HANOVER : U.S. tennis player Pete Sampras receives a cake to celebrate his new record at the ATP tennis world championships in Hanover, northern Germany on Thursday. For six consecutive years Sampras will finish the end of the year as world's number one in tennis — AP/PTI

Games rehearsal closed to public
BANGKOK, Nov 27 — Thai police will arrest anyone trying to bring weapons into the Asian Games, organisers have warned.

Courtney Walsh breaks Marshall's record

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 27 (Reuters) — Courtney Walsh became the most prolific wicket taker in West Indies cricket history when he took the wicket of Jacques Kallis on the second day of the first Test against South Africa today.

After equalling Malcolm Marshall’s record of 376 wickets before lunch, when he had opener Adam Bacher caught behind for one, the 36-year-old Walsh had to wait until the third over of his second spell to overtake his fellow fast bowler.

Kallis became his record victim when Stuart Williams took a brilliant diving catch to his right at second slip as the South African attempted to drive off the back foot.

Walsh raised his arms in triumph and was enthusiastically congratulated by his team mates before signalling to the dressing-rooms where Marshall, who is now the West Indies coach, warmly applauded him.

Two overs later Walsh grabbed his third wicket when Daryll Cullinan got a faint edge to a legside delivery to give debutant 'keeper Ridley Jacobs his second catch of the day.

Walsh was applauded by his team mates when they left the field for tea, with South Africa on 138 for three, still 123 runs behind the West Indies first innings total of 261.

Opener Gary Kirsten was batting on 57 and along with captain Hansie Cronje (6).

Earlier, South Africa’s Shaun Pollock took five wickets in an innings for the sixth time of his Test career as the tourists added just 12 runs to their overnight 249 for seven.

Pollock took five for 54 in 23 overs to take his Test wicket tally to 96 while Allan Donald finished with three for 91 in 23 overs.

Zimbabwe’s Streak bags 100th Test wkt

PESHAWAR, Nov 27 (Reuters) — Heath Streak became the first Zimbabwe bowler to take 100 Test wickets as Ijaz Ahmad’s 87 and 74 not out by Yousuf Youhana helped Pakistan reach 272 for six on the first day of the first Test today.

Streak reached the 100 mark in his 25th Test when he had Azhar Mahmood caught behind by Andy Flower for 11.

Ijaz Ahmad scored a belligerent 87 off 128 balls with 13 boundaries and a six while Youhana amassed a sedate, Test-best 74 before fading light stopped play with four overs remaining.

The two batsmen shared a 118-run fourth-wicket stand to lift Pakistan from 92 for three before a mistimed pull brought an end to Ijaz Ahmad’s entertaining innings.

It was Ijaz’s 11th half century in 49 Tests and takes his tally of runs this season to 367, including two centuries and half century, in four innings in three Tests.

Despite Streak’s moment of history, the two batsmen were troubled only by Zimbabwe paceman Mpumelelo Mbangwa who finished the day with three for 40 from 23 tight overs.

Mbangwa accounted for skipper Aamir Sohail (15) from his first ball, trapped Inzamam-ul-Haq (19) in front of the wicket and finally ended Ahmad’s enterprising knock.

Opener Saeed Anwar’s off-stump was sent cart-wheeling by Neil Johnson after Alistair Campbell had won an odd toss on a green and hard track. Anwar’s 36 included five boundaries.

Scoreboard

Pakistan (1st innings):

Anwar b Johnson 36

Sohail c A. Flower b Mbangwa 15

Ahmad c Whittal b Mbangwa 87

Haq lbw b Mbangwa 19

Youhana not out 74

Moin c Mbangwa b Olonga 15

Azhar c A. Flower b Streak 11

Wasim not out 0

Extras (lb-5 nb-10) 15

Total (for six wickets) 272

Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-56, 3-92, 4-210, 5-233, 6-268.

Bowling: Streak 19-1-78-1, Olonga 14-2-43-1, Johnson 18-2-76-1, Mbangwa 23-9-40-3, Whittal 5-0-30-0.

Games rehearsal closed to public

BANGKOK, Nov 27 (AP) — Thai police will arrest anyone trying to bring weapons into the Asian Games, organisers have warned.

Meanwhile, next Tuesday’s dress rehearsal for the opening ceremonies was closed to the public as a security measure since King Bhumibol Adulyadej and foreign dignitaries wish to be present.

The Bangkok Asian Games organising committee announced on Wednesday that uniformed and plainclothes police will be deployed at all sports venues to keep tight surveillance over fans during the two-week Games, which open on December 6. Bricks, sticks, knives and other weapons will not be allowed.

Officials will have stringent inspections at the entrances and those found with such materials will be arrested and legal action taken," the committee said.

The final rehearsal for the ceremonies was to have been open to the public, but organisers said they wanted to keep the pageant a surprise and enhance security.

The ceremonies are proving problematic. Deputy Prime Minister Bhichai Rattakul, chairman of the committee, withdrew 1,000 of the top-line 5,000 baht ($ 140) tickets from sale to give to members of Parliament and their aides.

But providing complimentary tickets to some of the country’s richest people in the midst of an economic crisis provoked a public outcry. Leaders of the parliamentary opposition said they would refuse them.

253-member Indian squad cleared

NEW DELHI, Nov 27 (PTI) — The government today cleared a 253-member Indian contingent, including 188 competitors for next month’s Bangkok Asian Games but the overall strength is expected to be around 320 with nod for Kabaddi a formality and men’s volleyball and football "certain" to go.

Announcing the final shape of the Indian squad for the quadrennial mega event to be held from December 6 to 20 Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi told a press meet that the wrangle over the Kabaddi team selection has been sorted out and the list forwarded to the Sports Ministry for clearance.

India will participate in all 22 of the total 36 medal disciplines for which IOA had forwarded lists, including women’s football. The list cleared by the government also consists of 40 coaches, five doctors and masseurs each and one physiotherapist.

On the issue of volleyball and men’s football, Kalmadi said technically clearance had not come from the government, but added "we have had discussions with the Sports Ministry and it is only a matter of formality for the two to be cleared at no cost to the government. The list for kabaddi, where we are confident of a gold medal, has been sent and there will not be any trouble getting the government clearance".

The ministry was sure to accept their view that volleyball held "medal" chances and that football was included because it would be a compulsory event in the 2001 first Afro-Asian India is scheduled to host, he said.

In athletics, male javelin thrower Satvir Singh, his woman counterpart Gurmeet Kaur and woman shot putter Harbans Kaur apart from Anil Mathew, who was included mainly as "pacemaker" for Bahadur Prasad in the 1,500 metres, have not been cleared by the government.

"We will have trials on December 1 for the three," Amateur Athletic Federation of India secretary Lalit Bhanot said while ruling out any trials in the women’s relay events.

Satvir Singh had already qualified when he set a national mark of 79.68 m in the All-India Police Meet and should be in the squad. "But he missed both open national and inter-state due to injury and hence he has to be tested".

Any question of trials in relay would arise only if Usha was ruled out of the trip, he added.

Meanwhile, the IOA and the boxing association are still trying to push through the case of bantamweight N G Dingko Singh, who has been omitted from the four-member list given.

In judo, names of one male and woman judokas have been slashed to make it a four-member squad while in swimming only the name of one coach — national coach K V Sharma — has been cleared with M R Mohita not getting the nod.

Yachting is the only event where fresh names have been brought in. Optimist class sailors Shaif Shaikh and Amruta Shapekar besides Niloufer Jamal as reserve have been included.

In wrestling, Greco-Roman grappler Kaka Pawar, famous for the drama he caused with Pappu Yadav for the lone berth to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and then lost the trial bout, was neither in the federation or IOA lists, but is cleared.

Following is the list of the Indian squad cleared by the government:

Archery: Satya Dev Prasad, Skalzang Dorji, Mangal Singh, Rajesh Hasdak. Coach: Tublin Valentine.

Athletics: (men): Paramjit Singh, Jata Shankar, P Ramachandran, Lijo David Thottan, Dinesh Rawat, Shakti Singh, Anil Kumar, Ajit Bhaduria, Bahadur Singh, Bahadur Prasad, Gulab Chand.

(Women): P T Usha, Rachita Mistry, Vinita Tripati, Rosa Kutty, Jyotirmoy Sikdar, E B Shyla, V Jayalakshmi, K M Beenamol, Jincy Philips, Neelam J Singh, Swaranjeet Kaur, Sunita Rani.

(Coaches): Bahadur Singh, Hargobind Singh, J S Bhatia, Jaswant Singh, Aleksei Ivanov, Valeri Moshkovsky, Gueorgui Tchernychev. Managers: W I Dawaram, Sunny Joshua.

Badminton: (men): P Gopichand. (Women): Aparna Popat. Coach: Pradeep Gandhe.

Billiards, Snooker, Pool and Carrom: Geet Sethi, Yasin Merchant, Alok Kumar, Devendra Joshi, Ashok Shandilya, Dharminder Lily, Manan Chandra, Shyam Jagtiani, Prem Prakash, Rafat Habib, Arun Kumar Aggarwal, Manoj Kothari, Mukesh Rehani, B Bhaskar. (Coach): Michael Fereira.

Boxing: Jitender Kumar, Gurcharan Singh, Harpal Singh. (Coaches): G S Sandhu, B I Fernandez.

CANOEING and Kayaking: Vinod Pavithran, Subhash Sivankutty, Pijust Kanti Baroi, Karma Toppo, Siji Kumar Sadanandan, Prem Kumar Rai, Vega Ram, Vega Ram, Ashish Kumar. Coaches: Vladimir Obrotsov, F E Andrew. Manager: G P S Bindra.

Equestrian: Kapil Modi, Imtiaz Anees, Amal J Singh, Rajesh Pattu, Palvinder Singh. Vet: Anand Sain. Grooms: Maha Singh, Madhvachander Roy. Coach: Carlo Cadoma. Manager Y S Ahlawat.

Golf (men): Amit Luthra, Harmeet Kahlon, Amit Dubey, Digvijay Singh. Manager: Lakshman Singh.

Women: Parnita Garewal, Urvashi Sethi, Nonita Lal Qureshi. Coach: Ajay Gupta.

Hockey: Men: Ashish Ballal, A B Subbaiah, Dilip Tirkey, Lazarus Barla, Anil Aldrin, Baljit Singh Saini, Sandeep Somesh, Ramandeep Singh, S Thirumalvalavan, Mukesh Kumar, Sabu Varkey, Dhanraj Pillay, Mohd Riaz, Baljit Singh Dhillon, L Prabhakaran, Sameer Dad.

Chief Coach: M K Kaushik. Coach: M R Negi. Manager. M S Malik.

(Woman): Pritam Thakran (capt) K T Chanu, Sandeep Kaur, M Tirkey, Sunita Dalal, Sita Gosain, Surajlata Devi, Nidhi Khullar, Manjinder Kaur, Kamla Dalal, Jyoti Kulu, Helen Mary, Amandeep Kaur, Lakshmi Shree, Neha Singh, Surinder Kaur. (Coaches) Gurdial Singh Bangu, Narender Singh. Manager Rupa Saini.

JUDO: Arvind Kumar, Yashpal Solanki, Kamlarawat, Anuradha (Coaches) N Valiev, Sangeeta Mehta.

Rowing: Johnson Xavier, Tarlochan Singh, J S Lohat, Birpal Singh, Rajender Singh, Rampal Singh, Kasam Khan, Binu Kurian, Manoj Kumar. (Coaches) R Drmitri, Dalbir Singh, manager R S Bhanwala.

Shooting: Jaspal Rana, Ashok Pandit, Vivek Singh, Satender Kumar, Ved Prakash, Mansher Singh, Manavjeet Singh, Anwar Sultan, Harinder Singh, Inderjit Rao Singh, Murad Ali Khan, Gaurav Soudhi, Capt Rathore, Rupa Unikrishnan, Kuheli Ganguly, Suma Dikshit, Anjali Vedpathak, Anuja Tere. (Coaches) Tibor Gozggi, M Dradi, Sunny Thomas, (Armour) Dhiran Bhatia, manager D R Nanda.

Squash: Nekhala Subedar, Sohni Kumari.

Swimming: Nisha Millet, Shikha Tandon, Richa Mishra, Abhinaya Shetty, Meghna Narayan, Sandeep Kakkar, Sabstian Xavier, (Coach) Kanti Vardhan Sharma.

Table tennis: Chetan Baboor.

Tennis: (Men): Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Prahlad Srinath, Syed Fazaluddin, Vijay Kumar, Nitin Kirtane.

(Women): Nirupama Vaidyanathan, Uzma Khan, Sai Jayalakshmi. Coach: Jaideep Mukherjea. Manager: K Prem Kumar.

Weightlifting: (men): Arun K Pandiyan, Satheesh Rai. (Women): Kunja Rani Devi, Sanamacha Chanu, Protima Kumari, Malleswari Kumari, Ujwala Mane. Coaches: Ajay Kumar Sirohi, Pal Singh Sandhu, Trendafil Stoychev.

Wrestling: Gurbinder Singh, Kripa Shankar Patel, Sujeet Man, Mukesh Kumar, Kaka Pawar, Jagdish Singh. Coaches: Erkha Bayar, Piara Ram Sodhi, Randhir Singh Pangal.

Yachting: Ashim Mongia, Pushpender Kumar Garg, Gautama Dutta, Naresh Kumar Yadav, R Mahesh, Saif Shaikh, Amruta Chapekar, Niloufer Jamal (Reserve). Coaches: Carl Schmidt, Farokh Tarapore. Manager: Sandeep Kapoor.

Blatter reaffirms support to African bid

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 27 (Reuters) — FIFA President Sepp Blatter reaffirmed his support for an Africa bid to host the 2006 World Cup finals when he met South African President Nelson Mandela yesterday.

"It is logical that the World Cup goes to Africa in 2006 and if they can prove they can organise it, then I will back it 100 per cent,’’ he said after honouring Mr Mandela with the FIFA Order of Merit.

Mr Blatter, who also met the South African World Cup bid committee, added: "Every other continent has had an opportunity and we now have to work to get it to Africa."

"I will repeat what I told the British Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street. We have to, by all means, ensure an African bid wins.’’

Mr Mandela, who awarded Mr Blatter South Africa’s highest civilian order in return, said the hosting of a World Cup in South Africa will contribute immensely to the "building of our democracy’’.

"We are relying on your support," he told Mr Blatter in a brief ceremony on the steps of his home in Johannesburg.

Mr Mandela was awarded the FIFA Order of Merit at its Congress in Paris in June but was unable to accept it.

Nicol meets Mehmood in first round

MUMBAI, Nov 25 (PTI) — World number one and top seed Peter Nicol of Scotland has drawn Kumail Mehmood of Pakistan as his first round opponent in the $ 175,000 (Rs 74 lakh) Mahindra World Open Squash Championship to be held at Doha in Qatar from November 29-December 5.

Second seed Jonathan Power of Canada is to clash with another Pakistani Manzoor Zaman in the first round, according to draw released here last night by event promoters Procam.

Holder Rodney Eyles, the third seeded Australian, faces his first Test in the 64-player main draw from a qualifier.

The 25-year-old London-based Nicol is the favourite to become the first man to add the world title to the British Open and Commonwealth Games crowns, which already adorn him, in the same year.

The tournament boasting the richest-ever prize money in the sport was shifted from India to the Arabian Gulf because of security concerns to the players following the stand taken by the Shiv Sena not to allow any Pakistani sportsman to play in the country.

The pull-out through injury of Pakistani great and eight-time winner Jansher Khan, who held the number one ranking for an amazing 10 years from 1988 before losing it to Nicol in February, has robbed the event of some sheen.

The draw (prefixes denote seedings):

First quarter: 1-Peter Nicol (Scot) v Kumail Mahmood (Pak); Amir Wagih (Egy) v Shamsul Islam Khan (Pak); 9-Mark Chaloner (Eng) v Billy Haddrell (Aus); Paul Price (Aus) v Julian Wellings (Eng); 6-Paul Johnson (Eng) v qualifier; Craig Rowland (Aus) v qualifier; 13-Del Harris (Eng) v Mir Zaman Gul (Pak); Stewart Boswell (Aus) v qualifier.

Second quarter: 3-Rodney Eyles (Aus) v qualifier; Stefan Casteleyn (Bel) v Kashif Shuja (Pak); 10-Chris Walker (Eng) v Karim el Mistikawi (Egy); David Evans (Wal) v Janne Kyattanen (Fin); 8-Simon Parke (Eng) v John Williams (Aus); Omar Elborolossy (Egy) v qualifier; 11-Dan Jenson (Aus) v Zubair Jahan Khan (Pak); John White (Scot) v qualifier.

Third quarter: Marcus Berrett (Eng) v Stephen Meads (Eng); Nathan Dugan (Aus) v 14-Byron Davis (Aus); Zarak Jahan Khan (Pak) v Thierry Lincou (Fra); Juha Raumolin (Fin) v 7-Anthony Hill (Aus); qualifier v Julien Bonetat (Fra); Glenn Whittaker (SA) v 12-Mark Cairns (Eng); Nicholas Taylor (Eng) v Amr Shabana (Egy); Abdul Faheem Khan (H Kong) v 4-Alex Gough (Wal).

Fourth quarter: Mohamed Medhat Morsi (Egy) v Tony Hands (Eng); David Palmer (Aus) v 16-Derek Ryan (Irl); qualifier v Martin Heath (Scot); Joseph Kneipp (Aus) v 5-Ahmed Barada (Egy); Daniel Forslund (Swe) v Amjad Khan (Pak); Ahmed Faizy (Egy) v 15-Graham Ryding; Muhammad Hussain (Pak) v Tim Garner (Eng); Mansoor Zaman (Pak) v 2-Jonathan Power (Can).

Bhupathi leads India to Asia Cup win

NEW DELHI, Nov 27 (PTI) — Mahesh Bhupathi today led from the front as India successfully defended their Asian tennis title beating Uzbekistan 2-1 in a thrilling final at the DTA centre court here today.

The duo of Bhupathi and Syed Fazaluddin thrashed the Uzbek pair of Oleg Ogorodov and Vadim Kutsenko 6-3 7-6 (7/4) to clinch the title in the $ 84,000 ATF Asia Cup Championship.

Earlier, Bhupathi enacted a rescue act for the third time in this eight-team event and put India back into contention with a fine win in the second singles after Fazaluddin was beaten by Kutsenko in the first.

Bhupathi, the second-highest ranked Indian on the ATP computer after Leander Paes, fired aces at crucial points in his 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 triumph over Oleg Ogorodov, the tournament’s highest-ranked player.

Shouldering all the responsibility in the absence of Paes, Bhupathi came up with yet another tenacious performance to register India’s superiority in the Asian team championships.

After dropping his serve in the seventh game, a charged up Bhupathi drew level, breaking Ogorodov in the tenth as the set went into a tie-breaker.

Bhupathi earned three breaks in the tie-breaker while the Uzbek could manage just one and the Indian sealed the first set 7-6 (7/4) to the thrill of the home crowd rooting for him.

The Indian received a scare in the second when Ogorodov raced to a 3-0 lead breaking Bhupathi in the second game.

But Bhupathi did not buckle under the pressure and smashed powerful groundstrokes to upset the Uzbek.

After winning breaks in the fifth and seventh games, Bhupathi took a commanding 5-3 lead and clinched the issue for India with a thumping age down the middle on matchpoint.

Earlier, India lost the first singles when Fazaluddin, on his first singles outing in the tournament, went down 3-6 3-6 to Kutsenko.

India, who convincingly beat Uzbekistan in last year’s semifinal encounter thanks to Leander Paes, struggled against their improved rivals this year.

Fazaluddin gave a glimmer of hope when he came in to serve and hit two consecutive aces but Kutsenko, the better for his experience on the satellite circuit in the Indian subcontinent this season, prevailed in the end.

The Uzbek number two smashed powerful groundstrokes and with help from Fazaluddin’s unforced errors, broke the Indian in the opening game itself.

Top order failure worries Windies 'A'

BANGALORE, Nov 27 (PTI) — The West Indies ‘A’ team is worried over the form of its top order batsmen on the eve of the first cricket "Test" against India ‘A’ here, even as Indian team coach K-Srikkanth exuded confidence, saying his boys had a good chance of winning the match.

The visitors suffered a setback prior to the four-day encounter when star leg spinner Rawl Lewis was called up for national duty for the current South African tour.

But the top order, which has not come up to expectations thus far, is worrying the Carribeans more than the absence of Lewis, who will be replaced by another left-arm leg spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo, arriving here tomorrow.

Asked if the side missed Lewis, who was in good form against Board President’s XI and Indian Youth side, West Indies manager Joel Garner said: "Yes and No".

The former paceman said the present tour of the West Indies "A" was a "learning experience".

"In the last three years, we have exposed players who are on the fringe of selection. We also brought along some who have not been included in the national side to give them the necessary confidence and get them back to form", Garner told reporters after the net practice in the stadium today.

Srikkanth said the team had a good chance of winning the "test". "The wicket looks slightly green and hard. In the first two days, it will help medium pacers. The slight dampness in the wicket would help the spinners from the third day," he added.

Stating that his team was a balanced side, the former India opener said it had good batting depth.

Teams:

India "A" (from): Hrishikesh Kanitkar (capt), S Ramesh, Devang Gandhi, Rohan Gavaskar, Amol Muzumdar, Wasim Jaffer, Amay Khurasia, M S K Prasad (wk), Rahul Sanghvi, Robin Singh (jr), Nikhil Chopra, Ubaid Kamal, Dodda Ganesh, Sanjay Raul.

West Indies "A" (from): Ian Bishop (capt), Adrian Griffith, Sherwin Campbel, Keith Sempele, Wavel Hinds, Richard Smith, Christopher Gayle, Courtney Browne (wk), Carl Tuckett, Pedro Collins, N McGarrel, Reon King, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Sarwan and Philip.

Umpires: A V Jayaprakash and K Parthasaradhi.

Injuries cast shadow on medal hopefuls

NEW DELHI, Nov 27 (PTI) — With the debate on India’s ability to rope in medals at the 13th Asian Games at Bangkok next month already on, injury worries have cast their own share of doubts on the preparations.

Three key participants, two of them certain to figure in India’s medal calculations, are still recovering from various stages of injuries which have given rise to doubts whether they would be at their best in the December 6-20 games.

Tennis spearhead Leander Paes, the top ranked Asian, will be the key factor in the Indian quest for at least four gold medals - team, singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

But the 25-year-old is still in New York tending to a painful bone spur in his left heel, optimistic it will heal before tennis competitions begin on December 8.

Paes had led India to team and doubles gold medals in the 1994 Hiroshima Games before clinching the Olympic singles bronze at Atlanta in 1996.

Veteran PT Usha is recovering from hamstring trouble she suffered during the 200 metres race in the inter-state in Calcutta 10 days ago which sent her sprawling on the track.

Coaches and Usha — seeking her fifth straight appearance in the continental mega event — are happy it was only a cramp, but it has hampered her training and left athletic circles praying she is fit to fight it out for individual honours in 200 m and 400 m and guide the two relay squads.

Aparna Popat, the 20-year-old who won silver in singles and guided India to women’s team bronze at the Commonwealth Games, is nursing a right heel bone spur which would affect her hopes of emerging a giant-killer in badminton.

  Rachna Govil equals national mark
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 — On the third day of 23rd Northern India Shooting Championship Rachna Govil, Deputy Director, SAI, Delhi, equalled the national record of 381/400 set by Shilpi Singh in air pistol senior women (NR) category. Reena Rana, wife of Jaspal Rana, stands second with the score of 347/400 and Seema Tomar with 345/400 is placed third.

In the air pistol (NR) Junior women category Seema Tomar is leading with 345/400. In .22 rifle (NR) prone position Pardeep Singh and Mahinder Singh, both of ITBP were tied with identical scores of 254/300. Baljit Singh of Punjab scored 249/300, followed by Sumittar Chand and Kulwant Singh, both Punjab at 248/300 in civilian category.

In the junior section (boys) Rajsher Singh Chhina of Punjab is leading with 245/300, while Pavittar Singh of Chandigarh who scored 237/300 is second.

The following shooters are leading in their respective events:

.22 Prone Sr women:

Narinder Pal Kaur (Punjab) 228/300 (1), Priti Sharma (Chd) 225/300 (2), Rajinder Kaur (Punjab) 211/300 (3).

.22 Prone jr women:

Nirmal Kaur (Punjab) 230/300 (1), Priti Sharma (Chd) 225/300 (2), Tejinder Kaur (Punjab) 206/300.

.22 std rifle 3-position Sr Men open:

Santosh Singh (Punjab) 251/300, Mohinder Singh (ITBP) 251/300 (tied).

.22 Rifle 3-position civilian:

Santokh Singh (Punjab) 251/300 (1), Pavittar Singh (Chd) 213/300 (2).

.22 std Rifle 3-position Sr Men:

Pavittar Singh Bajwa (Chd) 213/300.

Air Rifle (ISU) Sr Men open:

Abhinav Bindra (Punjab) 571/600 (1), Akhlesh Rai (BSF) 565/600 (2), Tek Bahadur (BSF) 555/600 (3).

Centre Fire Pistol (ISU) Sr Men open:

Naresh Kumar (BSF) 283/300 (1), Poonam Kumar (BSF) 279/300 (2), Mohinder Singh (BSF) 277/300 (3).

Std Pistol (ISU) Sr Men:

Hari Parkash (BSF) 266/300 (1), Padam Singh (ITBP) 262/300 (lc 44), Parminder Singh (BSF) 262/300 (lc 43) (tied).

Poonam Saini, Rohit skate to victory

CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 (BOSR) — Poonam Saini and Rohit Goel secured first position in the under-6 age group of boys and girls, respectively, in the rink race — event on the opening day of the 12th Haryana Roller Skating Championship here at the Sector 10 Skating rink today in the (6-9) girls’ event of rink race I, Askshi Bhargava secured the first position while in the boys under 6-9 age group, Salil Tripathi got the first position.

Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated by Mr Charan Das Shorewala, Finance Minister, Haryana, who also announced a grant of rupees 21,000 from his discretionary fund to the organiser of the — Haryana Roller Skating Association. Over 300 participants from 14 districts are taking part. Mr Sushil Kumar, president of the association disclosed that their association was honouring international acclaimed skaters and their coaches at this meet.

Results: Rink race 1 — Age group: Below six- Girls: Poonam Saini 1, Krishma 2, Pallavi 3. Boys: Rohit Goel 1, Akshay Kapoor 2, Jagdeep 3. 6-9 years: Girls: Aaskshi Bhargava 1, Shefali Gulati 2, Krisma Ahuja 3. Boys: Salil Tripathi 1, Jatin Goel 2, Vaibhav Sharma 3.

DAV-8, KSA enter V'ball finals

CHANDIGARH, Nov 27 (FOSR) — The local DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, reached the boys final of the CBSE North-East Zone Volleyball tournament being played here at PML SD Public School, Sector 32, today. They will meet GGPS, Bokaro, in the final slated for tomorrow. In the girls' section, Kirpal Sagar Academy, Nawanshahr will take on Bal Bhawan Public School, New Delhi, in the final.

Shah Satnam Singh School, Sirsa, will vie for the third place against Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Bokaro, in the boys' event while for the third place in the girls' section, MVN Public School, Faridabad, will play against Gyan Bharti Public School, New Delhi.

DAV boys stormed into the final by thrashing SSS School, Sirsa, 2-0 (15-5, 15-13), while GGPS, Bokaro, trounced Chinmaya Public School, also Bokaro, 2-0 (15-5, 15-8), in the boys' section.

In the girls' semifinals Bal Bhawan Public School, New Delhi, got the better of Gyan Bharti Public School, New Delhi, 2-0 (15-6, 15-8), whereas Kirpal Sagar Academy, Nawanshahr, were locked in a grim battle against MVN School, Faridabad, before beating them at 2-1 (15-7, 16-17, 15-12).

The final will be played tomorrow at 9 a.m. Mr Y.P. Katyal, Joint Director, CBSE, will be the chief guest.

Lakhbir shines in PSEB win

PATIALA, Nov 27 (FOSR)— A splendid allround performance by Ranjit Trophy allrounder Lakhbir Singh enabled PSEB to clinch the 'Khalsa - 300 year' Cricket Cup which concluded at the campus grounds here today. This tournament was organised by the Begumpura Sports Club.

In the final the powermen walloped State Bank of Patiala (SBOP) by 95 runs. The chief architect of the PSEB win was allrounder Lakhbir Singh who scored a quickfire unbeaten 54 and then went on to take four vital wickets to put the skids on the bankmen's strong batting line-up.

Scores: PSEB 226 for 6 (Lakhbir Singh 54 not out, S. Tinku 37, Saida Khan 34, Sandeep Kohli 34, Chander Sekhar 20 not out, R. Sirhindi 3 for 22).

SBOP- 131 all out (Rajeev Sharma 36, Sanjay Mahajan 27, Tejinder Singh 25, Lakhbir Singh 4 for 28, S. Tinku 2 for 32, Sandeep Kohli 2 for 22).

Lakhbir Singh and Sukhvinder Tinku of PSEB were declared the best allrounder and best batsman of the tournament, respectively, while Rajeev Sirhindi of SBOP was declared the best bowler.

Bathinda boys shock Patiala

PATIALA, Nov 27 (FOSR) — Bathinda shocked Patiala by 22 runs to move into the next round of Sushil Bali Memorial Cricket Tournament (under-14) played at the Dhruv Pandove Stadium here today.

Brief scores: Bathinda 153 all out (Manjeet Singh 82, Ketan 17. Imanbir 14, Anirudh 3 for 23, Ankur Jund 3 for 14, Bhupinder 2 for 29).

Patiala: 131 all out (Harikrishan Mandora 48, Shiv Karan 22, Gurmeet 17, Chetan 3 for 30, Imanbir 2 for 12. Neeraj 2 for 24).

Kali bowls Punjab to victory

PATIALA, Nov 27 (FOSR) — Skipper Harikrishan Kali (4 for 33) and Bikramjeet Singh (3 for 17) bowled Punjab to an outright win over Himachal Pradesh in the North Zone Vijay Merchant (under-16) league match which concluded at the Dhruv Pandov Stadium here yesterday. With this victory Punjab now have 16 points from two matches.

Punjab now face Haryana at Rohtak in their next league match to be played from November 28 to 30.

Brief scores:

Himachal Pradesh (1st innings): 161 all out Punjab (1st innings): 371 for 8 decl Himachal Pradesh (2nd innings): 130 all out (Amit 71, Munish 20. H. Kali 4 for 33, Bikramjit 3 for 17, Rajeev Jolly 3 for 36).

Crushing defeat for Dera Bassi college

PATIALA, Nov 27 (FOSR) — Fine centuries by Hatinder Sekhon (134 not out) and Amit Sharma (109) helped Government Mohindra College inflict a massive 262-runs defeat on Government College, Dera Bassi, in the Punjabi University Inter-College Cricket Tournament played here today. Chasing 286 to win, the Dera Bassi team was all out for just 22 runs.

Brief scores: Govt. Mohindra College 285 for 2 (Sekhon 134 n.o. Amit Sharma 109) Govt College 22 all out (Satinder 5 for 7. Kulwinder Sodhi 5 for 10).

Basketball trials

KANGRA (FOC): Trials to select the Kangra district basketball team (men and women) would be held at the sports stadium here on December 1. The selected team would participate in the HP Basketball Championship to be held at Una from December 13 to 15, Mr Manoj Sharma, secretary, Kangra Basketball Association has said.