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| Sunday, January 23, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Pak eager to clinch berth in
finals
Anand faces tough task for victory |
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Gibbs, Cronje help SA
beat Zimbabwe
Gurcharan, Suresh keep hopes alive Paes-Raymond duo ousted Request to replace Agarkar turned
down Jeev tied at 16th place Amarjit creates national record
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Pak eager to clinch berth in finals MELBOURNE, Jan 22 (PTI) — Hosts Australia will seek to maintain their winning momentum when they take on Pakistan in a one-day cricket triseries league tie here tomorrow that will be as important for the beleaguered Indians, who are on the verge of making a premature exit from the tournament. The all-conquering Australians, who bounced back from the blemish of losing the inaugural tri-series clash to Pakistan to reel off four victories in a row and seal a berth in the best of three finals with much to spare, have to win tomorrow if India are to remain afloat. Australia have eight points from five matches, but Pakistan, who have six points from five outings, will also make it to the final if they win the day encounter at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The hosts, who have been clearly superior to both their rivals with fielding providing the extra impetus to their performance, have never looked back since recovering from the 45-run loss in the opening low scoring clash against Pakistan. India have lost all four encounters so far to be without a single point and their only hopes lie in an Australia win followed by their (India) pulling off big wins in all four remaining league games. Pakistan, down and out after suffering a 0-3 whitewash in Tests like India did, have shown lot of fighting spirit unlike their listless sub-continent neighbours, with young all-rounder Abdur Razzaq the latest in an unending assemblyline of street cricketers to international match winners. Australia have played like true World Cup champions since stumbling in the first outing in Brisbane against the team they vanquished in the World Cup final last year. While the stylish Mark Waugh has shown signs of regaining his form, young Ricky Ponting, who followed up his century against India by notching up three zeroes on the trot, is due for a big knock. Australia have thrived on their formidable middle order led by skipper Steve Waugh, where Damien Martyn and Andrew Symonds have been a picture of consistency while Shane Lee has superbly backed up pace stalwart Glenn McGrath. The hosts, in fact, have a problem of plenty after leg spinner Stuart MacGill, who came in only because his famous counterpart Shane Warne is injured, captured a match-winning four for 19 runs in the win over Pakistan at Sydney. Having secured the final berth, Australia can afford to give the much-needed rest to McGrath after the birth of his first child on Thursday. Young tearaway Brett Lee is expected to replace his senior New South Wales team-mate while Ian Harvey may come in for Shane Lee. Pakistan are yet to overcome batting frailties at the top of the order, but Razzaq, who blasted an unbeaten 70 off 52 balls and then captured five wickets for 48 runs against India at Hobart, has emerged as their new star. With Razzaq boosting the pace department along with Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar and off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, the lynchpin for Pakistan’s lower order fightbacks, they are determined to claim a spot in the final within the distance. Teams: Australia: Steve Waugh (capt), Mark Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Michael Bevan, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, Damien Fleming, Ian Harvey, Stuart MacGill, Brett Lee, Shane Lee. Pakistan:
Wasim Akram (capt), Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Ijaz
Ahmed, Inzamam-ul Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Moin Khan, Abdur
Razzaq, Saqlain Mushtaq, Waqar Younis, Azhar Mehmood,
Shoaib Akhtar. |
Hingis, Serena in fourth round MELBOURNE, Jan 22 (AP) — US Open champion Serena Williams turned from survivor to aggressor today, slugging her way into the fourth round of the Australian Open tennis tournament with a 6-2, 7-6 (2) victory over Sabine Appelmans. Williams had floundered through her first match and much of her second, but was dictating points from the start against Appelmans. In the first set, she yielded only three points on serve. Appelmans picked up her game in the second set, when Williams had to save break points in the third and ninth games. The 18-year-old erased the first with a pair of excellent retrievals that pushed Appelmans into hitting a forehand wide. She took care of the second by slamming a forehand down the line, punctuating it with a loud “Yeah!” In the tiebreaker, the third-seeded Williams jumped to a 3-0 lead, catching Appelmans flatfooted with a cross-court forehand and then drawing two errors. She reached 4-1 with an ace and 6-1 with a cross-court backhand, ending the 71-minute match when Appelmans hit a backhand serve return into the net. Williams, who served at up to 184 kph (115 mph), will play No. 16 Elena Likhovtseva, a 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3 winner over Belgian Els Callens. Williams’ match was the second on center court stopped by rain and then resumed after the roof was closed. The same thing had happened earlier in the day to Martina Hingis. Now entering “middle age,” Hingis is happy with the way she is beating younger women at the Australian. In three matches, the three-time defending champion has lost only 14 games. Against 18-year-old Australian Alicia Molik, Hingis faced serves of up to 185 kph, and returned some of the hardest, in a 6-2, 6-3 victory that took her into the fourth round. She lost only five points on her own serve. Hingis said she has had to concentrate hard because her first three opponents “were all younger than me, youngsters coming up, having nothing to lose.” She beat Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic and Belgium’s Justine Henin before Molik. Hingis’ next opponent, No 12 Sandrine Testud, saved three match points in second set and then waited out the rain before beating Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. In a match moved into the main stadium, No 6 Barbara Schett beat Argentine qualifier Florencia Labat 6-1, 6-3. She next plays No 13 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, a 7-5, 6-1 winner over Australian wild-card entry Bryanne Stewart. American Kristina Brandi advanced to a meeting with No 10 Conchita Martinez by defeating Romania’s Ruxandra Dragomir 6-4 7-6 (7). Martinez beat Croatia’s Jelena Kostanic 6-4 6-4. Reuters: Defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov crushed unseeded Austrian Stefan Koubek 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in the third round of the Australian Open today. Kafelnikov, seeded second, produced a convincing display of controlled aggeression and precision reminiscent of the form which carried him to the title last year. Kafelnikov’s flashy, all-court game overwhelmed Koubek, a 23-year-old left-hander whose best results have been on clay. The Russian cruised through the first two sets in 52 minutes and then grabbed an important break of serve in the opening game of the final set. Koubek, playing in only his fifth grand slam tournament double-faulted to give Kafelnikov two break points and then clubbed a backhand long to surrender the serve. The 25-year-old Russian sealed a comfortable win in 82 minutes, with the retractable roof over Melbourne Park’s centre court closed after rain stopped play on outside courts. Kafelnikov is hoping to become the eighth man in the Open era of tennis to win back-to-back Australian titles. The last to do so was American Jim Courier in 1992-93. He is the easier bottom half of the men’s singles draw, away from tournament heavyweights Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and Mark Philippoussis. Men’s No 4 seed Nicolas Kiefer beat Karim Alami 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and Arnaud Clement downed Roger Federer 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 before the rain. No 12 Magnus Norman waited out the rain delay holding a 5-1 third-set lead against Jonas Bjorkman. He finally won 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (8). Qualifier Christophe
Rochus beat Max Mirnyi 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (2). |
Ritender scripts India colts’ win COLOMBO, Jan 22 (UNI) — India handed host Sri Lanka their first defeat in the Under-19 Cricket World Cup, beating them by 41 runs in the final match of the super league played at the R. Premadasa Stadium today. With this win, India finished on top of super league 2 with a 100 per cent winning record and Sri Lanka ended up second. India had earlier recorded victories over Nepal and England. India Play Australia in the second semifinal at the Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday. Sri Lanka meet Pakistan in the first semifinal at the Galle international stadium on Monday. The final is scheduled at the Sinhalese SC Grounds on Thursday. Pakistan beat West Indies to finish on top of super league 1 and Australia took second spot when they beat New Zealand in today’s matches. India winning the toss and batting first hit up a challenging total of 242 for seven wickets off 50 overs. Sri Lanka replied with 201 off 45.4 overs. India’s innings was highlighted by a fifth wicket stand of 89 in 15 overs between Ritender Singh Sodhi and Niraj Patel. They lifted the total from 123 for four to 212 before being separated. Sodhi went on to make a stroke-filled 74 off 81 balls with one six and four fours before his innings was terminated by a run out. Patel made 43 off 49 balls without reaching the boundary. Left-arm spinner Ranil Dhammika was the most impressive of the Lankan spinners, taking four for 43. India made an early
breakthrough when Mritunjay Tripathy removed pinch hitter
Kaushalya Weeraratne for six in the second over. Tripathy
also struck a vital blow when he had the prolific
run-getter Ian Daniel caught for 14. |
Anand faces tough task for victory WIJK AAN ZEE, Holland, Jan 22 (PTI) — Trailing the leaders by a full point after five rounds, India’s Vishwanathan Anand will need to give his best in the remaining eight games to win the first major chess tournament of the year at the Corus Super Grandmasters meet here. Though he is in fine form, as proved by his second-round victory against Bosnian GM Predrag Nikolic, which has been adjudged the best game so far, Anand squandered a superior position while playing with white pieces against Vladimir Kramnik to be held to a draw in the fourth round. The world No 2, tied on three points with Hungarian Peter Leko and Jeroen Piket of Holland, is yet to find the much-desired victories with black pieces. The silver lining to the matter is that having played three blacks and two whites so far, Anand will have equal colours in the remaining eight games. Tournament leaders Gary Kasparov and Kramnik of Russia have four points each after three wins and two draws. Kasparov is in ominous form if his win yesterday against compatriot Alexander Morozevich is any indication. Kasparov has faced trouble in only one match — against England’s Michael Adams with whom he salvaged a draw from a weak position — despite playing in his trademark bold style. Kramnik will seek to put on a better show after expressing disappointment with his comeback victory over Armenian Sambat Lputian yesterday. Standings (after 5 rounds): 1-2: G. Kasparov (Rus),
V. Kramnik (Rus) (4 pts); 3-5: V. Anand (Ind), Peter Leko
(Hun), J. Piket (Hol) (3 pts); 6-11: M. Adams (Eng),
Nigel Short (Eng), Victor Korchnoi (Swi), Jan Timman
(Hol), A. Morozevich (Rus), P. Nikolic (2.5 pts); 12:
Judit Polgar (Hun) (2 pts); 13: Loek Van Wely (Hol) (1
pt); 14: S. Lputian (Arm) (0.5 pt). |
Gibbs, Cronje help SA beat Zimbabwe JOHANNESBURG, Jan 22 (AFP) — South African captain Hansie Cronje bounced back from a poor Test series against England as he led his team to a six-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the first match of the triangular limited overs international tournament at Wanderers Stadium yesterday. Cronje made 83 not out off 112 balls and was named man of the match as South Africa cruised past Zimbabwe’s total of 226 all out with 11 balls to spare. The skipper, who made only 102 runs in five Tests against England at an average of 14.57, came in when South Africa were faltering at 55 for three, but he and Herschelle Gibbs took control in a fourth-wicket stand of 104 off 126 balls. Gibbs made a fluent 65 off 92 balls before skying a drive against Neil Johnson to be caught at mid-off. Cronje became the first South African to score 5,000 runs in limited overs internationals when he was on three. He went on to hit eight fours. But he was robbed of a six when he charged down the wicket to fast bowler Heath Streak and hit him over wide mid-off. The ball was set to clear the boundary rope but a security guard stepped on to the field and tried to catch it, resulting in four being signalled. Gibbs hit eight fours and a big straight six against offspinner Andy Whittall. Zimbabwe contributed to their own downfall with some undisciplined bowling, conceding 25 wides. Murray Goodwin hit 73 off 71 balls to enable Zimbabwe to post a reasonable total after they won the toss and batted. Zimbabwe seemed to have squandered a fair start when they slipped to 105 for four after 28 overs, losing three wickets for 11 runs in 34 balls. The mini-collapse
started when Neil Johnson was run out by a direct hit at
the bowler’s end by wicketkeeper Mark Boucher after
Alistair Campbell called him for a leg bye. |
Gurcharan, Suresh keep hopes alive TAEJEON, Jan 22 (PTI) — Lightheavy Gurcharan Singh inflicted a third-round knockout to storm into the semifinals with lightly Suresh Singh to keep Indian hopes alive in the fifth Seoul Cup and second Olympic qualifying boxing championship here. But featherweight Ramanand’s hopes of making the grade came to an end when he was beaten in the quarterfinal to join the ranks of eliminated bantamweight Dingko Singh and lightwelter Sanjit Singh yesterday. Gurcharan Singh, the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games bronze medallist, overwhelmed his Iranian rival Sayed Moosavi and floored him with a stunning right cross punch to his chin to stop the mismatch with over two rounds to spare. Suresh Singh was too fast for his leaden-footed Kuwaiti opponent Hamid al Annizi as he made up for lack of height to steadily land punches and claim a 9-4 points verdict. But the talented Ramanand could not hold on to a thin 7-6 lead going into the fifth and final round as he went down 7-10 to Iran’s Haider Ali after an absorbing tussle. Thailand’s 1996 Atlanta Olympics gold medallist, Somleuk Khamsing, meanwhile warmed up by brushing aside Japan’s Suko Moto 12-3 on points to reach the featherweight semifinal. After the elimination of three of their boxers, Indian hopes of Olympic qualifying berths from Asia rest on Suresh Singh, flyweight Srinivasa Rao, lightwelter Sanjit Singh, middleweight Jitender Kumar and Gurcharan Singh. The powerful Gurcharan weighed up the shorter Moosavi in the first round as he took a slender 2-0 lead, but opened up in the next two rounds to pummel his rival with a series of powerful punches. Gurcharan, who raced ahead 6-1 after the second round, totally subdued his Iranian rival in the third before sending him crashing to the canvas. The punch was so powerful that Moosavi could not even get up before the end of the mandatory count and the Indian boxer was up 11-1 when the bout stopped. The way the Services pugilist has shaped up, after gaining a bye into the last-eight stage, he looks a good bet to bag a place in the Sydney games here. The bustling tactics of Suresh Singh, the 20-year-old from Manipur, helped him overcome height disadvantage and breach the defences of his opponent frequently. Student of Ibomacha Singh, Dingko Singh’s Imphal-based trainer, was ahead 6-2 after the third round before sealing the easy win. Ramanand, the
technically sound Services boxer from Uttar Pradesh,
however, could not maintain his slender lead in the final
round as Haider Ali came back strongly in the final
stages. But the boxer has the potential to look forward
to the third and final qualifier at Bangkok from April 1
to 7. |
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MELBOURNE, Jan 22 (PTI) — Indian tennis ace Leander Paes’ Australian Open campaign ended on a disappointing note today when he and his American partner Lisa Raymond were stunned in the first round of the mixed doubles here. Paes and Raymond, the Wimbledon champions seeded second here, were eliminated by South African David Adams and Kristie Boogert of the Netherlands 7-6 (9/7), 6-2 at the Melbourne Park here. This ended Paes’ campaign in the first Grand Slam of the year as he had lost in the second round in singles and as top seed alongwith Canadian Sebastian Lareau, he was ousted in the first round of the men’s doubles. The world’s best doubles player fell to Swede Andreas Vinceiguerra 6-7 (3/7) 4-6 3-6 in singles after making the main draw by coming through the qualifiers. Paes and Lareau crashed out to Americans Geoff Grant and Jack Waite, 6-7 (2/7), 6-2, 5-7. Paes was the only Indian
in the main draw at Melbourne Park after top woman player
Nirupama Vaidyanathan fell in the final women’s
singles qualifying round. |
Tyson seeks refuge in police station LONDON, Jan 22 (AP) — Mike Tyson spent 45 minutes in a police station yesterday. He wasn’t under arrest this time — just being protected from his fans. The former world heavyweight champion, who is in England to fight British titlist Julius Francis in Manchester on January 29, was mobbed by more than 1,000 fans as he defied official advice and fulfilled a personal ambition to visit Brixton, the racially-mixed south London suburb. Described as a “pariah” and not welcome by the local council leader because of his rape conviction in 1992, Tyson followed Nelson Mandela and Muhammad Ali in walking the streets of Brixton. “If you’re an African-American or you’re a black man from any part of the world and you come to London, you go to Brixton to see your people out of respect for them alone,” Tyson said on the eve of his visit. Britain’s immigration laws forbid people entering the country if they have served long jail sentences and there were legal moves by women’s right groups to overturn Home Secretary Jack Straw’s decision to let him in. There didn’t appear to be a single protesting voice on the streets of Brixton yesterday. But it was ironic that Tyson needed refuge in the local police station to avoid getting injured. After leaving promoter
Frank Warren’s Bentley, he was surrounded by
security men and some 40 police officers, the leading one
on horseback, as he walked the streets of Brixton. |
Request to replace Agarkar turned down MUMBAI, Jan 22 (PTI) — The beleaguered Indian team management’s request from Australia for a replacement for the injured Ajit Agarkar was shot down by the national cricket selectors last night, BCCI Secretary Jaywant Lele said today. Mr Lele told PTI from Baroda when contacted that the team management had indeed asked for a replacement for Agarakar who has been sidelined in the midst of the limited overs tri-series in Australia because of a hamstring injury, thus confirming a Press report. “Yes, there was a request from the team management to the Chairman (Chandu Borde) last night (to this effect) which has been turned down,” he said. “They did say T. Kumaran would be a preferable replacement for Agarkar,” he added when asked specifically whether this news too was true. Mr Lele also added that the impression gained from the team management in Australia was that Agarkar would not be fit for the remainder of the series in progress now. The selectors are
already miffed at the treatment meted out to players like
Nayan Mongia and Harbhajan Singh by the team management. |
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NEW DELHI, Jan 22 (UNI) — Jeev Milkha Singh struggled with his putter for the second day running but still managed to shoot a one-under 71 round that took him up to tied 16th place at the halfway stage of the Mercedes Benz South African Open in Johannesburg. At the redesigned par-72 Randpark Club course in Johannesburg yesterday, Jeev shot five birdies but four bogies undid his efforts. However, the aggregate of three-under 141 was enough to push him up by 10 places from yesterday’s tied 26th place. According to information received here, Jeev made a bogey on the par-3 second but back-to-back birdies on the par-4 third and fourth holes made up for the error. A bogey on the ninth saw him making the turn at level-par. On the back nine, the Hero Honda-sponsored pro made birdies on the 10th and 12th, but was back to square one with bogies on par-4 13th and 16th. A birdie on the final hole gave him the day’s card of one-under 71. The cut was applied at level-par 144 and 77 pros made it to the third round. Among those missing the action over the weekend will be the defending champion David Frost, whose brother Sam is Jeev’s new coach. Jointly leading the field at nine-under 135 were England’s Paul Eales and South Africa’s Darren Fichardt. Eales added a 69 to his 66 on the first day, while Fichardt shot a five-under 67 on the second day. Among the three tied for third place at eight-under 136 was masters champion Ian Woosnam of Wales, who shot a six-under 66 on day two. Woosnam is searching for his first title victory since 1997. Scores (after 36 holes):
135-Paul Eales (Eng) 66+69, Darren Fichhardt (SA) 68+67
136 Wallie Coetsee (SA) 65+71, Ian Woosnam (Wales) 70+66,
Don Gammon (SA) 69+69 137-Lee Westwood (Eng) 69+68 T-16:
141-Jeev Milkha Singh 70+71. |
SAI
adopts Sector 8 DAV school CHANDIGARH, Jan 22 — The Sports Authority of India has decided to adopt the local Sector 8 DAV Senior Secondary School from the coming academic session, according to Dr P.C. Kashyap, Regional Director of the authority. The Chandigarh school is among the five schools and “akharas” to be adopted by the authority in the northern region. The authority has decided to adopt Arya Girls Senior Secondary School, Shahabad (Kurukshetra) from Haryana, while from Punjab A.S. Senior Secondary School, Khanna (Ludhiana), Padam Shree Kartar Singh Akhara, Dara Film Studio, S.A.S. Nagar, and Government High School Akhara, Sur Singh, Amritsar district, will be adopted. DAV School, Chandigarh, will admit football players in the age group of eight to 19 years under the day boarders scheme of the authority. The trainees besides getting a stipend of Rs 5000 per year will also be given Rs 1500 annually for taking part in various tournaments and a similar amount annually for kitting. Arya Girls Senior Secondary School, Shahabad, will admit girls with proficiency in hockey while the Khanna school will admit girls who excel in athletics. The two akharas will admit wrestlers under the day boarders scheme in the age groups of under-14 and under-16 both boys and girls. The wrestlers will get similar amounts as is admissible for other categories of sportsboys and girls admitted under this scheme. Already, there are four Sports Authority of India adopted schools in the region. While Chandigarh’s Shivalik Public School admits players in athletics, football, hockey and volleyball, GSSS School, Nehru Garden, Jalandhar, admits players who excel in athletics, hockey, basketball and weightlifting. There are two adopted schools in Haryana, CRZ Senior Secondary School, Sonepat, which admits athletes, hockey players and wrestlers and Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Rai, which inducts athletes, gymnasts and swimmers. Meanwhile, the Sports Authority of India has decided to conduct talent scouting programme in the northern states in collaboration with the Directorate of Sports/Sports Councils of the respective states. The programme which will start on January 24 at SAI Training Centre, Kurukshetra, will conclude on April 7 at SAI Training Centre, Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh with the programme being held in every northern state. In Chandigarh, the programme will be held on February 22 and 23 with girls being selected for athletics, basketball, hockey and volleyball for the Sector 18 SAI Training Centre. For all the schemes of
the authority the age verification is mandatory. In this
respect the original certificate issued by the
school/other sources is considered valid provided the
player does not give the impression during preliminary
tests that he/she is overage. |
Circle
kabaddi gets good response AMBALA, Jan 22 — It was a celebration of rural life. Circle kabaddi, a form of kabaddi played in rural areas of Haryana and Punjab, today evoked enthusiastic response from the onlookers who had come to witness the second invitational sports festival currently underway here. To ensure that circle kabaddi, which is a popular sport in rural areas, is promoted in other places, this unique sport is being introduced here by the former Naggal MLA, Mr Nirmal Singh. Talking to The Tribune, Mr Nirmal Singh, said circle kabaddi is a game which not only requires a robust built but also quick reflexes. “It is similar to kabaddi which is known to everyone but also different in several ways,” he said. Explaining the game, Mr Nirmal Singh, who, is chief of the United Basketball Club, which is organising the sports tournament, said that circle kabaddi to a large extent is a martial sport. “Only one person called the raider can enter the catcher’s side like in the other form of kabaddi but here the similarity ends. The raider needs to touch just one person and only one catcher will try to hold him down. In the better known kabaddi form, this is not so wherein all the catcher’s grapple with the raider,” he said. Judo coach, Arun Mudgil, who is also one of the organisers, further explained that the team size can vary. “Only one catcher has to tackle the raider and no other catcher will come to his assistance. This is where one can make out the good physique, speed and presence of mind of both raider as well as the catcher,” he said. Mr Mudgil stated that while in Haryana, circle kabaddi is called the Haryana style kabaddi, in Punjab, it is referred to as Punjab style kabaddi. “The raider just needs to touch the catcher and cross over to his side. The point system is also different in this game. While in the better-known form of kabaddi, either the raider or the catcher has to move out of the playing area, this is not so in circle kabaddi. The players continue to play and only the points keep on adding,” he said. The reason why this traditional form of kabaddi is called circle kabaddi is that it is played within a circle and not inside a rectangular area as in the other form. “The circle is also sometimes referred to as the 75 feet area,” he said. He also pointed out that this form of kabaddi is more difficult to play because the player has to be well-versed in grappling techniques. “Techniques like `kainchi’ (scissor) are important part of this type of kabaddi and it may look like a type of wrestling when the raider and catcher grapple with each other,” he said. Today’s match was played between Bhagal village and Kalera village. Both teams gave a spirited performance but the Bhagal team won the match by getting 55 points while the Kalera team got 30 points. Villagers had come to the War Heroes Memorial Stadium where the match was being held. The match ground wore a festive look with each point being scored by the teams being loudly cheered by their supporters. The supporters of the teams who were equally adept in the game, continuosly kept on giving advice to the kabaddi players. While each point scored was received with jubilation, a point lost did not go down very well among the onlookers. There was, however, bonhomie among the players as well as the spectators. The true spirit of the game was more than apparent from the way the raider who was caught was helped to the feet by the catcher himself. Even the match referee joined in the mood by doing somersaults over the players who had been grappled to the ground by their opponent. By the time the game
ended, the circle kabaddi players may have become tired,
hurt and dusty but the pleasure of playing the game was
visible from the twinkle in their eyes and the grin on
their faces. |
North Zone register 7-wicket win BARODA, Jan 22 (PTI)
— North Zone defeated East by seven wickets to score
their second straight victory in the Deodhar Trophy
one-day cricket tournament league tie here today.North
Zone won the toss and put East Zone to bat. East were all
out for 166 runs in 44.5 overs and North reached 167 in
31.3 overs. |
Kambli, Mazumdar slam centuries RAJKOT, Jan 22 (UNI) — Fine centuries from Vinod Kambli (119 not out) and Amol Mazumdar (109) and their association of 226 runs for the third wicket, helped West Zone beat South Zone by six wickets in the Deodhar Trophy match played at the Municipal Corporation ground here today. Southpaw Vinod Kambli
and Amol Mazumdar effectively foiled South Zone’s
design for victory after they scored 317 for eight
wickets in first fifty overs. West Zone chasing the
daunting target of 318 runs, with an asking rate of 6.4
runs per over, achieved the milestone in 47.5 overs,
scoring 320 for four wickets. |
Amarjit creates national record SALEM, Jan 22 (PTI) — Three national and two meet records were erased even as Punjab emerged the major gainer taking three golds to maintain their lead and Renuka Hegde completed a hat-trick of goldmedals on the fourth and penultimate day of the 15th Inter-State Athletic Championship here today. The national records came in the boys u-18 triple jump, boys u-14 pentathlon and girls u-16 shotput events, while the meet records were bettered in the girls u-20 long jump and boys u-18 110m hurldes. Amarjit Singh (Pun) created a new national mark in the triple jump, leaping to a distance of 14.80 metres to erase the old mark of 14.75m set by Bennet K Raja (AP) in January 1998 at Ernakulam, while Orissa’s Budhuram Singh tallied 4165 points to create a new mark in pentathlon. The event saw all top
three finishers edging past the old mark of 4044 points
held by Haryana’s Rajesh Kumar since January 1996.
Gupteshwernath of Bihar ‘A’ and Ramesh of
Haryana got the silver and bronze with 4076 and 4060
points. |
Age tests
for u-14 made mandatory CHANDIGARH, Jan 22 — The Schools Games Federation of India (SGFI) , which conducts competitions at the national level in various age groups ( under-14, under-17 and under-19) for both boys and girls conducted medical tests at the recently concluded National School Games at Devas, Madhya Pradesh, to determine the age of the participants. During the past few years, the under-14 section had been witnessing maximum number of objections as regards fielding of over-age players by the state units in order to outscore each other and win medals. Mr Pritam Singh Chhabra, Secretary General, SGFI, said 52 players in the under-14 section in kabaddi were found to be over aged and were debarred . The players were mostly from Delhi and MP and one was from Punjab. Initially there was resistance from the host unit and also from the other states, but the SGFI was able to conduct the tests. He further said: “Now it has been made mandatory to have such tests one day before the start of the competition in the under-14 section at every National School Games.” Mr Chhabra disclosed that under the patronage of the Minister of Education Punjab, Mr Tota Singh, the 45th National School Games were organised in many disciplines at Moga. Later this year, Punjab will play host to the Asian Schools Hockey Tournament. He said from February 1 to 6, another edition of the National School Games would be held at Thiruvananthapuram, where athletics, ball badminton and volleyball (under-17) and football (under-17) will be held. This year roller skating and ball badminton had been introduced for the first time, whereas the skating events have already been hosted at the Moga National School Games in November last year, ball badminton will be held next month. Another discipline
scheduled to be held is under- 19 women’s football
at Calcutta towards the end of February. |
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