 |
|
Sports bodies rally to help victims
Olympian Balkrishan Singh dead
OBITUARY |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
YEARENDER: HOCKEY
Minhas, Chopra steady Delhi
Sachin advised not to play domestic cricket
Partner Warne with MacGill, says Jenner
Maharashtra eves lift softball title
Haryana win two gold
|
|
Sports bodies rally to help victims
Sydney, December 31 The English Premier League has pledged £ 1 million, with the top 20 clubs, including Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea, all contributing at least £ 50,000 each. Everton, which has close links with Thailand, and other clubs have started their own funds, while the league has announced that a minute’s silence will be observed at this weekend’s fixtures. “The Premier League and our clubs have strong connections throughout the region. There was a real feeling amongst the clubs that we should do
something to try and alleviate some of the pain and suffering,” Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said on the league’s website. The cricketing world has also joined forces to raise funds after India and Sri Lanka, two of the sport’s major playing nations, were devastated by the tsunami. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is planning a relief match between an Asian XI and the Rest of the World to raise funds. “Although the logistics behind this effort are complicated, the ICC is trying to get the cricket nations to rally and raise funds for a major humanitarian cause,” Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan said. The England and South African cricket teams held an impromptu fund-raising party on Thursday after the second Test in Durban, with autographed players’ shirts, bar takings and entrance fees to the party going to charity. The ATP, the governing body of the men’s professional tennis, announced that it was joining the relief effort, with a series of fund-raising activities during next week’s Chennai Open. The ATP said it would donate its $ 25,000 fee for the tournament to UNICEF and would hold a fund-raising auction, offering autographed items, including a shirt owned by defending champion and former world number one Carlos Moya. Jonas Bjorkman and Mahesh Bhupathi, top-seeded doubles team at the Chennai Open, said they would donate their prize money and urged other players to join them. “Through our tournaments and players, we have a deep connection with Asia,” ATP chief executive Mark Miles said. The International Rugby Board (IRB) announced that it would make a donation to the UN World Food Programme and urged the rugby community around the world to support its work. “Our hearts go out to the families of those who have died and who have family members still missing, and to those whose lives and livelihoods have been shattered by this terrible tragedy,” IRB chairman Syd Millar said. The Hong Kong Jockey Club donated $ 2,50,000 to the relief effort while the International Olympic Committee (IOC) expressed its condolences. “The whole Olympic movement stands silent before and shares in this immense bereavement,” IOC President Jacques Rogge wrote on the committee’s website. — Reuters |
|
Tamil Nadu, Punjab cagers enter semis
Ludhiana, December 31 Hosts Punjab had a mixed day today. The men, after trailing Jharkhand, managed to breeze past them 99-86 while the eves lost their quarterfinal encounter 59-82. Tamil Nadu men defeated Services by seven points. At the end of the first quarter, Tamil Nadu established a three-point lead (18-15), in which S. Robinson played the sheet-anchor’s role. Services fought a pitched battle in the second quarter and managed to score 21 points against 22 by the current champions. Peter John of Services played exceedingly well, which helped his team to match the Tamil Nadu team. They gave a tough time to Tamil Nadu in the next two quarters, but could not save their side from defeat. Tamil Nadu won 93-86. S. Robinson (29), A.D. Sukavaneshware (17), R. Chandershekhar (16) and S. Gopi Nath (15) were the main architects of Tamil Nadu’s win. For the losers, Peter John contributed 35 points, followed by Vipin Kumar (12) and Dalip Kumar (11). In the second quarterfinal (men), Punjab fought tooth and nail to edge out Jharkhand. The visitors started with a bang, going into an early lead. Shiv Kumar and R. Yadav of Jharkhand combined well to give their team a good start. They were leading by eight points (23-15) at the end of the first quarter. Stung by the reverse, Punjab men went all out. Led by Parminder Singh Sr, the hosts not only made up the deficit, but surged ahead at the half time (46-40). The hosts never looked back and came out triumphant 99-86. Parminder Singh topscored with 33 points. He was ably assisted by Talwinder Singh (20) and Amit Prashar (27). For Jharkhand, the main scorers were Shiv Kumar (23), R. Yadav (22), V. Chaudhary (19) and Vilas Jose (13). In the women’s section, Punjab lost 59-82 to Delhi. For the winners, Shiba Maggan and Divya Singh scored 27 and 18 points, respectively, while L.S. Savitha contributed 15 points. Ashana (19), Manpreet Kaur (13) and Paramjeet Kaur (12) reduced the margin for Punjab. In another quarterfinal (women), holders Indian Railways scored an easy win over Himachal Pradesh 81-59. The winners led 38-30 at half time. Sini V.P. (19), Renjini Peter (11), Ivy Cherian (8) and Anitha (10) were the main contributors for Indian Railways while the notable scorer for Himachal Pradesh was Chinki. The fourth quarterfinal, played between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, turned out to be a nerve-wracking affair, in which the former came out winners with a narrow margin of three points 63-60. Tamil Nadi women found themselves struggling throughout the match, but eventually emerged victorious. Laxmidevi (22) of Tamil Nadu scored the maximum points while N. Shyamla and Adharyi chipped in with 14 points each. For Andhra Pradesh, Jetty Jose and Anne V.J. scored 23 and 15 points, respectively. |
|
Olympian Balkrishan Singh dead
Patiala, December 31 Among those who were the first to reach the house of the deceased were senior SAI hockey coach I.S. Gill, chief coach of the national boxing squad G.S. Sandhu, former chief coach of the Nigerian men’s hockey team Gurdial Singh Sandhu, former chief coach of the NIS Chattarjit Singh, senior athletics coach J.S. Saini and former chief coach of the women’s squad K.S. Bhangu. Balkrishan Singh was administered some medicines during the night by his family members, but he complained of uneasiness in the morning before he breathed his last. Balkrishan Singh is perhaps the only player in the country to have won the gold medal both as a player and as a coach. He was a member of the gold medal-winning team in the 1956 Olympics and was chief coach of the team that won the gold in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Balkrishan went to Australia in 1965 to train the women’s national squad. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser was so impressed with him that he went on record praising Balkrishan Singh’s coaching abilities. He was the first coach to experiment with the concept of total hockey in India. He first put this concept into use during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Total hockey, in his view, was hockey which should be played like basketball — attack together and defend together. Employees of the NIS today mourned the death of Balkrishan Singh by observing a two-minute silence. |
|
Great sportsman and coach
Prabhjot Singh Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 31 Born on March 10, 1933, Balkrishan Singh was the coach of the last Olympic champion (1980) Indian hockey team. His father, Brig Dalip Singh, was the first-ever athlete from Punjab to represent the country, in the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. A graduate from Panjab University, he came into the limelight in 1949, when in his first year in the university, he set a new record in the triple jump. Next year, he won the gold in the same event in the All-India Inter-University Athletics Championship at Bangalore. The year after, he got the University Colour in athletics. He was credited with new university records in high jump and triple jump in 1953, besides qualifying to be a regular member of Panjab University hockey team from 1950 to 1954. He was selected to Indian hockey team that played in an invitation tournament at Warsaw in Poland in 1955. He never looked back and went on to represent the country in the 1956 Melbourne and 1960 Rome Olympic Games. He also played in the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games. In domestic hockey, he played for Railways and helped them win the national title twice, in 1963 and 1964. After retiring from active hockey, he joined the National Institute of Sports at Patiala and worked for some time under hockey wizard Maj Dhyan Chand. After a few extensions, he retired in 1992 as Director. And 1992 was his last assignment as national coach of Indian hockey team to the Barcelona Olympic Games. In fact, he is credited with institutionalising coaching in hockey. He was the man who taught Australians, the current Olympic champions and the number one hockey team in the world, the sport. He was perhaps the toughest and a strict disciplinarian, who never compromised in either selecting or training his team. He also remained associated with the Indian women’s hockey and was the coach of the 1982 Asian Games winner team. Balkrishan was a great teacher. A majority of NIS-trained hockey coaches working in the country had been his students. I came in contact with him as a young player in the early ‘70s. Our team — Government College, Ludhiana — had gone to Patiala for training prior to the Panjab University championship and we played against NIS. In that match, he scored against us from a penalty corner with a rasping drive from the top of the circle. He was very thorough, both in theory and practical, and was a pioneer in introducing the concept of complete hockey. He took over the reins of the Indian hockey team as coach in 1966 and went to four Olympics as coach — 1968 (Mexico), 1980 (Moscow), 1984 (Los Angeles) and 1992 (Barcelona). He started golf in 1962 and as a single handicap player, he did admirably well. He was very regular in his golf and enjoyed good health till the last. Balkrishan leaves behind his wife and three daughters, one of whom is in New Zealand. “I remember when he became the national coach in 1966,” recalled Colonel Balbir Singh (retd), “He was a perfectionist and a tough task master,” he said. Sukhvir Singh Grewal, who was his deputy in the 1992 Olympic Games, always found him the “ablest teacher, coach and the one who knew international hockey inside out. Besides, he was a perfect gentleman and a great team man.”
|
|
|
Frozen in a time warp
Harpal Singh Bedi It has been said that history repeats itself — the first time as tragedy, the second as farce. This maxim fits Indian hockey to a T. For Indian hockey, 2004 started on a tragic note and ended in a farce as the world champions of yore refused steadfast to pull themselves up from the morass they had sunk into. Indian hockey stuck glued to the neither ranks and while others improved their techniques and it remained frozen in a time warp. The tragic part of the story started very early this year with a dismal showing at Kuala Lumpur, where the Indians finished last in the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament, fumbled and tumbled in the Olympic qualifier and performed poorly against European teams in the run-up to the Athens Games. In between, the Indians went to the USA on a very expensive trip, to get themselves physically fit, but ended seventh in the Olympics. As it on the field depressing showing was not enough, off-the-field happenings hogged the limelight. Coach Rajinder Singh was sacked while the team was playing in a four-nation tournament in Europe and Gerhard Rach of Germany was named the first-ever foreign coach of the Indian team a few weeks before the Olympics. Dhanraj Pillay, the mercurial forward, was dropped and then re-inducted in the team following the media outcry, to be finally humiliated during the Olympics. The post-Olympic period was nothing but a farce. IHF authorities sacked senior players - Pillay, Baljit Dhillon, Gagan Ajit Singh, Deepak Thakur and Prabhjot Singh — but the new-look team failed to deliver in the eight-Test series against Pakistan and then ended a poor fourth in the Champions Trophy. The Indians were lucky that they managed to hold on to a lowly New Zealand and Germany sent a developmental team to the Champions Trophy. The Athens Olympics and the Lahore Champions Trophy proved — if proof was needed — that Indian hockey had a long way to go before it could hope for a podium place in a big international competition. So when it comes to real competitions like the Champions Trophy, the World cup or the Olympics, the Indians are always in the vicinity of sixth or seventh place, given the number of teams. On the flip side, the Indian women’s team won the inaugural Asia Cup, while the juniors won their maiden Asia Cup title in Karachi. Senior team captain Dilip Tirkey was honoured with the Padma Shri while goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan and women’s captain Surajlata Devi received the Arjuna Award and controversial coach Rajinder Singh earned the Dronacharya Award. The Indians must realise that there is a difference between these two tournaments and three-nation tournaments. Victory is important, but after winning a small tournament, it is more important to keep one’s cool. It is no longer a question of having talent or not, or whether there is a need to have a foreign coach or not. The basic question is the survival of hockey in India. It has been in coma for the last 20 years. How long can it be kept on oxygen and that too on tax payers’ money is the question. — UNI
|
|
|
Minhas, Chopra steady Delhi
Mumbai, December 31 At close, Chopra with 45 was at the crease. Earlier in the morning, a damp wicket delayed start of play in the last league match of the group by two hours. The Delhi openers began confidently after captain Ajay Jadeja won the toss and elected to bat, with Indian opener Gautam Gambhir stroking the ball fluently. Shikhar Dhawan, at the other end, pushed the singles and the twos as Gambhir reached a breezy 27 of 44 balls with four fours before off-spinner Ramesh Powar got one to spin and bounce away from the left-hander. Gambhir was only able to snick the ball to Wasim Jaffer at first slip. The score at that time was 43. Two runs later, Usman Malvi angled a delivery away from southpaw Dhawan, who managed to get an edge through to second slip for Jaffer to complete an easy catch. Dhawan made 13 with two boundaries. Chopra and Minhas then put their heads down to grind the Mumbai bowling attack into submission with the latter reaching his 50 in 116 balls with eight hits to the fence. Minhas, after reaching his half century, opened up, hitting Powar for a six over long-on and then smashing Malvi for two boundaries in the same over. However, with the light fast fading and match extended for an hour to make up for the time lost in the morning, Malvi was reintroduced into the attack. He took only five balls to get the much-needed breakthrough, when of the fifth ball Minhas, in a lapse of concentration, chased a delivery outside his off-stump to be caught behind by Vinayak Samant. Minhas’ 74 came off 147 balls and was punctuated with 10 fours and a six. Play was called off 14 minutes before the scheduled close because of bad light. Maharashtra restrict TN
CHENNAI: Maharashtra held the advantage after restricting last year’s finalists Tamil Nadu to 261 for 8 at close on the first day of their Ranji Trophy Elite B league match here on Friday. Put in to bat, Tamil Nadu were in dire straits, losing openers Dinesh Kaarthick (2) and S. Vidyuth (20) with the score at 35. Captain Sridharan Sriram and S. Badrinath resisted the rival bowlers for some time, adding 63 runs for the third wicket in 22.3 overs, before the latter fell leg before wicket to debutant Ajay Chauvan for 22. Left-handed S. Sharath, a consistent batsman for the hosts, was also back in the pavilion before opening his account. He was out leg before in the second ball that he faced from Chauvan. Sriram also did not last long. He shuffled across to medium-pacer Iqbal Siddique and was rapped on the pads. His 46 contained seven boundaries. Srivasudeva Das and Hemanth Kumar then added 78 runs for the sixth wicket in 28.1 overs. Hemanth (38) was caught at cover by captain Hrisihikesh Kanitkar off Kashinath Khadkikar, while Das, who was clean bowled by Anupam Sanklesha, made 68 (9x4s). At close, R. Ramkumar (36) and C. Ganapathy (4) were at the crease. Abbas, Ojha
rescue MP
Kolkata: On a day when Bengal’s Utpal Chatterjee completed his 500-wicket haul in first-class cricket, Madhya Pradesh piled up 272 for four riding on a brilliant 135 not out by Abbas Ali , after being reduced to 15 for three on the opening day of their Ranji tie here on Friday. Bengal won the toss and elected to bat. They began on the right note, picking up three Madhya Pradesh wickets with only 15 runs on the board. But thereafter Naman Ojha and Abbas Ali got together to repair the damage and did so in style, scoring 214 runs for the fourth wicket in 248 minutes off 348 balls, to take their state out of troubled waters. Both youngsters played brilliant knocks as they treated every ball on merit en route to their partnership. While Ojha was more sedate in his approach, Abbas took the role of the aggressor. As the day progressed, he opened up and blossomed his innings with some fine batting. Naman missed his ton by just four runs when he cut Chatterjee to give Sourav Ganguly a simple catch, This also meant Utpal’s 500th first-class scalp. Ojhas innings lasted 208 balls and included six boundaries. Abbas went on undeterred at the other end as he cut and pulled with consummate ease, remaining not out on 135. His innings was studded with 20 boundaries. He showed his mettle when he pulled S.S. Paul for three consecutive boundaries in the 61st over. Even when Ganguly tried a bouncer, he hooked the bowler to the square-leg fence. Utpal could have returned with 501 wickets today had L.S. Shukla latched on to the chance offered by Abbas on 33 of the veteran spinner’s bowling. Abbas mistimed a drive and lobbed the ball in the air. Shukla running backwards could not judge the ball and floored the catch. Railways’ bowlers call the shots
BANGALORE: Rahul Dravid top-scored for Karnataka with 41, but it was Railways’ bowlers who called the shots, as the hosts ended the opening day in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group A encounter on a disappointing 191 for nine wickets in their first innings. Opting to bat, Karnataka failed to take advantage of home conditions and their batsmen were troubled by the visiting bowlers. Dravid hit five hours in his 87-ball knock before being caught by Railways’ skipper Sanjay Bangar off Kulamani Parida, who was the pick of the bowlers, taking three wickets for 67 runs. At stumps, Sunil Joshi was batting on 35 and N.C. Aiyappa yet to open his account. Other notable scorers for Karnataka were Sudhindra Shinde (26) and Barrinton Rowland (25). Laxman lifts Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: Propelled by a sparkling century by V.V.S. Laxman, hosts Hyderabad piled up 337 for 8 on the opening day of the Ranji Elite ‘B’ league encounter against Assam here on Friday. Laxman cracked a brilliant 135 to put the hosts on top after the team, put in to bat, lost three early wickets for 79. Laxman struck 18 fours in his 186-ball knock that spanned 260 minutes. Laxman found an enterprising partner in A. T. Rayudu and the duo recorded a 65-run partnership for the fourth wicket before Rayudu was out for a breezy 36, studded with six fours and one six. Arjun Yadav joined the skipper for a more productive stand of 135 runs for the fifth wicket. Arjun scored a firm but cautious 54 with seven hits to the fence and one huge six before he was out. Laxman perished soon, but tailender Vishnuvardhan provided a late charge of 50 off 28 balls with five fours and four sixes and recorded a 52-run partnership for the eighth wicket with wicket- keeper Ibrahim Khaleel. Khaleel was at the crease on five at stumps. For Assam, spinner Arien Konwar claimed three wickets for 42, including the prized wicket of Laxman. — UNI, PTI |
|
|
Sachin advised not to play domestic cricket
Mumbai, December 31 “I spoke to a leading elbow surgeon in Australia yesterday. His advice communicated to Sachin is that he should rest his elbow. He will not play any domestic cricket this season,” Leipus told reporters at the Wankhede Stadium here. “Tendulkar’s elbow is still tender and he has been advised not to play any domestic cricket,” Leipus added. Leipus also said he was set to meet caretaker president of the BCCI Jagmohan Dalmiya next week in Kolkata to discuss his future role with the Indian team. “I am not going to be connected with the Indian team in the same role any more. I am going back to Australia to pursue my studies and upgrade my skills on physiotherapy from February, 2005. It is a four-month course and afterwards, I intend to continue the study through correspondence,” Leipus said. But Leipus said he would continue his association with the Indian team if given a chance to work on a part-time basis by the BCCI.
— PTI |
|
Partner Warne with MacGill, says Jenner
Sydney, December 31 The former Test leg-spinner doubted that it would happen because he believed that neither Darren Lehmann nor Michael Kasprowicz deserved to be dropped from the all-conquering Australian team. Former Test spinner Greg Matthews also called for MacGill to bowl in tandem with Warne because of the 33-year-old wrist-spinner’s outstanding results on the spin-friendly Sydney Cricket Ground pitch. Meanwhile, Lehmann said today that he realised that his Test career hanged in the balance ahead of the third Test against Pakistan. The 34-year-old Australian left-hander had a tough selection fight on his hands, with selectors naming a 13-man squad. “You do not have to be Blind Freddie to work out that you have got to get some runs. I have certainly got to get some runs,” Lehmann said. Meanwhile, Michael Clarke hoped that his first home-town cricket Test over the New Year would bring a return to batting form against Pakistan. The 23-year-old batting prodigy was keenly looking forward to playing in his first Sydney Cricket Ground Test and spent today working out by himself at the ground on a practice-free day for both teams. Three batting failures in the first two Tests against Pakistan — 1, 27 and 20 — had dipped his average below 50 for the first time.
— AFP |
|
Maharashtra eves lift softball title
Chandigarh, December 31 Chandigarh women finished third after beating Madhya Pradesh 9-7 in a keenly contested encounter for the third position. Chandigarh were well served by Neena and Babita, who scored two home runs each. Shikha, Sunita, Nidhi, Surbhai and Snehlata contributed one home run each for the winners. Hosts Chandigarh and Madhya Pradesh entered the men’s final. In the semifinals, Chandigarh defeated Punjab 5-1 and Madhya Pradesh got the better of Andhra Pradesh 3-2. |
|
Haryana win two gold
Jind, December 31 In 50 kg weight category (greco-Roman), Joginder and in 66 kg, Daya Nand won gold. In 96 kg, Dharmender won gold. In 50 kg, Jagbir won silver and Aditya Nath and Triloki Nath won bronze. In 66 kg, Ajay Kumar won silver and Sunil Kumar and Rajinder Kumar Singh won bronze. In 96 kg, Satish won silver and Joginder and Anil won bronze. Sunil in 50 kg weight category won silver, Mandeep gold and Ram Chander Pawar and M.L. Dhoni bronze. In 66 kg, Sushil Kumar won gold, Shokinder Tomar silver and Rakesh and Ramesh bronze. In 96 kg, Rakesh Kumar won gold, Naveen Kumar silver, and Satinder and Anil Maan bronze. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Patiala, December 31
