Bagan begin campaign today
LUDHIANA, Dec 9 — Calcutta’s glamour outfit Mohun Bagan will launch their campaign for the title in the National Football League with the lung opener against underdogs Border Security Force, Jalandhar, at Guru Nanak Stadium here tomorrow.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee inaugurating the National Football league in New Delhi on Thursday — PTI photo

Cabral scripts win NEW DELHI, Dec 9 — Defending champions Salgaocar SC of Goa got off to a good start in the National Football League campaign, beating JCT, Phagwara, 1-0 in the inaugural match here today. Midfielder Denis Cabral’s 29th minute goal was enough to separate the winners of the first and third leagues in the draw and lacklusture lung-opener of the fourth edition of the NFL which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at the Ambedkar Stadium here.

Paes in semifinal
JAIPUR, Dec 9 — India’s ace Leander Paes though got past third seed Ketola Tuomas of Finland in three setter ding dong battle 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 and moved into the semifinals in the Bikaji Rajasthan Golden Jubilee ATP Tour Challenger Tennis Championship but failed to put the stamp of his authority at the Jai Club Courts here today.

CISF trio shoots gold PHILLAUR, Dec 9 — CISF and Infantry shooters bagged one gold each which were at stake on the fifth day of the 43 rd National Shooting Championship at the Ranjitgarh Rifle Club of the Punjab Police Academy here today. Surender fastest runner CHANDIGARH, Dec 9 — Surender of Hisar became the fastest runner at seventh Haryana State Rural Sports Championship in 100 meters race, clocking 11.6 sec at Narwana today. Anil’s hat-trick in RCF victory NABHA, Dec 9 — PSEB gave shock treatment to their rivals, Haryana Eleven drubbing them 7-0, while RCF, Kapurthala, subdued a fighting MEG, Bangalore, 3-1 on the fifth day of the 24th Liberal Hockey Tournament being played at the Ripudaman College grounds here today.

HARARE : The Sri Lanka wicket keeper congratulates bowler Muttiah Muralitharan for getting out Zimbabwe's Murray Goodwin, caught Arnold for 38 runs on the last day of the third test match at the Harare Sports Club on Wednesday. The match was drawn after Sri Lanka were 36 for 1 at the close of play in reply to Zimbabwe's 197 for 7 declared. Sri Lanka won the series 1-0. — AP/PTI

Rathore, Sodhi prop up North
GUWAHATI, Dec 9 — The North Zone wrested the early advantage against Central Zone piling up 302 for five in the semifinal of the Duleep Trophy at the Mailgaon Railway Stadium here today.

Amritinder shares third spot
SHENZEN (China), Dec 9 — Indian pro Amritinder Singh opened the first round of the $ 500,000 Omega PGA Golf Championship here today with a fine four under 68 to share the third place while Arjun Singh, a stroke behind, was joint seventh.

No complacency, says Waugh

ADELAIDE, Dec 9 (PTI) — The Australian cricket team is on a roll, but on the eve of the first Test against India, home skipper Steve Waugh today cautioned his players against underestimating the visitors.

How the Adelaide Oval wicket will behave remained a matter of conjecture, with even Waugh saying it was hard to comment on the strip and he wasn’t sure whether he would go into the match with three medium pacers and two spinners or with just one spinner. The Indian team’s composition also was undecided.

Having just given a 3-0 drubbing to Pakistanis, the Australians made little secret of their intention to sweep this series as well.

But, striking a note of caution, Steve Waugh said: “It won’t be easy. Everyone expects us to win but we should not become complacent”.

He conceded that though they had been concentrating on Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, it was not as if they were overlooking others in the Indian team.

“No way. It would be a mistake. Indeed, each and every Indian player’s style of play has been closely monitored,” the Aussie captain said.

He said “they have some quality players. The first Test is very crucial. The first session will set the tempo for the series. If we can dominate that, we will dominate the rest”.

“If (Australian) bowlers have their plans, I have my own,” replied a confident Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar at a crowded Test-eve press conference.

Tendulkar, however, conceded it was wrong to go into a game with pre-conceived notions. “I like to take things as they come.”

On the fact that India has won only five Test series abroad, he said: “It is time for us to turn a new leaf, start a new chapter and win matches abroad. It is also important we play well here”.

The Indian skipper said: “Whatever is required to win, we have in this team. It is a nice blend of seniors and juniors. It is a talented side and looking forward to the series”.

“Australia is a great side. They are very tough opponents. It could be a good learning curve for our boys to play good, tough cricket,” he said.

With a great deal expected from the Australians, Tendulkar said there would be more pressure on the home team than the visitors.

Tendulkar said he was expecting the Aussies to go after him and “there might be a fair bit of sledging in the middle as well. But we are talking about test cricket. If you play Test cricket, you should expect these sort of things”.

Coach Kapil Dev said his medium-pacers were feeling good because the ball was carrying to the wicket-keeper’s gloves with a thud.

Describing Anil Kumble as the team’s strike bowler who doesn’t give up easily, the coach said it was important the leg spinner bowled well.

A major headache for the Indians will be the wicket, which looks markedly different from the traditional Adelaide strip. It is green and fresh and the elements — cool, greyish and drizzly — are doing their bit to keep the Indians in a freeze.

Much before Shane Warne comes into the fray, the Indians will need to contend with Glenn McGrath, Damien Fleming and Michael Kasprowicz now that there are second thoughts on inclusion of Collin Miller as second spinner.

With its dodgy openers and a long tail, the Indian troika of brilliant batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly, will need to show a lot of stomach for fight.

Tendulkar says he doesn’t read newspapers. If he did he would realise that Michael Slater has hit six centuries in the past 18 months. With Greg Blewett, his 13 partnerships have brought in an average of 76 runs, which is better than Slater’s stands with Mark Taylor (51).

Justin Langer, with back-to-back tons against formidable Pakistan, is the man who has made number three his own. Ricky Ponting is fresh from his 197 at Perth. Steve Waugh wants to get that one hundred against India which would make him the only batsman in the world to score centuries against all Test-playing nations. And, nobody is forgetting Mark Waugh.

If this is not enough, wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist cannot be taken lightly either.

India will be hoping Kumble’s nagging line and the bounce in Australian wickets will give the Karnataka leggie better rewards than he has been earning abroad.

The news on wicket-keeper M.S.K. Prasad is he has improved tremendously and should be fit for the match tomorrow. But his replacement Nayan Mongia, who joined the team two days ago, will not be sent back, at least till the one-dayers, according to team manager Mahendra Bhargava.

By evening, India had left out Harbhajan Singh, Vijay Bharadwaj, Mongia, T. Kumaran and Hrishikesh Kanitkar. It now seems to be a toss up between Ajit Agarkar and Debashis Mohanty for the third seemer’s slot.

Venues favour Indians

ADELAIDE, Dec 9 (PTI) — Though Australia have the home advantage in their three-Test cricket series against India starting here tomorrow, the record at the venues of the matches favours the tourists.

“These wickets should suit you,” says former Australian opener Keith Stackpole.

In half a century of Test cricket between the two countries, Melbourne and Sydney have remained spin-friendly. All three of India’s wins have come at these two venues, and if one includes Adelaide, the best batting pitch in the country, India have scored 14 of their 18 centuries at these venues.

The best Indian score in this part of the world — Ravi Shastri’s 206 in 1991-92 — came at Sydney. More pertinently, every single Indian hundred in the past 20 years — nine in all — has come on these three tracks.

That is not all. Fourteen of India’s 18 300-plus totals in Australia have come at these three venues.

India’s six highest aggregates in an innings Down Under have also come at these venues, with 600 at Sydney in 1985-86 being the best.

These wickets, say the experts, suit the Indians’ style of play because the ball generally keeps low and the bounce is not such a big factor.

In Melbourne and Sydney, despite the turf being relaid, spinners have always managed a huge purchase. Of the 21 occasions on which Indian bowlers have managed five wickets or more in an innings, 15 have been at these venues.

Bouncy wickets have been as much a problem for the batsmen as the bowlers. Indian pacemen like bowling a line on low wickets different from bouncy tracks. Indeed, the record shows Indian pace bowlers rarely take advantage of lively wickets. In contrast, Indian seamers thrive on wickets with low bounce.

It is a point well served by Kapil Dev’s figures. In four representative tours as a player to this country, Kapil had a five-wicket haul on five occasions — each coming at either of these three venues.

Even part-time bowlers like Abid Ali and Rusi Surti have had five-wicket hauls on these tracks.

Sachin Tendulkar does not feel it should lull him into a sense of complacency. “It doesn’t matter where we play. We are here to play good cricket in the right spirit. It is the right attitude but a little help is always welcome”.

Indo-Aussie series: comparative analysis

The 15th India-Australia Test series will commence with the first Test starting at Adelaide from December 10 to 14. The other two Test matches of the three-Test series will be played at Malbourne (from December 26 to 30) and at Sydney (January 2 to 6).

Out of 54 Test matches played by the two sides since 1947-48, Australia have won 25 against 11 won by India. It will be the 7th Test series to be played by India on the Australian soil. Out of six series played there so far, India have not won any series, last four and two ended in a draw. Out of 25 Test matches played on the Australian soil, India have won three, lost 16, while six ended in a draw.

The following are the complete Test match statistics between the two countries:

Series highlights

Highest innings totals:

INDIA:
In India — 633 for 5 decl at Calcutta, 1998
In Australia — 600 for 4 decl at Sydney, 1985-86

AUSTRALIA:
In India — 574 for 7 decl at Madras, 1986
In Australia — 674 at Adelaide, 1947-48

Lowest innings totals:

India: In India — 135 at Delhi, 1959-60
In Australia — 58 at Brisbane, 1947-48

Australia: In India — 105 at Kanpur, 1959-60
In Australia — 83 at Melbourne, 1980-81

Highest individual score:
India: In India — 177 by Sachin Tendulkar at Bangalore, 1998
In Australia — 206 by Ravi Shastri at Sydney, 1991-92
Australia: In India — 210 by D.M. Jones at Madras, 1986
In Australia — 213 by K.J. Hughes at Adelaide, 1980-81

Best bowling in an innings:
India: In India — 9 for 69 by J.M. Patel at Kanpur, 1959-60
In Australia — 8 for 106 by Kapil Dev at Adelaide, 1985-86
Australia: In India — 7 for 43 by R.R. Lindwall, 1956
In Australia — 7 for 27 by M. Whitney at Perth, 1991-92

Most wickets in a match:
India: In India — 14 for 124 by J.M. Patel at Kanpur, 1959-60

In Australia — 12 for 104 by B.S. Chandrasekhar at Melbourne, 1977-78

Australia: In India — 12 for 124 by A.K. Davidson at Kanpur, 1959-60

In Australia — 12 for 126 by B.A. Reid, Melbourne, 1991-92

Bagan begin campaign today
From Amardeep Bhattal
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Dec 9 — Calcutta’s glamour outfit Mohun Bagan will launch their campaign for the title in the National Football League with the lung opener against underdogs Border Security Force, Jalandhar, at Guru Nanak Stadium here tomorrow.

After a string of defeats in the Durand Cup and the Super Cup against Salgaocar at New Delhi recently, Mohun Bagan who won the IFA Shield last month, will seek to redeem their honour against a comparatively weak opposition. What has indeed boosted coach Subrata Bhattacharya’s confidence is the return of key players, including midfielder Basudev Mondal and striker Dipendu Biswas, whose absence was felt in the Durand Cup. Mohun Bagan now have an experienced line-up starting from Hemanta Dora under the bar. Kenyan Samuel Omollo and Bangladeshi Jewel Rana along with Dulal Biswas lend strength to the defence.

The midfield is well controlled by Basudev Mondal. The return of Dipendu Biswas will restore the sting in the Bagan attack, which nevertheless has performed creditably in recent outings. Striker Abdul Khalique, in particular, has been in devastating form. In the IFA Shield final at Calcutta, he scored the all-important goal against Tollygunge Agragami. Again in the Durand Cup, Mohun Bagan rode on Khalique’s brilliant effort to enter the semifinals.

Another foreign recruit to watch out is Nigerian Stephan Abarowei, fresh from his stint at KFC Desselsport in Belgium. Stephan, who signed for Mohun Bagan last month, is a familiar face here because till last year he was with JCT. Stephan made an impact in his very first outing — the IFA Shield final at Calcutta — where he had a hand in Mohun Bagan’s solitary goal triumph over Tollygunge. Striker Kasif Jamal is another key player in the Bagan attack. However, star Nigerian striker Chima Okerie, who has been suspended till April 30, will be severely missed.

BSF, on the other hand, are making their maiden appearance in the National Football League. With a comparatively new set of players, BSF are yet to make an impact at the national level. In fact in the recently concluded Durand Cup in New Delhi, BSF like FC Kochin, were a big disappointment. They first lost to Punjab State Electricity Board 1-2 and then went down to East Bengal 0-3.

The Jalandhar outfit does have a couple of experienced players like goalkeeper Bibhas Saha, strikers Gauranga Pal and Abhay Mahato and midfielder Tapan Bhattacharya. Youngsters like Joseph and Souvik Ganguly may also fit into coach Shyam Kumar’s scheme of things, but on the whole the securitymen face a formidable task on the morrow against their more famed rivals.

The kick off is at 2.30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Mohun Bagan team, who arrived in the city on November 7, had their practice sessions at the ground yesterday and today. While BSF after having a feel of the ground the day before yesterday preferred to stay back at Jalandhar today.

Subrata Bhattacharya, coach of Mohun Bagan, speaking to TNS here this evening said though the return of Basudev Mondal and Dipendu Biswas, who represented India at Abu Dhabi a few days back, had boosted the morale of his team, they were not taking BSF lightly. “Unless we win, we cannot take anyone for granted,” he said while relaxing in his hotel room after the practice session.

China claim bronze

NEW DELHI, Dec 9 (PTI) — Last edition’s finalists China struggled throughout to find an opening in Japanese defence before edging past their rivals 1-0 through a 62nd minute goal and finished with a bronze in the 4th Asia Cup Women’s Hockey Tournament here today.

Defender Yang Huiping scooped in a perfect chance set up by forwards Tang Chunling and Hou Xiaolan after a barren first half and gave a respectable finish to China in the continental championships.

China also ended with bronze medal at the Bangkok Asian Games last year where they beat Japan 2-1 with Korea and India in 1 and 2 positions in that order. Kazakhstan defeated Malaysia 4-3 in a clash of the minnows earlier in the day to take fifth place in the six-team event. Malaysia, without a single win, ended a poor sixth.

Japan dominated the first half with playmaker Sachimi Iwao setting numerous raids on the Chinese territory. The defenders left many gaps open and with Japanese women concentrating their play more in the opposition circle, it was Chinese goal-keeper Nie Yali who stood rock solid.

Strikingly tall Yali has been the toast of China’s success emerging the best custodian of the current championship as she allowed only one ball go past her throughout the tournament.

Just before the breather Japan’s Naoko Saito made an excellent solo run from the centre and entered the scoring circle with just Yali to beat. Saito took a shot on the run, hit the turf and tripped as ball went past the line.

Keen contest in the offing

UNI: A needle contest is in the offing as hosts India take defending champion South Korea in the final here tomorrow. The stakes are really high.The winner in Friday’s encounter will qualify for 2002 World Cup and that is what is going to make this final, sitting-on-the-edge-of-the-seat affair.

The Koreans have won the Cup twice with India winning the first edition of it.

The Indian dispelled many a notion with a 3-2 win over the Koreans in their last round robin league match on Tuesday. They proved that the visitors are not invincible and also they have the potential to fight back.

Paes in semifinal

JAIPUR, Dec 9 (UNI) — India’s ace Leander Paes though got past third seed Ketola Tuomas of Finland in three setter ding dong battle 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 and moved into the semifinals in the Bikaji Rajasthan Golden Jubilee ATP Tour Challenger Tennis Championship but failed to put the stamp of his authority at the Jai Club Courts here today.

Paes, who consumed as many as 61 unforced errors as compared to his rival’s 54, had to struggle hard for 144 minutes to set a clash with top seed Srichaphan Paradorn of Thailand in the semifinal tomorrow, who trounced seventh seed Iwabuchi Satoshi of Japan in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 the Thailand player took only an hour in his victory.

Cowan Barry — the eight seed Britain lad — caused a major upset when he prevailed over the second seed Navarra Mose of Italy in a keenly contested three setter 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5). Fourth seed Delgado Jamie (Britain) the finalist at Lucknow challenger got walk over as Terachi Takahiro (Japan) did not take the court due to sprain in his left index finger the second semifinal will thus be played between Delgado and Cowan.

Leander Paes, who is determined to improve upon his singles ranking, started well against Ketola as he broke him in the seventh and ninth game before taking the first set. The following set saw Paes going well again to his way as he broke Ketola on the very second game, but thereafter he started committing unforced errors and also lost his concentration after involving himself in on two line judgements.

He was so much aggressive that after the instant argument with the chair umpire, he fired the concerned linesman on change of the court. It resulted that Ketola not only broke Paes serve on his fifth game and forced a tie breaker, but succeeded too in taking the set and levelling one all.

Right from the word go in the tie breaker, Ketola dominated and broke him so early that he could not come out of the pressure as he lost 3-7.

Paes was too erratic in his serves. Due to aggressiveness, he though sent down seven aces on way to his victory as compared to his rival’s two, but he committed seven double fault.

Cabral scripts win

NEW DELHI, Dec 9 (PTI) — Defending champions Salgaocar SC of Goa got off to a good start in the National Football League campaign, beating JCT, Phagwara, 1-0 in the inaugural match here today.

Midfielder Denis Cabral’s 29th minute goal was enough to separate the winners of the first and third leagues in the draw and lacklusture lung-opener of the fourth edition of the NFL which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at the Ambedkar Stadium here.

Cabral scored off a superb longranger which appeared like going out but dipped into the left corner of the net suddenly to fox JCT custodian Baljit Singh, who made a valiant attempt but could not get his hand to the ball.

Salgaocar dominated the match in the first half and controlled the pace but the standard fell to pedestrian level in the second half as they looked tired and tried to hold on to the lead.

The Goa outfit is on a roll in the national capital as it registered its sixth straight victory in the tour during which they clinched the prestigious Durand Cup and the Super Cup titles in two weeks.

The Super Cup win on December 6 was the third title of the month for the Goa Professional League runners-up, which it started by claiming the Rovers Cup in Mumbai last month.

JCT did exert strong pressure in the last 15 minutes of the match and got some good chances but failed mainly due to wayward shooting. Midfielder Hardip Sangha missed at least three chances while Hardip Saini and left out Hardeep Gill failed on one occasion each.

Salgaocar take on the State Bank of Travancore at Trivendrum in their next match on December 16 while JCT will meet Mohun Bagan in a home tie at Ludhiana on Monday.

“It was a good win. The boys looked tired in the second half and did not play well but I am happy with the game,” Salgaocar coach Shabbir Ali said after the match.

Shabbir said his Brazilian forward Joao Dos Santos was totally off colour today but praised midfielders Dharamjit Singh and Denis Cabral for their good work in the flanks.

Shabbir blamed JCT for the mediocre standard of the game and said the Phagwara outfit played far below expectations.

CISF trio shoots gold
From Our Sports Reporter

PHILLAUR, Dec 9 — CISF and Infantry shooters bagged one gold each which were at stake on the fifth day of the 43 rd National Shooting Championship at the Ranjitgarh Rifle Club of the Punjab Police Academy here today.

In the 50m rifle prone (women), CISF’s trio of Kuheli Gangulee (591), Anjali Vedpathak ( 578) and Leena Shirodhkar (564), got their act together to shoot gold accumulating 1733 points. Tamil Nadu’s team of M. Dhareenee (570), W. Mary Preetha (563) and Malathy David ( 554) garnered 1687 points to pick a silver. West Bengal’S team of Sangeeta Ghatak (552), Maya Roy (572) and Swati Bandyopadhyay (561) hoisted a total 1685 points to win bronze.

In the 50m rifle prone (junior women), Raj Kumari and Sunita Sanketh, both of Infantry, putup a consistently steady show to bag the gold and silver, respectively. Raj Kumari logged 581 while Sunita shot 572, M. Dhareenee of Tamil Nadu tallied 570 to end up as bronze medallist.

The following eight shooters have qualified for the finals of 10 m air pistol ( ISSF) men. Jaspal Rana (CISF) 679.7, Vivek Singh (Ind) 672.1, S. Kumar ( Navy) 669.1, Samresh Jang (HP) 668.2, Mahaveer Singh (Army) 667,1Ved Parkash (Army) 665.8, Dhyan Singh ( Army), 661.2 and Poonam Kumar (BSF) 660.0

Meanwhile, first leg of prize distribution function was organised today where Mr A A Siddiqui, Director PPA and Chairman, organising committee, gave away prizes to medal winners. A cash award of Rs 10,000 was announced by Ranjitgarh Rifle Club for Abhinav Bindra who created a new national record and also surpassed the Asian record in the 10m air rifle event logging 593/600 on Monday.

Results:

10 m air pistol (ISSF) (Jr. men): 1 Pemba Tamang (Army 560), 2 Pawan Kumar (CISF 556), 3 Ronak Pandit (Mah-55).

10 m air pistol (ISSF) (Jr. men): 1 Haneet Jakhar (Pun-554), 2 Jasraman Grewal (Pun-553), 3 Vivek Shah (Guj 545).

10 m air pistol (ISSF) (men): 1 Baljit Singh (Pun-571), 2 Prakash PN (Kar-561), 3 L Tumba (Mani 555).

Surender fastest runner
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 9 — Surender of Hisar became the fastest runner at seventh Haryana State Rural Sports Championship in 100 meters race, clocking 11.6 sec at Narwana today. Sunil Panwar of Yamunanagar finished second with 11.7 sec, while Bijender of Bhiwani got third place clocking 12.1 sec.

Ravinder of Jhajjar won 1500 m, race clocking 4.14.4 m, Rajesh of Panipat got second and Bhagbeer of Bhiwani finished third.

In shot put, Bijender of Gurgaon clinched the title when he threw the iron ball to 14.92 m. Naveen of Bhiwani got second place, while Sonu of Gurgaon finished third.

Narwana SDM and chief coordinator of the games Vijay Singh said that 2000 sportspersons from 19 districts of the state were participating in the state-level meet.

The results: Volleyball (Ist round): Faridabad beat Rewari 25-15, 25-15, 25-10, Gurgaon beat Panipat 25-5, 25-10, 25-15 and Mahendergarh beat Hisar by 25-13, 25-17, 25-15.

Hockey (Ist round): Panipat beat Yamunanagar by 1-0 goal, Rohtak got walkover against Fatehabad.

Handball (Ist round): Rohtak beat Kurukshetra 14-9, Faridabad beat Mahendergarh by 14-7.

Football (Ist round): Jhajjar beat Karnal by 2-0, Ambala beat Faridabad by 5-0, Kurukshetra beat Fatehabad by 2-1.

Kho-kho (Ist round): Bhiwani beat Kurukshetra by 14-10, Panipat beat Sonipat by 10-5, Karnal got walkover against Sirsa.

Kabaddi (Ist round): Rohtak beat Rewari by 25-10, Jind beat Faridabad by 28-03, Mahendergarh beat Ambala by 32-30 points.

Anil’s hat-trick in RCF victory
From Our Sports Reporter

NABHA, Dec 9 — PSEB gave shock treatment to their rivals, Haryana Eleven drubbing them 7-0, while RCF, Kapurthala, subdued a fighting MEG, Bangalore, 3-1 on the fifth day of the 24th Liberal Hockey Tournament being played at the Ripudaman College grounds here today.

The powermen were too strong for their rivals and pumped in goal after goal. For the powermen Kanwalpreet and Charanji Singh scored a brace each while Hardayal Singh, Ram Lal and Harvinder Singh chipped in with a goal each.

In the other match of the day, RCF Kapurthala, played with a lot of substance and style. Their forwards moved in unison to raid the rival citadel on numerous occasions. For RCF Anil Ekka scored a hat-trick, the first of the tournament, while for the Bangalore team, who showed glimpses of putting up a fight, it was their right in Dennis who reduced the margin in the process giving a 3-1 win.

In the other matches of the day western Railway had to slug it out against a fighting Postal eleven. Locked 2-2 at the end of regulation time, the match was decided in the tie-breaker where the teams flunked three strokes each. In the sudden death while Mukhtiar Singh sent his stroke high over the goal-post. For western Railway A. Razzaq slotted the ball home after sending the rival custodian the wrong way.

In the last match EME, Jalandhar beat Northern Railway by one goal.

Rathore, Sodhi prop up North

GUWAHATI, Dec 9 (UNI) — The North Zone wrested the early advantage against Central Zone piling up 302 for five in the semifinal of the Duleep Trophy at the Mailgaon Railway Stadium here today.

At stumps, Rajiv Nayar was batting on 13 and Dinesh Mongia on two as the Central Zone gallantly fought back in the last session of the day not only halting the free run scoring but also picked up three quick wickets. North were 251 for two at tea.

Narendra Hirwani exploiting the rough outside the leg stump while bowling constantly from the railway end. He chipped in three wickets.

Scoreboard

North Zone (Ist innings): Ashu Dani c M Dudgal b S Bangar 53, V Rathore c Jyoti Yadav b N Hirwani 70, R S Sodhi c M Mudgal b N Hirwani 88, P Dharmani c P Gandhe b N Hirwani 52, R Nayar not out 13, V Shewag b P Gandhe 10, D S Mongia not out 02.

Extras (nb-13) 13. Total: 302 for five.

Fall of wickets: 1-97, 2-170, 3-260, 4-282, 5-298.

Bowling: A Zaidi 15-0-68-0, S Banger 20-3-74-1, P Gandhe 13-1-55-1, N Hirwani 25-2-72-3, G Pandey 17-4-33-0.

Amritinder shares third spot

SHENZEN (China), Dec 9 (UNI) — Indian pro Amritinder Singh opened the first round of the $ 500,000 Omega PGA Golf Championship here today with a fine four under 68 to share the third place while Arjun Singh, a stroke behind, was joint seventh.

Filipino Felix Casas and Nico Van Rensburg of South Africa shot 67s over the Jack Nicklaus-designed World Cup course here to be a stroke ahead Amritinder, Indonesia’s Kasiadi, Scotland’s Simon Yates and Australian Kednny Druce.

Top Indian players Jyoti Randhawa and Jeev Milkha Singh were low down the ranks with very average opening round scores of 73 and 74, respectively.

Randhawa was bunched with several players, including country mates Arjun Atwal and Amandeep Johl in the 60th place while Jeev Milkha Singh was at 72nd along with Uttam Singh Mundy among others.

Other Indians who would find it difficult to make the cut were Indrajit Bhalotia and Vivek Bhandari at 102nd with 76s, Gaurav Ghei at 115 with a score of 77 and Kanwar Sekhon at 138 with 81.

Inter-university cycling results

PATIALA, Dec 9 (FOSR) — Punjabi University quartet of Rajpal Chauhan, Gurpreet Singh, Pavittar Singh and Nirmaljit Singh clinched the title in the 1500m team time trial race in the All India Inter-University Cycling Championships which commenced here today.

In the same event, while the hosts stole the honours, Panjab University, Chandigarh, were placed second.

The other results are:

4 km individual pursuit (men q-finals): 1 Gurpreet Singh (Pbi varsity), 2 Jefforson (Manipur varsity), 3 Nirmal Singh (Pbi varsity).

3 km individual pursuit (women q-finals): 1 Suneli Chugh (Pbi varsity), 2 O. Bina Kumari (Manipur), 3 Rajani. V (Kerala University).

1 km mass start (men semifinals): 1 Prabhjit Singh (Pbi varsity), 2 Pushpindra Kumar (PU, Chd), 3 Nirmaljit Singh (Pbi varsity).

1 km mass start (women semis): 1 Anita Andrews (Kerala University), 2 Rasan Billing (Pbi varsity), 3 Sandhya R (Kerala University).

Ferozepore bag overall trophy

FEROZEPORE, Dec 9 (FOC) — Ferozepore bagged overall trophy in the two-day Ferozepore Range police sports and athletics meet which concluded at the local Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium last evening. The Range’s DIG, Mr H.S. Dhillon gave away prizes to the winners. The following were the results.

Hockey-Ferozepur 1 Moga 2 Football-Muktsar 1, Ferozepur 2. Volleyball - Ferozepore 1, Muktsar 2. Basketball-Ferozepore 1, Muktsar 2. Handball - Ferozepore 1, Moga 2. Kabaddi - Ferozepore 1, Moga 2. Athletics - Ferozepore 1, Muktsar 2. Wrestling - Ferozepore 1, Muktsar 2.