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Monday,
March 31, 2003, Chandigarh, India   |
Kiwis wary of grass, Paes Paes-Rikl duo
loses in final Pakistan win Azlan Shah hockey |
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PCA advances age group tourneys AKRAM CASE |
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Salvi,
Gambhir, Chopra ‘biggest gains’ N. Korea rally to hold India
Patiala, Jalandhar win basketball titles
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Kiwis wary of grass, Paes Kolkata, March 30 “It is tough to play on grass, which is quite like an unknown thing to us. It will also be tough to play against Paes as he is extra motivated while playing for his country,” Glenn Wilson, New Zealand team captain, said after a practice session at the South Club ground, the venue of the Davis Cup matches. The four-member New Zealand team arrived here this morning barring the lead ranker Mark Nielsen, who is scheduled to reach tomorrow. Terming themselves as the “underdogs”, the former Davis cupper said the inexperience of the Kiwis in grass courts would be the biggest problem for the visitors. “The most difficult challenge in this round is not Paes or (Mahesh) Bhupathi, it is the grass,” Wilson said, but expressed satisfaction at the even surface of the court. New Zealand, who got past Pakistan in the previous round, had suffered a humiliating 1-4 defeat against India in the Davis Cup tie last year on their home soil. The 338th-ranked Nielson, the highest singles rank holder among the two teams, would be the mainstay of the Kiwis. He said they would like to face Paes in the second singles “so that we can take him on after winning the first match”. Besides Nielson, the other members of the team are jamesShortall (singles rank 1113), Alistair Hunt (1336) and Robert Cheyne (989) - a new member in the squad that played against India last year. The doubles ranking of Nielson was 195 while that of Shortall was 590. The Indian team, comprising Paes (singles rank 1003, doubles rank 20), Bhupathi (doubles rank 4), Rohan Bopanna (singles rank 348) and Harsh Mankad (singles rank 463), will start assembling from today. While Mankad was already here, Bopanna and team captain Ramesh Krishnan were expected to arrive today. Paes, on the other hand, was expected to return from Florida tomorrow and Bhupathi the day after. Wilson refused to divulge his first team but said the big serving Kiwis, having an average height over six feet, would like to play it from the base line to counter the tricky ground shots of the Indians.
PTI |
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Paes-Rikl duo
loses in final New Delhi, March 30 Paes and Rikl had to be content with $ 68,000 for their runners-up placing while the title was third for seventh seeded Mirnyi-Federer pair who won in Rotterdam and Moscow last year. Mirnyi and Federer had started off with a win over Mirnyi’s erstwhile partner Mahesh Bhupathi — with whom he had won the US Open doubles crown last season — and Tim Henman in the first round before toppling the highest seeds Canadian Daniel Nestor and Mark Knowles of Bahamas in the semifinals. For Paes, who had won two titles so far this year, a win here would have given him career title number 27. Nevertheless, his performance should catapult him in the ATP Doubles Race along with Rikl from their current fourth place.
PTI |
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Pakistan win Azlan Shah hockey Kuala Lumpur, March 30 Shabbir Hussain took advantage of a lapse in concentration among the German defenders to score in the 62nd minute of the final played in Malaysia’s northern city of Ipoh. The Germans, who were the defending champions and unbeaten in earlier matches of this annual tournament, had several golden opportunities, but tight defensive play by Pakistan prevented them from scoring. For Pakistan, who had won the title in 2000, today’s win was also sweet revenge after losing to Germany 3-4 in a preliminary match a week ago. Pakistan’s penalty corner expert Sohail Abbas was named player of the tournament, and Germany’s Christopher Zeller as the most promising player. In the third-fourth playoff, New Zealand beat South Korea 3-2 after a strong performance in the second half.
AP |
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PCA advances age group tourneys Chandigarh, March 30 Disclosing this here today, Mr M.P. Pandove, Honorary Secretary, Punjab Cricket Association, clarified that eight teams which include six major districts of Chandigarh, Patiala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Mohali have been identified. The rest of the districts have been divided into two groups — Zone A and Zone B. Zone A comprises Faridkot, Bathinda, Ferozepore, Mansa, Sangrur and Muktsar while Zone B has Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr, Ropar, Moga and Fatehgarh Sahib. Each zone will field one combined team. These eight teams have been divided into two pools - A and B. Pool A comprises Patiala, Chandigarh, Mohali and Zone A, while Pool B has Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Zone-B. The teams in their respective pools will play three-day games on league basis and two teams from each pool will qualify to play the semifinals and final on the knock-out basis. The probables for the Punjab teams would be selected immediately after the completion of each tournament. The months of July, August, September and October would be devoted to the preparation of state teams by organising preparatory camps at the Centre of Excellence at the PCA Cricket Stadium,
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AKRAM CASE Islamabad, March 30 The move comes after Zakir Khan, a PCB official constituting the one man inquiry committee appointed to review the strictures passed by a judicial commission in 2000, withdrew at the last minute stating that he was a close friend of Akram and, therefore, constrained to take a fair view of case. Khan earlier absolved former fast bowler Ata-ur Rahman who was indicted by a Justice Qayyum for perjury in his match fixing report after the cricketer filed for a review of his case. Akram too approached the Lahore High Court which in turn asked the PCB Committee to review the strictures against him. Elaborating on PCB’s request for the ICC to provide evidence against Akram, a PCB official was quoted as saying by The News today that “the report of Justice Qayyum Commission has been ratified by the ICC, its executive board and code of conduct commission. “Before any moves are made to hear the appeals of affected players by the board against the sanctions imposed on them, the board needs to get clearance from the ICC and its Anti-Corruption Unit.” The Qayyum Commission after its extensive inquiry in May 2000 imposed a fine on Akram and recommended that he must not be made captain again at any level of the game. PCB officials said that even before hearing Rahman’s appeal the PCB had sent a similar letter to the ICC which said its Anti-Corruption Unit or code of conduct commission had no evidence linking him with match-fixing. The PCB later set aside the life ban and fine imposed on Rahman by the Qayyum Commission after hearing his appeal petition. “Similarly since the special committee constituted by the board is now scheduled to start hearing the appeal of Akram, it wants a clear answer from the ICC if its anti-corruption unit has gathered any new evidence against him,” the PCB officials said. They said that if the ICC accepted that it had no evidence against Akram’s involvement, it would become easier for the board to hear out his appeal next month. “The PCB does not want a situation where after it clears Wasim of the match-fixing sanctions, the ICC comes up with objections and evidence,” they said. The ICC has already informed the PCB during its recent Executive Board meeting in Johannesburg that Justice Karamat Bhandari’s inquiry report into allegations that Pakistan had played “fixed” matches against Bangladesh and India in the 1999 World Cup was incomplete. The ICC was of the view that Justice Bhandari’s report submitted with it did not include all the testimonies given by witnesses, nor the submissions given by the ACU.
PTI |
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Serena beats Capriati
Key Biscayne, March 30 Williams, who is ranked No. 1 and 17-0 this year, also beat Capriati in the 2002 final. No. 2-seeded Andre Agassi advanced to the men’s final today by beating No. 9 Albert Costa of Spain 6-2, 6-4. Playing on her 27th birthday, the No. 6-seeded Capriati won four games in a row to take charge of the first set, and an erratic Williams appeared susceptible to an upset. It was the first set Williams had dropped in the tournament. The noisy stadium crowd was firmly in Capriati’s corner, but Williams steadied her game in the second set and won nine consecutive points early in the third to grab the lead. Taking a big swing on almost every shot, Williams finished with 42 unforced errors to 21 for
Capriati, but compensated with a big advantage in winners — 33 to 13. On match point, Capriati pulled a backhand wide, and Williams raised her arms and hopped up and down with glee. Capriati now is behind 8-4 in the all-time series against Williams. She hasn’t beaten Williams since the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2001. Williams earned $393,000. Capriati received runner-up money — $206,000 — for the third year in a row. She lost to Venus Williams in the 2001 final. Agassi, bidding for his sixth Key Biscayne title and his third in a row, won a 17-minute first game and led Costa the rest of the way. Agassi finished with 29 winners and just 18 unforced errors in the one-hour, 42-minute match.
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Salvi, Gambhir, Chopra ‘biggest gains’ Kolkata, March 30 Malhotra, however, expressed disappointment with the performance of the middle order which included skipper Venkatsai Laxman, holding it responsible for India A’s failure to reach the semifinals of the eight-team Carib Beer Series. “I think we played well. But yes, our performance could have been better,” Malhotra told PTI. India ‘A’ finished fifth after the group league stage of the competition garnering 36 points to narrowly miss a place in the last four. Malhotra said the Indians gave a very good account of themselves in parts of the tourney beating formidable Jamaica and Trinidad but failed to keep up the momentum losing crucial ties against Barbados and Winward Islands. “The performance of the middle order was disappointing. The wickets were mostly docile, very unlike the familiar Caribbean tracks. But still these batsmen failed to click. May be they lacked concentration,” he said. But Malhotra was effusive in his praise for Salvi who finished as the most successful Indian bowler with 31 wickets. Describing the 21-year old Mumbai right arm pacer as the find of the tour, Malhotra said: “He was fast and penetrating and troubled all the batsmen.” Malhotra also picked out Delhi duo Gambhir and Chopra for special mention. While Gambhir totalled 617 runs in the competition, Chopra’s aggregate was an equally impressive 545. “They gave us very good starts but our middle order failed to build on them,” the former stylish batsman in the Gundappa Vishwanath mould said. Malhotra regretted that skipper Laxman, who seemed to be struggling with the bat in the initial stages of the tour, got injured just when he was regaining his touch and missed the last two matches. “His absence caused us dear.” Referring to willowers Hemang Badani and Abhijit Kale, Malhotra said: “They got 20s and 30s, but failed to consolidate on good starts and some of the shots they played to throw their wickets were just unpardonable,”. On promising teenager A.T.P. Rayudu, he said the 17-year old was exceptionally talented but needs more experience. Turning to the bowlers, Malhotra said the experienced Baroda pacer Rakesh Patel struggled with no balls throughout the tour. “He even bowled 15 no balls in one of the matches. “Whenever he bowled within his abilities, he was okay. But his problems began once he tried to bowl quicker. I don’t know what his problem is. It may be in his run-up or the last jump,” he said. Malhotra said though bowlers like Murali Kartik and L. Balaji bowled well at times, they lack consistency and penetration. Tinu Yohanan’s showing was also much below expectation, he added. The coach said wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra did a good job behind the stumps and had an excellent attitude, “But I would like him to be more consistent with the bat”.
PTI |
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N. Korea rally to hold India Margao, March 30 India took time to settle down and led 1-0 at half time through striker IM Vijayan in the 30th minute. The visitors, who controlled the second half, restored parity in the 84th minute through Choe Hyon U. Thus, Korea who beat India by 2-0 margin at home, qualified into the next round to fill the last spot of group D along with Iran, Jordan and Lebanon. The Indians forwards came with few raids and opened the rival defence twice but striker Abhishek Yadav and Alex Ambrose lacked the killer punch.
PTI |
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Cunning wins, Randhawa, Atwal finish 6th New Delhi, March 30 Cunning started the final round with birdies on the first, second and third holes, dropped a shot on the fourth but picked up another birdie on the fifth — where he narrowly missed hole-in-one and the gleaming Mercedes Benz C Class, which has been on offer for the first hole-in-one on this hole for the last two days. Playing the leader group, Mike Cunning’s iron shot fell short of the hole and died off to the left, finishing a foot and a half from the hole. He then birdied the sixth, but dropped a stroke on the ninth to make the turn at 13-under-par for the tournament. A hat-trick of birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th holes, followed by birdies on the 17th and 18th holes saw him card the lowest winning total at the Indian Open, a 18-under-par, 270. Meanwhile, Rick Gibson carded a three-under, 69 to make his second consecutive runner-up finish at the Royal Challenge Indian Open with a total of 13-under-par, 275. Gibson started with a birdie on the par-five first, but bogeyed the second hole to get back to level-par. Adam Groom and James Kingston tied for third place, a further stroke behind. Groom started the day at 11-under-par, one stroke behind the leader. Overnight leader, Jyoti Randhawa started the day with the odds in his favour, having won two Hero Honda Masters titles at the Delhi Golf Club Course. A birdie on the par-five first hole saw him get to one-under for the day. However, he double bogeyed the third, picked up a stroke on the fourth hole, to get back to level-par for the day but a string of bogies on the sixth, eighth, 10th and 11th holes dropped him out of contention. He recovered with a birdie on the 15th and a final birdie on the last saw him card a disappointing two-over-par, 70 to finish the tournament at 10-under-par, tied alongside Arjun Atwal. “I did not hit the ball too well and the bogies cost me the lead,” said Jyoti after his round. Meanwhile, Atwal carded pars on the first two holes, but a double bogey on the par-four third saw him drop to six-under for the tournament. However, birdies on the eighth, 10th, 13th and 18th saw him card a two-under, 70. Digvijay Singh failed to get going as he started the day with a par, but bogeyed the next hole to lose the advantage. He then picked up strokes on the sixth and eighth holes but bogeyed the 11th to drop to level-par for the day. A final birdie on the par-five 18th saw him finish the tournament at eight-under-par, tied alongside Craig Kamps, who carded six birdies and three bogeys to shoot a 69 today. “My putting let me down today,” said Digvijay, who leads the putting average on the Indian tour. “I hit it very close on the seventh, 10th, 13th, 14th, 17th but failed to capitalize,” added Digvijay who failed to improve upon his last year ‘s performance and finished th10, tied alongside South African Craig Kamps and one stroke behind Aung Win and Mo Joong Kyung. Harinder Gupta of Chandigarh won the amateur category as he was the only amateur golfer to participate alongside Asia’s leading golfers. The Chandigarh golfer carded a level-par, 72 today following two brilliant opening rounds of two-under-par, 70 and a 74 yesterday to take his tournament total to level-par, 288. |
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Patiala, Jalandhar win basketball titles Patiala, March 30 For the winners, Pawandeep with 20 and Rajpreet with 16 points led their teams to victory. For the losers, Jagdeep and Harvinder Singh scored 20 points apiece. In the women’s section, Jalandhar edged past Ludhiana 64-56 to clinch the title. Mrs Preneet
Kaur, MP, who was the chief guest, distributed the prizes. The newly-elected president of the Basketball Federation of India
(BFI) and ADGP, Mr Rajdeep Singh Gill, said it would be his endeavour to see to it that basketball would be broad based throughout the country. He said the performance of Indian teams, both in the men’s and women’s section, had improved vastly in international tournaments. Mr Teja Singh
Dhaliwal, Secretary of the Punjab Basketball Association, also spoke on the occasion. Cricket challenge cup
A fine knock by Sukhpreet Singh enabled the local Yadvindra Public School (YPS) to carve out a comfortable 34-run victory against NICS cricket club in a league match of the Dr J.R. Sachdeva (under-15) cricket challenge cup held at Dhruv Pandove stadium here. The scores were as follows: YPS- 205 for 9 (Sukhpreet Singh (66), Aman (26), Digvijay (23), Parry Goel (19), Arjun 2 for 18, Navjot 2 for 25, Monty 1 for 43, Jiwanjot 1 for 39). NICS cricket club- 171 all out
(Kanwar Singh (58), Monty (28) not out, Jiwanjot 1 for 39, Sukhpreet Singh 2 for 23, Gurjot Singh 2 for 35, Aman 1 for 5, Digvijay 1 for 12, Gaurav 1 for 32). |
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