Friday, February 19, 1999
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S P O R T | Friday, February 19, 1999 |
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Srinath triggers Pak collapse CALCUTTA Feb 18 — A career-best eight for 86 by speedster Javagal Srinath triggered a late Pakistani batting collapse despite a magnificent unbeaten 188 by opener Saeed Anwar to leave India a target of 279 for victory in the first tri-nation cricket match here today. First hour crucial Javed Miandad writes AS I said in my first article this Calcutta Test of the Asian Test Championship is one of good luck as well as bad luck. Good luck for India for they bowled out Pakistan for a reasonable score and bad luck for Pakistan that they could not post a total in the region of 350.
.Lee to take
on Bhupathi
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Hockey: Pakistan beat India, win
series Judo
gold for C'garh girl |
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National soccer super league Coaches'
accountability soon SOCOG
'will look to' IOC in a crisis O'Neill
sets 200m butterfly mark Exciting
win for Nonita Saroj,
Vijay clinch titles Punjab
win, Haryana, Chandigarh lose Nehru
Hockey opens today |
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Srinath triggers Pak collapse CALCUTTA Feb 18 (PTI) — A career-best eight for 86 by speedster Javagal Srinath triggered a late Pakistani batting collapse despite a magnificent unbeaten 188 by opener Saeed Anwar to leave India a target of 279 for victory in the first tri-nation cricket match here today. Overwhelmingly dominant for most of the day, Pakistan crashed from 262 for three to 316 all out just before stumps. India replied with four for no loss when fading light stopped play. Dropped by Mohd Azharuddin when he had made only two runs, Anwar carried his bat through the innings — only the third Pakistani to do so — and ran out of partners while making his highest Test score of 188 not out. After its brittle batting display in the first innings, India will have to play exceedingly well in the face of aggressive Pakistani bowling attack to win. Coach Anshuman Gaekwad sees the target as well within the reach of his team. The visitors were cruising along comfortably at 262 for three when Srinath threw the Pakistani innings into disarray by evicting Yousuf Youhana and Shahid Afridi in to send the near capacity crowd at the Eden Gardens into a frenzy. The lanky Karnataka speedster almost claimed a hat-trick as new batsman Salim Malik edged the ball to Sourav Ganguly at first slip, but the ball dropped just in front of him allowing the Pakistani batsman a longer stay at the crease. Yousuf Youhana, who looked quite comfortable at the middle, tried to pull a short pitched ball from Srinath, but could not time his shot properly and Rahul Dravid latched on to a well-judged catch on the fence. Unorthodox Shahid Afridi perished to the first ball as he tried to fend off a rising delivery and spooned a catch to V. V. S. Laxman in the slips cordon to bring the hosts back into the game. Malik, who just about managed to deprive Srinath of the coveted hattrick, could not hang around for long as the Indian seamers swung the ball appreciably at the fag end of the day. Srinath sent back veteran Malik by trapping him leg before with a ball that came in to snap up his third wicket in the space of three overs. The first two sessions of play clearly belonged to the Pakistanis as they went about consolidating their position, thanks mainly to Anwar, who displayed a rich repertoire of strokes and never really looked troubled by the Indian bowlers. Resuming at their overnight score of 26 for one, the visitors lost the wickets of nightwatchman Saqlain Mushtaq (21) and Ijaz Ahmed (11) in the first two sessions of play as the Indian bowlers could obtain very little purchase from the track which seemed to have eased out considerably. Anwar, who had been struggling to find the runs on this tour, made the most of the reprieve he got yesterday as he kept tormenting the Indian bowlers with some glorious shots on both sides of the wicket to record his highest Test score. His previous best was 176 against England at the Oval in 1996. If Anwar held centrestage till the tea break, it was Srinath who gave the nearly 90,000 spectators at the Eden Gardens plenty to cheer about in the last session as he choked the Pakistani innings with his hostile burst with the second new ball. His spell with it read a flattering 9.2-1-30-6. Anwar occupied the crease for a marathon 452 minutes and slammed 23 fours and a huge six to remain undefeated, a great achievement for an opening batsman. SCOREBOARD: Pakistan (1st innings): 185 India (1st innings): 223 Pakistan (2nd innings) S. Anwar not out 188 W. Wasti c Mongia b Srinath 9 S. Mushtaq c Mongia b Singh 21 I. Ahmed c Mongia b Srinath 11 Y. Youhana c Dravid b Srinath 56 S. Afridi c Laxman b Srinath 0 S. Malik lbw b Srinath 9 K. Khan c Mongia b Prasad 8 A. Mehmood lbw b Srinath 0 W. Akram c Mongia b Srinath 1 S. Akhtar b Srinath 1 Extras (w-5, lb-3, nb-4) 12 Total (all out in 99 overs) 316 Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-94, 3-147, 4-262, 5-262, 6-284, 7-301, 8-302, 9-304. Bowling: Srinath 27-6-86-8, Prasad 24-5-61-1, Kumble 27-4-91-0, Singh 16-1-56-1, Laxman 2-0-4-0, Ramesh 1-0-5-0, Tendulkar 2-0-10-0. India (2nd innings) S. Ramesh batting 4 V.V.S. Laxman batting 0 Extras 0 Total (in 0.5 overs) 4 Bowling: Akhtar
0.5-0-4-0. |
First hour
crucial AS I said in my first article this Calcutta Test of the Asian Test Championship is one of good luck as well as bad luck. Good luck for India for they bowled out Pakistan for a reasonable score and bad luck for Pakistan that they could not post a total in the region of 350. Pakistan were doing so well that a score of 350 was well possible. The credit should go to Srinath the way he bowled. In spite of being tired he kept on plugging away and kept getting wickets. Although Prasad didn’t get wickets he gave good support to Srinath. Friday is a crucial day for Pakistan. It all depends on how we bowl and how India bat. Whatever happens I’m sure the crowd will see a good game. It’s the first time Test cricket is being played on points system, that’s another motivating factor. Saeed Anwar played perhaps his best knock for Pakistan ever. As often happens in cricket, Mohammed Azharuddin paid the price. I like to tell people how important fielding is. You miss a catch and a batsman scores 188, that’s the cruel part of the game. Of course, no one likes to drop a catch but it’s part of the things that happen in this peculiar game. Yousuf Youhana must consider himself unlucky. He played so well and then played a shot he shouldn’t have played. He should have realised that Srinath was possibly bowling the last over of that spell. In fact, Srinath drew strength from that wicket and went for the kill. Saqlain Mushtaq deserves
credit for the manner in which he played. He almost
played like a regular batsman. he hanged on for 98
minutes yesterday which was crucial to Pakistan’s
survival in this Test. Although the wicket was crumbling,
Saqlain and Saeed Anwar’s grit made it appear there
was nothing wrong with it. At the same time there were
other batsmen in the side who didn’t bat to
potential. It was a repetition of the story of the
earlier Tests. They have talent but they are still to get
out of a bad patch. I believe that every player has an
"L" on him. He’s got something to learn.
Day by day the batsman has to learn and so also the
bowler. |
Lee to take
on Bhupathi SEOGWIPO CITY, (Cheju), Feb 18 — The Mayor of Seogwipo city, Mr Kang Sang-Ju, did South Korea a big favour here this morning. He gave the host country just the boost it needed when he picked Korean No 1 Lee Hyung-Taek to play India No 2 Mahesh Bhupathi in the opening singles of the Asia-Oceania Zone Group 1 Davis Cup tie, beginning at the Seogwipo Tennis Centre tomorrow. India No 1 Leander Paes, the highest-rated singles player here by a long way, will play Korean No 2 Yoon Yong-II in the second singles. The doubles on Saturday will feature the same four players, though either team can change the line-up an hour before the start, while Sunday’s reverse singles will see Paes play Lee in the first match. The draw clearly mattered more to the Koreans than the Indians. Said their non-playing captain Joo Won-Hong: "It’s a very good draw for us. We hope to go 2-0 up tomorrow. The Indian doubles team is too good, so we need three singles points. The first day is very important for us." The Indians would have preferred Paes to play the first singles. Ranked 83 by the ATP computer, way ahead of the two Koreans, who are ranked nearly 200 spots below him, he would be favourite to win both his singles matches. And the Indians would have loved to get ahead early. Mayor Kang denied them that advantage. But said non-playing Jaideep Mukherjea: "It’s okay, I don’t mind who’s playing first. Both Leander and Mahesh have been playing Davis Cup for some time now. It isn’t like a few years ago when Mahesh was still a bit inexperienced. Bhupathi, ranked 270, nine spots below his Korean opponent Lee, wasn’t fazed by having to play the first match. "It makes no difference... I’ve been playing well and I’m feeling strong,’’ he said. Bhupathi recently had reached the singles final of the challenger in Calcutta, where he lost to Paes in three sets. Paes, meanwhile, was looking forward to meeting Yoon, the Bangkok Asian Games singles gold medallist. Yoon, ranked 325 currently, had beaten him in the Hiroshima Asian Games in 1994 and Paes hasn’t played him since. Said Paes about tomorrow’s match: "Revenge will be sweet. I hate to lose to anyone twice’’. But Paes knows he will have his work cutout, especially on the slow courts and with the heavy nassau balls that are being used. "The Koreans are very fit and they return a lot of balls. I have to be patient and I’ll have to play smart’’, he said. The weather, too, could
become a factor, after two days of unexpected warmth on
Tuesday and Wednesday, it was more like what the Indians
had feared before arrival as they practised today,
overcast and chilly, with a little sting in the breeze.
The forecast for the weekend is colder weather. It’s
up to Paes and Bhupathi to turn on the heat tomorrow and
undo Mayor Kang’s good deed today for the South
Koreans. |
Hockey: Pakistan beat India, win series KARACHI, Feb 18 (PTI) — A dispirited India, finding it hard to put their plans in place, were beaten 2-4 by Pakistan in the sixth hockey Test as the hosts took an unassailable 5-1 lead in the nine-match series here today. India squandered several sitters and also wasted 13 penalty corners as Pakistan raced to a comfortable 4-0 lead. A late effort saw Kamal Horo scoring the first goal for India with a reverse flick in the 62nd minute and two minutes later, Baljit Dhillon earned a penalty stroke when he was fouled at the goalmouth. Dhillon scooped into the net and India reduced the margin to 4-2, but that was all they could do. India, who lost the four-match home leg 3-1, were beaten by the same 2-4 margin in Lahore on Tuesday. Today’s win has effectively won for Pakistan the Pepsi Cup with three more tests to go. India started on a defensive note while Pakistan pressed for chances one after another earning two penalty corners within the first five minutes of the game. Penalty corner expert Sohail Abbas failed on both the occasions but Pakistan captain Atif Bashir drew first blood in the 10 minute when in a solo effort from the right flank saw him sounding the board. Forward Naveed Asim put the hosts 2-0 up when he received a fine pass on the left flank and pushed the ball in. The hosts went into halftime with 3-0 lead when Mohammad Saqlain dodged two Indian defenders before clearing the ball for an unmarked Asim who reverse-flicked completely deceiving goal-keeper Jagdish Ponappa. India forced five penalty corners in the first half, but wasted all as they kept changing their tactics without any success. Mohammad Riaz had a golden opportunity to reduce the margin in the 33rd minute, but trying to hit a cross with no defender in the way, his stick flew just above the moving ball which rolled over the line. India, who had surprisingly rested skipper Anil Aldrin in the first half, started after the breather with renewed vigour and forced as many as six penalty corners. Baljit Dhillon created an opportunity when he passed the ball to Baljit Saini, who was within striking distance. As Pakistani defenders pushed ahead, Saini cleared the ball to Riaz who hit wide of the right post. Assured of victory, Pakistan slowed down the game a bit, the hosts further demoralised the visitors with their fourth goal in the 58th minute when Mohammad Sarwar scooped home a pass from skipper Bashir. India reduced the deficit in the 62nd minute when Horo prodded home a rebound off Baljit Saini’s attempt at Pakistani goal. They earned a penalty stroke when Pakistan custodian Mohammad Qasim blocked Dhillon in goal-scoring position. Dhillon converted the stroke in the 64th minute. The next match is at
Peshawar on Saturday. |
Rana shoots world record IMPHAL, Feb 18 (UNI) — Olympian Jaspal Rana broke the world record in the centre fire pistol and three games records were bettered in cycling at the National Games here today as Kerala, with 18 gold, continued to build on its lead from the rest on the medals tally. Rana, representing Delhi walked into history by shooting 591 breaking the previous record by just one point. The previous record was held jointly by him and Asian champion Toh Wong of South Korea. He and his team seems all set to sweep the pistol events as the results from the shooting range start trickling in. Meanwhile in cycling, three more national records tumbled as Kulbir Singh got his third gold and a national games record while leading the Punjab team in the 4000 m team pursuit. The other two National Games records came in the 3000 m team pursuit where Manipur got the gold and in the 1000 m sprint (women) in which Sangeeta Khan of Bihar broke the games record. In the tennis event, star studded Maharashtra posted a 2-1 victory over Tamil Nadu to clinch the women’s team tennis gold. But the day belonged to Jaspal Rana whose monumental effort over-shadowed all the events, including athletics, where Manipur got the 50 km walking title through Brajamani Singh. Rana who had very little competition in the domestic circuit kept his nerve cool and his weapons worked perfectly to shoot 591 for Delhi in the centre fire event. Although jubilation was all round the range because of this historic effort, Jaspal Rana himself was not euphoric and was even thinking of quitting the game by the next Asiad blaming the authorities and the system for procuring weapons and ammunitions form abroad. The world record of 590 was equalled by Jaspal Rana at the Bangalore National Games. In the Bangkok Asiad this time he and his main rival Toh Weng scored 589 each but in the sudden death Rana’s pistol side came off costing him the gold. Rana was today critical of the government for not allowing him to import the weapon of his choice. In cycling meanwhile Punjab men and Manipur women continued to dominate the velodrome constructed recently. Kulbir Singh got the third gold as the Punjab team set a new National Games record in the 4000 m team pursuit clocking 4.58 and bettering the old mark. Services got the silver and Kerala the bronze. Kerala got the gold in the 1000 m sprint (men) setting a new National Games record to take the total gold haul in the National Games to 18, four more than the nearest rival Manipur who have 14 so far. Manipur got the 3000 m team pursuit women title as the formidable quatret of Rameshwari Devi, Binakumri Singh, Gitanjali Devi and Thomri Devi comprehensively took the gold beating Kerala team by 15 secs while Karnataka emerged third. Meanwhile in the tennis event one gold has been decided so far as the strong Maharashtra women's team posted a 2-1 victory over Tamil Nadu to clinch the title. The winners surged ahead when third seed Sonal Phadke scored a facile 6-3, 6-0 win over Tamil Nadu’s Y.T. Yamini in the first singles which lasted for more than an hour. Later Tamil Nadu came back from behind to level the score 1-1 winning the second singles as top seed Rashmi Chakravorty defeated Janki Krishamurthy 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 in a gripping encounter. In the deciding match Maharashtra duo of Janki and Radhika Tulpute had to bring out all their ammunition to defeat Rushmi Chakraborty and Sumitra Rao 7-6, 6-3 bringing the women’s team championship to Maharashtra. In athletics, the schedules have been jeopardised by some technical snags. The only final that took place in the first half of the day was the 50 km walk where Manipur’s Brajamani Singh lived upto the expectation of his coach to pick up the gold. Manipur distance runners had yesterday won the men’s marathon. Brajamni today clocked 4:39:17 hours which is however well below the National Games record in the name of Santosh of Karanataka. Anurudh of Madhya Pradesh and Nishi Kanta of Manipur got the silver and bronze respectively. In the basketball event, Bengal has set up a title clash with Maharashtra in the women’s championship. While in the first semifinal of the day, Maharashtra rallied from behind to overcome the stiff challenge of Punjab 58-46. Holders Bengal shook off initial lethargy to beat Andhra Pradesh 67-53. The final will be held tomorrow. In the men’s section,
group champion and holders Punjab will meet Tamil Nadu
while last game’s runners up Bihar will face Kerala
in the last four stage. |
Judo gold for C'garh girl IMPHAL, Feb 18 (UNI) — Babita Negi of Chandigarh presented the Union Territory with its first gold when she won the open event of the judo competition of the fifth National Games at the SAI Indoor Hall here today. Babita tamed Nutan Devi of Himachal Pradesh who collected the silver while Bittu of Madhya Pradesh secured the bronze. In the men's open event, Rajasthan's Satish Yadav displayed tremendous mat craft to outwit Ashok Kumar of Haryana for the gold while for the bronze, Ram Sabad Yadav of Uttar Pradesh defeated Ashok Kumar of Delhi. During the day, judo also produced two gold for Maharashtra when Kul Bahadur Thapa beat Narinderjit Singh of Manipur for the top honour in the below 56 kg category. Mukesh Solanki of Chandigarh took the bronze. Manjusha Daole brought
Maharashtra another gold in the women's below 44 kg
category. She beat Gurpreet Kaur of Punjab who took the
silver while Tombi Devi of Manipur bagged the bronze. |
National soccer super league MARGAO, Feb 18 (PTI) — Defending champions Mohun Bagan will open their campaign against JCT in the first leg of the Super League edition of National Football League at Nehru Stadium here tomorrow. East Bengal, Salgaocar, F.C. Kochin and Churchill are the other teams that have qualified for the Super League. Churchill are lucky to qualify and must thank JCT for holding new entrants, Tollygunge, to a 1-1 draw to deny them the entry after Churchill lost their last match against Air India. The winners will get a
cash prize of Rs 40 lakh. The team coming second, third
and fourth will get a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh, 18 lakh
and 12 lakh each, respectively. |
Suspended sentence for Ramesh CALCUTTA, Feb 18 (PTI) — Indian opener S. Ramesh was today given a one-match suspended sentence for a three-month period for showing dissent after he was given out on the second day of the Asian Test Championship match between India and Pakistan at the Eden Gardens here. Cricket Board Secretary Jayawant Lele said taking into account that it was Ramesh’s first offence, he was given a one-match suspended sentence (Test or one-day international), for the three-month period February 18 to May 17. A hearing was held at the end of the second day’s play by match referee Cammie Smith and Ramesh was found guilty under clause 3 of the International Cricket Council (ICC) code of conduct. Ramesh was reported
yesterday by umpire David Richard of South Africa for
showing dissent after he was given out leg before wicket
by hesitating at the crease and raising his bat
indicating he had made contact with the ball. |
Coaches' accountability soon CHANDIGARH, Feb 18 — "Parameters to judge the accountability of coaches will soon be fixed," according to Mr Suresh Harmilapi, Director, Sports Authority of India, Netaji Subhas Northern Centre Chandigarh, Mr Harmilapi, who assumed charge last fortnight, is keen to take up the promotion of certain games on priority in this region. These include athletics, hockey, wrestling, volleyball, boxing and weightlifting under category A. When asked about the poor response of girls in the selection trials held recently in Sector 18 here, Mr Harmilapi asserted that parents were not willing to sent their wards to far off places. "They want them to practice near their homes, " he says. In Chandigarh, the Sports Training Centre, Sector 18, has produced outstanding players like international hockey players Sunita Dalal, Kamla Dalal, Sunita, Sita, Sandeep and many others. This year, the girls have been admitted in four disciplines, — athletics, basketball, volleyball and hockey. The response from Himachal Pradesh and Haryana has been encouraging. Mr Harmilapi agreed that the participants were mainly from the lower middle and middle class families who could no afford the heavy expenses on the playing equipment, kit and food which is absolutely free at these centres. On being asked why badminton and table tennis were withdrawn from this centre a few years ago, Mr R.K. Gupta, Deputy Director, SAI, said as the performance of girls in these games was not satisfactory, the disciplines were discontinued. Moreover, the first priority had been given to those disciplines which were in category 'A' and secondly were less expensive as compared to other disciplines. Mr Harmilapi sees great potential in athletics particularly discus throw, javelin throw, shot put besides wrestling weightlifting and hockey (both boys and girls). This is due to the physique of the players. Apart from the Sector 18 centre, Shivalik Public School also has an NSTC centre with disciplines like athletics, hockey, football volleyball. Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh has athletics (boys and girls), boxing and volleyball for boys while Dharamsala in Himachal has facilities for athletics and hockey for girls only. A new hostel building was
inaugurated by the Himachal Chief Miniser, Mr Prem K.
Dhumal, on February 10 at Dharamsala Sports Training
Centre, Shilaru, near Shimla. The high altitude training
centre has a 100-bed hostel for boys while there is a
50-bed hostel for girls. A big sports complex is in the
offing at Bilaspur. Mr Harmilapi said, national camps
were conducted at the high altitude training centre while
in the off season other states would be encouraged to
send their best players so that then endurance level
could be raised. |
SOCOG 'will look to' IOC in a crisis SYDNEY, Feb 18 (AP) — Sydney Olympics chief executive Sandy Hollway says the IOC should bear a share of cutbacks if the SOCOG falls short of its marketing target for the 2000 Games. Hollway ruled out a re-negotiation of SOCOG’s controversial deal with the Australian Olympic Committee, which has guaranteed the AOC $ 100 million (Australian) (U.S. 65 million), regardless of the financial outcome of the games. IOC marketing director Michael Payne has criticised the deal and called for it to be reviewed. But Hollway, faced with an $ 200 million (Australian) (U.S. 130 million dollars) shortfall in the sponsorship budget, said he would look for discussions with the IOC instead. "On the IOC I think we can enter a discussion with them about some of the levels of service and entitlements in that whole host city contract,’’ Hollway said today on his weekly radio spot. "These were always to be the athletes’ games and we must make them the athletes’ games. I think it’s even more important in light of the controversy in the international Olympic movement that we reaffirm this is about sport and athletes.’’ Hollway said he would be reluctant to order cuts to the quality of venues or areas such as the Olympic village. He added the needs of broadcasters’ and media must be met because that’s the way the games get out to the world.’’ The Socog has already suggested some areas of change for the IOC services, only to be rebuffed. When SOCOS President Michael Knight said IOC members might like to forego their chauffeur-driven limousines and get on buses, Payne responded by saying the IOC would ship their own Mercedes Benz cars to Sydney. Hollway said the IOC’s bribes scandals were making it harder to raise sponsorship money but he still thought it was possible to reach the marketing goal. "Cutbacks should be put to one side entirely while we get on with ... boosting revenue raising and having a look in April.’’ He said the IOC’s comments expected in March, on corruption within its ranks, would have a bearing on the sponsorship drive. He said three new sponsors were expected to be ratified by the SOCOG board later today. Hollway said the AOC, which stitched up the profit-share deal in exchange for its veto powers over SOCOG decisions, is entitled to its money. "As far as the AOC’s concerned they’ve got a contract and I don’t see why they would or should shift away from that,’’ Hollway said today. In a sense, I would like to see Australian athletes have that legacy out of our Olympics in perpetuity.’’ Knight and AOC president
John Coates have also rejected a change in the deal. |
Exciting win for Nonita NEW DELHI, Feb 18 — Five-time national champion Nonita Lal Qureshi shed tears of joy as she prevailed upon young and dashing Shruti Khanna one up on the final hole, 36th, to regain the Ladies All-India Amateur Golf Championship after a lapse of five years at the Delhi Golf Club (DGCA) today. Nonita, heavily built and of medium height, raised her arms, as she halved the final hole to win the title for the sixth time after a grim, exciting 36-hole match, which was played in two sessions. "The win has provided me special pleasure as I have regained it after a long and dreary five years", said Nonita, adding: "I am dashing home to kiss my lucky baby". Shruti's reaction of going down on the final hole was that of a mature player. She displayed no regret or displeasure acknowledging that she went down to a player of much greater experience than her. As the match ended, both finalists shook hands. Each said well played to the other as they walked out of the green. Nonita played one of the most outstanding rounds of her illustrious career. She played first 18 holes two under 70. This gave her a satisfactory lead of three holes against her determined opponent Shruti. Nonita continued to play superbly. She was hitting the ball well and truly and also was putting well. This gave her lead of another two strokes. She was five up on the 23rd. Outplayed and outclassed so far. Shruti now decided that it was now or never. She played with gay abandon hitting a long ball and also putting accurately. She won four holes in a row — 26th, 27th, 29th and 31st. Now only one stroke separated them. Shruti won the 34th to make it all square. Concerned Nonita was, but not worried. She displayed an extra-ordinary determination to birdie the 35th hole while Shruti could play a par. Nonita was now one up with one hole to go. Both seemed tense as they addressed their tee-shot on the 36th. Nonita played a par. Now Shruti needed a birdie. But luck did not favour her. Those, who have been monitoring the ladies version, are emphatic that this was the most absorbing final among 82 editions published so far. Veterans, like Ashok Malik, were candid in saying that the standard of play was extremely high. Both were match to each other. Nonita won it, but Shruti was glorious in her defeat. Anjali Chopra was declared third and Vandana Agarwal fourth. Delhi's young golfer, Amala Nath won the Vikramaditya Cup beating Lili Khanna. It was also a well-contested final. Mayali Talwar was given special prize for being the youngest sub-junior to break 95. She got the score of 89. Similarly, Irina was given a special prize for being the best junior player. Other results: Two ball greensome: Sonia Khanna and Binny Bath (plus 4) 1. Usha Chatrath and Rajni Sud (plus 1) 2. Somdutt Salver: Vandana Agarwal (nest 139) 1. Anjali Chopra (nett 142) 2. Leslie Sawhney Salver (inter-zone) Nath: (298) — Parnita Garewal. Nonita Lal Qureshi, Anjali Chopra. Mahindra Trophy: Delhi Golf Club (Rohini Majithia and Mayali Talwar (plus 13) 1. Tollygunge Golf Club: Renuka Philip and Rina Sen (plus 2). Ujwal Trophy: golfer of
the year — Shruti Khanna. |
Saroj,
Vijay
clinch titles CHANDIGARH, Feb 18 — Saroj Chaudhary of local AG (Haryana) and Vijay Sharma of CAG (Delhi) today became the proud winners of the North Zone women's and men's singles titles in the North Zone Indian Audit and Accounts (IA & AD) Badminton Championship which concluded at the Sector 42 Indoor Badminton Hall. Tarsem K Dogra also of the AG, Haryana, clinched the veterans' singles title. Mrs Mahua Chatterjee Accountant General (Haryana) distributed the prizes to the winners and runners up of the team as well as individual championships. Earlier yesterday, CAG, Delhi, bagged the men's team championship defeating AG (UP), 3-2. This championship was organised by the AG Haryana. In the women's singles final between Saroj (AG Haryana) and Nimisha Kumari of AG (UP), Nimisha could not face the onslaught of former Himachal Pradesh champion Saroj who started on a promising note. Right from the start she kept the pressure on the UP player and never went for long rallies which could have been disastrous for her. She finished the first game at 11-4 in just 12 minutes. The second game saw Saroj dominating Nimisha in every department of the game and with a few down-the-line half-smashes she gained the vital lead. There was no hope for a comeback trail for Nimisha who finally surrendered to the mother of "seven-year-old, Saroj, at 2-11. This match lasted only 21 minutes. Vijay Sharma of CAG Delhi, vied against Depak Saxena of AG (UP) and in the first game Vijay had little difficulty in overpowering the UP player and won it at 15-5 in 16 minutes. In the second game, Deepak decided not to let the game go easily, and this proved correct as long deep lobs of Vijay engrossed him in rallies and that was the crucial points as Vijay was forced to remain in even battle till end of the game. Deepak finally succumbed to lanky Vijay of Delhi at 10-15 in the match which took 35 minutes. Fiftyfive-year old, Tarsem K Dogra of AG Haryana, who is working as DAG easily disposed of V. Bhaskar of AG UP 15-2, 15-2, to take away the veterans singles title. Yesterday another DAG posted at Haryana AG Office Varsha Verma had lost in the semi-finals of the women's singles. Meanwhile, all the finalists of the team championship as well as the individual events, have qualified for the All India (IA and AD) Badminton Championship slated to be held at Hyderabad (AP) in March. Results (all finals):
Men's singles — Vijay Sharma (CAG, Delhi) b Deepak
Saxena (AG UP), 15-5, 15-10, Women's singles — Saroj
Chaudhary (AG, Haryana) b Nimisha Kumari (AG, UP) 11-4,
11-2; Veterans' singles — Tarsem K. Dogra (AG
Haryana) b V. Bhaskar (AG UP) 15-2, 15-2. |
O'Neill sets 200m butterfly mark MALMO, (Sweden) Feb 18 (AP) — Susie O’Neill of Australia has shattered swimming’s oldest record, breaking the 200-metre butterfly world mark with a time of 2 minutes, 05.37 seconds in a World Cup short course meet. O’Neill, 25, improved the record of 2:05.65 set by Mary T. Meagher of the USA on Jan 2 1981 at Gainesvile, Florida, by 28 hundredths of a second in Malmo’s Aq-Va-Kul pool. O’Neill, the reigning Olympic and world champion, finally got the believe I she had broken the record when I she got out of the pool. "It was so noisy during the race. I thought the fans were cheering for the Danish girl. Later I understood that the fans wanted to see a world record. It was a great atmosphere to compete in.’’ Sophia Skou of Denmark finished a distant runnerup in 2:09.80 O’Neill, who clocked
a 2:06.60 for the second fastest time in history when she
won the event in last year’s Commonwealth Games, had
finished only sixth in the 100-metre butterfly during the
first session on Tuesday. |
Punjab win, Haryana, Chandigarh lose NEW DELHI, Feb 18 (PTI) — Maharashtra, Mizoram and Punjab earned their second straight wins in their respective pools to earn full points in the 12th sub-junior (under-16) National Football Championship. Maharashtra brightened their chances of topping Pool ‘C’ when they scored a resounding 9-0 win over Tripura at Thyagraj complex here. Maharashtra, who registered the largest victory margin of the day, were helped by goals from S.S. Hassan Raza (2), Feroze Ali (3), Noah Fernandez (2) and Ajabba and Bilal Yaqoob. A sparkling hat-trick by striker L.V. Luaia helped Mizoram beat Orissa 3-0 in a Pool-F match at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Luaia struck in the 9th, 16th and 77th minutes. Mizoram is leading the group thanks to their superior goal difference after garnering six points, the same as Punjab. In a Pool-F match, mighty Punjab overcame neighbours Chandigarh 2-0. Sarabjit Sharma struck in 45th and 60th minutes after a brazen first half. In a Pool-C outing, Tamil Nadu scored their first win when they beat Haryana 4-1. Haryana went ahead in the 6th minute through Prem Singh and led 1-0 at interval. But Tamil Nadu came back strongly after the lemon break to strike four times through Y. Rama (45th minute), M. Maninkandan (53rd) and S. Nagalinglam, who struck a brace in the 55th and 58th minutes. Tamil Nadu have four points from two matches while Haryana have lost both their encounters. Madhya Pradesh routed Himachal Pradesh 5-0 in a Pool-B match at Nehru Stadium. M.P. led 2-0 at the interval. Jitender Swami, Allafuddin, Vikas Mahadev, Ashish Pillai, Dhiraj Mathuria scored for M.P. who have four points from two matches. Himachal have lost both their encounters. Goa got a walkover from
Nagaland when the latter failed to turn up. |
Nehru Hockey opens today AMRITSAR, Feb 18 — University teams from Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be the main attraction along with 12 top teams from the country during the seventh Jawaharlal Nehru SAIL sponsored Hockey tournament which opens here tomorrow at the Guru Nanak Dev University astro-turf hockey stadium, the Director Sports, Dr Kanwaljit Singh, told newsmen that it was for the first time that the Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey would be played here. The 10-day tournament will
be inaugurated by the Punjab Governor, Lt-Gen (retd) BKN
Chhibber. The opening match will be between the hosts,
GNDU, and Madhurai Kamraj University.
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H
Veterans' trials CHANDIGARH, Feb 18 (FOSR) — The Veterans Amateur Athletic Association of Chandigarh will hold the selection trials in the women's above-35 and men's above-40 age-groups on the Panjab University campus on February 21 at 10 a.m. Entries close with Mr Charan Preet Verma, Secretary of the association, 3258, Sector 15-D, Chandigarh, by 2 p.m. on February 20. The first North Zone
Athletic Meet will be organised in Chandigarh from March
5 to 7 on PU campus. The North Zone team will also take
part in the National Veterans Meet to be held at
Ahmedabad (Gujarat) in April. |
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