Tuesday,
July 31, 2001, Chandigarh, India |
Engrossing
contest on cards Saurav Ganguly writes Streak, Blignaut put Zimbabwe on
top |
|
|
Colombia crowned Copa America champs
Agassi
prevails over Pete Sampras |
|
Davenport
falls to Clijsters Unexpected
3rd place for Honduras Tushar
enters 2nd round Ramesh
shares lead Athletics
team for world meet Outsiders’
entry banned Punjab
gymnastics from Aug 5 Markfed chess meet
|
Engrossing contest on cards Colombo, July 30 India’s first win in the series, a seven-wicket defeat of Sri Lanka, has opened up the tournament and Sri Lanka and New Zealand cannot take their place in the final for granted. Sri Lanka, who won their first three matches in the series before losing to India, lead the table with six points but a loss to New Zealand tomorrow means theoretically there would still be a possibility of their being knocked out. A Kiwis win tomorrow could mean a three-way tie if India clinch their remaining two matches on Wednesday and Thursday. Net run rate would come into play in such a scenario. The match assumes great significance for both Sri Lanka and New Zealand, who have four points from two wins. The teams would be looking not only to win but also at improving their net run rate which will become crucial in the case of a tie. Sri Lanka have defeated New Zealand in both their earlier matches in this series and will naturally have a psychological edge. Except for the debacle against India, they have been the most consistent side in this tournament performing well both with the bat and the ball. Sri Lanka have a formidable batting line-up that would be out to prove that the dramatic collapse against India was just an aberration. The hosts had made a remarkable comeback from 27-4 to defeat New Zealand by five wickets in their previous match and the batsmen would be required to show such character and discipline again, now that the stakes are much higher. Skipper Sanath Jayasuriya has been very consistent in this tournament and he can be depended upon to give another fiery start to his team. Mahela Jayawardene has been totally out of touch and Sri Lanka might replace him in tomorrow’s game with Avishka Gunawardene who did not play the game against India. Marvan Atapattu, Russel Arnold, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Kumara Sangakkara and Suresh Perera have all made useful contributions with the bat and they will need to fire in unison tomorrow. As usual Muthiah Muralitharan would be the key to Sri Lankan bowling. The wily off-spinner has troubled the Kiwis considerably in the previous matches and the hosts would once again rely on him to give them the vital breakthroughs. Muralitharan has got able support from Kumar Dharmasena who bowled quite well against the Indians and is very good at the restraining job. Veteran Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando will spearhead the pace attack while Jayasuriya and Arnold will also chip in with their spin bowling. New Zealand have been boosted with the recovery of their captain Stephen Fleming who is expected to play tomorrow after missing two matches. The Kiwis must be rueing their chances when they let off Sri Lanka from a winning position in the previous game. They cannot afford any similar slip-offs this time. Nathan Astle would be the key to a healthy total for New Zealand. He has so far delivered in this series and would be expected to come up with another fine innings tomorrow. Opener Mathew Sinclair, Jacob Oram, Craig McMillan and Chris Harris would also need to contribute substantially with the bat to carve out a win for New Zealand. The Kiwis’ fate would depend much on how the batsmen tackle Muralitharan. They might plan to see off the spin wizard and go after the other bowlers, who, however, are no novices either. It remains to be seen what strategy New Zealand plan out for tomorrow. Kyle Mills and Darryl Tuffy bowled a fine line in the previous match against Sri Lanka and with Dion Nash back in the side, the New Zealand bowling attack is very sound. Left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori is among the wickets in this series and he is very economical too. Both teams will anounce their final elevens tomorrow morning. Teams (from): Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya (capt), Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Kumar Sangakkara, Russel Arnold, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Dharmasena, Chaminda Vaas, Dulip Liyanage, Avishka Gunawardena, Chamara Silva, Suresh Perera, Dilhara Fernando and Dinusha Fernando. New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Mathew Sinclair, Craig McMillan, Chris Harris, Adam Parore, Lou Vincent, Daniel Vettori, Dion Nash, Jacob Oram, Daryl Tuffey, Kyle Mills, Grand Bradburn and James Franklin.
PTI |
Saurav Ganguly
writes The tournament is in a very delicate situation after our victory against Sri Lanka. We are in with a chance of qualifying for the finals if we win our next two games. Sri Lanka are definitely one of the teams through but their win against New Zealand is very important for us. We played very well on Saturday. Our situation before Saturday’s game was similar to the Australians in the World Cup. They had to win seven straight games to qualify for the World Cup finals and they did exactly that. We had to cross three hurdles to qualify for the finals and we have done just one. If we are able to do that it’s going to be a real test of our strength of character. We had a long chat before the game on Saturday regarding our mind set because we lost games in the tournament that we should have won easily. The boys also got a bit determined because of my one match suspension which was a bit disappointing. But I hope it’s consistent for everybody. We had a few injuries in the team, Laxman’s knee, Zaheer’s shin, Nehra’s groin, but they came out of their pain barriers well to deliver the goods. Sri Lanka won a good toss on Saturday because the wickets were probably the best of the tournament. They got off to a flying start. I thought Zaheer and Nehra were unlucky to have the two LBW decisions turned against them as they looked very plumb from outside. The Sri Lankans were in a very good position at 128 for 1 and a 260/270 was in the cards. But our spinners bowled well once again as they have done right throughout the tournament. Harbhajan, Yuvraj Sehwag bowled very well and India kept things tight. They picked wickets as well. Sri Lankans also played some poor shots and made some poor batting changes. The promotion of Vaas was bit of a surprise but full credit goes to our bowlers. The seamers came back well to finish off the Sri Lankan batting. It was good to see Zaheer Khan bowl quick on this slow pitch and the ball to Suresh Pereira would make Wasim Akram proud. The Sri Lankans were restricted to 183 and we just had to bat sensibly to win the game. Laxman looked in superb touch as he just looked to get in line and time the ball which is his strength. Sehwag looked very good but failed to capitalise on a start once again. He looks to be a sweet timer of the cricket ball but has to convert these starts into big scores because he has lot ability. Rahul Dravid played a good supporting role to Laxman and both put a good 81-run partnership which sealed the match in our favour. It was a good professional performance by India. They bowled, batted and fielded well. We have got two important games coming. It’s a knockout situation for us as we have to win those two games to qualify. It will be a real test of mental strength. Laxman deserves a special praise for his knock as his knee was in bad shape. Our next two games will be at the SSC where the ball comes on to the bat and the wickets are firmer than Premadasa. But we have to play out of our skins and compete hard. But one good thing is we can only go up after our performance in the first three games.
Gameplan |
Streak, Blignaut put Zimbabwe on
top
Harare, July 30 The home side, needing a victory to level the two-match series after the West Indies won the first Test, set the tourists 348 to win after declaring their second innings on a record 563 for nine. The West Indies closed on 42 for one batting again when bad light brought play to a halt 8.4 overs early. They require another 306 for victory or need to bat through the fifth day to save the match. Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak claimed the wicket of Daren Ganga for five, the opener wafting across the line and lofting the ball off a leading edge to Bryan Strang at mid off. The Zimbabwe total was the highest since they entered the Test arena, passing the 544 for four wickets declared they scored against Pakistan on the same ground in 1994-1995. Streak and Andy Blignaut added a Zimbabwe record 154 for the seventh wicket in a superb display of attacking strokeplay. Blignaut was particularly murderous, thrashing the ball to all parts of the ground. He reached his maiden Test fifty with a massive six smashed straight back over the head of Neil McGarrell, then survived a concerted appeal for a catch off the glove. The declaration came after McGarrell removed Strang to claim his third wicket. Streak finished unbeaten on 79, facing 176 balls and hitting 10 fours and a six. Scoreboard Zimbabwe (1st innings): 131 West Indies (1st innings): 347 Zimbabwe (2nd innings): Ebrahim c Browne b Stuart 12 Campbell c Gayle b Hooper 65 Masakadza c Hooper
b McGarrell 119 Wishart run out 93 Whittall lbw b McGarrell 12 Flower c Chanderpaul b King 15 Streak not out 79 Blignaut b Stuart 92 Taibu b Stuart 10 Strang c Gayle b McGarrell 13 Extras
(b-15 lb-21 nb-17) 53 Total (for 9 wkts decl 167
overs) 563 FOW: 1-27, 2-118, 3-287, 4-324, 5-333, 6-367, 7-521, 8-535, 9-563. Bowling: King 28-7-81-1, Black 17-1-93-0, McGarrell 60-19-157-3, Stuart 32-9-99-3, Hooper 28-7-86-1, Samuels 3-0-11-0. West Indies (2nd innings): Ganga c Strang b Streak 5 Gayle not out 17 Sarwan not out 11 Extras: (b-4, lb-4, w-1) 9 Total: (for 1 wkt 15.2 overs) 42 FOW: 1-25. Bowling: Streak 6-0-9-1, Blignaut 4-0-20-0, Strang 5.2-4-5-0.
Reuters Ebrahim receives warning Harare, July 30 |
Colombia
crowned Copa America champs
Bogota, July 30 Cordoba scored with a glancing header last night to give the Colombians a victory they just about deserved at Bogota’s El Campin Stadium in front of a raucous confetti-throwing and flag-waving crowd. The Colombians, who scored 11 goals and conceded none in their six matches, scored a double triumph as they also picked up the fair play trophy and no sooner had they lifted the cup than many of the country’s 42 million inhabitants took to the streets for a night of wild celebration. Many supporters began dancing an enthusiastic rumba having greeted the winning goal with cheers which echoed across the Andes while national television stations broadcast the national anthem soon after the final whistle. The indisciplined Mexicans finished with nine men after having Juan Rodriguez dismissed with 11 minutes remaining by Paraguayan referee Ubaldo Aquino, while Gerardo Torrado was also red-carded in the final seconds.
Coach Javier Aguirre was also banned from the bench in the first half in a bleak evening for the Mexicans, who were playing their second final having lost in 1993 to Argentina on their first appearance as Central American guest participants. Colombia won in their second final appearance, 26 years after going down to Peru, having marched past Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile, Peru and Honduras before seeing off the Mexicans. Prolific striker Victor Aristizabal served notice that the hosts were not about to let their chance of a first title slip in front of their own fanatical fans as he carved out the first real chance of the game on five minutes, his effort striking the post. Freddy Grisales then had visiting keeper Oscar Perez under pressure and the Mexican was happy to help the ball out for a corner which came to nothing. Aristizabal appealed vociferously for a penalty on 24 minutes when he appeared to be bundled over in a Mexican defensive sandwich but the referee was unimpressed. The striker then went off injured to be replaced by Jairo Castillo — but safe in the knowledge he would finish as tournament top scorer with six goals, one more than Paulo Wanchope of Costa Rica. At the other end Jared Borguetti fired off target when well placed in a rare Mexican attack. But after becoming increasingly frustrated with the stalemate the crowd went wild as Cordoba finally broke the deadlock, getting in front of a clutch of defenders to flick a header low past Oscar Perez as he met Ivan Lopez’s cross from the right. Mexico had been spraying the ball around confidently until the goal but Cordoba’s effort and the resulting increase in crowd volume threw them. Within minutes they were down to 10 men. Rodriguez went for his early bath and in the final 10 minutes they could only resort to strong arm tactics and some crude fouls to keep the Colombians at bay and hope an equaliser would materialise from somewhere. Many in the crowd had a political message for their leaders as they waved white signs with slogans celebrating the fact the tournament went ahead at all, as it was almost derailed by the political violence sweeping Colombia. Among onlookers were FIFA president Sepp Blatter and former Argentine star Diego
Maradona, who sat just feet away from beaming Colombian president Andres
Pastrana. AFP |
Agassi prevails over Pete Sampras Los Angeles, July 30 Agassi, the ATP champions race leader, underscored his status as the top player in the world right now, posting his third straight victory over Sampras, who nonetheless leads their career head-to-head 17-14. “It’s always a great result any time you beat Pete,” said Agassi after the match yesterday, adding that the match was much closer than the score might indicate. “I was down two break points in the first set. In the second set he had 40-0 and I broke. That’s the difference between somebody cruising to 3-1 and we’re looking at three sets, or me looking at the finish line.” Sampras, a 13-time Grand Slam champion whose fourth-round defeat at Wimbledon marked only his second loss there in nine years, is without a victory in 2001. In fact, his last title came at Wimbledon in 2000. Currently lying 20th in the champions race and seeded fourth in this event, Sampras grabbed the first break in the sixth game of the opening set. But Agassi, the third seed, immediately broke him to love. “He was struggling with the sun on that side,” said Agassi, who saw Sampras altering his toss in an attempt to avoid the glare. “His serve dropped off dramatically in that game.” Agassi broke again to lead 5-4 in a game in which Sampras committed three double-faults, including one on break point. After serving out the set Agassi jogged to his chair re-energised. “He had so many chances against me in the first set even before he broke me,” added Agassi, who saved six of seven break points against him in the match. “When I snuck away with it, that elevated my game.” Sampras, on the other hand, looked less sharp as the match progressed. “After he got that first set I kind of lost my way,” said Sampras, who failed to convert three break chances in the second game of the second set. Then came the game in which he led 40-0 before dropping his own serve, thanks to his own errors and a couple of stinging forehand passing shots from Agassi.
AFP |
Davenport
falls to Clijsters Stanford, July 30 Third seed Clijsters outlasted second seed Davenport 6-4, 6-7, (5/7) 6-1, here yesterday to win a $ 565,000 WTA hardcourt event, taking the top prize of $ 90,000 to deny Davenport a third title here in four years. “I hadn’t won one yet, so it’s really nice,” Clijsters said. “After the second set, I was like, ‘I don’t want to lose another.’ So I kept focusing. This meant a lot to me. It gave me confidence. That was very important.” French Open runner-up
Clijsters, who will reach a career-best fifth in the WTA rankings, had been 0-4 in prior meetings against Davenport, including a Wimbledon quarterfinal defeat. “She is a better player than she was three weeks ago,” Davenport said. “She didn’t play well at Wimbledon. She played well
here.” Clijsters played well enough to have Davenport consider her a favourite for the upcoming US Open. “She has played a lot of big matches,” Davenport said. “She has cut down on her errors. She’s right up there, definitely one of the
favourites.” Clijsters was 0-4 in prior 2001 finals. Her nearest miss came in her first career Grand Slam final, when she pushed Jennifer Capriati at the French Open to 10-12 in the third set.
AFP |
Unexpected 3rd place for Honduras Bogota, July 30 Saul Martinez, Honduras’ hero in their 2-0 quarter-final win over Brazil, scored the opener after 14 minutes yesterday with a fierce left-foot shot at Bogota’s EL Campin Stadium, which was packed with 46,000 people awaiting the final between hosts Colombia and Mexico. Joe Bizera levelled the scores on 21 minutes before a frenetic period just before the break saw Junior Izaguirre put Honduras back in front on 41 minutes and Andres Martinez equalised on the stroke of half-time. The second half saw both sides cancel each other’s efforts out as the match became increasingly scrappy and penalties had to determine which losing semi-finalist claimed the consolation prize of third place. Reinaldo Pineda, Martinez, Ricky Garcia, Ninrod Medina and Izaguirre duly netted for Honduras but Carlos Gutierrez struck Uruguay’s second kick too close to Honduran keeper Henry Enamorado. The goalie, whose name means in love, duly won his compatriots’ hearts with what proved the vital stop as he conceded efforts from Gonzalo Sorondo, Julio Rodriguez, Rodrigo Lemos and Ruben Olivera. Enamorado, who has played second fiddle for most of the event to first choice Noel Valladares, had earlier made a string of fine saves, one from a stinging Olivera effort bringing the crowd to their feet. Quite apart from their win over Brazil, Honduras have lit up the tournament having only arrived as last-minute replacements for Argentina, who withdrew amid security fears with Colombia racked by political violence.
AFP |
Tushar enters 2nd round Chennai, July 30 However, there were two upsets in the girls under-16 singles event with fifth seed Sharadha Lodha of Maharashtra being ousted by unseeded Andhra Pradesh girl Preethi Shravan 4-6, 7-5, 3-6 in the first round and sixth seed K.Pooja of Andhra Pradesh falling to
seeded Nivedita Venkatesh of Tamil Nadu 3-6, 3-6 in straight sets. Karnataka’s Abhaya Prakash blanked Bengal’s Karina Ahuja 6-0, 6-0. Tushar Liberhan defeated his statemate Sharma Tushar 6-0, 6-0 without dropping a game, while M.Jayakar accounted for Maharashtra’s Moses Allan 6-0, 7-5.
UNI |
Ramesh shares lead Biel (Switzerland), July 30 GM Mihail Kobalija of Russia joined the two leaders in lead on 5 points with a thumping victory over FIDE master Zollbrecht Josef of Germany. IM P. Konguvel managed to win his game with the others drawing after intense fights. Konguvel, alongwith GM Abhijit Kunte and IM D.V. Prasad, is on 4 points. Playing white, Ramesh was unfortunate not to win after nearly outplaying Arizmendi in all departments of the game. The opening featured established manoeuvres of the Sicilian Sveshnikov defence and Ramesh out-prepared his opponent in the early phase itself. The middlegame commenced with Ramesh holding the cushion of an extra pawn and pieces started fleeing the board in a tandem. The players eventually arrived at a queen and pawns endgame having promoted their second queens where Ramesh had two pawns against the lone king. The Indian’s victory was never in doubt but for the faux pas he committed in the crucial final moment. The result was consistent checks on his king and whenever Ramesh managed to wriggle out of the checks, the pawn promotion was made difficult.
PTI |
Athletics
team for world meet New Delhi, July 30 The team includes Sanjay Kumar Rai (long jump), Neelam J. Singh (discus),
K.M. Beenamol (400m) and G.G. Promila (heptathlon), an Amateur Athletic Federation of India press release said today. One of the shortlisted candidates, Anju
Markose, opted out of the championships as she said she wanted to prepare for the inaugural Afro-Asian Games in November, it
said. Rai, Neelam and Beenamol will be leaving Kiev (Ukraine), where they are undergoing training now, for Edmonton
tomorrow. Promila will leave for Canada from Bangalore tomorrow, it added.
PTI |
Outsiders’ entry
banned Patiala, July 30 The main road in front of the administrative block leading to all the four boys hostels and residential quarters of employees has been barricaded on both sides. Although the authorities attribute this to the visit of Mr S.S. Sharma, Secretary (Sports) to the institute recently, sources say the road was closed because several packets of dope were found from the hostels where athletes attending various camps were lodged. A strip of a banned drug, on which the word ‘Atflong’ was written, was also found which again confirmed the fact that ever since some national sports federations (NSF) engaged the services of Russian and Uzbekistani doctors, the use of dope has become more rampant. Interestingly, the word ‘Atflong’ is a Russian word that means ‘not to be used without a doctors prescription’. |
Punjab
gymnastics from Aug 5 Chandigarh, July 30 State teams for men (artistic), women (artistic and rhythmic) for participation in the XXXIst National Games-2001 being held from September 16 to 29 will be selected during the championship. Markfed chess meet Patiala, July 30 The other results:
(boys) — Harbir Singh-1, Parul Verma-2, Parmanand-3; (girls) — Chahita Dhundia-1, Shivinder Kaur-2, Manbir Kaur-3. (18:boys ):Sukhpal Singh-1, Lalit Kumar-2, Sandeep Sharma-3; (18:girls): Arti Anand-1, Anjali Sharma-2, Pushpreet Kaur-3; (employees) women — Usha Rani-1, Savitri Chabra-2, Saroj Kumari, 3; and men — H.S Bhatti-1, Ashok Sharma-2, Jagdish Kumar-3. The prizes were distributed by Mr Som Parkash Sadavarti, Audit Officer, cooperative
socities. |
| 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 | |