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Clarke, McGrath leave India tottering
ICC names umpires for
series till Feb 2005
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Foreign coaches neutral: Akram Hockey: India under pressure
FIFA approves code of ethics
Pak beat India, win Kirloskar golf title Rastogi ousts Liberhan Punjab cops win 3 gold in judo All set for junior national wrestling meet
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Clarke, McGrath leave India tottering Bangalore, October 7 The hosts were tottering at 150 for 6 at close after allowing Australia to rattle up a mammoth 474 and were still short by 125 runs to avoid the follow on. India’s much-touted batting line-up crumbled against a disciplined bowling by speedsters Glenn McGrath (3 for 37) and Michael Kasprowicz (2 for 23) who took centre stage after the batting heroics of Clarke and Gilchrist (104). The Indian innings suffered early blows with both Aakash Chopra and Rahul Dravid falling without opening their account. Virender Sehwag (39) and skipper Sourav Ganguly (45) seemed set for bigger knocks as they rebuilt the innings with a 83-run partnership for the third wicket. But both were consumed by the reverse swing of Kasprowicz. The highlight of the evening session was the battle between VVS Laxman and Shane Warne. The Indian had the psychological advantage from the domination he had over his rival last time they met but the Australian leg-spinner showed more patience and understanding of the conditions than he did before to have the last laugh. After being driven and tonked, Warne produced a huge leg break that whizzed past Laxman’s bat to knock the off bail. More than the delivery itself, it was the entire spell in which Warne worked on the batsman and made him play the way he wanted that showed him why he is a world record breaking bowler. The Indians’ problems would be doubled keeping in mind the condition of the track. The ball got quickly scrubbed up and the bounce was low, leaving the batsmen in trouble often. After the Kolkata Test of the 2001 series, Australians had been wary of asking Indians to follow-on. But this time around, Gilchrist might very well go in for the kill. Earlier, Australia were all out for 474 in their first innings after Michael Clarke became the 17th Australian to score a century on debut. Clarke’s 151 was the sixth highest by an Australian playing in his first Test. It was also the first instance of an Australian scoring a hundred on debut against India. Scoreboard Australia (1st innings): Langer b Pathan 52 Hayden c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 26 Katich b Kumble 81 Martyn c Chopra b Kumble 3 Lehmann c Dravid b Kumble 17 Clarke c Patel b Zaheer 151 Gilchrist c and b Harbhajan 104 Warne c Dravid b Harbhajan 1 Gillespie not out 7 Kasprowicz c Yuvraj
b Harbhajan 3
McGrath lbw Harbhajan 0 Extras: (b-5, lb-15, nb-8, w-1) 29 Total:
(all out in 130 overs) 474 FoW: 1-50, 2-124, 3-129, 4-149, 5-256, 6-423, 7-427, 8-471, 9-474 Bowling:
Pathan 21-6-62-1, Zaheer 22-2-60-1, Harbhajan 41-7-146-5, Kumble 39-4-157-3, Sehwag 5-0-26-0, Yuvraj 2-0-3-0.
India (1st innings):
Chopra lbw McGrath 0 Sehwag c Langer
b Kasprowicz 39
Dravid b McGrath 0 Ganguly c Gilchrist
b Kasprowicz 45
Laxman b Warne 31
Yuvraj c Gilchrist b McGrath 5
Patel not out 18
Pathan not out 1
Extras:
(b-1, lb-2, nb-3, w-5) 11
Total:
(six wickets, 44 overs) 150
FoW:
0-1, 2-4, 3-87, 4-98, 5-124, 6-136.
Bowling:
McGrath 15-4-37-3, Gillespie 8-2-41-0, Warne 14-1-46-1, Kasprowicz 7-1-23-2. — PTI |
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ICC names umpires for
series till Feb 2005
London, October 7 The Test matches between Bangladesh and New Zealand will be Australian Alan Hurst’s first series since becoming a member of this Emirates Elite Panel. The Bangladesh versus New Zealand series will also see English umpire Mark Benson officiate in his first Test match. Benson is a member of the support tier of officials nominated by their local boards, the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires. The other Emirates International Panel umpires to have been awarded Test match appointments during this period include fellow Englishman Jeremy Lloyds, who will stand in the first Test between Bangladesh and India. Asad Rauf and Nadeem Ghauri (both from Pakistan) and Tyrone Wijewardena and Gamini Silva (both from Sri Lanka) will all officiate in the Test series between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. The first Test will be Rauf’s first Test match on field, while Ghouri will make his Test debut in the second Test. All of the other Test match appointments will be fulfilled by the eight members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires. The ICC appoints one umpire for all one-day international matches to stand with a locally appointed member of the Emirates International Panel. — UNI |
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Foreign coaches neutral: Akram Mumbai, October 7 “As a player I felt comfortable with a foreign coach because they don’t carry a personal agenda,” the former Pakistan skipper told reporters here after extolling the virtues of physical exercise during an interactive session with hundreds of admiring schoolchildren. Akram, who is a diabetic and takes three insulin injections daily, was in the city to spread awareness about the disease, initiated by Roche Diagnostics (India) Pvt Ltd. “I feel the subcontinent players are also confident under a foreign coach as they are neutral and we can trust them,” said the great left-arm paceman. All four countries of the subcontinent currently have coaches from outside the region. India have John Wright as coach, Pakistan are guided by Bob Woolmer, Sri Lanka have appointed John Dyson and Bangladesh are coached by Dav Whatmore. Akram also welcomed the role taken on by another former Pakistan captain, Intikhab Alam, who would be coaching the Punjab Ranji Trophy team this season. “I welcome it. He’s trying to guide the youngsters. I would welcome anyone trying to guide under-15 and under-17 players,” he said before having a dig at his former teammate and coach Javed Miandad. “At least he’s not like Javed and wants to coach only a national team,” Akram said. Akram did not agree with the generally held view that fast bowlers were breaking down more often now than in the past. “We too have had breakdowns in our times. There’s no specific reason for this,” he said. When the case of Ashish Nehra was pointed out, Akram agreed that the Indian left-arm paceman did seem to be very injury-prone. “He seems to break down every second day, does he not?” he asked, but pointed out that another young Indian paceman, Irfan Pathan, had continued for over a year without injury problems. Akram said he had predicted the rise to stardom of young Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik two years ago. “He’s an asset to Pakistan cricket and a match-winner,” the left-arm pace great said of his younger compatriot. Earlier, during his interaction with school children who thronged the IES Auditorium in suburban Bandra to see him in person and ask questions about diabetes and cricket, Akram advised them to go out and play often and not be mere couch potatoes. “You have to go out and play for a healthy future. Do not be mere couch potatoes. And have regular diets,” he said. Akram told the children that when he was diagnosed as a diabetic about seven years ago, he was very upset. “But I decided to get on with my life. I keep regular hours, have regular dietary habits and exercise regularly. After cricket I have turned to golf,” he said. Akram is returning home from here. He was in Pune yesterday and said he would be back in India to spread awareness about diabetes in more cities.
— PTI |
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Hockey: India under pressure
Amritsar, October 7 Two Tests, one at Lahore and another at Chandigarh, were drawn. The arduous journey from Chandigarh to this holy city today forced the hockey teams of India and Pakistan to skip their practice sessions on the eve of the Test although Pakistan’s Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans did visit the stadium in the evening to see the pitch as well as provide a word of encouragement to budding players of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Academy functioning under the aegis of the Amritsar Hockey Club. As Olympian Balwinder Singh Shammi introduced Oltmans to the promising bunch of youngsters, Oltmans inspired them saying : “ If you have a dream, may be your dream will go further than the academy. Train hard. You are lucky to have fantastic teachers,” he said. Later talking to The Tribune, Oltmans revealed that their arrival was delayed due to a stoppage at Jalandhar. “ The welcome accorded to us at Jalandhar and Amritsar was overwhelming,” he said. Referring to the pitch, he said it appeared to be a good floor although the Chandigarh turf was certainly better. When asked what had gone wrong at Quetta where India beat Pakistan 4-1, Oltmans said the attitude of the players was not as required. About Sohail Abbas, Oltmans revealed that the ace defender was not focusing on the world record. “It may come here tomorrow or at Hyderabad or later in the Champions Trophy. He is certainly not under any sort of pressure,” he said. When asked whether his team was overdependent on
Sohail Abbas, Oltmans said “we are only concerned about goals.”
The Indian coach, Gerhard Rach, on the other hand preferred to keep his cards close to his chest although his deputy Jagbir Singh said the team would maintain the same spirit as was displayed at Chandigarh. Expressing dissatisfaction over the rate of penalty corner conversion, Jagbir nevertheless absolved his players of blame as skipper Dilip Tirkey had been sidelined due to injury. “This is a progressive side and the players are playing as a team,” said Jagbir while promising a good show tomorrow. Jagbir was also overwhelmed by the welcome accorded to the two teams here. Later in the evening, the two teams, along with officials, visited the Golden Temple. They were welcomed at the Information Office and later escorted into the holy precincts by officials of the SGPC. Meanwhile, last-minute arrangements were being made at the venue for tomorrow’s tie. The stadium’s seating capacity appears inadequate as not more than 8,000 spectators can be accommodated. It remains to be seen how the organisers cope with the situation. Hundreds of policemen have already been deployed on the campus to ensure that the match is conducted smoothly. Roads were being recarpeted opposite the Mata Kaulan Botanical Garden to ensure that visitors do not face problems. The match will start at 1.30 pm. |
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Both teams missed many chances
The 1-1 result at Chandigarh means that the India-Pakistan hockey series is still alive, though the quality of hockey displayed at the Sector 42 stadium was only marginally better than the one shown in Delhi two days earlier. But by far the most heartening thing was that the hockey fans of Chandigarh came out in huge numbers to see the match. The stadium can actually seat only about 22,000-24,000 persons, but I believe there were many more than that, probably close to 27,000-28,000. And many were left standing out, as the gates were closed way before the match began. The weather was once again a dampener and we need to question yet again why matches are being held at 1.30 in the afternoon. Surely it is important to think about the comfort of the players, too. Add to this factor the tight schedule, which gives no time for recovery. There is just one day in between the games and that is spent in travelling. Also I cannot understand why Hyderabad had to be the last match. Could it not have been the first and then the series could have moved to the north with the next match in Delhi and then Chandigarh and finally Amritsar, which is a stone’s throw from Pakistan. Now, imagine these teams will have to travel from Amritsar to Hyderabad for the last game and then back home. For players to produce good hockey, it is important to give them good conditions, too. India may have kept the series alive, but they now need to win both remaining games to level the Dosti Series. There were more attacks from either side, but the way these teams miss the chances that come their way, European sides will overrun them, which has been the case in recent times. Also, I cannot understand how they can waste so many penalty corners. Indians may have done well to hold the Pakistanis in the absence of skipper Dilip Tirkey, as Viren Rasquinha did duty as a defender and the skipper. But the big disappointment was the forward line. Sundeep Michael, Vivek Gupta and others are missing too many chances. Also, an unpardonable error at this level is the kind of trapping Indian boys have been showing. It has been poor and they have simply not been able to keep possession and lose the ball all too easily. The defence did a good job. The midfield can definitely show more method in their feeding. The Pakistanis have claimed that they have been indulging in some experiments. Probably they have the Champions Trophy in mind and coach Roelant Oltmans is rightly working towards it. But frankly, even the Pakistani front line has not been aggressive or on-target as we have seen in the past. Even their seasoned forwards are missing chances. Players like Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbassi and others are generally more accurate than what they are showing right now. Maybe it is fatigue and the timing of the matches and energy-sapping weather. Ignace Tirkey had the best game. He was rightly awarded the ‘man of the match’ trophy and the cash that goes with it. Ignace has flowered in the past few months. I only hope this progress continues and does not fall off like it has in the case of many others. One must also give credit to Viren, for adapting wonderfully as a defender. Viren is a thinking player and is really good for the team. As for match tactics, Indians could have done better by exploiting their left flank which was often left open. They did try a few times in the second half but were not penetrative enough in their efforts. Sohail Abbas failed to make the world record his own, as he missed quite a few penalty corners. Though their only goal of the match came from a penalty corner, it was off an indirect effort, which Ghazanfar scored. So, Sohail will have to wait further to try and get the world record for goals. With two more games left, India will need to put in a little more effort and try and win the games to level the series. Even a draw will be no good, they have to win both games. Though the Indians have not played to their potential, winning both games is not beyond them, simply because even the Pakistanis, despite their lead in the series, are not really overwhelming.
— PTI |
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FIFA approves code of ethics
Zurich, October 7 The 2006 World Cup will begin on June 9, 2006, in Munich and Gelsenkirchen, Germany, meaning that national associations would need to conclude their domestic league and cup schedules by May 14. FIFA’s executive committee expects to ratify the proposal from its strategic studies group at its December 18 meeting. Gathering at its lakefront headquarters in Zurich, FIFA’s executive committee also unanimously approved the code of ethics drawn up by a panel addressing the matter. On Tuesday, the strategic studies committee had agreed to reduce the number of matches played globally each year, an attempt to protect players from both injury and burnout. Other decisions include raising the bonuses for the 32 finalists at the 2006 World Cup to 332 million francs ($263 million) from the 240 million Swiss francs ($190 million) in 2002, an increase of 38 per cent, FIFA said. The adoption of the new ethics code, which addresses issues such as discrimination, conduct, bribery, gift acceptance, payment for mediation, sanctions, voting and others, was crucial, said FIFA spokesman Markus Siegler. FIFA’s executive committee also ruled that confederation champions from Europe and South America were no longer obligated to take part in the Confederations Cup. The executive also decided to set up other panels, including one to coordinate the international match calendar for women’s football. In addition, the executive committee ruled after the 2007 Women’s World Cup, the men’s and women’s World Cups will be played in the same year, starting with 2010. The move was designed to give a two-year interval between the Olympic and Women’s World Cup. Beginning with 2006, the under-19 women’s world championship will be staged as an under-20 event, same as the men’s, FIFA announced. In other decisions, FIFA suspended the federation from the African nation Niger, citing repeated interference from authorities in the association’s business.
— AP |
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Raid de Himalaya flagged off
Shimla, October 7 He fractured his left arm, besides suffering a neck injury. He was brought to the local Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital. A spokesperson for the Himalayan Motorsport Association, which is organising the event, said Yuvraj had not suffered any other serious injury and his condition was fine. The country’s toughest, longest and highest motorsport event was flagged off by Mr KC Anand, a vintage cars enthusiast and director the state tourism development corporation, from Peterhof in the wee hours of the day. Karandeep Singh Sandhu, driving a Baleno, was the first participant to take off in the four-wheeler X-treme event and Sukhjinder Rana in the two-wheeler category. In all 71 teams were flagged off but one competitor retired soon after. There are 44 vehicles in the four-wheeler category and 27 in the two-wheeler category. While 21 teams are participating in the X-treme version, 23 teams are competing in the “reliability trial” version. The two events will run concurrently over the next four days on the same route but the reliability trial, which has been introduced from last year to enable first-timers to gain experience for the main event, will circumvent some treacherous dirt stretches. The rally will reach Manali late this evening after crossing over the Jalori pass. The rally will pass through four mountain passes higher than 15,000 ft. |
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Pak beat India, win Kirloskar golf title
Lahore, October 7 Styled on the Ryder Cup, the tournament saw the neighbours battling for supremacy and though India is a big name in Asian golf, the hosts had the last laugh as they went on to lift the trophy yesterday. Pakistani golfers were in brilliant form right from day one and they won five matches on Monday while the sixth was tied. On Tuesday, India put up a better show and both the hosts and the visitors won three matches each. Pakistan, however, won eight matches, compared to India’s four, in the individual two-ball play yesterday to emerge winners 16.5- 7.5 points. India will host the next edition of the tournament in 2005.
— UNI |
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Rastogi ousts Liberhan
New Delhi, October 7 In a battle of nerves, Rastogi plotted two service breaks at the start of the second set to race away to a 3-0 lead on his way to victory in an hour and 45 minutes. Rastogi held serve in the opening game of the first set before the players traded two breaks each to raise the expectations of a rousing contest. Those were not belied as neither player gave much away and the games went with serve into the tie-break where Rastogi capitalised on the openings to claim the first set. Rastogi will take on top seed Aqueel Khan of Pakistan in the semifinal tomorrow. Wild card Nitin Kirtane, the three-time national champion from Pune, drew on his experience to dispose of 17-year-old J. Vishnuvardhan of Andhra Pradesh 6-4, 6-4 to move into the semi-final. Kirtane will meet second-seeded Vinod Sridhar in the fight for a final berth. Vinod Sridhar spent less than an hour as he breezed to a 6-2, 6-0 verdict that ended Aditya Mandkekar’s dream run. Sridhar won 10 games in a row to clinch the match. Top-seeded Aqeel Khan recorded a straight-set victory against left-hander Ravishankar Pathanjali 6-3, 6-4. Sixteen-year-old Sandhya Nagaraj scalped fifth-seeded Liza Pereira 7-5, 6-3 to claim her second seeded victim in successive days. She had shocked fourth-seeded Archana Venkatraman yesterday. She will take on second-seeded Sana Bhambri in the semifinal tomorrow. The left-handed Sandhya had won the ITF junior event in Chennai and Gurgaon, and made the final of the Mumbai leg, besides winning two doubles titles. Sana, who has dropped 11 games in three rounds, defeated seventh-seeded Sheetal Goutham 6-2, 6-1 while top-seeded Isha Lakhani beat Radhika Tulpule 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-1. Third seed Sonal Phadke got the better of Parul Goswami 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. Other results:
Boys under-18 singles: quarterfinals: Rupesh Roy beat Ajay Selvaraj 6-3, 6-3; Rahul Makharia b Alon Moses 6-3, 6-3; Sidharth Gulati b Rohan Gide 6-3, 7-6; Vivek Shokeen b Peter Agnel Gladwin 6-3, 6-0. Girls under-18 singles quarterfinals:
Sana Bhambri b Poojashree Venkatesh 6-1, 7-5; GK Shweta b Vandana Murali 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; Parul Goswami b Pooja Kommireddy 6-2, 2-0 (conceded); Preeti Subramaniam b Shivika Burman 6-4, 6-4. |
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Punjab cops win 3 gold in judo
Jalandhar, October 7 In the 100kg category, Jatinderpal Singh of Punjab Police bagged the first position while Yashpal Solanki, also of Punjab Police, was second. In a close fight, Samunder Tokas of BSF and Sanjeev Kumar of CISF displayed good technique and ended up sharing the silver medal jointly. Jai Pal Singh of Punjab Police bagged the gold medal in the 90kg category. Anil Kumar of ITBP and Brij Lal of Punjab Police secured the second and third positions, respectively. In the 81kg category, Vinod Solanki broke the supremacy of the Punjab Police to win thegold medal. Anik Kumar Dagar of ITBP was second. Rakesh Kumar of Punjab Police won the gold medal in the 73kg category. Ashok Kumar of BSF and Pankaj Sharma of Punjab Police were second and third, respectively. The Punjab Police team also won the gold medal in gymnastics as it secured 305.15 points. BSF bagged the second slot with 294.80 points. CRPF and ITBP were joint third. Other results:
Weightlifting (men): 77kg: Sandeep (Punjab Police) 1, Pardeep Sharma (UP) 2, Harpreet Singh (Punjab Police) 3;
85kg: Tejinder Singh (BSF) 1, Balwinder Kumar (Punjab Police) 2, Tarunveer Singh (Delhi) 3 |
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All set for junior national wrestling meet
Chandigarh, October 7 Stating this, Dr MS Malik, President, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), said all 31 affiliated wrestling units were participating in this competition. These are the Association of Indian Universities, Bihar, Chandigarh, Ch Bharat Singh Memorial Sports School, Nidani, Delhi Amateur Wrestling Association, Delhi State Amateur Wrestling Association, God Wrestling Association, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, MTNL Sports Control Board, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, NCR, Orissa, Punjab, P&T Sports Control Board, Railway Sports Promotion Board, Rajasthan Services Sports Control Board, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Wrestling Association of Delhi and the Andhra Pradesh Amateur Wrestling Association. Dr SS Negi, Vice-Chancellor, will declare the championship open on October 11. The weight-in will be on October 10. Dr MS Malik will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony to be held on October 12. Wrestlers in the age group of 18-20 years will compete in 10 weight categories — (in kg) 46, 50, 55, 60, 66, 74, 84, 96 and 96-120. One wrestler in each weight category, two coaches and one manager from each association will be allowed to participate. |
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Bilaspur DAV school win handball title
Bilaspur, October 7 In the junior category, DAV Public School, Rohini, Delhi, defeated DAV Public School, Bilaspur, 15-13. Mr Ajay Yadav, Superintendent of Police, Mandi, and president of the Himachal Pradesh State Handball Association, presided over the concluding function and gave away prizes and certificates to winners. DAV Public School, Bilaspur, Principal K. Parthipan said all winning and runner-up teams would participate in the national handball championship to be held at DPS, Ghaziabad, from November 18 to 22. |
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Imphal school rout Hisar girls New Delhi, October 7 K. Sushma Devi opened the account in the 12th minute while K. Nirmala Devi scored a hat-trick. P. Ranjita rounded off the tally in the closing stages of the match. |
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