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Geeta, Simple shine
Anju qualifies for final
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Shuttlers advance
Paddlers win
Women cagers finish sixth
Jung’s village oblivious of his feat at C’wealth Games
Decision to field first backfired: Dravid
Pakistan beat Lanka, clinch series
Punjabi varsity sports function tomorrow
PSEB annex soccer title
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Geeta, Simple shine
Melbourne, March 22 Geeta Rani established a new games record with an overall lift of 241 kg, which included 104 kg in snatch section and 137 kg in clean and jerk to win the title at the Exhibition Centre. Bumrah was just one kg adrift of her compatriot for the second place finish after hoisting 240 kg with a record lift of 105 kg in snatch and 135 kg in clean and jerk. New Zealand’s Keisha Dean Soffe grabbed the bronze with 224 kg (100kg+124kg). Rani won the third and last weightlifting gold of the games for India which ended up with the medal tally of three gold, six silver and one bronze to lead the table on the seventh day of the competition. India has no representation in the men’s 105 kg and +105 kg divisions. Rani, who trailed Bumrah by one kg in the snatch, showed that she mean business when she raised the bar to 130 kg and eventually 137 kg to nudge Bumrah in the clean and jerk against Bumrah’s lifts of 128 kg and 135 kg. “I knew that to win I had to go higher because of my heavier bodyweight,” said Rani, who was over six kg heavier than Bumrah. In the process, the Indian duo set 11 games records, three in snatch, fourt in clean and jerk and four in overall, in a nail-biting battle for the title. Rani described it as the best performance of her career. “It feels great to be called the strongest women. It gives me the confidence to do further well in Doha Asian Games. Thanks to my coaches, who inspired me for the feat,” said the 24-year-old. Bumrah, who just turned 20, said she would work hard for the other competitions including the Asian Games. “I will improve my performance for the Asian Games. Age is at my side and I can do better,” the Maharashtra girl said. Geeta’s family ecstatic Sangrur: Sangrur-born Geeta Rani (25) today not only won laurels for the country but has also done this town proud by winning a gold medal in the 75 kg plus category in weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Talking to The Tribune here today, Roshni Devi, mother of Geeta, said her daughter was a hard working girl and this was the reason that despite having passed only Class VIII, she was now an Inspector in the CRPF on the basis of her performance at the national and international level. Roshni Devi said she had received a telephone call from Geeta a couple of days ago from Melbourne to inquire about her health and had promised her that she would win a gold medal. When this correspondent visited the house of Geeta’s mother here, some people were already there to congratulate her on Geeta’s success. She was also distributing sweets among the people present there. She also attended some phone calls and accepted congratulations from relatives and friends. Jasbir Singh, an elder brother of Geeta, who is working as a Sanitary Inspector in the local Municipal Council, gave details about Geeta’s weightlifting journey from this small town to the Commonwealth Games. He said Geeta had won many competitions from the district level to the international level. She had also won a gold medal at the last Commonwealth Games, besides three silver medals in Asian Championship in 2004 and a bronze medal in the Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad in 2003, he added. Jasbir said she started her career in weightlifting with him in 1994 at Sangrur where Surinder Singh, her coach, supported her fully and helped her make it big in weightlifting. Gursharan Singh, District Sports Officer, Sangrur, expressed great happiness over the achievement of Geeta and expressed hope that she would certainly bring Sangrur into the limelight at the next Olympic Games. —
PTI, TNS |
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Anju qualifies for final
Melbourne, March 22 Anju, who claimed a bronze in the last edition of the Games at Manchester, covered the distance on her third attempt that placed her second in her group and sixth overall. In women’s 800 metres, Pinky Pramanick sneaked into the semifinals clocking 2 minutes o5.18 seconds. Since only three athletes were able to cross the benchmark of 6.50 m, the 12 best performers gained entry into the final slated for Friday. Anju, who turns 30 next month, lunged 6.38m in her first two attempts at the Melbourne Cricket Ground before improving by three centimeters in her final effort. However, the Indian’s performance was below her season’s best effort of 6.47 m in the recent Federation Cup at New Delhi. Englishwoman Jade Johnson (6.52m), local challenger Kerri Taurina (6.48m), and Bahama girl Jacqueline Edwards (6.42m) also left Anju behind on performance. Goulborne Elva of Jamaica led the field in Anju’s group lunging 6.55m and finished second overall after home favourite Bronwyn Thompson, who cleared 6.71 meters competing in the other pool. Pinky, on the other hand, finished her race behind Jamaican girl Kenia Sinclair (2 minutes, 04.44 seconds) and England's Marilyn Okoro (2:05.01) in heat two, on way to advancing to the pre-summit round. The top two in each of the heats and the six other fastest runners qualified. However, Pinky faces an uphill battle in the semifinals as her heat timing was the worst among the runners who made it to the semifinals. Scotland’s Tusan Scott clocked 2 minutes 02.85 seconds to emerge first in the event. In men’s 800 metre heats, Ghamanda Ram finished fourth in his heat clocking 1:48.03s and failed to qualify for the finals. After the end of five events, J J Shobha was ninth (4050 points) and Soma Biswas 10th (4019 points) while Sushmita Singha Roy languished at 12th and the last spot in heptathlon. Jayaseelan wins first EAD medal
R.K. Jayaseelan bagged a bronze medal for India in the men’s seated discus event for Elite Athletes with Disabilities (EAD). Jayaseelan threw the disc to a distance of 29.88m to claim third place behind Tanto Campbell of Jamaica (34.48m) and Canada’s Jacques Martin (32.28m). In men’s 200m in the EAD category, Girraj Girraj entered the final with a timing of 23.94 seconds for fourth place in his heat. But compatriot Basvaraj Horaddi’s campaign ended prematurely as he finished sixth in his heat clocking 25.34 seconds.
— PTI, UNI |
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Jitender, Akhil in semis
Melbourne, March 22 However, Diwakar Prasad fell by the wayside in the featherweight quarterfinal and retired 13 seconds into the third round after being down 5-20 on points against his English rival Stephen Francis Smith. Heavyweight Harpreet Singh and superheavyweight contender V. Johnson became medal certainties yesterday when they sailed into the last four. Jitender fought a close battle with Luza Lechedzani of Botswana and cruised to a fluent 17-15 win in his flyweight quarterfinal bout. The Indian landed straight punches to score from the beginning and took a two-point lead in the first round, but his opponent defended well and made sure that he did not slip away more points by keeping the scores level in the second round. The Botswanian, in fact, pulled up his socks to reduce the margin in the subsequent round but the Indian peaked in time to seal the matter on points before the whistle. Jitender will next meet Don Gareth Broadhurst in the semifinals where both the losing finalists are presented bronze medals. Akhil, struggling to strike form for some time, was at his aggressive best as he maintained his stranglehold to win the bantamweight quarterfinal 34-20 against Bongani Wonder B Mahlargu of South Africa. The Indian mercilessly landed a combination of punches from left, right and centre on the African winning as many points as possible. He led the first round 9-4, and was ahead 9-5 in the second, which seemed to have sapped the energy of the South African. Akhil, who turns 25 on March 27, will next challenge Nestor Bolum of Nigeria.
— PTI |
India crash out despite win
Melbourne, March 22 India tied with Malaysia on points tally (seven each) as well as the goal difference (eight each). But the South East Asians, despite losing their concluding league fixture to Pakistan 5-6 in a later match, pipped the Indians by virtue of scoring more number of goals. Malayasia netted 16, while the Indians managed only 14. Sandeep Singh (4th minute) and Tushar Khandekar (49th) scored a goal in each half to help India earn three crucial points, but that effort later turned out to be insufficient to keep the team in medal contention. The same old story of a faltering forwardline haunted India as strikers Deepak Thakur, Tejbir Singh and Arjun Halappa spoilt a chance each to let down their team in the do-or-die outing. India opened their account through Sandeep Singh who converted the first penalty corner to give South African the early jolt. The reverse forced Proteas’ coach Peter Revenington bring in early replacements and Ian Symonss attempt to score off a penalty corner was well saved by Indian custodian Bharat Chetri in the 12th minute. The fast moving Africans kept attacking the Indian citadel with vengeance, but in vain. Chetri’s heroics saved the day for India as he thwarted the opponents’ attempts at least on three more occasions. Crossing over, Thakur’s try was stopped by goalkeeper Christopher Hibbert and later Tejbir Singhs attempt was undone by a defender. India increased the margin in the 49th minute through a gem of a goal by Khandekar. He got a superb pass from Halappa, sped down the left flank dodging past two defenders and hit it from an acute angle to sound the board between the legs of Hibbert. The African goalie denied India an entry into the last four stage when he saved a powerful Vikram Pillay hit in the 61st minute. The defence headed by Kanwalpreet Singh was at its best. The medios also put up a spirited performance with both Viren Rasquinha and Pillay being more prominent as feeders. Captain Ignace Tirkey and his brother Probodh were also effective in keeping the game in control. |
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Shuttlers advance
Melbourne, March 22 Saina Nehwal, who shone in the team event beating the gold and silver medallists of the Manchester Games, continued to impress even as Aparna Popat and fourth seed Chetan Anand, reached the last 16 of the men’s and women’s draw respectively with convincing victories. Last edition’s bronze medallist Popat clinched facile 21-13, 21-12 win against Julia Wong of Malaysia to advance to the pre-quarterfinal of the women’s singles. Seasoned Popat, however, have a tough task ahead as she faces defending gold medallist Li Li of Singapore in the next round tomorrow. Saina had no problems against Thilini Jayasinghe of Sri Lanka. Saina stormed into the round of 16 with a convincing 21-7, 21-11 win. In another women’s single match Trupti Murgunde trounced Alissa Dean 21-2, 21-8.
— PTI |
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Paddlers win
Melbourne, March 22 Basking in the glory of their historic gold win in the men’s team event, Soumyadeep Roy and Subhajit Saha registered convincing victories to advance to the singles draw. Seasoned Poulomi Ghatak and National champion Mouma Das and Nandita Saha also made it to the tournament proper in women’s singles. However, Shibaji Datta lost to Andrew Rushtom in men’s Pool N match.
— PTI |
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Women cagers finish sixth
Melbourne, March 22 In the playoff match for the fifth spot, Mozambique displayed superior skills to control the match and pull off a creditable win at Melbourne Park today. India conceded a 13-point lead to the Africans in the first quarter itself that proved costly in the end. In the second period, the Indians staged a comeback to shade it 12-9. But that was not enough to dampen the spirit of their opponents.
— PTI |
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India’s events today
ATHLETICS: Girraj 200m EAD final 7.32 pm (2.02 pm IST); Pinki Parmanki women’s 800m semis 8.30 pm (3 pm IST); Vikas Gowda men’s discus final 8.45 pm (3.15 pm IST).
BADMINTON:
men’s singles (round of 16): Anup Sridhar v Geoff Bellingham (NZL) 9.06 am (3.36 am IST); Chetan Anand v Stephan Beehary (Mri) 9.06 am (3.36 am IST); women’s singles (round 16): Aparna Popat v Li Li (Sin) 4.30 pm (11 am IST); Trupti Murgunde v Susan Hughes 4.30 pm (11 am IST); Saina Nehwal v Xing Aiying 4.30 pm (11 am IST); men’s doubles (round of 16): Chetan Anand/Diju v Saputra/Susilo(SIN) 9 am (3.30 am IST); women’s doubles (round of 16): Murgunde/Nehwal v Tripp/Nicholas (Eng) 9.03 am (3.33 am IST); Gutta/Shruti Kurian v Edwards/Harrington (SAF) 9.05 am(3.35 am IST); mixed Doubles: Diju V/Jwala Gutta v Susilo/Jiang (Sin) 9.03 am (3.33 am IST). BOXING:
(semifinals): Jitender Kumar v Gareth Boardhust (Eng) 1.20 pm (7.50 am IST); Harpreet Singh v Emmanuel Andersan (Bar) 3.40 pm (10.10 am IST); Akhil Kumar v Nestor Bolum (Nigeria) 7.10 pm (1.40 pm IST); Vijender v Neil Perkins (Eng) 8.50 pm (3.20 pm IST); Varghese Johnson v David Price (Eng) 10.10 pm (4.40 pm IST). HOCKEY:
women: India vs New Zealand semifinal 5.30 pm (12 noon). SHOOTING:
women’s 50m 3-position: Anjali Bhagwat and Anuja Jung 9 am (3.30am IST); men’s 25 rapid fire: Vijay Kumar and Pemba Tamang 9 am (3.30 am IST); women’s 10m air pistol: Harveen Srao and Sonia Rana 9 am (3.30 am IST); men’s double trap: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Vikram Bhatnagar 10 am (4.30am IST). TABLE TENNIS:
men’s singles (round of 16): Shubhajit Saha v Shane Laugsen(NZL) 9.08 am (3.38 am IST); Sharath Kamal v Jason Sugrue(NIR) 2.15 pm (8.45 am IST); women’s singles (round of 16): Nandita Saha v Zhang Mo(Can) 12 (6.30 am IST); Mouma Das v Yuen Sara (Sin) 12 (6.30 am IST); Poulomi Ghatak v Kelly Sibley (Eng) 12.45 (7.15 am IST); Kasturi Chakraborty V Karen Jin Li (NZL) 12.45 pm (7.15 am IST).
— UNI |
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Jung’s village oblivious of his feat at C’wealth Games Haripur Khol (Poanta Sahib), March 22 Samresh Jung has performed exceedingly well at the games and perhaps is the first Indian sportsperson to win such a rich haul of medals. Samresh’s wife, Anuja Jung, has also shot a silver medal, partnering another ace shooter Anjali Bhagwat. However, no one was aware in the village that Samresh had become a star. In fact, elders of Samresh had shifted from the village — located on the Himachal-Haryana border — to Delhi a few decades ago. Their house is lying abandoned and is in a dilapidated condition. Samresh and his parents are now settled in Delhi. However, there was no end to the joy of the villagers, majority of whom are agriculturists, when they were told that the ace shooter had propelled their village to the international arena. Samresh belongs to a reputed family and his grandfather was a freedom fighter and an avid shooter himself. His great grandfather, late Partap Singh, was a collector of erstwhile Nahan state. Villagers recalled how the late Sher Jung, the grandfather of Samresh, was a compatriot of legendry freedom fighter Bhagat Singh. Jung had participated alongwith Bhagat Singh and was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Britishers, Nirmala Jung, an aunt of the celebrated shooter, told The Tribune. When the country was celebrating Jung’s achievement, the people of his own village, ironically, remained oblivious of his feat. Nand Lal, a resident of the village, said he was not aware of the unprecedented feat of the Samresh. “I don’t know what Samresh has done,” was his answer. The same answer was given by another old villager Ram Krishan, who knew about Samresh’s father Sailesh Jung and his grandfather Sher Jung. “Sailesh came here around five years back but stayed only for a day. However, Samresh, who had been to the village once or twice as a youngster, is not a familiar face with the locals,”said Ram Krishan. “He seems to have inherited the shooting skills from his grandfather, who was a sharpshooter and a famed hunter of his time,” said Ram Krishan, when he was told about the stunning achievement of Samresh. Meanwhile, Nirmala Jung and her daughter Mahua Jung, who live in Gangu Bala village, 30 km from Haripur Khol, expressed their happiness. “We are planning to celebrate the occasion with our family members and hope that the shooter and his wife will come and join in.” |
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India humiliated
Mumbai, March 22 Ironically, the Indian batsmen, regarded as best players of spin in the world, allowed 37-year-old England spinner Shaun Udal to make a mockery of that reputation after man of the series skipper Andrew Flintoff had made early inroads in the batting line-up. India’s last six wickets fell for 25 runs as Udal took 4 wickets for 14 runs on a fifth day wicket that held no terrors. Flintoff grabbed 3 for 14 as India collapsed for 100 in 48.2 overs. Sachin Tendulkar, booed when he fell cheaply in the first innings, briefly raised hopes of answering his critics and visions of a shock Indian win before lunch, but once he fell for 34, his highest in the series, it was a virtual procession of Indian batsmen in the post-lunch session. England, without their five top players, now go into the seven-match one-day series beginning in Delhi on March 28 high on morale. Indians will have to do much better to tame the visitors. Chasing 313 for an unlikely win, India lost nightwatchman Anil Kumble and opener Wasim Jaffer early after resuming the day at 18 for one. With their backs to the wall, the hosts required an inspired performance from their batsmen but what the stars churned out at the Wankhede Stadium betrayed a lack of self-belief and application. India lost wickets in a heap in the dramatic post-lunch session to suffer their seventh lowest score ever at home and their lowest at this ground. India had been shot out for 104 by Australia last season before going on to win that match at this venue, their previous lowest score here. The victory was also England’s first on Indian soil since David Gower’s 2-1 series triumph in 1984-85 against Sunil Gavaskar’s team. The sensational collapse saw the home team, who made 279 in their first innings to trail England by 121 runs, being bundled out 74 minutes into the post-lunch session with the unheralded Udal coming up with a fantastic spell of 7.2-3-8-4. Flintoff, also named man of the match, made no mistakes in the field this morning, making the right bowling changes and himself unleashing an aggressive but controlled bowling. The tight bowling attack meant only opener Jaffer (10), and Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh (12) could reach double figures. The dismissals of skipper Rahul Dravid, who failed for the first time in the series in making 9, and Tendulkar within the space of seven balls after lunch started India’s irreversible slide towards a shameful defeat. Dravid pushed at a ball from Flintoff that did not move away as much as he expected and edged behind while Tendulkar, who hit five fours, was caught bat-pad at short leg off Udal as he stretched forward in defense. Dravid batted for 111 minutes and faced 60 balls while Tendulkar faced 57 balls in his 77-minute essay. But once these two batsmen fell in successive overs followed by the dismissal of Virender Sehwag (0) five overs later, the writing was on the wall but none in the huge crowd of over 30,000 spectators could have imagined what followed. Batsman after batsman followed one another to the pavilion and the worst culprit in this disastrous show was Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was dropped off a skier by Monty Panesar only to be caught by the same fielder three balls later in trying to repeat the injudicious shot against Udal. The other players to perish to attacking shots at the end were Harbhajan Singh (6) and last man Munaf Patel (1), both of whom were caught at long leg by Matthew Hoggard off Udal. Yuvraj Singh, struggling against the sharp turn of Udal, struck a couple of straight drives off Anderson before finally perishing against Flintoff by slicing a drive to third slip fielder Paul Collingwood to be ninth out when the score read 99. He batted for 67 minutes and faced 45 balls. Scoreboard England (1st innings) 400 India (1st Innings) 279 England (2nd innings) 191 India (2nd innings) Jaffer lbw Flintoff 10 Pathan b Anderson 6 Kumble lbw Flintoff 8 Dravid c Jones b Flintoff 9 Sachin c Bell b Udal 34 Yuvraj c Collingwood Sehwag lbw Anderson 0 Dhoni c Panesar b Udal 5 Harbhajan c Hoggard Sreesanth not out 0 Patel c Hoggard b Udal 1 Extras
(1b, 4lb, 3nb, 1w) 9 Total (all out, 48.2 overs) 100 Fall of wickets:
1-6, 2-21, 3-33, 4-75, 5-76, 6-76, 7-92, 8-99, 9-99. Bowling: Hoggard 12-6-13-1, Anderson 12-2-39-2, Panesar 4-1-15-0, Flintoff 11-4-14-3, Udal 9.2-3-14-4.
— PTI |
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Decision to field first backfired: Dravid
Mumbai, March 22 “But it did not happen and once they made 272 for three on the first day we knew we were on the backfoot,” he said after the home team crashed to a humiliating 212-run defeat to allow England to square the series 1-1. The Indian captain also conceded that his team, especially the top order, did not play well throughout the match. “We did not play well throughout and the top order let us down. Even after our middle and lower order had helped us make 279 in the first innings, I never thought it was a wicket where only 100 runs could be scored in the second. We needed some more contribution from our top order,” he said. Asked about the team’s gameplan for chasing the daunting target of 313, Dravid said the idea was to keep as many wickets intact in the first two sessions before trying for an all-out assault in the final session. “Our bowlers did exceptionally well yesterday. We planned to lose as few wickets as we could in the first two sessions and then have a crack at the target in the last session.” Talking about the nearly dozen chances muffed by his team, Dravid said, “we had men fielding in unfamiliar positions after the regulars have gone from the scene. We did not have specialists. We did not hold on to the catches. If they had been taken, then the situation would have been definitely better. We need to perform better in catching.” He also gave a call to the selectors to pick players not merely on the basis of their run making abilities but also their fielding prowess. “We need to pick players not merely by looking at their batting and bowling abilities but also by their fielding.” The home team’s close-in catching in the Test, especially at bat-pad positions, as well as the wicketkeeping of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, came under sharp review after at least a dozen chances went abegging in the match. Dravid was not too critical at the way some of the batsmen threw away their wickets today, saying it happened under pressure. “I thought they chose the wrong option. But this happens under pressure,” he explained. Dravid also defended his decision to go into the match with five bowlers and said there was a strong need to do so when India go overseas where their record is none-too-impressive. “Other teams go in with five bowlers. We have to use this option if we have to win abroad. But for this we need our top order to perform better and some of our lower order players to develop into all rounders,” he said. Dravid did not think that India had lost to a second-string England team which was without five key players. “They were always a competitive side. We were beaten by a better team,” he said. He also singled out rival skipper Andrew Flintoff, the man of the match as well as the series, for praise. “He was terrific. He was the best bowler on view in the series. To bat, bowl and also lead the team was not easy. That’s why he’s the greatest all rounder in world cricket at the moment,” Dravid gushed. The Indian skipper admitted that his team needed to perform better in Tests after having lost the series in Pakistan and allowing England to square the series. “We competed well against Pakistan. But we need to get better in Tests,” he said.
— PTI |
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Pakistan beat Lanka, clinch series
Colombo, March 22 Pakistan’s comfortable win assured them, and also England, a place in the top-six of the ICC’s official rankings at the declared cut-off date of April 1. Sri Lanka will now have to play in a qualification tournament with West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe prior to the eight-team ODI tournament which is to be staged in India in October. The hosts were unable to defend a modest 225-run target after another below-par performance from their batsmen and lost with 4.4 overs to spare. All rounder Shoaib Malik blasted a quick 46 from 38 balls as an opener and was supported by fellow opener Imran Farhat, who scored a more sedate 46 from 52 balls. Mohammad Yousuf’s fine form continued as he contributed a solid 53, carrying Pakistan to the verge of victory before being dismissed. Leg spinning all rounder Shahid Afridi had starred with the ball earlier in the day, claiming 3-37 from 10 overs as Sri Lanka lost their way after a solid start, collapsing from a promising 93-1 to 156-6.
— Reuters |
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Punjabi varsity sports function tomorrow Patiala, March 22 Prominent among the teams which will be honoured are Punjabi University men’s football team which created history by winning the all-India inter-university football title for the first time in Srinagar (Garhwal) last month. Others which will be felicitated are the university’s cycling (men and women), boxing (men), kho- kho (women), canoeing (men), judo (men and women) and netball (men and women) teams which won the all-India inter-university titles this year. Among the coaches who will be given cash awards by the Vice-Chancellor, Mr S.S. Boparai, are senior football coach Dalbir Singh, who led Punjabi University to victory in the All-India Football Tournament, Mr Mittarpal Singh (cycling) and Mr Jaswant Singh (boxing). Former Olympian and Padma Shri Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, who is also the sports adviser to the university, will also be present during the ceremony.
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PSEB annex soccer title
New Delhi, March 22 |
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