S P O R T S

Goswami bowls eves to historic victory

London, September 2 The Indian women’s cricket team created history by winning their first ever Test series in England with a five-wicket victory in the second and final Test at Taunton yesterday. India, chasing a target of 98 in 31 possible overs on the fourth and final day, started badly, losing Rumeli Dhar for four but Karuna Jain and Sulakshana Naik had a steady partnership. Skipper Mithali Raj ensured she stayed till the end and saw her team through with two overs to spare to clinch the two-Test series 1-0. Jhulan Goswami

champions Trophy
Kumble likely to get call-up
Mumbai, September 2
Anil Kumble is widely tipped to make it to the 14-member Indian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy but the selectors are unlikely to cast the net outside the 16 chosen for the ongoing rolling camp while picking the squad for the tri-series in Malaysia.

BCCI to insist on vetting players’ endorsements
Mumbai, September 2
To avoid possible conflict of interests with its sponsors, the BCCI will insist that players take its prior permission before signing new endorsement deals through a clause in the annual contracts, which are to come up for renewal on October 1.

Shoaib stars in Pak win London, September 2 A superb display of fast bowling from Shoaib Akhtar and a fighting fifty by Younis Khan helped Pakistan crush England by seven wickets in the second one-day international at Lord’s today.
Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar celebrates after taking the wicket of England’s Darren Gough during the second one-day international at Lord’s on Saturday. — Reuters photo

Federer, Henin advance New York, September 2 The remnants of hurricane Ernesto brought an early end to proceedings at the US Open yesterday but not before Roger Federer had swept into the third round. Belgium’s Justine Henin-Hardenne celebrates her win over Japan’s Ai Sugiyama in the second round of the US Open in New York on Friday. Henin-Hardenne won 4-6, 6-1, 6-0. — Reuters photo Paes bows out of mixed doubles New York, September 2 Leander Paes and his Australian partner Samantha Stosur were upset in the first-round of the mixed doubles event by the unseeded Belarussian duo of Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka at the US Open here.

Randhawa in sight of title
Johor Bahru, September 2
Jyoti Randhawa, without a title since his Volvo Masters win in December, 2005, showed he was ready to strike again as he moved within two shots of leader Anton Haig of South Africa in the inaugural $ 300,000 Pulai Springs Malaysian Masters here today.

Dwyane Wade of the USA scores against Argentina during their bronze-medal game at the World Basketball Championship in Saitama on Saturday. The USA won 96-81. — Reuters

AIFF wakes up to implement Vision India Project
New Delhi, September 2
Though the Asian Football Confederation had sanctioned the Vision India Project in 2005 by choosing Delhi and Manipur for the pilot projects, the AIFF has woken up to the task of getting the project on board only now by filling various key posts.

Now, cops to coach in Punjab
Chandigarh, September 2
Call it a part of community policing or optimal use of available manpower that several national-level sportsmen employed in the Police Department will now be working in various sports academies or coaching centres of the Punjab Sports Department.

Puneet, Gurvinder rule the pool
Ropar, September 2
Puneet Rana of Ropar and Gurvinder Kaur of Hoshiarpur today dominated the Punjab State Swimming Championship on the second day at Nehru Stadium swimming pool here.

Goswami bowls eves to historic victory

London, September 2
The Indian women’s cricket team created history by winning their first ever Test series in England with a five-wicket victory in the second and final Test at Taunton yesterday.

India, chasing a target of 98 in 31 possible overs on the fourth and final day, started badly, losing Rumeli Dhar for four but Karuna Jain and Sulakshana Naik had a steady partnership.

Skipper Mithali Raj ensured she stayed till the end and saw her team through with two overs to spare to clinch the two-Test series 1-0.

The star performer for India, however, was seamer Jhulan Goswami who picked five wickets, a repeat her first innings performance, to bowl England out for 305 in their second innings.

England had closed the penultimate day at a strong 205 for two, following on after conceding a 208-run lead in the first essay.

The 10-wicket haul by Goswami, who bagged both the woman of the match and series awards, was the first ever by an Indian bowler.

She ended up with 15 wickets in two Tests and it was the third consecutive Test in which she had got the woman of the match award.

For coach Sudha Shah, the victory was another feather in her cap. The former Test player has now coached the team in three significant performances, the first two being the victory over England in the 1999 one-day series and reaching the World Cup final in 2005.

“It was really satisfying to see the team picking themselves up after the ODI series loss and making England follow on for the first time ever. In fact, we did well to win the first ever Twenty20s we played and we dominated in both Tests with our girls taking the first innings lead in both Tests.”

It marked a remarkable turnaround by the team that had lost the five-match ODI series 4-0 earlier. “I am happy that the team made a strong comeback. The team spirit was high and everyone contributed to the victory,” captain Mithali Raj said.

“We need to improve on some areas before we play the quadrangular series next year. Winning a Test series in England was a wonderful experience.” Goswami, who played despite an injury, said, “We had prepared well at the camp at Infosys, Mysore, which helped us.

“Every time I was given the ball, I wanted to give a breakthrough to the team. Also, the ODI loss was humiliating and we wanted to prove ourselves. We planned well for the matches.”

The last day began with England in a fairly strong position at 205 for two in the second innings with Charlotte Edwards batting on 100.

The hosts, however, got a jolt in the third over of the day with Goswami getting Edwards caught at second slip by Anjum Chopra after she had added just five to her overnight score.

Thereafter, apart from the resistance put up by Sarah Taylor and Beth Morgan, who put on 30 runs for the sixth wicket, and Morgan and Jayne Smith, who added 43 runs for the seventh, England lost wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for 305 runs.

The turning point, besides Edward’s wicket, was the fantastic one-handed diving catch by woman of the match Goswami, who caught Morgan inches from the ground at silly mid-on off Noosheen Al Khader.

The Indian team will now play domestic cricket before the Asia Cup in December in India and the quadrangular series (Australia, India, New Zealand and England) in February 2007 in India again.

BCCI lauds team

New Delhi: The BCCI congratulated the women’s team and its captain Mithali Raj for their 1-0 series win in England.

“This was the first tour undertaken by the women’s team after the merger with the BCCI and we hope that the team does better in the days to come,” BCCI President Sharad Pawar said in a statement through Secretary Niranjan Shah today. — PTI

champions Trophy
Kumble likely to get call-up

Mumbai, September 2
Anil Kumble is widely tipped to make it to the 14-member Indian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy but the selectors are unlikely to cast the net outside the 16 chosen for the ongoing rolling camp while picking the squad for the tri-series in Malaysia.

The squads for both the September 12-24 tri-series in Kuala Lumpur and the October-November Champions Trophy in India are to be picked here tomorrow.

Kumble, although out of selectors’ favour for one-dayers for more than a year, is staking a strong claim for inclusion in the team for the Champions Trophy due to his fine record on home soil.

The veteran leg-spinner returned home before the end of the English county season where he had a stint with Surrey before developing tendonitis in his bowling shoulder.

He is expected to recover fully by the time the Champions Trophy begins, according to the assessment report given by team physio John Gloster.

Kumble, who has taken 329 wickets from 264 matches at close to 31 runs per wicket, has an impressive record at home — 123 wickets in 87 ties while conceding just over 28 runs per wicket.

The Bangalore stalwart, who would celebrate his 36th birthday during the course of the Champions Trophy, last played an ODI in South Africa during the Afro-Asian Cup last year while turning out for the Asian continent.

His last outing in an ODI for India was also in August last year against hosts Sri Lanka in the tri-series final.

In case Kumble makes it to the Champions Trophy squad of 14, it could be at the expense of a medium pacer.

The selectors are most likely to retain the same 15 who were picked for the tri-series in Sri Lanka when they choose the squad for the Malaysian tri-series featuring Australia and the West Indies.

Punjab paceman VRV Singh is the lone player from outside the 15 who toured Sri Lanka to have been called up for the rolling camp in progress at Bangalore.

But in the absence of any play, barring for a brief while, in Colombo, VRV is unlikely to push out any other medium pacer and gain a berth in the Kuala Lumpur-bound team. — PTI

BCCI to insist on vetting players’ endorsements

Mumbai, September 2
To avoid possible conflict of interests with its sponsors, the BCCI will insist that players take its prior permission before signing new endorsement deals through a clause in the annual contracts, which are to come up for renewal on October 1.

“We have decided to ask the players to give us advance information about the endorsement contracts they will sign in future to avoid clash of sponsors’ interests,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said today.

Shah explained that there was already a clause in the contract, which required the players to send a copy of every signed endorsement deal to the board.

As per the altered clause, the board will insist that the players intimate it about endorsement deals they were interested in and get its approval before going ahead and signing on the dotted line.

Asked whether the players would get a chance to look at the deals which the BCCI has signed vis-a-vis the team, Shah said, “We are an open book and everyone knows who are our team sponsors”.

No issue with board: Sehwag

New Delhi: Indian vice-captain Virender Sehwag says the players had no issue with the BCCI signing up various companies as team sponsors as long as it did not trample on their individual sponsorship contracts.

“I don’t think it is a problem. We can do whatever they (the team sponsors) demand as long as it is for the team. As long as it is not an individual demand, it is fine,” Sehwag said here today.

The BCCI has signed Rs 190 crore contract with Nike that allows the name of the sportsgoods manufacturer to be displayed on the non-leading arm of the players’ jersey and on their trousers.

The Nike contract would be in conflict with some of the players who have individual contracts with rival companies, Adidas and Reebok. — PTI

Shoaib stars in Pak win

London, September 2
A superb display of fast bowling from Shoaib Akhtar and a fighting fifty by Younis Khan helped Pakistan crush England by seven wickets in the second one-day international at Lord’s today.

Bell played a loose shot to a wide but fast Shoaib delivery and was caught by Inzamam-ul-Haq at first slip for nine.

Scoreboard

England

Trescothick c Younis b Asif 6

Strauss c Akmal b Shoaib 0

Bell c Inzamam b Shoaib 9

Pietersen c Naved b Asif 17

Collingwood lbw Afridi 35

Dalrymple lbw Razzaq 13

Clarke b Shoaib 39

Read b Razzaq 30

Gough b Shoaib 1

Lewis run out 2

Broad not out 1

Extras (b-1, lb-4, nb-1, w-7) 13

Total (all out, 39.1 overs) 166

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-18, 3-18, 4-44, 5-78, 6-107, 7-160, 8-162, 9-163.

Bowling: Shoaib 8-0-28-4, Asif 8-2-10-2, Naved 7-0-42-0, Razzaq 6.1-0-30-2, Afridi 5-0-27-1, Hafeez 5-0-24-0.

Pakistan

Malik c Read b Lewis 10

Hafeez c Read b Lewis 1

Younis c Pietersen b Clarke 55

Yousuf not out 49

Inzamam not out 42

Extras (b-1, lb-4, nb-5, w-2) 12

Total (3 wickets, 36.4 overs) 169

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-30, 3-108.

Bowling: Gough 8-0-44-0, Lewis 8-4-11-2, Broad 6.4-0-44-0, Collingwood 5-1-18-0, Clarke 7-0-37-1, Bell 2-0-10-0. — Agencies

Federer, Henin advance

New York, September 2
The remnants of hurricane Ernesto brought an early end to proceedings at the US Open yesterday but not before Roger Federer had swept into the third round.

Top seed and defending champion Roger Federer has hardly needed to break sweat in coasting past the first two rounds of the year’s final Grand Slam tournament.

He dismissed British veteran Tim Henman 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in early action before the storm clouds moved in to scupper the scheduled evening session.

Next up is American journeyman Vince Spadea whose newly released book on life on the pro tennis circuit has ruffled a few feathers among his peers.

Federer admitted to being caught up in the frenzy of following Andre Agassi’s last stand before he retires from the sport.

Last year, Agassi battled through three consecutive five setters and had Federer troubled in the championship match before losing in four sets.

There was better news for the British camp later in the day as the new kid on the block Andy Murray blasted through to the third round in three impressive sets against Italy’s Alessio di Mauro 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 in an expedient 74 minutes.

There were wins for four other seeds also — James Blake (5) and Robby Ginepri (18) both of the United States, Tommy Haas (14) of Germany and Thomas Berdych (12) of the Czech Republic.

In the women’s draw, Belgian second seed Justine Henin-Hardenne came through 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 against Ai Sugiyama of Japan in a match that at least bucked the trend of easy straight set victories for the top seeds.

The French Open champion next plays Shahar Peer of Israel who hit back from 5-2 down in the deciding set to oust Italy’s Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/3) in the best match of an otherwise drab day.

The two finalists of two years ago, Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva also reached the last 16 in straight sets against compatriots Anastassia Rodionova and Vera Zvonareva. — AFP

Paes bows out of mixed doubles

New York, September 2
Leander Paes and his Australian partner Samantha Stosur were upset in the first-round of the mixed doubles event by the unseeded Belarussian duo of Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka at the US Open here.

Third seeded Paes and Stosur squandered a first set advantage to go down 6-3, 2-6, 5-10 to their unfancied rivals.

Paes, who has reached the second round in men’s doubles, started off well to race away with the opening set but were caught napping by Mirnyi and Azarenka in the second.

With the game stretching into the tie-breaker, Paes and Stosur made a valiant effort to stage a comeback but in vain.

Paes had looked in much better touch in the doubles, where he is partnering Czech Martin Damm, carving out an easy 6-1, 6-2 first-round victory over Petr Pala and Robin Vik of the Czech Republic.

The other Indian veteran — Mahesh Bhupathi has already crashed out of both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles event. — PTI

Randhawa in sight of title

Johor Bahru, September 2
Jyoti Randhawa, without a title since his Volvo Masters win in December, 2005, showed he was ready to strike again as he moved within two shots of leader Anton Haig of South Africa in the inaugural $ 300,000 Pulai Springs Malaysian Masters here today.

Randhawa, placed joint second, was powered by an eagle on the par-five fourth hole. He also had five birdies and one bogey in a solid round of six-under 66 which carried him to 16-under 200 and brought him close to Haig, who shot a three-under-par 69 for the third-round lead at the Pulai Springs Resort.

Haig, 24, has a three-day total of 18-under-par 198.

Shiv Kapur fired his third straight 68 and at 12-under he was tied 11th with compatriot Gaurav Ghei (67). Digvijay Singh (71) and Gurbaaz Mann (69) were tied 31st at nine-under while SSP Chowrasia (73) was tied 48th at five-under.

Jeev tied 2nd

Ito (Japan): On a day when level-par finish seemed to be a luxury, Jeev Milkha Singh braved tough playing conditions to card a brilliant three-under 68 card as he soared to a tied second position after the penultimate round of the 150 million yen Fujisankei Classic on Saturday.

After three rounds, Jeev aggregates three-under 210 and is five strokes off the leader, Japan’s Shingo Katayama, who carded an identical round to open up a comfortable lead at the top.

Jeev couldn’t have asked for a better start and the world’s highest-ranked Indian golfer carded three birdies on the first three holes. Another birdie on the fifth was followed by several par strokes as he made the turn at four under.

However, he seemed to lose the plot on his way back and dropped a bogey on the 10th hole. Even worse, a double bogey on the next.

He recovered towards the end and gained two strokes on the 14th and 16th to equal the day’s best finish.

Atwal falters

Norton (USA): Arjun Atwal and Daniel Chopra put up disappointing birdie-less performances to card similar four-over 75 scores for the tied 114th spot after the opening round of the $ 5.5 million Deutsche Bank Championship here.

Both the Indian-born Swede and Atwal were woefully out of form at the par-71 Tournament Players Club of Boston and are in danger of missing the cut after their poor show in the first round.

Atwal stumbled to two bogeys and a double-bogey in his round. — PTI, UNI

AIFF wakes up to implement Vision India Project
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, September 2
Though the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had sanctioned the Vision India Project in 2005 by choosing Delhi and Manipur for the pilot projects, the AIFF has woken up to the task of getting the project on board only now by filling various key posts.

AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco said here today at a media briefing that Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) would be the title sponsors of the project and would be called the ‘Sail Vision India Project Delhi’. Colaco said Delhi Soccer Association (DSA) president Subhash Chopra has appointed a committee to amend the DSA constitution and bring it at par with the AIFF constitution as per the proposals of the AFC.

The DSA has also appointed former secretary Syed Nasir Ali as the co-ordinator of the Vision India Delhi Project while former president Umesh Sood has been named as the working chairman.

Though the DSA had organised various tournaments for schools and clubs as part of the Vision India Delhi Pilot project, Colaco said it has been decided to launch a Schools League for Delhi with 48 schools participating, as per the proposals of the AFC. The league will be played from September 6 to October 18 while 34 teams will feature in the Manipur league, starting on September 9.

In Delhi, the 48 schools have been divided into six zones with each zone comprising eight teams. The league is for under-13 in a bid to tap talent at the grass-root level. Colaco said the response from schools has been overwhelming but the number of participants had to be limited to 48 due to logistical reasons. All the prominent schools of Delhi feature among the participants.

Meanwhile, Subhash Chopra also announced his team of office-bearers in the DSA after consultations with AIFF president P.R. Dasmunshi. Narinder Kumar Bhatia has been retained as the honourary secretary for another four-year term while six new vice-presidents, two joint secretaries and one treasurer (Sayeed Shahin) have also been named along with the managing committee members.

Colaco said with the DSA having filled all its vacant posts, the Vision India Delhi Project will now be implemented with vigour.

Now, cops to coach in Punjab
Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 2
Call it a part of community policing or optimal use of available manpower that several national-level sportsmen employed in the Police Department will now be working in various sports academies or coaching centres of the Punjab Sports Department.

“We have sent about 50 policemen to the Sports Department for redeployment as coaches,” says the Director-General of Police, Mr S.S. Virk, maintaining that “if need be more men from the force who have sports background can be sent to the Sports Department for better utilisation of their expertise.”

“This import of trained manpower at no cost is a blessing in disguise for us,” says Director of Sports Pargat Singh revealing that “now onwards there will be no centre or academy without a coach. We may ask for more depending upon requirement.”

At present, the department was facing an acute shortage of coaches as no new recruitment has been made for over two decades.

Besides taking experienced and versatile sportsmen and women from the police, the Sports Department also hopes to hire new coaches on contract basis. The proposal, sources reveal, has got the approval of Group of Ministers.

Of the first batch of 50 sportsmen-policemen, seven are being sent to hockey academies. They include Sukhwinder Singh and Williams, both former Punjab players.

Twelve of these new police coaches are for athletics. On an average there are three to four coaches for each sports discipline.

For example, cycling velodromes at both Patiala and Ludhiana will now have a coach or a trainer. Even shooters will have a coach now. Former Punjab weightlifter Sandeep Singh will also be working at a coaching centre.

“These policemen will continue to draw their salaries from their parent department but work in the Sports Department,” adds Pargat Singh, who welcomed the new team of trainers from the police on the Punjab Armed Police campus in Jalandhar today.

Puneet, Gurvinder rule the pool

Ropar, September 2
Puneet Rana of Ropar and Gurvinder Kaur of Hoshiarpur today dominated the Punjab State Swimming Championship on the second day at Nehru Stadium swimming pool here.

Puneet Rana won five gold medals in individual events, breaststroke (200m, 50m), medlay, butterfly, and freestyle, while Gurvinder Kaur won four gold — backstroke (200m), freestyle (200m and 50m) and backstroke (50m).

Among others, Rohit Jamba of Jalandhar, Mankiran Kaur of Sangrur and Ajaljot Singh of Ludhiana won two gold medals each. Others who won the gold included Manjot Kaur of Patiala, Era Kaila of Patiala in women, Harsimran Kaur and Prabjot Kaur of Ropar and Kirandeep of Sangrur. — TNS