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Saturday,
August 31, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Capriati, Agassi power through Former queens eye return
to the top BCCI braces up for players’ boycott South Africans delay signing contracts Indians settle for draw
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Indian colts pull off thrilling win
Hockey: Aslam optimistic about India’s chances Jamaica rout
India 3-0
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Capriati, Agassi power through
New York, August 30 The start of play was delayed for five hours yesterday as persistent rain fell over the Flushing Meadows grounds but when it finally got underway, third seed Jennifer Capriati clattered Tina Pisnik 6-4, 6-2 in powerful fashion. She was followed on court by Lindsay Davenport, who reeled off four straight games to complete her 6-4, 6-2 victory over Petra Mandula after the match had been halted by rain on Wednesday. Andre Agassi shuffled on to Arthur Ashe Stadium court after Davenport and shuffled off just 66 minutes later having inflicted a humiliating 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 defeat on fellow American Justin Gimelstob. “Basing it on scoreline it was probably one of the easiest Grand Slam matches I have had,” the twice former champion agreed. “But you go out there with a lot of respect for your opponent and that is what brings about that standard of tennis on the court.” Top seed Lleyton Hewitt continued his defence with a 7-6 6-4 6-1 win. He next faces American James Blake, who beat Russian Nikolay Davydenko. All doubles matches on Thursday were earlier cancelled as organisers received grim weather reports from the New York meteorological centre. There had been fears that no play at all would be possible in the day session — the first time a session would have been wiped out at the US Open since the 1988 men’s final — as dark clouds shrouded the New York site. But as soon as the rain stopped, the Open’s army of court workers got on their hands and knees, with towels in their hands, and scrubbed. Within minutes the court had been dried and Capriati was able to get to work. The Australian Open champion was broken early on but soon hit back with some heavyweight hitting from the baseline of the Arthur Ashe Stadium court. Capriati’s serve was also firing and she pummelled six aces past the Slovenian as she took a grip of the match. She finished off the encounter in 65 minutes and faces compatriot Meghann Shaughnessy next. “To tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure I was going to get the match in today,” said Capriati, who is bidding for her first US Open title. Davenport needed just four games — after she resumed the match leading 6-4, 2-2 — to secure her berth in the third round, sweeping Hungary’s Mandula aside with the minimum of fuss. Fourth seed Kafelnikov was the highest victim yet toppled from the year’s final Grand Slam event. Slovakia’s Dominik Hrbaty ousted the Russian 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 and rose to 8-4 against the 2001 US Open semifinalist. “I’m trying very much every single match,” Kafelnikov said. “But it’s just not there. Confidence is not there.” South Africa’s Wayne Ferreira rallied to oust French Open champion Albert Costa 1-6, 6-7 (10/12), 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 with his fifth victory in a row over the Spaniard. And American Jan-Michael Gambill eliminated Spanish ninth seed Carlos Moya 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. Moya, the 1998 French Open winner, defeated world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in the ATP Masters final at Cincinnati earlier this month. Gambill won in 94 minutes, serving 13 aces and hitting 29 winners while Moya made 29 unforced errors. Gambill was 0-3 against Moya, including a fifth-set tie-breaker loss in their first meeting, a third-round match at the 1998 US Open. Defending champion Venus Williams and four other former world number ones advanced as form held on the women’s side, but sixth seed Monica Seles was pushed to the brink before beating Austrian Barbara Schwartz 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2. “The crowd pulled me through,” Seles said. “I came out very flat. She’s an opponent that doesn’t give you any rhythm. I would have pretty much lost without their help, been on the plane back home.” Rain delayed the start of play and returned to suspend the last two matches of the night with Belgium’s Xavier Malisse and Paraguay’s Ramon Delgado each leading in the fourth set. Williams defeated Australia’s Alicia Molik 6-1, 6-2 while seventh seed Kim Clijsters eliminated American Mashona Washington 6-1, 7-6 (7/1). Ninth seed Martina Hingis, in her first Grand Slam event since reaching the Australian Open final, beat Italy’s Antonella Serra Zanetti 6-4, 6-1. When Morocco’s Hicham Arazi quit in the third set against compatriot Younes El Aynaoui, it marked the eighth men’s retirement of the event setting a US Open record and matching the Grand Slam mark set at the 1998 Australian Open. Agencies
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Former queens eye return
to the top
New York, August 30 Domination by world No 1 serena and second-ranked Venus Williams has toppled Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport from atop of the WTA rankings. But none have given up their goal to get back on top. “I’m really close and it just motivates me to want to get higher and even closer to moving up, maybe being No 1 again,” said reigning Australian Open Champion Capriati. “I look at some of my previous matches and why I wasn’t as sharp moving around the court and physically. I’m really trying to get back to that. It’s important.” Seles (28) won here a decade ago but has not reached a Grand Slam final in more than four years. A love of the game and past success keep her motivated, and she plans to play as long as she remains healthy and competitive. “I’m going to play as long as I enjoy it,” Seles said. “I don’t want to put that pressure that I will play for sure next year or stop after this one. “Right now I’m really enjoying it, working hard. If my body allows, I would like to keep playing. “If I wake up a few days in a row and really see this is not happening for me, I will move on.” Capriati (26) was a teen star who quit the game for nearly five years before making a comeback that has brought three Grand Slam titles. She has only started to look toward the twilight of her career and life after the tour.
AFP
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BCCI braces up for players’ boycott
Dubai, August 30 “At the moment, I don’t see any possibility of the players signing the agreement in toto as required by the ICC,” Mr Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, told Reuters today. “Unless there is any last-minute solution to the problem, which i don’t foresee, it’s all over for us (the board) to convince the players,” he said. The ICC, the world’s governing body, has demanded that players agree not to endorse products of companies competing with official tournament sponsors. They have been given until today to sign up. India’s players, several of whom have lucrative personal sponsorships, argue that the ICC has not consulted them and has infringed their personal commercial rights. If they refuse to play in the tournament in Sri Lanka next month, India will be forced to field a second-string side. Mr Shah, speaking before heading for an International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting being held in Dubai, added: “The players want to sign the contract with some conditions which the ICC will not agree. We tried our best, but the players refused to listen to us.” “I still feel the ICC will not bow down to any condition from Indian players.” Several other squads, including West Indies, Sri Lanka and South Africa, have yet to sign their playing contracts. ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said: “There will be no change. The deadline was put in place so that when the executive board meets tomorrow, it will know the positions of all the 12 teams competing for the Champions Trophy.” The Champions Trophy, dubbed the ‘mini World Cup’, starts on September 12. It is the only limited-overs event outside the World Cup which includes all 10 test-playing nations. KOLKATA: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya, today said he would put forth the players’ viewpoints at the International Cricket Council executive board meeting beginning in Dubai tomorrow to find a solution to the knotty sponsorship issue. “I will try to plead their case,” Dalmiya said here when asked for his comments on the letter he received from the Indian team in England last night. The letter, signed by skipper Saurav Ganguly, formalised the team’s offer to play in next month’s Champions’s Trophy in Sri Lanka on certain conditions. The board chief, who left for Dubai to attend the crucial executive board meeting, however, reiterated, that any final decision on the players’ offer would have to be taken by the ICC. Dalmiya said he had sent an ‘immediate reply’ to the players stating that he would forward their letter to the ICC at the executive board meeting. “As I have said earlier, the board can only act as a postman now. The Players’ Terms Form is an ICC document and only the world cricket governing body has the right to change it,” he said. Top Indian cricketers had initially refused to sign the mandatory players’ terms forms which bars them from endorsing products potentially in conflict with those of official sponsors, 30 days on either side and during the ICC tournaments. Later they offered to play without signing the forms and said they would talk to their sponsors not to air conflicting advertisements only during the duration of the tournament. The players put their offer in writing and expressed their willingness to play for the country, but said the participating Nations’ Agreement and the players’ terms, as they existed now, were “unfair”. The players’ move had come in the wake of the board hinting at sending a second string side to Sri Lanka as it picked 25 probables excluding the entire Indian squad now in England. PTI
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South Africans delay signing contracts Cape Town, August 30 Tony Irish, the Chief Executive of the South African Cricketers’ Association, told Reuters today that the players wanted assurances from the ICC that the ruling body would consult them on sponsorship matters involving their individual commercial rights. “I can only assume that the United Cricket Board
(UCB) will try and secure that agreement in Dubai,” Irish said today. An impasse between players and administrators arose after the ICC insisted players in national squads signed contracts that barred them from endorsing products or services marketed by competitors of event sponsors. The players rejected the move, leading to the threat of second string squads being sent to the Champions Trophy tournament in Sri Lanka in September. Most players have since reached agreement on the issue with their national boards, and Irish is confident that the South Africans will soon resolve the matter.
Reuters
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West Indies players agree
to play St John’s, Antigua, August 30 The board said in a statement that the players had agreed to play in the event dubbed the ‘Mini World Cup’ on condition that they be consulted in future by the sport’s governing body over possible sponsorship clashes. They would also receive 25 per cent of the WICB’s dividends for taking part in the tournament which starts on September 12. “This agreement means that the West Indies full strength team...Will proceed to Sri Lanka on September 5th 2002, barring injuries,’’ the statement added. The ICC, the world’s governing body, has demanded that players agree not to endorse products of companies competing with official tournament sponsors. They have been given until today to sign up. Players from several countries have protested, arguing that their personal image rights had been sold without consultation. The WICB chief executive Gregory Shillingford said he expected the agreement to be ratified tomorrow.
Reuters
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Sri Lanka to play in Champions Trophy Colombo, August
30 A
statement from the Sri Lankan board said: “Discussions between the
Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka
Cricketers’ Association regarding the participation of Sri Lankan
cricketers in the ICC Champions Trophy 2000 were concluded
successfully today. Sri Lanka host the tournament from September 12.
The ICC, the world’s governing body, has demanded that players agree
not to endorse products of companies competing with official
tournament sponsors. They have been given until today to sign up.
Reuters |
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Indians settle for draw Derby (England), August 30 Thereafter, the Indians scored 182 for three with Sehwag (104) and Das (52) doing the bulk of the scoring. Earlier, India took three wickets in the morning session, including the one of opener Riwait Khan who resumed his innings at 77 this morning and was out leg before to left-arm paceman Ashish Nehra for 91. Riwait batted for 295 minutes and faced 200 balls while hitting 16 fours in what is only the second first class game of his career. Nehra bagged another wicket when the other overnight batsman Mathew Dowman did not offer a shot to a dipping delivery and was trapped plumb in front of the wickets.Steve Selwodd was the third and last batsman out for the hosts in the morning session when he edged Anil Kumble to first slip in his first over and was nicely held by Virender Sehwag. Kumble looked like picking a wicket everytime he came on to bowl and his figures of 3 for 25 was an ample reflection of his domination of batsmen on a slow wicket. India (Ist innings): 445-7 declared (A. Ratra 101 not out, V. Laxman 75) Derbyshire (Ist innings overnight): 228-3 Stubbings b Harbhajan 66, Khan c Laxman b Nehra 91, Hewson c Jaffer b Kumble 66, Aldred c Das b Kumble 2, Dowman lbw b Nehra 16, Pyemont c Sehwag b Nehra 43, Selwood c Sehwag b Kumble 9, Demelow b Nehra 23, Kerr not out 6, Warn run out 1, Gunter b Bangar 0. Extras: (b-5 lb-15 nb-15) 35 Total: (all out) 358 Fall of wickets: 1-131, 2-225, 3-227, 4-254, 5-273, 6-299, 7-345, 8-356, 9-358. Bowling: Ashish Nehra 23-4-85-4, Yohannan 14-5-76-0, SanjayBangar 12.5-2-35-1, Virender Sehwag 18-1-64-0, Harbhajan Singh 21-5-53-1, Anil Kumble 12-4-25-3. Indians (2nd innings): Bangar c Warn b Dowman 7, Sehwag c Gunter b Selwood 104, Das c Aldred b Pyemont 52, Jaffer not out 14. Extras: 5. Total (3 wickets declared 43.3 overs) 182. FoW: 1-69, 2-128, 3-182. Bowling: Aldred 8-1-35-0, Gunter 7-3-24-0, Dowman 3-0-11-1, Kerr 3-0-10-0, Pyemont 4.3-1-37-1, Hewson 8-3-11-0 Selwood 7-2-35-1 Khan 3-0-15-0.
Reuters
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Indian colts pull off thrilling win
London, August 30 The nail-biting finish, after their three-wicket win in the first ODI in Bristol on Tuesday, also enabled India to take a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Fortunes fluctuated wildly in the match but Atram’s heroics, smashing a four and a six in the last two balls saw India reach the readjusted target of 259 in 47 overs, following a rain delay. However, Atram (19 no), in the company of Abhisek Sharma saw India home with a 25-run last-wicket partnership to spark scenes of joy on the outfield. Earlier, the foundation for India’s victory was laid by openers Manvinder Bisla (vice-captain) and A T Rayudu who put on 154 runs before Bisla was caught by Pettini off Hogg for 59. Rayudu’s scored a sparkling 80 with nine fours and four sixers off 75 balls. England: A.W. Gale c Raina b Pathan 11 Kadeer Ali c Bisla b Rawat 25 S. Patel run out 15 J.G.E. Benning run out 47 K.W. Hogg run out 103 M.L. Pettini c Atram b Pathan 31 P. Mustard c Pathan b Patel 0 G.G. Wagg st Bisla b Raina 4 T.T. Bresnan run out 7 L.E. Plunkett run out 2 P.J. McMahon not out 1 Extras: (b-2, lb-3, w-16, nb-2) 23 Total: (all out, 50 overs) 269 Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-46, 3-70, 4-149, 5-203 6-205, 7-223, 8-250 9-259. Bowling: Pathan 10-1-60-2, Atram 8-1-37-0, Rawat 5-0-37-1, Patel 10-0-48-1, Sharma 10-0-46-0, Raina 7-0-36-1. India: (revised target 259 off 47 overs after rain) M.S. Bisla c Pettini b Hogg 59 A.T. Rayudu c McMahon
b Hogg 80 D.A. Chougule c Mustard Y. Gnaneswara Rao c McMahon b Plunkett 20 S. Raina c Plunkett b Wagg 9 Subhojit Paul c Pettini K. Rawat not out 22 I.K. Pathan run out 1 U.B. Patel run out 1 A. Sharma c McMahon C.E. Atram not out 19 Extras: (b-1, lb-7, w-19, nb-3) 30 Total: (for 9 wkts, 47 overs) 262 Fall of wickets: 1-154, 2-175, 3-175, 4-207 5-209 6-227 7-233, 8-234, 9-237. Bowling: Bresnan 9-2-38-2, Hogg 10-0-51-3, Wagg 6-0-49-1, Patel 10-1-44-0, Plunkett 8-0-45-1, McMahon 4-0-27-0.
PTI
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Aussies crush Pakistan Nairobi, August 30 Hayden hit 12 fours and six huge sixes off just 127 balls as Australia amassed 332 for five off 50 overs. The 30-year-old Queenslander was the backbone of the innings, sharing enterprising century stands with skipper Ricky Ponting (65 off 72 balls) and fellow left-hander Jimmy Maher (35 off 47 balls). The 27-year-old Gillespie then took a career-best five for 22 off 10 overs as Pakistan folded meekly to 108 all out in 36 overs. Gillespie and new ball partner Glenn McGrath shared the first four Pakistan wickets for 13 runs within seven overs and the match was as good as over. All-rounders Shoaib Malik (25) and Azhar Mahmood (32) helped push the total past three figures but it was still Pakistan’s lowest effort against Australia. Pakistan captain Waqar Younis won the toss, but little went his team’s way after that as the Australian batsmen smacked 27 fours and 11 sixes off the hapless bowlers. SCOREBOARD Australia: Gilchrist c Azhar b Akram 21 Hayden c Malik b Akram 146 Ponting c & b Afridi 65 Martyn b Afridi 12 Maher c Razzaq b Waqar 35 Bevan not out 8 Watson not out 10 Extras: 35 Total : (5 wkts, 50 overs) 332 Fall of wickets: 1-46 2-174 3-192 4-314 5-316 Bowling: Akram 10-0-58-2, Waqar10-0-60-1, Razzaq 3-0-26-0, Akhtar 5-0-45-0, Azhar 6-0-42-0, Afridi 10-0-56-2, Malik 6-0-31-0 Pakistan: Nazir c Gilchrist b Gillespie 1 Razzaq b McGrath 5 Afridi b Gillespie 0 Anwar lbw b McGrath 3 Younis Khan c Gilchrist Malik c Gilchrist b Bichel 25 Azhar c Bevan b Watson 32 Latif not out 17 Akram c Gilchrist b Gillespie 0 Younis c Bichel b Gillespie 2 Akhtar c Watson b Gillespie 2 Extras: 8 Total: (all out, 36 overs) 108 Fall of wickets: 1-1 2-1 3-10 4-13 5-39 6-67 7-95 8-96 9-101 Bowling: McGrath 6-0-11-2, Gillespie 10-2-22-5, Bichel
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Trescothick set to return London, August 30 Left-hander Trescothick shattered a bone in his left hand attempting to field a cover drive from Graeme Hick in the July 17 quarter-final against Worcestershire at Taunton and has not played since. At first it was feared he would be out for the remainder of the season but now Somerset will give Trescothick a fitness test tomorrow morning in a bid to have him in their side for the one-day showpiece. AFP
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Hockey: Aslam optimistic about India’s chances
Cologne, August 30 The Indian team, which is yet to win the Champions Trophy, hopes to put in a credible performance this time. “We will do our best to improve upon India’s dismal record at the Champion’s Trophy,” a confident Rajender Singh, coach of the Indian team, said here. India have won eight gold medals at the Olympics; they have one World Cup victory but a third place in 1982 in Amstelveen, Holland is India’s best performance at a Champions Trophy. Aslam Sher Khan, member of India’s winning World Cup team of 1975 and manager here, is optimistic and hopes “India could at least repeat its best performance of a third place finish” in Cologne. The six best teams competing in Cologne include Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Pakistan, Korea and India. India will take on reigning Olympic champions Netherlands in the second match on the opening day. India are coming from playing the Rabobank Four-Nation Tournament where they lost 2-5 to the Netherlands. “We have to be alert right from the beginning in all our matches, especially in the opener against Netherlands tomorrow,” said the Indian coach. “We were a couple of goals down very early in our last match against them. We must not let that happen tomorrow,” he said. India have a fairly good record against Asian teams having won the Asian Games in 1998. In the recent Rabobank tournament, India played their best match against Korea, a thrilling 2-2 draw. World champions, defending champions from the last edition at Rotterdam and hosts Germany will start as favourites to clinch the Trophy at Cologne. The Germans warmed up for the trophy with a 3-3 draw against Korea a couple of days ago in a warm up Test match. They had claimed an outstanding World Cup title earlier this year in Kuala Lumpur by beating Australia in the final. The Germans have a fine blend of youth and experience. Their stalwarts Florian Kunz Oliver Domke and Christoph Bechmann will provide the much-needed experience in this tough tournament. Reigning Olympic champions Netherlands and last edition finalist Australia will be the other teams in contention for the top spot. The Dutch have won the Champions Trophy five times and with manager Bovelander’s experience to guide them they will look to regain the title. The Australians who lost out in the final of the World Cup will look to establish their supremacy with a top spot finish. Their coach Barry Dancer feels “the Aussie team has the necessary endurance to survive the six tough games that are to be played in the next 10 days”. Pakistan will be looking to re-establish themselves after their humiliating defeat to New Zealand in the Commonwealth Games. They seem to be in a transition phase having lost out some fine players in the recent past. The Koreans have never won a Champions Trophy title in the past but they are a side capable of matching the fitness of the European sides. They could well be the surprise packet of this tournament. The Champions Trophy will begin tomorrow and the final will be played on September 8. The following is the schedule of matches (all times IST): Saturday, August 31: 4.45 p.m. Germany vs Pakistan, 6.45 p.m. India vs Netherlands, 8.45 p.m. Australia vs Korea. Sunday, Sep 1: 5.15 p.m. India vs Germany, 7.15 p.m. Korea vs Pakistan, 9.30 p.m. Netherlands vs Australia. Monday, Sep 2 — rest day. Tuesday, Sep 3: 7.45 p.m. Australia vs India, 10.15 p.m. Pakistan vs Netherlands Wednesday, Sep 4: 7.45 p.m. Germany vs Korea, 10.15 p.m. India vs Pakistan. Thursday, Sep 5: 7.45 p.m. Australia vs Germany, 10.15 p.m. Korea vs Netherlands. Friday, Sep 6: 5.45 p.m. Pakistan vs Australia, 7.45 p.m. Netherlands vs Germany, 10.15 p.m. Korea vs India. Saturday, Sep 7 — rest day Sunday, Sep 8: 2 p.m. match for rank 5: 5th vs 6th, 4.30 p.m. match for rank 3: 3rd vs 4th, 7.30 p.m. final: 1st vs 2nd. UNI
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Jamaica
rout India 3-0
New Delhi, August 30 The winners led 1-0 at half time. Indians looked a struggling lot and were defensive most of the time allowing their rivals to control the midfield. Jamaica consolidated their lead 38 minutes later through their captain Aaron Lawrence, also the goalkeeper, who made no mistake in converting the spot kick (2-0). The penalty was awarded to Jamaica after the Indian defenders fouled Ronald Dean in the box.
UNI
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New York, August 30
New York, August 30
