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Wednesday,
January 22, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Board to discuss contract issue today Aussies warm up for final in style
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Paes, Bhupathi in Davis Cup team
BSF, Punjab Police in final A rallying point for footballers Anand moves into sole lead CII support for hockey, football Spineless display by Punjab
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Board to discuss contract issue today
New Delhi, January 21 The board’s Working Committee is expected to deliberate at length on the contract showdown with the International Cricket Council which had not yet taken a decision on whether to accept the conditionally signed Player Terms submitted by Indian cricketers. “The ICC has not yet responded. Till date we have not received any communication on whether they have accepted the forms. We will discuss the issue tomorrow,” BCCI secretary S K Nair told PTI here. Nair said the board will discuss “all the aspects of the issue” before deciding its future course of action. “We are keen to participate in the World Cup. But we have objection to certain restrictive clauses in the contracts and we want to see how that can be solved amicably,” he said. At the BCCI’s behest, all the 15 members of India’s World Cup squad had conditionally signed the Player Terms ahead of the January 14 deadline set by the ICC. The Indian board duly forwarded the forms to the ICC but the world body has not made any official statement on whether it had accepted the conditionally signed forms or not. Significantly, the crucial Working Committee meeting will be held on a day when the Delhi High Court will give its judgement on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the validity of the ICC’s World Cup contracts. The PIL was filed on Friday by former Union Minister and BCCI president N.K.P. Salve and former cricketers Kapil Dev and Madan Lal among others, giving a new twist to the sponsorship tangle. But Nair said the fact that the court was to give its verdict tomorrow was just a co-incidence. “The meeting was scheduled a fortnight ago. But of course, if the court gives its judgement tomorrow, it could be discussed,” he said. Former Law Minister, Arun Jaitley, who is also a senior official in the DDCA, has been invited to the meeting, raising speculation that legal aspects could also be discussed. Although the BCCI and the ICC’s solicitors have been “exchanging papers” as the first process for approaching the International Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne, Switzerland, the BCCI would take into account the Delhi High Court’s ruling and the subsequent reaction from the ICC before pushing the matter further. BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya had been given full authority to take due action at the Special General meeting in Kolkata on Christmas day and he would take the opportunity to brief the members on his alternatives and seek their consent on going ahead. Meanwhile, the Board’s Finance Committee met today and will submit its proposals and accounts to the Working Committee for ratification tomorrow.
PTI |
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Aussies
warm up for final in style
Melbourne, January 21 Ponting (106 not out) won the Man of the Match award as he and left-hander Matthew Hayden (80 not out) clobbered 178 for the second wicket at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to enable the home side to end the qualifying rounds on a high note. Australia waltzed to 215 for the loss of just one wicket in only 34.3 overs after the Sri Lankans took their full quota of 50 overs to graft to 214 for eight wickets. Australia warmed up for the best-of-three finals against England, starting Thursday, in marvellous style, while Sri Lanka looked like a team already doomed to elimination from the contest. Australia, unbeaten by England in their past 11 limited- overs clashes with the old enemy, will enter the Sydney Cricket Ground encounter on Thursday as strong favourites. Ponting and opener Hayden showed the benefits of a weekend off from national duties. They smacked their runs from 169 balls — a record Australian second-wicket partnership against Sri Lanka. Ponting faced 101 balls in his two-hour innings which featured 11 fours and a six. It was his 11th one-day international century and his fifth in Australia — and all have been in Melbourne. Sri Lanka: Atapattu c Hogg b Bichel 26 Gunawardene lbw b Hogg 45 Sangakkara c Watson b Hogg 43 De Silva c Watson b Bracken 44 Jaywardene st Gilchrist
b Hogg 0 Arnold b Williams 14 Vaas run out 1 Tillakaratne not out 9 Mubarak lbw b Williams 15 Extras:
(lb-5 w-11 nb-1) 17 Total: (8 wkts, 50 overs ) 214 Fall of wickets: 1-64 2-100 3-134 4-135 5-166 6-170 7-201 8-214 Bowling: Williams 10-0-57-2, Bracken 9-0-33-1, Bichel 10-0-33-1, Hogg 10-0-37-3, Watson 4-0-17-0, Symonds 7-0-32-0. Australia: Gilchrist b Vaas 26 Hayden not out 80 Ponting not out 106 Extras: (w-3) 3 Total:
(1 wkt, 34.3 overs) 215 Fall of wicket: 1-37 Bowling: Vaas 8-0-45-1, Nissanka 7.3-0-61-0, De Silva 9-0-51-0, Gamage 3-0-23-0, Arnold 5-0-27-0, Jayawardene
2-0-8-0. Reuters |
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Agassi, Venus romp into semifinals
Melbourne, January 21 Second seed Agassi was an equally emphatic winner in his quarterfinal with 12th seed Sebastien Grosjean, sweeping aside the Frenchman in two hours to win 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. The 32-year-old American will now play South Africa’s Wayne Ferreira in the semifinals on Thursday. Unseeded Ferreira defeated fourth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 in a late match. Ferreira’s victory in two hours and 11 minutes equalled his best performance in a Grand Slam, a semifinal appearance at the Australian Open in 1992. Earlier, Williams had breathed a buzz at Melbourne Park with her blistering serves. After mothballing the biggest shots in her repertoire in recent seasons, Williams decided to unload with the heavy artillery against Hantuchova — and the results were devastating. One Williams’ ace was sent rocketing towards Hantuchova at 201 kmp/h, just outside the 205kmp/h that she blasted in Zurich in 1998, which remains the fastest serve ever recorded on the WTA Tour. The bad news for Williams’ semifinal opponent — fifth seed Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium — is that Venus thinks she can serve faster. Hantuchova had no answer to Williams’ service game, the American thumping down six aces on her way to victory. Afterwards Hantuchova said Williams serve was practically unplayable. Williams now plays Henin-Hardenne in the last four. Henin-Hardenne recovered from her gruelling fourth round battle against Lindsay Davenport on Sunday, when she collapsed on court with cramp, to beat Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-2, 6-2. In the men’s quarterfinals, Agassi became the first man to reach the last four with a whirlwind demolition of Grosjean that the American said was harder than it looked. With top seed and world No 1 Lleyton Hewitt dumped out yesterday, Agassi is now favourite to triumph on Sunday. Agassi said he was only concentrating on the semifinal when he meets, Wayne Ferreira, who defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6, 7-6, 6-1.
AFP
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Paes, Bhupathi in Davis Cup team New Delhi, January 21 Veteran Ramesh Krishnan has been retained as the non-playing captain while Sunil Kumar Sipaeya has been named as the reserve player. Out goes Vishal Uppal, who had played against Australia last year, in the absence of Mahesh
Bhupathi, who had pulled out due to a shoulder injury. India have an impressive track record against Japan, having beaten them 16 times out of their 18 meetings. Japan had trounced India 5-0 the very first time the two teams clashed in the Davis Cup at a neutral venue in Chicago USA in 1921. Japan played an encore when they met India for the second time, nine years later, in 1930 in London. But India edged past Japan at the latter’s backyard in Tokyo in 1956, by a 3-2 margin, and ever since, India have not lost a Davis Cup tie to Japan. India beat Japan 3-2 in Tokyo (1959), 4-1 in New Delhi (1961), 3-2 in Tokyo (1963), 4-1 in Tokyo (1965), 4-1 in Tokyo (1966), 4-1 in New Delhi (1967), 4-1 in Tokyo (1968), 5-0 in Poona (1969), 3-2 in Tokyo (1971), 4-1 at Kanpur (1974), 3-2 in Tokyo (1976), 3-2 in New Delhi (1977), 3-2 in Tokyo (1983), 4-1 in Chandigarh (1990) and 3-2 in Osaka (2001). In fact, it was in 1990 at Chandigarh that Leander Paes got his Davis Cup baptism by fire, and he has been a pillar of strength in India’s Cup campaigns ever since. The team is expected to assemble in Delhi on January 29 after both Leander and Mahesh are through with their Australian Open campaigns. |
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BSF, Punjab Police in final Mahilpur, January 21 In the semifinals played today, Border Security Force overpowered a fighting JCT Academy 2-0 while Punjab Police routed Punjab State Electricity Board 3-0 after leading by one goal at half time. With several new faces in the starting line-up, Punjab Police completely dominated the proceedings even as the jaded PSEB outfit tried to make a match of it. Coached by former international and former East Bengal star Kuljit Singh, the Punjab cops, ably assisted by international Parveen Kumar and striker Sher Singh, swarmed all over the PSEB territory. An unsuccessful header by Parveen Kumar forced PSEB custodian Hussan Lal to punch the ball over the goal-line for a flag kick. The subsequent corner was utilised to the hilt by Ranjit Singh, whose high volley sailed over the outstretched hands of the PSEB goalie into the net(1-0). PSEB had a good chance to restore parity following a defensive lapse on the right flank but Harjinder Singh (Sr) only managed to shoot straight at a defender. In the 57th minute the Punjab Police lead was buttressed by Harish Sharma, who latched on to the ball on top of the box and unleashed a piledriver. The shot, though not powerful, surprisingly beat the PSEB goalie as the ball slipped through his hands into the net (2-0). The third goal followed in the 72nd minute. A smart volley by striker Sher Singh from close range deflected into the far corner of the net even as Hussan Lal stared in disbelief (3-0). With the minutes ticking away, PSEB rallied to come back into the match. However, a golden chance went abegging after the Punjab Police custodian was beaten on top of the box. With the goalie lying sprawled on the ground, substitute Dalip Kumar only managed to shoot at a rival defender. Earlier, Border Security Force prevailed over a fighting JCT Academy 2-0 with Vijay Kumar finding the target in the 25th minute after J. Ouseph had centred from the right. The second goal scored by Souvik Ganguly was the result of a penalty which was awarded following an infringement by JCT Academy goalie Raman Kumar. |
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A rallying point for footballers Mahilpur, January 21 Held annually at this time of the year, the tournament attracts NRIs, former stars and all leading clubs. It is not the prize money which attracts the players. Mere participation is a satisfying experience. Reminisces Wg Cdr(Retd) Hardev Singh Dhillon, who is closely associated with the affairs of the club:” In the early years, ex-servicemen of the area took leave to watch the now defunct Mango Tournament. Now NRIs coincide their holidays with this tournament so that they can watch budding players graduating as stars. After all it is Mahilpur that has produced most of Punjab’s top footballers, including legendary Olympian Jarnail Singh, who honed his skill on these very grounds before bursting on to the national scene. According to Col Surinder Singh, adviser of the club, the prize money totalling Rs 60,000 for clubs is donated by the Vancouver-based Principal Harbhajan Singh Memorial Educational and Sports Trust set up with the efforts of Mr Satwant Singh, former Joint Director, Sports, Punjab. Mr Satwant Singh, who stays in Vancouver, incidentally led the victorious Panjab University team to their maiden title in the All- India Inter-University Football Championship way back in 1958. Another Canada-based trust, Principal Harbhajan Singh Memorial Sports Trust, donates Rs 80,000 for the tournament. Besides, many other NRIs have been donating liberally to keep the show running with the assistance of people like Ali Hassan, general
secretary, and to perpetuate the memory of the late Principal Harbhajan Singh, a visionary who sold his property to put the Sri Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College and Punjab football on a strong footing. Two pioneers of the club - Dr Chanan Singh Bains, now 83, and Mr Satwant Singh - are still on the organising committee. No wonder, the Principal Harbhajan Singh Memorial Football Tournament has become a rallying point for footballers, past and present. |
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Anand moves into sole lead
Wijk Aan Zee, January 21 The other overnight joint leader GM Loek van Wely of the Netherlands saw his three-game winning streak end with a loss against former world champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia. Van Wely slipped to joint second position along with world’s highest-rated woman Judit Polgar of Hungary and Russian Alexander Grischuk. The trio trail Anand (5.5) by half a point. Following them another half a point behind is GM Alexei Shirov who lost to Grischuk in a full-bloodied game. In the grandmaster B tournament, GM Koneru Humpy suffered yet another loss, going down to GM Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany in spectacular fashion. Humpy is now at the bottom of the table with just five more rounds remaining. GM Zhang Zhong of China consolidated his lead after signing peace with GM Peter Acs of Hungary. Zhang Zhong, 7 points, remained 1.5 points adrift of closest rival Daniel Stellwagen of who achieved his maiden grandmaster norm after holding GM Friso Nijboer. For Anand it turned out to be another show where he had to employ his superior defensive skills to thwart his opponent’s chances. PTI
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CII support for hockey, football Panchkula, January 21 Mr Mehta, a Haryana cadre IAS officer, said under the liberal policy followed by the government, the National Sports Development Fund which is 100 per cent exempted from tax would certainly benefit the potential medal hopes of the country. He said the Government of India has already spent about Rs 20 lakh on young upcoming shooter Abhinav Bindra, and Anil Kumar, the ace athlete. He said another top-ranked female athlete might also be given clearance to take advanced training.
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Spineless
display by Punjab Patiala, January 21 Reckless
batting by the top order pushed the hosts on to the backfoot early on
in the innings and at one stage just they found themselves hopelessly
placed at 14 for five. It was at this stage that Sachin Sachdeva (69)
played some fine drives and his sweetly timed innings turned out to be
the only silver lining to an otherwise gloomy performance dished out
by the host’s. Haryana (1st innings): 213 all out Punjab (1st innings): 137 all out (Sachin Sachdeva 69, S.P Singh 28, Joginder Sharma 4 for 29, Sandeep Mor 3 for 34, Varun Dua 3 for 32). Haryana (2nd innings):
2 for no loss. |
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Rahul slams ton Una, (HP) January 21 For the hosts, Rahul scored a brilliant century, while Vinod Kumar scored 47 runs. Raman Datta of J and K took three wickets in 25 overs. Earlier, batting first, J and K scored 286 runs.
UNI |
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INDO-PAK
CLASH WARNE’S
INCLUSION JEEV
DELIGHTED |
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Melbourne, January 21
Video
AGASSI,
GRAF TO PLAY TOGETHER
MELBOURNE: