Martina Hingis returns a ball during her match against Anna Kournikova at the Porsche Grand Prix tennis tournament on Wednesday. AP/PTI

Hingis overcomes Kournikova
FILDERSTADT (GERMANY), Oct 8 — A mad dash to collect her contact lenses left Martina Hingis all at sea in the early part of her match against Anna Kournikova in the Filderstadt Grand Prix yesterday.

• Dungarpur, Bajpai for ACC meeting
• Gopi Chand storms into third round
• B’desh scores win in ACC trophy

Rahul Dravid hits century

HARARE, Oct 8 (PTI) — Standing tall amidst ruins, Rahul Dravid struck an unbeaten century to steer India to 248 for six, a lead of 27 runs, by stumps on the second day of the one-off Test against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club ground here today.

Dravid and Saurav Ganguly resurrected the innings from 127 for five at one stage after their illustrious seniors Sachin Tendulkar (34) and skipper Mohammed Azharuddin (1) disappointed, while replying to the hosts first innings total of 221.

Dravid batted today for all but seven of the 90 overs for his 104 runs. He played a solid innings, showing remarkable patience and calm despite the regular fall of wickets at the other end.

The 25-year-old Karnataka batsman’s second Test hundred came in 251 minutes off 262 balls with 13 fours in his 23rd Test.

Ganguly, the next best scorer, was the only batsman to lend him admirable support with an enterprising 47 (7x4, 1x6, 80 balls).

The two put on 88 runs for the sixth wicket before Ganguly was given out leg before to Henry Olonga by umpire Ian Robinson — a dubious decision as the ball seemed to leave the leg stump.

Olonga was the most successful bowler for Zimbabwe taking four for 50.
At close, debutant Robin Singh (9) was giving Dravid company.

Zimbabwe (first innings): 221.
India (first innings):
Mongia lbw b Olonga 1
Sidhu c Flower b Olonga 6
Kumble b Streak 29
Dravid batting 104
Tendulkar c Campbell b Johnson 34
Azharuddin c Johnson b Olonga 1
Ganguly lbw b Olonga 47
Robin Singh batting 9
Extras (lb-3, nb-10, w-4) 17
Total (for six wkts in 95 overs) 248
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-22, 3-49, 4-124, 5-127, 6-212.
Bowling: Heath Streak 23-6-51-1, Henry Olonga 20-6-50-4, Neil Johnson 18-5-64-1, Adam Huckle 15-2-39-0, M. Mbangwa 14-4-28-0, Craig Evans 3-0-8-0, Murray Goodwin 2-0-5-0.

Tendulkar, Donald head rankings

MUMBAI, Oct 8 (PTI) — India’s Sachin Tendulkar and Allan Donald of South Africa continued to lead the Amul world cricket rankings till September-end by amassing 2,306 runs and claiming 117 wickets, respectively in Tests and one-day internationals from October 1 last year.

In second place in the batting rankings was Indian left hander Saurav Ganguly (1,958 runs) who was closely followed by South African opener Gary Kirsten ( 1, 945 runs) in third spot.

Zimbabwe’s Grant Flower has slipped down the ladder as he could not take part in the three-match one-day international series against India because of an injury.

In bowling, South African paceman Lance Klusener and Pakistan ace Wasim Akram, with 55 and 53 victims, respectively, have broken into the top 10 for the first time.

India were fourth in the team ratings with a success rate of 54.35 per cent behind leaders South Africa (68.60 per cent), Australia (57.35) and Sri Lanka (57.14), a press note release, yesterday stated.

Batsmen (top 10): 1. Sachin Tendulkar (Ind, 2306 runs), 2. Saurav Ganguly (Ind, 1958), 3. Gary Kirsten (SA, 1945), 4. Hansie Cronje (SA 1856), 5. P Aravindra de Silva (SL, 1719), 6. Mohd Azharuddin (Ind, 1653), 7. Mark Waugh (Aus, 1598), 8. Saeed Anwar (Pak, 1573), 9. Grant Flower (Zim, 1550), 10. Marvan Atapattu (SL, 1541).

Bowlers (top 10): 1. Allan Donald (SA, 117 wkts), 2. Muthaiah Muralitharan (SL, 105), 3. Shaun Pollock (SA, 95), 4. Shane Warne (Aus, 70), 5. Chris Cairns (NZ, 63), 6. Anil Kumble (Ind, 62), 7. Angus Fraser (Eng, 58), 8. Saqlain Mushtaq (Pak, 57), 9. Lance Klusener (SA, 55), 10. Wasim Akram (Pak, 53).

Team: 1. South Africa 68.60 per cent success, 2. Australia 57.35, 3. Sri Lanka 57.14, 4. India 54.35, 5. Pakistan 54.05, 6. West Indies 47.62, 7. England 44.44, 8. New Zealand 41.66, 9. Zimbabwe 31.25.

Fourth Indian to claim 200 wickets

HARARE, Oct 8 (PTI) — Leg spinner Anil Kumble became the fourth Indian and 35th bowler in the world to claim 200 Test wickets when he had M. Mbangwa stumped by Nayan Mongia in the one-off Test here yesterday.This was his 47th Test.

The 200-plus club has nine Australians, eight west Indians, seven Englishmen, four each from India and Pakistan and one each of New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

Out of these 35, only 11, including Kumble, are spinners.

Azhar pulls out of Challenger tourney

MUMBAI, Oct 8 (PTI) — Mohammed Azharuddin is to skip the N.K.P. Salve (Challenger) Trophy day-night cricket tournament commencing at Ahmedabad on October 15, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced here today.

"Azhar has been replaced by Uttar Pradesh opener Jyoti Yadav in the 12 and Nayan Mongia will lead the Indian team," BCCI executive secretary Sharad Diwadkar said.

Mr Diwadkar could not provide any more details on why Azhar had declared himself unavailable for the tournament.

India ‘A’ and India ‘B’ are the other two teams featuring in the four-day tournament which is to serve as the selection trial to choose the national team for the October 24-November 1 nine-nation Wills International Cup Tournament at Dhaka.

The three teams will meet each other once in the round-robin phase before the top two teams square off in the final on October 18.

India ‘A’ are to be led by Ajay Jadeja and Saurav Ganguly has been named as the skipper of India ‘B’.

Two other key members of the national team, Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble, have been rested for the league phase of the tournament by the selectors and will assist the India team if it makes it to the final.

Hingis overcomes Kournikova

FILDERSTADT (GERMANY), Oct 8 (Reuters) — A mad dash to collect her contact lenses left Martina Hingis all at sea in the early part of her match against Anna Kournikova in the Filderstadt Grand Prix yesterday.

Hingis, late arriving at the arena, had to sprint down a corridor to retrieve the lenses and then won only one game in the opening set.

But the world number one eventually regained her composure to win the second round clash 1-6 6-2 6-2 and avenge a defeat by Kournikova when they last met at the German Open in May.

The match was virtually handed to her by the unpredictable Russian.

Kournikova’s weight of shot and speed of foot were notably superior for most of the match but her service fell apart in the final two sets.

After winning four successive service games she lost the next eight, conceding nine double faults in four games in the second set and one in each of the four in the third set.

Hingis, who had laughed at her pre-match problems, was still full of smiles afterwards.

Hingis admitted she had been thinking about the possibility of losing her number one ranking this week. "It’s hard to ignore it," she said. "I have to look at it positively but it’s not a easy draw here."

Hingis’s most likely quarter-final opponent is Venus Williams, last week’s Grand Slam Cup winner in Munich.

The possibility of a semifinal meeting with Patty Schnyder her conqueror last week, was removed by the eighth seed’s 6-4 6-1 defeat by the home favourite Anke Huber.

Hingis’s nearest rival, U.S. Open champion Lindsay Davenport, comfortably won a battle of the big-hitters — 6-1 6-3 over Mary Pierce.

Pierce was bothered by a blister on her left big toe and never played at her best.

Davenport said she was not attempting to work out the various permutations by which she might end Hingis’s 18-month reign as world number one this week, but was concentrating instead on trying to win the tournament.

"That’s what Marcelo Rios did at the Lipton in March. He won the tournament and became number one at the same time. That’s what I’d like to do," said the second seed.

Indian eves crash to 0-3 defeat

ELISTA (Russia), Oct 8 (UNI) — India crashed to humiliating 0-3 defeat here yesterday at the hands of 18th seed Estonia in the women's chess Olympiad in the eighth round at the Chess Palace here.

In the men's Olympiad, India struggled for their 2.5-1.5 win over IBCA (the Blind Chess Association) in the eighth round.

In the men's section, Abhijit Kunte and K. Sashikiran won their games quickly against S. Wassin and D. Bischoff, respectively, after V. Saravanan lost tamely on the fourth board.

Sashikiran got huge advantage in the beginning itself with the torre attack as Wassin played passively and wasted some moves. He won a piece after the 34th turn and crashed through the D file.

Abhijit Kunte, playing with black pieces, got tremendous advantage in the nimzo-Indian defence. The Indian then sacrificed a piece to get a mating combination after 46 moves.

D. Barua got the advantage in the Sicilian defence against Dukaczewesky on the top board but in the end he had to struggle to get away. Barua fought for nearly 80 moves before he won a piece for two pawns.

V. Saravanan missed drawing chances in the silicon defence ending against M. Manez and lost in 40 moves. The ending was a bishop and two pawns against four pawns. Manez's piece became deadly and abolished all the pawns. Indian men totalled 16.5 points now.

S. Vijayalakshmi and Pallavi Shah had good positions against M. Tsiganova and T. Laesson, respectively, on the first and second boards. Viji won a pawn and then lost an exchange in the bishop's opening after the 32nd move.

Pallavi had also material in the caro-kann defence T. Laesson but in time trouble she played erratically to lose an exchange. Swathi Chuto landed in time trouble losing a piece in the queens Indian defence against L. Piarnapuu. Indian women have 12.5 points.

In the men's section the USA drew with Bulgaria 2.2.

USA led the table with 22 points followed by Bulgaria on 21.5 points. England scored a crucial 2.5-1.5 win over third seed Ukraine while France scored an identical win over China.

In the women's section, China routed Poland 2.5-0.5 on the top board.

Ismail rallies to down Mankad

NEW DELHI, Oct 8 (PTI) — Defending champion Asif Ismail of Maharashtra rallied from one-set and match-point down to beat compatriot Harsh Mankad and set up a semifinal clash with Nitin Kirtane in the DSCL National Tennis Championships today.

Ismail, joint-winner with Gaurav Natekar last year, overcame over-confident Mankad 2-6 7-5 6-1 and moved into the last-four stage at the DLTA deco-turfs here.

Playing his final tournament as a pro before taking up coaching, the sixth seeded Ismail found his rhythm in time and broke Mankad while facing match-point and then rolled past the young opponent in the third set.

"He was serving for the match. He let me in. I don’t know why he played recklessly when on top. I got into my rhythm and started slicing the ball naturally," Ismail said. He improved his career record to 3-0 against Mankad.
The highest seed left in the draw, Kirtane (Mah) had no problem beating seventh seed Vinod Shridhar (TN) 6-2 6-1.

The number two seed now meets Ismail, whom he defeated in their previous encounters at the grasscourt nationals in Duliajan (Assam) last year when the final set stretched to 22 games before Kirtane won 12-10.

The other semifinal will see two Delhiites, Vijay Kannan and Vishal Uppal, clashing.

National champion Uzma Khan was in great form winning both her quarter-final clashes — women’s and girls' under-18 matches.

Uzma (AP) defeated Delhi’s Shalini Thakur 6-2 6-0 to move into the semifinal of women’s singles as did the other seeds Aarti Ponnappa (Kar) and Sai Jai Lakshmi (TN). However, number five seed Rushmi Chakravarty (TN) became a casualty when Shruti Dhawan (Del) rallied to beat her 3-6 6-3-6-3.

Uzma meets third seed Ponnappa, a 6-3 6-3 winner against Janki Krishnamurthy (Mah) while Dhavan will play number two seed Jai Lakshmi, who beat Gautam Sheetal (Kar) 6-2 6-1.

In girls' under-18, Uzma defeated Puja Deshmukh (MP) 6-1 6-0 to set up a semifinal date with Maharashtra’s Sonia Shellar, who got the better of fourth seed Radhika Mandke (Mah) 7-6 (7/4) 6-2.

In the bottom half of the draw, third seed Shruti Dhawan (Del) trounced Karishma Patel (Guj) 6-0 6-2 and plays Sonal Phadke of Maharashtra who upset second seed Sheetal 2-6 6-2 6-3. Dhawan and Phadke play the second semis.

Delhi’s Parantap Chaturvedi entered the last four stage beating Mithun Murli 7-5 3-6 6-3 and meets fourth seed Akshay Vishal Rao (Chg) for place in the final of boy’s under-18.

Third seed Ravi Kiran Bhatt (Kar) defeated Kedar Shah (Mah) 7-5 7-5 and Vijayendra Laad (Mah) beat Avinash Arun (TN) 6-1 6-2. Bhatt takes on Laad for a berth in the final from bottom half.

Vijay Kumar fires four under 68
From Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, Oct 8 — Playing intelligently, Vijay Kumar fired four under 68, the best score on the second day of the four day Rs 5 lakh Le Meridien — Gokarna Pro Am Golf Championship.

Vijay Kumar’s steady play gave him an aggregate of 143, which was only a stroke behind the leader, Shiv Kumar (Kanpur), who shot two-under 70 to get the score of 142. Vijay was placed joint second along with Ali Sher, twice Indian Open champion in 1991 and 1993.

The cut was applied at 15-over and 42 pros made it to the penultimate round.

Unlike yesterday when he fumbled often, Vijay today left nothing to chance. He used his driver only on the first and the 11th where the fairways were wider than on other holes. Vijay accounted for four birdies and finished in a fine style by chipping-in for an eagle from the front edge of the green. He had two bogeys which came on the 7th and the 16th.

Vijay Kumar was happy with his display. "But I would have finished with much better card had my putting been steadier than today’s", said Vijay Kumar.

Shiv Prakash fired three birdies and one bogey. He was on road to returning a better card but he missed two easy putts on the 15th and the 18th. "My putting has been rather erratic", said Shiv Prakash.

Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Calcutta), a 20-year-old, showed his promise in playing two-under 70. He sank 10 and 12 feet putts for birdies on the first and the second. When he seemed to cause surprise to more renowned players, he dropped strokes on the 6th and the 16th to nullify the early advantage. His other two birdies came on the 14th and the 18th.

Vikramjit Singh found his bearing on his favourite course. He fired two-under 70 with three birdies and one bogey. Jyoti Randhawa also played two-under.
"I am getting into my stride and I should be able to raise my game to higher standard than on the first two days", said Vikramjit Singh, playing as a pro for the first time.

Ali Sher had a birdie on the first and another on the 18th. He got a card of one-under 71. He played a peculiar game-outstanding for a while and then down in the dumps the next moment.

Gaurav Ghei was totally off colours as he returned the card of five over 77. " I am shocked at my display", said Ghei. Scores: Shiv Prakash (72 and 70) 142; Vijay Kumar (75, 68) 143; Ali Sher (72, 71) 143; Vivek Bhandari (71, 74) 145; S.P. Chaurasia (75, 70) 145; Basad Ali (73, 72) 145. Sanjay Kumar (74, 71) 145.

Delhi Hostel, South Zone triumph
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Oct 8 — Delhi Hostel and South Zone emerged winners in their respective pools in the under-19 cricket tournament of the KVS sports meet here today. While Delhi Hostel beat East Zone by 73 runs, South Zone pipped Central Zone by five wickets.

In the badminton matches at the sector 42 indoor hall, West Zone won two matches, first against North Zone by 2-0, and then against Central Zone by 2-0 in the girls section. In table tennis, West maintained their supremacy by defeating North and South Zone in the girls section at the Sector 23 hall.

Results Badminton; (girls) Central b East 2-0, West b North 2-0, South b East 2-0, West b Central 2-0. Boys; West b North 2-1, East b Central 2-0, South b West 2-1, North b Central 2-0,

Hockey: (girls) Central b East, South b West, North b East, West b Central. Boys: North b East, Hostel b South, North-R b East, North b South, West and South — match drawn.

Table tennis: girls: West b North 3-0, East b Central 3-0, West b South 3-0, Central b North 3-1, Boys: East b Central 3-0, North b West 3-2, East b South 3-1, Central b West 3-2. Cricket (boys) under-19; Pool d; Delhi Hostel — 164 all out in 38.4 overs. East Zone-(w) 91 all out in 24. 2 overs. Pool A (under-19) South Zone won by five wickets; Scores: Central Zone (w)-136 all out in 31. 5 overs South zone (w) 137 for 5 in 32.5 overs. Cricket (under-16) Delhi Hostel b North Zone by 24 runs.

Bhupathi-Paes duo in semis

BEIJING, Oct 8 (PTI) — World number three pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes of India stormed into the semifinals with a straight-set victory in the Shanghai Open ATP Tour event at Shanghai today.

The number two seeds Bhupathi-Paes beat the Dutch pair of Sjeng Schalken-John Van Lottum 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinal.

The Indians will meet fourth seeded pair of Wayne Black (Zimbabwe) and Peter Tramacchi (Australia) for a place in the final.

Black-Tramacchi duo defeated Croatian pair of Sasa Hirszon-Goran Ivanisevic 6-7 (7/3), 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) in the other quarterfinal.

Top seeded Australian pair of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde also entered the last four stage with 6-2, 6-1 victory over Americans Mark Keil and T.J. Middleton.

India’s only challenge in the singles event however, faded out today when Paes blew away a one-set lead to lose 6-2, 3-6, 6-7 (5-7) number six seed Ramon Delgado of Paraguay.

Russell selected as a painter

LONDON, Oct 8 (Reuters) — England wicketkeeper Jack Russell has already been called up for the World Cup final at Lord’s next year — but as a painter, not a player.

Russell, acclaimed for his paintings of cricket scenes around the world, has been commissioned by Natwest, one of the sponsors, to capture the winning moment of the final on canvas.

"It seems unlikely that I will be required to play for England in the cricket World Cup so I am hugely chuffed to be selected by Natwest to paint the winning moment of this massive event. Hopefully it will capture England’s victory," Russell said.

The World Cup, involving 12 nations, will be held from May 14 to June 20 in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Dungarpur, Bajpai for ACC meeting

MUMBAI, Oct 8 (PTI) — President Raj Singh Dungarpur and joint secretary Jyoti Bajpai will represent Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at the special general body meeting of the Asian Cricket Council at Kathmandu on October 12.

Bajpai is to attend the meeting instead of board secretary Jaywant Lele following the death of the latter’s mother in Baroda today after a brief illness, BCCI sources said.

Gopi Chand storms into third round

NEW DELHI, Oct 8 (PTI) — Ace shuttler Pullela Gopi Chand stormed into the third round of the Dutch Open badminton championships, beating Sweden’s Martin Hagberg at Amsterdam last night.

The world number 70 Indian scored a 15-10, 17-14 win against the Swede in the second round, according to results provided by Reuters.

Gopi Chand, who recently became the third Indian man after Prakash Padukone (1978) and Sayed Modi (1982) to bag an individual medal in Commonwealth Games by claiming a bronze at Kuala Lumpur, had notched up a fine 4-15, 15-6, 15-9 comeback win against Chen Hong of China in the first round earlier yesterday.

Gopi Chand, who also led India to a silver medal in the men’s team event at the Commonwealth Games, was ranked among the top 40 in the world last year but had slipped down the ladder after a brief injury lay-off.

B’desh scores win in ACC trophy

KATHMANDU, Oct 8 (AP) — Favourites Bangladesh have won their second match defeating Singapore by 121 runs in the 10-nation Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Trophy tournament being held here.

Batting first, Bangladesh scored 279 for eight wickets yesterday. The match started late because of poor light and it was reduced to 47 overs instead of 50 overs.

Gurdaspur lads down Moga
From Our Sports Reporter
PATIALA, Oct 8 — Gurdaspur beat Moga 15-2, 15-7 while Ludhiana had to exert themselves to the limit before downing Nawanshahr 15-4, 9-15, 15-9 to move into the next round of the volleyball (under-17) tournament for boys in the Punjab State School Games here today.

The other results are: Ropar beat Hoshiarpur 15-9, 15-4, Patiala beat Ferozepore 15-0, 15-1, Ropar beat Ludhiana 15-10, 15-1, Mansa beat Kapurthala 15-3, 15-2, Muktsar beat Bathinda 16-6, 15-3, Amritsar beat Fatehgarh Sahib 15-13, 15-7.

Volleyball (girls) — under-17: Hoshiarpur beat Faridkot 15-7, 15-8, Nawanshahr beat Ferozepore 15-10, 15-0, Ropar beat Bathinda 15-11, 15-12, Gurdaspur beat Nawanshahr 15-3, 4-15, 15-11, Ludhiana beat Amritsar 15-1, 15-2, Fatehgarh Sahib beat Ferozepore 15-0, 15-2.

PAUTA elections today
From Our Correspondent
LUDHIANA, Oct 8 — The elections of the Punjab Agricultural University Teachers Association (PAUTA), slated for tomorrow, have generated a debate among the faculty.

There are two groups in the fray — one led by the president of the association, Dr R.K. Batra, and the other by Dr Hari Singh Brar.

As many as 1,200 members of the faculty will cast their vote to elect a new PAUTA executive.

Badminton meet from today
By Our Sports Reporter
CHANDIGARH, Oct 8 — Bhiwani is all set to host the All-India Grand Prix Badminton Tournament from tomorrow. Prominent players of the country like Nikhil Khanetkar, Siddharth Jain, PVV Lakshmi, Manjusha Kanwar, Madhumita Bisht and Anuj Gupta have already reached Bhiwani.

The first day will witness qualifying rounds. The matches are to be conducted in men's and women's singles, doubles and fixed doubles. Mr Surinder Singh, MP, will inaugurate the championship while Mr R.B. Aggarwal, State Tourism Minister, will preside over the function.

Doordarshan will be covering the highlights of events.

Haryana TT
By Our Sports Reporter
CHANDIGARH, Oct 8 — The Haryana State Table Tennis Association will conduct the 30th Haryana State Inter-District and State TT Championship at DAV Public School, Faridabad, from October 22 to 28, 1998. The team championship is open to kids, cadet boys and girls, subjunior boys and girls, junior boys and girls and men and women. The individual events will be held in kids singles (under-10) cadet boys and girls singles (under-12) Subjunior boys and girls singles (under-14) junior boys and girls singles and men's and women's singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

Entries close with Mr O.P. Uppal, Secretary, Faridabad TT Association, 71, Sector 14, Faridabad, on October 20.

Title for DAV boys
By Our Sports Reporter
CHANDIGARH, Oct 8 — DAV College, Chandigarh, and MCM DAV College for Women have won the Panjab University Inter-College Badminton Championship for men and women here today.

In the men's section, Government College, Ludhiana and GGD SD College, Chandigarh, stood second and third, respectively. In the women’s section Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana and Panjab University Campus stood second and third, respectively.

Results; Men: DAV beat Government College, Ludhiana 3-1, GGD SD College beat DM College, Moga, 3-0.

Women: PU Campus b GCG- Sector 11, 2-1, MCM DAV College b Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana 2-1.

St John’s triumph
By Our Sports Reporter
CHANDIGARH, Oct 8 — Y.P.S. Mohali and St John’s High School, Chandigarh, defeated Stepping Stone and Hansraj Public School by nine wickets and 52 runs, respectively, in the Edmund Rice Cricket Tournament here today.

Brief scores: Stepping Stone: 63 all out in 21.1 overs; (Vivek 15, Karan 2 for 6, Raghav 2 for 11, Varinder 2 for 14).

YPS: 64 for 1 in 12.1 overs (Raghav 23 n.o., Abhinav 12 n.o.)

St John’s 161 all out in 24.5 overs (Harneet 75, Inderpal 17, Jasraj 11, Tarun 15, HPS 109 for 5 (Gaurav 54 n.o., Arjun Talwar 1 for 19, Taru 2 for 22, Avneet 2 for 12).

SD school win
CHANDIGARH: (BOSR) — In the Shivalik trophy match here today, SD Public School, Sector 32, beat Manav Mangal School by 8 wickets.

In another match, DAV School, Sector 8-C defeated Shri Guru Harkrishan Public School by 10 wickets.

Air Force Day celebrated
Tribune News Service
SRINAGAR, Oct 8 — The week-long celebrations on the occasion of the 66th anniversary of the Air Force culminated in a function at the Air Force station here. Two war widows were honoured and presented with cash awards and shawls.

Air Cdre P.V. Naik, Air Officer Commanding, presenting the shawls to Mrs Noor Bibi and Mrs Khatija. He also presented them with cash awards of Rs 5,001 each.

Chief of Air Staff commendation cards were given to Warrant Officer Ashok Kumar Sharma, Sargeant Swaminathan Nachimuthu, non-combatant Abdul Ahad and Ajay Kumar Mishra of CREF.

Ricky hits ton
From Our Sports Reporter
AMRITSAR, Oct 8 — Punjab Ranji Trophy opener Ravneet Singh Ricky hit his third consecutive hundred but could not prevent surrendering a lead of 207 against Jalandhar who had scored 486 all out in the first innings on the third day of the final Punjab Inter-District Katoch Shield Cricket Tournament here today.

Earlier, the home team failed to increase the tempo of scoring as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Brief scores: Jalandhar (first innings) 486 all out Amritsar (first innings) 279 all out (Ravneet Ricky 104, Tejinder Pal Singh 54, Munish Sharma 27, Rajeev Jolly 5/78, Vikram 3/95) Jalandhar (second innings) 75 for 2.

UT kabaddi
By Our Sports Reporter
CHANDIGARH, Oct 8 — The Chandigarh Kabaddi Association will organise the Subjunior Kabaddi Championship for boys and girls on October 13 and 14 at the Sector 42 sports complex. The city team for the Subjunior National Kabaddi Championship to be held at Vadodara from October 28 to 31 will also be selected on the basis of performance in this championship.

Entries close with Prof Harjinder Singh, Government College of Education, Sector 20 or 33, 18-B, Sector 24-D on October 12.

UT swimming
By Our Sports Reporter
CHANDIGARH, Oct 8 — The 12th Chandigarh Open Swimming Championship for seniors, juniors and subjuniors will be held on October 10 and 11 at the Panjab University swimming pool, according to the secretary of the Chandigarh Swimming Association. Entries will be accepted on spot.

Haryana jr w'lifting
By Our Sports Reporter
CHANDIGARH, Oct 8 — The Haryana State Junior Weightlifting Championship for boys and girls will be organised at DAV College Cheeka (Kaithal) on October 24 and 25. Entries close with Mr K.K. Sood, secretary, Haryana Weightlifting Association, 1112, Kartar Nagar, Ambala City, on October 18.

Skating meet
CHANDIGARH (TNS): The fourth Panchkula District Roller Skating Championship will be held from October 9 to 11, at the skating rink of Hansraj Public School, Sector 6, Panchkula. As many as 200 skaters are expected to participate in the various events. Entries close on October 7.