Wednesday, April 21, 1999
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S P O R T | Wednesday, April 21, 1999 |
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Sahu's ton puts MP in command BANGALORE, April 20 — A superb maiden century by Santosh Sahu (130) and his 163-run third wicket partnership with Devendra Bundela (79) enabled Madhya Pradesh take the vital first innings lead and gain the advantage over holders Karnataka on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Championship final here today. No Indian on referees' panel MUMBAI, April 20 — Neither Hanumant Singh nor Gundappa Viswanath, India’s representatives on the International Cricket Council’s match referees panel, have found a place in the six-strong panel of referees for the May 14 to June 20 World Cup in England. |
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Miandad, Imran Pak's World Cup
heroes
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A "disjointed
effort" by the IHF Chebet,
Roba win Boston Marathon Penney,
Piper prop up Warwickshire Harsimran,
Sumitra Rao cause upsets
Doherty reaches 2nd round; Ebdon
ousted India
invited to Dunhill Cup Pak
wrestlers for visa relaxation Brijesh
Patel is team manager Dispute
on Cup rights settled Becker
bereaved |
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Sahu's ton puts MP in command BANGALORE, April 20 (PTI) — A superb maiden century by Santosh Sahu (130) and his 163-run third wicket partnership with Devendra Bundela (79) enabled Madhya Pradesh take the vital first innings lead and gain the advantage over holders Karnataka on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Championship final here today. Madhya Pradesh were 339 for six at close - after bowling out Karnataka for 304 from their overnight 291 for nine - with Abbas Ali (29) and Harvinder S. Sodhi (5) together. The 24-year-old Santosh Sahu, who made his debut this season against Uttar Pradesh at Kanpur, led the fightback of the first-time finalists by cracking his maiden Ranji ton with a splendid 130 (245 m, 165 b, 13x4, 4x6). Madhya Pradesh found their runs in a brisk manner as they raced to 125 for two at lunch and further stretched it to 268 for two at tea before losing four wickets before stumps. Sahu punished spinners Yalvigi and Sunil Joshi and helped MP steady their inning after opener J.P. Yadav (3) fell with the score on 11. The in-form Yadav was splendidly caught by Arun Kumar at backward point off M.A. Khan. Sahu, who displayed a positive approach from the word go, played fluent strokes on the off side as he raised the century partnership with Bundela (79) in only 170 minutes off 270 balls. Karnataka bowlers came in for severe punishment as Sahu and the in-form Bundela hammered away. Medium-pacer D. Ganesh’s first spell of four overs cost 31 runs and Joshi’s initial nine overs went for 51 runs. Both Sahu and Bundela rotated the strike well. Bundela, who struck a fine hundred in the semifinal against Hyderabad, hit three boundaries off one Sunil Joshi over as MP at 268 for two at tea looked headed for a massive score. But Ganesh, operating from the pavilion end, had Sahu caught by A. Vijay at silly mid-on and Bundela fell soon after. He attempted a quick single but was caught short of his ground to a direct throw from point by substitute Anil Kumar. Skipper Pandit (10) also fell cheaply, dismissed leg before by Ganesh. Thirtyone runs came through extras out of which 20 were no balls, all delivered by Ganesh. However, Ganesh bowled a good third spell of 7-0-21-2. Joshi proved the most expensive returning figures of 30-4-95-0. Left-hander Abbas Ali also thrilled cricket fans with his batting to be unbeaten on 29 with Sodhi (5) for company. Karnataka (1st
innings) overnight 291 for 9 Sujith Somasundar c
Abbas Ali b Sodhi 70, J Arun c Sahu b R Chauhan 34, S
Shiraguppi c Chauhan b Sodhi 6, R Vijay Bharadwaj c Sahu
b R Chauhan 86, A Vijay c Pandit b JP Yadav 14, Tilak
Naidu c Pandit b M Majithia 12, S Joshi run out 31, B
Akhil lbw Sodhi 6, A Yalvigi c CP Sahu b B Sodhi 4, D
Ganesh c CP Sahu b Sodhi 20, MA Khan not out 7. Madhya Pradesh (Ist
innings): |
No Indian on referees' panel MUMBAI, April 20 (PTI) — Neither Hanumant Singh nor Gundappa Viswanath, India’s representatives on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) match referees panel, have found a place in the six-strong panel of referees for the May 14 to June 20 World Cup in England. The panel comprises Peter Burge (Australia), Raman Subba Row (England), John Reid (New Zealand), Talat Ali (Pakistan), Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka) and Cammie Smith (West Indies). On the officiating side India’s lone representative would be former captain Srinivas Venkataraghavan who is on the panel of 12 field umpires to officiate in the cup, Indian cricket board said here today. Steve Bucknor of the West Indies and England’s David Shepherd are to stand in India’s cup opener against South Africa at Hove on May 15. The World Cup field umpires panel is: Darrel Hair (Australia), David Shepherd, Pater Willey (both England), S. Venkataraghavan (India), Doug Cowie, Steve Dunne (both New Zealand), Javed Akhtar (Pakistan), Rudi Koertzen, Dave Orchard (South Africa), K.T. Francis (Sri Lanka), Steve Bucknor (West Indies) and Ian Robinson (Zimbabwe). The officials for India’s preliminary league ties are: May 15: v South Africa at Hove — David Shepherd (England) and Steve Bucknor (West Indies), third umpire: Ian Robinson (Zimbabwe), match referee: Talat Ali (Pakistan). May 19: v Zimbabwe at Leicestershire — Peter Willey (England) and Dough Cowie (New Zealand): third umpire: Vanburn Holder (West Indies); match referee: Cammie Smith (West Indies). May 23: v Kenya at Bristol — Ian Robinson and Dough Cowie; third umpire: Rudi Koeritzen (South Africa); match referee: Peter Burge (Australia). Against: Sri Lanka at Taunton — Steve Dunne (New Zealand) and Davi Shepherd; third umpire: Rudi Koertzen; match referee: Commie Smith. May 29: India v England
at Edgbaston — Javed Akhtar (Pakistan) and Dough
Cowie: third umpire: Darrel Hair (Australia); match
referee: Peter Burge. |
Miandad, Imran Pak's World Cup heroes ISLAMABAD, April 20 (IANS) — Imran Khan and Javed Miandad may no longer be in action at the World Cup in England, but their batting and bowling achievements remain unbeaten. In Imran and Javed, Pakistan had found a combination of aggressiveness and shrewdness as they registered stunning test cricket victories in England, India, Sri Lanka and the West Indies and teamed up for the ultimate victory in the 1992 World Cup, reports NNI news agency. Javed Miandad, now the coach of the Pakistan team, has played 33 World Cup matches since 1975, which is the highest for any cricket player so far, with Imran trailing at 28. With the distinction of having played all the World Cups, Miandad has scored 1083 runs at an average of 43.32, with one century and eight half centuries. The only other batsman to score 1,000 runs in World Cup matches is West Indies’ Vivian Richards with 1013 runs in 23 matches. With relatively modest World Cup performances in 1975, 1979 and 1983, Miandad made a name during the 1987 and 1992 tournaments. Despite doubts about his fitness, in the semi-final and final matches in 1992 Miandad scored two fifties to guide Pakistan out of the woods against New Zealand and England. Though the 1992 semifinal is remembered for Inzamamul Haq’s quick-fire 60 in 37 balls, it was Miandad’s gritty knock of 60 which saw Pakistan through to the final, which became its first and only World Cup victory. Miandad’s only century in the World Cup came in 1987 against Sri Lanka in Faisalabad. Miandad also shares the record of the highest number of half centuries in the World Cup with England’s Graham Gooch and New Zealand’s Martin Crowe. In the 1992 World Cup, Miandad scored 437 runs at an average of 62.42 with five fifties. As for Imran Khan, in the twilight of his career, he lifted the 1992 World Cup despite a shoulder injury and a depleted team, after bowler Waqar Younis opted out with a bad back. Ending his career on a winning note, the win also helped Imran complete the cancer hospital, which became a philanthropic aspiration for him after his mother died of cancer. Having played in 28 World Cup matches, Imran Khan has 28 wickets to his name with an economy rate of 3.86. Imran eyed the 1987 World Cup as pivotal to his plan of building the cancer hospital in Lahore, but it was in Melbourne that he and his team did the unthinkable and made the hospital a reality. The Lahore semi-final was a huge disappointment and Imran Khan announced his retirement after the World Cup. But it was the persuasion of late Gen. Zia-ul Haq that saw Imran back on the cricket grounds in 1992, gearing himself for the ultimate goal of winning the World Cup. Apart from bowling, Imran always played a vital role in Pakistan’s batting. In the 1983 World Cup, down with a shin injury, Imran topped the Pakistani batting score with 283 runs at an average of 70.75 with a ton and two fifties. The century came against Sri Lanka in Leeds when Pakistan was reeling at 32 for five. Along with Shahid Mehboob, Imran took Pakistan’s score beyond 200 and established a world record for the sixth wicket partnership of 144. In the final of the 1992 World Cup, Imran and Javed scored 58 and 70 respectively when Pakistan were down at 19 for 2. In the 22 World Cup matches that Imran captained, Pakistan won 14 and lost 8. Miandad has played all
the six World Cups and who knows, he may create history
yet again as his coaching seems to have turned a
disjointed Pakistani team into a winning combination. And
Imran Khan, after a disappointing outing in the political
arena, is better advised to return to his cricketing ways
by taking up commentary and coaching. |
Countdown begins to eves' World Cup
On a day when FIFA's tournament trophy was unveiled and English pop singer Billie performed the official song, "Because we want to," organisers said the soccer championship had sold more than 325,000 tickets. Initial estimates in 1997 of potential sales were 312,000. Those estimates have been upgraded to 475,000. And Marla Messing, president of the organising committee, said yesterday she thought more than 500,000 tickets would be sold. "I think the 1994 men's World Cup opened the eyes of the US public to what World Cup soccer is all about," she said at a news conference. "The Atlanta Olympics opened eyes to the power and excitement of women's team sports. We are bringing both of those to bear to show the importance and attraction of this event." The 16-team tournament begins on June 19 with two games at East Rutherford, New Jersey. More than 44,000 tickets have been sold for the doubleheader: USA vs Denmark followed by Mexico vs Brazil. "It's a great place to open the World Cup and it should be an exciting atmosphere," US veteran Kristine Lilly said. "This is what it's all about for us. We play attractively and with passion and we think people will want to come and be a part of it." The other World Cup teams are North Korea, Nigeria, Germany, Italy, Norway, Russia, Canada, Japan, China, Australia, Sweden and Ghana. The American players understand the significance of their role in the tournament, which ends on July 10 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. If the US team flops as the men did in France last year, any hope for huge walk-up sales disappears. If the women repeat their performance in the 1996 Olympics or 1991 World Cup, both of which they won, the tournament could be an enormous success. Single-game tickets went on sale yesterday for all venues: Giants Stadium, Rose Bowl, Foxboro (Massachusetts) Stadium, Jack Kent Cooke Stadium (Landover, Maryland), Soldier Field (Chicago), Spartan Stadium (San Jose, California), Stanford (California) Stadium, and Portland (Oregon) Civic Stadium. "We have said all along that we will have full or near-full stadiums for major games like the opening and final," Messing said. "And we will have very respectable numbers for the other matches." Average ticket sales for first-round doubleheaders not involving the US team are at 14,257. The trophy, designed by William Sawaya, a native of Lebanon now working in Italy, was crafted by hand. It features a spiralling band tapering upward to embrace a soccer ball. "It's startling, with a single gesture from the ground, aiming high, dancing and rising in a crescendo of movement just like the growing interest that the world is showing in women's football." Sawaya said. The theme song was
performed live by 16-year-old Billie, who debuted a song
on the British pop chart at no. 1 and has a double
platinum record. She also will sing the theme at the
opener. |
A
"disjointed effort" by the IHF PATIALA, April 20 — Going by the manner adopted by the Indian Hockey Federation, in organising national camps in preparation for the 2000 Sydney Olympics at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) here and simultaneously at other venues scattered around the country, it seems that the IHF big-wigs are leaving no stone unturned in their effort to fritter away the gains of the Bangkok Asian Games gold medal, which came India's way after 32 years. Leave alone the players not even the coaches attached with the nine players who are attending the camp at the NIS, which commenced on April 15 and will run till April 30, are aware as to which other centres around the country are holding national camps. The IHF selection committee had selected 73 probables after the conclusion of the 53rd Senior National Hockey Tournament at Hyderabad recently. Out of these, nine are attending the camp at the NIS, 11 are practising at the Sector 42 stadium in Chandigarh while no figures are available regarding the break-up of players at other centres. Some players at the camp here are openly questioning the logic behind holding such short-duration camps at various centres. Moreover, these national camps have been turned into an exercise in futility as reports originating from various centres suggest that either due to a communication gap between the IHF and its affiliate units or due to delayed information, most of the players are reporting late or some even not reporting at all. On the first day of the camp at the NIS here, only two players reported. On the second day five showed up and on the third day the figure rose to six while on fourth day of the 15-day camp 8 players have reported. Similarly, in the camp at Chandigarh where eleven players had been asked to report by the IHF under coach Satinder Singh, only two players turned up on the first day while the rest trickled in as the camp progressed. Sports scientists and coaches are questioning the wisdom of the IHF selecting 73 players and then, without assigning any specific reason, making them train at different venues in what they term as a "disjointed effort". Players at the camp here, speaking on conditions of anonymity, are also questioning the purpose of training for just 15 days. With the ill-planned camps which are slowly being turned to a farce, Olympian and Arjuna awardee Harmik Singh, who is the coach in charge of the NIS camp, seems to be doing a good job with whatever material he has at hand. After conditioning and skill training for two hours in the morning, the evening session is devoted to "tactical training through small area games" or playing a four-a-side game. Top sources say that instead of holding camps at different venues, the IHF could have done well to select 18 players each at four centres. To prune down the list further, a tournament could have been held at one venue on round robin league basis where based on their performance the probables could have been wittled down. Now, in the present scheme of things, nobody, including players and coaches, know the future plans of the IHF and what happens after the conclusion of the camp on April 30 is anybody's guess. Meanwhile, Mir Ranjan
Negi, coach in charge of the probables at SAI Centre,
Bangalore, has gone on record as saying that efforts are
on to rope in star performer of the Asian Games gold
medal team, goalkeeper Ashish Ballal. It may be recalled
that due to Ballal's outburst against the IHF president,
Mr K.P.S. Gill, in the aftermath of the Asian Games
victory, the goalkeeper had to pay a heavy price as he
was one of the top six players dropped by the IHF after
the Bangkok Asiad. |
Chebet, Roba win Boston Marathon BOSTON, April 20 (Reuters, AP) — Joseph Chebet continued Kenya’s dominance of the Boston Marathon yesterday, while Fatuma Roba of Ethiopia maintained her personal hold on the women’s race. Chebet, who was overtaken at the finish last year by compatriot Moses Tanui, won the 103rd Boston Marathon in an unofficial time of two hours, nine minutes, 52 seconds. The victory was the 28-year-old Chebet’s first in Boston and the ninth in a row for a Kenyan. Silvio Guerra (30) of Ecuador finished second in an unofficial 2:10.18, while Frank Pooe of South Africa was third in 2:11:37. Roba won in the women’s division for the third year in a row in an unofficial time of 2:23.25. Roba (27) became only the second woman to win the Boston Marathon in three consecutive years following German Uta Pippig’s triple starting in 1994. Switzerland’s Franziska Rochat-Moser, the 1997 New York city marathon champion, finished second among the women in 2:25:51, ahead of Yuko Arimori of Japan in 2:26.39. While Chebet and Roba overwhelmed their opposition, two crowd favourites, defending champion Moses Tanui and four-time champion Bill Rodgers, did not finish. Tanui, also the champion in the race's centennial year in 1996 apparently was bothered by leg cramps and dropped out near the 37-km mark. Rodgers, seeking to break the course record for over-50 by an American, dropped out shortly before the 33.8-km mark because of dehydration. For Chebet, whose previous two losses were by three seconds each, this was his third victory. He won the first two marathons he entered, in Amsterdam in 1996 and in Turin, Italy, in 1997. Roba ran the final miles with a headband given to her by fans along the course. The large Ethopian community in the Boston area gave Roba great support. The wheelchair champions each won for the third consecutive year, with Franz Nietlispach of Switzerland taking the men's title in 1:21:36, and Louise Savage of Australia edging seven-time winner Jean Driscoll of the USA for the women's crown. The 103rd running of the race drew a field of 12,797, the second-largest in history, behind the 38,708 who started in 1996. Chebet and Roba
completed two days of marathon prowess by Africans. On
Sunday, Abdelkader el Mouaziz of Morocco and Joyce
Chepchumba of Kenya won in London, and Kenyans Jephet
Kossei and Tegla Loroupe won in Rotterdam. |
Penney, Piper prop up Warwickshire LONDON, April 20 (AFP) — Trevor Penney and Keith Piper turned the clock back with half-centuries and a three-figure partnership as Warwickshire reached 356 for seven against a wasteful Somerset attack at Edgbaston yesterday. Penney (73), who made only one championship 50 last summer, registered his highest county score for two years and piper (66) topped 50 for the first time since 1996. Their fourth-wicket stand of 124 undid Somerset’s hopes of exploiting a damp, seaming pitch when their New Tasmanian captain Jaime Cox won the toss. A five-member strong pace contingent beat the bat often enough but failed to make the most of the conditions after an early success for Matthew Bulbeck. The England under-19 left-armer made it a brief return to county cricket for Nick Knight when the World Cup opener was caught behind for one. Mark Wagh (44) and David Hemp (47) then seized the initiative for Warwickshire with a partnership of 62 before Wagh was taken at second slip off Graham Rose. Left-hander Hemp became a second victim for wicketkeeper Rob Turner, giving Jason Kerr his first championship wicket of two years after missing most of last season with a shoulder injury. Piper was determined in his new role at number five - the highest position of his career and both batsmen drove and pulled whenever an opportunity presented itself. A dozen boundaries helped Piper to 66 from 103 balls before Andrew Caddick found a fuller length and some away movement to produce another dismissal for Turner. Penney, who scored a first class century in Zimbabwe in January, took over two-and-a-half hours to reach his first championship 50 since last June. Hitting nine boundaries in all, he got to 73 before fending a catch to Cox in the gully from a Kerr delivery which lifted sharply. Bulbeck and Caddick
struck again late in the day, but only after a
partnership of 60 by Neil Smith (37) and Dougie Brown who
added an unbeaten 55 to last week’s maiden century
against Northamptonshire. |
Harsimran, Sumitra Rao cause upsets MUMBAI, April 20 (PTI) — Unheralded Harsimran Bedi and Sumitra Rao of India shocked their seeded countrywomen Shruti Dhawan (fifth) and Simmi Rani (eighth) respectively in the women’s singles first round of the $ 5000 ITF women’s tennis circuit here today. Bedi, playing a solid baseline game, defeated Shruti 6-4, 6-3 while Rao drubbed Simmi Rani 7-5, 7-5 in 90 minutes on way to the second round. Other seeded players in action, however, had no such problems and coasted easily to the second round with straight set wins. Fourth seed and world number 888 Rushmi Chakravorthy sidelined her Mumbai teammate and unseeded K. Janaki 6-0, 6-3 in 40 minutes while seventh seed Tara Kanbargimath subdued qualifier Geeta Manohar 6-4 6-2 in an hour. Third seed Arthi Venkataraman, world number 848, too had an easy time in beating qualifier Nischala Reddy 6-1 6-2 while another qualifier and local girl Nikhila Palat downed unseeded Stutti Smit 6-3, 6-2. In the doubles first round matches, fourth seeds K. Janaki and Radhika Tulpule defeated Radhika Mandke-Sonal Phadke 6-4 6-1 while top seeds Sai Jayalakshmi and Rushmi Chakravorthy and number two seed pair, Arthi Venkatraman of India and Anna Nefedova of Russia got a bye into the second round. Results: Singles (first round): Tara Kanbargimath (Ind) bt Geeta Manohar (Ind) 6-4, 6-2; Rushmi Chakravorthy (Ind) bt K. Janaki (Ind) 6-0, 6-3; Sheetal Goutham (Ind) bt Kalpita Raje (Ind) 6-2, 6-0; Harsimran Bedi (Ind) bt Shruti Dhawan (Ind) 6-4, 6-3; Arthi Venkataraman (Ind) bt Nischala Reddy (Ind) 6-1, 6-2; Sumitra Rao (Ind) bt Simmi Rani (Ind) 7-5, 7-5; Nikhila Palat (Ind) bt Stuti Smit (Ind) 6-3, 6-2. Doubles (first round):
Karishma Patel-Simmi Rani (Ind) bt Nischala Reddy-Sandhya
Kanury (Ind) 7-5, 6-1; K. Janaki-Radhika Tulpule (Ind) bt
Radhika Madhika-Sonal, Phadke (Ind) 6-4, 6-1; Harsimran
Bedi-Nikita Bharadwaj (Ind) bt S. Thyagarajan-Kalpita
Raje (Ind) 6-0, 7-6 (7-3); Tara Kanbargimath-Sumitra Rao
(Ind) bt Vishnupreetham-Padmapreetham (Ind) 6-2, 6-2. |
Lanka to defend Jayasinghe COLOMBO, April 19 (AFP) — Sri Lanka is to defend the island’s controversial sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe at an international arbitration hearing following allegations of doping, a press report said yesterday. The Amateur Athletic Association is sending its president Ari Kannangara and a lawyer who was a member of a panel that cleared Jayasinghe last year of taking banned steroids, the daily news said. The International Amateur Athletic Federation was unhappy over the Sri Lankan panel’s decision in August to clear Jayasinghe by a 2-to-1 vote. It ordered a fresh hearing before an arbitration panel. The daily news said the hearing could be later this week in Monaco. Jayasinghe, 24, joined the world’s athletic elite by winning Sri Lanka’s first world track medal in 1997. She became an instant heroine at home but was soon embroiled in a sex scandal. She accused a top politician of trying to sexually harass her and ruin her career. Jayasinghe has claimed she is the victim of Sri Lankan sports officials trying to control her. Earlier this year she
left for the USA after withdrawing suddenly from the
Bangkok Asian Games, saying she had injured herself
during a qualifying race. |
Doherty reaches 2nd round; SHEFFIELD, April 20 (Reuters) — World No.7 Peter Ebdon went out of the World Snooker Championship at the first hurdle, beaten 10-7 by Matthew Stevens. Ebdon clawed his way back after trailing 4-0 and 5-1, levelling the match at 7-7. But Stevens, who reached the last eight of the competition 12 months ago, held his nerve to win the three frames he required to cross the finishing line yesterday. Meanwhile, Mark King has a slender lead over experienced Welshman Darren Morgan. After establishing a 3-0 lead, the number 16 seed saw Morgan win four out of the next six frames to cut his lead to 5-4. Earlier in the day, Ken Doherty completed a comfortable 10-3 win over Steve James to reach the second round of the championship. Doherty, last year’s runner-up, was left to reflect on a missed opportunity to compile a maximum 147 break - worth £ 167,000. "It was a great opportunity because the balls were so nice," he admitted. "I just got a bit straight on the black. "It is very special to get a 147, especially at the crucible. You don’t get many chances, but at least I won the match and that’s more important." Doherty now faces Nigel Bond in the second round. Canada’s Alain Robidoux became the second seeded player to go out of the tournament when he was beaten 10-6 by Nick Walker, while James Wattana of Thailand edged to a 5-4 overnight lead in his best of 19 frames clash with rising young Hong Kong star Marco Fu. Fu, ranked 377th in the
world, was making his championship debut. |
India invited to Dunhill Cup NEW DELHI, April 20 — India are one of the 16 countries invited for the Alfred Dunhil Cup Invitation Golf Championship at St Andrews (Scotland) from October 7 to 10 this year. Other countries invited for the championship are Australia, China, England, France, , Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Paraguay, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the USA and Zimbabwe. In the maiden participation in 1995, India had caused a major upset in beating Scotland. Gaurav Ghei had then beaten Colin Montgomerrie, World No 2, Jeev Milkha Singh had the better of Andrew Colhart while Ali Sher was the third member of the team. "I think we deserved to be invited again", said Gaurav Ghei, adding: "We should have been invited earlier". The Indian team will be
shortly finalised for the prestigious competition. South
Africa are the defending champions. |
Pak wrestlers for visa relaxation PHAGWARA, April 20 (PTI) — Five international wrestlers from Pakistan today pleaded for waiving visa restrictions for sportsmen so that athletes from both sides could travel across the border more often. The wrestlers — Mohammed Umar, Mohammed Ali, Mohammed Usman, from Gujranwala and Zahid Khan and Harun Khan from Peshawar — told reporters that if rigid visa conditions were relaxed, it would benefit both the game of wrestling and the wrestlers of the two countries. "We will gain from each others experiences and training and even earn money through public bouts," the wrestlers said. The interaction will also ease tension between two countries whose "awaam" (people) wanted to come closer as "we have common language and culture," the Gujranwala trio speaking in chaste Punjabi said. The Pakistani wrestlers said wrestling facilities and training were better in India but hastened to add that things were also improving in Pakistan. These wrestlers, who had
come via road to join the wrestling festival at Anandpur
Sahib during the Khalsa tercentenary celebrations, were
overwhelmed by hospitality on this side of the border and
wished their visas were extended beyond April 29. |
Brijesh Patel is team manager MUMBAI, April 20 (PTI) — The cricket board has appointed former Test player Brijesh Patel as the manager of the Indian World Cup team, led by Mohammed Azharuddin. Board president Raj Singh Dungarpur stated here today that he had been authorised at the apex cricket body’s last annual general meeting held at Calcutta to appoint man for the coveted job and had chosen Patel, currently secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association, for the post. The board was delighted to appoint Patel as the team manager, Dungarpur said and added in his statement, "he himself has been in the two World Cup squads as a player in 1975 and 1979. We are sure that his experience will be of immense help to our team". Dungarpur’s statement ended several days of speculation in the administrative circles of the board and its affiliated units as to who was the front-runner for the prestigious post. The 46-year-old Patel played 21 Tests, scoring 972 runs, and 243 runs in 10 one-day internationals, during his career in the seventies. He is third highest run-getter in the national cricket championship for the Ranji Trophy representing Karnataka. The Indian squad is
scheduled to leave from here on April 23, well in advance
for the May 14 opening of the mega event. |
Dispute on Cup rights settled NEW DELHI, April 20 (PTI) — Stracon India Private Limited today withdrew its petition before the Delhi High Court following an out-of-court settlement reached by it with Doordarshan (DD) regarding marketing of World Cup cricket rights. Stracon, a marketing consortium, agreed to withdraw the petition after Doordarshan proposed to honour the original contract between the two with certain modifications. Justice Dalveer Bhandari had earlier asked the parties to work out a settlement saying that the litigation would take longer time and the World Cup event is slated to begin on May 14. The court today said
"without going into the merit of the offer made by
DD and its acceptance by Stracon, we allow the petitioner
to withdraw the petition." |
Becker bereaved MONTE CARLO, April 20 (Reuters) — Karl-Heinz Becker, father of German tennis star Boris Becker, died last evening, the ATP Tour said today. He had been suffering from cancer and Becker, now semi-retired, had spent most of his time by his side in recent weeks. The three-times
Wimbledon champion has now pulled out of the Monte Carlo
Open in which he had beaten Frenchman Cedric Pioline in
the first round yesterday. |
H
Throwball nationals CHANDIGARH, April 20 (BOSR) — The first national Throwball Championship for school boys and girls will be organised by the School Games Federation of India, at Mysore (Karnataka) from May 24 to 27, as per information reaching here. The championship will be conducted for under-19 boys and girls. Sport dept to fill 37 vacancies CHANDIGARH, April 20 (TNS) — The Haryana Sports Department has decided to fill 37 vacancies of players for providing them training in different sports in all the 10 sports nurseries in the state. This was disclosed by Mr Ram Saroop Rama, Minister of State for Sports, here today. He said the meetings of the constituted committees for selection of the budding players would be held during the next month. The meeting for both Ambala nurseries — gymnastic nursery, Anand Sports Complex, and athletic nursery adopted by Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board, would be held on May 7. Similarly, the meeting for gymnastic nursery at Yamunanagar would be held on May 5 for gymnastic nursery at Bhiwani on May 3 and volley ball nursery at Karnal on May 11. Those selected would be
provided free accommodation, Rs 30 per day as diet money,
sports uniform, equipment and training, he said. |
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NEW YORK, April 20 (AP) — Two months
before the women's World Cup, ticket sales have exceeded
projections and some predict a sellout for the opener at
Giants Stadium in New Jersey.