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Sachin’s scorcher sets up big win
Champions Trophy about money: Atherton
Pension scheme for ex-Ranji players
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PCB happy with ICC hearing
Now, 10-yr-old girl attempts a Budhia
Gurmit
Hockey Players of Indian Oil Corporation pose with the trophy after defeating Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited in the final of SN Vohra’s 36th All-India Gurmit Memorial Hockey Tournament at the Sector 42 hockey stadium in Chandigarh on Monday. — Tribune photo by Pradeep Tewari
Chopra, Atwal slide on final day
Argentina, Australia enter semifinals
India protest England draw
HP, Haryana register
wins
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Sachin’s scorcher sets up big win
Chennai, October 2 Irfan Pathan made an elegant 54 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in his inimitable style remained unbeaten on 79 while Dravid, electing to bat, made a superb 62 of 63 balls as the Blues crafted an emphatic total of 381. India Blues missed the
services of star opener Virender Sehwag, who twisted his ankle while scampering for a second run yesterday in their match against India Red. Tanmay Srivatsav took to the field in his place. Needing 7.60 runs an over, the Greens started their reply in a cautious manner but failed to apply themselves to the medium pacers Munaf Patel (2/15) and Irfan Pathan (2/24). Harbhajan Singh (4/10) was the wrecker-in-chief for the Blues. India Greens were skittled out for 115 in 26.4 overs after their top four batsmen — Wasim Jaffer (12), Sourav Gaguly (24), Suresh Raina (0) and Mohd Kaif (0) — paid prices for their indiscreet selections of shots. Once, the middle order collapse was effected, Harbhajan dismissed a settled Parthiv Patel (43) and India U-19 all rounder Praveen Kumar (0) and the victory became imminent for India Blue. The Blues completed their engagement with a win and a loss. Umpires, Jasbir Singh and Ravi Subramaniam decided to cut short the break between the innings as the Greens took longer time for bowling but India Blue completed the formality of winning the match in only 26.4 overs. When Jaffer and Ganguly commenced their reply after the break between the innings was cut by 30 minutes, the latter was seem to be getting in to his elements as he played with calm assurance. Jaffer was caught by substitute Ravindra Jadeja (for Sachin
Tendulkar) for 12 in the bowling of Munaf Patel's third over while Ganguly was shaping up well and two of his perfectly driven shots to cover and mid on to the fence were indicative of something more in store. But the prince of Kolkata, made a blunder and paid the penalty. Ganguly departed in a pathetic fashion, stepping away to cut Patel and playing well away from his body, giving Jadeja a straightforward catch at point. He face 30 balls and hit four fours during 44-minute stay. His stand with Parthiv Patel yielded 16 runs in 20 balls. India Green subsequently lost the vital wickets of Suresh Raina and Kaif to Irfan Pathan before they could open their accounts. Raina was caught at covers by Harbhajan and Kaif was out in a similar fashion, but the fielder was Dinesh Mongia. Dravid made some shrewd
bowling changes and Harbhajan replacing Rudra Pratap Singh, took a brace of wickets (first and fourth balls) in his very first over. A well settled Parthiv Patel snicked to Dhoni and Praveen Kumar was stumped for no score. Scoreboard India Blue Srivastava c Jaffer b Balaji 0 Tendulkar c Kaif b Lahiri 139 Pathan c Lahiri b Chawla 54 Dravid c Jaffer b Nehra 62 Dhoni not out 79 Yuvraj c Chawla b Praveen 19 Mongia c Kaif b Balaji 1 Agarkar Not out 17 Extras
(b-1, nb-4, w-5) 10 Total (six wkts, 50 overs) 381 Fall of wickets:
1-2, 2-132, 3-226, 4-286, 5-322, 6-328. Bowling: Balaji 8-0-62-2, Nehra 10-0-67-1, Praveen 9-1-77-1, Chawla 6-1-39-1, Badani 4-0-44-0, Ganguly 5-0-23-0, Lahiri 8-0-68-1. India Green Jaffer c Jadeja b Patel 12 Ganguly c Jadeja b Patel 24 Parthiv c Dhoni b Harbhajan 43 Raina c Harbhajan b Pathan 0 Kaif c Mongia b Pathan 0 Badani c Agarkar b Mongia 20 Praveen
st. Dhoni b Harbhajan 0 Lahiri run out 2 Chawla c Munaf b Harbhajan 2 Balaji not out 5 Nehra c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 0 Extras
(lb-2, nb-1, w-4) 7 Total (all out, 26.4 overs) 115 Fall of wickets:
1-31, 2-48, 3-52, 4-55, 5-88, 6-88, 7-91, 8-100, 9-111. Bowling:
Agarkar 5-0-33-0, Patel 5-1-15-2, R.P. Singh 4-0-23-0, Pathan 7-0-24-2, Harbhajan 4.4-1-10-4, Mongia 1-0-8-1.
— PTI
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Gayle fancies his chances in India
New Delhi, October 2 “I am very much looking forward to playing here. The last time I came here a few years ago, I batted well in the one-dayers. Hopefully I can do well as a bowler as well this time,” said Gayle. On the flat subcontinent pitches, his off-spinners might very well be the key to containing the rampaging batsmen. But does he take his bowling seriously? Does he like to call himself an all-rounder? “I am an all-rounder, man. I have over 5,000 runs and 100 wickets,” pat comes the reply. “I am a hard-hitting batsman. My bowling depends on the captain’s needs, what he wants me to do.” Talking beyond cricket, Gayle says he has a laid back approach to life and being brought up in a family of cricketers helped him to nurture his game. “Chris Gayle is a laid back guy. A bit moody but also fun to be around. He sticks to ‘work in your work time and socialise when you socialise’ principle,” he said. “Gayle has no problem with others, and others have no problem with him.” He said the sport has been in his veins. “It is all in the family, man. I have five brothers, and four of them played for Jamaica. We are three left-handers and three right-handers,” said the 27-year old who also has one sister. The gangling cricketer has been one of the few players who have consistently performed for the West Indies during its period of decline in the late 1990s and the recent resurgence, and has established himself as a batsman whose name sends shivers down the spine of bowlers around the world. “It has been a roller-coaster ride. I started as an opener but I have also batted in the middle. I have made steady progress. I have seen several partners during these years but I am still around. It has been good. “As a unit, we have beaten some big teams although we lost a couple of series. Hopefully we will be the force that we were once again.” Gayle scored three centuries when West Indies won 4-3 against Sourav Ganguly’s India in 2002-03. He seems to have his tail up at the mention of the Indians. In 23 one-dayers against India he has scored 953 runs at 41.43 with four centuries. Does he have a special liking to the Indian bowlers? “I play to the situation. I don’t target any bowlers. You have to be yourself all the time.” Gayle said that as a frontline batsman, he has carried some responsibility at all times. “The responsibility to the team has been there always. But I don’t let the pressure get to me.” He was not perturbed by the fact that West Indies, the holders of the Champions Trophy, have to go through the qualifying round. “It feels a bit strange but you can’t do anything about the format. You can’t take any team for granted, you have to be on top of your game.”
— PTI
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Champions Trophy about money: Atherton
London, October 2 The cricketer-turned-commentator was also critical of the scheduling of the tournament, coming as it does six months before the World Cup. “The Champions Trophy, unashamedly, has always had more to do with money than cricket,” he wrote in his column for The Telegraph. “The Champions Trophy... has nothing to do with finding the best one-day team and a lot to do with empire-building,” he said, citing profits that the International Cricket Council stands to make from the tournament starting in India on October 7. “The Champions Trophy, it could be said, encapsulates the essence of the central debate that currently exercises the minds of those who run the game. “How far can the boundaries of cricket’s integrity be stretched within the framework required to raise funds for the continuing expansion of the game? How much is too much? At what point will the general public take a stand against the gradual erosion of quality for the sake of more profit?” Atherton said the administrators were siding with short-term expansion and profit. “No organisation that can schedule a mini-World Cup, which is essentially what the Champions Trophy is, six months before the real thing can claim otherwise. “The public should know better than to fall for such a sucker punch, but the Indian public is the least discerning of the cricketing audiences. One-day international cricket there, in any shape or form, is likely to sell,” he wrote. Regarding the Oval Test controversy, Atherton accused the ICC of “fudging” the verdict so as not to upset the Asian bloc. Atherton said the ICC was to be blamed for allowing the Oval Test fiasco to linger on and that its entire conduct during the controversy left a lot to be desired. “If the spark was precipitated by bad umpiring, it was allowed to develop into a raging fire by the inability of the ICC to act promptly and rigorously,” he said. “The saga showed the ICC at their worst: prevaricating, in that a judgment which should have been handed out on the fourth evening of the game was allowed to fester for a month; callous, when it revealed confidential e-mails from an employee; and ultimately fudging a verdict so as not to upset the key players in this very political game — the Asian bloc.”
— PTI
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Pension scheme for ex-Ranji players
Margao, October 2 Being a co-host for the 2011 World Cup cricket, the BCCI has also adopted a scheme under which any state association building an international stadium will get financial support of Rs 25 crore from the cash-rich board. The schemes were announced by BCCI President Sharad Pawar, who was here today to inaugurate a newly-laid indoor pitch and a conference hall at Margao Cricket Club premises. Pawar also said under the pension scheme for former Ranji players the survivor of the player would get the amount every month after his death. BCCI to bid for global rights
Mumbai: The BCCI has decided to bid for the rights of all events to be held by the ICC, including two editions of the game’s quadrennial showpiece World Cup, for the next eight years till 2015. “Yes we had decided at the recent AGM to bid for the rights of the ICC’s global events from 2007 to 2015,” said BCCI vice president Lalit Modi, the driving force behind the cricket board’s aggressive marketing of the game post the Jagmohan Dalmiya era. The BCCI has already been successful in marketing the rights for the game conducted by it for the next four years to a record $612 million. The ICC’s existing $550-million deal with Global Cricket Corporation ends at the conclusion of the forthcoming World Cup in the West Indies. In New Delhi, ICC spokesperson Brian Murgatroyd told PTI, “As far as I know, there is nothing in the ICC that prevents a member board from biding for its rights. If there isn’t anything in the article of the BCCI that prevents them from bidding, then it is fine. But the BCCI will be treated like any other bidder. The process will take its course.” Meanwhile, the BCCI’s office-bearers are meeting in Mumbai tomorrow to discuss the Members Participation Agreement of the ICC for the period from 2007-08 to 2015, which the AGM had already rejected unanimously in its current form.
— PTI
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PCB happy with ICC hearing
London, October 2 “We have three reactions to the verdict. Firstly, the hearing was very fair and very just. Secondly, we have decided not to appeal after consulting Inzamam-ul-Haq. Thirdly, the issue was dealt with on merit. There were no political manoeuvrings in the background,” he was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
— PTI
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Now, 10-yr-old girl attempts a Budhia
Rourkela, October 2 Five-year-old Budhia had run 65 km non-stop on May 2 to create the record in his bid to enter the Limca Book of Records, while Anastasia took a five-minute break at 58-km distance. Anastasia Barla’s target was to cover 105 km and she had commenced the marathon run from Sundargarh stadium at 5 am amidst cheers from a large crowd, which had congregated, on her way to Bedabyas in the outskirts of the steel city of Rourkela. But she stopped at Rambahal near Rajgangpur at around 1 pm in the afternoon after covering 72 km. Her coach Dominque Lakra said Anastasia could not achieve the target today as she had ran on hard surface. “The girl is comfortable on soil which is soft.” “Anastasia could have run more but we did not take any chance to continue her running due to high humidity and temperature during the day,” Rajgangpur Congress MLA Gregory Minz, a former hockey forward, said. “She will make another attempt during winter when she will not be affected by factors such as high temperature and humidity,” he said adding though the administration did not approve of the run, the girl was not stopped on the way. Minz had been encouraging the girl to undertake long distance running after child marathon prodigy Budhia Singh hogged headlines for showing incredible stamina to cover 65 km from Puri to Bhubaneswar on May 2. Anastasia’s decision to run 105 km was embroiled in controversy as the Sundargarh district collector Sujatha Karthikeyan had expressed her inability to permit her to undergo such a rigorous marathon. A large group of people including sportspersons and three girls aged between seven and 10 years accompanied Anastasia and police escort was provided. Minz had also sought green signal from Minister for Women and Child Development Pramilla Mallick. But Mallick had said she could not say anything as the matter concerning Budhia Singh’s record breaking run was pending before Orissa High Court. “Whatever is the court’s verdict is it will apply to all children wanting to take up long distance running,” she said. Anastasia, who belonged to the remote Panchara village said she had been encouraged to run long distance after coming to know of Budhia’s exploits. She hit the headlines recently when her coach claimed that she had run non-stop for 12 hours though no record had been kept. Mrutyunjay Mandal, another young boy from the state’s southern district of Berhampur, was in the media focus recently when he completed a 68 km run in Mumbai. The controversy over the question as to whether children should be allowed to run long distance had erupted after the child welfare committee of Khurda district took up Budhia Singh’s case.
— PTI
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Dmitry overcomes Berdych challenge
Mumbai, October 2 Fourth-seeded Tursunov won his fourth successive three-set contest by defeating the third-seeded Berdych 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5) in two hours and 24 minutes to win the top prize of $52,000. Berdych, who has two ATP titles under his belt, had to be content with the runner-up prize of $30,600. In a rip-roaring doubles contest that was held concurrently on an outside court, third seeds Mario Ancic of Croatia and Mahesh Bhupathi of India clinched their second title together by outlasting a fighting Indian duo of Rohan Bopanna and Mustafa Ghouse in three sets. Bhupathi and Ancic, who had teamed up to win the Beijing Open only last month, were cruising to a straight sets victory after winning the first set but their rivals fought back to save three match points and then won the second set tie break before losing the third set super tie break. Bhupathi and Ancic won 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 10-8 to pocket the winners’ prize of $16,350 while Bopanna and Ghouse won $9,600 for their fine run in the tournament. Rains nearly proved spoilsport for the second day and there was a danger of both the matches being abandoned by the steady drizzles but the weather became better in time for both the matches to be completed after two breaks. Bopanna was pleased to have reached his second ATP final after he had made to the title clash of the Chennai Open in January with Prakash Amritraj, but rued that he could not win. “We got the confidence to do well after beating the top seeds. We played well throughout the week. We will try and play together whenever we can,” Bopanna said. Meanwhile, Bhupathi sent shock waves by saying he does not want to represent India in future big events, including upcoming Asian Games. “I have been contemplating it for a long time. I have already informed Anil Khanna (AITA secretary general) about it. But I will think over it for a few more days before coming to a final decision,” Bhupathi told reporters after clinching the Kingfisher Airlines Men’s Tennis Open doubles crown. Bhupathi did not reveal the reason for his decision but a Kolkata daily quoted him saying that the decision was due to refusal of Leander Paes to play with him in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics. Paes and Bhupathi, popularly known as ‘Indian Express’ with three Grand Slam title to their credit, had reached the doubles semifinals in Athens where they lost to Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic after a gruelling fight. Bhupathi said if he cannot win a medal for India, which he feels is possible if he combined forces with Paes, there was no point in him continuing to offer his services for national duty like the Davis Cup, Asian Games and Olympic Games.
— PTI
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Gurmit Hockey Beat BPCL 3-1 in close contest Amardeep Bhattal Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 2 Winners of the Karnataka State Hockey Association Super Division League at Bangalore last month, IOC repeated their superb performance in this edition of the grade ‘A’ tournament that featured top outfits of the country. At Bangalore, IOC won 11 out of 11 matches to emerge as the only unbeaten team in the league. Playing under coach Joaquim Carvalho, former Olympian and a member of the Indian team who played in the sixth World Cup at London in 1986, IOC were served well by full back Bikramjit Singh, brother of Indian defender Sandeep Singh, who was recently injured by an accidental gunshot, local product Inderjit Chadha, and international Didar Singh. Didar Singh, the tall Namdhari who represented India in the Afro-Asian Games at Hyderabad, in fact scored two of IOC’s goals in either half. BPCL, who also had outstanding players like Olympians Ravi Naiker, Sabu Varkey, and SS Gill, besides hard-working youngsters like Ravi Pal of Sansarpur, did put up a fight and almost turned the tables on their rivals with a late equaliser, but IOC’s twin strikes in the dying minutes halted them in their tracks. IOC commenced the proceedings in whirlwind fashion, forcing a penalty corner in the seventh minute. Off the push by Inderjit Chadha, Didar Singh attempted a drag flick, which was blocked, but off the rebound Didar made no mistake in putting the ball in the goal (1-0). In a unique turn of events, umpire Virender Bahadur was replaced by reserve umpire Anil Kumar in the 22nd minute following health problems. In the second half, BPCL’s Amar Aiyamma, who missed a couple of easy chances in the match against Namdhari XI yesterday, made amends for his lapses today. On resumption, he initiated a fine move on the right flank and despatched a hard hit parallel to the goal-line. Unfortunately none was present to tap the ball into the goalmouth. In a span of eight minutes, BPCL forced as many as five penalty corners midway into the second session which all proved abortive. Ultimately, their efforts were rewarded in the 62nd minute when Amar Aiyamma latched on to the ball inside the ‘D’. With a clear view of the goal, he despatched a hard hit which was bang on target (1-1). IOC kept their cool and in the very next minute a through pass by Didar saw Jaswinder Singh lunging forward to deflect the ball home (2-1). With hardly a minute to go for the hooter, Didar provided the icing on the cake when off a penalty push by Deepak Thakur, he beat AC Kuttappa under the BPCL bar with a well executed drag flick (3-1). Justice Amar Dutt, who was the chief guest, gave away the prizes. Teja Singh of Punjab and Sind Bank was adjudged the best goalkeeper while the best fullback award went to Anmolak Singh of Namdhari XI. Nitin Kumar of IOC and Sabu Varkey of BPCL were adjudged the best halfback and best forward, respectively. Teams: IOC: Devesh Chouhan, Vikram Kant, Bikramjit Singh, Sunil Yadav, Roshan Minz, Jaswinder Singh, Nitin Kumar, Inderjit Singh, Cheeyana, Humza, Prabhjot Singh, Deepak Thakur (capt), Didar Singh, Bharat Kumar, Kamlesh Kumar, and Dewakar. BPCL: Joginder, Ajay Saroha, MK Parkash, SS Gill, Irshad Ali, V. Singh, Deepak Sharma, Sabu Vvarkey, Amar Aiyamma, Ravi Pal, PU Boppana, Sarabjit Singh, Pundlik Bellary, Ravi Naiker, Prabhdeep Singh, and AC Kuttappa. Umpires: Varinder Bahadur and Suresh Kumar. Reserve umpire : Anil Kumar
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Chopra, Atwal slide on final day
Madison (USA), October 2 Chopra, tied third overnight shot a three-over 74, ended at seven-under 281 for the tied-16th place while Atwal’s struggle for his card continued as he played a five-over 76 in a roller-coaster of a week and at one-over 289 was tied 67th at the Annandale Golf Club course. D.J. Trahan, who like Atwal began this week fighting for his card, turned his career around with a maiden win in a play-off against Joe Durant on the third play-off hole after both players were tied at 13-under 275 for the week. Trahan birdied the 18th all three times in play-off and finally clinched it when Durant failed in a five-footer on the third time in sudden death. Jyoti finishes
tied 17th
Hertfordshire: Jyoti Randhawa put up a steady performance despite stoppages for inclement weather and notched up a final round of two-under 69 to finish tied 17th at the WGC-American Express Championship. Tiger Woods yesterday sealed his sixth successive stroke-play win this season with a final round 67 which saw him total 23-under 261, eight-shot ahead of Australian Adam Scott and England’s Ian Poulter at 15-under 269. Woods closed the tournament with a birdie on 18th, the first time he missed an eagle on the hole this week. Ghei moves into top 10
Kuala Lumpur: Jeev Milkha Singh, who has played just one event on the Asian Tour in the second half of the season, maintains his huge lead on the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit list, but lower down there are five other Indians in the top 30. The stars this week were Gaurav Ghei and Rahil Gangjee. Ghei’s winning cheque of $100,000 took him to 10th spot, up from previous 24th while Rahil Gangjee moved to 18th up from 29th. Shiv Kapur, with his fifth place in Singapore Open, is sixth. Jyoti Randhawa (25th) and Amandeep Johl (27th) are the other Indians inside top 30.
— PTI
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Argentina, Australia enter semifinals
Madrid, October 2 In a match dominated by Argentina, Alejandra Gulla (23rd minute) and Luciana Aymar (30th) were the scorers for the winners. Formidable Australia also booked a last four berth after playing out a goalless draw with Japan in the same pool. In another pool B match, United States defeated South Africa 3-1 with Angie Loy (13th minute), Carrie Lingo (24th) and April Fronzoni (52nd) scoring a goal each for the winners while Marsha Marescia (44th minute) pulled one back for the losers. Australia and Argentina shared the top spot in the pool with 10 points from four matches and moved into the last four. Korea and United States are joint third with four points from as many matches and with only one match remaining to play by both they have no chance to qualify for semifinals. Japan and South Africa occupy the bottom position with two points from four matches. Australia made several forays in the Japanese defence but a goal eluded the winners of 1994 and 1998 editions with Angie Skirving wasting some sitters and Japan goalkeeper making a few good saves. Australia play Argentina in their last pool match on Wednesday and the tie would decide who would top the pool. Japan take on South Africa and USA face Korea on the same day and all these matches will have no consequence in the semifinal line-up. — UNI
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India protest England draw
Madrid, October 2 India had a goal from Asunta Lakta, scored just prior to half time in yesterday’s game, disallowed without explanation during the break. The goal had been awarded initially but disallowed after consultation between the umpires as they left the pitch. Saini wrote: “We wanted to lodge an official protest against this cancellation of this goal right at the start of the second half of play itself, but we were not permitted by the technical officials.” The tournament committee, umpires or technical delegates have not yet responded to the complaint. The match was further marred by a controversial TV umpire decision against England’s Kerry Williams late in the match. India are second from bottom in the six-team Pool A with one point while England are just one place above them with four points after three matches.
— AFP
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HP, Haryana register
wins
Kapurthala, October 2 Uttar Pradesh blanked Punjab 3-0. Kamla Rawat of UP scored first goal in the 13th minute, while Kiran Kumari scored a brace. Meanwhile, Haryana defeated AP 4-0. Monica of Haryana scored a hat-trick while Rani Devi scored the fourth goal. Monica scored the first goal through a penalty corner while all other three were field goals. In another match, Pepsu registered victory over Assam by beating it 3-0. Paramjit Kaur scored two goals in the fourth and 59th minutes whereas Veerapal Kaur scored field goal in the 55th minute. In a
one-sided match, Himachal Pradesh beat Tripura 12-0. Out of 12 goals, three were scored through penalty corners. While Nisha scored four goals, Meenu and Soni scored two goals.
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Chennai, October 2
In video: Brian Lara
hopes Windies wake up for the Champions Trophy. (
