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Flintoff gives England the edge
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A golfing prodigy
S. Korea draw with Norway
Bad day for Punjab
cagers
India beat Russia 10-2
Rathore soars to third spot
Samresh Jung misses Olympic bus again
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India fail to fire St John’s (Antigua) June 2 Apart from a fierce square cut, Dravid, realising the importance of stemming the morning rot, was inclined to tire out the bowlers rather than dominate them. The West Indian tactics, on the other hand, were to frustrate the Indians with incessant deliveries well outside the off-stump. On a breezy day at the Antigua Recreation Ground, with the light fluctuating between sunshine and shade, India decided to tilt towards caution by opting for six batsmen, which, if batting becomes easier, could transpire to be a sensible move. While Corey Collymore’s inclusion in the side became likely after he was declared fit on the eve of the match - he being the most respectable of the West Indian bowlers in recent times, the exclusion of both Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh was a bombshell. They have 316 test wickets between them, whereas Munaf Patel and Sreesanth jointly have a mere 19 to their name and VRV Singh was making his debut. It reflected how much the sultan of swing and the spin wizard had lost the confidence of the tour selectors, particularly the former, since India chose to pursue the Saurav Ganguly policy of playing three quicker bowlers in Caribbean conditions. Perhaps, the shock treatment will arouse the rested duo out of their stupor. But it was still a drastic decision on the part of the management; only time will tell whether it was justified. At least on record, Brian Lara was not disappointed to lose the toss. It gave his three-pronged pace attack use of the wicket when it was expected to be most helpful to speed merchants. Indeed, he reaped immediate success, when Wasim Jaffer got a rising delivery from Edwards - the fastest of the home bowlers - on off-stump which left him a shade to take the outside edge. Meanwhile, Virender Sehwag, assisted by some erratic bowling at both ends, was going like a bullet, peppering the onside fence in a relatively shorter outfield. He was beaten once, when he snicked Edwards just wide of third slip. Not learning his lesson he played defensively without taking his front foot to the line of the ball to perish in the hands of second slip. It was the very first ball of Collymore’s spell. The move to send in VVS Laxman at first drop is to be applauded. He is not only technically and temperamentally capable of handling this assignment, but can act the architect in this position. Besides, this takes a little pressure off an over-burdened Dravid. It didn’t click on this occasion as the Hyderabad stylist was a little tentative after being rendered insecure by Kiran More and company. He was legitimately watchful, entering the fray at 10 for one and then witnessing the departure of Sehwag at 51. But he uncoiled a classical square drive, which went for four despite Dwane Bravo getting a hand to it. Then, just as he was beginning hit the ball harder, he got a faint tickle to the ‘keeper off the apparently harmless but ubiquitous Bravo. India, thus, went into lunch at a rather uncomfortable 74 for three. Scoreboard India (1st innings) Jaffer c Ramdin b Edwards 1 Sehwag c Lara b Collymore 36 Laxman c Ramdin b Bravo 29 Dravid batting 27 Yuvraj bating 22 Extras (lb-2, w-1, nb-4) 7 Total (3 wkts; 45 overs) 122 Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-51, 3-72. Bowling: Edwards 11-2-34-1, Bradshaw 15-1-56-0, Collymore 7-3-10-1, Gayle 3-0-4-0, Bravo 7-4-7-1, Mohammed 2-0-9-0.
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Pathan makes way for VRV
St John’s (Antigua), June 2 India go into the match with three seamers and spinner Anil Kumble. The team also plays six batsmen. West Indies have also fielded an attack of four seamers and one spinner. Teams: West Indies: Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin(wk), Ian Bradshaw, Dave Mohammad, Fidel Edwards, Corey Collymore. India: Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer, VVS Laxman, Mohd Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, M.S. Dhoni, Anil Kumble, S. Sreesanth, Munaf Patel and VRV Singh.
— UNI
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Sarwan appointed Lara’s
deputy
Antigua, June 2 Brian Lara was appointed captain of the side on April 26 but the WICB did not name his deputy and speculation was rife about who will get the job. After Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s resignation, Sarwan was in fact in the running to take over as the new captain but the WICB brought back Lara for the third time and the southpaw did not let down, leading the side to a 5-0 whitewash of Zimbabwe and then a 4-1 trouncing of the mighty India in the one
dayers.
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Flintoff gives England the edge Nottingham, June 2 The giant all-rounder, bowling just back of a length and hitting speeds of more than 91mph, took the big wickets of Kumar Sangakkara (36), Mahela Jayawardene (0) and Sanath Jayasuriya (4) as Sri Lanka were dismissed for 231. England, 1-0 up in the series, then lost both openers cheaply to close on 53 for two. Flintoff’s muscular intervention sparked a top-order batting collapse just before lunch, three wickets falling for two runs in three overs. From 84 for one, Sri Lanka slumped to 139 for eight. Sri Lanka’s had the consolation of watching their last three batsmen slog 92 runs, underlining how badly things had gone before. Having failed to reach 200 in their first innings at Lord’s and 150 at Edgbaston, the touring side were looking for a big statement after winning the toss. Instead, their openers were parted cheaply yet again, Michael Vandort playing on with two on the board. That gave lively medium pacer Jon Lewis a wicket with the fourth ball of his debut. Lewis finished with three for 68, compared to Flintoff's three for 52. The key to the day was the fall of Sangakkara after an 82-run stand for the second wicket with Upul Tharanga (34). By then Flintoff was working up a real sweat as he thundered in from the Pavilion End. Sangakkara, pinned back in his crease, fenced once too often and was given out caught behind. TV replays suggested he had been unlucky, just as they had suggested he might have been given out in similar fashion off his very first ball. Scoreboard Sri Lanka (1st innings) Vandort b Lewis 1 Tharanga c Jones b Hoggard 34 Sangakkara c Jones b Flintoff 36 Jayawardene c Jones b Flintoff 0 Dilshan c Flintoff b Lewis 8 Jayasuriya c Pietersen b Flintoff 4 Kapugedera c Strauss b Plunkett 14 Maharoof c Flintoff b Hoggard 13 Vaas not out 38 Malinga c Pietersen b Lewis 21 Muralitharan c Flintoff Extras (b-4, lb-3, w-2, nb-20) 29 Total (all out; 66.2 overs) 231 Fall of wickets:
1-2, 2-84, 3-85, 4-86, 5-97, 6-105, 7-129, 8-139, 9-169, 10-231. Bowling: Hoggard 17-3-65-2, Lewis 21-3-68-3, Plunkett 8.2-1-36-2, Flintoff 15-2-52-3, Panesar 5-3-3-0. England (1st innings) Trescothick run out 24 Strauss b Vaas 7 Cook not out 12 Pietersen not out 6 Extras
(b-1, lb-2, nb-1) 4 Total (2 wkts; 18 overs) 53 Fall of
wickets:1-25, 2-39. Bowling: Vaas 9-2-21-1, Malinga 5-0-21-0, Muralitharan 4-0-8-0.
— Reuters
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Easy sailing for Nadal, Hingis
Paris, June 2 Defending champion Nadal, who had not played since his first round match on Monday, took his record of consecutive claycourt wins to 55 with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 win over American lucky loser Kevin Kim. Clijsters and Hingis, the respective second and 12th seeds who are also potential quarterfinal opponents, lost only seven games between them. Clijsters, twice a runner-up at Roland Garros, beat Conchita Martinez Granados of Spain 6-0, 6-3 and Hingis, who is back at the French Open for the first time since 2001, crushed Czech Zuzana Ondraskova 6-1, 6-3 in bright sunshine. Both the Belgian and the Swiss are seeking to win the claycourt slam for the first time. Hingis was especially impressive in the first set. “I almost felt sorry (for her),” said the former world number one who is back playing on tour after a three-year hiatus. “I played really well, served well, moved well. It’s all coming together again. I just hope it’s going to continue like that. I just want to save the best for last.” Clijsters won her first set even more easily but was a break down at 3-2 in the second before rallying. “I was going for my shots a little bit too early in the rallies,” said the 22-year-old US Open champion. “I wasn’t patient enough.” Argentine 10th seed Gaston Gaudio, the 2004 champion, won his battle with 2003 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain on centre court, sneaking past him to the fourth round in three tight sets 7-5, 7-5, 7-6. Eighth seed James Blake showed he can mix it with the best claycourters when he beat highly-rated Spaniard Nicolas Almagro with surprising ease to reach the third round at Roland Garros for the first time. Blake had lost the first set on Thursday before bad light stopped play but dominated today to complete a 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 second round win. Another early winner was women’s seventh seed Patty Schnyder. The Swiss recovered after losing the first set to beat Ukraine’s Julia Vakulenko 2-6, 7-5, 6-0 in their third round match. She will face either Venus Williams or Croatian Karolina Sprem in the last 16. Hard-hitting Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, the eighth seed, battled past Li Na of China 6-3, 7-6 to reach the same stage. Other results: second round (men’s singles): 15-David Ferrer (Spa) b Jeremy Chardy (Fra) 6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1; Juan Monaco (Arg) b 28-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1. Women (second round): 13-Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Ger) b Jamea Jackson (US) 6-7(8,) 6-2, 6-1; 26-Anabel Medina (Spa) beat Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) 6-3, 4-6, 6-0; Ivana Lisjak (Croatia) beat Jie Zheng (China) 6-4, 6-4. (Third round): 9-Francesca Schiavone (Italy) b 17-Flavia Pennetta (Italy) 4-6, 6-1, 9-7; 14-Dinara Safina (Russia) b 24-Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) 6-3, 6-4. — Agencies Sania partners Hanley
in mixed doubles
Mahesh Bhupathi teamed up again with Swiss comeback queen Martina Hingis again, while his estranged doubles partner Leander Paes partners Russian Maria Kirilenko in the mixed doubles event of the French Open. Sania Mirza, already out of contention in the singles and through to the second round of the doubles, will join Australian Paul Hanley in her mixed doubles campaign. The Paes-Kirilenko pair was handed a tough draw that pits them against third seeded American duo of Meghann Shaughnessy and Mike Bryan. Bhupathi and Hingis have rather comfortable first round opponents in Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden and Australian Stephen Huss. Sania and Hanley, however, can’t relax as they are pitted against sixth seeded American Bob Bryan and the legendary Martina Navratilova, who was Paes’ regular partner in the past. And there is a prospect of Bhupathi-Hingis taking on Hanley-Sania in the second round if both the pairs win their first round match.
— UNI
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A golfing prodigy
Chandigarh, June 2 India finished fourth among teams with Abhijit Chadha ably supported by Rahul Bakshi 1 over par 73 and Rommel 3 over par 75. Elated over his success, Abhijit said, “It was a tough competition as almost all top Asian golfers were there to fight it out to finish on the top. Somehow, I was quite confident of finishing it to the podium.” Sharing his experience, which was incidentally his first international exposure, he said, “The Singapore course was very tough and uneven with lots of slopes covered with typical coastal area crap grass. Above all, there was intense rain. We were not accustomed to such conditions, though we were made to play in the rain during our training programme in Chandigarh. “The hard-hitting moment was during the 18 hole, which was about 50-foot high. But somehow, I manage to make the things going and my last day’s score 1 under was the day’s best score of the tournament.” Already recognised as the No 1 in the junior merit list (between age 13-15 years) by the Indian Golf Union, Abhijit already has a long list of his achievements in a short span of his career. He came to limelight when he clinched the first place in the Eastern India Junior/Sub-Junior golf Championship held at Tollygange club Ltd at Kolkata in December last, followed by winning the title of Western India Junior/Sub-Junior Championship held at Bombay Presidency Golf Club same month. |
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S. Korea draw with Norway
Oslo, June 2 Norway, which drew another World Cup-bound team, Paraguay, last week in Oslo, dominated throughout yesterday but failed to capitalise on its chances. John Carew had a handful of opportunities, but the tall Lyon striker couldn’t finish them off. Fredrik Stromstad set up Carew for Norway’s first chance in the 29th minute. After taking the long pass, Carew shot just over the crossbar from 20 metres. Another long pass by Stromstad led to Norway’s best chance in the 37th. Tommy Svindal Larsen volleyed just wide. South Korea, a 2002 World Cup semifinalist, opens its Cup campaign on June 13 against Togo in Group G, which also includes 1998 champion France and Switzerland. South Korea is contesting its sixth successive World Cup.
— AP
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Bad day for Punjab
cagers
Ludhiana, June 2 Punjab eves began the proceedings on a sedate note with the reigning champions dictating the terms. The winners established a 27-point (47-20) lead at half time. After changing ends, Punjab cagers changed the tactics and exchanged the ball very fast, which enabled them to reduce the margin to some extent nut that was not enough as the visitors went on to add points and finally wrapped up the issue. For Chhattisgarh, Kawaljeet stood tall among others chipping in as many as 40 points while Pushpa and Manmeet Kaur contributed 25 and eight points, respectively. Sarabjit Kaur (22) top scored for Punjab, followed by Harmeet Kaur and Manda who garnered 18 points each. Skipper, Kiranjit Kaur scored 11 points. In the second semifinal, Delhi, thanks to some fine dribbling and ball control by Akanksha and Shamim, pipped Kerala after leading 36-26 at the breather. Akanksha secured 25 points while Virinder and Shamim scored 21 and 16 points, respectively. For the losers, Victoria and Reshma made 18 and 17 points each. Earlier, Punjab boys who finished runners up in the last edition of this championship at Pondicherry, suffered an unexpected defeat (84-96) against Rajasthan in the quarterfinals. Punjab lads were well placed at the end of the second quarter (52-42) but squandered away the advantage thereafter. In the third quarter, Rajasthan boys reorganised themselves and rattled the hosts. Harshvardhan and Bhupendera with 25 and 22 points, respectively, scripted Rajasthan’s hard fought win. Rajendra and Amit, too contributed 23 and 12 each for the winners. Punjab’s Dilawar and Gurjeet waged a spirited battle and managed to salvage some pride, however their attempts failed to save their side from defeat. They scored 26 and 27 points, respectively while Sukhjeet netted 10 points.
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India beat Russia 10-2
New Delhi, June 2 Forward Gurwinder Singh Chandi slammed three goals (16th, 61st and 65th minutes) while drag-flicker Raghunath (15th and 25th) and skipper V. Raja (17th, 27th) shot home twice each. Yoga Singh (32nd), Roshan Minz (42nd) and Ajitesh Rai (68th) also found the target for India. However, the match started in an unexpected manner as minnows Russia managed to take the lead in the sixth minute. But the Indians quickly took control and dictated terms henceforth. Russia scored their second goal in 44th minute. India are now top of the table after winning all three of their matches so far and have become strong contenders for the title. They had beaten Pakistan 4-0 and Czech Republic 12-0 in the previous two encounters. They are also sitting pretty on the front of goal difference. India have scored 26 goals so far while conceding only two. India next take on another title contender Germany before facing the hosts in their final league match.
— PTI
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Rathore soars to third spot
New Delhi, June 2 The Army marksman, who only recently got back his form with his new Perazzi DB gun, which was lost subsequently, jumped four places up from his previous seventh spot in the latest rankings. Rathore, with rating points 1817, is placed behind leader Hakan Dahlby of Sweden (2728) and Russia’s Mosin Vasiliy (1934), who gained one place. Trap shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu, who also secured an Olympic berth in Cairo, catapulted to second place from his previous ninth rank, with 1457 points. Gagan Narang, who ruled the ranking charts after the first World Cup of the season in China, is now sitting pretty at the second position in the men’s 10 m air rifle rankings. Abhinav Bindra is placed 24th. A string of low finishes cost Samresh Jung 16 places as he slipped to 43rd in 50 m pistol event. Sonia Rai was the only Indian woman to be among the top 10 in 10m air pistol event. The Indian, however, dropped three places from sixth to ninth after a not-so-impressive outing in Munich.
— PTI
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Samresh Jung misses Olympic bus again
New Delhi, June 2 Jung, who shot into limelight by clinching five gold medals in Melbourne Commonwealth Games, disappointed with a tally of 574 (97, 95, 95, 96, 95, 96) in the 10m pistol event yesterday. The CRPF Inspector will now get another chance to book an Olympic berth in the World Shooting Championships at Zagreb, Croatia, next month. Vivek Singh, who scored the same as that of Jung, was 46th (96, 96, 98, 94, 94, 96) while upcoming marksman Ronak Pandit scored 576 (94, 94, 96, 99, 96, 97) to be 28th, highest among the Indians. Annuraj Singh finished 23rd after firing 379 with a series of 95, 94, 95, 95 in women’s 10m Air Pistol event. Shweta Chowdhary finished 60th with a score of 373 (93, 93, 90, 97) while Sonia Rai, who won a bronze medal in Resende, Brazil, was placed 81st after shooting 369 (94, 93, 89, 93).
— PTI
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