 |
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| Sunday, February 13, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Kaif’s
knock goes in vain India
hope to repeat history
Dempo
down East Bengal |
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| Sofyan, Shuai Peng emerge champs CALCUTTA, Feb 12 — Unseeded H. Sofyan of Armenia bagged the ITF junior world ranking in the international tennis tournament, snuffing out Vinode Sewa of India 6-1 and 6-1 in 41 minutes. Philippoussis, Courier to meet in
semis Boje
replaces Paul Adams Harbhajan,
Karthik, Kaif included KU
enter semis; PU stunned Shakti,
Neelam set new national marks Punjab
cops move into semis Confident
Lanka take on Pakistan Indian
eves lose to Australia 400
judokas likely for national meet Uberoi
cruises into final Robin
to lead
Rain hampers play Chanderdeep to
lead
|
Kaif’s knock goes in vain AHMEDADAD, Feb 12 (PTI) — Mohammed Kaif shone with the bat for the second successive match by making a fine 93 while his India B skipper Ajay Jadeja notched up another typical half century but their efforts failed to prevent India A from notching up a 40-run win for an entry into the final of the Challenger Trophy cricket tournament here tonight. Chasing India A’s imposing total of 295 for five, India B were all out for 255 in 48.5 overs in the third and concluding league match of the day-night tournament. India A will meet India Seniors in tomorrow’s final. Junior India World Cup winning captain Kaif struck seven fours and a six besides putting on a fighting 132-run stand in 25 overs with Jadeja, who batted in his inimitable style to make 79 (91 balls with five fours). Set a stiff asking rate of 5.92 for victory, India B slid to 53 for four in the 13th over when Kaif was joined by Jadeja to start the fightback in style. Opener Nikhil Haldipur (4) and Reetinder Sodhi (19) were the batsmen out earlier. Kaif and Jadeja helped raise the 100 in the 24th over and then accelerated the scoring before Sanjay Bangar, in the first over of his second spell, broke the stand by having Kaif caught splendidly by a diving India A captain Mohd Azharuddin at short covers. The batsman drove uppishly at a juicy wide half volley. Kaif was dismissed at 201 in the 41st over. He had made 90 against India Seniors in their earlier tie. Jadeja kept India B in the fight till the first ball of the 46th over when he stepped out to left-arm spinner Murali Karthik and swung wildly only to miss the ball and was bowled. His dismissal ended his team’s slim hopes of a win. The later order batsmen were unequal to the task of scoring the remaining runs at a very difficult asking rate and India B lost the match. Karthik bagged three wickets for 48 runs. Earlier, the India A top-order prospered on the friendly pitch and against mostly pedestrian bowling from the B team’s ranks. Openers J Arun Kumar, the man in form in domestic cricket with two tons in Deodhar Trophy held earlier followed by a knock of 72 in this tourney against India Seniors, and Sanjay Bangar put on 40 at five an over before the former slashed at a wide ball from Dodda Ganesh and was caught behind for 19. Bangar, who struck four boundaries off the bowling of international Debashish Mohanty — the last of which just escaped the clutches of a leaping Anup Dave at short mid-wicket — was joined by his captain Mohd Azharuddin and the duo set about taking sharp singles while adding 79 for the second wicket in 15.4 overs. India A cruised along at five an over for the first 20 overs easily when these two were batting though they had to negotiate an impressive spell from left-arm spinner Dave — a member of the junior World Cup team — who bowled an economical spell. Dave was unlucky not to have had Azhar caught at long off by Mohanty, who fielded sloppily for the most part and was also expensive in his first four-over spell, when the former India captain was 36 in a score of 105 for one in the 21st over. Scoreboard India A: J Arun Kumar c Ratra b
Ganesh 19 Extras (lb-6, w-13, nb-4) 23 Total (for 5 wkts in 50 overs) 295 Fall of wickets: 1-40, 2-119, 3-126, 4-164, 5-234. Bowling: Mohanty 4-1-25-0, Ganesh 9-1-51-1, R S Sodhi 10-1-59-1, Bundela 8-0-47-1, Dave 10-0-57-1, Kaif 5-0-27-1, Jadeja 4-0-23-0. India B: Haldipur c and b
Bhandari 4 Extras (b-4, lb-8, w-3, nb-1) 16 Total (all out in 48.5 overs) 255 Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-53, 3-185, 4-201, 5-238, 6-239, 7-240, 8-254, 9-255. Bowling: Bhandari
9.5-0-52-3, Kumaran 10-0-41-2, Karthik 9-0-48-3, Bangar
10-0-54-1, Kapoor 10-0-48-0. |
India hope to repeat history NEW DELHI, Feb 12 (PTI) — The signs are all in favour of a repeat of history. The setting is the same Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium and three persons who played for India when it last reached the final round of the Thomas Cup badminton championships in 1988 are again associated with the team. Prakash Padukone, the executive President of Badminton Association of India, is the guiding force behind it while Uday Pawar and Vimal Kumar are among the coaches as the Pulella Gopi Chand-led Indian men’s team strives hard to repeat history after a gap of 12 years in the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup qualifying rounds starting here tomorrow. In all, 14 teams in the men’s and 10 in the women’s section are in the fray for three berths in each section for the final round to be held in Kuala Lumpur in May. They will join three teams each from the qualifiers being held at Sofia, Bulgaria, during the same period, hosts Malaysia and Thomas Cup defending champions Indonesia and Uber Cup holders China. Forty-nine men’s and 43 women’s teams are participating in the Sofia qualifiers. Of the 14 teams in the men’s section, eight have been divided into two groups for the preliminary rounds, one each from them joining the remaining six in the super league. The Indian team of Gopi Chand, Nikhil Kanetkar, Abhinn Shyam Gupta, Sidharth Jain, Ajit Wijetilek, Vincent Lobo, Jaseel Ismail, Markose Bristow, Vijaydeep Singh and Jose George has been seeded into the super league group Y along with Korea and Japan and a qualifier from group B, which includes Australia, Iran, Singapore and Zambia. The second super league group comprises China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong and winner of group A, which includes Thailand, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Nepal. “We have a good team, a balanced team and are hopeful of making it to the final round as the third team in the men’s section,” said chief coach Mohammed Arif of India’s chances. “In women’s section, we are hopeful of making it to semifinals, after that it would be an uphill task,” was his candid assessment of the situation on the distaff side which includes strong teams like Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia and Hong Kong. The women’s team of Aparna Popat, B.R. Meenakshi, Neelima Choudhary, Manjusha Kanwar, P.V.V. Lakshmi, Jwala Gutta, Shruti Kurian, Madhumita Bisht and Archana Deodhar has been placed in the preliminary round, reduced to a four-team affair after pull out by Pakistan and Zambia. India, Australia, Singapore and Sri Lanka are in first round and the hosts may not find it much difficult to grab one of the two super league spots with spot with Singapore, whom they take on in the opener tomorrow, being the only strong opponent. “We are hoping to
clear the preliminary round first as it will lift the
pressure. Then we will take each team as they come. The
task is really difficult with teams like Korea, Japan,
Indonesia and Thailand, but I am confident of a good show
by the team,” said Aparna Popat. |
Dempo down East Bengal MARGAO, Feb 12 (PTI) — Dominating the first half, Dempo capitalised on defence lapses to down East Bengal 2-0 to register their first win in the 4th edition of the National Football League here today. Dempo who put up an improved performance, played a cohesive game in the first half and shot into the lead in the 30th minute through Mohammed Reza. Medio Edwin Fernandes who initiated the move from the right relayed the ball to defender Sameer Naik who moved upfront. Naik on entering the box beat defender Jackson and crossed to unmarked Reza who controlled the ball and beat the onrushing keeper Dora into the net. Goaded by the success, Dempo kept on the tempo and consolidated the lead eight minutes later. Medio Jhonny D’Souza from the right sent a cross to unmarked Fernandes who chested the ball and volleyed a firm left footer that found the far post. East Bengal, who were a disjointed lot in the first half with their midfield failing to combine, got their act together in the second half after the induction of Emanuel Opoku in place of Dinesh Dhanundiyal. They made repeated forays deep into the rival half with Willy Brown and Dipankar Roy troubling the rival defence but failed to score due to the crowding tactics. With this win their first from 13 matches, Dempo move to 11th place with two points ahead of BSF who are at the bottom with 6 points. East Bengal who suffered their sixth defeat, remained in ninth place with 14 points. Referee Krishen Avtar of Delhi showed yellow cards to keeper Prasanta Dora, Carlton Chapman and Willie Brown of East Bengal. East Bengal will now play their next match against SBT at Calcutta on February 15, while Dempo will meet ITI at Bangalore on February 17.
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Sofyan, Shuai Peng emerge champs CALCUTTA, Feb 12 (UNI) — Unseeded H. Sofyan of Armenia bagged the ITF junior world ranking in the international tennis tournament, snuffing out Vinode Sewa of India 6-1 and 6-1 in 41 minutes. The girls’ title went to second ranked Shuai Peng of China who earned a grand double as she struggled a little more to dispose of the challenge from top seeded Radhika Tulpule of India 7-5 and 6-3 in the title clash. Shuai earlier won the girls’ doubles title partnering compatriot Yan Xie Ze and defeating Anna and Aibika from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan 6-3 and 6-0 yesterday. Both Sofyan and Shuai collected 30 points each for winning the titles while Vinode and Radhika had to be contend with 20 points each for being runners-up. Sofyan, who had beaten Sewa in their previous encounter at the Chandigarh ITF tournament prior to this, broke Sewa in the very first game of the match and held his serve to take a 2-0 lead. Vinod held his serve but thereafter Sofyan raised his game and broke Sewa in the fifth and seventh games and held his serve to win the opening set 6-1 in exactly 20 minutes. In the second set 17-years-old Sofyan held his serve and broke Sewa in the second and fourth games to take a 4-0 lead. This is when Sofyan made a couple of unforced errors and dropped his serve but he soon pulled up his socks and broke Vinod in the sixth game and held his serve to win the set 6-1. Sofyan proved much superior than Sewa in every department of the game belting winners in both corners at will. In the first set of the girls singles final, second seeded Shuai Peng held her serve and then broke Tulpule in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. Radhika broke back in the next game and levelled scores at 2-2. Peng then held her serve, broke Radhika in the sixth game and held her serve again to take a 5-2 lead. Radhika saved a couple of set points, broke back and held her serve once again to level the score at 5-5. Peng held her serve to take a 6-5 lead. In the 12th game of the first set Radhika saved three set points, missed a game point and finally surrendered the set 7-5. In the second set Peng
raced to a 3-0 lead after breaking top seeded Tulpule in
the second game. Tulpule fought back breaking Peng in the
fifth game and holding her serve to level the score at
3-3. Peng then held her serve, broke Radhika in the next
game and held her serve by converting the first game
point to win the set 6-3. |
Philippoussis, Courier to meet in semis SAN JOSE (California), Feb 12 (Reuters) — Former world No 1 Jim Courier showed signs his one-time elite form may be returning when he outlasted Paul Goldstein 6-4, 6-4 and charged into the semifinals of the $ 375,000 Sybase Open yesterday. Courier, the fifth seed, will face Australian second seed and defending champion Mark Philippoussis, who held off a spirited challenge from limping American Justin Gimelstob 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Seventh seed Wayne Ferreira of South Africa will face unseeded Swede Mikael Tillstrom in the other semifinal. As is his trademark, Courier came out slugging, ripping forehands and returns and breaking his sometime practice partner in the first game. Goldstein effectively counterpunched at times, but couldn’t manage to unearth his fellow American from his favourite position in the left corner of the court. “Jim was able to dictate with his forehand and knocked some balls off,” Goldstein said. “I felt I played great but Jim took the big points away from me.” In 1999, Courier seemed to come up with an injury every time he got on a hot steak. He hopes the same fate doesn’t befall him on Saturday. “You watch. It’s the semis, I’m playing well and something bad is bound to happen,” said Courier, who is 2-3 lifetime against Philippoussis but won their last meeting. Philippoussis and Gimelstob engaged in a classic big man’s battle with both competitors going for winners on seemingly every opportunity. Gimelstob was treated for a right ankle sprain at 4-4 in the first set, but gamely played on. In the end, though, the powerful Australian was too much for him, pasting 44 winners, including 16 aces, ending the contest on a service winner. However, Philippoussis was clearly irritated by the amount of time Gimelstob was taking between points. Moreover, on a changeover, the American took a jab at his foe, saying “How do you like the pace of my serve?” MARSEILLE: Marc Rosset beat Croatia’s Goran Ivanisevic in the quarterfinals of the Marseille Open and said he was hoping for an all-Swiss final. “I would love a 100 per cent Swiss final. It would be a first in our country’s tennis history,” said Rosset after his compatriot Roger Federer’s victory over another Croatian, Ivan Ljubicic. Rosset, champion here in 1993 and 1994, on Friday beat Ivanisevic 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. In semifinals he will meet the winner of the last quarterfinal between Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean and Swede Andreas Vinciguerra. Federer, who beat Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-2, 3-6, 7-6, faces defending champion Fabrice Santoro of France in his semifinal. DUBAI: Top seed Nicolas Kiefer overcame Jerome Golmard 6-3, 7-6 to avenge last year’s defeat by the Frenchman and reach the semifinals of the Dubai Open men’s tennis tournament on Friday. The German, beaten by Golmard in the 1999 final, settled the score with steady baseline play that often had his error-prone opponent struggling to match the pace. Kiefer now meets Spaniard Albert Costa, who beat Morocco’s Younes El-Aynaoui 6-2, 6-4, for a place in the final. PARIS (AFP): Teenage stars Serena Williams of the USA and Anna Kournikova of Russia stayed on target for a possible final showdown with impressive quarterfinal victories in the $ 535,000 WTA tour Indoor Paris Open. Defending champion Williams trounced Sarah Pitkowski of France 6-1, 6-1 in just 52 minutes on Friday while fourth seed Kournikova recovered her concentration in time and eventually cruised to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Irina Spirlea. Top-seeded Williams earned herself a semifinal meeting with third-seeded French player Julie Halard-Decugis, while Kournikova — currently negotiating to make a modelling appearance in Vogue magazine — will also face a French opponent in second-seeded Nathalie Tauziat. Williams, who won her first title here 12 months ago, is bidding to follow in the footsteps of Martina Navratilova — who won here in 1993 and 1994 — as a winner of two straight Paris Indoor titles. The powerful American
began with a pair of double faults but quickly got her
act together and was not seriously troubled by Pitkowski,
who was dubbed “Pitbull” by the French Press
after her comeback victory over fifth-seeded compatriot
Amelie Mauresmo on Thursday. |
Boje replaces Paul Adams JOHANNESBURG, Feb 12 (AFP) — Leftarm spin bowler Nicky Boje was today drafted into the South African team to tour India following the withdrawal of the injured Paul Adams. Boje, 26, joins fellow orthodox leftarm spinner Clive Eksteen, 33, and another leftarmer, part-time bowler Pieter Strydom, 30, in a squad which lacks spin bowling variety in the absence of leftarm wristspinner Adams. Coach Graham Ford acknowledged that the loss of Adams, injured when he tried to save a boundary during the fifth Test against England at Centurion last month, was a big blow. Adams claimed his Test best figures of six for 55 at Kanpur on South Africa’s tour in 1996-97, when India won the series 2-1. He was South Africa’s leading wicket-taker in the series with 14 at 20.28. Boje was on the 1996/97 tour but did not play in a Test. South Africa depart for India on Wednesday. They will play Tests in Mumbai from February 24 to 28 and in Bangalore from March 2 to 6. Coach Ford said a big problem for South Africa would be that they would have to make a rapid adjustment from playing one-day cricket in South Africa to Test cricket in completely different conditions in India. Preparation for the tour
was further set back when today’s scheduled final of
a triangular limited overs series against England in
Johannesburg was postponed to tomorrow after floods in
the area, with a possibility it could be delayed to
Monday if there is more rain. |
Harbhajan, Karthik, Kaif included AHMEDABAD, Feb 12 (PTI) — Mumbai and Karnataka openers Wasim Jaffer and J Arun Kumar were today included in the Board President’s XI team to be led by Ajay Jadeja along with former national captain Mohammed Azharuddin for the three-day match against the visiting South Africans at Mumbai from February 19 to 21. Also drafted in the 14-man squad was junior India World Cup winning skipper Mohammed Kaif along with seasoned stumper Nayan Mongia. The squad is: Ajay Jadeja (capt), Mohd Azharuddin, Nayan Mongia, Sadagopan Ramesh, Jacob Martin, J Arun Kumar, Wasim Jaffer, Murali Karthik, Harbhajan Singh, Debashish Mohanty, Tiru Kumaran, Amit Bhandari, Mohd Kaif and Reetinder Singh Sodhi. Notable among the exclusions were V.V.S. Laxman, who was one of the three openers in the disastrous tour to Australia, and another opener Devang Gandhi along with Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who were all there for the entire tour. The choice of left-arm spinner Murali Karthik is a clear indication that in the minds of the selectors he is the front-runner for the berth ahead of Sunil Joshi in the first Test squad which is to be selected in Mumbai on February 20. Ramesh, who returned with a broken thumb after the second Test against Australia at Melbourne, has recovered fully and has started practising too, cricket board Secretary Jaywant Lele told reporters after announcing the team. Kapil Dev, the national
team coach will also attend the meeting with skipper
Sachin Tendulkar on February 20. |
KU enter semis; PU stunned KURUKSHETRA, Feb 12 — Stunning Mysore University 8-3, hosts Kurukshetra University entered the last four of the All India Inter-University Hockey (women) Championship here today. Defending champions Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjabi University, Patiala, Kerala University, Thiruvananthapuram, are the other semifinalists. Right out Manju, putting up a dynamic performance again, struck three goals and the score at half-time was 5-1. Shaili, Meenu, Ranjna and Sarla also scored for the winners. In another match, Guru Nanak Dev University defeated Luxmibai National Institute of Physical Education, Gwalior, 3-1. The defending champions dominated the game from the very beginning but failed to convert the penalty stroke they got in the first minute of the match. Luxmibai National Institute of Physical Education, who had played impressive hockey earlier, were defensive today. Guru Nanak Dev University opened their account in the last minute of the first half though a hard hit by Sarabjeet. In a major upset Kerala
University stunned Panjab University, Chandigarh, 1-0.
Kerala centre forward Rammayya claimed the winning goal
in the 24th minute of the match by getting a pass from
the right flank. After that, although Panjab University
tried hard to equalise, the Kerala girls dominated the
match. Punjabi University , Patiala, outplayed
Barkatullah University, Bhopal, 6-0. |
Shakti, Neelam set new national
marks PATIALA, Feb 12 — The spotlight was held by ace thrower Shakti Singh who put to shade his own national record in the shot put event as he heaved the iron ball to a distance of 20.09 metres in the one-day domestic meet held by the AAFI at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) here today. On the distaff side, Neelam J. Singh, who has a knack of breaking her own national records, once again created a new national record in the discus throw by hurling the discus to a distance of 61.41 metres. Other competitors were far behind Neelam J. Singh. The burly Shakti Singh’s previous best was 19.85 metres which he set in the Travancore domestic meet in 1999. It was Shakti Singh’s day today as the experienced thrower kept his nerves well to come up with a superlative performance, bringing cheers to the motley crowd of spectators who had converged at the venue to see some top class athletes display their talents. Long distance runner Gulab Chand was another athlete who completely monopolised the 10,000 metres event, as he clocked 8:28.00 to win gold. So complete was Gulab Chand’s dominance was that when the last runner finished the race, Gulab Chand had already put on his track suit, changed his shoes and was about to leave the arena. There was a minor upset of sorts when ace hammer thrower Surinderjeet Kaur, who had bagged a bronze in the Asian track and field meet held at Fukuoka (Japan), was seemed to be off-colour and was completely overshadowed by K. Jabeshwari Devi. While Surinderjeet Kaur managed to throw the hammer over a distance of 51.03 metres, K. Jabeshwari Devi showed her fine form as she heaved the hammer to a distance of 54.32 metres. Ace middle distance runner Madhuri A. Singh was another athlete who dazzled on the big stage. The PSEB star runner won the 1000 metres in style as she breasted the tape clocking an admirable timing of 2:46.0 seconds. The domestic meet turned out to a low-key affair as athletes preparing themselves for the Sydney Olympics did not go all out. The organisers had planned the exercise to watch the performance of the athletes training for the Sydney Olympics. In fact, the absence of Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, the double gold medallist at the Bangkok Asiad, took the sheen out of the meet. Jyotirmoyee Sikdar had injured her ankle after the Bangkok Results: Hammer throw (men): 1 Nirbhay Singh, 2 Rakesh Kumar, 3 Vinod Kumar. Women: 1 K. Jebeshwari Devi, 2 Surinderjit Kaur. 10 km walk (men): 1 Gurdev Singh, 2 Sita Ram, 3 Vijay Gehlot. Women: 1 Paramjit Kaur, 2 Roni Bala Devi, 3 Jasmine Kaur. 3000 m (men): 1 Gulab Chand, 2 Shashi Prakash, 3 N.Gojan Singh. 1000 mtr (women): 1 Madhuri A.Singh, 2 Ramla Devi, 3 Rupinder Kaur. Discus throw (men): 1 Anil Kumar, 2 Hirdyanand, 3 Ajit Bhaduria. Discus throw (women): 1 Neelam J. Singh, 2
Sugan Yadav, 3 Harjit Kaur. |
Punjab cops move into semis CHANDIGARH, Feb 12 — Punjab Police edged past Gorkha Brigade by a solitary goal to quality for the semifinal of the 8th Rakesh Memorial Football Tournament on a rain-affected Chaugan ground at Nahan, according to information reaching here today. Punjab Police will meet Chandigarh Coaching Centre in the semifinal tomorrow. The other semifinal will be played between Northern Railway of Delhi and Union Club of Ambala. Punjab Police scored the winning goal 10 minutes before the close through substitute striker Jaswinder Singh who beat the Gorkha goalkeeper with an angled placement off a pass from the left flank. Punjab Police dominated the proceedings throughout and carried out a series of attacks. The Gorkhas defended with grit and determination and repulsed the raids. In the process there were a large number of infringements. Chandigarh Coaching Centre defeated host team, Rakesh Eleven, by two goals to nil, scoring once in each half. But for missed chances they could have won by a bigger margin. Within four minutes of
the start, the Chandigarh team took the lead as striker
Mahipal converted a pass from the right flank. The other
goal came late in the second half, Rajiv scoring in a
goalmouth scramble after the Nahan goalkeeper had
effected a save. |
Confident Lanka take on Pakistan KARACHI, Feb 12 (Reuters) — Sri Lanka will attempt to extend a six-match unbeaten run when they face a new-look Pakistan in the first one-day international of a three-match series at the national stadium tomorrow. Sri Lanka defeated Australia by eight wickets in the final of a triangular series in Colombo in August and then made a clean sweep of a five-match series against Zimbabwe later in the year. Pakistan, meanwhile, is undergoing a major shake-up, with five players dropped in the wake of a disastrous tour of Australia. Teams: Pakistan: Saeed Anwar (captain), Aamir Sohail, Younis, Yousuf Youhana, Imran Abbas, Moin Khan, Abdur Razzaq, Yasir Arafat, Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq, Zahid Saeed, Shoaib Malik, Faisal Iqbal, Shahid Nazir and Imran Nazir. Sri Lanka: S.T.
Jayasuriya (captain), R.S. Kaluwitharana, M.S. Atapattu,
D.P.M. De, S. Jayawardena, R.P. Arnold, S.I. de Saram,
L.P.C. Silva, U.U. Chandana, T.M. Dilshan, I.S. Gallage,
Vaas, G.P. Wickremasinghe, D.N.T. Zoysa, M. Muralitharan,
M. Pushpakumara. K.R. Pushpakumara. |
Indian eves lose to Australia SINGAPORE, Feb 12 (AP) — India failed to capitalise on a good start provided by national champion Mouma Das and lost to second seeded Australia 1-3 in a Group F fifth round clash in the women’s team event at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships here today. Mouma gave India a dream start by beating Shirley Zhou in straight games, 21-19 21-17 but the Indian eves, who made it to the second stage finishing behind hosts Singapore in the preliminary round group, lost their way against the superior Australians at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall here. Former national champion Poulami Ghatak could not maintain the tempo as she went down 16-21 24-26 in the second singles. Anindita Chakraborty put
a stiff fight before losing 19-23 21-19 19-21 to Miao
Miao before the Aussies pulled through, winning the
doubles when Stella Zhou and Jian Fang Lay beat Poulami
and Mouma 21-18 21-15. |
400 judokas likely for
national meet CHANDIGARH, Feb 12 — City is all set to host the Senior National Judo Championship of men and women from February 14 to 16 at Sector 42 indoor hall, according to Mr Siddharth Chattopadhyaya, president of the Amateur Judo Association of Chandigarh. Mr Chattopadhyaya, himself a former national level judo player engaged in looking after the arrangements, said more than 400 judokas drawn from 32 affiliated units of Judo Federation of India, including five from police services such as CISF, BSF, ITBP, CRPF and All India Police Control Board, will take part in the three-day meet. The prominent judokas who will be vying for top honours in both men and women include Aarti Kohli, Rashmi Rani, Nazib Aga, Rupinderdeep Kaur, Babita Negi, Yashpal Solanki and Pankaj Sharma, all medal holders at national level. He further told that on February 14 and 15 competitions in three weight categories will be conducted in both men and women section for whom separate playing arena has been earmarked. The imported mats both from High Altitude Centre (Shilaru) Shimla and NIS Patiala, have reached the venue. Dr Vishnu Sahai of Lucknow, technical secretary, said the meet assumes importance in view of selection of probables for the forthcoming international meets. The senior nationals (for above 18 years) will have eight men weight sections — below 56 kg, 60 kg, 66 kg, 73 kg, 81 kg, 90 kg, 100 kg and open section whereas women will have competitions in below 44 kg, 48 kg, 52 kg, 57 kg, 63 kg, 70 kg, 77 kg and open section. Till evening about 16 teams had arrived and more were expected by tomorrow evening. The board and lodging arrangements have been made at Sports Complex, Sector 42. The meet will be
formally inaugurated by Mr M.S. Bhullar, Additional
Director General Police, Punjab, at 10 a.m. on February
14. |
Uberoi cruises into final CHENNAI, Feb 12 (PTI) — Second seeded Bikram Uberoi of India took his appointed place in the final of the Asian Squash Federation’s grand final of the junior circuit (boys and girls) here this evening. Fancied Uberoi, who has not dropped a game so far, was at his best in the semi-finals against third seeded Marcus Yeap of Malaysia. Uberoi won 9-7 9-4 9-1 in about 25 minutes to set up a title clash against Hong Kong’s Yan Ka Ho, top seed, who scored over Kelvin Ho of Malaysia 9-2 9-6 9-5. Uberoi had earlier defeated Aaron Chee of Malaysia 9-0 9-2 9-2 in the quarterfinals in the morning session, while Yan Ka Yo beat Malaysia’s Wong Wan San at 9-0 9-1 9-7. The girls final would be
an all-Malaysian affair between the top two seeds Tricia
Chuah and Cheryl David. Robin to lead CHENNAI, Feb 12 (PTI) — Robin Singh will lead Tamil Nadu the Ranji Trophy super league cricket championship to be played against Haryana from February 24 to 27 at Gurgaon. Team: Aashish Kapoor,
S.Sriram, Hemang K.Badani, S.Sharath, J.R.Madanagopal,
S.Mahesh, Reuban Paul (wk), D.J.Gopalakrishnan,
T.Kumaran, Tanver Jabbar, S.Vasanth Saravanan, Sathyajit
Sivaramakrishnan and Rajat Bhatia. |
 |
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