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India ready to take on aggressive Aussies
Talented tribals, backbone of Indian hockey
Dreams of India’s two stumpers
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England beat Australia by nine wickets
Ganguly named in
Narain draws inspiration Olympic Games to breathe life into London economy
All eyes turn to Beijing
Pepsu beat Chhatisgarh
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India ready to take on aggressive Aussies
Rotterdam, July 7 In the other semifinal, Spain, the top-ranked team in the championship, are set to clash with Argentina, runners-up to India in 2001 at Hobart. The India-Australia tie should be an intriguing affair, apart from being a clash of styles that should make for a top-class contest, at least on paper. While Indian coach Harendra Singh said the outcome tomorrow would depend on the day’s form, his Australian counterpart Mark Hager preferred to hedge his bet, saying the encounter would be close. But neither coach was prepared to commit on the result and understandably so. The Indians have been typically unpredictable in their performance, that has swung from sublime, as against the Netherlands, whom them beat 4-1, to mediocre during their 1-0 win versus England last night, that clinched them the semifinal berth. In contrast, the Australians, ranked third, have been sustaining a high level of performance except during their shock 1-3 defeat to Argentina yesterday which could be put down to slackness due to the fact that they had already qualified for the semifinal. However, the Indian camp would have surely looked closely at two other matches that stretched Australia. Pakistan lost 2-3 to the Aussies, while unheralded but talented Malaysia held them to a 3-3 draw. In both these games, the Australian defence was put to test and there were moments when they looked as vulnerable as the next team. Hager admitted that he was concerned about the sudden lapses in concentration, but was confident that his team would tighten up. “We need to play consistently against teams like India and Pakistan. On Friday, we would be very focused, which was not the case when we took on Argentina. Also, a couple of our key players would have recovered fully from their niggles. So, we hope to be on pace for the semifinal against India,” Hager said. On his part, Harendra put up a bold front, saying if India play to their potential, then they could go all the way to win the World Cup for the second consecutive time. “Our aim is to retain the World Cup and I feel we have the ability to do so. It is a question of playing to our potential and converting the scoring chances. In the last two games, against Korea and England, we were under pressure to win to qualify for the semifinals. As such, our players were a bit cramped,” said Harendra. Pressure did get to the Indian team, especially yesterday, when they struggled to beat a side that was definitely inferior to them in all departments of the game. But in their anxiety to score and also prevent conceding a goal, the Indians committed far too many errors, which luckily for them, went unpunished. India cannot expect such largesse from the aggressive Australians, who will be seeking to get on top from the start. In this context, the Indian deep defence, that has not exactly been a picture of confidence, can expect some difficult times on the morrow. The Aussie forwards have been swift in their approach, marked by one-touch moves, and execution with first-time hits to goal from any position or angle, something that the Indian forwards have not done. If the Indians largely depend on fullback Sandeep Singh for goals, then the Australians have looked more versatile, with all the forwards capable of scoring from open play, besides boasting of more than one player capable of converting penalty corners. “Yes, Sandeep is our trump card and there is nothing wrong in playing to our strength,” said Harendra, while admitting that the Indian forwards had been guilty
of individual play that also underlined lack of coordination. Overall, the Australians will be starting out as odds-on favourites, but if the Indians play freely, like they did against the Dutch, then they have as much a chance to make it to the final. The contest can boil
down to test of character and the team that blinks first will lose. — PTI |
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Talented tribals, backbone of Indian hockey
Patiala, July 7 For tribal children like Marcus, Shah Rukh Khan is a fantasy. For them, Dilip Tirkey, Ignace Tirkey and Bimal Lakra are real. His identification with these tribal stars is complete. Because, like Marcus, they too come from the tribal belt located in the backwaters of Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar. The Tirkeys and Lakras represent the tribal face of Indian hockey. Skipper Dilip Tirkey is widely considered to be one of the most intelligent players in the game and few in contemporary hockey can hold a candle to this versatile player when it comes to tackling and intercepting the ball. Dilip Tirkey is the second tribal player to have captained the country in the Olympic Games, the first being Jaipal Singh Munda, who captained the Indian team in the 1926 Amsterdam Olympics, where the team won the gold medal. Dilip, as a young boy, used to slug it out with boys of his age with bamboo sticks and a semi-hard rubber ball, without shoes and without rules. It is another matter that Dilip Tirkey later rose to become the first-ever Padam Shree from that remote area. He is now a veteran of three Olympics (Atlanta, Sydney and Athens) and two World Cups (Utrecht and Kuala Lumpur). The talent scouts of SAI were quick to recognise the initial spark in the youngest son of Vincent Tirkey, himself a state-level player, and Dilip was immediately put in the Special Area Games (SAG) scheme. Once he made his way to the SAI hostel in Kolkata, there was no looking back for him. Similarly, Ignace Tirkey is from the tribal belt of Orissa. Like Dilip, he too belongs to the Oaram tribe of Chotta Nagpur, and works as a Junior Commissioner Officer in the MEG Group, Bangalore. Ignace’s sister Ansuta Tirkey is an international player while his younger brother Prabodh Tirkey is an emerging star in the junior circuit. Bimal Lakra, who grew up hearing inspiring stories about Michael Kindo and Dung Dung, too is a tribal player who was brought up on bamboo sticks and rubber balls. A polished centre-half, Lakra has done duty for the country in the Junior World Cup held at Hobart in 2001, which India won, the Busan Asian Games and the Athens Olympics. These players give credit to the All-Adivasi YMCA Hockey Tournament held annually at the Shivaji Stadium in New Delhi. The tournament, which is played from mid-January to mid-March, attracts nearly two dozen teams and is meant for Delhi-based tribals of Orissa and Jharkhand. Sushil Lakra, a IHF qualified umpire is the moving spirit behind this tourney, where matches often end up with tennis like scores, proof enough of how intense the competition is in the tournament. |
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Ex-cricketer wallowing in misery
Chandigarh, July 7 Any mention of the present, however, and the bowler’s eyes brim over with tears. He has lost out on the economics of life. Once cheered as the Worrell of Ranji cricket after the legendary West Indian batsman, Sir Frank Worrell, Devi Chand, today, is a broken man. He’s fallen on bad days and the fame and adulation of yesteryears gives no solace to him or his family, which is finding it difficult to make both ends meet. Add to that the misery of being confined to the bed, suffering from acute diabetes, a wound in the leg that refuses to heal, an arm that needs immediate amputation and a heart that’s bleeding (he’s had three heart attacks), crying for help and yet no one’s listening. Devi Chand’s voice, today, doesn’t invite attention even if he chooses to cry himself hoarse. It’s the voice of a debt-ridden, diseased and frail man. No wonder, it’s not being heard in a world where money does all the talking. That’s exactly what he’s short of — short enough that the amputation of his arm has been delayed by over three months for want of finances and his wife carries out the bandaging of wounds at home since she can’t afford a rickshaw everyday to ferry him to a nearby hospital. In between recalling his “heydays” in cricket, he regrets having pandered to his interest in the game. “When I look back today, I feel I would have been better off as a labourer since the game gave me nothing. This is the fate of a sportsman in our country. Today, I feel deserted, unwanted and dejected. Looking at my state of affairs I have arrived at the conclusion that it is very important for a cricketer to be born into a rich family. The ordinary man gets nowhere in the game, gets left behind in the race to the top,” he rues. His photograph with Lala Amarnath, copies of photos with the Maharaja of Patiala and a photo of Sir Worrell and his bat are some of his prized possessions. In fact, that’s all that belongs to him. “I have nothing to call my own. This two-room set in an SCO in Sector 21 also is on rent which my relative is paying. My wife’s entire jewellery got sold in paying for my treatment for heart attacks. We ended up borrowing money and are now deep in debt,” he says. Intermittently, the pride keeps coming back. He recalls, “I got Worrell out thrice when he was in Patiala for a friendly match in the 1950s. Bowled over with my performance, Maharaja Yadavindra Singh rechristened me “Worrell” in the presence of Lala Amarnath. Since then, nobody knows me as Devi Chand. Worrell has stuck with me ever since.” And, then the tears come right back as the 65-year-old weeps over his injured right hand, which bowled the swing with utmost perfection. “Today the hand that gave me everything is dead. It’s of no use. I’ll never regain my lost glory but I long for a piece of sky as I stand on the cricket ground. It’s a dream. I wish I can stand again, live to realise it,” he maintains. Such is his state, worse than being dead and gone, but he lives on in the hope that his last few days will not be like the past few years. Help will come before death comes knocking. “I don’t need a few thousands as charity. It will not serve my purpose. I need regular flow of income for treatment, I want assurance that my son will get a job. I want this misery to end. I deserve a better end.” Devi Chand’s voice chokes. He can say no more. Only wait. For help or for death, whichever comes first. |
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Dreams of India’s two stumpers
Bangalore, July 7 “Everybody wants to play at every level; I want to play one-dayers,” says Kaarthick, the 20-year-old from Tamil Nadu, who had also featured in two limited-overs games. But with Dhoni bursting on the one-day scene, Kaarthick veered into the background. A scintillating 123-ball 148 against Pakistan at Visakhapatnam marked the ‘arrival’ of the 23-year-old exciting strokeplayer from Jharkhand. “It is just that I need to keep performing well in one-dayers, both behind the wickets and score runs, to get into the Test squad,” said Dhoni. Kaarthick recently returned from the Brisbane-based Australian Cricket Academy, where he underwent a three-week training stint. “I am working on areas in wicketkeeping and batting to get to that level (one-day),” Kaarthick said. He also worked on how to get down the legside during wicketkeeping, while keeping oneself low. Kaarthick said he was aiming to score heavily in domestic matches to catch the attention of selectors to become a regular in India’s one-day squad. With big dreams in their eyes, Kaarthick and Dhoni are attending the ongoing camp for probables.
— PTI |
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England beat Australia by nine wickets Leeds, July 7 England captain Michael Vaughan, looking in his best form of the season, was 59 not out as his side won with four overs to spare. Trescothick shared stands of 101 with Andrew Strauss and 120 with Vaughan, who finished the match with a pulled four off fast bowler Brett Lee. Scoreboard Australia Gilchrist c G. Jones Hayden c Pietersen b Flintoff 17 Ponting c Pietersen Martyn c G. Jones Symonds c Trescothick Clarke b Collingwood 2 Hussey not out 46 Watson c Strauss b Harmison 3 Lee not out 15 Extras
(b-2, lb-12, w-15, nb-2) 31 Total (7 wkts, 50 overs) 219 Fall of wickets:
1-62, 2-68,
3-107, 4-116, 5-120, 6-159, 7-168. Bowling: Gough 10-1-50-0, S. Jones 10-1-28-0, Harmison 10-0-39-2, Flintoff 10-0-54-1, Collingwood 10-0-34-4. England Trescothick not out 104 Strauss c Gilchrist b Hogg 41 Vaughan not out 59 Extras
(b-1, lb-2, w-3, nb-11) 17 Total (1 wicket, 46 overs) 221 Fall of wicket:
1-101. Bowling: Lee 9-0-48-0, McGrath 8-1-26-0, Gillespie 10-0-66-0, Watson 3-0-16-0, Symonds 10-0-32-1, Hogg 6-0-30-1.
— AFP
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Ganguly named in Glamorgan squad
LONDON: Sourav Ganguly’s grain injury does not seem to be serious as Glamorgan on Thurdsay named him for the county championship fixture against Nottinghamshire, starting at Trent Bridge on Friday.
Sourav had sustained a groin strain, that saw him limping out of the ground during the Twenty20 Cup match against Gloucestershire. The Kolkata southpaw had to sit out of Glamorgan’s last Twenty20 Cup outing against Worcestershire on Wednesday which his side lost by 37 runs.
— UNI
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Narain draws inspiration from Sachin
London, July 7 While vouching for Tendulkar’s formula one knowledge, Karthikeyan expressed his gratitude to the cricket icon who rooted for the Indian driver at the Circuit de Catalunya during the Barcelona Grand Prix. “He’s been an inspiration. He knows a lot about F1. He’s just an incredibly nice person,” said Karthikeyan, a well known admirer of the cricket great. In an interview with “The Guardian”, Karthikeyan, however, admitted advice did not flow from his end. “I don’t know enough about cricket to be telling him anything,” he said. The Indian, meanwhile, criticised 1997 world Champion Jacques Villeneuve for the spat between the two at the European Grand Prix. Accused by Villeneuve of resorting to blocking tactics, Karthikeyan hit back at his illustrious rival saying “He’s a strange guy. I was just racing. He’s only complaining because he’s frustrated about other things in life. After the race he came and spoke to me in an arrogant way.” Making it clear that he was in the grid to stay for some more time, the Indian said, “Ever since my days in F3 I knew I had what it takes to win races at this level. There were no other Indian drivers even close to F1; I knew it was always going to be hard. Now the plan is to stay here for a long time.” Elated with his growing fan following back home, Karthikeyan said, “You can’t imagine the following I have in my country; it’s incredible. The idea is, if I can do it, there are millions in India who can do it too given the opportunity.”
— UNI |
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Olympic Games to breathe life into London economy
London, July 7 Infamous for its creaking infrastructure, London was once written off as an unlikely candidate, but emerged yesterday the winner over Paris, New York, Madrid and Moscow in the closest race in many years. Transport improvements that are essential to host the whole world for more than two weeks, along with a commitment to redevelop the poor Lower Lea Valley of East London, may have been what made its bid more convincing. ‘’This is not just good news for business in London but for the whole country,’’ said Miles Templeman, Director General of the Institute of Directors. ‘’Long-awaited regeneration of parts of London will now proceed, including the much-needed upgrade of the public transport system.’’ The London Chamber of Commerce’s latest survey found that more than two-thirds of London businesses backed the bid. Most Britons supported it and even Real Madrid star David Beckham made it to Singapore to put the world’s most famous face in sports behind London 2012. The benefits, say the London Development Agency, are far-reaching, including a legacy of 9,000 new homes in the Olympics area, half of them within the Olympic Village. The construction projects alone will create thousands of jobs — some 70,000 will be needed over the next 15 years. ‘’It is not just about London as a great city, it is about regenerating a whole area of London and building new facilities,’’ Prime Minister Tony Blair told reporters at the end of his two-day visit to Singapore to rally for the bid. There were cheers, too, on the foreign exchanges. Sterling rose against the dollar after London secured the games. Many potential economic benefits are not immediately apparent, experts say. For a city like London, where tourism is already important, there will be even more tourists coming just to see the facilities, as there were in Barcelona after 1992. Hosting the games will also by definition create in London a whole sector of expertise on sports facilities and construction, which will be worth a fortune in consulting business in the years after 2012. ‘’There is always a big economic legacy after the Games,’’ said Holger Preuss, Professor of Sport Economics at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, and author of ‘’The Economics of Staging the Olympics’’. ‘’One year after the Sydney Games (in 2000) — all of the organising committee costs were coming back through expert knowledge,’’ said Preuss. But critics argue that can create hardship for local residents in the form of higher rents, in what is already the world’s most expensive city after Tokyo and Osaka. London also has a mixed history with big urban projects. The Canary Wharf development in the old docklands area, that was devised two decades ago, has been slow winning business away from the City financial district. The Millennium Dome, another big east London project, went millions of pounds overbudget. But many local businesspeople see plenty of benefits from the Olympics in 2012 and the years running up to it. ‘’Our experience of the dome is the fact that when you actually have a date by which things have to be completed, it makes people focus and generates huge benefits to the businesses around the area,’’ said Rita Beckwith, Chairman of the Docklands Business Club and owner of tour operator City Cruises Plc. Beckwith built four new boats worth £ 6 million in the run-up to the dome opening, which she said was a “step change” for her 20-year old business. Development of the Thames further east of Greenwich — which is about as far east as even the most adventurous of London visitors are currently willing to venture — will continue. That will mean more jobs, most likely permanent ones. ‘’One rumour is that jobs created through hosting an Olympics are short-term,’’ said Preuss. ‘’But if something in the industry changes, if the tourism is 2 per cent higher afterwards, that means it will have 2 percent more jobs.”
— Reuters |
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All eyes turn to Beijing
Beijing, July 7 Preparations are in full swing in the capital to launch by far the most expensive Games ever staged and shine the spotlight on China’s ancient culture and the growing economic might of a population giant of 1.3 billion people. Uniquely in the history of the world’s premier sports event, Beijing has been asked by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to slow down the frantic pace of construction of its Olypmic sites. “The preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, including Beijing Paralympics, has been going on as planned,” Beijing Olympic Games Organising Committee spokesman Sun Weide said yesterday. “We have made smooth progress in a number of important areas, such as venue construction, marketing, communications and cultural activities and competition organisations.” An Olympic mascot was due to be unveiled next month, tickets would go on sale next year, and efforts to win sponsors and attract an army of volunteers from as far as the territory of Hong Kong were under way. Eleven of the 31 Beijing competition venues would be built from scratch, and construction on seven sites had already started, with work due to commence on the others before the end of the year, Sun said. By the end of 2007, all the venues and related facilities would be finished to hold test events, he said. “We are completely confident that the venues will be completed on time,” Kevan Gosper, chairman of the IOC Press Commission, told journalists during an inspection visit last month. “The Beijing organising committee is the only organising committee that has ever been asked to slow down the construction,” he said of Beijing’s eagerness to complete the projects. Gosper and members of the IOC Coordination Commission for the Beijing Games were impressed when they inspected the construction sites of the enormous, 91,000-seat National Stadium and the National Aquatic Centre. “It is very exciting to follow the projects right through, from the green field aspect to the pouring of concrete and the next phase of putting in the steel,” Gosper said. The breakneck construction for the prestigious event had only been reined in somewhat by an austerity drive, designed to prevent a cost blowout. The price tag of the National Stadium, nicknamed the “Bird’s Nest” because of its giant lattice-work structure of metal girders, had fallen from 3.9 billion yuan (470 million dollars) to 2.3 billion yuan, officials said. In a bid to cement its status as a sporting superpower and set a new medal record during its first-ever Games, China had started an unprecedented effort to train its athletes in a nationwide campaign already in full swing. The ministry-level State General Administration of Sports had issued an order for athletes to improve on China’s third place in the Athens medals table and make an all-out effort to overtake the USA and Russia. All 32 of the nation’s Athens Olympics gold medal winners were expected compete in China’s National Games this October, termed “mini-Olympics”, to be watched by IOC President Jacques Rogge. Inroads were also being made in the Olympic marketing campaign, Sun said. “We have just launched the volunteers programme and unveiled our new slogan, ‘One World, One Dream’,” Sun said. “Our third Olympic Cultural Festival is still going on in Beijing and Qingdao and we will unveil the Olympic mascot in August.” Apart from the IOC top sponsors, eight enterprises had been selected as the official partners of the Beijing Games. “We have also started to look for proposals for the opening and closing ceremonies at the Games, and the design and production team for the ceremonies are expected to be set up this year,” said Sun. The organising committee was under huge pressure to prepare a “compelling” opening ceremony for the Games, said Jiang Xiaoyu, its executive vice-president, but details of the show would be kept under wraps. “Surprises are key to the success of an opening ceremony,” he said. “We will try to keep the opening and closing ceremonies a mystery until the last moment.”
— AFP |
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Pepsu beat Chhatisgarh
New Delhi, July 7 Having lost out for a berth in the semifinals, Pepsu found their golden touch when they got the better of Universities 5-2. They maintained their winning streak against Chhatisgarh to salvage some pride. But once the Pepsu attack, marshalled by Aruna and Manpreet Kaur, got the edge, they knocked in six goals in the space of 40 minutes. Pepsu got the breakthrough in the 28th minute when forward Arun Bala dashed into hit the target. Vandana added the second goal a minute before half time. Manpreet Kaur scored a brace off penalty corners in the space of two minutes immediately after resumption to bulge the tally, which was further consolidated by Jiwan Jyoti and Arun Bala. In other matches, Orissa swamped Karnataka 13-1 while Delhi drew with Universities 1-1. For Orissa, Jasinta Toppo and Sangita Minz scored three goals each (no hattrick) while Asima Bilchen, captain Nilima Kujur and Pratima Tirkey accounted for a brace each and Ejren Dadel scored once. Nirupama scored the lone goal for Karnataka. In the Delhi-Universities match, Delhi took the lead four minutes into the second half through Babita Khatri while captain Rajnesh Mudgil equalised for Universities. |
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India trounce Bangladesh
New Delhi, July 7 |
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