Age fudging mars Subroto Cup Soccer
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 28
Cheating in age by players in age-group tournaments is a common feature in Indian sports. Even national teams going abroad for international age-group tournaments are not free of this malady. In fact, the joke in Indian sports circles is that sportspersons carry two sets of birth certificates—the genuine one and the fake one.

The fake is for participation in age-group tournaments. Twenty-year-olds and above participating in under-19 tournaments are a common feature in India. The Subroto Mukherjee Cup Football Tournament for school students under 17 years of age, has had to battle with the menace of cheating in age for the last several years.

But things turned for the worse today when, of all teams, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Training Centre, Salt Lake (Kolkata) fielded two players with fictitious names, in their match against Govt. Higher Secondary School, Purani Pooch (Jammu and Kashmir).

The match was, therefore, cancelled. Tournament secretary Sqn Ldr S Bhatnagar said here today that Dinesh Swar, who played as Ashish Halder (jersey No 7) and Debrat Panja, who played as Subrata Panja (jersey No 6) and Ganesh Sil (jersey No 8) on November 26 against Elite Co-Ed, Kathmandu (Nepal), which the SAI team won by 1-0, have been debarred for impersonation.

He said the date of birth certificates of three other players–Amit Biswas, Joydeep Debnath and Akhil Rajbanshi—were also found to be different from what they had submitted earlier.

Sqn Ldr Bhatnagar said all these players had one time or the other had played for Sukanta Nagar Vidyaniketan in 1997 in the junior group and 1999 in the sub-junior group.

Consequent of debarring the SAI team, Elite Co-Ed School, Kathmandu have qualified for the quarter-final from Group VII.

In the first match, AP Sports School, Hakimpet (Andhra Pradesh) defeated Mathapura Scool, Jamnagar (Gujarat) 2-0. Sainath Reddy scored the first goal in the fourth minute while Vikram Reddy got the second goal in the 48th minute. The victory has put the Andhra school in the quarter-final from Group VIII.

Thursday’s fixtures: Sanjay Public School, Chandigarh vs MPLL Adarsh Inter-School, Faisabad (UP) (1.30 p m); NCC XI, Imphal vs Army Boys Company, Bangalore (3 p m).

Feroz Ali scorches the course, sets a record
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 28
Feroz Ali scorched the Tollygung Club course with five successive birdies on his closing holes to return an eight-under 62 to etch his name as the joint-course record holder with Indrajit Bhalotia at the Rs 6 lakh HT Pro-Golf, according to information available here.

Bhalotia set the record way back in 1994 with a 62 at the Grindlays Open Pro-Am.

Feroz’s feat handed him a tally of eight-under 132 and a two-stroke lead over the field at the mid-way stage of the tournament. This is the first leg of the Eastern Swing of the Golf Tour’s 2001-02 season.

Overnight leaders Indrajit Bhalotia of Kolkata and Mukesh Kumar of Mhow slipped to tied-second position at six-under 134 apiece. One stroke behind at fourth spot and four-under 136 were twice ‘Order of Merit’ winner Vijay Kumar of Lucknow. Another Kolkatan, Uttam Singh Mundy, occupied the fifth position at three-under 137, while the duo of Rafiq Ali and Shiv Prakash were tied sixth at 138. The cut was applied at 12-over 152, with 53 professionals making it to the deciding rounds.

Feroze Ali, who achieved instant fame after winning the Indian Open in 1998, has been off-colour for most of the 2001-02 season.

Hours of practice and a slight modification to his swing did the trick for him. Feroz was in his elements today, returning as many as ten birdies. But for dropped shots on the 15th and second, the tenth tee starter would have actually played to ten-under. He birdied the 10th, 11th, 14th, 16th and 1st before signing off in style with five successive birdies from fifth to ninth.

Feroz returned just 22 putts today. Mukesh Kumar had a very ordinary front-nine with bogeys on the 13th, 16th and 18th, overshadowing his two birdies.

However, the current ‘Order of Merit’ leader put together a better back-nine score, birdying the third, fifth and seventh, with a bogey on his closing hole handing him a second round one-under 69.

Indrajit Bhalotia, considered one of the longest drivers of the ball on the Tour, looked a shade rusty. 

Dhruv Mohan hits century for Delhi
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 28
A fine century knock of 115 by Dhruv Mohan was the highlight of Delhi’s first innings as the three-day BCCI Under-22 Zonal Tournament match against Himachal Pradesh ended in a draw at Chamba (Himachal Pradesh).Delhi got five points while Himachal Pradesh garnered three points from the tie.

Put into bat, Delhi were all out for 354 in 127.4 overs. Dhruv Mohan’s century, which contained 16 boundaries, overshadowed everything else. Tara Chand (61) and Shailender Singh (56) also came up with handsome contributions. Amit Aggarwal, who claimed 3 for 40, was the most successful bowler for Himachal Pradesh. In reply, Himachal Pradesh were all out for 181 in 75.4 overs. Hitesh Andrish with 44 was the top-scorer. Raja Sharma (4/52) and Puru Singh (2/33) were the main wicket-takers for Delhi. Himachal, after being forced to follow on, managed to make 165 for six wickets in the second innings, to salvage a draw.

Brief scores:

Delhi (Ist innings): 354 (Dhruv Mohan 115, Tara Chand 61, Shailender Singh 56, Siddharth Verma 26, Dilip T.T 25, Ankit Aggarwal 3/40, Shivender Pal 2/82, Mohan Singh 3/58, Amit Verma 2/67). 2/67).

Himachal (Ist innings): 181 (Hitesh Anguish 44, Amit Verma 33, Shashi Pal 31, Raja Sharma 4/52, Puru Singh 2/33).

Delhi trounce Punjab in Merchant Trophy
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 28
Delhi beat Punjab by an innings and 66 runs in the Vijay Merchant Trophy Under-16 Cricket Tournament. All-round display by Abhishek Chaudhary (4/26 and 40 not out), deadly bowling by Sahil Arora (5/37) and Rajeev Mahajan (3/18) were the main features of the match.

Delhi’s strong batting and bowling line-up enabled them to put Punjab on the backfoot, and score an emphatic victory. The opening partnership of Delhi innings made the foundation for their victory.

Scores: Punjab (Ist innings): 103 in 52.3 overs (Karan Goel 30, Udai Kaul 20 n o, Abhishek Chaudhary 4/26, Ankur Garg 4/24 and Sahil Arora 1/20).

Delhi (Ist innings): 290 in 95.3 overs (Gaurav Chhabra 52, Varun Sharma 44, Punit Bisht 42, Abhishek Chaudhary 40 n o, Gaurav Sharma 37, Hardev Inder Singh 2/85, Rupinder Bindra 2/29).

Punjab (second innings): 121 in 68.2 overs (Udai Kaul 55 n o, Rahul Sharma 20, Sahil Arora 5/3.