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| Friday, March 10, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Sachin got raw deal
from umpires Down Under: Harvey |
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Spain whip Malaysia 7-1
Vedadri stuns top seed Dinesh
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Jadeja, Robin script thrilling win KOCHI, March 9 (PTI) — Ajay Jadeja hammered a grand 92 off 109 balls in a splendid comeback as India ended their losing streak with a dramatic three-wicket win over South Africa with just two balls to spare in the opening game of the five-match one-day cricket series here today. In a tie which the all-conquering South Africans looked like pulling off till midway through the Indian innings, Man of the Match Jadeja provided the impetus before the never-say-die Robin Singh cracked an unbeaten 42 off 43 balls to guide India to victory at the Nehru Stadium. India reached 302 for seven wickets in 49.4 overs chasing a mammoth 301 for three piled up by the visitors riding on centuries by Gary Kirsten (115) and Herschelle Gibbs (111) and their South African record 235-run opening stand. The hosts, reeling from their disastrous Australian tour followed by the 0-2 rout in the Test series against South Africa, fought back brilliantly by mounting a successful chase in a long while to take the lead at the outset and give new skipper Saurav Ganguly a winning start to his tenure. The match entered a nail-biting final over, bowled by paceman Shaun Pollock. India needing seven runs off five balls, were left to make five off five after a single was taken off a crucial no-ball. Anil Kumble steered Pollock to third man for three runs to tie the game with three balls left but umpire M.R. Singh caused confusion by signalling four after consulting the third umpire. Play resumed after a 15-minute hold-up and Robin Singh hit the winning run straight away. Jadeja, out of the Indian one-day squad since November last year due to a shoulder injury and subsequent controversy over whether he had recovered, made a telling return as he clinically took apart the South African bowling to cut down the asking rate to a run a ball. Jadeja put on 92 runs for the fifth wicket with Robin Singh after his 79-run stand with Azhar which lifted India to the threshold of a thrilling victory. Jadeja, who struck eight fours and three sixes, was twice dropped by Derek Crookes at point in the same over off paceman Mornantau Hayward. The batsman, then on 63, braved the stifling humidity to carry on and looked like completing a deserved seventh one-day hundred when he hit Hansie Cronje straight to Crookes at point to leave India at 272 for six. Robin Singh then took over and kept his cool in the final stages. Earlier, mounting a chase, Ganguly (31 off 28 balls) and Sachin Tendulkar (26 off 25 balls) raised 45 breezy runs, but quick loss of wickets left the hosts struggling. But Mohd Azharuddin once again revealed his form and experience as he contributed a vital 42 (51 b, 1 x 4, 1 x 6). The 37-year-old, fresh from scoring a century in the second Test at Bangalore and playing his first one-dayer after the World Cup last year, mistimed a flick off Kallis straight to Pollock at midwicket, but Jadeja stuck to his job. The seasoned batsman hoisted off-spinner Crookes for two sixes in one over and then hit a stunning one-handed six off Hayward straight down the field. A flurry of runs came as India made it a run-a-ball situation, needing 59 runs off the last 10 overs to win. Earlier, Gary Kirsten cracked an entertaining ninth one-day hundred (115 - 123 b, 12 x 4) and with Gibbs, who helped himself to his third century (111 - 11 x 4, 2 x 6), piled on the agony for the inexperienced Indian bowlers. Gibbs, who hit two stunning sixes over the cover region as Agarkar fed him with widish deliveries, thrived on the poor wicketkeeping of Samir Dighe. The 30-year-old ‘keeper fumbled with two easy stumping chances, once missing when the opener was stranded yards outside after being beaten charging out to Tendulkar. The normally reliable Robin Singh added to the Indian misery on the field by dropping a Gibbs sweep at square leg, left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi being the bowler. Rahul Dravid, who claimed two for 44 off nine overs, emerged the most successful host bowler and only he and Tendulkar managed to check the scoring when the left-handed Kirsten and Gibbs were going great guns on a batting beauty. The confusion at the fag end came as a dampener on the thrilling contest which looked open entering the final over. After the umpire signalled four, presumably confused after receiving directions from the third umpire, the players trooped off the field with the visitors aghast at the decision as Kallis had stopped before he crossed the boundary line. The second tie will be played at Jamshedpur on March 12. SCOREBOARD South Africa: Kirsten c Jadeja b Dravid 115 Gibbs c Agarkar b Joshi 111 Kallis not out 37 Klusener c and b Dravid 0 Cronje not out 19 Extras (lb-6, w-9, nb-4) 19 Total (for 3 wkts, 50 overs) 301 Fall of wickets: 1-235, 2-249, 3-249. Bowling: Ajit Agarkar 7-0-55-0, T. Kumaran 5-0-41-0, Anil Kumble 8-0-48-0, Sunil Joshi 10-1-52-1, Sachin Tendulkar 10-0-43-0, Rahul Dravid 9-1-44-2, Robin Singh 1-0-12-0. India: Ganguly c Boucher b Pollock 31 Tendulkar c Williams b Haywar 26 Dravid c Williams b Cronje 17 Joshi run out 13 Azharuddin c Pollock b Kallis 42 Jadeja c Crookes b Cronje 92 R. Singh not out 42 Dighe c Cronje b Pollock 5 Kumble not out 7 Extras (b-2, lb-5, w-13, nb-7) 27 Total (for 7 wkts, 49.4 overs) 302 Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-70, 3-82, 4-101, 5-180, 6-272, 7-287 Bowling: Pollock 9.4-0-59-2, Kallis 6-0-42-1, Cronje 8-0-48-2, Hayward 6-0-35-1, Williams 9-1-40-0, Boje 6-0-34-0, Crookes 5-0-37-0.
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JOHANNESBURG, March 9 (PTI) — The controversy in the last over of the first one-day cricket match between India and South Africa in Kochi today, which the hosts won by three wickets in a tight finish, evoked sharp criticism from commentators in South Africa. The second delivery of the final over by Shaun Pollock was declared a no ball with India needing seven runs to win off five balls chasing South Africa’s 301 for three. Television replays showed Pollock’s front foot to be within the crease but further replays showed that the foot had skidded beyond the crease before he released the ball. Singh then awarded India a boundary after Jacques Kallis had made a splendid effort to save a four at third-man, thinking the fielder had touched the boundary rope while effecting the save — sparking wild celebrations among the 75,000 crowd. The decision was later corrected when the reserve umpire pointed out the mistake to his colleagues in the field. The players returned to complete the 50 overs and the Indians scampered to a single off the fourth ball of the last over. One commentator, Dennis O’Donald, said the final over was “farcical”. He was clearly angry at what he perceived to be “bias” in umpiring by the Indian officials and the third umpire. Former South African fast bowler Fanie De Villiers took exception to the no-ball decision. He said the third umpire should have been consulted before the decision was made. “The umpire may have made a genuine mistake and I think because of this the third umpire should have been called in to assist,” De Villiers said. “If this was done, I am certain the match would not have ended in a controversy,” he added. De Villiers apparently missed the second set of replays by Channel 9, which showed the skidding of Pollock’s foot. De Villiers, however, said South Africa had only themselves to blame for the defeat. “If you can’t win after scoring 301 runs then you must not blame anyone else. South African bowlers did not restrict the Indian batsmen, especially Jadeja, Azharuddin and Robin Singh,” he said. De Villiers said the
South Africans had a tough task on their hands as India
would be a formidable team in the one-day series. He said
with Azharuddin, Tendulkar, Jadeja, Robin, Kumble and
Ganguly, India would prove to be a tough team. |
Sachin got raw deal from umpires Down Under: Harvey NEW DELHI, March 9 (UNI) — Former Australian great Neil Harvey attributes Indian batting genius Sachin Tendulkar’s dismal run in the recent series Down Under to a “raw deal from the umpires’’. “If somebody got bad decisions, it was Tendulkar,’’ Harvey told Sportstime, a TWI Sports programme for Doordarshan. The left-handed Bradman (as Harvey is called for his batting exploits) said another reason for Tendulkar’s “below par’’ performance was that “he had a lot on his shoulders’’. “He put too much strain on himself as he wanted to make up for the failure of other batsmen. Besides I do not think he relishes captaincy too much.’’ Harvey, who was here as part of a selection panel to pick up the bestever post-1975 side, rated Tendulkar as “undoubtedly the world’s best batsman’’ but said he did suffer from occasional lapses. ‘’but apart from Bradman, who doesn’t have (lapses).’’ The former Australian
captain rated the Steve Waugh-led present team is a good
side but not as great as that of the 1948 or the 1972
side as it is “missing out on a very good opening
pair’’. |
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PESHAWAR, March 9 (AFP) — Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 57 runs on the fifth day of the second cricket Test to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series here today. The tourists needed only nine balls to complete the demolition of Pakistan for 236 on the final morning to win their third straight Test series. Sri Lanka have now won nine of their last 19 tests, while Pakistan lost their fifth Test in a row after being defeated 3-0 by Australia in November last year. Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan finished with six for 71 and a total 10 wickets in the match making man of the match. The home team resumed the final morning at 222-8 with all their hopes resting on captain Saeed Anwar but within nine minutes all was lost. Number 10 batsman Arshad Khan survived the unfinished over in which Muralitharan had dismissed Yousuf Youhanna and Waqar Younis on day four. The third Test begins in Karachi on March 12. Scoreboard Sri Lanka (1st innings): 268 Pakistan (1st innings): 199 Sri Lanka (2nd innings): 224 Pakistan (2nd innings): Anwar c Wickremasinghe b Vaas 36 Afridi st Kaluwitharana b Muralitharan 31 Haq c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 9 Sohail c Dilshan b Jayasuriya 0 Youhanna lbw b Muralitharan 88 Y. Khan c Arnold b Vaas 6 Razzaq lbw b Muralitharan 5 Zaman b Vaas 25 Younis c Jayawardene b 0 Muralitharan A. Khan c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 5 Akhtar not out 4 Extras: (b9, lb6, nb12) 27 Total: (all out in 70.1 overs) 236 Fall of wickets: 1-59, 2-77, 3-82, 4-103, 5-145, 6-208, 7-222, 8-222, 9-226. Bowling: Chaminda Vaas
16-3-69-3, Ravindra Pushpakumara 10-1-31-0, Pramodya
Wickremasinghe 12-5-22-0, Muttiah Muralitharan
27.1-4-71-6, Jayasuriya 5-1-28-1. |
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PESHAWAR, March 9 (AFP) — Middle order batsman Ijaz Ahmed has been recalled in the Pakistan squad for the third Test against Sri Lanka but opener Aamir Sohail is out, a Pakistan Cricket Board official said today. “Ahmed is in the squad of 16 while Sohail is out of the squad for the third Test,” the board’s director of operations Yawar Saeed said. The third Test starts in Karachi from March 12. Pakistan have already lost the series 2-0 and face their first home whitewash in a series. Pakistan’s board has not decided about the captaincy in case Saeed Anwar is ruled following his bruising collision with the umpire on the fourth day of the Peshawar Test. “In case Anwar is ruled unfit Moin Khan will lead the side but any decision on that and the coach will be decided on Friday,” he said. Coach Intikhab Alam said on Tuesday threatened to resign after the board announced he would be replaced after the series by Javed Miandad. Ahmed was overlooked for the three match one-day series against Sri Lanka and for the first two tests. Sohail failed to hit his form in the one-day series and scoring 24, nought, 22 and nought in the two Tests. Ace pacer Wasim Akram has regained his fitness after bowling only 2.1 overs in Rawalpindi and missing the Peshawar Test. “Akram is attending the camp in Rawalpindi,” Saeed said. Wicketkeeper Moin Khan is also back after missing the Peshawar Test due to a knee injury and the flu. Also back is leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed who was dropped after playing the first test against Australia in Brisbane in November last year. Squad: Saeed Anwar
(captain), Imran Nazir, Wajahatullah Wasti, Ejaz Ahmed,
Yousuf Youhanna, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Wasim
Akram, Arshad Khan, Shoaib Akhtar, Waqar Younis, Shahid
Afridi, Irfan Fazil, Mohammad Akram, Mushtaq Ahmed and
Moin Khan. |
A great teamwork, says Ganguly KOCHI, March 9 (PTI) — Skipper Saurav Ganguly praised the “fantastic” all-round display by his teammates after India beat South Africa by three wickets in a nail-biting finish to go one up in the five-match one-day series, ending a disastrous run of defeats. “It was a fantastic effort by the boys. After fielding for 300 runs we came back to score 300, it was a fantastic job and great teamwork,” Ganguly said of India’s brilliant victory in his first match as captain at home. “Both (Mohammed) Azharuddin and (Ajay) Jadeja played superbly and I think the bowlers also did their job well. “They were 110 for no loss in 15 overs and I think restricting them to 300 was a fantastic effort by the bowlers. “Rahul Dravid bowled very well. He was bowling in such a match for the first time but he did really well,” Ganguly said after India successfully chased a total of 301 for 3 for a morale-boosting win after a disastrous tour of Australia and a 2-0 Test series drubbing by South Africa. Led by superb efforts from comeback men Azhar and Jadeja, who added 79 runs for the fifth wicket, India reached 302 for seven with two balls to spare. The Indian skipper, who took over the reins for the one- day series against South Africa and the upcoming tri-series in Sharjah from Sachin Tendulkar, who stepped down after the Test series against the visitors, said he was sure of victory even before the start of the Indian innings despite the South Africans posting a mammoth total. “I was sure we could do it, we have the ability to pull off a win and we decided to go about our job and played our normal game,” Ganguly said. His South African counterpart Hansie Cronje expressed disappointment over the result but was confident his team would come back in the remaining matches. “It was a good match though we would have liked to be on the winning side. I think 301 was a good score. “(Herschelle) Gibbs and (Gary) Kirsten played superbly. They batted very, very well, though the guys were a little tired at the end. But if you put on 301, you can’t blame the batters,” Cronje said of the superb batting by his openers who posted centuries in a record partnership of 235. “It was unfortunate to lose the match after having them five down,” Cronje said, adding he was glad they had to play only one match in Kochi as the sultry conditions were very tough. “We will be having a tough time playing 13 matches in 40 days (including the Sharjah tournament where Pakistan and India will be the other teams). It is a tough tournament but we will be back (in the series),” he said. Man-of-the-Match Ajay Jadeja rated his superbly-timed 92 as one of his best knocks as it had helped India win. “Yes it was one of the best. I have made a few hundreds when we have lost but it was good today as we won.” Jadeja said he and Robin
Singh, who made 42 not out in a decisive 92-run
partnership to set up the victory, decided to go on as
they sensed the South Africans were tiring. |
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OSAKA (Japan), March 9 (AFP) — Formidable Spain blasted Malaysia 7-1, while South Korea sweated in the cold to overcome Belgium 2-1 on the opening day of the Olympic field hockey qualifying tournament here today. In other matches, Britain’s penalty corner specialist Calum Giles pumped in three goals to set up a 4-2 win over hosts Japan, while unfancied Switzerland stunned Argentina 3-1. Spain, silver medallists at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, could not have hoped for a better start in the 12-nation competition which will throw up six qualifiers for the Sydney games in September. What was expected to be a close group B match turned into a no-contest as Spain established a 4-1 lead by half-time and pumped in three more goals in the second-half. Malaysia’s only moment of glory came in the 15th minute when Kuhan Shanmuganathan scored a penalty corner to equalise the opening goal by Spain’s Jan Dinares three minutes earlier. Xavier Ribas and Pol Amat led their team’s rout with two goals, while Eduard Tubau and Pep Sanchez chipped in with one each. “My job now is to see the boys regroup after this game,” a shaken Malaysian coach Stephen Van Huizen said ahead of tomorrow’s match against Belarus. South Korea, one of the world’s most potent teams, found the cold wave and icy winds tough to handle as they trailed by a solitary goal till the last 13 minutes before scoring twice in succession to win in group A. The gutsy Belgians, whose last Olympic appearance was way back at Montreal in 1976, were rewarded for their attacking game when Patrick Gierts put them ahead in the 44th minute. The Koreans were, however, saved the blushes when captain Kang Keon-Wook equalised with a penalty corner in the 57th minute, before Hwang Yong-Hyun hit in the match-winner two minutes later. “We were lucky,” a relieved South Korean coach Kim Sang-Ryul said as the mid-day match ended in four-degree Celsius temperature. “It was difficult to play hockey in this cold. My stopper for penalty corners told me he could not get a grip on the ball. One could get badly injured in this weather.” In the group A opener, Giles got into the act for Britain after Japan went 1-0 up in the third minute through captain Akira Takahashi’s rebound off a penalty corner. Britain, taking advantage of a 10-man Japanese team when Akihiro Yoshioka was sent off with a yellow card, hit back with three goals in a five-minute blitz towards the end of the first half. Giles opened the floodgates with a penalty corner goal in the 25th minute, and scored again in the 30th after Ben Sharpe had flicked his team’s second goal in the 28th. Giles made it 4-1 six minutes after the break and only a last-minute goal by Shuji Fukezama helped Japan reduce the margin. British coach Barry Dancer said he was pleased with the way his team, seventh-placed in the 1996 Olympics at Atlanta, fought back after the early reverse. “They kept their nerves and came back well,” he said. “Except for the patchy second half when he were a bit untidy, the game went well for us.” Sacha Overhoff scored
two goals as Switzerland, hoping to return to Olympic
hockey after 40 years, upset Argentina in the last match
of the day. |
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MARGAO, March 9 (UNI) — Defending champions Salgoacar (Goa) produced a last-gasp effort to edge out spirited Dempo (Goa) 2-1 and gained full points to remain in fray for the top three spots in the second leg of the National Football League match played at Nehru Stadium Fatorda here today. Trailing by a goal at the breather, Salgaocar played their heart out in the latter half and scored two quick goals to achieve a creditable victory. Salgaocar restored the parity in the 85th minute through substitute Nigerian striker Sherifdin Adenikan, who came in place of veteran Bruno Coutinho off a pass from Alvito D’Cunha 1-1. Medio Jules Alberto scored the match winner a minute before the long whistle off a flag kick taken by Alvito D’Cunha 2-1. Earlier Dempo took the lead in the 10th minute of the first half through Iranian Ahamadi Seidi off a pass from Behzad Amri. With this win Salgoacar took their tally to 36 points and jumped on to second place pushing down Churchill Brothers also of Goa to third place with 35 points from 19 outings. Dempo remained at the bottom with nine points from an equal number of matches. Salgoacar will next play
F.C. Kochi in the away match on March 15. |
Shirov holds Anand; Leko stunned LINARES, March 9 (UNI) — Viswanathan Anand continued his saga of draws, this time with Alexi Shirov, and languished at the bottom of the table after eight rounds in the Linares 2000 Super GM Chess Tournament. The other two games, between Vladimir Kramnik and Garry Kasparov and between Alexander Khalifman and Peter Leko were absorbing ties. Khalifman produced the stunner of the day beating Leko and moving into the third spot behind joint leaders Kramnik and Kasparov, who drew their match. Kramnik had Kasparov scurrying for cover with his brilliant play, but ultimately the champion stayed afloat for a draw. Anand after losing his second and third round games to Shirov and Kasparov has been subdued and has preferred to be safe. His last few games have ended in draws before the 30th move. In the eighth round, Shirov had white and Anand played the Petroff defence, which has been the most popular defence system adopted by the players this time in Linares. The defence stood the test yet again and two players agreed to split the point after 23 moves when neither made any headway. Anand now has three points from six draws and two losses in eight games. Shirov, who is one place ahead of Anand has 3.5 points with one win over Anand in the third round — and five draws. He lost two games, one each to Kasparov and Kramnik. Khalifman, whose fide title win has often been looked at with a great deal of scepticism by the super GMs, once again proved that he is indeed worthy of being a champion. He is probably not in the same class of a Kasparov, Kramnik or Anand, but he could certainly hold his own in the elite company. Rated lowest at 2656 in this tournament — more than 100 ELO points behind the next lowest rated, Leko, who is 2725 — Khalifman earned his best result of the tournament with a superb win over Leko. Khalifman became the fourth player to register a win in this event. Kasparov and Kramnik have two each, while Shirov has one. Only Anand and Leko have not won any games. Against Leko, the Russian Khalifman had white, Leko, who had drawn each of his seven previous games, was engaged in theoretical clash in the exchange variation of the Gruenfeld defence. The Gruenfeld is one of Leko’s favourite lines, but Khalifman went through it and scored a great win. Upto 21 moves, they followed theory. Lautier and Illescas had drawn a similar games in Hoogovens in 1997. Black, Leko, at this stage seems fine and in no danger. After 26 moves they were in a somewhat similar situation like Kasparov and Kramnik in a 1998 games at Linares. That, too, was a draw. It was then Khalifman moved away and within a few moves Leko realised his Greunfeld had been crashed into. After his 40th move, Khalifman got into a winning situation in a king pawn ending. The end came after 47 moves. As Khalifman moved into third spot with four points, Leko slipped to joint fourth with 3.5 points. Many of Kramnik-Kasparov games have been dull draws with no interest to attack each other. But this eighth round was different, for at stake was the prestigious Linares title. In an English opening Kramnik held the advantage with a piece sacrifice. But Kasparov fought well, despite getting into acute time pressure. In fact, he finished 40 moves with just 40 seconds left on the clock. Towards the end, Kasparov moved in a flash and did not even write his moves. But once he reached the time control, the two agreed to share the point. In the ninth round,
Anand meets Khalifman, while Leko has white against
Kasparov and Shirov, with white meets Kramnik. |
National
baseball from March 13 CHANDIGARH, March 9 —The 14th National Baseball Championship for men and women will be held from March 13 to 17 at Panjab University grounds here. This was disclosed in a press briefing by Mr Pius Pandarwani, President, Amateur Baseball Federation of India here this afternoon. Nearly 750 sportspersons from 18 states will participate in the championship, said Mr M.L. Sharma, president of the organising committee for the five-day meet. The teams participating are: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Diu and Daman, Gujarat, Goa, HP, Haryana, Karnataka, J&K, Manipur, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, West Bengal, UP and Chandigarh. Tripura will send its men’s team only. Mr Pandarwani further told that baseball had been included in the School Games Federation of India calendar. He also recalled that India won bronze medal at 1st Asia Cup in 1995 and silver medal at third Asia Cup which was organised at Chandigarh last year. Mr P.C. Bhardwaj, secretary of the ABFI said that all the teams have been divided into four pool and matches will be played on league- cum -knockout basis. The teams will be lodged at various Panjab University hostels, Government College hostel in Sector 15 and Government College for girls hostel, Sector 11. Participants would be provided free board and lodging Mr Rajan Kashyap,
president Chandigarh Olympic Association, will inaugurate
the meet. |
Stragglers
beaten PATIALA, March 9 — There was an unmistakable air of gaiety in the match between Stragglers of Asia Cricket Club and Maharaja Eleven played at the Dhruv Pandove Stadium here today, which was played in a spirit of friendship and festivity and won comfortably by Patiala Maharaja XI by five wickets. Patiala Maharaja’s team had a fair amount of royalty mixed with some top stars of the past and the present, including Bishen Singh Bedi, former Pakistani captain Mushtaq Mohammad, former Indian fast bowler Yograj Singh, his son Yuvraj Singh and local lad Reetinder Sodhi, whose knock of 74 proved to be match winning for the Patiala Maharaja’s team. Opting to bat, the Stragglers Club put up 188 for 7 in a 12-a-side contest, which never appeared to have the trappings of an intense contest, despite the fact that the Stragglers players had some minor county cricketers turning out for them. In reply, Reetinder Sodhi and Raninder Singh gave the local side a rousing start putting on 75 for the first wicket before the latter was declared retired hurt. From then onwards it was Rookie Reetinder Sodhi all the way and the finishing touches were given by junior World Cup Man of the Series Yuvraj Singh who scored a blitzkrieg of a knock rattling of 30 runs in just 12 balls. Brief scores: (Stagglers of Asia Cricket Club: 188 for 7 (Ramesh Sethi 68, Peter Maron 16, Gulzarinder Chahal 2 for 26, Gurpal Singh 2 for 48, Capt. Amarinder Singh 1 for 18, Vijay Singh 1 for 12) Patiala Maharaja’s XI: 189 for 5 (Reetinder Sodhi 74, Raninder Singh 29, Malvinder Singh 26, Yuvraj Singh 30 n.o. R.Butler 2 for 42. W.King 2 for 42, Charles Steven 1 for 42) Reetinder Sodhi was declared the Man of the Match.
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VIJAYAWADA, March 9 (UNI) — Unseeded K. Vedadri of Andhra Pradesh trounced FIDE-rated G. Dinesh Kumar (2105) of Tamil Nadu even as second-seeded Syed Anwar Shazuli (2280) of Tamil Nadu emerged as the sole leader with five points at the end of the fifth round of the ninth Andhra Gymkhana National Youth Chess Championship here today. International master elect and top seed S. Dinesh Kumar (2337) of LIC closely followed the leader with 4.5 points. He will take on Shazuli in a crucial encounter tomorrow. On the top board, fourth-seeded Manish Joshi of Madhya Pradesh started with king pawn-Larson opening against Shajuli who took positional advantage on the 11th move. On the 24th move, Manish Joshi lost knight to avoid king side attack and after five moves he resigned since there was no compensation for knight loss. In an upset match, Vedadri started with d 4 against Dinesh who replied with e 6. Later the game became Tarrasesh opening. On the 11th move Vedadri lost his rook for bishop and pawn, but utilising his double bishops, he occupied two diagonals and with queen combination mated the opponent in 39 move. On the second table the LIC player started with king pawn opening against unseeded Ajay Pande (Uttar Pradesh). The game was converted into king’s Indian, Dinesh got positional advantage on the 15th move. On the 25th move Pande got a forced draw but he did not utilise as both the players went into time pressure. Pande lost a pawn in time pressure. Dinesh converted the pawn to a passer and Pande surrendered his bishop for that pawn, due to material loss he resigned on the 53rd move. On the third table Pankaj Joshi (Venus Academy) outplayed Amarnath (AP) in Nimzo Indian Rubinstion. Amarnath mishandled the opening and played queen to d8 on 23rd move which cost him exchange down and made him land to back position. Pankaj Joshi converted it into advantage and on the 41st move Amarnath conceded the game. On the fourth table J. Ramakrishna (AP), with white pieces, lost to R.S. Prasanna (T. Nagar, Chess Academy, Chennai) in 76 moves due to irregular opening. On the fifth table Gunasekharan (Tamil Nadu) drew with Rajesh (T, Nagar Chess Academy, Chennai) in Benko gambit in 24 moves. Results: Manish Joshi (MP) 4 lost to Syed Anwar (TN) 5, Dinesh Kumar (LIC) 4 1/2 b Ajay Pande (UP) 3 1/2, Pankaj Joshi (Venus) 4 b Amarnath (AP) 3, Ramakrishna (AP) 3 lost to Prasanna R.S (TNCA) 4, Gunasekharan (TN) 3 1/2 drew with Rajesh P (TNCA) 3 1/2, Srinivasa Rao (AP) 4 b Rohit G (AP) 3, Malleswara Rao (AP) 3 lost to Natarajan (TN) 4, Pradeep Pathak (UP) 4 b Misra S.R. (Ori) 3, Raghavendra S (Kar) 4 Pranjal Das (WB) 2 1/2, Ganesh Bhatt (Ker) 2.5 lost to Raju N (AP) 3 1/2, Rao L D (AF) 2 1/2 lost to Sai Srinivas (AP) 3 1/2, Krishna K (Rly) 3 b Karthik J (CAPA) 2, Rahul Agarwal (Bih) 2 lost Satyakam S (Ori) 3, Vedadri K (AP) 3 b Dinesh Kumar (TN) 2, Sanjay Kumar S (Chrom) 2 lost Bankik Somanth (WB) 3, Kasim SK (AP) 3 b Vinuthna N (AP) 2.
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GND
varsity win w’lifting titles ANANDPUR SAHIB, March 9 — Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, won the overall championships in both the men’s and women’s sections in the five-day All-India inter-university weight-lifting, powerlifting and best physique competitions which concluded at Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Khalsa College here last evening. Guru Nanak Dev University won the overall championship in weightlifting in men’s section collecting 20 points. It won the championship for the 19th consecutive year. In the women’s section of weightlifting, GND University clinched the overall championship gathering 19 points while Punjabi University, Patiala, with 16 points, were the runners-up. Shivaji University, Kohlapur, finished third securing 11 points. The overall championship in powerlifting in the men’s section was not announced due to protests lodged by different universities. In the women’s section Punjabi University, Patiala, won the overall championship with 23 points. The best physique overall championship was won by Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, with 10 points. Delhi University were runners-up with nine points while the GND University finished third with seven points. Heera Lal of the Guru Nanak Dev University was adjudged Mr All-India Inter-University for the year 1999-2000. Pardeep Sharma of Panjab University, Chandigarh, was adjudged the best weightlifter in the men’s section while Lovleen Kaur of Guru Nanak Dev University was declared the best weightlifter in the women’s section. Piara Singh and Mandeep Kaur of Kurukshetra University were declared the best powerlifters in the men’s and women’s section, respectively. Earlier on Tuesday Gurwinder Singh of Guru Nanak Dev University won the first place in 105 kg category in weightlifting. He lifted 320 kg total weight while R. Balamirganandan of TL University, Chennai, was second with 287.5 kg. Rajeev Chaudhary of Kumaun University, Nainital, finish third with 282.5 kg. Results:- Weightlifting (men): 94 kg — Deepak Sharma (GND varsity) 302.5 kg 1; Ajay Pal (KU) 302.5 kg 2; Shubhkaran (Pbi Varsity Patiala) 287.5 kg 3. 85 kg: Kuldip Singh (PU) 315 kg 1; Mukhtiar Singh (GND varsity) 285 kg 2; Darshan Lal (CCS) 267.5 kg 3. Weightlifting (women): 69 kg — Gurinder Kaur (Pbi varsity) 150 kg 1; Balwinder Kaur (GND varsity) 127.5 kg 2; Malathi C. (Calicut varsity) 122.5 kg 3. Powerlifting (men): 100 kg — Ravi Sharma (KU) 717.5 kg 1; Ravinder Pal Dhillon (KU) 717.5 kg 2, A.V. Vinayan (Calicut varsity) 715 kg 3. 90 kg: Mandeep Singh (Pbi varsity) 670 kg 1; Swarnjit Singh (KU) 667.5 kg 2; Balwinder Singh (KU) 632.5 kg 3. 82.5 kg — Sunil Kumar (Pbi varsity) 700 kg 1; Anuj Vashiashtha (CCS) 682.5 kg 2; Paramjit Singh (GND varsity) 650 kg 3. Powerlifting (women): 82.5 kg — Simi Josepth (Calicut varsity) 317.5 kg 1; Sanpade Dhopatkar (Mumbai varsity) 287.5 kg 2; Jalmeen Kaur (Pbi varsity) 282.5 kg 3. 75 kg — Rupinder Kaur (Pbi varsity) 355 kg 1; Anjana Oberio (KU) 310 kg 2; Deepa Puri Goswami (MISU Udaipur) 307.5 kg 3. Best physique (men): 80 kg — Hardeep Singh (PU) 1; Anand Kumar (MDU) 2; M. Romya (Manipur) 3. 70 kg — Bhupinder
Singh (Pbi varsity) 1, Rupesh Rout (Mumbai varsity) 2;
Jori Rahul (Pune varsity) 3. |
Amritsar
grapplers win trophy MUKTSAR, March 9 — Amritsar district won the overall trophy in the Punjab state sub junior wrestling competition which concluded here today. The Amritsar team secured 27 points while Jalandhar was second with 24 points. The third position was taken by Faridkot. Results: 42 kg:- Vikas
Bhagat (Asr) 1, Sonu Singh (Jal) 2, Gurpreet Singh (Fkt)
3; 46 kg:- Rajiv Kumar (Jal) 1, Gurdeep Singh (Fkt) 2,
Roshan Lal (Gpr) 3; 50 kg:- Ramanh Kumar (Asr) 1, Santhok
Singh (Jal) 2, Harsimran Singh (Rkr) 3; 54 kg:- Rohit
Kumar (Jal) 1, Nayim Khan (Sgr) 2, Sandeep Kumar (Asr) 3;
58 kg:- Ravinder Kumar (Asr) 1, Gurdeep Singh (Mpr) 2,
Gursewak Singh (Fkt) 3; 63 kg: Heera Singh (Jal) 1, Vinod
Kumar (Asr) 2, Swaram Singh (Fkt) 3; 69 kg: Vikram Sharma
(Asr) 1, Harpreet Singh (Fkt) 2, and Gurpreet Singh 3; 76
kg:- Kultar Singh of (Hsp) 1, Rachpal Singh (Sgr) 2,
Gurpal Singh of (Fzr) 3; 85 kg: Gurbir Singh of (Frd) 1,
Ram Mohomad (Asr) 2, Balbir Singh (Fzr) 3.
MADRID, March 9 (AFP) — Mike Tyson’s latest comeback fight, provisionally scheduled for April 8 at a venue to be determined, is likely to be put back by at least a week, Spanish promoter Felix “Tuto” Zabala has said. Milan in Italy and Barcelona (Spain) are the two favoured sites for the bout. “In my opinion, the fight will not take place on April 8 because time is too short,” said Mr Zabala, one of the men in charge of the proposed bout and president of the Barcelona Dragons American football team.
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CALCUTTA, Mar 9 (PTI) — Men’s second seed Nitin Kirtane and his female counterpart Rushmi Chakravorthi bit the dust against lower ranked players in the quarter-finals of the senior National Grasscourt Tennis Championship here today. Maharashtra boy Kirtane captured the opening set but failed to keep up the momentum to surrender to eighth seed Sourav Panja of Bengal 6-1, 2-6, 4-6 while Tamil Nadu lass Chakravorthi went down to sixth seed Radhika Tulpule of Maharashtra 3-6, 6-2, 6-7 (0-7). Top seed Syed Fazaluddin carved out a facile 6-2, 6-3 victory over seventh seed Vasudev Reddy of Andhra Pradesh to advance to the semifinal and will meet fifth seed Vishal Uppal of Delhi, who got the better of fourth seed Mustafa Ghouse (Mah) 6-0, 4-6, 6-3. Men’s singles sixth seed Vijay Kannan (Del) outclassed unseeded Tamil Nadu player Rishi Sridhar, who had upset third seed Vinod Sridhar yesterday, to settle for a last four clash with Panja tomorrow. Kannan took only 57 minutes to put in across his Tamil Nadu opponent 6-3, 6-4. Women’s top seed
Sai Jayalakshmi had to draw on her reserves to get past
Gujarat’s Karishma Patel 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5) to set
up a pre-sumit duel with fifth seed Arthi Venkataraman of
Karnataka, who had little difficulty in humbling fourth
ranked statemate S K Tara 6-1, 6-1. |
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LONDON, March 9 (PTI) — Aparna Popat thrashed Australia’s Rayoni Head to lead an Indian charge into the second round on a good day for India at the All-England Badminton Championships at Birmingham last night. In the men’s section, Nikhil Kanetkar and Sidharth Jain scored contrasting victories to cross the first hurdle in the prestigious tournament. But the spirits were dampened a little as B.R. Meenakshi, the second best ranked Indian woman in the IBF ranking list, went down tamely to Ukraine’s Elena Nozdran, 3-11, 3-11. World No. 26 Aparna, who has been in superb form recently in the Uber Cup qualifiers in New Delhi and also at the Kochi nationals where she clinched a hat-trick of titles, rolled over the Indonesian-born Australian to score a comprehensive 11-1, 11-1 win in the women’s singles first round. Southpaw Kanetkar,
ranked 60th in the world, faced little resistance from
Kasper Fangel of Denmark before winning 15-13, 15-2 while
Jain came back from a game deficit to beat Ruud Kuijten
of Belgium 9-15, 15-11, 15-9. |
Soccer
trials NEW DELHI, March 9 — Delhi Soccer Association has picked up 38 probables for trial-cum-coaching camp of Delhi to take part in the senior national football championship for Santosh Trophy. The trials to select the team will be held on March 10 at Thyagraj Nagar Sports Complex. The players willing to take part in trials should report to convener. Syed Nasir Ali and chairman B.S. Chauhan. The list of names of players called for the trials is as follows:- (Goal- keeper: A. Bandhopadhyay (IAF), Biswanath Deb, Javed Khan (Shastri). Biswajit Halder (Hindustan), Ujjal Barua (SBI), Vinay Singh (Mughals). Defenders:- Sanat Kar (IAF), Mohd Mobin, Sanjay Siddhu, Vijender Singh (Hindustan), Mohd Arif, Ravinder Singh, Simon Peter (Shastri), Subhash Negi (N.D. Heroes), Rajesh Joshi (SBI), Manjeev Kumar, Inderjit Dhar (Mughals), Amit Nandi (Moonlight), Vinod Negi (Youngmen), Vijender Bhakuni (S. Youngs). Mid-fielders: Vivek Sharma. Mohd Khalid, Manjeet Kumar, Yashpal Rawat (Hindustan), Mahipal (Shastri), Abhijoy Basu (SBI), Tara Singh (Delhi Police), Forwards:- Rammawiga Gosai (IAF), Dharmender Kharola, Mahesh Bisht, H.S. Rawat (Hindustan), Vimal Thapa Bhupender Thakur (Shastri), Sameer Jang (Shahdera), Bhupender Negi, Shekhar Khanna (Youngman), A. Mutalif (Delhi Police), Lalit Bisht (N.D. Heroes). As many as 28 state
teams are taking part in the championship. Delhi has been
placed alongwith Chandigarh, Arunachal Pradesh and Orissa
in Cluster VII at Chalakudy in Trichur. |
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