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Wednesday,
November 28, 2001,
Chandigarh, India  
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GAMES DIARY National Games too big, too unwieldy? Have the National Games become too big and too unwieldy? Twentyseven disciplines at 21 venues in five different cities for more than 10,000 competitors and nearly 3,000 officials are the mere statistics that just give an idea how big are the 31st National Games.
Punjab men regain basketball title Punjab men, eves bag kabaddi gold BOXING Punjab continue victory march Punjab judokas
bag two gold Haryana eves clinch hockey crown Gurminder sets two records in w’lifting Maharashtra, Delhi in title clash
Amardeep Rai shoots skeet gold Sandy Lehal returns a
four-under
India end tour with humiliating
defeat Kale rescues India ‘A’ Himachal rout Services Himachal hold on for draw
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Services new hockey champs Jalandhar, November 27 The all-important goal for the new national champions came in the 22nd minute of the game when Avtar Singh converted a penalty stroke. Karnataka could only retain the second position which they had managed in the Manipur National Games. Earlier, Punjab, the gold medallists of the last Games, took the bronze medal. They defeated West Bengal 3-0. The only real chance that the Services defence provided for Karnataka in the first half was in the 16th minute of play. Sandeep Somesh, after collecting the ball in the left flank, dashed towards the penalty area and after catching the rival goalkeeper Mahadhk off-guard, pushed towards the goal but Paramjit Singh came from behind to bring a fine save. In the second half, Karnataka played an improved game and attacked the rival defence on a number of occasions. But each time their forwards were halted in their tracks through some fine interceptions by the rival defence and if they succeeded in entering the penalty zone, they muffed-up their chances of scoring the equaliser. Both Services and Karnataka earned a penalty corner each in the second half but these were wasted due to poor trapping. As the hooter signaling the end of the game sounded, the Services players and bench as well as the Army personnel present in the stadium raised their hands in joy. A hockey gold in the National Games has always been considered prestigious and this was evident from the emotions of the Services players and officials, some of whom wept with joy. Skipper Satbir and coach Avtar Singh called the victory as a joint effort of all the players. The team manager, while praising the performance of all team members singled out goal scorer Avtar, who had an out-standing match. Earlier in the day, Punjab blanked West Bengal to collect bronze medal. The goal scorers for Punjab were Rajinder (2) and Jagbir (1).
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GAMES
DIARY Have the National Games become too big and too unwieldy? Twentyseven disciplines at 21 venues in five different cities for more than 10,000 competitors and nearly 3,000 officials are the mere statistics that just give an idea how big are the 31st National Games. There have been a mixed reaction to spreading the Games to five different cities. “Though administratively, it is a tough job to oversee all the events as each venue has some local and unforeseen problems. Otherwise, it was a rewarding experience as we could take the Games to the doorstep of the people. Many of them did not have to travel long distances to watch one event or the other. Had they been organised in one or two cities, the benefit would not have flown to that many people,” remarked Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, co-chairman of the Organising Committee of the National Games. Mr Dhindsa maintains that there were more problems at the initial stages but once Games started, the problems started diminishing. “Coordinating and controlling such a massive event has been a Herculean task,” he says maintaining that never before the Games had such a large participation. Since the size of the Games has been becoming bigger and bigger with every edition, many states are finding it difficult to keep their deadlines and hold the Games in time. Since 1987, the frequency of the Games has been changing rapidly. In 14 years, against seven editions, only six have been organised. When conceived in early 20s, these were to be held every two years. “It is very difficult for any state to provide complete infrastructure for holding all the events in one city. It is rather impossible. It is time for the Indian Olympic Association to restructure the National Games and divided it into two parts,” says Dr Darshan Kumar Tandon, Chief Technical Director of the 31st National Games. Some others interviewed by The Tribune support Dr Tandon’s viewpoint but differ in the concept of dividing the Games. Some hold the view that there should be winter and Summer Games and others feel that half the events should be conducted at one venue and the second half at another venue at different dates to facilitate organisers for making all arrangements. Most of the old Indian cities, they feel, are too overcrowded and making provision for new stadia, parking, traffic and other arrangements is a Herculean task. And there are not many modern cities which could be picked as venues for such mega events. Further, because of diverse geographical and climactic zones, holding of all events becomes nearly impossible. For example, the swimming and water polo events had to be cancelled this time because the NS NIS pool at Patiala had no heating facilities. Similar problems may be experienced by other states. In certain tropical areas, too much heat may also not allow holding of certain events. As such those supporting the division of Games into two parts feel that this would not allow provision of infrastructure in more cities but also popularise the Games as it would become an annual event. Half the games should be organised in even years and the other half in odd-numbered years. Further, it is the financial part which may be worrying future hosts of the states. With most of the states running into serious financial crisis, earmarking of substantial budgetary provisions for creation of sports infrastructure may not be without administrative and financial problems. Though Andhra Pradesh, which plans to host the next edition of the Games in November next year, its chances of meeting the deadline are not certain as it also hopes to get a substantial chunk of financial grants from the Union Government. In the absence of the grants, the Games may be delayed. Other reason has been the overcrowding of the sports calendar. With the introduction of SAF Games and the proposed Afro-Asian Games, the fitting of the National Games into the international calendar would be another tough thing. Fortunately for Punjab, the SAF Games and inaugural Afro Asian Games were postponed. Had these Games been held as per schedule, the 31st National Games would have been deprived of their glamour, prestige and participation by eminent sportsmen and women of the country. The ball is now in the court of the
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Punjab men regain basketball title Ludhiana, November 27 Punjab, who had lost to Bihar in the final in the last National Games, maintained their lead right through the contest with all their cagers showing good understanding and shooting
ability. Gagnesh Kumar was the pick of the Punjab players with 33 points while Parminder Singh jr (20), Parminder Singh sr (19) and Gurchanran Singh (8) were the other notable scorers. For Tamil Nadu, Robinson was the top scorer with 35 while Shabbir Ahmed (8) and Shiv Shankar (10) were the other contributors. Reigning champions Maharashtra in a well-contested match defeated Tamil Nadu to retain the basketball title in the women’s section. With four internationals, captain Ivy
Cherian, Arnika Gujar, Shanti Saldanha and Lincy Joseph in their ranks, Maharashtra faced a stiff challenge from their spirited opponents till midway through the second quarter (30-30) before gaining the lead. Ivy Cherian and Manisha Kaprekar with 16 points each, combined well to shatter Tamil Nadu’s defence while Arnika Gujar contributed 14 points. For the losers, M. Meenalatha (24)and Renjini Jose (22) reduced the margin. Earlier, in the matches to decide the third position, Andhra Pradesh emerged victorious in the men’s as well as in the women’s section. In the men’s section, Jharkhand went down fighting against Andhra Pradesh 63-66 and in the women’s section Andhra Pradesh prevailed over Kerala 59-40. The match between Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh proved to be a see-saw battle as both the teams were neck-and-neck at 63-63. With just few seconds to go for the long hooter and the score reading 64-63 in favour of Andhra Pradesh, their star performer J.Pankaj , keeping his cool, netted two baskets to seal the fate of their rivals at 66-63. The encounter to decide the bronze medal in the women’s section between Andhra Pradesh and Kerala turned out to be a dull and drab affair with former enjoying the upper hand through out the match.
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Maharashtra eves retain b’ball title Ludhiana, November 27 Maharashtra eves who had become champions in the last edition of the Games at Imphal in 1999 pipping West Bengal in the final, played their hearts out to edge out Tamil Nadu. With four internationals, captain Ivy Cherian, Arnika Gujar, Shanti Saldanha and Lincy Joseph in their ranks, Maharashtra faced a stiff challenge from their spirited opponents till midway through the second quarter (30-30) before gaining the lead. Ivy Cherian and Manisha Kaprekar with 16 points each, combined well to shatter Tamil Nadu’s defence while Arnika Gujar contributed 14 points. For the losers, M. Meenalatha (24)and Renjini Jose (22) reduced the margin. Earlier, in the matches to decide the third position, Andhra Pradesh emerged victorious in the men’s as well as in the women’s section. In the men’s section, Jharkhand went down fighting against Andhra Pradesh 63-66 and in the women’s section Andhra Pradesh prevailed over Kerala 59-40. The match between Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh proved to be a see-saw battle as both the teams were neck-and-neck at 63-63. With just few seconds to go for the long hooter and the score reading 64-63 in favour of Andhra Pradesh, their star performer J.Pankaj , keeping his cool, netted two baskets to seal the fate of their rivals at 66-63. J. Pankaj and Vishal Kumar scored 20 and 15 points, respectively, for the winners while for Jharkhand, Des Raj top scored with 18 points followed by their skipper Jaldep Dhaliwal (10) and Mohit Bhandari (15). The encounter to decide the bronze medal in the women’s section between Andhra Pradesh and Kerala turned out to be a dull and drab affair with former enjoying the upper hand through out the match. Andhra eves established a 17-point lead (32-15) at the end of the second quarter . Sofi Sam (22) and Sisily M.A. (15) excelled for the winners while the main scorers for Kerala were Liji George, Binu Cherian and Ambili
P.K, contributing 9, 8 and 7 points, respectively. |
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Punjab men, eves bag kabaddi gold
Patiala, November 27 In the men’s section, Punjab managed to ward off a late resurgence by Chandigarh towards the end of the match. Trailing 20-33 at one stage, the hosts staged a tremendous fightback to beat Chandigarh 55-38. Haryana beat Delhi 46-30 to stand third. On the distaff side, the Punjab eves did not have much to worry after they notched up a comfortable 15-point lead against Haryana and closed the match at 46-30. The third spot was bagged by the Chandigarh eves, who routed Manipur 20-5. Delhi defeated Haryana 33-31 to annex the title in the mens section of national style event. The final scoreline in itself reflects the closeness of the match which rose to the level of an intense contest once both the teams were tied 28-28 with just minutes to go before the final whistle. Today, the team played with purpose and did not allow the Haryana team the upperhand once it got a decisive 30-28 lead. In the women’s section, a fighting Haryana went down to Maharashtra 35-37. This encounter too had all the ingredients of a close match and the Maharashtra eves came back from behind at least on three occasions before finally winning with a narrow 2 point margin. In the men’s section, Services downed a beleaguered Rajasthan 44-17 to clinch the third spot. |
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Tension marks eves’ kabaddi final Patiala, November 27 There was heightened tension in the Yadvindra Public School Stadium here today with both the Punjab and Chandigarh teams submitting written protests demanding expulsion of Haryana team stopper Geeta. The Haryana team Chef-de-Mission, however, threatened that his team would not participate in the final if Geeta was not allowed to play. Though the Haryana team was able to prevail on the issue, Geeta was severely warned before the start of play. Haryana will trounced 30-40 in the final which was played without any dangerous tackles which had been a rule in the past. The dangerous play resorted to by the Haryana team saw two girls being seriously injured, one of whom has been paralysed from waist down. A dangerous tackle by Geeta had resulted in Jaspreet Kaur, of Punjab incurring a serious spinal injury. Geeta also injured Jaskaran Laddi , of Chandigarh, who is in hospital. Her condition is reported to be stable. Besides this other players have also suffered minor injuries due to dangerous play by the Haryana girls. Punjab girls had alleged yesterday that the Haryana girls had threatened to cause physical damage to their star stopper . A protest had also been lodged with the Haryana team in this regard. Meanwhile, experts feel that dangerous tackling techniques like Scissoring should be banned in circle kabbadi which is famous in Punjab and north India and has been included in the National Games for the first time.
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Delhi, Maharashtra
win kabaddi titles Patiala, November 27 The final scoreline in itself reflects the closeness of the match which rose to the level of an intense contest once both the teams were tied 28-28 with just minutes to go before the final whistle. However, the Delhi teams play today was a revelation as in its earlier matches it played well only in patches and in fact Delhi went into the final as the underdogs. Today, the team played with purpose and did not allow the Haryana team the upperhand once it got a decisive 30-28 lead. Amidts mounting excitement, Delhi closed the match at 33-31. As if to rub more salt into its wounds, in the women’s section, a fighting Haryana went down to Maharashtra 35-37. This encounter too had all the ingredients of a close match and the Maharashtra eves came back from behind at least on three occasions before finally winning with a narrow 2 point margin. In the men’s section, Services downed a beleaguered Rajasthan 44-17 to clinch the third spot while on the distaff side Karanataka just about managed to pip to the post Manipur 17-15 to stand third. |
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BOXING Patiala, November 27 Narinder Kaur, Karamjit Kaur and Rupinder Kaur won gold medals in the heavyweight, light middleweight and middleweight weight categories respectively. Gurpreet Kaur, Rupinder Kaur, Monica and Prempreet Kaur won silver medals in the respective weight categories. Haryana boxer Meena lifted gold in flyweight, while Preeti Beniwal (feather), Sharmila Yadav (bentam), Alpna Dahiya (light welter) and Kavita (light weight) the bronze. |
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Fancied Harjeet falls to Rajbir Patiala, November 27 In a tactical fight, the Punjab pugilist used his superior height and reach and picked his moments to attack. He kept on striking with his long range punches to his opponents head and then backed swiftly to keep his rival at a distance. For the first three rounds, Harjeet had his rival moving back to the ropes and on one occasion he also felled him with a withering left-right combination. However, Rajbir recovered quickly and was on his feet before the referee finished his count. However, inexplicably, after dominating the exchanges for the larger part, Harjeet developed some stiffness in his body that led to his being sluggish and erratic throughout the fourth round. And this was the decisive moment the rejuvenated and reinvigorated Delhi pugilist was looking for, as he found a perfect opening to drive in a wedge when he finally felled a tired looking Harjeet with a power-packed left hook from where the Punjab star never recovered. Indeed, Harjeet floundered after a dream start and a hush fell over the hosts camp when the referee declared Rajbir the winner. The only silver lining for the hosts was that four of their star boxers - Harpal, Hemant Kumar, Harpreet Singh and Balkar - booked semi final slots in their respective weight categories. Highly-fancied Harpal found himself in a somewhat embarrassing situation as he made the last four grade in the super heavyweight category without even having to throw a single punch. None of his opponents, fearing his awesome reputation, are stepping into the ring and today was no different when his rival S.K Jaimul Alam of West Bengal, all keyed up before the bout, cried off just in the nick of the team, to give a walk over to Harpal. With today’s bouts the decks have been cleared for the semifinal stage and three more Services boxer, in addition to the five who qualified yesterday, have made the grade. Results: (all q-finals): welterweight:
A.Dullar Singh (SSCB) b S.K. Saiful Rahman (WB) RSC; Hemant Kumar (Pun) b Surinder Singh (Asm) 5-0; middleweight: Hardeep (SSCB) b Ravinder Kumar (Har), RSC; Lt heavyweight: J.Gaikwad (Mah) b Sumeet Kulve (Utr) 20-9; Raj Kumar (Man) b Vivek Kumar (Har) 19-12; superheavyweight: Dharamvir (Jha) b Vikram (Del) 20-16. |
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Punjab continue victory march Ludhiana, November 27 International Gurpreet Kaur demonstrated her power, strength and skill again by scoring maximum 12 goals while Sharnjit Kaur scored four. Harvinder Kaur and Baljit Kaur contributed three goals each while Karmjit, Harpreet and Harjit scored two goals each. Defending champions, in the women’s section, Kerala thrashed Delhi 20-17 in another one-sided affair. The holders led 14-9 at half time. Usha Nandini netted nine goals for the champions while Sheeba scored five goals, Mini M.R and Sri Pria made three successful attempts each for the winners. Manipur eves routed Haryana 23-9. The winners dominated the proceeding right from the beginning. In the first half Manipur maintained the lead by 11-5. Sandhya remained the top scorer by contributing eight goals for the winners while Surbala scored six where as Boby and Apabi increased the tally by three goals each. Chhattisgarh eves trounced Maharashtra. In the men’s section Jammu and Kashmir outclassed Uttar Pardesh 21-17. While holders Services pipped Maharashtra by 25-13. In a nail-biting match, Madya Pradesh beat Karnataka 20-17. |
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Punjab judokas
bag two gold Anandpur Sahib, November 27 The second gold for Punjab was won by Jagjit Kaur in the 70kg category when she defeated Maya Rani of Uttar Pradesh. Seema Chohan of Haryana and Rina Sah of Chhattishgarh won the bronze in this category. In the last event of the day below 78 kg section, Aarti Sharma took silver medal for the hoste. Tomorrow, competitions in the below 81 kg and 73 kg for men and below 44 kg and 63 kg category for women will be held. The results of the other competition held today are: 100kg (men): Jatinder (Haryana) 1, Sobhnath Yadav (UP) 2, Davinder Ramawath (MP), Davinder Yadav (Punjab) 3; 78kg (women): O. Riza Channo (Manipur) 1, Arti Sharma (Punjab) 2 Seema Gill (Haryana) Kuljeet Kaur (J&K) 3. |
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Haryana eves clinch hockey crown Ludhiana, November 27 A spirited Haryana team backed by a strong capacity crowd support were playing a confident Maharashtra, who had not lost any match in the tournament and conceded not many goals either. However, the Haryana girls went on with an attacking game right from the beginning, which was supported by good coordination between the forward and the defending line. And here, the Maharashtra team lagged behind. For the first time in the entire tournament, Maharashtra girls felt under tremendous pressure right from the beginning. The star attractions Mamta Kharab, Shangai Chanu and Suraj Lata were completely restricted today by the Haryana girls, who seemed to have concentrated their defence on these three. And they succeeded in their plan, containing them and not letting them much freedom, they enjoyed in earlier matches. The attacking game played by Haryana started paying good dividends in the sixth minute, when Suman Bala converted a penalty corner into a goal on an accurate push from Gurpreet. This raised the morale of the Haryana girls who further strengthened their assault on a defensive Maharashtra. For some time Haryana had to play with 10 players only as Surinder Kaur was shown yellow card by the umpire Asrita Lakra. While Haryana girls consistently maintained their dominance over the game amidst generous applause from the crowd, Maharashtra girls tried to make some desperate and aborted moves to take the ball into the Haryana half. They could not break the strong cordon. Again in the 27th minute, captain Pritam Siwatch converted a penalty corner into a goal giving her team an enviable lead of 2-0. At half time Haryana were leading 2-0. In the second half, Maharashtra tried some beautiful but unsuccessful moves. However, luck did not favour them as none of the moves could lead to a goal. In the 55th minute Shangai Chanu made a brilliant attempt but could not score a goal as ball missed the post. Although both Shangai and Mamta tried their desperate best to come back into the game, they were not allowed to, by now confident Haryana. For Haryana Kamla Dalal, Pritam Siwatch and Surinder Kaur played some best hockey. More than once Kamla took the ball into the Maharashtra half single handed in absence of any significant resistance. She also received good support from Surinder and
Pritam. Their attacking game fetched Haryana good 8 penalty corners, against only one to Maharashtra. The Maharashtra coach Satinder Walia was obviously upset. But he praised his girls for having displayed brilliant hockey all through the Games. “However, they could not maintain the same tempo today and the Haryana girls played the best”, he observed, while pointing out, “our girls were unable to bridge the gap between the defending line and the attacking line which was taken advantage of by Haryana girls”. Haryana coach, Baldev Singh, who was happy for having won the National event for the first time, however, could not resist a comment on the umpiring. He said, “although we won, the umpiring was again not impartial”. He claimed that sending out Surinder Kaur for merely an appeal was dubious, “because Surinder is one of the dangerous forward players and they sent her out on flimsy grounds”. Earlier, Punjab beat Chandigarh 4-2 to claim the bronze medal. Jyoti Kallu scored 3 goals, while fourth goal was scored by Amandeep Sr for Punjab. For Chandigarh both the goals were scored by Saba Anjum, who once again displayed a remarkable game. |
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Gurminder sets two records in w’lifting Patiala, November 27 Gurminder Singh of Punjab stole the limelight by not only bagging the gold medal in the men’s 105kg category but also setting new meet records in clean-and-jerk and total. He lifted a total of 330kg erasing the previous record of K.S. Muthu of Tamil Nadu, who had lifted 322.5kg in the last edition of National Games in Imphal. Gurminder also broke Muthu’s jerk record of 180kg by lifting 185kg. Muthu had to be content with silver this time with a total lift of 325kg while bronze was taken by Arwinder Singh of Services with an effort of 320kg. Bharti Singh of Delhi also grabbed a gold medal in the women’s over 75kg category with a record-breaking effort of 222.5kg while the silver was taken by Seema Thapar of Uttar Pradesh, who managed a total lift of 162.5kg. In the men’s over 105kg category, Dalbir Singh of Punjab gave his fellow lifters plenty to cheer about pocketing the gold with a total lift of 337.5kg. S Kishore Kumar of Andhra Pradesh (330kg) and Shamsher Singh of Maharashtra (327kg) won the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
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Maharashtra, Delhi in title clash Chandigarh, November 27 Among women Radhika Tulpule (Maharashtra) brushed aside Geetamanohar (Andhra) 6-1, 6-4, while Tulpule combined with Sonal Phadke in the doubles to get the better of Sania Mirza and Geetamanohar 7-6(3), 6-2 to ensure their entry into final. For the title they will face Tamil Nadu who defeated Karnataka 2-1 In men's singles Ajay Ramaswamy of Maharashtra got a walkover from Vasudeva Reddy of Andhra while Nitin Kirtane did not have to exert much against Shivang of Delhi 6-2, 6-2 to advance into the quarterfinals. Punjab did not have a very fruitful day as Jasleen Randhawa and Kamalpreet Bhullar both bowed out in the pre-quarterfinals, while men had the same luck in store as Gursharan Singh and Tushar Sharma also made their exit. While Gursharan could not offer much resistance and went down tamely 2-6, 1-6, Tushar managed to snatch a set from his formidable opponent Nitin Kirtane before bowling out 2-6, 6-2, 2-6. Men’s singles (pre-quarterfinal): Vinod Sewa (WB) b Sushant Bihani (Mah) 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, Kamlesh Shukla (UP) b Tushar Gautam (Dli) Coneeded, Ajay Ramaswamy (Mah) W/o Vasudeva Reddy (AP), Harshit Sharma (WB) b S.K. Shivshankar (Kar) 6-4, 7-6 (4), Punna Vishal (AP) b Kaptan K (UP) 7-5, 6-3, Vinod Sridhar (TN) b Gursharan Singh (Pb) 6-2, 6-1, Manoj Mahadevan (TN) b Tushar Sharma (Pb) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, Nitin K. (Mah) b Shivang M. (Dli) 6-2, 6-2. |
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Limba Ram ‘deserves a better deal’ Patiala, November 27 Limba Ram, who equalled the world record in the Beijing Asian championship in 1992 in the 30 meters event to bag a gold medal and who brought the game into the limelight in the country, is without a job presently and in dire monetary
straits. Limba, who has not been given any land or large amounts of money for his achievements in the game except Rs 51,000 given by the Rajasthan Government when he set the world mark, and another Rs 51,000 by Rajasthan along with the Khel Ratna award, is moving around with his bio data hoping to be appointed a Sub Inspector in the Central Industrial Security Force
(CISF). A proud man despite the humiliating treatment meted out to him, it is not easy to get him to lay blame on anyone for not recognising his worth. ‘’Archery mein paisa nahi
hai’’, he says by way of explanation adding ‘’aap samajh sakte hain ki main dar dar bhatak raha
hoon’’. ‘’Only few archers have got jobs’’, he adds for more details.
Limba, who has earlier been employed by the Tatas, says if nothing else materialises he would like to be associated with coaching the Rajasthan team which he is representing in the nationals. As of now Limba wants to make a comeback to the game. In the qualifying event today he showed glimpses of his old form to take the top position in the 70 meters Olympic round. Limba says he is trying to get his form back saying it is possible with perseverance to be among the best at an advanced stage of 30 years, as has been proved by archers worldwide. However Limba is sad that the Special Area Games scheme started in 1984 which produced him and other tribal players including Sham Lal Meena, Dhul Chand Damor and Lalram
Sangha, has died a natural death. He said his game had also suffered as Russian coach Alexander Nicoli who had trained him from 1988 to 1990 was sent back and he did not get the services of a regular foreign coach again. ‘’I also had to do without the latest equipment during this period which resulted in a slump in my performance’’, he added. The tribal archer said the SAG scheme had also suffered in the past with it not getting any equipment for six years which severely hampered the growth of the game in the country. He said it was impossible in present times for under previleged boys and girls to take up the game as the equipment cost in nearly Rs one lakh per set of bow and arrows. He said the SAG was also not doing the primary task entrusted to it - that of spotting talent - and was only being run as a training institute for established archers. Gymnastics officials attending the National Games said the end of prioritisation given to Archery from 1984 to 1994 had resulted in the SAG scheme lying dormant for the last four to five years. A jury member
C.K. Das from West Bengal said the game had been put on the priority list again which could see the SAG scheme taking off again. As regards
Limba, he said the boy deserved a good placement keeping in view his contribution to the game. ‘’Limba and his contempories raised the Indian standard in the game to a new height for which they needed to be recognised’’, adding it was now for the juniors to take their place. |
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Amardeep Rai shoots skeet gold Chandigarh, November 27 As many as 26 skeet shooters drawn from various parts of the country including top skeet shooters Rao Inderjeet Singh, Manavjit Singh, Zorawar Singh, Naveen Jindal, among others, took part. |
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Sandy Lehal returns a
four-under Chandigarh, November 27 Sandy scored six birdies, but he also lost two strokes for the four-under card. Gurbaaz Mann of Punjab and Pritam Saikia (West Bengal) had identical one-over cards of 73. At the end of the day the Punjab golfers were way ahead of their nearest rivals, Chandigarh and Delhi, by a big margin of 15 strokes. They are the favourites and sure to strike the gold. Punjab have been deprived of another gold as there were only two teams in the women's section and the competition in the ladies section had to be scrapped. With Irina Brar and Parnita Garewal in their ranks, Punjab were sure to reap that gold also. Fifteen teams are participating in the tournament. The sixty players have been divided into 20 threesomes. Each has players from three different states. General Jacob appreciated the preparations made by the Chandigarh Golf Club for the Nationals and congratulated the club president, Mr G.S. Sandhu,and his team. Team results: Punjab 212, Chandigarh and Delhi 227, Maharashtra 230, UP 232, SSCB 236, West Bengal 237, Haryana 241, Karnataka and AP 249, Meghalaya 269, Himachal Pradesh 272, MP 279, Assam 282, Manipur 320,. Individual scores: A.S. Lehal 68, H.S. Kang 71, Girish Virk 72, Pritam Saikia and Gurbaaz Mann 73, Saurabh Bahuguna 74, Simarjeet Singh and Patwardhan Jaideep 75 and Gagan Verma and Aditya Kanitkar 76. |
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India end tour with humiliating defeat Centurion Park, November 27 After being bowled out for 232 in their first innings, the Indians were dismissed for 261 in their second essay nine minutes into the second session of the fifth and final day today. They stopped 73 runs short of mammoth South African total of 566 for eight declared, which had given the hosts a 334-run first innings lead. The Indians had lost the first Test at Bloemfontein by nine wickets while managing to salvage a draw in the second in Port Elizabeth, where match-referee Mike Denness raked up a huge controversy by handing down harsh punishments to six Indians. That controversy continued to haunt the Indians for the rest of the tour with the International Cricket Council refusing to recognise this match as official though the Indian board insisted it was a full-fledged Test match. The Indians looked to making an improvement in their performance when openers Shiv Sunder Das and Connor Williams put up a 92-run stand, the highest for India in the series, yesterday. However, they were both dismissed yesterday and when India resumed at 118 for two this morning, it was the same old story of batsmen frittering away the advantage and failing to apply themselves to the task. With the exception of Anil Kumble and Ashish Nehra, every single Indian batsmen got a start, reaching in excess of 20 but none could stay on to play a big innings. Almost every South African batsmen had also got a start in their only innings in this match and in contrast to the Indians, produced two centuries apart from substantial contributions from Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs. And therein lay the difference between the two teams in this match. Two of the Indian players, Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad, were nursing injuries and did not come out to bat. The Indian innings folded in the 85th over. Dravid, leading the side in the absence of Sourav Ganguly, started confidently today and hit Mornantu Hayward for three consecutive boundaries before the bowler uprooted his off-stumps with a gem of a delivery. The delivery straightened after pitching and Dravid, who batted for 71 minutes for his 23, was left totally clueless. Laxman and Tendulkar then added 58 runs for the fourth wicket before both fell in quick succession. Tendulkar was bowled by Makhaya Ntini as the ball cut back and removed the bails. In his innings of 40 off 61 balls, Tendulkar hit six fours and a pulled six off Jacques Kallis. The master batsman was lucky to be dropped at gully by Kirsten off Kallis when on 16. Laxman once again gave a simple catch to gully when he tried to steer Ntini after making 23. He was caught by Herschelle Gibbs. He hit four fours in his 56-ball knock. SCOREBOARD India (1st innings): 232 South Africa (1st innings): 566-8 declared India (2nd innings): Das b Pollock 48 Williams c Kallis b Klusener 42 Dravid b Hayward 23 Tendulkar b Ntini 40 Laxman c Gibbs b Ntini 23 Dasgupta lbw b Ntini 27 Kumble c Boje b Pollock 8 Harbhajan c Boucher b Hayward 30 Nehra not out 0 Srinath absent hurt Prasad absent hurt Extras (b-2, lb-11, nb-7) 20 Total (for 7 wkts) 261 Fall of wickets: 1-92, 2-116, 3-130, 4-188, 5-197, 6-221, 7-259. Bowling: Pollock 14-2-40-2, Hayward 17-3-61-2, Ntini 18-6-27-2, Kallis 14.1-4-45-1, Klusener 12-6-30-1, Boje 7-2-34-0, Rudolph 2-0-11-0.
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Kale rescues India ‘A’ Jaipur, November 27 Braving the green top wicket and early inroads in the innings by English seamers Richard Johnson (3 for 56) and Andrew Flintoff (3 for 47), Kale and Khoda sent a timely reminder to the selectors before the start of the first Test at Mohali on December 3. When stumps were drawn the English side was 37 for no loss off 11 overs with Mark Butcher (32) and Mark Trescothick (5) at the crease. Earlier, Johnson and Flintoff justified their skipper’s decision to bowl first and used the the morning conditions and dew to perfection to reduce the Indians to 4 for 8. Johnson, who used the opportunity to stage an impressive comeback after a back injury, worked out a good pace. Scoreboard India ‘A’ (1st innings): Mane c Foster Johnson 0 Gambhir lbw b Johnson 5 Goud b Johnson 0 Khoda b Flintoff 64 Parida c Foster b Flintoff 0 Kale c Ramprakash b Dawson 122 Sodhi c Foster b Flintoff 2 Ratra c Foster b Giles 26 Joshi lbw b Dawson 0 Ganesh not out 0 Extras (b-3, lb-2, nb-9) 14 Total ( for 9 wkts decl) 233 FOW: 1-0, 2-0, 3-7, 4-8, 5-122, 6-134, 7-233, 8-233, 9-233. Bowling: Richard Johnson 15-3-56-3, Andrew Flintoff 17-4-47-3, Craig White 14-3-32-0, Mark Butcher 1-0-3-0, Ashley Giles 17-4-48-1, Richard Dawson 11-1-38-2, Marcus Trescothick 2-1-4-0. England XI (1st innings): Butcher batting 32 Trescothick batting 5 Total (for no loss, 11 overs) 37 Bowling: Doda Ganesh 5-2-19-0, I Siddiqui 5-1-17-0, Sunil Joshi 1-0-1-0.
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Himachal rout Services Una, November 27 Chasing the victory target of 46 runs Himachal scored 48 runs for the loss of one wicket. A deadly spell of five for 80 by Shakti Singh supported by penetrating spell of four for 40 by Vishal Bhatia send Services packing and the last five wickets fell for only 40 runs. Resuming the play at overnight score of 25 for no loss, Services lost the first wicket at 28. The wickets continued falling at short intervals and visitors were 106 for five. Krishan Chawla was the highest scorer with 44 runs while Sachin Nadkarni remained not out at 17. C.D. Thomson scored 16 runs while Saravjeet Singh and Sukhakar contributed 13 runs each. With the second win during the current Ranji championship, Himachal have for the first in 16 years qualified for the knock out stage. Scoreboard Services (Ist innings): 329 Himachal (Ist innings): 463 for five decl Services (2nd innings): Reddy b Shakti 6, Krishan Chawla c Amit b Panta 44, Jasbir c Sangram b Shakti Singh 10, Yashpal lbw Bhatia 0, Sanjay c Amit b Shakti 0, Saravjit lbw Shakti 17, Thomson c Sangram b Vishal 16, Nadkarni n.o. 17, Ghag b Bhatia 13, Arun c Sangram b Vishal 4, Hari Prasad lbw Shakti 0. Extras 14. Total (all out) 179 (in 54.3 overs) Fall of wickets: 1/28, 2/48, 3/70, 4/71, 5/106, 6/139, 7/146, 8/170, 9/178, 10/179. Bowling: Shakti Singh 26.3-6-80-4; Sandeep Sharma 6-1-21-0; Rahul Panta 7-2-23-1; Rajinder Thakur 1-0-4-0; Vishal Bhatia 13-2-40-4; Himachal (2nd innings): Rahul Panta n.o. 17, Sandeep Sharma c Jasbir b Sachin 27, Rajiv Nayyar n.o. 0. Extras 4. Total (for one wicket) 48. Fall of wickets:
1/42. Bowling: Sukhakar Ghag 2-0-24-0; Hari Prasad 2.3-0-12-0; Arun Sharma 3-3-0-1; Jasbir Singh 1-0-1-0; Yash Pal 1-0-3-0.
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Himachal hold on for draw Chamba, November 27 Himachal starting with their overnight score of 136 for four were all out for just 181, and were forced to follow on as they fell 27 runs short. In the second innings, Himachal lost wickets at regular interval except Gursevak Singh, who scored 45 runs off 125 balls. However, Shivinder and wicketkeeper Rahul put up a match-saving partnership, holding on for a draw. Delhi got five points due to first innings lead while Himachal got three points. Brief scores: Delhi: 354 all-out. Himachal: 181 and 165 for 6. Hitesh 38, Grosbeak 45, Shivinder 18, Rahul 22. Raja Sharma 2 for 41, Puru Singh 2 for 22.
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