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Men clinch TT gold
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Monica Devi lifts silver
India wallop Trinidad 10-1
Manjit qualifies for final, Gowda finishes fifth
B’ball eves taste victory
England take 152-run lead
Was Dhoni out?
Kiwis wrap up series
B’desh win
Ranji final rescheduled
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Men clinch TT gold
Melbourne, March 20 Shrugging off a 0-2 deficit, Subhajit Saha, Achanta Sharath Kamal and Soumyadeep Roy made a remarkable comeback to win the next three matches and dash Singapore’s hopes with a 3-2 upset. Singapore, who had earlier won the women’s team gold in table tennis, could not make it a golden delight as a fighting Indian team held their nerves and generated enough firepower to turn the tables on Singapore. India, the bronze medallists in the last edition of the games, started their title quest on a disastrous note as Soumyadeep Roy was thrashed 0-3 by Yanz Zi in the opening match. Yang Zi registered a confident 11-5, 11-3, 11-8 win over Roy before Achanta Sharath’s Kamal went down to Li Xiao Cai 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 7-11, 8-11 in a see-saw battle. With their backs to wall, national champion Subhajit Saha pulled off one against Jason Ho 3-1. Saha put up an inspiring performance to overpower Jason 10-12, 11-5, 11-7, 12-10. Sharath Kamal then scored a huge upset toppling world No 56 Yang Zi 3-2 in a thrilling encounter to level the scores. Kamal, ranked 150, churned out his best to stun Zi 5-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7. With the tie poised on knife’s edge, Roy played with purpose to beat Li Xiao Cai 11-6 11-8 7-11 11-6 as an jubilant Indian squad broke into wild celebration. Eves win bronze
Indian eves scripted a thrilling
3-2 victory over Canada in the women’s table tennis team event to win a bronze medal at the 18th Commonwealth Games. Twenty-two-year old national champion Mouma Das pulled off a stunning 3-2 win against Xu Hong Guang in the final match to hand over the first ever medal for the women’s table tennis team at Commonwealth Games. Poulomi Ghatak gave the right start to India’s quest for the bronze medal as she beat Xu Huang Guang 13-11, 11-7, 12-10. Seventeen-year-old Mo Zhang put it across Mouma Das 11-9, 13-11, 11-8 to level the tie. Nandita Saha staged a remarkable rally against Yuen Sara after being thrashed 1-11 in the first game to outsmart the Canadian 11-4, 12-10, 11-7 and put India ahead. But the upcoming Canadian star Mo Zhang was in no mood to relent as she breeze past Ghatak 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 to leave the tie poised on a knife’s edge. It was left to Mouma to clinch the rubber for India in the decider and she did not disappoint. Mouma kept her composure and played a fine attacking game to win the duel against Xu Hong 5-11, 11-7, 11-3, 8-11, 11-5 and claim the bronze.
— PTI |
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Shooters rule the roost
Melbourne, March 20 Pistol shooter Samresh Jung claimed his third gold at the Games when he teamed up with seasoned marksman Jaspal Rana to win the 25m Centre Fire Pistol pairs at the Melbourne International Shooting Club. Debutante Tejaswini Sawant hit the bull’s eye to win women’s 10 m air rifle individual event for her second yellow metal here. Avneet Kaur Sidhu, also making her first appearance at the games, bagged the silver. The Indian girls also equalled the games record set by compatriot Anjali Bhagwat in Manchester four years ago. Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang clinched their second gold together in the games, winning the men’s 50 m rifle three positions pairs event. India have won nine gold and four silver through the efforts of their shooters while Australians have bagged six gold, five silver and two bronze at the half way stage of the competitions. Of the 40 shooting events, 20 have been completed. However, it was a disappointing show by Baba Bedi and Amit Sanghi in men’s skeet pairs event where they finished a lowly eighth. Jung and Rana fired a total of 1,150 that included the individual efforts of 577 (290+287) by Jung and 573 (285+288) by Rana. The Indian duo was a huge 12 points adrift of silver winners Peter Flippant and Simon Lucas of England. Flippant shot 579 (292+287) and Lucas scored 559 (289+279) to aggregate 1138 ahead of bronze medallist South Africans Allan McDonald and Daniel van Tonder amassing 1135 (563+575) points. Young faces, Sawant and Sidhu, who dominated the Wellsform rifle range during women’s 10m air rifle event, scored 500.6 and 500.2 points, respectively, to equal the games record of 500.8 set by Bhagwat. Singapore’s Zhen Venassa Yong Yu won the bronze with 499.9 points. Bindra and Narang shot a combined 2287 in the 50m rifle three positions event. The Indians were comfortably ahead of the Australian pair of Michael Brown and Ben Burge who combined 2269 for the silver medal. Bindra said it felt great to have won two gold medals from pairs events but realised that it would not guarantee victory in the individual events.
— PTI |
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Monica Devi lifts silver
Melbourne, March 20 Monica Devi lifted an overall 222 kg, which included a Games record equalling 100 kg in snatch and 122 kg in clean and jerk, to eventually finish second behind Canada’s Jeane Lassen. Lassen heaved a total of 229 kg and broke games record in the 69 kg class en route to her gold medal. Meanwhile, Satheesha Rai failed to finish inside the medal bracket in the men’s 85 kg weightlifting event, denting India’s medal count at the Commonwealth Games here today. Rai lifted an overall 322 kg, which included efforts of 146kg in snatch and 176kg in clean and jerk, to finish fourth at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. The 35-year-old Indian was 21 kg behind the gold medal winner from Pakistan, Shuja-ud Din Malik, who heaved an overall 343 kg. Saina shines as India win bronze
Teenage talent Saina Nehwal catapulted India to a bronze medal finish with a huge upset victory over a top-ranked New Zealand player in the badminton mixed team event at the Commonwealth Games here today. After giving a scare to defending champions England in the semifinals yesterday, India rode on the rising starlet’s breathtaking form to beat New Zealand 3-1 at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. The higher ranked Rebecca Leigh Bellingham had no answer to the aggressive display of the 16-year-old Saina who upset the world no 33 21-13, 24-22 in the women’s singles match. Three boxers in quarterfinals
Indian pugilists had a mixed day today as three of them advanced to the quarterfinals while two bowed out at the Commonwealth Games here today. The day started on a positive note for the Indians with Akhil Kumar securing an emphatic win over Atanas Mugerwa of Uganda in the 54 kg category to sail into the quarterfinals. In the 57 kg category, 22-year-old Diwakar Prasad hammered M Coriakula of Fiji. In the 51kg bout, Railways’ Jitender Kumar, who is also the national champion, displayed superb technique and tactics while thrashing Lesotho’s Meshack Letsoepa. However, in the late evening bouts, India suffered two reverses when Jai Bhagwan and Parvinder Singh lost. Ghana’s F R Gavin proved too strong for Jai Bhagwan as he beat the Indian convincingly 20-8 on points. Twenty two-year-old Parvinder Singh was unlucky to lose to Cameroon’s Emmanuel Charles Njock by a solitary point in a hotly contested bout. Flop show in
the pool
India’s lacklustre show continued in the pool, as swimmers Arjun Muralidharan and Rehan Poncha went out of reckoning without much of a fight in the 200m men’s individual medley at the Commonwealth Games here today. Eigteen-year-old Arjun Muralidharan completed the distance in 2 minutes 13.21 seconds to come fifth in his heat at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. The next heat, which saw Poncha take to the waters, did not bring any better luck for the Indian camp. The 18-year-old swimmer was .01 seconds slower than Muralidharan, but managed the same fifth place finish.
— PTI, UNI |
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India wallop Trinidad 10-1
Melbourne, March 20 For the winners, who led 4-1 at half time, other scorers were Kanwalpreet Singh, Rajpal Singh and Tushar Khandekar (one each). For the losers, Chain Dwain Quan scored the lone goal. It was a mismatch but the Indians had to win by a big margin to stay afloat in the league and they did it in style. The winners could have increased their goal tally but for the missed chances. They earned as many as 12 penalty corners but could convert only three and in all they had 25 shots at the goal of which only 10 went in. India needs to win tomorrow by another big margin against South Africa, who surprised Pakistan by holding them to a 1-1 draw late last night. Eves rout Nigeria
Title holders India clinched their maiden victory decimating a hapless Nigeria 8-0 in the league stage of the women’s hockey competition at the 18th Commonwealth Games here today. Maintaining their stranglehold throughout the Group one match, India opened a 5-0 lead at the breather and pumped in three more in the second session to improve their chances of reaching the semi final. Mamta Kharb and Jasjeet Handa scored two goals each, while Jyoti Kullu, Sangai Maimon, Saba Anjum and Sarita Lakra chipped in with one apiece as India raised their points tally to four from three outings.
— UNI, PTI |
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No regret on losing gold: Avneet
Bathinda, March 20 Talking to The Tribune on phone from Melbourne, Avneet said: “I don’t regret losing gold medal and I’m content with the fact that I have been able to score well under pressure. There is no reason to be disappointed, as my friend Tejaswini has anyway won the gold for our country.” On being asked as to how she coped with pressure in her first big individual international event, Avneet said she felt the pressure in qualifying rounds and during initial stage of final round, but it was only a matter of few shots before she settled to deliver her best. Avneet and Tejaswini both entered the final round with impressive scores of 398 out of 400 in qualifying round. “Anjali encouraged me to give my best and her company at the event has been quite inspiring. She is always there to help me and comes out with useful tips,” said Avneet on being asked as to how the presence of talented shooters like Anjali Bhagwat and Anubhav Bindra lifted her spirit at the event. About her improved performance in the last couple of years, she said: “Earlier, my scores would hover around 388-392, but our foreign coach Lazlo Scuzak trained me well. My current performance is the result of training and exposure that I have gained in the last two years or so,” she added. |
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Milkha to fly to Melbourne
Chandigarh, March 20 Milkha was earlier thinking about skipping the trip on health grounds. Talking to The Tribune here today, he said, “I was initially not keen to go due to my back problem. However, IOA President Suresh Kalmadi persuaded me to change my decision.” Milkha said he was honoured to receive an invitation from the IOA. “This is the first time that they have invited me for the games — Better late than never,” he quipped. The closing ceremony assumes great significance for the country as the Commonwealth Games Federation flag will be handed over to India, which will host the next edition of the games in New Delhi in 2010. Milkha, the first Indian to win a Commonwealth gold medal (Cardiff, 1958), will lead a march of the Indian contingent comprising former and current players. Other Indian sporting legends like PT Usha, Prakash Padukone and Sunil Gavaskar are also likely to be present in Melbourne during the grand finale of the games, besides film stars Aishwarya Rai and Rani Mukherjee. |
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Manjit qualifies for final, Gowda finishes fifth
Melbourne, March 20 Twenty four-year-old Manjit Kaur qualified for the final by virtue of being fastest among the losers in the semis with a timing of 52.31secs. The Punjab Police inspector had won gold in Asian Track and Field in Incheon clocking 51.50 last year, whereas her personal best is 51.05secs. Meanwhile in shot put, Gowda hurled the iron at a distance of 18.46 metres, which was more than a metre short of the bronze medal score to place him fifth in the order at the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground. In the other events, Parayil Jalan and Deepmala Devi put up a decent while finishing fifth and sixth in the men and women’s 20km walk respectively while hosts Australia swept all the three medals.
— UNI, PTI |
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B’ball eves taste victory
Melbourne, March 20 The 41st ranked Indian eves, who earlier suffered huge losses to hosts Australia and England in league matches, edged past their African rivals 58-54. However, the story was not so rosy for the Indian men’s team who were thrashed by hosts Australia 49-133 in a one-sided affair.
— PTI |
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India’s events today
ATHLETICS: Men: Jora Singh decathlon 10.05am (0435 hrs IST); Vikas Gowda discus (qualifying) 10.30am (0500 hrs IST); women: J.J. Shobha heptathlon 10.20am (0450 hrs IST); Soma Biswas heptathlon 10.30am (0500 hrs IST) Sushmita Singha Roy heptathlon 11.50am (0630 hrs IST); Seema Antil, Krishna Poonia, Harwant Kaur discus (qualifying) 8.10pm (1440 hrs IST).
BADMINTON: men singles: Anup Sridhar v Burty Molia (Fiji) 9 am (0330 hrs IST); women singles: Aparna Popat v Yuan Wemyss (Sco) 9.05am (0335 hrs IST); Trupti Murgunde v Shakeira Waithe (BAR) 9.10am (0340 hrs IST); men’s doubles: Rupesh Kumar/S Thomas v Choong/Woing (MAS) 4.30pm (1100 hrs IST); Chetan Anand/V Diju v Umer/ Choudhary (Pak) 4.30pm (1100 hrs IST); women’s doubles: Murgunde/Saina v Lewis/Saunders (Jam) 4.36pm (1106 hrs IST). BOXING: 54 kg (QF) Ajay Kumar v Joshua Makonijio (Ken) 1.00pm (0730 hrs IST); 91 kg (QF) Harpreet Singh v N. Cagiloaloa (Fij) 2.20pm (0850 hrs IST); 91+ kg (QF) V Johnson v P Camille (Sey) 9.10pm (1540 hrs IST). HOCKEY: women: India v Malaysia 9 pm (1530 hrs IST). SHOOTING: men’s 10m air rifle Gagan Narang/Abhinav Bindra 9.00am (0330 hrs IST); men’s 50m Pistol Samaresh Jung/Vivek Singh 9.00am (0330 hrs IST); women’s 25m Pistol Sushma Rana/Saroja Kumari 9 am (0330 hrs IST); men’s trap (Day1) Manavjit Singh/Mansher Singh 10.30am (0500 hrs IST). TABLE TENNIS:
women’s singles (qualifying) Shamini Kumaresan v G. Ogundele (Nigeria) 2.00pm (0830 hrs IST); Nandita Saha v Ghalia Khurshed (Pak) 2.35pm (0905 hrs IST); Poulomi Ghatak v Cecilia Offiong (Ngr) 3.10pm (0940 hrs IST); Mouma Das v Mueena Mohd (Pak) 3.10pm (0940 hrs IST); Kasturi Chakraborty v V Muller (Fij) 5.30pm (1200 hrs IST); men’s singles (qualifying) Shubhajit Saha v Peter Graham (NIR) 4.20pm (1050 hrs IST); Soumyadeep v A. Resture (TUV) 4.55pm (1125 hrs IST); Shibaji Datta v J. Cowan (NIR) 7.50pm (1420 hrs IST).
— UNI |
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England take 152-run lead
Mumbai, March 20 During an absorbing day’s play, the Indian tail wagged to take their side to 279 in response to England’s first innings total of 400. England, on top throughout the Test so far, suffered early blows in their second innings to be 31 for two, an overall lead of 152 runs with two days of play left. A fiery spell of bowling by pacers Munaf Patel and S Sreesanth late in the final session, in which they removed first-innings centurion Andrew Strauss and the other opener Ian Bell, gave the home side a slight opening into the match. Wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni led the home team’s rearguard action with a fine knock before he was controversially given run out by third umpire K Hariharan that cut short a brave counter-attacking innings at 64. Anil Kumble (30) and Sreesanth (29 not out) then put on a defiant 55-run partnership for the ninth wicket to help India rally around from 217 for eight before being bowled out 75 minutes after tea. England were off to a disastrous start, losing their first two wickets with only 21 on board and surviving some more anxious moments before close of play. Owais Shah, who made 84 in the first innings, was unbeaten on 15 with nightwatchman Shaun Udal who was on two after being let off at third slip by Yuvraj Singh off Sreesanth in the last over of the day. Scoreboard England (1st innings) 400 India (1st innings) Jaffer c Jones b Hoggard 11 Sehwag c Shah b Hoggard 6 Dravid c Jones b Anderson 52 Tendulkar c Jones b Anderson 1 Yuvraj c Jones b Flintoff 37 Dhoni run out 64 Pathan c Hoggard b Udal 26 Kumble lbw Panesar 30 Harbhajan c Jones b Anderson 2 Sreesanth not out 29 Munaf b Anderson 7 Extras (b-4, lb-7, nb-3) 14 Total (all out, 104.1 overs) 279 Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-24, 3-28, 4-94, 5-142, 6-186, 7-212, 8-217, 9-272. Bowling: Hoggard 22-6-54-2, Flintoff 21-4-68-1, Anderson 19.1-8-40-4, Panesar 26-7-53-1, Udal 16-2-53-1. England (2nd innings) Strauss c Dhoni b Patel 4 Bell c Dhoni b Sreesanth 8 Shah not out 15 Udal not out 2 Extras (nb-1, w-1) 2 Total (2 wickets, 15 overs) 31 Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-21. Bowling: Pathan 4-1-6-0, Munaf 4-0-12-1, Sreesanth 4-1- 10-1, Kumble 2-0-3-0, Harbhajan 1-1-0-0. — PTI
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Was Dhoni out?
Mumbai, March 20 Dhoni on-drove Andrew Flintoff to mid on and scampered for a sharp single and James Anderson’s throw hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end even as the Indian wicketkeeper was running full steam to complete the run. On-field umpire Darrell Hair referred the run-out appeal to the third umpire and repeated replays showed that the bails had not fallen off, as is required under the rules, when Dhoni made it to the crease. Hariharan is said to have watched the replay six times, but to the utter surprise of many, including England’s former captains David Gower and Michael Atherton, ruled Dhoni out. There was another twist in the tale this evening when it was discovered that even before the third umpire gave his verdict, the operator of the giant television screens inside the Wankhede Stadium had pressed the red button. “The operator had pressed the ‘out’ button which flashed on the screen even before the third umpire had given the decision,” said an official of the Mumbai Cricket Association who had outsourced the work. Following the controversy, match referee Ranjan Madugalle stopped the action replays from being flashed on the screen, thus depriving the spectators at the stadium the facility. Two screens have been placed in the stadium — one in the south west part and the other diametrically opposite to it.
— PTI |
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Kiwis wrap up series
Wellington, March 20 In terms of overs bowled, the win was achieved in just three days of cricket with only foul weather forcing play into the fourth day. The West Indies started the day at 118 for four in their second innings and were all out for 215 leaving the New Zealand openers Jamie How and Hamish Marshall to quickly knock off the 36 runs required for the win. But it was Fleming’s man-of-the-match 97 that formed the basis of the commanding 180-run first innings lead that proved too big a hurdle for the West Indies to clear.
— AFP |
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B’desh win
Khulna, March 20 Opener Omar struck a disciplined 64 and Ahmed got a stroke-filled 59 as the home side reached a target of 162 in just 23.5 overs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series. Earlier, Kenya were bowled out for 161 in the 50th over.
— AFP |
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Ranji final rescheduled
Mumbai, March 20 BCCI Executive Secretary-in-charge Ratnakar Shetty said the unavailability of the ground was the reason behind shifting the venue of the match, scheduled to be held at Lucknow tomorrow.
— PTI |
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Golfers for Sirikit Cup hone skills
Chandigarh, March 20 The three are attending a five-day national camp for the Asia-Pacific Ladies Amateur Invitation Golf Championship for the Queen Sirikit Cup to be played at Adelaide in Australia from April 5 to 7. Led by the reigning national golf queen, Irina Brar of Chandigarh, the team consists of 19-year-old first-timer Shraddhanjali Singh from Jamshedpur and Vandana Agarwal from Kolkata, who will be representing the country for the 14th time in this event. Mrs Anu Bindra, Convener of the Indian Golf Union Ladies Section, will accompany the team as non-playing captain. Jesse Grewal was giving tips to the players as they went through their swing shot and pitching and putting drill when The Tribune team visited the golf range this morning. Jesse has done his homework well. He has gone through the Adelaide golf course on the website and knows each hole like the back of his hand. For the past three days he has taken the ladies to golf courses in and around Chandigarh to give them a feel of what they will encounter at the Adelaide course. Ask any of the trainees. Their reply will be:“Jesse jaisa koi nahin; Jesse is the best; His drill is perfect;He explains in very clear terms”. But all the three are sad that Jesse will not be going with them to Adelaide. Vandana is so impressed by Jesse’s coaching methods that she intends to return to Chandigarh for another coaching stint. Shraddhanjali also feels the golf range is the best place to prepare for an international event. Pitted against players from 13 countries, the Indian golf trio will face a tough challenge. The nearest the Indian team has got is the fourth place. But with competition increasing the team could muster only the eighth place in the last Sirikit Cup. At a press conference in the afternoon, Mrs Dalbir
Sahi, North Zone representative of the Indian Golf Union Ladies Section, said it was the first time that a national ladies coaching camp was being held in Chandigarh. She also agreed with the players’ plea that a coach should accompany the team. Irina, who is appearing for her MA Part I exams, is in a Catch-22 situation. After the gruelling nine-hour coaching session from 8 a.m. to 5 pm., she is too tired to open her books for the examinations, which begin
on April 22. |
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