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Germany retain hockey World Cup
India defeat SA, avoid booby prize
Ponting rested, Hussey to lead
Indian Oil make winning start
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Sania plans to set up tennis academy
Santosh Trophy
Jeev tied 14th
Pinki, Navpreet finish seventh
Pak boxers test positive
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Germany retain hockey World Cup
Monchengladbach, September 17 Trailing 1-3, the Germans lifted themselves to pull off a dramatic and memorable victory to win their second World Cup on the trot at the packed Warsteiner Hockey Park. Leading the German charge was flamboyant Zeller, whose two goals (18th, 55th minutes) provided the inspiration, while Mauritz Fuerste (46th) and Bjorn Emmerling (49th) scored spectacular goals to set the stage for German celebrations. The Australians, after falling a goal in arrears, had their best moments with Mark Knowles (19th), Matthew Naylor (25th) and Troy Elder (39th) giving them a 3-1 lead which was shortlived due to their own complacency. The Aussies had their chances when ahead, but mistakes in the midfield and a nervous defence cost them the match that they had seemingly sewn up. The final encounter began on a thrust and parry note with Germans probing the Australian defence that did well to stand up to the pressure. However, the hosts did not get a clear look at the rival goal despite a couple of promising penetrations with Zeller leading the way. At the other end, the Australians appeared short on pace and the absence of Jamie Dwyer was acutely felt. Though Michael McCann and Nathan Eglington took on the additional responsibility, they couldn’t find their way through. Four minutes from the close came a controversial penalty corner that umpire John Wright (South Africa) awarded to Australia after consulting his colleague Henrik Ehlers (Denmark), but Luke Doerner’s drag-flick struck the post. Meanwhile, Pol Amat’s spectacular golden goal a minute into extra time helped European champions Spain beat Korea 3-2 and win the bronze medal here today. It was a big jump for Spain who had finished 11th in the 2002 World Cup, while the Koreans suffered another heartbreak, having lost to the Netherlands at the same stage four years ago in Kuala Lumpur. Amat turned out to be Spain’s hero as he set up the first two earlier goals. He relayed the ball to Eduard Tubau via Alex Fabregas for the first goal in the 10th minute and then set up Santiao Freixa for the next in the 40th. Jong
Hy un Jang (42nd minute) and Jong Ho Seo (60th) scored for the Koreans. Dwyer named best player Jamie Dwyer of Australia, who missed the final against Germany owing to a hamstring injury, was adjudged the best player of the World Cup today. Christopher Zeller of Germany was named the best young player of the tournament, while New Zealand were awarded the Fairplay Trophy. Germany’s Ulrich Bubolz was declared the best goalkeeper of the tournament.
— PTI |
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India defeat SA, avoid booby prize
The 11th place finish meant that India, number six in
the FIH World rankings, earned the right to play in the 2007 Champions
Challenge tournament in Boom, Belgium (June 23-July 1), the qualifying
tournament for the 2008 Champions Trophy. India could have won by a far
bigger margin but for the largesse of the forwards who missed sitters
galore with Rajpal and Shivendra Singh each blowing up two clear scoring
chances. The Indians could also convert just one of the six penalty
corners they received when Rajpal, positioned close to the post,
deflected in captain Dilip Tirkey’s pass. Curiously, India opted not
to play their lone penalty corner specialist in the squad, V Raghunath,
who warmed the bench through the 70 minutes though being in the
16. Instead, Viren Rasquinha was shifted from midfield to the full-back
position to accompany Dilip Tirkey. The match, played at 8 am local
time in chilly and misty conditions, lacked pace and finesse with both
teams struggling to find their rhythm. The Indians did warm up in the
second session when they came up with a couple of fluent moves, but
failed to convert them into goals. The South Africans spent much of the
time defending as the Indians dominated the proceedings and had just one
good crack at the goal in the 14th minute, but goalkeeper Bharat Chettri
brought off a good save. That apart, the South Africans rarely
penetrated into the Indian circle. South Africa, playing in only their
third World Cup, thus finished 12th. Japan finish ninth
Japan, the
lowest ranked team, scored a creditable 2-1 win against Argentina to
finish ninth here today. After a barren first-half, Japan took the lead
in the 37th minute with Kazuo Yoshida converting a penalty
stroke. Argentina equalised in the 56th with Rodrigo Vila putting home
a penalty corner. Japan, however, clinched the game in the last minute
through Kazuyuki Ozawa. Japan had also beaten Argentina in the league
stage, with a 4-3 margin. The Japanese, 14th in the FIH World rankings,
thus matched their ninth place finish in the inaugural World Cup in 1971
while Argetnina, who were sixth four years ago, slipped to 10th. — PTI
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Ponting rested, Hussey to lead
Kuala Lumpur, September 17 With a victory and another two points from the abandoned one-dayer against India, Australia are sitting pretty in this day-night competition, affording Ponting to take a break and his side to experiment further in the lead up to the Champions Trophy starting next month in India. Ponting had led his side to a dramatic victory in its first match against the Caribbeans earlier this week and last night the Australians, all out for 244 against India, were on top of the game, sending five Indians back to the pavilion for only 35 runs before the match was abandoned due to rains. The rains have played havoc with the tournament, costing India their first match against the West Indies before making it evens by rescuing them in the second against Australia. The Australia-Windies match will start an hour earlier than the original schedule time to duck the showers that have made an habit of appearing after sunset. Hussey will especially hope that the weather relents to allow him his first chance to skipper the three-time world champions. It is Hussey’s remarkable average (77) and strike rate (98.63), combined with a steady disposition, that has tipped the scale in his favour to lead the champion side. That Hussey would also be without Mitchell Johnson, the left-arm paceman who wreaked havoc by polishing off the Indian top order last night in a matter of eight deliveries, should be of little concern to him, given the overall quality of their squad. Johnson is among the three players — the other two being batsmen Mark Cosgrove and Phil Jaques — who left for home as per a pre-planned strategy to send them after the first two games to trim the squad to 15 from 18. Ponting too was all praise for Johnson but said he could not ask the bowler to stay back as it had already been planned months ago. He also indicated that Mathew Hayden could open the batting for Australia. Hussey, all-rounder Andrew Symonds, express bowler Brett Lee and opener Hayden are yet to play a game in the series. The middle-order batsman said he would just take the cue from Ponting in leading the team. As for the West Indies, they would have no such luxuries to leave out top players and experiment. After losing their opener to Australia, they allowed the Indians to run away to 309 before showing signs of fightback in chasing the imposing total. They eventually emerged winners on the Duckworth-Lewis system which should give them some confidence as they take the field against Australia.— PTI
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Indian Oil make winning start
Chandigarh, September 17 Chasing the target of 194, opener Ravi Teja shared valuable partnerships of 46 and 31 with Mithun Beerala and Ravi Kant Shukla, respectively, before being trapped lbw off the bowling of Akhil. Mithun made 13 off 28 balls, while Ravi contributed 17 runs off 25 balls. Batting first after winning the toss, AIAB mustered 193 runs in 43.5 overs. Murtaza Hussein proved to be the wrecker-in-chief by snaring four wickets for 42 runs in 10 overs. Opener Daniel Manohar (4) was Murtaza’s first victim, whom he bowled leg before wicket in his first over when the total was seven. Murtaza dismissed Anup (14) and Pankaj Dharmani (13), both key players of AIAB. The other wicket-takers were Anand Rajan and Amit Dhani, who took two wickets each for 32 and 49 runs, respectively. Rajeev Sarhandi was the highest scorer with 27 runs off 31 balls, including three fours and one six, before being caught by Rajesh Pawar off Murtaza. The other scorers were Jatin Saxena (26), Vijay Kumar (24) and B Akhil (22). In reply, IOC made 197 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 47.5 overs to win the match by two wickets. With this win Indian Oil logged four points, while AIAB got one point for denying a bonus point to Indian Oil. Ravi Teja was well-supported by Nikhil Patil (27 off 36 balls) and Pinal Shah (21off 32 balls). For AIAB, B. Akhil, Anand Katti and Sarhandi took two wickets each, while D Manohar and D Chudasama claimed one wicket each. Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated by Mr Chandershekhar, ADGP, Punjab, while Mr Lalit Sharma, Adviser to the Administrator, UT Chandigarh, gave away the man-of-the-match award to Ravi Teja. Brief scores: AIAB: 193 all out in 43.5 overs (Rajeev Sarhandi 27; Anand Rajan 2 for 32, Murtaza Hussein 4 for 42, Amit Dani 2 for 49). IOC: 197 for 8 in 47.4 overs (Ravi Teja 75, Nikhil Patil 27, Pinal Shah 21, Ravi Kant Shukla 17; B. Akhil 2 for 47, Anand Katti 2 for 17, Rajeev Sarhandi 2 for 49).
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Sanaa, Rushmi in main draw
Kolkata, September 17 Uzbekistan’s Iroda Tulyaganova and Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chia-Jung joined the two Indians to complete the tally. Indian Sanaa Bhambri became the first player to qualify for the main draw after conquering Sabine Lisicki, who is ranked 196 places above her at 495. Sanaa looked in prime touch today getting the better of Sabine 7-6(7-4), 7-5. After a tough first setter that she won via tie-break 7-4, in the second she never looked like giving up. While a smart down the line return was enough to clinch the tie-break, in the second set it was a constant trading of breaks from both the players. Eventually Sanaa held her serve in the eleventh and broke Sabine in the 12th to clinch the affair. Sanaa had caused the first upset of the Sunfeast Open when she ousted the big serving Dutch Brenda Schultz-Mccarthy in a thrilling three setter in the qualifiers yesterday. In another match today, a veteran on Indian circuit, Rushmi Chakravarthi
registered her entry into the main draw with a facile win over Tara Iyer 7-5, 6-4. Talented and inconsistent as she has often been termed, Rushmi broke Tara with ease displaying a varied range of strokes from the baseline as she made it to the main draw in style. In the third match of the day, Uzbekistan’s Iroda Tulyaganova crushed Sandy Gumulya of Indonesia with a range of strokes that can be remembered and admired at. The results 6-1, 6-3 could have been bettered had not a couple of unforced errors forced gave the Indonesian a game in the second set. Agile, attacking and a fantastic weaponry of returns made Iroda look like she was on song, decimating her opponent in style. The last tie saw Chuang Chia-Jung of Taipei defeating Sandhya Nagaraj of India 7-6(7-5), 6-4 to complete the main draw as the fourth qualifier.
— UNI
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Sania plans to set up tennis academy
Hyderabad, September 17 The Chief Minister’s Office was taken aback by the request, though Reddy himself said Sania’s request would be considered. What baffled the officials was the timing of the request. “It is too early for Sania to get into things like coaching. She has to focus more on her game, especially after the series of losses she suffered in the past one year, leading to a steep slide in her rankings,” said an official of the CMO. Sania is the largest recipient of the state government largess. Besides cash awards totaling more than Rs 1 crore, she was also given 500 square yards of land in the up market Jubilee Hills, costing more than Rs 2 crore. Besides, the Hyderabadi sensation is said to have made millions through endorsements. Already facing criticism for doling out a plethora of incentives to Sania at a time when chess champions such as Koneru Humpy and P Harikrishna have been facing an uphill task securing sponsorships, the state government is in no mood to consider the plea for land allotment. Other sportspersons who have been requesting the state government for allotment of land for establishing academies in their respective disciplines include Olympic medalist Karanam Malleswari, former Indian football coach and Dronacharya awardee Nayeemuddin and the first international chess master from India L. Ravi. National badminton coach P. Gopichand was allotted land in the city for establishing an academy when Chandrababu Naidu was in power.
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Meghalaya sink Andaman
Gurgaon, September 17 With this loss, Andaman is eliminated from the tournament. Leading 1-0 at half time, Meghalaya dominated proceedings right from the beginning and created openings almost at will and could have won by a bigger margin had their forwards not wasted opportunities that came their way. Andaman also made couple of good moves in the first session with Wellington and Francis combining in tandem but their goalward shots failed to beat Meghalaya custodian. In fact Meghalaya goalkeeper Markush Basumatary was never seriously tested throughout the match. And after Lot Thomson of Andaman was red-carded in the 50th minute for handling the ball while trying to clear it, the floodgates were open for the Meghalaya lads and in fact every goalward move threatened to bring down Andaman citadel. Andaman players, who used the off-side trap effectively against UP, failed to do it today and on many occasions, Meghalaya forwards breached the trap and created many openings. Meghalaya forced the lead in the 11th minute through Roland Tyngrope while Lamare scored in the 56th and 67th minutes. Niwan scored in 80th and 82nd to round off the tally. Receiving a long aerial pass from central defender Poibiang Pohshna, Salgaocar player Rockus got the better of a couple of rival defenders and essayed a cross from the left of the box and Roland’s connecting right-footer beat the diving goalkeeper to open account. The second goal was scored almost in similar fashion. This time the supplier was Kyrshan Lyngshing and Rockus was the scorer. Rockus completed his brace after he found himself unmarked on the top of the box after receiving a pass from Kyrshan from the right, and he made no mistake in putting the ball into the net. Even after a 3-0 lead, Meghalaya boys continued the offensive and Rockus’ measured pass from their own half breached the Andaman offside trap and an overlapping Niwan found himself only with the goalkeeper to beat and he slotted the ball home. Niwan then rounded off the tally after collecting a ball from Lekinz Suting from the left flank and beating the Andaman goalkeeper with a right-footer. Uttar Pradesh tame Mizoram
Earlier in the morning session, Uttar Pradesh came from behind and scored three second half goals to down Mizoram 3-1 to record their second successive win in Cluster II. After a barren first half, which was reduced to a midfield scramble, Uttar Pradesh was jolted out of its inertia when Mizoram took lead in the 48th minute through Lalsangliana. That served a wake up call and Amit Singh struck soon to draw parity. Prahlad Rawat fetched lead for UP when he scored in the 76th minute and within four minutes, former international Jatin Singh Bisht found the target to round off the tally for UP. Assam edge out Chandigarh Faridabad: Assam beat Chandigarh 1-0 in a Cluster IV match of the Santosh Trophy here on Sunday. The winning goal came in the 37th minute through Bulu Zindung, who headed the ball neatly into the net after a goalmouth melee. Star striker Ngurneilal’s hat-trick helped Services thrash Sikkim 7-1 in another Cluster IV match. Ngurneilal scored in the third minute after getting a pass from M Raghu Kumar from the right flank. He came back to score two more in the 21st and 44th minute, displaying some deft skills in the process. Services ran roughshod over the Sikkim team and led 6-0 at half-time. Shaji D’Silva scored the second goal in the 11th minute from a rebound from the goalkeeper. Trvdaya Raj found the net in the 22nd minute when the Sikkim defence was caught off guard. Vivek Venu Gopal scored in the 39th minute from a 30-yard long kick. Services took the foot off the pedal in the second half and Sikkim got one back through Sanju Pradhan in the 53rd minute before A Thirunavakarsu completed the scoring in the 67th minute. — UNI, PTI
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Jeev tied 14th
Sapporo, September 17 The Chandigarh golfer finished with a two-under 69 to haul himself up from tied 19th place, and picked up 1,485,000 yen that moved him up two spots in the Money List to 16th. With an aggregate of 279, Jeev was five shots behind the winner Tomohiro Kondo (69) who held off a strong challenge from Kiyoshi Maita (66) and Kaname Yokoo (66). The top Indian golfer now has nine finishes in the top-25 out of 11 starts, including seven top-10 finishes. He looked like falling out of the top-30 when he was one-over for the final day after 11 holes. But birdies on the 12th, 15th and 17th helped him get into red numbers for the day. Another birdie on 18th could have fetched him a tied seventh, but the putt went past. He also had bogeys on second and 11th. Jeev earlier birdied the par-5 fifth hole for the fourth time in as many days. Overall, Jeev played the three par-fives on the course very well, and was nine-under playing them. He had eight birdies and an eagle, one bogey and two pars on the long ones. Kondo, who held the lead from the second round, registered his second win of the season. He birdied the 15th to go two shots ahead of both Maita and Yokoo, but a bogey on the 16th opened a window for his rivals. But Maita himself dropped a shot on 16th and Yokoo crept closer with a birdie on 17th. Maita birdied the last hole to come to nine-under, but Yokoo failed to add a birdie to force a play-off. Kondo calmly parred the last two holes to hang onto to his one-shot lead and win the title.
— PTI
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Leelamma wins marathon
New Delhi, September 17 Satya Prakash warded off a stiff challenge from the second-placed KC Ramu of Delhi and Bhairav Singh Lone of Maharashtra to win the Rs 1 lakh first prize.
Around 1,700 runners in various age groups took part in the marathon, which was accorded official and national status by the Athletics Federation of India. The points earned in this marathon will be counted for working out the team championships in the National Open Athletics Championships to be held here next month. Ashok Kumar Yadav of Uttar Pradesh raced to the first position in the half marathon. He was followed by RB Subba and Poonaram of Delhi. In the women’s section, Shastry Devi beat off the challenge of a strong field to emerge victorious. Sarita Marabade of Maharashtra and Jayashree of Chhattisgarh finished second and third, respectively. Former national champion and Arjuna awardee Asha Aggarwal came first in the veterans women’s category, beating former international and national champion Sunita Godara (second) and Raj Shree (third). All three represented Delhi. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit gave away the prizes.
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Pinki, Navpreet finish seventh
Athens, September 17 Pinki, who had been in splendid form in the current season with five gold medals on the Asian Grand Prix circuit in May as well as a 400m-800m double at the South Asian Games in Colombo, could not capitalise on a slow two-lap race and got stuck in the racing pack for a long time. Zulia Calatayud of Cuba won the race for the Americas in 2:00.06 seconds beating season leader Janeth Jepkosgei of Kenya by just 0.03s while Russian Olga Kotlyarova took third place with 2:00.84s. Pinki threatened her personal best of 2:03.23 seconds but missed it by 0.05s to finish seventh. In the men’s shot put, India’s Navpreet Singh heaved the iron to a distance of 18.43m to finish way down the standings in seventh place. Navpreet’s first throw was his best and he followed it with efforts of 18.23m, 18.21m and 18.05m. German Ralf Bartels took the top honours for Europe with an effort of 20.67m edging out favourite Reese Hoffa of the United States who could manage 20.60m.
— PTI
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Pak boxers test positive
Colombo, September 17 Sprinter Jani Chaturangani de Silva and pugilists Nauman Karim and Dur Mahmud may be stripped of gold medals won at the South Asian Games here last month and also risk facing bans if the ‘B’ samples are confirmed positive. De Silva, who was part of the triumphant women’s 4 x 100m relay team, also won a silver in the 100 metres dash. Her coach Derwin Perera told AFP that urine samples obtained after both finals had reportedly tested positive for anabolic steroid Nandralone. “We will have an inquiry later this week where we will question the athlete. Then we will submit a report to the national Olympic committee and a decision would then be taken,” he said.
— AFP
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Monchengladbach, September 17
