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India need to regroup fast
17 cricketers given retainership
Fighting against odds to earn a place in tennis history
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Top juniors for ITF tourney
AITA AGM in Delhi today
Hawks, Chandigarh XI win
Canara Bank triumph
Rohtak win U-19
championship
BBK College, Dhanoa Academy move into final
Kuldip adjudged best athlete
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India need to regroup fast
Quetta (Pakistan), September 26 The depleted Indian side did well to take the lead early on before losing the match narrowly against an error-prone hosts on Friday. When India play Pakistan in the second Test here tomorrow, they must exploit the weaknesses of the formidable opponents to have any chance of squaring the series, which does not look improbable given the indifferent form the hosts showed in the first match. The Pakistanis looked scrappy in their approach, although they did manage to hold onto the lead till the end to thwart India who came close to levelling the scores on a few occasions. India’s chief coach Gerhard Rach also must be hoping that his side takes advantage of Pakistan’s rustiness in tomorrow’s game at the Gen Musa Stadium. “Pakistan’s win was not surprising as we have young and inexperienced players. But I think we will show better performance in the coming matches,” the German-born Rach said. Rach declined to read much into the opposition line-up but added he was confident of his side winning at least a couple of matches in the series. “I can’t say anything (about the Pakistan team) at this stage. As far as our team is concerned, it underwent some major changes recently. But we are hopeful of winning a couple of games,” Rach said. Despite the loss, India must take heart from the showing of goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza, who was quite impressive under the bar, and rookie defender William Xalco besides skipper Dilip Tirkey. The trio played important roles in containing the Pakistani forwards and ace penalty corner expert Sohail Abbas, who scored from one setpiece but was denied on three other occasions by the teenaged custodian. However, the performance of the inexperienced forwardline must be the worrying factor for the Indian coach and captain after it failed to make much of an impact in the Karachi game. The forwards hardly tested the opposition defence in the first half. Although they fared slightly better in the second half creating a few moves, the attempt was not enough for an equaliser. But captain Tirkey was hoping that things would improve as the series progresses. “We got our chances which we missed, but we will try not to repeat the mistakes in the remaining matches,” the 27-year-old defender said. “We have lots of new players who are trying to adjust into the team, but they will certainly take some time,” he said. After seeing the inexperienced Indians come too close for comfort at Karachi, Pakistan skipper Waseem Ahmed said his team would play the next match with better co-ordination. “I was playing in an international match in Pakistan after a long gap and as captain for the first time. There was a lot of pressure on me in the beginning,” Waseem said. “We have also a few players from the junior side. Once we develop co-ordination, we will be giving better results,” the half-back said. Teams: India:
Dilip Tirkey (captain), Devesh Chauhan, Adrian D’ Souza, Harpal Singh, Sandeep Singh, William Xalxo, Viren Rasquinha, Vikram Pillay, Ignace Tirkey, V S Vinay, Prabodh Tirkey, Vivek Gupta, Adam Sinclair, Arjun Halappa, Sandeep Michael, Tushar Khandekar, Hari Prasad. Pakistan: Waseem Ahmed (captain), Salman Akber, Nasir Ahmed, Sohail Abbas, Zeeshan Ashraf, Muhammad Imran, Imran Warsi, Ghazanfar Ali, Adnan Maqsood, Dilawar Hussain, Abdul Aasim Khan, Imran Khan, Rehan Butt, Mudassar Ali Khan, Kashif Jawwad, Shakeel Abbasi, Adnan Zakir, Tariq Aziz, Shabbir Hussain, Akhtar Ali.
— PTI |
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17 cricketers given retainership
Kolkata, September 26 Announcing the commencement of the scheme, BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya said the players would enter into annual contract with the Board and it would be reviewed at the end of each term. He said 17 cricketers were today picked by the Board's Gradation Committee on the basis of their performance and they had been divided into three grades. Seven players, including skipper Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, have been put in Grade-A with an annual retainership of Rs 50 lakh. The others in Grade-A are Virender Sehwag, V V S Laxman, Anil Kumble and Harbahjan Singh. Grade-B, with an annual retainership of Rs 35 lakh, consists of Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra and Laxmipathy Balaji. Wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel, Aakash Chopra and Murali Kartik have been placed in Grade-C with retainership of Rs 20 lakh, he said. Mr Dalmiya said as per the scheme, 20 players would be given contracts and since 17 players had been selected as of now, the remaining spots might be filled up during the year. If any cricketer played three Test matches and 10 one-dayers during the year, he would be offered contract under Grade-C, he said. Mr Dalmiya said the 17 players were picked by the Gradation Committee consisting of himself, Board Secretary S K Nair, national selection committee chairman Syed Kirmani and coach John Wright. The committee also consulted skipper Sourav Ganguly before finalising the cricketers to be given the contract, he said. The Board President said apart from the annual retainership, the players would be paid match fees as per usual practice. At home, the match fees for each Test match would be Rs two lakh and for one-dayer it would be Rs 1.60 lakh. For foreign tours, the players would be paid Rs 2.40 lakh for a Test match and Rs 1.85 lakh for a one-dayer, he said. The match fees would be paid to only the eleven players playing the match while the reserve players in the squad would be paid fifty percent of the match fee, Mr Dalmiya said. Even if a player is injured or falls sick as a result of playing or during training for the country and is not available for selection, he would continue to receive the retainer fee for his term of contract, Dalmiya said. A contracted player would have to take part in the matches for which he is selected unless declared unfit by the team physiotherapist and the medical practitioner nominated by the Board. Under the contract, the players would have to grant to the Board royalty-free license to use his attributes for the publicity and promotion of cricket or on any other material, the BCCI chief
said.—PTI |
Lara keeps his feet on the ground
Yet any suggestion of a significant West Indian cricketing revival following years of stagnation was dismissed as scornfully as a leg-stump half-volley. ''What happened today was really phenomenal but it's not the be-all and end-all,'' he said after the two-wicket win, sealed with seven balls to spare despite a Marcus Trescothick century. ''It's not the World Cup. ''In 1975 we established ourselves as a great Test and one-day team. I'm not going that far but it's a beginning, a foundation. It serves as something we can work with.'' Lara, of course, is right. His side, as beaten captain Michael Vaughan had warned before The Oval final, are a dangerous one-day batting side full of attacking strokeplayers. When they bowl and field as neatly as they did yesterday, they are a threat. However, they have just been walloped by England in seven Tests out of eight and hardly belong in the same Calypso bracket of such men as Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards and Michael Holding who helped lift the 1975 and 1979 World Cups. It may also be too early to forecast an Australian decline after the world champions' failure, yet again, to win this tournament. Leg spinner Shane Warne's one-day retirement has undoubtedly left a void, while the metronomic Glenn McGrath is slowing down, with no obvious replacements queuing up behind him. The world champions contrived to lose by six wickets to England, thus bowing out in the semi-finals just as they did in 2002. Yet it was only a year ago they had thrashed all comers to retain the World Cup in South Africa. Like Lara, Australia captain Ricky Ponting refused to read too much into a single reverse or, as Australia coach John Buchanan termed it, a ''snapshot in time''. More evidence will be needed, just as England will have to excel over a sustained period before being considered serious players in the one-day game. Winning 10 out of 11 Tests this year, inspired by the emergence of strike bowler Steve Harmison in particular, has impressed everybody.
— Reuters |
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Fighting against odds to earn a place in tennis history
New Delhi, September 26 Raghbir Singh Mhajan’s colourful umpiring career spanned 29 years when he called it quits last year. And the Queen has nominated him for the MBE, which he will receive this November at the Buckingam Palace, with a feeling of “humbleness and humility”. What earned Raghbir Singh Mhajan “instant fame” was his clash with John McEnroe at a Wimbledon doubles match in 1981 when the cantakerous American accused him of “bias”. The incident occurred during a match featuring Vijay and Anand Amritraj and John McEnroe and Peter Fleming. A line ruling by Mhajan against McEnroe enraged the American so much that he developed a “life-long” loathing for Mhajan, and had several run-ins with him at Wimbledon. When Mhajan retired last year, McEnroe wondered sarcastically: “Why now. You should have done it when I was playing!”. But Mac also paid him handsome compliments saying, “You were fantastic at your job. You would never budge”. And three years ago, Mhajan, who is now 69 years old, was hit by a 132mph Greg Rudeski serve. Rudeski apologised for the unintended hit and sent Mhajan a box of cookies. Though Mhajan worked his way upto line judge at the Centre Court of Wimbledon, after earning a Level-I grade, he had to overcome “prejudice and jealousy” at every step. “When I started officiating at Wimbledon 29 years ago, no one had seen a Sikh officiate before. I was a novelty”, the soft-spoken Sikh said, during a visit to Delhi today. “The players and the public also liked the colourful turbans I wore”, he recollected. Mhajan has done quiet service to Indian tennis as he has been a source of support and help for the Indian players whenever they played in the UK. He has been regularly hosting the Indian players to make them feel at home. Born and brought up in Kenya, he learned his tennis at Nairobi. He used to get Indian players over to Kenya to play in tournaments, and Nirupama Mankad, mother of Davis Cupper Harsh Mankad, used to partber him in mixed doubles. He had also the unique distinction of being allowed to coach at the prestigious Lorreto Convent Girls School in Nairobi where no male coach had ever been allowed inside the school before. He settled down at the Andley Road, Ealing, in UK, in 1972, and his Wimbledon foray began when he was introduced to the British Tennis Umpires’ Association. This introduction helped him get into not only the hallowed precincts of Wimbledon, but also enabled him officiate matches all over UK and abroad. He, however, declined to turn professional, as that would have forced him to be on the tennis circuit regularly, which he did not fancy. The Tennis Centre, run by his younger son Jaideep in England, has been the ‘home’ of many an Indian player, and it continues to be an open house for India’s junior and senior players. All India Tennis Association secretary Anil Khanna calls him the “God father of Indian tennis in England”. But Mhajan lamented that the Indian boys and girls lacked the mental toughness to succeed at the
international level. “The Indian players are not strong mentally and lose from winning positions”, he added. Mr Mhajan observed that the tennis facilities in India were top class and more and more tournaments like the Satellite and Challenger were being played in the country “as never before to enable the players earn valuable points without going abroad. Still, our players surprisingly fail to get into the top bracket”. He said the Indian players should be mentally conditioned to instill the feeling in them that “you can beat anybody in the world”. “Now our young boys and girls take to the court with a defeatist attitude”. He said the Europeans and the Americans score over others as “they are strong both physically and mentally”. He said he had often found it difficult to explain to foreigners why India could not produce winners while China were churning out champions by hundreds in all sports. |
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USA book Davis Cup final berth
Paris, September 26 The USA, who last reached the final of the international team event in 1997, now await the winner of the semi-final between Spain and France in Alicante. Tommy Robredo and Rafael Nadal put Spain within sight of the final with a marathon 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement and put the side ahead 2-1. Spain, playing on their favourite clay surface specially built inside the bullring at Alicante, need just one more point from the reverse singles to put them in the final. Robredo and Nadal, playing together for the first time, clinched victory in three hours and 47 minutes against a makeshift French pairing which had seen Clement called in as a late replacement for Fabrice Santoro who had been injured losing his singles to Juan Carlos Ferrero. That rubber had been held over from Friday, and former French Open winner Ferrero wasted no time getting down to business, brushing aside Santoro. He needed just 21 minutes to finish off the match 6-3, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. Paul-Henri Mathieu had given France the first point when he shocked Carlos Moya 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Friday. Santoro blamed a left wrist injury picked up in play on Friday for his failure to fight back yesterday. The USA, winners of the title on 31 occasions, went into the doubles in Charleston, South Carolina, in firm control after Andy Roddick eased past Voltchkov 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 and Mardy Fish downed Mirnyi 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 on Friday. In the World Group play-offs, which will determine the teams playing in the 16-team elite group next season, Australia opened up an unbeatable 3-0 lead over Morocco in Perth. The doubles pairing of Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs, both aged 33, eventually proved too experienced for the determined Morrocan combination of Mounir El Aarej and Medhi Tahiri winning 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/2), 6-3. The Czech Republic also booked a spot in the World Group, as Jiri Novak and Radek Stepanek beat Ramon Delgado and Paulo Sergio Carvallo 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 to give the Czechs a 3-0 lead in their play-off tie. Russia will also be playing in the World Group in 2005 after Marat Safin and Mikhail Youzhny beat twins Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 for a 3-0 lead over Thailand. Former world number one Safin crushed Danai 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 in the second match to put the home team in complete control, after Andreev beat Thai number one Paradorn 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 in the opening singles rubber. In Portschach, Austria and Great Britain were locked at 1-1. As the light finally faded, the Austrian doubles pair of Alexander Peya and Julian Knowle led Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 and will resume hostilities before the reverse singles start. Earlier in the day, Rusedski beat Jurgen Melzer, the Austrian number one, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) after Tim Henman’s swift and miserable 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 loss to Koubek at the start of the day. Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic sealed Croatia’s place in the World Group after a dramatic five-set doubles victory in their tie against Belgium in Rijeka. The duo overcame Dick Norman and Kristof Vliegen 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-7 (1/7), 6-3, 7-5 in four hours 10 minutes to give their side a 3-0 winning lead.
— AFP |
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Top juniors for ITF tourney
New Delhi, September 26 AITA director of development Col Amarbir Singh announced here today that the tournament was intended to cultivate fresh talent and also to help professional and amateur players get international and national exposure. Several players from abroad are also competing in the tournament which will be played on clay courts at the AITA Academy. Adidas is sponsoring the event for the second year in succession, as according to brand manager Sriram Darbha, “tennis has always been a core for us and this tournament is an ideal platform to encourage and nurture young talent.”.
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AITA AGM in Delhi today
Chandigarh, September 26 More importantly, the meeting will also consider two amendments to the memorandum of association and rules and regulations of AITA. One amendment relates to the post of Secretary-General being renamed as Executive Vice-President and Secretary-General while the second relates to the granting of full rights to the AITA Trust. Senior functionaries of AITA are of the view that AITA’s position internationally has increased manifold and has now been recognised with the election of the present Secretary-General (Mr Anil Khanna) as the Vice-President and Secretary-General of the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) and member of the board of directors of the ITF. “Internationally, within the ITF family greater recognition is given to the post of President and Vice-President and the position of Secretary-General is sometimes considered as a full-time paid executive of the association,” a note circulated by the AITA says. Therefore, to remove this anomaly the post of Secretary-General is to renamed although his duties and responsibilities will continue to be the same. Under the second amendment it is being proposed to give full member status to the AITA Trust which is currently looking after the affairs of the National Tennis Academy. The academy is providing residential coaching and training facilities both for players and coaches.
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Hawks, Chandigarh XI win
Chandigarh, September 26 Ropar Hawks faced stiff resistance from IHF Juniors who fought tooth and nail till the end but ultimately surrendered 2-5 in the battle of strokes. Similarly, Namdhari XI prevailed over Indian Air Force 4-2 in the tie breaker after holding the rivals goal-less in regulation time. Local outfit Chandigarh XI edged out Corps of Signals, Jalandhar, 4-3 thanks to a last minute goal by international Inderjit Chadha while Army XI overpowered Centre of Excellence, Patiala, 3-0 in a one-sided encounter with all the goals coming in the second half. In the most fiercely contested match today, Chandigarh XI rallied to down Signals 4-3 after the two sides were even 2-2 at the interval. International Inderjit Chadha proved to be the local outfit’s saviour when he scored the decisive goal a few seconds before the long hooter sending a wave of joy in the Chandigarh camp. Named as a standby for the ongoing India-Pakistan Test series, Inderjit displayed good understanding with his team-mates and justified his inclusion through his brilliant match winner. However, Signals showed early promise and forged ahead through a penalty corner conversion by G. Das in the ninth minute. Das was once again on target for Signals when he slammed home a field goal in the 22nd minute to make it 2-0. Chandigarh XI hit back in brilliant fashion and two quick goals in a span of two minutes brought the two teams on even terms. First Vikram sounded the board off a short corner to make it 1-2 and then Yagdeep Singh converted a penalty stroke in the 25th minute to restore parity (2-2). A field goal in the 46th minute by Amit Tyagi saw Chandigarh XI forging ahead 3-2 but Signals were quick to bounce back with the equalizer four minutes later through Rakesh Kumar (3-3). As the match appeared to be heading for the tie-breaker, Inderjit Chadha’s match winner in the last minute sealed the Army outfit’s fate who lost but were not disgraced. Army XI, who beat Centre of Excellence, Patiala, 3-0 had to wait till the 53rd minute to gain the upper hand. After a barren first half, Sunil Ekka’s field goal in the 53rd minute put Army XI ahead by one-nil. The second goal came off a short corner through Suresh Kumar (Senior) in the 61st minute while Cyprin Aind drove the last nail in COE’s coffin through a field goal six minutes from close (3-0). The match between Ropar Hawks and IHF Juniors was fast-paced with action shifting quickly from one corner to another. With neither team succeeding in scoring during regulation time, the tie-breaker rule was applied in which Ropar Hawks converted all their strokes through Jaswant Singh, Gurjant Singh, Kulbir, William and Harmik Singh. For IHF Juniors only Raghu Nath, Bikramjit and Ajmer Singh were on target. Namdhari XI, who grounded Indian Air Force, also had to wait for the tie breaker before emerging triumphant. Assisted by international Didar Singh, a member of the Indian team which won the Asia Cup in 2002, the Namdharis under the watchful eyes of coach Harminder Pal Singh matched their rivals move for move. However, since neither team could score in regulation time, the tie-breaker rule was applied in which Namdhari XI converted four strokes through Anmolak Singh, Gurcharn Singh, Hans Pal and Gurpreet Singh. Indian Air Force could convert only two through Satvir Singh and skipper Balbir Singh and were thus knocked out of the race for the title in the ‘A’ grade tournament. Monday’s fixtures: Army XI v Central Railway - 10.30 am; Namdhari XI v Central Reserve Police Force - 12 noon; Ropar Hawks v Western Railway - 1.30 pm; Chandigarh XI v BPCL - 3 pm.
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Canara Bank triumph
Chandigarh, September 26
M.S. Dhoni, the centurian of match against PCA Colts yesterday, could not repeat his performance and was caught in gully of the bowling of Chatra for 9. Sumit Panda 38 (4x4, 1x6) of 49 balls and Santosh Lal 21 were the main scorers for Bihar. Former International star Venkatesh Prasad and Sunil Joshi were also amongst the wickets claiming 3 for 19 and 3 for 15, respectively. G.Chatra 9-0-28-3 was declared man of the match. Canara Bank scored the required runs 122 in 20.5 overs for the loss of 2 wickets. Opener Bharath Chipli (52 not out off 53 balls with 8x4s) and G.K. Anil Kumar (60 off 63 balls with 9x4s and 1x6) were involved in 2nd wicket stand of 110 runs. Canara Bank got 5 points, including a bonus and are now heading Pool B. Tomorrows fixtures: Indian Airlines vs Indian Oil, Sector 16, Chandigarh, Bengal vs Madhya Pradesh, Sector 3, Panchkula, PCC vs BPCL, PCA Stadium, Mohali. |
Rohtak win U-19
championship
Rohtak, September 26 Rohtak won the toss and decided to field. Bhiwani scored 174 in 40 overs after losing eight wickets. Prem Prateek scored 58 to emerge the highest scorer in the innings. In reply, Rohtak reached the victory target in 39.2 overs. Nitin Saini, who had scored 459 runs in Polly Umrigar Trophy last year to emerge highest scorer in North Zone last year, scored 100 runs. |
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BBK College, Dhanoa Academy move into final Amritsar, September 26 BBK DAV College routed Kairo wing 3-0.
Kanupriya, Anubala and Rupa scored one goal each in the 8th, 47th and 54th minutes, respectively for on winners. Against the DAV got 10 penalty corners but could convert only one. In the last match of the women’s, segment, Dhanoa Academy, Jalandhar outplayed local Khalsa College for Women 3-0. Right-in Arun Bala stuck two goals in 20th and 27th minutes while Vandana scored a goal in the ninth minute. In the boys’ section, Lucknow Hostel got the better of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Academy, Amritsar, 2-0. The local outfit presented a good resistance but failed to turn it in goal. For the visitors, full-back Divakar scored two goals in the 16th and 29th minutes. Sukhchain Academy, Faridkot maintaining its winning run and defeated Bengal XI 5-1. Faridkot’s Palwinder scored the first goal in the 6th minute. Dalip Kumar and Surjit Singh scored a field goal each. Gurjit Singh and Varinder Kumar scored off penalty corners. The solitary goal of Bengal came in the 40 minutes by forward Gurdip Singh.
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Kuldip adjudged best athlete
Hamirpur, September 26 The following are the detailed results: Under 14 girls: 100m: Anshul 1, Swati 2 and Arti 3. 200m : Arti 1, Anshul 2 and Swati 3. Long jump: Arti 1, Anshul 2 and Swati 3. Under 14 boys: 100m: Twinkel 1, Kamlesh 2 and Mahip Singh 3. Long jump: Rahul 1, Anjush 2 and Rohit 3. Discuss throw: Rohit 1, Mahip 2 and Vivek 3. Under 16 boys: 100m: Kuldip 1, Saurabh 2 and Kiran Deep 3. 200m : Kuldip 1, Rajeev 2 and Raj Kumar 3. 400m : Kuldip 1, Rajeev 2 and Kirandeep 3. Long jump: Kuldip, 1, Rajeev 2 and Raj Kumar 3. Shot put: Raj Kumar 1, Ankush Dehal 2 and Sikendar 3. Discuss throw: Karan Dogra 1, Mandip Vaid 2 and Manuj Datyal 3. Under 18 boys: 100m : Rajnish 1, Vijay 2 and Sunil 3. 400m: Rajnish 1, Vijay 2 and Ravi 3. Long jump: Sushil 1 Vijay, 2 and Sunil 3. Shotput and discuss throw: Taran Kit 1. Under 20 boys:
100m : Kamal 1, Pritpal 2 and Amrit 3. 200m : Kamal 1, Amit 2 and Pritpal 3. 400m : Kuldip 1, Pritpal 2 and Amit 3. 5000m: Amit Mankotia 1, and Rajinder 2. Long jump: Sanjeev Kanwar 1, Pritpal 2 and Vinay 3. Shot put: Amish Chandra 1, Ashwani Rana 2. Discuss throw: Amish Chandra 1. Senior boys: 100m : Sanjeev Kanwar 1, Vinay Sharma 2 and Kamal Kishore 3. 1500m : Shashi 1, Ajay 2 and Sandip 3. 5000m : Sushil, 1 Shashi 2 and Ajay 3.
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London, September 26
