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Monday,
March 4, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Pakistan, Argentina keep hopes alive WORLD CUP DIARY India’s hopes rest on Tendulkar, Das
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Asian Test meet final in Lahore Charan Singh rides to victory Anand fails to score win Hewitt, Serena advance Northern Railway, RCF in
semis Okerie
hat-tricks for
Mumbai club
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Pakistan, Argentina keep hopes alive
Kuala Lumpur, March 3 Playing attacking hockey from the start, Pakistan were on the roll with full backing from the defence and midfield. Mohammed Usman, playing with a bandaged forehead, Imran Tariq, Sohail Abbas and Waseem Ahmed guarded their territory well and whenever the Spaniards did move in, goalkeeper Muhammad Qasim rose to the occasion to effect some brilliant saves. Spain, too, their chances. Going by statistics, Spain had as many as six shots at the goal whereas Pakistan had seven and both were awarded five penalty corners each. But luck did not favour the Spaniards who were hoping to consolidate their position further in the pool, which has come to be known as the group of death. Pakistan went all out and a penalty corner earned by Spain early in the first half was thwarted by Ali Raja whose lightning run from the goal-line prevented any damage. Pakistan forced two short corners towards the end of the first half but on both the occasions the Spanish goalkeeper, Bernardino Herrera brought off spectacular saves and was also injured in the process. The second half witnessed a strong Pakistan resurgence with skipper Muhammad Sarwar attempting a deflection following an attack from the right flank but the Spanish goalkeeper in a fine display of anticipation kicked the ball away. Again Kashif Jawad who had cut through the defence and was in a one-to-one situation with the goalkeeper, was dispossessed in the nick of time. Spain had a narrow miss midway through the second half. Pol Amat managed to snatch the ball from a Pakistan defender inside the ‘D’but his hard reverse hit missed the target by inches. A similar attempt by Eduard Tubau also failed as he shot wide. A penalty corner earned by Spain also went waste as Pakistan goalkeeper Muhammad Qasim palmed the ball away showing fine anticipation. After making some more close calls, Pakistan forged ahead in the 60th minute. A short corner push by Muhammad Saqlain saw Raja Ali making the most of it and his hard hit was bang on target (1-0). And three minutes before the end, Pakistan made the issue safe with the second goal which was executed with clinical precision. A flurry of passes in which Shahbaz Ahmed had a major hand, saw the ball travelling to skipper Muhammad Sarwar who at once put Atif Bashir in possession. Bashir’s first time deflection gave the Spanish goalkeeper absolutely no chance(2-0). Earlier Argentina also kept their hopes alive with a 3-1 win over New Zealand. After taking the lead in the third minute through Jorge Lombi who converted a penalty corner, Argentina surrendered the advantage in the ninth minute as Phillip Burrows found the target off a short corner. However, Matias Vila made it 2-0 in favour of Argentina four minutes before the breather with a field goal. It was in the 66th minute that Mario Almada with another field goal increased the margin to 3-1 in favour of Argentina. Match statistics reveal that Argentina had nine shots at the goal as compared to five by New Zealand. Argentina were also awarded seven penalty corners as compared to six by New Zealand. Argentina coach Jorge Ruiz said his players played slower than usual today. “ We had only 20 hours of rest between matches whereas New Zealand had eight hours more,” he said. South Africa also notched up their first win in the same pool with a 3-0 win over Belgium who incidentally have lost all their matches. The first goal for South Africa came in the 29th minute when Greg Nicol converted a penalty corner. The other two goals came in the second half when Justin King and Mike Cullen found the target in the 56th and 70th minutes, respectively. While South Africa had eight shots at the goal, Belgium had only four. Belgium, however, earned more penalty corners, six to be precise, while South Africa could force only three. Germany owed their success to Bjorn Michell who found the target off a penalty corner in the 59th minute. This was the first defeat for Netherlands in the ongoing World Cup.
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WORLD
CUP DIARY “The most difficult moment for me was when the Indian Hockey Federation asked me to take over. I had done this job before when Cedric was unwell. But that was a different situation.” This was how stand-in coach CR Kumar reacted to his appointment as coach of the national team in the ongoing World Cup after Cedric D’Souza was told to step aside by the IHF following the team’s disastrous showing against Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and England. “Cedric has done a good job. We cannot forget it,” he added. * * * The replacement of Cedric D’Souza as coach of the Indian hockey team in the ongoing World Cup at Kuala Lumpur has been the talking point here since yesterday. At every gathering, the discussion focuses on the sudden decision of the IHF to replace Cedric with his deputy, CR Kumar. German star Florian Kunz who met me this morning asked :’What’s happened to India?
’Former hockey stars, including Vasudevan Baskaran and Ajit Pal Singh, while criticising the step, termed it as erratic. “The matters could have been settled back home once the World Cup was over,” said former Indian captain Vasudevan Baskaran. Hero of the 1975 title win, Ajit Pal Singh, while expressing similar views, termed the move as erratic at a crucial juncture. * * * Dr RK Tuli from Delhi’s Apollo Hospital was sounded about his assignment in the World Cup by the Indian Hockey Federation chief, Mr KPS Gill, after India drew the opening tie against Japan 2-2 on February 24. A former Air Force officer, Dr Tuli is an expert in hollistic medicines. At a meeting over breakfast, Dr Tuli told The Tribune today that he was sent as a back-up support for Dr Kannan but the latter’s decision to leave in a huff along with Cedric raises several questions. Was his loyalty more towards the coach or towards the team who still have to play some more matches in the World Cup ? Dr Tuli feels the transition should have been a smooth affair as national prestige was involved. “Yesterday I did not even have my accreditation when I came to know about Dr Kannan’s decision to fly back with Cedric. I was lucky to make it to the Indian bench for the match against Cuba,” he said. * * * The Spaniards dislike getting up early. But yesterday there was no choice as they were to take on South Africa at 8.35 a.m. “We had to wake up at 5 a.m. which is very early for the Spaniards. We never like to play at this time of the day. The team played with fire but burned out in the closing stages and that resulted in the equaliser,” said a disappointed Toni Forrellat, coach of the Spanish team. It was Spain’s second draw in five outings. * * * There are absolutely no security hassles at the World Cup. Although top dignitaries have been visiting Bukit Jalil’s National Hockey Stadium to watch the World Cup there has not been a single instance of unruly crowd behaviour, pushing or jostling. The crowds are disciplined and people only enter the enclosure to which they are entitled. Volunteers in colourful costumes lend newcomers a helping hand. |
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India’s hopes rest on Tendulkar, Das New Delhi, March 3 Opener Deep Das Gupta had been run out in the second over of the innings with just three runs on the board, and the victory target, which looked so simple to achieve, has now become a rather difficult unless Sachin Tendulkar and others play with caution on the morrow to get the remaining 86 runs. India had suffered a severe blow when
dashing batsman Virender Sehwag fell on his shoulder while trying to stop a shot from Grant Flower at forward short leg. He seemed to have dislocated his shoulder as he was in great pain while being taken to the hospital. He is out of action for the next two weeks, and Shiv Sundar Das has been named in his place for the one-day series against the visitors. India’s hopes now mainly rest on opener Shiv Sunder Das and Sachin Tendulkar. Das was unbeaten on 10 and Sachin Tendulkar had not yet got off the mark, at close of play. India’s 36 for 3 came off 17 overs after 81 minutes of play. Earlier, spinners Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble spun a magic web around the Zimbabwe batsmen to claim 6 for 62 and 4 for 58, respectively. Almost all the Zimbabwe wickets fell when the spinners were operating from the pavilion end, and Kumble got wickets only after he switched ends from the far to the pavilion side. India can nurse the grouse that they were simply robbed of Anil Kumble’s wicket when they were chasing the victory target as the ball hit the middle of his pad, before rolling over and into the hands of Trevor Gripper at forward short leg, off Grant Flower. His bat made no contact with the ball, and the bat-pad catch looked very unconvincing. Perhaps, the umpires were compensating for a couple of seemingly unfair decisions that went against Zimbabwe in their second innings. In the morning, India, resuming at the overnight score of 319 for six, added 35 runs, before being all out. Skipper Saurav Ganguly, who resumed at 135, was out after adding one run to his total while Anil Kumble, who was not out on 19, went on to make 34 not out with six fours. He batted for 137 minutes, and faced 107 balls to take the Indian total past Zimbabwe’s first innings total of 329. India made 354 off 129.2 overs in their first innings, to take a 25-run lead. SCOREBOARD Zimbabwe (1st innings): 329 India (1st innings): Das c Taibu b Streak 13 Dasgupta lbw b Friend 19 Ganguly c Gripper b Price 136 Tendulkar lbw b Price 36 Dravid run out 1 Sehwag lbw b Streak 74 Bangar run out 4 Kumble not out 34 Srinath c Gripper b Price 0 Harbhajan lbw b Streak 9 Zaheer b Streak 8 Extras (b-9, lb-6, w-1 nb-4) 20 Total (all out, 129.2 overs) 354 FOW: 1-24, 2-58, 3-142, 4-144, 5-264, 6-280, 7-321, 8-331, 9-340. Bowling: Streak 37.2-11-92-4, Watambwa 18-5-47-0, Friend 19-2-75-1, Price 50-15-108-3, G. Flower 5-0-17-0. Zimbabwe (2nd innings): Carlisle c and b Harbhajan 37 Gripper c Dravid
b Harbhajan 10 Campbell c Dravid b Harbhajan 2 A. Flower c Das b Harbhajan 0 Ebrahim lbw b Kumble 22 G. Flower c Harbhajan
b Kumble 49 Streak lbw b Kumble 9 Friend b Harbhajan 0 Taibu c Bangar b Kumble 10 Price c Das b Harbhajan 3 Watambwa not out 1 Extras (b-2, nb-1) 3 Total (all out, 67.3 overs) 146 FOW: 1-23, 2-31, 3-31, 4-69, 5-95, 6-113, 7-114, 8-129, 9-142. Bowling: Srinath 4-0-12-0, Zaheer Khan 3-0-12-0, Harbhajan Singh 31-5-62-6, Kumble 29.3-8-58-4. India (2nd innings): Das batting 10 Dasgupta run out 1 Ganguly lbw b G. Flower 20 Kumble c Gripper
b G. Flower 0 Tendulkar batting 0 Extras (b-4, nb-1) 5 Total (for 3 wkts, 17 overs) 36 Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-36, 3-36. Bowling: Streak 5-1-12-0, Friend 3-0-13-0, Price 6-3-7-0, G. Flower 3-3-0-2. |
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Injured Sehwag
out for 2 weeks New Delhi, March 3 Opener Shiv Sunder Das replaces him in the team for the first three in the five-match one-day series. Fielding at mid-on during Zimbabwe’s second innings, Sehwag dived forward for a difficult catch of Grant Flower off Anil Kumble and in the process landed on his left shoulder on a rough dry patch. Sehwag apparently realised that he had hurt himself badly and frantically waved towards pavilion seeking help. Physio Andrew Leipus rushed on to the field and after assessing the situation, had the Delhi batsman taken out a stretcher. He was later rushed to Apollo Hospital. Dr Yash Gulati, who is attending on him, said Sehwag had suffered an injury on the ‘A-C’ joint’ of his left shoulder, a ‘grade II’ injury. “He needs rest for at least a couple of weeks but his actual recovery time can only be assessed after an MRI scan is taken on him,” he said.
PTI |
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Good response to Mohali
tie SAS Nagar, March 3 World Sports Group and Nimbus will install 20 cameras for the conduct of the match. One additional camera would be installed above the AC lounge, which will provide the overall view of the stadium besides giving pictures of the surroundings. The first team of the group will arrive in the stadium on March 6. The floodlights will be ready and the teams will have two days to practice under floodlights, Mr Bindra stated. The teams will be arriving by Jet Airways flight in the afternoon of March 8. About the use of super sopper, he clarified that it was up to the two captains and the umpires. If they agreed than the supper sopper would be used during the dinner break as well as the drink break. Tax exemption for the match has been granted. Central wicket conducive for stroke play will be used for the match. Mr Sushil Kapoor has been appointed local manager of the Zimbabwe squad, while Vicky Banga has been attached to the Indian team. Final review meeting under the chairmanship of Punjab Governor Lt-Gen (Retd) J F R Jacob, will be held on March 6. |
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Asian Test meet final in Lahore Islamabad, March 3 Sri Lanka, led by dashing opener Sanath Jayasuriya, plays the Asian Test final in Lahore which starts on Wednesday. It will be the first international match in Pakistan since Bangladesh — the other participating team in the championship — was thrashed by an innings in Multan in early September. Since then security fears have kept foreign cricket teams away from Pakistan because of the US coalition’s war on terrorism in neighbouring Afghanistan. New Zealand and West Indies scrapped tours to Pakistan in the wake of a series of violent pro-Afghan Taliban
demonstrations in parts of Pakistan last year. But the protests fizzled out soon after the collapse of the Taliban regime.
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Charan Singh rides to victory Kila Raipur, March 3 If Nihang Maghar Singh majestically rode two galloping horses, Charan Singh Gill romped home victorious in the prestigious bullock cart race on an eventful day. As the participants, aged between six and 80, displayed skills they have perfected over the years, the limelight was held by young Major Hindustani, a policeman, who blew a trumpet, played drums and danced astride his motorcycle. Bhupinder Singh, an artist from Dhanuala in Sangrur introduced a touch of modernity to the Games with a superb display of paragliding. Then there was an impressive display of remote-controlled aero modelling. Also fascinating for the strong crowd in the stands were traditional display of archery by disciples of Gurukul Parivar of Meerut and some absorbing moments provided by Nihangs on their horses. The games, a blend of traditional and conventional sports, brought together more than 4,000 sportspersons not only from Punjab, but also from other parts of the country, besides attracting a sizeaable number of non-resident Indians. In hockey, hosts Kila Raipur Sports Academy won the crown in the juniors section defeating Sports School, Jalandhar, while Bhagwant Gold Cup for men was shared by Border Security Force and Punjab Police. A goal by Sandeep Kaur helped DAV College, Amritsar, to defeat Government College for Women, Ludhiana, in the women’s final. But the attraction continued to be traditional events besides kabaddi, tug-of-war and horse riding. The Punjab Police riders were accurate and skilful in their display of tent pegging. The police team comprised of DSP Maluk Singh, Inspector Harpal Singh, Sub-Inspector Jaswinder Singh and Constable Lakhwinder Singh. Another policeman who stole the thunder was Sukhwinder Singh, a dare devil, who on his motor cycle, climbed a ladder. The bullock cart races witnessed tough competition. There were ties and photo-finish decisions were questioned by participants. Continuing their tradition of honouring outstanding sportsmen and women of the state, the Grewal Sports Association chose this time Nathu Ram, father of four women hockey players, including Olympian Rupa Saini, for felicitation. He was honoured by former Punjab Chief Minister, Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, along with his daughters — Rupa, Prema, Krishna and Swarna. The association also felicitated Olympian Dharam Singh and basketball player Sajjan Singh Cheema. In the unloading and loading of tractor trailers with bags full of wheat husk, it was team from Rajasthan who beat their counterparts from Bihar in this interesting contest where each team had to unload and then load 80 bags each. Then there were competitions for veterans. While the 100 metres sprint brought out 70 and 80-year-old athletes in shorts, many flowing grey beards were seen in the veterans kabaddi match. The climax to the festival was the cultural bonanza in the evening. If the crowd waited for some of the top folk singers of Punjab, including Mohammed Siddique and Ranjit Kaur in the evening, it was Rajasthani and Chhattisgarh cultural troupes who had the audience capitulated during the concluding hours of the competitions. And when Major Hindustani was performing stunts on his motor cycle, it was western music to which he danced. The games , though rural, are aping the west |
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Anand fails to score win Linares, March 3 At the half-way stage after seven rounds, Garry Kasparov, who drew with Spaniard Alexei Shirov, was in sole lead with 3.5 points while Anand was alone at the rear with 2.5 points. The day produced only one decisive result, for the third day in succession, and the loser yet again was Michael Adams of England, this time to Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk. After the first half of the tournament, where every player had a bye each, in this seven-player double roundrobin event five players are in second place with three points. Anand opened with the king pawn and was surprised very early as Ponomariov opted for the accelerated Sicilian Veshnikov, a line that does not usually find takers at top-level. Anand developed his pieces nonchalantly in the early phase of the game but found Ponomariov well-armed in the complexities of a slightly worse middlegame structure. The game progressed slowly and two minor pieces were off the board by the 14th move. To Ponomariov’s advantage, he got rid of his problem child, the dark square bishop, and got a perfectly balanced game at hands. Anand fought for another six moves before agreeing to his fifth draw in the tournament. Anand’s games here have been a cause of concern after an uneventful ouster in the world championship semifinal against Ivanchuk last December. In the second leg of the first important tournament of the year, Anand will have to work hard to break out of his shackles and stage a recovery. In the next round he plays Shirov with white pieces and that would be a big opportunity to come back to 50 per cent score from where he can bounce back. Adams has been the centre of attraction with four decisive games out of a total five so far. Playing against Ivanchuk with black pieces, Adams was up against an anti-marshall set up and the game took a swift shift to a tactical battle soon after the opening ended. Ivanchuk was in his element as he uncorked a well-calculated combination that left everyone amazed. A rook sacrifice on the 15th move followed some fine developing moves that threatened to cause irreparable damage to Adams position. To wriggle out of immediate problems Adams gave up his queen for three pieces but his pawns on both flanks fell like ninepins as Ivanchuk’s queen caused havoc with intermittent checks.
PTI |
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Hewitt, Serena advance San Jose (California), March 3 Hewitt, who finished 2001 atop of the ATP rankings, will battle second seed Andre Agassi who beat Andy Roddick 6-3, 6-1 in yesterday’s other semifinal. While battling his illness, Hewitt was upset last month in the opening round of the Australian Open by Alberto Martin. Gambill saved nine of 11 break points, but the American double-faulted in the 11th game of the first set and dropped his serve to open the second. “I felt pretty much in control of the match. I still felt like he had his chances,” Hewitt said. “I just basically played my game, just go out there and play clutch tennis with the right frame of mind.” Hewitt, who saved a career-high four match points on Wednesday in a come-from-behind victory over Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan, won six titles last year, including the US Open and the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup. Gambill reached his second straight semifinal. He also got to the final four last week in Memphis after going 0-3 in his first three tournaments of 2002. “We had a lot of long rallies. He returns them deep in the far court,” Gambill said. “It was just a couple of points here and there. I had my chances.” SCOTTSDALE: American Serena Williams, the third seed, outdueled Swiss star Martina Hingis, the second seed 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, to reach the final of the $585,000 Scottsdale Open. Williams will meet top seed Jennifer Capriati, who beat unseeded Nathalie Dechy of France in Saturday’s other semifinal 6-2, 6-3. The 20-year-old Williams is gunning for her 12th career WTA crown. She picked up three titles in 2001, winning at Indian Wells, Toronto and the season-ending event in Munich. Hingis suffered just her second defeat in 2002. She already won titles this year at Sydney and Tokyo, but lost to Capriati in the final of the Australian Open. Dechy (23), was competing in her first semifinal of 2002. Her previous best outing came in January at Canberra, where she advanced to the quarterfinals. Capriati has not dropped a set on her way to the final. DUBAI: Australian Open Champion Thomas Johansson suffered a surprise defeat for the third time since becoming one of the most unexpected Grand Slam winners of all time, falling in the semifinals of the $925,000 Dubai Open here. Johansson also incurred a code violation warning and a point penalty against him during a 6-7, 6-4, 3-6 loss to the unseeded younes El Aynaoui on Saturday, in which the Swede had led by a break early in the final set. The transgressions occurred shortly after he had chiselled out this advantage, and were triggered by the Moroccan taking a time-out to receive attention to a back problem and breaking back immediately on resumption. This setback caused Johansson to sky a ball which landed perilously close to the VIP box, and when El Aynaoui straight away broke again Johansson then slung his racket along the floor, breaking it.
AFP, Reuters |
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Northern Railway, RCF in
semis Ludhiana, March 3 Holders Northern Railway faced no
resistance from Central Railway as they romped home victorious 3-0 while last year’s losing
finalists, South Eastern Railway, Kolkata, went down fighting against Rail Coach Factory, 1-2. In the match between South Eastern Railway and RCF, the first session witnessed a keen tussle with both teams trying to establish supremacy. South
Eastern Railway received an early jolt as RCF eves surged ahead in the sixth minute through a field goal scored by right half Mohan Devinder Kaur. In the 21st minute, full back Pushpa Topno of South Eastern Railway converted a penality corner into a goal to neutralise the lead 1-1. After the change of ends, South Eastern Railway began the proceeding with a renewed vigour and made repeated
assaults over their rivals’ citadel. They earned two penalty corners in a row (40th and 41st minute) but failed to convert these into goal. On the other hand, RCF women forced their second penalty corner in the 44th minute and full back Renu Bala sounded the board to put her team ahead again. Stunned at this reverse, South Eastern Railway made all out efforts for the equaliser but muffed up scoring chances. They wasted penalty corners in the 60th and 69th minute. The second match between the current champions, Northern Railway and Central Railway proved to be a one-sided affair. North Railway, with as many as 10 internationals, in their ranks fired the first salvo in the fifth minute through Surinder. Right in Pritam Kaur consolidated the lead in the 20th minute. Central Railway got a chance to reduce the lead in the 35th minute but penalty corner hit taken by Kanti Baa was cleared by Delhi defenders. Northern Railway scored their third goal in the 61st minute when Pritam Kaur found the target to make it 3-0. In the semifinals to be played tomorrow, Western Railway, Mumbai, will take on RCF, Kapurthala at 1 pm and Northern Railway, Delhi, will clash with Chandigarh at 3 pm. |
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Okerie
hat-tricks for
Mumbai club Mandi, March 3 After two days of continuous rain the weather was clear and sunny. The former Mohun Bagan star put the Mumbai team ahead in the 10th minute catching the Manipur goalkeeper on the wrong foot. He seized another chance five minutes before the interval and converted a penalty kick. Chima scored the third goal and his hat-trick in the first half itself. Skipper Rehman Cardozo made it 4-0 early on resumption and then Chima Okerie struck the fifth goal of the match before Ram Ishwar Mahato completed the tally. Manipur, who had on the opening day routed CRZ Club 5-0 could not stem the rot even in the second half. In another match, Himalayan Tigers beat CRZ Sonepat, 1-0. Both the teams carried out a few raids in the first half and had a scoring chances but failed to convert. Just before interval, Hitender Thakur failed to score from pointblank range and as the ball rebounded off, the Sonepat goalkeeper Neeraj Sharma shot over for the Tigers. Hitender Thakur, however, made amends early in the second half by scoring and putting the Himachal team ahead. Only one team from the group will qualify for the next phase. |
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