 |
|
Indian stars shine at ICC Awards
night
Roddick, Hewitt advance
Serena blasts umpire after
defeat
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indian colts come a cropper
Japan rout India
National Youth Games in
January
Pak to apprise FIH of security
steps
Arif to lead Delhi football team
Muralidharan sets
record
Archery meet from
today
|
|
Indian stars shine at ICC Awards
night
London, September 8 The Indian vice-captain was also named the best Test player and found a place in the Test team as well, but last night’s function failed to live up to its billing as the ‘Cricket Oscars’. It was too straight-jacket,
comparing insipid and the evening was not wholesome in a way one associates with Hollywood or even Bollywood functions. The saving grace was the authenticity and respect which went with the awards chosen by the sport’s highest governing authority. Irfan Pathan was another Indian to walk off with a huge honour of being accorded the Emerging Player of the Year award. These along with the selection of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag in the one-day team made it a special night for Indian cricket. England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff won the one-day Player of the Year award while the New Zealand team bagged the Spirit of Cricket award. Australian Simon Taufel was named the Umpire of the Year. The ICC awards, presented by Hyundai in association with the players’ body FICA, recognise the game’s best players of the past 12 months. Dravid polled 64 votes to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the best player. Flintoff (44) nudged out South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis (44) for second place on count back while Australian batsman Matthew Hayden came fourth with 38 votes. The Indian star polled 82 votes to claim the Test player of the year honour, ahead of Hayden (53), England fast bowler Steve Harmison (38) and Sri Lankan off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan (30). In the voting period from August 1, 2003 to July 31, 2004 Dravid scored 1241 runs in nine Tests at an average of 95.46 with three centuries. The voting academy included the 10 ICC full member captains, the Emirate Elite Panel of eight ICC umpires, seven members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC referees and a combination of 25 former cricketing legends and members of the media. Pathan claimed 100 votes ahead of Pakistan’s Yasir Hameed (75) and Australia’s Michael Clarke (45). Another Pakistan youngster Umar Gul rounded out on the top four with 21 votes. In the voting period, Pathan played five Tests and 18 one-day internationals. He took 16 wickets at an average of 38.00 and 36 ODI scalps at an average of 23.19. Batting legend Tendulkar made it to the one-day team as did Virender Sehwag, but the former was shockingly omitted from the Test team. Tendulkar, with 47 votes, finished second to Flintoff in the race for the best one-day international player while the Australian pair of Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting polled 36 votes each. The awards: Player of the Year: Rahul Dravid Test Player of the Year:
Rahul Dravid ODI Player of the Year: Andrew Flintoff (England) Emerging Player of Year: Irfan Pathan Umpire of the Year:
Simon Taufel (Australia) Spirit of Cricket: New Zealand. Test Team of the Year: Ricky Ponting (Captain, Aus), Matthew Hayden (Aus), Herschelle Gibbs (SA), Rahul Dravid (Ind), Brian Lara (WI), Jacques Kallis (SA), Adam Gilchrist (Aus), Chaminda Vaas (SL), Shane Warne (Aus), Jason Gillespie (Aus) and Stephen Harmison (Eng). ODI Team of the Year: Ricky Ponting (Captain, Aus), Adam Gilchrist (Aus), Sachin Tendulkar (Ind), Chris Gayle (WI), Brian Lara (WI), Virender Sehwag (Ind), Jacques Kallis (SA), Andrew Flintoff (Eng), Shaun Pollock (SA), Chaminda Vaas (SL) and Jason Gillespie (Aus). —
PTI |
|
It’s unbelievable, says
Dravid
London, September 8 “The awards we have picked up might save people from burning a few effigies back home after our recent performances,” Dravid joked. “More seriously, the support we have received from our fans in India has been fantastic. We are in a unique position of being able to provide our fans with tremendous joy and satisfaction with our performances on the field and we are aware of the responsibility we have towards them. “My parents have played a huge role. In fact, there are so many people whom I must thank for where I am today. The late Keki Tarapore, was instrumental in my learning the basics, and I am also grateful to all my colleagues and captains. I now realise how lucky I have been to receive support from so many people. “The Player of the Year award came totally out of the blue. I still can’t believe it. Some of the players in the World Test XI have been my heroes, and to be in the same team as them is a great honour,” he added. Irfan Pathan, chosen Emerging Player of the Year, echoed Dravid’s sentiments. “It feels really good. It have always been confident; this award will take my confidence a lot higher. Playing for India in itself is a great motivation but such awards will be even more of a motivating factor,” he said. Andrew Flintoff, who became father of a baby girl born to girlfriend Rachael on Monday, was thrilled to be chosen the One-Day Player of the Year. “Monday was probably the best day of my life. Holly (his daughter) came out of the blue, and I hope it is the beginning of something special,” he said. “I am not quite sure what is going on. If someone had told me four years ago that I would get an award like this, I wouldn’t have believed them. It has been a massive turnaround for me in the last 18 months. I have hit a purple patch both in cricket and in life, and I am thoroughly enjoying it.” —
UNI |
|
Roddick, Hewitt advance
New York, September 8 “I am very happy. It was tough to win especially with an injury,” said Dementieva. Three-time Grand Slam winner Jennifer Capriati rallied to beat third seeded countrywoman Serena Williams in their controversial quarter-final match and Andy Roddick won his fourth consecutive straight-set match cruising past Tommy Robredo of Spain. Serena’s older sister and two-time former Open champion Venus also lost this week, dropping her fourth-round match to Lindsay Davenport. It is the earliest ever double exit ever for the Williams’ sisters at the US Open which was once their personal playground. Former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt also advanced yesterday, easily beating Karol Beck 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, in a fourth-round encounter which extended his consecutive winning streak to 14 matches. It was another heartbreaking loss for France’s Mauresmo, who was also eliminated from the French Open by Dementieva. The top three women’s seeds have now been eliminated. With a win Mauresmo would have taken over the world No. 1 ranking from top seed Justine Henin-Hardenne who was knocked out on Monday by another rising young Russian star Nadia Petrova. The 22-year-old Dementieva, who is seeded sixth, advances to the semi-finals where she will meet Capriati. Dementieva hit 41 winners as she had to fight through a thigh injury and stomach problem in the two-hour, 40-minute match. She said she never considered throwing in the towel but she did receive medical treatment from the trainer in between service breaks. Asked how she fought through the pain, Dementieva said, “because I’m Russian. I like all these struggles.” Dementieva wore a black ribbon on her shirt to honour those killed in the Russian hostage massacre last week. Mauresmo’s hopes for No. 1 now rest on the fate of Davenport at Flushing Meadows. Davenport must win the tournament in order to take the No. 1 position otherwise it will go to Mauresmo. The 25-year-old Mauresmo, who hit three aces and nine double faults, is the highest-ranked player without a Grand Slam title. Serena Williams was on the wrong end of the some questionable calls in a sloppily-played three-set match with Capriati. Williams argued often with chair umpire Mariana Alves as Capriati was able to take advantage on four questionable calls in the final set. The most obvious took place with Williams serving in the first game of the third set when the ball landed in but was ultimately called out by Alves. Television replays showed it was clearly in. Capriati went on to win the game, breaking Williams serve to begin the deciding set. Williams broke back in the next game but Capriati took two of the final three games to clinch the victory. Big-serving Swede Joachim Johansson blasted into the quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-3 6-2 defeat of Frenchman Michael Llodra. Johansson, playing at Flushing Meadows for only the second time, took his ace tally for the tournament to 76 as Llodra was overwhelmed on Grandstand Court. The 28th seed dropped only his second service game of the tournament in the second set but he recovered quickly to set up a last-eight meeting with top seed Andy Roddick. Fourth seed Hewitt now meets Germany’s Tommy Haas, who beat Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 7-6 (8/6) 6-1 7-5 for a place in the last four. The 2001 US Open champion, Hewitt, is on course to face defending champion Roddick in the semi-finals here. Roddick fired 11 aces and slammed 36 winners en route to a 6-3 6-2 6-4 fourth round win over Spain’s Robredo. — AFP |
|
Serena blasts umpire after
defeat
New York, September 8 The twice former champion crashed out 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 yesterday in a match that will live long in the memory not only for the ferocity of the tennis but several dubious umpiring decisions, one of which had Williams saying the official had gone “temporarily insane”. After the opening two sets of the heavyweight battle had been shared, the match ignited in the first game of the decider when Williams crunched a backhand winner inside the sideline. The line judge correctly signalled the ball was in only for Portuguese umpire Mariana Alves, sitting the other side of the court, to call “advantage Capriati”. Williams’s disbelief turned to fury as Alves refused to change her decision but her protestations were to no avail as she went on to lose her serve. After two more breaks of serve, Capriati had another slice of fortune when serving for the match at 5-4. This time, with the score at 0-15, a Williams winner was called wide when television replays showed it had landed on the line. With the stadium erupting, Capriati held her nerve to clinch victory while Williams stalked off court shaking her head. “At first I thought it was another Wimbledon conspiracy,” Williams told reporters, referring to an incident earlier this year when sister Venus was the victim when an umpire called an incorrect score during her match against Karolina Sprem. “I thought she (Alves) just got the score wrong and I just wanted to clarify that I had won the point naturally because I know my shots and I saw the ball. And I knew it was in. “(The umpire) said she overruled. I said, ‘How could you overrule a line that far away? Why would you even overrule that shot? It didn’t even touch the line’.” Williams, who said she had received an apology after the match from the WTA, said the call changed the way she played in the third set. “I’m very angry and bitter right now, I’m extremely upset. I feel cheated. Should I keep going?” —
Reuters |
|
Indian colts come a cropper
New Delhi, September 8 India suffered a similar reverse in the boys’ doubles with Tushar Liberhan and Divij Sharan losing to Andrew and Jamie Murray of Britain 2-6 3-6 in the first round, according to information received here. The Indian colts failed to find their feet in the year’s final Grand Slam with Liberhan, Navdeep Singh and Divij Sharan all crashing out of the singles and doubles at the very first hurdle.
— PTI |
|
|
Japan rout India
Kolkata, September 8 The Indians, who held the formidable Japanese goalless till the 44th minute, looked rudderless after the breather as the visitors almost toyed with the home team’s defence to notch up their fourth win in as many matches in the group. After Takayuki Suzuki drew first blood a short while before the break, Shinji Ono, Takashi Fukunishi and skipper Tsuneyasu Miyamoto found the target in the second session at the Salt Lake Stadium. The Indians, who suffered a 0-7 humiliation in the first leg tie at Saitama, are already out of the World Cup qualifiers having accrued only three points from four outings. The beginning of play in the second half was delayed by about half an hour due to a power cut at the venue. As the stadium plunged into darkness, match commissioner Manirul Islam of Bangladesh seemed at his wit’s end and even called up the FIFA authorities. The power supply was restored after 22 minutes. The Asian champions, who faced stiff resistance from the Indians in the first half, had to wait up to the 45th minute to break the deadlock. The Brazilian-born Alessandro Santos did the spadework from the left, outwitting skipper Debjit Ghosh and Mahesh Gawli with deft footwork and took a prompt shot which was partially saved by a diving custodian Sandip Nandy. But the ball went only as far as Suzuki who found the net with a low shot from just outside the six-yard box. Cheered on by the large crowd, the Indians launched sporadic counter-attacks and caused danger in the Japanese territory on a couple of occasions. The complexion of the match changed in the second half as the Japanese established a stranglehold on the proceedings. In the 57th minute, a Suzuki header narrowly missed the far post as the Indian defence heaved a sigh of relief. But within two minutes, the Japanese made the scoreline 2-0 after Venkatesh fouled Takahara and Ono took a dazzling 30-yard free kick which went one bounce into the net to the right of Nandy who was beaten comprehensively. The visitors pumped in one more goal in the 71st minute as Tetsuhiko Kubo despatched an angular pass from the top of the box to Santos and the Brazilian lobbed towards an unmarked Takashi Fukunishi, who headed in. Two minutes from the final whistle, the team struck again following a corner by Vitsuo Ogasawara. Yuji Nakazawa met the curling flag kick with a header and Miyamoto finished with a fine right footer. —
PTI |
|
National Youth Games in
January
Chandigarh, September 8 Raja Randhir said the Youth Games were earlier proposed to be held last year, but due to administrative difficulties faced by the hosts, Karnataka Olympic Association, these were postponed. He said 17 disciplines had been identified and the cut-off date of birth for participation was January 1, 1986. The disciplines approved are athletics, basketball, badminton, boxing, fencing, football, hockey, kho-kho, lawn tennis, rifle shooting, swimming, taekwondo, volleyball, gymnastics, kabaddi, table tennis and wrestling. Except boxing and wrestling, all disciplines will be conducted for both boys and girls. Raja Randhir said the date of birth document of each participant needed to be signed by the head of the institution and countersigned by the respective state association. He said 28 affiliated units of IOA would take part in the games. These games will be held every two years, but not in the years in which the Olympic Games, Asian Games or the Commonwealth Games are scheduled to be held. Raja Randhir had mooted the idea of holding the All-Punjab Games — including East Punjab (Pakistan) and West Punjab (India) — which got a favourable response from the Pakistan Olympic Association at a meeting held in January in Islamabad. The games would be held at Patiala in 14 disciplines, except shooting, which would be conducted at Mohali. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, chairman of the organising committee for the All-Punjab Games, today held a detailed discussion with key members of the committee at his residence. Raja Randhir Singh, Rana Gurmit Sodhi, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Sports), Punjab, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, President, Punjab Olympic Association, Mr KS Sidhu, Secretary, POA, Mr Gurbir Singh, President, Punjab Rifle Shooting Association, and Mr Aslam Khan, a senior office-bearer, IOA, were among those present. Various committees were also formed for the smooth conduct of the All-Punjab Games. |
|
Pak to apprise FIH of security
steps
Lahore, September 8 With Olympic champion Australia and New Zeland hinting that they might pull out of the elite eix-member tournament because of security reasons, the PHF is clearly under pressure to prevent the repetition of the 2001 edition of the event which was eventually shifted to Rotterdam, Holland, because of security concerns in the wake of the September 11 attack. Confirming that the federation would submit the security report to the global hockey body, PHF secretary Brig Musharatullah Khan told ‘’The News’’, ‘’We are working on finalising the list of security measures to be taken for the safety of the (Champions Trophy) participants.’’ ‘’Once ready, we would send the details of the security arrangements to the International Hockey Federation (FIH) within a week,’’ he informed. Pakistan initiated the tournament and hosted it 10 times and this edition of the tournament is scheduled here from December 4 to 12. Earlier, Hockey Australia sought security assurance from its Pakistan counterparts and seems apprehensive as the government there renewed its travel advice suggesting citizens to avoid travelling to Pakistan. — UNI |
|
Amritinder snatches lead
New Delhi, September 8 Amritinder Singh has four-time ‘Champion Golfer of the year’ Mukesh Kumar and rookie Shiv Kapour breathing down his neck, two strokes behind. Digvijay Singh posted the next best card of six-under 64 to occupy the fourth position. As many as 51 professionals made it to the money-making rounds after the cut was applied at two-over 142, the lowest ever on the Amby Valley PGA Tour. Amongst the rated professionals who missed the cut were living legend Rohtas Singh, seasoned Pappan and promising Rahul Ganapathy. Amritinder Singh, with a new-found form, began the day at five-under 65. Looking for his first win on the Tour, ‘Baba’, as he is fondly called, registered his first birdie on the long par-5 third and a hat-trick of birdies thereafter. Four more birdies on the back nine put him ahead of the others. |
|
Arif to lead Delhi football team
New Delhi, September 8 Goalkeepers:
Raj Karan, Shantnu Jain and Devender Sharma. Defenders: Yogesh Prashad, Shabi Hyder, Charanjiv Kumar, Vikas Negi, Arif Ali and Saurabh Rawat. Mid-fielders: Rattan Kumar, Mohd. Shakib, Mohd Naseem, Jitender Kumar and Saurabh Rawat. Forwards:
Sukhwinder Singh, Saurabh Mitra, Vijay Kumar, Kulbhushan, Hemant Thapa, Anjum Qadir and Ghombou Singh. Stand-Byes: Vivek, Rahul Kanojia, Michael Rodrigues, Rohit Sharma, Mir Tondan, Surinder Singh Bisht, Karan Randhawa, Ajay Rawat, Chander Mohan and Mohti Rohtagi. Delhi play their first match against Punjab tomorrow and will meet Jammu and Kashmir on September 11. Delhi will clash against Haryana in their last group match on September 13. Eight North Zone teams, including champions Uttar Pradesh and runners-up Punjab, are taking part in the championship. The two top teams will qualify for the final round to be played in Goa from October 3 to 12. |
|
Muralidharan sets
record
New Delhi, September 8 Muralidharan, a Sub-Inspector with the BSF, erased the 18-year-old meet record of 2:08.34 secs held by Khajan Singh of CRPF since 1986. Muralidharan, a promising swimmer, had also set a new record in the Junior National Swimming Championship at Jaipur in July this year. T.K. Senthil Kumar of CRPF broke the 200m back stroke record with a time of 2:13.10 secs. The old record of 2.08:17 was set by Bhanu Sachdeva in 1995. Jagmal Singh of BSF bagged the gold in the 12km cross country race by covering the distance in 37:05.00 secs. The BSF also lifted the team gold in the event. |
|
Archery meet from
today
Fatehabad, September 8 The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Mahtab Singh Sehrawat will preside over the function. Mr Saurabh Singh, SP, Fatehabad, told mediapersons today that over 150 archers from all over the state are participating in the championship, which will include events of both Indian and FITA rounds. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
London, September 8
In video (
