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HC seeks
details of telecast rights
Out-of-form Sehwag feeling pressure
Ponting eyes historic double
Sachin doubtful for first Test?
Paes-Navratilova enter semis
Mukesh Kumar in lead, Amritinder joint 3rd
BRC Danapur in quarterfinals
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Singh dethrones Tiger
Norton (USA), September 7 Vijay Singh and Woods finished with identical 69s after their showdown but the Fijian had done enough in the earlier rounds as he finished on 16-under-par to eclipse the deposed Woods and defending champion Adam Scott, who tied for second on 13-under. The 41-year-old Vijay Singh, the hottest player of the past 14 months, clinched his sixth PGA Tour title this season, the biggest haul of his career, and his 10th since the start of last year. “My focus today was really on winning the golf tournament and I didn’t get out of focus,” said a jubilant Vijay Singh. “I was very patient, that was the key.” Asked how it felt to be the world number one, he added: “It’s great and I can’t wait to celebrate. “I thought I was playing good enough to be number one for a while, but obviously the ranking, I kept telling you guys (reporters), I can’t do anything about the ranking. “Finally, it’s turned in my favour. So, I don’t know how long the ranking is going to favour me or anybody else. But it feels great right now and I’m really proud to achieve that.” However, it was a rollercoaster final round as the Fijian took a four-shot lead with a birdie on the first hole that moved him to 15-under-par before his third bogey at the 14th left him level with Woods at 13-under until he pulled away again. Woods had monopolised the world rankings for a record 264 consecutive weeks since reclaiming the top spot with his one-shot victory in the 1999 US PGA Championship at Medinah. “I’ve had a good run and being number two isn’t too bad, is it?” said Woods, trying to hide his disappointment. After starting the final round with a three-shot lead, it was unlikely that Vijay would be caught, given his recent form. He had won the last eight tournaments he had led after 54 holes in a streak dating back to the Houston Open in 2002 and most recently at last month’s US PGA Championship. After he extended his lead to four shots over Woods at the first hole, a slip-up seemed even more improbable. But after Woods and Vijay bogeyed the par-five second, the American made three birdies and had only one more bogey through the first nine holes, while the Fijian made the turn on one-over-par 37 as his lead was whittled down to one shot. After the pair became tied at 13-under-par, their fortunes went in opposite directions as Woods had an even-par finish in the last five holes while Vijay made three birdies. Scott was almost the forgotten man, even though he had the best round of the day with a six-under-par 65. He was one shot off the lead after four birdies in a row to start the back nine put him on 12-under. Although he could not keep up that torrid pace, Scott did birdie the par-five final hole to take a share of second place. John Rollins and Swede Daniel Chopra finished on 10-under-par to tie for fourth, with Chopra earning his PGA Tour card for 2005 with winnings of $ 700,000 this
year. Hank Kuehne and Japan’s Shigeki Maruyama finished in a tie for sixth on nine-under-par. Jay Williamson was eighth on eight-under-par while Charles Howell III, Bill Haas and Brad Faxon shared ninth place at seven-under.
— Reuters |
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Patekar qualifies for shooting nationals
Mumbai, September 7 Patekar's dream of participating in a major shooting event came true when he recently qualified for the free rifle prone event scoring 553/600 (the qualifying mark is 552) at a qualifying event at Coimbatore. "Patekar has this natural talent for shooting and can concentrate on the job on hand for a longer period of time which is a plus point in shooting. He did exceptionally well during the qualifying event at Coimbatore recently to make the grade," the secretary of the Maharashtra Rifle Association, Sheila Kanungo, said here today. "Patekar has been practising at our range for the past five months under coach V Shinde, who is also a former national shooter," Sheila added. "I feel Patekar qualifying for the nationals after just five months of training is an achievement,” Sheila said.
— PTI |
Major Rathore
felicitated
BIKANER: Ace shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was given a grand welcome at his native town here on Tuesday on his first visit after winning the silver medal at the Athens Olympics.
On his arrival by the Delhi Mail, he was given a rousing welcome at the railway station and later taken to the town in a procession. People showered flower petals along the route. Several organisations felicitated him at a civic reception, in which he was also presented the Ratighati Samman. He will spend the night at his native village, Garabdesar, nearby. Earlier, Major Rathore was given a rousing welcome on his first visit to the state capital, Jaipur, after bagging the Olympic medal.
— UNI
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HC seeks
details of telecast rights Mumbai, September 7 A Bench comprising Chief Justice DS Bhandari and Justice DY Chandrachud adjourned the matter to September 9 after asking the cricket board to produce its file. The ESPN-Star TV Network had challenged the BCCI’s decision to award rights to Zee for which a tender was floated earlier. The tender pertained to telecast rights of national and international cricket matches played in the country during the four-year period from October, 2004, to September, 2008.
— PTI
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Out-of-form Sehwag feeling pressure
London, September 7 “I feel sorry and under pressure that I am not being able to give the team the start it needs from me at the top of the order and in the first 15 overs,” said Sehwag, who had an ordinary outing in the run-up to the Champions Trophy starting here from Friday. “Everytime I get out cheaply, it hurts me. I realise that the team has been
disserviced.” Sehwag, who had a series of poor scores in the just concluded NatWest Challenge one-day series against England, said: “Frankly I feel nothing wrong with my form. I analyse my own batting and see my own tapes. I have not felt any need to make any changes. “I have not yet felt the urge to consult somebody. Even my team mates tell me there seems nothing wrong with my batting. They have been very encouraging and feel it would soon fall in place.” Sehwag at the top has been of tremendous help to the Indian team in the last couple of years but his poor form of late has been one of the reasons for India’s dismal shows. Time and again, Sehwag is hitting catches inside the ring and he said it is been a mixture of good ball and poor shot selection which has led to his string of poor scores. “It’s a combination of everything — some good bowling, bad shots and poor shot selection. I have been getting out before I can spend some time in the middle,” Sehwag said. It was Sehwag’s poor run which led to his demotion in the Lord’s match of the NatWest Challenge on Sunday and
V.V.S. Laxman was elevated in his place. Sehwag makes light of this switch in his order and says it’s not the first time he has batted in the middle order. “I was taken into confidence by the captain and the team management. I have not taken it personally at all. It is not the first time when I have batted low in the order. I did so in New Zealand before the World Cup in 2003.”
— PTI |
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Ponting eyes historic double
London, September 7 Then he takes his men to India, where Australia have not won since 1969/70, for an four-match Test series which Ponting says “could go down as one of the biggest ever played.” Steve Waugh was the last Australian captain to try and conquer what he called the last frontier’ when he led his team to India in 2000/01 only to lose a pulsating series 2-1. Ponting said: “It is going to be a huge series. The last series in India was the best one I’ve played in and we should have won. The last Test went to late on the last day and we lost. “Our result in Sri Lanka, where we won 3-0, was outstanding. I think that was the first time that had been achieved by a touring side and that gives us a lot of confidence.” Before that potentially historic series Ponting is determined to land the one major honour to elude the Australians. “We are pretty disappointed with the way we have played in the Champions Trophy,” he said.
— AFP |
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Sachin doubtful for first Test?
The Little Champion is battling tennis elbow and had to skip the Videocon triangular series in Holland and the NatWest Challenge series while he has also been ruled out of the ICC Champions trophy beginning on Friday. “The Age’’ claims Sachin’s chances of taking on Australia in the Test series starting on October 6 is quite bleak. Saying that Sachin’s elbow has not responded to treatment, the daily says, “Indian medical staff have told him he might be fit in another two weeks, but the setbacks he has endured with the ailment so far have raised questions about whether India will be without their most revered batsman for the biggest Test series of the year. With the first match in Bangalore to start on October 6, it is doubtful at least whether Tendulkar will be fit for the start of the series.”
— UNI |
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Petrova stuns defending champ Henin
New York, September 7 "She played well, she served well and took her opportunities," Henin-Hardenne said. "I wasn't feeling powerful and strong like in the past. I was nervous. It just wasn't my day." Petrova posted one of the biggest upsets in Open history as Henin-Hardenne is the first top seed to lose before the quarter-finals since Billy Jean King was ousted in the third round in 1973. King was forced to retire in the third set suffering from heat and illness. Henin-Hardenne will also surrender her world No. 1 ranking this week with either Lindsay Davenport or Amelie Mauresmo poised to take over the lofty perch. The other two highest seeds prevailed yesterday, as No. 5 Lindsay Davenport and Svetlana Kuznetsova registered straight-set victories in their fourth round matches. The 22-year-old Petrova moves on to face compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova who beat France's Mary Pierce 7-6 (7/5), 6-2. Lindsay Davenport won the battle of the former champions when she outslugged Venus Williams 7-5 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals. The 28-year-old fifth seed grabbed one break in each set to extend her winning streak to 21 matches and set up a quarter-final with unseeded Shinobu Asagoe of Japan. In a repeat of the 2000 final, which Venus won, both players crunched groundstrokes to the corners but Davenport found the only break in the 11th game and served out for the first set. Venus tried to take the game to Davenport but the 1998 champion repeated the feat in the fifth game of the second set to lead 3-2. In a dramatic 10th game of the second set, Venus showed her nerve by saving four match points but Davenport saved five break points before clinching victory. Meanwhile, Andre Agassi made short work of marathon man Sargis Sargsian on Labour Day, sweeping out his longtime friend and occasional practice partner 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. The win came after Federer advanced in a walkover, and set up an incredibly attractive matchup in the quarterfinals: the tournament's top-seeded player vs. the popular two-time champion. Tim Henman and Dominik Hrbaty also advanced. Still, all the anticipation surrounded the upcoming Agassi-Federer matchup. Federer reached the Open quarterfinals for the first time when No. 16 Andrei Pavel withdrew because of a herniated disc in his lower back several hours before their match started. Pavel missed six months last year with a bad back and wrist. “It's always an awkward feeling. Don't call it a win,” Federer said. “That's how it is.” Next up, a trip to Arthur Ashe Stadium tomorrow to face Agassi. “That's definitely something I’m looking forward to. I’ve never played the big matches at the Open. Not at night sessions,” Federer said. “This is a big occasion for me to prove myself, to be deserving to be on the big stage. “This is a quarterfinal that people have been looking forward to,” he said. “Hopefully, we can fulfill the hopes of a big match.” The sixth-seeded Agassi won in just 90 minutes. Playing on his 30th birthday, Henman gave himself a neat present: his first trip to the Open quarters in his 10th visit to Flushing Meadows. He led a testy Nicolas Kiefer 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 3-0 when the German pulled out with an injured right hand. “I'm slowing up already,” Henman kidded. |
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Paes-Navratilova enter semis
New Delhi, September 7 The Indian partnering the American legend defeated Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova of Russia and Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-4, 6-4 last night and set up a clash with Australian duo of Alicia Molik and Todd Woodbrige in the last four stage. In the other semis, top seeds Daniel Nestor of Canada and Rennae Stubbs of Australia will take on fourth seeds Bob Bryan of the USA and Vera Zvonareva of Russia. At the Arthur Ashe Stadium, Paes-Martina, seeded eighth, broke Sharapova’s serve to clinch the first set and then won another crucial break in the second set breaking Mirnyi to pocket the match in straight sets. Paes, along with David Rikl of Czech Republic, has also reached the men’s doubles quarterfinals upsetting top seeds Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Todd Woodbridge of Australia. But the other Indian in the fray — Mahesh Bhupathi — pairing with Mirnyi crashed out of the men’s doubles in the third round. The fourth seeded duo lost to Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo 4-6, 4-6. Earlier, Bhupathi and Lisa Raymond of the USA went out of the mixed doubles in the second round. In the junior boys’ section, there was further set back for India when two more players went out in the first round. Tushar Liberhan lost tamely to Russian Evgeniy Kirilov 2-6, 2-6 while Navdeep Singh put up a fight before losing 4-6, 5-7 to Phillip Simmonds of the USA. Tushar Liberhan became the second Indian casualty after Divij in the boys singles event. Tushar lost to Evgeniy Kirillov of Russia 6-2 6-2 in their first round match. Tushar and Divij are slated to face British duo of Andrew Murray and Jamie Murray in the boys doubles.
— PTI |
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India look to avoid humiliation
Kolkata, September 7 Having been decimated 0-7 by the Asian champions in the away match at Saitama, India require enormous amount of self-belief, loads of confidence and need to play their hearts out even to put up a decent performance before an expected crowd of around one lakh at the floodlit Salt Lake stadium. While even the most ardent of Indian fans realise that a victory against the visitors — coached by Brazilian soccer legend Zico — would be a near miracle, a narrow margin of defeat and non-repetition of the humiliation in Japan is what national coach Stephen Constantine and his boys seem to be angling for. Debjit Ghosh, named as skipper in the absence of an injured Bhaichung Bhutia, said as much when he remarked that he would be satisifed with a 0-3 scoreline. Some home supporters may consider such a pre-match mindset as “utterly negative”, but there is no denying the fact that the clash presents two sides utterly mismatched in class and form. In FIFA rankings, Japan occupy the 18th slot, while India are way behind at 138th; the visitors have won all their three matches in the qualifiers so far, while India’s only success came against Singapore, whom they defeated 1-0. The match also presents a contrasting picture for the two rivals as far as their World Cup aspirations are concerned. India are already out of the qualifiers, having accrued only three points from the same number of matches, and would play to salvage their prestige. Japan, on the other hand, now lead the group standings with nine points, and a win on the morrow and two points from the next two outings against Singapore and Oman would propel them to the final round of the pre-World Cup. After a relative high of the last two years, Indian football once again seems to have sunk to the pits in 2004, with the national side losing four of their last five engagements conceding as many as 19 goals against Oman (0-5), Japan (0-7), Vietnam (1-2) and the Korean University Selections (0-4). The only match they won was against a lowly Myanmar (2-1). As if the current on-field disasters were not enough, India’s tune-up for the mega battle has been hard hit by a spate of injuries to key players, with the upfront being the worst casualty. Asim Biswas was sidelined with a muscle injury even before the LG Cup, while ace striker Bhutia had to pull out after he damaged a cartilege on the left knee necessitating a surgery. In their absence, R.C. Prakash and Abhishek Yadav have to shoulder the
responsibility in the striking zone against a strong Japanese rearguard. The midfield would miss the services of another injury-hit player, Jo Paul Ancheri, while Rennedy Singh looks uncertain after spraining his right ankle yesterday, and the likes of Jatin Singh Bisht, Climax Lawrence and Tomba Singh have their task cut out. However, the Indian defence — spearheaded by Debjit, Mahesh Gawli and Dipak Mandal — looks stronger than the one which took the field against Japan in the earlier match. Despite their resounding first leg win, the Japanese, who are on a high after emerging champions in the recent Asian Cup, have taken the match with utmost seriousness, with Zico roping in three Europe-based players — goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (FC Vordsjaelland, Denmark), midfielder Shinji Ono (Feyenoord, Holland) and striker Naohiro Takahara (Hamburg SV, Germany). However, the side would be without star midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura, who has been down with a lower back pain.— PTI |
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Mukesh Kumar in lead, Amritinder joint 3rd
Chennai, September 7 Percentage play at the last three holes helped Mukesh Kumar to take the leadership position from Asian Games gold medallist Shiv Kapur, who was just a stroke behind the former. Shiv Kapur of Delhi, playing in his second event as a professional, was in second spot with a six under 64, followed by Amritinder Singh (Chd) and C Muniyappa (Bangalore) were joint third with an identical 65 each. Sri Lanka’s Lalitha Kumara, Naman Dawar (Del), Madaiah (Bangalore) and Kolkata’s Uttam Singh Mundy have carded 66 each. Twentynine of the 100 professionals carded sub par scores. Making use of the favourable conditions, both Mukesh and Shiv Kapur returned a bogey free round. Mukesh was more consistent, particularly on his outward journey, and held a one stroke advantage, but Shiv Kapur came on level terms at the end of the 15th hole only to falter in the very next. Mukesh, who won the season’s opener last week, had hit 16 greens in regulation and had 25 putts for the day and in fact, was more confident after achieving a 15-foot birdie on the 12th hole. Leading scorers: 63-Mukesh Kumar (Mhow), 64-Shiv Kapur (Del), 65-Amritinder
Singh (Chd), C.Muniyappa (Bang), 66-Lalitha Kumara (Sri Lanka), Naman Dawar (Del), S.Madaiah (Bang), Uttam Singh Munday (Kol), 67-Amit Dube (Del), Balbir Singh Verma (Del), Digvijay Singh (Meerut), Indrajit Bhalitia (Kol), Shiv Prakash (Kan),
Vishal Singh (Jaipur) and Amateurs: 73-V.Dharshan. — PTI |
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BRC Danapur in quarterfinals
New Delhi, September 7 In other matches, Raghunathjew Vidyapitha, Cuttack, drubbed R L Pandya High School, Gujarat, 5-0 while Sri KK Chaubey Adarsh Sewa Vidyalaya, Varanasi, pipped Pitra Higher Secondary School, Tripura, 2-1 in a thrilling contest. For the Orissa team, S K Faheem, Imran Khan, Sk Wajid, Ajay Singh and Ramrai Murmu scored once each.
— PTI |
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Bollywood star Nana Patekar will be seen in action alongside other shooters in the National Shooting Championship to be held at Indore from November 5 to 15.
Patekar's dream of participating in a major shooting event came
true when he recently qualified for the free rifle prone event
scoring 553/600 (the qualifying mark is 552) at a qualifying
event at Coimbatore.
In video: Zee pays $20m to BCCI
for telecast rights. (
Sydney, September 7
