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Wednesday,
August 21, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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BCCI sets fresh deadline for players India look to disrupt England tempo Lanka have edge on South Africa Hingis overcomes Smashnova; Philippoussis back in Davis Cup squad
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Israeli qualifier shocks Kirtane Sher Khan fancies India’s chances Digvijay, Mukesh share lead 25 boys selected for hockey academy ‘Dope awareness workshop soon’ Inter rejects offer for Ronaldo Indian colts beat Thailand Haryana to host volleyball nationals
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BCCI sets fresh deadline for players Bangalore/Leeds, August 20 The reaction of the players, currently in England, came shortly after the Working Committee of the board decided in Bangalore that India will “definitely” participate in the Colombo tournament even with a second-string team while giving them time till 12 noon tomorrow to reconsider their decision not to sign the agreement. “The BCCI can pick and send a second-rung team to Sri Lanka if it wants, but the players will not budge,” their spokesman and former India captain Ravi Shastri told PTI in Leeds. “ICC will have to budge from its position, if it wants an amicable solution to the crisis,” Shastri said. “All the 18 players of the team (in England) are united on the issue and none of them is going to relent.” “ICC will have to budge from its position, if it wants an amicable solution to the crisis,” Shastri said. “All the 18 players of the team (in England) are united on the issue and none of them is going to relent.” “If the ICC is ready to move back, then we are ready for a dialogue,” Shastri said. Board president Jagmohan Dalmiya, in the meanwhile, refused to recognise Shastri as the spokesman of the players, saying his role had not been approved by the BCCI. “He can give advice to the players but he cannot act on their behalf.” The current Indian team had yesterday refused to sign the Players’ Terms form, a clause of which requires them to forego their individual sponsorships for a period of one month before and after an ICC tournament in favour of the official sponsors in the event of a clash of interest. But the Board gave them yet another chance for “a change of heart” and asked its Selection Committee to draw up a fresh list of 20 probables tomorrow. “The players have been given yet another chance to sign the agreement. The board has intimated the players about this decision. The Selection Committee will meet here tomorrow to decide on the 20 probables for the tournament,” board secretary Niranjan Shah told PTI after the Working Committee meeting. Board president Jagmohan Dalmiya, who addressed a press conference after today’s meeting, said the board and players were close to reaching a mutually acceptable solution but hinted at the possibility of sabotage by “a self-styled organisation or some individual”. Dalmiya said the choice before the board was to forego participation in the Champions Trophy or take part with a team comprising players other than those who have refused to sign the agreement. “The Working Committee unanmiously decided that India must participate in the tournament,” he said. Conceding that the players’ concerns were “genuine”, Dalmiya said the board had tried to convince both the players and the ICC that the current terms be restricted to Champions Trophy only and the game’s world body had agreed to it. “The board had proposed to the players and the ICC that the players could agree to abide by the players terms only for Champions Trophy. This should not be treated as a precedent by the ICC for its future events and the ICC had agreed to the Board’s proposal in writing,” Dalmiya said. He said the board had also assured the players that it would stand by them in the event of any legal proceedings from their individual sponsors.
PTI
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India look to disrupt England tempo
London, August 20 Time, though, is running out. To date, there has only been one side in the four-match series against England and it has not been Saurav Ganguly’s. England captain Nasser Hussain has continued with his diplomatic line — “people seem to forget this is a very talented Indian side” — but even he has probably not forgotten Sunil Gavaskar’s jibes when the two teams met in India earlier in the year. Former India opening batsman Gavaskar, a lesser diplomat, had branded Hussain’s side one of the most boring he had ever had the misfortune to watch. During this reverse series, though, Hussain might be tempted to think, India have not exactly been enthralling themselves. With high hopes of a rare away series victory, the touring side crashed to a 170-run defeat in the first match and only salvaged a draw at Trent Bridge thanks to a Rahul Dravid final-day century and some fireworks from Sachin Tendulkar and Ganguly. For all that England, shorn of a string of top-name players, have made nearly all the running. Despite Gavaskar’s comments it is the home side, improving by the game, which has scored faster and more heavily while at the crease and taken more wickets while fielding. They have been ambitiously pro-active, while India have let the game come to them. They will not be able to be so lethargic from Thursday onwards. As Ganguly pointed out: “Headingley is a result-pitch.” A pitch perfect for salvaging a series or for letting it go. England, with the towering Andrew Caddick reinstalled at the head of the attack alongside seamer Matthew Hoggard, will certainly fancy their chances at one of their happier hunting grounds in recent years. Caddick, set to make his first appearance of the series after recovering from a side strain, took a liking to Leeds two years ago when England crushed the West Indies inside two days. In the second innings he took five for 14 off just over 11 overs, including four extraordinary wickets in an over, as West Indies were laid waste for 61. Last year, there was also a result when Mark Butcher produced the innings of his life, a 173 not out, in an improbable overturning of the Australians. And in 1998 England had won again against South Africa, after Butcher got another century and Darren Gough — now battling for his future after a string of knee operations — took nine wickets in the match. Traditionally, Headingley has helped swing bowlers. This season, however, in conditions more akin to baking Bombay than the cloudy north of England, others have prospered, prompting England to keep left-arm spinner Ashley Giles firmly in their plans despite his omission from the second Test. The last thing India will want, indeed, is a traditional Headingley. Their left-arm fast bowlers, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan, have been the major disappointment of the tour to date. Hoggard and Caddick would seem better placed to exploit the conditions if the ball begins to swing. Ganguly, however, who pointed the finger squarely at his bowlers after Trent Bridge, also needs Harbhajan Singh, supported by Anil Kumble if need be, to perform to his world-class status. The off-spinner could only manage three for 175 in the second Test. He has, however, since found some rhythm, taking seven for 83 in the county game against Essex. India’s batsmen, despite their sterling efforts in keeping them in the series at Trent Bridge, must also carry some of the blame for the team’s colourless show. They simply have not exerted any pressure on their opponents. In the first Test at Lord’s, India were dismissed for 221, in the second for 357. They were chasing both games from that point. India need to score big, quick runs early — Shiv Sundar Das made a case for inclusion ahead of Wasim Jaffer by scoring a double century against Essex — then hit England with some big, quick wickets. The hosts have got used to having it easy while batting this summer, passing 500 almost at will, with Michael Vaughan’s confidence in particular growing as fast as his test average, which hurdled the 40-run threshold after his 197 at Trent Bridge. India must disrupt that pattern and confidence if they are to succeed in upsetting a side which, with all-rounder Andrew Flintoff struggling with a groin problem, Craig White sidelined and Marcus Trescothick, Graham Thorpe and Gough still absent, should be vulnerable. If India fail to change tempo, Headingley will surely turn into the wrong kind of result pitch and cost them yet another overseas series. It might even cost them a few sharp criticisms from the sharp-tongued Gavaskar. Reuters
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Lanka have edge on South Africa
Tangiers (Morocco), August 20 In the last game before the final, Sri Lanka easily beat South Africa by six wickets, becoming the first team in the triangular one-day tournament to win batting second. But the line ups are likely to be very different for the final, with both teams resting key players in yesterday’s match — the last group game. Asked if Sri Lanka was favourite, Sri Lanka’s coach Dave Whatmore said: “Four games, won three, I suppose so in a way but ... We have played them many times before and we know what they are capable of.” South Africa won two of their four games, both against Pakistan, who were knocked out of the $250,000 tournament — the first international cricket event in north Africa and the richest outside a World Cup. After losing to Pakistan in their first game, Sri Lanka came back strongly, thrashing South Africa by 93 runs in their second match then beating Pakistan by 39 runs. All the Sri Lankan top order have contributed, with captain Sanath Jayasuriya in blistering form, hitting a brilliant 97 of 94 balls against Pakistan. Sri Lanka’s varied bowling attack has also excelled, with the off-spin of Muttiah Muralitharan and leg spin of Upul Chandana combining well with the fast-medium pace of Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando and Pulasthi Gunaratne. Except for the last match — a dead game after South Africa beat Pakistan by eight runs yesterday — Sri Lanka have fielded an unchanged side. “The team is doing well and we do not want to change it,” Jayasuriya said after Sri Lanka’s penultimate group match. In contrast, South Africa, who have not played competitive cricket since the beginning of April, have made changes to each team as the selectors ponder the best line up. After the opening victory over Pakistan, Makhaya Ntini was dropped in favour of fellow fast bowler Roger Telemachus, and Justin Ontong was brought in for Boeta Dippenaar, who had been suffering from a fever, for the next match, which was against Sri Lanka. Following that loss, Telemachus was dropped and opening batsman Gary Kirsten rested for the game against Pakistan on Sunday. Dippenaar came back into the team, and Graeme Smith took over from Kirsten as South Africa chose to play with Dippenaar as an extra batsman. All-rounder Ontong has remained in the side, but has failed to shine with the bat, scoring 9, 10 and 7 and has been used sparingly with the ball. AP |
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Hingis overcomes Smashnova; Dementieva falls
New Haven (Connecticut), August 20 After coming out strong in the first set and going up 5-0 in the second, the former world No 1 battled to put Smashnova away. Hingis, contesting her second tournament since returning from ankle surgery, overcame six match points, two breaks, several missed volleys and huge exertions by Smashnova to win the match and advance to the next round at the Connecticut Tennis Center. “I think this year I have a little match point problem,” Hingis said. Hingis said her left ankle felt “fine.” She sat out much of this season after having the surgery to repair a damaged ligament. Hingis said she tried to do different things to score points off Smashnova, but the Israeli kept surprising her by returning the shots. “I had to look for the strategy of her,” Hingis said. “I realised I really had to fight and earn it.” Hingis also struggled with her power serve — most attempts at serves above 145 kph landed in the net. Still, she said she was pleased with her first-shot percentage and her ability to keep up with Smashnova, who won this year at Vienna and Canberra. In the biggest upset of the first round, German qualifier Angelika Roesch survived some long rallies and beat No 8 seed Elena Dementieva of Russia 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. After losing the first set, Dementieva came out strong in the second, serving aces and capitalising on Roesch’s errors. She lost the first three games in the third and tried to battle back. Roesch went ahead with a solid serve, while Dementieva’s faltered. She still took time to close out the match, failing on six match points before hitting a sharp baseline shot past Dementieva for the win. “It was not very easy to finish, and also, I was a little nervous at the end,” Roesch said. Roesch beat Dementieva in three sets earlier this year in Berlin. “I knew how she was playing, and I got a good rhythm against her,” Roesch said. Also advancing was Russian qualifier Elena Bovina, a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 winner over wild card America’s Lisa Raymond. Another wild card entrant fared better: Alexandra Stevenson of the USA beat Croatian qualifier Jelena Kostanic 6-3, 7-5. “She’s a clay-courter, so she likes her angles. She throws up the ball and mixes it up, so she wasn’t an easy qualifier — that’s for sure,” Stevenson said. Stevenson has struggled this year, losing in the first rounds of the French Open, Wimbledon, Stanford and San Diego. She made it to the later rounds of Los Angeles and Montreal, and said she hoped to build on those improvement in New Haven. “Hopefully, I’ll be great for the (US) Open, so I’m right on schedule - you don’t want to peak too early,” Stevenson said. Commack (New York): Former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek rolled past Slovakia’s Dominik Hrbaty 6-1, 6-2 in a feature match at the $ 480,000 ATP tennis tournament here on Monday night. Krajicek is continuing his comeback after taking off almost two years to recover from an elbow injury. Two weeks ago, the unseeded Dutchman lost in the third round at Cincinnati. His best effort this season is a quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon. Hrbaty has struggled to a 14-21 record this year and has not won consecutive matches since reaching the third round in May at Barcelona. His poor play has sent the Slovakian to the challenger circuit, where he has won one title and reached another final. The top 16 seeds received first-round byes, including defending champion Tommy Haas of Germany. Haas, the top seed, has reached the semifinals in two of his last three tournaments, falling to eventual champions Guillermo Canas and Greg Rusedski at Toronto and Indianapolis. Despite being ranked a career high No 3, Haas has yet to win a title this season. He was runner-up to Andre Agassi at the Tennis Masters Series event in Rome. Second seed Roger Federer of Switzerland accepted a wild card entry after losing five of his last six matches. Last year’s runner-up, former world No 1 Pete Sampras of the USA, is seeded third. Sampras has not reached the quarterfinals of an event since appearing in the final of the US Men’s Clay Court Championships in May in Houston and has not won a title since Wimbledon 2000. AFP
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Philippoussis back in Davis Cup squad
Sydney, August 20 Philippoussis has struggled with left knee problems over recent seasons and was reported to have had a major falling out with former Australian team leaders Tony Roche and John Newcombe. The 25-year-old Philippoussis, a 1998 US Open finalist, was named today along with world No 1 Lleyton Hewitt, Wayne Arthurs, Todd Woodbridge and Scott Draper in the Australian squad for the September 20 to September 22 World Group qualifying match at Adelaide. Australian captain John Fitzgerald announced the squad in a telephone conference from the USA, where he was working with players in the leadup to the US Open. He said he was delighted to have Philippoussis back in the Australian lineup and was confident the big-serving Victorian had overcome his injuries. The Australians lost the final to France in Melbourne last season in Fitzgerald’s first year as non-playing captain and then lost an away match to Argentina earlier this year and were forced into the do-or-die match against India. India and Australia last met in Davis Cup in 1993 on grass in the World Group semifinal at Chandigarh when Australia won 5-0. Their previous meeting was at Sydney in 1987, when defending champion Australia was upset 2-3 in the semifinals. AP
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Israeli qualifier shocks Kirtane
New Delhi, August 20 It turned out to be the day for Israeli players, who won four of the six matches that were held in individual events. Pune-based Kirtane, won the first set but failed to hold on to the lead as the Israeli outplayed him in the next two sets with his powerful serve and volley game. Though the former Indian Davis cupper won the first game in a tie-breaker but after that was simply outserved by his unfancied rival who just conceded five games out of 12. Marravi won 6-7 (3),6-3,6-2. In an all-India affair, Rohan Gajjar made short work of wild carder Parthsarthi Bhattacharya 6-1,6-3. Seventh seed Eliran Dooyev(Israel) ousted Indian Kamala Kannan in straight sets 7-6(5),6-4. Israel’s Roy Sichel knocked out his compatriot qualifier Yoav Benzvi a one-sided match in which he conceded only five points, 6-3, 6-2. Qualifier Ishay Hadash surprised his much-fancied Israeli team-mate Assaf Drori 7-6 (3), 6-1 to make it to the second round. Thailand’s Attapol Rithiwattanapc halted the Isreali sweep as he trounced Dekel Valtzer 6-3,6-1. UNI
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Sher Khan fancies India’s chances
New Delhi, August 20 “India, along with Pakistan, are the two most skillful teams in the world. In order to get the best results, there is a need to match the speed and the coordination of teams like Australia, Germany, Holland and England,’’ Sher Khan told UNI here before the Indian team left to take part in the six-nation Champion’s Trophy last night. Besides India, Australia, Germany, Holland, South Korea and England will be vying for top honours at the Champion’s Trophy to be played at Cologne in Germany from August 31 to September 8. Expressing optimism about a good Indian performance in the tournament, Sher Khan said it would be foolhardy to rule out India’s chances in the tournament. “We are strong contenders for the trophy,’’ he beamed. India will also participate in a four-nation warm-up tournament, along with Australia, Korea and South Holland. Highlighting the strength of the team, Sher Khan said the real strength of the team was its teamwork and individual skill. “Our main problem has been to play back-to-back matches...we tend to collapse on the second day...we need to get tougher,’’ he noted. India are participating in the Champion’s Trophy after a gap of seven years. They had hosted the tournament in Chennai in 1996 and finished fourth. “The time we got for preparing for the tournament was too short... but the players are in a perfect condition for the tournament,” he said. India’s best performance in the Champion’s Trophy so far had come in Amsterdam in 1981 when they had won the bronze. Sher Khan said the Indian team had an experienced and talented captain in Dilip Tirkey, who understood the game very well and game solidity to the team’s defence. “The forward line has also been strengthened with the inclusion of Dhanraj Pillay, Deepak Thakur, Prabhjot Singh and Gagan Ajit Singh, who all form a formidable forward attack capable of penetrating any castle,” the manager added. Sher Khan said the 20-day coaching camp at Bangalore had proved to be of tremendous help for the team. “We had concentrated primarily on our weaknesses like penalty corners, corners, tackling and retackling,” he pointed out. The Asian Games camp will be held in Delhi from September 15 till the departure of the team for Busan. UNI
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Digvijay, Mukesh share lead
Chennai, August 20 Rajiv Kumar of Delhi, Shiv Prakash of Kanpur and Shamim Khan of Delhi shared the second spot with three under 69. In all, 31 players came up with sub-par scores on the opening day today. Digvijay, the winner of the first leg of the Hero Honda season at Srinagar, could not have dreamt of a better start. He began with a birdie in the first and added one more in the sixth before coming with an eagle in the seventh hole. Using drivers, he landed about 12ft from the hole and putted with consummate ease for an eagle. He consolidated his position sinking two more birdies in the 11th and 15th holes. A lone blemish in the 18th hole, where he dropped a stroke missing a par-putt by a couple of inches, marred his otherwise flawless performance. Likewise, Mukesh, looking forward to winning his first title of the season after he finished joint runner-up at the TNGF Open last weekend, began with a bang. Teeing off from the 10th hole, he fired birdies on the 11th and 16th before dropping a stroke on the 17th hole. He did well in the front nine, firing birdies on the first, second and seventh holes, before signing of the day in style with one more birdie in the ninth. UNI
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25 boys
selected for hockey academy New Delhi, August 20 Former Olympians Ajitpal Singh, Harbhinder Singh and director of the academy Khushal Singh picked the final 25 from the 87 players who had been shortlisted following trials held in Delhi, Jalandhar and Lucknow. Mr S.S. Kohli, Chairman and Managing Director of Punjab National Bank, who watched the final selection trials at the National Stadium today, said over 1000 players from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, participated in the trials. He said 87 players were shortlisted for the finals trials after the weeding out process, and from the 87, the cream of 25 were selected. Though the names of the final 25 players have not been announced, Ajit Pal Singh disclosed that a majority of the selected players belonged to Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Interestingly, PNB has a major presence in both these states. Ajitpal Singh said eight players have also been kept as reserves, as just in case a player from the 25 pulls out, the stand by player will fill the vacant slot. The selected players have been asked to report in Delhi on September 5. Mr Kohli said the bank would take care of the boarding, lodging, transport and education of the selected children. The children will be put up in the PNB Colony in Delhi, though the Sports Authority of India has offered the academy space at the National Stadium, as it had done in the case of the Air-India Hockey Academy. |
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‘Dope
awareness workshop soon’ Patiala, August 20 This was asserted by Union Sports Minister Uma Bharati while addressing reporters at an impromptu press conference held at the NIS last night. Ms Bharati was here to see the preparations for the Busan Asian games. She asserted that the Sports Ministry had increased the amount to be given to sportspersons for foreign exposure trips from Rs 16 crores to Rs 32 crores. She added that as yet weightlifter Satish Rai had not been stripped of the medal he had won at the
Commonwealth games. The Commonwealth Games Federation had yet to take a final decision in this regard. It may be recalled that Satish Rai had failed a doping test after winning a medal in the Manchester Commonwealth Games. The minister came down heavily on the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) adding that she had warned the federation boses to check the use of drugs among both male and female lifters. Ms Bharati said the number of foreign coaches working with various federations had increased from 11 to 42. |
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Inter rejects offer for Ronaldo Madrid, August 20 The newspaper estimated Morientes and Flavio’s combined value at $48.9 million but reported that the bid had fallen short of Inter’s demands. It said that the Italian club preferred Madrid’s Argentine international midfielder Santiago Solari in a player plus cash deal worth some $68.5 million. Expressing increased doubts that Ronaldo’s move will go through, Spanish newspapers said today that Madrid would need to up the stakes considerably to persuade Inter President Massimo Moratt to trade his club’s prized asset.
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Indian
colts beat Thailand Hyderabad, August 20 The second string Indian team exploited the weak Thai defence to the hilt with Vikram, Mukesh Kumar and Kishore Kumar serving, spiking and blocking well to take the first set with a lead of seven points, the histrionics of Sriphum Supachai notwithstanding. In a thrilling encounter in the second set which stretched to 22 minutes the visitors matched the Indians ball for ball, smash for smash and point for point with their spirited attack and were leading initially though their weak backcourt enabled India to take the lead by a couple of points in the later stage. Nimavan Pomsakorn displayed some good drop shots and deft placings but in the end Indians earned a hard fought win at 25-22 to take a 2-0 lead.
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Haryana to host volleyball nationals Chennai, August 20 However, it would be subject to a report of a team deputed by VFI that the facilities at the venue are satisfactory, he said. The Federation Cup competition would be held at Triparayar in Kerala from February 9 to 16 while the Sub-Junior National championship would be held at Dewas in Madhya Pradesh from October 25 to 31. Meanwhile, Mr Murugan also announced that the entry for India’s men’s team and the beach volleyball team for the Asian Games to be held in Busan in South Korea next month, had been sent to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). UNI
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