 |
|
|
Hockey horror
Sad day for Indian hockey
Anju, Manjeet bring glory for India
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Kayakists make steady progress
Sania breezes into last eight
Vijender loses in semis, cries foul
Gaganjeet Bhullar slips to tied 8th
ESPN-Star bag ICC media rights
Farhat stars in Pak win
|
|
Hockey horror
Doha, December 10 Having hurtled from one defeat to another in recent times, the Indians had the daunting task of putting it across the nippy Koreans for a place in the last-four. But the task proved too much for India who will not feature in the final for the first time since Seoul in 1986. Ironically, the knockout punch came on a day when they played much better hockey. However, a few missed chances proved too costly at the Al-Rayyan sports complex. After a goal-less opening session, the Koreans shot into the lead in the 41st minute of the contest with their star drag-flicker Jang Jong Hyun brilliantly converting a penalty corner, much to the dismay of the Indian supporters. The Indians, who played with a lot of determination and purpose, restored parity in the 57th minute when the hard-working Raghunath converted a penalty corner. With the score tied 1-1, both teams made a last-ditch effort to score the match winner but without much luck. The Koreans qualified for the semifinals by topping Group B with 10 points after their league engagements, while China took the second position with nine points. The Indians, who suffered a shock defeat against China, finished third with seven points and will now feature in classification matches for fifth to eighth positions from day after tomorrow. The Indians started off with a flourish and could have opened their account as early as the first minute of the contest, but Tushar Khandekar’s shot missed the target narrowly. The Koreans got two penalty corners in the opening session but the Indians did well to fend off both attempts — the first being padded away by goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza, while Raghunath saved the second one. Midway through the opening session, Arjun Halappa broke through the Korean defence but could not control his shot inside the circle. On another occasion, Gurbaj Singh pierced through the defence from the left flank but none of the forwards were in position to intercept his pass which went past the circle. After the breather, the Indians attacked with renewed vigour and came dangerously close to the Korean goalmouth but failed to score. After 41 minutes of goal-less action, the Koreans fired in the first goal through their penalty-corner expert Jang who looked a trifle off-colour. But the Indians did not take long to find the equaliser through Raghunath who slotted home Tushar Khandekar’s penalty-corner push. The goal served as a tonic for the Indians as they stepped up the pace of the game and kept the Koreans on tenterhooks with a flurry of counter-attacks. But despite a valiant effort, the Indians could not score, which forced them out of medal contention. Loss to China cost us dear: Baskaran
After being knocked out of medal contention for the first time in the history of the Asian Games, Indian hockey coach Vasudevan Baskaran said the team paid the price for a “pathetic” display against China in the league stage. “We played a perfect game against South Korea today. But it’s a shame that we could not play like this against China. That was the game that affected us and our place in the final,” Baskaran said after his team drew their last league match against South Korea 1-1. “The match against China was pathetic and I don’t want to say anything more about it,” he said. Baskaran, who led India to an Olympic gold in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, was by and large satisfied with the team’s show against Korea.
— PTI
|
|
|
Sad day for Indian hockey Chandigarh, December 10 It, however, was a reminder to those who were stunned when India failed to make it to the final of the Olympics in Mexico in 1968. Since then, Indian hockey has been slipping. But no one imagined that the position of this once super power in world hockey would touch a new low in the continent where it had always been among medals since 1958 when the game was introduced in the Asian Games. India not only failed to qualify for the semifinals of the Asian Games but is also on the verge of losing a berth in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. “I cannot believe it,” remarked Balbir Singh (Services), a member of the 1966 Asian Games champion Indian team. “It is shocking,” commented Sukhvir Grewal, a former international and ex-coach of the national team. “Writing was on the wall in Monchengladbach in September where India finished the lowest among all Asian participants in the World Cup,” says former Indian captain and Olympian Pargat Singh. Frequent change of coaches, experiments over composition of the national team, poor administration of the game in the country may be some of the factors, which have brought the country to its knees in the world of hockey. Its only chance to make it to the Beijing Olympics will be a special qualifying tournament where only a gold medal can help. The team, which left the shores of the country on the eve of the Doha Asian Games, was visibly divided over the last minute changes in it. Its 2-3 loss to China proved fatal and today it could not hold itself together against Koreans. Needing an outright win, it managed to end with a draw with a second half goal. But no one expected India to be eliminated before the start of the medal round in the Asian Games. “It is now time for the Indian Hockey Federation to do some introspection and find out what is going wrong and where,” remarked Balbir Singh (Services). The remedy lies in the IHF and not with either players or the coaches, added Sukhvir Grewal.
|
|
Anju, Manjeet bring glory for India Doha, December 10 The 31-year-old Anju, a star performer at the international level for long, reaffirmed her class with her effort of 6.52 on another reasonably fruitful day for the Indians at the magnificent Khalifa stadium. The Kerala athlete, who had won the coveted gold medal in the Busan Asian Games in 2002, was in the third position till she propelled herself to the second spot by recording her best jump in the sixth attempt. After struggling to find peak form for most part of the year, it turned out to be an amazing turnaround in fortunes for India’s most successful athlete who has the distinction of winning the bronze medal in the world championships in Paris in 2003. Japan’s Kumiko Ikeda clinched the long jump gold with a leap of 6.81 m, far ahead of Anju who had come into the Games without much medal expectations. With two more silver medals in the kitty, India’s medal count has gone up to four silver and a bronze medal after the first three days of competitions. The 24-year-old Manjeet, a gold medallist in the Asian Athletics championship in Incheon, stole the limelight with her effort of 52.17 sec in the women’s 400m run which fetched her a silver medal. The police officer got off to a good start and maintained her pace right through to finish behind Kazakhstan’s Olga Tereshkova who completed the race with an impressive timing of 52.17 sec. The bronze medal in the event went to Japan’s Asami Tanno. “I wanted a gold medal but I am having problems with a knee and thigh injury. It did affect me today. But I am happy with the silver under the circumstances. A silver medal in the Asian Games is always special,” Manjeet said. Pinki Pramanik, tipped to be a strong medal contender before leaving for Doha, had to contend with heartburn as she missed a bronze narrowly, taking the fourth place by clocking 53.06. “After some recent competitions in China I was unable to train, otherwise I could have won a medal. It’s disappointing not to finish with a medal, but that is how things go,” Pinki said. Vikas Gowda, another athlete who was spoken as a medal prospect, finished a disappointing sixth in the men’s discus throw event. Gowda’s best of 58.28 came in his fifth attempt, but it was well behind the others in the fray. The gold medal in the event was claimed by Iran Ehsan Hadadi who hurled the disc to a distance of 63.79 m, making it his best effort of the season. Qatar’s Rashid Shafi Al Dosari also produced a season’s best effort of 62.11 to clinch the silver while the bronze was taken by Saudi Arabia’s Sultan Mubarak Al Dawodi (60.80). Chitra K Soman’s presence on the track turned out to be shortlived as she failed to qualify to the final of the women’s 200 m run. The 29-year-old Chitra, who has a lot of experience at the international level, finished fourth in her heat with a timing of 24.68 which was well below her best effort. Chatoli Hamza did not make much of an impression as he finished seventh in the men’s 1500 m final, though he did manage to bring a personal best timing of 3:43.69. Host country runner Daham Najm Bashair clinched the gold medal in the event with a timing of 3:38.06. Bahrain’s Belail Mansoor Belal (3:38.08) and compatriot Rashid Ramzi (3:38.91) bagged the silver and bronze medals respectively. In decathlon, India’s P J Vinod was in the second position after the first four events with a total of 4474 points. — PTI
|
|
Kayakists make steady progress
Doha, December 10 Arambam Chingching Singh won the 1,000 m kayak single heat one to qualify for the final, clocking 4:30.938 at the West Bay Lagoon. He was far ahead of second-placed Macau’s (China) Kuok Hei Lou (4:46.558) and Kazakhstan’s Alexander Yemelyanov (4:47.838). Lou and Alexander qualified for the semifinals. Arambam then teamed up with Digvijay Singh Negi in the 1,000m kayak doubles to emerge second in heat one and qualify for the semifinals. The Indian duo clocked 4:07.210 to finish behind the Kyrgyz pair of Aleksander Gurkin and Aleksey Nikolaev who clocked 4:04.510. Gurkin and Nikolaev qualified for
the final. Sawlabow and Maisnam Sanjit Singh then came fourth in the 1,000 m canoe doubles heat one with a time if 4:47.359 but still qualified for the semifinals. The Indian pair was behind Japan’s Taito Ambo and Kosuke Fuji (4:18.451), Iran’s Omid Kaldeh and Sirvan Ahmadi (4:34.671) and Kazakhstan’s Kaissar Nurmaganbetov and Alexandr Dyadchuk (4:44.207). The only India who failed to advance to the next round was Amarjeet Singh in 1,000 m canoe singles event. Amarjeet clocked 4:58.157 in the heat to finish fifth.
— UNI
|
|
Sania breezes into last eight
Doha, December 10 The 19-year-old Indian tennis icon thrashed South Korea’s Yoo Mi 6-1, 6-4 in an a lopsided encounter which lasted just 34 minutes. Sania, ranked 67th in the world, has been in good touch since landing in Doha. The Hyderabad girl, seeded fourth in singles, broke her opponent in the third, fifth and seventh games to wrap up the first set in 18 minutes. She was a little less ruthless in the second set, when she broke her rival in the second, fourth and eighth games to secure a place in the last-eight stage. Shikha Uberoi, however, bowed out of the singles event after deciding to retire from her first-round match against second seed Jie Zheng of China. Uberoi was trailing 0-4 in the first set when she pulled out owing to exhaustion, having played several matches since the silver-winning effort in the team event. As Shikha had no chance against the strong Chinese, it was better for her to concentrate on the doubles where the Indians have a chance of winning a medal. Sania said the crowd support was a major factor in her win because she was down at one stage during the match. “I was playing good, but she got some points and I started to feel the pressure, and I don’t know why that happened,” Sania said. “I was hitting the ball well, I was playing well and the crowd was motivating me, so that’s why I won the match,” she said. Sania-Shikha knocked out
Sania Mirza and Shikha Uberoi were knocked out by Ryoko Fuda and Tomoko Yonemura of Japan 3-6, 6-7(6) in the women’s doubles pre-quarterfinals. Sania has been playing “non-stop” for the past three days. She figured in the singles this morning but Shikha opted out to conserve her energies for the doubles. However, Fuda and Yonemura proved too strong for them. The fatigue was showing on the Indians when they lost the first set but they fought well in the second before going down in the tie-breaker, thus losing the set and the match after an energy-sapping 106-minute duel. The pair of Ankita Bhambari and Rushmi Chakravarthi lost to the seventh-seeded Japanese pair of Akiko Morigami and Aiko Nakamura 3-6, 4-6. Lee-Hesh enter quarters
Not showing any trace of their much-reported spat, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi ran over their Kuwaiti pair to storm into the men’s doubles quarterfinals. Top seed Paes and Bhupathi crushed Mohammed Ghareeb and Ahmad Ammad 6-1, 6-1 in a totally one-sided encounter. Paes and Bhupathi met with no resistance and the Kuwaiti pair looked overawed by their presence. The Indians spent 53 minutes on the court conceding only two games to their rival. In men’s singles, Karan Rastogi crashed out in the second round, going down to fourth seed Wang Yeu Tzuoo of Chinese Taipei 6-2, 5-7, 5-7.
— PTI, UNI
|
|
Four wrestlers floored
Doha, December 10 The Chinese wrestler outmanoeuvred the Indian by claiming six technical points in the first period and three in the second. The Indian could manage only two technical points in the second period.
The Indian proved to be out of depth in the 66 kg Greco-Roman fight and was no match for his superior Central Asian opponent. The Kazakh earned four technical points each in the two periods, while Patil could manage only one in the second. Earlier in the morning, the 26-year-old Dalvi had overpowered Vietnam’s Hue Dang Dinh 3-1 to enter the quarterfinals. Dalvi managed three technical points in the first period and three more in the second as compared to just two by his opponent. The 23-year-old Patil had brushed aside the challenge of Lebanon’s Amer El Jeneidi with a 3-1 victory to make it to the last-eight stage. The Indian dominated from the very first period and never gave his opponent the chance to recover. He secured as many as 14 technical points, while his rival could manage just one. Two other matmen, Manoj Kumar and Dharmender Dalal, lost their bouts at the last-16 stage. Manoj was outclassed 3-0 by Saman Tahmasebi of Iran, while 23-year old Dalal suffered a 5-0 thrashing by Tajikistan’s Murodjon Tuychiev. Tahmasebi gained 11 technical points in the 84 kg Greco-Roman category, while Manoj could not manage even one.
— PTI
|
|
Vijender loses in semis, cries foul
Doha, December 10 After his narrow 24-29 defeat, the Indian boxer alleged that Bakhtiyar Artayev, his opponent from Kazakhstan, got the upper hand because of the faulty awarding of points. “I played hard, but I was not successful. In the first round, my opponent got four points, although I did not take too many hits. You get points in boxing for right punches but for left punches, it has to be very clear. But he was getting points for his left punches, which was very unfair. I did not take so many blows,” Vijender claimed after the bout. “There were unfair decisions in the first round, which my coach agrees with. Artayev is an Olympic medallist, a very good fighter, but next time I will beat him,” he said. The 21-year-old pugilist, a South Asian Games gold-medalist and a silver winner in Commonwealth Games this year, mounted a spirited challenge against Artayev before ending up as the loser at the Aspire Hall. Vijender unleashed a flurry on punches and managed to bag his share of points in all four rounds. But the Kazakh boxer used all his experience to ensure that he kept scoring crucial points to send the Indian packing. Vijender’s exit leaves Varghese Johnson the only Indian in the fray, after having got a walkover in the quarters. Johnson, a silver medallist in the South Asian Games in Colombo this year, will take on Kazakhstan’s Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov in the semifinals of the +91 kg category tomorrow. Archers off target
Indian women archers, by and large, failed to set the Lusail range on fire in the individual qualifying competition and finished well outside the top 10. Reena Kumari was the highest finishing Indian markswoman at 12th place with 1,291 points and would take on Uzbekistan’s Munira Nurmanova in the round of 16 tomorrow. Arjuna awardee Dola Banerjee had to be satisfied with 16th place and 1286 points. She takes on Malaysia’s Anbarasi Subramaniam. Chekrovolu Swuro was 25th with 1,236 points, while Punyaprabha 31st with 1,229 points. Both were eliminated from the competition.
— PTI, UNI
|
|
Gaganjeet Bhullar slips to tied 8th
Doha, December 10 Tied fourth overnight, Bhullar, yet again came up with a round of 70 to take his three-day tally to six-under 210. A cagey Bhullar fumbled on his front nine and dropped bogeys on the third and seventh holes and picking up a shot on the sixth did undo some of the damage but it needed a bogey-free back nine to put Bhullar back on the track. On his way back, Bhullar fired birdies on the 10th, 14th and 16th to round off his day. Among his compatriots, Joseph Chakola turned in his second straight round of 70 to be tied 12th at three-under 213, along with Chirag Kumar who returned his third successive round of 71 today. A level-par round by Anirban Lahiri, who had put up the best show by an Indian in the first round before losing his touch, saw the Indian finish tied 16th at two-under 214. In the men’s team event, India hangs on to the fourth place with a three-day score of 632, and trail Korea (621), Chinese Taipei (630) and Japan (631). Among the women, Meghna Bal returned three-under 70 to be tied eighth at eight-under 211, while compatriot Sharmila Nicollet is tied for 12th after carding 70 to take her tally to one-under 218. The other Indian in the fray, Vaishvi Sinha (225), however, continues to struggle and carded two-over 75 for the 18th spot.
|
|
ESPN-Star bag ICC media rights
New Delhi, December 10 “The rights will start from September next year with the Twenty20 World Cup,” ESPN-Star India Managing Director R.C. Venkateish told PTI. Asked about the valuation of the deal, Venkateish declined to comment, saying the ICC and the broadcaster had decided not to disclose the sum. Industry sources, however, put ESPN-Star’s bid at $1.1 billion, followed by Nimbus at $900 million, Zee ($850 million) and Ten Sports ($825 Besides the 2011 and 2015 World Cups, the rights will cover ICC’s major tournaments such as Champion’s Trophy in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014, Twenty20 World Cup, Women’s World Cup and Inter-Continental Cup. ICC’s existing telecast rights, which is held by Global Cricket Corporation, expires after next year’s World Cup in West Indies. The GCC had bagged the rights for $532 million.
— PTI
|
|
Farhat stars in Pak win
Lahore, December 10 Chasing a revised target of 191 in 35 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis scoring method after a malfunction in the floodlights caused 60 minutes loss of play, Pakistan reached 192 for three in 33.4 overs. Mohammad Yousuf was unbeaten on 28 and Shoaib Malik on 21. The West Indies innings ended on 207 for seven in 46.3 overs. The umpires initially halted play due to murky conditions and then declared the innings closed when the floodlights could not be switched on. The West Indian innings revolved around a maiden half-century from 21-year-old Lendl Simmons (70) playing his second match after pacer Rana Naved took three for 37 including the key wicket of Brian Lara.
— Reuters
|
|
|
Dharmani shines on murky day
Mohali, December 10 It was the time when the play stopped due to bad light just after the tea break. Punjab batsmen had done all the hard work and had succeeded in putting a decent total on the board. The bowlers were expected to take charge and have a go at the rival batsmen on a wicket conducive for seam bowling. Resuming from their overnight score of 220 for six, Punjab earlier did well taking their score to 353, thanks to skipper’s knock from Pankaj Dharmani. Dharmani notched up a magnificent 144. In reply, Mumbai were 21 without loss at close on the second day of the Super League (Elite Group B) Ranji Trophy match here today. Inclement weather had earlier denied the hosts a chance to go for a possible victory against Gujarat in the previous match at the same venue. Script seems to be unfolding on somewhat similar lines in this match as well. Eleven overs were lost to bad light yesterday. It turned out to be worse today as more than two-hour play was not possible due to bad light and drizzle. For skipper Pankaj Dharmani, however, it proved to be a historic occasion. Dharmani not only notched up a century, his 19th in Ranji Trophy matches, he also emerged only the second player from Punjab to complete 6,000 runs in Ranji Trophy matches. Dharmani achieved the landmark, when he reached 112. Former captain Vikram Rathore is the only other batsman from the state to achieve the landmark. Playing for Punjab, Rathore scored 6494 runs in 85 matches, hitting 20 centuries and 21 half centuries. Dharmani deserves credit for the way he batted. Knowing that the rest of the frontline batsmen were back in the pavilion, Dharmani dropped anchor and played a responsible knock. If the Patiala batsman did not resort to flamboyance, he had reasons for not doing so. He knew that loss of his wicket would spell trouble. Dharmani concentrated on occupying the crease and scoring runs without taking risks. He succeeded admirably in the job. He stayed at the wicket for 376 minutes and struck 16 fours facing 240 balls before he became the last batsman to be dismissed. Dharmani first added 53 runs to the total with Ishan Malhotra for the seventh-wicket partnership. After that he was involved in 69-run stand for the eighth wicket with Gagandeep Singh. Malhotra chipped in with useful 36, while Gagandeep contributed 24. Debutant Amanpreet Singh batted long enough with Dharmani to see that the team crossed the 350-run mark. Seamer Swapnil Hazare emerged the most successful Mumbai bowler and completed five-wicket haul. Scoreboard Punjab ( 1st innings) Ricky c&b Hazare 46 Goel c Samant b Mota 38 Gupta c Samant b Kulkarni 8 Dharmani c Rohit Mongia c Samant b Hazare 0 Kaul c Mota b Mangela 25 Uniyal c Samant b Mangela 2 Malhotra c and b Mota 36 Gagandeep c Kukreja Rajesh c Kulkarni b Hazare 7 Amanpreet not out 10 Extras
( nb-5, b-5, lb-3) 13 Total ( all out, 122 overs) 353 Fall of wickets:
1-83, 2-100, 3-100, 4-100, 5-186, 6-192, 7-245, 8-314, 9-328. Bowling:
Hazare 33-5-83-5, Mangela 23-5-59-2, Mota 21-3-78-2, Kulkarni 23-5-44-1, Powar 22-4-81-0 Mumbai ( 1st innings) Sahil batting 6 Mane batting 13 Extras
(nb-1, lb-1) 2 Total (no loss, 11 overs) 21 Bowling: Gagandeep 3-0-3-0, Uniyal 4-0-10-0, Ishan 2-0-7-0, Amanpreet 1-1-0-0.
|
|
Rahul’s team wins golf title
Chandigarh, December 10 Sixteen-year-old Rahul Bakshi shot three birdies to log 19 points. Among his team-mates, Anish Gupta logged 17 points, while Amardeep Mahajan and Ranbir Mann contributed 14 and 11 points, respectively. Rahul also returned the best individual card of one-under. I.D. Bhandari of the Naldehra Golf Club clinched the nearest-to-the-pin title. Finishing 10 points behind the leaders in the championship played on the stableford system was the Shivalik Golf Course quartet of Rajan Sood, Maj P.N. Sharma, Lt-Col S.C.S. Saraon and A.N. Sharma. Under the system, the best three cards of each team were counted for deciding the winner and runner-up.
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
