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Monday,
March 24, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Australian blitz shatters Indian dream
Overall a good showing, say former stars Ganguly erred in opting to field |
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ICC not to touch India’s prize money Prestige bestowed on Sachin enormous Anti-war protest
outside stadium
The best and worst of the World Cup
Parthiv may appear in board exams Olonga pins hopes on change in regime Jayasuriya to stay captain Kenya on fast track to Test status Kenya vindicates Ayob’s efforts Father kills teenage fan Anand beats Shirov, regains lead Germany beat Pakistan Agassi beats Chang at Key Biscayne Manipur annex fencing titles
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Australian blitz shatters Indian dream
Johannesburg, March 23 Ricky Ponting led his side to a 125-run victory with a blazing captain’s knock of 140 not out that propelled Australia to its biggest-ever one-day score, a virtually unassailable total of 359 for two, also the highest in any World Cup final. The 1983 champions India, handicapped with the first-over dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar, fought hard till the 40th over but managed only 234 runs. Virender Sehwag kept India in the hunt for some time with a sparkling innings of 82 but the target proved too much. The Indian pace attack, which had been highly impressive in this tournament, let the team down in the most important match after Saurav Ganguly had elected to field on a pitch that offered substantial help to the seamers. The trio of Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, who have a combined tally of 49 wickets in this tournament, were together plundered for 211 runs from 27 overs without any success. Apart from Ponting, who smashed eight sixes and four fours in his 121-ball knock, Damien Martyn and Adam Gilchrist also helped themselves to fine half-centuries. Martyn, who was associated in a record 234-run unbeaten partnership with Ponting, made 88 not out while Gilchrist scored 57 from just 48 balls. Matthew Hayden, who made 37, was the only batsman not to have registered a half-century in Australia’s run-feast which saw the team emulating the West Indies in winning back-to-back World Cup titles. Australia remained unbeaten in this tournament, an unprecedented achievement, and extended their one-day winning
streak to 17. Faced with a target that has never been chased before, the Indians were under pressure right from the start. Their biggest shock came in the fifth ball of the first over when Tendulkar, who had amassed 669 runs in this tournament from 10 previous innings, was dismissed by Glenn McGrath for just four runs. Tendulkar, who struck a boundary in the fourth ball of the over, miscued a pull shot in the next delivery to give a simple return catch to McGrath, who finished with three wickets for 52 runs. Sehwag and Saurav Ganguly lived on the edges in a 54-run partnership for the second wicket with India, who had successfully chased two 320-plus totals last year, looking totally helpless by the enormity of the task. Both of them survived some close calls, with Sehwag even being caught off a no-ball, but continued with their policy of attacking the opening bowlers, McGrath and Brett Lee. Ganguly hit three fours and a six in his 25-ball 24 before skying a Brett Lee delivery to Darren Lehmann at mid-on. A third-ball dismissal of NatWest final hero Mohammad Kaif, who failed to score, reduced India to 59 for three in the 11th over. Sehwag, who struck 10 fours and three sixes in his 81-ball innings, kept India’s slim hopes alive with some big hitting when the Australians, sensing rain, introduced Bradd Hogg and Darren Lehmann in a bid to quickly complete 25 overs, the minimum required for a valid match. Rain did interrupt the proceedings with India placed on 103 for three in 17 overs but only for 23 minutes as sun came out again much to the disappointment of the partisan Indian crowd at the stadium which was frantically hoping that rains would wash out today’s play forcing the match to be played all over again on the reserve day tomorrow. But that was not to be and play resumed without any reduction in the number of overs. Sehwag and Rahul Dravid, who made 47, put together a 88-run partnership for the fifth wicket in 13 overs before Sehwag was run out while going for a quick single. The dismissal of Sehwag also dashed India’s hopes as a defeat became inevitable.
PTI SCOREBOARD Australia: Gilchrist c Sehwag
b Harbhajan 57 Hayden c Dravid b Harbhajan 37 R. Ponting not out 140 D. Martyn not out 88 Extras:
37 Total: (2 wkts, 50 overs) 359 FoW: 1-105, 2-125. Bowling:
Zaheer Khan 7-0-67-0, Srinath 10-0-87-0, Nehra 10-0-57-0, Harbhajan Singh 8-0-49-2, Sehwag 3-0-14-0, Tendulkar 3-0-20-0, Mongia 7-0-39-0, Yuvraj Singh 2-0-12-0. India: Tendulkar c and b McGrath 4 Sehwag run out 82 Ganguly c Lehmann b Lee 24 Kaif c Gilchrist b McGrath 0 Dravid b Bichel 47 Yuvraj c Lee b Hogg 24 Mongia c Martyn b Symonds 12 Harbhajan c McGrath
b Symonds 7 Zaheer c Lehmann b McGrath 4 Srinath b Lee 1 Nehra not out 8 Extras:
21 Total: (all out, 39.2 overs) 234 FoW: 1-4, 2-58, 3-59, 4-147, 5-187, 6-208, 7-209, 8-223, 9-226. Bowling:
McGrath 8.2-0-52-3, Lee 7-1-31-2, Hogg 10-0-61-1, Lehmann 2-0-18-0, Bichel 10-0-57-1, Symonds 2-0-7-2. |
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Overall a good showing, say former stars Mumbai, March 23 Former Chairman of the selection committee, Chandu Borde, who is holidaying in Singapore said it was an incredible run for the Indians in the World Cup and they should keep their heads high even after the defeat in the final because they lost to a better team. “I personally feel that the Indians under Saurav Ganguly showed that they are capable of producing the best in big tournaments, but sadly could not repeat the form they had shown in earlier matches”, Borde added. “When the Indians lost to the Aussies in the league stages, after a disastrous New Zealand tour, they were written-off as team which will not even make it to the Super Sixes stage. However, Ganguly handled the team so well that the public started thinking they could win the Cup but in vain, Borde said. “I feel the Indians should be proud of their showing and concentrate on future engagements”, he added. Another former Test star Polly Umrigar said that it was a very good showing by the Indians despite the loss. “They came up to the final after performing very badly in New Zealand and that itself is a very good achievement. They had a very bad day today but should be proud of their achievements till the final, where they lost to a better team,” Umrigar added. “The seamers — Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra — just could not get their line and length right when the Aussies batted and our batting too did not click as expected. “All in all it was a very good World Cup for the Indians and this experience will hold them in good stead”, Umrigar said. The joint secretary of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), Ratnakar Shetty said “the Indians showed they are a fighting unit though they lost the final by 125 runs to the Australians. I think there is nothing to be ashamed of as they had a very good run in the World Cup after unnecessary public criticism in the initial stages of the tournament”. “I think the team has done all of us proud and it can only get better from here on”, Shetty added. Another former Test player Bapu Nadkarni said the team’s performance in the tournament was “more than satisfactory” despite its loss in the final. “After the New Zealand debacle, nobody gave the Indians a chance to even make it to the semifinals. Ganguly’s boys proved everyone wrong and went a step ahead, but failed to finish the tournament on a high note”, Nadkarni added. “After a long long time the Indians played like a team and were a strong contenders for the Cup midway through the tournament but lost to a better team who looked much fitter and faster than the Indians”, Nadkarni said. “I don’t think the players should feel bad in any way as they have not only played some good cricket in South Africa but have themselves, under Ganguly, proved that they are force to reckon with in the future as well”, Nadkarni added.
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Ganguly erred in opting to field IT was a Bharat Bandh on Sunday. And no, it was not in any protest but by virtue of India entering the final of World Cup after good long 20 years. The mood was upbeat and almost everybody was training his vocal chords, throwing up expert comments and predictions on how Saurav’s boys would reverse the trend from the last time the sides met in Centurion. However, Ricky Ponting had other ideas and after being put into bat, the Aussie skipper put India out of title contention, piling up a monumental total of 359. For well over three hours, diehard Indian fans got virtually nothing to wave the flags or show their placards they designed so meticulously. Suddenly Zaheer’s knees trembled, Srinath lost his rhythm while Nehra forgot the bouncer he so effectively used throughout the tournament— this is what a World Cup final can do. The lethal Indian speed bowlers were bread and butter for the Australian batsmen, who were helped in their diet with a generous feeding of full-tosses and wides from the Indian camp. It was good toss to win and I wondered why Ganguly, sitting with seven batsman in the side opted to field first. On a perfect batting track, we would have loved to see India put up a good total and who knows the result could have been more encouraging. Even otherwise there was a lot in the wicket for the bowlers to exploit early on but sadly, Indian bowlers handed the initiative to Gilchrist and Hayden on a platter. I had mentioned that Gilchrist, Hayden, Ponting are big match players who are due for runs and just a glance at the scorecard would be suffice to justify that statement. Harbhajan Singh did well to put some brakes on the scoring, scalping the two openers but Ponting and Martyn continued the good work done by their opening batsmen. There was a debate in between whether Kumble, or any other fifth regular bowler could have salvaged some pride but nothing could be done out there in the middle to stop the spectators from getting ambushed from the flying cricket balls. Very soon, the hopes evaporated and everybody, including Indian fans, began enjoying the comedy of errors at Johannesburg. Coming to think of it, it may not be a bad idea if a World XI, comprising the best players in the tournament, play against Australia for the World Cup and then there are high chances of resistance from getting run down by the Kangaroos, such has been their dominance in the game that no nation has dared to flirt with their authority. Even after the massacre of Indian bowlers, speculations that Sachin Tendulkar might work magic were aired but McGrath closed that issue in the very first over, catching the master blaster in the very first over. It was always a difficult ask, simply because you don’t expect too many loose balls coming from McGrath and Lee. A little bit of bee-swapping from Saurav lifted the pall of gloom temporarily but it was just a matter of time before he trudged his way back. Though, I am bit disappointed in the way each went about in making a match of it, the batsman are not be blamed for the result. They had no other option but to throw the willow at every possible opportunity. Sehwag did provide some extended entertainment and in company of Dravid, gave another lease of life to diehard Indian fans, trading between jumping on the wicket to dancing down the track for a whack. India looked up to some divine intervention for help and rain god came pretty close of putting a rescue act but nothing could snatch a victory from the Australians yesterday. They have been champs through these eight years and deserve every adulation for a convincing professional performance seen throughout this tournament. Nevertheless, Indians can take heart from the fact that gave their best shot and despite not coming back with the Cup, Saurav & Co remain the heroes of the nation. |
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ICC not to touch India’s prize money Johannesburg, March 22 The two-day executive board meeting here also decided to withhold payments to England and New Zealand for their boycott of a match each in Zimbabwe and Kenya respectively, ICC President Malcolm Gray told reporters here yesterday. Indian cricketers had refused to sign ICC’s Players’ Terms for the World Cup due to some restrictive clauses on personal endorsements. To ensure their participation in the tournament, the ICC had accepted a substantially relaxed terms offered by the players on the condition that it would not release India’s guarantee money, in the range of $ 8 to 9 million, till the issue was resolved by arbitration. The payments for England and New Zealand were withheld due to expected claims from sponsors and TV broadcasters for losses due to the two teams’ refusal to play their matches. Gray said the money would be withheld for at least six months to compensate the sponsors and TV companies in case of claims from them. England stand to lose $ 3.5 million of its share from the World Cup profits for refusing to travel to Zimbabwe to play their group match against the hosts. New Zealand may lose $ 2.5 million for not playing in Kenya. The different amounts were based on estimates of potential revenues from the two matches.
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Prestige bestowed on Sachin enormous JOHANNESBURG: On the morning of the finals, Sachin Tendulkar heard the good news which he had been anticipating for a week now. The organizing committee of the World Cup announced a good 24 hours before the finals the little genius is the player of the tournament. Besides the material gains, the prestige bestowed on the master of our times is enormous. He is the greatest player in the world and has imposed his will on cricket’s biggest stage in no uncertain terms. Irrespective of what happens against Brett Lee, this tournament in years to come will be known as Tendulkar’s tourney. The little great man was quite himself, barely betraying any emotions and muttering in almost inaudible sound that this was the greatest moment of his life. He had his cap jauntily in place and no sooner he made his way to the middle, he played a few imaginary shots in front of the wickets before the toss took place. Australians reckon short-pitched stuff would nail the Indians in the finals. Brett Lee, at the breakfast table, is quite a sobering presence from the face-making ugly fast bowler he becomes at the crease. He still taunts you to name Indian players who could cut and pull him, Tendulkar excepting. Intimidation is Australia’s way of terrorizing opponents and Lee is the prime example of it. Captain Saurav Ganguly, meanwhile was up to his tricky self. He slipped a ball into his pockets and before anybody could notice it had bounced it on the pitch to check the nature of it. Ganguly lately is trying to show no emotion on the field and it seems he is finally beginning to follow the accepted mannerisms of a successful captain. While the family members of Tendulkar and Ganguly, Dravid and Kumble have stayed away, Virender Sehwag’s brother is in town while Yuvraj Singh’s mother has followed the team for sometime now. Harbhajan Singh prefers his family to stay back home. “It’s worked well without them so let it remain that way,” commented “Bhajji” and a couple of his team-mates sitting with him nod in agreement. The entire stadium is swathed with
Tricolours and the noise after the national anthem is played is seen to be believed. Some are openly crying. It’s an emotional day, not only for thousands who have descended in the town but also a few journalists. A lady reporter confesses it’s not been easy through the tournament — apparently she told her office she wouldn’t be sending any stuff on the day India took on Pakistan in the league stage. She stood motionless with her fist clenched till the match was
over. She says she couldn’t feel her legs while walking back to media centre at the end of the game. If reports are to be believed, Tendulkar and Ganguly will decline to tour Bangladesh for the three-nation tournament in April. They have played endless cricket in the last year and half and would seek a break. They are still not sure how the board is going to react to their pull-out — it could be they would seek a medical chit to back their decisions. |
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Anti-war protest
outside stadium
Johannesburg, March 23 The resentment of the protestors, who were carrying placards which read “War is not the answer” and “Down with US greed”, was directed at Australia which is supporting the USA in the war. “We hope Australia lose the World Cup because (Australian Prime Minister) John Howard supports the war in Iraq,” anti-war coalition spokesman Trevor Ngwane said. Mr Ngwane said around 800-1000 people had participated in the demonstrations. However, a police spokesman put the figure at 250. “We have many policemen deployed to monitor the situation and everything is proceeding peacefully,” Senior Police Superintendent Chris Wilken said. Mr Ngwane said the protest would continue outside the stadium until the end of the match.
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The best and worst of the World Cup “IT was the best of times, it was the worst of times,’’ — Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities. As the Prince and the Punter went out to toss at the Wanderers today, a bloated World Cup of unseemly controversies was praying for a finale that would help everyone forget the event was blended with the ingredients that made a perfect recipe for disaster. The sight of Sir Garfield Sobers, the greatest all-round cricketer ever to breathe the air on planet earth, presenting the Man of the Tournament award to Sachin Tendulkar, easily the greatest contemporary batsman, was a spectacle fit for sporting gods. It was the grandest moment in a game beset by knotty problems in the new millennium. Australians are known to walk only when their cars run out of petrol. Adam Gilchrist set the moral cat among the pigeons in this World Cup by walking though later he was to reveal a base reason which had to do with trying to shame the English into walking when legitimate catches are claimed in the outfield. The motive may have robbed the walk of some of its glitter. A grand gesture nevertheless. The bravery award of the World Cup must go to Ramnaresh Sarwan. He came back to the batting crease after taking a hard hit on the helmet that led to stitches on his skull. It was not en empty gesture either as he brought his side to the threshold of an impossible victory under lights at Newlands. The foolhardy man of the tournament prize may go jointly to Andy Flower and Henry Olonga who made defiant gestures aimed at exposing the human rights abuses in their homeland. Its a moot point whether they should be honoured when they used sport to showcase their
countrymen's grievances. But they were no more culpable of crass behaviour than the many politicians who used cricket to score points against Robert
Mugabe's Zimbabwe. The best match of the tournament was the first when South Africa chased and came within a boundary hit of beating the West Indies for whom Brian Lara had scored a majestic century. Maybe, the start was so heady the rest of the competition was condemned to be unable to live up to it. No World Cup may have seen as many mis-matches than this one. The innings of the World Cup can be judged only in a photo finish between Stephen
Fleming's 134 not out off 132 balls in New Zealand’s chase against South Africa and Sachin Tendulkar’s 98 off 75 balls against Pakistan at Centurion.
Fleming's great knock was marred by the one simple chance that Mark Boucher did not pouch. Sachin’s two innings in the 90s were both greater than the 152 he made against Namibia. The ball of the tournament was Brett Lee’s thunderbolt that
spread-eagled Marvan Atapattu’s stumps. The batsman, beaten for pace, had hardly thought of the stroke to play before the ball, at close to 99 mph, zoomed in like a laser-guided Tomahawk missile. Grant Flowers ball that beat Sachin’s bat and bowled him off stump must have been a close second. England, South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka lost their captains for a variety of reasons. Coaches were given their pink slips by West Indies, Pakistan, Kenya and Bangladesh while Sri Lankan board has a decision to make soon on the status of Dav Whatmore. Surely, the World Cup must have been the worst of times for these professionals. The event had just begun and the ink on Shane
Warne's articles on his last World Cup was hardly dry before the showboat of a blond leggie with the Hollywood touch was going home. There must be a clear case against the vanity of losing weight, especially when the method used is a diuretic that jockeys abhor but are forced to use because their profession depends on their riding weight. Entirely natural methods of weight reduction are, perhaps, not to be recommended either. The case of a lean and mean Inzamam-ul-Haq finding runs so hard to come by that he scored all of 19 runs in the entire competition may just go to prove that tampering with nature has its drawbacks. Weight loss does not guarantee run gain. The number of retirements being announced that began with Jonty Rhodes kept growing as the 44-day tournament meandered its way to the final. Allan Donald was another great South African to take a bow. Aravinda de
Silva's departure was a prominent one sadly ending with inadequate athleticism leading to a run out but famously in Andy
Bichel's pick and throw. The element of human error in umpiring lent Andy Flowers last international innings great poignancy. The New Zealanders visit to a Durban night-club must invite the booby prize. It was too adventurous a trip in a dangerous country of pandemic violence when compared to taking a trip north to Nairobi where food poisoning was the worst security nightmare the Sri Lankans faced. The Kiwis were left to lament a cricket match they did not play. Booby prizes must go out to the organisation, too, because it tended to pander to the interests of a television and media mogul rather than safeguard the interests of the game. The inelegant ways of the South African board president may also be nominated for a booby prize, so too the several brains behind South African cricket who did not know how to add one to a Duckworth-Lewis chart. The writer of this line may be practising his Oscar acceptance speech if his projection proves right. An agency reporter from Australia wrote this ahead of the final “The World Cup that began under the darkness of boycotts, suspensions, meaningless matches, racial vilification, shoddy umpiring, rain delays, political protests, injuries and death threats has been saved by a dream final between the two best sides in the world. The Prince and the Punter may have also planned their acceptance speech along with their game strategy for the final as the glittering golden World Cup beckoned them.
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Parthiv may appear in board exams Ahmedabad, March 23 Gujarat School Education Board chairman P.V. Trivedi said, “If Parthiv can reach here by March 26 and is prepared to appear for the other exams, he would be given a one day grace and allowed to appear for the missed subject in July. If he can’t make it, he will have to appear for all the subjects next year.” Trivedi said while there were no provisions in board laws to conduct special exams for just one student, the board was “sympathetic” to Parthiv because he had missed the class XII exams last year too because of his cricket schedule. “Parthiv had to take a drop from his board exam last year also due to his cricket schedule. We feel very sympathetic for him and are proud of him for making it to the Indian team but sadly there is no provision to conduct exams in special cases as yet,” Mr Trivedi told PTI. Though a member of the 15-member Indian squad playing the World Cup in South Africa, Parthiv had to watch all the matches from the sidelines. Fearing he may miss the exam this year too, Parthiv’s parents had approached the Education Department officials to consider him as a special case. Parthiv, who turned 18 earlier this month, is the youngest player in the World Cup.
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Olonga pins hopes on
change in regime
London, March 23 “If there is a change of regime that make my return without fear of prosecution feasible, I will come out of retirement tomorrow to play again for the Zimbabwe I love,” Olonga told the Mail today. Meanwhile, moves were being set in motion to press for Olonga to be granted sanctuary in Britain along with a work permit and the protection of asylum, the report said. Maidstone MP and former Conservative Cabinet Minister Ann Widdecombe has agreed to process a visa application for Olonga, it said. According to the report, businessman and cricketing entrepreneur David Folb has offered him a contract to play for his Kent-based side, Lashings, and has been in touch with Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson and Widdecombe to cement a deal that guarantees Olonga a future. Olonga, facing repercussions for mourning the “death of democracy in Zimbabwe” during the World Cup, is seeking asylum in Britain keeping secret his whereabouts now. Not even Andy Flower, fellow protester who announced his retirement from international cricket at the same time that Olonga quit last Saturday, has managed to breach Olonga’s undercover existence. “I have to consider the worst-case scenario. I cannot take chances with my security. That is why I am in hiding, keeping a low profile, which means locking the door and staying off the streets,” Olonga said. His fear for life has been accelerated by a barrage of hate-mails making it clear that his return to homeland is to risk death. “The messages are very threatening,” Olonga said. “They said: ‘Watch out if you try to come back to Zimbabwe’. That is enough for me to know that I cannot return to Harare. The kind of people we are dealing with in Zimbabwe are sinister, not people you can take for granted. Olonga, who may face treason charges, which carry death in Zimbabwe said: “I have fallen foul of the authorities and who knows what could happen if I set foot on Zimbabwean soil”. Olonga said: “I knew I was being hunted when seven members of Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence Organisation turned up at our final World Cup match with Sri Lanka, ostensibly as spectators”. “The announcement of my retirement may have deterred them from what they were planning because of all the interest in me after my statement. I stayed close to the team after the match and felt reasonably protected from arrest with all the security put in place. “I suppose I shall never know why the CIO men were there or what they planned, but I was taking no chances with so many people being arrested on trumped up treason charges back home”.
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Jayasuriya to stay captain Colombo, March 23 ‘’Sanath has agreed to continue with the captaincy,’’ said Charnika Munasinghe, media manager of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka. Jayasuriya handed in a letter of resignation on Saturday after the defeat by Australia in a match that many commentators felt the Sri Lankans had a chance of winning because it was played on a pitch suited to their style of cricket. Munasinghe said the national team selectors had decided not to accept his resignation. The 33-year-old left-hander has been Sri Lanka’s most exciting batsmen over the past seven years after making his breakthrough in the 1996 World Cup and helping win the trophy. Sri Lanka will play in Sharjah next month in a triangular tournament with Pakistan and South Africa.
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Kenya on fast track to Test status Johannesburg, March 23 “It was proposed by the ICC that it will work with Kenya to develop a strategic plan, which included putting a mechanism in place to expose them to a longer version of cricket,” Speed said. The cash-strapped Kenyan cricket will also benefit from a guaranteed amount of $ 500,000 each year for development of infrastructure while more first-class matches will be arranged for the team to prepare it for the big league, Speed said.
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Kenya vindicates Ayob’s efforts Johannesburg, March 23 “Yes, it was a great feeling watching Kenya’s battle to get there, despite some who say they were there by default because of points forfeited by opponents,” Ayob, director of development for Africa for the ICC, told IANS. Kenya became the first non-Test playing nation to make it to the semifinals of the World Cup but were knocked out by India on Thursday. “I was thrilled when Kenya beat Sri Lanka (in the Super Six) because to me it showed that Africa has got potential,” said Ayob. Ayob felt that Kenya still needed to play more four-day games before they could be granted Test status. “They are good at one-day games and maybe in two years they’ll be knocking at the door (of Tests) and will have to be let in,” opined Ayob. “If you look at Sri Lanka, how they started and where they are today, we’ve got to give countries like Kenya an opportunity as well,” he added. He said the Kenyans had to play among the top teams all the time to get the experience. Ayob has been involved in cricket development since 1965 when he was a teacher. He also excelled as a player, but never got the opportunity to represent his country because of the apartheid era. Years of experience in cricket administration resulted in him getting the task of exposing cricket to the rest of the continent. Ayob spends up to three weeks a month training people in other African countries to help them become self-sufficient in promoting the game. Ayob said local cricket unions were amazed at the number of people who visited South Africa from other African countries for the World Cup. He was convinced that Kenya’s neighbour Uganda would be in the next World Cup in the West Indies. “I still feel that Uganda is going to become the country that everybody’s going to talk about in the future because it has a good development programme.” Uganda will make at the next World Cup in the West Indies in 2007, followed by Nigeria. “Cricket is growing in Africa because we are reaching the youngsters in our grassroots development campaign. Once you’re addicted to cricket at a young age, you remain a cricketer. “If you look at the e-mail messages that are getting to television stations hosting cricket broadcasts and commentaries, you can see how many African people are writing in.” While most people would think Ayob was taking a break from his hectic schedule to follow the World Cup being hosted at home over the past six weeks, this was hardly the case. “Just as the World Cup kicked off, I was in Harare for a spin-bowling seminar, so my work carries on. Two weeks later we were doing some camps in central Africa to enable children to participate in an under-17 tournament in Malawi in April.” Ayob said he normally goes down to countries with a cricketing background and helps them in all respects. But for Rwanda or Mozambique who are new to the game, cricketing structures have to be set up, coaching courses organised for teachers. Then come visits to sponsors and sports bodies to get people interested in the game. “We try to get the government and schools involved to make them understand that cricket is not a white man’s game or an Asian game but is played by everybody,” said the cricket promoter. “We’ve been very successful in that regard. We are starting to play tournaments now against each other and more and more countries are joining the programmes,” added Ayob.
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Father kills teenage fan Kolkata, March 23 Susanta Hazra (14), who worked as an apprentice at a local furniture factory, died last night at his residence in north Kolkata after his father Prasanta hit him on the head with a bat, which the teenager used to score centuries in ‘para’ matches. Deputy Commissioner of Police Soumen Mitra said the father hit his son as he refused to hand over the entire wages to him. “Susanta had planned to spend part of the amount earned as his weekly wages today, hoping India’s victory in the final. He was an
ardent cricket fan and had made a replica of the Cup a week ago.” PTI |
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Anand beats Shirov, regains lead Monte Carlo, March 23 With four rounds to go, Anand has 9.5 points in his kitty and leads the overall standings by just half a point over Israeli grandmaster Boris Gelfand. The Indian ace also leads in the rapid category with 5.5 points of the possible seven, while Gelfand and Russian GM Vladimir Kramnik share the lead in the blindfold variety with 5.5 points apiece. In the blindfold playoff, Anand faced the Petroff in his game against Shirov, who appeared well armed and had little trouble in maintaining the balance in the ensuing middle game. Routine exchanges led the game to a level position and a draw was agreed to after 39 moves. In the rapid variety, Anand tried the Petroff against an out-of-form Shirov, but he kept the game evenly balanced. However, Shirov went haywire as the endgame surfaced and lost a pawn in the rook ending. Anand did not let go of this opportunity and wrapped up the game in 73 moves. In the overall standings, Linares champion Peter Leko of Hungary, Kramnik and Bulgarian Veselin Topalov with 8.5 points jointly hold the third place, behind Anand and Gelfand. In the rapid standing, Russian Evgeny Bareev is half a point behind Anand. Gelfand joined Kramnik at the top of the blindfold table by defeating Bareev in the blindfold variety. Both the leaders have 5.5 points apiece, followed by Topalov on 4.5. Anand and Leko share joint fourth spot on 4 points each. Gelfand scored over Bareev in the Chelyabinsk variation of the Slav defense. Playing white, the Israeli GM maintained a slight advantage in the middle game and capitalised on an erroneous endgame plan by Bareev to net a pawn. Gelfand soon drew the rapid to win the mini-match. Erstwhile leader Peter Leko met his nemesis in defending champion Alexander Morozevich and went down 0.5-1.5, losing the blindfold, while Kramnik had a 1-1 draw with Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk after both games ended in truce. Topalov scored over lowly placed Ljubomir Ljubojevic 2-0 to move up in the standings.
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Germany beat Pakistan Kuala Lumpur, March 23 The Germans had to put up their best to overcome the Pakistanis, who displayed good fighting spirit after an easy 6-1 win over New Zealand in their first match yesterday in the tournament in the northern city of Ipoh. Max Landshut scored Germany’s first goal in the eighth minute by converting a penalty corner, and Sebastian Biederleck added another in the 22nd minute when he found the net after a good pass by Eike Duckwitz Pakistan, who won the title in 2000, reduced the gap in the 25th minute when the penalty corner expert, Sohail Abbas, managed to convert a corner after missing several chances. In the 34th minute, Timo Wess scored with a penalty corner to make it 3-1 for the Germans at half time. Kashif Jawad slotted Pakistan’s second goal in the 41st minute, but Germany scored again in the 57th minute when Sascha Reinelt passed the ball to an unmarked Benjamin Koepp, who tapped it past Pakistani goalkeeper Mohammad Qasim. Five minutes before the final whistle, Pakistan’s Rehan Butt scored after receiving a long ball, bringing the final score to 4-3. The other two teams in the tournament are Malaysia and South Korea. South Korea, the runner-up in the last three editions of the tournament, defeated Malaysia 2-0 yesterday.
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Agassi beats Chang at Key Biscayne Key Biscayne, March 23 Showing no signs of the sore shoulder that forced his skip Indian Wells earlier this month, Agassi smacked six aces and lost only 16 service points. When Chang hit an errant forehand on match point, the two Americans removed their caps and shook hands at the net, perhaps for the final time. Chang plans to retire after the US Open. In other men’s matches, Davide Sanguinetti of Italy upset seventh-seeded Marat Safin of Russia 7-6 (9-7), 7-5, No. 4 Roger Federer, who lost to Agassi in last year’s final, beat Luis Horna 6-2, 7-5 and 14th-seeded Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands downed Jean-Rene Lisnard of France 6-3, 6-4. Second-seeded Venus Williams, the champion in 1998 and 1999, beat Shinobu Asagoe of Japan 6-3, 6-1 and sixth-seeded Jennifer Capriati started slowly but topped Anastassia Rodionova of Russia 7-6 (7-3), 6-2. “The conditions are a little tough,” Capriati said. “It’s a little hot out there. I felt a little sluggish out there in the beginning. I don’t think I played like my greatest tennis. I mean, I didn’t have to, luckily.” Chang, who hasn’t won a set against Agassi since 1996, couldn’t muster the firepower to pull off an upset this time. The only service break of the opening set came in the seventh game, when Chang lost his serve with four backhand errors. Agassi broke twice more in the second set and never lost his serve. Even two brief rain delays couldn’t halt his momentum. The second-seeded Agassi improved to 15-7 in the rivalry. He became the favourite to win his third consecutive Key Biscayne title when No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia was upset in his opening match on Friday night by Francisco Clavet. In women’s play, fourth-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium downed Vera Douchevina of Russia 6-3, 6-2, 17th-seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan beat Dinara Safina of Russia 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 and Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand, seeded 30th, topped Denisa Chladkova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-2.
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Manipur annex
fencing titles Patiala, March 23 In the final of the foil team event for boys, Assam got the better of their much fancied rivals, Manipur, 15-12. Earlier, in the last four stage, Manipur fencers downed Maharashtra 15-6 while Assam edged past Jammu and Kashmir 15-14. In the final of the sabre event for girls, Manipur beat Himachal Pradesh (HP) 15-11 to lay their hands on the title. In the last four stage, Manipur downed Haryana 15-13 while HP scraped past Maharashtra 15-13. In the epee team event for boys, Manipur annexed the title by beating HP 13-4. In the semi-finals, Manipur walloped Uttar Pradesh 15-2 while HP downed the hosts 15-13. Mr Kartar Singh, Director (Sports), distributed the prizes. |
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Patiala win Chandigarh, March 23 |
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Audit hockey Chandigarh, March 23 |
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Johannesburg, March 23
