SINGAPORE : Chile's Marcelo Rios raises his trophy after defeating Swede Mikael Tillstrom at the finals of the Singapore Heineken Open held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Sunday. — AP/PTI

Tillstrom makes Rios fight SINGAPORE, Oct 17 — Top seed Marcelo Rios of Chile was made to fight all the way today to retain his crown in the $725,000 Singapore Open ATP Tour event. Rios, a former world number one, converted his sixth championship point to score a 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) victory against Swedish qualifier Mikael Tillstrom. Jeev wins Lexus International BANGKOK, Oct 17 (UNI) — India’s Jeev Milkha Singh birdied the third playoff hole to edge out Myanmar’s Zaw Moe and Taimur Hussain of Pakistan in a dramatic climax to win the $ 220,000 Lexus International today.

Ingoba, Angmo in limelight
NEW DELHI, Oct 17 — Heikem Ingoba Meetei tasted his first major success in his fledgling distance-running career and SAF Games women’s champion Ringzen Angmo landed her third title in five years to claim the honours in the 17th Rath Indian Open Marathon here today.

Dingko Singh retains crown
SHIMLA, Oct 17 — NG Dingko Singh of Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) thwarted the spirited efforts of Mizoram pugilist S. Mawia and retained the bantam weight title, on the last day of the 46th Senior National Boxing Championships at the Ridge today.

Indians settle for bronze
SHENYANG, Oct 17 — India’s gold medal aspirations were dashed as they had to settle for bronze despite beating Indonesia 2.5-1.5 in the men’s section of the Asian Team Chess Championship which concluded here today.

Chandigarh lads lift trophy
PATIALA, Oct 17 — Chandigarh lifted the Dhruv Pandove Cricket Trophy (U-19) in style by completely decimating Ludhiana in the final match which concluded at the Dhruv Pandove Stadium here today.

Australia score 10-wkt victory
HARARE, Oct 17 — Zimbabwe collapsed from 200 for 2 to 232 all out against Australia in the one-off Test here today, losing by 10 wickets.

Windies bowled out for 145
SHARJAH, Oct 17 — Sri Lanka, needing a win to stay in contention for the Sharjah Cup, shot the West Indies out for 145 in a key match here today.

• Punjab under-19 cricket team
• Srinath gets pride of place

Fleming props up Kiwis

BANGALORE, Oct 17 (PTI) — A fine unbeaten century by captain Stephen Fleming and his useful partnerships with Nathan Astle and Adam Parore steered New Zealand to a comfortable 249 for 6 in their first innings on the opening day of the three-day cricket match against Ranji champions Karnataka here today.

Fleming, who is batting on 115, came in with his team’s score at 18 for 3, with Karnataka medium-pace bowlers Mansoor Ali Khan and Dodda Ganesh threatening to rip through the batting line up. New Zealand were in real trouble when Craig Spearman was bowled by Khan nine runs later.

But the Kiwi skipper weathered the storm and found an able ally in Nathan Astle (58 - 4x9). The experienced campaigners built up the innings gradually and put on 105 runs for the fifth wicket before Astle was runout to a direct throw from Anand Yalvigi at mid-off with the team’s score at 132.

Fleming then put on 50 runs for the sixth wicket with all-rounder Chris Cairns before the latter was caught and bowled by Anand Yalvigi.

At close, Parore with 27 was keeping Fleming company with the duo adding 67 runs for the seventh wicket.

For Karnataka, M.A. Khan was the most successful bowler, picking up three wickets for 56 runs.

Earlier, put into bat, New Zealand lost opener Matthew bell in the second over lbw to Ganesh for a duck.

Chris Harris (7) followed suit, misjudging an excellent yorker from Mansoor Ali Khan which uprooted his leg stump.

Khan then dismissed the other opener, Matthew Horne (7) caught brilliantly by a diving A Vijay at square leg, and then had the visitors reeling at 27 for four wickets when he bowled Craig Spearman (4).

But, Nathan Astle in his skipper’s company put his head down and the two denied the hosts any more success. At lunch, New Zealand were 64 for four.

Both Fleming and Astle displayed their wide array of strokes during the post lunch session. Astle brought up his 50 with a fine square cut to the fence. But after adding eight more runs, Astle was run out. New Zealand went into tea at 159 for five.

Fleming continued to prosper, not sparing any bowler. The New Zealand skipper drove and swept well. On one occasion, he came down the track to lift a huge six over covers off Yalvigi. He crossed the century mark in style when he straight drove Vijay R. Bharadwaj and the last session of play produced 90 runs.

India’s ace spinner and Karnataka captain Anil Kumble bowled only nine overs conceding 20 runs. It looked as if he did not want to expose or exhaust himself or, for that matter, Sunil Joshi and Bharadwaj. Joshi bowled 10 overs while Bharadwaj 11. Much of the bowling was done by Ganesh, M.A. Khan and Yalvigi.

Kumble rotated his bowlers well, bringing Khan and Ganesh often. While Ganesh took 1/46 off 21 overs, Yalvigi claimed 1/54 in 17 overs. The most successful bowler of the day M.A. Khan analysis read 18-5-56-3.

Scoreboard

New Zealand (first innings)
Horn c A Vijay b Khan 7
Bell lbw Ganesh 0
Harris b Khan 7
Spearman b Khan 4
Fleming batting 115
Astle run out (Yalvigi) 58
Cairns c and b Yalvigi 14
Parore batting 27
Extras (b-3, lb-6, nb-7 w-1) 17
Total (for six wickets) 249
Fall of wickets: 1/5, 2/17, 3/18, 4/27, 5-132, 6-182
Bowling: D Ganesh 21-4-46-1, M.A. Khan 18-5-56-3, Anil Kumble 9-1-20-0, Anand Yalvigi 17-5-54-1, S. Joshi 10-4-28-0, Vijay R. Bharadwaj 11-1-31-0, Sujith Somasundar 4-2-5-0.

Jeev wins Lexus International

BANGKOK, Oct 17 (UNI) — India’s Jeev Milkha Singh birdied the third playoff hole to edge out Myanmar’s Zaw Moe and Taimur Hussain of Pakistan in a dramatic climax to win the $ 220,000 Lexus International today.

European Tour Star Singh, who had lost his three previous playoff encounters, holed from 14 foot after third round leader Moe had virtually blown his chances by driving into the water off the tee. Hussain, regarded as a sleeping giant of Asian golf, was eliminated at the first extra hole when he bogeyed after a poor drive. Both Singh and Moe pared the first and second holes in the playoff which was contested on the par-four 18th at Windmill Park Country Club.

Singh, Moe and Hussain tied for the first spot on 13-under-par 275 after a startling final hole in regulation play. Singh had a one shot lead going into the 18th but three putted from 45 foot for a level per 72 while Moe, the overnight leader, hit his second to four feet and drained the putt for a birdie and a closing 73.

India’s Singh had to come over two ridges for his first putt and landed 10 foot by the hole. His putt to clinch the tournament slipped past to set up the three-way playoff. Hussain, playing two groups ahead, had secured his 68 for a 13 under total of 275 with a back nine of 32 which included birdies at the 10th, 12th, 14th, and 16th. Hussain, a former top amateur, won the 1998 London Myanma Open on the Davidoff tour.

An eagle at the 17th, where he holed his sand wedge approach, saw Australia’s Wayne Smith card a closing 68 to grab fourth spot on 12 under 276.

Thongchai Jaidee, in his first year as a professional, was the leading Thailand player in joint fifth place after shooting a final round 69. The 29-year-old, who has had two top 10 finishes this year, carded six birdies but he three putted the ninth and 13th holes for bogey.

Singh picked up $ 35,530 for his fourth title on the Asian PGA and his first victory since the Philip Morris Asia Cup in Korea three years ago.

“It feels great to win-this victory will stay with me for a long time. It means a lot,’’ said Singh, who is currently ranked 48th on the European Tour moneylist. “I had lost all three playoffs as a professional before today, all of them in the last year. It is good to get that monkey off my back”.

Singh lost at the first playoff to James Kingston in last year’s Thailand Open, went down to Choi Kyung-ju, again at the first hole, in the Kirin Open in Japan and missed out in qualifying for the US Open in extra holes during the summer.

“All things happen for a reason and I think I have learned from those playoff losses,’’ said Singh, whose confidence coming into the tournament was high after his win over world number five Lee Westwood in last week’s Alfred Dunhill Cup, “I am happy and proud that I have come through the playoff this time”.

While Singh overcame his playoff jinx the agony continues for Moe who has lost his last three shoot-outs, including last year’s three-player playoff in the Masters of Malaysia where he squandered a seven shot lead in the final round.

“I have lost three times in playoff now and it hurts a bit”, said Moe, who won the 1997 Singapore Open “I hooked my drive at the third playoff hole and hit my fourth over the back-it was all over after that. I have played well this week and it’s disappointing to lose out in a playoff”.

The two previous winners of the Lexus International, 1996 champion Boonchu Runangkit and titleholder Prayad Marksaeng, both from Thailand, finished locked together on the ninth spot on nine under 279. Boonchu shot a final round 70 and prayad a one over 73.

Moe, Singh and Gilberto Morales of Venezuela were all awarded honorary life memberships of the Windmill Park County Club for shooting 65, the low score of the tournament and a course record.

Cricket in Morocco

SHARJAH, Oct 17 (PTI)— The man who brought cricket to the desert venue of Sharjah is now planning to take it to Morocco.

Mr Abdulrehman Bukhatir, the man behind Sharjah cricket, told Gulf News that a one-day international tournament, would be held at Tangier, Morocco in 2001.

The stadium work will be completed by the middle of next year, said Mr Bukhatir, who started staging cricket matches under the aegis of the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) at Sharjah in the early eighties.

The tournament will be organised in association with the Moroccan Cricket Association, which is an affiliated member of the International Cricket Council.

The CBFS also plans to release a video of the best moments from Sharjah tournaments in March, he said.

Ingoba, Angmo in limelight

NEW DELHI, Oct 17 (PTI) — Heikem Ingoba Meetei tasted his first major success in his fledgeling distance-running career and SAF Games women’s champion Ringzen Angmo landed her third title in five years to claim the honours in the 17th Rath Indian Open Marathon here today.

The 20-year-old Heikem Ingoba, a student from Imphal, drew upon his stamina-built running in the hilly roads of Manipur to make up for lack of experience as he won the men’s title comfortably in 2 hours 26 minutes and 14 seconds.

He hit the front after the 37-km mark and finished the gruelling 42.195 km race run mostly on the outskirts of the capital unchallenged to land a big purse of Rs 50,000.

Durga Oraon of Bihar claimed the second place at 2:28.40, a good 800 metres separating the seasoned CRPF runner from the winner, to pocket Rs 25,000 while 39-year-old Appasaheb Desasi of Delhi came in a close third at 2:29.58 to win Rs 12,500.

The women’s marathon was won by the 30-year-old Ringzen Angmo, who had it easy once she took the lead at the halfway mark and cantered home in 2 hours 50 minutes 7 seconds.

The 27-year-old Sharda Chandel of Punjab, last year’s winner, was second clocking 3:04:34 with Vidya Deoghare of Maharashtra coming third at 3:10.03.

The diminutive Angmo, a CRPF Inspector hailing from Leh in Ladakh displayed tremendous stamina to win the year’s third title after the February National Games and the SAF Games gold in Kathmandu on September 26 to be richer by Rs 50,000.

“But for stomach cramps 10 km from finish, I would have run much faster,” the ‘95 and ‘96 winner said.

Heikem Ingoba made his first Rath marathon a memorable race and brooked no challenge once he broke away from the front pack to push Durga Oraon to second spot.

Results:

Marathon (men): 1. Heikam Ingoba Meetai (Manipur) 2 hr 26 min 14 secs; 2. Durga Oraon (Bihar) 2:28.40; 3. Appasaheb Desasi (Delhi) 2:29.58.

Veterans: 1. Ranjeet Singh (Jaipur) 3:06.49, 2. Philip Harding (Delhi) 3:15.32.

Half-marathon: 1. Bala Ram (Haryana) 1 hr 6 min 24 secs; 2. Joseph Baxla (Bhopal) 1:06.45, 3. Rasjender Rathi (Baghpat UP) 1:6.60.

Veterans: 1. Ranbir Singh Ahlawat (Rohtak, Haryana) 1:22.57; 2. Dharamveer (Delhi) 1:23.06. 3. Jatinder Singh (Mohali) 1:23.13.

Marathon: (women): 1. Rigzen Angmo (Leh) 2:50.07, 2. Sharda Chandel (Ropar, Punjab) 3:04.34. 3. Vidya Deoghare (Nagpur) 3:10.03.

Veterans: 1. Asha Aggrawal (Delhi) 3:37.58.

Half-marathon: 1. Pushpa Devi (Delhi) 1:19.44, 2. Mukti Roy (Sindrani, WB) 1:20.20, 3. Sunita (Delhi) 1:20.27.

Veterans: 1. Mala Honnatti (Delhi) 1:55.22; 2. Dr Manoalla Khattar (Delhi) 2:09.35.

Tillstrom makes Rios fight

SINGAPORE, Oct 17 (AFP) — Top seed Marcelo Rios of Chile was made to fight all the way today to retain his crown in the $725,000 Singapore Open atp Tour event.

Rios, a former world number one, converted his sixth championship point to score a 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) victory against Swedish qualifier Mikael Tillstrom.

The win enabled the Chilean to retain valuable ranking points in his bid to find a place in the year-ending atp world championships at Hannover. And the 250 atp points were backed by the top prize of $111,500.

Tillstrom had to remain content with $58,650.

The Swede, who had to qualify for the tournament because of his slump in his rankings to 142, can take heart from the fact that the 175 atp points he earned here would hold him in good stead in his bid to get back into the top 100.

For Rios, this was only his third title in 1999 and the second he has successfully defended, having earlier won at St. Poelten.

The Chilean started in great fashion, hitting his dreaded forehand with telling effect and moving Tillstrom about the court. Breaks in the second and eighth games gave him the first set in a mere 26 minutes.

And the way he started the second, it appeared he was a man in a hurry. Four aces to kick off the set and Rios was 1-0 ahead without his opponent even touching the ball. But that was the calm before the storm.

The defending champion was down 0-40 in the third game but fought back to deuce only to hit an overhead long on the fourth break point of the game and hand the initiative to Tillstrom.

Players held serve without much alarm till Tillstrom was serving for the set at 5-4. That was when the dogfight began.

Tillstrom saved three break points, wasted a set point himself before giving Rios the break-back and it was back on serve.

Next it was the Chilean’s turn to struggle, saving four break points before holding serve to lead 6-5. Deuce was called nine times as Tillstrom staved off five championships and managed to take the set into tie-break.

There was no let up in the drama and the near-capacity crowd of 5,000 loved every bit of it.

Two mini break apiece and it was all even till 5-5 when Tillstrom hit an easy looking high forehand volley just wide.

Rios did not let slip the opportunity and was at the net to cash in on his sixth championship point and pocket the title in an intense battle that lasted an hour and 32 minutes.

Dingko Singh retains crown
From Arvind Katyal

SHIMLA, Oct 17 — NG Dingko Singh of Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) thwarted the spirited efforts of Mizoram pugilist S. Mawia and retained the bantam weight title, on the last day of the 46th Senior National Boxing Championships at the Ridge today.

Another SSCB boxer Ramanand defended feather weight title by downing V. Bhaskaran of the RSPB (Railway Sports Promotion Board) on points (16-11).

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) boxer S. Suresh Singh who yesterday upset Mohd Qamar of (RSPB) in semi-final did not take much time whipping All India Police pugilist Bhim Singh on points (18-10) in light fly weight.

The bout in welter weight category between ZV Jollyson (SPEB) and Devinder Gill (RSPB) was a cliff-hanger with Gill dominating in the second and the fourth rounds but Jollyson being more aggressive connected some positive punches, which finally helped him emerge the winner on points at 13-9. D. Gill, however, protested the contention of judges and walked away from the ring. But after persuasion he came back to receive the silver medal.

Narender Rana (SSCB) bagged the feather weight title by getting the better of G. Singh of ALP on points at 19-10.

International Jitender Kumar (RSPB) clinched the middle weight title when referee stopped the contest in the IInd round against R. Kumar of Haryana.

The Himachal Pradesh boxer Shiv Choudhary in light heavy weight gave cheers to its state by winning the title from S.C. Punera of SSCB in a hard-fought bout.

Asian Games bronze medallist Gurcharan Singh (SSCB) was declared winner as (D. Yadav (CISF) refused in IInd round to bag heavy weight title.

Ramanand of the SSCB was chosen as the best boxer of the tournament while Harpreet Singh of Chandigarh the best loser.

The Dingko-Mawia final proved to be exciting per a large number of enthusiasts who keenly watched every punch. Dingko displayed excellent footwork. Mawia fought without any fear and went down fighting to Asian Games gold medallist on points.

Chandigarh’s Harpreet Singh proved to be no match for Bhushan Saini of (RSPB) the light Welter category with latter winning the title as Referee stopped the contest in second round.

In middle weight category, Lalita Prasad of (RSPB) gave a good display of himself when he defended the title by overcoming the challenge of D. Shastri of Haryana on pts.

A. Srinivas Rao of (RSPB) became the fly weight champion when he outboxed the CISF boxer Dalbir Singh on points at 26-5.

In super heavy category, N. Navalan of the SSCB was declared medically unfit and gave walk over to Harpal Singh of All India Police in the final.

Mr Prem Dhumal, Chief Minister, H.P., was the chief guest and complimented the boxers particularly Dingko for giving India a good name at the international level.

Meanwhile, the selection committee of the IABF which met under the chairmanship of Mr A.K. Mattoo, President of the IABF, selected a seven-member Indian team which will take part in the Asian Boxing Championship to be held at Tashkent (Kazhakistan) from October 23 to 30. This tournament will serve as Pre-qualifying matches for Olympic Games - 2000 to be held at Sydney.

The team: S. Suresh Singh (CISF), Dingko Singh (SSCB), Mohd Ali Qamar (RSCB), Ramanand (SSCB), Narender Rana (SSCB), Bhushan Saini (RSPB), Jitender Kumar (RSPB).

Indians settle for bronze

SHENYANG, Oct 17 (PTI) — India’s gold medal aspirations were dashed as they had to settle for bronze despite beating Indonesia 2.5-1.5 in the men’s section of the Asian Team Chess Championship which concluded here today.

The Indian men’s team, which held a slender half-point lead going into the final round, finished with 22.5 points but Uzbekistan blanked lowly New Zealand 4-0 to edge past them and clinch the title with 23 points.

Three teams — India, Kazakhstan and the Philippines tied for the second spot but the Kazakhs bagged the sliver on better tie-break score. The Philippines finished fourth.

India had also won a bronze medal in the women’s section which ended yesterday.

In the final round, national champion Krishnan Sasikiran played a fine tactical game with white pieces to outwit Liudede in a slav defence game on the top board.

Sasikiran made an excellent manoeuvre with his knight to win a couple of pawns and converted the material advantage into a fine win with precise play.

Double GM norm holder Abhijit Kunte had to defend a complicated position in the middle game against Juswanto. But the former Indian national champion from Pune created counter attack by opening the ‘C’ file and won a pawn.

With the Indians needing full points from all boards to keep the Uzbeks at bay, skipper DV Prasad went for the kill and lost to Cerdas Barus.

GM norm holder Prasad obtained space advantage, but his opponent put up a dogged defence. Prasad sacrificed his bishop for two pawns to force the issue, but Barus defended well.

Prasad could have drawn with perpetual checks but with both players in deep time trouble, he made a knight move in a desperate attempt to win. But the plan misfired and Prasad had to concede defeat after 40 moves.

IM G.B. Prakash drew his game against Wahano Awam after a long battle in the slav defence. Initially Prakash had an overwhelming position, but gradually the advantage drifted in his opponent’s favour.

Prakash, however, played well to draw the rook and bishop ending with one pawn down.

The individual tally of Indian players was (from nine games): Sasikiran 5.5; Kunte 6; Prasad 5.5 and Prakash 5.5.

Results (final round): India b Indonesia 2.5-1.5; Vietnam lost to Kazakhstan 1-3; Iran lost to the Philippines 1-3; Tajikistan lost to China ‘A’ 1-3; Uzbekistan b New Zealand 4-0.

Final placings:

1 Uzbekistan — 23 points, 2 Kahakhstan — 22.5; India — 22.5; Philippines — 22.5; China ‘A’ - 22; China ‘B’ — 22; China ‘C’ 21.5; Indonesia — 20.5; Iran — 20.5; Vietnam — 19.

Chandigarh lads lift trophy
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Oct 17 — Chandigarh lifted the Dhruv Pandove Cricket Trophy (U-19) in style by completely decimating Ludhiana in the final match which concluded at the Dhruv Pandove Stadium here today.

Having pocketed a sizeable 152-run first innings lead, Chandigarh resumed from their overnight score of 66 for no loss in their second essay. But Vikram Jit Sodhi (126) put on a 179-run first-wicket stand with Amit. Sodhi struck a couple of lofted shots, but the carpet drives he hit were outstanding.

With the match having been reduced to academic interest on the second day itself when Ludhiana conceded a 152-run first innings lead, the umpires in consultation with both the skippers finally put an end to the misery of the Ludhiana bowlers by deciding to call off the match at lunch on the last day.

Chandigarh were declared winners on the basis of their first innings lead.

Brief scores:

Chandigarh 1st innings: 412 for 7, (Yuvraj 172, Gagandeep Singh 5 for 74).

Ludhiana 1st innings: 260 all out (Manav Dupper 90, Varun Gupta 63, Rajan Singh 37, Sanjay Dhull 5 for 86).

Chandigarh 2nd innings: 233 for 2 (Vikramjit Sodhi 126, Amit 44, Rajesh 1 for 57, Amit 1 for 40).

Australia score 10-wkt victory

HARARE, Oct 17 (AFP) — Zimbabwe collapsed from 200 for 2 to 232 all out against Australia in the one-off Test here today, losing by 10 wickets.

A tiny consolation was the need for Australia to bat for a second time to win. However, this was for only five runs and they needed just two minutes of their second innings to wrap up the match on the fourth day.

Zimbabwe scored 194 in their first innings and Australia replied with 422, a lead of 228.

The home side, resuming from their overnight 80-1, a deficit of 148 to make Australia bat again, began strongly with Trevor Gripper and Murray Goodwin digging in their heels.

These two put on 98 for the second wicket and at 154-2, when Gripper departed, it looked as though Australia had a fight on their hands.

At 200-3 when Gavin Rennie recklessly gave a catch to Glenn McGrath in the gully, it still seemed they were on course to take Australia into a fifth day, a target they had set themselves.

But then they went into a spiral, eight wickets falling to McGrath, Colin Miller and Shane Warne in the space of 25 overs.

Warne, who had struggled all day to get going and who had conceded more than his usual ration of runs, suddenly whipped out three batsmen without loss and in 13 balls.

Michael Slatter and Greg Blewett strode out to formally make the five runs and the match ended ignominiously with a wide from Bryan Strang.

The Test was a highlight for Australian captain Steve Waugh, who made 151 not out, his 20th Test century, enough to secure the “Man of the Match” award.

Heath Streak, who supplements his cricket with periods as a hunter and rancher, took five Australian wickets.

Trevor Gripper, son of former Rhodesia captain and opening bat Ray, followed in his footsteps with a dogged 60 in four hours, which should have been a platform to build on. Instead it was a springboard to disaster.

Scoreboard

Zimbabwe (Ist innings): 194 (N. Johnson 75)

Australia (Ist innings): 422

Zimbabwe (2nd innings): (overnight 80-1)

Gripper lbw b Miller 60

G. Flower lbw b McGrath 32

Goodwin c S.Waugh b Warne 91

Rennie c McGrath b Miller 23

Campbell run out 1

A. Flower c Healy b McGrath 0

Johnson c M.Waugh b McGrath 5

Whittall c M.Waugh b Warne 2

Streak lbw b Warne 0

B. Strang c Langer b Miller 0

Olonga not out 0

Extras (b-9 lb-2 w-1 nb-6): 18

Total: 232

Fall of wickets: 1-56 2-154 3-200 4-208 5-211 6-220 7-227 8-227 9-232

Bowling: McGrath 31-12-46-3 (6nb), Fleming 21-6-31-0, Miller 34-10-66-3, Ponting 1-1-0-0, Warne 30.1-11-68-3 (1w), Blewett 5-1-10-0

Australia (2nd innings):

Blewett not out 4

Slater not out 0

Extras (w-1) 1

Total: (for no wicket) 5

Bowling: Strang 0.4-0-5-0

Result: Australia won by 10 wickets.

Windies bowled out for 145

SHARJAH, Oct 17 (AFP) — Sri Lanka, needing a win to stay in contention for the Sharjah Cup, shot the West Indies out for 145 in a key match here today.

Sanath Jayasuriya’s men shrugged off the embarrassment of allowing Pakistan to snatch a tie on Friday after being on the doorstep of victory, with a dazzling display in the field.

Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan claimed three for 22 and part-timer Russel Arnold two for 32 after the West Indies won the toss and elected to bat in the day-night international.

Steady bowling by seamers Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa restricted the West Indies to 18-1 in the first 10 overs.

By the time the 40-over mark was reached, the West Indies had managed just 121-3 on the board as the three-pronged spin attack kept the run-rate in check.

Sri Lanka were once again served well by brilliant fielding which resulted in the run out of skipper Brian Lara and rising star Ricardo Powell.

SCOREBOARD

West Indies:

Campbell c Chandana b Zoysa 6

Jacobs c Chandana b Vaas 1

Hinds c and b De Silva 58

Lara run out 29

Chanderpaul c

Kaluwitharana b Arnold 31

Powell run out 0

Gayle c Jayawardena b Murlitharan 7

Perry b Arnold 0

Ambrose st

Kaluwitharana b Murlitharan 4

Dillon c De Silva b Murlitharan 0

King not out 0

Extras: (LB-6, W-2, NB-1) 9

Total: (all out) 145

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-21, 3-62, 4-126, 5-127, 6-134, 7-134, 8-142, 9-145.

Bowling: Vaas 7-3-15-1, Zoysa 7-3-14-1, Arnold 10-1-32-2, Murlitharan 9.3-0-22-3, Chandana 6-0-28-0, De Silva 10-3-28-1.

Pak match-fixing report makes hopefuls nervous

SHARJAH, Oct 17 (AFP) —Pakistani cricketers wore a nervous look today as they awaited their selection for the Australian tour amidst reports that the match-fixing inquiry at home may have implicated some players.

The selectors are scheduled to meet here tomorrow to pick the touring squad on the sidelines of the ongoing Sharjah Cup one-day tournament featuring Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

A top Pakistani cricket official admitted today the selection could pose a problem if the President Rafiq Tarrar, who is the patron of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), decides to act on the recommendations of the inquiry commission.

“It is up to the President to make the report public and act on it,” team manager Yawar Saeed said.

“But it can pose the serious problems for the selectors if the penalities on the players are announced after Monday.”

The report by the one-man judicial commission headed by Malik Mohammad Qayyum was submitted to the President yesterday. Media reports quoted Qayyum as saying he found evidence against some cricketers, but left it to the President to decide their fate.

Punjab under-19 cricket team
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Oct 17 — Yuvraj Singh will lead an 18-member Punjab squad in the inter-state Vijay Merchant (u-19) Cricket Tournament scheduled to start from October 20 to 22. Punjab take on Jammu and Kashmir here in the tournament’s first league match.

The other members of the squad are:-

Munish Sharma, Ravneet Rickey, S.P. Singh, Sandeep Sanwal (all from Amritsar), Gaganinder Garry, H. Kali, Reetinder Sodhi, Binwant Singh, Gautam Mandora (all from Patiala), Ankur Sondhi (wk), Vineet Sharma, Vivek Mahajan (all Jalandhar), Gagandeep Singh, Manav Dupper (all Ludhiana), Sanjay Dhull, Amit Uniyal, Vikramjit Sodhi (all Chandigarh).

According to Mr M.P Pandove, the selection committee had picked up an 18-member squad, as four of the players including Yuvraj Singh, Reetinder Sodhi, Sandeep Sanwal and Ravneet Rickey may be inducted into the Punjab Ranji Trophy squad.

Srinath gets pride of place

MUMBAI, Oct 17 (PTI) — Davis Cupper and world number 316 Prahlad Srinath has been given the pride of place in the men’s singles of the ginning here tomorrow.

The following are the seeds: 1 Prahlad Srinath (Ind), 2 Syed Fazaluddin (Ind), 3 Radim Zitko (Cze), 4 Per Thornadtsson (Swe) 5 Tom Chicoine (USA), 6 Vinod Sridhar (Ind), 7 Zoltan Boroczky (Hun), 8 Zbynek Mlynarik (Aut).

Kangra DAV College basketball champs

KANGRA, Oct 17 (FOC) — MCM. DAV College, Kangra today won the HP University Basketball Championship for women defeating H.P. University Post Graduate Centre, Shimla, by an impressive margin of 17 points in the final here today.

MCM, DAV College from the very beginning played a fast game and took a lead of 15 points in the first half. The second half witnessed Post Graduate Centre fighting back. DAV College scored 51 against 34 of the PG Centre.

Retu Thapa, Shoba and Bawna dominated the game and scored 15, 10 and 6 points, respectively, for DAV College and for PG Centre Shimla, Babita and Sunita scored 12 and 10 points respectively. Reetu Thapa of DAV made repeated attempts during the game and managed to score 12 points. The trophy was today captured by DAV College after two years. Earlier, it was with RKMV Shimla. Mr S. P. Sathe of HP University gave away the trophies to the winners. Eight teams participated in this three-day event.

The HP University basketball team would be selected on the bases of the performance in this meet.

Skating meet

PATIALA, Oct 17 (FOSR) — The eleventh Punjab subjunior, junior and senior roller skating championships for both boys and girls will be held at the local rink hall here from November 2 to 4, according to the honorary secretary, of the Punjab Roller Skating Association.

The meet will also act as selection trials for the 37th National Roller Skating Championships slated to be held at Ahmedabad.