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Dempo clinch NFL title
Need to assess bench strength: Chappell
Ranatunga heads panel on coach
Anand draws with Ponomariov
Suspense over Gill’s candidature
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Narain 16th in practice session
Isha Lakhani lifts crown
Germany win World Team Cup
Atwal vaults to tied 12th
Mediocre show by athletes
AC Milan help Juventus to title
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Dempo clinch NFL title
Margao, May 21 After a barren first half, Dempo surged ahead in the 56th minute when Prakash converted off a cross by Clifford Miranda from the right in the 56th minute. Martins then assured Dempo of the title by scoring in the 78th minute off Miranda’s pass. Thus Dempo achieved the rare distinction of winning the Federation Cup and the NFL title. The win took Dempo’s final tally to 47 points. In another match at Nehru Stadium, Mahindras United cut short Sporting Clube de Goa’s dream of winning the title when they beat them 3-1 in an exciting match. Mahindras scored through a brace by Flavio De Rodrigues (40th, 86th) and substitute K Koluthungan (81st), while Sporting reduced the margin through Wilton Gomes (42nd). Mahindras thus finished with 34 points to remain on fourth place. Sporting Clube de Goa finished second behind Dempo with 45 points. The match between Sporting and Mahindras was entertaining, especially in the first half as both teams had a go at each other’s goal as rival goalkeepers made good saves. Mahindras had the first shy at the Sporting goal but keeper Luis Barreto made a brilliant save off Flavio Rodrigues shot in the second minute. Minutes later Luis again came to his side’s rescue when he collected Jatin Bist’s shot. Sporting, who needed a simple victory to clinch the title, then made a counter-move and Dudu, who was closely guarded by the rival defenders, saw his shot first blocked by the keeper Sandip Nandy and off the deflection, his second attempt at the goal was saved by defender Covan Lawrence on the goal line. Adebayo had a try at the rival goal but Nandy made a good save. At the other end, Flavio Rodrigues saw his shot missing narrowly. With the ball moving at both ends, the Mahindras goal survived as Adebayo Adewusi’s shot hit the cross bar. Then it was the turn of Mahindras as Flavio Rodrigues’s free kick hit the post. Mahindras finally took the lead in the 40th minute through a penalty after Flavio Rodrigues was brought down by Felip Gomes inside the box. Flavio, who himself took the spot kick, converted it. Two minutes later, Sporting restored parity when Wilton Gomes headed home from inside the box after Dudu relayed to hit a cross from the right by Vincent Pires. The match was evenly poised in the second half. Mahindras, in order to break the Sporting rhythm, brought in K Koluthungan in place of Khalid Jamil and this paid rich dividends as he broke the deadlock in the 81st minute when he scored off an Ajtin Bist pass. Later, he was a provider in the 86th minute when he laid a pass to Flavio Rodrigues, who scored his brace. East Bengal lose
Siliguri: Defending champions East Bengal’s title aspirations went up in smoke as they were downed 1-3 by Vasco Sports Club, Goa in their concluding ninth National Football League encounter here on Saturday. Anthony Pereira struck twice while Fabio Sohres netted the other goal for Vasco, for whom the surprise win came a little too late, as they have already been demoted to the second division. Sandip Das was the lone scorer for East Bengal, who completed their engagements with 43 points from 22 matches. East Bengal, who first needed a victory against Vasco to stay in the hunt and then hope leaders Sporting Clube de Goa and Dempo would also suffer reverses, were nowhere near their best before 20,000 supporters at the Kanchenjunga stadium. With a host of footballers, including Bhaichung Bhutia and Alvito de Cunha indisposed, East Bengal were rudderless as Vasco controlled the proceedings from the beginning and trailed 0-1 at the breather. The Goans finished their league odyssey with 20 points from 22 outings. SBT down Fransa
Kozhikode: Bottom-placed State Bank of Travancore, Thiruvananthapuram, came up with a stunning performance to trounce star-studded Fransa Pax, Goa, 2-0 in the last National Football League encounter for the ONGC Cup here on Saturday. Coming together as a team, the bankmen seized the initiative in the 26th minute when striker Asif Saheer netted from a Pradeep pass coming from a corner off Naushad. After SBT’s in-form goalkeeper Jean Christian came up with a perfect save to block a sharp 25-yard kick by Goan Captain Jules Alberto just at the half-time, the hosts brought in the second goal in the 49th minute when Abdul Hakkim neatly connected a square pass from Mohammed Rafi. Christian was named the man of the match. Though SBT increased their final points tally to 18 from 22 outings, they could finish only 11th, while Fransa stayed at the fifth spot with 30 points from as many matches in the 12-team league.
— PTI |
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Need to assess bench strength: Chappell
New Delhi, May 21 “Cricket is an intriguing game. There are lot of individual efforts that go towards the team effort, but the individual performance comes secondary to team requirements,” Chappell said in his maiden interaction with the Indian media soon after his appointment yesterday. “That is part of the discipline and that will be an area that we will be working on throughout the time I am involved with the team,” he said. Chappell also sought to dismiss the talk on low bouncy pitches in India and the need to improve them. “What I would like to see is that the best cricket wicket that is possible,” he said. “There is a misnomer about how involved the players, captains, and coaches around the world are about the playing conditions. “All I would expect from the local authorities is the best cricket wicket possible under the given conditions. “If we can do that and put the right players on the field, then that is all we can ask for.” Chappell said he needed to assess the bench strength as part of his “broad brush of his vision for Indian cricket”. “I need to know the fringe players, that’s the reason to involve them early. I have to know what’s out there so that we can look at the right balance,” he said. “Because on a different day, we will need a different balance against different opposition, who is in and out of form. “So there is going to be more requirement than just 11 or 12 players, I need to come to grips with them sooner rather than later.” The former Australian captain said he would be discussing his vision with the players in his first meetings with them next month. “I have a broad brush of what my vision is for Indian cricket, and that is of commitment to excellence. “But within that there will be a whole range of issues. They will come to light individually as it unfolds.” The 57-year-old told the Indian media, whom he saw as part of the whole set-up, “... I promise I will do my best to respect your professionalism. “If you can do your best to respect mine and ours as a team. I can’t be available to you 24x7, there will be times when I have to say ‘no’. “If we can start our relationship on a professional basis, we can achieve what we all want to achieve.”
— PTI |
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Ranatunga heads panel on coach
Colombo, May 21 Sri Lanka Cricket Interim Committee said a nine-member panel would hold discussions early next week with former Australian Test player Tom Moody, tipped to take over as the country’s next coach. Moody emerged a strong contender for the job after India yesterday hired former Australian Test skipper Greg Chappell till the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. “It was always going to be a race between Moody and Chappell, but after India named Chappell, we are likely to go with Moody,” Jayantha Dharmadasa, chairman of the Interim Committee, said. The committee to select the new coach included seven former Sri Lankan captains — Ranatunga, Roshan Mahanama, Ranjan Madugalle, Duleep Mendis, Bandula Warnapura, Michael Tissera and Anura Tennekoon. Former Test batsman Sidat Wettimuny and paceman Graeme Labrooy were other members of the panel. Sri Lanka’s next international assignment would be a two-Test home series against the West Indies in July. India would join the two teams the following month for a triangular one-day series.
— AFP |
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Anand draws with Ponomariov
Sofia, May 21 The Indian kept the pressure on his much younger opponent, but could not breach Ponomariov’s
defence, eventually signing peace when only the two kings were left on the board. The draw took Anand’s points tally to 4.5 from a possible eight and he remained in joint second position along with world’s top-rated woman player Judit Polgar of Hungary. Overnight leaders Ponomariov and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, who drew with Polgar in the ninth round, continued to head the table with five points in their kitty, with just two more rounds to go in this category-20 double round-robin tournament. In the other game of the day, Kramnik drew with Great Britain’s Michael Adams and both remained on 3.5 points
each. Ponomariov had his task cut out against Anand and the Ukrainian did not go for any complexities with his white pieces. Starting with the English opening, Ponomariov faced the Hedgehog set-up by Anand and in quick time, the Indian ace
equalised. As the middle game approached, with two pieces off the board, Anand had little to worry about as subsequent exchanges became imminent after the centre was opened and soon the players arrived at a rook and pawns endgame. Anand lost a pawn in the ensuing position, but the game never really came out of boundaries of a draw. Further exchanges led to a deadlock in 54 moves and quite interestingly, for the third time in the tournament, Anand had bare kings left on the board. “I do not believe white has chances unless black makes mistakes,” Anand said after the game, adding, “I had more or less a relaxing
day.” Kramnik drew with Adams without much ado. Playing the black side of a Ruy Lopez Tchigorin variation, the Russian was never in any serious trouble and had it easy till Adams went for a flurry of exchanges, leading to a level rook and minor piece endgame. The peace was signed in 53 moves.
— PTI |
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Suspense over Gill’s candidature
New Delhi, May 21 While Gill and IHF Secretary General K. Jothikumaran declined to say anything on the elections, which would go ahead as scheduled after the Delhi High Court directive, sources in the federation said that the names could be decided in Kolkata tomorrow. The Delhi High court had yesterday refused to stay the annual general meeting and elections, though it directed the IHF not to declare the results and keep the same in a sealed cover till further orders. “We do not want to say anything on the election. We also do not want to speak to the media on the issue,” Jothikumaran said. While the IHF was yet to officially announce Gill’s candidature, a senior IHF official said the former Punjab Police chief was all set to vie for a fourth consecutive term. “He must be contesting and that is why he has advanced the elections. It should not come as a surprise if he goes for it,” he said here. Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who was in London, was unlikely to join in the race, as it was reported earlier. “He (Patel) is in London and will be coming back on Monday afternoon. He has no plans to contest the elections as far as we know. He has conveyed this to us in clear terms,” sources close to the minister said. With hardly anytime left, hectic parleys were expected in Kolkata on the eve of the elections, with almost all office-bearers of the federation assembling in Kolkata to chalk out the strategies. “The court case left us with little time to do the groundwork. So the IHF President and other office-bearers will be leaving for Kolkata tomorrow to do what is required,” sources in the federation said. A section in the IHF, opposed to both Gill and Jothikumaran staying in power for more than two terms, said it would decide tomorrow whether to field anyone against the two if they contested. “It will be speculative to say anything at this moment. We will be deciding what to do tomorrow. We will definitely act as the situation demands,” a senior official of the federation said. —
PTI |
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Narain 16th in practice session
Monaco, May 21 In the first practice session, the Indian lapped the street circuit in one minute 20.348 seconds to finish 16th while Portuguese Monteiro clocked 01:20.215 to finish just ahead of his Indian team-mate. The second practice session again saw Monteiro pipping Karthikeyan to finish 16th with 1:19.034s. Karthikeyan recorded 1:19.606s in the time sheet to end up behind Monteiro but ahead of Christijan Albers of Minardi who timed 1:19.700s to finish 18th. Giancarlo Fisichella and championship-leading team-mate Fernando Alonso stamped Renault's authority in the final practice session. Italian Fisichella set the fastest lap time of one minute 13.988 seconds, beating the Spaniard by 0.059 around the twisty street circuit. McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen, winner of the last race in Spain, was third quickest ahead of Toyota’s Italian Jarno Trulli, victorious last year for Renault. Australian Mark Webber raised the Williams team’s hopes with the fifth fastest lap in the final session. Ferrari’s seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, fifth in the first 45-minute session, faded to ninth. The German, five times a winner in Monaco, has not won for six races and has made the worst start to a season of his career. McLaren’s Juan Pablo Montoya, winner in 2003 for Williams, put in a sparkling performance in the first session. The Colombian, like Raikkonen wearing a diamond-encrusted helmet that will be auctioned for charity after the glamour race, had lapped in 1:16.197. Fisichella was second in that session, 0.206 of a second slower, with Ralf third. Alonso leads the championship with 44 points to Trulli’s 26. Schumacher, the most successful driver in Formula One history, has just 10. The session was red-flagged just before the end when Canadian Jacques Villeneuve’s Sauber collided with David Coulthard’s Red Bull which in turn hit Ralf’s Toyota. —
UNI, Reuters |
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Isha Lakhani lifts crown
Indore, May 21 Isha won the title by defeating Sanaa 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 in a spirited fight for supremacy. Bhambri sisters — Ankita and Sanaa — won the doubles title yesterday, defeating Lakhani and Megha Vakharia 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Top-seeded Ankita settled scores to some extent with Lakhani, who had caused a major upset by defeating the former in the singles semifinal earlier. The doubles final, which lasted two hour and 19 minutes, witnessed powerful strokes and service from the Bhambri sisters against their opponents. In the third set, Bhambri sisters, after losing the first game, took a decisive lead of 5-1 to remain in dominating position. The Bhambri sisters lost just one more game and clinched the set and the doubles title of the tournament 6-2.
— PTI |
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Germany win World Team Cup
Dusseldorf, May 21 In the doubles, Haas and Alexander Waske outplayed the Argentine pair of Guillermo Canas and Guillermo Coria 6-1, 6-2. Earlier, Germany advanced to the final after beating Spain 2-1. Spain earned the first point when Tommy Robredo beat Tommy Haas 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, but Florian Mayer put Germany level after edging past David Ferrer 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3. Germany clinched victory when Haas and Alexander Waske defeated Robredo and Santiago Ventura 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 in the doubles. In the other match, Sweden beat the USA 2-1. Vincent Spadea claimed his first victory in nine matches at the tournament, breaking once in each set to top Joachim Johansson 6-3, 6-4. Thomas Johansson then easily beat Jeff Morrison 6-1, 6-4, at one point winning seven straight games. Jonas Bjorkman and Johansson handed Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan their first loss this week 6-4, 6-2.
— Agencies |
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Atwal vaults to tied 12th
Fortworh (Texas), May 21 Atwal, despite being on limited exemption, had been on a roll this season. He continued his good work with a round of six birdies and just one bogey on the second day of the tournament, which saw him rise from tied 45th to tied 12th. Atwal, who shot a par round of 70 on the first day, was now five-under 135, but still some distance off the leader Kenny Perry, who was at 12-under 128. Meanwhile, Daniel Chopra worked hard to make the cut, as he recovered from his first-day score of three-over 73 to shoot a bogey-free three-under 67 to come to three-under and tied 52. He was even par for two days, as the cut came at one-over. Kenny Perry, champion at the Colonial in 2003, was having sight problems that made it difficult for him to read greens or see long distances and shady spots. Yet he managed a tournament record for two days at the Colonial and led by three strokes after his second round 63 following a 65 on first day. D.J. Trahan (67) and Ted Purdy (65), whose first tour victory came last week at the Byron Nelson, were tied for second at nine-under and Kirk Triplett was another stroke back in fourth after his second straight 66.
— PTI |
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Digvijay recovers, Arjun stumbles
Manila, May 21 Arjun, trying to recapture the form that saw him retain his card for six years in a row, was now one-over for 54 holes at 214. Australian Jason Dawes smashed the course record with a sizzling nine-under-par 62 to take lead from Thailand’s Boonchu Ruangkit at the end of 54 holes. Digvijay Singh had the best round among Indians and he recovered from being on the bubble on second day to tied 34th and another good round could see him inside the top 20. Digvijay improved tremendously with a two-under 69, that saw him shoot up to tied 34th place along side Shiv Kapur. Digvijay opened with a double bogey and then had two birdies and one bogey on front nine. It was the back nine of the course that provided him relief with three birdies including the 17th and 18th. Also improving his position was Kapur, who had slipped with his second round five-over 76. He recovered from the shock and shot an one-under 70, which might have been better, but for a late bogey on the 16th. He had three birdies and two bogeys for his 70, that put him at three-over 216. Firoz, looking composed on first two days, had a bad front nine, dropping four strokes, He recovered just on the return journey for his three-over 74 and at six-over 219. He slipped to tied 59th after being tied 34th at the midway stage. Vivek Bhandari managed a solitary birdie on the 12th, as against four bogeys and one double bogey.
— PTI |
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Randhawa tied 46th
Okayama (Japan), May 21 Randhawa, who shot a 71 and 70 on the first two days to be three-under, was now two-under after 54 holes. On day three, Randhawa started from the 10th and birdied the 10th and 18th and in between, bogeyed the 12th and 13th. On his second nine, he birdied the sixth and seventh and bogeyed the ninth. The leader was still Hiroyuki Fujita, who despite his third round of par 72, was two shots ahead of Steve Conran (69), who was now 13-under for three days. He shared second place with Tadahiro Takayama, whose eight-under 64 in the third round saw him come to 13-under after rounds of 73 and 66 on the first two days. India’s Jeev Milkha Singh had earlier missed the cut with 71 and 75 on the first two days.
— PTI |
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Mediocre show by athletes
Patiala, May 21 After taking part in the inaugural edition of the meet at New Delhi on May 17, several top names absented themselves from the meet here, citing various reasons. The meet was inaugurated by the AFI Secretary, Mr Lalit Bhanot. Prominent among those present included former Olympic hurdler G.S. Randhawa, who came from Delhi to attend the proceedings. The meet commenced with the women’s hammer throw which was won by Ritu Rani of Delhi who threw the iron ball to a distance of 56.87 m, nearly 4 m below the national record of 61.67 m set by her Delhi colleague Hardeep Kaur in 2002. Ritu Rani was followed by Ushma Singh, also of Delhi, who managed 52.66 m while Punjab thrower Rajwinder Kaur (52.55 m), came third. In the men’s 100m, the sprinters had to face a strong breeze which, according to many experts, hampered the performance of the runners. The race was won by H.Jayachandran of LIC, who breasted the tape with a timing of 10.56s, way behind Anil Kumar’s national record of 10.33s set at Chennai in 1999. Piyush Kumar of Railways, who came second in the New Delhi meet, once again finished second by clocking 10.58s, while dark horse Vishal Saxsena, also of Railways, came third with a timing of 10.59s. The biggest disappointment turned out to be Jagdish Basak, who had won the event in New Delhi. The BSF runner fumbled at the starting line and settle for the seventh place. In the women’s 100 m, Poonam Tomar and Kavita Pandya, both of Railways, were engaged in a tough fight which ultimately saw Poonam reigning supreme by clocking 11.62s. Kavita Pandya, who looked a bit jaded and lost momentum towards the end of the race, came second with a timing of 12.02s. Kerala sprinter K.M Greeshama finished third with a timing of 12.07s. The timings were short of the national record of 11.38s clocked by Rachita Mistry in 2000. Busan Asian games gold medallist Sunita Rani, who had absented herself in the first meet at New Delhi, made a good comeback by winning the gruelling 10,000m race with a timing of 34:57.42. She was followed by Punjab Police's Beant Kaur and Preeja Sreedharan of Railways in that order. Other results: 1500m (men): Ghamnda Ram (Services)-1 (3:52.11s), P.S Primesh (LIC)-2 (3:52.99s), Josemon Mathew (Services)-3 (3:58.04). 1500m (women): Sinimol Paulose (Tata Academy)-1 (4:29.31), Sunita Kumari (Railways)-2 (4:31.62), Salma M.C (CRPF)-3 (4:37.12). 400m (men): Satbir Singh (Services)-1 (46.83s), Sarish Paul (Services)-2 (47.92s), Aboo Backer (Kerala)-3 (48.15s). 400m (women): Chitra Somen (Jharkhand)-1 (52.94s), Manjeet Kaur (Punjab Police)-2 (53.64s), Rajwinder Kaur (Punjab Police)-3 (54.46s). 3000m steeplechase (men): Arun D Souza (Railways)-1 (9:09s), R.B Subba (Punjab Police)-2 (9:12s), Vikas Singh (UP)-3 (9:17s). Discus throw (men): Amritpal Singh (Punjab)-1 (52.35m), Sukhbir Singh (PP)-2 (51.39m), Simranjit Singh (Punjab)-3 (50.71s). Shot put (men): Ranvijay Singh (UP)-1 (19.23m), Jaiveer Singh (Services)-2 (18.56m), Shakti Singh (Railways)-3 (18.38m). Javelin throw (men): Jagdeesh Bishnoi (PP)-1 (74.18m), Sunil Goswami (Delhi)-2 (72.03m), Gajendra Kumar (Railways)-3 (71.67m). |
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AC Milan help Juventus to title
Rome, May 21 Playing their penultimate Serie A match two days early to give them more time to prepare for Wednesday’s Champions League final against Liverpool, Milan needed to win to keep their Scudetto hopes alive. Despite fielding a weakened side, everything looked rosy for the defending champions when they went in at half-time 3-1 up, thanks to a double strike by Serginho and another from Jon Dahl Tomasson. But Milan sat back and Palermo scored twice in the last 13 minutes — their second goal a very contentious penalty converted by Luca Toni — to ensure the championship ended up in the Old Lady’s hands for a 28th time. The draw left Milan four points behind Juventus.
— AFP |
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New Delhi, May 21
