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Asiad Roundup
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Asia Cup: 10-wkt win for eves
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Medal haul falls short of expectation
M. R. Mishra
Doha, December 15 Several Indian medal prospects also failed to deliver and India’s final tally of 54 medals, mainly comprising bronze, left a sense of dissatisfaction. The tally of 10 gold would have been more if the script that was promised by the officials had unfolded on expected lines. The final medal break up — 10 gold, 18 silver and 26 bronze — did not justify India sending a jumbo contingent, including in little-followed sports like sepak takraw and fencing, with many of the athletes virtually going unnoticed. In comparison, the Indians had sent a much smaller contingent for the last edition of the Games in Busan and did better with a haul of 11 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze medals. The Indian Olympic Association officials admitted here that wearing the country’s colours has become easy with many federations sending participants on their own since the food and accommodation is taken care of by the organisers. The officials are still to realise that the Asian Games was not the place for exposure and strict standards must be laid down to earn berths for these mega events. It will also save India from the embarrassment of losing by huge margins and becoming a laughing stock. A few bronze medals in events such as wushu, equestrian, rowing and sailing have meant that the spread has been bigger but it is the failure in traditional medal-winning events like shooting, athletics and, to some extent, tennis which makes the performance look ordinary. However, the biggest debacle for India came in the form of the below par performance of the men’s hockey team which failed to reach the semifinals for the first time and finished a poor fifth. The other blot was the off-the-court war of words between ace tennis doubles pair of Paes and Bhupathi. Their ego clashes overshadowed the veteran duo’s gold medal winning feat. The athletes were also a big let-down as there was a sharp drop in the gold medal collection as compared to Busan four years ago. If the athletes were the toast of the nation in the last edition of the games, where they captured as many as seven gold, six silver and four bronze medals, the measly collection of one gold, four silver and four bronze by the 42-member squad this time speaks volumes of India’s current standard at the Asian level. The women’s 4x400 relay team comprising S Geetha, Manjeet Kaur, Chitra Soman and Pinki Pramanik brought the only gold, saving India the blushes on the very last day of competitions. There were some unheralded athletes such as Santhi Soundarajan (800m) and O. P. Jaisha (5000m) who came to the big stage without any expectations and returned home with silver and bronze medal respectively. The seasoned Anju Bobby George, who had stayed away from too many competitions this year, secured a silver medal in the women's long jump event. Anju had won a gold in Busan four years back, but the ageing Keralite struggled to find her peak form this time around. In the majestic Lusail shooting ranges, it was 30-year-old pistol king Jaspal Rana who ruled the roost as he defied lack of practice and high fever to put in an amazing performance and clinch as many as three gold medals — giving a dramatic turn to his career. Rana’s heroics helped India capture a creditable haul of 3 gold, five silver and 6 bronze medals — a vastly improved performance considering that the team won just two silver medals in Busan. He first stole the limelight by clinching the gold in men’s 25 m standard pistol and then won the individual honour in the 25 m centre fire event shooting a world and Asian Games record equalling score of 590. His stunning effort also helped his team to gold in the team event. But a couple of more medals could have been added to the kitty but for the poor form of experienced Samresh Jung who performed well below-par while the strong winds had a bearing on the performance of some shooters, particularly Manavjit Singh Sandhu. Athens Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore would be a trifle disappointed with his show in the men’s double trap event in which he had to be content with an individual bronze and a team silver. Among other top shooters, Gagan Narang bagged a bronze medal in men’s 50 m rifle 3 positions while Sandhu had a silver to his credit in men’s trap individual section. The kabaddi team expectedly won the 5th gold medal in a row and young Pankaj Advani also lived upto the expectations by winning the coveted gold in billiards singles. Koneru Humpy did the country proud by her performance in chess, making debut in the Asian Games. She won an individual and team gold to make her stay in Doha memorable. — PTI
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IOA blamed for Rana faux pas
New Delhi, December 15 The DAGOC, organising committee of the 15th Asiad, had only told the IOA that Rana was one of the nominees for the prestigious honour. But the IOA “misinterpreted” the information and declared the Indian pistol king as having won the award, the National Rifle Association of India told PTI here today. “IOA is very sorry that they misinterpreted the information given to them in Doha and passed on to us with instructions to give it to the media,” NRAI’s General Secretary Baljit Singh Sethi said. The NRAI had also told Rana, who won three gold medals and a silver, that he had won the award and asked him to book a flight for Doha since the pistol king had come back at the completion of the shooting competitions in Qatar. Rana is in fact currently in Doha, courtesy the faux pas. Sethi’s clarification came in the wake of the DAGOC making a formal announcement today that South Korean swimmer Tae Hwan Park had won the Most Valuable Player award and not Rana as the IOA had claimed on December 12. The Korean won three gold, one silver and three bronze and also set two Games marks. — PTI
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B’day boy Jeev soars to tied third
Bangkok, December 15 Thai stalwart Thongchai Jaidee’s second successive round of 68 saw him perch on top at eight-under 136, one shot ahead of compatriot Thaworn
Wiratchant, who returned a scintillating card of 65 today. Jeev shares the third spot with Prom Meesawat (70) at six-under 138. Eyeing his third win in a Volvo sponsored tournament this year, Jeev, who turned 35 today, started his round spectacularly with back-to-back birdies on a sun-kissed Thai Country Club. The Indian, whose four victories worldwide this season have seen him shoot up to number 45 in the world rankings, went on to card five more birdies against two bogeys. “It was a nice birthday gift with a 66 today, so I will take that. I did not hit the ball too good but I putted great today,” said the winner of both the Volvo China Open and the Volvo Masters in Europe. “I am happy with the way I came back today (after an opening 72). I was sharp on the golf course. I did not miss the greens on the wrong side today and when I did I made some good up and downs.” Jeev could have gone even lower if not for a couple of dropped shots on the back nine. “I had a great start with birdies on the first and second holes. After that I was seven under but two bogeys on the back were the only sour thing,'' he said. Jeev also made it clear that he would be making a big push for victory to claim a unique hat-trick of Volvo titles. It was a special moment for the Indian as, after his round, a group of caddies at Thai Country Club sang ‘Happy Birthday’ as he blew out the candles on a cake gifted to him by everybody involved in the season finale. Among his compatriot, SSP “Chipputtsia”, called so for a magical short game, mixed four birdies and two bogeys in his second round to take his two-day tally to four-under 140 for the tied ninth place. Defending champion Shiv Kapur and in-form Jyoti Randhawa again came up with identical rounds — three-under 69 — to share the 15th spot at three-under 141. Among others, Amandeep Johl (147) went five-over 77 and Gaurav Ghei (149) stuttered to three-over 76, while Rahil Gangjee (151) managed an even-par card after his horrendous opening round of 79.
— UNI
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Five down to
pacers
This reduced India to
156 for five, when indifferent light stopped play, with the recalled
former captain, Saurav Ganguly still at the crease. But for some wayward
bowling, though alleviated by an intelligent and skilful spell by Jacque
Kallis, India’s plight might have been worse. Visions of Anil Kumble
licking his fingers at the sight of cracks on the pitch possibly induced
groundsman, Chris Scott, to adopt the drastic measure of placing a damp
Hessian cover on the track overnight. While the umpires attempted to
negate such dubious tactics by delaying start of play by an hour and a
half, India were still caught on a drying wicket, generating
unacceptably uneven bounce. With an all-pace reservoir in his ranks,
Graeme Smith was virtually committed to bowl first. But it is debatable
whether Dravid should have opted to bat. Yet, if widening craters and
the indentation created by the ball further degenerates the surface, the
Indian skipper’s decision could transpire to be not merely bold, but
ingrained with foresight. A defensive move, as against England at Mumbai
earlier this year, can often embolden the opposition. However, the
conditions had nothing to do with the Indian openers’ departure. Wasim
Jaffer, having impressively hooked and square cut to the boundary, made
the cardinal mistake of leaving a ball from Makhaya Ntini, whose stock
in trade is the incutter. In the very next over, the crisis deepened as
Virender Sehwag, continuing his unconvincing patch, hung his bat out to
a standard Shaun Pollock delivery along the corridor of uncertainty to
make it 14 for two. Sachin Tendulkar now entered the virtually empty
stadium, determination writ large on his face. Overcoming his initial
hesitancy, he exploited Steyn’s extra pace to cover drive and cut this
speedster to the boundary. Both he and Dravid unflinchingly took
knocks on the ribs as the leather venomously spat at them. But with
Dravid shrewdly content to wait for the bad ball, which he almost
unerringly despatched to the fence, whether through the covers, past
point or forward of square on the onside, Tendulkar kept the scoreboard
ticking until the devil in the pitch got the better of him. A good
length ball from Kallis simply took off and left him to deflect off the
shoulder of the bat to second slip. But the 69-run partnership for the
third wicket had at least seen off the shine. With a cut and a pull
off consecutive Ntini deliveries, Dravid posted the team’s 100. The
encircling gloom, then, forced a slightly premature tea and subsequent
rain postponed resumption by another 45 minutes. The cloud cover, aiding
the greenish tinge on the wicket, was ideal for movement in the air; and
Kallis utilised this perfectly by pitching up his outswingers, one of
which finally kissed Dravid’s outside edge, with Smith at first slip
doing the rest. Scoreboard India (1st innings) Jaffer lbw Ntini 9
Sehwag c Boucher b Pollock 4 Dravid c Smith b Kallis 32 Tendulkar
c De Villiers b Kallis 44 Laxman c Boucher b Ntini 28 Ganguly batting
14 Dhoni batting 0 Extras (lb-8, w-11, nb-6) 25 Total
(5 wkts, 56.5
overs) 156 Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-14, 3-83, 4-110, 5-156. Bowling:
Steyn 10.1-3-26-0, Ntini 12.5-1-34-2, Pollock 12-7-14-1, Nel
12.5-4-37-0, Kallis 9-0-37-2.
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Aussies seize control
Perth, December 15 Ponting continued his insatiable run-feast with an unbeaten 57 and Hayden posted his best score of the series to reach the close on day two also on 57 not out with Australia on 119 for one in their second innings, 148 runs ahead. Seamer Matthew Hoggard bowled Justin Langer with the first ball of the Australian innings but England’s joy was short-lived as Ponting and Hayden’s unbroken partnership lifted Australia further after they had bowled England out for 215. England, needing to win or draw the match to keep the series alive, started the day in a strong position at 51 for two in reply to Australia’s modest first-innings total of 244. Kevin Pietersen top-scored with an adventurous 70 and opener Andrew Strauss made a patient 42 but none of England’s other recognised batsman made more than 15. England’s dismal total would have been even worse had tailenders Steve Harmison and Monty Panesar not added 40 for the last wicket after coming to the crease with the tourists in disarray at 175 for nine. The pair, who had shared nine Australian first-innings wickets, smacked three boundaries each before Harmison skied a catch to Brett Lee on 23, leaving the charismatic Panesar unbeaten on 16 in his first appearance of the series. Stuart Clark picked up three wickets to overtake Hoggard as the leading wicket-taker in the series with 14 victims. Lee, Glenn McGrath and Andrew Symonds got two each and Shane Warne one. England could not have made a better start when Hoggard shattered Langer’s stumps with a perfect inswinger but Ponting and Hayden slowly turned the screws. Ponting struck seven boundaries in another superb display. The left-handed Hayden slammed nine fours to chalk up his first 50 of the series and lay the foundations for a bigger score on a WACA pitch starting to flatten out after 21 wickets tumbled on the first two days. Scoreboard
Australia (1st innings) 244 England (1st innings) Strauss c Gilchrist b Clark 42 Cook c Cook b McGrath 15 Bell c Gilchrist b Lee 0 Collingwood c Hayden Pietersen c Symonds b Lee 70 Flintoff c Warne Jones c Langer b Symonds 0 Mahmood c Gilchrist Hoggard c Hayden b Warne 4 Harmison c Lee b Clark 23 Panesar not out 16 Extras (w-1, nb-10) 11 Total
(all out, 64.1 overs) 215 Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-37, 3-55, 4-82, 5-107, 6-114, 7-128, 8-155, 9-175. Bowling: Lee 18-1-69-2, McGrath 18-5-48-2, Clark 15.1-3-49-3, Warne 9-0-41-1, Symonds 4-1-8-2. Australia
(2nd innings) Langer b Hoggard 0 Hayden not out 57 Ponting not out 57 Extras
(lb-4, w-1) 5 Total (1 wkt, 36 overs) 119 Fall of wicket: 1-0. Bowling: Hoggard 7-2-21-1, Flintoff 8-1-23-0, Harmison 8-1-30-0, Panesar 10-1-29-0, Mahmood 2-0-12-0, Pietersen 1-1-0-0.
— Reuters
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Lanka dominate on Day One
Wellington, December 15 The hosts then lost four quick wickets before the close on a seaming pitch to give Sri Lanka hope of squaring the series. Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and chose to bat but seamer Chris Martin took three wickets in a terrific opening spell to reduce the tourists to 41 for three. The 29-year-old Sangakarra continued his rich vein of form, however, and received good support from Chamara Silva who made 61 in only his second Test. The pair added 121 for the fifth wicket before Silva was caught by Stephen Fleming off James Franklin. Sangakkara reached three figures again from 113 balls, including 17 fours and a six. The left-handed Sangakkara ran out of partners having hit 21 fours and a six from 192 balls faced. New Zealand started their reply confidently and Craig Cumming and Jamie How added 30 before Cumming was bowled by Farveez Maharoof for 13. How fell in the next over for 26, lbw to the whippy Lasith Malinga, and Fleming lasted just six balls before he was caught by wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene off Malinga. Scoreboard
Sri Lanka (1st innings) Tharanga c McCullum Jayasuriya c Fleming Sangakkara not out 156 Jayawardene b Martin 0 Kapugedera c Sinclair Silva c Fleming b Franklin 61 P. Jayawardene Vaas c McCullum b Bond 0 Maharoof c McCullum Malinga c Sinclair b Vettori 0 Muralitharan c&b Bond 0 Extras (b-1, lb-1, nb-8) 10 Total
(all out, 65 overs) 268 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-27, 3-41, 4-81, 5-202, 6-239, 7-240, 8-251, 9-259. Bowling: Bond 16-1-85-2, Martin 13-2-50-3, Franklin 12-2-46-1, Oram 3-0-10-1, Vettori 14-1-53-3, Astle 7-2-22-0. New Zealand (1st innings) Cumming b Maharoof 13 How lbw Malinga 26 Sinclair not out 6 Fleming c P. Jayawardene Astle b Malinga 17 Extras (lb-3, nb-1) 4 Total
(4 wkts, 22.4 overs) 66 Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-40, 3-40, 4-66. Bowling:
Vaas 4-0-8-0, Malinga 9.4-2-37-3, Maharoof 5-2-10-1, Muralitharan 4-1-8-0.
— Reuters
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Decks cleared for BCCI meeting
Chennai, December 15 Dismissing the interim prayer of the Cricket Association of Bengal to grant a stay on the meeting, Justice Chitra Venkataraman said she was not inclined to grant the prayer of injunction, as the plaintiff did not have a prima facie case that declining the stay would cause irreparable or irreversible injury. Except for stating that amendments 38 (IV) was ultra vires and contrary to the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act (TNSRA), the plaintiff did not prima facie prove that not granting a stay would cause prejudice and the balance of convenience should be in the plaintiff’s favour, the judge said. In its petition, CAB prayed for declaration of the rule 27, 38 (4) and 41 of the rules and regulations of BCCI as ultra vires of the TNSRA. It also sought a direction to restrain the BCCI from permitting anyone else except its members from taking part in the voting in any special general meeting. The BCCI has convened a special general meeting to discuss its Disciplinary Committee report on former board President Jagmohan Dalmiya and the course of action to taken against him.
— PTI
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Asia Cup: 10-wkt win for eves
Jaipur, December 15 Thirush Kamini who scored fine half-century and took two wickets was star of the Indian victory. After skipper Mithali Raj elected to bowl, Priti Dimiri (3-14) and Kamini (2-38) restricted the visitors to a modest 145 for eight in stipulated 50 overs. The hosts then knocked off the required runs without loss in 31.3 overs, with Kamini (60) combining with S. Naik (79) ensured victory for the defending champions. Amita Sharma gave India the first breakthrough by having C. Polgampala (4) behind the wicket. Silva (14) and Alwis (20) did the recovery job before skipper Shashikala Sriwardane (40) consolidated the good work. Down the order, Dilani Manodra (17 no) and Dalawatte (13) gave some respectibility to the innings. India had little trouble in chasing the modest target. Naik reached her half century in 68 balls with eight boundaries while Kamini played the sheet-anchor role, reaching her fifty in 87 balls and five fours. India earned five points from the win.
— PTI
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Winter games begin in Kashmir
Gulmarg, December 15 Talking to UNI here, Joint Director Tourism Sarmad Hafeez said the decision to prepone the games was taken in view of early snowfall this season. Mr Hafeez said besides Gulmarg, winter games will also be held at unexplored ski resorts of Yusmarg, Doodipathri and Pahalgam. He said the Tourism Department has started a week-long ice skating championship from Friday. This would be followed by Gulmarg Cup from February 4 to 11 next year while the Gondola Ski Cup will be organised in the last week of February, Mr Hafeez added. Mr Hafeez said the snow festival would start on December 24 and a large number of domestic and foreign tourists were expected to take part in the event. He said the Tourism Department has received 350 confirmed bookings mainly from Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
— UNI
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Video
Johannesburg, December 15
