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Paes gives India a golden double
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Chess: India make sure of gold
India sail to silver Wrestling: Dutt wins bronze
Men win maiden archery medal
Non-performers will be called back: BCCI
Asia Cup
Punjab in final
Aussies pick Symonds
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Paes gives India a golden double
Doha, December 13 Barely hours after teaming up with Mahesh Bhupathi to fetch India’s a gold medal in the doubles event, the lion-hearted Paes showed no signs of fatigue as the Indian duo scripted a 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Satoshi Iwabuchi and Akiko Morigami in a summit showdown lasting two hours 20 minutes. With the addition of one more gold medal, the Indians completed their tennis engagements in the Asian Games with two gold and two silver medals. Sania had won a silver in the women’s singles and India had finished second behind Chinese Taipei in the women’s team event. It was a tremendous show of stamina and grit as both Paes and Sania had played gruelling matches before taking the court for the mixed doubles event under floodlights at a nearly-packed Khalifa stadium. Paes took the bulk of the load and displayed some acrobatic shots as the Indian pair wrapped up the first set in 55 minutes much to the delight of the crowd. But the Japanese pair came back strongly to claim the second set in 47 minutes to force a decider. The top seeded Indians, however, found the going relatively easier in the third set as their Japanese opponents wilted under pressure to lose 6-2, triggering off scenes of celebrations in the stands. Earlier in the men doubles, three-time Grand Slam men’s doubles champions displayed fighting spirit of yore when they saved seven match-points, including three-in-a-row, to stop the Thai pair of Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatane 5-7, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 in the final to a grandstand ovation from the vociferous Indian supporters at the stadium. The ageing duo, with their best years behind them and with their confidence dented somewhat after a spat following an unexpected loss in the team event’s first round, showed in clear terms that when on song they are still strong. It was a glorious end to their campaign especially after the earlier misunderstanding between the between the Indian Davis Cup stars threatened to bring it to a medalless stop at one stage. But India missed out on another tennis gold when their star player Sania Mirza got beaten in the women’s singles final by higher-ranked Chinese opponent Jie Zheng 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 and settled for a silver. The 20-year-old Indian star was brought down from her high pedestal by the second seed Jie Zheng in the 104-minute battle fought under scorching heat. The victory was sweet revenge for the 23-year-old Zheng who had lost to Sania in the Hyderabad Open last year. Sania looked tentative and bit flustered as her rival made her run around from the baseline and her returns were not very effective as well. Sania lost her sixth game when she double faulted twice but came back to break Zheng in the next game to draw parity. However, the Indian could not read her rival’s game well and was broken again in the 10th to lose the set (4-6) in 38 minutes. The heat took its toll on both the players and the second set failed to produce thrilling tennis. Still, Sania took over the proceedings of the set with some scintillating ground strokes and powerful forehand cross-court shots as Zheng suddenly looked out of depth. The Hyderabad girl broke Zheng in the third, fifth and seventh games to win the set with amazing ease (6-1) in 35 minutes. But in the third set, it was time for Sania to face the music. In the end, the final turned out to be a battle of attrition between the two players and Zheng being a better tactician and strategist emerged winner. The Chinese drained out the Indian in two sets and then ‘killed’ her in the third to retain the gold for her country.
— PTI, UNI
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End of the road Doha, December 13 “I would have loved to play for India till 50, but the circumstances are such that it is difficult,” Bhupathi said in a categorical statement after the triumphant run of the duo. “I don’t want to go and beg for a place in the team. If it is the end of the road for the ‘Indian Express’, I am happy it is over.” Making it clear that he was reluctant to defend their gold medal won in Busan four years ago, the Bangalore-based stalwart said “I didn’t want to play, but was coaxed into coming here. We have won the gold and it is over.” Bhupathi admitted that his split with the team captain was a big blow to India’s hopes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. “You can forget the gold in Beijing Olympics. It’s not happening with both of us,” he said. Bhupathi also regretted the timing of the parting of ways. “Unfortunately, it comes at a time when we should be actually celebrating. We have played together for India in the Davis Cup and broken many records.” He also shot back at suggestions about his alleged lack of fitness raised by the captain and coach Nandan Bal. “There was a chance for them to question my fitness and the captain and coach did it in a haphazard manner,” he
added. — PTI |
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Doha, December 13 Mamta Kharab struck the all-important goal for India in the 16th minute following a penalty corner and after that they defended the lead with a superb show of nerves and determination and, for once, luck sided with them. The Indians thus won a medal after a gap of eight years, having finished second in the 1998 Bangkok Asiad where they had lost to Korea. This is for the first time that the Koreans ended without a medal in women hockey in Asiad having previously won the gold four times and silver twice. The Indians with this display made amends of all their previous lacklustre showings and pick of them was goalkeeper Dipika Murthy who brought off several stunning saves. “I had predicted before the start of the tournament that we will win a medal and I am proved right,” said a visibly elated coach M. K. Kaushik. “It is a great achievement for a team as nothing has been going right for us. However, the girls rose to the occasion and met the challenge brilliantly,” he gushed. It was an off-day for the Koreans who had beaten India 3-2 in the last league match. They earned seven penalty corners but could not make use of them. Their star penalty corner expert Park Young Soon, who had scored eight goals before this match, could not fire at all. The Indian goal came in the 16th minute when they earned the first penalty corner. They did not go for a direct crack but relayed the ball between them four times without the Koreans being able to intercept it and then skipper Jyoti Kullu drew the goalkeeper out and set the ball for Mamta Kharab who made no mistake in slamming it in the goal (1-0). — UNI
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Chess: India make sure of gold Doha, December 13 With one more round to go tomorrow, India can afford to even lose all three game and still win by at least 2.5 points. It was the most comprehensive display by the strongest chess country in Asia. This will be India’s second gold medal in chess. Koneru Humpy had earlier won the individual gold medal in the first week of the Asian Games. Krishnan Sasikiran returned to his winning way, outplaying Udut Adianto. “I am not all that happy because I was not in form in the rapid chess event. We had some bad results and had to face criticism. Personally I did not play well in the rapid. I picked only towards the end. Fortunately we came back in the team event and did pretty well,” Sasikaran said. P Harikrishna was held to a draw by Susanto Megaranto and Koneru Humpy thrashed Irine Kharisma Sukandar to complete a fine win for India.
— PTI
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Doha, December 13 India lost the opening race in the one-on-one contest and then clinched the second race in the best-of-five contest to raise visions of a gold medal. The Indian squad comprised Ramachandran Mahesh at the helm and crew Sanjeev Chauhan, Girdhari Yadav and Nitin Mongia. India and Singapore had topped the preliminary league with the same number of points but the latter were ranked higher on the basis of having beaten India in the round-robin phase leading to the semis in which India defeated Thailand 3-1 and Singapore got past Korea 3-0 yesterday.The bronze medal was won by Korea who beat Thailand 2-0 in the play-off.
— PTI
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Wrestling: Dutt wins bronze Doha, December 13 Dutt, who had lost both his bouts including the repechage like his colleagues, got an opportunity to play the bronze medal play-off because of the limited number of entries in the 60 kg category. The 22-year-old Dutt prevailed over Kazakhstan’s Bauyrzhan Orazgaliyev 3-1 in the bronze-medal match, swelling India’s medal haul to one silver and three bronze medals from the wrestling arena. Two other grapplers in the freestyle category — Narasingh Pancham Yadav (74 kg) and Narender (96 kg) could not make much of an impact as they lost their quarterfinal and repechage rounds at the Aspire Hall. Bimoljit wins wushu bronze
India fetched its lone medal in wushu competition as M. Bimoljit Singh won a bronze though he suffered a humiliating defeat in the semifinals of men’s 60 kg category at the Asian Games here today. Though Bimoljit was no match to Alireza Sahra Neshini of Iran, losing 0-5, 0-5 in the first and second rounds, his semifinal appearance earned him a bronze in the event. Canoeists in final
Turning out an impressive performance, the pairing of Maisanam Sanjit Singh and Sawlabow Sawlabow cruised into the final of the men’s canoe double event at the Asian Games here today. Underlining their class by negotiating the conditions superbly, the Indian team clocked 1 minute and 59.644 seconds to comfortably clinch the top spot in heat two of the 500 m event, that was contested by four countries. Maintaining a healthy lead throughout the contest, Singh and Sawlabow were ahead even at the halfway stage clocking 55.62 secs and never relinquished their advantage. The Indian team were never really threatened by second-placed Uzbekistan (2:04.608), Philippines (2:10.800) and China (2:12.810), who all made only the semi-final stage. Making progress in the men’s 500 m Kayak double event, India’s Chingching Singh Abraham and Digvijay Singh finished third in 1:56.476 secs in heat one to qualify for the semis.
— PTI, UNI
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Doha, December 13 The women’s team, however, were unlucky to lose to formidable rivals China by just two points in the quarterfinals with the score reading 199-201. The men’s team comprising Tarundeep Rai, Mangal Singh Champia, Jayanta Talukdar and Vishwas — survived some anxious moments before overpowering Malaysia 212-207 for the first ever medal in 24 years since India started taking part in the Asian Games archery event. India stunned fancied Japan 219-206 in the quarterfinals but lost to Chinese Taipei 210-220 in the semifinal. And in the battle for bronze, the Indian archers held their nerves even after trailing till the third round and shot 57 out of 60 in the last to pip the Malaysians. India started poorly as they shot 51 in their first series of two rounds — 26 (9,8,9) and 25 (9,8,9). The Malaysians shot 52 scoring 28 (10,8,10) and 24 (7,8,9). The Indian score in the second round was 53 in two series 26(9,9,8) and 27 (7,10,10) while Malaysia shot 54 28 (10,9,9) and 26 (7,9,10) in two series to lead their rivals 106-104 midway through the match. In the third round, India came up with a score of 51, with 27 (8,10,9) coming in the first series and 24 (8,9,7) in the second. Malaysian also fired 51 in this penultimate round 25 (8,9,8) and 26 (10,9,7) and maintained the two-point lead. However, the Indians pulled up their socks in their last round in which they fired their best 57 with 28 (10,8,10) in first series and 29 (9,10,10) in the second to clinch the Bronze as Malaysia shot a poor 50 in this crucial round — 26 (8,10,8) and 24 (6,9,9) — and slipped to fourth place. In the women’s pre-quarterfinals, India outscored Malaysia 197-166 in a match in which they led throughout but in the quarterfinals they ran into formidable China and luck deserted them in this crucial tie. The Chinese took an early lead when in the first round they shot 55 as against 52 by the Indians. In the next round, the Indians narrowed the gap shooting 52 (28, 24) while the Chinese fired 50 (28,22) before surging ahead shooting 47 in the third — 27 (10, 9, 8) and 20 (7, 7, 6) — as their rivals shot 45 (25, 20). However, in the last round, the Indians faltered shooting 48, which included 28 (10, 9, 9) in the first series and 20 (8, 6, 6) in the second. The Chinese had a score of 51 in this round (27,24) and that knocked Indian women out. — UNI
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Shooters come of age: Coach
Jalandhar, December 13 The guiding spirit and chief motivator of the squad, coach T. S. Dhillon sure is euphoric over the performance of the shooters but his eyes are set on a repeat performance in the Olympics two years from now. “Winning an Olympic medal is the chief aim of each member of my squad,” he said. Talking to the The Tribune here today, Dhillon said the Indian team had created history this time by winning three gold medals. In the last Asian Games, India had won only two silver in shooting. India had previously won just two Asian Games shooting gold medals — Jaspal Rana in Hiroshima in 1994 and Randhir Singh in Bangkok in 1978. Dhillon, who is also the recipient of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award in shooting, said Jaspal Rana’s performance was excellent despite his poor health. “It is a matter of pride that Jaspal has been chosen the best sportsperson and brought laurels to the country. He is a source of inspiration for budding shooters,” the coach said. The weather conditions were fluctuating and that affected the performance, especially in shotgun events (trap, double trap and skeet). “Strong winds which swept ranges had a bearing on the performance of Manavjit Sandhu, who won the individual silver medal,” he said. “What makes me happier is that our team competed with the Chinese, Thais and Kazakhs. Winning so many medals against such tough competition is even more thrilling,” he added. Dhillon, who is the first Asian to be honoured with life membership of the International Shooting Coaches Association, said the Ranjitgarh Rifle Club, Phillaur, and the Dashmesh Rifle Club, Badal, are the breeding centres for budding shooters. The setting up of the clubs and hosting of more high-level competitions would promote the game further in the region. “Indian shooters have a great future at the international level and if provided better resources they can easily win more medals,” said the former international shooter, who is presently the DIG, CRPF, Jalandhar Range. “I believe that if marksmen get all the facilities, we can replicate our Asian Games performance at the Beijing Olympics as well,” he added.
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Multan, December 13 Samuels’s unbeaten 100 from 99 balls with 17 fours and a six helped West Indies overhaul Pakistan’s 209 all out from 49.5 overs with 15.1 overs to spare and cut the home side’s lead in the five-match series to 2-1. Samuels, 25, whose last century was scored against India at Vijayawada in 2002, in brilliant form sharing a match-winning record third wicket stand of 141 from 156 balls with Shivnarine Chanderpaul (60). The pair helped their team recover from a shaky start when paceman Rana Naved bowled Chris Gayle (9) and trapped Lendl Simmons leg before for a duck from successive balls in his second over to leave the tourists on 11-2. Their stand is the highest against Pakistan surpassing the previous best of 137 between Vivian Richards and Richie Richardson in Karachi in 1987. Samuels reached his hundred by punching stand-in skipper, Abdul Razzaq to the square leg boundary in a over that yielded 14 runs. Skipper Brian Lara remained unbeaten on 13. Pakistan was led by Razzaq in the place of the experienced batting trio of captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan. Inzamam is nursing a finger injury while Yousuf and Younis missed the game because of domestic problems. West Indies were boosted by the return of the experienced Chanderpaul who missed the first three games due to a knee problem. Jamaican Samuels, long regarded as an under-achiever, played a polished but brutal innings with a series of flowing drives and ferocious pull shots one of which sailed over long on for a huge six. Earlier Yasir Hameed celebrated his recall to the side after a one-year gap with a fluent 71 runs which saw Pakistan recover from 47-4 to reach a competitive total. Pace bowlers Daren Powell with 3-33 and Dwayne Smith with 2-29 caused the damage to the top order. Scoreboard Pakistan Farhat c Gayle b Powell 13 Afridi b Powell 1 Hameed c Powell b Mohammed 71 Hafeez c Gayle b Smith 1 Malik lbw Smith 0 Iqbal c Mohammed b Powell 30Razzaq c Gayle b Bradshaw 33Akmal run out 11 Naved run out 18 Sami c Smith b Samuels 2 Rao not out 7 Extras (lb-1, nb-5, w-16) 22 Total (all out, 49.5 overs) 209 Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-33, 3-45, 4-47, 5-109, 6-141, 7-154, 8-199, 9-201. Bowling: Bradshaw 10-0-43-1, Powell 10-1-33-3, Smith 10-1-29-2, Simmons 1-0-9-0, Mohammed 10-0-41-1, Samuels 8.5-0-53-1. West Indies Gayle b Naved 9 Chanderpaul c Iqbal b Sami 60 Simmons lbw Naved 0 Samuels not out 100 Lara not out 13 Extras (lb-11, nb-7, w-12) 30 Total (3 wkts, 34.5 overs) 212 Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-11, 3-152. Bowling: Naved 6-1-18-2, Sami 7-0-37-1, Anjum 5.5-0-56-0, Afridi 2-0-13-0, Razzaq 6-0-51-0, Hafeez 5-0-12-0, Malik 3-0-14-0. — Reuters
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Non-performers will be called back: BCCI
New Delhi, December 13 BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said such a step was needed if players were unable to give their best. “Don’t we change the team during a home series? What’s wrong if we drop non-performers on an overseas tour?” he shot back when asked about his earlier comment that the board had the full power to recall non-performers. “But it’s entirely up to the selectors to do so. It’s up to them if they want to remain satisfied with players who are not performing,” he told PTI from Mumbai. In Indian cricket history players have never been recalled from a tour for reasons other than injury or indiscipline. The legendary Lala Amarnath was sent back from the 1936 tour of England on charges of indiscipline while former opener-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu had walked out of the 1996 tour of England of his own volition. Shah’s forthright statement only adds strength to the current thinking in the BCCI that cricketers need to be paid as per their performance. However, the selectors have a different take on the issue of recalling a selected team member midway through a tour. Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar, reacting to Shah’s comment on similar lines yesterday, had said unless a team member gets injured or is not able to continue playing for any other reason, he would not be asked to go back. — PTI
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Asia Cup
Jaipur, December 13 Winning the toss and electing to bat, India made 239 for nine in the stipulated 50 overs with Amita Sharma returning unbeaten on 45. In reply, Pakistan could only score 159 for six in full 50 overs. Bismah Mahroof (43), Urooz Mumtaz (23) and Sajda Shah (44) were their main scorers. Trish Kamni took three for 19 for India. Earlier, India made a shaky start losing four wickets for only 51 runs as the two Pakistan medium pacers—Q Jalil and A Iqbal—shared the four wickets with the new ball. Later, Kala and Dhar batted sensibly and put on 105 for the fifth wicket before the former departed. Kala made 45 with the help of six fours. Dhar was out for 53, which was studded with four fours and a six, but Amita delighted with her unbeaten 45 in only 47 balls. Jalil was the most successful Pakistani bowler, taking five for 62. — UNI
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Punjab in final
Patiala, December 13 In today’s semifinal, Punjab plundered runs almost at will and ended their first essay at 442 for eight declared with Mandeep Singh (98) and Pargat Singh (81) playing polished knocks. With the hosts having taken a big lead, only academic interest was left on the last day today as the visitors managed to score 161 for 4 against a not so penetrative bowling attack. Punjab now take on Delhi in the final slated to be played here from December 16 to 18. Brief scores: Karnataka (1st innings) 67 all out; Punjab (1st innings) 442 for 8 ( Mandeep 98, Pargat 81, Bharat 3 for 134, Aman1 for 35); Karnataka (2nd innings) 161 for 4 (Karan 77, Munir 33, Bhavish 3 for 34).
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Perth, December 13 The big-hitting Symonds was promoted to the starting side following the surprise retirement of Damien Martyn and the unavailability of all-rounder Shane Watson. Symonds, also a handy spin bowler, will bat at number six, forcing Michael Clarke to move to five and Mike Hussey to four in the only change to the side that won the first two tests to leave Australia one win away from regaining the Ashes. — Reuters
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