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Tuesday,
February 12, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Dravid
happy with stint in South Africa Border
does not expect too many changes Aussies
will be real test, says Waqar Upsets
galore in Winter Olympics
Fourth
Nations Cup victory for Cameroon Mahindras,
Churchill in semis |
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TN, Rly
spikers claim titles Skiing
championship inaugurated Fed Cup
team announced North
retain trophy Bilaspur
clinch title Chandigarh
and Jalandhar bow out Anjali,
Ronak reap rich harvest Judo
trials on February 17
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Dravid happy with stint in South Africa
Bangalore, February 11 Expressing happiness about his stint in South Africa, the 29-year-old batsman, who missed the recent one-day series against England due to the injury, said he felt quite strong in the shoulder now. “I am fit, and feel quite strong in the shoulder. There isn’t any pain now”, Dravid, who flew back here yesterday, told reporters. “I am now looking forward to the match against Zimbabwe at Vijayawada”, he said. The stint in South Africa went off well, he said, adding he underwent biokinetics and physiotherapy programmes to strengthen the shoulder. Dravid, nursing a sore shoulder for the last few months, said he has been prescribed exercises and programmes to strengthen the shoulder and he needs to keep working on them. “I am happy with the progress”, he said, adding doctors had advised him a conservative approach on strengthening the shoulder rather than go in for a surgery. “Hopefully with this improvement, surgery will be kept at bay.” Dravid said he kept in touch with cricket in South Africa by spending time in the nets and practising with a provincial side. Dravid said though he used to have net-practice regularly during his stay in South Africa, playing in a match is a different ball game and he would be looking forward to the encounter with Zimbabwe at Vijayawada to regain form. Asked where he would fit in now that youngsters have established themselves, he said “wherever selectors fit me in.”
PTI |
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ICC to speak to
Gavaskar Christchurch, February 11 Gavaskar, chairman of the ICC’s Cricket Committee (Playing), recently launched a stinging attack on England in his column in an Indian newspaper describing them as the “champion whingers of the world”. The Indian cricketing legend’s criticisms came after complaints from Nasser Hussain’s team about net facilities after the opening one-day international in Kolkata. England coach Duncan Fletcher complained that an official from the game’s governing body should not be able to pass comment on a member country. England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Tim Lamb raised the issue at the ICC chief executive’s meeting in Christchurch today. “Sunil and I will have a discussion about it,” said ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed afterwards.
AFP |
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Captain’s selection tomorrow
Mumbai, February 11 The meeting was advanced by a day as the cricket board (BCCI) secretary Niranjan Shah, who is also the selection committee convener, had to attend the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting at Sharjah, BCCI executive secretary Sharad Diwadkar told PTI here today. “Initially, the selectors were scheduled to meet here on February 14 but Niranjan Shah rang me up today to tell me to advance the meeting by a day so that he can attend the ACC meeting on time,” Diwadkar added. A couple of days ago, a top BCCI official had said here that southpaw Sourav Ganguly would stay as the skipper for the series.
PTI |
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Umpires
named for Zimbabwe series New Delhi, February 11 The International Cricket Council (ICC) is yet to name its panel umpires for two Tests. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) umpires sub-committee which met here this afternoon under the chairmanship of C.K. Khanna also appointed Narendra Mohan and Jasbir Singh as third umpires, while Sanjeev Rao and Rajan Seth have been kept as reserves. It also named 10 umpires for the five One-Day Internationals (ODI). They are: K. Hariharan, S.C. Gupta, I. Sivaram, V.K. Chopra, Devender Sharma, S.K. Porel, Alok Bhattacharjee, Tarapore, S. Bandekar and K.G. Laxminnarayan. Third umpires for IDIs are, M.S. Mahal, S. Phadkar, Suresh Shastri, G.A. Pratap Kumar and B.S.P. Rao. Umesh Kumar, Kulkarani, K.N. Raghavan, R. Radhakrishnan and A.M. Saheba are the reserve umpires. Schedule of the India-Zimbabwe series: Feb 15-17 v Board President’s XI Vijayawada Feb 21-25 1st Test Nagpur Feb 28-Mar 4 2nd Test New Delhi Mar 07 1st ODI Faridabad Mar 10 2nd ODI Mohali Mar 13 3rd ODI Kochi Mar 16 4th ODI Hyderabad Mar 19 5th ODI Guwahati.
UNI |
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Border does not expect too many changes
Sydney, February 11 Former Test skipper-turned-selector Allan Border said today Waugh was likely to play in the opening tour match against South Africa ‘A’ starting on Sunday and the first Test in Johannesburg five days later. Waugh had a poor run in the just-ended one-day series against New Zealand and South Africa but Border said Waugh and the rest of the Australian batting line-up involved in the comprehensive Test series win over South Africa earlier this year was likely to play the first Test. “We’ll probably play pretty close to our Test line-up in that first game,” Border said. “It makes sense to do that. There’s no reason to change too much. They’ve been playing very, very well, so barring injury or illness you’d expect the Test side would be pretty much as it was during the summer.” Waugh averaged 35 and 32.25 in the Test series against New Zealand and South Africa. But Darren Lehmann, who has been included in the 15-man squad, was expected to take over from Waugh if the 36-year-old struggles for runs in South Africa. The one-day side for a series against South Africa and Zimbabwe will not be named for two more weeks but Border did not expect to see many changes from the side that failed to reach the one-day series finals against New Zealand and South Africa. “I don’t see any reason to make wholesale changes. We’ve got some fantastic cricketers there,” he said. “Yes, they didn’t perform at their best, particularly in those first three one-day games, which cost us a place in the final. “Obviously we’ve got to have some long-term thinking about the World Cup coming up in 12 months’ time and how we approach that. But I’d be very surprised if there were any major changes.” Border confirmed the unsuccessful policy of rotating the team for the one-day team had been dropped. “That’s gone,” he said. “The idea was to allow bowlers to have a break - not necessarily batsmen,” he added. “We’ve had a bit of a re-think on all of that. There’ll still be players rotated, but it won’t be a rotation system automatically.” The Australian Test team leaves for South Africa on Thursday.
AFP |
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Aussies
will be real test, says Waqar Sharjah, February 11 “This was a satisfying series win, but our real test will come when we meet Australia,” Waqar said soon after his team won the second Test by a thumping 244-run margin. Australia, the world champions of Test cricket who brushed aside nearest challengers South Africa 3-0 recently, are due to tour Pakistan in September for a three-match series. Waqar, who joined the 350-wicket club during his match-winning 4-44 effort, said he wanted to go beyond 400. “It’s a big achievement for me, but I am not finished yet,” the 78-Test veteran paceman said. “I look forward to going to 400 and more.”
AFP |
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Upsets galore in Winter Olympics
Salt Lake City, February 11 With surprises in every corner of the first two days of the Winter Games, nine different countries have won the nine gold medals — eight going to Europeans and one to the host. Of the five golds awarded yesterday, every one was a major — or at least a minor - upset with gold now in the hands of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Norway, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the USA. Austrian Fritz Strobl won the men’s downhill — the showcase of Alpine skiing — to emerge from the shadows of countrymen Stephan Eberharter and injured Hermann Maier. Eberharter, winner of nine World Cup races this season, settled for bronze with silver for Norway’s Lasse Kjus — his second consecutive downhill silver and fourth Olympic medal. “It’s sensational. I didn’t expect it. I was just thinking of racing down the course, not of winning,” said Strobl, who has eight career wins on the World Cup circuit -two this year. Eberharter sounded philosophical. “It was not really my race. I made two or three small mistakes, in particular coming into the final wall,” said Eberharter, who remains the favourite for the super-G and a medal contender in the giant slalom. “I won the bronze, I didn’t lose gold. There are plenty of races to collect medals. It’s not over yet.” Swiss ski-jumper Simon Ammann was another upsetter. Ammann claimed gold in the 90k ski jump, overturning the season dominance of Sven Hannawald of Germany, the unprecedented winner of the Four Hills series in early January. Hannawald seemed set for gold when he hit 99 metres on his second leap. But Ammann came up with a jump of 98.5 with superior style points and, with a better first jump, registered another upset. For Ammann, who overcame injuries this season, it was his first medal at a major competition. The 20-year-old has had several podium results in the World Cup but no top-20 finishes in a major championship. “It’s incredible that this has happened to me at the Olympics,” he said. “It’s a dream come true.” As expected, Germany won its first gold in the 3,000-metre speedskating. But it wasn’t the German most anticipated. Claudia Pechstein snatched her third gold in as many Olympics and clocked 3 minutes 57.70 seconds to break her own world record in the process. Flamboyant fellow German Anni Friesinger, unbeaten at the distance this season, was a disappointing fourth with silver for Dutch skater Renate Groenewold and bronze for Cindy Klassen of Canada. All three medalists dipped under Pechstein’s old mark. It was the second world record in two days at the Utah Olympic oval. “This is just too much,” Pechstien said. “I had a small dip halfway through the race but I kept it up till the end.” The track is located at 1,425 metres (4,675 feet) and is the highest covered oval in the world, with records expected to fall in all 10 Olympic events. Eighteen-year-old snowboarder Kelly Clark gave the host Americans their first gold with a high-flying performance on the halfpipe. With “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns n’ Roses blaring in the background, Clark flew higher and landed more dangerous jumps than anyone else. Clark scored of 47.9 points for gold with Doriane Vidal of France taking silver and Fabienne Reuteler of Switzerland winning bronze.
AP |
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Fourth Nations Cup victory for Cameroon
Bamako, February 11 The defending champions, who also won the 2000 tournament on penalties, held their nerve to prevail 3-2 and clinch a record-equalling fourth Nations Cup victory. Goalkeeper Alioum Boukar was the hero yesterday for the ‘Indomitable Lions’, saving the fifth and final spotkick from Senegal skipper Aliou Cisse at the March 26 Stadium after 120 minutes player left the teams locked at 0-0. The win made Olympic champions Cameroon the first side since Ghana in 1965 to record back-to-back victories in the Nations Cup, and sees them join the Ghanaians and Egypt with four outright triumphs. Cameroon coach Winfried Schafer, who had been allowed to take his place on the bench after seeing a one-game dug-out ban suspended on Saturday, said he had believed his team would win the shoot-out. “I didn’t feel nervous when we missed our first penalty because I knew Alioum would save some of theirs — as far as I’m concerned he’s been the best goalkeeper in the tournament,” the German said. Schafer said he was amazed that Boukar had not been named in the African Football Confederation’s ‘Team of the Tournament’. Boukar missed out to Senegal stopper Mario Sylva. Senegal’s striking hope Al-Hadji Diouf, who had a disappointing afternoon culminating in a missed penalty in the shoot out, said Cameroon were worthy winners. “The best team won today,” Diouf said. “We’re a bit disappointed. We just have to go away and focus on the World Cup.” Earlier, the shoot-out lottery settled what had been an absorbing encounter which saw Cameroon dominant for long spells but unable to breach a resolute Senegal defence, taking the game to penalties. Senegal had got off to a dream start in the shoot-out when goalkeeper Mario Sylva saved Cameroon’s opening penalty from Pierre Wome. They went one up when defender Ferdinand Coly powered his own spotkick home, and though Cameroon substitute Patrick Suffo levelled the Senegalese remained in control. Senegal’s Khalilou Fadiga and Cameroon’s Arsenal star Lauren Mayer both successfully converted their kicks but the tide turned in Cameroon’s favour when keeper Boukar saved from Moustapha Faye. Real Madrid’s Geremi Njitap converted his kick and suddenly the pressure was back on Senegal. It proved too much for striker Al-Hadju Diouf. Diouf, who plays for French league leaders lens, dragged his shot wide to leave Cameroon captain Song needing to convert his penalty to clinch the win. Their was a final twist to the tale though, with Sylva saving from Song to give Senegal a lifeline. Cisse was unable to grab it, however, and Cameroon were champions. With the score locked 0-0 after 90 minutes, it was Cameroon who came closest to breaking the drought in extra-time when striker Pius Ndiefi sent a free header just wide with Senegal goalkeeper Sylva scrambling. Ndiefi had nearly settled the match in normal time, when a clever header from Samuel Eto’o created confusion in the Senegal defence. Ndiefi, starting in place of the injured Patrick Mboma, crashed his low angled shot across Sylva but could only watch as the ball cannoned back off the post. It was the nearest Cameroon came to scoring in a half which had also seen them unlucky not to be awarded a penalty after Ndiefi appeared to have been shirt-pulled by captain Cisse. Television replays clearly showed Cisse tugging Ndiefi’s shirt, but Egyptian referee Gamal El-Ghandour waved play on, to the visible fury of Schafer on the touchline. Earlier the first half had seen Cameroon finish marginally on top despite Senegal having two scoring opportunities. Cameroon were aggrieved not to have reached half-time goal to the good. An Eto’o header was disallowed after Ndiefi was adjudged to have fouled Senegal keeper Sylva. Senegal meanwhile had squandered a glorious chance with only five minutes gone, when Henri Camara’s shot from seven yards clipped the top of the crossbar after a neat lay-off from Diouf. Camara was the culprit for another Senegalese miss shortly afterwards, shooting directly at Boukar after being put through by
Diouf. AFP |
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Mahindras, Churchill in semis New Delhi, February 11 Mahindra United and F C Kochin battled it out under a steady rain and bone chilling cold for a goalless draw in their last Group C quarter-final match, which served the former very well as they needed only a draw to qualify for the semi-final, while Churchill beat AIFF on the strength of a goal scored by Yusuf Yakubu in the 41st minute of the first half. Churchill, who had beaten Army XI, could have qualified for the semis even with a drawn game, though their 1-0 victory was no great credit, as the AIFF colts did well to restrict their famed rivals to just one goal. Churchill’s match-winner came when Yusuf Yakubu translated a fine pass from Iranian import Mousavi Sayed Aman to a goal. Indian Telephone Industries (ITI), Bangalore, and East Bengal, Kolkata had already made the semi-final grade from Group A and B, respectively. ITI take on Mahindra United in the first semi-final on
Wednesday while East Bengal clash with Zee Churchill in the second semi-final on Thursday. It was surprising that the organisers chose to conduct the crucial quarter-final league matches in totally unplayable conditions as steady rain since morning had turned the ground into puddles of water, and the ground became a quagmire after the first match between Zee Churchill and AIFF Under-19. The slushy and water-logged conditions made it impossible to play when Mahindra United and F C Kochin took the field virtually under pouring rain, later in the afternoon. The ball simply floated in the water and controlling it was just not possible. The players slipped and fell at every other step as the slushy conditions restricted the movement of the players. Yet, both FC Kochin and Mahindra United slugged it out gamely till the end, with the teams dominating the show in patches. Mahindra and Kochin came across a couple of chances each to score, but with conditions being very difficult, the shots could not be attempted with power and precision, and the goalkeepers dived into the water to effect dangerous saves. The logic of playing the matches today did not make any sense as they could have been held tomorrow, which is otherwise an off-day. The ground condition has deteriorated so bad that it will take at least a week’s time to get it back into proper shape. |
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TN, Rly spikers claim titles
Payyanur, (Ker), February 11 Tamil Nadu came up with a superb performance to defeat Punjab 25-18 25-8 22-25 25-18. Earlier, in the women’s final Railways, who won the Raipur nationals, reasserted their supremacy by trouncing hosts Kerala 25-22 25-13 25-19. Tamil Nadu, fresh from their upset victory over national men champions Railways in the semifinals, began their campaign in great style by clinching the first two sets very comfortably with M.S. Rajesh, Natarajan, Manoharan, Saikrishna, Haroon Khan and Tulasi Reddy doing well. Unsettling their rivals from the start, Tamil Nadu came up with perfect blocks and powerful smashes to claim the opener 25-18. Pushed back by the rival’s pace, Punjab surrendered the second set tamely scoring just eight points. However, aided by some splendid display by Narender Singh, Punjab bounced back by winning the third set after trailing once at 16-17. In fact, Punjab opted for a change in between bringing in Pavinder Singh for the experienced Roy Joseph, who was poor at receiving. Playing before 15,000-odd crowd, Tamil Nadu men held their nerves in the fourth set and remained in the lead throughout to ensure that the match was not pushed to the tie-breaker. The women’s final, a repeat of the Raipur nationals, turned out to be a one-sided affair with Railways packed with six senior nationals proving no match for the hosts.
PTI |
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Skiing
championship inaugurated Manali, February 11 Mr Karan Singh, Minister of State for Primary Education, inaugurated the championship at the Directorate of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Manali Complex. Earlier the inaugural function which was to be held at Solang ski slopes could not be held at Solang slopes due to bad weather and was thus organised at the auditorium of Mountaineering and Winter Sports Directorate, Manali. The inaugural function commenced here with the unfurling of the flag of Winter Games Federation of India (WGFI) by the minister. The minister took salute from the skiers at Solang Nallah ski slopes from today. Mountaineering instructor Rajeev Sharma administered oath to the participating teams. Addressing the participants the minister said that the state government had approved around Rs 10 crore for a development project to promote the winter sports activities for Solang valley, adding that private sector will be involved in launching this development project at Solang Nallah. He further said the proposed project included the construction of a ski-lift from the Solang slopes to Fatru, another tourist destination beyond Solang Nallah. Besides Mr Ashok Thakur, State Financial Commissioner-cum-Secretary Tourism and Youth Services and Sports while expressing his views on the occasion maintained that there was a proposal for the installation of a ski lift from Solang village to Patalsu peak just opposite to Solang Nallah at a cost of around Rs 7 crore with the involvement of private sector. He said that during winters this ski lift will serve the purpose for skiing and during off season it will cater to the needs of tourists willing to visit the high altitude tourist destinations beyond Solang Nallah. |
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Fed Cup team
announced
New Delhi, February 11 Spearheaded by Manisha Malhotra and Rushmi Chakravarthy, the Indian team also includes Sheetal Goutham and Sonal Phadke. Radhika Tulpule will be the reserve player, according to an All India Tennis Association press release here today. The selection committee meeting, chaired by Shyam Minotra, also shortlisted a three-member boys’ and girls’ teams for the World Junior Tennis Championship. India will also field a three-member team (boys’ and girls’) in the World Youth Cup. Fed cup: Manisha Malhotra, Rushmi Chakravarthy, Sheetal Goutham, Sonal Phadke, Radhika Tulpule (Reserve). World junior tennis:
boys — Rupesh Roy, S.P. Gupta, N. Jeevan, Sanam K. Singh (Reserve).
Girls — Sanaa Bhambri, Sandri Gangotri, Sandhya Nagaraj, Tara Iyer (Reserve), Madura Ranganathan (Reserve). World Youth Cup: boys — Karan Rastogi, Tushar Liberhan, J. Vishnu Vardhan, N. Vijay Sunder Prasanth (Reserve), Divij Shara (Reserve).
Girls — Sania Mirza, Ankita Bhambri, Kartiki Bhat, Sanaa Bhambri (Reserve), Parul Goswami (Reserve).
PTI |
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North retain trophy
Baroda, February 11 Electing to bat, West Zone were bundled out for a paltry 133 in 48.4 overs in their first innings as North Zone speedster Amit Suman bowled a fiery spell capturing five wickets while conceding just 20 runs. Suman was ably supported by off spinner Suhail Sharma who chipped in with three for 34. Propelled by a valiant 158 by skipper and Delhi Ranji player Varun Kumar, North Zone piled up 379 runs in 98.4 overs in their first essay to take a mammoth 246-run first innings lead. Varun, who spent 242 minutes in the middle, compiled his knock in just 192 balls. His knock contained 25 elegant hits to the ropes. West Zone scored 306 runs in their second innings, courtesy a fine 102 by S. Gaekwad, that included 15 sizzling fours and an aggressive 83 by Manjit Nadar. Gaurav Tyagi grabbed five for 62 for North Zone. North Zone notched up the victory target of 61 with the loss of two wickets to lift the trophy for the second consecutive year. Brief Score: West Zone 133 (S. Gaekwad 37; A. Suman 5-20, S. Sharma 3-34) and 306 (S. Gaekwad 102, M. Nadar 83, G. Tyagi 5-62). North Zone (Varun Kumar 158, Rajan Gupta 40; Uday Karkera 4-81) and 2 for 61 (Dipankar Malviya 31 n.o.).
PTI |
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Bilaspur
clinch
title Kangra, February 11 Kangra, after defeating Hamirpur in the quarterfinals by 3-1 and Solan in the semifinals by 1-0, could not maintain the tempo before the Bilaspur team in the finals which exhibited a versatile game. Dharamvir of Bilaspur scored a goal in the 21st minute of the first half. In the 42nd minute of the second half Harinder of Bilaspur gave his team 2-0 lead. The host team remained under pressure till last despite the fact the Bilaspur failed to convert three penalty corners into the goals. Dharmvir of Bilaspur scored his second goal and third for his team. No. 11 of the Bilaspur scored fourth goal for his team in the 55th minute. Aman scored in the 68th minute to bring score to 4-1. Mr K.P.S. Gill, President, IHF, and chief of HP Hockey Association, distributed trophies among the winners. |
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Chandigarh
and Jalandhar bow out New Delhi, February 11 Jamia Millia Islamia will take on NAS College, Meerut in the final tomorrow at 3. 30 p m. Playing under a steady rain, the teams adapted to the conditions very well to put up a fighting performance. Jamia Millia Islamia scored one goal each in either half, to take a comfortable lead before Chandigarh reduced the margin. Vivek Gupta, who converted a penalty corner in the sixth minute to give the Delhi college the lead, also scored their second goal in the 50th minute when he converted a penalty stroke. Gurdeep Singh pulled off a consolation goal for Chandigarh in the 66th minute. In the other match, Jalandhar and Meerut fought it out in a hard-fought match before Meerut carried the day when they converted a penalty stroke goal in the 69th minute to book a berth in the final. Tariq Aziz put Meerut ahead when he scored a field goal in the 19th minute, which was equalised by Harmanpreet Singh for Jalandhar eight minutes into the second half. Kuldeep Singh then converted a penalty stroke to give Meerut the winning edge. |
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Anjali, Ronak reap
rich harvest Mumbai, February 11 According to information received here today, Anjali bagged three gold medals with brilliant scores of 398, 397 and 399 out of a maximum 400 points in air pistol events while her Maharashtra teammate Ronak, who was trailing Scheirholf of Germany and Kostov of Bulgaria at 571/600, shot superbly for a final score of 98.9 points in the air pistol junior event. Ronak, son of international shooter Ashok Pandit, claimed the gold with a total score of 668.8 points while Kostov (666.4 pts) and Scheirholf (664.9 pts) had to settle for the silver and bronze respectively. The Indian scored a fine 570/600 points in 60 shots.
PTI |
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Judo trials on February 17 Chandigarh, February 11 All district units are requested to ensure that players report at the venue at 10 a.m. sharp on February 17. This was disclosed by Mr T.C. Gupta, president of the Punjab Judo Association here today. Junior championship is being held at Indore from February 24 to 27 and senior championship at Mumbai from March 2 to 5. The meeting of the JFI executive would be held in Mumbai on March 3. |
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