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78-member squad named for Olympics Dethroned Pakistan have nothing at stake Bonus point system cost Pak dear Miandad
pulls up Woolmer for crying foul |
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Sourav’s captaincy did the trick Laxman likely
to be fit for final The Indian team management is confident that injured VVS Laxman will be fit for the Asia Cup final against hosts Sri Lanka at the R. Premadasa stadium here on August 1. Mongia fashions Lancashire win Dinesh Mongia cracked a superb unbeaten century to lead Lancashire to a thrilling two-wicket win over Warwickshire in the Division One League at Old Trafford. The Indian’s 104 not out off just 105 balls with 10 fours and two sixes in the day-and-night encounter yesterday also kept Lancashire in the hunt for the title. Anand to take on Leko in semifinal World No 2 Viswanathan Anand will take on Peter Leko of Hungary in the semifinal of the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess tournament after a quick draw with Russian champion Peter Svidler helped the Indian to top his group at the end of the preliminary rounds. Serena struggles into 3rd round It was nearly a Williams wipeout at the WTA Tour’s $ 1.3 million hardcourt tournament in San Diego. Hours after Venus Williams withdrew from the tournament with a wrist injury, sister Serena slugged her way past unheralded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-2 to reach the third round yesterday. New Delhi, July 28 In a keenly-contested election, Vinod Tihara of Shastri Club secured the maximum number of votes to emerge on top in the Delhi and District Cricket Association sports committee elections held on the Ferozeshah Kotla premises today. 
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78-member squad named for Olympics New Delhi, July 28 Indian Olympic Association (IOA) secretary-general Randhir Singh, while releasing the list here today, said Indian sportspersons had qualified in 14 disciplines. He said every effort had been made to provide the best of training facilities to the sportspersons who had qualified for the Olympics. He said this was the best-ever contingent to represent India in the Olympics. Randhir Singh hoped that “we will improve our record of medals at the Olympics”. Randhir Singh, who is also a member of the International Olympic Council (IOC), said the latest reports about the performance of the sportspersons was very encouraging. He said the contingent would leave for Athens in batches, and some sportspersons would join directly from various countries where they were undergoing training. Though the IOA had earlier announced the three key officials who would be accompanying the contingent, it has not named the other officials and coaches. Union Water Resources Minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi has been named as the chef-de-mission while Basketball Federation of India secretary-general Harish Sharma will be the deputy chef-de-mission. Indian Hockey Federation secretary-general K. Jyotikumaran will be the secretary-general-cum-treasurer of the contingent. Following is the complete list of the sportspersons: Archery: Men: Majhi Sawaiyan, Satyadev Prasad and Tarundeep Rai. Women: Dola Banerjee, Sumangala Sharma and Reena Kumari. Athletics:
Men: Amritpal Singh (long jump), Binu Mathew (400m), Bahadur Singh (shot put), Vikas Gowda and Anil Kumar (both discus throw). Women: Anju Bobby George (long jump), J.J. Shoba (heptathlon), Manjit Kaur (400m and 400m relay), Neelam J. Singh, Seema Antil and Harwant Kaur (all discus throw), Bobby Aloysius (high jump), Soma Biswas (heptathlon) and Sarswati Saha (200m). 4x400 m relay team: Rajwinder Kaur, K. M. Beenamol, S. Geeta and Sagardeep Kaur. (Manjit Kaur and Chitra K. Soman have also been listed to run the relay). Badminton:
Men: Abhin Shyam Gupta and Nikhil Kanetkar. Women: Aparna Poppat. Boxing: Akhil Kumar (51 kg), Diwakar Prasad (54 kg), Vijender (64 kg) and Jitender Kumar (81 kg). Hockey: Devesh Chauhan and Adrian D’Souza (goalkeepers), Dilip Tirkey (captain), William Xalxo and Harpal Singh (defenders), Ignace Tirkey, Arjun Halappa, Viren Rasquinha, Vikram Pillay and Sandeep Singh (all half line), Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Deepak Thakur Sonkhla, Dhanraj Pillay, Baljeet Singh Dhillon and Adam Sinclair (forwards). Judo: Akram Shah (extra lightweight 60 kg). Rowing:
P.T Paulose (single scull). Shooting: Men: Abhinav Bindra (10m air rifle), Mansher Singh (trap), Manavjit Singh Sandhu (trap), Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (double trap) and Gagan Narang (10m air rifle). Women: Anjali Bhagwat (10m air rifle and 50m rifle 3-prone position), Suma Shirur (10m air rifle) and Deepali Deshpande (50m rifle 3-position). Swimming:
Shikha Tandon (50m free style and 100m freestyle). Tennis: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi (doubles). Table tennis: Achanta Sharath Kamal and Mouma Das. Weightlifting:
Women: Namecpakpam Kunja Rani Devi (48 kg), Thingbaijama Sana Macha Chanu (53 kg), Pratima Kumari (63 kg) and Karnam Malleswari (63 kg). Wrestling: Freestyle: Yogeshwar Dutt (55 kg), Sushil Kumar (60 kg), Ramesh Kumar (66 kg), Sujeet Maan (74 kg), Anuj Kumar (84 kg) and Palwinder Singh Cheema (120 kg). Greco-Roman: Mukesh Khatri (55 kg). Yachting/sailing: Malav Shroff (double- handed dinghy, 49er) and Sumeet Patel (double-handed dinghy, 49er). Umamaheswari Devi (athletics) and Ronak Pandit (shooting) will be the representatives for the youth camp which will be held during the Olympics. |
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Dethroned Pakistan have nothing at stake
Colombo, July 28 Pakistan’s failure to deprive India of a vital bonus point in the Super League match has cost them a place in the final, a huge blow for a team hoping to defend their title. Inzamam-ul Haq and his men, who once again proved that they are an unpredictable team, will be rueing their dismal performance in their opening Super League encounter last Wednesday when the hosts humiliated them and collected the maximum six points. Had they managed to deny the bonus points to Sri Lanka and India they could have hoped to thrash lowly Bangladesh to ensure a place in the final. But now all that the new Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer can do is to inspire his boys to end the tournament on a winning note. Looking back at his team’s performance in their first tournament after the debacle to India in the historic series in April-May, captain Inzamam-ul-Haq can draw comfort from the superb performance of young Shoaib Malik. The 22-year-old all-rounder, who came into the tournament in the shadows of his more famous compatriots, was the find of the tournament for Pakistan after slamming two centuries, including a career-best 143 against India. Coming in at No. 3, Malik lived up to the faith of his captain to record his second hundred in the competition following his 118 against Hong Kong in the league stage. Pakistan has also been benefitted by the tactical shrewdness of new coach Woolmer as they successfully checked the famed Indian batting line-up with innovative field placings and controlled aggression. Woolmer would be looking for more experiments against Bangladesh tomorrow as the defending champions wind up their Asia Cup campaign.
— PTI |
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Bonus point system cost Pak dear Watching India and Sri Lanka decide the fate of Pakistan last night was similar to reading an exciting thriller. I wanted to turn to the last pages before reading the whole book. Ultimately it was a great disappointment to see the game snatched from Sri Lanka’s grasp by some inspired last-minute heroics first by Virender Sehwag and then by Zaheer Khan whom the pundits thought should not have taken the final over. A journalist asked me after the event if I thought it was a good move? My reply was simple, “If it works it is a good move!” For a large part of the Sri Lankan innings Sanath Jayasuriya was a hero to all Pakistan fans by the end he was the villain. One of the great pleasures of batting is to be there at the end steering your side to victory there are not too many feeling like it, I can assure you. It gives you a great feeling of achievement and it is a skill that few players have. Amazingly panic set in and a great penultimate over by young Pathan (what a find he is) ensured that India would win, 11 off the final over is usually sufficient to win a game. This of course brings me nicely into the bonus point system, which in effect cost Pakistan a place in the final. The rule is clear and we all had to play under the rules, yet in my opinion the rule is flawed and needs to be looked at. For instance should a losing side be awarded a bonus point at all? I think not. I do believe good play should be rewarded and my first instinct would be to suggest that if India had beaten Pakistan scoring 301 off 45 overs then they would deserve a bonus point for batting and indeed if we had bowled out India for 260 in 45 overs then Pakistan should have received a bonus point. To receive a bonus point for losing seems quite ambiguous to me. Sri Lanka, for example, deserved a bonus point when beating Pakistan comprehensively on the previous Wednesday, but I am not sure that India deserved a bonus point for settling for defeat. Certainly the bonus point system needs looking at seriously. Having played so badly against Sri Lanka it was good for me to see how well the Pakistan team can perform against a powerful batting line up such as India. We have come to this tournament and “Inshala” if we can beat Bangladesh we will have played 5 won 4 lost 1. This is a good performance and there are real signs that the Pakistan team can move forward from this tournament. Obviously there have been some good performances and positives can be taken from Shoaib Malik and Shabbir Ahmed while the fielding has been above average and the practice sessions and general team attitude has been excellent. This of course will be tested on Thursday because the result against Bangladesh is academic in terms of the tournament although I am sure that Dav Whatmore will say to his team that Pakistan may just take this game too easily and that the complacency will be to our advantage. I am aware that it will be difficult for the team to get themselves up for this game, however we will be making sure that everyone realizes that from now on every game is an important game. If we are to continue the progress we are making, it is
important that every game is played with high intensity levels. — (Gameplan) |
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Miandad pulls up Woolmer for crying foul Kolkata, July 28 “Everybody knew about the bonus point system before the tournament began. The rule applies equally for all,” said Miandad. “Even if I had been part of the team now, I wouldn’t have raised questions about the system,” he said. He said prior to the crucial match against India last Sunday, the Pakistan team management should have had the thing in mind, and asked the players to be careful in future. After Mohammad Kaif got out, the Pakistanis should have gone all out. I think it was a miscalculation on the part of the team management,” Miandad said. Despite an emphatic 59-run win, Pakistan failed to deprive India of the vital bonus point, and subsequently crashed out of the tournament with India snatching a stunning last-ball win against Sri Lanka last night.
— PTI |
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Sourav’s captaincy did the trick India’s thrilling victory over Sri Lanka on Tuesday once again highlighted the unpredictability and uncertainty of this great game of cricket. The result of the entire day’s efforts was decided in the last ball of the match. Teams might have great names and the players might have performed well, but the result is not always in their hands. The Sri Lankan star Sanath Jayasuriya maintained a good run throughout the match, standing in the way of Indians reaching the final. But at the end, Zaheer khan, who otherwise looked like a perfect villain on the field, bowled the last over to steal the limelight. Though Jayasuriya played another great innings of his life, his team members would be extremely unhappy with his dismissal. The Sri Lankan players, while applauding Jayasuriya’s efforts, would suffer in silence, as it was his dismissal that rolled down the curtains on them. Pakistan too, would like to level Jayasuriya as their biggest enemy. Pakistan did beat India, but they have to accept the reality of the tournament rules and indeed, the authority of Indian cricket in the Asian continent. Pakistan will have to wait for another opportunity to show their mettle. There is a thin line that demarcates Ganguly’s great captaincy and an ordinary leadership. In the end, a true leader is the one who often makes the right decisions, be it selecting the right people for the match, winning the toss and most importantly, marshalling his resources on the field. Ganguly has managed it too well to become India’s best captain. The bowling changes in the last few overs were a testimony of his good leadership. Such close encounters make the perfect setting for the grand finale on Sunday. So far the tournament has failed to see the unfailing brutality of the diminutive duo, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. But finals are always different where the best is better derived from great players. The last over bowled by Zaheer Khan must have done a world of difference to his eroding confidence. Great bowlers always work backwards while staging a comeback from an injury. It appears that Zaheer is really working hard to find his place in the eleven. But when the team management picks him ahead of fit Ashish Nehra or Balaji, it proves that he is still an automatic choice. It must have been a hard decision to leave out Balaji, but then, Zaheer’s experience always matters when it comes to crucial qualifying games. The rapid progress made by Irfan Pathan is a great sign for Indian bowling. The strongest guy in the side has given a lot of importance to his fitness, and it is paying him rich dividends. In a bowler’s career, the more he bowls the more he learns. Recently I read an interview of Pathan, where he said: “I want to master my stock ball that is the in-swinger before I try anything else.” I thought it was a matured statement from a youngster, who has just played 18 games. Rahul Dravid once told me that he was amazed with Irfan’s attitude and focus on the game. Most of the Indian batsmen got runs in this tournament at different stages. It is now only the question of all of them coming together with runs on Sunday. The combination of Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble has worked too. With non-regular bowlers like Sachin and Sehwag also chipping in, the bowling department looks more or less settled. Sri Lanka would have loved to pocket the last game to keep the wining streak intact. Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas coming back in the side for the final should not really bother the Indians. It’s all about applying one’s minds on Sunday.
— PTI |
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Laxman likely
to be fit for final Colombo, July 28 Physio Andrew Leipus felt that the star batsman from Hyderabad should be fit for the final. “Hence, we are not seeking any replacement,” team manager M.N. Durai Rajan said. The progress report of the batsman was satisfactory, he said. The batsman has another five days of rest to recover fully. Laxman had haematoma in the left knee after he was hit by a ball in the same region during nets last week where he was hit before the match against Sri Lanka at Dambulla on July 17. The batman had to sit out of the matches against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. India had fielded Parthiv Patel in the crunch match against Sri Lanka, which they had to win to make it to the final, in a bid to strenghten the batting. Unfortunately, India do not have much scope for making changes as there are limited number of batsmen.
— UNI |
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Mongia fashions Lancashire win
London, July 28 The Indian’s 104 not out off just 105 balls with 10 fours and two sixes in the day-and-night encounter yesterday also kept Lancashire in the hunt for the title. After Warwickshire scored 251 for five in 45 overs with captain Nick Knight scoring an unbeaten 122, Lancashire winning with one over to spare. Chasing the stiff target, Lancashire looked as though they were going to win easily when
opener Ian Sutcliffe and Mongia were at the crease. But Sutcliffe’s dismissal for 68 sparked a collapse and briefly put the match back in the balance. However, Mongia held his nerve to take the side to victory in the penultimate over. Brief scores: Warwickshire: 251 for 5 wickets in 45 overs (N Knight 122 not out, N Carter 40, B Hogg 34; Cork 2/45, Keedy 2/47) lost to Lancashire 255 for 8 wickets in 44 overs (D Mongia 104 not out, I Sutcliffe 68; Carter 2/49, Pretorius 2/48).
— PTI |
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Anand to take on Leko in semifinal
Dortmund (Germany), July 28 The semifinals, which starts tomorrow after a rest day, will also see Svidler challenging world No 3 Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the other semifinal. The rest of the players will battle it out for 5 to 8 places. Anand, who had already assured his semifinal berth, ended with a tally of four points from six games to top group B. Svidler too moved into the last four finishing just half a point behind the Indian grandmaster. In third place was local hope Arkadij Naiditsch who defeated Aeroflot Open champion Sergei Rublevsky of Russia in the lone decisive game of the day under classical time control. As expected, the fight for the semifinal spots in group A was stretched to the tie-break after another spate of draws. World No 3 Vladimir Kramnik settled for the truce in just 20 moves with Hungarian Peter Leko while world’s youngest GM Sergey Karjakin got the same result against defending champion Viktor Bologan in 25 moves. Though there was not a single decisive game in the preliminaries in group A, the status quo was maintained as Kramnik eventually finished on top with four points at the end of the tie-breaker. Leko finished second with 3.5 points, Bologan was third on 2.5 and Karjakin fourth on 2.0 points. Anand had little to do with black against Svidler as a draw suited both perfectly to move to the last four stage. For the record both played out 19 moves of a closed Ruy Lopez before signing the peace treaty. Naiditsch scored his first victory in the tournament though a little too late. Rublevsky again went for the Scotch opening and some reckless play enabled Naiditsch to gain the upper hand after some quick exchanges in the middle game. Rublevsky lost a couple of pawns and never recovered.
— PTI |
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Serena struggles into 3rd round
San Diego (USA), July 28 Hours after Venus Williams withdrew from the tournament with a wrist injury, sister Serena slugged her way past unheralded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-2 to reach the third round yesterday. “I didn’t play very well. I made a lot of mistakes, but I guess when I needed the big point I came through,” said the top-seeded Williams, who had a first-round bye. Winless in six straight tournaments — her longest drought in five and a half years — Serena Williams displayed an error-prone game similar to the one that cost her in Sunday’s loss to Lindsay Davenport in the final in Los Angeles. “There are things I need to work on,” she admitted. “It’s not finding the groove and hitting the ball around and just some technical things. In order to get ahead, sometimes you have to take a step back, and that’s with things I’m trying to work on with my game.” Earlier, 11th-seeded Venus Williams withdrew with a sprained right wrist suffered on Saturday in a freak accident after tying her shoe, hours before her Los Angeles semifinal against Davenport. “I have been resting my wrist and receiving as much treatment as possible in order to give myself every possible chance to play,” Venus said. “Unfortunately, there just wasn’t time to recover. “I’ve been advised to let the wrist fully heal in order to prevent aggravating it more seriously and risk potentially missing more of the season. Serena was asked if she could carry on the winning tradition of Venus, a three-time champion in this event. “She never loses here,” Serena said. “So I’m going to have to pick up my game, for sure.” Serena joined four Russians in the third round. Third seed Anastasia Myskina, the French Open champion, bounced Barbara Schett of Austria 6-3, 6-4, while No 5 Elena Dementieva defeated Puerto Rican Kristina Brandi 6-1, 6-1. Teenage sensation Maria Sharpova, seeded sixth and making her first appearance since winning Wimbledon earlier this month, beat American Lilia Osterloh 6-3, 6-3, and No 12 Vera Zvonareva dismissed Spaniard Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 6-0, 6-3. “After Wimbledon, I didn’t play tournaments, but for my first match back, it was pretty good,” said Myskina, who played Federation Cup after the fortnight at the All-England Club. “I was up 4-0 in the second set but I lost concentration. I’m just happy it was two sets.”
— AFP |
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DDCA sports
committee poll New Delhi, July 28 Other members elected to the committee are: Anil Kumar Chaudhary (Darling Club), Surya Prakash Sharma (Gemini), Naresh Sharma (Young Cricketers), Ashok Kumar Katyal (Goswami Ganesh Dutt), Vijay Bahadur Mishra (State Bank), Vinod Sharma (Super Star), Satish Sharma (Kishanganj Colts), Ramesh Sachdeva (Friends) and Yudhvir Singh (Rajdhani).
— OSR |
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