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Friday,
July 5, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Serena, Venus to clash in final Serena’s stalker held Corina battles leukemia to stage comeback Tendulkar overpowers England attack |
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INDIA-PAK CRICKET TIES Expatriates ‘can play for UAE’ Windies flatter
to deceive
Stage set for Highland
scooter rally Hisar athletes excel Murugappa hockey from July 11
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Serena, Venus to clash in final
London, July 4 The American won through 6-2, 6-1 in 55 minutes to keep her unbeaten record against Mauresmo with five straight wins. As a result of the semifinal win Serena also ensures that she will replace Venus as world No 1 in next week’s WTA rankings. But the fame has also brought its problems for the 20-year-old with an obsessed German fan, who has stalked Serena throughout this year, fined earlier today by a Wimbledon court for breach of the peace and subjected to a 13-month good behaviour order. Serena is now just one match away from upsetting Venus’ bid for a hat-trick here after the elder Williams earlier eased past Belgian sixth seed Justine Henin 6-3, 6-2 in 77 minutes. After the French Open, where Serena beat Venus in the final, they became the first sisters ranked 1-2. Venus won their previous Grand Slam meeting at the US Open where she successfully defended her title, but is not ready to hand over her Wimbledon crown. “I didn’t win the French Open, but I’m going to do my best at Wimbledon. That’s all I can do,” said Venus. “She’s a great competitor,” said Venus of Serena. “Big serve, lots of power, lots of movement. She has an all-round game. A game pretty similar to mine.” The top-seeded men’s player, Lleyton Hewitt, had a much tougher time. After squandering four match points in the third set, he pulled out a pulsating five-set win against Sjeng Schalken to reach the semifinals. Hewitt, whose game slipped after a controversial over-rule in the third set tie-breaker, raised his level when he needed it most in the fifth set to prevail 6-2, 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 1-6, 7-5 in three hours, 51 minutes. Hewitt will next face Britain’s Tim Henman, who downed Brazil’s Andre Sa 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the semifinals for the fourth time in five years as he bids to become the first British player to win the men’s title since Fred Perry in 1936. Venus fell behind early against Henin, the sixth-seeded Belgian whom she beat in last year’s final. She was broken in the first game and lost a marathon second game which lasted 11 minutes and went to deuce six times. But Williams turned up her all-court power game, winning 12 straight points and 10 out of the next 11 games to take the first set and go up 4-0. The Hewitt-Schalken match looked like it was going to be another one-sided victory for the Australian, who hadn’t dropped a set in the tournament. After cruising through the first two sets, Hewitt had four match points on Schalken’s serve at 6-5 in the third. But he misfired on three of the points and Schalken hit a winning overhead on the fourth, setting up the tie-breaker. The match turned around on a disputed overrule against Hewitt at 4-3 in the tie-breaker. Schalken hit a forehand which landed near or on the baseline. Hewitt let the ball go, and the line judge called it out. But Spanish umpire Javier Moreno-Perez called it in and gave the point to Schalken. Hewitt threw his head back and screamed “No!” He argued with Moreno-Perez, but the call stood. Schalken went on to win the tie-breaker, the first set off Hewitt in the tournament. An inspired Schalken ran off the fourth set with the loss of just one game, then went up a break 2-1 in the fifth for his first lead of the match. But the Australian, renowned for his battling spirit, broke right back, and the players exchanged breaks again in the fifth and sixth games. Hewitt saved break points at 4-4 and 5-5 - clenching his fist, thumping his chest and shouting, “C’mon!” after crucial winners. The 90th-ranked Sa, who hadn’t been past the second round in 10 previous Grand Slams, tested Henman to the limit. Their match had been suspended by rain yesterday after Henman won the first set. It was the latest shaky performance from the fourth-seeded Henman, who has benefited from an easy draw.
AP
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Serena’s stalker held
London, July 4 Albrecht Stromeyer, 34, of Frankfurt, Germany, was arrested yesterday on the approaches to the All-England Club in southwest London, Scotland Yard said. He allegedly rode a bicycle into a police camera crew.
Stromeyer was due to appear before magistrates in Wimbledon today morning, where police were making an application for him to be held in custody. Stromeyer was arrested in Rome in mid-May when he tried to get too close to Williams at the Italian Open, but he was later released. “When he was arrested, he said Serena looked at him when he was in the crowd, and that’s how he knew she loved him,” Williams’ mother, Oracene, was quoted as saying in yesterday’s Washington Post. “Of course, Serena never looked at anyone.” Stromeyer has also been spotted at a tournament in Berlin and the French Open last month. Oracene Williams said a man came up to them in Berlin in May “and he shook my hand and asked if Serena was with me, and I said no. “Then he found out what hotel we were at in Paris, even though we had checked in under fake names,” she told the Post. “That scared me. We didn’t tell Serena until later.” A full-time bodyguard is accompanying Serena and her sister, Venus, at Wimbledon. Both Williams sisters were scheduled to play semifinal matches today. They were also due to play together in women’s doubles. In February, Stromeyer walked into a hotel in Scottsdale, Ariz., where Williams was staying during a tournament and asked to see her, the Post reported. When the desk clerk denied his request, he began taking off his clothes and was taken away by the police, the paper said.
AP
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Corina battles leukemia to stage comeback
London, July 4 “It was more of a case on focusing on staying alive,” Morariu says. “It wasn’t even a fear of not playing again, but a fear of not being
around.” Morariu, now in remission from her cancer, laughed softly at her remark over the phone line yesterday during a conference call from Dallas, Texas, where she is working with a new coach, preparing for a comeback. Her first stop is next Monday in Philadelphia, where she will play with her World Team Tennis team against the New York
Hamptons. She’ll then play a few WTA tournaments, including doubles at the Acura Classic in San Diego at the end of the month, with her goal the US Open beginning August 26. In late November, when she came out of a three-month hospital stay after four courses of chemotherapy, none of that seemed possible. “I couldn’t walk 20 yards,”
Morariu, 24, said. “But I started back slowly by walking, then adding a little bit of jogging. I gradually tried to get my body back into shape. “The same thing with hitting — 15 minutes every other day, then 30 minutes, and I worked it up from there. Since mid-April, I’ve been trying to hit a few times a day, trying to get back into good enough shape to play matches again.” Before her illness, Morariu’s highest singles ranking was 29 and she was ranked No 1 in doubles for part of 2000. In 1999, she won the Wimbledon doubles title with Lindsay Davenport and in 2001 the Australian Open mixed doubles title with Ellis Ferreira. Four months after her Australian Open win — in May 2001 — she began feeling extremely sick. For several months earlier she had suffered from frequent nosebleeds and unusual bruising. “In hindsight, I had had some benign symptoms for months,” Morariu said. “But in a couple of days, my health deteriorated very dramatically.” “I had been told a few days earlier what it might be, so I had some time to prepare. But obviously it came as a huge shock.” “I was in critical condition by that time, so it was almost a relief to know what it was, that I was going to get treatment for it.” Along the way, she got help from family and friends, including Jennifer
Capriati. “I hope everyone prays for her recovery,” Capriati said when she won the 2001 French Open just as Morariu began the toughest part of her treatment. At last year’s US Open, she travelled to New York to spend time with friends before returning to Boca Raton, Fla for another round of chemotherapy. Looking pale, Morariu wore a scarf over her head after losing her hair as a result of the chemotherapy. “I got a lot of support from a number of players and people in all forms, girls that came to support me in the hospital, so many wonderful people, Jennifer’s dedication,” Morariu said yesterday. “I can’t describe the feeling.” Slowly, she realised she might beat the
leukemia. “At first, it was just a case of fighting the disease and hanging in there. But once I started getting better and had to figure out what I wanted to do with myself, I thought I’d give it a shot.” In May, Morariu became an international sports ambassador for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in the USA. “It’s something that’s very important to me,” said
Morariu. “I owe my life to all the people that have worked to raise the awareness ahead of me. It’s one of the reasons I’m still around.” Still around, and a tougher person. “I don’t think anyone could confront this and not come out a stronger person,” she said. “It was the ultimate challenge to confront a life-threatening situation like that. I feel that some things are so unimportant in the grand scheme of things.” For that reason, she isn’t putting pressure on herself in her comeback. “I’ve never been one to set goals,” she said. “I know it will be tough when you are out for so long. I’m not under any delusions that everything will be easy. “I know it will take some time, playing matches in a competitive environment. But I will try my best. For me, it’s more about the journey and what I’ve learned in the past year.”
AP |
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ITF’s warning
to Pakistan London, July 4 Pakistan’s threats to punish its No 1 player, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, for playing doubles at Wimbledon with Israel’s Amir Hadad were met yesterday with a carefully crafted “reminder,” as an ITF spokeswoman put it, of the federation’s constitution. The ITF warning came in a statement released to AP that suggested Pakistan could jeopardise its federation membership if it barred Qureshi from its Davis Cup team when it plays China in September. “ITF understands the political sensitivity of this issue,” the statement said, “but, as Davis Cup was founded with the aim of furthering international understanding through sport, we hope the PTF will choose Qureshi to participate in Davis Cup so long as his abilities warrant selection.” Instead of celebrating the success of Qureshi and Hadad, two fringe players who befriended each other scuttling around the tour and got to the third round at Wimbledon, the head of tennis in Pakistan denounced the pairing and demanded an explanation from Qureshi for his decision.
AP
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Tendulkar overpowers England attack
Chester-le-Street, July 4 Tendulkar completed his 32nd one-day hundred, a 108-ball 105 with eight fours and a six, and rescued India from a precarious position alongwith Rahul Dravid who made a fine 82. The duo added 169 runs for the fourth wicket in 35 overs after India had lost the top three batsmen for 52 runs, having elected to bat. They paced their innings beautifully, scoring at a slow but steady rate, before exploding at the 40-over mark. The last 10 overs produced 106 runs for India, with Yuvraj Singh, who came at the fall of Dravid in the 45th over, blasting 40 runs off just 19 deliveries. It was an exemplary display of one-day batting by Tendulkar and Dravid as the duo rebuilt the innings after India had lost three early wickets, including that of skipper Sourav Ganguly to the very first ball of the innings. Ganguly, who won his first toss of this series, was adjudged leg before wicket to Darren Gough while Virender Sehwag (16) and Dinesh Mongia (27) gifted away their wickets after having settled down. But Tendulkar and Dravid batted very sensibly, taking absolutely no risk as they scored through singles and twos and ran quickly between the wickets. England bowlers made matters difficult for the two Indian stars with some tight bowling during the middle overs. Boundaries were very hard to come by and even the singles were not very easy to pick. The first 40 overs saw only 11 boundaries, just two by Tendulkar, and a six being struck. But the two batsmen, never lost their cool, kept grafting and worked hard for their runs. Once 40 overs were completed, India comfortably placed at 179 for three, both of them pressed the accelerator and started going for the big hits. The sudden attack put the England bowlers under pressure and they started making mistakes. The confidence with which Tendulkar was batting was exemplified in the way he handled left-arm spinner Ashley Giles. Giles, who had created problems for Tendulkar in India’s home series against England earlier this year with his outside the leg-stump line, tried to use the same strategy in a bid to frustrate the master batsman again but this time Tendulkar was ready to take him on. India: Ganguly lbw b Gough 0 Sehwag c Trescothick Mongia c Flintoff b Gough 27 Tendulkar not out 105 Dravid c Flintoff b Yuvraj not out 40 Extras
(lb-8, w-5, nb-2) 15 Total (for 4 wkts, 50 overs) 285 FoW:
1-0, 2-48, 3-52, 4-221. Bowling: Gough 10-0-52-2, Kirtley 9-0-65-1, Flintoff 10-0-36-0, Irani 10-1-23-0, Collingwood 6-0-60-1, Giles 5-0-41-0.
PTI
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INDIA-PAK CRICKET TIES
Islamabad, July 4 The move to have Mr Mandela to exert his influence for convincing India to rework the cricket relationship was discussed last week at International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cricket Council meetings. However, Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Tauqir Zia maintained that the time was not ripe for anyone to mediate in this matter. “I know there is a feeling that Mr Mandela be asked to use his influence to prevail upon the Indian government to give permission to its team to play us, but I do not think this idea is feasible at this time,’’ The News yesterday quoted Zia as saying. “I do not think the situation is right for any mediatory steps given the situation on the borders and at the diplomatic level. We would rather wait,’’ Zia added. Pakistan and India have not played any international cricket since May 2000 when they locked horns in the Asia Cup final at Dhaka. Since then, India has constantly refused to allow its team to have any encounter with Pakistan, pulling out of confirmed tours to Pakistan twice and also refusing permission to play in a triangular tournament in Sharjah. India, under the ICC programme, is due to visit Pakistan in April 2003 for a full Test series. Zia stated, “The most positive thing for us at this stage is that we know that the Indian cricket board is as keen to play against us as we are.”
DPA |
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Expatriates ‘can play for UAE’
Dubai, July 4 Under the new ICC rule, persons who have been living in UAE for more than seven years can now qualify to play for the country, president of Emirates Cricket Board Abdul Rehman Bukhatir said, adding “we can also select two players who have been residing in UAE for more than four years”. Earlier, despite playing in the domestic level, talented expatriates were not eligible to represent the country. The UAE, which qualified for the 1996 World Cup staged jointly by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, was badly affected in the subsequent years by the earlier ICC decision that restricted the number of expatriate players in the team. UAE failed narrowly to qualify for the 2003 World Cup due to its poor performance in the ICC Trophy at Toronto. “I am happy that this rule change will not restrict good players from being included in the team now. This will help us field many of them who have been doing well in domestic cricket,” Mr Bukhatir, who recently attended the ICC meeting in London, was quoted by the Gulf News as saying. “The change in the international rule regarding eligibility of players to be included in the team for international events will greatly benefit UAE cricket,” he said. PTI
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Windies
flatter to deceive St George’s, July 4 “It’s the discipline we lack, the organisation and the concerted will to win,” former Test opener Joey Carew told AFP after the second Test at Queen’s Park here ended in a washed-out draw. Coach Roger Harper agreed, paying tribute to the New Zealanders’ collective will to win and their refusal to cave in on Tuesday when the prospect of defeat suddenly opened up. Most West Indians agree that they have some of the world’s finest batsmen, but that they lack bowlers who can win matches.
AFP |
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Brazil celebrations turn ugly
Rio De Janeiro, July 4 The tour celebrating Brazil’s unprecedented fifth World Cup was hours behind schedule when players decided to return to the airport at around 2:00 a.m. in Botafogo, one beach short of the parade’s final destination of Copacabana. The decision left thousands of fans who had been waiting for as long as 11 hours disappointed and angry. Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari and team captain Cafu explained to the fans that the players were tired. But after the players stepped off the trucks they had been on and boarded a bus back to the airport, angry fans pelted it with rocks, breaking three windows, the police said. Many of the star players, including Rivaldo and Ronaldinho, had abandoned the celebrations at Rio’s Antonio Carlos Jobim airport, choosing instead to fly home after more than 30 hours in transit from Japan and an award ceremony at the presidential palace in Brasilia. The parade was originally supposed to arrive in Rio de Janeiro at around 3 p.m., but celebrations involving half a million people in Brasilia, the nation’s capital, delayed the team, which arrived in Rio at approximately 7 p.m. Two hours later, the team left the airport atop three trucks accompanied by samba singer Zeca Pagodinho. By the time the team got to Sao Paulo, at around 4:30 a.m. yesterday, only team members Beletti, Cafu, Denilson, Juninho, Kaka, Marcos, Ricardinho and Roberto Carlos remained out of the 23 players who travelled to South Korea and Japan.
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Barreto returns Kolkata, July 4 |
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Stage set for Highland
scooter rally Chandigarh, July 4 The event, approved by FMSCI, will be 201.65 km long. There will be five competitive stages totalling 68.84 km and seven transport stages totalling 132.81 km. About 40 entries are expected by the organisers. Other than a strong local contingent competitors from Chandigarh, Patiala and Amritsar will also participate. Notable entries will be Team Premier ISP consisting of Rakesh Blokhara, Surhid Sharma (two times winner of Raid de Himalaya), Dijay Sahi and Sukhwinder Rana and Team Octave Rallying. The organisers are putting great emphasis on the safety aspect of this event. Ambulances, radio communications and mobile phones are being used to monitor the event and keep safety a priority. The controlled recce will take off at 8 am on July 6, after a briefing of all the drivers. The flag-off on July 7 will be at 9 a.m. from Rajasthan Bhavan, Solan. Leg I of the rally will see some every competitive rallying through the dirt tracks surrounding Chail, Kandaghat and back to Solan for lunch. Leg II will take the event to the Dharampur-Kumarhatti area. Scooter and motorcycles will be divided into categories B, C and D. Cash prizes totalling Rs 40,000, plus trophies await the winners. |
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Hisar athletes excel Chandigarh, July 4 As many as seven athletes set up new records. Hisar was on top in the girls under -16 years by securing 36.50 points followed by Bhiwani 20.50 points. In this age group Hisar boys also followed their team-mates by securing 35 points followed by Bhiwani securing 28 points. Sunita of Sonepat was adjudged the best athlete as she secured eight points in girls under-14. Similarly Vijay of MMSS, Rai also earned eight points to win the title of best athlete. Aplesh of Hisar was adjudged the best athlete by securing 15 points in the girls under-16 section and Satbir of Hisar also got the best athlete title with eight points in the same category. Mr Satbir Singh Kadian, Speaker, Haryana Vidhan Sabha, gave away the prizes. The results: Discus throw (boys U-14) Gurlamber (Sirsa 29:58 m) 1 Sandeep (Sirsa) 23:45 m 2 Jasbir (Gurgaon) 22:74 m 3 Discus throw (boys U-16) Satbir Singh (Hisar 53:33 m 1 Karan Singh (Bhiwani) 49:80 m 2 Avtar Singh (Sirsa) 47:57 m 3 Jevelin throw (boys U-16) Virender (Gurgaon) 49:04 m 1 Aman (Bhiwani) 46:40 m 2 Amit (Panchkula) 44:63 m 3 five km walk (boys U-16) Ajay (Jhajjar) 24:42:96 2 Sumit Kumar (Panchkula) 24:43:21 2, Pardeep (Bhiwani) 24:54:72.3 km walk (girls U-16) Manju Sulakh (Bhiwani) 16:09:56, Manju (Panchkula) 16:44:62, Mamta (Panchkula) 16:44:62, Discus throw (girls U-16) Indu Bala (Bhiwani 35:42 m 1, Babli (Hisar) 34:84 m 2 Priyanka (Sirsa) 34:64 m 3, Long Jump (boys 16) Rajesh (Hisar) 1.85 m 1, Rajesh (Hisar) 1.80 m 2, Vijay, Ravinder, Navdeep (Rohtak), Gurgaon and Rohtak 1.6 m, discus throw (girls U-14) Simranjeet (Sirsa) 18:98 m, Rity (Hisar) 13:39 m, Geeta (Gurgaon) 12:90 m, Long jump (girls U-16) Aplesh (Hisar) 1.30 m 1, Neelam and Renu (Bhiwani)1.28 m 2, 2000 m (girls U-16) Renu (Jhajjar) 7:10:93, 1, Jyoti (Gurgaon) 7:25:16,2 Ajay (Panchkula) 7:33:94 3. Javelin throw (girls U-16) Aplesh (Hisar) 35.71 m 1, Renu (Bhiwani) 31.20 m 2, Sandeep (Sirsa) 26.81 m 3.
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Murugappa
hockey from July 11
Chennai, July 4 Briefing newspersons here last night, organising secretary B. Vijayakumar said the tournament assumed significance as the performance of the players here would be keenly watched before selecting the Indian team for the coming Asian Games. The top brass of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and the selection committee members would be present during the tournament, which offers a winner’s purse of Rs 60,000 and Rs 40,000 to the runner-up. The tournament was earlier scheduled to be held from July 3, but was postponed to July 11 to accommodate players attending the conditioning camp at New Delhi. The 12 teams would be divided into four groups and the top two from each group would qualify for the quarterfinals to be played on July 16 and 17. The semifinals would be held on July 19 and the final the next day. The following is the grouping: Pool A: IHF Juniors, Bengal, Bharat Petroleum. Pool B: Air India, Karnataka, ONGC. Pool C: Indian Airlines, Indian Oil, Indian Postal. Pool D: Indian Railways, Tamil Nadu, All India Customs and Central Excise.
UNI |
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Ahn’s future uncertain
Milan, July 4
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London, July 4
