Rahul Dravid, Muralitharan top standings
CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — Indian middle-order batsman Rahul Dravid's tall scoring feats during the just-concluded series against New Zealand saw him shoot to the top of the standings in the Pepsi World Cricket Ratings for Test Matches while Sri Lankan spinner Mutiah Muralitharan remained at the head of the bowling list.

Saleem annexes b'minton crown PATIALA, Jan 8 — Mohammad Saleem of Sangrur impressed with his remarkable agility, showing commendable courtcraft to beat Rohan Kapoor 15-8, 15-12 annex the men's singles title in the Punjab State Major Badminton Championships played at the local Polo Grounds here today.

Indian spikers pip Pak in cliff-hanger
DUBAI, Jan 8 — Defending champions India beat Pakistan in a thrilling five setter to storm into the finals of the fourth Rashid International Volleyball Championships at the Al Shabab Stadium here late last night.

Raju Ali, Vijay fire two under
NEW DELHI, Jan 8 — Calcutta’s 22-year-old Raju Ali and seasoned campaigner Vijay Kumar fired two under 70 to aggregate 146 for the leader’s position on the second day of the four-round ONGC-NOIDA Golf Championship at the NOIDA course here today.

TN shock Punjab; Chandigarh win
CHENNAI, Jan 8 — The hosts Tamil Nadu shocked Punjab 3-2 in a thrilling quarterfinal match after recovering from a 0-2 deficit in the men’s section in the team event of the Indian Oil Servo National Table Tennis Championships here today.

N Rly, RCF eves in title clash
JALANDHAR, Jan 8 — Exhibiting excellent ball control, excelling in pace and riding on a hat-trick by international and team captain Pritam Thakaran defending champions Northern Railway scored an authoritative 5-1 verdict over Air India Mumbai. In other match in a ding-dong battle Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, edged out PSEB Patiala, by 3-2 to enter the final of the third Surjit Singh Memorial Women Hockey Tournament here today.

Haryana gymnasts win team title
CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — In the opening match of kho-kho Andhra Pradesh team prevailed over Delhi in a tough contest in the 23rd national women's sports festival at Dronacharya Stadium here, according to reports reaching here from Kurukshetra today.

Pakistan’s envoy visits Kotla

NEW DELHI, Jan 8 (PTI) — Pakistan High Commissioner in India, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, today visited the Ferozeshah Kotla Ground for a personal security assessment at the venue of the first cricket Test between India and Pakistan to be held from January 28.

Describing safety of the players as the prime concern of his government in the wake of Shiv Sena activists digging up the pitch on Wednesday night to protest against the forthcoming Pakistan cricket tour of India, the High Commissioner and First Secretary Shah M. Jamal spent over an hour at the stadium and held discussions with Delhi cricket association (DDCA), officials. Former BCCI president P.M. Rungta was also present.

The High Commissioner said he was not in a position to fully commit himself whether the tour would go ahead, but expressed happiness at the statements, including that of the government, assuring security for the Pakistan team.

The top priority of his government was safety and security of the players and it had to be fully satisfied with the arrangements being made. The Pakistan government was also keen that the tour should go ahead, but it was worrying that some people were trying to place hurdles, he said in an informal chat.

"Till we are fully satisfied, we can't say anything about the tour,"f he said and added he would visit all venues where the Pakistan team is scheduled to play and provide the feeback to Islamabad.

Before holding discussions with officials, Qazi went around the stadium accompanied by DDCA president Ram Babu Gupta. He inspected the dressing rooms and also had a close look at the pitch which was vandalised on Wednesday night.

He declined to comment on the issues discussed saying they went off fine, but Gupta later said the Pakistan High Commissioner was concerned about security measures in all venues the team would be playing.

"He was happy with the assurances and steps being taken by the government. He told him round the clock security has been mounted at Kotla," he said.

Qazi told the DDCA officials he would apprise his government of the situation and that he would be in regular touch with the officials.

Work on the damaged pitch, meanwhile, is on at a furious pace with the entire square sporting a transformed look. The pitch, extensively damaged by Sena activists, has been fully levelled and fresh soil brought to fill the gaps.

A number of ground staff were involved in preparation of the pitch afresh with improvement in the weather and sunshine proving helpful. The main pitch, on which the Test will be played, has been specially marked and the far end which was fully dug up, has been re-done with fresh soil.

"The pitch is still under preparation and we will give a perfect wicket for the match," Gupta and curator Radhey Shyam said.

The Pakistan High Commissioner felt sport should be played in its spirit and politics should not be brought in.

The Pakistan High Commissioner felt sport should be played in its true spirit and politics should not be brought in.

The official had reportedly said he would get in touch with former India skipper Kapil Dev, now chairman of the board's pitches committee, to elicit his views.

Gupta said Qazi wanted to know about facilities at all venues, but he could provide information only on Ferozeshah Kotla.

The DDCA President said security has been tightened with armed policemen keeping vigil round the clock. Armed private securitymen have also been deployed around the venue to ensure there are no further incidents, with Shiv Sena threatening to carry out further disruptive activities.

Meanwhile, the DDCA is taking seriously the Shiv Sena threat that its activists would enter the stadium buying tickets and create trouble during the Test.

"We have decide to sell only a reduced number of tickets.We will be doing that only through banks and we will also ensure that only a certain number of tickets are issued per person. The number of complimentary passes will also be reduced this time" Gupta added.

India look to reverse poor run

TAUPO (New Zealand), Jan 8 (PTI) — India will look upto their one-day specialists to inspire a major turnaround in fortunes as they seek victory in the five-match limited overs series against New Zealand which begins with the opening tie at this picturesque Owen Delany Park tomorrow.

Veteran Robin Singh and fellow all-rounder Hrishikesh Kanitkar are expected to boost India’s poor fielding which was glaring in their Test series defeat as the visitors seek to better their poor record in New Zealand of winning only three out of the 12 matches they have played.

India’s flagging morale after the 0-1 Test series loss has been bolstered by Rahul Dravid sealing his place in the top order in the wake of his stroke-filled centuries in both innings of the final Test at Hamilton.

But the final spot in the team is expected to be a toss-up between paceman Venkatesh Prasad, off-spinner Nikhil Chopra, who arrived as the third member for the one-dayers, and left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi. Prasad is likely to get the nod as the humid conditions here are expected to favour seam bowling.

The wicket at the park looks green and moist and is likely to help fast bowlers. But the lights did not look too great and the team batting first could be better off in this day-night fixture.

New Zealand also have worries in the bowling department, despite bringing in seasoned all-rounders Chris Harris and 36-year-old Gavin Larsen for the series. Simon Doull who suffered a heat stroke at Hamilton looks certain to be rested while fellow seamer Dion Nash is recovering from a back spasm suffered there.

India begin their limited over campaign this year with an excellent record of 24 wins out of 40 matches they played last year — the most by any team in 1998 — and winning six out of 10 tournaments they contested in.

They also hold the record of 25 wins out of 46 ties they have played against New Zealand, the latter winning 19 with two ties abandoned.

The one-day series will be crucial for both as it will be the first in a series of tournaments in the run-up to the England World Cup to be held in May-June.
The conditions here are also like what the early English summer would present with the seamers gaining appreciable movement in the air.

Though Robin Singh and Kanitkar look certain off-spinner Nikhil Chopra does not start an automatic choice with Dravid sealing his berth on the strength of his 190 and unbeaten 103 in the Hamilton Test.

Dravid, considered a misfit in the one-dayers and who made only sporadic but unimpressive appearances in the squad is being considered key in this series.

The Karnataka batsman displayed a wide repertoire of strokes with cuts, hooks and pulls in reaching his first century in 167 balls and the second off only 112.

Dravid’s inclusion has forced a few shake-ups and India is now expected to go into the tie with just three regular bowlers and only Javagal Srinath and leg-spinner Anil Kumble certain with Prasad looking the most likely third bowler.

India hold the edge as both Sachin Tendulkar, who will shift to the opener’s spot with Saurav Ganguly, and skipper Mohd Azharuddin are in excellent form.

New Zealand will seek to cash in on the experience of all-rounders Chris Harris and the 36-year-old Gavin Larsen who have come in for the series.

Their batsmen are in good nick, Craig McMillan and Chris Cairns in particular, while skipper Stephen Fleming will be looking to reverse his recent lean patch.

But their worry surrounds medium-pacer Simon Doull’s fitness. The bowler who suffered a heat stroke in Hamilton looks certain to be rested as he has been struggling for his breath. Left-arm paceman Geoff Allott is set to replace him.

There is also a question mark over Dion Nash, who did not bowl in India’s second innings at Hamilton owing to a back spasm while left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori is also recovering from a finger injury.

Meanwhile, India’s Australian consultant Bobby Simpson had his first look at the players during the nets here.

Teams:
India (from): M. Azharuddin (capt) S. Tendulkar, S. Ganguly, R. Dravid, A. Jadeja, Robin Singh, H. Kanitkar, N. Mongia, J. Srinath, A. Kumble, V. Prasad, N. Chopra and S. Joshi.
New Zealand: S. Fleming (capt), M. Horne, R. Twose, C. McMillan, C. Cairns, A. Parore, C. Harris, G. Larsen, D. Nash, D. Vettori and G. Allott.

Rahul Dravid, Muralitharan top standings
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — Indian middle-order batsman Rahul Dravid's tall scoring feats during the just-concluded series against New Zealand saw him shoot to the top of the standings in the Pepsi World Cricket Ratings for Test Matches while Sri Lankan spinner Mutiah Muralitharan remained at the head of the bowling list.

Dravid's tall scores helped him compile 9660 points to push Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar (8356 points) to second place. Pakistan's Ijaz Ahmed (8186 points) slipped one spot to the third while Australian Steve Waugh (6555 points) moved up two berths and is now lying fourth.

Dravid was the lone Indian batsman among the top 20 who achieved the qualifying mark of 300 runs during the current season.

The country-wise break-up is headed by Australia and England, both of whom have five men each in the selected group. Three South Africans, two batsmen each from Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka and one Indian complete the top-20 list.

Muralitharan with 8422 points retained his position at the head of the bowling standings despite an inactive month of Test cricket for the players from the emerald island. Zimbabwe paceman Henry Olonga continued to occupy the second place with 8341 points.

New Zealand Simon Doull was the most prominent mover in the past month. Doull did not figure in the elite group last month but his deadly bowling against the Indian tourists saw him rise to the third place with 8304 points.

Two Indian bowlers broke into the top 20 group among those who have claimed 12 wickets during the current season. Pace bowler Javagal Srinath is now placed 18th with 7028 points and leg spinner Anil Kumble on the 20th spot with 6974 points.

The country-wise list headed by England with four bowlers in the select group, followed by three men each from South African and New Zealand. Two bowlers each from Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Australia, the West Indies and India complete the list.

Saleem annexes b'minton crown
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Jan 8 — Mohammad Saleem of Sangrur impressed with his remarkable agility, showing commendable courtcraft to beat Rohan Kapoor 15-8, 15-12 annex the men's singles title in the Punjab State Major Badminton Championships played at the local Polo Grounds here today.

Stung by yesterday's shock defeat in the women's singles a rejuvenated Yogita Sharma paired with Chanderdeep Randhawa to win the mixed doubles title beating Tajinder and Nazma Parveen 15-9, 15-2.

Local girl Vidhu Vatrana combined with experienced Nancy Tandon to win the doubled title with ease beating their rivals Sapna Ratti and Sheel Bhagat of Jalandhar 15-11, 15-10.

Former national doubles champion Nancy Tandon picked up her second title by decimating the Nazma Parveen 11-4, 11-0 to win the women singles title.

Mohali match 'not to be allowed'
Tribune News Service

PATIALA, Jan 8 — The Punjab Hindu Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray) today announced it would not allow the India-Pakistan one-day cricket match to be held on March 31 at Mohali at any cost.

Addressing a press conference here, Shiv Sena President Pawan Kumar Gupta said the Sena workers would adopt whatever means at their disposal to ensure the match was not played.

Mr Gupta, however, said the Sena would first adopt peaceful means to ensure the tie was not held in Mohali and appeal to the Punjab Government to take note of their appeal. "We can assure that we will not dig up the pitch as was done at Delhi but our workers are determined to stop the match even if they have to do it while it is taking place, he added.

Mr Gupta said a meeting of the Shiv Sena would be held shortly to finalise the strategy. He said the meeting would be attended by members from party units of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Chandigarh.

The Shiv Sena leader said the party was of the firm view that the Pakistan team should not be allowed to play in India as the neighbouring country was stoking terrorism in the country. He said: "We in Punjab have seen how the ISS outfit of Pakistan has spread terrorism in the state".

Indian spikers pip Pak in cliff-hanger

DUBAI, Jan 8 (PTI) — Defending champions India beat Pakistan in a thrilling five setter to storm into the finals of the fourth Rashid International Volleyball Championships at the Al Shabab Stadium here late last night.

India won 15-6, 8-15, 10-15, 15-3, 15-13 but not before facing some anxious moments in the final and deciding set when the two sides fought neck and neck in a do-or-die battle.

India, who won on all three previous occasions, will meet Ukraine in the finals of the fourth edition tonight.

Ukraine, by far the best team in the tournament winning all their matches so far, beat Sweden in the other semifinal in straight sets 15-8, 15-7, 15-11.

Skipper Surjit Singh, who was given the Man of the Match award, played a captain’s game hit powerful smashes time and again to the delight of the mainly Indian spectators.

The 18-year-old Subba Rao, the tallest player in the Indian team, and Sanker Ganesh teamed up very well to back their skipper and played an excellent game to turn the match in India’s favour.

India had beaten Pakistan in straight sets at the Bangkok Asian Games but Pakistan played a inspired game last night.

There was a hush in the stadium after India lost the second and third games. The Indians, who won the first set easily at 15-6, however, came back strongly to level the games to take the match into the decider before clinching the nail-biting affair to their supporters’ relief.

Pakistan, runner up here in 1996 and ninth placed team in the Bangkok Asian Games, fought tooth and nail to claw back into the game in the deciding fifth set. But the Indians had found their touch and never allowed them to take control of the game.

However, it was a close finish in the fifth set with India narrowly leading at 14-12 and then going on to win at 15-13.

In was a great game for the young Subba Rao. "He is shaping up very well and has a great future," said G. Sreedharan, the chief coach of the Indian team.

"We will try out best to win the final. The team is at the height of their morale after last night's win," Sreedharan said. India had lost in their previous encounter with Ukraine which is ranked world's number 10.

India had won the tournament all the three times since its inception but will have tougher challenge this time from Ukraine.

"In the first match against Ukraine we had come with no rest after the nationals in Calcutta. But the boys have got over that now and are playing superb game," he said Manoj Singh who is playing libero has also put up a good show.

The Indian players have shaped up well in the championship. Roy Joseph, who has a jump height of 354 cms, impressing with his full and half spikes and S.V. Ravi Kanth, also Man of the Match in an earlier encounter in full form, Indian hopes are high.

Raju Ali, Vijay fire two under
From Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, Jan 8 — Calcutta’s 22-year-old Raju Ali and seasoned campaigner Vijay Kumar fired two under 70 to aggregate 146 for the leader’s position on the second day of the four-round ONGC-NOIDA Golf Championship at the NOIDA course here today.

In sole possession of the third position was overnight leader Mukesh Kumar who could fire a round of three over 75. Yesterday, he had shot a level-par round of 72.

Hero Honda Masters winner Jyoti Randhawa and Bhoop Singh were tied at fourth position with four-over 148, while Rohtas Singh was sixth at five-over 149.

The cut was applied at 20 over 164 and 46 pros made to the third round. There were six amateurs in the field.

Conditions for play were much better this morning as sun emerged out of clouds and wind velocity was not as intense as yesterday. Vijay Kumar, who has not yet fully recovered from his neck injury, played a round of two under 70. His iron play and putting saw him carry the day. He sunk three putts in the range of 12 and 15 feet for three of his four birdies.

Raju Ali found his poise in playing his short game. His putting was still not very consistent but he chipped superbly. He was disappointed that he missed two narrow birdies putts on the 7th and the 8th holes. Had he achieved them, he would have been a sole leader on the second day. These were his 16th and 17th holes since he began his campaign from the 10th.

Overnight leader Mukesh Kumar started well with a birdie on the first hole. He was two under after the fourth. But then he could not maintain his form and made bogies on the 9th, 10th and 11th to be two-over boogied on the 13th and the 16th. Birdies on the 14th and the 17th saw him get a score of three over 75 and third place after 36 holes (aggregate 147).

Mukesh Kumar was unable to strike his form as he was constantly disturbed by the wind direction.

Local amateur Simarjeet Singh had a poor round of 10 over 82. He aggregated 154, while Ankur Prakash was at 160.

Scores:
146 Vijay Kumar (76,70), Raju Ali (76, 70).

147 Mukesh Kumar (72, 75).

148 Bhoop Singh (74, 74) and Jyoti Randhawa (75,73).

149 Rohtas Singh (73, 76).

150 Amandeep Johl (77, 73).

TN shock Punjab; Chandigarh win

CHENNAI, Jan 8 (PTI) — The hosts Tamil Nadu shocked Punjab 3-2 in a thrilling quarterfinal match after recovering from a 0-2 deficit in the men’s section in the team event of the Indian Oil Servo National Table Tennis Championships here today.

This encounter was the only one which went into the decider, as all other seven quarterfinal matches (both men and women) were won in straight games (3-0).

Tamil Nadu (eighth last year) got the better of Punjab, who finished third in Jammu nationals last year.

Deepak Thukral beat K.R. Sharad 21-19, 17-21, 21-17 and Vaneet Chopra prevailed over R. Rajesh 21-18, 18-21, 21-14 to put Punjab in the lead. In the third game, Tamil Nadu’s Srivastva Chakravarthy lost the first at 16-21, but fought back with excellent forehand and backhand shots.

She grabbed vital points to maintain her lead, before winning at 16-21, 21-14 21-12. With Rajesh beating Deepak Thukral 21-12, 19-21, 21-18 the teams drew level at two-all.

The results of the team event:
Men group ‘A’: PSCB b Assam 3-0: S. Raman b Anupam Kanwar 21-15, 21-11; Chetan Baboor b Mukul Boro 21-19, 21-15; Arup Basak b Soneswar Dutta 21-12, 21-10.
Kerala b Haryana 3-0: M.H. Sreekumar b Ganesh Ahuja 21-18, 17-21, 21-16; R. Rajesh b R.K. Dogra 21-02, 21-17; Dinil Poulose b Jitendar Jain 21-19, 21-19.
Himachal Pradesh b Goa 3-1: Manu Sharma lost to Wilber Fernandes 21-14, 18-21, 21-23; Partho Chowdhry b Amit Naik 21-6, 21-13; Jaswant Gupta b Naryan Chatkar 21-15, 16-21, 21-18; Partho Chowdhry b Wilber Fernandes 21-15, 21-16.
Group ‘B’: Pondicherry b Manipur 3-2: C, Arun lost to R.K. Rajesh 21-17, 11-21, 12-21; Selva Muthukar b Y. Dinesh Singh 21-18, 21-16; Xavier b L. Rajesh Singh 21-17, 19-21, 21-17; Selva Muthukumar lost R.K. Rajesh 21-16, 18-21, 20-22; C. Arun b Y. Dinesh Singh 21-10, 21-12.
Chandigarh b Tripura 3-0: K.R. Harish b C. Chowdhry 21-15, 21-15; Amod Dixit b J. Bhowmick 21-16, 21-14; Tarun Akka b S.K. Banik 21-4, 21-12.

N Rly, RCF eves in title clash
From Our Sports Reporter

JALANDHAR, Jan 8 — Exhibiting excellent ball control, excelling in pace and riding on a hat-trick by international and team captain Pritam Thakaran defending champions Northern Railway scored an authoritative 5-1 verdict over Air India Mumbai. In other match in a ding-dong battle Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, edged out PSEB Patiala, by 3-2 to enter the final of the third Surjit Singh Memorial Women Hockey Tournament here today.

In the junior section (boys) Surjit Hockey Academy, Jalandhar played 2-2 draw with State School of Sports, Jalandhar and got the top place by earning 7 points on better goal average in the round robin league. The State School of Sports, Jalandhar got the second place with 7 points while SPDA, Patiala and Grewal Hockey Academy, Kila Raipur (Ludhiana) got the third and fourth place on better goal average, respectively.

The Northern Railways, Delhi sailed in to finals of this prestigious tournament for the third time today. They won the trophy in 1996 and 1997. The RCF entered the finals for the second time. Earlier they entered the finals in 1997 and were runners-up.

Adhering to their Asian style of traditional pattern of 5-3-2-1, the Northern Railway made their intention clear and earned three penalty corners in first six minute. They surged ahead in the 7th minute when outside right Ferdina Ekka scored through an indirect penalty corner hit (1-0). But joy for Northern Railways was shortlived and two minute later the Air-India restored parity when their centre forward PM Ashwani received a free pass near the circle, dodged past one defender and gave a nice pass to her un-marked centre forward PM Ashwani who placed the ball in to goal (1-1).

After equaliser, the Railway girls launched a series of raids in the Air India's territory and were almost in sight of a goal and they earned six penalty corners in a row but they failed to make use of any. However, they got success in the 14th minute when their skipper Pritam Thakran converted penalty corner, after receiving a pass from right full back Sandeep Kaur (2-1). At half time the Railways girls were leading by 2-1.

After changing over the Railways girls made some determined efforts to jump in to lead. They forced three penalty corners in the 41st, 43rd and 45th minute of the game but poor markmanship let them down. The railways girls could have scored another goal but inside Manjinder Kaur missed a chance in the 50th minute. She entered the circle, after dribbled past the entire rival defence, but failed to find the target though there was only goal keeper to beat. The railway girls added two more goals in the 57th and 59th minute of the game through penalty corners (4-0).

In the last stage of the game, centre forward Manjinder Kaur of Railway scored another field goal to their tally to clinch the match (5-1). The Air India forward and defenders failed to click and despite having some fine exchanges, their attacks got confused and let the opportunities fizzle out.

In the next match the experienced RCF picked up the rhythm right from the word 'go'. They earned their first penalty corner in the fifth minute. RCF's penalty corner expert Tressa's powerful hit was intentionally blocked by foot by the rival defender Sneh Bala just on the goalline when the rival goal keeper was completely beaten. International umpire Balwinder Singh Shammi made no hesitation to award a penalty stroke in favour of RCF. Centre forward and Asian star Jyoti Kully made no mistake to convert the penalty stroke in to goal (1-0).

After trailing by a goal the PSEB girls started attacking from the right flanks and earned a penalty corner in the 7th minute which went abegging. But they found the equaliser in the 8th minute through the penalty corner by their left full back Harshdeep Kaur. (1-1). In the sixteenth minute RCF's centre forward Jyoti Kullu, made a solo effort, after receiving a pass near 25 yard line from out side left Lotam. She dodged past three defenders and tried to enter in to the striking circle but the rival defender Sneh Bala intentionally block her just outside the striking circle. National umpire Prabhjit Singh Bhatia awarded a penalty corner in favour of RCF. Right back Sumtra Minz scored a nice goal, after getting a free pass from her team mate Tressa. (2-1) At half time RCF was leading by 2-1.

After second half, PSEB girls played better game and gave anxious movements to the RCF. They earned four penalty corners which proved abortive but they got the equaliser in the 57th minute through a penalty stroke conversion by their right half back Iqbal Kaur (2-2). The RCF scored the winning goal in the 60th minute when their centre forward Jyoti Kulu scored a fine goal, getting a rebound ball from the rival custodian's pads. (3-2)

In junior section (boys) last round robin league encounter of the day Surjit Hockey Academy, Jalandhar, after trailing by a goal at half time drew 2-2 with State School of Sports Jalandhar. Prabhjit Singh and the Ranjit Singh were the main scorer for the State School of Sports Jalandhar while Pavittar Singh and Satinder Pal Singh were the scorer of the Surjit Academy.

Haryana gymnasts win team title
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 — In the opening match of kho-kho Andhra Pradesh team prevailed over Delhi in a tough contest in the 23rd national women's sports festival at Dronacharya Stadium here, according to reports reaching here from Kurukshetra today.

In the second knockout match of kho-kho MP eves routed Pondicherry with a heavy margin of 24-4 and Gujarat scored easy win over Rajasthan with the margin of 20-4 points. In the other knockout matches of the day, Haryana beat Tamil Nadu by 10-8, Punjab beat Bihar by 11-5, Maharashtra beat UP by 15-5, Kerala outclassed Orissa by 12-11 and West Bengal defeated J&K by 23-5 points.

In basketball Rajasthan Women prevailed over Gujarat with 32-7 scores in a one-sided knock out match. Andhra Pradesh team outclassed Pondicherry by 32-10 score and Maharashtra scored win over West Bengal by 41-32 points. In other knock out matches of backetball, Rajasthan defeated Bihar by 50-25, Maharashtra beat MP by 51-15, Haryana beat HP by 35-17, Karnatka routed Tamil Nadu by 61-28 and Kerala got the better of Gujarat.

Haryana gymnastic team clinched the title in the team championship securing 145-50 points while West Bengal got second place with 136.25 points Punjab team finished third securing 134.45 points. Poonam Chhabra, Seema Nanda, namita Sharma, Lalita Thapa, Sonia, Jyoti and Pinki, contributed for Haryana victory. Shubra Sarkar, Dona Dass, Chandna Dass, Srabanti Naskar and Geeta Dass scored for West Bengal while Punjab gymnasts Amandeep Kaur, Samita Sharma, Sukhbir Kaur, Rohika, Mikashi, Shalu Atri, and Neeru Jabalia played well for their state.

Poonam Chhabra of Haryana won the overall best gymnast title with 32.10 points, Namita Sharma (Haryana) got second with 31.05 points whereas Amandeep Kaur of

Punjab finished third with 29.80 points.

Chandigarh gymnastics results

CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 (BOSR) — Tripti Singh of Vivek High School, Sector 38, and Navjot Singh of Kendriya Vidyalaya School, Sector 31 were declared the best gymnasts among girls and boys, respectively, in the Chandigarh Sub Junior, Junior and Senior Gymnastics Championship which got underway at the Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, today. Mr DV Bhatia, president of the CGA, declared the meet open.

Results: Sub junior girls:-

Floor exercise: Tripti Singh, Vivek High School 1, Megha (Alpine School) 2, Deepika (SPS-41) & Harjeet Kaur (Alpine) 3.

Vaulting horse: Harjeet Kaur (Alpine) 1, Sakshi Dhawan (Stepping Stone) 2, Tripti Singh (Vivek High) 3.

Balancing Beam: Deepika Rawat (SPS-41) 1, Harjeet Kaur (Alpine) 2, Tripti Singh (Vivek High) 3.

Uneven bars: Tripti Singh (Vivek High) 1, Harjeet Kaur (Alpine) 2, Meghna (Alpine) 3.

Tripti Singh of Vivek School was declared the best gymnast with two maximum points followed by Harjeet Kaur and Meghna both of the Alpine School who finished overall second and third, respectively.

Sub junior boys: Floor exercise: Navjot Singh (KV-31) 1, Uplaksh (SPS-41) 2, Amit (Stepping Stone) and Kulwinder (Air Force-31) 3.

Rings: Kuljot (St Annes-32) 1, Y. Rawat (SPS-41) 2, Uplaksh (SPS-41) 3.

Pommel horse: Kulwinder (Air Force-31) 1, Uplaksh (SPS-41) 2, Navjot (KV-31) & Kuljot (St Anne's) 3.

Vaulting horse: Navjot Singh (KV-31) & Kulwinder Singh (Air Force-31) 1, Himanshu (DAV School) & Puneet (Stepping Stone) 2, M. Saini & Kamaljit Singh 3.

Parallel bar: Navjot Singh (KV-31) 1, Uplaksh (SPS-41) 2, Saurav (Ajit Karam School) & Tanvir Virk (Shimla School, Phase 10 SAS Nagar) 3.

Horizontal bar: Uplaksh (SPS-41) 1, Navjot Singh (KV-31) & Ravi (GHS-40) 2, Sarabjot (St Mary-46) 3.

Navjot Singh of KV-31 was declared the best allround gymnast while Uplaksh of SPS-41 and Kulwinder Singh of Air Force-31 got overall second and third positions, respectively.

Qualifying round ties from today

CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 (BOSR) — Tennis extravaganza, the Gold Flakes Aces ITF Men’s Future Circuit Tennis Tournament will set under way tomorrow with its qualifying rounds at the Chandigarh Club Courts. The CLTA, the hosts of this ten $ 10,000 tournament have made adequate arrangements for the smooth conduct of this tournament for men in which players from nearly 25 countries & India will vie for top honours. The tournament will enable budding players to earn the ranking points and the Chandigarh tournament will be the first of the three-leg independent circuit and the rest of the two will be played in Ahmedabad and Mumbai later this month.

The dry weather today brought relief to the organisers. The matches upto the quarter final will be played at Chandigarh Club. The main draw starts on January 11.

The eight Indian players who have wild cards for playing in the qualifying rounds are: Vishal Uppal, Avinash Arun, AV Rao, Sunil Kumar, CS Mohanti, Raj Kumar Gopalan, P. Ravikrishna and Rishi Sridhar. The wild cards for the main draw include Syed Fazaluddin, Vijay Kannan, Vinod Sridhar and Manoj Mahadevan.

PCA mourns death of R.C. Sharma

CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 (BOSR) — The Punjab Cricket Association and many other personalities associated with cricket have mourned the death of Prof R.C. Sharma who died in a road accident on Wednesday.

Mr Sharma besides being the Principal of the Government Polytechnic, Hoshiarpur, was an outstanding umpire.

He remained associated with the game of cricket for the last 25 years, said Mr M.P. Pandove, secretary, PCA, while condoling the untimely death of Mr Sharma, who was a member of the PAC Executive also. He had served the game with distinction as Ranji Trophy panel umpire and his services were elevated to the Test panel of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

The others who have sent their condolences to Mr Sharma's family include Dronacharya awardee D.P. Azad and Mr Daljit Singh, who said that the void created with the death of Mr Sharma would be difficult to fill.

Women's soccer

JALANDHAR, Jan 8 (FOSR) — The Senior Punjab State Women's Football Championship will be organised by the Kapurthala District Women's Football Association at Phagwara from January 9 to 11.

About 15 teams would be participating in this championship.

Mrs Jagir Kaur, Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, will inaugurate the championship.