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ICC toughens stand on dope menace International Cricket Council President Malcolm Speed addresses a press conference at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday. — AFP photo
Pakistan keen to focus on cricket
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Haryana hold Punjab 0-0
Sania slips to 68th spot
Fatehbir shines in Florida golf
CBSE athletics meet begins
Chopra finishes 2nd
17 nations for military sailing tourney
Lawrence School win swimming trophy
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ICC toughens stand on dope menace
Jaipur, October 16 Expressing disappointment over positive dope tests of Pakistan pacers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed said, “Cricket is regarded as a low-risk sport by WADA, but that does not mean that we go soft against the drug menace or we don’t take it seriously.” Speed complimented the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for conducting the dope tests of its 19 players on its own. “They could have not done that. There was no pressure on them,” he said. He said since it was the PCB’s own decision to conduct the tests, the results would also be dealt with by its dope tribunal and the hearing would be held under the WADA code because the PCB adopted it. He refused to speculate on the seriousness of punishment to the players and said, “It is a PCB matter. They will deal with it, the ICC cannot come in it but if WADA is unhappy with the results of the hearing, then it can come over the top.” Asked about Shoaib’s future in case a two-year ban is imposed on him, Speed said, “It is again a speculation, but it is his street to walk on and be remembered in a the way he wants to.” “Shoaib is a very colorful and entertaining cricketer. It is upto history how he would be remembered,” he added. Addressing a crowded media conference here this evening Mr Speed said, “Let me make it clear that this is not the first time that dope testing has been done in the ICC tournaments. Dope tests were first carried out during the ICC Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand and followed in later editions in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. It also carried out random dope tests in the Champions Trophy in 2000, 2002 and 2004 as well as the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.” He said WADA would conduct random tests on four players, two from each team in six of the Champions Trophy matches. The samples of these players will be sent to the IOC accredited agency in Kuala Lumpur. He said the ICC had signed an agreement with the World Anti- Doping Agency (WADA) and had a zero-tolerance policy against doping. Speed also revealed that only five of its member countries carried out dope tests regularly on the cricketers. The countries are South Africa, Australia, England, New Zealand and Pakistan.
— UNI No pre-CT tests on Indians: BCCI New Delhi: The BCCI today revealed that it has not conducted any tests for banned substances on Indian players prior to the Champions Trophy. However, the BCCI claimed that it has taken steps to educate the players on the matter. “We did not hold any dope tests for them. But we have given them enough education. They are all aware of the do’s and don’ts,” BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah told PTI on the phone. Shah said the BCCI has handed over detailed guidelines to the players containing list of banned substances. “The booklets deal with every aspect of the problem. And the team physiotherapist (John Gloster) has played a big role,” he said. — PTI
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Speed slams Modi
Jaipur, October 16 “Modi has shown lot of promises as a cricket administrator in the one year he has been in the BCCI and the two years he has headed his state or provincial association. But the fact remains that he has not attended a single meeting of the
ICC,” Speed at a press conference here. “The ICC is not just for India, it is for 97 countries,” he added. He was reacting to recent comments by Modi and
I.S. Bindra that the ICC was “behaving like the East India Company.” Speed said the ICC did not take their comments too seriously. “They are more of an opinion than fact. The ICC is not like the East India Company.”
— PTI
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Pakistan keen to focus on cricket
Jaipur, October 16 Pakistan, who are already without their regular skipper Inzamam-ul Haq, will be forced to field a depleted side after Akhtar and Asif were pulled out of the tournament following their failing a drug test conducted back home in September. Inzamam was banned for four one-dayers for bringing the game into disrepute in the Oval Test against England in August. The Pakistan Cricket Board announced in Karachi that paceman Mohammad Sami and Yasir Arafat, an all-rounder, have been named as replacements for Akhtar and Asif. But it is highly unlikely that they would be available until Pakistan’s second match against New Zealand at Mohali on October 25. Captain Younis Khan and coach Bob Woolmer though put up a brave front at the match-eve media conference. “When you lose any of your top player, it is always tough. But cricket is a team game and we are still positive,” the skipper said. Woolmer said he was confident the team would overcome the latest setback. “We haven’t had the time to discuss it as a team. But I am pretty confident that the team will take the adversity in its stride,” he said. Pakistan have stumbled from one controversy to another in the past two months since the Oval Test fiasco when they forfeited the match in protest against a five-run penalty for ball tampering charges against their captain. Then, Younis Khan, named as captain in place of Inzamam, made a shocking announcement at a press conference in Lahore, 48 hours before the team’s departure to India, that he was stepping down from the post since he did not want to be a “dummy captain”. Mohammad Yusuf was made the replacement skipper, only for new PCB chairman Naseem Ashraf — who replaced Shaharyar Khan in another sudden development the following day — to reappoint Younis as the captain again. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have gone from strength to strength. They have come through the qualifying stage with a clean, slate, winning all their three matches convincingly. Captain Mahela Jayawardene said he “could not have asked for more” from his players. “We have had gradual build up. Our batting has been ok and bowling has been disciplined. The intensity and aggression has been good,” he said. Jayawardene also said he expected Pakistan to “come hard” at his team. — PTI
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Mumbai, October 16 Mills dismissed opener Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis in his six-over first spell for 18 runs as South Africa, chasing 196 for victory under lights, were dismissed for 108 in 34.1 overs. Medium-pacer Jacob Oram struck three vital blows, including the wicket of South Africa skipper and opening batsman Graeme Smith, who top-scored with 42. Off-spinner Jeetan Patel took three wickets at the end. Earlier, captain Stephen Fleming hit a gritty 89 to help New Zealand reach 195 in 45.4 overs after they were asked to bat first. The 33-year-old opener struck 11 fours in his 112-ball 89 before being the ninth man out in the 44th over after the rest of the team had collapsed against some accurate bowling. Fleming and the experienced Nathan Astle (14) put on a lusty 47 for the second wicket after opener Lou Vincent (17) fell early to Shaun Pollock, who became only the fifth bowler to reach the 350-wicket mark in one-dayers. But Astle’s exit, bowled while giving paceman Andrew Hall the charge, set off a collapse and the 2000 Champions Trophy winners lost four wickets for just 25 runs to be reduced to 99 for five. Fleming punched and drove with gusto for his 44th fifty, before falling 11 runs short of what would have been his seventh hundred. He was caught at deep fine leg by Pollock, flicking paceman Jacques Kallis, who finished with three for 28 on his 31st birthday. Scoreboard
New Zealand Vincent b Pollock 17 Fleming c Pollock b Kallis 89 Astle b Hall 14 Marshall b Nel 1 Fulton c Boucher b Kallis 2 Oram c Dippenaar b Peterson 7 McCullum c&b Peterson 21 Vettori c Boucher b Smith 9 Franklin b Kallis 9 Mills not out 4 Patel run out 2 Extras
(b-4, lb-4, nb-1, w-11) 20 Total (all out, 45.4 overs) 195 Fall of wickets:
1-27, 2-74, 3-76, 4-86, 5-99, 6-135, 7-156, 8-180, 9-192. Bowling:
Pollock 6-1-18-1, Ntini 6-0-35-0, Nel 6-2-15-1, Hall 4-0-25-1, Kallis 7-0-28-3, Peterson 8.4-0-34-2, Smith 8-0-32-1. South Africa Smith c Vettori b Oram 42 Dippenaar lbw Mills 0 Gibbs b Mills 0 Kallis c&b Mills 8 Boucher c McCullum b Oram 8 Kemp not out 26 Pollock c Patel b Oram 1 Hall c Vincent b Patel 13 Peterson c Fleming b Vettori 0 Nel b Patel 0 Ntini b Patel 1 Extras
(lb-5, nb-3, w-1) 9 Total (all out, 34.1 overs) 108 Fall of wickets:
1-1, 2-3, 3-25, 4-50, 5-69, 6-71, 7-99, 8-100, 9-105. Bowling:
Mills 6-0-18-3, Franklin 10-0-33-0, Oram 8-1-26-3, Vettori 7-1-15-1, Patel 3.1-0-11-3.
— Reuters, PTI
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Santosh Trophy
Gurgaon, October 16 In a match which was often reduced to a physical game, former champions Punjab were never given space for manoeuvring by their neighbours. Punjab dominated the proceedings but had only one opportunity in the whole match, that too in the second session. Strikers Praveen Kumar and Manjit Singh, both of whom had a brilliant game against Goa on Saturday, were closely marked by Haryana defenders, with Sandip Malik and captain Pawan doing a wonderful job to check Punjab onslaughts. The first half was dull and drab with most of the players crowding the Haryana box and the hosts making intermittent counter-attacks. After the breather, Punjab went on to the offensive in search of a goal and their relentless attack was almost rewarded in the 66th minute when Daljit Singh’s low cross from the right was tapped by Manjit Singh near the left post but Haryana goalkeeper had positioned himself well to deflect it for a corner. That was all Punjab forwards could do in the entire match and Sandip and Pawan marshalled the Haryana defence with elan to thwart Punjab forays. In the 89th minute, Haryana’s Ishwar was given marching order by referee Naveen Sindi for a dangerous tackle on Hardeep Singh Saini. Later, talking to UNI, Punjab coach Jagir Singh blamed Haryana’s negative strategy for the draw and also criticised the referee. “They did not allow us to play our natural game by using negative tactics and the referee too failed to control the game. My boys did not play badly but just could not score because of their negative approach,” he said. Haryana coach Suman Bagga was happy with the outcome. “We are in the quarterfinal for the third time and it’s a great achievement. We used to lose to Punjab by half-a-dozen goals earlier and considering that, it was a good show today,” the coach said. — UNI
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New Delhi, October 16 Sania slipped seven places from her last week’s 61st place following her first round loss to Meghann Shaughnessy of the USA in Bangkok Open last week. The American, however, has leaped to 37th from her previous 43rd rank. The Hyderabadi, who now has 382 singles ranking points from at least two dozens of WTA tours in last couple of years, also saw downslide in her doubles rankings. She slipped one place to 27th. Shikha Uberoi, who is next top Indian at 210th in women’s singles, follows Sania in the doubles as well at 128th spot. Meanwhile the top-10 list led by Amelie Mauresmo of France remains unaltered for the week. — PTI
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Fatehbir shines in Florida golf
Chandigarh, October 16 Doing his Grade XI at David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Florida, Fatehbir struck a bright patch in his very first international encounter to return a two-under card of 142 in a two-round
tournament. Fatehbir, who turns 17 on November 15, shot a one-over card of 73 in the first round of the 72-par course, to be in the eighth place of the competition in the 16-19 age-group. But he was at his best on day two, firing a three-under score of 69 to win the third spot.
Lownaghum “putter” Navisthira, who bagged the title, posted an opening round of 68. This four-under performance was the best of the tournament. He continued his strokeplay in the second round shooting an even-par 72 to finish with the first-place score of 140. Carlos Miguel Fabregas of the Philippines posted rounds of 71 and 70 for a two-day total of 141. He thus emerged as the only player to shoot consecutive rounds under par. About 2,000 junior golfers competed in the IJGT representing 24 countries. These young men and women will have the opportunity to participate in the junior ranking systems sponsored by Junior Golf Scoreboard and
Golfweek. The Orange Lake golf course provides two distinct nine-hole layouts. The front side is named Links Nine because of its open feel. The back nine, or The Pines, has tight, tree-lined fairways.
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CBSE athletics meet begins
Chandigarh, October 16 Over 1,000 athletes representing 57 teams from Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh (boys & girls) are participating. Other results: 1500 m: (U-19 girls) Sapna 1, Sonam 2, Geetika 3; (U-16 boys) Anil Yadav 1, Nitish 2, Satwinder 3; (girls) Charu 1, Monika 2, Sukhdeep 3. Shot put: (U-14 boys) Paras 1, Akshay 2, Karan Gurang 3; (girls) Oawa 1, Priyanka 2, Megha 3; (U-16 boys) Harsinder 1, Ayush 2, Bhupinder 3; (girls) Shagun 1, Jyoti 2, Vibhuti 3. High jump: (U-19 boys) Rishab 1, Anuj Negi 2, Vikas 3; (girls) Surbhi 1, Diksha 2, Kavita 3; (U-16 boys) Sourav 1, Jitender 2, Mohit 3; (girls) Manisha 1, Payal 2, Jasleen 3. Javelin throw: (U-16 boys) Sunil 1, Amit 2, Amjum Gotra 3; (girls) Neha 1, Tsundue 2, Harsha 3. 100 m: (U-14 boys) Avinash 1, Rajat 2, Albub 3; (girls) Monika 1, Harmanpreet 2, Mandeep 3; (U-16 boys) Yesuraj 1, Raj Kamal 2, Shahid 3; (girls) Manjeet 1, Radhika Thakur 2, Surbhi 3; (U-19 boys) Sherab 1, Rishav 2, Parminder 3; (girls) Talwinder 1, Surbhi 2, Tamanna 3. Triple jump: (U-16 boys) Sunny Sharma 1, Jitender 2, Kundan Kumar 3; (U-19 boys) Lakhbir 1, Pal Dean 2, Sunny 3.
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Las Vegas, October 16 The Stockholm-born golfer, born of an Indian father, failed to get a birdie from 18-feet to force a play-off, and Troy Matteson (69) calmly two-putted from eight feet to take his first tour title at 22-under 266. Chopra’s final round was a six-under 66 after an eight-under 64 in the third round and he finished 21-under 267. Chopra, who started playing in Delhi, picked up the biggest cheque of his career, $352,000, to take his season’s earnings to $1,514,812 and moved up to the 48th position on the money list. Arjun Atwal played a final round of one-over 73 and finished in a tie for 44th place that still kept him 138th on the money list and his fate for next season still hangs in balance as only the top-125 get full card for 2007. Chopra had birdies on first, third and ninth and turned in three-under. His only bogey came on 11th and then he birdied the 13th and eagled the 16th to shoot into contention. A birdie on the 17th added to the drama but his par on 18th kept him one shot short in tied second. — PTI
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17 nations for military sailing tourney
Mumbai, October 16 “We share a common language...and a common jargon that will hopefully help build bonds,” said Flag Officer, Western Naval Command, Vice-Admiral Sangram S Byce. Sailors from countries like South Africa and Poland were present on the occasion. It is the first time that the championship has moved out of Europe in the 40 years of its existence. A two-member Indian team is vying for the big prize.
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Lawrence School win swimming trophy
Chandigarh, October 16 Nearly 100 swimmers, both boys and girls from six districts of the state, took part in the championship, which was held under the aegis of the Himachal Pradesh Swimming Association. Later, the Headmaster of Lawrence School, Mr Praveen Vasisht, distributed the prizes. Winners: Group-I (U-17) boys: Pradeep (Mandi); girls: Anubha (Lawrence School, Sanawar). Group-II (U-14) boys: Vikas (Shimla); girls: Surbhi (Lawrence School, Sanawar). Group-III (U-12) boys: Vikram (Hamirpur); girls: Bhawana (Lawrence School, Sanawar).
— TNS
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Jaipur, October 16
