Gavaskar, Kalyani hit double tons
AGARTALA, Nov 23 —Unbeaten double centuries by Rohan Gavaskar (212) and Srikant Kalyani (200) helped Bengal declare at a commanding 533 for two, while hosts Tripura were 65 for one at stumps on the second day of the East Zone Ranji Trophy league match here today.

Bhupathi pulls out of Asia Cup
NEW DELHI, Nov 23 — India’s quest to win the Asian team tennis trophy for the third straight year received a blow when its number two player Mahesh Bhupathi pulled out of the ATF Asia Cup starting here tomorrow.

Rahul Panta fails to ensure HP win
UNA, Nov 23 — The four-day North Zone Ranji Trophy match between Himachal and Services ended in a draw as the hosts failed to achieve victory target of 257 runs set by Services and were 164 for five at the close of play.

Lehl, Dullat share lead
KAPURTHALA, Nov 23 — A. S. Lehl of Chandigarh and Jassanjit Singh Dullat of Patiala shared the lead on the opening day of the PGA State Golf Championship which was teed off at the Rail Coach Factory golf course here today.

Puri denies Punjab outright victory
GURGAON, Nov 23 — A brilliant unfinished knock of 100 by Haryana batsman Rajesh Puri and his fifth-wicket partnership worth 110 runs with Amarjit Kaypee denied Punjab an outright victory on concluding day of the Ranji Trophy league encounter at Nehru Stadium here today.

Nadia qualifies for main draw
Chandigarh, Nov 23 — Nadia Saini, a class V student of DAV Public School, Sector 8 did the city proud when she qualified for the main draw in the girls section of the 61st Stroh’s Junior National Table Tennis Championship at the Sector 23 TT hall today.

Korea rout China, enter semis
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 — Reigning champions South Korea entered the semifinals of the 5th Asia Cup Hockey Tournament overpowering China 6-1 in a pool A match here today.

Pak not to play in Champions Trophy
CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — The International Hockey Federation (FIH) today confirmed that six teams would participate in the 22nd men’s Champions Trophy and the eighth women’s Champions Trophy being held from May 26 to June 4 in Amstelveen, the Netherlands.

Poulami, Anal get top seedings
Chandigarh, Nov 23 — Poulami Ghatak of Bengal in girls while Anal Kashyap of Petroleum Sports Control Board Academy, Ajmer have been given top seedings in singles as well as doubles in the 61st Stroh’s Junior National table tennis championship here.In Doubles Anal is paired with S. Roy while Poulami with Mouma Das .

Cricket team leaves for Australia Punjab gain five points

BSF, PSB to clash in final

NEW DELHI, Nov 23 (UNI) — BSF and Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) overcame tough opposition today to book berths in the finals of the 36th Nehru Hockey Tournament.

In the semifinals today BSF defeated IHF Junior 5-2 while PSB beat Army XI 4-2.

BSF went into the overdrive from the very beginning. In the 13th minute they got their second penalty corner. Cristopher Ekka pushed the ball towards the goal but after a rebound it came to Marinus Lakra who finally scored.

Equaliser for the IHF came in the three minutes later. Sushil Kumar checked the stick of Kamlesh Kumar in the striking circle resulting in a stroke which Roshan Tate converted.

In the 22nd minute BSF’s Shinu Herenz made a solo move from the right flank and passed the ball to his captain Harbhajan Singh who beat the goalkeeper and made 2-1.

Three minutes after the breather Habil Topno deflected a hit by Sushil Kumar from outside the striking circle into the goal.

IHF got their third penalty corner in the 43rd minute when Kamlesh Kumar was brought down. Inder Singh passed the ball to Jugraj Singh who pushed the ball in the net and made it 2-3.

In the 45th minute a long shot by BSF’s Sushil Kumar lifted off the stick of a defender and came to Harbhajan Singh who was suitably to make it 4-2.

The final goal for BSF came in the dying moments of the game through a penalty corner conversion by Cristopher Ekka.

PSB was in attack made form the beginning. In the second minute bankmen forced their second penalty corner. The push came to Sandeep Singh. Singh turned around and passed it to Olympian Sanjeev Kumar who made it 1-0.

Four minutes later Armymen equalised through their first penalty corner Kamal Horo pushed the ball which after a rebound from goalkeeper came to Siprin Aind who sounded the board.

In the 12th minute Armymen made it 2-1. Samson ran down through the right flank with the ball, breached the defence and passed it to Kamal Horo who scored.

PSB’s Sandeep Singh deflected Sandeep Singh Ghuman’s hit from outside the striking circle into the goal in the 31st minute to restore parity.

Three minutes after the lemon break Sandip Singh’s push towards the Armymen goal was kicked by their captain Poonacha resulting in a penalty stroke. Rajinder Singh made it 3-2.

Armymen did threaten the enemy defence with some dangerous moves but failed to move the scoreboard.

In the 50th minute Bhupinder Hayer mounted another attack through right flank, cutting past the defenders he reached the striking circle and his reverse flick to the left of goalkeeper found the nets.

Agassi, Sampras in same group

HANOVER, Nov 23 (AFP) —Long-time rivals Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras were drawn together in the Red Group as the off-court preliminaries of the $ 3.6-million ATP Tour World Championship made a delayed start. The fourth and final year of the eight-man event in the northern German city will pit the current and former world number one players in a round-robin grouping when play begins today.The draw ceremony began 45 minutes late yesterday, due in part to some of the top eight having to return to their hotel to don suits and ties for the crowded draw ceremony at a central city cafe.

Agassi, winner of the French and US Opens in 1999 who will end the year as number one, heads the Red, with Sampras, Brazil’s Gustavo Kuerten and Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti in his pool.

Australian Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov tops the White Group along with Swede Thomas Enqvist, American Todd Martin and German crowd favourite Nicolas Kiefer, the first home player to qualify since Boris Becker three years ago.

Agassi, 29, said that after all he’s accomplished this year his work was not yet over.

“I won’t feel I’m number one unless I win here. I’ve accomplished a lot, but it’s all about staying on top of the other players”, Agassi said.

Sampras, who currently stands fifth in the world, is already looking ahead to next season.

The 28-year-old American has been all but idle since mid-August, playing only one match in Paris this month due to a disc problem in his back which kept him out of the US Open.

Sampras won a round at Paris Bercy three weeks ago, but pulled out of the Super 9 event the next day.

“My muscles were not ready yet to take the strain, “I got a scan which told me I was fine to play. That psychological part is as important as anything else.” Sampras said, after being out of action for three months.

The 10th edition of the event is being staged in Germany for the final time before the ATP Tour takes it on the road, starting with Lisbon next November. Then it will be on to Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Red group: Andre Agassi (USA), Gustavo Kuerten (Bra), Pete Sampras (USA), Nicolas Lapentti (Ecu).

White group: Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Rus), Thomas Enqvist (Swe), Nicolas Kiefer (Ger), Todd Martin (USA).

Martin hits 75 in drawn tie

PORT-OF-SPAIN, (Trinidad), Nov 23 (AP) — Baroda right-hander Jacob Martin top-scored with 75 as India ‘A’ batted all day to reach 283 for six and earn a draw in the opening ‘Test’ against West Indies ‘A’ here.

Resuming their second innings yesterday on 54 for one, still trailing the home team by nine runs, the Indians used the fourth and final day of the match for batting practice.

Martin, who made his one-day international debut against the West Indies in Toronto in September, was the batsman to make the most of the opportunity. The 27-year-old batted 226 minutes, faced 167 balls and struck seven boundaries.

Teenager Mohammad Kaif weighed in with an unbeaten 54 and Jadgish Arunkumar hit an accomplished 48, while his captain, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, scored 30. Wicket-keeper Samir Dighe picked up 29.

Fast bowlers Nixon McLean and Dwight Mais were the best of the bowlers. Vincentian McLean took two for 34 off 16 overs, while Jamaican Mais grabbed two for 48 off 14 overs.

Martin’s overnight partner, Gagan Khoda, fell after half an hour in the morning, taking his overnight score from 14 to 19. The Rajasthan opener edged a back foot shot off Mais to Chris Gayle at first slip.

Jadgish Arunkumar, when opened with Khoda in India’s first innings, joined Martin and put together the best partnership of the innings. The pair added 71 for the third wicket in two hours and 45 minutes.

The 27-year-old Martin added 39 to his overnight score of 36 before he sliced a drive to backward point off McLean half an hour after lunch to end the association.

Arunkumar, 29 when Martin was dismissed, became more aggressive when joined by his skipper Kanitkar. The 24-year-old from Karnataka was particularly severe on leg-spinner Rawl Lewis, taking 14 runs off one over, including two lofted straight hits for four and one that cleared the fence at extra cover.

But two runs away from his half century, Arunkumar dragged a short ball from Mais back onto his stumps. His innings spanned 163 minutes and 100 balls and was spiced with five fours and a six.

Scoreboard

India ‘A’ (1st innings): 226

West Indies ‘A’ (1st innings): 289

India ‘A’ (2nd innings) (overnight 54 for 1): Gagan Khoda c Gayle b Mais 19, Sridharan Sriram lbw b McLean 0, Jacob Martin c Hinds b McLean 75, Jagdish Arunkumar b Mais 48, Hrishikesh Kainitkar c Phillip b Gayle 30, Mohammad Kaif not out 54, Samir Dighe c Gayle b Lewis 29, Harvinder Singh Sodhi not out 19.

Extras: (LB-2, NB-7) 9

Total: (for 6 wickets, 103 overs) 283

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-59, 3-130, 4-155, 5-195, 6-240.

Bowling: Nixon McLean 16-2-34-2, Goldwyn Prince 17-4-43-0, Dwight Mais 14-2-48-2, Rawl Lewis 29-2-91-1, Ryan Hinds 11-3-29-0, Jimmy Adams 7-3-13-0, Chris Gayle 8-2-20-1, Daren Ganga 2-1-3-0.

Aussies revive memories of ‘invincibles’

HOBART, Nov 23 (Reuters) — Steve Waugh’s Australians earned comparisons with Don Bradman’s mighty 1948 invincibles after their astonishing four-wicket win over Pakistan in the second cricket Test yesterday.

Chasing an improbable 369 for victory, Australia reached their target with four wickets to spare after Adam Gilchrist (149 not out) and ‘man of the match’ Justin Langer (127) shared a record sixth-wicket partnership of 238.

Their victory earned the home side a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

The only other teams to have scored more to win a Test in the fourth innings were India, who made 406-4 to beat West Indies in 1975-76, and Don Bradman’s 1948 ‘invincibles’, who made 404-3 to beat England at Leeds.

That celebrated touring side won four of five Tests, drawing the fifth and dismissing England for 52 at The Oval, still the lowest home score against the Australians.

Waugh said the chase was the best he had ever seen in Test match cricket. “To win it so convincingly against such a good bowling team in the fourth innings was really a credit to the players for the way they played.”

Official one-day world champions, Australia are also widely recognised as the world’s best test team even though they have had trouble chasing small totals in recent seasons.

They collapsed to be all out for 111 chasing 117 for victory against South Africa four years ago and lost to England at The Oval in 1997 when only 124 was required.

They also slumped to a 12-run loss to England in last year’s fourth ashes Test in Melbourne when only 175 was needed.

Waugh said the win at Bellerive Oval had proven his team could score runs under pressure.

“This is the sort of win we’ve been looking for for quite a while,’’ Waugh said. “To come from behind and do the really hard work on the last day was a tremendous team effort.”

Pakistan captain Wasim Akram said Australia had batted magnificently.

“We tried our best, every bowler just worked very hard, but it was definitely their day,’’ Akram said.

Pakistan, who lost the first Test in Brisbane by 10 wickets, looked set to level the series ahead of the final match in Perth starting on Friday when they staged a magnificent fightback with a second innings of 392.

Australia were in deep trouble at 126-5 on the fourth day before Gilchrist and Langer began their epic partnership.

The two left-handers complemented each other as they smashed Bob Cowper and Tom Veivers’ 35-year-old record for the highest sixth-wicket stand against Pakistan by 99 runs.

Langer had scored just 96 runs in his previous five Tests and was content to play the anchorman role.

“We never took it for granted, we just played it one ball at a time,’’ Langer said.

The swashbuckling Gilchrist brought up his first Test hundred before lunch when he drove Waqar Younis straight down the ground for four. His 149 came off 163 balls in four-and-a-half hours and featured 13 boundaries and a massive six off Saqlain.

“I just tried to survive initially but my natural instincts to survive are to play aggressively,’’ Gilchrist said.

“We’ve had four of the ‘invincibles’ with us this week... supporting us and that’s just been magic,’’ he said. Bill Brown, Arthur Morris, Doug Ring, Bill Johnston of the 1948 squad watched the 1999 triumph.

Waugh said his team still had something to prove in the third Test before they could be compared with Bradman’s invincibles.

“We’ve had dead rubbers in the past where we haven’t played so well but there’s no such thing as dead rubber,’’ he said.

“We play to win and want to win the series 3-0.’’

The third Test starts in Perth on Friday.

Gavaskar, Kalyani hit double tons

AGARTALA, Nov 23 (PTI) —Unbeaten double centuries by Rohan Gavaskar (212) and Srikant Kalyani (200) helped Bengal declare at a commanding 533 for two, while hosts Tripura were 65 for one at stumps on the second day of the East Zone Ranji Trophy league match here today.

Resuming at 275 for two, Gavaskar and Kalyani completely dominated the loose bowling to pile up a huge total of 533 without being separated.

Bengal declared their innings just before the tea break after Kalyani completed his double century playing 624 minutes facing 914 deliveries.

While Gavaskar’s 212 (of 377 balls in 506 minutes) included 18 fours and one six, Kalyani’s knock contained 17 fours. The duo had a solid unbroken third-wicket partnership of 406 runs for Bengal.

Replying to the huge Bengal score, Tripura were 65 for loss of Subhra Paul’s wicket. That was taken by Utpal Chatterjee when Paul was on 15 and the team total 44.

Opener Rajsekhar Ghosh (32 no) and Amitava Vilaskar (19 no) were at the crease at stumps.

Bhupathi pulls out of Asia Cup

NEW DELHI, Nov 23 (PTI) — India’s quest to win the Asian team tennis trophy for the third straight year received a blow when its number two player Mahesh Bhupathi pulled out of the ATF Asia Cup starting here tomorrow.

Bhupathi and his Davis Cup partner Leander Paes finished runners-up at the season-ending ATP World Doubles Tennis Championship in Hartford on Sunday, and were to lead India’s challenge in the continental team tournament here.

“Bhupathi has been having shoulder problem... There is a pain while serving and has been advised against playing competitive tennis till the end of the year,” India’s non-playing captain Jaideep Mukerjea said.

With Bhupathi out of the team, a huge responsibility falls on Paes to lead India against odds — they were upstaged by Uzbekistan from the number one seeding this year.

India will open their campaign here against China, whom the hosts vanquished in a crucial Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Davis Cup relegation rubber at Calcutta in April last.

In the semifinals, the hosts are likely to face Japan who meet India ‘A’ in the first round tomorrow, according to the draw made here today by Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley.

The final is expected to be a repeat of last year’s summit clash — India taking on Uzbekistan. The former Soviet-bloc nation had been proving to be a major hurdle for the Indians since the inaugural tournament in 1997 and the hosts had to pull out all stops to emerge victors.

This year, a two-member Uzbek team of Oleg Ogorodov and Vadim Kutsenko — both having experience of the Indian conditions — has been top seeded and have a luxury of a direct place in the semifinals of the seven-team event.

“Its going to be tough with Bhupathi not in the team. But I am sure other players in the team will rise to the occasion and see India through,” Mukerjea said.

Lebanon, whom India play host to in February next for Asia-Oceania Davis Cup group I tie, had withdrawn from the event at the eleventh hour forcing the tournament organisers to draft an India ‘A’ team.

India are seeded number two followed by Japan and South Korea. Bhupathi’s place in the team will be taken by reserve Sandeep Kirtane.

Thailand, the other team featuring in the third edition of the ATF Asia Cup, being sponsored by MTNL, open the event with a three-match rubber against fourth seeds Korea.

India ‘A’ comprising national champion Sunil Kumar, Mustafa Ghouse, Vishal Uppal and Vijay Kannan also open their campaign tomorrow against better-rated Japan.

“We are not taking them (India ‘A’) lightly. They are young, but have a good doubles combination in Ghouse-Uppal,” Japanese non-playing captain Eiji Takeuchi said.

Japan are making their maiden entry here after missing first two years following clash of dates with national championships back home.

The format of the tournament, already losing its sheen in only the third year of running with top teams not sending their best players here, was revived by including placement matches for all the losing teams.

“We have decided to give every team a fair chance to prove their worth,” CEO of Asian Tennis Federation S. Uttarapati told reporters here.

“It is not good for the game of tennis that players travel so long, and are knocked out after losing just one match,” he said.

Many of the players will be playing qualifying tournament of the ATP Lucknow Challenger during the weekend and depending on their availability placement matches will played, Mr Uttarapati said.

The top-eight Asian nations men’s team championship was conceptualised by All-India Tennis Association and the ATF with India winning the inaugural event in 1997 beating Korea. Both Paes and Bhupathi spearhead the Indian challenge in by far the best championship.

Rahul Panta fails to ensure HP win

UNA, Nov 23 (PTI) — The four-day North Zone Ranji Trophy match between Himachal and Services ended in a draw as the hosts failed to achieve victory target of 257 runs set by Services and were 164 for five at the close of play.

A determined bid by Rahul Panta, who took six wickets for 103 runs and scored an unbeaten century in the second innings, failed to ensure victory for Himachal who got three points from the match against five points earned by the Services.

Resuming the play at overnight score of 90 for three, Services declared the second innings at 248 for eight. Sachin Kulkarni scored 54 runs for his side while Harish Bhaskar and Sapan Dutta scored 39 and 30 runs, respectively.

SCOREBOARD

Services (1st inning) 355

Himachal (1st innings) 348

Services (2nd innings) 248/8

Harish Bhaskar b Panta 39, Sapan Datta c Asim b Panta 30, C.D. Thomson b Panta 28, Sarbjit lbw Panta 0, Sachin c and b Gir 54, Sanjay Verma lbw Panta 9, Pankaj Maitery c and b Gaur 30, G.S. Thapa b Panta 8, M.V. Rao (n.o.) 27, Extras: 23.

Total: (for eight wickets in 74.3 overs) 248.

Fall of wickets: 1-71, 2-80, 3-80, 4-127, 5-166 6-186, 7-196, 8-248.

Bowling: Shakti Singh 11-3-30-0, Ravinder Gir 7-0-28-1, Rahul Panta 28-5-103-6, Anurag Sharma 15-6-46-0, Asim Kumar 3-0-15-0, Nischal Gaur 10.3-3-13-1,

Himachal (2nd inning): Nischal c Sarbjit b M.V. Rao 8, Panta n.o. 100, Sandip Modgil run out 20, Satya Parkash lbw M.V. Rao 6, Sangram Singh st Harish Bhaskar b Sanjay Verma 15, Rajiv Nayyar r.o. 2, Anurag Sharma n.o. 3. Extra: 10.

Total: (for five wickets in 41.4 overs). 164.

Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-77, 3-94, 4-139.

Bowling: M.V. Rao 21-3-84-2. S.V. Ghag 10-2-29-0, Pankaj Maitery 6-1-32-0, Sanjay Verma 4-0-13-1.

Lehl, Dullat share lead
From Harbans Singh Virdi
Tribune News Service

KAPURTHALA, Nov 23 — A. S. Lehl of Chandigarh and Jassanjit Singh Dullat of Patiala shared the lead on the opening day of the PGA State Golf Championship which was teed off at the Rail Coach Factory golf course here today.

Lehl and Jassanjit returned identical two over par cards (gross). And two strokes behind the leaders was Suman Puri of Jalandhar.

Eightytwo golfers from Patiala, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Bathinda and Pathankot are participating in the two-day event.

In fact the General Secretary of the Punjab Golf Association, Col. B.S. Kahlon (retd), was very happy with the condition of the course which, he said, was perfect for the competition. The golfers got down to their business after Mr Sube Singh, DGP (Vigilance), Punjab, inaugurated the event. As the day followed and the competition progressed, Jassanjit, Lehl and Puri cornered the spotlight.

However, besides a good show by Lehl and Jassanjit, the one who produced the highlight of the day was clearly Lt. Col. H.S Hanjra (retd) of Mohali, who recorded a hole-in-one. Hole-in-one is a queer phenomenon in the life of a golfer. He may have hole in one in his first attempt, but otherwise he may go on trying all his life yet he may not achieve such an honour. The last time such a mark was achieved on this golf course was in 1995 when the honour went to Balvinder Singh. However, on this day, it was Hanjra who enjoyed this stroke of luck.

The golf course is environmentally beautiful and is well maintained like other golf courses in Punjab and Chandigarh. The golfers too enjoyed the edge of competition that the even offered.

Besides, Jassanjit and Hanjra, good performances also came from Harjinder Kang, Ravipreet, Navjot Mann and Vikram (all Chandigarh) and a few boys from Patiala and Jalandhar.

This competition assumes significance from the fact that after the championship about 15 boys and 10 girls will be selected as probables who will go through the rigours of coaching at three camps to be followed at Patiala, Jalandhar and Chandigarh. Another golf tournament will also be held in March 2000, after which finally a state team comprising four boys and four girls will be selected in September which will represent the state in the National Games in which this discipline has been included.

The aim of the whole exercise is to bring the best out of the state golfers and field the best possible team.

Puri denies Punjab outright victory
From Our Sports Reporter

GURGAON, Nov 23 — A brilliant unfinished knock of 100 by Haryana batsman Rajesh Puri and his fifth-wicket partnership worth 110 runs with Amarjit Kaypee denied Punjab an outright victory on concluding day of the Ranji Trophy league encounter at Nehru Stadium here today.

With this drawn match Punjab garnered five points to take his tally of points to 34 to emerge zonal champions after a gap of six years. Haryana could muster only three points to finish third in the zone with 27 points behind Delhi (32 points).

When the play resumed today Haryana was struggling to avoid an outright victory with score board reading 40 for 3. Rajesh Puri and Amarjeet Kaypee used their entire experience to take their team out of the woods. Amarjeet Kaypee, who is highest run getter in this version of game, completed 7600 runs today when reached 23. He played with great determination as he took 185 balls to score 46 runs during his stay of 237 minutes at the crease. He picked loose deliveries to score which were rarely delivered by Punjab bowlers. Kaypee was sent back to pavilion by an income delivery of R.P. Singh.

Sanjay Dalal, Ajay Ratra and Pankaj Thakur did not last long and were cheaply sent back by the opponents. Rajesh Puri after the fall of these early wickets, punished every bowler with authority to all corners of ground. He completed his 14th century when play was called off after 9.1 mandatory overs. His knock was studded with 18 hits to the fence.

Scoreboard

Haryana (Ist innings) 279.

Punjab (Ist innings) 379.

Haryana (2nd innings):

Jitender c Yuvraj b Sandeep 5, Jasvir c Dinesh b Sarandeep 25, Parinder lbw Sarandeep 9, Pradeep c Dharmani b Navdeep 0, Amarjeet b R.P. Singh 46, Rajesh not out 100, Sanjay b, Sarandeep 10, Ajay c Sarandeep b Sawal 4, Pankaj c P. Dharmani b Sawal 10, Vineet not out 0, Extras (nb-15, lb 3, b-24) 42, Total (for 8 wkts.) 251.

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-36, 3-40, 4-59, 5-169, 6-195, 7-200, 8-218.

Bowling: Sandeep Sharma 20-8-33-1, R.P. Singh 14-2-50-1, Navdeep Singh 27.1-9-45-1, Sarandeep Singh 37-21-40-3, Sandeep Sawal 14-3-52-2, Dinesh Mongia 1-0-4-0.

We’ll give hundred per cent: Sachin

MUMBAI, Nov 23 (PTI) — A confident captain Sachin Tendulkar yesterday said his team would give hundred per cent to come out triumphant on the cricket tour of Australia.

On the eve of the team’s departure, Tendulkar told reporters here the team was a mixture of youth and experience and he was confident of getting good results.

“Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid have been doing well recently. Before that, Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble have done wonderful well and in between Venky (Venkatesh Prasad) and Debashish Mohanty bowled beautifully. I think we can start giving good results now,” he said.

“We also have some very talented youngsters in Kumaran, Ramesh, Vijay Bharadwaj and Devang Gandhi who are looking forward to a tough and exciting tour,” he said.

Expressing his satisfaction with the schedule for the74-day tour, before the first Test and it should be good enough to get used to the bounce of the Australian pitches”.

“I will not like to give advice to the youngsters because they all know they have got a job on hand and that is to get used to the bounce as early as possible for the team’s victory”, he added.

About India’s poor performance on earlier tours of Australia, Tendulkar said “we have to start winning somewhere and this could be the right tour to start our winning streak”.

“I know it will be a tough tour, but at the same time, I am confident of doing well in Australia,” he said.

Coach Kapil Dev said his team has enough ammunition to take on any team on any pitch.

“I know we have a very well-balanced side and am confident my boys will do well on Australian pitches. First of all, our boys should get used to the bounce on Australian pitches and once they do that, I feel half our battles will be won”.

“We have good pace attack and a couple of good spinners to defend even a modest total,” the world’s highest Test wicket-taker said.

“I have bowled on Australian pitches and I can say our fast bowlers will be very effective on those pitches,” he added. “Though I prefer a five-Test series, the schedule chalked out is a good one as we will be reaching at least a week before we play our tour opener and this should help our boys get the feel of the pitches,” he said.

About Ajay Jadeja’s absence due to an injury, Kapil Dev said “it is always sad to miss a good batsman and I hope he will recover soon and join us for the tri-nation one-day series involving India, Australia and Pakistan”.

Asked whether the thrashing Indian batsmen, particularly Tendulkar, gave to the Aussie leg-spinner Shane Warne, would have any bearing on the forthcoming tour, the Indian skipper said the series should not be viewed that way.

“The forthcoming series will be a battle between two talented teams and not between Dravid and Warne or Ganguly and McGrath.

Comparing the present Indian team with the one which toured the last time around, he said, “I do not like comparing teams and individual players with the past team. I think this team has its own identity and we do not lack in giving hundred per cent”.

To a query that why he has not been bowling as much as he used to, he said “my services as a bowler was not at all needed against New Zealand and I will definitely bowl when the need arises”.

The Indian team will play three Tests at Adelaide (December 10-14), Melbourne (December 26-30) and Sydeny (January 2-6) before the tri-nation tournament, starting from January 9 to February 6.

The Indians will also play three four-day matches against Queensland, New South Wales and Australia A and a one-dayer against Prime Minister’s XI on December 7.

Nadia qualifies for main draw
By Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, Nov 23 — Nadia Saini, a class V student of DAV Public School, Sector 8 did the city proud when she qualified for the main draw in the girls section of the 61st Stroh’s Junior National Table Tennis Championship at the Sector 23 TT hall today.

Surprisingly for the boys singles main draw of 48, none from Chandigarh could make it to the main draw.

When asked why the top players have also been asked to play in the qualifying rounds here, one of the senior coaches, Mr Bhawani Mukherjee of the NIS, Patiala, said that it give exposure to the other promising players who toil all the year for this annual championship.

The two Punjab boys who have braved it to the main draw include Sumit Bari and Disney of Punjab besides Neeraj Kumar of Haryana. Three Delhi boys who have qualified are Ansh Adalakha, Nitin Mahajan and Abhishek Puri.

Nadia Saini of Chandigarh who this year had created a flutter in the UT state championship winning cadet, sub junior and junior girls titles, won both her matches today. First she defeated Ruchika of J&K at 21-14, 21-10 and later Nadia had to exert hard beating Neha of Bihar at 18-21, 21-13 and 21-19 to qualify for the main draw.

Nancy of Punjab was the other girl of northern India who had qualified for the main draw.

Meanwhile Mr MC Chauhan , secretary of the Table Tennis Federation of India, also reached today morning for the championship.

In boy, 48 boys who have qualified are; Anal Kashyap ( PSCB- A), Sukanta Das (PSCB-A), Sourav (Ben), Anirban Nandi (Ben), S. Saha (PSCB), Jayant Chandra (Bengal), A. Tarafdar (Ben), Amit Das (Ben), A. Ganguly (PSCB- A), B. Saha (Ben), A. Amal Raj

( PSCB-A), Soumyadeep Roy (PSCB A), S. Ghosh (Ben), T. Dutta (Ben), D. Pandya (Guj), Sanjiv Kumar (UP), T. Arundhar (Andhra Pradesh), A.S. Kaushik (Assam), S. Ranbir Das (Ben), Kartik ( Ktk), Sujay Das (Ben), Subham Chaudhary (Ben), Ansh Adalakha (Delhi), Spathik Mehta (Gujarat), Neeraj Kumar (Har), Parshant (Madhya Pradesh), Nimish Patankar (Maharashtra), M. Elamraan (Pondicherry), C.J. Balaji (Kerala), Arwind Cardo (Goa), Nitin Mahajan (Delhi), Eric Fernandez (Mah), Abhishek Puri (Delhi), Disney (Punjab), Ysar Pasha (MP), David (PSCB-A), S. Muthukumar (Pondicherry), Ankur M (Mah), A. Mahagoankar (Mah), Swaran Singh (UP), Santosh Khedkar (Mah), Avinash (Ktk), Sumit Bari (Punjab), G.Vindo (Tamil Nadu), Aditya ( Mah), V. Abhinav (TN), T.R. Purohit (PSCB-A), Ankur Kapoor (UP).

The girls who qualified till late evening for the main draw are; Poulami Ghatak (Bengal), Mamta Prabhu (Mah), Nandita Saha (Ben), S. Sushmita Roy (Ben), B.M. Ashwini (Ktk), Sumona Bose (Ben), S. Sangeeta (TN), S. Mitra (Ben), Rujuta Rege (Mah), S. Guha (Ben), Mouma Das (Ben), Shalmali Inamdar (Mah), Anannya Gogoi (Assam), Sherry Crawford (Mah), Madhurika (Mah), S. Prasad (Ktk), J. Niranjana Devi (Pondicherry), P. Prasar (Assam), Nancy (Pb) and Nadia Saini (Chd).

Korea rout China, enter semis

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 (PTI) — Reigning champions South Korea entered the semifinals of the 5th Asia Cup Hockey Tournament overpowering China 6-1 in a pool A match here today.

With nine points, Korea now have a game in hand against Pakistan which will decide India’s opponent in the semifinals. The loser of tomorrow’s league match will play India in one semifinal.

It was virtually a no-contest from the moment Woon Kon Yeo dribbled into the circle, drew out the goalkeeper and shot past him to activate the scoreboard in Korea’s favour.

China were not expected to put up a fight against the title-holders and when Korea ran up a 3-0 lead by the 22nd minute, China virtually threw the towel in.

China, finally managed to shoot in a consolation goal when off a Korean defensive error, they moved into the Korean circle and earned a penalty corner. Wang Hai Feng shot in the goal to reduce the margin 3-1.

After Yeo struck in the 13th minute, Keon Wook Kang shot the second Korean goal from top of the circle six minutes later.

Keon Wook was again in action when in the 22nd minute he latched onto a pass from the right flank to shoot home Korea’s third goal and the Asian Games silver medallists led 3-1 at the break.

Korea played within themselves in the second half not exerting the players.

Playing at half pace, Korea still managed to score three more after the breather.

Jong Hyun Hwang slotted in a field goal, Korea’s fourth, a minute into the second half. The fleet-footed Korean’s fifth came in the 38th minute when substitute Jong Ho Seo dribbled upfield and after getting past two defenders scored with a flick to the left of the goalkeeper.

The sixth and the final goal of the match came in the 49th minute when Jong Ha Jeon scored off a penalty corner.

Pak not to play in Champions Trophy
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — The International Hockey Federation (FIH) today confirmed that six teams would participate in the 22nd men’s Champions Trophy and the eighth women’s Champions Trophy being held from May 26 to June 4 in Amstelveen, the Netherlands.

According to Ms Mary C. Coyle, Manager, Communication of the FIH, neither the Korean women’s team nor the Pakistan men’s team would take part in the event. Both teams finished last during the 1999 Champions Trophy and would not normally have been eligible to participate. However, by virtue of a decision last month by the FIH Council, they had been given an opportunity to join the six-team field, pending examination by the FIH and the KNHB of the financial and organisational implications.

Ultimately, it was determined that the related financial costs to be borne by Korea and Pakistan were too high to justify expanding the event. The panel of teams would therefore remain at six per tournament.

The participants in the men’s Champions Trophy are Australia (Champions Trophy holders), England, Germany, Korea, the Netherlands (hosts) and Spain. Women’s Champions Trophy: Argentina, Australia (Champions Trophy holders), Germany, Netherlands (hosts), New Zealand and South Africa.

The women’s competition will begin on May 26 with Germany taking on Argentina in the opening tie while in the men’s section, Spain will meet Germany in the inaugural match on May 27.

Poulami, Anal get top seedings
By Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, Nov 23 — Poulami Ghatak of Bengal in girls while Anal Kashyap of Petroleum Sports Control Board Academy, Ajmer have been given top seedings in singles as well as doubles in the 61st Stroh’s Junior National table tennis championship here.In Doubles Anal is paired with S. Roy while Poulami with Mouma Das.

Chief referee, Gopal Rahut disclosed that out of total entries received 48 groups were formed for boys. They played round robin league in the qualifying rounds today. The main draws of boys will consist of 64 with 48 players coming from qualifying rounds and16 having byes. Thereafter, matches will be played on the knockout basis.

Similarly out of 107 entries received for girls 32 groups were made for main draw who will play on the knockout basis.

The matches would be held tomorrow.

The seedings: Boys :Anal Kashyap (PSCB ‘A’) 1, Sukanta Das (PSCB ‘A’) 2, Sourav Chakravorty (Bengal) 3, Anirban Nandy (Bengal) 4, Subhajit Saha Jr (PSCB) ‘A’ 5, Jayanta Chandra (Bengal) 6, Anirban Tarafdar (Bengal) 7, Amit Das (Bengal) 8.

Girls: Poulami Ghatak (Bengal) 1, Mamta Prabhu (Mah-’B’) 2, Nandita Saha (Bengal) 3, Susmita Roy (Bengal-Dena Bank) 4, BM Ashwini (Ktk) 5, Sumona Bose (Ben) 6, S. Sangitha (TN) 7, S. Mitra (Ben) 8.

Boys doubles: Anal Kashyap & S.Roy( PSCB- A) 1, A. Das and Nandy (Ben) 2, S Saha & Sukanto Das (Ben) 3, Shubham Chaudhary & S. Chakravorty (Ben) 4.

Girls doubles: Poulami Ghatak & Mouma Das (Ben) 1, Nandita & Sumona Bose (Ben) 2, S. Roy & S.Mitra (Ben) 3, Mamta & Sherry Craswford (Mhr) 4.

Cricket team leaves for Australia

MUMBAI, Nov 23 (PTI) — The 15-member Indian cricket team led by Sachin Tendulkar, left for the 74-day tour of Australia early today.

The team also includes coach Kapil Dev, manager Dr P K Bhargav of Madhya Pradesh and Physio Andrew Leipuf.

Punjab gain five points
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Nov 23 — After Punjab took the vital 36-run first innings lead and gained five important points from the match, whatever competitive interest in the match remained was killed by Delhi batsmen as in their second essay they batted at a snail’s pace to score 158 for 7 in 92 overs at the draw of stumps on the concluding day of the North Zone Vijay Merchant league match (U-16) played at the Dhruv Pandove Stadium here today.

With today’s outing Punjab are sitting pretty on the points table having collected 13 points from two matches and they still have to play two more. Punjab now take on Haryana in their next league match to be played here from November 25 to 27.

Scores:

Delhi: (Ist innings): 203 all out

Punjab: (Ist innings): 239 all out

Delhi: (IInd innings): overnight 7 for no loss: 158 for 7 (Susheel Kumar 39, Kunal Sethi 25, Rajat Jaiswal 22, Kunal Bhardwaj 22, Ranjeet Singh 2 for 24, Gagandeep Singh 2 for 25).

Guru Nanak College cyclists excel

YAMUNANAGAR, Nov 23 (FOC) — Guru Nanak Khalsa College here won men’s and women’s inter-college cycling competition of Kurukshetra University collecting 42 and 18 points, respectively, on November 21 & 22 at Kurukshetra University.

Yoginder Singh, Manoj Kumar and Rupa won gold medals in different events for the college, according to Mr B.S. Dhillon, president, Kurukshetra University Sports Council.

Dyal Singh College, Karnal, got second place while DAV College, Pehowa, won third place in the men’s section, University College, Kurukshetra, won second and DAV College, Pehowa, got third place in the women’s section. Following are the results.

PSEB enter final

PATIALA, Nov 23 (FOSR) — Favourites PSEB outplayed DFA, Bhopal, 2-1 to enter the final of the BHEL Football Championships being held at Bhopal, according to information received here today.

Parminder Singh and Gurvinder Singh scored for PSEB while for the DFA, Bhopal, James Rakes reduced the margin. The final will be played on November 24 at the BHEL football stadium.

Inter-school basketball

FARIDABAD, Nov 23 (FOC) — A three-day inter-school Mata Satyawati Bhalla Basketball Championship concluded at DAV School, Sector 14, here yesterday. Twelve boys and six girls teams from different schools of the districts participated in the matches.

DAV School, Sector 14, team won the final boys match by 33-30 points against Father Angel School.

In the final girls match MD School defeated DAV team by 22-21 points.

Ludhiana cycling

LUDHIANA, Nov 23 (FOSR) — One-day Ludhiana District Cycling Championship for boys and girls will be conducted at the Punjab Agricultural University velodrome on November 24 here. Events will commence at 9.30 a.m. This was informed by Mr Gurdial Singh Grewal, general secretary, Ludhiana District Cycling Association.