First Test heading for dramatic finish
CHENNAI, Jan 30 — The first Test between India and Pakistan at the Chidambaram Stadium here is tantalisingly poised. At the end of the third day’s play today India, chasing a victory target of 271 after Pakistan had scored 286 all out in their second essay at the crease, ended at 40 for two with the two openers, debutant S Ramesh and V V S Laxman, back in the dressing room.

• Afridi's century sparks celebrations

Finalists in the men's doubles winners (from left) Patrick Rafter of Australia and Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and runners-up Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes of India, pose with their trophies at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, on Saturday. — AP/PTI

Paes-Bhupathi duo falters in final MELBOURNE, Jan 30 — The fanatics and the meatballs cheered Pat Rafter and Jonas Bjorkman to a men’s doubles title today at the $ 7.5-million Australian Open. The popular fifth-seeded pair upset the tournament number one team of Indians Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (10-12), 6-4.

I feel like underdog, says Kafelnikov
MELBOURNE, Jan 30 — For those who complain that power is killing men’s tennis, with aces flying wild at Wimbledon and the US Open, that will most certainly not be the case in the Australian Open final.

Gibbs fashions SA victory
PORT ELIZABETH (South Africa), Jan 30 — Herschelle Gibbs stroked his maiden limited overs century for South Africa who surged to a 99-run victory over West Indies in their fourth one-day match today.

(Left) Martina Hingis of Switzerland sprays photographers with champagne during a photo shoot at Melbourne's Brighton Beach and (Right) holds her trophy and flashes three fingers after winning the women's final against Amelie Mauresmo of France at the Australian Open Tennis Championships in Melbourne on Saturday.— AP/PTI

Fifth Grand Slam crown for Hingis MELBOURNE, Jan 30 — Martina Hingis won her fifth Grand Slam title and third-straight Australian Open final with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Amelie Mauresmo of France today. Hingis scrambled brilliantly against the powerful Mauresmo, who struggled to land her first serve but pinned Hingis back with her crunching groundstrokes.

Churchill get past Dempo MARGAO, Jan 30 — Trailing by a goal in the first half, Churchill Brothers came back strongly in the second to down Dempo 2-1 and secure the top position in group "a" of the third edition of National Football League here today.

Baljeet shoots gold
BANGALORE, Jan 30 — Baljeet Kaur (Army) made a good comeback, grabbing the gold medal in the air pistol (10m) for women at the 42nd National Shooting Championship here today.

First Test heading for dramatic finish
From Abhijit Chatterjee
Tribune News Service

CHENNAI, Jan 30 — The first Test between India and Pakistan at the Chidambaram Stadium here is tantalisingly poised. At the end of the third day’s play today India, chasing a victory target of 271 after Pakistan had scored 286 all out in their second essay at the crease, ended at 40 for two with the two openers, debutant S Ramesh and V V S Laxman, back in the dressing room.

With two more days to go in the match a result is assured. India, with their solid middle order, stand a better chance of wrapping up this historic Test. But much will depend on the batsmen in the middle — Rahul Dravid batting with eight (86 minutes, 39 balls, one four) and Sachin Tendulkar with 20 (76 minutes, 51 balls, three fours).

This assumption of an Indian win will depend much how Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar weather the first hour of play tomorrow. If they bat with caution, as they did today in the face of some very tight bowling by the Pakistanis, then they should be wrapping up the match. With still 231 runs to win the stage is set for a very exciting day tomorrow.

At one stage of play today actually did. But thanks to Venkatesh Prasad, who today returned career-best figures of six for 33, Pakistan were restricted to 286 all out after being 266 for four at tea on the third day. At that time Shahid Afridi was batting on 134, his maiden Test century, and veteran Salim Malik was on 29.

But after the break Prasad bowled like a man inspired as he went on to claim five wickets in 18 deliveries without conceding a single run. When play resumed this morning, with the visitors on 34 for one, skipper Mohammad Azharuddin gave the lanky Karnataka bowler, playing in his 21st Test, only one over, in which he conceded eight runs, before summoning Anil Kumble to take charge of bowling.

Prasad, who towards the closing stages of the match yesterday, had claimed the wicket of opener Saeed Anwar, trapping him in front of the wicket, was recalled to the attack shortly before the tea break with neither Kumble, nor Joshi or even Javagal Srinath having any impact on the Pakistani batsmen.

It was after tea that Prasad got into the act. With the Pakistani total reading 275 it was Sunil Joshi who got rid of the stubborn Salim Malik, having the veteran Pakistani caught in the slip by Rahul Dravid with a delivery which spun away. Malik scored 32 (110 minutes, 69 balls four fours).

And from the other end Prasad struck, claiming Moin Khan caught by Nayan Mongia with a away going delivery. This Pakistani wicket fell with the total reading 278 with Moin scoring three. And, after the addition of just one run Prasad claimed two wickets, the first of Shahid Afridi, who today scored a brilliant 141 (305 minutes, 191 balls, three sixes, 21 fours), and then just two balls later he sent back Saqlain Mushtaq, trapping the Pakistani in front of the wicket.

Prasad then went on to claim the wickets of first Wasim Akram and then Waqar Younis to finish the Pakistani innings at 286 all out. This was indeed a proud moment for Prasad. Wicketless in Pakistan’s first innings, he bowled a nagging line and length and instead of trying extra hard he just maintained a good line and length, forcing the Pakistanis to make unforeseen errors.

Today’s performance should prove to be a good tonic for Prasad, who will touch 30 shortly. In a career spanning 21 Tests Prasad had taken 63 wickets in his earlier outings for India. His previous best was six for 104 and today’s effort has surely given a big boost to him.

If Prasad was India’s hero, 19-year-old Shahid Afridi, playing in only his second test, was undoubtedly Pakistan’s man of the hour. In scoring his maiden test century Shahid Afridi executed a vast erray of shots on both sides of the wicket. His three sixes, one off Joshi and two off Anil Kumble, were sweetly executed and more than brute force he used perfect timing.

The Pakistani opener shared two good stands, the first of 97 in 98 minutes with Inzamam was far more strokeful than Afridi in the second wicket stand as he rattled up 37 runs in the 50 of the partnership. If Inzamam had stayed at the crease for some more time it is difficult to say what shape the Pakistani innings would have taken.

It was Sachin who removed Inzamam, having the batsman caught by Laxman at silly point with only his second delivery. Inzamam scored 51 (98 minutes, 74 ball ten fours).

Afridi’s fifth wicket partnership with Salim Malik was even better as both batsmen rotated the strike to keep the scoreboard moving. With Afridi in so good nick, Salim Malik, the senior player in the team, left it to the 19-year-old youngster to collar the Indian bowling. It was in this partnership that the Pakistani opener reached his first Test 100 (220 minutes, 134 balls, 13 fours, three sixes) with a single to mid wicket off Srinath, who went wicketless in the innings. Anil Kumble too seemed to be a pale shadow, giving away as much as 93 runs for his solitary wicket, that of Ijaz Ahmed, caught off his own bowling. Anil Kumble really got the stick from Afridi as he gave away four fours in a spell of three overs with Malik picking up one. It was at this stage that Prasad was summoned to stem the Pakistani run riot.

The Pakistanis are not going to give up the match easily. They made their intention clear by picking up the wickets of both openers, the first of Ramesh and then of Laxman, before Dravid and Sachin prevented further damage.

Like yesterday, play was halted for 18 minutes as shadow of the stand fell on the strip and when play was finally called off six overs were still to be bowled.

Afridi's century sparks celebrations

KARACHI, Jan 30 (AFP) — Pakistani opener Shahid Afridi’s maiden century against India today triggered celebrations among home fans.

Ethnic Pathans in north-west chanted slogans hailing the magnificent 141 by the 18-year-old local.

The youth wing of Pashto Federation, a body of Pathans, held a rally outside a college here, holding Afridi’s life-size posters.

"I have received reports that people celebrated his innings with firing into the air", Shahid’s father, Sahibzada Fazlur Rehman, told AFP.

Afridi’s mother prayed for her son’s success.

"My mother is ecstatic and she has been praying for his success. We are delighted but we need a win against India", Shahid’s elder brother Tariq said.
The cricketer comes from a tribal area in the north-west where the youths take to the rifle, unlike Afridi who chose the bat and blasted his way to fame hitting a century off just 37 balls against Sri Lanka in Kenya in 1996.

But his one-day feat restricted him and created an impression he could not meet the demands of Tests.

Cricket fans strongly demanded his inclusion in a Test team and selectors gave him a chance during recent Test series in Pakistan against Australia.

Paes-Bhupathi duo falters in final

MELBOURNE, Jan 30 (DPA) — The fanatics and the meatballs cheered Pat Rafter and Jonas Bjorkman to a men’s doubles title today at the $ 7.5-million Australian Open.

The popular fifth-seeded pair upset the tournament number one team of Indians Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (10-12), 6-4.

It was a major consolation for Rafter, twice a US Open singles champion who has never tasted Grand Slam success in front of his home public.

The Swedish-Aussie combination was barracked and cheered almost constantly by a group of Aussie supporters, the fanatics, noted for their matching t-shirts and occasional trumpet playing interludes in the stands.

Alongside them were the blue-and-yellow painted Swedes — dubbed the meatballs after the Swedish dish. While Rafter had never done well at home, the victory was the second in a row for Bjorkman, who won the trophy in 1998 with now-retired Dutchman Jacco Eltingh.

Paes and Bhupathi fought-off an early end in the fourth set as Rafter and Bjorkman could not come good on a match point during the tie-breaker. The marathon went into a fifth set, where the Aussie-Swedish pair triumphed when Rafter slammed over a winning instinct volley as his side broke Paes for the match.

Churchill get past Dempo

MARGAO, Jan 30 (PTI) — Trailing by a goal in the first half, Churchill Brothers came back strongly in the second to down Dempo 2-1 and secure the top position in group "a" of the third edition of National Football League here today.

Dempo, who enjoyed territorial advantage in the first half, drew first blood in the 25th minute after missing a chance, through striker Francis Silveira.

New recruit Majid Nima from the middle put a through pass to Silveira. Defender Mathew who policed Silveira, slipped while intercepting the ball. With no one to challenge him, Silveira raced down and entering the box took a shot at the goal. Keeper Edward Ansah blocked the shot. The ball came back to Silveira who slammed it to the far end of the net.

Churchill fought back in the second half with Philip Mensah playing his heart out and struck two goals in a span of eight minutes to seal the fate of Dempo.

Dempo could have surged ahead in the 9th minute of the first half but Joao Soares’ placement after eluding the keeper hit the post and was cleared by defender Roque. The move was initiated by Mauricio from the middle to Silveira whose header was punched by keeper Ansah.

Dempo’s Mauricio who controlled the midfield master-minded most of the moves pushing the ball in the gap with long passes. He was well supported by Majid Nima.

The Churchill half line failed to function cohesively in the first half and as a result they lacked thrust in the upfront. With Jose Martins well marked by defender Christopher, the Churchill attack lacked sting. They made occasional forays but could not be at the rival defence.

Churchill midfield started the function when striker Cyril Baretto came in place of injured defender Usumani Hussien and Anthony Pereira was pushed in the defence.

Aqueel Ansari controlled the midfield along with Mario Soares and Somatai Shaiza and kept on pressing in search of the equaliser.

Philip Mensah passed the ball to Aqueel and Mensrah on the run essayed a left footer that beat the keeper.

Churhcill then kept on the pressure and went into the lead eight mintues later. Mario Soares put a pass to Philip whose first time shot was blocked by keeper Vikrant Sharma. The ball came back to Philip who made no mistake in slotting it in.

Dempo tried hard in the closing stages to bring parity but Churchill defence denied them the equaliser.

With this win, Churchill Brothers head the table with 10 points along with Tollygune who also have 10 points from six matches.

Dempo who suffered their third defeat are at fifth position with five points from as many matches.

I feel like underdog, says Kafelnikov

MELBOURNE, Jan 30 (AP) — For those who complain that power is killing men’s tennis, with aces flying wild at Wimbledon and the US Open, that will most certainly not be the case in the Australian Open final.

No matter who wins tomorrow’s match between Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist, the rallies will be long and the points constructed by baseline craftsmen.

"The one thing I promise you", Kafelnikov said, "It’s going to be a long match".

All their matches the past five years have been close, with Enqvist holding a 4-2 lead.

Kafelnikov and Enqvist are hardly wimps on the court, slapping moonballs back and forth. They’re line-drive hitters, looking for the corners and sharp angles, working their way toward the net carefully and cautiously.

They’ll each have their share of aces — in three-set semis, Kafelnikov had 16 against Tommy Haas, Enqvist 10 against Nicolas Lapentti — but the dominant shot will be the groundstroke.

"I’ll try to work as hard as I can on court", Kafelnikov said. "I definitely will not try to play for the shortest point possible".

Nor will Enqvist, who is seeking to be the first unseeded winner at the Australian since Mark Edmondson in 1976.

They are grinders, Kafelnikov and Enqvist, trying to wear each other down.

That’s how Kafelnikov won the 1996 French Open, and that’s how he hopes to win this one on the relatively slow, rubberised hard court.

Enqvist has won 14 straight matches, including titles in a tuneup tournament and an exhibition. But Kafelnikov hopes the pressure of a Grand Slam final might work against the Swede.

"I don’t know how he’s going to handle the pressure in a slam final", Kafelnikov said. "But all I can say is I definitely feel like the underdog because he’s playing a lot better right now than me. He’s in great form at the moment".

Yet, Kafelnikov also knows that Enqvist is capable of capitulating at odd moments.

"I know I will get my chances", Kafelnikov said. "Thomas is known, I wouldn’t say for choking, but ..."

He mentioned the way Enqvist "played loose" when he was serving for the match at 5-4 against Mark Philippoussis in the fourth round, then got pushed to five sets.

"I mean, you don’t need to do such things", Kafelnikov said.

"All you have to do is just concentrate for one game, just serve out the match and it’s over. I know if I’ll stay in the match with him, I will get my chances".

Someone suggested to Kafelnikov that he played just as loose serving for the match at 5-3 in the fifth set against Andrei Pavel in the fourth round. Pavel broke, but Kafelnikov broke back to win at 6-4.

"So do you choke?" Kafelnikov was asked.

"Sometimes", Kafelnikov had to admit, "yes".

Gibbs fashions SA victory

PORT ELIZABETH (South Africa), Jan 30 (Reuters) — Herschelle Gibbs stroked his maiden limited overs century for South Africa who surged to a 99-run victory over West Indies in their fourth one-day match today.

Gibbs spurred South Africa to 278 for six in their 50 overs and West Indies subsequently suffered a shuddering collapse in which their last six wickets tumbled for 27 and they were all out for 179 in 41.3 overs.

The touring team were still in contention at 152 for four after 31 overs with Carl Hooper showing imperious form, but when he fell for 57 the South Africans swiftly closed in for the kill to take a 3-1 lead in the seven-match series.

Fifth Grand Slam crown for Hingis

MELBOURNE, Jan 30 (AP) — Martina Hingis won her fifth Grand Slam title and third-straight Australian Open final with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Amelie Mauresmo of France today.

Hingis scrambled brilliantly against the powerful Mauresmo, who struggled to land her first serve but pinned Hingis back with her crunching groundstrokes.

The Swiss No. two seed won on her seventh match point, as unseeded Mauresmo played a weak volley into the net.

Hingis, 18, was laughing through the long final game and was clearly relieved at the finish.

"I just played some awesome tennis and I just hope I can continue playing like this all year, "Hingis said.

Mauresmo, 19, was playing her first final and was only the eighth unseeded player in a women's Grand Slam final since the open era started in 1968.

She made 41 errors to Hingis 20 and her inconsistency made her far less a force than she was in a semifinal victory over No. one Lindsay Davenport.

Hingis won $679,000 (Australian) while Mauresmo earned $339,500.

Mauresmo's nerves were evident early on and she lost the opening game on serve. After going up 40-15 she allowed Hingis the next three points and then had her first of five double faults to go 1-0 down.

Mauresmo played a better service game in the third and held easily, pinning Hingis back with a powerful first serve and wrapping up the game with a crosscourt volley from midcourt.

Hingis held for 3-1 and had one break point in the fifth before Mauresmo held. The Frenchwoman was having a terrible time at the service line and got just 38 per cent of her first serves in the first set and 46 per cent overall.

Mauresmo's errors put her deep in a hole in the seventh game as she fell down 0-40. After saving two of the break points, Mauresmo badly mistimed a backhand, floating the ball well wide to give Hingis a 5-2 lead. Hingis wrapped up the set with her only ace of the match.

Moresmo's hopes looked to have vanished with the first game of the second set when Hingis broke, but Mauresmo levelled by taking her fourth break point in the second game.

Hingis broke again in the fifth after Mauresmo squandered a game point and the Swiss star made the most of several lapses by her opponent.

As Mauresmo sent down huge serves and whipped in powerful forehands and one-handed backhands, Hingis chased from side to side. She was able to recover several shots Mauresmo expected to sneak through. Twice Mauresmo played lazy shots to lose points after long, desperate rallies.

But again Mauresmo responded, taking Hingis' next service game to level at 3-3.

Hingis sensed her chances rising the longer rallies went on, and she got a third break in game seven to come out and serve at 4-3.

Hingis went down 0-40 before rescuing the game with three masterful shots. The first was a backhand chip which landed on the line and the others came with stretching returns after being pinned deep by Mauresmo's power.

Baljeet shoots gold

BANGALORE, Jan 30 (PTI) — Baljeet Kaur (Army) made a good comeback, grabbing the gold medal in the air pistol (10m) for women at the 42nd National Shooting Championship here today.

Baljeet, a Captain in the Army based at Mhow, with just one month of practice managed to earn a gold logging 469.4 in a keenly contested final.

The winner, who was away from the shooting scene for over four years, started off well with 10.6 and continued to dominate, but had the lowest score of 7.3 in the eighth round.

The last two rounds of 9.8 and 8.2 were enough to remain as the leader. Harvinder Kaur Waraich (Mah) 467.1 and Shilpi Singh (CISF) 465.1 picked up silver and bronze.

Maharashtra had a good day in team events. The team consisting of Harvinder Kaur Waraich, Sheela Kanungo and Vandana Narkar, won the first spot in the air pistol team event with a total of 1102.

In the junior men’s open air pistol event, Maharashtra and Army were tied with the scores of 1476. Considering the last 10 shots of the each individual shooters, Maharashtra emerged clear winners with 242 and Army ended up with 219.

Shilpi Singh (CISF) scored 369 out of 400 to clinch gold in the air pistol (10m) women’s category. Sushma Rana settled for silver with 368, Sushma had the best score of 96 in her third round, but in third round, she had a bad shot of 88. Seema Tomar (IA) with 366 got the bronze.

The junior men civilian team title was bagged outright by Indian Airlines with 1271 points, followed by Uttar Pradesh. There were only two entries. In the junior women’s section, CISF, with a score of 1096, overcame Uttar Pradesh (699).

Results: Air Pistol (10m) women: Shilpi Singh (CISF) 369; Sushma Rana (CISF) 368 and Seema Tomar (IA) 366.

Team: 1) Harvinder Kaur Waraich (372), Sheela Kanungo (369) and Vandana Narkar (361) 1102; 2) CISF: Shilpi Singh (369) Sushma Rana (368) and Sonika Manon (358) 1095.3) Army: Sarooja Kumari (360), Haseena P M (344) and Baljeet Kaur (375) 1079.

Junior women (team): 1) CISF: Shilpi Singh (369), Sushma Rana (368) and Sonia Rana (359) 1096. 2) Uttar Pradesh 699.

Team (men): 1) Subhash Rana (522), Samresh Jung (588) and Jaspal Rana (574) 1654. 2) Army: Ved Prakash (547), G D Sharma (551) and Suresh M S (547) 1645. 3) BSF: Mohinder Singh (532), Poonam Kumar (543) and Naresh Kumar (556) 1631.

Civilian:

Men: Sumeet H Sanghavi (TN) 534, Ronat A Pandit (Mah) 520 and Pathikarit Goush (Mah) and Amol Chauhan (Mah) 513.

Team: 1) Rajkhalid (509), Amol Chauhan (513) and Ronat A Pandit (520) 1542. 2) Sumeet H Sanghavi (535), R Ravi Krishnan (476) and N Shanmugam (485) 1496. 3) Del: Dheeraj Pal Singh (484), Rajeev Sharma (508) and Rajpal Singh (495) 1487.

Junior men: Ronat A Pandit (Mah) 520, Amol Chauhan (Mah) 513 and Pemba Tamang (Army) 507.

Team: 1) Mah: Amol Chauhan (513), Ronat A Pandti (520) and A Majid Sheikh (443) 1476. 2) Army: Rash Pal Singh 502, Pemba Tamang 507, Chaman Lal 467 (1476). 3) Navy; V S Bhati 481, Kuttan O Satish Kumar 456, Anuj Kumar 491 (1428).

Junior civilian: Anushu Mali Diwedi (UP) 474, Alok Singh (IA) 440 and Nikhil Singh (IA) 424.

Team: (1): Toshinder Singh 413, Nikhil Singh 424 and Alok Singh (440) 1271. (2) UP: 897.

DAV school bag overall title

CHANDIGARH, Jan 30 (BOSR) — DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, Chandigarh, bagged the overall title in the Inter-School Athletic Championship which concluded here today.

DAV School secured 118 points while Government Senior Secondary School, Karsan, got the second position with 42 points. Udayvir Singh of the DAV School was declared the best athlete in the under-14 section as he won three gold medals in 600 metres, long jump and 400 metres.

Punjab boxing probables

CHANDIGARH, Jan 30 (BOSR) — The Punjab Amateur Boxing Association has selected probables for participation in the fifth National Games to be hand at Imphal (Manipur) from February 14 to 24, according to Mr G.S. Sarao, secretary of the association. A final team of 12 will be selected after the conclusion of the camp, in progress at War Heroes Stadium, Sangrur. The 28 probables are: Bhim Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Sohan Lal, Rajesh Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Rakesh Kumar, Naresh Dalal, Gurmeet Singh, Harjang Singh, Malwinder Singh, Hemant Kumar, Rajwinder Singh, Jagtar Singh, Harjeet Singh, Jagjit Singh, Hardeep Singh, Zorawar Singh, Bikramjit Singh, Yogesh Kumar, Harpreet Singh, H.Singh (PP), Shiv Pratap Chopra, Harpal Singh, Rohit Verma, Devinder Singh, Samratvir and Munish Marwah.

Sanjay, Sanjeev in final

LUDHIANA, Jan 30 (BOSR) — Sanjay Kishore of Ferozepore and Sanjeev Rana of Pathankot warded off the challenge from their opponents to reach the final of the inaugural Inter-Posts Railway Police Force (Ferozepore Division) Badminton Championship at the Shastri Hall of Guru Nanak Stadium here today.

In the first semifinal, Commandant Sanjay Kishore rallied splendidly to down AK Sinha, Assistant Commandant, Jalandhar 15-9, 15-10.

In the second semifinal, Sub-Inspector Sanjiv Rana of Pathankot found little resistance as he outplayed Sub-Inspector Rajiv Sharma of Ludhiana 15-10, 15-8.

North Zone victorious

CHANDIGARH, Jan 30 (BOSR) — Akash Malhotra and Amarjit Kaypee fashioned North Zone's eight-wicket victory over East Zone on the final day of the 29th All-India Inter-Zonal FCI Cricket Tournament here today. Akash contributed 61 while Kaypee made 37 with five fours and enabled North to score 126 for the loss of just two wickets in reply to the East Zone score of 125 all out. Pankaj Thakur and Rambabu of North Zone claimed three wickets each for the winners.

Mr S.S. Dawra, Managing Director, Food Corporation of India gave away the prizes.

Karnal, Kurukshetra eves in semis

CHANDIGARH, Jan 30 (TNS) — Gurgaon, Jhajjar, Karnal and Kurukshetra entered in the semifinals of 3rd Haryana State Women Football Championship at Bahadurgarh, according to information reaching here.

The first quarterfinal match was played between Jhajjar and Hisar. Jhajjar dominated the match throughout but they were able to score only two goals in each half through Pooja Joon and Sonika, respectively.

The second quarterfinal match was a dull affair between Kurukshetra and Panchkula. Neither side was able to score in the regular time but Kurukshetra proved better in penalty kicks and won the match by 3-1 goals.

The third quarter final match was evenly contested between Karnal and Sonepat. The first half remained goal less. The all important goal was scored by Ranu, the captain of Karnal team in the second half.

The last quarterfinal match was played between Gurgaon and Rohtak. Fine dribbling by Kalpana Parashar on the right flank helped the Gurgaon team to score a comfortable 3-0 victory over Rohtak. The first goal was scored by Chitra through first time connection of a cross from Kalpana. The second goal was scored by Sangita by virtue of defensive lapses. The third goal was also a result of beautiful combination between Kalpana and Chitra.

Results: Jhajjar beat Hissar 2-0, Kurukshetra beat Panchkula 3-1, Karnal beat Sonepat 1-0, Gurgaon beat Rohtak 3-0.

Hari Om sole leader

CHANDIGARH, Jan 30 (TNS)— At the end of the third round of the North Zone AG (IA and AD) Chess Championship today, Hari Om Sharma emerged as the sole leader with three points.

He was followed by SK Sinha, BN Parsad, Dayal Singh and DP Singh with two points each.