OID ‰‰ ‰ † ‹ K OID ‰‰ ‰ † ‹ OID ‰‰ ‰ † ‹ M OID ‰‰ ‰ † ‹ C

The Times of , New Delhi, Thursday,April 10, 2003

Battle of sexes Positive news Who won it? Tiger Woods may or may not see much may have been the first Finland’s Kimi Raikonnen better of a fight in the Masters. But the cricketer to fail a dope test. But that stop celebrating. The F-1 bosses Augusta Golf Club is bracing for a bat- was before the World Cup. The ICC an- declared that they are reviewing the tle of a different kind: its women mem- nounced that nobody else tested posi- rain-hit Brazilian race. Italy’s bers are hoping to picket the front gate tive after 100 random tests on players Fisichella (in picture) may turn out to seeking entry into this men’s only Club during the tournament be the real winner in his Jordan Indian team arrives in for triangular series

AFP

Supporters are like a woman, they need to be conquered daily Real Madrid’s Brazilian World Pak ready for Player of the Year Ronaldo SPORTS DIGEST AFP desert storm By Shashank Shekhar played well as a team with al- TIMES NEWS NETWORK most everyone contributing Sharjah: It’s another final at to the side’s well-being. Both Sharjah. And Pakistan have the batsmen and the bowlers taken their appointed place have hunted in groups which there. For the other protago- has made things difficult for nist, though, it’s not an every- the opponents. day affair. For Zimbabwe have This is something not been in a Sharjah final only many Pakistani squads of once before where they were the past can vouch for. Be- battered into submission by sides, while the seniors have Sachin Tendulkar. played their part well, the They are now looking at many youngsters in the team another tough final on have also caught the eye with South African Graeme Thursday — the title clash of their enthusiasm and Smith (L) along with teammates, the four-nation Sharjah Cup. aplomb. And they have lifted waits at the airport upon their Pakistanis are the sheikhs the fielding standards too. arrival in Dhaka on Wednesday. here. For them, the Sharjah mainstays Yousuf Stadium is like a sec- Youhana and Younis Khan ond home, a place where they have some fine knocks under Bhupathi-Mirnyi lose: Mahesh the belt going into the final Bhupathi and his slam-winning part- have won numerous trophies. while allrounder Abdul Raz- ner Max Mirnyi crashed out in the And they will surely like to first round of the ATP Tour tennis add another one, to some- event at Estoril, Portugal, on what redeem their pride after Wednesday. Bhupathi and Mirnyi, the World Cup fiasco. the top seeds, lost to the Spanish The Zimbabweans have duo Alex Lopez Moron and David done well to reach the final Sanchez in three close sets 4-6 6-3 here after beating two teams 7-6 (7/4), according to information they had lost to at the World received here. Cup — Sri Lanka and Kenya. Thus they would be doubly Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly speaks to reporters upon his arrival with the team at Zia International Airport in Dhaka on Wednesday. India are taking pleased with their effort even Gayle disappointed by omis- part in the TVS tri-nation tournament during which they will face Bangladesh and South Africa. sion: West Indies opening batsman though the losing teams were was unhappy at his non- not too competitive in this selection on Tuesday for the first tournament. cricket Test against Australia starting But Pakistan in the final on Thursday. The Test starts in ‘It’s a good opportunity for youngsters’ will be a different kettle of Georgetown on Thursday, and Gayle fish, as they were in the tour- Dhaka:Arriving for their first “Since many of the seniors are “The youngsters who have come before losing to defending champi- released a statement saying he was nament opener on April 3 tournament after an impressive ‘‘disappointed’’ he would not be not here, the series offers a good into the team have been doing very ons Australia in the final. when the Zimbabweans got zaq seems to have regained World Cup campaign, Indian cap- playing. Gayle was omitted after he opportunity to the youngsters to well in the domestic circuit and it “We want to continue in the brushed aside by 68 runs. his touch following a tain Sourav Ganguly on Wednes- opted to play in a lucrative two-man prove themselves,” the skipper will be good for them to play at this same manner as we did in the Pakistan’s new combination scratchy World Cup. His in- day said the cricket tri-series international cricket tournament in told reporters at a crowded press level.” World Cup,” he said looking ahead has been working well in this credible onslaught in the fi- would offer the youngsters in the St. Lucia last weekend, instead of conference on the team’s arrival Ganguly said the team will look at the tournament which involves event, having won their three nal four overs which saw representing Jamaica in a regional fi- side a good chance to prove them- here for the tournament starting to pick from the World Cup where South Africa besides hosts league games without being Pakistan garner 69 runs, nal against . AP on Friday. they won eight matches in a row Bangladesh. stretched. While one may would be fresh in the minds Suresh to lead TN: S Suresh will Ganguly said the team will not question the quality of oppo- of the Zimbabwean bowlers. captain the Tamil Nadu cricket team have much problems in “adjusting sition they had to encounter Besides Razzaq, Pakistan in the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy to the conditions as we are used to here, the fact remains that have abundant all round tal- Cronje era is history: Smith hot and humid climate.” cricket championship against Delhi in the team has played purpose- ent in the shape of skipper New Delhi from April 25. Delhi, six- On India’s main challenger Dhaka: South Africa’s new skipper Graeme Smith on Wednesday ful cricket. Rashid Latif, Shoaib Malik, time champions, look formidable South Africa, Ganguly said since said they had to look ahead and forget the time when Hansie Cron- The outstanding feature of Mohammad Hafeez and though they were eliminated in the the World Cup hosts also have a je was captain of their national team. their performance here has Rana Naveed which gives pre-quarterfinals by the eventual title young team, the contest with them “I never played with Cronje and so have no memories of him. been the fact that they have them options. winners Indian Railways last year. would be interesting. That age is over,” said Smith, having a jab at players who had spo- Delhi also accounted for Tamil Nadu “They have got a young team ken highly of the late disgraced Cronje during this year’s World in the quarterfinals in the previous here. I believe it would be a tough Cup. Star batsman Herschelle Gibbs had praised Cronje’s captain- edition. contest. We did not play them in AP to withdraw incentives Tamil Nadu squad: S Suresh (captain), Sadagopan cy at the beginning of the tournament, while Jonty Rhodes had de- Ramesh, S Sriram, S Sharath, Hemang K Badani, L the World Cup.... in all it would be Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh government would with- cided to dedicate their World Cup campaign to the former captain, draw all incentives it had announced for medal winners Balaji, M R Srinivas, Raaju Radhakrishnan, Dinesh banned for life for his part in a bribery scandal before his death in interesting.” Karthick, D Dhandapani, D J Gokulakrishnan, S Ganguly denied that India who tested positive in the dope test during the 32nd Na- Vasanth Saravanan, S Badrinath, J R Madanagopal a plane crash last year. tional Games held here in November. and R Ramkumar. PTI South Africa, who were then led by all-rounder Shaun Pollock, would be taking Bangladesh light- selves on the international stage. ly given their continued dismal “We will not encourage such unfair practices and if Ganguly said the new players in were knocked out in the first round. performance. they (athletes) test positive and IOA confirms it, we will BETTING METER the squad had already proved their Rhodes himself could play no part in trying to raise the team’s “We are not taking any team withdraw the incentives”, sports minister P Ramulu said. CRICKET talent in domestic circuit and he fortunes as he was ruled out because of an injury and subse- lightly. It will be a good tourna- Terming the incident as unfortunate, he said the govern- 1st Test, , Thursday was confident they would do well quently announced retirement. West Indies 7/1 ment,” Ganguly said. ment has not received any communication from IOA till and breach the gap created by the “We are looking forward to a new era,” said Smith, who replaced Australia 8/13 India are scheduled to meet now. “Once the sample A, sample B tests postives and Draw 13/8 absence of as many as five World Pollock as captain despite the experience of just eight Test match- IOA confirms the ban on atheltes, we will withdraw the as per ladbrokes.com es and 22 one-day internationals. AFP Bangladesh in a day-night en- Cup squad members. incentives”, he said. PTI counter on Friday.PTI Hooper will be Waugh steps out for Test record missed: Logie AP Georgetown (Guyana): new skipper . And Guyana: Realistic enough to will become opening batsman Chris know what it means to lose cricket’s most-capped player Gayle was left out amid re- the important of skip- when he plays his 157th Test ports the West Indies Cricket per even before against the West Indies in the Board deemed him ineligible the series began, West Indian first Test at the Bourda after playing in an ICC-sanc- coach is deter- Ground here on Thursday. tioned double-wicket compe- mined to exploit the “im- The tenacious 37-year-old is tition in St Lucia. mense talent” his younger now firmly in charge as Aus- is un- guys have. tralia attempt to retain the available through injury and Logie, yet not the full time Trophy in the Gus Logie is the caretaker coach, will do the job on a se- four-Test series. coach for the series after ries-by-series basis. Waugh will see pass Allan was dumped “It is a bit disappointing Border (156 Tests) in the after the World Cup. and disheartening and the Georgetown Test but has “It’s difficult but this is the loss of Carl Hooper is a FIRST TEST reality of the situation. The strange twist to the situa- players will have to dig deep, tion,” Logies said. played down its significance. obviously we all have to dig While fans are still in “I’m happy about the record shock over the non-availabil- but as they say records are deep and try to get the play- ers to play together as a ity of Hooper,there should be made to be broken and some- excitement over the array of team,” Logie said. one will go past it. It’s not young cricketers in the “We have to use whatever something that I can hang squad, such as Carlton adversity we have in the past my hat on and say it’s the Baugh and Jermaine Law- highlight of my career,” few days and weeks and build son, he said. Waugh said on Wednesday. us up and make us stronger. Besides, Logie said, “The More pressing for Waugh That’s the only way to go.” West Indies (from): Brian Lara (captain), Carl- senior players - Brian Lara, is to get the Australians away ton Baugh, David Bernard, Shivnarine Chan- Shiv Chanderpaul, Merv Dil- to a winning start against the derpaul, , Vasbert Drakes, Mervyn lon, along with the manage- West Indians, who again are Dillon, , , Ridley Ja- ment, myself included - will in a mess of their own mak- cobs, , , De- von Smith. have to reinforce the purpose ing. Former West Indies cap- Australia (from): Steve Waugh (captain), of West Indies cricket”. tain Carl Hooper has pulled Australian captain Steve Waugh during a practice session at Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, , “We simply have to take it out of the series, reportedly the Bourda Cricket Ground in Georgetown, Guyana, on Tues- Martin Love, , Adam Gilchrist, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, Andy all in our stride and bring ad- saying he won’t play under day. The first Test starts on Thursday. Bichel, Stuart MacGill. AFP versity to our advantage.” AFP Digvijay,Amandeep blown away on day of upsets By Sukhwant Basra dervish of pressure in the A crucial factor may well Vinod, Mohammad and Pap- against a bug that’s cramped TIMES NEWS NETWORK format conjures demons that be the home course advan- pan have all graduated from his ability to speak. But then New Delhi: Forget about seem to vex the favourites; it tage. For Vinod, Jaiveer and bag-luggers to ball-wallopers. what’s talk got to do with sprouting, these seeds are re- clearly favours the under- Pappan frolic to the tune of Even Prem and Hem class. And that he’s got in fusing to take root. The SRF dogs. Vinod Kumar, Moham- their native playground Chand who had deflated sec- abundance as Basad Ali Matchplay championship on mad Islam, Jaiveer Virk and which seems to spurn the ad- ond seed Jeev Milkha Singh learnt while trailing him Wednesday made four more Pappan respectively jarred vances of those who haven’t and third seed Mukesh Ku- about the course. of them appear green on the the seeds and found their mar on the opening day are Important results: 1-Arjun Atwal bt 32- moorings a tad delicate. SRF MATCHPLAY caddies in DGC. Basad Ali 4&3; 29-Vinod Kumar bt 4-Digvi- greens even as numero uno jay Singh 19th hole; 5-Vijay Kumar bt 37- Arjun Atwal did his bit to Not that Digvijay or Aman- Their brilliance, however, Bhoop Singh 5&4; 6-SSP Chowrasia bt 38- spike the belief that seedings deep rolled over and put their courted her over the seasons. proved to be ephemeral as Ali Sher 2&1; 26-Mohd Islam bt 7-Aman- are nothing but numbers in clubs up. It went down to the The other dominant trend in they sucummbed easily to- deep Johl 19th hole; 8-Arjun Singh bt 40- this format. play-off but then that crucial this spate of upsets is the day. Maybe, they were just Jumman 2-up; 14-Rafiq Ali bt 19-Vivek Wednesday’s seedlings at bit that separates the win- ability of the caddy brigade overawed by their achieve- Bhandari 6&5; 16-Shiv Prakash bt 17-Am- ritinder Singh 6&4; 24-Jaiveer Virk bt 9- the DGC reads: Digvijay ners of matchplay from the to come good when the fair- ment. Gaurav Ghei 4&3; 23-Pappan bt 10-Uttam Singh (seed 4), Amandeep regular golf hotshots came way demands unfair Arjun Atwal continues to Singh Mundy 8&6; 18-Rahil Gangjee bt 50- Johl (7), Guarav Ghei (9) and into play. You can call it luck amounts of application from express his prowess even as Manohar Dike 7&5; 34-S Madaiah bt 63- Uttam Singh Mundy (10). The or you can call it plain grit. those who seek to master it. his vocal cords wrestle Prem 4&3.

TOID100403/CR1/19/M/1TOID100403/CR1/19/C/1TOID100403/CR1/19/K/1TOID100403/CR1/19/Y/1 CMYK