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| Thursday, February 17, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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India go down to Germany |
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Christie banned from coaching
Hockey meet at Ludhiana
Akash Chopra rescues Delhi
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India go down to Germany KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 (PTI) — Asian Games champions India got off to a disappointing start losing 1-2 narrowly to European champs Germany in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup opener here today. Germany scored through Christian Wein (1st minute) and Christoph Bechmann (9th) while India pulled one back through Dhanraj Pillay in the 18th. All three came in the first half through field goals at the Bukit Jalil Stadium. India and Germany have traditionally played close matches and this was no different. Only recently, in the four-nation tournament in Barcelona, Germany had beaten India 1-0. Germany coach Paul Lissek said his team was lucky to beat India today. “India dominated the entire second half and we were lucky they couldn’t score off the 3-4 chances they had”. Indian manager Gurbux Singh said Lissek was generous but he wasn’t way off the mark. “I think we were distinctly unlucky,” he said. “The first goal was crucial as it slowed the team down. A first minute goal is always difficult to get over with. And then the second goal in the ninth minute. We fought back well but I feel we should have at least drawn the match.” Germany have come with their best side and they looked good when Christain Wein moved into the circle and, after cutting across Dilip Tirkey fired in for Germany’ opening goal. The shell-shocked Indians tried to rally but eight minutes later Germany dribbled into the Indian circle and a loose ball found Bechmann whose first timer shot past an unprepared Jude Menezes. With defenders in front, Menenzes still came out and the charge left him with a gaping hole at the back which Bechmann to his joy shot in for second goal. The Indians rallied and to their credit it must be said they started dominating the proceedings. The midfield, however, lacked thrust and only when Thirumalavalan was replaced with Sukhbir Gill that the forwards found through balls to utilise. The Indians would have equalised in the third minute of the match when a superb move between Pillay and Mukesh saw the Hyderabad star’s shot hit the post and go out. India, however, pulled one back in the 18th minute when Pillay dribbled past three defenders, drew out German ‘keeper Clemens Arnold, and flicked the ball brilliantly home. India were savage in their attacks after that but poor finishing let the team down. At the break, Germany led 2-1. The Indians went all out after the break which was stretched ten minutes longer because of a thunder shower. But when the team came out, they attacked with all guns blazing. Pillay, Mukesh, Dhillon and Thakur tore apart the German defence but full back Philip Crone today was brilliant. Germany realising that India were looking for the equaliser put the entire team back and the going got difficult for the Asiad champs who were in the rival circle but couldn’t find a way out of the maze of German sticks and legs. Germany had a few chances of counter-attacks and one of these counters saw Dinesh Nayak get a yellow card. Nayak was pulled up for hacking Oliver Domke in the Indian circle. With four minutes to go, India earned their first penalty corner, also the first of the match but Dilip Tirkey’s shot was defected out by Mohammed Riaz. A minute later, Germany earned their first penalty corner but Pillay blocked the shot. The Indian manager said their sights were set on Sydney so this result should not disappoint the team. “We are still experimenting,” he said. “Of course, we would have been glad to win today but I wouldn’t get depressed because of one defeat. We have to prepare for Sydney unlike most teams that are getting ready for the Olympic qualifiers in Osaka.” Gurbux Singh said the
first two German goals were because of defence lapses.
Tirkey’s error had the goal in the first minute
while Jude Menezes should not have charged out giving the
Germans the space to score the second goal. |
Paes storms into quarters CALCUTTA, Feb 16 (PTI) — Top seed Leander Paes showed little mercy as he demolished his Israeli opponent to romp into the quarterfinals but India’s wild card entrant Vishal Uppal failed to make further progress in the ATP Challenger tennis meet here today. Displaying his customary flamboyance, Paes spanked Lior Dahan with a facile 6-2 6-2 verdict to keep himself on course for the coveted title in his home city on a day which saw two seeded players fall by the wayside. Wild card entrant Vishal Uppal, the other Indian to make it to the second round, was shown the door by Pakistan’s Aisam Qureshi who carved out a hard-fought 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 victory in a battle which lasted 78 minutes. Qualifier Nir Welgreen of Israel caused a major upset by consuming fifth seed Igor Gaudi of Italy to move into the quarterfinals after a marathon 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) encounter which lasted nearly 135 minutes. Unfancied Andy Ram of Israel also stole the limelight on the third day with a stunning 6-3 4-6 6-2 triumph over eighth-seeded Guillaume Marx of France who paid the price for committing a number of unforced errors. Gaudi and Marx join second seeded Oleg Ogorodov of Uzbekistan in the list of casualties. Ogorodov had been humbled by qualifier Damiem Roberts of South Africa in the first round of the meet which gives the players an opportunity to secure valuable ATP points. Paes, who was a trifle off colour in the first set in his first round match against Dmritri Tomachevich yesterday, played an attacking brand of tennis against his hapless Israeli opponent who seemed distinctly uncomfortable on grass. The Indian hero broke Dahan in the very first game of the first set as he unleashed some brilliant returns to unsettle his rival. Leading 3-1 after holding serve in the second game, Paes broke Dahan again in the fifth game to wrap up the first set 6-2 in just 34 minutes. Paes, who fired in as many as seven aces during the match, seemed to relish playing on grass in front of his home crowd and was never really stretched in both the sets in what turned out to be a rather lop-sided contest. The ace Davis Cupper maintained the tempo in the second set as well as he broke the Israeli in the fifth and seventh games to pocket the set with an identical 6-2 margin within 33 minutes. Paes could have broken Dahan in the very first game of the second set but a rather ambitious stroke allowed his opponent to wriggle out of a tight position. Paes will now clash with Pakistan’s Aisam Qureshi, who has been quite impressive in the meet so far, in the quarterfinals tomorrow. Wild card Vishal Uppal fought gallantly before falling to Qureshi, who managed to keep his cool in the crucial stages of the contest. Both the players held their respective serves and went neck and neck till 6-6 in the first set but a couple of unforced errors by Uppal in the tie-breaker tilted the balance in favour of the Pakistani player. Qureshi toned up his game in the second set and broke Uppal in the tenth game to wrap up the set 6-4 and move into the quarter-finals. The results of ATP Challenger tennis meet at the South Club here today. Singles (second round): Leander Paes (Ind) b Lior Dahan (Isr) 6-2, 6-2 Aisam Qureshi (Pak) b Vishal Uppal (Ind) 7-6(4), 6-4 Dejan Petrovic (Aus) b Gregory Carraz (Fra) 6-3, 6-7(1),6-3 Andy Ram (Isr) b Guillaume Marx (Fra) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 Satochi Iwabuchi (Jpn) b Damiem Roberts (Rsa) 6-1, 7-6(4) Nir Welgreen (Isr) b Igor Gaudi (Ita) 7-6(4), 7-6(5) Tuomas Ketola (Fin) b Takahiro Terachi (Jpn) 6-4, 6-0 Mose Navarra (Ita) b Tom Chicoine (USA) 7-6(4), 6-3 Doubles (quarter-finals): C. Kaufmann (Fra) and S.
Fazaluddin (Ind) b S. Prahlad (Ind) and K. Ziv (Isr) 6-4,
6-3 E. Abaroa (Mex) and A. Fisher (Aus) b O. Ogorodov
(Uzb) and T. Evich (Uzb) 6-3, 7-6(5) A. Ram (Isr) and N.
Welgreen (Isr) b O. Motevassel (Isr) and A. Qureshi (Pak)
7-5, 7-6 (4) G. Carraz (Fra) and G. Marx (Fra) b D.
Petrovic (Aus) and D. Roberts (Rsa) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. |
Jayasuriya scripts Lanka victory GUJRANWALA (Pakistan), Feb 16 (AFP) — Sanath Jayasuriya led from the front and inspired his young team to a sweet one-day series win, beating Pakistan by 34 runs in the second one-day cricket match here today. Sri Lanka stuck to their all-round game plan to outsmart Pakistan and maintained their good performance in limited overs games after a poor World Cup last year. Captain Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu made fine half centuries in Sri Lanka’s 263 for 6 in the allotted 50 overs. Jayasuriya then celebrated his 200th one-day international by chipping in with two wickets to wrap up Pakistan’s innings at 229 in 45.1 overs. For the home team, Yousuf Youhanna made a fighting 68 in the losing cause and Wasim Akram took 34 off just 29 balls with four sixes but the charge was not enough to avert the imminent defeat. “We sure are on the rise and I am thankful to the team and the officials for lending their support,” said Jayasuriya, later named Man of the Match. Sri Lanka won the first match in Karachi by 29 runs. Pakistan lost three early wickets in their target pursuit. Captain Saeed Anwar (17), Imran Abbas (1) and Aamir Sohail (23) were gone by the 11th over with 50 on the board. Two drop Yousuf Youhanna and Younis Khan did the repair work by adding 68 for the fourth wicket. SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka: Jayasuriya c Khan b Saqlain 65 Kaluwitharana c Khan b Razzaq 32 Atapattu c Youhanna b Saqlain 57 Jayawardene st. Khan b Aamir 9 Vaas c and b Wasim 34 Arnold not out 36 De Saram run out 12 Dilshan not out 0 Extras: (LB-6 W-9 NB-3) 18 Total: (for six wickets, 50 overs) 263 Fall of wickets: 1-84, 2-121, 3-147, 4-199, 5-236, 6-262. Bowling: Wasim Akram 10-1-45-1 (w-5), Shoaib Akhtar 5-1-34-0 (nb1), Abdur Razzaq 10-0-42-1, Azhar Mahmood 10-0-51-0 (2nb, 1w), Saqlain Mushtaq 10-0-48-2, Aamir Sohail 5-0-37-1 (3w). Pakistan: Anwar c Chandana b Vaas 17 Sohail c Dilshan b Wickremasinghe 23 Abbas run out 1 Youhanna c Chandana b Wickremasinghe 68 Younis Khan b Muralitharan 28 Moin b Jayasuriya 15 Razzak c Kaluwitharana b Vaas 14 Azhar c Dilshan b Chandana 2 Akram b Muralitharan 34 Saqlain b Jayasuriya 3 Shoaib not out 1 Extras: (B-4, LB-7, W-10, NB-2) 23 Total: (all out in 45.1 overs) 229 Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-32, 3-50, 4-118, 5-143, 6-176, 7-181, 8-198, 9-209. Bowling: Pramodya
Wickremasinghe 10-0-43-2, Chaminda Vaas 9-0-38-2, Russel
Arnold 6-0-34-0, Upul Chandana 5-0-28-1, Muttiah
Muralitharan 9.1-0-45-2, Sanath Jayasuriya 7-0-30-2. |
National Games ‘on
schedule’ Chandigarh, Feb 16 — The first National Games of the new millennium, scheduled to be held in Punjab from November 5 to 16 next, will be held as scheduled. This was asserted by Mr Arvind Khanna, Secretary-General of the Punjab Olympic Association, at a meeting here this morning. Mr Khanna asserted that the infrastructure needed for the games would be ready on time and he saw no reason why the games should be delayed. “If Manipur (venue of the last National Games) with all its problem of insurgency and related matters could hold the games on time there is no reason why Punjab cannot hold the games as per schedule,” he remarked. The Secretary-General of the Punjab Olympic Association said that 99 per cent of the infrastructure were made ready for the 1989 National Games — which were scheduled to be held in Punjab but could not be held due to militancy in the State — and all that was needed was repairs and renovation of the existing structures to make the venues ready for the games. “In certain cases upgradation is needed and that will be done within the available time-frame,” he added. The fact that the President of the Punjab Olympic Association, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, was also the Minister for Sports at the Centre should work to the advantage of the state Olympic Association. With the Punjab Government already committed to give Rs 15 crore (Rs 5 crore in the current financial year and Rs 10 crore in the next financial year) for the conduct of the Games, Mr Khanna was certain that money would be a constraint for the conduct of the games. He disclosed that another sum of Rs 15 crore would be released by the Central Government for the 2000 National Games. Additionally, the Punjab Olympic Association was expecting some grant from the Prime Minister’s special package. Also, Mr Khanna said the Punjab Olympic Association was expecting certain sponsors to come forward for the games. In this connection he named certain companies which had their base in the state. It may be mentioned here that when the last National Games were held in Manipur the entire money for the conduct of the games as well for the infrastructure was made available from the Prime Minister’s special package. However, Manipur could not rope in a single sponsor for the National Games. Mr Khanna asserted that the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, who had committed his government’s total support for the conduct of the National Games in Punjab when the games were allotted to the state by the Indian Olympic Association, was himself keen that the games should be held as per schedule. Mr Badal had committed the entire resource of the State Government at a high-level review meeting held earlier this month between the Indian Olympic Association, the Punjab Olympic Association and the Punjab Government for the successful conduct of the National Games. The Punjab Sports Department also was getting ready to undertake the renovation and repair work of the various venues, Mr Khanna added. “While the Sports department will be responsible for the completion of the renovation/repair work, the Punjab Olympic Association will be responsible for the actual conduct of the games,” Mr Khanna quipped. Mr Suresh Kalmadi, President of the Indian Olympic Association, was himself satisfied with the progress made by the state for the conduct of the games, Mr Khanna disclosed. Mr Khanna also added that the national Olympic body had agreed to the holding of certain martial events at Anandpur sahib as the state was celebrating the tercentenary of the birth of the Khalsa. The Secretary-General of the Punjab Olympic Association said the body was working wholeheartedly for the conduct of the games which would add to the sports
heritage of the state. In fact, Mr Khanna promised, that
the 2000 National games would be a grand affair. |
Anindita, Mantu keep hopes alive SINGAPORE, Feb 16 (AP) — On a day of mixed fortunes, national champion Mauma Das and her predecessor Poulomi Ghatak crashed to defeats while Anindita Chakraborty and Mantu Ghosh kept Indian hopes alive in the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships here. Das and Ghatak received a rude shock when they were ousted in the women’s singles first round by Singapore paddlers, and talented N.R. Indu became the third casualty for India at the 14th edition of the championships, which saw all the five men in action moving to the round of 32 yesterday. Das put up a good fight in the first game but her resistance was quelled by Tan Paey Fern of Singapore after the Indian had won 14 points. The next two games were more easier for Fern, who won 21-14 21-8 21-10. Ghatak was at her best in the first game against Xu Yan and Hung On till 20-20 before Yan broke away to take the game 24-22. Ghatak then paid for her lack of concentration, losing the tie 22-24 9-21 19-21. Chakraborty outclassed June Kyakobye of Uganda 21-10 22-20 21-13 to bring some cheer to the Indian camp. Ghosh rallied to beat Canadian Petra Cada with the fourth game going the distance — both sharing 58 points between them. Ghosh eventually emerged
winner 15-21 24-22 21-12 30-28. |
Indian men triumph; eves beaten NEW DELHI, Feb 16 (UNI) — India’s chances of qualifying for the eight-team final at Kuala Lumpur brightened as Abhinn Shyam Gupta fought valiantly to wear down Kazuhiro Shimogami and give India an unassailable 3-1 lead over Japan in the Thomas Cup super league tournament today. Down 0-1, the Indian displayed nerves of steel to put it across the low-rated Japanese 8-15, 15-10, 15-5. Earlier, national champion Pullela Gopi Chand and Nikhil Kanetkar measured up to the expectation and wrapped up the two singles encounters in India’s favour. Gopi Chand, ranked 32 in the world, gave Japan an advance indication of the shape of things to come when he outclassed Keita Masuda who is placed five notches above him in the world rankings. Kanetkar than put it across Hidetaka Yamada 15-6, 15-9 to make the score 2-0 in India’s favour. In doubles, however, the Jaseel P. Ismail and Marcose Bristow failed to click against the pair of Keita Masuda and Tadashi Ohtsuka, going down 15-11, 9-15, 15-0. PTI: Commonwealth Games silver medalist Aparna Popat stunned world number 16 Lidya Djaelawijay in straight games, but Indian women went down 1-4 to the top seeded Indonesia in the opening Group X super league match in the world team badminton championship for the Uber Cup. Aparna, ranked 29th in the world, came up with a superb performance against the top ranked Indonesian, winning 11-5 11-2 in just 28 minutes, but her brilliant performance, however, failed to pump up the adrenalin as the other Indian players proved easy meat for their superior rivals at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. In other matches, second seeded Japan and highly-rated Korea also started on a winning note, blanking qualifiers Singapore and Thailand 5-0 in Group Y. In a late match Hong Kong edged past Chinese Taipei 3-2 in a group X match. In the men’s section, top seed China overcame initial hiccups to defeat Thailand 4-1 in Thomas Cup, Hong Kong upset superior rated Chinese Taipei 3-2 and second seeded Korea blanked qualifier Singapore 5-0 in a Group Y clash. Aparna took early lead against Lidya in both the games and never let her rival come back into the match. She played her usual toss and drop game, mixing it with occasional smashes and made her rival run around the court to put India ahead against Indonesia, playing without their top player Chindana Hartono Kusuma — world No 13 — out due to injury. But Madhumita Bisht and PVV Lakshmi failed to maintain the tempo as they lost to Indonesia’s Eliza Nathanael and Lomban Deyana 12-15, 6-15 despite establishing early lead in the first game. B.R. Meenakshi then went down tamely 9-11, 3-11 to Angelina Ellen, ranked 25th in the world. Youngsters Jwala Gupta and Shruti B. Kurian were totally outclassed by the world number 11 pair of Etty Tantri and Cynthia Tuwankotta who won 15-1 15-2. Manjusha Kanwar did
manage to keep the Indian flag fluttering for some more
time before bowing out 11-9, 6-11, 8-11 to Yuli Marfuah. |
CRPF emerge overall champs CHANDIGARH, Feb 16 — Central Reserve Police Force emerged overall champions in both men and women sections in the Senior National Judo championships at Sector 42 indoor badminton hall here today. Last year the overall championship was claimed by Punjab. Among men, Central Industrial Security Force and Madhya Pradesh were declared joint runners-up while among women CISF and Punjab secured joint runner-up position. Early today final bouts — in below 44 kg and open category for women and below 56 kg and open section for men — were organised. It was a good day for CRPF when out of four bouts, three gold medals were pocketed by their judokas. Yashpal Solanki who had earlier on Monday bagged a gold medal in below 81 kg, today opted to be considered for open category but his weight was found to be of less than 85 kg. Thus he could not qualify for open section bouts, said one of the technical officials. In below 44 kg section, Sangeeta Chauhan from the CRPF in her final bout with Savita of Delhi was aggressive from beginning and she won accolades from packed crowd by pulling down Savita to clinch gold. Jasbir of the CRPF had a close finish with Varinder of Punjab. Spirited Jasbir was too good for Punjab judoka. In below 56 kg, Kulbahadur Thakur of the CRPF added third gold of the day by demolishing Mukesh from Police Control Board in a thrilling finish. The fourth gold of the day went to international Satish of Central Industrial Security Force who in the final got the better of Ashok of Delhi. Results: Men: Below 56 kg — Kulbahadur Thakur (CRPF) gold; Mukesh Kumar (PCB) silver; L. Dinit Singh (Manipur) bronze; Ajay Dhir (Punjab) bronze; Open: Satish (CISF) gold; Ashok (Delhi) Silver; Kapil Kaushal (PCB) bronze; Gaganjit Singh (Punjab) bronze. Below 60 kg: Akram( CRPF) gold; Arvind Kumar (AIPCB) silver; Jitender Pal (BSF) bronze; Jasbir Singh (Haryana) bronze. Women: below 44 kg
— Sangeeta Chauhan (CRPF) gold; Savita (Delhi)
silver; Tombi Devi (Manipur) bronze; Narinder Kaur
(Punjab) bronze. |
Bhatt, Kotak prop up Saurashtra ROHTAK, Feb 16 — Third-wicket partnership of 185 runs between skipper Sitanshu Kotak (83) and his deputy Prakash Bhatt (110) forced Haryana to spend a frustrating day in the field on opening day of the Ranji Trophy Super League encounter at Vishwakarma Stadium here today. The pair guided Saurashtra to a comfortable position at draw of stumps today. Saurashtra skipper Sitanshu Kotak won the toss and elected to bat first. They made one change in their squad which played the last match against Tamil Nadu. Rajesh Garsondia was replaced by Niraj Odedara. Haryana fielded the same eleven which did duty in the match against UP. Haryana medium pacers, especially Feroze Ghyas, gave some anxious moments to the opening pair of Vasant Kumar and Altaf Merchant as the bail missed edge of the bat more than once. Finally Feroze succeeded in dismissing Vasant Kumar for 14 at the teams total of 24. After eight overs Vineet Jain dismissed Altaf Merchant (8) when Saurashtra had scored 53. The batsman was caught by Sanjay Dalal. From this juncture began the story of Haryana’s desperation. Skipper Sitanshu Kotak and Prakash Bhatt put on 185 runs in 197 minutes off 274 balls. In the process Bhatt went on to complete his century. He executed some excellent shots to score boundaries and used the gaps intelligently to pick up singles. He completed his century in 190 minutes after facing 154 balls. His hundred came in with the help of 15 hits to the fence and a six off the bowling of Parinder over square leg. He was clean bowled by Vineet Jain for an individual score of 110. It was the 7th century of his Ranji career. At the other end Sitanshu Kotak also batted sensibly except committing a lapse at his individual score of 23 when he was dropped at gully by Sanjay Dalal off medium pacer Vineet Jain. This lapse proved costly as Sitanshu went on to score 83 in 276 minutes off 177 balls with the 11 fours. Pankaj Thakur was the successful bowler this time. At close of play today Saurashtra were 285 for 5 with Bimal Jadeja batting at 20 and Niraj Odedara was yet to score any run. Another feature of the day’s play was that Haryana bowlers conceded 43 extra runs in a total of 285. Scoreboard Saurashtra (Ist innings) Vasant Kumar c Parinder Sharma b Feroze Ghyas 14, Altaf Merchant c Sanjay Dalal b Vineet Jain 8, Sitanshu Kotak b Pankaj Thakur 83, Prakash Bhatt b Vineet Jain 110, Bimal Jadeja batting 20 Firoz Bambhania lbw Pankaj Thakur 7, Niraj Odfdara batting 0. Extras (B-12, lb-6, w-2, nb-23) 43. Total for 5 wkts in 90 overs 285. Fall of wickets: 1/24, 2/53, 3/238, 4/263, 5/281. Bowling: Vineet Jain
17-4-66-2, Feroze Ghyas 17-7-68-1, Manish Shakhalkar
14-3-45-0, Pankaj Thakur 30-12-54-2, Sanjay Dalal
10-2-24-0, Parinder Sharma 2-0-10-0. |
Shoaib may be told to skip county KARACHI, Feb 16 (ANI) — The Pakistan Cricket Board’s advisory panel may discourage or even ban the appearance of national players in English county championship this summer. It is learnt that discussions were held in the PCB regarding the appearance of Shoaib Akhtar and Saqlain Mushtaq in the championship this year at a time when the national team would be touring the West Indies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Speedster Shoaib has signed an extremely lucrative contract with Nottinghamshire and Saqlain is due to play for Surrey on a long term contract. However, since the championship runs from mid April to mid September, the English season will clash with Pakistan’s tours to the West Indies, Bangladesh (for Asia Cup) and Sri Lanka between April and July. Sources say the PCB fear the Shoaib and Saqlain may prefer to compete in the championship and pull out of national commitments. With Wasim Akram now at the twilight of his illustrious career and struggling with diabetes problems, the sources say the PCB officials are already concerned as to who’ll lead the bowling attack on the difficult tours to the Carribean, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. On these three tours, Pakistan are to play 11 one-day internationals and four-national tournaments in the three countries. The team would also be playing six Tests during this period. The sources say under these circumstances, the advisory panel is contemplating steps to discourage Shoaib and Saqlain from at least playing the full English season and, if necessary, impose a complete ban on playing county cricket this year in lieu of financial compensation. Already there are indications that Shoaib and Saqlain may start skipping matches, beginning with the ongoing home series against Sri Lanka, they add. Normally, cricket boards
are empowered to tell players if they can play in the
English county championship or not. In past, Shahid
Afridi and Azhar Mahmood have been prevented by former
PCB chief executive Majid Khan from accepting offers from
England. |
Amritsar beat Ludhiana PATIALA, Feb 16 — Amritsar, by virtue of their 141-run first innings lead, beat Ludhiana in the Katoch Shield inter-district Katoch Shield Cricket Tournament match played at the Dhruv Pandove stadium here today. Overnight placed at 150 for four, the Amritsar batsmen led the charge with Ranji Trophy all rounder Sarandeep Singh’s brilliantly compiled run-a-ball knock of 80. Sarandeep played an unblemished innings and some of his carpet drives on the on side were a treat to watch. It was a day when nearly all the Amritsar batsmen called the shots. Sanjay Kumar, who missed his century by just two runs in the first innings, also played aggressively to score 60. For the Ludhiana bowlers there was nothing in the wicket to exploit and the competitive interest in the match after lunch slowly weaned away. For Amritsar the only sore point in their batting fine-up was that their star batsman Ravneet Ricky could not come up with a decent performance in the match. The youngster was a trifle unlucky in the first innings when he was out to a shooter, while in the second innings he looked confident till he left a huge gap between his bat and pad to let the ball rattle his stumps. Brief scores: Amritsar (Ist innings): 296 all out. Ludhiana (Ist innings): 155 all out. Amritsar (IInd innings): 347 all out (Sarandeep 80, Sanjay 60, Sandeep Singh 51, Munish Sharma 31, Davinder Matoo 34, S.P. Singh 27, Ankur Kakkar 6 for 115, Gagandeep Tur 2 for 57) Ludhiana (IInd innings):
68 for 2 (Ankur Kakar 38 n.o., R.P. Singh 1 for 2). |
Christie banned from coaching SYDNEY, Feb 16 (Reuters) — British sprinter Linford Christie had been told he can no longer train his stable of runners at a state government-owned training ground in Sydney because of an IAAF drugs suspension. The ban, imposed by the New South Wales State Government, was immediately criticised by Athletics Australia — which received confirmation from the world athletics body this week that Christie’s suspension should not affect his coaching. The 1992 Olympic 100 metres champion was suspended from competition at the weekend pending IAAF arbitration into his positive test for the banned steroid nandrolone. He is one of a number of high-profile athletes to have tested positive for the steroid and British Athletics officials say a food supplement may be to blame. Although the 39-year-old officially retired in 1997, he still competes occasionally. For the past few years he has spent the off-season coaching his stable at the Sydney Academy of Sport, a state-owned facility on Sydney’s northern beaches. The academy said on Wednesday its ban on Christie was consistent with the NSW Government’s firm stand on drugs in sport. Sydney hosts the 2000 Olympics this September. But Athletics Australia (AA) Chief Executive Simon Allatson criticised the ban. “I guess this is where the concern is — that we are making a judgement on a person in a capacity which is different and separate to the capacity for which they are currently under investigation,” Mr Allatson told Australian radio. He said Christie’s case was still being investigated by the IAAF, but he was effectively being punished before proven guilty. “While there was a positive test (for nandrolone)... The fact is that he hasn’t been found guilty by a governing body and no sanction has been imposed upon him in that sense.” “It’s a
question of whether we should be punishing him .. Before
any final judgement is brought down.” |
Hockey meet at Ludhiana LUDHIANA, Feb 16 — Twelve top women’s hockey teams of the country will take part in the fourth All-India Mohinder Partap Singh Grewal Memorial Hockey Tournament to be held here at the astro turf stadium of Punjab Agricultural University from February 21 to 26. Mr D.S. Grewal, general secretary of the tournament committee, said entries had been confirmed by Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, Bihar, Chandigarh, Orissa, Air India, North Eastern Railway, Gorakhpur, Delhi, India Junior XI, along with defending champions South Eastern Railway, Calcutta, runners-up Western Railway, Mumbai, and host Punjab. Meanwhile, the Indian Women Hockey Federation has appointed former international player and umpire Davinder Bhatia as tournament director and Satinder Walia, another former international as manager. Mr Nusrat Ali Khan,
Punjab Sports Minister will inaugurate the tournament
while Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, Mr
Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, would give away prizes on February
26. |
Prabhjot clinches foil title PONDICHERRY, Feb 16 (PTI) — Punjab’s Prabhjot Kaur won the girls’ individual foil title by downing state-mate Sumit Brar 5-2 in the final on the concluding day of the seventh Junior National Fencing Championship here today. Earlier, in the semi-finals, Kaur had beaten Manipur’s Usha Rani 5-1, Brar fashioning a similar win against Manipur’s L. Kalyani. Kalyani and Usha Rani finished joint third. In the boys’ sabre individual championship, Vikas Joj of Punjab scraped past Jammu and Kashmir’s Rasheed to set up a title clash with Manipur’s L. Surjeet. Surjeet defeated Lucky
Singh, also of Jammu and Kashmir, 5-4 in another
semi-final. |
Best award of my life: Manna CALCUTTA, Feb 16 — Renowned footballer of yesteryear Sailen Manna, who was adjudged the “soccer player of the millennium,” told The Tribune: “ I’m proud of being honoured and to me this is the best award in my life”. I.M. Vijayan, who was declared the best footballer of 1999 was equally happy and feels delighted. Both, Manna and Vijayan
are of the opinion that there should be adequate
patronage from the government for coaching and other
sports facilities for grooming young footballers of the
country. “There are many young people with sporting
talent in India but due to want of proper facilities, it
soon dies out before being fully grown,” regretted
Sailen Manna. |
Akash Chopra rescues Delhi CALCUTTA, Feb 16 (PTI) —Opener Akash Chopra played the anchorman’s role to perfection as Delhi recovered from a post-lunch slump to reach 200 for six on the opening day of their Rajiv Trophy Super League cricket tie here today. Chopra prodded and nudged for all of 367 minutes to remain unbeaten on 79 at close after Delhi skipper Ajay Sharma won the toss and elected to bat at the near-empty Eden Gardens. Scoreboard DELHI (Ist innings): Chopra batting 79, Dani c Karim b Ganguly 21, Malhotra b Chatterjee 34, A Sharma c Gavaskar b Ganguly 11, Sehwag lbw b Shukla 5, Manhas 1bw b Shukla 0, Dahiya c Ganguly b Chatterjee 17, N Chopra batting 22. Extras (1b-4, w-1, nb-6) 11. Total (for 6 wickets in 90 overs) 200. Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-107, 3-125, 4-137, 5-137, 6-171. Bowling: L.R. Shukla
20-6-45-2 S. Panda 9-0-36-0, S. Ganguly 18-1-50-2 U.
Chatterjee 34-13-40-2, W. Majumdar 3-0-11-0 S. Lahiri
6-2-14-0. |
India colts edge past Switzerland CAIRO, Feb 16 (PTI) — India made amends to their sloppy game and defeated Switzerland 1-0 to open their account at a four-nation international hockey tournament here last evening. The under-21 team had several goal scoring opportunities but they failed to take advantage of, and satisfied themselves with the only goal. The Tndian juniors, who faced ignominy of losing to South Africa earlier, failed to convert any of the six penalty corners earned by them. Coach C.R.Kumar was visibly unhappy. “Though the match was good after the disappointing defeat... missing so many penalty corners was depressing.” Left-inside Prabhjot Singh scored the only goal, in a counter-attack, when he reverse flicked to sound the boards just before the breather. Kumar said India’s
chances were reduced as penalty corner expert Len Aiyyapa
failed to find his rhythm in yesterday’s game. |
Feroz Ali leads CALCUTTA, Feb 16 (UNI) — Local favourite Feroz Ali, one of the front-runners for the Rs 20-lakh Wills Masters title, exploited his homecourse knowledge to the hilt and shot a five-under 67 card to set early pace at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club course here today. Feroz, winner of the
1998 Wills Open at this very venue, opened a four-stroke
lead over Pune’s Dinesh Raghuvanshi and local golfer
Akbar Ali, who returned a one-under 71 card. Ajay Gupta,
Ali-Sher (both Delhi), Amritinder Singh (Chandigarh) and
Mohammad Khokhan (Calcutta) were tied for the fourth
place at level-par 72. |
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