Thrilling 2-wicket victory for India

NAPIER Jan 12 (PTI) — The beleaguered Indian team held their nerve to pull off a thrilling two-wicket win with just one ball to spare in a low-scoring match against New Zealand here tonight to draw level in the five-match one-day series.

As many as eight run-outs, five of the home team, marked the match but India found their hero in wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia (30 no-32 b) who held the crumbling Indian lower order together in the climax under lights and hit the winning runs off the penultimate ball to make it 1-1.

Inserting the rivals after skipper Mohd Azharuddin won the toss, India with dynamic bowling and fielding restricted the Kiwis to 213 in 49.3 overs but almost succumbed to the pressure mounted by the determined hosts before just managing to pull it off by reaching 214 for eight in 49.5 overs.

Sachin Tendulkar, who applied the brakes on the Kiwi run gathering with three for 34, also gave a typically aggressive start (23-19b, 3x4) but fell to stand-in skipper Dion Nash.

Left-hander Saurav Ganguly (38), in-form Rahul Dravid (38), Ajay Jadeja (26) and Robin Singh (23) made useful runs but it was left to Mongia to steady the tense boat towards the tense later stages as Indian batsmen threw away wickets to reckless acts under pressure.

Anil Kumble, who missed the first tie at Taupo due to a stiff neck, bowled a restricting line and then was unbeaten on six when India achieved the target which looked tough into the slog overs as India were reduced to 159 for five in 40 overs.

Kiwis opener Matt Horne was named "man of the match".

India, desperate for a turn of fortunes looked on their way to an easy victory but were guilty of silly run outs and indiscreet shots under pressure to allow the Kiwis to come back strongly into the match.

India, who were struggling at 159 for five after 40 overs, were left requiring eight runs in the final over sent down by Nash.

Seven to get from four balls, Kumble edged a four through the vacant slip region and took a single to leave India needing two runs off as many balls with Mongia on strike. Mongia kept his cool and struck Nash through wide extra cover to bring off the winning runs to set off celebrations in the Indian camp.

India suffered an unexpected slump in the middle overs after Tendulkar and Ganguly provided a rollicking start by reaching 50 off only 7.5 overs. Tendulkar thumped left-arm paceman Geoff Allott over cover and on the onside and then hit Nash one-bounce to widish long-on fence. But Allott, a replacement to the unfit Simon Doull, limped off bowling his third over.

Tendulkar went edging a widish Nash ball to Parore behind the stumps, but Dravid (38-65 b, 4x4) and Ganguly (38-60 b, 3x4) eschewed big strokes to push the strokes. But the left-hander was unlucky to be given caught behind.

A Nash delivery bounced and seamed on way to Parore and umpire Chris King upheld the appeal for caught behind, though television replays suggested he did not get a touch.

Azharuddin edged Gavin Larsen behind the stumps trying to steer to reduce India to 91 for three in the 22nd over. Dravid and Jadeja looked to play themselves in, but Chris Harris with accurate bowling tied by the two with three maiden overs on the trot and brought on pressure as the asking rate began to slowly creep up.

Only five runs came between the 20th and 25th over, but Dravid swung both Larsen and Harris for fours to push the score. But he fell when well set, edging a sharply spinning ball from left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori to Parore.

Jadeja (26-50 b, 3x4) and Robin Singh looked all set to guide India to victory, when the former needlessly ran himself out. After flicking Chris Cairns exquisitely to square leg and sending Nash through mid-off for fours, he went for a single on a misfield after playing to point.

Chris Harris picked and threw down the stumps at the bowlers end, but Jadeja failed to plant his bat despite making ground. Robin Singh lofted Vettori for a big six over midwicket, but fell lofting the spinner straight to long on to leave India at 165 for six in the 41st over.

Srinath also fell by going for a non-existent run to be stranded at the non-striker’s end with Mongia after Larsen had dropped a return catch in the previous over. Nikhil Chopra and Mongia, who picked useful singles and played clever lofted shots, looked set to complete the job.

But Chopra was also run out first ball of the 49th over from Chris Cairns responding to a call for a risky single from Mongia before the dramatic final over finish.

SCOREBOARD
New Zealand:

Horne lbw b Tendulkar 61

Young run out 4

Mcmillan c Mongia b

Robin Singh 28

Twose run out 3

Cairns c Prasad b Kumble 44

Parore st Mongia b Tendulkar 7

Nash run out 4

Harris run out 15

Vettori run out 1

Larssen st Mongia b Tendulkar 12

Allott not out 7

Extras: (LB-9, W-14, NB-4) 27

Total: (all out in 49.3 overs) 213

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-82, 3-88, 4-154, 5-165, 6-175, 7-179, 8-184, 9-197.

Bowling: Javagal Srinath 9-0-45-0, Venkatesh Prasad 5-2-14-0, Anil Kumble 10-0-38-1, Robin Singh 6-0-33-1, Sachin Tendulkar 8.3-0-34-3, Saurav Ganguly 2-0-13-0, Nikhil Chopra 9-1-27-0.

India:

Ganguly c Parore b Nash 38

Tendulkar c Young b Nash 23

Dravid c Parore b Vettori 38

Azharuddin c Parore b Larsen 7

Jadeja run out 26

R. Singh c Horne b Vettori 23

Mongia not out 30

Srinath run out 7

Chopra run out 7

Kumble not out 6

Extras: (B-1, LB-4, W-2, NB-2) 9

Total: (for 8 wkts in 49.5 overs) 214

Fall of wickets: 1-50, 2-81, 3-91, 4-122, 5-152, 6-164, 7-182, 8-204.

Bowling: Cairns 10-0-37-0; Allott 2.2-0-21-0; McMillan 0.4-0-5-0; Nash 9.5-0-43-2; Harris 10-3-27-0; Larsen 10-1-44-1; Vettori 7-1-32-2.

Venues for Test series swapped

MUMBAI, Jan 12 (PTI) — The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today officially announced swapping of the venues of the two-Test series between India and Pakistan to be held at New Delhi and Chennai.

As per the revised schedule, the first Test will be held at Chennai from January 28 to February 1 and the second Test in the two-match series would be conducted at Delhi from February 4 to 8, the Baroda-based BCCI secretary J.Y. Lele said late this evening.

Mr Lele said he contacted BCCI president Rajsingh Dungarpur at Christchurch following a request from the Union Home Ministry and got the green signal to inter-change the venues. Mr Dungarpur had gone to New Zealand to attend a two-day meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC) executive board held on January 10 and 11.

Earlier, the Union Home Ministry had asked the BCCI to consider swapping of the venues.

Special Secretary (Internal Security) Nikhil Kumar told PTI in Delhi that an "oral request" had been made to the cricket board to consider holding the first Test in Chennai.

The proposal to the BCCI was made following a suggestion by the Delhi police that the forces would be busy with the Republic Day and connected celebrations and observance of Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary on January 30, he said.

Race to stage 2006 World Cup intensifies

CANNES, Jan 12 (Reuters) — Bobby Charlton and Franz Beckenbauer, famous Wembley foes 33 years ago, go into battle for more World Cup honours this week as the race to stage the tournament in 2006 intensifies.

The respective footballing legends of England and Germany are the figureheads of rival presentations being made by their two countries at the football Expo world trade fair in Cannes, their first head-to-head confrontation since the December 31 deadline for initial bids from prospective candidates.

With Keith Wiseman and Graham Kelly having resigned from the English F.A. following an unauthorised grant made to the Football Association of Wales, the English 2006 campaign team led by Alec McGivan are stepping up their efforts to capture a much support as possible in the run-up to the crucial vote in 14 months’ time.

"It’s been an uncomfortable few weeks but we believe we will come out stronger," said McGivan. "Over 1,000 of the most influential people in world football will be in Cannes so it is vital to get our message across."

Sources close to McGivan’s team said they were becoming more and more concerned with the threat posed by Germany and Brazil and less worried about South Africa, the preferred choice of FIFA President Sepp Blatter, but suddenly looking vulnerable with national elections round the corner and four other rival African nations also having tabled bids.

"South Africa have talked themselves up as favourites but the reality is that they may not get many votes even from their own continent," said one England campaign source who suggested the African vote could well be split come March 2000.

He added: "Many countries in Africa deplore South Africa’s assumption that only they are capable of staging the World Cup that’s why the others — Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria and Egypt —have put their names forward. We don’t think anyway that South Africa will end up with a credible presentation."

The South Africans are also taking a display stand at football expo which begins on Monday and is certain to become forum for fierce lobbying over the next four days.

A spokeswoman for the German 2006 bid committee said the English were desperate to pull in early votes.

She said the "gentleman’s agreement" brokered by Europe to ease Germany’s 2006 bid in exchange for England staging Euro’96 was still a crucial issue.

"Our display in Cannes will be smaller than the English one but we don’t believe it helps to have more square metres and to be spending loads of money," she said. "We are still convinced that European members of the FIFA executive committee will vote for us."

As the rhetoric picks up steam, another potentially far more damaging problem for English football is looming. Members of Concacaf, which covers north and central America and the Caribbean, are lobbying support to scrap the unique status that Britain has enjoyed in world football for the last half-century.

FIFA members are to be asked to abolish the special vice-presidency that for the last 53 years has been granted automatically to the four British home associations.

"It is an anachronism and I shall move at the next FIFA congress in July that we do away with it completely," said Concacaf President Jack Warner, the longest-serving member of FIFA’s 24-man executive committee, the body that decides who gets the World Cup.

The so-called "British seat", a nominated post, was introduced in 1946 in recognition of Britain’s support for FIFA when the world governing body were facing bankruptcy.

But in recent years, resentment has built up over Britain’s four home associations having an automatic say in decisions affecting world football while the remaining 199 FIFA members have to fight for elected places.

English FA officials met with UEFA President Lennart Johansson and General Secretary Gerhard Aigner in Stockholm last week to express their reservations about the move to scrap the British seat, currently occupied by David Will, a Scottish lawyer and the man who, ironically, Wiseman wanted to replace before he was forced to resign.

But Chuck Blazer, Concacaf’s General Secretary, said: "It’s not a question of being anti-British. It’s a question of whether such special dispensation is realistic in this day and age." As will as bidding nations lobbying for 2006 votes, there will be a number of other issues raised in speeches and workshops at Cannes.

They include debates about the problems African players face in Europe, a discussion of coaching methods chaired by Arsenal’s French boss Arsene Wenger, and speeches from UEFA General Secretary Aigner and FIFA’s new General Secretary Michael Zen-Ruffinen, among others.

Ex-Olympians rally to promote hockey
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 — Former international hockey players, including Olympians, have voluntarily taken upon themselves the task of taking the sport to the grass-root level by organising coaching-cum-competition programmes in their respective areas.

At a meeting held at Jalandhar recently and attended by 30 internationals and Olympians, it was decided to float the Punjab Hockey Players' Association. The first function of the association, where it will be formally launched, is scheduled to be held next month where all three members of the Asian Games gold medal winning hockey team — Ramandeep Singh Grewal, Baljit Singh Dhillon and Baljit Singh Saini — will be felicitated, says Sukhvir Singh Grewal, president-elect of the association.

The association with headquarters at Jalandhar will also strive for its own club house in the sports goods city. "Our focus is going to be on taking hockey to grass-root level, by organising coaching camps and competitions at subjunior and junior level.

"Some of us are already working in this direction. Each member will be required to identify an area and spend some time with youngsters keen on hockey to impart training to them in finer points of the game. Even if an Olympian or an international player spares two hours a week for the promising youngsters, we will face no dearth of hockey talent from our region," says Sukhvir Grewal.

Those who attended the meeting included Tarsem Singh, Baldev Singh, Devinder Singh, Gurmail Singh, Narinder Singh, Mukhbain Singh, Pargat Singh, Jagdeep Singh Gill, Sukhjit Singh, Jagdev Singh, Ashok Kumar, Ram Saran, Harpreet Singh, Baljit Singh Bhullar, Sarabjit Singh, Harinder Singh, Sukhvir Singh Grewal, Hardeep Singh Grewal, Ramandeep Singh Grewal, Gundeep Kumar and Baljit Singh Dhillon.

Ajit Pal Singh was elected Chairman while four time Olympian Udham Singh was made Patron-in-Chief with one of oldest Olympians Dharam Singh becoming a Patron of the association. Tarsem Singh will be the Vice-Chairman and Jagdeep Singh Gill has been elected its Secretary-General while Gundeep Kumar will be its Treasurer.

Sukhvir Singh Grewal said that some of the former internationals and Olympians, including Surinder Singh Sodhi and Balwinder Singh could not attend the inaugural meeting held at PAP Golf Club but have extended their full support to the association.

Besides promoting hockey at the grass-root level, it will also work for the welfare of needy and deserving players. "We will soon involve some former women internationals and Olympians so that they work side by side to the benefit of young girls keen on this sport," Sukhvir Grewal said.

The remaining office-bearers and members of the executive committee, including women representatives, would be announced soon. The association would work in close cooperation and coordination with the Punjab Sports Department and the state hockey associations, both for men and women, Sukhvir Grewal added.

Badminton nationals from Feb 4
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 — New Delhi will host the Indian Oil Servo 54th Inter State (for seniors) and 63rd Senior National Badminton Championships to be organised at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium from February 4 to 10, as per communication received by Mr D.K. Mukerjee, secretary of the Chandigarh Badminton Association.

The maximum number of entries permissible for each affiliated unit is two in singles, and one in doubles events. The states/organisations who have reached the finals in the inter-state tournaments at the zonal level are entitled to double the number of entries. The inter-state inter-zonal meet will be conducted on the first two days.

The winners and runners-up in the junior nationals of 1997-98 are entitled to direct entry into individual competitions and those eligible are, Sachin Ratti and Arup Vaidya (Railways) in boys singles, Divya Ramesh of Air-India and Parul Priyadarshini of Railways in girls singles, Sachin and Harish Chander of Railways in boys doubles along with Chetan Anand and M. Hazarnish of Air India, D. Swetha and Ketki Thakar of Air-India along with Kranti Shane and Simsin Salaria of Maharashtra in girls doubles and for mixed doubles, Harish Chander and B.R. Meenakshi of Railways along with S. Niddodi and Simsin Salaria of Maharashtra.

Similarly the finalists of senior nationals of 1997-98 are also entitled to direct entry on the above pattern. They are (men's singles) P. Gopichand of Andhra Pradesh and Abhin Shyam Gupta of Air-India; Aparna Popat (Karnataka) and Manjusha Kanwar (Delhi) in women's singles. The men's doubles will have V. Vinod Kumar partnering Rajeev Baggu of BAI, along with Jaseel Ismail pairing Vijay Deep Singh of BAI, whereas Madhumita Bisht and Sindhu Gulati of Railways along with PVV Laxmi and PVV Sharda of AP will complete in the women's doubles for mixed doubles Vinod Kumar and Madhumita Bisht of Railways along with Parag Modi and Vinay Shetty of Maharashtra will fight for honours.

A six-member tournament committee have also been formed which includes Prakash Padukone, L.C. Gupta, S.S. Mani, Rajinder Kalsi, O.D. Sharma and D.K. Mukerjee.

Meanwhile, the Badminton Association of India has decided to postpone two scheduled national level championships i.e. the All-India Grand Prix Prize Money Championship for seniors at Patna (Bihar) and the National Doubles Championship for under-22 at Agartala in Tripura.

The BAI has also decided to allow 10 men and an equal number of women teams to participate in the National Games to be held at Imphal in Manipur from February 14 to 25. The men's teams are Punjab Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Assam while the women's teams allowed are Assam, Mizoram, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Delhi and hosts Manipur.

Vishal creates a flutter
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 — Vishal Uppal of India and Ondrej Chvapil of Czech Republic today created a flutter when they upset fifth and second seeds in the first round of the main draw of the Gold Flake Aces ITF Future Tennis Tournament being played here at the Chandigarh Club courts today. The other seeded players who have sailed into the next round include top seed Amir Hadad of Israel, Cedric Kauffman of France, seeded eighth, and sixth seed Yves Allegro of Switzerland.

Today's hero was India's Vishal who entered the main draw by playing the qualifying rounds. His target was fifth seed Martin Hromec of Slovakia, whom he dethroned in two straight sets at 6-2, 6-3. Martin who is ranked 463 could not face the onslaught of Uppal now ranked 1324, and the classic display of long rallies and volleys gave the Indian much the coveted win. Vishal was strong at the nets and did not allow his opponent to come back and one by one went on to win the games and surged ahead. The score finally stood at 6-2, 6-2. Vishal will now meet Armando Brunold of Switzerland who made short work of Danai Udomchoke of Thailand at 6-2, 6-3.

Vinod Sridhar is the other Indian who has joined Uppal Harsh, Sridhar played a quite defensive game which irritated Bobby Mahal of Canada and ultimately Sridhar won at 7-5, 6-3. Mahal was a bit pressurised by the deceptive gameplay of Sridhar who returned the powerful smashes with easy returns. The offensive game and some sure shots proved to be destructive for the Canadian player. Sridhar will now face top seed Amir Hadad of Israel in the second round tomorrow.

In yet another exciting match of the day, Aisam Quereshi of Pakistan extended sixth seed Yves Allegro of Switzerland before the latter won 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (2).

Results: main draw (First round) Amir Hadad (Israel) b Iain Bates (UK) 6-4, 6-2: Vinod Sridhar (India) b Bobby Mahal (Canada) 7-5, 6-3: Cedric Kauffman (France) b Andrea Serra (Italy), 6-2, 7-5: Simon Larose (Canada) b J. Robichaud (Canada) 6-4, 6-4: A. Brunold (Switzerland) b D. Udomchoke (Thailand), 6-2, 6-3: Y. Allegro (Switzerland) b A. Quershi (Pakistan) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (2): O. Chvapil (Czech) b P. Lavergne (France), 6-2, 2-6, 7-6: Vishal Uppal (India) b M Hromec (Slovakia) 6-2, 6-3.

Doubles (Ist round): S.Aspelin (Swd) and J Robichand (Can) b Sunil Kumar and AV Rao (India) 6-3, 7-6 (3): A. Quereshi (Pak) and A. Ram (Isr) b F. Anola and MDomka (Pol), 7-5, 6-3: T. Meringoff (USA) and V. Uppal (Ind) b MoGhouse and H. Mankad (Ind), 4-6, 6-1, 6-2: O, Chvapil and J. Hernych (Czech) b V. Kannan (Ind) and B. Mahal (Can), 6-2, 2-6, 6-4: S. Fazaluddin (Ind) and C. Kauffman (Fran) b Y. Allegro (Switz) and R. Lavergne (Fran) 7-6, (5), 2-6, 7-6 (5): I. Karlovic (Croatia) and M. Kogan (Israel) b S. Panja and V. Sridhar (Ind) 6-3, 6-4: A. Oerepaska (Rus) and D. Golovanov (Rus) b S. Larose (Can) and M. Le (USA), 6-7, (5), 6-3, 7-6(3): J. Erlich and A Hadad (Isrl) b P. Erhardt (Ger) and J. Kato (USA) 7-5(4), 6-1.

‘Honour’ Haryana Asiad winners
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 — Mrs Krishna Singh, vice-president of Indian Women's Hockey Federation and president of the Haryana State Women's Hockey Association, has urged the Haryana Government to honour the Haryana players who brought glory to India in the recently-concluded 13th Asian Games.

In a letter addressed to the Chief Minister of Haryana, Mrs Krishna Singh regretted that the Central Government and state governments had honoured all the players who had won medals in the Asian Games but the Haryana Government was yet to do so.

Mrs Singh said the Indian kabaddi team, which won the gold medal for the third time continuously at the Asian Games, had four Haryana players, namely Shamsher Singh Narwal, Asan Kumar, Rambir and Ram Mehar. She said that the Haryana Government should feel proud that a women hockey team which won silver medal after 16 years have five players from Haryana including the captain Pritam Thakran. Others were Sandeep, Surender Kaur, Kamla Dalal and Sunita Dalal. Two other players from Haryana, Shakti Singh and Arun Kumar won silver medals for the country in the shot put and discus throw, respectively.

"While it is a matter of pride for all of us in the country, the Haryana Government is yet to recognise our heroes," she said adding that even those states from which only one or two players participated in the games have already announced awards for them. But Haryana Government had failed to show any such gesture towards its players.

She made a strong plea for giving Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh and Rs 2 lakh each to the Asian Games gold, silver and bronze medal winners, respectively, besides one plot in urban area of Haryana. She also urged the state government to give Class-I government job for every gold medal winner and Class II job for silver and bronze medal winner. Those who were already in government job should be promoted to these levels.

Mrs Singh said that she was proud of the Haryana Women Hockey players who had won various national tournaments in sub junior and junior section many times which included — junior nationals, Nehru Cup, All India Ramesh Chander Women Hockey, All Indian Mohan Singh, Mata Sahib Kaur Gold Cup tournaments. Haryana was deprived of victory in the senior nationals because five of its top players were in the Railways team which defeated Haryana.

Mrs Kirshna Singh suggested that Haryana Government should review its sports policy for the promotion of its traditional games like wrestling, kabaddi, boxing, hockey, volley-ball and athletics etc.

She demanded the laying of astroturf in Haryana for the training of hockey players as all the national and international tournaments were now being played on the same turf.

Cruyff ‘Footballer of the Century’

ROTHENBURG (Germany), Jan 12 (DPA) — Johan Cruyff of the Netherlands has been named as the European Footballer of the Century, finishing ahead of Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer, who was placed second.

Finishing third was Alfredo di Stefano of Italy in the poll conducted by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). The announcement was made at the world football gala held here yesterday.

Punjab shooting meet at Jalandhar
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 — The Punjab State Rifle Shooting Association will conduct the 34th Punjab State Shooting Championships in rifle as well as in pistol events for senior men and women and junior men and women from January 14 to 16, according to Raja K.S Sidhu, secretary-general of the association.

The competitions will be organised by the Ranjit Garh Rifle Club at Punjab Police Academy, district Phillaur, Jalandhar. Competition will be conducted in national rules and International Shooting Union (ISSF) formats.

Entries are to be submitted by January 14 to the organising secretary of the championship, Mr T.S Dhillon, Deputy Director, PPA, Phillaur.

The Punjab team to represent the state in the 42nd National Shooting Championships in rifle/pistol events to be held at Bangalore from January 21 to February 4 will be selected at the conclusion of the state championships and the ongoing All-India GVM Shooting Championships, currently being held at Asansol, Raja K S Sidhu added.

According to Raja K.S. Sidhu, Punjab shooters are expected to bring in good results considering the past performance at the national level and the gold medal effort of Manavjit Singh in the trap event in the Commonwealth Games and the silver medals of Manavjit Singh and Zorawar Singh at the recent Bangkok Asian Games.

The Secretary-General of the Punjab Rifle Shooting Association added that the trap and skeet state championships would be held at Delhi as no range facility for these events were available anywhere in Punjab.

Ratti, Tandon lift titles
From Our Sports Reporter

LUDHIANA, Jan 12 — Third seed Gagandeep Ratti of Jalandhar and top seed Nancy Tandon of Patiala outwitted their rivals easily to emerge champions in the men's and women's sections, respectively, in the third Punjab State Major Ranking Badminton Tournament which concluded at the Shastri Hall of Guru Nanak Stadium here this evening.

In the final Gagandeep got the better of unseeded local lad Dilpreet Singh in straight sets 15-10, 15-8 while in the women's section, second seed Nazma Parveen of Ludhiana fought a superb battle against Nancy in the first game before going down 9-11. In the second set, Nancy kept her composure in crucial rallies and waited for her opponent to make the mistakes which stood her in good stead to wrap up the issue 11-9, 11-7.

In the men's doubles (singles) number one pair of Navdeep and Munish (Patiala) struggled hard to stifle the Sekhri brothers, Sunil and Amandeep (Ludhiana) with a hard fought 15-8, 15-10 victory to annex the title. In the first game Navdeep and Munish found little resistence as they thrashed Sunil and Amandeep Sekhri 15-8. The Sekhri brothers settled into the second game and allowed few liberties to their rivals, caught them at 6-all and then at 10-all. But it was sheer experience coupled with better court craft that saw Navdeep and Munish emerging victorious by 15-10.

In the women's doubles (singles) final the current state champions Nancy and Vidhu (Patiala) quelled a strong challenge from third seed Nazma (Ludhiana) and Navdeep (Patiala) before winning it 12-15, 15-13 and 15-9. In the mixed doubles Narinder Singh and Navdeep (Patiala) defeated Tajinder and Nazma (Ludhiana) 12-15, 15-13 and 15-5.

Mr Apinder Singh Grewal, Mayor distributed the prizes.

NFL tie put off

CALCUTTA, Jan 12 (PTI) — The group-A National Football League match between debutants Tollygunge Aggragami and Dempo, scheduled to be held at the Rabindra Sarovar Stadium here tomorrow, has been postponed to January 15.

The match had to be postponed as the Goan team, who were to arrive here last evening, had been stranded in Mumbai as their tickets for Indian Airlines flight could not be confirmed, Indian Football Association (IFA) sources said today.

The team was now expected to reach here this evening, the sources said.

The late arrival of the Dempo team forced a re-scheduling of the match though the venue remains the same.

Lodhi Cup kabaddi from Feb 8

CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 (TNS) — The third international Lodhi Cup Kabaddi Tournament will be held at Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana, on February 8 and 9, Mr Beant Singh Dhaliwal, chief organising secretary of the tournament, announced today.

Talking to The Tribune, Mr Dhaliwal said that the tournament was being organised by non-resident Indians to commemorate tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa. The first two tournaments held at the same venue during the previous years evoked tremendous response not only from kabaddi-loving spectators of Punjab but also among NRIs of North America, England and other countries.

Mr Beant Singh Dhaliwal, who belongs to Burj Hari Singh village in Ludhiana district, said the major attraction of the tournament this time would be certain participation of Pakistan's national kabaddi team. Besides, teams from Canada, the USA and England have already confirmed their participation in the event. Besides these foreign teams, other participants will include Punjab State Electricity Board, Punjab Police, Punjab Mandi Board and Faridkot Pepsu. Punjab State Electricity Board have been the winners of the first two tournaments.

The secretary-general of the tournament, Mr Jagtar Singh Mann, said the prize money for the winners this time would be Rs 75,000 which will be given by Mr Charanjit Singh Bath, an orchardist from California. Mr Kulbir Singh Billa, president of the New York wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal, will give Rs 50,000 to the runner-up team. Each participating team will get Rs 25,000 as participation fee.

Mr Beant Singh Dhaliwal said the organisers had decided to institute three special prizes in memory of two great kabaddi players of Punjab. The best raider would get the Harjit Bajakhana award while the best stopper would get the Talwar Kaonke award.

Mr Dhaliwal further said that competitions in tug of war, giddha and bhangra would also be organised as a part of the two-day festival. The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, the Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Mr Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Mr Amrik Singh Aliwal — all MPs, and Mr Jagdev Singh Talwandi will be special guests.

Rural meet

CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 (TNS) — The Mata Sahib Kaur Sports Club, Jharkhar in Ludhiana, will organise its 14th sports festival at Jharkhar from January 18 to 20, Mr Jagroop Singh Jharkhar, organising secretary of the meet, said today.

The festival will feature competitions in hockey, both for men and women, besides under-19 and six-a-side competitions. Other events include kabaddi, handball, volleyball, dog races and tug-of-war. This year's Surjit Memorial Hockey Award will be presented to Baljit Singh Dhillon for his excellent performance during the 1998 Asian Games.