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Challenger Trophy begins today
Australia sweep series
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Greg Chappell in conversation with Yuvraj Singh at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Sunday.
— Tribune photo by Vinay Malik
Raikkonen wins, Karthikeyan 16th
Anand draws with Topalov
Jeev finishes 14th
England qualify for World Cup
Tarsem wins 1500m race
Nehru hockey from today
Tushar, Roshni win titles
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Challenger Trophy begins today
Chandigarh, October 9 Out of action for nearly four months due to tennis elbow injury, Tendulkar started batting at the nets recently to enable him to be back in the groove for the hectic season ahead. Tendulkar reportedly said after light nets in Mumbai that the post-surgery pain in his elbow still lingered, but it would not hamper him from playing his shots. The batting genius stated that it was hard to sit out and see action from the sidelines. Tendulkar joining the act in the middle and regaining his old touch would not only be a welcome sign for Indian cricket as it finds itself mired in one controversy or the other, but it would be reassuring for India Seniors coach Greg Chappell, who is keen to raise the performance level of the Indian team. The tournament has lost much of its sheen due to the forced absence of a couple of players. Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid are currently in Australia playing for World XI against Australia. Anil Kumble and Ashish Nehra have been forced out due to injuries. Sourav Ganguly has been sidelined for a minimum period of 10 days on account of “mild tennis elbow symptom”. In Ganguly’s absence, the honour of leading India Seniors has been bestowed upon Mohammad Kaif. Being played against the backdrop of a host of controversies involving key characters of Indian cricket, the four-day day-and-night tournament provides youngsters and those on the fringe of selection to the national squad an opportunity to perform and improve their chances of playing for the country. Chappell has made it known that performance is the sole mantra he believes in. The redoubtable Aussie has made it crystal clear that the team needs to improve fitness as well as performance levels to be more competitive. The way Chappell mingled with the Railways team after it beat the Rest of India for the Irani Trophy and then chatted with players in the dressing room speaks volumes not only about his involvement and interest in Indian cricket, but should also serve as a subtle warning to players to perform or perish. The appointment of local player Dinesh Mongia as skipper of India B shows that despite having been sidelined for quite some time now in spite of his impressive performance in the domestic circuit as well as English county cricket, he is very much in the reckoning. A good performance here would do his chances of selection a world of good. The tournament also provides a golden opportunity to greenhorns like VRV Singh, S Sreesanth and Shikhar Dhawan and a couple of under-19 team players like Ravi Kant Shukla, Piyush Chawla and Robin Uthappa to carry on with their good work. After making his Ranji Trophy debut last year for Punjab, local lad and pace bowler VRV Singh is making good progress. He was recently selected for a stint in Australia under the Gavaskar-Border scheme for promising youngsters. In view of the ensuing one-dayer series against Sri Lanka and South Africa, the performances of allrounders like JP Yadav, Ramesh Powar, Sunny Singh and, of course, Ajit Agarkar would be watched keenly. Railways have been performing remarkably well over the past couple of years. Led by allrounder Sunjoy Bangar, they won the Ranji Trophy last year. They started this season, beating Gautam Gambhir-led Rest of India convincingly. But Railways has failed to find proper representation in the three-team tournament and the performances of players like off-spinner Kulamani Parida and seamer Harvinder Singh have been overlooked. The teams: India Seniors: Mohammad Kaif (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Y Venugopal Rao, MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, JP Yadav, V Shivaramakrishnan and Sunny Singh. India A: VVS Laxman (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Uthapan, Hemang Badani, Neeraj Patel, Dheeraj Jadhav, Dinesh Kaarthick, Ramesh Powar, RP Singh, Laxmipathi Balaji, VRV Singh, M Nadeem and Manoj Tiwari. |
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Australia sweep series
Melbourne, October 9 The Australians made a complete mockery of the world’s elite cricketers who are now left with serious rethinking to do about their reputation as champions after having succumbed so meekly in the inaugural series. The lopsided matches, which saw Shaun Pollock’s stars go down in the earlier two one-dayers as well, have put a big question mark on the entire concept of the Super Series as World XI showed it was difficult, if not impossible, for them to gel and play as a motivated unit. But the Aussies made full use of this ICC platform to swing back from Ashes grief and find their all-conquering ways again. The World XI were expected to pull off a face-saving win in the last match today but they fared even worse, being bundled out for 137 in mere 27.5 overs after being set a target of 294. Virender Sehwag was the top scorer with 37 and the next in line were the extras at 24. Now the only opportunity for World XI to redeem some pride is the one-off six-day Super Test starting in Sydney on October 14. Australia’s 293 for five was built around an enterprising 145-run stand off just 135 balls for the unbroken sixth wicket between Michael Hussey (75 off 74 balls) and Shane Watson (66 off 66). Some lusty hitting by the duo, after their more famous peers were sent back to the pavilion to leave the side at 148 for five, enthralled the strong Sunday crowd at the indoor Docklands Stadium, the roof of which was dented by a flier from Hussey off what was later declared a dead ball. Scoreboard Australia Gilchrist c and b Pollock 32 Clarke lbw Ntini 3 Ponting c Lara b Muralitharan 68 Martyn lbw Vettori 33 Symonds c Sangakkara
b Muralitharan 1 Hussey not out 75 Watson not out 66 Extras (lb-7, w-1, nb-7) 15 Total
(5 wkts, 50 overs) 293 Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-58, 3-143, 4-146, 5-148. Bowling:
Pollock 9-0-67-1, Ntini 7-0-58-1, Flintoff 4.2-0-23-0, Muralitharan 10-1-38-2, Kallis 1.4-0-11-0, Vettori 10-0-34-1, Gayle 6-0-42-0, Sehwag 2-0-13-0. World XI Gayle b Lee 0 Sehwag run out 37 Sangakkara c Martyn
b McGrath 13 Kallis c Hussey b Lee 2 Lara c Gilchrist b Lee 0 Flintoff b Watson 21 Dravid c Martyn b Lee 16 Pollock c Lee b Watson 8 Vettori c Clarke b Watson 0 Afridi c McGrath b Watson 16 Ntini not out 0 Extras
(lb-6, w-14, nb-4) 24 Total (all out, 27.5 overs) 137 Fall of wickets:
1-0, 2-20, 3-27, 4-27, 5-87, 6-99, 7-119, 8-120, 9-137. Bowling:
Lee 9-2-30-4, McGrath 6-0-26-1, Bracken 5-0-36-0, Watson 7.5-0-39-4.
— PTI |
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Sachin has to be handled carefully: Chappell
Mohali, October 9 "He makes such a big difference to the team. Individually, he has been very successful. I hope that from his own point of view as well as that of the team he does well here," Chappell observed. Chappell said the Mumbai batsman still had a lot of passion for the game. "He is very keen to perform and we are happy to have him back. We have to be careful that he is not overworked. We should try to get the best out of him for a couple of years." Chappell said the next couple of games would be crucial for him and efforts would be made to ensure that he is handled carefully. Elaborating further on arguably the most successful contemporary batsman, Chappell stated that he would be expected to pass on his experience to youngsters for the benefit of the team. "He still has very a important role to play," Chappell said. Chappell said the Challengers Trophy — virtually a trial tournament for selection of the Indian team for the forthcoming series — provided a fine opportunity to the youngsters to show their mettle. "The tournament can serve as a platform for players to showcase their talent. Seniors can show their class again, while juniors can prove that they have the required skill to succeed at this level." "Opportunity will be there for young batsmen to face the likes of Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan. Besides, they can benefit a lot from the presence of established players." Chappell was candid when asked to express his views on senior members of the team. "It is not about forcing people to take a break. But if you can use your resources wisely and let youngsters come in and gain experience, it will be good for the team." Dwelling further, he said international cricketers had a hectic schedule. "They play the game for nearly 10 months a year. So if they are rotated, it would help develop the bench strength. "After the forthcoming series against Sri Lanka, South Africa and Pakistan, we would be left with just 12 months to prepare for the World Cup. Bigger the group we have, better it would be for us." About Mohammad Kaif's selection as captain after Sourav Ganguly had to pull out due to injury, he replied that Kaif has the experience of leading a team, though at a junior level. His elevation as skipper would be a fine learning experience for him. Defending the selection of a couple of youngsters from under-19 team for the premier domestic tournament, Chappell observed that efforts of the youngsters, who had done well at the junior level, needed to be recognised. The team should have a right mix of experience and youthful exuberance. Well aware of India's impressive record at home, he said he was looking forward to keep it intact. Chappell was all praise for the Railways, who won Irani Cup defeating the Rest of India recently, saying that they were a group of committed players. "I am very impressed with everything they did. Their fielding, commitment and attitude were good and they played positive cricket," he observed. |
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Raikkonen wins, Karthikeyan 16th
Suzuka, October 9 Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren Mercedes earned his seventh win of the year while Formula One’s new champion Renault's Fernando Alonso finished third, the second place being booked by his team-mate Italy’s Giancarlo Fisichella on a bright sunny day. Karthikeyan had yesterday clocked his best in qualifying race to finish 11th ahead of other leading drivers of the season. “I made a good start but I got it a little bit wrong in the first corner because it was the first ever lap for me on these race tyres due to my problems on Friday afternoon, also the grip level was not perfect,” a disappointed Narain said. “After the safety car went in I was able to hang on behind Massa until my first stop. After the stop the front tyres were graining a lot and after the second pit stop, I really struggled with the car balance, as it was understeering a lot. “Near the end of the race, I had to change my right front tyre, which unfortunately cost me some time. In general, it was an average race.” For the 20 cars at the start of the Grand Prix on the dry circuit, a 5,807 km-long track, the weather changed radically overnight from heavy rain to bright sunshine. And Narain was glad that he “finished a good race” despite the conditions not exactly to his liking. In the course of the race, Narain could not regain much time as the safety car came in for four laps and froze all of his movements in the race. “This is a good race just before the last race of the season. I am ready for Shanghai although I do not know the track yet. I am off to China on Monday. I have seen footage of the race last year and I believe that the facilities are amazing and the track interesting,” he said.
— PTI |
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Anand draws with Topalov
San Luis, October 9 With an easy half point against the toughest opponent, Topalov made another stride forward towards the world title maintaining his two points lead over Russian Peter Svidler, who was held to a draw by Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan. Topalov took his tally to an enviable 7.5 points out of a possible nine and Svidler inched forward to 5.5. Anand and Russian Alexander Morozevich are joint third on 5 points while Peter Leko is fifth on 4 points, with just five rounds remaining in the million dollars event. The sixth place is held by Rustam Kasimdzhanov who is on 3.5 points, Brit Michael Adams is next in line on 3 and Judit Polgar is at the bottom of the tables with just 2.5 points in her kitty.
— PTI |
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Jeev finishes 14th
Tokyo, October 9 It was a disappointing result for the Indian after having led on the first day and being tied second at midway stage.
— PTI |
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England qualify for World Cup
Paris, October 9 Poland, Croatia and Portugal also booked their passage but France, the 1998 winners, must wait until the final round of games on Wednesday to wrap up a place in Germany next summer after being held to a 1-1 draw in Switzerland. England skipper David Beckham was sent off as Sven-Goran Eriksson's men beat Austria 1-0 in Manchester but that setback was forgotten just over three hours later when the Dutch beat the Czech Republic 2-0 in Prague. LONDON: Four teams from Africa who have never qualified before — Angola, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Togo all won their final qualifiers to secure first place in
their groups and reach the finals for the first time ever. — AFP, Reuters |
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Tarsem wins 1500m race
Karnal, October 9 In kabaddi, Special Range defeated Combined Range 50-21. Ambala Range defeated Combined Range 62-35 in basketball. Combined Range defeated Rohtak Range 25-21, 25-20, 26-24, 25-18 in a volleyball match. Ambala Range defeated Combined Range 6-2 in a football match. Similarly, Tarsem Singh of HAP Range stood first in the 1500 metre race, Salender and Sandeep finished second and third, respectively. Naresh of Combined Range won the women's 1500 metre race, Saroj and Naresh were second and third, respectively. In the men's 5000 metre race, Amit Kumar of Rohtak Range got the first place, Amit Kumar of HAP Range and Sunil Kumar of Combined range were second and third, respectively. Hundreds of sportspersons of seven ranges of the Haryana police — Hisar, Ambler, Rohtak, Gurgaon, Special, Combine and HAP — are taking part in
these games. — TNS |
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Nehru hockey from today
New Delhi, October 9 Prominent teams in the fray are defending champions SGNP Girls School, Shahabad (Haryana), Government Girls School, Amritsar, Guru Harkrishan Public School and Govt School (Singhu), Delhi and top teams from various other states. GHPS (Punjabi Bagh) will meet Cambridge English School, Imphal (Manipur) in the opening match tomorrow. During the tournament, a selection committee will recommend the names of talented players to the Sports Authority of India for the Sports Talent Search Scholarship Scheme.
— OSR |
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Tushar, Roshni win titles Jalandhar, October 9 Pakistan Davis Cup team non-playing captain Rashid Malik lifted the trophy in the above-35 men’s section. Visiting Pakistani players also clinched titles in the above-45 men’s singles and above-45 doubles sections. Tushar beat PSEB team-mate Gursharan Singh 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, while Roshni outplayed Opinder Kuar 6-0, 6-0. — UNI
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Delhi, Punjab record wins DPS cricket Karan wins title Parle Cup Chandigarh, Mumbai in last
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