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Thursday,
August 21, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Argentina outplay India 4-2
Indians appeared demoralised
Australia rout Germany 6-1 Bashar excels for Bangladesh
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Kanetkar wins;
Gopi,
Popat in main draw
JCT outplay BSF in Punjab soccer Maulana Azad Trophy for GND varsity Basketball academy inaugurated
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Argentina outplay India 4-2 Amstelveen, August 20 A desperate India, needing an outright win, played without any plan against a much agile and fit Argentina and trailed 1-2 at half time. Argentina, who arrived at the tournament braving a 24-hour jet lag outplayed India for most of the time and converted two of the three penalty corners that came their way. The Indian forward line lacked precision, midfielders failed to feed them and defence was tentative throughout. Argentina, on the other hand, showed that keeping ball possession is also a fine art and they did that to perfection in beating India and keeping alive their hopes of playing the Champions Trophy final. India showed desperation and nothing more as they dribbled and dribbled more playing into Argentina’s hands. Baljit Singh Dhillon playing on the right flank was as perplexing as the coach keeping faith in Prabhjot Singh who again failed after the disastrous showing in the match against Australia. Argentina seemed better prepared than India as they kept ball possession. In the first five minutes, India just got the ball once as the Argentinian midfield kept rotating the ball, keeping it away from the Indian forwards. Dhanraj Pillay was played upfront and Paulon, Argentina’s tiny defender kept a tight leash hanging onto the Indian captain every minute. The only time Argentina got adventurous was when they had taken a 2-0 lead. The opener came off the second penalty corner in the 17th minute and Lombi was on target despite a weak push that virtually rolled into the goal. Argentina enjoyed midfield supremacy. What was surprising was that not a single Indian played in the defence or midfield was rushing the South Americans forcing them into errors. They went back the moment Argentina had the ball. It was a defensive error that led to Argentina’s second goal. Matias Vila was alone in open space on the right as the Indian defenders had huddled together on the left. All he needed to do was to cut in and smash into an empty goal in the 24th minute. Argentina were crusing now. India, finally saw some sense and started playing Baljit Singh Dhillon as centre-forward instead of wasting him as a right-out. Moves started flowing as Dhillon enjoyed more space. India cut Argentina’s lead in the 30th minute when Ignace Tirkey showed intelligence and shot the ball into the circle where Deepak Thakur only had to deflect into an empty goal as the Argentinian goalkeeper had fallen to the left. It was a lovely deflection from Thakur as India went into the break 1-2 behind. Argentina increased the lead in the 38th minute when Mario Almada showed his class with a fine run into the circle, beat the defenders, drew Devesh Chauhan out and flicked it into the net. Argentina continued in the same mode when they fired in the fourth off a superb Lombi flick that came of Argentina’s third penalty corner. India were now on the ropes. Desperate, India threw in everything as the Indian forwards moved in. Off one such move, a shot deflected off an Indian stick in the Argentinian circle and came to Baljit Dhillon who smashed it in for India’s second goal. The most surprising aspect at this stage of the game was the total lack of penalty corners for India. Argentina had three and they drilled in two. With around 12 minutes left in the match, Argentina played with ten men as Juan Pablo was shown the yellow card for shoving Baljit Dhillon. Eight minutes left in the match, India, finally, earned their first penalty corner which two minutes later was followed by the second. The sudden urgency shown by the Indians should have been there right from the first minute.
— UNI |
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Indians appeared demoralised Nothing seems to be going right for the Indian hockey team and the huge defeat against Australia will no doubt dent their confidence further. For a team which was considered one of the favourites to win the coveted title, the defeat has been a rude shock which has snuffed their hopes of breaking the Champions Trophy jinx. What surprised me most was the manner in which the Indians went down to the Aussies, particularly after having beaten them only a few months back. It was a pathetic display and there was no concerted effort to fightback. They seemed a totally demoralised lot. The team had generated much hype before leaving for Amstelveen and everybody must be wondering what went wrong. True, the Australians outclassed the Indians in tackling, interception and quick release of the first pass. Except for goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan, who pulled off some brilliant saves, the entire team failed to click when it mattered most. The Indian forwards — Dhanraj Pillay, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh and Deepak Thakur — failed to play with any concrete plan and at no point of the game did the Indians trouble the Aussie defenders. This enhanced the confidence of the Aussie defenders and I thought coach Rajinder Singh could have tried a different combination in the frontline to galvanise the team. It is an open secret that the Australians play an ‘open game’ against all their opponents. But they play with speed and they counter attack very effectively. In this system of play, I fail to understand why our forwardline did not combine with their wing halves by using the width of the ground. This could have troubled the Aussie defenders. The inconsistent display from the forwards may worry the team management in their next two games against Argentina and Pakistan. With our forwards failing to break through, the midfielders should have taken the added responsibility. Playing against Australia, the midfielders can perform well since there will be a lot of space in between the 50 yards line. But the midfielders could not produce any outstanding hockey, except for Baljit Singh Saini, and that contributed to India’s defeat. If the forwards and midfielders fail to play their usual game, the Indians will have a tough time in the remaining matches of this prestigious championship. The Indians made too many mistakes in such an important match. When the forward line is not functioning in full steam, it is the duty of the midfielders and defenders to support them and not gift away the goals to the opponents. When the Australians scored the second goal in the 44th minute, nearly 26 minutes were still left for the Indians to fight back, but from their performance it looked they had already given up. There was no sense of anguish to fight the rest of the game. Even when Dilip Tirkey reduced the margin to 1-3, there were 20 minutes left for the team to bounce back, but they just could not do it. If they could do it against Germany by scoring two goals in two minutes, why could they not show a more determined effort? The Indians have to find a solution to all their problems. They have to get the focus back and show what they are capable of in the remaining matches. Going by the performance of the Australians in earlier matches, I thought they would be under pressure against India. Their deep defenders and midfielders had played below par and conceded nine goals in the first two matches. I thought the Indians would be able to exploit their lack of form. But it turned out to be a different story in the end.
— PTI |
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Australia rout Germany 6-1 Amstelveen, August 20 With goals from Michael McCann (9’, 20’), Adam Commens (14’) and Grant Schubert (16’) the Australians shot up an unbeatable 4-0 lead, 20 minutes into the match. With this win, Australia now are on second position in the points tally with six while Germany are at the rock-bottom yet to open their account. Australia, the only country to feature in all editions of the championship, started on a confident note. Michael MaCann translated the former champions dominance on the turf by tapping in the opening goal in the ninth minute. Germany experimenting with their “developmental team”, had no answer to the swift passing of the Australians.
—UNI |
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Bashar excels for Bangladesh Karachi, August 20 Bashar made a brilliant 71, and despite struggling in the middle of their innings, the tourists finished at 278-9 after bad light forced an early end with seven overs remaining. Bangladesh, put into bat, had a good chance to put up a strong total after being placed nicely owing to a second wicket stand of 114 runs between Bashar and Hanan Sarkar before losing nine wickets for 150 runs. Bashar made a polished 71 with 12 boundaries before miscuing a drive off express pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar. But his effort helped Bangladesh cross their previous highest total of 160 against Pakistan made at Chittagong last year. The Bashar-Sarkar pair, which scored 108 in last month’s Cairns Test against Australia, batted with confidence. Bangladesh (first innings): Hannan Sarkar c Rashid Latif
b Shabbir Ahmed 41 Javed Omar b Umar Gul 1 Habibul Bashar c Hafeez
b Shoaib Akhtar 71 Sanwar Hossain lbw b Shoaib Akhtar 15 Rajin Saleh c Umar Gul
b Danish Kaneria 26 Alok Kapali c Shabbir Ahmed b Danish Kaneria 46 Khaled Mashud lbw b Umar Gul 16 Khaled Mahmud c Yasir Hameed b Danish Kaneria 14 Tapash Baisya c Taufeeq Umar
b Shabbir Ahmed 10 Mohammad Rafique not out 10 Mashrafe Mortaza not out 4 Extras: (b-3 lb-4 nb-14) 21 Total:
(9 wkts, 83 overs) 278 Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-123, 3-123, 4-146, 5-176, 6-231, 7-251, 8-252, 9-273. Bowling: Shoaib Akhtar 16-3-49-2, Umar Gul 20-5-91-2, Shabbir Ahmed 19-3-59-2, Danish Kaneria 21-6-58-3, Mohammad Hafeez 7-2-14-0.
— Reuters |
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Leander has cyst in brain, hospitalised Kolkata, August 20 The 30-year-old Leander is hospitalised in M.D. Anderson Cancer Centre at Orlando, USA, where an expert medical team has been assembled to carry out multiple tests to determine the specific cause of the cyst. The health setback will keep Leander out of the upcoming US Open and possibly India’s Davis Cup tie against Holland next month. “It is an acute problem and there is anxiety, but no cause for alarm,” Leander’s father Vece Paes said at a Press conference here. “He is responding to anti-inflammatory drugs. He is much better,” said the senior Paes who is himself a medical practitioner. A former hockey international, Vece said the four millimetre cyst, medically called ‘space occupying lesion’, in the left posterior of the head, would keep Leander out of action for a month, while a question mark hangs over his participation in India’s Davis Cup world group qualifying fixture against Holland next month. “He is ruled out of the US Open. A decision on whether he can turn out against Holland will have to be taken after monitoring his progress week by week,” Vece said.
— PTI |
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Kanetkar wins; Gopi,
Popat in main draw
New Delhi, August 20 The southpaw, who is one of the two direct entries from India into the main draw of the event, needed only 35 minutes to overcome the Englishman. He now plays Yohan Hadukus Wiratana of Hong Kong in the second round. Wiratana defeated 13th seed Przemyslaw Wacha of Poland 15-12, 15-6 to cause the first upset of the tournament. Meanwhile, Chetan Anand, who qualified for the main draw last night, lost to Sho Sasaki of Japan 9-15 6-15 to bow out in the first round, according to information received here. Earlier, in the final qualifying round matches played last night, former All-England champion Pullela Gopichand, who is returning to competitive badminton after a long break due to injuries, took merely 30 minutes to overcome Asuncion Kennevic of Phillipines 15-5, 15-7. In the women’s section, Aparna Popat was at her best as she comprehensively beat Commonwealth Games champion Li Li of Singapore 11-8, 11-7 before thrashing Miyo Akao of Japan 13-10, 11-0 to enter the main draw. In the first round matches of the main draw, Gopichand plays Yousuke Nakanishi of Japan while Popat will take on 8th seed Hongyan Pi of France. Meanwhile, Arvind Bhat joined J.B.S. Vidyadhar in the losers’ list going down to Chong Wei Lee of Malaysia 12-15, 15-10, 10-15 in the final round of the qualifying draw.
— PTI |
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JCT outplay BSF in Punjab soccer Chandigarh, August 20 In a fast paced encounter, JCT opened the account in the 12th minute when left Winger Jaswant Singh sent a cross to striker Stephan Abarowli who found the net with a deft placement. The second goal for JCT came in the 30th minute through a penalty after Joe Paul Ancheri was dangerously tackled inside the box. The spot kick was converted by Stephan. In the 87th minute, Winger Jaswinder scored the third goal following a cross by Joe Paul Ancheri from the left. Jaswinder’s piledriver from 18 yards gave the BSF goalie absolutely no chance. BSF also had some good chances but a goal eluded them. Tomorrow is rest day. On August 22, JCT will meet PSEB at Hoshiarpur at 4.30 p.m. |
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Maulana Azad Trophy for GND varsity Amritsar, August 20 The prestigious trophy is given to a university on the basis of its overall performance in inter-varsity, national and international events every year. GNDU University had fielded its players in 51 sports disciplines in inter-university championships. In team events, the university won five matches and remained runners-up in seven. While in the individual events 43 players bagged gold medals, 32 won the silver. Besides, two sports women of the university represented India in the fifth Asian Netball Championship. In addition, a large chunk of players represented Punjab in the National Games in 2001. Seventeen women players played for the state football team, while five women players were in the handball team. Three women players were in the state hockey team, two each in netball and kabaddi and one in the basketball team. In the Federation Cup Women’s Football Championship 13 players of the university represented the state. Eleven players played in senior national softball championship (women) and three in the 51st Senior National Womens’ Hockey Championship. Guru Nanak Dev University was established in 1969 and since then it has made phenomenal progress in the arena of sports. Its sports department was set up in 1970. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy was instituted in 1956-1957 as a running trophy by the Department of Education, Government of India. When contacted the Vice-Chancellor, Dr S.P. Singh, said the university had not received any official letter from the department concerned but they were assured that they would win this time because of the points they had garnered. He said the university started participating in inter-university and other tournaments in 1974-75 and since then the university has been securing top positions. It goes to the credit of GND University that out of 28 years of its participation, it has won the coveted Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy 17 times, finished runners-up eight times and attained the third position twice. Congratulating sportspersons and coaches, the Vice-Chancellor said it was due to their hard work that the university is rated as the top university amongst 230 universities in the country. He said in order to attain excellence in sports; coaching camps for selected men and women teams are organised at hill station during summer vacations. |
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Basketball academy inaugurated Ludhiana, August 20 The Punjab Basketball Association
(PBA), under its plan to improve the standard of the game in this region and popularise basketball among the youth, had started this academy last year. The minimum height for the boys willing to join academy was fixed at 6 feet and 2 inches while for the girls it was 5 feet and 8 inches. However, the association’s bid to recruit tall and talented boys and girls did not meet much successfully as a few interested cagers turned up for the academy. But this year, the response to the same was satisfactory. More than 70 boys and girls from Punjab and other parts of the country attended the selection trials for the academy and the PBA panel of selectors, headed by Dr
Subramanian, former Director, NIS, Patiala shortlisted 26 players, including 16 boys, who were enrolled with the academy. Mr Rajdeep Singh Gill, president,
PBA, while speaking on this occasion said this academy was being run by the association in collaboration with Mr Dhanda and the active assistance of the Directorate of Sports, Punjab. The boarding arrangements for the boys have been made in the two dormitories in the basketball complex itself while the girl trainees will stay at the Khalsa College for Women hostels. A daily diet of Rs 100 will be provided to the trainees. Mr Dhanoa would contribute Rs 5 lakh annually for running the academy. Mr Gill said the selection for the academy was an ongoing process and if the association found anymore talented
cagers, they would also be added to the academy. Dr S. Subramanian informed that the players at the academy would have the latest equipment and if needed more equipment would be imported. An exhibition match between Baba Lodhiana Academy and Punjab Police teams was also played on this occasion. The boys and girls selected for the academy are: Boys:
Fatehjit Singh, Jagdeep Singh, Yadwinder Singh, Sahiljit Singh, Amrit Pal Singh, Sukhbir
Dhillon, Akash Kumar, Gurbaj, Yadwinder Singh (Rajasthan), Gurtej,
Bharatdeep, Kamalnain, Rupinder Singh, Baldish, Atinderpal Singh and
Kiranjit. Girls: Harjit Kaur, Kiranjit Kaur, Amandeep Kaur Dhillon, Amandeep Kaur
Johal, Rajinder Kaur, Balwinder Kaur, Rekha, Taranjit Kaur, Baljeet Kaur and
Rajni. |
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UP drub Rajasthan
Lucknow, August 20 In another high scoring one-sided encounter, Haryana beat Andhra Pradesh 20-0. —
UNI |
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TT meet from August 29 Chandigarh, August 20 |
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