Thursday, November 5, 1998
today's calendar
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S P O R T | Thursday, November 5, 1998 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Paramjit rewrites Milkha's
1960 mark Anand
plays draw, lead narrows |
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Anis spurs Pak to first
victory |
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India keen to wipe out bitter
memories
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Paramjit rewrites Milkha's 1960 mark CALCUTTA, Nov 4 (PTI) — The lanky Paramjit Singh erased "Flying Sikh" Milkha Singh’s 38-year-old record in the 400 metre run as three national and four meet records fell by the wayside on the second day of the 38th Open National Athletic Championship at the Salt Lake Stadium here today. The 26-year-old Paramjit Singh of police fulfilled a long-cherished dream as he broke the national record in the strenuous 400m run with an impressive timing of 45.70 sec, eclipsing Milkha Singh’s ancient record of 45.73 established in Rome in 1960. Upcoming thrower Bahadur Singh of Police and Sunita Rani of Railways also grabbed the headlines by setting new national records in men’s shot put and women’s 5000m run events respectively on a day which saw the strong Railway contingent ruling the roost again. Bahadur Singh threw the shot put to a distance of 19.59m to create a new national record, eclipsing Shakti Singh’s previous record of 19.38 established in Mumbai earlier this year. Long distance runner Sunita Rani, who had claimed the gold in the recent all-India Railways meet here, improved upon her performance to shatter her own national record in the 5000m run with a timing of 16:09.68 sec. Her previous best was 16:21.59 set in Sicily last year. But the day belonged to Paramjit and his coach Harbans Singh who succeeded in erasing Milkha Singh’s record which remained in his name for as long as 38 years. "I am absolutely thrilled. I knew I could do it but I didn’t know that it will happen today. I was feeling very good and just went all out", the soft-spoken Paramjit told reporters after the sensational race. For the first time in Indian Athletic history, four runners — Paramjit, Jata Shankar (46.40 sec), Ramachandran (46.63 sec) and Lijo David Thottan (46.82 sec) completed the race under 47.00 sec. "I think the general standard of the race was very good. That really helped me to give my best. But I think I can still improve upon my timing’’, Paramjit said. Paramjit’s coach Harbans Singh, who has been training him since January 1995, could hardly control his emotions as he hugged his ward after the race. "It is the happiest day in my life. This was the only 400 m record which was not under his name. I knew he would break Milkha Singh’s record some day’’, the coach said. Lekha Thomas, who bagged the gold in the women’s long jump event with a new national record, equalled the national record of 13.26 m in the triple jump event. She, however, improved upon her own meet record of 12.77 m established last year. Ace middle distance runner and local favourite Jyotirmoyee Sikdar of Railways picked up her second gold medal in the meet when she took the honour in the women’s 400 m race with a timing of 52.69 sec while compatriot Rosa Kutty had to be content with the silver clocking 52.86 sec. Bobby Aloysius of Tamil Nadu set a new meet record in the women’s high jump event with an effort of 1.81 m, eclipsing Angela Lincy’s previous record of 1.77 m established in 1983. The men’s long jump event also saw a new meet record with Sanjay Kumar Rai of Railways leaping to a distance of 7.87 m, erasing Shyam Kumar’s previous record of 7.80 m recorded in 1990. Gulab Chand of Railways made amends for his defeat against teammate Bahadur Prasad in the 1500m event yesterday by bagging the coveted gold medal in a thrilling 5000 m race with a timing of 14:20.33 sec. The ace middle distance runner Bahadur made a spirited late burst to overtake his rival at the home stretch but fell behind by just a metre in a close finish. Bahadur had to be content with the silver clocking 14:20.41 sec. Debi Bose of Railways
claimed the gold in the women’s 100 m hurdles with a
timing of 13.97 sec while compatriot P.T Yesudas took the
honour in the men’s 110 m hurdles clocking 14.44
sec. Record intact, claims Milkha
Singh NEW DELHI, Nov 4 — "I am very happy and proud of that boy", the `Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh said while maintaining that his 38-year-old 400 metres record created in Rome Olympics still stands and has not been broken. The lanky Paramjit Singh of Police ran a historic 400 metres race at the 38th Open National Athletic Championship at the Salt Lake Stadium timing 45.7 seconds today. Talking to The Tribune here, the legendary athlete said "my record still stands unbroken. I had timed 45.6 sec and Paramjit Singh ran the distance timing 45.7 seconds." "Moreover, we used to run on a mud track and the present generation of runners are using the synthetic track. The difference in the kind of track also has its effect on the timing a runner sets," he added. Milkha Singh said "there is still controversy about the time set by Paramjit Singh. The timing of my race was recorded by the hand-timed clock which was later converted to electronic timing (which is the standard of measurement today)." The legendary track runner said: "I am giving Rs 1 lakh as promised earlier to whoever breaks my record. Another Rs 1 lakh would be given to him if he breaks my record in the forthcoming Asian Games at Bangkok." Milkha Singh, who had set a national record with his timing at the 1960 Rome Olympics, had missed the bronze medal in the game by one-tenth of a second. The ‘Flying Sikh’ said "the boy should compete in the European circuits to emerge as a better athlete and bring name and fame for the country." "I will ask the Amateur Athletic Federation of India to encourage Paramjit Singh to compete more in the European circuit and not just confine himself to the Asian level. The real competition in athletics is in Europe. He may also go the P T Usha way and the phobia against European competition would continue if he does not compete in Europe," Milkha Singh said. ITC Limited, during Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as Prime Minister, had also promised Rs 20 lakh to anyone breaking my national mark, the "Flying Sikh" recalled.
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Anand plays draw, lead narrows TILBURG, Nov 4 (PTI) — India’s Viswanathan Anand maintained his superb unbeaten run in the Tilburg International Chess Tournament by playing a draw against Briton Mathew Sadler in the penultimate round yesterday but saw his lead reduced to just half a point. The Indian world number three shared the point with Sadler after a tough battle which kept him just ahead of young Hungarian Peter Leko (6.5), who shocked Michael Adams of England in an interesting clash. Dutch grandmaster Jeroen Piket, Sadler and Vladimir Kramnik of Russia were joint third with 5.5 points. Sadler, employing black pieces, played Sicilian Najdorf and had Anand in trouble. With Anand coming in with a new move early, Sadler was forced to defend very accurately. Not only did he manage that but with his king move and by bringing his rook into play he had the Indian grandmaster thinking. Sadler came with a pawn sacrifice which saw him better off. But he could not press enough for a win and Anand defended well to share the point. In a Ruy Lopez game, Leko scored a fine win over Adams to inch closer to Anand. The Hungarian would end up joint winner if he wins and Anand draws in the last round. Anand must at least draw to ensure a tied top place while the only way Leko can draw and still join Anand is by hoping the Indian loses to Peter Svidler in the last game. Against Adams, Leko forced a new move in the middle game and grabbed a pawn. Adams’ gamble of sacrificing a piece did not work and he lost after 40 moves. Piket drew with veteran Viktor Korchnoi after 27 moves from queen’s gambit declined while Vesselin Topalov was unable to get a win despite being better off against Loek van Wely. Vadim Zviaginsev, so far unbeaten, had his record spoilt by Kramnik, who with this win is now in top five after being 10th at one stage. Kramnik won a queen’s gambit game in 41 moves. In the final round Anand has black against Peter Svidler while Leko, who has had a fine run with black so far scalping Kramnik, Topalov and Kramnik, also plays with black against Dutchman Van Wely. Sadler will meet Kramnik. Results: Viswanathan Anand (7) drew with Mathew Sadler (5.5); Peter Leko (6.5) beat M. Adams (5); J. Piket (5.5) drew with V. Korchnoi (3); V. Kramnik (5.5) beat V. Zviaginsev (5); V. Topalov (4) drew with L. van Wely (4.5), J. Lautier (4) beat P. Svidler (4.5).
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India keen to wipe out bitter memories SHARJAH, Nov 4 (UNI) — India seem to be determined to wipe out memories of recent losses as they prepare for the three-nation Coca Cola Trophy Cricket Tournament beginning here Friday. Apart from the semi-final defeat to the West Indies in the Wills International Cup at Dhaka last week, the Indians have also not quite forgotten the losses in the last one-day match and a one-off Test in their recent series against Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe will be here, along with the Sri Lankas, for this tournament. The Indians, led by Mohammed Azharuddin, who played his 300th one-day international at Dhaka, have had no chance to rest. They arrived in Dubai yesterday, straight from Dhaka, three full days ahead of the tournament, and were at the ground within hours for a strenuous practice session in the twilight and then under floodlights. Coach Anshuman Gaekwad first focussed on fielding practice before the players batted and bowled at the nets. They will have another session at the nets this evening. Both Gaekwad and Azharuddin felt that India had the batting potential to win crucial matches. But at Dhaka, with four top batsmen failing and only Saurabh Ganguly and Robin Singh putting up a fight, they fell short by about 70 runs in their effort to pose a challenging target for the West Indies. However, though the team appeared subdued on arrival, their mood was soon upbeat with all the players looking forward to doing well. After the tournament here, they have a tough trip to New Zealand, followed by a home series against Pakistan. It has been a difficult season for the Indians. They started off by sending two different teams in September to the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur and to the five-match series against Pakistan in Toronto. With two "half-strength" teams, nobody was really surprised when they bowed out of the Commonwealth Games in the preliminary stage and also suffered a disastrous 1-4 loss in the series against Pakistan. Since then, the Indian teams has been living out of suitcases, having also been to Harare and Dhaka before arriving here. Apart from the series against New Zealand and Pakistan, they also have to prepare for the next World Cup in England. But no one is complaining. The team misses upcoming off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who is now in England to rectify his bowling action under the tutelage of former England off-spinner Fred Titmus. There are many who feel that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), despite the fact that their own man, Jagmohan Dalmiya, is chief of the International Cricket Conference (ICC), is not strong enough to back Harbhajan, just as had happened in the case of Rajesh Chauhan. Some players and officials, who do not want to be quoted, have made it known that they appreciate the sheer guts of the Sri Lankan board, who have repeatedly defied the ICC by playing Muthiah Muralitharan and Kumara Dharmasena, both of whom are also under the needle of suspicion from the ICC for their bowling action. Unfortunately for the Lankans, Muralitharan may not play here as he is nursing an injured shoulder. The islanders, who play India in the opening match on Friday, are expected to arrive in Dubai later today. The Zimbabweans, who will meet Sri Lanka on Saturday, are expected here only tomorrow morning. The three teams will play each other twice in the preliminary league before the top two sides clash in the November 13 final. The expectation here, especially among the thousands of cricket-crazy expatriates, is of an India-Sri Lanka final. But Zimbabwe, with a string of fine performances in recent months, cannot be ruled out. India last won a tournament here earlier this year defeating Australia in the final. The stadium is a beehive of activity as officials and staff of the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS), the organisers, prepare for the event. The two pitches on the ground and the lush green outfield are being looked after well. The tournament can be seen live on television in the three participating countries as well as many other parts of the world through Doordarshan and Fox Sports.
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Overdose of one-day cricket for
Indian team CHANDIGARH, Nov 4 — Like last year India are scheduled to play the maximum number of one-day international cricket ties this year. Already, the national squad has turned out in 35 one-day internationals, in which it has won 20, lost 13 while two matches did not yield any result. Besides these official one-day matches, India also took part in the Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur where the matches were not counted as one-day internationals So far this year a total of 95 one-day matches have been played around the world. While India have played in 35 matches, New Zealand have played a total of 23 matches , followed by South Africa and Australia with 22 matches each. Of the 95 matches played this year India conducted a total of 14 matches, as did Bangladesh since the Mini World Cup was played in that country recently. South Africa and Sri Lanka conducted 10 matches each. Nine matches were conducted in Australia as in New Zealand, seven one-day international matches were played in England, while Sharjah, Toronto and the West Indies hosted five matches each. Besides the 35 one-day internationals India have played this year, the national team is scheduled to play a minimum of four one-day ties in the Sharjah tournament (in which besides India, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe are taking part) beginning on November 6 (an additional match will have to be played by India in case the team reaches the final in the tournament) and three one-day ties during the tour of the team to New Zealand which will follow the Sharjah tournament. In contrast India have played only four Test matches this calendar year (three against Australia in India and one Test against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe), the lowest for all Test playing countries. South Africa lead this list with a total of 12 Test matches played so far. England, too, have played a similar number of Test matches. With three more Test matches scheduled to be played during the tour of New Zealand (that is if the weather does not intervene), India will end the year with a total of seven Test matches. England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have played eight Tests each, Zimbabwe have played seven, the West Indies six while New Zealand have played five Test matches so far this year. When the International Cricket Council convened a meeting of the captains of all Test playing countries it was recommended that in a calendar year each team should be asked to play a maximum of ten Test matches and 30 one-day internationals. The Indian team has already crossed the recommendation made at the London meeting regarding the one-day matches. Last year 115 one-day international cricket matches were played in which the Indian team took part in 39 matches (again a record). In 1996 it was the turn of the Pakistan team to play the maximum number of one-day internationals (39 matches). That year "only" 127 one-day international matches were played as it was the year of the World Cup, organised jointly by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Where is all this cricket leading to? The Indian players are now living from one series and are going into tournaments without adequate rest. For example, the team after losing to the West Indies in the semifinal of the Mini World Cup on October 31, flew to New Delhi for a day’s lay over and then flew to Sharjah for the Coca Cola Cup beginning on November 6. It is time that the powers
that control the Board of Control for Cricket in India
woke up to realise that too much of cricket will kill the
"golden goose". Admitting that it is one-day
cricket which rakes in the moolah, it will not be out of
place to say that given adequate rest the players will be
able to perform much better than they have been doing in
the recent past. With the World Cup barely months away
the board must draw up a more sensible programme so that
the players are mentally and physically fit for the
sterner test in the middle of 1999. |
Ceat awards given to Aussie squad, Jayasuriya MUMBAI, Nov 4 (PTI) — Sri Lankan swashbuckler Sanath Jayasuriya and the Australian cricket team, represented by its one-day skipper Steve Waugh, received the Ceat International Cricket Awards at a glittering function here yesterday. Jayasuriya bagged the individual cricketer of the year award, worth Rs 5 lakh and a statuette, for his outstanding performance last season which helped him amass over 2,000 runs and claim 50 wickets in the two versions of the game. Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga had accompanied his teammate, the mauler from the small village of Matara, near Colombo, at the awards function which was graced by several past Indian Test cricketers. Jayasuriya, asked to comment on his monumental knock of 340 in the Test series against India at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo last year, said he was not looking to break any record but was only eager to help his team avert the follow-on after India had scored upwards of 500 runs. Waugh, who was accompanied by team coach Geoff Marsh, received Rs 5 lakh and a silver trophy on behalf of his highly successful squad and praised team effort for the Aussies’ brilliant run of success. Award adjudicators and former skippers Sunil Gavaskar (India) and Ian Chappel (Australia) congratulated the award winners.
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Mankad eliminates Udomchoke KANNUR, Nov 4 (PTI) — Third seed Danai Udomchoke (Thailand), fifth seed Marian Leysek (Slovakia) and sixth seed Sandeep Kirtane of India bit the dust on a day when Indian youngsters displayed their immense talent in the pre-quarters of the ITF Satellite Masters International Tennis Tournament here today. Former national junior champion Harsh Mankad, displaying superb strokeplay eliminated Thailand Davis Cupper Udomchoke 6-4 6-3 while in another match Vijay Kannan continued his fine form to sent Sandeep Kirtane packing at 6-3 7-5. The third upset of the day was brought about by Hungary Boroczky Zoltan who stopped Marian Leysek’s progress. Leysek conceded the match after being down 1-4 in the second set. Boroczky easily won the first set 6-2. Earlier, second seed India’s Prahlad Srinath had to sweat it out against compatriot Saurav Panja, who conceded the match after an attack of cramps in the third set, being 2-4 down. Both players had clinched a set-each. Srinath won 6-2 4-6 4-2 (conceded). Top seed Federico Rovai of Sweden, winner of the last two satellite circuits at Hyderabad and Bangalore, did not face much resistance from Vinod Sridhar of India, defeating him 6-4 6-2 in under 82 minutes. Fourth seed Johan Hede of Sweden rallied brilliantly to defeat Niko Karagiannis of Greece 3-6 6-2 6-4 and eighth seed Gerhar Fahlke of Germany edged out a fighting Sanzaruz Zaman of India 6-4 4-6 7-5. In the Rovai-Sridhar encounter, the strong Swede captalised the vulnerability of his opponent at the net and midcourt effectively. He broke Sridhar in the seventh game. However, Sridhar broke back in the next, but could not keep up the tempo and was broken in the ninth game by Rovai with a double-handed down the line winner. Rovai dominated the second set and broke Sridhar in the very first game and again in the seventh to clinch the set and the match easily.
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Dhanraj retained skipper NEW DELHI, Nov 4 (PTI) — Mercurial forward Dhanraj Pillay has been retained as captain of the 16-member Indian men’s hockey team for the 13th Asian Games to be held in Bangkok from December 6 to 20. India, silver medallists at the last games in Hiroshima where they lost to South Korea in the final, will have no international outing ahead of the hockey competition which will be held at the Queen Sirikit’s 60th anniversary stadium from December 7. December 15 will be a rest day and the final will be played on December 19 as per the hockey programme. Indian Hockey Federation President KPS Gill said the team will undergo the final conditioning camp at the Sai South Centre in Bangalore. The camp will begin on November 7 and will continue till the team leaves for the Thai capital. Lack of coordination in IHF was apparent as Gill expressed surprise over secretary K Jothikumaran releasing the list in Bangkok, where an Indian team is participating in a four-nation pre-Asian Games tournament. Gill said the team list has been forwarded to the Indian Olympic Association for the apex body to fax it to the games organising committee in time to meet the November 6 deadline. Olympian Ashish Ballal, in the wilderness for the last two years, halfback Sandeep Somesh and forward Sameer Dad have been included in the team picked by the selection committee on November 3. Forward Gagan Ajit Singh, goalkeeper Jude Menezes and Cheops D’Costa, who played in the September Commonwealth Games where India finished fourth, do not find a place. The team: Goalkeepers: Ashish Ballal, A B Subbaiah (both IA). Defenders: Dilip Tirkey, Lazarus Barla (both IA), Anil Aldrin (AI). Halfbacks: Baljit Singh Saini (P&SB), Sandeep Somesh (Mum), Ramandeep Singh (Punj) and Thirumalvalavan (TN). Forwards: Mukesh Kumar (IA), Dhanraj Pillay (Mum), Sabu Varkey (Mum), Mohd Riaz (IA), Baljit Singh Dhillon (Punj), Sameer Dad (IA) and L Prabhakaran (TN). Chief Coach: M K Kaushik. Assistant coach: M R Negi. Manager: M S Mallick (Haryana). Coaching advisor: Merwyn Fernandis.
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Anis spurs Pak to first victory LAHORE, Nov 4 (Reuters) — Mohammad Anis scored two goals and set up another to thrust hosts Pakistan to their first victory at the six-nation Champions Trophy hockey tournament today. Pakistan produced their best performance to beat world and Olympic champions the Netherlands 5-3 in the only match on the fifth day. The Dutch, suffering their first defeat of the tournament, looked a shadow of the side who routed South Korea 5-0 yesterday. Pakistan, who last won the Champions Trophy in 1994 at this venue, took the lead in the 21st minute when Atif Bashir score from a centre by Anis from the left. Three minutes later the home side were 2-0 ahead when the two players combined again, Anis supplying the finishing touch this time. The Dutch, who still lead the table with nine points, cut the margin in the 25th minute through Marten Eikelboom after a swift counter-attack. Pakistan added the third goal in the 38th minute when Mohammad Sarwar picked up a rebound off goalkeeper Ronald Janssen’s pads after the initial attempt by Naveed Iqbal was blocked. The Netherlands again cut back the lead with their second goal in the 42nd minute when Bram Lomans found the net with a powerful push from his side’s fifth short corner. Continuing to attack, Pakistan forced their second short corner in the 53rd minute which was pushed home by Sohail Abbas for 4-2 lead. The fifth goal came in the 61st minute through Anis, before Lomans got his second — and his side’s third — three minutes later. "I am happy that the team has finally clicked," Pakistan manager Khanwaja Zakauddin said. "We switched the players around and this paid off." Dutch coach Roelant Oltsman said his side missed too many opportunities. "The Pakistanis were very effective in finishing and our defence could not contain them."
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Lara, Hooper pull out of SA tour ST JOHN'S (Antigua) Nov 4 (AP) — West Indies captain Brian Lara and vice-captain Carl Hooper have pulled out of the West Indies tour of South Africa in a dispute over fees, West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said yesterday. "They have voiced concern over the fees for the tour of South Africa," a statement from the board said. It quoted board president Pat Rousseau as saying that fees for the tour had been agreed to with the West Indian Players Association. Rousseau said: "The players' action was therefore particularly surprising and went against the instructions issued in writing by the manager, Clive Lloyd. Lara, world record holder for highest score in a Test innings, is no stranger to controversy. The Trinidadian has been fined or warned by the WICB for breaching its discipline code four times in three years before he was named captain in January.
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Jyoti, Shiv Prakash dazzle NEW DELHI, Nov 4 — Jyoti Randhawa, 8-under 64 and Shiv Prakash, 7-under 65, served an advance notice to all pros, Indian and foreign, that they were in dazzling form for the Hero Honda Masters teeing-off tomorrow at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) course. While all pros were appreciative of the course, which has been made more challenging than last year, cricketer-turned-amateur-golfer Kapil Dev gave an ample evidence for his continued and systematic progress in the Pro-Am today. Two other renowned cricket players, Syed Kirmani and Madan Lal, had their round along with other professionals, who have set their eyes for the lion’s share in the $ 200,000 prize money. Kapil Dev, who has brought his handicap down to three since he began playing golf only two years ago, is considered on of the most outstanding strikers of the ball. Ernie Els, an established golfing star, is among many who feel that Kapil Dev is a potential player when he saw him play in the Alfred Dunhill Cup at St Andrews. Others who praised his swing and style were cricketer Ian Botham and Ivan Lendl. "I was very flattered when Ernie Els’ coach Robin Baker came up to me to say that I had a lot of golf in me", said Kapil Dev, adding: "My swing was videoed and some pointers were provided to me". "How to play out of the deep bunker and how to play into the wind" were some of the advises given by the renowned coach. Kapil Dev is among many who will endeavour to make the cut in this prestigious tournament. He is clubbed with Gaurav Ghei and Carlos Espinosa(Mexico), one of the aspirants for the title. The trio to watch with intense interest will be Mike Cunning (USA), Jeev Milkha Singh and Shiv Prakash. All three are aspirants. So will be Uttam Singh Mundy, who came from behind to win the title, Honda-Siel at the Army Course last week. Five -time national amateur champion, Vikramjit Singh, who has turned pros at the age of 50 plus, has been placed in the group with Stephen Lindskog and Indrajit Bhalotia. How Vikramjit Singh performs will be of great interest to all Indians.
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Shruti scores dream win over Rushmi NEW DELHI, Nov 4 (UNI) — Unseeded old local favourite Shruti Dhawan’s giant killing spree continued as she scalped fancied second seed Rushmi Chakravarthi to set up a title clash with Sai Jayalakshmi in the Rs 2 lakh ITF Women’s Circuit Masters Tennis Tournament here today. Shruti, who had earlier ousted second seed Anuchan Montika (Thailand) and Shalini Thakur, chalked out a dream 6-7 (9-11), 6-4, 6-3 win over Rushmi Chakravarthi in a gruelling 135 minute semifinal. Winner of the two of the three legs of ITF tour, top seed Sai Jayalakshmi shut out Russian Anna Nefedova 6-0, 3-6, 7-5 in 108 minutes to make it to the finals. Shruti, however, could have made it much easier for herself if she had capitalised on the 4-1 lead she had in the opening set. However, she committed errors and lost on the tie breaker in which also she led 5-3. The local player looked in tearing hurry to wrap up the match and in the process created problem for herself. Like in first set, she had a 5-0 lead in the last set but managed to win it at 6-3. Shruti and Rushmi both looked tentative and traded serves several times in the first set. The local girl though produced powerful strokes but muffed several easy returns. Rushmi, who so far had very easy passage, was in all sorts of trouble. Her serve was not good and her returns were slow. In the second set, Shruti played much better and broke Rushmi four times in the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th games while Rushmi tried hard to keep up the fight breaking the local challenger in the 4th and sixth games. The second seed, five year elder to her rival, looked visibly tired as Shruti produced some super shots and returns to win the set and draw parity. It was easy for the local girl in the 3rd set with Rushmi virtually throwing in the towel. Shruti chalked up 5-0 lead in the decider as she broke her rival in the 1st, 3rd and fifth games. As she looked all set to wrap up the set, she failed to hold on to her 6th game and then again lost her eighth game. However she broke Rushmi in the ninth to clinch the issue.
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Surjit hockey from tomorrow JALANDHAR, Nov 4 — The 15th Surjit Hockey Tournament will be held from November 6 to 14 at Burlton Park here. Briefing the media here today, the vice president of the Surjit Hockey Memorial, Mr Bhupinder Singh Makkar, said that so far 10 teams have confirmed their participation. Teams from Pakistan and Russia are also participating in the tournament. Holders Punjab Police, Jalandhar have been grouped in pool A along with Russia XI, Air India (Mumbai) Border Security Force (Jalandhar) and PSEB (Patiala). The pool B consists of last years runners-up Punjab and Sind Bank, Delhi, Allied Bank of Pakistan, Indian Air Lines, Rail Coach Factory and Army XI. The matches will be played on league-cum-knockout basis. Two best teams qualifying from each group will sail into the semifinals. The Indian Oil Corporation has sponsored the tournament with Coca Cola as co-sponsors. This tournament is organised in the memory of Surjit Singh Randhawa, Inspector, Punjab Police. Olympian and ex-skipper Indian hockey team, who died in a car accident in 1984. His mother Mrs Joginder Kaur will get a life-long pension for Rs 2500 per month by the Surjit Hockey Society, said Mr Makkar. Two finalists will share Rs 1 lakh as prize money. Four best players will get one refrigerator each.
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Bhide upsets Mohanty MUMBAI, Nov 4 (PTI) — Unseeded Alok Bhide of Maharashtra pulled off a major surprise when he packed off eighth seed C S Mohanty of Delhi in three sets to enter the under 16 boys singles quarter-finals in the AITA All India Junior Ranking Tennis Tournament at the Bandra Gymkhana here today. Bhide recovered magnificently after a 0-6 rout in the first set to win the last two sets 6-4, 6-3. Top seed Prantap Chaturvedi, also from Delhi, looked in a bit of a bother against unseeded Chandigarh opponent Amanjyot Singh before cruising through to the last eight with a 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 verdict. Amanjyot, seeded number one in the under 14 age group, expectedly got past V Vignesh of AP 6-4, 6-3 after trailing his rival 0-4 in the first set to enter the quarter-finals. Also through to the last eight in the under 14 boys’ event were third seed Nishant Misra (Delhi), who subdued Maharashtra’s Jai Mehta 6-1, 6-1, eighth seed Arif Hyder (AP), a 6-2, 6-2 victor over Rohit Raju of Delhi, and fourth seed Rohan Gajjar (Maharashtra) who got past unseeded Dhruv Kumar of Bengal 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 in a long-drawn-out battle. In the under 16 girls’ singles second round, fourth seed Jitisha Shelarka ousted Maharashtra state rival Lata Asudani 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-2, third seed Lisa Pereira (Maharashtra) got past AP’s Sania Mirza 6-3, 6-0 and seventh seed Isha Lakhani (Maharashtra) prevailed over AP’s Nishela Reddy 6-2, 7-5.
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Pakistan defeat Holland 5-3 LAHORE, Nov 4 (AFP) — Today’s results from the Champions Trophy men’s field hockey tournament here. Pakistan 5 (Atif Bashir 21, Muhammad Anis 24, 61, Muhammad Sarwar 38, Sohail Abbas 53) beat Holland 3 (Marten Eikelboom 25, Bram Lomans 41, 64) HT: Pakistan 2 Holland 1.
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Innings victory for Punjab PATIALA, Nov 4 — Fine knocks by Harman Harry (100 not out) and Munish Sharma (89) coupled with a fine bowling performance by Rajeev Jolly (4 for 16) enabled Punjab carve out a convincing innings and 110-run win over Himachal Pradesh in the North Zone Cooch Behar Cricket Tournament here today. Resuming at their overnight 97 for 5, Himachal surrendered meekly and were all out for 137 at lunch of their third day. Scores: Himachal Pradesh (1st innings): 147 all out. Punjab (1st innings): 394 for 7 (Harman Harry 100 not out. Munish Sharma 89, Ankur Sondhi 73, Sanjay Dhul 36, Sanjay Kumar 38, Amit 2 for 71). Himachal Pradesh (2nd innings): 137 all out (Amit Mahjan 37, Pankaj Kapoor 20, Rajeev Jolly 4 for 16, Gulzarinder Chahal 2 for 39, Sarandeep 2 for 4).
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Inter-varsity soccer PATIALA, Nov 4 (FOSR) — Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, downed Allahabad University by 5-3 while GNDU, Amritsar, beat Delhi University 2-0 to reach the next round in the North Zone Inter-University Football Championships played at the campus grounds here today. The other results: AMU, Aligarh beat Jamia Milia Islamia, Delhi 3-2. H P University, Shimla beat Bundelkhand University, Jhansi 4-3. Jammu University beat Avadh University, Faizabad, 7-1. Bareilly University beat HAU, Hisar 3-0. Meerut Univserity got walk over against CSJM, Kanpur, PAU Ludhiana beat PTU, Jalandhar 1-0. Dr Ambedkar University Agra beat G B Pant University, Nainital 2-0. Jamia Milia Islamia University Delhi beat Lucknow University 4-2. Easy victory for MCM-36 CHANDIGARH, Nov 4 (BOSR) — MCM College for Women, Sec 36, scored an 81-run win over Govt College for Girls, Sec 11, to earn third place in the Panjab University Inter College Cricket tournament for women being played here at PU grounds today. Brief scores: (MCM-36; 215 all out in 48 overs; (Naini 54, Kamini 25, Seema 24, Shalini 22, Nimmi 5 for 45, Shalu 2 for 38 and Asha 2 for 40 GCG-11; 134 all out in 38.1 overs (Shalu 36, Monika 20, Sapna 5 for 27 Seema 3 for 31. PU campus win CHANDIGARH, Nov 4 (BOSR) — Panjab University Campus and GGD SD College surged ahead in the Panjab University Inter College Zonal Basketball (Men) Tournament being played here at PU Grounds today. PU Campus edged out Punjab Engg College, Chandigarh, by 75-40. GGD SD College, Chandigarh, downed Govt College Sec 46, Chandigarh by 47-20, while DAV College Hoshiarpur beat DAV College, Chandigarh by 73-51. The inter-zonal league matches of the basketball (Men) will be played tomorrow at 8 am. St Stephen's score 8-wkt win CHANDIGARH, Nov 4 (BOSR) — St. Stephen's School, Sec 45. and St John's High School, Sec 26, moved into the final of the under 12 event in the Edmund Rice Cricket Tournament at St John's School here today. St Stephen's-45 defeated Yadvindra Public School, SAS Nagar by eight wickets and St John got a walk over from Panchkula Coaching Centre. Brief scores; YPS; 94 all out in 23.2 overs (Atif Zia 15 no, Karanbir 13, Aman Gupta 12, Aman Behl 3 for 16.) St Stephen-44; 95 for 2 in 22.2 overs (Sukrit 54, Harnidhan 13). The finals (under 12) will take place on November 13. The semi final of the under 14 and under 16 events will be conducted on Nov 7 and 8, respectively. Deadly bowling by Dinesh PATIALA, Nov 4 (FOSR) — Young leg spinner Dinesh Sharma (6 for 16) spun a deadly web around the Mansa batsmen to enable the hosts thrash Mansa by 217 runs in the inter district ML Markan Cricket tournament (Under-16) match played here today. Scores: Bathinda beat Faridkot BATHINDA, Nov 4 (TNS) — Fine centuries by Ranjit Bhola and Robin Jetha helped Bathinda defeat Faridkot by 298 in the M.L. Markan (Under 16) Cricket tournament here today. Bathinda will play Amritsar in quarterfinal on November 7 at Amritsar. Brief scores: Bathinda: 421 all out Ranjit Bhola 101, Robin Jetha 165 Varun 4 for 86). Faridkot: 123 all out. Varun 54 and Jatinder 33
Jupinder Jimmy 6 for 31). |
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