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Uthappa, Gambhir star in Reds win
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Lanka, Bangladesh gear up for CT
Hockey
2006
Calls for health passports in anti-doping fight
Iqbal to replace Inzamam
Polo season starts today
UP pound Gujarat
India to take on Bangladesh in opener
Ambala
college eves triumph for 9th year
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Uthappa, Gambhir star in Reds win Chennai, October 3 After scoring a daunting 317 for four, which was largely possible due to judicious knocks by openers Robin Uthappa (92, 99 balls, 6x4, 3x6) and Gautam Gambhir (74, 93 balls, 8x4) and a late assault by local hero Dinesh Kaarthick (85, 68 balls, 8x4, 3x6), India Reds picked wickets at regular intervals to bowl out India Greens for 278 runs in 48.4 overs. It turned out to be a tall order as the Greens succumbed without any fight. Except Parthiv Patel (69, 77 balls, 7x4, 1x5) and Md Kaif (34, 48 balls, 4x4) and a late charge by Mithun Manhas (34, 35 balls, 1x6, 2x4) and Piyush Chawla (55 not out, 41 balls, 5x4, 2x6), there was no worthwhile contribution as Greens caved in without any fight. The Greens never recovered from the early exit of Sourav Ganguly and lost wickets at regular intervals. For Reds, Ramesh Powar claimed three wickets, while Sreesanth and V R V Singh bagged two wickets each. India Reds won both the matches for a tally of eight points, while Blues finished second with five points. Greens lost both the matches to finish with minus-one point. Once again Sourav Ganguly failed, virtually derailing his hopes of making a come back bid. The left hander from Kolkatta, lasted a mere 30 balls against India Blues yesterday. Today it was even more shorter before he played on to Sreesanth, triggering a collapse. Sourav, who bowled an economic first spell of 6-0-26-0 and eventually finished with 9-0-43-0 with the ball, failed with the willow. He scored just three runs in his nine ball essay. Bowling with a lot of fire, Sreesanth then snarled Wasim Jaffer (23, 38 balls, 4x4) with a trade mark off-cutter, the ball kissing the bat enroute to wicket-keeper Dinesh Kaarthick as Greens were reduced to 53 for two by the 12 th over. India Reds Uthappa c Kaif b Balaji 92 Gambhir c Raina b Chawla 74 Kaarthik c Patel b Balaji 85 Rohit c Manhas b Praveen 26 T.P. Singh not out 3 Powar not out 9 Extras (lb-6, w-19, nb-3) 28 Total (4 wkts, 50 overs) 317 Fall of wickets:1-177, 2-254, 3-303, 4-306. Bowling: Nehra 10-0-64-0, Praveen 10-0-65-1, Balaji 10 -0-68-2, Ganguly 9-0-43-0, Chawla 10-0-67-1, Badani1-0-4-0. India Greens Jaffer c Kaarthick b Sreesanth 23 Ganguly b Sreesanth 3 Patel c Sharma b Powar 69 Praveen c Kartik b VRV 9 Kaif b Powar 34 Raina c Sharma b Kartik 1 Badani c Sharma b Powar 18 Manhas c Kartik b VRV 34 Chawla (not out) 55 Balaji c (sub) b VRV 9 Nehra b VRV 0 Extras (lb-1, w-12, nb-10) 23 Total (all out, 48.4 overs.) 278 Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-53, 3-68, 4-138, 5-139, 6-165, 7-178, 8-249, 9-278, 10-278. Bowling: Zaheer Khan 10-0-67-0, Sreesanth 8-1-34-2, VRV 7.4-0-54-4, Powar 10-0-36-3, Kartik 10-0-52-1, Venugopala 1-0-10-0, T P Singh 1-0-10-0, Sharma 1-0-14-0.
— UNI
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BCCI firm on protecting players’ rights
Mumbai, October 3 “We are not going to fall into the trap like we did before the last World Cup. We are keen to protect our sponsors’ rights as well as our players’ rights (on endorsements). We have prepared a draft at our meeting today on the MPA issue which will be circulated to the players,” BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi told reporters today. The MPA pertains to all tournaments to be held by the ICC from 2007 to 1015, including the next World Cup to be hosted in the Asian sub-continent. The board’s special committee to discuss the burning issue, headed by its president Sharad Pawar and comprising its office bearers, former president I.S. Bindra and administrative head Ratnakar Shetty met today and decided on the draft to be sent to the ICC in a couple of days’ time, Modi said. “We have been given a week’s deadline by the ICC starting yesterday to send our reply,” the BCCI’s marketing committee chief said. Modi said the BCCI’s reply to the sport’s apex body would also be as voluminous as the 84-page MPA document and the relevant portion dealing with players’ rights has already been sent to skipper Rahul Dravid, who’s expected to consult the other players and send their views in a couple of days. “We will reply it clause by clause. I am confident our players will support us and we are determined to support our players in protection of their (endorsement) rights,” he said. Asked what specific clauses the BCCI was objecting to for not signing the MPA in its present format, Modi said there were several and added that in a worse case scenario the board would not sign it. “In a worse case scenario we will not sign it. But I don’t think it will lead to such a situation. I am sure there will be mutual give and take.” Modi said unlike the previous occasion before the 2003 World Cup, the MPA sent by the ICC had an ambush-marketing clause by which it sought to protect its own sponsors’ image rights for nine to 12 months prior to and after the tournaments like the World Cup and the Champions Trophy. “With the tournaments coming one after the other it will bind us for the next eight years. It’s up to each individual board to decide on the issue. As far as we are concerned, we will not agree to any clause that endangers our sponsors’ rights”, he said. “We will not sign the MPA in its present form by which the ICC has also the unilateral right to change the MPA. They should recognise the members’ rights too. There are lot of ambiguities,” Modi said. — PTI
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Lanka, Bangladesh gear up for CT
Chandigarh, October 3 Before starting of the big event, the Bangladesh and Sri Lankan teams are scheduled to play practice matches against PCA President’s XI at Sector 16 stadium on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. On the preparation of the team for big event, Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar said, “Due to heavy rain back home, the team could not prepare according to the schedule. So the practice match is very important for us to get ourselves in groove.” On the other hand, Bangladesh coach Dave Whatmore has been looking forward to the series as a big challenge for the team, which is at number 10 in the world ranking. “We are at the bottom of the table so every team will take us lightly here. We will try to put up a good show and any win will be good thing for us,” said Whatmore. After sweating it out in the nets for more than two hours, the cricketers obliged the budding cricketers with their autographs. Ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan even gave tips on spin bowling, including his much famous ‘doosra’ to upcoming cricketers. The match will start at 9 am tomorrow.
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Hockey
2006 Madrid, October 3 The Asian champions conceded as many as 10 penalty corners and failed to convert the many chances that came their way to go out of medal contention. Silvia Munoz (10th) drew first blood while Pilar Sanchez (30th, 43rd) scored a brace to earn the win for the hosts. Suriner Kaur (17th) and Saba Anjum (48th) led the Indian attempt to thwart the Spanish armada. Spain strengthened their chance of earning a semifinal berth with today’s win pushing their tally to nine points in Pool A which is topped by last edition’s runner-up Holland. Holland thrashed China 6-1 to top the table with 12 points and to assure their passage to last-four. England were two points adrift of Spain following their 1-0 defeated of Germany and need to beat the Spaniards in their last pool encounter tomorrow. India have one point from their draw against England on Sunday and take on China tomorrow who have no points.
— PTI
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Calls for health passports in anti-doping fight
Lausanne, October 3 At the end of a three-day anti-doping symposium organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations, officials and competitors agreed on the need for medical profiles to keep track of individual athletes’ physiological makeup. They also backed a worldwide database storing and evaluating the information. “It’s not that we suspect individual athletes but we wish to protect the vast majority who aren’t doing anything wrong from those who try to cheat you, rob you and steal your glory,” WADA executive committee member Arne Ljungqvist said. “That’s why we need to profile all athletes individually.” Health passports — or medical profiles — could help anti-doping agencies identify abnormalities or detect sudden changes in an athlete’s blood. WADA first championed the idea in 2001 but it has recently gained momentum. Currently, testers measure athletes’ samples against predetermined average levels for substances naturally occurring in the body — such as EPO and testosterone. But this potentially allows athletes with naturally low levels to cheat without being detected. This individual approach would also resolve the problem of physiological differences among various populations and ethnic groups. The IAAF’s medical and anti-doping commission hopes to launch the project before the world championships at Osaka next August. Athletes and officials also want shorter times between testing “A” and “B” samples, arguing that sample deterioration has allowed cheaters to evade punishment. “We want ‘B’ samples tested as soon as possible because otherwise you run the risk of not being able to confirm the ‘A’ sample,” said Christiane Ayotte, head of the WADA-accredited doping control laboratory in Montreal. WADA used to allow two to three weeks for the request of a “B”-sample analysis, but have begun putting pressure on athletes to be quicker about it. IAAF officials are also considering a “no-start rule” for athletes with inexplicably high blood values, already used in some sports like cycling. When unable to prove illegal blood manipulation, some sports suspend athletes with abnormal blood parameters for a few days or weeks “for health reasons,” to act as a deterrent. Other topics discussed were designer drugs; new forms of EPO; conditions influencing blood parameters such as exercise, environment, hydration and the storage and transport of samples; the need for more cooperation between sports federations, anti-doping agencies and governments. — AP
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Iqbal to replace Inzamam
Karachi, October 3 But the Pakistan Cricket Board is awaiting ICC’s confirmation on the inclusion of the youngster because the squad for the elite one-day tournament was already announced before ICC’s disciplinary hearing in which Inzamam was slapped with four-ODI ban for bringing the game into disrepute following the Oval fiasco. “The selectors have chosen Iqbal as the replacement. We are now just awaiting the ICC confirmation on this and when that happens he will go with the squad to India,” a PCB official said. But Iqbal’s selection ahead of some top middle-order batsmen like Shahid Yousuf and Asim Kamal was not an easy task because he has not been so successful in one-day internationals. In ODIs, he averages under 22 with one hundred from 17 matches. If he plays any match for Pakistan in the Champions Trophy then it would be his first in three years.
— PTI
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Chandigarh, October 3 Kicking off with an exhibition match between Quila Mubarak and Quila Bahadurgarh teams, the series will include the Punjab Cup and the Patiala Cup, the finals of which will be played on October 15. After a break of many decades, the game of polo has seen a strong resurgence in Patiala. For the past four years, Patiala has been host to several tournaments, where some of the finest players in the country have been playing. — TNS
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Kapurthala, October 3 In another match, Tamil Nadu defeated Chhattisgarh 2-0. S. Narmathe and S. Rewathe scored for the winners. Kerala beat Assam 1-0. Mofida scored the lone goal. Similarly, Orissa defeated Mizoram 4-1. S. Barwa, S.Bara. S.Kison and D. Darwa scored one goal each for Kerala while M. Janki scored for Mizoram. Meanwhile, Haryana got walkover from Madhya Pradesh as the latter team could not turn for the match, as some of their players were reportedly ill. — TNS
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India to take on Bangladesh in opener
New Delhi, October 3 India, runners up at the last edition at Busan four years ago, will next play China on December 5 followed by Oman on December 8. India, who won both its Asiad titles at Bangkok in 1966 and 1998, are pitted against defending champions South Korea in their last Group B league encounter on December 10. The five teams in Group A are seven-time winners Pakistan, Malaysia, Japan, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong. At Busan, Pakistan failed to make it to the podium for the first time since the inception of hockey at the Asian Games in 1958, when they were beaten to the Bronze medal by Malaysia. According to the new International Hockey Federation (FIH) rules, the first two teams will be the automatic continental qualifiers for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Earlier, only the gold medal winners got direct Olympic entry. FIH has now ruled that there will be nine automatic berths for Beijing, three from Europe, two from Asia, besides the continental winner from Oceania, America and Africa, in addition to the hosts. The final three places will be filled by the winners of three qualification tournaments of six teams each. Meanwhile, Pakistan have pulled out of the women's tournament at Doha, thus reducing the competition to seven teams. The Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) will now possibly play a round robin league amongst South Korea, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei. Both the men’s and women’s matches will be played on the Poligras surface at the Al Rayyan Sports Complex at Doha. The women’s competition begins December 2 while the men start two days later. The final for women will be played on December 13 while the men’s summit clash is scheduled for December 14.
— UNI
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Ambala
college eves triumph for 9th year Ambala, October 3 GN Khalsa College, Yamunanagar, were second while DAV College for Girls, Yamunanagar were third. The
winning college team, comprising Reeta, Paramjit Kaur, Meenakshi and
Sonia Sharma, had been selected to represented Kurukshetra University in
the inter-varsity championship, to be held in Andhra Pradesh in
November.
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