S P O R T

TAMPA, USA : Tennis player Martina Hingis, (right) watches the Pittsburgh Penguins play the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period on Monday night, at the Ice Palace in Tampa, Fla. Hingis is dating Lightning defenseman Pavel Kubina. — AP/PTI photo

NEW YORK : Model Heidi Klum initiates Mike Tyson's infamous biting of American heavyweight pugilist Evander Holyfield's ear as they pose in the 2000 sports Illustrated swim suit issue. — AP/PTI photo

Mansher recovers to claim trap title
NEW DELHI, Feb 22 — International Mansher Singh lived up to his reputation as he staged a smart recovery to claim his ninth national men’s trap title in the trap and skeet championship here today.

NZ aim to bounce back after defeat
DUNEDIN (New Zealand), Feb 22 — New Zealand claimed today they could bounce back from the battering they took in the opening match against Australia in the remaining four one-day cricket internationals.

India trounce Malaysia 2-1
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 — Asian Games gold medallist India kept themselves in contention for a bronze finish beating Malaysia 2-1 in the penultimate league match while South Korea continued their unbeaten run defeating Canada in the 10th Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament here today.

Bagan leaders with 1-0 win
CALCUTTA, Feb 22 — Former champions Mohun Bagan shot atop the chart edging past Dempo Sports Club, Goa, 1-0 in a one-sided National Football League encounter here today.

National sub-junior boxing from today
NEW DELHI, Feb 22 — Over 250 boxers from all over the country are expected to take part in the 15th national sub-junior boxing championships beginning here tomorrow.

Mansher recovers to claim trap title

NEW DELHI, Feb 22 (PTI) — International Mansher Singh lived up to his reputation as he staged a smart recovery to claim his ninth national men’s trap title in the trap and skeet championship here today.

The 34-year-old former Commonwealth Games champion who suffered the ignominy of failing to reach the final of the Asian championship held at Langkawi last month, showed great form and nerve as he made up a three-point leeway against overnight leader Anwar Sultan (UP) before winning in style at the Tughlakabad’s Karni Singh ranges.

Mansher Singh, India’s top trap shooter for many years, had an excellent day as he stood joint first with the faltering Sultan entering the final for the top six before winning with 137 points to nicely warm up for the March 1 to 7 trap and skeet World Cup to be held here.

The 22-year-old Zorawar Singh of Punjab, new hope for the country and last year’s winner when Mansher was absent due to injury, shot a superb series in the final and claimed the silver logging 133 points.

But Sultan, 37, the lone Indian to qualify for the Sydney Olympics by claiming silver at Langkawi, saw his form desert him completely as he missed as many as seven birds in the final round over 25 before winning bronze with 133 points after a tie-shoot with Anirudh Singh of Bihar.

Fifty-year-old Harisimran Singh Sandhu of Punjab claimed his third national title as he won the men’s skeet with 139 points, pipping Harinder Singh Bedi (138) by a lone point. Shwinder Bhel (Har), leader with Sandhu after the first day, took bronze with 136 points.

“It’s for the first time I’ve seen somebody shoot so high (scores) like Anwar,” an elated Mansher Singh said after his fellow Indian teammate’s sensational first day effort of 74 out of 75.

“To win from that position is incredible. There was lot of pressure and all six were shooting well. To win under a lot of pressure, break the target and keep nerve. I am happy I was able to do that,” he said after the victory.

Mansher Singh said the targets were strong and fast and that reflected in the overall low scores.

“If the targets are like this for the World Cup, it will surely result in low scores,” he predicted, adding that World Cup will be really tough.

The ace shooter, however, was sore that SAI released ammunition only to Sultan (as he had qualified for Sydney) for practice. The SAI move followed shortage of ammunition due to its haphazard release.

Zorawar Singh was simply superb, but any outside hopes of toppling Mansher went up when he missed his 14th and 24th shots after lying just a point away from the leader going into the penultimate shot. Mansher Singh missed three birds in the final, but Zorawar’s lapses and Sultan’s total capitulation settled the issue.

Skeet winner Sandhu, who was also proud of his son Zorawar’s fine effort, said the arrival of renowned Georgian coach Teimuraz Matoian has made a big difference to the Indian skeet scene.

NZ aim to bounce back after defeat

DUNEDIN (New Zealand), Feb 22 (AFP) — New Zealand claimed today they could bounce back from the battering they took in the opening match against Australia in the remaining four one-day cricket internationals.

New Zealand crashed to a five-wicket loss after a weak innings of 122 in the second one-dayer in Auckland on Saturday. The first match was abandoned because of rain.

“It was a bad performance and we’re not denying that,” New Zealand’s top one-day batsman Nathan Astle said before the third one-dayer at Carisbrook tomorrow.

“But that’s the first one we’ve had for a long time and we’ve played pretty consistent one-day cricket from the World Cup until now.

“We’re still pretty happy, it was just one of those days where we didn’t bat well. There’s no worries in the camp yet.”

Astle said he would look to make amends for Saturday’s first ball duck on a ground where he scored 95 just over a year ago to help New Zealand beat South Africa by three wickets.

New Zealand recently punished some loose bowling to inflict a 5-0 series win over the West Indies, but Astle knows the Kiwi batsmen, including fellow opener Craig Spearman who may get his last chance to retain his place tomorrow, will have to wait for the rare bad ball against Australia.

“We’ve got to be a little bit more patient, which we weren’t in the first game, and we’ve got to be selective with our attacking shots,” Astle said.

Another Kiwi under scrutiny is experienced wicketkeeper Adam Parore, who returned after an injury layoff on Saturday to score a duck and miss a catch and stumping chance he should have taken.

Pace bowlers Warren Wisneski and Simon Doull are likely to again fight out the 12th man duties after both were rested for recalled offspinner Paul Wiseman in Auckland.

Teams: New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Craig Spearman, Roger Twose, Chris Cairns, Craig McMillan, Chris Harris, Adam Parore, Scott Styris, Daniel Vettori, Warren Wisneski, Simon Doull.

Australia: Steve Waugh (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Mark Waugh, Matthew Hayden, Michael Bevan, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, Shane Lee, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Ian Harvey, Damien Fleming.

India trounce Malaysia 2-1

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 (PTI) — Asian Games gold medallist India kept themselves in contention for a bronze finish beating Malaysia 2-1 in the penultimate league match while South Korea continued their unbeaten run defeating Canada in the 10th Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament here today.

In pouring rain, India were stretched to the breaking point before they finally came out winners by a close margin. India also benefited from a botched penalty stroke by Kuhan Shanmuganathan of Malaysia at the Bukit Jalil stadium.

Malaysia took the lead in the 11th minute when Suhaini scored. India equalised through a Baljit Singh Dhillon flick and then went ahead through Deepak Thakur in the 32nd minute.

Earlier, Asian champions Korea assured themselves of a place in the final with a 2-1 defeat of Canada. In the other match, Germany battled back from two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 with New Zealand. Both the teams are out of the running for berth in the February 26 final and the draw merely dimmed their chances of finishing higher in this seven-team league tournament where the top two teams face off again in the final.

In an apparent effort to avoid being left with the wooden spoon, New Zealand came out like a team renewed and led 1-0 at half time with Brett Leaver converting their fourth penalty corner in the seventh minute. They increased their lead in the 46th minute through a field goal scored by Phillip Burrows.

Trailing to lowly Kiwis, Germany rallied through Oliver Donke who scored a field goal in the 58th minute to salvage some pride and Florian Kuntz converted their second penalty corner in the 64th minute to forestall German embarrassment.

The India versus Malaysia match with rain pouring was expected to be slow, but the hosts were off to a flying start and they kept pushing the Indians back. The Indian midfield which faded away at the end of the match, however, were up to the task in the first half. Riaz sent a lovely through ball to Mukesh who gave it to an overlapping Dhillon. But the Indian forward slipped in the process and his shot hit the goalpost from the outside.

After a couple of stirring runs from Mukesh, Malaysia appeared to settle down. Host captain Saiful darted into the Indian circle and sent a superb ball for Suhaini who drew out Indian goalkeeper Prasad and then slotted the ball into the Indian goal.

Bagan leaders with 1-0 win

CALCUTTA, Feb 22 (PTI) — Former champions Mohun Bagan shot atop the chart edging past Dempo Sports Club, Goa, 1-0 in a one-sided National Football League encounter here today.

Uzbek Igor Skhvrin struck the winner with a snap flick in the 75th minute following a Jose Ramirez Barreto centre to take Bagan’s point tally to 32 from 16 matches, a point ahead of close second Churchill Brothers, another Goan outfit.

A desperate Bagan coach Subrata Bhattacharya introduced the partially fit Brazilian Barreto in the 54th minute as the Bagan upfronters struggled to find the elusive goal despite maintaining incessant pressure on their rivals.

The Brazilian immediately took charge, adding a further sting to the Bagan attack with his spectacular ball control and measured crosses.

The city outfit, however, could have won by a bigger margin had their forwards not squandered a number of sitters.

Dempo custodian Vikrant Sharma was also in fine fettle saving his side’s downfall on at least five occasions in the match at the mammoth Salt Lake Stadium.

The upright also came to the rescue of the Goans in the 53rd minute as a James Singh shot palmed by Sharma hit the post and rebounded into play.

Bagan were also unlucky in the 41st minute as Skhvrin’s rasping goalbound shot from inside the box hit teamate Stephen Abarowei before being cleared by a defender.

Dempo now have nine points from 15 matches.

National sub-junior boxing from today

NEW DELHI, Feb 22 (PTI) — Over 250 boxers from all over the country are expected to take part in the 15th national sub-junior boxing championships beginning here tomorrow.

Talented youngsters representing reigning champions Bengal, Services, Delhi, Haryana, Manipur and Mizoram will be the leading lights in the five-day event being organised by the Delhi Amateur Boxing Association (DABA). Bouts this year will be held in 30 weight categories spread over five age groups — boys born in 1984, ’85, ’86, ’87 and ’88.

The age groups have been based on year of birth to ensure sufficient competition in each class and to do away with controversies over date of birth, Ashok Mattoo, president of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation, said at a press conference last night.

To ensure enough competitors in each weight class, some weight classes also overlap across age groups. The event will be held at the YMCA arena.

For the first time, the sub-junior pugilists will be awarded Rs 100 for every fight as “additional diet allowance” sponsored by the Steel Plants Sports Board, Mattoo said.

Like last year, the IABF will select promising boxers from this “nursery” to be sent to Germany on a training-cum-competition stint over 20 days (September 18 to October 8) after they undergo national camps and an inter-camp competition.

Ten boxers sent to Germany last year won 11 gold medals and four silvers in two competitions.

Scoring will be computerised and the bouts will be supervised by more than 70 national and international panel referees, Rawat said.

Besides cash awards, the winners will be given a gold medal, with silver and bronze medals for the second and third placed boxers.

The age groups and numbers corresponding to weight classes:

’88-born: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

’87-born: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

’86-born: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

’85-born: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

’84-born: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Weight categories (in kilogrammes): 1 28-30, 2 30-33, 3 33-36, 4 36-39, 5 39-42, 6 42-45, 7 45-48, 8 48-51, 9 51-54, 10 54-57, 11 57-61, 12 61-63.5, 13 63.5-67.

Cullinan may miss 1st Test

MUMBAI, Feb 22 (PTI) — With less than 48 hours remaining for the commencement of the India-South Africa two-Test series at the Wankhede Stadium here, the visitors have a problem on their hands.

Daryll Cullinan, their regular two-down batsman, is recovering from a hamstring problem which forced him to retire hurt after a cursory stay at the crease in their tour opener against the Board President’s XI which ended yesterday.

The player, who represents Gauteng (formerly Transvaal) and will be 33 on March 4 — the third day of the second Test at Bangalore, is “responding well to treatment,” team manager Ghulam Rajah told PTI today.

A final decision is to be taken only tomorrow whether Cullinan, who showed his prodigious talent with a first class century when he was only 16 years old, would be fit to play in the first Test.

It will be a huge blow for the visitors’ hopes if the 55-Test veteran, with 10 Test hundreds under his belt since making his debut against India at home in the 1992-93 ‘friendship series’, is ruled out of the series opener here.

Graf to play Sabatini in farewell match

MANNHEIM (Germany), Feb 22 (AP) — German tennis star Steffi Graf will square off against Gabriela Sabatini in Hanover for a farewell match in Germany on March 19, her company has said.

Graf, who injured her knee during a recent visit to Japan, is recuperating in the USA after being ordered to take one week rest, said a spokesman answering the telephone at Steffi Graf Sports Promotions in Mannheim yesterday.

Graf (30), also hopes to play planned farewell matches in Stuttgart, Berlin and Oberhausen starting from March 3, probably against veteran Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic.

Sabatini (29), who retired from professional tennis three years ago, last played an exhibition match against Russian player Anna Kournikova in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

Lothar Matthaeus set to make history

BERLIN, Feb 22 (Reuters) — Lothar Matthaeus will become the world’s most capped footballer by playing his 144th international against the Netherlands tomorrow- 20 years after starting his international career against the same opponents.

By appearing in the friendly in Amsterdam he will overtake former Swedish goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli’s total of 143 games — a mark he has shared with the Swede for the last few months.

Matthaeus was only 19 when he first wore the West Germany shirt, in a group match at the 1980 European Championships in Italy.

His side were leading the Dutch 3-0 when he came on for Bernard Dietz in the 73rd minute.

The teenager who was to mature into the greatest German player since Franz Beckenbauer did not impress on that particular day and was responsible for conceding a penalty. Still, Germany won the match 3-2 and went on to win the tournament.

Although the Germans and the Dutch are not exactly the best of friends in the football world, Matthaeus’ childhood hero was a Dutchman who played against West Germany in the 1974 World Cup.

“Johann Cruyff was the best player of the 1974 World Cup,” Matthaeus, who was 13 then, recalls.

“He was so elegant, so inspired in midfield and so dangerous in front of goal.’’

Matthaeus has played against the Netherlands seven times —and only been on the losing side once, at the 1988 European Championships in Hamburg.

Everything started well as he opened the scoring from the penalty spot. But the Dutch won a famous semifinal victory by 2-1.

After the match, Ronald Koeman did little for the German-Dutch relationship when he rubbed his bottom with Olaf Thon’s shirt.

Matthaeus was there too when Frank Rijkaard spat at rudi Voeller in another memorable incident at the 1990 World Cup.

But that was not enough to spoil his exciting Italian adventure. Wearing the captain’s armband, he led his men to a 2-1 win before savouring the finest 90 minutes of his prolific career with a 1-0 victory over Argentina in the Rome final.

“I would have rather celebrated my record in Germany, or even in Italy or croatia, where the fans like me,’’ Matthaeus said ahead of today’s match.

“In the Netherlands, they don’t like the Germans, and they don’t like me. But it will be fun, even if I’m whistled and booed by 30,000 people. That’s always good for motivation.’’

Playing in a hostile atmosphere will be nothing new to Matthaeus, who is often perceived as somewhat arrogant and is few fans’ favourite, even in Germany.

“He behaves as if he were born a star and could allow himself everything,’’ authoritative news weekly Der Spiegel once wrote, explaining why the man, despite his remarkable achievements, never was a German idol.

Fritz Walter, Uwe Seeler and Beckenbauer played less matches for Germany but they won more hearts.

Even at club level, Matthaeus has plenty of experiences with Dutch players. In his Inter Milan days, he was naturally taught to hate AC Milan, then at their peak courtesy of their formidable Dutch trio of Marco Van Basten, Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit.

“Those three were just about the best football had to offer then,’’ said Matthaeus, modest enough not to add himself to that list.

He would be forgiven if he did. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, Matthaeus had few rivals. Then a playmaker, he had everything — the skills, the speed, the vision, the timing, not to mention that typically German aptitude for fighting until the final whistle, whatever the circumstances.

Feeling homesick, he left Italy in 1992 and returned to the only German club tailored to his measurements — Bayern Munich.

Slower than in his prime but still a superb player, he soon took up a new role as a libero and Bayern kindly allowed him to keep the No 10 shirt.

Marshalling a defence with authority was a straight forward task for a player of his calibre but he did have a problem — the re-unified Germany had a better man for the slot in Borussia Dortmund’s Matthias Sammer, who had formerly played for East Germany.

Berti Vogts, then the head coach, knew that and he was also building his team around a man Matthaeus could never get on with, that other German star of the past decade, Juergen Klinsmann.

So Matthaeus had to sit on the sidelines for the best part of four seasons out of international soccer. He was not part of the side that, inspired by Sammer and Klinsmann, won the 1996 European Championship in England.

The veteran of so many glorious battles was bitter and made sure everybody knew about it. But he concentrated on helping Bayern rule German soccer. It became so obvious that he remained a world class player that Vogts, missing the injured Sammer, took him to the 1998 World Cup finals.

Delighted to prove his worth, Matthaeus was one of few players in a disappointing German squad to leave France with some credit and Vogts’ successor, Erich Ribbeck, soon recalled him.

Ribbeck made it clear that he was counting on Matthaeus for this year’s Euro 2000.

It is easy to guess how Matthaeus’ dream scenario would read: Another final against the Netherlands, another German victory. He could then retire with his head held high, and full of stories about the Dutch.

Delhi beat J & K in hockey
Tribune News Service

ANANDPUR SAHIB, Feb 22 — The 45th National School Games for boys and girls, which were inaugurated by the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, here yesterday, started this morning in an open ground near Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib here. It may be mentioned here that no competition was held yesterday as the organisers had decided not to begin competitions in any discipline till the players are medically examined.

More than 2000 players drawn from 20 states are participating in hockey, handball, volleyball, fencing, boxing and baseball games.

Competitions today were held in hockey, handball, volleyball and boxing while competitions in baseball and fencing will start tomorrow.

The following are the results:

Hockey (boys under-17): Delhi b Jammu & Kashmir 7-1, best scorer for Delhi was Sudhir Kumar with 3 goals. Rajasthan beat Andhra Pradesh 5-1, best scorer for Rajasthan was Om Parkash with 2 goals. Punjab b Tripura 16-0, best scorer for Punjab Harmit Singh with 6 goals. Himachal Pradesh routed Kerala 6-0. Bihar beat Karnataka 9-1.

Hockey (girls under-17): Punjab b Jammu and Kashmir 11-0, best scorers for Punjab was Satinder Kaur with 5 goals. Maharashtra beat Delhi 9-0. Match between Bihar and Rajasthan ended in a 0-0 draw.

Handball (boys under-17): Punjab b J& K 29-04, Maharashtra b Madhya Pradesh 18-17. Gujarat b Kerala 33-10, Assam b Andhra Pradesh 23-09. Chandigarh b J & K 24-04.

Handball (girls under-17): Punjab b Tripura 11-2, Delhi b Andhra Pradesh 20-03. Haryana b Maharashtra 9-8, Kerala b Chandigarh 5-1, Haryana b Madhya Pradesh 31-0.

Volleyball (boys under-14): Punjab b J & K 25-16, 25-08, West Bengal b Gujrat 25-09, 25-12, Uttar Pradesh b Karnataka 25-11, 25-12, Delhi b Andhra Pradesh 5-18, 25-14.

Volleyball (girls under-14): Haryana b Madhya Pradesh 25-04, 25-07, Punjab b J & K 25-09, 25-06, West Bengal b Delhi 25-13, 25-04, Uttar Pradesh b Karnataka 25-07, 25-12.

Boxing (boys):

Light fly: Swaran Singh (Punjab) b Inayat Ahmed (J & K), Paramjit Singh (Chandigarh) b P.M. Yadav (Maharashtra).

Fly weight:

Dharam Singh (Chandigarh) b Gopal (Punjab).

31 players found overaged
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Feb 22 —In order to root out the practice of fielding overage players by various states/units, in the ongoing National School Games at Anandpur Sahib, the organising committee of the games today found 31 players of volleyball, including five girls, overaged. During the National School games at Devas in Madhya Pradesh in January, 52 kabbadi players (under 14) drawn from various states were found overaged. Mr P.S. Chhabra, Secretary General of the federation, taking a strong note of same, had made it mandatory to have a medical board one day before any national school games for the under 14 section.

The players found to be overaged were; Sharafat Ali, Ropesh Kumar, Bupinder Kumar, Arun Kumar, Muslim Khan, Bhumandara, Sharafat Khan, Anil Kumar, Ms Neelu Singh and Ms Pooja Saxena (all Uttar Pradesh); Lalu Singh, Kalu Singh, Raghubir Singh, Shishu Pal, Naru Ram, Jai Prashad, Ms Sarwan Devi (all Rajasthan); Meet Singh, Babu Lal, Hardip Singh and Ms Rajwinder Kaur (all Punjab); Madan Lal, Deepak and Ms Sonia (all Haryana); Parloy Dass and Som Nath (both West Bengal); Sourabh Kumar and Ranjan Kumar (both Bihar); Nitin Yadav (Madhya Pradesh); Ram Sharan (Delhi); Prajapati Alpesh Kumar (Gujarat).

Rusedski eases past Clement

LONDON, Feb 22 (AFP) — Britain’s Greg Rusedski eased his way into the second round of the $ 800,000 London Indoor Open ATP Tour tennis tournament last evening at the expense of Frenchman Arnaud Clement.

It took Rusedski just 64 minutes to brush aside Clement 6-3, 6-4 at London arena and, after his early-season injury problems, the 26-year-old is keen to make this his 10th ATP tour career title.

Runner-up last year when the tournament was staged at Battersea, Canadian-born Rusedski put on a commanding performance in front of the noisy but barely half-full arena.

However, if the left-hander is to advance to the quarterfinals and beyond, it looks likely that he will have to conquer British rival Tim Henman. The duo are scheduled to meet in the last eight but Rusedski refused to be drawn on the showdown. “He has two more matches to play. I have one,” said the British No 2.

Clement, 22, was beaten almost as much by his own temperament as by his opponent. He objected to a series of line calls, but Rusedski refused to be drawn into any mind games.

Based in Marseille, Clement is more at home on clay and the hard indoor surface did not suit his game.

Rusedski took charge early on, forcing his opponent to go for extravagant passing shots.

Air India triumph
From Our Sports Reporter

LUDHIANA, Feb 22 — Air India, Mumbai, scraped past North Eastern Railway, Gorakhpur, 2-1 on the second day of the fourth All India Mohinder Partap Singh Grewal Memorial Hockey Tournament for women being played at the astroturf stadium of the Punjab Agricultural University here today. The issue was resolved in the extra time as both the teams were locked 1-1 after the regular period.

The match begun on a brisk pace with both the teams trying to surge ahead. Air-India eves earned their first penalty corner in the ninth minute which went abegging. They continued to make repeated forays into the rival’s territory but their each effort was thwarted by rail women.

In the 17th minute, NE Railway Gorakhpur went into the lead through left-out Sarika Verma and Air India players restored parity in the 28th minute when on the top of ‘D’ Drouza gave a parallel pass to Bhupinder Kaur who found the target to equalise the score 1-1. Mumbai outfit missed two chances to gain the lead in the 31st and 32nd minute.

In the second half both the teams wasted a number of scoring chances and at the end of regular period the teams were locked 1-1. Then the sudden death extra time rule was applied. Air India’s Bhupinder Kaur scored a beautiful field goal in the first minute to help her side clinch the issue 2-1 and take Air India into the last eight stage. The second match between Chandigarh XI and Ludhiana XI turned out to be a mismatch with the former having the upper hand throughout the game and won 4-0.

Chandigarh XI opened their account in the 32nd minute when A Toppo successfully converted a penalty corner into the goal (1-0). After the lemon break Chandigarh eves increased their lead in the 43rd minute through Ruhi. A Toppo struck twice (55th and 60th minute) to make it 4-0.

Tomorrow’s fixtures: Bihar vs Western Railway, Mumbai 12 noon and Air India, Mumbai vs Orissa 2 pm.

Vijay Kumar for Singhania Open

NEW DELHI, Feb 22 (PTI) — Top professional on the Indian golfing circuit Vijay Kumar will lead the challenge at the Rs 6,00,000 Sir Padampat Singhania Open tournament at Noida Golf Course from February 24 to 27.

The main event will be preceded by the Pro-Am Tournament tomorrow, the organisers announced here today.

The Wills Sport Golf Tour event, to be played at the par-72 6,915 yard course, will be a big challenge for defending champion Vijay Kumar.

Lucknow professorial Vijay Kumar has been in remarkable form winning Honda-Siel PGA Championship ’99 and will face tough competition from 1998 Indian Open winner Firoze Ali, two-time Indian Open winner Ali Sher, Uttam Singh Mundy, veteran Rohtas Singh and others.

Teenage prodigy and India No 1 amateur golfer Ashok Kumar has also confirmed his participation in the event.

Akhtar to play for Nottinghamshire

LONDON, Feb 22 (PTI) — Pakistan’s tearaway bowler Shoaib Akhtar will play for the English county Nottinghamshire this season, it was officially stated here today.

Nottinghamshire county chairman Stuart Foster said he has received a personal guarantee from Gen Taiq-ur Zia, President of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that Akhtar will not be required for national duty in the second half of the summer.

Dubbed the ‘Rawalpindi Express’, Akhtar will report at Trent Bridge by May end as soon as Pakistan complete their tour of the West Indies.

Sports fest from February 24
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 22 — The 19th annual sports festival of Ghungrali Jattan will be organised by the Singh Sports Youth Services Association at Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Sports Complex, Ghungrali Jattan in Ludhiana district, from February 24 to 26.

According to Mr Gurmit Singh Kular, organising secretary of the festival, competitions will be organised in soccer, kabaddi (open village, 57 kg and 62 kg), cycling, track and field and dog races would be organised. The athletic events will also be conducted for boys and girls also.

The winners in kabaddi and soccer will get cash prizes. The kabaddi event is being dedicated to Alankar Tony, the only son of kabaddi stalwart, Devi Dyal. Mr Kular said that there would be special prizes for best raider, and best football player of the festival. A special football award is being instituted in memory of international Manjit Singh. This time the award is being conferred upon Jarnail Singh, an Arjuna awardee. The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, will be the chief guest on February 26, the concluding day of the festival.

Punjab XI beat Vancouver club
From Our Sports Reporter

JALANDHAR, Feb 22 — The visiting Vancouver veteran club Canada team went down fighting 1-3 to veteran Punjab eleven in their first game of the friendly tour at Punjab Armed Police headquarters, Jalandhar cantonment here today. The home team was trailing by one goal at the breather.

For Punjab-XI the equaliser came in the opening minutes of the second half when Avtar Singh of Vancouver club scored the suicidal goal for his team. Punjab XI captain Gurdev Singh (Arjuna Awardee) and Narinder Kumar increased the tally for the home team by displaying brilliant footwork.

The second match of the visiting team will be held at football ground of Panjab University, Chandigarh, on February 24 against Chandigarh-XI. On February 25 the visitors will play at Khalsa College, Mahilpur, against Harbhajan Singh Sporting Club; on February 27 at Sikh National College, Banga, against Hardev Singh XI and on February 29 at Guru Gobind Singh Stadium against Shri Guru Gobind Singh Football Society.