Monday, April 19, 1999
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S P O R T | Monday, April 19, 1999 |
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Adams, Campbell guide Windies to 5-wkt victory PORT-OF-SPAIN, (Trinidad), April 18 — Jimmy Adams’s career-best 82 and successive partnerships of 109 with Sherwin Campbell and 70 with Carl Hooper carried the West Indies to a five-wicket victory over Australia in their third one-day international yesterday. Anand finishes joint last DOS HERMANAS, April 18 — Giving one of his worst ever performances on the chessboard, Indian Grandmaster and world number two Vishwanathan Anand finished a poor joint last at the nine-round Dos Hermanas Chess Championship here.
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Kiefer wins Japan Open crown |
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Swiss eves lose both opening
singles ties Jeev
strikes form too late RAF
in final Stage
set for SAFF soccer |
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Adams, Campbell guide Windies to 5-wkt victory PORT-OF-SPAIN, (Trinidad), April 18 (AP) — Jimmy Adams’s career-best 82 and successive partnerships of 109 with Sherwin Campbell and 70 with Carl Hooper carried the West Indies to a five-wicket victory over Australia in their third one-day international yesterday. The match left the top-ranked Australians trailing 2-1 in the series. Worse, premier fast bowler Glenn McGrath sprained his left ankle and left for treatment after bowling only one over. His involvement in the remaining four matches was in doubt and Australian physiotherapist Errol Alcott said he would not play in Sunday’s fourth match at Trinidad’s Queen’s Park Oval. Chasing an Australian 50-overs total of 242 for eight wickets, the West Indies were always on course for their target. They finished 244 for five, winning on Brian Lara’s boundary with an over to go. The left-handed Adams, in the No. 3 position because Lara had a wrist injury aggravated when struck while fielding, came in after the early loss of opener Stuart Williams to Damien Fleming, the medium-pacer who was Australia’s best bowler with three for 50 from his 10 overs. He and Campbell revived the innings, exploiting McGrath’s absence, which prompted Australia’s captain Steve Waugh to use seven other bowlers on a favourable batting pitch and fast outfield. Australia’s eighth bowler, occasional left-arm spinner Darren Lehmann, broke the partnership by bowling Campbell for 64, made from 83 balls with four fours. But Adams found another solid accomplice in the elegant Hooper. They carried the West Indies to within 49 of their goal when Fleming produced a perfect yorker to bowl Adams for 82. His total came off 102 balls and included eight fours, bettering his unbeaten 81 against Pakistan in Sharjah in 1993. Fleming struck again when he bowled Hooper off the inside edge for 56, his highest score of the series. By then the outcome was little more than a formality, even though the West Indies lost Phil Simmons for nine to a confused run out before Lara put the finishing touches to the day. Australia, batting first after Steve Waugh won the toss for the third successive time in the series, based their total on an opening partnership of 108 between Mark Waugh and Adam Gilchrist. Waugh hit a straight six from off-spinner Hooper and five fours in his 74 before he was one of two run-out victims of sharp West Indian fielding. The left-handed Gilchrist made 43 before he hoisted a deep field catch to Curtly Ambrose from off-spinner Nehemiah Perry, the West Indies’s best bowler with three wickets for 45 from his 10 overs. Once they were separated in the 25th over, the West Indies, backed by a capacity crowd of 25,000, kept the scoring rate down to less than five runs an over with their fielding and steady bowling. Gilchrist, Waugh and all-rounder Shane Lee, promoted to no. 3, were out within 20 runs of each other. Damien Martyn and left hander Lehmann, who hit an unbeaten 110 in Australia’s victory in the second match of the series, rebuilt the innings with a stand of 44 from 74 balls before Perry’s fast, accurate throw from short fine-leg uprooted the stumps to run out Martyn for 29. The Australian innings again sputtered as Steve Waugh (2) and Lehmann (40) were removed by medium-pacer Simmons and Perry bowled Tom Moody with a faster ball for 2. It was left to Michael Bevan, the left-hander known as "the finisher’’ for his ability to gather quick runs in the closing over, to accelerate the scoring with an unbeaten 27 off 22 balls in a stand of 27 with Shane Warne. SCOREBOARD West Indies: |
Anand finishes joint last DOS HERMANAS, April 18 (UNI) — Giving one of his worst ever performances on the chessboard, Indian Grandmaster and world number two Vishwanathan Anand finished a poor joint last at the nine-round Dos Hermanas Chess Championship here. Top seed in the championship with 2785 ELO points, Anand scored a mere 3.5 points from nine rounds. With last round draw against Boris Gelfand, the Indian ended with an unimpressive tally of seven draws and two losses-against Hungarian Judit Polgar and Russian Vladimir Karamnik. Michael Adams, who ultimately won the title, had to wait for the result of the last round duel between Kramnik and Bulgarian Veselin Tapolov. Despite his best efforts, Kramnik managed only a draw to remain half a point behind Adams to put the title in the Englishman’s bag. In a queen’s Indian game, Anand had white pieces against Gelfand but the Indian did not seem interested in trying for a win. He just seemed keen on finishing the game as quickly as possible. In less than an hour and 45 minutes the game was over and Anand offered and got the draw in 18 moves. The 28-year-old Adams had drawn his last round game with Anatoly Karpov on the final rest day. His score was six points from nine rounds. Kramnik who had a chance to catch Adams did try for a win, but Topalov who had a fairly decent tournament fought well and gave no chance to Kramnik. It was a benoni opening and Kramnik with white finally had to be satisfied with a draw in 49 moves. Topalov’s draw took his score to five points. The same as Spain’s Miguel Illescas. Who drew his last round game with veteran Viktor Korchnoi. In a tournament which did not see too many explosive clashes like the 1996 and 1997 editions, Adams succeeded in notching his finest result and the other player to gain immensely was Illescas. Who at 2585 points was the lowest rated of the 10-player field. He ended a joint third and can now expect a few more invitations to super GM tournaments. In the only ninth round clash that produced a win, Polgar defeated Peter Svidler and finished the tournament just as she had begun it with a win, over Anand. Anand is now resting for the next two months till mid-June when he plays Anatoly Karpov in the advanced chess match in Leon. Results of the ninth round: Vladmir Kramnik drew with Veselin Topalov. Viktor Korchnoi drew with Miguel Illescas, Vishwanathan Anand drew with Boris Gelfand, Peter Svidler drew with Judith Polgar. Michael Adams drew with Anatoly Karpov on April 15. Final positions: Michael
Adams 6.: Kramnik 5.5: Topalov and Illescas 5.0: Gelfand
and Karpov 4.5 each: Korchnoi 4.0: Anand, Svidler and
Polgar 3.5 each. |
Kiefer wins Japan Open crown TOKYO, April 18 (Reuters) — German fifth seed Nicolas Kiefer capped a masterful Japan Open campaign today, beating South African Wayne Ferreira 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 in the final. Kiefer notched up his second career singles title. Kiefer last won a title in Toulouse in 1997. The victory in Tokyo will also move Kiefer, ranked 26 in the world, closer to his first-ever top 20 ranking. Kiefer played strong, all-round tennis to pull out the win by the slimmest margins, with a pair of errant Ferreira shots in a tie-break leading to a first-set win for the German. At 5-4 in the second set, Kiefer was serving for the match. But he double faulted at 30 all and Ferreira broke serve with a return winner to leave the set levelled at 5-5. Kiefer was the player with the greater patience and skill over the next two games as he broke back Ferreira in the next game and blitzed him on his serve to win the championship and the biggest cheque of his career. "When I come to Asia, I play good every time. It is a very good place," Kiefer said. The 21-year-old reached the finals in Singapore in 1997 and lost last week in the quarter-finals in Hong Kong to American Andre Agassi. Kiefer knocked out a pair of Swedes in his championship run here, beating eighth seed Jonas Bjorkman in a semi-final and third seed Thomas Enqvist in a quarter-final. Ferreira was making his first appearance in a final since 1996 and was trying for his 14th singles title in Tokyo. The South African said he had regained confidence in his game and was ready to reverse his three-year slide in the rankings brought about by injuries. Top seed Richard Krajicek lost in the quarter-finals to Bjorkman. Second seed Agassi came to Tokyo but could not play because of a shoulder injury he suffered last week in Hong Kong. On the women’s side, American Amy Frazier picked up her sixth career singles title today with a 6-2 6-2 finals drubbing of top seed Ai Sugiyama of Japan. The win was
Frazier’s first since taking the singles crown in
Mahwah, New Yersy in 1998. The second seed easily
disposed of local favourite Sugiyama in an about an hour. |
Stalwarts divided over change NEW DELHI, April 18 (PTI) — India's cricket stalwarts are divided over growing demands for removal of Mohd Azharuddin as captain although most of them advise against it with the World Cup very close. The 36-year-old batsman finds few supporters for the way he has led the Indian team and his indifferent form with the bat has done nothing to help him. Test veterans Dilip Sardesai, Pankaj Roy as also Azhar's known critic Manoj Prabhakar favour his being replaced even before the World Cup, but most others whose comments were sought did not favour a change at this stage. M.L. Jaisimha, spinners B.S. Chandrasekhar, Erapalli Prasanna, Bapu Nadkarni and ex-skippers Polly Umrigar, G. Ramachand and Krishnamachari Srikkanth said Azhar's ouster was not advisable at this juncture. The former stars strongly felt Indian players had to do their homework and get used to English conditions if they hoped to do well in the World Cup. "Lately his captaincy has left much to be desired. Azhar was requested not to play, but he forced himself in," former opener Pankaj Roy said in Calcutta. "This team was playing so well under Jadeja and all were giving more than 100 per cent. But Azhar failed to inspire them and they crashed to the humiliating defeat," Roy said. Former batsman Dilip Sardesai called for Azhar to step down on his own. "The World Cup team has already been picked and it is unfair to change captaincy now. But Azhar who has failed to motivate his boys should step down voluntarily," he said in Mumbai. Sardesai recommended that Jadeja be given the mantle. "He led the team in the league stages in Azhar's absence and looks a real captaincy material. I feel he should be given the job." Ex-all rounder Manoj Prabhakar felt Azhar should not have returned for the final and Jadeja should have been persisted with. "Without thinking in terms of individuals, if Jadeja can deliver the goods, why not. If Azhar does not feel up to it, for the sake of team and country, he should step down. Thus he will be under less pressure and perform better," he said here. But Jaisimha was against any moves to replace Azhar and said it would affect the morale of the team and captain. "No doubt Jadeja led and won three matches. But that need not be the reason to ask Azhar to step down. The board made him captain for Sharjah and the World Cup and it was only due to injury that he could not lead the side," the stylish former batsman and Azhar's mentor said in Hyderabad. Former skipper Srikkanth, whom Azhar replaced to become India skipper in 1990, also brushed aside suggestions for Azhar's removal before next month's World Cup. "I still believe Indians will do very well in England if only they bat and bowl well," he commented in Chennai. Umrigar, Ramchand, Nadkarni and Tamhane were united in opposing calls for Azhar's removal as skipper and criticised media for calling for his head in the wake of India's continued dismal performance. But Ramchand hit out at lack of planning in the team and the way it continues to choke under pressure against Pakistan despite having played against them frequently of late. There is a distinct lack of contingency plans in the team. The three run outs (in the final against Pakistan) were stupid. Or aim should have been to bat out the 50 overs which would have helped us reach 200," Ramchand said about Friday night's pathetic display. But the former all-rounder hit out at the media for putting more pressure on the Indian team prior to the final by praising Jadeja and running down Azhar. "He has got so much experience. He needs the support of the powers that be who should tell him to ignore the criticism and concentrate on the job," Ramchand added. Umrigar said talks about changing the captain should be put to an end and the team should concentrate on preparing for the World Cup. "I won't disturb the captain at this stage and spoil his confidence. Instead, we should concentrate on the preparations," he said. The former middle order bat suggested Indian batsmen have extended net sessions in England to get used to playing the moving ball. "Playing at the nets for upto three hours daily is better than practise matches where if you get out early you won't be able to get practice," he said. Former off-spinner Bapu Nadkarni attributed mental block to India's inability to do well against Pakistan. He said it unwise to demand Azhar's replacement at the helm with the World Cup looming large. Azhar would not and should not step down from the job and instead, should bounce back and show it to the critics that he can deliver the goods," Nadkarni said. Nadkarni said Sachin Tendulkar's return would boost India's chances in the World Cup. "We need to lift ourselves psychologically as cricket is a mind game," he added. Former stumper Naren Tamhane said it was not the time to demand a captaincy change, but hitout at the selectors for their strange selection policies. "The team has not been chosen properly. What was the need for Debashish Mohanty's inclusion when there are already three frontline seamers and two back-up men in Saurav Ganguly and Robin Singh. They could have chosen Gyanendra Pandey, who can bowl left arm spin and is a handy lower order bat," he added. In Bangalore, leg spin wizard B.S. Chandrasekhar scoffed at captaincy itself. "I don't believe in captaincy. It is the team effort that counts a lot rather than the individual. A player needs to be pepped up on his own and continue to give his best, especially when he is wearing Indian colours." Prasanna too said captaincy had very little part to play and felt change of leadership after team and captain had been announced was not advisable. The two and Srikkanth praised Pakistan for registering a superb victory in the final and said the only way to reverse the losing streak for India was to work really hard in future. Former opener W.V. Raman and former paceman T.A. Sekar said India would do well in the World Cup in English conditions and defended Azhar. "One cannot expect a captain to be a success all the time," Raman said. Sekar said: The bottomline is winning but when we lose everything surprises people. Jadeja was only a makeshift captain and he did his duty well. "If the committee
is thinking of change in captaincy, they should have done
it three months before. There would have been pressure on
any captain with such a low total, which was only due to
batting failure. Leave Azhar's bad patch. What was the
performance of other players?" Sekar asked in
Chennai. |
Swiss eves lose both opening LONDON, April 18 (AP) — Switzerland felt the absence of Martina Hingis and Patty Schnyder, losing both opening singles matches and trailing Slovakia 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the Fed Cup World Group yesterday. Karina Habsudova routed Emmanuelle Gagliardi 7-6 (8-6), 6-0 and 24th-ranked Henrieta Nagyova prevailed over Caecilia Charbonnier, ranked 444 places lower, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2. The Slovaks can clinch the match by winning just one of the singles or the doubles today. Hingis has said the Fed Cup, the women’s equivalent of the Davis Cup, is too much for her schedule and reportedly demanded a one million Swiss franc (about $600,000) appearance fee, which the Swiss Federation refused to pay. But Schnyder, who had agreed to take part, is in the middle of a running battle with nearly everyone around her because of her relationship with 42-year-old trainer Harnecker, a "healer" who is reportedly under investigation by German police for possibly breaking laws on alternative health care. She sent a fax to her team stating that she would not compete in Fed Cup competition until her controversial relationship with Harnecker had been accepted by colleagues, family and the media. In other world group I matches, Russia and France split their opening singles and were tied 1-1 in Moscow, Italy and Spain also split in Reggio Calabria, and the USA led Croatia 2-0 at Raleigh, North Carolina. That U.S.- Croatia match should have been in Zagreb but was moved to the USA because the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia has virtually halted all commercial flights over the Balkan region. In world group II matches, one level below group I, Belgium held a 2-0 lead over the Netherlands, Australia was two up on Austria and Belarus and the Czech Republic were tied at 1-1. Italy 1, Spain 1 At Reggio Calabria, Italy’s Silvia Farina fought back from a set down to defeat Spain’s Virginia Ruano-Pascual after Magu Serna had given the visitor the lead with a 6-2, 6-4 beating of Rita Grande. Farina, Italy’s top player, needed over 2 hours to get past Ruano-Pascual 5-7, 6-3, 6-0. Russia 1, France 1 In Moscow, Australian open finalist Amelie Mauresmo gave France the lead by overpowering Elena Likhovtseva 6-2, 6-2. But Tatiana Panova rallied the home team by beating the experienced Nathalie Tauziat 6-4, 6-2. USA 2, Croatia 0 At Raleigh, North Carolina, Chandra Rubin finally subdued Iva Majoli after nearly three hours, converting the fourth time she was up a break and serving for the match. Rubin, subbing for the injured Lindsay Davenport, gave the Americans the lead with a 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 10-8 victory. Comparatively, Seles had
a rather easy time, taking only 63 minutes to beat
Silvija Talaja 6-3, 6-1. |
Jeev strikes form too late MACAU, April 18 (PTI) — Top Indian pro Jeev Milkha Singh made amends for his poor show in the Macau Open golf thus far, firing a four-under-par 67 in the final round to finish joint 17th after languishing in the 45th position in the penultimate round while compatriot Vivek Bhandari shared the 12th spot. Jeev, who found his touch too late in the tournament, had to content himself with USD 2,428.57 after aggregating a one over 285. While Bhandari, who came up with sub-par scores except yesterday, totalled two under 282 to fetch 3,236.67 dollars. Amandeep Johl, a stroke behind Bhandari yesterday, failed to pick up his game in the final round unlike his teammates and with a poor 75 slumped to joint 31st with a tally of four over 288. Overnight leader Lee Westwood of England pulled out all the stops today to win the title after beating American Andrew pitts in a sudden-death play-off. The 25-year-old improved his play off record to six wins out of seven, after beating pitts on the second extra hole at Macau golf and country club. In a superb head to head battle in the Asian PGA Tour event, Westwood triumphed after his American opponent three putted the 564-yard par-five 18th from 40 feet - a costly mistake that was sadly his first three putt of the week. "It’s nice to
win tournaments. People ask me how many tournaments
I’ve won and now it’s 14. I’ve got off 13
at last it was a great tournament. Strong field, quality
players and good low scoring," said Westwood, who
took the winners purse of $ 32,300. |
RAF in
final JALANDHAR, April 18 — North-West Zone Sector beat Southern Sector 4-2 via the tie breaker while Rapid Action Force beat Eastern Sector 3-1 to enter the final of IXth Inter-Sector CRPF Hockey Tournament being organised by Group Centre, NRPF, Saraikhas here today. In the first semifinal Southern Sector's forwards were off colour and there wingers proved ineffective. On the other hand the young and spirited NWZ Sector played an excellent game. In the tie-breaker, Baljit Singh, Balbir Singh, Silon Bara, Amrik Singh of NWZ Sector successfully converted the strokes while for Southern Sector T. Kujur and S. Dung Dung were on target. In the second semifinal,
RAF beat Eastern Sector 3-1. RAF forged ahead in the
third minute through Mohammed Salim and three minutes
later Salid made increase the tally to 2-0. The third
goal for the RAF was scored by Sudhir Bora. S.N. Singh of
Eastern Sector reduced the margin in the 28th minute. |
Azhar will lead India to
victory, MUMBAI, April 18 (UNI) — "Indians are an emotional lot, therefore, it is natural they are disappointed, but I am not I have faith in the Indian team", said the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Raj Singh Dungarpur. Speaking at the launch of the Come on India music video brought out by BMG Cresendo in association with Wills India who are the official sponsors of the Indian cricket team here today, Mr Raj Singh said that India did not expect to do well in the 1983 World Cup but everybody knows what happened. "I am sure India will be able to repeat the 1983 World Cup team’s performance." Everybody has been criticising Azharuddin, but Azhar is such a player that once he gets to 30 or 40 runs all his artistry, grace and silken touch begin to flow. "I have no doubt in my mind that Azhar will be able to lead India to a World Cup victory." The Indian World Cup team was there in full strength except for the little master Sachin Tendulkar. The specially
commissioned music video for the World Cup was launched
yesterday amid thunderous applause and smoke screens as
Shankar Mahadevan came on stage to sing the first verse.
A special audio cassette with soul stirring numbers was
launched simultaneously. |
Stage set for SAFF soccer COLOMBO, April 18 (UNI) — The six-nation SAFF Coca-Cola Cup, to be played at Goa from April 22 to May 1, carries a total prize money of $ 1,00,000. While the champions will walk away with half that amount, the runners-up will receive $ 25,000. Teams finishing third and fourth win $ 15,000 and $ 10,000 respectively, a South-Asian Football Federation press note said today. India emerged champions in the last SAFF Championship played at Kathmandu. Coca-Cola India, the title sponsors of the championship, will be giving an award of Rs 10,000 to the 'man of the match' for each of the 10 matches besides providing a special prize of Rs 25,000 for the 'most valuable player of the tournament'. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives will participate. V.P. Sathyan led India to victory in 1993 when the championship was started at Lahore. Two years later, Sri Lanka, captained by Sampath Perreira, beat India in the final at Colombo. India regained the cup in 1997, beating the Maldives at Kathmandu. Midfielder Carlton Chapman led the victorious side. All matches of the SAFF-Coca-Cola Cup will be telecast live by Doordarshan. The following is the schedule for the tournament. Group A: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Group B: Maldives, Sri Lanka and Nepal. April 22: India vs Bangladesh (all matches at 5 p.m.); April 23: Maldives vs Sri Lanka; April 24: Bangladesh vs Pakistan; April 25: Sri Lanka vs Nepal; April 26: India vs Pakistan; April 27: Maldives vs Nepal; April 28: rest day; April 29: semifinals: Group B winners vs group A runners-up (2.30 p.m.). Group A winners vs group B runners-up (5 p.m.); April 30: rest day. May 1: Match for the
third place (2.30 p.m.). Final (5 p.m.). |
Indian football team announced GUWAHATI, April 18 (PTI) — The All-India Football Federation (AIFF) today announced a 20-member Indian team for the SAFF soccer tournament beginning at Goa from April 22. The team includes three goalkeepers, six defenders, six midfielders and five forwards, AIFF secretary K.N. Mour said in a statement here. Team : Goalkeeper —
Virender Singh, Prashanta Dora, Kalyan Choubey. Defenders
— Pravjyot Singh, Robert Fernandes, Jo Paul Ancheri,
Deepak Mandal, Daljit Singh and Reazul Mustafa. |
National w'lifting at Asansol CHANDIGARH, April 18
— The Senior National Weightlifting Championship for
men and women will now be held from June 2 to 6 at
Asansol (West Bengal), as per the revised circular
received by Punjab Weightlifting Association from the
Indian Weightlifting Federation. |
H
Police duty meet from April 21 CHANDIGARH, April 18 (BOSR) — As many as 41 teams drawn from various police and central police organisations will take part in the 42nd All-India Police Duty Meet being held at Chandigarh, Bhanu, Ramgarh and Ambala from April 21 to 25. The five day meet is being organised by the Indo Tibetan Border Police. The opening ceremony will be held at Bhanu and Mr Mahabir Prasad, Governor, Haryana will be the chief guest. B'ball trials CHANDIGARH, April 18 (FOSR) — Mr Gurpal Singh has been elected president of the Patiala District Basketball Association. Meanwhile, according to
a District Basketball Association press note, trials to
select the Patiala district junior basketball team for
both boys and girls will be held at the local polo
grounds of April 20 at 4.30 p.m. Players born on or after
January 1, 1987 will be eligible. |
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