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Friday,
September 27, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Ponting predicts fiery contest
Sehwag ‘another Sachin’: Ponting Win celebrated till early morning Injured Nehra may miss final Pre-match comments:
Marvan Atapattu |
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Asian Games: India clash with Bangladesh today
Boxing squad leaves for Busan Chandigarh
XI shock BSF to enter last eight
NZ b’minton from Sept 28 Junior b’ball probables Haryana Police Games at Madhuban Shiva, Ashwani advance
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Ponting predicts fiery contest Colombo, September 26 Indeed the match to decide who will meet India in Sunday’s final will be bitterly fought as the two sides have a history of acrimony ever since Muttiah Muralitharan’s bowling action was questioned in Australia. “I think it’s going to be a tough game tomorrow for both sides. It’s going to be a fiery contest,” Ponting said. Ponting conceded that Sri Lanka had the home advantage, but said his experienced side had played all over the world in different conditions. “We are used to the hostility of the crowd in some parts of the world.” Sri Lanka and Australia had beaten Pakistan and New Zealand respectively, on their way to the final, making short work of their opponents in games that did not rise to competitive heights. Their other rivals were tournament minnows Holland and Bangladesh, and tomorrow’s semi-final will mean their return to top grade cricket after a lull of more than 10 days. A peculiar feature of the tournament’s scheduling is the long gap between matches. Ponting said it was quite different from one-day tournaments he was used to. The Aussies took a break to spend a few days in the Maldives, and were back for practice three days ago. “Our preparations so far have been very good,” he said. If both Aussie pace and Lankan spin match expectations, it will be the batting that will make the difference between winner and loser tomorrow. Skipper Sanath Jayasuriya made a brilliant hundred against Pakistan even while recovering from a shoulder dislocation. He and Aravinda de Silva will be the batting pivots for the hosts. Australia’s pace bowling battery is in sound form this season, with Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee forming a formidable trio which has often put the top order of opponents in trouble. Their batting, led by openers Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, has also been going great guns. Sri Lanka’s coach Dav Whatmore believes the key phase of either innings in a one-dayer against Australia will be the first 15 overs, during which the pace trio and the left- handed batting duo will be calling the shots. Ponting identified Jayasuriya and Muralitharan as the danger men for his side, and said individual players would have their own respective game plan to counter Muralitharan. “He’s a top class bowler, and is going to be the hardest to score off. He’s also a wicket-taking bowler. Individually, we should work out a game plan for him,” the Aussie skipper said. He also said it did not bother him whether Australia batted or bowled first, but felt that teams were better off setting huge targets than chasing them, especially in light of the manner in which South Africa lost the game against India last night. “They dug themselves into a hole, and never got out of it,” he said.
PTI
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Sehwag ‘another Sachin’: Ponting Colombo, September 26 “He (Sehwag) is in great form...He looks like another Sachin (Tendulkar),” Ponting observed while talking to the media on the eve of Australia’s semifinal clash against Sri Lanka. Sehwag’s blitzkrieg in the opening overs has become the talking point of Colombo and the people of this cricket-crazy island started talking of emergence of ‘Tendulkar No.2’. Sehwag, unleashed a blistering attack on the opening bowlers in the tournament scoring 48 in 36 balls against Zimbabwe in the first match before hitting his second one-day hundred of his career against England to win the match and the hearts of thousands of people who had turned up to watch his heroics. The way he pole-axed the English attack smashing 126 runs in 104 balls made the daunting target set by the Englishmen looked too meagre a total as India overhauled it with plenty to spare. India finished at 271 for two in 39.3 overs, thanks to contrasting centuries by Sehwag and skipper Saurav Ganguly (117 not out), chasing England’s 269 for seven and added a half century against South Africa in the semifinals yesterday. Apart from his knock of 59 in 58 balls, Sehwag displayed his all round capabilities by picking three crucial wickets in the end overs to fashion India’s stunning ten run win over the Proteas last night. The Indians were down and out in a match dominated by Herschelle Gibbs’ century and a valiant 97 by Jacques Kallis. The departure of Gibbs (116) due to cramps and exhaustion with South Africa requiring 70 in 78 balls, changed the fate of the semifinal contest head on with India bouncing back to snatch a memorable victory. Sehwag bowled a tight spell of five consecutive overs in the slog overs and finished with three wickets, including two in the last over to bag the Man-of-the-Match award. “Sehwag has a good technique (like Sachin Tendulkar) and plays all the kind of shots in the book,” Ponting observed, when asked to comment on his team’s strategy to contain his run flow in the event of Australia entering the final. Sehwag’s innings drew praise from all the rival captains, with Zimbabwe skipper Heath Streak saying - “We could not contain the Indians, especially Sehwag in the first 15 overs. We could not restrict him as he was hitting boundaries.” Referring to Sehwag’s knock in the match against England, Indian skipper Ganguly said Sehwag’s innings was absolutely brilliant. “He played his natural game and took the pressure away by chasing a big total. The way he played it took the sting out of the attack,” Saurav said. His stance, his mannerisms and the way he execute his shots on both sides of the wicket-whether it is cutting past the point, or driving past the bowler, or flicking off his pads to midwicket fence or that short arm pull or playing a forward defensive shot-it resembles like Tendulkar, said an ardent cricket fan at the Premadasa Stadium, soon after Sehwag reached 50 in the semifinals against South Africa last night.“I saw him playing here for the first time when he scored that hundred at the SSC grounds last year. He is simply superb. If he continues in the same vein then the bowlers across the world are going to have sleepless nights,” he said. Sehwag hit his maiden one-day hundred when he recorded the seventh fastest century in one-day history hitting 100 in 65 balls against New Zealand in a triangular tournament last year.
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Win celebrated till early morning Colombo, September 26 “We were awake till about 3 this morning,” a bleary-eyed Sehwag, who scored 59 off 58 balls and snared three wickets, told IANS. “Everyone drank whatever he liked, and we just had a gup-shup (chit-chat).” Sehwag said he also telephoned his family in New Delhi and spoke to his mother and elder brother. Asked what his mother had said, he remarked: “She told me not to give away my wicket easily.” While Sehwag preferred to stay put in his room on Thursday, leg-spinner Anil Kumble, who went wicketless on Wednesday, was one of the first players to come down to the restaurant on the ground floor for breakfast. The Indian team had a scheduled pool session in the evening. It has now become routine for the players to spend a couple of hours in the pool under the watchful eyes of the team trainer Adrian le Roux and physiotherapist Andrew Leipus. The Indian players’ physical fitness has improved remarkably in the last few months, especially after le Roux took over just before the tour of the West Indies at the beginning of this year. This was evident during the semi-final against South Africa on Wednesday. Almost all the players threw themselves at the ball after Yuvraj Singh, a natural left-hander, took a sensational, diving right-handed catch to dismiss Jonty Rhodes. The catch turned around the match on its head as it seemed to give a new lease of life to the Indian team. Yuvraj took two more stunning catches to play a crucial role in the ultimate win. Apart from le Roux and Leipus, coach John Wright has been doing a fantastic job, though he prefers to remain in the background and lets the players bask in the glory.
IANS |
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Injured Nehra may miss final Colombo, September 26 Nehra suffered the injury in the course of the South African innings last night when he attempted to run out Jacques Kallis off his own bowling. He split the webbing between the index finger and middle finger on his left hand and it required five stitches. “There’s a question mark over him at the moment,” Leipus said. “He could still recover in time and a decision would be made on Saturday. He has no problem gripping the ball, but we have to consider catching and other aspects.” Nehra, who captured two early wickets against England, had to abort his spell in the semifinal last night due to the injury. However, the rest of the team had no injury concerns and took a day off from practice after the sensational victory over South Africa. India came back from a nearly hopeless situation to choke the Proteas in the end overs. India won by 10 runs after the South Africans were cruising towards an easy victory at one stage. Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly cut a victory cake in an impromptu celebration in the team hotel and shared it with fans and members of the media who were present. Yuvraj Singh, who scored a half-century and snaffled three catches to contribute to the Indian win, was also present. the South Africans were preparing themselves for their trip back home and appeared a dejected lot. Team coach Eric Simons conceded in an informal chat with reporters that their batsmen had become a bit complacent when they had a lot of wickets in hand and had a run-a-ball asking rate. The sudden retirement of century-maker Herschelle Gibbs due to cramps and the subsequent fall of quick wickets had turned the contest on its head, he said. “Gibbs had begun to feel the cramps in his hands for three or four overs during which the scoring rate came down before he was forced to go off the field,” Simons said.
PTI |
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Pre-match
comments: Marvan Atapattu The way the pitch behaved during the first semifinals has given us a lot of confidence as we go into Friday’s knock-out game against Australia. Plenty of cricket has been played at the
Premadasa, and the slowing down of the pitches in the latter stages of the tournament was inevitable. Fortunately, we have the bowlers to take full advantage of the conditions. Besides Muthiah
Muralitharan, who is a factor on any surface, slow bowlers like Russell Arnold and Aravinda De Silva could also come into the equation in such conditions. However, we are not underestimating the Australians. They are a team that are on top of their game in all departments. As an opener, I rate their opening pace attack of Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie very high. However, it’s best not to go into a match thinking of your opponent’s past record. It’s much wiser to play each ball on merit. Moreover, bowling in these conditions can be a punishing exercise, and the heat will tell on pace bowlers after a couple of overs. The toss did not come into the equation in the first semifinal. South Africa were able to restrict India to some extent despite the bowlers being exhausted, and later, their batsmen almost made it. However, the toss is usually very important at the Premadasa, and batting first is generally a big advantage. India won the match even though they did not capitalize on winning the toss. They have been in superb form right through the tournament, and made it to the semis from the toughest group. They were completely dominant in the game against England, and yesterday, they simply did not give up even when South Africa were 194 for 1. They saw their opportunity when Herschelle Gibbs retired and went in for the kill. This Indian side is a lot more balanced now, though there could be occasions later when they miss that extra bowler. Virender Sehwag showed glimpses of his ability with the ball, but whether he is good enough to regularly bowl six-plus overs, only time will tell. As far as the second semifinal is concerned, the gap between the last group game and the semis could affect both teams. It’s been 11 days since we played Holland, and the crowds have played the Aussie-Lankan semifinals in the minds several times over! There is too much time and hence too much talk about our chances. Australia got away from it all by taking of to the Maldives, but the Sri Lankans have been subject to a fair amount of pressure from the public in these 11 days. Perhaps this would not have happened if the tournament format were a little different. By playing the tougher match earlier, most of the suspense went out of the tournament, and this semifinal clash was a foregone conclusion ever since Australia beat New Zealand. Fewer groups would give all teams a chance to come back after a defeat, and more importantly sustain spectator interest. However, the team has been practicing hard after a two-day break and we are very confident as we go into the semis. The Australians are a great unit, but we have been playing good cricket for the last couple of months, and will go all out to maintain our record.
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Asian Games: India clash with Bangladesh today Busan, September 26 Skipper Baichung Bhutia and his new look team will be hoping to keep the momentum going and start the tournament on a victorious note though winning a medal in the championship, which has a number of strong teams like hosts South Korea, Japan, China and Uzbeskistan will be very tough. The Indians, who arrived in this port city a few days in advance to get acclimatised to the conditions, have been clubbed with China, Bangladesh and Turkmenistan. The recent victory in the six-nation LG Cup has served as a huge confidence booster for the team which is suddenly looking a lot more organised and competitive on the field. A lot of credit for the transformation must go to Constantine, who has brought about new work ethic in the team with emphasis on discipline and endurance. The boys seem to have gelled well with Constantine and the results have started to show to some extent. The players had a light workout today and the mood in the camp is upbeat. “We are confident of doing well” captain Bhutia said. The Indians, who had won a medal in 1962, will be more determined to break the medal drought this time around but it will need a stupendous performance from the team to make that happen. The team had won the gold medal in the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games thanks to the brilliant efforts of P.K. Banerjee and Jarnail Singh. The only other time India won a gold medal was in the inaugural edition of the games in New Delhi in 1951 but after the 1962 triumph, nothing has really come their way much to the disappointment of football lovers in the country. Bangladesh have often proved a hard nut to crack for the Indians and the honours have more or less been shared in the last decade. The tenacious neighbours are known for their never-say-die spirit and are unlikely to give anything away to the Indians. The seasoned defender Debjit Singh has some experience of playing against the Bangladeshis while Renedy Singh also enjoys a fair idea about his rivals. The Indians will start in a positive frame of mind as they seek to capitalise on their new found enthusiasm on the field which has been a revelation to some extent. “We will go into the match with a positive frame of mind. We have played some tough matches against Bangladesh but we are confident of overcoming them... We have been playing quite well in recent times,” senior player Debjit Ghosh said. Altogether 24 teams will be participating in the football championship with six matches scheduled tomorrow, two days ahead of the opening ceremony.
PTI |
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Boxing squad leaves for Busan Patiala, September 26 Ever since Dingko stunned the boxing fraternity by winning the gold in his favourite bantamweight category against all odds in the 1998 Bangkok Asian games, the navy boxer has been plagued with nagging injuries. A NIS coach admitted that Dingko was still the best boxer in his weight category and that nobody possessed either the reaction or the timing that he had and that he was one of the most deceptive pugilists of Asia. Adds a colleague “despite all this talk about his being injured, Dingko still possesses the knack to deliver provided he is given some shock therapy like the one he was administered before the Bangkok Asiad.” Meanwhile, the eight-member team that will do duty for the country at Busan includes Mohammad Ali Qamar, Dingko Singh, S.B Punn, B.Ramanand, Sanjay Kumar, Jitendra Kumar, Harpal Singh and Veghese Jhonson. G.S Sandhu is accompanying the squad as the chief coach while foreign coach Peter Stoyonov will be his deputy. |
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Chandigarh
XI shock BSF to enter last eight Chandigarh, September 26 While Northern Railway overcame stiff resistance from Ropar Hawks before winning 8-7 via sudden death, Chandigarh XI shocked Border Security Force, Jalandhar, by a solitary goal to book their berth in the last eight. In another pre-quarterfinal tie, Punjab and Sind Bank edged out a fighting Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Jalandhar, 1-0 to set up a quarter-final clash with RCF Kapurthala. Faridkot XI had moved into the last eight yesterday. Four teams —Corps of Signals, Jalandhar, Punjab Police, Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, and Central Reserve Police Force have been seeded directly in the quarterfinals. Playing fast and attacking hockey, Chandigarh XI clearly held an edge over BSF, who only three days back lifted the Baba Farid Gold Cup at Faridkot. The game was hardly three minutes old when Chandigarh XI struck the lethal blow. A defence-splitting hit by defender Saurabh Bishnoi, was received by Gurtej in the 25-yard region, who instantly directed the ball towards the diminutive Surjit Singh(Junior). In a fraction of a second, Surjit guided the ball home leaving the entire defence stunned. That was the only goal of the match after which the proceedings remained confined mostly to the midfield. BSF forced as many as four penalty corners while Chandigarh XI earned only one. Tomorrow, Chandigarh XI will meet defending champions Corps of Signals in the quarterfinals. Punjab and Sind Bank, assisted by several internationals, including Olympian Sanjeev Kumar, also advanced to the last eight in similar fashion chalking out a solitary goal win over EME, Jalandhar. The all-important goal, coming at the stroke of half time, was the result of a brilliant move set up by Sandeep Ghuman who centred to an advancing Baljit Chandi. Chandi’s instant hit caught the EME custodian on the pads and the ball rolled to Ajit Pal Singh, who calmly pushed the ball into the net. Earlier, Olympian Sanjeev Kumar of Punjab and Sind Bank limped off the ground after receiving a nasty hit on his left foot. The EME goalkeeper, P.T. Rao, also effected some brilliant saves, especially off short corners to deny the bank men a chance to consolidate the lead. Midway through the second half, Punjab and Sind Bank’s Mandeep Ghuman missed a sitter as he failed to tap the ball into an empty goal off a cross from the corner. Towards the end, umpire Satinder Sharma, who is scheduled to officiate in the Asian Games, flashed the yellow card for Rajbir Singh of PSB who betrayed signs of belligerence. The last pre-quarterfinal was indeed a battle of nerves as it extended to the tie-breaker and then to sudden death. In the stipulated period, Ropar Hawks and Northern Railway were tied 1-1. Displaying aggressiveness from the start, Ropar Hawks forged ahead three minutes from the breather as Joga Singh after advancing into the striking circle menacingly, beat Northern Railway goalkeeper Ambuj with an angular hit. After the breather, Northern Railway came back rather strongly and tasted success immediately. As Sandeep centred from the left, Kuldeep provided the finishing touches instantly to restore parity(1-1). Thereafter, the two teams fought tooth and nail to clinch the issue but a goal eluded them. With the issue remaining deadlocked, the match stretched to the tie breaker in which again both teams were level after converting three strokes each. In sudden death that followed, Northern Railway converted four strokes while Ropar Hawks found the target thrice to bow out of the tournament. Friday’s fixtures (quarterfinals): CRPF v Faridkot XI — 2.30 pm; Signals v Chandigarh XI — 4 pm. |
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NZ b’minton from Sept 28 Chandigarh, September 26 Competitions events will be held for Rahimtoola Cup for men, Chadha Cup for women, Shafi Quarashi cup for girls (under-19) and Narang cup for boys (under-19). The matches will be played on old scoring system of 15 x3, which was made mandatory by the International Badminton Federation, with exception in girls and women doubles, where it will be of 11x3 system. The tournament was supposed to be held in the Sector 42 indoor badminton hall, but the renovation work to change the wooden courts forced the organisers to shift it to Panjab University. The chief referee of the tournament will be Anil Singh while the BAI will send its tournament committee members L.C. Gupta (secretary, BAI), Rajinder Kalsi (treasurer, BAI) and O.D. Sharma (joint secretary , BAI) for the meet. The matches will be held in two sessions from 9 am and in the afternoon from 3 pm. Meanwhile, the Chandigarh
Badminton Association also announced its team for championship. Chandigarh play their first match in the men, women and boys section with Delhi while in the girls section it is against Rajasthan. The team: Men: Ashish Sharma, Deepak Sidhu, Amit Sachdeva, Varun Sharma, Yogesh Chauhan and Vivek Sharma; junior boys: Akash Sethi, Gurdeep, Vikas Kundu and Pankaj Nathani. Women: H. Sarda, Mala Gaba, Isha Sharma and Bhavna Sharma; junior girls: Mala Gaba, Isha Sharma, Harleen Kaur and Samridhi Mahajan. |
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Junior b’ball probables Ludhiana, September 26 Twentyone probables have been shortlisted for the first coaching camp which began at Guru Nanak Stadium here today in preparation for the Asian Basketball Confederation Championship scheduled to be held from December 16 to 26 at Kuwait. This camp will continue up to October 18. The other probables are: Raymand Irani (Maharashtra), T.S. Prakash Rao (Chhattisgarh), Navneet Singh and Ramasare Yadav (Rajasthan), A. Thangadurai and D. Dwaragesh (Tamil Nadu), S. Nihal Yadav (Andhra Pradesh), Utlas Jose, Monish Wilson and Kiran Nair P. (Kerala), S. Subbaiah (Karnataka), Vipul Pal (Uttaranchal), Vikas Mohanthy (Orissa), Binod Chaudhary (Jharkhand), Bijender and Sarvidner (Delhi) and Sunder Singh (Haryana). |
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Haryana Police Games at Madhuban Chandigarh, September 26 Stating this here today, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Training, Mr B.S. Sandhu, said that competitions would be held in five sports disciplines — judo, weightlifting, wrestling, boxing and gymnastics. About 1000 sportspersons from all the seven sports ranges of the Haryana Police would participate in the four-day meet. He said that the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Home, Mr B.D. Dhalia, would be the chief-guest at the opening ceremony. |
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Shiva, Ashwani advance Chandigarh, September 26 Results: U-14: Ist round: Deepak Berwal (Bhiwani) b Robin Goel (Panchkula); Mrinal (Pkl) w/o Anil; IInd round: Shiva Sangwan (Hisar) b Vikram Malik (Pkl); Anshul (Pkl) b Resham Singh (Sirsa), Ravneet Saini (Pkl) b Shubham Jain (Pkl); U-16: Shiva Sangwan (Hsr) b Vikram (Pkl), Ashwani Kumar (Bhi) b Sagar Kumar (Sirsa); Rajesh (Ynr) b Dhruv (Pkl), Yogesh (Sirsa) w/o Rohit (Ynr). |
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