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Tuesday,
August 21, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Recent Kandy record goes against Sri
Lanka Srinath to be fit for SA tour Butcher, Hussain turn tables on Aussies
Pak object to Reid’s
appointment
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Samuel Banerjee
Bdminton
National Games may clash with NSFs meets Afro-Asiad: should entry be
free? Mahindra United scrape past
ITI Accusation false, says Uma Bharti Salgoacar scrape past Punjab
Police Caddies clinch
Trophy Himachal sports policy finalised
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Recent Kandy record goes against Sri Lanka Kandy, August 20 Going in to the second Test starting here on Wednesday, the Indians would be boosted by the fact that only recently they have effected one of the greatest turnarounds in history — and against one of the greatest teams of all times. The 2-1 win against Australia must be a reassuring thought and giving them the confidence required to repeat that performance. But more importantly, the Indians realise that it would be the hosts who would be under pressure despite their thumping victory in Galle. The Sri Lankans have lost their previous two Tests in Kandy — in the series against South Africa and England earlier this year — and on both those occasions, they had come here having taken a 1-0 lead. In a similar situation this time, the Sri Lankans would be on the defensive to put their record straight and that provides the Indians the breathing space. But history can never be an excuse for non-performance. The Indians, without some of their top stars, were outplayed in every department of the game in the first Test. It was only through an unexpectedly heroic last wicket stand between Rahul Dravid and Venkatesh Prasad that saved them the ignominy of a first-ever innings defeat against Sri Lanka. And a similar fate could await them here if they do not rise to the occasion and play to their potential. Captain Saurav Ganguly had said after the first match that his team would come roaring back the way they did against Australia. “We must fight back. We have to,” he said. Despite the wide gulf between his words and deeds, he must get it right this time if he has to save his captaincy and probably his place in the team. “Captaining India is an extremely difficult task,” Ganguly said ahead of the second Test. What he probably left unsaid was that he was finding it even more difficult to regain his batting form. Once famous for his fluent and artistic off-side play, Ganguly has been woefully short of runs and has not touched fifty in the last 12 Test innings. Coupled with his frequent courting of trouble with umpires and match-referees, he has attracted a lot of criticism with demands for his head growing with each failure. He has been outsmarted by the opposition in his own forte, having been restricted in his natural play by a packed off-side field and forced to make mistakes. If he is hoping for any respite in Kandy, he won’t find any with rival captain Sanath Jayasuriya today saying Sri Lanka would continue to play with four fast bowlers. “We have our strongest pace attack in recent times and I think that would be vital for the team’s chances here,” Jayasuriya said. Coach Dave Whatmore agreed with the captain. “Right now our fast bowlers are on top and we will continue with them,” he said.
PTI |
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Srinath to be fit for SA tour Bangalore, August 20 “Srinath has a fracture of the left fifth metacarpal bone joining the little finger and the wrist. He will be out of action for three weeks”, Dr Khincha observed. Srinath does not require any operation and the pacer should be fit for the upcoming gruelling tour of South Africa beginning from October. The bowler can resume bowling at nets, he added. Srinath, who was injured while batting in the first innings from a delivery from Dilhara Fernando, returned here to consult Dr Khincha. According to the orthopaedician, Srinath should be able to bowl and could resume his fitness routine. “He may not be able to bat or field for three weeks,” he said, adding that he had bowled in a match despite being injured. The orthopaedician felt that Srinath did a sensible thing by not batting in the second innings. Srinath, who had skipped the one-day series in Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, bowled well in the first Test and had bagged five wickets.
UNI |
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Butcher, Hussain turn tables on
Aussies
Leeds, August 20 The home side, totally outclassed in the previous three matches, chased down a victory target of 315, the second highest total ever achieved by England to win a Test, as they clinched victory by six wickets. Butcher, who shared a 181-run stand with Nasser Hussain for the third wicket before putting on 75 with Mark Ramprakash for the fourth, dashed from the field in delight after his best Test score. Australia, who had made a bold second-innings declaration on Sunday evening to try and keep alive their dream of only the second 5-0 whitewash in Ashes history, were left wondering what might have been after reducing England to 33 for two earlier in the day. The left-handed Butcher, only recalled for the series after a string of injuries to first choice players, single-handedly dismantled the world’s most fearsome pace attack, favouring lavish square cuts and front-foot drives to both sides of the wicket. Butcher, who even considered retiring last year, and Usman Afzaal ended the game in a flurry of boundaries. The pair scored 19 off a Jason Gillespie over before Butcher, appropriately, ended the game with a square drive off Warne. In all, he batted for five-and-a-quarter hours, hitting 98 boundaries and one six just before the close off Gillespie. Butcher, who made England’s first individual century of the series, was given just one major reprieve. On 97, he was sent back after setting off for a single against Warne only for Glenn McGrath to blunder with a wayward return throw from mid-on. Moments later, Butcher clipped the leg-spinner to deep midwicket to reach three figures. Hussain, back following an injury-plagued season, helped Butcher savage the attack as 114 runs came in the first session and 104 in the second. The England captain was dismissed for 55 shortly before tea to make it 214 for three as Australia struggled to get back into the game. Clearly unhappy, he was given out caught off a glove down the leg side off Gillespie. Ramprakash, having made 32 to help the score to 289 for four, followed off an even more controversial decision, caught at first slip by Mark Waugh off Warne when the ball appeared to have hit the ground. England’s outside hope of an upset seemed to have been dashed with the third ball of the day when Glenn McGrath removed Michael Atherton for eight, caught behind off a near-unplayable delivery. It was the 18th time that Atherton had been dismissed by his chief tormentor. Marcus Trescothick fell next, prodding at Gillespie and falling for 10, caught at gully by Matthew Hayden. Reuters SCOREBOARD Australia (1st innings): 447 England (1st innings): 309 Australia (2nd innings): 176-4 dec England (2nd innings): Atherton c Gilchrist b McGrath 8 Trescothick c Hayden
b Gillespie 10 Butcher not out 173 Hussain c Gilchrist
b Gillespie 55 Ramprakash c M. Waugh b Warne 32 Afzaal not out 4 Extra: (b-14 1b-16 nb-3) 33 Total:
(for 4 wickets, 73.2 overs) 315 Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-33, 3-214, 4-289. Bowling: McGrath 16-3-61-1, Gillespie 22-4-94-2, Warne 18.2-3-58-1, Lee 16-4-65-0, Waugh 1-0-7-0.
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Pak object to Reid’s appointment Karachi, August 20 “We have strongly objected to the posting of Reid and told the ACC that they know our views on the man so they should replace him,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) director of operations Brigadier Munawwar Rana told AFP. Pakistan and Bangladesh play their first ever Test in Multan from August 29 to September 2. The clash also kicks off the second Asian Test Championship, including Sri Lanka and possibly India. Reid, a former New Zealand captain turned International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee, reported express Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar’s bowling action in Australia in 1999. He also suspended Pakistani captain Waqar Younis for one match and fined him 50 per cent of his match fee for alleged ball tampering in Sri Lanka in July last year, triggering a strong reaction from Pakistan. “The ACC, as event managers of the Asian championship, can ask the ICC to replace reid because the ICC appoints referees and umpires,” Brigader Rana said. Australian umpire Darrell Hair, who has no-balled Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower for suspected throwing, will officiate the Test along with an Indian or Sri Lankan umpire yet to be named. Brigadier Rana said the PCB had no objection over Hair’s posting. Hair was also standing in the Test match when Akhtar was reported in Australia. Akhtar’s action was questioned a second time in March this year but he has since been cleared by an Australian university study of his bowling arm. “Hair officiated Pakistan’s Test against England at Lord’s in May this year and there were no problems,” he said. The ICC generally keeps the controversial
Australian clear of all matches where Sri Lanka is involved, following the storm of protest following his 1999 calls against Muralitharan.
AFP |
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Samuel
Banerjee Bdminton Chandigarh, August 20 Soumaya of Rajasthan took two titles, in girls under-16 and under-19 section. The girls under-19 final played in the afternoon session proved to be crucial with Soumaya against Samarika of J&K. The first game was extended to deuce before Soumaya, playing a neat game, with her half smashes beat the Jammu eve 13-11. In the second game, Samarika tried to prove her mettle and was able to get five points but still lost the match. The women singles final was next in line with Gayatri of Delhi pitted against Chandigarh’s H. Sarda Devi. The Manipur native, who is studying in the Panjab University,toiled hard and was a continuous threat for the Delhi champion. After losing the first game easily at 2-11, Sarda played valiantly to level at 9-9 but day belonged to the Delhi girl who managed to wrap the match at 11-9. The last match of the evening was the men’s singles. Manmeet, a Delhi state champion never let his opponent Vivek Sharma popularly known as ‘Tony’ to stage a comeback at any point of the match and with controlled drop shots and deft placements, silenced Vivek’s challenge 15-8, 15-7. Results: under-13: boys:
Sauarb Kapoor (Har) b Adhiraj Niyogi (Har) 15-2, 15-4; girls: Anita (Har) b Harleen (Har) 11-4, 11-4; boys under-16: Saurabh (Har) b Sumit Dahiya (Har) 6-15, 15-12, (third game conceded); girls: Saumaya (Raj) b Mala Gaba (Chd) third game conceded); under-19: boys: Deepak Sidhu (Chd) b Vivek Sharma (Chd) 15-6, 2-15, 15-11; girls: Saumaya (Raj) b Samarika (J&K) 13-11, 11-5. Men: Manmeet Singh (Del) b Vivek Sharma (Chd) 11-2, 11-9; women: Gayatri (Del) b H. Sarda Devi (Chd) 11-2, 11-9. Doubles: girls below-19:
Deepti Ranjan and Parul (Del) b Samaritika and Gauri (Har) 15-2, 15-1; boys: under-19: Mayank and Varun (Pb) b Vivek and Gurjeet (Chd) 16-17, 15-3, 15-12; girls under-16: Anita and Meenu (Har) b Meenakshi and Chitralekha (Del) 15-5, 15-6; boys under-16: Mayank and Sahil Arora (Pb) b Rohit and Sumit Dahiya (Har) 15-11, 15-3. |
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National Games may clash with NSFs meets Patiala, August 20 Mr Suresh Kalmadi, President of the IOA, clarified that he was in favour of cancelling the games as this postponement would clash with the carefully charted out schedules of several national sports federations (NSFs) to hold senior national championships of their respective disciplines. When the National Games were postponed for the third time from March to September 16 to 29, most of the NSFs had then made plans to hold their annual senior nationals towards the fag end of November or in the first week of December. The National Games are now scheduled from November 18 to December 1, thus coinciding with various national championships. Several NSFs, including the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), the Gymnastic Federation of India (GFI) and the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), among others, had revised their
calendars to ensure that their national championships did not clash with the National Games, which were then scheduled for September. The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has announced the dates of the senior nationals, which are be held at Lucknow from December 20 to 27, which are now too close to the National Games. The Judo Federation of India (JFI), had tentatively decided to hold the senior Judo championships at Mumbai towards the end of November. Now, they also find themselves in a similar predicament. The basketball players may also be a tired lot as the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) had finalised the dates of the senior nationals, at Pune from December 22 to 29. The Swimming Federation of India (SFI) find itself in a no-win situation as the rules of the international swimming federation (FINA) state that under no circumstances shall any recognised competition be held in temperatures under 25°C. In the month of November the day temperatures range between 18 to 21°. The swimming, water polo and dividing competitions during the National Games are scheduled to be held at the NIS pool, which has no heating facility. IOA sources say another reason as to why the games may be finally cancelled is that equipment which the Punjab Olympic Association (POA) is importing from abroad has yet to reach Mumbai port.
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Afro-Asiad: should entry be
free? New Delhi, August 20 Many ill-informed members of the committee feel that the admittance should be ‘free’ while Sports Minister Uma Bharti strongly emphasises that the entry should be by ticket and invitation. Senior sports officials, who have been connected with sports on this country, are of the firm view that there will be confusion and choas in stadia if the admittance is ‘free’. The unruly spectators and undesirable element will cause needless problems to the organisers and players. The official report on the 1982 games says: “..... 31,695 tickets of the value of Rs 1,25,876 were sold and the remaining seats were filled up by invitations. The exercise proved very useful to the gate-keeping, traffic and other agencies...” Apart from keeping away an ‘unwanted element’ from stadia, like, Chhatarsal and Ambedkar, the organisers can earn at least Rs 75 lakh through sale of tickets. The proceeds from football, according to experienced officials, can fetch atleast Rs 40 lakh because some of the
participants from Africa are among the best in the world. It will be interesting how Indian team performs in this competition. One only hopes, in fact prays, that it will not be a massacre of innocents as it happened in the 1982 hockey final against Pakistan. Quite a few, like, athletics, hockey (men and women), tennis and swimming are among glamour disciplines in addition to opening and closing ceremonies. The organisers, according to analysts, can earn upward of Rs 1 crore if the games are properly marketed although they hold the label of ‘Goodwill Games’. The medals—gold, silver and bronze—will be made in this country, according the empowered committee decision on August 17. The meeting presided over by Ms Uma Bharti and attended by Lt Governor Vijay Kapoor and V.K. Malhotra (co-opted recently), among other government officials, also decided that the preference should be given to the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) hotels. But before signing contract with the authorities, they should be impressed upon that service, would be first-rate with no interruptions by ‘go-slow’ and strike tactics. Despite decision for ‘preference to ITDC hotels’, the chairperson of the games had called for press briefings in private hotels. The one in Oberoi hotel got cancelled because of assassination of Phoolan Dev, while another was held at Taj hotel. The expenses on these two hotels is said to be about Rs 2.5 lakh. “Why can’t Uma Bharti hold press briefings at Nehru Stadium?” asked three senior members of the huge organising committee. Neither Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Suresh Kalmadi nor Secretary General Randhir Singh attended the meeting. Both indeed were busy with the delegates from Asia and Africa. The observers say that Kalmadi stayed away from the meeting owing to rude remarks made by the Sports Minister in the previous meeting. |
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Mahindra United scrape past ITI
Chennai, August 20 Mahindra attacked right from the beginning and dominated almost throughout the first session. ITI, tournament winners in the inaugural year in 1977, could not keep with the brand of play dished out by Mahindra and 12 minutes into the first half, their citadel fell. Experienced ITI ‘keeper, Balaji erred once and it proved costly. Mahindra’s forwards were concentrating on the left flank. Khalid Siddique crossed to Abhishek Yadav and the latter passed to full back Surkumar Singh. Surkumar, who received the ball on top of the box and sent in a left footed lob, past two defenders and Balaji. Mahindra played to their potential. The mid-field did a good job, supplying their forwards with passes. Mahindra’s recalled coach Harish Rao seemed to have done a lot of home work and his decision to play Raman Vijayan, Abhishek Yadav and Khalid Jamil in preference to dangerous and attacking player Mohammed Najeeb and Abbas Ali Rizvi paid off. Their defence also stood firm and ITI players were rarely able to test ‘keeper Virender Singh in the first half. In fact, Mahindra should have increased the lead but Abhishek’s try hit the cross piece and in another instant Raman Vijayan’s shot was punched away by Balaji. Crossing over, ITI changed their pattern and adopted 4-4-2 system and did cause ripples in the Mahindra defence. Inside the first 10 minutes, they came near scoring twice, but messed it up, wily forward Manjit Singh being the culprit. Manjit shot was cleared by Surkumar Singh after Virender Singh did not collect his shot properly. Manjit again opened up the defence and being challenged by defender Bernard Oparanazie, he essayed a shot which went just outside the right post. The Bangalore players were working in tandem to find an equaliser, and though they were able to break the defence, their poor finishing let them down. Strong contenders Tollygunge Aggragami of Kolkata scraped past a fighting HAL, Bangalore, by a solitary second-half goal to enter the quarterfinals of the Federation Cup Football Tournament yesterday. Diminutive linkman Surajit Das struck the match-winner in the 17th minute after the break to seal the fate of HAL in a keenly-contested encounter. The all-important goal, a superb effort by Das came after a quick move.
PTI |
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Accusation false, says Uma Bharti New Delhi, August 20 Replying to a spate of supplementaries on various aspects of Indian sports during Question Hour, she told J.S. Brar (Cong) that there was no interference by PMO in the selection of Arjuna Awards as alleged by “Flying Sikh” Milkha Singh nor was there any saffronisation of sports as was being made out in some quarters. To another question on deterioration in sporting standards in the country, she sought the cooperation of all political parties so that sports could be included in the Concurrent List as this would help in improving the standard as it would come directly under central control.
PTI |
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Salgoacar scrape past Punjab Police Chennai, August 20 In a contest that went down the wire, both Salgaocar and the policemen had chances both at the end of regulation time and at the end of 15 minute extra time each way. But the goal-less deadlock remained and the match stretched to the inevitable tie-breaker. In the tie-breaker, J.Murali, V.K.Harish, Climax Lawrence, Dharamjit Singh and Remy Colaco converted all the five kicks, while Balwinder Singh, Sher Singh, Gurpreet Singh (jr) and Gurinderpal Singh converted their first four shorts for the policemen. While Naresh Kumar’s shot was saved by Goa custodian experienced Kalyan Dubey, to carry Salgaocar to the last eight stage. Earlier, Mahendra United, Mumbai, held on to an early goal by Surkumar Singh to beat former champions ITI, Bangalore, 1-0 to enter the last eight Mahindra attacked right from the beginning and dominated almost throughout the first session. ITI, tournament winners in the inaugural year in 1977, could not keep with the brand of play dished out by Mahindra and 12 minutes into the first half, their citadel fell. Experienced ITI ‘keeper, Balaji erred once and it proved costly. Mahindra’s forwards were concentrating on the left flank. Khalid Siddique crossed to Abhishek Yadav and the latter passed to full back Surkumar Singh. Surkumar, who received the ball on top of the box and sent in a left footed lob, past two defenders and Balaji. Mahindra played to their potential. The mid-field did a good job, supplying their forwards with passes. Mahindra’s recalled coach Harish Rao seemed to have done a lot of home work and his decision to play Raman Vijayan, Abhishek Yadav and Khalid Jamil in preference to dangerous and attacking player Mohammed Najeeb and Abbas Ali Rizvi paid off. Their defence also stood firm and ITI players were rarely able to test ‘keeper Virender Singh in the first half. In fact, Mahindra should bave increased the lead but Abhishek’s try hit the cross piece and in another instant Raman Vijayan’s shot was punched away by Balaji. Crossing over, ITI changed their pattern and adopted 4-4-2 system and did cause ripples in the Mahindra defence. Inside the first 10 minutes, they came near scoring twice, but messed it up, wily forward Manjit Singh being the culprit. Manjit shot was cleared by Surkumar Singh after Virender Singh did not collect his shot properly. Manjit again opened up the defence and being challenged by defender Bernard Oparanazie, he essayed a shot which went just outside the right post.
UNI, PTI  |
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Caddies clinch
Trophy Srinagar, August 20 The tournament was started four years ago by the Kashmir Golf Club in memory of its late members and caddies. It is the fourth consecutive win for the caddies. The winners bagged the trophy scoring 16 points. Dr Mustafa Kamaal, Minister for Industry and Commerce, gave away the trophy to the winning team. Speaking on the occasion, the minister appreciated the caddies for their victory. He said that the victory of caddies indicate that they are very much part and parcel of the sport. Mr Kamaal said after the restoration of popular government Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah took keen interest in reviving and restoring the sport, which had lost its popularity in the state. |
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Himachal sports policy finalised Shimla, August 20 The policy, was finalised at a meeting of leading sportsmen and officers which was presided by the Minister for Sports and Youth Services, Mr Parveen Sharma. The sports policy would be formally announced after being approved by the cabinet. It was decided to double the cash reward for winners. Those standing first, second and third in international events will now be given a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh, Rs 60,000 and Rs 40,000, respectively. For the national events, the rewards will be Rs 20,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 6,000, respectively. |
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