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Tuesday,
October 30, 2001, Chandigarh, India   |
India may reconsider England tour: Dalmiya Rain rules out play on first day |
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TEST SERIES National Games work still behind schedule |
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Top golfers for Honda-Siel meet
50 ladies for Quark Punjab Open 3 judokas relieved
from camp DAV eves, Surjit Academy champs Pagnis hits 2nd
successive ton PSEB, TNEB are joint
winners Ghouse
upset PU squads Haryana probables
announced V’ball title for PU eves
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India may reconsider England tour: Dalmiya Kolkata, October 29 Jagmohan Dalmiya, President BCCI, said if the issues regarding the series were not sorted out India “may reconsider its June visit to England”. Both the BCCI and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have stressed that the tour will go ahead after earlier concerns over security in the region. Five players from England’s 16-strong squad, however, have been granted more time to decide whether they should travel while a sixth, Mark Butcher, has suggested he could change his mind. The ECB has said it would replace any player opting not to tour while stressing they would not be punished for deciding to stay at home. Dalmiya added to reporters on Monday: “The tour is on. England gave the signal to us today. We want them to let us know the final squad by November 5. We cannot wait indefinitely.” England are due to leave for India on November 14 for three Tests, followed by a one-day series after a Christmas break. England and Wales Cricket Board officials will meet Jagmohan Dalmiya here on November 1 to discuss security arrangements for England’s tour. The ECB officials and the British High Commissioner in India will fly in from New Delhi for the meeting to discuss security aspects for the tour, Dalmiya told reporters here today. Dalmiya said the meeting was arranged after the ECB requested if they could send some officials to have a first hand idea of the prevailing situation in India and the security measures to be taken for the visiting English team. Stressing that the England team’s tour of India will be held as per schedule in mid-November, Dalmiya said the Indian board wanted the ECB to finalise the squad by November 5 because of logistic and administrative reasons. England’s winter tour of India came under cloud due to security reasons following the US-led military action in Afghanistan but the the ECB decided to stick to the planned tour after getting a security assurance from the Indian board. “We understand that some players may not be keen to tour India. It is an internal matter of the ECB, but the Indian board wants the final list of players by November 5 for logistic and administrative reasons”, Dalmiya said. Dalmiya said the ECB could extend the November 5 deadline for finalising the players by a day but any further delay would not be desirable. Dalmiya said the BCCI had got the clearance from the Indian Government which would look after the security of the players and there was no point on reviewing the situation on a day to day basis. “As far as the Indian board is concerned, the tour is on. The final clearance by the Indian Government is the last word. Every day reviewing the situation is not helpful,” he said. “India is a safe place and such constant reviewing of situation by the ECB could send wrong signals to the other countries,” Dalmiya pointed out.
PTI |
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Rain rules out play on first day Durban, October 29 Indian coach John Wright and manager M K Bhargava went to the venue Chatsworth Oval this morning and returned disappointed after an hour. The Indian team preferred to remain at the hotel and wait for a word from the venue. A mild shower last evening was enough to cause the delay as the ground has no drainage facility. “Apparently, the facilities are not up to mark at the venue,” Bhargava said. “There are also not enough people to get it mopped up.” Wright said it was disappointing to lose an important day’s play of a lead-up game to the Tests in this manner. The tourists were looking to sort out their team for the first Test at Bloemfontein, starting on November 3, and were particularly keen to have a look at young opener Connor Williams and seamers Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan, as well as give some practice to middle order batsman V V S Laxman. In a late development, captain Sourav Ganguly changed his mind about skipping this three-day game and decided to play. Ganguly would lead the side and wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta would sit out.
PTI |
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TEST SERIES Bloemfontein, October 29 Cricket commentators here say the arrival of VVS Laxman to join Sachin Tendulkar, Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid after the Indians lost a triangular one-day series with Kenya to South Africa in the final will provide a real testing ground for the hosts’ attack. Donald, dogged by injury for the past two years, was again ruled out of the Test series as doctors prescribed a six-week rest period to enable him to fully recover from a persistent stomach muscle injury. He is hoping to be part of the home and away series against the Australians at the end of the year. Ngam has also been ruled out of the Indian matches because of yet another stress fracture. He is to undergo tests with the world’s best medical experts to determine why he is so prone to such injuries. South Africa performed well without Donald in the West Indian tour earlier this year as well as the recent tour to Zimbabwe, both of which they won. They also won the triangular series without Donald, which has raised questions about whether the pace bowler’s return is necessary at all. But India might take heart at his absence because in the previous tour here by India in 1992-93 and 1996-97, Donald took 40 of the 106 wickets taken. On a relatively tame wicket in Bloemfontein, Indian spin wizards Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble are expected to sow destruction against the South Africans, who will be aiming to get out the top India batsmen as quickly as possible. It is there that the absence of Donald will be either felt, or not. The battles between Donald and opening batsman Tendulkar in previous clashes had become almost legendary. In the cases where Donald succeeded in getting Tendulkar out, it led to nervousness within the Indian side. If Tendulkar is not taken out quickly in the Tests, there could be trouble ahead for South Africa. Meanwhile, Tendulkar is all set to beat the record set by Sir Donald Bradman of 6,996 runs in Test cricket during the South African tour. He needs just 78 more runs to achieve this. It will be a particularly proud achievement for Tendulkar, who was acknowledged by Sir Donald before his death earlier this year as the only current batsman who could come close to him.
IANS |
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National Games work still behind schedule Ludhiana, October 29 A look at the country’s first indoor basketball stadium coming up adjoining the main Guru Nanak Stadium clearly indicates that there is lack of coordination and communication among various agencies associated with the completion of infrastructure for the Games. This stadium was to be completed by August 15 but there is a lot of work pending at the site even today. The work on electric installation in the stadium is yet to be taken up. It has been held up for want of administrative approval. Electric installation will cost about Rs 3 lakh. The main problem is the fixing of unbreakable glass which will cost about Rs 6 lakh. For lighting and ventilation, steel glazing and windows have been provided but without unbreakable glass, the stadium looks abandoned rather than a new modern sporting complex. There is a lot of civil work pending in the basketball stadium. The concrete flooring connecting two practice courts with the indoor stadium is still to be taken up. The approach road to the complex from both the Rakh Bagh side and the Railway side are yet to be constructed. The debris of the existing structure is still to be removed. Not only that, the existing rooms of the main stadium, which face the practice courts of the basketball complex are also to be renovated and cleared of the material stacked in them. The space for the main media centre at Guru Nanak Sports complex and basketball indoor stadium are yet to be earmarked. Alternate parking arrangements for both the opening and closing ceremonies are yet to be made as the Guru Nanak Complex, devoid of any open spaces, is landlocked in a congested area. There is heavy traffic on the road running in front of the stadium. The authorities will have to take a decision to provide a detour for the duration of the Games for those who use this road regularly. Though the Games look certain now, there appear to be some big communication and coordination gaps. The agencies allotted civil works are finding themselves in a fix as neither any one from the oraganising committee of the National Games nor the Sports Department is ready to take possession of the complexes which have been completed. One of the contractors, who finished his work a couple of months ago, complained that the new building has been vandalised more than once as all toilet and bathroom fittings have been either removed or damaged. The Sports
Department thus expressed its inability to take possession of the new building on the plea that it does not have any extra watch and ward staff to manage the complex. Similarly, Markfed has been complaining that money promised to it for works carried out by it was still not coming. As such, work on all sites has been suspended. In most of the cases, there are no administrative or technical approvals. The work on basketball complex has been held up for want of administrative approvals. There is an urgent need for a meeting of the coordination committee to sort out all these administrative blues. Since the work is pending, the new facilities cannot be put to use by players of the home state for their training for the Games. While neighboring Haryana has already conducted its State Games and Delhi is holding its Games from today, hosts Punjab appear to be nowhere in the picture to test the facilities it has created for the National games. The State Games were perhaps not planned. |
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Games live on Doordarshan Ludhiana, October 29 Mr Dhindsa said a national level Punjabi cultural extravaganza would be arranged on the occasion of opening and closing ceremonies of the Games, in which about 1000 students would perform folk dances of the state. ‘This would be a mega cultural event, in the Punjabi cultural history’, Mr Dhindsa told the delegation which met the Union Minister here yesterday. Mr Dhindsa said the folk singers and folk dancers from the state would enthral the 10,000 players and officials from all over India daily, who would camp here during the National Games. Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, would inaugurate the Games on November 19 as the President of India has expressed his inability to attend the function on health grounds, said Mr Dhindsa. The final touches are being given to the National Games these days. All hurdles have already been removed. The shooting competitions would now be held in Mohali. The National Games would be a long lasting boost for the young players of the state as the state has got equipped with all the modern infrastructure of sports, including new Astro-Turfs , synthetics tracks and indoor halls due to the National Games. The new infrastructure would be a great boon for our generation in coming times after these national games, Mr Dhindsa observed. |
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Top golfers for Honda-Siel meet New Delhi, October 29 The tenth leg of the 2001-02 Hero Honda Golf Tour, the championship will commence at the Delhi Golf Club with a one-day Pro-Am event on October 31. The main event, offering a winning cheque of Rs 4.85 lakh, will be played from November 1 to 4. The cut will be applied with the top 50 players plus ties qualifying after two rounds. “It’s a matter of pride for us to sponsor the biggest event on the Indian domestic
tour. This championship has produced some top-drawer golf every year since it was incepted eight years ago. The fact that it is played at the Delhi Golf Club is also significant as we want the best championship to be played at the best possible venue”, said Mr Siddharth Shriram, Chairman of Siel Ltd, the lead sponsors. The field for this year includes, among others, three Malaysian Tour regulars — V. Arumugam, S. Murthy and Shaifubar Muba — one South African PGA Tour player, Abraham Jacques Coetesee and popular South African coach Richard Pape, who has worked with Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. Defending champion Jyoti Randhawa will face stiff opposition from Hero Hond Golf Tour Order of Merit leader Mukesh Kumar, ‘99 Honda-Siel PGA Championship winner Vijay Kumar, second-ranked golfer on the Hero Honda Tour Shiv Prakash, twice Honda-Siel PGA Championship winner Uttam Singh Mundy and 1997 Honda-Sield PGA Championship winner Vivek Bhandari. In addition, Caroline Boslch, a Pilates expert from South Africa, has been invited to conduct fitness clinics. He is currently working on a system of coaching that involves hi-tech digital cameras and computerised teaching techniques. “It was a great feeling winning the championship last year. Delhi Golf Club being my venue, I would like to add yet another Honda-Siel victory to my kitty next week,” said Jyoti Randhawa, who gave a good account of himself at the US PGA Q-School last week. |
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50 ladies for Quark Punjab Open Chandigarh, October 29 Heading the challenge will be the defending champion and tournament favourite Irina Brar. Another Chandigarh girl, Parneeta Garewal, is the second-seeded golfer. And she is eager to give a tough fight to the defending champion. Irina has had a good stint in tournaments abroad.Shruti Khanna (ranked third), Urvashi Sethi, Vandana Aggarwal, Shalini Malik and Anjali Chopra are also capable of upsetting the seedings. The tournament will see four days of competition in which ladies from nine years to 70 years will tee off on the opoening day. The tournament will be the first major ladies tournament on the national circuit. This A category tournament will be inaugurated tomorrow by Quark CEO Bal Sehgal. Mr Sehgal, who skippers Quark in India, said: “Quark is committed to excellence in building software that makes publishing better and bigger”. Addressing the Press conference was the Chairperson of the tournament committee, Mrs Dimple Minocha, and her team of ladies. She said Quark had shelled out about Rs 2 lakh in the sponsorship of the tournament. Mr Ramesh Inder Singh, Principal Secretary to the Punjab Chief Minister, will give away the prizes on the concluding day. The prizes at stake are: Quark winner of the championship, Quark Silver Salver (0-12 handicap), Quark Challenge Bowl (13-24 handicap), Quark Bronze Plate (25-36 handicap), Quark Junior Shield (below 18), Quark Subjunior Trophy (below 14), Quark Senior Challenge (for those born before Oct, 30, 1951), Quark Super Senior Special (65 years and above).
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3 judokas relieved from camp Patiala, October 28 The Regional Director of the NIS, Mr G.S Anand, confirmed that the three campers had been relieved on disciplinary grounds on the basis of an internal inquiry conducted by the authorities. Rakesh Kumar has also been relieved from the Centre of Excellence, Mr Anand said. |
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DAV eves, Surjit Academy champs Jalandhar, October 29 Namdhari Academy, Bhaini Sahib, fought neck and neck with Surjit Academy. Joga Singh of Surjit Academy scored in the eighth minute and Namdhari Academy equalised in the second half, in the 66th minute through Dalbir Singh. Going into penalty strokes, both teams missed one each. In
sudden death, Surjit Academy’s Inderpal Singh heaved a sigh of relief when he netted in the ball. It was disapointment for Namdhari Academy when Gurbhej Singh hit the ball outside and thus his team lost 5-6. Swinder Singh, goalkeeper of Namdhari Academy, and gurpreet Singh of Surjit
Academy gave good performance. In the girls final, HMV College, Jalandhar, could not stand against the girls of DAV College for Women, Amritsar. Sandeep Sandhu, left-in of DAV scored the first goal in the 12th minute. Fast pace and good interception by the girls of DAV, Amritsar, payed off when they increased the lead in 25th minute, scored by centre forward Sandeep Gill. HMV, Jalandhar, tried hard to close the gap as they scored in the 31st minute from a touch by centre forward, Arun Bala after the ball hit the goalkeeper’s pad. After resumption, both teams wasted chances and the match ended 2-1 in favour of DAV, Amritsar. In an all-Jalandhar final in the boys section, DAV and Lyallpur Khalsa College fought closely but DAV had the upper hand. DAV scored their first goal when Ravinder Singh capitalised on a pass by Manwinder Singh from the left flank. Till half time DAV led 1-0. After the breather Khalsa College equalised in the 43rd minute. Satwinder
singh, the captain, netted the ball on a pass by right half Ravi Paul. DAV retaliated by scoring in the 48th minute and Manwinder did the good work himself this time. DAV were awarded a penalty stroke in the 50th minute by umpire Ripudaman Sharma, who is an international umpire. The match was suspended for 10 minutes. After the controversy the stroke taken by Rajinder Singh went waste. Finally, the match ended in favour of DAV College, Jalandhar, who won 2-1. The awards were presented in four categories in all the three sections. In under-17, the Teja Singh Award for best goalkeeper went to Gurpreet Singh of Surjit Academy; Jagdev Singh Award for best full back went to Baljinder Singh of Ramesh Academy, best half back, Rajinder Singh Award to Manvir Singh of Surjit
Acacemy. Girls best goalkeeper award went to Baljit Kaur of DAV, Amritsar, Ajinder Kaur Award for best full back to Manjit Kaur of HMV College, Kuldeep Kaur Award went to Suman of DAV, Amritsar for being adjudged the best half back and Nishi of
G.G.S. College, Chandigarh grabbed the best forward award. In the boys section, Paramjit was the best goalkeeper of DAV Jalandhar, Satinder Singh of DAV, Jalandhar, took the best full back Davinder Garcha Award. Col. Balbir Singh Award for best half back went to Anmolak Singh of
G.H.G. College, Ludhiana and the Tarsem Singh Award went to Harnek Singh of Khalsa College, Jalandhar. |
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Pagnis hits 2nd
successive ton New Delhi, October 29 Pagnis, who had scored 126 in the first eassay, thus became the 87 player two score two centuries in the same match in this championship. On the opening day Pagnis and Yere Goud had put on 118 run and today they added 136 after Railways had lost two wickets for just 13 runs. Resuming at their overnight score of 167 for 9, Rajasthan were all out for 175 as their last pair of Lokesh Sharma and Shamsher Singh could add only eight runs to their team’s total before Shamsher (5) was caught by Amit Pagnis to give spinner Kulmani Parida his fourth wicket of the innings.
UNI |
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PSEB, TNEB are joint
winners Patiala, October 29 Both the teams scored a goal apiece in regulation time and instead of deciding the winner by resorting to the penalty stroke rule, the organisers decided to declare both the teams joint winners. With both the teams playing a barren first half, TNEB struck early in the second half when their centre forward Shakeel Ahmed capped a brilliant solo run by flicking the ball home. The Punjab powermen equalised in the last minute when left out Parminder Singh trapped a lose ball and drove it home. The prizes were distributed by Power Minister Sikander Singh Malooka. |
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Ghouse upset
Pune, October 29 Playing brilliant tennis and using superior court craft, Sridhar upset Ghouse 6-4, 6-3 in the first round in a match which lasted one hour and 28 minutes. Sridhar broke Ghouse in the 10th game after ghouse served three double faults and let his opponent Sridhar go up 6-4. After breaking Ghouse in the sixth game of second set, Sridhar then stuck to the task of playing percentage tennis to wrap up the match by winning second set and match 6-3. However, second seed Eyal Elrich of Israel made it to the second round brushing past Vinod Sridhar of India 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 in two hours. In another singles match, wild card Sunil Kumar scored a creditable 6-3, 6-3 win over Meir Deri while local hero Nitin Kirtane served out Shivshankar Kanbargi-math 6-2, 7-5 to make it to the second round and set up a clash with Sunil Kumar.
PTI |
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PU squads Chandigarh, October 29 The team is: women: Rajni- captain (GCW, Ldh), Jasvir Kaur (SGGS, Khalsa, Mahilpur), Sukhdeep Kaur (GN Khalsa, Ludhiana), Manju Gooda (MCMDAV-36), Nirmala (GGS College, Chandigarh) and Kavita (PU Campus, Chd). Men: Bhajan Singh, Sunil Yadav and Zulfkar (all GGDSD Chd), Gobardhan Lal (Khalsa, Garhdiwala), Jasvir Singh (SGGS, Mahilpur), Gurmit Singh, Surender Singh, Kamaljit Singh and Puran Chand (all SGGS,
Chd). |
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Haryana probables
announced Rohtak, October 29 Following are the probables selected today:- Puneet Gupta, Sant Kumar, Deepak Saini, Nitin Mehtani, Ashok Punia, Kailash Sain, Devender Sheoran, Devender Singh, Pranav Kush, Manoj Choudhary, Lokesh, Ranchal Choudhary, Nitin Rathee, Manav Yadav, Ankit Rawat, Rahul Rana, Sunil Sheoran, Akankshu Dhawan, Jagpal Malik, Lalit Vashishta and Hemant Bansal. |
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V’ball title for PU eves Chandigarh, October 29 |
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Golf trials from November 2 Chandigarh, October 29 This was stated by Col.BS Kahlon, General Secretary of the
PGA. |
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PAES-BHUPATHI DUO LOSES IN FINAL JEEV FINISHES SIXTH HUMPY WINS GM NORM PU FOOTBALL PUNJAB ATHLETICS JOBS FOR PLAYERS |
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Kolkata, October 29
