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Thursday,
May 29, 2003, Chandigarh, India
  
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India blank Australia ‘A’ 2-0 Serena, Henin advance; Kafelnikov ousted
Marriage ahead of
practice for Lindsay
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Sparkling
56 by Sehwag Zimbabwe
deserve some sympathy Pak complain against umpire Harper
Chohan puts Amritsar on top
Patiala take 39-run lead Vishesh excels Shandilya wins snooker title
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India blank Australia ‘A’ 2-0
Perth, May 28 India's match progressed on expected lines, with the second-string Australian team hardly posing any real threat to the visitors. The Indians dominated the proceedings right from the word go and former skipper Dilip Tirkey scored the first goal in the 25th minute converting a penalty corner. Leading 1-0 at the half-time, India started to take more chances and the efforts paid dividends when Gagan Ajit Singh capped a strong run-up with a goal in the 60th minute. The hosts tried hard to pull one back but the Indian defence led by Tirkey proved a wee bit too strong. Australia ‘A’ goalkeeper Stephen Lambert had a fine game and it was because of his brilliant saves that Indians could not sound the board too often. India coach Rajinder Singh was satisfied with the performance of his boys but cautioned the team to keep its focus on the tougher battles ahead, hinting at India's much-anticipated encounter against Pakistan on Saturday. “I think the boys played well considering it was their first match of the international season. The opposition put up a good show but our team was prepared,” Rajinder Singh said. “We are now concentrating on the match against Australia tomorrow and against Pakistan on Saturday. Both are going to be very tough,” he said. Rajinder Singh tried to play down the hype that has already built around India’s match with arch-rivals Pakistan, saying the team “will treat it as any other match”. Earlier, Australia got off to a flier beating Pakistan 3-0 in the tournament opener. Australia, playing their first international in almost three months, showed their class in patches but it was enough to beat an under-strength Pakistan side, without key players Sohail Abbas and former captain Mohammed Nadeem who were not selected for the tour on disciplinary grounds. Brent Livermore (14), Troy Elder (29) and Nathan Eglington (61) scored the goals for Australia in the match witnessed by some 500-odd crowd. Australia took the lead after 14 minutes when the combination of Elder and Jamie Dwyer helped set up a penalty shot which Livermore converted. The second goal came six minutes before half time when Elder, who impressed the most, smashed home from a penalty corner before Eglington secured the result in the 61st minute with a diving effort from a goal mouth scramble following a penalty corner. PTI
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Serena, Henin advance; Kafelnikov ousted
Paris, May 28 Top seed Williams, already the holder of all four Grand Slam titles, slammed Switzerland's Marie-Gaiane Mikaelian off the Suzanne Lenglen court 6-3, 6-2 in 1hr 07min to set up a meeting with either last year's semi-finalist Clarisa Fernandez of Argentina or Barbara Schett of Germany. "It's always great to be back in the Paris sunshine," said a beaming Williams. "I'm feeling great mentally and physically." Henin-Hardenne maintained her recent form racing into the third round with a 6-2, 6-2 win in 1hr 13min over Croatian Jelena Kostanic. There was a shock in store, however, for Hantuchova at the hands of American teenager Ashley Harkleroad, while Kafelnikov, the 1996 champion, admitted he was considering calling it a day after his 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, 6-7 (0/7), 6-4 loss to unknown Brazilian Flavio Saretta. Hantuchova found her game briefly to level after the second set only to slide 1-5 down in the decider. When she levelled for 5-5 it appeared she had come out of her nosedive - but 52nd-ranked Harkleroad, making her senior debut here, was determined not to lose her big chance. "I've always been very fiesty, and a fighter even when I was playing juniors. I just said 'Ashley you're not going to lose this'," said the 18-year-old American, who only became eligible to play the WTA circuit three weeks ago. "I was just so tight and wanting it so bad." The 20-year-old from Bratislava, whose recent slump in form and pencil-thin figure have given rise to persistent speculation that she is suffering from anorexia, crumbled in the face of the unrelenting challenge of her rival from Florida. But afterwards Hantuchova had to run the gauntlet of questions about her diet and justify her pencil-slim frame, which has given rise to claims she suffers from anorexia - something she strenuously denied. "I am really blessed in that I can eat whatever I want. I just burn more calories than I've got in my body," said Hantuchova, saying she has no eating problems. Harkleroad, playing with a strapped elbow because of te ndinitis, jumped for joy as she broke the Slovak's serve to win through 7-6 (7/2), 4 -6, 9-7 in
3 hours and 8 minutes and set up a meeting with the winner of the tie between S
Paniard Magui Serna and Israel's Anna Pistolesi. Hantuchova, who reached the fourth round here last year and went on to reach the Wimbledon and US Open quarter-finals, slammed down three times as many winners as her opponent, but gave an error-strewn performance with 108 unforced errors and seven double faults. Former Australian Open champion Kafelnikov, the 17th seed, meanwhile said he was considering his future after his 3hr 55min loss. Meanwhile in other second round action, Japanese 16th seed Ai Sugiyama beat Sandra Kleinova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-0 and now meets 18th seeded American Meghann Shaughnessy. Switzerland's Patty Schnyder, seeded 19, got past French hope Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) and next meets Greek 14th seed Eleni Daniilidou, who beat Italy's Tathiana Garbin 6-0, 4-6, 6-2. AFP
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Marriage
ahead of practice for Lindsay
Paris, May 28 ''Obviously I made the decision to get married and enjoy that. It's never going to be one I regret,'' Davenport said following her 6-2, 6-0 demolition of Indonesia's Wynne Prakusya in the first round yesterday. While her rivals were doing the rounds on the claycourt circuit to prepare for the French Open, Davenport decided to take some time out in April and marry Jon Leach, the brother of her former coach Rick. Before her first match in Paris, the three-time Grand Slam champion -- she is only missing the French crown -- had not played competitively since losing the Amelia Island final over a month ago. Davenport said she had not been tempted to take her rackets with her when she went on honeymoon. ''I didn't think my husband would like it if on my honeymoon I was pulling him off to the practice court,'' said the American. ''It probably wouldn't have gone over too well.'' ''You know, hopefully you only do it (get married) once in your life so I didn't think that I needed to go practice. ''My husband loves playing but at the time I didn't want to.'' Persistent injuries have prevented the popular American appearing on Parisian clay for the last two years, but she feels she is now fitter than ever before. Back spasms cut short her first round match in 2000 and a long-term knee injury forced the 26-year-old to skip the event for the last two years. She underwent surgery on the knee in January 2002.
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Jadeja allowed to play domestic cricket New Delhi, May 28 “We deem it just and appropriate to stay the operation of the board’s ban order limited to the extent that appellant (Jadeja) shall now be free to play cricket on domestic circuit and participate in all
cricket matches within the country, if selected,” a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice BA Khan and Mr Justice OP Dwivedi in a three-page interim order said. The order came on an appeal by Jadeja against May 26 order of a single judge, rejecting his plea for allowing him to play at least in the domestic matches. Granting the stay on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ban order, the Bench said it had taken into consideration the fact that pendency of the matter before the court “is likely to cause irreparable loss and damage” to Jadeja and would “even cut short his cricketing career both at the national and international level.” While issuing notice to the BCCI seeking its reply on the appeal filed by Jadeja against the single judge’s order by July 21, the Division Bench said “we do not find any likelihood of any prejudice being caused to the BCCI if appellant (Jadeja) was granted limited relief to keep himself in a fit condition and to earn his bare minimum livelihood” from the game. Though the single judge had fixed July 8 for further hearing on the BCCI petition challenging the Arbitrator’s January 27 order giving an award in favour of Jadeja, the court said it was not certain that there would be a final decision in the case on that date. “We find from record that appellant (Jadeja) was granted permission to play Ranji Trophy matches by the (another) Division Bench of this court vide order passed on April 24,” Mr Justice Khan and Mr Justice Dwivedi in their order recorded. The BCCI had filed an appeal against the Arbitrator Justice (retd) JK Mehra’s order on April 27, just two days before the award would have become final in favour of Jadeja and become automatically
enforceable against the board on expiry of 90-day period under law. The BCCI had imposed the ban on Jadeja along with former captain Mohammad Azaharuddin, Manoj Prabhakar and Ajay Sharma on December 5, 2000. While Jadeja and Prabhakar were banned for five years, Azharuddin and Sharma were prohibited from playing the game for whole life. Jadeja had initially challenged the BCCI order in the high court but after three years’ prolonged hearings before various Benches, it had appointed Justice Mehra as Arbitrator to adjudicate the dispute after the board and the cricketer had agreed for it. The Arbitrator had said Jadeja was entitled to play cricket at all levels,
domestic as well as international, subject to his selection in the team by the board. |
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Sparkling
56 by Sehwag
London, May 28 Sehwag blasted 56 off 51 balls with 10 fours and a six as Leicestershire scored 258 for 9 in 50 overs. In reply, Notts were struggling at 50 for four in 15 overs, when reports last came in. Sehwag added 61 runs for the opening stand with John Maunders and another 27 with Darren Stevens for the second wicket. At New Road, Yuvraj Singh was awaiting his turn to bat with Yorkshire 94 for two in 18 overs chasing 245 to win against Worcestershire. Earlier, Yuvraj conceded 27 runs in six overs.
PTI
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Zimbabwe
deserve some sympathy
London, May 28 Both Englishmen are batsmen who occasionally turn their arms over, normally in emergencies or at the end of a long day. McGrath, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers Test ratings, is a new entry at 84 after taking three for 16 on his debut against Zimbabwe at Lord’s with his medium-paced wobblers. Butcher is 73rd after taking four for 60 with his nibblers — Hussain suggested Butcher operated at such a friendly pace that he would be allowed to bowl at 4 a.m. without there being an interruption for bad light. In truth, however, the one-sided first Test was no laughing matter. Zimbabwe were so poor against an understrength home team that it would be no surprise if the International Cricket Council retrospectively stripped the fixture of official Test status and relegated it to the English village competition. In ideal seaming, swinging bowling conditions, the touring side allowed England to amass 472, then lost 19 wickets in a day to lose by an innings and 92 runs and go 1-0 down in the two-Test series. England’s rookie pace bowler James Anderson found his name added to the Lord’s board of honour, celebrating those to take five wickets in an innings at the home of cricket, before the last rites were administered by Mr Wobbler and Mr Nibbler inside three days. Zimbabwe deserve some sympathy. They have always been forced to squeeze a quart out of a pint pot, such are their limited cricketing resources. Political and social turmoil at home have made things worse still. A string of international-class players, worried about their future, departed after the 1999 World Cup. The retirement of the black-armbanded Andy Flower after the 2003 World Cup was a desperate blow. Lord’s was their eighth Test loss in a row. Only basement team Bangladesh, with their run of 13 successive defeats, have ever fared worse. Many observers feel that Bangladesh, yet to win a game, should never have been granted test status in 2000. Take them out of the equation, however, and Zimbabwe themselves would have won just one game in their last 31 Tests over 4-1/2 years. Even Andy Flower, who averaged more than 50 at the top level, could not paper over the widening gaps. In September 2001, he scored 142 and 199 in Harare against South Africa and Zimbabwe still contrived to lose by nine wickets. If Zimbabwe looked like a one-man team then, they are beginning to look like a no-man team now. Only Heath Streak played to international standard last week. The skipper might have expected a grilling after the game but the media, fearful of kicking a man when he is down, behaved as if they had unintentionally stumbled upon a private funeral. Streak was tossed a few half-volley questions before being allowed to retire hurt. He chose not to dodge the issue, however. His bowlers had gifted too many boundaries, he said, while too many batsmen had fallen to soft dismissals. And then there was the butter-fingered catching. Asked if there were any positives in the performance, he struggled to answer. Everyone, England fans to the fore, will pray for a huge improvement by the touring side at Durham next week. Cricket simply cannot afford another team of dead ducks. It simply cannot afford Butcher and McGrath appearing in the bowling ratings.
Reuters
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Pak complain against umpire Harper Islamabad, May 28 The team management in its post-match report submitted to match-referee Gundappa Viswanath of India complained that Harper had disallowed legitimate four runs which should have been awarded to the Pakistan team, local daily ‘The News’ said here today. The incident occurred when Taufeeq Umar played a ball which was picked up by a fielder who tried to run out non- striker Muhammad Hafeez but the ball deflected off the bat and raced down to the boundary for a four. Hafeez tried to prompt Taufeeq for a run when the ball went for overthrows but the latter stopped him from taking a run. Under the ICC laws if the ball had not crossed the boundary it was the discretion of the batsmen to take runs off the overthrow or not, but once the ball crossed the boundary line the laws state the umpire should have signalled for a four to be awarded to the strike batsman. But Harper did not signal for a four and instead was seen reprimanding Hafeez for attempting to take a run from the deflection. The Pakistan team management has complained that Harper ignored cricket laws by not awarding the runs to the batsman and the ICC committee should take note of the incident which, though minor in nature, is a clear example of an umpire knowingly violating cricket laws.
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Svetlana upsets Darsha
Hyderabad, May 28 S. Geetha of Andhra Pradesh took the bronze on what turned out to be a poor day for the host nation. It would have been the same story in the 100 metres event too, but sprintqueen Susanthika Jayasinghe of Sri Lanka fought to keep Khubbieva Guzel of Uzbekistan away and romp home in 11.30s. In the men's 400 metres, it was all-Lankan affair with H Rohan Pradeep Kumar, the Asian Games bronze medallist, and Sugath Thilakaratne coming first and second. Again, India had to contend with a bronze through Anil Kumar Rohil. Darsha later admitted that the poor show was due to a back injury and that she did not have the finishing power to beat Svetlana's challenge. Svetlana took early lead with Darsha close behind. But midway Darsha tried in vain to forge ahead. Though bogged by a bad start, Sushanthika managed to outbeat Guzel. The Lankan athlete had to put in an extra effort in the last 50 metres before hitting the ribbon. Chernovol Gennadiy of Kazakstan emerged as the fastest athlete of the meet when he clocked 10.42 seconds to win the men's 100 metres gold. India had a setback when Anil Kumar was relegated to the second spot by Abbas Samimi in the men's discus. The Iranian threw the discus to a distance of 61.06 metres. Anil Kumar, who has been training in Hungary for the last two years, could throw to a distance of 57.83 m. PTI
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Chohan puts Amritsar on top Amritsar, May 28 In the morning, hosts resumed their first innings from the last day’s score of 74 for one in 23 overs. Vipen Chohan was the highest scorer for the hosts with 79 runs while Harmanjit Singh Bajwa contributed 60 runs and Rahul Khosla 20. Rahul Mattu and Varinder Singh remained not out at 36 and one, respectively. For the visitors, Regan Gill scalped three wickets for 80, while Vikramjit Singh managed to get two for 67 and Namdeep Singh one for 23. Two Amritsar batsmen were run out. Jalandhar, in their second innings, were 62 for five in 23 overs at the draw of stumps. Charanjit Singh was unbeaten on 23. For Amritsar, Manish Bhatia and Sukaran Kalia claimed two wickets each while Tarun Sharma had one success. Brief scores: Jalandhar (1st innings):
181 (all out) in 70 overs. Amritsar (1st innings): 317 for 8. Rahul Khosla 59, Vipen Chohan 79, Harmanjit Bajwa 60, Rahul Mattu 36. Jalandhar (2nd innings):
62 for 5. Charanjit Singh 23 n.o.
Ludhiana take lead Ludhiana: Minor Districts (Zone-B) failed to capitalise on fine batting performance by Arminder (123) and Gurdeep (40) as their first innings folded at 291 runs thus giving the hosts Ludhiana a vital 56-run lead on the penultimate day of the last league fixture at the SD Government College for Boys ground here. Resuming their innings today at 13 for no loss, Minor Districts (Zone-B), comprising players from Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Ropar, Gurdaspur, Moga, Fathegarh Sahib and Nawanshahr, after struggling at 112 for 6 midway through the quota of 90 overs, did a comendable job against their strong opponents, Ludhiana to hoist 291 runs in 79.3 overs. Coming at No 7, Arminder exhibited great stamina and patience to thwart Ludhiana’s experienced
bowlers, particularly Karan Goel, Tarun Kanish and Rajat Bhatia. Arminder also figured in a 87-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Gurdeep and then of 72 runs with Deepak Gatta for the eighth wicket. Left-arm spinner, Ludhiana skipper, Tarun Kanish put up a brave face, bowling with an injured figure to scalp four victims. Karan Goel too bagged four wickets. Brief scores: Ludhiana (1st innings):
347 for 9 in 90 overs. Minor Districts (Zone-B): (1st innings):
291 all out in 79. 3 overs ( Vinay 63, Gagandeep 17, Arminder 123, Gurdeep 40, Deepak Gatta 11; Karan Goel 4 for 59, Tarun Kanish 4 for 56, Rajat Bhatia 1 for 36 and Yogesh Kumar 1 for 30) Ludhiana (2nd innings):
74 for 1 in 16 overs ( Karan Goel 45 n.o, and Varun Gupta 22
n.o). |
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Patiala
take 39-run lead Patiala, May 28 Harikrishan’s knock was studded with eight hits to the fence. He played some fluent drives on the off side and exploited the gaps on the on side. He seemed to be on course for his first century in the league phase, but he ran out of partners. Yesterday, the hosts restricted the visitors to 217, with medium pacer Hardavinder Singh claiming 5 for 47. At one stage, Chandigarh were precariously placed at 65 for 7, but a 100-run eighth-wicket partnership between Bharat Sharma (82) and Sumit Kamboj (58) took them to safety. The hosts relied too much on Hardavinder and once he was tired, runs started to flow smoothly. A sweetly timed knock of 25 by Uday Kaul also enabled his team reach 217. Brief scores: Chandigarh: first innings:
217 all out (Bharat Sharma 82, Sumit Kamboj 58, Uday Kaul 25, Hardavinder Singh 5 for 47); Patiala: first innings:
256 all out (H. Mandora 75 n.o., Shiv Karan 70, Rupeetinder Singh 28, Ravinder Mehra 36, Akashdeep 2 for 47, Naresh Kumar 1 for 56, Manpartap 1 for 20); Chandigarh: second innings: 31 without loss (Akashdeep 17 n.o., Vijay 7
n.o.).
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Vishesh
excels Patiala, May 28 Batting first after winning the toss, the Ghaziabad lads found themselves fishing in troubled waters when their opener Ashutosh needlessly ran himself out. Kanishk and Anurag combined well for the second wicket and added 47 runs to effect a minor recovery. The middle order faltered and Ghaziabad ended up scoring 95 runs for the loss of nine wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. In reply, Mukesh Kumar waged a lonely battle as Karnal Coaching Centre fell short of the target by five runs. For the losers, the going was good in the first five overs but that was before leg spinner Vishesh Sharma was introduced into the attack. Flighting and spinning the ball with control, Vishesh ended up claiming 6 for 18 in his quota of 4 overs. Brief scores: GMCA, Ghaziabad: 95 for 9 in 20 overs ( Kanisk 29, Anurag Tyagi 18, Tarun 13, Ishan 2 for 12, Mukesh 3 for 9, Kartik 2 for 12) Karnal Coaching Centre:
90 all out in 19 overs (Mukesh Kumar 20, Ishan 13, Vishesh Sharma 6 for 18, Devyesh Sharma 1 for 13). |
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Shandilya wins snooker title
Jalandhar, May 28 The title fetched Shandilya Rs 30,000 as prize money while Joshi got Rs 15,000 for his efforts. It was fairly a close match with second half fightback by Joshi after Shandilya led 4-1 at half time. Joshi could have made it 5-5 had he not missed a relatively easy pink in the top pocket. Shandilya pocketed the pink and the black to win the title. Dharminder Lilly got the pool crown but not before sweating it out against Siddarth Anand. Lilly piped Anand 13-12. The final standings are: Snooker: Champion of Champions: Ashok Shandilya (Rs 30,000 and a trophy) Runners-Up: Devendra Joshi (Rs 15,000 and a trophy) Pool: Champion of Champions: Dharminder Lilly (Rs 20,000 and a trophy) Runners-up: Siddarth Anand (Rs 10,000 and a trophy). UNI
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