Tuesday, November 30, 1999
spotlighttoday's calendar
|
S P O R T | Tuesday, November 30, 1999 |
|
| weather spotlight today's calendar |
|||
|
Queensland humble India by 10 wkts BRISBANE, Nov 29 — Indian bowlers failed to extract any mileage from the rain interruption after their batsmen had caved in yesterday as Queensland duly completed a comprehensive 10-wicket win on the fourth morning of the opening tour match here today. Starting the required chase of 81 runs this morning, Queensland survived a sharp shower of 20 minutes and still made it in time before lunch.
|
|
|
Kumaran’s debut likely
India meet Lanka East
Bengal beat BSF, enter semis Gopi
Chand in final Kunjarani
lifts silver Asia
Cup’s highest scorer Ludhiana
athletes dominate
Four Indians bow out |
||||||||||
|
Queensland humble India by 10 wkts BRISBANE, Nov 29 (PTI) — Indian bowlers failed to extract any mileage from the rain interruption after their batsmen had caved in yesterday as Queensland duly completed a comprehensive 10-wicket win on the fourth morning of the opening tour match here today. With Queensland victory a forgone conclusion after Indian batsmen were dismissed for 204 runs in their second essay on the third day at the Gabba, the visiting pace bowlers hardly did anything to trouble the home batsmen and take some consolation wickets. Starting the required chase of 81 runs this morning, Queensland survived a sharp shower of 20 minutes and still made it in time before lunch. Home captain Stuart Law promoted himself up the order with Jim Maher and the two played sensibly with the former being in particularly goof touch. Law remained unbeaten on 60, striking as many as 14 fours. The two Indian bowlers Venkatesh Prasad and Debashish Mohanty initially bowled a tidy length in helpful conditions but there was no way the Indians could stop the home team in their tracks. The Indians made 277 and 204 in their two innings and had conceded 124 runs on first innings to Queensland who made 401 in their first knock. Only after eight overs by the opening bowlers, a period in which Queensland got 29 runs, first innings hero T Kumaran was introduced to the attack and he did start with a maiden. Kumaran had bagged five wickets for 68 runs in the first innings to lay his claim for a Test cap against Australia. Law mostly struck boundaries and a particularly forcing offside stroke off Prasad was a beauty. Throughout the match, the home batsmen stood at least a foot outside the stumps while batting. The intention was to cut down on the swing of the bowlers and deny them leg before decision. It seemed a sound policy specially because the Indians do not have the pace to worry top quality batsmen. At the end of the first hour’s play, Queensland were none for 45 with Stuart Law being on 36. Queenslands 50 came off 65 minutes in 13.2 overs. Soon thereafter, rain came and held up the game for 30 minutes. On resumption, Law completed his half century. In all, he had batted 90 minutes and hit 14 fours off 65 balls. This is his 61st first class half century. In the process, he also completed 7,000 runs playing for Queensland. Queensland needed 12 runs from last over before lunch to complete the formality. Maher and Law did the needful striking Kumaran for three fours to post the win. Scoreboard Indians (Ist innings) 277 Queensland (Ist innings) 401 Indians (2nd innings) 204 Queensland (2nd innings) Mahar not out 20 Law not out 60 Extras (lb-1, nb-1) 2 Total (for no wickets, 20.5 overs 82 Bowling: Prasad
7-1-28-0, Mohanty 4-1-14-0, Kumaran 6.5-2-29-0, Kumble
3-1-10-0. |
Sampras hopes to maintain momentum HANOVER Nov 29 (DPA) — One major victory, another million-dollar-plus payday and Pete Sampras is back atop the confidence stakes of world tennis again. The 28-year-old American was jetting home to California today after banking a cheque for $ 1.385 million and clutching a replica trophy following his fifth title in 10 years at the ATP Tour World Championship. Twelve-time Grand Slam winner Sampras had to be thanking the tennis gods for his good fortune, claiming another major and earning priceless confidence just days after his return from sitting out the past three months with a disc injury in his back. Though he was dethroned from his longtime year-end world number 1 post, the best man on a tennis court this decade knows that he’s ready to pick up a racket in just a few weeks to start getting ready for the resumption of tennis in the new millennium Down Under in Australia. But first things first: “I’m obviously looking forward to some time off,” said Sampras, adding: “And to next year in Australia.” last week at the Expo 2000 Hall was as uncertain as it could have been for Sampras, whose major worry was his fitness after so long away. But testing himself again after missing the US Open seemed more than worthwhile. “The reason I came here was to look at the big picture — I didn’t really feel like taking four months off and not playing any matches going into Australia,” he said. “I felt that I needed to play and play among the best players in the world. I enjoy the game and I miss playing, all of those reasons are why I came here.” Though he’s just gone through an unwanted period of unforced leisure as his back problem healed through treatment and rehabilitation, Sampras says he will manage a bit more relaxation before getting down to the serious business of preparing to win again in a matter of less than two months. “I’ll take a couple of weeks off and then start practising for Australia.” The American who now
owns 61 career titles, said that once the idea that he
would not earn year-end number 1 for a record seventh
year sank in, he was already looking ahead. |
Don’t write off India, warns Sachin Tendulkar BRISBANE, Nov 29 (PTI) — Skipper Sachin Tendulkar today warned Australia it would be a mistake if they write off Indians despite the tourists’ 10-wicket defeat to Queensland today, and asked his teammates to pull up their socks. “It would be a mistake to write off India. We haven’t started the series yet. I expect it to be a tough one and we are looking forward to it,” Tendulkar said after Queensland completed formality of notching up the required 82 runs for a win. And the rival captain Stuart Law agreed. “I know the Australians are on fire at the moment, but they would be making a mistake if they think it is going to be a 3-0 whitewash. They must not enter the series with any complacency. “If Steve Waugh and his men do so, they could be in for a nasty surprise,” said Law. Referring to today’s loss, Tendulkar said: “well I think ups and downs are always going to be there but we must be ready just before the Test,” he said. We need to pull up our socks and play better cricket. “We are giving chances to all the youngsters. We want all the players to have a feel of the conditions here,” the Indian skipper said. “In the first innings, the batters got some chance to play in. Laxman batted very well and Dravid spent some time. The basic idea is for the batters to spend some time and for the quicker bowlers to adjust to the right length”. Tendulkar said he was not worried about leggie Anil Kumble’s form in this game. The ace went wicketless in the match. “I am not worried about him. He is a great bowler. He has done it in the past and it is just a matter of getting his length right,” an optimistic Tendulkar said. On the forthcoming Test series against in-form Australia who thrashed Pakistan 3-0, Tendulkar said he was looking for consistently tough performance from all the teammates. “We are looking to be consistent in Tests. You can’t play a five-day game by being up in one session and then down in another. You have to play consistently tough,” he said. About his own form, Tendulkar said he basically wanted to have a feel of these tracks here. “In the first innings I spent some reasonable time though it was not enough. I would like to practice here as hard as possible.” About his bowlers, who are struggling to come to terms with the bouncy pitches, Tendulkar said it was a bit tough on them because back home they practice with different balls. “The kookaburra balls here are a bit different from the sg balls. They have a different seam.” Tendulkar was asked whether his side had the necessary discipline, unlike Pakistan, to face up to the Australians. “Our guys are young and they are keen to play well, play hard cricket. But we must get our act together,” Tendulkar said and still praised Queensland saying they are a very good competitive side. “Particularly Scott Muller was very confident in both the innings.” Coach Kapil Dev said he was disappointed with the loss. “I dont like it at all if the batsmen are out after playing 40-50 balls. “It is not the middle-order but the lower half which is giving us trouble,” Kapil Dev said. V v s Laxman, who was among the runs hitting a century and 73 in the two innings, received pat from Kapil Dev and a likely Test call-up. Kapil Dev rated Laxman’s chances of playing in the first Test as high saying: “Anyone who scores a hundred and 73 in the game has 100 per cent opened up chances for himself in the Tests. “Still it is only the first game and not much should be read into it. If Australia come to India they take one or two games to settle in. Same with us. I am just looking for the batsmen to spend some more time in the middle because batting is our strength,” the coach said. On the bowling front also Kapil Dev had some worries. “Our attack is not so mature but I like it that way. We would like to be underdogs.” Victorious captain Law was all praise for the Indians saying they are a class act. “Not only Tendulkar but there is Saurav Ganguly who sat out this match and Rahul Dravid, who however, did not last long here. “But Laxman looks good and they must not be underestimated. More so since they have couple of experienced bowlers and a world class spinner. “I would say the
wickets they are going to play in tests would suit their
play. They should feel at home at the scg,” Law
said. Waugh warns of clean sweep BRISBANE, Nov 29 (PTI) — Australian captain Steve Waugh believes his side is capable of winning all three Tests against India this summer. “We did so against one of the best three Test teams in the world (Pakistan),” said Waugh, adding he looked forward to doing the same against the Indians. “Our goal this
season was to win every Test match and I don’t see
any reason why we should lose a Test with the quality of
players we have got in our conditions,” he said. |
Zimbabwe face defeat HARARE, Nov 29 (AFP) — Faced with the prospect of an innings defeat by Sri Lanka in the second Test here, Zimbabwe were making a fight of it by the lunch break on the fourth day today. Set to get 258 in order to make Sri Lanka bat again and beginning the day on 34 for three — still 224 behind — Zimbabwe moved the score on to 86 for four by the break for the loss of just one wicket during the session. Neil Johnson was caught in the gully by Marvan Atapattu off Nuwan Zoysa in the eighth over when he had added only eight runs to his overnight score. But when Andy Flower joined Murray Goodwin, the two Zimbabweans settled down into a pattern of stubborn resistance. They defended well, taking the odd single off Muttiah Muralitharan and the occasional fours off the seamers. Flower, who made 74 in the first innings here and 86 off the Sri Lanka bowlers in Bulawayo last week, is seen as the prize capture by the tourists. Goodwin, who has had a poor run of form with the bat recently, nevertheless reached 1,000 runs in Tests from 26 completed innings during the session and his average in Tests is close to 40. The wicket still favours batsmen and Zimbabwe will now be determined to keep Sri Lanka in the field through another hot day. But if these two, who have put on 35 so far for the fifth wicket, can be separated, Sri Lanka might feel they don’t have a lot more to do. Scoreboard: Zimbabwe (1st innings): 174 Sri Lanka (1st innings): 432 Zimbabwe (2nd innings) (overnight 34-3): G. Flower c Kaluwitharana b Muralitharan 13 T. Gripper c Arnold b Vaas 4 M. Goodwin batting 23 E. Matambanadzo run out 0 N. Johnson c Atapattu b Zoysa 14 A. Flower batting 22 Extras:(9lb,1w) 10 Total: (for 4 wkts) 86 Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-28, 3-28, 4-51. Bowling: Vaas 17-3-31-1,
Zoysa 9-2-17-1, Wickramasinghe 12-5-16-0, Muralitharan
10-5-13-1. |
East Bengal beat BSF, enter semis NEW DELHI, Nov 29 (UNI) — Playing an all-out attacking game former champions East Bengal trounced Border Security Force (BSF) Jalandhar 3-0 to enter the semifinals of the Allwyn Durand Cup here today. In an inconsequential second match of the day Gorkha Brigade defeated FC Kochin by a solitary first-half goal. East Bengal, devoid of six star players began the first half calmly. The killer instinct was seen missing from the team pitted as hot favourites. They built up the game in short passes and made feeble attempts to attack the opposition defence, for the first 15 minutes of play. But soon left-half Tushar Rakshit took on himself the onus of building attacks from the left flank. In the 24th minute Tushar intercepted a pass from a BSF defender and lobbed it to outside-left Kennedy who dribbled past two BSF forwards to pass it to Tushar again inside the BSF box. But Tushar failed to capitalise on it and his right-footer went over the crossbar. The first goal of the match came in the 40th minute of the first-half when centre forward Raman Vijayan’s pass reached right-half Carlton Chapman after ricocheting off the shoulders of a BSF defender within the penalty box and Chapman’s powerful right-footer found the net leaving Bibhas Saha, the BSF custodian, completely baffled. The second goal of the match came when medio Vijayan intercepted a BSF pass in East Bengal’s own half and passed it to Kennedy on finding him encircled by BSF men chipped the ball to right centre forward Dipankar Roy in the BSF half. Dipankar who made a solo run of 18 to 20 yards reached the penalty box and his powerful right-footer found the target in the 13th minute of the second-half. The score board read 2-0. The third and the final
goal came in a spectacular manner when Kennedy
intercepted a BSF pass and Vijayan intercepted it and
passed it to Dipankar who was surging ahead in full
steam. BSF custodian on seeing that Dipankar was
advancing rushed towards him in a bid to grab the ball.
But Dipankar dribbled past him and chipped the ball over
a BSF defender into the unmanned goal in the 41st minute
of the second-half. The final score was 3-0 in favour of
East Bengal. |
Gopi Chand in final BANGALORE, Nov 29 (PTI) — It will be an all-Indian men’s singles final at the Scottish International Badminton Championships at Edinburgh with India number one and top seed P. Gopi Chand taking on his unseeded team-mate Sidarth Jain. In the semifinals, Gopi Chand defeated the young Dane, Kasper Oedi 15-2 15-8 while Jain survived an exhausting match against Pontus Jantti of Finland, a former top 20 player, 15-13 15-13, a Badminton Association of India (BAI) press note said here today. Earlier, Indian No 2 Nikhil Kanetkar lost in the opening round to Danish No 5 Kasper Fangel 15-13 11-15 10-15. The other Indian in the fray, Kiran Kumar also lost in the first round to Antti Viitikko (Finland) 16-17 15-10 9-15. The star of the tournament was Indian junior girls champion B.R. Meenakshi. She upset three seeds on her way to the semifinals before losing to the top seeded Japanese girl, Ida Takako, in two close games, 6-11 8-11. The note said Meenakshi,
who had the toughest draw of the lot, beat the 6-foot
3-inch Russian Irina Rusljakova 11-9 11-9 in the opening
round. In the second, she had a tougher opponent in
second seed Joanna Szleszynska of Poland, but prevailed
12-10 11-9. |
India meet Lanka DUBAI, Nov 29 (UNI) — Led by experienced wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia, India take on Sri Lanka tomorrow in the opening encounter of a three-nation one-day cricket tournament, being staged for the first time in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi. Pakistan, the third team featuring in the tournament, will play their first match on December 1 against Sri Lanka while the third and last match will be between India and Pakistan on December 2. “Preparations have been completed for the inaugural tournament and we are getting a good response from cricket enthusiasts”, according to Mr Inamul Haq, general secretary of the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council (ADCC). The three-day tournament coincides with the UAE’s National Day celebrations. An artificial pitch has been laid at the Al Jazira Stadium where the three day-and-night matches are to be played in accordance with international standards. The three teams are expected to arrive today. Besides Mongia, the Indian team will include Gyanendra Pandey, Vinod Kambli and Rohan Gavaskar. Sri Lanka will be led by Chandika Hathurusinghe instead of Hasan Tilakratne, who pulled out of the tournament at the last minute because of personal reasons. Sri Lanka will also avail the services of Ruwan Kalpage, Eric Upashantha, Suman Jyantha, Mario Vellavarayan and Chaminda Mendis. The Pakistani squad will
be led by former skipper Rashid Lateef and will include
some exciting players like Shahid Afridi, Saleem Elahi,
Akhtar Sarfraz, Arshad Khan, Kabir Khan and Nadeem Khan. |
Chilavert scores a hat-trick BUENOS AIRES, Nov 29 (Reuters) — Paraguayan goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert scored a hat-trick, all of them penalties, for Velez Sarsfield in the Argentine championship yesterday. In the latest feat of his amazing career, Chilavert scored in the 45th, 75th and 82nd minutes as he helped Velez to a 6-1 rout of Ferro Carril Oeste, almost certainly becoming the first goalkeeper to score three times in professional game. The burly Paraguayan, who has a fulminating left-foot shot, is a regular free kick and penalty taker and both club and international level at has scored 46 goals in his career. He is also one of soccer’s most outspoken players, with opposing players, soccer directors and Paraguayan politicians routinely the subject of his verbal attacks. Chilavert refused to
play for Paraguay when they hosted this year’s Copa
America, saying the country could not afford to spend
money on the tournament. |
Kumaran’s debut likely BRISBANE, Nov 29 (PTI) — He is an Indian who was playing for Australia in New Zealand only last month and now looks a good bet to make his debut in the opening Test between India and Australia at Adelaide on December 10. Thirunavukarasu Kumaran, took five wickets for 68 in Queensland’s first innings at Gabba yesterday and is closer to realising his dream than ever before. “It was a bit of a surprise to me when I called up my home in Chennai from New Zealand last month and was informed by my sister that I had been selected to the Indian team to tour Australia”, says Kumaran. Kumaran had been sent to the Australian Cricket Academy under an exchange agreement by the MRF pace Foundation last month on Dennis Lillee’s recommendation along with Mumbai bowler Zaheer Khan. “We could not play in Australia because the weather wasn’t so great,” said Kumaran. After remaining in Adelaide for three days without much play, he went to New Zealand on an 18-day tour with the ACA team. “It was a great learning experience.... I shared the new ball and had a good trip but I really wanted to bowl on bouncy Australian wickets,” said Kumaran. “My dream has now been realised.” Speaking over the phone, Rodney Marsh, former Australian wicketkeeper and director of the ACA in Adelaide, was all praise for Kumaran. “He came here on DK (Dennis Lillee’s) recommendation and was a most likeable kid. He was confident, a wonderful young cricketer and mingled with other cricketers easily.” A commerce graduate, Kumaran made his debut for Tamil Nadu in 1996-97 and is playing his 16th first class game. Of course he vividly remembers the Irani Trophy game in which he demolished Ranji champions Karnataka with a match haul of 10 for 81. “It propelled me into national limelight,” he says. He was picked for the Indian team’s one-day matches against New Zealand in Guwahati and Delhi and has so far claimed four wickets at 13.25 with a fine economy rate of 3.11 per over. Talking about his performance in this game, Kumaran said he did not bowl well initially yesterday. “My length was not right, he said, “but by the time I came in for the third spell, I was pitching it up.” Kumaran is grateful to the MRF pace Academy for its role in his development as a bowler. Dennis Lillee was a great help. He worked on fast bowling technique, about my body position and things like that. I also happened to meet Ian Chappell, Greg Chappell and Dave Whatmore there and got valuable tips. Basically an inswing bowler, Kumaran has learnt to bowl outswingers as well. About his technique, he
says he needs to lift his left hand higher to achieve
better control on his deliveries. |
Asia Cup’s highest
scorer CHANDIGARH, Nov 29 — On March 1, 1998, a tall, well-built boy,incidentally the youngest member of the Pakistan hockey team, came as a substitute to take a penalty corner hit against India at Rawalpindi's Army Hockey Stadium during the second match of the India-Pakistan series. Following Rahim Khan's push,the boy beat Indian custodian AB Subbaiah with a smart hit and the goal proved decisive in Pakistan's 2-1 win over India. His maiden goal came only a day after he made his international debut at Peshawar's Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium in the first match of the series. Yes,he was Sohail Abbas who yesterday emerged as the highest scorer in the Asia Cup at Kuala Lumpur with 16 goals to his credit. Since that fateful day in March last year,there has been no looking back.Having caught the attention of the selectors for his uncanny knack of converting penalty corners,Sohail Abbas was subsequently groomed into a specialist and today he is among the best in the world.After the India-Pakistan series,he represented Pakistan in the World Cup at Utrecht and in the Champions Trophy at Lahore besides other international tournaments. Born on June 9,1977,Sohail Abbas joined the Habib Bank hockey team after completing his education.He was drafted into the national team as a full back at the behest of former manager Islahuddin.Initially Sohail used to be brought in only when his team earned a penalty corner.This was noticed during the India-Pakistan series last year when after taking the short corner hits,he would retreat to the bench.On most of the occasions he was successful. However,the International Hockey Federation(FIH) amended the rule on penalty corners and players running into the field only to take short corner hits was banned. Thereafter, Sohail became a regular member of the national team. The nine-match India-Pakistan hockey series played earlier this year saw Sohail Abbas emerging as an asset for his team. Of the 31 penalty corners earned by Pakistan, 13 were converted and Sohail Abbas had a hand in converting a majority of them. In the Asia Cup which concluded at Kuala Lumpur yesterday, Pakistan, who finished runners-up to South Korea, owed their success largely to this 22-year-old player who emerged as the tournament's highest scorer. Given his young age, it
seems the promising Abbas is all set to emulate the feats
of the legendary Floris Bovelander, whose precise and
powerful hits proved to be the nemesis of many a renowned
defender in world hockey. |
Kunjarani lifts silver ATHENS, Nov 29 (AP) — Dalbir Singh and Romi Devi failed to kindle Indian spirits as both finished way down the table in their weight groups as India returned with just Kunjarani Devi’s silver from the World Weightlifting Championships which concluded here yesterday. India’s dismal show continued on the final day here last night when its both lifters hardly put up any challenge. N Romi Devi finished
19th overall in the women’s 75 kg category, with
lifts of 90 kgs in snatch and 110 kg clean and jerk for
an aggregate of 200 kg. |
Ludhiana athletes dominate LUDHIANA, Nov 29 — Athletes from Jalandhar and Ludhiana dominated the proceedings on the second day of the 76th Punjab State Junior Athletic Championship at the Guru Nanak Stadium here today. Jalandhar bagged 12 out of 49 gold at stake today and were closely followed by hosts, Ludhiana who won 11. Amritsar district claimed seven gold. Todays results: Boys U-20: 400 m: 1—Baljit Singh (Jal) 48.91 sec, 2 — Manjinder Singh (Ldh) 50.42, 3 — Rajinder Singh, (Fzr), 50.59, 400 m: hurdles: 1 — Harsimrat Pal Singh (Ldh) 54.05. 2 — Sukhjinder Singh (Jal) 56.23, 3 — Repudaman Singh (Ldh) 59.56, long-jump 1 — Mohan Singh (SRR) 6.85 m 2 — Sawarnjit Singh (Ldh) 6.37, 3 — Sukhjinder Singh (Asr) 6.21 m Triple Jump: 1 — Pritpal Singh (Srr) 15.24 m, 2 — Amritpal Singh (Srr) 14.26, 3 — Baldev Singh (Gdp) 14.25 m, Shot-put — 1 — Gurpreet Singh (Ftg) 14.65, 2 — Lakhwinder Singh (Mog) 12.48, 3 — Harprit Singh (Ftg) 12.40 10 km walk: 1 — Amardeep Singh (Rpr) 52.34.87 sec 2 — Atma Singh (Gdp) 52.43.62, 3 — Narinder Singh (Asr) 52.47.43 Hammer Throw — 1 — Birkaran Singh (Ftg) 57.79m, 2 — Gurcharan Singh (Jal) 56.72, 3 — Shamsher Singh (Pat) 54.27 javelin throw — 1 — Sanjeev Kumar Sandhu (Hsp) 61.50m, 2 — Sucha Singh (Gdp) 57.60, 3 — Navdeep Sharma (Ldh) 55.49. Boys u-18: 400m, — 1 — Ashok Kumar (Jal) 50.72 sec, 2 — Gurvinder Singh (Pat) 50.80, 3 — Jagtar Singh (Asr) 52.31 Long Jump 1 — Jasprit Singh (Asr) 6.75m, 2 — Bikramjit Singh (Mkt) 6.61, 3 — Amritpal Singh (Ldh) 6.46, Triple jump: 1 — Amarjit Singh (Jal) 14.85m, 2 — Harprit Singh (Frz) 14.37, 3 — Sukhjinder Singh (Asr) 14.10, 10 km walk: 1 — Jasbir Singh (Srr) 46.18.10 sec, 2 — Gurmeet Singh (Jal) 46.19.02, 3 — Gurbhej Singh (Asr) 50.59.16, Javelin throw — 1 — Avtar Singh (Pat) 61.10m, 2 — Daljit Singh (Ftg) 56.10, 3 — Harvind Singh (Ropar) 52.80. Boys u-16: 1 — Diljot Singh (Ldh) 6.17m, 2 — Gurvinder Singh (Moga) 5.98, 3 — Yadvinder Singh (Amr) 5.83 5 km walk: Mukhtiar Singh (Asr) 24.36.48 secs, 2 — Devinderjit Singh (Srr) 25.00.09, 3 — Parmjit Singh (Rpr) 25.41.22. Girls u-18: 100m — 1 — Sapinder Kaur (Jal) 12.40 secs, 2 — Sagardeep Kaur (Ldh) 12.56, 3 — Harjit Gill (Jal) 13.24, 100m hurdles: 1 — Palwinder Kaur (Jal) 15.84 secs, 2 — Sapinder Kaur (Jal) 19.01 Girls u-16: high jump — 1 — Pawanpreet Kaur (Jal), 2 — Neelam (Jal), 3 — Mandeep Kaur (Asr), 3 km walk: 1 — Rajwinder Kaur (Ldh) 16.22 sec, 2 — Parbhjot (Asr) 17.27.57, 3 — Joyti (Jal) 17.55.90. 5000m walk boys u-16: 1 — Mukhtar Singh (Asr) 24.36.48 secs, 2 — Devinderjeet Singh (Srr) 25.00.09, 3 — Paramjit Singh (Ropar) 25.41.22, 5000 mt walk girls u-18: 1 — Baljinder Kaur (Jal) 30.12.1 sec, 2 — Manjeet Kaur (Jal) 31.11.1, 3 — Sandeep Kaur 36.16.05 (Asr) High jump u-18 boys: 1 — Kulwinder Singh (Ldh) 1.82m, 2 — Dalbag Singh (Asr) 1.8+1.70, 3 — Gurpreet Singh (Asr) 1.60. Hammer Throw (girls u-20): 1 — Jaspreet Kaur 38.25m (Asr), 2 — Surinder Kaur (Jal) 35.65, 3 — Lakhber Kaur (Jal) 31.99. Shot put girls u-16: 1 — Antar Gurpreet Kaur (Pa) 9.66, 2 — Ranjit Kaur (Asr) 8.90, 3 — Gagandeep Kaur (Asr) 8.35. Shot Put girls u-18: 1 — Satwant Kaur (Asr) 10.39, 2 — Simranpal Kaur 9.73 (Ldh), 3 — Lakhveer Kaur (Jal) 9.08. Shotput girls u-20: 1 — Narinder Kaur 11.51mt (Jal), 2 — Baljinder Kaur 10.42, Ropar 3 — Kashmir Kaur 9.31. Javelin throw boys u-20: 1 — Sanjeev Kumar Sandhu (Hsp) 61.50m, 2 — Sucha Singh (Gdp) 57.60, 3 — Navdeep Sharma (Ldh) 55.49. Boys u-18: 1 — Avtar Singh (Pat) 61.10m, 2 — Daljeet Singh (Ftg) 56.10, 3 — Harwind Singh (Ropar) 52.80. Triple jumps boys u-20: 1 — Pritpal Singh (Srr) 15.24m, 2 — Amritpal Singh (Srr) 14.26, 3 — Baldev Singh (Gdp) 14.25. Triple jumps girls u-18: 1 — Parbjot Kaur (Jal) 11.35 m, 2 — Navjeet Kaur (Jal) 10.30, Triple jumps girls u-20: 1 — Rupinder Kaur (Ldh) 11.68m, 2 — Deepmala (Ldh) 11.44, 3 — Sarbjeet Kaur (Gdp) 10.69, Long jump girls u-16: 1 — Pawanpreet Kaur (Asr) 4.75 m, 2 — Amandeep Kaur (Jal) 4.54, 3 — Gurjinder Kaur (Pat) 4.50.
|
Polo meet: Patiala
‘royalty’ ignored? PATIALA, Nov 29 — While erstwhile royalty is likely to congregate at Patiala during the hosting of the first Punjab and Sind Bank Tercentenary Polo Tournament being held here from December 2 to 5 the descendants of the Patiala royal house, whose forefathers patronised the game, have been given a short shrift by the Punjab Polo Association which is dominated by the ruling Akali Dal. Though the plan to host the tournament in the city was formulated in January and a considerable time spent on taking the land needed on loan from the aviation club so that it could be prepared in time for the fixture, Patiala royal family scion and the Pradesh Congress president, Capt Amarinder Singh, was formally invited to the tournament only a few days earlier. The Punjab Polo Association has its patron-in-chiefs — Union Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and former Union Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal while Rajya Sabha member Balwinder Singh Bhunder is its president. Among the prominent members of erstwhile royal families who are likely to visit the city during the tournament are Brig Bhawani Singh, ‘Maharaja’ of Jaipur and ‘Maharaja’ Gaj Singh of Jodhpur. Yuvraj Vikramaditya’s team is participating in the tournament. Capt Amarinder Singh in an exclusive talk with TNS said he would have loved to be involved with the hosting of the tournament but he had been informed about it only recently. He said he did not even know that a polo tournament was being held in the city earlier. He said Maj-Gen (Retd) U S Sidhu, who was the vice president of the Punjab Polo Association and chief coordinator of the fixture had met him a few days earlier to invite him to the tournament. Capt Amarinder said he had told the organisers that he would see what he could do to help them but regretted that they had not deemed fit to involve the family right from the very beginning. He said he had various commitments and would see if he could take time out for the tournament. The Pradesh Congress chief, who has captained the National Defence Academy and Indian Military Academy teams also criticised the tournament organisers for limiting the number of regular teams participating in it to four or five. He said at least 15 to 20 teams were needed in a regular fixture or else it would be reduced to a farce. He said if the Punjab Government was serious in reviving polo it must take a decision to have an annual tournament in the city. Once in a time fixtures are reduced to exhibition matches, he added. Capt Amarinder Singh said while attempts by him had resulted in a polo tournament and live stock show in 1986, it could not become a regular fixture. He said to revive polo in the city a permanent polo ground was needed on which the Polo Association could invest to make it of world standard. “Infusion of money into the game is most needed for its survival”, he added. Tournament chief coordinator Maj-Gen Sidhu when contacted said while Brig Bhawani Singh would be the chief guest on the first day, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal would preside on the second, Quarter-Master General, Lt-Gen M S Bhullar, on the third, and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on the final day. When asked if the PPCC chief, Capt Amarinder Singh, was being deliberately ignored by the organisers, he said this was not so. He said he had met Capt Amarinder Singh personally and invited him on all the days. He said whatever prominence possible would be given to the PPCC chief. Regarding Capt Amarinder being invited very late, he said he had been trying to meet the PPCC chief since the last two months but a meeting could not materialise as the latter had also been to London recently. Maj-Gen Sidhu said he would hold a detailed discussion with Capt Amarinder when he returned from Delhi tomorrow. Maj Gen Sidhu said steps
had been also taken to increase the number of teams
participating in the tournament. He said now there would
be four teams from the Army-two of the 61 Cavalry, one of
the Army Service Corps and one from the President’s
Bodyguards. He said besides this there would be three
private teams-Yuvraj Vikramadityas, Vikram Sodhi’s
and Naveen Jindal’s team. |
Four Indians bow out LUCKNOW, Nov 29 (UNI) — Fourth seed Thomas Ketola of Finland earned a hard fought victory against Yuri Schukin of Russia 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) in the first round of the BPL-ATP Challenger Tour Tennis Championship at the Oudh Gymkhand court here today. Four Indians bowed out of the championship. In the inaugural match Sandeep Kirtane conceded the match against Luke Milligan of Great Britain due to a back problem when he was trailing 0-4 in the first set. Syed Fazaluddin lost to top seed Paradorn Srichphan of Thailand 3-6, 3-6. Sunil Kumar went down fighting Vladimir Platenik of Slovakia 6-3, 2-6, 2-6. While two lucky last minute inclusion in place of James Davidson of Great Britain Devashish Tilak lost to Ivan Vajda of Croatia 0-6, 1-6 and Alok Bhatnagar lost to Martin Lee of Great Britain 1-6, 0-6. Bhatnagar came in place of Anton Kokurin of Uzebekistan. The match between Martin Hromec of Slovakia and Jamie Delgado of Great Britain was abondoned due to bad light. Martin and Delgado both had won one set each while the third was 1-1 when the match was abandoned. Martin won the first set 6-3 and lost the second at 2-6. India’s Mustafa Ghouse lost to Ivo Karlovic of Crotia 6-3, 6-1. In the doubles matches Imenez Guerra J and I Karlovic defeated H. Bollich and J. Sood 6-1, 6-2 while Tomas Anzari and Oleg Ogorodov defeated Yuri Schukin and, Ivan Vajda 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Tumas Ketola vs Yuri Schukin match was decided in two hours. Ketola won the first set 6-4 when he broke the service of Schukin in the tenth game. Schukin leveled the score one-one when he won the second set 6-4 at the same margin. He broke Ketola’s service in the seventh game and held the rest of the services. In the deciding set,the score was level at 4-4. In the ninth game Schukin broke Ketola’s service at 40-30, in the next game Ketola broke Schukin’s service at 40-30 and levelled the score 5-5. Then both won their next service to make the score 6-6. In the tie- breaker after levelling at 3-3 Ketola took a 6-3 lead then conceded two points and finally won the sets and match 7-6 (7-5). Top seed Paradorn Srichaphan defeated Syed Fazaluddin 6-3,6-3 in 62 minutes. In the first set both were 3-3. Srichaphan broke Fazaluddin’s service in the seventh game 40-30 and again in the ninth game and held his service. In the second set, the score was again 3-3. He broke Fazaluddin’s service in the eighth game and held his services to win the match 6-3, 6-3. Sunil Kumar, the junior hard court winner, gave some fight to Slovakia’s Vladimir Platenik as he won the first set at 6-3. Sunil broke Platenik’s service in the fourth and eight games. Rest of the Indians lost
in straight sets. Ivan Vajda defeated Devashish Tilak
6-0,6-1, Martin Lee defeated Alok Bhatnagar 6-1, 6-0 and
Ivo Karlovic defeated Mustafa Ghouse 6-3,6-1. Sandeep
Kirtane conceded the match 0-4 due to back trouble. |
H
Punjab w’lifting CHANDIGARH, Nov 29 (BOSR) — The Punjab Weightlifting Association will organise the Senior Punjab Weightlifting Championship at Rakh Bagh, Ludhiana, on December 12 and 13, according to Mr Tara Singh, additional secretary of the association. The selected players will take part in the Senior National Weightlifting Championship to be held at Kalyan (Maharashtra) next month. The weighing- in will be done in the morning on December 12 for all categories and the participants are advised to bring no objection certificates from their respective employers. GPS boys shine CHANDIGARH, Nov 29 (BOSR) —Gobindgarh Public School, Mandi Gobindgarh athletes brought laurels to the school in the CBSE cluster athletic meet, held at Jammu recently. Balwinder Singh Sekhon broke two previous records and bagged two gold medals in 800 metres and 1500 metres race. Narinder Singh clinched the silver in shot put and Gulbahar Singh secured the bronze medal in high jump. In the North Zone Athletic Meet held at Panipat, Balwinder bagged the silver medal in 1500 metres and bronze in 800 metres. Narinder secured the bronze in shot put. GND varsity eves triumph PATIALA, Nov 29 (FOSR) — Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, narrowly managed to scrape past a fighting MG University, Kottayam, 57-56 in the semifinals of the All-India Inter-University Women’s Basketball Championships being held at the Punjabi University basketball courts here today. The star performer for the Amritsar team was Mandeep Khaira who top scored with 18 points. She was also instrumental in dousing many attacks launched by the Kottayam eves later in the match. In the other semifinal Madras University beat Panjab University, Chandigarh, 56-51 to set up a title clash with the Amritsar eves. PU hockey results CHANDIGARH, Nov 29 (BOSR) — LLR Government College, Dhudike, and Government College, Ludhiana, scored surprise wins over their rivals GGD SD College, Sector 32 by 3-0 and GHG Khalsa College, Gurusar Sudhar by 1-0, respectively in the Panjab University Inter-College Hockey (‘A’ Division) Tournament being played here at PU grounds today. Results: LLR Govt College, Dhudike, b GGD SD College, Chd 3-0 (half time 1-0). The goals were scored by Tejinderpal Singh, Ravinder Singh and Arshdeep Singh. Govt College, Ldh, b GHG Khalsa College, Gurusar Sudhar 1-0 (half time 0-0) Jasbir Singh scored the lone goal for winners. Abohar boys win PU title CHANDIGARH, Nov 29
(BOSR) — Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Abohar won the
Panjab University Inter-College Cricket ‘B’
Division Tournament for men being played here. GTB
National College, Dakha secured the second position. In
the matches played today, GN Khalsa College, Abohar
defeated GTB National College, Dakha by six runs. |
 |
 |
| Nation
| Punjab | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | | Chandigarh | Editorial | Business | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
