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Tuesday,
June 24, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Hewitt stunned in opening round
Sunil Kumar scalps Vishal Uppal Ronaldo leads Real to title win
Colombia enter semifinals |
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Trescothick guides England home
Harbhajan to be operated upon in Australia
Sehwag ends on winning side Gurbinder left out; Khatri in Chandigarh lads seize initiative
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Hewitt stunned in opening round
London, June 23 Karlovic, a 24-year-old Croat playing his first Grand Slam match, won 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 6-4 today. Since the first Wimbledon in 1877, the only other defending men’s champion to lose in the opening round was Manuel Santana, who fell to Charlie Pasarell 36 years ago. That was one year before the Open era began. While a reigning Wimbledon champion went out, two former titlists advanced. Venus Williams, women’s winner in 2000 and 2001, scored a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Stanislava Hrozenska and 1999 champion Lindsay Davenport gained a 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 triumph over Australia’s Samantha Stosur. Number five seed Andy Roddick had a less eventful day as Wimbledon began its two-week run in sunny, mild weather. He hit 14 aces and 21 service winners to beat Davide Sanguinetti 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. Karlovic, playing just his seventh tour-level match, achieved the upset on the sport’s grandest stage. In keeping with tradition, the defending champion played the first match of the tournament on Centre Court, so that’s where Karlovic made his Wimbledon debut. The Croat looked nervous at the start but poised at the finish. He served out the final game at love, hitting a 119 mph second serve for a winner on match point. He raised his long arms and threw a fist, and that was the extent of his celebration. Hewitt and Karlovic walked onto the immaculate Centre Court lawn side by side but hardly shoulder to shoulder, since the Croat is 11 inches (28 cm) taller. There were no bows to the Royal Box, a tradition eliminated this year. At first, the match went as expected. A shaky Karlovic double-faulted twice to lose the first game, then double-faulted twice more in his next service game to fall behind 0-3. He dropped the first set in 19 minutes. But the momentum turned when Karlovic hit two big serves and a forehand winner to take the final three points of the second-set tie-breaker. When he reached break point for the first time, Hewitt double-faulted to fall behind 1-3 in the third set, and soon the fiery Australian was on the ropes. Karlovic served well and smothered the net with his enormous wingspan, making it difficult for Hewitt to pass. The Australian cracked under the constant pressure, misfiring on two groundstrokes to lose his serve and give Karlovic a 5-4 lead in the final set. One point in the final game underscored the mismatch in size. Hewitt hit a topspin lob, a shot that frequently bails him out of trouble, but Karlovic reached up and slammed it for a winner. Two points later, the Croat had his stunning victory. He finished with 18 aces and 41 service winners, and won despite breaking serve just twice. Hewitt dropped only two sets en route to the title last year, but his game has slipped in 2003. He lost the No 1 ranking to Andre Agassi last week and has failed to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal this year. He was beaten in the fourth round at the Australian Open by Younes El Aynaoui and in the third round by Tommy Robredo at the French Open. Hewitt’s loss opens up that quarter of the draw for Roddick, who never lost serve and needed only 80 minutes to beat Sanguinetti. The 20-year-old Roddick began working this month with Agassi’s former coach, Brad Gilbert. The pairing quickly paid off with Roddick’s first grass-court title at Queen’s Club, and with perhaps the most formidable serve in tennis, he’s touted as one of the Wimbledon favourites. Number 22 Nathalie Dechy and No 30 Denisa Chladkova were among the first women reaching the second round. Dechy beat Janette Husarova 6-3, 6-2 and Chladkova defeated Klara Koukalova 6-4, 6-3.
— AP
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Sunil Kumar scalps Vishal Uppal New Delhi, June 23 Sunil, playing hard tennis, cruised to victory in the first set in a jiffy, even before Vishal Uppal could settle down. In the second set, Uppal, playing on ‘home’ turf, put up some resistance, but Sunil proved too good to be put in any sort of trouble, and raced home with ease. The seeded players, including Prakash
Amritraj, having received first-round byes, enjoyed a off day from competitions, and
the action on the court, understandably, lacked sparkle. But Stephen
Amritraj, cousin of Prakash, did display a lot of fire when fighting against Hiu Tung Yu of Hong Hong and took to the wire before bowing out. Hiu won 6-3, 2-6,7-8 (7-4). Some of the Indian juniors showed their lack of big match temperament when they fell by the wayside in the first round itself. Ajay Ramaswami raised hopes ski high when he won the first set against Eliran Dooyev of Israel comfortably, but went down in the second set after putting up a fight. He was, however, swept off his feet in the decider as Dooyev coasted to a 2-6, 7-5, 6-0 victory. Parantap Chaturvedi, another Indian junior, went down to Hayato Furukawa of Japan 4-6, 2-6 while Rohan Gajjar overpowered Kedar Tembe 6-2, 7-6 (7-2). Rohan will now run into top-seeded Prakash Amritraj, and it is no sweet music to his ears. Saurav Panja too fell at the first hurdle when he lost to Yew Ming Si of Malaysia, albeit after a close encounter. Si prevailed at 8-6 (8-2), 6-4. In other matches, Katsushi Fukuda of Japan beat Brian Hung of Hong Kong 6-2, 6-0 and Dong Hee Choi of Korea overran Richard Crabtree of the UK 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1. |
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Ronaldo leads Real to title win
Madrid, June 23 With Real needing to beat Athletic Bilbao to win the championship, Ronaldo obliged with another match-winning display when it really counted. The Brazilian, sporting the same bizarre hairstyle he wore at the World Cup, put his side ahead with a close-range strike after nine minutes and, after Bilbao had equalised, won the free kick that led to their second. When news began to filter through that second-placed Real Sociedad were winning at home to Atletico Madrid and closing in, nerves were starting to fray at the Bernabeu but a brilliant second goal from Ronaldo settled matters. Timing his run to perfection, Ronaldo latched on to a pass from Zinedine Zidane and belted the ball past Bilbao keeper Aranzubia to score his 23rd league goal of the season. It was a first domestic league title for Ronaldo, who scored 34 league goals for Barcelona in the 1996-97 season but had to settle for the runners-up spot behind Real in the league. “We’re talking about the best player in the world,’’ said Real coach Vicente del Bosque. ‘’He has proved that and has helped us become the best team.’’ A tally of 23 league goals looked a distant target when he arrived from Inter Milan in a $ 44.2 million transfer. His eight goals in South Korea and Japan, including two in the final, had made him the competition’s top scorer and proved that he was back to something like his best after career-threatening injury problems. Real’s move for the Brazilian striker was still a huge gamble, though, with many questioning whether he could reproduce his World Cup form on a regular basis. When he arrived at the Bernabeu, he was patently unfit and he did not make his debut until the fifth league match of the season against Alaves. With the eyes of the world on him, and many people waiting for him to fail, Ronaldo did what he does best, scoring two brilliant goals, one of them within a minute of coming on, to lead Real to a 5-2 win. He has continued scoring vital goals for Real Madrid ever since, always saving his best for the biggest matches. He returned to Yokohama, the scene of his World Cup triumph with Brazil, to win his first title with Real in December, scoring the opening goal in the side’s 2-0 win over Olimpia of Paraguay in the World Club Cup. Later in December he won the European ‘Player of the Year’ award for the second time and the FIFA ‘World Player of the Year’ award for the third time as he finished the year on a high note. Ronaldo proved Real’s saviour in the second phase of the Champions League, heading the only goal in a 1-0 win away to Lokomotiv Moscow that took his team through to the knock-out phase. In the quarter-finals, his hat-trick in the second leg away to Manchester United clinched a 6-5 aggregate win for Real and earned him a standing ovation from the Old Trafford crowd. Ronaldo scored in Real’s 2-1 win over Juventus in the semifinal first leg but injury limited him to a substitute’s role in the return and Juventus denied the Spaniards a place in the final. That left the domestic league as Real’s only hope of claiming a major trophy and Ronaldo’s inspirational run of form at the end of the season led them to victory. He scored twice in a crucial 2-1 win away to Valencia, twice again away to Atletico Madrid last week and added another double to clinch the title against Bilbao. “I’m so happy,’’ Ronaldo told Real Madrid’s website after the Bilbao win. ‘’It’s all worked out perfectly. “When I was at Barcelona I was more spectacular but now I’m more effective. I’m getting better all the time.’’ — Reuters
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Colombia
enter semifinals
Saint-Etienne, June 23 France, the defending champions, thrashed hapless New Zealand 5-0 in Saint-Denis to make sure of winning group A ahead of Colombia. In Thursday’s semifinals, France will take on the second-place team from group B. Unless Cameroon suffers an upset and loses against the winless USA today, France’s opponent will be either Brazil or Turkey, in Saint-Denis. “They are all quality teams,” French captain Marcel Desailly said. Colombia will face the winner of group B in Lyon. Japan would have gone through with a draw but the Asian champion had to blame its sloppy defending for going out. Midfielder Yasuhito Endo turned over the ball in his half and the Colombians suddenly swarmed forward to score, with Hernandez controlling the ball and turning to slot a left-footed shot past goalkeeper Seijo Narazaki. Shortly before Colombia’s goal, Japanese striker Naohiro Takahara struck the post with a finely timed header and Zico’s team pressed forward in the final minutes in vain. “I’m very proud of the team,” Zico said. “They played a great game today. We just didn’t turn it into a great result. We only made one mistake and that caused us to be eliminated.” Hernandez’ strike was Colombia’s fourth goal in two matches after a 3-1 win against New Zealand on Friday concluded a 13-month scoring drought. Coach Francisco Maturana’s side had not found the net in five games, since May of last year in a 2-1 loss to Mexico. “Minute by minute, my players are reaching their top level,” Maturana said. “Advancing in this party will help this team grow.” — AP
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Trescothick
guides England home
London, June 23 Trescothick, who also engineered England’s triumph in the second match at the Oval with a spectacular 55-ball 86, this time clung on before cautiously shepherding his team-mates to a four-wicket victory after a torrid opening followed by a middle-order collapse. The inexperienced home team rode their luck — and they had plenty of it — to win with nine balls remaining, Trescothick putting on a run-a-ball unbeaten stand of 77 with wicketkeeper Chris Read (25 not out). England, having put Pakistan in and restricted them to 229 for seven despite an explosive display of late hitting by Abdul Razzaq, looked well placed after surviving an opening barrage of extreme pace from Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami. But having reached 89 for one, they then caved in to the off spin of Mohammad Hafeez, who took three for three in 17 balls. England, at one stage on 154 for six, needed 62 from the last 10 overs with little batting to come. But Trescothick, facing rapidly deteriorating light and having kept his nerve after being almost run out on two occasions and dropped off a simple chance on 35 and then again on 93, received staunch support from Read. England, who could have lost six wickets in the opening 10 overs against the hugely impressive Shoaib and Sami, knew it was their day when Trescothick completed his century off an edge through the slips off the exasperated, wicketless Shoaib. Moments later, Read was totally beaten for pace but the ball just missed the leg stump to hurtle away for four byes. Trescothick reached three figures for the fifth time in one-dayers off 142 balls, hitting nine fours. “We had quite a bit of luck in the first 20 overs,” conceded the left-hander, who had made a one-day century in a losing cause against the same opponents two years previously at the same venue. “They missed the stumps a few times and a couple of catches went down. For me, to still be there at the end was the most pleasing thing.” Pakistan skipper rashid latif, the culprit in dropping the England batsman just before he reached three figures, could not hide his disappointment. “England played well but they were lucky today,” he said. “I always thought we were going to win. There were a few umpiring decisions which also went their way.” Despite the tense finish, the game was most memorable for Pakistan’s withering opening burst of pace bowling. That passage of play would have dignified any Test arena as the English batsmen struggled to survive. Vikram Solanki, beaten time after time, was the only wicket to fall, caught behind off sami for 12, as England contrived to get to 49 for one from 10 overs. Scoreboard Pakistan Hafeez c Clarke b Gough 19 Nazir c Vaughan b Flintoff 8 Hameed c and b Flintoff 5 Youhana c Read b Clarke 5 Khan c McGrath b Anderson 63 Malik c Read b Flintoff 23 Razzaq c Trescothick
Mahmood not out 20 Akhtar not out 0 Extras: (lb-15 nb-1 w-6) 22 Total:
(7 wkts, 50 overs) 229 Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-38, 3-44, 4-61, 5-117, 6-165, 7-225. Bowling:
Anderson 10-1-52-1, Gough 10-1-45-1, Flintoff 10-2-32-4, Clarke 6-0-29-1, McGrath 5-0-21-0, Giles 9-0-35-0. England: Trescothick not out 108 Solanki c Rashid Latif b Sami 12 Vaughan c Hafeez b Mahmood 29 Troughton c Akhtar b Malik 20 Flintoff c Sami b Hafeez 4 McGrath st Latif b Hafeez 2 Clarke c Latif b Hafeez 4 Read not out 25 Extras: (b-8 lb-7 w-4 nb-8) 27 Total:
(6 wkts, 48.3 overs) 231 Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-89, 3-129, 4-143, 5-147, 6-154. Bowling: Akhtar
10-1-40-0, Sami 9-0-50-1, Razzaq 7-1-28-0, Mahmood 6.3-0-41-1, Malik 7-0-26-1, Hafeez 9-0-31-3.
— Reuters |
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Harbhajan to be operated upon in Australia
Mumbai, June 23 Cricket board executive secretary Sharad Diwadkar told PTI here today that according to a letter from board president Jagmohan Dalmiya, Harbhajan would get his finger operated upon by hand and lower limb surgeon Dr Gregory Hoy at the Avenue Hospital, Windsor, in Melbourne. “Harbhajan spoke to Australian leg spinner Shane Warne last week along with finger specialist Dr Sudhir Warrier and decided to get his finger operated upon in Australia as Warne himself had got operated upon successfully for a similar injury four years ago,” Diwadkar said. Last week, board doctor and sports medicine expert Dr Anant Joshi had said orthopaedic surgeon Dr Dror Paley, who had operated on Sachin Tendulkar’s finger successfully last month in the Sinai Hospital in Baltomore (USA), would be the first choice for the operation on Harbhajan’s finger. Harbhajan had also spoken to Tendulkar during his visit here last week to get an MRI scan and x-rays done on his finger at the Leelavati Hospital and was almost certain to go to the USA for the operation but changed his mind after speaking to Warne. Diwadkar said the offie would be in Australia for eight to 10 days, accompanied by Dr Warrier. — PTI
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Sehwag ends on winning side London, June 23 And it was Sehwag, representing Leicestershire Foxes, who ended up on the winning side though Yuvraj also made merry with a quickfire 50 for Yorkshire. Sehwag smashed a fine 80-ball 65, which included 11 hits to the fence. He added 126 runs with Australian Brad Hodge (104) for the second wicket as Leicestershire posted an imposing total of 251 for five in 45 overs. Sehwag got his 50 in 63 balls before leaving the stage to Hodge who blasted five fours in a row off Yuvraj Singh on the way to a 116-ball century.
— PTI |
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Gurbinder
left out; Khatri in Patiala, June 23 Gurbinder who won a silver medal in the 16th Senior Asian Wrestling Championship which concluded in New Delhi early this month, was India’s best bet in the 66-kg weight class. The selectors, who met at the NIS yesterday to announce the seven-member squad, refused to give any details, yet there were indications that the matman was dropped as he weighed nearly 6-kg more than the allowed weight. Gurbinder who had qualified in both free style and Greco-Roman events for the Sydney Olympics, had lost to defending champion Ziedvand Perviz of Iran 1-8 and had to settle for a second place in the senior Asian meet. Mukesh Khatri was selected in the 55-kg weight class. During the senior Asian championship, Mukesh was found to be 400 grams heavier than the allowed weight. Mukesh, the junior world bronze medallist, is expected to provide some spark to India’s medal hunt in Poland. Satdev Malik, who lost in the second round in the Asian meet by a technical fall in the 84-kg class has also been left out from the squad. Meanwhile, out of the 28 grapplers who had been selected for the training camp at the NIS, 24 reported to the camp but only 13 took part in the trials as the rest were found to be overweight in their respective weight categories. The secretary of the WFI, Mr Kartar Singh, and the foreign coach Andrez Mallina were present during the trials. All the selected grapplers were subjected to the mandatory dope tests. The member secretary of the anti-dope commission, Dr Ashok Ahuja, proceeded on leave so the NIS authorities formed a two-member team comprising Dr Bimla Bhatia and Dr S.K.Nandi to collect the samples. However, for some unknown reason, Dr Nandi refused to be a part of the team and it was left to Dr Bhatia to complete the formalities. The WFI has selected the following team for the Polish tournament Mukesh Khatri, Ravinder Kumar, Vijay Chandra, Jagbir Singh, K.K.Yadav, Prinder Singh and S. Anand. |
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Chandigarh
lads seize initiative Ludhiana, June 23 Chandigarh’s Karanveer and Gurkirat Singh were the pick of the bowlers scalping three wickets each while Asim Gupta and Akashdeep took two wickets each. Chandigarh lads, too, had a shaky start losing their opener Akashdeep without scoring a run. However, Gurkirat Singh and Vijay Kumar steadied the innings, making 81 runs before the latter departed at his individual score of 38. At draw of stumps Gurkirat (36) and Sukhjinder (0) were at the crease. Brief scores: Ludhiana (Ist innings)-
140 all out in 64.3 overs ( Karan Goel 22, Chinton Sehgal 9, Dushyant Kohli 15, Rajat Bhatia 1, Sachin Sharma 22, Tarun Kanish 12, Yogesh Kumar 21, Rattan Bricher 22; Karanveer 3 for 36, Gurkirat Singh 3 for 21, Asim Gupta 2 for 29 and Akashdeep 2 for 29). Chandigarh (Ist innings)- 85 for 2 after 28 overs ( Vijay Kumar 38, Gurkirat Singh 36 n.o; Rattan Bricher 2 for 23). |
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7-member team for world meet
New Delhi, June 23 Boys: 400 m K. Appa Rao (AP), 800 m Vasisth Kr Rai (UP), hammer throw K. Satishwaran (TN) high jump Hari Shankar Roy (WB). Girls: 400 m Mandeep Kaur (Punjab), 800 m Pinki Parmanik (WB), triple jump AP Alka Chikli (Kerala). — UNI
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