Wednesday, December 29, 1999
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S P O R T | Wednesday, December 29, 1999 |
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 Sachin Tendulkar ducks a bouncer bowled by fast bowler Glenn McGrath during the second session of the third day of the Test between Australia and India on Tuesday. — AP/PTI |
 GLASGOW : Celtic's Olivier Tebily, right, challenges Rangers' Billy Dodds during the "Old Firm" soccer match at Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland on Monday. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. — AP/PTI |
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Woods ‘athlete of year’ Contrasting
wins for Punjab, Railways
FC Kochin resents move on
cricket tie Sydney Olympics: progress
overshadowed by scandals
West Zone win by 6
wickets Leander to partner Lareau Mahilpur
college win soccer title Manisha,
Rushmi in last 8
Thriving on self-belief Yoga title for Haryana India
outplay Cuba |
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Sachin saves India from follow-on MELBOURNE, Dec 28 (Reuters) — Sachin Tendulkar produced an innings of rare genius to save India from having to followon against Australia on the third day of the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today. The Indian captain scored a defiant 116 to guide the tourists to 235 for nine in their first innings in reply to Australia’s total of 405. Tendulkar’s 22nd Test hundred ensured the Australians would at least have to bat a second time although the home side were still firmly in control of the match thanks to a stunning display from Test debutant Brett Lee. The 23-year-old fast bowler captured five wickets and scored 27 runs in a fairytale start to his Test career after spending most of the first two days of this Test in the dressing room watching rain fall. Lee announced his arrival to the Test arena before lunch with a swashbuckling innings of 27 to help Australia reach an imposing first innings score of 405 from 345-8. His best, however, was still to come. Bowling first change, Lee became the first Australian in 22 years to take a wicket in his first over in Test cricket when he bowled Sadagopan Ramesh for four with his fourth delivery. Lee, whose older brother Shane was a member of the Australian limited-overs side that won this year’s World Cup in England, also claimed the scalp of Rahul Dravid for nine in his first spell before returning to snare three wickets in six balls to finish the innings with five for 44 from 17 overs. He bowled MSK Prasad for six with an inswinger that crashed into the Indian wicketkeeper’s stumps, then trapped Ajit Agarkar leg before wicket first ball with a toe crushing yorker. Javagal Srinath managed to avoid Lee’s hat-trick ball but fell on the final delivery of the over when he fended a bouncer to Mark Waugh at second slip. Waugh also took two sharp catches off Australian strike bowler Glenn McGrath to take his career tally to 124 and leapfrog Greg Rhappell and Viv Richards into third place on the all-time fielding list. Shane Warne also reached a major milestone when he became the first spin bowler in the game’s history to take 350 Test wickets when he trapped Hrishikesh Kanitkar lbw for 11 but his achievement, like Waugh’s, was totally overshadowed by the displays of Tendulkar and Lee. India, who lost the first Test in Adelaide by 285 runs, looked certain to be heading towards a similar flogging when Lee reduced them to 169-8. But Tendulkar, who had been confined to playing a defensive role as his team mates fell by the wayside, unleashed himself on the Australians to steer his side to safety. The little master, who stands unchallenged as the world’s premier batsman, clubbed nine boundaries, and a towering six over the head of Warne, on his way to reaching his fifth century against Australia. He joined Michael Slater as the only batsmen to make 1,000 Test runs this year and hardly played a single false stroke despite facing a hostile Australian attack on an overcast day made even more difficult by a swirling wind. Tendulkar reached his hundred when he pulled Warne through square leg for two then took India past the follow-on point of 206 when he flicked the Australian off his pads for another two. His innings, which spanned 191 balls in almost five hours, came to an end at 116 when he skied a catch off Damien Fleming to Justin Langer in the deep. He departed to a standing ovation. Tendulkar’s solo batting display came as a welcome reward to India’s bowlers after they had done well to restrict Australia to 405 after they resumed the day at 332-5. Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting both went quickly after making half-centuries the previous night while Warne came and went for two. Lee and Fleming added 59 for the ninth wicket with an adventurous partnership before Lee was caught hitting out. McGrath was run out seven balls later to leave Fleming stranded on 31. Australia (Ist Innings) Blewett b Srinath 2 Michael Slater c Srinath b 91 Prasad Langer lbw Srinath 8 Mark Waugh lbw Agarkar 41 Steve Waugh c MSK Prasad 32 b Prasad Ponting lbw Srinath 67 Gilchrist c Ganguly b Agarkar 78 Warne c MSK Prasad b Agarkar 2 Fleming not out 31 Lee c and b Srinath 27 McGrath run out 1 Extras (1b, 9lb, 1w, 14nb) 25 Total (118.1 overs, all out) 405 Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-28, 3-123, 4-192, 5-197, 6-341, 7-343, 8-345, 9-404. Bowling: Javagal Srinath 33.1-7-130-4, Ajit Agarkar 28-7-76-3, Venkatesh Prasad 26-6-101-2, Saurav Ganguly 2-0-10-0, Anil Kumble 29-3-78-0. India (Ist innings) Laxman c M Waugh b 5 McGrath Ramesh b Lee 4 Dravid c Gilchrist b Lee 9 Tendulkar c Langer b Fleming 116 Ganguly c M Waugh b 31 McGrath Kanitkar lbw Warne 11 MSK Prasad b Lee 6 Agarkar lbw b Lee 0 Srinath c M Waugh b Lee 1 Anil Kumble batting 26 Venkatesh Prasad batting 10 Extras (lb-8, nb-8) 16 Total (for 9 wkts, 75 overs) 235 Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-11, 3-31, 4-108, 5-138, 6-167, 7-167, 8-169, 9-212. Bowling: McGrath
18-3-39-2, Fleming 15-0-62-1, Lee 17-2-44-5, Warne
24-5-77-1, M Waugh 1-0-5-0. |
Tendulkar, Lee hog limelight MELBOURNE, Dec 28 (Reuters) — Australian pace bowler Brett Lee marked his Test debut with five wickets against India today but said his abiding memory of the day’s play was an brilliant batting of Sachin Tendulkar. The Indian captain saved his side from following on in the second Test by scoring 116, his 22nd Test century as India made 235 for nine in reply to Australia’s first innings 405. Tendulkar was the only batsman able to combat Lee’s frightening pace, comfortably handling everything the Australian threw at him to earn a standing ovation from the crowd. “You might pitch a ball on the off stump and think you have bowled a good ball and he walks across and hits it for two behind midwicket,” Lee said. “His bat looks so heavy but he just waves it around like it’s a toothpick.” Said Tendulkar: “it’s always a great feeling to score runs against the top side in the world. It certainly gives you greater satisfaction.” “But the team’s performance is important and I scored this hundred for the team.” Lee (23) scored 27, sharing a ninth wicket stand of 59 with Damien Fleming, and took five for 44 in a fairy tale start to his Test career after spending most of the first two days of the Test in the dressing room watching the rain. “I’m still waiting to wake up. I think I might be dreaming all this,’’ said Lee, whose older brother Shane was a member of the Australian limited overs team who won the World Cup this year. “It’s an experience I will never, ever forget. It’s one of those things I have dreamed about but I didn’t expect to take five wickets. “It’s a very
proud feeling. I’m very honoured and very
happy.” Ajay Jadeja ‘not to be considered’ MUMBAI, Dec 28 — Batsman Ajay Jadeja will not be considered for the one-day triangular series to be played next month in Australia. Talking to UNI on the phone from Baroda Boad of Control for cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary J.Y. Lele said there was no need to send him for any fitness test as the BCCI had received the certificate of the South African doctor on his shoulder. Initially he did not divulge the contents of the certificate but expected to submit it to the selectors on Thursday, the day of the selections. He would be out of contention if he goes for a shoulder operation according to the medical advice, Lele said. Earlier a report quoting “reliable sources” had mentioned that Jadeja would have to undergo a physical test here on December 28 before his selection to the team for the series in which apart from the hosts Pakistan is playing. After initial
investigation, South African shoulder specialist Ferguson
has suggested an operation to the injured shoulder of
Jadeja. |
Woods ‘athlete of year’ NEW YORK, Dec 28 (AP) —Tiger Woods wasn’t even considered the best golfer in the United States halfway through 1999. By year’s end, however, he had put together one of the sport’s most dominant seasons in the 20th century. Woods won nine of his last 13 tournaments, including a major championship, and earned $ 7.6 million. Woods was yesterday named The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year in a close vote over Lance Armstrong. “It’s great to be selected, very humbling to be part of that,” said Woods, who won the award for the second time in three years. “A lot of great athletes have won this award.” Woods received 29 first-place votes and 144 points from AP member newspapers and broadcast outlets. Armstrong, who overcame testicular cancer to win the Tour de France, had 31 first-place votes and finished with 130 points. Cy Young award winner Pedro Martinez of the Boston Red finished third with 45 points, followed by John Elway and Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne. Rounding out the top 10 were: Andre Agassi, Tim Duncan, Payna Stewart, Sammy Sosa, and quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner, who tied for 10th. The US Women’s World Cup soccer team was named the AP Female Athletes of the Year last week and also won for story of the year. Woods became only the seventh man — and second golfer to win AP Athlete of the Year twice since it began in 1931. The others were Don Budge, Byron Nelson, Sandy Kaufax, Carl Lewis, Joe Montana and Michael Jordan. Jordan is the only three-time winner, Woods who turns 24 on Thursday, figures to have at least 20 more years to match or surpass Jordan. At this rate, the only thing capable of stopping him is a career-threatening injury of loss of desire. “He’s not even close to how good he can get,” said Davis Love III after finishing second to Woods in the Tour Championship. “He’s going to be good for a long, long time.” Woods won this award for
what he did in a short period of time. |
Contrasting wins for Punjab, Railways NEW DELHI, Dec 28 (UNI) — There was no stopping defending champions Punjab and Railways as they chalked out contrasting victories over their rivals in the men’s and women’s sections, respectively, of the 50th Senior National Basketball Championship here today. Spearheaded by tall Parminder Singh (Sr) Punjab overcame determined Karnataka 84-73 for their third successive win. Railway women completed their group ‘A’ super league assignment with an all-win record as they overwhelmed Maharashtra 73-42 after trailing 30-33 at half time. Karnataka men gave a scare to Punjab as they led 42-35 at half time, but it was in the second session that holders went on rampage with Parminder (Sr) leading the assault. Parminder combined well with Gagnesh Kumar and Parminder (Jr) as Punjab wrested the initiative from their rivals. The mainstay of the Karnataka attack was Murli Mohan who top scored with 31 points. N. Murli Basava Raja chipped in 13 points. For the winners Parminder (Sr) scored 25 points while another veteran Gagnesh Kumar scored 18 and Parminder (Jr) 12 points. Railway women staved off Maharashtra’s first half challenge to emerge winners. Maharashtra women put up good fight in the first session as overconfident Railway players took time to settle down. Once Railway cagers found their rhythm in the second half they totally outplayed their rivals who could add only nine points to their total in this session. Internationals Aparna Ghosh top scored with 20 points, Jiji Jose (14) and Magon Sheeba (12) were the other contributors in Railways win. Manisha Kaprekar (11) and Pradnya Mane (10) were the scorers for the losers. Kerala men virtually assured themselves of a place in the knockout stage as they scored their third straight win in group ‘E’ of preliminary league. Kerala routed Orissa 80-43 after leading 30-26 at half time. Subhas Shenoy with 34 points top scored for Kerala. Other useful contributions came from M. Ranjith (24) and Sunny Thomas (9). Amaresh Patra (16), Seikh Saheed (10), M.D. Afsar (6) scored for the losers. Chandigarh carved out a narrow 64-59 win over Himachal Pradesh. The winners led 34-31 at breather. Amresh Kumar, Harkanwar Singh 21 points each and Nirpender Sandhu (11) scored for the Union Territory. Ashok Kumar, Sudershan (13 each) and Surjit Singh (11) reduced the margin for Himachal. Tamil Nadu kept their hopes alive for making it to the knockout stage as they drubbed Bengal 83-47 after leading 50-22 at half time. Devanathan top scored
with 15 points. Other main scorers for the winners were
Shridhar (13) and Ony Lesloy (11). Suhas Bhattacharjee
scored 13 points for the losers. |
Sydney Olympics: progress overshadowed by scandals SYDNEY, Dec 28 (AP) — With about nine months to go before the opening ceremonies, the return of sport as the central focus of the Olympics won’t come soon enough for the organisers of the Sydney 2000 Games. Despite being ahead of schedule on venue construction, transport and other planning, it seemed that in 1999 no news was good for the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG). Even a string of international victories and tumbling records by Australian sportspeople was not enough to lift a pall of public anger which settled over the committee after a series of scandals and blunders — some beyond its control and some of its own making. The year started badly with news breaking over the scandal over International Olympic Committee members accepting lavish gifts and travel from bidding cities. While Salt Lake City was the primary focus of bribery allegations, it was almost inevitable that Sydney would become caught up. Sydney became tainted when Australian Olympic Committee head John Coates admitted that on the eve of the IOC vote at which Sydney won the Games, he offered two African delegates $ 35,000 (Australian) (about Rs 10 lakh) each to fund sporting bodies in their countries. The scandal became a running sore in Australia when IOC member Phil Coles, who was reprimanded by the IOC for accepting travel and hospitality from Salt Lake City bidders, refused to step down from the Sydney Organising Committee board. Pressure on Coles intensified midyear when it was revealed dossiers including personal notes on IOC members which he had prepared had been passed to Salt Lake City bid officials. After community outrage and none-too-subtle pressure behind the scenes, Coles in June resigned as a SOCOG Vice-President. SOCOG President Michael Knight blamed the IOC scandal for souring public enthusiasm for the Games and making sponsors wary. In May he announced organisers had cut the expected revenue from the Games. In June, Knight cancelled a contract that would have supplied a 2,000-strong marching band made up mostly of American and Japanese students. The move was apparently triggered by a talkback radio campaign which demanded the band members be Australian. But Knight was forced into an embarrassing backdown when band organisers took SOCOG to court for breach of contract, and agreed to pay American company World Projects Corp. In December it was revealed SOCOG advertising campaigns and promotional material had been misleading and only three million tickets had been offered to the general public. Worse still, a pool of 840,000 of the best Games tickets had been set aside for high rollers prepared to pay premium prices. The public was outraged. Critics included the public face of the SOCOG’s ticketing campaign, cricket hero Mark Taylor, champion swimmer Ian Thorpe and Prime Minister John Howard. SOCOG finished the year in damage control, firing ticketing chief Paul Reading — who described himself as SOCOG’s “ugly face of capitalism” — and releasing 525,000 more tickets to the public. Furthering SOCOG’s woes have been continuing problems meeting the budget. In December, SOCOG again revised the amount of forecast sponsorship revenue, and appointed a management team to find areas to slash spending to make up the difference. Also in December, Reebok pulled out as a main sponsor of the Sydney Games and initiated legal proceedings against SOCOG over clothing rights. But the IOC and the local committee quickly announced that Nike would take Reebok’s place. Even as the scandals rattled through SOCOG’s inner-city headquarters, the main Olympic site at Homebush Bay took on the buzz of excitement as the first major sporting events were held to test facilities and transport. The main Olympic Stadium Australia was opened in March and coped comfortably with crowds of more than 100,000 people. Throughout the year it hosted international events, including rugby, a National Football League preseason game between Denver and San Diego and soccer matches. Also at Homebush, Thorpe was the hometown hero of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in August in the pool which will be used for the Olympics. More than a dozen world records were broken, including by Thorpe, South Africa’s Penny Heyns and American Lenny Krayzelburg. Almost all venues have been completed, and a comprehensive test event schedule is about half way through and on track to have every venue tried out by the time the Games start on September 15. Sports-mad at the worst of times, Australia had an exceptional year in 1999, winning World Cups in cricket and rugby, tennis’ Davis Cup and scoring international victories in women’s hockey and netball. With public awareness
growing that the Games are just short months away, Sydney
organisers will be hoping euphoria at hosting the
world’s largest sporting event will replace the sour
taste left after 1999. |
Cricket team prays for hostages MELBOURNE, Dec 28 (AFP) — Touring Indian cricketers today offered prayers for the 154 people held hostage on an Indian Airlines jet in Afghanistan. The Indians, currently playing the second Test against Australia here, said they were very worried about how the five-day crisis might end. “Our thoughts are with the innocent lives on board that plane,” coach Kapil Dev said on behalf of the team. “We have always been worried by such a thing. But it is more now because we are away from home.” “We all pray that it ends without anyone being hurt.” Kapil’s remarks
came as Indian negotiators held new talks today with the
hijackers holding the plane at Kandahar airport. |
Dhyan Chand, Usha sportspersons of century NEW DELHI, Dec 28 (UNI) — Hockey wizard Dhyan Chand and sprint queen P.T. Usha have been selected as Indian sportspersons of the century by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). IOA president Suresh Kalmadi said here today that this decision was taken by the association after wide consultations with its office-bearers and leading personalities of the sports fraternity. Hockey wizard Dhyan
Chand spearheaded India’s gold medal campaign in
1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympic games. In the 1936 Berlin
Olympics Dhyan Chand, who was captain of the team, had
the distinction of scoring 11 out of 38 goals scored by
his side. The late Dhyan Chand was honoured with the
Padma Bhushan in 1956. |
Dramatic collapse by Windies WELLINGTON, Dec 28 (Reuters) — The West Indies were in dire straits at the close on the third day today of the second Test after collapsing dramatically and being forced to follow on 399 runs behind New Zealand. Chasing New Zealand’s first innings of 518 for nine declared, the West Indies lost their last four wickets for five runs in the final hour of play and were all out for 179. At stumps they were two for no loss. One of the final West Indies wickets to fall was a run out off a no-ball, while the bowler of the series so far, Chris Cairns, ended with five wickets for 44. The West Indies earlier had fought back from 17 for three with a partnership of 112 between Adrian Griffith and Brian Lara. But once Lara was out for 67 just before tea, the West Indies were in trouble. They lost Jimmy Adams in the first over after tea when he pushed a ball from Daniel Vettori to Gary Stead at short-forward square for a fine diving catch. Stead missed a hard chance off the new batsman, scoreless Ridley Jacobs, in the next Vettori over. Adrian Griffith, who had been a spectator at the other end while wickets were falling fast after Lara’s dismissal, went for 67 at 174, caught behind by Adam Parore off Dion Nash. Franklyn Rose faced two balls before edging to Parore off Cairns and Reon King was run out the next ball off a Cairns’ no ball. King hit the ball square of the wicket on the off side and started down the pitch. Vettori threw down the wicket with King well short. Courtney Walsh lasted a short time before he became Cairns’ fifth victim for no score, leaving Jacobs not out on 19. Lara came to the wicket after Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s wretched series continued when he was out for five. Earlier nightwatchman Nehemiah Perry was dismissed by Cairns’ first ball of the morning. It was a bright innings from Lara, who seemed to have rid himself of the reckless manner which led to his downfall twice in the Hamilton Test. He did not appear in any difficulty and struck the ball all over the ground. He saw the dangerous Cairns off by hitting two boundaries in successive overs. Griffith hung in at the other end but never really looked comfortable for much of the day, particularly against Vettori. But it was Nash who snared him after changing to bowl around the wicket, caught by Stephen Fleming at first slip. Scoreboard New Zealand: (Ist innings) 518-9 declared West Indies: (Ist innings) Griffith c Fleming b Cairns 67 Campbell lbw Cairsn 0 Perry c Parore b Cairns 3 Chanderpaul c Parore b Cairns 5 Lara b Vettori 67 Adams c Stead b Vettori 8 Jacobs not out 19 Rose c Parore b Cairns 0 King run out 0 Walsh b Cairns 0 Extra: (B-4, LB-2, NB-2, W-2) 10 Total: (all out in 91 overs) 179 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-5, 3-17, 4-129, 5-141, 6-174, 7-175, 8-175, 9-179. Bowling: Chris Cairns 19-5-44-5, Dion Nash 18-8-23-1, Daniel Vettori 31-10-69-2, Shayne O’Connor 19-8-25-0, Nathan Astle 4-1-12-0. West Indies : (2nd innings) Griffith batting 0 Campbell batting 2 Total: (for no loss) 2 Bowling: Shayne
O’Connor 2-1-1-0, Daniel Vettori 1-0-1-0. |
South Africa follow on DURBAN, Dec 28 (AFP) — Career-best figures of Andrew Caddick forced South Africa to follow on for the first time in more than 30 years on the third day of the third Test against South Africa at Kingsmead today. Caddick took seven for 46 as South Africa crashed to 156 all out in reply to England’s 366 for nine declared. South Africa were 27 for no wicket in the second innings when bad light ended play 13.5 overs early. Caddick ripped into the South African top order, dismissing Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis and Gary Kirsten within the space of 11 balls, all with the help of catches by wicketkeeper Alec Stewart. He took a further three wickets in five balls in a second spell which started when he had South African captain Hansie Cronje caught by Stewart for 28. Then he ended a ninth wicket stand of 70 in 75 minutes between Shaun Pollock and Paul Adams which took South Africa to within 13 runs of avoiding the follow-on. Pollock made a fluent 64 off 89 balls before being bowled by Caddick shortly after tea before Darren Gough polished off South Africa by removing Adams. SCOREBOARD England (first innings) 366 for 9 dec. Kirsten c Stewart b Caddick 11 Gibbs c Stewart b Caddick 2 Kallis c Stewart b Caddick 0 Cullinan b Gough 20 Cronje c Stewart b Caddick 28 Klusener c Maddy b Tufnell 15 Pollock b Caddick 64 Boucher b Caddick 0 Donald c Atherton b Caddick 0 Adams c Atherton b Gough 9 Hayward not out 0 Extras (b-4, lb-1, w-1, nb-1) 7 Total (all out, 50.5 overs) 156 Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-11, 3-24, 4-57, 5-74, 6-84, 7-84, 8-84, 9-154. Bowling: Gough 15.5-6-36-2, Caddick 16-5-46-7, Silverwood 6-1-38-0, Tufnell 10-1-24-1, Flintoff 3-0-7-0. South Africa (2nd innings): Kirsten batting 3 Gibbs batting 24 Extras 0 Total (for no loss, 6.1 overs) 27 Bowling: Caddick
3.1-1-10-0, Silverwood 3-0-17-0. |
West Zone win by 6 wickets CHENNAI, Dec 28 (PTI) — West Zone scored an emphatic six-wicket win over east with 12.3 overs to spare while South beat Central by 55 runs in their round robin encounters for the C.K. Nayudu Trophy (under-19) Cricket Tournament here yesterday. Hyderabad’s Venugopal Rao (107 not out) and Arjun Yadav (100) were instrumental in South’s total of 257 for 5 in 50 overs. In reply, Central could muster only 202 all out. Opting to field on a rain-truncated day West, who bowled out East for 93 in 40.4 overs, were set a comfortable target of 80 runs in 40 overs which they easily achieved scoring 81 for 4 in 27.3 overs. Mahendra Dhoni chipped in with 32 in East’s modest effort. Left-arm medium pacer Jolly Jobem Butra claimed 3 for 18 and spinner Rakesh Dhruve scalpd two for 7 runs for West. For West, Prashan Joshi top scored with 25. East’s Mihar Diwakar took 2 for 19. In the South-Central tie, the former after being put in to bat were reeling at 19 for 3 wickets before Venugopal Rao and Arjun Yadav turned the tide by adding 170 runs in 137 minutes off 34.3 overs for the fourth wicket. Opening bowlers Srivastava (2/49) and Maninder Singh (2/42) took a brace each. For Central, only Amit
Deshpande impressed making 55 runs, while M. Tripathi
(29) and Sameer Chare (29 not out) also chipped in. |
FC Kochin resents move on cricket tie KOCHI, Dec 28 (PTI) — The president of F.C. Kochin, Mr P.V. Paul, has expressed concern over the proposed move of the cricket board to shift the India-South Africa one-day international cricket match from Goa to Kochi. The South Africans tour India from February next. In a press note here today, he said if the one-dayer was played at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium at Kochi, it would affect F C Kochin’s seven home matches in the National Football League. “I am not against cricket. Shifting of F C Kochin’s home matches to other districts or any other venue will deprive the club of the much needed home-ground advantage against our opponents,” he said. Mr Paul said last year also the club had to play six home matches in Kannur and Thrissur districts, due to an international cricket match at the Nehru Stadium, and added it had badly affected the team’s performance. “Besides, the club, the All-India Football Federation (AIFF), Kerala Football Association (KFA) and Ernakulam District Football Association (EDFA) had to incur heavy financial losses. He appealed to the EDFA,
KFA and the AIFF to take up the matter with the cricket
board and see that the one-dayer was not held at the
Nehru Stadium where the football matches are scheduled to
be played. |
Leander to partner Lareau CALCUTTA, Dec 28 (UNI) — World’s topmost player in tennis doubles Leander Paes and number four ranked Sebastin Lareau from Canada will play together as doubles partner in the coming season. Briefing newsmen here, Leander informed that he received the confirmation from Lareau in this regard only three days ago. Leander would renew his partnership with Lareau from the coming Australian Open and for the time being at the Gold Flake-Open in Chennai. He would play with Byron Black in the doubles. Leander said by the time
he came to know about Mahesh’s shoulder injury,
which would keep the latter out of tennis for quite some
time. It was quite late to get a new partner as most of
the world’s top ten doubles players had already
chosen their partners. |
Mahilpur college win soccer title FATEHGARH SAHIB, Dec 28 — Khalsa College, Mahilpur, won the All-India Baba Zorawar Singh Baba Fateh Singh Shahidi Football Tournament defeating last year’s winners Rail Coach Factory (RCF) Kapurthala 6-5 in sudden death here today. The final started on a fast note and both the teams were defensive in approach. RCF dominated the first half and in the 20th minute Manmohan Singh took a strong kick, which was well saved by the goalkeeper. RCF time and again mounted pressure on the college boys and earned corner kicks regularly. The performance of the Mahilpur goalkeeper drew cheers. Jagjit Randhawa impressed the crowd with his skill. In the second half the college boys gained confidence and from the very beginning attacked the RCF goal. In the 10th minute Dharma of Mahilpur aimed a beautiful shot but the ball hit the poll. Attacks and counter-attacks were witnessed during the second half and the college boys had an edge over their rivals. The RCF players also missed some chances. In sudden death, the Mahilpur goalkeeper saved kick while his team mate scored of the next kick to win the trophy. Mr Sukhdev Singh Libra,
MP, gave away the prizes. |
Manisha, Rushmi in last 8 CHANDIGARH, Dec 28 — Third -seeded Jayaram Sai Jayalakshmi and sixth-seeded Archana Venkatraman made their exit as only two Indians — second-seeded Manisha Malhotra and fourth-seeded Rushmi Chakravarthi — cruised into the quarterfinals of the $ 10,000 ITF Women’s Circuit Tennis Tournament here today. Jayalakshmi, who dished out the fare not expected of her, was ambushed by 14-year-old unseeded Croatian Antonia Matic 6-1, 1-6, 6-2, while Archana fell to the unseeded Slovenian Masa Vesenjak 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. Manisha and Rushmi advanced easing past unseeded Shalini Thakur and Radhika Tulpule, respectively. While Manisha won 7-5, 6-1, Rushmi forged ahead winning 6-1, 6-1. In fact, the match between Masa and Archana turned out to be an engrossing affair lasting for two hours and eight minutes.The Slovenian looked more enthusiastic and was more vociferous easily winning the first set 6-2. Archana, however, regrouped herself well and wrapped up the second set 4-6 as a Masa lob sailed over the baseline. The third and the deciding set saw a more determined Masa. Though broken in the very first game, the athletically-built Masa kept herself charged up and returned the compliment as she broke Archana’s serve at love in the very next game to draw level. There was no stopping Masa thereafter.Though the subsequent games saw long and interesting rallies, it was Masa who prevailed in the end and won the set 6-1 to seal a berth in the last eight. Manisha playing against Shalini managed to win the first set 7-5, but toyed with her rival and won the next at 6-1.Vishika Chhetri just proved to be a mismatch for top seed and the runner-up in the recently-concluded Lucknow tournament Katarine Daskovic and was demolished by 6-0, 6-0. The contest against Matic proved to be disappointing for Sai Jayalakshmi. The Croatian teenager looked in great touch straightway and won the first set at 6-1. The second set saw a determined Jayalakshmi who won the second set with the identical margin. But her joy was shortlived as Matic took control of the last set and won at 6-2. Results(pre-quarterfinals): Antonia Matic (Cro) b Jayaram Sai Jayalakshmi 6-1, 1-6, 6-2; Masa Vesenjak (Slo) b Archana Venkatraman (India) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1; Manisha Malhotra (India) b Shalini Thakur (India) 7-5, 6-1; Rushmi Chakravarthi (India) b Radhika Tulpule (India) 6-1, 6-1; Anna Nefedova (Russ) b Maria Kendratieva (Russ) 6-3, 6-4; Katarine Daskovic (Yug) b Vishika Chhetri (India) 6-0, 6-0; Olga Kaliojnaja (Russ) b Svetlana Mossaikova (Russ) 6-4, 3-1-conceded; Urska Vesenjak (Slo) b Isha Chopra (India) 6-0, 6-2. Doubles: Katharine Daskovic (Yug)
and Manisha Malhotra (Ind) b Isha Chopra (Ind) 6-1, 6-2
Peruman, Nandini (Ind), Kalioujnata, Olga (Rus) and
Kondraticva, Maria (Rus) b Matic, Antonia (Crop) and
Manohar, Geeta (Ind) 6-3, 6-3, Vesenjak, Urska (Slo) and
Vesenkal, Masa (Slo) b Turinsky, Catherine (Ger) and
Smit, Sturi (Ind) 6-3, 6-1, Chandrasekhar, Nandita (Ind)
and Thukkainandi, Yamani (Ind) b Rani, Simmi (Ind) and
Randhawa, Jasleen (Ind) 2-6, 7-6 (3) 7-5, Chakravarthi,
Rushmi (Ind) and Jayalakshmi, Jayaram (Ind) b
Kanbargimath, Tara (Ind) and Bedi, Harsimran (Ind) 6-3,
6-4. |
Thriving on self-belief WELLINGTON, Dec 28 (Reuters) —Mathew Sinclair, the novice New Zealand batsman who scored 214 against the West Indies on his Test debut yesterday, shows a maturity and attitude beyond his 24 years. But he only got his chance to shine as opener Matthew Horne had broken a finger in the first Test. Sinclair has been knocking on the New Zealand test selectors’ door since he broke into the domestic first class scene with Central Districts four years ago. This season he firmly staked his claim when he scored 182 for New Zealand A against England A. His full Test score was his fourth first class century to top 150 runs. Sinclair, from Palmerston North 160 km north of Wellington, believes in his own ability. “I always believe
in myself. When I decided cricket was going to be my
career I have been an extremely hard task-master at my
game,’’ he said. |
Yoga title for Haryana CHANDIGARH, Dec 28 — Hosts Haryana bagged the overall title securing 21 points in the 18th National Yoga Championship which concluded at Panipat yesterday. West Bengal and Tripura finished second and third with eight and five points, respectively. Rakesh in subjunior, Deepak in junior, Surinder in senior, Ramjeet in men’s, and Zora Singh in veteran sections contributed seven gold medals in Haryana’s victory. Mr Sampat Singh, Finance Minister, Haryana, gave away the prizes. Mr Dharam Vir, president, Indian Yoga Federation, said the next National Yoga Championship would be organised at three different places. Results: SubJr. (boys) Rakesh 1 (Hr) Rakesh Jakhar 2 (Hr), Dinesh 3 (Hr). (Girls): Sudipta Bhattachargee 1 (WB) Supriti 2 (Tripura) Desai Hardee 3 (Gujarat). Junior (boys): Deepak 1 (Hr) Bhupinder 2 (Hr) M. Raghuveer 3 (AP), (Girls) Sanchita Chatterjee 1 (WB) Meenu 2 (Hr) Yashoda 3 (Hr). Senior (boys): Surinder 1 (Hr), Narinder 2 (Hr) Gopal Das 3 (WB), (Girls): Suman 1 (Hr) Nandita Banik 2 (Tripura) Ranjita Ghose 3 (WB). Elderly (men): Ranjeet 1 (Hr) K. Gobinda Rao 2 (Karnataka) T. Bala Shekhar 3 (AP). (Women): Shalini 1 (Hr) Inderjeet Kaur 2 (Hr) Usha Thakur 3 (HP). Veterans (men): Zora
Singh 1 (Hr) P.Gopal Krishna 2 (Karnataka) Satyaveer 3
(Hr). |
Boxing title for Delhi PFC CHANDIGARH, Dec 28 — Malwinder Singh of Punjab in welter weight boxed his way to the gold medal while Anand Kumar in fly weight and Ajit Pal Singh in heavyweight (both from Chandigarh) emerged winners on the final day of the 7th All-India Invitational AK Misra Memorial Boxing Championships at the skating rink, Sector 10, here today. Power Fitness Centre, Delhi won the overall team championship while Assam Rifles were declared runners-up while Chandigarh secured the third position. SB Thapa of Assam Rifles was adjudged the best boxer of the meet. Mr Satish Chandra, Chairman, CITCO, gave away the prizes. Mr Rajesh Bhandari, secretary Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) was also present. Results: all finals: Light fly weight: SB
Thapa (Assam Rifles) b Mukesh Kumar (CHD-Y); Flyweight:
Anand Kumar (CHD-P) b SK Thapa (Assam Rifles);
Bantamweight: Naveen Dabas (PFC, Delhi) b Mandeep Singh
(CHD-Y); Featherweight: Jai Prakash (PFC, Delhi) b Ganesh
Giri (Beg-R); Lightweight: Anil Kumar (PFC, Delhi) b
Ravinder Singh (Haryana); Lightwelterweight: Shashi Kant
(Haryana) b Harinder Kumar (Punjab); Welterweight:
Malwinder Singh (Punjab) b Deepak Chauhan (HP) ; Light
middle weight: Shashi Kumar Thapa (Assam Rifles) b
Virender Dangi (CHD-P); Middle weight: Surajmal (Haryana)
b M. Borjan Singh (Assam Rifles); Light heavy weight:
Anand Tekna (PFC, Delhi) b Bikramjit Singh (PSEB); Heavy
weight: Ajit Pal Singh (CHD-P) b Narinder Kumar (Punjab);
Super heavy weight: Rajendra Singh (PFC, Delhi) b
Ramandeep Singh (CHD-P) . |
India outplay Cuba DUBAI, Dec 28 (PTI) — Thrice winners India got off to a flying start by overwhelming strong contenders Cuba in straight group in a Group “A” league tie in the fifth Rashid International Volleyball Tournament here late last night. India, who had clinched the first three editions and finished runners-up to Ukraine last year, played as one unit to outplay the world power 25-15, 25-16, 25-18 in their inaugural match that lasted just over an hour. The Cuban side landed here with two of its world cup members but with only a squad of seven players. But the Caribbean nation ranked world number two with tremendous depth in the game found the seasoned Indians a tough proposition as the latter took a giant step towards claiming a semifinal spot. The tall setter Ravikant Reddy excelled in his boosts while Joby Joseph, who plays as a professional in the Gulf, along with Ashish Arora and young Tom Joseph showed sparkling form in unleashing powerful smaashes which proved too much for the Cubans. Earlier, Pakistan
outclassed hosts United Arab Emirates 25-14, 25-17, 25-20
in another Group “A” fixture. |
Korfball title for Haryana CHANDIGARH, Dec 28 — Haryana bagged the 14th Senior National Korfball Championship which concluded here this afternoon at Panjab University grounds today. In the finals, Haryana prevailed over Madhya Pradesh 20-16. The third place went to Rajasthan who had to toilhard in overcoming the challenge of Uttar Pradesh at 16-12. Mr C.L. Bains, Financial and Taxation Commissioner, Punjab, who was the chief guest, gave away the prizes. Results: (Finals):
Haryana b MP 20-16 (scorers: Winners- Ram Pal 9, Satinder
6, Raj Kumar 3; Losers- Bharti 5, Arif 3, Dharminder 3
and Mahinder 3). Third place: Rajasthan b UP 16-12
(Scorers: Prem Saini 9, Rajesh 4, Saraswati 3; Losers:
Renu 3, Rina 3 and Amit 3). |
PU eves annex judo crown GWALIOR, Dec 28 (UNI) — Panjab University, Chandigarh, and Kurukshetra University won the All India Inter-University Women’s and Men’s Judo Championships, respectively, which which concluded at Lakshmibai National Institute of Physicaleducation (deemed university) here late last night. The well-knit Panjab University women’s team was a cut above the rest collecting 17 points (two gold, two silver, and a bronze). Guru Nanak Dev University was second with 14 points, winning two gold, one silver and one bronze medal, while Manipur University and Punjabi University, Patiala, were joint third. Both the teams collected 10 points each. In the men’s section, GND University, Amritsar finished second with 14 points (one gold and three silver), while Delhi University was placed third with 11 points (three silver and two bronze medals). In 71 kg weight category in men’s section, Anil Chouhan of Lakshmibi National Institute of Physical Education (LNIPE) outplayed Dinesh Kumar of Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohatak. In the open weight category in women’s section, international Varinda defeated Kiran of Ch Charan Singh University, Meerut by IPON (by fall). All judoka observed a
two-minute mourn in respect of departed former President
Shankar Dayal Sharma. |
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