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| Tuesday, January 1, 2002, Chandigarh, India   
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Muralitharan spins Lanka to biggest victory
SA look to Boje to stop Aussie sweep Hussain may quit as skipper after World Cup |
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Langer fails to make
Aussie 1-day squad No benefit
ties for ex-stars
till 2003,
says BCCI NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Dreams finally come true for Ivanisevic, Jennifer Capriati Paes crashes out;
Hrbaty advances
Col Raminder, Bindra retire Karate results PU kho-kho team Parminder bereaved
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Muralitharan spins Lanka to biggest victory Colombo, December 31 Muralitharan captured four for 35 in Zimbabwe’s second innings of 236 to finish the year with the world’s leading haul of 80 wickets. His team extended their run of consecutive victories to six. Despite finishing the match with eight for 88, Muralitharan was beaten for the man-of-the-match award by Kumar Sangakkara, who top-scored with 128 in Sri Lanka’s first innings 586 for six declared. “It was not an easy pitch to get wickets for Murali. He had to put in a lot of hard work to get those wickets. I am very happy with the way he performed,” said Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya. “If we were held up by the weather we wouldn’t mind coming back tomorrow to finish it off. But the new ball was due and we tried it out with success.” Sri Lanka just managed to beat a heavy deluge 20 minutes after the end of the match which inundated the ground with pools of water. Rain also washed out nearly an hour’s play shortly before tea. None of the Zimbabwe batsmen managed to reach the half-century mark with the top score being 44 by nightwatchman Travis Friend. Former captain and pace bowler Heath Streak was the team’s second highest scorer on a bland batting pitch with 36 not out. Muralitharan took two for 19 from 12 overs as Zimbabwe slipped further towards defeat at tea, ending Friend’s 176-minute vigil when he bowled him with the Zimbabwe score on 145. Then, coming back for his third spell from the opposite end, Muralitharan had Grant Flower caught off his glove by Hashan Tillakaratne at forward short leg for 18, reducing Zimbabwe to 165 for seven. Earlier Zimbabwe lost three important wickets, including that of Andy Flower, when they resumed at 64 for two after Sunday’s rest day. They lost their captain Stuart Carlisle (32) in the first over after the first drinks break of the day, when he attempted an ambitious cut off medium-pacer Buddhika Fernando and edged an easy catch behind the wicket to Sangakkara. Fernando also dismissed Gavin Rennie for four when he forced him to edge a catch to Mahela Jayawardene at second slip with 12 runs added to the total. Fernando’s fine morning spell was rewarded with two for 17 off six overs. Lanky left-arm fast bowler Nuwan Zoysa picked up the prize wicket of Andy Flower for 10 shortly before lunch when he trapped him in front of the wicket with a straight ball. The second of three Tests starts at Kandy on Friday. Scoreboard Sri Lanka (Ist innings): 586-6 declared Zimbabwe (Ist innings):
184 Zimbabwe (2nd innings): (overnight 64-2) Masakadza c Atapattu 28
Gripper c Sangakkara 10
Carlisle c Sangakkara 32
Friend b Muralitharan 44 Rennie c Jayawardene 4 A.Flower lbw b Zoysa 10 G.Flower c Tillakaratne 18 Wishart c Tillakaratne 27 Streak not out 36 Brent c Jayasuriya b Zoyza 7 Olonga c Sangakkara b Vaas 0 Extras (b-4 lb-7 nb-9) 20 Total
236 Fall of wickets: 1-40, 2-58, 3-93, 4-105, 5-127, 6-145, 7-165, 8-197, 9-235. Bowling: Vaas 21.2-6-76-1, Zoysa 15-4-34-2, Fernando 15-3-48-2, Muralitharan 36-17-35-4, Jayasuriya 7-3-22-0, Samaraweera 7-2-10-1.
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SA look to Boje to stop Aussie sweep Sydney, December 31 Boje, who has been recovering from shoulder and knee surgery for six months, is scheduled to arrive here tomorrow, on the eve of the Test. Australia are chasing a 3-0 whitewash having secured the series with a nine-wicket win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday. They were 246-run winners in the first Adelaide Test. South African cricket board Chairman Gerald Majola today said Boje had been rushed to Australia in response to a request from tour selectors. Boje came back to play in the Test series against India last month but was then ruled out of the Australia tour because of a knee strain unrelated to his surgery. His place was taken by Claude Henderson, who has played well as a bowler and batsman in the one-sided series. "It was always the case that as soon as he was fit and ready he was going to come over," captain Shaun Pollock said today. The South Africans have been bitterly disappointing in the billed world championship of cricket, unable to match the Australians in any department. Only No 4 batsman Jacques Kallis has looked the part with an unbeaten 65 in the second innings of the Adelaide Test and a heartbreaking 99, when he was run out on the fourth and final day in Melbourne on Saturday. Pollock and his fellow selectors will have to decide whether to make changes, with Jacques Rudolph being strongly considered for woefully out-of-form No 6 Lance Klusener. The likely union of potent leg-spinners Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill on a possible turning SCG pitch could make matters even worse for South Africans.
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Hussain may quit as skipper after World Cup London, December 31 In an interview published in today’s Sun newspaper, the 33-year-old batsmen targets the 2003 event in South Africa as his last tournament as skipper. “I took over from Alec Stewart after the last World Cup and it would complete a natural cycle,’’ he said. “I don’t want to stay in the job too long...The World Cup would be a good time to step down and let someone else take over. “But of course, I might get the axe before then if results go badly. I may not have the option of deciding when to resign,’’ he added. However, Hussain is certain that he remains focussed on the year ahead. “This is a big 15 months coming up, ending with an Ashes tour of Australia and the World Cup. “I intend doing everything this year, totally full-on, and then handing over to someone else,’’ he said.
Reuters |
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Langer fails to make
Aussie 1-day squad Sydney, December 31 Despite scoring a mountain of runs in the past few months, Langer failed to make either the 14-man squad or the 12-man Australia “A” team, announced today. Langer, who has scored centuries in four of his last six Tests for Australia, was the only member of the current Australian Test squad to miss out on a place in the one-day team. With Adam Gilchrist and Mark Waugh now established as Australia’s one-day openers, the selectors opted to leave out Langer and bring in one-day specialists Michael Bevan, Ian Harvey and Andrew Symonds. Australian Test fast bowler Jason Gillespie was also left out after injury forced him to miss last weekend’s series clinching victory over South Africa but was included in the A team pending a fitness test. Australia A will play warm-up matches against New Zealand in Brisbane on January 8 and against South Africa in Adelaide on January 10.
Reuters |
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No
benefit ties for ex-stars
till 2003, says BCCI
Mumbai, December 31 Board secretary Niranjan Shah said here on Monday that the step was taken so that the Indian players could concentrate on international matches. “However, if the state associations want to convert Ranji Trophy ties or one-day games into benefit games, they are welcome,” he added. “One of the benefit matches to be cancelled is that of former Test off-spinner Arshad Ayub of Hyderabad who will have to wait till 2004,” Mr Shah said. PTI |
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NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE Bangalore, December 31 Twice champions and title contenders, Bagan were looking for a win to keep their morale high after a humiliating 1-3 defeat at the hands of debutants Hindustan Aeronautics last week, but failed to rise to the occasion. The telephonemen, flying high after a 2-0 win over FC Kochin, kept their no-loss record clean. Both teams secured one point each from this encounter. Bagan, runner-up in the last edition, now have eight points, while ITI have seven. Today’s match failed to generate much interest as both teams were found wanting in finishing. In the second minute of the second half, Bagan’s Brazilian import Jose Ramirez Barreto’s weak shot was stopped by ITI goalie Balaji, who did a fine job under the bar. Balaji also deflected a shot by Rishi Kapoor in the 17th minute after the breather. In the dying minutes, Bagan skipper Debjit Ghosh made a splendid save as he headed out a powerful shot by Andrew Lewis who was on target after Kenneth Onu’s shot hit the goal post and deflected to lewis. A minute later, Bagan’s Rishi Kapoor deflected a Raghuveer Singh shot at the goal-line. MUMBAI: Mahindra United and Salgaocar today failed to give a New Year’s gift to its fans ending the National Football league match with a goal-less result at the Cooperage. The expectations were very high with both teams having abundant talent but there was very little to cheer about on the New Year's eve. Mahindras now have nine points from five matches while Salgaocar have eight from same number of matches. Both sides kept managing to break into each other’s sensitive territory but lacked the shooting appetite.
Punjab Police lose
KOCHI: F.C. Kochin defeated Punjab Police, Jalandhar, by two goals to nil in their fifth round encounter of the VI National Football League here tonight at the floodlit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Strikers Sushanth Mathew and V.P. Shaji scored for the home team, once in each half, the first goal coming three minutes before the interval and the second 15 minutes into the latter session. With this victory, F.C Kochin collected five points from five matches while the Punjab cops are yet to open their accounts.
UNI, PTI |
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Hopman Cup: USA crush France Perth, December 31 The pair, runners-up in the $500,000 mixed teams’ event last year, both won their singles encounters before wrapping up the mixed doubles to give the USA a 3-0 clean sweep. The 28-year-old Seles — currently ranked eighth — recovered from a shaky start to overpower Virginie Razzano, (18), who is ranked 72nd. Seles had to fight hard to get home in straight sets, winning 6-3, 6-4 in 62 minutes. Then the 24-year-old Gambill (ranked 21st) wore down a determined Arnaud Clement, (18th) to win 6-4, 6-4 in 91 minutes. In the doubles, Seles and Gambill coasted home 6-1, 6-4. The Americans are aiming to go one better than last year when they were beaten by Swiss pair Martina Hingis and Roger Federer in the final of the eight-nation contest. Gambill said: “I got a little tentative at the end of the singles, but it was a great start to my year. “Arnaud is a great scrapper and I am delighted to beat him, even though I am frankly a bit out of shape. “That is one of the reasons I am here. I will be in shape by the end of the tournament. “I just aim to keep improving in the new year, and if I do, I think I have a chance to beat anyone when I am playing well.” Gambill was pressed hard by Clement before taking the first set in 47 minutes. But the American gained the ascendancy in the second set, breaking in the third and fifth games. “There were too many breaks of service against me. But it was my first match of the season, and it was not easy,” Clement said.
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Dreams finally come true for Ivanisevic, Jennifer Capriati London, December 31 While other players amassed more computer points or captured more prestigious titles, for sheer heart-warming achievement and staggering determination the unpredictable Croat and resurrected American golden girl could not be bettered. There was a hint of what was to come in an astonishing year for the sport when Capriati, the precociously talented Florida girl who became a byword for teenage mutiny and burn-out, penned another chapter to her remarkable story at the Australian Open in Melbourne. The pony-tailed American stunned pundits and fans in January by reaching the final and beating the favourite Martina Hingis 6-4, 6-3. “I can’t believe this is happening,” she said through tears of joy afterwards. “Who would have thought that I could ever make it here? But dreams do come true and, if you just keep believing in yourself, anything is possible.” A Grand Slam title for Capriati, who seven years earlier had thrown away her tennis rackets and reappeared with a nose-ring and black nail varnish, had indeed seemed all but impossible. But after a hiatus of several years, her love of tennis drew her back to the circuit. Andre Agassi picked up the men’s title at the opening Grand Slam of the year, the only one he was to win in 2001, but his highpoint came towards the end of the year with marriage to former world No 1 Steffi Graf and the birth of their first child. The Grand Slam circus rolled into Paris in May and Gustavo Kuerten’s love affair with the French blossomed during a magical fortnight at Roland Garros. Kuerten, who captured his third French Open title, once again melted the hearts of the sentimental Parisian crowd, drawing love-hearts in the centre court clay and kneeling to blow kisses to the crowd. Capriati continued where she had left off in Melbourne and won an epic third set to beat Belgium’s Kim Clijsters 1-6, 6-4, 12-10 in the final of the women’s event. The victory came at the end of what was the longest final set in the history of French Open women’s finals. “Really I am just waiting to wake up from this dream...It doesn’t seem like a reality,” she said after beating Clijsters, the first Belgian in a Grand Slam final. Capriati’s wake-up call came just weeks later at Wimbledon when she was beaten in the semifinals by Justine Henin, the second Belgian to reach a Grand Slam final. But as Capriati’s dreams of winning all four Grand Slam titles in one year were left in shreds by the small Belgian with the sweetest of backhands, Wimbledon was firmly in the grip of another improbable and irresistible drama. Ivanisevic, that wildest of wildcards, buried the nightmare of losing in three agonising Wimbledon finals with a inspirational performance to finally win a major title after 13 years as the nearly-man of tennis. Grabbing the All-England Club’s invitation to play in the main draw of the men’s singles despite a woeful world ranking of 125, the seasoned warhorse beat both Britons, Greg Rusedski and Tim Henman, as well as Marat Safin, Andy Roddick and, in the final, Pat Rafter to fulfill his life’s ambition. “All my life I was always second,” he said after his emotional tears had finally dried following the Monday lunchtime final. “Now finally I am champion of Wimbledon. This is everything for me. All my dreams have come true.” Venus Williams defended her Wimbledon crown by beating Henin in the final with a signature brutal display but her heroics were overshadowed by Ivanisevic. She also defended her US Open crown in September in a history-making final against younger sister Serena. Again, though, her achievements were overshadowed by the men’s draw where a tough and wilful Australian announced his arrival in the upper echelons of the sport. Lleyton Hewitt, who had been considered a likely prospect for supremacy in two or three years’ time, showed he had no intention of hanging around that long and won his first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadow with a demolition job of the fast-fading Pete Sampras. Having started the year with ambitious goals to reach the top five in the world and make a Grand Slam semifinal, Hewitt also became the youngest man in history to finish the year ranked No 1 in the world, clinching the accolade with triumph at the Masters Cup in Sydney. “I think it’s come as a bit of shock to most of us,” the 20-year-old Hewitt said afterwards. “I guess it’s something that I dreamed of as a young kid.” Hewitt’s other ambition, helping Rafter to finally win the Davis Cup with Australia, turned sour at the last minute, though, when the australians were beaten by France in the Melbourne final. Rafter is now expected to retire without a Wimbledon crown having lost the last two finals. But the examples of Capriati, Ivanisevic and Hewitt may persuade him to make one more try.
Reuters |
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Paes crashes out;
Hrbaty advances Chennai, December 31 Paes, flag-bearer of Indian tennis,
seemed to lack concentration as he committed a lot of errors. His hustling tactics also did not work as the Russian, last year’s runners-up, played to a plan and succeeded. Though the crowd and his film actress-girlfriend Mahima Choudhary egged him on, Paes was never able to get into his rhythm. He was broken twice in the first set (third and ninth games) and fourth and six games in the second. After the match Paes said he was not “sharp enough” against the Russian. Lack of singles match practice and commitment to play in Davis Cup and Asian Games matches more frequently was the reason for his defeat, he said, adding he would have to play in more Futures tournaments to improve his play in singles. Now Mahesh Bhupathi remains the lone Indian hope in the tournament, as Paes, a wild card entrant, crashed out in just 47 minutes. Bhupathi, another wild card, plays Jiri Vanek of the Czech Republic tomorrow. Earlier, on centre court, Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia had an easy time disposing of Axel Prestzsch (Germany) 6-1 6-4 in 51 minutes. The 36th ranked Hrbaty, a movie enthusiast, who travels with a
portable DVD player to watch his favourite stars, stroked the ball smoothly and had the game under control from the beginning. In another first round encounter, Alex Calatrava of Spain came back from a first set loss to defeat Ota Fukarek of Czech Republic 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-4 in a match that lasted a shade over two hours. In a doubles first round match, Juan Balcells (Spain) and George Bastl (Swz) dropped the first set before winning against Devin Bowen (USA) and Ashley Fisher (Aus) 2-6 6-1 6-2.
PTI |
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Col Raminder, Bindra retire Chandigarh, December 31 Col Raminder Singh had assumed charge on August 6, 1992, when his father-in-law, the late Beant Singh who was later assassinated, was Chief Minister. It was during his tenure that Punjab’s infrastructure received a boost as several new stadia came up, including 22 at the block level and six at the district level. Besides, synthetic athletics track and new Astro-Turf were laid at Jalandhar while an Astro-Turf hockey stadium also came up at Ludhiana. For the National Games, a new track was also laid at Ludhiana’s Guru Nanak Stadium which also became floodlit prior to the National Games. “Planning and execution need delicate tuning, “said the Director, Sports, today adding that budgetary provisions and final grants released should be matching. “When there is disparity, all planning goes for a six. The Sports Department needs more financial resources for development of infrastructure in the rural sector. The sports academies currently running successfully in the state, including the Surjit Hockey Academy at Jalandhar which has produced several world class players, should only be run by the state government, he said. Mr Bindra, who also heads the Punjab Cricket Association, and is a former President of the BCCI, has also been in the forefront of Punjab sports administration. He, along with other officers, is credited with the successful conduct of the 31st National Games. Mr Bindra, a senior IAS officer, has put in nearly 38 years of service. Meanwhile, Mr Vishwajeet Khanna, IAS, was given charge of the post vacated by Col Raminder Singh. Earlier also he was given additional charge prior to the National Games. |
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Karate results Patiala, December 31 In the team event for subjunior girls, the Karnataka team, consisting of S. Kiran Kumari, Swathi and Bhavna, was placed first. The Karnataka eves were followed by Kerala team. Mr R.S Gill, Inspector-General (IG), Patiala zone, inaugurated the championships while Dr P.M. Dass, IG, GRP, distributed the prizes on the final day. |
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PU kho-kho team Chandigarh, December 31 The other members of the team are: Champa, Manu and Gurbinder (all GGS College for Women, Chandigarh); Iqbal Kaur (GC Hoshiarpur), Meenakshi Rana, Paramjit Kaur and Bhupinder Kaur (all MCMDAV-36), Maninder Kaur, Daljit Kaur, Neetu Rani and Sushma Madan (all GCG-11). |
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Parminder bereaved Chandigarh, December 31 Her cremation at the Sector 25 crematorium was largely attended. Parminder had just returned from Kolkata where his team, JCT Phagwara, played against East Bengal in the National Football League a few days back. The bhog ceremony will be held in Sector 22 here on January 12. |
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