India
stun Pakistan 2-1 in Azlan Shah hockey
IPOH (Malaysia), May 15: India thwarted a
series of late charges from Pakistan to
notch up a stunning 2-1 win over the
arch-rivals and stay in contention for
the title in the Azlan Shah hockey
tournament here today.
Indian
drag-flickers Sandeep Singh (6th minute)
and Diwakar Ram (20th) rose up to the
expectation by scoring a goal apiece,
while veteran Pakistani mid-fielder
Mohammad Saqlain (58th) netted the lone
goal for his side.
With their
third straight win in the tournament,
India have now garnered nine points from
five matches.
The
Indians were in the attacking mode from
the beginning and Shivendra Singh led the
forwardline with command producing two
good chances that went abegging.
But in the
sixth minute, Sandeep unleashed a
power-packed shot to convert India’s
first penalty corner and give his side
1-0 lead.
Three
minutes later, Sandeep had another chance
to shoot at the Pakistani post, but this
time his attempt was rather predictable
and the rival goal-keeper Rashid had no
problem in palming it away.
Banking on
the third short corner, Diwakar Ram
brought the second goal for India. With
both Sandeep and Diwakar on guard to have
a go at the goal, the Pakistanis had a
little doubt about whom to tackle and the
younger of the rag-flickers fired his
shot which hit Rashid’s shoulder
before deflecting to the roof of the net.
The
amateurish-looking Pakistanis were
completely off-colour in their approach.
While the defenders were too cautious,
the attackers were half-hearted and
tentative.
They
wasted as many as four penalty corners in
the first half.
Pakistan’s
best chance of the session came towards
the end when an experienced Saqlain sent
in a beauty of a cross to Waqas Akbar on
the top of the circle. But the latter
could not utilise the opportunity to
reduce the margin.
Pakistan
adopted a comparatively aggressive
approach in the second half and created
several forays though without tasting any
success.
On one
occasion, they had nearly scored a goal
when a Shakeel Abbassi initiated move was
marvelously taken forward by Mohammad
Zubair. The ball then went to Waqas who
guided it to Rehan Butt. But the attempt
ultimately was foiled by Indian
goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza to the
utter frustration of his rivals.
The
Pakistani forwards, who found some rhythm
after the change of ends, showed more
urgency to spirit several moves, but
either their untidy finishing or the
never-say-die Indian defence put out
their ambitions.
Pakistan
pulled one off in the 58th minute when
they got a penalty stroke off a good
move. Saqlain easily put it past Adrian
to open the account for his side.
A minute
later, deliberate blocking of Sunil
brought another penalty corner for India,
but Diwakar’s low drag-flick hit the
Pakistan goal-keeper’s heel to
narrowly miss the target.
Adrian
then showed a lot of courage and agility
to ward of at least three deadly attempts
from the Pakistani forwards and keep
India’s chances alive for a
much-required win.
In their
last league engagement, India will meet
hosts Malaysia on Saturday. (PTI)
Justine
Henin ready to live life away from tennis
WASHINGTON, May 15: The happiest
I’ve ever seen Justine Henin was
away from a tennis court.
There
wasn’t a racket in her hand. Not a
silver Grand Slam trophy. Not a
million-dollar-plus winner’s check.
Instead, here’s why Henin was giddy:
she was rocking her 6-week-old niece in
her arms.
It was
about an hour after the lithe Belgian
with the bigger-than-you’d-think
strokes won the 2007 French Open. Henin
was standing in a players’ lounge,
surrounded by her formerly estranged
father and siblings, reveling more in her
recently reconstructed family life than
in the sixth of her seven major
championships.
"This
year, she is laughing, smiling, and
taking pleasure in what she does,"
her oldest brother, David, said at the
time. "I used to see her on tv, and
she did not always look too happy."
Not quite
a full year later, Henin again was
surrounded by her relatives, again
content as could be, only yesterday, she
said she is no longer driven to be the
best in her sport. She won’t be
defending her title at Roland Garros when
the clay-court Grand Slam begins May 25,
and she won’t be defending her U.S.
Open title in the fall, either.
All of 25,
she suddenly, stunningly, walked away
from tennis, the first woman to retire
while ranked No. 1 by the WTA.
"I
realized that I was at the end of the
road," Henin said during a news
conference at her tennis academy outside
brussels. "I lived through it all, I
had given it all."
Henin
always got by on her grit as much as her
groundstrokes, and she made it quite
clear that her heart isn’t in it the
way it was for so long.
That’s
what is so surprising about the news
— and its timing.
She won
the French Open each of the past three
years, and four times overall. And that
tournament was, after all, the first she
attended in person as a fan, sitting in
the stands as a 10-year-old with her
mother. Two years later, her mother died
of cancer.
That Henin
wouldn’t want to hang around for one
last appearance in paris struck plenty of
people as odd.
"It’s
obviously a shock for the tennis
world," Roger Federer said at the
Hamburg Masters. "It’s
particularly surprising that it came one
month before the French Open and two
months before Wimbledon, which she has
never won."
Sure,
Henin has been struggling to meet her
lofty standards lately, failing to go
beyond the quarterfinals at her past
three events. And she was walloped by
Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams this
season, dropping a 6-0 set against each.
Still, all
athletes in all sports have their ups and
downs. Henin herself went through several
trying periods, including when she was
off the tour for months at a time while
dealing with health problems, and later
when she was splitting from her husband,
Pierre-Yves Hardenne.
She always
came back, though, and overcame whatever
physical or psychological obstacles
presented themselves, much as she
repeatedly overcame those stronger foes
across the court, whether it was the
Williams sisters or Amelie Mauresmo, who
would tower over the 5-foot-5, 126-pound
Henin when they met at the net for a
prematch coin toss. (AGENCIES)
Martyn,
Fleming sing up for Hong Kong sixes
NEW DELHI, May 15: Former Australian
middle-order mainstay Damien Martyn and
ex-New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming
have signed up for the all stars team in
this year’s Hong Kong cricket sixes
tournament to be held on November 8,9.
The two
are the first players to sign up for the
annual event - which is sanctioned by the
International Cricket Council - at
Kowloon Cricket Club in Hong Kong.
Martyn,
who played in the rebel Indian Cricket
League, and Fleming — a member of
the Chennai Super Kings’ team in the
ongoing Indian Premier League — will
appear for the all-stars in the 10-team
tournament.
"I’m
thrilled to be taking part in the Hong
Kong cricket sixes. I’m looking
forward to teaming up with Stephen and
the other members of the all-stars for
what promises to be two days of fast and
furious action," said Martyn.
The
36-year-old played 67 tests between 1992
and 2006, scoring 13 centuries, and also
appeared in 208 one-day internationals
(ODIs).
Fleming,
on the other hand, retired from
international cricket just two months ago
after a 14-year career in which he played
111 tests.
He was
captain for 80 of those matches —
second on the all-time list behind Allan
Border, who led Australia 93 times. He
also holds the world record for the most
ODI appearances as captain, having led
the Kiwis 218 times off his 280 games.
"I’m
delighted to be returning to Hong Kong to
take part in the cricket sixes,"
said Fleming, who played in the 1996
tournament.
The
all-stars will join nine representative
international teams in the tournament -
Australia, New Zealand, England,
Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa,
Bangladesh and hosts Hong Kong. (PTI)
Zenit
St Petersburg wins UEFA Cup
MANCHESTER (England), May
15:
Zenit St Petersburg has won its first
European trophy in its first attempt,
beating Rangers 2-0 in the UEFA Cup
final.
Igor
Denisov scored the first goal in the 72nd
minute after playing a one-two with
andrei arshavin, cutting through the
Rangers defense and beating goalkeeper
Neil Alexander. Konstantin zyryanov added
the second in injury time, tapping the
ball over the line off a pass from Fatih
Tekke.
Denisov
had escaped being penalised for a
handball early in the second half.
Zenit
coach Dick Advocaat, who led Rangers from
1998-2002, won his first European title
with the victory yesterday. He leapt in
the air at the final whistle.
The Zenit
players then put on gold shirts and gave
their opponents a guard of honor,
applauding as the Scottish team filed
past to collect their runner-up medals.
The
well-travelled advocaat has transformed
Zenit since joining in 2006 — last
season the Dutchman led Zenit to
it’s first Russian league title,
meaning the club will play in the
Champions League next season.
Zenit
dominated the first half, having the
greater possession and nearly all the
chances at the city of Manchester
stadium.
Alexander
stopped attacks from Zenit captain
Anatoliy Tymoschuk, Radek Sirl, Zyryanov
and Alexander Anyukov, while Arshavin
sent a shot into the side netting and
Viktor Fayzulin headed over the bar.
Rangers
finally mustered its best first-half
chance in the 37th when Steven Whittaker
headed over the bar. Rangers defender
Kirk Broadfoot also escaped punishment
for an alleged handball incident late in
the first half. (AGENCIES)
Sports
Meet conclude at NMN College of Education
Excelsior
Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, May 15: The four-day long
Sports Meet of New Millennium National
College of Education concluded in the
college premises today.
Events in
the disciplines of cricket, tug-of-war
and kho-kho were held in both boys and
girls section during the Sports Meet.
In
cricket, team C emerged victorious while
in kho-kho, both team C and D declared
joint winners in both categories.
Team B and
team A bagged top honours in tug-of-war
in boys and girls sections respectively.
The meet
was organised under the guidance of Dr
Anita Bali, Principal of the college,
Sonia Sagotra and Pooja Gupta, Sports
Incharge.
Ram Paul,
Chairman of the college was also present
on the occasion.
MS
Bishnah clinches U/14 Kabaddi title
Excelsior
Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, May 15: M/S Bishnah got
the better of M/S Chak Jaralah by 5
points in the final to clinch U/14 boys
kabaddi title on the concluding day of
the Inter-School tournament of Bishnah
Zone.
Government
Higher Secondary School Bishnah prevailed
over Government High School Majua by 9
points to clinch U/17 boys kabaddi title.
Earlier,
the tournament was declared open by Kusam
Lata, chairman of the organising
committee and ZEO, Bishnah.
Girls
events begin in Inter-School tournament
Excelsior
Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, May 15: In the ongoing
Inter-School tournament of Miran Sahib
Zone, the girls events were begin today
in the disciplines of kabaddi, kho-kho
and volleyball at J&K Police Public
School, Miran Sahib.
In U/14
kabaddi, Middle School Kotli Mian Fateh
trounced High School Simbal by 9 points
in the inaugural match followed by JK
Public School who outwitted High School
Simbal Camp by 19 points in U/17 age
group.
In U/14
kho-kho, Girls High School Simbal
registered win over Middle School Kirpind
by 3 points while Middle School Basti
Maralia beat Middle School Chohalla by
identical margin.
In other
matches, High School Simbal outclassed
Middle School Brijnagar by 4 points and
J&K Police Public School cruised past
Middle School Kotli Mian Fateh by 3
points.
GHSS
Sarwal claims U/17 Kho-Kho title
Excelsior
Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, May 15: Government Higher
Secondary School Sarwal overcame
Government High School Muthi by 2 points
in the final to clinch U/17 boys kho-kho
title today in the ongoing Inter-School
tournament of Jammu Zone at Government
Girls Higher Secondary School, Bakshi
Nagar.
In U/14
kho-kho (boys), Government High School
Top-Sherkhania beat Middle School New
Plot by same margin to clinch the title.
Government
SRML Higher Secondary School beat
Government High School Muthi by just one
point to clinch U/17 kabaddi title.
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