• Harmeet Kahlon to be honoured
• Manjit to lead Gurdaspur
• Patiala TT panel

Rai sets meet record on way to gold

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 (PTI) — Sateesh Rai set a Commonwealth record by hoisting his way to gold in snatch and added two silver in clean and jerk and combined total in the 77 kg class as India signed off with a haul of three gold, five silver and five bronze medals from the Commonwealth Games weightlifting competition today.

The 27-year-old bank officer from Bangalore lifted 147.5 kg and then succeeded with 175.0 kg in clean and jerk for a total effort of 322.5 kg to garner two silver medals.

The 1994 Victoria Games 70 kg silver medallist and gold medallist at the Commonwealth Championship pushed David Morgan (Wales - 145.0) and Australia’s Damian Brown (140.0) to lesser medals in snatch.

But Brown came back strongly to claim the clean and jerk gold with a superb effort of 187.5 kg, 7.5 kg better than what Rai could achieve, which also landed him the combined title ahead of the experienced Indian - 327.5 kg to 322.5 kg. Alain Bilodeau of Canada won bronze medals in both sections.

Indian hopes of garnering at least one medal from each lifter were realised when Sandeep Kumar Sharma and G. Vadivelu snapped up bronze medals in combined and clean and jerk, respectively, in the 69 kg category.

In a category which saw stiff competition, Govindaswamy Vadivelu, 23, achieved 162.5 kg to come third in clean and jerk with Sandeep Kumar (160.0) finishing fourth.

But Sandeep produced a better snatch effort of 125.0 to finish fifth as Vadivelu ended up ninth after a poor effort of 115.0 and ensured his bronze medal with a combined lift of 285 kg. Vadivelu was consigned to sixth overall (277.5 kg).

Canada’s Sebastien Groulx clinched the snatch and overall gold medals hoisting 130.0 kg and 297.5 kg, respectively, but Malaysia’s Muhamad Hidayat Hamidon clinched the clean and jerk pushing Groulx to silver standard due to lesser body weight after both had lifted an identical 167.5 kg.

The three gold, five silver and five bronze medals gleaned by India, who had entered only in the 56, 62, 69 and 77 kg classes, compared more or less favourably with their Victoria effort of three gold, seven silver and one bronze.
Yesterday, in the 56 kg Arumugam Pandian won a gold and two silver medals with Dharmaraj Wilson picking up a gold and silver each in the same class. In 62 kg, Murugesan Arun returned two bronze medals and Ganapathy Gnanasekhar took one.

With today’s one gold, two silver and two bronze medals the ironmen have performed to their potential ahead of the tougher Asian Games in December.

77 kg snatch.
Sateesh Rai (India) 147.5 kg (1), David Morgan (Wales) 145.0 (2), Damian Brown (Aus) 140.0 (3).

77 kg clean and jerk.
Damian Brown (Australia) 187.5 kg (1), Sateesh Rai (India) 175.0 kg (2), Alain Bilodeau (Canada) 167.5 kg (3).

77 kg combined final.
Damian Brown (Australia) 327.5 kg (1), Sateesh Rai (India) 322.5 kg (2), Alain Bilodeau (Canada) 305.0 kg (3).

Roopa shoots gold

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 (PTI) — Rhodes scholar Roopa Unnikrishnan blasted the Games record and won a countback to clinch the women’s sport rifle prone individual title to gift India their third gold and fourth medal in the Commonwealth Games shooting at the Faraway Langkawi Range today.

The 26-year-old Roopa produced a brilliant series of 98, 99, 99, 97, 99, 98 to aggregate 590 out of 600 to tie with Australia’s Carolyn Quigley, and then came out on top in the countback, where the final card is taken into consideration to break the deadlock.

The Chennai-born Roopa who landed straight from London on finishing her Business Administration final examinations at Oxford University, proved third time lucky in a countback to complement her own superb form.

The daughter of a Tamil Nadu police officer, she eclipsed the previous Games mark of 589 points set by Elsa Kotze of South Africa and displayed brilliant form despite reaching here only on September 10 on completion of examinations and thus missing out on the practice badge shooting competition.

Quigley took silver with Sally Johnston of New Zealand claiming bronze.

The other Indian, Kuheli Gangulee proved a big letdown by finishing a poor 17th with 578 points after poor early rounds. Gangulee’s effort of 580 had also pushed India to fourth in the pairs event despite Roopa coming up with an identical 590.

A thrilled Roopa Unnikrishnan said: ‘I almost cried when I saw my score because I did not think it was enough. Normally you would need between 593 and 595.

"This is doubly fantastic because this is the first time I have won when the event was tied," said Roopa, who had landed the standard rifle (3-position) silver at the Victoria Games and taken the team bronze in that event in the company of Kuheli Gangulee.

Initiated into the sport at a very young age, Roopa has in the last three years been forced to lug along her weapons and books wherever she went. She just managed to take a break from her studies to participate in the National Championship in Delhi earlier this year and had maintained her intensive practice schedule in London despite pressure of studies.

Roopa’s improvement from shooting only 566 in the sport rifle event in Victoria could also be attributed to her focus in the sport, which saw her first find a practice range in Jamaica where she travelled earlier this year as part of her studies.

It was however disappointment for India in men’s free pistol where 23-year-old Navyman Satendra Kumar could manage only the fourth spot with an aggregate of 639.9 points. Samresh Jung (536) was eliminated after finishing 12th in the qualifying round. Michael Gault (England) won the gold — 646.3 — with Francois van Tonder (South Africa — 642.5) and Bruce Quick (Australia — 640.3) taking silver and bronze.

In the men’s air rifle, Abhinav Bindra failed to qualify, ending up 18th in the preliminary round.

Aussies whip Kiwis enter final

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 (AP) — Leg spinner Brad Young took a hat-trick today to wrap up a deadly Australian bowling conquest that whipped New Zealand by nine wickets in a semifinal of the Commonwealth Games cricket tournament.

Bowling on a fiercely turning wicket, the 25-year-old South Australian dispatched Matthew Bell, Daniel Vettori and Paul Wiseman in the 26th. Young earlier had claimed Adam Parore.

Young's performance sealed the rout that paceman Damien Fleming started by taking three wickets in seven overs for 23 runs.

"I wasn't really thinking about the hat-trick. I was just trying to ... lob it up from the mark and (see) if something happens," Young said.

Chasing a target of 59 in 50 overs — a run rate of 1.18 — Australia romped home in the 11th over with only the loss of opener Mark Waugh

The other opener, left-hander Adam Gilchrist, made short work of the Kiwi bowlers, scoring 43 in 36 deliveries.

He ended the match with a six over the long-on boundary, the second of his two sixes, and Australia finished at 62 for one. The match ended in less than three hours before lunch.

The bowler who suffered most in New Zealand's humiliating defeat was Shayne O'Connor.

The rot set into the New Zealand innings in the third over when opener Nathan Astle edged Fleming's outswinger to give Gilchrist behind the wickets an easy catch.

When New Zealand were down six wickets with the score at 58, Young began the over that produced the first hat-trick in the Commonwealth Games, where cricket is being featured for the first time.

Kiwi captain Stephen Fleming top scored with 20 while Adam Parore (12) and Bell (11) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures. Five batsmen scored ducks.

Australia will play South Africa in the gold medal match Saturday while New Zealand will face Sri Lanka in a bronze medal playoff.

New Zealand:
Astle c Gilchrist b Fleming 6
Horne c Moody b Fleming 3
Fleming c Mark Waugh b Kasprowicz 20
Mcmillan lbw b Fleming 0
Parore c Steve Waugh b Young 12
Harris run out 0
Bell c Ponting b Young 11
Tait c Lehmann b Robertson 0
Vettori c Moody b Young 0
Wiseman c Moodt b Young 0
O.Connor not out 0
Extras: (lb1, w1, nb4) 6
Total: (26.4 overs) 58
Fall of wickets: 1/8, 2/22, 3/22, 4/39, 5/39, 6/57, 7/58, 8/58, 9/58.
Bowling:
Fleming 7-1-23-3, Kasprowicz 7-0-21-1, Moody 7-6-8-0, Robertson 1.3-0-1-1, Young 4-2-4-4.

Australia:
Gilchrist not out 43
Mark Waugh c Parore b Tait 10
Ponting not out 8
Extras: (lb1) 1
Total (for one wicket in10.5 overs) 62
Fall of wicket: 1/26
Bowling: O'Connor 4-0-31-0, Tait 5-1-17-1, Astle 1.5-0-13-0.

Jitender assures India of boxing medal

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 (PTI) — Middleweight pugilist Jitender Kumar demolished tough Kenyan George Adipo by an overwhelming 29-15 points verdict to storm into the semifinals and assure India of at least a bronze from the ring at the Commonwealth Games boxing.

The 21-year-old Jitender, the last Indian hope after his other three countrymen had tumbled out of medal reckoning, pummelled Adipo, the Kenyan national champion, with superb right hooks and jabs to claim the exciting bout.

Kumar, who will face Canadian national champion Trevor Stewardson in the semifinal, thus assured that India would take home at least one medal after returning with a lone bronze from the Victoria Games four years ago.

Bantamweight N.G. Dinko Singh went out in the second round alike lightheavy prospect Gurcharan Singh while featherweight Gurmeet Singh was a first round casualty.

Jitender, a former Asian youth champion who won a bronze at King’s Cup tournament in Bangkok, swept into action from the opening round with a barrage of unanswered blows to set up a 3-1 lead straightaway.

Jitender Kumar, who outboxed Francis Partsoh of Samoa 13-3 in his previous bout after earning a first round bye, lead all the way and kept stretching his lead in each round - second (7-2), third (16-3), fourth (22-8).

His convincing victory and waltz into the medal round should make up for his disappointment of missing out on the World Cup preliminaries due to jaundice earlier this year.

"The fight was a tough one and he (Adipo) was a strong opponent. But being right on target, I managed to score more," a pleased Jitender, with sweat pouring down after his exertion, said after the victory.

Team coach Gurbux Singh Sandhu said Jitender will now concentrate on studying his Canadian opponent and strive for gold.

Popat storms into quarterfinals

KUALA LUMPUR, Sep 17 (PTI) — National champion Aparna Popat stormed into the women’s singles quarter finals in the Commonwealth Games badminton here today, but three of her women compatriots fell by the wayside.

The 20-year-old Aparna, who had piloted India to the team bronze earlier here, dropped, net-flicked and half-smashed her way past Rebecca Pateney of England 11-4, 11-8.

Aparna’s superb show to set up an intriguing battle with Malaysia’s 16-year old schoolgirl NG Mee fen for a berth in the last four. The Indian champion blanked Natasha Groves-Burke 11-0, 11-0 in the second round in the morning.

The winner of the match between the former Indian world junior runner-up who is ranked 28th in the world and NG Mee, one of only two unseeded players to reach the last eight, would also be assured of a medal in the event.

But Aparna has her task cut out against the lively Malaysian girl who took advantage of a knee injury to third-seeded China-born Li Feng to shock her 11-4, 11-3 and reach the third round. She then ousted South Africa’s Michelle Edwards with contemptuous ease 11-2, 11-2 to enter the quarters.

National men’s champion Pullela Gopi Chand and talented left-hander Nikhil Kanetkar won through to the third round, while national runner-up Abhinshynm Gupta failed to cross the second-round hurdle.

Gopi sailed past Peter Knowles of England 15-11, 15-13, Kanetkar whipped Scot James Mailer 15-5, 15-4 and Gupta lost to Malaysian Yong Hock Kin 4-15, 4-15.

Singh said Star Sports would telecast the tournament live on all the days.

Some of the other prominent players in the fray are Scott Draper, Andrew Ilie, Jan-Michael Gambill, Paul Harrhuis, Martin Damm, Ramon Delgado, Kenneth Carlsen, Todd Woodbridge, Mikael Tillstrom, Lionel Roux, John Nan Lottum and Andrei Pavel.

South Africans Wayne Black and Steve Campbell along with Marcos Ondruska, Diego Nargiso, Daniel Nestor, Laurence Tieleman, Michael Tebbut, Martin Sinner, Geoff Grant and Jan Wilkinson are some of the youngsters to be seen in action, he added.

The qualifying rounds are slated to start on October 10 while the main draw will start on October 12.

Both Paes and Bhupathi also attended the press briefing.

India romp into hockey semifinals

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 (PTI) — India overcame some anxious moments before subduing New Zealand 3-1 in their last pool-A league match to romp into the Commonwealth Games men’s hockey semifinals at the National Stadium here today.

The two teams were deadlocked 1-1 at half-time.

The Indians, who desperately needed a win to keep their hopes alive in the championship, capitalised on a few defensive errors by the Kiwis to set up a rousing semifinal clash against hosts Malaysia.

Darren Smith put the Kiwis ahead in the 23rd minute against the run of play only to see the Indians hit back strongly three minutes later when Mohd Riaz converted a penalty corner to restore parity.

The Indians went ahead 20 minutes into the second session when right winger Mukesh Kumar scored a field goal following a combined effort and seven minutes later the Kiwis’ fate was sealed by Indian skipper Dhanraj Pillay with another field goal when he took advantage of a defensive lapse.

The Indians finished runner-up in pool-A with 12 points and would take on pool-B toppers Malaysia on September 19 after a tomorrow’s rest day.

Gold medal favourites Australia, who topped pool A, would lock horns with pool-B runners-up England on the same day. The final is slated for September 20.

Playing an attacking game from the word go, the Indians unsettled the Kiwi defence with a series of raids from the flanks but the team from down under jolted them by pumping in the first goal against the Game’s trend.

Indian women also moved into the semifinal of the Commonwealth hockey competition by holding strong Scotland to a 2-all draw and pipping them for a place in the knockout stage by virtue of a better goal difference.

The hard-working Nidhi Khullar saved the day for India by pumping in the equaliser four minutes before the final hooter after they allowed Scotland to equalise and forge ahead, in the needle final group ‘A’ league tie at the Lembah Pantai stadium this evening.

Captain Sita Gussain fired India ahead in the 23rd minute following a penalty corner but Scotland equalised in a similar manner through Rhona Simpson as the sides were locked 1-1 at the break.

But Rhona Simpson put Scotland ahead with a superb 41st minute goal before Khullar saved the day by producing the equaliser with just four minutes from the end.

In the semifinal, India take on group ‘B’ runners-up England and pool ‘A’ winners and title favourites Australia lock horns with pool ‘B’ runners up New Zealand on September 19.

Ato Boldon wins sprint showdown

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 (Reuters) — Trinidad sprinter Ato Boldon, the world’s fastest man this year, sped away from a star-studded pack today to win the Commonwealth games 100m final in a searing 9.88 seconds.

The supremely confident Boldon left rivals Frank Fredericks of Namibia and Obadele Thompson of Barbados trailing in the games big sprint showdown - but failed in an attempt to break Donovan Bailey’s 9.84-second world record.
Fredericks fought hard to a time of 9.96 seconds and won yet another silver medal at a major championship, while Thompson dipped at the line to capture the bronze in 10.00 seconds flat.

Matt Shirvington, the 19-year-old Australian who is on a quest to become the first white man under 10 seconds, claimed an impressive fourth place in a personal best of 10.03 seconds.

The women’s sprint final was a much less dramatic affair. Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas found a late burst of speed to leave behind Canadian rival Philomena Mensah and win gold in a time of 11.06 seconds.

Mensah won silver in 11.19 and Tania van-Heer of Australia produced a personal best of 11.29 seconds for the bronze.

In other races, Kenya maintained its stranglehold over the men’s distance events with John Kosgei upsetting team-mate Bernard Barmasai in the 3,000 steeplechase.

But unheralded Kate Anderson took advantage of the absence of the Kenyan favourite in the women’s 5,000 metres to score yet another Australian gold.

Meanwhile, Susie O’Neill, the madam butterfly of swimming, became the Commonwealth Games golden girl today.

O’Neill’s victory in the 200 metres butterfly on the last day of swimming made her the all-time gold medal winner of the Games with a total of 10 gold in three Commonwealth Games. The most won by anyone since they began in 1930.

Veteran Aussie swimming coach Don Talbot hailed O’Neil as "one of the greatest Australian sports people of all time".

Australia’s world champion Grant Hackett swam away with the men’s 1,500m freestyle race as an anticipated showdown with defending champion and double Olympic champion Kieren Perkins failed to materialise.

Australia also got gold from its men’s 4x100 m medley relay team and Matthew Dunn in the men’s 200 m medley.

'Money comes first,' country later

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 (UNI) — The sordid saga of India’s cricket participation at the Commonwealth Games continues, a day after the team left the Malaysian shores.

Assistant Chef-de-Mission S.M. Bali was fuming last night when he came to the main press centre to meet Indian journalists.

Angrily waving a photocopy showing the air bookings of the four Canada-bound cricketers, he indicated that they had everything planned well in advance.

Tendulkar, Jadeja, Kumble and Robin Singh jumped on a flight Tuesday night, a few hours after they were beaten by Australia, along with five others, including manager Srikkanth, and left.

Bali wondered how everything was managed so fast. He kept insisting that the four cricketers were only bothered about money and not the country.

The only good thing he had to say about the cricket team was that they behaved well at the games village and the superstars mingled well with the rest of the contingent.

The general feeling in the Indian camp was that the board should have sent a committed team to the Commonwealth Games, meaning a team sans the superstars.

Though still seething about the way the cricketers played here, Bali was happy that they had left their physio Andrew Kokinos behind to look after the rest of the contingent.

The Indian contingent is the only one without a doctor, let alone a physiotherapist.

Kokinos, who is going to double up as a doctor-cum-physio, agreed to stay back after a request from the contingent.

"I am really grateful to him", Bali said. "It is shameful that the government did not clear a doctor and we have had injuries".

Manjinder Kaur suffered a cheek bone crack and her hockey team-mate has a wrist injury. Several others have had niggling injuries and for all these they have to be taken to the medical centre.

The Indian Olympic Association has decided that in future, they will bring doctors at their own expense.

Lacklustre Indians beaten by 77 runs

TORONTO, Sept 17 (PTI) — Indian batsmen caved in meekly by botching up a challenging chase to lose by a massive 77-run margin and hand Pakistan a 2-1 lead in the Sahara Cup cricket series at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club ground here yesterday.

Chasing 258 for victory after the bowlers had let Pakistan off the hook despite helpful conditions in the third match of the series, Navjot Sidhu and left-hander Saurav Ganguly produced a 43-run opening stand and Javagal Srinath slammed a quickfire 43 (38 b - 2 x 4, 3 x 6).

Wicketkeeper Nayan Mongia too contributed 38 coming in at number three, but the rest showed no mettle as India were bowled out for 180 in 46.2 overs chasing 257 for five in 50 overs, leaving their task cut out in the final two ties to be held on September 19 and 20.

Ganguly, who fashioned India’s splendid win in the first tie but missed the next due to hamstring trouble, looked in fine touch till he responded to a call from Sidhu (15) for a non-existent single to be run out to a direct hit from Saqlain Mushtaq at short midwicket.

Ganguly’s 23 off 36 balls with three fours had class written all over it and once he was dismissed, the Indian innings went into a permanent slide.

For the addition of one extra run, India also lost Sidhu, trapped leg before by paceman Aaqib Javed (15 - 46 b, 2 x 4).

Javed also dismissed skipper Mohd Azharuddin (1) in a similar fashion soon after and returned impressive figures of two for 22 from seven overs with fellow quickie Mohammad Zahid (2/20) playing a fine supporting role.

The Indian batting was in stark contrast to the approach by Pakistan. Left-handed opener Saeed Anwar’s enterprising 58 set the tone for Inzamam-ul Haq’s solid 81 with able support from veteran Salim Malik (37) and Ijaz Ahmed (43) as they piled up 257 for five wickets in the allotted 50 overs.

Rahul Dravid and Nayan Mongia found little going their way and when the former played all over a yorker from Mohammad Zahid, for just nine runs, India had four of their top men gone for 62. The innings was now in the 19th over.

Hrishikesh Kanitkar joined Mongia and this association, more or less, ended whatever chances India had. The two added a mere 13 runs in nearly six overs. Kanitkar’s down-the-knee heave of leg-spinner Shahid Afridi was picked up by Ijaz Ahmed at backward point and the injured Jatin Paranjpe steered Saqlain Mushtaq to slip for one.

Mongia’s indecision resulted in Ajit Agarkar’s run out to a direct Ijaz Ahmed throw at the non-striker’s end Mongia pulled a short delivery from Salim Malik into the safe hands of skipper Aamir Sohail. His 38 came off 68 balls (3 x 4).

Ijaz Ahmed blasted an unbeaten 43 off 22 balls provided a late spark to the innings and Salim Malik hit a fine 37 as Pakistan started up from where they left in the second match and cantered to a big total.

Pakistan:
Anwar b Ganguly 58
Afridi lbw b Agarkar 0
Sohail lbw b Srinath 12
Inzamam b Agarkar 81
Malik b Prasad 37
Ijaz Ahmed not out 43
Moin Khan not out 4
Extras (lb-9, w-8, nb-5) 22
Total (for 5 wkts, 50 overs) 257
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-42, 3-127, 4-203, 5-214
Bowling: Javagal Srinath 10-2-52-1, Ajit Agarkar 10-1-59-2, S Ganguly 10-1-38-1, V. Prasad 10-0-51-0, Hrishikesh Kanitkar 6-0-31-0, Sunil Joshi 4-0-17-0.

India:
Ganguly run out (Saqlain) 23
Sidhu lbw b Aaquib 15
Mongia c Sohail b Malik 38
Azharuddin lbw b Aaquib 1
Dravid b Zahid 9
Kanitkar c Ijaz b Afridi 6
Paranjpe c Malik b Saqlain 1
Agarkar run out (Ijaz) 14
Joshi c Malik b Zahid 5
Srinath c Saqlain b Sohail 43
Prasad not out 3
Extras (b-6, lb-8, w-6, nb-2) 22
Total (all out in 46.2 overs) 180
Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-44, 3-46, 4-62, 5-75, 6-78, 7-112, 8-122, 9-140.
Bowling: Aaquib Javed 7-1-22-2, Azhar Mahmood 10-1-35-0, Mohammad Zahid 6.2-1-20-2, Saqlain Mushtaq 7-1-14-1, Salim Malik 3.4-0-30-1, Aamir Sohail 2.2-0-11-1, Shahid Afridi 10-0-34-1.

India cannot win like that
From Geoffrey Boycott

INDIA were brushed aside by a confident, even rampant Pakistan team. In the end, it wasn't a contest but it should have been! Winning the toss was an important factor because the dry pitch had sweated under the covers while it rained for a full day on Tuesday. The seam bowlers had a lively pitch to bowl on but as on Sunday in the 2nd match good balls were followed by poor deliveries. Sure the Pakistan batsmen had some luck as they played and missed but at cricket or any sport you make your own luck. It is impossible to create pressure on the batting side if bowlers keep giving batsmen ‘gift’ balls to hit. The scoreboard will keep rattling around the individual scores of the not out batsmen mount up and the fielders spread out. Suddenly, it is all too easy and the captain cannot gain any control.

Inzamam is just the guy to take advantage of bad balls. Whenever he got one he walloped it hard. In between he was imaginative with fine paddle sweeps or late cuts. With the field spread out even he was able to take easy singles and he is not known for running quick singles well but it was too easy. By the time he was out Pakistan had the Indian bowling by the throat and it was just a question of damage limitation. The three seamers — Srinath, Prasad and Agarkar — had no idea where to bowl or what fields to set. There were short balls, wide balls and full tosses with 42 runs coming off the last 3 overs. India cannot win matches like that. It was total disarray with no plan at all. Bowlers and captain were not on the same wavelength as Ijaz belted the "living daylights" out of the bowling.

When batsmen are going to hit out at everything in the last few overs the most difficult, even impossible, ball to hit for runs is a yorker. I saw only one bowled. It is not easy to bowl six yorkers an over but there has to be a fair amount bowled with the occasional slower ball. The key is to bowl straight and full. Even an attempted yorker that becomes a low full toss, but straight, is harder to score off than a length ball or short ball. Captains can set fields to full length deliveries that are straight. They have no chance with width and short of a length stuff.

It is an important part of the game to have bowlers who are mentally tough and skilled to bowl at the end of an innings when batsmen are going for boundaries. Unless India get a better plan and work out who are their best bowlers to bowl at the death then too many runs will be scored by opposing teams in the last few overs. Some bowlers are hopeless at trying to bowl yorkers.

Just because a fast bowler is good with the new ball it should never be assumed that he is the man to bowl at the end of an innings. In this game the bowlers were as much to blame as the inept batting display. Quite frankly Pakistan batted India out of the game and they were helped by some shocking bowling. — IMG

What boosted Rungta's confidence?
By Abhijit Chatterjee
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — The experiment of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to send two teams of "equal strength" to take part in the Commonwealth Games at Kaula Lumpur and the Sahara Cup at Toronto has failed miserably with the teams not faring well in either tournament.

While at Kuala Lumpur, where the discipline of cricket was introduced in the Commonwealth Games for the first time, India failed to enter the semi-finals after losing to Australia by a huge margin of 145 runs, after beating Canada and sharing points with Antigua in a tie hit by the weather. At Toronto, India, after winning the first match by six wickets mainly on the basis of a brilliant allround performance by Saurav Ganguly, lost the next two, the first by 51 runs and the second, played yesterday with Saurav Ganguly returning to the playing eleven after missing the second match, by 77 runs.

When the national selectors of the board met at Chennai early this month to pick the two squads most pundits were of the opinion that the "five wise men" had stretched their resources rather thin. However, the chairman of the national selection committee Kishan Rungta went on record to say that "we are lucky we have enough talent to pick two strong teams. The teams are capable of winning both tournaments."

The team to Kuala Lumpur was led by Ajay Jadeja, vice-captain of the senior squad, while the other leading players in the squad were Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and Robin Singh as also players like Debashish Mohanty and Harbajan Singh, who had been members of the national squad on earlier occasions.

For the Sahara Cup the leadership of the squad stayed with Mohammad Azharuddin while players like Saurav Ganguly, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Jagaval Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad were included in the team. But it was clear even then that players like Jyoti Yadav or Jatin Paranjpe were still not mature enough to take on a team like Pakistan.

It was, however, apparent, that while the team for the Commonwealth Games was weak in bowling the squad for the Sahara Cup was thin on batting with players like Rahul Dravid, Gagan Khoda, V.V.S. Laxman (all undoubtedly not cut for the one-day game) having to share the top batting slots along with Ganguly and the skipper himself. And with hardly any player coming good, the squad, at least so far, has failed to impress. With so much pressure on Saurav Ganguly and Mohammad Azharuddin they were not able to deliver, specially since the Pakistanis are totally keyed up for the contest.

There is no use crying over what has happened. What the BCCI could have done was to send the national squad to Toronto while the India "A" squad could have been fielded at Kuala Lumpur, a thing which Pakistan did. By doing so the players on the fringe of national selection would have been able to gauge what the competition is like at the top since Australia have fielded a near-total national squad at the Commonwealth Games.

Now the national selectors are scheduled to meet in Delhi on September 18 to pick the national squad for the tour of Zimbabwe where India are scheduled to play one Test and three one-dayers. The players who are picked for the tour of Zimbabwe and are now playing at Toronto will proceed for Zimbabwe directly from Canada while those from the squad for the Commonwealth Games, who have since returned home, will proceed from Mumbai.

It is apparent that players like Sachin Tendulkar, Ajay Jadeja, Robin Singh and Anil Kumble will be automatic choices for the tour of Zimbabwe it remains to be seen who all are axed from the team currently playing at Toronto.

Grant slashed for Special Olympics
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has pulled the rug from under the feet of the organising committee of the Special Olympic National Games by modifying the initially agreed grant to 50 per cent with less than a week to go for the commencement of the event.

The Union Ministry had initially agreed to give a grant of Rs 30 lakh for the conduct of this event, which basically aims at rehabilitation of mentally retarded and handicapped children in the mainstream through the stream of sports.

The organising committee had initially prepared a budget of Rs 71 lakh for the conduct of this event which will feature nearly 4,000 participants, not only from all over the country but a few other nations.

Of this projected budget, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had agreed to give a grant of Rs 30 lakh. Besides, the Chandigarh Administration promised all help, including a special grant of Rs 15 lakh, for the conduct of this event. Both Punjab and Haryana governments were also expected to pool in Rs 5 lakh each.

The organisers, a non-government organisation, volunteered to meet the deficit by raising donations from various sources, including industry, corporate and private sector.

But last week the organisers found themselves in a soup as the Ministry in a communication announced its decision to slash the promised grant by Rs 15 lakh without assigning any reason. This last minute slashing of grant has put the conduct of the Games in a difficult situation.

"They have pulled the carpet from under our feet. And the Ministry has chosen the 11th hour to do it," remarked one of the volunteers associated with the conduct of the Games.

"At present, nearly 4 per cent of the total population of the country is mentally retarded or handicapped. And this is the only way to bring these people into the mainstream by giving them an exposure through sports," he added.

It is not only the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, even the Punjab Government appears to be dragging its feet over the promised grant. The Punjab State Sports Council, sources reveal, has also expressed its inability to release any grant.

The stand of the Social Welfare Department and its Advisory Board appears to be in consonance with the State Sports Council on the plea that they cannot release any financial help for conduct of Special Olympic National Games.

This last-minute financial crisis notwithstanding, the organisers are determined to go ahead with the conduct of the Games on schedule from September 25.

The ball will be set rolling tomorrow with the start of journey of the Olympic flame from NIMH at Secunderabad. On September 19, the flame will be in Nagpur and reach Bhopal the same day. On September 19 after covering Bhopal it will travel to Gwalior and reach the Union Capital on September 21. It will arrive on September 23 at about 2.30 p.m. at The Tribune chowk in Chandigarh.

Jr aquatic nationals begin today
From Our Sports Reporter

LUDHIANA, Sept 17 — All arrangements have been made by the Punjab Swimming Association in collaboration with the local Municipal Corporation authorities here at the MC swimming pool where the 15th Sub-Junior and 25th Junior National Aquatic Championship for boys and girls will be conducted from September 18 to 23.

According to Mr Balraj Sharma, general secretary, PSA, the association was organising this mega after a gap on nine years. Last time the national competition was held here in 1989.

Twentyone teams comprising of about 620 swimmers (400 boys and 220 girls) from different states and union territories will battle it out in this championship. Fourteen medals in the individual events and four in the relays are up for grabs in the sub-junior section. Junior section 48 medals will be at stake in the individual events and eight in the relays, besides medals in waterpolo for junior boys as well as girls.

Shika Tandon and Reshma Millet from Karnataka and Richa Mishra from Delhi who have just returned from Bangalore after establishing many records in the Senior National Aquatic Championship are expected to hold centrestage here also.

Shikha Tandon, an 8th standard student and a sub-junior swimmer created a new national record in 400 m freestyle and Richa Sharma was declared the best swimmer. She clinched three gold medals and one silver.

In the junior section, holders Karnataka will go all out to retain the overall trophy which they bagged in the last nationals at Pune.

Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, Minister for Local Bodies, Punjab will inaugurate this six-day meet.

Tendulkar, Jadeja for Toronto

MUMBAI, Sept 17 (PTI) — India’s prolific run-getter Sachin Tendulkar and Commonwealth Games skipper Ajay Jadeja will at last fly early tomorrow morning to Toronto to reinforce the Indian cricket team for the remaining Sahara Cup one-dayers against arch rivals Pakistan.

Cricket board president Raj Singh Dungarpur said here today that the two cricketers had been cleared after going through the International Cricket Council (ICC) rules.

"Tendulkar will be flying from Mumbai while Jadeja will take a flight from Delhi. Both flights are scheduled to leave in the early hours tomorrow", he said.

"There was some confusion about the number of players we could send and the matter was sorted out after we went through the ICC rules book", Dungarpur said.

"The ticket bookings were done at Delhi and we are waiting for the tickets to be confirmed. Hopefully the two will be in time to play the remaining two ties," he said.

Asked whether the Pakistan Cricket Board had objected to BCCI’s plan of sending four players, Dungarpur answered in the negative.

"We have a very cordial relationship with our counterparts in Pakistan and they (Pakistan board) never objected anything. It was just that we had to go by the ICC guidance, which took some more time than expected," he said.

Pakistan are leading the five-match series 2-1 with two matches to go and the inclusion of Tendulkar and Jadeja might help India strengthen their batting, which looked pathetic in the last two matches.

Leg-spinner Anil Kumble and allrounder Robin Singh are the two to be left out.

Rafter donates US Open earnings

SYDNEY, Sept 17 (Reuters) — Australian tennis star Pat Rafter has donated a third of his US Open winnings to help sick children.

Rafter, who beat fellow Australian Mark Philippoussis in New York on Sunday to win his second US Open title, handed over cheque for a Brisbane hospital.

Rafter secretly donated to fund a leisure room for terminally ill children at the same hospital when he beat Briton Greg Rusedski to win the US Open last year.

"I wanted to keep this thing anonymous because there are so many other great people who do this sort of charity work," Rafter said.

"I didn’t want it to be seen as some sort of publicity stunt."

Paes, Bhupathi for Heineken Open

MUMBAI, Sept 17 (PTI) — Indian Davis Cuppers, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, are among a hoard of tennis stars who will be participating in the Heineken Open to be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang from October 10 to 18.

R K Singh of ESPN (tournament organisers) told reporters here today the two Indians would rub shoulders with world number two Marcelo Rios, world number 14 Goran Ivanisevic, world number 20 Michael Chang and doubles specialist Mark Woodforde.

The total prize money in the ATP championship series is US $ 700,000 the winner in the singles event will take home $ 107,000 and 250 ATP points while the runner-up will be richer by $ 56,100 and 175 points", he added.

The losing semi finalists will collect $ 29,600 and 100 points each.

This will be an important tournament for the Indians who are aiming for the top spot in the doubles. The Indian duo, ranked number three in the world, stand to gain 250 ATP points and the teams’ top prize of $ 46,000 if they manage to win the doubles event, Singh said.

The runner-up in the doubles will get $ 24,470 plus 175 points while the team losing in the semi finals will collect $ 12,820 and 100 points, he added.

7 teams for Atray cricket meet
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — Seven teams will take part in the fifth J.P. Atray Memorial Cricket Tournament for the ACC Trophy which will be held at the PCA Stadium, Mohali, from September 23 to 28.

The participating teams have been divided into two pools. Pool "A" consists of Oil & Natural Gas Commission, Punjab State Electricity Board, Punjab Cricket Club and PCA Colts while Pool "B" comprises of Bishnoi Cricket Club, PUNCOM XI and Chandigarh XI. Bishnoi Club by virtue of being two times runners-up in successive years, have been given a bye.

On the opening day — September 23 — PUNCOM XI will take on Chandigarh XI. The following day Punjab Cricket Club will play PSEB. In the last quarterfinal on September 25, ONGC will take on PCA Colts.

The semifinals will be held on September 26 and 27 while the final is slated for September 28.

The tournament, which carries a cash prize of over Rs 1 lakh, will see many Test stars, including Manoj Prabhakar, Ajay Sharma and Chetan Sharma wielding their willow along with a host of Ranji players from Delhi, Haryana and Punjab.

The tournament is being held in the memory of the late J.P. Atray, Additional DGP, Haryana.

Harmeet Kahlon to be honoured
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — The Chandigarh Golf Association and the Punjab Golf Association will honour India's international amateur golfer Harmeet Kahlon of Chandigarh who has been conferred with the prestigious Arjuna Award for his outstanding performance in the field of golf, both in India and abroad.

During the function the associations will also honour players who have been seeded in the junior and sub-junior categories for their performance in the championships conducted at Chandigarh and Patiala, respectively.

Mr Rajan Kashyap, president, Chandigarh Olympic Association will preside over the function and give away the prizes.

Manjit to lead Gurdaspur
From Our Correspondent

BATALA, Sept 17 — Manjit Singh Lal of Batala will lead the Gurdaspur district Katoch team in the Punjab state inter-district senior cricket team championship for the Katoch Shield, Mr Shambu Dayal Sharma, chairman, Gurdaspur district senior cricket team selection committee, said here yesterday. Jai Shiv Balgu and Ashwani Banta will accompany the team as coach and manager, respectively.

Other members of the team are: Jafar Nadem (vice captain), Vivek Sharma, Gagan Bajwa, Satwinder Malhi, Gurpreet Singh Walia, Harpinder Pal Singh, Rakesh Kumar, Mannu Juneja, Naeem Ahmad, Sumit Bhardwaj, Satinder Choltra, Gagan Kohli and Tariq Mahajan.

Patiala TT panel
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Sept 17 — Mr Viswajeet Khanna, Deputy Commissioner, Patiala, was elected president and Mr J.K. Bhardwaj was elected honorary secretary of the Patiala Table Tennis Association at a general body meeting of the association held here yesterday.

The other office-bearers are : vice-presidents — Mr Neeraj Vats, Mr Rakesh Walia and Mr J.R. Singh, joint secretary — Mr Sandepan, finance secretary — Mr Pardeep Kumar, and press secretary— Mr Jitendra Kishore.