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August 6, 2001, Chandigarh, India    |
Injured Waugh to miss fourth
Test |
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India go down to Pakistan
3-4 PM unveils Afro-Asian Games mascot
Gold for John Godina; ban on Russian runner Yegorova
lifted |
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National Games
can’t be put off: Kalmadi Bathinda, Faridkot win
titles
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Sri Lanka humiliate India Colombo, August 5 The pressure of chasing a big total got on the team right from the very start and none of the Indian batsmen could stay long enough to put up even a semblance of fight. India were bowled out for 174 in 47.2 overs after Sri Lanka had piled up an imposing 295 for five on electing to bat first. This was India’s eighth consecutive defeat in a final, the losing streak starting in 1998 in the Pepsi Cup final in Bangalore where the hosts had lost to Pakistan by 123 runs. The three successive wins coming into the final could do nothing to remove their tag of ‘chokers’ and Sri Lanka romped home to an easy win bringing back memories of the Sharjah Cup final earlier this year where India had crashed to one-day cricket’s worst ever defeat, losing by 245-runs. Virendra Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and VVS Laxman, who were responsible for India’s wins in the three previous matches, failed to get going today as did the others, including Rahul Dravid, the most consistent of Indian batsmen in the triangular series which had New Zealand as the third team. This was in stark contrast to Sri Lanka who were helped by substantial contributions from all but one batsmen with Sanath Jayasuriya playing a captain’s knock of 99. Chasing 295 was always going to be a tall order especially since the pitch was expected to get slower in the second innings. It was to be a battle of nerves and the Indians wilted under pressure. India had a disastrous start to their run-chase losing both their openers in the second over. The tremendous hype surrounding Sehwag following his 69-ball 100 against New Zealand in the previous match ended in an anti-climax when he was run out for just four. He was the victim off a brilliant pick and throw by Russel Arnold whose direct hit found him inches outside his non-striker’s crease. But the worst of the Indian batting was exemplified in the dismissal of Saurav Ganguly who was caught by Arnold at point off the very next ball. Ganguly, who made just one, had been caught in the same region on two earlier ocassions and he had no business to be making the same mistake again. At five for two in the second over, India had already lost the mind game. Dravid and Laxman were left with pulling off another miracle, like the one they enacted in the famous Kolkata Test against Australia, but India were not lucky this time. They could add just 56 runs for the third wicket when Dravid, who had been batting quite well, saw an inside edge off his bat crash on to his stumps. He made 21 off 36 balls and hit two fours. Earlier, Sri Lanka fired on all cylinders to reach a commanding 295 for five. Electing to bat on a flat pitch, captain Sanath Jayasuriya led his side from the front top-scoring with 99 with all others contributing handsomely. The hosts maintained a steady run-rate of about six runs an over and all the Indian bowlers, with the exception of Harbhajan Singh who took two for 29, were at the receiving end of the Lankan run onslaught. The worst plight was those of the fast bowlers with Zaheer Khan conceding 58 runs off his eight overs and Ashish Nehra giving away 65 off his nine.
PTI
SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka: Jayasuriya c Ganguly b
Sehwag 99 Gunawardene lbw b Harbhajan 34 Atapattu c Ganguly
b Sehwag 5 Jayawardene lbw b Harbhajan 57 Arnold c Ganguly b Zaheer 52 Kaluwitharna not out 31 Extras: (lb-8, nb-1, w-8) 17 Total:
(5 wkts, 50 overs) 295 Fall of wickets: 1-71, 2-100, 3-204, 4-218, 5-295. Bowling:
Zaheer Khan 8-0-58-1, Nehra 9-0-65-0, Harbhajan Singh 10-0-29-2, Sehwag 9-0-58-2, Yuvraj Singh 10-0-57-0, S. Ganguly 4-0-20-0. India: Ganguly c Arnold b Fernando 1 Sehwag run out 4 Laxman c Jayawardene
b Dharmasena 37 Dravid b Fernando 21 Badani run out 22 Yuvraj Singh b Arnold 6 Sodhi b Murali 7 Dighe c Kalu b Vaas 23 Harbhajan Singh c Arnold
b Murali 15 Zaheer Khan b Vaas 16 Nehra not out 2 Extras (lb-6, w-7, nb-7) 20 Total (all out, 47.2 overs) 174 Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-5, 3-61, 4-91, 5-100, 6-100, 7-114, 8-136, 9-169. Bowling: Vaas 9.2-2-41-2, Fernando 10-2-32-2, Dharmasena 8-0-33-1, Jayasuriya 3-0-9-0, Arnold 7-1-21-1, Muralitharan 10-1-32-2. |
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Injured Waugh to miss fourth Test Nottingham, August 5 Waugh sustained the injury during Australia’s run-chase in the third Test as the tourists beat England by seven wickets to equal England’s seven straight consecutive Ashes series victories. Australia enjoys an unassailable 3-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Waugh was wheeled off Trent Bridge with Australia 69 runs short of victory. Coming in at the fall of opener Matthew Hayden’s wicket with Australia on 88 for three, Waugh flicked fast bowler Alex Tudor and injured his left calf muscle as he completed the shot. He took a single but soon collapsed at the non-striker’s end. Briefly attended by team physiotherapist Errol Alcott, the 36-year-old Waugh was taken off on a stretcher as Damien Martyn replaced him. Waugh, the record-breaking Australian captain, missed the victory celebration after he was rushed to a hospital for a scan. Alcott said a muscle tear would normally take at least three weeks to completely heal. The fourth Test in the dead rubber starts on August 16. In the absence of Waugh, his deputy Adam Gilchrist will lead Australia. Gilchrist has deputised before when he led Australia against the West Indies in Adelaide last year in December as Waugh recovered from a muscle tear in his buttock.
AP |
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India go down to Pakistan
3-4
Kuala Lumpur, August 5 In one of the most engrossing encounters of the tournament, the two traditional rivals played a dazzling game and the young Indian side thrice came from behind to draw parity but it was Sohail Abbas who had the last laugh when he converted a penalty corner in the 60th minute to give his side the first win in the tournament. Pakistan had lost to Australia 5-3, drawn with Korea 2-2 before this win. They now have four points. India, with this defeat, have lost two of the three matches they have played so far with one drawn tie against Malaysia (2-2) and defeat against Germany (0-2). They have only one point to their credit. With today’s win Pakistan took a revenge for their defeat they had suffered against India in the Prime Minister’s Gold Cup at Dhaka early this year. The two teams were level 2-2 at half time. Mohammed Nadeem (20th) Mohammed Shabbir (20th), Kashif Jawwad (36th) and Sohail Abbas (60th) scored for the winners. Daljit Dhillon (28th), Deepak Thakur (32nd) and Jugraj Singh (53rd) scored for the losers. In another match South Korea beat Malaysia 4-1.
UNI |
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PM unveils Afro-Asian Games mascot New Delhi, August 5 The Prime Minister said the choice of “Sheroo” the Lion, as the games mascot “is apt, as lion is the most majestic of animals in the animal world, and well known for its regal bearing, strength and speed, which are synonymous with achieving excellence in sports, and for which, it is much celebrated in literature and lore the world over. It is also found both in Asia and Africa”. He hoped the mascot would help in popularising India and the games all over the world. The PM was also presented a replica of the mascot by Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Uma Bharati. The work on the Afro-Asian Games would not have got started but for the personal intervention of the Prime Minister Vajpayee, who, like a true statesman, gave the go-ahead when the holding of the games became very doubtful, due to financial constraints. The Prime Minister, after officially unveiling Sheroo at Vigyan Bhavan in the morning, said the “combined hard work should result in our honoured foreign guests finding New Delhi a fitting venue for hosting such an important international sports competition. This kind of partnership between the government and professional sports bodies will certainly result in proper management of the games”. Mr Vajpayee said he was happy to learn that work at all the venues was going on in full swing and would be ready well in time for the games. “I am sure that everything is on track for the smooth running of this prestigious event.” The Prime Minister said the games would enable the Indian sports persons to show their true mettle. He said the Indian athletes had a major responsibility because “they will automatically be one of the four teams or individuals to represent Asia. Therefore, Indian athletes will not just represent India, but they will also be representing the entire continent”. “The Afro-Asian Games will also be a testing ground for our athletes and sports persons for the next year’s Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, as also the Olympics in 2004”. Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Uma Bharati assured the Prime Minister that though exactly 90 days remain for the inauguration of the games, the games would be held on schedule. IOA President Suresh Kalmadi said the first Asian Games could be held in Delhi in 1951 due to the unstinted support provided by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi facilitated the holding of the Asian Games in Delhi in 1982. And now, the “whole-hearted support of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee” is responsible for the inaugural Afro-Asian Games becoming a reality. Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Ponu Radhakrishnan, Lt Governor of Delhi Vijay Kapoor and IOA Secretary-General Randhir Singh were the other present at the dais, while the gallery was packed with sports officials and children from various schools of Delhi. |
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Gold for John Godina; ban on Russian runner Yegorova lifted Edmonton (Canada), August 5
Two-time defending 100m champion Maurice Greene sent a warning to his rivals with a supersprint of 9.88 seconds as he geared up for a title hat-trick after earlier wins in 1997 and 1999. Then the IAAF world governing body embarrassed itself by having to reinstate Russian runner Olga Yegorova because its examination method that revealed a positive doping test last month was not a valid one. Yegorova will run in the 5,000m, which might prompt reigning world and Olympic champion Gabriela Szabo to boycott the event. In the medal events, the veteran Godina shocked the opposition with a put of 21.87m in his first of six attempts, which proved to be good enough to add a third gold and $ 60,000 to his titles from 1995 and 1997. Adams had 21.24m for silver and $ 30,000 and Olympic champion Arsi Harju of Finland had to settle for bronze and $ 20,000 with a personal season best of 20.93. “I was very confident after my first throw, which sort of hypnotized everyone in the competition,’’ said Godina, who will also compete in the discus throw. The former junior world champion Rasskazov added the regular world title in the walk with 1:20:33 hours. He beat defending champion Ilya Markov for the gold by two seconds, with Viktor Burayev grabbing bronze five seconds behind the winner. “It was actually quite easy for me,’’ said Rasskazov, who together with his compatriots broke a six-strong leader group in the closing stages. “I just got up there and started walking.’’ Greene, meanwhile, sent a message to his rival Tim Montgomery and the other competitors as he posted a personal season best of 9.88 seconds in the second round in front of a small crowd at Commonwealth Stadium. “He just got a message from me,’’ Greene said. I will show how fast the track is tomorrow,’’ he added, looking ahead of the semifinals and final and a possible improvement of his world record of 9.79 seconds. Montgomery, who has the year’s best time of 9.84 seconds, also made it into the semifinals with 9.92 seconds. British teenager Mark Lewis-Francais impressed with a junior world record of 9.97 seconds. The 1996 Olympic champion Donovan Bailey also advanced at his home event. On the doping front, IAAF medical commissioner Arne Ljungqvist said yegorova had to be reinstated because the doping test carried on Jut july 6 in Paris, in which she tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO), was not validated. “For strictly legal reasons the IAAF had no choice but to lift the ban,’’ Ljungqvist said. The test was only conducted through a urine sample — a method not yet officially ratified. The only validated EPO test so far is a combination of a blood test and a urine test, which was used at the Sydney Olympics and now also at the championships in Edmonton. EPO enhances the number of red blood cells and an athlete’s endurance along with it. Yegorova protested her innocence in the whole affair while Szabo did not want to comment on her boycott threat from earlier in the week after her successful 1,500m heat. Also yesterday, defending heptathlon champion Eunice Barber quit after failing to record a valid shot-put result. But the biggest favourites of the championships, US pole-vaulter Stacy Dragila and British triple-jump ace Jonathan Edwards, progressed into their respective finals. The world championships will continue with four finals: the men’s 100m and hammer throw and the women’s shot put and heptathlon.
DPA  |
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Misapeka runs slowest
100m
Edmonton (Canada), August 4 But in the starting blocks at the world championships yesterday, Misapeka had no one shaking in their spikes as the imposing American Samoan was trampled in the rush to the finish line in the first of the morning 100 metre heats. To the applause and encouragement of the sparse crowd, the hulking Misapeka lurched home four seconds behind winner Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis, clocking a snail-like 14.28. It was an effort that could have been matched by many of the Edmonton schoolchildren looking on. “That’s it, that’s my personal best, I’ve never run that far before,’’ smiled Misapeka, after recording one of the slowest men’s sprints ever seen at a world championship. “Fourteen seconds is a little embarrassing, I didn’t think I ran that slow. “I figured if I got out of the blocks without falling on my face that I had a good chance of finishing the race. “One thing is for sure, I know I’m the heaviest guy to run the 100 metres at the world championships. “We’re big, you don’t see a lot of Samoan sprinters.’’ It seems that every major championship produces a new addition to the growing fraternity of lovable losers and at these world’s the honour appears ready to be bestowed on Misapeka.
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Seles beats Hingis, meets Venus in final San Diego, August 5 “I play very well against the top players,” said second seed williams. “It’s another level and a challenge I enjoy. When I play the power hitters, I play a little better.” Seles followed up her shock quarterfinal win over world No 2 Jennifer Capriati by defeating No 1 Martina Hingis 6-3, 6-4, giving her first-ever back-to-back wins over the tour’s top two players. “It’s really excellent to come back after a match like yesterday and play as well as I did today. To keep my level high the entire match is really satisfactory,’’ said Seles after beating Hingis for the first time in three years. “It really feels great when you work hard and then you see the result. It’s huge.” Behind a blowtorch serve that reached 121mph and searing groundstrokes, Williams was never challenged in the first set. But, after racing into a 3-0 lead in the second, Williams began to falter as Davenport found the range with her heavy groundstrokes. Facing two matchpoints serving at 4-5, the fourth-seeded Davenport stayed strong, thumping a forehand crosscourt winner and then watching Williams dump a forehand into the net to make it 5-5. But Williams kept the pressure on as Davenport served at 5-6, belting returns and keeping her opponent on her heels. On her third matchpoint, Williams cracked a backhand winner down the line to earn her seventh victory in nine meetings with her fellow Californian. Williams finished the contest with six aces and 27 winners, against only 11 winners from Davenport. “She’s playing really well right now,” Davenport said. “We have similar styles but she’s a better athlete. When she’s serving like that, there’s no-one who can do anything about it. But it’s not like I feel like I don’t have a chance against her.” In breaking a seven-match losing streak against Hingis, seventh seed Seles played almost flawlessly, serving with precision and authority, cracking winners off both wings from inside the baseline and gamely running end-to-end during long rallies. During a five-month absence from the tour recovering from a stress fracture in her right foot, Seles was forced to eliminate running from her off-court workouts and focused on biking, swimming and light weightlifting. Now, the 27-year-old American is leaner, quicker and more durable. “The results have come faster than I thought,” Seles said. “I’m feeling really good about my movement, getting back a lot of balls that I wouldn’t have in the past. “Before, I would play well in the first set and as the match wore on, my conditioning would falter.” “Nowadays, to do well you have to win two to three matches against top players that are physically demanding. In the past, I could maybe do one but not put more together.” Hingis said: “She’s moving better. She looks fitter than ever since her (1995) comeback. She played smart, quick, right, left, kept me on the run and didn’t give me too many chances.’’ Top seed Hingis, (20) went into the match with a 12-2 career superiority over Seles, but quickly discovered that her old tactic of trying to exhaust her rival in long rallies by frequently changing the pace, and by hitting behind her opponent wouldn’t work. Seles, who finished with 31 winners against her opponent’s 16, won the match when a discouraged Hingis missed a backhand wide. Hingis said that she hadn’t found her form yet. “I have to get used to big hitters like her because my game is more strategy than just hitting.” The Swiss player added that she was only playing at 70 percent because she had to take two weeks off after Wimbledon to recover from a back injury. “Physically I’m still improving, she said.”
Reuters |
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National Games
can’t be put off: Kalmadi New Delhi, August 5 “If Punjab cannot hold the games on schedule, the games can only be cancelled, as next year, Andhra Pradesh would be hosting the seventh edition of the games”, Mr Kalmadi told The Tribune. Mr Kalmadi’s statement was supported by IOA secretary-general Randhir Singh, though both were hoping against hope that Punjab would be able to hold the Games as scheduled. A source said Punjab wants to postpone the Games, but it does not want to do the unpleasant job of announcing the postponement unilaterally. |
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Bathinda, Faridkot win
titles Mandi Gobindgarh, August 5 Gurdaspur had the complete backing of a vociferous and boistorous crowd. They started well with Mandeep scoring 9 points to take a 15-1 lead. However, a stunned Bathinda winner last year, slowed down the pace. Skipper Lakhwinder and Prabhjot excelled on the flanks. Bathinda clawed their way back into the match through a couple of three pointers by Jaspreet. He repeatedly wrong-footed his marker to tie the score at 22-22. Gurdaspur restored to zonal marking but failed to make any impact. In the last 20 minutes Bathinda scored 14 points in a row. Bathinda closed the match at 62-42. Ludhiana finished second. In the women’s section Faridkot managed to scrape past a fighting Kapurthala 62-57. The teams were evenly matched in first two quarters. For the winners Mehak Dhillon and Nampreet Kaur, both of whom have represented Punjab in the nationals, excelled on the flanks while Paramjit held the fort in the defence. Tied at 51-51 with just 10 minutes to go for the final whistle. Kapurthala’s Susheela missed a few baskets. While Paramjit and Mehak Dhillon helped Faridkot to gain a 60-54 lead. Hoshiarpur with two points took the third spot and a winless Jalandhar finished at the bottom of the table. |
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