Chance for Aussies to
end Pak domination
KARACHI, Oct 21 — Pakistan will be without key leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed on what looks certain to be a turning pitch for the third and deciding Test against Australia starting here tomorrow.

England officials shown
the door
CHANDIGARH, Oct 21 — In a dramatic and unprecedented move, the Federation Internationale de Hockey has decided to replace the tournament director of the 20th Champions Trophy hockey tournament starting at Lahore from October 31.

Bagan meet Vasco today NEW DELHI, Oct 21 — Defending champions FC Kochin will take on Mumbai outfit Air-India in the first quarterfinal league tie of the Kelvinator-Durand Cup Football Tournament at Ambedkar Stadium here tomorrow.

Haryana-Delhi Ranji match tied
ROHTAK, Oct 21 — The opening Wills Trophy one-day qualifying match between Haryana and Delhi turned out to be a great thriller and ended in a tie at Maharaja Aggrsain Cricket Stadium here today.

75-run victory for MP
INDORE, Oct 21 — Half-centuries by Abbas Ali and Raja Ali enabled hosts Madhya Pradesh to register an easy 75-run victory over Vidarbha in the Ranji one-dayer at Maharani Ushadevi Cricket Ground here today.

HP beat Punjab by 2 wkts
MANDI, Oct 21 — Star batsman Navjot Sidhu's 57 runs went in vain as Himachal batsmen dominated the ragged Punjab bowling to register a convincing two-wicket win in the north zone one-day Ranji Trophy match at the Padal ground here today.

PU, GND varsity in last four
CHANDIGARH, Oct 21 — Panjab University, Chandigarh, will clash with GND University, Amritsar, while Delhi will take on holders Allahabad in the men's semifinal of the North Zone Inter-University Badminton Championships currently under way at the Panjab University gymnasium hall.

Ghouse stuns sixth seed Niko

HYDERABAD, Oct 21 (PTI) — Unseeded Mustafa Ghouse of India shocked sixth seed Niko Karagiannis of Greece in straight sets 6-2 6-3 to enter men's singles quarter-finals in the second leg of ITF-GVK Indian Satellite Circuit Tennis Championship here today.

Prahlad Srinath, Saurav Panja, Johan Hede of Sweden, Tom Nigri, Patrick Erhardt both from Germany, second seed Federico Rovai of Sweden and Dania Udomchoke of Thailand, also made to the last eight stage.

Ghouse in his 79 minutes encounter with Niko put up a brilliant performance with his well calculated cross court shots and outplayed Niko to take a comfortable lead of 4-1 in the first set.

However, in the sixth game, Niko broke Ghouse’s serve with drop shots after prolonged rallies to bridge the game to 4-2. In the next two games Ghouse frustrated his rival with low returns to clinch the first set at 6-2.

In the second set, Ghouse was in unstoppable position as his accurate cross court volleys had no returns. He took 3-0 lead but Niko came back with his powerful serves to level.

Ghouse made amends to his ongoing performance and claimed the next three games with his powerful backhand baseline shots which dazzeled Niko to succumb to Ghouse at 6-3.

Top seed Prahlad Srinath of India toyed with qualifier Vishal Gupta 6-0 6-0. Gupta was at the receiving end all through the match as he just could not counter the Srinath’s returns and even failed to defend the top seed’s services.

In other match Sweden’s Rovai after few initial hiccups outplayed Vijay Khanna of India 6-2 6-2. Rovai in both the sets found it hard to counter Khanna’s serve and volley shots but as the game progressed he managed to quell Khanna’s shots.

Local lad Vasudeva Reddy went down fighting to fifth seed Timo Nigri of Germany 5-7 6-3 6-3.

In the evenly contested first set, Reddy with powerful services managed to clinch the first set at 7-5, but in the next two sets Reddy could not repeat the same performance as Nigri shattered the hope of Indian with baseline shots which was miscalculated by Reddy. He lost the two sets 6-3 6-3.

In the quarterfinals to be played tomorrow, Srinath will take on Saurav Panja, Johan Hede of Sweden will play fifth seed Nigri, Mustafa Ghouse clashes with Patrick Erhardt of Germany while second seed Federico Rovai of Sweden will fight it out with Dania Udomchoke of Thailand.

Results: (men’s singles) pre-quarter finals: Danai Udomchoke (Tha) bt Ravi Kiran Bhat (Ind) 6-4 6-4; Saurav Panja (Ind) bt Zaman Sanzarus (Ind) 6-1 6-2; Federico Rovai (Swe) bt Vijay Kannan (Ind) 6-2 6-2; Mustafa Ghouse (Ind) bt Niko Karagiannis (Gre) 6-2 6-3; Johan Hede (Swe) bt Sandeep Kirtane (Ind) 6-2 6-4; Prahlad Srinath (Ind) bt Vishal Gupta (Ind) 6-0 6-0; Patrick Erhardt (Ger) bt Harsh Mankad (Ind) 6-2 7-5; Timo Nigri (Ger) bt Vasudeva Reddy (Ind) 5-7 6-3 6-3.

Results: Men's quarterfinals:

Punjabi Patiala b GKU Hardwar, 3-0. (Amit Sachdeva b Girish Mudgal, 15-1, 15-3. Ashish Sharma b Lalit Yadav, 15-10, 15-4. Amandeep and Sunil b Lalit Yadav & Girish Mudgal 15-4, 15-3).

GND Amritsar b Pbi Patiala, 3-0 (Rohan Kapur b Kulbir Singh 15-4, 15-8. Jaideep Kohli b Gurminder Singh 15-10, 10-15, 15-11. Jaideep Kohli and Gagan b Gurminder Singh and Tauseef Armed, 15-7, 15-11).

Delhi Varsity b Garhwal Varsity 3-0 (Rudra Kaushik b Mohit Chauhan 15-10, 15-4. Hemant Duggal b Deepak Rawat, 15-10, 15-1. Sukhvinder & Satvinder b Deepak & Bharat Bhushan, 17-15, 15-7.)

Allabhabad Varsity b CCS Varsity, Meerut 3-0. (Amit Mahrotra b Deepak Pal 15-12, 6-15, 17-15. Anoop Mehrotra b Sanjay Kumar, 15-10, 8-15, 15-9. Amit and Swaranjeet b Ajay Sharma & Deepak Pal, 15-5, 15-12.)

Women quarterfinal:

Punjabi Patiala beat Kurukshetra 2-0. (Meeta Bhandari b Manju, 11-5, 11-1. Meeta Bhandari & Navdeep b Paratibha & Manju, 15-10, 15-2.). Delhi b Garhwal 2-0. GND University beat Jammu Varsity, 2-0. (Saloni Kundra b Neetu Anand 11-2, 11-0. Saloni Kundra & Sandnya b Nertu Anand & Shnetal, 15-11, 15-3.

Chance for Aussies to end Pak domination

KARACHI, Oct 21 (Reuters) — Pakistan will be without key leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed on what looks certain to be a turning pitch for the third and deciding Test against Australia starting here tomorrow.

Mushtaq aggravated a bruised knee in the drawn second Test at Peshawar and is ruled out of the final match in which a draw would give Australia their first test series triumph in Pakistan for 39 years.

Mark Taylor’s team lead 1-0 after winning the opening Test by an innings and 99 runs in Rawalpindi.

While acknowledging Mushtaq’s absence was a big setback, Pakistan captain Aamir Sohail adopted a positive outlook with the return of all-rounder Wasim Akram, who missed the second Test because of flu and a sore throat.

"It’s definitely a blow. But instead of missing Mushtaq, we should think that Wasim is back. He is a match-winner and his performances are outstanding," Sohail said.

Both camps are convinced they face a spinners’ pitch in the strong-hold of Pakistan cricket — the home country has not lost a Test in Karachi national stadium in 44 years, winning 16 and drawing 16.

Pakistan coach and former skipper Javed Miandad said: "This is going to be a spinners’ wicket. I don’t know if two spinner would be enough."

His Australian opposite Geoff Marsh said: "We are not surprised by the wicket. We knew that we will have to play at a spinning wicket. It is a good wicket but definitely would turn big."

Despite Pakistan’s formidable record in Karachi, which includes five wins out of seven Tests against Australia, Miandad sounded a note of caution.

"Past records only give you confidence, they can’t save you from defeat if you play badly," Miandad said.

"This is perhaps one of the best Australian teams ever to visit Pakistan. It seems that they have worked hard and done their homework," he added.

Taylor said: "This series means a lot to me. Pakistan is a very hard and dangerous side to beat in their conditions but we have a lifetime opportunity to end their domination."

Australia have no fitness worries; their only problem is to decide between Ricky Ponting and Darren Lehmann for a middle order batting slot.

Injury kept in-form Lehmann out of the second Test, Ponting took his chance by scoring 76 not out and 43. Lehmann scored 98 in the first Test and then hit centuries in each innings of a four-day game against Rawalpindi cricket association.

"It’s a real tough task. It’s good to have players fit but very difficult to have everyone in form," Taylor said.

Marsh said: "The prospects are that we might stick to the same team that played at Peshawar."

Teams (from):

Australia: Mark Taylor (capt), Michael Slater, Justin Langer, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Darren Lehmann Ian Healy, Stuart MacGill, Damien Fleming, Glenn McGrath, Colin Miller, Gavin Robertson, Michael Kasprowicz.

Pakistan: Aamir Sohail (capt), Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Salim Malik, Yousuf Yohanna, Moin Khan, Wasim Akram, Azhar Mahmood, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Akram, Shahid Nazir, Arshad Khan, Shakeel Ahmad, Saqlain Mushtaq.

Taylor the toast of the nation

SYDNEY, Oct 21 (Reuters) — His oldest son says he does not work, he just plays cricket all day and has a great time.

As far as Mark Taylor is concerned, he is probably right.

Taylor is certainly having fun right now.

He is the toast of a nation after scoring an unbeaten innings of 334 against Pakistan in the second Test in Peshawar to equal Sir Donald Bradman's 68-year-old record for the highest individual score by an Australian in Test cricket.

That performance and his decision to put his team first by declaring Australia's first innings closed when he had the chance to pass Don's record earned gushing tributes in his homeland.

Taylor was close to another record when he neared a century in the second innings before being dismissed for 92. Only England's Graham Gooch has scored a triple century and a century in one Test match.

"It's a situation you really dream of, to go into a game and the ball seems really big, your feet are moving very quickly and you're in position very early," the 33-year-old Taylor said on Monday.

"These are the times you've got to try and cash in on because there's other times when the ball seems like a marble and everyone's bowling at 100 miles an hour."

Just 18 months ago Taylor was at the bottom of a career-threatening slum in form.

Now there is a five-Test home Ashes series looming against traditional rivals England after their current series in Pakistan.

England arrive in Australia on October 23. The first Test is in Brisbane from November 20 to 24.

That match will see Taylor play his 100th Test for Australia, joining wicketkeeper Ian Healy and vice-captain Steve Waugh as current players in the Australian team with a century of Tests.

"That's something I've been thinking about for the last seven or eight Test matches," Taylor said.

"I never thought I'd play this many Test matches for Australia. But it's something I suppose that means you've played for a long time and been a resilient character and that would be great."

Taylor said his six-year son William tells friends at his school that his dad does not work.

"When he's asked at school, he says dad does nothing, he just plays cricket and has a great time," Taylor said.

"He's probably not far off actually."

Taylor said his performance to equal Bradman's mark was something he would always remember.

"When I got to that figure, I thought 'wow, this is something very, very big, to equal Sir Donald'," he said.

"As I have said a number of times since then, I'm probably not going to be remembered in the same breath as Sir Donald Bradman very often.

"So I thought to finish on 334 will give me a chance to say I'd equalled "The Don" at something".

Taylor's innings was the 15th triple century in Test history, and his first.

It was also the first in a Test match in Pakistan and only the second in a Test against them.

The first against Pakistan was by Sir Gary Sobers for West Indies in 1958 at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica when he hit an unbeaten 365 to overtake the previous best set 20 years earlier by Sir Len Hutton.

Mahanama, Soysa, Vaas recalled

COLOMBO, Oct 21 (Reuters) — Middle order batsman Roshan Mahanama and pace duo Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Soysa have been recalled to the Sri Lankan side for the Mini World Cup cricket tournament in Bangladesh, officials said today.

Mahamana was not selected for Sri Lanka’s last tour to England in July/August due to poor form, while left-arm medium pace bowler Vaas underwent surgery to his ankle last May, the officials said.

They said Soysa, also a left-arm medium pace bowler, was sidelined due to injury.

In its 14-member squad to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka omitted paceman Suresh Perera as well as batsmen Russel Arnold and Mahela Jayawardena who took part in the tour to England.

During that tour Sri Lanka won a three-nation one-day tournament which involved England and South Africa and also won the one-off Test against the homeside.

The Mini World Cup tournament opens in Bangladesh on Saturday with New Zealand and Zimbabwe playing a preliminary round match.

The winners then enter the quarter-finals along with Australia, India, England, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa and Pakistan. The tournament will be played on a straightforward knock-out basis with the final on November 1.

Team: Arjuna Ranatunga (capt), Aravinda de Silva, Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Avishka Gunawardena, Roshan Mahanama, Hashan Tillekaratne, Kumara Dharmasena, Upul Chandana, Pramodya Wickremasinghe, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Soysa and Muttiah Muralitharan.

England officials shown the door
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 21 — In a dramatic and unprecedented move, the Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH) has decided to replace the tournament director of the 20th Champions Trophy hockey tournament starting at Lahore from October 31.

Mr Roger Self of England, who was originally named as tournament director for the Lahore tournament, has now been replaced by Mr Eric Donegani of Canada. This move is sequel to withdrawal of England from the Lahore Champions Trophy following security advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The FIH has also replaced other officials belonging to England who had been earlier named for the Lahore Champions Trophy. Umpire Jamson Hamish has been replaced by Jos Gorrisen of the Netherlands.

Similarly, Daljit Bahra, a London-based police officer of Indian origin, who was earlier named as Media Officer for the event, has been replaced by Frankie D'Cruz of Malaysia.

This move of the FIH has created ripples in the world of hockey as officials named for any international tournament are generally considered above their communities and nationalities as they broadly belong to world hockey fraternity. At least two of the three English officials replaced had already made all their travel arrangements for the Lahore tournament.

A number of senior hockey journalists from England, including Sydney Friskin, Patrick Rowley and Bob Colwill, are also expected to skip the Lahore event.

The fallout of this withdrawal from Champions Trophy may continuously be felt by England until the 21st Champions Trophy in Brisbane. In all probability, England may face some punitive action as well. It may jeopardise its place in the Brisbane tournament.

Meanwhile, the six-nation tournament scheduled to be held at Cairo from November 13 to 20 has been postponed. The tournament will now be held from February 2 to 12 next year. India is one of the six teams scheduled to participate in this event.

This is for the second time that the Cairo hockey meet has been jinxed. Last year, the tournament had to be cancelled after all but England withdrew from this tournament. India was also among the teams to have withdrawn from the event. Subsequently, England played a series of Test matches against Egypt on the dates of the cancelled tournament.

In fact, the Indian Hockey Federation had announced probables for the Cairo tournament only a few days ago. The other plan of the IHF for a series of Test matches against visiting Malaysian hockey team has already been shelved. The Malaysians wanted to visit India and play some Test matches. Both India and Malaysia blamed each other for the cancellation of this proposed series on the plea of confirmation of dates.

TT title for Batra
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Oct 21 — Subhash Batra, former Haryana TT champion and a Superintendent of Customs and Central Excise, won the men's singles title of the Panchkula District Table Tennis Tournament which concluded at DAV School, Panchkula today. In a keenly contested final Batra managed to beat Neeraj in three well contested games. The final scores were 21-15, 29-27, 21-12.

Mandip Bajwa of Army School won the women's singles title defeating Deepshika Sharma of Manav Mangal School, Panchkula, at 16-21, 21-14, 21-12. Neeraj Kumar won the doubles crown by winning the boys and subjunior boys singles titles defeating Neeraj Chaudhary and Sachin Monga respectively.

Other results: (finals) girls single; Tarandeep Rekhi b Deepshika Sharma 21-18, 21-16. Subjunior girls singles: Komal Bishnoi (DAV 8) beat Chandandeep (MMS) 21-17, 21-18. Cadet boys; Abishek b Kanav Joshi (both of Hansraj PS) 21-21, 21-18.

Kids-Boys: Parteek b Himanshu Batra (both of MMS) 21-18, 21-17. Kids-Girls: Geetika b Swati Sharma (both of MMS) 21-15, 21-16.

Meanwhile, the following players will represent Panchkula district in the Haryana State Table Tennis Championships to be held at Faridabad from October 22 to 29.

Men: Subhash Batra, Neeraj Kumar, Neeraj Chaudhary, Neeraj Pal, Vikrant Batra. Women & girls: Deepshika Sharma, Swastika, Tarundeep Rekhi, Mandeep Bajwa. Boys: Neeraj Kumar, Neeraj Chaudhary, Sachin Monga, Vikrant Batra.

Subjunior boys: Neeraj, Sachin, Ravi, Sahil Manajan. Cadets; Abhishek, Kanav, Parteek, Rahul Batra.

Kids under 10 — Parteek and Himanshu Batra. Tarlochan Singh and Nalin Somani will be the coach and manager respectively.

Bagan meet Vasco today

NEW DELHI, Oct 21 (PTI) — Defending champions FC Kochin will take on Mumbai outfit Air-India in the first quarterfinal league tie of the Kelvinator-Durand Cup Football Tournament at Ambedkar Stadium here tomorrow.

In the second group ‘A’ tie, last year's runners-up Mohun Bagan will lock horns with Vasco Goa.

FC Kochin and Mohun Bagan, champions and runners-up in the last edition are drawn in the same pool.

Calcutta league champions East Bengal are drawn in group ‘B’ along with Mahindra and Mahindra, the winners of the just concluded Chief Ministers Cup. The Federation Cup quarterfinalists Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) and gritty Army XI also join them in the fray.

Asked why two top teams were put in the same group, the secretary of the organising committee Major Charles said it was to "bring balance in the draw".

Top six teams — FC Kochin, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Air India, Mahindra and Mahindra and PSEB were given a bye to the quarterfinals while Army XI and Vasco Goa made it to the crucial league tie topping their respective pools in the pre-quarters.

"We will not take it lightly. We are here to fight," Mr Babu Mather, secretary and manager of the Kerala outfit told PTI here.

International KV Dhanesh will captain FC Kochin with former Kerala police star CV Pappachan spearheading the attack with able support from their foreign recruits Abu Jomo and Khan Sadique.

The strength of the Kerala outfit lies in their experienced custodian Ali Aboobecker.

FC Kochin will miss the services of Najeeb and Mohammed Shafeeq along with Prabhjot Singh, Mahesh Gavali, Farooq Haider, Noel Wilson, Rocky Bareto, Nithin Pradhan and Mohammed Wasim who all are playing for India in the under-19 Asian Football Championship in Thailand.

Meanwhile, super division league champions East Bengal and Federation Cup winners Mohun Bagan will start with a fresh note though most of its players too are busy in the Bangalore Asian Games preparation camp.

Mohun Bagan will be aiming for sweet revenge with FC Kochin, who defeated the Bengal team in the last edition of the tournament’s title clash here.

Bagan will be devoid of IM Vijayan, Joe Paul Ancheri and Basudev Mondal, but Chima Okerie and the new recruit Basim Yonna will give strength to the resurgent Bengal side.

The foreign touch has also died out as both Nepal XI and Bhutan XI, roped in by the organisers to give a "Videshi" flavour, crashed out in the pre-quarterfinal stage.

The edition which is having title sponsors for the first time in the 110 years of the championship can take pride for the hike in the prize money. The winners purse is Rs 5 lakh while the runners-up will take home Rs 3 lakh.

The quarterfinal group for the Durand Cup is as follows:

Group ‘A’: FC Kochin, Air India, Mohun Bagan, Vasco Sports Club.

Group ‘B’: East Bengal, Mahindra and Mahindra, Punjab State Electricity Board, Army XI.

Quarterfinal league rounds:

October 22: FC Kochin vs Air India; Mohun Bagan vs Vasco Goa.

October 23: Mahindra and Mahindra vs PSEB; East Bengal vs Army XI.

October 24: Mohun Bagan vs Air India; FC Kochin vs Vasco Goa.

October 25: East Bengal vs PSEB; Mahindra and Mahindra vs Army XI.

October 26: Air India vs Vasco Goa; Mohun Bagan vs FC Kochin.

October 27: PSEB vs Army XI; East Bengal vs Mahindra and Mahindra.

Semifinals:

October 28: Winners group ‘A’ vs runners-up group ‘B’.

October 29: Winners group ‘B’ vs runners-up group ‘A’.

October 30: rest day.

October 31: final.

Haryana-Delhi Ranji match tied
From Jatinder Sharma
Tribune News Service

ROHTAK, Oct 21 — The opening Wills Trophy one-day qualifying match between Haryana and Delhi turned out to be a great thriller and ended in a tie at Maharaja Aggrsain Cricket Stadium here today.

Haryana skipper Ajay Jadeja, who arrived late in the evening yesterday, won the toss and elected to bat first. However, the day started disastrously for the host team when opener Jitender Singh was quickly back in the pavilion after scoring just five runs from seven balls. Dhanraj who came to bat on the fall of Jitender Singh's wicket was bowled by Robin Singh (jr) just for one run scored from nine balls.

Parminder Sharma and Shafiq Khan showed some resistance but their efforts were curtailed by Ashok Malhotra who threw the ball to wicket-keeper Vijay Dahiya who in turn removed the bails and Sharma was adjudged run out. Parminder Sharma scored 14 runs.

After Parminder Sharma was run-out there was a sudden collapse and Haryana's recognised batsman vied with each other in climbing the pavilion stairs in quick succession, India's one-day specialist Ajay Jadeja returned t the pavilion without opening his account. He was caught behind on the first ball delivered by Sandeep Angrulla. Amarjit Kaypee and Vijay Yadav, too, were dismissed cheaply.

The Haryana innings lasted for nearly 200 minutes. Sandeep Angrulla was the most successful bowler (4 for 23).

Requiring 153 runs to win, Delhi scored 152 runs in the allotted 50 overs for the loss of five wickets. At one stage, Delhi were in a commanding position as both the opening batsmen contributed 91 runs in 29.4 overs. It appeared that the target was too small for the Delhi batsmen.

However, the most economical bowling came from Sonu Sharma (1 for 17) and Pankaj Thakur (23 in 10 overs) who put Haryana back in match.

75-run victory for MP

INDORE, Oct 21 (PTI) — Half-centuries by Abbas Ali and Raja Ali enabled hosts Madhya Pradesh to register an easy 75-run victory over Vidarbha in the Ranji one-dayer at Maharani Ushadevi Cricket Ground here today.

Madhya Pradesh scored 272 runs for eight wickets in 50 overs while Vidarbha managed only 197 for six in their quota of overs.

Madhya Pradesh:
JP Yadav c Yogesh Ghare b Dilip Parteki 12, CP Sahu c Sadashiv Aiyyer b Dilip Parteki 7, Amay Khurasia c Paresh Sutane b Pritam Gandhe 45, Abbas Ali c Sadashiv Aiyyar b Parimal Hedaoo 62, Nikhil Patwardhan st S Aiyyer b Pritam Gandhe 1, Chandrakant Pandit run out (M Doshi) 17, Rajali not out 69, Devendra Bundela c P Hedaoo b
Pritam Gandhe 38, Rajesh Chauhan b Pritam Gandhe 10, Manish Majithia not out 2,
Extras (lb 4, w 5) 9.
Total (for 8 wickets) 272.
Fall: 1/21, 2/26, 3/106, 4/111, 5/143, 6/154, 7/232, 8/250.
Bowling: Trevor Gonzalves 5-0-27-0; Dilip Parteki 10-0-49-2; Yogesh Chandurkar 6-0-53-0; Pritam Gandhe 10-0-49-4; Parimal Hedaoo 10-0-37-1; Manish Doshi 1-0-13-0; Lalchand Rajput 8-0-40-0.

Vidarbha: Paresh Sutane c JP Yadav b Devendra Bundela 17, Sadashiv Aiyyer run out 4, Manish Doshi c Manish Majithia b Rajesh Chouhan 14, Yogesh Ghare not out 67, Lalchand Rajput c JP Yadav b Manish Majithia 16, Ulhas Gandhe c CP Sahu b Manish Majithia 28, Parimal Hedaoo c Abbas Ali b HS Sodhi 16, Yogesh Chandurkar not out 14.
Extras (b 1, nb 2, w 18) 21.
Total (for 6 wickets) 197.
Fall of wickets: 1/7, 2/29, 3/54, 4/80, 5/123, 6/151.
Bowling: H S Sodhi 10-1-34-1; Devendra Bundela 6-0-24-1; JP Yadav 8-0-31-0; Rajesh Chauhan 9-0-31-1; Manish Majithia 10-2-33-2; Abbas Ali 5-0-33-0; Amay Khurasia 1-0-8-0; Chandrakant Pandit 1-0-2-0.

HP beat Punjab by 2 wkts
From Our Correspondent

MANDI, Oct 21 — Star batsman Navjot Sidhu's 57 runs went in vain as Himachal batsmen dominated the ragged Punjab bowling to register a convincing two-wicket win in the north zone one-day Ranji Trophy match at the Padal ground here today.

Opener Nischal Gaur crafted a fine 12 with Ajay Manu who top scored with 49 runs off 107 balls and Ajay Nayyar's 17 off 71 balls to propel Himachal past the 100 mark. It was Shangram's brilliant knock of 20 runs off 20 balls and R Panta's six runs off 18 balls which fashioned Himachal's win.

Earlier in the day Punjab, who batted first lost two early wickets with just nine runs on the board. Punjab batsmen put up a poor display despite three international batsmen — Navjot Sidhu, Vikram Rathore, and Pankaj Dharmani — in their ranks.

Chasing a target of 146 runs Himachal batsmen cashed in on Punjab's lack of bowling consistency and sloppy fielding. Ajay Manu, Rajiv Nayyar and Nischal Gaur smothered Himachal hopes but it was Rajiv Panta and Sangram who slowly established their ascendancy and in a matter of 6.3 overs put on 29 runs. The duo worked through gaps and ran briskly to reach the 145 mark and slowly pulled the match away from Punjab.

Score Board

Punjab:
Vikram Rathore C Resheshwar b Parveen 2, Sandeep Sharma c Jaswant Rai b R Panta 4, NS Sidhu not out 57, P Dharmani c and b Arun Verma b Parveen 6, D Mongia l.b.w. Shangram 11, R Sodhi run out Rajiv Nayyer 11, Sanjay Mahajan l.b.w. Rakeshwar 10, Kailash Sanwal st Arun Verma b Jaswant Rai 6, Tejinder Singh c Rajiv Nayyer b Jaswant Rai 13, Harvinder Singh c Shangram b Jaswant Rai 4, Navdeep Singh l.b.w. Nischal Gaur 0,
Extras (w-14, lb-6, b-1) 21,
Total (for 10 in 50 overs) 145,

Himachal: Nischal Gaur Ibw Harvinder Singh 12, Ajay Manu c D Mongia b Tejinder Singh 49, Rajiv Nayyer c D. Mongia b Kailash Sanwal 17, Richi Kapoor c D. Mongia b Kailash Sanwal 10, Rakeshwar st Pankaj Dharwani b Tejinder 0, Jaswant Rai C Vikram Rathore b Kailash Sanwal 6, Sanjay run out 8, R Panta not out 6, Arun Verma c Sandeep b Navdeep Singh 0, Shangram not out 20,
Extras (nb 3, w 6 lb 9) 18
Total (for 8 in 49.3 overs) 146

PU, GND varsity in last four
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Oct 21 — Panjab University, Chandigarh, will clash with GND University, Amritsar, while Delhi will take on holders Allahabad in the men's semifinal of the North Zone Inter-University Badminton Championships currently under way at the Panjab University gymnasium hall.

In the women's semifinal, Punjabi University, Patiala, will meet Delhi University.

In the quarterfinals today, the tie between Allahabad University and Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, was quite thrilling. Arun Mehrotra, with his fine drop shots and deft placing, forced Deepak Pal of Meerut University to commit errors. Ultimately Amit gave the initial lead by downing Deepak at 15-12, 6-15, 17-15. Anoop of Allahabad had to struggle hard to beat Sanjay of Meerut by 15-10, 8-15, 15-9. In the decider doubles, Amit and Swaranjeet never let their opponents grab the opportunity of taking lead and Ajay and Deepak went down fighting to the Allahabad pair at 5-15, 12-15.

The GND University versus Punjabi University, Patiala, was tough with the splendid display of strokes by Gurminder of Patiala, who extended Jaideep Kohli of GND varsity before bowing out at 10-15, 15-10, 11-15. The other singles and the lone doubles was an easy affair for GND varsity who defeated Punjabi by 3-0.

In the women's section, all the matches proved to be easy sailing for the seeds, with PU Patiala getting the better of Kurukshetra by 2-0, GND varsity beat Jammu by 2-0 and Delhi ousted Garhwal by 2-0.

ASC retain Army hockey title

JALANDHAR, Oct 21 (TNS) — Army Service Corps (ASC) retained the Army Hockey Championship title defeating Madras Engineer Group (MEG) by one goal to nil at the Burlton Park Stadium here today.

Lieut-Gen K. Davar, General Officer Commanding, Vajra Corps, who was the chief guest gave away the prizes to the winners.

ASC trained their guns on the MEG citadel right from the start and in 30th minute scored the first goal through Sobai Herenj. MEG earned the first penalty corner in the second half but could not score a goal. In the last minute MEG tried their luck but ASC emerged the winners.

Amritsar 322 for nine

PATIALA, Oct 21 (FOSR) — Amritsar piled up a formidable 322 for 9 in the stipulated 90 overs in their semifinal match against Patiala for the Dhruv Pandove (U-19) Cricket Tournament here today.

Taking advantage of the early morning dew, the hosts' medium pacers Gulzar Inder Chahal and Harikrishan Kali, at one stage had Amritsar hopelessly struggling at 10 for 3 but then the innings was revived by a valiant 163-run fourth wicket partnership between Sanjay (150) and Chintu Luthra (61). Sanjay's effort was all the more laudable as he decimated all the good work the bowlers had done in the morning as he ferociously cut anything short and some rasping drives on both sides of the wicket were a treat to watch. At the other end Chintu Luthra played second foil to his more dominant partner cutting out all the frills and instead playing a dodged and disciplined innings. As for the hosts bowling, apart from the tall and lanky Chahal, there is nothing much to write home about and this despite the fact that although Harman Harry took four wickets he lacked penetration to disturb the rhythm of both Sanjay and Luthra.

Scores: Amritsar (Ist innings) 322 for 9 in 90 overs (Sanjay 150, Chintu Luthra 61. Harshdeep Singh 36. Chander Madan 19 n.o. G.I. Chahal 2 for 37. Harman Harry 4 for 105).

Patiala (Ist innings) 17 for no loss (M. Shahid 13 n.o. H. Sekhon 4 n.o.).

Haryana yoga from Oct 29

CHANDIGARH, Oct 21 (TNS) — The 14th Haryana State Yoga Championship will be held from October 29 to 31 at Panchayat Bhawan, Ballabgarh (Distt. Faridabad). More than 500 boys and girls from 19 districts and 4 universities of Haryana are expected to participate, according to Mr K.C. Sharma, president, Haryana State Yoga Association.

The competition will be held in the age groups of 8-11, 11-14, 14-17, 17-21, 21-25, 26-35, 35-45 and above 45 years both for males and females separately. The state team will be selected during the championship for participation in 23rd National Yoga Championship to be held from December 24 to 27 at Bijnaur (U.P.).

Entries close with Mr Ashok Kumar Aggarwal, Panchkula 134113 on October 27.

Hamdard hockey from today

CHANDIGARH, Oct 21 (TNS) — The second Dr Sadhu Singh Hamdard Memorial All-India Hockey Tournament featuring top teams of the country will get under way at Burlton Park synthetic surface at Jalandhar from tomorrow, Mr Surinder Singh Sodhi, Olympian and former international, announced here today.

Mr Surinder Singh Sodhi said that winners of the tournament will get a cash award of Rs 31,000 while runners-up will get Rs 21,000. The best player of the tournament gets a cash award of Rs 10,000. From the round robin league onwards, a special committee comprising internationals, would select a man of the Match award worth Rs 2,000 for every game. The organisers, Mr Sodhi said, would distribute Rs One lakh in cash awards alone.

The teams participating in this year's tournament include the All-India Police champions Punjab Police, runners-up Border Security Force, ASC, EME, CRPF, Rail Coach Factory, Bharat Petroleum, Punjab State Electricity Board and Nawan Shahr XI.

SGFI invited to field team

CHANDIGARH, Oct 21 (BOSR) — The School Games Federation of India being a member of the International School Sports Federation has received an invitation to sponsor a school team of the country for the ISF-Swim Cup, to be held at Castres (France) from April 30 to May 3 next year, according to Mr B.D. Gandhi, Secretary-General of the School Games Federation of India.

Each school team can field a maximum of six swimmers but the participating countries may participate with a minimum four swimmers. School teams of the same school, or mixed teams are not allowed and each team has to register at least two swimmers in each event and one team for each relay. Thus each swimmer will be required to take part in at least two individual races and one relay. Swimmers born between 1982 and 1985 can participate in this international meet. The events to be organised are 50 metre free style; series-final; 50 metre back stroke; series; final' 50 metre breast stroke; series-final, 50 metre butterfly; series-final; 4x50 metre medlay; direct final/relay; 6.50 metre freestyle; direct final/relay.

As the Ministry of Sports, Government of India, has been requested to sponsor the team, the state units have been asked whether they can bear the board and lodging expenses besides fare of the swimmers individually. The last date for entries is November 30.

UT Volleyball results

CHANDIGARH, Oct 21 (BOSR) — The 12th Chandigarh State Volleyball Championships for subjunior boys and girls started today at Shivalik Public School, Sector 41.

Results; Boys: Sharvhitkari-40 beat DAV Sector 8, 15-13, 15-8, 15-6. SGGS-35 beat GMHS-19 15-3, 15-1, 15-1. GMHS-26 beat GMHS-27 16-14, 10-15, 15-8, 15-9. Sarvhitkari-40 beat Manav Mangal-21 15-8, 16-14, 15-1.

Girls: Coaching Centre-18 beat Manav-21, 15-1, 15-2, 15-0.

Coaching Centre-46 beat GMHS-19, 15-5, 15-6, 15-4.

GMHS-19 beat Manav Mangal-21, 15-1, 15-13, 15-13.

Coaching Centre-18 beat GMHS-26, 15-9, 15-2, 15-6.