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ICC panel to take up innovations in ODIs
Kahlon tied in 18th place
Obikwelu exacts revenge from Gatlin
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Anju finishes fourth
Anand draws with Kramnik
Paes-Zimonjic in semis
4-ODI ban for Smith
Shoaib offered role in Indian film
Inzamam dreams to lead World XI
Ahlawat is best allround student
Abhinav equals national record
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ICC panel to take up innovations in ODIs
London, May 14 The committee, chaired by former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar and comprising 12 other members with international playing experience, will consider a range of proposed innovations in one-day international cricket. These include alternative approaches to applying fielding restrictions only in the first 15 overs, the separation of innings into two segments of 25 overs and the introduction of substitutes. Umpiring will also be an important issue on the agenda. The panel will receive an update on recent technology trials including umpire earpiece technology. It will also consider proposals for the increased use of television replays in official decision-making, including whether to recommend a trial that will allow the batsman or fielding captain to appeal against a decision of the on-field umpire to the TV umpire. The committee will also consider an application from the Pakistan Cricket Board for the introduction of two neutral umpires in ODI cricket instead of one. Another major issue under review will be the specifications of bats used in international cricket after Australian captain Ricky Ponting’s use of a graphite-reinforced willow. The members of the panel will consider submissions from the MCC and a range of manufacturers, discuss their own views on the composition, colour, size and cover of cricket bats and then formulate any necessary proposals. The committee comprises six members nominated by the players and six representatives nominated by member boards. Of the 12-member committee, 10 representatives come from Test-playing countries. The meeting will be attended by David Richardson (ICC General Manager, Cricket), Malcolm Speed (ICC Chief Executive) and Sunil Gavaskar. The other members of the
committee are Tim May (Australia), Angus Fraser (England), Talat Ali (Pakistan), Errol Stewart (South Africa), Tiger Pataudi (India), John Reid Junior (New Zealand), David Holford (West Indies), Faruque Ahmed (Bangladesh), Arjuna Ranatunga (Sri Lanka), Ali Omarshah (Zimbabwe), Roland Lefebvre (Holland) and Harilal Shah. The committee does not have the authority to make final decisions on these issues. Instead, it will be required to develop recommendations for the ICC Chief Executive’s committee, which will deal with these issues at its next meeting on June 26 at Lord’s.
— UNI |
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Woods no longer a cut above
Toronto, May 14 Byron Nelson made 113 cuts in a row between January, 1941, and May, 1948, and it was at the championship that bears his name that one of sport’s best streaks was halted in Irving, Texas, yesterday. A shocked Woods stopped to talk to reporters after rounds of 69 and 72 left him one-over-par on 141, a total that failed to beat the halfway guillotine by one stroke. “I think this is more intestinal fortitude than anything else, days when you just do not have it, you do not mail it in, you do not pack it in, you give it everything you have got,” said the world number one. “You grind it out, I do not care what kind of game you have, you somehow try and find a way to get it done. You have seen me do it over the years. “I should have missed many a cut by now, but you just somehow figure out a way. That is part of my attitude and belief, that you should always have the switch on, you cannot turn it on and off. “You have got to give it everything you have got, got to have some good breaks along the way and I have definitely had my share. I have gutted it out at times.” Perhaps the best measure of Woods achievement in modern golf is that South Africa’s Ernie Els now owns the longest consecutive cut streak, at 20. It was only the third time in his career that Woods had missed the cut. The last time he failed to beat the cut mark was at the 1998 Pebble Beach Pro-Am. “It has been a nice little, how many years, seven years”, said the 29-year-old American. “That is not too bad. It is never a relief when you miss a cut. I have missed three of them so far in my career and none of them feel very good, especially when you bogey the last hole.” Woods was level-par for the event when he bunkered his approach at the 18th. He splashed out to 15 feet, but failed to sink his putt for a regulation four. “It is disappointing any time you miss the cut because you are here for four rounds to try to compete to win and now I do not get that opportunity to win the golf tournament. “I just had a tough day. It is just one of those days,” he said.
— Reuters |
Macau, May 14 The Chandigarh pro could have given an improved display had he not dropped one stroke each on the 17th and 18th holes. After playing at par 39 on the front nine, — Karmeet played one over on the 12th hole. He had birdies on the third, sixth, seventh, 13th and 15th holes. Kahlons progressive scores were 71, 67 and 72. Arjun Singh was placed tied 20th with two-under total of 211. Despite a triple bogey on the eighth hole, Arjun returned a par card 71. It was his second par round in three days. On Friday, he played one under 70. Amandeep Johl, another Indian from Chandigarh, scored second his successive par round of 71, which paved the way for him to occupied a tied 24th spot with one-under total of 212. Johl started by droppt one stroke on the first green itself. However, he played a steady round till going wayward on the three-par 10th hole, where he committed a triple bogey. Johl still managed to pay a par round. On day one, the Chandigarh golfer had played one-under 70. Yet another Indian, Rahul Gangjee was tied at the 33rd place with an aggregate three day’s score of 213. Today, he played a par round. His scores were 70, 72 and 71. Young Gurbaaz Mann, another product of Chandigarh Golf Club, was gaining experience and mental toughness. Comparatively an unknown entity on the Asian Tour, Gurbaaz played a steady round. He had excellent chances to have finished higher than the tied 40th position after 54 holes. He might have felt more pressure during closing stages of the game. He erred on the par-three 17th round where he took six strokes for a triple bogey. He finished the 18th hole by playing one
ove. Today, Gurbaaz played a par round 71. His first two day’s scores were 73 and 71. His aggregate was one over 214. Seasoned Indian campaigner Uttam Singh Mundy of Kolkata (70, 71, 75) had played three-over aggregate of 216 and was tied at the 54th place. Yet another young and upcoming golfer from Chandigarh, Sandeep Behl, was tied at 61st place with an aggregate five-over 218. Today, he played three-over 74 for five-over 218. He had scored 73 on day one and 71 on Friday. Behl, after dropping one stroke on the third hole, committed a double bogey on the 10th green. Wang Ter-chang of Chinese Taipei emerged the sole leader at the end of third day’s play with 11-under 202. On the third day, he returned an excellent card of four-under 67. His earlier successive scores were 66 and 69.
Edwar Loar of the USA was in second spot with one stroke behind the leader. Loar had totaled 10-under 203. It was his second successive five-under 66 round. On day one, he had played a par round 71.
— UNI |
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Obikwelu exacts revenge from Gatlin
Doha, May 14 Obikwelu, in his first race of the year, clocked the year’s best time of 10.05 seconds. Shaun Crawford and team-mate Gatlin timed 10.14 together, but the photo finish placed Crawford before Gatlin, who won in Osaka, Japan, last week. Obikwelu’s effort yesterday was a Doha meet record, beating Canadian Donovan Bailey’s 10.07, set in May, 1998. It was also Crawford’s first race of the year. Gatlin looked dejected, but said he was shrugging off the result. “This is just the start of the season. This is just the build-up of my new season. I will not read too much into this result,” Gatlin said. In the men’s 100 hurdles, Stanislav Olijars of Latvia also surprised by outrunning Olympic champion Terrence Trammell of the USA. Olijars, running next to Trammell in fifth lane, won in 13.11, also a meet record. Trammell finished in 13.18 while third place was grabbed by Redelem Melo Do Santas of Brazil at 13.30. “It was not a perfect run, but greatly enjoyable nevertheless. I think the warm weather helped,” Olijars said. The men’s 400 metres crown went to Nagmendin-Ali Abubakr of Sudan in a time of 45.52 seconds. Tyree Washington of the USA took second at 45.53, followed by Olleyne Franciqe of Grenada at 45.70. Kenya-born Saif Saeed Shaheen of Qatar picked up the gold medal in the non-Olympic race of 2,000 metres with a time of five minutes, 14.53 seconds. In second place was Wesley Kiprotich of Kenya, followed by compatriot Ronald Rutto Kipchumba. In the women’s 100 hurdles, Delloreen Ennis-London of Jamaica overcame a slow start to win in 12.77, beating Danielle Carruthers and Yolanda McCray, both of the USA. The women’s 200 metres was won by Allyson Felix of the USA in 22.78, with Christine Amertil of Bahamas second at 22.95, and Amy Mbacke Thiam of Senegal third on 23.10. Athens champion Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia won the long jump with a leap of 6.70 metres. Silver went to Bianca Kappeler of Germany at 6.55, and bronze to Fiona May of Italy with 6.47.
— AP |
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Indonesia in final
Beijing, May 14 Indonesia took the upper hand from the start, with Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir’s crushing 15-4, 15-7 win over Jens Eriksen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl in the mixed doubles. “We did not expect to win 3-0. The mixed doubles was the key. If we won that, it would be easier in the next game,” Indonesian coach Hendrawan said. Hopes faded for Denmark when world number three Peter Gade lost in straight games to Olympic champion Taufiq Hidayat. Hidayat won the first game 15-10 on a questionable line call, but dispelled all doubts in the second with a dominating 15-3 performance. “I was very confident against Gade because I beat him at the Olympics,” Hidayat, long considered the bad boy of badminton, said. The relatively inexperienced Camilla Sorenson, brought in to replace the injured Tine Rasmussen, tried to spark a Danish rally, taking her first game against Fransisca Hari 11-3. But Hari was able to turn things around and sent Indonesia through to an all-Asian final with a 2-1 victory. “The Indonesians played much better than us today. They deserve to go to the final,’’ Danish coach Steen Pedersen said.
— Reuters |
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Federer enters final
Hamburo, May 14 Federer was chasing his sixth title of the year and his third Hamburg championship in four years. The Swiss star improved his record forthe year to 40-2. Going back to the beginning of last year’s US Open, he had a 56-2 match record. Federer had a slow start against the 15th-seeded Davydenko, falling behind 2-0 and facing a break point in the third game. He held serve, however, and used a sloppy game by Davydenko to break back. “I was a little hectic in the beginning. Had he broken for 3-0, it could have been problematic,” Federer said. “But I held serve and found my rhythm.” Federer broke Davydenko’s serve again in the sixth game to go up for good in the opening set. In the second, he went up 2-1 and never looked back. Federer saved two break points with big service winners and held for 5-3. A forehand winner gave him the match. “I am very happy to be in the position of defending my title,” Federer said. “I am looking forward to the final. Qualifiers can be dangerous, but looking at my record makes me confident.”
— AFP |
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Anju finishes fourth
New Delhi, May 14 Anju, who was the defending champion, managed to clear a distance of only 6.42 metres to finish fourth, according to information received here. Olympic gold medallist and world number one Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia clinched the gold with a jump of 6.70 m. Bianca Kappler of Germany bagged the silver with a jump of 6.55 m while the bronze went to former world champion Fiona May of Italy, who managed to clear a distance of 6.47. For World Athletics Championship bronze medallist Anju, this was the first meet of the season. She would compete in several other meets in Europe and the USA before taking part in the World Athletics Championship in Helsinki, Finland, in August.
— PTI |
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Anand draws with Kramnik
Sofia, May 14 Local stalwart and world number 3 Veselin Topalov also could do little with his white pieces against a well-prepared Michael Adams of England and signed peace in quick time through repetition of moves. The other game of the category-20 double round-robin tournament played last nigth between world’s top-rated woman player Judit Polgar of Hungary and former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine also reached the drawn result, albeit after a nerve-wracking 78 moves. After the draw, Kramnik retained the sole lead, gained from the victory over Ponomariov in his first round game. With Kramnik on 1.5 points, Anand, Topalov, Polgar and Adams were close behind at this stage with 1 point each in their kitty while Ponomariov opened his account after signing truce with the prima donna of chess. Topalov and Adams played a shorter game move-wise, but their duel lasted longer than Anand’s.
— PTI |
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Paes-Zimonjic in semis
New Delhi, May 14 The Indo-Serbian Pair, seeded sixth, lost the first set, but came back strongly to beat the Bryan brothes 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 in the last eight. They would now meet eighth-seeded Michael Liodra and Fabrice Santoro of France for a place in the final. The French pair upset top-seeded Mark Knowles of Bahamas and Daniel Nestor of Canada 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the last four stage.
— PTI |
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4-ODI ban for Smith
Port of Spain, May 14 Smith was penalised for breaching the ICC code of conduct during South Africa’s third one-day international against West Indies in Barbados on Wednesday. ICC match referee Jeff Crowe found Smith was “in breach of clause C1 of the ICC code of conduct for conduct contrary to the spirit of the game on the basis of time wasting in relation to South Africa’s over rate.” “Graeme has been warned at a similar hearing last September when in breach and has been advised on numerous occasions that his over rates are too slow, including being fined after the second ODI of this series,” said Crowe. In addition to the ban, Smith, as captain, was fined 30 per cent of his match fee for the slow over rate. The other South African players were fined 15 per cent of their match fees.
— AFP |
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Shoaib offered role in Indian film
Mumbai, May 14 “We were looking out for a person who had the combination of a young vulnerable face with the rawness of an animal instinct. Earlier, we had thought of Sanjay Dutt, but there were date problems, so when Meera, actress of my film ‘Nazar’, suggested Shoaib, I jumped at the idea”, Bhatt said. The film, to be directed by Anurag Bose, would be shot abroad, he said, adding that they had assured Shoaib that they would start shooting soon once he gave his nod. “But it is only after I meet the cricketer that the picture will be clear”, Bhatt said. “It was Meera who was instrumental in helping me get in touch with Shoaib and speak to him on phone”, he said. “Shoaib was initially amused by the idea, but when he realised that the role was real and was offered to Sanjay Dutt, he took it up seriously and agreed to meet me when I fly down to Pakistan next week”, he said.
— PTI |
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Inzamam dreams to lead World XI
Islamabad, May 14 “Honestly speaking just being selected for the World XI will be satisfying enough as it will be a recognition of my performances for Pakistan in recent months but if I get a chance to lead the World XI, it will be the icing on the cake for me,” Inzamam, one of the only three captains selected among the probables, said. England’s Michael Vaughan and South Africa’s Graeme Smith were the other two current skippers in the 30-member squad for the Super Series while India’s stand-in captain Rahul Dravid was in contention too, though the ICC had confirmed that the job could also be given to a player who was not captain of any team. Inzamam, who had scored 21 centuries in 100 Tests, said it would be a big occasion for him.
— PTI |
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Ahlawat is best allround student Patiala, May 14 Prominent among those who were present at the ceremony were the Patiala MP, Mrs Preneet Kaur, SAI Executive Director (Teams) Mr M.P. Ganesh, Regional Director of the NIS, Mr L.S. Ranawat, and a galaxy of international sportspersons. Other toppers include Jyoti Panwar (athletics), Nazma Parveen (badminton), Lt-Col Jagdev Singh Grewal (basketball), N.K. Nigam (boxing), Charles David Thomson (cricket), Parmvir Singh (cycling), Bhupinder Singh (fencing), Tejinder Kumar (football), Satpal Singh (gymnastics), S. Mathew (handball), Hardeep Singh (hockey), Devinder Kumar (judo), Harinder Singh (swimming), Irwin C Cardo (table tennis), Ashok Kumar Ahlawat (volleyball), Pawan Kumar (weightlifting), Karanvir Singh (wrestling), N.S. Singh (wushu). Those who topped in sports science subjects are Mr Parmvir Singh (general theory and methodics of training), N.K. Nigam, Kundan Chandra, Kanchan Chaurasia and Haneefa K.G (sports psychology), Satpal Singh and Laxman Pal (sports medicine), C.D. Thomson and Haneefa K.G (physiology). Out of a total of 198 students who passed out today, 26 were awarded grade A, 155 grade B while 17 students were given grade C.
Abhinav equals national record
Chandigarh, May 14 Bindra took to Rifle event only two months ago and it was his maiden appearance in this category at the international level.
— PTI |
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