 |
Wednesday,
February 27, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
India to fight till the end: Cedric WORLD CUP DIARY Anand, Kasparov split point |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
India to rotate players from Zimbabwe series
Astle, Kiwis rediscover form, win series Prasad, Sharath ensure South’s win National jr fencing at Patiala National
basketball returns to Ludhiana Yashpal Kaur wins gold for Haryana
|
|
South Korea shock India Kuala Lumpur, February 26 An improvement in India’s game was quite discernible in sharp contrast to the earlier match against Japan but what mattered most was three points after the 2-2 draw in the opening tie. But despite remaining in control for a major part of the first half and enjoying territorial supremacy, the Indians not only failed to convert their chances but also could not stop Korea from taking advantage of the few opportunities that came their way. Going by match statistics, India had seven penalty corners of which only one could be converted, thereby exposing the age-long deficiency once again. Korea had only three short corners of which they converted one. Today’s results South Korea b India 2-1; Malaysia b Japan 1-0; Australia b England 1-0; Poland b Cuba 4-1. However, what was most alarming was the fact that the first goal which Korea scored was the result of a technical error by Indian defender Kanwalpreet, who raised his stick above shoulder height to stop the ball which fetched him a green card and gifted the Koreans a penalty corner. Both teams had six shots each at the goal and the Koreans enjoyed better success rate. As on several occasions in the past, luck also did not seem to favour India. Having gone on the attack in full steam, India forced a penalty corner in the sixth minute after Dhanraj Pillay was body-checked in the ‘D’. Following Baljit Dhillon’s push, defender Jugraj Singh’s drag flick struck the horizontal. Two minutes later, India earned another penalty corner but this time Jugrag’s flick was deflected out by a Korean defender. It was in the 20th minute that Korea forged ahead. Kanwalpreet’s infringement on the left flank resulted in a penalty corner and Woon-Kon Yeo’s drag flick executed with precision put India in arrears(1-0). Another technical flaw in execution of penalty corners by India came to light when Daljit Dhillon’s double touch shortly before the breather saw a good opportunity going waste. In the 66th minute, Korea made it 2-0 when off a counter attack, Seung-Tae Song lunged forward to deflect the ball into the net (2-0). In the last minute, India finally managed to pull one back off a penalty corner as Jugraj found the net following the push by Baljit Dhillon (1-2). With today’s defeat, India now have only one point from the drawn tie against Japan while Korea with two victories have accumulated six points. Hosts Malaysia scraped past Japan 1-0 in another pool ‘B’ match today. Egged on by the home crowd, the Malaysians maintained steady pressure on Japan and succeeded in taking the lead in the 27th minute when Chairal Anwar Abd Aziz found the target with a brilliant attempt. Japan also tried to restore parity but were distinctly unlucky. Malaysia survived two penalty corners in the last 30 seconds and the result came as a big relief to the home side after the disappointing 0-3 loss to Australia the other day. Overall Malaysia dominated the proceedings, taking at least four shots at the goal while Japan had two in the second half. Both teams were awarded three penalty corners each. In another match, Australia downed England by a solitary goal which came late in the second half. The scorer was Bevan George who scored a field goal in the 53rd minute. Australia were clearly the superior side as they made at least eight attempts whereas England could take only five shots at the goal. Both teams were awarded two penalty corners each. In the last match tonight, Poland outplayed Cuba 4-1 in pool ‘B’. As in the inaugural match against South Korea, Cuba were the first to take the lead through Yoandi Blanco Hernandez who converted a penalty corner. Poland equalised in the 16th minute when Tomasz Choczaj scored a field goal. In the second half, Poland scored three goals through
skipper Robert Grzeszczak, Slawomir Choczaj, and Artur Mikula to complete the rout. Poland were awarded eight penalty corners while Cuba forced six. Polands’s domination can be gauged from the fact that they attempted as many as 11 shots at the goal as compared to three by Cuba. Wednesday’s fixtures: Belgium v Netherlands; Argentina v South Africa; Germany v Spain; Malaysia v India (2.05 pm IST); Poland v Australia; Pakistan v New Zealand; England v Cuba; Korea v Japan. Lissek sounds warning “India know us well. They know every player. Still, we we must have something for them.” These words coming from the confident Paul Lissek, coach of Malaysia, on the eve of the crucial match against India tomorrow, may add to India’s worries. Known to be a smart strategist, Lissek said he was looking forward to the match tomorrow. “India need to win tomorrow and will be prepared to take risks. This will be advantageous for my side,” he concluded. |
|
India to fight till the end: Cedric Kuala Lumpur, February 26 A tense and emotional Cedric faced a volley of questions but did not blame his team for the defeat. “They have been trying very hard but a couple of soft turnovers cost us dear today. None of us come here to see chances being missed. Everybody wants the boys to score but sometimes things don’t work out as desired,” said Cedric while praising goalkeeper Jude Menezes for making a couple of good saves. On being asked about India’s chances against Malaysia tomorrow, Cedric said: “We are going for victory.” The Korean coach, Hong Jeon-Jae, said the main problem for them had been the weather. While admitting that India played well in the first half, he said his team was a bit nervous initially. Hero of the 1975 title win and former India captain Ajit Pal Singh also expressed dismay over India’s defeat at the hands of Korea today. “The missed chances cost us dear,” he said while talking to journalists at the media centre. |
|
WORLD CUP DIARY It may appear to be a passage from Ripley’s ‘Believe it or not’. Debutants Cuba have only one Astro-turf back home and worse still, no sponsors. And yet the Cubans under the charge of Jose Cortina Gonzalez shocked the hockey world by emerging champions in the America Cup in 2000 where they beat Canada and Argentina to book their berth in the World Cup. And in the opening match at Kuala Lumpur, the Cubans seemed to be on course for a major upset after taking the lead against South Korea. Maybe it’s the start of Cuba’s march to fame. * * * Politeness and ready-to-help attitude are two distinguishable features of the Malaysians’ character. A few Indian scribes had a first hand experience the other day when they were stranded at Bukit Jalil due to delay in data transmission. With the rail transit system operations having been suspended for the night and taxis not available nearby, it was Mr Dheepak Jayaram, an engineer, who came to their rescue. Driving several kilometres away, Mr Dheepak went to a hotel and requested the receptionist to summon taxis. Then he guided the taxis back to Bukit Jalil and left only after the scribes had departed. A good samaritan indeed! * * * Discipline is a way of life in Kuala Lumpur. Pieces of paper or trash can hardly be spotted on the roads and neither are bills pasted on
walls. The roads are swept clean at night. For a major event like the World Cup, no banners are hung across roads for publicity. Only tastefully designed and aesthetically appealing hangings on lamp posts serve the purpose in select areas. All roads are dust free as the last inch up to the pavements is
carpeted. The well-laid and tiled pavements are a pedestrian’s delight. Rickshaws and bicycles are unknown on the city roads. * * * Communication is a problem for foreigners currently in the Malaysian capital as people mostly speak Malay. Signboards, too, are in Malay, and one has to look for English-speaking Malaysians to gather information. |
|
Anand, Kasparov split point Linares, February 26 The draw yesterday means Anand maintained his position at the top of the table on 1.5 points from three games and will get the much-needed day off in the fourth round when he has his first bye in the tournament. Two Spaniards GMs Pons Vallejo and Alexei Shirov (both 1.0/3) and Michael Adams (1.0/2) of England are jointly sharing the lead with Anand while Kasparov and world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine have one point from two games. At the bottom of the standings is Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk, who has one point from three games. It was an electrifying draw that Anand played out against his bete noire Kasparov. Playing black, the Indian ace, who has been suffering from a lack of form in the recent past, opened with the Sicilian Taimanov for the second time in the tournament and was up against a new idea by Kasparov on the 16th move that was a deviation from an earlier game played between GMs Vitaly Tsheshkovsky and Tregubov last year. Unruffled by Kasparov’s heroics on the king side, Anand went on improving his pieces on the other flank and took firm control on the queenside proceedings with simple and effective manoeuvres. The danger came in the form of an attack against the king that Kasparov conducted with timely deployment of his queen, rook and Bishop. Resourceful as he is, Anand gave up a pawn on the kingside and recovered it with a tactical stroke a few moves later. Unable to penetrate decisively, Kasparov fell under time pressure and finally decided that blacks fortress on the kingside was impregnable. The draw was agreed to a in 42 moves vide repetition of moves. The draw can be considered a favourable result for Anand with black pieces. Their last encounter early last year in the Wijk Ann Zee tournament was also a draw. While Kasporov and Anand were locked in a deadly duel, Alexei Shirov decided to play it safe against Michael Admas and opted for a safer option in the Roy Lopez
opening with white pieces. Many believed Shirov did not want to risk a high tension game in Adams favourite Marshall gambit. As a result, Adams got an easy equality in the ensuring middlegame and was never in trouble. The game never left the boundaries of a draw and it was signed in just 25 moves when Shirov decided to repeat moves. Young and under-dog Pons Vallejo continued with his excellent form securing third consecutive draw in the tournament.
PTI |
|
India to rotate players from Zimbabwe series New Delhi, February 26 “Yes, that system will start from the one-day series,” Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly said in an interaction with PTI here today. Ganguly said the 20 players would be identified and they would form the nucleus of the Indian team for the World Cup. Most of the top international teams have already started this experiment and Ganguly said India also needed to follow suit. Asked about the physical fitness of the team, the captain said he would ideally like to organise a conditioning camp before every series to improve on this aspect but the busy schedule of the players left them with very
little time. “Physical fitness cannot be improved overnight. You have to keep working on it. I would like to have about 15-day conditioning camp before every series but then there are hardly any gaps between two series,” Ganguly said. “When you are in a series, you are concentrating only on cricket, batting, bowling and fielding. You don’t get much time for working on your fitness,” he said. Fielding was another area which needed a lot of improvement, he conceded. “It is not that we are not working on it. We are. I think we fielded quite well against england. But we have to be more consistent.”
PTI |
|
Sachin reclaims
top spot London, February 26 Australia wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist has climbed into third spot, the left-hander’s elevation owing much to the fastest Test double century he scored in the first Test victory over South Africa on Sunday. Gilchrist made 204 not out of a total of 652 for seven declared and is one of five Australians in the top 10. In the bowling standings, South Africa paceman Allan Donald, who announced his Test retirement yesterday, finished his career in sixth place. Donald, who took 330 Test wickets at an average of 22.25 in 72 Tests, topped the standings in 1999.
AFP |
|
Astle, Kiwis rediscover form, win series Dunedin, February 26 After levelling the series 2-2 with back to back wins in Napier and Auckland, England went into the Dunedin decider brimming with confidence. But Nasser Hussain’s men came unstuck against a New Zealand side which rediscovered the form that characterised their play in the opening two matches. Astle, who brought up the victory by smashing the ball out of the ground for six, made an unbeaten 122 and passed 5,000 one-day international runs in the process as New Zealand triumphed by five wickets. It was the opener’s 12th and highest one-day hundred and contained 12 fours and five sixes off 150 balls. Astle began with a blistering attack on the bowling striking Matthew Hoggard for two sixes, but then nudged the runs as New Zealand suffered a mini-collapse. A 100-run partnership with Craig McMillan settled New Zealand’s nerves but Darren Gough took two wickets in his final over to reawaken England’s hopes. A tidy bowling display, which restricted England to 218 for eight from 50 overs, set up the win with Daryl Tuffey again impressing with his consistent line. Tuffey took three for 42, including the key wickets of openers Marcus Trescothick and Nick Knight. Nasser Hussain struck his first half century in 13 matches and his 71-run fourth wicket stand with Owais Shah galvanised the England innings. Shah, who returned to the side in place of the injured Michael Vaughan, batted sensibly to make 57, and Hussain chipped in with 50. England lost wickets at regular intervals and fell 35 runs short of a winning total on a fast Dunedin strip. It was an error that cost them the series. Chris Nevin played a typically robust cameo before falling to Andrew Flintoff with the score on 59. Craig McMillan took 11 balls to get off the mark as White and Flintoff took the ascendancy but Astle refused to budge as he passed the half-century mark. Once McMillan settled, the pair controlled the match and looked set to take New Zealand to victory, but Gough struck twice in the 40th over to remove McMillan leg before for 44, and Chris Cairns for nought. A disappointing series for Cairns came to an end when he drove to mid-on. Astle and Lou Vincent took New Zealand home with a 43-run partnership despite England bowling well.
AFP England Trescothick c Harris b Tuffey 5 Knight c Harris b Tuffey 24 Hussain c Cairns b Tuffey 50 Thorpe b Adams 9 Shah lbw b Cairns 57 Collingwood c Fleming b Cairns 21 Flintoff b Cairns 1 White c Astle b Adams 17 Giles not out 21 Gough not out 2 Extras:
(lb-4, w-3, nb-4) 11 Total (8 wkts, 50 overs) 218 Fall
of wickets: 1-8, 2-42, 3-62, 4-133, 5-170, 6-172, 7-183, 8-214. Bowling:
Tuffey 9-1-42-3, Adams 10-0-50-2, Cairns 10-0-32-3, Vettori 9-0-48-0,
Harris 10-0-35-0, Astle 2-0-7-0. New Zealand Astle not out 122 Nevin
c Trescothick b Flintoff 15 McCullum b White 7 Fleming c Knight b White 1 McMillan lbw b Gough 44 Cairns c Hussain b Gough 0 Vincent not out 20 Extras:
(lb-4, w-5, nb-4) 14 Total (5 wkts, 48.5 overs) 223 Fall
of wickets: 1-59, 2-77, 3-80, 4-180, 5-180 Bowling: Gough
1-0-42-2, Hoggard 6-0-41-0, Flintoff 9.5-0-56-1, White 10-0-30-2,
Giles 8-0-37-0, Collingwood 5-0-13-0. |
|
Steve lauds Donald’s efforts Johannesburg, February 26 The pair have crossed swords with Donald for nearly a decade and both were full of praise for the 35-year-old, who took 330 wickets in 72 Tests. “Allan has always been a highly respected opponent, a world class bowler and always a huge threat,’’ Waugh told Reuters yesterday. “Two battles stand out in my mind. An over he bowled to me at Centurion when he hit me four times and the time Mark (Waugh) and myself batted against him in the Sydney Test in 1998. “I always valued playing against him because I knew it was a formidable challenge — he was top class.’’ Donald, the only South African so far to take 300 Test wickets, pulled a hamstring on the first day of the first Test against Australia at the Wanderers on Friday. South Africa lost the match by a record innings and 360-runs. “We have always got on really well and it is sad to see him go in these circumstances,’’ said McGrath.
Reuters |
|
Prasad, Sharath ensure South’s win Gurgaon, February 26 Sharath, in fact, capitalised on rollicking start provided by J Arun Kumar and skipper Prasad, who opened the innings. Chasing a victory target of 231 runs, the duo went on the rampage as soon as the innings got under way. Showing scent respect to bowlers Harvinder Singh and promising left-arm seamer Salabh Srivastava, who had done so well in the previous match, they kept on finding boundaries at regular intervals. When free-stroking Arun fell in the eighth over, 61 runs were already on the board. Prasad continued to amass runs at a fast pace and struck seven boundaries before he was out at 47 off 41 balls. South Zone romped home as left-arm spinner Murali Karthik was no-balled in the 48th over. Earlier, the Central Zone innings got a late momentum through talented Mohammed Kaif, who played a breezy innings of 60 off 52 deliveries, which included four fours and two successive sixes off medium pacer Balaji Rao. Skipper Gagan Khoda and opener Jyoti Yadav, who played sedate knocks of 44 and 55 runs, respectively, were involved in a 100-run stand for the opening wicket. For Central Zone off-spinner Rahul Kanwat, who bowled a miserly spell conceding 27 runs in his 10 overs was the most successful bowler. He claimed two wickets. Central Zone will now clash with West Zone at the same venue tomorrow. Central Zone:
Gagan Khoda c and b M Suresh 44, Jyoti Yadav c Arun b Bhardwaj 55, Khuresia c Suresh b Bhardwaj 9, Kaif b V Prasad 60, Bundela c Sriram b Suresh 21, JP Yadav c Suresh b Balaji 4, Kanwat not out 6, Ojha Ibw Balaji 9, Harvinder run out 3. Extras: (Ib 11, nb 2, w6) : 19. Total: (for eight wickets in 50 overs): 230. FoW: 1-107, 2-109, 3-120, 4-166, 5-178, 6-209, 7-224, 8-230. Bowling: V Prasad 10-0-42-1, Balaji Rao 10-1-34-2 RVCH Prasad 2-0-20-0, V Bhardwaj 8-0-35-2 S Sriram 10-0-47-0 M Suresh 10-0-41-2. South Zone: J Arun Kumar c J P Yadav b Srivastava 28, MSK Prasad st Ojha b Kanwat 47, Sriram c Khuresia b Karthik 2, Bhardwaj b Kanwat 15, Sharath c Harvinder b Jyoti Yadav 65, Badani run out 9, Arjun Yadav c Karthik b Jyoti Yadav 30, RVCH Prasad not out 8, M Suresh not out 6. Extras: (nb 10, lb 3, w6, b 1) : 20. Total: (in 47.2 overs for seven) : 231. F o W: 1-61, 2-81, 3-89, 4-122, 5-141, 6-212, 7-220. Bowling: Harvinder 4-0-32-0, S Srivastava 5-0-30-1, JP Yadav 4-0-32-0, R Kanwat 10-1-27-2,Murali Karthik 9.2-1-36-1,Mohd Kaif 9-0-37-0, Jyoti Yadav 6-0-33-2. |
|
National jr fencing at Patiala Chandigarh, February 26 The venue of the championship — Patiala — has had a glorious past in the national sports scenario and had hosted a number of national and international competitions in various sports discipline. The Punjab Fencing Association had, in the past, organised the national championships in 1994 and the junior nationals in 1996 at the same venue. This championship has gained added importance in the context of India’s participation in the world junior championships in April next at Antalya (Turkey) and the Asian youth championships at Bangkok, in August. This will be a benchmark for the selection of juniors to participate in these international competitions. In the last championship held at Bangalore, Manipur dominated the scene of action, having bagged the team championships both in epee and sabre in the men’s section and foil and epee in the women’s section. Similarly, they made a mark in the individual events as well surpassing all other states. The championship will be inaugurated by Mr S.R.S. Sandhu, Secretary, Education and Sports, Punjab, on March 1 and Mr Arvind Khanna, the newly elected MLA from Sangrur and President, Fencing Association of India, will preside over the finals and prize distribution function on March 3. |
|
National basketball returns to Ludhiana Ludhiana, February 26 Ludhiana is perhaps high on the list of that band of cities which have been organising not only the national championships but also other prestigious basketball championships, including the pre-Asian, youth championship, zonal championship, both in the men’s and women’s sections, and also both in the seniors and juniors sections. In 1951 the national championship was conducted on the mud courts of the committee bagh here. In 1982 Ludhiana hosted the championship on the concrete-based outdoor Guru Nanak Stadium. Three such courts were made specially for the championship. In 1994, in addition to these three flood-lit outdoor courts, some of the games were played at the adjoining multipurpose indoor sports complex. Three years later, the national championships returned to Ludhiana again and matches were played on the same courts but the difference this time electronic scoreboards, game clock, thirty-second device and imported basketball supports with pressure release rings were used. Though, Ludhiana has been a centre for basketball, not because it has country’s first indoor basketball stadium where the competitions, both in men and women’s sections of the last National Games were held last year, but also because of its immense contribution both to the sport and its administration in the state. The indoor basketball stadium with synthetic floor (terra flux) has a capacity for 2500 spectators. With external wind no more affecting the shooting by players, the cagers can score with tremendous accuracy. According to Mr Rajdeep Singh Gill, President, Punjab Basketball Association, for the first four days of the coming national championship, 19 matches will be played each day, with 14 matches each for the next two days. In all 25 teams in men’s section and 24 teams in the women’s section have confirmed their participation. Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal, the organising secretary of the championship, says the participating men’s teams have been divided into two pools for the super league and four pools for the qualifying league. The championship will be played on a qualifying league, super league and knock-out round. It will have 119 matches in all, including 77 league fixtures and 42 knock-out matches. In the men’s section, defending champions Tamil Nadu have been placed in group A while the 2001 National Games champions Punjab have been placed in group-B, says Mr Balkar Singh Brar, joint secretary, PBA. More than 900 persons, including 700 players and 200 officials, are expected to be here for the championship. An organising committee headed by Mr Harpreet Singh Sidhu, SSP, Ludhiana, has been constituted. All arrangements for board and lodging of the participants and officials have been finalised. The championship is being sponsored by the Air Tel and Trident group. |
|
Yashpal Kaur wins gold for Haryana Ambala, February 26 Mr Sharma said 17th National Karate Championship was held in Mumbai from Feb 14 to 21 and a 14-member team participated from Haryana. The students who participated in the championship included: Neha Wadhwa, Anant Dabas, Mahinder Kaur, Yashpal Kaur, Vinod Kumar, Poonam Verma, Jyoti Passi, Vikas Kumar, Ajay Kumar Duhan, Simran Jeet Singh, Mahavir Singh, Vinay Kumar, Ashok Kumar Dangi and Nirmelesh Kumari.
|
|||||
NO MORE COMEBACKS, VOWS GORAN BODYBUILDING MEET COACHING CLINIC BEIGHTON CUP GOODWILL MEET SPORTS FESTIVAL |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
(
Sachin
Tendulkar reclaimed top spot in the latest world cricket batting
ratings. Tendulkar leads West Indies star Brian Lara by 10 points
in the table, announced here yesterday, which ranks players not
just purely on averages alone but also takes into account the
quality of the opposition they have faced.
