 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Indians swarm stadium
Shooters come a cropper
Commentator draws flak for bad English
PM stresses need to improve hockey
Narain sizzles
World Jr Tennis
Ghei in joint lead
Air-India hold Mahindras
Annual athletics meet held Volleyball meet gets under way
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Gilchrist puts Aussies in sight of Cup Bridgetown, April 28 In reply, Sri Lanka were struggling at 157 for 4 in 26 overs, requiring another 112 runs from just 10 overs after the target was revised due to a rain interruption. Sanath Jayasuriya made 63, while Kumar Sangakkara contributed 54. Earlier, Gilchrist produced a display of magnificent strokeplay to slam 149 off 104 balls for his maiden World Cup hundred and give the reigning champions the upper hand at the Kensington Oval. The swashbuckling opener hit eight sixes and 13 fours to pummel into submission the Sri Lankan bowling which was considered the only attack in the tournament with the firepower to rein in the Aussie juggernaut. The Lankans had the right start when they checked the marauding openers, Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, to only 46 from the first 10 overs. But two fours and one six from Gilchrist in the following over by Dilhara Fernando opened the floodgates. Hayden made a subdued 38 but his partner more than made up for his slow start and the duo put on 172 runs for the opening stand. Gilchrist, who was reprieved a return catch by Fernando in that crucial 11th over, bettered his captain Ricky Ponting’s 140 not out against India in the 2003 final which saw another show of supreme batsmanship. It was also the left-hander’s third 50-plus score in successive World Cup finals. The match was reduced to 38 overs a side after a delayed start by nearly three hours due to rain. The two openers were cautious to begin with in the first five overs which yielded only 26 runs but the moment Gilchrist hit a four and a six off successive deliveries in Chaminda Vaas' second over, the die was well and truly cast. Sri Lanka began with its two regular new-ball bowlers Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga and with only 46 runs to have accrued from the first 10 overs, they appeared to have done a decent job. Malinga was particularly impressive in his first spell of four overs in which he conceded only six runs and also managed to bowl a maiden over. Lanka had the moment of the match to themselves when Gilchrist drove one uppishly back at Dilhara Fernando but the low and difficult chance was spilled by the fast bowler in his follow through. Gilchrist was then on 31 and the team’s score read 47 for no loss in the 10th over. Gilchrist then flicked the next delivery for a four, straight-drove the next ball for another boundary and then hoisted the tall fast bowler deep into the long-off stands to rub salt into his wounds. A distraught Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene introduced Muttiah Muralitharan as early as in the 12th over and the off-spinner commanded immediate respect as is his wont. Gilchrist though pushed the off-spinner into the covers for a single to complete his half century from 43 balls with five fours and two sixes. Tillekaratne Dilshan was brought on from the other end and Gilchrist seized his moment with two straight sixes off the part-time bowler. Another six, this time rather flat and wide off the long-off fielder, off Fernando rushed the left-hander to his 15th one-day hundred, having faced just 72 deliveries. Sri Lanka were then perforced to opt for their second Powerplay in the 19th over and the move paid dividends as not only Vaas and Malinga bowled tidily but they also succeeded in removing Matthew Hayden from the middle. Hayden, who had rather laboured to 38 runs from 55 balls with three fours and a six, flicked Malinga into the hands of midwicket fielder Mahela Jayawardene. Gilchrist departed in the 31st over, hoisting one up in the air for the midwicket fielder to run to his right and complete an easy catch off Fernando. Scoreboard Australia Gilchrist c Silva b Fernando 149 Hayden c Jayawardene b Malinga 38 Ponting run out 37 Symonds not out 23 Watson b Malinga 3 Clarke not out 8 Extras (lb-4, w-16, nb-3) 23 Total (4 wkts, 38 overs) 281 FoW: 1-172, 2-224, 3-261, 4-266. Bowling: Vaas 8-0-54-0, Malinga 8-1-49-2, Fernando 8-0-74-1, Muralitharan 7-0-44-0, Dilshan 2-0-23-0, Jayasuriya 5-0-33-0. Sri Lanka Tharanga c Gilchrist b Bracken 6 Jayasuriya b Clarke 63 Sangakkara c Ponting b Hogg 54 Jayawardene lbw Watson 17 Silva not out 4 Dilshan not out 1 Extras (w-10) 10 Total (4 wkts, 26 overs) 157 FoW: 1-7, 2-123, 3-145, 4-156. Bowling: Bracken 5-1-23-1, Tait 5-0-35-0, McGrath 5-0-25-0, Watson 7-0-49-0, Hogg 3-0-19-1, Clarke 1-0-6-1. — Agencies
|
|
Caribbean treat: Too long, too expensive
Paris, April 28 But, for many, the 2007 World Cup was too long, too expensive, too dull and eventually even the International Cricket Council was forced to admit that this particular marathon had left everybody exhausted. “We listen to criticism, and there has been a lot of it from people saying it’s been too long - so we’ll look to make it shorter,” said ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed. “We’ll seek to reduce this 47-day World Cup by seven or 10 days, and hopefully we’ll get it down to somewhere between five and six weeks next time.” Whether or not, the TV moguls will be happy with that arrangement remains to be seen especially with the 2011 edition to be staged in the sub-continent, the financial engine of the international game. The ninth World Cup, the first to be held in the Caribbean, started welcoming the 16 teams in the last week of February; two months on, Australia and Sri Lanka were the two left standing for the final. But regardless of who emerges the winner at Kensington Oval, what will the 2007 tournament be remembered for? Tragically, it will be forever associated with room No. 374 on the 12th floor of the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston where Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer was murdered, the morning after the 1992 champions had been humiliated by Ireland. The defeat sent Pakistan spinning out of the World Cup and the game of cricket, once a metaphor for all things decent in sport, into a serious bout of introspection amidst dark whispers of the involvement of match-fixing mafias in what became the biggest murder investigation in Jamaican history. The search for Woolmer’s killers is still ongoing while there’s been no end to the fevered speculation as to a motive. Mark Shields, the man leading the hunt and who briefly became probably the most photographed policeman in the world, hit out at “wild” rumours which continue to surround the case, saying they were “causing a lot of distress” to Woolmer’s family. “The priority is to see the truth,” said Shields. Woolmer’s body was on the way back to his family in Cape Town on Friday, six weeks after the slaying. In the seven-week tournament, sparsely attended games were a constant bewildering sight as locals, priced out of the market, voted with their feet. The early exit of Pakistan and India, traditional magnets for battalions of fans, only added to the eerie quiet. Things improved when organisers dropped their restrictions on musical instruments being brought into the grounds and introduced a right to re-entry. Fans, however, argued that the measures were too little, too late. England’s Barmy Army hit out at the costs of travel and accommodation, with many Caribbean hotels tripling rates. English fans paid £5,000 for a 10-day stay. “It’s pretty expensive for people and that has been prohibitive to the younger fans,” said Barmy Army spokesman Paul Burham. Steve Laffey, of Australia’s Fanatics supporters’ group, said fans were disappointed with the atmosphere at matches. “We expected it to be a lot more lively, calypso cricket, the atmosphere usually associated with cricket in the Caribbean,” he said. It wasn’t all gloom in the sunshine and there were some magical moments. Inzamam-ul-Haq and Brian Lara’s tearful farewells will live long in the memory as will the evergreen talents of the likes of Glenn McGrath, Muttiah Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya. With his bleached-blond hair and eyebrow ring, Lasith Malinga was a revelation with his slingy, round-arm action and his historic four wickets in four balls, which almost added another dent to South Africa’s brittle confidence. Matthew Hayden, meanwhile, crowned his comeback from the one-day wilderness by smashing virtually every attack to the four corners of the Caribbean, a performance which brought him the world record for the fastest ever century. And then there was Ireland and their sensational win over Pakistan, which proved, if only temporarily, that minnows, at least some of them, did belong in the World Cup. But their good work was undone by the embarrassing maulings handed out to Bermuda, Scotland and the Netherlands. Bangladesh’s young team made India look like minnows and sent Rahul Dravid’s men home after the first round. So what about a world title for the Tigers on home turf? Now that would be worth turning up for. — AFP
|
|
PCB clips Malik’s wings
Karachi, April 28 A well-informed source in the board said that the PCB had learnt its lesson well after the experience with Inzamam-ul Haq, who enjoyed supreme power in the selection of a touring squad or playing eleven. Accordingly, it has been decided that the selection committee would make the final call while picking a touring squad or even the playing eleven, the source said. “When Inzamam was the captain, the selectors could give him their input and views on selection matters but he had the final say and veto power in these matters,” one source disclosed. PCB’s ad-hoc committee, when it approved the appointment of Shoaib Malik as captain, decided that the team should get rid of “Inzamam culture” as it had created a lot of problems and headaches for everyone including the selectors. “The committee also felt that it had led to Inzamam unbridled powers in the team and a lot of faux paus in selection matters which only got worse in the presence of a weak chief selector like Wasim Bari,” he said. The source disclosed that the committee had also reached a consensus that Inzamam should no longer be entertained although he desired to continue playing in Tests after retiring from one-day internationals and stepping down as captain. “The main reason for shifting the power from the captain to the selectors is that some board officials believe Inzamam will try to use his influence on young Malik and group of players loyal to him to get selected for the Tests. So they had this pre-emptive measure,” the source informed. He said, in future, the selectors would sit with the captain, coach, manager and vice-captain while selecting a full squad or a playing eleven but their decision would be final. “Which means that the board has given the selectors complete power to override any move by Malik to bring Inzamam into the Test side,” the source said. The source disclosed that the board had also taken note of the fact that senior batsman and vice-captain Younis Khan had developed a mindset to stay away from the captaincy and was even pondering leaving one-day cricket because of the non-cooperative attitude of a group of players towards him. Younis earlier this month not only refused the captaincy offered to him but also turned down a chance to fly to Abu Dhabi next month for the three-match one-day series against Sri Lanka. Younis told the selectors he was more comfortable playing for Yorkshire in the English county championship at the moment. “The board realises that they are other reasons for Younis wanting to distance himself from the team at the moment. They also know that when he was captain last year in the Champions Trophy last year in India a group of players loyal to Inzamam had ganged together and refused to even speak to him,” the source said. The source said the board had wanted former captain Imran Khan, a great supporter of Younis, to speak to him and make him change his mind on the captaincy. “But Imran refused saying he was upset with the way Younis had surrendered and would not speak to him on this topic at all,” the source added. With little cricket for Pakistan before September this year, sources said the real test for the board and selectors would come when South Africa tour Pakistan from September 25 as Inzamam would use his influence to get selected in the Test side.
— PTI
|
|
Bridgetown, April 28 Despite the Men in Blue not around anywhere close, no less than 2000 Indians from India, North America and Europe have come to see the final today. This morning the Indians could be seen swarming around all over the stadium bringing much-needed relief to the cash-strapped businessmen who have been ruing India’s absence. “See, if this is the response now, it would’ve been amazing if they were around till semifinals,” said Daid Fox of famous Cave & Spherd shop of the Broad Street. He however, admitted that sales had not touched the expected figure. Same is the case with the taxi drivers. Gordon Brown, who drives his taxi from the Bridgetown port, was complaining that there were not enough cricket fans. But there are some neo converts like Harrison Barney. He has never heard of cricket let alone seen it. “But the fact that almost the entire ship came for the cricket in fact forced me to buy a ticket for myself and my wife,” he said enthusiastically. However, sadly most of the locals have stayed away. They always felt that World Cup was basically for foreigners and they were to see in the TV besides doing whatever little business can be done. But in the stands, it is the Australian and Indian fans, which are most visible with sprinkle of Lankan fans throwing in. The Indians have thrown their complete weight behind the Lankans while any body who hates Australia, are with the Lankans. — UNI
|
|
New Delhi, April 28 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Samaresh Jung finished 15th after firing 578 (95, 97, 97, 94, 99, 96) while Amanpreet Singh Jhaam ended further down at 22nd carding 577 (96, 98, 96, 98, 94, 95) in a field of 52 shooters. In the MQS section, Deepak Sharma shot 571 (96, 94, 93, 95, 95, 98) while Ronak Pandit shot a score of 560 (91, 95, 97, 93, 92, 92). The gold in the event was won by Vladimir Gontcharov of Russia with a score of 686.4 (587+99.4), Ekimov Leonid of Russia won the silver with a score of 686.1 (584+102.1) while Lapeyre Walter of France won the bronze with a score of 685.3 (585+100.3). Tejaswini Sawant disappointed in the women’s 10m air rifle event finishing 14th with a score of 395 while veteran Suma Shirur was 20th at 394 with Avneet Kaur Sidhu a distant 50th with a score of 390 in a field of 74 shooters. Anjali Bhagwat shot a score of 395 in the MQS section, where Meena Kumari hit 389. The gold went to Du Li of China with a score of 502.3 (399+103.3). The silver was won by Zhao Yinghui of China with a score of 499.7 (397+102.7 shoot off 10.1) while Dovgun Olga of Kazakhistan won the bronze with a score of 499.7 (397+102.7 shoot off 9.9). — PTI
|
|
Commentator draws flak for bad English
Colombo, April 28 Bloggers are accusing Fernando of bad English, a lack of cricketing knowledge, monotonous delivery and echoing his co-commentator’s expressions. “He only has to utter the words ‘the batsmen are looking very comfortable out in the middle’ for a Lankan wicket to fall,” complains a blogger at the weblog ranjitfernandosucks.blogspot.com. The blog, which went online on April 6 after Sri Lanka defeated England, is run by an annoyed cricket fan, who says the site is “dedicated to highlighting the shameful cricket commentaries given by Ranjit Fernando.” — PTI
|
|
Barcelona, April 28 The world No. 2 finally overcame persistent Italian Potito Starace 6-2, 7-5 in their quarterfinal yesterday to set up a semifinal encounter with fifth seed David Ferrer after his 7-6, 6-2 defeat of Argentine David Nalbandian. Nadal, Spain’s 20-year-old king of clay, was denied victory on his first opportunity, losing serve while leading a set and 5-4 as a backhand went astray. The winner of the last two editions at the Real club didn’t panic, breaking number 72 Starace straight back and assuring the survival of his all-time mark a game later after one hour, 24 minutes. Nadal, who struck 18 unforced errors, admitted his victory was a chore. “I had trouble with the wind, it was really swirling,” said the man who has not lost on clay in more than two years. “The conditions made this win very difficult.” Nadal, winner of the last two French Open crowns at Roland Garros, has won 11 clay court finals in which he has appeared in since a quarterfinal loss to Igor Andreev on April 2005 in Valencia. The Spaniard improved to 25-5 for 2007 with Masters Series titles in the past month at Indian Wells and Monte Carlo. Nadal needs two more victories to become the second player in Barcelona history to win three consecutive titles, Sweden’s Mats Wilander achieving the feat in 1982-1984. Meanwhile second seed Nikolay Davydenko fell victim to an over-aggressive massage and was unable to play his quarterfinal against 12th seed Guillermo Canas. “After my match last night, I had a deep massage on my wrist and elbow but it ended up blocking some nerves in my wrist,” said the Russian. “I can’t move the fingers on my right hand very well and I am unable to play.” Canas, who beat Roger Federer twice last month on hardcourt, will face Agustin Calleri of Argentina who defeated Spaniard Oscar Hernandez 6-0, 6-3. Ferrer improved to a dominating 5-1 over Nalbandian, including 4-0 on clay. Nalbandian has struggled all season to keep his head above water, his record now standing a dead-level 9-9. — AFP
|
|
PM stresses need to improve hockey
New Delhi, April 28 Addressing a distinguished gathering, which included International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Dr Jacques Rogge and International Women’s Hockey Federation chairperson Els Van Brenda, who is also a vice-president of the IOC, here today after inaugurating the Olympic Bhavan, constructed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) with funding from the IOC, Dr Singh suggested that India should “seriously think of making sports and games a compulsory part of the educational syllabus in schools and colleges”. He said the countries that stood out in the world of sports were the ones that had, in fact, made them “an integral part of their educational curricula”. “By doing so, India will not only promote the cause of Olympic Movement, but also enable the youth to remain healthy and physically fit”, he observed. “I do believe we need a new social compact involving all stake-holders to launch a nation-wide movement of youth in sports”, he added. The Prime Minister said the IOA must pay much greater attention to athletics and gymnastics, apart from popular games like cricket, football and hockey, if the country wanted to emerge as a sporting power in the not too distant future. Dr Singh said the Olympic Bhavan should fulfil a long-felt need for establishing an office in Delhi for the Olympic Movement and hoped that it will be a “source of inspiration and will spur the movement’s growth in India”. Referring to the 2014 Asian Games, the Prime Minister said it was “unfortunate” that Delhi had missed an opportunity this time, but “I am sure there will be others in future”. Interestingly, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Mani Shankar Aiyar was conspicuous by his absence, so was IOA senior vice-president Vijay Kumar Malhotra. Meanwhile, Els Van Brenda said a final decision on the venue for the 2010 men’s World Cup Hockey Championship, will be taken in a fortnight’s time. She said New Delhi was in line for hosting the World Cup though the Federation Internationale Hockey (FIH) wanted to host it in February, 2010, nearly six months before the Commonwealth Games to be held in the Capital. She said the two hockey venues in Delhi must be completed by 2009 for hosting the championship, and she would be holding extensive parleys with the IOA and the IHF officials in the next two days to tie up all loose ends to ensure that India got to host the World Cup. Referring to the merger of the Women’s Hockey Federation of India with the IHF, she said it must be completed by 2008. Paying handsome compliments to the IOA, “which is 79 not out (the IOA was established in 1928),” Dr Rogge said India had tremendous potential for development of “Best of luck for India’s bid”, he said, adding that the IOC “will support you in building this bid, though we have to remain neutral”.
|
|
Brands Hatch (UK), April 28 The Team India racer, who has won two F3 races here earlier in his career, was second only to Team Great Britain. A1 Team India set the third fastest time in the morning, despite losing a significant amount of track time with a puncture. After a two-hour break, the Indian car was back on track for the second practice session and Karthikeyan made further improvements, taking nearly four tenths off his best time from the morning session. “I’ve completed a number of F3 races at Brands, so I’m very familiar with the circuit. Today went well, but we still have some work to do on the car and we can improve the set up further. We lost quite a lot of time in the second rookie session with a puncture,” the racer said. “A1 Team Great Britain is still very quick, so we have to close up the gap to them,” he added. — PTI
|
|
World Jr Tennis
New Delhi, April 28 Despite the defeat in the semifinals, second seed India has already qualified for the finals of the event to be held in Czech Republic in August. The Indian girls will meet their Indonesian counterparts tomorrow for the third-fourth position. Playing the first single of the day against a tough opponent, Rishika Sunkara put up a spirited fight before going down 4-6, 4-6 to Napatsakom Sankaew. Despite her defeat, Rishika made her opponent sweat for every point. Rishika exchanged early breaks in both the sets to go neck-and-neck before losing the plot in the end. Aishwarya Agrawal seemed set to bring India back into the reckoning in the second singles against Luksika Kumkhum before she strained a shoulder muscle in the third game of the second set. After pocketing the first set quite easily, Aishwarya lost her rhythm after the injury and eventually went down 6-3, 3-6, 1-6. This was for the first time in the tournament that the Indian girls lost any singles match. Thailand completed the rout when Luksilka Kumkhum and Jarunwadee Kaewma joined hands to tame the Indian pair of Nova Patel and Rishika Sunkara 7-5, 6-3 in doubles. Captain Vibhor Sharma, however, was not too disappointed with the result. “It’s okay. They have played well in the tournament. Rishika played well today and you cannot do much with injury.” — PTI
|
|
Beijing, April 28 Ghei reclaimed his position atop the leaderboard with a fine four-under 68, helping himself to five birdies against two bogeys for an impressive 11-under 205. The other Indians in the fray, Kolkata talent SSP Chowrasia and Amandeep Johl, however, could not mount a serious challenge as they both were tied for the 50th spot with a round to go. Chowrasia had an even-par 72 and Amandeep went one-over 73 to finish with identical score of even-par 216 at the Asian Tour event. Meanwhile, atop the leaderboard Ghei shares the honours with overnight leader Panuwat Muenlek of Thailand, American Scott Strange and Australian Adam Blyth. Jeev misses
cut again
Irving (Texas): Jeev Milkha Singh was left to rue a poor back nine in his level-par 70 as he missed his second successive cut in the US PGA Tour, but Daniel Chopra fired a superb four-under 66 to ensure weekend action after the second round of the EDS Byron Nelson Championships here. Jeev ended with a five-over 145 and four off the cut line. The seasoned Indian needed to return a low score after his first round 75 but blew away his chances in the back nine to fall by the wayside. Chopra rallied from a poor first round with a one-under 139 total. He was lying tied 30th. — Agencies
|
|
Air-India hold Mahindras
Mumbai, April 28 Mahindra, in a must-win situation, looked pedestrian in their approach to the job on hand. With a lone point from the tie, holders Mahindras have 27 points from 15 ties, five adrift of leaders Dempo Sports Club who have played one match more. The draw helped AI boost their tally to 19 from 15 games.
— PTI
|
|
Annual athletics meet held Patiala, April 28 Gurmohan Singh Walia, principal of the college, welcomed the chief guest. He appreciated the students and staff for their performance. Surjit Singh Rakhra, secretary of the college managing committee, distributed the prizes to the winners. On this occasion, a cultural programme was organised by the students. Bibi Nanki house won the trophy for best march past. Sarita Verma proposed a vote of thanks. |
|
Volleyball meet gets under way Ambala, April 28 Divisional railway manager H.K. Jaggi inaugurated the tournament while additional DRM R.K. Saxena was the guest of honour. The three-day tournament is being organised by the Ambala division sports association. Teams from Delhi, Moradabad, Lucknow, Ambala and Ferozepore divisions are participating the tournament. |
| 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 | |
In video (
