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Monday,
April 21, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Final put off due to rain
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India, Pak cricket chiefs to meet in Dubai BOMBAY GOLD CUP Davenport eyeing 39th title Mohun Bagan in a state of flux Sports meet concludes Kahlon clinches Hero Golf title Patiala beat Minor Districts India win SAARC Golf title Ludhiana all out for 174
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Final put off due to rain Dhaka, April 20 The thunderstorm, accompanied by strong winds lashed the stadium about 20 minutes before the scheduled toss forcing the groundsmen to cover the pitch and the adjacent areas. The two umpires — Alim Dar of Pakistan and Akhaturuddin of Bangladesh — decided to abandon the match at 4.25 pm local time after inspecting the ground condition which was found to be unfit for play. After all the matches in the tournament had been completed without any rain interruptions, the thunderstorm played spoilsport in the final, much to the dismay of a few thousand spectators who had thronged the stadium well before the start of the match. The thunderstorm lasted for about half an hour but left the ground completely soggy which ruled out the possibility of a prompt start to the summit showdown. The groundsmen started the mopping up operations immediately after the rain stopped and the super sopper was also put into use to dry up the ground as early as possible. But the sky remained overcast and the outfield was too damp. The umpires had no hesitation in calling off play after they inspected the ground once the covers were taken off. “There will be no play today. The match will be played tomorrow,” Dar said. The final had generated much interest after both India and South Africa had defeated each other once in the league stage of the tournament and both the teams were looking forward to settle scores in the floodlit encounter at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. The thunderstorms, which are quite common in the month of April, had come down shortly after the first leg match between South Africa and hosts Bangladesh but had not disrupted the match. But today, it came before the match leaving the organisers with no option but to postpone it to tomorrow. Rain had also affected India’s ICC Knockout final clash with Sri Lanka in Colombo in late September last year. After rain washed off the final match twice including on the reserve day, Sri Lanka and India were declared joint winners. The Indians had lost the last match to South Africa by five wickets but captain Sourav Ganguly insisted that the defeat would not dent the morale of his team when they go into the final as what mattered most was how the boys played on that particular day. “We are disappointed that we could not have a game. We are now looking forward to the final tomorrow. Hope the weather is good,” Indian team manager Gautam Dasgupta said. The extra day could prove to be a blessing in disguise for the Indians as it would give some of the injured players an additional day to recover fully. There were some doubts on the fitness of Zaheer Khan, who had suffered a slight hamstring injury and was also down with fever, and the team management was not too sure whether to field him for the crucial match. Zaheer will now get some more time to recover from the fever and hopefully should be fully fit for the match tomorrow. Stand-in vice captain Virender Sehwag had received a nasty blow on his elbow off Makhaya Ntini in the last match against South Africa will also get some more time to recover from the painful blow. The Indians, according to indications, were likely to have left out Sarandeep Singh from the team that played the last match, and inducted leg-spinner Amit Mishra. If Zaheer could not have recovered, then young paceman Avishkar Salvi would have retained his place for the crucial match. The Indians hung around in the dressing room for some time and then decided to return to their hotel rooms and await the final decision of the umpires on today’s game. The South Africans also followed suit before the umpires decided to call off play.
PTI |
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Ponting slams double century
Port of Spain, April 20 Resuming at 391 for three, the Australians took their first innings score to 517 for three at lunch today taking advantage of a lame West Indian attack. Ponting was unconquered on 195 at lunch with Gilchrist registering his 16th Test half-century on 74 off 78 balls. Ponting surpassed his best Test score of 197 against Pakistan in Perth in 1999. He already had posted the highest score by an Australian at the Trinidad ground. Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar has the highest score at the Port of Spain ground of 220 in 1971. The Australians were in cruise control in the opening session and added 126 runs off 26 overs with Ponting and Gilchrist’s fourth-wicket partnership standing at 146 at lunch. The West Indians, under-fire for going into the second Test fielding just three front-line bowlers, had only one chance during the morning session. Gilchrist, on 25, hooked Pedro Collins just over the head of Daren Ganga, who was fielding well inside the fence. For the next ball Ganga was placed right on the boundary but the opportunity had gone. Australia raised their 500 at a run-rate of 4.44, with the West Indians wondering where their next wicket was coming from. Yesterday Ricky Ponting and Darren Lehmann plundered a limp West Indian bowling attack in a record stand to give Australia an overpowering start. Ponting followed up his century in the opening Georgetown Test and Lehmann broke through for his maiden Test century in his 10th Test as the pair put on 315 runs for the third wicket for Australia to reach stumps at 391 for three by stumps, yesterday. Lehmann was out for 160 four overs before the close, giving debutante wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh his first Test dismissal, but vice-captain Ponting was still there on 146 with Adam Gilchrist on 14. The Australians cruised at a 4.34 run rate for much of the lopsided day. Australia, requiring victory here to retain the Frank Worrell Trophy after winning by nine wickets in Georgetown last week, rollicked away against a threadbare Windies attack. The West Indies went into the Test with just three front-line bowlers and paid a crushing price as the ruthless Australians buried them under an avalanche of runs on a true Queen’s Park Oval pitch with a lightning-fast outfield. Lehmann and Ponting’s record stand eclipsed the Australian record for the third wicket of 295 between Colin McDonald and Neil Harvey against the West Indies in Kingston in 1955. It is Australia’s highest third wicket stand in all Tests. Lehmann, who had a ‘life’ on 117 when he gloved a hook shot off Mervyn Dillon only for Baugh to fumble a high overhead chance, batted for 312 minutes and hit 21 fours and a six off 229 balls. Scoreboard Australia (1st innings) (391 for 3 overnight) Langer lbw b Dillon 25 Hayden lbw b Dillon 30 Ponting st Baugh b Samuels 206 Lehmann c Baugh b Drakes 160 Gilchrist not out 101 Hogg not out 17 Extras: (b-11, lb-7, w-7, nb-12) 37 Total: (4 wkts dec, 132.5 overs) 576 FoW: 1-49, 2-56, 3-371,4-542. Bowling: Dillon 28.5-1-124-2, Collins 25-2-123-0, Drakes 33-3-112-1, Samuels 26-2-111-1, Bernard 11-1-61-0, Sarwan 2-0-7-0, Hinds 7-0-20-0.
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Virender Sehwag on Time’s cover New Delhi, April 20 The three Indian names are among the 29 outstanding individuals and groups from Asia “whose extraordinary courage, charisma or genius enable them to make a big difference in their societies or fields”, Time said in a release here. The second annual edition of Asian Heroes described Sehwag as “India’s latest cricket sensation who is not just an icon but an inspiration because of his modest background.” Sehwag has stamped his authority as an explosive batsman in limited over cricket with aggregate 2247 runs from 72 matches at an average of 35.10 including five hundreds and 11 half centuries. He also averaged a healthy 41.52 for his 872 test runs from 14 matches with three centuries.
PTI |
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India, Pak cricket chiefs to meet in Dubai Kolkata, April 20 The meeting to be held under the banner of Asian Cricket Foundation would see president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India Jagmohan Dalmiya interacting with Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Tauqir
Zia. While confirming the meeting on May 3 and 4, Mr Dalmiya, who is also the chairman of the
ACF, said the main agenda of the meeting is the development of cricket in Asia. Apart from Dalmiya and
Zia, officials of Sri Lankan and Bangladesh cricket boards are also expected to attend the meeting. Though the Indian cricket board chief refused to divulge details of the meeting it is definite that the matter of strained cricketing ties between India and Pakistan affecting the Asian cricket would top the agenda. Pakistan had last week announced its decision not to participate in the Asia Cup cricket, scheduled to be held in August in Sri Lanka, prompting speculations that the move came as a retaliation to the Indian cricket board’s refusal to undertake a scheduled tour of Pakistan this month due to denial of permission from the Central government. The Indian Government had made it clear that it would not allow the Indian team to play any bilateral series with Pakistan, but the teams can play each other in multilateral tournaments in a third country like they did in the recently held World Cup in South Africa. President of Asian Cricket Council Asghar Ali of Bangladesh has already gone on record saying that at the Dubai meeting other members would try to persuade Pakistan to participate in the Asia Cup. The Asia Cup was originally scheduled to be held in Pakistan but after PCB withdrew as host it was shifted to Sri Lanka. Apart from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh with two associate members Hong Kong and United Arab Emirates are scheduled to play in the Asia Cup.
PTI |
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BOMBAY GOLD CUP Mumbai, April 20 EME, who were leading by a solitary goal in the first half, failed to hold on to the 2-0 lead they got in the 53rd minute through Gurmail Singh’s field goal. Earlier, forward F Herenj had put EME ahead in the 27th minute when he had reverse flicked Avtar Singh Junior’s pass. The railwaymen came back
strongly in the 54th minute when their centre forward K S B Shanta Kumar scored off a Prem Singh pass. With just a minute to go for the final whistle Shivendra Singh converted the sixth penalty corner. The railwaymen forced sixth penalty corner while EME could get just three. Last year’s runners-up Indian Airlines from Delhi were too good for a hapless SRC. Skipper Lazrus Barla put the Indian Airlines ahead in the 13th minute when he converted the first penalty corner. Former international Sameer Dad made it 2-0 in the 19th minute off another international Mukesh Kumar pass. With five minutes to go for the first half Ravinder Singh rounded off the tally. Tomorrow, in two pool-A matches Karnataka Eleven take on CISF, Chandigarh while Indian Oil clash against Bhopal Eleven.
PTI |
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Davenport eyeing 39th title Amelia Island, April 20 The 21-year-old will bid for her first career title on Sunday when she squares off against number two seed Lindsay Davenport, who outlasted third seed Jennifer Capriati 6-3 5-7 6-2 in an all-American encounter. Dementieva’s first victory in four attempts against Henin-Hardenne snapped the Belgian’s seven-match winning streak. Leading 4-1 in the final set, Dementieva lost the next four games and faced match point. However, Henin-Hardenne missed a backhand shot that would have sent her into her second straight final after her surprise victory over world number one Serena Williams at the Family Circle Cup last week. Dementieva battled back to take a 6-5 lead and benefited from two shots that failed to clear the net by the Belgian to end the match. The Russian’s victory set up her fourth final appearance in five years on the WTA Tour. Davenport lost just five games heading into Saturday’s showdown as she improved to 9-2 lifetime against Capriati. The American won this title in 1997 and was coming off an easy win over Patty Schnyder in the quarter-finals. Capriati, meanwhile, also had an easy quarter-final win over fellow American Lisa Raymond, winning in just 48 minutes. After splitting the first two sets, Davenport and Capriati traded breaks of serve early in the third. Davenport then broke again for a 4-2 lead and won the next game with a perfect backhand volley and an ace.
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Mohun Bagan in a state of flux Kolkata, April 20 Mohun Bagan looks like a club in a state of flux with the players discontent following non-payment of dues and protesters calling for the resignation of secretary Anjan Mitra and condemning the ‘undemocratic’ sacking of the coach. Added to this, another lawsuit will come from Bhattachary when the court reopens on Tuesday. Bhattacharya was miffed with the language used in the sack letter. This, however, should not strike the club off-guard, as it has been going through a torrid time with a number of court cases. There has been allegation of funds misappropriation, protests over formation of the United Mohun Bagan Football team Pvt Ltd and not holding of elections with two groups divided in two sections. For Piyal Choudhury, a member of the Guild of Mohun Bagan it is a piquant situation. Just the other day he was close to Mitra and now almost after an year the two fell out and he calls Mitra ‘autocratic’. To make matters worse, the Members’ Forum banking on whom president Tutu Bose and secretary Anjan Mitra had come to power 13 years ago have expressed their displeasure at the unceremonious removal of Bhattachrya. The already existing breakaway group, in the meantime, is collecting signatures demanding for an election, due for 11 years, and presentation of accounts of the money collected from membership subscription and other such accruals. Moreover, while the members cry hoarse over the sacking, the club has a greater problem in the form of team building for the next season. Last year they started to build the team when all the other major clubs had started their practice and the results showed this year when they could bring home only one trophy. This year its a case of whether the hen will
proceed the egg or visa versa. The executive body seems divided over whether to select a coach first and then build a team to his choice or build the team and the nominate a coach to guide it. If this was not enough they are not even sure who should be the coach. Assistant secretary Balram Choudhury is said to have finished initial discussions with Nayeemuddin in Goa, but this has not gone well with Mitra who hanged a bell restricting the practice sessions during Nayeem’s tenure before showing him the way out. Executive member Biru Chattopadhya said he had talks with the president and if he agreed then the club might have a foreign coach. As far as the team for the next season is concerned the major problem would be money, as the UB group has decided not to increase the budget. However, the green maroons have set their eye on Vasco’s Marcos Perriera. If they get Marcos they might let Bhaichung go. The other players on their list are Manitombi Singh, Tomba Singh and Tollygunje’s Deb Kumar Shasmal, Mehtab Hossain and Sandip Das. So who are the players who would get the axe is the question, for the budget would not permit Bagan to go for a lavish shopping. The only saving grace is that Bhattacharya has distanced him from the dissident group though its sure he is not returning as the coach.
UNI |
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Sports meet concludes Tarn Taran, April 20 It was a unique sports meet attended by thousands of local people. |
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Kahlon clinches Hero Golf title Chandigarh, April 20 Three strokes behind the winner, was second-placed Amandeep Johl at eight-under 208. Veteran Kanpur pro Shiv Prakash made an impressive final round charge with his course record equalling seven-under 65, pole-vaulting him to the third position at seven-under 209. The course record was set in October 2001, by defending champion Arjun Singh, whose card of 65 came in the opening round of the Hero Golf Chandigarh Open 2001. Arjun won that event. Kolkata’s Feroz Ali was tied fourth with Delhi’s Ajay Gupta at five-under 211, while Delhi’s Gaurav Ghai and Jaiveer Virk finished tied sixth with Lucknow’s Vijay Kumar at four-under 212. The relief was apparent on Kahlon’s face. For too long he has
been questioned about his failure to win a tournament on the Hero Honda Golf Tour. That he is a class player was never in doubt, but far to frequently had Kahlon stumbled on the final block after dominating for the larger part of four days. In year 2000, his debut season, Kahlon failed to win the BPGC Open finishing second to Digvijay Singh and from then on he pocketed the runner-up cheque in various corners of the country. The year 2002 saw Kahlon with the Hero Honda Masters, an event on the Asian PGA Tour. And today he has finally broken the title drought on the Hero Honda Golf Tour. “I am thrilled that the win has come on my home course in front of my friends and relatives, said the 32-year-old. I played solid golf this week”, he said. Amandeep was also playing very well but he had a bad wrist today which prevented him from playing his natural game. As for me, I made sure that I minimised errors. This is something I have learnt while playing European and Asian PGA Tour events and it has served me very well as was apparent today,” said the smiling golfer who credited his win to his wife and his sponsors India Cements. Kahlon’s round included birdies on the second fourth and sixth on his front-nine. On his return journey, Kahlon dropped shots on the 12th and 15th due to erratic drives but made up with birdies on the 16 and the 18th. Amandeep Johl, was a victim of circumstances. Last evening, an old injury in the 34-year old Johl’s left wrist flared up again. Playing with wrist support today, Johl was unable to drive the ball the way he normally does, time and again pulling the ball to the left of the fairway. “ My driving is my strength and once that aspect of my game let me down it was an uphill climb,” said the SAIL-sponsored golfer. Putting all this behind him, Johl did give Kahlon a run for his money. Starting the day two-strokes behind Kahlon, Johl birdied the second. But his bogey on the seventh saw Kahlon, courtesy a birdie blitz, taking a five-stroke lead. Johl birdied the eighth 12th and 13th to nudge to one-stroke behind Kahlon but an unfortunate double bogey on the 15th put paid to his title aspirations. “I should have hit a drive on the 15th but chose to tee of with a three-wood. I pulled my shot out of bounds and that was that”, he said. A 20 ft birdie putt on the 17th saw him finish at two-under 70 and handed him the runner-up cheque of Rs 1,12,000. Virk braves challenge from 14-year-old to win amateur title: Ajitesh Sandhu, all of 14 years old, gave Girish Virk a run for his money, but the latter just managed to keep abreast to win the amateur title by four strokes at a tally of two-over 218. Virk shot a level par 72 today. The young Sandhu shot his third straight score of 74 for a tournament aggregate of six-over 222. Scores (after 54 holes): 205 — Harmeet Kahlon (69,69); 208 — Amandeep Johl (70, 68, 70); 209 — Shiv Prakash (71, 73,65); 211 — Feroz Ali (73, 71, 67), Ajay Gupta (71, 70,70); 212 — Gaurav Ghai (73, 69, 71) 214 — Jaiveer Virk (70, 72, 70), Vijay Kumar (73, 68, 71); 213 — Arjun Singh (69, 74, 70), Rafiq Ali (73, 69, 71); 214 — Amritinder Singh (67, 75, 72); 215 — Mohd Islam (72, 71, 72); 216 — Uttam Mundy (75,72, 69) Mohd Salim (72, 70, 74) Amateurs: 218 — Girish Virk (75,71,72); 222 — Ajitesh Sandhu (74, 74, 74). |
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Patiala beat Minor Districts Patiala, April 20 Brief scores: Minor Districts: (Ist innings): 82 all out. Patiala: (Ist innings): 290 for 8 in 90 overs ( Amanpreet Bains 105, Navjot Sandhu 70, Parry Goel 26, Ganjot Singh 20, Kanwar Raina 20, Harjot Singh 15 n.o., Maninder Singh 3 for 74, Deepak Joshi 2 for 65, Amandeep Singh 2 for 50). Minor Districts: (2nd innings): 45 all out ( Maninder Singh 12, Mansher Singh 18, Harjot Singh 2 for 11, Arjun 2 for 11, Gunjot Singh 2 for 8, Rajwinder Singh 2 for 3). |
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India win SAARC Golf title New Delhi, April 20 This was India’s fifth consecutive victory and the fourth time that they beat Sri Lanka in the finals. Last year India beat Bangladesh when the tournament was played at the Classic Golf Resort. In the final, which was played on matchplay format, Jaideep Patwardhan was a 6&4 winner against N Amaraprathama while India’s No 1 amateur Keshav Misra won 3&2 against JMD Indika Santha. The best individual player of the championship title was bagged by Harinder Gupta who was pushed to 19th hole before he beat a battling B.G. Lalitha Kumara. “Apart from a couple of three-putts, I played a solid round. I am happy to have played a role in India’s victory, more so because I made it to the team at the last minute,” said Patwardhan, who replaced Sandy Lehal in the team when the latter pulled out on personal grounds. Indika Santha gave a scare to Misra by winning the first two holes with birdies. But the Indian No 1 amateur pulled back and won the next five holes at a stretch before finishing the match on the 16th hole. “I putted miserably throughout the tournament, but somehow managed to pull it through. It was very satisfying to win the SAARC trophy for my country at my home course,” said Misra. As expected, the best match of the day was between Gupta and Lalitha Kumara. After going neck and neck and finishing 18 holes all-square, Gupta won on the 19th with a bogey. Lalitha Kumara, after being near the edge of the green in two shots on the par-5 hole, made a mess of the hole and three-putted for a double bogey to lose. Final results: India bt Sri Lanka 3-0 Harinder Gupta (Ind) b B.G. Lalitha Kumara (SL) 19th hole; Jaideep Patwardhan (Ind) b M. Amaraprathama (SL) 6&4; Keshav Misra (Ind) b JMD Indika Santha (SL) 3&2. Loser’s plate: 1. 146 - Bangladesh (Md Siddikur Rehman 72, Mohd Milon Ahammad 74, Mohd Sayum 85) 2. 162 - Nepal (Tashi Ghale 75, CB Bhandari 87, Deep Basnet 87); 3. 172 - Bhutan (Karma Lama 81, Ugen Dorjee 91, Dawo Penjore 94)
PTI |
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Ludhiana all out for 174 Amritsar, April 20 Chasing the huge target, Ludhiana were all out for dismal 174. Mukul Gupta was the highet scorer with 55, while Atul Kohli and Bharat Malhotra scored 25 and 21 runs, respectively. For the hosts, leg-spinner Gaurav Bhandari was the most successful bowler as he claimed four scalps while Guriqbal Singh and Mankul got two wickets each. |
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Candie Kung of Taiwan, who won the LPGA Takefuji Classic golf
tournament, holds the trophy at the Las Vegas Country Club on Saturday.
— AP/PTI
