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Tuesday,
July 8, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Hockey: Ganesh counsels caution Sohail Abbas' return to Pak hockey team imminent Roger Federer slays demons of self-doubt
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Mark Philippoussis down but not out Late night viewing for Australians Paes helps Martina roll back the years
East Bengal out to corner glory Indian grapplers win overall title Kharar doc’s gesture to hockey star
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Hockey: Ganesh counsels caution New Delhi, July 7 “We should be guarded in our euphoria as India are yet to qualify for the Olympic Games in Athens”, Ganesh said. The Champions Trophy will be held in Amsterdam (Holland) from August 16 to 24 while the Olympic
qualifier will be played at Madrid in March, 2004. In between, the Asia Cup will be played at Kuala Lumpur from September 11 to 21, the Afro-Asian Games at Hyderabad from October 24, and the Azlan Shah Tournament in Kuala Lumpur from January 8 to 18, 2004. Ganesh, who is now the Executive Director (team’s wing) of the Sports Authority of India, admitted that there was a remarkable transformation in the team after Rajinder Singh took over as the chief coach. He attributed the recent successes of the Indian team at Perth, Sydney and Hamburg to the amazing maturity displayed by the fulcrum of the attack, Dhanraj Pillay, on and off the field. “The performance of our hockey team has vastly improved, and Dhanraj’s contribution is immense”, Ganesh observed. He said the remarkable attitudinal change in Dhanraj Pillay has helped boost the team spirit, their approach and attitude to the game. He said seniors like Dhanraj Pillay, Dilip Tirkey and Baljit Singh have played pivotal roles in the sustained success of the team in recents months. He said these players have been donning the national colours for the past 12 or 13 years, and their experience, combined with the youthful dynamism of Gagan Ajit Singh, Jugraj Singh and Deepak Thakur, has helped the team shape up as a force to reckon with. Ganesh said there was a time, especially the period between 1990 and 1994, when Indian hockey was in the dog house, beset with self-doubt and uncertainty due to lack of self confidence. But Rajinder Singh seems to have injected a lot of positive energy into the team to bring about this remarkable turn around. He said the 5-3-2-1 attacking formation employed by Rajinder Singh was a throwback into the halcyon days of Indian hockey, when attack was considered as the best form of defence, as the forwards often fell back to thwart the counter-assaults of the rival teams, with quicksilver reflexes. Ganesh said the biggest gain of the Indian team was their ability to convert penalty corners as Jugraj Singh, Dilip Tirkey and Baljit Singh seem to have perfected this difficult art. He said teams like Holland won matches solely on the strength of their ability to convert penalty corners. Now that India have found the right combination to take care of this vital department, it would add punch to the team’s overall strength. But the former Indian captain said the team should work hard, and follow the instructions of the coaches, for achieving success in the Champions Trophy and the Olympic qualifiers in the coming months. He said India could now be safely bracketed among the top four teams, along with Germany, Australia and Holland, though he admitted that India’s mettle would be fully tested when they face South Korea, which they have not done for some time now. Ganesh, however, felt that if the team continued in the same vein, a medal would be there for the asking in the Champions Trophy. “Our attack, defence, skills, attitude...there is a tremendous improvement in these departments. And if we work a little harder, we can be among the medals at Amsterdam”, Ganesh said with optimism. He noted that after the Moscow Olympic Games in 1980, where India won their last Olympic gold medal under the captaincy of Vasudevan Baskaran, India had not made it into the knockout round of either the Olympic Games or the World Cup. Ganesh agreed that it took time to cobble together a winning combination, and the fact that a player like Dhanraj Pillay, who has been donning the country’s cap since 1989, took so long to mature as a complete team man, justified this observation. |
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Sohail Abbas' return to Pak hockey team imminent Chandigarh, July 7 The reason, according to the Pakistan Hockey Federation for dropping the trio prior to the tour Down Under was indiscipline as they had opted to play in the German league. The disaster has already taken its toll with former Olympian Shahnaz Sheikh having tendered his resignation. Following the embarrassing Australian tour, allegations flew thick and fast and Shahnaz Sheikh was charged with abetting the trio's exposure trip to Germany. Both Sohail Abbas and Mohammed Nadeem are employees of Pakistan Wapda and accordingly the Pakistan Hockey Federation sought an explanation from them for granting them no-objection certificates for going abroad prior to the Australian tour, which was viewed as a build-up to the prestigious Champions Trophy scheduled to be played in Holland in August. Wapda officials alleged that Shahnaz Sheikh had given the players permission to play in Germany. Undoubtedly, Sohail Abbas over the years has emerged as Pakistan's trump card in international hockey. His expertise in short corners has tilted the scales in Pakistan's favour in crunch situations. In his absence, the Pakistan hockey team was rudderless, defenceless. This full-back, son of a cricketer, Iftikar Hussain, from the port city of Karachi has been the mainstay of his team, be it the World Cup, Olympics, Asian Games or the Champions Trophy. After emerging as the highest scorer with 16 goals in the Asia Cup, Sohail Abbas attracted worldwide attention last year when he emerged as the joint highest scorer along with Argentina's Jorge Lombi in the 10th World Cup at Kuala Lumpur last year. And all 10 goals that Abbas scored at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in the Malaysian capital were off penalty corners. Earlier, in the Sydney Olympics, Sohail Abbas proved his mettle by slamming in a hat-trick against Great Britain. In the last Azlan Shah Cup which Pakistan won in Malaysia, Abbas played a stellar role. Last year in the 24th Champions Trophy in Cologne, Germany, Sohail Abbas played a major role and Pakistan finished third ahead of India. I witnessed Sohail's debut at Peshawar's Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium more than five years back. In the first match of the India-Pakistan hockey series, Pakistan manager Islahuddin effected a substitution midway through the gruelling tie, but the tall, lean newcomer did not make an immediate impact. The following day, on March 1,1998, to be precise, in the second Test at Rawalpindi's Army Hockey Stadium, the same boy announced his arrival on the international scene in dramatic fashion, slamming in the match-winner off Rahim Khan's push as Pakistan won 2-1. Ever since there has been no looking back. With over 100 international appearances, Sohail Abbas has already overhauled the legendary Hassan Sardar's tally. With such talent at their disposal, can Pakistan afford to keep him out with the prestigious Champions Trophy a month away ? According to reports, an honourable way to readjust him is being worked out. On insistence of their employers, Sohail Abbas along with Mohammed Wasim are returning home to offer explanations to the PHF for their absence after which they are likely to be let off with a mild penalty along with Nadeem, who is employed with the National Bank of Pakistan. The presence of Sohail will undoubtedly rejuvenate the Pakistani squad and India, Germany, Australia, Holland and Argentina will have to reformulate their strategies .  |
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Roger Federer slays demons of self-doubt London, July 7 Nobody ever questioned the Swiss 21-year-old’s ability. His deftness of touch and languidly elegant range of strokes are universally recognised as being without equal among the current crop of male players. But prior to this Wimbledon, there were many beginning to ask whether Federer’s genius with a racquet was not fatally flawed by a personality which lacked the mental strength required to become a champion. Federer insisted after his victory that he had always maintained a belief in his own ability, but there was no doubting the sense of relief at finally being able to share it with the entire world. “I proved it to everybody,” Federer said. “It is a big relief because there was pressure from all the sides and also from myself.” The Swiss No 1 said his tears had also been partly triggered by his delight at having played his best tennis when it was most needed — in his semifinal win over the tournament favourite Andy Roddick and in yesterday’s final against Mark Philippoussis, which he won 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 7-6, (7/3). “I didn’t lose a set in these two matches and kept my level up,” he said. “In the end when I held the trophy up it was very tough with the emotions. “This tournament means so much to me. In 1998 I won the juniors, in 2001 I beat Sampras and now this. “It is something I cannot yet understand — it is just too good,” Federer said. The jubilant tone could not have been further removed from Federer’s mood 18 months ago, when he was so depressed about his failure to break through into the elite of the men’s game that he contemplated quitting. He was persuaded not to by his coach and mentor Peter Carter, an Australian who tragically died in a car accident last year. Federer’s frustration was understandable. As a junior he had been the world No 1, a winner of Wimbledon and the prestigious Orange Bowl tournament. And he was still only 19 when, two years ago, he produced one of the greatest Wimbledon shocks of all time by beating Pete Sampras in the fourth round. But, in what was to become something of a pattern in his career, that breakthrough was followed by an immediate reverse — defeat by Tim Henman in the quarterfinals. In the seven Grand Slam tournaments between that Wimbledon and this one, Federer had failed to get beyond the last 16. By any standard, a player hailed as the most naturally gifted of his generation was seriously underperforming. Outside of the biggest tournaments however, Federer had been making steady progress under the watchful eye of Peter Lundgren, the Swedish former player who has filled the void left by the death of Carter. Prior to Wimbledon he had already won four times on the men’s tour on four different surfaces in 2003. It was a feat that no one had achieved since Sampras in 1998 and one which gave Federer the confidence to believe he could overcome whatever it was that was holding him back in the Grand Slams. “Doubt — you know there is no guarantee for nothing,” he said. “I knew I had the game and for me it was somehow important that first I could prove it on the smaller events. “This is really where I picked up. I thought this was going to bring me far in the Grand Slams — to win a lot, to play a lot of finals.” Federer was also prepared to admit to having been blessed with the touch of luck that all champions need — particularly when he got through his fourth round tie with Spain’s Feliciano Lopez after suffering a back spasm in the warm-up. “I definitely wanted to do better in the Slams and I guess you need a little luck and I had that in my fourth round match,” he said. Federer revealed that he had come close to defaulting before being given painkillers by the trainer that enabled him to struggle through a match in which a tougher opponent might have beaten him. “I was really in big pain, struggling to serve, struggling to return. I couldn’t really sit down I was in too much pain,” he recalled.
— AFP
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Swiss media installs Federer as new sporting hero
Geneva, July 7 After two weeks where enthusiasm and hope increased day by day but nothing was taken for granted, the Swiss media was finally able to install Federer as the country’s latest sporting hero. The 21-year-old Federer earned the Wimbledon men’s singles title with a straight sets defeat of Mark Philippoussis of Australia yesterday. Although Martina Hingis won the women’s title in 1997 and claimed four other Grand Slam titles, Federer was the first Swiss man even to make it to the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament. The Lausanne daily 24 Heures, inspired by the huge golden trophy and the traditional royal attendance at the Wimbledon final, crowned the champion “Federer the First”. The mass circulation daily Blick had the same idea. It hailed “King Roger I” and offered its readers a full-page poster of an emotional Federer holding the Wimbledon trophy up to the cheering crowd. “Now Roger is truly one of the greats,” the paper said. Blick produced a table of Swiss sporting greats based on popularity, international renown and earnings, and placed Federer in joint first place with Ferdi Kuebler, winner of the 1950 Tour de France. Hingis was fourth. “A genius changes the world of tennis forever,” Federer’s hometown paper Basler Zeitung said. In Zurich, Tages-Anzeiger described Federer’s victory as a fairytale, beginning its report: “Once upon a time there was a little boy who wanted to play perfect tennis...” “Even with the best academies and training programmes players of the quality of Federer cannot be bred,” the Bern daily Der Bund said. “Big countries like Germany, England and France envy Switzerland for Federer.” Celebrating the beginning of “the Federer era,” the Tribune de Geneve highlighted the victory of a player with an old-fashioned, more traditional style of play - a “breath of fresh air” after all the big hitters that bore spectators. “No, tennis isn’t dead! Roger Federer is the saviour we’ve been waiting for,” it said. Yesterday’s final match was broadcast live on three Swiss television channels to allow commentary in German, French and Italian. The Swiss should have a first chance to salute their hero in person tomorrow, when Federer is due to play in the first round of the Gstaad Open. Federer’s victory was the second major Swiss sporting success of the year. In March, the yacht Alinghi stunned the sailing world by taking the America’s Cup away from holder Team New Zealand and bringing it back to landlocked Switzerland. — AP
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Mark Philippoussis down but not out
London, July 7 But the 26-year-old from Melbourne will never be unbowed — not even after losing yesterday's Wimbledon final in straight sets to Roger Federer of Switzerland. Federer was magnificent on the day as he gave up zero break points on his serve while capturing twice the usually quasi-unreturnable serve of his opponent to win the title 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 7-6 (7/3). Philippoussis, once linked with Russian glamour girl Anna Kournikova, said after all his trials and tribulations, which included more than two months in a wheelchair two seasons ago while his father Nick has had to battle cancer, that losing a Grand Slam final would not get him down. No sooner had he come off court than he was insisting he would not only be back - he would hold aloft the trophy himself. "It's been a great tournament for me. Unfortunately, I fell one short — but I'll be back," said the man known as Scud whose serve brought 14 more aces yesterday to take his tournament haul to 178. "I can't really say I did much wrong. Whoever won the first set was gonna go on a roll," said Philippoussis, who experienced for the second time the numbness which accompanies a Grand Slam final defeat having also gone down in the 1998 US Open final to compatriot Pat Rafter. "I wouldn't say it was my best match out there. My first serve percentage wasn't that high. I wasn't returning as well as I wanted to," said the star who has resolved to make his life revolve purely around his game rather than the fast cars and the adrenaline rush of dangerous pursuits such as skydiving. "I pressed a little too much. He can do everything. When you have a great day everything's great, everything's perfect," he conceded of his rival's performance. "I'm definitely going to come back and I'll be a lot stronger," said the Aussie, who revealed his father had put everything into perspective for him beforehand. "He said: 'This is just the beginning. Look where you were 18 months ago'." Philippoussis' next target is to make a similar impression on the US Open and go one better than his final loss there five years ago. But first, the man who bears an Alexander the Great tattoo on his shoulder, having acknowledged he had bowed to a greater talent yesterday, will head for the Californian surf and his other passion of surfing after his Wimbledon wave just failed to take him to the winner's shoreline.
— AFP |
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Late night viewing for Australians Sydney, July 7 Only Lleyton Hewitt's 6-1 6-3 6-2 win over David Nalbandian last year was faster. Pat Rafter, now retired, kept Australians up well into the night in 2000 and 2001, losing first Pete Sampras (7-6 (12/10) 6-7 (5/7) 4-6 2-6) and then Goran Ivanisevic (3-6 6-3 3-6 6-2 7-9). In today's edition, The Australian national newspaper praised Federer's play. "It took the sublime talents of the most gifted tennis player on the circuit to stop Mark Philippoussis in his tracks early this morning," said The
Australian.— AP
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Paes helps Martina roll back the years London, July 6 "I can't think I can't talk," said a jubilant Navratilova courtside, after the crowd had given her a standing ovation. "They are all special but the last one was eight years ago and I honestly thought I'd never play here again. "Best thing that happened to me was being dumped by my doubles partners and the same thing happened to Leander and that's how we got together at the US Open last year and here we are. "I think I need to take another piece of grass on my way out. I still have the piece I took in 1994 (after her singles final defeat to Conchita Martinez) so I think it's time for another patch." By claiming her 58th Grand Slam title, Navratilova also broke her own record of becoming the oldest champion at one of the top four major events. Aged 46 years and 261 days, she eclipsed the mark she set when she lifted the Australian Open mixed crown with Paes in January. Paes, who was just three went Navratilova won her first title here, paid tribute to his partner. "For this little kid from India it was a dream to be on Centre Court and when I was seven, eight years old, I watched Martina play and she really inspired me to be out here so today," said Paes. "For me to be on Centre Court with a true legend of our sport and to win is a dream come true." Having won her 19th Wimbledon trophy with Jonathan Stark in 1995, Navratilova came out of retirement in 2000 specifically to chase King's record. King had won her 20th title at the championships in tandem with Navratilova in 1979. Having smacked a volley winner on match point, Paes bowed mockingly in front his partner before the pair embraced. The pair went up to the Royal Box to accept their trophies before making a brief return to court to grab the patch of grass in front of the bemused fans. Navratilova's Wimbledon haul includes nine singles crowns, seven women's doubles and four mixed doubles successes. Her 58 titles place her second on the all-time list behind Australia's Margaret Court, who has 62.
— Reuters
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East Bengal out to corner glory
Kolkata, July 7 The ASEAN Club Championship will pit East Bengal against two of the best teams of Asia-BEC Tero Sasana (Thailand) on July 14 and Negros Occidental FC (Philipines) on July 16. East Bengal have never seen either of these teams play. The Club’s thinktank planned to leave tomorrow so that they have ample time for acclimatisation and play a practice match against a team of Indians, ‘India club’ on July 10 to get them in the championship mode. For the record BEC Tero Sasana was adjudged the AFC best team of the month with best coach of the month in April 2003 for having played excellent soccer throughout the year and getting through to the AFC Champions’ League final where they will meet a team from UAE. The final is yet to be played. Red-gold coach Subhas Bhowmik has gleaned as much information as possible about these two clubs and that is not much according to him. “I have downloaded as much information as I could about them from the net. But again that is not much. Neither have we ever played them nor have we seen them play, so they are still an unknown commodity for us,” he said. “However, they are very fast. It’s not that only the wingers are fast. The team on the whole turns, twists and sprints hard and that can cause a problem. They move in a pack and players are constantly switching positions,” he said, rubbing the deep furrows on his forehead. The coach was, however,
disappointed at the way the Indian Football Association (IFA) treated the whole issue. “Playing so many matches, including a derby, before the tournament certainly spoiled the rhythm of our preparations and the training schedule we were following,” he said. “If the state body wanted they could have postponed the matches. They should have thought about the fact that East Bengal was representing the country,” he said. However, East Bengal literally has the who’s who of Indian football in their team. With nine national team players that includes Baichung Bhutia, Mahesh Ghawli, Deepak Mandal and Alvito D’Cunha in their ranks and a coach doing nothing wrong at the moment, they are riding the crest. In fact during the last one month East Bengal have achieved many firsts. For the first time in India, a trainer and nutrition expert from South Africa came to work on the boys. For the first time the entire team stayed in a five star hotel like Hyatt. For the first time they trained at the hotel’s hi-fi gym together like a family and finally for the first time they practiced under flood lights at the best football field in India — the Yuva Bharati Krirangan. Talking about the team’s preparation for the cup, Bhowmik said, “We are playing a good game and the derby against Mohun Bagan has really swelled our confidence. But the teams we are meeting will be tough ones to beat and we are aware of what we have to do.” However, he refused to comment on his plans. “Nothing’s fixed. We will play according to the situation,” Subhas quipped. And he has shown he is a maverick when he played an established defender Musah as a striker and got three goals out of him and utilised Alvito along side Baichung and with great success. Kevin Jackson, physical trainer and nutrition expert from South Africa, talking about the team’s preparations said, “They are at a fitness level now. But the local matches disrupted my schedule a bit. They have trained very hard and worked
sincerely.”
— UNI |
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Indian grapplers win overall title Chandigarh, July 7 Mr M.S. Malik, President, Wrestling Federation of India, complemented the wrestlers for their excellent performance. The team:
Men: Yogeshwar Dutt (55kg), Sunil Kumar (56kg), Sokinder Tomar (66 kg), Sujit Mann (74 kg), Anuj Kumar (84kg) Bhagat Singh (96 kg) and Palwinder Cheema (120 kg). Women:
Kamini Yadav (48 kg), Alka Tomar (55 kg), Manju (59 kg ) Geetika Jhakhar (63 kg), Kiran Sihog (67 kg) and Gursharanpreet Kaur (72 kg) Same teams will also participate in the Canada Cup to be held at Guelph (Canada) from July 11 to 12, Mr Malik said. |
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Kharar
doc’s gesture to hockey star Kharar, July 7 Dr Multani, while talking to The Tribune today, said the player had rendered valuable service to the country. He also appealed to the public to contribute for the betterment of players. Dr Multani has taken up many social causes like the PNDT Act, female foeticide, AIDS awareness and drug de-addiction, besides others. |
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