Career-best 274 by Virendra Sehwag
AGARTALA, Dec 2 — Promising all-rounder Virendra Sehwag struck a career-best 274 to guide North Zone to a commanding 551 for six in their first innings on the second day of their Duleep Trophy quarter-final match against South Zone here today.

Battered Pak team returns home
ISLAMABAD, Dec 2 — Wasim Akram’s Pakistan cricket team faced a nation of disappointed fans today after returning home from a battering in the Test series in Australia.

• Akram to continue as skipper

Indian batsmen disappoint
SYDNEY, Dec 2 — The Indians’ elusive search for the right batting formula continued on the opening day of their second tour match as they were bundled out for 185 by New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground here today.

Jadeja “does not need” surgery
MUMBAI, Dec 2 — Ajay Jadeja is expected to become match-fit in time to be considered for selection for the tri-series in Australia as his injured shoulder does not need surgery, according to cricket board secretary Jaywant Lele.

India ‘A’ 211 for 7
GEORGETOWN (Guyana), Dec 2 — The West Indian ‘A’ team lost their last two wickets for the addition of just 11 runs as the visiting Indian ‘A’ team bowled them out for 238 less than an hour into play.

India for 4-nation hockey meet
NEW DELHI, Dec 2 — India will open the new millennium’s men hockey calendar when they play the four-nation tournament at Barcelona, Spain from January 6 to 8.

BCCI panel meeting on Dec 19
MUMBAI, Dec 2 — The meeting of the cricket board’s working committee, which is to ratify the recently chalked out itinerary for South Africa’s forthcoming tour of India, has been put off by a day and would be held at Chennai on December 19.

Royal game sans royalty
PATIALA, Dec 2 — The royal game of polo returned to the city after a gap of 60 years today the royalty kept out, so did the people.

Punjab b’ball meet from Dec 4
CHANDIGARH, Dec 2 — Arrangements have been completed for the smooth conduct of the Punjab State Golden Jubilee Basketball Championship, both for men and women, to be held at the floodlit basketball stadium at Government Senior Secondary School, Dhanaula, in Sangrur district, from December 4 to 7, Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal, secretary, Punjab Basketball Association, announced here today.

Ludhiana cops in last eight Greene’s challenge

Salgaocar storm into final

NEW DELHI, Dec 2 (PTI) — National League champions Salgaocar Club, Goa, struck once in each half in a fine display of percentage football to beat Calcutta’s Mohun Bagan 2-0 and reach the Durand Cup final here today.

In their maiden appearance in the final, the Goa league runners-up will take on another Calcutta outfit, East Bengal, on Saturday at the Ambedkar Stadium here. East Bengal, who have won the title 14 times in 22 appearances in the final, defeated JCT Phagwara 3-1 in the first semi-final yesterday.

Salgaocar’s Brazilian striker Joao Dos Santos scored a beautiful goal as early as the fifth minute and international Jules Alberto clinched the issue in the 54th as the Goan team, who won the Rovers Cup in Mumbai last month, looked set to win their second title in a month.

Santos, in his fifth match on Indian soil, scored off a beautiful solo run in the fifth minute. After showing his marker a clean pair of heels, the speedy Brazilian, on a pass from Roque Pereira, dodged past two defenders and chipped in past a hapless Hemanta Dora to give Salgaocar an early lead.

And when Jules, who landed here early in the morning after playing in Asia Cup qualifiers at Abu Dhabi, scored off a mistake by Dora, the match was as good as over for Bagan.

Bagan, who came into the tourney fresh from their title triumph in the IFA Shield last Friday, held the upper hand in patches but lack of direction on the part of their forwards and some good work by Salgaocar defence saw them failing to score on a number of occasions.

“It was a good a victory as they (Bagan) also played well. The team has been playing well since start of the season and deserved to be in the final,” Salgaocar coach Shabbir Ali said after the match.

He said though he got Jules Alberto and Roberto Fernandez early in the morning, he sent in both of them as it was the semifinal. The coach was also all praise for both Alberto and Fernandez and said they performed well despite jetlag.

“I substituted Jules Alberto as I wanted to save him for the final. We have limited options and it was very nice to get them back into the side,” said a pleased Salgaocar coach.

However, it was Bagan which got off to a good start and earned a corner in the third minute itself but could not score.

But Santos turned the match on its head two minutes later. The 25-year-old’s beautiful goal was the third in only his fifth match for the Goa outfit and the manner in which he finished the job delighted him.

After scoring the goal he ran screaming to the bench, gesturing to coach Ali and other team members there.

“I was dedicating the goal to my daughter who is in Brazil and praying to God,” Santos said after the match.

Stung by the reverse, Bagan launched a series of swift attacks and came close on four occasions but wayward shooting by their forwards and clean defending saved Salgaocar.

Nigerian Stephen Abrowei, who joined Bagan two weeks ago, was thwarted by Franky Baretto while Abdul Khalique could manage only a weak shot in the 2nd minute. Two minutes later Salgaocar goalkeeper Juje Siddi kicked out a good attempt by Stephen.

Salgaocar could have increased the margin in the 32nd minute. A swift exchange of passes between Nigerian Gbenga Lawal and Santos off a quick counterattack had Lawal in the clear but the Mohun Bagan defence held intact.

India whip Kazakhstan

NEW DELHI, Dec 2 (PTI) — The Indian eves took off from where they left yesterday as tactical moves upfront saw them thrash debutants Kazakhstan 9-0 and climb to the top of the table after favourites South Korea were held to a draw by China in the 4th Asia Cup Women’s Hockey Tournament here today.

Forwards Pritam Rani Siwach, Suraj Lata and Jyoti Kullu jelled well as they raided Kazakh post often with captain Sita Gussain providing excellent back up as India made strong contention for the title at the National Stadium.

India tested the Kazakhs early on before taking 2-0 lead by the halftime and then returned with a fire on changing ends to bang seven goals and humiliate the opposition.

Pritam Rani, Suraj Lata, Sita Gussain and centre forward Manjinder Kaur all struck a brace each, while Jyoti Kullu had one though she deserved more against her name.

India gave no chance to the Kazakhs to enter their half as the hosts defenders were up to the mark throughout.

Kazakh forwards Gulnara Imangalieva, Olga Shelomanova and Ainura Mutallyapova did try to raid Indian territory but their moves were foiled by ever-active World XI player Gussain.

Defending champions Korea, in a replay of 1993 Hiroshima Asia Cup final, were given stiff resistance by agile the Chinese as the play confined mainly to the middle early on.

Taken by surprise, Korea played first 12 minutes without any success before a strong move earned them a penalty corner in the 13th. Striker Kim Soo-Jung struck the first one for Korea putting the ball in on second rebound.

Asian Games gold medallist Korea were frustrated by the rival defenders and their chief spoiler was Chinese goalkeeper Nei Yali who saved more than dozen chances in either half.

With the game looking to settle in favour of Korea, China sprung a surprise while into the last 10 minutes of play.

Following a penalty corner, striker Yang Huiping blasted the ball in to make it 1-1 in the 62nd minute. Korea tried their best to gain lead for the second time but the Chinese thwarted any such manoeuvres as both teams collected one point each from the match.

Title aspirants India had a good workout against their central Asian rivals in another high-scoring encounter, after their 8-0 whitewash of Malaysia yesterday, with the forwards keeping the Kazakh defence busy all the time.

Former captain Pritam Rani opened the account for India in the 14th minute on a third rebound following a penalty corner. Pritam Rani and Kullu staged impressive raids on the rival territory that earned India their first penalty corner.

Jyoti Kullu’s clean hit was obstructed by ‘keeper Nadezhda Sumkina and Kullu tried again on the rebound before Pritam Rani pushed the ball into the post.

Gussain, who yesterday stuck to the defence line, came upfront and fed some nice passes to the forwards who did not fail their captain and earned penalty corners though their conversion rate was a miserable 33 per cent.

Suraj Lata got her due for excellent work upfront when in the 22nd minute she banged the ball in from left corner after Manjinder had failed to hit it clean off a short corner shot.

India led 2-0 at the breather, but much more action was to come in the next half.

Paes in semis

LUCKNOW, Dec 2 (PTI) — Title favourite Leander Paes of India defeated Japan’s Satoshi Iwabuchi 6-4 6-4 to march into the semifinals while Uzbek Oleg Ogorodov was upset by Takahiro Terachi in a three-set thriller at the ATP Challenger Tennis Tournament here today.

Playing from the baseline, an unusual style for a serve and volleyer on grass, Paes never let his grip over the match slip as the Japanese fell apart in the quarterfinal encounter.

Despite breaking Paes in the sixth game of the second set to raise some hopes of a comeback, Iwabuchi faltered on crucial points and failed to sustain the momentum.

Paes now meets another Japanese, Takahiro Terachi, who caused a major upset by downing Uzbekistan’s Ogorodov 6-3 4-6 6-1 in one hour and 30 minutes. In the doubles action, Slovakian pair of M. Hromec and Vladimir Platenik scored an easy win against British-Italian pair of Luke Milligan and Mose Navarra 6-4 6-2 to make it to the semifinals.

The pair of Kristian Pless (Denmark) and Srichaphan also moved into the last four defeating Barry Cowan of Britain and Toumas Ketola (Finland) 4-6 6-3 7-6. Delgado kept alive his hopes in the doubles tournament also when he paired with compatriot Martin Lee to defeat the Czech-Uzbek duo of T. Anzari and Oleg Ogorodov 6-7 6-4 6-3.

Tyson’s fight in Jan

HAMBURG, Dec 2 (DPA) — Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson’s next fight will likely take place in Wales on January 15, 2000, after a leading German promoter has announced that a German venue would not be ready by that date.

“I had the approval from the USA, but the run-up to January 15 was too short. You need a lot of time to prepare for such a top event,’’ Hamburg promoter Klaus-Peter Kohl, who had hoped to have Tyson fight at Germany’s Cologne arena said yesterday.

The fight will now likely take place at Cardiff’s millennium stadium in Wales.

Tyson’s opponent has yet to be announced though the Universum Box-promotion boss Kohl said it will definitely not be one of the up and coming Ukrainian heavyweight Klichko brothers — Vitali and Vladimir.

Kohl said he is going to try to have a fight between Tyson and Vitali, the WBO heavyweight champion, ready for next summer.

This will be Tyson’s third fight outside the USA after two bouts in Tokyo. On March 21, 1998, Tyson defended his WBA, WBC and the IBF titles by knocking out Tony Tubbs in the second round.

Career-best 274 by Virendra Sehwag

AGARTALA, Dec 2 (PTI) — Promising all-rounder Virendra Sehwag struck a career-best 274 to guide North Zone to a commanding 551 for six in their first innings on the second day of their Duleep Trophy quarter-final match against South Zone here today.

Resuming at 229 for four, Sehwag seemed to be in a devastating form as he slammed one boundary after another during a record 381-run fifth wicket partnership with the sedate Rajiv Nayyar (115 batting) to put the team in the driver’s seat at the Maharaja Bir Bikran Singh stadium.

The cautious Nayyar acted as the foil to the hard-hitting Sehwag, who went on the rampage on a good batting track with none of the South Zone bowlers able to check the run flow.

The duo eclipsed the previous record for the fifth wicket stand of 235 set by M.L. Jaisimha and V. Subramamanium during a South Zone vs West Zone Duleep Trophy match in Mumbai in 1966-67.

Sehwag, who was unbeaten on 66 overnight, went for his strokes straightaway, taking full advantage of a rather sloppy bowling performance from the South Zone bowlers, who conceded as many as 322 runs during the day.

Playing a wide range of strokes on both sides of the wicket, the Delhi all-rounder blasted as many as 36 boundaries and four sixes during his 416-minute tenure at the crease.

Scoreboard

North Zone

Ashu Dani lbw b S. Mahesh 21, Vikram Rathore c and b V. Raju 12, Reetinder Sodhi lbw b Robin Singh 22, Pankaj Dharmani c Ali Khan b Kapoor 59, Virender Sehwag st Siruguppi b Raju 274, Vijay Dahiya c Nanda Kishore b Kapoor 8, Rajiv Nayar not out 115, Nikhil Chopra not out 4. Extras: (b-17, lb-6, nb-13) 36.

Total: 551 for six in 184 overs.

Fall of wickets: 37/1, 43/2, 90/3, 149/4, 530/5, 543/6.

Bowling:

S. Mahesh 24-3-98-1, Venkatapathy Raji 45-14-104-2, Robin Singh 21-4-62-1, Manzoor Ali Khan 17-5-38-0, Sunil Joshi 33-5-103-0, Ashish Kapoor 43-9-116-2, Sridharan Sarath 1-0-7-0.

Battered Pak team returns home

ISLAMABAD, Dec 2 (AFP) — Wasim Akram’s Pakistan cricket team faced a nation of disappointed fans today after returning home from a battering in the Test series in Australia.

The team looked tired as they stepped off their plane at Lahore last night, after a five-hour delayed flight. Officials and a handful of fans were there to greet them.

“I will give no pretext over the defeat but we lost to a better team, a super fit and more professional side,” team manager Yawar Saeed said.

Pakistan lost all three Tests in Brisbane, Hobart and Perth as well as two one-day fixtures and a first class game against Western Australia. Their only win of the tour came in the four-day game against South Australia at Adelaide.

The clean sweep left home fans disgruntled as the trip had been billed as the “revenge series” after Steve Waugh’s Australia downed Pakistan to lift the greatest prize in the game — the World Cup held in England in June.

“The basic difference between the two teams was bowling. The Australians exploited our weaknesses and the conditions while our bowlers erred in line and length,” Saeed said.

The much-vaunted Pakistan bowling attack performed miserably in the series with express bowler Shoaib Akhtar taking six wickets at 67.67 runs per wicket and Wasim Akram five at 55.00.

In comparison, Australian spearheads Damien Fleming grabbed 18 at 22.00 and Glen McGrath 14 at 28.00.

Indian batsmen disappoint

SYDNEY, Dec 2 (PTI) — The Indians’ elusive search for the right batting formula continued on the opening day of their second tour match as they were bundled out for 185 by New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground here today.

Batting first on a good track, the unfocussed Indians lasted just 73 overs but had taken a wicket as the hosts ended the day on 35 for one.

Without the inspirational Sachin Tendulkar, rested ahead of the first Test against Australia starting on December 10, none of the Indian batsmen seemed to apply themselves.

Stand-in skipper Saurav Ganguly was the top-scorer with 38, VVS Laxman making 37, and the highest partnership for the seventh wicket between Vijay Bhardwaj (16) and Ajit Agarkar (28) — yielded just 31 runs.

The Indians kept going on to the back foot on a wicket where they should have stepped out and as many as four of them were out leg before.

The best knock of the innings came from number three Laxman, who cut and drove the attack with superb poise in a 62-ball knock (5 x 4) which ended with a brilliant catch at gully by Gavin Robertson off part-time Greg Mail, bowling his first over in first-class cricket.

The NSW, who finished at the bottom of the domestic competition last season, enjoyed the best day of the year as young pace sensation Brett Lee claimed three for 56, Don Nash and Stuart MacGill claiming two wickets each.

Resuming after lunch on 70 for three, the Indians seemed to be recovering as Rahul Dravid and Ganguly played themselves in.

But both paid the price for playing loosely. Dravid (21) was a trifle unlucky to be adjudged leg before after missing a straight delivery from MacGill when the ball seemed to have pitched outside the leg stump, while Ganguly, who stuck five fours in a classy 71-ball knock, miscued a hook to be caught by Brad Haddin off Nash.

In between, left-hander Hrishikesh Kanitkar was all at sea trying to pull MacGill and departed without scoring.

Scoreboard

India (Ist innings): Gandhi lbw b B Lee 15, Ramesh lbw b Nash 2, Laxman c Robertson b Mail 37, Dravid lbw b MacGill 21, Ganguly c Haddin b Nash 38, Kanitkar c Hayne b MacGill 0, Bharadwaj b B Lee 16, Agarkar b B Lee 28, Kumble not out 13, Srinath run out 0, Prasad run out 4.

Extras (b-5, 1b-1, nb-5) 11,

Total (all out in 73.1 overs) 185,

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-22, 3-66, 4-88, 5-107, 6-126, 7-157, 8-168, 9-169

Bowling: Brett Lee 22-6-56-3, Don Nash 13-4-35-2, Shane Lee 18-6-35-0 Gavin Robertson 1-1-0-0 Greg Mail 2-1-6-1, Stuart MacGill 17. 1-5-47-2.

New South Wales (Ist innings)

G Mail batting 8,

G Hayne c Kumble b Agarkar 0,

C Richards batting 23

Extra (lb-4) 4

Total (For 1 wkt, 14 overs) 35

Fall of wicket: 1-0

Bowling: Srinath 6-2-18-0, Agarkar 3-2-2-1, Kumble 3-1-6-0, Prasad 2-0-5-0.

Jadeja “does not need” surgery

MUMBAI, Dec 2 (PTI) — Ajay Jadeja is expected to become match-fit in time to be considered for selection for the tri-series in Australia as his injured shoulder does not need surgery, according to cricket board secretary Jaywant Lele.

Lele told PTI from Baroda that Jadeja, now in South Africa undergoing treatment for his rotator cuff problem, had conveyed to his mother in Delhi he would be fit in a month’s time after consulting Dr Mark Fergusson in Johannesburg, who decided that no operation was needed.

“I contacted Jadeja’s mother and she told me that he was scheduled to return to India tomorrow. He was not contacted me yet,” Lele said.

The national selectors are slated to meet in the first week of January to decide on the changes to be made in the composition of the 15-strong squad now in Australia for the first part, the three-Test series, of the tour.

Cricket star Navjot Sidhu calls it a day
By Abhijit Chatterjee
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, Dec 2 — Punjab opener Navjot Sidhu probably had a few more years of first class cricket left in him. But the motivating force throughout his playing days has been to represent the country in international cricket. And now that he has been given broad hints by the powers that be in the Board of Control for Cricket in India that he would never get a chance to represent the country again, Navjot today announced that he was retiring from cricket, be it international, domestic or “masala” matches. By deciding to opt out of the Punjab Ranji Trophy squad (and he had played a few matches this year also) he said he was making way for some youngster who had a future to look up to.

Navjot was candid enough to say that when he started playing the game his eyes were only set on international cricket. “I did not play cricket to represent Punjab”, was his remark when asked to spell out the immediate provocation for announcing his retirement from international cricket.

For a cricketer who made his international debut way back in 1983, Navjot does not have the airs of a “super star”. Instead, he sounded very down to earth as he said that “my limitations outnumbered my virtues”. And it is for the national selectors to say why in a span of over 16 years of international cricket, Navjot could play in only 51 Test matches in which he scored a total of 3202 runs at a very decent average of 42.13. He had nine centuries to his credit and his highest knock of 201 came at Port of Spain, home of the West Indies and their battery of fast bowlers, in the 1997 series. He also had 15 half-centuries against his name, not bad for a cricketer who in his early days of international cricket was often called the “strokeless wonder”.

But even more impressive was his record in one-day cricket. From a “strokeless wonder” he became a “palm tree hitter”. Making his debut in India’s first match of the 1987 Reliance Cup, Navjot scored 73 against eventual winners Australia at Chennai (then still known as Madras) in India’s first match and it was largely his efforts which took the hosts to the semi-finals of the tournament before they stumbled to England at Bombay (now Mumbai).

But Navjot still fondly remembers his knock of 134 (his highest in one-day international) scored against England at Gwalior in 1993, an effort which helped India to wrap up the series. It was in this knock that he shared a 70 run stand with tailender Anil Kumble, which was largely instrumental in taking the home team to a win. Navjot still talks of that effort with a gleam in his eyes. In all he scored a 4415 runs in 136 one-dayers, with a average of 37.10. He had six centuries and 33 half-centuries, not bad for someone who at one time of his cricketing career was dismissed as a plodder.

Navjot freely admits that it was largely due to the influence of his father, the late Kulwant Singh Sidhu, that he could make a mark in international cricket. One remembers when in October, 1983, then only 20, when Navjot scored a dogged century against the West Indies while playing for North Zone at Amritsar the happiest man was Kulwant Singh. And it was this century which pitchforked him into international cricket.

Although his Test debut against the West Indies at Ahmedabad was not at all spectacular—he had scores of 15 and four — he gave enough glimpses of his class. That he went on to make a mark in this level of the game was largely due to hard work and dedication. Hours of practice helped him to iron out his deficiencies and the help given by the Patiala Cricket Association can never be undermined.

A product of Gymkhana Club, Patiala, a ground which Navjot rates as the best in the world, the former India opener, now 36 years old, was extremely thankful to the Punjab Cricket Association and the Board of Control for Cricket in India for all the opportunities he got to play for the country.

The one controversy which Navjot leaves behind was his abrupt departure from England in 1996 while touring with the Indian team. And even today he refused to say anything on the issue , saying he would let bygones be bygones. And even today he had a kind word for the then India captain Mohammad Azharuddin, saying he respected him both as a cricketer and as an elder brother. “His record speaks volumes of his class,” was all he would say about Azharuddin.

If there was one weakness in his cricket it was his fielding although towards the later stages of his career he did try to improve his fielding at the bidding of his son, Karan, as he put it. Also, the Punjab opener was very injury prone and it is probably due to this that he missed a number of matches. And when he had scores of one and 13 against New Zealand in the Hamilton Test early this year one could read the writing on the wall.

India ‘A’ 211 for 7

GEORGETOWN (Guyana), Dec 2 (AP) — The West Indian ‘A’ team lost their last two wickets for the addition of just 11 runs as the visiting Indian ‘A’ team bowled them out for 238 less than an hour into play.

It was the opening session of the second day of their second and final four-day ‘Test’ match in the Indians’ Caribbean tour at Bourda Cricket Ground yesterday.

Wicketkeeper Wayne Phillip made just four runs before he was dismissed by left arm leg-spinner Rahul Sanghvi off a catch by Murali Karthik. West Indian speedster D. Mais also did not last long, run out after a mixup with Phillip.

The Indian openers were off a flying start, smashing 50 without loss. However, captain Gagan Khoda was forced to retire hurt on 18 after being struck in the groin area by West Indian pacer Goldwy Prince. The score was 41 for no loss.

Prince has troubled all the Indian batsmen, generating good pace from a placid Bourda track ideal for batting.

The Indian half-century came off 9.4 overs in just 53 minutes.

But the visitors, solidly placed at lunch at 63 without loss, faltered in the afternoon and limped to 211 for the loss of seven wickets.

Forget’s warning

NICE, Dec 2 (AFP) — French captain Guy Forget has warned Australia to be prepared for a barrage from his team — and a sellout 10,000 crowd — when the Davis Cup final starts here tomorrow.

Forget said his players and the spectators would aim to make life as uncomfortable as possible on the slow red clay for an Australian team that is aiming to end a 13-year Davis Cup drought in the event’s centenary season.

“We are really pumped up,” Forget said. “Everyone is highly motivated and the crowd will be behind us. It will be like war on the court.”

Australia will aim for its 27th Davis Cup title — a record bettered only by the USA.

Akram to continue as skipper

KARACHI, Dec 2 (ANI) — The Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) ad hoc committee has strongly dispelled the impression that there were any plans to remove Wasim Akram as captain after the disappointing tour of Australia.

Zafar Altaf said it had become a custom in Pakistan cricket to remove captains after every bad series. “I want to change this tradition. We need to have a semblance of continuity in our decisions regarding the captaincy, or else no one can ever settle down as captain.”

Altaf admitted that the team had not come upto expectations and performed below par which was disappointing for everyone.

India for 4-nation hockey meet

NEW DELHI, Dec 2 (UNI) — India will open the new millennium’s men hockey calendar when they play the four-nation tournament at Barcelona, Spain from January 6 to 8.

European champions Germany, Pan-American winners Canada and the hosts Spain are the other teams in the fray in the tournament being held to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Real Federacion Espanola de Hockey (Spanish Hockey Federation).

India, Germany and Canada have already booked their tickets for the Sydney Olympics by virtue of winning the continental titles.

Spain, who were the runners up at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and also at the last World Cup at Utrecht, will play at the Olympic qualifier in Osaka, Japan, next March. They had finished fifth in the European championship at Padova, Italy, in September.

The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) will hold a short conditioning camp at Jammu later this month before the teams departure on January 3.

This tournament is viewed as the first major prelude to the build-up for the Sydney Olympics as contrasting styles of play will be seen.

Two-time Olympic champions Germany under coach Paul Lissek will exhibit their patent cold, clinical and calibrated style, while Spain fall back on their robust defence and tenacious tackling, looking at a very electric counter attack.

Canada, a vastly improved squad under the training of Shiaz Virjee has a blend of aggression and the ability to fall back in defence, while India is steadily getting into the groove with the forward line finding its rhythm. They will, however, have a herculean task in warding off the penalty corners against them, as well as their own conversions.

Fixtures :

January 6: Spain v Germany

India v Canada

January 7: India v Germany

Spain v Canada

January 8: Germany v Canada

India v Spain.

BCCI panel meeting on Dec 19

MUMBAI, Dec 2 (PTI) — The meeting of the cricket board’s working committee, which is to ratify the recently chalked out itinerary for South Africa’s forthcoming tour of India, has been put off by a day and would be held at Chennai on December 19.

Confirming the postponement, board secretary Jaywant Lele told PTI today from Baroda that it was the first of the four working committee meetings scheduled till the next AGM of the national cricket body.

The itinerary for the South African tour, featuring two Tests and five limited overs matches between the hosts and the visitors, was decided by the board’s programmes and fixtures committee at Delhi on November 27.

The tour programme, which has since been sent to the United Cricket Board of South Africa for its approval, awaits ratification by the all-important working committee.

The Proteas are scheduled to visit India in February-March, 2000.

Another matter which is likely to come up for discussion at the meeting is the creation of a “media officer’s post, which has been suggested — among others — by former India skipper-turned — TV commentator Sunil Gavaskar.

Royal game sans royalty
From Jangveer Singh
Tribune News Service

PATIALA, Dec 2 — The royal game of polo returned to the city after a gap of 60 years today the royalty kept out, so did the people.

The tournament — The Punjab and Sind Bank Tercentenary Polo — was inaugurated by the Punjab Polo Association president, Mr Balwinder Singh Bhunder. Though the organisers had earlier stated that the Maharaja of Jaipur, Brig Bhawani Singh had given his consent to inaugurate the tournament and that ‘Maharaja’ of Jodhpur, Gaj Singh, may also come, but both stayed away.

Even the scion of the Patiala royal house, Capt Amarinder Singh, who was apparently miffed at the manner in which he had been invited to the tournament at the last minute without being taken into confidence earlier, did not come. Neither did any other member of his family come on the opening day.

There were more horses in the huge ground at the aviation club here than people. Only officers of the district administration who had been actively involved in the hosting of the game and office-bearers of the polo association besides a handful of guests came to watch the first tie held in the afternoon. The organisers also could not manage to ferry people to the aviation club which is a little away from the city through special buses which they had said they had requisitioned for the purpose.

The ground also troubled the players. Though the polo association has put in a lot of effort to ready the ground for the match after cutting ‘sarkanda’, ploughing it and then levelling it, its soft nature is not ideal for the game. The soft earth came away easily as the horses galloped all over it. At some places near the goalmouth it was difficult to tackle the ball due to the poor ground conditions. Major Manoj Diwan, the star player of the 61 st Cavalry, was seen complaining about it several times. He also requested the organisers to level the ground after the completion of the first match between 61st Cavalry and the combined civilian team which, however, could not be done.

However, the sheer excitement of the game was a joy to watch. It was a colourful spectacle with horses all decked up with stockened feet and tied tails. The sight of a rider going for the goal mouth pursued by his opponents was one to be savoured for a long time. The few photographers present on the occasion had a field day.

The first game saw Major Diwan of the 61st Cavalry calling the shots against a combined civilian team. He scored three goals in the 5-1 whitewash of the civilian team. Among the other scorers were Sangram Singh of Cavalry and Aman Suhag of the civilian team. The competitive match could not be played as few teams, including the President’s Bodyguard could not reach Patiala till now.

Among the star players who will be seen in action during the next three days are Sameer Suhag who has a handicap of six which is the highest among Indian players and Col K.S. Garcha. The competitive stage of the tournament will start from tomorrow with few teams arriving today.

Punjab b’ball meet from Dec 4
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 2 — Arrangements have been completed for the smooth conduct of the Punjab State Golden Jubilee Basketball Championship, both for men and women, to be held at the floodlit basketball stadium at Government Senior Secondary School, Dhanaula, in Sangrur district, from December 4 to 7, Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal, secretary, Punjab Basketball Association, announced here today.

More than 40 matches are expected to be played during the four-day championship which will feature some of the top basketball stars of the country, including Gursharanjit Singh, Vipin Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Pritpal Singh, Parminder (senior), Parminder (junior), Gagnesh Kumar, Tejinder Virk and others.

Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal further said that the Punjab team for the 50th Golden Jubilee National Basketball Championship to be held at Delhi will also be selected during the state championship.

An organising committee under the chairmanship of Mr Ishwar Singh, SSP, Barnala, with former international athlete Ajaib Singh, and V. Neeraja, SP (Headquarters), Barnala, has been set up. All arrangements are being given final touches. Mr Anirudh Tewari, Deputy Commissioner of Sangrur, will formally inaugurate the championship on December 4 at 2.30 p.m. Mr R.S. Gill, president, Punjab Basketball Association, will preside over the concluding function and give away the prizes on December 7.

Ludhiana cops in last eight
From Our Correspondent

YAMUNANAGAR, Dec 2 — Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Danmese Varanasi and Ludhiana Police qualified for the quarterfinal of the 33rd All-India Ballarpur Football Tournament here today.

In the first match, Denmese Varanasi defeated Union Club, Yamunanagar 2-0. In the 55th minute Jatan Singh Bisht scored a goal and in the 78th minute Vikalap Chaturvedi scored a brilliant goal.

In the second match J&K Bank defeated DFA, Ambala 3-1. For J&K Bank, Irshad Ahmed scored in the first half but DFA, Ambala qualified in the 54th minute.

In the 65th and 77th minutes Deepak of Jammu and Kashmir scored two goals in a row to enable their team to qualify for the quarterfinals.

In the third match Ludhiana Police defeated Mecon Club, Ranchi by 2-1. The first goal was scored by Sohan in the 28th minute and the second goal was scored in the 37th minute of the second half. For Mecon, the goal was scored by Imitiaz Alam in the 23rd minute.

Greene’s challenge

RALEIGH, North Carolina, Dec 2 (Reuters) — World 100-meter record holder Maurice Greene has laid down the challenge for a pre-Olympic 200-meter race against Michael Johnson, the double-world record holder he hopes to beat at next year’s Sydney Games. “Let’s do it. Let’s show everybody what they want to see,” Greene said yesterday in a teleconference from Los Angeles when asked if he would like to race Johnson ahead of next year’s Olympic trials.

Inter-varsity cycling

PATIALA, Dec 2 (FOSR) — The Punjabi University athletic meet for both men and women will be held at the Punjabi University campus here from December 4 to 6, according to Ms Manjit Bhagwat, Director (Sports). Meanwhile the university will also be host to the All-India Inter-Cycling Championships at the university velodrome here from December 8 to 12.

KU meet results

KURUKSHETRA, Dec 2 (FOC) — On the opening day of the 37th annual athletic meet of Kurukshetra University, Virender Singh of Dayanand Post Graduate College, Hisar created a new record in 800 metres.

In this three-day meet, 200 athletes from about 40 affiliated colleges are taking part.

The results of the first day of the meet are:

Long jump (women) — 1, Saroj Saini (MLN College, Yamunanagar), 2 Surjit Kaur (MLN College, Yamunanagar) and 3 Meenu Yadav (G.N. Khalsa College, Yamunanagar), 800 mt (women) Reena Devi (Dayanand Mahila Mahavidyalya, Kurukshetra 1, Meenu Yadav (G.N. Khalsa College, Yamunanagar) 2 and Suman (Dyal Singh College, Karnal 3. Shot put (men): Naresh Kumar (Dayanand PG College, Hisar) 1, Sukesh Kumar (GC, Karnal) 2, Ram Avtar (GN Khalsa, Yamunanagar) 3. 800 m (men): Virender Singh (Dayanad PG College, Hisar) 1, Vinod Kumar (CRM Jat College, Hisar) 2, Sudhir Kumar (KU) 3.

Eves’ cricket

CHANDIGARH, Dec 2 (BOSR) — The North Zone Inter-State Junior Women’s Cricket Tournament will begin tomorrow at Panchkula. This was stated by Ms B. Chatterjee, secretary of the Haryana Women’s Cricket Association. In this four-day tournament, teams from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir will take part. The tournament is being organised by HWCA.

The winners of this tournament will qualify for the National Women’s Cricket Championship to be held at Hazaribagh in the last week of this month.

Punjab cycling meet results

PATIALA, Dec 2 (FOC) — Tejinderjit Singh of PSEB won the 1000 m sprint and also the 1000m time trial to be declared the best cyclist of the Punjab Cycling Championship which concluded at the Punjabi University velodrome here yesterday.

The other results are: (All final)

1000 m sprint (men): Tejinderjit - 1, Pavittar Singh - 2, Sudeep Singh -3. 4000 m - Individual pursuit (men): Gurpreet Singh - 1, Sukhjit Singh - 2, Nirmaljit Singh - 3. 1500 m team time trial (men): Patiala-1, PAU, Ludhiana-2, Ludhiana-3. 1000 m time trial (women): Suneli Chugh-1, Rasan Billing-2, Navneet Kaur-3. 1000 m sprint (women): Rassan Billing-1, Suneet Sidhu-2, Kiranjot Kaur-3. 3000 m Individual pursuit (women): Ruminder Kaur-1, Ashpreet Kaur-2, Ikmeet Kaur-3. 3000 m team time trial (women): Patiala-1, Punjabi University-2. Ludhiana-3.

Veterans TT body

CHANDIGARH, Dec 2 (BOSR) — The Punjab State Veterans Table Tennis Association has been formed with Mr Nirmaljit Kalsi as its president and Mr Prem Choffla as secretary. The other office-bearers are: vice president — Mr Sardara Singh, joint secretary — Mr Pardeep Kumar, treasurer — Mr Jatinder Kishore, technical advisor — Mr Raj Dhanda. Members — Mr SS Bedi, Dr Ajay Sharma, Mr Sanjeev Sood, Mr Kulwant Bhullar and Mr Daulat Ram.

Meanwhile the association has decided to organise the Punjab State Veterans TT tournament at the Sector 23 TT hall from December 5 to 7 where the players above the age groups of 40 drawn from all over Punjab will take part.