Stakes high for Kumble, Mongia BANGALORE, Sept 30 — Stakes will be high for leg spinner Anil Kumble and wicketkeeper Nayan Mongia fighting to return to the Indian team as they lead Ranji Trophy holders Karnataka and the Rest of India, respectively, in the season-opening Irani Cup tie beginning here tomorrow with the threat of rain looming large over the five-day fixture. Opening day’s play washed out PUNE, Sept 30 — Overnight rains washed out opening day’s play in the tour opener three-day tie between New Zealand and India “A” scheduled at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here today.

OSAKA : Alina Kabaeva of Russia, 16, performs with a ball during preliminaries of the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships at a gymnasium in Osaka, western Japan, on Wednesday. Scoring perfect 10s in the ball and ribbon, Kabaeva leads the individual and all-round competition. — AP/PTI

PCA plans cricket bonanza next year
Chandigarh, Sept 30 — A bonanza of international cricket has been lined up by the Punjab Cricket Association for the coming year.

CRPF, PSEB, FCI in quarters
CHANDIGARH,Sept 30 —Central Reserve Police Force,Punjab State Electricity Board and Food Corporation of India(Northern Region) completed the quarterfinal line-up of the 29th All-India Gurmit Memorial Hockey Tournament as the championship entered a decisive phase at the sector 42 hockey stadium here today.

Jaitha takes lead
NEW DELHI, Sept 30 — Amish Jaitha (Pune) could not dazzle but his two over par 74 saw him move to top with an aggregate of 221 on the penultimate day of the four-day Northern India Amateur Golf Championship at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) course here today.

Orissa dethrone Haryana
MUMBAI, Sept 30 — Dark horse Orissa dethroned reigning champions Haryana 3-2, after leading 2-1 at the breather, in the final of the Junior Women’s National Hockey Championship here today.

South Africa down fighting Kenya

NAIROBI, Sept 30 (PTI) — South Africa maintained their strong revival by carving out a 24-run victory over fighting Kenya to virtually seal a place in the final of the LG Cup triangular one-day cricket tournament here today.

In yet another match that proved to be a low-scoring affair, the hosts gave a good account of themselves by pegging the Proteas to 220 for seven wickets in 50 overs and then gate a brief charge before folding up for 196 in 48.1 overs at the Nairobi Gymkhana.

On a pitch that once again was not to the liking of the shaky South African batsmen, Kenya held a firm grip as they reduced them to 157 for six before a typical rearguard effort by Shaun Pollock (30) and wicketkeeper Mark Boucher (28 not out) pulled their team to set up a fighting total.

The Kenyan reply was spearheaded by the tried and trusted Steve Tikolo, who slammed a fluent 67 studded with nine fours and raised a 60-run stand with Tomas Odoyo (41- 50 b, 5x4) for the sixth wicket, before South Africa’s formidable bowling had the final say.

Pollock, spearheading the attack, completed a superb all-round display with a brilliant spell of three for 10 runs and fellow pacemen Jacques Kallis (2/27) and Lance Klusener (2/29) and unorthodox left-arm spinner Paul Adams (2/57) played the supporting role.

South Africa, who beat Zimbabwe to recover from the big defeat against India, virtually sealed a final place which will be certain if India beat Zimbabwe tomorrow.

Minnows Kenya gave South Africa a scare, but fell shy of notching up a victory. The whirlwind stand between ‘man of the match’ Tikolo and Odoyo sent the capacity crowd into raptures and almost upset the applecart of their formidable rivals.

The Kenyans were reeling at 96 for five after 32 overs and appeared in no position to make a match of the 221 run target. Once Tikolo fell in the 43rd over after his 87-ball knock, Odoyo kept hopes alive and added 28 runs from three overs with Mohammad Sheikh.

His exit, however, meant curtains to the Davids against the Goliaths as the hosts were eliminated after their third straight defeat, but only after serving a mild warning to the established sides.

“We were really under pressure but Tikolo’s departure made life easier. Till he was there, I think we had a match on our hands,” a relieved Hansie Cronje said after the match.

Earlier, reeling at 83 for four in the 27th over, South Africa were propped up by two fruitful partnerships for the fifth and seventh wickets.

First Jacques Kallis (39) and Jonty Rhodes (45) added 73 runs from just 64 balls and later Pollock and Boucher put on 49 runs from 53 balls to prevent Kenya, who, electing to field for the second consecutive day had the batting side in all sorts of problems.

SCOREBOARD
South Africa:
Dippenaar c Shah b Ochieng 26
Cronje c Otieno b M Suji 2
Klusener c Odoyo b T Suji 22
Kallis c Odumbe b T Suji 39
Benkenstein c Odoyo b Sheikh 12
Rhodes c Ochieng b M Suji 45
Pollock b Odoyo 30
Boucher not out 28
Elworthy not out 2
Extras (b-4, lb-2, w-4, nb-4) 14
Total (for 7 wkts in 50 overs) 220
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-55, 3-56, 4-83, 5-156, 6-157, 7-207.
Bowling: M. Suji 9-1-37-2, Odoyo 10-1-37-1, T Suji 7-1-24-2, P Ochieng 4-0-10-1, M Sheikh 6-0-31-1, Odumbe 10-0-45-0, Tikolo 4-0-30-0.

Kenya:
Otieno lbw b Kallis 7
Shah c Boucher b Pollock 9
Vadher c Boucher b Klusener 17
Tikolo lbw b Cronje 67
Odumbe b Klusener 3
Modi c Cronje b Adams 10
Odoyo c Boucher b Pollock 41
A Suji c Rhodes b Adams 0
Sheikh c Klusener b Pollock 9
M Suji b Kallis 0
Ochieng not out 0
Extras (lb 17, w 15, nb 1) 33
Total (all out, 48.1 overs) 196
Fall of wickets: 1/20, 2/28, 3/60, 4/74, 5/96, 6/156, 7/167, 8/195, 9/196.
Bowling: Pollock 8.1-3-10-3, Kallis 9-1-27-2, Elworthy 7-1-21-0 Klusener 8-0-29-2, Adams 10-0-57-2, Mpitsang 3-1-14-0 Cronje 3-0-21-1.

India look to maintain clean slate

NAIROBI, Sept 30 (PTI) — An upbeat India will be looking to maintain their winning streak and put the seal on the debilitating loss in the World Cup to Zimbabwe when the two teams face off in the last league match in the four-nation cricket tournament here tomorrow.

A win will mean India will be playing their third consecutive final this season, which considering the fact they have been shorn of the established names in the team, is definitely creditworthy.

“Things have gone by and large as per plan thus far. We need to put our act together once again and enter the final with a clean record,” skipper Ajay Jadeja told PTI. The Indians took a day off while the Zimbabweans had a long session at the nets.

“It’s always special to play against India. We didn’t do well against them in Singapore. Hope we re-work the World Cup magic,” skipper Alistair Campbell said after practice.

Campbell indicated he will field paceman Henry Olonga — India’s nightmare in the World Cup — tomorrow and “leave it to him to do the things he did at Leicester.”

If Olonga plays, it will be the first opportunity for the Indians to take on the man who effectively spelt doom for their World Cup dreams with three wickets in one over that send them to a three-run defeat in the league tie.

Blewett, Slater bolster Aussies

COLOMBO, Sept 30 (Reuters) — Openers Greg Blewett and Michael Slater put together their second successive century stand to help Australia to 203 for four on the opening day of the third Test against Sri Lanka today.

After the start had been delayed by an hour because of overnight rain, Blewett and Slater put on 126.

The partnership was broken shortly before tea when Slater was stumped by Romesh Kaluwitharana off part-time off-spinner Russel Arnold for 59. He hit six fours.

Blewett went on to make 70 before he was caught by Marvan Atapattu at extra cover off Rangana Herath. He batted for 228 minutes and hit nine boundaries.

Slater and Blewett had begun cautiously, scoring just 20 in 15 overs before lunch, but they upped the tempo in the second session.

Scoreboard
Australia (Ist innings):
Blewett c Atapattu c Herath 70
Slater st Kaluwitharana b Arnold 59
Langer c Ranatunga b Muralitharan 32
M. Waugh c Arnold b Muralitharan 13
S. Waugh not out 10
Ponting not out 11
Extras (NB-8) 8
Total (four wickets, 88.2 overs) 203
Fall of wickets: 1-126, 2-147, 3-182, 4-183.
Bowling: Vaas 12-2-32-0, (1 NB), Zoysa 6-4-8-0, Herath 23.2-7-64-1, Muralitharan 32-3-83-2 ( 7 NB), Jayasuriya 8-2-13-0, Arnold 7-4-3-1.

Stakes high for Kumble, Mongia

BANGALORE, Sept 30 (Sept) — Stakes will be high for leg spinner Anil Kumble and wicketkeeper Nayan Mongia fighting to return to the Indian team as they lead Ranji Trophy holders Karnataka and the Rest of India, respectively, in the season-opening Irani Cup tie beginning here tomorrow with the threat of rain looming large over the five-day fixture.

The 28-year-old spinner, who was axed after his poor show in Sri Lanka in the AIWA Cup, is out to prove a point or two leading Karnataka, four-time winners of the event.

Apparently in high spirits after being signed up by Leicestershire county club for the next season, the Karnataka star is not perturbed by his omission and is determined to let his bowling to do the talking.

The match, to be played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, is also important for rival skipper Mongia, who was ignored by the national selectors for the Nairobi Tournament though he had submitted fitness certificate on recovering from a hairline fracture in his palm suffered during the World Cup.

Mongia told reporters here today that the hand injury that he suffered had healed completely.

“I feel no discomfort at all. Otherwise I would not have come here”, Mongia said noting that he had also played in the Moin-ud-Dowla cricket tournament at Hyderabad earlier this month.

On tomorrow’s match, Mongia said Karnataka was one of the country’s best sides and had one of the best bowling attacks.

Speedster Javagal Srinath, “rested” by the selectors to give him sufficient time to recharge his batteries for coming engagements in this year’s packed calendar, would also be keenly watched.

Out-of-form players as well as consistent performers would get a chance for their recall, as chairman of selection committee, Chandu Borde, along with South Zone representative T.A. Sekar are scheduled to watch the match. Ashok Malhotra (East) is also expected, according to Karnataka Cricket Association (KSCA) officials.

Medium-pacer D. Ganesh and V.V.S. Laxman, who led India “A” in the recent Los Angeles series against Australia “A”, among others, are determined to catch the selectors’ eyes.

But chances of rain playing spoilsport cannot be ruled out if one were to go by the met office forecast.

PCA plans cricket bonanza next year
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, Sept 30 — A bonanza of international cricket has been lined up by the Punjab Cricket Association for the coming year. The bonanza will begin with the first Test between India and New Zealand scheduled to be played at the PCA Stadium from October 10 and will conclude with a tournament involving the champion teams of all the nine Test-playing countries.

Besides the Test match, the Punjab Cricket Association will conduct two international tournaments in the coming year. This was disclosed at the annual general body meeting of the association held at the PCA Stadium at SAS Nagar today. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has given permission to the association to conduct the tournaments “within the next two years”.

The Punjab Cricket Association will host a four-nation tournament to commemorate the golden jubilee of the association. While other associations have held such tournaments on an all-India level, the PCA has decided that all matches of this tournament will be played in the state itself with international venues available at Patiala, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Chandigarh and SAS Nagar.

Mr M.P. Pandove, secretary of the PCA, briefing newsmen said the association was reviewing the availability of international teams for the tournament. With the Indian team available between April 2 and 17 next year, the tournament would most probably be held then.

In case the association was able to get only two other teams then the tournament would be played on double-leg league basis but in case three teams, besides India, were available the tournament would be played on a single league basis.

Besides this international tournament, the association has also got permission to host the Maharaja Bhupinder Singh Memorial Cricket Championship. Since Maharaja Bhupinder Singh was one of the founders of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the sponsor of the Ranji Trophy, the BCCI had no objection while giving permission for such a tournament, Mr Pandove said.

The PCA secretary said the matches of this tournament would be played only in Punjab and in all probability the tournament would be held in September next year.

Today’s meeting also cleared the visit of the Punjab state team to Pakistan, where a series of matches will be played against the state team of Punjab (Pakistan). This visit, in January next, will be to reciprocate the visit of Zaman Park Club of Lahore, which played a series of matches in Punjab last year.

Meanwhile, four new members have been included in the 14-member executive of the PCA. They are Mr J.P. Shoor of Amritsar, Mr Vinod Chitkara of Ludhiana, Mr P.S.Gill of SAS Nagar and Mr Kamal Sidhu from among the life members.

The meeting also discussed way and means to promote cricket in the districts. In this connection it was decided that the parent body would help to promote the growth of infrastructure in the districts with the grant of cricket equipment and subsidy for employment of a coach for the district team. Also, the districts would be reimbursed for taking part in sate meets. Also, in case any district wanted to build the stadium the state association would subsidise the effort to the extent of 25 per cent.

Meanwhile, the sale of tickets for the India versus New Zealand Test match will commence on October 2, Mr Pandove added.

The meeting cleared the name of Mr Chaman Lal Malhotra as Chairman of the Senior Selection Committee while Mr Satish Kumar Mangal will be the Chairman of the Junior Selection Committee. The Tournament and Fixture Committee will be headed by Mr K.L.Likhi while Mr Daljit Singh will be the head of the Technical-cum-Coaching Committee.

The committee for minor districts will be headed by Mr Satish Kakkar while Mr B.K.Bassi will be Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee.

The other members of the Senior Selection Committee are Mr Deepak Chopra, Mr Rakesh Rathore, Mr Umesh Kumar and Mr R.P.Singla. Besides Mr Mangal, the other members of the Junior Selection Committee are Mr Sanjay Mishra, Mr Suresh Sharma, Mr Balbir Singh, Mr Mohinder Singh and Mr Arun Wadhawan.

Opening day’s play washed out

PUNE, Sept 30 (UNI) — Overnight rains washed out opening day’s play in the tour opener three-day tie between New Zealand and India “A” scheduled at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here today.

Efforts to make the ground fit for play came to nought due to heavy showers that have been lashing the city over the past four days.

Umpires A.V. Jayaprakash of Bangalore and M.R. Singh of Mumbai, who could not even physically inspect the waterlogged ground, announced that the opening day’s play had been totally washed out.

“The outfield is waterlogged. We will make the first inspection tomorrow if weather improves,” they said.

However, the meteorological department has predicted more rains in the next two days, putting in jeopardy the fate of the tour opener.

The rival teams were looking out for some match practice but all their hopes were dashed.

Kiwi skipper Stephen Fleming was disappointed, for his team had looked to the Pune tie to gain the much-needed match practice. “We have been short of match practice before coming to India due to weather conditions at home,” he said.

CRPF, PSEB, FCI in quarters
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH,Sept 30 —Central Reserve Police Force,Punjab State Electricity Board and Food Corporation of India(Northern Region) completed the quarterfinal line-up of the 29th All-India Gurmit Memorial Hockey Tournament as the championship entered a decisive phase at the sector 42 hockey stadium here today.

CRPF winners of the title in 1997,hung on to a solitary-goal lead to edge out Northern Railway while PSEB derailed Western Railway 7-6 through sudden death to book a berth in the last eight. Also moving into the quarterfinals were Food Corporation of India who shattered the dream of the young Air-India Academy with a comfortable 3-1 verdict.

With a mid-day drizzle keeping the crowds away,the enthusiasm of the teams also seemed to have been affected as none of the ties touched dizzy heights.Puddles of water also made play difficult and the worn-out turf only added to the players’ woes.

Nevertheless,CRPF who could not take part in the tournament last year due to a clash with the dates of the All-India Police Games,gave ample evidence of their form.They held a complete sway over the proceedings with Northern Railway shining only in patches.

After a couple of close misses early on, CRPF took the lead in the 14th minute following a penalty corner. Following Tanveer Zamal’s push, J.Kujur took a powerful hit to which AK Srivastava under the Northern Railway bar had no answer.

The match also tended to get rough at times.In the 17th minute Karnraj Singh of CRPF was shown the yellow card by umpire Shakeel Qureshi for intentionally hitting Rakesh Kumar of Northern Railway.

After the breather,CRPF were again in full control.The trio comprising Mukesh Kumar,Tanvir Zamal and A.Minz gave the Northern Railway defence a tough time with repeated forays.Mukesh came close to scoring immediately after the lemon break when he managed to weave his way into the ‘D’ but the alert Srivastava made a timely interception.

In the 64th minute,Mukesh had another good attempt but M.Ahmed of Northern Railway effected a goal-line save.

With time running out,Northern Railway brought in former Olympian Balwinder Singh who tried to make his team’s attacks more purposeful.However,the CRPF defence withstood the test with fortitude and prevented any damage.

Northern Railway were awarded three penalty corners while CRPF earned two out which one was converted.

The PSEB-Western Railway tie stretched into the tie breaker and then into sudden death as the two teams failed to settle the issue in regulation time.PSEB even failed to capitalise on a spate of penalty corners,which numbered six,and ultimately had to rely on sudden death to emerge unscathed. The scorers for the powermen in the tie breaker were Kuljit Singh,Jasbir Singh,Gurnand Singh,and Ranjit Singh while Chanderpal,Mukhtiar Singh,Deepak Gupta and Gursev Singh brought Western Railway on level terms.

In sudden death,Kuljit,Gurnand and Ranjit were again on target for PSEB while Chanderpal and Mukhtiar Singh were the only two successful players who converted their strokes for Western Railway.Deepak Gupta missed the target and thus Western Railway bowed out of the tournament.

Earlier FCI scored thrice in the first half to assure themselves of a place in the quarterfinals.FCI opened their account in the opening minute itself when Harbir Singh converted a penalty stroke. Eight minutes later, Satish Kumar made it 2-0 with a penalty corner conversion.In the 20th minute,Sanjeet found the target again for FCI to make it 3-0.

The consolation goal for Air-India Academy was scored by Khushmeet who converted a penalty corner in the 43rd minute to provide some cheer to the sagging spirits of his team-mates.

Friday’s fixtures: (quarterfinals) Sikh Regimental Centre v Border Security Force —1.30 p.m.; Air-India v Central Reserve Police Force — 3 p.m.

Jaitha takes lead
From Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, Sept 30 — Amish Jaitha (Pune) could not dazzle but his two over par 74 saw him move to top with an aggregate of 221 on the penultimate day of the four-day Northern India Amateur Golf Championship at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) course here today.

Simarjeet Singh could salvage four over par 76 along with Ashok Kumar to stay two behind the leader at 223, followed by veteran Ashok Malik who was six strokes behind the leader at 227.

Sandeep Syal of Cosmo was the only player to return a card of sub-par score of 71. He improved his position considerably and his consistent display was appreciated by many veterans.

Jaitha’s over-all play was good, if it was not outstanding. He had two bogeys in the first nine and a birdie and a bogey in his back nine. This gave him the day’s score of two over 74.

“I missed a few easy putts”, said Jaitha, adding: “Had I not been gripped by tension, I could have returned a much better card”.

Simarjeet Singh continued to be unpredictable. After paring first, he ran into head-long into trouble. He got two bogeys on the next two. As if this was not enough, he got a double bogey for no justifiable reason. He finished first nine four over 40. In back nine, steadied himself. He had a birdie and a bogey. This saw him get the day’s score of 76. His aggregate was 223.

Ashok Kumar was comparatively steady in the first nine, but struck a bad patch in back nine. He had as many as four bogeys.

Syal, who was the only one to have sub-par score, had four birdies and three bogeys. It was a tremendous play as he had returned the card of 80 on the first day and 77 on the following day.

Scores: Amish Jaitha 77,70,74- 221, Simarjeet Singh 74,73,76- 223, Ashok Kumar 77,70,76 -223, Ashok Malik 72,78,77 - 227, Jaideep Patwardhan 75,76,77 -228, Aman Behl 77,74,77 - 228 and Sandeep Syal 80,77,71 - 228.

Orissa dethrone Haryana

MUMBAI, Sept 30 (PTI) — Dark horse Orissa dethroned reigning champions Haryana 3-2, after leading 2-1 at the breather, in the final of the Junior Women’s National Hockey Championship here today.

Earlier, Karnataka drubbed Chandigarh 4-0, after leading 2-0 at half time, to finish third in the championship.

It was indeed a fitting finale with both the teams giving nothing away. In the seventh minute of the match, Orissa surged ahead when outside left Pratima Tirkey sounded the board following a free hit by left half Anjela Beck.

Just a couple of minutes earlier, Haryana came very near to scoring but right half Balwinder Kaur missed the mark narrowly after dribbling past two Orissa defenders.

In the 18th minute, Orissa increased the lead when Anjela scored following a penalty corner. Haryana again had a chance but their centre forward Rekha Rani failed to tap home an outside right Simranjeet Kaur through pass.

Balwinder Kaur then pulled one back for Haryana in the 30th minute when she flicked home a skipper Meenakshi cross.

Five minutes after interval, Orissa’s centre half Ejren Dadal was bang on target converting a Anjela pass after defender Sarita had initiated the move.

In the 62nd minute Haryana narrowed the margin through Simranjeet Kaur following a penalty corner. Haryana gave everything they had in the last seven minutes in search of the equaliser and forced four penalty corners but failed to score with Orissa custodian Raj Kishori effecting couple of saves.

With Haryana fighting tooth and nail to score the equaliser, tension on both the benches increased and umpire Radha Sukumaran of Kerala showed the green card to the Haryana bench for coaching the players during play.

Karnataka’s right out Sindhu Koppa scored a brace in the second half, after her teammates Elena Christy (centre half) and P.J. Shruthi (right half) had given a comfortable 2-0 lead at the interval.

Results

Final: Orissa 3 (Pratima Tirkey 1, Anjela Beck 1, Ejren Dadal 1) b Haryana 2 (Balwinder Kaur 1, Simranjeet Kaur 1). Ht: 2-1.

For 3rd place: Karnataka 4 (Singhu Koppa 2, P.J. Shruthi 1, Elena Christy 1) bt Chandigarh 0. Ht: 2-0.

Swimmers sweep all 6 titles

KATHMANDU, Sept 30 (PTI) — Nisha Millet swept to a grand seventh gold medal as Indian swimmers capped their near total domination by sweeping to all six titles decided, three of them with new meet marks, on the final day of SAF Games swimming competition today.

India finished with a superb haul of 25 gold medals and the tally would have been higher but for disqualifications in the men’s 4 x 200 m freestyle relay and women’s 4x100 m medley relay in the last two days.

The 17-year-old Bangalore lass climaxed her dream showing by scooping up the women’s 50 m freestyle gold in 28.71 secs, to finish with seven titles from eight events she took part.

Nisha eclipsed the mark of Bula Choudhury (29.29 secs) set at Colombo in 1991 when women’s swimming was last held.

The star swimmer, who ruled the roost just fell short of equalling former Indian international Khazan Singh Tokas’s record — equalled by pistol ace Jaspal Rana in 1995 at Chennai — haul of eight gold medals in the inaugural 1984 edition here.

Delhi swimmer Richa Mishra, who also left a major impact at the BIS complex pool, winning her third gold medal by claiming the 200 m individual medley with a new meet mark of 2 minutes 34.39 seconds, erasing the mark of 2:35.54 set by Sri Lanka’s Dipika Chanmujham 1991.

The Indian 4x100m freestyle relay quartet of T. S. Sujit, Elvis Ali Hazarika, S.H. Hakimuddin and J. Martin accounted for the other meet mark to fall, their winning effort of 3 min 40.73 secs bettering India’s own 1995 mark of 3:42.26.

Kalash Nath snapped up his third individual gold of the games as he won the tough men’s 1500 metres freestyle event.

The seasoned Central Reserve Police Force swimmer from Delhi gradually pulled away from the rest to clock 17:06.57. Marlon Delano of Sri Lanka took silver at 18:09.69 with Luqman Munawar (Pakistan) coming third.

Senthil Kumar annexed the 100 metres backstroke title, clocking one minute 02.40 seconds in a one-two sweep with Sachin Kakkar, who clocked 1:04.67 for the silver.

Deepak Singh stole the thunder in claiming the well fought men’s 200 m breaststroke, eventually pushing Bangladesh rivals Niaz Ali and Samedul Islam well behind to win at two minutes 32.24 seconds.

Indian boxers corner glory

KATHMANDU, Sept 30 (PTI) — Asian Games bantamweight gold medalist Dingko Singh punched his way to glory as Indian pugilists bagged six of the 12 gold medals at stake on the concluding day of boxing events at SAF Games here today.

Of the eight Indian boxers who had made it to the final, six managed to win the coveted gold which had been a good performance considering that India’s performance had not been good outside the country.

Dingko Singh, who was a strong gold medal contender, demolished Nepal’s Bahadur Hari with a 8-1 point verdict to corner the glory in the bantamweight category.

Mohammed Ali Qamar also did justice to his potential by prevailing over Nepal’s Ramesh Dash Shreshtha to claim the gold in the light flyweight category while Narendra Rana won the gold in the lightweight category by outpunching his strong Pakistan rival Asghar Ali Shah with an unanimous verdict.

Sanjit Singh (light welter) and Jitender Kumar (middle) were the other gold medal winners for India.

In the heavy weight category, Gurcharan Singh seemed to be in devastating mood as he knocked out Rajan Dangol of Nepal in the second round to claim the gold medal.

Marksmen reign supreme

KATHMANDU, Sept 30 (UNI) — Indian markesmen, led from the front by Jaspal Rana, bagged the day’s honours winning all the five gold medals at stake in the shooting events of the eighth SAF Games at the Suburban BIS complex here today.

India won both the team championship gold in the men’s 25m standard pistol and the women’s 10m air pistol, besides the team championship gold in the men’s 50m small bore rifle prone.

The individual events in the 50m small bore rifle prone would be completed tomorrow.

Results:

Men’s: 25 m standard pistol:

Individual: Jaspal Rana (Ind) 577 pts, Ved Prakash (Ind) 565, Samresh Jung (Ind) 558.

Team: India (Jaspal Rana, Ved Prakash, Samresh Jung 1700 points. Pakistan-1622, Sri Lanka-1608 points

50 m small bore rifle prone:

Team: India (Palangappat Changappa-575, A.P. Subbiah-581, Ashok Kumar Shahi -570) 1726 points, Sri Lanka-1717 points, Bangladesh 1711 points.

Women’s 10 m air pistol:

Individual: Shilpi Singh (Ind) 463.1, Hemantha Wijesinghe ( SL) 462.4, Tomar Seema (Ind) 457.7.

Team: India (Sushma Rana-357, Shilpi Singh-365, Tomar Seema-370) 1092 points.

India rout Nepal 4-0

KATHMANDU, Sept 30 (UNI) — Giving yet another superb display, India routed hosts Nepal 4-0 to top the four-team group A in the football events of the eighth SAF Games here today.

In the semifinals on October 2, India will take on Bangladesh, in what would be an encore of 1995 SAF Games final, while Nepal will cross swords with the Maldives in the other match.

Jeles Alberto put India ahead in the fourth minute and Hardeep Sangha made it 2-0 in the 30th minute with a beauty of a goal. Jules again scored in the first half injury time as India led 3-0 during the breather. Md Najeeb rounded off the tally in the 50th minute.

Paddlers assert supremacy

KATHMANDU, Sept 30 (PTI) — The strong Indian paddlers expectedly won both the men’s and women’s team gold medals thrashing Pakistan with an identical 3-0 margin in the SAF Games table tennis championships finals here today.

Barring Poloumi Ghatak, all the other four Indians carved out straight games victories without really having to sweat too much in the rather one-sided matches to retain the team titles they had won in the last edition in Chennai.

The men’s team comprising S. Raman, Chetan Baboor and Arjun Dutta never really seemed to be tested as it went about doing the demolition work against the Pakistanis.

Raman first defeated Asim Qureshi with a facile 21-7, 21-10 verdict to put the Indians ahead while Baboor was equally ruthless in quelling Kassif Razzsak with a 21-16, 21-17 margin.

With a 2-0 lead and the pressure squarely on the Pakistanis, Dutt showed his class thrashing Shezad Waseem in the last match with a comfortable 21-12 21-12 scoreline to help India retain the title.

Playing the first match in the women’s team final, Ghatak appeared a trifle shaky and made a number of errors but could still manage to win against Pakistan’s Raheela with a hard-fought 21-15, 19-21, 21-12 win.

India annex all w’lifting gold

KATHMANDU, Sept 30 (PTI) — Indian ironmen completed a clean sweep of all the eight titles in the SAF games weightlifting with 105 kg lifter Manjit Singh and the over-105 kg lifter Dalvir Singh completing the hegemony on the final day of competitions.

The two maintained India’s unrivalled supremacy after Pakistan had pipped hosts India to the overall honours in the previous games at Chennai in 1995.

In the under-105 kg class, Manjit Singh hoisted 145 kg in snatch and lifted 180 kg in clean and jerk to total 325 and win the title on lesser body weight, pushing Pakistan’s Rizwanullah Khan to silver after he had also aggregated 325 kg.

Nepal’s Bhakti Shiv totalled 275 kg (120 + 155) to win the bronze medal.

Dalvir Singh had little competition in the over-105 kg section. He cleared 162.5 kg in snatch and followed it up with 192.5 kg in clean and jerk for a splendid total of 355 kg, to win by a clear 20 kg over Pakistan’s Hameed Abdul.

Abdul hoisted 145 kg in snatch and followed it up with 190 kg in clean and jerk to take silver with a total of 335 kg. Sri Lanka’s Ashoka Ranjit Bhandari was a distant third (110 + 145 = 255).

India retain kabaddi crown

KATHMANDU, Sept 30 (PTI) — Defending champions India retained their SAF kabaddi title in style, crushing main rivals Pakistan 46-10 in the last round robin clash today.

India retained the title won in Chennai in 1995 by winning all their six round robin encounters while Pakistan took the silver and Sri Lanka bagged the bronze.

DAV College bag kabaddi title

JALANDHAR, Sept 30 (FOC) — Local DAV College proved their supremacy in the men’s section of the inter-college games of Guru Nanak Dev University as they won the kabbadi (Punjab style) ‘A’ division and waterpolo championship, which concluded at the GND University campus and Sports School, Jalandhar, respectively.

In the kabbadi final DAV College defeated Guru Nanak National College, Nakodar, 58-30 while in water polo they beat former champion Doaba College 7-3 to lift the trophy.

DAv College had earlier beaten Khalsa College, Amritsar, 62-37 and Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, 53-31 in league encounters. Khalsa College, Amritsar, was placed third in the championship. Sikander and Gurdev Gopi of DAv College here adjudged the best stopper and raider, respectively.

In water polo, an excellent performance by goalkeeper Tejbir and the forward line helped DAV College to clinch the trophy. The DAV College team showed excellent ball control and lead 4-0 in the first quarter. In second and third quarters, Doaba College tried their best to equalise the score and scored three goals but in the fourth and last quarter the DAV College attack-line and defence line showed brilliant coordination and scored two goals. Vishal and Kanwaljit Singh were the main scorers for the winning team.

Haryana yoga meet on Oct 9, 10

CHANDIGARH, Sept 30 (BOSR) — The Haryana State Yoga Association will hold the 15th Haryana State Yoga Championship on October 9 and 10 at Karan Stadium, Karnal, according to Mr Ashok Aggarwal, secretary general of the association.

As many as 19 districts and four universities of the state would participate in this two- day championship, on the basis of which the Haryana state team for the 24th National Yoga Championship to be held in Karnataka from October 28 to 31 will be selected.

Entries close on October 5 with the secretary of the association.

Postgraduate centre lift v’ball title

SHIMLA, Sept 30 (TNS) — Postgraduate Studies Centre, Shimla, defeated Government College, Solan, 25-7, 25-13, 25-11 to win the Himachal Pradesh University inter-college women volleyball championship here today. In the semifinals Postgraduate Studies Centre outplayed RKMV, Shimla 25-11, 25-13, 25-16 and Government College, Solan had defeated GGSD College, Baijnath 25-15, 25-14, 25-11.