Gopichang, Aparna Popat too good
NEW DELHI, Feb 10 — Top shuttlers Pullela Gopichand and Aparna Popat scripted convincing wins in the finals to retain their respective men’s and women’s singles crowns at the 63rd Senior National Badminton Championship here today.

India bids for Thomas Cup tie
NEW DELHI, Feb 10 — India has made a strong bid to host the Asian qualifying round of the prestigious Thomas and Uber Cup Badminton Championships scheduled in February 2000.

Nomi Qamar storms into semis
CHANDIGARH, Feb 10 — Nomi Qamar of Pakistan upset Indian calculations and dashed the hopes of 3 Indians in the Centurion ITF Junior Circuit Tournament at Chandigarh today.

Basad Ali takes top spot CALCUTTA, Feb 10 — Old warhorse Basad Ali began his defence of the Rs 5 lakh Cyanamid Open Golf Championship in style, taking the top spot with a three-under 69 on the opening day at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club today.

JCT boost hopes with win
From Amardeep Bhattal
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, Feb 10 — Stopper-back Deepak Mondal's 67th minute goal from the centre line sent JCT Phagwara's spirits soaring while left winger Hardeep Sangha provided the icing on the cake with an opportunistic strike ten minutes later as the Punjab outfit virtually assured themselves of a berth in the super league with a 2-0 victory over Air-India in group ‘A’ of the National Football League at Guru Nanak Stadium here today.

Just when the match seemed to be drifting towards a goal-less draw, right stopper Deepak Mondal came up with a gem of an effort, despatching a powerful right footer from the centre line. The ball rose high before eventually dipping low into the net leaving Air-India custodian Partha Das dazed. As Mondal raced down before kneeling down in prayer his team-mates ran to congratulate him. For, it is indeed rare for a defender to come to the rescue of a team upfront. With today's victory, JCT's tally has gone up to 16 points from four victories and four draws. They will now meet Tollygunge Agragami in the last away match at Calcutta on February 14. For Air-India, who suffered their seventh defeat in nine outings, it is virtually the end of the road.

With only one match remaining against Churchill Brothers, the frightening prospects of relegation are looming large for the Mumbai outfit.

JCT Phagwara's showing has indeed been creditable. Relying purely on local talent, the experienced trio of Sukhwinder. Parminder and Inder have moulded the team into an aggressive combination, which has so far humbled top teams like Mohun Bagan. Chruchill Brothers and Air-India. Air-India were definitely handicapped due to the absence of left wing back Subir Sinha, who was out with a red card and stopper back Radhakrishna Dubey who is injured. Nevertheless left stopper T. Khambiton Singh and right stopper Debdas Sen along with wing backs Henry Picardo and Osbern D' Souza defended their fort well in the first half.

JCT did carry out forays initially but the best chance came in the 32nd minute when Hardeep Sangha, after cutting through the defence, failed to tap the ball in with only Das at his mercy. Air-India also tested JCT custodian Virender Singh through the experienced Godfrey Pereira but without any positive outcome. Following a counter attack, JCT's left half Ram Pal sent a cross for Hardeep Saini whose piledriver was neatly collected by the Partha Das.

On changing ends, JCT effected the first substitution with Harinder replacing Harjinder in the midfield. The move paid dividends as the JCT attacks looked more purposeful. Right back Tarsem Lal's centre from the right saw the untiring Surjit making a vain bid to head the ball home. This was followed by a counter attack by Air-India. Right striker Khalid Jamil, after racing down the middle, sent a measured pass to left striker Abbas Ali Rizwi who only managed to float the ball high over the horizontal. It was in the 67th minute that JCT broke the deadlock.

Right stopper Deepak Mondal, formerly of Tata Football Academy, took control of the ball and with full confidence despatched a right footer from the centre-line. The ball rose high before landing in the net, much to the delight of his team-mates (1-0). The goal changed the complexion of the game and JCT attacked with renewed vigour. In the 77th minute, Hardeep Sangha broke loose after snatching the ball from the defender. After covering some ground, he despatches a powerful grounder from the left which beat the Air-India custodian hands down (2-0). Sangha again initiated a move putting striker Surjit in possession. However, Surjit's shot parallel to the goal-line struck Sukhjit and the ball went out of play. At the fag end, Jasbir, who had replaced Hardeep Saini, missed an easy chance when he failed to head the ball home with an empty goal in front of him.

Sampras not rusty in Ist round match

SAN JOSE (California), Feb 10 (Reuters) — In his first match back on tour after the longest layoff of his career, world number one Pete Sampras routinely dispatched Spaniard Galo Blanco 6-4 6-4 last night to move into the second round of the Sybase Open.

"I felt my tennis was going to be a little bit up and down tonight but it’s like riding a bike, you don’t forget how to do it," said the 27-year-old Sampras, a two-time champion in San Jose.

Third seed Mark Philippoussis of Australia barely survived his first-round tussle with Armenia’s Sargis Sargsian, prevailing 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-3. Philippoussis could meet Sampras in the semifinals.

Sampras, who had not played since the ATP championships last November, showed little rust in countering the Spaniard’s heavy topspin ground attack, frequently chipping and charging and dominating his own service games. He won 97 percent of his first-serve points.

"If there’s one shot that I don’t lose over a long span of time it’s my serve and I relied on it tonight," said Sampras, who faced no break points in the match and delivered 11 aces.

During his layoff, the 11-time Grand Slam champion put down his racket for a month and travelled to Hawaii on his first vacation in 10 years.

"For what I accomplished last year, I felt like I deserved to take a break, not just for my tennis but for my life," said Sampras, who spent most of last fall playing in Europe in order to break Jimmy Connors all-time record of five years as the year-end number one.

The plans of former number one Jim Courier to re-enter the top 50 in San Jose hit a roadblock when he was upended by Dutchman John Van Lottum yesterday 6-4 7-6 (7-4).

Now ranked 68th, the American still thinks he has an outside shot of reaching the top again, but realises that at age 28 it may only be a pipe dream.

Van Lottum reached the semifinals here last year but spent the latter part of 1998 battling an ankle injury. He said that despite Courier’s low ranking, notching a win over a four-time Grand Slam champion is still huge.

"On a day when he plays well, he can still beat a lot of good players," said Van Lottum, who added that the game has changed since Courier bullied the tour as its top dog in 1992.

Van Lottum exploited Courier’s weaker backhand side and took over the net in key situations.

In a mild upset, Justin Gimelstob took down fellow American Jan-Michael Gambill 6-3 7-6 (8-6).

Aussies win as Warne triggers collapse

SYDNEY, Feb 10 (Reuters) — England lost five wickets for six runs in 22 balls to hand Australia victory in the first final of the triangular tournament today.

Australia won by 10 runs after England, apparently cruising to victory on 198 for four in the 42nd over, lost the plot. They were all out for 222 in 49.2 overs. Australia had made 232 for eight from their 50 overs.

Leg spinner Shane Warne triggered the England collapse when he took two wickets off successive balls.

Top scorer Nasser Hussain (58) was first to go. He came down to Warne, swung across the line and was easily stumped by Adam Gilchrist. Adam Hollioake fell next ball leg before.

Paceman Glenn McGrath then cleaned up the England tail to finish with four for 45, equalling Dennis Lillee’s 1980-81 record of 25 wickets in this triangular series.

Australia’s win was soured by the news that Michael Bevan will miss the rest of the series after dislocating a finger while fielding.

Bevan, as he has done for Australia so many times in the past, rescued his side with an unbeaten 69 off 74 balls after they looked to be heading towards a much more modest total.

Although runs were hard to come by after two days of rain had softened outfield, Australia were forced to chance their arm in initial stages to ensure they maintained a decent run-rate in the event match was shortened by more showers.

The result was that while Australia were able to score heavily in the first few overs they lost a number of crucial wickets along the way.

SCOREBOARD
Australia:
M. Waugh c Stewart b Wells 42
Gilchrist b Gough 29
Ponting c Stewart b Wells 10
Lehmann c Mullally b Wells 19
Martyn c Stewart b Ealham 21
Bevan not out 69
Lee c Fairbrother b Ealham 12
Julian c (sub) b Hollioake b Ealham 12
Warne b Gough 9
Dale not out 1
Extras (LB-6, W-1, NB-1) 8
Total (for eight wickets, 50 overs) 232
Fall of wickets: 1-40, 2-67, 3-98, 4-115, 5-139, 6-176, 7-199, 8-222.
Bowling: Gough 10-0-43-2 (NB-1), Mullally 7-0-42-0, Wells 10-2-30-3, Ealham 10-0-45-3 (W-1), Croft 5-1-28-0, A. Hollioake 8-0-38-0.

England:
Knight b Dale 22
Stewart c M. Waugh b Dale 27
Hick run out 42
Hussain st Gilchrist b Warne 58
Fairbrother c Gilchrist b McGrath 8
Wells c Julian b Lee 33
Hollioake lbw b Warne 0
Ealham c Gilchrist b McGrath 4
Croft not out 12
Gough b McGrath 0
Mullally b McGrath 7
Extras (LB-3, W-2, NB-4) 9
Total (49.2 overs) 222
Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-67, 3-114, 4-131, 5-198, 6-198 7-198, 8-204, 9-204, 10-222.
Bowling: McGrath 9.2-1-45-4, Dale 10-0-33-2, Lee 7-1-29-1, Warne 10-0-40-2, Julian 4-0-28-0, Martyn 6-0-27-0, Lehmann 3-0-17-0.

Emphatic 3-0 win for India

CHENNAI, Feb 10 (PTI) — Putting up a much improved performance, Asian Games champions India managed to salvage their pride with an emphatic 3-0 win over Pakistan in the fourth hockey Test here today.

However, Pakistan with their earlier wins in Delhi, Bhopal and Hyderabad, have a 3-1 lead at the end of the Indian leg of the nine-match series for the Pepsi Cup. The remaining five tests will be played in Pakistan with the first at Lahore on February 16.

For India, forward Rajesh Chauhan scored a brace (third and 53rd minutes) while Baljit Dhillon scored off a penalty corner in the 18th minute.

A goodly crowd, which had gathered to witness the match at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium, did not expect India to win so easily. Hardly had one settled down when experienced forward Baljit Dhillon dodged past the Pakistani defence and passed to Rajesh Chauhan on the left, who slotted in the first goal (third minute).

With pivot Riaz supplying the forward line of Dhillon, Chauhan and the speedy Gagan Ajit Singh with good passes, the Pakistani defence, for the first time in the series, was under pressure, and it cracked.

A few minutes later, the Pakistan citadel almost fell. A long hit from Baljit Saini found an unmarked Gagan Ajit Singh, who dived full length in an attempt to divert the ball goalwards, but missed it.

The pressure on the Pakistani defence was so intense that a little later, India forced a penalty corner. Baljit Dhillon coolly converted it for the second goal (18th minute).

The Pakistanis were virtually reduced to the role of spectators, as coach Shahnaz Sheikh explained later, there were three new faces in the team. With medio Waseem Ahmed and winger Naveed Asim ‘nursing injuries’, they were hard put to contain the rampaging Indians.

At half-time, India led 2-0.

On resumption, Pakistan forced a penalty corner, but could not convert. India slowed down a bit in the session. Dangerous Mohammad Sarwar and Pakistan captain Atif Bashir were well-marked and were not allowed ‘free-runs’. The Indians played short passes and possessed the ball for longer periods. Whenever Sarwar and Bashir came to the danger area, Indian skipper Anil Aldrin and Dilip Tirkey dispossessed them.

With time running out, came a peach of a goal from Chauhan. S.S. Gill and Baljit playing in tandem, dribbled their way past the defence and the latter crossed to Chauhan, who pushed the ball in for the third goal (53rd).

Indian custodian Jagdish Ponnappa had little to do under the bar. Towards the end, Bashir and Sarwar, with fine stickwork, eluded the defenders and passed to an onrushing Mohd Nadeem, but Ponnappa prevented any damage.

This was the second win for India at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium where they had beaten their arch-rivals last in the 1995 SAF Games final.

Hat-trick Kumble’s next goal

BANGALORE, Feb 10 (PTI) — Four days after joining the ranks of all time great bowlers in Test cricket, leg spinner Anil Kumble still does not know how he took all the ten wickets in an innings.

"It just happened. It even surprised me", he confessed after landing here this evening to a rousing welcome from his home town faithfuls — family, friends and fans — who gathered at the airport in large numbers shouting "zindabad" for their hero.

Modest in talk and behaviour Kumble certainly is. But he is yet to reach the end of an already impressive list of achievements.

The soft exterior which hides a steely resolve has yet another goal to achieve. A hat-trick to make someone very special very happy — his mother.

Mother Saroja had played a great role in moulding the personality of the bespectacled computer engineer. And by performing a hat-trick, he wants to turn her dream into a reality.

He almost did it twice on Sunday during his epochal feat when he was twice on a hat-trick while running through the Pakistan second innings in Delhi.

"We will win the coming World Cup in the same fashion as beating Pakistan in the recent second Test", the soft-spoken leg spinner declared.

Kumble, who arrived nearly six hours behind schedule from Delhi, was taken in an open jeep in a procession from the airport to the Karnataka State Cricket Association’s Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Alter Ganguly’s batting order
By Abhijit Chatterjee
Tribune News Service

To make full use of the batting potential of Saurav Ganguly, the Indian cricket team's think tank must change the batting order of the Bengal-based left hander. In the two Test matches India played against Pakistan, at Chennai and Delhi, Ganguly came to bat at number six with the whole Indian tail exposed. It is but natural that with very little support from the other end Ganguly could not show his full potential with the bat.

Certain pundits of the game have suggested that Ganguly should be asked to open the Indian innings in Test matches. In any case he opens the Indian innings in one-day matches and has, in partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, developed into quite a competent opener.

But there is a basic difference between opening in Test cricket and opening in one-day matches. Ganguly might find things getting too hot for him with the deliveries which leave the left hander. And this is the type of deliveries he will get nine times out of ten in matches abroad. But for this weakness his competence with the bat cannot be doubted.

In contrast, even new ball bowlers do not swing the ball so much in one-day internationals because they know that too much swinging might result in a wide ball. And in the one-day game every run, no matter how it is scored, counts. Therefore, in one-day matches Saurav rarely has to tackle a moving delivery.

There is also another aspect to Ganguly's batting. He is a very competent player of spin and among all the Indian batsmen who played in the Test against Pakistan he was most competent while tackling Saqlain Mushtaq, the off spinner who captured as many as 20 Indian wickets in four innings, five in each innings. Therefore, by coming down the order when spinners are generally in operation Saurav Ganguly can serve India better.

Also, one must remember that the new opener pair of V.V.S. Laxman and S. Ramesh have done quite a competent job in the two matches and should be given more time to mature. Therefore, if Saurav is promoted up the order these two batsmen might lose heart.

What had compounded Saurav's problems is the lean form of the Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin. The Indian skipper who comes in to bat before Ganguly has not been able to produce his old form in the four innings he played against Pakistan. At Chennai he had scores of eleven and seven while at Delhi the Indian skipper scored 67 and 14. But even his first innings at the Delhi Test was quite out of character as the Indian skipper, with nearly 6000 Test runs under his belt, was not able to middle the ball properly for most part of the innings.

In contrast to the skipper's showing, Ganguly scored 54 and two at Chennai and 13 and 58 not out in Delhi. But his dismissal in the second innings at Chennai was the centre of a debate with umpire Steve Dunne declaring him out when actually he was not out. His dismissal in the first innings at the Delhi Test was also debatable while in the second innings he ran out of partners.

As a stop-gap arrangement Saurav Ganguly can be sent to bat ahead of Azharuddin at number five. If this is done then the left hander with a very good track record with the bat can contribute more to the cause of the team.This experiment can be tried in the Asian Test Championship which gets under way at the Eden Gardens at Calcutta on February 16 when India take on Pakistan. If the experiment is a success it can be carried along in future.

Big opportunity for hopefuls

KOCHI, Feb 10 (PTI) — The Board President’s XI, comprising promising youngsters, knocking at the door of international cricket, will have to pull out all stops to make a match of it against Pakistan in the three-day game, beginning tomorrow.

For the visitors, who lost the second Test to India by 212 runs at Delhi, the match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium will give them an opportunity for much-needed match practice ahead of the Asian Test Championship, which begins in Calcutta on February 16.

On the other hand, the Board President’s XI, led by Hrishikesh Kanitkar, has plenty of natural talent to take Pakistan to the wire and would strive hard to prove their prowess once again.

The match would be played on the same pitch on which India had won a one-day international against Australia two years ago.

Curator P.V. Ramachandran said: "The pitch would be firm and hard but as the match progresses there would be something in it for the spinners."

Indian all-rounder Robin Singh, who was here to inaugurate the tickets sale, also felt "the pitch would help the spinners on the third day.

"More grass on the strip would give an opportunity to the youngsters to study the mighty pace duo of Pakistan," he added.

Eighteen-year-old Lakshmi Ratan Shukla of Bengal, a bright prospect, who had won the favour of selectors is among players whose performances will be watched keenly. Shukla, who was not in the original 14-member squad was included subsequently in the team.

Sidelined from the national team, opener Gagan Khoda, would be desperate to get back. He had a string of of good performances in the domestic matches while captain and all-rounder Hrishikesh Kanitkar, got into the 14-member Indian team in the just concluded series against Pakistan and remains in the squad for the Asian Test series. He would strive hard to catch the attention of the national selectors.

The Kochi ground has proved a happy hunting ground for Kanitkar as he was the architect of West Zone’s win over South in the Duleep Trophy match last year with a brilliant 93 and later in the one-dayer against Australia scored a fighting 57.

Another exciting prospect is Delhi’s Virender Sehwag, capable of changing the course of a match with his no-holds-barred strokeplay. Sehwag, who bats right handed and bowls right-arm off-spin, was in the India under-19 team for World Cup in South Africa. A good contribution from the bat and ball would brighten his chances.

Madhya Pradesh’s all-rounder Jai Prakash Yadav, was considered a certainty in the 30 probables for the May-June quadrennial show-piece, but luck favoured Bengal’s teenaged Shukla. Yadav had a hat-trick against Bengal in the wills trophy final at Eden Gardens and a repeat performance here would do a world of good for him.

Among others, wicket-keeper M.S.K. Prasad would benefit from this tourney. The Andhra keeper who has played in two one-day internationals would be keen to catch the eyes of the nationals selectors — Chairman Ajit Wadekar and Shivlal Yadav — who would be here to assess the players.

Bengal southpaw Rohan Gavaskar, Mohammed Kaif (UP) and Reetender Singh Sodhi (Punjab), will be the others trying to impress the selectors.

Test discard Debashish Mohanty of Orissa and Delhi’s Robin Singh Jr will look after the pace department.

While the spin department with its rich variety could cause some worry to the visitors. Kanitkar’s off-spin, Ananthapadmanabhan’s leg-spinners and Karthik Murali’s left-arm spin may well combine to make things difficult for them.

The Pakistan batting revolves around inform Shahid Afridi, who had belted a brilliant ton in the Chennai Test and opener and prolific scorer Saeed Anwar, looking to regain form

Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam-ul-Haq and veteran Salim Malik, would provide strength to the middle-order.

The 20-year old Wajahtullah Wasti, the Peshawar-born opener, who came a cropper in their opening match against India 'a’ at Gwalior, would get a chance to redeem himself while pacemen Shoaib Akhtar, considered the fastest of the pacers in this Pakistan team looks a certainty.

The visitors have a strong spin department and even if they decided to rest offspinner Saqlain Mushtaq, the most dreaded, who took five wickets in each innings of the two-Test series to tally 20, legspinner Mushtaq Ahmed and Nadeem Khan would be a difficult proposition on a turning track.

Teams:

Pakistan (from): Wasim Akram (capt); Saeed Anwar; Wajahtulla Wasti; Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam-ul-Haq; Yusuf Youhanna; Salim Malik; Moin Khan, Waqar Younis; Saqlain Mushtaq, Shahid Afridi; Azhar Mahmood, Mohammed Naveed Quereshi, Shoaib Akhtar; Nadeem Khan and Mushtaq Ahmed;

Board President’s XI (from): Hrishikesh Kanitkar (capt); Gagan Khoda; Shiv Sundar Das; Jai Prakash Yadav; Lakshmi Ratan Shukla; Mohammed Kaif; Virender Sehwag, MSK Prasad; Murali Karthik; Robin Singh (jr); Debashish Mohanty; K.N. Ananthapadmanabhan; Rohan Gavaskar; Hanumara Ramkishen and Reetinder Singh Sodhi.

Umpires: G.A. Pratap Kumar (Andhra) S.K. Tara Pore (Karnataka);

India lose to Egypt in final

CAIRO, Feb 10 (PTI) — India failed to maintain their fine run, losing to Egypt 1-3 in the finals of the five-nation International Hockey Tournament here last evening.

The hosts, who led 2-0 at halftime, brushed aside the Indians with aggressive play as the visitors tried in vain to gain a foothold in the game.

In another match Canada defeated Malaysia to clinch the third position.

Egypt went into the lead in the 12th minute when left winger Amr Ahmed successfully converted a penalty corner. The hosts went ahead 2-0 two minutes later when I Ibrahim sounded the board as the second string Indian team grouped around trying to connect the ball.

They could have gone 3-0 up in 22nd minute but India, who put up a feeble defence throughout the match, for once managed to successfully deflect the ball aborting a fine attack.

However, the Indians came back strongly in the second half and scored in the 40th minute to make it 2-1. Left winger Brojen Singh, who played a consistently good game throughout the eight-day tournament, scored on a penalty corner.

Egypt, cheered by their home crowd, made it 3-1 in the 57th minute when Mahmud Sameer swung the ball towards the goal, taking the goalkeeper totally by surprise.

Valiant efforts to score by the Indians proved futile as the Indian forwards failed to convert the chances. India were awarded seven penalty corners while Egypt got only four.

Leander loses in straight sets

DUBAI, Feb 10 (PTI) — India’s Leander Paes fell at the first hurdle when he lost in straight sets to Johan Van Herck of Belgium in the Dubai Open ATP Tennis Tournament yesterday.

Paes, fresh from his ATP Challenger title win at Calcutta at the expense of his doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi, failed to produce the same form and went down fighting 4-6, 3-6 to the Belgian.

Paes, who after a long injury-enforced lay-off, played his first singles match at the Australian Open last month, but could not progress past the first round, however, made it to the doubles final with Bhupathi.

But the duo failed to live up to their top seeding when they went down to fifth seeds Jonas Bjormkan of Sweden and Pat Rafter of Australia at Melbourne Park.

Paes and Bhupathi, the defending champions in doubles, meet Pablo Albano and Daniel Orsanic in the first round.

AP adds: Alex Corretja, the world’s number two player, was ousted from the $ 1 million tournament, losing to Australia’s Andrew Ilie 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, (12-10).

In an earlier match, Britain’s Tim Henman took just over an hour to dispose of Zimbabwe’s Wayne black 6-0, 6-4.

Corretja, the top seed, struggled against the Romanian-born Ilie and his thundering shots throughout the 144-minute match.

Ilie won the support of the crowd with only three games gone in the first set, something that proved to be crucial during the match, especially in the tense moments of the third-set tie-breaker.

The tie-break saw Ilie fight off five match points. The victory was his biggest career win following an impressive showing at the Australian Open earlier this year.

"I thank everyone for supporting me so well," said Ilie, who went flat to kiss the court in a gesture of gratitude after the match-winning point.

The third-seeded Briton broke black in the opening game and needed only 66 minutes to dispose of the No. 88 ranked player.

Henman will next meet Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman, who defeated veteran German Boris Becker in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.

"I’m particularly pleased to have won because there is a great opportunity now, not having a lot of points to defend for a few weeks," Henman said.

It was Henman’s first competitive match since he was eliminated in the third round of the Australian Open to Switzerland’s Marc Rosset.

"I was disappointed with my performance at the Australian Open, but sometimes you can have paralysis by analysis. Sometimes you play badly and it’s as simple as that. It can just be best to forget it," he said.

Austria’s Thomas Muster, competing here on a wild card, needed 73 minutes to defeat Frenchman Stephane Huet 6-4, 6-2.

Spain’s Francisco Clavet upset former Dubai Open champ Wayne Ferreira of South Africa 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (13-11).

Mohun Bagan hold Churchill

MARGAO, Feb 10 (PTI) — Churchill Bros failed to ward off a second half resurgence from Mohun Bagan and were held to an exciting 2-2 draw in the group "A" National League Football match here today.

Churchill, who had an upper hand during the major part of the match, shot into lead in the 12th minute through striker Jose Martins at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda here.

But Bagan, who fought back in the last 20 minutes of the match, restored parity in the 46th minute through Jo Paul Ancheri.

Churhcill then went into lead in the 48th minute through Jose Martins header. Bagan fought back and drew parity off a low header from defender Satyabrata Bhowmick.

Basim Yonan, who came in for Soumitro Chakraborty, got a marching order from referee Inayatullah Khan after he was booked for the second time for elbowing defender Anthony Pereira with two minutes left from injury time.

With this draw, their fifth, Churchill have 14 points from nine matches. They will play next with Air-India in Mumbai to complete the league engagement.
Bagan have collected 14 points, the same as Churchill from nine matches. They now play their last match against Dempo here on February 14.

Apart from Bassim who got two yellow cards, Satyabrata Bhowmick and Soumitro Chakraboty got yellow cards.

The match started at a fast pace with both teams trying to outwit each other. Churchill, who had more of the goal bound moves with their midfielders controlling the march, drew first blood through striker Jose Martins off a flag kick taken by Somatai Shaiza who floated the ball to defender Osuman Hussian whose header came to Mahesh Singh.

Mahesh’s header hit the cross bar and rebounded. Jose Martins pounced on to the ball from a goal mouth melee and slammed home from close range.

Bagan made moves mostly from the right flank but could not beat the rival defence, as Osuman Hussain stood like a rock, foiling most of the moves.

Cheema Okorie, who was well policed by defender Osuman twice, shrugged off his marker and came close to scoring in each half. In the first his powerful long ranger was saved by the keeper while in the second session Cheema’s reverse kick hit the right post and went out.

Churchill keeper Edward Ansah denied Bagan the equaliser when he came up with a fine save off Jo Paul Ancheri.

After change of ends, Bagan restored parity in 46th minute. Soumitro centred the ball to Jo Paul into box, who took a low left-footer, which brushed keeper and went in.

Bagan had hardly celebrated the goal when Churhcill retaliated and succeeded in taking the lead in the 48th minute. Shaiza who took the flag kick on the right floated the ball to Jose Martins whose header was deflected in by substitute defender Reazul Mustafa, who came in place of Lolendro Singh.

Churchill’s Mario Soares, Aqueel Ansari and Somatai Shaiza, who controlled the midfield well, kept on spraying passes to their upfront but Philip Mensaha and Jose Martins could have consolidated the lead. Jose Martins twice failed to find the target.

Desperate to find the equaliser, Bagan coach P.K. Bannerjee bought in Bassim Yonan and Adebayo Gbadabo in place of Soumitro Chakraboty and Amit Das.

Bagan slowly took control in the midfield and made deep forays into the rival half and finally succeeded in finding equaliser in the 82nd minute.

Cheema, who was denied by the woodwork earlier, took possession of the ball on the left flank and sent a low cross into the box for unmarked Satyabrata Bhowmick, put the ball to the right of keeper Edward Anshah.

Gopichand, Aparna Popat too good

NEW DELHI, Feb 10 (PTI) — Top shuttlers Pullela Gopichand and Aparna Popat scripted convincing wins in the finals to retain their respective men’s and women’s singles crowns at the 63rd Senior National Badminton Championship here today.

Defending champion Gopichand downed Railways’ Shrikant Bakshi 15-3, 15-3 in just 21 minutes, totally outsmarting his opponent with superb drop shots and electric smashes.

Top woman Aparna Popat defeated former national champion P.V.V. Lakshmi in a one-sided match, 11-3 11-4 to claim her second singles title.

Gopichand won his third title in a row as Bakshi, in his first final, looked jaded and gave up much before Gopichand thrust his hands in the air to celebrate the victory.

The 26-year-old Andhra shuttler, who won back-to-back titles in Pune and Hyderabad after losing to Dipankar Bhhattacharya in Broach, found little opposition from Bakshi.

International Gopichand, who led the Indian team to silver in Commonwealth Games and then won individual bronze in Kuala Lumpur, used crosscourt drop shots to perfection and his pick up of low returns just astounded his opponent.

As Bakshi sent few returns wide, Gopichand raced to 8-1 lead in the first game and then with a jumping overhead smash, he won the game 15-3 in 10 minutes as the railwayman could win just two more points.

Bakshi, who outlasted last year’s runners-up Abhin Shyam Gupta in the semifinals yesterday, tried to rally back into the game by keeping shuttle in play for longer time.

The 27-year-old Bakshi ran out of steam as Gopichand, who started the match a bit slow, came into groove and took a 9-2 lead. Bakshi paid the price for attempting net-play quite too often and made unforced errors. Gopichand led 14-3 when Bakshi again went for unnecessary dribble at the net and lost point to give the former a deserving victory.

The women’s singles final was just another lopsided contest ever seen in the national championship final. It required Aparna Popat just 18 minutes to vanquish P.V.V. Lakshmi.

Aparna, who lost to Lakshmi in Broach, was a class apart from as she took off from 2-3 in the first game to clinch it 11-3 in 10 minutes.

Her defence of title was made even simpler as Lakshmi committed several errors at the net. The 21-year-old Karnataka girl used perfect placings to wrong foot her opponent on a number of occasion. After being down 2-4 in the second game, she won nine points in a row to claim back-to-back titles with 11-3, 11-4 triumph.

Maharashtra, who claimed the Rahimtoola Cup for men’s team championship, bagged two more titles on the final day when Manjusha Kanwar/Archana Deodhar won the women’s doubles, and Archana in company of Vincent Lobo crafted a three-game victory for mixed doubles crown later in the day.

Both Archana Deodhar and Vincent Lobo completed grand-double by winning two titles here. Lobo won the men’s doubles partnering Jaseel P. Ismail.

Lobo/Ismail were engaged in an interesting battle of nerves with Rajeev Bagga/Vijay Deep Singh before winning 15-10, 3-15, 15-8. Manjusha/Archana beat Popat/Manju T. Abraham 15-4 15-3 in women’s doubles final while Archana/Lobo pair beat Madhumita Bisht/Vinod Kumar 16-17, 15-11, 15-6.

While the singles finals turned out to be one-sided affairs, doubles contest provided rich badminton fair for the spectators.

Manjusha Kanwar and Archana Deodhar, top ranked womens doubles pair in India were up against Aparna Popat and Manju T. Abraham and though scorline the - 15-4 15-3 - suggested an easy win for the Maharashtra pair, Aparna/Abraham pair gave a good fight before losing out.

Jaseel P. Ismail and Vincent Lobo provided the best match of the day where fortunes fluctuated after each rally.

In the marathon first game, Lobo/Ismail were on gamepoint 14-7 and lost services five times before Bagga/Singh pair closed in on 14-10. But Lobo, an emerging doubles player with amazing reflexes provided the combination one point they needed to win the first game.

The 1993 national champion Bagga, now mostly focussing on doubles, combined well with Vijay Deep Singh to win the second game 15-3 but in the third, Lobo fantastically covered both sides of the court leaving Ismail to smash the winners for a 15-10 3-15 15-8 win.

In the mixed doubles final, veteran Madhumita Bisht and Vinod Kumar won the first game that went to the wire 17-16, but Lobo/Archana were too good. Experienced Madhumita’s age looks to have caught with her and she was having problems covering the back-court.

India bids for Thomas Cup tie

NEW DELHI, Feb 10 (PTI) — India has made a strong bid to host the Asian qualifying round of the prestigious Thomas and Uber Cup Badminton Championships scheduled in February 2000.

New Delhi or Mumbai will host the Asian zone qualifying rounds if India is selected among the three bidding cities, Badminton Association of India (BAI) President V. K. Verma told reporters after the annual general meeting of the body here yesterday.

Malaysia and Chinese Taipei are two other countries vying to host the qualifying rounds, but India had earned a slight edge over Chinese Taipei with Malaysia promising to withdraw and support India, Verma said.

The host for the qualifying round will be selected during the general body meeting of the International Badminton Federation (IBF), to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark during the May-June World Championship.

Players from top badminton nations like China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Japan (except Thomas and Uber Cup holders) will be in action during the February 2000 event.

The BAI has decided to engage the services of foreign coach — Zhu Xiao Dong from China — for a initial period of one year starting April 1999 to give a boost to badminton in the country after the Union Government elevated the sport from a non-priority to priority one following India’s good show at Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth games.

Dong will be based in Bangalore and mainly oversee players' preparations at the national training camps, Verma said.

The BAI inducted Petroleum Sports Control Board (PSCB) as full member giving it voting rights — virtually making the institutional body the strongest team in the country.

PSCB, which employs nearly all top men and women players, will contest in team championship and field players in open events from the next nationals, BAI Executive President Prakash Padukone said. PSCB will join central zone, which also has Air India, Railways and the AIU.

Announcing the calendar for the year 1999-2000, he said the 64th Senior National Championship will be hosted by Kerala in December-January, the Junior Nationals at Kohima, in October and Mini and Sub-junior Nationals in Vijayawada.

BAI has decided to scrap the under-22 nationals for doubles event after considering its futility, he said. The last U-22 nationals will be held in Agartala from March 8 to 10.

A five-leg domestic grand prix circuit for the ongoing season was approved with events for senior offering Rs 4 lakh prize money and Rs 2.5 lakh for junior tourneys.

India will also host an Asian satellite tournament in November-December in Andhra Pradesh, he said.

To give international exposure to top rated players, BAI would sent senior players to eight international tournaments on IBF circuit while juniors get a chance to play six events.

Nomi Qamar storms into semis
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 10 — Nomi Qamar of Pakistan upset Indian calculations and dashed the hopes of 3 Indians in the Centurion ITF Junior Circuit Tournament at Chandigarh today. In a first round match he defeated local boy and eight seed Sunil Kumar 1-6, 6--2, 6-4. In a match marked by superb ground strokes and almost complete absence of unforced errors, Nomi overcame a pugnacious Sunil. Nomi scalped Alok Bhide 6-3, 6-3 in the next round and then upset second seed Akshay Vishal Rao 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

In another Indo-Pak encounter, the top seed Kedar Tembe trounced Ahmed Walha of Pakistan 6-3, 6-3.

In another match which saw hard hitting from both players, Kedar Shah outhit Amanjot Singh 6-3, 6-2. Although Amanjot’s serve promises much for the future, he could not match Kedar’s fire power and he went down fighting.

The girls section of the draw in progressing on expected lines with the top three seeds making the grade and reaching the semi-finals. In the only close match of the day, Nida Waseem of Pakistan pipped Radhika Mandke of India at the post and won 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. She faces the top seed Guatham Sheetal tomorrow in the semi-finals.

The results:

Boys Singles: (Quarterfinals): Kedar Tembe b Ahmed Walha 6-3, 6-3, Kedar Shah b Amanjot Singh 6-3, 6-2, Vishal Punna b Karan Doctor 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, Nomi Qamar beat Akshay Vishal Rao 6-3, 6-4.

Boys Doubles: (Pre-Quarter finals): Kedar Shah & Karan Doctor (Ind) b Sidharth Sudhakar & Rahul Rajkhewa (Ind) 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, Saif Ali & Vinod Sewa (Ind) b Sarbrinder Singh & Vishal Punna (Ind) 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3, Stephen Nita Gbr) & Prantap Chaturvedi (Ind) b Saurabh Singh & Amanjot Singh (Ind) 7-6 (6), 6-3, C.S. Mohanty & Ashutosh (Ind b Jay Arora & Arpan Lakhani (Ind) 6-2, 6-4, Nishank and Shivang Mishra (Ind) b Anoop Anand & Aakash Sharma (Ind) 6-3, 6-4, Kedar Tembe & Alok Bhide w/o Vivian Chethi & Jaidev Panjabi. Sunil Kumar & Akshay Vishal (Ind) b P. Ravi Krishna & Ritesh Chitlangia 6-3, 7-5, Ahmed Waldha (Pak) & Mark Weaver (Gbr) b Nomi Qamar (Pak) & Zila Hai (Pak) 6-4, 6-4.

Girls Singles (Quarterfinals): Sheetal Gautham (Ind) b Dzyuba Olga (Kaz) 6-3, 6-3, Nida Waseem (Pak) b Radhika Mandke (Ind) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, Radhika Tulpule (Ind) b Marta Malnowska (POL) 6-4, 6-4, Shruti Dhawan (Ind) b Valeriya Khazova (Kaz) 7-5, 6-4.

Girls Doubles (Quarterfinals): Sheetal Gautam & Shruti Dhawan (Ind) beat Vishika Chhetri & Itishree Badu (Ind) 6-0, 6-1, Valeriya Khazova & Olga Dzyuba (Kaz) beat Nida Waseem (Pak) & Harsimran Kaur (Ind) 6-2, 7-6 (6)

Tulpule Tulpule Radhika & Radhika Madke (Ind) b Simmi Rani & Isha Chopra (Ind) 6-1, 6-1, Wagh Nona (Ind) & Marta Malinowska (Pol) beat Liza Periera & Sonal Phadke (Ind) 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.

Semifinals: Sheetal Gautham & Shruti Dhawan b Nona Wagh & Malinowska 6-1, 6-4, Radhika Tulpule & Radhika Mandke beat Khazova & Dzyuba Olga 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-0.

Basad Ali takes top spot

CALCUTTA, Feb 10 (PTI) — Old warhorse Basad Ali began his defence of the Rs 5 lakh Cyanamid Open Golf Championship in style, taking the top spot with a three-under 69 on the opening day at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club today.

The veteran, who sizzled the Indian courses in the late 70s and 80s, proved he is still a force to reckon with as he took a two-stoke lead over his rivals.

Vijay Kumar, Sanjay Kumar (both Lucknow) and Mohammed Salim of Calcutta were tied in the second position returning scores of one-under-par 71.

Balbir Verma, Manohar Dike, Ranjit Singh, Sheik Malik, S.K. Ali were sharing the third place, returning cards of 72.

Vijay Kumar, the leader in the Mahindra-PGAI Order of Merit, looked completely out of touch as he finished his first seven holes at four-over, which included a double bogey on the seventh hole. The Lucknow-based pro, however, made a remarkable comeback in the back nine when he fired a hattrick of birdies between the 11th and 13th holes.

In the amateur section, Arjun Singh and Joy Mukherjee were jointly leading the field returning cards of 77.

Judo trials today

CHANDIGARH, Feb 10 (TNS) — As per the directions of the Court of Additional District Judge, Chandigarh, trials for selection of the Chandigarh judo team for participation in the 5th National Games will be held tomorrow at 12 noon in the presence of Director/Sports, UT, Chandigarh. Interested players should report for trials at Panjab University gymnasium hall (judo), Sector 14, at 11.30 a.m.

The Chandigarh team selected during the trials will leave for Imphal immediately thereafter for participation in the National Games being held at Imphal (Manipur). This was disclosed by Mr K.S. Sahota, Hony Secretary, Chandigarh Olympic Association, today.