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Saturday,
April 6, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Paes puts India on equal footing Gopi in Japan Open semis
It’s a challenge to get Indians fit: team trainer |
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Indian bowlers impress in opener ‘Sorry indictment of English game’ North Zone score seven-wicket win Anand blanks Short
2-0 Zee Churchill trounce JCT by 2-0 Sekar upsets Phadke Punjab jr basketball from April 21 Dube to clash with Prakash in
final
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Paes puts India on equal footing Wellington, April 5 After Kiwi No.1 Mark Neilsen made the most of an error prone Harsh Mankad to win the opening singles match 6-4 6-0 6-1, Paes braved the cold and blistery conditions to beat Alistair Hunt in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Paes, clad from neck to toe, forced to two break points in the sixth game of the first set and Hunt promptly obliged with a wide forehand and the Indian went on to pocket the set. But in the second set, the Kiwi improved his returns and came up with big serves trying to unsettle the seasoned Indian star. But Paes, who has three Grand Slam doubles titles under his belt, answered with some stunning returns and Hunt began to feel the heat. In the seventh game, a brilliant forehand cross-court pass by Paes brought the game to deuce, and two double faults by Hunt gave Paes the crucial break. The third set, too, witnessed a similar pattern, with Paes playing percentage tennis and winning the big points while Hunt wilted under pressure at crucial moments. The scores were even till the eighth game but the inevitable followed in the next, when Hunt again served a pair of double faults to drop serve and soon Paes served out the match to put the tie scores at 1-1. The opening singles between Mankad and Neilsen was a mediocre affair except in the first set which saw both players trading breaks. Mankad lost serve early in the match and trailed 1-3. He managed to break back in the next game only to lose it again in the sixth game to go 2-4 down. After both players held serves, Mankad looked like coming back breaking the Kiwi, saving a set point in the process, to come close at 4-5. But that was the end of the road for the young Indian, who was expected to put up a much better fight, as he lost the next 10 games to go 4-6 0-6 0-2 down. He broke Neilsen in the third game of the third set to escape further embarrassment but once again his serve ditched him and lost serves in the fourth and sixth games as Neilsen led 5-1 before finishing it off on his first match point. The 396th ranked Neilsen’s victory, who defeated Andreas Vinciguera in the Heineken Open at Auckland early this year, was made easier by Mankad who committed 37 unforced errors to Neilsen’s 11. The Indian’s poor serving, winning just two games on serve, also stood out as he managed to win just 37 per cent of points on the first serve compared to Neilsen’s 70. Tomorrow in doubles, Paes and Bhupathi will play their first match after parting ways recently as India look to take a 2-1 lead into the final day on Sunday. The past record is in favour of New Zealand who have beaten India in all the three earlier encounters, two of them on Indian soil.
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Gopi in Japan Open semis Tokyo, April 5 Gopichand, who needed five games to beat both Indonesia’s world champion Hendrawan and Korean Open winner Lin Dan of China, came through another five-gamer for a 7-8, 7-1, 8-6, 2-7, 7-5 victory in 47 minutes. Meanwhile on the adjacent court, unseeded Keita Masuda became the first Japanese in 20 years to reach the semi- finals by beating Chinese fifth seed Bao Chunlai 8-6, 7-2, 7-1. Tomorrow, Masuda will challenge Asian champion Xia Yuanze, the top seed, who saw off fellow Chinese Chen Yu 8-6, 7-1, 8-7. Muhammad Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia, who shocked Gopichand during his defence of the All-England tournament last month, failed to set up a re-match as he fell victim to a spirited Lee Hyun-Il of South Korea 7-4, 4-7, 3-7, 7-8. China dominated the women’s event with defending champion Zhou Mi, Asian champion Zhang Ning and Dai Yun, as well as former national team member Wang Chen who represents Hong Kong here, advancing to the semi-finals. “It was very tough like yesterday, it was very close, it could have gone either way,” said Gopichand, playing only his second tournament since a foot injury in December forced him out of action for three months. Gopichand was 4-2 up in the final game when the two players changed sides, and then soon found himself 4-5 down as he misfired two lightning smashes in a row. But Gopichand stayed calm. His varied shots forced two backhand errors to take a 6-5 lead, and then the joint ninth seed won the match with a delicate soft shot to Wu’s left front. “If you get two points in a row, it’s always the problem in a seven-point game. Two points make a lot of difference,” Gopichand said of his two misfired smashes. “I was just trying to be aggressive and trying to keep my head up. It’s just great. I hope I can go a little bit (further) in the tournament,” added Gopichand. Masuda said: “I haven’t beaten Xia, I lost twice before. I have nothing to lose. I’ll just try to enjoy the match tomorrow as I did today In the women’s field, Zhang knocked the last non-Chinese player, 1998 Asian Games gold medallist Kanako Yonekura of Japan 5-7, 4-7, 7-1, 7-5, 7-0 to set up a meeting with Dai. Dai defeated 2000 Asian champion Xie Xingfang 7-2, 4-7, 3-7, 7-0, 7-5 while Zhou defeated two-time Asian junior champion Hu Ting 7-4, 7-3, 7-3 in all-Chinese matches. Wang pulled off the biggest win, beating Chinese world champion Gong Ruina 7-4, 8-6, 4-7, 3-7, 8-6.
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It’s a challenge to get Indians fit: team trainer
Georgetown, April 5 The South African, the first-ever trainer of the Indian team who will be in charge till the next World Cup, also said India play far too much cricket for players to recover from their niggles and injuries. “I think that you (India) play a lot. Look at South Africa, after the Australia series they will get a couple of months off. “That is what a player needs to recuperate and recover from any niggle. Because you need time off. You need time to recover both mentally and physically,” Le Roux said. On getting tough with the players, he said: “I will go through the channel, I will inform the coach (John Wright). He has also told me if I work with the players and things are not going as I would like them to go then I must inform him.” “I am going to keep a very detailed log book on what I got to do with every player right from the start so that at the end of the day I could see what I have done with the player.” “It is a challenge to get the Indians fit. It’s not going to take a day or a week to get them fit, or as fit as I want them to be. It is going to take a bit longer but my objective is to make them the fittest in the world,” he said. Le Roux is already in the process of making an assessment of players and will have a detailed report submitted to Wright and the cricket board in the next 24 hours. The new trainer also wants a structure to be put in place within the Indian cricket set up for a player with national ambitions to know what is required of him at this level. “It requires close functioning at all levels of the game,” said Le Roux. “In South Africa, we the fitness trainers used to have regular meetings to keep a co-ordination going.” In India, things are still unsatisfactory as far as fitness is concerned. But Le Roux was optimistic a system would soon be in place. “Andrew (Leipus), team physio, is already putting in his bit in this direction,” remarked Le Roux. “I will work out the results probably by tomorrow and give the players, coach and the cricket board the feedback just to let them know what my initial assessment is of the players.” Le Roux, who worked with the Free State side in South Africa for seven years, had his first brush with the Indian team after they lost the Bloemfontein Test inside four days. On Wright’s invitation, he had a session with the Indians and that was the beginning of his association with the team. “Cricket is a unique sport. The intensity at one moment is high and the next, a bowler for instance, walks down to fine leg and stands there for 20 minutes or half an hour. And then the captain calls him back to bowl again. “A lot of studies are still required to fully understand cricket’s peculiar training and conditioning requirement,” Le Roux said. “The muscles of players must have the endurance to last. It must last a full day and then four days thereafter if it is a Test match. So you must simulate as far as possible what the muscles must undergo in a five-day match,” the South African said. He has unique methods to tune up players. Usually, he builds his fitness regimen around their skills so they don’t get bored and disinterested. “As soon as you put a bat or a ball in a cricket player’s hand, you have immediately got his attention,” said Le Roux. Le Roux’s other priority is to build trust among players so that their fitness is not only useful for them but also for their colleagues. “Team training sessions are important for team spirit. As soon as you get all the boys together and create a bit of competition, it lifts the spirit and they learn to trust each other.” Individually, Le Roux likes to treat every player equally, including India’s golden boy Sachin Tendulkar. “He is Sachin Tendulkar yes but he is still a player in the side, a part of the team,” said Le Roux “And I work for the team.” For someone like Tendulkar, Le Roux’s emphasis is on a quicker recovery level. “For a batsman, just facing a ball without having to run is going to increase your heart rate. And you have to recover to your normal heart rate to concentrate the best. “The ultimate goal for a batsman to be fit will be to make sure he keeps concentration throughout the innings and if he is fit and can recover to his normal level, that is what a cricket fitness is for a batsman.” Le Roux said the nature of his work could affect his relationship with a few. “It is only temporary as they would realise it is only to make them fitter and lengthen their cricket career.”
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“Play Ratra as first ’keeper” New Delhi, April 5 “Ratra is the better ‘keeper of the two selected for the tour. If Deep Dasgupta needs to be included in the eleven, he could play as a specialist opener with Ratra keeping wickets,” Chauhan said here. The former Test opener was enthusiastic about the Indian team’s prospects in the Caribbean. “This time around, our full team is going and all players are physically fit. Also, the West Indies team is not the strongest it has ever been and there are no fearsome fast bowlers.” Chauhan was happy that India has gone there with three specialist openers. Even Sanjay Bangar could be considered as an opener as he does that for Railways in the Ranji Trophy. As far as coping with the fast and bouncy wickets there, legendary Sunil Gavaskar’s most successful opening partner said, “The important thing is to give these youngsters a chance and then they can get used to the conditions and gain confidence.” With the wickets in West Indies more helpful to pace bowlers, the cricketer-turned-politician expressed his satisfaction with the selection of just two spinners in Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble for the tour. About the younger players in the side, he said “they have come in on the basis of their performances in the recent past. They have proved themselves and there is no reason not to expect them to do the job in the Caribbean this time”.
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Indian bowlers impress in opener Georgetown (Guyana), April 5 Contrary to expectations, India fielded a full-strength team against a depleted opposition which is without some of their top stars including West Indies captain Carl
Hooper. Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath and leg-spinner Anil Kumble had wickets in their first overs but it was off-spinner Harbhajan Singh who dealt the biggest jolt to the home side with two crucial wickets within three deliveries in his third over, the last before lunch. The Guyana team elected to bat after captain Travis Dowlin won the toss but their inexperience was evident against the fire-power of the full-scale Indian attack. Srinath claimed a wicket with the very first delivery of the match when opener Andrew Gonsalves snicked to wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta who was selected ahead of Ajay Ratra. Zaheer Khan struck from the other end inducing an edge from new batsman Narsingh Deonaraine which was well taken by V V S Laxman at second slip. Deonaraine made only four runs, and by the end of the second over, the home team had slumped to five for two. The other opener Krishna Arjune crawled to 10 at the drinks break when Guyana XI were placed at 32 for two. It was then the turn of Kumble to claim success. Dowlin, who had come at the fall of Deonaraine pushed firmly the first delivery from the leg spinner only to find the hands of Shiv Sunder Das who took the first of his three catches at forward short leg. Dowlin made 11 with one boundary during his 43 minute stay at the crease. Hemchand Pooran showed some urgency in getting the runs and square cut Kumble for a boundary before coming down the track to lift the bowler to the long-on fence. Pooran’s positive approach seemed to rub off on Arjune who hooked Sanjay Bangar at the other end for a boundary. The two batsmen dropped anchor and looked to play out till lunch before Harbhajan Singh struck in his third over in combination with Das. First Arjune was out for 25, made in 116 minutes and Domoutar Dasrat followed two balls later. Bangar bowled steadily and conceded just six runs from his five overs with three maidens, easing himself into a role of a stock bowler which he would be asked to perform in the Test series. Guyana Board President’s XI (1st innings): Gonsalves c Dasgupta b Srinath 0 Arjune c Das b Harbhajan 25 Deonaraine c Laxman b
Zaheer 4 Dowlin c Das b Kumble 11 Pooran batting 17 Dasrat c Das b Harbhajan 0 Extras 0 Total (for 5 wkts, 27 overs) 57 FOW: 1-0, 2-5, 3-25, 4-57, 5-57. Bowling: Srinath 6-1-13-1, Zaheer Khan 5-1-12-1, Kumble 8-3-23-1, Bangar 5-3-6-0, Harbhajan Singh 3-0-3-2.
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‘Sorry indictment of English game’ London, April 5 And if the media had its way, its skipper Nasser Hussain would have found a place in the elite five and not India’s Laxman who played a record-breaking 281-run knock against Australia last year or Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower. As no Englishman has been considered good enough to be chosen among Wisden’s top five cricketers for the year 2001, the press here described it as a “sorry indictment of the English game”. “In a summer when the Australians retained the Ashes easily, the choice of Adam Gilchrist, Jason Gillespie and Damien Martyn was only to be expected, but what has set a lot of people in cricket talking are the choices of Indian V.V.S. Laxman and Zimbabwean Andy Flower, neither of whom set foot on English soil last summer,” the Daily Telegraph said. Wisden, in a change of tradition a couple of years ago, decided their cricketers of the year should reflect a more global view and not restrict itself to English cricket and season. But the media could hardly digest Wisden’s change in policy. “I have always thought of cricket season as an English summer and Wisden as a very English book. It must have been a very difficult choice. It also means not having seen them play relying on television, I wouldn’t have chosen the same five,” Trevor Bailey, former England all-rounder and one of the experts whose opinions were carried by the daily said. But former England captain Ted Dexter felt the absence of English cricketers from the top five demonstrated they had to smarten up their act. “Most English cricketers are lazy. Nasser works hard at his game but he is not the best batsman in the world,” Dexter said. John Woodcock, a former editor of Wisden, felt the “change will be seen as an indictment and reflect of the present despondent state of English cricket and no one can argue with that”. Graeme Wright, editor of the current edition, had his reasons for not choosing Hussain. “Last year there were some who felt Nasser should have been chosen for leading England to victory in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. But the Wisden year runs from September to September and Sri Lanka was after.” This year Wright thought hard about Hussain but decided against him. “In Birmingham Test (against Australia) his captaincy was at fault. His success the previous winter was based on solid batting and making the most of opposition mistakes. But there was a gung-ho spirit against Australia. “If they had squared the series, that might have been something. England didn’t win the Ashes and never looked like doing so. “I’ve been accused of being anti-Nasser. That’s nonsense. Nasser hasn’t performed brilliantly as an individual. But while England under him have improved, he hasn’t set the world alight.”
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North Zone score seven-wicket win Indore, April 5 Akash Chopra remained not out on 69 and Mithun Manhas was on 20 at the end. Resuming at the overnight score of 26 for the loss of one wicket, Chopra and Sangram Singh added 81 runs for the second wicket, making the job of accomplishing victory easy for the rest. However, Sangram Singh was caught behind by Rohit Jhalani off Narendra Hirwani when North Zone were at 85 and later Shafiq Khan was caught by Yere Goud off Kulmani Parida at 87. However, with Chopra and captain Manhas’ efforts the team achieved a seven-wicket victory over Central Zone to earn eight points from the match, while Central Zone got none. Central Zone (Ist innings): 368 North Zone (Ist Innings): 407 Central Zone (2nd innings) 175 North Zone (2nd Innings) A Chopra not out 69, V Rathore c Jhalani b J.P. Yadav 4, Sangram Singh c Jhalani b Hirwani 28, Shafiq Khan c Goud b K Parida 1, M. Manhas not out 20. Extra (nb 10, lb 5) 15. Total (for 3 wkts, 36.5 overs) 137. Fall of Wickets: 1-4, 2-85, 3-87. Bowling: S. Pandey 10-4-23-0; J.P. Yadav 9-2-29-1; D. Bundela 1-0-1-0; N. Hirwani 7.5-1-27-1; K. Parida 9-1-52-1.
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Parida, Raul excel in drawn match
Bangalore, April 5 On the final day, the match started three hours late due to wet conditions of the pitch following overnight showers. East Zone, resuming at 25 for one, declared their second innings at 141 for the loss of three wickets with about 14 mandatory overs to be played. Both captains then agreed to call off the match. By virtue of gaining the first innings lead, South Zone got five points, to take its tally to 11 and East Zone 14, earning three from this match. The highlights of the day’s play was an unbeaten 66 by Rashmi Ranjan Parida and Sanjay Raul’s 50. Parida, overnight 13, made the runs with the help of ten fours and a six. S. Das remained not out on six. Brief Scores: East Zone: 398 and 141 for three declared. South Zone: 419.
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Anand blanks Short 2-0 Dubai, April 5 Anand was fighting it out for the 9-16 place after having lost his second round game to Georgian GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili and will now be battling it out for the 9-12 place. GM Alexander Grishchuk of Russia outplayed GM Etinne Bacrot of France 2-0 to find himself a berth in the last four stage. Playing white in the first game, Anand made mincemeat of Short in all departments in his favourite French Winawer. There were no signs of disappointment at having lost in the previous round, as Anand went about his job in quite an exciting fashion in the middlegame. Short wrongly assessed his chances in launching a counter offence on the queen side after Anand castled there and was taken to task in one of the most brilliant games of this round. Handling the game quite clinically, Anand ripped open the king side and squeezed out the defensive resources on the other flank too. Unable to save material on the 29th move, Short resigned.
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Zee Churchill trounce JCT by 2-0 Margao, April 5 Both the goals came in the first half through Yakubu Yusif in the 32nd minute and through Defender Osumanu Husseni in the 38th minute. Churchill could have romped home with much bigger margin, had not JCT goalkeeper Arvind Kumar brought off some fine saves under their bar specially in the first half. With this win Zee Churchill topped the table with 39 points registering their 12 wins, five draws and three defeats from 20 outings relegating Kolkata giant Mohan Bagan on second place with 38 points, followed by Salgoacar sport club with 35 points with one match less. While JCT remained on the same 10th place with 15 points from equal number of outings. Zee Churchill, who needed an outright win, played their hearts out today and got off to an aggressive start with their forwards and mid-fielders constantly threatening the JCT goal. Striker Yakubu Yusif tasted the rival custodian as early as in the 14th minute with a powerpacked shot which goalkeeper Arvind Kumar smartly gathered. The home team drew the first blood in the 32nd minute of the first half through their ace striker Yakubu Yusif, whose header found the net off a floater sent by Abdul Ganiyu Saley. With this goal Yakubu scored 16 goals in his name, highest in the championship so far. Churchill should have increased their lead in the 37th minute when Yakubu Yusif after dodging past one of the rival defender unleashed a rasping shot but it was brilliantly saved by JCT goalkeeper Arvind Kumar causing no damage to their goal. A minute later Churchill defender Osumanu Husseni consolidated their lead with his fine header following a flag kick taken by Noel Wilson from the right flank. Mahindra pip ITI MUMBAI: Local outfit Mahindra United scored full points when they beat Indian Telephone Industries (ITI), Bangalore 2-1, after trailing by a solitary goal at half time in the Tata National Football League at the Cooperage here today. In the 40th minute medio Mohammed Salius put ITI ahead with a left footer off winger Kennith Onu pass. Mahindra, who did not have their regular goalkeeper and captain Virendra Singh due to injury, fought back with a goal in the 65th minute. In fact, they were lucky to equalise when their medio S Venkatesh scored off mid-fielder Anthony Pereira’s cross after two ITI defenders Nitin Pradhan and Jitesh both went for the ball but neither cleared it giving Venkatesh enough room to score. A couple of minutes later Mahindra’s winger Abhishek Yadav made it 2-1 when he smartly booted home striker Austin Okolo’s centre which rebounded off a defender. Infact, it was the visitors who made the first good move in the 23rd minute when their striker George Ekha’s left foot off medio Raghuveer Singh cross was well saved by Mahindra custodian Naseem Aktar. Soon after following a counter attack, Okolo’s try rebounded off ITI goalkeeper Balaji to an advancing Yadav but his try was well saved by Balaji. Vasco defeat HAL Bangalore: Spirited Vasco Sports Club, Goa, defeated debutants HAL 1-0 in the Tata National Football League here today. The goal was scored in the 30th minute when a Satish Minz header off a pass from Marcos Pereira on the left flank went into the net. Earlier, Vasco missed a chance in the 23rd minute when Minz’s powerful shot, hit the side bar and bounced back.
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Sekar upsets Phadke Mumbai, April 5 Samrita, who had ousted second seed Radhika Tulpule yesterday, will take on third seed Sai Jayalakshmy in the final tomorrow. National champion Sai Jayalakshmy needed one hour 45 minutes to pip fifth seed Sheetal Goutham 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the second semifinal. In the first set Hyderabad-based Sai Jayalakshmy broke her rival in third game but dropped her own serve in the sixth to lose the advantage. However, with a break in the crucial ninth game Sai took the first set 6-4. In the second set Sheetal played an attacking game and with a break in the fourth game she managed to that too at 6-3.
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Punjab jr basketball from April 21 Ludhiana, April 4 Players born on or after January, 1, 1984, are eligible to take part in this championship. Entries close on April 18 with Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal, honorary general secretary, Punjab Basketball Association at Ludhiana. Performance during this meet will be taken into consideration while selecting the Punjab teams for the National Junior Basketball Championship scheduled to be held at Goa from May 10 to 17. |
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Dube to clash with Prakash in
final New Delhi, April 5 Shiv Prakash got the better of Dinesh Kumar by a margin of two holes with one to go. Arjun and Dinesh will clash for the 18-hole third place play-off. Both Arjun and Dube started with birdies and were all square till the third. On the fourth, Arjun made a three-putt for bogey and topped his bunker shot on the fifth after he was disturbed by a moving cameraman. But he showed nerves of steel and hit a peach of a tee shot on the par-3 seventh to be left with a two-feet birdie putt, and then birdied the par-5 eight after reaching the green with two super shots. However, a bogey from the left rough on the ninth saw him make the turn at one-down. After Arjun made up the deficit with a birdie on the 12th, the match looked like going down to the wire as the players approached the 16th. However, Arjun’s tee shot got stymied behind the fairway tree and he tried a low punch which he pulled into the bushes and conceded the hole. On the 17th, Dube dropped a 10-footer putt for birdie and finished the match. |
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