Churchill Brothers storm
into semis
NEW DELHI. Aug 27 — Ghanian forward Philip Mensah converted a hotly disputed penalty award for a "golden goal" to spur Churchill Brothers, Goa, to a 2-1 victory over a fighting BSF, Jalandhar, and into the semifinals of the KBL Federation Cup Football Tournament here today.
Jones ready for clash
with Arron
BRUSSELS, Aug 2 — World 100 champion Marion Jones arrived in Brussels today relishing the prospect of a clash with France’s Christine Arron at the golden league athletics meeting tomorrow
Carlos Moya bites
the dust
JERICHO (New York), Aug 27 — Third-seeded defending champion Carlos Moya of Spain was eliminated but fourth seed Greg Rusedski of Britain advanced in second-round action at the Hamlet Cup yesterday.
GNPS, St. Stephen's record wins
CHANDIGARH, Aug 27 — St. Stephen's School, Sector 45, registered an easy 5-0 victory over Shishu Niketan Senior Secondary School, Sector 22, in the opening match of the Chandigarh Sub-Junior Football Tournament which began at the Sector 17 football stadium here today.

GMHS-36 win

Tennis academy set up

School basketball

Nazma best gymnast

Indian juniors disappoint

Laver ready to go home

Churchill Brothers storm into semis

NEW DELHI. Aug 27 (PTI) — Ghanian forward Philip Mensah converted a hotly disputed penalty award for a "golden goal" to spur Churchill Brothers, Goa, to a 2-1 victory over a fighting BSF, Jalandhar, and into the semifinals of the KBL Federation Cup Football Tournament here today.

Skilful midfielder Mario Soares, bearing down upon the goal, was tripped by BSF defender Pradip Gorai, but referee Ramesh Rehani’s penalty award drew strong protests from the BSF players who insisted that the foul took place just outside the penalty area at the Ambedkar Stadium.

Mensah’s powerful attempt flew in, to the right of the remonstrating BSF custodian Bibhas Saha, who led the show of dissent and jostled the referee at the final whistle before policemen escorted the officials away and BSF coach Shyam Kumar intervened to restrain his agitated players.

The Goa league champions held sway in an absorbing first half and hoisted the lead through Mensah’s 32nd minute strike. But the paramilitary side opened up leftwing attacks to great effect into the second session and pulled off the equaliser in the 84th minute through Harvinder Singh.

The match looked set for tie-breaker when Soares, who had cut in from the left and was clearly on his way, was tripped by Pradip Gorai six minutes into the second half on extra-time resulting in the penalty and eventual winner.

In the semifinals at Siliguri, Churchill take on winners of tomorrow’s quarterfinal clash between East Bengal and Vasco Club, Goa.

BSF, fielding key forward Gauranga Paul from the start, had the even share of early exchanges before Churchill took control of the proceedings. Ghanian import Philip Mensah, absent during Churchill’s 7-1 win over Langsning, Meghalaya came in and added much sting to their forays.

Forwards Bitan Singh and Cyril Barreto flanking Mensah showed good understanding with excellent support from creative medio Mahesh Singh and the seasoned Mario Soares. In the 11th minute, Bitan Singh headed an Alvito Pereira chip off an indirect corner which sailed inches over the bar.

Churchill almost scored again when after Barreto just failed to nod in a Soares right-wing cross at the near post, but drawing Bibhas Saha away. But Tapan Bhattacharjee made a timely goalmouth save. But they could not be denied and struck 10 minutes later.

Alvito Pereira sent a long throw from the right and Bitan Singh trapped and laid on for Mensah to let go a piledriver which entered to the bemused Saha’s left.

BSF’s first half attempts always ended at the top of the box as Ghanian stopper Husseni Osumanu, who had a superb outing, was simply unbeatable and also handled the aerial balls with aplomb to add to Churchill defenders sound marking.

But BSF began making their presence felt into the second half as their rivals seemed to visibly tie and cut out total aggression in favour of defending the lone goal advantage.

Mensah and the hardworking Bitan Singh created some anxious moments for the BSF defence, but BSF showed their fighting qualities when Pradip Gorai headed inches wide a corner kick by Gauranga Paul. But BSF switched attacks from the right to left to great effect.

Prasantha Das made a good run to be thwarted by a charging Husseni and Gauranga Paul was adjudged offside after being sent clear, but BSF sprung the trap six minutes from close.

Second half substitute Jaswant Singh went on one of his speedy runs down the left, sidestepped Husseni Osumanu and sent in a low cross. With the defenders advanced, Gauranga Paul trapped and pulled in back to Harvinder Singh to shoot past goalkeeper Edward Ansah without ado.

BSF’s Tapan Bhattacharjee and substitute Abhay Mahato were booked for fouls.

Churchill had the better of exchanges in the extra-time, with Mensah going for long-rangers. Even as tie-breaker was looming large came Gorai’s foul on Soares, who was fed by Aqeel Ansari from the left.

Cricketing world honours 'the Don'

ADELAIDE. Aug 27 (AFP) — Sachin Tendulkar, the world’s leading batsman, joined former cricket greats, stars of the current Australian team and a host of celebrities to fete Sir Donald Bradman’s 90th birthday today.

The black-tie affair is the culmination of a week’s events honouring his entry into the "nervous nineties", where he was never dismissed in a Test.

But, true to form, the reclusive Sir Don stayed out of the limelight, preferring a private family dinner in Adelaide. It is the first time in 65 years he has celebrated a birthday without his wife Jessie, who died last year.

Cricket’s most phenomenal batsman is now the third oldest living Test player and has been gone from the game for half a century, but never forgotten, for a Test average of 99.94.

He became cricket’s second knight in 1949 and soon thereafter the Australian Broadcasting Corporation changed its post office box number to 9994 in recognition of his achievements.

Australian newspapers today produced four-page liftouts in his honour.

Tendulkar, who jetted in for the occasion, said meeting his hero was "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Bradman recently rated him as the player who most reminded him of himself.

The Indian star told reporters it was the best compliment anyone could be paid.

"I’m very happy about it, I’m glad I have made it," Tendulkar said. "I hope I get some good tips from him about batting, that’s what I’m looking forward to."

Other notable events this week included the unveiling of a new gift from Sir Donald to the Bradman collection — the Warwick vase album -- a handmade album presented to him to commemorate his last visit to England on the 1948 invincibles tour.

The South Australian Cricket Association said there will never be anyone like him.

"When he cut his last official ties with cricket in June 1986, he had devoted more than 50 years of his life to the administration of the game of cricket, the stage of which he strode as the most successful cricketer the world has ever seen," SACA said.

"His record off the field is as formidable as the records he created on the field of play."

He scored 6,996 runs in 52 Tests from 1928 to 1948, hitting 29 hundreds and 13 half-centuries. His highest score was 334 in the first innings against England at Leeds in 1930.

Sir Don also served as a South Australian cricket selector from 1935 to 1970, was a SACA vice president from 1950 to 1965, president from 1965 to 1973 and a trustee from 1957 to 1986.

Bradman still receives hundreds of letters each week, particularly from India, and tries to answer each one with the single-minded dedication that bowlers feared.

In a special tribute in the Adelaide advertiser, Prime Minister John Howard said he was more than just a cricketing legend.

"He was a beacon of hope for a generation living through the dark days of the great depression," Howard said.

"He gave hope and encouragement and inspiration to a generation of Australians, particularly during the 1930s when the memories of the terrible slaughter of our young men in France and on the beaches of Gallipoli was still very much part of the Australian psyche.

"When the spirit and the hopes and the sense of wellbeing of the Australian people were at a particularly low ebb, Sir Donald gave all of Australia enormous hope and enormous inspiration."

Among other cricketing greats to attend tonight’s dinner was former Australian captain Greg Chappell, wicketkeeping great Rod Marsh and current stars Mark Waugh, Shane Warne and Greg Blewett.

Jones ready for clash with Arron

BRUSSELS, Aug 27 (Reuters) — World 100 champion Marion Jones arrived in Brussels today relishing the prospect of a clash with France’s Christine Arron at the golden league athletics meeting tomorrow.

The world’s top woman sprinter seems unfazed by Arron’s blistering burst of speed at the European Championships in Budapest last week, where she took the 100 gold in a time of 10.73, making her the third fastest woman of all time.

Guadaloupe-born Arron also won gold for France in the 4x100 relay in Budapest, powering past Russia’s Irina Privalova on the final leg.

But Jones, unbeaten this year, can take comfort from her performance at the Lausanne Grand Prix just two days ago, when she crossed the line ahead of the field in a sizzling 10.72.

And Jones says she may go even faster tomorrow.

"My goal is to run 10.65 sec and I’m ready to run that. Once I break 10.70, then it’s going to be fun and that could be achieved here in Brussels," she said.

The former basketballer turned sprinter/long-jumper also has her longer-term sights set on the 10-year-old world record of 10.49 sec, held by fellow American and Olympic champion Florence Griffith-Joyner.

"Ten point four nine is always in the back of my mind and I’m the woman who might do that. I think that before my career is over I’ll have the chance to have a crack at it," she said.

But Jones won’t be alone in the world record spotlight at tomorrow’s lucrative meeting, which organisers say could produce three world records.

Kenyans Paul Tergat and Daniel Komen will try to reclaim the 10,000 and 5,000 marks, respectively, and Mozambique’s Maria Mutola will have a crack at beating the 1,000 record.

Any athlete breaking a world record wins a Mercedes Car.

For Jones the stakes are even higher.

She is one of four athletes still in the running to share the million dollar jackpot on offer at the series of meetings.

To claim the prize, Athletes have to win their event in each of the seven meetings. With Brussels, Berlin and Moscow left, she is joined on the million dollar trail by American 400 hurdler Bryan Bronson, 1,500 world record holder Hicham el Guerrouj and 5,000 world record holder Haile Gebrselassie.

Jones says money is not the driving force. Her goal is to win five golds in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where she hopes to compete in the 100 and 200, long jump, and the 4x100 and 4x400 relays to go one better than Carl Lewis in the 1984 Olympics.

"It’s been my goal to be in the Olympics ever since I was a little girl. I’m young and fresh, so why limit myself. Maybe in a few years my bones will be creaking, but at the moment they’re fine. I think I can win five gold medals," she said.

But tomorrow all eyes will be on her and Arron and a race that should at least produce the fastest women’s 100 time this season.

"Arron has raised the level of women’s athletics, it should be a great competition tomorrow," Jones said.

Carlos Moya bites the dust

JERICHO (New York), Aug 27 (Reuters) — Third-seeded defending champion Carlos Moya of Spain was eliminated but fourth seed Greg Rusedski of Britain advanced in second-round action at the Hamlet Cup yesterday.

Moya continued his recent slump, losing to David Prinosil of Germany in only 55 minutes, 6-2 6-2. One day short of his 22nd birthday, the reigning French Open champion lost for the fifth time in six matches.

Rusedski joined Prinosil in the quarterfinals with a 6-2 7-6 (8-6) victory over Brazil’s Fernando Meligeni.

"I thought after the first two games I played a really good first set. Then I got a little tentative in the second," said Rusedski, who overcame 38 unforced errors. "I got more aggressive with my returns. I can’t be disappointed to win in two sets. It’s another match, another step forward."

Rusedski also had a problem during the second-set tiebreak when his shoe came apart.

"The whole thing unglued," he explained. "I stopped to change shoes. If the shoe comes apart, the rule says you can change them. I think (Meligeni) was disappointed more than angry. He thought the shoes were wet. He said, you can’t change wet shoes."

Russia’s Matt Safin, an 18-year-old rookie on the ATP tour, reached a tournament quarterfinals for the first time by defeating Filip Dewulf of Belgium 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 says AP.

Yesterday, Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic upset ninth-seeded Jan Siemerink of The Netherlands 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

Safin, who started the year ranked 204th, climbed to no. 72 this week, partially as a result of scoring five-set victories over Andre Agassi and Gustavo Kuerten in the French Open. He then lost to Cedric Pioline in the third round."My game has been unbelievably bad since then," said Safin.

"I lost my confidence and played bad ... bad ... bad. There was no physical problem. The problem for me was in my head."

BROOKLINE: Top-seeded Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden rallied to defeat Galo Blanco of Spain 6-2 7-6 (7-5) to reach the quarter-finals of the MFS Pro Tennis Championships.

"I was pleased because I played my game. I got to the net and played aggressively," said Bjorkman.

Bjorkman, looking for his second title of the year, broke his opponent’s service in the first game of the match, and after a 20-minute delay due to a power failure, his aggressive net-charging game put Blanco on defence in the rest of the set.

There were no breaks in the second set, but at 5-4 Blanco held a set point before Bjorkman fought back to deuce and eventually held serve.

Blanco was down 0-40 in the next game but then he also saved serve to force a tiebreaker. With Bjorkman ahead 6-5 in the breaker, Blanco returned into the net to lose the match.

Defending champion Sjeng Schalken of The Netherlands blasted groundstrokes with depth and accuracy in a 6-1 6-1 victory over American Jeff Tarango.

GNPS, St. Stephen's record wins
From Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Aug 27 — St. Stephen's School, Sector 45, registered an easy 5-0 victory over Shishu Niketan Senior Secondary School, Sector 22, in the opening match of the Chandigarh Sub-Junior Football Tournament which began at the Sector 17 football stadium here today.

In a one-sided encounter, hot-contenders St. Stephen's mounted full pressure from the start when Akash scored a goal hardly six minutes into the game. His team-mate Kunal scored a fine goal in the 16th minute, and Dalip scored three goals in the fifth minute, 10th and 20th minute to complete the tally.

In another match of the day, Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36 blanked Government High School, Sector 26, 4-0 margin.

In other match of the day, St. Xavier's Senior Secondary School, Sector 44, beat St. Joseph's High School-9 by a solitary goal.

The match started on a fast pace, both teams started putting pressure on each other in which St. Xavier's lads got a corner kick which was taken by the right out, who floated the ball into the penalty box and Naibah headed it into the goal net beyond the reach of the St Joseph's custodian.

This goal, however, did not deter the courage of St Josephs High School lads. St. Joseph's Rupinder Singh's shot beat the St. Xavier's custodian but struck the cross-bar and bounced back into play. Both teams were almost balanced in play.

Government Model School, Sector 22 B Guru Teg Bahadur School 15 by 2-0. Mandeep scored the goals in the 35th while his team-mate Preetinder consolidated the lead in the 40th minute.

Gosain to lead eves’ hockey squad
From Ravi Dhaliwal

PATIALA, Aug 27 — Centre half Sita Gosain of the Railways has replaced Sandeep Kaur as captain of the Indian women’s hockey team which is slated to participate in the Commonwealth Games to be held at Kuala Lumpur from September 9 to 20.

The Indian women hockey federation (IWHF) had last week provisionally announced a 16-member squad for the games keeping in view the deadline imposed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). The announcement of the captain of the team had been deferred by the IWHF. The final squad was announced here today by the president of the IWHF, Mrs Vidya Stokes, after watching a practise session.

Incidentally, Sita Gosain is the fourth captain to lead the women’s hockey team in as many tournaments. For the World Cup pre-qualifiers versatile forward Majinder Kaur of the Railways was the captain while for the South African tour Pritam Thankran also of the Railways was made the captain. For the Utrecht World Cup, where the Indian team finished with the wooden spoon, yet another Railways player deep defender Sandeep Kaur was handed over the reigns.

Interestingly, the final team as announced today consists of as many as 14 players, out of the 16, from the Railways. There is one each from Haryana and Chandigarh.

Mrs Vidya Stokes also clarified that the probables for the Bangkok Asian Games would be selected after the senior national women’s hockey championships which will be held at Chennai from September 23 to October 1.

The team: Tingongleima Chanu, Helen Mary, Sandeep Kaur, Manystilla Tirkey, Suman Bala Sanggai Chanu, Sita Gosain (captain), Renu Bala, Sunita Dalal, Nidhi Khullar, Manjinder Kaur, Pritam Thakran, Jyoti Sunita Kullu, Fardina Ekka, Surja Lata and Kamla Dalal.

Rupa Saini will accompany the team as manager, while G.S. Bhangu and N.S. Saini will be the chief coach and assistant coach of the team. The NIS chief medical officer, Dr Ashok Ahuja, will be the doctor of the team.

The IWHF also decided to send Mrs Saroj Bansal and Mrs Amrit Bose as umpire and Judge, respectively, to the Commonwealth Games.

Ganguly XI win

CHENNAI, Aug 27 (PTI) — Saurav Ganguly XI scored a seven wicket victory over Ajay Jadeja XI in a practice match between the probables at the World Cup preparatory camp in progress here.

Batting first, Jadeja XI made 197 for 7 in 40 overs. Ganguly's squad responded with 199 for 3 in 36.3 overs.

Azharuddin did not play due to a strain in his back, former Test bowler, Aashish Kapoor and M.A. Satish were the eleventh players in each team.

Venkatesh Prasad dismissed opener Gagan Koda in the very first ball and Navjot Sidhu in his sixth delivery to leave Jadeja XI at one for two.

V.V.S. Laxman (54) and Jadeja, who had retired hurt on seven, came back to score 49 not out to steady his teams' innings. Venkatesh Prasad and Harbhajan Singh claimed two wickets each.

Chasing a modest total, Ganguly (55) gave a good start to his side before being caught by Satish off Ajit Agarkar. Rahul Dravid remained unbeaten on 52 and Kanitkar (retd) chipped in with 54 to see Ganguly XI through to the victory.

The probables would be split into two teams for yet another practice match on September 3.

Earlier, former Australian speedster Dennis Lillee keenly observed the Indian seam bowlers going through their paces.

Lillee, who is here on his regular schedule to take stock of the progress made by the MRF Pace Foundation wards, spent over four hours watching Venkatesh Prasad and Debashish Mohanty bowl during the match.

Young medium-pacer Ajit Agarkar had yesterday visited the MRF Foundation to seek advice from the Australian regarding his back problem and bowling technique.

Graeme Hick lifts England

LONDON, Aug 27 (Reuters) — Graeme Hick lifted England and improved his chances of seizing a place on their forthcoming Ashes tour by hitting an unbeaten 67 in the one-off Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval today.

Hick carried England to 160 for three at tea on the opening day after the early loss of Mark Butcher (10) and the dismissals in quick succession of Steve James (36) and captain Alec Stewart (2) soon after lunch.

Sri Lanka, playing their first Test in this country for seven years, contained England effectively until midway through the second session but Hick's influence then began to tilt the balance.

Pace bowler Pramodya Wickremasinghe gave the touring team an encouraging start when he dispatched left-hander Butcher after half an hour with the total 16, the opener pushing forward, getting an outside edge and being caught by Sanath Jayasuriya at second slip.

James, who made 10 and 0 in his only previous Test, against South Africa at Lord's in June, repaired the early damage in a second-wicket stand of 62 with Hick.

The Glamorgan batsman, called up yesterday when former England captain Michael Atherton's ongoing back trouble flared up, established himself quietly in unspectacularly in the morning session but then got out soon after lunch.

James drove at off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan without quite getting to the pitch of the ball and succeeded only in giving a return catch.

England, 78 for two at that stage, lost Stewart to a poor shot with only three runs added. The England skipper played at a delivery from debutant Suresh Perera outside off stump without getting into line and edged a catch to Hashan Tillekeratne at first slip, giving the paceman his first Test wicket.

Ramprakash proved an effective ally for Hick and they restored England's fortunes by putting on 79 in an unbroken stand for the fourth wicket.

Hick, cutting and sweeping productively, reached his first half-century in 13 Test innings from 107 deliveries, hitting seven fours in the process, while Ramprakash moved smoothly to 39 not out at the interval.

Golden double for Verma
From Our Sports Reporter

HOSHIARPUR, Aug 27 — Arti Verma of Ropar annexed the girls under-13 singles and doubles titles in the Punjab Junior Badminton Championship here. The third title decided today went to Qasim and Sahil of (SANG) and (JAL) in the boys under-13 doubles.

Arti won the girls singles final defeating Nandana of Patiala 11-2, 11-0 in a one-sided match. She played with style and poise that won her the title with clever tactical play. She out manoeuvered Vandana. Arti is light footed and her moments on the court are quick. Her anticipation is also good. If she trains properly, she had a bright future ahead.

Arti joined Vandana of Patiala to win the doubles title.

Qasim and Sahil combined well at to thrash Ramnik and Anuj of Ludhiana 15-2, 15-9 in a one-sided doubles final.

Boys singles under-16 (quarterfinals): Dilpreet (Ind) b Vaibhav (Asr) 15-11, 15-3, Varun (Asr) b Akhtar (Sang) 10-15, 17-15, 15-3, Rohit (Jal) b Akshay (Asr) 17-14, 15-7, Varun (Asr) b Ankit Dhir (Lud) 14-17, 15-12, 15-5.

Girls doubles under-16 (quarterfinals): Vidhu & Shehnaz (Pta) b Joyti & Radha (Asr) 15-0, 15-3, Gurpreet & Gorika (Hsp) b Preena & Balreet (Ldh) 15-3, 15-4, Madhuri & Arti (Jal & Rpr) b Harmeet & Kamaljeet (Ldh) 15-1, 15-0, Navneet & Indermeet (Hsp) b Jaspreet & Amritpal (Pta) 15-5, 15-10.

Boys doubles under-16 (quarterfinals): Dilpreet & Rohit b Ashok & Iqbal (Pta) 15-8, 15-5, Ankit & Amardeep (Pta) b Akshay & Mayonk (Asr), Vaibhav & Sandeep (Asr) b Ramnik & Harjot (Jal), Varun & Varun (Asr) b Jasmeet & Abhishek (Hsp) 15-1, 15-6.

Girls under-16 doubles (Semis): Gurpreet & Gorika (Hsp) b Vidhu & Shahnaz (Pta) 17-16, 4-15, 15-13. Madhuri & Arti (Jal) b Navneet (Hsp) 15-0, 15-9.

Boys doubles under-16 (Semis): Dilpreet & Rohit (Ldh) b Ankit & Amandeep (Pta) 15-5, 15-9. Varun & Varun (Asr) b Vaibhav & Sandeep (Asr) 15-8, 15-5.

Girls singles under-16 (Semis): Arti (Rpr) b Vidhu (Pta) 11-1, 11-1, Shahnaz (Sang) b Inderpreet (Hsp) 11-3, 8-11, 11-9.

Boys singles under-13 (quarterfinals): Sahil (Jal) b Vipul (Jal) 15-11, 15-5. Qasim (Sang) b Harpreet (Rpr) 15-12, 11-15, 15-5, Gurinder (Gsp) b Vaibhav (Asr) 15-5, 15-5, Dineshwar (Asr) b Harsimran (Jal) 15-2, 15-4.

Boys doubles under-13 (quarterfinals): Gurpreet & Harpreet (Rpr) b Kaleem & Shahnaz (Sang) 15-0, 15-6, Ramnik & Anuj (Ldh) b Harsimran & Vipul (Jal) 15-12, 15-13, Dineshwar & Vaibhav (Asr) b Nand Lal & Rajinder (Pta) 15-3, 15-4, Kazim & Sahil (Sang) & (Jal) b Gurinder & Rajan (Gsp) 15-6, 15-9.

Girls doubles under-13 (Semis): Stuti & Heena (Rpr-Jal) b Samseen & Meenu (Asr) 15-12, 15-7, Vandana & Arti (Pta-Rpr) got w/o Monica & Ravinder Kaur (Hsr).

Boys under-13 doubles (semis): Sahil & Qasim (Sang) b Dineshwar & Vaibhav 15-1,15-6. Ramnik & Anuj (Ldh) b Gurpreet & Harpreet (Rpr) 8-15, 15-6.

Girls singles under-13 (final): Arti (Rpr) b Vandana (Pta) 11-2, 11-0.

Girls doubles under-13 (final): Arti & Vandana (Rpr) b Stuti & Heena (Jal) 15-4, 15-12.

Boys doubles under-13 (final): Qasim & Sahil (Jal) b Ramnik & Anuj (Ldh) 15-2, 15-9.

Veteran singles:

D.K. Bhardwaj (Jal) b G.S. Shah (Pta) 15-8, 15-7. G. Kochar (Jal) b Mani Singh (Rpr) 7-15, 15-11, 15-10. Ramesh Dhaul (Jal) b M. Sagar (Pta) 15-1, 15-6. Satish Sharma (Hsp) w/o Satish Kumar (Pta)

Brian Lara hammers unbeaten 141

LONDON, Aug 27 (Reuters) — West Indian captain Brian Lara continued his improved run of form by cracking an unbeaten 141 as Warwickshire ran up 476 for five against local rivals Worcestershire yesterday.

Lara, widely criticised by Warwickshire supporters earlier in the season, hit one six and 19 fours in reaching his third century in successive matches.

He won some of his detractors around with an innings of 226 against Middlesex at Lord's three weeks ago, then followed up with 158 in a victory over Northamptonshire.

Warwickshire were the only batting side to prosper on the first day of a new round of county championship matches.

On another day of generally poor weather, favouring the bowlers, Nottinghamshire were rushed out for only 61 by third-placed Leicestershire — the lowest total by any county this season.

Alan Mullally, the left-arm seamer released by England after being named for the Test match against Sri Lanka beginning today, took four for 34, three of them clean bowled.

Team mate Vince Wells did even better, with five for 18 in nine overs. They were career-best figures for Wells, who now tops the national bowling averages.

Leicestershire ended a truncated day's play on 27 for one in reply, having picked up four bonus points.

With the top two, Surrey and Lancashire not playing, they have a good opportunity to make up ground if the weather holds over the next three days.

Bottom county Essex were dismissed for 200 by Yorkshire, Australian Stuart Law top-scoring with 47.

Another Australian, Michael Bevan, made 58 in Sussex's modest 187 all out against Hampshire, for whom West Indian Nixon Mclean took three of the top four wickets.

Franklin Rose, another West Indies paceman, took three early wickets for 37 as Northamptonshire reduced Kent to 83 for four. No further play was possible.

AFP adds:

Scores and results:

At Hove: Sussex 187 (M.G. Bevan 58) v Hampshire 97-3 (J.P. Stephenson 59 n.o.).

At Northampton: Kent 83-4 v Northamptonshire.

At Worcester: Warwickshire 476-5 (B.C. Lara 141 n.o. Mark Waugh 119, Nick Knight 63) v Worcestershire.

At Scarborough: Essex 200 (G.M. Hamilton 6-50) v Yorkshire 40-1.

At Worksop: Nottinghamshire 61 (V.J. Wells 5-18. Allan Mullally 4-34) v Leicestershire 27-1.

At Derby: Derbyshire v Durham. No play due to rain.

Kunjarani ranked 3rd, Chanu 2nd

NEW DELHI, Aug 27 (UNI) — India's top woman weightlifter Kunjarani has been ranked third in the 48kg class and compatriot Sanama Chanu, second in the 53 kg class while the men lifters failed to find a slot among the top 15 in the mid-year world ranking list released by the international federation.

India's other top weightlifters Malleswari and Neelam Lakshmi are not listed because they did not take part in the Commonwealth Championship at Nauru.

Kunjarani Devi has been ranked third in the 48kg class with a total haul of 170 kg. In the same category, Sanama Chanu has found herself in the sixth place with 162.5 kg.

In the 53 kg class, Sanama Chanu, however, features prominently bagging the second spot with a total haul of 182.5 kg. Top billing goes to Guo Huibing of China who lifted 205 kg in the junior world championship.

Country's Nandani Devi is listed gets the 12th spot in the 58kg class, while Khoni Devi is at a lowly 31 in the 69 category.

Agarkar seeks Lillee's help

CHENNAI, Aug 27 (PTI) — Medium pacer Ajit Agarkar yesterday sought guidance from former Australian speedster Dennis Lillee.

It was "not an unusual problem". The bowler was over-laborating his side-on action and his backfoot was swivelling too much which in turn twists his spine, back and around, Littee told PTI.

"We are planning to correct this by making him put less strain on his back so that his backfoot does not go across. If he succeeds, he could bowl quicker and get more bounce. Side-on bowling will help him avoid injuries", he said.

Renowned for his bowling techniques and understanding of niggling injuries to pacers, Lillee said "We are trying to help him get his problems solved. I had told him to do 'shadow bowling' by watching his steps or bowl before a mirror to practice side-on bowling and frequently use a video recording of his bowling action to assess the result".

The 21-year-old Agarkar, who made his debut against Australia in Kochi in April, and subsequently proved himself claiming 36 wickets in 15 matches for an average of 18.22, said he was lucky to be able to meet Lillee and correct his action.

"I am meeting him for the first time and am thankful to him for his advice", Agarkar said.

Sachin Tendulkar had requested the Australian at a dinner here last night to suggest steps "to correct" Agarkar's bowling action.

Selection committee meeting on Sept 2

MUMBAI, Aug 27 (PTI) — The meeting of the national cricket selection committee to choose the teams for next month's Sahara Cup and Commonwealth Games has been advanced by two days and would be held on September 2 at Chennai.

"The selectors would be informed to reach Chennai accordingly", executive secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Sharad Diwadkar, told PTI today.

The selectors would pick two "formidable", teams for the September 12 to 20 Sahara Cup five-match series against arch-foes Pakistan at Toronto and the Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur where the inaugural cricket competition begins on September 9.

The selectors added eight more players, including Karnataka's left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi and Bengal's left-hand batsman Rohan Gavaskar, to the list of 22 probables announced earlier and who are in the training camp at Chennai.

The other six additions to the list, which has been boosted to 30 and sent to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for getting Malaysian visas are Jatin Paranjpe, Paras Mhambrey (both Mumbai), Sanjay Raul (Orissa), Amay Khurasia (MP), Jyoti Yadav (UP) and Nikhil Chopra (Delhi).

The additions were made three days ago at IOA's behest after a tele-conference involving the selectors, skipper Mohammed Azharuddin and coach Aushuman Gaekwad.

The IOA wanted the names of the team members for the Commonwealth Games to be sent to the organisers without any further delay to avoid India being scratched from the event and to apply for Malaysian visas in advance.

Haryana overall champs
From Our Correspondent

KURUKSHETRA, Aug 27 — Haryana bagged the overall trophy in the three-day 16th National Junior Taekwondo Championship for girls and the 18th National Junior Taekwondo Championship for boys which concluded at Dronacharya Stadium here yesterday.

Sonia Gaur of Haryana and Puneet Kumar Yadav of Delhi were selected for the World Taekwondo Championships to be held in the first week of September in Istanbul (Turkey).

Haryana secured four gold, three silver and a bronze. Sonia of Gurgaon bagged four gold.

Results (Girls): Bantam weight — Reena Gunung (West Bengal) 1, Priyanka (Haryana) 2, Sujata (Delhi) and Ashi Awasthi (HP) 3. Welter weight — Ruchi Yadav (Haryana) 1, Piki Dolma Bhuti (Sikkim) 2, Asman Jabir (Karnataka) and Rekha Singh (UP) 3.

Light heavy weight — Megha Bihop (Delhi) 1, Manorma Yadav (UP) 2. Fly weight — Bellona (Manipur) 1, Metal Vyas (Gujarat) 2, Preeti Dewan (UP) and Kolpama Lashkari (MP) 3. Light weight — Kiran Sunuwar (West Bengal) 1, Renu Bala (Haryana) 2, C.H. Libala (Manipur) and Shalini Pal Singh (UP) 3.

Light middle — Sumita Singh (West Bengal) 1, Karma Dolma (Sikkim) 2, Bendenttula (Nagaland) and Arpana (MP) 3. Heavy weight — Kamna Jain (MP) 1, Anurakti Singh (UP) 2, Charanjit Kaur (Bihar) 3. FIN weight — Sonia Gaur (Haryana) 1.

Boys: Bantam weight — Mohammad Imran Khan (Karnataka) 1, Abhay Kumar (UP) 2. Weltr weight — Vijay Singh (UP) 1, Bal Kishan (Haryana) 2, Atun Naring (Meghalaya) and T.H. Nanyo (Manipur) 3. Light heavy — Sachin Gupta (Haryana) 1, Puneet Yadav (Delhi) 2.

FIN weight — Kunwar Sain (Delhi) 1, Sudesh Bhardwaj (Chandigarh) 2. Feather weight — Om Parkash (MP) 1, Sonu (Delhi) 2. Middle weight — Deepak Tomer (UP) 1, Tridip Joshi (Gujarat) 2.

Mohun Bagan drub FC Kochin

CALCUTTA, Aug 27 (PTI) — Riding on Chima Okerie's double strike, title contenders Mohun Bagan blanked a new-look F.C. Kochin 2-0 to romp into the quarterfinal of the KBL Federation Cup Football Tournament in an one-sided encounter at the Salt Lake Stadium here today.

The veteran Nigerian striker opened the scoring in the 13th minute of the first half with a rasping volley which banged into the net.

Chima made the scoreline 2-0 in the 26th minute when he thundered another shot from close which foxed Kochin custodian Nazeem Akhtar, who did duty under the bar as first choice goalkeeper Ali Abubackar was indisposed, all hands down.

Akhtar, who donned the national colours in the just-concluded Asian Youth Football Championship qualifiers at Bangalore, was a bundle of nerves and fumbled repeatedly.

The Calcutta outfit took control of the midfield early in the first half and with Chima and IM Vijayan combining menacingly upfront, the FC Kochin defenders were on tenterhooks for most part of the game.

Bagan would now clash with State Bank of Travancore, in the quarterfinals in Mumbai on August 31.

PSEB win

BANGALORE: A solitary first-half goal enabled Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) beat ITI to move into the quarterfinals of the Federation Cup here today.

The winning goal for PSEB came in the 26th minute when Guridish Singh latched on to a loose ball off Sukbhir Singh, who, after getting the ball from midfield on the left flank, shot to the far post. Goalkeeper Balaji failed to collect the ball and Gurdish tapped in.

PSEB will now take on the winners of Mohammaden Sporting versus JCT match, to be played in Calcutta on August 30.

India seniors win by 4 wickets

NEW DELHI, Aug 27 (PTI) — A 90-run third wicket stand between Ashok Malhotra (59) and Sandeep Patil (53) helped India to a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka to draw level 1-1 in the five-match Freedom 50 Cup veterans cricket series here today.

Chasing a victory target of 208, after Sri Lanka were all out for 207 in the stipulated 40 overs on electing to bat. India rode on splendid half-centuries by Malhotra and Patil to reach 211 for six in 33.2 overs at the Karnail Singh Stadium.Sri Lanka won the first match of the series by 14 runs at Agra on August 25.

Coming together with India having lost two wickets for just 40 runs, Malhotra and Patil steadied the innings. Man-of-the-match Malhotra hit seven fours in his 71-ball stay while Patil struck a six and nine fours in his 45-ball knock.

Sanjeev Sharma contributed a useful, unbeaten 38. Ashok de Silva claimed four wickets for 30 for Sri Lanka.

Earlier, useful knocks by skipper Duleep Mendis (54), D.S. de Silva (35) and Brenton Kuruppu (43) helped Sri Lanka to a decent total. Suru Nayak claimed four for 50 while Patil and Salil Ankola took two each for 25 and eight, respectively for India.

Trials for admission to SAI centres
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Aug 27 — Selection trials for admission to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Training Centre at Bilaspur and Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh for 1998-99 will be conducted at the SAI Training Centre, Bilaspur (HP) on September 10 and 11, according to a press note of the Netaji Subhas Northern Centre, Sector 42, here.

Trials will be held for wrestling, athletics (boys and girls), boxing (boys) and hockey (girls).

Medal winners in various state/national sub-junior or junior competitions in the age group of 14 to 20 years will be preferred. Interested and eligible players should report along with two passport size photographs and original certificates of their achievements and date of birth proof issued by the school authorities.

Trials postponed

Chandigarh, (BOSR): — The selection trials for the Punjab boxing team scheduled to be held at Patiala on August 29 and 30 have been put off due to postponement of the National Games, according to Mr G.S. Sarao, secretary Punjab Amateur Boxing Association.

GMHS-36 win
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Aug 27 — Judokas of the Sector 36 Government Model High School bagged the overall championship with six points in the Chandigarh Inter-School Judo Championship for boys under-14 which concluded here today.

Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, and Government High School, Sector 36, were declared joint runners-up with five points each.

Tennis academy set up at Yamunanagar
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 27 — The Haryana Tennis Association has started a tennis academy for youngsters at Yamunanagar. Thirty boys and girls of various age groups have registered with the academy.

This has been possible with AITA launching the nationwide scheme of allotting junior coaching schemes wherever the states have the required infrastructure.

Mr D.V. Bhatia, President, Haryana Tennis Association, said Haryana was the first state tennis association to have accepted and launched this scheme. Twenty more youngsters shall be recruited shortly.

TT stadium at Mohali soon
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Aug 27 — Mr Harinder Pal Singh Billa, has been elected president of the newly formed Mohali Table Tennis Association at the general body meeting held at Mohali, recently.

He said the MTTA was formed for promotion and development Table Tennis at Mohali. The association will organise district, state and national-level TT tournament shortly. Besides this the MTTA will hold prize-money TT tournaments and also honour promising players of the city who brought medals in the state national championships.

The association will build an indoor table tennis stadium at Mohali soon, Mr Mukesh Kumar said.

Other office-bearers are: vice-president - Mr M.B.S. Shergill; and Mr Tejinder Singh; secretary - Mr Mukesh Kumar joint-secretary - Mr R.P. Singh; advisers - Mr D.S. Bedi, Air Cmde S.K. Sharma, Mr A.S. Kalsi, Mr R.S. Sachdeva, Mr Balraj Singh, Mr Gurkirpal Singh, Mr Avtar Singh, Mr Jagjit Singh; and treasurer - Mr Sanjay Daddu.

School basketball
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Aug 27 — Acro Paints Basketball Club thrashed Sacred Heart School Sector 26, 18-1, (6-0) in a one-sided inaugural match at the Chandigarh Inter-School (open) Basketball Tournament for girls under-17 years which began at the Sector 16 Government Model Senior Secondary School here today.

For the winners Anita scored six points, her teammates Shuita and Gytary shared five points each and Kanchan chipped in with two points. A free throw was converted by N. Sharma to reduce the margin for the losers.

Tomorrow's matches will start at 7 a.m. Earlier, Joint-Director (Sports), Chandigarh Sports Department, inaugurated the three-day tournament.

Mahilpur enter q-finals
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Aug 27 — Co-holders Kalewal Bhagtan, last year's semifinalists Mahilpur, Mehna and hosts Nangal Khilarian entered the quarterfinals stage of the 18th junior Punjab Rural Soccer Tournament being held at Nangal Khilarian village, 20 km from Hoshiarpur, today.

In the pre-quarterfinal matches, Kalewal Bhagtan mauled Singpur 5-0. At half time the score were 2-0. Mahilpur edged out Dandewal by a solitary second half goal.

In another encounter, Mehna beat Jandiala by a lone goal and the hosts Nangal Khilarian defeated Khera 5-4 via tie-break after being locked one-all during regular time.

Nazma best gymnast

CHANDIGARH, Aug 27 — Nazma, a student of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19, was declared the all-round best gymnast, collecting 21 points in the Chandigarh Inter-School Gymnastics Championship for girls under-14 and under-17 years being held here today.

Nazma claimed four titles — vaulting horse, unevenbars, balancing beam and floor exercises. Shikha Rana of Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, took the second place. The third place was shared by Sandhya (Government Model High School-26 and Kavita Sharma (Government Model Senior Secondary School-19).

In the girls under-17 section the all round best crown went to Kalpana, a student of St. Stephen's School, Sector 45, while Savitri (Government Girls Senior Secondary School — 8 and Sita (Government High School — 7) came second and third respectively.

Indian juniors disappoint

NEW DELHI, Aug 27 (PTI) — Indian juniors went down meekly 0-3 to their Uruguayan counterparts in the world group junior (under-14) boys tennis championship at Nagoya, Japan today.

Parantap Chaturvedi lost to Marcel Felder 2-6 2-6 in the opening singles and the Latin Americans took an unassailable 2-0 lead with Martin Vilalrrubi beating P. Vishal 6-1 6-1.

Vishal teamed up with A.R. Anand but the Indians failed in the doubles too going down 1-6 1-6 to the Martin/Perera duo, an AITA press release said here.

The trio had enabled India qualify, for the first time to the world group, through the Asia-Oceania Zone in Jakarta last May.

Uruguay completed the clean sweep and moved into the second round of the world group tennis.

Ten countries — Argentina, Brazil, Chinese Taipei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Uruguay and the USA — are taking part in the championship.

Laver ready to go home

LOS ANGELES, Aug 27 (Reuters) — Tennis great Rod Laver, who suffered a stroke a month ago, has progressed sufficiently for doctors to allow him to go home, a hospital spokeswoman said last night.

Roxanne Moster, of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Centre, said Laver, 60, would leave the hospital today for his home in nearby Newport beach.

"He’s doing very well," she said. "He is in good condition and his spirits are high."

Moster said that after working with physical therapists, Laver was now able to throw a tennis ball with his right hand and hold a racket in his left. But he was still having difficulty in speaking, she said.

The great Australian left-hander suffered a stroke on July 27 while taping a television segment.

Dr Neil Martin, a neurosurgeon and director of the UCLA stroke centre, said at the time Laver had suffered partial loss of movement in his right hand, arm and leg.

Laver, whose powerful serve earned him the nickname "The Rocket," is the only player ever to win two grand slams by sweeping all four major tennis championships in a calendar year — Wimbledon, the French, US and Australian Opens — in both 1962 and 1969.

With a total of 11 grand slam singles titles, Laver is tied for the second spot with Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras behind Roy Emerson, who has 12 singles wins.