IABF chalks out ambitious medal plans
MUMBAI, April 16 — The Indian Amateur Boxing Federation has chalked out ambitious plans to clinch the country's first-year Olympic medal from the ring at the 2000 Games in Sydney and maximise the medals tally in the 2002 Asian Games at Pusan in South Korea.

Kiefer upsets Enqvist
TOKYO, April 16 — German number five seed Nicolas Kiefer prevailed in a three-set battle of the baseline to upset number three seed Swede Thomas Enqvist in a Japan Open quarter-final today.

Becker to play in Monte Carlo Open
PARIS, April 16 — Boris Becker is set to make his last major appearance in front of French fans at next week’s Monte Carlo Open after being offered a wild card by tournament organisers.

Mexico drub champs Argentina 4-1
LAGOS, April 16 — Mexico dumped defending champions Argentina out of the World Youth Cup yesterday with a crushing 4-1 win.

Adam maintains the lead
DOS HERMANAS (Spain), April 16 — Vishwanathan Anand must win both his last two games to bring some respectability to his overall score at the Dos Hermanas tournament.

Baboor, Poulami emerge champs
GANDHIDHAM, April 16 — Top seeds Chetan Baboor of IOC and Poulami Ghatak of Bengal continued with their winning ways by claiming the men's and women's singles titles in the Rs 1.33 Lakh India top 12 prize money Table Tennis Tournament here yesterday.

PFA in dock for fielding BSF
PATIALA, April 16 — Punjab State Electricity Board despite having qualified for the National Football League second division, now suddenly find themselves out in the cold either due to a faux pass by the All-India Football Federation or due to a communication gap between the AIFF and its affiliate body, the Punjab Football Association.

Umpires for Ranji Trophy final Parnita clinches golf cup CRPF hockey

India lose to Pak by 8 wickets

SHARJAH, April 16 (UNI, PTI) — Led by Skipper Wasim Akram’s brilliant bowling performance, Pakistan won the three-nation Coca Cola Cup cricket series with a thumping eight-wicket victory over India in a totally one-sided final here tonight.

Batting first, India relived through some of their worst Sharjah nightmares as, in an abject surrender, they crumbled to 125 all out in 45 overs.

Pakistan then raced to 129 for two in 28 overs to subject India to one of their worst defeats at this desert venue.

Akram was India’s chief destroyer with a three-wicket haul for just 11 runs from his eight overs.

Except for opener Saurav Ganguly, who made a patient 50, none of the Indian batsmen displayed the will to fight it out and marched back to the pavilion in a steady procession.

Inzamum-ul-Haq, unbeaten with 39, and Ijaz Ahmed, 21 not out, guided Pakistan to their target with flattering ease. They were involved in an unbroken 64-run partnership for the third wicket.

Inzamum, who produced some sparkling shots today, took his side past the target with three fours in medium-pacer Ajit Agarkar’s fifth over.

Openers Saeed Anwar (30) and Shahid Afridi (24) gave Pakistan a confident start with a 53-run stand for the first wicket.

For India, Kumble took two for 28 from nine overs. Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad also bowled well, but, in the end, the total they had to defend was just too small. Agarkar gave away 52 from his five overs.

Putting up a spineless batting display to belly hopes after skipper Mohammed Azharuddin won a good toss and chose to bat first, none barring opener Saurav Ganguly — who kept one end up as the rest fell in a heap to make an exact 50 off 96 balls — showed the needed application at the Sharjah Stadium.

Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram gave a dramatic start by trapping opener S. Ramesh (0) and Rahul Dravid leg before off successive balls to be on a hattrick and the Indian batsmen never showed initiative to lift themselves from the morass.

Azharuddin then played a reckless shot to fall to paceman Shoaib Akhtar for just two runs to leave India gasping at 14 for three wickets after he returned to take over from Ajay Jadeja who had guided the side to three impressive wins in a transformation from listless performances earlier.

Javagal Srinath’s arrival as pinch-hitter failed and three run outs followed to rule out any hopes of even a fighting total as India equalled their worst showing of 125 made in the 1985 final — though they beat Pakistan then.

Akram bowled superbly to finish with stunning figures of 8-3-11-3 and crafty seamer Azhar Mehmood (10-0-31-2) did more damage as the Indian batsmen showed no perseverance to even see through the quota of 50 overs.

Jadeja fell to a stunning catch by Saeed Anwar off Mehmood and Ganguly could not do anything better than hold one end up as wickets tumbled before he fell in the 38th over trying to force the pace.

Indian innings was rocked straightaway by Akram, who trapped Ramesh and Dravid leg before to leave them none for two after four balls.

The in-form Dravid, who tried to work the ball to the onside, however, looked shocked by Australian umpire Darrel Hair’s decision and television replays showed the ball had pitched just outside the off-stump and Dravid deserved to have received the benefit of doubt.

Akram, on a hattrick, rapped Azhar plumb in front but off a no-ball. But the Indian skipper, coming after missing two ties due to a toe injury, played recklessly by chasing a rank wide ball from Akhtar to be caught by second slip Mehmood.

More setbacks were in store as Jadeja (14), looking to push the scoring rate, smashed Mehmood over extra-cover only for Anwar to simply pick the ball out of the air acrobatically and soon after Srinath was unlucky to be judged caught behind to make it five for 50 in the 21st over.

Srinath snicked Mehmood and the third umpire adjudged that Moin Khan had taken the catch cleanly. But TV replays showed the wicketkeeper had taken the catch on the bounce.

Ganguly, who played the fiery Akhtar confidently and hit him for one of his two fours, added 32 runs with Robin Singh (15) in the best stand of the innings.

But Robin Singh failed to beat a superb throw from Shahid Afridi at square leg going for a second run and Nayan Mongia could not make his ground at the non-striker’s end as Youhana fired in a perfect throw soon after.

Once Ganguly went holing out off-spinner Arshad Khan to Youhana at long-off the next ball after reaching his fifty, the Indian batting effectively ended.

India:
Ramesh lbw b Akram 0
Ganguly c Youhana b Arshad 50
Dravid lbw b Akram 0
Azharuddin c Mehmood b Akhtar 2
Jadeja c Anwar b Mehmood 14
Srinath c Khan b Mehmood 3
Singh run out 15
Mongia run out 0
Agarkar b Akram 20
Kumble run out 7
Prasad not out 1
Extras (W-4, NB-9) 13
Total (all out in 45 overs) 125
Fall of wickets: 1/0, 2/0, 3/14, 4/46, 5/50, 6/82, 7/84, 8/104, 9/122.
Bowling: W. Akram 8-3-11-3, S. Akhtar 8-1-31-1, A. Mehmood 10-0-31-2, S. Mushtaq 7-0-20-0, A. Khan 10-1-24-1, S. Afridi 2-0-8-0.

PAKISTAN:
Anwar c and b Kumble 30
Afridi c Ganguly b Kumble 24
Ijaz Ahmed not out 21
Inzamam-ul-Haq not out 39
Extras: (lb-1, w-5, nb-9) 15
Total: (for 2 wkts in 28 overs) 129
Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-65.
Bowling: Srinath 8-0-31-0, Prasad 6-0-17-0, Agarkar 5-0-52-0, Kumble 9-1-28-2.

ATP Challenger final an
‘all-Indian’ affair

NEW DELHI, April 16 (UNI) — Finally, it's an 'all-Indian' affair.

Top-seeded Leander Paes and unseeded Mahesh Bhupathi today stormed into the finals of the 25,000 Servo-Indian Oil ATP Challenger Tennis Tournament registering contrasting wins.

Paes struggled past Gregory Carraz of France to win 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (11-9) while Bhupathi scored an upset defeating third-seeded Argentine Gaston Etlis 3-6, 6-0, 7-5 in a one hour 43 minutes encounter.

This is the second time in the year the two Indians clash with each other in a Challenger final. In February, the two met in the Calcutta ATP Challenger final which Leander had won.

Bhupathi today displayed excellent tennis to register a win over the third seed. After losing the first set, where Etlis broke him in the eighth game to go up 5-3 and take the set on his serve, Bhupathi had a 'revival' as he fought back into the match winning the next two sets.

He later admitted: "I lost my concentration in the first set. But after that I found my rhythm and things went smooth for me."

The second set saw Bhupathi completely overtaking the Argentine, who is ranked 141 on ATP, as he broke him on all his serves, retaining his serve to take the set (6-0) and stretch the match to a third deciding set.

The deciding set saw Bhupathi being broken by the Argentine in the very first game. Etlis then retained his serve until the eighth game, in which Bhupathi, playing excellent tennis, broke Etlis. The score was level at 4-4.

A charged up Bhupathi played exceptionally well, but Etlis seemed to wear away. Most of his shots hit the net frequently and his serve never seemed threatening.

Bhupathi could have wrapped the match in the tenth game only when he was leading 5-4, with Etlis serving. But he missed two match points, stretching the match a little further.

Finally he broke Etlis in the twelfth game, hitting a shot on Etlis left.

Talking about his encounter with Paes in the final Bhupathi said: "I am enjoying playing here. I will just go and play."

The Paes/Carraz match, which lasted above two hours, had both the players playing well. But for a whooping 19 double faults which Carraz made, he could have taken the match.

The first set was taken by the Indian number one. Paes, who was broken in the third game, broke Carraz in the fourth and sixth games to lead 4-2. After that he wrapped up the set (6-3).

The second set saw a replay of the first, the only difference being the winners were changed. Here Carraz broke Paes twice, taking the set (6-3) and stretching the match to a third deciding set.

The third set of the oscillating match, which proved to be a battle of nerves, had the tie-break which proved to be the real thriller.

Paes, who started the set with three consecutive double faults, said after the match: "After a long time I played a tough tiebreak. He was playing well and I had to really play well."

Paes served first in the tie-break, taking the first point with a backhand. He played well, leading 4-2. But Carraz hit excellent shots, to level the score and stretch the tie till 9-9, despite serving two double faults.

But at 9-9, Carraz made his third double fault of the tie-break, which gave Paes a one match point. Paes then served for the match, hitting a volley which Carraz hit at the net.

Paes said: "I served well after the fourth game of the third set. He was playing well, specially in volleys. He was a tall boy and it became difficult for me to hit passing shots."

About his final match with his doubles partner Bhupathi, Paes said: "It's going to be a fun match with him. I am looking forward to it. He is playing well here."

Paes said the conditions here are tough, adding that "whoever braves these conditions well, wins tomorrow."

IABF chalks out ambitious medal plans

MUMBAI, April 16 (PTI) — The Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (AIBF) has chalked out ambitious plans to clinch the country's first-year Olympic medal from the ring at the 2000 Games in Sydney and maximise the medals tally in the 2002 Asian Games at Pusan in South Korea.

The gold medal at the Bangkok Asian Games, secured by Manipur-born Services puncher N G Dingko Singh, after a 16-year gap and the first silver medal won by an Indian in 24 years at the last Commonwealth Games in Kaula Lumpur have spurred the boxing body to scale its hopes up by a notch.

The main aim of the long-term development plan (1999-2002), prepared by the IABF, is to ensure that there is an overall development of boxing in the country and maximise the returns in terms of medal tally in the 2002 Asian Games.

The major objectives of the plans are to win a medal in the Sydney Olympics and secure at least three gold medals at the 2002 Asiad in South Korea.

At the juniors level the major objectives are to win a medal at the under 19 championship in 2002 and four gold medals at the 2002 Junior Asian Championship.

It has also been planned to maintain a constant flow of talent from the sub-junior to the junior and senior divisions and contribute a minimum of twelve boxers to the national team in the span of four years.

In order to achieve the objectives, the body plans to broaden the base by introducing the tough sport at various levels as the "wastage" rate in boxing is very high.

To broaden the base, there are plans to ask the Sports Authority of India (SAI), which has already set up army boys sports companies, SAI hostels, SAG hostels etc.. to include the sport in the rural games, increase the number of boxers in the SAI and SAG hostels to a minimum of 25 per hostel and include it in more number of SAI hostels.

There are also plans to request SAI to increase the number of their hostels in states like Bihar, Bengal, Punjab, where there are no such facilities but have great potential in boxing.

Plans are also afoot to ask state governments to include boxing in state-run sports hostels, establish more hostels, particularly in states which have no facilities besides encouraging schools to include the sport in their curriculum.

The IABF plans to take the sport to the block level through its affiliated units (27 states and seven sports boards), encourage club culture through its units, support the efforts of the school games federation in promoting boxing in the state and public schools and encourage its affiliated units to conduct various championships at the block, district and state level.

The IABF's study has revealed that facilities provided for boxing in different states were inadequate and needed to be upgraded.

The number of SAI boxing coaches (45) is also inadequate. The IABF feels, and wants the states to follow the Haryana pattern with regard to facilities. For instance, the state has six coaches for 15 boxers at Bhiwani.

The IABF proposes to continue the process of talent spotting through its selection committee and also through five separate groups of spotters who have requisite knowledge and experience.

The IABF feels that the infrastructure created over the years, especially in the main training centres, do not measure up to international standards. Since computer scoring has now become mandatory, it wants the device to be installed with peripherals at all the training centres, besides facilities of a sauna/steam bath for controlling weight.

The federation feels it is necessary to provide a covered area for training at all sports hostels and army boys sports companies as training in open air rings depends upon weather conditions.

The IABF was also of the view that facilities of video recording and replay at the training centres and hostels would help training. Availability of imported boxing gear at junior level national camps too would go a long way.

The IABF feels there is a need to upgrade training and residential facilities at Delhi, Calcutta, Patiala and Bangalore. It would be possible to invite foreign teams on a reciprocal basis for joint training-cum-competition.

The IABF thinks these would go a long way in improving Indian standards and would be very cost effective. It would also be possible for SAI and cover part of the costs from the foreign teams and similar facilities are available in countries like Germany and Cuba which the Indians avail of.

The IABF has regretted the absence of any cultural exchange programme in its sport in the last four years and is ready to take over the responsibility of arranging such programmes with Sri Lanka (sub-junior level), Mauritius (juniors) and South Africa (seniors) provided the Department of Sports agrees to meet the expenses as in the past.

The 20-year exchange programme would include 15 days of joint training and five days of competition.

Considering the performance of the Indian boxers at the Commonwealth and Asian Games, the federation has already recommended the retention of the foreign coach till 2002 and plans to utilise his services for junior and sub-junior camps too.

The IAFB's tournament calendar:

Seniors:

April 10-30: national camp, Patiala; April: training-cum-competition, Cuba: May-June; national camp, Patiala; June: Seoul Cup ranking tournament, Seoul: June first week: all-India invitation, Nainital; June 22-28: multination euro-circuit tournament, England.

July-August: national camp, Bangalore; Aug 17-Sept 1: world championship (venue to be decided); Sept-October: national camp, Bangalore: Oct: all-India A K Mishra meet. Chandigarh; Oct 3-10: Asian championship (Olympic qualifier), Taskhent; Oct-Dec: national camp, Patiala; Nov: China Cup, Beijing: Nov: SAF Games, Kathmandu.

Kiefer upsets Enqvist

TOKYO, April 16 (Reuters) — German number five seed Nicolas Kiefer prevailed in a three-set battle of the baseline to upset number three seed Swede Thomas Enqvist in a Japan Open quarter-final today.

After the players split the first two sets, Kiefer rode a break of Enqvist in the first game of the deciding set to win 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-4.

Kiefer was able to keep Enqvist out of his serve and volley game with a splendid assortment of passing shots to score his first victory over the Swedish star in four meetings.

In a match marked by long rallies along the baseline, it was Kiefer who proved the stronger, even though he received treatment for an apparent ankle injury in the ninth game of the first set.

Last week in Hong Kong, Kiefer lost his quarter-final match to American Andre Agassi, who went on to win the tournament.

Number one seed Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands will face number eight Swede Jonas Bjorkman in quarter-final action.

On the women's side, top seed and defending champion Ai Sugiyama of Japan had an easy time beating Janet Lee of Taiwan 6-4, 6-0.

Zidane keen to play in Spain

ROME, April 16 (Reuters) — World Footballer of the Year Zinedine Zidane says he wants to leave Italian champions Juventus at the end of the season to play in Spain.

In an interview published in La Republica newspaper on Tuesday, Zidane said his Spanish wife was tired of living in the northern industrial city of Turin and wanted to return to her home country. "My contract is good until 2004 but I would like to play in Spain where my wife and parents are from", he told the paper.

"My family is my main priority... and if my family is unhappy in Turin I have to say so, because that's the reality. For now I am with Juventus — for now," he said. "At the end of the season I will have to talk to management and to my wife."

Zidane, who scored twice in France's 3-0 World Cup final defeat of Brazil, declined to confirm the reported interest of Spanish giants Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

Other big clubs, including Manchester United, who face Juventus in Turin in second leg of a European Cup semifinal on Wednesday, have also been reported as interested although Zidane's wife may not want to swap Turin for Manchester.

Juventus director-general Luciano Moggi said last week that Zidane was not for sale and that he would be at the centre of the club's plans next season.

Becker to play in Monte Carlo Open

PARIS, April 16 (AP) — Boris Becker is set to make his last major appearance in front of French fans at next week’s Monte Carlo Open after being offered a wild card by tournament organisers.

Becker beat Mark Philippoussis and Greg Rusedski before losing to Alberto Berasategui in the quarterfinals of last year’s tournament.

Organisers of the French Open said that Becker is not entering this year’s event.

The 31-year-old, in semi-retirement but still ranked 62, is the only big name missing from entrants to the $ 10.8 million French Open, which begins May 24.

Becker has never won either of the two clay court events.

Mexico drub champs Argentina 4-1

LAGOS, April 16 (Reuters) — Mexico dumped defending champions Argentina out of the World Youth Cup yesterday with a crushing 4-1 win.

Mali and Japan both sprang surprises, the former coming from 4-2 behind to beat Cameroon 5-4 with a golden goal and the latter beating Portugal on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Spain beat the USA 3-2 to join the quarter-finalists on a day which saw 21 goals in four games.

Argentina won the Youth Cup on the last two occasions, in Qatar in 1995 and Malaysia two years ago, but this time they were missing six top players because of club commitments.

They have struggled for goals and Luciano Galletti’s 40th-minute header, which gave them a halftime lead in Ibadan, was only their second in Nigeria.

Mexico, who now meet Japan, overran them after the break with some dazzling play and top quality goals from Daniel Osorno, Eduardo Rodriguez, Juan Pablo Rodriguez and Luis Gonzalez. The last two were spectacular long-range efforts.

Galletti was sent off in the last minute for stamping on an opponent and a brawl was only narrowly averted. Mexico’s Rafael Marquez was dismissed for his part in the arguments.

Mali, who won their first round group after beating Portugal and Uruguay, continued their run in dramatic style in Enugu.

The team from the poverty-stricken Sub-Saharan nation, which has never got near qualifying for a senior World Cup, trailed 4-2 with seven minutes left.

Two of Cameroon’s goals came from Gaspard Komol, who became the tournament’s top-scorer with five.

But goals by Abdoulaye Camara and Mahamadou Dissa sent the game to extra time and, in the 105th minute, Dissa took advantage of a defensive mix-up to send his team into a quarter-final clash with hosts Nigeria. One player from Mali and two from Cameroon were sent off.

Portugal went out to Japan in Bauchi after playing the whole of extra time with 10 players and defender Ricardo Esteves in goal. Their regular goalkeeper Sergio Barbosa was carried off injured and Portugal had used their three substitutes.

The new incumbent had little to do in extra time but was powerless to stop any Japanese shots in the shootout. Japan converted all five of their penalties and went through to a quarter-final with Mexico when Pedro Costa’s shot was saved.

Spain raced to a three-goal lead against the USA with two goals by Pablo Gonzalez and one by Xavier Hernandez but they then had to survive a second-half fightback.

Taylor Twellman pulled two goals back in the second half to take his tournament tally to four and he was twice denied a hat-trick by Spain goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia. Spain play Ghana in the quarter-finals.

Adam maintains the lead

DOS HERMANAS (Spain), April 16 (UNI) — Vishwanathan Anand must win both his last two games to bring some respectability to his overall score at the Dos Hermanas tournament.

He is due to meet Miguel Illescas with white pieces and then clashes with Boris Gelfand in the last round.

While Illescas is having great tournament — he has 3.5 points from seven rounds considering his low rating — Gelfand is always a tough one to beat.

Meanwhile, Michael Adams has taken his tally to 5.5 points after his draw with Anatoly Karpov in a game that was originally scheduled for the ninth round. Both Karpov and Adams had previous engagements and they agreed to advance the match.

Adams has one more game, the eighth round against Vladimir Kramnik, the only player who can upstage Adams for the title. Kramnik has 4.5 points, a full point behind Adams, but there are still two more games for him, first against Adams and then against Veselin Topalov in the last round.

Yesterday was a rest day and only the Karpov-Adams clash took place. It ended in a draw in 47 moves from a queen's Indian defence. Karpov took his tally to four points out of eight.

He leaves for Paris for the Euro Disney chess event, while Adams goes to Germany for a league-team match.

Points: Adams (5.5/8), Kramnik (4.5/7), Topalov (4/7), Gelfand (4/7), Illescas (4/7), Karpov (4/8), Korchnoi (3/7), Anand (2.5/7), Svidler (2.5/7), Polgar (2/7).

Baboor, Poulami emerge champs

GANDHIDHAM, April 16 (PTI) — Top seeds Chetan Baboor of IOC and Poulami Ghatak of Bengal continued with their winning ways by claiming the men's and women's singles titles in the Rs 1.33 Lakh India top 12 prize money Table Tennis Tournament here yesterday.

Baboor, who won the India Cup title at Mumbai last week, had to use all his skills and resources to down second seed S Raman, also of IOC. Raman played a superb game and won big points but the more experienced Baboor emerged a 21-10, 13-21, 21-19, 20-22, 21-19 winner.

The match was a real cliffhanger as the southpaw Raman forced Baboor on the defensive but the top seed somehow managed to wriggle out of the situation.

In the women's final, top seed Ghatak defeated second seed N R Indu of IOC 21-17, 21-13, 15-21, 21-13.

Poulami who won the women's title at Mumbai, played a fast attacking game but found Indu a hard nut to crack as her rival played very defensively.

With this win, Baboor became richer by Rs 40,000 while Poulami got the winner's purse of Rs 25,000. Indu had to be content with a cheque of Rs 12,500 while Raman got a cheque of Rs 20,000.

Baboor took an early lead in the first game which he easily won at 21-10.

But Raman came back strongly forcing Baboor to commit errors and levelled the score with a 21-13 win. In the third game, Raman maintained steady lead till 15-10, but Baboor equalised and went on to win at 21-10.

The fourth was a grim battle for supremacy as nothing seemed to be going right for Baboor. He conceded lead twice and even managed to level scores at 19-all and 20-all. But luck favoured Raman who won the game at 22-20.

The fifth game looked going Baboor's way, but midway through the game Raman raised hope of causing an upset and was leading 19-17.

Baboor then showed his class as he levelled scores and went on to win the match at 21-19.

Earlier in the semi-finals, Baboor beat Deepak Thukral of Dena Bank 21-13, 19-21, 21-13, 21-13 while Raman beat Arup Basak of Hindustan Petroleum 21-18, 13-21, 21-18, 21-9.

In the women's section, Ghatak defeated fifth seed M S Mythili of BPCL 14-21, 21-14, 26-24, 21-18, while Indu beat Mouma Das of Bengal in straight sets. 21-18, 21-15, 21-14.

Results (semi-finals)

Men: Chetan Baboor (IOC) b D Thukral (DB) 21-13, 19-21, 21-13, 21-13; S Raman (IOC) b Arup Basak (HP) 21-18, 13-21, 21-18, 21-9.

Women: Poulami Ghatak (WB) b M S Ththili (BPCL) 14-21, 21-14, 26-24, 21-18: Indu (IOC) b Mouma Das (Bng) 21-18, 21-15, 21-14.

PFA in dock for fielding BSF
From Ravi Dhaliwal

PATIALA, April 16 — Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) despite having qualified for the National Football League (NFL) second division, now suddenly find themselves out in the cold either due to a faux pass by the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) or due to a communication gap between the AIFF and its affiliate body, the Punjab Football Association (PFA).

This development has irked to PSEB authorities as the management spends lakhs of rupees every year on the upkeep of its football squad.

Going by rules framed by the AIFF, every state is required to conduct a state super league to be played among the top teams of the state and the winners of this tournament automatically qualify for the NFL (second division). The last edition of the Punjab State Super League, played among five teams on a round robin league format, saw PSEB winning the title. Both PSEB and Punjab Police garnered eight points from as many outings but PSEB were declared winners by virtue of better goal difference. PSEB scored 10 goals conceding four, while Punjab Police scored four goals and conceded one. While PSEB were declared winners, Punjab Police took the second spot. BSF, JCT Phagwara and RCF, Kapurthala, were placed third, fourth and fifth respectively.

Strangely, in gross violation of norms, the PFA recommended the name of BSF instead of PSEB to the AIFF for participation in the ongoing NFL (second division).

On the basis of this recommendation the AIFF drew up the NFL calendar in which BSF have been placed in group 'C' along with teams winning their respective state super league tournaments.

How BSF's name was recommended instead of PSEB remains a mystery. When contacted at Phagwara, Mr G.S. Virk, honorary secretary of the PFA, apparently washed his hands off the controversial affair by saying that it was the prerogative of the AIFF to decide as to which team should participate in the ongoing NFL. However in the invitation letter sent to PSEB, the same which has been signed by Mr G.S. Virk, it has been clearly mentioned that the top team of the super league (in this case PSEB) will be recommended for NFL second division. Interestingly the son of Mr G.S. Virk plays for BSF.

Now that the AIFF has introduced the promotion and relegation concept, the PSEB coach, Mr D.S. Goga, who incidentally is also the joint secretary of the PFA, said his team was in top form and with a good showing in the ongoing NFL, it could have easily stood a chance of being promoted from the second division to the NFL first division.

Meanwhile, the Director (Sports) of PSEB, Mr Vir Devinder Singh, in a strongly-worded letter to the president of the AIFF, Mr Priya Ranjan Dassmunshi, has lodged a strong protest and has also questioned on what basis BSF have been fielded in the NFL and why has PSEB been left out, thereby flouting the norms set by AIFF itself.

Another argument being advanced by Mr G.S. Virk was that the AIFF might have recommended the name of BSF because of its good performance in the domestic circuit this year. However, going by the past track record it is clear that PSEB football squad has been giving consistently good performances. In the last edition of the Federation Cup PSEB managed to reach the quarterfinal stage where they went down fighting to Calcutta giants Mohamedan Sporting in the tie-breaker. By virtue of that performance PSEB have directly been seeded in the last eight for the next Federation Cup.

Parnita clinches golf cup
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 16 — Playing steady golf in spite of the hot winds blowing, Parnita Garewal went on to clinch the Spice Challenge Bowl on the concluding day of the Chandigarh Ladies Open Amateur Golf Championship here today. She returned a card of 76, sharing the best of the day with Ayesha Kapoor (76).

Parnita's score on the opening two days was 74 and 73, respectively.

Her nearest rival was Shruti Khanna of Delhi who finished six strokes behind at 229. Parnita also clinched the best gross in the junior golfers below 21, with Irina Brar finishing 13 strokes behind.

Binny Bath emerged the winner of the Bawa Gill Trophy (19 to 29 handicap) with a gross score of 285. And just four strokes behind was Sheena Sekhon.

The final scores.

Spice Challenge Bowl (0-18) best gross: Parnita Garewal 223, Shruti Khanna 229.

Chandigarh Ladies Challenge (0-18) best nett: Mayali Talwar 220, Irina Brar 224.

Grewal Salver (0-24) best nett: Guneet Raikhy 219, Ayesha Kapoor 222.

Bawa Gill Trophy (19-29) best gross: Binny Bath 285, Sheena Sekhon 289.

Rani Jagdish Kaur Cup (19-29) best nett. Deepu Dhanoa 224, Veenu Sandhu 227.

Meters and Instruments Trophy (30-36).

Best gross Darshi Narang 330.

Best nett P. Dhillon 231.

Ladies Governor's Cup for senior golfers.

Best gross: Gurbinder Johl 280.

Best nett: Darshi Narang 222.

Junior golfers below 21.

Best gross Parnita Garewal 223.

Best nett: Guneet Raikhy 219.

Subjuniors (below 14).

Best gross: Mayali Talwar 265.

Best nett: Shruti Reddy 239.

With Parnita showing her undisputed class, the other city golfers Irina, Guneet and Mayali also kept up a good show despite the hot weather and if all goes well they could well find a spot in the junior and subjunior teams for the Asia-Pacific Golf Tournament.

CRPF hockey
From Our Sports Reporter

JALANDHAR, April 16 — Defending champions Rapid Action Force, last year's losing finalists Bihar Sector, along with North West Zone, Eastern Sector, Central Sector, Southern Sector, Western Sector, Manipur and Nagaland Sector, made it to the quarterfinals of the IXth Inter-Sector CRPF Hockey Tournament being organised by Group Centre, CRPF Saraikhas, here today.

On the fifth day of the tournament today, Bihar Sector did not impress much. The match was a lacklustre affair with the score sheet remaining blank in regular time.

In the last league match of the tournament, Southern Sector proved their superiority with a 6-2 victory over Manipur and Nagaland Sector.

In the first quarter, Southern Sector's domination was complete. They took the lead in the very first minute through center forward T. Kujur who scored an excellent field goal. Right-back Tirlok Ram converted a penalty corner in the 21st minute to make it 2-0. The winners were leading 2-0 till the lemon break.

On resumption, Manipur and Nagaland tried to score but Southern Sector's confidence and teamwork did not allow them to reduce the margin. The other scorers were H. Kandolna and Lokum Singh. The losers succeeded in reducing the margin through T.K. Lakra (38th min) and Romikanta.

Umpires for Ranji Trophy final

MUMBAI, April 16 (PTI) — Mumbai’s S.K. Sharma and Bengal’s Francis Gomes will be the two umpires for the Ranji Trophy final between holders Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh to be held in Bangalore from April 19 to 23.

Dr Rambabu Gupta, president of the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association, will be the match referee for the national championship’s title-clash, the cricket board announced here yesterday.

B'ball trials

JALANDHAR, April 16 (FOSR) — Trials to select the Jalandhar district basketball team, both boys and girls will be held at the Hansraj Stadium on April 19 at 5 p.m., according to Mr Parjinder Singh Nijjar, secretary-general, Jalandhar District Basketball Association.

Players born on or after January 1, 1981, will be eligible. The selected boys and girls will attend the coaching camp at Jalandhar prior to their participation in the Junior State Basketball Championship scheduled to be held at Pathankot from April 27 to 29.

Volleyball results

CHANDIGARH, April 16 (BOSR) — Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, and DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, scored easy wins over their respective rivals, 3 BRD Air Force School and Guru Nanak Khalsa School, Sector 30, in the Khalsa Tercentenary Volleyball Tournament being held at Shri Guru Gobind Singh Senior Secondary School, Sector 35, here today.

Results: Shivalik Public School, Sector 41 b 3 BRD Air Force School, 25-1, 25-5, 25-7: SGGS-35 b BRD Air Force School, 25-13, 25-16, 25-18: DAV Senior Secondary School Sector 8 b GN Khalsa School, Sector 30, 25-8, 25-11, 25-15: SPS-41 b SGGS-35, 25-15, 25-11, 25-17: GN Khalsa School-35 b 3 BRD School, 25-19, 25-7, 25-11.

SAI centre trials

CHANDIGARH, April 16 ( BOSR) — Trials for the Sports Authority of India training centre, Dharamsala (HP) in the disciplines of athletics, hockey, volleyball and weightlifting and open only for Himachal domiciled girls will be held at the SAI TC, Dharamsala, on April 28 and 29, according to a press note of the SAI, northern centre, Chandigarh.

The selected players will be provided free board and lodging and other facilities as per rules of SAI. Girls having positions in the above games at various levels and in the age group of 14-19 can participate in the trials.