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Wednesday,
June 18, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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India A camp ends today ICC decides to review ‘chucking’ process USA may host two World Cup matches Pak restrict new-look England
Hockey camp begins |
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Mukesh Kumar to skip Hamburg meet Bhupathi-Mirnyi top seeds
Tough draw for Hewitt Chatwinder, Saurabh bow out No major worries for upbeat Tiger Beckham’s transfer to Real imminent
Boxing prodigy set to go places Kerala eves stun Orissa GND varsity to
adopt jr players
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India A camp ends today
Bangalore, June 17 “It was a fruitful camp,” Patil said today. Noting that England tour was nothing new for him as he had managed an India under-19 team and was also the coach of the Indian senior team that toured England, he said: “England has always been a tough tour for any side.” “Unfortunately, we are not playing any Test matches. But that’s not the issue here. Players will get opportunities and the selectors can look beyond the team that returned from the World Cup in South Africa,” Patil, who had guided Kenya to the semifinal in the recent World Cup, said. He said medium pacer Avishkar Salvi, who was injured, would be fit before the first match, and added, that none of the team members had serious injury. The 16-member India A team will leave from Mumbai on June 22 for the trip during which they would play 11 matches, mainly against county sides. They also will play an important match against South Africa, Patil said. According to Patil, the 18-day camp made “hell of a sense” as he had come back after a long gap and he needed time to know the set-up and players and feedback from selectors. “We are hopeful of coming back with good performance”. Responding to question, Patil said he and John Wright were working on some positions (like opening slot) as per guidelines issued by the selectors and the BCCI but declined to give details. “It’s pointless for me to have my own ideas if the selectors have things about some specific positions they are looking at. We are working on those positions,” he said, adding that India A has “very, very good talent.” Patil saw challenge and opportunity for him as well. “It’s a new challenge for me. I have not taken it lightly. I will take another step forward.” Hinting that an India A batsman may break into the senior side facing New Zealand at home during September-October, Patil said: “Definitely, we have a slot in the offering in the opening batsman.” He also said special efforts would be made to send Parthiv Patel up the batting order and not as a tailender. Lauding the India A concept, Patil said it was good thing for senior cricketers to realise that somebody was knocking at the door and standing behind them to get into the side and they cannot afford to be complacent. Paying tributes to Wright, Patil said he (Wright) had done a good job as coach of Indian team. “I know how difficult it is to work for a foreign team. If my term is renewed after the England tour, his (Wright’s) contributions are equally important.” Noting that Wright and he started their cricketing career around the same time, Patil said he was in touch with the former in the last 2 or 3 years and shared thoughts and it was not as if “he was India’s coach and I was Kenya’s coach.” Indicating that he did have some bitter experience in Kenya during his stint as coach there, Patil said he would like to forget about what happened in Kenya four years ago and would only like to carry positive aspects of the assignment. PTI
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ICC decides to review ‘chucking’ process
London, June 17 The decision, taken on the first day of the week-long meetings of the ICC, aimed at reducing the procedure to a one-stage process with the reported player being directly dealt with by the ICC’s Bowling Review Group. In the earlier system, the bowler was first handed over to the home board for remedial measures and only if that proved unsuccessful did the ICC step in. The meeting of the ICC’s Cricket Committee Management (CC-M) also decided to continue with the concept of neutral umpires and rejected suggestion of “moving away from appointing them to a situation where appointments from the Elite Panel could be made irrespective of their nationality,” an ICC press note said. The CC-M also took up the issue of illegal bats, stating that the player found guilty of using such a bat would be charged with a level 2 breach of ICC’s code of conduct. The fine for such a breach could be the entire match fee and a one-Test or two one-day international ban. It also prescribed penalties for the manufacturers which included deleting their name from the approved list. The ICC meeting took the decisions on the recommendations it received from the Cricket Committee — Playing (CC-P) which deals with on-field matters. The CC-P is chaired by former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar and includes Zaheer Abbas, Tim May, Angus Fraser and Errol Stewart. The meeting, chaired by ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed, also received a briefing on the status of the Global Cricket Corporation’s compensation claim against the ICC regarding the World Cup in South Africa. The issue will now be raised for further discussion at the meeting of the Board of the ICC’s commercial arm — ICC Development (International) Limited — which will be held in Monaco on Friday. The ICC management also initiated a discussion on the volume of cricket being played at present and the structure of the international game. The discussion will continue at the executive board meeting on Thursday. PTI
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USA may host two World Cup matches NEW DELHI: In a bid to spread cricket to different parts of the world, the ICC is planning to hold at least two matches of the 2007 World Cup in the USA. The ICC is likely to moot the proposal formally in the executive committee meeting of its associate members in London and the idea is expected to win handsome support, ICC sources said today. Though the next World Cup has been allotted to the West Indies, there’s a serious concern about a few hiccups in the Caribbean. It would allow the USA to step into the picture and help its cricket grow through a high-profile event. The ICC will also help the USA to qualify as a participating team in the 2007 World Cup to generate interest in the sport, the sources said. The ICC needs funds to grow cricket into a major global sport and the USA is seen as the power house which could lift the game’s profile. There are over 10,000 active cricket players in the country where the experts reckon cricket has enormous growth potential. The ICC and the officials of the United States Cricket Association (USCA) recently met to discuss “Project USA” which has been researched for over a year now. PTI
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Pak restrict new-look England
Manchester, June 17 Vikram Solanki, back after a three-year international exile, scored an attractive if risky 36 as 50 came off the first eight overs as England opted to bat in the Old Trafford day-night match. But the key dismissals were those of the team’s most seasoned batsmen, Marcus Trescothick (18), new skipper Michael Vaughan (27) and Andrew Flintoff (39) all making starts but failing to push on. England looked well placed before Vaughan, having faced 34 deliveries, looked to run the ball to third man and edged seamer Umar Gul tamely behind. The innings was then strangled by some fine bowling and by some canny captaincy from Rashid Latif as 26 runs came off 10 overs in mid-innings. Flintoff, batting at No 5 and dropped twice, threatened with a swept boundary off Malik’s spin before rifling an Abdul Razzaq delivery back past the bowler. But he then needlessly pulled the same bowler straight to deep square leg. Four wickets fell for 17runs as Pakistan, themselves with a new-looking team but with much more experience in their ranks, took complete control. All-rounder Rikki Clarke was bowled for a second-ball duck on his debut, naively exposing his stumps by sweeping Malik while wicketkeeper Chris Read holed out with another sweep. Batsman James Troughton only managed six but Anthony McGrath, the third one-day debutant, played sensibly for a back-to-the-wall 33. Reuters Scoreboard England: Trescothick c Latif b Sami 18 Solanki b Hafeez 36 Vaughan c Latif b Gul 27 Troughton c Latif b Gul 6 Flintoff c Hameed b Razzaq 39 McGrath c Sami b Malik 33 Clarke b Malik 0 Read c Nazir b Malik 5 Giles run out 3 Gough not out 14 Anderson not out 6 Extras:
(lb-6, w-6, nb-5) 17 Total: (9 wkts, 50 overs) 204 Fall of wickets:
1-45, 2-64, 3-96, 4-106, 5-152, 6-152, 7-164, 8-169, 9-194. Bowling: Azhar 7-0-24-0, Sami 10-2-52-1, Hafeez 10-0-41-1, Gul 7-0-33-2, Razzaq 6-0-22-1, Malik 10-2-26-3.
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‘Paki’ a racist term: London HC
London, June 17 The appeal, heard yesterday, arose from a match between Port Vale and Oldham Athletic in October last year at Port Vale’s ground in Burslem, when up to 100 home supporters began chanting at Oldham fans: “You are just a town full of Pakis.” Oldham had been the scene of race riots between Asian and white youths in May 2001. In the original case heard in the Stoke-on-Trent magistrates court, the district judge argued that “Paki” was merely a shorthand expression for someone from Pakistan. It belonged in a group of ribald terms, including “Brit”, “Pom”, “Yank”, “Aussie” and “Kiwi” and was not in the more obviously insulting category of such national stereotypes as “Frog” or “Kraut”, he ruled. But the high court judges saw it differently. “It is odd and a shame that this is so in this country,” Lord Justice Auld said. DPA
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Hockey camp begins
New Delhi, June 17 Veteran striker Baljit Singh Dhillon and right-winger Mukesh Kumar were the notable absentees on the first day of the training camp as chief coach Rajinder Singh laid emphasis on weeding out weaknesses in certain key areas, including short corner conversion and defence, before the start of the tournament later this month. India, who will embark on a week-long tour of Hamburg on June 23, will open their campaign with a match against Argentina on June 27. They will take on World Champions Germany on June 28 and meet Spain the next day. “We have to achieve excellence in all the departments of the game to emerge victorious against good teams like Australia and Germany,” Rajinder Singh said. Aware that the Hamburg tournament would be India’s last outing before the prestigious Champions Trophy in August, the chief coach said he would like to give enough exposure to all the players. “With the Champions Trophy less than two months away, we are taking the Germany meet seriously. We are certainly not going to make too many changes to the side that played so well in Australia.” Twenty-five players, including the 20 who represented the country in the double-leg tournament in Australia, have been called to attend the training camp here. Barring Deepak Thakur, the selectors might stick to the side that did duty in Australia though chances of Mukesh Kumar, who was ignored for most part of the Australian tour, getting selected seem remote as he skipped the training camp due to some “personal reasons”. “Our task is to select the best-available team for the tournament and we are not going to compromise on that. Physical fitness gets top priority in our agenda,” said Rajinder Singh stressing on the need to include more and more young players in the side keeping an eye on the future. 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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Mukesh Kumar to skip Hamburg meet
New Delhi, June 17 Mukesh Kumar said he could not participate in the Hamburg tournament from June 27 to 29 because of “family problems”. “I have informed Indian Hockey Federation president KPS Gill about my problem,” he told PTI from Hyderabad. Accordingly, he would not be attending the week-long camp which started here today in preparation for the tournament. Mukesh Kumar, however, said he would be available for the Champions Trophy to be held in Amstelveen, Netherlands, in August. “I am fully fit and playing well. I feel I can continue for some more time in the team provided I am given the chance,” he said. Mukesh Kumar, who has represented the country in three Olympic Games, was peeved at the way he was treated in Australia where he was not given enough opportunities to play. “I was allowed to play hardly for 10-15 minutes in every match. It is not possible to play to the full potential in such a short time,” he said. Mukesh Kumar, who made a comeback to the national team after a year-long injury lay-off, said the attitude of the team management was particularly hurting because his game had actually improved. “I feel I am playing better than before. Even during the limited opportunities that I was given during the Australia series, I did well and made some good moves which was appreciated by (captain) Dhanraj Pillay,” he said. He said coach Rajinder Singh had told him before leaving for Australia that only two of the four seniors in the team would be retained for the Champions Trophy and next year’s Athens Olympic Games. “While the other three were played for the full time in all the matches, I was made to sit on the bench,” he said. PTI
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Bhupathi-Mirnyi top seeds
London, June 17 Paes and Rikl of the Czech Republic are ranked third, above Bhupathi and Belarussian Mirnyi at five, in the ATP Doubles Race but the year’s only grass court Grand Slam gives weightage to players’ performance on grass in its seeding formula. The players are first listed as per their rankings and then 100 per cent of the points they earned on grass court events in the last 12 months as well as 75 per cent of the points they earned in the previous 12 months are added to arrive at the final list. Bhupathi and Mirnyi, the reigning US Open champions, reached the final of the Queen’s Club event last week while Paes, partnering Donald Johnson, lost in the first round at Halle, Germany. Bhupathi and Mirnyi, who lost to Paes and Rikl in the quarterfinals at the French Open on clay, also reached the last-eight stage at Wimbledon last year. Bhupathi and Paes together triumphed at Wimbledon in their watershed year of 1999 when they reached the finals of all four Grand Slams. PTI
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Tough draw for Hewitt London, June 17 But he has his work cut out from there on in with his second round opponent likely to be Richard Krajicek, one of the most dangerous of the non-seeded floaters the draw. The Dutchman, the champion here in 1996, also opens up against a qualifier. Also lurking in Hewitt’s quarter of the draw are Taylor Dent, the giant Belarussian Max
Mirnyi, Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan, and, most ominously, his projected quarterfinal opponent Andy
Roddick. Roddick, the fifth seed, established himself as one of the pre-tournament favourites by beating Agassi on his way to winning at the biggest pre-Wimbledon tournament at Queen’s Club on Sunday.
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Chatwinder, Saurabh bow out New Delhi, June 17 Third-seeded Vijay Kannan took just one hour and 10 minutes to show Chatwinder Singh the exit door with a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 victory while Saurabh Singh crashed out when he lost rather tamely to qualifier Katsushi Fukuda of Japan 0-6, 4-6. Another qualifier, Manoj Mahadevan, gave a torrid time to second seed and winner of the title in the first leg at Mumbai, Daniel Kiernan of the UK, but he failed to consolidate his gains, and lost out after a marathon battle, lasting two hours and 20 minutes. The Briton won 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Kiernan, who executed powerful serves and returns to win the first set, found himself at the receiving end when Manoj got cracking with some pleasing net play and dazzling passing shots and ground strokes. But the Indian teenager could not sustain the momentum, as after winning the second set, he let slip the advantage, and allowed Kiernan back into the game. Kiernan looked like wilting under the scorching heat, but rose to the challenge when it came to the crunch to quell Manoj’s aggression in the vital third set, to win the set and the match. Prakash Amritraj took off from where he had left off after winning the second leg title at Chandigarh, though he did not have to fully exert to win as qualifier Vishal Punna threw in the towel early. Punna conceded the match when Prakash was leading 6-4, 3-0. Punna cited a shoulder injury and stomach pain as reasons for his conceding the tie. Though Prakash moved up the easy way, his cousin, Stephen Amritraj, son of former Davis cupper Anand Amritraj, was not that lucky as he was beaten out of shape by the experienced Vinod Sridhar, with a lop-sided 6-0, 6-2 victory. Indian Davis cupper Vishal Uppal battled it out for one hour and 51 minutes to prevail over Yew Ming Sl of Malaysia at 7-5, 7-6 (7-2) while fifth-seeded Mustafa Ghouse squandered two set points in the first set, and could never recover from the lapse, to lose to qualifier Brian Hung of Hong Kong. Ghouse put up a stiff fight but the tenacious Brian Hung hung around to drive Ghouse to the wall, and then post a 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-4) victory. Qualifier Kedar Tembe upset Ajay Ramaswami with a 6-4, 6-0 triumph while seventh-seeded Febi Widhiyanto of Indonesia put out the challenge of Saurav Panja with a 6-2, 6-2 win. In other matches, Sonchat Ratiwatana of Thailand beat Hayato Furukawa 6-3, 7-6 (7-4); Ling Lu of Hong Kong went down to compatriot Hiu Tung Yu 2-6, 2-6 and Damg Heo Choi of Korea beat Anvwal Dalodom of Thailand 6-3, 6-1. |
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No major worries for upbeat Tiger Olympia Fields (Illinois), June 17 “It was frustrating in general this week because I never got anything going,” Woods said, after closing rounds of 75 and 72 left him tied for 20th in his title defence at Olympia Fields Country Club. “I was so close to putting it together. You hit a good shot in there, and you miss the slope by just a yard. All I needed was a little bit of momentum to get things going.” “It’s not like I’m playing and can’t hit a shot. I’m hitting good shots and it’s a matter of making some putts.” Woods, who won last year’s tournament by three shots at Bethpage Black, began the week knowing failure to defend would leave him without a major title for the first time since his 1999 US PGA Championship triumph at Medinah. The 27-year-old American was bidding for a third US Open crown in four years and the ninth major title of his career, despite having had to reduce his tournament schedule in 2003 following knee surgery last December. In the tournament build-up, he exuded confidence. “If you can win one major, you’ve had a great year,” he said. “That’s always been my goal, and that’s my goal this week — to win the tournament.” Asked if he was in a major slump, after failing to win any of golf’s top four titles since his US Open victory at Bethpage 12 months earlier, he replied: “I don’t think I’ve ever been in a slump, no.” “I think my overall career has been pretty good. Ever since I came out of the womb and I’ve started playing golf, I’ve had a pretty good career.” Woods has not enjoyed optimum preparation for this year’s majors following his surgery. Usually, he would have played 12 tournaments before the US Open; this season, he has managed only eight. “It’s not quite there yet, but it’s getting there,” he said of his recovering knee. “But I’m seeing progress in it.” “You’ve got to look at the big picture. You’ve got to make sure your body is sound.” Woods, comfortably the best player in the game, won seven major championships in 11 starts following his 1999 victory at
Medinah. He was virtually untouchable in 2000, clinching the last three majors of the year, and said last week his ball-striking was now almost at the same level.
Reuters
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Beckham’s transfer to Real imminent
London, June 17 Pictures in British newspapers showed United chief executive Peter Kenyon meeting Pedro Lopez, an envoy from Madrid, in Sardinia last Friday to discuss the matter. Sandro Rosell, Laporta’s sporting director at Barcelona, told the Daily Mirror: “It’s like when you propose to a woman — you can’t make her marry you when she says no. “You can’t force someone to do something if they don’t want to. "Reports said the 28-year-old Beckham, who left today for a promotional tour of Asia, would sign a five-year deal worth 90,000 pounds (151,000 dollar) a week. AFP
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Boxing prodigy set to go places Patiala, June 17 The Patiala youngster hails from a family which cannot provide him with basic equipment like shoes and gloves, but he has not let poverty make a dent on his growing ambitions. His basic day-to-day requirements are taken care of by his coach Harpreet Singh, who has made it a point to see that the boxer does not lag behind just because he has to struggle with adversity and poverty. Unlike other coaches, Harpreet Singh shies away from the glare of publicity. Day in and day out, he can be seen working diligently to remove the flaws that surface every now and then in the technique of his pupils, the most prominent of whom is Sunil Kumar. Despite the fact that Sunil is a junior, heH has left a lasting impression at the prestigious
A.K. Mishra memorial boxing championship held in Chandigarh earlier this year. Sunil’s performance in this meet catapulted him into the Punjab team that took part in the 49th senior national boxing championship held in New Delhi. Once again, the Patiala youngster gave a good display and according to Harpreet, the experience Sunil gained there would hold him in good stead. The unassuming Harpreet Singh opines that Sunil’s main weapon is the slip right counter and the left hook, which has left many opponents gasping for breath. Before imparting technical training to Sunil, Harpreet puts him through a tough physical grind till every sinew, and every muscle aches. Sunil has won numerous titles in the junior section. But the number of titles won in the junior circuit hold little relevance when the youngster starts matching his wits among the seniors.
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Kerala
eves stun Orissa Chennai, June 17 The contest was tantalisingly poised and was nearly heading for a draw when Sheeja scored the all-important goal that coincided with the hooter. If one goes by the quality fare dished out by the Orissa girls, Kerala eves have to consider themselves lucky to gain full points from the group-II encounter as the win had not only enhanced their chances of making it to the last four stage, but also brought the curtains down on Orissa.
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GND varsity to
adopt jr players Amritsar, June 17 These all techniques will be covered under the proposed Centre for Research in Sports Sciences (CRSS) to be constructed on the premises of the university, who had proposed to the University Grant Commission (UGC) for Rs 30 crore to start the centre and in return pledged to give the nation medals in the international sports arena. The Vice-Chancellor, Dr S.P. Singh, said to begin with the university would start with five children. The university will bear all the expenses. The UGC has issued Rs 5 crore but university has not still used it, He said the remaining amount would also be given after sometime. |
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Kangra
defeat Kulu Chamba, June 17 The highlights of the match were 104 by Manider Singh with 15 fours and three sixes. Aditya scored 61 runs. Kulu had earlier made 161 in first innings. Kangra got the lead of 120 runs. Kulu were all out for 128 in their second innings.
Brief score: Kulu (Ist innings): 161 Kangra (Ist innings):
281 for 8 (Manider Singh 104, Aditya 61, Rishi 46). Kulu (2nd innings): 128
(Abhishek 35, Shiv Sharma 40, Aditya 30. Ashim 3 for 34, Vinay 2 for 9).
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MISHRA SNATCHES LEAD IN CHESS WARRIER TO GO WITH HARBHAJAN CHESS ACADEMY NEW PLAYER |
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