Indian team has no lucky ground
CALCUTTA, May 9 — Cricket teams have some venues which have proved particularly lucky for them but the Indian team does not seem to have a World Cup favourite ground in England which has hosted the first three editions of the mega event.

Controversy not to hit Cup telecast
NEW DELHI, May 9 — The telecast of the World Cup cricket matches on the Doordarshan is unlikely to be hit despite the controversy over its marketing rights having thickened yesterday after the Mumbai High Court struck down the plea of Stracon and awarded the contract to Nimbus.

Graf back in action
BERLIN, May 9 — Germany’s Steffi Graf returns to competition after a foot injury in the WTO Tournament here beginning tomorrow.

Border against Aussies playing county cricket
WORCESTER, May 9 — Former Australian captain Allan Border today called on his fellow cricket selectors to stop players from signing up with English counties.

India finish 5th in Asia-Pacific Golf
CALCUTTA, May 9 — India finished fifth with a total score of 926 in the team event of the 21st Asia Pacific Junior Golf Championship at the NGWE Thaw Dar Course in Myanmar.

Jeev slips to 30th position
NEW DELHI, May 9 — Chiranjeev Milkha Singh, the lone Indian in the European PGA Tour, was all set to challenge the leaders but disastrous putting in the last six holes threw him down to the joint 30th spot at the end of the third round of the Novotel Perrier French Open Tournament being played at Bordeaux, France.

Indian eves finish 3rd in hockey
PERTH, May 9 — Michelle Andrews scored goals 14 minutes apart today as Australia beat South Africa 5-0 in the final of a four-nation women's field hockey tournament.

Grand Prix b'minton meet from June 11
CHANDIGARH, May 9 — The month of June will witness two big prize money badminton tournaments involving a sum of Rs 4, lakh each and an all India badminton Tournament with a prize money of Rs 90000 as per the information reaching here.

Weather frustrates India again

HARROGATE (Yorkshire), May 9 (PTI) — The fickle English summer and inadequate facilities at the Harrogate County Cricket Club again frustrated India in their build-up for the cricket World Cup when weather forced abandonment of their second warm-up tie against Yorkshire county without a ball being bowled.

Wetness on the bowling run-up after water seeped through the covers following overnight rain forced the match to be called off despite sunny weather. The umpires, who made an inspection at 10.45 a.m. declared that the ground conditions were unplayable.

The abandonment today came as a big disappointment to the Indian team members and over 1000 spectators who had gathered at the venue to watch the visitors, in particular master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who is a former Yorkshire player.

India’s first warm-up game against Leicestershire on May 7 was interrupted by rain midway through, after they finished their innings at 219 for seven.

India now have a lone warm-up tie against Nottinghamshire on May 11 to tune up their approach before taking on the formidable South Africa at Hove on May 15 in their opening World Cup clash.

"We are a bit worried as we had some definite game plans we wanted to rehearse today," Indian coach Anshuman Gaekwad told PTI.

According to Reuters, rain again bedevilled practice matches ahead of the World Cup as games involving three of the more fancied teams, Australia, Pakistan and West Indies, were abandoned without a result.

Australia were worst hit with only 10 overs possible in their match against county side Glamorgan at Cardiff where the home side made 21 for two before rain prevented any more play.

West Indies fared little better in their clash with Gloucestershire at Bristol. After winning the toss and batting West Indies had struggled to 58 for three in the 17th over when play was washed out for the day.

Ridley Jacobs was the first to go for only six and Michael Cawdron then removed Sherwin Campbell and Stuart Williams in quick succession before the heavens opened.

At Derby, Pakistan won the toss and batted, impressing in making 272 for eight from their full quota of 50 overs.

Saeed Anwar and Abdul Razzaq each contributed 34 and Ijaz Ahmed hit a stylish 74 from only 92 balls, adding 113 for the fifth wicket with former captain Salim Malik who made 44.

Derbyshire’s reply was to last only 17.3 overs before rain again ended the proceedings. By that time the home side were 65 for three, Wasim Akram taking two for 16 from six overs.

New Zealand were also hit by rain in their match against Hampshire at Southampton but they at least had time to record an eight-wicket win in a match reduced to 39 overs a side.

The home side managed only 135 for six as the medium pace pair of Chris Cairns and Geoffrey Allot each took two wickets. Nathan Astle was miserly in sending down six overs at the cost of only eight runs.

The number of overs was reduced because of rain and New Zealand were set a revised target of 168 in 39 overs.

Matt Horne (38) and Astle (43) put them well on their way with an opening partnership of 102 before Craig McMillan (23 not out) and captain Stephen Fleming (43 not out) saw them safely home from only 34 overs.

Outsiders Bangladesh made an impressive start to their campaign with Khaled Mahmud hitting five sixes in an unbeaten 108 from only 91 balls as they beat Essex by five runs.

After Bangladesh had lost their first two wickets with only two runs on the board, Akram Khan (58) and Aminul Islam (43) staged a recovery before Khaled Mahmud punished the home attack to take the total to 263 for seven in their 50 overs.

Rain again interfered and Essex were set a revised target of 204 in 34 overs. They were reduced to 100 for six and an explosive 51 from 41 balls by Mark Ilott was not quite enough for the home side as they were held to 199 for eight in their 34 overs.

Bangladesh’s two left-arm spinners caused the major damage with Mohammed Rafique taking 4/44 and Enamul Hoque 2/23.

Scotland, a 1,000-1 bet to win the World Cup on their first appearance in the tournament, needed eight runs from their final over to beat Durham but could manage only five. Durham won by two runs.

Gavin Hamilton, who was close to selection for the England team but had to settle for native Scotland, showed his all-round ability by taking 2/53 and then hitting an unbeaten 91.

It was almost a match-winning performance but Scotland were held to 236 for eight in reply to Durham’s 238 for five in a match reduced to 48 overs a side.

England can clinch trophy: Dickie Bird

NEW DELHI, May 9 (UNI) — It was almost through. But the infamous reverse sweep by gritty Mike Gatting off shrewd Allan Border denied England, at one stage 135 for two in response to Australia’s 253, their first ever World Cup victory at the 1987 Reliance Cup finals at Eden Gardens in Calcutta.

In fact, it was not the first time the English became a sympathetic character of ‘ifs and buts’ tale, Earlier too they failed to strike when the iron was hot.

Barring the 1996 World Cup where England could not make it to the last four, they have been the only team which finished either at the semifinals or finals in the first five editions.

In the 1975 inaugural World Cup, Australia beat England in the first semifinal, Gary Gilmour taking six for 14 as the hosts were dismissed for 96..

In 1979, England went into the final without the injured Bob Willis. Vivian Richards responded with undefeated 138 out of a total of 286 for nine. Geoffery Boycott and Mike Brearley put on a 129 opening stand but England then collapsed to 194 all out.

Staged in England again, in the first semifinal of the third edition of World Cup, the host was bowled out for 213 and beaten with five overs to spare by India, who came out with flying colours in the end of the 1983 Prudential Cup.

While in the final of 1992 edition, England, with several players injured, saw Pakistan score 249 for six and eventually went down by 22 runs. Wasim Akram starred with 33 high-speed and three for 49.

Not only their past dismal showing, but their recent performances too speak of remote chance in the century’s last biggest cricketing extravaganza. However, the game of cricket known for its pleasant uncertainties, may bring smile for them this time.

Though Harold Dickie Bird, one of the premier umpires in the cricketing history, has predicted that England have a stupendous chance of claiming the World Cup for the first time, because the conditions will suit them and they have players to make the most of those conditions.

In the presence of moisture on wickets in May and early June, bowlers like Mark Ealham, Angus Fraser, Ian Austin and Darren Gough are well capable of exploiting the prevailing conditions.

Since seaming pitches do not have a lot of pace in them, the same applies to the batting where they have two of the world’s best one-day performers in Graham Thorpe and Neil Fairbrother as well as that very promising man, Andy Flintoff, who is a perfect striker of the ball.

The low, slow pitches in early summer must give a huge advantage to the English. It will be completely different from playing in passive Sharjah tracks where recently they failed to deliver their goods.

But a close look at England’s results in one-day internationals indicates that they have a tremendous record in the home country and have done better on home territory than abroad.

History, however, shows that it has not been the best sides that have won the World Cup and hence it cannot be emphatically said that England cannot claim the Cup.

The most apparent problem with England has been their failure to rise to the occasion and lift the game during crucial moments.

And if they do so this time with fighting spirit, passion and professionalism, England will be able to break the jinx by becoming the first home team to win the World Cup.

Outstanding three-figure knocks
in one-day cricket

CHENNAI, May 9 (PTI) — With an innings in one-day cricket restricted to maximum 50 overs after the 1983 World Cup, only an exceptionally world class batsman can score a century.

Still, a three figure knock is not uncommon in the limited overs cricket, with the game becoming batsman-oriented and the bowling side being forced to follow restrictions in the first 15 overs.

But what is rare is a score of 150 plus, and this is brought by the fact that there are barely 15 times in the history of "instant cricket" who have achieved this.

It seems but fitting that the pride of place should go to Vivian Richards certainly the premier batsman in this form of the game, until Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar stole the show.

The flamboyant West Indian had held the record of highest individual score — 189 not out against England scored at Manchester in 1984 — for 13 years before it was surpassed in style by Anwar.

Anwar, a dashing opener and solid hitter of the ball, made 194 against India at Chennai on May 21, 1997.

Richard's 189 though stands apart from the Anwar knock simply because the situation under which former Caribbean captain struck those memorable runs.

He went in when West Indies were 11 for two and even while he was stroking freely wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end and. By the 26th over West Indies were reduced to 102 for seven. It was then that Richards took charge with some outstanding hitting. Eldine Baptiste (26) helped Richards and 59 runs for the eighth wicket but at the end of the 41st over, West Indies were 166 for nine.

Then came the most spellbinding batting of the innings as Richards, supported able by last man Michael Holding, simply went after the bowling which was spearheaded by Ian Botham and Bob Willis.

In 14 overs, the last-wicket pair added 106 runs off which Richards share was 93. Richards hit 21 fours and five sixes and made his runs off only 170 deliveries. At the end of their 55 overs, West Indies had recovered to a total of 272 for nine and a demoralised England succumbed meekly.

Richards was also the holder of the record as the highest individual scorer in the World Cup (181) before it was surpassed by South African Gary Kirsten, who made 188 not out against minnows UAE in the 1996 World Cup at Rawalpindi.

Statistics apart, Richards' 181 is still considered the best as it was made against Sri Lanka a Test playing nation in the 1987 World Cup at Karachi.

Richards went in when West Indies were in trouble having lost two wickets for 45 runs. Ratnayake, in fact, was on a hattrick when Richards walked in. Richards settled down quickly and he and Haynes (105) added 182 runs for the third wicket.

Following that Richards completely dominated the bowling and put on 116 for the fourth wicket with Gus Logie before being fourth out at 343. Richards hit 16 fours and six sixes and faced only 125 balls.

West Indies ultimately totalled 360 for four in 50 overs and it remained the highest total ever by any team in World Cup before Sri Lanka erased it making 398 for five against Kenya in Kandy on March 6.

Richards remains the lone player in the world to have notched up three 150 plus scores in one-day games.

Earlier, he had scored 153 not out against Australia at Melbourne in 1979-80 Brian Lara (twice — 153 against Pakistan (1993-94) and 169 against Sri Lanka (1994-95) both at Sharjah and Desmond Haynes's 152 not out against India at Georgetown in 1988-89, were other 150 plus scorers from the Caribbean.

However, one of the most famous one-day knocks has been Kapil Dev's 175 not out for India against Zimbabwe at Turnbridge Wells in the 1983 World Cup.

It inspired a side virtually on its knees to stage a stupendous recovery and resulted ultimately not only in a victory in the match but paved the way for a great World Cup triumph.

India were nine for four when Kapil Dev, the captain entered the fray and the fifth wicket fell at 17. Roger Binny (22) helped Kapil Dev to raise the score to 77 but then Binny and Ravi Shastri left in quick succession leaving India tottering at 78 for seven.

Madan Lal (17) then got together with Kapil Dev in a stand of 62 before Madan Lal fell at 140 for eight and the end of Indian innings was in sight. But the Haryana 'Hurricane' showed his fighting qualities and set the stage for one of the great one-day innings.

With Kirmani as partner, Kapil Dev tore into the Zimbabwe attack with thrilling strokes.

He remained unbeaten with 75 and Kirmani (24) and their unbroken ninth stand of 126 remains a record in World Cup even after 16 years.

India's score was a healthy 266 for eight in 60 overs and Kapil Dev hit 16 fours and six sixes. He still holds the record for most sixes in an innings with VIv Richards.

Even though Zimbabwe (235 all out in 57 overs) fought gallantly, there could be only an Indian victory in the match after an epic innings like Kapil Dev's.

Glenn Turner, the New Zealand captain then, made his runs out of a total of 309 for five in 60 overs. He and John Parkar (66) added 149 runs for the third wicket. Turner's score of 171 not out (against East Africa at Birmingham in 1975 World Cup) stood as the World Cup record till Kapil Dev beat it with his 175 not out eight years later.

Kapil Dev's record too was broken four years later by Viv Richards (181).

Mohd Azharuddin, who will be equalling the record of former West Indian captain Clive Lloyd of leading a team in three successive World Cups, was the other Indian to join the elite club. He made 153 not out against Zimbabwe at Cuttack on April 9, 1998 in the Pepsi Cup tournament.

Individual 150-plus scores club:

194 Saeed Anwar (Pakistan vs India, Chennai) 1997

18* Viv Richards (West Indies vs England, Manchester) 1984.

188* G Kirsten (South Africa vs UAE Rawalpindi) 1995-96

181 Viv Richards (West Indies, Karachi) 1987-88.

175* Kapil Dev (India vs Zimbabwe, Turnbridge Wells) 1983.

171* Glen Turner (New Zealand vs East Africa, Birmingham) 1975.

169* Daryll Cullinan (South Africa vs New Zealand, Verwoerdburgo 194-95.

169 Brian Lara (West Indies vs Sri Lanka, Sharjah) 1995-96.

167* Robin Smith (England vs Australia, Birmingham) 1993.

161 Andrew Hudson (South Africa vs Holland, Rawalpindi) 1995-96.

158 David Gower (England vs New Zealand, Brisbane) 1982-83.

153* Viv Richards (West Indies vs Australia, Melbourne) 1979-80.

153* Mohd Azharuddin (India vs Zimbabwe, Cuttack) 1998.

153 Brian Lara (West Indies vs Pakistan, Shajah) 1993-94.

152* Desmond Haynes (West Indies vs India, Georgetown) 1988-89.

Indian team has no lucky ground

CALCUTTA, May 9 (PTI) — Cricket teams have some venues which have proved particularly lucky for them but the Indian team does not seem to have a World Cup favourite ground in England which has hosted the first three editions of the mega event.

The Indians, who have featured in 14 World Cup matches in England so far, have played at nine different venues but have not been able to find a lucky ground on which they have won more then two matches.

The Indian cricketers have found Old Trafford in Manchester the luckiest ground so far as that is the only venue where they have won two of the four World Cup matches they have played there, having a success rate of 50.00 per cent.

The historic Lord’s, where India won the coveted World Cup in 1983 under Kapil Dev’s captaincy, has more sentimental value for their memorable title triumph than anything else. The Indians have won just that title-claiming match on the hallowed turf of the Lord’s having made two World Cup appearances there so far.

Though ‘Kapil’s Devils’ made history of sorts by dethroning the mighty West Indies at the Lord’s in the summer of 1983, the Indians had suffered a humiliating 202-run defeat against England at the same venue in the inaugural match of the 1975 edition.

The Indians have played two matches at Leeds also, having won and lost one each. They had defeated lowly East Africa by ten wickets in 1975 and lost to New Zealand by eight wickets in 1979.

The Indian teams had lost their World Cup matches in Birmingham (against West Indies, 1979), Oval (against West Indies, 1983) and Nottimgham (against Australia, 1983) having made their only appearances at these venues.

Smaller centres like Leicester, Chelmsford and Tumbridge Wells have proved more lucky for the Indians as they have won their World Cup matches at these venues.

India, who have been clubbed in group-A alongwith pre-tournament favourites South Africa, defending champions Sri Lanka, hosts England, Zimbabwe and Kenya in the seventh edition of the championship, would be playing many of their league matches at smaller venues this time.

Interestingly, barring Leicester, the Indians have never played a World Cup match in the four other venues selected for their group matches in England which is hosting cricket’s biggest extravaganza after a gap of 16 years.

The Indians begin their campaign against South Africa at Hove on May 15 and then take on Zimbabwe at Leicester on May 19. Their other group matches are at Bristol (against Kenya, May 23), Taunton (against Sri Lanka, May 26) and Edgbaston (against England, March 29).

Controversy not to hit Cup telecast
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, May 9 — The telecast of the World Cup cricket matches on the Doordarshan is unlikely to be hit despite the controversy over its marketing rights having thickened yesterday after the Mumbai High Court struck down the plea of Stracon and awarded the contract to Nimbus.

While the Stracon was planning to move the apex court on Monday, Doordarshan officials were worried about the large sum of money which the company had taken from the prospective advertisers. The DD officials were worried whether they would receive the money from Stracon, which reportedly had collected over Rs 60 crore from the advertisers as till now being the company exclusively marketing the World Cup for the national television.

The tangle which the Prasar Bharati Corporation was having with the Stracon over giving exclusive marketing rights for the World Cup, which could have also hit its telecast, seemed to have been solved with the Doordarshan deciding to replace the private organisation by giving the contract to Nimbus. The decision for replacing the organisation was taken after the Prasar Bharati found that the bank guarantee given by Stracon was not acceptable.

However, both the Stracon and the Nimbus moved the Mumbai High Court with pleas for the granting of the rights to them for exclusively marketing the World Cup on Doordarshan. The Mumbai High Court after carefully going through the pleas of both the companies decided to hand over the contract to Nimbus.

While Stracon submitted that it had the exclusive rights and that it had also met all the stipulations required, the Nimbus said that the contract should be granted to it as the former had not met the terms and conditions of the contract. Nimbus also provided the bank guarantee for Rs 32.81 crore from the ICICI bank for taking the exclusive marketing rights.

The Doordarshan officials had been hopeful that the controversy surrounding the contract for the exclusive marketing rights for the World Cup would be worked out before the inaugural match of the showpiece of cricket on May 14. The contract was offered to Nimbus following a breach of contract by the Stracon, DD officials said.

Doordarshan officials were worried that if Stracon refused to hand over the money they had collected so far from the advertisers to the other company, things could become a little complicated. This specially as the advertisers might not be willing to pay the money all over again to Nimbus.

There had been a row between the Prasar Bharati Corporation and Stracon over the past few months over giving out exclusive marketing rights for the World Cup with Doordarshan demanding more money from the private organisation. Senior DD officials had been worried that the row between the Prasar Bharati Corporation and Stracon over the stipulations in the contract had been giving out confusing signals to the advertisers.

On Wednesday, Stracon had said that it had secured the exclusive marketing rights for the World Cup by giving a bank guarantee amount of Rs 32.81 crore to Doordarshan.

However, a day after paying the bank guarantee, Stracon had been asked to revise the terms and conditions of the agreement in accordance to the rules drawn up by the Corporation. Corporation officials said that they had received the amount but it did not conform to their terms and conditions.

Graf back in action

BERLIN, May 9 (AFP) — Germany’s Steffi Graf returns to competition after a foot injury in the WTO Tournament here beginning tomorrow.

Graf, out since March 27, will meet Ukraine’s 46th-ranked Tatiana Tatarkova in the first round.

Three leading Americans will miss the event: they are injured Lindsay Davenport (ranked 2), Venus Williams (6) and Monica Seles (3), who has refused to play in Germany since being stabbed there in 1993.

Graf, barring upsets, will meet Irina Spirlea of Romania in the last eight.

World number one Martina Hingis, of Switzerland, has an easy opener against Japan’s Ai Sugiyama but there is an appetising clash between Russian Anna Kournikova (13) and American Mary-Joe Fernandez, who won this event in 1997. Holder Conchita Martinez, of Spain, opens her defence against France’s Anne-Gaelle Sidot.

Border against Aussies playing
county cricket

WORCESTER, May 9 (AFP) — Former Australian captain Allan Border today called on his fellow cricket selectors to stop players from signing up with English counties.

"We’ll try to do everything we can to stop it," Border said after Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, here for upcoming World Cup, announced they would like to play in England next year.

Players of their calibre could command up to $ 240,000 for a five-month stint but Border, who himself played a year for Essex, cautioned against burn-out.

"Glenn McGrath, for instance, is such a vital part of the Australian team and they’re playing so much cricket now," he said. "It’ll be a tough call.

"We have allowed our batsmen to come across, but frown on the bowlers doing so. We’re keen to protect them."

Twelve Australians are currently playing county cricket, most of them batsmen. But strike bowler McGrath argued bowlers should be allowed to exploit whatever opportunities were offered since their career was generally shorter than those of batsmen.

He also said playing throughout the year might help prolong his career by keeping him permanently fit.

Akhtar "reported for" chucking

COLOMBO, May 9 (PTI) — The crisis-ridden Pakistan cricket team appears to have received another jolt ahead of their World Cup campaign in England with a media report here saying that young pace spearhead Shoaib Akhtar has been reported to ICC, the International Cricket Council, for chucking.

Sri Lankan weekend newspaper "Sunday Times" today quoted sources to say that the world’s fastest bowler has been reported to the ICC for "suspect bowling action" during Pakistan’s recent campaign in the Indian sub-continent and Sharjah.

The "Sunday Times" however, did not name the umpire.

It was not immediately known whether the ICC has taken any action or advised the Pakistan board consequent on the report.

Though there is no written rule by which the council can bar a bowler whose action is under scrutiny, teams normally withdraw the bowler. Steps are then taken to correct his bowling action under the supervision of an ICC nominated expert before ICC bowling committee reviews and clears his action.

Pakistan, already reeling under betting and match-fixing allegations and the resignation of coach Javed Miandad, will be under tremendous pressure not to pick Akhtar.

The 24-year-old from Rawalpindi has emerged as a fearsome strike bowler after his exploits in the Test series against India and the Asian championship besides the two one-day triseries tournaments held in India and Sharjah.

The tearaway paceman has played 10 Tests and 11 one-dayers since making his debut in the 1997-98 season, but is already being touted as a worthy successor in the making for skipper Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

India and Sri Lanka have in the past taken prompt action when the action of their bowlers were called into question, the paper said.

Pakistan may still take a chance and play Akhtar as he one of its frontline bowlers alongwith Akram and seamer Azhar Mehmood, it added.

India omitted both off-spinners Rajesh Chauhan and teenager Harbhajan Singh when they were reported to the ICC for "suspect bowling action". Both returned to the national side only after corrective measures were taken and the ICC committee cleared their rectified bowling action.

Sri Lanka’s star off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was controversially no-balled during their 1995 tour of Australia, but the ICC subsequently cleared his action.

India finish 5th in Asia-Pacific Golf

CALCUTTA, May 9 (PTI) — India finished fifth with a total score of 926 in the team event of the 21st Asia Pacific Junior Golf Championship at the NGWE Thaw Dar Course in Myanmar.

On the final day, both the Indian juniors scored an identical one over 73, but could not move higher from the overall fifth position, according to information received here

Sub-junior Ranjit Singh’s improved showing with a nine over in the last round helped the Indians to record the third best team score on the day.

Thailand maintained their lead to finish at the top with a total of 874 followed by Chinese Taipei (895), Korea (902) and hosts Myanmar (905).

In the boys ‘A’ category, India’s Shiv Kapur played a superb one over par to finish third overall, seven shots behind leader Prom of Thailand.

In the closing holes, it became clear that Shiv had to birdie the last hole for a trophy and his bunker shot landed two feet from the pin for a great finish. Another Indian Ashok Kumar played one over to move up the leader board to 10th position.

First day’s leader, India’s Sandeep Syal faltered on the first few holes which dropped him to 13th position.

In the boys group ‘B’, India’s Ranjit Singh finished 15th and Vidhur Mathur in the 20th position. Joseph Chakola withdrew from the final round due to high viral fever.

Indian eves finish 3rd in hockey

PERTH, May 9 (AP) — Michelle Andrews scored goals 14 minutes apart today as Australia beat South Africa 5-0 in the final of a four-nation women's field hockey tournament.

In the playoff for third place, India beat South Korea on penalty strokes after the teams finished regulation time level on 2-2.

India and South Korea were locked 2-2 at the end of normal time and after an extra 15 minutes.

Goals by South Korea's Kim Eun-Jin (21st minute) and India's Suraj Lata Devi (35th) made it 1-1 at half time.

Lee Eun-Young restored South Korea's advantage in the 38th minute, but Indian captain Pritam Rani kept her side's hopes alive with a 60th minute equaliser.

Both teams had their chances in extra time, but failed to find the net.

In the shootout, Sandeep Kaur, Suraj Lata Devi, Jyoti Sunita Kullu and Sita Gussain were successful for India, while South Korea's scorers were Cho Bo-Ra Ko, Ka Soon-Ja and Park Hyun-Hee.

The series final between Australia and South Africa was being played later in the day.

Jeev slips to 30th position

NEW DELHI, May 9 (UNI) — Chiranjeev Milkha Singh, the lone Indian in the European PGA Tour, was all set to challenge the leaders but disastrous putting in the last six holes threw him down to the joint 30th spot at the end of the third round of the Novotel Perrier French Open Tournament being played at Bordeaux, France.

According to reports reaching here, the 27-year-old was tied for the fifth place at 8-under and just three strokes adrift of the leader after a hat-trick of birdies from the 10th downwards. He finished his front nine with one birdie and a bogey.

However, his putting deserted him completely in the final six holes and Jeev dropped five strokes, including a double bogey on the 536-yard, par-5 14th, to finish the day at two-over 73.

He thus slipped down to joint 30th place after 54 holes with an aggregate of 3-under 210 in the 8,50,000 Euro prize money event. The winner pockets approximately 1,41,000 euros (1 euro=1.4 dollars) here.

Jeev was five-under at the start of the day with rounds of 68 and 69 on the opening two days.

Kiwi Greg Turner, brother of Test cricketer Glenn Turner, retained his lead, but his third round 70 made him accommodate South African Retief Goosen and local hero Marc Farry at the top spot at 11-under 202.

Also in the hunt was the 41-year-old 1991 masters champion Ian Woosnam of Wales who was three strokes off the leaders going into the final day. Looking for his first win in two years in the European PGA Tour, Woosnam was in seventh place after playing a five-under 66 round.

Grand Prix b'minton meet from June 11
By Our Sports Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, May 9 — The month of June will witness two big prize money badminton tournaments involving a sum of Rs 4, lakh each and an all India badminton Tournament with a prize money of Rs 90000 as per the information reaching here. The Badminton Association of India has also decided to allow a total of eight qualifiers in the men's section in the draw of 32 and a maximum of four in the draw of women of 24, in the women's doubles only two qualifier will be permitted where there are atleast 12 main entries, four qualifiers in the case of men's doubles in draw of 16 and for the mixed doubles two qualifiers in the final draw of eight.

Udyogmandal in Cochin (Kerala) will play host to the All India Seshasayee Badminton Tournament from June 4 to 7, while Mumbai will be the venue to the All-India Grand Prix prize money badminton tournament from June 11 to 14, the second Grand Prix is going to be held at Guwahati (Assam) from June 18 to 21.

The BAI has also released the list of players whom invitation have been sent for the Grand Prix tournament stated above.

Men: Abhin Shyam Gupta (UP) Nikhil Kanetkar (Maharashtra), Srikant Bakshi (Railways), Jassel P Ismail (Kerala), Vincent Lobo (Maharashtra), George Thomas (PSCB), Marcose Bristow (PSCB), Vinod Kumar (Karnataka), Harish Chander (Railways). Women: Ms Manusha Kanwar, PVV Lakshmi, Archana Deodhar, Aparna Popat Manju Abraham, Madhumita Bisht and BR Meenakshi.

MES CC triumph

PATIALA, May 9 (FOC) — MES Cricket Club handed out a big eight-wicket defeat to Star Eleven in the Patiala Hot Weather Cricket Tournament (under-16) played at the MES Cricket Grounds here today.

Batting first, Star Club, after losing dependable opener Piyush Jund, a product of Teja Singh Kandhari School, never recovered and collapsed to 148 all out.

In reply MES CC rattled up 149 for 2 to wrap up the match by 8 wickets.

Scores:

Star Eleven 148 all out (Kanwaljit 27, Sukhmit Singh 25, Arpit Sharma 17, Piyush Jund 12, Vikram 4 for 24, Vikash 3 for 22).

MES Cricket Club: 149 for 2 (Pushpinder 68, Lokesh 20, Vikash 12 not out, Piyush Jund 2 for 19).