 |
Thursday,
April 17, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
India beat Bangladesh
New foreign coach for Bangladesh in May India to play four Tests in Australia Olonga not interested in political asylum Straight fingers a rarity among cricketers |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dope test results spark off debate
Capriati wins in 2nd round BOMBAY GOLD CUP Gangjee stars in Hero Golf Pro-Am Citizens’ gesture to power-lifter Cricket team for inter-district meet
|
|
India beat Bangladesh
Dhaka, April 16 Left-handed Gambhir made amends for his early failures with a sparkling 71 which helped India overhaul Bangladesh's score of 207 with 7.1 overs to spare to record their third consecutive victory in the tournament. The Indians gave a chance to all the newcomers in the squad but still proved to be too strong for the struggling hosts whose winless streak extended to 35 matches with today's defeat. Gambhir, who had scores of 11 and 18 in the two previous matches, justified the faith reposed on him by the team management to anchor the Indian run chase after stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag had given a flying start. The Indians made life a little difficult for themselves by losing three wickets in quick succession at the home stretch with
Gambhir, Mohammad Kaif (20) and Sanjay Bangar (7) returning to the
pavillion. But Dinesh Mongia, who remained unbeaten on 16, anchored the side past the target. Earlier, Bangladesh batsmen put up a much improved performance and, thanks to a fine half-century by Habibul
Bashar, crossed the 200-run mark for the first time in 18 innings. Akram Khan (35) and Mehrab Hossain (30) also made important contributions. For India, who have won both their previous matches in this tournament, Ajit Agarkar claimed three wickets while off- spinner Sarandeep Singh, playing his first game in this event, took two wickets. Electing to bat, the Bangladesh innings began on a disastrous note with Mohammad
Ashraful, the top scorer in the last match against South Africa, returning to the pavilion with the score on 15. Agarkar provided the breakthrough as Ashraful played on to his stumps trying to drive a delivery outside the off-stump. Mehrab
Hossain, returning to the team in place of Sanwar Hossain, and Habibul Bashar tried to steady the innings by playing cautiously to the Indian
pacemen, punishing only the loose balls. Hossain was lucky to have survived two dropped chances — Dinesh Mongia being the culprit on both occasions — but his luck ran out as soon as Sanjay Bangar was introduced into the attack in the 13th over. Bangar fetched the wicket with his very first ball as the batsman mistimed an attempted flick shot to be caught by Agarkar on the fine leg boundary.
PTI
SCOREBOARD Bangladesh: M Ashraful b Agarkar 7 M Hossain c Agarkar
b Bangar 30 H Bashar c Kaif b Agarkar 50 J Omar c and b Sarandeep 1 A Kapali c Mongia
b Sarandeep 9 A Khan lbw b Sehwag 35 K Mashud c Patel b Mishra 12 K Mahmud c Sehwag
b Agarkar 23 M Rafique b Salvi 4 T Baisya run out 3 T Aziz not out 15 Extras
(b-4, lb-2, w-4, nb-8): 18 Total (all out in 49.4
overs): 207 Fall
of wickets: 1-15, 2-49, 3-53, 4-78, 5-124, 6-139, 7-163, 8-182, 9-182. Bowling:
Salvi 10-0-50-1, Agarkar 10-2-36-3, Bangar 8.4-0-32-1, Sarandeep Singh 10-0-34-2, Mishra 9-1-38-1, Sehwag 2-0-11-1. India: Sehwag c Aziz b Rafique 43 Gambhir c Mashud b Kapali 71 Patel lbw b Kapali 27 Kaif run out 20 Bangar lbw b Rafique 7 Kale c Mahmud b Ashraful 10 Mongia not out 16 Agarkar not out 4 Extras
(lb-1, w-7, nb-2): 10 Total (6 wkts, 42.5 overs): 208 Fall of wickets:
1-69, 2-117, 3-164, 4-178, 5-178, 6-204. Bowling: Baisya 8-0-42-0, Aziz 4-0-31-0, Rafique 10-0-42-2, Mahmud 7-0-22-0, Kapali 8-0-41-2, Ashraful 3.5-0-19-1, Mehrab Hossain 2-0-10-0. |
|
New foreign coach for Bangladesh in May Dhaka, April 16 Though the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s contract with Pakistani coach Mahasin Kamal would be formally ending on April 30, local coach Imran Sarwar had been entrusted with the coaching of the Bangladesh team for this TVS Cup. A local website report quoting a BCB source said the board had shortlisted four persons, including former Australian cricketers Dav Whatmore and Bruce Reid, South African first class cricketer Raymond Veron Jennings and former West Indian opener Gordon
Greenidge, who coached the side earlier and been continuing dialogue with them.
UNI |
|
India to play four Tests in Australia
Sydney, April 16 India, who were beaten by Australia in the final of the World Cup in South Africa last month, will play the first Test from December 4 to 8 in Brisbane followed by matches at Adelaide (December 12-16), Melbourne (December 26-30) and Sydney (Jan 2-6), according to the tour
programme released by the Australian Cricket Board today. The VB one-day series will begin on January 9 and finish with the third final, if necessary, on February 10. Each team will play the other two four times in the league stages of the tri-series and the top two teams will feature in a best of three final. Australia will also play a two-Test series with Zimbabwe in October, the first time that international cricket will be played in that month in Australia. No international cricket will be played in Australia in November when the Aussies are expected to travel to India to play in a triangular one-day series with the hosts and New Zealand. India had lost all their three Test matches on their previous tour of Australia in 1999-2000 season and won just a single match out of the eight matches played in the VB series which had Pakistan as the third team. However, India extracted sweet revenge on Australia's return tour in 2001 when they broke the Aussies' world record sequence of 16 consecutive Test victories with a historic comeback win at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. India will also play two first class matches, against Victoria at Melbourne from November 27 to 29 and against Australia A at Hobart from December 19 to 21, in addition to a limited overs match against Prime Minister's XI at Canberra on December 1. Itinerary: India vs Australia Test series: Dec 4-8,
first Test at Brisbane; December 12-16, second Test at Adelaide; December 26-30,
third Test at Melbourne; and January 2-6 Fourth Test at Sydney. VB one-day series: January 9, India vs Australia (D/N) at Melbourne January 11, Australia vs Zimbabwe (D/N) at Sydney January 14, India vs
Zimbabwe at Hobart January 16, Australia vs Zimbabwe at Hobart January 18, India vs
Australia (D/N) at Brisbane January 20, India vs Zimbabwe (D/N) at Brisbane January 22, India vs
Australia (D/N) at Sydney January 24, India vs Zimbabwe (D/N) at Adelaide January 26, Australia vs Zimbabwe at (D/N) Adelaide January 29, Australia vs Zimbabwe at (D/N) Melbourne February 1, India vs Australia at Perth February 3, India vs
Zimbabwe (D/N) at Perth February 6, First Final (D/N) at Melbourne February 8, Second Final (D/N) at Sydney February 10, Third Final (D/N)
(if required) at Brisbane. PTI |
|
Olonga not interested in political asylum London, April 16 Olonga, who has arrived in England after being granted a work permit to play club cricket and do TV commentary, said he had heard of offers of asylum from Australia and New Zealand. ''It has never appealed to me,'' Olonga, who made headlines during this year's World Cup when he and batsman Andy Flower wore black armbands to ''mourn the death of democracy'' in Zimbabwe under Mugabe's rule, told Reuters in a telephone interview yesterday. ''If there was a legitimate way for me to work then that is what I wanted to pursue.'' The 26-year-old
Olonga, who has a six-month work visa, said he felt safer in England than he had done in South Africa.
Reuters |
|
|
Straight fingers a rarity among cricketers Finger injuries are a nuisance. They represent a professional hazard mostly for batsmen, fielders and wicket-keepers while fast bowlers are more prone to back and leg injuries. Spinners suffer from bleeding and sore fingers from giving a tweak to the ball. Unless cricket goes in for an unthinkable reform like allowing fielders to use baseball gloves, cricketers will continue to suffer from broken or gnarled fingers that take an eternal beating from the hard leather sphere. The Australians used a baseball coach, Mike Young, to improve on their fielding techniques during the World Cup. He put forth the theory that fielders field with their feet, not their hands, in the sense that the feet should get them behind the ball. Still, a fielder has to take the ball in his hands. The head of the Australian think tank, John Buchanan, has never been averse to introducing new concepts in the game. In his days at Middlesex he was thought of as more of a
boffin than a coach. So outlandish could some of his ideas be. Much of
Buchanan's success as a coach, despite a restricted seven-match first class experience, can be attributed to his cerebral approach. Buchanan is said to favour a theory that cricketers may get so
ambidextrous in the future that a fast bowler could double up as a left arm spinner. And a batsman might change to his other hand if pitch conditions and the bowling are more easily handled in batting the other way, say left-handed. If
Buchanan's thinking can be taken further, cricket might even legislate for baseball gloves for fielders. But that day would be so far as to defeat normal concepts like life expectancy. The baseball gloves will spare the fingers the agony of a million catches taken in practice sessions and on the field in matches. Sachin
Tendulkar is the latest cricketer to go for the surgeons scalpel to mend an injured finger. He sustained the injury while fielding which only adds to the argument that cricketers have a lot to lose in the professional hazard the game poses. The way cricketers turn up on the field with fingers in plaster makes them resemble the player of South India’s popular percussion instrument which is a kind of drum. This lends further grist to how they can be spared the agony by simple legislation. A
batsman's skills are too often hampered by finger injuries sustained while fielding. Damien Martyn played an extraordinary innings in the World Cup final against India despite just recovering from a finger injury. There was a price to pay since he had to skip the Caribbean tour. Nasser Hussain, the England Test captain, has had so many fingers broken his log book of absences from the game is thick. But he has only himself to blame for his injuries have come as a batsman with a known propensity to take knocks on his fingers from rising balls. There can be no case for further padding up of the batting gloves to prevent such injuries though space age material may soon be inducted to offer more protection. It is in fielding and slip catching that cricketers suffer the most injuries on their fingers. If Harbhajan Singh may not get to Lancashire for quite a while yet to make his appearance on the county circuit, he will have a finger injury to blame. The price poor Rahul Dravid had to pay in a dual role as wicket-keeper batsman at the World Cup was to miss the Dhaka tri-series thanks to a finger injury in the semifinal. Wicket-Keepers have so much more protection in the gauntlets. But then they have to take the ball much more often and regardless of bad bounce. A keeper with 10 straight fingers is as rare as hens teeth. There might be a good case for the baseball glove that which has been a part of a cricket teams training equipment for a long time now. But a conservative sport like cricket, that did not even allow the television umpire a fuller role in the World Cup, may take ages to think of radical reform. Meanwhile, the thud of cricket ball on gnarled fingers is a reality cricketers face every day. |
|
Japan shock
South Korea 1-0
in soccer Seoul, April 16 An attempted clearance from South Korea defender Cho Byoung-kuk
ricocheted off the left foot of Nagai and looped over goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae to give Japan coach Zico his first victory in four attempts. Plastic bottles rained on to the pitch at Seoul World Cup Stadium as a crowd of 65,000 registered their disgust at the goal at the end of a match dominated by South Korea. The World Cup semifinalists, who had won 35 of their previous 61 matches against Japan, had little luck in their second match under former Portugal coach Humberto Coelho.
Reuters |
|
Dope test results spark off debate Patiala, April 16 Feeling the pinch of the large number of the positive tests and keeping in view the fact that several national camps are slated to be held at the NIS here, the authorities were fast to react. The Regional Director of the
NIS, Mr G.S Anand, revealed that a two-member expert panel had been set up to educate sportspersons attending camps about the ill effects of using banned substances. The panel members are the member secretary of the anti-doping commission of the Hyderabad games, Dr Ashok
Ahuja, and Scientific Officer of SAI, Dr Pardeep Gupta , whose services have specially been requisitioned from the New Delhi-based SAI laboratory. The Hyderabad positive results have also sparked off an intense debate among sports medicine experts and top Indian athletes attending the ongoing national athletics camp. Dr Ahuja cited several reasons, the most prominent among them being pressure from peers and the Press to win, performance linked payments, like in the Hyderabad games where the AP Government enticed athletes, even from other states, with fabulous cash awards, psychological belief in the ‘magic pill’ and the crowded competition calendar of various
NSFs. Says Dr Ahuja: “Among those outside the athletics community there is a growing concern that all is not well and that idealism and the spirit of honest competition has been replaced by cynical and manipulated calculation, the most obvious forms which are to be found in the abuse of banned substances by athletes.” Many senior athletics coaches attached with the camp firmly hold the belief that the AAFI for all these years had been guilty of mouthing hollow condemnations about the use of dope but at the same time giving tacit approval. Some coaches opined that since the SAI lab is not accredited with the IOC, it had no legal sanctity which means that the mode and manner adopted by the AAFI and other agencies of testing was just a deterrent rather than a foolproof method of enforcing sanctions on guilty athletes. Although a majority of the athletes attending the camp are tight lipped keeping in view the sensitivity of the issue, some did speak out their minds but only on conditions of anonymity. Said a former Asian medal winner, “A majority of athletes have become experts in taking steroids and stimulants. Most of them also know how to circumvent the law by using masking agents. Now they are going for the more sophisticated
drug-EPO- which substantially increases endurance levels. Moreover EPO is most difficult, if not impossible to detect.” Another top Indian thrower confided that blood doping was already on among some top athletes. In blood doping, blood is withdrawn from the body and following the initial withdrawal, the body compensates by increasing the number of blood cells. When the blood is reinfused its ability to transport oxygen is significantly enhanced. With Indian athletes taking dope to new highs, it is anybody’s guess where all this mess will end up. |
|
|
Capriati wins in 2nd round Amelia Island April 16 "I was a little hesitant out there on the clay in the beginning because it was just my first match," Capriati said after her first appearance in this tournament since 1999. "My footing wasn't exactly where I wanted it to be. "I think I had a lot of opportunities to be more aggressive and go to the net, and I didn't. Hopefully, the next match I'll be more aggressive." Capriati (No. 3) was one of seven seeded players in action yesterday, and the first six won their matches. No. 2 Lindsay Davenport beat Nicole Pratt 6-1, 6-0; No. 4 Daniela Hantuchova beat Akiko Morigami 7-5, 6-2; No. 8 Amanda Coetzer beat Vera Zvonareva 7-5, 4-6, 6-0; No. 12 Lisa Raymond beat Julia Vakulenko 6-1, 3-6, 6-1; No. 14 Clarisa Fernandez beat Jill Craybas 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-2 and No. 16 Alexandra Stevenson beat Els Callens 7-5 6-3. Capriati, ranked No. 6 in the world, was successful when she went to the net, but she charged sparingly. She committed 33 unforced errors and needed 1 hour, 49 minutes to beat Mikaelian, the world's 37th-ranked player. "Actually, I think it's good for me to have a tough match like that, because it's my first match on the clay, so I wanted to try to get as much match play as possible," Capriati said. "I was happy it didn't go to the third set. I think it was just enough for me."
AP |
|
BOMBAY GOLD CUP Mumbai, April 16 Earlier in the morning, Bhopal upset reigning champions Air India, Mumbai 7-6 while Karnataka shocked another local outfit Central Railway 6-3 via the tie-breaker to move into the last eight stage. CISF took the lead in the fifth minute of the match when their centre forward Cyril Ekka scored off a pass from defender Pervez Ahsan. However, Signals equalised in the 51st minute through Paramjeet Singh’s indirect conversion of the fifth penalty corner forcing the tie-breaker. In the tie-breaker Cyril Ekka, defender Bharath Kumar Baghwar and centre half Irfan Ahamed were bang on target while skipper G V Xaxa pushed over. For the losers only Ghanshyam Dass managed to score while defender Pawan Verma, forwards Suresh Kumar and Rajesh Gukeria were off target. In the first match of the afternoon, three goals were scored in three minutes. Centre forward Ronaldo Rodrigues gave the lead to the home side with a field goal in the 12th minute of the match. The very next minute EME’s forward S Herenj restored parity and in the 14th minute they took the lead when J Kindo converted the first penalty corner. In the 58th minute the visitors increased the lead 3-1 when Gurmail Singh scored a field goal. With just two minutes to go for the final hooter, Tatas managed to reduce the margin when Asad Khan converted the seventh penalty corner. EME, who resorted to rough play at times, saw J Kujur and Gurmail Singh being sent off temporarily with yellow cards. Tomorrow, last year’s runners-up Indian Airlines will take on Jammu and Kashmir Police, South Central Railway, Secunderabad clash with Indian Oil and Tamil Nadu Eleven face off against Western Railway.
PTI |
|
Gangjee stars in Hero Golf Pro-Am Chandigarh, April 16 The Pro-Am was won by Delhi’s Pappan and team who tallied a score of nett 125 amounting to 19-under par. Lucknow’s Vijay Kumar once again got the better of his Kolkatan rival, when his team beat Rahil’s team on a back nine countback for the second place. The two teams had earlier tied at 126 nett
each. Pappan was accompanied by Col US Rana, Ashish Bagrodia and Arvind
Dutt, while Vijay Kumar’s team constituted A.S. Grewal, Sanjay Talwar and
G.S. Lehal. Rahil Gangjee teamed up with Col Iqbal Singh, J.S. Sidhu and Col
Bajwa. Pappan as the professional in the winning team earned Rs 5,000 for his effort, while Vijay and Gangjee pocketed Rs 3,000 and Rs 2000 each for their teams finishing second and
third. Rahil Gangjee shared Rs 6,000 with Amritinder Singh and Ranjit Singh for returning ‘Best Individual Score by a professional. The ‘Closest to the Pin on the 14th hole’ was returned by Gurkirat
Khera, whose ball came to rest just 3 ft 4 inch from the pin. Rabin Saini returned the ‘Longest Drive on hole no. 2’ courtesy a 290-yard effort from the tee. The Pro-Am was played on a ‘Scramble Format’. The format in question is a unique one where after all partners hit their tee shots or a hole, the best placed ball is selected from where all other partners play their second shots. The procedure is followed till the ball is holed out. The scoring is done as follows. The team handicap is 75% of the combined average handicap of the three partners, with the handicap lirnit fixed at 24 for Ladies and 18 for Gents. The scoring is done on a ‘Medal Format’, where, in case of a tie, the team with the best score over the last 9, 6, 3, 2 or 1 holes as per the scorecard is the winner. The field for the Pro-Am included the likes of defending champion Arjun Singh; thrice-Hero Golf Chandigarh Open winner (‘98, ‘99 & 2000) Amritinder Singh; winner of last week’s SRF All-India Matchplay Golf Championship Vijay Kumar; runner-up at the SRF All-India Matchplay Championship Rahil
Gangjee; the first Indian to qualify for the main draw of a ‘major’ (British Open) Gaurav
Ghei’ twice Honda-Siel PGA Golf Championship winner, Uttam Singh Mundy and a number of other big names on the Tour like Shiv Prakash, Rafiq Ali and Zai Kipgen to name a few. |
|
|
Citizens’ gesture to power-lifter Bathinda, April 16 “I am very happy. I will try to bring laurels to my country by winning a gold medal. I will remain always grateful to those who have come forward to help me”, reacted Asha Rani after receiving the money. Asha Rani has won a number of medals in various championships at the state and national level. Along with her parents, Asha Rani ran from pillar to post for getting financial support after she was selected for participating in the championship on the basis of her performance in the Federation Cup at Kolkata in January 2003. Though the total expenditure of Asha Rani is expected to be about Rs 57,000 she received Rs 40,000 late last evening at a function organised at Civil Lines Club. Those who contributed in cash include Mr S.K. Kalra, Regional Manager, Punjab National Bank, Dr Gursharan Singh, Mr Sewak Ram Bhola, and industrialist, Mrs Raj Gupta, a social worker and educationist, Swami Vivekanand Society and some other organisations. Kanwar Bhim Singh, coach of Asha Rani, said the state government should come forward and help all those players who could do something at the international level. |
|
Cricket team for inter-district meet Ludhiana, April 16 The names of the players are: Mukul Gupta (captain), Pankaj Kumar (vice-captain), Bharat Malhotra, Sushyant Kohli, Gagandeep Dhand, Savnit Singh, Nakul Sharma, Arjun Puri, Vineet Sehgal, Puneet Kumar, Vishwajit, Atul Kohli, Vishal Passi, Amritpal Singh, Raminder Brar, Sahil Bakshi, Mohit Sharma, Nipun Sharma, Amit Sharma and Geetansh. Mr Dharam Paul will be the coach-cum-manager of the team. Ludhiana, in their
inugural match, will take on Amritsar on April 19 at Amritsar. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
