Fazaluddin loses in final
MUMBAI, Nov 12 — Third-seeded American Tom Chicoine rallied magnificently after dropping the first set to beat unseeded Indian Davis Cupper Syed Fazaluddin 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the men’s singles final of the $ 25,000 ITF Satellite Masters tennis circuit here today.

Haryana register narrow win
ROHTAK, Nov 12 — Haryana defeated Himachal Pradesh by two wickets in the one-day Ranji Trophy match at Vishwakarma Stadium here today.

Delhi beat Punjab in nail-biting finish
LUDHIANA, Nov 12 — In a nail-biting finish, last year’s zonal champions, Punjab went down fighting by one-wicket to Delhi in North Zone Ranji league one-day match at the Punjab Agricultural University ground here today.

Ashwani scripts J&K victory
NEW DELHI, Nov 12 — Jammu and Kashmir star Ashwani Gupta (137) cracked an unbeaten splendid century to guide his team to a comfortable 55-run victory over Services in the North Zone Ranji Trophy one-dayer at the Harbax Stadium here today.

Yadav slams 265
INDORE, Nov 12 — Opener J.P. Yadav slammed a career best knock of 265, enabling Madhya Pradesh to post a mammoth first-innings total of 538 for seven declared on the second day of the Central Zone Ranji Trophy cricket match here today.

BSF book berth in semifinal
JALANDHAR, Nov 12 — It was a lucky day for last year’s Champion Border Security Force, Jalandhar, in the 16th Indian Oil Surjit Memorial Hockey Tournament at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium, Burlton Park, here.

Jalandhar, Rourkela teams in final
NEW DELHI, Nov 12 — Lyallpur Khalsa Sr Sec School, Jalandhar, downed defending champions St Ignatius High School, Gumla, 1-0 to set up a title clash with Birsamunda Vidyapitha, Rourkela, who easily overcame listless Sat Guru Partap Academy, Ludhiana, 2-0 today in the semi-finals of the 17th Nehru Sub-Junior Hockey Tournament.

Shruti, Parnita to take part
NOIDA, Nov 12 — Shruti Khanna, Northern India champion, Parnita Garewal and Anjali Chopra are among 60 golfers who have consented to take part in the first NGC Ladies Amateur Championship starting from tomorrow.

Haryana down West Bengal
KARNAL, Nov 12 — On the opening day of the 14th All-India Postal Basketball Championship here Haryana defeated West Bengal in a one-sided match by 91-41 points.

Asia Cup hockey on website 40 teams for sub-jr b’ball Teams arrive

Mukesh shoots 6-under again
From Our Sports Reporter

FARIDABAD, Nov 12 — Mukesh Kumar of Mhow produced one of the most amazing rounds in the history of the Wills Sport Indian Golf Tour as he shot a six-under 66 on the third day to open an eight-stroke lead on top of the leaderboard at the Rs 5-lakh Tiger Sports Marketing Open being played at the Aravalli Golf, here.

On Friday, Mukesh almost broke the world record of seven birdies in a row in championship play, but that did not deter him from finishing six-under 66 and taking his three-day aggregate to 20-under 196. That is a record on the PGA Indian Tour.

At the 6,129 yard, par-72 course, Amritinder Singh of Chandigarh was eight strokes adrift of the leader at 12-under 204 following a three-under 69 round today. Feroz Ali, the current leader in the Order of Merit, was third at nine-under 207, while twice Indian Open champion Ali Sher was fourth at seven-under 209. Vijay Kumar, who shot a course record nine-under 63 yesterday, had a horrid time today and finished six-over 78 to occupy the fifth place at six-under 210. Gaurav Ghei, despite making a nine on par-4 10th hole, finished two-under 70, taking him to sixth spot at five-under 211.

Mukesh began with a bogey on the first hole when his perfect second shot on the par-4 hole, hit the slope of the front mound and took a bad kick and went over the green. He missed his chip-putt from there to make a disastrous start. But there was no looking back thereafter as he went on a birdie binge. On the par-5 second, he chipped from the edge of the green to about two feet and then almost made an eagle on the next hole from the bunker but the ball stopped one roll short of the cup. He then birdied the fourth and fifth as well, before missing a short three-footer birdie putt on the sixth. As if to make up, he birdied the 7th,8th and 9th holes to complete the front nine with seven birdies, one bogey and one par.

It was not as if the course was playing easy. The rest of the field needed 36.24 strokes on an average to complete their front nine. But Mukesh’s approach shots peppered the flag throughout and his putting was immaculate except on the sixth hole.

Mukesh slipped a bit on the back nine and made bogies on the 10th, 11th and 17th but recovered in the end to remain six-under with birdies on the 14th, 16th and 18th holes. “I am staying mum about my chances till I play the 72nd hole. You can never predict anything in golf,” he said later.

Was breaking the 60 barrier on his mind? “No never. But I kept thinking that I will play at least 10-under after completing the first nine holes. That actually ruined the round for me,” he said.

Amritinder had a frustrating day with the putter. His longest putt was an eight-footer for an eagle on the 12th hole. Otherwise, he made four birdies which were all from gimme distance. “I sincerely believe I am not out of the race yet. If I can touch the kind of putting form Mukesh displayed today, I can still beat him, “ said the optimistic Chandigarh pro.

Vijay’s spate of bad luck began when he made a triple bogey on the fifth hole after duffing his second shot into the water hazard. He then made a double bogey on the seventh when he went over the green with his second shot and the ball almost got stuck to nearby boundary wall.

Gaurav looked like threatening the leaders and was four-under after nine, but hit out of bounds twice on the 10th hole and then found the lateral water hazard before finishing the par-4 hole in nine strokes. The India Cements-sponsored pro still managed to finish two-under for the day.

Among other good cards submitted today were a five-under 67 by Ali Sher, who missed short birdie putts on the 17th and 18th, and a four-under 68 by Ranjit Singh of Chandigarh.

Scores (after 36 holes): 196 Mukesh Kumar (66,64,66), 204 Amritinder Singh (66,69,69), 207 Feroz Ali (65,73,69), 209 Ali Sher (70,72,67), 210 Vijay Kumar (69,63,78), 211 Gaurav Ghei (74,67,70), 213 Arjun Singh (72,69,72), Pappan (71,70,73), 214 Digvijay Singh (71,70,73), Sanjay Kumar (73,72,69), Shiv Prakash (75,69,70), 215 Amit Dubey (72,72,71), Amateurs: 223 - Simarjeet Singh (71,76,76).

Lillee questions Akhtar’s ability

PERTH, Nov, 12 (AFP) — Australian cricket fast bowling legend Dennis Lillee has questioned Pakistan firebrand Shoaib Akhtar’s ability to break the 100 miles per hour (161 kmh) speed barrier.

Lilee said he hoped the 24-year-old dynamo could achieve the target during the remaining two Tests of Pakistan’s three-Test Australia tour, “but from what I have seen I have my doubts.”

Akhtar, the world’s fastest bowler and nicknamed the Rawalpindi Express’ declared on arrival in Australia last month that he aimed during the tour to become the first bowler to be clocked at 100 mph.

He has previously bettered 97 mph, but during the first Test in Brisbane he was regularly around 90 mph with a delivery of 93.7 mph.

“That’s consistently 9.3 to 9.9 mph off the money — and that’s a long way off,” Lillee wrote in his Friday column for the West Australian newspaper.

“A lot of guys over the years bowled at around 90 mph, so Akhtar is really stuck in the ruck with them.

“Jeff Thomson (Australia), Michael Holding and Andy Roberts (West Indies) stood out as the 97 mph plus men.”

Lillee said it seemed the faster Akhtar tried to bowl, the less he was on his game which was to take wickets.

“When Shoaib cut back a bit in Brisbane he swung the ball, bowled a lot better and got results.

“That’s the point about good fast bowling. Shoaib has to realise he must bowl within himself and let only the occasional one go, because it is the change of pace that is so often the undoing of a batsman.”

In the Brisbane Test, won by Australia by 10 wickets, Akhtar took four for 153 in the first innings and none for 25 in the second.

Gustafsson, Kafelnikov record wins

STOCKHOLM, Nov 12 (Reuters) — Fourth-seed German Tommy Haas went out to Swede Magnus Gustafsson 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) after a miserable third-round performance at the Stockholm Open.

Haas, who had to reach the final here to earn a place as a reserve for the lucrative year-ending ATP World Championship in Hanover, appeared nervous and out-of-sorts yesterday.

Gustafsson won the first set easily and took a 3-1 lead in the second before Haas found his rhythm on the indoor court and fought back to even the set 6-6 for a deciding tiebreak.

“I was lucky to win the tiebreak. Haas sharpened his play and probably would have played even better in a third,” said Gustafsson, playing his 11th Stockholm Open.

Sweden’s talented junior, Andreas Vinciguerra, ousted Italian Gianluca Pozzi 6-3, 6-3 to earn a quarter-final match against countryman Thomas Enqvist who defeated German Jens Knappschild 6-2, 6-4.

“I’m playing good tennis right now and having a lot of fun,” Vinciguerra, ranked 108 in the world, said.

Vinciguerra has climbed more than 500 places in the ATP standings this year.

There was more home success when sixth-seed Magnus Norman defeated Wayne Ferreira 7-5, 6-2 and Jonas Bjorkman knocked out George Bastl of Switzerland 6-4, 6- 4.

MOSCOW: Top seed and defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov has criticised French umpire Francois Pareaut after a testing 6-4, 7-5 win over David Prinosil of Germany in the $ 1 million Kremlin Cup.

Russia’s world number two said after the second round triumph on Thursday: “All questionable calls went to my opponent. There are two or three umpires on the tour that I especially dislike. They just irritate me a lot.”

Kafelnikov also said he lost his concentration for a short time in the second set and it was enough to give Prinosil a second chance.

The German had broken back to level at 2-2 but Kafelnikov went 6-5 ahead by breaking to love in the 11th game and completed victory with a forehand winner.

Kafelnikov, bidding for a third Kremlin Cup success, has now beaten Prinosil in all-four of their encounters.

The Russian plays former long-time doubles partner Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals.

Former Kremlin Cup winner and last year’s finalist Goran Ivanisevic was forced to retire during his second-round against Byron Black of Zimbabwe because of influenza.

The Croat lost the first set 7-5 on tie-break and was trailing 3-1 in the second.

Black now faces Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, who defeated American Justin Gimelstob 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 in two-and-a-half hours.

Twice champion and seventh seed Marc Rosset of Switzerland, who has appeared in all 10 tournaments here, eliminated Sargis Sargsian of Armenia 6-3, 6-4.

French Open finalist and fifth seed Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine lost the first set and was 0-3 down in the second against Russian qualifier Andrei Stolyarov but pulled back to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Fazaluddin loses in final

MUMBAI, Nov 12 (PTI) — Third-seeded American Tom Chicoine rallied magnificently after dropping the first set to beat unseeded Indian Davis Cupper Syed Fazaluddin 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the men’s singles final of the $ 25,000 ITF Satellite Masters tennis circuit here today.

The American, who twisted his ankle in the middle of the third set, fought gallantly for one hour 35 minutes before a forehand return from the Indian went just wide to give him the match and the title.

Fazaluddin, who was pulled up for for faults on six occasions, started off in fine fashion, breaking his opponent in the very first game of the first set, and shot to a 5-3 lead. With a break in the ninth game, the Indian pocketed the set 6-3.

The Calcutta-based Fazaluddin was in trouble in the early part of the second set but saved a couple of break points to hold his serve.

However, the American, playing a more attacking tennis, broke the Indian in the fifth game to go 3-2 up. The Indian broke back in the eight game with a fine backhand pass to level the scores at 4-4.

In the next game, Fazaluddin faced three break points. He saved two of them with an ace and a fine drop volley, before losing his serve at 4-5. The American then served out the set at 6-4.

In the decider, the Indian held his serve in the first game after going through some anxious moments when his opponent netted an easy return.

Fazaluddin then saved three break points in the third game but drooped his serve on the fourth break point to trail 1-2. He had two break points on the American’s serve but failed to capitalise.

Soon after, Chicoine twisted his ankle while going for a difficult volley, but continued gamely. With his movements restricted, he changed his game plan and went for winners from the baseline, succeeding most of the time.

The Indian got his last chance to come back into the match when the American, who was limping badly, served for the match in the 10th game.

Fazaluddin forced two break points but the tall American saved both of them and then served out the match at 6-4.

Chicoine served five aces and made two double faults, while the Indian sent in three aces and committed one double fault.

The American won $ 800 and 31 circuit points, while Fazaluddin had to be content with $ 600 and 23 points.

Leander, Mahesh for ATP Challenger

LUCKNOW, Nov 12 (UNI) — The world number one doubles tennis pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will be seen in action here in the $ 25,000 prize money ATP Tour Challenge Tennis Tournament from November 29 to December 4.

Director of Paes-en-Sport Dr Vece Paes said this in a press release issued here yesterday that several other leading tennis stars from all over the world would participate in a six-day tournament at the Oudh Gymkhana Club here.

The Lucknow Challenger is being organised with the active support of the Lucknow Tennis Association and the Oudh Gymkhana Club, the release said.

Winner of the tournament will be awarded 60 points, finalists 43, semi-finalists 25 and quarter-finalists 13 points. The winner will receive the prize money of $ 3,600 while the finalists will get $ 2,120, semi-finalists $ 1,225 and quarter-finalists will get $ 730.

Haryana register narrow win
From Our Sports Reporter

ROHTAK, Nov 12 — Haryana defeated Himachal Pradesh by two wickets in the one-day Ranji Trophy match at Vishwakarma Stadium here today.

Himachal Pradesh, considered a comparatively weak team in the zone, did not make a meek surrender today. They forced Haryana to struggle before the latter emerged winner.

Haryana made four changes in its team which played at Gurgaon in the previous match against Services. Jasbir Singh, Manish Shakhalkar, Pradeep Jain and Rajesh Boora were replaced by Amarjeet Kaypee, Feroze Ghyas, Sanjay Balwan and Pankaj Thakur.

Haryana’s decision of putting the visitors in to bat first after winning the toss appeared to pay immediate dividend as both the Himachal openers were dismissed for a duck. A third-wicket partnership of 57 runs in 96 minutes off 135 balls between seasoned campaigner Rajeev Nayyar and Sangram Singh put Himachal Pradesh on the path of recovery. But after the dismissal of Sangram (27 runs in 71 balls) in 24th over, wickets continued to fall at regular interval from the one end. It was only skipper Rajeev who guarded the wicket at the other end. He went on to score an unbeaten 59 in 197 minutes off 127 deliveries as the entire Himachal team was dismissed for 132 in 49.2 overs.

Chasing a victory target of 133 at an asking fate of 2.66 Haryana also made a disastrous start. They lost opener Sanjay Balwan before the batsman had opened his account. Jitender Singh, one of the most prolific run-getter for Haryana so far, failed with the bat on his home ground. He was dismissed by Praveen Sharma on a ball which kept fairly low.

Skipper Parinder Sharma and old warrior Amarjeet Kaypee, who was playing in the instant cricket for the first time this season, added 56 runs for the third wicket. kaypee scored 28 runs before being caught by Rajeev Nayyar off Rahul Panta. When the scoreboard read 84, Rahul struck again to dismiss Parinder for 28.

Sanjay Dalal who had clicked with the bowl today taking 4 wickets for 23 runs, disappointed with the bat. He was also dismissed by Rahul Panta. At one stage Haryana had lost 7 wickets for 108. Rajesh Puri and Vineet Jain finally guided Haryana to a two-wicket victory in the 43rd over.

For Himachal Pradesh medium pacer Rahul Panta was the most successful bowler who claimed six wickets for 29 runs. In today’s match, the bowlers who operated from the far end of the ground attained big success as the ball repeatedly kept low.

SCOREBOARD

Himachal Pradesh: Nischal b Vineet 0, Ajay c Sanjay Balwan b Ghayas 0, Rajiv not out 59, Sangram run out 27, Yashwinder st Ajay Ratra b Thakur 4, Rahul st Ajay Ratra b Thakur 6, Manuj c & b Sanjay 2, Arun lbw Sanjay 15, Jaswant b Vineet 8, Shakti lbw Sanjay 3, Praveen b Sanjay 1.

Extras (B-1, LB-1, W-4, NB-1).

Toral (all out in 49.2 overs) 132.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0, 3-57, 4-63, 5-70, 6-75, 7-95, 8-108, 9-117, 10-132.

Bowling: Vineet Jain 9-2-41-2 (2 wide balls), Feroze Ghyas 8-1-18-1 (2 wide balls, 1 NB), Parinder Sharma 3-1-12-0, Sonu Sharma 10-5-13-1, Pankaj Thakur 10-2-23-1, Sanjay Dalal 9.2-2-23-4.

Haryana: Jitender lbw Praveen 9, Sanjay c Rajeev b Shakti 0, Parinder b Rahul 28, Amarjeet c Rajeev Nayyar b Rahul 32, Rajesh not out 24, Sanjal b Rahul 0, Ajay lbw Rahul 0, Pankaj lbw Rahul 6, Feroze b Rahul 6, Vineet not out 13.

Extras (B-1, LB-3, W-10, NB-2).

Total (for 8 wickets in 42.2 overs) 134.

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-19, 3-75, 4-84, 5-84, 6-90, 7-108, 9-115.

Bowling: Shakti Singh 10-2-37-1 (W-2), Praveen Sharma 8-1-33-1) (NB-1, WB-7), Rahul 10-3-29-6 (NB-1, W-1), Jaswant Rai 8.2-1-24-0, Nischal Gaur 4-2-7-0.

Delhi beat Punjab in nail-biting finish
From Our Sports Reporter

LUDHIANA, Nov 12 — In a nail-biting finish, last year’s zonal champions, Punjab went down fighting by one-wicket to Delhi in North Zone Ranji league one-day match at the Punjab Agricultural University ground here today.

Chasing a victory target of 260 runs, Delhi, struggling at 244 for nine after 47.5 overs, finished at 262 on the penultimate ball of the match

Punjab skipper Vikram Rathore won the toss and opted to bat first, after losing their first wicket at the score 29 (Sandeep Sharma 11), Vikram with Reetinder Sodhi (26) added 64 valuable runs for the second wicket before Sodhi was caught at mid-wicket.

Then inform batsman Pankaj Dharmani joined his captain. Vikram and Pankaj produced a steady 29-run stand before the former gave a simple catch to Ajay Sharma at short mid-wicket. Vikram (65) struck 7 fours and two sixes facing 76 balls. Pankaj and Dinesh then added 69 runs for the fourth wicket. Pankaj top scored with 69 runs which came off 69 balls studded with five hits to the fence and one six over the long off. Dinesh Mongia made fluent 33 off 30 balls which included 2 fours and 2 sixes. Harbhajan Singh cracked 23 off 17 balls as the hosts scored 259 all out in 49.3 overs.

Ajay Sharma was the wrecker-in-chief for Delhi claiming four wickets off 5.3 overs conceding 32 runs.

Some erratic bowling by Punjab bowlers let the visitors reach in a comfortable position (159 for 3 after 32 overs). Opener Ashu Dani and one down batsman, Neeraj Chawla, hoisted 134 runs for the second wicket. They contributed 64 runs each. Delhi were coasting well 207 for 5 after 40 overs. In the 41st over, Harbhajan caught Mithun Minhas (2) off his own bowling and then bowled well set Varinder Sehwas (21) reducing Delhi to 209 for 7. After 47.5 overs, Delhi were in a perilous situation 244 for 9 but their last pair of Aashish Nehra (17 n.o.) and Rajesh Gehlot (7 n.o.) with a flurry of shots helped their side to a dramatic one-wicket win with one ball to spare.

SCOREBOARD

Punjab: Vikram Rathore c Ajay Sharma b R. Rathore 65, Sandeep Sharma c Vijay Dahiya b A. Nehra 11, R. Sodhi c S. Rauf b H. Chaudhary 26, Pankaj Dharmani c A. Malhotra b Ajay Sharma 69, Dinesh Mongia b Ajay Sharma 33, Yuvraj Singh run out 12, Harbhajan Singh not out 23, Amit Sharma lbw A. Nehra 0, H. Jugnu c Harinder b Ajay Sharma 5, Navdeep Singh stump Dahiya b Ajay Sharma 3, R.P. Singh run out 0. Extras 12 (wides 9, legbyes 1, byes 2) Total 259 in 49.3 overs.

Fall of wickets: 1/29, 2/93, 3/122, 4/191, 5/220, 6/227, 7/227, 8/249, 9/259,10/259.

Bowling: Ashish Nehra 10-0-46-2, Rajesh Gehlot 4-0-25-0, Ashish Malhotra 7-1-26-0, Rajiv Rathore 10-0-50-1, Harinder Choudhary 10-0-57-1, Virender Sehwag 3-0-20-0, Ajay Sharma 5.3-0-32-4.

Delhi: Ashu Dani c R.P. Singh b Yuvraj Singh 64, V. Dahiya lbw b R.P. Singh 5, Neeraj Chawla c V. Rathore b Yuvraj Singh 64, Rajiv Rathore run out 15, Ajay Sharma run out 21, V. Sehwag b Harbhajan 21, Mithun Minhas c and b Harbhajan 2, Harinder Chaudhry c V. Rathore b R. Sodhi 13, A. Malhotra c Harbhajan b S. Sharma 16, A. Nehra not out 17, Rajesh Gehlot not out 7. Extras 17. Total 262 for 9 in 49.5 overs.

Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-144, 2-159, 4-160, 5-196, 6-208, 7-209, 8-228, 9-244.

Bowling: R. Sodhi 6-0-40-1, R.P. Singh 6-0-32-1, S. Sharma 9.5-0-63-1, Harbhajan Singh 10-1-42-2, Navdeep Singh 10-0-38-0, Yuvraj Singh 8-0-37-2.

Ashwani scripts J&K victory

NEW DELHI, Nov 12 (UNI) — Jammu and Kashmir star Ashwani Gupta (137) cracked an unbeaten splendid century to guide his team to a comfortable 55-run victory over Services in the North Zone Ranji Trophy one-dayer at the Harbax Stadium here today.

Chasing a challenging 286 to win the match, Services were skittled out for 230 in 45 overs.

Reeling at 71 for five, Services batsmen C.D. Thomson and Amit Nadkarni applied themselves to undo further damage and added 79 runs for the sixth wicket before Thomson was caught by Amitpal off Kawaljit. He scored 50 (80b, 2x4, 1x6) in a total of 150.

Barring Thomson and Nadkarni, who raised some hope with his highest individual score 73(107m, 79b, 4x4), none other batsmen could negotiate the opposition attack with confidence to achieve the target.

Kawaljit Singh claimed three scalps while Vijay Sharma, Surinder Singh and Sanjay Sharma took two wickets each.

Earlier in the morning, after put in to bat, Jammu and Kashmir started on a dismal note as they lost two wickets within the space of eight runs. But Amitpal Singh and Ashwani Gupta batted sensibly to add 104 runs for the third wicket before Amitpal (41) was run out with the team score reading 112.

Though wickets kept falling on regular intervals, Aswani scored runs with a flourish and slammed a gritty century to put up a fighting total of 285 in the stipulated 50 overs. He remained unbeaten on 137 (193m, 146b, 14x4).

Sayed Javed returned with three for 47 while Surinder Suri claimed two wickets with M.V. Rao and S.D. Thomson shared one each.

Brief score:

Jammu and Kashmir: 285 for 8 in 50 overs (Amitpal Singh-41, Ashwani Gupta-137, Dhruv Mahajan -29 Javed -3 for 47, Suri -2 for 53).

Services: 230 in 45 overs (C.D. Thomson-50, Amit Nadkarni-73, Kawaljit Singh-3 for 50, Sanjay Sharma-2 for 28, Surinder Singh-2 for 22, Vijay Sharma-2 for 40).

Yadav slams 265

INDORE, Nov 12 (PTI) — Opener J.P. Yadav slammed a career best knock of 265, enabling Madhya Pradesh to post a mammoth first-innings total of 538 for seven declared on the second day of the Central Zone Ranji Trophy cricket match here today.

At stumps, Railways were 55 for one in their first innings with Sanjay Bangar and Abhay Sharma batting on 30 and 12 runs, respectively.

Resuming on 249 for two, Madhya Pradesh added 289 more runs today, losing five wickets in the process. The highlight of the day was the double century by Yadav, who was instrumental in the 95-run third wicket partnership with Manish Majitha (34) and 133-run fourth wicket stand with Abbas Ali (67, 129 balls, 3x4).

Yadav’s knock came off 429 balls and contained 24 hits to the fence and six sixes. Madhya Pradesh captain Rajesh Chauhan declared the innings just two minutes before tea.

For railways, Kulmani Parida, who claimed two wickets, Zakir Hussain, Sanjay Bangar, W.D. Balaji Rao and Devendra Singh, who claimed a wicket each, were the successful bowlers.

Brief scores: Madhya Pradesh: 1st innings 538 for 7 decl (J.P. Yadav 265, Raja Gopalan 70, Abbas Ali 67, Manish Majithia 34; K. Parida 2/78). Railways 1st innings: 55 for one (S. Bangar batting 30, A. Sharma batting 12).

BSF book berth in semifinal
From Our Sports Reporter

JALANDHAR, Nov 12 — It was a lucky day for last year’s Champion Border Security Force, Jalandhar, in the 16th Indian Oil Surjit Memorial Hockey Tournament at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium, Burlton Park, here. BSF beat Central Industrial Security Force in a close contest by 2-1 and ensured their berth in semifinal from pool-I. The other teams who qualified from the group-II are Punjab Police and Punjab and Sind Bank, Delhi.

In other match of the day Air-India, Mumbai, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Mumbai shared one point each after playing a 2-2 draw.

In group-I league match between BSF and CISF was played on a fast pace. Securitymen got their first penalty corner in the 17th minute of the game. The CISF counter attacked in the 19th minute from the left flank. Inside left Cycril Ekka initiated a superb move down the centre with the outside left Parmveer Singh. Ekka entered the striking circle but he was tackled by the rival defender Namn Kallu, resulting in a penalty corner in favour of the CISF which proved useless.

The securitymen retaliated from left flank. Habill Topono and S. Minz gave some anxious movements to the rivals and got the second penalty corner in the 22nd minute. They got the lead through M. Ekka who converted the penalty corner (1-0). After trailing by one goal, CISF made some good counter attacks and their centre forward GV Xaxa weaved a fine move in unison with inside left Manga Munda but their move fizzled out as they were bereft of ideas in the striking circle. At half time BSF was leading by 1-0.

After the breather, CISF lads seemed to be more determined and got the equaliser in the 43rd minute when Parteek converted the penalty corner (1-1). After this, the BSF launched raids in the rival territory and got a penalty corner in the 56th minute. This time N. Kallu right back of the BSF hit the penalty shot straight to the rivals goalkeeper Raizzudin. Another BSF player M Slakra was there to take rebound. He made no mistake and sounded the board 2-1.

In the second match of the day in same group between BPCL, Mumbai, and Air-India, Mumbai, began at a hot pace. The airmen opened their account in the very sixth minute of the game when out side left Edwar Arhana moved in tendem with centre forward Alloy D’Souza from near the 25 yard line. Centre forward Alloy D’Souza, after dribbling past the rival, gave the ball to Edward Arhana in the circle, who moved his right, and despite being tackled by another, swerved to his left and hammered the ball past a bewildered goalkeeper (1-0). The airmen sparkled in every nook and corner of the fired. Their wingers and forwards exhibited great understanding. They consolidated the lead in the 18th minute of the game when they got the first penalty corner and this time Edward Arhana again sounded the board with a powerful shot (2-1). BPCL lads unable to cope with the rival forwards, shifted their attacks to the right flank and the strategy, apid the dividend when they got the two penalty corners in a row in the 20th and 22nd minutes but their hitter failed to make any use of them.

They started firing at the rival citadel and reduced the margin just one minute before the first half through a brilliant field goal by Sabu Virky. At half time Air India was leading by 2-1.

After changing over, airmen exhibited better skill and went into attack right from the start. Their forwards penetrated into the BPCL territory time and again but full marks to BPCL defence as they refused to wilt under pressure.

The airmen in were in full flow and earned three penalty corners in the 48th, 50th and 52th minutes but they could not add any goal to their lead.

The petroleum men struggled desperately to find the equaliser but the Air-India defence did not cave in under pressure and struck to their lead of 2-1 till 67th minute. But in the dying minute of the game Sabu Virky once again scored a fine field goal with a solo effort to equalise.

Tomorrow fixtures:

PSEB v/s RCF, 9.00 a.m., CISF v/s Air-India, 11.00 a.m, BSF v/s BPCL, 1.00 p.m, Punjab Police v/s Punjab and Sind Bank, 3.00 p.m.

Jalandhar, Rourkela teams in final

NEW DELHI, Nov 12 (UNI) — Lyallpur Khalsa Sr Sec School, Jalandhar, downed defending champions St Ignatius High School, Gumla, 1-0 to set up a title clash with Birsamunda Vidyapitha, Rourkela, who easily overcame listless Sat Guru Partap Academy, Ludhiana, 2-0 today in the semi-finals of the 17th Nehru Sub-Junior Hockey Tournament.

In the first half Jalandhar and Gumla teams matched the opponents move for move with the scorecard reading 0-0 at half time.

Jalandhar lads took control in the second half and created some good moves from the right flank. Reward came in the 44th minute when Jalandhar’s Rajwinder Singh ran down from his right flank dodging defenders on the way and pushed the ball to Joga Singh waiting at the goal mouth to tap the ball in.

Bouyed by the 1-0 lead, Jalandhar launched a fresh offensive. Surjan Singh created two good moves for them but none could be converted. A direct penalty corner hit by Jalandhar boys was saved by Gumla’s Jacarius Bhengra on the goal line.

Gumla boys had a good chance to equalise in the 51st minute when John Minj passed the ball from the right to unmarked Ruplal Xalxo whose deflection went out. Both teams continued to attack but failed to get the better of the other in the remaining minutes.

The hero of the other semi-final was Rosan Minz of Birsamunda Vidyapitha. In the 16th minute, in a solo effort, he ran down from the right to the Ludhiana striking circle and put the ball in the rival citadel.

In the 42nd minute he created a similar move but before he could take a shot at the goal he was brought down. The penalty stroke which resulted was converted by Anthony Hemburm to wrap up the match 2-0.

The Ludhiana team did initiate some moves, but ran out of steam before they could pose any serious threat to the rivals.

Shruti, Parnita to take part
From Our Sports Reporter

NOIDA, Nov 12 — Shruti Khanna, Northern India champion, Parnita Garewal and Anjali Chopra are among 60 golfers who have consented to take part in the first NGC Ladies Amateur Championship starting from tomorrow.

The inaugural meet will be a two-day 36-hole affair but in the subsequent years it will be a four-round competition, organisers said here today.

The LG and NGC salvers will be played simultaneously with handicaps 13-24 and 25-36.

The 10,964-yard course has been redone and is in a good condition for participants to return good scores. The recently laid 12 greens and all fairways are looking trim.

Following success of the six-club tournament held last March, the Noida course management thought of starting another tournament to provide encouragement to the women players.

40 teams for sub-jr b’ball
From Our Sports Reporter

LUDHIANA, Nov 12 — More than 40 teams in the boys as well as girls’ selections have confirmed participation in the 26th National Sub-junior Basketball Championship scheduled to be held at Sri Anandpur Sahib from November 14 to 19, according to Punjab Basketball Association sources. Teams will be divided into five pools which will play on league basis and two teams from each pool will qualify for the knockout stage.

Asia Cup hockey on website

NEW DELHI, Nov 12 (PTI) — India’s only hockey website www. indianhockey.com will feed live the Asia Cup Championship to be held at Kuala Lumpur from November 18 to 28.

Along with live updates of matches played by India, the site would also cater to the relay of exclusive interviews with team captains, coaches and performance analysis of the participating teams, a release said yesterday.

Haryana down West Bengal
Tribune News Service

KARNAL, Nov 12 — On the opening day of the 14th All-India Postal Basketball Championship here Haryana defeated West Bengal in a one-sided match by 91-41 points.

In the second match, Gujarat defeated Rajasthan by 82-74 points in a well-contested match.

Sanjay Kumar of Haryana excelled scoring 22 points while Ateru Banerjee of West Bengal scored 16 points.

In other matches, SF Kaltora of Gujarat scored 31 points and Chunni Lal of Rajasthan scored 22 points.

The championship was inaugurated by Mr N.K. Mangla, Chief General Manager of Telecom (Haryana Circle).

Eight postal circle teams are participating in the tournament.

Teams arrive

GUWAHATI, Nov 12 (UNI) — The New Zealand and the Indian cricket teams arrived here today from Gwalior for the fourth one-day tie on Sunday .

However, both teams spent the day in their hotel. They would play at the nets tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, 20,000-odd tickets had already been sold.

Chandigarh take 96-run lead

PATIALA, Nov 12 (FOSR) — Chandigarh gained an upper edge in their match against Bathinda gaining an impressive 96-run first innings lead on the penultimate day of the M.L. Markan Cricket Tournament final match (U-16) at the Dhruv Pandove Stadium here today.

After Chandigarh were restricted to 337 for 7 in the stipulated 90 overs, Jalandhar started their reply on a formidable note till they ran into right arm leggie Sahil Bhatia, who not only gave the ball ample air but turned it also on the slightly-bowler friendly pitch.

Sahil showed that he had enough weapons in his armoury and soon enough he had the Jalandhar batsmen in trouble. It was Bhatia’s second spell which ensured that for the rival batsmen run making would be a tough assignment and apart from a resolute 79 by Amit Behl no Jalandhar batsman was allowed to settle down.

Scores:

Chandigarh (Ist innings): 337 for 7 in 90 overs.

Jalandhar: (Ist innings): 241 all out in 62 overs. (Amit Behl 79, Gaurav Sharma 54, Jatinder Pal 28, Manik Kohli 36, Sahil Bhatia 7 for 99, Amardeep 2 for 71).

Chandigarh (IInd innings): 40 for 1 in 23 overs (Amardeep 27 n.o.).

Brahmjeet annexes wrestling gold

CHANDIGARH, Nov 12 (BOSR) —Brahmjeet Singh of Panjab University, Chandigarh, wrested gold medal in the 63-kg weight category on the penultimate day of the All India Inter University Wrestling Championship at Gymnasium hall, PU, here today.

Today a controversy was created over the participation of an wrestler Qasim Deen ( 69 kg category) from two different universities — GNDU, Amritsar and PU, Chandigarh. He actually took part in this year’s inter college championship from DAV College, Dasuya which comes under PU, Chd, and also from SD College, Pathankot, which falls under GNDU.

The flouting of rules was found by the officials present at the time of weighing in today. GNDU wrestling coach Mr S.S Randhwa told that Qasim had been playing in the university for the last three years. Mr Kewal Singh, Assistant Director (Sports) PU, assured that he would look into the matter.

Results (4th day):

63 kg: Brahmjeet Singh (PU,Chd)1, Niranjan (Devi Ahilya Univ. Indore) 2, Pradeep Kumar (CCSU, Meerut) 3.

97 kg: Shripal (MDU, Rtk) 1, Amandeep Singh (GNDU, Asr) 2, Rajinder (PU, Chd) 3.

54 kg: Sandeep Kumar (MDU, Rtk) 1, Ganjan (RDU, Jabalpur) 2, Naresh (KU, Kshtra) 3.

76 kg: Ashok Kumar (CCSU, Meerut) 1, Sunil Kumar (Jaunpur) 2, Naveen Dahiya (MDU, Rtk) 3.

Punjab Police cagers triumph

JALANDAHR, Nov 12 (FOSR) — Punjab Police with Indian Bank (Tamil Nadu) from pool-A and Army and Indian Railways from pool-B from the men’s section moved into the semifinal of the 16th Federation Cup Basketball Championship being played at PAP Sports Complex, Jalandhar Cantonment, under floodlights.

Punjab Police top the pool-A. They defeated the Indian Bank in their last league encounter. From the winning side Parminder Singh Happy stole the show by earning 42 points. Parminder showed the brilliant ball control. Punjab players proved their supremacy all the way and scored goals consecutively and also did not allow Indian Bank to score against them in the initial moments of the first half. The score was 41-38 in favour of Punjab till the half time.

In the second half also Punjab Police team maintained the pressure to their opponents. There performance in the second half was much better then the first half. Parminder remained top scorer again from the winning side. He earned the 42 points while other scorer for Punjab Police was Tejinder Dutt (13).

For the Tamil Nadu team Jaikishan scored earned the 16 points.

In other matches in men’s version Army beat Maharashtra by 96-46.

In women’s section Indian Railway team proved their supremacy beating Andhra Pradesh by 56-44 in a well contested match.

Kangra college bag basketball crown

SOLAN, Nov 12 (FOC) — DAV College, Kangra annexed the crown by defeating Government College, Sarkaghat Mandi 65-36 in the finals of the 29th Himachal Pradesh University Inter College Basketball (men) Championships that concluded at the courts of the local Government Post Graduate College today.

Earlier the Kangra outfit had defeated Government College, Mandi 65-38 in the first semi-final, while Government College Sarkaghat, had defeated SVSD College, Bhatol, 61-38 in the other semi-final.

Vinod Kumar Gularia of DAV College, Kangra who shot the basket a total of 137 times in the championships, was adjudged the Best Player of the tournament. He scored 28 points in the final alone.

The Minister for Urban Development Mr Roop Dass Kashyap, gave away the prizes and declared the meet closed.

District TT

FEROZEPORE, Nov 12 (FOC) — The Ferozepore District Table Tennis Championship will be held at the local DC Model Senior Secondary School on November 14.

Giving this information here yesterday the Ferozepore District TT Association general secretary, Mr Anirudh Gupta, said that about 250 players would expected to participate in the championship.

He said the Ferozepore district team which would participate in the state championship scheduled to be held in Amritsar from November 15 to 19 would be selected during the championship.

Judo trials

HISAR, Nov 12 (FOSR) — The Haryana State Judo Association will conduct trials to select Haryana boys and girls team for the National Junior Judo Championship scheduled to be held at Mizoram from November 29 to December 4 at Mahabir Stadium here on November 14 at 10.30 a.m.

Dr Sumer Singh Nandal, general secretary of the association, said here yesterday that the selected players will attend a 10-day coaching camp before taking part in the national meet.