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India retain Asia Cup
PM, President laud hockey team
It’s Henin all the way |
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Federer, Djokovic in final
Sehwag to rein in aggression
Eves lose to China, finish fourth
Alonso reigns in Monza
East Bengal oust JCT
Chitti Singhpora set to be hockey nursery
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India retain Asia Cup
Chennai, September 9 In the ill-tempered final at the packed Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium tonight, India played like a well-oiled machine to take the fizz out of the flamboyant Koreans. Star striker Prabhjot Singh (31st, 64th) and Rajpal Singh (42nd, 55th) struck home a brace each, while Shivendra Singh (4th), SV Sunil (13th) and Ignace Tirkey
(53th) netted one each in India’s impressive win. Jang Jong Hyun (9th) and Oh Dae Keun (68th) sounded the board for Korea. India, who have been on song in the tournament, were unstoppable as they brought in their seventh successive win and their second against Korea in the event. In the fourth minute, Indian captain Prabodh Tirkey made his way from the centre line and covered about 15 yards dodging past a couple of defenders to pass the ball to Prabhjot in the circle. A Korean defender blocked Prabhjot, but Shivendra showed opportunism in latching on to the ball to give India an early lead. Korea found the equaliser through a penalty stroke, awarded when goalkeeper Baljit Singh held the ball under his right leg while trying to clear a shot from Yoon Sung Hoon. Penalty-corner specialist Hyun made no mistake to draw parity. The hosts shot into the lead again four minutes later when an alert SV Sunil successfully deflected an electrifying shot from veteran Dilip Tirkey. The Indians extended the lead off a counter-attack with Sardara Singh intercepting the ball from Korean captain Seo Jong Ho and passing it to Tushar Khandekar, who moved ahead menacingly and gave the ball to Prabhjot. After trading a few passes between them, Prabhjot put it past the Korean goalkeeper as India went into the break with a 3-1 lead. Rajpal made it 4-1 in the 42nd minute through a superb field goal. The Indians dazzled with superb short passes. In one such display between Prabhjot and Ignace, they covered about 30 metres with two defenders trying to block their progress. As two more Koreans joined their colleagues near the circle, Ignace skillfully beat an advancing Korean custodian to spark off wild celebrations in the crowd. India’s sixth goal came from an excellent effort, with Prabhjot donning the central role once again. They cashed in on the demoralised Koreans when Shivendra’s shot after a Prabhjot pass went in between the legs of a host of defenders.
Rajpal, waiting like a hawk, sent the ball home (6-1). Prabhjot slotted in the seventh goal for India after a superb combined move between him and Khandekar. The Koreans managed to pull back one in the dying minutes but by that time the match had went out of their hands. Indian goalie Baljit was declared the man of the match. Malaysia take bronze
Malaysia achieved their first podium finish in the event, winning the bronze by beating Japan 5-3. China finished fifth, edging out former champions Pakistan 3-2 in a classification match. The teams were 1-1 at half time. De Yunze (two) and Hu Liang were the scorers for China, while Muhammad Arshad and Rehan Butt sounded the board for Pakistan. This is the worst-ever finish by Pakistan, who won the title thrice in a row from 1982. Bangladesh defeated Hong Kong 3-1 to take the seventh place, while Sri Lanka outplayed Singapore 6-0 for the ninth spot. — PTI
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PM, President laud hockey team
New Delhi, September 9 Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee also lauded the national side for their
feat. Pratibha said the Indian team played attacking hockey throughout the tournament.
Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal congratulated the team for its fine victory. In a message sent to the squad, he said the Punjab government would honour the
champions. Pargat Singh, director, sports, Punjab, said this title triumph would mark a new chapter in
the history of Indian hockey. — PTI, TNS
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It’s Henin all the way
New York, September 9 The top seed took control of the final from the first exchanges, moving into an immediate 4-0 lead, and she gave Kuznetsova no chance to get back into what turned out to be a disappointing, lopsided final. It was the 25-year-old Henin’s second big win of the year after the French Open in June and the seventh Grand Slam title of her career. En route, Henin ousted the Williams sisters, Serena in the quarterfinals and Venus in the semis, only the second time that had been done in a Grand Slam event. She won the title without dropping a set. Henin went into the night-time final a hot favourite having won 14 of 16 previous matches against Kuznetsova. But the 2004 US Open champion had won their last encounter in Berlin in May. The 22-year-old Kuznetsova looked nervous at the start, though, and the slightly-built Henin pounced immediately, breaking her opening two serves to move into a 3-0 lead. The Russian had a break point in the following game after two double faults, but could not convert it and Henin made her pay by extending her lead to 4-0. Kuznetsova finally opened her account in the fifth game, but it proved to be a fleeting respite from Henin’s assault as the Belgian won the next two games to pocket the first set in just 33 minutes. Henin had to battle hard to win her opening serve in the second set and Kuznetsova held her own comfortably as the exchanges became more even. But two games later, Henin grabbed the vital breakthrough capturing Kuznetsova’s serve for the fourth time after a marathon game of seven deuces to lead 3-1. Henin staved off two break points against her serve to extend her lead to 4-1 and there was no way back for her demoralised-looking opponent. The end came three games later. Henin had to save three break points on her serve after double-faulting three times and she then clinched the title with an easy lob over Kuznetsova, who was stranded at the net. — AFP
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Federer, Djokovic in final
New York, September 9 Both came through their semifinals yesterday in straight sets, top seed Federer defeating fourth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 6-1, 7-5 and third seed Djokovic beating Spain’s David Ferrer 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. It will be the sixth meeting between the two in the past two years, with
Federer, at 26 the senior of the two by six years, holding a 4-1
advantage. Djokovic, though, won their last encounter in the final of the Montreal Masters last month. having defeated world No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and world No.3 Andy Roddick in the last
eight. Federer said the many breaks of serve in his semifinal against
Davydenko, - he lost his own three in a row in the third set - were largely due to the windy conditions on the huge Arthur Ashe Stadium court. It was a similar type of game to the semifinal of the French Open in June, which once again Federer won in straight sets 7-5, 7-6, 7-6 - but not before the Russian had had his chances in each set. He has reached the final for the loss of just two sets - in the third round against giant American John Isner and in the fourth against Spain’s Feliciano Lopez. — AFP
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Mumbai, September 9 "I have been doing yoga training. I want to control my game and aggression during the match days and hopefully I will do well," said the Delhi marauder on the eve of his departure to Johannesburg along with four other teammates. Sehwag reiterated that he was going to perform well in the tournament which is concluding on September 24 and get back into the Indian one-day and Test side. "I have been out of the team since the tour of Bangladesh. I am excited at playing for India in the Twenty20 World Cup. I have been working at my batting and fitness. Hopefully, I will perform well and get back into the Test and ODI side." Sehwag did not agree the tournament was a make or break thing for him. "My job is to perform and the rest is up to the selectors. I am worried only about my performance." Sehwag, Haryana's Joginder Sharma, Irfan and Yousuf Pathan of Baroda and Kerala pacer S Sreesanth, along with cricket manager Lalchand Rajput and administrative manager Sunil Dev are to depart for South Africa in the early hours of tomorrow morning. — PTI
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Eves lose to China, finish fourth
Hong Kong, September 9 Ma Yi Bo scored a brace, while Song Qing Ling and Li Hong Xia netted one goal each to win the bronze for China. Suman Bala and Jasjeet Kaur narrowed the margin for the 13th-ranked India. The match started at a cracking pace as fifth-ranked China stormed the Indian goalmouth from the word go, with Tang Chung Ling, one of the leading scorers, having a wild swing and missing the ball completely when she only had Indian goalkeeper Marita Tirkey to beat. Two minutes later, Marita made a fine save from an acute angle shot fired in by Xia. As the action quickly moved to the Chinese circle, their goalkeeper Zhang Yi Ming thwarted a deflection by Indian captain Mamta Kharab in the sixth minute. China then took control of the match despite Indian attempts to slow down the blistering early pace and a Chinese attack launched by Ling down the left flank saw her latch on to a rebound and beat Marita and give her team a 1-0 lead. China’s pace earned them several penalty corners, and in the 22nd minute captain Bo converted one with a superbly taken flick high into the net to make it 2-0. Five minutes later, Xia struck home after an Indian lapse in defence on the right flank. With China continuously probing the Indian defence with speedy runs down the flanks, the half-time score stood at 3-0. The pattern continued on resumption, with China again forcing yet another penalty corner in the 42nd minute and Bo completing her brace. However, the Indians fought back and got a rare penalty corner, which was converted by vice-captain Suman Bala. Two Indian players, Joydeep Kaur and top forward Jasjeet Kaur, received yellow cards for rough play in 53rd and 56th minutes, respectively. But, surprisingly, China could not take advantage of the nine-member Indian side left on the turf for a short period. Back to full strength, India put in a strong finish to pull back another goal when Jasjeet led an attack down the right flank to score in the 69th minute. — PTI
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Monza, September 9 Hamilton, 22, had another highly impressive afternoon but the British rookie was doomed to follow in the Spaniard’s slipstream after his team-mate secured the pole position in yesterday’s qualifying. He crossed the line six seconds behind Alonso, who celebrated his 19th career win and fourth of the season. Hamilton now has 92 points to Alonso’s 89 in what looks increasingly like a two-man battle, dependant on the outcome of a hearing of the governing body in Paris on Thursday that could wreck their title hopes. Ferrari, winners four times in the previous five seasons at the temple of Italian motorsports, had to make do with Kimi Raikkonen’s third place. The Finn fell further behind in the title reckoning, 18 points adrift of Hamilton, who highlighted his talents further by overtaking the Ferrari for second place with a brilliant move after his final pitstop. On a sunny but miserable afternoon for Ferrari, ever more McLaren’s bitter enemies since a spying row erupted between the two in July, Brazilian Felipe Massa was forced to retire with just 10 laps gone. Massa’s title hopes took a severe dent, with the Brazilian now 23 points off the lead despite having three wins to his credit. Germany’s Nick Heidfeld was fourth for BMW Sauber, with Polish team- mate Robert Kubica fifth and Germany’s Nico Rosberg sixth for Williams. Finland’s Heikki Kovalainen was seventh for champions Renault, while Briton Jenson Button took his and Honda’s second point of the season in the eighth place. — Reuters
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East Bengal oust JCT
Ludhiana, September 9 The action-packed match was witnessed the largest number of spectators so far in the tournament. It was marked by plenty of rough play, with four players getting injured. East Bengal drew first blood in the 15th minute when Surkumar Singh dodged a couple of defenders and sent the ball into the net. Their second goal was scored by Brazilian striker Edmilson Marques, who latched on to a rebound as the custodian failed to gather the ball properly after a free kick by Alvito D Cunha. Both sides made numerous thrilling moves, mounting repeated raids on each other’s citadels. Subrata Paul, East Bengal goalkeeper, saved a goal by flinging himself to his right side following a header from Brazilian striker Eduardo Da Escobar. The mill men opened their account through a penalty kick which was awarded following an obstruction by East Bengal defenders. Escobar converted it through a powerful kick. Edmilson scored his second goal to make it 3-1. However, Karanjit Singh, JCT goalkeeper, sustained a head injury while trying to stop Edmilson’s shot. He fell on the ground writhing in pain, and the game was held up for a few minutes. He was rushed to hospital for a CT scan. JCT reduced the lead to 2-3 through Renedy Singh, who impressively converted a cross by Baljit Singh Sahni minutes before the final hooter. Bagan enter semis Defending champions Mohun Bagan entered the semifinal after beating Viva Kerala 3-1 in a fast-paced quarterfinal this evening. Bagan, playing without their star player Baichung Bhutia — down with viral fever — expectedly dominated the proceedings from the start. Jose Barreto drew first blood for Bagan from a cross by his captain Dharamjit Singh 15 minutes into the game. Ishfaq Ahmed lobbed the ball into the net over the goalkeeper’s head from a pass by S. Venkatesh in the 39th minute. Viva Kerala bounced back in the second half, finally managing to score through Sajesh. Viva’s joy was shortlived as Bagan’s PC Lalawmpuia soon scored the third goal for his team through a pass by L. James Singh. Monday’s fixture: Quarterfinal — Dempo Club vs Churchill Brothers (7 pm)
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Chitti Singhpora set to be hockey nursery
Chandigarh, September 9 Chitti Singhpora had produced several national level hockey players in the past. But turbulence in the state for the past more than two decades left the village playfields deserted and the government support to sports virtually withdrawn. Return of peace and normalcy are the reasons for the central government agencies to relocate their centres in the state. And SAI has taken the lead by deciding to spread its wing in Jammu & Kashmir. Besides hockey, SAI has decided to nurture talent in athletics, football, basketball, volleyball, kabaddi and kho-kho in the first phase. Other sports and disciplines will follow soon, says Sudhanshu S.Roy, director in-charge, northern region of the SAI. Roy, who was here in connection with the Challenge Cup football tournament, told The Tribune that Jammu & Kashmir needed avenues to channelise energies of its youth. Baramulla, Poonch, Doda, Srinagar and Jammu besides Udhampur are the potential areas identified by SAI for its new schemes and coaching plans. Now a trainee at any of new SAI centres in J&K would be entitled annual Rs 6,000 as stipend, competition exposure fee of Rs 3,000, sports kit of Rs 4,000 and insurance cover with a premium of Rs 150. Roy, who is credited with promoting similar sporting activities in North East during his previous six years tenure there, was in J&K last week. SAI has, on the recommendation of the director, youth services and sports, J&K, decided to adopt Government Higher Secondary School at Chitti Singhpora for hockey and Government Senior Secondary School at Pallanwale in Jammu division for volleyball. Under the non-resident scheme, SAI has admitted 50 football players and 55 basketball players, including 25 girls, for its Jammu
centre.
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