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Monday, July 23, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Lanka pull off 6-run victory Convincing 8-wkt win for Aussies
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Windies demolish Zimbabwe Argentina upset India
5-3
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Azlan Shah Cup ‘crucial’ for Pak Anand plays draw, finishes
last
Threat to boycott National Games Eastern Sector ride on Ekka’s hat-trick Senegal book berth
in World Cup Atwal slips to
tied 20th spot Sports academy
for Sonepat village
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Lanka pull off 6-run victory Colombo, July 22 Set to score 222 off 50 overs after Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat, India caved in to pressure as they battled regular fall of wickets and dwindling number of overs despite a 69-run knock by skipper Saurav Ganguly and a gritty 49 runs by Rahul Dravid to finish on 215 for 7 off 50 overs. Fortunes tilted to either sides throughout the edge-of-the-seat thriller but Sri Lankan bowlers struck the right blows to throttle the Indian challenge. India were off to a bad start as they lost three quick wickets and were in dire straits at 71 for 4 before an 80-run partnership between Ganguly and Dravid steadied the innings. Paceman Suresh Perera did the early damage, scalping both the openers Yuvraj Singh (12) whose attempted flick landed in the hands of Muttiah Muralitharan at square leg and amay Khurasia (12) who was plumb leg before. At this stage Ganguly and Dravid (49 not out) came together and turned the match around with some well-struck boundaries and quick singles to keep India in with a chance before Russel Arnold got rid of the Indian skipper who top-edged to Jayasuriya at forward short leg. Muralitharan struck crucial blows later in the innings to dispose of Reetinder Singh Sodhi who looked to be shaping well at 19 and Virendera Sehwag at 12. Earlier, India restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 221 for 9 off 50 overs. Sri Lanka failed to build on a good start by skipper Sanath Jayasuriya and Avishka Gunawardane (63) as the Indian bowlers, spearheaded by off spinner Harbhajan Singh who finished with 3/29 scalped wickets at regular intervals getting a mix of turn and bounce. Electing to bat, Sri Lanka raced to almost 50 runs in the first 10 overs but off-spinner Harbhajan Singh struck in his very first over to dismiss a dangerous-looking Sanath Jayasuriya for 34. Jayasuriya, who looked more confident than in his first outing against New Zealand, played some fluent shots including three hits to the ropes, before he was stumped brilliantly by Sameer Dighe off Harbhajan Singh in the 12th over. The lanky bowler struck again in the 14th, this time dismissing Maravan Atapattu, caught by Amay Khurasia for 5 and Sri Lanka 60 for 2. Mahela Jayawardene was quick to follow suit as he edged a widish Reetinder Singh Sodhi delivery to Dighe with only a run being added to the total. The fall of three wickets in quick succession proved costly for the hosts as they managed to add just 37 runs between the 10th and 20th overs.
PTI
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Convincing 8-wkt win for Aussies London, July 22 The home team, saddled with a 214 first-innings deficit after being bowled out for 187 on Friday, resumed the fourth morning on 163 for four and were back in the pavilion one hour later, contemplating another crushing defeat, as their last six wickets fell for 39 in the space of eight overs. Three of them went within 10 balls without a run added as England collapsed to 193 for eight before avoiding an innings defeat with a gesture of defiance. They were finally bowled out for 227. Australia, needing 14 to win, then knocked off the runs in the fourth over after Michael Slater was caught by Mark Butcher at second slip off Andrew Caddick and Darren Gough trapped Ricky Ponting lbw with the scores level. McGrath had begun the England slide with three wickets for four runs in 11 balls. Butcher and Alec Stewart had put on 25 runs in the first five overs, courtesy of Steve Waugh’s decision to open the bowling with his brother Mark’s occasional off-spin. Stewart, after lashing three fours off a Waugh over on his way to 28, was trapped lbw as he shuggled back to a McGrath off-cutter. Next ball, Ian Ward edged and Ricky Ponting completed a fine catch, moving to his right across first slip, making the score 188 for six. The hat-trick avoided by allrounder Craig White, Butcher then threw away his wicket with a rash cut at Jason Gillespie next over, the edge ending in wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist’s gloves. Butcher made 83, having batted for three hours and 49 minutes and hit 12 boundaries. SCOREBOARD England (first innings): 187 (G. Mcgrath 5-54) Australia (first innings): 401 (M. Waugh 108; A. Caddick 5-101) England (2nd innings): (overnight 163-4) Atherton b Warne 20 Trescothick c Gilchrist Butcher c Gilchrist Thorpe lbw b Lee 2 Ramprakash lbw Stewart lbw b McGrath 28 Ward c Ponting b McGrath 0 White not out 27 Cork c Warne b McGrath 2 Caddick c Gilchrist
Gough c M. Waugh
Extras: (lb-3 w-2 nb-9)14 Total: (all out, 66 overs)227 Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-47, 3-50, 4-146, 5-188, 6-188, 7-188, 8-193, 9-225. Bowling: McGrath 19-4-60-3, Gillespie 16-4-53-5 (nb2, w1), lee 9-1-41-1 (nb4), Warne 20-4-58-1 (nb3, w1), M. Waugh 2-1-12-0. Australia (2nd innings): M Hayden not out 6 M Slater c Butcher b Caddick 4 R Ponting lbw b Gough 4 M Waugh not out 0 Total: (for two wickets, 3.1 overs)14 Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-13. Bowling: Gough 2-0-5-1, Caddick 1.1-0-9-1.
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Windies demolish Zimbabwe Bulawayo (Zimbabwe), July 22 Zimbabwe were dismissed for 228 in their second innings in the second over after tea on the fourth day, chasing 404 to make the West Indies bat again. West Indies made 559 for six declared with opener Chris Gayle and skipper Carl Hooper scoring centuries after they had bowled Zimbabwe out for 155 in their first innings. Left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell took career-best figures of four for 38 as the pitch began to wear and offer substantial turn during the afternoon session. Colin Stuart also took a career-best three for 45 as Zimbabwe folded after a record opening stand between openers Alistair Campbell and Dion Ebrahim. Although Campbell went on to post his second Test century, wickets tumbled after lunch and the victory was completed when Raymond Price was caught at forward short leg off Reon King for four. Resuming 112 for no wicket overnight, Campbell and Ebrahim took their opening partnership to 164, when Ebrahim was adjudged lbw to Stuart for 75. Ebrahim’s partnership with
Campbell surpassed the 156 scored by Grant Flower and Gavin Rennie against New Zealand in 1997-1998. SCOREBOARD Zimbabwe (Ist innings): 155 (R.King 4-51) West Indies (Ist innings): 559-6 declared (C.Gayle 175,
C.Hooper 149, D.Ganga 89) Zimbabwe (2nd innings (overnight 112-0)) Ebrahim lbw b Stuart 75 Campbell lbw b McGarrell 103 Taibu lbw b Stuart 4 Wishart lbw b Stuart 4 Whittall not
out 10 G. Flower c Gayle b McGarrell 2 Streak c Sarwan b McGarrell 2 Blignaut c and b McGarrell 9 B. Strang c sub b King 7 Price c sub b King 4 Carlisle - absent 0 Extras (lb-4 nb-4) 8 Total (all out, 101.4 overs) 228 Fall of wickets: 1-164 2-170 3-187 4-193 5-195 6-197 7-211 8-218 Bowling: King 23.4-9-47-2, Collins 13-1-47-0, McGarrell 23-9-38-4, Stuart 19-5-49-3, Hooper 21-6-38-0, Samuels 1-0-5-0.
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Argentina upset India 5-3
Edinburgh, July 22 India once again muffed several good chances and their goalkeeper Jude Menezes was also not in good form and had to be changed in the 41 minute. The winners led 2-1 at half time. This was a sweet revenge for Argentina, who had twice lost to India in the Sydney Olympics, 0-3, and 1-3. The first seven teams in this qualifier will make it to the World Cup to be held in Kuala Lumpur and India will now have to win both their matches against Poland and Japan for a ticket for the mega event. As per the format of the qualifier, top three teams from pool E and F will qualify for the World Cup. The seventh place will be decided through a match between the teams finishing last in these pools. India is in pool F, while pool E comprises of New Zealand, Spain, Belgium, and Canada. Teams in pool G and H will play for 9 to 16 places. In a fast-paced encounter, Indians again failed to captalise on the chances that came their way while the Latin American champs managed to convert even a half-chance just before the final whistle while converting three of four penalty corners. India also made good use of the penalties as they scored all the goals off them. In all, the losers earned four penalties. Indians did a lot of running around which proved futile as their sturdy rivals had the last laugh. Argentina were in the lead in the 19th minute when Mario Almada set up Matias Vilas who deflected the ball home as Jude Menezes had charged out (1-0).
UNI |
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Capriati trounces Bulgarian Mahwah, July 22 Capriati next plays Amanda Coetzer, who defeated Anne Kramer of Luxembourg 6-4 6-1. Capriati, whose WTA ranking of No 3 is 232 places higher than Krivencheva’s, is making her seventh appearance in Mahwah, the first coming in 1990 when she was 14. “I think it’s a fun tournament, and it’s good for me to get in some practice matches,” Capriati said. “I get to evaluate my game a little bit, and play relaxed. Serious, but relaxed.” She took about 10 days off after advancing to the Wimbledon semifinals this month, including four or five days in which she never picked up a racket. Capriati, who won the year’s first two Grand Slam tournaments in Australia and France, won the A&P event in 1991 and 1999. This will be Coetzer’s third appearance in the Classic final, after losing two of the last three years. Against Krivencheva, Capriati needed to save three break points in the opening game of the match and saw her unheralded Bulgarian opponent hold in the second game. The rest of the 16-minute set was all Capriati, however. But Krivencheva, whose eight singles and doubles matches this week each lasted at least 111 minutes, found a way to extend this match as well. She battled through nine deuces to kick off the second set, forcing an errant Capriati backhand to decide a game that lasted as long as the entire first set. Both players held serve until Krivencheva was broken in the sixth game — ending on a double-fault created when her racket slid free from her grip and sailed just right of the net.
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Azlan Shah Cup ‘crucial’ for Pak Karachi, July 22 “We will be taking the
(Azlan Shah Cup) tournament very, very seriously,” said Hanif in an interview with ‘The News’. “Some of the world’s best teams will be taking part in the event and the outcome in Kuala Lumpur will certainly affect our team which will be appearing in two major competitions within six months of the Azlan Shah Cup,” added
Hanif. Former champions Pakistan are making efforts to prepare a side that can win them the Champions Trophy at home this winter and the World Cup to be played in Kuala Lumpur during February-March 2002. But first Hanif’s men will be taking on teams like Olympic silver medallists Korea, Australia, European champions Germany, old foes India, Malaysia and Great Britain in the Azlan Shah Cup to be held from August 2 to 12 in the Malaysian capital. Pakistan won the cup last year and a successful title defence will certainly boost their chances in the Champions Trophy that will feature five teams taking part in the Azlan Shah Cup plus world champions Holland who are not a part of the line-up in Kuala Lumpur. “You can see that the Kuala Lumpur tournament is almost as tough as the Champions Trophy,” Hanif pointed out. “That is why a good show in the tournament will certainly boost the confidence and morale of my team while a bad result there will badly affect its progress.” Hanif gave his side a 50-50 chance to retain the cup. “We certainly have a very good side that is capable of winning the tournament,” he said. “But then we can’t forget that a few other very strong teams will also be there. So I think it will be safe to say that we have a 50 per cent chance of defending our title.” The former Olympian said that Pakistan’s main rivals for the title race will be Germany and Australia adding that hosts Malaysia may also prove to be the surprise package of the tournament. “We have lost to both Germany and Australia in our previous encounters,” Hanif said. “They are two very good sides and I think they will be our main challengers.” Pakistan’s last game against Australia was a play-off for the bronze medal at last year’s Olympic Games in Sydney where the green shirts were thrashed mercilessly by the hosts. The Germans on the other hand defeated Pakistan more recently in a one-off test at home and a four-nation tournament in Hamburg last month. Hanif also warned his boys not to be complacent against Malaysia saying that they can also be a major threat. The Pakistan coach believes his team should beat Korea - the side that spoilt Pakistan’s party in Sydney with a 1-0 win in the semifinals. “We have beaten Korea during our European tour and we should beat them again.” Hanif is also unimpressed by India who defeated Pakistan in the final of the Prime Ministers’ Gold Cup in Dhaka earlier this year. “I don’t see India beating us again in
KL,” was the confident remark from the ex-Pakistan skipper.
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Anand plays draw, finishes last Dortmund, July 22 A dejected Anand remarked ‘’Well, its over. It’s a tournament best forgotten.’’ The other two games in the final round were also drawn, leaving Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov as the joint winners. Kramnik drew his last round with Alexander Morozevich, while Veselin Topalov and Michael Adams also drew their last game. Both Kramnik and Topalov finished with 6.5 points each, while Leko was third with 5.5 points. Kramnik was adjudged first on the basis of the SB tie-breaker. Kramnik’s sb tie-break score was 30.75 and Topalov’s was 28.25. For the purposes of record, they will be adjudged joint first. For Kramnik this is the sixth time, while it is a new high for Topalov, who comes on top of the heap in a major Category 21 tournament for the first time in his career. Morozevich was fourth with five and Adams was fifth with 3.5, while Anand brought off the rear with three. The last place was surely a dubious first, but the cheerful Anand laughed off the disaster saying, “It was one of those things, when nothing went right, I suppose.’’ The Indian Grandmaster, a Brand Ambassador for Indian IT Giant, NIIT, said there really was no point giving excuses, for it (the tournament ) was ‘’best forgotten.’’ Also, Anand for the first time in this fortnight said clearly, ‘’There is no question of playing the Braingames qualifier. I have already told Carsten Hensel (the Press Officer here in Dortmund) who approached me in Mainz itself. ‘’ Clearly Anand is making no compromises and does not wish to downgrade his own world title, which is what it could mean if he chose to play in a Candidates cycle, which is being played to find a challenger to another world champion, in this case, Vladimir Kramnik of the BGN. ‘’In fact it is already deleted from my memory as of now,’’ joked Anand. ‘’Unlike tennis or some other sports, when you get knocked out of the event after a bad performance, here you have to complete the whole event.’’ Final positions. 1-2 Vladimir Kramnik (Rus), Veselin Topalov (Bul) 6.5, 3 Peter Leko (Hun) 5.5 4 Alexander Morozevich (Rus) 5, 5 Michael Adams (Eng) 3.5, 6 Viswanathan Anand (Ind) 3.
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Ian Thorpe asserts superiority Fukuoka (Japan), July 22 Thorpe masterfully retained the 400 metres freestyle crown he had won in Perth in 1998 at the age of 15 as the youngest men’s world swimming champion ever and less than an hour later he anchored Australia to a storming victory in the 4x100 metres freestyle relay. It was the 14th world record in Thorpe’s magnificent career, the fourth in a 50-metre pool in his favourite event and a victory in striking contrast to his triumph in Sydney on another night of joyous Australian celebration. Ukraine’s Yana Klochkova also revived memories of Sydney by matching Olympic with world gold with a runaway win in the women’s 400 metres individual medley. The USA the strongest nation in world swimming, had a grim night as they finished a well-beaten third in the relay and, to cap their first loss in the event in nine world championships, were disqualified on a technicality, having entered a different squad from the one officially listed. But none of that mattered to the jubilant Australians, who celebrated a great one-two in the 400 freestyle when Thorpe finished ahead of Grant Hackett to repeat the 1998 result. “The 400’s probably been the most important event for me. It was the first event I made my first national team in, became world champion in,” Thorpe said. “Then from there I broke the world record, became Olympic champion and have been able to defend my crown here.” Thorpe, who had scattered his rivals from the outset in Sydney, bided his time in Fukuoka, the city in which he took a silver medal as a 14-year-old at the 1997 Pan Pacific championships. Hackett led through the first 100 metres but Thorpe hit the front by the 200-metre mark and surged on to win in three minutes 40.17 seconds. He was more than one-and-a-half seconds outside his world record split at the halfway point but his acceleration carried him inside the world mark of 3:40.59 he set in winning the Olympic title in Sydney last September. Thorpe, whose face broke into a broad grin when he turned to see his time on the electronic scoreboard, produced an extraordinary “negative split”, swimming the second half of the race faster than the first. Hackett had to settle for silver again but his time of 3:42.51 made him the second-fastest man in history, surpassing compatriot Kieren Perkins and Italy’s Massimiliano Rosolino. “Sorry mate,” he told Perkins, when the man he succeeded as Olympic 1,500 metres freestyle champion interviewed him. “I feel as if I probably should have kicked a little bit earlier,” Hackett said. “It’s one of those things maybe I can work on next time but it’s a good swim, it’s a PB (personal best) by over two seconds and I’m happy.” European champion Emiliano Brembilla snatched the bronze in 3:45.11, edging out Olympic silver medallist Rosolino (3:45.41). Australia, who last year ended an unbroken run of American Olympic victories in the sprint freestyle relay, repeated the treatment in the Marine Messe indoor pool. “This was like the America’s Cup for us,” lead-off swimmer Michael Klim said after the Australians had ended the US Run of eight wins in all eight preceding world championships. “We took it over last year and we want to keep it. We knew it was going to be a tough race so we held on.” The Australians led through all four legs but Thorpe had to hold off a tremendous charge by Olympic 100 freestyle champion and world record holder Pieter van den Hoogenband, who clocked a fantastic split of 47.02 seconds. “No-one expected or believed we could beat the Americans but we were able to do it again,” Thorpe said. “Being able to do it again shows how strong the Australians are.” Australia won in 3:14.10, less than half a second outside the 3:13.67 world mark they set in Sydney. Van den Hoogenband drove the Dutch to silver in 3:14.56 and Germany — featuring a comeback by 36-year-old former European champion Sven Lodziewski — took the bronze from the disqualified Americans. Klochkova, silver medallist at the 1998 world championships, moved up to gold in the 400 individual medley in 4:36.98, winning from American Maggie Bowen (4:39.06) and Olympic bronze medallist Beatrice Caslaru of Romania (4:39.33).
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Threat to boycott National Games Jalandhar, July 22 A former Sports Minister, Mr Umrao Singh, addressing a press conference here today alleged that Mr Jai Pal Singh, DSP, Punjab Chief Minister’s security, was alleged threatening the members of various district athletic associations with dire consequences if they attended association’s executive meeting held here today. “In fact, most of the office-bearers of the association are government employees and the political leaders of the ruling SAD-BJP combine in connivance with the state police officials are trying to create a region of terror among them by threatening departmental actions against them for supporting me as its president,” Mr Umrao Singh alleged. All the members of district athletic associations except Moga attended the executive meeting to review the training camps which were underway at Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala for the selection of Punjab athletic squad. The members reposed full faith in the presidentship of Mr Umaro Singh. “The future of sports in the state is very bleak in light of these activities sponsored by the state government just to settle political scores, which is highly deplorable. There should not be any politics into sports, if we are really concerned about the future of sports in Punjab,” he added. “We have no option but to withdraw from the National Games if the state government fails to stop political interference,” the former Sports Minister declared while claiming that 120 athletes were being trained for the National Games at three camps organised by the association. |
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Eastern Sector ride on Ekka’s hat-trick Jalandhar, July 22 A combination of attacking and defensive game proved good for Eastern Sector. Eastern Sector’s E. Kandulna opened the account in the 5th minute with the help of a field goal. After taking lead Eastern Sector played defensive game and played mid-field hockey. The scoresheet remained at 1-0 in favour of Eastern Sector. In the second half Jammu & Kashmir Sector tried hard in search of an equaliser but their forward line failed to utilise the opportunities. On the other hand Eastern Sector team defence and forward lines played with more confidence. Eastern Sector’s
V.K. Kajur scored the second goal in the 37th minute by angular hit from the right flank. The Birsa Ekka of Eastern Sector displayed his skill in the last 15 minutes. Birsa scored three goals in a row in just six minutes (59th, 61st and 64th minutes) making it 5-0 for Eastern Sector. In the
second match of the day in pool-C between North East Sector and Manipur & Nagaland Sector, did not impress the spectators as both teams played mid-field hockey. The North East Sector’s front-line fierced the rival defence line but failed to score. In the 8th and 22nd and 34th minute, the North East Sector team got penalty corners, which went
abegging. The score-sheet remained blank till the lemon-break. North East Sector men made some fine moves and attacked the Manipur & Nagaland citadel in search of lead. They surged ahead in the 63rd minute. They got the fourth penalty corner of the match and this time M. Xalxo did not err in finding the target (1-0). The Manipur & Nagaland Sector men got seven penalty corners but failed to covert. The scoresheet remained 1-0 in favour of North East Sector team at the end of the stipulated period of 70 minutes. |
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Senegal book berth in World Cup Johannesburg, July 22 The West African nation, which had never come close to qualifying before, finished level on 15 points with Morocco in group C, but had a much superior goal difference. Egypt, who also nursed ambitions of finishing first going into the final round of qualifiers, could only draw 1-1 in Algeria and ended third, two points adrift. After a week in which organisers FIFA changed the dates and times of the matches, Senegal joined Cameroon, South Africa and Tunisia at the quadrennial showcase of international football. The final African slot rests between Nigeria and Liberia, with the former needing a home victory over Ghana on July 29 to snatch a passport to the far east. Realising that if Egypt collected maximum points in the Mediterranean city of Annaba their margin of victory had to be three goals greater, Senegal went on the offensive from the kick-off in cold, gloomy windhoek. Switzerland-based Pape Thiaw, one of the few Senegales Lions not playing for French clubs, opened the floodgates after 15 minutes by scoring from close range when Namibian goalkeeper Danzyl Bruwer misjudged a cross. Striker Al-Hadji Diouf, nicknamed ‘Serial Killer’ because of his predatory goalmouth instincts, secured his eighth goal of the qualifying competition soon after with Thiaw the creator this time. Another Thiaw goal left Senegal three goals ahead at half-time and after surviving a Namibian fightback and the expulsion of Pape Sarr for a dangerous tackle, they struck twice more in the closing stages.
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Atwal slips to
tied 20th spot New Delhi, July 22 Atwal now aggregates seven-under 209 going into the final round of the $ 425,000 Siouxland Open being played at the par-72, 7,165-yard, Dakota Dunes Country Club, Dakota. Atwal, a regular on the Davidoff Asian PGA Tour, had a roller-coaster penultimate round. One-under after six holes, Atwal dropped his first shot on the par-5 seventh. A birdie finish to his outward journey reinstated him to one-under. With temperatures steadily mounting accompanied by swirling winds, Atwal failed to maintain the momentum with his back-nine card reflecting bogeys on the 11th and 15th and a lone birdie on the 12th.
PTI |
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Sports academy
for Sonepat village Sonepat, July 22 This was stated by Ms Uma Bharati, Union Minister for Sports, Youth and Cultural Affairs, while inspecting the proposed site of the academy at Chauhan Joshi village, 12 km from here, last evening. The Union Minister said people of the village had donated 100 acres for establishing the academy and they had assured that all formalities would be completed soon in this regard. She also recalled the services of Mr Devi Lal who she said had done commendable work for the development of Haryana and also for the welfare of the people, particularly farmers and Dalits. She assured that the Central Government would give all assistance to the state government for the promotion of sports. Mr Ajay Chautala, MP, said the academy was a gift of the Centre. |
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