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England face Kevin’s Ire
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Glad Pak not in fixing talk, says Waqar
Short ones
Amandeep first to enter semifinal
Mandeep Kaur emerges fastest runner
Patiala emerges as boxing cradle
Faridkot girls reign supreme in wrestling
Low fare dished out by weightlifters
Abhinav Bindra bags Gold
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England face Kevin’s Ire
Bangalore, March 2 Ireland, who earned the tag of giant-killers after ousting Pakistan from the previous edition chased a stiff target 328 in 49.1 overs courtesy an unbelievable 113 off 63 balls (13x4, 6x6) from O'Brien. No praise will be enough as Ireland were down in the dumps tottering at 111 for five when O'Brien and Alex Cusack came together. He added 162 runs for the sixth wicket Cusack (47) and then 44 with John Mooney (33 not out, 30 balls, 4x6). By the time O'Brien was run-out, Ireland were within sniffing distance of their best-ever win. The moment Mooney hit Anderson for a boundary of the first ball of the 50th over, it sparked wild celebrations in the Irish dressing rooms as the 'Men in Green' rushed out to congratulate the two unbeaten batsmen Mooney and Trent Johnston (7 not out). O'Brien reached his century in 50 balls and hit 13 boundaries and six sixes in the process. He eclipesed Mathew Hayden's previous record of hundred in 66 balls against South Africa at St Kitts during the previous edition. — PTI
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BCCI slams icc on referrals
New Delhi, March 2 “BCCI has consistently opposed usage of Umpires Decision Review System (UDRS),” BCCI Secretary N. Srinivasan said in a letter to ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat today. “BCCI has not been convinced about the technical adequacy of the system. A presentation made by Hawkeye (the review system providers) to BCCI where Mr. S. Venkataraghavan, former International Umpire and Director of Umpires, BCCI, was present was not convincing and the supplier of the technology themselves felt ‘a leap of faith’ was necessary in order to accept the system,” the letter said. “The inadequacy of the UDRS has been exposed in the CWC 2011. The group stage match between India and England was a case in point which clearly brought out the inadequacy of the system. ICC in consultation with Hawkeye formed playing conditions which specifies when the umpire can rely on Hawkeye and when he cannot. This itself is an admission on the question of reliability of the system including ball tracking technology,” the letter added. Dhoni, clearly unhappy at Bell being ruled not out after a television replay during the match, had said: “The adulteration of technology with human thinking meant we didn’t get that (Bell) wicket. “If Hawkeye says it’s good and going to hit middle stump, I see no reason why the distance matters. (Umpire) Simon (Taufel) once gave me out in the Champions Trophy. If I can be given out, why not any other batsman? It is pretty difficult for me, what I saw was ball hitting the stumps.” Richardson said that Dhoni needed to understand the rules. “There are a set of rules along with the Hawkeye to assist in making the decision… If M.S. Dhoni is made aware of the specifications of these rules, then I am sure that he will accept the decision that was made." The BCCI objected. “…Mr. Richardson's comment that the Indian captain should know the rule is out of place. The Indian captain only highlighted the inadequacy of the system and rightly so. It was there for the world to see. For ICCs representative to criticise a player for his post-match press conference while the World Cup is being played tantamount to pressurising the player. Mr. Richardson has no right to do so. BCCI has strong reservations about the statement made by Mr. Richardson. He should be instructed not to react in this fashion,” the letter added. |
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South Africa look for easy win over Dutch
Such an audacious attitude was missing from the South African set-up in the earlier World Cups. It appears this time around that they want to change a few things about their mediocre record at this mega-event. In the past, the Proteas have never inducted so many tweakers in their playing XI simply for the fact that there never have been so many spinners playing together on the South African horizon anyway. (They have had about two good spinners in the past — Pat Symcox and Nicky Boje. And they never played together). For the match against the Netherlands, South Africa just might rest Pakistan-born leggie Imran Tahir and bring in left-arm pacer Lonwabo Tsotsobe. The conditions in Mohali will be a little different from Delhi (where they played three spinners) and also Tahir has been down with some respiratory tract infection. That infection seems to have cleared but Tahir might need some rest. “There is cloud cover here and we will take a final decision about our XI tomorrow morning. The best thing about this team right now is that we really have a lot of options in terms of selecting out team. Perhaps that was missing with the earlier teams,” was the candid opinion of the South African coach Corrie van Zyl as he spoke to reporters here today. As for the Dutch, they are certainly under no illusions. They are not aiming to win this World Cup, only looking to perform at a certain level. “We have had a good match (against England) and a very bad match (against the West Indies). In that loss, we let ourselves down. We have our own standards and we did not even play to our own expectations. But we have talked about it. We know we can play much better and we will be looking to do that in the match tomorrow,” said the Dutch captain Peter Borren. This one will be a day match so the dew factor, which has been an issue at this venue in the past, will just not come into the equation at all. Both teams might look to bat first and it will be a great chance for the South African top-order to get more runs under their belt as they have two crucial games coming up in the league phase (against India and England). The South African pace bowlers will also find the track here a bit like back home. The conditions have been a trifle overcast here for the last couple of days and this deck has helped seamers in the past. It seems like the most obvious thing to say -- South Africans are the overwhelming favourites for this one. |
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Pakistan eye second round
Following wins against Kenya and Sri Lanka, Pakistan are almost certain of qualifying for the quarter-finals if they win tomorrow's match. Pakistan's last two campaigns had ended in disaster as the 1992 champions made a first round exit in 2003 in South Africa and four years later in the West Indies.
Coming into the mega-event in the backdrop of spot-fixing scandal, Pakistan have managed to maintain a clean slate so far but Canada have struggled in their two games so far. Canada lost their first game to Sri Lanka by a massive 210 runs in Hambantota and then were beaten by Zimbabwe by 175 runs in Nagpur. But Pakistan are in no mood to take the minnows lightly. "Because of the importance of the tournament we are not going to take any team easy," Pakistan coach Waqar Younis said ahead of the game. "We played well against Sri Lanka but tomorrow is another game and we need to carry on the momentum. It's still early days in the tournament and bigger teams will come but we are not thinking far ahead," he added.
— PTI |
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Glad Pak not in fixing talk, says Waqar
Colombo, March 2 "It feels great, but let's not talk about it. I think the games have been pretty fair, the entire tournament has been pretty clean, if you ask me," said Waqar when asked how he felt given Pakistan's name has not cropped up in the recent stories. "The teams who are better have won games and I think it's pretty clean. People talk about these things because nowadays it is on. I'm glad Pakistan is not in it, so good for us," he added. The ongoing World Cup was hit by speculation of spot-fixing after a Lankan TV claimed that Jayawardene and Smaraweera may have deliberately "changed the game" by getting out cheaply in the 11-run loss to Pakistan.
— PTI |
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Price: Bowling to McCullum is a challenge Ahmedabad, March 2 "We respect them a lot as they have some good players who really connect well with the bat. Especially, Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder, who have played some good innings in the recent past," the 34-year-old spinner, who has 84 ODI wickets in his kitty, said. "I think it will be a challenge for me if Brendon McCullum hits the ball a long way. They have some good players and it is going to be difficult for me," he added. — PTI
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Short ones
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Amandeep first to enter semifinal
The spotlight today was held by Commonwealth games bronze medalist Amandeep Singh of Sangrur who downed Sandeep Singh of Mansa to become the first boxer to enter the semi-final stage in the fly weight category. Coaches consider the Amandeep to be one of the best young long range fighters to have emerged in this part of the country in recent years. While the in-fighter tries to close the gap between himself and his opponent, the out-fighter, also know as a long range fighter, seeks to maintain that gap and fight with faster, long range punches. Since they rely on the weaker jabs and straights, as opposed to hooks and uppercuts, boxers like Amandeep tend to win by points decisions rather than by knockout. That is what precisely happened in today’s bout as the Sangrur boxer, using a judicious mix of jabs and straight punches, downed his rival on points. Chief coach of the National squad G.S Sandhu, who saw the bout, revealed that long range fighters are known for being extremely quick on their feet, which often makes up for their relative lack of power. The other bout which was praised by experts for its technical brilliance was the one played in the fly weight category between Baljinder Singh of Patiala and Sunil Kumar of Mohali. Baljinder won the bout on points and reached the last four stage. It is pertinent to mention here that the Patiala pugilist was a member of the Punjab squad which toured Cuba for a training-cum-competition programme in September last year. Results (All quarter final matches): Light fly weight: Dheeraj Kumar (Patiala) beat Pankaj (Mansa), Jitender (Amritsar) beat Sahil (Hoshiarpur), Pankaj (Sangrur) beat Sandeep (Bathinda), Jagdeep (Jalandhar) beat Varinder (Ludhiana). Fly weight: Amandeep Singh (Sangrur) beat Sandeep (Mansa), Baljinder (Patiala) beat Sunil Kumar (Mohali), Kulwinder Singh (Amritsar) beat Jasbir Singh (Jalandhar). |
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Mandeep Kaur emerges fastest runner
Ludhiana, March 2 Mandeep Kaur of Jalandhar emerged the fastest runner, wrapping up gold medal in the 100m sprint. She clocked 12.37 sec to finish ahead of others. Local girl, Navjot Kaur took 12.69 sec to secure silver medal while Dipti Rani of Sangrur with timings of 12.89 sec followed them to content with bronze medal. Another upcoming athlete from sports city, Spinder Kaur proved too good for her immediate rivals. She took 1:02.28 sec to clinch gold medal. Kanwaljeet Kaur of Tarn Taran (1:04.04sec) and Bhupinder Kaur of Jalandhar (1:04.05 sec) secured silver and bronze medal, respectively. Mohali's Manjeet Kaur hurled the iron ball to a distance of 13.14m to fetch a gold medal. Patwant Kaur of Tarn Taran, with a throw of 12.63m finished as runner up while Narinder Kaur of Kapurthala's attempt of 12.20m got her a bronze medal. In triple jump, Kulwinder Kaur of Gurdaspur came out triumphant with a leap of 12.67m, followed by her city mate, Bhumika Thakur who cleared 11.59m for sivlesr medal and Kulwinder Kaur of Sangrur had to content wisth bronze with a jump of 11.34m. In hammer throw, international, Hardeep Kaur of Ludhiana won gold medal in hammer throw (54.95m) while Gurwinder Kaur of Amritsar secured silver medal with a throw of 50.56m and Harinder kaur of Kapurthala with a throw of 47.53m had to content with bronze medal. In the men's section, Ludhiana's Maninder Singh won laurels for his camp winning gold in 100m race to come out as the fastest sprinter. He clocked 10.91sec while silver medallist, Amandeep Singh of Sangrur and bronze medal winner, Ajay Tandon took 11.12 sec. Ludhiana lad, Satinder Singh won gold for his team in the 400m race with timing of 52.64 sec. Sandeep Lawrence of Jalandhar clocked 53.42sec and Sanjiv Kumar of Gurdaspur took 54.09sec for silvesr and bronze medal, respectively. Other results: Men- Javelin throw: 1 Lakhwinder Singh of Ferozepur (60.33sec), 2 Jatinder Singh of Tarn Taran (66.18m), 3 Gurmeet Singh of Gurdaspur (65.65m). High jump- 1 Jagdeep Singh of Amritsar (2.06m), 2 Malkit Singh of Gurdaspur (1.95m), 3 Ajaypal Singh of Gurdaspur (1.90m). Tug of war (women's final)- 480kg: 1 Tarn Taran, 2 Amritsar, 3 Jalandhar. Kabaddi (women)- Amritsar bt Bathinda 50-20; Ropar bt Faridkot 46-15; Jalandhar bt Mansa 24-7 and Nawanshahr bt Tarn Taran 26-3. Kabaddi (men)- Tarn Taran bt Gurdaspur 33-27; Hoshiarpur bt Moga 36-32; Ferozepur bt Faridkot 34-31 and Patiala bt Amritsar 38-36. Basketball (men)- Ludhiana bt Gurdaspur 45-25; Barnala bt Ferozepur 59-35; Moga bt Amritsar 72-61 and Kapurthala bt Mansa 82-52. Basketball (women)- Patiala bt Amritsar 50-44; Gurdaspur bt Mohali 55-27 and Jalandhar bt Sangrur 58-23. |
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Patiala emerges as boxing cradle
Patiala, March 2 This fact was admitted by none other than Dronacharya awardee and Chief Coach of the national team G.S Sandhu who is also on the prestigious Coaches Commission of the International Boxing Federation. “Patiala, due to an assortment of reasons, has become a conveyor belt for producing top drawer boxers in the state. Earlier, Sangrur used to produce a litany of good boxers but now that district has fallen on the way side. A few years ago the state team, which used to participate in the junior and senior national championships, had a majority of boxers from Sangrur district,” disclosed Sandhu, who coached Vijender to an historic bronze medal win in the Beijing Olympics. However, all that has changed maintains Sandhu. It is pertinent to mention here that in the senior nationals played at Delhi last year, there were as many as 6 boxers from Patiala in the 10 member Punjab squad. Likewise, Patiala again had the same number of pugilists in the state team that took part in the junior nationals held at Coimbatore last year. Sources reveal that the emergence of this district as the number 1 in Punjab in terms of the sport is basically due to the successful running of the Punjab Sports Department’s coaching centres at the government Multi Purpose Senior Secondary school and the one being run at the Polo grounds. Coach Harpreet Singh, incharge of the Multi Purpose school centre, also took the Punjab team for a training sting at Havana (Cuba). |
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Faridkot girls reign supreme in wrestling
Patiala, March 2 Earlier in the day, Faridkot girl Jaspreet Kaur drubbed Harinder Kaur to emerge winner in the 48 kg category while Bharti Sharma from Taran Tarn and Navdeep Kaur from Amritsar shared second and third position, respectively. Riding high on sheer power, Jaspreet never gave any room to her opponent and gripped the match completely, right from the start. "My hard work has paid and it is because of regular practice sessions that I have been able to win comfortably", added Jaspreet, after her bout. Results 48 Kg: 1. Jaspreet Kaur, 2. Harinder Kaur, 3. Bharti Sharma and Navdeep Kaur. 51Kg: 1. Kamaljeet Kaur (Fard), 2. Preeti (Gurds), 3 Lakhwinder Kaur (Asr), Baljit Kaur (Tarntn). 55 Kg: 1. Rajni Bhalla (Asr), 2. Harinder Kaur (Tarntn), 3. Harpreet Kaur (Jal) and Beant Kaur (Fard). 59 Kg: 1. Rajwinder Kaur, 2. Mandeep Kaur, 3. Kamaljeet Kaur (Moga) and Amanjit Kaur (Frd). 63 Kg: 1. Mandeep Kaur (Frd), 2. Teerpal Kaur (Fzr), Baljinder Kaur (Jal) and Kamaljit Kaur (Tarntn). 67 Kg: 1. Navjot Kaur (Tarntn), 2. Rajwant Kaur (Asr), 3. Daljit Kaur (Frd) and Amandeep Kaur (Moga). 72 Kg: 1. Gursharan Preet Kaur (Tarntn), 2. Jatinder Pal Kaur (Jal), 3. Rajvir Kaur (Fard) and Harwinder Kaur (Fez) Over all Team Position: 1. Faridkot: 19 Points. 2. TarnTaran: 19 Points. 3. Amritsar: 12 Points. |
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Low fare dished out by weightlifters
Patiala, March 2 Observers were left flummoxed at the abysmally low standards of weightlifting being dished out by the performers here. Inderjit Kaur of Sangrur was placed second with a lift of 116 kgs while Parveen Kaur of Ludhiana took the third spot by lifting 107 kgs. Equally unimpressive was the show of the lifters in the 53kg weight category where Kulvir Kaur of Patiala clinched the gold by lifting 157 kgs. Again this turned out to be a flop show as compared to H.Shaiya Devi’s gold medal winning effort of 170 kgs in the Jamshedpur Games. Paramjit Kaur of Gurdaspur lifted 134 kg to come second while Manpreet Kaur of Ludhiana took the third spot with a total lift of 117 kgs- a clear 53 kgs lower than what was lifted by H.Shaiya Devi. The lifters fared no better in the 58 kgs class where Preeti of Mohali garnered the gold by lifting 165 kg. She was followed by Amandeep Kaur of Sangrur and Arshpreet Kaur of Gurdaspur in that order. Meanwhile, the event lost a lot of its sheen with top men and women lifters not taking part in the games owing to a clash of dates with the All India Police Games currently underway at Jammu. |
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Abhinav Bindra bags Gold
Chandigarh, March 2 In the skeet shooting event Amrinder Singh of Hoshiarpur secured first place after scoring 134 points whereas Shorab Singh from Moga got second place with his 129 score in the score tally. Zorawar Singh finished third with 123 points. In the Girls 10 Mts air rifle Harveen bagged the top honors with 381 points ,Lakhbir Kaur secured 368 points for the second place whereas Mallika Goyal bagged thir place with 365 points. In the 25 Mt event Heena Sidhu scored 576 to win the first place , Rubby Tomkar and Sheffali secured second and third place with their 535 and 526 points respectively. |
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Tarn Taran, Mohali winners
The Tarn Taran girls mounted pressure on Bathinda from the start and scored off a penalty-corner in 14thminute through Sandeep Kaur. In the 18th minute, Ramandeep Kaur netted a field goal. Till the lemon break the winners were leading 2-0. While the initial minutes of the second half remained goal less, in the 57th minute, Karandeep Kaur scored a field goal steering the score to 3-0. In the men’s section, Mohali tried to pick the game right from the word go but lost some golden chances. For Mohali, D.P. Singh scored a field goal in the 34thminute. Till half-time the score was 1-0. The second half saw a goal from the stick of Rupinder Pal Singh in the 49th minute. In other matches in the men’s category, Amritsar beat Bathinda 7-0, Patiala defeat Moga 4-0 and Ropar trounced Mansa 6-0. The second women’s match between Jalandhar and Patiala had to be stopped owing to rain, which started this afternoon. The match started at 4.30 p.m. Though initially the girls kept playing in light drizzle, sudden rain brought the match to a halt. |
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Mohali, March 2
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