Tennis team, boxers lift Indian morale

BANGKOK, Dec 9 (PTI) — The men’s tennis team assured India of at least a bronze by reaching the semi-finals while boxers N.G. Dingko Singh and Gurcharan Singh stormed into the quarter-finals of their weight classes to lift India’s sagging spirits in the Asian Games today.

India trounced arch-foes Pakistan 3-0 to storm into the men’s tennis semi-finals for a clash with Japan who whipped Indonesia. Even a loss against Japan would provide India with a medal as losing semi-finalists are awarded a bronze each.

Bantam weight pugilist Dingko Singh, who is here without government clearance, fought his way into the last eight of the 54 kg class by outpointing Wei Hongtao of China while Gurcharan Singh pummelled Jordanian Alhindawi Basel into submission to force the referee to stop the unequal contest.

The run-away 9-0 victory of the men’s hockey team, striving to regain the gold after 32 years, over lowly Singapore in their lung-opener provided further balm even as reverses continued in most other fronts and particularly in shooting where main medal hopes Jaspal Rana and Roopa Unnikrishnan flopped miserably.

In the morning, Prahlad Srinath and Davis Cup star Mahesh Bhupathi starred in the men’s team event taking a winning 2-0 lead over Pakistan and ensure a medal in tennis.

Srinath and Mahesh Bhupathi won their singles ties against Pakistan's Mohd Khaliq and Aisam Ul-Haq Quereshi in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 and 6-4, 7-5 to give holders and Asia Cup champions India a berth in the last four.

Later Nitin Kirtane and Syed Fazaluddin swept the doubles with ease against Khaliq and Quereshi.

The superb victory, in windless and humid conditions, put India through to a semi-final clash with Japan, who beat Indonesia to make the last-four grade, and also assured them of at least a bronze as both the losing semi-finalists will be awarded a bronze each.

"It was too hot there. It is tough to play him (18-year-old Wimbledon junior quarter-finalist and 10th ranked junior in the world Quereshi) as both of us play the same way, boom boom serves, short points’’, Bhupathi said after clinching the semi-final berth for the country.

Indian coach Jaidip Mukherjea, however, cautioned about complacency as he felt Japan were a tough nut to crack. "It is not going to be easy against Japan. They are very strong. But if we win one singles, then we have a very good chance to win the tie’’, he said.

Skipper Dhanraj Pillay scored four goals, Baljit Dhillon got three while Mohd Riaz and Dilip Tirkey slammed in one each in India’s 9-0 rout of Singapore in the men’s hockey league.

However, India’s hopes for medals from their star shooters — Rana and Roopa — did not materialise.

Rana failed narrowly to make the eight-man final of the men’s air pistol event, losing the last qualifying place by a single point on countback to Uzbekistan’s Dilshod Mukhtarov and finished ninth individually with a tally of 575.

Rana’s last card score of 94 as compared to his Uzbek rival’s 95 cost him a spot in the final.

Rana’s below-par show, added to the listless displays put up by his teammates Satendra Kumar (with whom Rana had won the pairs silver in the same event in September’s Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games) and Vivek Singh, pushed India down to the sixth place out of 13 in the team standings.

The Indian trio tallied 1,709 which was 33 below gold medallists China’s aggregate. Japan and South Korea picked up the silver and bronze with 1,723 and 1,721 respectively.

Roopa, gold medallist at Kuala Lumpur in sport rifle (prone) with a new games mark of 590, found it difficult to adjust to the range conditions here and shot much below her potential, logging only 582 which fetched her the joint eighth spot with Uzbekistan Markswoman Alyona Aksyonova.

Roopa’s compatriots Kuheli Ganguly and Anuja Tere came 27th and 42nd respectively in the field comprising 43 and their combined efforts saw India take the last but one place among 14 teams with a tally of 1684 points.

Elsewhere India’s dismal show continued in football, canoeing and kayaking, swimming, women’s weightlifting.

India crashed to their second straight defeat in the second round league of men’s football, losing 0-2 to Uzbekistan while their women counterparts were hammered 13-1 by Chinese Taipei in a group B league match.

W'lifters fail again

BANGKOK, Dec 9 (UNI) — It was a humiliating day for India in the weightlifting hall as national champion Prathima Kumari gave an awful display to finish last among seven weightlifters in the 58-kg event at the 13th Asian Games here today.

Chinese domination in the sport continued with Chen Yanqing equalling her world record of 220 kg to claim the gold.

Chen also lifted 98.0 kg to break her eight-month-old world mark in snatch and then added up hauling 123.5 in clean and jerk. But, North Korea’s Ri Song Hui took the gold with a world record 125.0 kg in the latter category.

Since weights are increased by 2.5 kg at a time, Chen’s 98.0 in snatch was counted as 97.5 for the total as her first lift was 95.0.

Chen’s total of 220.0 equalled the existing overall record of 220 she set in Tel Aviv in April this year.

Ri took the silver with 217.5 kg while Thailand’s K Suta claimed bronze with 210 (90 kg in snatch and 120 in clean and jerk).

Interestingly, all the four Indian lifters who have performed so far — Kunjurani Devi, S. Chanu, A.K.Pandian and Prathima — have finished seventh.

What was so galling about Prathima Kumari was that she could not lift 85 kg in snatch in all her three attempts and in clean and jerk managed to lift 105 kg in her second attempt only. She tried for 110 in her third bid but flopped.

In the official scoresheet, her total was confined only to 105 in clean and jerk and it was not totalled as a whole like it was done for others who had lifted the snatch.

"She is no lifter. I don’t know why she was selected,’’ fumed coach Pal Singh Sandhu after Prathima performed so poorly.

"She had failed in the Asian championship at Yang Zhau (China) and world championship at Chang Mei (Thailand) last year. But still she has been selected’’.

Foreign coach Stoytchef Rendalfil was at his wits. "She just failed. She could not lift even the easy snatch three times in a row,’’ he said and added that she had not qualified as per the standard set for the selection of the Asian Games team.

Virtually in tears, Rendafil said, "I have nothing to say. What can I say.’’ and that summed up the condition of the team.

India trounce Singapore 9-0

BANGKOK, Dec 9 (UNI) — Spearheaded by skipper Dhanraj Pillay and striker Baljeet Singh Dhillon India opened their hockey campaign in style with a facile 9-0 win over Singapore at the 13th Asian Games here today.

The winners led 4-0 at half time. Dhanraj Pillay scored four and Baljeet Singh three in the one-sided match.

The Indians started at a very fast pace which rattled the inexperienced Singapore side, but still they kept the former world champions at bay for about 15 minutes.

Singapore’s strategy was clear — defend their goal. They knew fully well that they neither had the tactics nor the technique to pose any threat to the Indians. All they were attempting was to block the Indians by crowding their defence.

Indian forwards took time to settle down and once they breached the rival defence there was no looking back. However, what was upsetting from the Indian point of view was their inability to convert penalty corners even against a lowly side like Singapore.

They earned 10 penalty corners but could convert only two. The Indians opened their account with a penalty corner in the 15th minute with Baljeet Singh sounding the board.

Five minutes later it was Dhanraj Pillay who tore apart the rival defence to shoot home a fine goal. The two quick goals rattled the Singaporeans who by the time had run out of ideas on how to contain the rampaging Indians. Their crowding tactics also backfired as the Indians took possession of the midfield to control the proceedings.

Dhanraj Pillay and Sabu Varkey set up an opening in the 28th minute and Mohd Riaz executed it with great precision(3-0).

Just before the lemon break India earned their sixth penalty corner and this time Dilp Tirkey made no mistake(4-0).

In the second session India totally dominated the show and should have scored more goals. They earned four more penalty corners but failed to convert them.

The Indian goal tally went up immediately after the interval as Dhanraj Pillay, with a lightning move, ripped through the rival defence to score his second and the team’s fifth goal. This bewildered the Singaporeans who were at their wit’s end.

The Indian skipper was in full flow and there was no stopping him. He latched on to a cross from Varkey, side-stepped the defenders to shoot home the sixth goal giving no chance to goalkeeper Sani Mohamed. This was his third goal.

Later Baljeet Singh took over and chipped in two more goals in the 23rd and 33rd minutes to take the tally to 8 and his to three. Two minutes before the final whistle Dhanraj Pillay again struck to complete the rout(9-0).

Though coach M.K. Kaushik expressed satisfaction over the team’s performance, he admitted that there was an "urgent need for working on penalty corner conversion. In championships like these we can’t afford to miss chances and penalty corners like we did today,’’ he said. "I am confident we will improve in the coming matches,’’ he added.

India now play Bangladesh in their second match on Friday.

Indian women, pepped up after their 13-0 runaway victory against hosts Thailand, are keyed up to take on China in the quest for a gold they have not won since the inaugural 1982 Delhi Asian Games.

Sailors victorious

BANGKOK, Dec 9 (PTI) — Enterprise sailors Aashim Mongia and crew Pushpendra Garg came up with an outstanding display to emerge victorious in both their races today to be lying second after four races and Guatama Dutta was lying fourth in the open class in the Asian Games regatta at the aao-dongtarn bay.

The national enterprise champions won both their races which saw them aggregate only two penalty points today for a tally of nine and lie behind Korean Duo of Yoon-Gll Chung and Jil-Young Lim, who have accumulated eight penalty points.

Gautama Dutta came in third in both his races today to be lying overall fourth in a fleet of five with 14 penalty points behind Korea, Singapore and Pakistan in that order.

However, Indian yachtsmen had lot of catching up to do in four classes including the experienced Ramachandran Mahesh, who was placed seventh after the second say of managing to finish only seventh in both the races out of 10 competitors. Mahesh had accumulated 23 penalty points.

In the men’s optimist class, the 14-year-old Shaikh Saif was languishing in the eighth spot after taking the gun seventh and sixth in the two races having logged 28 penalty points. In the women’s optimist class, Amruta Chaphekar was tied fifth and last with Wenqi Tan of Singapore with 22 penalty points. China’s Xiaoying Shen was loading in the class with just six penalty points.

In the super moth event, 17-year-old Arjun Pradipak failed to do well for the second day running and was lying fifth and last after four races. He was fourth in both the races today after a bad day yesterday when he failed to finish the first race and then did not start the second.

The Asian Games regatta will be decided over 10 races and conclude on December 13.

India outplay Pak in tennis

BANGKOK, Dec 9 (PTI) — India’s desperate search for a medal were finally answered with the men’s tennis team brushing aside Pakistan challenge to romp into a semifinal clash against second seeds Japan in the Asian Games at the Muang Thong Thani complex today.

Prahlad Srinath set the tempo with a facile revenge win over Pakistan No 2 Khaliq Mohammad at 6-3 6-2 before Mahesh Bhupathi played like a true leader to quell the spirited Aisam Aisam ul-Haq Qureshi 6-4 7-5 as India wrapped up the tie in just under two hours under windless and humid conditions on an outside court.

India made it 3-0 when left handed Nitin Kirtane and Syed Fazaluddin combined to down Khaliq and Qureshi 6-4 6-2.

The victory put India through to the semifinal against Japan, who tamed Indonesia in an adjacent court, which also assured the defending champions of at least a bronze medal as both losing semifinalists are entitled for medals, according to tournament director, Uthrapathi from Sri Lanka.

"It was unbelievable of Srinath. I’am proud the way he kept his head down and executed the game plan to the hilt. From there we were in control," Indian captain Jaideep Mukherjea said.

Bhupathi, world’s second ranked doubles player as a team with Leander Paes, showed signs on smoothly casing into the role of a captain by first encouraging the 24-year-old Srinath to come out of his unsure approach and then came on top of a match replete with booming serve and superb volleys from both players.

Srinath, ranked 393 in the ATP computer, was a totally transformed player today than he was in India’s victory over Qatar in the first round yesterday.

Srinath, who lost to Khaliq in the first round of India’s Asia Cup title defence was fully focussed today and never let go the advantage once he broke in the third game to go up 2-1 in the first set.

"I am really proud the way boys have worked. Our goal is to win medals and we already have one in the bank (bronze)," Bhupathi said after the match and assured that his back and shoulder pain had improved a lot.

The Lahore based Khaliq made a brief rally breaking Srinath in the fourth game. But the Bangalore-based player found the slow synthetic courts here to his liking and clinched breaks in the fifth and ninth games to win the set.

Srinath was a picture of confidence in the second set sending deep returns and playing powerfully from the baseline. He broke his opponent straightaway in the second set and went up 2-0 before shutting it out 6-2 in one hour and 10 minutes after squandering four match points, two on his own serve.

Srinath, paining a 40-15 lead in the seventh game, sent a forehand just wide but sealed up the rubber when the Pakistani netted trying to return a sliced net volley by Srinath.

Chinese Taipei crush Indian eves 13-1

BANGKOK, Dec 9 (UNI) — Touted back home as a strong medal hope, the Indian women’s football team suffered its second humiliating defeat losing to Chinese Taipei 1-13 in a group B encounter at the 13th Asian Games here today.

India have already conceded 20 goals in two matches having lost 0-7 to Korea on Monday. They take on powerful China in their last league encounter on December 11.

The battering moved coach Arumainayagam to replace goalkeeper B. Chinthom with Robita to stem the rot after the first choice custodian had conceded nine goals. However, the Chinese Taipei did not let up and pumped in four more.

The only goal India got was through T. Thongram who converted one of the four clear chances India got. Thongram, midway through the first half, saw a dangerous lob sail over the cross bar.

For the winners, We Huey, Shwu Wwu, Li Minghung, and Ming Shu Lee scored two goals each. Yueh Lu Tseng, Land Fen Lan, Hsin Hsin Chu, Chia Lun Li and Chin Ping Yen were the other scorers.

Chinese Taipei had total control of the game and never allowed the Indians to settle down. They scored at will, leaving the Indian defence in shatters and had they not missed some easy chances, the scoreline would have been even more depressing.

Indian spikers redeem pride

BANGKOK, Dec 9 (UNI) — A spirited Indian team shrugged of early opposition from Kazakhstan to record their first win in the preliminary league of the 13th Asian Games volleyball here today.

Playing its third match in three days, India, which lost to the formidable Chinese and Japanese spikers, recovered and blasted Kazakhastan 15-11, 15-7, 15-9 in a group-B encounter.

The first two defeats dashed the country’s medal prospects and India has to win the next game against Pakistan to be able to play the classification matches for the fifth position.

Hopefully two days of rest would add a new vigour to the Indians when they take on Pakistan in the final league encounter on December 12.

Kazakhastan was no pushover. The side had won against Pakistan in straight sets. Playing a fast game in the first set, they managed to keep the score level 10-10. A gritty Indian side, bugged by the defeat at the hands of the volleyball mighties of the continent, then took the set 15-11.

Having gained an edge, India then blasted the Kazaks all cylinders. Though the opponents managed to get some points, the Indian supremacy was never in doubt as Yawar Ali and Ravikanth Reddy came up with some good performance.

Needing badly to redeem themselves, the Indians gave only seven and nine points in the second and third sets before ensuring victory.

The Indian volleyball team is playing in the Asiad after a break of 12 years. India had won the bronze in the Seoul Games in 1986.

The team’s German coach Ah El-Wassamy said after the match that the victory had proved the strength of the Indian team. He said the team was aiming at the Asian championship in September next and had been in his charge only for a month now.

"This team has the potential to be among the Asian volleyball giants,’’ he said.

Jaspal Rana, Roopa disappoint

BANGKOK, Dec 9 (PTI) — Bright Indian medal prospects Jaspal Rana and Roopa Unnikrishnan disappointed by finishing ninth and eighth and out of final reckoning in men’s air pistol and women’s sports rifle prone, respectively, in the Asian Games shooting competition at the Hua Mark range today.

Their teammates performed abysmally as India ended up sixth in the air pistol team event and slid to 13th in the women’s rifle.

The 23-year-old Rana was distinctly unlucky not to make it to the eight-man final of the event after being tied with Uzbekistan’s Dilshod Mukhtarov in the eighth and final qualifying spot at 575 points out of 600 at the end of the 60 shots qualifying round.

The tie was resolved by taking the final card into consideration and Rana lost out by mere one point. He achieved 94 in the final round to the Uzbek shooter’s 95.

Rana returned scores of 95, 96, 94, 98, 98 and 94. Kazakh marksman Vladimir Guchsha topped the qualifying list with 583 points.

Commonwealth gold medallist Roopa Unnikrishnan could come nowhere near her performance in September at Kuala Lumpur to finish eighth with 582 points out of a possible 600.

Rana, the Commonwealth Games centrefire pistol champion and air pistol silver medallist, began and finished slightly off the mark which dented his hopes of moving into the final. He returned scores of 95, 96, 94, 98, 98 and 94. Kazakh marskman Vladimir Guchsha topped the qualifiying list with 583 points.

His teammates Vivek Singh and Satendra Kumar fared miserably to finish joint 23rd and joint 27th respectively as India stood sixth in the team standing tallying 1,709 points.

Vivek Singh, a Commonwealth Games medallist, suffered a slump midway through to return scores of 97, 93, 93, 95, 96, 94 to tally 568 and tie for the spot with two others while Satendra Kumar, who won a silver in the event at the Kuala Kumpur Games, could reach only 566 with a series of 92, 94, 94, 94, 96, 96.

They finished sixth in the team event tallying 1709 points.

Rana is, however, expected to bring medals in his pet centrefire pistol event, where he starts as defending champion, and the standard pistol.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Roopa Unnikrishnan could come nowhere near her performance then to finish eighth in the women’s sport rifle prone event, held as a single competition.

The 26-year-old Rhodes scholar was placed ninth with 582 points out of a possible 600, Roopa, who broke the Commonwealth Games record by shooting 590 and won a countback for the medal, had a series of 98, 98, 99, 95, 96, 96 which placed her only ninth in the overall standings.

Xing Wang of China won the gold shooting 589 with a scintillating series of 99, 96, 99, 100, 98, 97 with Yoko Menamoto of Japan and her countrywoman Noriko Ojima taking silver and bronze with 586 and 585, respectively.

But Roopa’s two teammates Kuheli Gangulee and Anuja Tere fared dismally. Gangulee ended up tied for the 27th spot scoring 95, 92, 95, 98, 96, 98 while Anuja Tere had a disastrous series of 56 in her final round which placed her at 42 with a total of 528 which filled the penultimate spot in the field of 43. Anuja Tere’s series read 97, 94, 93, 95, 93, 56.

The combined performance pushed India to the 13 spot in the team event, with a tally of 1,684 points. Kyrgstan took the team gold scoring 1,738 points with South Korea (1736) and Kazhakstan (1732) winning silver and bronze.

Vaga Ram is last

BANGKOK, Dec 9 (PTI) — A disappointing performance by Vaga Ram dashed India’s hopes of a medal in the men’s C-1 1,000 metre canoeing event at the Asian Games here today.

Ram, who sailed into the final round yesterday with a timing of 4:26.27, finished last clocking a poor 5:19.71.

Meng Guanliang of China led the pack of six to clinch the gold with a timing of 4:36.06.

K. Nurmaganbetov of Kazakhstan bagged the silver, while the bronze went to South Korean Lee Seung-Woo.

The Kazakh pair of K. Negodyayev and Sergey Sergeyev claimed the men’s C-2 1,000 metre canoeing gold with a timing of 4:01.76. China finished second followed by Japan.

Solanki loses in quarterfinal

BANGKOK, Dec 9 (PTI) — Indian judoka Yashpal Solanki came up with a surprisingly spirited show to enter the 81 kg men's quarter-finals before losing to Kazakhstan's Ruslan Seilkhanov and settling for minor placings in the Asian Games today.

Solanki beat back the challenge of Kuwait's Hkaled Abenezi in the second round, scoring a Waza-Ari verdict, to move into the last eight where he lost by an ippon to Seilkhanov.

In the repechages, Solanki showed his mettle by first getting past Thailand's Surasak Rieanthong by an ippon and then beat Musa Khalaf of Jordan by Koka to earn a right to fight for the 3-5 places.

However, his chances of a bronze evaporated when he lost his next bout to Iran's Kazem Sarikhani who took the bronze along with Seikhanov.

However, India's challenge in the women's 63 kg class evaporated without causing any ripples when Aarti Kohli lost to Nadejda Jeltakova of Turkmenistan by waza-ari in the preliminaries.

Shane Warne, Mark Waugh admit payments

SYDNEY, Dec 9 (PTI) — Australian star cricketers Mark Waugh and Shane Warne today admitted receiving money from an Indian bookmaker for providing information about pitch and weather conditions during their Pakistan tour last year but denied taking bribes or involvement in match fixing.

Acknowledging that they were "naive and stupid" in accepting money from the Chennai-based bookmaker, Waugh and Warne told reporters in Adelaide they failed to foresee the "implications of offering such information", which they thought to be "mundane and exactly the same as any pre-match media interview".

They, however, denied receiving bribe or indulging in match fixing.

"I have never been involved in match fixing or bribery of cricket matches at any stage of my career," Waugh said, adding "I never at any stage told him (the bookie) about team tactics or selections."

They admitted Waugh was paid $ (Aust) 6,000 and Warne $ (Aust) 5,000 by the bookie who approached them during Australia’s short trip to Sri Lanka before their February 1995 Pakistan tour during which former Pakistani captain Salim Malik allegedly offered bribes.

Their admission followed a revelation last night that the duo had been fined a total of $ (Aust) 8,000 by the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) for selling information which caught the ACB in a sticky wicket with charges levelled against it of covering up the issue.

Rejecting calls of reopening the case and ordering a fresh probe into the matter, ACB Chief Executive Malcolm Speed said, "there is no new evidence and the matter has been dealt with efficiently and effectively."

"Perhaps it might have been done differently, but, I think, the board addressed it very seriously and dealt with it in a manner which they thought was proper at the time," he told the ABC radio.

"From the Australian Cricket Board’s point of view it dealt with the matter as soon as it became aware of it ... The charge was investigated, the players admitted to it, penalty was imposed, the fine was paid, the ICC was advised about it," he said.

"I was fined $ 8,000 by the ACB and paid the fine immediately ... I’m very disappointed and sorry for my actions," Warne said. A penalty of $ 10,000 was imposed on Waugh.

The admission by the two has, however, given a new twist to the Pakistani judicial inquiry into match fixing after Waugh and Warne claimed that they along with Tim May were offered bribes by Salim Malik.

Ali Sibtain Fazli, the solicitor in charge of the probe, told ABC Radio that Waugh and Australian captain Mark Taylor, who appeared as witness before the enquiry in the absence of Warne, should have mentioned the matter during their deposition.

"Waugh and Taylor should have made some mention of it because they were made to give statements on oath," he said.

Meanwhile, as demands are being made to raise the issue at the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting at Christchurch on January 10, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said the board was wrong in hushing up the matter.

"These things are probably best dealt with more openly and candidly," he told reporters here.

Editor of the influential cricket bible, Wisden, Matthew Engle said, "the shocking thing about this is not what Waugh and Warne actually may have done, which in itself is arguable in its seriousness, but the fact that the Australian Cricket Board thought it could cover it up."

"We are talking here about what could be the biggest scandal cricket has ever known ... We’re talking about the possibility that international cricket is completely tainted, because we simply don’t know whether the games are straight or not," he told the ABC radio.

Sir Clyde Walcott, who was the then ICC president, confirmed the ACB had asked the game’s governing body to hush up the fines imposed on Waugh and Warne.

Cricket commentator Peter Roebuck said, "By suppressing the story, Australian cricket stands accused of conducting its affairs with astonishing hypocrisy."

Waugh and Warne have a lot of explaining to do, he wrote in the age newspaper. "They were lucky to escape so lightly. To my mind the matter ought to be reopened and a proper investigation ordered."

"It’s appalling," former Australian skipper Richie Benaud told a commercial Sydney radio. "And one of the most appalling things is that it’s been covered up for so long."

Another former captain Bill Lawry said the players’ action could be forgiven but the ACB must accept some criticism.

But ex-captain Greg Chappell defended the ACB saying it had dealt appropriately in keeping the scandal secret as making the matter public would have served no purpose.

Meanwhile, former Australian cricketer Dean Jones, who during the 1992 tour of Sri Lanka refused to provide an Indian bookmaker with information, came to the defence of Waugh and Warne saying the two were "honourable blokes".

"As a player if I knew that Mark Waugh and Shane Warne were playing, I knew they would be giving 100 per cent," he told a Sydney radio station.

"The reason I knocked it back for myself personally is because you don’t know whether or not you can trust these guys if you gave bad or wrong information," he said. "You never know, you might get a letter bomb or anything."

‘Indian players are clean’

NEW DELHI, Dec 9 (PTI) — The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) had nothing much to offer over the latest scandal rocking Australian cricket following revelations by the Aussie board that Mark Waugh and Shane Warne had accepted money from a Chennai bookmaker in 1994 to provide inputs about pitch and weather conditions.

BCCI Secretary Jaywant Lele told PTI from Baroda, "As far as we are concerned our players are clean. The probe by Justice Chandrachud’s one-man commission had found the Indian players to be above board. We don’t know about the connection between Indian bookies and the Australian cricketers’’.

The Indian board had conducted an in-house inquiry, headed by former Chief Justice Y.V. Chandrachud, to probe allegations of bribery and match-fixing in Indian cricket by former all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar last year.

Fighting 154 by Tendulkar

NAPIER, Dec 9 (PTI) — Sachin Tendulkar lived up to his billing slamming a superb 154 on the penultimate day of India’s four-day match against the Central Districts even though the tourists stand all but beaten in the tour opener.

The little magician’s swashbuckling 120-ball innings which included as many as three sixes and 20 fours, was applauded by the assembled audience as well as the home players, as India reached 390, setting a victory target of 158 for the hosts.

Central Districts were 73 for two in their second knock at stumps, needing 85 more runs on the last day tomorrow to inflict a defeat on the tourists.

Tendulkar, who came in at number seven after having remained off the field yesterday because of fever, put on 201 runs for the sixth wicket with Nayan Mongia (79, 183b, 11x4) before the latter departed with the total at 334.

The two batted fluently, Mongia revealing a wide range of strokes to match his scintillating partner, and knocked up 177 runs in the second session, Tendulkar accounting for 105.

India began the day disastrously as medium pacer David Blake removed Ajay Jadeja (39) and Navjot Sidhu (15) within 15 minutes of start of play and just four runs added to their overnight score of 54 for no loss.

The situation worsened after Saurav Ganguly (16) and Mohammed Azharuddin (7) fell to off spinner Campbell Furlong.

India looked in real danger of going down by an innings when Rahul Dravid (46), who had mastered Furlong for a while, played one from medium pacer Michael Mason to behind the stumps to reduce the visitors to 133 for five.

Tendulkar then entered and reached 15 by lunch after being dropped down the legside off Mason.

On resumption, he reached 50 off 33 balls and continued in belligerent fashion to get his century off just 81 deliveries.

Mongia’s departure started a slide and both Harbhajan Singh (13) and Venkatesh Prasad (7) were run out while Tendulkar, who once cleared Furlong down the long on fence, fell on a similar attempt on the offside of the very next delivery to a simple catch.

West 233 for 4

RAJKOT, Dec 9 (PTI) — Half centuries by Mumbai batsman Abhijith Kale (62) and Saurashtra star Sitanshu Kotak (batting 72) helped West Zone reach 233 for four wickets off 90 overs on the opening day of the five-day Duleep Trophy semi-final cricket match against East Zone here today.

Opting to bat after winning the toss in the morning, West lost opening batsmen Wasim Jaffer and Sameer Dighe with the total on 23. Jafeer was clean bowled by medium pacer Laxmi Ratan Shukla for seven while other new ball bowler Robin Morris had Dighe caught by wicketkeeper Vinayak Sawant for eight.

Kale who joined his Mumbai teammate Jatin Paranjpee (49 off 100 balls) then retrieved the situation with a 94-run third wicket partnership and at lunch West were on 117 for two.

Paranjpee returned to the pavilion soon after resumption when he was bowled by an inswinging yorker by Shukla. He hit seven fours and a six in his 128 minutes at the crease. He hit left arm spinner and skipper Utpal Chatterjee for a six in his seventh over.

Kotak joined Kale and the two added another 51 runs for the fourth wicket before Kale was caught by S.S. Das off Utpal Chatterjee for a well made 62 which included ten fours off 156 balls.

Left handed allrounder Kotak and Baroda’s Jacob Martin (batting on 18) were at the crease when the stumps were drawn. The two have already put on 65 runs for the unbroken fifth wicket even after the new ball was taken in the 86th over.

West Zone (1st innings): Samir Dighe c Vinayak Sawant b Robin Morris 8, Wasim Jaffer b Laxmi Ratan Shukla 7, Jatin Paranjape b Laxmi Ratan Shukla 49, Abhijit Kale c S.S. Das b Utpal Chatterji 62, Sitanshu Kotak (batting) 72, Jacob Martin (batting) 18. Extras (lb-7, nb-7, w-3) 17. Total (for four wickets in 90 overs) 233.

Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-23, 3-117, 4-168.

Bowling: Robin Morris 15.3-0-55-1, Laxmi Ratan Shukla 18-4-37-2, Rochik Majumdar 9-0-38-0, Utpal Chatterjee 34-11-67-1, Iqbal Khan 12.3-4-23-0, Sanjay Raul 1-0-6-0.

Sameer, G.B. Singh enter last 8
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Dec 9 — Sameer Bhalla, G.B. Singh, Manav Dhawan and Manish Shrivastava entered the quarterfinals in snooker event of the 16th Chandigarh State Billiards and Snooker Championships in progress at the Sector 22 Centre here today.

Sandeep Duggal scored a fine 3-1 win over Rajeev Bhardwaj. Sandeep won the first frame with ease at 63-20 but Rajeev made a heroic comeback and played some good safety shots thus wrapping the second frame at 59-51. However, top seed Sandeep bounced back and cleared the table by winning the third frame at 72-43 and ultimately the final frame at 74-14. Sandeep will face Amar Pal in the pre-quarterfinal and their winner will meet G.B. Singh.

In other match, Manish Shrivastava trounced Sandeep Kochhar in a one-sided match by 52-2, 60-15 and 64-12. Sameer dethroned Gurpreet Singh by 77-31, 66-32 and 64-43.

The match between G.B. Singh and Vineet Khosla was thrilling. Vineet took the first frame at 56-42 while G.B. Singh showed his superb fourth and won next frames by 95-19, 76-37. Vineet came from behind to pocket the fourth frame at 54-33. G.B. Singh with his mature style of play prevailed over Vineet by 48-20 to win the match.

The fourth seed Ashok Sharma made the exit of Pradeep with a close finish at 46-40, 59-32 and 53-37.

In billiards section, Rakesh Duggal was involved in a fierce battle against Amar Benipal in which the former won at 350-236 while top seed Praveen Duggal drubbed Ajay Chandel by 587-245.

Vikas to clash with Vaneet in final
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Dec 9 — Vikas Mahajan of PSEB won a cliff-hanger of a contest against Yajuwindera Saini also of PSEB to enter the finals in the men's section of the 36th Open Punjab and Inter-District Table Tennis Championships at the NIS here today. In the final Vikas will clash with Vaneet Chopra of SBOP, who got the better of Rama Kant (Customs) in the other semifinal.

For the women's singles title Shikha (Amritsar) will take on Shelly Dhawan, also of Amritsar. Shelly Dhawan is in line for a double as she has also made it to the final in the girls singles event.

Earlier local girl Manisha won the cadet girls title while Sahil of Amritsar beat Randeep Singh of Patiala to win the cadet boys title.

Results:
Men's singles (semifinals):

Vaneet Chopra (SBOP) beat Ramakant (Customs) 21-19, 20-22, 21-19, 25-23. Vikas Mahajan (PSEB) beat Yajuwinder Saini (PSEB) 21-19, 18-21, 21-19, 19-21, 21-17.

Women singles (semifinals):

Shikha (Asr) beat Kuldip (Jal) 21-8, 21-17. Shelly Dhawan (Asr) beat Rajni Gupta (P and T) 21-19, 21-17.

Girls singles (semifinals): Shelley Dhawan (Asr) beat Pinki (Ropar) 21-18, 21-15. Parminder (Asr) b Nitika Khanna 21-19, 21-17.

Sub junior boys: Rahul Bose (Patiala) b Mohit Kundra (Asr) 21-17, 21-15. Bahri (Jal) b Rakesh Handa (Asr) 21-11, 21-12.

Sub junior girls: Anjali (Asr) b Manisha Sharma (Patiala) 21-19, 21-19.

Navneet (Ropar) b Meenakshi (Jal) 21-18, 21-6.

Boys singles (semifinals): Bakul (Asr) b Bahri (Jal) 21-10, 10-21, 21-18, 21-18.

Cadet girls (final): Manisha (Pta) b Anjali (Asr) 21-18, 17-21, 21-15.

Cadet boys final: Sahil (Asr) b Randeep Singh (Pta) 21-17, 21-17.

Defending champions shocked
From Our Correspondent

KAPURTHALA, Dec 9 — South Eastern Railway, Calcutta, upsets defending champions Chittaranjan Locomotive Works 1-0 on the second day of the 59th All-India Railway Men's Hockey Championship being played at Rail Coach Factory here yesterday.

In a thrilling encounter South Eastern Railway (SER) and Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) played evenly and tried to dominate each other but could not score in the first half of the match.

On resumption, SER displayed better hockey and through centre- forward R. Mini scored a beautiful field goal in the 42nd minute (1-0). In the dying minutes of the game CLW tried hard to equalise and wasted two penalty corners.

In the second match of the day, Western Railway, Mumbai routed Wheel and Axle Plant, Bangalore, by 6-0 in a one sided affair. Western Railway Centre-Forward Mukhtiar Singh scored the first field goal in the fifth minute of the play (1-0). Western Railway right winger scored the second goal by just beating the goalkeeper (2-0). Mukhtiar Singh made it 3-0 in the 22nd minute in favour of Western Railway. Deepak Gupta, Shanta Kumar and Mukhtiar Singh scored the fourth, fifth and sixth goal for the winners.

In a keenly contested third match, Eastern Railway, Calcutta (ER) beat South Central Railway, Secunderabad (SCR) 2-1. Eastern Railway got the lead in the 12th minute when left-out P. Ekka scored a brilliant goal by an angular shot (1-0). SCR did not lose morale and equalised through left in Paul Moses (1-1). Eastern Railway displayed better hockey and earned a penalty corner in the 28th minute and right back A.K. Singh converted (2-1).

In the fourth match, Central Railway, Mumbai, thrashed Southern Railway, Chennai by 5-0 in a one side match.

SAIL, Thapar Academy advance
From Our Sports Reporter

NABHA (Patiala), Dec 9 — A confident and consistent SAIL Academy, New Delhi, boys could not have bargained for more as they got the better of EME, Jalandhar, 2-0 to cruise into the pre-quarter finals of the 23rd Liberals Hockey Tournament played at the Ripudaman College Grounds here today.

The attack experimented with various formations and methods and one such foray resulted in left in Cyril combining with centre-forward Parkash to take the defence off guard. With the armymen's custodian lying spreadeagled on the ground, Cyril wasted little time in sending home a scorching drive (1-0). Four minutes later, full back Bharat Kumar's shot off a penalty corner made it 2-0 for the steel academy boys. SAIL will now meet Army Eleven for a semi-final spot.

Sending awry all pre-tournament predictions Thapar Academy, Sansarpur played with verve and vigour to reach the last 16 stage beating Corps of Signals, Jalandhar, 2-0. Left in Satwinder and left out Lokpreet scored for Sansarpur team who seem to be riding a new high in the tournament.

An opportunistic effort by full back Albert ensured that SAIL, Rourkela, enter the pre-quarters. The inexperienced yet energetic Rourkela boys downed Ropar Hawks by a solitary goal.

Despite having a galaxy of international stars in its ranks, Rock Rovers, Chandigarh, could not contain the nippy rival forwards and went down by the odd goal in three against ITBP, Jalandhar. Right out Raman and half backs A. Nag and Amrik Singh scored for ITBP while Rock Rovers pulled one back through Saurabh Bishnoi.

22 boys, 15 girls selected for camp

PATIALA, Dec 9 (FOSR) — Twenty two boys and 15 girls have been selected by the Punjab Fencing Association for a 12-day coaching camp scheduled to be held at Polo Grounds here from December 10 to 22. The final teams which will take part in the National Junior Fencing Championships to be held at Guwahati (Assam) from December 26 to 28 will be selected during the camp.

The probables are boys:

Gagandeep Singh Sodhi, Deepak Saini, Kamalpreet Bhangu, Amarinder Singh, Preet Mohinder, Sukhwinderbir Singh, Damanpreet Singh, Malwinder Singh, Amit Goyal, Navdeep Bains, Navdeep Sidhu, Amit Sayal, Samrat Singh, Sandeep Singh; Jagroop Singh, Dilbagh Singh, Laljit Singh, Sudeep Singh, Abishek Sharma, Atul Goyal, Sarav Raj and Jeewan Jyoti.

Girls: Manjot Kaur, Parminder Kaur, Deepika, Amandeep Sarna, Sumeet Brar, Poonam Vij, Simarpreep Kaur, Rupinder Kaur, Harpreet Kaur, Menu, Ashwinder Kaur, Rashmi, Lakhbir Kaur, Manjot Kaur and Neelamani.

The coaches for the boys section are Mr Radhikrishan and Mr Hazura Singh and Miss Charanjit Kaur and Mr N.A. Mathew will be the coaches for the girls section.

District chess championship

MALERKOTLA, Dec 9 — The District Sangrur Open Chess championship would be organised here on 12 and 13 December by Malerkotla Chess Association. The entries closes with Association Secretary Mr Itkhab Aalam care of Naaz Industrial Corporation on December 12. The first six winners would be awarded trophies and the cash prize.

PU Campus score 11-1 victory

CHANDIGARH, Dec 9 (BOSR) — Panjab University Campus, Chandigarh, scored a convincing 11-1 victory over SDP College for Women, Ludhiana, in the Panjab University Inter-College Softball Tournament for Women being played here at the PU Campus today.

In other matches of the day, Government College for Girls, Chandigarh, Sector 11 downed GTB Khalsa College for Women, Dasuya, by 15-8 while MCM DAV College for Women, Sector 36, subdued GN Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana, by 5-2. Ramgarhia Girls College, Ludhiana, made the short work of SD College for Women, Moga by 11-1.