 |
| Tuesday,
April 2, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
|
India will break jinx, feels Dravid
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bagan down Mahindra United Vasco edge out FC Kochin IA, Punjab cops
enter semis Thomas, Uber Cup seedings announced Hectic schedule for shuttlers Where is the body going? Chandigarh club triumph
|
|
Tuffey sends England reeling Auckland, April 1 England also lost skipper Nasser Hussain leaving England wobbly at 11 for three just before bad light came to their aid. At close, England were holding on at 12 for three with Michael Vaughan on eight and Graham Thorpe yet to score. New Zealand, chasing the series after losing the first Test in Christchurch, were dismissed for 202 when play finally got underway after lunch on the third day. Tuffey, recalled to the Kiwi team after being bypassed for the first two Tests, gave them the best possible start with wickets on his second and fifth balls to rock the tourists at 0 for two. Tuffey trapped Marcus Trescothick lbw and then sent Mark Butcher back to the pavilion with a catch at short-leg by Mark Richardson. The Kiwi supporters, who have had little to cheer in this one-sided series, roared as Butcher followed Trescothick back in quick procession and raise hopes of a result with two days to play. Hussain, who was fortunate not to be out first ball when Tuffey’s last ball shaved his stumps, lasted nine balls before he edged to Stephen Fleming at first slip off Chris Drum for two. The Kiwis had only 6.4 overs at the England batsmen amid criticism that they had batted on too long. There has been precious little cricket in the weather-bedevilled Auckland Test with only 54 overs possible on Saturday’s opening day before bad light abandoned play late in the day. The entire second day was washed out and the third day’s play was delayed until after lunch after morning showers and a slow-drying outfield but only an hour’s more play was possible before another shower hit the ground. In that time, Chris Harris equalled his highest Test score of 71. Harris, who helped rescue the Kiwis’ first innings after it had lurched to 19 for four, added 16 runs today before he was out lbw to Andy Flintoff just before the players left the field through rain. He dithered for a nervous 20 balls and marooned on 71 unable to get the run to register his highest Test score. Harris and Adam Parore advanced the score from 151 for five to 174 for six in the 13.1 overs available in the first snatch of play. The pair added 86 runs for the sixth wicket. After a heavy dump of rain it was another two hours before the players re-emerged at 0945 IST and the Kiwis tried to crank up the scoring tempo to get them beyond 200 and give them a chance of attacking England. SCOREBOARD New Zealand (1st innings): Richardson b Caddick 5 Vincent b Caddick 10 Fleming c Ramprakash
b Hoggard 1 Harris lbw b Flintoff 71 Astle c Thorpe b Caddick 2 McMillan lbw b Caddick 41 Parore c Afzaal (sub)
b Flintoff 45 Vettori lbw b Hoggard 3 Adams c Giles b Flintoff 7 Tuffey c Butcher b Hoggard 0 Drum not out 2 Extras (lb-10, nb-5) 15 Total (All out in 75.2 overs) 202 Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-17, 3-17, 4-19, 5-86, 6-172, 7-191, 8-198, 9-200. Bowling: Caddick 25-5-70-4, Hoggard 28.2-10-66-3, Flintoff 16-6-49-3, Butcher 5-2-6-0, Giles 1-0-1-0. England (1st innings): Trescothick lbw b Tuffey 0 Vaughan batting 8 Butcher c Richardson b Tuffey 0 Hussain c Fleming b Drum 2 Thorpe batting 0 Extras (lb-2) 2 Total ( For 3 wkts, overs 6.4 ) 12 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0, 3-11. Bowling: Tuffey 3.4-1-4-2, Drum 3-1-6-1.
AFP |
|
India will break jinx, feels Dravid Mumbai, April 1 Vice-Captain Rahul Dravid expressed confidence that India would beat the West Indies for a first series win abroad in a long time however he, admitted that beating the hosts would be a tough task. The Indians will open their tour with a three-day game against the boards’ presidents team at Guyana from April 5, followed by the first Test at the same venue from April 11. When asked to compare the present Indian team with 1996 team which lost the series narrowly in the West Indies, Dravid said, “With no disrespect to the 1996 team, the bowling department of the present team looks much better especially Harbhajan Singh bowling very well and Anil Kumble getting a good partner to compliment.” When asked whether just one side game was enough for the players to get acclimatised before the Test series, he said “I think so as we are playing five Test matches after a long time. If we get to play the whole match and if our players get enough match practice I think one match before the first two Tests should be okay.” “It is also a good thing for us that we are playing five Test matches,” he said. When asked who the Indians considered as dangerous batsmen among West Indians, Dravid said all of them, including Brian Lara, Carl Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Star leg-spinner Anil Kumble said he was looking forward to the series. “It is great bowling with Harbhajan Singh and it is going to be an important tour for us”, Kumble said. “We have a very well balanced side and I think we have a great chance to win the series. Personally I am looking forward to this series eagerly,” the leggie said. When asked whether just two spinners was enough for this long tour, Kumble said, “I cannot answer that question as it is the selectors job to pick the team.” Srinath said “last time around I had to return home with a bad shoulder and this time around I am very keenly looking forward to this tour.” When asked what new strategy he had to bowl on West Indian wickets which had slowed down a bit, the Karnataka speedster said, “as long as we can bowl a good line and length and pick wickets regularly and contribute to the team’s success, we should not be worrying about the nature of the wickets at all”. Indian opening batsman Shiv Sunder Das said that he was hoping to score his first Test hundred on a foreign soil. “I have failed to convert a few fifties into hundreds during the tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa but this time around I have a very good chance of scoring a hundred as we will be playing five Test matches against not so hostile bowlers,” he added. Asked as to how he would cope with the West Indian bowlers, Das said, “I have been practicing on
concrete pitches so that I get used to the bounce playing back to fast bowlers and this should help me tremendously to play the West Indian fast bowlers quite
comfortably.” The 16-member team: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid (vice-captain), Shiv Sunder Das, Deep Dasgupta, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, V.V.S. Laxman, Dinesh Mongia, Ashish Nehra, Ajay Ratra, Javagal Srinath, Wasim Jaffer, Tinu Yohannan, Zaheer Khan and Sanjay Bangar.
PTI |
|
Hirwani lashes out at selectors Indore, April 1 “The selectors do not have any criteria for any selection and can include anybody and later remove them without providing any chance to prove their prowess”, he told UNI. “Currently there is no selection which picks up a player on merit ground”. Recalling the events he said that he was called for the conditioning camp at Chennai and later given a place in team for the first Test at Mumbai. “On the evening before the match captain Sourav Ganguly told me that I had to play in final eleven, but my name did not figure in the final list of players”. “Even for the next match at Kolkata, my name did not figure”, he added. He said that even coach John Wright told him after the thrashing defeat in the Mumbai Test that he had to play the second Test. Later he played for Board President XI at Delhi against touring Australia and captured eight wickets in the game. “Nobody else can understand my feelings, my pain and my sorrow’’, he said. On his
comparison with Kumble, he said, this is not correct, since both of us having different styles. He bowls fastish with lesser spin, while I am an orthodox leggie. “I am not afraid of saying truth while many cricketers keep mum in anticipation of berth in the team”. Observing that politicians should not become cricket administrators, he said, “politics in BCCI has increased as compared to the past’’. “There is no place in the cricket arena for hard and honest players”, he maintained.
UNI |
|
‘Discussions with PCB fruitful’ New Delhi, April 1 At their recent discussions in Islamabad on the sidelines of the SAF Games Executive Committee meeting, officials of the two countries agreed that political ties between the two neighbours should not affect their sporting relations. “Both sides felt that political ties between India and Pakistan may have their ups and downs but the sporting ties must always be there,” Indian Olympic Association President Suresh Kalmadi, who headed the Indian delegation in Islamabad, said. On the vexed issue of the resumption of cricketing ties, Kalmadi said he had very fruitful discussions with officials of Pakistan Cricket Board and it was now up to the Government of India and the Indian cricket board to decide on the matter. “I will apprise Sports Minister Uma Bharti and cricket board President Jagmohan Dalmiya about the discussions I had with PCB chief Lt Gen Tauqir Zia.
PTI |
|
North take on Central today Indore, April 1 The encounter has also lost sheen because of the absence of a number of stars. Defending champions North Zone will be without the services of Dinesh Mongia, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra as they are doing duty for the country. Harbhajan, Nehra and Mongia are away on the tour of West Indies, while Yuvraj is touring South Africa with the India-A team. North Zone would also miss the services of all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi as he is injured. “We are hoping that our players will do well on this batsman-friendly pitch. If we win the toss we would like to bat first and put up a good total so that our bowlers can put pressure on the opposition when they bat,” North Zone manager S Kapoor said. Central Zone has so far not earned a single point from two matches it has played while North Zone has 10 points to its credit from three matches so far.
PTI |
|
|
Agassi captures fifth title Kay Biscayne, April 1 Agassi, 31, downed the 20-year-old Swiss 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to win a title he first claimed at the age of 19 in 1990. “I always love coming here,” Agassi told the crowd. “There are five weeks here I’ll never forget.” Agassi rebounded from an early break in the fourth set to beat Federer in 2hr 20min, remaining unbeaten against Federer in three career meetings. Agassi captured the 51st title of his career and the second of 2002 after his triumph in Scottsdale earlier this month. It was also his 700th match victory on the ATP Tour. Federer hadn’t dropped his serve enroute to the final — a trip that included a semi-final victory over world No 1 Lleyton Hewitt. But Agassi looked on his way to a fairly quick win when he wrapped up the first two sets 6-3, 6-3. Federer, however, clinched the third set, losing just three points on his own service. He then earned the early break in the third game of the fourth set, but Agassi battled to a break in the eighth game to tie the score at 4-4. He then served a love game and then broke again in the final game. “I started well in the fourth set, but Andre started to play really well,” said Federer, winner of the title in Sydney this year as well as being an Australian Open quarter-finalist and runner-up in Milan. With the fans seemingly tilted towards Capriati’s favour, the top seed didn’t disappoint, Capriati, wearing her Ferrari-red clothing with a patch of the legendary Italian marque on her dress, struggled through a marathon ninth game. She and Williams went back and forth, with number nine Williams
saving a pair of break points, but double-faulting on the third to drop to 4-5. But again, the re-break scenario played out, with Capriati missing a stretch forehand and netting for 5-all while serving for the set. Ninth seed Williams then broke in the 12th game to collect the opener in 68 minutes. Capriati began the second with a break as the Williams unforced error count surpassed 30. Treble Grand Slam champion Capriati reached 3-1, with Williams then holding, 2-3. Capriati held and lost a pair of set points in the ninth game, losing the first with a mis-hit and the second when Williams fired over a service winner. But the next two games were breaks, with Captiati earning a 6-5 lead when Williams put a forehand wide.
AFP |
|
Bagan down Mahindra United Kolkata, April 1 The irrepressible Jose Barreto converted a spotkick midway through the second session to save the day for the glamour club after both teams were locked goal-less at the interval of a fast-paced encounter. Mohun Bagan, despite playing in front of a vociferous home crowd, were a pale shadow of themselves as they not only muffed a number of scoring chances but also left too many gaps in the defence and were distinctly lucky to earn full points. Barreto, who has invariably come to the rescue of the team when the chips are down, converted the penalty much to the delight of his teammates in the 70th minute of the contest but the attempt was hardly convincing. The ball hit the left post and went into the goal as Mahindra United custodian Naseem Akhtar dived full length on the other side, hoping to prevent the goal. The hard-fought victory has taken the two-time League champions to the top of the points table with 38 points from 19 matches while Mahindra have logged 27 points from as many outings. Churchill Brothers were in the second position with 36 points from 18 matches. Mohun Bagan got the face-saving penalty after Barreto, who had managed to breakthrough the defence cordon, was tripped by goalkeeper Naseer Akhtar well outside the box as he charged out to foil the move. It seemed to be a deliberate foul by Akhtar and referee Rizwan-ul-Haq of Delhi had no hesitation in pointing to the dreaded spot. The home team could never really find any rhythm and only put more
pressure on themselves with some needless fouls which saw striker Abdulateef Seriki and Basudeb Mondal getting the yellow card in the first 15 minutes of the contest. While Barreto looked dangerous whenever he penetrated the box despite being well marked, striker R. C. Prakash who came in as a substitute for Renedy Singh in the second half, looked totally off colour and was guilty of squandering as many as four scoring opportunities. Some erratic passing by the home team allowed their rivals to come dangerously close to the goalmouth, particularly in the early stages of the proceedings, but the Mumbai outfit lacked the finish to pose much problems.
PTI |
|
Vasco edge out FC Kochin Kochi, April 1 With this win, Vasco have improved its points tally to 34 from 19 matches while FC Kochin, facing relegation to the second division, was still on 14 points from as many matches. The local outfit put up a good fight initially, but failed to maintain the tempo and paid the penalty. The goal-bound move emanated from the Kochin half where Luciano got possession of a stray ball. He positioned himself well and let go a powerful 25 yarder, beating Kochin ‘keeper Ali Abubaker hands down. |
|
IA, Punjab cops enter semis Kolkata, April 1 Last year’s runners-up Border Security Force (Jalandhar) were shown doors after Punjab and Sind Bank won the match by an odd goal in three in Group A quarter final encounter. PSB and Central Reserve Police Force found their berths in the semi-finals. CRPF earned equal points of 6 points with PSB and BSF but were qualified for the next round for their better goal average than the BSF after defeating IHF Junior XI by 2-0. Defending champions Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) however, despite their 2-1 win over Army XI in the same group went out of the race. Favourites Indian Airlines, who topped the Group B with five points in the tally in the quarterfinals take on CRPF, the Group A runners-up in the semifinal while PSB being the topper of Group A taken on Punjab Police Group B runners-up here tomorrow. In a keenly contested match at Mohun Bagan ground, Punjab Police drew the first blood in the 15th minute through striker Sharabjit Singh. But the Airlines skipper Dilip Tirkey equalised the score seconds before the breather.
UNI |
|
Thomas, Uber Cup seedings announced Sangrur, April 1 Drawn alongside Thailand and German in group ‘B’, Malaysia and Indonesia (winners of the cup on 12 previous occasions) will be favourite to progress past the group stage, but they will have to use all resources if they are to emerge group B winner and avoid a likely semifinal clash with China. The hosts China have been drawn in group ‘A’ with Denmark, Korea and underdogs Sweden, who claimed third final place over India at the Netherlands qualifiers a few days ago. Top seeds in Uber Cup and overwhelming favourites to win the trophy for a record 8th win, China have been drawn in group ‘B’ with Korea, Japan and Germany. Denmark, hoping to stop the Chinese dominance, are seeded second and have been drawn in group ‘A’ with Hong Kong, Indonesia and Netherlands. Till today only three associations — Indonesia, China and Malasia — have won Thomas Cup while only four countries — China, Japan, Indonesia and the USA — have been able to won Uber Cup. No European country has ever won the either of titles. Seedings for the Thomas/Uber Cup finals are as follow: Thomas Cup-I China,2 Malasia, 3/4 Indonesia and Denmark, 5/6 Korea and Thailand, 7/8 Germany and Sweden. Uber Cup-I China, 2 Denmark, 3/4 Korea and Hong Kong, 5/6 Japan and Indonesia, 7/8 Germany and Netherlands. |
|
Hectic schedule for shuttlers Chandigarh, April 1 The prestigious Yonex Japan Open will be held at Tokyo from April 2 to 7. It will have a prize money of $180,000, Finnish International will be held from April 4 to 7 at Helsinki, which will be followed by Singapore Pools Asian Satellite Championships at Singapore from April 17, Peru International meet at Lima from April 24 to 28, Austrian International at Pressbaum from April 25 to 28, Altona International at Melbourne from April 26 to 28 and Kenya International at Nairobi from May 2 to 5. The all-important Thomas and Uber cup final will be held at Guangzhou (China) from May 9 to 19. Even in smaller countries, several international tournaments will be conducted-Lebanon Satellite will be played from May 25 to 30, Bangladesh Satellite from June 3 to 8, Spanish International from June 3 to 9, Syria Satellite from June 3 and New Zealand International at Wanganui from June 19 to 23. The Asian Junior championships will be at Ho Chi Min city (Vietnam) from July 14 to 21. The Commonwealth Games will be conducted at Manchester (England) from July 28 to August 4. Team events to be played till July 30 while Individual events will start from July 31. The university students all over the world will have the opportunity to play in the 10th International Students Badminton Tournament from August 14 to 18 at Tonsberg, Norway. Singapore Open will be held at Singapore from August 19 to 25. |
|
Where is the body going? Patiala, April 1 This is precisely what is happening to hundreds of fitness freaks who get themselves registered with numerous gyms and fitness centers that have sprouted in the city. However, barely days after trying to melt down that extra flab or trying to build biceps, they fall victim to the `fitness misinformation boom’. Subsequently, they drop out suffering from various ailments including, sprains, muscle spasms, premature arthritis, chest pain and in some cases even broken bones. That the gym culture is spreading like wild fire in this sport-conscious city is no exaggeration. However, the problem is that only a fraction of these freaks know the right way to go about the task of knocking off all those extra kilos. Dr Ashok Ahuja, NIS-based senior sports medicine expert opined that there should be qualified physical trainers in these gyms. Sadly, none of the city’s gyms have such qualified trainers to provide a proper exercise programme catering to the needs of different individuals. Unlike gyms in metros, even the basic facility of a doctor on call in case of any mishap is absent. And such mishaps are not rare as one particular gym owner recalled that three of his clients had suffered falls due to which they had sustained serious cervical injuries. A gym owner, preferring anonymity, revealed that most of the injuries occur due to `ego-training’ which means competing with a friend and then trying to `out-train’ him. He cites the case of a teenaged obese girl, who without warming up did 120 sit-ups on the day she joined the gym- just because her friend, a regular, had done the same routine a day before. The results were devastating as she started coughing up blood, complained of chest pain and had to be hospitalised in a critical condition. Dr Manmohan Singh, a renowned cardiologist and a member of the Medical Commission of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), attributes such incidents of “getting slim the fast way.” He added that without following a proper regimen, these freaks do not fine tune their bodies before stepping in the gym. Noted orthopaedician Dr Rajeev Aggarwal disclosed that gyms are just business propositions. Anybody who has space and money jumps on the gym bandwagon but there is nobody to teach these freaks how to go about their business in a professional manner. Dr Aggarwal also said most of the gym owners do not suggest drinking water which in itself is an invitation to disaster and de-hydrated muscles protest with spasms. There is a lurking fear among the owners that with the drop out rate getting on the fast forward mode, these gyms may well become relics. Moreover, till these freaks keep on ignoring the three basics- warming up, stretching and cooling down- the number of drop out cases will keep on multiplying. |
|
Chandigarh club triumph Yamunanagar, April 1 Chandigarh team defeated BILT Club 3-0. The first goal was scored in the fifth minute by Anil Saini and the second goal was scored by Jagmohan Saini in the 17th minute. After half time Chandigarh Football Club dominated and Harvinder Singh scored in the last minute and won the match 3-0. Mr Neehar
Aggarwal, Chief General Manager, BILT, and chief patron of the tournament informed that 16 teams were participating in this tournament. They include Punjab Armed Police, Jalandhar, Rabbani Kamptti
Nagpur, AG Hyderabad, ONGC, Dehra Dun, PSEB, Hoshiarpur, SBI Chandigarh and Punjab Sports Club, Faridabad. |
|
Dubai Grand Prix Dubai, April 1 The tournament will feature 32 players, who will face each other in a knockout format, the president of the Arab Chess Federation, Mr Ibrahim Al Bannai told reporters on Sunday.
Reuters |
 |
| 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 | |
In video (
