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Sania-Huber enter
semis
Rain could mar fifth one-day
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Need to build bench strength: coach
Judoka’s murder: suspects identified
Rathore finishes poor eighth
JCT win
Panel to finalise Ranjit Singh Awards
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Amritraj keeps India afloat
Mumbai, April 7 India’s number one player Amritraj displayed excellent fighting spirit to come back from 1-4 down in the first two sets against the baseline-hugging Pakistan number two Khan before raising his game up a notch in the third in sweltering conditions to record a 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 victory two hours and fifty minutes. Earlier, a pumped up Pakistan number one Qureshi outclassed Indian number two Bopanna, who dished out an insipid and error-prone display, in straight sets to give the visitors a flying start in the sixth-ever clash between the arch-rivals. Qureshi, ranked number 416 in the world, subdued his doubles partner and friend on the Tour Bopanna, ranked 235, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-4 in two minutes under two hours in the opening singles. Bopanna committed a whopping 19 double faults, some of them at crucial stages, to give the match on a platter to his big-serving Pakistani rival. Tomorrow, the doubles encounter between India’s famed combine of captain Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi against Jalil Khan and Asim Shafik would be held. The reverse singles featuring Amritraj against Qureshi and Bopanna versus Aqeel Khan is scheduled for Sunday. It so easily could have been Pakistan’s day after Qureshi had thumped Bopanna out in the first singles and with Amritraj trailing Khan in the second singles in the first two sets. But the son of former India captain Vijay showed tremendous resilience to battle it out in conditions that needed on-court medical attention for cramps for both the players in the second set that lasted 66 minutes. Amritraj, unlike his teammate Bopanna who tried too hard to out-serve his rival Qureshi, played the percentage game well even as his opponent started committing errors increasingly as the match progressed. Amritraj, though serving only four aces, gave his rival trouble when serving wide to Khan’s backhand whenever the chance arose. He also volleyed very well and hustled his rival by attacking Khan’s serve on occasions by rushing the net. Khan committed seven double faults while acing Amritraj on nine occasions, and was especially error-prone when he looked to be on top. This helped his Indian rival to make light of one service break in the opening set and two in the second to win them both via the tie-breaker. Down 1-4 in the first set after being broken in the fourth game, Amritraj clawed his way back slowly by breaking back in the ninth game as Khan double-faulted twice to reduce his rival’s lead to 4-5. Amritraj then held serve to draw level at 5-all. In the tie-break, the Indian youngster took a commanding 4-0 lead. Though Khan drew level at 5 with the help of some excellent return of serves, Amritraj had the wood on him. Amritraj went set point up (6-5) with a deep serve and followed it by engaging his rival in a six-stroke baseline rally which finally ended in the Indian’s favour when Khan netted a backhand. In the second, Amritraj was broken twice, in the first and fifth games, to be down 1-4 again before another brilliant fight-back saw him break his rival’s serve in the sixth and tenth games and restore parity at 5-all. Amritraj took a medical time out after the first break back while Khan did likewise after Amritraj went 6-5 up. But he looked increasingly error-prone and listless and lost the second set tie-break quite tamely 7-1 after Amritraj jumped to a 5-0 lead. Amritraj was all over his rival’s serve in the final set and Khan was forced on the defensive right through his service games. He managed to save two break points in the first, two more after deuce was called thrice in the fifth before committing two double-faults and lost his serve in the 7th that gave Amritraj a commanding 4-3 lead.
— PTI |
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Sania-Huber enter
semis
Amelia Island (Florida), April 7 Sania-Huber toyed with the Aussie pair of Nicole Pratt and Bryanne Stewart before knocking them out 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Contrary to their jittery first-round win on Wednesday, the Indo-South African duo were ruthless from the start and broke the Aussies six times in the first set en route to winning it 6-2. Sania-Huber mounted the pressure and broke their opponents twice and, despite squandering their serve once, won the second set and the match.
— UNI |
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British media lashes
out at team
London, April 7 With a headline reading “England on their knees once more”, The Daily Telegraph said England have had some pretty miserable one-day tours in their time but this “Indian misadventure is shaping up as the worst yet.” It said the Aussies must be looking on again this week, half amused and half bemused that the Ashes winners should have gone to pieces so spectacularly. “There are caveats — different form of the game and all that, plus the fact that only six members of yesterday’s team appeared on the New Year’s Honours list. But it is still horribly embarrassing to have lost this seven-match series with three games to play. “The quality gap is only confirmed by yesterday’s bumper crop of statistics. Anyone who doubts that India are masters of tackling targets, either by speed or stealth, should note that they set a world record with their 15th successful run chase in a row,” it said. The Guardian headlined the story with “Sorry England left to lick their wounds as India wrap up series”. It said England were close to bursting point last night after being outplayed by India for the fourth time in 10 days to surrender a series that, painfully, still has three games to go. “England probably have a dearer wish right now to jump on the next plane back to Heathrow. They have been out-thought and outclassed by a team who know their own backyard down to the last nook and cranny,” the paper said. With a caption, “England roasted as India wrap up series”, The Independent wrote that England’s attempt to turn a one-sided one-day series into a contest melted into the Arabian Sea yesterday as India coasted to a four-wicket victory in the searing heat of the Nehru Stadium in Kochi. “India have an unbeatable 4-0 lead in the seven-match series and have consigned England’s one-day side to another winter of failure.” It said the team would, legitimately attribute the lacklustre performances to a horrendous injury list but “the disappointment for England is that most of those who benefited from the injuries failed to make the most of an opportunity.
— PTI |
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Rain could mar fifth one-day
Guwahati, April 7 The Asom Cricket Association (ACA) officials are keeping their fingers crossed and ACA secretary Bikash Barua said all necessary measures had been taken to protect the wicket and outfield. Rain lashed the city early this morning and the met office has predicted rain in all days till April 10.
— UNI |
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Need to build bench strength: coach
Gurgaon, April 7 Stressing on the need to form a solid bench strength for rotating players and avoiding injuries at the time of crucial tournaments, Bhaskaran said he would first identify the players who could deliver results much before the big outing. “You need to have some time in hand to spend with the players. So I hope to build a 22-member squad by July so that enough time would be there for preparation before such a big event,” he told PTI here on the sidelines of the ongoing camp for a four-nation tournament in Munchengladbach, Germany, later this month. The Olympic gold medallist said building confidence among the players was the top priority for him as a coach at this moment. “There are several challenges at this moment. But, for me, the foremost is building confidence among the boys both on and off the field. And I am working on this. If I can inculcate good attitude in them I think they will develop into a good team,” Bhaskaran said. On the shortcomings that needed to be overcome, the coach said the team was playing well in patches and needed to work on some technicalities. “There are some good players in the team. It’s a nice combination of youth and experience. But the problem is they are playing well in patches. They require to do it more consistently for winning games,” Bhaskaran said. “One main problem area is they leave too much gap between the midfielders and forwards which provides enough time to the opponents. If the midfielders as well as the defenders play slightly up, then they can have better control of the game. Now, I am trying to convince them on this,” he said.
— PTI |
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Judoka’s murder: suspects identified
Hisar, April 7 According to police sources, frequent raids are being conducted to nab Dharmender of Khedar village in the district and Vinod of Panipat district. Both were known to the deceased and are at large since the murder took place. Police officials investigating the case believe that professional rivalry was behind the killing of the judoka. Police teams have raided various spots in Khedar village, Barwala, Panipat and Patiala, but to no avail. Several persons have been rounded up for questioning, but no arrests have been made so far. Mr Arshinder Singh Chawla, SSP, maintains that according to information gathered by the police, five persons had reached the hostel in a Santro car on the night of the murder. Of the five persons, three remained seated in the car whereas two — possibly Dharmender and Vinod — went into Satyender’s room and killed him. The Inspector General of Police (Hisar range), Mr Yashpal Singhal, points out that Dharmender also used to participate in the same weight category (66 kg) as Satyender, but lagged behind the latter. Eventually, this professional envy grew so intense that he, with the help of other person(s), decided to eliminate Satyender. According to the theory being considered by the police, Vinod, a one-time friend of Satyender, also nursed some grudge against him and hence joined hands with Dharmender. |
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Kapur books British Open berth
Singapore, April 7 It was trial by fire for Kapur at the Serapong Golf Course on the Sentosa Island, as he took four extra holes to beat deaf Korean golfer, Lee Sung Man, after the two were tied at five-under 139 for 36 holes. Australian Jarrod Lyle, who survived a battle against leukaemia seven years ago, and Unho Park, a Singapore-based Australian of Korean origin, were tied for first at six-under after the two-round qualifiers. Lyle (67, 71) and Park (68, 70) finished atop the leaderboard at six-under-par 138. Kapur carded 69 and 70 and Lee Sung 71 and 68. Jeev Milkha Singh may well have been in the playoff, too, but for a horrendous triple bogey on the par-three 14th hole. Jeev ended with 69 and 73 at two-under and three behind Kapur and Park, tied fifth with Chapchai Nirat of Thailand. Amandeep Johl (73, 73) and Rahil Gangjee (77, 73) also failed to make the grade. Last year he emerged as the Asian Tour Rookie of the Year and fourth overall in Order of Merit and also won the Volvo Masters of Asia. In the playoff, Kapur and Lee Sung had regulation pars on the first. Then Kapur’s putt lipped out on the second as both made pars. On the third again they halved the hole. Then Lee cracked under pressure, hooking his drive into water at the par five 18th hole. “I just wanted to play safely,” said Kapur. That he did and parred to cap a wonderful past year where he won his maiden Asian Tour title last December at the Volvo Masters of Asia in Bangkok. Kapur becomes the third Indian after Gaurav Ghei (1997), Jyoti Randhawa (2000, 2003 and 2004) and Arjun Atwal (2004) to get into the British Open, the world’s oldest major, which this year will be played at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England, from July 20-23. Of all the previous Indians to make it to the British Open, Randhawa alone made the cut in 2004. Jeev is the only Indian to have played and made the cut at the US Open in 2002, while Atwal is the only Indian to have played the PGA Championships in 2005.
— PTI |
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Rathore finishes poor eighth
New Delhi, April 7 Rathore, who won a gold in this event in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, shot 136 with a series of 44, 46, 46 and missed the finals by a point, according to information received here. Other Indians also did not fare well with Ronjan Sodhi finishing 20th with a shot of 128 (44, 42, 42) while Vikram Bhatnagar ended at 36th with 117 (41, 40, 36).
— UNI |
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JCT win
Mapuse (Goa) April 7 Chetri (7th and 14th minutes), and Jaswinder Singh in (37th minute) scored for JCT. All goals came in the first half. The millmen, with today’s win, registered their third victory from 11 outings and increased their tally to 13 points to come on a par with Dempo and Air-India. Salgaocar remained at eight points from 12 outings.
— UNI |
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Panel to finalise Ranjit Singh Awards
Jalandhar, April 7 Based on the decision of the apex committee, the names of the awardees are soon going to be announced by the government. The awards, which began in the year 1978, have not been given for the past 10 years. The chief minister had made the announcement of giving away the awards during the December, 2004, Indo-Pak Games but the decision is yet to be announced. The first meeting of the apex committee has already been held and the next meeting will be held on April 11. Names of around 120 winners will be announced in the meeting. The announcement will also include names of the medal winners at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games. The chief minister had also declared that the awards for the past 10 years will also be given. The awards constituted in the year 1978 were given to 15 sportspersons per year. The government had declared to give away all the awards and for the purpose a special screening committee had also been formed. The special screening committee headed by Captain Amarinder Singh is once again screening the recommendations of the screening committee. The chief minister on his visit to the city said the decision of the apex committee has been sent to the Sports Department and the decision is going to be announced by the department soon. |
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In video: Guwahati steps up security ahead of fifth ODI. (
