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Citrix Tennis
Championship DALRAY BEACH, (FLORIDA), Mar 7: Carlos Moya, the 1998 French Open champion, used his strong serve to overpower defending champion Stefan .....more Board President’s XI NEW DELHI, Mar 7: Sourav Ganguly-led Board President’s XI folded up their first innings at 221, conced..........more Next hearing in Azhar HYDERABAD, Mar 7: A city court today posted March 20 as the date for the next hearing in the case filed ....more Ranatunga arrested COLOMBO, Mar 7: Sri Lanka’s cricketing legend Arjuna Ranatunga was arrested by police on his return .....more |
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93 Bn bags BSF Inter-Bn Gymnastics trophy Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 7: The 93 Bn lifted the overall championship trophy by securing 131.50 points in the BSF (Border Security Force)........more Injured Srinath out, Prasad, NEW DELHI, Mar 7: The struggling Indian cricket team received another blow today with leading.....more Jayawardene halts KANDY, Mar 7: Mahela Jayawardene led a Sri Lankan recovery with an explosive knock.....more No water bottles to be KOLKATA, Mar 7: In a bid to avert bottle-throwing incidents by unruly crowds, spectators will not be .......more |
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Citrix Tennis Championship DALRAY BEACH, (FLORIDA), Mar 7: Carlos Moya, the 1998 French Open champion, used his strong serve to overpower defending champion Stefan Koubek 6-4 6-4 in a first-round match at the Citrix Tennis Championships. The Spaniard, seeded third, traced his new-found fitness to finally recovering from a stress fracture in his lower back sustained in August, 1999. His rank plummeted from No. 1 in March ’99 to a year-ending 41 in 2000. "I’m healthy again after so many problems with my back," said Moya, who reached the Australian Open quarterfinals in January and the semifinals last week in Acapulco. "I’m 100 percent fit and when it comes together you play better." Moya had nine aces against his Austrian opponent and won 23 of his 26 first serves. He faced two break points, none in the second set. Koubek, who won his second ATP title here last year, tore ligaments in his right ankle three weeks ago while fiddling with a soccer ball. Koubek depends on his mobility to counter the big servers like Moya. "It’s not easy to play Carlos in the first round," said Koubek, who at 5-9 is six inches shorter than the long-haired Spaniard. "Carlos was serving better than I was, winning a lot of free points. Everything was difficult. I didn’t know how he was going to play or how the wind was going to be." In other matches, fourth-seeded Jan-Michael Gambill, whose coming off a semifinal berth in San Jose, easily took out two-time French. Open champion Sergi Bruguera 6-3, 6-4. Bruguera, 29, a perennial top-10 player in the early ’90s, hasn’t been the same since undergoing shoulder surgery in 1999. ‘When I go out on the court I believe I can beat anybody," said Gambill, who has reached three quarterfinals and a semifinal in five tournament this year. "This is the best start of my career." Seventh-seeded Byron Black pulled out of the tournament prior to his match with a sprained right ankle he also hurt playing in a soccer match after the Australian Open. In his place, lucky loser Marc-Kevin Goellner of Germany ousted hometown favorite Vince Spadea 7-5 6-3 who continues his slide to oblivion. Spadea, from nearby Boca Raton, dropped from a career-high rank of 20 in 1999 to 229 last year when he compiled a 3-28 record. "No matter how hard I try I won’t be able to change my circumstances overnight," said Spadea, a wild card entry who is 2-3 this season. "My situation is difficult. It doesn’t allow me to do anything else but play in smaller events. I’ll try to make the most of it." Britain’s Greg Rusedski, coming off a title in San Jose that included a straight-set victory over Andre Agassi in the final, plays up-and-coming American, Taylor Dent, son of former Australian Pro Phil Dent later this evening. Also, second-seeded Nicolas Lapentti was due to play Galo Blanco, who beat Moya in the semis at Acapulco. Moya, who is 9-4 this season, converted his fourth break point to go up 3-1 in the second set after a running forehand pass down the line. At one point, the gusting winds blew a plastic chair onto the court in the middle of a point. "I always enjoy life but I didn’t enjoy life without being able to play a match," Moya said of his forced layoff early last year. "I feel like my best tennis is still to come." Twenty-year-old qualifier Flavio Saretta of Brazil downed Belgium’s Christophe Rochus 6-4 7-5 to win his first ATP tour match. (REUTERS) |
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President’s XI finish 230 in arrears against
Australia NEW DELHI, Mar 7: Sourav Ganguly-led Board President’s XI folded up their first innings at 221, conceding a lead of 230 runs to Australia, a little after tea on the second day of the three-day tie here and the visitors put 53 for the loss of one wicket by close in their second essay. When stumps were drawn, Michael Slater was batting on 24 while Justin Langer still looked for opening his account. Narendra Hirwani removed Matthew Hayden (26, 30b, 6x4) in the tenth over when the batsman found a snick to Vijay Dahiya behind the stumps at the total of 50. Punjab off-spinner Sharandeep Singh, who took five wickets for 114 runs in the first innings, was unfortunate not to have got the wicket of Slater who was dropped at the individual score of 22. The visitors kept a tight leash on the home side, taking the tour match a bit too seriously for acclimatisation, ahead of the second test to be played in Kolkata from March 11. And as expected opted to bat again despite the massive lead for some more practice on the middle. At tea, the home side was struggling at 187 for 5 with all the recognised batsmen back in the pavilion. Michael Kasprowicz and Mark Waugh accounted for half the batsmen (taking three and two wickets respectively) while two run outs were also effected. The only highlight of the home side was a patient 66 by Dinesh Mongia (107b, 9x4, 2x6). Mongia reached his fifty off 65 balls with his second six that came off off-spiner Colin Miller. His departure at 204 took the entire steam out of side. Earlier, Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly, who opted to lead the home side with an eye to have some batting practice after his failure in the first test in Mumbai, failed to make any use of the occasion despite three chances, being bowled by Mark Waugh for 40 (81 b, 4x4, 1x6). He was dropped at his individual scores of 1, 2 and 21. His best shot was the lone six off off-spinner Collin Miller whom he hit outside the ground with the ball landing at the adjacent Ambedkar Stadium. Nevertheless, Ganguly stood in for a 92-run fourth wicket partnership with Dinesh Mongia. S Sriram (27, 78b, 3x4) and Mohammad Kaif (33, 67b, 5x4) also could not do much on the batsman-friendly Kotla track after the departure of Vijay Dahiya off the fifth ball of the very first over, bowled by Damien Fleming. During the visitors’ innings that folded at 451, Punjab off-spinner Sharandeep Singh managed a five-wicket haul in the midst of the onslaught by the Australian batsmen. Resuming at 413, Australia added 38 runs this morning. Kasprowicz was claimed by Hirwani for 35 (54b, 6x4) while Damien Fleming remained not out on 29 (42b, 5x4). Sharadeep removed the last man Collin Miller to complete his five wicket haul for 114 runs. Hirwani, also looking forward to fill the slot of Anil Kumble in the national side, returned with three for 120. Yesterday, Australian skipper Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting scored centuries while Mark Waugh came up with a decent 62 on way to the visitors’ mammoth total. (UNI) SCOREBOARD Board XI 1st innings: V Dahiya lbw B Fleming 0 S Sreeram Hayden b Kasprowicz 27 M Kaif c Martyn b Miller 33 S Ganguly b M Waugh 40 D Mongia c Ponting b Kasprowicz 66 J Martin c Ponting b M Waugh 10 H Kanitkar c Ponting b Kasprowicz 2 Rakesh Patel b Miller 13 Sharandeep Singh run out 0 Surinder Singh run out 7 N Hirwani not out 0 Extras (b-8, lb-2, nb-13) 23 Total (all out, 66.4 overs) 221 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-55, 3-71, 4-163, 5-187, 6-189, 7-204, 8-205, 9-221. Bowling: Fleming 10-3-27-1, Kasprowicz 18-3-68-3, Miller 27.4-8-91-2, Martyn 4-1-11-0, M Waugh 7-2-14-2. Australians 2nd innings: M Hayden c Dahiya b Hirwani 26 M Slater batting 24 J Langer batting 0 Extras (b-1, lb-1, nb-1) 3 Total (for 1 wkt, 13 overs) 53 Fall of wickets: 1-50. Bowling: Patel 4-1-18-0, Surinder Singh 3-0-13-0, Hirwani 3-0-10-1, Sharandeep Singh 3-0-10-0. (PTI) |
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Next hearing in Azhar case on Mar 20 HYDERABAD, Mar 7: A city court today posted March 20 as the date for the next hearing in the case filed by tainted cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin, challenging the BCCI for imposing a life ban on him in the wake of the match-fixing scandal. City civil second sessions judge J Shyama Sundara Rao posted the hearing for March 20 after Azharuddin’s counsel T Jagdish filed an application in the court seeking the BCCI’s resolution copy banning him for life, besides the one on the appointment of its Special Inquiry Commissioner K Madhavan, a former CBI official. The counsel quoted "orderly relevant rule 14" of the BCCI Constitution in this regard before the judge issued notice to the BCCI to file by March 20 its counter-affidavit on Azhar’s application. Azhar had filed a case in the city civil court here on January 29 challenging the BCCI’s December five decision to ban him for life and had also disputed the appointment of Mr Madhavan, whom he charged with having nexus with board president A C Muthaiah. BCCI had filed its counter on february 14. Mr Madhavan, a former CBI Joint Director, and Mr Muthaiah had filed their counter-affidavits on February 26. (UNI) |
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Ranatunga arrested over assault charge COLOMBO, Mar 7: Sri Lanka’s cricketing legend Arjuna Ranatunga was arrested by police on his return from a charity match in Kenya today and taken before a Magistrate, police said. Ranatunga was arrested after he surrendered to a local police and a Magistrate ordered his release on a 55,000 Sri Lankan rupees (about Rs 30,000 Indian) bail bond with an order to appear in court in a week to answer charges against him. Earlier, Colombo Magistrate Kusala Weerawardena remanded Ranatunga’s brother, Prasanna, and four of his staff over an alleged assault on high school students on Friday. The order follows an incident on Friday in which Ranatunga, his politician brother and security guards at their residence allegedly beat up a group of students who had hit a cricket ball into the grounds of the family home. Seven students, aged 16 to 18, were hospitalised. Six of them have been discharged. One of them remained in hospital with head injuries. Ranatunga’s father, Reggie Ranatunga, the Food Minister in president Chandrika Kumaratunga’s Cabinet, denied his sons had beaten up the students. Minister Ranatunga said the students had used foul language towards his wife and tried to damage a wall during their attempts to retrieve a cricket ball that the children had played into the compound adjoining Asoka College. (AFP) |
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93 Bn bags BSF Inter-Bn Gymnastics trophy Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 7: The 93 Bn lifted the overall championship trophy by securing 131.50 points in the BSF (Border Security Force) Inter-Battalion Gymnastics Championship which concluded at BSF Gymnasium hall, Paloura Camp, here today. The runners-up trophy went in favour of 87 Bn. Ct. Tilak Bajaj of the 28 Bn was adjudged as the best gymnast of the championship. All the units falling under BSF Jammu Frontier participated in the competitions. Mr A S Jasrotia, DIG/PSO was the chief guest, who gave away prizes to the winners and runners-up, besides the individual prizes. A host of senior officers and BSF men were present in the prize distribution function. |
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Injured Srinath out, Prasad, Raju recalled for Kolkata NEW DELHI, Mar 7: The struggling Indian cricket team received another blow today with leading paceman Javagal Srinath declared unfit for the second test at Kolkata for which the selectors have recalled opening bowler Venkatesh Prasad and spinners Sharandeep Singh and Venkatapathy Raju. Left arm spinner Rahul Sanghvi, who did not fulfill the selectors’ expectations in the first test at Mumbai last week, and leg spinner Narendra Hirwani have been dropped. Indisposed medium fast bowler Ajit Agarkar has been replaced by Delhi’s Ashish Nehra. The squad of 14 announced by selection committee chairman Chandu Borde consists of: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Shiv Sunder Das, Sadgopan Ramesh, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman, Nayan Mongia, Harbhajan Singh, Sharandeep Singh, Venkatpathy Raju, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Venkatesh Prasad, Hemang Badani. In the Kolkata test starting on Sunday, India will undoubtedly miss Srinath who took a magnificient 13 wickets against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens two years ago, but his absence provides a chance for left arm paceman Zaheer Khan who took an impressive two for 40 off his ten overs against Australia in the ICC knockout tournament in Nairobi in September last year. His new ball partner is likely to be Prasad. Borde said the committee had discussed all the possibilities before arriving at the final 14 which it found the best under the circumstances. "Raju has been performing quite well and Sharandeep bowled very well here," Borde said. Sharandeep took five wickets for Board President’s XI in the Australian first innings of the three-day match being played here. "The Calcutta wicket is slightly slow and the committee thought Raju and Sharandeep would be better prospects than Sanghvi and Hirwani," Borde said. The chairman expressed the hope that Srinath would be fit for the third and final test starting in Chennai on March 18. This squad was for Kolkata test only, he added. (PTI) |
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Jayawardene halts England’s attack, Lanka 297 all out KANDY, Mar 7: Mahela Jayawardene led a Sri Lankan recovery with an explosive knock of 101 off 165 balls, as the home team was all out for 297 against England just before draw of stumps today on the first day of the second test. England batted for two overs in the remaining time and was one for no loss, with Michael Artherton yet to score and Marcus Trescothick on one. At one stage, Sri Lanka was 79 for four and England, one down in the three-test series, appeared to have taken a hold on the match. But Jayawardene batted with great confidence, hitting 12 boundaries and one six. A fifth wicket partnership between him and Russel Arnold added 142 runs, to take the Sri Lankan total to respectable level. Earlier, Craig White snared two quick wickets as England dominated the opening session, reducing the hosts to 93 for four at lunch. After Sri Lanka skipper Sanath Jayasuriya won the toss - for the ninth consecutive test - and elected to bat, England’s front-line attack of Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick struck early to remove both openers. Marvin Atapattu, who averaged 116 in seven innings at Kandy, got off the mark with a boundary off Gough, getting a thick edge through slips from a no-ball. He added two further boundaries to reach 16 before Gough struck back, bowling the Sri Lankan opener with the total at 21. Jayasuriya (9), known for his quick fire batting, took 10 overs before hitting his first boundary. But he was out next ball, caught at first slip by Ashley Giles in the gully after slashing at a ball from Caddick. Wicket keeper cum batsman Kumar Sangakkara (17) and Sri Lanka’s best known test batsman, Aravinda De Silva (29), tried to consolidate the innings, but both fell to white. White should have had the wicket off Arnold when he edged outside off-stump high toward trescothick in the gully, but he was unable to control the catch and put it down. After Jayawardene was out, England bowlers dominated again, claiming the remaining wickets for 76 runs. Gough finished with four for 73 and Caddick had four for 54. Sri Lanka, with a 1-0 lead in the series, made only one change from its victorious lineup in Galle, replacing Dilhara Fernando with left-arm seamer Nuwan Zoysa. England stuck to the same lineup that lost the series opener by an innings and 28 runs. (AP) SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka 1st innings: M Atapattu b gough 16 S Jayasuriya c Giles b Caddick 9 K Sangakkara c Rrescothick b White 17 A De Silva c and b White 29 M Jayewardene c Thorpe b Caddick 101 R Arnold c White b Gough 65 T Dilshan c Atherton b Gough 36 K Dharmasena c Thorpe b Gough 1 C Vaas c Thorpe b Caddick 2 N Zoysa c Stewart b Caddick 0 M Muralitharan not out 10 Extras (b-1, lb-3, nb-7) 11 Total (all out, 86 overs) 297 Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-29, 3-69, 4-80, 5-221, 6-277, 7-279, 8-282, 9-286. Bowling: Gough 14-1-73-4, Caddick 20-3-55-4, Giles 16-3-47-0, White 17-3-70-2, Croft 19-1-48-0. England 1st innings: M Atherton batting 0 M Trescothick batting 1 Extras 0 Total (for no loss in 2 overs) 1 Bowling: Vaas 1-1-0-0, Zoysa 1-0-1-0. (AFP) |
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No water bottles to be allowed inside Stadium KOLKATA, Mar 7: In a bid to avert bottle-throwing incidents by unruly crowds, spectators will not be allowed to carry water bottles into the Eden Gardens Stadium during the second test match between India and Australia beginning from March 11. Adequate drinking water facilities will be arranged inside the stadium for the spectators, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president, Jagmohan Dalmiya said today. The decision not to allow water bottles inside the stadium was taken to ensure the smooth conduct of the match after unruly crowd behaviour during the last international fixture had tarnished the image of Eden Gardens. The Asian Test Championship match between India and Pakistan was completed in front of empty galleries after police cleared the stands following incidents of bottle-throwing by a section of the crowd. Dalmiya, who met the State Chief Minister and the Police Commissioner today to discuss security arrangements for the match, said a large number of policemen will be deployed on all the playing days. He said both the Indian and Australian teams will arrive in the city tomorrow and begin practice sessions from the following day. The Indian players, who had taken a short break after their defeat in the first test at Mumbai, were expected to assemble in the city by tomorrow afternoon. The Australians will reach the city in the evening after completing their three-day match against the Board President’s XI at New Delhi. (PTI) |
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