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Sunday,
February 3, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Harbhajan will play: Ganguly
Chanderpaul, Hinds
to Windies’ rescue |
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Punjab cagers bite the dust HARBHAJAN SOCCER DURAND CUP Kangra, February 2 All is set for the four-day senior state level hockey championship (men) being organised by the Kangra District Hockey Association scheduled to be held in the sports stadium here from February 7. Mr K.P.S. Gill, President, Indian Hockey Federation, would distribute prizes among the winners on February 10 at the closing of the championship. Punjab, Haryana shuttlers in semis Irina, Vandana in title clash National fencing
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Harbhajan will play: Ganguly Mumbai, February 2 Addressing mediapersons along with coach John Wright before the practice session here this afternoon, Ganguly, however, refused to name the playing 11 saying that “we have to wait for the selectors.” He also said that they would continue with Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag as the opening pair with himself coming in at number three. Terming the Delhi loss as a missed opportunity, Ganguly said his team would try and win the series here in Mumbai. On the pressure on his team, he said that pressure was on both teams. He also praised the wicket as a good one for batting. Indian coach John Wright, however, admitted that the pressure was very much on India. “We desperately want to wrap up the series in Mumbai,” he said, adding that Cuttack and Delhi were missed opportunities for India. On the young Indian middle-order not firing on all guns, Wright said: “We need to develop a pattern so that the batsmen who get in, stay there. We do not want two new batsmen at the crease. It puts pressure on them and we have a young middle order. This has happened thrice in this series.” Wright was also of the opinion that it is easier to bat at number one, two and three positions in limited over matches rather than four, five or six. He also praised the young batsmen, singling out Hemang Badani and Mohd Kaif. “Badani has already got a century in limited over matches and is also a fine fielder. Kaif played very well in his first knock in the one-dayer in Delhi,” Wright said, adding, “We need to keep the faith in the youngsters.” On the other hand, England are unlikely to make many changes in their winning combination. After a creditable performance in the Test series, which they nonetheless lost 0-1, the English have been giving the Indians a run for their money in the one-dayers too. The visitors are brimming with confidence after their thrilling win in Delhi even though off-spinner Jeremy Snape, who performed reasonably well before missing the previous match due to an injury, is still not fit to play. England coach Duncan Fletcher said this morning that they would wait till the last minute to
accommodate Snape in the squad but admitted there was very slim chance of his recovering in time. Left-arm spinner Ashley Giles, who played in place of Snape in the last game, is almost a certainty for tomorrow after that match-winning five-wicket haul in Delhi. With their opening batsmen Marcus Trescothick and Nick Knight in great form, having scored a century each in this series, and the middle order comprising captain Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe and Michael Vaughan giving consistent performances, it seems England have peaked at just the right time. Even Andrew Flintoff, who had done miserably with the bat in the Test series and the first four one-dayers, looked to have regained his touch after an explosive 51 in Delhi. Wicketkeeper-batsman James Foster has
completely recovered from an upset stomach and could play a key role for his team tomorrow. England might be tempted to call back Mathew Hoggard for the final match as he has delivered the goods in pressure situations. Meanwhile, Wankhede Stadium’s chief curator Nadeem said the wicket was full of runs but at the same time would help bowlers willing to bend their backs a bit more. Fletcher had a good look at the wicket this morning and said it looked a sporting pitch. Meanwhile, the city police has made elaborate security arrangements for the match deploying around 5000 policemen at the stadium. Strict instructions have been given not to allow spectators to carry plastic bottles, papers, match sticks, lighters, transistors and cameras into the stadium. However, water would be allowed to be carried inside the stadium only in small transparent polythene pouches and disposable glasses. Water in other containers such as plastic bottles, water bottles, metal containers and
utensils would be prohibited. Arrangements have also been made for sale of eatables on stalls inside the stadium. Eatables brought from outside in tiffin-boxes and cartons with opaque wrappers would not be permitted. The two umpires for the match are Dr S.C. Gupta of Uttar Pradesh and Dr M.S. Mahal of Punjab. Narendra Menon of Madhya Pradesh is the third umpire while Des Raj of Delhi is the reserve umpire. Denis Lindsay of South Africa is the match referee while K.P. Kajaria is the BCCI observer.
UNI, PTI |
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‘A lot of positives’ from the tour Mumbai, February 2 “We have achieved a lot of positives from this tour of India,” he told newspersons here. Fletcher said young members of the English team had contributed well to the tour. “It has been a little of blow hot, blow cold but you must understand that these guys are inexperienced and you get consistency as you get more exposure and experience.” “At the end of the day ultimately you want to win all that you play, but coming here with an inexperienced side we have done pretty well,” he said, and added that “when we came here nobody gave us an iota of a chance but we came back well in the Test series and even now in the one-day series we are performing well.”
PTI, UNI |
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Chanderpaul, Hinds to Windies’ rescue Sharjah, February 2 The sixth-wicket pair, joining hands in the post-tea session with their team still 63 runs away from making Pakistan bat again, batted steadily to put on an unbroken stand of 94. The West Indies ended the third day’s play on 325 for five, having saved the follow-on, but were still 168 runs behind Pakistan’s first innings score of 493. Chanderpaul, the seasoned left-hander who missed the previous series against Sri Lanka due to injury, marked his comeback with a typically dour 45 not out in three hours. Hinds, a 21-year-old left-hander from Barbados, showed nerves of steel in his first Test to remain unbeaten on 55. With the wicket offering little assistance to the bowlers, only a dramatic
collapsed by either side over the last two days will produce a result in the first Test ever in this Gulf emirate. Pakistan (1st innings): 493 West Indies (1st innings): Ganga lbw b Saqlain 20 Gayle b Saqlain 68 Campbell lbw b Kaneria 6 W. Hinds st R. Latif Hooper lbw b Razzaq 56 Chanderpaul not out 45 R. Hinds not out 55 Extras (b-1, lb-3, nb-11, w-1): 16 Total (for 5 wkts, 108 overs) 325 Fall of wickets:
1-88, 2-96, 3-126, 4-180, 5-231 Bowling: Waqar 17-3-68-0, Shoaib 18-4-68-0, Razzaq 18-2-49-1, Kaneria 26-5-75-2, Saqlain 27-8-55-2, Taufiq 2-0-6-0.
AFP |
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Seles outclasses Kournikova Tokyo, February 2 The American third seed, who lost to Hingis in three sets in the Australian Open semi-finals a week ago, pulled off a tough 6-3 3-6 6-3 victory over the Russian in one hour, 21 minutes. Top seed
Hingis, the winner here in 1997, 1999 and 2000, needed just one hour to beat Silvia Farina Elia of Italy 6-0 6-4 to earn a final berth for a sixth year running. “I’ve been working on it (her game) for three months, so it’s nice it’s paying off,” said
Hingis, who came back in action to win at Sydney after a three-month layoff for ankle surgery which cost her the number one ranking. “I have this great feeling to play here, because somehow I feel like more responsible always coming from having played well in Australia, like six consecutive finals there as well as here,” added the 21-year-old, who was runner-up to Jennifer Capriati in Melbourne. Only one service break, both in the second game, decided the winner of the first two sets as Seles and Kournikova went into the final set, and the Russian got ahead 2-0 up in the decider. But Seles fought back to even at 2-2 and staved off on break point at 30-40 in the seventh game to keep it for
4-3. Seles hit her strokes in full swing to force Kournikova to make an error four times consecutively from 0-15 to score a crucial break again in the eighth game, which eventually decided the winner. “On this (fast) surface, you just have to go for it and that’s what I tried to do and my opponent tried to do today. And today, I just won more important points,” said Seles after her fifth win over Kournikova in six
matches. Kournikova, whose ranking plummeted to 99th after a foot injury last season, appeared “happy” with her play after her disappointing first-round loss at the Australian Open two weeks ago. “It was a great match and it was a tough one, too. I didn’t have any chances in the first set and then suddenly I was playing easily in the second. Then in the third, it was just going both ways up and down,” said
kournikova. “Monica was just stronger mentally. I think that I have nothing to disappoint about. I am playing much better than I did two weeks ago and the beginning of the year. “I’m really happy that finally I’m starting to find my form, play confident and go for my shots. I’m looking forward to my next few tournaments,” added the 20-year-old.
AFP |
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Punjab cagers bite the dust Ludhiana, February 2 Tall, lanky Satinder Singh Bains put the Indo-Canadian outfit in the lead in the very first minute with a three pointer. Relying on an attacking game, the visitors had established a 19-point lead at the end of the first quarter and at half time they were leading by 60-42. The Punjab team felt the absence of their captain Parminder Singh (Sr) who was sent out for foul play during the third quarter which cost them very dear and they lost 85-107. Avtar Singh Heer played a stellar role in the Indo-Canadian win with 32 points. Amandeep Singh Heran and Pasha K. Singh Bains contributed 20 and 18 points, respectively. For the hosts, international Gagnesh Kumar scored 32 points while Parminder Singh (Sr) chipped in with 16 points. |
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HARBHAJAN SOCCER Garshankar, February 2 The first final was played between SN College, Banga, and SGGS Khalsa College, Mahilpur. Rupinder Singh of the Mahilpur college scored the first goal off a rebound from the goalkeeper, on a pass by Kulwinder. Thereafter, the Banga boys picked up pace and played football with a lot of enthusiasm. In the 21st minute, following a goal-mouth melee, Sukhjinder of Banga college equalised with a header. Thereafter, the Banga boys never looked back and dominated over the Mahilpur boys. In the 27th minute of the second half, striker Harjinder scored the second goal for the Banga team. Soon after striker Sukhjinder scored his second and the team’s third goal against the Mahilpur college. The Mahilpur team tried their best to reduce the margin but the solid defence of Banga foiled their attempts. In the club category final, BSF prevailed over Punjab Police 2-1. The first goal was scored by Punjab Police in the third minute. Thereafter BSF launched attacks and a minute before the interval, BSF equalised . In the second half, neither team could score a goal. The golden goal rule was applied to break the deadlock. In the third minute of the second session of extra time, BSF found the match winner and lifted the trophy. Wrestler Kartar Singh gave away the prizes. The best scorer’s award was given to Sukhjinder Singh of SN College, Banga. Special awards were also presented to Arjuna awardee Inder Singh and national football coach Sukhwinder Singh. According to veteran coach Ali Hassan, who has coached several internationals, scholarships for budding players Lakhbir Singh, Gurdip Singh, Kulwaran Singh and Mohammad Salman were also announced on the occasion. Among those present on the occasion were Col Surinder Singh Bains,a key functionary of the SGGS Khalsa College management committee, former footballer Gurmail Singh Gill ,Mr SS Bains and other dignitaries. |
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DURAND CUP New Delhi, February 2 In group II, the Army team which made mockery of a fragile and disjointed Delhi outfit defence scoring at regular intervals, led 3-0 at half time and pumped in the other three after the breather. Army XI’s forward Thiruvakarsu (18th and 39th min), right half S Gurung (26th and 73rd) and substitute Raghu (87th and 89th) struck the goals against an inexperienced Delhi side which was saved from the ignominy of conceding more goals due to some brilliant saves by Bisawajit Das under the bar. In another high-scoring pre-quarterfinal league match in group I, BSF’s right half J. Ouseph, who constantly moved to the upfront, scored a brace for his team. BSF, whose territorial supremacy was never in doubt however, had to wait till the 33rd minute of the play to draw the first blood when Ouseph banged home. Skipper D.S. Negi scored the second goal for BSF in 52nd minute followed by Ouseph in 62nd minute while Santosh Kujur rounded off the tally in 75th minute. There are two groups of three teams each in the pre-quarterfinal league with the winner of each group making it to the last eight. Delhi’s City Football Club in group I and India National in group II are the other two teams to vie in the pre-quarters. Nine premier teams playing in the National Football League, including defending champions Mohun Bagan and Kolkata giants East Bengal have been directly seeded into the quarterfinal league along with a under-19 Indian squad. There will be four groups of three teams each in the quarter-final league with the winner of each group making it to the last four. Mohun Bagan and East Bengal would begin their campaign in group ‘A’ and group ‘B’ respectively on February 8. The other teams directly seeded to the quarterfinal league are JCT and ITI in group ‘A’ Salgaocar and Punjab Police in group ‘B’ Mahindra United and FC Kochin in group ‘C’ and Churchill Brothers and India under-19 in group ‘D’.
PTI |
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Himachal hockey from February 7 Kangra, February 2 Disclosing this here today, Mr Satinder Trehan, state vice president of the Himachal Pradesh Hockey Association, said that 13 teams from all over the state including HP Police and Accountant General, Shimla, would participate. He said the championship would be played on league-cum-knockout basis. This championship is being held here second time. Meanwhile, Mr Prathvi Raj, DIG Northern Range, Himachal, has been elected vice-chairman of the selection committee of the Indian Hockey Federation at its General House meeting held at Guwahati in Assam recently. |
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CISF win in
Babu hockey
Lucknow, February 2 For the 15th All-India Invitation Prize Money Women’s Hockey Championship, Air-India, Mumbai, split points with RCF, Kapurthala, and in the second match Central Railway won against UP XI.
UNI |
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Punjab, Haryana shuttlers in semis Patiala, February 2 In the quarterfinals the Punjab lads registered a convincing 2-0 win against favourites Gujarat in both the singles and doubles events, while the other teams to have made the last four grade were Haryana, Assam and Maharashtra. An intense contest was witnessed in the boys (u-19) section of the kabaddi event where Maharashtra came back strongly to tie their league match against Madhya Pradesh 32-32. In yet another edge-of-the-seat thriller, Kerala quelled a spirited challenge put up by Gujarat before beating them by a slender two point margin at 34-32. The Karnataka lads had their rivals from Andhra Pradesh on the mat in the initial stages of the match and led 29-20 at one stage. The other results: Badminton (all boys, u-19): AP b Karnataka 2-0. Punjab b Gujarat 2-0. Haryana b W. Bengal 2-0. Assam b Chandigarh 2-0. Kabaddi (all boys, u-19): Punjab b J&K 75-10. AP b HP 49-33. Kerala b Gujarat 34-32. Uttaranchal b Chattisgarh 52-46. Maharashtra b MP 68-32. Rajasthan tie with UP 37-37. Punjab b Navodya Vidayalya Schools (NVS) 68-15. Haryana b MP 67-14. Delhi b Chattisgarh 61-11. Rajasthan b HP 52-39. AP b Karnataka 40-39. Delhi b Chattisgarh 61-11. (All girls, u-19): Haryana b W. Bengal 82-19. MP b Gujarat 81-23. Delhi b NVS 58-15. WB b AP 54-44. UP b HP 54-44. Handball (all boys, u-19): Kerala b Haryana 62-35. UP b Uttaranchal 52-23. Gujarat b Maharashtra 21-18. Chandigarh b J&K 33-14. Jharkhand b HP 23-18. Delhi AP 23-8. Gujarat b Kerala 26-14. Athletics (all girsl, u-17):
Long jump: Nabanita Ghosh (WB) 1, Salamma Anthony (Kerala)-2, Ponny George (Kerala)-3. Shot Put: Monika Joon (Delhi)-1, Aplesh (HP)-2, Patwant Kaur (Punjab)-3. 800m (all girls, u-19): Iqbal Kaur (Punjab)-1, Sarin Thomas (Kerala)-2, Sarita Molkas (Kerala)-3. (boys, u-17): Bishit Kumar Rai (UP)-1, Parneet Singh (Punjab)-2, Shivan Raju (AP)-3. (girls, u-17): Sukhjit Kaur (Punjab)-1, Anju Mathew (Kerala)-2, Jyoti Kellekar (Karnataka)-3. Discus throw (boys, u-19): Arvind Yadav (Gujarat)-1, Simranjit Singh (Punjab)-2, Deepak Divile (Delhi)-3. (boys, u-17): Suresh Kumar (Haryana)-1, Sunil Kumar (UP)-2, Amandeep Singh (Punjab)-3. |
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Irina, Vandana in title clash Mumbai, February 2 In the final, which will be played over 36 holes and decide the top lady golfer in the country, Irina will take on Kolkata’s Vandana Agarwal, who played percentage golf to end the dream run of Mumbai’s Sonia Malhotra. Vandana executed perfect shots to beat Sonia 5 and 4. Results (all semi-finals): All-India championship: Irina Brar (Chandigarh) b Anjali Chopra (Delhi) 1 up; Vandana Agarwal (Kolkata) b Sonia Malhotra (Mumbai) 5 and 4. Vikramaditya Trophy: Amrita Nath (Delhi) b Rohini Majithia (Delhi) 5 and 3; Nalini Singh (Delhi) b P. Indumati (AP) 5 and 3. D T Challenger Trophy: Kanika Minocha (Chandigarh) b Mohini Chaudhary (Mumbai) 2 up; Nikita Jadeja (Jaipur) b Rashmi Prasad (Kolkata) 6 and 5.
PTI |
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National fencing Chandigarh, February 2 Punjab had hosted fourth junior championship in 1996 at the same avenue. Punjab had done extremely well in the last edition of the national championship against formidable Manipur. Punjab is one of the few leading states which is making stupendous efforts to make the game popular at all levels. Mr Khanna added that Manipur had created an unprecedented record in the recently concluded National Sub-Junior Fencing Championship held at Nasik from January 28 to 30 by winning all 10 titles at stake. The junior championship will also act as a selection trial to pick up probables for the World Cadet & Junior Fencing Championship to be held at Antalya (Turkey) in the first week of April. |
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Gurdaspur gymnasts reign supreme Chandigarh, February 2 Mr HS Sohi, IRS, member, Finance and Accounts, Punjab State Electricity Board, gave away the prizes. |
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Boxing team for senior nationals Chandigarh, February 2 According to Mr GS Sarao, the team is: light fly-Rakesh Kumar; fly wt: Nitin Kumar; bantam wt- Mandeep Singh; feather wt-Som Nath; light wt-Gagandeep; lt welter- Harwinder Singh; welter wt-Barinder Singh; light middle-Jagtar Singh; Middle wt-Yogesh; light heavy-Narinder Kumar; heavy-Balkar Singh; super heavy-Harpal Singh. |
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