 |
|
|
Sangakkara’s ton puts Sri Lanka on top
Australia win
by 239 runs
Ganguly ready for busy season
BCCI to streamline media commitments policy
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fernando Alonso wins, Karthikeyan 16th
Sania loses in doubles
Nadal wins on clay again
Cueists begin with easy wins
Federations keen on foreign coaches
Bakre, Kidambi among joint leaders
Grover continues to impress in youth chess
Tottenham Hotspur win Peace Cup
Punjab emerge overall champs
Breaststroke rule changed
|
|
Sangakkara’s ton puts Sri Lanka on top
Kandy, July 24 The 27-year-old left-hander, playing on his old school ground, grafted for over six hours to finish unbeaten on 135 from 266 balls, an innings that included 19 stylish boundaries. His skilful hundred, scored on a deteriorating pitch, was the first by a batsmen from either side in the low-scoring series. Sri Lanka, who started the day on 146-2, added 25 runs during a 41-minute morning, 43 runs during a 64-minute afternoon and then 126 runs in a two-and-a-half-hour final session. Sangakkara extended his third-wicket partnership with Mahela Jayawardene (43) to 98 from 179 balls before Jermaine Lawson struck twice in his opening over of the day. After slow scoring on either side of the lunch interval, Sangakkara compiled a further 59 runs with Tillakaratne Dilshan to pile on the pressure on the West Indies. Dilshan stroked the ball around fluently and cracked seven boundaries in his 49 from 82 balls before he fell to Omari Banks. Sangakkara started with a streaky leg glance just wide of a diving Denesh Ramdin behind the stumps to bring up his fifty. But Lawson, who was reported for a suspect bowling action after taking 8-102 in the first Test, gave the tourists a glimmer of hope with a double strike in his first over of the day. Jayawardene picked up a boundary with a classic on drive before being bowled for 43 by a shooter that kept low and cut back to knock his off stump. Two balls later, Thilan Samaraweera glanced a delivery down the leg side to be caught by wicketkeeper Ramdin for
naught. However, Sangakkara and Dilshan settled down to build another important stand, eking out runs slowly at first before a burst of boundaries midway through the afternoon. Tino Best was guilty of bowling an erratic two-over burst that included one beamer to Sangakkara and three consecutive boundaries by Dilshan as he erred in length. Shortly afterwards the rain, which caused numerous stoppages throughout the day, forced players off for an early tea. When play resumed, the 3000-strong crowd cheered Sangakkara as he reached his century with a sweep to fine leg. Following the dismissal of Dilshan with the score on 264-5, Daren Powell bowled Gayan Wijekoon for 12 with the new ball but Sangakkara stood undefeated till the close. Sri Lanka’s main strike bowler Chaminda Vaas, who captured six wickets in the first innings, had to bat with a runner due to a hamstring strain before he, too, succumbed to Banks for 19. Vaas’ injury could sideline him for the rest of the match. Scoreboard Sri Lanka (1st innings) 150 West Indies (1st innings) 148 Sri Lanka (2nd innings) Jayasuriya c Morton b Lawson 36 Atapattu c Banks b D. Powell 19 Sangakkara not out 135 Jayawardene b Lawson 43 Samaraweera c Ramdin Dilshan c Morton b Banks 49 Wijekoon b D. Powell 12 Vaas b Banks 19 Herath not out 4 Extras
(b-8, lb-5, nb-4, w-6) 23 Total (7 wickets, 98 overs) 340 Fall of wickets:
1-55, 2-57, 3-155, 4-155, 5-264, 6-278, 7-321. Bowling: Daren Powell 27-4-79-2, Lawson 25-1-93-3, Best 19-2-75-0, Banks 16-5-39-2, Deonarine 3-0-13-0, Morton 5-0-15-0, Chanderpaul 3-1-13-0.
— Reuters |
|
|
Australia win by 239 runs
London, July 24 England’s only realistic hope of avoiding defeat, having limped to 156 for five on the third evening with 420 needed for victory, lay with the weather and their prayers were answered as today’s first two sessions were washed out by rain. When the fourth day finally got under way with 42 overs left to play, however, the home side collapsed to 180 all out without a fight. Their last five wickets tumbled for 22 runs in just under eight overs. McGrath, who claimed five wickets for two runs in an extraordinary spell in the first innings to pass 500 test wickets, took four for 29 to complete match figures of nine for 82. Shane Warne took four for 64 in the second innings. The last four batsmen, Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison and Simon Jones, all made ducks. Kevin Pietersen permitted English supporters a thin smile, completing his second half-century on his debut and finishing on 64 not out. England, who lasted just 10.1 overs today, had remained in the contest for the first two days before being blown away in the third. Australia have not lost at Lord’s for 18 Tests, going back to 1934. Scoreboard Australia (1st innings) 190 England (1st innings) 155 Australia (2nd innings) 384 England (2nd innings) Trescothick c Hayden b Warne 44 Strauss c and b Lee 37 Vaughan b Lee 4 Bell lbw b Warne 8 Pietersen not out 64 Flintoff c Gilchrist b Warne 3 G.Jones c Gillespie b McGrath 6 Giles c Hayden b McGrath 0 Hoggard lbw b McGrath 0 Harmison lbw b Warne 0 S.Jones c Warne b McGrath 0 Extra: (b-2, lb-5, nb-3) 14 Total: (all out, 58.1 overs) 180 Fall of wickets: 1-80, 2-96, 3-104, 4-112, 5-119, 6-158, 7-158, 8-164, 9-167. Bowling: McGrath 17.1-2-29-4, Lee 15-3-58-2, Gillespie 6-0-18-0, Warne 20-2-64-4. — Reuters
|
|
Ganguly ready for busy season
London, July 24 Ganguly said he still has not heard if the International Cricket Council will allow him to play in the coming triangular series in Sri Lanka and added: “It doesn’t worry me.” “If they want me, I'll go to Sri Lanka, if not I’ll go home to my wife and little girl,” he told BBC Sport Wales. “But the two months in Wales have really helped me prepare for a busy year ahead. The boys in the dressing room, the people, the press - everything has been fantastic. “The two months in Wales have really helped me prepare for a busy year ahead,” he added. Ganguly also had a word of advice for his beleaguered Welsh side: mental toughness, a couple of overseas players and physical fitness should help improve things in the future. “Glamorgan have a young team and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here. But they definitely need two overseas players for the full season to help the youngsters come through,” he felt. “The talent is definitely there, what they need are the right overseas stars, plus hard work in the nets, on fitness, and on mental toughness.” Glamorgan, who are at the bottom of the Championship table but doing well on the Totesport one-day league, have only one foreign player in the current season, Australian opener Matthew Elliott, following fast bowler Mike Kasprowicz’s inclusion in Australia's Ashes squad. Ganguly, who was recruited on a short-term contract at the end of May, has impressed with the bat but been unable to turn around the club’s fortunes. Playing in his last county game of the year, Ganguly scored an impressive half-century in a three-day tie against Middlesex but Glamorgan still slid to its ninth defeat in 10 games.
— IANS |
|
BCCI to streamline media commitments policy
New Delhi, July 24 The new terms and conditions, spelling out how and when players could deal with the media, would be in addition to what already existed in the annual contracts and probably included when the contracts would be renewed in November. “There are already certain contractual obligations on the part of the players. In the future, some more points may be included. But it is a policy decision and can be made only by the Working Committee,” BCCI Secretary S.K. Nair
said. — PTI |
|
Fernando Alonso wins, Karthikeyan 16th
Hockenheim, July 24 Raikkonen put up a dominating display as he led from the start and looked set to narrow the gap between himself and championship leader Fernando Alonso. But the race ended in tragedy when his car suddenly stopped in the track in the 36th lap, paving the way for another Renault win. It was sixth win of the year for Spaniard Alonso who now has a 36-point advantage over Raikkonen, with a tally of 87 points against his rival's 51, with seven more races remaining in the calendar. Raikkonen had suffered a similar fate at the European Grand Prix in May where his front tyre suspension gave away in the final lap when he was leading Alonso to the finish. McLaren, however, had something to cheer with Juan Pablo Montoya taking the second place on the podium. Jenson Button in BAR-Honda was third and Alonso’s team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella was fourth. The disappointment of the day might have been Ferrari. Defending champion Michael Schumacher moved from fifth place to third at the start but his car clearly struggled to keep pace with the leading teams and eventually dropped back to his original fifth place. India’s Karthikeyan, driving his Jordan car, finished 16th ahead of his teammate Tiago Montiero of Portugal. Bringing up the car to the finish line itself was an achievement for Narain whose debut season has been plagued by electrical and mechanical
failures. That he had to pit five times did not matter for the 28-year old from Chennai. “I had an eventful Grand Prix race with five pitstops but thought I would not make it to the end with my tires,” commented the Indian before leaving for race direction to justify a blue flag that he was waved at during the last part of the race. On lap six, after starting in 19th position, Narain was already running in 14th position ahead of Monteiro after an incident between Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber Petronas) and Robert Doornbos
(Minardi Cosworth). Monteiro, on the other hand, learnt a lesson that he would not forget for the rest of his career. The Jordan driver, keen to preserve his position against Jacques Villeneuve, swung to his left and blocked the path of the former world champion just ahead a right hand corner. But Monteiro closed the door too late and gave little time for the Canadian to react. Villeneuve rammed in from behind and both the car went off
the track. The damage was more to Villeneuve as he lost his nose cone in the incident but Monteiro too was forced a visit to the garage, and as a result, lost his position to Narain. “The rest of the race was very regular. However, on lap 54, I went wide off track on turn 12, but continued. On lap 57, I went wide again and did not loose the
car.— PTI |
|
Sania loses in doubles
New Delhi, July 24 Unseeded Sania and Yuliana lost 5-7, 3-6 yesterday against Czech Republic’s Kveta and Maria of Argentina, who set up the final clash with third-seeded Laura Granville and Abigail Spears of the USA. The defeat for the Indian came a day after she lost her singles quarterfinal tie of the Tier III event against Akiko Morigami of Japan. Meanwhile, Morigami continued her fine run in singles stunning fourth seed Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-4 to book a final showdown against top seed Patty Schnyder. Schnyder tamed surprised semifinalist Bethanie Mattek, a qualifier, in the other semifinal 6-4, 6-1.
— PTI |
|
Nadal wins on clay again
Stuttgart, July 24 The 19-year-old Spaniard confirmed his status as the best clay-court player in the world, and qualified for the season-ending Masters Cup with a commanding win, running the Argentine ragged in an entertaining final.
— Reuters |
|
|
Cueists begin with easy wins
New Delhi, July 24 The seasoned Indian player claimed the first two frames 61-36 and 85-19, but Rasekhi rallied to win the third frame 65-37. The Iranian, however, fizzled out to narrowly lose the fourth one 49-53 while Alok sealed the matter with a 83-0 verdict in the fifth frame of the match, when he also registered a break of 83. The 37-year-old would next play S.H.M. Aslam of Sri Lanka. Second seed Pankaj Advani found Ahmed Saif of Qatar challenging before he beat him 4-2 in Group B. Last year’s finalist Advani swept the first frame 73-1 and scored 72-64 in the second before conceding his third and fifth frames 61-71 and 31-64 while also registering two breaks. He won the fourth and sixth frames 99-0 and 62-25 en route to victory. The 19-year-old former world snooker champion and reigning world billiards champion would now face Pramual Janthad of Thailand. Another Indian in the fray, Manan Chandra, who had been seeded 12th, blanked Mongolia’s Lkhavgadori 4-0 (68-11, 65-49, 69-54, 57-22) in Group E. He would next play Ahmad al-Tarkait of Kuwait.
— PTI |
|
Federations keen on foreign coaches
New Delhi, July 24 The federations feel that home-bred coaches are not well-versed with the latest coaching trends and techniques to make any difference. A majority of the sports federations, therefore, have requested the government to engage foreign coaches to train the teams in various disciplines. Foreign coaches, mostly hired from the splinter blocks of the erstwhile Soviet Union, come at a high cost, though they do not always deliver tangible results, despite fostering the dope culture. The absence of well-qualified sports medicine experts, psychologists and sports scientists is yet another worrying factor for the sports managers which has seized the attention of the Sports Development Commission of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Chairman of IOA’s Sports Development Commission Brig KP Singh Deo, who is also the president of the Rowing Federation of India, said during a recent meeting of the commission, attended, among others, by IOA Secretary-General Raja Randhir Singh and Sports Authority of India (SAI) Director-General Ratan P Watal, it was strongly felt that a professional approach, attitude and system should be adopted by various agencies involved in the running of sports in the country like the IOA, the SAI, the Sports Ministry and the sports federations, to improve the performance of the Indian sports persons at the highest level. The aim is to realise not only the immediate goals of excelling in next year’s Commonwealth and Asian Games, but also doing well in the 2008 Olympic Games (Beijing), the 2010 Asian Games and the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. Though India spends huge sums on foreign coaches and the training, participation in competitions and foreign exposure of the teams, not much care is taken to update the knowledge of the technical officials, referees, judges and managerial officials, who too make up an integral part of any team which participate in major competitions. As a result, they lag behind due to their lack of knowledge about the changing rules and regulations, and the latest trends in coaching and training. Brigadier KP Singh
Deo said the government would be prevailed upon to send technical officials, referees, coaches and other support personnel along with teams at the government’s cost,
which is, in fact, a “mandatory requirement” in most sports disciplines, for international competitions. He said it was resolved that all mandatory sports disciplines as well as the likely additional disciplines to be included in the 2006 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games and the 2010 Commonwealth Games, shall be put in Category I, with a “long-term development programme and plan” in place, to be strictly implemented and scientifically monitored, if India were to reap medals in these competitions. |
|
Bakre, Kidambi among joint leaders
Pardubice (Czech Republic), July 24 Thirty-three players, including Grandmaster Tejas Bakre, International Masters S. Kidambi, M.R. Venkatesh and S. Poobesh Anand emerged joint leaders with two points each from as many games in the 332-player competition, being played on FIDE’s Swiss system. Half a point behind the leaders, amongst others, were Chanda, S. Satyapragyan and D.V. Prasad. Seven rounds still remained in the tournament. It turned out to be a mixed day for the Indians, with Bakre, Kidambi, Venkatesh and Pobesh Anand recording wins and Women Grandmaster-in-waiting Tania Sachdev, IM Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury, IM Rahul Shetty and Kruttika Nadig suffering losses. Eesha Karavade and Prasad were amongst those who settled for draws in their second round games. Generally it was a draw-marred second round on the top boards as the first seven boards reached a deadlock. Satyapragyan was one of the gainers as he held Grandmaster Andrei Kovalev of Bulgaria to an easy draw. Playing the white side of a Sicilian Nazdorf, Satyapragyan was never in difficulty after choosing a rather safe opening set-up. The Indian sacrificed a pawn in the centre to gain vital control of light squares, which the Bulgarian realised quickly. The draw was agreed upon in just 20 moves. For Chanda, it turned out to be a rather tough day as Klenburg did not relent with his white pieces. Starting with an irregular opening set-up, the Ukrainian was in for some early trouble in the middle game after Chanda made steady progress on the queenside to place himself in a better position. However, Chanda’s superiority did not last long once Klenburg kicked his counter-play off with a temporary exchange sacrifice, leading to complications. Chanda got two rooks for his queen, but Klenburg saw the vulnerability of the black king and launched an attack, leading to perpetual checks. The peace was signed in 43 moves. Bakre had a fine game against compatriot Rahul Shetty, who lost a keenly contested game, while Venkatesh and Kidambi remained on target for their Grandmaster norms with victories over Piotr Brodowski of Poland and Poavel Nvak of Czech Republic, respectively.
— PTI |
|
Grover continues to impress in youth chess
Belfort (France), July 24 N. Srinath in the under-12 and Y. Sandeep in the under-14, both in the boys section, also remained on course of winning a medal by taking their tally to 5.5 points each from six games. However, pre-event favourites Parimarjan Negi in under-12 boys and D. Harika in under-16 girls suffered setbacks as they dropped more points on the first double round day in the event, that had more than 1,000 participants. Negi moved to 4.5 points after losing half a point in the fifth round played earlier in the day before winning the next, while Harika drew both her games to move to 4.5 points. Negi’s section was led by Russian Sjugirov Sanan, who had won all his six games so far, while the under-16 girls category was led by Anna Muzychuk and Anya Corke, who both had 5.5 points apiece. Saheli Nath was joint third in this section with five points to her credit. Meanwhile, Srinath emerged as a good bet for the Indians after he emerged unscathed from the double round day, drawing the first game and later handing Uladzislau Kavaliou a crushing defeat. Sandeep remained in joint lead in the under-14 boys section after signing peace with Mariyan Boychev in their sixth round clash. Maxim Matlakov was the other leader in this group.
— PTI |
||
|
Punjab emerge overall champs
Hyderabad, July 24 Punjab topped the men’s and women’s team championships with 13 points each while Delhi and Haryana were jointly declared winners in the junior boys section with 6 points each. The girls championship went to Punjab, which logged 10 points. In the sub-junior boys section, hosts Andhra Pradesh logged 16 points to lead the table while Kerala girls, with 19 points, won the sub-junior title. Gurpreet Kaur of Punjab had a tough contest with Kulbir Kaur of Chandigarh before winning the four-lap mass start for women in a close finish. Gurpreet clocked 1.14:17.58 to win the gold while Kulbir clocked 1.14:20.90 to bag the silver. In the boys u-19 four-lap mass start, Subash Kumar of Haryana won a close race against Sachin of Delhi with a margin of two seconds while Nirmal Singh of Haryana won the bronze. In the u-19 girls two-lap mass start, Gurpreet Kaur of Punjab had an easy win over Mahita Mohan of Kerala while Aashi won the bronze.
— PTI |
||
|
Tottenham Hotspur win Peace Cup
Seoul, July 24 The English Premier League club took the lead in the seventh minute when Lyon defender Jeremy Berthod deflected a cross from Stephen Kelly into his own net. Two minutes later, Ireland forward Keane made it 2-0 after meeting a cross from Mido with a powerful header in sweltering conditions in front of nearly 50,000 at the Seoul World Cup stadium. Keane claimed his second in the 45th minute after midfielder Andy Reid sliced open the Lyon defence with a clever pass through to Mido, who again set up the Irishman up for an easy tap-in. Lyon upped the tempo in the second half and Hatem Ben Arfa grabbed a goal back from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute after Tottenham captain Ledley King had handled the ball. Spurs received $ 2 million for winning the tournament, which also included Boca Juniors of Argentina, Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa, Real Sociedad of Spain, Dutch champions PSV
Eindhoven, Once Caldas of Colombia and domestic K-League side Seongnam
Ilhwa.
— Reuters |
||
|
Breaststroke rule changed
Montreal, July 24 At the International Aquatics Federation (FINA) congress held in conjunction with the championships, the sport’s governing body voted to allow one underwater dolphin kick at the start and turns of breaststroke races. The rule banning such kicks has caused controversy since as far back as 1978, most recently when Japan’s Kitajima was accused by some of Hansen’s US Olympic team-mates of using one to help him to the 100m breaststroke title 17-hundredths of a second ahead of the American in Athens.
— AFP |
|
Gonzalez too good for Calleri
Amersfoort, July 24 Calleri, the world number 94 after two months out of action with a hernia injury, became the first player this week to break Gonzalez’s serve but he failed to take advantage. Gonzalez, runner-up in the tournament last year, broke Calleri in the fourth game of the second set and went on to claim his second title of the season. “'My main target for this year is to finish top 10,” Gonzalez said.
— Reuters |
|
|
Crawford pulls out
London, July 24 |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
