Mohali, March 8
Putting to rest the controversy over the fiery remarks by Indian coach Greg Chappell against former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly in an interview, the Union Agriculture Minister and BCCI’s supremo Mr Sharad Pawar said the board had conveyed its concern to the coach and he (Chappell) had assured that the matter had ended.

Mr Pawar issued the statement after inaugurating the indoor nets at Punjab Cricket Association’s stadium here today.

He said, “Nobody should come to the conclusion that his future is dark unless he himself wants to retire. Ganguly is a senior player and he can make a comeback by proving his mettle.”

However, he made it clear that picking up the top 15 was the right of the selectors.

Mr Pawar also patted Chappell’s back for the excellent performance of the team in Pakistan. “Chappell has done an excellent job and all credit goes to him, ”he said.

Flaying Dalmiya for his fresh charges of favouritism while issuing T V rights, he said, “Sometimes people get frustrated. We are trying to bring transparency in the boards’ working.”

On the joint bid for hosting World Cup 2011 by India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Mr Pawar stated that positive results would come at the International Cricket Council’s meeting to be held on March 19 and 20. All boards’ chiefs of the above said countries would meet on March 12 in Delhi to discuss all aspects of the bid.

Earlier, the Indian team was present at the inauguration. The Punjab Governor Lieut-Gen (retd) S.F. Rodrigues also graced the occasion.

Giving information about the nets, Mr I.S. Bindra, president, PCA, said, “The nets cost Rs 43 lakh and will facilitate the cricketers during the wet conditions.” The PCA has also provided a bowling machine for practice.

Mohali, March 7
The Ropar Police would provide security at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium during the Test match between India and England.

Over 500 police personnel from the district have been put on duty at the stadium for providing security to the players and keep a vigil in the area.

Talking to the Chandigarh Tribune, the SSP Ropar, Mr SP Singh, said though they were not expecting any rush at the stadium. “Test matches do not attract many visitors. However, to be on the safe side at least 500 policemen would be on duty inside and outside the stadium. The PCA has posted its own private security also but we have to perform our duties,” he said.

The police would be manning the area on horses, PCR vehicles and motorcycles. The SSP said suitable arrangements had been made for the accommodation and food for the policemen. TNS

Chandigarh, March 8
Anuj Uppal of Delhi entered the second leg of the National Cue Masters League today by winning the qualifier round held at Asia Billiards Hall, Sector 34, here.

In an exciting snooker final against Punjab’s Dharminder Lilly, Anuj took an early lead and raced to 20 points. But Dharminder caught up with him and the score stood at 20-19.

However, Anuj broke away with an excellent pot of the yellow ball and quickly wrapped up the game by potting the green, brown, blue, pink and black balls in quick succession, winning the frame 53-34.

Anuj then took an early lead in billiards too. He played some excellent pots to take the score to 50-21 and won the match 2-0.

With this, both Anuj Uppal and Dharminder Lilly have secured their entry into the main draw of the National Cue Masters League to be played in Hyderabad from March 21-25 and are guaranteed a minimum prize money of Rs 10,000.

Arjuna awardee Alok Kumar, joint secretary of the Players Association of Billiards and Snooker, gave away the trophy to Anuj. The losing semifinalists Gagandeep Makkar and Varun Taneja were also awarded a prize money of Rs 5,000 each.

Scores:

Final: Anuj Uppal bt Dharminder Lilly 2-0 (snooker 53-34, billiards 50-21)

Semifinal: Dharminder Lilly b Gagandeep Makkar 2-0 (snooker 51-11, billiards 50-23), Anuj Uppal b Varun Taneja 2-0 (snooker 59-47, billiards 52-5.

Chandigarh, March 8
Malti Kandhari has been adjudged best athlete among girls while Kuldeep and Jatinder went home with the best athlete tag in boys group under Scheme for Persons with Disabilities (SPWD) during the 4th annual athletics meet of Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology, which concluded today on its premises in Sector 26, here today. Dr Baljeet S. Kapoor, Principal, CCET, gave away prizes to the winners

The results are:

Best athletes — Malti Kandhari and Kuldeep and Jatinder (SPWD); Ramesh (community polytechnic scheme); Nazakat Ali (part-time diploma); Ashish and Snehlata (degree stream); Vishek Sehgal and Khushbu (diploma stream).

Results of the various events in degree and diploma streams:

Long jump (boys) — Naveen 1, Varun Sharma 2, Manish Narula 3.

Long jump (boys) — Sahil Khurana 1, Pankaj Eawat 2, Ranajan Kumar 3.

Long jump (girls) — Ruhani Sood 1, Swati Garg 2, Deepika 3.

1500m (boys) — Ashish 1, Varun Dhiman 2, Badal Singh 3.

1500m (boys) — Manish Kaushik 1, Vishek 2, Sandeep 3.

Hammer throw (boys) — Santosh Kumar 1, Abhishek Gupta 2, Kuldeep Kishore 3.

Hammer throw (boys) — Harminder Singh 1, Nakul Kumar 2, Balbir Singh 3.

Poll vault (boys) — Varun Sharma 1, Jagat Saurabh 2, Manish Narula 3.

110 m hurdles (boys) — Jaspal 1, Atul 2, Shashikant 3.

Discus throw (boys) — Anuj Khosla 1, Navdeep Malik 2, Kuldeep Kishore 3.

Discus throw (boys) — Jaswinder 1, Harminder Singh 2, Pankaj 3.

Discus throw (girls) — Samridhi 1, Pradeepti 2, Khushbu 3.

Discus throw (girls) — Snehlata 1, Ruhani Sood 2, Sneha 3.

3000m (boys) — Varun Dhiman 1, Badal Singh 2, Kapil 3.

3000m (boys) — Manish 1, Sandeep 2, Shashikant 3.

Shot put (boys) — Kuldeep Kishore 1, Ashutosh 2, Navdeep Malik 3.

Shot put (boys) — Harminder 1, Pankaj 2, Nakul 3.

Shot put (girls) — Khushbu 1, Bhumika 2, Pardeepta 3.

Shot put (girls) — Snehlata 1, Ruhani 2, Manjot 3.

5000m (boys) — Varun 1, Kapil 2, Manish 3.

5000m (boys) — Manish 1, Gagandeep 2, Ashok 3.

Triple jump (boys) — Ashish 1, Naveen 2, Varun Sharma 3.

Triple jump (boys) — Sahil Khurana 1, Sukhjit Singh 2, Pankaj Eawat 3.

800m (boys) — Ashish 1, Inderjeet 2, Ashutosh 3.

800m (boys) — Vishek 1, Sandeep 2, Tek Singh 3.

110m hurdles (boys) — Nikhar 1, Ashish 2, Kashish 3.

110m hurdles (boys) — Jaspal 1, Atul 2, Shashikant 3.

High jump (boys) — Niskhar 1, Navdeep 2 Manish 3.

High jump (boys) — Sahil 1, Jaswinder 2, Pankaj 3.