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| Saturday,
August 4, 2001, Chandigarh, India    |
India fail
to open German defence, lose 0-2 Germany's Bjorn Michel (R) and India's Sukhbir Singh Gill fight for a loose ball during their match at the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. Germany beat India 2-0. Paes,
Bhupathi in Davis Cup squad |
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Saurav Ganguly writes Kumble writes England fall to Warne’s
spell |
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Jeev
upstaged by fickle weather Decision
‘after Kalmadi’s arrival’ Change
in format on BAI agenda Sangrur
scrape past Muktsar Indian
junior hockey team
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India fail to open German defence, lose 0-2 Kuala Lumpur, August 3 Germany scored once in each half, the goals coming through their star forward Oliver Domke and Timo Wess, who converted a penalty corner in the second half. India did have their chances but could not crack open the German defence where Florian Kunz and Michael Green were brilliant. In an earlier match, South Korea and Pakistan played a 2-2 draw. India had started their campaign at the prestigious tournament yesterday with a 2-2 draw against hosts Malaysia. The Indian forward line was once again exposed today as Sabu Varkey, who was supposed to play in tandem with Mukesh Kumar, gave a miserable display with the Indian coach Baldev Singh pulling him off early in the first half. Deepak Thakur was in perfect position thrice but ran the wrong way when Mukesh set a pass for him. In the defence, it was Dilip Tirkey who put up a superlative show. Germany earned four penalty corners to India’s two showing how the game was constantly played in the midfield. Indian team manager A.P. Singh said the team was improving and that “the boys played well looking at the overall strength of the German team”. “Devesh Chauhan played well to keep some stiff shots away but we were a little disappointed with the forward line,” he said. India gave an improved display but once again muffed some easy chances while their rivals captalised on the chances that came their way. Germans opened the game on a very attacking note and in the fourth minute achieved the breakthrough, even before the Indians could settle down. The winners caught the Indian defence totally off guard as they attacked from the centre and before the Indians could get their act together, Oliver Domke had breached the wall and with a powerful flick beat goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan all ends up (1-0). The sudden goal stunned the Indian side and they tried to counter, with Baljit Chandi and Ignace Tirkey leading the charge. It was heartening to see the young Indians going flat out against their much experienced rivals. Ironically, it was experienced players like Sabu Varkey, who let the side down. Varkey, was again totally off colour and that put pressure on the Indian forward line. Young Deepak Thakur, along with his skipper Mukesh Kumar, kept the forward line moving with a great deal of support from Daljit Dhillon. Though India kept the rival defence busy but it was the Germans who held the sway for most of the time. However, Indian defence, manned by Dilip Tirkey frustrated many German forays spearheaded by Oliver Domke. India counter-attack rattled the German defence, but Baljit Chandi missed a difficult chance. Midway through the first half India had a good chance to draw parity but Deepak Thakur muffed up the opportunity. Mukesh Kumar darted past a couple of defenders to set up Thakur in the circle, but the Indian youngster lost his concentration and was easily foiled by the defender. India did not allow the Germans to dominate the midfield and the winners had a rather tough time keeping the rivals under control. Indian trio of Dhillon, Thakur and Mukesh Kumar made some good moves but were not able to penetrate the solid German defence.
PTI, UNI |
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Paes, Bhupathi in Davis Cup squad New Delhi, August 3 Six players have been short-listed for the Davis Cup tie against the USA to be played at Winston Salem from September 21 to 23. The players are: Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Harsh Mankad, Syed Fazaluddin, Mustafa Ghouse and Ajay Ramaswamy. Mr Minotra said a final team of five players will be named later. Ramesh Krishnan is the non-playing captain, but there was no mention of his name released by the AITA today. The same players have been named for the Afro-Asian Games too. Nirupama Vaidyanathan will spearhead the women’s challenge. Manisha Malhotra, Rushmi Chakravarti, Sai Jayalakshmi, Sania Mirza and Radhika Tulpule will be the other members. |
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Saurav Ganguly writes It was two great days of cricket which saw us through to the finals of the Coca Cola cup in Sri Lanka. The team showed lot of character in coming back from the position we were in the tournament after three losses in the first three games. Every game was a knock-out for us and the boys came back with all guns blazing. Playing back-to-back matches is not easy in such hot and humid conditions and we did pretty well in such a situation. The fitness levels of the boys had increased enormously in the last 10 months and it showed in the two games. I was not too unhappy in losing the toss against Sri Lanka, although the wicket was a bit damp we still managed a decent score in such conditions and we were playing one extra batsman. We lost a few wickets early but then Yuvraj Singh played a superb knock to put a total which we knew we could defend. Yuvraj is a fine player and he and Sehwag are genuine match winners. They are young boys with a bright future and our players who will win you games with bat or ball. We bowled very well as we have done right throughout the tournament and beat the Lankans convincingly. The New Zealanders had beaten us square in the previous two games and we knew we had to play out of our skin to beat them. I was also worried about the fitness of the boys because there were quite a few cramps and I hoped that we got up well for the game. I thought we gave a few runs away but the knock Sehwag played just made that large total look very small. He played one of the best one-day knocks I have seen. It was just clean hitting and normal cricketing shots. He is a great timer of the cricket ball and his knock took away all the fire from the kiwis. We had a huge opening stand and there was no pressure on the batsmen because the required rate was below five an over. Rahul Dravid hit the ball well and it was good to see Badani strike form. We go into the finals with a positive frame of mind. The bowlers bowled well right throughout the series but I was happy that all our batters have struck form before the finals. We have played well in the last three games and hope to continue the good form in the finals. We have two days rest before the August 5, which will help us recharge our batteries and we can come up firing.
Gameplan |
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Kumble writes What a way to enter the final of a competition! After having lost three matches on the trot and having to win the remaining three to qualify, the Indian team showed a lot of character, grit and determination. The team couldn’t get the batting combination right until their second game against Sri Lanka in a do-or-die battle when Laxman played a match winning knock after our bowlers had restricted Sri Lanka to a modest total. In the penultimate match of the league phase against the host nation, it was young Yuvraj who showed India the way. He scored a superb unbeaten 98 runs and was a trifle unlucky not to have got to his maiden century in one-day internationals. Yuvraj is a fantastic stroke maker and showed his class during this knock. Yuvraj and Rahul played well under pressure and the latter’s presence and guidance must surely have helped Yuvraj. The interest remained right through the league phase of this Coca-Cola tri-nation tournament mainly due to the excellent and exciting cricket provided by all the three teams participating India, New Zealand and the host nation Sri Lanka. New Zealand rather surprisingly adjusted to the slow nature of the pitches to beat India in the first two league matches and also posted the highest score in this tournament so far for a place in Saturday’s final against Sri Lanka. It is never easy to play back-to-back one-day games and more so in hot and humid conditions. Our bowlers deserve a lot of praise having bowled beautifully throughout this tri-series. The bowlers looked slightly stiff after playing Sri Lanka on the previous day. Nathan Astle continued the good form to score his ninth one-day hundred and along with his skipper Fleming, New Zealand posted the highest score in the tournament for India to surpass, for a place in the final. One man changed the whole complexion of the game for India — Virender Sehwag — played a swashbuckling knock. His maiden century in 68 balls and as well as an opening partnership with Sourav — who was a mere spectator — sealed the game in India’s favour. The Kiwi bowlers looked clueless against Sehwag, who played some amazing shots and gave an exhibition of his talent. Sourav, Rahul and Badani capitalised on a great start to achieve the stiff target quite comfortably in the end. India now go into the final, high in confidence having defeated Sri Lanka twice in the league phase. It is only a question of mind over matter now in the final — after having lost to West Indies in Zimbabwe recently after having dominated until then. India will be addressing this aspect more when they sit down to meet before the final.
Gameplan |
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England fall to Warne’s
spell
Nottingham August 3 Shane Warne took three quick wickets to leave England battling to save the Ashes. Warne turned the game dramatically back Australia’s way as England collapsed from 115 for two to 126 for five. England had looked well-placed before skipper Michael Atherton, on 51, was adjudged caught behind off Warne. Atherton, clearly unhappy with the decision, trudged off and was soon joined by Alec Stewart, who played on as he faced his second ball. Soon after Mark Ramprakash, in a rush of blood, charged Warne and was stumped for 26 to make it 126 for five, giving his fourth victim of the innings. The day began with England pace bowler Alec Tudor taking five wickets as Australia, inspired by Adam Gilchrist’s half-century, were dismissed for 190, giving them a five-run first-innings lead. But the oddest dismissal of the day came when Marcus Trescothick, who put on 57 with Atherton for the first wicket, was dismissed for 32. The left-hander was caught by wicketkeeper Gilchrist after the ball deflected off Matthew Hayden’s leg at short leg as he took evasive action. The third umpire was called on to adjudicate from a replay. Australia had edged to their narrow first-innings advantage after Adam Gilchrist and Jason Gillespie shared a ninth-wicket partnership of 66. Having collapsed from 48 without loss to 105 for seven in a highly-charged final session on Thursday, the Australians were revived as Gilchrist hammered 54 off 59 balls and Gillespie gave him staunch support with 27 not out. Tudor shared the honours by finishing with his test best of five for 44 on his recall after a two-year absence. Tudor, suffering stiffness in his side on the eve of the match, dispelled any doubts about his fitness with a telling performance as first change bowler in only his fourth Test. He wrapped up the innings with three for 20 in two spells to add to his overnight two for 24.
Reuters SCOREBOARD England (Ist innings): 185 Australia (Ist innings):
(overnight 105-7)
Slater b Gough 15 Hayden lbw b Tudor 33 Ponting c Stewart b Gough 14 M. Waugh c Atherton
b Tudor 15 S Waugh c Atherton b Caddick 13 Martyn c Stewart b Caddick 4 Gilchrist c Atherton b Tudor 54 Warne lbw b Caddick 0 Lee c Butcher b Tudor 4 Gillespie not out 27 McGrath c Butcher b Tudor 2 Extras (lb-3 w-1 nb-5) 9 Total
(54.5 overs) 190 Fall of wickets:
1-48, 2-56, 3-69, 4-82, 5-94, 6-102, 7-102, 8-122, 9-188 Bowling:
Gough 15-3-63-2, Caddick 20-4-70-3, Tudor 15.5-5-44-5, White 2-1-8-0, Croft 2-0-2-0. England (2nd innings):
Atherton c Gilchrist b Warne 51 Trescothick c Gilchrist b Warne 32 Butcher lbw b Lee 1 Ramprakash st Gilchrist
b Warne 26 Stewart b Warne 0 Ward batting 13 White c S. Waugh b Warne 7 Extras
(b-4, lb-3, nb-7) 14 Total
(6 wickets, 48.5 overs) 144 Fall of wickets:
1-57, 2-59, 3-115, 4-115, 5-126, 6-144. Bowling:
McGrath 11-3-31-0, Gillespie 16-7-51-0, Lee 8-1-30-0, Warne 13.5-4-25-5. |
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Jeev upstaged by fickle weather Denver, August 3 The Indian ace was the last to tee off from the difficult 10th hole yesterday and hit two awesome shots to set up a four-feet birdie putt. But he missed that putt and had to wait for nearly three hours to make his par putt. As soon as Jeev missed his putt, the hooter went off as a thunderstorm approached the course. After a delay of 70 minutes, play was about to start when a tornado warning was issued and players had to come back to the clubhouse again. When play resumed after a 174-minute suspension, Jeev completely lost his focus and made a double bogey on the par-3 11th and a bogey on the par-4 12th. Another bogey on the 16th saw him in the lowest rungs of the leaderboard at -5 points. However, the Hero Honda sponsored Jeev displayed nerves of steel as he came back strongly with birdies on the first and the third holes before poor light stopped play for good. With six holes to play, Jeev accumulated -1 points. “I am pretty happy with the way I made the comeback. All is not lost yet and I have got 26 holes to play before the first cut is applied. I lost my focus after the delay but I am sure I will make up for the lost ground in the morning,’’ said Jeev after the round. Lee Janzen, the champion here in 1995, used the favourable conditions early in the morning to the hilt and was the clubhouse leader with 17 points. The American, who won the 1998 US Open championship, had a bogey-free round and jumped up the leaderboard by making an eagle on the par-5 17th, followed by a birdie on the 18th. Chris Riley followed him at +16, while South Africa born Rory Sabbatini was third at +14 points. American Scott McCarron went without a bogey to be fourth at 13 points. Janzen, coming from four straight missed cuts, was pleased as punch with his score. “seventeen points was totally unexpected. I was hoping for a decent start, but this is beyond my expectations. My putting was the key today,” said the 37-year-old who made birdies on the second, third, seventh, ninth,14th and 18th and rolled in a 20-footer eagle putt on the 17th. Riley, who is currently 115th in the money list and desperately needs a good finish to keep his card for next season, bogeyed his opening hole, the 10th of the course. He was +3 at the turn with birdies on the 14th and 17th, and caught fire on the back nine with seven birdies, including five in the last five holes. “That was pretty amazing. I had a sore throat on Wednesday and pulled out of the pro-am. I did not have much expectation and just wanted to have fun out there. And all of a sudden, the putts started dropping,” said the Californian. Twice champion and world No 2 Phil Mickelson and defending British Open champion David Duval shot 11 points, while the defending champion Ernie Els opened with a +9. The tournament is played on a modified stableford scoring system. An albatross fetches +8 points to the players, and eagle +5 while a birdie +2 points. However a bogey is worth -1 point, while a double bogey or worse would mean a loss of three points.
UNI |
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Decision
‘after Kalmadi’s arrival’ New Delhi, August 3 IOA secretary-general Randhir Singh told The Tribune here today that a final decision about the National Games would be taken only after the arrival of IOA president Suresh Kalmadi from Dortmund tomorrow. Mr I.S. Bindra and Mr Virk of the National Games Organising Committee were here to plead with the Union Government to release the Rs 4 crore sanctioned for the import of equipment to be used for the National Games. But sources in the ministry said the government was in no mood to release the money as it has lost all faith in the Punjab Government’s ability to host the games, after several postponements. Sources said the Union Government saw no point in doing a rush job with the National Games when the country was gearing up to host the inaugural Afro-Asian Games from November 3 to 11. Randhir Singh said as things stood, the IOA had no plans to put off the games. He said he and Mr Kalmadi would be attending a meeting of the National Games Organising Committee in Ludhiana on August 10-11. If Punjab failed to hold the games this year, they will not be able to host them next year either, as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is determined to host the seventh edition of the games on time in the state. Andhra has given the stadium and games village work to Larsen and Tubro on the condition that all the work would be completed well before time, and handed over to the organising committee. If either party fails to honour its word, a penalty of 18 per cent will be charged. |
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Change in format on
BAI agenda Chandigarh, August 3 Mr D.K. Mukerjee , founder of the Chandigarh Badminton Association, will attend the meeting as one of executive member from Chandigarh. The various zonal inter-state meets has four events — men (Rahimtollah Cup), women (Chadha Cup), boys (Narang Cup) and girls (Shafi Qureshi Cup). The North Zone inter-state meet will be held at Jalandhar, South Zone meet in Andhra Pradesh, East Zone meet at Cuttack (Orissa), West Zone meet at Goa, North-East Zone meet in Nagaland and Central Zone meet will be hosted by Air India. The seeding for the above inter-state meets will be on the basis of last year’s performance. The progress of the allotted nationals in various age groups, as mini nationals at Ooty, junior nationals at Bhopal, senior nationals at Lucknow and veterans nationals at Jammu will be reviewed. |
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Sangrur
scrape past Muktsar Mandi Gobindgarh, August 3 On the distaff side, in a high voltage duel it all boiled down to the element of killer instinct and the Sangrur girls showed that they had in abundance. In the first quarter of the match, the Sangrur lasses found themselves at the
receiving end even as their rivals notched up point after point and managed to enlarge the lead to 14-4. In the second quarter, perhaps spurred on by a pep talk from the teams think tank, the Sangrur girls were a totally rejuvenated
lot. The packed stadium applauded each and every move of playmaker Rupitinder Kaur , who was the one to initially ignite the comeback spark. She got tremendous support from her colleagues. Some crafty moves started flowing from both the flanks and the solo sallies became more obvious. The heavily marked Rupitinder single-handedly brought the encounter to an even keel at 25-25. In the crucial third quarter Muktsar girls retreated into a shell, started dishing out a low-key performance strewn with a lot of fouls and flaws. This proved to be a boon to the athletic and agile Sangrur girls who reveled in attacking and counter attacking. Rupitinder unleashed a three pointer, which not only changed the complexion of the game but again leveled the scores at 30-30. Pivot Shivani Goyal, taking advantage of a defensive lapse darted in weaving her way through a set of defenders and with just two seconds to go she superbly put the ball into the cage from an acute angle. The margin between victory and defeat says it all and it was surely a melancholic moment for the inconsolable Muktsar team. In the men’s section, the element of unpredictability seems to be the buzzword as reputations continue to be made and marred. However, an exception was holders and favourites Bathinda’s easy win against Nawashahar 45-23. Barring a few thrustful probes from either flanks, the Nawashahar boys gave a completely unprofessional performance. That the gangling Bathinda lads knocked the stuffings out of their rivals is indicated by the scoreline itself. With the night approaching the organisers were busy trying to keep pace with the busy schedule of eight matches yet to be played today night |
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Indian
junior hockey team Ludhiana, August 3 The Indian team: Suraj Kanta and Soma Sundram, Kamal Preet, Vikramjeet, K.P. Rai, Mandeep Singh Ghuman, Parbot Tirkey, Rajni Kant, Sandeep Kumar, Vikrant Pillay, Viren Riksona, Inderjit Singh Chaddha, Rajpal Singh, Amarjeet Pratap, Raju, Sandeep Michael, Ajit Pal and Tasur Khandekar. |
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Nottingham August 3
