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Passion at a high as teams arrive
Chandigarh, October 6
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Age no criterion for selection: Ganguly
No end to slanging match
Akhtar to join Indian league
Irani
Trophy
Mallya for Indian flavour
Jeev tied ninth
in Dunhill golf
Sethi’s record surpassed
Gutta-Kurien lose in semis
Hamilton on pole in Chinese GP
Kangra, S’nagar in cricket final
Top honours for Narender
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Passion at a high as teams arrive
Chandigarh, October 6 The first one to reach the hotel Taj was Murali Karthik who arrived here by car at around 3.10 pm, followed by Ravi Shastri, Chairman of the National Cricket Academy, soon thereafter. The left-arm spinner Karthik will replace off-spinner Ramesh Powar who failed to impress in the first two one-day matches at Bangalore and Kochi. The Indian team members, led by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, reached the hotel along with the Chairman of Selection Committee Dilip Vengsarkar. Much to the delight of everyone’s surprise, the most thrilling entry was of local cricket sensation Yuvraj who drove down in his sparkling yellow BMW sports car. The Aussies squad appeared to be quite confident, relaxed and cheerful. The visiting team has already taken a 2-0 lead in the seven-match one-day series against India. Both the teams, however, were in no mood to hang around the hotel where they were greeted by an army of fans amid heavy security arrangements. Nevertheless, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh and Harbhajan Singh obliged the fans with autographs and shook hands with them. Tendulkar, also acknowledged the cheers by waving to his fans. Without giving the waiting media personnel an opportunity to interact, Dhoni and his colleagues too scurried out of the lobby through a side exit and went to their hotel rooms upstairs. It was a long and disappointing wait for dozens of reporters and television crews. However, the ‘Men in Blue’ appeared somewhat dejected, probably because the challenge of the Future Trophy has become gigantic after successive defeats.
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Perform or perish, seniors told
New Delhi, October 6 Conveying a strong message to non-performers, Vengsarkar said that many young players were waiting in the wings and no body could take their place for granted. "Definitely, the threshold has reduced. No question about it. There are many players like S. Badrinath and Suresh Raina who are performing with the India 'A' side. These guys are waiting for their chance and you cannot ignore them," Vengsarkar said. "It's a professional set-up and nobody can take their place for granted," he was quoted as saying by Mumbai's 'Mid Day' newspaper today. Although Vengsarkar did not take name of any senior player, he was apparently referring to the Big Three - Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly - who have not contributed much with the bat in the ongoing one-day series against Australia. While Tendulkar has scores of 0, 16 and 43, former captain Dravid has managed only 31 and 0. Ganguly, who suffered a hamstring injury in the rain-marred first match in Bangalore, had to sit out for subsequent two games. Vengsarkar also came down heavily on Mumbai off-spinner Ramesh Powar who has been below-par in the series. "If you get picked as a frontline bowler, then you have to bowl 10 overs," Vengsarkar said. "Plus, if your fielding is found wanting and you do not contribute with the bat, the team is obviously at a disadvantage. Ramesh has to get fitter and field better. He also has to improve his bowling," he said. "We are not a great fielding side anyway. In the Hyderabad match, Australia saved about 25 runs on the field. If we had fielded that way, the match would have been much closer," he added. On preferring left-arm spinner Murali Kartik ahead of Prgyan Ojha, he said, "Ojha is very young... just 21. It is not fair to unleash him against a side like Australia. We need to groom youngsters. Kartik is experienced and offers us better variation." — PTI
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Age no criterion for selection: Ganguly
New Delhi, October 6 "Performance and not seniority or juniority should count," the former captain said amidst calls that he, along with Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid should make way for younger players in the one-day team. Ganguly said that the experienced trio were among the top four run-getters against England, the last time India played an ODI series. "People who question Sachin Tendulkar's form are mad," Ganguly said in an interview to IBN-7. He also pointed out that too much was made of players' age in India and public opinion was very fickle. "It's typical of India to be excited and get lost in hype." But the three veterans were tough enough to overcome the latest challenge as well, India's most successful Test captain said. "Had they not been mentally and physically tough, they would not have survived the rigours of international cricket over a decade successfully." Taking an indirect dig at former India coach Greg Chappell who claimed the credit for Ganguly's return to the team during the series in South Africa, the Bengal left-hander said his ouster had nothing to do with cricketing reasons and no one else believed that he could make a comeback. "It (his omission) was driven by some personal agenda," he said.Ganguly is impressed with the leadership skills of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and said the Jharkhand player had the right temperament for the job. "Captain should be more like a friend to his team members and Dhoni does indeed epitomises that spirit," he said. But Ganguly said it was too early to make judgements based on the Twenty20 World Cup triumph as "50-over cricket and 20-20 cricket are as different as Test cricket is from ODI cricket." — PTI
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No end to slanging match
Hyderabad, October 6 Though the third match played here at Rajiv Gandhi stadium did not witness any unsavoury incidents on the field like in the Kochi one-dayer, Indian captain M.S. Dhoni alleged that his Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting used some harsh words. To a query at the post-match press conference, Dhoni said he complained to the match referee against some 'harsh words' used by Ponting during the Indian innings. He, however, refused to elaborate on what those 'harsh
words' were. Both S. Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh were cool on the field unlike in Kochi as they were asked by the team management to control themselves on the field. During the Kochi one-dayer, Sreesanth had entered into a heated duel with Andrew Symonds and Brad Haddin.
— IANS
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Akhtar to join Indian league
Lahore, October 6 "I have been approached by the Indian Premier League (IPL) and I have applied for permission from the Pakistan Cricket Board to sign the contract," Akhtar told AFP today. "I always liked the Indian crowd and have always loved to play in India. Hopefully, I will be in the Pakistan team for next month's tour there and will also play in the league," he added. Akhtar faces disciplinary action for hitting teammate Mohammad Asif with a bat a few days before the Twenty20 world championships in South Africa last month. The maverick bowler, who was sent home following the incident, has appeared before a three-man committee, which is likely to announce its decision later Saturday. The IPL — a Twenty20 competition scheduled to be launched next April — was set up by Indian authorities to rival the breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL), which is being bankrolled by India's largest media group. The IPL — sanctioned by the International Cricket Council — will offer $ 3 million in prize money and feature eight franchises participating in a 56-game season.
— AFP
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Irani Trophy
Rajkot, October 6 Openers Kukreja and Ajinkya Rahane gave a decent start to Mumbai by putting up 91 runs for the opening wicket after their captain Amol Mazumdar elected to bat.Rahane departed soon after completing his first first-class fifty that took 75 balls and hit eight fours. Rahane made 52 with eight fours and was adjudged leg before wicket of Bose.Bose who was bowling accurately struck again before the lunch break by getting Jaffer (8) at first slip. Mumbai were 109 for two at lunch. After lunch, Mumbai lost two quick wickets in the form of captain Mazumdar (8) and Prashant Naik (12). Mazumdar and Naik were out leg before off Ozha and Sharma, respectively.Kukreja who was batting patiently completed his fifty off 100 balls with 10 fours. Departure of Naik brought Kukreja-Nair together and the two notched up 171 runs off just 194 balls for the fifth wicket stand. — PTI Scoreboard Mumbai (1st innings): Kukreja run out 110 Rahane lbw b Bose 52 Jaffer c Kaif b Bose 8 Mazumdar lbw b Ozha 8 Naik lbw b Sharma 12 Nair c Sharma b Ozha 118 Powar not out 28 Agarkar c Raina b Bose 4 Guruv c Patel b Sharma 0 Abdullah not out 16 Extras (b-2, lb-8, nb-16, w-3) 29 Total (8 wkts, 86 overs) 385 Fall of Wickets: 1-91, 2-109, 3-150, 4-165, 5-336, 6-338, 7-342, 8-359. Bowling: Munaf Patel 15.5-0-71-0, Ranadeb Bose 22.1-4-88-3, Ishant Sharma 17-4-58-2, Pragyan Ojha 18-0-96-2, Amit Mishra 8-0-42-0, S Badrinath 5-0-20-0.
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New Delhi, October 6 "I have talked to Mallya this morning but I will be able to give more details about anything regarding the deal only after this weekend," said a spokesperson from Orange India Holdings, the joint consortium formed by Mallya and Dutch entrepreneur Michiel Mol, who has the remaining 50 per cent stakes. Mallya will be busy in attending the Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai this weekend. The liquor baron, before completing the official documentation with the Spyker team, had admitted India had "robust basis" to acquire the deal with names like Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok but refused to comment on the likely composition of his 2008 team. — PTI
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Jeev tied ninth in Dunhill golf
Chandigarh, October 6 On the opening day, Jeev had fired a five-under par 67 and was tied sixth. He slipped three spots after the second round and remained tied ninth with a two-round nine-under par score of 135. Jeev sunk birdies on the second, third and fifth holes to be three-under after the first nine. He continued his par play besides firing another birdie on the 17th for a four-under card. Jyoti Randhawa also continued his good performance returning a three-under par 69 card for a two-round aggregate of seven-under par 137. He played a good game in the first nine shooting three birdies. But two bogeys and an equal number of birdies on the back nine saw him fire a three-under card today. Jyoti slipped to tied 18th position. The third Indian, Shiv Kapur, was tied 142 with a two round three-over par score of 147. A stunning eight under par 64 by Australian Peter O'Malley saw him equal the Carnoustie course record and move into a three-way share of the lead after the second round.
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New Delhi, October 6 Sethi's break of 1276, which had come at the World Professional Championship in 1992, was surpassed by Gilchrist when he notched up 1346 against Ross Elixy of New Zealand at the Hamilton Cosmopolitan Club yesterday. Gilchrist, the two-time World Professional Champion, also created another world record with only four visits to the table for an average per visit score of 426, against the previous best of 243, again by Sethi. — PTI
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Tokyo, October 6 Williams, the women's top seed, blew three match points in the second set tie break before Razzano levelled the final at one set apiece. Williams called an injury timeout for treatment to her right thigh after the first game of the decider but it made no difference. Razzano's tenacity earned her the decisive break at 5-4 in the third, and the fifth seed sealed a stunning upset by forcing Williams into another wild forehand after two hours, 48 minutes. In the men’s singles, Ferrer and Gasquet came through their semifinals with carbon copy 7-6, 6-3 victories. Ferrer, who reached his first grand slam semifinal at this year's US Open, defused Croatian Ivo Karlovic's fierce serve in an absorbing contest. "It's difficult when 'Karlo' is serving because he has the best serve in the game," said the Spanish world number eight. "I maybe had some luck at the important moments." Third seed Gasquet will face Ferrer in Sunday's final. — Reuters
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New Delhi, October 6 The 31st ranked pair in the world lost to the Olympic gold medallists and the tournament's top seeds 21-12, 21-4 in the last four encounter. The Indians had reached the semifinals at the Grand Prix event defeating the local team of Kathrin Piotro Wski and Michaela Peiffer in straight games 21-17, 21-11. Earlier in the pre-quarterfinals, the Indian combination had defeated Denmark's Marie Reopke and Helle Nielsen, the sixth seeds, 21-8, 21-10. The defeat brought the curtains down on the Indian challenge in the event. — PTI
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Hamilton on pole in Chinese GP
Shanghai, October 6 Kimi Raikkonen of Finland took second position, followed by fellow Ferrari driver Felipe Massa of Brazil in third place. Hamilton's team mate, double champion Fernando Alonso of Spain, came in fourth. Tomorrow's race is the penultimate leg of the 17-race world championship. World championship leader Hamilton, 22, only needs to finish ahead of team-mate Alonso and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen to become the youngest driver, and the first rookie, to clinch the title. Hamilton is currently 12 points ahead of Alonso and 17 from Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen as they head into the penultimate race ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix later this month. Yesterday, Hamilton was cleared of erratic driving during his Japanese Grand Prix win, the latest episode in a turbulent debut year.
— AFP
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Kangra, S’nagar in cricket final
Kangra, October 6 In the semi-finals, Kangra defeated Hamirpur by two wickets. In the second semi-final, Sundernagar entered the finals by defeating Rohru by 8 wickets. Kangra and Sundernagar would clash in the finals. Earlier, Rohru defeated Chamba by 1 run to reach the semi-finals. Rohru scored 83 runs for 9 wickets, while Chamba was all out for 82 runs. In the basketball category, host Kangra and Sundernagar entered the finals by defeating Rohru and Hamipur, respectively, in two semi-finals. Kangra defeated Rohru by 40 : 20 and Sundernagar defeated Hamirpur by 55: 21. Nitish of Sundernagar scored 22 baskets out of 55 single handed. In Table Tennis (girls) Kangra bagged the final both in the singles and doubles. Sucheta of Kangra defeated Risha of Amboata in the singles by 11:4 and 11:1 and in the doubles, Sucheta and Priyanka of Kangra defeated the Amboata team of Risha and Joyti, in a one-sided match by 11:4 and 11:6. In Table Tennis (boys) Arjeet of Kangra defeated Parveen of Rohru in the semi-final by 11:4, 11:9 and in the doubles, Arjeet and Vijay of Kangra defeated Parveen and Nitish of Rohru by 11:5 and 13: 11. In the second semifinal Vinod of Hamirpur defeated Baldev of Ambota by 11:5, 9:11 and 11:7 and in the doubles, Vinod and Chander Bushan of Hamirpur defeated Baldev and Tarkshwa of Ambota by 11:8 and 11:5. In badminton (girls) in singles, Meenakshi of Kandaghat defeated Sawati of Kangra by 22:20 and 21:19. Rajni of Hamirpur defeated Gulshan of Ambota by 21:14 and 21:18 and Sheetal of Hamirpur defeated Palvi of Ambota by 21:6 and 21:7. Doubles were won by Hamirpur and Kandaghat. In badminton (boys) Laxmikant of Ambota entered the finals in the singles defeating Anurag of the host college by 19:21, 21:13 and 21:12 and in doubles Tarkeshwar and Laxmikant of Ambota defeated Anurag and Rakesh of the host college by 21:17 and 21:14 to enter the finals. In another semi-final, Mohd Rafiq of Sundernagar entered the finals by defeating Yogesh of Rohru by 21:6 and 21:17 and in the doubles, Ajay and Amit of Rohru defeated Sundernagar by 21:13, 10:21 and 21:13. In reverse single, Rajesh of Sundernagar defeated Ajay of Rohru by 21:18 and 21:13.
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Top honours for Narender
Ambala, October 6 Results: Boys’ u-8 years apparatus championship (floor exercises): 1 Narender, 2 Vikas, 3 Hitesh; side horse: 1 Narender, 2 Amit, 3 Vaibhav; rings: 1 Ritik, 2 Vaibhav, 3 Vikas; vaulting table: 1 Ritik, 2 Narender, 3 Mayank; parallel bars: 1Narender, 2 Ritik, 3 Vikas; horizontal bars: 1 Vikas, 2 Vaibhav, 3 Narender; boys’ u-12: Floor exercise: 1 Manish, 2 Daya Krishnan, 3 Sumit; side horse: 1Satender, 2 Daya Krishnan, 3 Tanuj; rings: 1 Daya Krishnan, 2 Satender, 3 Mukul; vaulting table: 1 Sumit, 2 Tanuj, 3 Shubham; parallel bar: 1 Daya Krishnan, 2 Tanuj, 3 Akash; horizontal bar: 1 Sumit, 2 Kulwinder, 3 Naveen; boys’ u-13, floor exercise: 1 Vikram, 2 Mandeep, 3 Rohit; side horse, 1 Mandeep, 2 Vikram, 3 Ashish; rings: 1 Rohit, 2 Mandeep, 3 Vikram; vaulting table: 1 Rohit, 2 Viddut, 3 Vikram; parallel bar: 1 Vikram, 2 Mandeep, 3 Ashish; horizontal bar: 1 Mandeep, 2 Vikram, 3 Ashish; boys’ u-14 floor exercise: 1 Jatin, 2 Rajan, 3 Parveen; horse: 1 Rajan, 2 Sunder, 3 Sandeep; parallel bar: 1 Sunder, 2 Parveen, 3 Rajan; ring: 1 Rajan, 2 Arun, 3 Sunder; vaulting table: 1 Gaurav, 2 Rajan, 3 Sunder; horizontal bar: 1 Atul, 2 Nitin,3 Sunder; boys’ u-15 floor exercise: 1 Harish, 2 Sandeep, 3 Ravi; horse: 1 Harish, 2 Ravi, 3 Vikas; ring: 1 Harish and Sandeep, 2 Brijest, 3 Vineet; parallel bar: 1 Vikas, 2 Deepanshu, 3 Brijesh; vaulting table: 1 Sandeep, 2 Amit, 3 Brijesh; horizontal bar: 1 Harish , 2 Sandeep and Vineet, 3 Pankaj; girls’ u-8 floor exercise: 1 Poonam, 2 Pooja, 3 Shivani; bar: 1 Shivani, 2 Poonam, 3 Payal; beam: 1 Sakshi, 2 Poonam, 3 Seema; vaulting table: 1 Poonam, 2 Shivani, 3 Garima; girls’ u-10 vaulting table: 1 Vijeta, 2 Nikita, 3 Anshula; bar: 1 Amanpreet, 2 Vijeta, 3 Nikita; beam: 1 Nisha, 2 Amanpreet, 3 Vijeta; floor exercise: 1 Vijeta, 2 Anshula, 3 Amanpreet; girls’ u-12 vaulting table: 1 Parul, 2 Sadhika, 3 Kanika; bar: 1 Parul, 2 Bharti, 3 Sadhika; beam: 1 Indu Bharati, 2 Parul, 3 Indu; floor exercise: 1 Sadhika, 2 Parul, 3 Sudha; girls’ u-13 vaulting table: 1 Sakshi, 2 Megha, 3 Deepika; bar: 1 Manisha, 2 Manju, 3 Shalu; beam: 1 Manisha, 2 Rinku, 3 Himmani; floor exercise: 1 Shashi, 2 Shalu, 3 Manju; girls’ u-14 beam: 1 Anuradhika, 2 Khushboo, 3 Ankita; floor exercise: 1 Khushboo, 2 Pooja, 3 Anuradhika; bar: 1 Anuradhika, 2 Ankita, 3 Khushboo; vaulting table: 1 Rekha, 2 Khushboo and Anuradhika, 3 Ankita; girls’ u-15 floor exercise: 1 Supriya, 2 Manisha, 3 Kajal; vaulting table: 1 Supriya, 2 Snehlata, 3 Manisha; bars: 1 Supriya, 2 Snehlata, 3 Manisha; beam: 1 Swati, 2 Neelam, 3 Snehlata.
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