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Thursday,
January 9, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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India end losing
streak Zaheer’s strikes set the tone ‘Top order needs to work on batting’ Football team leaves for Dhaka
East Bengal in Durand Cup final
Agassi overpowers Enqvist |
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CRPF move into last four Punjab gymnastics squad
named India to take part in world school soccer Tushar restricts West Zone Autocross events in Chandigarh, Jaipur
Sports fest gets under way
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India end losing streak
Wellington, January 8 Despite another patchy display by most of their batsmen, the visitors got the better of the New Zealanders on another bowler-friendly wicket, largely due to an all-round display by Man of the Match Zaheer Khan and two excellent knocks from Yuvraj Singh, who top-scored with 54, and Virender Sehwag who made a characteristic 45 off 40 balls. Rocked by a fiery opening spell by Zaheer Khan, who took three wickets for 30 runs, New Zealand recovered from a shaky 51 for 5 to reach a decent 168 in 42.4 overs. Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble and Ashish Nehra took two wickets each. A brave gamble by out-of-form skipper Sourav Ganguly to open the innings failed as he chased a wide delivery to make a first-ball duck. Dinesh Mongia failed again making just 2. Sachin Tendulkar, having missed the first four one-dayers due to injury, walked to the wicket amid high expectations and played coolly for 10 deliveries before being given out by New Zealand umpire Brent Bowden in a horrendous decision. He had not scored when adjudged leg before wicket to a ball he played on to his pads well outside the off-stump. After a characteristic belligerent knock of 45 from 40 balls by Virender Sehwag had seen India recover from the early jolts, the tourists made a mess of what looked a comfortable run-chase and were in danger of losing their seventh match in a row when Anil Kumble was out as the seventh wicket in the 30th over. But Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan showed fine application and batted sensibly in the most fruitful partnership of the innings to bring the side within sniffing distance of victory. With just nine runs required to break the winless sequence that had seen the Indians lose both the Tests and the first four one-dayers, Yuvraj, who struck eight fours in his 85-ball knock, was out to an unnecessary shot to once again plunge the team into crisis. But Zaheer, who was batting on 26 at that time, kept his calm and, in the company of Javagal Srinath, guided his team past the target in 43.2 overs. Zaheer hit three fours and a six in his shining 42-ball innings. Earlier, the Indians found themselves in deep trouble when skipper Sourav Ganguly, Dinesh Mongia and Tendulkar returned to pavilion with just 25 runs on the board. SCOREBOARD New Zealand: Fleming c Dravid b Nehra 19 Astle lbw b Zaheer 0 Sinclair b Zaheer 0 Harris lbw b Zaheer 1 Cairns b Srinath 25 Styris b Nehra 13 McCullum b Kumble 35 Adams c Kaif b Ganguly 35 Vettori not out 16 Tuffey b Srinath 4 Bond lbw b Kumble 0 Extras (b-4, lb-7, w-3, nb-6) 20 Total (all out, 42.4 overs) 168 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0, 3-3, 4-48, 5-51, 6-92, 7-140, 8-158, 9-167. Bowling: Srinath 10-2-24-2, Zaheer Khan 8-0-30-3, Nehra 9-1-38-2, Ganguly 6-0-27-1, Kumble 9.4-0-38-2. India: Ganguly c McCullum b Tuffey 0 V Sehwag c Fleming
b Styris 45 Mongia b Bond 2 Tendulkar lbw b Bond 0 Dravid c McCullum
b Styris 7 Yuvraj c Harris b Vettori 54 Kaif c Fleming b Adams 1 A Kumble hit wicket
Zaheer not out 34 Srinath not out 2 Extras (lb-5, w-16, nb-2) 23 Total
(for 8 wkts, 43.2 overs) 169 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-19, 3-25, 4-66, 5-91, 6-114, 7-116, 8-160. Bowling: Tuffey 10-2-40-1, Bond 10-0-34-2, Adams 9.2-0-47-2, Styris 9-1-29-2, Vettori 5-1-14-1.
PTI |
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Zaheer’s strikes set the tone As it is turning out, batsmen have been villains in this series and neither team got the runs it wanted. Today’s match was also a low scoring one and for the result I think the Indians have got to be thankful to the New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming, who allowed the Indian seamers to bowl first on a fresh pitch in the afternoon. The moment Zaheer struck thrice in the opening overs, he had set up the match for his team. The Indian bowlers have toiled hard in the series and they looked all the more keen for a revenge today. Zaheer showed considerable consistency while Javagal Srinath was raring to go. Both make a good pair and if they click, India’s chances in the World Cup aren’t that bad, at least as far as the bowling is concerned. Ashish Nehra also has ability to swing the ball and when the Indian bowlers sensed the conditions, they were in no mood to let them go waste. I thought Saurav Ganguly overbowled himself. Had he not done that, may be India wouldn’t have allowed New Zealand to get to 168, but issues like these are part of the game. The Indian batting had the same story written all over it. Virender Sehwag looked dominant while the rest were clueless, be it Saurav Ganguly, Dinesh Mongia, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Mohammad Kaif. It was Yuvraj, who showed self belief and the willpower to win the match. His stand with Zaheer was very vital and the two saved India some of its lost pride. I would advise the seniors to pick up a few lessons from these youngsters. The series may have been lost but there is a lot of prestige at stake now. |
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‘Top order needs to work on batting’
Wellington, January 8 “Although we played well today, there are some areas in our batting that we need to work on,” Ganguly said after his struggling team fashioned a thrilling two-wicket victory in the fifth one-dayer against New Zealand here. Ganguly, who himself has struggled with the bat right through the Test and one-day series, said bowling first was a key factor in his team’s confidence-boosting win. “Bowling first was the key as it has been throughout the series. The ball did a bit in the first hour and we could put them under pressure,” he said. The Indian captain said that his team should have restricted the hosts to a smaller total after leaving them tottering at three for three at one stage. “We
should have restricted them. Brendon McCullam and Andre Adams played a cameo for them. But I thought 160 was a chaseable total batting second”. Ganguly singled out Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan for special praise saying they had delivered when the team needed it. “Yuvraj is a great talent and has started delivering. Batting at No 6 is not easy”. “It’s also good to see Zaheer score runs under pressure. He is a great asset for the side,” he said. New Zealand
captain Stephen Fleming sought to find the “positives” from their first defeat in the series saying it was important for him to know how the team reacted to pressure. “It was a day when we put ourselves under pressure. It gave us an idea on some of the things we are not happy with. There were some good knocks by the lower order batsmen, but the team has to get sharper,” Fleming said. “Three days ago (when the series was not decided), I would not have batted first on winning the toss on this wicket,” he admitted. Fleming said he chose to bat first in conditions favouring the bowlers to test his batsmen but his team fell short by 30-40 runs. “I thought 180-200 would have been a good enough total on this track. We could have got to 200 easily but we made mistakes throughout.... In a way it was good to expose our batsmen.” The New Zealand skipper was also disappointed with his bowlers saying they conceded too many extras. “We conceded as many as 23 extras and those many sundries made the difference in the end.” Fleming said with the series already decided, his team perhaps lacked the edge in this game. “Guys are probably looking too far ahead. The pressure of the World Cup squad is over, the series is won. “But we would try to maintain the edge in the next two games,” he said. Zaheer Khan, named man of the match for his fine all-round performance, said for the first time in the series he was satisfied with his performance. Zaheer took three wickets for 30 before scoring an unbeaten career-best 34 to guide India past the 169-run target for their first victory on the tour.
PTI |
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Football team leaves for Dhaka
Kolkata, January 8 Mohun Bagan coach and former India international defender Subrata Bhattacharjee had questioned the wisdom of coach Stephen Constantine in dropping former India captain Basudeb Mondol from the squad and taking veteran I.M. Vijayan to play in the eight-team championship beginning January 10. After a five-day camp for the SAF football tournament, British coach Constantine announced on January 6 a 20-member side by excluding Mohun Bagan midfielder Mondol on fitness grounds. The team has five new faces in Tollygunge Agragami’s Ashim Biswas, Subhash Chakraborty from East Bengal, Salgaocar’s Lawrence Climax, Vasco’s Selwin Fernandes and JCT’s Harvinder Singh. Custodian Sandeep Nandy of East Bengal and striker of Mahindra United R.C. Prakash could not find a place owning to their injuries. Earlier, former India captain Baichung Bhutia, Dipak Mondol, Mahesh Gawli and Tomba Singh were ruled out for their injuries. Before the camp started, the coach said he was not happy with the fitness of many players, especially Bhutia, Mondol and Gawli. New captain Debjit Ghosh of Mahindra United was also not happy with few days of practice he got with a new bunch of side and said defending title would be a tough proposition. Bagan coach Bhattacharjee had questioned Constantine’s decision to drop Mondol when he was called for the camp. “How the foreign coach determined in three days that Mondol was unfit and why was his consistency in the National Football League not taken into consideration?” Bhattacharjee asked. The foreign coach, who took over the charge of the India’s senior side in May, was for the first time openly criticised by Bhattacharjee.
UNI |
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East Bengal in Durand Cup final New Delhi, January 8 East Bengal will take on Army XI in the final on Friday. Army XI had beaten Mohammedan Sporting (Kolkata) the via tie-breaker in the first semifinal yesterday. Fourteen times champions and nine times runners-up East Bengal were
desperately searching for a goal when Mike Okoro produced one in the 33rd minute, thanks to a defensive blunder committed by Salgaocar stopper back Prashant Jaggi and custodian Juje Siddi. When Mike Okoro sent a through ball into the box, Siddi and Prashant Jaggi were caught in a dilemma as to who would make the first move to clear the ball. The players had all the time in the world to make a quick clearance, but their procrastination afforded ample time for Mike Okoro to rush forward and tap the ball home, catching the Salgaocar defence in a stunned stupor. Captain Covan Lawrence too was in a position to clear the ball to safety, but he became a mute witness to the “you first, you first” drama enacted by Siddi and Jaggi, and Okoro walked away with the honours. Salgaocar had salt rubbed into their wounds as they missed a golden opportunity to equalise seconds before the final hooter when Sunday Seah’s vicious header from the left crashed into the cross bar. Sunday Seah, the foreign recruit, had played a good game for Salgaocar, coming close to hitting the mark a couple of times, but overall, the contest never rose beyond the mundane. There were fast and furious moves in the first session with East Bengal threatening to score a couple of times in the first quarter. Once they almost found the mark when S Malsawmtlunga’s cross into the box deceived custodian VP Satish Kumar. Before Okoro and
Shasti Duley could connect the ball, with an open goal mocking at them, a defender made a quick and long clearance to send the ball to safety. For Salgaocar, medio Denis Cabral once had the East Bengal defence in knots when he ran down the right and shot, but the ball came back off the defender and his second attempt too was thwarted by the goalie. The players seemed to be drained of energy and enthusiasm in the second session as the match slumped to a lethargic
tempo. Yet, East Bengal and Salgaocar had their share of chances to score a goal. East Bengal made a close call at the rival goal in the 22nd minute when Shasty Duley’s shot, off a cross from the right by SK Chakraborty, was saved by a diving Siddi. Chakraborty impressed with his
overlapping raids, often getting the better of the Salgaocar defence, but a goal still eluded the former champions. But East Bengal’s prayers were
answered when Okoro did some quick thinking to score the match-winner. Thereafter, East Bengal were lucky to retain their lead as Sunday Seah came close to equalising twice, the first time goalie Satish Kumar effecting a quick save and the second time the cross bar coming in the way. |
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Agassi overpowers Enqvist
Melbourne, January 8 The 32-year-old with seven Grand Slam titles to his name said that testing conditions on court, with gusting winds playing a major role in the proceedings, only made the victory that much more satisfying. “It was very windy, very breezy,” today, said the winner of three Australian Open titles. “You couldn’t take any shot for granted. Taking a quality swing to the thickest part of the court was your best option.” Enqvist, who played a final at the Australian Open in 1999, is still feeling his way after a late autumn shoulder injury, committed 22 unforced errors - a fatal error against Agassi, who takes every match seriously at age 32 and has everything still to play for. “I felt good,” said the American. “You never know about the first match. Thomas can hit through the wind. I was moving well. “There are more gears there that I’m anxious to get to in my game. But I felt very comfortable.” Agassi’s victory boosted him into a 5-4 lead against the Swede in their career series, which began a decade ago at the US Open with a win for the European. Australian Mark Philippoussis also gave himself some satisfaction as he began regrouping after another autumn injury setback to take a victory over Spain’s Alex Corretja 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5). Philippoussis (26) who only began playing again last week after another knee injury in September, overcame the wind, managing to earn the confidence-building result. It took two hours, 40 minutes for the Melbourne player, ranked 72nd in the world, to improve his record against Corretja to 3-1 at the eight-man Australian Open tune-up event. The former wild child says he has now settled down — again — with a new home in California surf country and a forced avoidance of the high-priced sports cars of his youth. “I love those things,” he said of the Ferraris, Maseratis and powerful motorcycles he used to own. “I love speed, but it’s frustrating: You have the car and you can’t drive it fast, the police are just waiting. “It would be different if I lived in Europe. Here, I’m just driving a Ford given to me by a sponsor.”
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CRPF move into last four Kota, January 8 CRPF defeated Air-India Academy 5-2 in the tie-breaker after the two teams were locked 1-1 at the end of scheduled time while in the second quarter-final Sikh Regiment beat BSF Jalandhar 4-2 after the teams failed to score in regulation time. CRPF goalkeeper saved the day for his side blocking two shots in the tie-breaker to guide his team to a berth in the last four. CRPF shot into the lead in 20th minute of the first half when Jamal scored a brilliant field goad. Trailing 0-1 at half time, Air-India Academy mounted some attacks with Haza giving his team the equaliser. Although both the teams got five penalty corners, all the chances went a begging until the end of the schedule time. The second quarter-final saw Sikh Regiment and BSF play aggressive game but both failed to convert their moves into goals. Sikh Regiment goalkeeper Jaspal Singh saved a crucial stroke off Sarabjeet in tie-breaker helping his team register a 4-2 win and enter the semi-finals.
PTI |
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Punjab gymnastics squad
named Chandigarh, January 8 It may be recalled that prior to the 32nd National Games at Hyderabad, the selection of women’s
rhythmic team was done twice as a few gymnasts had alleged that a senior gymnastics coach had been partial in the selections. However, with intervention of a few senior Punjab officers, those affected were given a chance to prove themselves at Hyderabad. The team (men): Kuldeep Kumar, Jaideep Sharma, Paramjit Singh, Gurbax Singh, Sandeep Singh, Gaurav Sharma and Bhupinder Singh. Coach- Sukhmandar Singh. Women: Sukhbir Kaur, Meenakshi, Taranjot Kaur, Geeta, Anjana, Kavita, Rajwant Kaur. Coach-Jagtar Singh. |
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India to take part in world school soccer Chandigarh, January 8 Other ISF-organised tournaments later in the year where the SGFI was trying to explore the possibility of sending teams were swimming for boys and girls at Ramsau (Austria) from April 21 to 28, basketball (boys and girls) at Brasilia (Brazil) from May 23 to 30, athletics for boys and girls at Istanbul (Turkey) from June 25 to June 30 and tennis for boys and girls at Hefordshire (UK) from May 29 to June 2. Mr Chhabra, an executive member of the ISF, said as per rules of the ISF, the participating teams would have to bear the cost of their participation but the SGFI would try its best to seek the patronage of the Centre to obtain some relaxation. Besides, the Indian school teams would take part in various Asian school sports meets like volleyball for boys to be held at Hong Kong, badminton for boys and girls at Brunei and hockey in Malaysia during this year. These will be organised under the aegis of Asian School Sports Federation. India has been regularly taking part in various Asian school sports meets. Mr Chhabra said there was general misconception among certain affiliated units that dates for the National School Games were the prerogative of the SGFI. ‘‘The truth is that at the beginning of each session, the SGFI holds a meeting of members of units and then venues for the respective disciplines are decided and each unit is given a chance to hold the meet. Since competitions in 28 disciplines are to be conducted in a single year dates are decided at a later stage by the host unit.” Sometimes host units decide dates which need a change in emergencies and hence the SGFI cannot be blamed, he said. Schedules for other competitions:- Cricket: (U-14)-boys and (U-19) boys and girls — January 10 to 18 at Vijayawada;
Archery: (U-14,17,19) (boys and girls) — January 16 to 20 at Kolkata;
Gymnastics: (U-14,17,19) (boys and girls) — January 16 to 20 at Kolkata;
Chess: (U-14,17,19) (boys and girls) — January 16 to 20 at Kolkata;
Kho-kho: (U-14) (boys and girls) — January 16 to 20 at Kolkata;
Badminton: (u-14,17 and 19) (boys and girls)- January 23 to 28 at Surat;
Tennis: (U-14,17 and 19) (boys and girls) — January 23 to 28 at Surat;
Yoga: (U-14,17 and 19) (boys and girls) — January 23 to 28 at Surat;
Table Tennis: (U-14, 17 and 19) (boys and girls ) — January 31 to February 5 at Gulbarga;
Athletics: (U-14, 17 and 19) (boys and girls) — January 29 to February 3 at Bangalore. |
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SGFI refutes charge Chandigarh, January 8 Mr Chhabra said as secretary-general of the SGFI it was his duty to communicate to all education departments and the eligibility forms along with railway concession forms were always sent with the dates. The Punjab Deputy Director, Physical Education, could have confirmed from the host state instead of blaming the SGFI, he said. The travel of the Punjab school sportspersons by bus from Ropar to Pune had caused a lot of inconvenience to the players. When players from Chandigarh, Haryana and Delhi were able to reach the venue in time by train, why could not the Punjab contingent, he asked. Moreover, nearly Rs 1.80 lakh was spent on hiring, two tourist buses for this journey whereas a train journey in three tier non-sleeper class costs one fourth the amount since sportspersons get 75 per cent railway concession, Mr Chhabra added. |
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Tushar restricts West Zone Rohtak, January 8 On the third and penultimate day of the match today, East Zone were 106 for 3 in reply to West Zone’s first innings total of 162 when stumps were drawn. Timil Patel (51runs, 167mts, 139 balls, 5x4s) emerged highest run getter of the
innings. Shatrunjay Gaekwad contributed 20. Left arm spinner Tushar Shah consumed four wickets giving away 15 runs in 10.5 overs bowled by him. Saurav Sarkar, Ambar Roy and Niranjan Behera took 2 wickets each. East Zone were given a good start by openers Abhishek Choudhary and Avik Choudhary who made 37 and 28 runs respectively. The duo added 48 runs for the first innings. However, Rakesh Mohanty was bowled for a duck by Yusuf Pathan who accounted for the dismissal of all the three batsmen who lost their wickets today. At draw of stumps today, Subit Biswal was batting with 34 and Tushar Saha was yet to open his account. Scoreboard: West Zone:
S. Kukreja b Sarkar 15, Bhushan Chauhan c Das b Ambar Roy 7, Rakesh Solanki c Mahanta b Ambar Roy 1, Harshad Rawle c Das b Tushar 8, Timil Patel c Avik b Behera 51, Shatrunjay b Sarkar 20, Swapin c & b Behera 1, Yogesh c Mohanty b Tushar 14, Abhishek c Behera b Tushar 10, Yousuf Pathan c Nayak b Tushar 17, Anant not out 0.
Extras: (b-6, lb-8, nb-4) 18. Total: (in 76.5 overs) 162.
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-23, 3-24, 4-44, 5-110, 6-120, 7-123, 8-143, 9-151.
Bowling: Sarkar 21-6-40-2, Ambar Roy 18-6-32-2, Rakesh Mohanty 11-1-32-0, Tushar Shah 10.5-5-15-4, Niranjan Behera 11-5-10-2, P.Nayar 5-0-19-0. East Zone: Abhishek c Shatrunjay b Pathan 37, Avik c Sahil b Pathan 28, Mohanty lbw Pathan 0, Subit Biswal batting 34, Tushar Saha batting 0.
Extras: (b-1, nb-4, w-2) 7. Total: for 3 wickets (in 41 overs) 106.
Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-48, 3-95. Bowling: Nayar 8-3-17-0, S. Patel 4-0-25-0, Yusuf Pathan 16-9-22-3, Anant 8-1-24-0, Harshad Rawle 5-2-17-0. |
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Autocross events in Chandigarh, Jaipur Chandigarh, January 8 Each round will consist of competition in the following classes — Maruti 800; Maruti Zen/1000/Alto/Wagon-R; Gypsy; open for men in Esteem/Beleno and ladies class (open). Points will be awarded to the first 10 position holders in each round and the driver with the maximum points after the three rounds will be declared champion. He will also be invited to an event in which the champion from south will also participate to be declared the national champion. Special trophies and awards will also be given to both the north and south champions as well as the eventual national champion. The three rounds for north India will run on a specially designed dual track which will consist of handbrake terms, long fast sweeps and plenty of corners which will test the skill and technique of the driver besides the power, performance and endurance of the cars. A maximum of 20 entries per class will be accepted on first-come first-served basis. The first 10 finishers of the open class will qualify for the next two rounds. |
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Sports fest gets under way Ambala, January 8 Speaking on the occasion, Mr Chautala said that Haryana has carved a niche for itself in the sports arena as sports infrastructure has been developed in the state to match international standards. During the past three years, as many as 1,715 players which include 438 women players, have been awarded cash prizes. “There has been significant improvement in the sport field as a result of the new sports policy introduced by the state government,” he said. “Out of the 36 medals won by the country at Busan, nine were bagged by sportspersons from Haryana. Similarly, players had shown distinction at the National Games held at Hyderabad, in which the Haryana players won 19 gold medals, 22 silver medals and 32 bronze medals.” “To further develop sports infrastructure in the state, a regional centre of the Sports Authority of India named after Chaudhary Devi Lal would shortly come up in Sonepat district at a cost of Rs 20 crore over an area of 100 acres,” he added. Athletics meet CHANDIGARH:
Head Constable Ramesh Chand of Training sector secured first place in the hammer throw event of the 22nd Inter-Sector Athletics meet of the ITBP that entered the second day here today at BTC, Bhanu (Ramgarh), near here. Lavin Kumar and Rattan Singh got second and third place, respectively. In the 10,000 m event, Satpal Singh of L&C sector got first place, while Rajbir Singh and Khamba Singh got second and third place, respectively. In triple jump, H. Chauba of L&C sector got first place. |
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defeats,
hanging on grimly to score a
thrilling two-wicket win in the fifth one-day international against New Zealand here today.
Finally, the Indian team won a match on the New Zealand tour, though not before the usual drama. Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan were heroes of the Indian victory and they had to show spine to get there. Well played both.
