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Ignace Tirkey in World Cup squad
India look to tame Lanka, weather permitting
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E-mail led to SA pullout
Asif, Gul wreck England
Cricketers to undergo dope test
South Asian Games
Iranian kabaddi team
arrives in Punjab
Black Elephant win cricket series
Harikrishna wins U-20 world title
BSF get past Punjab cops
Kulbir re-elected PDGA president
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Ignace Tirkey in World Cup squad
Chennai, August 17 Ignace, who was out of action for several months because of injury, replaced Namdhari mid-fielder Ajmer Singh. Young linkman Nitin Kumar was rewarded for his good showing in the six-nation junior tournament in Poland earlier this year and received a call-up for the national team in place of Bimal Lakra, who skipped the World Cup preparatory camp citing domestic pre-occupations. Besides the two changes, the whole team that won the bronze medal in the eight-nation Azlan Shah tournament remain unchanged for the World Cup to be held from September 6 to 17. Squad: goalkeepers: Adrian D’Souza, Bharat Kumar Chetri; full backs: Dilip Tirkey, Sandeep Singh, Kanwalpreet Singh; mid-fielders: V.S. Vinay, Vikram Pillay, Prabodh tirkey, Viren Rasquinha, Nitin Kumar, Ignace Tirkey; forwards: Gagan Ajit Singh, Tejbir Singh, Rajpal Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Shivendra Singh, Arjun Halappa, Hari Prasad. Chief coach: V Baskaran; coach: Harendra Singh; physio: Ravi Kanakamedala; trainer: Derek Knox; manager: S.P. Das; videographer: S.
Ramakrishnan. Gagan stars in
Seniors’ win
A 63rd minute goal by Gagan Ajit Singh helped India Seniors beat Development side 1-0 and lift the Independence Cup
here yesterday. Gagan scored the winner off a move initiated by Viren Rasquinha just as the final appeared to be heading beyond the regulation time at the
floodlit Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium. For Development the likes of Gurvinder Singh, Raja, Adam Sinclar and Sandeep Micheal supported by the midfield made several good moves but were unable to score. The defenders of both the teams also did a neat job. The
Development players did not allow their experienced rivals much freedom to move around though V.S. Vinaya and Arjun Halappa were seen making advances to feed the frontline comprising Gagan, Tejbir Singh and Shivender Singh. Raja almost scored in the sixth minute but his shot off a Gurvinder Singh pass could not beat custodian Adrian D’Souza. For the Seniors, Gagan missed a couple of chances but made amends finally. In a surprise move, Sinclair, who was fielded late in the second half gave a pass to Tejbir towards his right and he in turn fed it to Gagan, who slammed the goal from the top of the circle.
— PTI
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India look to tame Lanka, weather permitting
Colombo, August 17 After a lot of rains, a bomb explosion and a soap opera that saw one of the contestants calling it off, the action finally shifts to the field. The Indians agreed to continue with the tour while South Africa pulled out of a tri-series citing “unacceptable levels” of threat to their safety in the aftermath of a bomb blast that killed seven and injured several others early this week. Rahul Dravid and his men, after remaining in the confines of their hotel rooms for most of their time since arriving in Sri Lanka last Thursday, would be eager to have a crack at the Lankans who have a strong record on their own soil. India thrashed their opponents 6-1 when the two met in the former’s home turf late last year, but they would be also mindful of their ordinary 20-21 win-loss record in the Emerald Isle. The last time the Indians won a series in the island nation was in 1998 when they won a three-match series 2-1. That all three matches, the second and third on Sunday and Tuesday, respectively, are to be played at the SSC in day light would come as boost for the Indians who have won eight of their 15 matches there. One big impediment to the Indians’ ambitions though could be the inclement weather. The torrential showers, which battered the capital city on the western coast for the last five days, seemed to withdraw since last afternoon. But they returned in full force today barely an hour after the two teams finished their morning practice sessions. Some of the locals might have felt that the rains had been a more major cause of worry than the violence, and Dravid said as much at a media conference yesterday. “We are probably worried more about the weather than the security. Hopefully, the weather will hold out from now on,” he said. “Maybe other teams’ focus has gone off, but we have always remained focussed on cricket.” The teams’ preparations were severely disrupted in the lead-up to the series and India have been able to play only one warm-up match. Sachin Tendulkar would be the cynosure of all eyes as he returns from a near five-month layoff following a shoulder surgery. Tendulkar may open with Dravid as partner and Virender Sehwag could come down at number four but the Indian team management preferred to keep its cards close to the chest. Focus will also be on Irfan Pathan who struggled in the West Indies while India will also be looking to better their one-day record in Sri Lanka. Also making his comeback would be another veteran, Sanath Jayasuriya. The explosive Sri Lankan left-hander announced his retirement after being dropped from the Test team earlier this year before being recalled to join the squad in England in the summer. Sri Lankan skipper Marvan Atapattu is not expected to take the field as he is recovering from a lower-back injury. “We don’t want to rush him. He is a key player for us and there is lots of cricket ahead,” stand-in captain Mahela Jayawardene said. — PTI
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E-mail led to SA pullout
Durban, August 17 The e-mail was received by the South African High Commission in Colombo, Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola disclosed today. “The Tamil Tiger Youth sent an e-mail to the High Commission saying that the team must come home,” Majola said in Johannesburg. Sri Lankan officials, however, said in Colombo they were not aware of any such group. Majola said the ICC-approved security consultants had given a report saying the risk to the South African team in Sri Lanka was of an “unacceptable level”. “We’ve been waiting for the report from the ICC-approved security consultants. The report says the current risk is unacceptable and the Sri Lankan government is unable to guarantee the physical safety of the team,” Majola said. Colombo: Sri Lanka Cricket on Thursday criticised South Africa over pulling out from a tri-series and thanked India for deciding to continue with the tour despite a fatal bomb blast here early this week. Sri Lanka Cricket chief Duleep Mendis was dismayed by the fact that the visitors based their decision on an anonymous e-mail from an unknown entity and ignored assurances by the government. Johannesburg: South Africa’s decision to pull out of the tri-series has not found favour with most of the countrymen, who described the players as fearful “sissies”. Many people called up radio stations around the country to complain that the players were under no threat and should have stayed back to play in the tri-series. The media also took the cricketers to task. One newspaper, The Star, said the decision was “a wrong move by CSA”.
— PTI
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London, August 17 Asif, playing his first game of the series following elbow trouble, removed England captain Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen with successive deliveries as part of an 11-ball burst which earned him three wickets for four runs. Asif, who was rushed back into the team in place of the ineffective Mohammad Sami, repaid the faith of not only his selectors but also his captain. Scoreboard
England (1st innings) Trescothick c Hafeez b Gul 6 Strauss c Akmal b Asif 38 Cook lbw Nazir 40 Pietersen c Akmal b Asif 0 Collingwood lbw Asif 5 Bell c Iqbal b Kaneria 9 Read b Gul 33 Mahmood b Gul 15 Hoggard c Akmal b Asif 3 Harmison not out 8 Panesar b Gul 0 Extras
(b-4, lb-5, nb-7) 16 Total (all out, 53.2 overs) 173 Fall of wickets:
1-36, 2-54, 3-54, 4-64, 5-91, 6-112, 7-158, 8-163, 9-173. Bowling: Asif 19-6-56-4, Gul 15.2-3-46-4, Nazir 11-1-44-1, Kaneria 8-1-18-1.
— Reuters
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Cricketers to undergo dope test
Mumbai, August 17 “The selection of teams and players will be done randomly,” said ICC’s Media and Communications Manager Brian Murgatroyd today via e-mail. Since the ICC is now a WADA (World Anti Doping Agency)-compliant body, the testing will be done in line with their procedures, Murgatroyd said, adding the tests would be conducted by an agency contracted by the ICC. “The tests will be flown to Malaysia for analysis, as was the case during the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka earlier this year,” he explained. A total of 21 matches would be played during the Mini World Cup, including six in the qualifying stage. Meanwhile, the BCCI has decided to dope-test all members of the final 14-member squad selected for the tournament ahead of the 10-team event to be hosted in India, according to BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah. “We are thinking on those lines, to take urine samples of all those chosen for the tournament and send them to Malaysia or Bangkok (Thailand) for dope testing. Why take any chances,” Shah told PTI here today. The Indian teams for both the Champions Trophy and the preceding three-nation tournament in Kuala Lumpur (Sept 12-24) are to be chosen on the same day, either September 5 or 6, Shah said. “We have to submit the list of 14 players for the Champions Trophy to the ICC by September 7 and it makes sense in selecting both the squads on the same day. It will be done either on September 5 or 6,” the board official said.
— PTI
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Indian shuttlers on top
Colombo, August 17 Displaying class and agility, the Indian players grounded their opponents to make four of the five summit clashes all-Indian affairs at the Sugathadasa Indoor stadium. In men’s singles, world No. 24 Chetan Anand got past Pakistani Zeeshan Umer 21-10, 16-21, 21-7 to set up a title encounter with compatriot Nikhil Kanetkar. The Mumbai boy defeated Pakistan’s Wajid Ali Choudhary 21-10, 21-12 in the other semifinal. The women’s singles final would also be an in-house show for the Indians as Trupti Murgunde put up a sterling performance to tame local favourite Renu Chandrika de Silva 21-11, 21-10, while B.R. Meenakshi humbled Nepal’s Sumina Shreshta 21-9, 21-4 in the pre-summit round. Indian shuttlers stretched their awesome form into women’s doubles as Aparna Balan and B.R. Meenakshi broke Sri Lankan hearts prevailing over Chandrika and Thilini Jayasighe, while Jwala Gutta and Sarah Kurien showed the door to Pakistan’s Asma Butt and Uzma Butt in semi final exchanges. Bringing further cheers to the Indian camp, V. Diju and Jwala Gutta defeated the Pakistani pair of Waqar Ahmed and Saima Manzoor to sail into the mixed doubles final where they would meet compatriots Thomas Kurien and Aparna Balan who triumphed over the Sri Lankan duo of Tushar-Chandrika. In men’s doubles, the top Indian combination of Rupesh Kumar and Thomas Sanave smashed out the Pakistani pair of Muhammad Atiq and Rizwan Azam 21-7, 21-13 to enter the final. However, for a change, they would come up against a non-Indian team, as the host nation’s pair of Tushara Eidiresinghe and Duminda Jayakody won over Zeeshan Umer and Zafar Tasneem of Pakistan 21-13, 16-21, 21-16 in the other semifinals. — PTI
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Negi sets sights on world title
New Delhi, August 17 The young chess master, variously described as a “teen sensation, one of the greatest chess talents, God’s gift to the chess world” etc. did not fall for the hype. Instead, he said he had a long way to go before aspiring to become the world champion. But he noted that he was highly motivated and enthused by the encouraging words of former world champion Viswanathan Anand. Anand’s advise to Negi has been that “the first basic quality a chess player must have is excellent memory, hard work and dedication”. Negi has all these qualities and more, otherwise he would not have become a Grandmaster at the age of 13 plus, after taking to the game in 1998. “I have had an eventful voyage since then”, Negi said, adding, “I had no idea the masses of knowledge required to excel in chess when I started playing it”. But a battery of coaches, including his first tutor Vinayak Rao, a family friend who had gifted him his first chess board, International Masters G.B. Joshi and Vishal Sareen, world class trainers like Evgeny Vladimirov of Kazakhstan and Ruslan Scherbakov of Russia, Elizbar Ubilava of Spain (formerly Anand’s trainer) and former world championship finalist Nigel Short, worked on Negi’s game and strategy at various stages to guide him on the road to success. No wonder, this Amity School student progressed from a 2061-level player in 2002 to a 2500-level player in under five years. Negi was given a grand felicitation here today by his sponsors and the Delhi Chess Association. He was also presented Rs 1 lakh by sponsors of the Delhi Chess Association,
Parvsnath.
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Iranian kabaddi team
arrives in Punjab
Amritsar, August 17 Headed by Mohammad Reza Magshood Lou, President, Iranian Kabaddi Federation, and also Joint Secretary, Asian Amateur Kabaddi Federation, said the visitors would play matches from August 18 to 26. He said the Iranian Government was spending about a $ 1 million annually on the promotion of the sport in the country. He said the aim of bringing the team to India was to provide exposure to the players of Indian kabaddi, which is supposed to the best at the international level. Manjit Singh, coach of the Iranian team, said the players had started participating in international tournaments only five years ago but were ranked among the top teams in Asia today. Manjit, who has served in the Indian Navy, said the Iranians were physically very strong but they needed to perfect the use of various tactics. Pervinder Singh Chandhok, adviser to the Iranian Kabaddi Federation, said Iran had contributed to popularising the sport in neighbouring West Asian countries. He said 29 of the 30 states in Iran played kabaddi. He said earlier the Iranians used to play a kabaddi-like game in which they used to say “zu-zu” instead of “kabaddi-kabaddi”. However, currently the Iranians were playing the Indian-style kabaddi. He stated that Iran also had a women’s kabaddi team.
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HPCA to hold Sialkot-UP tie
Chandigarh, August 17 Announcing this at the MCM Cricket Academy, Sector 36, HPCA president Anurag Thakur said, “Both the teams will compete for Mohammad Nasir Trophy, which will be an annual affair under the aegis of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)”. The association has also been contemplating to start a pre-session camp in mid September. The players having good performances in the last season in under-19 and under-22 categories will be selected for this camp, said Mr Thakur. Briefing his planning for the promotion of the game in the state, he said, “The HPCA has chalked out a detailed programme under which 36 academies, affiliated to the association, will be provided with cricketing paraphernalia”. To generate funds for the development of the cricket infrastructure in the state, the HPCA would also construct 42 corporate boxes in Dharamsala Stadium. “During the matches, these rooms will be rented to big companies and for the rest of the time, we will use those as club rooms to generate funds”, said Mr Thakur. “As there is scarcity of first-class cricketers and NIS coaches in the state, I have called back all cricketers from HP, who have migrated elsewhere, to help promote the game here”, said Mr Thakur.
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Black Elephant win cricket series Patiala, August 17 Brief scores: Black Elephant Cricket Club, Patiala: 166 all out (Ujwal Sharma 20, Vishnu Partap 14, Karan Kaila 15, Jaspreet Singh 17, Bir Singh 2 for 28, Jatin Rana 3 for 37, Amanpreet Singh 2 for 31, Rahul 1 for 11). Ruby Cricket Club, Amritsar: 107 for 8 ( Bir Singh 18, Manipal 25, Abhishek 12, Gaurav Joshi 2 for 13, Bharat Sodhi 2 for 7, Karan Kaila 2 for 12, Jaspreet Singh 2 for 26). The following players were given prizes: Bir Singh (Boy of the match), Jatin Rana (Best bowler), Sapandeep Singh (Best wicket-keeper), Jaspreet Singh (Best batsman) and Ujwal Sharma (Boy of the tournament).
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Harikrishna wins U-20 world title
Mainz (Germany), August 17 Playing with white, Harikrishna hardly put a foot wrong as he thrashed the German Grandmaster in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth games yesterday to finish one point ahead of his opponent’s 3.5 points. He had earlier lost the first, second and fourth games and drew the third, but raised his game by several notches to outplay his opponent. — UNI
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BSF get past Punjab cops
Chandigarh, August 17 Veteran striker Gurjit Atwal capitalised on a pass by Harjit to put BSF ahead in the 16th minute. The second goal came at the fag end when off a cross by Sarabjit from the right, Santosh found the target without much difficulty in the 87th minute.
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Kulbir re-elected PDGA president
Patiala, August 17 The other office-bearers are: patron — Mrs Rupinder Kaur Brar; senior vice-president — Dr Daljitinder Singh Brar; vice-presidents — Mr D.S Jeji, Mr Kultej Singh, Mr Parminder Singh Gill, Mr Manjit Singh and Dr Darshan Singh; secretary — Mr Ravinder Kumar Rishi; joint secretaries — Mr Ripudaman Kaushik and Mr Vikas Sabharwal; and technical adviser — Mr N.S Verma. — OC
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Paes moves up, Bhupathi out Athletics meet |
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In video: Kapil Dev rebuffs John Wright for his remarks on the selection
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