SPORTS

Delhi Soccer League now from Dec 24
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, December 17
The Delhi Soccer Association (DSA) Senior Division League, which was to start on December 20, will now be held from December 24.

DSA vice-president and convenor of the league N K Bhatia said the League had to be rescheduled by four days as the clubs wanted a week’s break after the Id celebrations.

Mr. Bhatia said the first phase of the league will be completed by January 25, as the preliminary rounds of the Durand Football Tournament will be held at the Ambedkar Stadium from January 26. The main round of the Durand will begin only on December 2.

The teams for the senior league have been divided into two groups. Group A comprises last year’s runners-up Hindustan, Youngmen, Shastri, Moonlight, City, Delhi Police, New Delhi Heroes, Collegians and Frontier.

Group B comprises defending champions Nationals, Shahdara, Tarun Sangh, Indian Air Force (New Delhi), Mughals, Youngsters and Garhwal Heroes.

Mr Bhatia said the matches will be held at the Ambedkar Stadium and the two practice grounds of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Most of the matches, however, will be held at the Ambedkar Stadium to complete the preliminary rounds before the start of the Durand Tournament.

With the cancellation of the DCM, Durand is the only major soccer tournament being held in Delhi. But due to the change in the AIFF soccer calendar, the Durand Cup has been allotted dates in February, instead of November-December. The commencement of the National Soccer League has necessitated change in the dates of many soccer tournaments, including Durand.

CNN to premier World Sport special
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, December 17
CNN will premier a World Sport special on December 25 and 26, anchored by Pedro Pinto.

The half-hour show takes a look back at the world of sports in 2001, and relives the moments that defined the years in sports around the globe. Along with the highlights of 2001, super stars Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong and Michael Schumacher will give an account of their success stories.

World Sport provides worldwide audience with the latest news of various sports, a comprehensive round up of the results from recent events and interviews with the stars making the sporting headlines. To complement the coverage on television, there is also a dedicated section, http://www.cnn.com/sports, with all the extensive sports coverage on the global network’s web site. The half-hour programme airs four times daily on weekdays and three times daily on weekends.

Top players for Tata Open Tennis
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, December 17
Top players will take part in the $ 400,000 prize money Tata Open Tennis Championship 2002, will be held in Chennai from December 31 to January 6.

Chennai will be hosting the championship for the sixth consecutive year. The championship will feature top international players like two-time French Open champion Sergi Bruguera, Guillermo Canas, Thomas Johansson, Fabrice Santoro, Andrei Pavel, Dominik Hrbaty and Max Mirnyi. The Tournament is conducted under the aegis of the All-India Tennis Association and is organised with the active collaboration from the Tamilnadu Tennis Association.

Noida athletes

FOUR girls and a boy from Noida schools have been selected for the National Central Board of Secondary Education Athletics Meet to be held at Vishakhapatnam.

The selected athletes are: Sonam Gupta of Vishwa Bharti School, who topped the 400 metres trials, Sahlini, Neha Gupta and Arti Mathur, also from the same school, and Rohan of DPS. Rohan had won the 100m in trials. TNS

Friends Club Tournament from Dec 26

New Delhi, December 17
The second Friends Cricket Tournament, organised by Friends Club, Dharu Hera, will be held at Royal Stadium from December 26.

Organising secretary Rao Jitender announced that the tournament will be played on a knock-out basis. Each match will be of 35 overs a side. The champion will be given a cash prize of Rs 21,000 while the runners-up will receive Rs 11,000. TNS