Confident Lankans leave for England COLOMBO, April 24 — Motivated by the last-minute cough counselling to boost their sagging morale and charged up with intense training under foreign coachs, a full-strength Sri Lankan team today left for England confident of retaining the cricket World Cup.

Lanka have edge on Nepal
MARGAO, April 24 — Sri Lanka holds a definite edge as they take on Nepal in group ‘B’ clash of the South Asian Football Federation Football Championship at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here tomorrow.

Security to be beefed up for one-dayers
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 24 — Security will be tightened at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown for the final one-day games between West Indies and Australia to prevent a repeat of the pitch invasion which marred Wednesday’s match in Guyana.

Bangladesh trounce Pak
MARGAO, April 24 — Dominating major part of the match, Bangladesh scored an emphatic 4-0 win over Pakistan at Nehru Stadium here today to enter the semifinals from group "A" of the saff Football Tournament.

Courier crashes out in quarters
LAKE BUENA VISTA, (Florida), April 24 — Jim Courier’s Davis Cup heroics failed to carry over to the regular ATP tour as the former world number one was outplayed by an unknown qualifier in the quarterfinals of the Clay Court Championships today.

MP defeat Delhi, enter final
LUCKNOW, April 24 — Holders Madhya Pradesh beat Delhi while Mumbai defeated hosts Uttar Pradesh today to enter the final of the 10th Inter-State Disabled Cricket Tournament.

El Guerrouj looks favourite
MONTE CARLO, April 24 — Grand Prix circuit details were announced yesterday by the International Amateur Athletic Federation with the designated men’s events heavily favouring the middle distance runners.

Fed Cup Volleyball from today
PATHANAMTHITTA, April 24 — Holders Punjab Police will seek to re-assert its supremacy in the men's section when the 21st National Federation Cup Volleyball Championship begins here tomorrow.

Bedi releases book on one-dayers
NEW DELHI, April 24 — With the country in the grip of cricket fever and everyone trying to cash in on the popularity of the sport before the start of the World Cup, could book publishers be far behind?

ICC to set up probe panel

CALCUTTA, April 24 (UNI) — International Cricket Council will set up a committee this month to probe the allegations of match-fixing in different cricket playing countries, ICC President Jagmohan Dalmiya announced here today.

Speaking on the occasion of unveiling the forthcoming cricket World Cup trophy before it is flown back to London at a function organised by Pepsi here this morning, Mr Dalmiya said that the ICC believed that sovereignity of Cricket body in each country needs to be respected, but match-fixing was heinous crime which should be deal with sternly.

He said that ICC did not want to stop the enquiry being conducted by cricket board of some countries.

The committee would scrutinise all these reports and if the committee felt that something more to be done, ICC would take necessary action, Mr Dalmia added.

Regarding betting, Mr Dalmiya opined that betting was allowed in some countries and as such it was a matter to be dealt by respective country.

Commenting on the forthcoming cricket World Cup, Mr Dalmiya said World Cup '99 meant a lot to the cricket playing countries as well as to the ICC. While it was a big motivating factor for the countries to display their skill, for the ICC it was a motivation to globalise cricket.

Asked whether the ICC was planning any change in the system of appointing third umpire as on many occasions commentators of particular match differ with third umpire's decision, Mr Dalmiya ruled out any change in the existing system as the third umpire's decision is not prejudiced by what the commentators say as no match commentary was allowed in third umpire's room.

To another question on whether the time of World Cup could be changed as it was not suitable for many of the participating countries, Mr Dalmiya said it was the prerogative of the ICC to decide the time of the tournament, but a lot of weightage was also given to the host country's choice.

Regarding hosting of World Cup of Test matches, specially after successful completion of Asian Test Championship recently, Mr Dalmiya informed that the plan was still on. But the problem at the moment was to get two-and-a-half month's time slot when all the participating countries would be free to take part in the said meet, Mr Dalmiya added.

Dalmiya feels that India is one of the favourite countries to win the forthcoming cricket World Cup to be held in England.

Unveiling the World Cup Trophy, before it is flown back to London at a function organised by Pepsi food products here today, Mr Dalmiya said "However, there is a little difference this time. In 1983 India was a dark horse and there was no pressure on the Indian team. But this time India is in no way inferior to any of the top cricket playing countries in the world. In fact it is one of the favourites to win the title.’’

Seen as a good luck gesture for the Indian team, Pepsi had specially flown in the World Cup from London. The shimmering rolling trophy, for the first time in the country was unveiled at Hyderabad on March 4. Since then Pepsi had taken this trophy on a good-luck mission to various places including Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Bangalore, Allahabad, Varanasi, New Delhi, Kanpur, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Indore, Pune and Mumbai.

Calcutta is the last city where the Cup World be unveled before it is flown back to London.

The trophy has been designed and manufactured in London by Gerrard. Crafted in silver and gilt, the 60 cm trophy weighs 11 kg and features a golden globe held aloft by three silver columns. The globe itself is presented in the form of a stylised cricket ball, and the columns are styled as the stumps and bails.

Speaking on the occasion, former Test opener Pankaj Roy who still hold the world record of scoring maximum runs for a first wicket partnership along with late Vijay Manjrekar felt the weather in England specially in May would be a vital factor for India. He said for performing well the team would have to acclamatise well.

He said the present Indian squad should inspire themselves from the performnace of the Indian team in 1983 World Cup. But for India much would depend on how its opening pair of Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar perform. If Sachin remains in form he can do miracles, he said. Beside Sourav’s performance as a bowler would also be a deciding factor in the English weather. With a bit of luck, India should do well, in this World Cup he added.

To a question whether the controversy regarding the selection of the captain of the Indian team would have any effect on the morale of the team, Roy said "Let’s hope for the best.’’

Asked to name his favourite team in this World Cup, Roy said: "The team with more number of all-rounders would have more chances to win the cup this time. That way South Africa who have a number of all rounders in their fold have a strong chance to win the cup.

Unseeded Radhika shocks Jailaxmi

MUMBAI, April 24 (PTI) — Unseeded Radhika Tulpule of India caused yet another upset when she ousted top seeded compatriot Sai Jailaxmi of India 6-3, 6-2 in the women’s singles final of the ITF Indian tennis circuit at the Dr Ranade Centre here today.

Giant-killer Radhika, who had accounted for third seeded Arthi Venkatraman of India and second seeded Anna Nefedova of Russia in her earlier rounds, was a picture of confidence today.

Sixteen-year-old Radhika from Pune, played to a plan attacking her rival’s weak backhand to win most of her points.

Radhika, who has a bright chance of making it to the qualifying round of the junior Wimbledon as she has 110 junior ITF points to her credit, broke her opponent in the first and fifth games of the first set. Despite dropping her serve in the sixth game she managed to win the set at 6-3.

Jailaxmi, who looked exhausted even before the first set, was totally out of breath in the second. Radhika took a firm grip of the match when she led 5-0 with two breaks in the second and fourth games.

The top-seeded managed to break her young rival in the seventh game to narrow the margin to 2-5 but failed to hold her own serve in the eighth to lose the set 2-6.

In the doubles final top seeds Sai Jailaxmi and Rushmi Chakravorthi defeated unseeded pair of Shruti Dhawan and Sheethal Goutham 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 in one hour 40 minutes.

Radhika, who took one and a half hour to win her first title in the seniors, collected 16 circuit points and $ 650 Rs 27,300 while Jailaxmi had to be content with 12 circuit points and $ 450.

The losing singles semifinalists, Rushmi Chakravorthy and Arthi Venkatraman, collected eight circuit points each and $ 250 each.

The doubles champions collected 12 circuit points each and split $ 325 between them while the runners-up collected eight circuit points each and shared $ 175.

Anand confident of winning world title

NEW DELHI, April 24 (UNI) — Indian Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand who had a miserable run at the Dos Hermanas tournament in Spain, is confident that he can still become the world champion by the end of the year.

"It was quite a disappointing performance at the Dos Hermanas. I have to overcome some technical problems to bring the best out of me. But you always learn from mistakes you commit," the World No. 2 Indian GM said here last evening.

At the conference organised by NIIT, Anand entered into an agreement with the company as its global brand ambassador.

Referring to his lacklustre performance at the Dos Hermanas, Anand said: "My confidence is not affected by any panic or undue worry.’’

Anand could gather only 3.5 points finishing a joint last with Peter Swidler and Judith Polgar (Hungary) where England’s Michael Adams emerged winner.

Anand said he was delighted to be in his country after a long time.

"I have played about 14 to 18 tournaments since January 1997 and the schedule has been quite tiring in a way. So, I have to cut down on my schedule and play selective tournaments,’’ he said.

"As for now I will rest till May-end and in June, I will take on Anatoly Karpov at Leon,’’ he said.

When asked about the prospects of his becoming the world champion, he said smilingly: "Probably by the end of the year.’’

"With two major tournaments this year — advance chess tournament and the world championships, I will have to concentrate on my weaknesses and training aspect so that no technical or careless flaws are repeated again,’’ the chess wizard said.

He said: "Chess can be a good spectator’s game too. But only if it could be presented more attractively like in the previous edition of the World Cup in France where some good commentators enthralled the audience, giving out the finer details of the game and the moves made by each player.’’

Confident Lankans leave for England

COLOMBO, April 24 (PTI) — Motivated by the last-minute cough counselling to boost their sagging morale and charged up with intense training under foreign coachs, a full-strength Sri Lankan team today left for England confident of retaining the cricket World Cup.

Prior to their departure early this morning, the team led by veteran Arjuna Ranatunga attended night-long religious ceremonies and sought the blessings of Buddhist monks and their parents at the cricket board headquarters here.

The World Cup champions, who begin their campaign against the hosts at the inaugural match on May 14, would proceed to Leicester for their practice sessions after a brief halt at London to attend the World Cup dinner.

Despite recent losses, plagued by injury to key players especially Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan, team manager Duleep Mendis exuded confidence that the team would do well.

"We have a few surprises up our sleeve which we hope to put into operation during the World Cup. It may work out to our advantage or it may not. But you always got to have new ideas."

He said his confidence stemmed from the fact that all their top players, including Jayasuriya, Muralitharan and Aravinda de Silva were "100 per cent fit".

Secondly, Sri Lanka has always peformed well in England, including the last series in which Ranatunga’s boys trounced England in one-dayers and the one-off Test.

Mendis said: "When you have performed very well in a particular country you will always get back to that place with a lot of confidence."

He said the recent loss of form has made the team sit up and analyse their failures. "Each player had been analysed by coaches Roy Dias and new Australian recruit Trevor Chappel and corrective measures suggested."

The former skipper said the team has carefully analysed the reasons for the loss of 15 of last 20 matches it played.

Sri Lanka, which introduced the concept of pinch-hitters in the last World Cup, plans to experiment with new ideas. But its ageing stars were struggling to innovate in both batting and fielding which were considered to be its main strength.

However, an optimistic Mendis said "there are many things we are thinking of doing like changing the batting order or the bowling line up. We may still use pinch-hitting tactics but this time around we will not solely depend on it."

Special emphasis has been given to fielding as it was felt that poor fielding had led to its recent reverses.

Trevor was brought over for this specifically. He has introduced new exercises and drills to improve the team’s fielding, he said

In fact the team was so impressed with the younger of the legendary Chappel brothers — Ian and Greg — that they have taken him along to England, the team manager, who has been appointed as chairman of the eight-member committee to conduct the cricket board affairs, added.

To tide over their recent turbulent past and overcome problems arising from the crisis in the Sri Lankan board, the services of London-based Pakistan psychologist Omar Shah were also sought by the board.

Lanka have edge on Nepal

MARGAO, April 24 (UNI) — Sri Lanka holds a definite edge as they take on Nepal in group ‘B’ clash of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Football Championship at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here tomorrow.

The two teams had last met at the first edition of the SAFF at Kathmandu and Lanka had beaten Nepal 3-1.

While Nepal will begin their campaign in the championship after having finished at the bottom of the previous cup championship behind Bangladesh, Sri Lanka who were placed fourth then. They have a point in hand from the drawn encounter with the Maldives on April 23.

Sri Lanka judging from their form displayed in their previous match against the Maldives in which they were rather unlucky to snatch full points, look a confident side.

While defender Mohammed Anees is strong in the defence, in Mohammed Kabeer, Imran Mohammed and T N Bagoos, they have an intermediate line that have fine co-cordination and ball distribution capability.

The Sri Lankans who will be fielding almost the same team but for a couple of changes have a formidable attack in M Amanullah, Roshan Pereira and Isuru Pereira. On his day, skipper Roshan can play havoc with the best of defences and is expected to do so.

"We have never lost to Nepal even on their home ground. The tournament is still wide open and with a few changes in the side we will go all out and score. Roshan, who was down with fever, has fully recovered’’ commented Sri Lanka coach Subani Hasslmdin on the eve of the match.

The Nepal team which has been training for the past three months under the guidance of German coach Torsten Spittler has a blend of youth and experience.

According to team manager Yam Bahadur Ghale, there are 8-9 players who played at the last championship while the others are from the under-19 squad. The oldest player is skipper Deepak Amatya, 28, a midfielder and experienced goalkeeper Upendra Man Singh who plays for Salgaocar SC, Goa, in the Indian national league.

About his team’s chances, coach Torsten Spittler commented: "Sri Lanka are a very good side, their defence in particular is very sound. We will first, try and not concede a goal and then attempt to score. We lack international exposure. Depending on the situation, we may decide first to defend and then to counter attack’’. Said Spittler who is second coach of the German under-16 team and on his first assignment abroad.

Security to be beefed up for one-dayers

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 24 (Reuters) — Security will be tightened at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown for the final one-day games between West Indies and Australia to prevent a repeat of the pitch invasion which marred Wednesday’s match in Guyana.

Steve Camacho, West Indies Cricket Board’s chief executive officer, sent a letter of apology to the Australian players and team management and pledged that adequate safety measures would be in place for the matches today and tomorrow.

"The Barbados Cricket Association has given the assurance that security that was in place for the (third) Test match would be maintained and even improved upon for the sixth and seventh one-day internationals this weekend,’’ Camacho said.

He also issued a plea to cricket fans in the Caribbean to end the practice of running on to the field to celebrate player milestones or at the end of matches because it could have long-term negative effects on the game in the West Indies.

Australia captain Steve Waugh, who said he feared for his life when Wednesday’s game ended in chaos and confusion, has seen the apology.

He said that while nothing could be done to change what happened in Georgetown he hoped the game’s administrators looked at television footage of the incident and implemented more stringent security at all future matches.

"The West Indies board was obviously embarrassed by it but it’s not going to do anyone any good to carry on about it,’’ Waugh said.

"We’ve just got to learn something from it. As players you try to learn from your mistakes and I guess administrators will do the same.’’

Camacho said security issues would be high on the agenda at the WICB’s meeting in May.

Wednesday’s match was declared a tie after more than 1,000 fans swarmed on to the Bourda ground and uprooted the stumps as Waugh and Shane Warne attempted to complete a third run which would have levelled the scores.

Waugh suffered a whiplash injury after being shoulder charged, jostled and threatened.

Guyanese cricket officials conceded on Thursday the pitch invasion, mirroring an incident in the closing moments of a game between West Indies and Pakistan, will almost certainly prevent Georgetown hosting one-day internationals for a number of years.

But Neil Singh, president of the Georgetown Cricket Club, said he remained hopeful the historic Bourda Ground would remain as a Test venue.

"What we are going to do is meet and see what more we can do, see if we can raise the fences... We will just have to try to do the best we can to stop this,’’ Singh said.

"If this keeps happening Guyana will not have cricket.’’

B'desh trounce Pak

MARGAO, April 24 (PTI) — Dominating major part of the match, Bangladesh scored an emphatic 4-0 win over Pakistan at Nehru Stadium here today to enter the semifinals from group "A" of the saff Football Tournament.

Bangladesh played an offensive game today and scored through Iqbal Hossain Iqbal (9th minute), Mohammed Alfaz Ahmed (34th minute) and Mizanur Rahman (63rd and 66th minutes).

Bangladesh strikers Mizanur Rehman and Mohammad Alfaz Ahmed threatened the rival goal time and again with good support from the midfielders and Hassan al-Mamun, who overlapped often to raid the Pakistan citadel.

After missing an early chance in the third minute when striker Alfaz Ahmed’s attempt was foiled by Pakistani keeper Muhammad Younis, Bangladesh took the lead soon.

Pradip Kumar Proder’s header off a throw in by Rajani Kanta Barman found Iqbal Hossain and he tapped the ball and sent in a left-footer from top of the box beating the outstretched hands of the Pakistani custodian.

They consolidated the lead 2-0 when defender Jewel Rana moved up and gave a long cross to Mohammed Alfaz to head home.

After the change of ends, Bangladesh kept on the pressure and after missing three chances, increaded the lead again.

Substitute Zakir Hossain Shahan beat the off-side trap and chipped the ball to Rahman, who slammed the ball to the right of the substitute keeper Zahid Taj.

Three minutes later, Rahman rounded off the tally with a firm right footer off a pass from Mizanur Rahman.

Earlier, Pakistan, who started off well, lost their way as the match progressed.

Their defence looked shaky and they allowed lot of space for the rival strikers to squeeze into the danger zone.

In the closing stages of the first half, they had two good chances to score but on both occasions striker Muhammad Umar failed to beat the keeper from close range.

Bangladesh striker Mohammad Alfaz, who played an outstanding game today, was declared the Man-of-the Match and awarded Rs 10.000.

Bangladesh's Proder was shown yellow card by referee S Selearajen of Malaysia.

Courier crashes out in quarters

LAKE BUENA VISTA, (Florida), April 24 (Reuters) — Jim Courier’s Davis Cup heroics failed to carry over to the regular ATP tour as the former world number one was outplayed by an unknown qualifier in the quarterfinals of the Clay Court Championships today.

The fifth-seeded Courier, defending champion and the tournament’s highest remaining seed entering the quarterfinals, fell 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, to 228th-ranked Max Mirnyi of Belarus, who reached his first career ATP tour semifinal.

Three weeks ago a rejuvenated Courier led the USA to a thrilling Davis Cup win over Britain by pulling out a pair of epic five-set upsets of Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski.

Without the pressure and excitement of the Davis Cup that always seems to bring the best out of courier, he stumbled, allowing the inexperienced 21-year-old to control the match.

Mirnyi, who also upset third seed Scott Draper in the first round, played an aggressive, attacking style, belted 10 aces and never lost his serve in the two hour and two minute match.

In the semifinals, Mirnyi faces eighth seed Magnus Norman of Sweden, who posted a 7-5 6-2 victory over Romanian qualifier Gabriel Trifu.

The other semifinal pits seventh seed Christian Ruud of Norway against Argentine Guillermo Canas.

Ruud held off Argentine Hernan Gumy a day after Gumy ousted top seed Jason Stoltenberg. Canas was a 6-4, 7-6 winner over Alberto Martin of Spain.

CAIRO (AP): Top-seeded Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain qualified easily for the semifinals of the Egypt Classic, beating Jelena Kokic of Australia 6-3, 6-1.

Sanchez, No. 7 in the world rankings, will face unseeded and injured Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland in the semifinals.

"I have been here for eight days and I feel like an Egyptian now,’’ Sanchez said on Friday.

Second-seeded Mary Pierce of France was defeated by fifth-ranked Romanian Irina Spiralea, 6-4, 6-2.

"I just made a lot of mistakes and she played very well, with few errors,’’ Pierce said.

The only quarterfinal match with no seeded players saw Gigliardi defeat Laurence Courtois of Belgium 6-3, 6-2.

In doubles, Laurence Courtois of Belgium and Sanchez-Vicario defeated Sabine Applemans of Belgium and Kristie Boogert of the Netherlands 6-4, 7-5.

MP defeat Delhi, enter final

LUCKNOW, April 24 (UNI) — Holders Madhya Pradesh beat Delhi while Mumbai defeated hosts Uttar Pradesh today to enter the final of the 10th Inter-State Disabled Cricket Tournament.

At the K. D. Singh Babu Stadium here today, the semi-final matches saw Madhya Pradesh thrash Delhi by 77 runs and Mumbai overcome UP by five wickets.

After winning the toss, Madhya Pradesh scored 143 for five wickets in the allotted 15 overs. Nageshwar Rao (52) and Rajesh Yadav (41) put up 70 runs for a fruitful second wicket partnership.

Nageshwar hit two sixes and two fours in his 35-ball innings while Rajesh’s knock in 28 deliveries included one sixer.

Delhi’s Gyanendra Dayal captured two wickets for 29 runs. Rajendra Kumar and Ravi Tiwari shared one wicket each conceding 13 and 20 runs, respectively.

In reply, Delhi were all out for 66 runs in 13 overs. Gyanendra Dayal was the top-scorer with 16 runs in 25 balls. Rajendra made 15 runs in 13 balls while Baljinder Singh scored 11 runs with two boundaries. Others batsmen failed to cross the double figure.

M.P’s Hemant Bharti and PC Sonkar shared three wickets each conceding 15 and 11 runs, respectively. Rajesh bagged two wickets for 20 runs.

In the other semi-final, at the same venue, hosts U.P batting first were all out for 88 runs in 15 overs. In reply, Mumbai made 90 for five in 12.3 overs. For the hosts, Sushil Pandey made 34 with one six and a four in 33 balls. Mohd Salim, whose 19-ball essay also saw a sixer and a boundary, scored 28 runs.

Ashok Ghole and D. Jamkhandi shared three wickets each conceding 10 and 19 runs, respectively. Subhash Chikane bagged two wickets for 14 runs.

El Guerrouj looks favourite

MONTE CARLO, April 24 (Reuters) — Grand Prix circuit details were announced yesterday by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) with the designated men’s events heavily favouring the middle distance runners.

Last year’s overall Grand Prix winner, Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj, looks favourite to repeat his success, with the 800 metres, 1500 and 3000 all counting for points this season.

Women’s champion, American sprinter Marion Jones, however, will be hard-pressed to retain her crown as the 100, 400 and long jump are all missing from the women’s events which count this time.

Fed Cup Volleyball from today

PATHANAMTHITTA, April 24 (PTI) — Holders Punjab Police will seek to re-assert its supremacy in the men's section when the 21st National Federation Cup Volleyball Championship begins here tomorrow.

Indian Bank (Chennai), IOC (Chennai), ITI (Bangalore), Southern Railway, BSF (Jalandhar), Cochin Port Trust and the Indian Youth Team, were the other teams featuring in the men's section.

On the distaff side, reigning champions Southern Railway will vie for honours with teams like the KSEB, Mayor's Club (Hyderabad), Eastern Club (Calcutta), Spikers Club (Bangalore) and Vypin Volley Academy.

Leader of the opposition in the Kerala Assembly A.K. Antony will declare open the championship.

Bedi releases book on one-dayers

NEW DELHI, April 24 (PTI) — With the country in the grip of cricket fever and everyone trying to cash in on the popularity of the sport before the start of the World Cup, could book publishers be far behind?

Orient Longman has brought out a book, ‘Great One-Day Internationals’ by sports journalist Gulu Ezekiel, barely 20 days before the start of the mega event.

The book, which includes 15 matches from among over 1500 one-day internationals, selected on the basis of drama, tension and excitement level, was released by former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi here today.

Five of the 15 matches in the book feature India, including the 1983 World Cup final in which Kapil’s devils shocked twice champions West Indies at the Lord’s.

Also included in the book is West Indies’ humiliating loss to cricketing babes Kenya in the 1996 World Cup and India’s heart-stopping win against Pakistan in the Independence Cup at Dhaka in January 1998.

W'lifting meet from June 16
By Our Sports Reporter
CHANDIGARH, April 24 — The 51st National Men and Women Weightlifting Championship will be held from June 16 to 20 at Sri Kanteerva Indoor Stadium, Bangalore (Karnataka) according to Mr KDS Nagra, secretary of the Punjab Weightlifting Association. The Indian team for the Asian Weightlifting Championship to be held at Wuhan City (China) from August 28 to September 5 will also be selected on the basis of the performance in this championship.

Gymnastics Fed Cup
By Our Sports Reporter
CHANDIGARH, April 24 — The fifth Gymnastics Federation Cup will be held at New Delhi from May 26 to 28, according to a revised press note issued by the Gymnastics Federation of India.

PWFA selects 30 for coaching camp
By Our Sports Reporter
CHANDIGARH, April 24 — The Punjab Women's Football Association (PWFA) has selected thirty probables for the second phase of the coaching camp in preparation for the Senior National Women's Football Championship to be held at Shillong (Meghalaya) from May 8. A 10-day coaching camp will start from April 26 and Mr Jaspal Singh football coach at Jalandhar, will be incharge.

The selected probables are: Gurmeet Kaur, Amandeep, Mandeep, Malkit Kaur, Rajwinder Kaur, Balwinder, Harjinder Kaur, Gursharanjit Kaur, Lalita, Malkit (junior), Sonia, Harkamaljit, Rajvir, Ranjit Kaur Devinder Kaur, Raman, Gurbax Kaur, Manjit Kaur, Aarti, Satvinder, Gurjit Kaur, Ranjit (Senior), Simranjit Kaur, Harpreet, Kamaljit, Damandeep, Kulwinder Kaur, Devinder Kaur, Prema and Paramjit Kaur.

Punjab has been placed in the group "B" along with Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra.