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Thursday,
September 20, 2001, Chandigarh, India
  
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Nehra also unfit for SA
series Coach, physio cost BCCI
dear South Africa narrow gap
with Aussies Women’s wrestling in
Olympics Sanchez-Vicario in second
round Aussies wary of
Swedes |
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Beckham nets last-minute
winner National record by
Gurpreet Rohan, Tajinder in 2nd
round Lakhbir, Amit
help Patiala
win Mathew, Behl ousted in pre-quarterfinals Ex-Olympian drowns CISF, NR win
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Nehra also unfit for SA series Mumbai, September 19 Much before the fitness tests slated for this weekend at the Wankhede Stadium here, four players including Nehra, have been found unfit. Earlier, middle order batsman VVS Laxman and his replacement Hemang Badani and medium pacer Zaheer Khan were ruled out for the South Africa tour. Cricket board secretary Jaywant Lele told PTI over the telephone from Baroda that sports medicine expert Dr Anant Joshi informed him that Nehra, who was finding it difficult to bowl at full throttle at the MRF Pace Foundation yesterday, was not hundred per cent fit. The Delhi speedster had dropped out of the Test series against Sri Lanka after aggravating groin injury. “While replacements for Badani (Jacob Martin) and Zaheer (Harvinder Singh) have already been announced, the selectors are yet to name the replacement for Nehra,” Mr Lele added. Nehra had yesterday claimed that he had passed the fitness test in Chennai and the final test on Saturday in Mumbai was just a formality. Rakesh Patel, Ajit Agarkar and Debashish Mohanty have been called up for the fitness test scheduled to be held at Mumbai on September 22 and 23 for the South Africa bound Indian team, chairman of the selection committee Chandu Borde has said. Speaking from Pune over the telephone to UNI, Mr Borde said, “After the injuries to Zaheer Khan, Hemang Badani and Ashish Nehra, we have decided to call these three for the fitness test. We (all selectors) will watch them and then decide on who to include in the final squad,” he added. The Indian team which has been beset with injury problems for the last six months or so, seemed to be regaining its fitness with all players reporting fit for the South African tour. However, with just a week left for the team leave for South Africa, the team received its first setback with VVS Laxman pulling out saying that post operation he did not believe that his knee would be able to withstand the vigours of such an arduous tour. Meanwhile, batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who has recovered completely from the toe injury, is confident of doing well during the forthcoming tour of South Africa from September 24. Speaking at a function to felicitate 25 winners of ‘Hit-a-Four’ contest here yesterday, Tendulkar, told reporters that he was feeling fine now and with the new shoes with cushion padding, to take pressure off his big toe, he was confident of doing well in South Africa. Tendulkar said he was thankful to the doctors who treated his toe and helped him to recover sooner than expected. The Mumbai star looked in total control with hundreds of fans surrounding him for autographs and said “it was a great feeling to be surrounded by fans”. “In a stadium you get to see your fans from 75-yards away but it is different when you see them from barely two yards over here,” he added. Tendulkar had injured his toe during the Zimbabwe tour while playing in the last league tie of the triangular one-day series against the West Indies on July 4 and had missed the Sri Lanka tour soon after. Though Tendulkar said he was feeling fine, he would have to pass the fitness test to be conducted by team physio Andrew Leipus and sports medicine expert Dr Anant Joshi at the Wankhede Stadium on September 22 and 23.
PTI |
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Coach, physio cost BCCI dear New Delhi, September 19 The board appointed former New Zealand captain John Wright as coach and Andrew Leipus as physio in November last year in a bid to give a professional look to the team. Though they have failed to effect any marked turnaround in the fortunes of the team, their earnings have been far in excess of their predecessors. Wright was richer by $82,292 (about Rs 38.5 lakh) while Leipus earned $50,000 (Australian) (about Rs 12.5 lakh) from the cricket board. Apart from these, the two overseas appointees benefited by receipts like daily allowance and one way air fare at the end of the each event. In comparison, Wright’s predecessor Anshuman Gaekwad was paid around Rs 2.4 lakh as match-fee for ICC Knock-out Trophy in Kenya in October last year. Wright and Leipus were paid Rs 14.81 lakh and Rs 4.84 lakh, respectively, for India’s tour to Zimbabwe in May-July, this year. Injuries to cricketers have been on the rise after Leipus took over from Andrew Kokinos. The performance has also not shown any appreciable improvement as international ratings of the team and its members have been dropping since appointment of Wright. The BCCI, however, has recorded its appreciation of the services rendered by Wright and Leipus in the secretary’s report to be submitted at the annual general meeting in Chennai on September 29 and 30. “The coach has settled well into his job and the team has responded well to his brand of management. Wright will be entrusted with the task of providing coaching of international calibre with an eye on preparing the national team for the World Cup 2003,” the report has noted. The board has also spent Rs 6.41 lakh on hiring a computer analyst for Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka tours, and paid for his air fare and other allowances.
PTI |
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South Africa narrow gap
with Aussies London, September 19 The two points gained by South Africa takes their series average up to 1.5, just 0.12 behind the table topping Australians with 1.62. The recently completed series is a new one for the Test championship, meaning that South Africa has now played 16 of a possible 18 home and away series. They have won 11, drawn two and lost three of the series, with two of the losses against Australia. South Africa will tour Australia in December before a home series against the current world champions in February. Zimbabwe’s continued struggle to win a series, despite the form of batsman Andy Flower and the promise of youngsters like Hamilton Masakadza, leaves them in ninth position on the table, with six points from 15 series and a reduced average of 0.40. Current standings (tabulate under team, played, won, lost, drawn, points, average): 1 Australia 13 10 2 1 21 1.62 2 South Africa 16 11 3 2 24 1.50 3 England 14 7 5 2 16 1.14 4 Sri Lanka 13 6 5 2 14 1.08 5 West Indies 13 6 6 1 13 1.00 6 N. Zealand 15 6 7 2 14 0.93 7 Pakistan 15 3 7 5 11 0.73 8 India 13 3 7 3 9 0.69 9 Zimbabwe 15 2 11 2 6 0.40 10. Bangladesh 1 0 1 0 0 — Reuters |
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Women’s wrestling in Olympics Lausanne, September 19 The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today agreed at a meeting to introduce four women’s wrestling events at the Games for the first time but two men’s events will be dropped in the sport to stop any major increase in the number of competitors. The IOC announced last year that it would not add any new sports to the programme in Athens because it wanted to bring an end to the ever-increasing “gigantism” of the Games. Waterskiing had been campaigning hard to be introduced in the Greek capital but the IOC is keen to keep the number of competitors to around the 10,000 level and refused its request to join the Games. The IOC has now also turned down a proposal by swimming to add 50 metres backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly and open water disciplines to the Olympic programme. All figure in the World Championships. IOC Sports Director Gilbert Felli said the highest weight category in boxing was likely to go. In practice, however, the decision will mean that all the weight categories will need to be amended rather than stopping the biggest heavyweights from competing. Many big professional boxers have first made their name at the Olympics. “It’s the first time we don’t have an increase in the programme. There has been an average of 20 events added at recent Games,” Mr Felli said. The IOC has the problem of trying to trim down the Games while at the same time following its campaign to have more women competing at the 28-sport event. Two more teams will be allowed to compete in women’s waterpolo in Athens, for example, and fencing is due to add the women’s sabre event. But one discipline is set to be dropped from fencing to allow the expansion. The expansion of the games was a trend of the era of former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch who retired in July after 21 years in charge of the organisation. High-profile professional sports like tennis and baseball returned to the Games under his reign. But new president Jacques Rogge, who witnessed the problems of the expansion of the Games at first hand as the IOC’s chief coordinator of the 2000 Sydney Games, appears keen to set a new trend. There are no major changes in the number one sport at the Games — athletics — but the IOC has introduced a maximum quota of competitors for track and field. It did not give the figure. The IOC said the situation of other high-profile sports like basketball and cycling had not changed.
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Sanchez-Vicario in second round Tokyo, September 19 The 29-year-old Spaniard, who only arrived in Japan yesterday, overcame her taller opponent with some clever variations of pace, converting five out of five break points. Sanchez-Vicario, who has won three French Open titles and one US Open crown since turning pro in 1985, frustrated Dominikovic with a succession of drop shots and inch-perfect lobs as she set up a match with Croatian qualifier Silvija Talaja. The $ 565,000 event has been depleted by the withdrawal of American trio of Serena Williams, Jennifer Capriati and Monica Seles in the wake of last week’s attacks on New York and Washington. Meanwhile, South African qualifier Liezel Huber ousted sixth-seeded Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan 6-4, 6-1, a result which means there are just five seeds left in the singles draw. Silvija Talaja battled to a 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory against Japan’s Shinobu Asagoe, but not before the home favourite had lost her service game to love when up a set and 6-5 in the second. In other matches, wild card Saori Obata of Japan crushed compatriot Shiho Hisamatsu 6-1, 6-4 while Gala Leon Garcia of Spain defeated Taiwan’s Hanet Lee 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. Australia’s Nicole Pratt demolished Marlene Weingartner of Germany 6-1, 6-0 but America’s Tu Meilen had little trouble against another Australian, Rachel McQuillan, winning 6-2, 6-2. Top seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium and No 3 seed Jelena Dokic open their campaigns tomorrow after receiving first-round byes. QUEBEC: Seventh-seeded Lilia Osterloh of the USA, the only seeded player in action, cruised through the first round of the Quebec Challenge tennis tournament. Osterloh, who survived a first-set tie-breaker, beat Sonya Jeyaseelan of Canada 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in a night match on Tuesday. In other first round matches Alexandra Stevenson was one of only three American hopefuls to advance with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Canada’s Diana Srebrovic. Abigail Spears lost 5-7, 6-3, 2-6 to Adriana Serra-Zanetti of Italy while Tiffany Dabek was beaten 2-6, 2-6 by Germany’s Greta Arn. Other first-round winners included Catalina Castano of Colombia, who beat Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4, Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela defeated Ludmila Cervanova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-4, while Slovakia’s Martina Sucha beat Marie-Eve Pelletier of Canada 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Top seed Meghann Shaughnessy and No 2 Silvia Farina Elia received first-round byes.
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Aussies wary of Swedes Sydney, September 19 With newly crowned US Open champion Lleyton Hewitt and Wimbledon finalist Patrick Rafter heading their line-up, the Australians are strong favourites to win the tie at Sydney’s Olympic tennis centre. But Fitzgerald has told his players they risked losing if they underestimated the dangerous Swedes, who have won the men’s team event three times since 1994. “We’d be crazy to be over-confident. It’s almost a dirty word,” Fitzgerald said. “Over-confidence is not something that we can afford. It’s good to be quietly confident, and we are. “We’ve got a group of players here of a very high calibre and there is a quiet sense of confidence, but absolutely not over-confidence.” Australia will host the final for the first time in 15 years if they win this weekend but Fitzgerald, a member of the Australian teams that beat Sweden in the 1983 and 1986 Davis Cup finals, said he was expecting a “rough” time from the Scandinavians. “Playing against a team of Sweden’s calibre, I can’t help but have enough respect for them,” Fitzgerald said. “We know we’ve got a very rough weekend ahead of us. I wouldn’t say the correct word would be that we’re “nervous’, but we’re very conscious and aware of how good they are.” The Australians have an added incentive to win and give Rafter his first Davis Cup victory. Rafter, a two-time US Open champion, missed the 1999 final victory over France in Nice because of a shoulder problem but was a member of the team that lost last year’s decider to Spain. Now contemplating retirement, Rafter knows this could be his last chance to win a trophy he says he rates higher than any individual accomplishment.
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Beckham nets last-minute winner London, September 19 Rookie Lille appeared well set to hold mighty Manchester United to a 0-0 tie at Old Trafford before England captain Beckham turned home a deflected cross from Ruud van Nistelrooy. The 1-0 victory gives the Reds an ideal start in Alex Ferguson’s final season even though his team went so close to dropping two points. Juventus, top of Serie A after three straight wins, needed a harshly awarded penalty to edge Glasgow Celtic 3-2 in Turin. Leading by two David Trezeguet goals, Juventus let that lead slip as Celtic hit back with a Stylian Petrov free kick and a penalty by last season’s European top scorer, Henrik Larsson. Then substitute Nicola Amoruso tumbled in the area in the final minute and the Celtic defenders and coach Martin O’Neill were horrified to see the referee award a spot kick. Amoruso converted it and Juventus won 3-2. Davids was back in action after serving a four-month ban after testing positive for the banned steroid nandrolone. He lasted 75 minutes before he was ejected for his second yellow card. Elsewhere, defending champions Bayern Munich, missing injured Stefan Effenberg, Mehmet Scholl and Jens Jeremies, here held 0-0 at home by Sparta Prague and, in the same group H, Feyenoord gained a 2-2 tie at Spartak Moscow. Bayern, looking short of ideas in the absence of injured playmaker Stefan Effenberg, came close to a goal in the 34th minute when an effort from Croatian midfielder Niko Kovac bounced under the crossbar and on the line. The referee ruled the ball had not crossed the line and television replays suggested he was right. The home side threatened again in the 49th minute when substitute Paulo Sergio hit the post with a thunderous low drive from 15 metres out. Barcelona stormed to a 3-0 victory against Fenerbahce overcoming the traditional passion of the home fans and a floodlight failure that stopped play for 20 minutes in the second half. Barcelona had the upper hand from the start of this group F match and Patrick Kluivert’s 25th minute goal put them on their way to their first win in Turkey. Fabio Rochemback found Kluivert unmarked on the left of the box after a move down the right from Carlos Puyol and Geovanni. The striker had all the time he needed to slot the ball past goalkeeper Rustu Reeber. Three minutes later defender Patrik Andersson drifted in behind the Fenerbahce defence to head in from close range after Luis Enrique headed on a wide cross. Fenerbahce defender Umit Qzat gave away the third goal with a weak pass back to the goalkeeper that Barcelona’s new teenage striker Javier Saviola easily chased back and pushed around the keeper. Saviola had started on the bench but came on early in the second half. Before each game, there was a minute’s silence as a mark of respect for those who died in the terrorist attacks in USA a week ago. All 16 teams should have started last Wednesday but the UEFA postponed the opening matches because of the tragedies in the USA. The teams in action on Wednesday have already started. Their games were last Tuesday when the UEFA felt it was too late to call them off. Eight time champions Real Madrid started with a 2-1 victory at AS Roma in group A and now hope to build on that by beating Lokomotiv Moscow at home. Roma hope to bounce back with a victory at
Anderlecht. AP, Reuters |
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National record by Gurpreet Lucknow, September 19 In the women’s categories West Bengal participants performed well. Gurpreet covered the 110 metres distance in a record time of 14.07 seconds eclipsing the earlier 37-years-old record set by G.S. Randhawa, also from Punjab, in 1964 at Tokyo. In the first event of the day (1500 metres race for men) Sanjeev of Kerala clocked the distance in 3:50.64 seconds leaving behind Shyam Bihari Yadav to the second place who took 3:51.74 minutes while Karnataka’s B.B. Manunath with 3:53.12 seconds. remained in the third place. In the women’s category of the same event Delhi’s Geeta won the top place clocking 4:23.09 seconds time. The next two spots were claimed by Punjab sprinters Madhuri A Singh and Harjeet Kaur. Madhuri took 4:28.53 secs while Harjeet took 1.46 seconds more. Manisha Mandal, Soma Biswas in the women’s section and Sanjai Rai in the men’s won the top honour for West Bengal. Javelin throw gold was lifted by Manisha Mandal who threw the javelin to 52.24 metres, 3.81 metres more than the second spot winner Suman Devi of UP. N.M. Hemlata of Karnataka bagged the third place. Soma Biswas gave some more height to West Bengal contingent when she crossed the 100 metres hurdles in 14.10 seconds, Another West Bengal girl Mukti Shah took .08 seconds more than Soma and claimed the second place. The third place went to Poonam Ballippa of Karnataka by a margin of .10 sec to the second placed Shah. The other results of the day were:- Pole vault (men) Shamsher-Haryana, 4.70 mts-(first), Geesh Kumar-Kerala, 4.65 mts (second) and Ram Dhan-Karnataka, 4.60 mts (third). Long jump (men) Sanjai Rai-West Bengal, 7.92 mts (first), Amrit Pal Singh-Punjab 7.63 mts (second) and Satish-Delhi 7.38 mts (third).
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Rohan, Tajinder in 2nd
round Sangrur, September 19 Rohan had an easy victory in the first round, defeating Varun from Jalandhar in a one-sided match 7-0, 7-1, 7-1. Tajinder Singh of Ludhiana faces stiff resistance from Sandeep of Amritsar before winning 4-7, 3-7, 7-1, 7-1, 7-1. Tajinder, who has represented Punjab many times was stretched by Sandeep, who started extremely well to win the first two games but after that made many mistakes, which ultimately cost him the match. Fourth seed Harish Chander of Ludhiana had an easy 7-0, 7-3, 7-1 victory over Surinder of Ferozepore. Results Men’s (singles): Harinder Singh (Pta) b Ranbir Singh (Ldh) 7-3, 7-1, 7-1; Mayank (Asr) b Neeraj Bansal (Jal) 7-1, 7-2, 7-1; Tuseef Ahmed (Sgr) b Sunil Sekhri (Ldh) 7-0, 7-1, 7-2; Md Salim got w/o from Paramjit (Fkt); Rohit Kapoor (Jal) b Saleem (Fzp) 7-0, 7-2, 7-0; Jagdeep Singh (Mansa) got w/o from Dilpreet Singh (Ldh); Lakhwinder Singh (Ldh) b Iqbal Singh (Pta) 2-7, 8-7, 7-0, 7-1; Ram Lakhan (PSEB) b Rasik (Asr) 7-1, 7-4, 3-7, 7-3; Yogesh Chohan (Jal) b Ashok Kumar (Pta) 7-1, 7-3, 7-2; Harpreet Singh (Sgr) b Ramanjit Singh 7-5, 8-6, 8-6; Gurmukh Singh (Ldh) b Amarvir Singh (Mansa) 7-0, 7-1, 7-0; Harish Chander (Ldh) b Surinder (Fzp) 7-0, 7-3, 7-1; Ashish Laroya (Jal) b Akhtar (Sgr) 3-7, 8-7, 8-6, 7-2; Rohan (PSEB) b Varun (Jal) 7-0, 7-1, 7-1; Tajinder (Ldh) b Sandeep (Asr) 4-7, 3-7, 7-1, 7-1, 7-1. Women’s (singles): Navita Thakur b Salehir (Sgr) 7-1, 7-3, 7-4; Lakhdeep Kaur (Asr) b Akshi (Sgr) 7-5, 7-4, 7-4; Nazma Parveen (Ldh) got w/o from Pushpinder (Fzr), Radha (Asr) b Navpreet (Jal) 7-3, 7-6, 7-0; Shahnaaz (Sgr) b Jyoti (Asr) 7-3, 7-0, 7-2; Navita (Jal) b Amrit Pal (Pta) 7-5, 7-1, 7-2; Arti (Rpr) b Lakhdeep (Asr) 7-2, 7-0, 7-3. |
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Lakhbir, Amit
help Patiala
win Patiala, September 19 Chasing Minor Districts total of 181, the hosts at one stage were precariously placed at 64 for six. However, Lakbhir mixed aggression and caution in equal measure to notch up a well deserved century and his 151-run sixth wicket partnership with southpaw Amit Kakria steered Patiala to a position of safety. Brief scores: Minor Districts: 181 all out Patiala- 232 for 6 ( Lakhbir Singh 101 n.o, Amit Kakria 60 n.o; R.P. Singh, 4 for 55) Harikrishan Kali 1 for 44. |
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Mathew, Behl ousted in pre-quarterfinals Chennai, September 19 Dalodom Anuwat fell to lower ranked Somdev Verman of India in straight sets, 6-7 (2-7), 6-1. Jaco T. Mathew met his Waterloo at the hands of the lower seeded but the giant 6 ft 5 1/2 inches Dominic Stockler of Switzerland. The Swiss, ranked No 4 back home but 1047 on the IFT circuit, dropped the first set but found his all-round game subsequently and won 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. Another foreign challenge Thailand’s unseeded Nattapong Pon Kunsub upset Arun Prakash in three set, 7-5, 6-7(7-5), 6-4. Rishi Behl, seeded sixth fell to unseeded Indian Tejeshwar after winning the first set easily. He committed too many errors to go down 6-2, 3-6, 5-7. However, top-seed Rohan Gajjar had little difficulty in disposing off qualifier Dhanajay Kawade 6-1, 6-2 in straight sets. Third-seeded Karan Rastogi of India also made it to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Nihal Advani of India. On the distaff side, Nandita fell to lower ranked Isha Lakhani 6-3, 6-4. Top-seeded Megha Vakaria who disposed off Nishi Shah 6-0, 6-2 and second-seeded Thai Laosirichon Pichaiyah who beat India’s M. Kamini 6-1, 6-0 to enter the quarterfinals. UNI |
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Ex-Olympian drowns Salt Lake City, September 19 The friend, Jay Woods, was able to swim to shore but Cummings didn’t make it. His body was recovered on Tuesday night. “It was a bit windy, the water was choppy and the canoe tipped over,” Wasatch County sheriff’s Lt. John Rogers said on Wednesday. “They both ended up in the water, and the canoe blew away from them. Neither of them had a life jacket on.”
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CISF, NR win Faridkot, September 19 In the other two matches Northern Railway beat PSEB and Indian Postal (Ludhiana) beat Border Hawks Amritsar. The pre-quarterfinal matches will be played tomorrow. Mr A. Venu Prasad, Deputy Commissioner, inaugurated the meet. |
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