Thrilling win for Kiwis
DHAKA, Oct 24 — New Zealand transformed a near-certain defeat into a last-ball victory against Zimbabwe in the razor-edge opening match of the nine-nation Wills International Cup Cricket Tournament today.

Aussies defy Pak attack
KARACHI, Oct 24 — An unbroken 103-run second wicket partnership between skipper Mark Taylor and Justin Langer today edged Australia closer to their first Test series win in Pakistan for 39 years.

Crowd invasion
irks Indians
NEW DELHI, Oct 24 — Indian cricket team members went through a horrendous time evading autograph seekers and onlookers even as they practised at the conditioning camp here for the nine-nation Mini World Cup tournament in Dhaka.

LYON, FRANCE : Wayne Ferreira of South Africa returns a backhand to second-seeded Patrick Rafter of Australia during their quarterfinals match at the $ 750,000 Grand Prix tennis tournament in Lyon on Friday. Ferreira beat Rafter 6-4, 6-1. AP/PTI

Rafter bites the dust
LYON, Oct 24 — South African Wayne Ferreira has pulled off the biggest shock so far in the $ 750,000 Lyon Grand Prix when he beat number two seed Patrick Rafter, 6-4, 6-1.

Delhi humble Haryana ROHTAK, Oct 24 — Delhi humbled Haryana by nine wickets on the third day today in the North Zone Ranji Trophy league match played here at the Maharaja Aggarsen Cricket Stadium.

Punjabi varsity, PU win badminton titles
CHANDIGARH, Oct 24 — Panjab University, Chandigarh, won the North Zone Inter-University Badminton championship in the men's section defeating Delhi University 3-0 in the final played at PU gymnasium here today.

Mohun Bagan upset; FC Kochin held
NEW DELHI, Oct 24 — Spirited Air-India, Mumbai, stunned Mohun Bagan 1-0 while underdogs Vasco Sports Club, Goa held defending champions FC Kochin in the group 'A' quarterfinal league matches of Kelvinator-Durand Cup Football here today.

Ropar, Patiala joint winners
PATIALA, Oct 24 — Ropar and hosts Patiala were declared the joint winners in the lawn tennis event of the Punjab State Sports Festival which concluded amidst a carnival atmosphere here today.

Punjab, MP move into last 8
CHANDIGARH, Oct 24 — Hosts Punjab, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu today qualified for the quarterfinals in basketball on the second day of the 44th National School Games currently under way at Jalandhar.

Thrilling win for Kiwis

DHAKA, Oct 24 (AP) — New Zealand transformed a near-certain defeat into a last-ball victory against Zimbabwe in the razor-edge opening match of the nine-nation Wills International Cup Cricket Tournament today.

Chasing a target of 259 runs for victory, New Zealand scored 260 runs for five wickets in 50 overs, breaking free of a tight mid-inning spell cast by Zimbabwe’s aggressive bowlers and fielders.

New Zealand’s hero was batsman Chris Harris, who pumped away the last ball of the match on the off-side boundary. Harris scored 27 runs, backed by allrounder Alex Tait who scored 11.

New Zealand seemed headed for a shock defeat earlier in the innings, chasing a required run rate of 12 at one point in the match.

Earlier in the Zimbabwe innings, a blistering start and a chancy century by skipper Alistair Campbell helped the team score 258 for seven wickets at the packed Bangabandhu Stadium.

Alistair Campbell led from the front with a fine century to propel Zimbabwe to 258 for seven against New Zealand in the opening match of the Wills International Cricket Cup here today.

Skipper Campbell (100), who decided to take first strike, received good support from former skipper Andy Flower (77) and the two put on a 118-run stand for the fourth wicket to guide Zimbabwe to a challenging total in the pre-quarterfinal.

The pair coming together with the score reading 93 for three, were separated in the 43rd over when Andy was caught at short cover off Nathan Astle.

But Campbell who opened the innings with Grant Flower (1) carried his bat till the 48th over when just after completing his third one-day ton, he was bowled by seamer Geoff Allott. Campbell hit seven fours and a six.

Allott, who sent back Grant caught by Craig McMillan before his innings could flower, had a poor first spell where he conceded 30 runs.

But he came back in the slog overs to dismiss Campbell, Heath Streak (2) to be the most successful bowler with 3/54.

Zimbabwe, fired up by their recent one-off Test win against India at Harare, after the early loss of Grant, recovered with a second-wicket stand of 65 between Campbell and Neil Johnson.

Johnson who hit 27 off and equal number of balls, struck debutant Alex Tait for a six but was bowled off the next ball.

Tait added Murray Goodwin’s (6) wicket to his tally to return figures of 2/37 off seven overs.

Craig Wishart also carted Tait for a six off the last ball off the innings to remain not out on 12.

South African captain Hansie Cronje said here today that a win against England in the quarter-finals of the Wills Cup here tomorrow will wash out the disappointment of last summer, says UNI.

South Africa, which has the best win record since in 1991-92, had a heart-breaking tour of England.

"It is an opportunity for Dale Benkenstein and Alan Dawson to cement their places on the team," Cronje said. Benkenstein in particular, was already earmarked for as lot after repeated failures of Adam Bacher as opener.

The South Africans are one player short as Pollock withdrew at the last moment due to an injury. Cronje said despite some setbacks the team has stuck to its training.

For England it will be the first real Test of how good Alex Stewert's team is specially with a grinding tour of down under coming on the heels of this event.

Both Stewert and manager Graham Gooch were upbeat. England can now hold its own against any side in the world and it will be a pleasure to do well here, which should silence some critics, Stewert said.

Stewert is strongly relying on all-rounders while Gooch was hoping that Graeme Hick will strike rich form her.

Despite losing opener Grant Flower in the second over of the day, Campbell took advantage of the fielding restrictions in the first 15 overs to lift the ball frequently over fielders and force the scoring pace. Campbell’s century was his third in one-day international matches.

Zimbabwe raced to 69 in the first 10 overs, Campbell scoring 41 of those as he punished New Zealand bowlers, mainly Simon Doull and Geoff Allott. Though the Zimbabwean captain got two lives at 41 and 65, the bowlers did little to check the batsmen with a loose line.

Tait pegged back the Zimbabweans somewhat with a couple of wickets in his first three overs, but Campbell scored freely from the other end. Campbell’s innings contained seven fours and a six.

The highlight of the Zimbabwe innings was an 118-run partnership between Campbell and Andy Flower, who scored 77 off 80 balls.

Campbell and Flower scored freely off the six bowlers, except left-arm spinners Daniel Vettori, whose 10 overs on the trot saw the rampaging Zimbabweans scoring only 34 runs.

When the bowling got tight, the skipper and Flower brought their experience to the fore. For 90 balls, the duo scored only ones and twos.

New Zealand will face Sri Lanka in a quarterfinal match on Monday.

Tomorrow, commonwealth games champions South Africa will play england in their first quarterfinal match.

Delhi humble Haryana
From Jatinder Sharma
Tribune News Service

ROHTAK, Oct 24 — Delhi humbled Haryana by nine wickets on the third day today in the North Zone Ranji Trophy league match played here at the Maharaja Aggarsen Cricket Stadium.

Delhi, thus, earned the maximum eight points from their first Ranji match of the current season.

Haryana were skittled out for 182 runs in 61.4 overs immediately after lunch.

It was a frustrating day for Haryana as its middle order batsmen crumbled once again. Barring overnight not out batsman Jatinder Singh and skipper Vijay Yadav, none else showed consistency in staying on the crease. Knowledgeable sources told TNS that the infighting in the HCA has influenced the performance of Haryana team.

A gallant knock of 72 by Jatinder Singh saved the home team from the ignominy of an innings defeat. His innings lasted for 201 minutes and was studded with nine hits to the boundary.

Haryana were 97 for 5 at one stage and it seemed that its innings would fold before lunch. But Vijay Yadav and Jatinder took the score to 159. Yadav scored 32 runs which contained two mighty sixes and two hits to the fence.

At lunch Haryana were 176 for 7 with Dhanraj batting on five and Vijay Yadav on 32. However, Dhanraj was out on the first ball after lunch. Vijay Yadav was also back in the pavillion at the same score.

Thereafter the Haryana innings lasted for merely 20 minutes after lunch during which period only six runs were collected for the loss of three wickets.

Delhi medium pacer Amit Bhandari turned out to be the chief wrecker of Haryana as he grabbed five wickets conceding 54 runs. This was incidentally the third Ranji Trophy match of his career. He took two wickets in the first innings.

International leg spinner captured three wickets at the cost of 39 runs. In Haryana's first innings he had taken two wickets.

The day also turned out to be a memorable one for the Delhi skipper and wicketkeeper Vijay Dahiya. He took three catches behind the stumps besides two stumpings.

Rafter bites the dust; Paes beaten

LYON, Oct 24 (AP) — South African Wayne Ferreira has pulled off the biggest shock so far in the $ 750,000 Lyon Grand Prix when he beat number two seed Patrick Rafter, 6-4, 6-1.

Unseeded Ferreira, who beat Pete Sampras two weeks ago in Basel, never looked back after breaking Rafter’s serve in the first game of the match yesterday.

In the second set, he raced to a 4-0 lead and continued to hit winner after winner to gain a victory in one hour and ten minutes.

Rafter hit too many unforced errors and displayed unusually patchy serving against Ferreira, the 1995 Lyon champion.

Ferreira, 27, had won four of the players’ previous seven meetings, including all three that were played on carpet.

"When you play Patrick you know that he is going to come to the net," the South African said. "But I hit some great passing shots and was very happy with my form."

Ferreira, currently ranked 29, said he is getting back to his best form after a serious ankle injury sustained last year.

Following Rafter’s elimination and Sampras’ withdrawal because of a back injury, Marcelo Rios is favourite to take the Lyon title.

Number three seed Rios proved much too strong for 19-year-old French wildcard Arnaud di Pasquale, winning 6-4, 6-0.

Roared on by a partisan crowd, world junior champion Di Pasquale competed well in the first set, but the Chilean’s dogged baseline game soon proved too much for the Frenchman, who lost in 59 minutes.

"I started a bit sloppily and wasn’t serving too well but I played better in the second set," Rios said after the match.

OSTRAVA (Czech Republic): Andre Agassi rallied from a 0-4 deficit in the final set to beat Sweden’s Thomas Johansson 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-4 and has advanced to the semifinals of the Czech Indoor ATP Tournament.

Seventh seed Thomas Enqvist beat fellow Swede Nicklas Kulti 6-3, 6-4, yesterday. Qualifier Wayne black of Zimbabwe overpowered Martin Damm of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (8-10), 6-3, and Slovakia’s Jan Kroslak crushed Andrei Medvedev of the Ukraine 6-3, 6-0.

"In the last six games of the final set I played some of my best tennis this year," Agassi said later. "I think I was pretty lucky, too."

HONG KONG (PTI): Top-seeded Leander Paes lost to Australian Michael Tebbutt in the quarterfinals of CMG Asia Hong Kong Open Challenger Tennis Tournament here on Saturday.

India number one Paes lost to the seventh seed in straight sets 3-6 3-6, reports Xinhua.

In the semifinals Tebbutt will meet third seeded Daniel Nestor of Canada who had a hard-fought victory over fifth seeded Justin Gimelstob of the USA 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-5).

American Cecil Mamit, who upset sixth seeded Dutch Dennis van Scheppingen 6-3 4-6 6-1, will meet eighth seed Leyton Hewitt of Australia in the other semifinal.

Hewitt scored an easy win over Germany’s Karsten Braasch 6-3 6-2.

Punjabi varsity, PU win badminton titles
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 24 — Panjab University, Chandigarh, won the North Zone Inter-University Badminton championship in the men's section defeating Delhi University 3-0 in the final played at PU gymnasium here today.

Results: Panjab University, Chandigarh, bt Delhi University, Delhi 3-0 Amit Sachdev b Rudra Kaushik 15-12, 15-10, Ashish Sharma b Subhash Rawat 15-1, 15-2, Amandeep & Sunil b Hemant & Subhash 15-7, 15-7.

Match for third and fourth position: Allahabad University, Allahabad, bt Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar 3-2.

Amit Mehrotra bt Gagandeep 15-12, 15-12, Anoop Mehrotra lost to Rohan Kapoor 12-15, 12-15, Swarnjeet bt Jaideep Kohli 15-12, 10-15, 15-7 points.

Allahabad University and GND varsity got a walk over each in the doubles.

Punjabi University, Patiala won the women's title beating GND University, Amritsar 2-0.

Results: Punjabi University, Patiala, bt GND varsity, Amritsar, 2-0. Meeta Bhandari b Kashmir Kaur 11-2, 11-2 Meeta & Navdeep Kaur bt Saloni & Sandhya 15-4, 15-8.

Match for third and fourth positions: Delhi University, bt Panjab University 2-0 Krishma b Pallavi 11-0, 11-6 points. Parul & Gaytri b Bhawna & Pallavi 15-10, 15-5.

Aussies defy Pak attack

KARACHI, Oct 24 (Reuters) — An unbroken 103-run second wicket partnership between skipper Mark Taylor and Justin Langer today edged Australia closer to their first Test series win in Pakistan for 39 years.

At the close of the third day of the third Test Australia, 1-0 ahead in the three-match series, were 130 for one in their second innings — an overall lead of 158.

Taylor was 64 and Langer 45.

Earlier, Taylor’s opposite number Aamir Sohail had been instrumental in guiding his side to within 28 runs of Australia’s first innings total of 280 with a gutsy 133.

It was Sohail’s fifth Test century and second against Australia.

Despite suffering from a chest infection and high temperature, Sohail batted for a little under six hours and faced 272 balls. His innings was spiced with 18 boundaries and a six off leg spinner Stuart MacGill.

Sohail, 83 not out overnight, was involved in a face-saving 98-run seventh wicket partnership with former captain Wasim Akram after paceman Glenn McGrath had left Pakistan reeling at 69 for five yesterday.

The partnership ended when Akram was trapped leg before by MacGill for 35.

McGrath added the scalp of Shakeel Ahmad to finish with five for 66. It was the 10th time in 40 Tests that he had bagged five wickets or more in an innings.

Sohail’s defiant innings ended second ball after lunch when Langer took a spectacular catch at square leg off Colin Miller.

When Australia batted a second time they shrugged off the loss of Michael Slater for 11 to take a firm grip on the game.

Taylor had several anxious moments in his 178-ball 64. When he had made just four a Wasim Akram throw failed to hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end with the Australian skipper stranded in the middle of the pitch.

Then on 25 he survived a very close bat-and-pad decision off Arshad Khan. Television replays suggested the ball had taken the edge of Taylor’s bat.

He was let off again by Aamir Sohail at square leg when he had made 56.

Langer played a watchful, patient innings, scoring his runs from 123 balls with just two fours and a six off Shakeel Ahmad.

Mohun Bagan upset; FC Kochin held

NEW DELHI, Oct 24 (PTI) — Spirited Air-India, Mumbai, stunned Mohun Bagan 1-0 while underdogs Vasco Sports Club, Goa held defending champions FC Kochin in the group 'A' quarterfinal league matches of Kelvinator-Durand Cup Football here today.

National league champions Bagan paid for the penalty miss in the very third minute of the match by their first day hero, Basim Yonnan. The spot kick was awarded after Godfrey Pereira brought down Bagan’s striker Friday Elaiho.

Basim’s weak right footer was brilliantly saved by the Air-India custodian Mohd Yusuf Ansari who came out before the shot was taken.

A fighting airman sealed the fate of Bagan with a 75 minute goal from Anthony Fernandes to earn three points.

Meanwhile, Vasco, Goa, who played a better second half game came from behind to contain FC Kochin, who forged ahead in the 15th minute, through Ghanaian recruit Abu Sidiki.

Sidiki flicked home a Noha Rozario’s low cross from the left beating the Goan custodian, Joaqwin Palha at all ends. Later Nigerian midfielder Tony Okafor drew parity for the rejuvenated Vasco side in the 70th minute.

Okafor headed home off a flag kick superbly taken by their striker Gregory Clark to split point with the title holders. With this result, Bagan got a breathing space in grou-A.

With the quarterfinal league stage nearing its close with only one match left each side, one will have to wait till the Bagan-FC-Kochin clash on Monday to finalise on the semifinal line-up. Air-India is in strong position after today's win over Mohun Bagan.

Bagan had enough chances to score in the either half but looked weird and a shaky defence were struggling to check the frequent raids unleashed by the airmen, who looked a much better side with Godfery Pereira commanding the midfield.

His spetacular moves sent shock waves in the rival defence as Anthoney Fernandes combined well with lanky Abbas Ali Rizvi who replaced an injured Shetty. It was this trio which clicked in Air-India's win.

In the second match it was a misjudgement from the experienced custodian Ali Aboobecker that denied FC Kochin a win against Vasco, Goa. He could not collect the flag kick as the defenders crowded the goal mouth.

FC Kochin fought for a win but all their innovative moves carved out by the midfield ended in shoddy finsih, otherwise the Goan defenders quickly advanced to end many good moves.

C.V. Pappachan created two good opportunities in the fag end of the games for FC Kochin but one of his powerpacked kick breezed past the post. Substitute Kaustab Khosh failed to bang on a Pappachan cross in the injury time.

Crowd invasion irks Indians

NEW DELHI, Oct 24 (PTI) — Indian cricket team members went through a horrendous time evading autograph seekers and onlookers even as they practised at the conditioning camp here for the nine-nation Mini World Cup tournament in Dhaka.

Youngsters and tiny tots with their parents thronged at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium grounds to watch their "cult figures" practice, but inadequate security arrangements made it difficult for players to do their routines on the second and final day of the camp.

"If they have to organise this way, they better not organise," a disgusted India coach Anshuman Gaekwad said.

The coach was referring to the "insufficient" arrangements made by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the hosts of the camp.

Skipper Azharuddin echoed Gaekwad’s feelings saying: "I am very disappointed with the arrangements. Lot of people came on to the ground and that’s not the way you practise."

"I am sorry to say that, but the organisers (SAI) just didn’t care about what was happening on the ground, Azharuddin complained about the crowd behaviour and inability of SAI to cope with the situation.

"We could not even do catch practise, let alone getting a chance to have fielding practice," the captain said.

The team members had batting and bowling practice in the nets but coach Gaekwad was unable to conduct fielding session as crowd invaded the grounds.

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Javagal Srinath and Ajay Jadeja had a horrid time evading the pushing autograph seekers.

Azharuddin said he was happy with the fitness of all the team members in the build-up to the Dhaka tournament, which got underway in the Bangladesh capital today.

"I am looking forward to our match against Australia and we’re confident of putting up a good show," he said.

He said there was no need to worry about India’s prospects and the team was shaping well to give a winning performance.

"We have got talent, we have match-winning players and there is no need to worry," he said.

He said there was no separate strategy for the opening game against Australia. "We’ll just go out and play our game."

To a question why Delhi was selected for the camp where the team had similar crowd problems before the 1997 Toronto tour, Azharuddin said it was the cricket board’s decision.

The skipper said he saw no problem with the tie-breaker rule as expressed by his New Zealand and Zimbabwean counterparts.

"When you don’t have time to play (due to rain and wet pitch conditions), this is the best way. Someway or other you have to decide the winner," Azharuddin said.

Harbhajan still doesn't know what's wrong

NEW DELHI, Oct 24 (PTI) — Harbhajan Singh, the young off-spinner who finds his career mired in an sudden controversy, does not yet know what is wrong with his action.

The teenager is in the capital and understandably wary. "I will to by what my board asks me to do," said the youngster, refusing to be drawn into any conversation on the matter.

'Bhajji', as Harbhajan is affectionately called by his team-mates, has not been told about the alleged defect in his action because the cricket board itself has no idea where the problem lies.

Board secretary Jaywant Lele, when contacted in Vadodra, told PTI: "We have asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to supply evidence and the tape should be with us in two or three days time".

This means the board has taken the action to keep the office off for the Wills International Cup in Dhaka because the "ICC's throwing committee has not found everything in order with regard to Harbhajan's action," Mr Lele said.

"Apparently, the evidence is based on the off-spinner's bowling in the Bangalore Test against Australia and then the triangular series involving Bangladesh, Kenya and India in the first half of this year," Mr Lele said.

A point of reference is that Harbhajan bowled only four overs in the only game he played in Mumbai in the triangular series in May.

This evidence has been supplied by match referees for the two series, Peter Van Der Merwe of South Africa and Ranjan Dadugalle. It is not clear though whether they did so of their own or were prompted by the standing umpires.

Even Lele confessed: "I have no idea whether the match referees acted on the prompting by the umpires".

If the match refrees have done so of their own accord, it is an unnatural step since 'throwing' has always been a matter with the umpires, standing in the field of play. The normal procedure is the umpires report to the match referee who then passes on the evidence to the ICC throwing committee.

Interestingly, Harbhajan Singh, in his short career so far, has bowled in the presence and supervision of umpires of the calibre of S. Venkataraghavan and Steve Bucknor. There has not been any word of disapproval either by the distinguished umpires, who incidentally are in the select panel of the ICC, or from batsmen who include the hawk-like Aussies.

There was not a word of caution from Venkataraghavan, himself an India off-spinner of renown, to Harbhajan Singh when he visited the Indian camp before the team left for the Sahara Cup in Toronto in September.

The support for Harbhajan Singh had earlier come from varied quarters such as Zimbabwean Dave Houghton and his batsmen and Sri Lanka's ace off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan who wants Harbhajan Singh to stay mentally strong and go through this ordeal.

Lashing out at this treatment to Harbhajan Singh, Punjab Cricket Association president Inderjit Singh Bindra said it was unfortunate the youngster had been kept in the dark by the board so far. "It is ironical, more so since during the Muralitharan controversy in 1995, it was India which had come out strongest in support of the Sri Lanka spinner".

The groundswell of support for Harbhajan Singh, from media, cricket lovers and even his own team-mates, not to speak of opposition batsmen and fellow bowlers, is too spontaneous to be dismissed in an off-hand manner.

In an age when nothing escapes the attention of a TV camera in a field of play, Harbhajan Singh received no such censure from millions who watch cricket telecasts but the match refrees, competent authorities though they are on other matters, may have exceeded their brief on judging the teenage off-spinner's action.

Badal backs Punjab bid to host National Games
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, OCT 24 — A delegation of the Punjab Olympic Association led by its president, Mr SS Dhindsa, met the Chief Minister of Punjab, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, here today and presented a case to host the National Games 2000 in Punjab.

Mr Arvind Khanna, secretary-general, POA, said the Indian Olympic Association will be requested during its AGM meeting on October 26 at New Delhi to allot the National Games to the state. Mr Badal has assured full cooperation and help for hosting the games.

Punjab was to host the third National Games in 1989 but due to unfavourable conditions in the state the games were alloted to another state. With the celebration of the 300th birth of Khalsa concluding in 2000 it would be an honour to host the games in Punjab, he added.

Mr Badal deputed Mr Nusrat Ali Khan, Minister of Sports, and Mr RS Mann, Chief Secretary, Punjab, to accompany the Punjab delegation at the IOA meeting.

Ropar, Patiala joint winners
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Oct 24 — Ropar and hosts Patiala were declared the joint winners in the lawn tennis event of the Punjab State Sports Festival which concluded amidst a carnival atmosphere here today.

Tall and well built Sarbrinder Singh showed why he is rated highly from the way he managed to dismantle his rivals plans. After having lost the first set Sarbrinder staged a fine comeback as he won the second set 6-4.

In the third Sarbinder Singh, having a strong serve, completely destroyed Sanjeev's game to win comfortably 6-0.

As Ropar had lost the opening singles, it was again left to Sarbrinder, who paired up with Sukhamrit, to show his fighting prowess. The Ropar pair, playing with agility, won the first set 6-4 and were 6-6 in the second set when the organisers decided to declare both Patiala and Ropar joint winners. Strangely the tie-breaker rule was not applied for reasons best known to the organisers.

In badminton Jalandhar beat Sangrur, who yesterday managed to put it across favourites Ludhiana. For the Sangrur boys, it seemed to be an off day as they lost both their matches.

Other results:

Lawn tennis: Ropar and Patiala 1, Jalandhar 2, Amritsar 3. Badminton: Jalandhar 1, Sangrur 2, Patiala 3. Wrestling: Faridkot 1, Kapurthala 2, Gurdaspur 3. Swimming: Sangrur 1, Patiala 2, Ludhiana 3. Volleyball: Patiala 1, Amritsar 2, Jalandhar 3. Kho kho: Ludhiana 1, Sangrur 2, Hoshiarpur 3.

Punjab, MP move into last 8
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 24 — Hosts Punjab, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu today qualified for the quarterfinals in basketball on the second day of the 44th National School Games currently under way at Jalandhar.

In the boys section, Gujarat, last year's champions, and Maharashtra were the first two teams to qualify for the knockout round.

The match between Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh boys in pool B was a cliff hanger. Madhya pradesh eventually won by one point, the final score being 44-43. For MP, Mohammed Faiz scored 18 points, while for Himachal Vinod scored 20 points.

In another closely contested match, Rajasthan defeated Tamil Nadu in pool C by one point, the final score being 46-45.

Gujarat utilising their speed and skill defeated Uttar Pradesh 59-56 in group A. For Gujarat, Mukesh Yadav scored 16 points and Jigar Patel scored 21 points. For UP Raj Kumar scored 15 points and Ashfaq Ahmed scored 14 points.

In pool D West Bengal defeated KVS by 26-23 points. Earlier, Andhra Pradesh defeated West Bengal by 33-24. Maharashtra crushed Jammu and Kashmir by 35-15 points and Haryana defeated UP by 54-43 points.

In the girls section most of the matches were one-sided. In pool A MP thrashed Rajasthan by 58-26 points. In pool B hosts Punjab defeated KVS by 79-27 points, and Kerala beat A.P. by 35-22 points. Delhi defeated AP by 24-19.

CFA mourns death of footballer

CHANDIGARH, Oct 24 (TNS) — The Chandigarh Football Association (CFA) has mourned the tragic demise of promising city footballer Deepak Kampania in a road accident yesterday.

The president of the CFA, Mr AS Bains, in a condolence message expressed shock over the footballer's death. Deepak was killed when his scooter was hit by a bus at SAS nagar yesterday.

A student of plus two at a local school, Deepak was one of the probables selected for a coaching camp in preparation for the Junior National Football Championship scheduled to be held at Manipur in January, 1998.

Cricket trials

CHANDIGARH, Oct 24 (TNS) — Trials to select the Ambala under-16 cricket team for the Inter-district Rajinder Goel Trophy will be held at S.D. College, Ambala Cantt on October 25 at 11 a.m., according to Mr Anil Khanna, secretary, District Cricket Association. Players should bring their birth certificates.

Railway wrestling at Kapurthala

KAPURTHALA, Oct 24 (FOC) — Rail Coach Factory Sports Association will organise the 40th All-India Railway Wrestling Championship from October 27 to 30 at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Stadium here. Many Olympians and internationals are likely to participate. Western Railway, Central Railway, Eastern Railway, Northern Railway, South Central Railway, Diesel Locomotive Works, North Eastern Railway, Railway Board, Rail Coach Factory, Diesel Component Works, South Eastern Railway and Southern Railway will fight for top honours.

All the arrangement for the Championship have been finalised.

Postal soccer at Kurukshetra

KURUKSHETRA, Oct 24 (FOC) — A five-day 12th All-India Postal Football Championship will be inaugurated by Mr P. Bhagwan Dass, Member, Postal Services Board (Development), New Delhi, at Kurukshetra University here on October 27.

Stating this at a press conference held at the University guest house here today, the Director of Postal Services, Haryana Circle, Ambala, Mr Vivek Kaul, said that about 250 players, comprising 13 out of 19 postal circle teams, drawn from various states would be participating in the championship which was being hosted by Haryana Postal Circle Sports Board.

The matches were being organised on league cum knockout basis and the finals were expected to be held on October 31.

REC win TT tourney

JALANDHAR, Oct 24 (FOC) — Regional Engineering College, Jalandhar, has won the Punjab Technical University Inter-College Table Tennis Championship held at Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal.

In the women's section REC, Jalandhar, girls beat SLIET, Longowal, 2-1 in the final. Girls of Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana, came third.

In the men's section GNDEC, Ludhiana, beat REC, Jalandhar, 3-1 in the final to emerge champions. SBS College of Engineering and Technology, Ferozepore, Beat Beant College of Engineering and Technology, Gurdaspur, to capture the third position.

According to Dr G.S. Dhaliwal, Director Sports, Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, all affiliated colleges of the state participated in the championship.

The Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, Inter-College Football (men) Championship will be held at Shaheed Bhagat Singh College of Engineering and Technology, Ferozepore, on October 28 and 29. Nearly 11 teams will participate, Dr Dhaliwal added.

Surjit hockey tourney

CHANDIGARH, Oct 24 (TNS) — Russia XI from Moscow and Allied Bank of Pakistan are the two foreign teams expected to participate in the 15th Indian Oil Surjit Memorial Hockey Tournament to be played at Burlton Park, Jalandhar, from November 6 to 14, Mr Jagjit Puri, Organising Secretary of the tournament, announced at a Press conference, here today.

Mr Puri said Allied Bank of Pakistan has been cleared by the Government of India for the tournament. The team will have six Olympians. Though the organisers were still trying to rope in Indian Airlines, other teams were selected for the tournament this year on the basis of their performance in the last edition include All-India Police champions and runners-up, Punjab Police and Border Security Force; Punjab and Sind Bank, Bharat Petroleum, Air India, Punjab State Electricity Board, Rail Coach Factory and Army XI. In case Indian Airlines confirms participation, one of local teams will be dropped.

Mr Puri further said that from this year, the organisers have decided to delink the women's event from the main tournament. The women's tournament will now be conducted in January next year.

Mr Kuckoo Walia of Delhi has been appointed tournament director while Satinder Walia will be the manager of umpires for the tournament.An international umpire from Bangladesh is coming as special observer.

Observers from Canada, England, Malaysia and Singapore are also expected to be in Jalandhar for the tournament to see how the society conducts one of the prestigious tournament of the country.

Amritsar win Dhruv Pandove trophy

PATIALA, Oct 24 (FOSR) — Amritsar beat Chandigarh by 109 runs to lift the Dhruv Pandove Cricket Tournament trophy (under-19) here today.

Needing 301 to win in 90 overs, Chandigarh started disastrously after resuming from their overnight score of 31 for 3.

Apart from southpaw Yuvraj Singh who scored a resilient 59, the Chandigarh batting lineup crumbled under sustained pressure from Pankaj Behl (3 for 58) and Ranjit Singh (3 for 40).

Kurukshetra win volleyball title

SIRSA, Oct 24 (FOC) — Pawan Kumar of Hisar clinched the 200 metre title clocking 24.00 sec in the track events of 6th Haryana State Rural Sports Championship being held here at Maharana Partap Stadium. Shiv Kumar of Gurgaon finished second in 24.3 sec while Jasmer (Kurukshetra) was adjudged third today.

In 400m Sonepat athlete Satinder Kumar bagged the gold clocking 52.6 sec. Jasmer Singh (Kurukshetra) and Arun Kumar Rai (Gurgaon) finished second and third with 53.3 sec and 53.4 sec, respectively.

Satpal of Gurgaon won the gold in javelin throw. He hurled the javelin to 51.44m. Sunil of Bhiwani got the second place with 49.14m throw and Vijaypal finished third with a 48.22m throw.

Kurukshetra boys won the volleyball title. In a thrilling final match Kurukshetra players prevailed over Bhiwani 10-15, 10-15, 15-9, 15-12 and 17-15. In the beginning the game was going in favour of Bhiwani when they won two sets but spikers Pawan Kumar and Kapil Kumar turned the match in favour of Kurukshetra.

The kho-kho title was clinched by Hisar defeating Kaithal by one point at 16-15. Panipat won the kabaddi final match beating Rohtak 38-23.