 |
|
| Monday, February 14, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
|
India
Seniors lift trophy
Indian eves rout Singapore |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Akhtar ‘set to return’
in Test matches Neha
sets eyes on Winter Olympics
|
India Seniors lift trophy AHMEDABAD, Feb 13 (PTI) — Venkata Sai Laxman slammed a blazing century and put on 195 runs with his opening partner Shiv Sunder Das, who also notched up a fine hundred, to star in India Seniors’ comprehensive 84-run win over India A in the final of the Challenger Trophy cricket tournament here tonight. Laxman made a splendid 80-ball 105 with 15 fours and a six, while Das made 114 off 121 balls with nine fours and six. The two openers cut the hapless India A bowling to ribbons in helping the Seniors team pile up a huge 320 for nine in 50 overs. Set the daunting asking rate of 6.42 to clinch the title and the top prize of Rs 2.50 lakh, India A floundered under lights, losing their first three batsmen with only 27 on the board before ending up with 236 for nine to finish second in the three-team tournament and bag Rs 1.20 lakh. India B, the third team, got Rs 50,000. After Venkatesh Prasad fired out the top three batsmen — makeshift opener Virender Sehwag (0), Ashu Dani (5) and Sanjay Bangar (9) — in his first three overs, skipper Mohammed Azharuddin (58 off 65 balls, 6 fours) and left-hander Sridharan Sharath (61 — 84 b, 6x4) stemmed the rot. The fourth-wicket duo added 82 runs in 16.4 overs to help India A reach the 100-run mark in the 19th over before a fine piece of fielding by Prasad, who hit the stumps at the striker’s end with a direct throw from fine leg, sent back Azhar. This was a huge blow for the India A team and their resistance gradually gave way, especially after Sharath too fell in the 24th over trying to force the pace. In the final analysis, the swashbuckling knocks by Man of the Tournament Laxman with excellent support from Das, followed by Prasad’s incisive opening spell of 7-1-27-3 sewed up the title for the Seniors team. India B’s Md Kaif, the junior World Cup winning captain, was adjudged best batsman of the tournament, with Amit Bhandari of India A the best bowler and Reetinder Singh Sodhi of India B the best fielder. Das set the tone for the onslaught with flicks and square drives for boundaries off India ‘A’ opening bowlers T. Kumaran and Amit Bhandari before Laxman followed suit with sparkling drives in the ‘V’ off the new ball bowlers. The duo raised the 50 off only 8.1 overs and then lanky Hyderabad stylist Laxman, who showed the sort of form which fetched him a classy 167 in the third and final Test against Australia at Sydney last month, went into over-drive on a perfect batting track. The wristy 25-year-old batsman singled out another youngster, Raliways’ left-arm spinner Murali Karthik, for punishment in one over in which he struck him for two fours and a six, realising 16 runs. Laxman raced to his first 50 off only 37 balls with the help of nine fours and a six, driving and pulling with gusto, and the 100 of the innings was raised in the 14th over. Das too was not far behind in reaching his personal half century off 56 balls with seven fours. Sanjay Bangar put the brakes for a while on the run rate after Kumaran, Bhandari and Karthik had been dealt with mercilessly by Laxman and Das. Laxman duly reached his century off the 80th ball before holing out to Ashu Dani at long on off Virender Sehwag. The stand between Laxman and Das fell short of the domestic one-day record of 232 (between Dani and Vikram Rathore for North Zone against West Zone at Agartala in the 1998-99 Deodhar Trophy) for the opening wicket by 37 runs. India Seniors: Das c Kumaran b Bhandari 114 Laxman c Dani b Sehwag 105 Dravid c Karthik b Bangar 35 Kambli c Dani b Bhandari 11 Robin c Patel b Bhandari 8 Martin c Dani b Bhandari 1 Dighe c Sehwag b Kumaran 12 Joshi c Sharath b Kumaran 1 Chopra run out 8 Kumble not out 12 Prasad not out 1 Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-7, nb-2) 12 Total (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 320 Fall of wickets: 1-195, 2-244, 3-274, 4-276, 5-277, 6-296, 7-298, 8-298, 9-308. Bowling: Kumaran 9-0-59-2, Bhandari 10-0-53-4, Karthik 8-0-58-0, Bangar 10-0-67-1, Kapoor 4-0-26-0, Sehwag 7-0-36-1, Patel 2-0-18-0. India A: Sehwag lbw Prasad 0 Dani c Dighe b Prasad 5 Bangar c Robin b Prasad 9 Azharuddin run out 58 Sharath c sub (V Parekh) b Joshi 61 Patel c and b Joshi 26 Mongia st Dighe b Joshi 24 Kapoor c sub (Sodhi) b Robin 28 Kumaran c Chopra b Kumble 6 Karthik not out 6 Bhandari not out 0 Extras (b 2, lb 5, w 2, nb 4) 13 Total (for 9 kts, 50 overs) 236 Fall of wickets: 1-0,
2-19, 3-27, 4-109, 5-165, 6-175, 7-218, 8-230, 9-230.
(Scoreboard incomplete). |
Sri Lanka surprise Pak KARACHI, Feb 13 (AFP) — Marvan Atapattu hit a sparkling ton as Sri Lanka surprised Pakistan in their first limited-over cricket match at the Karachi National Stadium today. The Sri Lankans combined well to win by 29 runs and leave a packed crowd of 30,000 home fans disappointed. The tourists outplayed the hosts in all departments. Once they put up a formidable total of 274 for 8 they bowled and fielded brilliantly to carry the day. Pakistan faltered once again in the run chase, folding at 245 in the 48th over. Aamir Sohail topscored with 47 while debutant Younis Khan made a refined 46 but no Pakistani batsmen could carry team’s hopes. Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan took 3-31 while Indika de Saram pulled off two brilliant run outs from the deep. Pakistan, plagued in the opening in their recent Australian tour, were given a confident start of 71 by Saeed Anwer and Aamir Sohail. Saeed hit five well-timed boundaries in his 36 before falling leg before to first change Russel Arnold. Pakistan lost Sohail and Yousuf Youhanna to poor running. Sohail made 47 off 66 balls and was left stranded by a throw from mid-on by Indika de Saram. Youhanna made only 6. Wasim, promoted at five, hit Pakistan’s first boundary after 90 balls, taking 15 off Upul Chandana’s over. Wasim hit three fours and a six in his cameo of 20 balls but off-spinner Mutiah Muralitharan struck two blows in his eighth over to leave Pakistan at 149 for 5. Muralitharan took a spectacular catch off his own bowling to dismiss debutant Imran Abbas for 28. Younis added a quickfire 61 off 50 balls with Abdur Razzak but the 10-run asking rate was well beyond Pakistan’s reach. Younis pushed five hits to the ropes during his 41 ball innings. SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka Jayasuriya c Wasim b Arafat 54 Kaluwitharana lbw b Nazir 1 Atapattu not out 119 Jayawardene c Imran b Nazir 27 Arnold b Nazir 2 Dilshan b Akram 34 De Saram lbw b Saqlain 5 Chandana c Younis b Saqlain 3 Vaas run out 2 Extras (lb-15, w-5, nb-7) 27 Total: (for 8 wkts, 50 overs) 274 Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-121, 3-177, 4-185, 5-250, 6-259, 7-269, 8-274. Bowling: Wasim Akram 10-0-48-1, Shahid Nazir 10-0-58-3, Abdur Razzak 9-1-31-0, Saqlain Mushtaq 10-0-60-2, Aamir Sohail 6-0-34-0, Yasir Arafat 5-0-28-1. Pakistan: Anwar lbw Arnold 36 Sohail run out 47 Imran c & b Muralitharan 28 Youhana run out 6 Akram c Chandana 23 b Muralitharan Moin c Kaluwitharana 13 b Chandana Younis Khan run out 46 Razzaq c Atapattu b 24 Muralitharan Yasir Arafat b Vaas 6 Saqlain c De Saram b Vaas 3 Nazir not out 0 Extras (lb-4 nb-5 w-4) 13 Total (all out, 48 overs) 245 Fall of wickets: 1-71 2-101 3-112 4-147 5-149 6-166 7-227 8-242 9-243. Bowling: Vaas 9-0-32-2
(nb3 w1), Wickremasinghe 10-0-65-0 (w2), Arnold 9-0-37-1
(w1), Muralitharan 10-0-31-3, Chandana 5-0-38-1 (nb2),
Jayasuriya 5-0-38-0. |
KU, GND varsity eves advance KURUKSHETRA, Feb 13 (UNI) — Hosts Kurukshetra University maintained supremacy by outplaying Punjabi University, Patiala, 3-1 in the first league match on the penultimate day of the All-India Inter-University Hockey (women) Championship here today. Playing to their tactical best, Kurukshetra girls exhibited excellent performance and made several courageous efforts. In the very first minute of the match, KU girls took the lead when centre-half Simranjit Kaur gave a long hit from outside the 25-yard line on to the goal post and the centre-forward Ranjan surprised the Punjabi University girls by diverting the ball into the net. In the 17th minute, the highest scorer of the tournament, right-out Manju made no mistake to flick a rebound ball into the goal-net making use of a penalty corner (2-0). Again in the 7th minute of the second half of the match left-in Shelley struck by beating the defence of Punjabi University girls and increased the lead (3-0). Punjabi University girls tried to build pressure on KU player in the 21th minute and Rajender Kaur of Patiala was able to reduce the lead to 1-3. In another one-sided match, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar stunned Kerala University 6-0, with one of its players scoring the first hat-trick of the tournament. Right-in Rajender struck the score board in the 28th, 34th, and 49th minutes of the match. The Kerala girls stuck to defensive moves throughout the match. Earlier, defending champions Guru Nanak Dev University had an impressive victory over Luxmibai National Institute of Physical Education, Gwalior, 3-0. The winners dominated the ground right from the beginning. Kurukshetra girls drubbed Mysore University by 8-3 to push the opponents out of league matches. Panjabi Varsity,
Patiala, trounced Barkatullah University, Bhopal by 6-0
in a one-sided match. |
Indian eves rout Singapore NEW DELHI, Feb 13 (PTI) — Manjusha Kanwar did a star turn, winning a singles and a doubles match one after the other to give the Indian women an expected victory on the opening day of the Thomas and Uber Cup Asian Zone badminton qualifiers here today. India thrashed Singapore 4-1, but were bracing for a tough clash tomorrow with Australia, who scored a similar morale boosting 4-1 victory over Sri Lanka in another preliminary round clash. The two teams’ crucial league encounter will virtually decide the group topper as Sri Lanka, the other team in the group, look easy meat going by today’s performance. In other matches today, Thailand put on a commanding performance to blank minnows Nepal 5-0 in a Thomas Cup group B clash and Singapore handed out a similar verdict to Iran. Mauritius edged past Sri Lanka 3-2. Former national champion Manjusha, showed good touch as she beat Li Li 11-6 11-7 to put India 2-1 ahead after Neelima Chaudhary — surprisingly fielded by the Indian management ahead of higher ranked B.R. Meenakshi — went down tamely to Xiao Luxi 6-11 5-11 in the second singles. Spearhead Aparna Popat had given the host an expected start when she walloped Singapore’s top woman Fatimah Kumin Lim 11-3 11-0 without breaking a sweat in the first singles. But it was Manjusha who clinched the tie in favour of India with a fine performance in winning the third singles and the first doubles match. She was in full control in the singles against Li Li and used a well disguised drop shot against the shorter Singapore girl. After a break of 30 minutes, the 28-year-old 110th ranked player in the world, came up with another steady performance partnering young Shruti S. Kurian, who played well in patches, to quell a spirited challenge from Fatimah and Luxi Xiao to give the hosts an unsurmountable 3-1 lead. Seasoned Madhumita Bisht and PVV Lakshmi then wrapped up the proceedings with an easy-paced 15-11 17-14 win in the dead fifth rubber. Australia, a strong contender for the two super league berths from the preliminary round, warmed up for the needle clash with India, handing out a similar 4-1 verdict to Sri Lanka and kept themselves in the race. India got off well as Aparna Popat made good use of her familiarity with the courts and conditions at the Indira Gandhi Stadium here. Ranked 29th in the world, the highest among the Indian women, Aparna used her experience and superb shuttle play to totally outclass her opponent. Aparna took an early lead in the first game after breaking away at 2-2 and then did not give her rival any chance in the second. “My experience of
playing in the same court helped me as I could adjust to
the drift easily. She failed to do the same,” said
Aparna, who claimed national title at the same venue
exactly a year ago. |
Akhtar ‘set to return’ in Test matches KARACHI, Feb 13 (Reuters) — Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who is at the centre of controversy over his suspect action, is set to return to Test cricket for Pakistan in the forthcoming home series against Sri Lanka. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Tauqir Zia today said: “He (Akhtar) has been cleared by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and now it’s entirely up to the board to decide if we want to play him. “Naturally we want him in the team because he is a great athlete and a promising young fast bowler.” Zia’s view contradicts with that of ICC President Jagmohan Dalmiya at the council’s two-day meeting in Singapore which ended last Thursday. Dalmiya said the PCB would report to the ICC advisory panel on bowling actions about remedial measures to Shoaib’s action. The panel would consider the report and any fresh video tapes before deciding on further action. Shoaib was banned by the panel late last year because of his illegal action but Dalmiya reversed the decision on January 8 so that he could play in one-day matches. He did so on the basis that the bouncer, Shoaib’s most contentious delivery, was not allowed in limited overs cricket anyway. “If we think that Shoaib Akhtar’s bowling action is alright, we can play him in Tests,” Zia said. “We are already convinced his action is correct. Besides, some remedial actions have already been taken regarding his bowling action.” Zia said it was not necessary for the PCB to send fresh video footage of Akhtar’s bowling action. “I just have to give the ICC my undertaking that his bowling action is correct,” he said. Zia also said the PCB recommended at the ICC meeting that the (nine-member) advisory panel was too large. “We proposed it should be very small, like four members, with majority of them being former fast bowlers. “We also thought
the ICC should reform its advisory panel after some of
the members had gone public, including Bobby Simpson, who
criticised Jaghmohan Dalmiya’s decision to allow
Shoaib Akhtar to play in one-dayers.” |
3 more disciplines for National
Games Chandigarh, Feb 13 — Competitions in three more disciplines — canoeing and kayaking and taekwondo — will be conducted in the first National Games of the new millennium to be hosted by Punjab later this year. Earlier, the Punjab Olympic Association had decided to conduct competitions in 25 disciplines. The other 25 disciplines in which competitions will be held are aquatics, archery athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, football, golf, gymnastics, handball, hockey (both for men and women), judo, kabaddi, kho-kho, rowing, shooting, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling. Also, tug-of -war, bowling, netball, sepak-takraw and wushu have been included as demonstration sport, subject to a final decision. This was decided at a high-level meeting between the Indian Olympic Association, the Punjab Government and the Punjab Olympic Association held here yesterday. The meeting was presided over jointly by Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs and President of the Punjab Olympic Association, and Mr Suresh Kalmadi, President of the Indian Olympic Association. Besides others, the meeting was attended by Mr Nusrat Ali Khan, Punjab Minister for Sports, Mr Umrao Singh, Vice-President of the Punjab Olympic Association, Dr R.L. Anand, Vice-President of the Indian Olympic Association , Mr Randhir Singh, Secretary-General of the apex Olympic body in the country, and Air Vice-Marshal S.M. Mayor, Director of the National Games. Senior functionaries of the Punjab Government also attended the meeting. The meeting while reviewing the progress of the preparation for the National Games confirmed that the games would be held from November 5 to 16 this year. Another important decision taken at the meeting was that competitions in archery, fencing, judo and taekwondo would be conducted at the Martial Arts Academy in Anandpur Sahib where a modern multi-purpose hall was being built. The meeting was also informed that there was sufficient accommodation for participants, officiating judges and others at Anandpur Sahib. The meeting was informed that the Punjab Government had already released a sum of Rs 5 crore for the conduct of the games. While formalities had already been completed for the release of the funds, the money was likely to be transferred to the State Sports Department shortly. Also, the state had approached the Centre for the release of Rs 40 crore to meet the expenditure on provision of infrastructure, procurement of equipment (both indigenous and imported) and for the conduct of the games. The state government is confident that the requisite amount would be forthcoming now that Mr Dhindsa is handling the portfolio of sports at the Centre. The state Sports Department is scheduled to transfer Rs 50 lakh to the Punjab Olympic Association for setting up a National Games organising committee office which will handle all matters connected with the conduct of the games. The state government has also promised to transfer an additional sum of Rs 10 crore in the next financial year (2000-2001) to the Sports Department for the games. While the formation of
various committees would be done shortly, the meeting
decided that the President of India would be invited to
inaugurate the games while the Prime Minister would be
invited for the closing ceremony. |
Churchill Bros back on top CHANDIGARH, Feb 13 — Title aspirants Churchill Brothers, Goa, rode on medio Rocky Barreto's goal off a penalty to occupy the top spot with 30 points at the end of the 14th round of the National Football League which ended yesterday.The victory against State Bank of Travancore at Margao on February 10 lifted Danny McLennan's team to the top position while strong contenders Mohun Bagan were pushed to the second spot after the shocking 0-1 defeat at the hands of FC Kochin in a home match at Calcutta on February 11. The 14th round,on the whole,witnessed a couple of upsets. Winners of the inaugural edition JCT Phagwara crashed to a humiliating 0-3 defeat against Mumbai's Mahindra and Mahindra in a home match at Ludhiana. The Mumbai outfit owed their success to new Jordanian recruit Bassam Khatib and striker Manjit Singh. The slippery ground conditions affected the rhythm of the Phagwara mill men,who sorely missed the services of star midfielder Hardip Sangha and wing back Prabhjot Singh. Holders Salgaocar Sports Club, Goa, also had to wage a grim battle in intermittent rain against Border Security Force before clinching the issue 2-1 at the fag end. Calcutta giants Mohun Bagan and East Bengal suffered setbacks at Calcutta and Margao, respectively. Mohun Bagan's impressive march came to a halt as the former champions were shocked 1-0 by FC Kochin, who by virtue of this win rose to occupy the eighth position. Star striker IM Vijayan, who was recently adjudged 'footballer of the year’ shone for the Kochi outfit, netting the goal from an acute angle. For East Bengal the tale of misery continued as the red and gold brigade crashed to their sixth defeat against Dempo. The 2-0 win was incidentally the first victory for Dempo in the league by virtue of which they moved up to the second last position. The biggest victory in this round was registered by Calcutta's Tollygunge Agragami, who prevailed over ITI 4-2 at Calcutta. In all 83 matches, including 66 in the first phase, have been played in the NFL so far. HOW THEY STAND The following are the standings of the teams in the National Football League on the conclusion of the 14th round yesterday (read under teams, matches played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against and points):
|
Neha sets eyes on Winter
Olympics CHANDIGARH, Feb 13 — The 18-yr-old diminutive Neha Ahuja does not come across as a champion skier until she starts talking about her love for the sport. Declared the best alpine skier and the best woman athlete at the second national Winter Games held recently, Neha was in Chandigarh on her way to her home-town Delhi. Neha hopes to make it to the Olympics in a sport which is not on the priority list either of the government or the sponsors. As an expensive sport it does not even have well qualified coaches and the facilities are woefully inadequate. The participants in the winter games at Manali had to walk at least 900 metres to 1 km uphill to reach the starting point as there was no provision of lifts. Before Neha, it was her older sister Shefali who was adjudged the ‘best woman athlete’ at the Ist national Winter Games at Gulmarg. Sking almost came naturally to her, with her father comdt S.P. Ahyja posted as the Director, Winter Sport and Principal, Ski School, Gulmarg. She started taking interest in the game when she was not even four. For a girl, who set off Japanese imagination so much so that a film ‘Road to Olympics’ is being shot on her, Neha has done wonderfully well in the domestic meets. She won gold in the sub-jr section in slalom at Auli, UP. In ‘96 she was placed 2nd in the junior girls section. In ‘97 at Auli she was declared the ‘best woman skier.’ In 1996 Junior Asian Games in Japan she was placed fifth in slalom and sixth in giant slalom. In the Asian Winter Games in Kangwon, Korea, she was placed 13th in super giant slalom, 14th in giant slalom and 15 in slalom. In 1996 she started training under Japanese coach Kazuo Sato. In ‘94 she want to Austria for training and in ‘97 she went to New Zealand and Australia for training and participating in the FIS (the international federation of sking) races, so that she would have enough FIS points to make it to the Olympics. She missed the 1998 Winter Olympics by a narrow margin. Neha, currently training in the USA on an IOC scholarship, says her technique and stamina has undergone changes. Scholarship is subject to condition that she keeps on improving. Her coach, Reid Phillips, sends a report every three months to the IOC which reviews and renews the scholarship. “Training in America has helped me a lot. My technique has undergone tremendous change. I have put on weight as I need both weight and muscles for better skiing. It helps in putting pressure on the skies. My all important goal is to make it to the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. I can always shed weight later on. In training out there they emphasise both on physical & mental aspects. And there we have group discussions where we try to understand what we are doing during the race.” Neha feels it has helped her develop her concentration and become mentally tough. She feels homesick, misses her family and friends but she continues to train. For Neha studies and Olympics qualification are equally important. She says she will somehow manage to achieve both. Currently she has 260 FIS points whereas five months ago she had 359. At least 140 FIS points are needed to achieve world ranking. “I am working towards that objective and I am confident I will get there. My main aim is to qualify for the Olympics”. Her father says, our main wish now is to see her qualify for the Olympics.” The Japanese too are
waiting. They have shot three episodes on Neha and the
final one will only be shot when she qualifies for
Olympics. On diminutive Neha rest the hopes of her
parents, the country and the Japanese film-makers to win
a medal for India. Only then will be the road to Olympics
be complete. |
Colombia, USA win openers MIAMI, Feb 13 (Reuters) — Gonzalo Martinez scored in the 15th minute and Colombia held off a late Jamaica surge to record a 1-0 victory in an opening-round group A match of the Concacaf Gold Cup last night. In the first match of the doubleheader, the USA defeated Haiti 3-0 in a group B encounter. Martinez intercepted a clearance by defender Frank Sinclair and fired a 16-metre shot past goalkeeper Aaron Lawrence in a matchup of 1998 World Cup finalists before a crowd of 49,591 at the Orange Bowl. Jamaica, who stunned Brazil with a scoreless draw in this same stadium two years ago, twice hit the crossbar on headers within a span of five seconds in the 88th minute. Deon Burton first headed the ball off the woodwork from point-blank range, followed by Marcus Gayle’s effort. Colombia can advance to next Saturday’s quarterfinals with a group A win over Honduras on Wednesday night. The Americans struck first on Jovan Kirovski’s seventh international goal in the 18th minute off a corner kick in which four American players touched the ball. Eddie Lewis sent the corner to Claudio Reyna at the right top of the penalty area. Reyna floated the ball across the area to Wynalda on the left side. Wynalda then found Kirovski, who headed the ball down past goalkeeper Didier Menard from five metres. Wynalda gave the USA some breathing room in the 55th minute, converting a penalty kick after Reyna was taken down in the penalty area. It was his 34th international goal in 104 appearances. Cobi Jones closed out the scoring, converting a counter-attack in the 89th minute. The US attack suffered without the superior heading ability of forward Brian McBride, who was held out of the match due to undisclosed medical reasons. McBride felt ill after a recent practice, according to US soccer federation sources. “Brian’s problem is a medical problem,” US coach Bruce Arena said. “I’m not a doctor. It would not be fair to go into his problem. He feels he will be cleared on Monday to play on Wednesday.” Action switches to San Diego on Sunday, when Mexico meet Trinidad and Tobago in a group C match and Costa Rica take on Canada in a group D game. Tomorrow, Jamaica play
Honduras in group A and Haiti meet Peru in group B in
Miami in the biennial Gold Cup, which decides the
continental championship of North and Central American
and Caribbean countries. |
Thompson betters 100m record PARIS, Feb 13 (Reuters) — Jenny Thompson shaved one tenth of a second off her own 100 metres Butterfly short course world record at the Paris world cup meeting yesterday. The American world champion swam a time of 56.80 seconds, inside her previous world record of 56.90 at College Station in Texas on December 1, 1998. Having arrived in Europe early in the week for three world cup meetings, Thompson quickly found her best form at the Imperia meeting in Italy in midweek. In Paris, the New Hampshire swimmer fulfilled her promise of a world record. A slow start saw her outside world record time at the half-way stage — 26.66 seconds compared with the 26.51 of the 1998 record — before she accelerated superbly to the finish. Thompson came in nearly
four seconds ahead of second placed Pang Ran of China,
who clocked one minute 0.30 seconds. |
Agassi ‘to marry Graf in June’ HAMBURG, Feb 13 (DPA) — World tennis number one Andre Agassi, (29) is to marry his girlfriend Steffi Graf, (30) on June 14, the German tabloid Bild Am Sonntag said today. The couple had informed friends they wanted to get married between the French Open (May 20 to June 11) and Wimbledon (from June 26). The most likely date was June 14, Steffi Graf’s birthday, Bild Am Sonntag said. Agassi, who won the $
7.65-million Australian Open on January 30 in Melbourne,
and Graf have been together since last summer. Graf
retired last year after winning 21 Grand Slam titles
during her career. |
Jeev finishes tied for 5th spot KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 (PTI) — Jeev Milkha Singh recorded his best finish of the European Tour 2000 season when he finished tied for the fifth place after shooting a final round of two-under 70 in the ment here. The European tour regular Jeev aggregated eight-under 280 for the four days in the co-sanctioned event of European and Asian PGA Tour. Leader on the first two days, the reigning Wills Indian Open champion Arjun Atwal made a bogey on the final hole to card one-under 71 and finished tied for the ninth place. Taiwan’s Yeh Wei-Tze, however, won the tournament with a four-round total of 10-under-par 278 at the Templer Park Country Club near here. South African Des Terblanche, Ireland’s Padraig Harrington and Craig Hainline of the USA tied for second at nine-under-par 279. The other two Indians to make the cut - Jyoti Randhawa and Amandeep Johl - finished tied for the 29th and 58th place, respectively.
|
Stage set for judo meet CHANDIGARH, Feb 13 — The Senior National Judo Championship for men and women will begin here tomorrow at Sector 42 indoor hall with the main events starting around 11 a.m. soon after the formal inauguration ceremony scheduled at 10 am. The three-day tournament is being organised by Amateur Judo Association of Chandigarh under the aegis of Judo Federation of India. Mr Kavas Billimoria, ex-Olympian and technical director appointed by JFI for this meet, arrived this evening.The fixtures and the weighing in will be done tomorrow morning. Till evening the teams from 26 states out of total 32, including from services and other police forces, had already reached the city. Punjab, defending champions, arrived this morning. Maharashtra will be
represented by two teams ‘A’ and ‘B’.
The organisers had registered nearly 350 judokas and 56
officials by late evening and the rest of the teams
expected by tomorrow early morning, said Mr NK Jhingan,
press secretary. |
Shandilya rules the roost BANGALORE, Feb 13 (PTI) — Railway’s Ashok Shandilya continued to roost defeating Kamal Chawla (Madya Pradesh) 4-2 while Pankaj Advani (Karnataka) looked consistent in the 66th Senior National Snooker Championship here today. Shandilya, crowned with
the billiards title yesterday, stretched his hands in the
snooker too. He beat Chawala 4-2. Shandilya captured the
first three frames (101-13, 71-21, 60-22) and lost the
next two (30-63, 43-55) but bounced back with a 55 break
in the last frame 88-18. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | In Spotlight | 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 119 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
