East Bengal start favourites NEW DELHI, Dec 3 — Fourteen times Durand Cup champions East Bengal start as hot favourites against Salgaocar Club, Goa, in the Durand Cup football final here tomorrow.

Lack of exposure blamed for defeat
NEW DELHI, Dec 3 — Indian football team manager Syed Nasar Ali yesterday said his team had put up a creditable performance in the Asia Cup qualifier in Abu Dhabi considering their lack of exposure.

Easy outing for 61st Cavalry
PATIALA, Dec 3 — Noted Delhi industrialist Naveen Jindal’s team Jindal Steel and Power walloped ASC Artillery 7-3.5 while 61st Cavalry had an easy outing against Riviera beating them 6-2.5 in the PSB Tercentenary Polo Tournament played at the Civil Aviation Club here today.

Golfer Jeev moves up to sixth spot
BANGKOK, Dec 3 — India’s ace professional Jeev Milkha Singh carded four under par 68 to move up to 6th place and join first round joint leader and compatriot Gaurav Ghei at this slot on the third day of the $ 200,000 Mittweida Thailand Golf Tournament here today.

McEnroe, Connors record wins
LONDON, Dec 3 — John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors won their second matches of the ATP’s Senior Honda Challenge at the Royal Albert Hall to set up a fascinating head-to-head today.

South fight back
AGARTALA, Dec 3 — After a rather indifferent bowling performance which allowed North Zone to pile up an imposing total, South Zone batsmen staged a fightback to reach a respectable 207 for four in their first innings on the third day of their Duleep Trophy quarterfinal match here today.

India ‘A’ win by 48 runs
ABU DHABI, Dec 3 — Abbas Ali played a fine innings of 49 while Sachin Nair bowled a match-winning spell of three for 50 as India beat arch rivals Pakistan by 48 runs to bring the curtain down on the inaugural Abu Dhabi International Cricket Tournament here last night.

FIFA rankings: India at 114th spot
MUMBAI, Dec 3 — India remain at the 114 position in world ranking and on the 18th spot in Asia in the year ending ratings announced by FIFA.

Easy win for Chandigarh
KOZHIKODE, Dec 3 — All top seeded teams in the fray set out their title hunt with characteristic alan by registering convincing wins in the 61st Sub-Junior Table Tennis National Championships which began here yesterday.

• Former billiards champ honoured
• Chandigarh to host ITF meet
• Wrestling meet results

China hold Japan; Kazakhstan win

NEW DELHI, Dec 3 (PTI) — In a lively clash of the minnows, Kazakhstan defeated Malaysia 4-2 to climb to the third position behind India and South Korea, even as China and Japan played out a dour goal less draw in the fourth Asia Cup Women’s Hockey Tournament here today.

The Kazakhs, coming here after weathering severe financial problems back home, displayed grit and determination in beating Malaysia in their second league match.

The central Asian women, who finished sixth at the Bangkok Asiad last year, went on the offensive right from the word go and took the lead in very second minute via a penalty stroke.

Malaysia equalised through Saliza Soobni’s excellent field effort in the 27th minute, but the Kazakhs came back blazing to go ahead again just before the breather.

The later half was a sorry story of missed chances and lack of coordination between Malaysian forwards and backs which the Kazakhs cashed in to make the final scoreline 4-2.

Ironically, an expected high-voltage match between China and Japan turned out to be otherwise. China, a better team considering their past performance, failed to live up to expectations as the Japanese stuck to the task of foiling all the rivals’ moves.

China, the last edition’s runner-up, gave a mediocre display with their forwards failing to jell well as they did against Korea yesterday.

Considering their 1-4 loss to Korea, Japan’s display today was a shock for the Chinese who had expected the tie to be an easy fixture.

China earned a penalty corner in the second minute but Yang Huiping shot wide of the post. The Chinese women exerted more pressure earning another short corner but this time Shen Lihong shot the ball to the right of Japanese goal-keeper Nami Miyazaki which was easily cleared by the defenders.

Japan captain Iwao Sachimi, the shortest member of the tournament, worked really hard upfront and raided the Chinese territory many a time but her efforts came unstuck as rival goalkeeper Ding Hongping, who frustrated Korea yesterday, was at her athletic best.

Kaori Chiba made a good attempt in the 21st minute from the right flank. She passed on to her captain Sachimi who directed the ball to Yali Yu in the scoring area, but the Chinese were alert and the two teams went into half time 0-0.

On changing ends, Yali Yu again messed a scoring chance after receiving a long pass as she tried to turn instead of attempting a reverse flick.

As the minutes wore on, the Chinese women resorted to bodyplay in hope of earning free hits but the tactics failed to impress the referee.

Japanese forwards Sakae Morimoto and Chiba were always alert and matched the Chinese move for move.

Earlier, Kazakh captain Tatyana Marchenko struck a brace as her team registered their superiority over Malaysia. After drawing first blood, Marchenko fired another just before the interval to give Kazakhstan a 2-1 lead.

The following is the table at the end of the third day today (read under: matches played, won, drawn, lost, points, goals for, goals against, goal difference):

Ramesh props up India

SYDNEY, Dec 3 (PTI) — With just an innings left to impress with their credentials, the chosen openers for the tour S Ramesh and Devang Gandhi got their act together to help India reach 110 for two in the second innings on the second day of the four-day game against New South Wales at SCG here today.

The openers showed a difference in skill and approach and had wiped out the first innings deficit of 46 runs after India had struck back to bundle out the hosts for 231 by tea here.

Gandhi was out with eight overs remaining for the day, bowled off pads by Brett Lee for 28 (143 minutes, 95 balls, 4 x 4) after putting on 89 runs for the first wicket. Lee claimed the second wicket in the same over when he had VVS Laxman shouldering arms to an incoming delivery and getting bowled for zero.

Earlier, leg spinner Anil Kumble returned to his wicket-taking form as the Indians restricted NSW to 231 and a lead of just 46 runs after finishing with 185 in their first essay on Thursday.

Ramesh was unbeaten on 70 at the draw of stumps and Hrishikesh Kanitkar, another southpaw, was giving him company on nine. The Indians are now 61 runs in front.

There was a marked difference in the positive movements of the openers, playing either forward or back and all came easy to them, including dangerous Brett Lee and big-spinning Stuart MacGill.

Ramesh was the more enterprising of the two, twice pulling Shane Lee for fours on the onside and executing some exquisite drives on the front foot off Macgill.

Brett Lee bowled far quicker this afternoon than he had on the first day but he could not catch the Indian openers on the wrong foot.

Only towards the close did his luck change and he brought the match on an even keel for his team.

Ramesh though took the wind out of Brett Lee before stumps, first steering and then firmly ondriving him for fours which also raised the hundred of the innings, made off 38.1 overs and in 161 minutes of batting.

The Tamil Nadu left-hander reached his half century with a finely executed pull off Greg Mail. He had batted for 135 minutes during which he faced 107 balls and hit nine fours on the way to his half century.

Though Gandhi was not his usual self, in his flamboyance also he was no less solid and could have had far more runs than his eventual 28, had he played with soft hands as most of his shots went straight to the fielders.

Earlier, Kumble discovered some form in time for the first Test by claiming four batsmen for 50 runs in NSW’s first innings. One of his victims was the top scorer Brad Haddin, the number seven wicketkeeper batsman of the side, who smashed 60 off just 62 balls with 10 fours and one six.

He did spoil Kumble’s figures but the leg-spinner had his man in the end. Coming round the wicket, Kumble pitched a full length delivery and Haddin’s attempt to hook it on the outside only resulted in disarryaying of the stumps.

Though Kumble’s wickets conveyed a return to form, his four wickets came off the lower half of the order.

Scoreboard

India (first innings):185

NSW (first innings): G. Mail c Ramesh b Ganguly 31,G.Hayne c Kumble b Agarkar 0, C. Richards c Ganguly b V. Prasad 51, M.Bevan c Bharadwaj b Srinath 2, S.Lee c Srinath b V. Prasad 39, M. Clarke b Kumble 18, B. Haddinb Kumble 60, G. Robertson c Laxman b Kumble 0, B. Lee c Laxman b Ganguly 0, S. MacGill not out 6, D.Nash lbw b Kumble 0.

Extras (b-9 lb-10 nb-5) 24

Total (61.4 overs) 231

Fall of wickets: 1-0 2-72 3-75 4-134 5-135 6-182 7-182 8-195 9-231

Bowling: Srinath 16-5-62-1, Agarkar 11-2-30-1, Kumble 16.4-3-50-4, V. Prasad 12-2-44-2, Ganguly 6-0-26-2 (nb-5).

India (second innings):

D.Gandhi b Lee 28 S. Ramesh not out 70, V.Laxman b Lee 0, H.Kanitkar not out 9

Extras (lb-2 nb-1) 3

Total (for two wickets, 42 overs 110

Fall of wickets: 1-89 2-89

Bowling: Lee 11-2-22-2 (nb-1), Nash 6-2-16-0, Lee 9-3-27-0, Robertson 5-3-5-0, MacGill 9-1-28-0, Mail 2-0-10-0.

Muhammad Ali Sportsman of Century

NEW YORK, Dec 3 (AP) — Muhammad Ali was honoured as the Sportsman of the Century during Sports Illustrated’s 20th Century Sports Awards at New York’s Madison Square Garden Arena last night.

“This is a great feeling,” said the three-time heavyweight champion, who playfully sparred with presenter Billy Crystal after taking the stage.

Babe Ruth was honoured by the magazine’s editors as the best baseball player, Michael Jordan was selected the top basketball player, Jim Brown the best football player, and Wayne Gretzky the best hockey player.

“It’s great to be back in Madison Square Garden,” said Gretzky, who retired after the playing last season in the arena with the New York Rangers. “I wish I had my skates.”

In other awards, Carl Lewis was selected the best Olympian, Jack Nicklaus the top male individual athlete and Babe Didrickson Zaharias the top female individual athlete.

The magazine also honoured seven athletes who had a special impact on their sports — golfer Arnold Palmer, soccer player Pele, driver Richard Petty, baseball player Jackie Robinson, basketball player Bill Russell, figure skater Peggy Fleming and tennis player Billie Jean King.

East Bengal start favourites

NEW DELHI, Dec 3 (UNI) — Fourteen times Durand Cup champions East Bengal start as hot favourites against Salgaocar Club, Goa, in the Durand Cup football final here tomorrow.

While East Bengal would make this 22nd appearance in the tournament final, Salgaocar will register their first-ever entry.

The Calcutta outfit dominated in all league matches, displaying superior stamina and skills. In their first match East Bengal trounced Border Security Force, Jalandhar, by two goals exhibiting superb skills. In the second encounter against JCT, Phagwara, the club were made to sweat it out before they could emerge victorious by three goals against the agile millmen.

East Bengal players seemed to be in good shape in comparison to their counterparts in Mohun Bagan team who were outplayed by Salgaocar Club yesterday in a match marked by mediocre performances.

Bengal forwards Kennedy, Dipankar Rai and Raman Vijayan’s exhibited well coordinated and harmonious movements on the field. Dipankar especially showed his prowess in snatching the ball from the rival players and making penetrating forays in the opposition defence.

Among others Tushar Rakshit proved to be East Bengal’s game maker who besides scoring goals created numerous scoring opportunities for Vijayan, Dipankar and Kennedy. Medio Carlton Chapman was often seen chalking out good moves to attack rival citadels.

However, weak defence is what seems to be worrying East Bengal coach Subhash Bhowmick. Interacting with newspersons,he stressed the need to strengthen the defence. Pointing out that key players of the team were abroad, he did not rule out the possibility of their joining the team on return for the finals.

Bhowmick exuded confidence that his side would play to a game plan and win the final. He however refused to comment on the possibility of any change in the team for the match.

Despite being hot favourites East Bengal cannot afford to lower their guard and write off Salgaocar as the goan team maintained an enviable record in the league matches. They trounced Gorkha Brigade 2-0 in their opening encounter whereas in the second match they outplayed fancied FC Kochin by a solitary goal to comfortably reach the semi-finals.

Salgaocar’s enviable line-up is expected to work wonders in the final. The team has perhaps the best forward lineup comprising Jules Alberto, Joao Santos and Denis Cabral. The trio exhibited great control over the ball which equally mesmerised the rival players as also the spectators. Their accurate and penetrating midfield passes often took the rivals off guard. In their last encounter with Mohun Bagan yesterday, Salgaocar forwards’ occasional forays rattled the Bagan defence. Their mid-fielders Gbengal Lawal, Dharamjit Singh and Franky Baretto did a commendable job by providing an effective back-up in the entire 90-minute session.

Leander cruises into final

LUCKNOW, Dec 3 (PTI) — Title favourite Leander Paes of India stormed into the final of the ATP Challenger tennis tournament with an impressive 6-3, 6-1 victory over Takahiro Terachi of Japan here today.

The sixth-seeded Indian Davis Cup star took just 54 minutes to brush aside the challenge of the Japanese at the Oudh Gymkhana courts to set up a summit clash with Briton Jamie Delgado, who shocked top seed Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand 6-3, 6-3.

It was Paes at his best on the grasscourt, his favourite surface, as he blasted a fiery first serve and sent down flashy forehand winners against an off colour Terachi.

Paes, the world’s best doubles player who has set his sights on regaining his top-100 position in singles next season, was in terrific form from the start and passed the Japanese player at the net on many occasions.

“I am getting my rhythm back,” a visibly pleased Paes said after the match.

Delgado took command of the match from the beginning and never allowed his Thai rival to play his natural game.

Srichapan, however, kept alive his hopes in the doubles as he, partnering Kriszian Pless of Denmark, reached the final. The second-seeded pair defeated the Slovakian duo of M. Heromec and Vladimir Platenik 6-4, 7-5 in the semifinals.

Lack of exposure blamed for defeat

NEW DELHI, Dec 3 (PTI) — Indian football team manager Syed Nasar Ali yesterday said his team had put up a creditable performance in the Asia Cup qualifier in Abu Dhabi considering their lack of exposure.

“But if only we had gone there with some exposure, we could have beaten the top teams,” Nasar Ali said of India’s third place finish in the Asia Cup qualifier.

India lost 1-3 to UAE in their first match after leading 1-0 at halftime, while against Uzbekitan they led 2-1 before losing 2-3.

The Indians beat Sri Lanka 3-1 in their third match before ending their campaign with a disappointing 2-2 draw against SAF Games champions Bangladesh.

“We could have done better. I think before going to such a big competition we should have played some exposure matches,” the manager said after the team returned here.

“Overall it was a wonderful performance by the team. Our game was much appreciated by the crowd and experts. It is not easy to score twice against team like Uzbekistan. It was only in the last five minutes they scored twice to win the match.

“We led till the 62nd minute against UAE. If the referee had not given a penalty in the injury time the score would have been closer than 1-3,” he said.

Nasar Ali said besides exposure, lack of stamina was another factor which proved decisive as the Indians got slow in the last minutes and conceded goals to lose the matches against UAE and Uzbekistan.

But more than lack of exposure, the matches proved India was not lagging far behind the Asian powerhouses and could match them with more experience, said forward Jules Alberto.

Alberto, who was back in action just after landing here early in the morning, gave ample example of his good form as he scored the second goal in Salgaocar’s 2-0 victory against Mohun Bagan in the Durand Cup semifinal.

“The only difference between us and them was our lack of experience. We don’t have experience of playing in high pressure matches,” Alberto said.

“The pressure is there throughout 90 minutes in such games. We don’t get such situations in India. Here in between attacks there are rest periods in which players can control their nerves, there we don’t get any such thing,” he said.

Because of this we lost concentration during the final stages of the matches and conceded goals, said the young Salgaocar forward, who had played for India in the SAFF Cup in Goa and SAF Games before the Asia Cup.

“We learned a lot from this tournament. I think overall the team did well, but we could have certainly done much more if we had played some practice matches before going to Abu Dhabi,” he said.

For Mohun Bagan forward Basudev Mondal, the tournament was a good experience. “The team played well and it was a good exposure for the youngsters,” he said.

About India’s failure to beat Bangladesh in the last match, the seasoned Mondal said that was part of the game.

“Also we were a little tired after playing high tension matches against Uzbekistan and UAE. But I think it was a good show altogether,” he added.

Easy outing for 61st Cavalry
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Dec 3 — Noted Delhi industrialist Naveen Jindal’s team Jindal Steel and Power walloped ASC Artillery 7-3.5 while 61st Cavalry had an easy outing against Riviera beating them 6-2.5 in the PSB Tercentenary Polo Tournament played at the Civil Aviation Club here today.

While Naveen Jindal’s team won by a huge margin, the industrialist himself had a narrow escape when trying to save a goal. He tried to clear the ball with a backhander, but lost balance and fell down on the bumpy terrain along with his horse. Incidentally, Jindal had flown all the way from New Delhi in his personal aeroplane even as his horse was ferried by road particularly for this tournament, which is shorn of grandeur normally associated with the game of polo.

For Naveen Jindal’s team, doing duty was one of India’s best player, Sameer Suhag, who enjoys a handicap of plus 6. It was in every chukker that Jindal’s team surged ahead with most of the hard work being done by Sameer Suhag, who slotted in two goals.

Simran Shergill playing with a much lower handicap than Sameer Suhag, scored four with Sidharth Singh chipping in with one goal. For ASC Artillery it was Shakti Singh who scored a brace.

In the second match of the day, played under a warm winter sun sans spectators, the 61st Cavalry, one of the better Army polo outfits of the country, did not have to sweat it out much as they went around their task in a workmanlike manner beating their rivals Riviera 6-2.5 goals. Despite the fact that Riviera team started with a half goal advantage, still they were unable to wither the Cavalry men’s onslaught.

Golfer Jeev moves up to sixth spot

BANGKOK, Dec 3 (UNI) — India’s ace professional Jeev Milkha Singh carded four under par 68 to move up to 6th place and join first round joint leader and compatriot Gaurav Ghei at this slot on the third day of the $ 200,000 Mittweida Thailand Golf Tournament here today.

Jeev, played a steady game and had a best score among the 5 Indians in the fray. With four under par 68 his total after three round was 207 (69,70,68) which enabled him to climb up 10 places from 16 to 6th on the leaderboard.

Ghei fired three under 69 and with a total of 207 (66,72,69) stayed put at the 56th place. Jeev and Ghei have four other golfers in their company on this position. Chandigarh’s Amandeep Johl had his third successive two under par 70 round to total 210 and slipped to 25th place from yesterday’s 17th position.

McEnroe, Connors record wins

LONDON, Dec 3 (AP) — John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors won their second matches of the ATP’s Senior Honda Challenge at the Royal Albert Hall to set up a fascinating head-to-head today.

McEnroe cruised past John Lloyd 6-3, 6-2, while Connors outlasted Bjorn Borg 6-3, 4-6 yesterday with a deciding 10-8 tiebreaker, which is used in seniors instead of a third set.

Although both have guaranteed places in tomorrow’s semifinals, that doesn’t mean there won’t be fireworks when two of their fieriest players in the game meet today.

Henri Leconte, neck and neck with McEnroe in the series’ points standings with this the last tournament, beat fellow Frenchman Yannick Noah 6-4, 6-4 to also gain the semifinal.

South fight back

AGARTALA, Dec 3 (PTI) — After a rather indifferent bowling performance which allowed North Zone to pile up an imposing total, South Zone batsmen staged a fightback to reach a respectable 207 for four in their first innings on the third day of their Duleep Trophy quarterfinal match here today.

Replying to North Zone’s mammoth first innings total of 589, South Zone recovered from early jolts thanks mainly to a fighting knock of 84 by J.R. Madan Gopal to keep themselves in reckoning for the vital first innings lead.

Madan Gopal and Tilak Naidu (55) played cautiously to pull the team out of the pits after openers A. Nanda Kishore (1) and Aashish Kapoor (0) perished in quick succession to leave South Zone tottering at two for two within the first three overs.

The fluent Madan Gopal mixed caution with aggression and took upon himself the task of rebuilding the innings after the early blows left them gasping.

S. Sarath (36), who has been on the selection fringe for some time now, and captain Robin Singh (26) prevented further damage as they hung around till close of play.

Earlier, resuming at 551 for six, North Zone could not press the advantage further, adding just 38 more runs before being all out for 589 before the lunch break.

SCOREBOARD

North Zone: Ashu Dani lbw b Mahesh 21, Vikram Rathore c and b Raju 12, Reetinder Sodhi lbw b Robin Singh 22, Pankaj Dharmani c Khan b Kapoor 59, Rajiv Nayar c Nanda Kishore b Joshi 118, Virender Sehwag st Siruguppi b Raju 274, Vijay Dahiya c Naidu b Kapoor 8, Nikhil Chopra c Nanda Kishore b Joshi 19, Shakti Singh c Robin Singh b Joshi 13, Navdip Singh not out 1, Ashish Nehra b Joshi 6, Extras (B-17, LB-06, NB-13) 36.

Total 589 for all out in 197.4 overs.

Bowling: Manzoor Ali Khan 17-5-38-0, S. Mahesh 26-3-101-1, Venkatapathy Raju 50-14-129-2, Robin Singh 21-4-62-1, Sunil Joshi 39.4-9-113-4, Ashish Kapoor 43-9-116-2, Sridharan Sarath 1-0-7-0.

South Zone:

Nanda Kishore lbw Nehera 1, Ashish Kapoor c Dahiya b Nehera 0, Tilak Naidu c Dharmani b Sodhi 55, J.R. Madangopal b Chopra 84, Sridharan Sarath not out 36, Robin Singh not out 26. Extras (nb-5) 05.

Total: 207 for four in 71 overs.

Bowling:

Ashish Nehera 17-5-56-2, Shakti Singh 9-1-22-0, Reetinder Sodhi 15-0-2-1, Nikhil Chopra 18-6-58-1, Navdeep Singh 12-2-29-0.

India ‘A’ win by 48 runs

ABU DHABI, Dec 3 (UNI) — Abbas Ali played a fine innings of 49 while Sachin Nair bowled a match-winning spell of three for 50 as India beat arch rivals Pakistan by 48 runs to bring the curtain down on the inaugural Abu Dhabi International Cricket Tournament here last night.

Though an inconsequential tie with Sri Lanka having already won the three-nation championship, the India-Pakistan match had all the ingredients of a thriller.

The Indians, who had lost by a massive margin to the Lankans in the tournament opener,did well to recover from 49 for three to make 217 for eight in 50 overs. Helped by some accurate bowling,the Indians then restricted Pakistan to 169 for nine.

Pakistan failed to build a good partnership. A sedate 49 by Yasser Hamid and a typical one-day knock of 39 by Shahid Afridi were the only bright features of the Pakistani innings.

Besides Nair, Gyanendra Pandey bowled well for India, claiming two wickets for 20 runs.

At one stage, Pakistan, who lost to Sri Lanka on Wednesday night, looked like cruising along with their score reading 134 for four. They, however, lost five quick wickets to finish at the bottom in the tournament.

Electing to bat first after winning the toss, India began cautiously and put on 48 runs for the opening wicket. Thereafter, it was Abbas Ali, the grandson of famous former Indian cricketer Mushtaq Ali, who dominated the show with a fine 49. He put on 97 runs for the fourth wicket with Sanjay Bangar (47). Both batsmen were run out just before completing their half centuries.

Pandey made 22 before he was also run out while Rohan Gavaskar could score just ten runs.

Vinod Kambli failed yet again as he was bowled by J. Sami without opening his account.

For Pakistan, Arshad Khan bowled well again and took two wickets for 33 runs.

Abbas Ali was declared the man of the match while Eric Upashantha of Sri Lanka, who claimed seven wickets for his team in their match against Pakistan, was adjudged the man of the tournament.

India “A”:

Haldipur b Arafat 20

Williams st Latif b Arshad 19

Abbas Ali run out 49

Kambli c Javid b Arafat 0

Bangar run out 47

Gavaskar st Latif b Arshad 10

Pandey run out 22

Zaheer Khan c Arafat b Zaffar 19

Mongia not out 0

Extras 31

Total (for 8 wkts, 50 overs) 217

Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-48, 3-49, 4-146, 5-172, 6-173, 7-217, 8-217.

Bowling: Sajid 10-0-47-0, Zaffar Naseer 10-0-38-1, Arafat 10-1-49-2, Afridi 10-0-33-0, Arshad 10-2-33-2

FIFA rankings: India at 114th spot

MUMBAI, Dec 3 (UNI) — India remain at the 114 position in world ranking and on the 18th spot in Asia in the year ending ratings announced by FIFA.

It shows a drop of four world rankings (110) compared to last year. Even the Asian ranking may change following India’s two defeats in last week’s Asia Cup qualifiers in Abu Dhabi.

None of the Asian teams, including joint World Cup hosts Korea and Japan, figure in the top 30 world ranking which is still led by Brazil with World Cup champions France on the third spot after the Czech Republic.

Former billiards champ honoured

MUMBAI, Dec 3 (UNI) — Former world amateur billiards champion Michael Ferreira was yesterday honoured with his signature on the Wall of Fame. The Wall of Fame was recently conceived at the silly point sports bistro here in North Mumbai with the idea of recognising India’s most outstanding sports personalities just as in Hollywood the footprints of legendary film personalities are preserved. Ferreira won the world title first in 1977 after taking the game in 1954 and retained it next year.

Wrestling meet results
From Our Sports Reporter

JALANDHAR, Dec 3 — International wrestler Parminder Singh Dumchheri of PAP defeated Kulwant Singh of Rauni in 2 min 17 sec by fall in the plus 85 kg category in the opening front for the Bharat Mal Samrat title in the 14th All-India Hola Mohalla Wrestling Championship which commenced here at the local Raizada Hans Raj Stadium today.

Earlier Dr G.S. Aujla, Inspector-General of Punjab Police, inaugurated the three-day championship in which 266 wrestlers of national and international fame are taking part.

The results: 40 kg: Bal Kumar: Jograj (Gurdaspur) beat Jaswinder Singh (Nawanshahr) by fall, Kuldip Singh (Pathankot) beat Gujral Singh (Sursingh) on points. Narpreet (Faridkot) beat Gurjeet Singh (Amritsar) by fall, Deva Nand (Amritsar) beat Raman Kumar (Amritsar) by fall; Harkamaljeet Singh (Amritsar) beat Harinder (Ropar) on points; Puneet Saini (Amritsar) beat Gurbax Singh (Phagwara) by fall; Mohan Singh (Phagwara) beat Omesh Kumar (Kapurthala) by fall; Vikas Bhahat (Amritsar) beat Balkar Singh (Ropar) by fall; Sukhdeep Singh (Nawanshahr) beat Dharmender (Ludhiana) by fall; Ravi Kumar (Amritsar) beat Varinder Singh (Ropar) by fall; Surat Singh (Jalandhar) beat Deepak (Amritsar) by fall; Gujeet Singh (Faridkot) beat Kuljeet Singh (Nawanshahr) on points; Sonu Singh (Jalandhar) beat Sunny (Amritsar) by fall; Mandeep Singh (Faridkot) beat Harjit Singh, (Hoshiarpur) by fall; Gurdip Singh (Faridkot) beat Ranvir Singh (Gurdaspur) by fall.

45 kg Bal Kesari: Roshan Lal (Gurdaspur) beat Makhan Singh (Amritsar) on points; Ajay Kumar (Pathankot) beat Shiv Ranakrishna (Amritsar) on points; Rakesh (Gurdaspur) beat Pritpal Singh (Ludhiana) by fall; Santhokh Singh (Jalandhar) beat Harpreet (Gurdaspur) on points.

85 kg Bharat Mal Samrat: Praminder Singh (PAP) beat Kulwant Singh (Rauni) by fall; Harinder Singh (PAP) (Amritsar) beat Sonu Patel (MP) on points.

55 kg Shane Punjab: Kulwant Rai (Gurdaspur) beat Ashwani (Amritsar) byfall; Kulwinder Singh (Phagwara) beat Uttam Kumar (Amritsar) by fall; Harvinder Singh (Amritsar) beat Rinku Kumar (Amritsar) by fall; Amit Sharma (Hoshiarpur) beat Sonu Kumar (Amritsar) by fall; Vardhan Bhagat (Amritsar) beat Sukhwinder Singh (Amritsar) by fall; Rajinder Singh (PAP) beat Mohamad Ilias (Sangrur) by fall.

65 kg Sitare Punjab: Gurvinder Singh (PAP) beat Gurmail Singh (Amritsar) on points , Tilak Raj (Phagwara) beat Sodhi Singh (Raipur Dabba) by fall; Bhupinder Thakur (PAP) beat Partap Singh (Amritsar) by fall; Amandeep Singh (Jalandhar) beat Kanwaljit Singh by fall.

75 kg Punjab Kumar: Jang Bahadur (PAP) beat Sukhwant (Amritsar) by fall; Kanwaljit Singh (Gurdaspur) beat Narinder (Phagwara) on points, Amandeep (Jalandhar) beat Khajan Singh (Sursingh) by fall.

Chandigarh to host ITF meet
By Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, Dec 3 —Chandigarh will host of the $ 10,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women’s Tennis Tournament from December 27 to 31 at the CLTA courts, Sector 10. It is for the first time that Chandigarh will be organising a women’s tennis meet of this magnitude, according to Mr Rajan Kashyap, President of the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association, the host for this meet.

Earlier, the CLTA had conducted ITF Futures and ITF Juniors meet last year. The Chandigarh meet will be the third leg of the ITF tournament. The other two legs would be played at Delhi and Lucknow.

The total draw will be of 32 players with 20 coming for the main draw , plus eight from the qualifying rounds. Four players would be given wild card entries, said Mr Kashyap.

The total budget had been earmarked at around Rs 8 lakh with the title sponsors and other sponsors yet to be decided. But Mr Kashyap hoped that the sponsors would be finalised soon.

In this five day event, the world ranked women players from 267 onwards would be participating and there was possibility of at least 20 women from abroad taking part in this tournament.

The Indian women players who have been put in the main draw include Manisha Malhotra, Sai Jayalakshmi, Archana, Arthi Venkataraman and Sheethal Goutam. The local girls , Harsimran Bedi and Simmi Rani would also vie for getting into the main draw along with other players like RadhikaTulpule, Geeta Manohar, Nikita, Tarminder, Shalini and others. The tournament will be played on six clay courts at the CLTA while by the end of this month the centre court at CLTA would also be converted into Plexi Cushion courts.

Mr Dushan Deo would be the ITF observer for this meet. Mr Kashyap also disclosed that on January 31 next year, the ITF Juniors Tournament for both boys and girls would also be played in Chandigarh. This time the tournament had been upgraded to Grade IV.

Mr Kashyap said that now Chandigarh had become a force to reckon with in Indian tennis as most of the national champions in different age groups were from here. Sunil Kumar was the national hardcourt champion, Akshay Vishal Rao the under-18 champion, Amanjot Singh in under-16 and Chhatwinder Singh in under- 14 , were all products of CLTA.

He also disclosed that the selection procedure of rural area scheme for hunting talent would be broadened to Haryana, HP and J&K . Till now the scheme was confined to Punjab only. Sunil Kumar was the real success of this scheme and knowing this many states had themselves evinced keen interest in sending their young players for this scheme, he added.

Easy win for Chandigarh

KOZHIKODE, Dec 3 (PTI) — All top seeded teams in the fray set out their title hunt with characteristic alan by registering convincing wins in the 61st Sub-Junior Table Tennis National Championships which began here yesterday.

In the boy’s section, Chandigarh, Gujrat and Pondicherry scored easy wins over their rivals even as 10 other states cruised into the second round of the tournament.

The other teams include Assam, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

In the girl’s section, Assam, Maharashtra, Kerala, Delhi and Karnataka asserted their top form by defeating their rivals in comfortable fashion, trouncing them in straight games.

PAU victorious

AMRITSAR, Dec 3 (FOSR) — In the preliminary encounter, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, defeated Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, 65-24 while MDU, Rohtak, in a one-sided affair outplayed Bundhelkhand University, Jhansi, 61-4 in the inter-varsity North Zone Basketball (men) Championship at the Guru Nanak Dev University complex here today.

In the second match of the day HP Shimla whipped Dr B.R. Ambedkar University, Agra, 55-21.

Earlier, Delhi University beat Kurukshetra University 71-67 while PAU, Ludhiana, outclassed Awadh University, Faizabad, 48-17 and HN Bahuguna University, Garhwal, beat CSMU, Kanpur, 54-27.

Patiala FCI win

PATIALA, Dec 3 (FOSR) — FCI, Patiala district, downed FCI, Gurdaspur district, by 61 runs in the Inter-district FCI Cricket Tournament here today.

Scores: FCI, Patiala district: 179 for 9 in 30 overs (Om Prakash 61, Vishal 3 for 27).

FCI, Gurdaspur district: 118 all out in 20.1 overs (Ashwani junior 29, Gulshan 4 for 25).

Ludhiana Police in last 4

YAMUNANAGAR, Dec 3 (FOSR) — Ludhiana Police and PAP, Jalandhar, entered the semifinals of the 33rd All-India bilt Football Tournament here today. In the first match Ludhiana Police defeated Rabbani Kamptee, Nagpur, 5-4 via tie-breaker.

The players of both the teams played very well and till the end none scored. The extra time of 15 minutes was given yet no team could succeed. The match was ultimately decided via tie-breaker.

In the second match PAP, Jalandhar, defeated Danmose, Varanasi, 1-0. Both the teams were evenly poised and no goal was scored till half time. In the 87th minute of the game Kamaljit scored a straight goal and gave victory to his team.

Amritsar DAVC win

AMRITSAR, Dec 3 (FOSR) — A fine batting display by Hari Dev (82) helped local DAV College beat DAV College, Jalandhar by five wickets in the Guru Nanak Dev Inter-college Cricket Tournament here today.

The Jalandhar college were all out for 209.

For DAV College, Amritsar, Amit Sharma took five wickets for 22. The winners scored 210 runs for five wickets.

Overall title for BAM Khalsa College

CHANDIGARH, Dec 3 (BOSR) — BAM Khalsa College, Garhshakar, won the overall championship with 24 points in the Panjab University Inter College Powerlifting (Men) Championship which concluded here today at the PU campus.

GGN Khalsa College, Ludhiana, with 14 points and Arya College, Ludhiana, with 11 points were placed second and third, respectively.

The gold medal winners in the various categories were: Manjit Singh of Arya College, Ludhiana in 52 kg; Gurpreet Singh of GGN Khalsa College, Ludhiana, in 56 kg, Baljit Singh of Khalsa College, Garshankar, in 60 kg, Sukhdev Singh of Khalsa College, Garhshankar in 67.5 kg; Hardeep Singh of DAV Chandigarh in 75 kg, Kamalpreet Singh of GGN Khalsa College, Ludhiana, in 82.5 kg and Dharminder of Khalsa College, Garhshankar, in the 90 kg section.