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Wednesday,
September 19, 2001, Chandigarh, India
  
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Harvinder
replaces Zaheer; Badani unfit Pacers get
vital tips from Lillee Millionaires
despite lacklustre show World Cup
organisers voice terror concerns |
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HC
declines stay on Arjuna Awards
Anand
idolised Bobby Fischer ICC
meeting shifted from Pakistan 10 top
teams for Atray tourney Tight
security for India-Pak tie Afro-Asian
Games next year No IYF
team for World Cup ‘Include
canoeing in National Games’ Jaideep,
Nazma top seeds Sirhindi,
Babloo shine
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Harvinder replaces Zaheer; Badani unfit New Delhi, September 18 Cricket board sources said Laxman’s replacement Hemang Badani and fast bowler Zaheer Khan too had been declared unfit for the series. Delhi speedster Ashish Nehra has also not recovered from his groin injury and a final decision on him would be taken after the fitness test in Mumbai on Saturday. Badani, who was included in the squad only yesterday after Laxman’s withdrawal, had injured his back while fielding in the Moin-ud Dowla Cup final on Sunday. Though Badani had expressed his delight at being included in the squad yesterday, a scan this morning showed that he had sustained a stress fracture in his back. Zaheer had not recovered completely from a shin injury and sports medicine expert Dr Anant Joshi had informed BCCI president A.C. Muthiah that the medium-pacer would be unable to make it to the team. Baroda opener Jacob Martin has been named the replacement for Badani while Harvinder Singh was included in place of Zaheer Khan, the sources said, adding that Selection Committee chairman Chandu Borde had approved the changes. Zaheer was expected to be fully fit ahead of the Test series, though. The medium-pacer from Baroda was unable to withstand the ‘heel in-step pressure’ after bowling and Joshi had advised him rest for another two weeks. “This leaves Zaheer with about 40 more days to recover,” the sources said. Nehra was not able to give his 100 per cent while bowling. Joshi and former Australian great Dennis Lillee watched the Delhi speedster bowl last evening and this morning at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai. “Though Nehra insists that he does not experience any pain in his groin, Joshi and Lillee felt he was not able to give his cent per cent at the nets yesterday and today,” they said. The selectors have been asked to look for a replacement for Nehra in case the bowler fails in the fitness test on Saturday. The sources said Debasish Mohanty was a front-runner as Joshi was of the opinion that Mumbai fast bowler Ajit Agarkar was also not fully fit. Medium-pacers Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Harvinder Singh, leg-spinner Anil Kumble and all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi have been cleared by Joshi. Cricket board secretary Jaywant Lele had yesterday announced that Laxman, suffering from a knee injury, was not fully fit and will not be able to play in the triangular tournament. Laxman was expected to participate in the Test series which start on November 3.
PTI |
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Pacers get vital tips from Lillee Chennai, September 18 But it was not so. The former Aussie speedster was winding up his lessons for the South Africa-bound fast and medium pace bowlers in the Indian team, who are scheduled to leave here tomorrow as the squad gets ready to assemble in Mumbai before leaving on September 24. Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad, who are at the threshold of reaching the 200 and 100-wicket marks, respectively, Zaheer Khan and Reetinder Singh were putting into practice the technical corrections which Lillee had suggested. The focus was on well-known orthopaedic Dr Anant Joshi, who as per the board’s directive to assess the bowlers who had recovered from injuries, including star leg spinner Anil Kumble, assessed their recovery. Dr Joshi explained that Kumble was feeling some stiffness in his bowling arm but was getting over it. These injuries are part of the game and they have been sustained over a period of time, which is natural, he said. For some of them, it may have been due to too much of playing, he added. But all of them are in shape for the tour. Everything is being ironed out here so that nothing goes wrong during the tour, Dr Joshi averred. The bowlers will be ending their stint under Lillee tomorrow and packing up for the tour. Meanwhile, it was a happy and beaming Hemang K. Badani, who was conveyed the news that he would be on the plane to South Africa in place of injured V.V.S. Laxman, who had pulled out.
UNI |
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Millionaires despite lacklustre show New Delhi, September 18 Except for the ICC knock-out series in Kenya in November last year and the home series against Australia in February-March this year, the Indians had a lacklustre season. However, each of the players who figured in all the six events in the season received Rs 59.42 lakh as match-fee, prize and logo money alone. The balance sheet of the BCCI, approved by its working committee, shows that a total of Rs 8.75 crore was paid to the cricketers as match-fee and logo money for the six events. Other expenses of the players like travel, kits and daily allowances are also to be taken care of by the board. The balance sheet, to be submitted at the annual general meeting in Chennai on September 29 and 30, shows that the board earned Rs 86.80 crore from the sponsors as logo money and disbursed Rs 50.40 crore from it among the players in keeping with the policy of distributing 60 per cent of the earnings from sponsorship to the team. The cricketers received a total of Rs 2.22 crore as prize money for the four events of Asia Cup (Rs 3.02 lakh), ICC knock-out tournament (Rs 1.21 crore), Sharjah (Rs 96.00 lakh) and one-off Test against Bangladesh (Rs 1.33 lakh). The board has also shown an expenditure of Rs 29.69 lakh towards expenses on selectors and officials for these six events. The board’s coffers bulged by Rs 5.95 crore and Rs 5.10 crore from sponsorship gains for Zimbabwe and Australian tours to India this year. Gripped with the vexed issue of match-fixing, the board incurred a sum of Rs 49.85 lakh towards legal expenses during the year.
PTI |
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World Cup organisers voice terror concerns Seoul, September 18 Following last week’s attacks on the USA, South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung has expressed support for American plans to thwart international terrorism as his country continues preparations to co-host with Japan the biggest sporting event in the world. “International terrorists may use the world’s biggest festival as an opportunity for committing terror to make demands and achieve their goals,’’ South Korea’s tournament organising committee said in a statement yesterday. “We are pushing to adopt the catch phrase “Safe World Cup” for the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup.” Kim and Korea’s First Lady bought tickets
yesterday as the second round of sales opened for the finals, which are due to kick off in Seoul on May 31. Organisers said Korean fans bought more than 50,000 tickets from about 390,000 put on sale, with demand especially high for the opening match against world champions France. A day earlier, South Korea unveiled the fifth of the 10 stadia it is building for the 32-nation tournament. Organisers said they would work closely with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Britain’s MI5 to ensure the safety of players and spectators in a series of friendly matches over the coming weeks as well as the month-long finals. The US squad is due in South Korea for a friendly on December 9. Korean and Japanese organisers are scheduled to meet today in Chonju, South of Seoul, to coordinate their planning efforts just one week after hijackers crashed commercial airliners into landmark buildings in New York and Washington. Both nations are close allies of the USA and tens of thousands of American troops stationed in each have been put on high alert. Discussions are under way with the South Korean military to strengthen aerial security, including a ban on flights around stadia during World Cup games, organisers said. Neighbouring North Korea is technically at war with the South, and Washington has deemed it a “rogue state” for its past links with state-sponsored terrorism, including the bombing of a South Korean airliner over Myanmar in 1987. “We’re also worried about hooligan violence which has been growing more extreme in Europe,” the organisers’ statement said. Germany were scheduled to play in Korea in November but the 5-1 defeat by England earlier this month means the Germans are likely to be involved in World Cup playoff matches around that time. Organisers are expected to look for alternative opponents.
Reuters |
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Kallis’ record innings in vain Bulawayo,
September 18 South
Africa won the two-match series 1-0, having beaten Zimbabwe by nine
wickets in the first Test in Harare the previous Tuesday. Zimbabwe,
who had declared their first innings on 419 for nine, were 96 for
three in their second innings when the captains shook hands. Kallis,
batting at No 3, scored a career-best 189 not out in South Africa’s
first innings of 519 for eight declared. He had scored 157 not out and
42 not out in the first Test and batted for 1,028 minutes in the two
Test matches, breaking the record of 1,021 minutes England captain
Nasser Hussain set in South Africa in 1999-2000. Kallis spent more
than nine and a half hours at the crease in his innings in the second
Test, facing 443 balls and hitting 19 fours and three sixes. Kallis
was named man of the match as well as man of the series for his
aggregate of 388 runs without being dismissed. Left-arm spinner Ray
Price took career-best figures of five for 181 and the 79 overs he
bowled were a record for a Zimbabwean in a Test innings, surpassing
the 67 overs leg spinner Paul Strang sent down against Pakistan in
Sheikhupura in 1996-97. South Africa resumed on Tuesday on 300 for
two and Kallis reached his century in the seventh over of the morning
with a square cut for four off Price. Two overs after Kallis went to
his century Neil McKenzie was trapped lbw by a yorker from Travis
Friend, the fast bowler’s first delivery of the day. Mckenzie scored
88 off 202 balls with 10 fours and a six. His dismissal ended a
third-wicket stand of 181 which began 12 overs after lunch yesterday.
Reuters SCOREBOARD Zimbabwe (1st innings): 419-9 decl. South
Africa (1st innings): 300-2 overnight) Gibbs c A. Flower b Price
74 Kirsten st A. Flower b Price 65 Kallis not out 189 McKenzie lbw
b Friend 88 Dippenaar c G. Flower b Price 11 Klusener c Campbell b
Price 27 Pollock c Carlisle b Price 41 Boucher b Friend
14 Henderson b Friend 0 Extras: (b-3 lb-7) 10 Total: (8 wkts
decl,
186.2 over) 519 FOW: 1-117, 2-162, 3-343, 4-368, 5-418, 6-490, 7-513,
8-519. Bowling: Streak 25-9-64-0, Friend 30.2-9-87-3, Strang
14.2-2-52-0, Price 79-19-181-5, Whittall 29.4-6-80-0, G. Flower
8-0-45-0. Zimbabwe (2nd innings): Campbell c Dippenaar b
Henderson 20 Ebrahim b Henderson 4 Masakadza not out 42 Carlisle
c Ntini b Henderson 4 A. Flower not out 14 Extras (b-4, lb-4, nb-4)
12 Total (3 wkts, 42 overs) 96 FOW: 1-21, 2-38, 3-58. Bowling:
Pollock 4-1-8-0, Nel 3-0-9-0, Henderson 18-11-33-3, Ntini 3-0-11-0,
Klusener 12-7-21-0, Kirsten 2-1-6-0. |
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HC declines stay on Arjuna Awards New Delhi, September 18 Justice Mukul Mudgal, hearing a petition alleging that persons without major achievements were being given the award for extraneous considerations, asked Rachna Govil, presently Deputy Director with Sports Authority of India, and Kalpana Devanath to list out their achievements before September 27, the next date of hearing of the case. The court made it clear that the reply should contain the details of their sporting career with regard to their participation in national and international events, like the Asian Games and Olympics, and the positions secured by them. Justice Mudgal, however, refused to stay the award ceremony saying it was not possible keeping in minds its importance. The government counsel informed the court that the award ceremony was scheduled to be held on September 29. The petition filed by Asian discus throw champion Anil Kumar has challenged the selection of Govil and Devanath on the ground that they did not have any remarkable achievement to their credit. The court, in an earlier hearing, had issued notices to the Centre and SAI seeking their replies on why the conferment of awards on Govil and Devanath should not be stayed. Justice Mudgal had expressed concern over the selection procedure for the award and observed that bureaucracy had taken a grip over the national awards, which should be given only to outstanding sportspersons. In his petition, Kumar had alleged that Ms Govil, one of those to be honoured with the ‘life-time achievement award’, was selected because she was a SAI official. She had a relatively short and un-illustrious sport career, the petition said. Similarly, Ms Devenath had never won any medal at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games or the Olympics and perhaps the only consideration was that she was the girls hostel warden at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, Kumar claimed. In his oral submissions today, Ms Devenath’s counsel M.S. Talwar said his client has been a nine-time national champion while Ms Govil’s counsel K.S. Ahuja said his client had won a 1,500 mts athletic national event, besides others. On September 11, the court observed that the government should apply its mind seriously to the allegations made in the petition. If these were correct, it was a matter of great dishonour, the judge said. The court also told government counsel U. Hazarika to reply to the petitioner’s request of access to all records of awarded sportspersons since 1996. Kumar wanted a directive to be issued to the government asking it to formulate a policy for choosing awardees. His counsel Amrendra Sharan has also sought that Kumar be conferred the Arjuna Awards. On August 24, while ruling that the Arjuna Awards ceremony could not be stayed as it was an occasion of national importance, the court had asked the government to explain whether the awards could be conferred on non-sportspersons such as sports administrators and bureaucrats.
PTI, UNI |
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Anand idolised Bobby
Fischer New Delhi September 18 Anand said he had idolised Fischer as a youngster and he does not want to spoil that image by meeting the icon when he is old and not at his best. Fischer, who has led the life of a recluse after winning the world title 30 years ago, is learnt to have resurfaced now by playing chess on internet. Anand, who won the world title on Christmas eve last year beating Latvian-born Alexei Shirov in the six-game final in the shortest possible four games by securing an unbeatable 3.5-0.5, has captured four more titles ever since. He became the first non-Russain world champion since Bobby Fischer took the title from
Russain Boris Spassky in 1972 at Reykjavik, Iceland. In the recently-concluded Mainz Chess Classic in Germany, Anand won the title defeating grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik, the winner of the Braingames Championship, in a 10 game match. This was the first time in 76 years that two world champions played against each other. With this historic victory, after the World Chess Championship title win, Anand has emerged as the “king of kings” in the world of chess. “NIIT mind champion grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand is the greatest chess player India has produced”, said chairman of NIIT Rajendra S Pawar at a function to felicitate Anand here today. |
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ICC meeting
shifted from Pakistan London, September 18 “We’re disappointed that Pakistan has been ruled out as the venue for the meeting but a realistic position had to be taken given the delicacy of the security situation and after receiving advice from governments around the cricket world,” said ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed. “Every effort will be made to stage future meetings in Pakistan and I will be keeping in close contact with the Pakistan Cricket Board to review the situation,” Speed said. The situation in the region is uncertain in view of a possible US attack on the hide out of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan if Kabul fails to hand over the Saudi dissident accused of the masterminding the terrorist attacks in the USA.
PTI |
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10 top teams
for Atray tourney Chandigarh, September 18 The matches, of the tournament, which will be played on league-cum-knockout basis, is affiliated to the PCA and recognised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), will be played at PCA Stadium, SAS Nagar, the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium and DAV School, Sector 8, in Chandigarh and Dhurv Pandove Stadium, Patiala. Till the league stage the matches will be of 50 overs a side. The two semi-finals, which will be of two days (90 overs), will be played at PCA Stadium and Dhurv Pandove Stadium on October 6 and 7. The final will be played at PCA Stadium on October 9 and 10. While agreeing that the condition of the wickets at the Chandigarh venues might not be up to the mark, a spokesman of the organising committee said all participating teams will get an opportunity to play at different venues in the league stage of the tournament. The tournament is being treated as a curtain raiser before the start of the Ranji Trophy session. The participating teams have been divided into two pools. Pool ‘A’ consists of Ranji champion Baroda, last year’s winner Punjab Cricket Club, Bishnoi Cricket Club, Roofit XI and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, while Pool ‘B’ consist of Mumbai, last year’s runners-up ONGC, Air-India, Madhya Pradesh and PCA Colts. While Bishnoi XI is expected to field top players from Haryana, there are three teams from Mumbai, Roofit XI, Air-India and Mumbai. The PCA is expected to blood quite a few new players with the Ranji Trophy matches ahead in the two teams they will field in the tournament. Players like Vikram Rathore, Dinesh Mongia, Jacob Martin, Hrikesh Kanitkar, Sairaj Bahutule, Nayan Mongia, Jatin Pranjape and a lot of former Indian cricketers are likely to assist the various participating teams. The organisers promised that the competition would be keen and intense. They promised top class facilities for the teams as also good travel facilities as they have to travel to Patiala and return to Chandigarh the same day. Also, the umpires for the matches will be drawn from the Punjab state panel which includes at least three international level umpires. There will a “Spice man of the match” and “Spice man of the Series” award. The winners will get a cash prize of Rs 75,000 while the runners-up will get Rs 40,000. The two losing semi-finalists will get Rs 10,000 each. |
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Tight security for India-Pak tie Durban, September 18 The security directorate of World Cup will take extra precautions to ensure there are no problems when India and Pakistan play at the Wanderers in Johannesburg during the tournament, Patrick Ronan, head of the security directorate, said at a media briefing in Johannesburg. “Inherent political problems between the teams will also need to be considered, such as the match between India and Pakistan, which will be held at the Wanderers. There will be watertight security measures at the Johannesburg venue,” Ronan said. PTI |
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Afro-Asian Games next year New Delhi, September 18 The statement said the “first Afro-Asian Games to be held in Delhi from November 3 to 11 are being postponed at the request of the Afro-Asian Games organising committee and the Government of India because of the prevailing international situation”. |
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No IYF team for World Cup Chandigarh, September 18 Stating this here today, Mr M.L. Vairagi, Assistant Secretary of the IYF, said that the International Yoga Sport Federation (IYSF) had invited seven yoga associations, federations and centres from India to participate in this meet against the rules of international sports federations. The Indian Yoga Federation was the only affiliated unit of the IYSF and participating in international competitions since 1997. But this year the IYSF had given affiliation to seven other associations which had no sports base and were limited to one city. The IYF had requested the IYSF not to invite more than one federation. Similarly, more than one associations from other country are also invited to participate in this World Cup. |
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‘Include canoeing
in National Games’ New Delhi, September 18 The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) officials, including Dr R L Anand, have also written for the inclusion but the organisers have expressed their inability to do so. In the last National Games at Manipur, Nine units participated. Of the 63 medals at stake, Kerala bagged 20, Anaaman and Nicobar had another 20. Delhi and Manipur had nine each. Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa had one each. |
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Jaideep,
Nazma top seeds Sangrur, September 18 Mr Singh informed that all the top shuttlers of Punjab have confirmed their participation in the championships. Punjab teams for participation in the North Zone Inter State Championships being held at Jalandhar from October 2 to 4 will be selected on the basis of performance in this championships. |
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Sirhindi, Babloo
shine Patiala, September 18 Brief scores:
Minor Districts (1st Innings): 181 all out (Harikrishan Kali 40, Kamal Walia 29; Rajiv Sirhindi 3 for 51, Babloo Kumar 3 for 37, Amit Kakria 2 for 23, Patiala (1st Innings): 45 for 2 (Gaganinder Garry 17 n.o, Gautam Mandora 8 n.o) |
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