 |
|
|
Indian men win archery gold
India set to match
the best
7th ODI insured for Rs 7.45 crore
Betting racket busted
Vaughan to miss first Test
Women’s cricket poised for big leap
Symonds recalled
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Neelam likely to be found guilty
Naunidh sets record in 110 m hurdles
Jalandhar school win in
Punjab girls win
Haryana State Gymnastics meet begins
|
|
Indian men win archery gold
New Delhi, November 10 The Indian team consisted of Vivek Kumar, Naresh Damor, Shivnath Nagesia and CH Lenin, while the Chinese team had Chuo Cai, Qing Cheng, Xiaoguang Liu and Shu Qiang Tian. Thailand defeated Iran 242-228 to win the bronze medal. This was India’s second gold as Jhanu Handsa had annexed the women’s individual compound title yesterday. On a day when the Korean archers were expected to dominate in the recurve event, China produced a stunning upset in the women’s section when they edged past Korea 247-246 to annex the team recurve gold. The Indian foursome of Dola Banerjee, Reena Kumari, Luxmi Rani Manjhi and Chekrovolu Swuro beat the Chinese Taipei team 229-225 to fetch the bronze medal. However, there was no stopping the Korean men in the recurve team event as they beat India 251-243 to pocket the gold. The Indian team, comprising Tarundeep Rai, Jayant Talukdar, Rahul Bannerjee and Majhi Sawayen, tried to put up a fight, but the Korean quartet of Dong Hyun Im, Bo Ram Kim, Kyung Mo Park and Seung Hun Han hit the target with better consistency and accuracy to walk away with the gold. Chinese Taipei got past Japan 248-243 to take the bronze medal. The Koreans had swept the medals table in the recurve individual events in both the men’s and women’s sections, which were the most competitive and difficult events. Archery Association of India President Vijay Kumar Malhotra, who was elected President of the South Asian Archery Federation (SAAF), said the first South Asian Archery Championship would be held at Dhaka (Bangladesh) in February next year. He said Indian archers would be given extensive and specialised training to cash in on the gains of the Asian championship as archery was sure to be included as a competitive discipline for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. |
|
India set to match
the best
Sri Lanka have hit the ground with a thud. Only when I was envisaging the return to form of our team, India crushed the uprising with a heavy hand. Frankly, Sri Lanka have not looked in the same league.
Instead of Lanka in their present mess, it would interest me how the rising power of India would match up to the best in the days to come. India are approaching the basics as Australians do and that is to attack at all costs. The aggression is being backed with good skills. Presently, the Indians have managed to unnerve the Sri Lankans, made them blink. If they could do it to Glenn McGrath or Brett Lee; Ricky Ponting or Adam Gilchrist, cricket as a sport will go a notch higher. Now even fielding does not look their soft spot. In the months to come, India could bridge the gap even more rapidly. Greg Chappell has an alternative practically for every spot. Instead of 11, India now have 22 players to choose from. As I hear names of VRV Singh and Piyush Chawla, it seems there is no let-up in experiments yet. Interestingly, Australians are not doing the same. The nucleus of their side is still the same. These men have been irrepressible gladiators but are already in their 30s. If in two years’ time they lose their edge, Australia could have a problem on hand. The new faces we see in their side from time to time have not looked exceptional. Still, I would have preferred if India had cushioned their fast bowling department better in the Rajkot game. Instead of both Rudra Pratap Singh and Sreesanth playing, I would have opted for one, buffering them with Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar. It can be dangerous if you bring a callow youth to an adults’ fiesta, unattended. A mauling could scar him for life. Not that I did not like the look of these two young men. For the second game running, RP Singh, with his high-arm action, managed lift from the most docile strips. He did it as first change in case you missed the point. Along with the high action, the positioning of his wrist has been critical as he continuously strives to hit the deck. He would not be a typical slithering left-arm pacer and that’s a good deviation to have from Pathan. Sreesanth, I am told, is not the fastest in India and that’s a surprise. He works up a tidy pace and despite being hit for a few fours in this game, is largely accurate. It’s not easy to bowl with a 6-3 field amidst restriction of opening overs for there is simply no margin of error. It’s doubly joyous for it has been done with aggression as if the handicaps of a batting pitch, restricted and lopsided field have not mattered. Practically every game in this series has thrown up new heroes for India. Dhoni, Harbhajan, Pathan, Tendulkar, Gambhir, Dravid, Raina, Kartik and Agarkar have all strutted their stuff in the series. In Rajkot, it was the turn of RP Singh, Yuvraj and Mohammad Kaif. In this game, Yuvraj was at his stylish best. If earlier he was coming down to spinners to lift them, he was now advancing and driving them and picking gaps at will. He seems to have made a huge technical advance in his game. Only the “Sehwag puzzle” has not been solved. This man has so much charm at the crease that even hard nuts like us are willing to ignore his run of poor scores. He is still smacking the bowlers and dismissing them as if in the nets before something snaps in him in 30s and 40s. I wonder if it is a matter of concentration. I suffered a similar malaise at one stage of my career as regular 30s and 40s were not converted. I came out of the trough by telling myself to concentrate harder in that spell. It was criminal to waste good starts and I did not want the hard work to go to seed. I am sure it is also hurting Sehwag. He has a unique quality which I had also noticed in Kaluwitharana. They smacked fours without resorting to hitting the ball over the top. Most of their fours are grounded shots. It’s a dangerous and rare quality, for you are destructive without appearing too adventurous.
— PTI |
7th ODI insured for Rs 7.45 crore
Vadodara, November 10 Disclosing this at a media conference, Baroda Cricket Association President, Chirayu Amin, said the insurance cover would encompass all the aspects of staging the match, including public liability. The national senior selection committee will meet after the match to choose the team for the five-match one-day international series against South Africa, Chairman of the panel Kiran More told reporters here. The selectors have already named Rahul Dravid as the captain till the end of the series against South Africa and are likely to name the squad for the first two ODIs against South Africa. The South Africans are scheduled to land in Mumbai on Saturday morning before proceeding to Hyderabad in the afternoon to commence their tour with a warm-up game on November 14. The ODI series would commence on November 16 in Hyderabad with the rest of the matches scheduled at Bangalore (November 19), Chennai (November 22), Kolkata (November 25) and Mumbai (November 28).
— PTI |
|
|
Betting racket busted
Bangalore, November 10 Acting on a tip-off, a police team raided a garment showroom and arrested Sampath Raj. On the basis of information provided by
Sampath, three of his accomplices were taken into custody, the police said. The
gang had been operating the racket since the start of the series, the
police said, adding that they were on the lookout for the kingpin of the
racket. — PTI |
|
|
Vaughan to miss first Test
Multan, November 10 “He will continue to lead the side if Vaughan is unavailable for any remaining matches on the tour,” he said. “Vaughan will continue to receive treatment and a further update will be issued in due course of time.” Vaughan, 31, who has played 62 Tests, injured his right knee while taking a third run during the three-day tour match in Lahore on Monday. The same knee injury also kept him out of a Test against New Zealand last year at Lord’s. “Michael has a superb record as a captain and to lose him for the first Test is major blow,” Trescothick said.
— Reuters |
|
Women’s cricket poised for big leap
New Delhi, November 10 The England-India Test will be played at the Jamia Milia ground in the Capital from November 21 to 25, while the ODIs will be played at Faridabad, Lucknow, Guwahati, Silchar and Kolkata. Doordarshan will telecast the Test and the ODIs live. WCAI secretary-general Subhangi D Kulkarni said the England team would kick-start their tour of India with practice games against the India under-21 team, who recently toured Pakistan, and the India A team. This will also be the first series to be organised by the International Women’s Cricket Council (IWCC) after merging with the International Cricket Council (ICC). With Subhangi at the helm, the WCAI has the unique distinction of being the only sports body in the country controlled by former international players. Coach Sudha Shah and captain Mithali Raj play active roles in the activities of the WCAI by giving practical ideas and a progressive outlook. Subhangi said Sahara India would sponsor the Indian team though the federation was still on the lookout of a title sponsor for the series against England. Ever since the formation of the WCAI in 1973 and the inaugural series in 1975, when Australia toured India, Indian women have held their own in the international arena, though they rarely got their due. The Indian team reached their pinnacle of glory when they finished runners-up in the last World Cup held in South Africa in March-April this year. The World Cup success was preceded by some feisty displays against former world champions New Zealand when they toured India in 2003 with the hosts notching up a 4-1 win, followed by a 5-0 sweep against the West Indies and a narrow 3-4 defeat at the hands of Australia. Mithali said England would be a tough team to beat as India were in the process of rebuilding the team following the retirement of some senior players. Mithali said India had been playing a lot of ODIs in the past two years as out of the 114 played by the country, 31 were during the past two years, and the experience had stood the team in good stead. She said the players were now fitter and better, and there has been a marked improvement in fielding, which had always been the problem area. Mithali said fielding was now as good as the strong points like batting and bowling. The captain said during the past two years, specific coaching was given to specific skills. The medium pacers were trained at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai under Dennis Lillee and T A Sekhar and the spinners were trained at the MAC Spin Foundation, also in Chennai. She said after the 2005 World Cup, the WCAI had been focusing on the next World Cup, which was likely to held either in India or Australia. The Indian under-21 team went to Pakistan recently, and came back with a 4-0 sweep over their senior team. The women’s team have also been getting world-class training facilities at the Infosys Technologies facility in Mysore, thanks to the keen personal interest taken by the top brass of the company like Narayanamurthy and Mohandas Pai. The squad: Mithali Raj (captain), Anjum Chopra, Neetu David, Jaya Sharma, Jhulan Goswami, Amita Sharma, Rumeli Dhar, Nooshin Al Khadeer, Varsha Raffel, Shrasvanti Naidu, Karun Jain (wicketkeeper), Reema Malhotra, Arundati Kirkire, Asha Rawat, Monica Sumra and Sudha Shah (coach). Trupti Bhattacharya is the manager, Shivkumar the trainer and Shivashankar the physiotherapist. |
|
Symonds recalled
Sydney, November 10 Symonds was called up to replace Shane Watson, who underwent shoulder surgery this week after falling heavily in the field during Australia’s crushing 379-run defeat of the West Indies last week. Symonds has played just two Test matches, both on Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka early last year. The squad: Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain), Nathan Bracken, Michael Clarke, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge, Michael Hussey, Brett Lee, Stuart MacGill, Glenn McGrath, Andrew Symonds and Shane Warne.
— AP |
|
Neelam likely to be found guilty
“There is no difference in her ‘A’ and ‘B’ samples collected in Helsinki. Moreover, such a high- class laboratory at such an elite event is not likely to have procedural lapses,” former athletics legend G.S. Randhawa told PTI today. Neelam is following the strategy adopted by middle and long distance runner Sunita Rani, who tested positive for the banned substance nandrolone at the 2002 Busan Asian Games, Randhawa said. “Neelam is following in the footsteps of Sunita Rani who claimed that there were procedural lapses in her drug tests,” he said. According to her counsel Sushil Salwan, the dope testing facilities at the World Athletics Championship in Helsinki could have been responsible for Neelam's positive test. Interestingly, Salwan headed the inquiry panel which went into Sunita Rani’s case and was instrumental in the athlete getting her 1500m gold medal back on “technical grounds” after her ‘A’ and ‘B’ tests showed a difference in nandrolone content. But Randhawa said that line of defence was unlikely to work in Neelam’s favour. Neelam, who was represented by Salwan at the last panel hearing, has also claimed that the vitamin supplements she took could have resulted in the positive dope test, but Randhawa said, “We are not focusing on that aspect.” “We have got all the information we needed and are waiting for a written submission from the athlete which is likely to come in a couple of days,” he said. Then the panel would again discuss the case before submitting its report to the Athletics Federation of India. Neelam tested positive for pemoline in an in-competition check at the World Athletics Championships at Helsinki in August.
— PTI |
|
Atwal tied 22nd
Shanghai, November 10 “I am not complaining, but I should have had birdies on each of the last four holes from sixth to ninth. I wish I had dropped a few more putts,” said Atwal. Jyoti Randhawa, who defends his Volvo Masters title next month, bogeyed the last two holes and finished one-over 73 to be tied 51st after being caught in severe rain over the last five holes. England’s Nick Dougherty, Australia’s Peter O’Malley and Scotland’s Paul Lawrie shared the first-round lead at eight-under 64 on a day when the golfers seemed to have got the better of the course. World number one Tiger Woods, who had the biggest gallery despite a slight drizzle over the last few holes, packed in 10 birdies but also had three bogeys, including one on the difficult ninth hole, his closing one for the day. Randhawa had three birdies on the 14th, 16th and fifth. He ploughed his way through rain in the last few holes. Time and again he was caught in the soggy rough. He also took a trip into the lake guarding the green on the 603-yard par-five eighth hole, where he made a bogey, and then made another one from the rough on the ninth. Woods, who birdied each of the four par-fives, was tied fourth with KJ Choi, David Howell and Robert Jan Derksen, all one off the lead. The eight-man bunch at tied 10th place included world number two Vijay Singh, the colourful Ian Poulter and Paul Casey.
— PTI |
|
Naunidh sets record in 110 m hurdles
Hyderabad, November 10 Railways topped the chart with an overall score of 454 points, while Services (162.5) and Police (69) finished second and third, respectively. Naunidh erased the previous record of Guruprith Singh (14.07 seconds) created at Lucknow in 2001. Naunidh also improved his own record of 14.12 clocked at Bangalore in 2003. Naunidh took an early lead leaving behind Krishna Mohan (Services) and P E Augustine (Rlys) for the silver and bronze medals. Ranjit Maheswari (Rlys) created a new meet record in the men’s triple jump (16.39 m) while the previous meet record stood in the name of Sanjay Kumar Rai in 2001 at Chennai. Amarjeet Singh (Rlys) and Malkit Singh (Punjab) took silver and bronze. Gurmeet Kaur threw the javelin 53.77 m to better her 2002 mark of 52.91. Her throw was, however, much below her own national record of 58.64 m. In other events, Gurmeet Singh (Punjab) won gold in 20 km walk clocking 1 hr 30.50 minutes. L Arunadevi (Rlys) gave one more gold to Railways in 10,000 m while Anuradha Biswal struck the first gold for Orissa in women’s 100 m hurdles.
— PTI |
|
Jalandhar school win in Nehru hockey
New Delhi, November 10 Inderpreet Singh scored three goals for Jalandhar, while Manjinder accounted for a brace. Harjinder scored the seventh goal. Raman Deep Singh struck the lone goal for Amritsar. In another match, Town School, Orissa, beat Loyola School, Kohima, 6-0. |
|
Punjab girls win
Patiala, November 10 In another league match, Maharashtra toiled hard to beat Manipur. In the men’s section, Kolhapur downed Tamil Nadu by an innings and seven points, while West Bengal beat Haryana by 13 points. The hosts were jolted in their first league match when they went down by 13 points to Karnataka. |
|
|
Haryana State Gymnastics meet begins Ambala, November 10 Dr Jai Dev said sports had an important role to play in our life. He said sports not only helped in keeping mind and body fit, it also enabled us to learn discipline and team spirit. A number of gymnasts from Haryana have performed well. Gymnasts who have done well include Arjuna awardee Anju Dua, Poonam Chabra, Lalita Thapa, Chetna Chahal, Kuldeep Datt, Sulekha Rana and Pooja Chauhan. About 30 gymnast coaches and 200 gymnasts employed in different government departments have undergone training at Ambala.
|
| 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 | |
Video
New Delhi, November 10
