Delhi, Railways in final
NEW DELHI, Dec 30 — Spearheaded by tall and lanky Shivani Gupta and Mandeep Kaur, Delhi women outplayed Tamil Nadu 75-42 to set up a title clash with holders and ten-times in a row winners Railways in the 50th Senior National Basketball Championship here today.

Kirsten rescues SA
DURBAN, (South Africa) Dec 30 — Gary Kirsten equalled South Africa’s highest Test innings when he made 275 on the final day of the drawn third Test against England today.

Ben Johnson likes guarded life in Libya
TORONTO, Dec 30 — Ben Johnson says his life in Libya training leader Moammar Gadhafi’s son is pretty simple — go to work with armed guards, come back to the hotel.

Chemerkin is Russia’s sportsman of year
MOSCOW, Dec 30 — World champion weightlifter Andrei Chemerkin has been voted Russia’s ‘sportsman of the year,’ the country’s Federation of Sports Journalists said today.

Soccer star Puskas on Hungarian list
BUDAPEST, Dec 30 — Football legend Ferenc Puskas came 12th in a poll of 34,000 people by four media organisations to decide the most influential Hungarian of the millennium.

DDCA poll: Jaitley faces Bishan Bedi
NEW DELHI, Dec 30 — Former Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley are pitted against each other in a high profile contest for presidentship of the Delhi and District Cricket Association elections slated for tomorrow.

Indian seeds crash out
CHANDIGARH, Dec 30 — Both Indians seeds in the $ 10,000 ITF Women’s Tennis Tournament, crashed out today to their unseeded opponents. Second seed Manisha Malhotra was ousted by Antoria Matic of Croatia in a nail-biting encounter.

Romario signs autographs for rivals
RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 30 — Vasco Da Gama striker Romario scored two goals in a 4-1 friendly win over African champions Raja Casablanca, then signed autographs for his star-struck opponents.

Tejinder, Ujwalaset new marks
KALYAN, Dec 30 — Police Board lifters Tejinder Singh and Ujwala Mane set new national marks on way to clinching the men’s 85 kg and women’s 75 kg titles while their team mate Bharti Singh retained the women’s plus 75 kg crown in the Senior National Weightlifting Championship here today.

FC Kochin down SBT

Australia beat India by 180 runs

MELBOURNE, Dec 30 (PTI) — Indian batting plumbed the depths again despite skipper Sachin Tendulkar’s heroics as they crashed to a humiliating 180-run defeat in the second cricket Test against Australia to lose the three-Test series 0-2 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today.

Entering the final day at 40 for one with the massive task of having to negotiate 105 overs, the visitors showed some resistance before being bowled out for 195 soon after tea to lose their second straight Test by a huge margin for Australia to annex the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time.

India, keen to recover from their 285-run defeat in the first Test, held slim hopes of salvaging a draw at 110 for three at lunch, but Tendulkar, who followed his grand 116 in the first innings to top-score with 52 and claim the “man of the match award” fell soon after to be followed by debutant left-hander Hrishikesh Kanitkar after a fighting 45.

The Indian cup of woe was full when opener Sadagopan Ramesh, who fended a snorter from debutant pace sensation Brett last evening, was ruled out with a fractured left thumb this morning and the writing was on the wall when they were left gasping at 187 for eight wickets at the tea break.

Anil Kumble again offered some resistance at the fag end before he was run out desperately trying to shield last man Venkatesh Prasad to signal Australia’s seventh straight win.

The Aussie bowling honours were shared with pacemen Damien Fleming (2/46), Brett Lee (2/31) and part-timer Mark Waugh (2/12) emerging the most successful.

India, set a stiff target yesterday - of 376 for an improbable win or playing out 126 overs (105 of them today) to avert a more likely defeat - were dealt a big blow in the morning when Ramesh, who came in to bat with a painful left thumb, retired hurt after facing one over from Fleming and was diagnosed to have suffered a fracture.

The opener, who did not add anything to his overnight 26, has been ruled out of the final Test starting in Sydney on January 2.

Rahul Dravid held firm for nearly three hours before he was caught behind by Adam Gilchrist off Lee for just 14 and Tendulkar was left as the final hope to stave off defeat.

The skipper, whose superb first innings century helped India avert the follow-on, held on grimly for over three hours to score 52, but fell into the lunch session as Warne captured his prize scalp.

Tendulkar padded up to a flipper from the star leg spinner to be rapped in front of the wicket and umpire David Shepherd adjudged him leg before.

Saurav Ganguly (17) once again got his eye in but failed to support his skipper as he fell to the penultimate ball before lunch from part-time bowler Greg Blewett, dragging a low delivery pitched outside the off-stump on to the wicket.

Fellow left-hander Hrishikesh Kanitkar made a determined 45, but Mark Waugh who was given a rare bowl in Tests pushed the Aussies closer to victory when he removed MSK Prasad (13) and Ajit Agarkar, for a first ball duck, off successive deliveries to be on a hat-trick.

Kanitkar fell leg before to Fleming five short of a well deserved fifty and Javagal Srinath’s dismissal for the addition of just one run left India at 185 for eight.

Kumble was struck on his left shoulder by Lee, who also peppered him with short stuff, but held on for a brief while with Prasad before he was run out, setting off belatedly for a single after playing Fleming to deep gully but failing to beat the throw to the bowler.

Only Dravid, who batted for 161 minutes and faced 109 balls for his 14 runs, and Tendulkar, who faced 122 balls in 162 minutes and hit four fours, underlined their class in handling the menacing Aussie pace attack but their dismissals dashed Indian hopes.

Scoreboard

Australia (1st innings) 405

India (1st innings) 238

Australia (2nd innings) 208-5 decl

India (2nd innings)

Laxman c McGrath b Fleming 1

Ramesh retired hurt 26

Dravid c Gilchrist b Lee 14

Tendulkar lbw b Warne 52

Ganguly b Blewett 17

Kanitkar lbw b Fleming 45

MSK Prasad c Warne b M. Waugh 13

Agarkar c Blewett b M. Waugh 0

Kumble run out 13

Srinath c Warne b Lee 1

Prasad not out 6

Extras (LB-4, NB-3) 7

Total (all out in 89.3 overs) 195

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-72, 3-110, 4-133, 5-162, 6-162, 7-184, 8-185, 9-195.

Bowling: Glenn McGrath 17-8-22-0, Damien Fleming 21.3-7-46-2, Shane Warne 26-7-63-1, Brett Lee 19-6-31-2, Greg Blewett 3-1-17-1, Mark Waugh 3-0-12-2.

Sachin blames team-mates

MELBOURNE, Dec 30 (PTI) — A dejected captain Sachin Tendulkar today blamed his batsmen and bowlers for losing the series against Australia and said they had to get their act together to have any real chance in the third and final Test starting at Sydney on Sunday.

“We need to bat really well and also bowl tidy not allowing them (Australia) totals of 350 plus which we are conceding in every match,” Tendulkar said after India lost the second Test here by 180 runs.

“Our batting is a major worry,” said Tendulkar, who was the only batsman to play with ease scoring 116 and 52 in the two innings of the Test.

He said allowing Australia to rally after pegging them down to 190 for five on the first day was a major mistake that cost his team the Test.

“We had them reeling at 190 for five and then that stand (between Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting) took the game away from us. We let them off. Till then we were very much there.

“After that, the stand between (Brett) Lee and (Damien) Fleming was disappointing,” Tendulkar said about the ninth wicket partnership.

The Indian skipper said he and Rahul Dravid were in an open frame of mind this morning — first to save the match and then go for win if possible.

“We were confident and did not even get beaten. Then when Saurav came, we had a lot of confidence in him. But then he was beaten by the low bounce. You can’t do much about it,” he said.

Tendulkar praised the ‘positive approach’ of Maharashtra all-rounder Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who made a defiant 45.

“When he came in he said I can count on him to hang around. Its a tremendous attitude and a kind of approach you expect from a youngster,” said Tendulkar.

Tendulkar was all praise for the Australians saying “they played better cricket than us.

“There are no excuses,” said Tendulkar, but he refused to comment of Aussie skipper Steve Waugh claim that the current Australian side was invincible for any era.

“You lose you lose. They surely played better cricket than us and had more consistency, that’s why they are in the winning seat.”

Tendulkar refused to accept the criticism that India were a mentally weak side.

“When the Australians came to India and were beaten 2-1, it was not as if they were mentally inferior. It was the conditions they were not used to. The same is the case with us,” Tendulkar said.

The Indian captain defended his decision to field after winning the toss on the first day.

“Given the conditions... I knew it was damp and it would not dry out soon because of the forecast on match days,” he said.

Victorious captain Steve Waugh, said the wicket of Ganguly at the stroke of lunch was the turning point. “It shifted the momentum in our favour. It was a big wicket. It tilted the balance our way”.

Praising Shane Warne, Waugh said his wicket of Tendulkar was the match-winning dismissal. “That was the wicket we were after. This is something about great bowlers, they provide important breakthroughs”.

Waugh said his team was doing little things well. “We are generally keeping good sessions throughout and that’s been one goal for us this summer”.

He said the Indians were unlucky to find them in such formidable form. “They are probably facing a very good side, a team which senses mental weaknesses and capitalise on it”.

Waugh said he was never worried about partnerships developing and the Indians being able to hold on to draw. “Though it was still a good batting wicket — probably a day three batting wicket — I was never worried because Warnie was bowling well and if you pick up a wicket or two, a couple of dismissals quickly follow”.

Ramesh to miss 3rd Test match

MELBOURNE, Dec 30 (Reuters) — Indian batsman Sadagopan Ramesh has been ruled out of the third cricket Test against Australia starting in Sydney on Sunday after breaking his thumb.

Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar said the opener would definitely miss the final Test after chipping a knuckle on his left thumb during the second Test defeat at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

“It’s very sad news for us,” Tendulkar said.

Ramesh suffered the injury last night when he was struck by a delivery from Australian paceman Brett Lee.

He received a painkilling injection before play resumed today but retired hurt in the second over of the day without adding to his overnight score of 26.

Tendulkar did not say who would replace Ramesh for the Sydney Test but said he would consider adding a slow bowler to the side on the spin-friendly SCG wicket.

Meanwhile, Australia announced that off-spinner Colin Miller had been added to an expanded 13-man squad for the match although a decision on whether he played would not be made until Sunday morning.

Australia: Steve Waugh (captain), Michael Slater, Greg Blewett, Justin Langer, Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Damien Fleming, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Michael Kasprowicz, Colin Miller (one to be omitted).

India fined for slow over rate

MELBOURNE, Dec 30 (PTI) — The Indian cricket team which lost the second Test and the series here today were dealt another blow as they were penalised 5 per cent of their match fee for slow over rate.

The Sri Lankan match referee Ranjan Madugalle, who fined paceman Venkatesh Prasad 35 per cent of his match fee and a four-month suspended ban for aggressive behaviour on removing Aussie opener Michael Slater on Monday, made the announcement at the end of the tie at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

India lost the match by 180 runs on the fifth and final day today to lose the three Test series 0-2.

Meanwhile, Indian coach Kapil Dev said India will not seek a replacement for injured opener S. Ramesh, who has been ruled out of further participation in the tour with a fractured left thumb.

Selectors ignore Azharuddin,
Ajay Jadeja

MUMBAI, Dec 30 (PTI) — The national cricket selectors today ignored the claims of former captain Mohammed Azharuddin to continue their and the team management’s policy of “youngsters only” for batsmen while choosing the squad here for the tri-series in Australia commencing on January 9.

The selectors also did not consider one-day specialist batsman Ajay Jadeja on medical grounds as he is not yet fully fit from his shoulder injury and made six changes while pruning the 16-strong squad now “Down Under” to 15 for the Carlton and United Series in which Pakistan are the third team.

They also decided to recall Harbhajan Singh, T. Kumaran, M.S.K. Prasad (the lone keeper sent for the Test series), V.V.S. Laxman and Vijay Bharadwaj from Australia and send Nikhil Chopra, Robin Singh, Sameer Dighe (stumper), Jacob Martin and Sunil Joshi in their place.

Opener S. Ramesh, who suffered a thumb fracture in the second Test which India lost today at Melbourne, is also set to return in a couple of days after undergoing an operation for his injury, cricket board secretary Jaywant Lele told reporters after announcing the team.

Selection committee chairman Chandu Borde said the meeting lasted only for about half an hour to 45 minutes though the scribes had to wait for nearly four hours after the commencement of the meeting for the Press briefing to start.

It is understood there was a lot of deliberation over Azhar in the meeting and finally the team management convinced the selectors that a younger man, Martin, should be sent and not the out-of-favour ex-captain. 

The selectors came out of the room where they met first at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s (MCA) office and went to another room for another lengthy conference with the team management in Australia, according to MCA sources, before finally agreeing upon the choice of Baroda youngster Martin.

Later, Borde said Azhar’s name was deliberated upon at length especially in the absence, due to injury, of Jadeja but it was decided by the selectors to continue with their policy of giving young batsmen a chance, “which was the view of the team management in Australia too”.

“It took a long time for us to get the connection to Australia”, was his reply on why it took so long for him and Lele to address the Press.

Asked how Robin Singh, at 36 as old as Azhar, was considered if one went by the “young only” policy, Borde replied it did not apply as the Trinidad-born Tamil Nadu one-day specialist was still performing well. “Anyway we have eight batsmen in the team”, he explained further.

Grilled about the choice of Mumbai’s Sameer Dighe in place of M.S.K. Prasad so soon after deciding to continue with the latter, instead of including Nayan Mongia, for the Test series as “he was doing well” at Ahmedabad after the third Test against New Zealand, Borde said Prasad’s performance had dipped now.

“We all felt he was not performing as well as before and the team management also wanted Dighe as he could open the innings too in case of necessity. It was felt by the team management that Dighe was a good striker of the ball”. 

Borde said the injury to Ramesh further strengthened Dighe’s claims as the team management has decided that only skipper Sachin Tendulkar or his deputy Saurav Ganguly would open in the January 9-February 6 tri-series.

Borde also said the selectors had considered the opinion of junior India coach Roger Binny on Dighe’s display in West Indies recently before selecting the 31-year-old Mumbai stumper.

“The choice was between Prasad, Dighe and Rueben Paul of Tamil Nadu”, Borde said, thus, giving further credence to the widely held view that Mongia was not at all in favour of the team management.

Mongia was treated like an “unwanted” guest on his recent, brief stay in Australia with the team.

He was sent there at the specific request of the team management who later changed their mind and asked for Dighe, Lele said when asked specifically on the unsavoury episode.

About the non-consideration of Jadeja, who was wanted by the team as admitted by Lele, the board secretary said it was the decision of board chief A.C. Muthiah that he should first get fully fit before being considered.

“He has been given a rehabilitation programme by the South African doctor who treated him in Johannesburg and has started the course immediately but recently an MRI and sonography tests were conducted in Baroda and the specialist felt it would be another 2-3 weeks before he attained complete fitness”, Mr Lele said.

“In such a situation the board chief felt Jadeja had to first complete his rehabilitation process before being considered for selection and the selectors did not consider him,” Mr Lele added. 

The thumb injury sustained by Ramesh against the fiery Australian rookie paceman Brett Lee towards close of play last evening at Melbourne, has given a fresh lease of life to Gandhi’s stint as opener on the tour.

Gandhi, who looked out of sorts against Aussie pace spearhead Glenn McGrath in the first Test at Adelaide and was not included in the Melbourne Test.

“We need one more opener as only Tendulkar or Ganguly is going to open in the limited overs series, according to the team management who feel one of them is needed lower down the order because of the bouncy pitches there”, Borde said and added that Gandhi was a good striker of the ball.

About the decision to recall Kumaran, who bowled in an impressive manner in the home one-day series which was his debut at the international level, Borde said though the selectors wanted him to be retained their decision had to conform to the view of the team management that not more than four pacemen were needed now.

Left-arm spinner Joshi, who had a pretty poor home series against New Zealand, has got another chance to redeem himself due to this decision to have only four pace bowlers for the one-dayers.

Uttar Pradesh middle-order batsman Mohd Kaif was also considered for selection, Borde added.

“It is not very satisfactory”, Borde said about the team’s performance so far in the Test series. “We hope they will perform better”, he added.

Delhi, Railways in final

NEW DELHI, Dec 30 (UNI) — Spearheaded by tall and lanky Shivani Gupta and Mandeep Kaur, Delhi women outplayed Tamil Nadu 75-42 to set up a title clash with holders and ten-times in a row winners Railways in the 50th Senior National Basketball Championship here today.

Earlier, Railways ended Punjab’s winning spree with a comfortable 54-38 margin to keep their hopes high for clinching the crown for the 11th time in a row.

For Delhi women, this was their third entry into the final after a long gap of 17 years. They had earlier won it in 1973 and were runners up in 1982.

In the men’s section, Tamil Nadu stunned fancied services 79-48 to book their berth in the semifinals. However, their neighbours Karnataka had to wage a grim battle before derailing Railways 58-52 to make it to the last four.

In the morning, Rajasthan downed Uttar Pradesh 59-47 and Andhra Pradesh routed Madhya Pradesh 88-64 to move into the quarterfinals.

Delhi girls were far superior to their Tamil Nadu rivals in all departments of the game and had set up a 32-19 lead at half time.

Shivani Gupta, Mandeep Kaur and Prabhjot Gill kept the rival defence busy throughout the game. Shivani and Mandeep turned out to be far more accurate shooters than their rivals.

In the defence Neha Mayor, Rashmi Nath and then Shymol Jacob and Suddharika Gogna proved much tougher for Tamil Nadu cagers.

Tamil Nadu had two tall girls in their ranks — P. Preethi and Vidya Sridharan — but they were not as agile as their rivals.

Tamil Nadu girls tried hard to keep pace with the hosts but looked out of breath and stamina in the second session.

Delhi cagers covered the court well and showed good understanding while passing the ball to each other.

Shivani and Mandeep coordinated well and then Prabhjot Gill and Nishitha Chaudhari playing in tandem unsettled the Tamil Nadu girls. 

P. Preethi, Vidhya Sridharan and junior international Ligy Xavier played well but could never put the hosts under pressure.

The visitors shooting was very erratic and they missed some easy points. Their defence also failed to foil the fast and agile Delhi cagers.

In form Mandeep Kaur once again hogged the limelight as she top scored with 21 points. Shivani Gupta’s contribution was 18 points and Nishitha Chaudhari chipped in with 13 points.

P. Preethi was the leading scorer for Tamil Nadu. She finished the match with 12 points. N. Shyamala Suguna scored 10 points.

The first women semifinal was one sided as Railways ousted Punjab 54-38 after leading 33-18 in the first half.

Railways with nine internationals in their ranks, did not exert much especially in the second half.They have such a formidable bench strength that they never looked ever under pressure.

Punjab girls who had to struggle in most of their matches on their way to the semifinals finally caved in against a much better opposition.

Railway captain Geo Joss and Jiji Jose led the Railway assault and were ably supported by veteran Aparna Ghosh, Ivy Cherian and Philomina Joseph.

Sheeba Magon and B.S. Shyla also displayed their talent against Punjab girls.

Punjab girls depended on pace but lacked direction. They could not cover the court properly and their passing also left much to be desired.

They did not have as strong a bench strength as Railways and it showed during the game.

Geo Jose (22) and Jiji Jose (8) were the main scorers for the winners.

Mandeep Brar (18) and Savitri Guleriya (7) were the leading point getters for Punjab.

Punjab will take on Tamil Nadu tomorrow to decide the third place. The final is scheduled for Saturday.

In the men’s section, Tamil Nadu upset services’ calculations with a fine display in the second half to be the first team to make it to the semis in the men’s section.

Services led 35-30 in the first session but could not hold on to the lead as Tamil Nadu cagers staged a fine rally in the second half.

Services’ cagers were heavily over-dependent on Phool Singh, G.S. Thambi, Kadam and Sharad Nagne.But they were effectively marked by the rivals.

In another pre-quarterfinal fixture, Andhra Pradesh defeated Madhya Pradesh 88-64. The winners led 38-30 at lemon break.

In the matches for lower placings, Delhi trounced Himachal 74-44 after leading 37-31 at breather.

Dalbeer Singh (14) and Sundeep Singh (11) scored for the hosts and Surender (18) Ashok Kumar (12) contributed for Himachal.

Haryana beat Chandigarh 68-53 (half time 27-27).

Devender (31) Uttal (19), Jeswanth (7) scored for the winners. Gurpreet Singh (14), Pradeep Singh (12) Narpender Singh (10) were the scorers for the losers.

Kirsten rescues SA

DURBAN, (South Africa) Dec 30 (Reuters) — Gary Kirsten equalled South Africa’s highest Test innings when he made 275 on the final day of the drawn third Test against England today.

Kirsten was bowled round his legs by part-time off-spinner Mark Butcher after spending 14-1/2 hours at the crease. He faced 642 balls and hit 26 fours.

His dismissal prompted the captains to shake hands on a draw after South Africa had reached 572 for seven in their second innings.

South Africa had followed on after making only 156 in reply to England’s first innings of 366 for nine declared.

Kirsten’s innings was also the longest by a South African Test batsman and the second longest in Test history. He became his country’s most prolific scorer in Tests.

His partnership of 192 with Mark Boucher, who made 108 in 289 minutes with 14 fours and a six, was a South African record for the fifth wicket.

England (first innings) 366-9 dec
(N. Hussain 146, A. Stewart 95)

South Africa (first innings) 156
(S. Pollock 64 A. Caddick 7-46)

South Africa (second innings) overnight 251-4.

Kirsten b Butcher 275

Gibbs c Maddy b Caddick 26

Kallis c Stewart b Gough 69

Cullinan c Stewart b Flintoff 16

Cronje c Stewart b Flintoff 1

Boucher c Stewart b Adams 108

Klusener b Butcher 45

Pollock not out 7

Extras: (b-5 lb-13 nb-5 w-2) 25

Total: (for seven wickets declared) 572

Fall of wickets: 1-41 2-193 3-242 4-244 5-436 6-537 7-572.

Bowling: Caddick 36-12-70-1 (nb-3), Silverwood 30-6-89-0 (w-1), Gough 28-5-82-1 (w-1), Flintoff 30-7-67-2, Tufnell 45-5-117-0 (nb-2), Adams 13-3-42-1, Maddy 14-1-40-0, Butcher 8.2-0-32-2, Hussain 5-1-15-0.

Ben Johnson likes guarded life in Libya

TORONTO, Dec 30 (AP) — Ben Johnson says his life in Libya training leader Moammar Gadhafi’s son is pretty simple — go to work with armed guards, come back to the hotel.

The former world sprint champion, who was stripped of his records and honours because of positive doping tests, told the Toronto Sun newspaper that he was enjoying the three-month stint that began a few weeks ago.

“I just work and sleep,” he said in a story published today. “But that’s OK. I’m here to work, not to socialise.”

Johnson accepted the job of preparing Gadhafi’s son, Saad Gadhafi, for a soccer career.

“The people here treat me very nicely. Everything here is first class,” Johnson said, mentioning 24-hour room service at the hotel where he stays and limousines that transport him to and from the training facility in the coastal city of Banghazi.

Then there are the guards, who Johnson described as “full packed” with automatic rifles. “Even when I go down to lobby, they come with me,” he said. “They don’t want to take any chances.”

Johnson’s Libyan assistant, Islam Mohamed Abudaya said Johnson’s status as “an important personality” made the tight security necessary, the Sun reported.

Team management put foot down

MUMBAI, Dec 30 (PTI) — Selection committee chairman Chandu Borde tried to pull the wool over the scribes eyes here today by saying the Indian team selection for the tri-series was over in half an hour to 45 minutes, but a drama had taken place before finalising the squad.

Borde later told the Press conference, which started four hours after the selection committee meeting began, that difficulty in getting through to the Indian team management over phone resulted in the delayed announcement of the squad.

But Borde had a 20-minute-long discussion with the team management on phone from the Mumbai Cricket Association’s office, sources said, and the bone of contention was the decision of the selectors to include the out-of-favour former skipper Mohammed Azharuddin.

Azhar, whose name was discussed at length in the meeting as Borde himself admitted in the Press conference, was finally not part of the 15-strong squad announced by cricket board secretary Jaywant Lele for the January 9-February 6 tri-series in Australia.

According to Borde, it was felt by the selectors and the team management that it would be advisable to continue with their policy of giving chance to younger batsmen.

However, it was clear the team management — comprising skipper Sachin Tendulkar, deputy Saurav Ganguly and coach Kapil Dev — had put its foot down on Azhar’s choice.

The selectors had to veer round to their point of view and include impressive Baroda youngster Jacob Martin in the team.

Another seasoned player and World Cup team member who is now out of favour, wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia, also did not get the selectors’ nod despite their decision to recall MSK Prasad, who has done duty in the Test series so far.

Mumbai’s 31-year-old Sameer Dighe, who was the India A stumper during its tour to the West Indies recently, was chosen in place of Prasad.

The “youngsters only” policy was also given a short shrift by the selectors while choosing 36-year-old all-rounder Robin Singh.

Chemerkin is Russia’s sportsman of year

MOSCOW, Dec 30 (Reuters) — World champion weightlifter Andrei Chemerkin has been voted Russia’s ‘sportsman of the year,’ the country’s Federation of Sports Journalists said today.

The 27-year-old won his fourth straight world superheavyweight title last month in Athens.

Figure skater Maria Butyrskaya, who became the first Russian to win the women’s world title, finished second and 17-year-old rhythmic gymnast Alina Kabayeva, who weighs less than 40 kg, came in third after winning the world all-around crown.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who in May became the first Russian to earn the world number one tennis ranking but otherwise had a disappointing year, ended up in eighth spot.

Soccer star Puskas on Hungarian list

BUDAPEST, Dec 30 (AFP) — Football legend Ferenc Puskas came 12th in a poll of 34,000 people by four media organisations to decide the most influential Hungarian of the millennium.

Puskas had a glittering career, scoring 83 goals in 84 matches for his country.

He was a member of the Hungary team that lost the 1954 World Cup final 3-2 to West Germany after leading 2-0. That team is widely regarded as the best never to win football’s ultimate prize.

He was also a key component of the all conquering Real Madrid side in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Other contemporary figures to feature in the voting included top boffin Erno Rubik, who finished 16th. Rubik invented the Rubik Cube — the puzzle that became a worldwide craze in the 1970s. Stock exchange speculator George Soros finished 10th.

DDCA poll: Jaitley faces Bishan Bedi

NEW DELHI, Dec 30 (PTI) — Former Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley are pitted against each other in a high profile contest for presidentship of the Delhi and District Cricket Association elections slated for tomorrow.

This year’s election has raised much heat and dust with several former Indian players under Bedi’s leadership raising their voice against the incumbents demanding that the proxy system be abolished in electing office-bearers in DDCA, a founder-member of the cricket board.

“This obnoxious system must be abolished. The present set of office-bearers have been going on giving membership to their favoured people and by hook or crook getting proxies signed. Some of the members who make it a point to come and vote in person have not even received the election notice,” Bedi told reporters along with many former players.

Former India bowlers Atul Wassan and Maninder Singh have filed papers for vice-presidentship but against ex-India opener Chetan Chauhan and BCCI vice-president C. K. Khanna. Chauhan was the patron of the DDCA but chose to enter the fray.

Manoj Prabhakar, the stormy former India all-rounder belonging to the Bedi panel, will contest for the key post of sports secretary against incumbent Sunil Dev, manager on India’s 1996 South African tour.

“We are fighting to encourage personal voting and end proxy system which not in vogue in any other association. They have brought in Arun Jaitley only after Bishan Bedi filed his papers,” alleged former national selector Manmohan Sood, who was also a DDCA sports secretary.

Asked why he raised the issue only on the eve of elections as he had done last year, Bedi said he had always raised his voice against indiscriminately enrolling members and using the proxy to their favour by the Khanna group.

But C. K. Khanna and Sunil Dev, addressing a Press meet on election eve, said with a huge electorate of around 3500, it was next to impossible to ensure more than 7 to 8 per cent of personal voting.

“The proxies are authorised by the civil court. The election is handled by the Joint Registrar of the Delhi High Court. They (Bedi and his supporters) can’t possibly say these people are corrupt,” said DDCA’s legal representative Sunil Mittal.

Asked why he had decided to contest after being the patron, Chauhan said he wanted to contribute to the game.

The incumbent group said Mr Jaitley was persuaded to contest as they wanted to give a thrust to several developmental works at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground.

Interestingly, the DDCA is a private company, registered under the Companies Act.

Former Test umpire Ram Babu Gupta, who is the current president, is contesting for the treasurer’s post this time.

Indian seeds crash out
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 30 — Both Indians seeds in the $ 10,000 ITF Women’s Tennis Tournament, crashed out today to their unseeded opponents. Second seed Manisha Malhotra was ousted by Antoria Matic of Croatia in a nail-biting encounter. Antonia had three set points in the first set tie break when she led 6-3 but was unable to convert any and lost the tie break 8-6. Any other player would have been severely disheartened but Antonia carried on undeterred and scraped through 7-6(5) in the second set tie break. With the march evenly balanced at one set apiece Manisha began to falter and was unable to execute her serve and volley game with precision. Instead of playing on the net, which is Manisha’s strong point, she persisted in engaging Antonia in long baseline rallies and this proved to be her undoing. Matic broke Manisha thrice in the third set, the final break giving her the match 7-6(6), 6-7(5), 2-6.

Rushmi Chakravorthy the fourth seed surrendered meekly to the Slovenian express Urska Vesenjak 6-0, 6-0. Rushmi was a pale shadow of her earlier form. The match was over in 44 minutes.

The doubles semifinals saw the Urska and Masa duo overcome the fighting Indian pair of Rushmi Chakravorthy and Sai Jayalakshmi 7-5, 7-5. The tennis on display was definitely not of a very high standard as both the pairs indulged in long baseline rallies instead of aggressive net play.

The other pair to reach the finals was the Manisha Malhotra and Katarine Daskovic duo. They beat the Russian pair of Olga Kaliajnaja and Maria Kondratieva 6-4, 6-1. The outcome of tomorrow’s doubles finals will in all probability be a repeat of last week’s Lucknow doubles finals in which the Manisha-Maria duo had beaten the Vesenjak sisters. Manisha remains the sole Indian competitor left in the tournament.

Results: (singles semifinals): Vesenjak, Urska (Slo) b Chakravarthi, Rushmi (Ind) 6-0, 6-0. Matic, Antonia (Cro) b Malhotra Manisha (Ind) 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.

Doubles (semifinals): Vesenjak, Urska (Slo) and Vesenjak, Masa (Slo) b Chakravarthi, Rushmi (Ind) 7-5, 7-5 and Sai Jayalakshmi (Ind). Manisha Malhotra (Ind) and Katarine Daskovic (Yug) b Olga Kaliojnaja (Rus) and Maria Kandratieva (Rus) 6-4, 6-1.

Romario signs autographs for rivals

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 30 (Reuters) — Vasco Da Gama striker Romario scored two goals in a 4-1 friendly win over African champions Raja Casablanca, then signed autographs for his star-struck opponents.

Players from the Moroccan club ran to surround the former Brazil international at the final whistle, asking for his autograph and posing with him for photographs.

Yesterday’s game was a warm-up for next month’s World Club Championship in which both teams are taking part.

Romario, signed last month from Vasco’s arch-rivals Flamengo, had an outstanding match and also set up a number of good chances for his team mates.

Former Brazil defender Junior Baiano made his Vasco debut.

Tejinder, Ujwalaset new marks

KALYAN, Dec 30 (PTI) — Police Board lifters Tejinder Singh and Ujwala Mane set new national marks on way to clinching the men’s 85 kg and women’s 75 kg titles while their team mate Bharti Singh retained the women’s plus 75 kg crown in the Senior National Weightlifting Championship here today.

Tejinder shocked holder and seasoned campaigner Paramjit Sharma of Services by setting a new standard of 147.5 kg in the snatch event, which bettered the old record by 2.5 kg.

He then finished second behind Sharma in the clean and jerk competition but with enough weights on the barbells to garner the overall title with a total lift of 320 kgs, 5 kgs more than Sharma. K. Singh (Punjab) ended up third with a haul of 292.5 kg.

In the women’s 75 kg class, Ujwala shattered her own national clean and jerk mark by half a kg with an effort of 120.5 kg, after a snatch clearance of 95 kg, to retain the crown with an overall total of 215 kg.

Ujwala had finished runner-up in the best woman lifter category in the last edition of the championship at Bangalore. Sumati Devi (Manipur, 195 kg) and Ranu Mishra (UP, 187.5 kg) finished second and third respectively.

International Bharti Singh faced little challenge in retaining her plus 75 kg title with snatch and clean and jerk clearances of 95 kg and 120 kg for an overall effort of 210 kg, the same weight she had lifted at Bangalore in June.

Bangalore silver medal winner Geeta Rani of Punjab finished second again with a combined total of 207.5 kg, leaving Romi Devi (Manipur) to bag the bronze (192.5 kg).  

The results: Men:

85 kg: Snatch: 1 Tejinder Singh (Police Board) 147.5 kg, 2 Paramjit Sharma (Services) 140 kg, 3 K. Singh (Punjab) 135 kg.

Clean and jerk: 1 Paramjit Sharma 175 kg, 2 Tejinder Singh 172.5 kg, 3 K. Singh (Punjab) 170 kg.

Overall: 1 Tejinder Singh 320 kg, 2 Paramjit Sharma 315 kg, 3 K. Singh 305 kg.

Inter-state: 1 K. Singh 305 kg, 2 H. Kumar (Chandigarh) 300 kg, 3 S Kumar (MP) 292.5 kg.

Women: 75 kg: Snatch: 1 Ujwala Mane (Police) 95 kg, 2 Sumati Devi (Manipur) 90 kg, 3 Ranu Mishra (UP) 80 kg. Clean and jerk: 1 Ujwala Mane 120.5 kg, 2 Ranu Mishra 107.5 kg, 3 Sumati Devi 105 kg. Overall: 1 Ujwala Mane 215.5 kg, 2 Sumati Devi 195 kg, 3 Ranu Mishra 187.5 kg. Plus 75 kg: snatch: 1 Bharti Singh (Police) 95 kg, 2 Geeta Rani (Punjab) 87.5 kg, 3 Romi Devi (Manipur) 85 kg.

Clean and jerk: 1 Geeta Rani (Punjab) 120 kg, 2 Bhart Singh 115 kg, 3 Romi Devi 107.5 kg.

Overall: 1 Bharti Singh 210 kg, 2 Geeta Rani 207.5 kg 3 Romi Devi 192.5 kg.

FC Kochin down SBT

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Dec 30 (PTI) — A brilliant goal scored in the very first minute by striker Ramrai helped FC Kochin beat State Bank of Travancore (SBT) 1-0 and post their first win in the fourth National Football League here this evening.

The first move by midfileder Tejinder Kumar connected the ball cleanly to striker Ramrai who neatly netted in the right corner of the goal post from 20 yards getting the better of the SBT defenders.

With today’s win F C Kochin move up to five points from four matches. In earlier matches, they lost to Churchill Brothers and drew with Tollygunge and Mahindra and Mahindra.

SBT having lost all their four outings are at the bottom of the twelve-team, two-phase round-robin league being played on home and away basis.

Stunned by the goal as soon as the tussle began, the bankmen made some unfruitful attacks led by strikers S Ignatious and Abdul Hakkim but they were defused by custodian Saji Joy.

After scoring the goal, FC Kochin stuck to defensive tactics. In the last 10 minutes SBT strikers made fierce forays but a vigilant Kochin defender Shafeeque thwarted the attempts.

Football tourney

LUDHIANA, Dec 30 (FOSR) — The Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sports and Cultural Club will organise the seventh Prof Nirepjit Kaur Gill memorial Football Tournament here at the Bhagat Singh Stadium, Pakhowal road, from December 31 to January 2,2000, according to Mr R.P. Singh, general secretary of the club.

As many as 20 outfits, including district police teams of Jalandhar, Ropar and college teams will take part in this state-level three-day tournament. The winners will get a cash prize of Rs 10,000 while the runners-up will receive Rs 8,000.

Apart from this, outstanding players will also be honoured.