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Davenport
enjoying INDIAN WELLS (CALIFORNIA), Mar 12: Defender Lindsay Davenport needed a .....more Gopichand
joins BIRMINGHAM, (ENGLAND), Mar 12: Few would have predicted a week ago that India’s Pullela Gopichand......more Brilliant Jeev finishes fourth NEW DELHI, Mar 12: The super Sunday for Indian sports was not restricted to .....more Pakistan
rout AUCKLAND, Mar 12 : Pakistan’s Test debutant Mohammad Sami and master spinner Saqlain Mushtaq blitzed the..more |
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Selection trials for Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 12: The selection trials for the National Judo Championship will be held on March 15 at the Judo Hall of the M A Stadium from 3 pm to 6 pm.........more JIM to organise Environment Camp Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 12: The Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports, Tringla, Batote is organising adventure sports Camp about....more KOLKATA, Mar 12: An abject surrender by India in batting and other aspects of the game enabled the all-conquering Australians to get a stranglehold on the second cricket test here today. .....more Ranji
Trophy pre-quarter final CUTTACK, Mar 12: A double century by Rashmi Ranjan Parida (220) and a fine century by Prabhanjan Mallick (191) helped Orissa to amass a ....more |
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Davenport enjoying home court edge INDIAN WELLS (CALIFORNIA), Mar 12: Defender Lindsay Davenport needed a little time to adjust to the style of Anne-Gaelle Sidot, but cruised on a home court advantage to win their third-round match 6-4 6-4 at the Tennis Masters series-Indian Wells. "You know any time you play a lefty, that’s always a little bit awkward to return," Davenport said of the Frenchwoman yesterday. "She’s a very flashy player. She can hit some great shots and then miss some shots, so you never really know what you’re going to get. Rhythm is a little tough to come by." One of the reasons the second-seeded Davenport believes she is so comfortable playing at Indian Wells, where she also won the title in 1997, is that she sees this as her home turf. "I like playing here a lot," said Davenport, a native of nearby Los Angeles. "Anytime it’s in California conditions, I think that helps me just because I grew up here, I’m used to the air and the courts and everything that goes with it. "Its been a great weekend that my whole family could come out and a lot of friends." Next on Davenport’s agenda is fellow-American Lisa Raymond, who upset 13th-seeded Sandrine Testud of France 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 7-5. Davenport holds a mighty 9-0 career edge over Raymond, but for the first time ever she lost a set to Raymond last week at Scottsdale, before prevailing in that quarter-final 1-6 6-0 6-3. "I’ve played Lisa a bunch of times already the last few months," Davenport said. "We keep having closer and closer matches. "With Raymond, there’s a lot more variety, some slices, high balls, kick serves." All coming to her, however, off the reassuring bounce of her home court.(REUTERS) |
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Gopichand joins the big league BIRMINGHAM, (ENGLAND), Mar 12: Few would have predicted a week ago that India’s Pullela Gopichand would be the man to win what was probably badminton’s hottest ever singles tournament. All 16 of the world’s top ranked players contested the All England Championship, including the three medal winners from the Sydney Olympics and current number one Peter Gade of Denmark. No hiding place - but it was the quiet, thoughtful 27-year-old from Bangalore who lifted the trophy yesterday after beating China’s Chen Hong 15-12 15-6 in the final. It was the first Indian victory in the men’s singles tournament since Prakash Padukone, now Gopichand’s national coach, won the title in 1980. Gopichand, a typical Asian mixture of power and touch, played consistently at the top of his game, disposing of both Gade and Olympic Champion Ji Xinpeng of China along the way. Beating big names is nothing new for the Indian. Previous victims over the years have included the two previous Olympic champions Allan Budi Kusuma of Indonesia and Denmark’s Poul Erik Hoyer Larsen. But such victories in the big events have tended to be one-offs. Putting together five or six wins in a row to clinch a major tournament like the all England is a big breakthrough. A ready winner of fairly minor fare such as the Scottish and Toulouse titles, but typically a last 16 player and no more in the big ones - that has been the Indian’s profile to date. Gopichand, thrilled to fulfil a childhood ambition, admitted: "I have always had the game but I have had a few weaknesses which people have exploited. "I have patched them up a bit now and I feel more confident as a player." Acid tests await. Having arrived, can Gopichand stay at or near the top of the sport? The World Grand Prix finals in Brunei loom at the end of the month followed by the world championships in Seville in June. Gopichand, his defensive game improved after special attention, could be joining the movers and shakers, albeit at a relatively late age. Sunday’s loser Chen can look back with satisfaction on an event in which compatriots Ji and Xia Xuanze, the defending champion, both disappointed. But generally, China had a good championships once more. The women’s singles title went to olympic champion Gong Zhichao who defended her All England crown with a comfortable 11-7 11-3 success over compatriot Zhou Mi. Then Gao Ling teamed up with Huang Sui to win the women’s doubles after earlier lifting the mixed doubles title with Zhang Jun. The mixed doubles victory spelt agony for the top seeded Danish pair of Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen who failed to convert two match points and lost 13-15 15-12 17-14. At the Sydney Olympics last September the Danes also had two match points in the bronze medal game but missed out, handing the medal to Britain’s Simon Archer and Jo Goode. (REUTERS) |
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Brilliant Jeev finishes fourth NEW DELHI, Mar 12: The super Sunday for Indian sports was not restricted to Gopichand’s historic all-England open win and Harbhajan Singh’s hat-trick against Australia. Jeev Milkha Singh put up an enthralling display on the final day to finish tied for the fourth place in the season-opening $834,000 token Corporation Cup on the Japan Golf tour. According to information reaching here from Tado, Japan, Jeev aggregated four-under 209 in freezing conditions in a tournament which was reduced to three rounds following a heavy snowstorm on the opening day. The second round was cancelled. Jeev, who became the first Indian golfer to qualify for the lucrative Japanese tour after finishing third in the qualifying school, shot the day’s best round of four-under 67 to leapfrog from tied 34th place to 4th after the second round. The conditions on the final day were so unfriendly with uninterrupted rain and sub-zero temperature that only four players broke par. Shingo Katayama of Japan won the tournament at eight-under 205. Katayama shot a two-over 73 on the final day and won by two strokes over Tsuneyuki Nakajima. Jeev is enjoying one of the best runs of his career after the frustration of last season when he missed almost seven months of action due to a wrist injury. The 29-year-old finished sixth in Dubai Desert Classic last week and also set a new putting record on the European PGA tour. (PTI) |
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Pakistan rout New Zealand in Ist test AUCKLAND, Mar 12 : Pakistan’s Test debutant Mohammad Sami and master spinner Saqlain Mushtaq blitzed the New Zealand batting on the last morning of the first test in Auckland today to give Pakistan an emphatic 299 run victory. The match ended 34 minutes before lunch, with New Zealand bowled out for 131 in their second innings. They began the day on 105 for one and were hoping to hold out for a draw, with the 431 runs needed for victory beyond most teams. But Sami and Saqlain enjoyed a dream bowling spell aided by some inept New Zealand batting. Sami’s man-of-the-match effort on Monday was seven overs, three maidens, five wickets for six runs — for a second innings return of five for 36. His accuracy was pin-point, employing reverse swing. On his last two balls in his first test he clean bowled James Franklin and Daryl Tuffey, and had that not been the end of his over, he’d have had a chance of the hat-trick. As it was, Saqlain got last man Chris Martin first ball after the other batsman, Adam Parore, scrambled a leg-bye. Saqlain played a huge part in New Zealand’s second innings slump, taking four wickets for 24 in all. He also ran out opening batsman Matthew Bell yesterday to end an opening stand with Mark Richardson at 91. He had Richardson out in the first over today when he was caught by Imran Farhat, and took the wickets of Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle and Martin. He also pulled off a brilliant catch to get rid of Craig Mcmillan at mid-on, diving to his right and grabbing the ball with his finger-tips. Saqlain’s figures on Monday were 12.4 overs, four maidens, four wickets for three. New Zealand were hoping to hang on for the minimum 103 overs but lasted just 24.4. Losing Richardson so early turned out to be a heavy blow, but night watchman Paul Wiseman and Mathew Sinclair went along reasonably comfortably to 121 when New Zealand lost their way. They lost their final eight wickets for just 10 runs. The result represented New Zealand’s worst loss after chasing a total. Their previous worst was the loss by 297 runs to Australia at Auckland in 1973-74. Pakistan Captain Moin Khan said after the match he was surprised it finished before lunch. " When we got Richardson this morning I knew we would win, but I didn’t expect it to be so quickly," he said.(REUTERS) |
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Selection trials for National Judo on March 15 Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 12: The selection trials for the National Judo Championship will be held on March 15 at the Judo Hall of the M A Stadium from 3 pm to 6 pm. According to Mr R C Thakur, general secretary of the Association, the Senior National Championship will be held at Lucknow from March 31 to April 3. All Judokas who are interested to participate in the Championship are advised to meet Mrs Arshi Nad, Judo Coach for verification. |
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JIM to organise Environment Camp Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 12: The Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports, Tringla, Batote is organising adventure sports Camp about Mountaineering, Skiing, Rock Climbing and Trekking etc. to make the masses especially youths aware about growing problems of environmental degradation. The Institute is organising another Environment Camp for the local school at Youth Hostel, Nagrota (Khanpar) on March 17, 2001. The teachers from all over the country will participate where another Cultural Heritage Camp will take place. The Environment Camp will consist of on-the-spot painting competition of three different age groups and a debate on environment followed by a science exhibition. A stall with the cooperation of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is also being put up where the local students would display science models. |
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KOLKATA, Mar 12: An abject surrender by India in batting and other aspects of the game enabled the all-conquering Australians to get a stranglehold on the second cricket test here today. The Indians were tottering at a miserable 128 for eight at the close of second day’s play after allowing their formidable opponents to reach 445 in their first innings, marked by a classic 110 by skipper Steve Waugh. The last two Australian wickets put on 176 runs despite another good spell of bowling by off spinner Harbhajan Singh who took a career-best seven for 123. Having allowed the Australians to pile on a big total, the Indians were a demoralised lot when they came out to bat and it was a virtual procession as Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly and the rest capitulated before the varied Australian attack. The Indians need another 118 runs to avert the follow on and they have only the last two wickets in hand to do the highly improbable job. It was another pathetic display by the hosts with none of the batsmen being able to hang around for long on what appeared to be a good batting track. Weighed down by the huge Aussie total, the Indians never recovered from the early jolts inflicted by speedster Glenn Mcgrath, who generated a fair amount of pace to expose the Indian batsmen’s vulnerability to genuine fast bowling. All the Aussie bowlers looked dangerous as they bowled to a plan, while the hosts surrendered meekly to leave the huge Eden Gardens crowd in a daze. The all-conquering Aussies, leading the three-match series 1-0, have now set their sights of breaking a 31-year series winning drought on Indian soil to reaffirm their supremacy in the longer version of the game. The Indian innings began on a disastrous note as the left-handed opener Sadgopan Ramesh perished for a duck in Jason Gillespie’s first over, allowing the visitors to take control of the proceedings from the very outset. Both Ramesh and his opening partner Shiv Sundar Das have failed to provide a good start for the team in the three innings so far exposing the middle order batsmen to counter the new ball in the early stages. Ramesh, who has not been in the best of forms of late, paid a heavy price for playing a rather casual stroke as he needlessly flashed an outside the off-stump delivery from Gillespie, only succeeding in edging to ricky ponting at second slip. Both Aussie new ball bowlers Mcgrath and Gillespie bowled with a great deal of venom in the first spell, but the diminutive Das and Rahul Dravid, who joined the action after Ramesh’s departure, prevented any further setback by remaining unseparated till the tea break. The post-tea session saw the Indians lose their way again as the lanky Mcgrath unleashed a devastating second spell from the pavillion end to evict Das (20) and batting masestro Sachin Tendulkar (10) in quick succession to leave the hosts gasping at 48 for three at one stage. The young Das, who was tested with a barrage of short pitched deliveries right through his brief knock, returned to the pavillion when wicket keeper Adam Gilchrist dived full length to his left and latched on to an inside edge much to the delight of his teammates. A thunderous cheer greeted Tendulkar as he walked into the middle with the responsibility of rebuilding the Indian innings, but he could survive only for 25 minutes, falling to a gem of a delivery from the dangerous Mcgrath. Tendulkar tried to play an incoming ball on the leg side but missed the line to be trapped in front of wicket. A hushed silence descended on the Eden Gardens as umpire Peter Willey lifted the dreaded finger signalling the maestro’s long walk back to the pavillion. Dravid and Captain Sourav Ganguly arrested the slide briefly with a 40-run fourth wicket partnership before Dravid chose to commit ‘harakiri’ by attempting an ambitious stroke off leg spinner Shane Warne and paid the price.(PTI) |
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Ranji Trophy
pre-quarter final CUTTACK, Mar 12: A double century by Rashmi Ranjan Parida (220) and a fine century by Prabhanjan Mallick (191) helped Orissa to amass a mammoth 501 in the first innings against Jammu & Kashmir on the second day of the Ranji Trophy pre-quarter final knock out match at the Barbati Stadium here today. At close of play the visitors were struggling at 102 for four needing another 200 runs to avoid follow on. The Jammu & Kashmir openers Ranjit Bali and Vidya Bhaskar could not stay long as medium pacer Ajaya Barik dismissed them in quick succession. With both the openers gone, it was left to Kamaljeet Singh and Vikrant Tagger to stem the rot but former Indian quick bowler Debashis Mahanty had trapped tagger lbw sending J &K reeling at 27 for three. Before the stumps were drawn for the day, spinner Jagannath Das claimed Dhruba Mahajan who was caught by Ajaya Barik for 24. Kamaljeet, however, remained not out with 42 while Aswani Gupta was unbeaten at 16. Earlier during the day Orissa resuming their overnight score of 369 for three went on a leather hunt with Rashmi Ranjan Parida and Prabhanjan Mallick carrying their fourth wicket partnership to a record 358 runs before Parida was dismissed by Vijaya Sharma. Parida had 35 hits to the fence in his 220 runs which came in 410 minutes of 326 balls. It was Parida’s first double century in the Ranji. The rest of the Orissa batsmen including P Jayachandra and Goutam Gopal did not last long as they went for quick runs. Jayachandra was dismissed for two while Gopal scored 20. Prabhanjan Mallick who was closed to his double century was also bowled by Vijaya Sharma for 191. Mallick had hit 22 fours and four sixes in his 378 minutes stay at the crease. The Orissa innings folded at 501. For the visitors Vijaya Sharma and skipper Abdul Qyaoom were the most successful bowlers. Medium pacer Vijaya Sharma returned with excellent match figures of 5 for 98 in 26 overs while skipper Qyaoom who had opened the bowling took three Orissa scalps for 79 of 26.5 overs. The only other successful bowler was Jagtar Singh who took one wicket. The other wicket to fall was by way of a run out. Brief score: Orissa first innings: Overnight 369 for 3 501 all out (Rashmi Ranjan Parida 220, P Mallick 191, Vijaya Sharma 5/98, Abdul Qyaoom 3/79 ) Jammu & Kashmir first innings: 102 for 4 (Kamaljeet Singh 42 not out, Ajaya Barik 2/28, Debashish Mahanty 1/26). |
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