Rafter lifts
ATP title
MASON (Ohio), Aug 17 — Patrick Rafter of Australia won his second straight ATP title yesterday, beating Pete Sampras.

Vaneet, Shikha TT champions

Kapil elected GCA secretary

India finish second

India defeat Maldives

Coaching camp

UT wrestling team for National Games

Masters badminton

Namita, Ashwani to lead

Bhiwani district corners glory

Simi Mehra finishes creditable
joint 6th

NEW DELHI, Aug 17 (UNI) — Calcuttan Simi Mehra, the only Indian woman to play in the top-trade Professional Golfers Association (LPGA) Tour, faltered a wee bit on the final day to finish a creditable joint sixth in the prestigious million-dollar Weetabix Women’s British Open yesterday.

According to information received here today, Simi, who was one of the very few golfers to come to terms with the blowing winds on this long 6,335-yard course, looked all set to notch her best result on the LPGA Tour when she led the field with two others early in the final round, but an extremely bad chip shot on the par-5 11th hole cost her a place in the top three.

She finally finished with an aggregate of 9-over 297, which was good enough for a joint sixth place and a cheque of £ 27,540.

Simi began the tournament well with a one-over 73 on the first day, but fell behind in the second round after going five-over. She pulled back on the third day with a one-under 71 card which took her to the joint third place, before failing to capitalise on the final day when she carded four-over 76.

"I think the difference was the 11th hole. I had two birdies there on the first three days and was on the edge of the green with my second shot today. But a bad chip, followed by a three-putt resulted in a bogey when I should have got a birdie there," said Simi on phone from Manchester. "I also played the par-3s badly today, gathering bogeys on the 1st and the 5th holes. But, overall, it has been a very satisfying tournament for me," she added.

The tournament was won by American Sherri Steinhauer at 4-over 292, who birdied the final hole to pull ahead of Sophie Gustaphson and Brandie Burton, joint second at 5-over 293. Sherri, who returned an excellent card of three-under 69 on the final day, received £ 1,62,000, while Sophie and Brandie had to be content with cheques of £ 81,000 each. Defending champion Australian Karrie Webb finished fourth at 8-over 296, while the red-hot Korean Se Ri Pak, the tour tookie with two major titles under her belt this season, could only manage a 20-over 308 and finished way below.

The windy condition and the long course favoured Simi’s style, who is the longest hitter on the LPGA Tour. "In the American courses, you got to have a hot putter. But the British courses suit my long-hitting style better. On most of the par-4s, I was using the wedge for my second shot," Simi said, who was egged on by the presence of her family throughout the tournament. This was, without doubt, one of the best performances by any Indian golfer on the world stage. Though the British Open does not have a ‘major status’ it is considered as one of the most prestigious tournaments on the LPGA Tour.

Simi has had a good season, which included a fourth place in the $ 700,000 (Aust) Masters Golf Championship and 12th in £ 500,000 Welch’s Circle K. Championship, and then a 9th position in the Canadian Open.

Vijay Singh lifts PGA crown

REDMOND (Washington), Aug 17 (Reuters) — Vijay Singh’s journey from the tiny pacific island of Fiji to one of the pinnacles of golf has been a long and winding road with many exotic stops along the way — in Asia, Africa, Europe and America.

"Playing in all those places, I never thought I’d be doing this in front of all you guys," the 35-year-old Fijian told a roomful of reporters yesterday shortly after he won the 80th PGA championship.

It was his first major title and made him only the second man of colour, after Tiger Woods, to win one of golf’s four top prizes.

Vijay Began his journey in his home town of Lautoka, where his father, an airline mechanic, taught him the game.

It took a major detour in the 1980s, when he was suspended from the Asian tour in a scorecard dispute and took refuge in the jungles of Borneo, an island in Malaysia, where he gave lessons and practiced, practiced, practiced.

"I was out there in the jungle, hitting balls and practicing in 100-degree heat, and trying to think about what was going to do next," he remembered.

"I think that was the lowest point. I never thought about coming to America — let alone winning a golf tournament over here. When my wife and I think back, we say ‘we’ve come a long ways from there."

But Vijay’s constant practicing, which included studying videotapes of all great players, paid off.

He moved to Africa, where he won tournaments in Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast — sometimes playing on sand putting surfaces. Eventually he joined the European PGA Tour, where he won seven events between 1989 and 1997.

In 1993 he tied for second in the Nestle Invitational on the US PGA Tour and was awarded a special temporary membership that enabled him to go on to win the first of his two buick classics as he garnered rookie of the year honours.

Throughout his career Vijay has been known for two things — his constant practicing and his problematic putting, which prompted him to experiment repeatedly with different putters, sometimes three times in one tournament.

"I changed a lot of putters," he said yesterday. "Put it this way — from the beginning of the year I must have changed putters at least six or eight times.

"But hopefully I can keep this one I’m using now" — the one that lifted him into golf’s higher echelons as the winner of a major championship.

Actually, it might have been some advice his wife, Ardena, gave him that allowed him to put his way to the PGA title, three-putting only once in 72 holes.

"She said: ‘Why don’t you try putting cross-handed." He did, at the Western open in June, and it has been working ever since, he said.

Srikkanth praises Rohan, Jyoti Yadav

CHENNAI Aug 17 (PTI) — The just-concluded India ‘A’ cricket tour of Holland helped players toughen up mentally and get a good idea of pressure at the international level, despite weak opposition, coach Krishnamachari Srikkanth today said.

"The future is bright for them and their consistent performances at domestic and international levels should make them go up the ladder," Srikkanth, who returned with the team yesterday at the end of a successful trip, told PTI.

"The most important aspect of such tours is getting mentally tough despite poor opposition. Playing for India itself is a pressure on players and they got used to international pressure in the right perspective."

India outplayed Holland in the three-week tour despite the frustration of their fixtures against Denmark in the first leg being washed out. "We have to spot the talent in the boys and help them get into the senior team," Srikkanth said.

It was a good opportunity to correct minor mistakes in techniques of a few and the boys responded to advice well and put them to practice, he said.

The former India skipper was all praise for left-hander Rohan Gavaskar, who struck centuries in both three-day ties against the Dutch and was dismissed only once in the entire campaign. India beat Holland 3-0 in one-dayers, won the first three-dayer in two days and drew the final three-day tie.

"There was tremendous improvement in Rohan from what I saw in the successful tour of Pakistan earlier this year.

"All players got opportunities to prove their skills and make best use of the chances. Everyone played with seriousness and made a mark," he added.

Srikkanth said from each India ‘A’ tour "We were able to find a few potential players, like Ajit Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh besides few others from the earlier tours to Pakistan and South Africa."

The coach, who gave full marks to each player, picked out solid batting of Jyoti Yadav, who cracked an unbeaten 121 in the one-dayer and Sanjay Raul, who scored a century in the drawn final three-day tie.

The allround performance from Vanka Pratap, who claimed quite a few wickets, wicket-keeper batsman M.S.K. Prasad, young bat Rajiv Kumar, leg spinner Sairaj Bahatule and medium pacer Robin Singh (Jr) also came in for praise.

On the Delhi medium pacer, Srikkanth said" "Robin’s ability to maintain a good line and length showed he is a matured bowler now". He pointed out that Robin Singh had overall figures of 12 for 46 in the first three-day affair against Holland.

"Such tours always help youngsters and they, expectedly, faced up to the opposition on international levels", Srikkanth summed up.

Thipsay’s dismal run continues

TEHERAN, Aug 17 (UNI) — Indian grandmaster Praveen Thipsay’s bad run continued as he lost to compatriot V. Saravanan in the second round of the Asian Chess Championship here last night.

Saravanan’s win after 39 moves of a keenly-contested game improved his chances for a grandmaster norm here.

Thipsay had lost on the opening day to lowly-rated Tajik Im Suhrob Khamdamov.

In other games, grandmasters Dibyendu Barua (India) and Sergey Zagrebelny (Uzbekistan) agreed to a draw in 25 moves while Mohsen Ghorbani (Iran) shocked GM Mikhail Saltaev to tally two points and share the lead with GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan) and GM elect Al-Modiahki (Qatar).

Saravanan adopted the closed system against Thipsay’s sicilian defence and the game moved on along quiet strategical lines. Saravanan opened up the centre and created a weak pawn on d6 and, thus, established a slight advantage.

However, Thipsay equalised the game with precise moves and even gained a slight advantage after a wrong rook move by Saravanan. But, in time pressure, Thipsay allowed Saravanan to create an attack against his central knight and finally lost on the 39th move when Saravanan’s material gain became inevitable.

Barua adopted the quiet ‘bez’ system against Zagrebelny’s sicilian najdorf variation and was faced with the ‘e5’ line. In a well-known position Zagrebelny played the unorthodox sequence of first playing ‘b6’ followed up with ‘b5’ after a few moves to achieve equality. They repeated moves and a draw was agreed on the 25th move.

Important results:

IM Kakageldiev (1) lost to GM Kasimdzhanov (2), GM D Barua (1.5) drew GM Zagrebelny (1.5), M. Ghorbani (2) beat GM M. Saltaev (1), IM Al-Modiahki (2) beat Amir Bagheri (1), GM Dao Thien Hai (1.5) beat N. De Silva (0.5), V. Saravanan (1.5) beat GM P.M. Thipsay (0).

Sohail Pak skipper for Sahara Cup

KARACHI, Aug 17 (Reuters) — The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) yesterday appointed opener Aamir Sohail to captain the team for the Sahara Cup and home series against Australia and Zimbabwe.

The decision was taken by the executive council, the highest tier of the board, which also appointed Test veteran Javed Miandad as a coach.

Sohail replaces Rashid Latif and Miandad takes over from Haroon Rasheed with both outgoing officials said to be paying the price for the team’s dismal performance in South Africa and Zimbabwe earlier this year.

"Initially the two have been assigned the jobs until the series against Zimbabwe but the board would like them to continue until the World Cup to be staged in England in June 1999," PCB chairman Khalid Mahmood said.

Sohail becomes the ninth Pakistan captain in this decade. This year he led Pakistan to victory against South Africa at Durban, replacing an injured Rashid Latif, in the one-all drawn series.

Previously, the left-hander also skippered Pakistan in the World Cup quarter-final against India and later led Pakistan to victory at Singapore over world champions Sri Lanka and arch-rivals India.

Miandad retired after playing in a record sixth World Cup in 1996. His last Test was in 1993-94 against Zimbabwe but he still remains highest scorer for Pakistan with 8,832 runs and 23 centuries in 124 Tests.

But Sohail has a history of controversy behind him, including his verbal confrontation with PCB chief executive Majid Khan that ended in a one-month ban last year.

The ban was extended to three months, including a cash fine of Rs 50,000 when he accused his own team-mates of betting and match-fixing in a newspaper interview.

The council also approved a second string Pakistani team to participate in the Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur.

It contains only six Test players and three internationals. The main string players have been reserved for the Sahara Cup against India in Toronto, Canada, from September 12 to 20.

"The Sahara Cup is more important to us as we play India there. It was decided well in advance that Pakistan would send a second eleven to Malaysia," Khalid Mahmood said.

The Kuala Lumpur squad: Salim Elahi (captain), Basit Ali, Suleman Huda, Kashif Ahmad, Azhar Shafiq, Akhtar Sarfaraz, Taimur Khan, Jave Qadeer (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Javed, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Nazir, Arshad Khan and Mohammad Husain.

Davenport makes it three in row

MANHATTAN BEACH, California, Aug 17 (Reuters) — Red-hot Lindsay Davenport won her third title in as many weeks as she powered past world number one and top-seeded Martina Hingis 4-6 6-4 6-3 yesterday to win the Acura Classic.

The California earned her fourth title of the year in the battle between the world’s top two players.

"Three wins in a row is just great," said local favourite Davenport, who also received the keys to a new car after successfully following up victories at other California stops in Stanford and San Diego.

Hingis head-to-head advantage against Davenport shrunk to 6-5.

"To beat the number one player in the world where I used to come and watch as a little girl and to win three in a row, is great ending for the whole month," said Davenport.

Hingis was denied her fifth championship of 1998 and failed to cash in an opportunity to end a title drought dating back to the Italian Open in May.

"I’m progressing," the 17-year-old Swiss said. "The last three times I reached the semifinals. This time the final."

Hingis looked in position to stop the drought after rallying from a break down to win the opening set. But the American got on track to force a third.

In the deciding set, Davenport captured the lone service break in the fifth game when Hingis launched a forehand long. At 5-3, the American squandered her first match point, before belting a backhand pass for her 33rd winner, to close out the one hour, 26-minute win.

"I had to risk a lot today — make her run or just do something," said Hingis, who made a whopping 39 unforced errors. "Lindsay hits the ball very hard from the baseline. Several of the balls she hit were amazing. She hit the corner on the run. So what can you do about that?"

Davenport, of course, hoped to stay in her winning groove.

"I’m closing the gap but it’s still a little ways away," Davenport said about the top ranking. "The chase is there, but I’m not playing and winning these tournaments to become number one. I’m playing them to win.

PURCHASE: New York, (AP): John McEnroe overpowered John Lloyd 6-1, 6-2 to win the Citibank Champions and take over first place in the senior tennis circuit’s Nuveen Masters point standings.

The victory on Sunday was McEnroe’s third title of the season and ninth since joining the senior circuit in 1995. It netted him $ 50,000 and his first championship in three tries before his hometown New York fans.

The match was as lopsided as the score as McEnroe served six aces, converted four of nine break point opportunities and was never really challenged. He outslugged Lloyd from the baseline and came in at will for easy volley winners.

"Everything just flowed,’’ McEnroe said. "The shots came out like the right answers. There were a couple times that I got tentative, but I felt like I was about as aggressive as I could be. I mixed my serve up and I placed it well.’’

The Citibank Champions is the sixth event on the 1998-99 Nuveen Tour and the ninth event on the ATP tour-sanctioned worldwide senior tennis circuit. The tour’s next stop is in Paris from September 17-20.

Rafter beats Sampras, lifts title

MASON (Ohio), Aug 17 (AP) — Patrick Rafter of Australia won his second straight title yesterday, beating American Pete Sampras 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 in the $ 2.45 million ATP Championship.

It was the fourth victory this year for Rafter, the reigning US Open champion. He is the first Australian to win four titles in a year since Rod Laver did it in 1975.

Rafter, ranked third in the world, has reached the finals of four tournaments this season, also winning in India, the Netherlands and last week in Toronto. He has been the hottest player on tour recently, winning 10 consecutive matches, including six against top-15 opponents.

Sampras, who won the ATP Championship in 1992 and last year, had not lost to Rafter since their first meeting in 1993, beating him eight straight times. The loss prevented Sampras from regaining the No.1 ranking that he lost to Marcelo Rios of Chile a week ago.

The first point of yesterday’s match hinted at how the day would go for Rafter, who stumbled early. Sampras won the point when his return hit near the top of the net and dribbled over, well out of Rafter’s reach.

When Sampras broke Rafter in the second game with a passing shot, all that remained was for him to serve out the set. But when Sampras broke Rafter again in game six with pinpoint placements, Rafter handed his racket to a ball boy and traded places with him.

The crowd roared, and the stunt added a moment of levity, but it didn’t halt the inevitable. The first set was over in 27 minutes.

Rafter said he altered his strategy after the dismal first set.

"I started serving to the forehand more. He wasn’t quite as strong on that side,’’ Rafter said.

Early in the second set, Sampras had Rafter off balance, moving in the wrong direction or diving at perfect shot placements. But Rafter revived, bringing the crowd to its feet by winning a spirited exchange in game nine, twice taking Sampras to set point in game 12 and then blitzing the tiebreaker 7-2.

From there, play slowed noticeably as the humid, 91 f (33 c) afternoon dragged on, and Rafter wore down Sampras, winning the match on a serve that Sampras clearly thought was out.

"That’s not why I lost the match, but it certainly ended it on a bad note,’’ Sampras said.

The win was worth $ 361,000 to Rafter. The runner-up got $ 190,000 .

Klinsmann may quit for good

BONN, Aug 17 (Reuters) — Former German captain Juergen Klinsmann was quoted as saying on Saturday he might never play football again.

"I don't know if I'll play again," Klinsmann, one of the most accomplished strikers in world soccer for the past decade told mass-circulation Bild. "My 15-month-old son needs me and I need him."

The 34-year-old Klinsmann played for Tottenham Hostspurs last season but has left the English premier league club.

He had also said before going to France that we would end his international career after the World Cup finals.

"To set high goals for myself does not appeal to me anymore," he told Bild. "I have a family and I can't go away for two weeks anymore."

Currently on holiday in California with his wife Debbie and his son Jonathan, Klinsmann had hinted his playing days might be over after Germany went out of the World Cup following a 3-0 quarter-final defeat by Croatia last month.

"I don't know if I am going to go on at all," he said at the time. "I need to make a holiday and spend time with my family."

Klinsmann, who has travelled a great deal in his career, playing in Italy. France and England as well as in Germany scored three goals in France, taking his World Cup finals tally to 11, which made him joint fourth top scorer of all time.

Williams wins; Indians falter

KUALA LUMPUR Aug 17 (PTI) — Chris Williams of England, helped by a hole in one on the 14th, beat Myanmar’s Zaw Moe and Australian Adrian Percey in a dramatic four-hole sudden death play-off to win the $ 200,000 Volvo Masters of Malaysia yesterday.

Williams sank a 20-footer for birdie on the par five 18th to claim first place after all the three players had tied at nine-under par 279. Willaims fired a one-under 71 in the final round to take the first prize of $ 32,300.

India’s Arjun Singh carded a par 72 for a final tally of two under 286 to share the 25th place with three players, as the tournament, marred by rain delays at the Kota Permai Golf and Country Club, came to life with one of the most exciting finish on the Omega Tour. Arjun Singh scored 70, 72, 72 and 72 in the four rounds.

The other Indians in the fray did not fare well. Vivek Bhandari finished joint 54th with five over 293 while Arjun Atwal, who clinched the third place at the Sabah Masters last week, could only muster a six under 294 to share the 60th position along with compatriot Gaurav Ghei and four others.

Atwal came up with scores of 73, 71, 76 and 74 while Ghei finished with 73, 71, 75 and 75.

Amritinder Singh, though was only a stroke behind, finished seven places below at 67th. He hit 74, 69, 75 and 77 in the four rounds here.

Stokes re-elected IWHF president
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Aug 17 — Mrs Vidya Stokes was today re-elected president of the Indian Women Hockey Federation defeating Mrs Krishna Atma Ram in a direct contest amidst sharp criticism of falling standards of women hockey.

The election for the post was held here following the failure of a section of members of the federation's general body to muster support for electing the president unanimously as has been the practice so far.

Mrs Stokes secured 18 votes, while Mrs Atma Ram got 9. All 27 affiliated units participated in the election.

Mrs Stokes, who had been authorised to nominate other office bearers, said she would announce her team shortly.

This was for the fourth time that Mrs Stokes has become president of the federation. She was a sitting MLA of the Congress in Himachal Pradesh.

It was learnt that certain members of the general body were critical of the poor performance of the women hockey in the country. The issue came up during the meeting of the executive in the morning.

Mrs Stokes told mediapersons that the achievement of the federation was remarkable as the Indian team had qualified for the World Cup after 16 years. The team was now preparing for Commonwealth and Asian Games.

Mrs Atma Ram who was senior vice-president of the federation, said she was against unanimous election of the president and wanted that proper procedure be followed.

She said the standard of women hockey had been falling. However, Chandigarh girls have been doing well.

She was critical of the federation and said hockey in the country had gone down the "gutters" particularly during the past four years.

Mrs Atma Ram said she had turned down the feelers that were sent to her offering the post of executive director of the federation. This post was offered to her last time too but Mrs Stokes did not stick to her promise, she claimed.

She alleged that a representative of Pondicherry had participated in voting although there was no women hockey there.

Mrs Atma Ram alleged that Mrs Stokes hardly had any time to spare for promotion of hockey as she was busy with politics.

England defeat Sri Lanka

LONDON, Aug 17 (AP) — England continued their roll of cricket success with a 36-run win over Sri Lanka in the triangular limited-overs match at Lord’s yesterday.

Fresh from a 2-1 Test series win over South Africa, the English team finally managed to avenge their embarrassing hammering by Sri Lanka in the 1996 World Cup quarterfinal.

England shot out the reigning World Cup champions for 211 in 49.3 overs after setting a target of 247.

It was England’s first win over Sri Lanka following three successive defeats on the subcontinent.

The victory put England on par with Sri Lanka in the triangular series with one win each.

England will play South Africa at Edgbaston on Tuesday in the final round-robin match before Thursday’s final.

An England win on Tuesday will book the home side a berth in the final with Sri Lanka, but a South African win could complicate matters because places in the final would have to be decided on net run-rates.

Sri Lanka beat South Africa by 57 runs in the tournament opener at Trent Bridge on Friday.

However, England’s medium pace quartet was too hot for Sri Lanka on Sunday in front of a 25,000-strong crowd. The visitors’ top order was packed away at 83 for five in the 20th over.

It was a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for England after they lost the last seven wickets for 24 runs earlier in the day.

Sri Lanka:
Jayasuriya c Knight B Gough 11
Kaluwitharana C Stewartb Martin 2
Atapattu lbw Gough 6
De Silva lbw b Austin 33
Arnold b Mullally 3
Ranatunga b Croft 33
Hathurusinghe c Stewart b Mullally 7
Dharmasena not our 33
Perera c Brown b Hollioake 17
Wickramasinghe b Gough 18
Muralitharan b Austin 18
Extras (b-1 lb-13 w-10 nb-6) 30
Total (All out 49.3 overs) 211
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-17, 3-28, 4-49- 5-83, 6-97, 7-126, 8-159, 9-189.
Bowling: Gough 10-0-51-3, Martin 8-0-34-1. Mullally 8-1-20-2, Austin 8.3-0-37-2, Croft 10-0-37-1, Hollioake 5-0-18-1.

Vaneet, Shikha TT champions
From Our Sports Reporter

KHANNA, (Ludhiana), Aug 17 — In a ding-dong battle, Shikha Ghai of Amritsar prevailed over city-mate Rajni Gupta 18-21, 21-19 22-20 to clinch the title in the women's section of the inaugural Punjab state ranking Nandlal Memorial Table Tennis tournament which concluded at Narottam Hall here last evening.

Vaneet Chopra of the State Bank of Patiala lifted the men's singles title defeating Vikas Mahajan of Punjab State Electricity Board, Patiala, in straight sets 22-20, 21-16 and 21-19. In the girls' section local lass, Nitika, a student of Hindi Putri Pathshala, outclassed Jalandhar girl Tajinder Kaur 21-16, 21-19 to bag the title while in the boys' section Bakul of Jalandhar overcame a stiff challenge from Ludhiana lad Disney 18-21, 21-19, 21-16.

Final results:

Cadet girls singles: Anjali (Asr) b Sukhbir Kaur (Fdk) 21-15, 21-18.

Cadet boys singles: Shiv Bhudar (Ptl) b Sahil (Asr) 21-19, 18-21, 22-20.

Sub-junior girls singles: Navdeep Kaur (Rpr) b Anjali (Asr) 21-19, 21-18.

Sub junior boys singles: Sumit Bahri (Jal) b Mohit (Asr) 21-18, 21-17.

Junior boys singles: Bakul (Jal) b Disney (Ldh) 18-21, 21-19, 21-16.

Junior girls singles: Nitika (Khn) b Tajinder (Jal) 21-16, 21-19.

Women singles: Shikha (Asr) b Rajni Gupta (Asr) 28+18-21, 21-19, 22-20.

Men's singles: Vaneet Chopra (SBOP) b Vikas Mahajan (PSEB) 22-20, 21-16, 21-19.

Kapil elected GCA secretary
Tribune News Service

GURGAON, Aug 17 — Former Indian captain Kapil Dev today made his formal debut in the sport administration after he was unanimously elected secretary of Gurgaon Cricket Association (GCA).

Kapil Dev was elected at a general body meeting of the association convened here by its President and Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon, Mr Devender Singh.

According to one of the vice-presidents of the association, Dr Vijay Diwakar, 28 of the 38 members of the association were present in the meeting presided over by Mr Devender Singh. Kapil’s name for the post was proposed by Mr Devender Singh. Kapil, the world’s highest wicket-taker in Test, also participated in the meeting as a special invitee.

Dr Diwakar further said that Mr O.P. Taneja, the outgoing secretary will be the organising secretary. Earlier the post of secretary and organising secretary was clubbed into one. Now the post has been split.

India finish second

NEW DELHI, Aug 17 (PTI) — With a rich haul of three gold, four silver and five bronze, India finished runners-up in the Asian Bench-Press Powerlifting Championship-98 at Yaulin (Taiwan).

Vijay Muneeswar of Coal India won gold in the men’s 90 kg class while Yashoda Bai (Karnataka police) and S Sawant of Maharashtra bagged top spots in the women’s 60 kg and 56 kg, respectively in the three-day tournament which ended yesterday, according to an Indian Powerlifting Federation press note released here today.

Nayana Shriyan, Sunita Panch, Sarala Shetty and Chhaya Karendikar won silver medals in their respective categories while Narinder Kaur finished third in the women’s 90 kg class.

Satish Patade (52 kg), Sathish Kumar (100 kg), Sandeep Gosain (110 kg) and Jagwinder Singh Cheema (+125 kg) won the other bronze medals for the 12-member team.

Altogether 200 participants from Japan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Chinese Taipei, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong besides India participated in the championships.

India defeat Maldives

BANGALORE, Aug 17 (PTI) — Hosts India beat Maldives by a solitary goal, while Kyrgyzstan outplayed Bhutan 5-0 on the opening day of the group six qualifying rounds of the 31 Asian Youth Under-19 Football Championship here today.

The hosts could have won by a bigger margin had they not missed three easy chances. The solitary goal came in the 29th minute through right half Rockey Barreto off James Singh’s pass.

Indian attack lacked the penetration. The minnows Maldives, on the other hand, concentrated more on their defence rather than attempting to score goals. Maldives, however, would have equalised, had Umar Ali’s bullet shot not gone over the horizontal bar in the 42nd minute. Prior to this the referee had flashed yellow card to him.

The Kyrgyzstan-Bhutan tie was a delight to watch where all the players used to attack and fall back for defence. The first two goals came from the midfielder, Sergey Kalivbin in the 17th and 34th minute. The first one was off a penalty. The second goal was scored from nearly 25 yards from centre.

Azamat Ishenbaev scored the third goal in 38th minute, who just tapped off from his left foot into the goal mouth.

At the breather Kyrgyzstan led 3-0. Aleksey Dobotov scored the fourth goal and Sergy Ivanov scored the fifth one after tackling three defenders and finishing it neatly off his left foot.

With this win, India and Kyrgyzstan have earned three points each.

Coaching camp
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, Aug 17 — An under-19 cricket coaching camp under the aegis of the Haryana Cricket Association started here today. Former Ranji player Rajinder Amarnath has been made in charge of the camp.

Mr Aman Kumar, hony secretary of the district cricket association, said that 25 promising cricketers are taking part in the camp. The camp was inaugurated by Rajinder Goel, world record wicket takers in the first class matches.

The selected team will represent Haryana in the national under-19 Cooch Behar cricket tournament.

UT wrestling team for National Games
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Aug 17 — The Chandigarh UT Wrestling Association announced a 17-member grapplers' contingent to represent Chandigarh in the forthcoming National Games to be held in Manipur from October 4 to 14, according to Mr P.L. Paul, secretary of the association.

Rajinder Singh, an international grappler of GGD SD College, Sector 32, and national medallist of Chandigarh Police Jasbir Singh will lead the squad in freestyle and grecoromanstyle, respectively.

Safari Lal and Darshan will be the coaches of the team. The coaching camp for the grapplers will be held at the Sector 30 Wrestling Coaching Centre here from August 25, Mr Paul said.

The following were selected: Freestyle: Rajesh (SD College-32), Ajit Singh (Bal Milap), Chand, Raj Singh (Chandigarh Police), Parvesh Dutt (SD College - 32), Pawan (Chandigarh Police), Pritpal (Mahavir Akhara), Kulbir and Rajinder (SD College-32).

Grecoroman style: Jaswinder, Surinder, Sher Shikandar (all from SD College-32), Nirmal, Jasbir (Chandigarh Police), Jaipal, Anil and Sandeep (Mahavir Akhara).

Masters badminton
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Aug 17 — Parveen Kumar subdued Baljit to win the singles title (35 plus) while G. S. Shah of Punjab and Sind Bank combined with Anil Chowdhury to lift the doubles title (35 plus) in the Patiala District Masters Badminton Championships which concluded here today.

The results:

Men's singles (35 plus): Parveen Kumar b Baljit Singh 15-5, 15-4.

Doubles (35 plus): G.S. Shah and Anil Chowdhury b Baljinder and Parveen 15-6, 15-9.

Men's singles: (45 plus) M.M. Sagar b Satish Kumar 15-10, 15-12.

Namita, Ashwani to lead
From Our Correspondent

HISAR, Aug 17 — Namita of Gurgaon and Ashwani of Barwala (Hisar) will lead the Haryana girls and boys teams, respectively, in the National Subjunior Judo Championship at Mumbai from August 20 to 23, according to Dr Sumer Singh Nandal, general secretary, Haryana State Judo Association.

The teams: boys 25 kg Manish (Hisar) 30 kg Rajender (Hisar) 35 kg Ashwani (Hisar) 40 kg Kuldip (Bhiwani) 45 kg Jaiparkash (Hisar) 50 kg Sandeep (Kaithal) over 50 kg Sukhbir (Kaithal) (100) girls 23 kg Rinki (Sirsa) 27 kg Wafa Chowdhary (Sirsa) 32 kg Nirmala (Hisar) 36 kg Archana (Hisar) 40 kg Namita (Gurgaon) 44 kg Poonam (Gurgaon) over 44 kg Nidhi (Gurgaon) 44 kg Poonam (Gurgaon) over 44 kg Nidhi (Gurgaon)

Bhiwani district corners glory
From Our Correspondent

YAMUNANAGAR, Aug 17 — Bhiwani district won the men and women Haryana State Youth Basketball Championship which concluded here yesterday.

In the boys' section Bhiwani defeated Sonepat by eight points whereas in the girls category Bhiwani defeated Panchkula by 12 points.

Mr Pardeep Aggarwal, president of the District Basketball Association said here today that 240 players, comprising 20 teams, had participated in three-day tournament.

Dr Kamla Verma, local bodies minister, distributed the prizes.