Dhaka picks up a bronze
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — Army marksman Banwarlal Dhaka clinched the men’s rapidfire pistol bronze but others shooters including trap prospects Mansher Singh and Manavjit Singh drew a blank in the Commonwealth shooting at the Faraway Langkawi Ranges today.

• Jitender storms into final
• Gopichand in last 8,
  Popat enters semis
• Kiwis thrash Lanka
  to win bronze
• Fredericks graceful
  in defeat again
• Aussie star thrown
  out of Games

• Mohanty replaces Prasad
• Match-fixing row takes new turn
• India can beat England: Bhupathi
• Ludhiana volleyball

• "Unsigned accounts" at HCA meeting
• Shikha hogs the limelight
• Cricket trials
• CBSE kho kho
• MCM eves win

Dhaka picks up lone bronze

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 (PTI) — Army marksman Banwarlal Dhaka clinched the men’s rapidfire pistol bronze but others shooters including trap prospects Mansher Singh and Manavjit Singh drew a blank in the Commonwealth shooting at the Faraway Langkawi Ranges today.

The Rajasthan shooter — who had won a silver in the badge shooting competition here — tallied 573 to be third after the qualifying rounds and shot 95.9 in the final round for an aggregate of 668.9 points.

But his countryman Ajab Rao put up a dismal show by finishing 14th in the preliminary round with a total of 553 to go out of reckoning for a place in the final round reserved for the top eight qualifiers.

Bigger disappointment was in store for India as trap medal prospects Manavjit Singh and Mansher Singh belied hopes generated after they landed the pairs gold by performing far below expectations to finish fifth and ninth, respectively.

Mansher Singh, the 32-year-old Victoria Games gold medallist, who was lying seventh with 71 points after yesterday’s qualifying rounds of 75 targets, failed to touch peak form by managing only a total of 117 and went out of reckoning for the final round for the top six. The event was won by Olympic and world champion Michael Diamond of Australia.

Manavjit tallied 23, 25, 24, 23, 23 for 118 and made it into the last six.

In the final, 21-year-old Manavjit got 22 which put him in third spot along with European Champion Ian Peel of England but with the addition of his qualifying score it was 140, just good enough for the fifth spot.

Diamond, who led after the first day with 73 points, also erased Mansher Singh’s Games' record of 142 set on his way to the gold medal at Victoria.

Desmond Coe of New Zealand made a remarkable recovery from sixth place overnight to land the bronze medal tallying 141 points, edging out Robert Borsley (England) after the latter had also shot an identical 141.

Rifle shooters A.P. Subbaiah and T.C. Pallangappa put up yet another scrappy display and failed to even qualify to the final of the men’s free rifle prone event.

Subbaiah shot 588 to finish 15th in the qualifying rounds - top eight make the final round — while Pallangappa was way off target to end up 34th out of 42 shooters with an ordinary effort of 573 out of 600.

New Zealand’s Stephen Petterson won gold tallying 697.4 with David Moore (694.6) of Isle of Man and Gavin van Rhyn (694.1) of South Africa taking silver and bronze, respectively.

In the women’s individual air rifle event, Anuja Tere could finish only seventh with an aggregate of 485.2 points out of 500. Anuja managed to qualify to the final logging 390 points, but could achieve only 95.2 points out of 100 in the contest for the top eight to go well out of the medal bracket.

Experienced Anjali Vedpathak failed to qualify for the final after her total 383 could fetch her only the 12th spot in the qualifiers.

Narul Baharin of Bangladesh clinched gold with a games record effort of 494.8 with Sharon Bowes of Canada (493.3) and Louise Minett (491.7) finishing behind her.

With two days of competition left India have so have gleaned three gold medal, one silver and a bronze and can expect a few more.

Pistol ace Jaspal will be seen in action tomorrow when he defends the title in his pet centrefire pistol event along with veteran Ashok Pandit, the 1990 Auckland Games gold medallist, with Shilpi Singh and Sushma Rana competing in the women’s air pistol event.

Roopa Unnikrishnan with confidence high after her sport rifle prone gold yesterday will compete in the sport rifle 3-position event alongside Anjali Vedpathak.

Indian men, eves gear up for hockey semis

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 (UNI) — Indian hockey, both men’s and women’s, is enjoying one of its best moments in a very long time even considering that the Commonwealth Games is not the toughest of competitions.

With the men playing Malaysia and women meeting England in the semifinals tomorrow, there is some feeling of rejuvenation among the squads especially the latter who have done better than Scotland and South Africa - teams which preceded them in the final finishing order at the World Cup at Utrecht in May.

In the other men’s semifinal Australia play England while in women’s New Zealand face Australia.

After a dismal performance in the World Cup where the men finished ninth and the women 12th, the morale boosting run at the Commonwealth Games came at a time when not much was expected from the sides at international tournaments.

True, the Germans, the Dutch, Argentinians and Spaniards are not here but the good showing until now at the games, where both teams lost only to Australian men and women, has gone a long way in restoring some level of confidence.

As the two teams go into the semifinals, the one thing that stands most exposed once again is the inability of the Indian men and women to score. This has been worrying both coaches. The teams have otherwise played attacking hockey, dribbled well and created very good moves.

One major disadvantage for the women’s team is that the captain Sita Gussain, the main schemer of the squad, will not be playing as she was shown a red card in yesterday’s drawn match against Scotland.

Sita was questioning, in Hindi, why the umpire had disallowed an Indian goal and the official thought she was using abusive language. The Indian camp has appealed but there is little chance of reversal of the decision.

The Indian men should have been at least eight goals up yesterday in their last pool A tie against New Zealand. The result was 3-1.

The Indian women played very tough against Australia in their pool-A encounter, matching them move to move. But they could not score a single goal against the world champions.

The men’s coach M.K. Kaushik has been laying great emphasis on the half line and trying out various permutations and combinations in that area. Against the Australians he thought of trying out a new strategy but by the time the men could try it out, the Australians plastered them with so many attacks that every plan went awry.

In their other games, except against South Africa, whom they edged out 3-2 with a last minute goal, India did not face much problems. Here again, the Indians attacked relentlessly but could not score.

After the game against South Africa, Indian men went on to beat Trinidad and Tobago 8-0 and Wales 6-3.

After an initial sluggishness, the defence has started playing well which comes as a big relief. Lazarus Barla, Dileep Tirkey and Ramandeep Singh have consolidated themselves. Also, Lakshmanan Prabhakaran as an attacking half has had a splendid tournament and played superbly.

Senior Mukesh Kumar has been instrumental in creating moves and Baljit Singh Dhillon has sparkled with speed. Goalkeeper A.P. Subbaiah after a disastrous first match against Australia has not been really tested.

Kaushik has been happy with the way the seniors like skipper Dhanraj Pillay have played. The performance of players like Dhanraj, Mukesh and other veterans was very important as that inspired the juniors.

India should not have any problem beating Malaysia tomorrow if the erratic shooting is corrected. India and Malaysia have in the past been involved in a controversial meeting at the Olympic qualifiers in Barcelona, where it was alleged that the two teams played a draw to keep Canada out.

Ironically, yesterday in another controversial game, Malaysia edged out Canada to move into the semis.

The Indian women are up against an English team which is better than the one they lost to in Utrecht. England’s star Mandy Nicholas is back in the squad and the Indians should have a tough game on their hands tomorrow.

The Indian women, will go into the game without Sita Gussain, but the performances of Kamala Dalal, Nidhi Khullar and Pritam Rani, who has scored eight goals till now, has been good and this should raise hopes of a great revival.

In women’s hockey it is a foregone conclusion that Australia will win the gold. The Australian hockey team has been one of the greatest success stories in sporting history. Ever since their defeat in the Barcelona Olympics, the Australian women, coached by the great Rick Charlesworth, have never lost a major tournament. They are likely to keep that record intact here.

However, a silver for the Indian women will come as a great source of satisfaction particularly when they are on the crossroads. After the 1982 Asian Games win, the Indian women have not managed anything significant.

Fredericks graceful in defeat again

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 (Reuters) — A bridesmaid yet again, Frank Fredericks has no regrets about adding another silver medal to his collection.

Except, perhaps, that he did not prove his Prime Minister wrong.

Runner-up in the 100 and 200 metres at both the World Championships and the Olympics, Fredericks finished second yesterday to Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago in the 100 metres final at the Commonwealth games.

Until Sunday, Fredericks was not going to come to Kuala Lumpur because he had felt slighted by Namibian Prime Minister Hage Geingob.

Mr Geingob had suggested a boxer with a minor world title was Namibia’s best athlete because Fredericks, a familiar face to millions around the globe, had never won a gold medal at a major championships.

"When people start attacking you personally, I mean there is no way you can’t take a stand," Fredericks said of his initial decision to shun Kuala Lumpur.

But he ended up wearing the green, blue, white and red of his southern African nation, hogging the crowd’s cheers as he lined up for the sprint showdown against the world’s fastest men this year — Boldon and Obadele Thompson of Barbados.

"I spoke to some of the ministers. They basically just talked me through it, that it was just one person who said what he said and I shouldn’t let those kind of things affect my career," Fredericks said after yesterday’s race.

Fredericks finished in 9.96 seconds, eight hundredths of second off of Boldon’s winning pace.

So how did he feel about the race?

"I’m very happy that I could come here and give my country and my friends another medal. You know it’s not the medal that I wanted, but I think Ato ran a very good race and he deserved the medal."

Ever graceful in defeat, Fredericks was all smiles after the finals, waving to fans, joking with bronze medallist Thompson and hurling his running shoes into the stands of the new 100,000-seat Kuala Lumpur stadium where delerious fans shouted his name.

Was Ato the world’s best? "No idea," Fredericks said.

"You always expect to win. There are eight people. One person can win, but I’m happy that I came here despite all the circumstances and won a medal for my country. I’m really proud of that, especially for the fans back home," he said.

The angular Namibian sprinter, 30 and balding, said he had no thoughts about retirement and he might have to hang around until 2002, when the next Commonwealth Games are held in Manchester, England, for another shot at gold.

Before then, though, there are the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

"I hope I can win the Olympic gold medal, but it’s going to be tough," he said.

"If I retire without the title, then so be it. But I’m just going to keep trying, trying harder and hopefully one day I’ll win."

Jitender storms into final

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 (PTI) — Middleweight Jitender Kumar scored a spectacular 21-10 points victory over Canadian champion Trevor Stewardson to waltz into the final of the Commonwealth boxing at the Shah Alam Stadium here today.

Jitender became the first Indian boxer in 24 years to make it to the gold medal round when his spectacular victory helped him emulate his flyweight countryman C. Narayanan, who reached the final at the 1974 Christchurch Games.

The 23-year old Jitender Kumar rained punches on Stewardson to establish a 6-4 lead at the end of the second round and unleashed right-left combination punches and jabs in the next two rounds which saw the Canadian pinned to the ropes twice.

In the final on Sunday, he locks mitts with John Pearce of England, who outpointed Brian Magee of Northern Ireland 29-19 in an equally absorbing semifinal.

The former Asian youth champion’s domination over the technically strong Stewardson was complete in the fifth and final round and a hard left jab followed by rapid-fire combinations to his body and head left the visibly tired Canadian staggering many times before the bout ended with the huge win for the Indian.

Jitender’s stellar show has made up for bantamweight N.G. Dingko Singh, featherweight Gurmeet Singh and lightheavy Gurcharan Singh not making it to the medal rounds.

Jitender Kumar, who will be in line to become the first Indian to win a Commonwealth boxing gold said after the bout: "I am extremely pleased with the result and will repeat the performance in the final."

When informed he was the first Indian in 24 years to reach the Games’ final, Jitender who has been suffering from cold since the competition began said: "It’s a matter of pride to be the winner. But above all I will fight for my country and achieve more in the sport to bring back glory to Indian boxing."

Chief coach Gurbux Singh Sandhu said the bout was tough but he (Jitender) followed the planned strategy very well.

"Though Stewardson had an edge over Jitender as projected by the media, I had instructed him to box at close range in the first two rounds and avoid middle range fighting in the final three rounds. That paid off," he said.

Sandhu said the final was crucial and Jitender Kumar could not underestimate his 27-year-old English rival John Pearce.

Gopichand in last 8, Popat enters semis

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 (PTI) — India’s best medal hopes Aparna Popat and Pullela Gopichand continued their relentless march in the Commonwealth Games badminton today with the former reaching the women’s semifinals and ensuring a bronze and Gopi storming his way into the men’s quarterfinals.

Twenty-year-old national women’s champion Aparna, who trains at the Prakash Padukone academy in Bangalore like Gopi, had to quell a strong challenge from 16-year-old Malaysian school girl Mee Fen Ng 11-7, 13-10 in the quarterfinals.

Aparna, who spearheaded the Indian women to a team bronze earlier, is sure to pick up another medal from the Games even if she loses in the semis.

National men’s champion Gopi, who led India to a team silver earlier in the tournament, recorded the most emphatic win in the fourth round by thrashing Pakistan’s Ali Yar Beg 15-2, 15-1 in only 15 minutes. He played at a pace which was too hot to handle by his Pakistani rival.

The Indian champion, who is now in sight of emulating Padukone (1978) and Syed Modi (1982) of winning a singles medal in the Games, runs into unseeded Welshman John Leung next for a place in the last four tomorrow.

Leung defeated Australia’s Stuart Brehaut.

However, another Indian shuttler Nikhil Kanetkar failed to survive and crashed out 15-6, 7-15, 5-15 in the quarterfinals against England’s Darren Hall.

Aparna, ranked 28th in the world, and the Malaysian schoolgirl coached by Danish great Morten Frost, fought tooth and nail.

The first game was closely contested till 7-all before Mumbai-born Aparna sewed it up with a series of smashes and drops to garner the remaining four points.

The Malaysian teenager fought like a tiger in the second but Aparna kept her composure in crucial rallies and waited for her opponent to make the mistakes which stood her in good stead.

The Malaysian teenager had shocked an injured Li Feng, the third seeded China-born New Zealander, in the second round.

Gopi, on the other hand, allowed very few liberties to his opponent and charged into the last eight as the lone Indian survivor.

His next-round rival Leung seems to have recovered from the knee injury sustained falling over in a tropical storm before the tournament which ruined his hopes of doing well in the team event.

Today’s men’s quarterfinal action also saw New Zealand’s Geoff Bellingham ripping his shoe apart while going for a smash against Mark Constable of England and crashing out of the tournament, after being forced to play with only one shoe thereafter as he had no spare pair.

Constable moved ahead 15-9, 15-11 to earn a shot at Malaysian Wong Choon Han.

In the men’s doubles event played in the night the Indian pair of George Thomas and Markose Bristow struggled hard to stifle the Wales due of Mathew Huges and Lewis Geraint with a hard-fought 15-8, 12-15, 15-2 victory to move into the quarterfinals.

The Indians failed to find their bearing in the initial stages and lost the second set 12-15 but began to combine well in the last set which they wrapped up 15-2 without much difficulty.

Kiwis thrash Lanka to win bronze

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 (Reuters) — All-rounder Chris Harris and spinner Daniel Vettori led New Zealand to a 51-run victory over Sri Lanka and the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games today.

Sri Lanka were all out for 161 in 44.4 overs in reply to New Zealand’s 212 for seven in 50 overs as the Kiwis regained some self-respect after a humiliating nine-wicket semifinal defeat by Australia yesterday.

Australia play South Africa in the final for the gold medal tomorrow.

The New Zealanders did have the satisfaction of winning the first cricket medal ever awarded at the Commonwealth Games as the game made its debut on the tropical wickets of Kuala Lumpur.

Left-arm spinner Vettori took three key wickets on a sharply turning wicket and Harris bludgeoned four sixes in an unbeaten 56 as New Zealand cruised to the medal on a hot and humid day.

"We threw some wickets away, but overall we batted well and that’s what counts," New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said.

Brave knocks by Suresh Perera (45) and Chandika Hathurusinghe (34) were too little, too late in the Sri Lankan run chase.

New Zealand took control early in the Sri Lankan innings as opener Lanka de Dilva edged paceman Shayne O’Connor to Fleming at slip with the score on 13.

New Zealand: Bell c Jayawardene b Perera 2, Astle run out 56, Fleming c Arnold b Chandana 16, McMillan b Arnold 5, Parore run out 16, Harris not out 56, Bailey run out 21, Tait st de Silva b Samaraweera 6.

Extras: (lb-8, w-22, nb-4) 34
Total: (for 7 wickets, 50 overs) 212
Fall of wickets: 1-6 2-92 3-100 4-114 5-125 6-195 7-212
Bowling: Perera 5-0-39-1, Gallage 7-0-28-0, Hathurusinghe 9-0-34-0, Chandana 9-1-28-1, Samaraweera 10-1-48-1, 10-1-27-1.
Sri Lanka: Gunawardene b Vettori 30, De Silva c Fleming b O’Connor 7, Arnold lbw b Astle 12, Jayawardene c and b Vettori 8, Tillekeratne lbw b Vettori 6, Hathurusinghe lbw b Astle 34, De Seram lbw b Harris 1, Chandana run out 1, Perera b Harris 45, Samaraweera b Tait 5, Gallage not out 2.
Extras: (b-1, lb-3, w-6) 10
Total: (all out in 44.4 overs) 161
Fall of wickets: 1-13 2-42 3-60 4-63 5-72 6-75 7-77 8-130 9-157.
Bowling: O’Connor 6-2-17-1, Tait 7-0-31-1, Astle 10-0-29-2, Vettori 10-2-33-3, Harris 7.4-2-20-2, Wiseman 4-0-27-0.

Aussie star thrown out of Games

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 (Reuters) — Australia threw a star cyclist out of the Commonwealth Games today after she angrily accused the team of sabotaging her gold medal chances.

Lucy Tyler-Sharman yesterday failed to qualify for the 3,000-metre pursuit final — which she won at last month’s World Track Championships — after her foot slipped repeatedly from the pedals.

The 33-year-old cyclist then complained to reporters that team coach Charlie Walsh had not allowed her to use the same equipment she used at the Bordeaux Championships.

"I could have qualified for the final if not for my head coach," Tyler-Sharman said. "I don’t know why he forced me to change the pedals in the individual pursuit. It has cost me the gold."

Tyler-Sharman lost in a qualifying race to New Zealander Sarah Ulmer, finishing more than three seconds behind.

"After discussions with Lucy Tyler-Sharman, with respect to statements made by her at the velodrome last night, it is my decision that Lucy should relinquish her place in the Australian Commonwealth Games team," Australian team chief Don Stockins said in a statement today.

"Yesterday Lucy made a public statement criticising cycling section management and coaching staff which is a clear violation of the team agreement signed by all athletes prior to them joining the team," he said.

"Lucy acknowledged my decision and we both agreed that she should leave the village as soon as possible. She will do this today."

Tendulkar to play fifth one-dayer

MUMBAI, Sept 18 (PTI) — The Indian cricket board President Raj Singh Dungarpur today confirmed that star batsman Sachin Tendulkar would proceed to Toronto tonight and will play in the fifth and final tie of the ongoing India-Pakistan Sahara Cup series.

Dungarpur said Sachin Tendulkar had gone to the hill resort of Lonavla with his family to have a short break, while Jadeja left for Toronto in the early hours from Delhi.

The BCCI’s frantic efforts to get in touch with Tendulkar yesterday failed and ultimately he missed his flight from here last night.

"You cannot blame Sachin for taking a short break. He got in touch with me in the early hours today and we are making all arrangements to fly him to Toronto by the first possible flight", he told PTI here.

"He should be in Toronto in time for the fifth and final one-dayer", the BCCI chief added.

Tendulkar and middle order batsman Ajay Jadeja will join the Mohammed Azharuddin-led Indian team after the Pakistan board and the match referee Peter Burge had given their consent. But only Jadeja is likely to reach there in time for the fourth match to be played tomorrow.

The Pakistan board had earlier objected to the BCCI’s proposal to send four players, Robin Singh and Anil Kumble being the other two, as reinforcements.

India are trailing 1-2 in the five match series.

Did Sachin, others conspire to lose?

MUMBAI, Sept 18 (PTI) — Cricket board president Raj Singh Dungarpur today described as baseless allegations by a city-based social organisation that four Indian cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar had conspired to lose a match to Australia in the Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur.

Mr Dungarpur was reacting to a legal notice served by the Citizens’ Organisation for Public Opinion (COPO) against the BCCI and the players — Commonwealth Games skipper Ajay Jadeja, Anil Kumble and Robin Singh besides Tendulkar — demanding public apology for "allegedly conspiring and tarnishing the image of the country at the games by losing to Australia after being comfortably placed at one stage".

The notice, sent by advocate Sanjeev Kanchan for COPO, warned the BCCI and the players of legal action if they failed to show cause and tender a public apology within a week.

The notice is jointly addressed to Mr Dungarpur, BCCI secretary Jayawant Lele and the players.

It's do or die for India

TORONTO, Sept 18 (PTI) — The delay in the arrival of Sachin Tendulkar has overshadowed everything else, even the possibility of a keen contest, as traditional rivals India and Pakistan square up for the crucial fourth and penultimate tie in the Sahara Cup cricket series at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club here tomorrow.

Down 1-2 in the series, India desperately seek the presence of its key players, more so the world’s best batsman Tendulkar, to quell the charge of a resurgent Pakistan but a terrible goof-up has made it a no-go situation.

Now, Ajay Jadeja, the only one to be flown out of India last night, will boost the ranks, in the absence of injured Jatin Paranjpe in the middle order.

It is, however, unlikely that Jadeja would open the innings with Saurav Ganguly as Navjot Sidhu is earmarked for that position.

With Jyoti Yadav and Sairaj Bahutule standing little chance of selection and Jatin Paranjpe’s left ankle badly twisted, the rest of the players choose themselves.

One worry for India is the lack of economy on the part its seam bowlers Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar and Venkatesh Prasad, the last mentioned omitted for the Zimbabwe tour, On the credit side, they have been getting runs though.

Indeed, India’s Toronto hero Ganguly has been the most impressive bowler in this tournament.

Despite the board’s vow to get the team fit and sharp in view of next year’s World Cup, India’s running between the wickets has been appalling.

The good work done by foreign coach Bob Simpson does not quite show in the calls made by the Indian batsmen in which Sidhu, Ganguly and Mongia look particularly suspect.

Pakistan has begun to look good and the tactical inputs of Javed Miandad are beginning to pay dividends. Aamer Sohail was quick to acknowledge at the end of the third match on Wednesday when he said: "Miandad is Miandad. He has been great help with his planning is these victories".

Pakistan might be toying with the idea of giving Mushtaq Ahmed a game tomorrow since the game would be played on the first match wicket which was a bit slow and had inconsistent bounce and pace. Still it is an outside chance since the team is functioning smoothly and Salim Malik has been particularly useful as a slow, restrictive bowler.

Teams (likely):
India — Mohd Azharuddin (capt), Navjot Sidhu, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Ajay Jadeja, Nayan Mongia, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Ajit Agarkar, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Sunil Joshi.
Pakistan — Aamer Sohail (capt), Shahid Afridi, Saeed Anwar, Inzamamul Haq, Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmed, Moin Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Aaquib Javed, Saqlain Mushtaq and Mohd Zahid.

Mohanty replaces Prasad

NEW DELHI, Sept 18 (PTI) — Commonwealth Games bowling success Debasish Mohanty forced his way into the 14-member Indian cricket team for the short Zimbabwe tour along with talented off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.

Orissa swing bowler Mohanty was named today in the national squad in place of Venkatesh Prasad while Harbhajan replaced another frontline player, all-rounder Hrishikesh Kanitkar in the team chosen here today by the national selection committee.

Sachin Tendulkar and Ajay Jadeja, chosen for the Kuala Lumpur games instead of the Sahara Cup against Pakistan at Toronto, expectedly are in the party for the tour to Zimbabwe to play three one-day internationals and a one-off Test from September 26 to October 11.

The team also includes veteran opener Navjot Singh Sidhu and sound middle-order batsman Rahul Dravid who, till recently, were termed not suitable for one-day cricket.

The team is: Mohammed Azharuddin (capt), Ajay Jadeja (vice-captain), Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Robin Singh, Ajit Agarakar, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Rahul Dravid, Nayan Mongia, Harbhajan Singh, Debasish Mohanty and Rahul Sanghvi.

Mr Kishen Rungta, chairman of the selection committee which completed its term with today’s sitting, told reporters after the team announcement that if necessary changes would be made in the team for the one-off Test which follows the three one-day internationals.

"We have left it to the new selection committee which is to be nominated at the cricket board’s AGM (at Calcutta on September 23 and 24) whether to include some new players for the Test or not", he said.

The new committee would have the chance to see the performance of players in the domestic season-opening Irani Cup tie at Bangalore (between Ranji champions Karnataka and Rest of India from October 1 to 5) before the commencement of the Test on October 7, he explained.

The one-day Ties are to be held at Bulawayo (September 26 and 27) and Harare (September 30).

The one-off test would be played at Harare from October 7 to 11 with a three-day game against the Zimbabwe Cricket Board President’s XI scheduled between the one-day series and the lone Test.

The Indian team, which is in Toronto now, would return home in the early hours of September 23 before leaving for Zimbabwe the next day, according to board secretary Jaywant Lele.

Also out of the squad now in Toronto, apart from Prasad and Kanitkar, are Sairaj Bahutule, Sunil Joshi, Sanjay Raul, Jatin Paranjpe and Jyoti Yadav. These players had basically made it because some from the senior side were picked in the party for the Commonwealth Games.

Match-fixing row takes new turn

ISLAMABAD, Sept 18 (PTI) — The raging controversy over betting and match-fixing in Pakistani cricket took an interesting turn with ex-captain Javed Burki stating he too had been informed about the involvement of Salim Malik four years ago and had advised Pakistan board never to include him in the team.

Burki, also former chairman of national selection committee, made a deposition before the government-appointed one-man probe body headed by Justice Malik Mohammed Qayyum of Lahore High Court and submitted: "I was absolutely sure match-fixing and betting was going on in the Pakistani team".

He told the committee that the matter first came to light during Pakistan’s tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe in 1994-95 when wicket-keeper and vice-captain, Rashid Latif, made allegations of match-fixing against skipper Salim Malik.

Burki said after these allegations were made public, he flew to Harare and met Latif along with Aamir Sohail and, "they levelled charges of betting and match-fixing against Malik and other members of the team, though they did not name them".

He said during the 1994 Singer Cup in Sri Lanka also Malik rang him up and requested permission to attend a wedding in Pakistan during the one-week gap between the Test series and start of the tournament and later it was alleged that during his visit Malik met a leading bookie in Lahore, Khalid Ghitti, to fix one of the matches in Singer Cup.

"The match was fixed and Saeed Anwar had told me that during the match he was asked by the 12th man not to play well and get himself out", Burki said.

When he asked Saeed to make a written statement in this regard first he agreed but later said he could not do so because his brother had been threatened with dire consequences if he (Saeed) made the statement, Burki added.

Incidentally, during the same period three Australian cricketers had also accused Malik of offering them bribe to fix one of the matches during their tour of Pakistan.

On the subsequent action by the PCB on this issue, Burki said "this was a big problem for the ad hoc committee (headed by Burki)".

"If we decided to hold an open inquiry about this affair and found that the captain of the Pakistani team was guilty of having tried to bribe the members of other team, Pakistanis could be brought into disrepute and my advice was that whatever steps were needed to be taken, should be taken quietly by the board and matter be closed here", he said.

He also said before handing over affairs of the board to new office-bearers "my advice to them was they should make sure Malik never again plays for Pakistan. Similarly action should be taken against other suspect Ijaz Ahmed and Wasim Akram should be warned".

Burki also raised doubts about the role of Akram and Younis during his deposition as he said during the England tour both the bowlers were devastating in the Test series.

"In the international matches, the same deadly duo had given away 100 runs in first 10 overs. Their bowling was short pitched and easy for English players to hit. Such bowling was deliberate", Burki said in his deposition.

The hearing was also attended by PCB’s chief executive Majid Khan though his deposition could not take place and it will be recorded after the end of the hearing.

Interestingly, the revelations of Burki comes at a time when the PCB is facing an internal war between chairman Khalid Mahmood and Majid Khan.

Media reports had claimed that Majid walked out of the selection committee meeting protesting against selection of Malik in the team and appointment of Aamir Sohail as skipper for the ongoing Sahara Cup.

"Unsigned accounts" at HCA meeting
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 18 — Mr Surinder Singh, Secretary of the Chandigarh Cricket Association, has objected to the manner in which the annual general body meeting of the Haryana Cricket Association was conducted at Bhiwani on September 16. He was of the view that no meeting should be held at the residence of the Secretary, as was the case this year. Instead, the meeting should be conducted at a public place.

According to Mr Surinder Singh the meeting was attended by over 100 persons who were actually not life members of the Haryana Cricket Association.However, Mr Ranbir Singh, Secretary of the association, claimed they were all life members of the association.

Mr Surinder Singh said former Test player Chetan Sharma, who had come to attend the meeting on behalf of the Panchkula Cricket Association was not allowed to attend the meeting. ( It is learnt the Haryana Cricket Association has not granted affiliation to the Panchkula Cricket Association. It is a different matter that teams from Panchkula take part regularly in various inter-district tournaments conducted by the state association). Mr Surinder Singh also alleged that the attendance sheet of the meeting was signed much before the commencement of the meeting.

The Secretary of the Chandigarh Cricket Association has also objected to the fact that the balance sheet of the association was not signed either by the President, Secretary or the Treasurer of the association. Mr Surinder Singh said: "It seems no office-bearer wants to take the responsibility of its accuracy."

Mr Surinder Singh disclosed that the Haryana Cricket Association had created two funds — Players Benevolent Fund and Promotion Fund — and a sum of Rs 19.60 lakh was transferred to these funds in the course of the year. However, the accounts of these funds were never circulated and even during the meeting no satisfactory answers were given. "Nobody knows if these accounts are maintained and/or audited," Mr Surinder Singh said.

Mr Surinder Singh also said Mr Ranbir Singh told the meeting that details of expenses incurred on matches, camps and trials would be given to members at a later date. However, the accounts were passed by the house in spite of all these discrepancies.

Mr Surinder Singh has also objected to the manner in which the selection committees , both senior and junior, were constituted. As an outgoing member of the junior selection committee, Mr Surinder Singh was disturbed that no representation was given to either Faridabad or Chandigarh in spite of the fact that these two units were the main centres of cricket in the state.

India can beat England: Bhupathi

MUMBAI, Sept 18 (PTI) — India’s number two player, Mahesh Bhupathi, said here that India can beat England in the Davis Cup tie when the two clash in Nottingham from September 25 to 27.

Bhupathi, who was here with doubles partner and India number one Leander Paes to announce their participation in the Heineken Open at Singapore from October 10 to 18, yesterday said: "I consider Paes among the top 15 Davis Cup singles players in the world and with us being ranked third in the world in the doubles we can put it across England".

"Like us they too have one good player in Tim Henman but we have a better doubles combination which could prove to our advantage", he told reporters.

Paes, who did most of the talking with the reporters, said he felt elated after beating world number one Pete Sampras in an ATP Tournament recently.

"I had taped the entire match and watched it twice. I cherished every moment of the match. My confidence was at the highest in that tournament and I stuck to my original game plan of chip and charge which totally upset his rhythm", he said.

"He lost his concentration over a line call and I never looked back from that stage. In fact, I served very well throughout the match", he added.

Speaking on various aspects of the game, Paes said, he would be striving to improve his singles rankings to top 50 and also concentrate on reaching the top spot in the doubles as well.

"This year I would be focusing on both singles as well as the doubles. In the doubles so far, we have failed to cross the semi-final stage in four Grand Slam events. However, I think it is just a matter of time before we end up winning a Grand Slam title. I hope we can do our country proud by winning one this year", he added.

"I consider playing both (singles as well as the doubles) as a great challenge. Some players like to concentrate on singles alone and there are some others who play only in the doubles while players like me play both as I can take the work load quite well", Paes said.

Complimenting his doubles partner, Bhupathi, he said: "I enjoy playing with Mahesh and I have learnt a lot playing with him. As a doubles partner he (Mahesh) makes up for what I lack and I chip in with my contributions when he is struggling and this is the secret of our success".

"Like Bhupathi I too feel we have a good shot of beating Britain in our next Davis Cup tie this month end", he added.

When asked why the two of them play very few tournaments in India, he said, even though tennis is played throughout the year, they would like to play in nationals and the challenges here provided they got some good sponsors to take care of their expenses.

"The sponsors play a big part in this game. In fact, we were lucky to have got good exposure in our early playing days like the Britannia-Amritraj Tennis Academy (BAT) which helped me to shape my career", Paes said.

"There were at least two to three youngsters who were as good as us when we were in the junior ranks. Unfortunately they had to stop playing because they could not get any sponsors while I and Mahesh have been lucky to get some real good sponsors".

"The game has improved by leaps and bounds in the last five years but still a lot requires to be done to improve the standard in our country. I was, in fact, happy to see a few Indian juniors playing in European tournaments and if they continue to get that kind of international exposure then we can produce class players", the tennis star said.

"Every Swedish player on the circuit will have ex-player as his coach and his own trainer which in turn helps the youngster mature (as a player) early but here in our country with the players coming from middle class families we cannot afford that luxury and this is where the sponsors can step-in".

"I and Mahesh come from sporting families and we were given a free hand to chose whichever sport we wanted. Though I was very good at soccer I chose tennis because of its individuality (individual game)", the Calcutta based star said.

Shikha hogs the limelight
From Our Sports Reporter

LUDHIANA, Sept 18 — Four national meet records tumbled on the opening day of the 15th sub-junior and 25th Junior National Aquatic Championship for boys and girls which began at the Municipal Corporation swimming pool here today.

Karnataka's up and coming star, Shikha Tandon, a class VIII student scored a record double. In the sub-junior section, Shikha created a new meet record in the 100 m breaststroke clocking 1:21.96 to better the existing record of 1:22.90 seconds by Sajini Shetty also of Karnataka (1992).

In the 50m freeystyle for sub-junior girls, Shikha fared extremely well to set the new record with 28.01 seconds. The earlier records of 0:29.74 seconds was set by Sangeeta Rani Puri of Delhi in 1996.

Karnataka swimmers rewrote two more national records in the sub-junior boys section. In the 200m butterfly stroke, Mario Johnson took 2:14.06 seconds to establish a meet record.

Karnataka grabbed 11 out of 14 gold medals today while Maharashtra, Assam and Delhi won one gold each.

Earlier, Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, Local Bodies Minister, Punjab, inaugurated the championship. He also announced a grant of Rs 50,000 for the Punjab Swimming Association.

Today's results: 200 m freestyle boys (sub-junior): 1. Avinash Kirplani (Mah) 2.10.69, 2. Rohan d'Souza (Kar) 2.12.16, 3. Hitender Tokas (Dli) 2.15.59.

Girls: 1. Shikha Tandon (Kar) 2.12.63, 2. Divya Chander Shekhar (Dli) 2.20.75, 3. Bhawna Sharma (Mah) 2.22.93.

200 m freestyle boys ((junior): 1. Elvis Ali IKA-Assam 1.03.56, 2. Christopher Koo-Kar 2.08.13, 3. Shreesh Reddy (Kar) 2.09.21, 100 m breaststroke boys (sub-junior): 1. Rohan d'Souza-Kar 1.15.68, 2. J. Shivanath Singh (Manipur) 1.20.00, 3. L. Santosh Singh (Manipur) 1.20.14.

Girls: 1. Shikha Tandon (Kar) 1.21.96 - NR, 2. Bhawna Sharma (Mah) 1.22.22, 3. Ambika Iyengar (Kar) 1.27.89.

200 m freestyle girls (juniors): 1. Chitra K. (Kar) 2.18.34, 2. Sri Kalpa Murali (Kar) 2.20.09, 3. V. Remya (Ker) 2.20.42.

100 m backstroke boys (sub junior): 1. Rohan d'Souza (Kar) 1.10.43, 2. Avinash Kirplani (Mah) 1.10.57, 3. Santanu Pramanik (Bengal) 1.12.00.

100 m backstroke girls (sub junior): 1. Shikha Tandon (Kar) 1.14.50, 2. Divya Chadda (Bengal) 1.16.88, 3. Nisha Mohte (Kar) 1.17.50.

200 m butterfly boys (sub junior): 1- Mario Johnson — Kar — 2.14.06, 2- Riyad Palia — 2.29.14, 3- Subhodeepbhar- Bengal — 2.30.09. 50 m freestyle boys (sub jr): 1 — Rohan d'Souza — Kar — 0.27.16, 2 — Ashwin Kumar — Kar — 0.27.55, 3 — Prikshit Shetty — Mah — 0.27.69. Girls: 1 — Shikha Tandon — Kar — 0.28 Myi, 2 — Bhawana Sharma — Mah — 0.29.56, 3 — Diya Chander — Dli — 0.30.26. 200 m butterfly girls (sub Junior): 1 — Richa Mishra — Dli — 2.36.19, 2 — Archana Bhushan — Kar — 2.40.56, 3 — Farin Yasin — Mah 2.47.70. 4 x 50 m medley relay sub-junior girls: 1 — Kar — 2.21.15, 2 — Mah 2.22.41, 3 — Bengal — 2.26.31. 4 x 50 m medley relay sub-junior boys:1 — Kar — 2.08.00, 2 — Mah — 2.08.62, 3 — Dli — 2.10.33.

Ludhiana Volleyball
From Our Sports Reporter

LUDHIANA, Sept 18 — The Ludhiana District Volleyball Championship for men and women as well as boys and girls will be held here at S.D. Government College on September 19 and 20, according to Mr Raj Kumar, president, District Volleyball Association.

Entries may be sent to Mr Gurdev Singh, lecturer, physical education, Government College, and secretary, DVA.

Cricket trials
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 18 — Trials to select Mohali teams for under-16 and under-19 cricket tournaments will be held at the PCA stadium on September 19 at 3 p.m. Jasbir Singh, an international umpire and in charge of junior teams of Mohali, will be the chairman of the selection committee.

The boys whose place of birth is Mohali are eligible for trials. Those studying in Mohali schools and colleges are also eligible for selection.

MCM eves win
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 18 — On the first day of the Panjab University inter-college inter-zonal football (women), being played at the university grounds, here, on league basis the local MCM DAV College for Women beat GGS College for Women, Chandigarh, 4-1.

In another match SGGS Khalsa College, Mahilpur, beat Panjab University Campus, Chandigarh, 5-0.

CBSE kho kho
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 18 — In the 1st CBSE inter-school kho kho competition held at St Soldier International School, Sector 28, here, SD Public School Sector 32 beat hosts St Soldier International School by one turn and four points in the boys' section today.

In the girls' sections Sri Guru Harkrishan Model School, Sector 38, defeated DAV Sirmour Public School, Paonta Sahib, by one point to lift the title.