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South Africa rub salt into India’s wounds
Dutch, Germans play out draw |
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Sachin sparkles in practice match
Kapur stays in title hunt
Paes-Damm enter final
Indian colts in command
Mahilpur club, Youth
FC win
Anwar wins gold medal
in kickboxing
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South Africa rub salt into India’s wounds
Monchengladbach, September 9 The Indians, who desperately needed a big win to stay in contention for a semifinal berth, failed to rise to the occasion with another dismal performance which has now shattered all hopes of a podium finish. Dilip Tirkey and his men again squandered a 1-0 lead through Ignace Tirkey (13th minute) by allowing their unfancied opponents to score the equaliser through Ian Symons seven minutes before the hooter at the Warsteiner Hockey Park. With two more league matches against strong contenders the Netherlands and South Korea, India seem headed for a bottom placed finish unless they pulled off a remarkable turnaround of fortunes. Despite coach Vasudevan Baskaran’s promise of a better showing, the Indians were a pale shadow of themselves and the failure to earn full points could well mean that the team could struggle to improve upon their 10th finish at the last edition. With two defeats behind them, the Indians were looking to record their first victory in pool B, but in their anxiety, nearly made a hash of the game that they were expected to win comfortably. South Africa, who had lost 2-0 to the Netherlands, in fact, with a little luck, could even have pulled off an improbable win when Thompton McDade unleashed a shot that goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza managed to save with three minutes on the clock. Facing opponents ranked four spots below them at No.10, the Indians had the best of opportunities to pick up three points and they looked to be on their way when Ignace Tirkey, left unmarked at the top of the circle drove home following a right-wing move involving Rajpal Singh, Gagan Ajit Singh and Tushar Khandkar. The Indian moves lacked punch to drill holes in the South African defence that at best looked adequate. India could create only a few opportunities all of which were wasted with Rajpal Singh having the clearest look at the South African goal seconds into the second-half. The forward could manage a weak hit straight to goalkeeper who easily parried the attempt. India dominated most of the game but it did not reflect in the number of circle penetrations and, in the event, they received just one penalty corner in the 48th minute. Debutant fullback Ramachandra Raghunath failed to convert with his drag-flick. India next play Korea on Monday and the Netherlands on Tuesday. — PTI
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Dutch, Germans play out draw Monchengladbach, September 9 The 12,000 capacity crowd at the Warsteiner Park was treated to a thrilling match as the teams battled for supremacy. All four goals came in a period of 17 minutes in the second half. For Holland, Ronald Brouwer (37th) and Rob Reckers (42nd) scored a goal each, while Christopher Zeller (48th) and Maritz Fuerste (54th) struck for the hosts. Argentina hold fancied Spain Argentina came up with a determined fightback to force a 1-1 draw with Spain in a Pool A match here yesterday. Spain, after their tremendous 3-1 win against Olympic champions Australia in their opening match, played below par and were trifle fortunate to come away with a point as a luckless Argentina stretched them to the limit. After a blank first-half, Spain went ahead in the 40th minute when Eduard Tubau scored from a penalty corner, but Argentina, who had lost to New Zealand in their first game, equalised in the 50th through Lucas Cammareri. Both teams wasted quite a few scoring chances in the first-half with Argentine goalkeeper Juan Manuel Vivaldi giving an eye-catching performance. Korea register second win Korea stumbled to a 1-0 win against England for their second win Pool B here yesterday. The match-winner came in the 59th minute when Sung Hoon Yoon deflected skipper Yong Bae KimFs free-hit. England, who had beaten India, thus suffered their first defeat in two matches. In a limp match that saw action mostly confined to the midfield with sporadic attacks from the teams, the Koreans, semifinalists in the 2002 World Cup, played a waiting game before stepping up the pace in the second-half. England had few scoring chances and were under pressure for much of the second session that was marked by a lot of bodyplay. England forward Martin Jones found himself in the thick of it and came away with a bloody nose, as did his team. The Koreans did not show the discipline that had helped them beat the Netherlands 3-2 in their previous game and earned three yellow card suspensions for misconduct.
— UNI, PTI
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Sachin sparkles in practice match
Chennai, September 9 Indian Juniors defeated Indian Seniors by three wickets with four balls to spare, as the main batsmen once again showed their hunger for runs on a batsmen-friendly wicket, which proved to be a nightmare for the bowlers. Leading the way was Sachin Tendulkar who struck a strokeful century (101 - retired, 83 balls, 12x4, 3x6) to help Seniors pile up an imposing 339 for two in 45 overs. He hit 26 runs in one over of Dinesh Mongia, hitting three sixers and two fours. The sequence read 6,6,-,4,4,6 as Sachin showed no signs of discomfiture and proved that he had recovered fully from the shoulder surgery that kept him out of action for the last few months. Rahul Dravid, who opened with Sachin, retired after hitting 44 and Virender Sehwag, batting at No. 3, once again disappointed and scored just 22 runs. However, Mohammad Kaif (70) and M.S. Dhoni (88 not out) continued their fine run with the bat to help seniors to a big total. In reply, the Indian Juniors scrambled home with four balls to spare, scoring 345 for seven. Harbhajan Singh, leading the side, finished it off with a six and four on consecutive balls of Sehwag to fashion an impressive win. — UNI
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Nottingham, September 9 The England captain shared a century partnership with Bell as England easily passed Pakistan’s 235-8 with 22 balls to spare at Trent Bridge yesterday. Kevin Pietersen made 41 not out and struck the winning boundary as England shrugged off its poor early form by hitting 237-2. Having lost 5-0 to Sri Lanka and three times to Pakistan in one-day and Twenty20 games, England can tie the series at 2-2 by winning the fifth and final one-day international at Edgbaston tomorrow. Scoreboard Pakistan Hafeez c Strauss b Lewis 8 Afridi lbw Mahmood 23 Younis c Collingwood b Lewis 0 Yousuf b Yardy 29 Inzamam c&b Dalrymple 47 Malik c&b Yardy 0 Razzaq not out 75 Akmal c Strauss b Yardy 10 Akhtar c Joyce b Broad 10 Naved not out 9 Extras (lb-8, w-16) 24 Total (8 wkts, 50 overs) 235 Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-17, 3-41, 4-115, 5-115, 6-117, 7-138, 8-165. Bowling: Broad 7-1-33-1, Lewis 10-1-49-2, Mahmood 8-1-58-1, Dalrymple 10-1-38-1, Collingwood 2-0-9-0, Yardy 10-1-24-3, Pietersen 3-0-16-0. England Strauss b Hafeez 78 Joyce c Akmal b Asif 13 Bell not out 86 Pietersen not out 41 Extras (lb-6, w-9, nb-4) 19 Total (2 wkts, 46.2 overs) 237 Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-148. Bowling: Akhtar 8-1-36-0, Asif 10-2-34-1, Naved 9-0-56-0, Razzaq 8-0-48-0, Afridi 5-0-25-0, Malik 2-0-11-0, Hafeez 4.2-0-21-1. — AP, AFP
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New York, September 9 The third-seeded Sharapova set up a final against No. 2 Justine Henin-Hardenne, who took the last 10 games against a collapsing Jelena Jankovic for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory. “I came back from nowhere,” Henin-Hardenne said. “I feel lucky to be in the final.” So must Sharapova. Since winning Wimbledon in 2004, she had gone winless in five major semifinals, and she was 0-3 against Mauresmo before Friday’s semifinal. But punctuating nearly every powerful stroke with high-pitched shouts — her “Aaah! or “Whoo!” so loud at times that spectators snickered — Sharapova dictated the pace from the baseline. Now, she’ll try to overcome a 1-4 head-to-head mark against Henin-Hardenne. “I had a terrible record against Amelie, and that ended today,” Sharapova said. “I have a terrible record against Justine, so I hope that’s a good luck charm at the Open.” There was a dip for the Florida-based Russian in the middle set against Mauresmo, but otherwise she put together a rare double shutout: It was the first time in the Open era, which began in 1968, that a female semifinalist here lost two sets at love. And Mauresmo was no average semifinalist: She won the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year. But the same signs of nerves that had plagued her earlier in her career resurfaced. The Frenchwoman finished with 38 unforced errors and only 10 winners, half as many as Sharapova. “That,” Mauresmo said, “made the difference.” She did put up a fight, breaking Sharapova to end the second set with a forehand winner to end a 22-stroke exchange. Mauresmo jumped and did a scissors kick and seemed to be right back in the match. “Even when I won the second set, I didn’t feel things were going the way I wanted,” she said. “I still didn’t feel I was taking control.” French Open champion Henin-Hardenne — the runner-up at Melbourne Park and the All England Club — did become the first woman since 1997 to reach all four Slam finals in a single season. Not without a scare, though. — AP
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Singapore, September 9 But the young Indian, the Asian Tour’s Rookie of the Year in 2005, has a tough task on hand, as he is six shots behind leaders, defending champion Adam Scott and Ernie Els, the world No. six and seven, respectively. The players also had to stay off the course for more than two hours following a warning about lightning activity in the region. Kapur was two-under for the tournament, while Els (69), who battled a bothersome stomach, shared the lead with Adam Scott, who shot a bogey-free five-under on a day when there were just a handful of under-par scores, many of which came before the delay. Overall, despite the conditions taking a toll, Indians did well to move up the leaderboard and all six of them who made the cut were in the top-25. Jyoti Randhwa (72) was tied eighth, Arjun Singh (75) and SSP Chowrasia (73) were tied 19th and Jeev Milkha Singh (70) and Gaurav Ghei (72) were tied 25th. Behind Els and Scott was Brad Kennedy (70) in third spot at five-under and China’s Liang Wen-Chong (68) at four-under, two shots ahead of Kapur. Atwal, Chopra miss the cut
Ancaster (Ontario): Arjun Atwal and Daniel Chopra missed the cut at the midway stage of the Canadian Open on the US Tour. Chopra, who had a 69 in first round, added a two-over 72 and was one-over 141 for 36 holes. Atwal, 72 in first round, added an even par 70 in second but with the cut coming at even par, both were out of the weekend rounds. Chopra had bogeys on the first, eighth and 12th and his only birdie of the day came on 15th. Atwal had four birdies on the fourth, sixth, 10th and 16th, but he also dropped shots on second, ninth, 14th and 17th and ended even par.
— PTI
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Paes-Damm enter final
New York, September 9 Rupesh Roy and his Venezuelan partner Roberto Maytin crashed out of the boys’ doubles event at the US Open with a 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 6-7 (5/7) loss to the American duo of Jarmere Jenkins and Austin Krajicek in the quarterfinal here. — Agencies
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Indian colts in command
Karachi, September 9 India, after scoring 289 in their first innings, spun out Pakistan for a meagre 147 runs before the visitors added another 42 for no loss with openers Chesteswar Pujara (23 not out) and Pervez Aziz 12 (not out) remaining unseparated at stumps yesterday at the Pindi Cricket Stadium. India u-19 spinners caught the Pakistani batsmen on the wrong foot as skipper Piyush Chawla claimed 3 for 39 with his leg spin while Sunil Raju’s off spin fetched him three for 36.
— PTI
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Mahilpur club, Youth
FC win
Chandigarh, September 9 Earlier, Mahilpur FC trounced Capt GPS Chahal Sporting Club 5-1 and Youth FC lost to International Sporting Club 1-2. Two teams from this phase will qualify for the play-off with two bottom-placed teams of the super league to decide the last two spots for next year’s super league, according to Mr Inder Singh, secretary, Punjab Football Association. — TNS
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Jamshedpur, September 9 Jhanu broke the record of Jannie Van Netta of the US, who had held it by shooting 1402 points. Ace archer Tarundeep Rai also set a new national record today by amassing 1352 points, breaking the earlier one held by Jayanta Talukdar (1350) at the nationals in Kolkata in January this year. — PTI
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Anwar wins gold medal
in kickboxing
Sangrur, September 9 Haryana’s Gaurav Kumar bagged the gold in the 7-9 years age group for boys (medium). The silver medal went to Zunore Mahesh (Army), while Sugam of Haryana and Amar Amij of Jharkhand both got the bronze. Haryana won one more gold when Simran Taneja won in the 7-9 years age category for girls (small). Samha of Punjab stood second. The third place went to Guljeba of Punjab and Anam Shaikh (MP). In the girls medium group (7-9 years), Pratima of Jharkhand won the gold, while Shavatanjli, also from Jharkhand, got the silver. Lavan Preet and Nancy, both from Punjab, got the bronze.
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