacement to open the innings with skipper Saurav Ganguly”. “Khuresia is a dashing batsman and can go over the top in the first 15 overs where there is field restriction. He is also a very good fielder,” Borde said. Asked how left-arm spinner Sanghvi could figure in the 15-man squad in preference to off-spinner Sharandeep Singh of Punjab, Borde said: “We needed variations in the spin department and, more over, Harbhajan Singh is bowling well and there was no need to have another offie in the side”. “The wicket in Sri Lanka helps both medium pacers and spinners and hence we have taken Sanghvi, Borde said. Borde said another left-arm spinner Murali Kartik of Railways was also discussed but he had some fitness problems. Borde, who came to know about Tendulkar’s foot injury only during the meeting, said, “about three to four players will be included for the Test series which will start after the triangular tournament”. The Indians are scheduled to play three Test matches in Sri Lanka. Board secretary Lele said the selectors would meet too pick up the Test team either on July 27 or 28 and the venue of the meeting would be decided later. The Indian team, which would play their first match in the triangular series on July 20 against New Zealand, will leave for Colombo on July 15 from Delhi. Coach John Wright will join the team in Delhi. A.N.Nathe of the Maharashtra Cricket Association will be the team manager, Lele added. When asked about Yuvraj Singh’s inclusion in the side, Borde said, “I found we are lacking in the fielding department especially so in the final of the tri-series against the West Indies where we lost by 16 runs and hence we opted for Yuvraj who is a brilliant fielder and an attacking batsman.” Borde, who was very disappointed with Indian team’s performance in Zimbabwe where they ended the two-Test series level one-all and lost in the tri-series final, said, “Reetinder Sodhi’s inclusion in the team that toured Zimbabwe has added pep to India’s fielding. About Sameer Dighe, who too performed commendably in Zimbabwe, Borde said, “Dighe is a much improved wicketkeeper and a gutsy batsman. We need someone like him to take up challenges like in the final one-dayer where he remained unbeaten on 94”. Borde said many opening batsmen for the Test matches apart from Shiv Sunder Das, who was the find of the Zimbabwe tour, were in contention. “We also discussed Mumbai’s Wasim Jaffer and Vinayak Mane, Delhi’s Gautam Gambhir, Baroda’s Connor Williams, Railway’s Sanjay Bangar and Tamil Nadu’s S.Sriram”.
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BCCI chief discounts drug allegations Chennai, July 9 “I don’t think our players are involved in any such drug issue,” he told a press conference after the annual general meeting of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association here. However, he said the International Cricket Council was “working out certain methods to avoid drug abuse if it is prevalent amongst cricketers”. He said the drug issue was discussed at length during the ICC meeting last month and “we are awaiting the decisions and BCCI will also follow the ICC system when it is in place”. To a question whether the BCCI proposed to take random samples of Indian team members for dope testing, Mr Muthiah said, there was no laboratory facility available in the country for such tests. “Even for horses, samples are sent abroad”, he said.
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Good exposure for youngsters: Chauhan Mumbai, July 9 India had to be content with a 1-1 draw in the two-test series with Zimbabwe and lost to West Indies in the final of the triangular one-day tournament after winning all their league matches quite comprehensively. However, Chauhan said it was not a disappointing tour and the team was looking at the positive aspects of it. “I personally feel this tour has done lot of good for youngsters like opening batsman Shiv Sundar Das, who won the Man of the Series in the Test matches, medium pacers Ashish Nehra, Harvinder Singh, Debashish Mohanty, all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi and wicketkeeper Samir Dighe,” Chauhan said. Asked if the Indians were over-confident after recording easy wins in the league matches, Chauhan said: “Not at all. In fact, we discussed at length the strategy for the final. But I can only say that the West Indies batsmen applied themselves very well and did not allow us to make early breakthroughs like we did in the league stages.” “They played good cricket on that particular day and scored a good 291 which I thought was a bit too much in the end for us though our players fought well till the end,” he said. Chauhan admitted that reports of drug abuse had upset the players but said it did not affect their performance. “Some of players whose name figured in the article were very upset. However, I spoke to them and they seemed to be alright. It is a common practice for the players to take energisers in public view and these energisers are supplied by the host nations,” he added.
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Warne worn out but can’t be written off London, July 9 Statistically speaking, they have been proved right. On his first visit in 1993, it took the leg-spinner one delivery to take his first wicket. The 2001 model needed two. Aesthetically speaking, the criticism also holds. Warne’s delivery eight years ago at Old Trafford has gone down in cricketing history, dubbed the “ball of the century” after it pitched well outside the bemused Mike Gatting’s leg stump before clipping the top of the off. His dismissal of Mark Butcher at Edgbaston was far more prosaic affair, a routine bat-and-pad catch which would certainly not merit a tag of “ball of the last 50 years”. Half a Warne, however, clearly remains too good by half for the best the English can muster. The 31-year-old Australian, hammered to all parts in India at the start of the year, took five wickets in the first innings and eight for 100 overall off 29.1 overs as England crashed to an innings and 118 runs defeat. “I got a few revs on the ball — I’m pretty happy”, he said, while captain Steve Waugh added: “It shows Warne is still a great bowler, even if some people have written him off”. Warne, of course, is not the man he once was following finger, shoulder and knee surgery in recent years. The action is more round-armed, there is less bounce to the bowling stride and the joints take longer to warm up. The wickets, generally, come in tows and three now rather than fives or sixes. And the team are less reliant on him. Warne, one of Wisden’s five players of the century and now with 384 wickets, seems to have accepted that his role has changed, more a foil today to the pace of Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie that the attacking spearhead of old. Writing off great players, however, is hazardous. Some tried it before the 1999 World Cup only for Warne — “Save the whale!” the crowds had chanted — to end up the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, including four in the final. Some tried it after India earlier this year, when Warne took 10 wickets for 505 as Australia went down to a 2-1
defeat. But then they had also tried it in 1998-99, when he took 10 at an average of 54, again in India, again in a losing cause. When coach John Buchanan also criticised Warne for his fitness during the Indian tour, many presumed that the leg-spinner could miss the Ashes trip altogether, with Australia perhaps opting instead for spinners Colin Miller and Stuart MacGill. The affair, however, hurt Buchanan more than the bowler. Waugh backed Warne and Buchanan, despite retaining his job, lost his role as a selector. Despite all this, however, the scale of Warne’s success at Edgbaston did come as something of a surprise. It may have been helped in part by the absence of the likes of Graham Thorpe and Michael Vaughan from an England batting line-up which seemed to have taken giant strides in combating the spin of Saqlain Mushtaq in Pakistan and Muttiah Muralitharan in Sri Lanka at the turn of the year. England, however — or English batsmen — have always agreed with the man. “I always enjoy playing here. It brings out the best in me”, Warne said at the start of the tour. In 1993 he took 34 wickets at 25.79 apiece. In Australia in 1994-95 there were 27 at 20.33 and 24 more on his return to England in 1997, at 24.04. Perhaps the would-be obituary writers should have consulted former Australian spinner Terry Jenner, Warne’s coach in his formative years and who has helped him subsequently during his career. Jenner agreed before the Ashes that Warne, indeed, had become worn — “It’s a fair assessment Shane isn’t the bowler he was” — before adding, however”. The great thing is Shane knows if he’s not at his best, he just comes back to the level of other players”. English players excluded, presumably.
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Haryana
to host 4 Ranji ties Rohtak, July 9 According to Mr Mahendera, the North Zone Ranji league will commence from November 1 this year and Haryana will take on Jammu and Kashmir in the opening encounter.
Incidentally, it is Haryana Day also. Mr Mahendera also told that Punjab will host all the Ranji one-dayers this season. Whereas Deodhar Trophy matches will be held at different venues in the North Zone from February 20, 2002 onwards. According
to information available here the following is the fixture for this year’s matches to be played in North Zone under different tournaments. North Zone Ranji Trophy league: November 18 to 21: Haryana vs Services (Haryana) Himachal vs Services (Himachal) Haryana vs Punjab (Haryana) November 30 to December 3: Services vs J&K (Services to host) Haryana vs Himachal (Haryana) Punjab vs Delhi (Punjab) Deodhar Trophy February 21: West Zone vs South Zone (Punjab) North Zone vs East Zone (Punjab) February 22: Central Zone vs North Zone (Himachal) February 23: South Zone vs East Zone (Services) February 24: West Zone vs East Zone (Delhi), South Zone vs Central Zone (Haryana) February 25: West Zone vs Central Zone (Haryana) North Zone vs South Zone (Delhi). |
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Indian grapplers finish
2nd Chandigarh, July 9 Mr M.S. Malik, President, Wrestling Federation of India, complemented the wrestlers for their magnificent performance and wished that they would keep the Indian flag flying high by scalling new heights. Indian lost to Iran by three points. India scored 75 points against 78 by Iran. Mr Malik was confident that the Indian wrestlers would perform better in future. In free style wrestling, Sandip, Dahiya, 54 kg give India a gold medal by defeating his rival from Kazakhstan. Somvir (63 kg) and Dilbag (+85 kg) bagged silver medals whereas Anand (42 kg), and Narinder (76 kg) claimed bronze medals. Most of the wrestlers are from Haryana. Somvir is form Nidani village in Jind district. The WFI in consultation with Sports Authority of India has finalised a long training programme for senior and junior cadets in both greeco roman and free style wrestling. He said the Indian team would participate in World Junior Championship to be held at Tashkant (Uzbekistan) from August 9 to 13. B team will go for international tournament to be held at Varsove from August 16 to 18. Coaching camps for World Senior Championship is being organised at National Institute of Sports (NIS) from August 25 to September 2 and from September 5 to 23. Indian team would also participate in the senior world championships to be held at New York from September 24 to 30. He said that a refresher training course for the young coaches will also be organised at NIS, Patiala, from November 10 to 22. Test matches with Uzbekistan will be played at Tashkant and Delhi. Indian women team will participate in the World Wrestling Championship to be held at Martigini “Switzerland” from August 17 to 19. |
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Sriram
Jha wins Nagpur, July 9 Jha tallied 10 points out of a possible 13 and remained half a point adrift of his nearest rivals — IWM Swati Ghate of LIC and women grandmaster Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi.
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Camp begins sans top
players Patiala, July 9 The camp is being held in preparation for the Indian team’s visit to England from July 20 to August 4. The team, which will be on an exposure tour, is scheduled to play four matches against top clubs. Coach Sukhwinder Singh appeared optimistic that the impasse between the clubs and the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) would be resolved soon. The three clubs who have refused to release their key players are Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mahindra United. Out of the 25 probables selected by the AIFF for the 10 day camp, three players are from Mohun Bagan and six each from East Bengal and Mahindra United. Sukhwinder said the main reason for the clubs holding back players is that the Calcutta Super Division League is to begin shortly. Mohun Bagan and East Bengal are the star outfits in the league and both the teams will be depleted considerably if they release their players for the camp. Reacting sharply to a suggestion that the team was not going to take part in a tournament and was just on an exposure trip, Sukhwinder said that the team that will take part in the Afro-Asian games will be selected keeping in view the players performances in England. The chief coach also derided a suggestion that the players who could not attend the camp could join the team directly in England like Baichung Bhutia would do, Sukhwinder said there was a difference between Bhutia and the other players. Elaborating, the chief coach said since Baichung Bhutia was already in England turning out for his club, FC Bury in the English second Division league, it would not be possible for him to return to India to take part in the camp for 10 days. Moreover, Sukhwinder pointed out that it was imperative that the players train together in the camp if they want to play as a cohesive unit in England. The chief coach opined that things had drifted to such an extent because both the AIFF President, Mr Priya Ranjan Dass Munshi, and secretary, Mr Albert Colaco, had gone to Buenos Aires (Argentina) to attend a seminar organised by the world body FIFA. However, he said since Mr Munshi would be back in a day or two, things would be sorted out amicably between the clubs and the AIFF. The Indians are scheduled to land in England on July 20 and will play club team Brentford on July 24 before taking on star outfit Nottingham Forest on July 28. The next outing will be against Leyton Orient on July 31 and the last match is on August 4 against Walsall. |
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