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Jeevan stuns top seed, enters final
Sriram stars in India ‘A’ victory
McGrath unlikely for Lanka series |
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ICC to deploy anti-graft officials Islamabad, February 12 Concerned over match-fixers targetting the India-Pakistan series, the International Cricket Council has decided to deploy as many as three anti- corruption officials besides secret agents to check the menace.
Scorers’ exam India grab four quota places for Athens Olympics Revoke demotion orders, say sports officials Demotions surprise Sports Minister Injured Kahlon
fires 66 in
Forest Hill Open Misra boxing meet
from today Punjab kabaddi team for Pak tour Facile win for Patiala college
in hockey
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Jeevan stuns top seed, enters final Chandigarh, February 12 In the girls section the Indian challenge ended with the exit of giant-killer Parul Goswami and second seed Madura Rangnathan. In the doubles too it will be an all-Indian final in the boys section while the Indians players made their exit in the girls section. Jeevan scalped top seed Rupesh Roy today rather easily 6-1, 6-3. With fluent groundstrokes, Jeevan did not let Roy find his rhythm. He carried on the good work of the last few days and let Roy win only one game in the first set. Roy put up a bit more fight in the second set but it was not enough to stop Jeevan from taking the match. Serving at 2-2, Roy's erratic strokes and Jeevan's excellent passing shots helped Jeevan gain the important break. He then served fluently to retain serve and did not let Roy pull level to come into the match. Through the match Jeevan kept a cool head and bid his time before hitting the winning shots. He also timed his passing shots to perfection. In the other match Navdeep had to work harder to quell the challenge of third-seeded Faris Khatib of the UK. He had a tough fight on his hands in the first set , which he won in a tie-breaker. The sailing was much smoother in the second set. He won 7-6(6), 6-1. Top seed I-Hsuan Hwang of Taiwan finally ended the run of Parul Goswami in the girls section. Goswami, who had created quite a sensation in the earlier rounds, lost rather tamely 1-6, 1-6. She was expected to put up a better fight after her earlier heroics. Second seed Madura Rangnathan made a fight of her match before going down 2-6, 6-7(5) to fourth-seeded Pichittra Thongsach of Thailand. After a lop-sided first set, Rangnathan pulled up her socks and took the set to a tie-breaker, raising visions of taking the match to the third set but the Thai girl was too strong and took the match away from the Indian. Rangnathan faced a similar fate in the doubles as teaming with Vandana Murali they went down to Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium and Pichittra Thongdach 6-2, 6-4. Rangnathan and Murali's volleying at the net was put to shade by powerful groundstrokes of Wickmayer and Thongdach. Punam S Reddy and Kartiki Bhat lost 3-6, 3-6 to Yana Nemerovski of Israel and Jung-Yoon Shin of Korea. Both the doubles semifinals in the boys section were rather lop-sided as Rupesh Roy and Sumit Prakash Gupta outplayed Takeru Yamamoto and Shimpachiro Ikeno of Japan 6-1, 6-2 while Navdeep Singh and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan crushed Martin Sayer and Xiao-Peng Lai of Hong Kong 6-0, 6-1. Finals: Singles(boys):
Navdeep Singh vs Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan Girls: I-Hsuan Hwang vs Pichittra Thongdach Doubles(boys):
Navdeep Singh\ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan vs Rupesh Roy\Sumit Prakash Gupta Girls:
Yanina Wickmayer\ Pichittra Thongdach vs Yana Nemerovski\ Jung-Yoon Shin. |
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Sriram stars in India ‘A’ victory
Chennai, February 12 India had won the first two one-dayers at Bangalore, before completing the white-wash here today. After restricting the visitors to a modest 210 all out in 41.2 overs, the Indians were staring down the barrel at 34 for four in nine overs, before the in-form Sriram (105 not out, 115 balls, 12x4) and Y Venugopala Rao (66, 112 balls, 6x4) anchored the innings with a 155-run stand for the fifth wicket in 32.2 overs. Sriram, who had two half centuries in the previous two matches at Bangalore, scored the winning runs when he pulled offspinner James Tredwell to mid wicket fence. India A got off to a disastrous start as Dinesh Mongia (1), Gautam Gambhir (6), Mithun Manhas (14) and J P Yadav (zero) fell in quick succession, three of them claimed by medium pacer Sajid Mahmood. However, Sriram and Venugopala Rao combined well grounding the mediocre English attack as India A won with 4.5 overs to spare. While Venugoapala Rao, who survived a stumping chance on 33, played second fiddle to his senior partner, Sriram, on the other hand, was particularly severe on off spinner Shaftab Khalid, whom he hit for three successive fours in one over. The departure of Venugopala Rao did not alter the outcome, as Sriram completed his century with a cover drive of Mahmood and remained unconquered in the end. Earlier, electing to bat, England A, who were looking to end the series on a winning note, lost two wickets by the seventh over, as mediumpacer Siddarth Trivedi struck twice in 11 balls. However, opener Scott Newman (68, 63 balls, 7x4, 2x6) and E D Smith (76 not out, 98 balls, 5x4) resurrected the innings with a 98-run stand for the third wicket. At one stage, the visitors were 108 for two in 18 overs. But once Newman and Smith were separated, the rest of England A’s innings fell apart as they collapsed from 140 for two in 30 overs to 210 all out in 42.1 overs. Smith, who remained unbeaten till the end, ploughed a lone furrow, as wickets were falling at the other end at regular intervals. India-A skipper and leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule (3 for 33) triggered the collapse, before mediumpacer J P Yadav polished off the England A innings, cleaning the tail to return with figures of three for 52. Scoreboard England ‘A’: K Pietersen c Powar b Trivedi 17, S Newman c and b Bahutule 68, M Lumb c Ratra b Trivedi 7, E Smith not out 76, K Ali c and b Powar 0, M Prior c and b Bahutule 9, G Wagg st Ratra b Bahutule 3, J Tredwell b Yadav 3, S Mahood lbw b Yadav 13, S Khalid b Yadav 0, S Jones run out 1. Extras
(lb-2, nb-4, w-7) 13. Total (all out in 42.1 overs) 210 Fall of Wkts: 1/27, 2/42, 3/140, 4/143, 5/161, 6/167, 7/174, 8/201, 9/201. Bowling: S Trivedi 6-0-44-2, Munaf Patel 5-0-17-0; J P Yadav 9-0-52-3; Ramesh Powar 9.1-0-45-1; Dinesh Mongia 3-0-17-0, S Bahutule 10-1-33-3. India ‘A’: D Mongia c Jones b Mahmood 1, G Gambhir c Prior b Mahmood 6, S Sriram not out 105, M Manhas c Prior b Wagg 14, J P Yadav c Wagg b Mahmood 0, Y V Rao c Pietersen b Khalid 66, S Bahutule not out 3. Extras
(b-1, lb-3, nb-2, w-12) 18. Total (for 5 wkts, 45.1 overs) 213. Fall of wkts: 1/4, 2/7, 3/33, 4/34, 5/189. Bowling:
Sajith Mahmood 9-0-38-3; Graham Wagg 10-1-38-1; Simon Jones 9-0-38-0; James Tredwell 7.1-1-35-0; Shaftab Khalid 10-0-60-1.
— PTI |
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5-wicket haul by Warne Melbourne: Shane Warne completed his comeback from a 12-month drugs ban as a loser today, taking match figures of five for 152 for Victoria against Queensland in a second XI match. The Australia leg-spinner struggled to contain the scoring rate as he took three for 120 from 19.5 overs in Queensland’s second innings of 306 for seven from 57.5 overs. Nathan Hauritz (54 not out) hit Warne for a six and a single from the fourth and fifth balls of the final over as the visitors won by three wickets with one delivery to spare. Australia’s leading wicket-taker with 491 Test victims, a slim-looking Warne dropped a caught-and-bowled chance, had two other chances go down in the field and was hit for five sixes.
— Reuters
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McGrath unlikely for Lanka series
Sydney, February 12 With a 10-over spell in a one-day match considered the best way to ease McGrath back into competitive cricket after such a long lay-off, he is also unlikely to be named in the NSW Sheffield Shield team for the match against South Australia, starting Tuesday. That means he will have played no cricket when the selectors sit down to finalise the Test squad for the Sri Lanka series, which starts in Galle on March 8. The Test squad will be named tomorrow, with Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee most likely to spearhead the Australian attack and Michael Kasprowicz, Brad Williams and either Nathan Bracken or Andy Bichel to be included as the other quicks. It is highly unlikely McGrath, who turned 34 on Monday, will be granted a spot in the squad without proving his fitness and equally unlikely the selectors will rely on a hunch he is ready to add to his 95 Tests and 430 wickets with no cricket behind him. McGrath has not played a Test for Australia since last July’s second Test against Bangladesh in Cairns. Australian chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns this week admitted McGrath might be too ambitious in aiming to return in the Sri Lanka series. — AFP
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ICC to deploy anti-graft officials
Islamabad, February 12 “The ICC has informed that in addition to the retired Pakistani Army Colonel Qaza Noor, a security official each from India and Australia would keep a close watch during the series,” Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman Sami-ul Hasan told PTI over phone from Karachi today. Col Noor represents ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit in Pakistan and Bangladesh while N.S. Virk is India’s representative. Deployment of three officials for one series indicates ICC’s renewed fears that match-fixing might still be affecting the game. The ACU had written to the PCB in recent months that some Pakistan players might have underperformed in a couple of one-day tournaments in 2002. Meanwhile, newsdaily The Nation quoted PCB sources as saying although the ICC and boards of both countries had taken adequate steps to check illegal betting, a complete ban was not practical. The report said bookmakers had extended their network from Asia to Europe, Africa and the USA. “The much-awaited series will be the prime event for bookies to earn millions of dollars as they have formatted a strong international network ahead of Indo-Pak series,” the sources said. The two neighbours are resuming bilateral cricket ties after a 14-year hiatus and cricket fans across the world are eagerly awaiting the series. “Despite a number of steps taken by the ICC no one can remove match-fixing totally and still many bookies are involved in the million-dollar game,” the sources were quoted as saying. They said a few former Dubai-based Indian, Pakistani and African cricketers were working as the international link for the network. “These cricketers also help in communicating rates of teams and players and informing the bookmakers about the form, fitness and abilities of players.” The Mumbai-based bookmakers communicate the rates of matches to South Africa, England, the USA, Australia, Hong Kong, and other major venues in the world. Karachi is working as the Pakistani headquarter of this network and some money-changers and prize bond dealers reportedly work for the match fixers. “Lahore is also a major location for these people and various hotels in Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Islamabad are used for big deals during the matches,” the sources disclosed. The Indian security delegation that is currently on a pre-series visit to Pakistan has also recommendations from Indian cricket board to view the aspect of match-fixing during the series and its head Yashovardhan Azad has enough information about the fixers. “He is likely to give a report on match fixing as well to authorities after his return to India,” said the sources. — PTI
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Scorers’ exam MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will conduct the all-India scorers and statisticians course and examination from March 9 to 12 in Ahmedabad. The exam will be conducted with the assistance of the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Scorers of India and hosted by the Gujarat Cricket Association, a BCCI release said here today. Each affiliated unit of the BCCI will recommend four names for the course. The faculty member of the Association for Cricket Statisticians and Scorers of India will conduct the course, the release added.
— UNI |
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India grab four quota places for Athens Olympics
New Delhi, February 12 Mansher Singh led the Indian charge winning the gold medal in the trap event with a score of 23/25 in the finals. Manavjit Singh, who finished fifth with a score of 22/25, also got the quota place in this category. India have now secured seven berths for the four-yearly event. The third quota place was won by Deepali Deshpande in sport rifle 3 position event with a score of 66.9. Even though Deshpande finished sixth in the overall standing she could secure one of the two Athens Olympics berth for the event as the first four shooters had already qualified. Gagan Narang won the fourth quota place for India in the air rifle men’s event with a score of 696.6 to finish fourth. ZHQ of China won the gold while Skoromon of Uzbekistan and Yanagyida of Japan secured the silver and bronze medals respectively. The team comprising Narang, Sandeep Tarte and H Salim finished fouth with a score of 1771/1800. Meanwhile, Ronak Pandit won his second gold today in the standard pistol junior event with a score of 561/600. He had earlier won the gold in rapid fire pistol event. India has so far won four gold and a bronze medal in the Asian Championship so far. — PTI
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Revoke
demotion orders, say sports officials Chandigarh, February 12 These sports administrators and players also expressed their surprise over the manner in which seven posts of Deputy Superintendent of Police had been reserved for outstanding players. How can the selection process for such a post be completed within six days of advertising the post, they asked maintaining that those who had gone through the drill of recruitment and had served the organisation were being demoted. Sources reveal that certain members of the ruling Congress, including members of the Council of Ministers, have sought intervention of the Chief Minister to save these sportsmen from further humiliation. These ruling party legislators and ministers maintain that since the Council of Ministers has already taken a decision that no sportsman and woman would be demoted, the demotion of six international stars has come as a big
surprie. The Council of Ministers had decided on October 17 last year that these sportsmen and women, affected by a high court directive, should be adjusted against newly created 431 posts on the rank and position already being held by them. Their reversion, it was said, was only to meet a legal requirement and thereafter they would be put back on the positions. But in the case of these six sportsmen, they have been denied the rank held by them. Instead of Inspectors, they have been appointed Sub Inspectors. Mr
K.P.S. Gill, president, Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) , had taken up the issue with the Punjab DGP, Dr
A.A. Siddiqui, who had promised that every effort would be made to safeguard the interests of players, says Mr
S.K. Sharma, Officer on Special Duty, IHF. “It is unfortunate,” says national hockey coach Rajinder Singh
(Sr) holding that two members of his team — Kanwalpreet Singh and Tejbir Singh — who affected. “Not only they, but other players too are feeling demoralised. It upsets the whole team.” “We are at a crucial stage of our preparation for the Olympic Games. We have a challenging assignment ahead of in the Olympic Qualifying Tournamet in Spain early next month. Just a couple of weeks prior to our departure for Europe, this bombshell has come. They are so demoralised that they may have to quit Punjab Police and join some other department,” adds Rajinder Singh Sr. “It is not only a setback to Indian hockey but also to Punjab sports in general. After the painful saga of militancy in the state, Punjab sports had started looking up. This is a blow to Punjab’s recovery in sports,” concluded Rajinder with an appeal to the Punjab Chief Minister to “revoke the orders”. “It is shameful”, says Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, president, Punjab Olympic Association, maintaining that “while on the one hand everyone has been trying to check sports drain from Punjab, on the other we are humiliating them and forcing them to quit. It is all the more disturbing as the entire sports administration in the country is busy preparing the Indian contingent for the coming Olympic Games which are hardly six months away.” “What message is sought to be conveyed through these demotions?,” he added, holding that “if a player like Jugraj Singh can be demoted, it is not difficult to imagine the future of other sportsmen working for Punjab Police.”
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Demotions surprise Sports Minister Ropar, February 12 He further said that after the high court order, on a memorandum moved by the Department of Home, the Cabinet unanimously decided against demoting the sportspersons. After the Cabinet decision the Department of Finance was directed to create 337 additional posts. A high-level committee comprising senior officers of the police and legal departments was also set up to look into the matter. However, now out of the blue such orders had been issued by the Department of Home, Mr Kang said. He also added that he would take up the matter with the Punjab Chief Minister. The Secretary Sports, Mr D.S. Bains, who was also accompanying Mr Kang, said the decision had come as a surprise. |
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Injured Kahlon fires 66 in Forest Hill Open Lucknow’s Vijay Kumar missed a 3 ft birdie putt on his final hole to settle two-strokes behind the leader at four-under 68, while Delhi’s Ali Sher and Kolkata’s Yusuf ali were tied for the third position with each having an identical two-under 70
card. Harmeet Kahlon, the local star, who was slated to participate in an Asian PGA Tour event in Myanmar this week, missed the event due to a troublesome right elbow. “I was advised rest by my doctor, but the Hero Honda golf Tour is the reason I am where I am today. I felt I owed it to the Tour and to the Forest Hill Golf & Country Club of which I am an honorary member,” said the Hero Honda Masters 2002 winner. “Also, how could I miss a tournament in my hometown?” he queried. The India Cements-sponsored Kahlon asserted his superiority early with a birdie on his opening hole where a driver-lob wedge combination placed him two feet from the pin. The 33-year old went on to birdie the fifth and ninth with a lone bogey on the eighth where he missed a simple two feet par putt. Kahlon carried on the demolition act on his return journey, which he began with two straight birdies. “The birdie on the 11th was very satisfying as I sank a 30 feet putt from the edge of the green” said the Indian Oil employee. A bogey on the 14th, where his ball found a pit on the right of the green was undone by a hat-trick of birdies on the 16th, 17th and 18th holes. Vijay Kumar, once the undisputed ‘King of Indian golf and certainly the man who single-handedly put Lucknow on the Asian golfing map, had an uncomplicated round. Vijay birdied the fifth, seventh and eighth on his outward journey and the 14th on the way back. “I played to a plan today,” said the stocky golfer. “I attacked the pin on the front-nine which fetched me three birdies. Then when every body else went about playing attacking golf. I played it safe. This helped me maintain and indeed improve on my lead,” smiled the winner of the Hero Honda Open West, the inaugural Tour event of 2004 held at Pune in January this year. “The missed birdie was unfortunate,” concluded Vijay matter-of-factly. Thind leads amateur field:
Ashpreet Thind assumed the lead among the amateurs at a score of five-over 77, Kudeep Singh was second one stroke behind at 78. Scores (after 18 holes):
Harmeet Kahlon 66; Vijay Kumar 68; Ali Sher, Yusuf Ali 70; Basad Ali,
Pappan, Namar Dawan 71; Dinesh Kumar 72; Zai Kipgen, Rahul Ganapathy, C Muniyappa 73. |
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Misra
boxing meet from today Chandigarh, February 12 Mr Satish Chandra, president, Chandigarh Amateur Boxing Association, disclosed that over 200 boxers in eleven weight categories would vie for top honours. Mr C.K. Jerath, secretary, CABA, said that each team is allowed to field eight boxers. The teams which have confirmed their participation are, Assam Rifles, Goa, Assam regiment, Army Signal, Jabalpur, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, the CISF, Pondicherry, West Bengal, Uttaranchal, Delhi, Trenz Boxing club, PEPSU, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab Police, Orissa, Sports centre, Pune, Army Sports Institute, Pune, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, the ITBP, Maharashtra, Chandigarh Green and Chandigarh Yellow. The
tournament will be inaugurated by Ms Indu Misra, wife of late Mr A.K.
Misra at 3 p.m. The participants have been provided with free board
and lodging facilities at the Sector 42 sports complex. |
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Punjab kabaddi team for Pak tour Chandigarh, February 12 The Punjab (Pakistan) Kabaddi Association will receive the Punjab team at the Wagah check post tomorrow. The first match will be played at Okara on February 14 while the second will be played in Lahore on February 15. The other matches will be played at Shawal Vehari, Bahawalnagar, Rahim Yarkhan, Multan, Kot Abu, Islamabad, Lahore and Faisalabad. The team will return on March 2. The team: Harminder Singh, Karanjit Singh, Jasbir Singh, Harjit Singh, Harmander Singh, Balwinder Singh (captain), Mohd Dilwar Khan, Sohan Singh, Parminder Singh, Harminder Singh, Davinder Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Satnam Singh, Jasdev Singh, Harminder Singh, Satnam, Singh (Junior) and Kulbir Singh. Mr Paramjit Singh Aujla will be the Chief-de-Mission, Prof J.P. Sharma, manager, Mr Avtar Singh coach, Mr Baljit Singh, technical adviser, while Mr Satbir Singh will be the official. The Punjab Amateur Circle Kabaddi Association will extend an invitation to Punjab (Pakistan) team to play a series of matches in India also. |
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Facile win for Patiala college
in hockey New Delhi, February 12 Riding on a brilliant hat-trick by Harinder Sain, the Yamunanagar team completely outplayed American College, Madurai, 6-0. Besides Harinder, Jatinder Kumar scored a brace and Sukhwinder chipped in scoring one. Meanwhile, the Khalsa boys from Patiala also looked in good form drubbing Rourkella Municipal College 5-0. Jatin Kumar and Rajinder Singh scored a brace each for the winners while Gurvinder Singh also found the net on one occasion. In another match, St Joseph’s College, Bangalore, also had an easy time registering a 4-0 victory over Youth Affairs and Adventure Sports
LNIPE, Gwalior. Yarun Chinappa(two), Dennis N and Bipin Mandanna were the goalgettters for them.
— UNI
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Powerlifting
meet from tomorrow Sangrur, February 12
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Ropar overall champion Ropar, February 12 Hockey: Jagraon 1; and Ropar 2; kabaddi: Ludhiana 1; and Ropar 2; basketball: Ropar 1; and Ludhiana 2; football: Ludhiana 1; and Ropar 2; volleyball: Ropar 1; and Khanna 2; handball: Ropar 1; and Khanna 2; and athletics: Ludhiana 1; and Ropar 2. The Deputy Commissioner, Ms Seema Jain, gave away prizes to the winners.
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In video: Fans of the Indian cricket team want the players to tour Pakistan.
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Chandigarh, February 12