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Saturday,
September 7, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Harbhajan leads Indian fightback
Chetan Sharma writes PCB peeved by Pak’s
poor performance Bhupathi-Mirnyi duo wins
US Open doubles
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Pete Sampras ousts Roddick, enters semis
Venus, Serena on collision course India go down to Korea Holland stop
German run
Gill praises hockey team’s display Top athletes to vie for honours Khalsa College, HMM champions Mukesh
leader Satish wins title Haryana
handball from Sept 15
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Harbhajan leads Indian fightback
London, September 6 After a lacklustre performance on the opening day yesterday, Indian bowlers showed a marked improvement in their discipline and bowled out England half an hour into the final session’s play. India closed out the second day’s play at 66 for one, having lost the wicket of Virender Sehwag for 12. Rahul Dravid (31) and Sanjay Bangar (17) were at the crease. England, who resumed the day at their overnight 336 for two, lost wickets at regular intervals after the dismissal of Michael Vaughan, who narrowly missed his double century for the second time in this series. Vaughan, unbeaten on 182 yesterday, was caught by wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra off Zaheer Khan for 195 with 29 boundaries after a 379-minute vigil. The hard-working Bangar then came up with an inspired spell to send back captain Nasser Hussain (10) and John Crawley (26) before Harbhajan Singh wiped off the tail. Vaughan, who began the day on 182 after recording his fourth Test century of the English summer on Thursday, looked destined for a double hundred when he smashed the first ball of the day from Ajit Agarkar through the covers for his 28th boundary. He hit another four to race to 190 and straight drove Agarkar for three to move to 195. The Yorkshire opener, who made 100 in the first Test before missing out on a double century in the second when he was dismissed for 197, then played at a slanting ball from left-arm pace bowler Zaheer Khan to get the faintest of touches through to wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra. Crawley, who shared a 77-run third wicket partnership with Vaughan, opened his account for the day when he smashed a back-foot cover drive for four off Agarkar before flicking the next ball down to fine leg for another boundary. England captain Hussain joined Crawley and struck the second ball he faced to the cover boundary to bring up 350. But India, whose performance in the field on Thursday was poor, got back into the match when Crawley played back to a full-length ball from Sanjay Bangar and was out lbw for 26 to leave the home side 367 for four. SCOREBOARD England (1st innings): Trescothick c Bangar b Zaheer 57 Vaughan c Ratra b Zaheer 195 Butcher c Dravid b Harbhajan 54 Crawley lbw b Bangar 26 Hussain c Laxman b Bangar 10 Stewart c Ratra b Harbhajan 23 Cork lbw b Harbhajan 52 Tudor c Dravid b Harbhajan 2 Giles c Dravid b Kumble 31 Caddick not out 14 Hoggard lbw b Harbhajan 0 Extras (b12, lb31, w1, nb7) 51 Total
(all out in 155.4 overs) 515 FoW: 1-98, 2-272, 3-349, 4-367, 5-372, 6-434, 7-446, 8-477, 9-514. Bowling: Zaheer 28-4-83-2, Agarkar 24-4-111-0, Bangar 24-8-48-2, Harbhajan 38.4-6-115-5, Kumble 35-11-105-1, Ganguly 4-1-6-0, Tendulkar 2-0-4-0. India (1st innings): Bangar batting 17 Sehwag c Cork b Caddick 12 Dravid batting 31 Extras
(lb-1, nb-5) 6 Total (for 1 wkt, 22 overs) 66 Fall of wicket: 1-18 Bowling: Hoggard 6-1-22-0, Caddick 6-2-17-1, Giles 3-0-7-0, Tudor 4-2-14-0, Cork 2-1-4-0, Vaughan 1-0-1-0.
PTI
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Chetan Sharma writes England’s total of 515 means that India’s bid to win their first series outside of the subcontinent Asia in 16 years will remain a mirage. At best, India can only try to draw this Test, and if they manage to do that over the next three days, the series will also be drawn at 1-1. The Indian bowling started very well in the morning and I thought they would get England all out for less than 420-430, considering that Michael Vaughan, John Crawley and Nasser Hussain had been prized out in the opening session itself. But that was not to be as, once again, our bowlers let the tail escape with loose balls and free runs. India’s problem so far in the Test has been loss of concentration for the bowlers. Like I said, they took wickets but then relaxed only for England to come back in the game. Vaughan was unlucky again to miss a double century. I don’t know what record books will say but have you ever heard of a batsman being dismissed in a series twice in the 190s? Still, his innings was worth the effort. He is the player we will hear a lot about his batting, especially on wickets where he can play shots off the front foot. He may struggle on the bouncier wickets in Australia or South Africa but I can tell you, the Indians will be happy to see his back whenever they play. Dominic Cork and Ashley Giles also combined their effort to push England beyond the 500-run figure. This is a very good total, even if the wicket is good for batting. Harbhajan Singh picked up five wickets and should be happy with that but I would have definitely liked the off-spinner bowl the way he did in the last Test. Here, he was again trying to bowl middle-leg line which shouldn’t be the way an off-spinner should be bowling. Sanjay Bangar was the surprise packet for India and his bowling was ideally suited to the wicket. He bowled outside off, getting the ball to swing away and with his pace, batsmen couldn’t play forceful cover drives. Bangar’s batting in the evening further re-inforced my belief that if a player is committed, he can be very useful for the team. I am sure the Indian batsmen would also like an outing at the Oval pitch which looks full of runs.
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PCB peeved by Pak’s
poor performance
Islamabad, September 6 Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) president Lt Gen Tauqir Zia called up the team management and players individually in Nairobi after Wednesday’s pathetic loss to Australia and made it clear that he was unhappy at what was happening, Pakistan daily ‘The News’ said. The warning, apparently, came in the light of the recent policy of the board to appoint the team captain and coach on a short term basis, instead of confirming them for long periods, it quoted PCB sources as saying. Zia’s phone call followed successive defeats suffered by Pakistan at the hands of Australia in the two league matches. The batting collapsed in both the matches, with the team failing to score even 150 runs while the bowling by the fearsome trio of Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar also did not make any dent. The team also barely managed to beat minnows Kenya in both the matches and would be tested again in the final against Australia tomorrow. Before the tri-series in Nairobi, the team had failed to qualify for the final in a triangular tournament involving Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa in Morocco.
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Bhupathi-Mirnyi duo wins US Open doubles New York, September 6 The No 3 seeds yesterday won two consecutive matches to reach the final. With today’s win, the duo has won three matches within 24 hours to take the Grand Slam crown. Bhupathi and Mirnyi saved four match points to beat Zimbabwe’s Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett 7-6 (7/4), 5-7, 7-6 (7/4) in a quarter-final, then outlasted American brothers Mike and Bob Bryan 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in a semifinal last night. Bhupathi and Mirnyi beat Novak and Stepanek 7-5, 6-3 last month in a Cincinnati semifinal in their only prior meeting. The Czech 11th seeds advanced to the final by ousting fourth seeds Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Todd Woodbridge of Australia 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) in the other semifinal. Bhupathi and Mirnyi barely got past the Africans in their first match. They had two match points on Mirnyi’s serve in the 10th game of the third set and two more against Bhupathi in the 12th, but were denied each time. AFP
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Pete Sampras ousts Roddick, enters semis
New York, September 6 Showing the form that made him a 13-time Grand Slam champion, the 31-year-old American legend beat his 20-year-old compatriot yesterday for the first time in three tries. After a year of struggles, Sampras has clearly found his game when it matters most. “He was pretty spectacular when he had to be,” Roddick said. “(It’s) what he has been saying all along — ‘I’m not done yet.’” Sampras reached a Saturday semi-final matchup against fourth-seeded Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, who advanced to his first Grand Slam semifinal by outlasting Chile’s 28th seed Fernando Gonzalez 6-7 (5/7) 6-3 6-3 6-7 (5/7) 7-6 (7/2). “For me, it’s just a dream,” Schalken said. “I’ll just go for it and see where it ends.” Sampras, runner-up here the past two years, is 4-0 against Schalken but has not played him since 1998. Despite the domination, Sampras said he was not looking ahead to a possible final against reigning champion Llyton Hewitt or rival Andre Agassi. Britain’s Greg Rusedski had ripped Sampras as too slow and unable to compete with younger stars such as Roddick and Germany’s Tommy Haas, Sampras’ past two victims. Such critics have simply fuelled Sampras’ desire to prove them wrong. Sampras has not won a title since capturing his career-record 13th Slam title in 2000 at Wimbledon, struggling to simply win back-to-back matches and suffering a humiliating second round ouster at Wimbledon, an event he has won seven times. “I feel like I have the power, the finesse at the net,” Sampras said. “It’s all there. I haven’t shown much of it this year but I still have it. Roddick won both prior meetings with Sampras, at last year’s third round in Miami and this year’s Houston finals in April. That clay-court event was the last time Sampras had won more than twice at an ATP event until this fortnight. AFP
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Venus, Serena on collision course
New York, September 6 Lindsay Davenport and Amelie Mauresmo are the final obstacles to what could be the latest instalment of the “Williams Show’’. Mauresmo will be the first player to try and end the Williams sisters’ grand slam dominance when she faces two-time defending champion Venus in the first semi-final. Davenport, who has looked solid in her comeback from knee surgery, will try to end Serena’s 19-match grand slam winning streak in their all-American showdown. Except for a three-set tussle in the fourth round against Chanda Rubin, Venus has looked nothing short of unbeatable and appears ready to claim a third straight trophy here and end her sister’s grand slam run, having fallen to Serena in the French Open and Wimbledon finals. On Wednesday, Venus vanquished two-time winner Monica Seles and has dropped just 11 games in the four matches outside of her win over Rubin and will be appearing in her sixth straight Open semifinal. Mauresmo has stated that having the Williams sisters compete in every grand slam final is “boring’’ for women’s tennis. She will have to display the resilience she showed in her quarter-final win over Jennifer Capriati to have any chance at beating Venus for the first time in five tries. Down a set and with Capriati serving for the match, Mauresmo rallied to victory and will vie for her second Grand Slam final, after finishing runner-up at the 1999 Australian Open. “It’s going to be a very tough match, especially since physically it (the Capriati match) was very tough for me,’’ Mauresmo said. ‘’I’m going to have to recover very well from that. We’ll see how it goes.’’ Serena has looked even more dominating than her sister as she vies for a third straight major and second Open title. The 1999 winner and last year’s runner-up to Venus, Serena has dropped a total of 13 games in five matches and will look to continue her career success against Davenport. Serena has won seven of nine meetings with Davenport, including six of their last seven meetings on hard courts. Last year the two played a tight three-set quarter-final here before Serena gutted out the victory, avenging a quarter-final defeat to Davenport in 2000. “We’re top players,’’ Serena said. “We play the same style of game. I actually like playing Lindsay. I can’t wait. Win, lose or draw, I’m going to have fun.’’ Davenport, the 1998 winner, has not shown any signs of slowing down in only her fifth event since undergoing knee surgery in January. She has reached the semifinals or better in all events she has played in her comeback and except for a three-set win in the quarter-finals against Elena Bovina, has made quick work of her opponents. “I really could have ever said that this would happen, especially after January and February,’’ Davenport said. “I really think this is one of my better achievements, just to be able to come back from everything this year and get to the semis of a slam, still be in it, be a contender.’’
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India go down to Korea Cologne (Germany), September 6 The deadlock was broken in the 24th minute when off their second penalty corner Kyo Shin seok scored a beautiful goal from a set-piece move.A minute later, the Koreans earned their third penalty corner with the hit deflecting high and Kanwaljit Singh raised his stick above the shoulder to keep it out. The umpire didn’t have any hesitation in pointing for a penalty stroke which was converted by Ha Jong Jeon with a flick to the left of goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan to make it 2-0.At the break, Korea led 2-0. Five minutes after the break, India cut the lead when Dhanraj Pillay picked up a stray ball in the circle and drove it past the Korean goalkeeper Lim Jong Chun. But against the run of play in the 51st minute Korea increased the lead to 3-1. Goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan saved the first shot but then took, his eyes off the rebound which was picked up by Hyun Jong Hwang who shot it between the ‘keeper and Vikram Pillay.With just three minutes left in the match, Korea earned their eighth penalty corner. The flick was saved by Devesh but the rebound was shot in by Seok Kyung kim as the Koreans brought up their fourth goal.India made a last run into Korean territory with a minute left on the clock. A rasping shot from a long corner found the Korean goalkeeper charging out to take the balls on the pads but Gagan Ajit Singh was lurking to his left as he fell and swiped the ball into goal to score in his 100th international for India to make it 2-4. Hosts Germany who lost to Holland 2-5 will once again play them for the gold medal. Australia, winless so far in the tournament will meet Korea to decide who will finish 5th-6th. The last placed team will not play the Champions Trophy next year. PTI
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Holland stop German run
Cologne, September 6 The result puts the Netherlands in the final with Germany. The top two teams of the tournament played a very fast-paced evenly matched first half, but the Netherland paced up the game in last 15-20 minutes and outplayed Germany in all departments of the game. The Dutch looked dangerous from the very start of the game with De Nooijer and M Brouwer making some excellent moves down the left flank. The Germans, however, defended resolutely with some counter attacks of their own. A great run by De Nooijer down the left flank was finished easily by Mathias Brouwer to put the Dutch 1-0 up in the 13th minute. This spurred on the Germans and the game suddenly gained pace with attacks on both ends. Domke, Emmerling, Weissenborn and Reinelt created chances for the Germans and their pressure finally told in the 28th minute when the Germans gained a penalty corner. Pak defeat Australia World Cup silver medallist Australia’s disastrous run in the continued as they crashed to their fifth consecutive defeat, losing 0-2 to Pakistan in their last league match here. Australia will now play off for the fifth and sixth position with either South Korea or Pakistan. Pakistan ensured their second victory in the tournament,their first coming against Korea whom they had beaten 4-1. With six points in their kitty, Pakistan are in a position to challenge India in the bronze medal play-off. Even if India lose to Korea in their last league match slated later today, the Koreans will have to win by more than four goals margin to have any chance of playing off for the bronze medal and deprive fans of yet another opportunity of seeing another India-Pakistan clash. Australia have struggled throughout the tournament and today was no different.
Suprisingly, a team that was near invincible in the 2002 World Cup is just a pale shadow of what it used to be barely six months back. The Aussies are without some top stars but to play just indifferent and pathetic hockey is not what one is used to seeing from a Australian squad. Against Pakistan today, the midfield did some good work but the Aussie frontline muffed chances just approaching the Pakistan circle. Thrice, two Aussie forwards had just one Pakistan defender in front, after a counter-attack, but they still failed to give the finishing touches. Pakistan opened the scoring sheet in the 22nd minute when Sohail Abbas fired in a perfect drag-flick that beat Martin Leon in goal. At the break, Pakistan led 1-0. After resumption, Australia forced their way up and raised visions of equalising. But the finish and the vision from the midfield was just not inspiring enough for the Aussies to raise their level of game. They played some hard hockey but against a Pakistan side that wanted a win at all costs, it just wasn’t good enough. In the 57th minute, Pakistan forged a move that increased the lead and took the match beyond Australia. Kashif Jawad picked up a ball and threaded his way in before passing it to Mudassar Ali Khan, who neatly tapped it into the Australian goal.
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Gill praises hockey team’s display
New Delhi, September 6 “The present team is full of confidence. I believe they have the potential to play even better...we are potential world champions,’’ Mr Gill told UNI in an exclusive interview. Mr Gill said the young boys were settling down into good rhythm and hoped that they would play even better in and record their best-ever performance at the Champions Trophy. Mr Gill was all praise for the budding talent in the Indian team. “The team produced an ideal display of fast paced hockey against arch-rivals Pakistan,’’ he said. He said the competition had become more open and “any of the top six teams can beat the other...it all depends on the form of the team on that given day.’’ Mr Gill has declared that if the team finishes first each player would be given a cash award of Rs 2 lakh and if they finish second, they would get Rs 1 lakh each. Former president of the IHF and senior vice-president of the International Olympic Committee Ashwini Kumar has also lauded the team’s efforts. “Prabhjot Singh is one of the best left wingers I have seen. Dhanraj set up a gem of a goal,’’ Mr Kumar said. Mr Kumar added, “It was a see-saw affair. Earlier, we used to get scared of Pakistan. But on Wednesday, they showed no nerves.’’ UNI
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Top athletes to vie for honours New Delhi, September 6 No wonder, over 700 top athletes would be competing in the Open athletics, including K M Beenamol, Shakti Singh, Bahadur Singh, Neelam J Singh, Anil Kumar P, Navpreet Singh, Saraswati Saha, Jincy Philip, Anuradha Biswal, Poonam Tomar, Promod Tiwari, Paramjit Singh, K M Binu, Sunita Rani, Gulab Chand and Kuldeep Kumar. The notable absentees would be Rachita Mistri (100m), Sandeep Sarkaria (100m), P Ramachandran (sprint) and Manjima Kuriakose (400m). They are either injured, or have been advised “rest” by the coaches. But barring Sandeep Sarkaria, the other three athletes have already been cleared for the Asian Games by the government. The fourth-place finish of the 1998 Asian Games at Bangkok has been fixed as the qualification criteria, though in certain events, the AAFI has further relaxed the qualifying mark. Mr Bhanot said high jumper Bobby Aloysius, who is presently training in Moscow, and discus thrower Anil Kumar, currently training in Budapest (Hungary) will directly go to Busan for the Asian Games. In any case, the throwers have already attained the qualifying mark, and have been exempted from participating in the Open. In the Open athletics, 22 events will be held in the men’s section and 21 in the women’s section. Athletes from 23 states and seven public sector boards will participate in the meet. The Open meet has been dubbed as “confirmatory trials for all those who will participate in the Asian Games at Busan”. Therefore, Mr Bhanot clarified, “participation in this championship is mandatory to all the aspirants for the Asian Games”. He said trials will also be held in the 4x100 men’s and women’s relay teams. He said there was no need to hold trials for the 4x400 metre relay teams as their timings were far better than the qualifying mark. Mr Bhanot said the final list would be released on September 10. When asked who forwarded the first list cleared by the Government, Mr Bhanot claimed ignorance. But sources said the first list of athletes was sent to the government by The Indian Olympic
Association, though Mr Bhanot said the AIFF hoped to get around 60 athletes cleared for the Asiad. Mr Bhanot asserted that the federation would not recommend the names of those athletes who do not live upto expectation in the Open Athletics. Citing an example, Mr Bhanot said Mandeep Kaur, who has been cleared by the government, stands seventh among the 100m aspirants for the Asian Games. Now, she has to “reconfirm” her worth to be considered for the Asiad by the AAFI. “We cannot ignore the merit of other athletes”, the AAFI secretary asserted. Mr Bhanot said this time, departing from convention, three entries would be permitted in each event, to enable more athletes to vie for The Asian Games slots. Most of the athletes had attained the qualifying mark during the Federation Cup in Chennai, the National Circuit meets and the Raja Bhalendra Singh athletic meet in Delhi last month. But the Open nationals would afford an opportunity to long distance runner like Gulab Chand to attempt the qualifying mark. Gulab Chand, who returned to competitive athletics after an year-long gap, had won the 3000 metres rather effortlessly in the Rajendra Bhalendra Singh athletic meet. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which had sponsored the prize money Raja Bhalendra Singh meet, will be the sponsors of the Open meet too. The DDA has given Rs seven lakh to the AAFI for the conduct of the meet. |
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Khalsa College, HMM champions Amritsar, September 6 Local DAV College remained runners-up with 74 points and Doaba College, Jalandhar remained third with 16 (sixteen) points in men section while in the women section local BBK DAV College for Women remained runners-up by amassing 48 points and RC SD College for Women, Pathankot got third position with 9 (nine) points. The following are the results Men’s Section: 100m Free Style: 1. Puneet Pal Singh, DAVC, Asr, 2. Jaspreet Singh, Khalsa College, Asr and 3. Rohit Dhir, Khalsa College, Asr. 400m Individual Medley: 1. Sukhwant Singh, DAVC Asr, 2. Rajwinder Singh, Doaba College, 3. Suraj, DAVC Asr. 50m Free Style: 1. Jaspreet Singh, Khalsa College, Asr, 2. Puneet Pal Singh, DAVC, Asr, 2. Rohit Dhir, Khalsa College, Asr. 4x100 Medley Relay: 1. Khalsa College Ars, 2. DAV College, Asr and 3. Doaba College, Jal. Women Section: 400m Individual Medley: 1. Maridumai, HMV Jal, 2. Vishal, BBK DAV College for Women, Asr. 100m Free Style: 1. Resham, HMV, Jal, 2. Satbir Kaur, BBK DAV College for Women, Asr, 3. Neena, RC SD College for Women, Pkt. 50m Free Style: 1. Resham, HMV, Jal, 2. Satbir Kaur, BBK DAV College for Women, Asr, 3. Vishal, BBK DAV College for Women. 4x200m Free Style: 1. HMV, Jal and 2. BBK DAV College for Women,
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Mukesh
leader Chennai, September 6 Digvijay Singh,
twice winner on the Hero Honda Golf Tour this season, shot a superb
five-under 67 but could not displace overnight leader Mukesh Kumar
from the top of the leader board on the penultimate day today. Divijay’s
effort however catapulted him to the fifth position from a lowly 20th. The
Mhow-based Kumar shot a three-under 69 today to aggregate 13-under 203
for the tournament, three strokes ahead of the second placed Feroz
Ali. Feroz was at 10-under 206 following a two-under 70 round. Ashok
Kumar of Delhi was one stroke behind Feroz at nine-under 207, while
Rafif Ali was in sole fourth. PTI |
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Satish wins title New Delhi, September 6 In the semi-finals Satish prevailed over Divanshu 11-8,12-14, 12-10, 11-4 while Rajat got the better of Gaurav 11-8,12-10, 13-11. Divanshu of Bhiwani beat Gaurav of Panchkula 8-11, 11-9, 12-14, 11-7, 14-12 for the third place. In the girls section, Neha of Sirsa rallied to beat Rashu 11-5, 13-11, 13-11. In the semi-finals, Neha beat Amandeep 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 while Rashu accounted for Suman 11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 13-11. Suman beat Amandeep 11-2, 11-9, 11-2 to finish third. In the sub-junior girls singles, Suman beat Sidhi, Steffi beat Richa and Neha beat Meenakshi. |
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Haryana
handball from Sept 15 Bhiwani, September 6 Stating this, the president of Haryana State Handball Association and Transport Minister Ashok Arora said member of Parliament and president, Table Tennis Federation of India, Mr Ajay
Singh Chautala, would inaugurate the championship on September 15 and the President, Haryana Olympic Association, Mr Abhey Singh Chautala, would be the chief guest on the closing ceremony on September 17. He said the best eight teams for 18th Haryana State Games to be held at Hisar from October 20 to 23 would be selected in this championship. Entries close with Mr S.S. Bura, District Sports Officer, Bhiwani, on September 12.
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