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Friday,
June 6, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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India overcome Australia ‘A’ 4-3
Hondo strikes leave England struggling
Kumble looks forward to NZ series Captains to discuss Ranji format |
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Henin-Hardenne ousts Serena, faces Clijsters in final
Bhupathi on course for title Marathon man Costa still standing tall
Wrestling coach goes missing Mixed luck for Chandigarh Dismal show by shooters
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India overcome Australia ‘A’ 4-3
Sydney, June 5 The victory put India on road to another title showdown with Australia who beat Pakistan by an identical 4-3 margin in the other match today. India had played out a 3-3 draw with Australia in the first league match yesterday while Pakistan had scored a 1-0 win against Australia ‘A’. Michael produced a brilliant field goal in the 52nd minute to break the 3-3 deadlock after Tristrom Woodhouse’s second goal in the 50th minute had put Australia ‘A’ on par with India. Australia ‘A’ had twice earlier taken the lead, scoring through Woodhouse in the 6th minute and — after Dilip Tirkey had equalised in the 23rd minute — Grant Schubert in the 29th minute. Michael’s first goal came in the 32nd minute which left the two sides equal at 2-2 at half time. The Indians completely dominated the second half making a series of rallies into the Australian striking circle. It was Prabhjot Singh who put India ahead for the first time in the match when he sounded the board in the 43rd minute. Woodhouse managed to draw parity for Australia ‘A’ but the Indians struck back just two minutes later to seal the match in their favour. "We played an attacking game, particularly in the second half when we created a number of chances. But there are some areas which we still need to work on," Indian coach Rajinder Singh said. After a rest day tomorrow, India take on Pakistan in their last league match on Saturday in which they need at least a draw to make it to the final. Pakistan, earlier in the day, suffered its fifth defeat in six matches on this Australian tour when they were edged out 4-3 by the home team. Striker Jamie Dwyer scored three of the four goals for Australia who maintained their undefeated streak in this two-leg tournament so far. Pakistan actually led 3-2 midway into the second half until Dwyer scored twice in the 54th and 57th minutes and gave the Australians the victory. Earlier, Ben Taylor drew the first blood for Australia when he scored in the eighth minute but Pakistan drew parity almost immediately through Shabbir Hussain. In the 19th minute, Dwyer scored his first goal and Australia maintained the 2-1 lead till the half-time. Goals by Mudassar Khan (39th) and Shakeel Abassi (48th) saw Pakistan surge ahead but were unable to hold on to their lead and succumbed to the brilliance of Dwyer. PTI
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Hondo strikes leave England struggling
Chester-le-street, England, June 5 Hondo, wayward in the morning, removed Mark Butcher (47), Robert Key (4) and skipper Nasser Hussain (18) as England struggled to 173 for five at tea on the opening day. Alec Stewart, who cracked 17 in 10 deliveries, and Anthony McGrath were at the crease. The home side had looked in control on 96 for one at lunch before Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak changed the tone by introducing left arm spinner Raymond Price. Bowling flat and quick, Price helped to slow the run rate before removing the unlucky Marcus Trescothick (43) off an attempted sweep, the ball bouncing via pad and glove into wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu’s gloves. (England 1st innings): Trescothick c Taibu b Price 43 Vaughan c Ervine b Streak 20 Butcher b Hondo 47 Hussain c Taibu b Hondo 18 Key c Flower b Hondo 4 Stewart not out 17 McGrath not out 1 Extras
(b-1 lb-2 w-7 nb-13) 23 Total (for five wickets, Fall of wickets: 1-49 2-109 3-146 4-152 5-156. Bowling: Streak 14-4-24-1, Blignaut 12-2-49-0, Hondo 7-1-27-3, Ervine 3-0-17-0, Price 14-3-36-1, Friend 3-0-17-0.
Reuters
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Kumble looks forward to NZ series
Bangalore, June 5 Asked if he would be available for the upcoming home series against New Zealand, Kumble shot back: “Yes. What makes you think that I won’t be there.” And the gutsy cricketer said he was looking forward to the series as he had not been in the middle for quite some time now. “It is a long time before we start international cricket ... that is in September-October. I am looking forward to it (New Zeland series),” he told reporters after inaugurating World Environment Day celebrations at the upmarket Commercial Street here. Kumble said the break that he has had after the World Cup in South Africa in February-March had done wonders for him . “We (Indian team) have a long break now. I have just come back from a holiday abroad. It is good to be spending sometime with the family,” said Kumble, who was largely overlooked in preference for a seventh batsman in the World Cup. Unlike many of his team-mates, Kumble does not have any plans to play in the English county cricket. “No plans... nothing,” he said. Kumble refrained from giving his views when asked about the spinners’ panel, comprising some of the country’s legendary spinners. “I was not in town... I was away. I was supposed to be part of the team but I was not in India then. I don’t know what went up.” The past one year has not been easy for Kumble, the country’s highest wicket-taking spinner with 349 Test wickets and 308 in one-day internationals. The Indian team management’s formula of fielding a seven-batsman line-up in one-day internationals has forced the ace leg-spinner to fight for the specialist spinner’s spot with Harbhajan Singh. Mostly, he has ended on the losing side.
PTI |
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Captains to discuss Ranji format
Mumbai, June 5 “In fact, the old format for Duleep Trophy, where five zonal teams played on league-cum knock-out basis, may come back replacing the new format of three Elite teams and two Plate teams which did not go well with the players”, he added. “The two-tier Ranji Trophy league has caught on well. Most of the state associations want an early start of the domestic season so that their players will not be exposed to scorching heat in April and May”, Shetty said. “The meeting will also discuss the pitch and players’ dressing room facilities provided by various associations during last season, the standard of umpiring during matches and other facilities”, he added. Former India stumper and Mumbai coach Chandrakant Pandit and Paras Mhambrey, who led Mumbai to a record 35th Ranji Trophy triumph, will represent MCA in the meeting, the other joint secretary and former test star Lalchand Rajput said. The BCCI’s Tour Programme and Fixtures Committee, to meet here the following day, will discuss the dates and venues for the home series against New Zealand and the Tri-series with the Aussies as the third team. PTI
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Henin-Hardenne ousts Serena, faces
Paris, June 5 Clijsters earlier beat unseeded Russian Nadia Petrova 7-5, 6-1. Henin threw up her arms in the air in triumph as she won an enthralling contest by holding to love after a see-saw decider when Williams drove wide. The American then drew a hail of booing from a crowd which had been against her throughout as she gave her conqueror the briefest of handshakes at the end. "The level of the match was very, very high — though I briefly panicked at the idea of winning. But I believed in myself and took it point by point as I kept my focus," said Henin-Hardenne, scoring her third career win over the outgoing champion. "Serena can be very intimidating - it was tough to serve out — at 4-2 down in the third I had some doubts — but it’s so good to be into my first final here. I am very happy, It’s an emotional moment — I’ll have to get my energy back for Saturday! "It was a wonderful atmosphere — there were so many Belgians here and the French fans were behind me too." Clijsters through Belgian second seed Kim Clijsters reached the women’s singles final at the French Open today with a 7-5 6-1 win over unseeded Russian Nadia Petrova. Clijsters, beaten finalist two years ago, advanced in 1hr 10min and will now meet either US top seed Serena Williams or Belgian fourth seed Justine Henin-Hardenne in Saturday’s final. But the 19-year-old Clijsters had a little luck along the way after making a nervous start. She survived a set point against her after Petrova had snatched a break for 5-4, the Belgian quickly ratcheting up her game a notch after that early shock - though she needed a slice of good fortune too as a netcord plopped just over to save her at set point to the Russian. A Petrova backhand into the net gave Clijsters an immediate rebreak and, sensing her chance, she pounced to move clear after 43min on her second set point, dragging Petrova out of position before clubbing away a forehand to secure the crucial break for 7-5. Petrova, having failed by an inch to serve out for the set, had two break points in the opening game of the second set - but missed them both as Clijsters began inexorably to impose her game. The Russian held with difficulty for 1-1 but Clijsters was by now giving nothing away and forcing her rival to work hard for every point. The end was in sight for Petrova as she fired into the tramlines, allowing Clijsters to open up a 3-1 lead with a break for love. She then held to love and broke once more to streak to the brink of victory as the gulf in class became ever more apparent before completing victory on serve with a classy drop shot.
AFP, PTI
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Bhupathi
on course for title New Delhi, June 5 The third-seeded pair of Bhupathi and Likhovtseva pulled off a stunning 7-5 3-6 6-2 victory over the top seed duo of Todd Woodbridge of Australia and Paola Suarez of Argentina to keep themselves in reckoning after a marathon tussle, according to information received here. After winning the first set, Bhupathi and his partner struggled to sustain the tempo to concede the second set but staged a brilliant comeback in the decider to leave their top seeded opponents in a daze. The lanky Bhupathi played a stellar role in the victory with consistent first serves while his Russian partner gave him admirable support to script the victory. Earlier, India’s star performer Leander Paes’ quest for a sixth Grand Slam title came to an end when he and partner David Rikl of Czech Republic lost to the American pair of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the men’s doubles semi-finals. The Indo-Czech duo, who were the fifth seeds, surrendered in straight sets losing 6-4 6-3 to the third seeds. Bhupathi and Elena had yesterday defeated the fourth seeded pair of Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman and Corina Morariu of USA in straight sets 6-4 6-3 to make it to the semi-finals. The duo, who seemed to have developed a very good understanding, had won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title last year and are now gunning for their second Grand Slam title together. Bhupathi’s three mens doubles titles came with estranged compatriot Paes, a pairing nicknamed the Indian Express and once tipped to dominate the doubles game. But the six-foot-one-inch big-server and Paes split for a second time a couple of years back and have been playing with different partners since then.
PTI
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Marathon man Costa still standing tall
Paris, June 5 Costa may not have won a single event in 22 attempts since beating fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero in last year’s French Open final — but he is still standing tall, albeit legs aching after 23 sets on Roland Garros’ slow, red clay after a 3hr 29min win over another Spaniard, Tommy Robredo, took him into tomorrow’s semi-finals. Now the 27-year-old faces a man on a revenge mission — as Ferrero is the player barring his way to Sunday’s trophy match. And whereas Argentine Sergio Roitman, Czech Radek Stepanek, Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti, Frenchman Arnaud Clement and Robredo may have given Costa numerous tricky moments, in Ferrero he goes up against a compatriot who is bursting to win his first Grand Slam at the expense of someone who denied him the ultimate breakthrough 12 months ago. Third seed Ferrero has seen off Michel Kratochvil of Switzerland, Chile’s Nicolas Massu, British battler Tim Henman, compatriot Felix Mantilla and another Chilean in Fernando Gonzalez, the 19th seed, in a thrilling quarter-final encounter. Now both Costa and Ferrero go into battle again — only this time one round early. “Of course I want to win again,” says Costa, who has the psychological edge of knowing exactly what it takes to lift the Musketeers Cup on centre court. He also leads 23-year-old Ferrero 3-2 in five previous match-ups. “I think it’s worse when you have never won because you are very anxious,” Costa said. “Now I know that when I’m on the court I think: ‘I won once, so don’t suffer pressure, don’t get nervous, don’t get anxious’.” Ferrero said his nailbiting victory over Gonzalez would stand him in good stead tomorrow — especially as semi-final nerves are not likely to be as bad as trophy match butterflies. “I’ve learned that when the difficult moments come I have to calm down. Mentally today I wasn’t so good,” said Ferrero, who will be playing in his fourth straight semi here, a run which matches those of former greats Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander, Ivan Lendl and Jim Courier. The other semi-final pits Argentine seventh seed Guillermo Coria, the freshly-crowned Hamburg Masters champion, against Dutch newcomer Martin Verkerk. Coria, just 21, who handed out a quarter-final lesson to 1999 champion Andre Agassi, has also come past Brazilian Andre Sa, German Nicolas Kiefer, Hungary’s Attila Savolt and fellow Argentine Mariano Zabaleta following a tough five-setter. But in Verkerk he is up against a man whose bludgeoning serves could prove a decisive weapon. Verkerk, who had never won a single Grand Slam match before the tournament, started off by dismissing Zeljko Krajan of Croatia, adding the scalps of Peru’s Luis Horna, US 29th seed Vince Spadea, Australian Open finalist and German 11th seed Rainer Schuettler and then 1998 champion and fourth seed Carlos Moya of Spain. The giant from Leiderdorp saw off Moya 8-6 in the fifth set having earlier allowed a two-set lead to slip. Coria’s power and claycourt expertise should see him through against a man who may feel that a place in the semis is already reward enough. The Argentine has never met his 1m 91 rival, but insists that he will overcome a size gap of 16 centimetres with his clever feet. “He’s four times taller than I am. He’s huge. But I played (Mark) Philippoussis in Hamburg and I was not cowed by his size. I will just have to chase down every ball.” Having successfully done that against Agassi there is no reason to suppose Coria will not do so again. AFP
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Haze clears PARIS: There’s a little less smoke in the air at the French Open after officials stopped the sale of cigarettes on the grounds of Roland Garros. While anti-smoking laws in north America have become tougher, there’s still a bit of social elasticity left in France - but not, apparently, at the Gallic Grand Slam.
DPA |
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Easy victory for Gurbinder New Delhi, June 5 Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Vikram Verma formally inaugurated the championship in the afternoon after the opening round bouts were gone through in the morning. India produced a mixed bag of results, with Gurbinder Singh and Geetika Jhakar providing the silver lining. In the 66kg Greco-Roman first round bout, Gurbinder Singh
displayed power and poise, and excellent technique to subdue Masaki Izena of Japan on points at 6-0. In free style for women, Geetika Jhakar, displaying strength, technique and agility, pinned down Nguyen Th Anh of Vietnam. Geetika was the only Indian woman to take the mat today. But some other Indian male grapplers were not that lucky. Kripa Shankar went down fighting to Yang Jaehoon of Korea in the 55kg free style elimination round while Anuj Kumar narrowly lost to Magdmad Kuzugiyev of Kazakistan 1-2. Pawan Kumar too put up a game fight, but eventually became a victim of the craft and skill of Bayor Magni of Mangolia by 2-4 in the 66kg. In the 84kg opening bout in Greco-Roman, Satydev Malik of India was subdued by Kenjeev Janar of Kazakistan through a technical fall. In the steamy conditions, the grapplers had shed buckets full of sweat before scoring victories. The VIPs and a sizeable number of spectators sat through the unbearable heat stoically to watch the colourful opening ceremony in which the folk arts of Haryana dominated the show. Wrestling Federation of India president M S Malik, in fact, made an apt remark, during his brief speech at the opening ceremony that “wrestling is a symbol of peace” as everyone put up with the inconvenience in a “grin and bear” attitude, rather than flaring up. |
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Wrestling
coach goes missing Patiala, June 5 Polish Greco-Roman coach, Andrez Gallina left the NIS on Tuesday morning for New Delhi in connection with the Asian Wrestling Championship slated to be held in New Delhi from today. The coach was to leave the NIS by an official car for Ambala from where he was to catch the Rajdhani Express for Delhi. NIS sources reveal that Andrez, for some reason had to be cajoled and coerced inside the car in the presence of other officials of the institute. Although Andrez was to leave the NIS guest house at 6 am, he was adamant that he would go a little late. However, things calmed down and he was driven to the Ambala railway station from where the Rajdhani Express was to depart at 7 am. The train takes four hours to reach New Delhi, yet for more than 24 hours Andrez failed to reach the WFI office at the JNU Stadium in New Delhi. Apprehending danger, the authorities dispatched an Assistant Director (accounts) Mr Arun Rishi to Ambala where an FIR was lodged. When contacted, Mr G.S Anand, Regional Director, termed the filing of the FIR as an “precautionary measure.” Some officials, preferring anonymity, disclosed that Andrez reached New Delhi railway station at the right time but due to his lack of command of the English language, he had to endure a harrowing time there. Officials heaved a sigh of relief when Andrez reached the WFI office yesterday afternoon. However, Mr
G.S. Anand maintains that two officials of the WFI had turned up at the New Delhi railway station to get in touch with the coach. However, for some unknown reasons, Andrez could not meet the officials and instead reached the Polish Embassy from where he rang up officials of the
WFI.
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Mixed luck for Chandigarh Chandigarh, June 5 In the girls section, Delhi played a valiant game to down spirited Chandigarh eves. The match which was played late in the evening generated a lot of interest among the spectators. Finally, Delhi girls won 19-13. Surbhi, the Goal Shooter netted 14 points followed by Nandini, the goal attacker who basketed five points. For Chandigarh, Eshita netted nine points followed by Sonam who netted four
points. In the other boys matches played today, Goa defeated Madhya Pradesh 23-17. Goal Shooter Prashul shot 10 points while Goal Attacker Abraham shot 13 points. For MP , Goal Shooter Gavan netted four points while Goal Attacker Anup basketed 13 points. In the other matches of the day, Rajasthan trounced Jharkhand 13-09. Goal Shooter Abhinav shot seven points while Goal attacker Puneet shot six points for the winners.. For Jharkhand, Goal Shooter Samir Anand shot five points. Earlier, Assam boys got the better of Chandigarh 17-09, Tamil Nadu downed Orissa 18-10, Jammu and Kashmir defeated Manipur 17-14, Haryana beat Uttar Pradesh 25-01, Karnataka beat Assam 26-12, Andhra Pradesh defeated Dadra Nagar and Haveli 17-10, Uttar Pradesh beat Orissa 23-08, Uttranchal defeated Chhattisgarh 11-09 while Assam scored 17-6 win over Goa. Earlier in the day, office-bearers of Chandigarh Netball Association held a press briefing where they alleged that both Netball Federation of India and the Netball Association of Chandigarh hand been indulging in malpractices relating to the netball activities. Mr JP Sharma, secretary of the Chandigarh Netball Association charged Mr Gurbir Singh, the current president of the Netball Association of Chandigarh with misappropriation of association funds. Mr Gurbir Singh said that since the Chandigarh Netball Association had disaffiliated JP Sharma was trying to create problems for the ongoing national netball meet. |
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Dismal
show by shooters New Delhi, June 5 Jaspal Rana and Raunaq Pandit gave a dismal performance and were placed 32nd and 59th, respectively. In the women’s 10m air rifle event, the 10m air rifle event, Suma Shirur ended at the 7th place while ace shooter Anjali Vedpathak Bhagwat finished lowly 15th. In a very tough field in which most of the shooters were vying for a slot for the next year’s Olympic Games, Jung, Rana and Pandit spoiled their chance of qualifying with a poor scores.
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