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Camp for probables begins today
BCCI announces cricket schedule
Pak cricket’s underworld links ‘confirmed’
Roger Federer eyes Sampras’ record
India’s most successful tennis player
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Sania’s ranking
rises to 70
Hockey academies on solid turf
Lobbying intensifies for 2012 Olympic Games
Grapplers win Commonwealth title
Ranjit wins two sprints
Haryana eves in semis
Juniors need to regain form
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Camp for probables begins today
Bangalore, July 4 The speedsters completed a week-long camp, which focused on their fitness, at the National Cricket Academy here today. From tomorrow till July 12, they will continue with their physical conditioning along with new entrants Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Mohammed Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, VVS Laxman, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Y Venugopala Rao, Neeraj Patel, Dheeraj Jadhav, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Kaarthick, Parthiv Patel, Anil Kumble, Murali Kartik, Sridharan Sriram and Hemang Badani. Sourav Ganguly, Dinesh Mongia, Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan, who are busy playing county cricket in England, are slated to join this expanded group on July 13 when the final phase commences focusing on cricket skills. This camp will run up till July 22. The pacers took a day off today but not before interacting with noted dietician Lisa Sarah John. Kinesiology expert Charles Krebs has already interacted with some top bowlers. Krebs is working with the bowlers in the realm of mental and physical make-up. “He is a specialist across the board of human performance,” India coach Greg Chappell said. The speedsters went through the paces for an entire week — undergoing physical tests and other drills, swimming and an interaction with Australian pace guru Dennis Lillee over the weekend. Former India speedster Javagal Srinath, who was also involved in the camp, was all praise for Krebs. “What he has been doing is fantastic. This will give multi-length perspective towards the game, which is good for the fast bowlers, we need them.” Feedback on running and fielding drills at the camp were provided by video analyst S. Ramakrishnan, who used ‘timewarp’ technology and also presented an analysis of the bowlers to Chappell and Lillee.
— PTI |
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BCCI announces cricket schedule
MUMBAI: The BCCI has dropped the idea of fielding a team comprising National Cricket Academy trainees in the Duleep Trophy tournament this coming season.
The BCCI’s Tours and Programmes and Fixtures Committee, convened by BCCI joint secretary Gautam Dasgupta and chaired by Kamal Morarka here on Monday to chalk out the schedule for the 2005-06 domestic season, felt it would not be proper to field an NCA team considering the importance of the event. Coloured clothing and white balls would be used in the Deodhar Trophy limited overs tournament to be played in February-March, 2006. The season begins with the Irani Cup tie between last year’s Ranji Trophy winners Railways and the Rest of India in Delhi from October 1 to 5. This tournament would be followed by the October 10-13 Challenger Series day/night one-day tournament to be held at Mohali. This year’s Ranji Trophy, commencing soon after the end of the Duleep Trophy around November 20, would see the league and knockout phase being held without any break unlike last year when there was a three-month gap between the two stages.
— PTI
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Pak cricket’s underworld links ‘confirmed’
New Delhi, July 4 The Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), the ICC’s investigating arm, now feels its assessment of some Pakistani cricketers stands vindicated by news of the wedding. “For some years we have probed the activities of several Pakistani cricketers but could not move ahead as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was never forthcoming,” a senior ACSU member told IANS. “This forthcoming wedding shows the underworld may have played an important role in Pakistan cricket,” the senior official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Former Pakistan captain Salim Malik and medium pacer Ata-ur-Rehman received life bans after they were found guilty of match fixing by a one-man judicial inquiry panel. However, the focus of ACSU’s inquiries over the past three years has been a former Pakistani captain and a fast bowler. It has voiced concern over the movements of the Pakistani cricketers and indicated to the PCB that they have been the subject of “serious suspicions” by ACSU sleuths. In September, 2002, and in March, 2003, ACSU chairman Lord Paul Condon had in confidential correspondence to the then PCB chief Tauqir Zia pointed to allegations of match fixing and under-performance. However, the PCB had its own reasons for hushing up the matter and maintaining a stoic silence on it. Alan Peacock, a senior investigator of the ACSU, when contacted by IANS in London on the unit’s ongoing inquiry into allegations against former Pakistani cricketers, said: “We will not be able to confirm or deny the scope of our inquiry for obvious reasons. “We will not make any comments,” was Peacock’s non-committal reply. Information received by the ACSU at that point suggested the Pakistan team might have under-performed in two one-day tournaments in Morocco and Kenya in 2002. The unit also had “compelling circumstantial evidence” to suggest a 1999 World Cup match at Old Trafford in Manchester between India and Pakistan was “fixed”. The case against the former captain was built around a three-page statement made by a Delhi businessman to the ACSU. His testimony revealed he was witness to Delhi punter Ratan Mehta “arranging the under-performance” of Pakistani players in the Manchester match. This happened in a London bar and the businessman also testified Mehta said he had “sorted out” 10 members of the Pakistani team. Again, as part of its wider probe, the ACSU found the activities of both these players “dodgy” during the 2002 Champions Trophy in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Both players were regularly seen in the company of a known criminal named Usman at the Hilton Hotel, while the rest of the team stayed at the Taj Samudra. “We later found out Usman was involved in many criminal activities and we tried tracking him down with the help of Interpol,” said an ICC official. In his letter, Condon told Zia none of the allegations was capable of proof but noted that a “worrying amount of information is being received from different sources in different countries and I place it before you (PCB) in case it resonates with your own information and anxieties about recent results”. Dawood has been present at several high-profile India-Pakistan matches in Sharjah and the ACSU sleuths feel there could be evidence of organised crime being behind many bookmakers. For now, the ACSU’s immediate concern is to ensure the “game is not tainted henceforth” and to introduce measures to prevent corruption. But given that they have to counter powerful betting syndicates and the elements from the underworld to keep the game free of “corrupting influences” that could be a tall order. Enormous sums of money and unimaginable rewards are still on offer in the world of match fixing.
— IANS |
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Roger Federer eyes Sampras’ record
London, July 4 The world number one’s majestic 6-2, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 demolition of Andy Roddick in just 1hr 41min yesterday was his fifth Grand Slam title in all. Such was his dominance that the 23-year-old insisted that the performance represented a new peak in his career. “This is probably the best match I have ever played,” said Federer whose target now is to pass Bjorn Borg’s five Wimbledon wins, then Sampras seven before breaking the great American’s record of 14 Grand Slam triumphs. “I feel like I have put myself in the position to beat those records. This was a very big tournament and match for me today, to get this third Wimbledon and a fifth Grand Slam title. “I knew how important this one was and I was pretty tense going into it but for the next few years I will be a huge favourite for this tournament.” Yesterday’s immaculate performance was Federer’s 30th career title, his 20th successive win in a final and his 36th win in a row on grass. Since the turn of the year, he has played 61 matches and lost just three. Unbeatable? He is getting close to it and he knows it, especially on the fast surfaces where he is so dominant. The win also made up for the huge disappointment he felt at losing his Australian Open crown to Marat Safin in January and then falling victim to the teenage talents of Rafael Nadal at the French Open in June. — AFP Federer admitted that his aura of invincibility can be pierced but not at the All-England Club where he celebrated his win yesterday by collapsing to the ground and bursting into tears. “I think all of my opponents are playing as hard as they can. It worked at the Australian Open and the French Open. But here I didn’t lose a set in the semifinals or the final. I’m very proud of that.” Federer is one of only four players to have won both the boys and men’s title at Wimbledon but many in the game feared if he would ever make a successful transition into the senior ranks. Even when he beat Sampras here in 2001, he followed it up the next year with a first round defeat at the hands of Mario Ancic, his last loss on grass. But since his first Wimbledon title in 2003, he has not looked back.
— AFP |
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India’s most successful tennis player
New Delhi, July 4 Despite his illustrious track record, Bhupathi, who won the mixed doubles title with France's Mary Pierce, has always been in the shadow of his more popular former professional doubles partner, Paes. Paes, the son of a former Olympian, was the one who wore his nationality on his sleeve when he won for India her sole bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and four years later was the flag bearer during the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics. With his second Wimbledon title, the country will perhaps wake up to Bhupathi's achievements and allow him his share in the spotlight. Paes has won three Grand Slam titles —the Wimbledon and French Open in 1999 and the French Open in 2001 — in partnership with Bhupathi. Paes, the 32-year-old from Kolkata, has never quite found the same magic after his falling out with Bhupathi as a professional partner on the ATP circuit, while the 31-year-old from Bangalore has shown his longevity by adding five Grand Slams to his kitty after his separation from Paes. When Bhupathi was carving out his triumph at Wimbledon, Vijay Amritraj was the television commentator. Vijay was one of the three brothers who ruled the roost before Ramesh Krishnan and eventually Paes and Bhupathi dominated the scene. But neither the Amritrajs nor Krishnan won as many international titles as Bhupathi has. Bhupathi's maiden tryst with success came in the company of Rika Hiraki with the 1997 French Open mixed doubles title. Two Grand Slams with Paes in 1999 along with a mixed doubles crown in the US Open with Ai Sugiyama followed. The Paes-Bhupathi combination won its last Grand Slam title in the 2001 French Open after which they went their separate ways except in the Davis Cup, where they still partner each other for India. The year 2002 was also a good one for the soft-spoken Bhupathi as the harvest yielded the Wimbledon mixed doubles title in the company of Elena Likhovtseva and the US Open doubles title with Max Mirnyi. The following years saw experimentation with different partners, including Mirnyi, Fabrice Santoro and Jonas Bjorkman before he finally settled with Todd Woodbridge. After Woodbridge announced his retirement at Wimbledon, Bhupathi's journey continues with his new lady partner, Pierce.
— IANS |
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Sania’s ranking
rises to 70
New Delhi, July 4 The Hyderabadi’s ranking had slipped marginally to 75 following a couple of early losses in the claycourt season, including the French Open, when she was returning from an eight-week injury lay-off. The 18-year-old is at present back in Hyderabad and, after more than a week’s practice, will leave for the USA on a seven-week sojourn culminating in the US Open starting on August 29.
— PTI |
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Hockey academies on solid turf
Patiala, July 4 Those who have come up honing their skills on the playing fields of Punjab and are attending the camp here include Deepak Thakur, Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Kulwinder Singh, Gurtej Singh, Prabhdeep Singh, Harpal Singh, Kanwalpreet Singh, Rajpal Singh, Ranjot Singh, Deedar Singh, Ravipal and Davinder Pal Singh. The academies, which are proving to be feeder lines for various department teams like Punjab Police, Railways, ONGC, IOC and BSF, are the Punjab Sports Department sponsored Surjeet Hockey Academy, Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) Academy, Ramesh Hockey Academy, all Jalandhar-based organisations, and the government-funded Punjab Sports School, also based at Jalandhar. Of late, both the Amritsar-based Ranjit Singh Academy, run by former Olympian Balwinder Shammi, and the Bhaini Sahib Namdhari Academy in Ludhiana district, which has its own Astro-turf, have also produced a number of technically sound young players. Although all these academies are running with a fair deal of success, yet the most successful is arguably the Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) Academy. Set up in 1993, the academy picks up boys in the age group of 15 to 18 years. A daily stipend and substantial diet money is provided to them for three years, the time period they normally spend here. The educational requirements of the boys are met through the academy’s affiliation with DAV College, Jalandhar. Various Olympians who have been associated with the successful running of the PSB Academy are the present coach of the senior squad, Rajinder Singh (Junior), Baljit Singh Saini, Sanjeev Kumar and Edward Aloysius, while the skipper of the 1975 World Cup winning team, Ajit Pal Singh, is associated with the selection process. The Patiala-based Centre of Excellence, being run under the guidance of senior SAI coach I.S. Gill, has produced players like Deepak Thakur, Kamaldeep Singh and Prabhjot Singh, besides Gurjant Singh and Jagbir Singh. The last two have turned out for India in junior international tournaments. Drag flicker Sandeep Singh, at present doing duty in the Junior World Cup, is also from the COE. |
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Furyk pips Woods
Toronto, July 4 Despite a late stumble with a bogey on 17, Furyk held on to finish two shots clear of Woods, who became the first golfer to break through the $50 million barrier in career earnings.
Last week, Furyk held a three-shot lead with five holes to play at the Barclays Classic but watched it
agonisingly disappear when he was overhauled by Padraig Harrington. This time, however, he held his nerve at the Cog Hill Country Club to return a final round two-under 69 and collect his 10th career win and first since the 2003 Buick Open with a 14-under 270 total . The early bogeys may have given him a sense of deja vu but the 2003 US Open champion recovered to play flawless golf, including three consecutive birdies at the turn, until a final bogey at the 17th. Instead, it was world number one Woods, chasing a fourth Western Open title, who suffered an uncharacteristic collapse going one-over on his final seven holes to finish with a five-under 66. Charging up the leaderboard from the opening tee, Woods mixed five birdies with a bogey over his first 10 holes, then upped the ante by draining a snaking 50-foot eagle putt on the 11th to join Furyk in front. However, Woods’s rally fizzled out with back-to-back bogeys on 13 and 14 to fall four shots off the pace. Ben Curtis, the 2003 British Open champion, fired a final round three-over 74 to take third place on nine-under 275.
— Reuters |
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Lobbying intensifies for 2012 Olympic Games
Singapore, July 4 Lobbying is feverish in this steamy city-state on the tip of the Malaysian peninsula as hyperbole, brinkmanship and paranoia reign. On a scale unprecedented in Olympic history, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York and Paris slug it out for the right to stage this sporting extravaganza in seven years' time. With only 48 hours left before some 114 International Olympic Committee (IOC) members elect the winning city, nothing is being left to chance. The Raffles complex has been overrun by bid officials and consultants, celebrities and spin doctors as each city pulls out all the stops in their pursuit of the grand prize. Rumours of alliances, pacts and agreements are rife. Groups and quorums huddle in corridors and bars, deep in earnest conversation. One eye on their company, another on the door. Millions of dollars have already been spent, millions more have been pledged by all five hopefuls. But what it all boils down to is a July 6 secret vote of the IOC members. Once electronic voting begins one city will drop out each round until a candidate polls an overall majority of members' votes. IOC President Jacques Rogge expects to be able to announce the winning city shortly after 7.30 pm local time (5 pm IST). Theory and conjecture reign. The only thing which is certain is that the race for 2012 is already the most bitterly fought in Olympic history. Paris, rejected twice in the last 20 years, has long been considered favourite. But far from being comforted by that status, the French have been ill-at-ease with their front-runner role. ''It is not a question of being favourite or of forecasts,'' charismatic Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe insisted during a breakfast meeting in his Singapore suite. ''We prefer to concentrate and focus on our performance, not on forecasts. What really matters is not the focus but the reality of what you are trying to achieve.'' London's bid chief Sebastian Coe seems carried by the momentum his city has built in the last 12 months, a momentum which for most commentators makes London second favourite. Coe's team is being boosted by British Prime Minister Tony Blair who touched down on Singaporean tarmac at the weekend. England football captain David Beckham has also joined the circus. Not to be trumped, Paris is wheeling in President Jacques Chirac while New York boasts an all-star line-up, including former First Lady Hillary Clinton and boxing great Muhammad Ali. Queen Sofia of Spain is the figurehead of the quietly confident Madrid contingent. ''I have never seen anything like this before,'' one senior International Olympic Committee member, who declined to be named, said today. ''All five candidates are major cities. Nobody is predicting which way this will go... it could be a three-horse race... a four-horse race. The stakes are extremely high.'' That fact is not lost on any one of the candidates as crocodile smiles and promises of favours clutter the lobbies. Behind the firm handshakes and back-slaps of confidence lies the certainty that for four of the five cities, recriminations and a massive bill lies ahead. — Reuters |
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Grapplers win Commonwealth title
Cape Town, July 4 India, with four gold, two silver and one bronze, won the team title, while South Africa were placed second and Canada took the third place. In the preliminary rounds, India, South Africa and Canada dominated the Greco-Roman matches, while Australia, with three entries, fought hard to get one of their wrestlers in the final. Hassan Shahsavan (74 kg) an expatriate of Iran now residing in Australia, won the gold medal in a spectacular fashion. The Australian beat Sanjay of India in the final. The South African partisan fans cheered one of their oldest wrestlers, 39-year-old Markus Dekker (120 kg). Markus was selected as the best wrestler of the Greco-Roman championships. Other awards went to two Indian wrestlers, Geetika Jakhar (63 kg), for best women’s freestyle wrestler and Ramesh Kumar (74 kg) for best male freestyle wrestler. India won the team trophies in freestyle (men and women) and Greco-Roman (men).
— UNI |
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Ranjit wins two sprints
Jalandhar, July 4 Corporal Ranjit outclassed his rivals to bag the gold in the 100m race, followed by Corporal M.K. Singh of South Western Air Command and Corporal R. Yadav of Training Command, who bagged silver and bronze medals, respectively. In 400 metres hurdles, Corporal Jaya Krishna of Training Command clinched the gold medal while Corporal Tanwar of Western Air Command got the silver followed by Corporal Mukherjee of South Western Air Command, who bagged the bronze medal. Corporal Ranjit of Western Air Command struck again when he bagged the gold in 110 metres hurdles while the silver went to Corporal Jaya Krishna. Corporal Verghese of Training Command won the bronze medal. Leading Aircraftsman P.R. Singh of South Western Air Command secured the first position in the 800 metres race followed by Corporal Prajesh of Eastern Air Command (silver) and Aircraftsman K.K. Kumar of Western Air Command (bronze). In the 10,000 metres race, Aircraftsman Bhadur of Eastern Air Command bagged the gold while Aircraftsman Jinger of Eastern Air Command and Aircraftsman Kumar of Training Command got the silver and bronze medals, respectively. |
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Haryana eves in semis
New Delhi, July 4 Mumbai trounced Pepsu 6-2 to become the first team to qualify for the semifinal from the six-team Pool B. This was Mumbai’s third straight victory, and they will be joined by either Delhi or last year’s runners-up All-India Universities. Mumbai had not even qualified for the 52nd edition of the nationals at Lucknow last year. Haryana, who have pumped in a record 53 goals in four matches without conceding any, were on the prowl against Orissa, considered as a tough team. But they could really open up only in the second half after being restricted to two goals in the first half. Jasjeet Kaur, the livewire of the Haryana attacks, opened the account in the seventh minute with a field goal, while Sandeep Kaur made no mistake with the fourth penalty corner (2-0) in the 21st minute. Haryana, however, held complete sway on resumption as they ran roughshod over the Orissa girls who failed to keep pace with the fast- moving rival forwards. Sarvjeet scored the third goal two minutes into the second half and a minute later, Jasjeet Kaur added the fourth goal. Jasjeet also accounted for the eighth goal while Kamla Cheema (2) and Kanu Priya were the other goal-getters. In the second match, Mumbai held sway to pip Pepsu though the Punjab girls put up a spirited fightback in the second half, but failed to cash in on their chances as a packed rival defence foiled their attempts. Mumbai, who led 4-1 at half time, got the first two goals through Binita Toppo and Manorama Goswami before Pepsu pulled one back through Aruna Bala. Nishi Chauhan and Paulina Surin found the mark for Mumbai before half time to give them a convincing lead, which was consolidated on resumption by Paulina and Jyuothi Dodrai. Manpreet Kaur shot in off Pepsu’s lone penalty corner in the 28th minute of the second half for their second goal. |
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Juniors need to regain form
Rotterdam, July 4 Coach Harendra Singh laboured to explain the inconsistency of his team that welcomed a day’s break today. “Obviously, there is now pressure on us to win the remaining two matches against Korea (Tuesday) and England (Wednesday) to make it to the semifinals. I know there is potential in our team, but we need to perform,” said Harendra.
— PTI |
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