(Left) Steffi Graf holds the Advanta Championships trophy. (Right) American Todd Martin raises the Stockholm Open Trophy after his victory against Swedish Thomas Johansson in Stockholm on Sunday — AP/PTI

Graf pips Davenport for title
PHILADELPHIA, Nov 16 — Steffi Graf continued her late-season hot streak with a comeback win over world number one Lindsay Davenport 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to capture the $ 450,000 Advanta Championships.

Todd Martin wins Stockholm Open
STOCKHOLM (Sweden), Nov 16 — The home-court advantage didn’t help Thomas Johansson. Capitalising on the Swede’s sloppy serving, Todd Martin beat Johansson in three straight sets to win the Stockholm Open for the first time yesterday.

Four records tumble on second day

CALCUTTA, Nov 16 (PTI) — The strong Kerala contingent picked up three of the 14 gold medals at stake as one national and four meet records fell by the wayside on a rain-drenched second day of the 38th Inter-State National Athletic Championship at the Salt Lake Stadium here today.

Burly Shakti Singh of Haryana stole the limelight to set a new national record in the men’s shot put event with a hurl of 19.73 m and again taking the upper hand in the healthy rivalry with Bahadur Singh of Punjab.

Shakti Singh obliterated Bahadur’s national record of 19.59 m established in the open nationals held in the city earlier this month to force his way into the record books.

The shot put event, held at the adjoining SAI complex, was delayed because of unseasonal rain which left underfoot conditions far from ideal, but Shakti showed very good form to break the record. Bahadur finished a poor second with an effort of 18.32 m.

The promising Lijo David Thottan of Kerala and Sahib Singh of Punjab also made the headlines by setting new meet records in the men’s 400 m run and 400 m hurdles events on a rain-soaked track.

Sahib Singh of Punjab, who set a new national mark in men’s 400 m hurdles in the recent open nationals, wrote his name in the record books again by finishing with a timing of 50.74 sec. He shattered the 17-year-old record of Tamil Nadu’s K.S. Balasubramani who had a timing of 51.6 sec.

Lekha Thomas again brought herself under the spotlight by setting a new meet record in the women’s triple jump with a leap of 13.23 m, erasing the 12.34 m mark established by Ancy Philip of Tamil Nadu in 1995.

Lekha, who is preparing for triple jump in the Bangkok Asian Games, has kept improving in both the long jump and triple jump events ever since the All-India Railway Meet held in Calcutta last month.

Rajasthan’s Virendra Poonia kept his reputation intact by claiming the gold in the men’s hammer throw event with a new meet record hurl of 65.92 m. He eclipsed the previous record of 65.64 m of Punjab’s Subhdeep Singh set in 1995.

Kerala picked up three gold medals on the second day which was marred by unseasonal rains that continued for the whole day. Hosts West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Manipur, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Orissa, Punjab and AAFI won a gold medal each.

Graf pips Davenport for title

PHILADELPHIA, Nov 16 (DPA) — Steffi Graf continued her late-season hot streak with a comeback win over world number one Lindsay Davenport 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to capture the $ 450,000 Advanta Championships.

The 29-year-old German earned her 106th singles title and won her 10th match yesterday in a row. She boosted her record against US Open champion Davenport to seven wins against three losses.

Graf added the $ 79,000 winner’s check to a career total that has topped 21 million dollars, the most of any female player.

The former world number one is trying to recover her form after a spate of injuries that left her off the tour most of last season and much of this season. Graf won a tournament last week in Leipzig, Germany.

In Philadelphia, Graf defeated world number two Martina Hingis before running into the hard-hitting Davenport. She overcame Davenport’s power with a mix of off-pace backhand slices and finely-placed forehand drives that forced Davenport to scramble along the baseline.

At the WTA Tour-ending chase championships in New York Graf will play Jana Novotna, last year’s winner, in the first round. The match pairing for the tournament involving the world’s 16 top-rated women tennis players was determined by a draw earlier on Thursday.

Todd Martin wins Stockholm Open

STOCKHOLM (Sweden), Nov 16 (AP) — The home-court advantage didn’t help Thomas Johansson.

Capitalising on the Swede’s sloppy serving, Todd Martin beat Johansson in three straight sets to win the Stockholm Open for the first time yesterday.

The 28-year-old American, who lost the final two years ago to another Swede, Thomas Enqvist, won 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 before a sellout crowd at the royal tennis hall.

Johansson, a member of the Royal Lawn Tennis Club, became a hero on the same center court two months ago when he clinched another final berth in the Davis Cup for Sweden.

But Johansson just couldn’t get his usual strong serves going against Martin. And he couldn’t shake off the early jitters.

The American didn’t serve well either in the first set, which featured five service breaks, including four in a row. But Johansson only managed to hold his serve once in the first set.

Martin became the first American winner of the Stockholm Open, one of the world’s oldest indoor tournaments, since John Mcenroe in 1985.

Johansson, 23, the highest ranked (18th) Swede on the ATP Tour, played his worst match of the tournament.

"I had a good week, but it was a pity that I couldn’t play better in the final," he said. "It was my worst match this week. But he played very well and deserved to win. If you want to lose to someone, it’s against Todd because he’s such a good guy."

The ATP tour is now over except for its annual season-ending world championships, featuring the top eight players, later this month in Hanover, Germany. But the season is not over for Johansson.

He’ll try to get one of the singles spots for defending champion Sweden in the Davis Cup final against Italy early next month in Milan.

For Martin, it was the second ATP Tour title this year. He also won a tournament on clay in Barcelona in April.

Martin, unseeded and ranked 21st on the ATP Tour going into the event, earned $ 112,000 for his seventh career title.

It was the American’s third victory in as many matches with Johansson.

Organisers hope Games will boost economy

BANGKOK, Nov 16 (AP) — Putting together one of the world’s biggest sporting competitions amid Asia’s economic crisis has made for plenty of headaches and sleepless nights among organisers of next month’s Asian Games in Bangkok.

Shrinking teams, faltering sponsors and sluggish construction projects have generated clouds of worry for the Bangkok Asian Games organising committee, but optimists see a silver lining on the horizon in the form of 500,000 spectators and tourists expected to visit Thailand in December.

The organising committee hopes tourists will spend two billion baht $ (55.6 million) in the Thai capital during the two-week competition, an Olympics-style event they bill as the last great sport-fest of the 20th century.

Santiparb Tejavanija, deputy secretary-general of the organising committee, said tourism revenue plus new construction for the games will give a sorely needed boost to an economy that has been on the ropes since July 1997.

"This will guarantee hard currency and jobs for Thailand," Santiparb said. "All this infrastructure and the sporting facilities can be used in the future."

Work, however, has been slow. Drilling and hammering can still be heard at one of the main venues of the games in Muang Thong Thani, a huge speculative real estate project that has become a symbol of the Thailand’s financial crisis.

A sprawling complex with everything from rabbit-hutch apartments to high-income homes near the Bangkok airport, it was conceived by Bangkok Land, Thailand’s biggest real estate company, during the bubble real estate boom that preceded last year’s crash.

The overall building frenzy left Bangkok with one of the highest vacancy rates in the world. At Muang Thong Thani, sales have been sluggish and prices for the 3,000-odd units had to come down 40 per cent to 50 per cent after the crisis hit.

Anant Kanjanapas, CEO of Bangkok Land, said he hopes the addition of a highway exit, a 10,000-seat boxing arena, a rugby pitch and courts for volleyball and tennis will give a boost to Muang Thong Thani.

But Bhichai Rattakul, Deputy Prime Minister and head of the organising committee, told journalists recently that subcontractors who built the venues were so worried about Bangkok Land’s post-crisis health that they agreed to build them only with government guarantees they would be paid.

Sponsors have also been on shaky ground since the crisis hit, with two major corporations eager to pull out of their agreements because they are so strapped for cash, Bhichai said.

Santiparb confirmed that the Thai Communications company Samart Telecom has been forced to cut down its commitments to the games, but he denied any sponsors wanted to jump ship.

Santiparb downplayed sponsorship concerns, saying the organising committee has accumulated a 1.2 billion baht ($ 33 million) surplus of funds because sponsorship contracts were drawn up in dollars a few months before the baht plunged against the US currency.

The crisis has led several of the 43 nations originally expected to compete to announce they will be sending a reduced number of athletes because of budget shortages.

The Taliban rulers of Afghanistan recently announced the war-torn nation was pulling out of the games altogether.

Team sports such as basketball, baseball and soccer have been hit the hardest because they are expensive for struggling nations to compete in. Several late team withdrawals have meant rescheduling of some events and frustration for the organising committee.

"This has been a very big headache," Santiparb said. "Because of the pullouts there have been some problems with technical points. It is a disadvantage to the organising committee."

New draws for team-sport tournaments must now be done, Santiparb said, causing a chain reaction of problems. New tickets must be printed, television providers must readjust their schedules and sponsors backing individual teams or events must scramble to ensure they get the exposure they’re paying for.

Bhichai told reporters he has spent many "sleepless, sleepless nights" over the last few months wondering if everything would come together before the games open on December 6.

"Solutions have been found to almost all the problems, but I’m still keeping my fingers crossed," he said.

Kafelnikov beats Ivanisevic in final

MOSCOW, Nov 16 (AP) — Defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia beat Goran Ivanisevic in the $ 1.1 million Kremlin Cup for his third title of the year on Sunday, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5).

With the victory, Kafelnikov secured the eighth and final berth in the ATP Tour world championship, which will be played from Nov. 24 to 29 in Hanover, Germany.

Neither player managed to break in the first set, though Ivanisevic came close on the 12th. With advantage at deuce, the Croatian dropped set point when he sent an overhand smash into the net. Kafelnikov then fired an ace and held with another powerful serve Ivanisevic couldn’t return.

In the tie-breaker, Ivanisevic, ranked No. 13 on the ATP Tour, sent another ball into the net to go down 6-2, and Kafelnikov finished the set with a backhand cross.

The second set saw the capacity crowd of 18,000 grow more raucous as the two players traded breaks on the extremely quick supreme carpet surface.

Kafelnikov broke in the fourth game to go up 3-1, but Ivanisevic quickly broke back. Kafelnikov then broke again, holding his opponent to love to make it 4-2. But Ivanisevic broke back yet again and went on to hold in the next game draw even at 4-4.

The two then held into the tie breaker. Finally, world no. 8 Kafelnikov took advantage of a weak Ivanisevic second serve to go up 6-5 and followed with a powerful forehand volley to end the match.

Ivanisevic had defeated Kafelnikov in the Kremlin Cup final in 1996, and beat him earlier this year in straight sets.

Gillespie, Ponting recalled

SYDNEY, Nov 16 (AP) — Paceman Jason Gillespie has forced his way back into Australia’s test team for the opening match of the Ashes series against England after a miserable 15 months of injury trouble.

Gillespie was just establishing himself as a front-line partner to Glenn McGrath during the Ashes tour of England in mid-1997 when he broke down. He peaked with 7-37 to bowl Australia to victory in the Headingley Test but was unable to finish the series because of a stress fracture in his back. He has since been further hit by groin and ankle injuries but bowled well in England’s draw against South Australia last week.

"It is a vote of confidence for me," Gillespie said today.

"I didn’t think it would happen this soon — but I’ll take it."

Ricky Pointing also expressed surprise after winning back the contentious No 6 batting spot from Darren Lehmann, a decision criticised by former captain Greg Chappell.

Lehmann took over on Australia’s recent tour of Pakistan because he is rated a better player of spin bowling, but with England’s attack revolving around seamers, Ponting won a recall.

"I was a little surprised when I found out, Ponting said." I thought they would probably go for the same side (from the third Test in Pakistan) But I’ve been keeping my fingers crossed.

"Over in Pakistan they picked Lehmann because he could handle the spin better had I had no dramas about that."

Chappell coaches Lehmann at south Australia and admitted he might be biased.

"He’s done all that could be asked of him and he’s been rebuffed," Chappell said. Asked if the selectors had made a mistake, Chappell said, "in my opinion they have. But that’s only my opinion and I’m probably a bit biased too."

Ponting’s superior record at the Gabba venue was another factor which swung a tight decision his way.

"Darren Lehmann deserves to play Test cricket," said selector Allan Border. "But is was a tough call for us."

Star spinner Shane Warne missed out, as expected, because of his shoulder injury. Warne is hoping to return in time for the third Test on December 26 but there remains some doubt that he will take any part in the five-Test series.

Also back after missing the Pakistan Tests is paceman Michael Kasprowicz, who put his name in front of the selection panel with a fiery burst in the current four-day match between Queensland and England in Cairns.

Kasprowicz took 6-31 but was unable to send England to the Gabba as a losing team. Robert Croft and Alan Mullally guided the tourists to a one-wicket victory giving then an unabeaten lead in to the five-Test series.

Australian captain Mark Taylor who made a stunning 334 in Pakistan will play his 100th Test this week.

Team: Mark Taylor (captain), Steve Waugh (vice-captain), Michael Slater, Justin Langer, Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Ian Healy, Jason Gillespie, Damien Fleming, Stuart MacGill, Glenn McGrath, Michael Kasprowicz (12th man to be named).

COA to organise Olympic Sports Week
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 16 — Chandigarh Olympic Association, in association with the UT Administration, will organise an Olympic Sports Week involving all active sports bodies in the city.

Announcing this here today, Mr Rajan Kashyap, president, Chandigarh Olympic Association, after the first meeting of the executive committee of the newly-elected COA announced that competitions in all the Olympic sports disciplines would be organised from January 4 to 10.

Mr Kashyap further stated that the tournaments and championships conducted by various sports association during the week would form the basis of selection of the Chandigarh state teams for the forth-coming National Games in February. Coaching camps in preparation for the National Games would begin immediately after the conclusion of the games.
Giving other details of the decisions taken in the committee meeting, Mr K.S. Sahota, secretary, COA stated that a policy paper for development and promotion of sports in Chandigarh prepared by the president, COA, was approved.

The executive committee agreed that the COA along with the UT Administration, the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh Sports Council and the respective sports associations should integrate their efforts from the betterment of sports in the city.

The executive committee further decided that all sports associations affiliated to it should work for promotion of their respective games on professional lines and should not remain dependent on government grants only. Mr Sahota added that henceforth COA would review the performance of all its affiliated units periodically.

The Director, Sports, Chandigarh, Mr R.K. Rao, also attended the meeting.

India, Uzbekistan draw friendly tie

NEW DELHI, Nov 16 (PTI) — India began the last leg of their preparations for next month’s Bangkok Asian Games with a creditable goal-less draw against defending games football champions Uzbekistan in a friendly clash here today.

India, playing a foreign side for the first time since winning the SAARC title in Kathmandu last year, played as a unit though they could only fall back as one to defend against their vastly superior rivals.

Uzbekistan, who had enterprising midfielders Abdikohor Marifaliev, playmaker Sergey Lebedev and defender Eduard Momotov - all three were part of the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games gold winning squad - but the defence marshalled by stoppers Jiju Jacob and Franky Baretto and the hardworking left wingback K.V. Dhanesh held on well.

The erstwhile Soviet Republic did not seem to go all out in the first session and showed more urgency only in the second half after bringing on attacking midfielders Andrey Akopyants and Rashidjon Gofurov.

Striker Baichung Bhutia showed fine skills but was a lone man upfront as the entire midfield had to join the defence, which was successful in outnumbering their rivals.

Carlton Chapman, who looked a Wee bit slow on the right midfield, came up with a superb goal-line save in the 68th minute.

He blocked substitute Nikolay Shirshov’s shot off a left-wing corner by Lebedev and Nagmetulla Kutibayev’s volley off the rebound came off the bar and was cleared by Vijayan.

Coach Syed Nayeemuddin fielded the best possible team as the probables were playing their first outing after joining the preparatory camp.

Juje Siddhi, the first choice goalkeeper after Hemanta Dora’s absence due to knee trouble, gave a confident show with the defenders doing a good marking job on rival forwards Kutibayev and Jafar Irismetov.

Sergey Lebedev, playing to the left, initiated most of the moves with right medio Marifaliev Abdikohor impressing with his build-ups and distribution. He was replaced by Akopyants, who was all over the Indian goalmouth and came close to scoring on a few occasions.

Indian midfielders Debjit Ghosh and Jo Paul Anchery, playing his first all-out match since coming into the camp on recovering from a bout of jaundice, with the skilful Basudev Mondal and Chapman played with understanding to deny space to the Uzbeks.

The Indians seemed to tire into the second half and also could not carry out a single effective counter-attack barring a couple of times when Vijayan’s shots were too feeble.

Being a friendly match, referee Ramesh Rehani made a lone booking, penalising Momotov Eduard for fighting with Bhutia as the Indians were setting up a wall to defend a freekick.

Bhutia and Chapman worked in tandem on the right, but Bhutia was caught offside thrice and close to half time sent an angular drive straight to the imposing goalkeeper Oleg Belyakov.

"Playing an international after 14 months, it is not a bad result. The efforts were there. I’am not satisfied, but I am happy," said Nayeemuddin after the match.

Western Railway move up
From Our Sports Reporter

LUDHIANA, Nov 16 — North Eastern Railway, Gorakhpur, South Eastern Railway, Calcutta, and Western Railway, Mumbai, registered victories in their respective league fixtures on the third day of the third All-India Mohinder Partap Singh Grewal Memorial Women's Hockey Tournament at the Punjab Agricultural University grounds here today.

NER, Gorakhpur faced a stiff challenge before overcoming a spirited Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, 2-1 while SER, Calcutta, drubbed Punjab Hawks 5-1 and WR, Mumbai, blanked Starch Mill, Phagwara 2-0.

The first match between SER, Calcutta and Punjab Hawks began on a brisk note with the former earning as many as five penalty corners in the first 15 minutes which proved abortive. But they succeeded in opening their account in the 17th minute when D. Soy sounded the board. In the 30th minute S. Tete increased the lead to 2-0 and two minutes later Punjab Hawks made it 2-1 through Bala. Railway forwards managed to pierce through their rivals' defence just before the lemon break and S. Toppo made it 3-1. Railway girls added two more goals in the second half through U. Toppo and P. Lakra.

In the second match, RCF Kapurthala dominated the proceedings throughout but lost the battle of nerves 1-2 to NER Gorakhpur.

RCF went into the lead in the 13th minute through Seemarani and they missed a golden opportunity to increase the lead in the 15th minute as Gloria Dung Dung's shot went wide when even the NER goalkeeper was found on the wrong foot.

After changing ends, NER women gave good account of themselves and scored the equaliser in the 42nd minute through Suhro. The match-winning goal was scored by Amita in the 66th minute.

In another keenly contested affair, WR Mumbai surged ahead in the 10th minute through F. Brung. In the second half, Starch Mill, Phagwara went all out to level the score but each time they fumbled near the striking circle. On the other hand the Railway players pumped in another goal in 57th minute through A. Kerketta.

Big win for UT boys in hockey
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Nov 16 — Hosts Chandigarh and Punjab notched wins over their rivals in the boys and girls sections in basketball on the third day of the XLIVth National School Games being organised here by the Education and Sports Departments, Chandigarh Administration. Chandigarh girls had a tough time controlling Himachal Pradesh girls and won by an identical margin of 24-23. Geeta and Nisha were the main scorers for Chandigarh and HP respectively. Chandigarh boys prevailed over HP boys by 49-45. Punjab girls proved too good for Andhra Pradesh when they beat them 59-21 while Punjab boys got the better of Maharashtra boys at 49-32.

In hockey for boys, Chandigarh blanked Pondicherry by 17-0 and Assam by 18-0, whereas in the girls section Chandigarh fought tooth and nail to beat Madhya Pradesh 3-2 thanks to three goals by Mamta. In other hockey matches, Punjab ousted Karnataka by 10-1 in the boys section while HP defeated Andhra Pradesh

3-0 in the girls section.

Haryana girls surprised Delhi in handball, demolishing them 17-4 while Punjab boys faced resistance from Maharashtra before beating them 19-14.

Results: Basketball: Boys: Assam b Rajasthan 59-56; Chandigarh b HP 49-45, MP b Kerala, 48-31; J&K w/o Bihar; Delhi b AP 48-30; Uttar Pradesh b Haryana 51-42; Punjab b Maharashtra 49-32.

Girls: Chandigarh b HP 24-23; Delhi b UP 21-18; Karnataka b Rajasthan 63-6; Punjab b Andhra Pradesh 59-21; Tamil Nadu b Haryana 45-33. Handball — Boys: Delhi b Kerala 30-19, Punjab b Maharashtra 19-14; Gujarat b AP 27-19, Chandigarh w/o Bihar.

Handball girls: Maharashtra b UP 12-9, Chandigarh w/o Bihar; Haryana b Delhi 17-4; Punjab w/o Tripura.

Hockey boys: Goa b Pondicherry 3-1; MP b HP 2-0; Punjab b Karnataka 10-1; West Bengal b Tamil Nadu 1-0; UP b Gujarat 8-1; Chandigarh b Assam 18-0; Maharashtra b Rajasthan 10-1; Andhra Pradesh b Delhi 2-1; Chandigarh b Pondicherry 17-0.

Girls: Chandigarh b Madhya Pradesh 3-2; Himachal Pradesh b Andhra Pradesh 3-0; Maharashtra b Uttar Pradesh 1-0; Karnataka b Gujarat 3-0.

Ludhiana region finish on top
From Our Sports Reporter

LUDHIANA, Nov 16 — Ludhiana region garnered 43 points to retain the overall trophy in the men's section of the 16th Punjab National Bank, Punjab State Inter-Region Sports Meet which concluded at Punjab Agricultural University here yesterday. Hoshiarpur region earned 36 points while Jalandhar region secured 30 points to finish second and third respectively. In the women's section, Ludhiana and Kapurthala regions collected 28 points each and shared the overall trophy. Mr S.K. Chawla, General Manager, PNB, gave away prizes to the position holders. More than 250 men and women participated in this two-day meet.

Results-men- 100 m: 1- JP Sharma (Ludhiana), 2-Ravneet Singh (Ferozepore). 200 m: 1-C.P. Verma (Chd), 2-J.P. Sharma (Ldh). 400 m:1-J.P. Sharma (Ldh), 2-C.P. Verma (Chd), 800 m: 1- Tehal Singh (Ldh), 2-Amrik Singh (Chd). 1500 m: 1-J.P. Saroya (Hsp), 2-Amrik Singh (Chd). 5000 m: 1-J.P. Saroya (Hsp), 2-Amrik Singh (Chd). 10000 m: 1-J.P. Saroya (Hsp), 2-Amrik Singh (Chd). 10 km walk: 1-Bholka Singh (Bathinda), 2-Jeewan Singh (Fzr). high jump: 1-S.K. Dogra (Jal), 2-Kuldeep Singh (Hsp), long jump: 1-Revneet Singh (Fzr), 2-J.P. Sharma (Ldh), triple jump: 1-J.P. Sharma (Ldh), 2- Kaur Singh (Bathinda). Shot put: 1-Barkat Masih (Kpt), 2- T.L. Wahi (Jal). Discus throw: 1-Sohan Singh (Kpt), 2-Barkat Masih (Kpt). Javellin throw: 1-Naresh Kumar (Jal), 2-Narinder Jassi (Kpt). Hammer throw: 1-Sohan Singh (Kpt), 2-Narinder Jassi (Kpt).

Table tennis (Men): 1- R.K. Gilhotra (Fzr), 2- Sandeepan (Chd). Badminton: 1- D.K. Bhardwaj (Jal), 2-Rakesh Batta (Ldh).

Women: 100 m: 1-Amarjit Kaur jr (Ldh), 2-Indu (Kpt). 200 m: 1Satya Hans (Kpt), 2- Amarjit Kaur jr (Ldh). 400 m: 1-Satya Hans (Kpt), 2-Amarjit Kaur jr (Ldh). 800 m: 1-Satya Hans (Kpt), 2-Sanyukta (Kpt). 5 km walk: 1- Alice (Jal), 2-Shashi Sharma (Jal). Long jump: 1- Satya Hans (Kpt), 2- Alice (Jal). Shot put: 1-Satya Hans (Kpt), 2-Amarjeet Kaur sr (Ldh), discus throw: 1-Amarjeet Kaur sr (Ldh), 2- Satya Hans (Kpt). Javellin throw: 1-Amarjeet Kaur sr (Ldh), 2- Satya Hans (Kpt).

Table tennis: Sanyukta Kpt) b Amarjit Kaur sr (Ldh) 21-13 21-15 21-19.

Badminton: 1-Amarjeet Kaur (Ldh), 2-Sanyukta (Kpt).

Delhi, Punjab settle for draw

NEW DELHI, Nov 16 (PTI) — Delhi and Punjab drew their four-day north zone Ranji league match after the hosts failed to bowl out the visitors, who were set to chase 460 runs for victory in two sessions on the final day at Ferozeshah Kotla ground here today.

Punjab were 144 for four when both the captains decided to call off the play, after six mandatory overs were bowled and Punjab batsmen looking set to carry on.

Delhi, by virtue of their 76-run first innings lead, earned five points to take their tally to 26 while Punjab, who got three points, now have 27 points from four matches. Both the teams have one final league match remaining.

Delhi will play Jammu and Kashmir at Udhampur from November 25.

Resuming at 245 for four, Delhi piled up the runs despite skipper Vijay Dahiya (2) retiring hurt on his overnight score.

Punjab bowlers failed to wrest the initiative as Mithun Manhas (56), Sandeep Angurala (50 n.o.) and Rahul Sanghvi (50) completed half-centuries before the hosts declared their innings on 383 for six, 22 minutes after lunch.

Punjab, started their second innings on a steady note with no real hopes of overhauling Delhi’s score. Rathore (48) and Reetinder Sodhi (50) shared a 94-run first wicket stand, before the skipper was caught behind by Manhas, who was keeping the wicket in place of Dahiya, off Virender Sehwag.

Delhi (1st innings): 315

Punjab (1st innings): 239

Delhi (2nd innings) (overnight 245 for four): Rajneesh Chopra lbw b Harvinder 13 Ashu Dani c Rathore b Harvinder 9 Virender Sehwag c Haminder b Harvinder 114 Aakash Malhotra c and b Reetinder Sodhi 62 Mithun Manhas c and b Harbhajan Singh 56 Vijay Dahiya retired hurt 2 Sandeep Angurala not out 50 Rahul Sanghvi c Rathore b Navdeep Singh 50.
Extras: (B-9, LB-11, W-1, NB-6) 27
Total: (for six wkts decl. In 116.4 overs) 383
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-66, 3-191, 4-232, 5-298, 6-383
Bowling: Harvinder Singh 23-3-86-3, Bharat B22-4-57-0, Sandeep Sharma 8-2-27-0, Harbhajan Singh 29-6-93-1, Reetinder Sodhi 14-2-26-1, Navdeep Singh 20.4-5-74-1.

Punjab (2nd innings):

Vikram Rathore c Manhas b Sehwag 48 Reetinder Sodhi c Bhandari b Sanghvi 50 Dinesh Mongia not out 32 Harminder Jugnu c A.Chopra (sub) Sanghvi 7 Sandeep Sharma c Dani b Angurala 1 Navdeep Singh not out 0.
Extras: (B-2, LB-4) 6
Total: (for four wkts in 38 overs) 144
Fall of wickets: 1-94, 2-114, 3-134, 4-141
Bowling: Ashish Nehra 5-0-16-0, Amit Bhandari 5-2-7-0, Robin Singh 3-0-17-0, Rahul Sanghvi 14-0-56-2, Sandeep Angurala 6-1-24-1, Virender Sehwag 5-1-18-1.

Services beat HP by 5 wickets

NEW DELHI, Nov 16 (PTI) — Services completed a five-wicket victory over Himachal about 30 minutes before lunch on the final day to claim full eight points in their north zone Ranji Trophy cricket tie at the Harbaksh Stadium here today.

Overnight 79 for four in their second innings after being set a target of 134, Services achieved the task for the loss of Pankaj Maitrey for 25 in the morning.

C.D. Thomson progressed from six last evening and was unbeaten with a valuable 35 (149 m, 116 b, 4 x 4). He raised 46 runs for the unfinished sixth wicket with Amit Nadkarni (15 n.o) to eventually make the win look easy after 17 wickets had tumbled yesterday on a track where the ball kept low.

Himachal’s left-arm paceman Praveen Sharma claimed four of the five wickets to fall to return figures of four for 59.

The 21-year-old Una lad playing in his second season had an excellent match analysis of eight for 101 which took his tally this season to 18 from three matches. Praveen trapped three batsmen leg before and bowled the other.
Services, who beat Jammu and Kashmir by seven wickets, have 16 points after their second win today. They take on Haryana in their final league tie here from December 25.

Himachal, who have only the three points they gained against Delhi, next play Jammu and Kashmir in Jammu on November 19.

Himachal (first innings): 267.
Services (first innings): 226.
Himachal (second innings): 92.
Services (second innings) (overnight 79 for 4)
Sarabjit Singh lbw b Praveen Sharma 19, Narender Singh lbw b Praveen 21, Pankaj Maitrey lbw b Praveen 25, Sanjay Verma b Praveen 2, Chinmaya Sharma b Jaswant Rai 3, C.D. Thomson not out 35, Amit Nadkarni not out 15.
Extras: (b 6, lb 2, nb 8) 16
Total: (for five wkts in 51.2 overs) 136
Fall of wickets: 1/45, 2/48, 3/53, 4/56, 5/88.
Bowling: Praveen Sharma 17-2-59-4; Rahul Panta 5-0-16-0; Jaswant Rai 18-11-25-1; Nischal Gaur 8.2-2-24-0; Sangram Singh 3-0-4-0.

UT under-19 soccer league from Nov 19

CHANDIGARH, Nov 16 (BOSR) — The Chandigarh Football Association will organise the Chandigarh Junior League Football Championship (under 19) for Deepak Memorial Trophy at football stadium, Sector 17, from November 19, according to Mr A.S. Bains, president of the association.

The championship is being sponsored by Sanjay Public School, Sector 44, where the late Deepak Kampania was a student.

Players born on or after January 1, 1979, are eligible to take part and entries close on November 16 with the secretary, CFA, 3039, Sector 21-D, or at the school premises.

5-wicket haul by Deepak

ROHTAK, Nov 16 (FOSR) — Chasing a total of 102 Haryana were 86 for 3 against Himachal in the first innings of their Cooch Behar Trophy match at close of the first day at Vishwakarma Stadium today.

At stumps, Ranji discard Ishan Ganda and Sumeet Sharma were batting at 9 runs each.

Earlier Himachal won the toss and elected to bat first. The visitors found themselves in deep trouble losing 4 wickets for just 22. Amit Mahajan emerged as highest scorer with 24 while Deepak Sharma contributed 20. Left-arm spinner Deepak Sain emerged as the best bowler by capturing five wickets. He was ably supported by Ishan Ganda who claimed two wickets.

Brief scores:
Himachal Pradesh: 102 all out in 55.3 overs: (Amit Mahajan 24, Deepak Sharma 20, Ishan Ganda 2 for 21, Deepak Sain 5 for 22, Amit Sandhu 1 for 5). Haryana: 86 for 3 in 33 overs ( Satish Ohlan 30, Bhuvnesh Sharma 21, Mavinder 13, Shivinder Pal Singh 1 for 20, Anuj Thakur 1 for 9).

Umpires play truant

ROHTAK, Nov 16 (FOSR) — Organisers of the Haryana-Himachal Pradesh Cooch Behar Cricket match found themselves in a very uncomfortable situation as both the umpires failed to turn up. The board had appointed former Test cricketers Yashpal Sharma and Maninder Singh to officiate the match.

Both of them were commentators for Doordarshan in the recent Sharjah tournament. Their non-arrival at Vishwakarma stadium caused a delay of nearly 40 minutes for the play to start. Management of both the teams saved situation as Arvind Kumar, manager of Himachal team, and Mahipal, coach of Haryana team, agreed to officiate as umpire.

A new pair of umpires is likely to be appointed tomorrow.

GC Hoshiarpur win PU boxing title

CHANDIGARH, Nov 16 (BOSR) — Government College, Hoshiarpur, became the Panjab University inter-college boxing champions by securing 27 points, DAV College Chandigarh got the second position, DAV College, Hoshiarpur third and GGD SD College finished fourth on the concluding day of the PU Inter-College Boxing Championship on the PU campus, here today.

Results of various bouts: Light fly weight: Anand (DAV-Chd) 1, Pawan (GC-Hoshiarpur) 2. Fly weight: Love Kumar (GC-Hoshiarpur) 1, Vishal Chopra (Arya College, Ldh) 2. Bantam weight: Rustam (GC-Hoshiarpur) 1, Sanjeev (DAVC Hpr) 2. Feather weight: Rajesh Kumar (GHG, KC, Sudhar) 1, Deepak Sharma (GNN College, Doraha) 2. Light weight: Surinder (GGD SD, Chd) 1, Varinder Kumar (GC, Hpr) 2. Light welter weight: Rajat (Arya, Ldh) 1, Sanjeev (DAV Hpr) 2. Welter weight: Vicky Sharma (ASC Khanna) 1, Raman Kumar (GC, Hpr) 2. Light middle weight: Pankaj Gotta (PU Campus) 1, Ashwani Sihag (DAV Chd) 2. Middle weight: Rakesh Kumar (DAV Hpr) 1, Gurjeet Singh (DM Moga) 2. Light heavy weight: Ramandeep (AS, Khanna) 1, Rakesh (DAV-Hpr) 2. Heavy weight: Baljit Singh (GC, Hpr) 1, Sunil Kumar (DAV, Chd) 2. Super heavy weight: Aman Awasthi (DAV Chd) 1, Jodhvir Singh (PU Campus) 2.

Rahatbir steals the show

CHANDIGARH, Nov 16 (BOSR) — Rahatbir bagged three first positions in the boys under 6 section of Rink Race I and Road Race I and II in the Chandigarh State Roller Skating Championship which concluded here last evening.

UT badminton team

CHANDIGARH, Nov 16 (BOSR) — The Chandigarh Badminton Association has selected a six-member badminton team comprising three boys and three girls to represent Chandigarh in the 23rd Junior National Badminton Championship (under-19) to be held at Chennai from November 18 to 23, according to Mr M.C. Shethi, president of the association. Mr Raj Parmar will accompany the team as coach-cum-manager. The team is; Boys; Vivek Sharma, Rajat Johal and Gurdev Singh. Girls; Mala Gaba, Pallavi Jain and Isha.

Haryana billiards schedule

CHANDIGARH, Nov 16 (BOSR) — The Haryana Billiards and Snooker Association has announced the schedule of tournaments to be held in the state at the district and state level in November and December, according to Mr B.K. Arora, secretary of the association.

The Panipat District Championship will be organised at Panipat Club from November 19 to 22 and entries close with Mr Rohit Garg at Panipat Club on November 15. The Panchkula District and Open Prize Money Meet will be held at Sector 6 (SCF-62) from November 25 and entries close on November 23. Similarly the Faridabad District Championship will be conducted at Faridabad Club from December 9 to 12 and entries for the same should reach to Mr Sanjeev Aggarwal, 1906, Sector 16, Faridabad by December 8.

The Haryana State Billiards Championship will be held at Chandigarh and Panchkula from December 21 and entries close with the secretary, house no. 7, Sector 11, on December 19.

Gulrez slams ton

CHANDIGARH, Nov 16 (TNS) — Skipper Gulrez Khan (134) and Sandeep Arora (5 for 10) who combined well to enable S.D. College, Sector 32, to rout Punjab Engg College by 187 runs in the National Panasonic Inter College Cricket Tournament for the Kapil Dev Trophy at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium today.

S.D. College batting first scored 271 runs thanks mainly to Gulrez who scored belligerent 134 off 82 balls which included 20 boundaries and one six. Prabhjot Singh scored 50.

The Engg boys chasing this target were bundled out for paltry 84 due to fine bowling by left arm spinner Sandeep Arora.

Brief Scores: S.D. College, Sec 32, 271 for 5 in 35 overs (Gulrez 134, Prabhjot 50, Jagjit 40, Akhil Kapoor 3 for 66).

Punjab Engg College, Sec - 12, 84 all out:

Sandeep Arora 5 for 10, Ravinder Nain 3 for 28).

Jalandhar in final

PATIALA, Nov 16 (FOSR) — Jalandhar by virtue of their 5-2 win over Ludhiana reached the final of the roller hockey final for junior boys in the 10th Punjab Roller Skating Championships being played at the rink hall here today.

In the other semifinal, Patiala skaters went on a scoring spree scoring goals at will against Sangrur whom they beat 10-0.

In the subjunior event for boys, aided by a brilliant effort by Tejpal Singh, Patiala trounced Amritsar by 7-0 in a semifinal match. Tejpal showed immense agility and reflexes to pump in five goals for the hosts.

In rink race II boys and girls from all age groups of Patiala, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Sangrur qualified for the finals.

Faridabad overall champions

HISAR, Nov 16 (FOSR) — Faridabad annexed the overall general championship in the 14th Haryana State Yoga Championship which concluded here at Panchayat Bhavan today. Yamunanagar secured the second position in this championship which was organised by the District Yoga Association.

Hosts Hisar won the veterans' championship while the Prabha Chahal Trophy was won by Yamunanagar. Over 400 boys, girls, men and women from all over the state took part in this three-day championship.

The following are the results:

Girls: 8-12 years: Jyoti (Faridabad) 1, Gazal (Hisar) 2, Vandana (Rohtak) 3. Boys: 8-14 years: Ramesh (Faridabad) 1, Deepak (Hisar) 2, Bhupender (Bhiwani) 3.

Girls 12-18 years: Yashoda (Jind) 1, Nidhi (Yamunanagar) 2, Sarika (Bhiwani) 3. Boys 14-20: Sohan Dev (Faridabad) 1, Surender (Rohtak) 2, Budh Dev (Yamunanagar) 3.

Girls: 18-25 years: Neelam (Yamunanagar) 1, Shalini (Yamunanagar) and Suman (Rohtak) 2, Sangeeta (Faridabad) 3. Boys: 20-30 years: Virender (Faridabad) and Narender (Rohtak) 2, Anil Sharma (Bhiwani) 2, Somvir (Yamunanager) 3.

Women 25-40 years: Shalu Goyal (Yamunanagar) 1, Salochana (Kurukshetra) 2, Pushpa Arya (Faridabad) and Inderjeet (Yamunanagar) 3.

Men 30-40 years: Ramjeet Arya (Faridabad) 1, Rajesh Arya (Bhiwani) 2, Harpal Arya (Rohtak) 3. Women 40-50 years: Sujata (Panchkula) 1, Narender Batra (Hisar) 2, Raj Rani (Hisar) 3.

Men 40-50 years: Zora Singh (Jind) 1, Rati Ram (Bhiwani) 2, Prem Sagar (Faridabad) 3.

Women above 50 years: Lajwanti (Hisar) 1, Darshan Sood (Panchkula) 2, Kanta (Panchkula) 3. Men: above 50 years: O.P. Arya (Hisar) 1, Budh Ram (Faridabad) 2, Rati Ram (Jhajjar) 3.

Som Datt DGC chief

NEW DELHI, Nov 16 (FOSR) — Som Datt was re-elected president of the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) for the year 1998-99 at the annual general meeting here today. He defeated Mr Ramesh Kohli.

The new 13-member managing committee reappointed Mr Rajeev Puri as captain and Mr V. Virmani as treasurer for yet another term.

About 450 of the 750 ‘A’ category members exercised their franchise.

The committee will shortly appoint various sub-committees, including a championship sub-committee.