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Junior World Cup players omitted
Argentina, Russia reach semifinals
Tiger Woods wins British Open |
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England set for acid Ashes test
Amir Khan wins pro debut bout
Harikrishna leads despite loss
Atwal one shot behind leader
Putting money ahead of national pride?
IA keen to play in Ranji Trophy
Royal Bengal, Cosmos win
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Junior World Cup players omitted
Patiala, July 17 The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) has decided to retain virtually the same set of probables that took part in the first phase of the camp at the NIS here. The second phase is scheduled to commence at the Sector 42 stadium, Chandigarh, on July 20. The Chandigarh camp is being held in preparation for the Mini World Cup to be held at Amstelveen in August. The IHF selection committee meeting took place at the New Delhi residence of federation President KPS Gill on July 14. The meeting was also attended by chief coach Rajinder Singh Jr. Prolific left-out and one of the stars of the Junior World Cup, Tushar Khandekar, too, has been cold-shouldered by the selectors. During the tournament, Khandekar had to rush back to Indore due to his father’s death. However, showing tremendous commitment, he returned to Rotterdam just before a pool match against Egypt, in which he gave his best. The most prominent omission is Patiala-based drag-flick exponent Sandeep Singh. Even Rajinder Singh Jr had admitted at the Patiala camp that the team needed a versatile player like Sandeep to take maximum advantage of penalty corners. Using the drag-flick to devastating effect, Sandeep, a Centre of Excellence product, had pumped in 10 goals during the Junior World Cup. Sandeep, who took part in the 2004 edition of the Azlan Shah tournament, had also performed well in the four-nation invitational tournament held at Bilbao (Spain) from June 17 to 19, prior to the Junior World Cup. ONGC goalkeeper Kamaldeep Singh, who toured the USA as a member of the Indian team just before the Athens Olympics, has also missed the bus. Kamaldeep had done well in the Premier Hockey League. Playing for Sher-e-Jalandhar, he conceded just seven goals, while Devesh Chauhan and Bharat Chettri conceded 22 and 20 goals apiece. Goalkeeper Manminder Singh of PSB, who is among the campers, was Kamaldeep’s deputy when both turned out for Sher-e-Jalandhar in the PHL. Kamaldeep was also a member of the team that won the gold in the senior Asia Cup held at Kuala Lumpur in March, 2004. |
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Argentina, Russia reach semifinals
Sydney, July 17 Nalbandian demolished his arch-rival Lleyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 to give the South Americans an unassailable 3-1 lead, before Coria rubbed more salt into Australia’s wounds by defeating Peter Luczak 6-3, 7-6 in the concluding dead rubber. Argentina have never won the Davis Cup but are suddenly looming as one of the favourites this season after reaching the semifinals for the third time in the past four years. MOSCOW: Under-strength Russia staged an inspired comeback to win both reverse singles and edge out France 3-2 in their Davis Cup quarterfinal on Sunday. World number seven Nikolay Davydenko overwhelmed French teenager Richard Gasquet 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 to square the tie on clay at 2-2 before Igor Andreev crushed Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-0, 6-2, 6-1 in the deciding fifth rubber. France were leading 2-1 after winning Saturday’s doubles but Davydenko and Andreev, urged on by a highly charged Moscow crowd including former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, rose to the occasion. Russia also beat France in a similar fashion in their last encounter, the 2002 final in Paris, when Mikhail Youzhny came from two sets down to beat Mathieu in the decider to clinch their first Davis Cup title. BRATISLAVA: Slovakia secured a place in their first Davis Cup semifinal when they beat the Netherlands 4-1 on Sunday. In the first reverse singles, Dominik Hrbaty was leading 6-3, 6-1, 3-0 against Peter Wessels when the Dutchman retired with injured rib muscles.
Hrbaty, the world number 26, broke Wessels four times in a row from the seventh game of the first set to seize control.
Wessels took a brief injury time-out in the third set before deciding that he could no longer continue. In the dead second reverse singles, Michal Mertinak of Slovakia beat Melle van Gemerden of the Netherlands 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Slovakia, who eliminated defending champions Spain in the first round, would meet Argentina in Bratislava in
September. SPLIT (Croatia):
Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic beat Andrei Pavel of Romania 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in the first reverse singles on Sunday to guide his team into the semifinal of the Davis Cup. Croatia, who were leading 2-1 after Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic won the doubles match on Saturday, took an unbeatable 3-1 lead when Ljubicic defeated
Pavel. Croatia will take on Russia in the semifinal. — Reuters |
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Tiger Woods wins British Open
St Andrews (Scotland), July 17 The world number one, champion at St Andrews in 2000, hardly put a foot wrong as he become only the second player after Jack Nicklaus to win each of the grand slam events at least twice. Back to his very best form, the 29-year-old American fired a two-under-par 70 in breezy conditions on the Old Course to finish at 14-under 274. He now stands third in the all-time listings for major winners, behind fellow Americans Nicklaus (18) and Walter Hagen (11). “It’s a dream come true to win at the home of golf,” said jubilant Woods. This is as good as it gets, for the championship to be here and to come out on top this year. “All the hard hours I’ve put in... this is one of the reasons I’ve made the changes, so I could be back here again at this level,’’ added Woods, who spent much of last year revamping his swing for the second time since turning professional in 1996. Leader from day one after opening with a 66, Woods was never headed during the week although his advantage was briefly cut to one on the last day when he bogeyed the par-four 10th after driving into a greenside pot bunker. His playing partner Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain and Briton Colin Montgomerie had been his closest challengers but both fell away soon afterwards. — Reuters
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England set for acid Ashes test
London, July 17 English cricketers have always been able to make a name for themselves against Australia even if, unlike now, the men in baggy green caps haven’t been the best side in the world. England have won their last five Test series to rise to second behind Australia in the world rankings and raise hopes of a first Ashes win since Mike Gatting’s men triumphed down under in 1986-87. But doubts about the standard of opposition - a West Indies side in turmoil, an injury-hit New Zealand and an out-of-their-depth Bangladesh — remain. Playing Australia will be a true test of England’s quality. The hype surrounding this Ashes contest, which starts at Lord’s on Thursday, was fuelled by England’s two early victories in a drawn-out one-day series. But just as their Champions Trophy semifinal win against the world champions at Edgbaston in September came at one extremity of a season so these successes came over an Australia side coming off a lay-off of several months. That is not Vaughan’s fault and previous England sides would not have had the confidence or skill to make the most of those circumstances and might well have been beaten before they started. But the crushing way Australia won the last two one-dayers between the sides, including Tuesday’s final limited overs encounter by eight wickets with more than 15 overs to spare, suggested the tourists were back on track. But legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne, a thorn in England’s side for a decade, said the old enemy will be taken seriously. “Sixteen years is a long time to really not be in a contest,” he said. “But this time they have a realistic chance.” Australian skipper Ricky Ponting had long proclaimed the benefits of a fixture schedule which many felt would give his side just enough time to iron out any flaws and negate any early advantage established by England. With the Test series starting in July, when conditions are at their friendliest for visiting sides and with Lord’s — where Australia last lost a Test in 1934 — staging the opener, it looks as if England are overdoing the hospitality. But in Stephen Harmison, England have a tall, menacing fast bowler who when he gets it right has enough bounce and pace to trouble the world’s best batsmen. And in Andrew Flintoff, one of several England players yet to play a Test against Australia and so minus the mental scars of defeat, they have an all-rounder who combines hard-hitting batting with aggressive pace bowling. Both men troubled the Australian top order during the one-day games and where South African-born Kevin Pietersen also starred. Self-confident in a way seen as perfectly desirable in Australia — Warne his county captain at Hampshire is a fervent admirer — Pietersen smashed 91 at Bristol and 74 at The Oval in unorthodox style to at least give Australia pause for thought. By including Pietersen in the squad at the expense of 100-cap veteran Graham Thorpe, the selectors showed an Australian hard-headedness having previously allowed ageing players to enjoy over-long farewells’. Thorpe has performed many a gutsy rescue mission in the past but if England are to have a chance this time someone will have to disturb pace bowler Glenn McGrath from his remorseless off-stump line. McGrath made ex-England captain Michael Atherton his ‘bunny’ and threatens to exert a similar hold over current left-handed opener Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss. Even when Vaughan broke the spell with three hundreds in Australia in 2002-03 England still lost 4-1. One man alone will not be enough. But Vaughan, displaying the calmness that has been a hallmark of his captaincy, tried to put the one-dayers into perspective. “On Thursday we won at Headingley, and everyone was saying the momentum was with England. I didn’t believe that either and I don’t believe now the momentum has swung with Australia.” That hasn’t stopped one pessimistic punter placing a bet of £ 40 at odds of 1000/1 that England fail to win the Ashes before 2100. For some Englishmen, it seems, losing to Australia will never be a problem.
— AFP |
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Amir Khan wins pro debut bout
Bolton, July 17 The Olympic Games lightweight silver medallist twice had his more-experienced opponent on the canvas with a blistering combination and the bout was then halted by the referee after just 109 seconds. The 18-year-old produced a devastating display to underline his potential in the paid ranks after thrilling his hometown crowd with a brief but brilliant display. Khan floored his opponent twice before overwhelming him with his blurring hand speed and accuracy of his punches. Bailey, 24, a car mechanic from London, had lost four of his seven fights before facing Khan and never posed a problem for the teenager. It was a performance that backed up all the hype surrounding the start of his
professional career after he won silver in Athens a year ago at the age of 17. His precocious performances at the Olympics have already made Khan a household name in
Britain. Terrestial television covered the fight live after 6.3 million people tuned in to see Khan’s last amateur fight in May against Cuba’s Mario
Kindelan, whom he beat on points to avenge his Olympics final defeat. There was little sign the occasion got to Khan yesterday, who was watched by a crowd of over 7,000 in the stadium. Khan, whose parents were born in Pakistan, entered the ring to the sound of Land of Hope and Glory.
— AFP |
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Harikrishna leads despite loss
Taiyuan (China), July 17 Despite the loss, Harikrishna maintained a full-point lead over Motylev, who took his tally to 5.5 points. However, the Russian has an extra game in hand against Ni Hua of China and in case he wins it, he will be able to catch up with the Indian. Bu Xiangzhi of China was also on 5.5 points along with Motylev from eight games played so far. Wang Yue of China was another half point adrift of his compatriot while Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine stood fifth on 4.5 points. Just three rounds remain in this category-15 round-robin tournament being played under FIDE’s time control. After some fine performances in the first seven rounds, Harikrishna collapsed against a finely crafted game by Motylev who played the white side of a Berlin defence popularised by Vladimir Kramnik during his Braingames chess match against Garry Kasparov. Harikrishna apparently was happy having gone through Motylev’s game against Karjakin a few rounds back that had ended in a draw. But this time Motylev was better prepared as he had an perfect plan up his sleeves that posed ample problems for his rival. Motylev obtained a clear advantage by the 21st move itself, following which Harikrishna lost a pawn and an exchange to go down in 37 moves.
— PTI |
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Atwal one shot behind leader
Endicott (New York), July 17 Atwal, who has twice been in a position to gun for a title this season, put himself up in a similar situation once more as he aggregated 18-under 198, sharing the three-way second place with Ryan Palmer (67) and Jason Bohn (68). The only Indian on the PGA tour, who has made the cut in each of his 11 starts this year, was in for sharing the lead but damaged his prospects by missing a putt from four feet on the closing 18th hole. Paired for the final round together, both Atwal, a two-time European Tour winner, and Jones, a four-time Japan Tour winner, are looking for their maiden title on the PGA Tour. Also, they are in the lead group of a PGA Tour event for the first time. Atwal was in good nick as he started out with a birdie on the second and added two more on the fifth and sixth. A par followed and then he ended the front nine with two more birdies on eighth and ninth to be five-under at the turn and really looking set for a very low score. The birdies dried up for a while, as he missed a couple of close putts. A birdie on the 12th and 16th saw him end the day at a bogey-free seven-under 65 at the short-and-narrow En-Joie Golf Club course. Play was halted by rain for 90 minutes early afternoon, but the delay had little effect on the forgiving layout. Atwal has driven and putted well and had 28 putts in last two days, after 25 on the first day, when he also had a 65. His score for 12 par-five holes has been seven-under and he has had just three bogeys, one on the first day and two on the second. This year, Atwal’s two best finishes have been tied second at BellSouth Classic and tied fifth at Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Rookie Jones, whose best PGA TOUR finish this year was a tie for 14th at the Zurich Classic, where Atwal was tied fifth, shot a 66 to finish at 19-under
197.— PTI |
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Putting money ahead of national pride?
Nairobi, July 17 Since Douglas Wakiihuri became the first Kenyan athlete to win a world championship gold medal at the 1987 edition in Rome, the East Africa nation has remained in the shadow of Ethiopia and Morocco. Not that the country cannot produce champions, but because many top runners have not shown the same spirit while competing for Kenya as individuals. Late last month, two of the country’s foremost marathon runners, Paul Tergat and Martin Lel, spurned the offer to compete in Helsinki in August, claiming that they were nursing injuries. But sceptics said their decisions mirrored previous statements by athletes, who faked injuries to withdraw from the lesser-paying competitions such as the world championships and reserved their energies for the big-moneyed events such as the New York and Chicago marathons. A gold medal winner is assured of earning $60,000, a far cry from the huge cash prize awards and bonuses that go with winning the big city marathons. Dan Muchoki, Kenya’s head coach to the Helsinki world championships, gives the example of two Kenyan runners, Sammy Korir and Edith Masai, who trained with the Olympic team to Athens last year but let their country down.
— AFP |
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IA keen to play in Ranji Trophy
New Delhi, July 17 The airline recently wrote to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), reminding it of an almost five-year-old promise of granting the carrier a place in the premier tournament. Former BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya made the promise as part of an MoU signed between the Board and the airline in late 2001. “We wrote to the BCCI last month requesting it to grant us affiliation and allow us to play in the Ranji Trophy,” Indian Airlines Sports Control Board secretary Zafar Iqbal told IANS. “I have met BCCI President Ranbir Singh Mahendra twice. He said he will take up the issue with the Board members,” said Iqbal, a former Indian hockey captain. The airline had earlier written to Dalmiya on the issue. According to the pact, signed by former Indian Airlines chairman and managing director Sunil Arora and Rajeev Shukla, a BCCI vice-president, the airline carries Indian and foreign teams visiting the country on a “42 per cent” discount. In return, the BCCI gives prime positions to Indian Airlines hoardings inside the stadiums during Tests and one-day internationals. Apart from the assurance given to allow an airline team to compete in the Ranji Trophy, Dalmiya had said the company could also field teams in the national age group competitions. “We have already agreed to let the Indian Airlines play in the under-16 and under-19 tournaments,” Dalmiya had said in 2001 after concluding the deal with the then Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain. However, none of the promises have been fulfilled, Iqbal said. He said he tried to impress upon Mahendra that Indian Airlines should be allowed to play because it was a “different” organisation compared to other government institutions. “We do a different job than other public sector undertakings. We want permission to play in the Ranji Trophy like the Railways,” said the Olympian and a versatile left-winger of the 1980s. Indian Airlines, which boasts of one of the most formidable hockey teams, employs close to 20 international and Ranji Trophy cricketers, including Harbhajan Singh, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahender Singh Dhoni and Nikhil Chopra. Iqbal said he had been given to understand that there was a “provision” in the BCCI constitution to let a team like the airline compete in national tournaments. In any case, Iqbal argued, the carrier was not seeking full BCCI membership. “We just want associate membership, not even full membership. And we are not even asking for voting rights (in BCCI elections).” At the moment, Sikkim and Manipur are the only associate members of the BCCI, in addition to the 30 full-fledged members with voting rights. However, only 27 of the 30 members are allowed to contest the Ranji Trophy. The Kolkata-based National Cricket Club headed by Dalmiya, the Association of Indian Universities and
the Mumbai-based Cricket Club of India are not allowed to play in the tournament.
— IANS |
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Royal Bengal, Cosmos win
New Delhi, July 17 In a close encounter, Royal Bengal scored three goals in a 10-minute blitz to down South India. They forged ahead in the 38th minute through Jaydev while Grove made it 2-0 eight minutes later and Robin Raj knocked in the third goal in the 48th minute. Taken aback by this flurry of goals by Royal Bengal, South India fought back to narrow the margin through Ashok Kumar, who hit the target in the 50th and 55th minutes, but failed to get the equaliser. In a one-sided tie, Cosmos took a 5-0 half-time lead against Columbas Youngsters, and then added one more on resumption before conceding one. Chandan Singh scored four goals and Vinay accounted for a brace. Sameer pulled off the consolation goal for the losers. In other matches, played at the Nehru Stadium, Victory defeated Young Sports 2-1 while Nivia routed Venus 4-1. Youngsters posted a 1-0 win over Delhi Tigers while Lodhi Athletic Club drew with Ashoka 1-1 at the Ambedkar Stadium. |
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Dravid XI win Bangalore, July 17 In a rain-hit match, the efforts of Sehwag (96) and Y. Venugopala Rao (91) went in vain as Dravid XI reached the target of 237, set after it was reduced due to rain. Earlier batting first, Sehwag XI amassed 302 in the allotted 50 overs. In reply, good batting by opener V.V.S. Laxman (76) and Dravid (45) enabled Dravid XI to reach the target. Venugopala was adjudged man of the match. — UNI
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Argentina’s David Nalbandian and Guillermo Coria both posted straight-set wins today to secure a stunning 4-1 win over Australia in their bitterly contested Davis Cup quarter-final at the Olympic tennis centre.
