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Tendulkar ready for challenge
Tendulkar, Lara toughest to bowl to: McGrath
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Grassy pitch stumps Indians
Emphatic 201-run win for Lanka
Harikrishna scripts Indian win over Spain
Top lady golfers for Punjab Open
Punjab pound Goa, Services oust Bengal
Patiala DFA lose in Gurdarshan football
Junior
badminton results
Ludhiana, Jalandhar eves to clash for title
Sirsa bag four TT titles
35 trainees finish
hooting course
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Tendulkar ready for challenge
Nagpur, October 24 "I don't think I am rushing myself. I have played 115 Tests, after that you have to be prepared to face all sorts of problems and all kinds of obstacles," Tendulkar said ahead of the third cricket Test against Australia beginning here on Tuesday. The 31-year-old record-breaking batsman is returning to action from a 75-day break due to an elbow injury that forced him to miss three one-day competitions, including the ICC Champions Trophy last month, as well as the first two Tests of the ongoing series. Tendulkar, who has not played a match since the Asia Cup final in Sri Lanka in August, makes his return as India trail 1-0 in the four-Test series and preserve the 35-year old unbeaten record against the Aussies at home. He said he was well fully aware of the task up against him. "I have prepared myself. I have played against Australia and I have played against these bowlers. I know what to expect from them," he said. "Unfortunately, there was no match in between (after the second Test in Chennai). I have to be happy with my net practice," Tendulkar said after taking part in a full net session with his teammates during which he was seen hitting the ball hard. "It went well (today's net session). I have been having intense sessions over the last three-four days. They were pretty hard ones. My body has responded quite nicely," he said. "I am very happy to make the comeback. It has been a difficult time. It was extremely difficult to be sitting in the dressing room, when you want to be out there in the middle. "Unfortunately that did not happen. But I am prepared now to go out and try my best," he said. The master batsman admitted that he would not be 100 per cent fit immediately. "It is not going to be normal in the near future. The doctors have said I will face some stiffness. That is fine. It is normal for anyone," he said. "I know it is going to take some time. It is something that is not going to get better overnight. "After I spend some time in the middle, muscles which are developed because of batting will get strengthened. "That is what I have been trying to do over the last four-five days. It has shaped up pretty well." Tendulkar, 30 short of completing 9500 Test runs, said he did not feel any pain while batting and that he would use a bat that weighed close to the one he used before. "There's no pain in the elbow but a bit of stiffness is there. That's going to take some time (to go)," he said. "Once I have loosened up all the muscles, then it would be fine. I have already taken a couple of injections. It seems to have worked." Asked whether he could play a long innings of five-six hours, Tendulkar said he would be very happy to do so. "The idea is to feel happy at the end of the day's play and that is what I will be trying to do. I don't want to make any big statements. I have never done that." Tendulkar has an outstanding record at the VCA ground. In the four Tests he has played here, he has accumulated 625 runs, including an unbeaten double ton and two other scores above 170. "It's all gone in history books. I will start from zero." Tendulkar also brushed aside talks about the kind of wicket prepared for the match, saying his teammates and he were happy to play on whatever track is given to them. "It certainly looks different (from the earlier ones at Bangalore and Chennai). Whatever the surface that's given to us by the curator, we are prepared to play. The team will go out there and give its best," he said.
— PTI |
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Tendulkar, Lara toughest to bowl to: McGrath
Nagpur, October 24 "Any batsman on his day is difficult to bowl to. But I will choose Sachin and Brian as the two best batsmen I have bowled to. I have had some success against Brian, but on other occasions he's got lot of runs against us. Sachin too," the Aussie paceman told a press conference here today. "Sachin is obviously one of the best batsmen in the world. On his day he's a tough challenge. He has not played a lot of cricket lately, but I am looking forward to bowling to him. "In the West Indies Lara and Jimmy Adams once batted out the whole day against us. So did VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid (at Kolkata in 2001). But Sachin and Brian are two of the toughest to bowl to and two I enjoy bowling to the most," McGrath said. Asked about his feelings on playing his 100th Test, the 34-year-old said, "It's a special feeling to play 100 Tests. If I can get five wickets in an innings or 10 in the match here it would be very special. "My debut in November 1993 was a very special moment. I am lucky to have played in a period when we have some great players. Sharing with my teammates and working towards the same goal has made it more special." McGrath said he was surprised to see the fair amount of grass left on the wicket at the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground here by the curator. McGrath, who is four short of equalling Richie Benaud's record haul of 29 victims in India, said the game plan for the Aussie fast bowlers was the same - try and get some early wickets and then when the ball becomes old, try and get some reverse swing going. Other Australians who have completed 100 Tests are: Mark Taylor (104), David Boon (107), Shane Warne (114), Ian Healy (119), Allan Border (156), and the Waugh brothers Steve (168) and Mark (128).
— PTI |
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Grassy pitch stumps Indians
Nagpur, October 24 The grassy wicket has stumped the hosts who are trying to bounce back from the 0-1 setback while the visitors are all delighted that their dream of conquering the final frontier might finally come true. The first thing that India captain Sourav Ganguly did upon reaching the venue this morning was to have a chat with curator Kishore Pradhan. Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, however, brushed aside any apprehension, saying that the team was prepared to play on whatever pitch the curator provided for the tie. “It certainly looks different (from the earlier ones at Bangalore and Chennai). Whatever the surface that’s given to us by the curator, we are prepared to play. The team will go out there and give its best,” he said. Glenn McGrath, who would be playing his 100th Test, said the Nagpur pitch had pleasantly surprised the tourists although he did not expect it to be fast and bouncy. “There’s plenty of grass on it, which is surprising in India. But I don’t think the wicket will be as fast or bouncy as the wickets in Australia,” he said. Curator Pradhan said the wicket had undergone thorough preparation for three weeks and there were no cracks in it.
— PTI |
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Emphatic 201-run win for Lanka
Faisalabad, October 24 Herath perfectly filled the place of injured Muttiah Muralitharan as Pakistan were dismissed for 216 when last man Shoaib Akhtar was stumped by Kaluwitharana. Herath finished the match with seven wickets for 145 runs. Sri Lanka set a 418-run target for Pakistan after amassing 438 in their second innings, highlighted by Sanath Jayasuriya’s 253 yesterday. Shoaib Malik made a career-best 59 but got little support from the other end as Herath bowled consistently with a field of four close-in fielders. Malik brought up his half century with three successive boundaries off Dilhara Fernando (4-77), who had broken the Pakistan top batting order in the second innings with four wickets yesterday evening. Mohammad Sami, nursing a groin muscle injury, was run out for five before Akhtar delayed the inevitable with a quick 12, which included a six off Herath. It was Sri Lanka’s sixth Test win in Pakistan in the last nine Test matches, which include 2-1 series wins in 1995-1996 and 1999-2000 along with a victory in the Asian Test Championship final in Lahore two years ago. Herath claimed two wickets in as many balls in the first session and removed Yousuf Youhana (44) and Abdul Razzaq off successive deliveries as Pakistan went for lunch at a precarious 170 for seven - trailing by a massive 247 runs. Resuming at the overnight score of 114 for four, Youhana and Malik put on 31 runs in the first hour before Herath struck in his ninth over of the day. Scoreboard Sri Lanka (1st innings): 243 Pakistan (1st innings): 264 Sri Lanka (2nd innings): 438 Pakistan (2nd innings): (overnight 114-4) Hameed lbw b Fernando 17 Farhat lbw b Fernando 53 Kamal b Fernando 1 Inzamam b Fernando 3 Youhana lbw b Herath 44 Malik c and b Herath 59 Razzaq lbw b Herath 0 Moin c Kaluwitharana b Vaas 1 Sami run out 6 Akhtar st Kaluwithrana Kaneria not out 0 Extras (b-4, lb-1, nb-9, w-6) 20 Total
(all out, 79.2 overs) 216 FoW: 1-59, 2-65, 3-86, 4-91, 5-154, 6-158, 7-159, 8-187, 9-215 Bowling:
Vaas 16-4-54-1, Malinga 6-2-13-0, Herath 32.2-10-64-4, Fernando 20-3-77-4, Jayasuriya 4-2-2-0, Mubarak 1-0-1-0.
—AP |
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Harikrishna scripts Indian win over Spain
Mallorca, October 24 Riding on the efforts of international master S Vijayalakshmi, Indian eves cruised to an emphatic 2-1 victory over eighth seeds France in the eighth round. While Anand was held by Alexei Shirov, Sasikiran drew with Francisco Vallejo Pons on the second board and Ganguly let go a winning chance against Roberto Cifuentes on the fourth board. With this win, the Indian men are now placed joint third with 21 points. Ukraine still lead the field with 25 points while Russia are second with 22 points, and India and Armenia have 21 each. Ukraine consolidated their position at the top of the table as they outplayed Bulgaria 3.5-0.5. The only draw came on top board where Vassily Ivanchuk drew with black pieces against Bulgarian Kirli Georgiev. Vijayalakshmi defeated IM Marie Sebag while GM Koneru Humpy and Nisha Mohota were held by IM Almira Skripchenko and Sophie Millet, respectively.
— Agencies |
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Top lady golfers for Punjab Open
Chandigarh, October 24 Fighting a battle against a nagging lower back pain which has kept her off the course for most part of the last three years, Irina has entered this year’s women’s golf circuit with a pack of painkillers in her bag. In the first tournament at Kodai Kanal she lost to Shruti Khanna by three strokes. But now back on homeground she hopes to repeat her last year’s performance. Irina was
practicing on the course this afternoon. “Í am playing well. In fact, I played a great game today. And if my back does not give me trouble, I should play well,” said Irina when The Tribune team talked to her. Shruti Khanna, who won the first circuit tournament, is also all raring to make it a second time in a row. Seventy golfers — 35 from outstation and an equal number from Chandigarh — will take part in the four-day championship, which is being sponsored by Bank of Punjab. At stake are seven main titles besides prizes on all four days. Giving details to the media this afternoon were the main lady officials of the championship besides the Chairman of the Media and Publicity of the club, Dr GS Kochhar. Dr Kochhar was flanked by Mrs Kiran BM Singh, Chairperson, and Ms Jaishree Thakur, honorary secretary. Other top lady golfers who will be seen in action will be Anjali Chopra, Shalini Malik, Vaishavi Sinha, Pragya Mishra. The challenge from the local side will be f rom Parnita Garewal and Kanika Minocha. A number of junior golfers will be participating in the tournament this year, the younget just 10 years old. The rules clinic will be held on Monday at 3.30 pm, which will be conducted by Chief Referee Harji Malik and HS Kang. The ceremonial tee off will be on Tuesday at 8 am by Mr DP Singh, Assistant Vice-President, Bank of Punjab. Competitions will be held for the following events: Overall winner, Silver Salver (handicap 0-12), Challenge Bowl (handicap 13-24), Bronze Plate (handicap 25-36), Junior Shield (for players U-18), Sub-junior trophy (for players U-14) and Senior Challenge (For those born before October 26, 1954). |
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Punjab pound Goa, Services oust Bengal
New Delhi, October 24 The soldiers played to a plan, and knotted up the Bengal defence with their fast forays. The first goal came in the 44th minute when R Rajesh charged into tap the ball home. Striker Shaji A D’Silva beat a defender in the air to trap the ball before relaying it to Vijay Thapa on the right of the box. Thapa’s shot unsettled custodian Abhijit Mandal, who dived to stop the ball, but failed to gather and Rajesh pounced on it to boot in (1-0). Bengal replaced Abhijit Mandal with Subrata Pual at the start of the second half, but luck still eluded them. Services scored the second goal five minutes into the session when Shaji A D’Silva powered the ball home from the top of the box. The move was fashioned by Vijay Thapa, and Rajesh passed the ball to D’Silva to do the scoring act (2-0). Bengal made two more substitutions, but their only goal came off a penalty when Anish Sharma brought down Mehtab Hossain, both wearing No18 jersies, in the 18th minute! Referee Shaji Kurien whistled for a penalty, and international Dipendu Biswas booted the ball in (1-2). Bengal sensed a chance to at least draw the match, but they suffered a debilitating blow, when defender Madhab Das was sent out with a red card when he felled Rajesh in the 29th minute. Bengal could not recover from this blow, though Services failed to convert a couple of more chances. Punjab were on a roll against Goa, making a mockery of the tall claims of the latter, who have been seeded in group D by virtue of being the semifinalists last year. Punjab played compact football, ripping apart the Goan defence with piercing moves. Gurjit Singh Atwal showed a pair of golden boots to score four impressive goals to knock the wind out of Goan sails. Punjab probed the Goan defence for the first 20 minutes before making the first kill through Harvinder Singh. Parveen Kumar did the spade work for the move, and Gurjit Singh had a go at the Goan goal. Custodian Juje Siddi rushed out to block, but failed to gather, and Harvinder charged in to boot in (1-0). Then Gurjit took charge, scoring the second goal with a powerful drive from the top of the box in the 34th minute, as Punjab led 2-0 at the break. Three minutes into the second session, Gurpreet Singh set up a nice pass for Gurjit to shoot past an advancing goalie (3-0). Twelve minutes later, Harish Sharma worked his way up from the rear to make a perfect cross, which was trapped by Gurjit, who shuffled the ball and shot left-footed into the corner of the net (4-0). Goa scored a consolation goal when Punjab relaxed the grip. In a counter-attack Climax Lawrence headed in off a cross from Clifford Miranda (1-4), in the 38th minute. But two minutes later, Gurjit played a solo from the top of the box, beat two defenders and the custodian, to power the ball in (5-1). Punjab have emerged the top scorers of the tournament, knocking in a staggering 20 goals in four matches. Punjab need only a simple draw against Tamil Nadu on October 26 to qualify for the semifinals. |
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Patiala DFA lose in Gurdarshan football
Nabha, October 24 In the first match of the day, the Ambala club worked hard but came up against some agile goalkeeping by Saroj Khan, who brought off many good saves in the first half. The Patiala boys failed to strike a rhythm and the Ambala forward line of Lalit Awasthi, Inderjit Singh and Rahul Puri worked up some good moves only to find Saroj Khan standing in their way. Midway in the second half, Rahul Puri wove his way unchecked into the rival area and unleashed a powerful drive which beat the custodian all ends up. After this the Ambala boys went all out and their aggression paid off when medio Sanjeev Kumar set up Naresh Kumar, who made no mistake to enable Union Club to enter the next round. The second match of the day saw DFA, Patiala, putting up a wretched performance. For the winners custodian Ramanjeet Singh hogged the spotlight with some brilliant saves. Locked goal-less at the end of regulation time, the deadlock continued even in the penalties with both teams tied 3-3. However, winners Muslim Club scored in the sudden death through Mohammad Sadiq while for the losers Kulwinder Singh, who otherwise had a good game, flunked his shot to hand the Malerkotla boys a 4-3 win. |
Junior
badminton results
Sangrur, October 24 Results: Boys singles: Sandeep
(Pta) b Sahil Gupta (Sgr); Anand Tiwari (Ldh) beat Pardeep (N S); Karan Batra
(Jal) beat Deepak (Asr); Arjun (Asr) beat Baljeet (Sgr); Navraaj Singh
(Jal) beat Bhavesh (Sgr); Bob Sharma (Pta) beat Deepinder (Hsp); Ashok
(Jal) gets w/o Himarsh (Bth); Gurbax Singh (Ldh) beat Ishan Preet (Sgr); Amtoj
(Asr) beat Harijit (Jal); Navjot Singh (Asr) beat Jaswinder Singh (Ldh); Inderdeep (Sang) beat Harnoor Singh
(Jal); Anandbudh Sharma (Jal) beat Daljit (Kpt); Munir (Sang) beat Nitin (N S); Varun Arora
(Jal) beat Himanshu (Pta); Salil (Asr) beat Rahul (Gsp); Kunal Mahajan
(Asr) beat Rajkumar (Pta); Punjab Masih (Ldh) beat Rahul Puria (Jal); Vishal Sharma
(Jal) beat Narinder (Asr); Aslam (Sang) beat David (Sang); Rahul Pal
(Bth) gets w/o Gurneet (Jal); Vipul (Asr) beat Udaybir (Jal); Satbir Sood
(Pta) beat Mohd. Farooq (Sgr); Harpreet Singh (Rpr) beat Amarjeet (Jal); Gurattanbir
(Ldh) beat Gaurav (Pta); Parshant (Asr) beat Tarun Goyal (Jal); Puneet
(Asr) beat Simarpreet (Sgr); Sahil (Gsp) beat Gaurav (Hsp). |
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Ludhiana, Jalandhar eves to clash for title
Phagwara, October 24 Both Ludhiana and Jalandhar have won all their four league matches. Kapurthala have secured the third position defeating Amritsar 56-49. Pooja (20), Reena (18) were the main scorers for the winners while Roopa (22) and Manpreet (17) did the bulk of scoring for the losers. In the men’s section, Rest of Punjab defeated Rail Coach Factory 59-53 to take the third position. The title clash in n the men’s section will be between Punjab Police and Border Security Force. Yadwinder (15), Snehpal and Damandeep (13 each) were the main scorers for Rest of Punjab while for Rail Coach Factory, main scorers were Surinder and Balbir (18 each). Earlier, in their last league encounter, Hoshiarpur beat Rest of Punjab 31-22 in the women’s section. |
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Sirsa bag four TT titles
Rohtak, October 24 Sirsa emerged winners in kids (boys), cadet girls, sub-junior girls and girls (under 17) categories. In the kids (boys) team championship Sirsa outclassed Rohtak A by 3-1 whereas Sonepat finished third. In the cadet girls (under-12) section, Sirsa beat Bhiwani with 3-1 margin. In the sub-junior girls team championship, their team defeated Panchkula in a well contested match 3-2. Bhiwani secured third place. The results: Women team championship: Sirsa b Bhiwani 3-0, Rohtak ‘A’ b Bhiwani 3-0, Rohtak ‘B’ b Hisar 3-0, Rohtak ‘A’ b Hisar 3-0, Rohtak ‘B’ b Bhiwani 3-1. Men’s team championship: Sirsa b Kaithal 3-0, Faridabad b Gurgaon 3-1, Bhiwani b Rohtak ‘B’ 3-1, Gurgaon b Yamunanagar 3-2, Rohtak ‘A’ b Karnal 3-0, Gurgaon b Rohtak ‘B’ 3-0. |
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35 trainees finish
hooting course Patiala, October 24 He said ignorance about weapons by licence holders sometimes created problems. He said it was
necessary for all licensees to know their weapon as well as know how to maintain it. SSP A.S. Rai, said the club had been formed to give training to licence holders and educate them on weapon usage.
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