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Saturday,
January 19, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Gavaskar comments Saurav Ganguly writes |
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India keen to stamp superiority
Big victory for Pakistan Waugh’s team ‘out of contention’ for finals Ivanchuk settles
for a draw Jalandhar lads lift
crown Amrit Bose denies
rift with Stokes Working of RCCs
reviewed Punjab veterans
enter final
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Paes-Bhupathi make quick exit Melbourne, January 18 The Indians, who had won the French Open last year and Tata Open this year, lost the second round encounter 3-6, 4-6. Yesterday, they had put up a spirited display to win their opening encounter 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 over the unseeded pair of Julian Knowle of Austria and Michael Kohlmann of Germany. Venus Williams staged the great escape today but Greg Rusedski failed to emulate her and was sent packing by Tim Henman in the battle of Britain. Henman took the first two sets before Rusedski pulled one back but the sixth seed kept his cool to remain on track to become the first British quarterfinalist here since John Lloyd in 1985. “I’m really happy with the way I’m playing, I’ve won eight matches so far in Australia,” Henman said after his 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win in two hours 27 minutes. “We just wanted to play hard and compete hard and I think we did and it was a quality match.” Henman and Rusedski were the first Britons to play each other at the Australian Open since the Open era began in 1968. Both acknowleged their pride was on the line. And tensions spilled over in the second set when a crucial line call went against Rusedski as he struggled to save the set. A Henman volley at deuce, as he was serving for the set and a 2-0 lead, was adjudged in but Rusedski saw it differently. And replays showed he had a point. “Are you blind?” he yelled at the umpire. “It’s unbelievable.” Henman wrapped up the set but Rusedski’s tirade continued at the changeover. “You should be embarrassed. It’s disgusting. How could you call that in,” he shouted. His aggression worked and, fired up, he took the third set but then ran out of steam, handing Henman a fourth round showdown against 29-year-old Swede Jonas
Bjorkman. Bjorkman, who climbed to No 4 in the rankings five years ago, beat Argentinian Guillermo Canas and believes he has rediscovered his game. He leads Henman 4-2. Wimbledon and US Open champion Venus Williams had to dig deep to escape from an Australian Open trap set by plucky 18-year-old Slovak Daniela Hantuchova, who came close to pulling off the biggest upset yet in the women’s draw. Williams, whose movement about the court appeared restricted early on by tendinitis in her left knee, eventually climbed out 3-6, 6-0, 6-4. She now plays Bulgarian 13th seed Magdalena Maleeva, who beat her in straight sets the last time they met, in the semifinals at Nice last February. Third seed Martina Hingis, drawn to play Williams in the semifinals, cruised through in 46 minutes for the loss of only one game against Germany’s Barbara Rittner and now comes up against South Africa’s Amanda Coetzer. But first williams will have to overcome her likely quarterfinal opponent Monica Seles, searching for her 10th Grand Slam singles title but first since 1996. The Yugoslav-born American 28-year-old defeated Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-4, 6-4 and now plays Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues. American giantkiller Alex Kim, who knocked out fourth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia in the second round, had little time to savour the glory. He lost in straight sets to another qualifier, Fernando Gonzalez of Chile. Sweden’s Thomas Johansson also made the last 16, beating Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco. South African Wayne Ferriera, due to play Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic for a quarterfinal place tomorrow, is in doubt after picking up an ankle injury in a doubles match. Slovakia’s Dominik Hrbaty survived a comeback from Frenchman Jerome Golmard to win 6-3, 6-1, 6-7, 7-5 and is set to play Jiri Novak, who got past Francisco Clavet of Spain 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.
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Gavaskar comments Except when Prince Ranjitsinhji and Prince Duleepsinhji played Tests there have probably never been millionaires playing international cricket. However that will change as two millionaires (in pounds sterling) take each other on in the one-day series starting today. Both have Yorkshire caps and both play cricket with the kind of unfettered enthusiasm that delights cricket fans all over the world. Their duel will set the tone for the series and if they play to their potential then we could be in for some tremendous cricket. Sachin Tendulkar is a millionaire not just in currency terms (and that too any currency in the world) but also in terms of cricketing ability. He bats breathtakingly, bowls just about everything and fields with boyish enthusiasm inspite of the fact that he is now a veteran of international cricket for over twelve years. Darren Gough has just had one of the most rewarding of benefit years taking him to the millionaire category and though talentwise he is a little short compared to the little champion he matches him in the sheer energy he brings to the game. He has a smile for everything and in that respect he is a rare English cricketer for the others do give the impression of carrying a burden on their shoulders. Not so Gough who will already have enjoyed himself in his stay so far at the way his name will have been mispronounced (shades of Iron Bottom). He will have a chirp with anyone and even if the batsman inside-edges him past the off-stump for a boundary or there is a catch dropped off his bowling he will simply shrug off his shoulders smile at the batsman or the fielder who has let him down and walk that springy walk back to the bowling mark. Not far him the McGrath snarls nor the Flintoff babytalk nor the glare of the West Indian quicks. Over the years he has become England’s premier bowler with a terrific slanting yorker and a disguised slower delivery. When his over is done he will retire to his position on the boundary and sign hundreds of autographs and have a banter with the crowd even though they will not understand a word of his Yorkshire accent. Whoever takes the initiative between Tendulkar and Gough, will set the course for the match. England’s attack will definitely have more teeth with Caddick and Gough operating the new ball and they have got some pretty useful support as well. This England team may say they are not fully prepared but it looks as if it has got depth in both batting and bowling and the Indians will take them lightly at their own peril. With Sourav Ganguly still not in form and the others coming from a longish break the side that settles down first will have the advantage. Srinath is the kind of bowler who should have been played in the Challenger if only to see that he doesn’t come in cold for the one-day series. The Challenger Trophy also has not provided runs for the others excepting Sehwag who failed against the “A” team but scored a century against the “B” team. India’s biggest problem is going to be the fielding and an ageing side with worn out shoulders may will be shown up against the more athletic English team. Runs saved are runs scored and that may well make the difference in a close contest. One being for sure is that the presence of Darren Gough is going to go a big way in erasing (deleting is the modern technology word) with memories of the Test series that finished last month and show English cricket in a better light when they leave our shores this time than when they did the last time.
PMG |
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Saurav Ganguly writes It’s always great to play at Eden Gardens, my home ground and a sports arena unlike any other in the world. The atmosphere here tomorrow will be extra special since this is the first one-dayer to be played here after a long gap. The noise levels are bound to be pretty high and communication will be a big problem, so everyone will have to be alert on the field. The other factor that has to be taken into consideration is the dew. We practiced under lights on Wednesday and Thursday, and there is plenty of dew on the outfield after dusk. We discussed this with the match referee, and while a final decision will be given tomorrow at 12 noon a ball change at 35 overs in both innings, with the umpire monitoring the ball’s condition right through is the plan under consideration. The wicket is batsman-friendly, and while the dew is a factor, I don’t think the toss will play a big role in the result of the match. I don’t like predicting a good total before a match since targets have to be monitored every four or five overs. Sometimes teams decide that 275 is a good total, get bowled out for 200 trying to achieve their target. All I can say at this stage is that it’s a track that is conducive to batting, and should be high-scoring. I am extremely excited about the team that has been chosen for the first three matches. It’s a young team and will be the nucleus of the squad that will play the World Cup next year. This one year will be crucial for every player in the squad and we must see this period as a run-up to the World Cup. All the other sides in the world have already set their eyes on the World Cup and we must do the same. This is a good break for Dinesh Mongia who was in fine nick during the Hero Challenger and has hit a purple patch in domestic cricket. It’s an excellent opportunity for him to establish his place in the squad and I’m pretty sure he’ll continue his prolific run into the series. The other player who will be in focus is Ajay Ratra. This is one area in which we have been chopping and changing for the last one year, and it’s a chance for the young ‘keeper to cement his place. He has the talent and temperament and I wish him all the best on the eve of his debut. Ajit Agarkar, who bowled so well in the one-dayers in South Africa, is fighting fit and ready for international cricket. He has always performed well for India in the one-dayers, and it’s great to have him back in the side. All eyes will be on the heroes of last year’s historic Test in Calcutta, V.V.S. Laxman and Harbhajan Singh. Eden Gardens has always been a happy hunting ground for Laxman and I hope we get to see yet another very very special innings from him tomorrow. Harbhajan of course made history here last year by becoming the first Indian to claim a hattrick in Tests. He is eager to perform here once again, and I’m sure the crowd will be behind him, especially after his match-winning exploits here last time round.
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India keen to stamp superiority Kolkata, January 18 Nothing less than a convincing victory in the series would salvage the pride of the Indians who ended a mediocre year in the field seeing their might on home turf being challenged by an England team which did not even have all their regular players in the squad. The hosts won the series 1-0 alright, but they were saved some serious blushes especially in the third Test in Bangalore where rain gods came to their rescue. On the other hand England have gained a lot of confidence from that performance and captain Nasser Hussain has already started a psychological war describing the Indians as chokers in one-day matches. On paper, the Indians once again start favourites despite the absence of Rahul Dravid, who is nursing a shoulder injury in South Africa. A few young members have made it to the Indian squad, including a new wicketkeeper in Ajay Ratra, and a lot would depend on their performance. But as usual the key to India’s fortunes would be in the hands of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and a beleaguered captain Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly’s leadership qualities as well as his current batting form will come under the scanner as he desperately tries to silence his critics by getting some runs. The ‘Prince of Kolkata’ has been woefully short of runs for nearly two years now but it is his performance in the one-dayers against South Africa that is giving some hope both to him as well as his team. He emerged as the highest scorer in the tournament, totalling 380 runs at an average of 63.33, with two centuries and one fifty and has already expressed his desire to repeat that performance. Ganguly could not have asked for a better venue than the Eden Gardens to return to form in front of a packed-to-capacity home ground. Despite the fact that his record at his home ground has hardly been inspiring, this is probably the acid test for him and he has been working really hard to prove his detractors wrong. However, his opening partner Tendulkar has been in as sublime a form as ever and is the biggest spoiler to the English hopes. The star batsman, who seems to have curbed his natural attacking
instincts to some extent in recent times, was frustrated by the English in the Test series with unsporting bowling and he too will be keen to get back even with the opponents. Together, Tendulkar and Ganguly, who are the world’s best opening pair in the one-dayers as far as records go, have another score to settle with the English, whose pace spearhead Andrew Caddick had recently remarked that he did not think much about the Indian opening pair.
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Trescothick down with viral Kolkata, January 18 However, the English team management expressed confidence that he would recover in time for the day-night exchange at the Eden Gardens. “Trescothick told me this morning that he would have struggled had the match been played yesterday or today. We need him for tomorrow’s match. I hope he recovers in the next 24 hours,” England skipper Nasser Hussain said at his customary pre-match Meet the Press here. Trescothick, who was hit by the flu-like virus a couple of days back, did not bat in yesterday’s practice match against Bengal XI though he did duty behind the stumps for some time. England team’s media relations manager Andrew Walpole said all-rounder Paul Collingwood was also yet to fully recover from an upset stomach though he bowled impressively.
PTI |
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Big victory for Pakistan Chittagong, January 18 After Pakistan had declared their first innings closed at 465 for nine, captain Waqar Younis and fellow fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar took four wickets each as Bangladesh were bundled out for 148. Pakistan won the first Test of the series by an innings and 178 runs. Man-of-the-match Youhana who scored his previous best 203 against New Zealand last year, hit two sixes off Majurul Islam, plus 34 boundaries in his 313-minute innings. He gave only one chance on 113 when Fahim Muntasir dropped a caught-and-bowled opportunity today. Opening bowler Mohammad Sharif took a career best four for 98. Bangladesh then folded as Waqar and Shoaib grabbed four for 36 and four for 48, respectively. Off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq took the two other wickets for 34 runs. Scoreboard Bangladesh (1st innings): 148 Pakistan (1st innings): Umar c Aminul b Sharif 47 Kabir c Masud b Sharif 4 Y Khan c Mehrab b Muntasir 119 Inzamam c Aminul b
Muntasir 30 Youhana not out 204 Razzaq b Sharif 18 Latif lbw b Manjural 15 Waqar c Mehrab b Muntasir 10 Saqlain c Aminul b Sharif 7 Akhtar c Sanwar b Manjural l2 Kaneria not out 4 Extras (w1, nb4) 5 Total (for 9 wkts decl, 134.5 overs) 465 Fall of wickets:
1-12, 2-99, 3-166, 4-236, 5-274, 6-315, 7-339, 8-438, 9-447 Bowling:
Manjural 35-9-95-2, Sharif 35.5-10-98-4, Haque 33-6-114-0, Muntasir 27-3-131-3, Aminul 4-0-27-0. Bangladesh (2nd innings): Omar c Latif b Waqar 0 Sahariar c Latif b Waqar 8 Hossain c Latif b Waqar 14 Aminul b Shoaib 2 Bashar c Kabir b Saqlain 51 Hossain c Younis b Saqlain 30 Masud not out 15 Haque b Akhtar 9 Muntasir b Akhtar 2 Sharif b Akhtar 0 Manjural c Kabir b Waqar 0 Extras (b8, lb1, nb8) 17 Total
(38.5 overs) 148 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-23, 3-24, 4-41, 5-110, 6-128, 7-144, 8-147, 9-147. Bowling: Waqar 8.5-0-36-4, Shoaib 11-1-48-4, Saqlain 11-3-34-2, Razzaq 2-0-12-0, Kaneria 6-3-9-0.
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Waugh’s team ‘out of contention’ for finals Sydney, January 18 Under the headline: “Kiwis tighten one-day noose”, The Australian newspaper today said Waugh’s team were “seemingly out of contention for next month’s limited overs finals”. Australia started hosting triangular limited overs series in 1979-80 and have missed the finals only twice, in that season and in 1996-97. Australia had never lost their opening three matches in the triangular series and had not lost three successive one-day internationals for four years. New Zealand’s winning margin on Thursday replicated their victory over Australia in Melbourne last week. The home side also lost to South Africa last week and have no points from three matches in the series. Australia’s next game is against South Africa in Brisbane on Sunday. The Proteas play New Zealand in Brisbane on Saturday. The Australian newspaper said selection changes following the team’s 1996-97 series failures against Pakistan and the West Indies helped put Australia on the path to their 1999 World Cup success. “Now, with glaring holes appearing in a team who went into this tournament as clear favourites, a similar overhaul is pending,” the report said.
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Ivanchuk settles for a draw Moscow, January 18 Ponomariov, who won the first game, now leads the eight-game match 1.5 to 0.5. Players earn 0.5 point for draws, and one point for wins. Ivanchuk completely outplayed his opponent but then as both players got into time trouble, they made a series of weak moves, making a draw inevitable. With the black pieces, Ponomariov chose to defend a variation of the Queen’s Gambit Accepted that resembles the Alekhine Defense in that it concedes a space advantage in the centre to white in return for piece play and the hope of later undermining white’s overextended center. Rather than try to use his extra space to launch a kingside attack, Ivanchuk attempted to restrain black’s queenside play. Chess experts watching the contest at first pronounced the plan a failure because of white’s weak light squares, especially c4 but also d5 and b3. By move 18, black seemed to be at least equal, if not better.
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Jalandhar lads lift
crown New Delhi, January 18 Harshpreet Singh scooped in the ball to bulge the net after a penalty corner attempt by the Jalandhar school petered out and the free ball was despatched into the goal area by Suresh Kumar from well outside the ‘dee’ to fashion the well-deserved goal. St. Soldier were on an attacking spree from the start and the ball was mostly confined to the Danapur goal area. The Jalandhar boys failed to give proper finish to their moves and as a result not only over a dozen penalty corners, but also easy open chances, went abegging. But when the match was heading for a goal-less finish, Suresh Kumar sent a through pass into the goal area, and Harshpreet Singh, lying in wait unmarked, pounced on the chance to scoop it high into the goal. Another Jalandhar school, Government Senior Secondary Model School, won the third position, beating M G Inter College, Rae Bareli 4-0 in a lop-sided match. Sumeet Singh openend the account in the 20th minute while Harpreet Singh consolidated the lead 10 minutes later as Model School took a 2-0 lead at half time. In the second half, Jagjeet Singh scored a fine brace, with the goals coming in the 35th and 48th minutes, to round off the tally. St. Soldier was awarded a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000 for their title victory while BRC Danapur received Rs 60,000. Govt Model School took home Rs 40,000. The coach of St. Soldier, Jagdeep Gill, was given Rs 8,000. Jalwinder Singh and Suresh Kumar of St. Soldier Divine, Sushil Guria of the BRC Danapur and Jagdeep Kumar of Model School, Jalandhar were given a cash prize of Rs 2,000 each for being selected as the “best players”. Shah Satnamji Boys School, Sirsa (Haryana) were awarded Rs 10,000 for achieving the highest rate of penalty corner conversion. |
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Amrit Bose denies
rift with Stokes Chandigarh, January 18 “The selection trials were fixed for January 12 and 13 in consultation with the President, since we had to submit the names of the players to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on January 14 for participation in the Champions Challenge Trophy. Mrs Stokes was present in Delhi on January 10 and unfortunately she had to rush back to Shimla since her mother had suffered a stroke. Her mother is still in coma and in a serious condition at the Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla. She is looking after her mother. Chief coach P.P. Antony could not attend the trials due to medical problems. He is expected to join on Monday. Regarding change of coaches, A.K. Bansal and N.S. Saini, the question of sacking does not arise. It was a clear understanding between these coaches and the
IWHF that in case the team did not do well in the World Cup qualifying tournament they might be changed and hence this decision was mutually taken in consultation with the Sports Authority of India,” Mrs Bose said. “Any action taken by me as secretary, IWHF, is always in consultation with Mrs Vidya Stokes,” she added. |
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Working of RCCs
reviewed Chandigarh, January 18 The members agreed on the suggestion to involve the services of a dietician to guide the players. Mr MP Pandove, Hony. Secretary floated the idea to have inter district matches for under 16, under 19 alongwith senior to be played at league level. Mr Bindra added that if major districts like Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Ludhiana and Chandigarh, do not organise matches, would be penalised by stopping their subsidy. The league matches will henceforth be staged at major districts only by making two pools Jalandhar/Amritsar and Patiala/Mohali. The decision was taken to make the Katoch shield a prestigious meet. The committee also took serious note of the absence of umpires on the panel of PCA during of the tournaments. PCA also decided to hold the Inter college-cricket tournament on the lines of Inter-school meet. Pandove said the Inter-institutional matches will be organised from this season. |
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Punjab veterans
enter final Chandigarh, January 18 Results: Veterans: 40-50 yrs: Pankaj Sharma (Pb) b P.G. Kelkar 2-1; Ajay Sharma (Pb) lost to K.K. Rai (Mah) 0-2; Sanjeev Sood (Pb) b A.K. Matya (Mah) 2-0; Pankaj Sharma (Pb) lost to K.K. Rai (Mah) 0-2; Ajay Sharma (Pb) b P.G. Kelkar (Mah) 2-1. Punjab will now take on Dena Bank in the finals.
AMBALA@@Football tournament@@The four quarterfinals of the state-level football tournament being held at the War Heroes Memorial stadium took place on Friday.@@In the first quarterfinal, Gurgaon won against Rohtak with a score of 2-0. Ram Pal and Amit scored for Gurgaon. In the second quarterfinal, Jhajjar won against Hisar with a score of 4-0. Mukesh Dalal and Narinder scored two goals each.@@In the third quarterfinal, Faridabad won the match against Yamunanagar through a tie-breaker. While Prashant scored for Yamunanagar, Ravi, Sandeep, Manoj and Kailash scored for Faridabad. In the fourth quarterfinal, Sonepat won against Rewari with a score of 1-0. Subhash of Sonepat was the lone scorer in the match.
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Except when Prince Ranjitsinhji and Prince Duleepsinhji played Tests there have probably never been millionaires playing international cricket.
It’s always great to play at Eden Gardens, my home ground and a sports arena unlike any other in the world. The atmosphere here tomorrow will be extra special since this is the first one-dayer to be played here after a long gap.
