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Friday,
May 23, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Chance for Kiwis to
end title drought Zimbabwe check England
progress
Clarke, Symonds power Aussies to win Fleming quits; takes over as ACB coach |
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Final chance for seniors: Gill Chandigarh, May 22 The president of the Indian Hockey Federation, Mr KPS Gill, while expressing satisfaction over the composition of the Indian hockey team for the twin three-nation tournaments at Sydney and Perth starting next week, said the tour would also serve as trials for some of the seniors for forthcoming engagements, particularly the 25th edition of the Champions Trophy scheduled to be held in Holland in August this year.
Indian juniors fail to qualify Sorenstam launches landmark round
A budding opening batsman
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Chance for Kiwis to
end title drought The teams New Zealand (from): Pakistan (from): Dambulla, Sri Lanka, May 22 New Zealand are looking for their first limited-overs tournament victory since the 2000 ICC Trophy and Fleming is confident his senior players will rise to the occasion and put pressure on an inexperienced Pakistani team. “We have got the experience and that has got to count for something,” said Fleming. “We have some big players with us who are in there to perform in the big games “Pressure is going to be the key, we have got to get on top early on so the young players of Pakistan feel the pressure of a final situation,” he said. “We are confident of putting a good showing but are very respectful of their ability and what they can do when they are hot.” Pakistan won a recent quadrangular tournament in Sharjah as they rebuild following their dismal World Cup campaign.
But Rashid Latif’s side will miss the services of main strike bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who has been banned for two matches for ball tampering. Shoaib played a crucial part in Pakistan’s 22-run win over New Zealand in the dress rehearsal for the final on Monday. He wrecked the lower order with assistance from his new ball partner Mohammad Sami, as New Zealand lost their last six wickets for just 21 runs. “Shoaib (Akhtar) is a world-class bowler, and we will miss him, but I am relying on 11 players not on one bowler to the win the match,” said Latif. Latif made a point of backing the pace bowler, whose exemplary off-field behaviour during the tour has pleased the team management. “If we win this game we will dedicate the victory to him,” he said. Pakistan make two changes, including fast bowler Shabbir Ahmed for Shoaib and debutante Faisal Athar for the out-of-form Taufeeq Umar. New Zealand hope to welcome back all rounder Jacob Oram, who missed the last two games with a back strain, taking the place of off spinner Paul Wiseman or seamer Kyle Mills. Daniel Vettori, who has taken seven wickets in the last two games, has recovered from the sore knee that forced him to bat with a runner in the last game.
Reuters |
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Zimbabwe check England
progress
London, May 22 Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak backed up his decision to field first by dismissing Vaughan, the world’s best batsman according to the rankings and Test cricket’s leading run scorer in 2002, for just eight. Andy Blignaut, dismissed Trescothick for 59 when the Somerset left-hander was going well. At tea Mark Butcher — lucky to survive an lbw appeal and dropped on 36 — was 37 not out and England captain Nasser Hussain eight not out as Zimbabwe’s unheralded pace attack made good use of the helpful conditions. England started the second session on 28 without loss, after only nine overs had been bowled following a rain delayed start. After the break Vaughan went 28 balls without scoring before off-driving Streak for four — his first boundary. But next ball Vaughan was bowled off his thigh by Streak, the ball clipping leg stump. England 1st innings: Trescothick c Ervine b Blignaut 59 Vaughan b Streak 8 Butcher batting 37 Hussain batting 8 Extras (b-4, lb-9, nb-13): 26 Total (2 wkts, 41 overs): 138 Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-121. Bowling: Streak 14-4-39-1, Blignaut 14-4-32-1, Hondo 7-1-29-0, Ervine 6-0-25-0.
AFP |
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Clarke, Symonds power Aussies to win
Castries, May 22 Clarke, 22, and playing in only his second one-day international, was named man-of-the-match after his unbeaten 75(100 balls) and three catches in the West Indies innings. Symonds, one of Australia’s heroes of this year’s World Cup triumph in southern Africa, smashed nine fours in his 75 off 82 balls as Australia scored 258 for four off 50 overs after being sent into bat. The Windies had their chances yet again to be 150 for four after 35 overs but again self-destructed with three run outs to play out the final overs with no winning chance at 233 for nine. The victory put Australia 3-0 up in the seven-game series and needing just one more win in the last four games in Port of Spain this weekend and the following weekend in Grenada to take the series. Clarke has been sitting in the stands for most of the Caribbean Test and one-day tour watching his Australian team-mates and finally got his chance yesterday when vice-captain and keeper Adam Gilchrist was rested from the match. Clarke, who many are tipping as a future Test batsman, played shots all around the wicket and although he faced 100 deliveries he was composed and technically adroit. He gave a tough caught and bowled chance to fast bowler Corey Collymore on 59 only when he stepped up the scoring tempo late in his innings.
AFP
SCOREBOARD Australia: Maher c Smith b Banksm 17 Hayden c Baugh b Dillon 20 Ponting run out 32 Symonds b Gayle 75 Clarke not out 75 Bevan not out 32 Extras (lb-2, w-2, nb-3): 7 Total (4 wkts in 50 overs): 258 FoW: 1-25, 2-48, 3-79, 4-178 Bowling: Dillon 10-1-36-1, Collymore 10-0-52-0, Banks 7-0-38-1, Hinds 7-0-42-0, Gayle 10-0-50-1, Samuels 6-0-38-0 West Indies: Gayle c Clarke b Hauritz 43 Smith c Maher b McGrath 9 Sarwan c Gillespie b Hauritz 15 Lara b Bichel 4 Hinds run out 42 Samuels c Clarke b Gillespie 37 Powell c Clarke b Gillespie 26 Banks run out 3 Baugh not out 24 Dillon run out 4 Collymore not out 9 Extras (lb-3, w-13, nb-1): 17 Total (9 wkts , 50 overs): 233 FoW: 1-20, 2-67, 3-70, 4-85, 5-150, 6-181, 7-181, 8-186, 9-197 Bowling: McGrath 10-1-35-1, Gillespie 10-1-48-2, Bichel 10-1-44-1, Hauritz 10-1-50-2, Hogg 10-0-53-0. |
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Fleming quits; takes over as ACB coach Adelaide, May 22 Fleming said he agonised over his decision to retire after 15 years of playing first-class and international cricket. “It definitely wasn’t a black-and-white decision,” he said. “I have had a week to wrestle over it but it’s just a fantastic opportunity to get into coaching which I have had my mind on for a couple of years.” The jovial Fleming conceded his appointment may shock people familiar with his public image of an affable jokester. “A few people might be surprised,” he said. “But definitely there is a serious side to me that I probably don’t always show to the public.
AP |
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Final chance for seniors: Gill Chandigarh, May 22 “Players like right-half Baljit Singh Saini will get a final chance to prove themselves during this tour,” Mr Gill told The Tribune at the CII complex here shortly after delivering the keynote address at a seminar “ Challenges before Punjab Police” organised by the IPS Association, Punjab. India, under the captaincy of the veteran Dhanraj Pillay, are scheduled to take part in the three-nation tournaments in Australia which features,besides two Australian outfits, arch-rivals Pakistan. The tourneys are being viewed as a build-up to the silver jubilee edition of the prestigious Champions Trophy. “The recall of some of the seniors, who have already played in the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics besides the 10th World Cup has been done with the sole objective of giving them a final chance. The team’s selection for the Champions Trophy and Athens Olympics will be done after testing their performance and fitness in Australia,” Mr Gill said while admitting that youngsters like V.S.Vinay of Indian Airlines were waiting in the wings to take over. Incidentally 19 year-old Vinay, who plays as right half for Indian Airlines and was adjudged the most promising youngster in the 41st Bombay Gold Cup at Mumbai last month, was ignored and Saini was picked for the right-half position. Among other seniors who made a dramatic comeback are right winger and Olympian Mukesh Kumar, and former India captain Baljit Singh Dhillon. Referring to the approach of the present coach, Rajinder Singh, Mr Gill said he was performing according to expectations. “ Rajinder’s approach suits the temperament of the players,” the IHF chief said. Incidentally, Rajinder Singh, a former international, had coached the junior World Cup team who won the gold at Hobart. Mr Gill refused to be drawn into a controversy regarding the approach of the previous coach, Cedric D’Souza, although he admitted that the Indian team’s debacle at the tenth World Cup held at Kuala Lumpur, was primarily due to adoption of wrong tactics. Referring to the question of sponsorship for Indian hockey, Mr Gill revealed that talks were in progress although no party had been shortlisted. “ We hope to strike the final deal in about a month,” he added. |
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Porto snatch UEFA Cup with late Derlei Silva strike Seville, May 22 “It was the most exhausting game in my career, with a fantastic intensity, with a limitless competitiveness, incomparable commitment and full of emotion,” Porto coach Jose Mourinho told reporters yesterday. Celtic had twice come from behind with headers by Henrik Larsson, the Swedish striker’s 200th and 201st goals for the Scottish club, to leave the final level at 2-2 at the end of 90 minutes. The deadlock set up the prospect of the final being decided on the new silver goal rule, when the side leading at the end of either period of extra time is deemed the winner. There were no further goals in the first 15-minute spell, despite the fact that Celtic had defender Bobo Balde sent off just five minutes in. Porto eventually made their numerical advantage tell, however, after Derlei, who had scored his side’s opener in first-half stoppage time, gathered a loose ball and beat Robert Douglas with a thumping shot. Celtic pressed forward for the remaining five minutes, plus four agonising minutes of stoppage time, but there was to be no heroic third equaliser even after Porto’s Nuno Valente was sent off to even up the numbers. Substitute Shaun Maloney blasted the resulting free kick well over the bar and Porto held on for their first major continental title since their European Cup win over Bayern Munich in 1987. They are also the first Portuguese club to win the UEFA Cup. Celtic manager Martin O’Neill must now lift his players for their final Scottish premier league game of the season on Sunday, when the title is at stake. He told BBC television: ‘’I think we’ve done Scottish football proud to be honest. It was a big learning thing for us tonight.’’ Celtic, European champions in 1967, were appearing in their first continental final since 1970 and both sides started nervously. Portuguese champions Porto gradually took control in the first half through the guile of Deco and they were rewarded when Douglas managed to push away Dmitri Alenitchev’s volley only for Derlei to tuck in on the rebound. Celtic needed a response early in the second half to unsettle Porto and it arrived within two minutes of the restart. Didier Agathe arrowed in a cross to the far post where Larsson headed back across Vitor Baia and in off a post. The equaliser brought roars from a Celtic crowd outnumbering Porto supporters by around three to one but the Portuguese contingent were singing again in the 54th minute when Alenitchev restored their lead. The Russian was played into space by Deco’s neat ball and he beat Douglas with a cool finish from around the edge of the area. Once again, Porto had little time to celebrate as Larsson powered a header past Baia direct from a corner. There were few chances for either side before a dramatic finale when Alenitchev intercepted a dreadful pass from Jackie McNamara and with the last kick of normal time flashed a shot just over.
Reuters |
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Indian challenge in world TT ends New Delhi, May 22 India’s top player Chetan Baboor had no answer to the attacking game of Japan’s Toshio Tasaki, ranked 41st in the world, and was thrashed in straight games 6-11, 9-11, 6-11, 8-11 yesterday. Young Achanta Sharath Kamal made a promising start against 57th ranked Christophe Legout of France as he won the opening game 11-2. But the Frenchman overcame the early hiccups to take the next four games 11-6 11-6 15-13 11-6 to advance to the second round, according to information received here. In the women’s section, Mouma Das went down fighting against Hungary’s Georgina Pota 10-12 11-9 9-11 12-14 8-11, while Yao Lin Jing of Malaysia defeated veteran Mantu Ghosh 12-10 11-6 11-3 11-5. In the women’s doubles, Mauma Das and Mantu Ghosh went all out for a win as they streched the Singapore pair of Xueling Zhang and Paey Fern Tan till the decider, but eventually lost 11-8 7-11 5-11 2-11 11-8 7-11. PTI |
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Indian juniors fail to qualify New Delhi, May 22 The boys team of Arnav Jain, Agnel Gladwin and Mesheer Vaswani went down to Indonesia 0-2 in the quarterfinals today at the Melbourne Park, according to information reaching here. Top four teams, or the semifinalists, from the zonal events qualify for the world finals. Indonesia’s No 1 player Fendy Gunawan defeated Jain 6-3 7-5 while their No 2 player Agung Bagus Dewantoro was too good for Gladwin, winning 6-1, 6-1. With both the singles matches won, the Indonesian pair Dewantoro and Christopher Rangkut had little problem in conceding the doubles clash. The Indian boys will now play Chinese Taipei in the play-off match for the fifth to sixth places. The girls team shared the quarterfinal honours 1-1 with Japan before rain forced the postponement of the doubles encounter to tomorrow. G.K. Shwetha won the first singles 7-5, 6-1 against Maya Kato to put India in the lead before Ayumi Morita pulled one back for Japan with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 win over Ashmitha Easwaramurthy in the second. Earlier in the day, Indian girls lost the unfinished doubles match to Thailand to lose the round-robin Group 2 match 1-2. The two teams were tied 1-1 overnight after the completion of two singles matches. PTI |
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Sorenstam launches landmark round Fort Worth (Texas), May 22 With sunshine beginning to burn through the early morning clouds, Sorenstam became the first woman since Babe Zaharias in 1945 to play in a PGA Tour event. Sorenstam looked grim as she stood over her tee shot, but after watching it she sighed in undisguised relief. Her arrival at the 10th tee was greeted with cheers by the fans packing the area around the tee-box. As her tee time approached spectators who had been casually watching the nearby practice green turned and craned their necks to try to catch a glimpse of her. In looking forward to the moment, the 32-year-old Swede acknowledged that it would be pressure packed. But she said it was thriving in such situations that has allowed her to attain her status as the world’s top woman golfer, with four major championships among her 43 LPGA titles, a host of tour records and admittance to the Hall of Fame in the offing as soon as she has completed the minimum 10-year career requirement. “I love pressure,” Sorenstam said. “I love being in contention on Sundays and having to hit that perfect shot at the right moment. “This particular week, it’s going to be Thursday where I have to hit that perfect shot at the right moment.” Certainly the disadvantages Sorenstam faces on the 7,080- yard, par-70 Colonial Country Club course, are daunting. The course is some 600 yards longer than the typical LPGA tour layout, and rain this week has it playing even longer. Sorenstam has said she believes she can shoot par. “If I do that, I’ll feel like a winner inside,” she said. Last year at Colonial, the halfway cut came at three- over, and despite the uncertainties facing her, Sorenstam spoke confidently this week of playing on Saturday and Sunday. Not everyone is so sure. “We’ll find out on Saturday, Sunday,” said defending champion Nick Price of Zimbabwe. “We’ll find out.” Sweden’s Jesper
Parnevik, who played a practice round with Sorenstam on Tuesday, said he thought the obstacles would be too much for Sorenstam to overcome.
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Fearsome opposition awaits Agassi London, May 22 Former champions and dogged battlers from Spain, Argentina, Brazil and Chile pepper the draw as the second grand slam of the year slides into action. Hewitt may be sitting atop the world rankings but he is not high on confidence on the slow surface while Agassi must pray his 33-year-old legs can motor him around the famous Parisian clay as swiftly as in previous years. The tournament is a showpiece for France but it is the Latins who are most at home and there will be no margin for error for Agassi or Hewitt as the baseliners snap at their heels. Certainly Agassi knows it will not be easy but he has an edge the younger players are missing — experience. “I’m at a place in my career where I have the luxury of using my experience. Most people who have my experience aren’t playing any more,’’ he says.
Reuters
Agassi
says Graf to be mum again PARIS: Andre Agassi says his promise to play mixed doubles with Steffi Graf in next week’s French Open had to be put off because his wife is going to be a mother again. Agassi, here for his 15th French Open, promised a doubles appearance with Graf after winning his eighth Grand Slam title in the Australian Open in Melbourne in January. “When I said we could mixed doubles with Steffi I didn’t know the news,” he told the sports daily l’Equipe Thursday. “It wouldn’t be wise for a pregnant woman to play.” He said he didn’t know whether 20-month-old Jaden Gil would be having a brother or sister. Graf, who won 22 Grand Slam titles, married Agassi in October 2001. She retired in 1999 after winning the French Open for a sixth time. Graf played mixed doubles with former world No 1 John McEnroe at Wimbledon in 1999 when they reached the semifinals. The 33-year-old Agassi was the sport’s oldest No 1 when he went to the top of the rankings earlier in the year but if he wins here he will not be the oldest French Open winner. Andres Gomez of Ecuador was the last 30-year-old to win Roland-Garros, beating a 20-year-old Agassi in the 1990 final. Spaniard Andres Gimeno was 34 years and 10 months when he won in 1972 while Australian Ken Rosewall and fellow American Franck Parker both triumphed on the famous French clay at the age of 33.
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A budding opening batsman Patiala, May 22 Well begun is half done and a good start does provide a sound platform for bigger deeds. And this opener, bristling with youthful exuberance, made a good start when he scored three successive centuries in the Punjab Inter District (under 16) Cricket Tournament held last year. His three innings, 100 — against Bathinda, 108 against Ludhiana and 126 against Jalandhar — had a stamp of authority on them. And if confirmation of his talent was needed, it came in the form of a sizzling knock of 84 that he played against Minor Districts XI in the ongoing under-19 Inter-District Cricket Tournament. A BA II student of Modi College, Shiv Karan is going through the grind of domestic cricket, which, he says “will toughen his mental attitude.” He has already made an impression in last year’s North Zone Inter-University Cricket Tournament. Playing for Punjabi University, he amassed 352 runs in five innings. The feature of his batting is the ease with which he plays off-side strokes. The felicity with which he hammers the ball through point and covers often leaves the chasing fielder short of breath. He is innovative as well. He often plays the ball late and with soft hands. He is essentially a back-foot player and can despatch fast deliveries straight down the ground. He has the ability to play pull stroke and does use his feet against spinners. His hero is Adam Gilchrist. However, unlike the Aussie wicketkeeper, who is a blazing magnum, burning the opposition with pulls, drives, hooks and cuts, the Patiala opener is sedate in his approach. Those who have seen him playing feel that he will be able to face the challenges that lie ahead |
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