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Friday,
August 30, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Serena smashes Safina to advance Sunil Kumar in semifinals ICC to discuss conditional offer Unbeaten ton by Ratra Kapil felicitates Azharuddin |
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Youhana to play in Champions Trophy President presents Arjuna, Khel Ratna, Dronacharya awards
New policy for Punjab schools Events
in state games increased JCT overwhelm RCF in super league National youth b’ball in October Haryana women’s meet in Sept
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Serena smashes Safina to advance
New York, August 29 The world No 1 and top seed yesterday clattered 16-year-old Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-1 on Arthur Ashe Court to move one step closer to a third successive Grand Slam title this yea. Once again squeezed into the skin-tight, short-legged, black lycra cat-suit that caused a sensation on the opening day. Serena left Safina simply stunned with a barrage of big hitting the mighty Marat would have been proud of. “It just comes natural to me,’’ Serena smiled, explaining her brand of power tennis. “But I think she will be a great player. And she’s a really nice girl which matters most — I hope the rest of us animals don’t rub off on her.’’ While Serena was wowing the main showcourt in the latest of her wild and wacky sartorial creations, men’s third seed Tommy Haas was being admonished for showing a little too much flesh. The German was forced to change the sleeveless shirt he had chosen for his match with Spain’s David Sanchez just minutes before the first game. An official rushed on to court with a message from tournament referee Brian Earley as the players warmed up. “Sleeveless shirts...are not considered ‘customary’ men’s tennis attire and Mr Haas did not submit the shirt for approval in advance of his match,’’ said the US Tennis Association in a statement. The brouhaha surrounding a chastened Haas’s kit did not appear to affect the 24-year-old, though, as he begun the match hitting with venom and purpose. But Sanchez was not to be rolled over. The Spaniard made Haas fight tooth and nail all the way before the third seed scraped through 7-6, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. “I’m the type of guy that sleeves annoy,’’ Haas said explaining the new look that got him into trouble. “I think it looks good as well...but they told me it was inappropriate so...’’ Women’s fifth seed Jelena Dokic could not find any fight in early action and was left shell-shocked after a desperate performance against Russia’s Elena Bovina. The Yugoslav looked ill at ease on an overcast Arthur Ashe showcourt and was thumped 3-6, 2-6. “It was one of those days where I wasn’t hitting well... missing a lot and not moving well,’’ she said. “It was a combination of everything that didn’t go right.’’ Never far from controversy, Dokic also faced questions about her decision to fax a letter of support from New York to hardline Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj backing his bid for the presidency of Serbia next month. “That’s my personal choice,’’ the 19-year-old said. ‘’It’s something that I wanted to do. That’s the way I feel and that’s who I wanted to vote for.’’ Seselj is named as a co-conspirator of Slobodan Milosevic in one UN indictment over the war with Croatia. A downcast Dokic refused to be drawn further on the letter. Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian also tumbled out 1-6, 4-6, 4-6 in the first round to Armenian Sargis Sargsian. Britain’s Greg Rusedski made hard work of American Alex Kim, needing four sets to dispose of the wildcard 6-1, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3. But scrappy as the victory was, it kept 1997 runner-up Rusedski on course for a third round clash with Pete Sampras. The American winner of a record 13 grand slam titles has not lifted a trophy since Wimbledon 2000 and is seeded 17th here. But his 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 slaying of Spain’s ‘drop-shot dragon’ Albert Portas in the opening round on Wednesday suggested there was still plenty of firepower in the Sampras arm. British fifth seed Tim Henman got his campaign off to a perfect start, thrashing Finn Tuomas Ketola 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 to reach the second round. Women’s eighth seed Justine Henin eased through, beating Zimbabwe’s Cara Black 6-3, 6-2; 11th-seeded Slovak Daniela Hantuchova beat late rain and Virginie Razzano of France to advance 6-3, 6-2 but 12th-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva fell to Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-6, 3-6. Reuters
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Bhupathi-Mirnyi duo wins New York, August 29 The Indo-Belarusian pair beat Julian Knowle of Austria and Michael Kohlman of Germany in straight sets 6-4. 6-0. AP |
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Prakash Amritraj bowed out New York, August 29Prakash Amritraj bowed out when he lost in straight sets to Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan 1-6, 3-6, 0-6. Amritraj had won a wild card to the last Grand Slam of the year based on his impressive performance in the US College circuit.
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Sunil Kumar in semifinals Gulbarga, August 29 Sunil Kumar, the Delhi-leg winner and seeded six here, will now take on eighth seed Eliram Dooyen, also from Israel, in the semifinal. Dooyen survived a first-set scare against Vishal Punna to emerge victorious at 6-7, (5-7), 6-4, 6-0. Wild-card Rohan Gajjar of India beat compatriot and seventh seed Ajay Ramaswamy in a three-setter 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to meet Slovokian Viktor Bruthans in the other semifinal. Seeded three, Bruthans humbled Alexiey Agreev of Russia 6-3, 6-1 for his semifinal berth. The quarterfinal results: Rohan Gajjar b Ajay Ramaswamy 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; Viktor Bruthans (Slovakia) b Alexiery Agreev (Russia) 6-1, 6-1; Eliram Dooyen (Israel) b Vishal Punna 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-0; Sunil Kumar b Royal Sichel (Israel) 7-5, 2.0 (conceded).
UNI
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ICC to discuss conditional offer Dubai, August 29 “Today we presented our case, our problems regarding the players not signing the ICC contract. But the ICC cannot change the rules for us and they have left it to the executive to take a final decision”, the cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah told PTI after attending the day-long meeting of the ICC cricket committe here. The players were earlier given the Friday deadline to sign the ICC contract. Mr Shah declined to say whether the ICC had already discussed the Indian cricketers’ proposal for playing in the tournament without signing the contract. “How can they not sign and play at the same time. It is not possible. They will have to comply if they have to play”, he said. He said the ICC understood the difficult task faced by the BCCI but their hands were tied. “We gave them a lowdown on what happened so far. If the players refuse to sign, how can we force them?” he asked. He said the BCCI would not talk to players’ spokesman Ravi Shastri as he had “no locus standi”.” But the board was in touch with the players directly, though that posed its own hurdles.” “The players are in England and it is difficult to communicate with them. Furthermore, they are amidst an important Test series and will be playing the crucial decider Test now. So we do not want to disturb or upset them.” Mr Shah refused to accept the argument that if the big names in Indian cricket did not play, India would be practically sending a second string team to the ICC tournament. “All the 25 players in our list have international exposure. They will be equally good”. PTI  |
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Indian
cricketers’ letter to BCCI
London, August 29 In a letter signed by Saurav Ganguly to the BCCI president, the cricketers said they were “ready to discuss” matters so that India could field the best team for the trophy. “... We would be willing only with regard to the Champions trophy 2002, to request our sponsors which are competitive to the sponsors of the Champions Trophy 2002 not to air any advertisements or publish any campaigns in the newsprint for the period that the Champions Trophy 2002 is being played.” “The other restrictions which are imposed by the player terms and which are sought to be imposed by the participating nations agreement which you (BCCI) have signed recently should be sorted out for future events by mutual discussion,” the letter said.
UNI
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Unbeaten ton by Ratra Derby, August 29 Wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra gave a timely reminder to the tour selectors with an unbeaten hundred. Ratra, who was ignored for the third Test at Leeds, made 101 not out as the Indians, resuming at their overnight 301 for five, raised their highest total against Derbyshire. The Indians spent an entertaining two hours at the crease this morning as the tailenders were given useful opportunity to practice against a flagging attack. Ratra reached his landmark in fortuitous circumstances. India (Ist innings overnight 301-5) S. Bangar c Hewson b Kerr 17, V. Sehwag b Gunter 15, S. Das b Dowman 18, V. Laxman c Warn b Kerr 75, W. Jaffer c Warn b Kerr 49, A. Ratra not out 101, R. Dravid retired hurt 40, A. Kumble b Aldred 47, H. Singh c Dumelow b Gunter 44. Extras:
(b-15 lb-6 w-18) 39 Total: (for seven wickets, declared) 445. FoW: 1-21, 2-58, 3-62, 4-164, 5-233, (6-301) 7-375, 8-445. Bowling: Gunter 23.1-7-76-2, Aldred 35-9-109-1, Kerr 24.5-8-97-3, Dowman 12-4-28-1, Dumelow 24-5-110-0, Hewson 2-1-4-0. Derbyshire (first innings): S. Stubbings b Harbhajan 66, R. Khan not out 77, Hewson c Jaffer b Kumble 66, Aldred c Das b Kumble 2, Dowman batting 0. Extras:
17 Total: (3 wickets, 62 overs) 228 FoW: 1-131, 2-225, 3-227. Bowling: Nehra 14-2-60-0, Yohannan 9-4-41-0, Bangar 10-2-28-0, Sehwag 11-1-36-0, Harbhajan 13-1-36-1, Kumble 5-2-17-2.
Reuters
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Kapil felicitates Azharuddin
Mumbai, August 29 One of the nominees for the Wisden Indian cricketer of the century award, Azharuddin who was the only living nominee missing from the London ceremony, was given a commemorative Timex watch by the eventual winner — Kapil Dev. Kapil Dev also presented watches to representatives of other nominees like Lala Amarnath, C.K. Nayudu, Vinoo Mankad, D.B. Deodhar, Vijay Hazare and Vijay Merchant. A thrilled Azhar said after the presentation: “My message to young and aspiring cricketers would be to work hard as that is the only way to make it big in the game”. Asked about the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) controversial sponsorship clause which has affected the Indian cricketers the most, the former skipper said “I don’t want to comment as it does not concern me”. Azhar, who has avoided public appearances ever since he was indicted by CBI for his alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal, said he regularly went to the gym to keep himself in shape and also caught on some India matches on TV whenever he got time. Still hopeful of playing for the country one day, Azhar said he was fighting against his life-ban. “The matter is in court and the verdict will be known next year”. Wadekar also received the watch on behalf of Vinoo Mankad as Ashok Mankad could not make it due to illness. The presentation ceremony was followed by panel discussion on “Increasing role of technology in cricket” PTI
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Pakistan beat Kenya Nairobi, August 29 Chasing 134 to win after dismissing Kenya in 30.3 overs, Pakistan lost two early wickets when Saeed Anwar was out for a duck in the first over, caught by David Obuya off the bowling of Martin Suji, and Imran Nazir was bowled by Thomas Odoyo in the fourth over for 13. Kenya: Obuya b Abdur Razzaq 36 Shah lbw b Waqar 2 Tikolo lbw b Wasim Akram 0 Odoyo lbw b Wasim Akram 4 Odumbe b Wasim Akram 0 Modi c Latif b Razzaq 34 Obuya c Waqar b Razzaq 0 Obuya c Latif b Razzaq 1 Suji not out 17 Suji run out 5 Angara b Azhar Mahmood 4 Extras (lb-5 nb-7 w-8) 30 Total (all out, 30.3 overs) 133 FoW: 1-16 2-19 3-30 4-30 5-102 6-104 7-107 8-107 9-123 Bowling: Akram 7-0-29-3, Waqar 7-1-29-1, Akhtar 5-0-31-0, Razzaq 8-1-35-4, Azar 3.3-0-4-1. Pakistan Saeed Anwar c D.Obuya Imran Nazir b Odoyo 13 Afridi c Odoyo b M. Suji 27 Younis Khan lbw b C. Azhar Mahmood run out 9 Abdur Razzaq b Angara 1 Inzamam not out 14 Rashid Latif not out 28 Extras: (w-6) 6 Total: (for six wickets, 33.3 overs) 134. Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-22, 3-42, 4-61, 5-77, 6-97. Bowling: M. Suji 10-3-22-2, Odoyo 10-1-41-1, Angara 7-0-25-1, T. Suji 3-0-11-0, C. Obuya 3.3-0-35-1.
Reuters
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Youhana to play in Champions Trophy
Islamabad, August 29 Youhana, who was expelled from the Pakistani squad in Nairobi following a fracas with Waqar, will play in the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka next month, Pakistan cricket officials said. A compromise was reached during Youhana’s meeting with Pakistan Cricket Board chief Tauqir Zia at Lahore yesterday following which the stylish middle-order batsman tendered an apology to his captain, the officials said. Youhana, who had earlier denied any row with the skipper, admitted he indeed had an altercation with Waqar during Pakistan’s net session in Nairobi. “Yes, I was involved in a verbal row with Waqar and after that things went from bad to worse,” he said. Youhana said he refused to go for training when Waqar asked him to do so. “I was doing individual training at the ground, but did not go for the nets because my shoulder was under treatment then,” he said, according to media reports. The PCB, meanwhile, said Youhana had informed it about the shoulder injury he was carrying since the tri-nation tournament in Tangiers (Morocco) “which was not given due attention by the team doctor Muhammad Riaz and was confirmed from an MRI scan in Nairobi.” PTI
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President
presents Arjuna, Khel Ratna, Dronacharya awards New Delhi, August 29 Notable absentees were dashing middle order batsman Venkata Sai Laxman and Indian hockey team captain Dilip Kumar Tirkey, both Arjuna awardees. While no one was present to receive Laxman’s Arjuna Award, Dilip Tirkey’s award was collected by his uncle Sunil Patnaik. Laxman is currently in England, touring with the Indian cricket team, while Tirkey is leading the Indian hockey team in the Champions Trophy starting in Colonge (Germany) on August 31. Shooting cantered away with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, a Dronacharya Award and an Arjuna Award. The President honoured 14 sportspersons with the Arjuna Award, two coaches with the Dronacharya Award, three with the Dhyan Chand lifttime achievement in sports and games Award, and one with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. Nineteen-year-old shooting prodigy Abhinav Bindra received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the highest sporting honour in the country, for the year 2001, “in recognition of his truly outstanding performance and achievements in the discipline of shooting for the year 2001”. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, a medal and a scroll of honour. The Dronacharya Award for coaches, which carries a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh, a statuette of Guru Dronacharya, a scroll of honour and ceremonial dress, were conferred upon Michael Joseph Ferreira, the national coach in cue sports, and Prof Sunny Thomas, the national shooting coach, in recognition of their “exceptionally meritorious achievements in the field of coaching”. Fourteen sportspersons were conferred upon the Arjuna Award, which carries a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh, a statuette of Arjuna, a scroll of honour and ceremonial dress, for their outstanding achievements in sports. The Arjuna Award winners were: Parminder Singh (basketball), Devendra Shreekant Joshi (billiards and snooker), VVS Laxman (cricket), Bruno Coutinho (football), Dilip Kumar Tirkey (hockey, men) and Sita Gusain (hockey, women), B.C. Ramesh (kabaddi), Kasam Khan (rowing), Samresh Jung (shooting), Sandeep Kirtane (tennis), Amir Singh (volleyball), Ramesh Kumar (wrestling), R Mahesh (yatching) and K R Shankar Iyer (physically handicapped, athletics). The Dhyan Chand Awards for lifetime achievement in sports and games, introduced this year, were conferred upon three veteran sportspersons — Aparna Ghosh, who represented Bengal for 13 times, Railways 17 times and India seven times in basketball, boxer Shahuraj V Birajdar and hockey player Ashok Diwan. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 1.5 lakh, a plaque and a scroll of honour. The Dhyan Chand award replaces the Arjuna Award for lifetime achievement, as the latter award had kicked up a
major row last year, when ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh refused to accept it for being clubbed together with lesser mortals. Delhi University regained the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy, awarded to the university which gives the best allround sporting performance during the year of the award, after a gap of nine years, to end the long reign of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar as the champion university. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, which is to be utilised for acquiring sports equipment. Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Dr Deepak Nayyar and Director of Sports Dr J.S Naruka jointly received the award. Delhi University emerged champions in nine inter-university competitions, were runners-up in eight, and finished third in three. Delhi logged 9280 points to pip Guru Nanak Dev to the second position (6645 points). Nearly 274 Universities competed in 60 sports disciplines before the champion university was spotted. There were many firsts in this year’s awards function. The President was new, the Sports Minister was new, a new award was instituted — Dhyan Chand Award — and a new panel of former outstanding sportspersons headed by badminton legend Prakash Padukone, hockey ace Ajit Pal Singh and cricket icon Kapil Dev, picked the Arjuna, Dronacharya and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardees respectively. Surprisingly, no big shot of the Indian Olympic Association — neither president Suresh Kalmadi nor secretary-general Randhir Singh — was present to witness the awards ceremony. Though the invitation for the award-ceremony was sent out in the name of fomer Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Uma Bharati, who was shifted to the Coal Ministry in a recent Cabinet reshuffle, her successor, Vikram Verma and Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Pon. Radhakrishnan, occupied the seats on either side of President Dr Abdul Kalam, on the dais. Uma Bharti was, however, present among the distinguished gathering, which included Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, and she promised to make her new ministry, Coal, very “sports oriented”. Abhinav Bindra, who was bestowed with the Arjuna Award last year, was “very happy and proud to get the Khel Ratna award”. “It (the award) has added additional responsibility on me to do still better”, he said. Abhinav said he was looking forward to the Asian Games, and felt that “if I shoot to my potential, I will do well in the Asian Games”. For national shooting coach Prof Sunny Thomas, the Dronacharya Award was a well-merited reward for his toil with the shooters for over a decade. Under his stewardship, the shooters have collected over 500 medals of all hues from various international competitions, and the likes of Jaspal Rana, Anjali Vedpathak and Abhinav Bindra, hit international spotlight. “Now Indian shooters are taken very seriously all over the world”, he said proudly. Michael Ferreira said the Dronacharya Award conferred upon him, was a well-merited recognition accorded to the cue sports by the government. The national coach of cue sports (billiards, snooker, pool etc) dedicated his Dronacharya Award to his pupils like Geet Sethi, Yashin Merchant, Ashok Sandhaliya, Devendra Joshi, Pankaj Advani etc. Ferreira expressed his desire to be in the selection panel of one of the award committees next year. “With my kind of experience, I am in a better position to judge the worth of a sportsperson”, he noted. |
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New policy for Punjab schools Chandigarh, August 29 The department will take sports to the grassroots by involving Block Education Officers so that every child is covered under the sports programme. He said it has been made mandatory to make physical education teachers accountable for various sport duties in institutions. On the question of accountability of the Sport Department coaches, Behal said the annual confidential report (ACR) of such coaches would now be signed by the respective head of the institution. Behal said Punjab medalists in the various National school games will also be honoured with cash awards. Efforts will also be made to send outstanding school players abroad for the international competitions. Behal said the respective District Education Officers will have to conduct at least five competitions per year out of 15 selected disciplines. Olympian Rupa Saini, Deputy Director, Physical Education, said the sports infrastructure in schools would also be strengthened. These would include playfields and synthetic surfaces at selected places, apparatus for gymnastics and physical conditioning, individual sports equipment like sticks, balls and shuttlelcocks. The sports calendar of the Punjab Education Department for the year 2002-2003 was released. As many as 28 sport disciplines in various age groups in under-14, 17 and 19 would be organised along with primary games for under-11 age group in five sport disciplines. The sports competitions are to be held in various districts between September 25 to November 11. The sport disciplines are swimming, diving, baseball, table tennis, tennis, boxing, badminton, volleyball, basketball, kabaddi, kho-kho, ball badminton, roller skating, softball, throwball, fencing, football, handball, cricket, tug-of-war, tennikoit, judo, circle kabaddi, carrom, wrestling, yoga, hockey The primary games will be held from November 20 to 23 at Gurdaspur. |
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Events
in state games increased Chandigarh, August 29 Stating this here yesterday, the president of the association, Mr Abhey Singh Chautala, said that as compared to 21 sports events in different disciplines this year. These disciplines are archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, gymnastics, wrestling, fencing, football, hockey (men), hockey (women), handball, judo, kabaddi (circle), kabaddi (national style), kho-kho, lawn tennis, swimming, table tennis, volleyball, weight lifting, cycling (road event) and rifle shooting. He said over 4,500 sportspersons and technical officials would take part in these games. He said that efforts were being made to develop infrastructure in a phased manner as the number of events were being increased gradually. The honorary secretary-general of the association, Mr M. S. Malik, said that the annual state games being held at Hisar would be organised on a larger scale. He said a meeting had been convened at Hisar on September 7 to make elaborate arrangements for the state games. The meeting would be attended by presidents and secretaries of all district Olympic Associations, Executive Members of HOA, presidents and secretaries of state sports association and affiliated boards and units. |
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JCT overwhelm RCF in super league Chandigarh, August 29 After a barren first half, JCT came firing on all cylinders on resumption. A cross by the veteran Ram Pal saw Paramjit leaping high and his header beat the RCF custodian hands down. Five minutes later, Kuldip singh (Junior) was on target as he booted home the second goal. This was followed by another goal by Paramjit in the 65th minute forcing the hosts to go on the defensive. Diminutive striker Gyan Moin provided the icing on the cake with hardly a minute to go for the long whistle when he shot past the RCF goalie to make it 4-0. Tomorrow is rest day. On September 31, PSEB will meet RCF at Hoshiarpur. |
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National
youth b’ball in October Ludhiana, August 29 Players born on or after January 1, 1986, are eligible to take part in this championship. Entries close on September 1 at Ludhiana with Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal, general secretary, PBA. Teams will be divided into five groups and matches during this championship will be held on league-cum-knock out basis. As many as 85 matches will be played in this meet for which more than four dozen technical officials will be on duty. Two floodlit and two other grounds will be used during this championship. Free board and lodging , transport and other facilities will be provided to all the participants, the note said.
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Haryana
women’s meet in Sept Chandigarh, August 29 Mr M.S. Mann, Director Sports and Youth Welfare Department, Haryana, said competitions in 10 disciplines — athletics, handball, kabaddi, volleyball, basketball, gymnastics, hockey, table tennis, wrestling and boxing would be conducted in the meet. In athletics the competitions would be held in 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 3000m, shotput, discus throw, javelin throw, long jump, high jump and 4x100m relay. |
Punjab
b’minton at Jalandhar Jalandhar, August 29 In
a press note issued here today, the general secretary of the
association, Mr Rajinder Kalsi, said events in junior boys and girls,
men’s and women’s categories would be held during the
championship. He further said Mr Gursharan Singh and Mr Kartar Singh
had been appointed as chief referee and deputy chief referee,
respectively, for the events.
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New York, August 29
