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Shoaib, Moin to appear before panel tomorrow Sarfraz calls for PCB shake-up Balaji, Badani felicitated Pakistan, India on course for title clash
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Arsenal clinch Premiership title London, April 26 Arsenal made English football history by wrapping up their 13th English title without losing a match and with four games to spare. A 2-2 draw with north London rivals Tottenham yesterday secured the point the Gunners needed to put themselves beyond the reach of nearest rivals Chelsea and claim their third title in eight seasons under the guidance of Arsene Wenger.
Rathore finishes sixth at Athens World Cup
India-Pak snooker meet in Chandigarh Sangrur DSO umpire for Olympics Players selected for football academy 16 selected for Sangrur academy Hadi to coach Indian shuttlers
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Shoaib, Moin to appear before panel tomorrow Islamabad, April 26 Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman Sami-ul Hassan told PTI from Karachi that Akhtar along with wicketkeeper Moin Khan and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq would appear before the commission in Lahore to undergo tests at the National Cricket Academy. He said all the three cricketers would undergo the tests prescribed by the four-member medical inquiry commission, which consisted of medical specialists. Akhtar had informed the PCB that he would not be in a position to appear before the commission before April 26 due to personal engagements in India. Besides Akhtar, Razzaq and Moin, PCB had directed pacemen Shabbir Ahmed and Umar Gul to appear before the commission to get their injuries verified. Of the five, Shabbir Ahmed has already left for England to play in county matches and is reported to have submitted his medical records before the commission. Gul, the hero of the second Test at Lahore which Pakistan won by nine wickets, had appeared before the commission yesterday. Meanwhile, local daily ‘The News’ quoted Pakistan Cricket Board officials as saying that it has been decided to conduct a bone scan on Akhtar to determine his claims of back injury which kept him off the field in the series-deciding third Test in Rawalpindi. The report said PCB officials had their doubts after an MRI test, on Akhtar along with other fast bowlers, during the match failed to provide evidence of any injury. It quoted medical specialists as saying that no medical test could reveal a muscle problem, if it was not serious. It all depended on the honesty of the players. The newspaper also said Gul was carrying an injury even before he was selected to play the second Test and it aggravated due to long bowling spells at the nets and in the match. Gul was dropped for the crucial third Test due to injury.
— PTI |
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Sarfraz calls for
PCB shake-up
Islamabad, April 26 Holding the PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan and Chief Executive Rameez Raja of being responsible for lack of motivation in the team the former fast bowler demanded the two own moral responsibility for series loss and step down. “They played with the emotions of the Pakistani people,” said the former player known as ‘Big Safe’ in an interview to ‘Daily Times’ today. “They were too busy in money matters and did not chalk out a strategy and motivate the players to defeat India,” said Sarfraz, the innovator of reverse swing. “They boasted in the national Press of earning millions of dollars at the cost of the national pride.” Sarfraz, with 177 wickets to his name from 55 Tests, said the PCB management was now putting all the blame on the players to save their own skin. “They are using players as shields just to protect their vested interests. It is their moral duty to accept the blame and leave their offices immediately.” He said the PCB top brass was stopping President General Pervez Musharraf, who is also patron-in-chief of the board, from removing ad hocism in the PCB for their vested interests. “The President himself told me that he does not like an hoc set up in the PCB but I failed to understand what is stopping him from doing so,” he said. He said the Pakistani coaches were as good as foreigners. “I am personally in favour of home coaches. What happened in the World Cup in South Africa? The Pakistan team for the first time crashed out in the preliminary round of the tournament.”
— PTI |
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Balaji, Badani felicitated
Chennai, April 26 Speaking on the occasion, Sanmar Group Chairman N Sankar said the high standards in the league being conducted professionally by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) was the prime reason for emergence of players like Balaji and Badani. “If you walk around Chennai, the ‘feel good feeling’ comes alive in Chennai’s cricket fields,” Mr Sankar observed adding Balaji was now the toast not only of Tamil Nadu and India but also outside.
— UNI |
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Pakistan, India on course for title clash
Karachi, April 26 Pakistan, winners of the junior world title in 1979 failed to qualify for the 2001 junior World Cup when India won their only title, face a relatively easier opponent in Malaysia in the first semi-final. India meet a tough opponent in defending Asian junior champions South Korea in the second semi-final. “It would be a great delight for the connoisseurs of the game if Pakistan and India meet in the final but we are not taking anything for granted, for playing India in the final we need to beat Malaysia first,” Pakistan coach Asif Bajwa said. Pakistan have met Malaysia 28 times at the junior level and have won 22 times, drawing four and losing only twice. “I think our team has a good chance of reaching the final after we won with a big margin yesterday,” Bajwa said. The arch-rivals have not met on Pakistani soil at any level since a bilateral series between the senior teams was played on home and away basis in 1999. “Playing India would be great and if we win the title with a win over India it would be an icing on the cake,” Bajwa said. Three of the four semi-finalists are assured of berths in next year’s Junior World Cup in
Amstelveen, the Netherlands. Pakistan and India’s superior forward lines and strike rates on penalty corners gave them edge over their rivals in the last four stages. Both teams are led by their mercurial captains — Pakistan’s Shakil Abbasi and India by Sandeep Michael — as the spearheads of the attacks. Pakistan annihilated South Korea in the last 20 minutes of their last group A match yesterday as they scored four goals through sparkling moves. “We need to play like Pakistan did. South Korea is a tough opponent but we have played well in the tournament and need to keep the momentum going,” Indian coach Harendra Singh said. “The aim throughout the tournament has been to win it and enter next year’s World Cup with the same aims.” In other classification matches tomorrow, China meet Japan and Bangladesh face Singapore for fifth to eighth places.
— PTI |
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Arsenal clinch Premiership title
London, April 26 The Frenchman said his side’s achievement in going 34 league matches without defeat — and potentially through the whole season — would ensure their place in history. “We’ve won the championship without losing a game and that hasn’t happened until now,” the manager said. “For me that’s a tremendous achievement and I’m not sure we will see it again.” Arsenal laid down a perfect foundation with a delightful first-half display, capped by exhilarating goals from French stars Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires. But they were tested by a determined Spurs fightback in the second half and after Jamie Redknapp had scored his first Premiership goal of the season, Robbie Keane converted a stoppage time penalty to snatch a much-needed point for the home side. The draw meant Arsenal’s multitalented, multinational generation of 2003/04 emulated the achievement of the legendary 1971 double winning side, who also clinched their championship at the ground of their nearest and fiercest rivals. “I would like to congratulate my players and staff for their attitude and the consistency they have shown,” Wenger said. “It must have been good for the fans to see us repeat what happened in 1971 when we also won the title at Tottenham.” Keane’s late penalty, conceded after he was manhandled by goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, took some of the edge off the celebrations. But it was still an afternoon to savour for an Arsenal side who have displayed remarkable mental strength and determination this season to bounce back from the trauma of the late collapse which saw them gift the 2002-03 title to Manchester United. Vieira, whose influence as club captain has been enhanced by a greatly improved disciplinary record this season, said team spirit had been the key to Arsenal’s season. “There is such a good spirit in the team and I think that over the whole season we were the best team and we deserved this title. “We wanted to do it all together. We really enjoyed ourselves on the pitch and outside as well. Every day in training we have been working really hard and in the end we won it.” Vieira admitted however that the brilliance of Henry, who has scored 29 goals in the league alone, had given the team a crucial edge at critical times. “It is a team game but without Thierry it would be more difficult,” Vieira said of his French compatriot. “I think this year he has been tremendous, like in the last two games (against Liverpool and Leeds). When we were a bit tired and we needed someone to do something special, Thierry always stepped forward.” Wenger’s achievement in outshining Manchester United and Chelsea with a fraction of their resources means he could have his pick of any job in world football. But he has committed himself to staying in London until at least 2006, when Arsenal will move from their Highbury home to a new 60,000-seat stadium that will give them the financial firepower to compete with their rivals on a level playing field. Wenger’s previous Premiership triumphs were achieved in seasons — 1997-98 and 2001-02 — in which Arsenal also won the FA Cup. Yet despite winning doubles those Arsenal sides never achieved the kind of shift in the balance of power in English football that most observers agree has taken place this season. For Wenger, the players and the fans, memories of this season will inevitably be tainted by twinges of regret that such a talented side missed out on a fantastic opportunity to win the FA Cup and the Champions League, as well as the championship. But the current side still has a chance to earn a place in history by becoming the first English top flight side to go through an entire season unbeaten since Preston North End achieved that feat in a 12-team first division in 1888-89. They must now avoid defeat against Birmingham, Portsmouth, Fulham and Leicester in their final four games to complete a defeat-free campaign. Chelsea’s defeat at Newcastle earlier in the afternoon meant Wenger’s side kicked off needing only a point to move beyond the reach of their London rivals. Within three minutes they had taken a huge step towards achieving that objective with an opening goal that epitomised why a club whose own supporters once delighted in chanting “boring, boring Arsenal,” has become the club of choice for many of the world’s football purists. — AFP
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Ian Thorpe free to defend Olympic title
Sydney, April 26 “The decision I’ve made is to stand aside in the 400 metres freestyle in the hope that I’ll get to see Ian swim that race... and to also put all my focus on two other events,” Stevens said in a television interview broadcast. Thorpe’s hopes of swimming the 400 metres appeared to have disappeared when he was disqualified for a false start after slipping off the blocks during last month’s Australian trials. He lost an appeal against his disqualification but was thrown an unexpected lifeline when his friend Stevens, who finished second to Grant Hackett at the trials, said he would consider surrendering his place. There was no immediate response from Thorpe on Monday but Australian swimming officials said he would hold a news conference in Sydney on Tuesday. Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates immediately issued a statement commending Stevens for his decision. “Craig Stevens has shown great mateship and won the admiration and support of all Australians,” Coates said. “His decision to stand aside in the men’s 400 metres freestyle is unselfish and typifies the spirit and comradery within the swimming ranks.” Hackett, who would have been a firm favourite to win the 400 metres in Athens in the absence of Thorpe, said he was glad Thorpe was back in the race. “Ian (is) the No 1 man in this event and defending world champion and world record holder,” said Hackett, the Olympic and world champion over 1,500. “The opportunity to try and beat him at this level, of course you would want to have that.” Stevens had also qualified for his specialist event, the 1,500, metres as well as the 4x200 metres relay, and said he now wanted to concentrate on those two events where he has a realistic chance of winning medals. The 23-year-old said he had been under enormous pressure to stand aside but added Thorpe himself had never tried to influence him. “The only thing he’s said to me is: ‘It’s your decision. You just do what you want to do and I’ll support you 100 per cent’,” Stevens said. “He’s not the type of person who would put pressure on anyone.” The saga dragged on for almost a month, dominating newspaper headlines and talkback radio stations in Australia, with opinion split on what Stevens should do. The final decision came after Australian Olympic officials consulted their lawyers to make sure Thorpe was next in line and Stevens’ management team negotiated an exclusive deal to make the announcement live on Australian television. “There was a lot of stress. There were a lot of assumptions made without me even saying anything which was very upsetting,” Stevens said. “The decision that I’ve made has come from my heart and that’s always what I’ve done. That’s me — just to follow my heart and to do what I think is best.” Thorpe also qualified for the 100 metres and 200 metres as well as the three relays but the 400 metres is his best event and he is considered a near-certainty to win in Athens. A national hero after winning three gold medals at the 2000 Sydney games, Thorpe is the Olympic and world 400 metres champion and has not been beaten in the event for seven years. — Reuters
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Rathore finishes sixth at Athens World Cup
New Delhi, April 26 Indian women put up a dismal show with Sushma Rana and Shweta Chaudhry finishing 39th and 42nd, respectively, in the women’s 25m pistol event. Sushma shot a total of 566 points (280 in the precision round and 286 in the rapid) while Shweta finished a point behind at 565 with scores of 288 and 277. Rathore missed as many as 12 targets in the final to end with the second lowest score of 38 and finished last among the six finalists. He missed eight in the third and last round to end with a 42, having shot 46 in his first two rounds. Daniele Di Spigno of Italy, who started off with 144 in the qualification round, bagged the gold as he shot 41 in the final that took his total to 185. Zheng Wang of China claimed the silver with a total of 180 points (136 44) while Almaktoum shot 43 in the final to manage the bronze medal with a total of 177 points. — UNI
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India-Pak snooker
meet in Chandigarh Chandigarh, April 26 According to India’s current national snooker and billiards champion and the driving force behind the tournament, Alok Kumar India and Pakistan have the world’s best snooker players. The current world champion is India’s young sensation Pankaj Advani, while the world No 2 is Saleh Muhammad of Pakistan. While it is going to be a very exciting tournament, it will also generate a lot of people-to-people contact and goodwill between the two countries. Ali Asghar
Valika, President of the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association, said “We sincerely feel that the exchange of such events should continue for the promotion of the game within the subcontinent and the people who are responsible for arranging such tournaments should be encouraged in every possible way.” Both countries will be represented by a five-member team and a coach/delegate. Indian team will comprise Alok Kumar (current national billiards and snooker champion); Pankaj Advani (current world snooker champion); Yasin Merchant (twice Asian champion and Asian Games gold medallist); the other two players who will be decided after the trials being held at Bangalore from April 27 to May 2. The Pakistan team will comprise Saleh Muhammad (current world No 2); Muhammad Yousuf (former world and Asian snooker champion); Khurram Agha (Pakistan’s top ranked player) and Naveen
Perwani. The fifth player is yet to be decided by the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association. There will be singles as well as doubles matches and each match will be of three frames. Points will be assigned to each match and the winning team will be the one with the maximum points at the end of the tournament. The triple a Syndicate had earlier organized a pool and snooker championship at Lily Resorts, Jalandhar, in 2003. The tournament was a great success in which all the top Indian players had participated. |
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Sangrur DSO umpire
for Olympics Chandigarh, April 26 The information has been conveyed by Charoen Wattanasin, Chairman, Events Committee of the International Badminton Federation. The other umpires invited are: Asia:
Ren Chun Hui (China), Ms Zhang Ze Ren (China), David Chang (Chinese Taipei), Ms Wong Shui Yin (Hong Kong), Unang Sukardja (Indonesia), Sano Tomoharu (Japan), Cho Won Kyu (Korea), Goh Tzy Yang (Malaysia) and Thanarat Hongcharoen (Thailand). Europe:
Mojmir Hnilica (Czech Republic), Peter Ganes (Denmark), Nils Holm Mortensen (Denmark), Malcolm Banham (England), David Hinton (England), Marcel Schormans (Netherlands), Rune B Hansen (Norway), Per Ake Anderson (Sweden), Hakan Fostton (Sweden) and David Davies (Wals). Oceania:
Gregory Vellacott (Australia) and Ms Lynne Nixey (New Zealand). Pan America:
Michael Walker (Cananda) and Ms Elaine Kong (USA). Gursharan Singh has the rare distinction of umpiring in all the major badminton competitions around the world. |
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Players selected for football academy Chandigarh, April 26 He said the selected players should report to the District Sports Officer, Hoshiarpur, at the earliest. The following is the list of the selected players : Under-19: Joginder Pal (Gurdaspur), Balpreet Singh (Hoshiarpur), Baldeep Singh (Hoshiarpur), Harjit Singh (Jalandhar), Rakesh Masih (Gurdaspur), Baljit Sahni (Hoshiarpur), Navtej Singh (Hoshiarpur), Asim Hasan (Hoshiarpur), Gurwinder Singh (Hoshiarpur), Parminder Saini (Hoshiarpur), Sakil Ahmed (Sangrur ), Sameer Kumar (Amritsar), Kamaljit Singh (Gurdaspur), Gurwinder Pal Singh (Ropar), Jagpreet Singh (Ludhiana), Amritpal Singh (Jalandhar), Dilsad Ahmed (Sangrur), Manjit Singh Puri (Sangrur), Sukhjit Singh (Amritsar), Sahijpal Singh (Ludhiana), Jaswinder Singh Thakur (Chandigarh), Chamkaurpreet Singh (Amritsar), Harmanpreet Singh (Amritsar), Amandeep (Hoshiarpur), Kulbir Singh (Jalandhar). Under -17:
Manish Kumar (Sangrur), Jagtar Singh (Amritsar), Chanchandeep Singh (Hoshiarpur), Jagtar Singh (Gurdaspur), Simar Preet Singh (Hoshiarpur), Mandip Singh (Hoshiarpur), Arun Bhandari (Gurdaspur), Talwinder Singh (Gurdaspur), Ravi Kumar (Sangrur), Hari Singh (Nawanshahr), Lavtwar Singh (Hoshiarpur), Vinay Kumar (Gurdaspur), Amarbir Singh (Gurdaspur), Jagroop Singh (Gurdaspur), Maninder Singh (Gurdaspur), Gurpreet Singh (Gurdaspur), Baljit Singh (Janandhar), Mahenga Singh (Amritsar), Navdeep Singh (Jalandhar), Kuljit Singh (Hoshiarpur), Tarandeep Singh (Ludhiana), Balwinder Singh (Nawanshahr), Jagdev Singh (Gurdaspur). Under-14:
Pritpal Singh (Hoshiarpur), Joban Preet Singh (Amritsar), Manish Bhargav (Hoshiarpur), Faisal Yameen (Sangrur), Sarabjit Singh (Ludhiana), Harpreet Singh (Hoshiarpur), Kamaldeep Singh (Hoshiarpur), Balkaran Singh (Gurdaspur), Navdeep Singh (Gurdaspur), Germanpreet Singh (Amritsar), Sukhdeep Singh (Gurdaspur), Gurbir Singh (Gurdaspur). |
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16 selected for Sangrur academy Sangrur, April 26 The selected:
Kala Khan, Amandeep Singh, Sukhbir Singh, Joga Singh, Pradeep Kumar, Temple Singh, Sukhdeep Singh, Baljit Singh, Bikker Singh, Daljit Singh, Naginder Singh, Apinder Singh, Jagdev Singh, Sukhjivan Singh, Paramjit Singh, Manjit Singh. Reserve: Gagandeep. |
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Hadi to coach Indian shuttlers Sangrur, April 26 Hadi plans to select a few young doubles pairs and keep them at one place throughout the year. Players should not be allowed to leave the camp except for the tournaments. He is hopeful of giving good results in the next season. |
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