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Listless India lose to lowly England
South Korea stun Holland
Procter mishandled ball-tampering issue: Speed
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ICC tries to justify Dhoni’s omission
Dalmiya gets a breather
Randhawa soars to third place
Saudi Arabia crush India 7-1
HAP Range tops in five disciplines
Govt school girls bag national honours Jasdev Public School athletes shine
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Listless India lose to lowly England
Monchengladbach, September 7 Playing in chilly and wet conditions, the Indians, who had lost by the same score to Germany yesterday, squandered a 1-0 lead for their second defeat in the tournament, which virtually ruled them out of contention for a semifinal berth. The 11th-ranked England, on their part, wasted two penalty strokes in the first half before James Tindall (54th) and Simon Mantell (57th, 61st) converted penalty corners to put their side in the driver’s seat. Shivendra Singh gave India a 1-0 lead with a 29th minute strike and five minutes from close, skipper Dilip Tirkey sounded the board from a penalty corner. The Indians were distinctly lucky to survive the penalty strokes in the first half, during which England messed up the chances that came their way. Though India did most of the attacking, the sting was missing at the finish. The best of them was in the 12th minute when Tejbir Singh moving in from the left set up Hari Prasad. The latter could not beat goalkeeper James Fair, but the action that followed brought India’s only penalty corner of the half. However, Fair deflected Arjun Halappa’s drag-flick. Then followed a period of end-to-end play with England earning their first penalty stroke following a stick check on Richard Alexander, but skipper Ben Hawes pushed weakly into goalkeeper Bharat Chetri’s pads with the custodian diving to his right. Heartened by the reprieve, India swung into attack with Halappa putting through Gagan Ajit Singh inside the circle. The striker deftly passed to Khandekar whose firm attempt to the far post was pushed in by Shivendra. England showed plenty of pluck in shrugging off the reverse and past the 32nd minute, received their second penalty stroke following yet another stick check. This time, sweeper-back Richard Mantell pushed wide off the post. On resumption, England made determined bids, forcing a succession of penalty corners, but the Indians came through with Chetri bringing off a couple of good saves. However, the persistent pressure finally told on the Indian team that was reduced to 10 men following the yellow-card suspension of Hari Prasad. The defence committed far too many mistakes and in the 54th minute, Tindall made amends for his penalty-stroke lapse with a nice flick past Chetri from a penalty corner to level the score. Three minutes later, England forced their fifth penalty corner. Chetri blocked a direct attempt, but the ball was relayed to Simon Mantel, who flicked it into the net. The Indians tended to panic and with England pressing on, the match gradually turned irrevocably the English way. Simon Mantel was at it again with the seventh penalty corner that he converted after two brilliant feints at the top of the circle for the third England goal. In the last five minutes, the Indians pressed hard and forced two penalty corners, the second of which Dilip Tirkey converted with a well-directed hit to the board. Almost immediately, another penalty corner came India’s way with three minutes on the clock, but they could not convert it and with that went the last chance to save the match.
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South Korea stun Holland
Monchengladbach, September 7 In a match that was played at an unbelievable pace, the super-fast Koreans led 2-0 on goals by Hyo Sik You (12th, 15th) at the break before the Dutch caught up in the second-half as Ronald Brouwer (48th) and Taeke Taekema (53rd) found the boards. However, the Koreans struck the third goal in the 64th minute through Nam Yong Lee to seal the issue in the floodlit encounter yesterday. Koreans maintained a scorching pace giving the Dutch no time to respite. The Dutch, taken aback by the Korean aggression, were on the ropes. Only after the breather did the Dutch, winners of three titles this year, including the Champions Trophy, kick-started their challenge matching the Koreans in pace and exchanges. But the Koreans, who were kept afloat by some quality goalkeeping by Dong Sik Ko, struck the vital blow towards the close to avenge their bronze medal playoff defeat four years ago. Kiwis outplay Argentina
New Zealand pumped in three goals against run of play for a 3-0 win against Argentina in a pool A match here yesterday night. The lumbering full-back Hayden Shaw flicked home two penalty corners (17th, 23rd minutes) and then Simon Child, moving in tandem with Blair Hopping, added one more for good measure in the 37th to give the Kiwis three points. Argentina, despite dominating most of the match, came up short inside the circle where they found Paul Woolford, playing in his 100th international, virtually unbeatable. Clearly, Argentina’s best days are behind them as they did little of note despite possessing several gifted players in their ranks. The Kiwis, who were on the defensive early on, did not look back after going ahead on Shaw’s first conversion that rocked Argentina whose forwards showed prodigality in missing scoring chances.
— PTI Pakistan drub Japan 4-0 Four-time champions Pakistan warmed up with a 4-0 win against Japan in their opening Pool A match here today.
Penalty-corner specialist Sohail Abbas led the scorers’ list with two conversions (ninth, 64th), while Rehan Butt (14th) and Shakeel Abbasi (68th) struck field goals. World No. 14 Japan, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, were not equal to the task, though they were not short on trying. Pakistan played at a comfortable pace and still carried enough ammunition to pound their opponents. |
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Procter mishandled ball-tampering issue: Speed
Mumbai, September 7 Although the ICC has been stoutly defending its officials in the entire ball-tampering row involving the Pakistan team, its Chief Executive Malcolm Speed put part of the blame on the match referee for the forfeited match without naming him. “As per the laws of the game the umpires should be the sole judges of fair and unfair play. The issue is too simple and should have been dealt with by the match referee on the field itself,” Speed said at a press conference here. “The referee, generally a former cricketer, deals with the problems on the field of action at the end of the day’s play by calling the concerned players, the captains and the umpires for a hearing (in his room),” Speed said. The ICC chief, who was here to launch the official website for the Champions Trophy to be hosted by the country in October-November, also announced September 27 and 28 as the dates for the hearing of Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq in London. Speed said even if no video proofs for or against the alleged code violations by the Pakistan captain were available, there were other ways to deal with the charges. “The ball (alleged to have been tampered with) is an evidence. The evidence from the umpires and people who have seen the ball (are there),” he said. Speed also said ICC had decided to dedicate the forthcoming Champions Trophy to the “Spirit of Cricket” and had roped in several players, including Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, to promote the theme.
— PTI |
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ICC tries to justify Dhoni’s omission
Mumbai, September 7 Trying to justify the glaring goof-up, ICC CEO Malcolm said the list of nominations contained two other wicketkeeper-batsmen. “Sangakkara has scored 1,700 runs last year, while Adam Gilchrist has a strike rate of 110,” Speed said at a press conference when asked about Dhoni’s case. Dhoni, who accumulated 1,170 runs from 36 ODIs at an average of 55.71 in the last one year starting August 1, was left out by the Sunil Gavaskar-led selection panel
— PTI
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Dalmiya gets a breather
Kolkata, September 7 Mr Justice Pranab Kumar Deb, rejecting a lower court order, directed that Dalmiya would submit his explanation before the Board of Control for Cricket in India by October 3 and would be required to appear before the board’s Disciplinary Committee by October 10, if he was asked to by it. Dalmiya, at present the Cricket Association of Bengal president, was required to file his explanation by tomorrow as per the lower court’s order. — PTI
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Youzhny ousts Nadal
New York, September 7 The Russian defeated the two-time French Open champion and Wimbledon finalist Nadal 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 in the quarterfinal. “He did the little things better,” Nadal said. “I was not playing with my best calm on the important points. Mentally I need a little more confidence.” Youzhny will play American Andy Roddick who fired off 17 aces en route to a 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Lleyton Hewitt of Australia for a place in the final. Youzhny eliminated his third-straight Spaniard in the tournament. He upset sixth seed Tommy Robredo 6-2, 6-0, 6-1 in the round of 16 and 11th seed David Ferrer 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in the third round. Defending champion Roger Federer extended his Flushing Meadows’ winning streak to 17 matches by easily beating 29-year-old Frenchman Marc Gicquel 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 in a fourth round match. The world No.1 moves to the quarters where he will meet fifth seeded American James Blake who ousted Czech Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday. Russian Nikolay Davydenko meets Germany’s Tommy Haas in another quarterfinal. The 14th seeded Haas advanced to the quarter-finals of the US Open for the second time in three years, rallying to beat former champ Marat Safin of Russia and win his second five-set match in a row, 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5). Davydenko needed just 36 minutes on Wednesday to end Andy Murray’s hopes of a first US Open quarter-final berth. Mauresmo, Henin enter semis
Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin-Hardenne stayed on course on Wednesday for their third Grand Slam final of the year when both scored straight sets wins in the quarterfinals of US Open. Top seed Mauresmo of France, who won the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles, cruised past Dinara Safina of Russia 6-2, 6-3 in a lop-sided encounter. Second seed Henin-Hardenne of Belgium topped Lindsay Davenport of the United States 6-4, 6-4 in a match of the highest quality. Mauresmo has the hardest task in the last four going up against Russian glamour girl Maria Sharapova who was made to work hard against Tatiana Golovin of France before coming through 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/0). Henin-Hardenne will start strong favourite against surprise packet Jelena Jankovic of Serbia who made it through on Tuesday before rain suspended play, defeating fourth seed Elena Dementieva of Russia 6-2, 6-1. The champion here in 2003, Henin-Hardenne defeated 1998 winner Davenport for the seventh consecutive time, breaking the American at key moments in each of the two sets. Jeevan-Sanam crash out
Third seeds Jeevan Neduncheziyan and Sanam Singh crashed out of the boys’ doubles event at the US Open with a shocking 3-6, 4-6 loss at the hands of unseeded Australian-Chilean pair of Greg Jones and Hans Podlipnik in the first round here. Jeevan and Sanam were the only Indians in action yesterday and proved to be a major disappointment as they went down without much fight in the match. The Indian pair was expected to have it easy against their unheralded rivals but Greg and Hans turned the tables and ran away with the match to cause a major upset in the junior competitions. Both Jeevan and Sanam have already crashed out of the singles event and the doubles exit spells the end of their US Open campaign. The third seeds struggled from the very start and the Indians failed to recover having lost their rhythm early on. After losing the opening set, Jeevan and Sanam struggled once again in the second set and surrendered the match to the unseeded Australian-Chilean duo to make an early exit from the junior doubles of the last Grandslam of the year.
— UNI
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Randhawa soars to third place
Singapore, September 7 The Indian ace reeled off four birdies on his back nine, including three in a row from the second hole for his round of 68 which keeps him just a shot adrift of joint leaders Juvic Pagunsan and Scott Strange. Meanwhile, Shiv Kapur’s rollercoaster round of one-under 70 saw the talented India finish tied ninth. Shiv’s birdie binge — three in each nine — was rendered less effective as he dropped five bogeys — three in his front nine and two on his way back. Highest-ranked Indian Jeev Milkha Singh was held back by the double bogey on the par-four fifth hole and his finished tied 18th after a level-par round. — UNI
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Saudi Arabia crush India 7-1
Jeddah, September 7 The hosts punished the Indians for taking a shock lead midway through the first half when defender N. S. Manju capitalised on a mistake by Saudi goalkeeper Mohamed Khojah to head home. The goal, India’s first in the AFC Cup qualification campaign in four matches, was almost immediately neutralised when Saleh Bashir scored on the half-hour mark beating the Indian off-side trap. Marcos Pacqueta’s team took the lead three minutes later with Eisa Al Mehiani found the net. The floodgates seemed to open after the break with the Saudis piling on one raid after another on the visitors’ goal. No less than five goals were pumped in by the hosts who were eager to compensate for a less than stellar performance in front of their fans in the first half. Within a minute of the restart, Bashir found the net through the legs of Indian custodian Sandip Nandy, signalling that the Saudis had scented blood. Ten minutes later, Mohamed Ameen scored with a solo run before Badr Al Hagbani made it 5-1 just after the hour mark with a strong left-footer from the edge of the penalty area. Ahmed Al Suwaileh, who was drafted in the side in place of Yasser al Qahtani, the Saudi hat-trick hero in Kolkata, came off the bench to score the sixth in the 78th minute after a neat pass from Hagbani, and completed the demolition job with a header with four minutes to go.
— PTI
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HAP Range tops in five disciplines
Karnal, September 7 HAP Range topped in five disciplines — kabaddi, volleyball, basketball, hockey and handball. Rohtak Range teams won first positions in gymnastics, cricket, kabaddi and hockey. Ambala Range won the weightlifting title.
— TNS
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Govt school girls bag national honours Patiala, September 7 The duo was honoured today at a function held in the school premises by the Principal, Mr G.S. Moon. Highlighting other achievements of the school, Mr Moon added that two other students — Kiranjit Kaur and Anita Ramola — took part in the national gymnastic events. He added that the school had won first positions in the disciplines of kho-kho and volleyball in the zonal sports competitions. On the occasion, Mr Moon also appreciated the efforts of school’s sports teachers — Mrs Sarabjit Kaur and Ms Ravinder Kaur.
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Jasdev Public School athletes shine Patiala, September 7 Kirandeep Kaur stood first in the 100m and bagged second place in the 200m race. Harmeet Singh stood first and second in the 100m and 200m race respectively. Jaspreet Kaur was placed first and second in shotput and discus, respectively. In the 3 km walk Narinder Singh bagged third position while Bhawandeep Singh got second place in the 400m race. In chess, Gagandeep Singh, Amandeep Singh, Satinder Singh, Amandeep Singh (Jr) , Rimi Bansal and Udit Sharma bagged first position . Based on their performance in the zonal meet, Kirandeep Kaur and Ramandeep Kaur were selected for the zonal team for the district inter-zone kho-kho meet while Amandeep Singh and Varinder Singh were selected for the district inter-zone kabaddi competition.. The Principal also honoured the DPI and school sports in charge Nirbhai Singh.
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Marion cleared of doping charge