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Saturday,
June 14, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Amritraj, Kannan in final Lleyton Hewitt knocked out Rich haul by India in chess
300 athletes for World Half Marathon |
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HOCKEY Hockey team ‘hopes to do well’
Kerala,
Chhattisgarh eves to clash in final Kumble erring in his line:
Prasanna Women weightlifters doing city proud Patiala, Jalandhar annex titles RCF
move into last four Punjab eves win
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Amritraj, Kannan in final Chandigarh, June 13 There was a contrast in fortunes for Mustafa Ghouse and Vijay Kannan, who were to feature in the doubles final in the evening. In view of medical advice, No 2 seeds Mustafa Ghouse/ Vishal Uppal gave a walkover to their opponents, the No 3 seeds Vijay Kannan/ Saurav Panja, handing them the title. Ghouse, who had trailed 4-6, 2-3 in the semifinal against Amritraj, said he did not want to aggravate his injury, so the decision was taken only half an hour before the start of play. In fact, Ghouse’s shoulder troubled him through his singles match in the morning. Many times it was treated during the breaks and it also required a medical break. Playing in sweltering heat there was no stopping Amritraj, who again started strongly to build up a 4-0 lead. Ghouse, who has had a few tough matches in the earlier rounds, managed to hold serve in the fifth game and then broke Amritraj’s serve to carry the fight to the opponent’s camp. Amritraj quickly asserted control over the match to take the set 6-4. Serving strongly he got himself out of trouble and denied Ghouse any more breaks. In the second set Ghouse was broken in the opening game and with his shoulder bothering him, he decided to quit, trailing 2-3. Tomorrow, it is expected to be a tough final as both Amritraj as well as Kannan, have not been stretched to three sets in the tournament. Amritraj was happy with his play and refused to take his opponent lightly. ‘‘I am happy with the way I played. Mustafa is one of the stronger players on the circuit. I got the start that I wanted today. It is unfortunate that Mustafa had to concede the match due to injury. ‘‘For me, more important than winning is the desire to improve.’’ On his opponent tomorrow he said, ‘‘Vijay is a very strong player, very crafty. But I am not worried how my opponent plays.’’ This is the second Satellite tournament Amritraj is playing and this is his first final. His opponent Vijay Kannan has played in many such tournaments and has featured in two finals, without winning the title. ‘‘I am happy with the way I played. This is the second time I am reaching the final of a Satellite tournament. Last year it was in Bangalore. In this tournament, I haven’t lost a set so far. ‘‘Prakash is playing very well, serving and volleying well. I am confident of playing well tomorrow’’, Kannan said. In the Bangalore tournament, Kannan lost the final to Vishal Uppal. He also featured in a $10,000 tournament final, where he lost to Sunil Kumar. Playing well against Widhiyanto, Kannan easily clinched the first set 6-4 against an error-prone opponent. In the second set Kannan had the deciding break in the opening game itself. Leading 5-4 Kannan was 0-30 down but he reeled off four consecutive points, winning the match with an ace. |
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Lleyton
Hewitt knocked out London, June 13 French Davis Cup player Grosjean beat Wimbledon champion Hewitt in straight sets 6-3 6-4 in an hour and 28 minutes. The Australian had not lost at Queen’s since the 1999 semi-final when he was beaten by Pete Sampras who went on to win the Wimbledon warm-up event that year. Hewitt, taken to three sets in his two previous matches at Queen’s this year, saw
Grosjean, 25, twice break his serve in the first set. Grosjean, who had lost six of his eight previous matches against the 22-year-old Australian, appeared to be struggling when he was broken in the third game of the opening set. AFP |
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Rich haul by India in chess Kozhikode, June 13 India, who had ensured three gold medals at the end of the sixth and penultimate round itself yesterday, won the top positions in the boys’ under-10 and girls’ under-14 categories. Ravi Teja pipped five of his team-mates to win the under-10 boys’ title. In the seventh and final round match today, he defeated second seed N. Srinath in a kings Indian defence game. In the under-14 girls’ category, J Rajasurya needed only a draw to clinch the title and she did the needful, splitting points with Raghavi. Rajasurya employed queen’s pawn opening which was countered by sicilian pelican defence from Raghavi. The players agreed for a draw after just 10 moves. Top-seed Le Quang Liem of Vietnam was the only foreign player to win a title with a drawn seventh round match against R Ashwath. Liem employed the Dutch defence against queen’s pawn opening and the game ended in a draw after 36 moves. G Rohit (u-14 boys), Lakshmi Praneetha (u-12 girls) and P Lakshmi Sahiti (u-10 girls) had assured themselves of a gold medal yesterday. The championships, in which Kazakhstan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Iran and Malaysia also participated, witnessed keen contests in the seventh round played under the Swiss format. PTI
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300 athletes for World Half Marathon New Delhi, June 13 A high-level IAAF delegation, led by vice-president Prof. Helmut Digel, made a two-day visit to New Delhi to assess the organisational preparations before giving the green signal. The delegation members were satisfied with the facilities available in New Delhi for the marathon championships. India will be hosting the prestigious world event for the first time. The marathon runs will begin and end at the majestic Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the show piece of the Capital. The 21-km route of the marathon runs will cover some of the scenic and tranquill spots of South Delhi. AAFI secretary Lalit Bhanot said the “route of the marathon has been specially planned, and it covers some of the most scenic and naturally green areas of the city, with zero hurdles for the runners”. He said the “route has wide roads, and the traffic will be diverted for an uninterrupted race”. Though the event will be held a few weeks after the Olympic Games at Athens in 2004, a world class field is expected to compete in New Delhi. But an IAAF official said that not many marathoners from Europe will compete, but the best from Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Romania and Japan are sure to compete, in the men’s and women’ sections. The attractive prize money, offered by the IAAF, is a great inducement, as marathoners being mostly professionals, would not like to skip the Delhi event. The men’s and women’s title winners will pocket $ 30,000 each while the runners-up will receive $ 15,000 each. The other finishers down the order will also earn substantial amounts while the team title winners will receive $ 15,000 each, with the runners-up getting $ 10,000 each. Each country would be allowed to field four runners. Prof Digel said the IAAF wants the World Marathons to be rotated, instead of being confined to Europe alone, and that was one of the reasons for the allotment of the half marathon to New Delhi. New Delhi was awarded the world event at a meeting of the IAAF held in Monte Carlo in November last year. AAFI president Suresh Kalmadi, who is also the president of the Asian Athletics Associations (AAA), said that keeping in mind the further development of athletics in the Asian continent, the AAA has made changes in its annual calendar to make it “athlete friendly”. He said the AAA secretary-general Maurice Nicholas, who had joined the IAAF delegation in New Delhi, complimented India for hosting the Asian Grand Prix at Hyderabad, as it was the only meet in Asia that was not cancelled due to the SARS scare. Mr Kalmadi said substantial hike has been effected in the prize money of the Grand Prix meet and added that an Asian All-Star Meet will be held in Singapore later this year. According to the revised calendar of the AAA, the seventh Asian Cross Country Championship will be held at Pune on February 22, 2004 while the Hyderabad edition of the Asian Grand Prix will be held on June 23, 2004. New Delhi will host the World Half Marathon on October 2 while the 9th Asian Marathon Championships will be hled in Seoul on November 7 next year. The 11th Asian Junior Athletic Championship will be held at Penang (Malaysia) from June 12 to 15 and the first Asian Indoor Championships will be held at Tehran (Iran) on February 7 and 8, 2004. Besides Hyderabad, the other Asian Grand Prix events will be held in Colombo, Bangkok and Manila. |
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If Beckham shifts, fans may follow
Singapore, June 13 In China, the Beckham sweepstakes headed the list of bulletin board topics on the popular Internet portal sina.com, and many fans criticised Manchester United for appearing willing to put their prize player on the auction block. “I’ll never watch Manchester United games again,” one vowed. Beckham, one of the biggest sports names in marketing with a brand worth an estimated £ 200 million ($ 334.5 million), is the face of English soccer in Asia — his looks sell motor oil in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, and his ever-changing hair helps market beauty products in Japan. His fans are critical to negotiations to lure the 28-year-old England captain away from Manchester United to European clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid, his celebrity treasured nearly as much as his passes. The two clubs lag their British rivals in developing business in Asia. Landing a player who can generate a Beatles-like reception in Japan — the world’s second-richest economy — would be a quick-fix way of reversing that. Beckham looks certain to leave Manchester United before next season and Barcelona are the front runners to sign him after the English champions conditionally accepted a £ 30 million ($ 48.9 million) bid this week. But the deal is far from complete, and Real Madrid remain a contender and possibly Beckham’s favourites. For either club, Beckham is an entry to Asia, where Manchester United have an estimated 16 million supporters. Of those, a third support the player rather than the club, according to branding agency FutureBrand. “Many fans in Asia watch a team because of the individual star players,” said FutureBrand consultant Samantha McCollum. Reuters
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HOCKEY
New Delhi, June 13 Thakur has recovered completely after sustaining a hairline fracture on the leg during the Bombay Gold Cup hockey meet earlier this year and is one of the five players who would be attending the training camp in Delhi along with the 20 players who represented the side in the double-leg tournament in Australia. “The selection of players for the Hamburg tournament will be made on either June 17 or 18. We are unlikely to make much changes to the side that played in Australia,” Indian Hockey Federation sources told PTI here today. India, who will leave for Germany on June 23, will kick-off their campaign in the three-day Panasonic tournament with a match against Argentina on June 27. Besides Thakur, the other four who would be attending the seven-day camp starting on June 16 are V.S. Vinay of Indian Airlines, Prabhdeep Singh of Punjab Police and Namdhari’s Harpal Singh and Deedar Singh. Though India will play only one match each against other teams in the fray — Argentina, Germany and Spain — the tournament will be their last chance to finetune their skills for the prestigious six-nation Champions Trophy starting in Amsterdam in August. India will take on the world champions Germany on June 28, while they will play Spain the next day. The schedule: June 27: India vs Argentina, Spain vs Germany; June 28: Argentina vs Spain, India vs Germany; June 29: India vs Spain, Germany vs Argentina. Probables: Devesh Chauhan, Kamaldeep Singh, Dilip Tirkey, Kanwaljeet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Ignace Tirkey, Bimal Lakra, Vikram Pillay, Viren Rasquinha, Prabodh Tirkey, Baljit Singh Saini, Dhanraj Pillay, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Tejbir Singh, Tushar Khandkar, Mukesh Kumar, Arjun Halappa, Sandeep Michael, Deepak Thakur, V.S. Vinay, Prabhdeep Singh, Harpal Singh and Deedar Singh. PTI
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Hockey team ‘hopes to do well’ Amritsar, June 13 Prabhjot Singh, who had come here on the invitation of Border Hockey Club, said it was teamwork, which fetched the good result. He said earlier they used to play a defensive game against the Europeans and an attacking game against Asians but in this game they had decided to play an attacking game, which bore fruit. Born in a family which has no history of playing hockey in Masaniya village in Gurdaspur district, he pursued his goal with determination. He went to Batala for daily practice on foot daily before being picked in the Indian team.
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Kerala,
Chhattisgarh eves to clash in final Ludhiana, June 13 Maharashtra cagers had a dismal day today, as in the boy’s section too, they went down fighting to champions for the last three years, Punjab 65-90 after conceding 10 points lead 29-39 at half time. Punjab skipper Snehpal Singh again played exceedingly well, scoring 25 points. Jagdeep and Mandeep contributed 14 points each while Yadvinder and Lakhwinder accounted for nine and eight points respectively. For Maharashtra, Suraj (16), Karna (11), Rahul (10) and Nazir (9) reduced the margin. In the first semifinal (girls), the current champions Kerala faced no resistance from Maharashtra girls and enjoyed the lead throughout. The reigning champions, had established lead of five points at the breather (27-22) and after changing the end, went all out upset Maharashtra’s gameplan. In the third quarter, Kerala girls sank 22 baskets against only four by Maharashtra eves. In the fourth and deciding quarter, Maharashtra players waged a spirited battle and went neck and neck with the holders but the only consolation they could get was to reduce the margin and lost 46-70. Geetu Jose was the main scorer for Kerala who contributed 19 points. Other scorers were Anjana (17), Nithia (10) and Anna Baby (9). For the losers, Poorvi (12), Abha Khere (9) and Meghna Menon (8) played well. In the second semifinal, hosts Punjab girls gained a lead of 10 points (21-11) at the end of first quarter. Unrattled by this lead, the experienced cagers from Chhattisgarh plugged the loose ends and repeatedly made forays into the rival territory and these tactics paid dividends as they, not only wiped off the deficit, but surged ahead midway through the second quarter. Once, Chhattisgarh girls went into the lead, they never looked back. They gained a lead of seven points (34-27) at half time. After changing ends, Chhattisgarh girls continued with the same tempo, giving no room to the hosts who looked exhausted and managed only 11 points whereas the visitors scored 45 points to wrap up the issue quite comprehensively at 79-48. Parvathi accounted for 25 points for Chhattisgarh while M Pushpa followed her closely with 19 points. Mridhula and Aakanksha chipped in with 11 points each. For Punjab, Aashna scored 15 points and Paramajit Kaur contributed 11 points. |
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Kumble erring in his line: Prasanna Chennai, June 13 Prasanna, who is coaching potential off spinners at a special camp at the MAC Spin Foundation here, told newspersons here that the strong points of Kumble’s bowling were his line and length. “But, now he is not bowling the right line. Maybe, with age a bowler loses some nip off the wicket,’’ he said. Kumble could still be effective along with off spinner Harbhajan Singh if he gets to bowl to the right line again, at least till another genuine leg spinner comes along, opines Prasanna, who had bamboozled the best of batsmen in his hey days with his craft. About the current lack of spinners in Indian cricket, he said there was a lot of talent in the country.
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Women weightlifters doing city proud Patiala, June 13 Prominent among these weight lifters are Jasveerpal Kaur and Asha Rani, who are trainees of Jaspal Singh, an SAI coach, who have already gained enough fame as an outstanding coach by having produced numerous national and international-level
weightlifters. Jasveerpal Kaur shot into the limelight when she bagged a bronze in the 75 kg plus category in the senior national championships held in Vizag in 2001. A year earlier, representing Punjabi University, she quelled a stiff challenge posed by her rivals to annex the gold in the All-India Inter-University Championship held at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. She is, at present, the current champion in the senior Punjab championship which was held at Ludhiana. Going by the weights, she is lifting during training, the day is not far off when she will clinch a spot in the senior national squad. And coach Jaspal is optimistic that the day when Jasveerpal dons the India colours is not far away. Asha Rani’s rise to the top has been phenomenal. Just months after she started lifting weights and came under Jaspal’s fold, she won a string of championships to impose herself on the domestic scene. Taking part in the 53 kg weight class, Asha Rani bagged gold medals in Ludhiana Senior Punjab Championship and the All-India Inter-University Championship held in
Gwalior, both events which were held earlier this year. Earlier, she had made a stunning debut when she won the gold in the 53 kg weight category in the junior Punjab championship held in Patiala. Jaspal says that he has drawn up a rigorous training schedule for both Asha Rani and Jasveerpal and both weight lifters religiously adhere to it. Come rain, sunshine or sleet, both these lifters can be seen at the Polo Grounds. Both Asha Rani and Jasveerpal are from rural backgrounds. For them ridicule is the first barrier towards success. “Aur kuch karne ko nahin mila” is the first derisive query thrown at them by people who do not understand the finer points of sport. However, they have an answer, which they have patented by now. “We do it for nobody else does it”. And they do something else which nobody else does. They win medals in a sport considered to be the domain of males.
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Patiala, Jalandhar annex titles Sangrur, June 13 The women’s tie between Jalandhar and Patiala was very well contested Jaspreet of Patiala. toppled favourite Navita of Jalandhar in the first singles 6-11, 11-9, ii-4, Navita started well winning the first game rather easily. But Jaspreet fought back in the second game winning 11-9 after a tough fight. But the final was a one-sided affair with tired Navika making many mistakes. Jaspreet won the third game 11-4. Navita and Heena of Jalandhar joined together to win the doubles defeating Jaspreet and Kamalpreet 15-13, 15-7. The deciding singles was also a tame affair with Sukhman of Patiala winning easily against Heena 11-3, 11-5. In the men’s final, Jalandhar retained the title defeating Amritsar 3-1. In a well-fought match, Sandeep of Amritsar caused a major upset in the first singles when he toppled Punjab champion Sahil Arora in three games. Sandeep won 3-15, 15-8, 15-6. Former Panjab champion Rohan of Jalandhar equalised the score when he thrashed Kunal 15-2, 15-3. Ram Lakhan and Sahil made it 2-1 for Jalandhar when they just managed to beat spirited Amritsar pair of Rajiv and Varun in three games 11-15, 15-10, 17-14. Ram Lakhan of Jalandhar won the third singles against Varun of Amritsar rather easily 15-2, 15-2 to clinch the tie. D.S. Bains, secretary, Sports and Youth Services gave away prizes to the winners. Padma Shree Kartar Singh, Director, Sports, Panjab, was also honoured on the occasion. |
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RCF move
into last four Mandi, June 13 On the run of play, RCF had very little of exchanges. On the other hand, the Hoshiarpur team kept the pressure throughout and carried out a series of raids but all of them were wasted by the forwards due to erratic shooting. At least four opportunities were wasted in the first half and the tale of missed chances continued in the second half. Rajinder, Harjinder and Lakhwinder were guilty of squandering away opportunities. RCF took a flying start when in the second minute they were awarded a flag kick and Kulwinder headed it in. For most of the time the Kapurthala side kept thwarting the rival raids. Towards the end, Kulwinder Singh netted the second goal by shooting home from close following a free kick. |
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Punjab
eves win Chennai, June 13 Haryana, who could afford the luxury of losing by a two-goal margin and still be in the last eight, were found wanting as they went down to Punjab with the last goal being scored with nine minutes left in the 80-minute encounter. Goa and Karnataka (group A), Assam and Maharashtra (group-B), Punjab (group C) and Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh (group-D) have qualified for the quarterfinals.
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