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cricketers poised to break the bank MELBOURNE, May 9: An Australian player will become the first millionaire test cricketer under a new four-year deal agreed by the Australian Cricket Board. ACB chief executive Malcolm Speed said today the deal would make Australia the best paid cricket team in the world............more Courier, Garrison differ NEW YORK, May 9: Jim Courier, four times a Grand Slam champion, and former Wimbledon runner-up Zina Garrison offered opposing views on the Williams sisters and their lack of enthusiasm for playing against one another.............more Confident-looking Indian MUMBAI, May 9: A confident-looking Indian football team, led by mercurial Baichung Bhutia, left for Brunei early this morning to play in the Asian zone group......more Sampras, Agassi ROME, May 9: Peter Sampras’s attempts to complete the jigsaw of his memorable career were under....more |
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Mulkh Raj Memorial Open Cricket Abhishek, Ashwani help FCC beat Shiva Club by 5 wkts Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, May 9: Fourth wicket partnership of 126 runs between Abhishek Suri and Ashwani helped FCC defeat.......more J&K
girls improve performance Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, May 9: North-zone seeded shuttler Mala Gaba gave career’s best....more Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, May 9: An inter-state cycle rally by the students of border areas of Akhnoor......more Shoaib may never DERBU, (ENGLAND), May 9: Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar may never.....more |
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Aussie cricketers poised to break the bank MELBOURNE, May 9: An Australian player will become the first millionaire test cricketer under a new four-year deal agreed by the Australian Cricket Board. ACB chief executive Malcolm Speed said today the deal would make Australia the best paid cricket team in the world. Speed said current ACB-contracted players could earn a maximum of $315,000 annually but from 2004 pay could rise to a staggering $520,000. "The Australian cricket team will become the best-paid team in the world," he said. Australia contract 25 players each year and the top ranked player would be in line for the top pay. Last year, captain Steve Waugh was reported to have made $600,000 from a full test and one-day programme, although star bowler Shane Warne reportedly made double that from endorsements and advertising work. The selectors decide on players’ rankings. "I’m not going to guess who the first million dollar player will be," Speed said. (AFP) |
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Courier, Garrison differ on Williams sisters NEW YORK, May 9: Jim Courier, four times a Grand Slam champion, and former Wimbledon runner-up Zina Garrison offered opposing views on the Williams sisters and their lack of enthusiasm for playing against one another. "I want to see them play against each other for real," said Courier, who was helping to launch a youth tennis promotion at the National Tennis Center with Garrison. "Not just as an aspect of sibling rivalry. They’ve got to get past the fact they are playing a sister," the double French Open and Australian Open winner added. Venus, 20, and Serena, 19, often avoid entering the same tournaments to sidestep possible sibling showdowns. At Indian Wells earlier this season the crowd turned ugly after Venus pulled out of a semifinal against Serena at the last minute, citing an injury. "I think it is very unfair criticism they are getting, considering they are sisters and are so close," said 1990 Wimbledon finalist Garrison, who has also coached the Williams sisters in Fedcup and on the 2000 Olympic team. "People don’t know how hard it is to play your sister. When you’re best friends on tour it’s tough. I grew up with Lori McNeil. It was very tough to play her." Courier, who will be trying his hand at television commentary this summer at Wimbledon, said he empathized with the Williams’ dilemma but added that they needed to get past their reluctance to play against each other. "They are going to be playing each other all their careers," courier said. "They are among the best players in the world. I know they hate playing each other. Emotionally it’s very difficult. They love each other so much." He believes feelings have got in the way of competition. Mediocre tennis "When they have played each other they have played mediocre tennis," Courier said, adding that he longed to see what fireworks would fly if they played each other at their highest level. Garrison said knowing each other, and each other’s games, so well made it much harder to raise the quality of tennis on the court. "You know their style, their trends, their idiosyncrasies, their mannerisms," Garrison said. "Usually one player will dominate one set and then the other picks up. There is usually a third set". "Whoever that day woke up on the better side of the bed usually wins". "It’s not an easy situation. At Wimbledon last year it was really, really tough to sit there and watch what they were going through," she said of the all-Williams semifinal won easily by eventual champion Venus. "There’s more pressure than people are aware of." Garrison said there was no question about the Williams sisters’ competitiveness. "When Serena won the US Open (1999) that definitely spurred Venus on. If Venus should get to be number one, then I’m sure Serena will do everything to get there herself." (REUTERS) |
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Confident-looking Indian team leaves for Brunei MUMBAI, May 9: A confident-looking Indian football team, led by mercurial Baichung Bhutia, left for Brunei early this morning to play in the Asian zone group 8 pre-World Cup football qualifier against the hosts on May 12. "We are confident of doing well in the last two matches irrespective of whether we qualify or not," Bhutia told reporters at the airport. "Mathmetically we can still qualify and we are all keeping our fingers crossed. We will put in hundred per cent on the field and hope for the best," he added. Bhutia said the boys were very happy to get a pep talk from All India Football Federation (AIFF) secretary Alberto Colaco, who came all the way from Goa to see off the team. "It was very nice of Colaco to come and meet the boys and give us a few tips," Bhutia said. Bhutia said after the Brunei match the team will go back to Bangalore on May 13 or 14 and play the home match against the same rival on May 20. On his personal assignments, Bhutia said, ‘I will decide about playing in the Merdeka Football Tournament scheduled to be held in Malaysia from June 15 soon after I come back from Brunei". The team for the Malaysia tourney would be picked on May 20 at Bangalore. Bhutia revealed he had got a couple of offers from foreign teams including his english team F C Bury but he was yet to decide which team he would sign. Bhutia, who would be playing against Brunei for the first time said, "layed against Brunei and I don’t know how many of my teammates have played against them but I can assure you that it is going to be an interesting experience for both the teams and we are all looking forward to it". Coach Sukhwinder Singh said the key to success against Brunei was to play an attacking game as "we know very little about Brunei team" but expressed confidence that India would come up with a solid performance. (PTI) |
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Sampras, Agassi falter in Rome ROME, May 9: Peter Sampras’s attempts to complete the jigsaw of his memorable career were undermined as the American suffered an early exit from the 2.95 million dollar Rome Masters series event. Fourth seed Sampras lost 5-7 6-2 4-6 to Israel’s Harel Levy yesterday in a first round match held over from Monday because of rain. The defeat left Sampras short of match practice on clay courts before this month’s French Open, the only Grand Slam title still to elude him. Sampras, 29-year-old holder of a record 13 Grand Slam titles, was not the only big name to perish on the clay of the Foro Italico on Tuesday. Fellow American Andre Agassi, the French open favourite, endured a miserable start to his European clay-court season as he was knocked out by Spain’s Alex Calatrava. Third seed Agassi made 35 unforced errors and lost 6-3 6-3. Frenchman Arnaud Clement, 11th seed and runner-up to Agassi in the Australian Open final in January, succumbed to Federico Luzzi, an Iitalian wildcard entrant. Clement booed Clement saved three match points but eventually lost 2-6 6-1 3-6 and, after refusing to shake hands with Luzzi, was booed off court by a Partisan crowd. Tennis Rome two Rome Top seed and world number one Gustavo Kuerten, second seed Marat Safin, seventh seed Ileyton Hewitt and ninth-seeded Briton Tim Henman halted the decline of the seeds. Brazil’s Kuerten, the reigning French Open champion and winner of the Rome title in 1999, endured a torrid time against Croatian qualifier Ivan Ljubicic before prevailing 6-7 7-5 6-4. Kuerten’s next match is an intriguing contest with 1989 French Open champion Michael Chang. American Chang beat Spain’s Fernando Vicente 6-4 7-5. Safin toiled to overcome Swede Jonas Bjorkman 6-2 3-6 7-5. Australian Hewitt also showed inconsistencies but called on his reserves of determination at the perfect time to triumph 6-1 2-6 7-5 over the Czech Republic’s Bohdan Ulihrach. Henman said he could "not have executed the first set any better" against Spanish clay-court specialist Albert Costa. Costa capitalised on typical negligence from Henman in the second set but the world number 10, who is showing signs of competence on clay, regrouped in the decider to claim a 6-2 3-6 6-1 victory. Plans disrupted Sampras has been planning his clay-court season for months. He said rigorous preparation was required if he was to triumph at Roland Garros and become only the sixth man in history to claim all four major titles. However, his best-laid plans have already been disrupted. In April, he withdrew from the Monte Carlo Masters series event suffering from a viral infection. Ironically, he says, it was brought on by the intensity of his training. The rustiness was evident as he was tamed by 22-year-old Levy, ranked 46 in the world. It was Sampras’s first match on clay this year and his first on any surface since the Ericsson Open in Miami in March. When the match resumed with Sampras trailing 5-7 3-1 overnight, the world number four began confidently and soon took the contest into a deciding set. But Levy refused to wilt in the face of Sampras’s aggression and when Levy broke serve to lead 1-0 in the third set, the American’s ability to adapt on the clay was conspicious by its absence. He had to stave off further break points in the fifth and ninth games before Levy closed out the match — and the biggest win of his short career — on his first match point. Sampras said: "He played very well but it is disappointing for me. I felt good coming in to the tournament and now I have to start again. "There are still things I have to work on, like being patient on certain points. But I still feel I can hold my own against anyone out there." Clay practice Sampras said he would play in the Hamburg Masters series event and the World Team Cup in Duesseldorf later this month to try to gain more practice on clay before the French Open, which begins in Paris on May 28. Levy, who plays Francisco Clavet of Spain in the second round, said: "It was the best win of my career. I was playing against one of my idols, which is not easy. But I think I did a good job." Agassi looked ill at ease on the clay . It was his first competitive appearance of the year in Europe on the surface, although his exciting partnership with Hewitt in the doubles here should help his preparation for the French Open. It wasn’t a good day but I felt comfortable out there,’’ Agassi said. "I am playing in the Hamburg event and I’m happy with my schedule before the French. "One extra week will make a huge difference." Calatrava, playing in his first Masters series event at the age of 27, faces fellow Spaniard Felix Mantilla in the second round. Mantilla beat Italy’s Mose Navarra 6-3 7-6 (7-5). (REUTERS) |
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Mulkh Raj Memorial
Open Cricket Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, May 9: Fourth wicket partnership of 126 runs between Abhishek Suri and Ashwani helped FCC defeat Shiva Cricket Club by five wickets to reach the quarter-finals of the Ist Mulkh Raj Memorial Open Cricket Tournament being played at Parade, here today. Earlier, batting first, Shiva Club scored 164 runs in the allotted 25 overs, which in reply, FCC chased in 18 overs losing five wickets. Vicky was the top scorer from Shiva Club, who scored 35 runs off 33 balls, while Sonu and Bharat Bhagat contributed 23 and 21 runs respectively. From FCC, Vijay, Mohan and Amit shared two wickets each, while Ashwani took one. Batting second, FCC lost three easy wickets for 38, but fourth wicket partnership of 126 runs made the victory easy for FCC. FCC reached the required total in 18 over with five wickets in hand. Abhishekh contributed brilliant 60 runs off just 37 balls including 11 fours, while Ashwani remained unbeaten at 37 (33). From Shiva Club, Rinku took three wickets, while Deepu bagged two. Ashwani, who took one wicket and scored 37 runs was declared as man of the match. Tomorrow’s fixture: KHCC V/s Kashyap Cricket Club at 7.30 am and Vishal Cricket Club V/s FCC at 1.30 pm. Correction: In yesterday reporting of a match between KCCC and Rani Park Cricket Club, the name of the man of the match was mistakely written as Dhruv Singh. Please read it Dhruv Mahajan and not Dhruv Singh. Error is regretted. |
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J&K girls improve
performance Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, May 9: North-zone seeded shuttler Mala Gaba gave career’s best performance by making clean sweep in the Women and Junior girls, while Vivek of Chandigarh beat Yogesh (HP) to emerge as Men’s champion on in the Ist Justice I K Kotwal Memorial North-Zone Invitational Badminton Tournament which successfully concluded at M A Stadium, here this evening. ‘It was very difficult for me to play under adverse conditions of high temperature and with mercury lights on, but anyway, I managed to clinch both the individual titles of Women and Junior girls", said the visibly tired Mala, who played a lot of matches today, while talking to EXCELSIOR soon after her Junior girl’s singles. Besides the singles titles, Mala has two more titles to her credit— Women’s doubles and Junior girls doubles. Number six in singles in North-zone, Mala was happy and rather satisfied over her performance, especially her first ever victory over her senior Sharda of the same State in Women’s singles. Mala defeated Sharda in straight sets 11-9, 11-6, after latter suffered from a muscle pull during the second set. In the Men’s singles final, Men’s doubles title was clinched by the pair of In the Junior girls singles, Mala faced tough resistance from J&K’s number one Samarika Manhas before beating her 2-1. Although, first set was claimed by Samarika 11-4, but in the remaining two sets, Mala fought back and forced Samarika to give her negative points. In the third set, Mala dodged her opponent with drops and hit power-packed shots to take unbeatable lead of 10-3. However, Samarika, who maintained her cool recovered and took five consecutive points restricting Mala on game point 10-8, but it was the day of Mala Gaba, who got the match point on a drop. The score: 4-11, 11-6, 11-8. Later, taking to the newsmen, Mala accepted that it was difficult to play the player like Samarika, who is a tough player having an advantage of being a lefty. On the other hand, smiling, even after losing the final, Samarika said that she gave away negative points, especially in the deciding set, which caused her defeat. However, she was satisfied the way she tackled Mala. Mala said, "we used to play in the sodium light, but in Jammu there were mercury lights, which created some problems for me". She pleaded that the next time the organisers should organise the championship in pleasant weather. In the Women’s doubles, Mala Gaba, (number four in North-zone) and Sharda outplayed Madhvi and Isha 7-15, 15-13, 15-8. And in the Junior girls doubles final, Mala, who paired with Samarika defeated Madhvi (J&K) and Isha (Chandigarh) in straight sets of 15-4, 15-12. Winners trophy in Junior boys final went in favour of Yogesh of Himachal Pradesh who beat Vivek of Chandigarh 17-15, 11-15, 15-13. Earlier, in Men’s singles, J&K’s only hope Avnish Sharma lost to Yogesh of Himachal defeated in the first semi-finals, while in the second semi-finals, Vivek of Chandigarh defeated Ranbir Singh of Rajasthan 15-7, 12-15, 15-11. Prizes were given away to the winners by the chief guest, Justice T S Thakur of Karnataka High Court. While, Mr Piara Singh, MLA, was guest of honour in the concluding function. The three-day long first every invitational North-zone level tournament in Jammu was organised by the J&K Badminton Players Welfare Association of which Prem Dewan was chief patron, Kiran Wattal, chairman and Pawanjeet Singh was organising secretary. |
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Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, May 9: An inter-state cycle rally by the students of border areas of Akhnoor Sector studying in Kendriya Vidyalayas No, 1 and No.2 was flagged off by the senior Army officer at Nagrota, here today. Eighteen students accompanied by two teachers will be cycling over a distance of 514 kilometers through the State of J&K, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh. The journey will be spread over a period of 16 days with organised halts for rest, recreation sight seeing and org of soap operas at Samba, Pathankot, Shahpur, Dharmshala and Yol. The rally aim at developing the spirit of adventure, physical toughness and mental robustness as also aims to spread the spirit of national integration. It will also offer an opportunity to children of border area to see other States and interact with people. Hero cycle company has provided fifteen cycles at half rate to the participants and Army is providing assistance in conduct of the Rally. Large umber of parents of children studying in Kendriya Vidyalayas No. 1 and 1 also attended the ceremony. |
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Shoaib may never reach express pace again DERBU, (ENGLAND), May 9: Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar may never reach the express pace he attained before remodeling his action, according to the team’s bowling coach Daryl Foster. Foster, a biomechanics expert from the University of Western Australia, has helped Shoaib modify his delivery after it was officially questioned by several umpires. "He might lose a few kilometres an hour," Foster said. "But I think he’ll more than make up for that by putting the ball in the right spot consistently. Whether he’s bowling at 158 or 150 kilometres an hour is irrelevant if he’s doing that." Shoaib took two wickets from 12 overs on the first day of Pakistan’s three-day match against Derbyshire yesterday but never reached the speed which made him such an exciting performer at the 1999 World Cup. The "Rawalpindi Express" appeared to be carrying some extra weight, did not run in at full speed and had clearly altered his action, bowling with a more studied approach and a longer swing of his right arm. Still, Pakistan would have been pleased he got through the day without any problems following a bout of gastroenteritis which delayed his arrival from Lahore and Foster believes he will be a vital part of an impressive attack. "Pakistan have got two great seam bowlers in Wasim (Akram) and Waqar (Younis) and they need a bowler with some oomph to go with them," Foster said. "Shoaib can give them that." (REUTERS) |
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