MANCHESTER : England's Graham Thorpe swings off New Zealand's Chris Cairns, with New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, right, looking on during England's second innings in the third Test against New Zealand at Old Trafford, Manchester. — AP/PTI

MASON, USA : Cedric Pioline of France returns a backhand during his first-round match with 10th-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain at the ATP Championships in Mason, Ohio, Monday. Pioline upset Moya 6-4, 6-1. — AP/PTI

Bailey’s confidence unbroken COLONGE, Aug 10 — Donovan Bailey knows exactly where to put 1999 in the scheme of things. Stevenson made of sterner stuff MANHATTAN BEACH, Aug 10 — Barbara Walters may be able to make Gulf war commander Norman Schwarzkopf cry on national television, but Alexandra Stevenson is made of sterner stuff. Vimal’s remarks irk b’minton coaches CHANDIGARH, Aug 10 — The Badminton Coaches Welfare Association of India has taken strong exception to the reported statement of former international Vimal Kumar.

Frazier ousts Tauziat
MANHATTAN BEACH, (California) Aug 10 — Unseeded Amy Frazier, playing an admittedly one-dimensional game, rallied to upset fifth seed Nathalie Tauziat of France 3-6 7-5 6-2 in the first round of the $ 520,000 Acura Classic on Monday.

Arjuna Award for Baichung Bhutia
NEW DELHI, Aug 10 — Star striker Baichung Bhutia, who became the first Indian to sign for an European football club, has been selected for the prestigious Arjuna Award for the year 1998.

Mayur declared overall winner
MUMBAI, Aug 10 — Mumbai lad Mayur Mehta was declared overall winner in the 12th International Marathon Swimming Championship in Lake of Zurich (Switzerland).

• Manjit, Lakhbir for Asian meet

Gopichand, Ratti in title clash

BANGALORE, Aug 10 (PTI) — National champions P. Gopichand and Aparna Popat today sailed into the semifinals of the All-India BPL Open Badminton Tournament here today.

Gopichand will take on Nikhil Kanetkar and Aparna meets Meenakshi in the last four stage of men’s and women’s event, respectively.

In a quarterfinal match today, P. Gopichand (IOC) thrashed Arvind Bhat (Karnataka) 15-4, 15-3. Bhat had earlier upset national junior champion Thomas Kurian yesterday.

Aparna Popat (IOC) had an easy outing against C.H. Deepti (OIL) 11-5, 11-2.

The other quarterfinal match between Sachin Ratti (Railways) and Abhishek Bakshi (AI), which lasted more than an hour, was keenly contested. Bakshi looked technically sound compared to the winner but Ratti’s speed paved dividends in the end.

Ratti won the first game comfortably 15-4. However, in the second game, Bakshi bounced back from 5-9 with good serves and drops and led 14-9 within no time and took the second game.

In the third, Ratti was too good for the former sub-junior champion and snatched away the game and match 15-4.

Women’s singles (quarterfinals): Aparna Popat (IOC) b Deepti (OIL) 11-5, 11-2; Meenakshi B.R. (Ktk) b Trupti Murgunde (AI) 11-1, 9-11, 11-4; Jwala. G (AP) b Parul Priyadarshnini (Rly) 11-6, 11-6; Manjusha Kanwar (IOC) b Sampada Shetye (Rly) 11-7, 11-8.

Men’s singles: Gopichand (IOC) b Arvind Bhat (Ktk) 15-4, 15-3; Nikhil Kanetkar (IOC) b Kiran Kumar b (AI) 15-8, 11-15, 15-4; Siddarth Jain (ONGC) b Chetan Anand (AI) 15-7, 15-5; Sachin Ratti (Rly) b Abhishek Bakshi (AI) 15-4, 10-15, 15-4.

Women’s doubles: Manjusha Kanwar (IOC) and Archana Deodhar (BPCL) b Nupura Bhide (Mah) and Parul Priyadarshini (Rly) 15-13, 15-6; Jwala G (AP) and Shruti Kurien (ap) b Meenakshi B.R. (Ktk) and Ketaki Thakar (AI) 17-14, 15-6; Lakshmi P.V.V. (BPCL) and Sarada Reddy J (AP) b Sampada Shetye (Rly) and Madhavi Kashikar (Mah) 15-3, 15-4; Aparna Popat (IOC) and Manju T. Abraham (LIC) b Olideka (Assam) and C.H. Deepti (OIL) 15-10, 15-5.

Men’s doubles: Jaseel P. Ismail (IOC) and Vincent Lobo (ONGC) b Davinder Dhillon (Dli) and Parveen Gehlawat (Dli) 15-4, 15-4; Amrish Shinde (Mah) and Mayur Ghatnekar (Mah) b Joy T. Antony (Ker) and Anish K.A. (Ker) 12-15, 15-3, 15-10; Vinod Umar (Rly) and Vijaydeep Singh (Rly) b Jaison Xavier (LIC) and Deepak Amarnath (Ker) 15-8, 9-15, 15-10; George Thomas (BPCL) and Markose Bristow (IOC) b Gopichand P (IOC) and Nagendra P.S.B (Ktk) 9-15, 15-8, 15-2.

Mixed doubles: Jaseel P. Ismail (IOC) and Manjusha Kanwar (IOC) b Sushant Nidodi (Mah) and Madhavi Kashikar (Mah) 15-1, 15-5; Vijaydeep Singh (Rly) and Lakshmi P.V.V. (BPCL) b Nagraj B (AP) and C.H. Deepti (OIL) 15-4, 15-8; Vincent Lobo (ONGC) and Archana Deodhar (BPCL) b Nagendra P.S.B. (Ktk) and Manju T. Abraham (LIC) 9-15, 15-8, 15-3; Vindo Kumar (Rly) and Meenakshi B.R. (Ktk) b Mohammed Ali (AP) and Jwala G (AP) 11-15, 15-8, 15-10.

Tendulkar dreamt of being a fast bowler

NEW DELHI, Aug 10 (PTI) — Long before he became the scourge of world’s top fast bowlers, Sachin Tendulkar had dreams of becoming a fast bowler, but was rejected because he was “too small”.

The magic of Tendulkar’s batting would have been denied to the game’s lovers the world over had he not been told 12 years ago, at the age of 14, that his build was too small for a fast bowler. Standing five-feet-four inches now, the batting maestro would have been even shorter then.

Disclosing his keen desire to become a speedster, Tendulkar says he even took part in the trials at the Chennai-based MRF pace foundation to be trained under Aussie pace guru Dennis Lillee.

“I always liked pace bowling. I like watching fast bowlers. Wanting to become a fast bowler, I’d gone to Chennai for the selection by Lillee. No one knows this,” he says in an interview with Karan Thapar in BBC’s “Face to Face” programme slated for telecast on Wednesday (August 11) night.

“But I had packed by bat and pads also. So I batted there, enjoyed and came back,” says a grinning Tendulkar, narrating interesting episodes during his childhood and formative years as a cricketer.

They have suffered from the genius of Tendulkar’s bat, but some of the greatest fast bowlers in the game’s history, such as South Africa’s Allan Donald and Pakistan’s Wasim Akram, have heaped praise on him.

They would certainly have welcomed him to the fraternity!

Tendulkar recalls his first meeting with cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar that transformed his life. He says he was so nervous at the outset that Achrekar suggested he come back six months later.

But his elder brother Ajit, who had taken him there, made Achrekar agree to watch him for some more time, a move that sparked a sensational journey to cricketing stardom.

“I couldn’t bat at all normally. Coach said looks like this guy will take some time. But my brother said give him another chance and he agreed to keep me for seven more days”.

Tendulkar says the turning point in his career was changing school and moving to Shardashram Vidyamandir in Dadar — close to the Shivaji Park facility — on Achrekar’s advice.

Tendulkar said Achrekar’s method of placing a one rupee coin to improve his concentration paid rich dividends.

“I used to bat in four nets at a stretch. Whenever, I used to get tired, he used to keep a one rupee coin on top of the stumps and say ‘anyone who gets him out will take this coin. If no one gets him out, Sachin is going to take it”.

“It was a big thing to get that coin for myself. I lost a couple of times, but I have 13 coins with me,” Tendulkar says and adds proudly, “I didn’t spend that money”.

Tendulkar recalls how he was dismissed first ball in his first two matches and had to trot out excuses to friends who had come to cheer him. “The third match I scored seven runs, I was on top of the world. I felt I had achieved something”.

His world record unbeaten 664-run stand with Vinod Kambli (349) for Sardhashram school in the inter-school tournament in 1988 almost never assumed such mammoth proportions as the coach was for an early declaration.

Narrating the partnership with a mischievous glint in his eyes, Tendulkar said he and Kambli managed to ignore the man waving from the boundary line with the coach’s message.

“...We were somehow trying to ignore him. Finally at lunch time, he told us we better talk to sir. His first question was ‘what is their score?”

Tendulkar, who was batting on 326, says he told the coach he had not yet declared and passed the buck saying it was Kambli who wanted to bat. “Vinod pleaded sir, I am batting on 349, can I just make one run and then declare? but the coach said if you do that you have to deal with me in the evening. And we finally had to declare,” he says savouring the event.

Asked about one of the two major reverses in his career — not being named the best junior player in 1987 — Tendulkar says he received a letter from batting legend Sunil Gavaskar which he cherished more than the award.

“I was very upset. I had scored two times what the other guy had scored, taken 40-50 wickets more....

“But another great thing happened to me which meant much more than this junior cricketer award. I got a letter from Gavaskar congratulating me for my performance that year. He wrote ‘if you go through the fixture, you will find one name missing. He also didn’t get the award and he hasn’t done that badly in Test cricket”.

“And that was him. I was very thrilled and it remains something very special to me,” Tendulkar added.

The star batsman admits he was extremely nervous on his Test debut against Pakistan at Karachi in 1989, the youngest Indian and fourth youngest in the world.

“I was terribly nervous. I didn’t know what was happening around me. I thought okay fine, I am just going to go and hit the ball. I got beaten. I can’t count them on my fingers. So many times. I told myself I cannot deal with this. This will be the first and last Test match you will be playing. Don’t think you are capable of handling this.

Tendulkar says he began motivating himself. “You can’t run away from this. When you get another opportunity, you are going to go there and hang around. Spend as much time as possible. Fortunately, I got another chance in the next match, which I was not expecting,” Tendulkar says modestly.

Asked about his disappointment at not having scored a Test double century, Tendulkar, who has made 19 hundreds and crossed the 150-mark six times with 179 as the highest, says he himself has no clue.

“I think it is very hard to find what is missing because I have tried everything. I’ve tried to slow down my game, I’ve tried to accelerate, I’ve tried to bat normal.

But he is not unduly worried about it. “A 200 is not as important as winning Test matches for India”, he says.

On how he reacts to early and premature dismissals, he says “I like to take out my anger somewhere. I prefer to sit alone till I cool down. It all depends on how I get out.... If it is a good ball, fair enough,” he adds.

Tendulkar says the most disappointing aspect of his first tenure as skipper was inability to pull off victories after being on the driver’s seat. “We came so close to winning the games. Somehow we couldn’t. I mean the ones we don’t play well, upto our standard, that’s fine....”

India were on the verge of beating South Africa in the third and final Test at Johannesburg when rain on the final day afternoon forced a draw while India capitulated chasing 121 for victory against the West Indies in Barbados, both in 1997.

Tendulkar admits fame and popularity he has achieved was indeed at the cost of his privacy.

“Sometimes it is very upsetting. It’s so difficult. On the other side, I find it very interesting. It’s not happening because people like me, they love me. (It is because) they like my game. They surely want me to perform well and do good for the country. So I appreciate that,” he adds.

Saravanan only Indian to win

SCARBOROUGH (England), Aug 10 (PTI) — Top seed British Grandmaster Julian Hodgson improved upon his lead to a full point beating fellow GM Bogdan Lalic on a day when Indians had a sedate time in the seventh round of the British Open Chess Championship here.

Hodgson (6.5) is now clear off four second placed players — Peter Wells, Gormally, Mathew Turner, Zia-ur Rehman — all on 5.5 points.

International Master V. Saravanan was the only Indian to manage a win. He beat Chris Duncan (2.5) to join compatriots Pravin Thipsay, Abhijit Kunte and Krishnan Sasikiran, who are all on joint fourth position with 4.5 points apiece.

The Saravanan-Duncan game was an interesting clash — loaded with highly tactical moves arising out of a sicilian dragon opening.

Duncan with black pieces surprised Saravanan with a theoretical novelty on the 13th move paving way for a sacrifice of a full rook for four white pawns.

After the forced sequences, an endgame emerged where Saravanan had two rooks, a bishop and three pawns against Duncan’s queen and seven pawns. Duncan blundered on the last move of the time control and lost the game.

GM Thipsay, former national champion Kunte, current champion Sasikiran and junior national champion Sundararajan Kidambi all drew their respective games, while the three Indian women in fray — Anupama Gokhale, Bhagyashree Thipsay, Koneru Humpy — all lost their ties.

In a clash between two young teenage IMs from the sub-continent, Abdullah Al-Rakib (4.5) of Bangladesh defended stubbornly in an exchange down endgame against India’s Sasikiran.

An interesting endgame was reached from a semi-slav opening and though Sasikiran had a rook against his opponent’s bishop — both had a queen each — Rakib possessed a passed pawn d4, which guaranteed the Bangladeshi a draw.

Young Kidambi increased his chances of making his second IM norm when he held highly rated IM Andrew Webster (4) of England to a draw.

In a middlegame resembling that out of the queen’s gambit declined, Kidambi played resourcefully to force a draw in a queen’s ending.

Kunte and Thipsay were made to feel the disadvantage of black pieces when their lowly rated opponents — Adam Hunt (4), FM Knott (4) — held them, respectively, to long draws.

The 7th round which witnessed many interesting clashes, proved to be a tough hurdle for many of the English GMs.

Lalic had an elementary drawn position on the top board against Hodgson.

But when the game entered into a lone rook versus lone knight, with Hodgson having an advantage of rook, Lalic played impatiently and ended up getting his kinght trapped inside the squares controlled by Hodgson’s rook and king.

Further down the tables, IMs Mathhew Turner (England), Zia-ur Rehman (Bangladesh) and Rawson (Scotland), all dazzled here yesterday defeating GMs Alexander Baburin (Ireland), Joe Gallagher (Switzerland) and Chris Ward (England), respectively.

Bailey’s confidence unbroken

COLONGE, Aug 10 (AP) — Donovan Bailey knows exactly where to put 1999 in the scheme of things.

“I have it on my calendar,” said the 100 metres Olympic champion. “It says ‘bad year — will get butt kicked a lot’.”

Bailey, struggling back from an Achilles’ tendon rupture, proved on Saturday that he’s right by finishing dead last behind Maurice Greene while running in a prestigious field in London.

On Sunday, the Canadian managed a third in Cologne, but with a time of 10.30 seconds — that’s planets away from his world record broken by Greene of 9.84, set when he blazed to Olympic gold in Atlanta.

After his slow time at Cologne, a tight-lipped Bailey brushed off reporters trackside.

“I was frustrated, I am frustrated — it’s like having a car and it only has two wheels on it,” a relaxed Bailey said later from his hotel restaurant.

But Bailey says his body is not the problem after he underwent surgery last September for the rupture of his left Achilles’ tendon during a pickup basketball game. Some experts thought the injury would spell a career end.

Bailey says the problem is his mind.

“I run 10.0,” Bailey said of practice. “It just hasn’t been recorded legally in a race. I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself because I’m trying to run and think at the same time.”

Bailey has slowly dropped his times since his comeback kicked off on June 13 at a race in Nuremberg, Germany, a race that still embarrasses him since he was bounced in a preliminary heat after struggling across the line in 10.51.

Following that came last-place finishes of 10.43 and 10.36 and finally Sunday’s 10.30 in Cologne.

But the Canadian’s confidence remains unbroken.

“The 10.30, it means nothing. That’s just a step to the great things I’m going to do,” Bailey said. “I promise, I’ll put one race together before the end of the season.”

Greene stripped him of his world record earlier this year by running 9.79 in Athens, Greece. But Bailey believes he can still go faster than his old mark of 9.84 from the Olympics.

“Because I have the best top speed in the world,” he said. “And I made huge huge mistakes during that race. I only had 40 good yards during that race.”

Donovan still doesn’t know if he will run his speciality at the world championships in Seville, Spain, later this month, although he will compete on Canada’s 4x100 meter relay team.

“I like the underdog role,” he said. “I’ll just show up one day and they’ll all say, who? We forgot about you.”

Vimal’s remarks irk b’minton coaches
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 10 — The Badminton Coaches Welfare Association of India has taken strong exception to the reported statement of former international Vimal Kumar.

Speaking to a newspaper Vimal Kumar was quoted as saying that the present concept of producing coaches in the country should be scrapped because at best “ he can only coach basics and nothing else. An NIS coach views his work as a well paid job and nothing more and one doesn’t need any big qualification to get into the NIS course”.

Vimal Kumar was of the view that a badminton coach should have played the game at a certain level and the standard of coaching as well as that of the NIS programmes can be raised only if they (the NIS authorities) follow certain criteria for admission. Only players who had played the game at the national and international levels should be allowed to enrol at the NIS course.

The Secretary of the Badminton Coaches Welfare Association of India, Gursharan Singh, said that coaches like T.P.S. Puri, the chief national coach for many years, had helped a large number of players win laurels at the national level. Trainees of S.M. Arif had won over 100 titles at the national level and he had produced nine international players, including current national champion P. Gopichand. “Or take the case of Sanjeev Sachdev, whose trainees P Vadana and P. Sridevi have represented the country and Ajith Haridas, who has won three national titles”. He listed a number of coaches whose contribution to the game had been immense.

He pointed out that coaches trained by NIS were working at all levels —grassroot, state, national and international. And it was because of their untiring efforts that the sport had produced results at the international level.

“Coaching is a science and with the present trend of sport development sports science plays a vital role for achieving success. Therefore, to derive the maximum benefit, a coach has to have a basic scientific knowledge. This opportunity is provided by the NIS to the coaches undergoing training in the institute,” Gursharan Singh said.

“A qualified coach is like a person in the dark alley with a torch in hand. On the other hand an unqualified coach is a person probing in the dark without any light,” he remarked.

He pointed out that Vimal Kumar had also learnt the fundamentals of the game from NIS qualified coach Shivarama Krishna of the Kerala Sports Council.

Stevenson made of sterner stuff

MANHATTAN BEACH, Aug 10 (AFP) — Barbara Walters may be able to make Gulf war commander Norman Schwarzkopf cry on national television, but Alexandra Stevenson is made of sterner stuff.

After weathering the storm of media scrutiny that automatically comes with an astonishing run to the Wimbledon semifinals — not to mention dramatic revelations that her father is a US basketball star and controversial remarks from her mother on the topics of racism and lesbianism — 18-year-old Stevenson knew just what she would, and would not do when interviewed by Walters.

“I sat down with Barbara and I told her: ‘You know, you always make everyone cry after 45 minutes, and you’re not going to make me cry,’” recalled Stevenson, whose conversation with Walters was broadcast on August 30.

“She never made me cry, but my mom did get teary. I was so upset, and Barbara got mad at me.

Stevenson, who became the first woman qualifier ever to reach the Wimbledon semifinals, has quickly become an expert on handling interviewers of all types.

Yesterday, the day before she was scheduled to play her opening match at the WTA Tour event here, she deftly steered away from questions about her father, Julius Erving.

“It’s not a part of my life. It’s just my mom and me,” said a smiling Stevenson, who has been brought up by her mother, freelance sports reporter Samantha Stevenson.

“It’s yesterday’s news, she added. “It’s getting kind of old.”

Stevenson said the revelations about her father, as well as the controversy caused by her mother’s comments, didn’t affect her during Wimbledon.

“I didn’t even notice it,” Stevenson said. “It hasn’t been hard at all, because tennis is the main part of my life. I know you guys have fun writing about it, but for me it’s all about tennis.”

Well, almost all about tennis. As for many American teenagers, it’s also about cars and boys.

“That was the best part of the Pan Am Games — beach volleyball,” Stevenson enthused, describing how she struck up a friendship with two members of the US men’s beach volleyball team in Winnipeg and had a date with one of them last night.

Other than that to look forward to, Stevenson said, life hadn’t changed much.

“I don’t have a car yet,” said the recent high school graduate. “I’m still looking forward to getting a BMW convertible, or a Volvo convertible. I have to go test drive those after the US Open.”

If Stevenson gets past German Anke Huber in the first round, she’ll face top seed and defending champion Lindsay Davenport, who beat her at Wimbledon.

Stevenson said she would relish another shot at her compatriot, and she won’t shy away from any spotlight.

“I’m very excited,” she said. “It’s great to be a young American woman and have everyone interested in you.”

Frazier ousts Tauziat

MANHATTAN BEACH, (California) Aug 10 (Reuters) — Unseeded Amy Frazier, playing an admittedly one-dimensional game, rallied to upset fifth seed Nathalie Tauziat of France 3-6 7-5 6-2 in the first round of the $ 520,000 Acura Classic on Monday.

“I’ve had some pretty tough matches with her and she usually beats me,” said Frazier, who has split eight career meetings with Tauziat. “I’m playing well and happy to get the win.”

Frazier has captured six WTA titles, including her second Japan Open this year, and has no immediate thoughts of changing a winning style after nine years on the WTA tour.

“My game is pretty one-dimensional and there’s not very much I can change with it. I go out, hit some ground strokes and hopefully they go in. I want to keep improving and try to add things,” she said.

“I’m never going to serve-and-volley and my serve isn’t good enough and I don’t want to. I’m happy hitting ground strokes.”

Of three French players in action, only one survived. Julie Halard-Decugis dismissed 1997 French Open champion Iva Majoli of Croatia, while Japan’s Ai Sugiyama ousted Julie Dechy 6-2 6-3 on the hardcourts of the Manhattan Country Club.

Unseeded Spaniard Conchita Martinez, the 1995 champion here, cruised past Sylvia Plischke of Austria 6-3 6-3 in their first career matchup.

Top-seeded defending champion Lindsay Davenport and second-seeded Swiss teen Martina Hingis, who just reclaimed the world number one ranking from the American, will play second-round matches tomorrow.

They drew first-round byes in the 28-player tuneup for the U.S. Open beginning on August 30.

After dropping the first set, Frazier levelled the match with a break in the final game of the second set to force a decider. After trailing 0-2, she remained calm from the baseline and took advantage of a costly letdown by the 10th-ranked Tauziat to win the final six games.

“I just wanted to keep trying on every point and not think about the score,” said Frazier, ranked 24th. “It worked out ok.”

Arjuna Award for Baichung Bhutia

NEW DELHI, Aug 10 (PTI) — Star striker Baichung Bhutia, who became the first Indian to sign for an European football club, has been selected for the prestigious Arjuna Award for the year 1998.

The nimble-footed Bhutia, hailing from tiny Himalayan state of Sikkim, is to get the highest award, conferred by the Government for excellence in sports, from the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, at a special function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on September 1, Secretary, All-India Football Federation (AIFF) said in a Press release here.

Named “Asian footballer of the month” for May 1999, Bhutia rose on the Indian football scene as a 16-year-old when SAI’s talent search team spotted him playing in Gangtok.

Bhutia’s career has been on the rise since then climaxed by his latest move to English Second Division club, Bury.

The 23-year-old Bhutia, who impressed in the May SAF Football Tournament helping India to win the gold medal in Fatorda, Goa, was in superb form scoring a hat-trick in a friendly tie that impressed Bury officials, and it paved way for his signing contract with the club.

Mayur declared overall winner

MUMBAI, Aug 10 (PTI) — Mumbai lad Mayur Mehta was declared overall winner in the 12th International Marathon Swimming Championship in Lake of Zurich (Switzerland).

The 15-year-old student of the Kelkar College also won the 10.4 kms and 20.8 kms race in the boys under-18 class between Zolikon and Zurihorn in a record time of 2 hours and 30.43 minutes and 5 hours 30.45 minutes, respectively, a press note released by organisers said here today.

Twenty-six swimmers from 10 countries took part in the competition held on Saturday. The organisers were forced to reduce the distance of the race from 26.4 kms to 20.8 kms due to stormy weather which could have proved risky for the swimmers, it said.

In the junior girls under-18 section, M. Tejashree of Mumbai swam a distance of 20.8 kms in six hours and 36.34 minutes while Vishruti Vankani of Rajkot swam a distance of 15.6 kms (jr girls under-18) in six hours 4.54 minutes to finish on top in their respective races.

Manjit, Lakhbir for Asian meet
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Aug 10 — Manjit Singh and Lakhbir Singh of Punjab Police and international body builders from Punjab have, been selected to represent India in the Asian Body Building championships to be held in Taiwan from August 26 to 31, according to a press release of the Punjab Amateur Body Building Association. Manjit will represent in the 85 kg class while Lakhbir in 80 kg class.

Revised schools sports calendar

SANGRUR, Aug 10 (FOSR) — Revised sports calendar for Punjab schools was released yesterday.

The calendar: Subroto Cup Mukherjee football (U-16 Boys) Mahilpur - Aug 26 to 28; swimming diving (U-14, 17, 19) waterpolo (U-19-primary U-11-boys and girls - Ropar - Sept 7 to 9; table tennis and volleyball (U-19 boys and girls) Amritsar Sept 7 to 9; table tennis and volleyball (U-14, boys and girls) Nawanshahr Sept 7 to 9; handball and table tennis (U-19), football (U-19 boys and girls) Bathinda - Sept 13 to 16; kabaddi (U-19- boys and girls), circle kabaddi (U-19 girls) Moga - Sept 13 to 16; football ( U-19-Boys) Malerkotla Sept 20 to 23; rollar skating, lawn tennis ( U-14, 19), Judo, cricket (U-19 boys and girls) Patiala Oct 1 to 4; kho-kho, kabaddi (primary U-11 boys and girls) Fatehgarh Sahib Oct 1 to 4; kho-kho (U-14, 10), kabaddi (U-14 boys and girls), Ferozepore Oct 1 to 4; football, handball (U 14 boys and girls) Muktsar Oct 1 to 4; basketball (U-14 boys and girls) Kapurthala Oct 11 to 14; athletics (U-14, 19), fencing (U-19) athletics (U 11 boys and girls) Bathinda - Oct 15 to 18; Vinoo Mankad Cricket (U-16 boys); softball (U-19 boys and girls) Amritsar Nov 2 to 5; boxing (U-19), badminton (U-14, 19) Sangrur Nov 2 to 5, gymnastics, wrestling (U-14, 17, 19), rhythmic gymnastics (U-11 boys and girls ) - Jalandhar Nov 9 to 12; wrestling (U-14, 17, 19 and U-11 boys) Faridkot Nov 11 to 14; hockey (U-14 boys)’ judo (U-14, 17- boys and girls) Gurdaspur Nov 11 to 14; hockey (girls U-14) Bheni Sahib Nov 15 to 18; hockey (U-19 boys and girls) Moga Dec 2 to 6; cricket (boys) Mansa Dec 3 to 6; ball badminton (U-14, 19 boys and girls) Ludhiana Dec 7 to 10.

Nangal Khilarian, Khera joint winners

CHANDIGARH, Aug 10 (TNS) — Khera Club and hosts Nangal Khilarian Club were declared joint winners in the 19th Punjab Junior Rural Soccer Tournament which concluded at Nangal Khilarian village, 20 km from Hoshiarpur on Sunday.

In the keenly contested final, both teams regaled the capacity crowd with fine moves but failed to score in the stipulated 90 minutes. No extra time was given and the teams were declared joint winners.

Earlier in the semifinals, Khera edged out Barian Kalan 1-0 and Nangal Khilarian beat Mazara Dingrian by the same margin.