Sunday, September 12, 1999
spotlighttoday's calendar
|
S P O R T | Sunday, September 12, 1999 |
|
| weather spotlight today's calendar |
|||
|
Lanka complete 6-wicket win
|
|
Windies skittled out for 163 Bury FC appeal for Bhutia’s
permit Good response to golf meet Johnnie Walker golf from September
17 India ‘A’ team confident Jeev tied at 29th spot
|
||||||||
|
Hingis, Serena set up title clash NEW YORK, Sept 11 (AP) — Serena Williams did her part by dethroning Lindsay Davenport as US Open women’s champion yesterday, but big sister Venus limped off in defeat to Martina Hingis and missed a chance at historic all-in-the-family final. Serena reached her first major final with the aid of a shanked shot that squirted in for a key break and 12 aces that helped seal the victory. The muscular 17-year-old came back from a dreadful drubbing in the second set, in which she lost 14 of the last 16 points, then put on a buoyant display of grit and athleticism to win 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. Venus, who was 17 when she lost in the final against Hingis two years ago, couldn’t complete the sister-sister matchup that their father, Richard, had been predicting for the past few weeks. “Now she’s playing for two people,” Venus said. “Hopefully, I gave Martina a good workout today.” In an exhausting duel that left Venus cramping at the end and barely able to reach the net on serves, Hingis came through with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory. “It was a tremendous match, especially in the third set,” Hingis said. “I tried to keep her running. I knew she was cramping. It was more a battle of wills than a display of beautiful tennis with Venus’ serve broken nine times and Hingis’ six. But what it lacked in aesthetic value, it certainly more than made up for in tension and effort with both players producing spectacular shots at times. None was better than the one Hingis made to set up match point. Venus had flicked a deft drop volley near the sideline, across the court from Hingis. The 18-year-old from Switzerland chased it down and sent a running one-handed backhand over the net post into the corner. “It was unbelievable,” Hingis said. “I was so lucky. I put my racket there and it just went in. I was running, like, boom, boom, boom, one step after the other. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I didn’t believe I was going to get it in but it went into the corner.” The crowd roared at that shot, as it had on so many others, and Hingis followed it with a service winner to advance to her third Grand Slam final this year and seventh overall. She already owns five major titles. Rain delayed the start of the semis finals by two and a half hours, and the players had to cope with conditions that ranged from glaring sun to dark gray shade. Little separated Serena Williams and Davenport in the first set until the last game, when Williams came up with a darting volley crosscourt for deuce. Davenport netted a forehand on the next point, then couldn’t handle a deep forehand by serena on set-point. Venus watched the first set at courtside, then retreated to warm up for her match. Davenport, No 2, seemed on the way back to the final when she raced through the second set in just 24 minutes and allowed Serena only two points in the three service games she was broken. Serena seeded No 7 and playing in only her second US Open, found the range again when she served for the first time in the third set. She unleashed three straight aces to let Davenport know she wasn’t going away. They stayed on serve to 3-3, when Serena gained the first break-point of the set with a running forehand volley crosscourt after a superb rally. Then luck entered the
equation. Serena lunged to her right to reach for a
return and squirted a mis-hit shot just over the net. The
surprised Davenport ran in to scoop it up awkwardly, but
slapped it long to fall behind 4-3. |
|
KANDY (Sri Lanka) Sept 11 (pti) — A resurgent Sri Lanka completed their first-ever Test victory over unofficial world champions Australia with an emphatic six-wicket verdict on the third day of the first cricket Test here today. The hosts skittled out the injury-hit Aussies for 140 in their second innings and then survived early hiccups before coasting to the historic win by reaching the target of 95 for four wickets after lunch at the Asgiriya Stadium. Old warhorses Aravinda De Silva, unbeatean on 31, and deposed skipper Arjuna Ranatunga (19 not out) heralded the first success for Sri Lanka against Australia in 11 Tests, the victory sealed through an overthrow. Australia, who had won seven of the 10 previous Tests coming into the match, sorely missed skipper Steve Waugh and paceman Jason Gillespie, put out of action with a fractured nose and right tibia respectively suffered in yesterday’s on-field collision going for a catch. It was a great triumph for the islanders, for new skipper Sanath Jayasuriya in particular, against bitter rivals Australia but stand-in skipper Shane Warne set aside his recent disparaging remarks against Ranatunga by congratulating him at the end of a bowler-dominated contest. Ricky Ponting once again battled his way to top-score with 51 and added 41 runs for the eighth and last wicket with Glenn McGrath (10 n.o.) before the innings ended. Sri Lanka were made to work for their runs as off-spinner Colin Miller grabbed three for 48 to leave the innings at 60 for four before De Silva and Ranatunga guided their team home. Sri Lanka, looking
poised to win the match well within the distance after
reducing Australia to 89 for six overnight, removed Colin
Miller with left-arm paceman Chaminda Vaas (3/15) having
him bowled for eight. |
|
NEW YORK, Sept 11 (PTI) — Crack Indian pair Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi’s dominating run came to a halt in the men’s doubles final of US Open Tennis Championships when they were outsmarted by Sebastian Lareau and Alex O’Brien in a rain-delayed tie here last night. The top seeds wasted two set points in the first set tie-break to hand the initiative to the Canadian-American pair before losing the tie 6-7 (7/9) 4-6 in one hour and 20 minutes. The world No 1 Indian team looked short of rest and troubled with rain delay when the summit clash finally got off four hours behind schedule with venue being shifted to Louis Armstrong Stadium from Arthur Ashe centre court. Despite the loss, Indians, who exacted crowd support from otherwise partisan Americans, made history of sorts by reaching the final of all four Grand Slams in a calendar year. The team of Ken McGregor and Frank Sedgman achieved it last, in 1952, while the Indians are first in the Open era to do so. The straight set loss also put paid to the Indian’s hopes of winning three straight Grand Slam titles after their victories at French Open and Wimbledon earlier in the year. Tipped as the most dominating team of the Open era, surpassing the ever-remarkable tandem of legendary John McEnroe and Peter Fleming, Paes/Bhupathi last night started the final, delayed due to rain, committing several unforced errors that left them struggling to hold serves. It looked like Lee and Hesh had forgotten to bury the ghost of their Wimbledon quarterfinal clash. The Indians then were down two sets to love and third going into the tie-break against the same Canadian-American team when the eventual winners resurrected their game and went on to win the clash in five sets. A best of three-set-format here was also responsible for their defeat as the Indians are known for picking up their game after getting warmed up in initial sets. The 11th-seeded pair of Lareau/O’Brien struck the vital blow when they broke Bhupathi’s serve in the sixth game of the first set. Bhupathi served two good aces and led 30-0 before their opponents returned fantastically to go 30-40 up winning three points in a row. Bhupathi managed to take the game to deuce but aggressive play by Lareau gave them the crucial break. Lareau made it look easy in the seventh game to go 5-2 up in the first set. The Indians showed their reselience in such situations when Paes struggled, but held on to his serve for 3-5, and then there was the longest game of the men’s doubles event at Flushing Meadows — on O’Brien’s service. Down 0-40, O’Brien served well to deuce but then Indians wasted eight break-point chances as the game went to as many deuces before Paes/Bhupathi converted the ninth break-point to bring the set back on serve. Paes was at his best in
the 10th game on Bhupathi’s serve when he played a
ball virtually going in to the stands after Lareau hit a
cross court volley. Paes flicked a forehand return that
flew wide off the net post and into the opponent’s
court surprising everyone witnessing the rally. Lareau
won the next game and Paes forced the tie-breaker. The
Indians had the best chance to close out the set leading
6-4 but Bhupathi’s serve came in for punishment and
it was 6-5. Lareau levelled the scores (6-6) and then
went ahead (6-7). Paes levelled back (7-7) but that was
all the resistance they could produce as he lost the next
point (7-8) and O’Brien served to win the first set
7-6 (9/7). |
|
MUMBAI, Sept 11 (PTI) — Indian skipper Sachin Tendulkar left for Australia early today to attend to his recurring back stiffness. Tendulkar was accompanied by Mumbai sports medicine expert Dr Anant Joshi and another injured team-mate Ajit Agarkar, who is also going to take expert medical advice for his hamstring injuries sustained late last month. Tendulkar’s brother Ajit told PTI that the master batsman’s first stop in Australia would be Adelaide. “He himself did not know which centres he was scheduled to visit in Australia, as the entire matter is being handled by Dr Joshi”, he said. Tendulkar is expected to be away for a week, he added. Tendulkar told Star TV at Mumbai airport that he had full confidence in the doctors who have been lined up to examine his back in Australia. “MRF have fixed up all formalities (in Australia). All doctors have been called to Adelaide”, he said. Asked about his problem, Tendulkar said there was some stiffness. “I don’t feel too comfortable”, he said. When asked about what he wanted to tell his fans, he smiled and said: “Pray for me”. Tendulkar had returned home after playing in the tri-nation tournament final against the West Indies at Singapore on Wednesday night while the rest of the Indian squad left for Toronto to take part in the three-match series against the calypso charmers. UNI adds: Tendulkar hoped that he would be carrying the good wishes of millions of fans. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was willing to pay the medical bill but a Chennai based tyre manufacturing firm, whose product Tendulkar endorses, volunteered. The BCCI is likely to pay for Agarkar. Both players were unsure of how long they may have to stay Down Under. Since March, Tendulkar has been hampered by a stiff back which made him miss some matches. Earlier this year, he underwent a thorough check-up from a back specialist in London but his problem persisted and he had to take the advice of Australian spin wizard Shane Warne to go to the doctor who had treated his shoulder successfully. Tendulkar will miss the
Toronto three-match series against the West Indies and
may also skip the Nairobi triangular contest featuring
South Africa and Zimbabwe. |
Serena Williams arrives for date with destiny NEW YORK, Sept 11 (AFP) — Serena Williams, the youngest of five black sisters who grew up in the slums of suburban Los Angeles, has played her way into the US Open tennis final and a date with destiny at age 17. “This is the moment in time,” she said. “This is what I’ve been working for, the Grand Slams.” Williams, a second-year professional who had not played a Grand Slam quarterfinal until Monday, ousted defending champion Lindsay Davenport 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 and advanced to today’s final against world No 1 Martina Hingis. The Swiss 18-year-old ousted Serena’s sister Venus Williams 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, to spoil their father Richard Williams’ predicted all-Williams title match. “I didn’t want that final to happen, Williams versus Williams,” Hingis said. “They are three against me, so in talking I can’t beat them. I have to beat them on the court.” Hingis started by beating Venus here in the 1997 final. Now she faces another Williams coming out party after taking advantage of leg cramps by Venus. But she knows she must outlast another bead-tressed rival. Told Serena was practicing into the night, Hingis said, “All right. Work more and get cramps too. I’m going to have a massage.” A glum Venus Williams has high hopes her sister could take a measure of revenge for her own ’97 loss to Hingis. “Hopefully, Serena will do better than I did two years ago. She has a lot more to work with than I did at that time,” Venus Williams said. “Now she’s playing for two people. I hope I gave Martina a good workout.” The Williams sisters have helped boost minority participation in the US tennis, proving that effort can overcome difficult circumstances. “It’s amazing. I think it’s an awesome accomplishment to do what they have done,” said US Open men’s semifinalist Todd Martin. “I don’t know everything about their history. But I know they haven’t come from the same type of background most of us have. It’s quite an example they’ve set, more than anything else, just a great achievement.” Serena Williams won four consecutive three-set matches to reach the final, rallying after losing the opening set in the first three of them. She called the toughness to recover a sign of an improved mental game. “I have really developed mentally a lot,” she said. “I’m really more composed out there. I didn’t get nervous or anything. I just stayed determined and focused. I’m able to pull it through.” Nobody knows that better than dethroned Davenport, who watched her hit 35 winners and make 44 unforced errors to control the tempo. “When you go for shots like she does, you’re going to make errors,” Davenport said. “She cut that down tremendously from what she did a year ago. She has always had a good serve. She seems now to make some first serves in some bigger moments of a match.” “I lost to a player who is a very, very good player. This happens to be her first time in a Grand Slam final. But she has had a great year.” Serena, ranked a career-high sixth, won titles in Paris, Indian Wells and last month in Manhattan Beach. She is 37-6 this year and has won 12 matches in a row, last losing to Mary Joe Fernandez in the third round of the French Open. She skipped Wimbledon with an illness. Serena Williams went on a 16-match winning streak earlier this year before Venus beat her in the Key Biscayne final, the only all-Williams final for now. Serena said she will not fully appreciate the accomplishment she has achieved over this fortnight until well after it ends. “Maybe next
week,” she said. “Then it will all be over and
I will know the outcome.” |
|
TORONTO, Sept 11 (PTI) — Indian bowlers led by warhorse Robin Singh bowled a discreet line and extracted the maximum out of the windy conditions to bowl out West Indies for a lowly 163 runs in the DMC Cup opener here today. Robin Singh, along with Debashish Mohanty and Nikhil Chopra did the early damage and had the West Indians tottering at 57 for four after stand-in skipper Saurav Ganguly won the toss and elected to field. After Mohanty rattled the stumps of Adrian Griffiths and Chopra got Chanderpawul (16) dismissed, stumped by MSK Prasad, Robin Singh bowled out Chris Gayle and had skipper Brian Lara caught by Kanitkar at deep square leg to leave the Caribbeans precariously placed. Just when it appeared that the Indians would run through the West Indian innings, opener Sherwin Campbell and the “butcher from Jamaica” Ricardo Powell stemmed the rot and put on 64 runs in quick time. Powell, who struck an
explosive 124 to rescue West Indies from the jaws of
defeat to an outstanding victory in the Singapore
Challenge Cup on Wednesday, continued from where he left
and was particulary severe on Venkatesh Prasad, whom he
hit for two sixes in consecutive overs to end the
Karnataka medium-pacer’s second spell of two overs
which cost 21 runs. |
Bury FC appeal for Bhutia’s permit LONDON, Sept 11 (PTI) — England’s Bury FC has appealed to a government-appointed tribunal to allow star striker Baichung Bhutia to become the first Indian to play in English soccer league. Bury’s chairman, Mr Terry Robinson, yesterday told the panel that 22-year-old Bhutia, who was picked up after a week-long trial at the club, would act as a role model for young Asians. Mr Robinson was supported by Mr David Chaytor, MP for Bury North, who has urged the government to overhaul the work permit system for sportsmen and women. Bhutia, striker for
Calcutta giants East Bengal before joining Bury, is a
superstar in India, where he is known as the “boy
wonder” from Sikkim and the “star of
Asia”. |
Good
response to golf meet NEW DELHI, Sept 11 - More than 250 men and women teed-off in the ITDC-Heinemann Duty Free Golf Championship at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) course. Many among them hit a long ball and also gave an exhibition of accurate putting in the two-day promotional meet, which concluded today. Following recent rains, the course was in a beautiful condition. This egged on players to raise their game to dizzy heights. Who won prizes or who could not win did not bother any. But all of them enjoyed immensely and asked ITDC vice-president (duty free) Chandni Luthra for holding it annually. Among participants were some renowned players who helped their partners play well. While M.P. Bezbaruah, Secretary Tourism, and the Lt-Governor of Delhi, Mr Vijay Kapoor, inaugurated the inaugural competition, there were Arjuna awardees and diplomats who lent colour and prestige to the meet. Sita Rawlley, an Arjuna awardee and one of the senior-most lady players, was candid in saying that it was now difficult for her to sustain for 18 holes. “But the course has been so delightfully impressive that I kept hitting the ball though I was tired”, said Sita. A much junior player in age, Champika Syal, was happy that she had as many as eight pars in the round of 18 holes. “I played exceedingly well and I am more than satisfied”, said Ms Syal. Looking at the response and judging from support, the ITDC has decided to hold one of the major tournaments carrying more than Rs 1 crore in prize money. “We have been planning for the last 9-10 years but now we are set to stage it”, said Mr Ashok Pradhan, Chairman of the India Tourism Development Corporation. Apart from winners and
runners-up in different sections, several other prizes
were given away. They included long drives and nearest to
the pin. |
Johnnie Walker golf from
September 17 NEW DELHI, Sept 11 — The sixth edition of Johnnie Walker International Club Championship will tee off at Delhi Golf Club (DGC) course on September 17 and 18. Following this regional meet, similar contests will be held at Bangalore from southern region and at Calcutta for eastern on September 25 and 26. Mumbai will be the venue for western region championship on October 9 and 10. Nepal final will be held at Kathmandu on September 11 while Sri Lanka final will be staged at Colombo on October 3. Finalists from Sri Lanka and Nepal will join India to compete for the title at Classic Golf Resort (Gurgaon) on October 15 and 16. The winners will be invited to watch European PGA Tournament at Taipei where, among others, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh, will be in action in November. The organisers have
evolved a system in which participants with varying
handicaps are on equal footing in the contest. |
|
NEW DELHI, Sept 11 (UNI) — The four-day preparatory camp at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here wound up today on a note of optimism struck by coach of the US-bound India A team Krishnamachari Srikkanth even though rain prevented the team from having full-fledged nets on all but the final day. Compared to the first three days when the weather gods dogged the team by restricting their practice session to just fielding — as the area in and around the pitch remained soggy — today was better. “Players today had a relatively active practice session in all departments of the game,” Srikkanth said after the team’s concluding session at the nets. “Besides serious practice sessions and workouts, the prime aim was to bring the youngsters together. It was achieved,” added the former national skipper. Limited-over opening batsman and wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist is leading the Austraila-A cricket team, coached by former captain Allan Border. It contains two players — Damien Martyn and Andrew Symonds — from the squad that toured Sri Lanka recently. Teams: India-’A’ : VVS Laxman (captain), Sameer Dighe (vice-captain), SS Das, Davendra Bundela, Vijay Bhardwaj, Mohammed Kaif, S Sriram, Virendra Sehwag, Dodda Ganesh, Rahul Sanghvi, J.P. Yadav, Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh. Australia-A : Adam Gilchrist (captain), Damien Martyn, Ryan Campbell, Brendan Creevey, Michael Di Venuto, Lea Hansen, Brad Hodge, Brett Lee, Scott Muller, Corey Richards, Andrew Symonds and Brad Young. One-day schedule:
September 15, 16, 18, 19 and 21. |
|
NEW DELHI, Sept 11 (UNI) — On an exceptional day when fans watched a rare albatross being scored, India’s Jeev Milkha Singh made another cut on the European PGA Tour, but slipped from a position of strength to be placed tied for 29th place after two rounds of the million Euro Victor Chandler British Master. According to information reaching here from the 6,973-yard, par-72 Woburn Golf and Country Club at Woburn, England, Jeev was tied for third place on the leaderboard when he was three-under for the day after 13 holes. But the Chandigarh pro
hit a bad patch thereafter and made bogies on the 14th,
16th and 17th holes to finish the day at level-par 72. |
H
Lakhbir
to lead PATIALA, Sept 11 — Ranji Trophy Cricketer Lakhbir Singh of PSEB will lead the Patiala district cricket in the Punjab State Inter-District Cricket Tournament for the Katoch Shield. Patiala are scheduled to play their first match against Chandigarh on September 10 here. The other members are: Sanjeev Kapuria, (vice-captain), Harjit Bajwa, Binwant Singh, Gagaginder Garry, Harikrishan Kali, Gautam Mandora, Amit Kakria, Gulzarinder Singh, Kiran Kumar, Gaganinder Dhindsa, Anoop Kumar, Aman Sood, Hatinder Sekhon, Former Duleep Trophy cricketer, Mr Umesh Kumar of the SBOP will be the manager of the team and Mr Sunil Khosla will be the coach. Cricket
trials ROPAR, Sep 11 —The trials to select the Ropar district cricket team to participate in the under-19 inter-district cricket tournament to be organised by the Punjab Cricket Association will be held on September 12 according to Mr S.P. Singh, Secretary, Ropar District Cricket Association. Ropar will play their first match against Jalandhar. Football
super league GARHSHANKAR, Sept 11 — The Punjab Football Super League among JCT Mills, Phagwara, Punjab Police, Jalandhar, BSF Jalandhar, PSEB Hoshiarpur, and RCF Kapurthala, will be held at SGGS Khalsa College, Mahilpur, from September 15 to 20, according to a Press note released by the District Football Association, Hoshiarpur. The winners will participate in the Federation Cup. Rathee,
Virender in last 8 ROHTAK, Sep 11 — Battlelines for the men’s quarterfinals were drawn today in the 33rd Haryana State Open Badminton Championship being held here at Service Club. In today’s matches defending champion Ajay Rathee of Sonepat defeated Arun of Faridabad (15-4, 16-3) to reach the quaterfinals. Virender of Bhiwani got a walk over against P.C. Tiwari of Kurukshetra. In the girls category (under-10) Palvi Aggarwal of Panchkula defeated Shurti (11-6, 11-2) and Chesata defeated Deepali (11-1, 11-2) to reach the final. Gaurav Kapoor, Saurav and Parteek Kumar (all belonging to Panchkula) and Gaurv (Bhiwani) reached in semifinal in the boys (under 13) category. In men’s doubles event, Vijay and Amit of Rohtak defeated J.C. Grawal and Ramvijay of Hisar in a one-sided encounter by a margin of 15-1, 15-0 whereas in another tough match the duo of Amit and Vijay (Rohtak) managed to defeat Arun and Pankaj of Faridabad 15-13, 8-15 & 15-12 to enter the next round. |
Boxing coach honoured PATIALA, Sept 11 — Chief National boxing coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu was honoured here yesterday at a glitttering function at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports for bagging the prestigious Dronacharya Award for 1999. Sandhu was presented a shawl and roll of honour by the NIS Executive Director, Col. B.S. Ahluwalia. The citation read: “By his indomitable will, perseverance and diligence, Sandhu left no stone unturned to groom the pugilists into champion warriors in the boxing ring. If many Indian boxers are in AIBA world ranking today, Sandhu is modestly behind such accomplishments. The NIS wishes him and his family members health, happiness and well-being. In a moving speech, Sandhu said: “I got everything from the NIS . I owe to my boxing coaches all that I have achieved. With Dingko Singh, Gurcharan Sigh, Jitender Kumar and a few other promising pugilists, Indian boxing is showing bright rays and the future looks pretty rosy. Sandhu joined the NIS in September 1976. Indian boxers are currently training at the NIS under him and foreign coach B.I. Fernandez for the Sydney Olympics. 21
players for cricket camp LUDHIANA, Sept 11 — Twentyone players have been selected to attend a camp prior to their participation in the Punjab State Inter-District Cricket Tournament (u-19) for the Dhruv Pandov Trophy to be organised by the Punjab Cricket Association. These players will attend the camp here at the S D Government College ground till September 20. In their first match,
Ludhiana will play Kapurthala on September 21 and 22 at
Kapurthala. The players are — Manav Dhupar,
Gagandeep Singh, Rajan Singh, Charanjit Singh, Devinder
Singh, Gaurav Marwaha, Tarun Kanish, Shiv Kumar, Jatinder
Singh, Varun Gupta, Salil, Rajesh, Tavish Gupta, Deepak
Dhir, Ashish Vinayak, Prabhjot Khatra, Amit Sharma,
Jasdeep Singh, Mukesh Shukla, Bharat Batra and Pardeep
Sharma. |
 |
 |
| Nation
| Punjab | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | | Chandigarh | Editorial | Business | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
