SAN FRANCISCO : Spanish swimmer David Meca-Medina prepares to enter San Francisco Bay on Monday, in San Francisco. Meca-Medina swam from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco with his feet shackled in 36 minutes. In the background is the San Francisco skyline. Meca-Medina said he made the swim to protest his suspension by the international swimming body FINA after he tested positive for the steroid nandrolone. — AP/PTI

Daunting task for hockey squad SYDNEY, Sept 21 — The struggling Indian men’s hockey squad will face a daunting test in their sputtering build-up for next year’s Olympics when they square up for the second leg of the four-nation tournament starting here from tomorrow. Waugh to play against Lanka COLOMBO, Sept 21 — Australian captain Steve Waugh defied medical advice today and said he would play in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle despite nursing a broken nose.

Kafelnikov to take on Aussies
BRISBANE, Sept 21 — World No 2 Yevgeny Kafelnikov is ready to sweat to get Russia past Australia and into the final of the Davis Cup.

Promoter plans Tyson bout in Cyprus
LIMASSOL, Sept 21 — Boxing heavyweights Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis could hold a title fight in the east Mediterranean island of Cyprus under an ambitious plan by boxing promoter Panos Eliades.

Four international tennis meets in Delhi
MUMBAI, Sept 21 — New Delhi would host four international tennis tournaments in the season, starting with the ITF Men’s Satellite Masters (hard court) from November 8.

FIFA chief for break in calendar
GENEVA, Sept 21 — FIFA President Sepp Blatter has repeated his call for national football associations to agree to a winter break in the calendar to give jaded players a rest.

282-member squad for SAF Games
NEW DELHI, Sept 21 — A 282-member Indian contingent will participate in the eighth South Asian Federation (SAF) Games to be held at Kathmandu from September 25 to October 4.

Showing at foreign meets poor: Milkha
CHANDIGARH, Sept 21 — The performance of the Indian athletes, namely Shakti Singh, Neelam J. Singh, and Indian women’s relay team, in the recently concluded seventh World Track and Field Championship in Seville, Spain, substantiates the fact that they cannot repeat the performance that they give on the Indian soil at the international competitions, according to Milkha Singh, the legendary quartermiler.

Senate panel to take action against PCB
LAHORE, Sept 21— The Senate Sports Committee (SSC) will meet in Islamabad in the first week of October to take action against the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) ad hoc committee for bypassing its authority.

• Nisha bounces back; Kidambi struggles
• I am not making a comeback : Azhar
• Ranjit Kaur to lead Punjab team
• Duggal to lead

Muthiah BCCI chief; Kapil made coach

JAIPUR, Sept 21 (PTI) — Top industrialist A.C. Muthiah was today unanimously elected President and former India skipper Kapil Dev appointed coach of the national team on a stormy first day of the Indian cricket board’s AGM here today.

The 58-year-old Mr Muthiah, whose family controls the petrochemical giants SPIC, succeeded Mr Raj Singh Dungarpur to the top post of the country’s richest sports body for a three-year-term without opposition after rival candidate Manohar Joshi withdrew his candidature at the last minute.

The former Maharashtra Chief Minister Mr Joshi, backed by the rival group headed by ex-board president I.S. Bindra, pulled out of the race in a stormy morning session which saw Mr Bindra, Punjab association chief, walk out with officials from Hyderabad and Himachal Pradesh in protest against the approach by the dominant group under ICC President Jagmohan Dalmiya.

Mr Bindra and his supporters walked out of the meeting also protesting that elections, which were marked sixth on the agenda were shifted to second.

There was a lone change in the election of the five Vice-Presidents.

Following the elevation of Mr Muthiah, also the Tamil Nadu association President, the Karnataka association president, Mr Ramprasad, was elected Vice-President from south zone while Mr Joshi was re-elected from west zone. Mr A.N. Singh (Bihar-East), C.K. Khanna (Delhi-North) and Mr Kamal Morarka (Rajasthan-Central) were also re-elected Vice-Presidents.

Kapil Dev was appointed to succeed former India opener Anshuman Gaekwad for a two-year term. The AGM also appointed Andrew Leipus, South African of Australian origin, as new physical trainer for Indian team.

The BCCI chief said Andrew Leipus was likely to join the team probably by the time the New Zealand team arrives in India on September 28 for their nearly two-month long tour.

The meeting got off to a noisy start with Mr Bindra and his supporters objecting to the presence of two officials from the Hyderabad Cricket Association, including its president, Mr Surana.

The official group suggested that the legal opinion of the Rajasthan association lawyers could be taken to solve the issue, but Mr Bindra and his supporters insisted that the board’s official lawyers should give their opinion.

Addressing reporters immediately after being elected board President, Mr Muthiah declared “cricket would be my priority” and said more importance would be given to domestic tournaments and top players would also be attracted to it.

Asked how he planned to handle the issue of “too much cricket”, he said the issue would be analysed threadbare and experts and former players consulted.

On the functioning of the board which has led to several controversies of late, he said there was nothing wrong with the functioning of the board.

Mr Muthiah denied there was any division within the board, as reflected in the dissensions seen in the meeting and walk out by a rival group, and said when his side had the support of 27 of the 31 affiliates how could there be any “division”.

Waugh to play against Lanka

COLOMBO, Sept 21 (Reuters) — Australian captain Steve Waugh defied medical advice today and said he would play in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle despite nursing a broken nose.

“Yes, I am playing,” Waugh told Reuters by phone from Galle where the match begins tomorrow.

Waugh, who has an average of over 50 in Test cricket, said he knew the importance of his presence in the team, which is trailing 0-1 in the three-Test series after the defeat in Kandy.

“I don’t know what the odds are but I am feeling pretty good. The nose is certainly a lot better than it was a couple of days ago, but I really haven’t had a full Test,’’ he said.

Waugh fractured his nose in four places in the collision while attempting a catch on September 9, while Speedster Gillespie broke one of his legs.

The skipper underwent surgery to reset the nose and missed out on the third game against Board XI which concluded here on Sunday.

Vice-captain Shane Warne led the side to the match which the Australians won by 247 runs. If Waugh is declared unfit for the Galle Test tomorrow, Warne will lead Australia in a Test for the first time.

Waugh said: “The doctors said I have to wear a helmet even while fielding. I guess it would be hot work, but you do it in batting so there is no difference.’’

The doctors have advised him to take it easy and not rush into playing too early because if he got hit again in the nose, the broken bone would be “knocked straight out.’’

“The advise is not to play, but they always look at the worst scenario,’’ said Waugh.

Meanwhile, Galle District Cricket Association secretary and curator Jayananda Warnaweera inspected the stadium at Galle. I can assure that the pitch will last five days. It will take turn from day two and have even bounce,’’ he predicted.

Galle is experiencing intermittent rains during the past few days.

The first Test played at Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy 12 days back ended inside three days with Sri Lanka winning by six wickets.

Teams:

Australia (probables): Steve Waugh (captain), Shane Warne, Greg Blewett, Michael Slater, Justin Langer, Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Ian Healy, Colin Miller, Glenn McGrath, Damien Fleming.

Sri Lanka (from): Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Russe Arnold, Aravinda De Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Mahela Jayawardena, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Nuwan Zoysa, Rangana Herath, Upul Chandana.

Daunting task for hockey squad

SYDNEY, Sept 21 (PTI) — The struggling Indian men’s hockey squad will face a daunting test in their sputtering build-up for next year’s Olympics when they square up for the second leg of the four-nation tournament starting here from tomorrow.

The Indians, who lost to all three of their opponents, South Korea, Canada and hosts Australia and also showed signs of fading away in the final stages of each outing in the first leg held at Canberra, have their task cut out at this hockey venue for next year’s Olympics.

While Canada have drastically enhanced their reputation in international hockey by annexing the first-leg with two wins — including a 4-0 drubbing of the hosts — and a draw, India have hardly shown the kind of enterprise that fetched them the Bangkok Asian Games gold, the only big win in over a decade for the eight-time Olympic champions.

The build-up for the Olympics, after omitting six seniors who were part of the Bangkok victory, has been anything but impressive. The seniors did beat Germany in a Test match but lost the series, followed by an embarrassing Test series defeat to lightweights South Africa prior to this trip.

Chief coach Vasudevan Baskaran has refused to accept that the Indian team has been a total failure despite the 1-6 loss to Korea, followed by 1-2 and 1-3 defeats to Canada and the Aussies, respectively.

“You can’t expect miracles from a match or two and the weather was also bad,” he said about the Canberra leg and also blamed a harsh “stroke” award to Canada with three minutes left for the defeat that demoralised the players.

Baskaran said his plans and use of specific players in certain positions were indeed working. The team did give a decent account against Canada and Australia, but have been guilty of inconsistency.

“There are periods at any time of a game that our players commit unforced errors. It does not particularly happen in the last quarter. Such mistakes during short spells during any part of the game has been costing us a lot,” hockey federation president, K.P.S. Gill told PTI in Delhi commenting on the team’s performance in Australia.

Mr Gill, who is also the chief selector, expected the team to do better in Sydney as the weather was much warmer than the Australian capital. “All are fit and more determined,” he said.

The IHF chief said he refused to take a pessimistic view of the performances and ruled out any major shake-up in the side when about 30 probables — “core group” — are shortlisted soon for the Olympic campaign.

“I think there is no reason to despair. We’ve never done anything great after our fifth place in the 1994 Sydney World Cup. Only juniors have done something and many of them are in this team. Before the Bangkok win, the team did poorly in so many tournaments including the World Cup last year in Utrecht.

“We persisted with them and it paid dividends in Bangkok. We feel this can happen again and so we will back the youngsters,” Mr Gill added.

The Indian forwardline has continued to present an unsettled look and this has led to several moves initiated by the midfield go waste.

Sukhbir Singh Gill and Anwar Khan have displayed their talent in attacks along with the seasoned Mohd Riaz and Baljit Singh Saini in the midfield.

Young defender Anurag Raghuvanshi has come on very well to partner Dilip Tirkey in deep defence in the absence of Lazarus Barla who is down with jaundice.

In contrast Canada, who won the Pan American Games recently, began with a flourish, upsetting formidable Australia 4-0 in the first match.

They rode on that success to clinch the first leg, after beating India 2-1 and holding South Korea 1-1 through a last-gasp equaliser by striker Tom Green.

The Australians, hoping to claim the gold medal in the new millenniums’ first Olympics on home turf, however, had a tough time in the first leg and would like to improve their performance in the second.

Besides the stunning defeat at the hands of Canada, the hosts were also held to a goal-less draw by Korea and managed their lone win against India in the last league match to finish third.

Kafelnikov to take on Aussies

BRISBANE, Sept 21 (AFP) — World No 2 Yevgeny Kafelnikov is ready to sweat to get Russia past Australia and into the final of the Davis Cup.

Arriving for this weekend’s semifinal battle here, Kafelnikov said he was confident he could cope with the workload of two singles rubbers and a doubles match on the Brisbane grass.

The reigning Australian Open champion has played more matches on the ATP tour than any other player in the last five years.

But he goes into this weekend’s clash fresh after a rare few days off following his early exit from last week’s President’s Cup in Uzbekistan.

“It’s always a big weight on my shoulders carrying the team with two singles and the doubles matches, especially when they’re five-setters, but I’ve been in this situation before and I feel I can handle it,” the 25-year-old said.

“I feel if I can take both points in the singles then perhaps our chances will increase. All I can do is win those matches. I had a nice and easy week last week so I’m fresh and ready to go.”

Kafelnikov certainly isn’t looking to rest before Friday’s first rubber, hurriedly arranging a game of golf yesterday before he hit his first ball at practice, just hours after landing in Australia.

The priority for the tall right-hander will be adjusting to the grass surface after completing the hardcourt season in North America, where he reached the US Open semifinals.

“It’s been a great run for me on the North American hardcourt season but this is a new event and perhaps as important as the US Open,” Kafelnikov said.

“I wouldn’t mind playing on any surface. I’ve won many titles on this surface and I’ve had great success on it, but I’ll be needing more than three or four hours to get used to the surface.”

Kafelnikov’s team-mate Marat Safin has already been touted by the Australians as a possible chink in the Russian armour despite his impressive world ranking of 35.

The 19-year-old is yet to prove himself on grass, prompting the bookmakers to install Australia as favourite despite the home team’s best efforts to seize the underdog tag after the withdrawal of injured stars Pat Rafter and Mark Philippoussis.

Kafelnikov will be under pressure to get Russia off to a good start when he takes on rookie Wayne Arthurs on the opening day, while Safin faces a baptism of fire in front of the sellout crowd when he meets Australia’s teenage spearhead, Lleyton Hewitt.

Promoter plans Tyson bout in Cyprus

LIMASSOL, Sept 21 (AFP) — Boxing heavyweights Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis could hold a title fight in the east Mediterranean island of Cyprus under an ambitious plan by boxing promoter Panos Eliades.

Eliades, the millionaire promoter of heavyweight champion Lewis, is in Cyprus to establish professional boxing in a country where the sport lags behind the high-profile games of basketball and football.

He will be meeting government ministers this week to try and establish a Cyprus professional boxing association that would enable him to bring the biggest fighters in the sport to the island.

“I could hold title fights in Cyprus — I’ve got Lewis and (British featherweight) ‘Prince’ Naseem (Hamed) who will do fights here. I could even get Tyson to fight here,” Eliades told AFP in an interview in his Limassol hotel yesterday.

The British-born Greek Cypriot said he was about to cut a deal with US promoter Don King which will give Eliades access to a greater number of proven fighters.

“Boxing could be big over here. It will boost tourism and make Cyprus known all over the world,” he said.

“Nothing happens in Cyprus that the world knows about except people getting shot on the Green Line,” he said, in a reference to the UN-patrolled line that divides the island’s Greek-and Turkish-Cypriot communities.

If everything goes to plan, Eliades wants to hold the WBC, the WBA and other world title fights on the island.

On the more immediate business of a rematch between Lewis and rival heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield in Las Vegas on November 13, Eliades said: “Lennox tells me he’s going to knock him. He’s going to go out there and pepper him.

“They say Evander does well in rematches but so does Lennox. It’s not going to be close, that’s for sure.”

On the announcement that Tyson is going to fight fellow American Orlin Norris — “Pig Iron Mike’s” first fight in more than 10 months — Eliades was more than pessimistic about the outcome.

“I don’t think the fight will happen. I think Tyson will pull out with an injury before the fight. He’s got terrible problems with his camp and he’s not mentally fit.”

But for now Eliades is quite happy to consider Cyprus as a venue for a contest involving Tyson or Lewis or maybe both.

“Cyprus, along with South Africa, London or Tokyo, is a possible venue for Lennox’s next fight after Holyfield,” he said.

Four international tennis meets in Delhi

MUMBAI, Sept 21 (PTI) — New Delhi would host four international tennis tournaments in the season, starting with the ITF Men’s Satellite Masters (hard court) from November 8.

Mumbai too has three international tournaments lined up for the coming season, including the first leg (from October 18) and the third leg (from November one) of the ITF men’s satellites (hard court) and the ATP Challenger (men’s-hard court) from February 28 next.

Delhi will also host the men and women and under-18 boys and girls hardcourt nationals from October 4 and the junior hardcourt nationals for boys and girls under-14 and under-16 age category.

Chennai will host the ATP Gold Flake Open (hardcourt) from January 3 next.

Hyderabad and Bangalore are the other centres to host the Futures tournaments.

The following is the Indian domestic schedule:

From Oct four: (men/women and under-18) dscl hard court nationals in Delhi.

From Oct 11: (under-14 and under-16) junior hard court nationals in Delhi.

From Oct 18 ($ 25,000 prize money) ITF men’s hard court satellites (first leg) at Mumbai.

From Oct 25: Second leg of the ITF men’s satellites at Pune.

From Nov 1: Third leg of the ITF men’s satellites at Mumbai.

From Nov 8: ITF men’s hard court satellites (masters) in Delhi and under-14 and under-16 AITA junior ranking tourney in Mumbai.

From Nov 15: Men and women grass court nationals in Calcutta and under-14 and under-16 AITA ranking tourney in Pune.

From Nov 22: ATF/AITA Asia cup for men ($ 80,000 prize money) in Delhi and ITF junior international tourney in Calcutta.

From Nov 29: ATP Challenger grass court tourney ($ 50,000 prize money) at Lucknow, men/women AITA central India tournament at Allahabad and under-14 and under-16 AITA junior ranking tourney at Secunderabad (Andhra Pradesh).

From Dec 6: ATP Challenger grass court ($ 50,000) tourney in Jaipur and veterans AITA nationals in Hyderabad.

From Dec 13: $ 25,000 prize money ITF women’s Challenger (hard court) in Delhi, men’s AITA ranking tourney at Bhimavaram (AP), under-14 and under-16 AITA junior ranking tourney in Guwahati and veterans (doubles) AITA ranking tourney in Calcutta.

From Dec 20: ITF women’s satellite grass court ($ 10,000 prize money) in Lucknow.

From Dec 27: ITF women’s satellite grass court at Chandigarh and veterans AITA ranking tourney in Bangalore.

From Jan 3 2000: ATP Gold Flake Open (hard court) in Chennai, men/women AITA ranking (singles) and under-14 AITA junior ranking tourney in Hyderabad.

From Jan 10: ITF men’s Futures ($ 10,000 prize money) in Hyderabad.

From Jan 17: ITF men’s Futures at Bangalore, veterans AITA ranking tourney in Chennai.

From Jan 24: ITF men’s Futures in Chennai.

From Jan 31: ITF junior hard court international tourney in Delhi.

From Feb 7: ITF junior grass court international tournament at Chandigarh.

From Feb 14: ATP Challenger ($ 50,000 prize money grass court tourney) in Calcutta, ITF junior clay court international tourney in Calcutta.

From Feb 21: ATP Challenger (hard court) in Ahmedabad.

From Feb 28: ATP Challenger (hard court) in Mumbai, veterans (doubles) AITA tourney in Delhi.

FIFA chief for break in calendar

GENEVA, Sept 21 (AFP) — FIFA President Sepp Blatter has repeated his call for national football associations to agree to a winter break in the calendar to give jaded players a rest.

In an interview published on Sunday in the Swiss newspaper Sonntagszeitung, the head of football’s world governing body said matches being played all the year round were not in the interests of the players or the game.

“It affects the quality of the game and does not protect the players. The footballer becomes tired, vulnerable and has difficulty playing,” said Mr Blatter.

“It would be ideal if in countries such as England or Italy (where games continue all winter), play was from February to November. Initial signals from these countries have been positive.”

Mr Blatter said nowadays there was more and more football, and with the televised rights getting increasingly expensive the appeal of football could lost to the fans.

“It is therefore necessary that once a year there is a break from football, it’s the only way to maintain a continued desire for the sport,” he said.

He said a way had to be found to harmonise the international football calendar and FIFA wanted to finalise dates for qualification matches for the 2002 World Cup as soon as possible.

He also reiterated his call for the World Cup to be held every two years.

Martinez beats Dokic

TOKYO, Sept 21 (Reuters) — Former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez beat Australian teenager Jelena Dokic 6-3 6-2 in the first round of the Princess Cup Tennis tournament today.

Sixth seed Martinez, the 1994 Wimbledon champion, combined superior tactics and a near-flawless game to defeat Dokic, who — as a 16-year-old qualifier — beat world number one Martina Hingis on her way to the Wimbledon quarter-finals in June.

Although Yugoslav-born Dokic had the more powerful groundstrokes, she could not match her Spanish opponent’s consistency from the baseline.

Dokic, beaten in three sets by Martinez in the Canadian Open in August, added to her own woes by not holding serve several times after breaking Martinez.

“The last time I played against her I had many chances and many break points and I lost those and the match got complicated,” Martinez said, adding that she had aimed to change the pace and avoid unforced errors this time.

Rain had earlier come to the aid of fifth seed Amelie Mauresmo, who survived a scare against American Tracy Singian before winning 2-6 6-3 6-1.

282-member squad for SAF Games

NEW DELHI, Sept 21 (UNI) — A 282-member Indian contingent will participate in the eighth South Asian Federation (SAF) Games to be held at Kathmandu from September 25 to October 4.

India will take part in 12 disciplines. Athletics has the largest squad (72), followed by shooting (29) and swimming(27) besides the 28-member volleyball and 23-member football teams, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President, Mr Suresh Kalmadi, said at a Press conference here yesterday.

The contingent will leave for Kathmandu in four batches from Thursday.

The disciplines India have entered are athletics, boxing, football, kabaddi, karate, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling.

The Swimming Federation of India President, Mr K.N. Kapur, will be the chef-de-mission. The contingent will be accompanied by a 13-member medical team.

For the first time dope tests will be conducted at the SAF Games, Mr Kalmadi said. All medal winners will be subjected to the tests.

The opening ceremony will be held at the Dashrath Stadium on Sunday. The events will start from September 26 with athletics, football, swimming and karate.

The athletics events will be held at the main Dashrath Stadium while the other disciplines will be spread out in seven other stadia. The closing ceremony on October 4, also be held at the Dashrath Stadium.

An eight-member delegation from Himachal Pradesh will visit Kathmandu during the games in preparation to the first SAF Winter Games to be held in Shimla and Manali in January and February next year, Mr Kalmadi said.

Showing at foreign meets poor: Milkha
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 21 — The performance of the Indian athletes, namely Shakti Singh, Neelam J. Singh, and Indian women’s relay team, in the recently concluded seventh World Track and Field Championship in Seville, Spain, substantiates the fact that they cannot repeat the performance that they give on the Indian soil at the international competitions, according to Milkha Singh, the legendary quartermiler.

He feels there could be some major lapse while clocking timings or measuring distance. He said Shakti Singh had hurled the shotput to 19.85 metres in India whereas at the world athletic meet his distance was 18.58 metres. Neelam J.Singh, the discus thrower, covered the distance of 60.28 metres whereas at the world meet she could only cover 57.05 metres. The Sports Ministry or the Sports Authority of India should conduct detailed analysis to ascertain the cause of such a difference so that such lapses are not repeated in future. He feels responsibility should be fixed in the interest of the Indian public.

He also said Paramjit, who had broken his record, could not repeat his record-breaking performance anywhere at the international level.

Senate panel to take action against PCB

LAHORE, Sept 21 (ANI) — The Senate Sports Committee (SSC) will meet in Islamabad in the first week of October to take action against the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) ad hoc committee for bypassing its authority.

The PCB ad hoc committee chairman Mujib-ur-Rahman had given a firm assurance that “suspension of three accused Test stars namely, Wasim Akram, Salim Malik and Ejaz Ahmad, will not be withdrawn till they were declared not guilty by the one-man inquiry commission in its report” said Senator Zahid Khan, who is a member of the SSC.

Nisha bounces back; Kidambi struggles

YEREVAN (Armenia), Sept 21 (PTI) — India’s IWM Nisha Mohota scored full point against Budylina Sofia of Estonia even as S. Kidambi continued to struggle in the third round of the World Junior Chess championships here today.

Mohota (2), who lost to Georgian Theshelashvili Sopio yesterday, bounced with back today despite playing black pieces.

In a Carro-Kann defence game, Mohota laid a trap and won a piece for two pawns and opened gates for an easy win. White chose advanced variation, but the Indian captured one more piece before winning the game.

Junior national champion Sundararajan Kidambi (1), had to fight hard to get half point against Slovenian Guid Matej (1).

I am not making a comeback : Azhar

HYDERABAD, Sept 21 (UNI) — Former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin has said there was no question of his staging a comeback as he had never quit the game.

In an interview to Doordarshan, Azharuddin said Moin-ud-Dowla Cup was not a comeback tournament for him. "I am not making a comeback. I was not playing because I was unfit."

Ranjit Kaur to lead Punjab team
From Our Sports Reporter

JALANDHAR, Sept 21 — Full-back Ranjit Kaur of Hans Raj Mahila Mahavidyala, Jalandhar will lead the junior Punjab women hockey team in the 31st Junior National Women’s Hockey Tournament to be held at Mumbai from September 22 to 30, according to Mrs Surinder Umarao Singh, President, Punjab Women Hockey Association. Punjab play their first match on September 22 against Rajasthan.

The team: goalkeepers: Varinder Kaur, Savita Rani; full-backs: Ranjit Kaur, Radha Minhas, Simmy; half-backs: Sandeep Kaur, Surjit Kaur, Vijay Laxami, Lovjinder; forwards: Jyoti Minhas, Lakhbir Kaur, Mohan Davinder, Neetu Bala, Arun Bala, Baljit Kaur, Niti and Parveen Kumari.

The coach and manager are Olympian Nisha Sharma and Paramjit Singh, respectively.

Duggal to lead
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Sept 21 — Mr Munish Duggal of Shimla district will lead the HP state badminton team in the North-Zone Badminton Championship to be held at Jammu from September 23 to 25.

According to Mr Devinder Saraswati, secretary of the HP Badminton Association, the team will participate in all categories i.e. men’s, women’s, boy’s and girl’s events.

He said due to paucity of time a coaching camp could be held only for a week.

The members of the teams are:

Men’s: 1.Munish Duggal (captain), 2. Lokesh 3. Manoj Aswasthi 4. Himanshu Parmar 5. Ajay Kanwar 6. Rakesh Verma 7. Yogesh.

Women’s: 1. Hardeep 2. Poonam 3. Kamini 4. Roopali.

Boy’s: 1. Yogesh 2. Rakesh 3. Surinder 4. Maneesh Kapoor.

Girl’s: 1. Poonam 2. Kamini 3. Roopali 4. Navita.

RCF win Punjab soccer title

GARSHANKAR, Sept 21 (FOC) — RCF won the Punjab Football Super League title by securing 10 points while JCT Phagwara with eight points finished runners-up. Punjab Police (six points), PSEB (four points) and BSF (one point) finished third fourth and fifth, respectively.

In the last match of the league played at Mahilpur JCT defeated Punjab Police 2-0.

In the first half of the match, both teams played a neat and fast game.

In the second half, “Deepi” of JCT easily beat the Punjab Police defenders and kicked the ball into the goal which was brilliantly stopped by the Punjab Police goalkeeper. In the process the goalkeeper fell down and Hardeep Gill made no mistake in pushing the ball into the goal. Soon after Surjit Singh Gyani of JCT kicked a hard shot straight into the goal and JCT won the match 2-0.

Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, DC Hoshiarpur, gave away the prizes to the winners.

SBP launch campaign tomorrow

CHANDIGARH, Sept 21 (TNS) — State Bank of Patiala will take on Godrej Cricket Club, Chandigarh, in the opening match of the sixth J.P Atray Memorial Cricket Tournament which begins at the PCA Stadium, SAS Nagar, on September 23.

Indian Airlines will play Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Colts on September 24 while Bishnoi Cricket Club, Delhi will face Puncom XI on September 25. Punjab Cricket Club, the winners of last year, have been given a bye. All the matches will be of 50 overs each innings and will be played on Wills Trophy one day rules. In the tournament only PCA qualified umpires and BCCI- approved scorer will officiate.

Meanwhile, Girish Bhanot will lead Godrej Cricket Club, Chandigarh, in the opening match of the tournament. The other members of the team are Rajesh Patha, Madan Lal, Ajay Manu, Rahul Panta, Jaswant Rai, Mohd. Shahid, Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Sikka, Parveen, Sandeep Kohli, Vinod Binta, Amardeep, Amit Puri and Ranjeet Rana.

Handball trials

CHANDIGARH, Sept 21 (BOSR) — The District Handball Association, Ropar, will conduct trials to select the Ropar district team on September 24 at Government College grounds, Ropar. The selected team would represent Ropar in the Junior State Handball Championships to be held at Patiala from September 26 to 29, according to Mr Iqbal Singh, secretary DHA, Ropar.