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India look to avoid whitewash
Gavaskar to replace Sachin
Symonds shines for Aussies
Paes-Rikl advance to pre-quarters |
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Zee threatens action over telecast rights
Ludhiana eves in final
Surjit hockey from October 28
GMN gymnasts emerge winners
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India look to avoid whitewash
London, September 4 India are 0-2 down in the series and there is nothing about their batting, bowling or fielding to suggest they have it in them to put it across the hosts, who are on a real roll. Although the Indians have lost the series, Sourav Ganguly and his men will be determined to check the downward slide and win the last match to boost their confidence level ahead of the Champions Trophy beginning next week. The visitors are running out of options in terms of batting as there are only seven left in the party in view of Sachin Tendulkar’s elbow injury. Captain Ganguly highlights the issue when he says that despite Virender Sehwag’s poor form, he might be left with no alternative but to start with the Delhi opener. “Sehwag has not played well at the top of the order. Obviously, Tendulkar is injured so we don’t have another guy who has played as an opener in one-day cricket,” says Ganguly. Ganguly does not want to make changes just for the sake of changing and he makes a mention of Dinesh Kaarthik to press his case. “I don’t think wicketkeeping is an area where we need to worry. Rahul kept quite well on Friday. It is important to identify the problem areas rather than make a change just for the sake of it.” Ganguly also does not think the team has suffered because of lack of practice since they have mostly played one-day games in the past two months. “It is not the case of lack of practice, it is just that we are not playing well. You can have a lot of changes in the batting order but the guys still have to go out there and score runs.” Before Ganguly could tackle his team’s batting issue, he is also saddled with his medium-pacers who are being thrashed around the park. Laxmipathy Balaji and Ajit Agarkar had a horrible time in the field and Ashish Nehra and Irfan Pathan are proving only marginally better. Ganguly admits, “We struggled with our bowling at the Oval. The seam aspect in the first 15 overs as well in the final 15 overs is not good.” England, on the other hand, could not have had a better run in one-day cricket. Skipper Michael Vaughan was on cloud nine for winning the Oval match even though they were asked to bat first by India. “It is not easy to bat first in these conditions with the white ball and the dampness on the pitch. “We have not won many games batting first, so it is a real psychological boost,” Vaughan said. Andrew Flintoff looks the star performer for England but Vaughan feels it is not right to say it has been only a ‘Freddie Show’ and others have been mere props in the team. “It is more than Freddie Show. We got off to a good start and then our bowlers bowled so well as a unit.” Vaughan’s words are proved by the performance on the field as ageing fast bowler Darren Gough worked up real pace and movement and was richly rewarded with four wickets in his 10 overs. As things stand today, England are a vastly superior side and India appear condemned for another drubbing at the home of cricket. If India lose 0-3 to England, it would appear a real blow to the team which made it to the final of the 2003 World Cup. England had not even made it to the Super Six Stage in South Africa. Much has changed since then and that is the nature of international cricket. A season is enough to let a team turn the corner. Pakistan were on a real low after losing to India at home. Now they appear a side who could give even Australia a run for their money. Ganguly must be hoping something similar happens to them in the next few weeks, if not on Sunday.
— PTI |
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Gavaskar to replace Sachin
Mumbai, September 4 Announcing this here, cricket board joint secretary Prof Ratnakar Shetty said the decision to replace Tendulkar was taken by four national selectors. "I spoke to four selectors, including chairman (Syed Kirmani), but could not contact Kirti Azad. Kirmani too could not get in touch with him. The other four selectors decided to retain Gavaskar in the squad as Tendulkar's replacement," Shetty said here. Replacements approved
London: Requests by England, Pakistan and South Africa to call up replacements for injured players have been approved by the Event Technical Committee of the ICC Champions Trophy. England seam bowler Kabir Ali has been replaced by Alex Wharf, who is deputising for him in the current NatWest series against India, while Surrey all-rounder Azhar Mahmood has been drafted into the Pakistan squad in place of injured pace bowler Shabbir Ahmed.
— PTI |
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Symonds shines for Aussies
London, September 4 The right-hander hit 104 in 103 balls, to reach his second one-day hundred, although he was dropped on 24 and 82 by Rana Naveed-ul-Hassan and Yousuf Youhana both in the deep as Pakistan stumbled in the field. Michael Clarke also struck 31 in a 88-run stand but skied Shoaib Akhtar to Shoaib Malik three overs from the end. Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, deputising for Adam Gilchrist, opened and made 13 before he struggled to play a sharp Mohammad Sami ball and looped a simple catch to Malik at short cover. Paceman Sami then trapped captain Ricky Ponting lbw for four before Damien Martyn (26) joined Matthew Hayden to push Australia to 72 for two by the 15-over mark.
— Reuters |
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Roddick, Hewitt advance
New York, September 4 Roddick blasted 10 aces en route to a 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 win over the left-handed Spaniard at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Roddick cranked the record-tying serve on his second serve of the match. He set the US Open record during his first-round win over American compatriot Scoville Jenkins. “There is something about the night session at the open that gets inside of you a bit,” Roddick said. Nadal was getting pumped up and I wanted to keep my intensity up as well.” This was the first meeting between Roddick, who is already a dominating player on the ATP Tour, and the upstart Nadal, who is poised for a breakthrough. Roddick, who turned 22 on the tournament’s opening day, is trying to return to championship form after losing to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final and most recently in the third round of the Athens Olympics. Former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt extended his match-winning streak to 12 and Austrian Stefan Koubek pulled off the biggest upset so far as both advanced to the third round yesterday. Hewitt rallied to beat Morocco’s Hicham Arazi 7-6 (9/7), 6-1, 6-2 in one hour and 55 minutes. “I feel like I really stepped it up in the second set,” Hewitt said. “I was just getting used to the conditions out there.” Hewitt has been in the final of the last three tournaments winning the last two at Washington and Long Island. The win was Hewitt’s 17th in last 18 attempts. Hewitt blasted nine aces and made just 27 unforced errors to Arazi. Austria’s Stefan Koubek won his second consecutive five-set match by upsetting last year’s runner-up Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-3. Ferrero, the 2003 Roland Garros champion, was playing in the US Open for the sixth straight year. Ferrero has been hobbled by injuries and illness after a stellar season last year. “I was fighting hard and I won the second and third set but then I started to feel pain in my leg,” Ferrero said. “I am not happy with my year. This year is almost finished and I just want to forget it.” Second seed Amelie Mauresmo, who is seeking her first Grand Slam title, fired eight aces in overpowering Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-2, 6-0 in the third round. “I was feeling better and my confidence was growing during the match,” said Mauresmo, who has won 13 career titles and $ six million in prize money. “It was reassuring to win the way I did.” Mauresmo has been a consistent force this year but she is still trying to remove that bridesmaid label of not having won a Grand Slam. Other top-seeded women to advance yesterday included third seed American Serena Williams, sixth seed Elena Dementieva of Russia, eighth seed Jennifer Capriati of the USA, and 12th seed Ai Sugiyama. Unseeded German Tommy Haas advanced to the third round yesterday by beating French 12th seed Sebastien Grosjean 6-4, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1. Eighth seeded David Nalbandian was also upset by Russian Mikhail Youzhny in five sets.
— AFP |
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Paes-Rikl advance to pre-quarters
New Delhi, September 4 The 13th seeded India-Czech duo will take on defending champions and top seed Todd Woodbridge of Australia and Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman in the pre-quarterfinals. Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles, the third seed duo of India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and Lisa Raymond of the USA advanced into the second round getting the better of Petra Mandula of Hungary and Paul Hanley of Australia 6-4, 6-2 in the first round. The third seeds will play Australian sensation Alicia Mollick and her compatriot Woodbridge in the second round. Bhupati is also scheduled to play his second round men’s doubles with Max Mirnyi against Rainer Schuettler of Germany and Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.
— UNI |
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Isinbayeva jumps to new high, Saif smashes steeplechase record
Brussels, September 4 The 21-year-old's was one of two world records to be set as Russia's Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva broke her mark set only last week at the Olympics and in the process pocketed another $ 50,000. It was the fifth time she had broken the record in the past two months. However, there were no celebrations for two other Olympic champions as Hicham El Guerrouj pulled out of the 3,000m after falling ill on the training track, while Felix Sanchez' 43-race winning streak came to an end when he pulled up 200m from the finish of the 400m hurdles with a hamstring injury. For them the season is over and it might as well be for South Africa's high jump world champion Hestrie Cloete. Like Sanchez, she saw her chances of a share of the $ 1 million jackpot go up in smoke, as for the second time in a week the chainsmoking Olympic silver medallist had to concede first place to Russia's Yelena Slesarenko. Only two athletes remain in contention for the jackpot to be decided in Berlin on Sunday week — Sweden's triple jump Olympic champion Christian Olsson and the Bahamas vastly improved women's 400m Olympic champion Tonique Williams-Darling. Shaheen, though, was the star of the night. Aided perfectly by two pacemakers, he ran solo for the last three laps and left former world record holder Brahim Boulami for dead. The Moroccan was competing in his first race since serving a drugs ban but still managed third. Shaheen timed seven minutes 53.63 seconds to smash the old mark also set here of 7:55.28 by Boulami in August 2001. Shaheen beat home his nearest rival Paul Koech by nearly 10 seconds to suggest that the 21-year-old former Kenyan would have been a certainty for Olympic gold in Athens had the Kenyan Federation not prevented him from taking part. Shaheen gained Qatari citizenship under controversial circumstances just over a year ago with reports suggesting he was offered $ 1 million to switch allegiances. "It was a little bit frustrating I guess," Shaheen said of not going to the Olympics. "I had wanted to go to the Olympics. It was a bad feeling and I wasn't happy. I just pretended to myself that I had an injury. "I met the pacemakers today and told them to take me through 2000m in five minutes and 18 seconds and after that I said to them 'I race alone'. "When we saw at the 2000 mark that it was 5:18 it was like a dream come true." Shawn Crawford may also have promised a world record but it was Asafa Powell who almost delivered. The Jamaican made up for his disappointing fifth place in the Olympic 100m final by destroying the rest of the field and coming home in a personal best of 9.87seconds which was also a meet record, breaking Frankie Fredericks' seven-year mark. Crawford was a thoroughly well beaten second while Aziz Zakari of Ghana was third and world champion Kim Collins, fourth. Fredericks may have lost his record in the 100m but he shrugged that aside to show the youngsters that he might be ageing, and two races away from retirement, but the class remains. The 36-year-old beat home world champion John Capel in the 200m with Olympic silver medallist Bernard Williams in third. Jamaica's Aleen Bailey's habit of shadowboxing before the start paid off as she landed a knockout blow on 100m Olympic silver medallist Lauryn Williams, the diminutive American failing as she did in Athens to build on her electric start. The 23-year-old Bailey powered away to win with young Bulgarian Ivet Lalova second and Williams a disappointing third. Kenya's veteran distance runner Edith Masai made up for her disappointing performance in the Olympics where she failed to finish the 5,000m by winning the event here. The 37-year-old beat the meet record by three seconds in a race that was marked by the enforced absence of Ethiopia's Berhane Adere, who had been suspended by her federation because of some ill chosen words she had used when she was dropped from the Olympic team.
— AFP |
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Zee threatens action over telecast rights
Chennai, September 4 Addressing a press conference this evening after presenting his company’s case before the BCCI’s telecast rights committee here, the Zee Network Chairman, Mr Subhash Chandra, threatened legal action if the BCCI ignored his $260 million (Rs1200 crore) bid for the four-year contract, a clear $30 million more than ESPN-Star Sports. He said, “The board should not have invited the other bidder for a meeting since our bid is the highest. It is a matter of law and it is not for me to judge it, but we will fight a fierce battle in court, if the telecast rights are not extended to us.” The BCCI also invited ESPN to the committee meeting, convened to discuss the bids of both the channels to decide on the telecast rights. The BCCI’s marketing committee will announce its final decision tomorrow. Mr Chandra said, “We have presented our case completely and squarely. I only hope the transparency shown by the board so far is maintained till a decision is taken.” BCCI sources too confirmed Chandra’s intention of taking the matter to court if he was denied telecast rights. Mr Chandra said the board officials sought clarifications from him on six categories of the bid clauses, including eligibility as per the tender document, and payment schedule, experience in the field. He claimed, “We are in a better position to cover international matches than anybody else.” The television channel baron said his network would launch an exclusive sports channel on October 2 this year. |
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Ludhiana eves in final
Ludhiana, September 4 In the last league fixture, Kapurthala eves were no match for their experienced opponents from Ludhiana. Playing an aggressive game, Ludhiana cagers proved their supremacy and unsettled the Kaputhala players. For Ludhiana, bulk of the scoring was done by Kamaljit and Harjit Kaur, who contributed 22 and 18 points, respectively. Gagan and Rekha chipped in with 8 and 7 points. Kapurthala’s Reena (15) was the top scorer, followed by Mukti (10) and Mala (9). In the men’s section, the semifinal line-up was drawn up. Baba Lodhiana Academy, along with Guru Nanak Club of Kotkapura, Jalandhar and Kapurthala secured berths in the semifinal. Guru Nanak Club managed to scrape past Rest of Punjab by a narrow margin of four points (72-68) while Baba Lodhiana Academy overwhelmed over Kapurthala 70-38. However, Kapurthala men made their entry into the last four stage. In another league match, Jalandhar beat Rest of Punjab 65-43. |
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Surjit hockey from October 28
Jalandhar, September 4 Shadman Club of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, who were invited by the organisers, Surjit Hockey Society, will also take part in the tournament. The grade A tournament, to be played till November 6 at the Burlton Park Stadium, would also feature teams like Air-India, Indian Oil, BSF, Punjab and Sind Bank, Sikh Centre, EME, RCF (Kapurthala), CRPF, Signals, ITBP and Air Force. — PTI GMN gymnasts emerge winners Ambala, September 4 In girls’ rhythmic gymnastic, Pooja Chauhan was declared the best gymnast. Pooja Chauhan was the first in ribbon, first in ball, second in rope and second in hop. Priyanka Sharma was second in hop, third in ribbon. Jyoti Kaushal stood third in all-round gymnastics, which includes second place in balancing beam and third position in vaulting horse and uneven bar. Team comprising Jyoti Chaudhary, Pooja Chauhan, Priyanka Sharma, Gurpreet, Preeti, Sandhya brought laurels to GMN College. Among boys, the team championship was won by GMN College. Vishaldeep was declared all-round best gymnast, while Sukhdev Singh and Paramjeet, both from GMN College, stood second and third, respectively. |
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