Monday, April 12, 1999
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S P O R T | Monday, April 12, 1999 |
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India storm into final SHARJAH, April 11 — A spirited India defended a modest total with tigerish resolve again to score a thrilling nine-run win over England with just seven balls to spare and storm into the final of the Coca Cola Cup Triangular Cricket Tournament here tonight.
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Anand settles for a draw |
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Baboor, Poulami reign supreme MUMBAI, April 11 — National champion and world number 72 Chetan Baboor of Indian Oil toyed with his teammate and fourth seeded Arjun Datta before crushing him 21-17, 21-13, 21-15 in the men’s singles final of the Rs 1.75 lakh prize money India Cup Table Tennis Tournament here today. Black lifts Gold Flake
trophy 43 golfers for Ladies Open
Abdul prevails over Bhim Singh Dragomir,
Seles enter final Pak
lift Azlan Shah Cup Thipsay
clinches second spot |
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India storm into final SHARJAH, April 11 (PTI) — A spirited India defended a modest total with tigerish resolve again to score a thrilling nine-run win over England with just seven balls to spare and storm into the final of the Coca Cola Cup Triangular Cricket Tournament here tonight. In yet another collected showing after stand-in skipper Ajay Jedeja's unbeaten 74 and Rahul Dravid's 63 helped them to only 239 for six in 50 overs on electing to bat. India again showed dynamism in bowling and fielding to bowl out England for 230 in 48.5 overs at the Sharjah stadium tonight. Left-handed opener Nick Knight (84-93 b, 7x4, 4x6)) gave the early momentum and Graham Thorpe (79-88 b, 7x4, 1x6) threatened to pull the match away from India, but paceman Venkatesh Prasad (3/35), declared Man of the Match, and leg spinner Anil Kumble 2/28) led the way with vital run outs as back up. The second win in three matches propelled India into a final meeting against arch-rivals Pakistan (two wins) with two league matches left. But the result knocked England out of reckoning as they have lost all their three matches, including two to India in succession. Jedeja, once again deputising for the injured Mohd Azharuddin, brilliantly rotated the attack despite the second string bowlers coming in for harsh treatment. England fought till the end, but Joshi had Thorpe stumped in the 48th over as India effectively sealed the issue before Angus Fraser was run out in the penultimate over to end England's fight.
India once again failed to cash in on winning the toss as their subdued batting continued. But Rahul Dravid (63 - 92 b, 6x4) steadied the innings in the company of pinch-hitter Javagal Srinath, who made 28 off only 29 balls. Jadeja then played a captain’s knock by top-scoring with an unbeaten 74 (67 b, 7x4) as 71 runs came in the last 10 overs. The England seamers kept up a tight length backed by sharp fielding as boundaries were at a premium. Indian opening bowlers Prasad and Srinath claimed an early wicket each and Kumble claimed the vital scalp of Graeme Hick to leave England gasping at four for 66 in the 17th over. But Knight, who smote Kumble twice and Joshi once for sixes over midwicket, kept England on course and his 59-run fifth wicket stand with Thorpe put pressure on India. But Kumble effected the breakthrough by bowling Knight to make it 125 for five in the 29th over. But Thorpe and Fairbrother revived the chase with a breezy 64-run seventh wicket partnership as England reached within striking distance. But Prasad, who once again bowled superbly, gave India the breakthroughs as he bowled both lefthanders Fairbrother (16) and Ian Austin (2) with leg cutters off successive overs. Thorpe pushed for a final assault in the company of Darren Gough (20), but Joshi vindicated Jadeja’s faith of persevering with him as he cleverly had Thorpe stumped in the 48th over to leave England at 219 for nine. Gough sent Srinath over midwicket for a huge six, but two balls later Angus Fraser was run out in England's third mix up of the inning as India completed the thrilling win. England meet Pakistan tomorrow. SCOREBOARD ENGLAND |
Shane Warne keen to resurrect career ST VINCENT, April 11 (Reuters) — Axed Australian legspinner Shane Warne believes his changed approach to one-day cricket will help resurrect his once spectacular career. That career plummeted to its lowest depth last week when he was dropped from the team for fourth and final Test. But Warne will return to the Australian line-up for the seven-match one-day series which starts here today. Warne reiterated the claim he made in the wake of his Test sacking that he would consider his cricket future after the World Cup and claimed he was not yet over the disappointment of losing his Test berth. "It still hurts," he said. "It’s still very, very disappointing but as far as I’m concerned I’m using these seven one-dayers to get pumped up for the World Cup. "But if over the next few months I can’t get back to the form that I was used to over the last seven or eight years, then I’ll contemplate my future." After a poor test series in which he claimed just two wickets from three matches, Warne will resume in his former role as Australia’s key bowler given that front-line paceman Glenn McGrath will be rested and in-form seamer Adam Dale remains in doubt because of a virus. Warne, 30, said that although he faced a challenge to retain his Test berth, he did not believe his one-day career was over. "I think I’ve done pretty well and my record in the one-day format speaks for itself," said Warne, who has taken 169 wickets from 108 one-day international appearances. "I’ve had a pretty good career so far. I’m not looking to finish my one-day career, that’s for sure, and I think in the last few years I’ve learned how to bowl in one-day cricket. "I might go for 20 or 30 runs but if I break a vital partnership, then that’s what’s required," he said. Warne captained Australia in all but two of their 12 one-day internationals last summer against England and Sri Lanka while regular skipper Steve Waugh was sidelined with a hamstring injury. He will resume his vice-captaincy role now that Waugh has recovered. Warne won plaudits for his aggressive and imaginative captaincy and infectious enthusiasm which permeated through to the less experienced members of the Australian squad. He hopes Waugh will embrace some of those initiatives during the upcoming series and into the World Cup which begins in England next month. "Hopefully Stephen sees my advice as pretty valuable. I enjoyed the captaincy during the one-dayers in Australia and thought I did a pretty good job and also thought it brought out the best in me," he said. "I think we
complement each other as captain and vice-captain.
He’s the quiet reserved type of person and I’m
the motivator to get everyone going." |
Anand settles for a draw DOS HERMANAS, April 11 (PTI) — Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, recovering from two defeats in his first three games, settled for a quick draw against FIDE world champion Anatoly Karpov in a drab fourth round of the Dos Hermanas Chess Tournament which saw all the games ending in stalemates. The world number two Indian, who was stunned by Hungarian GM Judit Polgar in the first match and then lost to Vladimir Kramnik in the previous round, has only one point from four games and was languishing at the bottom with Russian Peter Svidler after the fourth round yesterday. England’s Michael Adams maintained his lead with three points from four games, despite a 31-move draw Miguel Illescas of Spain from a ruy lopez game. Kramnik, who was also held to a draw by Viktor Korchnoi, Karpov and Illescas following half a point behind. Karpov, who played caro-kann defence with black, had no trouble getting half-a-point from the Indian. Anand, on bad slump after a brilliant season last year during which he clinched seven major titles and the coveted Chess Oscar, was also not in the mood to push for win and made the offer after just 25 moves, with not much material on the board. The two defeats in the first three rounds seems to have affected Anand, known for his consistent play which has seen him transform into a potential world champion from a brash young chess player, and will need time to recover. But with only five more rounds to go, Anand would have to make his move soon or he could end up in the lower half of the placings, something which has never happened to him. The shortest game of the fourth round was played between veteran Korchnoi and Kramnik. The entire game lasted just about half and hour and the players agreed to the draw in the opening itself. The duo went through the motions for 13 moves before leaving the table with half-a-point each. Boris Gelfand of Belarus accepted Polgar’s truce offer after an English opening in a game then went to 27 moves while Bulgaria’s Vaselin Topalov and Peter Svidler drew their game in 38 moves. Results: Illescas (Esp) drew with Adams (Eng); Topalov (Bul) drew with Svidler (Rus); Gelfand (Blr) drew with Polgar (Hun); Korchnoi (Swz) drew with Kramnik (Rus); Anand (Ind) drew with Karpov (Rus). Standings after fourth
round: 1. Adams (3 points from four games); 2-4 Karpov,
Illescas and Kramnik (2.5 from four games); 5. Topalov (2
off four); 6-7. Korchnoi and Gelfand (1.5 off three
games); 8. Polgar (1.5 off four); 9. Anand and Svidler
(1.0 off four games). |
Baboor, Poulami reign supreme MUMBAI, April 11 (PTI) — National champion and world number 72 Chetan Baboor of Indian Oil toyed with his teammate and fourth seeded Arjun Datta before crushing him 21-17, 21-13, 21-15 in the men’s singles final of the Rs 1.75 lakh prize money India Cup Table Tennis Tournament here today. In the women’s singles final, national champion and top seed Poulami Ghatak of Bengal pipped fourth seeded Anindita Chakraborty of Railways 16-12, 21-18, 22-24, 21-13, 21-16 to take home the winner’s cheque of Rs 50,000. Top seeded Baboor had to struggle in the morning to pip third seed and former national champion Arup Basak in the semi-finals before recording a hard fought 21-9, 26-24, 14-21, 13-21, 21-19 while Dutta had shocked second seeded S. Raman in five games. In fact, it was a brilliant rally by Dutta who had dropped two games at 18-12, 19-21 before recovering to pip the southpaw and former national champion Raman 18-21, 19-21, 21-9, 21-18, 21-18. Baboor was richer by Rs 50,000 while Dutta had to be content with Rs 25,000 and the losing semi-finalists took home Rs 7500 each. In the women’s
semi-finals in the morning, Anindita had beaten N.R. Indu
of Indian Oil 15-21, 21-15, 15-21, 21-14, 21-10 while
Poulami subdued third seeded Mouma Das of Oil India
19-21, 21-12, 21-13, 23-21. The women’s losing
semifinalists took home Rs 5000 each while Anindita was
richer by Rs 15000. |
Black lifts Gold Flake trophy CHENNAI, April 11 (PTI) — Favourite Byron Black of Zimbabwe capped his superb show here scalping Rainer Schuttler of Germany in the final to lift the glittering ATP Gold Flake Trophy here this evening. Black disposed of Schuttler 6-4 1-6 6-3 in 99 minutes to bag the winners purse of $ 58,000 and 160 ATP points. While the German collected $ 34,000 and 115 points. The fourth seeded Zimbabwean, who displayed excellent tennis and scalped big names like India’s Leander Paes in the pre-quarterfinal, Richard Fromberg of Australia and Dutch John Van Lottum in the semifinals, played to a plan and despite a mid-match slump took the title as expected. As the match commenced it looked as if Black would win it in straight sets. The Zimbabwean who had impressed all at Chennai broke the German in the very third game with a superb low backhand return. Black played to a perfect plan of staying at the baseline and then rushing to the net for winners. The first set which lasted for 32 minutes was marked by rallies wherein both players matched each other. Black, who was broken back in the fourth game, again broke back in the seventh and won the set at 6-4. In the second, Schuttler, ranked 71 in ATP Tour and seven years younger to Black at 23, changed the complexion of the game. The transformation was so superbly brought about from the very first game, which went to deuce thrice before Schuttler won it. Like the first set, the
second was also marked by rallies but the German came up
with crisp volleys and perfect passing shots. Black
suddenly looked out of steam and losing concentration as
Schuttler served and volleyed well. He broke Black in the
fourth and sixth games to upset all calculations and
wrest the set 6-1. |
43 golfers for Ladies Open CHANDIGARH, April 11 — It will be a four-day exposure to very warm and windy conditions starting on Tuesday, when 43 lady golfers sweat it out for the nine trophies at stake in the seventh Chandigarh Open Amateur Ladies Spice Golf Championship. With the temperature crossing 40 degrees centigrade, the competition is expected to be a real test of endurance. And the favourites are local girl Parnita Grewal and Delhi's Shruti Khanna. Both are just back after representing India in the Queen Sirikit Cup at New Zealand. It should not be difficult for these two. But then the Chandigarh Golf Club has come up with some very young and promising lady golfers and the four days ahead will see them rubbing their shoulders with top lady golfers. But the person who will be missed is Anjali Chopra, last year's winner. Probably examinations are keeping her away from the Chandigarh Golf Club this year. This year's tournament is all the more important as the Ladies Golf Union has deciding to select a junior and subjunior team for the Asian Pacific Junior Golf Championship on the performance of the players in this tournament. The Lady Captain, Mrs Dalbir Sahi, and her committee members answered questions at a press conference here today. She was all praise for Mr Sean Dexter, Managing Director, Spice Telecom, Mohali, for coming forward to sponsor this prestigious tournament. The entries confirmed so far are 30 from Chandigarh, nine from Delhi, two from Chandi Mandir, and one each from Chennai and Patiala. The golf club greens are playing fine. The weather is very warm, but the windy conditions do tend to bring down the temperature. The Ladies Golf Union who will be watching the performance included Ms Nandita Rao (north zone representative) and Ms Champika Syal (convener). The ceremonial tee off will be done by Mr Sean Dexter at 7.30 a.m. on April 13. The prizes will be given away on April 16 by Mr Rajan Kashyap, Finance Secretary, Punjab. The prizes at stake are
Spice Challenge Bowl (0 to 18) handicap), Chandigarh
Ladies Challenge (0 to 18), Grewal Salver (0 to 24), Bawa
Gill Trophy (19 to 29), Rani Jagdish Kaur Cup (19 to 29
handicap), Meters and Instruments Trophy (30 to 36),
Ladies Governor's Cup for Senior Golfers, for Junior
Golfers (below 21 years), for Subjunior Golfers (below 15
years), Stableford Competition (final round) and Lucky
Partners against Bogey Competition. |
Abdul prevails over Bhim Singh ANANDPUR SAHIB, April 11 — On the third day of the World Khalsa Wrestling Competitions, Abdul Majid of Pakistan got the better of Bhim Singh of Rajasthan in the open category (plus 85 kg) at the Charan Ganga Stadium here this evening. The wrestling competitions have drawn a very warm response from the spectators here. The Majid-Bhim contest was a see-saw struggle throughout. Though Bhim Singh, dressed in blue costume, tried his best to subdue the Pakistan fancied wrestler but every time Bhim Singh had him in the grip, the Pakistani wrestler wriggled out of the tight situations with sheer power and superior technique, who won the bout on points. The way Majid was grappling, it seemed he is a serious contender for the Vishwa Khalsa Kesri award. In the same category, Gulam Sabir of UP defeated Bansi Lal of Delhi on points while Bhagat Singh of Uttar Pradesh also achieved victory against Surinder Nath of Haryana on points. Pakistan's wrestlers were also in limelight for the Bhai Daya Singh award (69 kg to 85 kg). In the first bout today, Muhammed Umar of Pakistan displayed good stamina and technique to prevail upon Nishant of Delhi. The former won the bout on points. However, in the same weight category it was no good outing for Joginder Pal of the UK who went down to Sajjan Pal of Haryana, also on points. In category from 54 kg to 69 kg, Rajesh Kumar of Rajasthan prevailed upon Ram Pal of Punjab on points while in the same category, Barjinder Singh of Haryana won the bout against Raj Singh of Chandigarh on points. In another bout Muhammed Ali of Pakistan beat Rakesh Kumar of Punjab on points. Both Sajjan Kumar and Jai Bhagwan showed great control in winning the individual tent pegging event in the Khalsa Tercentenary International Sports Festival here today. The two riders shared the first prize. The third spot in the event went to Talwinder Singh of Punjab Police. The fourth spot was also shared jointly by J.P. Masih and Jagdish Singh of Punjab Police. In the tug-of-war competition, Haryana beat Chawe (Ldh) 2-0, PSEB defeated Roopnagar 2-0 and Jalandhar took the better of Kokri Kalan 2-0. In other matches Haryana beat PSEB 2-0, while Kokri Kalan defeated Fatehgarh Sahib 2-1. In other fixtures, Gurdaspur outplayed PSEB 2-0 while Namdhari Club, Bhaini Sahib, beat Khosa Randhir 2-0. Kabaddi also drew a lot of applause from the spectators. Such was the enthusiasm of the people that they were swarming all round the arena. Whenever a raider scored a point, it invited great clapping from the rural crowd which had gathered in thousands. There was a fine contest between Punjab Yellow and England teams. But it was only after a great struggle that Punjab boys had to chalk out victory over their rivals by the 41-21 margin. At half time Punjab were leading 30-15. The second contest was slated between a Pakistani side and Shere Punjab Club, California, USA. But because the Pakistani did not report to the ground, the Shere Punjab Club were declared the winners. The sports competitions in all games have been a big draw with the people here. Thousands of people watched with interest competitions in various games. Though it must also be said there is no great planning since all competitions go side by side with most people obscuring the view of other spectators. For instance tug-of-war competition was being organised in front of the stage where wrestling bouts were in progress. Then on the left side of the Charan Ganga Stadium there was kabaddi competition going on. The Punjab Chief Minister also showed a lot of interest today as he watched the various competitions going on for three hours, just glued to the seat. A number of dignitaries were also present on the occasion. The main centre of attraction was former India cricket captain Bishan Singh Bedi in a cream colour turban and a T-shirt. He was accompanied on the stage by Dinesh Khanna. The former Asian badminton champion and also the hockey international Charan Singh. The three were also taken to the kabaddi teams for introduction. Later they were also honoured by the Punjab Chief Minister. Some others who were honoured included Jagjit Singh and Major Singh (hockey), Dalbir Singh and Sandeep Singh (weightlifting) and Gurdev Singh (football). The sports competitions
will continue for two more days. |
Dragomir, Seles enter final AMELIA ISLAND (USA), April 11 (Reuters) — Anna Kournikova was again derailed in her bid for her first WTA Tour singles title as the Russian teenager fell to unseeded Romanian Ruxandra Dragomir in the semifinals of the Bausch & Lomb Championships last night. Dragomir halted the ninth-seeded Kournikova’s impressive run on the Amelia Island clay by scoring a 6-3 7-5 victory that set up a final against second seed Monica Seles, who annihilated former champion Conchita Martinez 6-0 6-1. The 38th-ranked Dragomir, owner of four career WTA Tour titles, became only the second unseeded player in the tournament’s 20-year history to reach the final, joining Carling Bassett, who went on to lose to Chris Evert in 1983. Kournikova, by far the tour’s highest profile player never to win a title, looked on her way to ridding herself of that distinction. After reaching the Hilton Head final last week - where she lost to Martina Hingis - Kournikova continued playing some of the best tennis of her career, posting decisive upsets of top seed Lindsay Davenport and sixth seed Patty Schnyder here. But Dragomir rallied from down a break in each set to halt the 17-year-old Russian glamour girl’s title quest. "I mixed up my game a lot and she doesn’t like that," said Dragomir, who won five consecutive games after falling behind 0-2 to seize control of the first set. Dragomir, 26, recovered from a 1-3 deficit in the second set, which featured five consecutive service breaks before the Romanian closed out the match by holding serve at love. "I probably tried to finish points too quick because I didn’t want to do a lot of running," said Kournikova, who pulled out of the doubles with a minor hip injury. While Kournikova was enjoying more than her share of the spotlight this week, Seles has quietly dismantled her opponents, dropping a total of nine games in four wins. Her lopsided dismissal of Martinez took just 44 minutes and equalling the worst defeat of the Spaniard’s career - a beating by Seles at the 1989 Virginia Slims Championships by the same score. Martinez, who won this tournament in 1995, managed to win a mere 21 points in the match. The former Wimbledon champion was so frustrated by her inability to give Seles a match that when she finally won her lone game, she raised her hands in a mock gesture of triumph. "I just tried to go
in there and put pressure on her. I’ve been playing
more consistent lately and making less errors," said
Seles, who has beaten Martinez in 15 of their 16 career
meetings. The 25-year-old Spaniard picked up pace in the middle of the first set and smoothly downed Golmard, who appeared to be suffering from an injury. Costa will play either
No. 2 seed Todd Martin of the USA or Chile’s
third-seeded Marcelo Rios, who meet in the other
semifinal. Two unseeded players, Hungarian Rita Kuti Kis and Slovakian Katarina Srebotnik, will battle for the women’s title after advancing on comfortable two-set victories. Kuti Kis, who knocked out top-seed Anke Huber of Germany in a second-round match, beat Argentina’s Mariana Diaz Oliva 6-4, 6-2. Srebotnik defeated Bulgarian Lubomira Bacheva 7-5, 6-4. The Estoril Open is a combined ATP and WTA clay court event. The winner of the
men’s tournament will walk away with $ 84,000 and
190 tournament points. In the women’s tournament,
part of the WTA Tour for the first time, the champion
takes $ 22,000 and 110 points. |
Pak lift Azlan Shah Cup KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 (PTI) — Pakistan rallied to beat South Korea 3-1 to lift the ninth Sultan Azlan Shah Cup at the National Hockey Stadium here last night. Beaten twice by South Korea in the last six months, at the Champions Trophy in Lahore and the Bangkok Asian Games, Pakistan exacted sweet revenge with a powerful display in the second half, reports Xinhua. Sohail Abbas scored the equaliser for Pakistan through a penalty corner in the 30th minute to make sure the scoreline was tied on 1-1 at halftime. After the change of ends, Pakistan took the lead through Muhammad Saqlain in the 61st minute and three minutes later Mohammed Shahbaz put the issued beyond doubt. The 21-year-old Sohail emerged the top scorer in the tournament with 12 goals and was named player of the tournament. Earlier, Germany, last year’s beaten finalists, avenged their preliminary loss to Canada defeating them 3-2 to finish third. Germany lost 1-2 to Canada in the preliminary round here, reports Xinhua. In the other match, Malaysia took the fifth place after Shaiful Azli scored the winning goal to give the hosts a 2-1 win over New Zealand. The playoff match was
Malaysia’s first win in the tournament after losing
all five matches in the preliminary round. |
Gebrselassie gets UN post ADDIS ABABA, April 11 (AFP) — Ethiopia’s 10,000 metres Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie has been named the United Nation’s Goodwill Ambassador for Development in Ethiopia. The appointment, aimed at ridding his country of poverty, was reported here yesterday in the Ethiopian Herald, a government newsletter. In March, 25-year-old
Gebrselassie, who holds the world outdoor records for
5,000 and 10,000 metres, confirmed his pre-eminent
position as a distance running legend when he took world
indoor gold in the 1500 and 3000 metres in Japan last
month. |
Thipsay clinches second spot NAGPUR, April 11 (PTI) — Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay defeated international master Tejas Bakre to clinch the second spot in the Bharat Petroleum 36th National "A" Chess Championship here today. K Sasikiran had already annexed the title on Friday with one round to go. Thipsay collected 12 points. Bakre played a side variation in the Spanish opening, but Thipsay, who has a lot of experience with black pieces in this opening managed to confuse Bakre with a tricky move. Bakre’s game slowed down in the zaitsev variation which resulted in Thipsay having no problems in the early middle-game. At the appropriate moment, Thipsay opened up the centre and forced an endgame which was superior due to white doubled pawns on the kingside. Bakre was forced to give up a pawn and seek refuge in an rook ending but could not save the game against Thipsay’s technically perfect play. There was a two-way tie for third place between IM Abhijit Kunte and IM-Elect G.B. Prakash with both players finishing on 11 points, one point behind Thipsay. Prakash agreed to a quick draw with K. Sasikiran to ensure a berth in the Indian team. Kunte could have finished clear third had he succeeded in winning a clearly advantageous position against V. Sarvanan, outplaying Sarvanan in the benoni defence. Kunte won a pawn and simplified the position to reach a winning rook and bishop ending. However, he drifted in the ending in stead of evolving a concrete plan. As a result, Sarvanan was able to regroup his pieces and Kunte decided to propose a draw which was accepted by Sarvanan. IM D.V. Prasad, who had started the tournament badly, came bounced back with his spirited play. Today he outplayed T.S. Ravi and managed to finish fifth. Prasad played sharply against the alapin but could not achieve more than equality. The game appeared to be heading for a draw but Prasad played resourcefully and kept on creating chances for himself. Ravi finally succumbed in knight ending and lost the game in 43 moves. IM R.B. Ramesh suffered a loss against IM P. Konguvel and failed to finish in the top six. Ramesh required just a draw in the last round for selection into the Indian team but his opponent had some chances of qualifying. Konguvel played very sharply after adopting the accelerated dragon. But both were guilty of slip-ups. It was Ramesh who made the last mistake and had to suffer a loss after having played brilliantly for most of the championship. This result brought about a three-way tie for the sixth place amongst Sarvanan, Ramesh and Konguvel. The tie was resolved with the application of koya system. It was Saravanan's lucky day and a number of results came out in his favour, placing him sixth in the championship. The final round results: K. Sasikiran (13) drew with G.B. Prakash (11), Tejas Bakre (6) lost to P.M. Thipsay (12), Abhijit Kunte (11) drew with V. Saravanan (10), T.S. Ravi (7) lost to D.V. Prasad (10.5), R.B. Ramesh (10) lost to P. Konguvel (10), Neelotpal Das (8.5) beat Anup Deshmukh (6.5), Suvrajit Saha (7), drew with R.G. Hegde (6.5), S.K. Rathore (5) lost to N.K. Mishra (7), V. Koshy (6) drew with Shankar Roy (6). First six placings: (1)
K. Sasikiran, (2) P.M. Thipsay, (3) Abhijit Kunte, (4)
G.B. Prakash, (5) D.V. Prasad, (6) V. Saravanan. |
Punjab lose by 7 wickets AMRITSAR, April 11 (UNI) — Though Punjab managed to avoid the humiliation of an innings defeat, they, however, had no aces up their sleeves to stop defending champions Karnataka from steam rolling them by seven wickets and entering the finals of the Ranji Trophy at the Gandhi Grounds here today. The victory for the defending champions, which was never in doubt after they had packed off Punjab for a mere 90 runs in the first innings, came a few minutes before the tea interval on the third day. The winning run came off the bat of Vijay Bhardwaj who took his tally of runs in the Current Ranji season to 1119 after today's game. He had broken Martin Jacobs record of 1037 runs scored in a single season in Karnataka's first innings. After dismissing Punjab for 322 runs in the second innings soon after the lunch interval, Karnataka requiring 91 runs for victory completed the task for the loss of three wickets. The Karnataka victory was delayed as a result of some rear guard action by the overnight not out batsmen Amit Sharma and Sarandeep Singh who put on 119 runs for the seventh wicket. All credit to the Punjab tailenders who gave valuable support to Amit Sharma to help their side avoid an innings defeat which at one stage yesterday looked a certainty after they had lost six wickets with just 137 runs on the board. Resuming at 190 for six, Amit Sharma and local lad Sarandeep showed their frontline batsmen that Doda Ganesh and company could be tackled easily. The pint sized Amit Sharma who had failed in the earlier games attacked the Karnataka bowlers hitting 80 runs studded with one six and ten fours before being adjudges leg before wicket to spinner Anand Katti. Katti also picked up the wickets of Sarndeep (46) and Navdeep Singh (25), while Ganesh claimed the wicket of Harbhajan (18) to take his match tally to eight and his seasons tally to 57. He is the leading wicket taker in the current Ranji season. Karnataka began the victory chase through skipper Somasunder and J. Arun Kumar and wrapped off the game 15 minutes before the tea break. While Somasunder (33) and Shiriguppi (16) fell to Harbhajan, Arun Kumar (06) was bowled by Sandeep Sharma. Vijay Bhardwaj, Karnatak's most prolific scorer in the current season, remained unbeaten on 30 while V.A. Vijay remained not out on nine. Punjab skipper Rathore latter admitted that their batting let them down, particularly in the first innings. A target of 250 plus runs would have been difficult for Karnataka to achieve in the fourth innings, he opined. Scoreboard |
MP take 1st innings lead HYDERABAD, April 11 (PTI) — A brilliant century by overnight batsman Devendra Bundela (113) and his 78-run fifth wicket stand with skipper Chandrakant Pandit (37) enabled Madhya Pradesh gain a vital 57-run first innings lead over hosts Hyderabad on the third-day of their semifinal here today. Hyderabad were struggling at 57 for 2 in their second innings when stumps were drawn. Resuming on their overnight total of 172 for 3, Madhya Pradesh added 165 runs before being all out. Hyderabad began their second innings on a disastrous note and were 57 for 2 in 25 overs. At the draw of stumps Venka Pratap (26) and M.V. Sridhar (29) were batting. Earlier, Hyderabad scored 280 in their first innings. Bundela’s century came off 315 balls in 417 minutes and included 14 boundaries, after he resumed on his overnight 48. Kanwaljit Singh was the most successful bowler for Hyderabad, claiming five wickets while Narenderpal Singh and Venkatapathy Raju claimed two each. Scoreboard |
Badminton seminar concludes CHANDIGARH, April 11 — On the concluding day of the three-day seminar of the All-India Badminton Coaches organised by the Badminton Coaches Federation of India here at the Sector 42, Sports Complex, Mr TPS Puri, the IBF expert, stressed on the psychological training and the physiological preparation of a player implying that it is the duty of the coach to motivate players in that direction. Mr Puri emphasised that the performance of the badminton players was dependent on the mental preparation and the concentration during the match. In the open session, a lot of queries were asked by the parents, coaches and players on the tactics, sports medicines and injuries and the rules and the laws governing the game. The enthusiasts raised interesting questions regarding the winning aspect for any player who sometimes loses at crucial moment. Col Raminder Singh, Director, Punjab Sports Department, was the chief guest. In his speech he advised the coaches to remain updated as they are responsible for the end product. He later announced a grant of Rs 10000 to the association and promised further help in holding such clinics. Col Raminder also elaborated in the scheme of the Punjab Sports Department concerning special incentives to the players and the coaches.
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Convincing win for PSB CALCUTTA, April 11 (UNI) — Punjab and Sind Bank steamrolled City Sports Club of Lahore 6-0, while Army Service Corps edged past Calcutta Port Trust 1-0 in the quarterfinal league matches of the Beighton Cup here today. The first match witnessed the bankteam dominating the proceedings right from word go. They could have romped home with a bigger margin, had they utilised chances galore. The first half, however, was goalless. While former Olympian Sanjeev Kumar banged three, Baljit Singh Saini, Harpreet Singh and Vikramjit Singh scored one goal each in the second half. In the second match of
the day, Ajay Laskar fired the all important salvo to
fashion the victory for the armymen against the port
trust. |
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Gurbinder elected CAWBA chief CHANDIGARH, April 11 (BOSR) — Mrs Gurbinder Kaur Chahal and Mr PS Brar, have been elected as president and secretary, respectively of the Chandigarh Amateur Women Boxing Association (CAWBA) at a general body meeting held here last evening. The newly-constituted body will hold first Chandigarh State Women Boxing Championship in July this year. The other office bearers are: vice president: Mrs R.Chaudhary, Mrs Khushinder Sharma, Mrs Asha Sharma and Mr Satwant Singh jt. secretaries — Mr Satpal and Mr Jaspal Singh, and finance secretary — Mr Jasbir Singh. Inter-school meet CHANDIGARH, April 11
(BOSR) — Sri Guru Gobind Singh Senior Secondary
School, Sector 35 will hold an inter-school volleyball
and kho kho tournament on the occasion of tercentenary
celebration of the birth of Khalsa in the school premises
from April 15 to 17. The entries close on April 14. |
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