Delhi restrict Services
NEW DELHI, Oct 24 — Medium pacer Ashish Nehra took five wickets as Delhi dismissed Services for a paltry 141 before making 61 for the loss of one wicket at close on the first day of their North Zone Ranji Trophy four-day match here today.

Woods eyes sixth Tour victory
LAKE BUENE VISTA, (USA), Oct 24 — Tiger Woods moved within sight of his sixth PGA Tour victory of the year when he tied Bob Tway for the lead after the third round at the $ 2.5 million National Car Rental Golf Classic.

Punjab in command against HP
SAS NAGAR,Oct 24 — Sensible performance by batsmen saw Punjab finish the day on a satisfying note against Himachal Pradesh on the opening day of the four-day North Zone Ranji Trophy match at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here today.

Vishal romps home victorious
FARIDABAD, Oct 24 — Vishal Singh romped to a fine victory with a final tally of 15-under 273, at the Rs 6 lakh Shell Aravalli Open, played at the par-72,6945-yard Aravalli Golf Club course here today.

Donald replaces Elworthy
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 24 — Fast bowler Allan Donald returned to the South Africa side today. He was one of three changes made by the selectors for the Test against Zimbabwe in Bloemfontein, starting on Friday.

Punjab Ladies Open begins tomorrow
CHANDIGARH, Oct 24 — Two local girls, defending champion Parnita Garewal and in-form Irina Brar, will probably be the main contestants in the seventh Punjab Open Amateur Ladies Golf Championship which opens on the lush course of the Chandigarh Golf Club here on October 26.

Hewitt, Lapentti move into final
LYON, Oct 24 — Lleyton Hewitt sped past eighth-seeded Vincent Spadea of the USA 6-3, 6-3 at the Lyon Grand Prix, to reach the final in his first appearance on the European indoor circuit.

Indian p’lifters finish second
NEW DELHI, Oct 24 — Indian lifters powered their way to 16 medals, including four gold medals and finished runner-up ending their campaign on a high note at the World Master Powerlifting Championships in Sun City, South Africa.

Randhawa shoots 4 under par 68
SINGAPORE, Oct 24 — Indian pro Jyoti Randhawa shot a superb four under par 68 to finish a joint third in the $ 400,000 Nokia Singapore Golf Open which ended with Australian Kenny Druce beating big-hitting South African Desvonde Botes in a sudden-death play-off.

Salim, Bhandari lift titles
MANDI GOBINDGARH, Oct 24 — Mohammed Salim and Meeta Bhandari won the men’s and women’s singles titles in the Punjab State Major Ranking Badminton Championships, which concluded here, today.

• Gymnastics title for Yamunanagar
• Puri’s ton puts Haryana on top
• National athletics from Oct 28

Kiwis tottering at 17 for 3

KANPUR, Oct 24 (PTI) — India took a vice-like grip on the second cricket Test against New Zealand after leg-spinner Anil Kumble’s stunning triple strike in the space of seven balls left the visitors crippled at 17 for three wickets in their second innings today.

On a dramatic third day, India were restricted to 330 for a modest 74-run first innings lead as the Kiwis staged a tremendous fightback led by 20-year-old left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori, but the hosts looked all set to drive home the leeway at the Green Park Stadium on the fourth day tomorrow.

Kumble, brought on in the very fourth over as skipper Sachin Tendulkar sought to cash in on the vagaries of a fast-deteriorating track, trapped opener Matt Bell (7) leg before and bowled night watchman Dion Nash first ball to be on a hattrick, before trapping plumb the other opener, Matt Horne, to give India the scent of victory.

Indian hopes to build up a huge first innings lead were scuttled by a highly disciplined Kiwi bowling performance as well as the host batsmen’s over-defensive approach influenced largely by the track.

Twelve wickets fell for the addition of just 135 runs in 88 overs sent down overall, and India, who lost opener S. Ramesh (83) in the second over of the morning, followed by skipper Sachin Tendulkar (15) and Saurav Ganguly close to lunch and Rahul Dravid (48) immediately after that — all to Vettori — had to drastically peg down their ambitions in the first essay.

But Kumble, who became the third Indian to complete 250 test wickets — behind Kapil Dev (434) and Bishen Singh Bedi (266) — when he trapped Matt Horne leg before wicket as his third victim, gave India all the initiative to cash in on tomorrow.

The 20-year-old Vettori claimed his third five-wicket haul (6/127) and wiped out the Indian tail in a final spell of 12.1-4-18-3, but the Indian spinners looked set to have the final say and clinch the lead in the three-Test series.

Indian hopes of rapidly building upon their overnight score of 217 for one were dashed by a disciplined Kiwi attack led by the young Vettori on a rapidly deteriorating track that enabled the spinners to extract appreciable turn.

The host batsmen did not cover themselves with glory with an over-cautious approach from the morning and the loss of skipper Sachin Tendulkar (15) and Saurav Ganguly (0) to Vettori - in the space of seven balls and three runs - that left the bowler on a hat-trick nearing lunch break further undermined the innings.

New Zealand (1st innings): 256India (1st innings):Gandhi c Fleming b Astle 88Ramesh c Parore b Astle 83Dravid c Parore b Vettori 48Tendulkar c Astle b Vettori 15Ganguly c and b Vettori 0Bhardwaj c Spearman b Wiseman 22Prasad c Fleming b Vettori 19Joshi c Bell b Vettori 19Kumble st Parore b Vettori 5Srinath c Astle b Wiseman 0Singh not out 1Extras: (b-14, lb-6, nb-10) 30Total: (all out in 148.1 overs) 330Fall of wickets: 1-162, 2-214, 3-243, 4-246, 5-255, 6-293, 7-311, 8-321, 9-326.Bowling: Cairns 16-8-34-0, Nash 22-10-41-0, Vettori 55.1-11-127-6, Wiseman 29-10-81-2, Astle 26-12-27-2.New Zealand (2nd innings):Horne lbw b Kumble 3Bell lbw b Kumble 7Nash b Kumble 0Spearman batting 1Fleming batting 0Extras: (b-1, lb-4, nb-1) 6Total: (for 3 wkts, 14 overs) 17Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-16, 3-17Bowling: Srinath 5-3-4-0, Ganguly 1-0-2-0, Kumble 5-2-6-3, Joshi 3-3-0-0.

Australia make clean sweep

HARARE, Oct 24 (Reuters) — Unbeaten half-centuries by Ricky Ponting and Michael Bevan powered Australia to a nine-wicket win against Zimbabwe to clinch their limited overs series 3-0 at the Harare Sports Club today.

Needing 201 to win, Australia lost Adam Gilchrist for a whirlwind 28 from 17 balls before Ponting (87 not out) and Bevan (77 not out) completed the rout against a weak attack with 11 of their 50 overs to spare.

Former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower had at least led the home side to the respectability of 200 for nine, following their 83-run loss in the first match in Bulawayo and their nine-wicket defeat in the second game here, but the left-hander’s unbeaten 99 went unsupported.

Batting in desperate circumstances with wickets falling regularly at the other end, Flower added 43 with younger brother Grant, the second highest scorer with 21, before nursing the rest of the middle and lower, attacking wherever possible.

SCOREBOARD

Zimbabwe:

Campbell b McGrath 18

Johnson c Warne b McGrath 5

Madondo c Gilchrist b Moody 6

A. Flower not out 99

G. Flower c Martyn b Symonds 21

Goodwin c Symonds b Warne 14

Blignaut c Bevan b Warne 1

Rennie run out 10

Brent lbw b Moody 0

Whittall run out 1

Mutendera not out 8

Extras (7-LB, 4-NB, 6-W) 17

Total (nine wickets, 50 overs) 200

Fall of wickets: 1/24, 2/29, 3/38, 4/81, 5/120, 6/125, 7/154, 8/156, 9/167.

Bowling: McGrath 10-4-18-2, Dale 10-0-35-0, Moody 10-2-34-2, Symonds 8-0-52-1, Warne 10-0-42-2, Martyn 2-0-12-0.

Australia:

Gilchrist c A. Flower b Mutendera 28

Ponting not out 87

Bevan not out 77

Extras: (lb-3 w-6) 9

Total: (for one wicket) 201

Fall of wicket: 1-44.

Controversy clouds Tyson’s
comeback bid

LAS VEGAS, Oct 24 (AFP) — Mike Tyson’s latest comeback bid was clouded by yet another controversy last night when Tyson knocked Norris down after the bell to end the first round and the bout was ruled a no-contest.

Referee Richard Steele — who told Tyson to stop punching when the bell sounded — first deducted two points for the foul.

After the bell to start the second round rang, Tyson went to a neutral corner as Norris remained on his stool and his trainer, Abel Sanchez, argued for extra time to rest.

As the crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena became restive, security officers streamed into the ring.

Minutes later Norris’ trainer Abel Sanchez said his fighter had suffered a twisted knee and couldn’t continue.

Because his injury was the result of a foul, the scheduled 10-round bout was called a no-contest, even though Tyson’s late left hand was called accidental on the official score card.

Delhi restrict Services

NEW DELHI, Oct 24 (PTI) — Medium pacer Ashish Nehra took five wickets as Delhi dismissed Services for a paltry 141 before making 61 for the loss of one wicket at close on the first day of their North Zone Ranji Trophy four-day match here today.

Ashu Dani (29) and Ashish Malhotra (14) were at the crease.

Nehra, supported by some disciplined bowling from Amit Bhandari and Rahul Sanghvi, inflicted early damage when he had Sarabjeet Singh (0) caught by Vijay Dhaiya in his second over. He struck again, trapping Narendra Singh (11) leg before with 23 on the board.

Former India off-spinner Sanghvi removed Abu Eric (11) off his very first ball, caught by Nehra at covers.

With three down for 39, seasoned campaigner Pankaj Maitrey (28) and skipper Sanjay Verma (37) put on 61 runs for the fourth wicket to steady the Services innings.

However, Verma’s departure to a quick stumping by Vijay Dahiya off Sanghvi starting a collapse, with none of the batsmen to follow, with the exception of Sachin Kulkarni (20), touching double figures.

Services: Narendra Singh lbw Ashish Nehra 11, Sarabjeet Singh c Vijay Dhaiya b Ashish Nehra 0, Abu Eric c Ashish Nehra b Rahul Sanghvi 11, Pankaj Maitrey b Amit Bhandari 28, C.D. Thompson lbw Amit Bhandari 2, Sanjay Verma st Vijay Dahiya b Rahul Sanghvi 37, Sapan Dutta c Akash Malhotra b Rahul Sanghvi 6, M.V. Rao c&b Ashish Nehra 6, Syed Javed b Ashish Nehra 0, Sachin Kulkarni b Ashish Nehra 0, G.S. Thapa not out 20, Extras (5b, 9 lb, 6nb) 20. Total: (all out in 66.4 overs) 141

Fall of wickets: 1/8, 2/23, 3/39, 4/102, 5/106, 6/106, 7/126, 8/137, 9/137 Bowling: Ashish Nehra 16.4-6-25-5, Amit Bhandari 11-2-22-2, Nikhil Chopra 12-6-17-0, Rahul Sanghvi 20-2-42-2, Sandeep Angarwala 7-1-21-1.

Delhi: Ashu dani batting 29, Vijay Dahiya c Sarabjit Singh b Syed Javed 16, Ashish Malhotra batting 14, Extras (1 lb, 1nb) 2. Total: (for one wicket in 22 overs) 61

Fall of wicket: 1/29

Bowling: M.V. Rao 9-3-21-0, Syed Javed 10-1-34-1, Pankaj Maitrey 2-1-5-0, Sachin Kulkarni 1-1-0-0.

Woods eyes sixth Tour victory

LAKE BUENE VISTA, (USA), Oct 24 (Reuters) — Tiger Woods moved within sight of his sixth PGA Tour victory of the year when he tied Bob Tway for the lead after the third round at the $ 2.5 million National Car Rental Golf Classic.

Woods rolled in an unlikely 35-footer at the last to match fellow-American Tway’s six-under-par 66 on a delightful autumn day yesterday at Disney World’s Magnolia course.

They were knotted at 18-under 198 with one round left, three strokes ahead of South African Ernie Els (68), while Americans Franklin Langham (68) and Brad Faxon (64) were four strokes behind, Faxon after the day’s best round.

With a win today, Woods would become the first player to claim six victories in one year on the PGA Tour since Tom Watson in 1980.

Actually Woods has already won six times this year — five times on the PGA Tour and once on the European Tour.

“I count the win in Germany”, he said. “But here on this tour I’ve won five. I’d like to get six and seven and then eight would be nice”.

“I’m very pleased with the way I’m playing right now, even though today was not as good as I can hit the ball.

“I felt really good with the driver and also my three-wood but I hit a couple of shots left and a couple right (with the irons). I’m going right now and working this thing out”.

Els, who played with Woods, was more than a little impressed with the world number one.

“I haven’t seen anybody drive the ball that good in my life,” Els said. “I don’t think Jack Nicklaus could hit it that good in his prime.

“I was totally in awe by the way he’s playing. He’s in total control of what he’s doing. He’s playing a different game right now”.

It’s Tway who will be paired with Woods for the final round, and the 1986 PGA champion is looking forward to it.

Tway gave Woods a scare at the match play championship in California, before Woods eked out a 1-up victory in their second-round match in February.

“He has a lot of attributes I will never have”, Tway said. “You just try to make up with consistent play and make a few putts. If he is on and you are on he is probably going to beat you”.

Tway has every incentive to win. Not only would it be a major scalp, but it would also earn him a spot in next week’s tour championship.

Punjab in command against HP
By Gopal Sharma
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR,Oct 24 — Sensible performance by batsmen saw Punjab finish the day on a satisfying note against Himachal Pradesh on the opening day of the four-day North Zone Ranji Trophy match at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here today.

On the day when former India opener Navjot Sidhu failed to come good with the bat for the second successive day, miscuing a hook shot off medium pacer Shakti Singh and giving a catch to Sangram Singh at square leg too early in the innings when he had just got off the mark, youngster Reetinder Sodhi and Pankaj Dharmani led the charge to take the team to a safer position. Skipper Vikram Rathore, in between, contributed his bit though falling short of a half century.

After that fine rearguard action by off-spinner Sarandeep Singh, who notched up his first half century in sixth match, helped the side cross the 300-run mark. At the draw of stumps, the hosts had put up 317 runs on the board for the loss of eight wickets.

New ball was taken after 83.4 overs but it failed to have any impact on Sarandeep and Navdeep Singh, who concentrated on survival and saw off the remaining overs without further damage to the innings.

For Himachal Pradesh, Shakti Singh emerged the most successful bowler, scalping four wickets after bowling 30 overs, while left-arm medium pacer Parveen Sharma claimed two wickets.

After the fall of Sidhu’s wicket, Rathore and Reetinder were not unduly bothered by the rival bowling attack. Rathore looked in fine nick and when he hoisted left-arm spinner Jaswant Rai straight for a six, he achieved an important landmark, becoming the only batsman from Punjab to complete 5000 runs in Ranji Trophy matches. He could not continue for long, giving a return catch to Jaswant to be back in pavilion after making 44.

Reetinder and Dharmani then continued to bat merrily without getting bogged down at any stage of the innings. They added 94 runs for the third-wicket partnership in 107 minutes before the former edged a Parveen delivery to Rajiv Nayyar at second slip. Reetinder’s 79-run knock contained 10 fours and a six. This was his sixth fifty in 13th match.

Dharmani remained unperturbed by the early dismissals of Dinesh Mongia and Amit Sharma and kept on accumulating runs without much fuss. He played some beautiful shots on the either side of the wicket before being castled by Shakti after he had made 70 runs studded with 10 boundaries.

Towards the fag end of the day Sarandeep displayed fine temperament denying any further success to the bowlers in the company of Navdeep to remain unbeaten on 54 runs.

SCOREBOARD

Punjab (Ist innings): Rathore c and b Jaswant Rai 44, Navjot Sidhu c Sangram Singh b Shakti Singh 1, Reetinder Sodhi c Rajiv Nayyar b Parveen Sharma 79, Pankaj Dharmani lbw Shakti Singh 70, Dinesh Mongia b Parveen Sharma 2, Amit Sharma b Shakti Singh 6, Sandeep Sharma c Arun Verma b Shakti Singh 18, Harminder Jugnu c Arun Verma b Nischal Gaur 17, Sarandeep Singh batting 54, Navdeep Singh batting 16. Extras (NB-2, LB-3, B-5) 10.

Total 317 for eight wickets.

Fall of wickets: 1/7, 2/72, 3/166, 4/174, 5/190, 6/216, 7/233, 8/258.

Bowling: Shakti Singh 30-5-93-4, Parveen Sharma 24-3-82-2, Rahul Panta 4-0-20-0, Jaswant Rai 24-4-82-1, Nischal Gaur 8-1-32-1.

Vishal romps home victorious
From Our Sports Reporter

FARIDABAD, Oct 24 — Vishal Singh romped to a fine victory with a final tally of 15-under 273, at the Rs 6 lakh Shell Aravalli Open, played at the par-72,6945-yard Aravalli Golf Club course here today.

At joint second spot, were Harmeet Kahlon and Samim Khan at ten-under 278.

Vishal was determined to win today. His birdie on the very first hole gave ample evidence of the fact. “My last tournament victory came in 1992” he said. Seven years is a long period and most golfers would have packed their bags and headed towards greener pastures. Not Vishal. Today we saw the fierce competitor hidden behind that smiling face. Playing exemplary golf throughout, the Jaipur based pro, after five pared holes, which included a missed eagle chance on the par 4-5th, when his ball stopped half an inch short of the pin, posted consecutive birdies on the 11th and 12th. Carding his only bogey of the day on the 9th, Vishal continued to impress pairing the first five holes of his back nine. Danger was, however, looming large with the young Delhi-pro Samim Khan catching up with him on the 13th. Vishal was unfazed. Two pared holes later, the Rajasthani birdied the final four holes to take home the winner’s cheque of Rs 97,200. “The pressure was high, but I decided to try not to miss my pars and came out on top” said a delighted Vishal, who carded six-under 65 for the day.

Samim Khan finished the day at three-under 69. “Whatever had to happen happened” said the youngster, who put up a brave fight throughout. Birdying the 3rd hole, Samim played to par on the remaining holes of his outward journey. A superb birdie on the 11th after he was stuck in the left woods saw him card two more birdies on the next two holes, to tie with Vishal Singh at 11 under for the event. Vishal’s sudden acceleration of form left Samim stranded helpless and a bogey on the 18th, handed him the joint-runner-up slot with a prize cheque of Rs 50,925.

Harmeet Kahlon carded three-under 69. After birdying the 1st. Harmeet’s progress was jolted a bit by back-to-back bogeys on the 6th and 7th, with the latter caused due to his tee-shot placing him in the heart of a bush nuzzling the left OB fence. Breaking out of these shackles, the Arjuna awardee posted birdies on the 8th, 9th, 12th and 17th, to tie with Samim at joint second. “I played good but not good enough” said the Indian Oil employee who is sponsored by India Cements. Veteran Shiv Prakash, was placed at fourth spot, after scoring a fine seven-under 65. The Kanpur-based golfer birdied the 3rd, 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th and 17th eagled the 16th and bogeyed the 14th, to finish with a tally of nine-under 279.

Amit Dube and Digvijay Singh, with cards of five-under 67 and one-under 71, respectively, finished at joint fifth spot at eight-under 280.

Gaurav Kathuria carded a fine two-over 74 to win the amateur title with a tally of 317. At second spot was G.S. Parmar with 326 while J.J. Desaram occupied the third spot at 338.

Scores: 273 Vishal Singh (69,66,72,66); 278 Samim Khan (71,71,67,69); Harmeet Kahlon (68,73,68,69); 279 Shiv Prakash (72,71,71,65); 280 Digvijay Singh (69,76,68,67), Amit Dube (70,70,69,71); 283 Mukesh Kumar (71,70,71,71), Feroz Ali (65,73,73,72); 287 Basad Ali (69,74,73,71); 288 Ali Sher (74,69,75,70), Rafiq Ali (69,69,74,76)

Amateurs: 317 Gaurav Kathuria (83,79,81,74); 326 G S Parmar (79,80,81,86); 338 J.J.Desaram (86,78,85,89).

Donald replaces Elworthy

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 24 (Reuters) — Fast bowler Allan Donald returned to the South Africa side today.

He was one of three changes made by the selectors for the Test against Zimbabwe in Bloemfontein, starting on Friday.

With regular openers Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs injured, Boeta Dippenaar wins his first cap and will go in first with the recalled Adam Bacher.

Donald replaces Steve Elworthy in the only other change from the side who beat New Zealand by eight wickets in Wellington in March.

The Bloemfontein Test will be the first of home and away matches between the two countries. The second will take place in Harare, starting on November 11.

The game will be marked by two firsts — Zimbabwe have never played a Test in South Africa and the Free State capital of Bloemfontein has not hosted a five-day game.

Punjab Ladies Open begins tomorrow
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 24 — Two local girls, defending champion Parnita Garewal and in-form Irina Brar, will probably be the main contestants in the seventh Punjab Open Amateur Ladies Golf Championship which opens on the lush course of the Chandigarh Golf Club here on October 26.

The championship, so far associated with Max India, is this year being sponsored by Cepham Milk Specialities. The tournament is a categorised event in the ladies circuit and has always been attracting good entries.

But this year because of the Hero Honda Masters beginning in Delhi on October 28, the outside entries may be restricted. However, Mrs Dalbir Sahi, Lady Captain, was hopeful of the Delhi girls, including Shruti, arriving for the tournament by Shatabdi tomorrow.

The Chandigarh course is in excellent condition. The four new greens (12th, 13th, 14th and 17th) that have been laid out make the course more challenging.

The defending champion, Parnita Garewal, is in top form having recently finished third in the Hong Kong Open. But she will be facing stiff challenge from Irina Brar, who has won three tournaments in the last six weeks. Another junior practising hard with her new swing in Guneet Raikhy.

Ten of the Chandigarh girls participating in the tournament are under 15. The youngest participant is Guneet Raikhy (10) and the eldest Darshi Narang (70).

Mrs Sahi was hopeful of the participants returning some good scores as the course and the climatic conditions were just right for the tournament.

Hewitt, Lapentti move into final

LYON, Oct 24 (AP) — Lleyton Hewitt sped past eighth-seeded Vincent Spadea of the USA 6-3, 6-3 at the Lyon Grand Prix, to reach the final in his first appearance on the European indoor circuit.

Hewitt, an 18-year-old Australian ranked a career-high 27th by the ATP Tour, will meet sixth-seeded Nicolas Lapentti in the final. The Ecuadorian again rallied from a set down, this time beating Sweden’s Magnus Gustafsson 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 in his semifinal.

Lapentti had never won a match on carpet before arriving in Lyon. The pair, who have never met, are each seeking their second career ATP Tour titles.

Hewitt had little difficulty getting past Spadea,in the match played yesterday, sweeping aside the sluggish American in 1 hour, 21 minutes to reach his fifth career tour final.

Still feeling the effects of his marathon quarterfinal against top-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Spadea appeared sluggish and worn.

Hewitt, who dropped just one set on way to the final, may again benefit from his opponent’s fatigue in the final.

Lapentti has been forced to three sets all week to reach his place in his first career indoor final, rallying from a set down in all four of his matches.

Lapentti halted a 10-match losing streak with a victory in the first round at the Grand Slam Cup and his sudden run of form has left him in contention for a place in the season-ending ATP Tour World Championships.

Indian p’lifters finish second

NEW DELHI, Oct 24 (PTI) — Indian lifters powered their way to 16 medals, including four gold medals and finished runner-up ending their campaign on a high note at the World Master Powerlifting Championships in Sun City, South Africa.

India, propelled by RB Jagtap’s three gold and a silver, in all won four gold, four silver and eight bronze medals to finish behind the USA (who took the overall team honours at the five-day event which concluded yesterday.

Jagtap opened India’s account on the opening day winning gold in 52 kg category beating Jurman Kaljo of Estonia by a huge margin of 90 kg, according to a release for Indian Powerlifting Federation here.

On his way to an overall gold, Jagtap won the yellow medal in squat and dead-lift but settled for silver and bench-press totalling 390 kg.

RK Surati gave his career-best performance winning gold in squat.

Randhawa shoots 4 under par 68

SINGAPORE, Oct 24 (UNI) — Indian pro Jyoti Randhawa shot a superb four under par 68 to finish a joint third in the $ 400,000 Nokia Singapore Golf Open which ended with Australian Kenny Druce beating big-hitting South African Desvonde Botes in a sudden-death play-off.

Randhawa, American Robert Huxtable and South African Sammy Daniels finished with and aggregate of 278, two strokes short of the play-off, and won $ 20,266 each.

The other Indians in the fray were way down. Gaurav Ghei was placed at 29th position with five others who also had 285 while Amandeep Johl was among the eight players who got 286 and shared the 35th spot.

Uttam Singh Mundy, a stroke behind, was joint 43rd while Arjun Singh was 66th with 291.

Druce drained a 12-foot par putt on the difficult 18th to win on the second extra hole, having moments earlier holed an incredible lob-shot from behind the green to force the play-off. In what is one of the Davidoff Tour’s major championships, Druce was one behind playing-partner Botes playing the last, and appeared to have been beaten after going over the back of 476-yard par-four hole in three.

As Botes was lining up his 10-foot par putt for victory, Druce who won $ 64,600, played an amazing chip shot that flew high in the air, landed six feet from the pin, and rolled into the cup.

Stunned by Druce’s wonder shot, Botes left his putt short and the tournament went into overtime on the 18th. Both players parred the first play-off hole, and then Botes opened the door for Druce by playing a poor chip, caused by a bad lie, that left him a 25-foot par putt that he failed to make.

It was an amazing comeback win for Druce, who had led the tournament after each of the first three days, but had lost his lead on the final day.

Salim, Bhandari lift titles
From Our Sports Reporter

MANDI GOBINDGARH, Oct 24 — Mohammed Salim and Meeta Bhandari won the men’s and women’s singles titles in the Punjab State Major Ranking Badminton Championships, which concluded here, today.

Salim had sweet revenge, when he defeated top seeded Rohan of Jalandhar in three well fought games in the men’s singles final. Only last month Rohan defeated Salim in the state championships at Patiala. Salim, now working with PSEB, won 15-3, 9-15, 15-3. Salim started off well and took an early lead which he maintained throughout. The first game was over in just 10 minutes. Rohan, who had some starting trouble, fought back in the second game to make it 1-1. The final game also saw Salim dominating. He raced to a 7-0 lead. Rohan tried his best to put up fight but it was Salim’s day. Everything went right for Salim while Rohan made one mistake after another.

In women’s singles final top seed Meeta Bhandari demolished Nazma Parveen of Ludhiana 11-4, 11-3 in no time. Nazma’s game was uncharacteristically littered with mistakes as she struggled to come to terms with her opponent’s deft touches around the net. In fact Meeta’s first six points were all won on delicate drop shots.

Meeta won her second title when she and former international Nancy trounced Sapna and Nazma 15-9, 15-9. The mixed doubles was also a one sided affair. Chanderdeep and Yogita faced no resistance from Iqbal and Nazma of Ludhiana. The Patiala pair won 15-1, 15-6 in just 15 minutes. Navdeep and Manish of Patiala clinched the men’s doubles title defeating Chanderdeep and Amandeep in three well fought games 15-6, 11-15, 15-9.

Mr S.K. Mittal, IRS, Joint Commissioner, Income Tax, gave away the prizes.

Gymnastics title for Yamunanagar
From Our Correspondent

AMBALA, Oct 24 — Yamunanagar won the Haryana School Gymnastics Championships in the boys section (under-14) which concluded here today. The under-17 (boys) title was secured by Gurgaon.

Results:

Under-17 (boys): team championship: 1, Gurgaon 2, Sports School, Rai 3, Bhiwani and Jind. Allround best gymnast- 1, Kapil (Bhiwani) 2, Vikram (Gurgaon) 3, Bansi Lal (Gurgaon).

Under-14 (boys): team championship: 1, Yamunanagar 2, Gurgaon 3, Sports School, Rai. Allround best gymnast-1, Amar (Yamunanagar)2, Sanjay (Gurgaon)3, Rajesh (Bhiwani).

Kho-Kho-under19: 1, Bhiwani 2, Rohtak 3, Ambala and Sonepat.

Kho-Kho-under-14: 1, Kaithal 2, Rohtak 3, Ambala.

Volleyball under-14: 1, Kurukshetra 2, Yamunanagar 3, Karnala.

Volleyball under-19: 1, Mohindergarh 2, Gurgaon 3, Karnal.

Handball under-14: 1, Kaithal 2, Hisar 3, Kurukshetra.

Handball under 19: 1, Jhajjar 2, Hisar 3, Kurukshetra.

Foodball under 14: 1, Jind 2, Bhiwani 3, Sonepat.

Puri’s ton puts Haryana on top

FARIDABAD, Oct 24 (PTI) — An unbeaten 107 of Rajesh Puri helped Haryana score 261 for two at close of first day’s play in their Ranji Trophy match against Jammu and Kashmir here today.

Opening pair Hitender Singh (36) and Parmendar Singh (79) put the hosts on a sound footing with their 80 runs first-wicket stand. Hitender was caught at first slip by Ashwani Gupta off Sanjay Sharma.

Parmender and new batsman, Rajesh Puri, defied rival bowlers and the two added 119 runs for the second wicket in the form of the former who gave a return catch to Kanwaljeet Singh when the board read 199.

Rajesh Puri (107), and Amarjeet Kaypee (17) were at the crease at close. Puri scored his 15th century in Ranji Trophy. The two wickets were shared by Sanjay Sharma and Kanwaljeet Singh.

National athletics from Oct 28

BHOPAL Oct 24 (PTI) — Around 600 athletes including sprint queen P T Usha, M Sunitha Rani, Shakti Singh and Rosa Kutty would be seen in action during the three -day open national athletic championship to be held here from October 28.

Teams from West Bengal, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Pondicherry, Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, the Railways, Services and the Life Insurance Corporation have already confirmed their participation in the championship, the Madhya Pradesh Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Shrawan Patel told a press conference here. There would be 22 events for men and 21 for women and a total of 55 gold, 55 silver and 55 bronze medals would be awarded during the championship to be held at the T T Nagar Stadium here.

Ropar overall champs

ROPAR, Oct 24 (TNS) — Ropar lifted the overall championship in the 7th Ludhiana Range Police Sports and Athletic Meet which concluded at the Nehru Stadium here yesterday.

Players and athletes from Ropar, Ludhiana, Khanna and Jagraon police districts participated.

Ropar police won the team championships in kabaddi, handball, basketball, wrestling, judo and boxing while Ludhiana police lifted the team championships in football, volleyball, weightlifting and athletics. Jagraon police won the team championship in hockey.

Ropar police were runners-up in football, volleyball, hockey and athletics while Ludhiana were runners-up in kabaddi, handball, basketball, wrestling and boxing. Jagraon and Khanna were runners-up in weightlifting and judo respectively.

In the women’s section, only Ropar participated in kabaddi and judo disciplines and they were declared champions. Women athletes participated in the meet and Ropar won the athletics championship while Jagraon and Ludhiana finished second and third, respectively.

Dr G.S. Aujla, I.G. Police, gave away the prizes. Mr K.S. Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner, announced a grant of Rs 25,000 for the police sports and athletic meet.