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Saturday,
December 1, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Hardip’s strike fetches gold for Punjab
Punjab take handball
titles GAMES DIARY |
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Ramaswami,
Rushmi win gold Archer Vishal puts veterans to shade Services
sweep kayaking gold Where is
the anti-doping awareness?
Punjab, Haryana judokas hog the limelight Manipur
retain football gold Punjab
eves down Maharashtra Services
riders on top with seven gold Vincent
makes dream debut
Vaas wrecks
Windies No opening ceremony for first
Test Srinath
may be fit for 2nd Test Minhas,
Chawla rescue Delhi HP make
solid start
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Hardip’s strike fetches gold for Punjab Ludhiana, November 30 A massive crowd at the floodlit Guru Nanak Stadium, a record by all accounts, which lent vociferous support to the home team, was witness to Punjab football’s first big leap of the millennium. The decisive goal, coming through star striker Hardip Gill in the 31st minute of play, sparked wild celebrations in the stands. Thereafter, Punjab continued to press home the advantage and in fact, could have boosted the tally, but for a couple of close misses. Later, with only a few minutes remaining, and fragrance of victory was very much in the air, celebrations made a premature beginning. And when the long whistle blew, drum beats, to the accompaniment of high watt music, reverberated all over, rendering all other noise redundant. As the victorious team led by Hardip Saini took a victory lap of the stadium, the emotions spilled over from the galleries to the ground with some jubilant supporters rushing on to the field to hug the heroes, basking in new-found glory after the hard-earned win. Coach Jagir Singh, too , was overcome with emotion as he silently clasped his hands in thanksgiving. The decisive goal was the result of a cross by Sukhjit from the right corner and Hardip Gill, who plays for JCT, turned around to despatch a powerful volley to which Felix D’Souza, the Goa goalkeeper, had no answer. The goal spurred Punjab into further momentum, but another goal remained elusive. Displaying total control in an
electrifying atmosphere, Punjab seldom showed signs of nervousness. A lob from the left early on by Sukhjit went waste as Hardip Gill failed to trap the ball. Then in the 31st minute, Punjab forged ahead, thanks to a cross by Sukhjit which Gill dutifully volleyed home. Goa earned a free kick inside the Punjab box shortly before the interval following a back pass by a Punjab defender to the goalkeeper who collected the ball. However, the kick failed to yield anything worthwhile. Punjab stopper back Harsharanjit Singh, who plays for RCF, received a head injury in a mid-air collision with a rival player, but he returned with a bandaged forehead to smother wave after wave of Goan attacks in gallant rearguard action, reminding one of the legendary Jarnail Singh’s heroics in the Jakarta Asian Games. In the 63rd minute, Punjab missed a golden chance after Manjinder put Gurjit in possession. However, the latter’s kick sailed past the far post despite an open goal in front. Gurjit Atwal had another good chance towards the end, when after cutting in from the right, his intended pass for Gill was intercepted. Nevertheless, the goal scored in the first half was enough to put Punjab on the victory podium. Punjab had last won the gold in 1985 and today’s title win coming after 16 years is perhaps one of the biggest achievements over the last decade and-a-half. |
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2 golf gold for Punjab; Harjinder
triumphs Chandigarh, November 30 Harjinder Singh Kang of Punjab clinched the individual title leaving his nearest rivals, Vikrant Chopra of Delhi and Simarjeet Singh of UP four strokes behind. Then the Punjab foursome of Gurbaaz Mann, H.S.Kang , A.S.Lehal and Jaskirat Dullet returned a four-day aggregate of 875. Their nearest rivals, Delhi, finished 18 strokes behind. Chandigarh clinched the bronze. Kang started the last round with a par on the first hole and fired two birdies on the second and eighth holes in the front nine. In the back nine he had two bogeys and the remaining all pars for a card of one-over 73 and a four-day aggregate of 289, one over for the four-day par score of 288. Kang finished first and was four shots ahead of Vikrant Chopra (Del) and Simarjeet Singh (UP), both tied at 293. Harjinder Kang said he came to the course today in a very positive state of mind and after the second hole where he had a birdie he had “the winning feel”. Vikrant Chopra (Del) had the best round for the day returning a card of 71. Simarjeet Singh started the day with a par but then he had a double bogey on the second hole and a bogey on the third but recovered with birdies on the fifth and seventh. On the back nine he had two bogeys and a double bogey. Vikrant Chopra (Del) and Simarjeet Singh (UP) had a two-way tie for the silver with a four-day total of 293. They returned to the 18th hole for a play-off to decide the silver and bronze. Vikrant Chopra hit a good drive and was on the green in regulation and made a par. However, Simarjeet Singh hit his second shot into the green side bunker and from there did a tremendous up-and-down to par the hole. Still tied both went to the last hole for play-off and after their second shots near the green Chopra made an up-and-down for par to clinch the silver whereas Shmarjeet Singh missed his par and had to settle for the bronze. After leading throughout the Punjab team once again played consistent game and turned in a last-round score of 221 ( Gurbaaz Mann 72, H.S.Kang 73, and A.S.Lehal 76) for a four-day total of 875 to take the gold. Delhi also maintained their previous day’s second spot and finished the event with a four-day total of 893 to take the silver. Chandigarh maintained their third position to finish with a score of 910 for the bronze. The medal ceremony was held on the Golf Club’s front lawn and Mr Gurinderjeet Singh Sandhu, President, Chandigarh Golf Club, gave away the medals to the winners. Individual event: Gold Medal — Harjinder Kang; Silver Medal — Vikrant Chopra, Bronze Medal — Simarjeet Singh. Team event: Gold Medal — Punjab (Gurbaaz Mann , H.S. Kang, A.S. Lehal and Jaskirat Dullet); Silver — Delhi (Vikrant Chopra, Gagan Verma, Vikram Rana and Saurabh Bahuguna); Bronze — Chandigarh (Harinder Gupta, Girish Virk, Sandeep Singh Sandhu and Vikramjit Singh). Punjab team were all praise for their coach Jassi Garewal for his coaching and advice and Col B.S.Kahlon, team manager , for this all-round support. Chandigarh Golf Club got all the praise for the smooth conduct of the prestigious event. The course staff and Mr S.P.S. Mahtaroo, Chairman, Tournament Committee of the CGC, worked overtime to ensure that the event was a success. Chief Refree Col Jamsher Gill, who was recently an invitee umpire at the British Open and his team of umpires, members of Chandigarh Golf Club, did a good job. The final results: Individual: H.S.Kang (Pb)- 289; Vikrant Chopra (Del)- 293, Simarjeet Singh (UP)- 293, A.S.Lehal (Pb)- 296, Saurabh Bahuguna (Dlh)- 297, Gurbaaz Mann (Pb) - 298, Girish Virk (Chd)- 299, Pritam Saikia (WB)- 304, Gagan Verma (Dlh)- 305, Manav Dass (Hry)- 306, Harinder Gupta (Chd)- 306, Jaskirat Dullet (Pb)- 306. Team event: Punjab 875, Delhi 893, Chandigarh 910, Maharashtra 922, UP 923, SSCB 941, Haryana 968, WB 970, AP 998, Karnataka 1009, HP 1095, MP 1101, Assam 1121, Manipur 1216. |
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Punjab take handball
titles Ludhiana, November 30 The men's final between last Games' runners-up Punjab and the reigning champions Services was an absorbing tussle with the former enjoying a comfortable lead at half time but mistakes committed during the second half allowed the spirited opponents to level the score at 22 -22 and then at 23-all. With just 20 seconds to go for the final whistle, referee Sham Lal of Himachal Pradesh awarded a penalty to Punjab which was protested by the Services players, and an exchange of heated arguments followed. Some of the spectators among whom Army recruits witnessing the match invaded the court. The match was held up for about 40 minutes. Only after the intervention of the police, the match could be resumed. Punjab's Raja Rao converted a penalty throw into a goal to help the home side to win the final verdict in their favour 24-23. Naveen Kumar fetched in nine goals for the winners, followed by Raja Rao (7), Jaswant Singh (3), and Lachhman (2). For the loser's the main scorer were Parseed Kumar (8), T.P. Lallu (4) and Satish Kumar (2). In the women’s
section, Punjab managed to scrap past Chhattisgarh 24-21. The issue was resolved through a tie-breaker as at the end of the regular period the two teams were locked at 21-21. The two teams were separated by just one goal with the hosts trailing (8-9) at half time. The second half witnessed a see-saw battle with the score board reading 15-15 and then 21-21. In the dying minutes, International Gurpreet Purewal, with three successful penalities, took her side ahead to score a memorable victory. Gurpreet continued her dazzling performance by scoring maximum number of goals (12). Karamjit Kaur accounted for four while Harwinder Kaur and Baljit Kaur chipped in with two goals each. Anita Yadav (7), Meenakshi (6), Juliet Lawrance, Pushpa and Anjlina Lawrance with two goals each played well for the losers. Earlier, in the matches to decide the bronze medals, Madhya Pradesh got the better of Jammu and Kashmir in the men's section while in the women's section, last Games' runners-up, Manipur scored an easy victory over champions Kerala. The match between Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir was a keenly contested affair as both the sides were tied at 11-11 at lemon break. After changing ends, Madhya Pradesh players adopted aggressive play to unsettle their rival's defence line. They succeeded in claiming the lead through their star performers Binu V. and Firoze and finally wrapped up the issue at
26-23. |
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GAMES
DIARY Equestrian may perhaps be the only sport in which Punjab suffered a reverse as its medals tally in all other events showed marginal to considerable improvement in the 31st edition compared to the 30th edition of the National Games. It is for the first time that Punjab has crossed the half-century mark in gold medals besides taking its overall medals tally past 150. Athletics, boxing, gymnastics, judo, shooting, weightlifting and wrestling are the sports in which Punjab has done exceedingly well in the Games this time. In athletics, for example, it won 10 gold, 10 silver and 14 bronze medals compared to seven gold, six silver and four bronze medals in the last edition of the Games. This superb showing included setting up of two national records and winning of two gold medals each by thrower Harwant Kaur and hurdler Gurpreet Singh. In badminton, Punjab’s total medals — three — have remained the same though this time they got only bronze medals compared to a silver and two bronze medals in
Manipur. In basketball, Punjab improved from a silver to a gold in men’s section while in boxing, it showed a considerable jump, taking its tally from four medals — one gold, one silver and two bronze in Manipur — to 14 medals, including six gold, five silver and three bronze. In canoeing and kayaking, Punjab ended without a gold medal but all its four medals — two silver and two bronze — were a bonus to its kitty. In cycling, though Punjab lost the team championship to
Manipur, it did improve upon its standing compared to the 30th National games. This time it ended with five gold, seven silver and four bronze medals compared to three gold, two silver and two bronze in
Manipur. And Punjab were not allowed any of the five top cyclists whose licenses have been revoked by the Cycling Federation of India on disciplinary grounds. Equestrian saw a big drop in Punjab’s tally. It was Services which displaced Punjab. The home team ended with only three medals — one gold, one silver and one bronze — against six gold, two silver and one bronze won by them at
Manipur. Punjab police has one of the best equestrian teams in the country. Football was another sport which did Punjab proud. Both the men and women teams made the final round. In the
women's final, Punjab lost to Manipur 2-3 in the gold medal match. In the last Games, Punjab ended medalless in football. In gymnastics, Punjab not only produced perhaps the best woman athlete of the Games in
Rajani, but also took its medals tally from six at Manipur to 13 this time with four gold, four silver and five bronze medals. In handball, too, Punjab made the final grade in both men and women’s section. In the last Games, Punjab had only one silver. Though hockey gave the home team two medals, but this time only bronze medals against a gold and a bronze in the last Games.
Kabaddi, on the other hand , came upto the expectations giving the home team two gold medals. In shooting against one silver in the last National Games, Punjab ended with three gold, three silver and four bronze medals. Both weightlifting and wrestling also produced better results for the home teams. In
weighlifting, Punjab got four gold, two silver and two bronze medals against six medals — two each of gold, silver and bronze — in the last edition of the Games. The most impressive was wrestling, where Punjab took its gold medal haul to double figures against eight last time. Though number of silver medals fell from seven to three but bronze increased from two last time to six this time. Overall, it was a satisfying performance of the home team. Other good performance came from Services who jumped to second spot and provided a real tough time to the home contingent. The OCNG this time also introduced a new medallion for all officials, members of the Organising Committee with the Games mascot and name printed on the golden metallic medallion. This medallion also served as a mark of identity and replaced traditional Games lapel pin. |
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Ramaswami,
Rushmi win gold Chandigarh, November 30 Stocky Ramaswami had to fight tooth and nail before he was able to subdue Mahadevan 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, while Rushmi just brushed aside Phadke by 6-0, 6-3 in a match lasting just over an hour. Mahadevan had to bite the dust later in the day also when partnering Rishi Sridhar the pair went down to Kirtane cousins, Sandeep and Nitin, in the doubles finals. The TN duo lost by 2-6, 4-6. For the singles bronze, Nitin Kirtane whipped a hapless Vinod Sridhar of Tamil Nadu 6-0, 6-2. The match between Ramaswami and Mahadevan turned out to be thrilling encounter going down to the wire. Ramaswami started with a bang breaking the very first serve of Mahadevan and holding his own to go 2-0 up. The rest of the set progressed as the players held their serves and Ramaswami wrapped up the set by 6-4. Mahadevan returned the compliment breaking his opponent once to win the set by identical score. The final and the deciding set turned out to be nail-biting both the players conceding not even an inch to the rivals. But when it mattered Ramaswami raised his game by a couple of notches to
outmaneuver Mahadevan and win the gold. The penultimate set was a marathon affair in see-saw affair in which advantage continued to shift repeatedly from one player to the other Mahadevan looked to be running out of steam when it mattered the most as Ramaswamy won the deciding set and the thriller by 7-5. Summit clash between Rushmi and Phadke proved to be a lop-sided affair. Breaking Phadke repeatedly with scorching forehand shots and cross-court winners Rushmi pocketed the first set by 6-0. In the second set Phadke was able to lift her game marginally. But that was not good enough against the experienced opponent, who clinched the second set by 6-3 to emerge a deserving winner. The results Men’s singles (final): Ajay Remawami (Mah) b Manoj Mahadevan (TN) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 For bronze: Nitin Kirtane (Mah) Vinod Sridhar (TN) 6-0, 6-2. Women doubles (finals): Rushmi Chakravarthi/Sai Jayalakshmi b Liza Pereira/Sonal Phadke (Mah) 6-1, 3-6, 6-2. For bronze: Radhika T/Radhika M (Mah) w/o S.K. Tara /Sheetal Gautam (Kar). Men doubles (finals):
Sandeep K /Nitin Kirtane (Mah) b Manoj Mahadevan /Rishi Sridhar (TN) 6-2, 6-4. For bronze: Vinod Sridhar/ Vijay Kanan (TN) b Ajay Ramaswami/Vijayendra Laad (Mah) 6-4, 6-3. Mixed doubles (finals):
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Archer Vishal puts veterans to shade Patiala, November 30 Vishal Kapoor, an 18-year-old young boy from Deep Nagar in Tripri township here, was able to achieve this feat without any full time coach, fancy equipment or any special scheme like the Special Area Games one which is available to budding archers in areas like Jharkhand and Rajasthan. Vishal’s story is one of pure grit and perseverance. Belonging to an economically backward family, he was introduced to archery through his elder sister Prem Lata in 1991. Tugging on his sister’s side, he learned the game and suitably impressed Punjab Archery Association President K. S. Kang, a bureaucrat and presently Municipal Corporation Commissioner, to lend him his equipment for practice. Seeing the talent of the boy, a former archer and presently Assistant Director in the local National Institute of Sports (NIS) — Vineet Kumar was roped in to give training to the boy. Vineet gave training to the youngster in his personal capacity and also accompanied him to sub juniors and junior meets in the last few years in his personal capacity after taking leave from the NIS. The boy’s coach had also taken leave from the NIS to be present at Vishal’s side in the National Games of the event being held here. Recounting the progress of the boy, Vineet said he had started training the young archer eight years ago and that he had progressed in a planned manner since then winning gold at the sub-junior and recently the junior level. However, Vineet and even Vishal did not even dream of bagging the gold at the National level so soon. “I did not visualise beating archers like Limba Ram and others from Jharkhand so soon”, Vishal disclosed modestly. Vineet, however, put the archer’s victory to his strong mental stability as he had only achieved the 12th ranking earlier before one-to-one competitions for the Olympic round started today. “The fact that he beat archers who had performed better than him in the ranking round speaks volumes of the his competitive toughness and mental stability”, he added. Mr Kang, whom Vishal today credited as being responsible for his performance along with his coach, said the victory of Vishal vindicated his stand that the state could deliver results in archery if proper equipment and coaches besides jobs were provided to budding archers. He said at present the Punjab archers had competed in the National Games using mediocre equipment against those who had state of the art equipment. Speaking on Vishal’s future, he said, he would try to adjust Vishal in the corporation till he was able to get an appropriate job. Vishal, who had till now been aspiring for a peon’s job in any government department, said he could give better results if he had access to better equipment and other training facilities. The budding archer has problems maintaining himself and had to take up a job as an apprentice mechanic because his father has contracted asthma and cannot work properly anymore. However, lack of monetary support is made up in Vishal’s case by his sister Prem Lata and his brother who are at his side during all competitions and were seen distributing sweets after his victory. The Punjab team along with Kang put up a good bhangra display to the accompaniment of Punjabi pop songs to celebrate Punjab’s lone medal in archery. |
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Services sweep kayaking gold Chandigarh, November 30 While Services men reigned supreme at the Sukhna Lake scooping up all the five gold medals in the men’s section, Kerala continued their gold collection by sweeping all the three gold medals in the women’s category. Services, who had secured as many as nine golds till yesterday, kept up the good work with P K Baroi, Karma Toppo and Ashish Kumar again stealing the limelight with an impressive performance. Siji Kumar set the ball rolling for services by winning the gold in the men’s 200m C-1 event as he finished with a timing of 1:03:90 second while Karma Toppo added one more gold medal to their kitty by winning the 200 m K-1 event with a timing of 56.04 seconds. The Services pair of P K Baroi and Karma Toppo displayed their skills by taking the honour in the men’s 200m K-2 event clocking 49.44 seconds while the Kerala team of D.V.S. Negi and Prasanth had to be content with the silver with a timing of 52.29 seconds. In the men’s 200m K-4 event, the services team comprising Karma Toppo, P K Baroi, Ashish Kumar and Vinod P expectedly won the race with a timing of 45:28 seconds. In the women’s K-4 section, the Kerala team comprising Jessy, Bindu, Mini and Smitha claimed the gold medal with an effort of 57.09 seconds while the Andaman and Nicobar and Andhra Pradesh teams secured the silver and bronze medals respectively. Philip Mathew and Ajit Kumar brought more laurels for Services when they won the men’s C-2 event without much difficulty, finishing with a timing of 57.03 second while the Punjab duo of Anand Singh and Maheshan had to be content with the silver medal. In the women’s K-1 event, Kerala’s Minimol cinched the coveted gold medal with a timing of 1:06.17 seconds while the silver medal was taken by Srimati Sardar of Andamans and Nicobar Island clocking 1:08.18 seconds. Minimol then teamed up with Bindu K.M to give Kerala another gold medal as they won the women’s K-2 event without much difficulty, finishing the race with a timing of 1:02.54 seconds.
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Where is
the anti-doping awareness? Chandigarh, November 30 The Tribune talked to a cross-section of sportspersons at Anandpur Sahib, SAS Nagar and Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh, where fencing, judo, shooting and rowing events are taking place. When questioned regarding their awareness about anti-doping measures and knowledge of banned substances, barely 10 per cent sportspersons said they had little or any knowledge of the various drugs and medicines banned by the International Olympic Committee. One of the doctors concerned at Anandpur Sahib, said a handbook with the requisite information of banned drugs and medicines had been circulated among the coaches and players before the National Games. But when the players were asked about the same, they said they had no knowledge about it. The doctors also said that the information was also on the website of the National Games. But when checked the website had a huge list of banned salts and no brand names. Most of the players or coaches have no knowledge of the salts named in the list or their chemical composition, which is too scientific for them. What they need, along with information on salts, is also the brand names of drugs and medicines they should avoid. A national player from Karnataka said she had tried to remember the banned salts but they should have been given orientation classes regarding banned drugs before the Games. Moreover, when the bouts or matches are over, the sample officials throng the players, giving them no time to cool down, pause, rest or to change clothes. Most of the players do not understand the urgency of the sample collectors. Many shooters based at SAS Nagar were called to tennis stadium, Sector 10, for giving samples, which is more than 10 km away from the shooting venue. The sample officials went to SAS Nagar to get samples only on the last two days. Various shooters, on condition of anonymity said they did not have any knowledge of the banned drugs and medicines. Sportspersons today are a worried lot as they fear falling in the same trap as Aparna Popat or Seema Antil who unwittingly took medicines which were banned by the International Olympic Committee. |
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Punjab, Haryana judokas hog the limelight Anandpur Sahib, November 30 The home team judokas won all the three finals in which they figured on the last day of the competition today to give Punjab an impressive tally of six gold, four silver and five bronze medals in the sport. It was Parvinder Kaur who set the ball rolling in the 63 kg category as she took full measure of Aarti Kohli of Haryana. Supported by a vocal home crowd, Parvinder had tough resistance from her experienced opponent before she clinched the gold. Jyotinder Kaur of Ludhiana was next to give Punjab another gold. She had much sturdier and taller opponent in Sana Chanu of Manipur in the 57 kg final. It was Jyotinder’s tactics that gave her an edge over her opponent. The most impressive win of the day was of Navjot Chana of Punjab in the upto 56 kg category for men, He had his opponent, Kuldip Saini of Haryana, gasping for breath as Navjot danced his way to the gold to give Punjab its sixth gold in the judo competition. In the remaining fourth final, it was Samundar Singh of Delhi who was at the receiving end against Subash Chander of Rajasthan in the open weight category. The conduct of the two finals – 57 kg for women and 63 kg for women — were slightly delayed as the organizers wanted Mr Dhindsa and the Secretary-General of the Indian Olympic Association, Mr Randhir Singh, to arrive here. Also present was Mr T.C. Gupta, President, Punjab Judo Association. All the three gold medallists from Punjab then went to seek blessings of Mr Dhindsa and other dignitaries present. The beautiful hall of the academy, which has been used for the first time for any national level competition after its formal inauguration, had only one state-level fencing championship before. The real competition for Punjab judokas came from Haryana, who tried to match them in medals tally in men’s section. Haryana’s gold medallists were Karambir Singh (over 60 kg), Yashpal Solanki (over 73 kg) and Jitendar Alumbayan (over 90 kg) while for Punjab the gold medal winners were Navjot Channa (over 56 kg), Pankaj Sharma (over 66 kg) and Brij Lal 9over 81kg), Haryana had two silver medallists in Kuldeep Saini (0ver 56 kg) and Narender Singh (over 81 kg) while Punjab had only one in Rakesh Kumar (over 60 kg). Punjab won the overall men’s trophy in judo because of their four bronze medallists. They are Kanwaljit Singh (over 56 kg) , Jaswant Singh (over 73 kg category), Devendra Yadav (over 90 kg) and Gaganjit Singh (open weight). Haryana had three bronze medallists in Arvind (over 56 kg), Sandeep Kumar (over 66 kg), and
Satish Badsar (open weight). In the women’s section, the home team walked away with the overall trophy comfortably with three gold, three silver and two bronze medals. The gold medal winners were Jyotinder
Kaur (over 52 kg), Parvinder Kaur (over 57 kg) and Jagjit Kaur (over 63 kg) while silver medals went to Bharti Dogra (over 48 kg), Aarti Sharma (over 70 kg) and Dakjit Kaur (open weight). The bronze medal winners for Punjab were Priyanka Sharma (upto 44kg) and Namrata (over 44 kg). Haryana women judokas could not win a single gold though they won two silver medals — Aruna (over 44 kg) and Arti Kohli (over 57 kg ) — and six bronze medals – Archana ( upto 44 kg ), Anuradha (over 48 kg), Poonam Chopra (over 52 kg), Seema Chukar (over 63 kg), Seema Gill (over 70 kg) and Poonam Kaushik (open weight). Manipur and Madhya Pradesh had two gold medals each in women’s section. In the last National games Punjab had won three gold, two silver and nine bronze medals while this time this tally swelled to six gold, four silver and five bronze medals. |
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Manipur retain
football gold Jalandhar, November 30 The match was played at a fast pace, with Manipur taking an early lead when captain Langam Chaoba, headed a pass to forward Lokeshwari, who converted it to a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute. Manipur girls kept the pressure on the hosts, with frequent raids into their half. In the last moments of the first half, Punjab almost got the equaliser as their captain Sukhwinder Kaur charged ahead towards the goal but collided with the goalkeeper and failed to net the ball. After changing ends, Manipur started impressively as they consolidated their lead. Langam Chaoba, Manipur captain once again gave a beautiful pass to S. Manitombi, who netted to increase the lead to 2-0 in the 38th minute. Manipur’s front liners were consistent with good coordination between the players. In the 50th
minute, Manipur’s N. Geetarani converted the rebound from the goalkeeper to give a 3-0 lead to her team. Manipur became complacent soon after and Punjab took advantage as in the 55th minute, right half Balwinder Kaur converted the free kick to narrow the gap to 3-1. Punjab’s Rajwant Kaur collided with the goalkeeper, who substituted in the last minutes of the game. Manipur again gave way for the hosts, as Rajwant made a beautiful goal from the right flank in the 62nd minute making it 3-2 to redeem the hosts much dented pride. |
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Punjab eves
down Maharashtra Patiala, November 30 Punjab team, barring their skipper Baljinder Kaur, mostly had school students while their opponents had much senior girls in their ranks. The Punjab girls made up for the disappointment of the men’s squad which lost in the league phase itself while for Maharashtra it was double agony as their men’s team lost the final to Karnataka by a solitary point. Today, the Maharashtra team, considered to be heavyweights and tipped to win the title for the second successive time after having tasted success in the 1990 Imphal National Games, floundered after a fine start. On the other hand, the hosts were backed by a vociferous holiday crowd and every time a point was scored in their favour a big roar went up. The Maharashtra girls were quick off the staring blocks and engaged the hosts in a neck-and-neck battle to gain an early lead. However, some brilliant chasing and running in the first innings by Palvinder Kaur and skipper Baljinder Kaur, meant that their rivals lost their rhythm and sting. Plying under pressure took its tool on the Maharashtra girls and the team collectively committed a series of fouls enabling the hosts to notch up four successive points. |
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Services riders
on top with seven gold Jalandhar, November 30 In the last three-day event of dressage, cross country and show jumping, Services team of Wg, Cdr I.J. Lamba astride Typsy, Major Deep Alawat on Tipu, Gulab Singh riding Tie Up and Bhagirath riding Missile, gathered just 163 penalties to secure the first place. Uttar Pradesh team including Major P.P.S. Grewal, Major G.S. Gill, Sunil Kumar and R.L. Mali took the second place with a wide gap of 305.6 penalties where as Rajasthan had to be contented with the bronze with 377 penalties. Gulab Singh of Services, astride Tie Up won the gold in the three-day individual event with just 49 penalties. Capt Rajesh Pattu riding Shehzada of Rajasthan secured the second place with 52 penalties and Delhi’s Nitin Gupta astride Sheriton was close behind with 53 penalties at third place. A total of 12 states participated with 150 riders. The three-day event included ‘dressage’ in which a horse performs to show the horse and rider in harmony. The next is the cross country or endurance test which is divided into four phases. |
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Vincent makes
dream debut
Perth, November 30 Vincent, (23), from Auckland, hammered a superb 104 in 273 minutes to help the Black Caps to a useful stumps score of 293 for seven on the opening day of the third and deciding Test against Australia at the WACA Ground. This after Kiwi skipper Stephen Fleming had won the toss and decided to bat. Fleming also played a major role in his side’s healthy score, hitting a 316-minute 105 - his third century in 107 Test innings, which have also yielded 31 half-centuries. It was the first time in the series, standing at 0-0 after rain-affected draws in Brisbane and Hobart, that New Zealand have comprehensively outplayed Australia for long stretches. However, the dismissal late in the day of Fleming, Craig McMillan (4), Daniel Vettori (2) and Chris Cairns (8) dented Kiwi hopes of a total above 400. Vincent and Fleming forged a marvellous third-wicket stand of 199, only 25 short of the New Zealand record against Australia for that wicket. Vincent, a middle-order specialist opening an innings in first-class ranks for the first-time, never flinched during four-and-a-half hours at the crease as he tackled Australia’s much-vaunted pace attack head on - and won gloriously. He reached the pinnacle of his ascendancy when he boldly hooked express man Brett Lee over the backward square leg boundary for six. As well, he stroked 15 fours from magnificently executed drives, cuts and pulls. SCOREBOARD New Zealand (Ist innings): Richardson b Gillespie 9 Vincent c M.Waugh b Warne 104 Sinclair lbw b McGrath 2 Fleming lbw b Lee 105 Astle not out 28 Mcmillan lbw b Gillespie 4 Cairns c Gilchrist b Lee 8 Vettori c Martyn b Gillespie 2 Parore not out 5 Extras (lb-13 w-1 nb-12) 26 Total (for 7 wickets) 293 Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-19, 3-218, 4-264, 5-269, 6-272, 7-281 Bowling: McGrath 13-6-25-1, Gillespie 24-3-79-3, Lee 18-3-89-2, Warne 25-6-66-1, Martyn 3-0-11-0, M.Waugh 3-0-9-0, Ponting 4-3-1-0.
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Vaas wrecks Windies
Colombo, November 30 West Indies (1st innings) Ganga lbw b Vaas 6 Gayle c Sangakkara b Vaas 0 Sarwan run out 69 Lara b Vaas 221 Hooper lbw b Vaas 56 Samuels lbw b Vaas 4 Jacobs b Zoysa 2 Dillon lbw b Vaas 2 Ramnarine c Jayawardena b Muralitharan 0 Collins c Samarweer b Vaas 4 Black not out 0 Extras (b-5, lb-7, nb-14) 26 Total (all out, 113.3 overs) 390 FOW: 1-2, 2-17, 3-211, 4-346, 5-359, 6-368, 7-376, 8-385, 9-389. Bowling: Vaas 32.3-5-120-7, Zoysa 20-4-55-1, Samaraweera 8-0-31-0, Bandaratilleke 9-2-37-0, Muralitharan 37-6-115-1, Jayasuriya 3-0-11-0, Arnold 3-0-8-0, Tillakaratne 1-0-1-0. Sri Lanka (1st innings): Atapattu c Gayle b Collins 4 Jayasuriya batting 30 Sangakkara batting 37 Extras (lb-5, nb-1) 6 Total (for 1 wkt, 22 overs) 77 FOW: 1-5. Bowling: Dillon 8-2-24-0, Collins 7-0-17-1, Black 6-0-31-0, Ramnarine 1-1-0-0.
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No opening ceremony for first
Test SAS Nagar, November 30 Mr Bindra, former Indian cricket board president stated that corporate sponsorship for the match has been excellent and the association expecting no damage due to the Virender Sehwag issue. The PCA also pledged full backing to Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya, President of the International Cricket Association and the Indian cricket board chief vis-a-vis Virender Sehwag issue. He however looked displeased with the board's decision to begin the match from Monday which will result in the match finishing before the week-end holidays due to which sale of tickets had been affected. Due to the indisposition of the Chief Minister, Mr Prakash Singh Badal, there would not be any formal opening ceremony. "Since the Chief Minister is not well we will not like to disturb the tradition," he added. He revealed that the England team which arrived here this afternoon will be at the nets tomorrow morning, while the Indian team would do net practice in the evening. |
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Srinath may
be fit for 2nd Test Mumbai, November 30 Srinath, who arrived here early this morning with the rest of the team members, told newsmen that he would require another eight to 10 days to recover from his hand injury.
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Minhas,
Chawla rescue Delhi Amritsar, November 30 The home team won the toss, put Delhi in to bat on a placid wicket. In the 2nd over Gagandeep struck for Punjab when he had Gautam Gambhir caught in the slip by Sandip with the score at 10. Punjab opening attack of Gagandeep and Vanit Sharma bowled tight length. Seaming the ball they generating some pace. The second to go was Akash Chopra with his individual score 33 when he was caught plumb before wicket by Vanit Sharma. Within a span of two hours Radhey Sham was caught by wicketkeeper Pankaj Dharmani and at that stage Delhi were in a difficult situation with three wickets down for 70 runs. At lunch the score was 87 for 3. Sohail Rauf gave excellent support to Mithun and added 63 valuable runs for 4th wickets before Rauf was caught by Yuvraj off Vanit with his individual score at
11. Mithun was joined by Pardip Chawla and both batted sensibly to add 139 runs for 5th wicket to give Delhi the solidity. Mithun in particular was composed and played every ball on merit. During his century he hit 12 fours and one six. When the total was 270 Pardeep Chawla was hit by a delivery from Vanit on his groins and was declared retired at his score of 63. Delhi
(Ist innings): Akash Chopra lbw Vanit Sharma 33, Gautam Gambhir c Sandip b Gagandeep 2, Radhey Sham c Pankaj b Vanit 22, Mithun Minhas not out 112, Sohail Rauf c Yuvraj b Vanit 11, Pardeep Chawla retd hurt 63, Vijay Dhaiya not out 10.
Extra (23 no balls, 5 leg byes, 1 wide) 30. Total: 283/4.
Fall of wickets: 1/10, 2/65, 3/70, 4/133. Bowling: Gagandeep 25-5-64-1, Vanit 22-7-67-3, Amit Uniyal 24-4-76-0, Sandip 6-1-31-0, Ankur 10-1-32-0, Yuvraj 2-0-7-0. |
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HP make
solid start Rohtak, November 30 Earlier, Himachal won the toss and opted to bat first on a wicket which offered nothing to the bowlers. The opening pair of Nischal Gaur and Sandeep Sharma added 100 runs for the first wicket in 123 minutes. Sandeep made 61 off 86 balls. After the dismissal of Nischal Gaur (45) within an addition of 19 runs, Rajiv Nayyar and Sangram Singh put on 113 runs without being separated at draw of stumps. Sangram Singh was unbeaten on 71 and Rajiv Nayyar was batting on 41 after 247 minutes of stay at the crease. From Haryana side, Sumit Narwal and Amit Mishra captured one wicket each. Himachal Pradesh (Ist innings): Nischal Gaur c Ajay Ratra b S. Narwal 45. Sandeep Sharma c Gaurav b A. Mishra 61. Rajiv Nayyar batting 47. Sangram Singh batting 71.
Extras (B-5, lb-3) 8. Total (for 2 wickets) 232. Fall of wickets: 1-100, 2-119.
Bowling: S. Narwal 20-6-45-1, S. Virmani 11-2-30-0, S. Vidhut 16-4-51-0, A. Mishra 19-5-39-1, G. Vashishta 23-8-57-0, Parinder 1-0-2-0. |
ANAND SAILS INTO THIRD ROUND REST OF INDIA WIN HP SCORE 193 JEEV TIED 118TH |
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