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Sunday,
March
31, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Sunil fails to clear last hurdle
Australia record 37-run win Harris rescues NZ innings
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West denied outright win
East salvage draw against
North Brilliant fightback by
Mukesh Haryana, Services boxers dominate Churchill rally to
hold Tollygunge JCT split points with Punjab cops
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Sunil fails to clear last hurdle Kolkata, March 30 The day belonged to Jayalakshmi who played an agressive brand of tennis to outclass former champion and top seed Radhika Tulpule of Maharashtra 6-0, 6-4 after an hour-long one-sided singles final, before the two teamed up to win the doubles title disposing of Sheetal Goutham and Liza Pereira 6-2, 6-3 in only 53 minutes. Bringing further glory to Tamil Nadu at the Calcutta south Club lawns, sixth seeded Mahadevan overcame mid-match jitters to end unseeded Sunil Kumar Sipaeya’s all-conquering run 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in men’s final to win his maiden title. There was an upset of sorts in the men’s doubles final as second seeded Nitin Kirtane and Sourav Panja recovered after losing the opening set to put it across higher ranked pair of Rohan Bopanna and Vijay Kannan 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) and 6-3 and win their fifth national final together. Mahadevan was cruising merrily in the final at the Calcutta South club lawns till Sipaeya rallied back strongly with some exciting returns. Mahadevan comfortably won the first set and then broke Si-paeya’s service in the sixth game of the second to go up 4-2. The talented Chandigarh boy, who advanced to last 16 in junior categories of both Wimbledon and American Open last year, held his service in the seventh game of the second set and went on to demolish his rival in the next game to level the set 4-4. As Mahadevan struggled with his first serve, Sipaeya raised his game by several notches. He broke Mahadevan’s service once again in the tenth game to take the second set 6-4 and restore parity. In the decider both players held their services till 5-5, when Mahadevan broke Sipaeya’s service in the 11th game to open up a crucial 6-5 lead. Serving outstandingly, Mahadevan wrapped up the match by retaining serve in the next game conceding only one point. The women’s summit clash, in contrast, was a rather one-sided affair with nothing going right for an off-colour Tulpule, particularly in the opening game, as Tamil Nadu’s Jayalakshmi extracted sweet revenge for her final loss to the same player in the tournament two years back. Jayalakshmi served well and let loose a flurry of backhand and forehand strokes constantly charging upto the net to record her maiden triumph in the tourney. The Maharashtra girl dropped serve in the very opening game as she made a crucial double fault to concede the game on the second break point. Tulpule’s serve continued to desert her and she got broken in the third and fifth games and surrendered the set 0-6 in only 20 minutes. Jayalakshmi again broke Tulpule in the opening game of the second set. Ahead 30-0, Tulpule double faulted and then lost a point as the score became 30-30. She won the next point to get her first game point of the match, but then hit four of the next five rallies into the tramline to lose her serve. Jayalakshmi retained serve in the next game to lead 2-0 before Tulpule made it 2-1 by holding serve for the first time in the match. However, Tulpule’s woes seemed neverending as she again dropped serve in the fifth game. Jayalakshmi held the sixth to take a convincing 5-1 lead and all seemed over for Tulpule. However, she made a valiant effort to bounce back winning three games in a row including a service break in the eighth to reduce the gap to 4-5. But her late charge was not enough to stop Jayalakshmi who retained serve in the 10th game to win the game, set and the title.
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RESUMPTION OF CRICKETING TIES Karachi, March 30 “I would say this is the first step towards normalisation of cricket affairs between the two countries,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Tauqir Zia told Reuters after meeting Indian Olympic Association chief Suresh
Kalmadi. “We met for an hour and it was a very positive meeting. The signs are positive,” Kalmadi said. “I will go back and report back to the Indian Sports Minister and the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India,” he told Reuters. Zia received Kalmadi’s three-member delegation at his house on the fringes of a south-Asian sports meeting held in
Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, to set a new date for a regional sports contest twice postponed because of political tensions. Zia called the meeting “the first positive response” from the Indian Sports Ministry towards a normalisation of cricket ties between the two countries, which are now locked in a border stand-off since a bomb attack on the Indian Parliament in December.
Kalmadi has said he won the approval of Indian Sports Minister Uma Bharti to discuss resuming matches against Pakistan. Zia said Pakistan favoured a resumption of play. “We have always maintained that sports should not suffer because of politics,” he said. “Our stand remains the same.” India twice cancelled tours of Pakistan last year, and the sides have not met since May 2000 because of political tensions between the two countries. At a recent Executive Board meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Cape Town, Pakistan said they could not endorse the ICC’s 10-year programme if India continued their refusal to play Pakistan. Zia insisted that if India did not fulfil their obligations under the programme, Pakistan should be awarded compensation for every cancelled series. “I think the Executive board’s realisation that it was important for India and Pakistan to resume playing cricket to make the 10-year programme a success would be beneficial to us in the long run,” Zia
said. Kalmadi said although his delegation had come to Islamabad to discuss the Indian contingent’s participation in the next South Asian Federation Games he had permission from the (Sports) Minister to discuss resumption of cricket ties.
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Chance for us to win: Ganguly Kolkata, March 30 “It is a huge opportunity before us to win both the series since the mighty West Indies is passing through a transitional period,” Sourav said here on the eve of the team’s departure for a two month-long Carribean tour. Speaking to newsmen here after launching the latest Pepsi product called “Pepsi A-ha”, he agreed that though the present West Indian team was not as formidable as it was during the 1980s and 1990s, “They could not be termed as a weak team by any yardstick with players like Brian Lara and Carl Hooper going great guns.” On the team’s prospect on seemingly fast West Indian tracks in every venue, Sourav said though it was unfair to comment without having inspected the pitch, the Indian team was prepared to take on any attack. “Usually the pitches at Barbados, Jamaica and Antigua are known as fast tracks. But we expect a lot of grass cover on all West Indian wickets to help both the seamers and the spinners,” Sourav said.
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Australia record 37-run win
Bloemfontein, March 30 Leading fast bowler Glenn McGrath was at his best claiming two wickets for 20 runs in eight overs while fast bowler Brett Lee claimed four for 63 as South Africa, chasing a tough victory target of 291 runs, were bundled out for 253 runs in 48.1 overs. Australian captain Ricky Ponting hammered a century to lead a powerful batting performance by his team. Ponting made 129 off 126 balls as Australia piled up a total of 290 for six after winning the toss. It was Ponting’s first century since becoming Australia’s one-day captain and his first against South Africa. He made only 17 runs in three innings after taking over the leadership from Steve Waugh at the start of the series. Ponting shared a fourth wicket stand of 119 off 92 balls with left-hander Darren Lehmann, who made 39 off 37 balls. Ponting was in superb touch and played strokes all around the ground as he hit a six and 15 fours. He went down the wicket several times to the faster bowlers and hit a six off Jacques Kallis when he skipped down the pitch and hit the bowler straight over his head. Ponting also played some delicate glances and powerful pulls as he reached 50 off 63 balls and 100 off 104 deliveries. Australia batted solidly to set up the foundation for the Ponting-Lehmann stand with Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden putting on 40 for the first wicket before Ponting shared partnerships of 47 for the second wicket with Gilchrist and 56 for the third wicket with Damien Martyn. The left-handed Lehmann was the ideal partner for a rampant Ponting, feeding the strike to his captain with a series of inventive, often unorthodox strokes. Australia: Gilchrist b Telemachus 34 Hayden c Boucher b Telemachus 17 Ponting c Pollock b Kallis 129 Martyn b Boje 24 Lehmann b Pollock 39 Maher not out 14 Harvey c Smith b Pollock 6 Lee not out 8 Extras: (lb9, nb5, w5) 19 Total (6 wkts, 50 overs) 290 Fall of wickets: 1-40, 2-87, 3-143, 4-262, 5-266, 6-274. Bowling: Pollock 10-0-59-2, Ntini 10-2-42-0, Telemachus 10-0-60-2, Kallis 10-0-67-1, Boje 7-0-36-1, Hall 3-0-17-0.
(Scoreboard Incomplete) AFP  |
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Harris rescues NZ innings Auckland, March 30 Harris, in his first Test in three years, played a gritty innings to help the Kiwis claw back from 19 for four to 151 for five off 54 overs when play was abandoned for the day at 5:39 pm (1109 IST) because of bad light. It was the Canterbury left-hander’s fifth half-century in Tests and when bad light intervened he was unbeaten on 55 in 202 minutes with wicketkeeper Adam
Parore, playing his farewell Test and the third-most (78) Tests by a New Zealander, on 19. Harris was promoted to number four in the order as part of a couple of team changes aimed at squaring the series after the Kiwis lost the opening Christchurch Test by 98 runs. Harris, who had a Test average of 19.4 from 19 matches going into the Test, took 37 minutes to get off the mark but grew in confidence and anchored partnerships with Craig McMillan and Parore. Harris, who has played 203 one-day internationals, looked to have finished his Test career at the start of this season but has averaged 95.7 in the domestic first-class competition earning his Test recall. England fast bowler Andy Caddick was irresistible in the morning session and claimed his 200th Test wicket. The New Zealand-born Caddick captured 4 for 28 to have the Kiwis at 86 for five at lunch. He has now taken 19 wickets in the current series. He trapped McMillan for 41 two balls before lunch to become the ninth Englishman to take 200 wickets in Tests. Ian Botham is the most prolific wicket-taker in Tests for England with 383. Captain Stephen Fleming correctly called the toss ahead of England counterpart Nasser Hussain for the third time in the series and chose to bat on a drop-in pitch in humid conditions. The decision backfired early as New Zealand lost the wickets of Mark Richardson, Fleming, Lou Vincent and Nathan Astle inside the first nine overs. Under cloudy skies, the Kiwis were in trouble from the outset with Caddick and Matthew Hoggard getting appreciable movement off the pitch. Caddick clipped the top of Richardson’s off-stump in the fifth over of the day for five leaving the Kiwis at 12 for one. Scoreboard New Zealand (1st innings): Richardson b Caddick 5 Vincent b Caddick 10 Fleming c Ramprakash b
Hoggard 1 Harris batting 55 Astle c Thorpe b Caddick 2 McMillan lbw b Caddick 41 Parore batting 24 Extras: (lb-10, nb-3) 13 Total: (for 5 wkts, 54 overs) 151 Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-17, 3-17, 4-19, 5-86. Bowling: Caddick 20-3-57-4, Hoggard 18-5-47-1, Flintoff 10-5-30-0, Butcher 5-2-6-0, Giles 1-0-1-0.
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West denied outright win Chennai, March 30 West zone, who made 496 in their first innings, gained five points to take their tally to 21 from three matches and enhance their chances of winning the trophy for the 18th
time. Hemal Watekar (0 not out) were at the crease. Sridharan Sriram batted for 340 minutes and made 140 before being run out (14x4), while Vinay Kumar was caught at covers by Ramesh Powar off Niranjan
Godbole. He made 96 (8x4). Sriram and Kumar put on 237 runs for the second wicket in 73.2 overs, tormenting the west bowlers, who did not have any reprieve. South, overnight eight for the loss of
M.S.K. Prasad (0), saw Sriram and Vinay Kumar stay put till the mandatory overs. Three overs later, Sriram was run out, responding late to a Vinay Kumar shot to Godbole at point. Amol
Mazumdar, substituting for Ajit Agarkar, threw to wicketkeeper connor Williams to do the rest. Williams kept the wickets in the absence of Nayan Mongia who did not take the field since morning due to a ‘stiff neck’. West were unlucky as umpire A Bhattacharji negatived a caught behind appeal against Vinay Kumar when South were 73 for one. Kumar, then on 28, played forward to a turning delivery from Sairaj
Bahutule. The ball deflected off his bat and Williams collected the catch. Scoreboard South zone
(Ist innings) 292 West zone (Ist innings) 496 South zone (2nd innings) S. Sriram run our
140 MSK Prasad b Ajit Agarkar 0 D Vinaykumar c R powar b N. Godbole 96 Rowland Barrington not out 12 H Watekar not out 0 Extras (b4, lb2 w5, nb7) Total for three wickets 266 Fall of wickets: 1/6, 2/243; 3/265 Bowling: Irfan Pathan
(Jr) 9-3-18-0 Ajit Agarkar 6-5-01-1 Ramesh Powar 9-2-59-0 Sairaj Bahutule 14-2-51-0 Ajit Bhoite 18-0-71-0 S Kotak 6-1-17-0 Hrishikesh Kanitkar 6-1-17-0 N Godbole 10-3-26-1.
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East salvage draw against North New Delhi, March 30 Both the captains called off the match after 4.4 mandatory overs were bowled, when North Zone had scored 186 for four with a lead of 296 runs. In the morning, East Zone, played on the crucial first hour to avoid the follow-on. They scored 459 runs in reply to the mammoth total of 567 of the North Zone in the first innings. Scoreboard North Zone: Chopra c Raul b Lahiri 58, Rathore c R.R. Parida b Raul 249, Dharmani c Gandhi b Lahiri 29, Manhans c Das b Shukla 06, Khan c Das b Chatterjee 73, Dahiya not out 76, Yashpal not out 53. Extras: 23 (6b, 7lb, 9nb, 1w) Fow: 1/140, 2/208, 3/242, 4/426, 5/430 Total: 567 for 5 declared Bowling: Mark Ingty: 25.2-2-101-0 LR Shukla: 17-4-54-1U. Chatterjee: 57.2-14-123-1 P. Das: 5-0-32-0 S. Lahiri: 43-4-163-2 Sanjay Raul: 19.4-2-70-1P. Mallik: 2-0-11-0 East Zone: Parag Das c Yashpal b Sarandeep 63, Gandhi c Rahul b Sarandeep 44, R.R. Parida c Safiq b Sarandeep 62, Sanjay b Sanjay b Sanghvi 32, Mallick c Shakti b Sanghvi 11, Das c Rathore b Sanghvi 97, Zufri c Rathore b Shakti 11, Shukla c Khan b Sarandeep 58, Lahiri b Shakti 40, Ingty not out 01. Extras: 34 Total: 459 all out. Fow: 1/106, 2/114, 3/204, 4/224, 5/236, 6/276, 7373, 8/385, 9/447, 10/459. Bowling: Vineet Sharma 23-4-65-0, Shakti Singh 15.4-3-42-2, Sarandeep Singh 44-8-124-5, Rahul Sanghvi 43-5-155-3, Mithun Manhas 11-0-55-0. North Zone (2nd innings):
Chopra c Zakaria b Chatterjee 28, Rathore c Lahiri b Shukla 37, Manhas c Sub b Raul 37, Khan st Zakaria b Lahiri 48, Yashpal not out 28, Dahiya not out 00. Extras: 8 (4b, 1lb, 1nb, 2 w) Total: 186 for 4
Fow: 1/54, 2/84, 3/116, 4/186 Bowling: Mark Ingty 3-0-29-0, LR Shukla 7-1-19-1, S. Lahiri 6.4-0-39-1, U. Chatterjee 13-2-46-1, Sanjay Raul 12-1-38-1.
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Brilliant fightback by
Mukesh Chandigarh, March 30 The tournament marks the 22nd leg of the 2001-02 Hero Honda Golf Tour. Third placed Mukesh at six under 210, was followed by the dangerous duo of Delhi’s Ali Sher and Kolkata’s Uttam Singh Mundy at three-under 213 and the tied-fourth position”. Rookie golfer Ashok Kumar playing only his third event on the Hero Honda Golf Tour was placed sixth at two-under 214 while local hero Amandeep Johl and Lucknow’s Sanjay Kumar were tied seventh at level-par 216. Two weeks ago, Mukesh Kumar was mourning the loss of his paternal uncle. Today he veritably dug a grave for his competitors at the HT Pro-Golf Chandigarh. Whether Feroz Ali and Gaurav Ghei fall into it is yet to be seen, but that most of Chandigarh will be present to witness the battle for supremacy between three of the best golfers on the tour is very much a certainty. Feroz Ali dominated proceedings on the first two days but the law of averages finally caught up with him. The Kolkatan was well placed after his front-nine, with birdies on the 2nd and 3rd and a bogey on the 4th placing him at one-under at that stage. However, a double bogey on the 15th followed by a bogey on the 17th took away the early advantage. A birdie on the 16th was hardly a consolation. “My putting was terrible today”, said Feroz who incidentally leads the putting averages on the tour. Feroz played to one-over 73. Gaurav Ghei played brilliant golf today, and should have rightfully sat alone atop the leader board. However, a triple-bogey on the 7th, undid all the good work that birdies on the 2nd, 4th, 9th, 14th, 16th and 17th did. “The triple was a disaster. That I did not crumble mentally after that is a tribute to my mental fitness”, said the India Cement sponsored Ghei. “It is this mental strength that I will draw on to win tomorrow”, he added. Ghei’s round of one-under 71 also included bogeys on the 3rd and 18th. The hero of the day, Mukesh Kumar made a par-eagle start to his round. Sinking a 40 feet putt for his eagle would have done wonders for his confidence as was rightly proved by the birdie blitz that followed on the 9th, 11th and a hat-trick of birdies on his three closing holes. The birdie on the 18th resulted from a near 30 feet putt while he had another 20 feet effort on the 11th, “I was extremely disappointed when I missed the Indian Open a fortnight ago due to my uncle’s demise. I am now doubly determined to win this tournament,” he said. Gupta leads amateurs:
Harinder Gupta played to two-under 70 today to lead the amateur field by a three-stroke margin. Gupta at 218 was followed by Vikram Singh at 221 while HS Kang was placed third at 225. Scores (after 54 holes): 208 — Gaurav Ghei (69, 68, 71), Feroz Ali ( 67, 68, 73); 210 —Mukesh Kumar (68, 75, 67); 213 — Ali Sher (70, 71, 72), Uttam Singh Mundy (68, 73, 72); 214— Ashok Kumar (73, 73, 68); 216 — Amandeep Johl (73, 73, 70), Sanjay Kumar (73, 71, 72); 217 — Suleiman Ali (73, 73, 71); Yusuf Ali (73, 73, 71); 218 — Amritinder Singh (70, 72, 76); 219 — Sheeraz Kalra (75, 73, 71); Ranjit Singh (71, 75, 73), Roop Singh (73, 70, 76); 220 — Amit Dube (73, 77, 70). Amateurs: 218 — Harinder Gupta (76, 72, 70); 221 — Vikram Singh (74, 78, 69); 225 — HS Kang (73, 78, 74). |
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Haryana, Services boxers dominate Patiala, March 30 The Haryana boxers won the titles in the flyweight, bantamweight, lightweight and featherweight categories, while the Services pugilists rode roughshode over their rivals in the welterweight, light middleweight, middleweight and heavyweight categories. For the overall trophy Services were placed first followed by Haryana and Delhi in that order. In the most interesting bout of the day, in the lightweight class, it could not have been more exciting for Jai Bhagwan Singh of Haryana and more excrutiating for his rival S.Micheal Metie of Services. For the first three rounds both the boxers seemed to be technically evenly matched and it was only towards the end of the fourth round that the Haryana boxer came out of his self imposed shell. He displayed quicksilver footwork and before his rival could create an upset , Jai Bhagwan unleashed a barrage of punches leaving his opponent gasping for breath. Jai Bhagwan and his coaches heaved a sigh of relief when he was declared the winner by a wafer thin margin of 10-9. In another edge of the seat thriller watched by a packed stadium, G.Vivek of Services managed to outwitted V.P. Panwar of Delhi in the welterweight class 17-16. The Delhi lad started with a flourish before he exhausted himself too quickly and
G.Vivek, always on the look for an opening, took this as a perfect opportunity
to land a solid hook and followed it with a beautifully connected left-right combination to come out triumphant. In yet another high voltage duel, hosts pugilist Ram Singh tied his opponents R.D Singh 27-27 in the light heavyweight final before the former lost out on the countback 91-100. Results: Light flyweight: K. Belwal
(SSCB) b Abhishek Shah (Delhi) 20-4. Flyweight: Robin Dev (Haryana) b Rajnish Kumar
(MP)-RSC. Bantamweight: Bijendra Singh (Haryana) b Kamal Chauhan (HP)-RSC. Featherweight: Jai Bhagwan Singh (Haryana) b A.Chowdhury (Del) 17-9. Welterweight: G.Vivek
(SSCB) b V.S. Panwar (Del) 17-16. Light middleweight: Hardeep Singh (SSCB) b Baldev Singh
(HP)-RSC. Lt Heavyweight: H.S. Sandhu (SSCB) b Bikramjit Singh (Pb)-27-27 (100-91). Heavyweight: Gurvinder Singh
(SSCB) b Joginder Singh (Har) 20-17. |
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Churchill rally to
hold Tollygunge Margao, March 30 Zee Churchill, who started off well, drew the first blood in the 8th minute when medio Tejinder Kumar split the rival defence with a floater to Yusif Yakubu who beat an on-rushing keeper Sandip Nandy and placed the ball into the empty net to increase his tally to 14 goals and become the leading scorer. Tollygunge regrouped and sustained the pressure on the rival goal as they enjoyed a lion share of exchanges and scoring chances. But they were denied an equaliser when an Ashim Biswas try hit upright.
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JCT split points with Punjab cops Jalandhar, March 30 Both the Punjab sides played a goalless draw in a match, which saw both teams go all out for a win. With this draw JCT now have 15 points, one ahead of FC, Kochi, while Punjab Police are placed at the bottom of the 12 team league table with nine points. In the first half, the Punjab Police striker Praveen Kumar, Manjit Singh and Narinder well supported by their skipper Kuldip made a number of forays into the rival defence, but the millmen kept them at bay. The cops shadowed the dangerous JCT skipper Stephen Abarowei and did not allow him to take a shot at their goal in the first half. JCT, the winners of the inaugural NFL, aware of the fact that a victory in the match would place them safely in the 10th spot went all out in the second half. With the fear of elimination from the senior division league hanging over their heads, the millmen reorganised themselves and Stephen along with Jaswinder and Ram Pal on a number of occasions broke through the cops defence but Satish Kumar under the bar brought off a number of fine saves.
UNI |
HARIKA STARTS WITH A
VICTORY SAF
GAMES FROM MARCH 29 INDIA LIFT SAARC GOLF TROPHY ITI-HASC CLASH
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Chandigarh, March 30
