• Tendulkar cleared
• India take on Bhutan today
• Jalandhar squad
• Rural soccer meet
• Facile win for 12 Wing

• Promila wins
• Rajiv, Saloni bag b'minton titles
• Postponed
• India face Lanka in opener

Churchill enter q-finals

NEW DELHI, Aug 24 (PTI) — Forward Cyril Barreto struck a first half blitz of four goals, including a hattrick, as Churchill Brothers, Goa, swamped Langsning Club, Meghalaya 7-0 to reach the quarterfinal of the KBL Federation Cup Football tournament in style here today.

On a ground resembling a paddy field, Barretto showed good pace and opportunism scoring all his goals 16 minutes into the game before seasoned Mario Soares (43rd min) added another to help the Goa league champions lead 5-0 at halftime.

Former India midfielder Aqeel Ansari (75th, 76th) brought on as second-half substitute, piled on the misery for the clueless northeast zone champions from Shillong with twin strikes in the space of two minutes to complete the rout.

In the quarterfinals here on August 27, Churchill, who began the new season with the hearty win after almost being disbanded following relegation from the national league, play winners of tomorrow’s last 16 clash between BSF and Calcutta senior division club Tollygunje Agragami.

Despite hectic mopping up work and a 30-minute delayed start, the ground at the Ambedkar Stadium resembled a marsh and throughout the game players kept slipping and sliding with the ball stopping at many places, especially at one end which happened to be the Manipur goalmouth.

Churchill Brothers, last year's quarterfinalists, were expected to be bothered by the woeful conditions and the speed of their northeastern rivals.

But the Goan side rattled Langsning from the word go and Barreto's thrustful efforts left the defence in a disarray. In the very third minute, Mahesh Singh flicked to Barreto on the left and he coolly chipped over goalkeeper Wansuk Lamin.

Mahesh Singh again made the final pass which was volleyed home by Barreto from the top of the box. The striker completed his hittrick five minutes later off a counter-attack, lobbing over the advancing Wansuk Lamin.

Play remained scrappy throughout the 90 minutes with underfoot conditions slippery. The slush at the Langsning goalmouth paved the way for the fourth. The ball stopped suddenly and Barreto raced in to tap home.

The northeast champions showed little fight and had only a couple of shots through Augustine Kharkongor and Jasper Khongsdam which the tall Edward Ansah collected comfortably. Osumanu Husseni, the Ghanian stopper, stood like a rock with effective clearances.

Salgaocar upset

MUMBAI: Winger S. Ignatious’ last minute goal helped State Bank of Travancore, Thiruvananthapuram, upset defending champions Salgaocar Football Club, Goa, 1-0 in a dull and drab pre-quarterfinal match of KBL Federation Cup Football Tournament at the Cooperage here today.

The bankmen will now clash with the winners of Mohun Bagan-FC Kochin match, to be held in Calcutta on August 27, in the quarterfinals here on August 31.

The teams, playing against each other for the first time ever, confined to mid-field tussle and there was just one good move in the first half by Salgaocar.

In the 39th minute, Salgaocar’s star Nigerian striker Jude Odegah’s low left footer was well deflected by bank’s custodian Feroz Sheriff.

The defending champions got quite a few chances in the second half but failed to convert even one.

Five minutes after the interval, Salgaocar’s mid-fielder Jules Alberto’s back header off defender Roque Pereira throw-in was cleared well by bank’s substitute Dipu Krishnan.

Soon after Salgaocar’s winger Alvito d’Cunha centred to Odegah. Feroz tried to punch Odegah’s shot but the ball deflected off the upright straight to mid-fielder Satish Kumar whose left foot placement was kept away by a diving Feroz.

Kucera outlasts Ivanisevic in final

NEW HAVEN, Aug 24 (Reuters) — Slovakian Karol Kucera taking advantage of most of his opportunities in the big points, outlasted Goran Ivanisevic 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the finals of the Pilot Pen International Tennis Tournament yesterday.

In addition to pocketing the first prize of $ 122,500, the victory brought special satisfaction to Kucera — it was his first tourney title in the USA.

"I'm happy with the way I played this week," said the 24-year-old champion. "And I'm hoping to carry this into the Open. If I play as well, may be I can beat some of the good guys there."

The outcome was pretty much decided in the fifth game of the final set when the eight-seeded Invanisevic's erratic serving got him in a 0-40 hole. After salvaging two points, the Croatian double-faulted for the second time in the game and Kucera went up 3-2.

After holding for 4-2, Kucera broke a second time when the net-charging Ivanisevic was unable to handle the volley and he fell into a 5-2 hole.

Kucera then served out the match with the loss of only one point as Ivanisevic returned long to end it.

The seventh-seeded Kucera broke in the ninth game of the first set, forcing his foe into a volley error on the final point to go up 5-4. The blonde Slovak served out a deuced game to take the set.

In the second set, after an early exchange of breaks, Ivanisevic evened the match in the 12th game when he converted his third set point as Kucera was forced into an error at the net.

"It seemed like he was winning the second set from the baseline," said Kucera. "So, I tried to play more aggressively in the third set."

Ivanisevic, who had made the title round with his big service, struck 15 aces but also had 10 double-faults.

"I seemed to lose my confidence in my second serve," he said. "I've got to play better than I did today. He made me run so much, I didn't have a clue where the ball was going. He takes the ball so early — he makes you make mistakes."

Ivanisevic complained on court about what he termed a couple of bad calls that hurt me" and added, "They need more young people calling the lines in the States. There are too many older people who can't see.

"The Open? A lot of people could win it," says Ivanisevic. "Me? I'm unpredictable."

Corretja rallies to down Agassi

INDIANAPOLIS, Aug 24 (Reuters) — Spain’s Alex Corretja overcame a second-round knockdown to come back and knock out Andre Agassi in the final of the RCA championships tennis tournament yesterday.

The sixth-seeded Corretja, runner-up at this year’s French Open, rallied for a 2-6 6-2 6-3 victory over the fifth-seeded American in just under two hours to claim his third title of the year and first victory in five career meetings with Agassi.

"I played great tennis to beat him. I’ve beaten top guys on hardcourt before," said the 24-year-old from Barcelona.

After facing a near-perfect performance from Agassi in the first set, Corretja hit the deck in the sixth game of the second when a return from Agassi struck the Spaniard on the right shoulder.

A concerned Agassi vaulted the net and helped his opponent to his feet. But after Corretja dusted himself off, the momentum seemed to turn in his favour.

"It’s not a good situation for either player," Agassi, who had raced through the opening and looked on his way to his fifth title of the year, said of the accidental knockdown.

"We both had to deal with it, but I’d rather be on my end than his.

"I just let him get into the match in the second set. I stopped being as aggressive as I should have been," Agassi said.

Corretja, who moves back into the world’s top 10 today, said, "I thought that if he could play as well as he did in the first set he would deserve to win easily."

"I couldn’t do anything at the start. He was playing perfect tennis. But in the second set I realised I was playing deeper and he was not hitting as hard," he added.

"After the first set, I just waited for my chance."

Agassi still had a chance to regain the upper hand in the third set, but he failed to convert four break points in the third game as Corretja battled gamely to hold for 2-1.

The Spaniard scored the crucial service break in the eighth game, allowing him to serve out the contest and declare himself a realistic threat at the upcoming US Open.

Despite the loss, Agassi, who won two titles earlier in the summer hardcourt season, also likes his chances for the final Grand Slam of the year.

"I feel good about my preparation. I have to be smart this week and do the right thing. I have no complaints about where my game is right now."

St. John's in semis
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Aug 24 — St. John's High School, Sector 26, became the first team to enter the semifinal of the Chandigarh Cadet Football Tournament being held at the Sector 17 football stadium here today, beating Guru Teg Bahadur School, Sector 15, 3-1 after trailing by a solitary goal in the interval.

Guru Teg Bahadur School lads were first to make dangerous move but failed to do any harm. Their young nippy forward striker Gurdeep Singh of GTBS dribbled past three defenders and beat the rival custodian with an angular kick in the 15th minute to make it 1-0.

Elevated by the early lead, GTB lads played an aggressive game and made dangerous moves but failed to increase the lead. The half time score stood at 1-0.

After the water break, St John's lads were a charged lot. They showed aggression which they had lacked in the first half. Their tactics paid off, when their right striker Sidharath Sehgal levelled the score with his solo effort in the 37th minute of the game. The equaliser was a timely booster for the St John's lads. They scored their second goal through Sourabh Arora, a right winger in the 40th minute taking advantage of a neat pass from the team-mate Sidharath Arora on the right time.

GTB lads tried hard to reverse the trend but failed. St John's High School added the third goal again through right winger Sourabh Arora who sent a powerful kick to the goal net in the 50th minute and took his team to the semifinal stage.

In another quarterfinal match of the day, St Kabir School, Sector 26 ousted Government Model High School, Sector 38 2-0.

Right winger Amarjit Singh scored the first goal in the 18th minute with a powerful kick and was followed by his team-mate and left striker Jagjit Singh who scored the second goal with solo effort in the 28th minute to put his team in to the semifinals.

Two quarterfinal matches could not be played due to heavy rain and will be conducted tomorrow morning.

Punjab jr b'minton
From Our Sports Reporter

HOSHIARPUR, Aug 24 — Holders Rohan Kapoor of Jalandhar and Dilpreet Singh of Ludhiana have been given up seedings in the boys singles under-19 and under-16, respectively, in the Punjab State sub-junior and junior championships which begins here tomorrow. The seedings were released today by the honorary secretary of the Punjab Badminton Association Mr Rajinder Kalsi.

The other seedings (all singles) are as under:-

Boys (under-13): 1 — Sahil Arora (Jal), 2 — Vaibhav (Asr), 3 — Abhishek (Asr), 4 — Varun Arora (Jal). Girls (under-13): 1 — Arti Verma (Ropar), 2 — Vandana Vatrana (Pta), 3 — Heena Kapoor (Jal), 4 — Stuti (Ropar).

Boys (under-16): 1 — Dilpreet Singh (Ldh), 2 — Amardeep (Pta), 3 — Rohit Kapoor (Jal), 4 — Varun Gupta (Asr). Girls (under-16): 1 — Vidhu Vatrana (Pta), 2 — Shahnaaz (Sang), 3 — Arti (Ropar), 4 — Madhuri (Jal).

Girls (under-19): 1 — Nazma Parveen (Ldh), 2 — Sumit Kalra (Jal), 3 — Navdeep Kaur (Pta), 4 — Vidhu Vatrana (Pta). Boys (under-19): 1 — Rohan Kapoor (Jal), 2 — Dilpreet Singh (Ldh), 3 — Amardeep Sekhri (Ldh), 4 — Ramanjit Singh (Jal).

Veterans: 1 — Davinder Bhardwaj (Jal), 2 — Satish Sharma (Hsp), 3 — C.L. Verma (Ropar), 4 — Manni Singh (Ropar).

The organising secretary of the tournament, Mr Satish Sharma said more than 150 players from all affiliated units were taking part in the championship. The under-13 and under-16 events will start at 8 a.m. tomorrow. Veterans events begin on August 27 and junior events will start from August 28.

Vijay Singh lifts International title

CASTLE ROCK (Colorado), Aug 24 (AP) — Vijay Singh led wire-to-wire and punctuated his final round with an eagle on the 17th hole to capture the Sprint International for his second title in as many weeks.

Singh, 35, the newly-crowned PGA champion, began yesterday with 33 points and a narrow one-point lad under the modified stableford scoring system used in this event. The Fijian never relinquished it.

Singh birdied five holes on his front nine, increasing his point total to 43 for a seven-point lead over Willie Wood at the turn. His potential runaway didn't materialise, however, and the victory wasn't clinched until eight holes later.

Nursing a one-point lead over both Wood and defending champion Phil Mickelson, Singh played the 450-meter, par-5 17th hole perfectly.

He drilled a three-wood 280 meters uphill to the middle of the fairway, then hit an eight-iron to the back fringe. His downhill, curving putt from about 7.6 meters found the cup for a 5-point eagle, increasing his point total to 47.

Wood and Mickelson tied for second at 41, and Tiger Woods, who fashioned four eagles in the first three rounds but none yesterday, finished at 38. Rocco Mediate was next at 37.

The International's scoring format awards five point for an eagel, two for birdie, zero for par, minus-one for bogey and minus-3 for double bogey or worse.

Singh's early birdie barrage gave him a seemingly comfortable lead. But after Singh's poor drive on no 10 and subsequent bogey, Wood ran in birdie putts at the 11th and 12th (holes, and the lead was trimmed to two points.

Wood three-putted the 14th to fall another point behind, but the diminutive American sank a 15-foot (4.6-meter) birdie putt at no 16 to cut the deficit to one.

Munish beats Joy to enter semis
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug. 24 --Munish Srivastva, ranked fourth in the tournament, entered the semi-final stage by outclassing Joy Mehra, another ranked player, in the quarter-finals of the first S Jaswant Singh memorial Prize Money Snooker Tournament being played at Canon Ball in Sector 37 under the auspices of the Haryana Billiards and Snooker Association, here today.

Munish started on a sluggish note by losing the first frame 44-55 but then he picked up his game and hit a big break of 68 points after being down by 28 points in the second frame to level the score. In the next three frames Munish played with caution and aggression to outsmart his opponent by fine distant potting and good cue-ball control. Joy just could not get into any rhythm and the match slowly slipped out of his hands with the final score 44-55,69-28,52-35, 60-39, 63-32 in Munish's favour.

In another pulsating match Dhermender Lilly edged out Sunny Bhalla in seven well-fought games. Lilly; won the first three frames easily 68-16, 64-27, 61-24 and it seemed that all was well for Lilly. But suddenly Sunny got his concentration back and produced a fine touch game to upset the rhythm of his opponent to win the next three frames 58-46, 64-38, 48-40 with narrow margins. The final frame was well contested but Lilly's experience paid off near the end and he won the frame and the match 69-49.

The top seed Alok Kumar was also seen in action in his quarter-final fixture with Ashish Dhanda. Alok, with his superb potting and elegant cue-ball control ran through the first three frames 108-16,77-46, 45-37 but his slight loss in concentration helped Ashish pick up the fourth frame 69-56. In the fifth frame it was Alok all the way who built up the lead from the beginning and won the frame 70-36 and the match.

Amritsar to host Ranji ties
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, Aug 24 — Punjab will play both their Ranji Trophy matches of the current season scheduled to commence in the middle of October against Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir — in Amritsar and not at Mohali. This was disclosed by Mr M P Pandove, Secretary of the Punjab Cricket Association, after a prolonged meeting of the association at the PCA stadium here yesterday.

About the most important issue concerning the appointment of coach for the state team, Mr Pandove refused to divulge anything except that the issue was still under consideration and a decision would be taken within a week. When pressed further he only said five names were under consideration.

The national selector from north zone revealed that it had been decided that Richard Ellies, a US company specialising in property management having a wide network in nearly 30 to 40 countries, would look after the whole PCA complex. The company would monitor the sundry expenses being incurred on the maintenance of the complex and devise ways and means by which the PCA would be able to cut maintenance expenditure by 40 per cent.

Mr Pandove, announcing better remuneration for umpires, said those doing duty in various inter-state tournaments would be given Rs 200 per day in addition to TA/DA instead to Rs 100 they were getting earlier.

Six district cricket associations — Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Jalandhar, Chandigarh and Mohali had been directed to appoint any former first-class cricketer as coach. These coaches would work in tandem with the chief coach at the PCA Stadium at Mohali in order to iron out the deficiencies in the technique of their respective district players.

Fax machines would soon be installed at the district headquarters to improve the communication between the districts and the PCA headquarters. It was also decided that players of all the universities in the state would, henceforth, participate in the inter institutional tournaments.

Mr Rakesh Sanghi, Mr Rajesh Arora and Mr Vinod Saxena, all from Chandigarh, have been enrolled on the 47-member BCCI scorers panel on the basis of the names supplied by the PCA.

Regarding the PCA Club House, Mr Pandove revealed that corporate members would be given membership slotwise.

Among those present at the meeting were Mr I.S. Bindra, former President of the BCCI and President, PCA, and Mr Satish Kakkar, President of the Chandigarh Cricket Association.

Barua scores win over Bagheri

TEHERAN, Aug 24 (UNI) — Indian grandmaster Dibyendu Barua scored a tricky win against international master Amir Bagheri of Iran to remain in contention for a top place, with 5-5 points while his compatriot V Saravanan was defeated by grand master Kasimdzhanov in the eighth round of the Asian Chess Championship here.

Kasimdzhanov is on 7 points and following him in the second position is GM Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam on 6 points.

The morning began on an irritating note for all the participants as there was an electricity failure in the hotel and none was able to prepare thoroughly for their games, as using their respective lap-top computers was ruled out, and the hotel rooms became too hot. The games started on time at 3 pm and the electricity got restored only around 5.30 pm much to the relief of the organisers.

Kasimdzhanov adopted the modern defence against Saravanan and obtained a comfortable position in the middlegame. Defending a difficult ending, Saravanan had his back against the wall and eventually succumbed on the 50th move.

Barua played a beautiful endgame against Bagheri to create mating threats from a Caro Kann Panov Botvinnik attack. From a drawn looking position, Barua weared an excellent mating net and check-mated his opponent. Thipsay equalised comfortably against Kaka Geldiev's torre attack but eventually misplayed an ending to draw the game.

Important results:

IM S Khamdamov (4) lost to G M Dao Thien Hai (6) V Saravanan (4) lost to GM Kasimdzhanov (7) GM D Barua (5.5) beat IM Amir Bagheri (4) K Aliev (4.5) drew GM M Saltaev (4.5) IM A Kakageldiev (4.5) drew GM P Thipsay (4.5) IM Al Modiahki (5) beat GM S Zagrebelny (4).

Tendulkar cleared

CHENNAI, Aug 24 (PTI) — Sachin Tendulkar has been cleared by the Indian cricket board to skip the ongoing camp here for a few days to attend the 90th birthday celebrations of Sir Don Bradman at Adelaide on August 27 and to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in New Delhi two days later.

Board President Raj Singh Dungarpur said: "It is a once in a life time opportunity for Sachin to be with the Don on his 90th birthday and to receive the highest sports award from the President of India".

"As board President, I am delighted in allowing Sachin to be away from the camp to attend these functions", he said.

Tendulkar leaves tomorrow night for Singapore en route to Adelaide.

India take on Bhutan today

BANGALORE, Aug 24 (PTI) — India, who are almost through to Thailand for their next round later this year, lead the table with nine points in group six of the 31st Asian Youth (under-19) qualifying rounds championship.

The hosts, who have won all matches against Maldives (1-0), Kyrgyzstan (3-0) and Pakistan (2-0), take on lowly Bhutan tomorrow.

Bhutan lost two matches (against Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan) and drew against Maldives and have a point.

A draw would be enough for the hosts to book ticket for Thailand.

Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan clash in the first encounter tomorrow. Both teams have six points each from three matches.

"It is only yesterday that everything was put in order and now that we top the table and face Bhutan I can relax. But still we will take on the opponents seriously and try to keep the slate clean, no one has scored against us till now and we plan to finish the championship with the same tempo", said India coach Mohammed Habeeb.

Jalandhar squad
From Our Sports Reporter

JALANDHAR, Aug 24 — The following players have been selected to represent Jalandhar in the Junior Punjab State Badminton Championships to be held from August 25 to 30 at Hoshiarpur. Rohan Kapoor will lead the squad, Mr Rajinder Kalsi, honorary secretary, District Badminton Association, has said.

Boys (under-19) — Rohan Kapoor, Rohit Kapoor, Karandeep Kohli, Ramanjit Kalra, Harmandeep, Ramanjit Kalra. Girls — Sumit Kalra, Sandhya Yadav, Madhuri Yadav, Deepika.

Boys (under-16) — Rohit Kapoor, Ramnik Singh, Raj Kumar, Rajkaran Singh, Harjot Singh, Suresh, Jaskaran. Girls — Madhuri Yadav, Arti Verma.

Boys (under-13) — Sahil Arora, Varun Arora, Harsimran, Vipul Arora. Girls — Heena Kapoor, Bani Dhaul, Stuti.

Chaman Lal Ratti and Kartar Singh will accompany the team as manager and coach, respectively.

Promila wins
From Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, Aug 24 — Leading by at least 200 , Promila, last year's winner, bagged the coveted first prize in the VIth NSCI Rajiv Gandhi Marathon race here today. The second spot was bagged by her sister Sharmila.

There was unprecedented enthusiasm among 30,000 children from the slums. The Lt-Governor Vijai Kapoor, flagged off the race.

Rajiv, Saloni bag b'minton titles
From Our Sports Reporter

AMRITSAR, Aug 24 — Rajiv Verma and Saloni won the men and women district badminton championships, respectively, held at the indoor badminton stadium, yesterday.

The Assistant Director, investigation, Income Tax, Mr Parneet Singh, Sachdev, gave away the prizes.

Results: Men's singles: Rajiv Verma Varun Gulati 15-9, 12-15 and 15-10, Women's singles: Saloni b Alka, Men's doubles: Sunil and Tarun b Rajiv and Rajan.

Boys (Under-10) — (Singles): Abhishek-1 and Himanshu-2, (Doubles): Abhishek and Himanshu-1 and Vipul and Akshit-2,

Under-13: Dineshwar-1 and Vaibhav Kapoor-2, Doubles: Dineshwar and Vaibhav-1 and Kamal and Sahil-2,

Under-16 (Singles): Mayank Behl-1 and Vaibhav-2, Doubles: Mayank and Akshay-1 and Vaibhav and Sandeep-2,

(Under-19 (Singles): Varun Gualti-1 and Varun Khanna-2, Doubles: Varun Gulati and Varun Khanna-1 and Mayank and Akshay-2.

Girls: (Under-10 — singles): Sukhmani-1 and Samyia-2, (under-13): Samrin-1 and Gunweem-2, (under-16) Jyoti-1 and Samrin-2, Doubles: Radha and Jyoti-1 and Samrin and Manbeen-2, Under-19: Arti-1 and Sarabjeet-2.

Postponed

HISAR (FOSR): The Haryana State Women Sports Festival scheduled to be held from August 26 to 28 at Gurgaon has been postponed, due to unavoidable circumstances, according to a spokesman for the Haryana Sports and Youth Culture Department here today. The new date will be announced later.

Rural soccer meet
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 24 — Mahilpur, Singhpur and Dandewal teams entered in the 18th Punjab Rural Junior Soccer Tournament being played at Nangal Khilarian village, 20 kms from Hoshiarpur.

Mahilpur trounced Sherpur 3-0; Singhpur beat Chandeli 2-0; and Dandewal overpowered last year semi-finalist Dhakkon 2-0.

In other matches Barian Kalan defeated Mehmodwal 2-0 and Nangal Khurd subdued Bhunno 2-0.

India face Lanka in opener

DUBAI, Aug 24 (UNI) — India will meet Sri Lanka in the opening match of the three-nation Champions Trophy tournament to be played at Sharjah from November 6 to 13, the organisers said today.

The tournament, organised by the Sharjah-based Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS), was earlier scheduled from November 8 to 15.

Zimbabwe is the third team in the tournament, in which all the seven matches will be day-night affairs.

The three teams will play each other twice in a league before the top two sides clash in the final on November 13.

The following is the schedule: Nov 6: India vs Sri Lanka Nov 7: Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe Nov 8: India vs Zimbabwe Nov 9: India vs Sri Lanka Nov 10: Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe Nov 11: India vs Zimbabwe Nov 12: Rest Nov 13: Final Hours of play: (gmt) 10.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. first session; 2 p.m. to 2.45 p.m. dinner break 2.45 p.m. to 6.15 p.m. second session.

Facile win for 12 Wing
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Aug 24 — Hosts 12 Wing Air Force scored an easy 2-0 victory over 18 Wing Air Force, on the opening day of the four-day Western Air Command Inter-Area Hockey Tournament being held at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium here today.

From the start, the 12 Wing Air Force team mounted full pressure and scored a goal in the first half. The 18 Wing Air Force team struggled hard but could not level the score.

After resumption 12 Wing added another goal.

Earlier, Air Commodore R.V. Kumar, Air Officer Commanding, Air Force Station, Chandigarh, inaugurated the four-day tournament in which 10 teams are taking part in this tournament.