Pakistan appoints ex-diplomat to manage Indian tour

KARACHI, Jan 19: Pakistan has appointed former Foreign Secretary Shaharyar Khan as manager for the Pakistani cricket team’s controversial tour of India, news reports said today.

"The Pakistani side will definitely be playing under threats and pressure but players have the experience and potential to face the situation," team manager Khan was quoted as saying. "I think I have been given the assignment in view of the sensitivity of the tour."

I am looking forward to a very exciting contest, Mr Khan added. (DPA)

Cairns ton inspires Kiwis to series squaring win

CHRISTCHURCH, Jan 19: Indian batsmen failed to respond after an electrifying 115 by Chris Cairns gave New Zealand the initiative and crashed to defeat by 70 runs in the fifth and final one day cricket tie at the Jade Stadium here today.

India, sorely missing an injured Sachin Tendulkar, lost touch chasing a stiff asking rate after early verve to be all out for 230 in 45.3 overs after Cairns improved his own Kiwi record for the fastest hundred in an 80-ball blitzkreig to power New Zealand to 300 for eight wickets in 50 overs.

Left-hander Saurav Ganguly gave a perfect start with a fluent 60 off 50 balls, but the rest, including skipper Mohd Azharuddin who top-scored with 63, could never really maintain the momentum to enable the Kiwis to square the series 2-all at the Jade Stadium.

Chris Harris spearheaded the Kiwi attack claiming four for 40 with Gavin Larsen (2/34) and others lending support as Indian hopes to clinch the one-day series after losing the tests 0-1 were dashed in their last tie of the tour.

Man of the Match Cairns red a 75-ball hundred for his second three-figure knock in one-dayers, carting seven sixes and as many fours, as New Zealand plundered 121 runs in the final 10 overs after reaching 179 four in 40 overs on being put in to bat by Azharuddin.

Cairns (115 - 80b, 7x4, 7x6), Oener Ryan Young (57) and Roger Twose (63) fed on fine batting conditions. India too looked well set as Ganguly and Jadeja (25) raised a 78-run opening stand in only 14 overs before they capitulated, losing the last five wickets for 28 runs. Indian waq up and looking to seal the series, contained the Kiwis till the slog overs before Cairns - lucky to be adjudged not out by umpire Chris King after he edged Robin Singh to stumper Nayan Mongia when on 51 at 188 for four in the 41st over - launched his assault.

Cairns smashed paceman Venkatesh Prasad (9-0-61-0) for three of his sixes and carted two off leg spinner Anil Kumble (10-0-78-1) as they bore the brunt of his fury. Only Javagal Srinath (3/44) and off-spinner Nikhil Chopra (1/36 in 8 overs) among the regulars had decent figures.

Without Tendulkar, who hurt his left forearm after being struck by the handle of Ganguly’s bat going for a run at Auckland, the onus was on openers Ganguly and Jadeja.

Gaguly (60- 50 b, 11 x 4) led the spirited reply with crashing drives to race to his fifty off only 42 balls though Jadeja struggled and played and missed quite a few times.

Ganguly was severe on Cairns, whose first three overs cost 30 runs, while Jadeja broke out of his shell by carting skipper Dion Nash over midwicket for a six.

But the left-hander fell when in full flow, top edging a short ball from Doull to deep third man Matt Horne. Jadeja also departed soon after bowled through the gate by Larsen for 25 off 39 balls (3 x 4, 1 x 6).

Rahul Dravid (29 - 35 b, 2 x 4) kept rotating the strike well and also completed 2000 runs in his 70th tie, but with Azharuddin not reciprocating, he swung left-am sinner Daniel Vettori in desperation only to be caught at deep square leg by Chris Harris and start the slide. (PTI)

Anand stuns rivals

WIJK AAN ZEE (HOLLAND), Jan 19: Viswanathan Anand’s blazing display on the first two days of the annual hoogovens international tournament may have stunned his rivals, who were surprised to see him attack with both black and white pieces. But Garry Kasparov playing his first tournament in almost a year indicated that he is still formidable by winning the blitz tournament with 1.5 points to spare.

Kasparov, who recently drew with Vladimir Kramnik in a 24-game blitz event, won nine games as he logged 10.5 points from 13 games. All the 14 players playing the main tournament figured in this promotional event watched by thousands. Curiously Kasparov’s only defeat came against Bosboom, a player with a much lower rating.

Anand finished joint second with vassily Ivanchuk, but more than the second placing what may have been disappointing for him would be the loss to Kasparov in the fourth round. While still trying to recover from that, he lost another one to Ivan Sokolov, the Bosnian, who is hugely popular here having won the dutch national title sometime back. Anand won seven of his games and drew four. In the tie-breaker anand was adjudged second and Ivanchuk third. Playing aggressively Ivanchuk looked in good form winning nine games, but he did not play safely in any of his other games and lost four. His losses included those to Kasparov and Anand.

The main tournament will re-start this evening with the third round. Anand has wins in both the first and second having beaten Dmitri Reinderman and Jeroen Piket in the first two rounds. He also emerged as the winner of the best game awards decided by the public which comes to see these matches.

In the third round, Anand will meet Alexi Shirov, who last year beat Vladimir Kramnik in a widely publicised match to set up a world title clash with Kasparov. That match did not materialise because there were no sponsors.

Kasparov will meet Alex Yermolinsky with whom he drew in the blitz tournament.

Final positions in the Blitz tournament : Kasparov (10.5), Anand and Ivanchuk (9), Kramnik (8.5), Svidler and Topalov (6.5 each), Kasimdhzanov (6), Piket and Bosboom (5.5), Timman (5), Van Wely (4.5), Reinderman (3.5), Yermolinsky (3). (UNI)

Korda scrapes out victory despite ankle injury

MELBOURNE, Jan 19: Defending champion Petr Korda overcame an ankle injury and a furore over his positive drug test to sneak through his opening round match at the Australian Open yesterday.

Korda beat Spain’s Galo Blanco 6-3, 6-7 (1-7), 6-4, 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 after twisting his left ankle and requiring an injury time out in the third set.

Korda, who tested positive for steriods at last year’s Wimbledon Championships, has been the subject of a player backlash after escaping a ban. But the capacity crowd of 6,000 people on court one was cheering loudly for the 1998 winner.

He rolled his ankle after playing a shot from the baseline and trying to move in toward the net, and was hobbling for several games after that.

"The trainer said it’s going to be very painful, and it was," Korda said. "I said to the trainer, I’m not going to give up. I’ll be on the court until the last ball."

Blanco refused to shake Korda’s hand afterward, but said it had nothing to do with the drug case. Based on the way Korda ran late in the match, Blanco thought he had faked injury to gain time to rest, the Spanish player explained through an interpreter.

I felt I couldn’t trust him,’’ said blanco, who is ranked 83rd to Korda’s 20th.

Meanwhile, he said, he himself was set back by an abdominal injury that recurred when he was leading 4-1 in the fourth set.

Korda said that trying to play this tournament amid the drug controversy is not easy, but you have to live with it.

"I’ve never defended such a big title in my life. I’m trying to do the best I can," said Korda, who was 30 when victory here last year finally gave him his first grand slam title. (AP)

Jim Courier suspects blood doping in tennis

MELBOURNE, Jan 19: Outspoken drugs critic Jim Courier says he suspects rivals are using blood doping to boost performance on the tennis tour.

"Courier said he could not prove use of blood doping but has

long suspected’’ that some players use substances such as Erythropoietin (EPO) the drug at the center of cycling’s tour De France doping scandal.

He said that despite a positive test for steroids returned by Czech player Petr Korda, "I don’t have a great suspicion of steroid use among players."

"Steroids definitely have a place in coming back from injuries (but) I’m more inclined to have a concern for something we cannot test for, which is blood doping," Courier said Tuesday. "It gives a clear advantage for cardiovascular superiority to someone who does that.

I’ve long suspected that. I can’t say I have any proof but I know what my body has done over the years and I can’t play 35 weeks a year and god knows how many matches and keep going. I just can’t do it and I don’t think anybody else can but they are.

"From what I’ve deducted there may be some suspicious things that are going on that I’m not aware of and are not being properly sourced out through our testing."

Last year’s tour De France was wrecked by drug scandals, starting when the team doctor for festina was caught with more than 400 doping products, including EPO, in his car.

EPO occurs naturally in the body but can be taken in synthetic form to boost oxygen in red blood cells. Cycling has blood tests to determine levels of EPO, and riders with a count over a certain limit are stopped from competing until they fall under the mark.

Courier identified EPO as the major source of his suspicion.

"That’s the primary one," Courier said. "It’s clearly prevalent in Europe now and most of our tour is in Europe. I’m throwing darts, I have no proof, but I’ll be pretty pissed off in 10 years if I found out people were doing it and I was losing to them."

Courier has been the biggest critic of the decision to let Korda escape a ban for his positive test for nandrolone. He said he would reserve judgment on whether his "friend" had taken the drugs on purpose, but added Korda should be banned.

"Black and white issues deserve black and white answers," Courier said.

He admitted the Korda test took him by surprise.

"He doesn’t look like a steroid user, does he?" Courier said.

The International Olympic Committee has indicated it will introduce blood testing as soon a reliable test is invented. EPO cannot be detected by urine tests. (AP)

BCCI vandals will not be spared: Munde

MUMBAI, Jan 19: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde today said anyone involved in yesterday’s ransacking of BCCI headquarters here would not be spared but acknowledged that no arrests had been made so far.

"The law will take its own course," Munde told reporters in an informal chat after attending a seminar on investment organised by All India Association of Industries.

He said armed squads would be provided to Indian cricket team captain Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar on their arrival from New Zealand.

Asked whether he perceived threat to cricketers, especially in the light of Sena Minister of State for Sports Pratap Jadhav’s reported statement asking them to boycott the match against Pakistan or face consequences, Munde said "no, I don’t see any threat but I am taking precautions".

Munde could not confirm or deny role of Shiv Sena, which has been opposing Pakistan team’s tour, in the vandalism at BCCI office and said "no one has been caught so far, so I cannotsay wether Shiv Sainiks were involved or not".

The Deputy Chief Minister, however, added that it was possible that some group or persons might have taken advantage of Shiv Sena’s opposition to the tour and stormed the BCCI.

He said Union Home Minister L K Advani, who was in the city on an official visit when the ransacking took place, did not speak to Sena chief Bal Thackeray. The latter had given a call against the Pakistan cricket team’s tour of India. (PTI)

5-Grenadiers beat Zorawar Club in Hockey Tourney

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 19: In a major upset of the ongoing Ashwani Kapoor Memorial Hockey Tournament 5-Grenadiers outplayed Zorawar Club, Satwari 2-1 in a well contested league encounter held at Green Field grounds, here today.

Grenadiers dominated the field, especially in the first half and took one goal lead. Centre-forward, Bachiter Singh hit goal in the 10th minute of the match.

However, Zorawar Club could equilise the lead only in the 48th minute of the match through right-in Lakhwinder Singh. But soon, Grenadiers again took lead, when left-in Kuljeet Singh made spectacular goal in the 50th minute.

The last 20 minute game, Grenadiers remained defensive to maintain the one goal lead.

In an another league match of the day, Guru Nanak Club (GNC), Nanak Nagar defeated Richi Land Club 3-1. Earlier, Richi Land had won all its matches in the qualifying round of the tournaments.

GNC took early lead, hitting first goal in the 12th minute through Centre-forward Amarjeet Singh. It was followed by a number of unsuccessful attempts from both sides.

But after side-changing right-in Harmeet Singh, who made second goal in the 40th minute helped GNC to take two goals lead over Richi Land.

The only goal from Richi Land was hit by right-out, Kujur in the 50th minute of the match.

Amarjeet Singh made his second goal and third for GNC in the 70th minute to make it 3-1 win for GNC.

Richi Landers, who gave a gallant fight to GNC would have ended the match in a draw had they not missed two open setter. The first attempt was made by centre-forward, Gurminder Singh in the 20th minute, while Kamaljeet Singh missed the goal in the 58th minute.

Mr P P Singh and Kulbeer Singh were refrees during the matches.

Sponsors not put off by corruption investigation

LAUSANNE, (SWITZERLAND) Jan 19: Potential sponsors of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City have not been put off by the current corruption investigation, a top Olympic official said yesterday

Michael Payne, Director of Marketing for the International Olympic Committee, said no sponsor had pulled out of the event.

The amount raised to date through sponsorship was 900 dollars million, more than at this stage for any other Winter Olympics, he told reporters. The target is 1.4 billion dollars.

An IOC Committee will report back this weekend on its investigation into allegations that IOC members accepted bribes in exchange for voting for Salt Lake City to host the 2002 games.

Thirteen members are under investigation, and the majority are expected to appear in person before the IOC Executive Committee to explain their actions.

Payne, who has just returned from a whirlwind tour of the US to meet backers, said sponsors were continuing to support the IOC and the Salt Lake City organizers but were pressing for a thorough investigation.

"The concern from a few of the sponsors is that the IOC gets to the bottom of the matter and roots out any form of impropriety or unethical activity. The IOC is committed to doing that," he said. (AP)