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Monday,
August 12, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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India forced on backfoot
Chetan Sharma writes Kaif,
Mongia to play for Leicestershire Hewitt to
clash with Moya in final
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Davenport,
Rubin in final
Navpreet wins silver for India AIFF
allows players to share LG Cup prize money Tiger
Woods salvages one-stroke lead SGPC to
promote sports in schools, colleges
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India forced on backfoot Nottingham, August 11 The lower order English batsmen made a mockery of an inept bowling attack, piling up as many as 282 runs for the last five wickets as the home team reached a mammoth 617 in their first innings in reply to India’s 357. Buried under a deficit of 260 runs, India were off to the worst possible start of their second innings with openers Virender Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer consumed by Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Flintoff respectively in the first two overs itself. With two wickets down for just 11 runs, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar joined together and took the score to 99 when the umpires offered light to the Indian batsmen which they accepted to bring to an end a torturous day for the team in the field. Dravid was batting on 34 off 56 balls while Tendulkar looked in great touch during his run a ball 56 which contained 11 confident hits to the fence. On a day of contrasting fortunes for the two teams, the England tailenders made merry - Alec Stewart and Craig White helping themselves to effortless 87 and an unbeaten 94 respectively - while the Indian openers came a cropper. Stewart, unbeaten on 30 overnight in England’s score of 341 for five, added 97-runs with Andrew Flintoff in a blazing sixth wicket partnership that set the stage for quickfire scoring by the English batsmen. With the Indian bowling as lacklustre as at anytime during this match, Stewart and Flintoff picked up the gaps almost at will and scored mostly through boundaries. Stewart was lucky in the morning session when some of his edges landed in no-man’s lands and a catch in the slips was not picked cleanly by Sehwag. But he played some glorious shots after reaching his half century with a streaky boundary and raced into the 80s in no time. England were already ahead by 85 runs when Zaheer Khan raised India’s hopes of a fightback by striking twice in three deliveries. He uprooted the off-stump of Flintoff (33) with a delivery that kept low and did an action replay with Stewart one ball later. But the inability to wipe off the tail once again came to haunt the Indian bowlers and the last three wickets went on to score 184 runs. White, whose only Test hundred came against India at Ahmedabad in December last year, came up with another frustrating knock for the Indians and very nearly completed his second century. He put on 60 runs for the eighth wicket Dominic Cork and an astounding 103 runs for the ninth with Hoggard. Cork, who batted despite an injury, and Hoggard chipped in with useful scores of 31 and 32 respectively as the Indian bowlers almost put their hands up in despair. India (Ist innings): 357 England (Ist innings): Key b Nehra 17 Vaughan c Patel b Agarkar 197 Butcher c Dravid b Harbhajan 53 Hussain c Patel b Harbhajan 3 Crawley c Jaffer b Zaheer 22 Stewart b Zaheer 87 Flintoff b Zaheer Khan 33 White not out 94 Cork c Jaffer b Harbhajan 31 Hoggard c Dravid b Nehra 32 Harmision c Jaffer b Agarkar 3 Extras : 45 Total
(all out, 144.5 overs) 617 Fall of wickets: 1-56, 2-221, 3-228, 4-272, 5-335, 6-432, 7-433, 8-493, 9-596. Bowling: Nehra 32-3-138-2, Zaheer Khan 26-4-110-3, Agarkar 24.5-3-93-2, Harbhajan Singh 45-3-175-3, Ganguly 5-0-42-0, Tendulkar 6-0-15-0, Sehwag 6-1-18-0. India (2nd innings): Sehwag lbw b Hoggard 0 Jaffer lbw b Flintoff 5 Dravid batting 34 Tendulkar batting 56 Extras (lb-2, nb-2) 4 Total
(for 2 wkts, 19.2 overs) 99 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-11. Bowling: Hoggard 9-0-56-1, Flintoff 4-0-24-1, Harmison 5.2-1-16-0, Cork 1-0-1-0.
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Chetan Sharma writes Yesterday I had said that a below par performance from the Indians May give England a win in he second Test and that is how the match went today. India bowled, fielded and started their second innings disastrously. Going into the last day tomorrow, odds are stacked heavily against them. I will say that India allowed England to get into a winning position. On a wicket which is offering help to bowlers, England scored over 600 runs in their innings and that too at more than 4.5 runs per over. If this happens in a Test match, the bowling must have been very, very poor and that sums it up. India played three fast bowlers in the Test match yet their best hope for a wicket was off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, and to an extent Zaheer Khan. I was terribly disappointed to see Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar struggle for rhythm. Our bowlers were guilty of not bowling to their field and at time conceded two to three boundaries an over. That is not good cricket. England had a game plan since morning. Alec Stewart and Andrew Flintoff were off like a flash as the score galloped. Stewart, in particular, played fine strokes and his timing was also superb. He is nearing 40 but is as fit a player as any and today was an ample proof of this. Then Zaheer got both Flintoff and Stewart in one over and it looked like India would make a comeback in the game. However, that was not be and even Craig White and Dominic Cork continued to feast on the hapless Indian bowling. What to say, even Matthew Hoggard batted for so long that it appeared as if the Indians were in no mood to dismiss him. With a lead of 260 runs India were up against a mountain. When they lost their openers in the first two overs, the scene got pretty bad. Then Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar batted with assurance, looking very good. But India will need more of it tomorrow if they are to save the Test. Maybe they can pray for some rain too.
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Kaif, Mongia
to play for Leicestershire
Mumbai, August 11 The county had approached the Indian cricket team to allow Kaif and Mongia to play for it, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said in a statement from Rajkot today. The board felt that in view of the ensuing ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, it was imperative for Kaif and Mongia to be “match fit”, besides the fitness regimen under Adrian Le Roux and Andrew Leipus, he said. Since both of them are not in the Test squad and not too many first class matches may be available to them, the board felt that it would be beneficial for both the players to accept the offer, Shah said.
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Hewitt to clash with Moya in final
Cincinnati, August 11 Hewitt, winner of the last 10 finals he has played, was severely tested as Gonzalez unleashed the blockbuster ground game that had already sent packing Briton Tim Henman, past Wimbledon winner Richard Krajicek and American Andy Roddik. Reigning Wimbledon and US Open champion Hewitt will play today for the title against Spain’s Carlos Moya, who rode his own fearsome forehand to a his first victory in three years against fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-4. Moya displayed a superlative hard-court game, coming to the net 17 times and leaving with 17 points from the effort at the $ 2.95 million event. The Spaniard had claimed his only previous match against his eighth-seeded compatriot in 1999, a victory followed by five straight losses to “The Mosquito.” Gonzalez showed his intentions early, breaking Hewitt in the third game as the Australian double-faulted twice in a row to lose. But, in his trademark fashion, Hewitt fought straight back for 2-2. The set went to a tie-breaker, where the South American took a 4-0 lead. Hewitt began clawing back with an ace but couldn’t touch the stinging forehand drive which put Gonzalez into position, 5-3. A forehand winner gave the Chilean three set points and his sixth ace ended the set after 43 minutes. In the second, Hewitt was forced to scramble to save five break points, winning the game for 2-2. He finally broke through for 6-5 when Gonzalez missed a drop shot after a punishing big-stroke rally from the baseline and claimed the set. There was no mercy from the Aussie, who broke to start the third, did it again for 5-2, then set up match points with an ace followed by a solid and untouchable return into the corner. Gonzalez won his second career title in Vina del Mar this spring but didn’t have the staying power to hold off the never-say-die Australian. “I can get tired,” Gonzalez said. “I hit more balls than a lot of the other players. I served better. but Lleyton showed his experience. He showed why he’s number one in the world. I had a few break points and I tried to attack. “This was a positive week for me.” Hewitt was playing for the second consecutive year in the semi-finals in Cincinnati. It’s the 11th time he’s played in the Masters Series final four. Coming in, the 21-year old Australian had dropped only one set, that to Finn Jarkko Nieminen in the third round. Gonzalez was the first Chilean to reach the semi-finals here since 1972 when Pinto Bravo accomplished the feat. Moya produced one break per set to earn his satisfying win over Ferrero, his friend and frequent practise partner. “I’m very confident with my game right now,” said the winner from Mallorca. “I’ve always felt good on the hard-courts and my forehand is working really well.” “One break each set was all he needed,” said the French Open finalist. “He was serving a bit faster than I was and that made a difference. He went to the net a lot and was able to move me around the court.” Moya and Hewitt have played three times this year, with the Spaniard winning on clay in Monte Carlos and Rome Hewitt taking victory on cement in California.
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Davenport, Rubin in final
Los Angeles, August 11 The match lasted just 42 minutes, making it the worst defeat of the year for No 4 seed Dokic who is ranked fifth in the world. Rubin said Dokic simply “packed it in” early in the second set as spectators at the Manhattan Beach Country Club expressed their displeasure by booing her. Dokic said afterwards she had flu. “I was surprised when she went into semi-tank mode,” said Rubin, who was ecstatic to be playing in her first final in two years. “She packed it in early in the second set. I am not sure the reason other than getting beat and not wanting to accept the challenge. “At the point where she got booed she just wasn’t trying. It was pretty clear.” Dokic, 19, also complained earlier in the week of having flu. But it didn’t prevent her from playing a doubles match yesterday immediately following the singles’ loss. “I wasn’t feeling good. I have had a lot of matches and I couldn’t even give 10 percent out there physically and mentally,” said Dokic. “I couldn’t move and I couldn’t think the points through.” Rubin will meet fellow American Lindsay Davenport in today’s final. It will be a rematch of an early round match last week in San Diego that was won by Davenport 6-2 2-6 6-1. Davenport advanced to the Los Angeles final with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Ai Sugiyama of Japan yesterday. Dokic committed 40 unforced errors and failed to hold serve six times. Rubin committed just 21 errors and had seven aces to Dokic’s none. It was the second straight upset for Rubin who beat world No.1 Serena Williams 6-2 4-6 7-5 on Friday. Rubin, who is ranked 21st in the world, said yesterday’s easy win makes up for the three-set marathon with Williams. “I had a tough one yesterday that was worth two or three matches,” said Rubin. “I wanted to come out solid today after playing a really good match and beating the top player. I wanted to play well and have a chance to win the tournament.” Rubin and Davenport have met 10 times before with Davenport holding the edge 8-2. They have never played in a final, but they do have something in common. Both are back on the tour this year after having knee surgery done by the same specialist, Richard Steadman of Vail, Colorado.
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Jackson
‘king of Europe’
Munich, August 11 Jackson won the 110 metres hurdles in a personal season best of 13.11 seconds at the European Championships and with it became only the fifth athlete to win four straight continental titles in his discipline. The other four-time winners in their events are javelin throwers Janis Lusis of the Soviet Union and Steve Backley of Britain, Soviet shot putter Nadezhda Chizhova and German long jumper Heike Drechsler. “It was important to perform well here. I was in great shape. It is a tremendous feeling. The training went really well and in the back of my mind I knew I was going to make it. I was really cool, enjoying every moment here,” the 35-year-old Welshman said. Victory was especially sweet for Jackson because he managed only silver for Wales two weeks ago at the Commonwealth Games on home ground in Manchester. But the rare defeat when he stepped into the first hurdle after approaching too fast did not hamper his preparations. “It just makes me more determined to win in Munich,” he said last week. Jackson’s career started in 1986 with the world junior title and since then he has been everybody’s darling on the scene for his easygoing behaviour. He won world championship bronze the next year and Olympic silver in 1988 which turned out to be his last medal at the Games. However, besides his four European titles he also has two world championship titles, from 1993 and 1999. The 12.91 seconds from an almost perfect 1993 final in Stuttgart are still a world record. Jackson declined to compete at the world championships last year in Canada but then returned this season to make European history.
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Navpreet wins silver for India
Colombo, August 11 Singh’s 18.97m throw gave India its fourth silver medal in the championships so far, but the gold remained elusive. China’s Liu Xiang stood out with a smooth victory in the high hurdles for men, while women athletes from his country made it a memorable day for them, taking three gold medals. Li Rongxiang capped a fine day for China by throwing the javelin the farthest among men. China tops the medals’ tally with nine gold, three silver and one bronze. Qatar’s runners earned two first places to take them to the second position in the tally with four gold medals. Runners from Middle East dominated the men’s 1,500m while Central Asian women took the honours over the same distance. But both Indian men and women failed to make their mark in the championship today. Chinese women went home with the gold in the javelin, triple jump and the 20km walk, but there were no records on a day of mediocre performances. Gao Kelian and Jian Xingli made it a gold-silver combination for China in the 20km walk, while compatriots Ma Ning and Xue Juan came with another one-two double in javelin. Wu Lingmei’s triple jump of 13.83 metres edged out Uzbekistan’s Mariya Sokava. Qatari teenager Abdulrahman Ahmed Suleman ran a well-paced race to take the gold in the 1,500m, while compatriot Yousuf Noor Jamal took the bronze. Bahrain’s Ramzi Rashid earned the first medal for his country when he won the silver in the event. The 18-year-old Suleman’s timing of three minutes 45.98 seconds fell well short of the Asian record of 3:32.16 standing in the name of his countryman Mohammed Suleiman. India’s Kuldeep Kumar finished fourth with a timing of 3:48.85, a good two seconds behind the bronze medallist, while compatriot M. Sanjeev Tulasidharan was a distant sixth. India’s Geeta Manral and Sunita ended up the fifth and sixth in the 1,500m women’s final which turned out to be a below par affair, with Tatyana Borisova of Kyrghyztan cantering to a gold medal at a modest pace. She clocked 4:16.27 seconds. Svetlana Kukasheva of Kazakhstan and Japan’s Miuho Nasukawa took the silver and bronze respectively.
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AIFF allows players to share LG Cup prize money New Delhi, August 11 In a hurriedly-arranged press conference, AIFF president P.R. Dashmunshi grandly declared that the LG Cup triumph had given a shot in the arm to Indian football as India had struggled to make their mark outside the country, barring in tournaments like the South Asian Federation Games and SAARC Tournament, which are purely a South Asia affair, for several years. The AIFF president said though India defeated the powerful United Arab Emirates in the World Cup qualifying match at Bangalore last year, the country could not make any breakthrough by way of a major trophy triumph. And the Indian team’s success in Vietnam has come as a big boost to the game in the country. Mr Munshi said India had qualified within the first 12 teams of Asia, both in the under-17 and under-20 group, the finals of which would be played at UAE in September and at Qatar in October, respectively. Mr Munshi said the Under-17 team would be sent to Germany for competition exposure where they would play four friendly matches at Dussuldorf—against a German under-20 team, against a mixed English and Belgian team, against the Indian promoters’ XI and against the local second division team. Mr Munshi said new chief coach Stepehn Constantine of England had been arranged by the AIFF’s marketing partner Strata of United Kingdom, for a period of three months for the federation to “try him out”, and if the federation is satisfied with his performance, the coach shall be engaged on a long-term contract basis. Mr Munshi said the federation was satisfied with Constantine’s performance and “we are interested in signing him on a long-term basis by offering him a formal contract”. He said the under-17 team, who will arrive in Delhi tomorrow accompanied by the three coaches (Islam Akhmedov, Prasanta Bannerjee and Hering Shangpliong), would leave for Germany on August 16. He said the senior team would leave for England on August 26, after a brief camp in Delhi, to play two matches against Jamaica. Mr Munshi also disclosed that the Delhi Developoment Authority (DDA) had allotted land to the AIFF to
construct a facility to conduct the FIFA goal project, and the construction work was likely to begin in September. He said he had a detailed discussion with FIFA president J.S. Blatter during the World Cup, co-hosted by Japan and Korea, and also met president-elect of the Asian Football Confederation Bin Hammam at Doha, and requested them to provide more support for the development of football in India. He said an AFC study team would visit India in the last week of August to learn about Indian football and suggest remedial measures to improve the standard of the game to bring it at par with other soccer super powers. Mr Munshi said a FIFA study team would also visit India later for the same purpose. He said India had been clubbed together with Turkmenistan, Bangladesh and China in the Asian Games to be held in Busan in September-October. He said since the six group winners and the two second-placed teams in the groups would qualify for the quarter-finals, India would try to make to the last eight stage, though the Asian Games is restricted to under-23 players, with a provision to field three senior players. The AIFF president said there were plans to start a Third Division National Football League as the first and second divisions would be restricted to 12 club teams each. Punjab Police and F.C. Kochin had been relegated from A Division, and Dempo and Indian Bank had been promoted from B to A division. The two vacant slots in the B Division will be filled by the AIFF through its discretionary quotas, and Mr Munshi hinted that Mohammedan Sports shall be given one of the vacant slots in B division. He said discussions were being held with Tatas to expand the scope of the Tata Football Academy in association with the AIFF. “We are considering a long-term collaboration with TFA”, the AIFF president indicated. He scotched talks of Tatas winding up the
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Tiger Woods salvages one-stroke lead
Grand Blanc, August 11 Woods fired a one-under par 71 to stand on 15-under par 201, one stroke ahead of Mexico’s fast-starting Esteban Toledo and three ahead of fellow Americans Fred Funk and Bob Tway. Kent Jones was fifth on 205. Woods opened with a double-bogey when his approach on the par-5 first soared left and out of bounds. He recovered with birdies at the second and par-5 seventh, but finished the front nine with a bogey. After rebounding with birdies at the 12th and the par-5 13th and 16th, Woods enjoyed a two-stroke lead before finishing with a bogey to trim the margin. “I didn’t quite feel as comfortable over the shots today,” Woods said. “I didn’t really have it, but just had to grind it out, get the ball in play somehow.” Woods is trying to become the first man to win a major and the event the week before it since Lee Trevino turned the trick 31 years ago. Woods will be a favourite at next week’s PGA Championship in Chaska, Minnesota. The reigning Masters and US Open champion will try to win his third PGA crown in four years and become the first man to twice win three Grand Slam titles in a year.
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SGPC to promote sports in schools, colleges Amritsar, August 11 In a statement, Prof Kirpal Singh Badungar, SGPC President, said for the first time the SGPC would sponsor sports competitions which would include inter-school and inter-college games. This would be an annual feature in October and this year the event would be organised at Mata Gujri College, Fatehgarh Sahib. Mr Gurmohan Singh Walia, Principal of the college has been selected as nodal officer for these sports events. More than 40 schools, colleges in addition to public schools are expected to participate. In another statement Prof Badungar said a special education adviser with significant experience as an educationist and a financial adviser for its audit department would be appointed shortly by a three-member committee formed recently. |
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Punjab judo from Aug 16 Patiala, August 11 |
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