Anjum’s ton helps India win series NORTHAMPTON, July 10 — Anjum Chopra scored a century as India beat England by 86 runs to clinch the women’s international limited-overs series with a game to spare here yesterday.

IHF trounce Mumbai, lift crown
CHENNAI, July 10 — Indian Hockey Federation XI lifted the Arunachalam Challenge Trophy when they drubbed Mumbai XI 5-0 in the final of the MCC-Murugappa All India Hockey Tournament here today.

Indian pugilists win 16 medals
PATIALA, July 10 — The 14-member Indian boxing squad returned yesterday from Cuba after giving a superb performance by bagging four gold, six silver and six bronze medals in all the three tournaments the Indian pugilists took part in a 20-day training-cum-competition stint held in different parts of Cuba.

Sri Lanka ‘A’ crash to Ian Austin
LONDON, July 10 — Lancashire’s spin hero Muttiah Muralitharan sat out the visit of his native Sri Lanka ‘A’ side to Old Trafford.

Steffi Graf to play in US Open
NEW YORK, July 10 — After announcing she had played her last French Open and last Wimbledon, Steffi Graf has entered the U.S. Open.

ITF to use larger tennis balls
NOORDWIJK, (Netherlands), July 10 — The International Tennis Federation has voted to allow larger tennis balls to be introduced as an experiment to slow down the men’s game.

Brazil take on Argentina today
CIUDAD DEL ESTE (Paraguay), July 10 — Wanderley Luxemburgo and Marcelo Bielsa lead eternal rivals Brazil and Argentina into Copa America quarterfinal battle tomorrow, knowing that a hitherto gentle introduction to international management is about to turn into a white knuckle ride.

Healy comes to Ranatunga’s aid
BRISBANE, July 10 — Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy insisted yesterday Sri Lanka would be ill-advised to drop sacked Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga from their Test team.

Paes, Bhupathi to play in Lucknow
CALCUTTA, July 10 — ATP world No 1 doubles pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will be seen in action at Lucknow Challenger Tennis Championship in November, according to an itinerary released here yesterday.

Seeded players sail through
JALANDHAR, July 10 — All seeded players in girls single cadet event sailed into the semifinals of the first Punjab Ranking Table Tennis Tournament on the opening day.

Tendulkar, Akram for all-star tie
TORONTO, July 10 — Asia will face a world team in a one-day cricket all-star match at the Skydome here on August 8, organisers said.

Tendulkar denies injury reports
MUMBAI, July 10 — Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday denied reports that he was again suffering from back problem.

Jadeja, Dravid in chat show
MUMBAI, July 10 — Cricketers Ajay Jadeja, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly and Vinod Kambli would feature with leading film stars in a chat show produced by Farah Khan, daughter of actor-director Sanjay Khan, which is slated to be telecast on Doordarshan’s main channel from July 17.

Gavaskar’s saga on Doordarshan
MUMBAI, July 10 — The saga of one of India’s cricket legends, former captain Sunil Manohar Gavaskar, is to be telecast by Doordarshan (DD-I) at 12 noon on July 11, the day after he completes half a century in life.

Arthurs scrapes past Paes

NEW PORT (RHODE ISLAND), July 10 (AP) — Wayne Arthurs figured power was the only way to beat Leander Paes’ speed. Twenty aces later, the Australian knocked the defending champion from the Hall of Fame championships with a 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 victory.

Arthurs moved into a semifinal meeting with American Chris Woodruff, who defeated Italy’s Stefano Pescosolido 6-2, 6-4 yesterday. Italy’s Laurence Tieleman will face Denmark’s Kenneth Carlsen in the other semifinal.

Arthurs, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon before losing to Andre Agassi, has won all 43 of his service games in the tournament, hitting 48 aces and facing just one break point.

That break point was in the seventh game of the third set trailing 4-2, Paes was desperate for a breakthrough against Arthurs’ raw power.

After Arthurs failed to get first serve in, Paes sensed a chance and cheated to the left, thinking the Australian would hit a safe, kick serve away from the centre line.

“I could have sworn he was going to go there,” Paes said.

Instead, Arthurs hit a hard serve down the middle, frustrating the Indian star with the timeliest ace of the day.

Arthurs, Paes’ partner in the doubles tournament, said he scouted Paes’ singles matches this week and decided that good serving was the only way to combat Paes’ speed and delicate “dink” shots.

Like Arthurs, Paes did not have his service broken heading into the quarterfinals. Rather than power, he relied on placement and grass-court bounces. His serving streak ended in the fourth game of the third set when he mistakenly thought a ball was going to land out.

Paes, the world’s top-ranked doubles player, said he lost focus and tried to make too many great shots in the second-set tiebreaker and early games of the third set.

In the other quarterfinals, Tieleman beat fourth-seeded Andrew Ilie of Australia 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, and Carlsen defeated Peter Wessels of the Netherlands 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5).

Sethi pips Gilchrist for title

MUMBAI, July 10 (PTI) — World number three and top seed Geet Sethi of India defeated world number five and second seeded Peter Gilchrist of England 1554-1133 in the final of the fifth Alpic Om Agarwal Invitation Billiards Tournament here today.

Sethi, who was leading 853-387 in the first session, was in fine touch getting two double century breaks of 203 (17th visit) and 274 in his 31 visit which ultimately turned the scale in his favour.

In his very third visit to the table, Sethi had a break of 108 in eight minutes and then followed it up with a break of 197 and 128 in his fifth and sixth visits, respectively.

Sethi, who won Rs 45,000 for his efforts, also had breaks of 145 in his 20th visit and an 95 in his 36th visit.

The Englishman started off well with a break of 172 in his seventh visit in 19 minutes. Though he got a break of 230 in his 19th visit in 17 minutes he could not match the Indian’s speed.

Gilchrist also had breaks of 71, 102, 73 and 116 in the later stages of the match but could not come anywhere near the striking distance of his rival.

The Englishman, however, had the satisfaction of winning award for the highest break (301) of the tournament which he had got in the earlier match. He collected runners-up prize of Rs 23,000.

Results (final) billiards: Geet Sethi (Ind) bt Peter Gilchrist (UK) 1554 (108, 197, 128, 203, 145, 274, 95)-1133 (172, 71, 230, 102, 73, 116).

Asian team walks out of FIFA meet

LOS ANGELES, July 10 (Reuters) — Asia’s entire delegation dramatically walked out of a FIFA Congress in protest at the allocation of places for the 2002 World Cup finals and repeated their threat to boycott the qualifying tournament.

Despite an impassioned plea from FIFA President Sepp Blatter, Asian delegates stood up and left the conference room en masse, leaving the remaining national associations in stunned silence yesterday.

The sensational move came less than 24 hours after the Asians said they would boycott the 2002 qualifying tournament and go into the World Cup with only two countries, joint hosts Japan and Korea.

“This continent has 3.5 billion people and is hosting the World Cup for the first time,” said Asian Football Confederation (AFC) General-Secretary Peter Velappan.

“This matter has been going on for several months, it’s no use FIFA waking up to it now. The issue is quite clear: we want three full qualifying berths plus two for the host nations. The ball is now in FIFA’s court.”

“We will only reconsider if Mr Blatter can come up with an amicable conclusion. There is sufficient time to solve this but it is now FIFA’s responsibility.”

Last Tuesday, Europe agreed to a playoff with Asia for the final qualifying place in 2002, giving the Asians a minimum four places in 2002, the same as last year, and a maximum of five.

But Velappen said this was not enough and that his continent wanted five to start with, without having to rely on a playoff.

FIFA’s threat
AFP: A furious Sepp Blatter, President of football’s governing world body FIFA, threatened to punish the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) after they had walked out on the FIFA Congress here to protest over the number of Asian places in the 2002 World Cup.

Mr Blatter, from Switzerland, took the gloves off after what he clearly viewed as a public humiliation yesterday. He railed: “I was surprised, then irritated, then shocked.”

“When we get back in the FIFA office we will discuss what we will do,” he said. “It will be an action on the national associations, who left without any notice. The national associations, who are invited here — their tickets paid for, their hotels paid for, their food paid for. Is that polite?”

He said the AFC’s role would be examined. “We shall also identify where the responsibility lies. We have talked to some associations who say they were forced.”

“It’s a disgrace,” said Mr Blatter, heading his first congress since his controversial election as the FIFA President just over a year ago in Paris.

AFC is upset at being handed only four-and-a-half places at the 2002 World Cup by FIFA. The Asian walkout was a bitter blow to the FIFA President who had appealed directly to the members of the Asian national associations to ignore AFC’s call to leave.

Explaining their action AFC General Secretary Peter Velappan said: “It’s a simple request for three places plus the hosts.”

Mr Velappan stressed that their argument was not with the European federation, who had on Tuesday offered to create the so-called half place — in which an Asian nation will playoff with a European nation for a berth. “It’s a magnanimous offer on the part of Europe. We expect the same from South America.

However, European body UEFA made it clear they disapproved of the Asian walkout. UEFA President Lennart Johansson, a Swede, said: “Asia had no reason to behave like that. They have behaved like children.”

Referring to the UEFA offer, Johansson said: “Asia must learn to accept the present offer.”

But other Asian delegates also turned their fire on the South American confederation — CONMEBOL.

Abdullah al-Dabal, Saudi Arabian FIFA delegate, complained that Argentina’s Julio Grondona, Senior Vice-President of CONMEBOL declined to even meet with the Asian delegates. “He exploded here, he started shouting, he said he did not want to meet with anybody. Who was he to say that?” Mr Al-Dabal said.

Mr Al-Dabal shrugged off suggestions that the furore threatened next World Cup. “The World Cup is the World Cup. It’s going to be played with or without Asia.

Mr Grondona was unrepentant, however, saying: “CONMEBOL will give nothing. We already have a play-off with Oceania. Our gesture of goodwill has already been made.”

None of the Asian delegates could say if an Asian boycott was on the cards. They said the AFC would hold an extraordinary conference probably in October to decide.

Anjum’s ton helps India win series

NORTHAMPTON, July 10 (AP) — Anjum Chopra scored a century as India beat England by 86 runs to clinch the women’s international limited-overs series with a game to spare here yesterday.

The left-hander scored 100 off 128 balls, including 13 boundaries, as India reached 213 for seven from its allotted 50 overs.

In reply, England struggled from the start and were eventually all out for 127, including three run outs, in 43.5 overs.

Anjum Chopra also shared a 114 run second-wicket partnership with Anju Jain, who contributed 54 runs.

For England, Clare Connor grabbed a hat-trick in her five-wicket haul to restrict the Indian Batswomen late in the innings.

Conner notched her hat-trick with the wicket of Chopra — who was caught in the outfield attempting to loft over mid-off — after picking up wickets with her previous two deliveries. Connor finished with five for 49.

Kathryn Leng top scored for the hosts with 35.

Chopra, who scored 52 in India’s last-gasp one-wicket win over England at Old Trafford in the first game, said she was thrilled with her batting.

The final tie of the three-match series will be played at Trent Bridge on Sunday and will be followed by a one-off Test match next week.

At Manchester on Tuesday, India scored the winning run with just four balls remaining and one wicket left. In a knife-edge finish to the game, England gave away four leg byes as India, chasing 128 off 50 overs, reached 132 for nine.

IHF trounce Mumbai, lift crown

CHENNAI, July 10 (PTI) — Indian Hockey Federation XI lifted the Arunachalam Challenge Trophy when they drubbed Mumbai XI 5-0 in the final of the MCC-Murugappa All India Hockey Tournament here today.

IHF led 3-0 at the break with goals from Brojen Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Baljit Singh Chandi in a one-sided final. Brojen (fourth goal) and Senthil (fifth) settled the issue emphatically for the victors in the second half.

Mumbai captain Sabu Varkey, a dependable forward, tried his best to score but the IHF defence led by captain Rajnish Mishra with Lazrus Barla and Manoj Lokhande to his support gave no opening.

Barla and Lokhande were effective in their trappings and clearances which frustrated Mumbai’s gameplan. IHF goalkeeper A.P. Girish also brought off some good saves.

Mumbai were totally off-colour in the first half, but they came back in the second forcing three penalty corners inside five minutes.

Shantakumar, who collected a Sabu Varkey pass on top of the circle, almost scored but Girish saved it spectacularly.

Mumbai, though Lacklustre, held IHF in the first 18 minutes of the match, but goalkeeper Brian D’Souza was stunned when Brojen Singh drew first blood.

A full blooded shot from Dhanraj Pillay was well stopped by Brian but the ball ricocheted off his pads and Brojen darted in to push the ball in from under the feet of D’Souza.

IHF’s third penalty corner in the 31st minute yielded the second goal when Harbhajan Singh made full use of Pillay’s pass and within two minutes IHF scored through Chandi (3-0).

IHF’s success continued as they scored two more in the second half.

Sabu Varkey, Lazrus Barla and Radhakrishnan were adjudged as the best forward, back and medio of the tournament, while Pillay was named man-of-the-match.

Indian pugilists win 16 medals
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, July 10 — The 14-member Indian boxing squad returned yesterday from Cuba after giving a superb performance by bagging four gold, six silver and six bronze medals in all the three tournaments the Indian pugilists took part in a 20-day training-cum-competition stint held in different parts of Cuba.

Disclosing this national coach Mr G S Sandhu, who reached Patiala this morning, disclosed that “the most satisfying aspect of the Cuban tour was that our boxers were able to fight world class boxers on equal terms.”

Mr Sandhu was all praise for light heavyweight pugilist Gurcharan Singh who won a gold in the first competition, following it up with a silver each in the second and third competitions, said G S Sandhu “Gurcharan kept his nerves to win a gold in the first competition, which basically was being treated as a warm-up competition for the second tournament, the prestigious Giraldo Cardova Cardin Championship.

In this tournament Gurcharan came out with flying colours, having improved tremendously on skill, technique and sharpness, although he went down fighting to world no 1 Isael Alvarez and world No 2 Humbeto Savigne” in the last two meets.

The next best effort came from Ali Qamar who won a bronze, silver and a gold in that order in each of the three tournaments the Indians took past in, which featherweight boxer Ramachand came good in the first and third competitions, winning a gold and silver, respectively. In fact, Ramachand’s bout with the national championship of Cuba, Naslan Machado, which the Indian won, was adjudged the “best bout” of the tournament.

Young Dalvir Singh also came in praise from Mr Sandhu although in the same breath Sandhu said that Dalvir had to polish his technique and work on his temperament. Mr Sandhu said: “Although Dalvir won a bronze in the first meet and a gold in the third, he was not stable”.

Bhisham Saini captured two medals but was a victim of circumstances in the third meet, as in a close bout he ended up losing on points since the electronic scoring system developed a snag.

The last boxer C. A. Kutappa won a bronze in the second meet.

He remarked that Cuba coach B I J Fernandez was one of the most innovative coaches in the world and it was good that the Sports Ministry had again signed him up for the Sydney Olympics.

Recalling the significant role played by the doctor of the contingent, Dr Ashok Ahuja, Mr Sandhu added that referee/judge (RJ) Narottam Rawat was declared the best RJ in the third tournament.

Mr Sandhu added that there was a great change in attitude of Indian boxers after the Cuban tour.

Earlier, the boxers would shy away from taking on reputed pugilists but the change in attitude meant that the Indians were now ready to take on the world best boxers.

The boxers will now assemble in Bangalore in July 19 for the next training camp in preparation for the world boxing championships.

Sri Lanka ‘A’ crash to Ian Austin

LONDON, July 10 (AFP) — Lancashire’s spin hero Muttiah Muralitharan sat out the visit of his native Sri Lanka ‘A’ side to Old Trafford.

Instead it was Ian Austin who provided Lancashire’s greatest threat taking six for 43 as the tourists were dismissed for 277.

Andrew Flintofff looked set for a big score when he hammered his first ball for six only to depart for 11 and Lancashire, with stand-in skipper Mike Atherton back in the pavilion, were 53 for three at stumps.

Worcestershire paceman Alamgir Sheriyar claimed the second hat-trick of his career as 20 wickets fell on the first day of the county championship match at Worcester against Kent, who were dismissed for 119.

The deluge of wickets led the umpires to send a report to the England and Wales Cricket Board pitches committee over the state of the wicket.

Sheriyar removed David Fulton, Trevor Ward and Andrew Symonds and claimed figures of four for 43 to take his haul to 19 wickets in three games, also becoming the first bowler to break the 50-wicket barrier this season.

“I just tried to keep it straight. It is always nice for a bowler to get a hat-trick,” said Sheriyar.

The best figures in the Kent innings, however, were actually those of captain and Australian World Cup winner Tom Mody, who took four for 27.

But then the Kent bowlers got to work, reducing Worcestershire to 106 all out at the close.

Seventeen wickets fell at Lord’s where Middlesex were unable to take advantage after bowling out Northamptonshire for 223.

There were four wickets for Tim Bloomfield, but a middle order revival from Northants — led by 78 Graeme Swann — turned fortunes in the visitors’ favour after they had been 30 for five.

The Middlesex reply began badly as they slumped to 18 for four with Mike Roseberry, Justin Langer and Mark Ramprakash scoring a total of only five between them as Middlesex slumped to 95 for seven at the close.

Ashley Cowan’s six for 47 put Essex in with a great chance of establishing a healthy lead against Glamorgan at Cardiff.

Glamorgan were bowled out for 185 and at the close Essex were 129 for two.

Opener Paul Prichard, 45 not out, and Stuart Law, 45 not out, shared an unbroken third wicket stand of 71. But England skipper Nasser Hussain perished for just five.

Robin Weston was the day’s top run-getter, closing the day unbeaten on 145 for Derbyshire — who’s closed the day on 314 for six against Somerest at Derby.

But earlier in the day it looked as if Derby would be another fruitful venue for the bowlers as the home side were 36 for three at one stage. There were also half-centuries for Karl Krikken (56) and Ben Spendlove (51).

It was a marathon day for Andrew Caddick who bowled 27 overs and finished the day with figures of four for 59.

Durham had no hesitation in batting first after winning the toss against Nottinghamshire at the Riverside.

Michael Gouch (62) was Durham’s top scorer, but the championship’s bottom club suffered from Nick speak (41) and David Boon (28) getting outafter seemingly playing themselves in.

At the close Durham were 358 for five. Paul Collingwood made 106.

Scores and results:

At Derby: Derbyshire 314-6 (R. Weston 142 n. o, K. Krikken 56, B. Spendlove 51, A. Caddick 4-59) v Somerset

At Riverside: Durham 358-5 (P. Collingwood 106, M. Gough 62, M. Speight 59 n.o. v Nottinghamshire

At Cardiff: Glamorgan 185 (A. Cowan 6-47) v Essex 129-2

At Lord’s” Northamptonshire 223 (G. Swann 78, T. Bloomfield 4-53) v Middlesex 95-7

At Worcester: Kent 119 (T. Moody 4-27, A. Sheriyar 4-43) v Worcestershire 106 (M. Patel 4-31)

Tourist matches

At Old Trafford: Sri Lanka A 277 (I. De Saram 89; I. Austin 6-43) v Lancashire 53-3.

BCCI ban on airing views on cards

MUMBAI, July 10 (PTI) — The Cricket board is considering a move to stop players from airing their views to the media on India’s failed World Cup campaign after comments by three stars caught the board unawares.

The board was in blushes after a recent interview by Robin Singh which revealed that the team management was unaware of the “points carry-forward rule”.

Saurav Ganguly’s article in a Calcutta newspaper and Rahul Dravid’s interview also raised eyebrows which has forced the board to discuss the issue in its forthcoming meeting.

“There is a clause in the agreement between the players and the board that they are not to write or talk to the media about the World Cup for at least two months,” board Secretary Jaywant Lele told PTI here today.

Asked what the board intended to do now about players who have aired their views to the media, Lele said: I have to discuss it with Raj Singh Dungarpur (the board President).”

The board is of the view that coach Anshuman Gaekwad and skipper Mohd Azharuddin have spoken at length about India’s performance in the World Cup.

Already, Mumbai Cricket Association’s joint secretary Ratnakar Shetty has said the issue of players airing their views, which may be detrimental to the team’s interest in the long-run, would be taken up at the board’s next working Committee meeting scheduled in the first week of August.

The date and venue of the meeting, at which discussion on India’s display in the World Cup is expected to take place, have not yet been decided yet, Lele said.

Meanwhile, national cricket selector Madan Lal has denied appearing on “Zee News” to give expert comments as part of a panel during the World Cup.

“We have received a reply from Madan Lal in which he has said he had not appeared in any such programme,” cricket board Secretary Jaywant Lele told PTI here today.

The board has sent a show-cause notice to the selector after being informed that he had been appearing on “Zee News” and voicing his opinion about Indian performances which is not allowed under the board’s constitution.

Steffi Graf to play in US Open

NEW YORK, July 10 (AP) — After announcing she had played her last French Open and last Wimbledon, Steffi Graf has entered the U.S. Open.

The five-time champion’s name was included in a list of entries submitted by the WTA tour to the United States Tennis Association, which will run the Open from August 30 through September 13. It could be her final grand slam event.

Steffi has been one of the favourites at the U.S. Open throughout her career, tournament Director Jay Snyder said yesterday. We are excited that she has decided to return for at least one more run.

Graf, 30, won the French Open Championship over Martina Hingis and then announced she would no longer compete in the clay-court tournament. Four weeks later, she lost to American Lindsay Davenport in the final at Wimbledon and said it was her last match in the grass-court event.

Graf has 22 career grand slam titles, second only to Margaret Court Smith’s 24. She is ranked No 3 in the world and was ranked No 1 for a record total of 377 weeks. In 1988, she swept all four grand slam tournaments — the Australian, the French, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open — as well as winning the Olympic gold medal.

ITF to use larger tennis balls

NOORDWIJK, (Netherlands), July 10 (Reuters) — The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has voted to allow larger tennis balls to be introduced as an experiment to slow down the men’s game.

An overwhelming majority voted for the use of three different types of balls depending on the surface.

A slow pace ball, eight per cent larger than the standard, will be used on fast surfaces such as grass or indoor carpet.

A faster, harder and lower-bouncing ball will be used on slow surfaces such as clay.

The existing ball will be used on medium-paced surfaces.

The experimental introduction of the balls will begin in January 2000, last for two years and be conducted from club level to the lower reaches of the Davis and Federation Cups.

ITF’s head of product development Andrew Coe said: “This is a great step forward”.

“The new larger ball will, we hope, produce longer rallies which for the recreational player will mean more time playing tennis”.

“It will also reduce the dominance of the serve which will make tennis more attractive to spectators. It will also offer greater visibility, both for the players on court and for television viewers.”

Critics claim that the 240 kph service speeds in the men’s game have reduced the sport to a contest of strength and that the skill and artistry of the game have disappeared.

Brazil take on Argentina today

CIUDAD DEL ESTE (Paraguay), July 10 (AFP) — Wanderley Luxemburgo and Marcelo Bielsa lead eternal rivals Brazil and Argentina into Copa America quarterfinal battle tomorrow, knowing that a hitherto gentle introduction to international management is about to turn into a white knuckle ride.

Luxemburgo took over the hottest seat in international football last year from Mario Zagallo in the wake of Brazil’s 3-0 World Cup final defeat by France, which was seen as a national disaster.

Zagallo, uniquely, was the one man to have been associated with all four of Brazil’s World Cup triumphs.

A player in 1958 and 1962, Zagallo was coach to the legendary 1970 winners and was technical adviser to the 1994 champions coached by Carlos Alberto Parreira.

So Luxemburgo’s appointment was truly a new start for the most successful team in World Cup history.

But now as the team enters the knockout stages of Copa America — against their biggest rivals to boot — Luxemburgo knows he is doing the football equivalent of dipping his toe in the nearby Parana river.

If Argentina prevail in this clash of the continent’s big fish Luxemburgo will undergo the media equivalent of being thrown to the piranhas that infest the rivers in these parts .

The former Corinthians boss saw his team win all three group B matches (against Venezuela, Mexico and Chile) but has enjoyed frosty relations with the ever-critical media.

But Luxemburgo has shown himself to be an assertive coach. He has swept away the USA’94 old guard in the shape of Romario, Dunga and Taffarel, and he has dumped troublemakers such as Edmundo, Leonardo and Edilson without ceremony.

He has put his faith in youth by pitching in newcomers such as Palmeiras midfielder Alex and Gremio striker Ronaldo Gaucho (also known as Ronaldo Assis or Ronaldinho).

But for the titanic encounter with Argentina he brings back experienced trio Rivaldo, Emerson and Cafu.

Skipper Cafu was bullish going into the clash, saying;”It is a classic, an eliminator and we want to win it.”

Striker Ronaldo was equally determined, adding: “We know that there will be much provocation but we have been trained to avoid them and leave the field in triumph.”

There could be hardly more appropriate venue for this match. The Paraguayan town of Ciudad Del Este borders both Brazil and Argentina and neighbours one of the world’s most spectacular waterfalls.

Luxemburgo may feel he is shooting the rapids but he may take comfort from the fact that his Argentinian counterpart Marcelo Bielsa is also negotiating his first tournament as national team boss.

Bielsa has already had to don his flak jacket once after the comprehensive 3-0 group C defeat by Colombia.

But history is on the side of Bielsa. While Brazil’s record at the world level is unmatched, Argentina have eclipsed their rivals at the continental level. Argentina have 14 Copa America titles — a figure matches only by Uruguay — while Brazil can boast only five.

Healy comes to Ranatunga’s aid

BRISBANE, July 10 (AFP) — Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy insisted yesterday Sri Lanka would be ill-advised to drop sacked Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga from their Test team.

“He has to be in the side — he’s a world class player,” said Healy who was once involved in a highly publicised on-field spat in Sydney with Ranatunga.

“I get on very well with Arjuna and he and I will certainly catch up with each other in Sri Lanka,” he added.

Ranatunga has been the player Australian fans love to hate following his controversial tours of the country, highlighted by his decision to lead his team off the Adelaide Oval in January during a one-day match against England.

Ranatunga was protesting umpire Ross Emerson’s decision to no-ball Muttiah Muralitharan and the resulting scandal prompted him to declare he would never again play there.

Star Australian leg spinner Shane Warne cranked up the anti-Ranatunga feelings in May when he slammed the captain in an English newspaper column, declaring the game would be better off without him.

But Healy jumped to Ranatunga’s support by warning cricket fans were wrong to assume the teams did not get on.

“People have construed a little poorly that there is all this tension between the teams,” Healy said.

Paes, Bhupathi to play in Lucknow

CALCUTTA, July 10 (UNI) — ATP world No 1 doubles pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will be seen in action at Lucknow Challenger Tennis Championship in November, according to an itinerary released here yesterday.

Leander’s father former hockey Olympian Vaes Paes told newspersons last night that besides Lucknow challenger from November 29, they are scheduled to play at Bangalore from December 6, Gold Flake Open at Chennai from January 3 and in Calcutta from January 31 next.

Leander, now playing at the Newport Hall of Fame Championship, is expected in Calcutta in the third week of August for rest.

Leander in a statement released by his father to the press thanked the people in India for the support they gave during the championships. He said, “I did not get much time to celebrate my victories, But I am sure once I’m back home in India and relaxing with friends and family the celebration will surely begin”.

Seeded players sail through
From Our Sports Reporter

JALANDHAR, July 10 — All seeded players in girls single cadet event sailed into the semifinals of the first Punjab Ranking Table Tennis Tournament on the opening day.

The third seed Neha of Patiala beat Ritu of Jalandhar in a three-game thriller. After losing first game to Ritu, Neha won both the games in a neck-and-neck fight in the quarterfinal. She won 17-21,21-18, 22-20.

Over 275 players from the state are participating in the tournament that includes current Punjab champion Vineet Chopra of State Bank of Patiala, Vikas Mahajan and Pankaj Sharma of PSEB, Sanjeev Sood of the SBOP, Ramakant of Customs and Gagan Bahri of the PSEB.

Results: Cadet girls singles pre-quarterfinals: Manisha (Patiala) beat Heena (Jal) 21-10, 21-11, Jaspreet (Patiala) beat Jaswinder (Ropar) 21-9, 21-12. Ankita (Patiala) beat Sukhwinder (Jal) 21-14, 21-16, Dimple (Khanna) beat Gunjandeep (Jal) 21-16, 21-19, Neha (Patiala) beat Gagandeep (Jal) by 21-19, 21-16, Ritu(Jal) beat Kavita (Patiala) 21-10, 21-14, Saloni (Jal) beat Vaishali (Jal) 21-16, 21-17, Ritika (Ropar) beat Rajni (Jal) 21-15, 21-14.

Quarterfinals: Manisha Sharma (Patiala) beat Yashpreet Gulati 21-14, 21-17, Dimple (Khanna) beat Ankita (Patiala) 21-19, 21-19, Reetika (Ropar) beat Saloni (Jal) by 21-18, 21-17, Neha Sharma (Patiala) beat Ritu (Jal) 17-21, 21-18, 22-20.

Tendulkar, Akram for all-star tie

TORONTO, July 10 (AP) — Asia will face a world team in a one-day cricket all-star match at the Skydome here on August 8, organisers said.

The Asia XI tentatively includes star Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar, Sri Lanka’s Arjuna Ranatunga and Arvinda de Silva and Pakistan’s Wasim Akram, the organisers announced yesterday.

The World XI includes West Indian Brian Lara and Courtney Walsh, South Africa’s Hansie Cronje and Jonty Rhodes, and Australian brothers Steve and Mark Waugh.

The game, dubbed the international all-star cricket cup, will be played on the dome’s artificial turf.

Tendulkar denies injury reports

MUMBAI, July 10 (UNI) — Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday denied reports that he was again suffering from back problem.

“I am fine and my back is also fine. There are no problems with my back,’’ he said.

A report in a section of the media had said Sachin had been attending Yogacharya Iyengar’s classes to cure himself of the back problem.

However, Sachin said he was in Pune, but it was only to meet his sister, who lives there. He said he visited Yogacharya Iyengar’s institute in Pune as he wanted to have a look at the institute. “The visit to the institute was only due to my own curiosity,” he said.

Jadeja, Dravid in chat show

MUMBAI, July 10 (PTI) — Cricketers Ajay Jadeja, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly and Vinod Kambli would feature with leading film stars in a chat show produced by Farah Khan, daughter of actor-director Sanjay Khan, which is slated to be telecast on Doordarshan’s main channel from July 17. “I thought a show like this will run less risk of failure if it had celebrity film stars and cricketers in it,” Farah Khan said here on Thursday speaking about her maiden production venture “Sapne apne apne” to be on air every Saturday at 8 p.m.

She said Sachin Tendulkar would not be on the show due to contractual commitments. Jadeja has been interviewed and Rahul Dravid would be quizzed for the show soon followed by Saurav Ganguly.

She said till now Doordarshan had lacked a chat show and her effort was to touch on the human aspects of persons behind celebrity status. Eleven of the total 24 episodes of half hour duration have been shot already, she said.

Gavaskar’s saga on Doordarshan

MUMBAI, July 10 (PTI) — The saga of one of India’s cricket legends, former captain Sunil Manohar Gavaskar, is to be telecast by Doordarshan (DD-I) at 12 noon on July 11, the day after he completes half a century in life.

“Sunil Gavaskar — the boy from Chickalwadi” is a 45-minute presentation on the former opening batsman and holder of the world record number of Test hundreds (34), by the Professional Management Group (PMG).

The film is directed by Saeed Mirza, a Press statement by PMG said here yesterday.

Past and present India stars, including Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar, are expected to share their thoughts about the ‘little master’ in the programme, according to PMG’s Sumedh Shah.

“Cricketers from different generations, who have played with Sunil like Dilip Sardesai, Dilip Vengsarkar, Kapil Dev, and current generation cricketers like Tendulkar, besides coaches — V.S. Patil and former Mumbai players Vasu Paranjpe — and Milind Rege (Gavaskar’s childhood friend and playing colleague) have spoken about him in the film,” Mr Shah added.

BCCI not aware of Toronto tie

MUMBAI, July 10 (PTI) — The Board of Control for Cricket in India today expressed surprise at reports from Toronto that an Asian selection, tentatively including master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, will face a World XI in a one-day all-star cricket match at the Toronto skydome on August 8. “We are not aware of any such match. Anyhow the organisers have to take permission of the home board (Canada Cricket Association) and the boards of the players involved in the tie as per the International Cricket Council (ICC) rules, board secretary Jaywant Lele told PTI here today.

Leander to be felicitated

CALCUTTA, July 10 (PTI) — The West Bengal Government will felicitate Leander Paes for his two grand slam doubles titles.

A grand reception will be held during Paes’ visit to the city in mid-September, the state’s Sports Minister Subhash Chakraborty said here yesterday.

Paes would be given a cash award for his remarkable performance in recent months but the exact amount has not yet been fixed.

Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi became the first Indians to win the coveted Wimbledon doubles title last Sunday when they defeated Dutchman Paul Haarhuis and his American partner Jared Palmer. The duo had won the French Open doubles title last month.

Simmi’s dismal run continues

NEW DELHI, July 10 (PTI) — Simmi Mehra’s dismal run on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour continued as she fired a poor five-over par 77 to take 36th position after the second round of the Michelob Light Classic at St. Louis, Missouri.

Mehra, the lone Indian on the prestigious LPGA Tour, failed to improve upon on her first round 76 yesterday and was placed in the middle of the leaderboard at the forest hill country club course.

The Indian, going through a slump in the highly-competitive Tour, had managed to make the cut in only two tournaments thus far.

American Lisa Kiggens was leading compatriots Tina Barrett (64, 72) and Nancy Scranton (67, 69) by one stroke at the halfway stage with an seven-under 135.

Rajan shines for Sargodha school
From Our Sports Reporter
LUDHIANA, July 10 — Powered by a fine century by captain Rajan Singh (113 n.o.), Sargodha National Public School overwhelmed Ludhiana Club by nine wickets to storm into the final of the fourth Chaman Lal Malhotra Cricket Cup Tournament (u-16) at S.D. Government College grounds here today.

In a fine batting display after electing to bat in the first semi-final, Ludhiana Club’s Aashish Vinayak and Karan Goyal put on 100 runs for the first wicket. Aashish cracked 57 while Karan Goyal made 36. Then Divesh and Prabhjot Khatra came together in a 53-run stand for the fourth wicket, which ended at 183 runs after 35 overs.

For Sargodha school Bhupinder Singh was the pick of the bowlers, capturing 2 for 34.

Sargodha, National Public School began their chase in style, with their openers Rajan Singh and Amandeep Singh putting on 52 runs before Amandeep got out in the ninth over after making 17. Ravi Kanojia joined his captain Rajan Singh, who virtually decimated the Ludhiana Club bowling attack.

Rajan’s-knock included eight boundaries and he piled up an unfinished 132-run second wicket stand. Ravi Kanojia made a sedate 36 not out as Sargodha National Public School coasted to 184 for one in 29.5 overs.

Brief scores:- Ludhiana Club: 183 for 4 in 35 overs (Aashish Vinayak 57, Karan Goyal 36, Divesh 39; Bhupinder Singh 2 for 34.

Sargodha National Public School: 184 for 1 in 29.9 overs (Rajan Singh 113 n.o, Ravi Kanojia 36 n.o.)

Swimming academy
From Our Sport Reporter
JALANDHAR, July 10 — The Jalandhar District Swimming Association in collaboration with DAV College has started a swimming and water polo academy at DAV College, Jalandhar, under the guidance of renowned swimming coach M.S. Bhullar, according to Sushil Kohli, Asian Games silver medallist and General Secretary of the association. The academy will provide coaching to the beginners as well as advanced scientific training to the swimmers and water-polo players.