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Sunday,
August 10, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Mahindra United lift
Federation Cup
Indian team ready for Champions Trophy IWHF has high hopes from
Punjab players
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England name uncapped trio
Bhupathi in semis; Paes bows out Anita clinches badminton title Alok Kumar, Advani set up title clash Montgomery fails to make Sports academy for HP
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Mahindra United lift Federation Cup
Kolkata, August 9 After being at the receiving end in the first half, the jeepmen struck the winner late in the second session to emerge champions in the country’s premier knock-out tournament at the Salt Lake Stadium. S. Venkatesh, who otherwise had a lean day, netted the all important goal in the 78th minute to dash the hopes of around 65,000 raucous Sporting supporters at the stands. A centre from the left by substitute Mongba Aby Samson found James Singh in the clear at the right. James kept the ball on top of the box for an onrushing Venkatesh, whose right footer rebounded of a rival defender before travelling back to the medio. James’ second attempt was then fisted by an advancing Sporting custodian K.M. Rafeek, but only as far as Venkatesh, who scored with a rising, rasping right footer. Earlier, the well contested opening session saw both the sides launching a series of raids, though Sporting held the upper hand both in terms of ball possession and number of positive chances. With both the teams failing to break the deadlock before the breather and gradually losing out the steam, the second half became comparatively lacklustre as the players looked a trifle exhausted. Mahindra, who had lost two earlier chances to lift the Cup in 1991 and 1993 respectively, proved third time lucky to annex the title at the flood-lit stadium. The locals, who came close to win the cup after a gap of 19 years, paid for poor finishing and lack of precision at the rival goalmouth, more so in the opening half. Sporting, who had most of their attacks spearheaded by hard working and crafty Bongo Singh, got at least seven close look-ins at the opponent’s goal, muffed up the chances with SK Sanjib alone missing a couple of gilt-edged opportunities. In the 21st minute, Syed Rahim Nabi essayed a curling centre from the right, but the lanky Sanjib shot skywards from inside the box despite being in the clear and having all the time in the world. The TFA product was the culprit yet again seven minutes later, when he failed to unleash a proper shot after skipper Dipendu Biswas nicely chested down an Amjad Ali Khan centre. Sanjib’s weak effort was easily collected by Mahindra custodian Sunder Rajan. — PTI |
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Indian team ready for Champions Trophy
Lucknow, August 9 “The boys are fully prepared and ready to face any challenge in the Champions Trophy,” Rajinder Singh told PTI after the conclusion of the camp, which was conducted at the Dhyan Chand Stadium here. He said the back-to-back title triumphs in Australia and Germany boosted the confidence of the players and the side was now hoping to put up their best ever showing in the prestigious six-nation tournament in Amstelveen, Holland, starting on August 16. The chief coach, however, admitted the sultry and humid weather affected the preparations to some extent as several players including former captain Dilip Tirkey, suffered from dehydration during the camp. “But the team managed to minimise the damage by adjusting our training accordingly.” Overwhelmed by the response the team received during its training in the city, the coach said “I had never seen such a response for the game anywhere else.” The players, who will be leaving for Delhi tomorrow morning, would fly to Amstelveen on August 11. They will take on defending champions and hosts Holland in the opening match on August 16. Besides India and the home side, Pakistan, Australia, Germany and Argentina are the other teams in the fray. Team: Goalkeepers: Devesh Chauhan, Kamaldeep Singh; Defenders: Dilip Tirkey, Kanwalpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh; Halves: Ignace Tirkey, Viren Rasquinha, Vikram Pillay, Bimal Lakra, V.S. Vinay, Baljit Singh Saini; Forwards: Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Tejbir Singh, Deepak Thakur, Deedar Singh, Baljit Singh Dhillon and Dhanraj Pillay. Chief Coach: Rajinder Singh, Coach: Baldev Singh, Goalkeeping Coach: A.B. Subbaiah, Physical Trainer: Sampath Kumar. The following is the schedule of the Champions Trophy: August 16:
Pakistan vs Australia, India vs Holland; August 17: Argentina vs Pakistan, Australia vs Holland, India vs Germany;
August 18: Germany vs Argentina; August 19: India vs Australia, Holland v Pakistan;
August 20: Australia vs Germany, India vs Argentina; August 21: Pakistan vs Germany, Holland vs Argentina;
August 22: India vs Pakistan; August 23: Argentina vs Australia, Germany vs Holland;
August 24: 5th vs 6th, 3rd vs 4th, 1st vs 2nd (Final). — UNI |
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IWHF has high hopes from
Punjab players Jalandhar, August 9 She said new women’s hockey academies at various places in Punjab should be established so that the techniques of budding players could be further sharpened. This would help in better exploitation of potential in this region, which remained untapped due to lack of proper training centres. “Indian women’s hockey would certainly attain greater heights in the coming years with the inclusion of the players from Punjab,” she said. “We are in the process of finalising the official sponsors for women’s hockey on the pattern of the Sahara group of companies,” said Ms Bose. Speaking about the training plans of the federation, she said three training camps for players selected for participation in Asian Cup in December and the Asian Games to be held during October-November would be organised. |
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Rajiv Khel Ratna for Beenamol New Delhi, August 9 The committee took two-and-a-half hours to decide in favour of Asian Games double gold medallist K M Beenamol getting the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award while dropping the Commonwealth Games triple gold medallist Anjali Bhagwat as a contender for the highest award. It took further four-and-half hours to prune the Arjuna Award list. However, the much chastened P.K. Banerjee, chairman of the committee refused to divulge the names of those who have been axed as he did not want to get into another controversy. In the absence of any official briefing, the mediapersons had to depend on the “leaks’’. According to sources, the committee has strictly gone by the deadline of May 31 for the submission of the award nominations. The names of cricketer Virender Sehwag, athlete Saraswati Saha, women’s hockey star Mamta Kharab and shooter Soma Shirur will in all probability face the axe if the panel goes by the deadline. Submitting its official list of award nominees, the reconvened panel was tight-lipped about the candidates and the process of selection. However, the prestigious Dronacharya Award will be conferred to three instead of five coaches originally recommended. Those receiving the award would be Charles Cornilius (hockey), Ram Kumar (basketball) and Dharam Singh Mann (volleyball), sources said. The panel chairman P.K. Banerjee told newspersons here that the committee would strictly adhere to the government directive which called for cutting down the list of nominees from 22 to 15. Earlier, the committee had requested the government to increase the number of awards this year, but that demand was turned down. — UNI
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England
name uncapped trio
London, August 9 Chapple comes in following the departure of Darren Gough, who announced his Test retirement after Lord’s. But Gough’s fellow Yorkshireman, middle-order batsman Anthony McGrath, has been dropped from the team after scoring 51 runs in three innings against South Africa. Batty adds to England’s spin options, with left-armer Ashley Giles retained, although it looks like the pair will be competing for one place. Also known for his lively fielding, Batty played two one-day internationals in Australia last winter. Chapple, a stalwart of the county circuit, first came to England’s attention when he went on the A tour of Australia seven years ago. However, his long wait for a Test cap may not end at Trent Bridge. Regular reserve James Kirtley of Sussex, yet to make his Test debut, is again included, as is Durham quick Stephen Harmison. The pace trio look set to be competing for the two seam bowling places alongside Chapple’s Lancashire team-mates James Anderson and all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, assuming England opt for just one spinner. Smith, however, is set to play after a fine season for Kent where he has been averaging over 60 in first-class matches. Former captain Nasser Hussain and veteran wicket-keeper Alec Stewart both retain their places, despite speculation over their England futures. Hussain’s resignation immediately after the drawn series opener at Edgbaston meant Vaughan inherited a team he had not shaped for Lord’s. This squad is the first at Test level where he has had an influence in selection. Squad:
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Don’t take Kiwis lightly: Kapil Bangalore, August 9 “The conditions will be tough for them, but the Kiwis have the knack of rising to the occasion and cannot be taken lightly,” he said. “India definitely holds upper hand against New Zealand in the coming series at home and the Kiwis would find it very difficult,” Kapil said. Sourav Ganguly’s boys were “well-equipped” in domestic conditions and “slow” pitches, he said at a press conference here arranged by SET MAX TV channel of which he is the brand ambassador. Kapil did not agree that India were beaten convincingly by New Zealand when they toured Down Under last. “It’s just that New Zealand exploited conditions and pitches at home to the hilt.” — PTI
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Clijsters, Davenport in last four
Los Angeles, August 9 The Belgian’s most likely challenger for the title appears to be second seed Lindsay Davenport, who worked out the kinks in her game to sweep past eighth seed Amanda Coetzer 6-2 6-4 in a night match. Clijsters will face 16th seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy in today’s semi-finals, after the Italian eased to a 6-2 6-3 win over Australia’s Nicole Pratt. In the other semifinal, Davenport lines up against fourth seed Ai Sugiyama, who advanced with a 6-4 4-6 6-2 win over sixth seed Magdalena Maleeva. Should Clijsters win this event, the 20-year-old Belgian will take over the top spot from the injured Serena Williams. “I just want to focus on my next match because I’m not there yet,” Clijsters said. “Although, I’ll give it my best shot if I reach the final.” If she does manage to win her next two matches, Clijsters will become the first player to attain the number one ranking without winning a grand slam title since the WTA Tour introduced the ranking system in 1975. “You don’t know what it feels like if you don’t have (the ranking) yet, so it’s hard to say whether I would prefer this or a grand slam title,” said Clijsters, who has won five titles this year and has reached at least the semi-finals of all 16 tournaments she has played. “I’ll take either.” — Reuters
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Bhupathi
in semis; Paes bows out New Delhi, August 9 Bhupathi and Mirnyi of Belarus defeated Wayne Arthus and Paul Hanley of Australia in two tough sets 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/5) yesterday to book a place in the last four, according to information reaching here. But the fifth seeded pair of Peas and Czech Republic's Rikl went down to second seeds Bob and Mike Bryan of the USA 3-6, 4-6 in the quarterfinals. Bhupathi and Mirnyi will now take on Cyril Suk and Martin Damm of Czech Republic after the sixth seed pair beat James Blake of the USA and Joshua Eagle of Australia 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.
— PTI |
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Anita clinches badminton title Yamunanagar, August 9 In U-13, Depaali (Faridabad) won the championship beating Mohini (Panchkula) and in girls doubles in the same category Deepali and Titiksha (Faridabad) beat Surbhi and Mohini (Panchkula) and won the title. In the boys U-13 pre-quarterfinal singles, Nitin (Bhiwani) beat Rahul (Karnal), Divpreet (Faridabad) beat Rahul (Bhiwani), Akshit (Panchkula) beat Rohit (Bhiwani), Partik (Panchkula) beat Mayank (Sonepat), Ashish (Bhiwani) beat Sunny (Sirsa), Tapan (Sonepat) beat Priyank (Panchkula), Nakul (Faridabad) beat Dhruv (Panchkula) and Kritesh (Bhiwani) beat Asbhishek (Rohtak). |
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Alok Kumar, Advani set up title clash
New Delhi, August 9 In the semi-finals, 18-year-old Advani defeated Sarang Shroff 6-4 while the former national champion, Kumar, beat local boy Manan Chandra by the same margin. Advani, who got the better of Ashok Shandilya in the quraterfinals, started with a bang to win the first frame 89-1 but lost the following two, 64-65, 71-78. Undeterred by the setback, Advani, who led the Indian challenge at the Junior World Cup in New Zealand before losing in the quarterfinals, raced away with the next four frames 69-24, 81-27, 61-24, 70-25 to move close to the final. But, as in the earlier rounds, the Bangalore lad had a lapse in concentration which allowed Shroff to come back by winning the
eighth and ninth frame 59-62, 38-57. The national champion then came up with a break of 47 to close the frame and match 75-7. In the other semi-final, Kumar and the 22-year-old Chandra shared alternate frames 48-51, 67-27, 25-69, 100-27, 52-56, 82-16 as they were placed neck-and-neck at 3-3.
— PTI |
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Montgomery fails to make 100m final
London, August 9 But Chambers’ win was bittersweet — technical problems delayed the start by 15 minutes and a switch to manual timing meant the first five sprinters were all given 10.00 seconds as their finish time. — AP
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Sports
academy for HP Bilaspur, August 9 Mr Thakur said that Bilaspur was found ideally suited for sports activities round the year as it was centrally located in Himachal Pradesh. A sports complex was also being developed along the bank of Gobind Sagar. He said the Chief Minister had already given sanction for a hockey training centre for the budding players of the state at government post-graduate college here. The centre would start functioning within the next two months. The plans were afoot to lay Rs 2.50 crore Astro-turf for hockey at Luhnu ground while an athletics track and a football ground would also be developed, he said, adding that another Astro-turf costing Rs 2 crore was being laid at Dharamsala. Funds were being made available for completion of ongoing sports projects. |
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