 |
|
| Tuesday, February 29, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rosset ambushes Kafelnikov
DFA Hoshiarpur triumph India
make bid for 2006 Asiad
|
Pak fighting to save Test RAWALPINDI, Feb 28 (AFP) — Saeed Anwer played a flawless captain’s knock of 84 as Pakistan struggled to fight back against Sri Lanka on day three of the first cricket Test here today. The home team was 154-4 at the close with Yousuf Youhana on 6 and nightwatchman Waqar Younis on nought at the crease. Pakistan need another 17 runs to avoid an innings defeat. The hosts scored 182 in their first innings. Anwer hit 11 fours in his 280-minute vigil and consumed 218 balls but his departure two overs before close tilted the advantage back towards Sri Lanka. Anwer and Inzamam-ul-Haq frustrated the Lankan attack but just when they looked set to see off the day Haq played a reckless shot and set his side back on their struggle. Sri Lanka extended their lead to 171 runs in the morning and were dismissed for 353 in their first innings. Anwer, a 31-year-old computer engineer, tried his best to wipe off the virus in Pakistan’s batting with a defiant innings and hoped his colleagues would apply themselves to save the home team’s embarrassment. “Its up to the remaining batsmen and I am hopeful they have the capability to save us,” Anwer said. Pakistan lost opener Wajahatullah Wasti as early as in the fourth over when Pramodya Wickremasinghe took a brilliant catch at long leg off a Nuwan Zoysa bouncer. Pakistan lost their first wicket at nine and were 15 for 1 at lunch. Anwer found a useful ally in Aamir Sohail and both saw off the one hour after lunch adding 42 runs. Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan’s introduction saw Sohail’s departure at 72. The off-spinner forced Sohail to sweep and the miscued edge was taken by Mahela Jayawardene at silly point. Sohail’s dour 24 lasted 103 minutes and included three boundaries. Haq helped Anwer add another 64 runs for the third wicket as Muralitharan threatened the home batsmen. At tea Pakistan were 88-2, still 83 runs adrift of the visitor’s total. Anwer reached his 22nd Test fifty in 162 minutes hitting eight boundaries. He played some exquisitely timed drives on both sides of the wicket. Haq played 27 dot balls on 20 before cutting uppishly to substitute Upul Chandana who held a wonderful diving catch at point off Zoysa. Haq hit three fours during his 111-minute innings. Both Anwer and Youhanna went into groove in the dying minutes when Anwer took 20 balls to score a single and finally played onto his stumps off Chaminda Vaas. Pakistan (1st innings) : 182 Sri Lanka (1st innings) : Atapattu c Wasti b Waqar 8 Jayasuriya c Moin b Waqar 17 Arnold c Moin b Waqar 26 De Silva lbw b Saqlain 112 Jayawardene run out 42 Ranatunga b Razzak 49 Kaluwitharana lbw b Razzak 0 Vaas not out 53 Wickremasinghe c sub (Afridi) b Saqlain 0 Zoysa c Yousuf b Waqar 26 Muralitharan c Moin b Sohail 7 Extras:(b-2, lb-8, nb-3) 13 Total: (all out in 123.2 overs) 353 Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-38, 3-69, 4-117, 5-246, 6-246, 7-280, 8-280, 9-331. Bowling: Akram 2.1-0-8-0, Younis 30-3-103-4, Razzak 32.5-7-99-2, Saqlain Mushtaq 34-9-78-2, Sohail 23.2-5-55-1, Wasti 1-1-0-0. Pakistan (2nd innings): Anwer b Vaas 84 Wasti c Wickremasinghe b Zoysa 1 Sohail c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 24 Haq c sub (Chandana) b Vaas 20 Youhana not out 6 Younis not out 0 Extras: (b4, lb3, nb12) 19 Total: (for 4 wkts in 68 overs) 154 Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-72, 3-136, 4-148. Bowling: Vaas 19-5-34-1,
Zoysa 15-5-34-2, Wickremasinghe 10-3-27-0, Muralitharan
23-7-52-1, Arnold 1-1-0-0. |
Aravinda vows to keep scoring runs RAWALPINDI, Feb 28 (AFP) — Veteran batsman Aravinda de Silva has vowed to keep on scoring runs in international cricket so long as he stays fit. “I want to be remembered as a run-scoring and successful batsman and want to go on (while) I am fit enough to play and perform,” De Silva told AFP yesterday after smashing 112 against Pakistan in the Rawalpindi Test. De Silva’s 18th ton in his 80th Test was his eighth against Pakistan. “All hundreds are special but considering the situation this can be rated as one of the best of my career,” the 34-year-old from Colombo said. De Silva hit 122 with five sixes at Faisalabad in the 1985-86 series against Pakistan and followed it with 105 in Karachi. “My hundreds against the likes of Imran Khan and Abdul Qadir in 1986 were my best but this Pakistan attack is also world class,” he said. De Silva hit twin centuries against Pakistan (138 not out and 103) in the Colombo Test in 1997-98. He was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s triumph in the 1996 World Cup but lost favour after his side failed to defend the title in England last year. “It was disappointing but I want to forget all that and let my bat do the talking,” he said. De Silva opted out of
Sri Lanka’s tour to Zimbabwe last year due to family
commitments and was not considered for the one-day series
against Pakistan. |
Kapil, Ganguly hope for turnaround BANGALORE, Feb 28 (PTI) — India cricket coach Kapil Dev and captain-designate Saurav Ganguly expect India’s fortunes to change for the better in the second cricket Test against South Africa beginning here on March 2. “The sooner, the better it is,”Kapil Dev told reporters here this evening when asked if he expected a turnaround in India’s fortunes, after the team’s pathetic performance in Australia and the four-wicket defeat in the first Test in Mumbai. Echoing his sentiments, Ganguly, who will take over the reins from Sachin Tendulkar for the one-day series, said: “We all expect it (the string of defeats) stops here, and are praying that we start winning from here”. Asked if former India skipper Mohammed Azharuddin would be in the playing 11 for the crucial Test, Kapil Dev said: “I hope so”, but hastened to add that the eleven has not yet been picked. “Everything... nothing went right,” Kapil Dev said when asked what went wrong in Mumbai. Earlier, the Indian team, including Tendulkar had a two-hour practice session at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, the venue for the second Test. Tendulkar declined to talk to reporters on arrival at the airport, saying he would meet the press tomorrow. He was accompanied by former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin, Nikhil Chopra and Ajit Agarkar among others. According to the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) coach Kapil Dev and Saurav Ganguly, had arrived here as also players from Karnataka — Javagal Srinath, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble. KSCA officials said the Indian players were scheduled to spend some time later today for “nets” at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where the crucial Test starts on Thursday. Hansie Cronje’s side would arrive here tonight, they said. India is looking to
square the series after they went down by four wickets in
the first Test at Mumbai last week. |
Captain should have ‘more say’ NEW DELHI, Feb 28 (PTI) — Newly appointed Indian cricket captain Saurav Ganguly has sought more powers to choose the playing 11, apparently wanting selectors to keep away once the 14-member team is named. “Once the 14-member team is selected, it should be left to the captain and coach to choose the final 11,” Ganguly said in an interview to “Star News” yesterday. “But let’s not talk much about it... It is what you do in the centre that matters more and not whether you are captain or vice-captain,” he added. The Bengal left-hander, however, skirted queries on Mohammad Azharuddin’s return to the team after a gap of eight months since the 1999 World Cup in England. “That’s the past. He’s back in the team and let’s put the past behind,” Ganguly said about the reported resistance among senior team members to his comeback. Azharuddin’s selection for the one-day triseries in Australia was reportedly opposed by skipper Sachin Tendulkar and coach Kapil Dev. “He has a job to do... And he is a good wristy batsman and fielder,” the captain-in-waiting said about the 37-year-old former skipper. Ganguly was chosen to succeed Tendulkar after the batting maestro made a sudden announcement to step down from the job after the ongoing Test series against South Africa. The Bengal left-hander has been named to lead the side for the five-match one-day series against South Africa and the Sharjah Cup triseries also involving Pakistan and South Africa from March 22 to 31. About leading a side with two former captains in it, Ganguly said he won’t be feeling any pressure. “No no, not at all,” Ganguly said when asked whether the presence of two former captains - Azharuddin and Tendulkar -would put any pressure while taking decisions in the middle. On the team’s current form, which is at its lowest ebb after the debacle in Australia and the first Test defeat against South Africa in Mumbai, Ganguly said he felt India needed only one win to turn things around. “We just need one win and it will turn things around for us,” he said. He said India had not played good cricket for three months now, but “the team as an entity is a good one.” “We have good players in our side... You can’t win every time, but we’ll do our best in the Bangalore Test. “We’ve had a rough time for the last few months, but we’ll sit together, coach, players and officials and probably things will change from then,” Ganguly said. About captaincy, Ganguly said he has enjoyed the job whenever he has been asked to take up the responsibility and said “it won’t be any problem now also.” Ganguly was the stand-in
skipper for an injured Tendulkar for the Toronto one-day
cricket festival last year and led India to a series
victory over the West Indies. |
Szabo wins 3,000m after slow start GHENT, (Belgium), Feb 28 (Reuters) — Gabriela Szabo retained her European indoor 3,000 metres title yesterday but was far from her normal dominant self, having to work hard right to the line to hold off Poland’s Lidia Chojecka. The 24-year-old Romanian looked perfectly placed to begin her customary sprint finish at the start of the final lap but left it until the last bend before stretching three metres clear of Chojecka, a 1,500 specialist who gave Szabo a hard race over two miles in Stuttgart last month. Szabo’s winning time of eight minutes 42.06 seconds fell short of Portugal’s Fernanda Ribeiro’s four-year-old championship record of 8:39.49 after the race got off to a slow start over the opening kilometre. Szabo, the reigning world outdoor 5,000 metres champion, dismissed speculation she had come to Ghent to beat the record. “Today was a very close race but I had only one aim, to win, and I was not at all bothered about the time I ran,” she said. “I knew that anywhere between 1,000 metres and 200 metres from the finish I had the power to beat the rest of the opposition in a sustained drive to the finish line. It was just a matter of deciding which was the best moment to strike.” Chojecka took the silver in 8:42.42 and Spain’s Marta Dominguez the bronze in 8:44.08, both setting national records. Latvia’s Jelena Prokopchuka and Bulgaria’s Daniela Yordanova also set national best times in fourth and fifth places, respectively. Russia’s Svetlana Pospelova upset the form book to win the first gold medal of the final day of the championships in the women’s 400 metres, edging out her better-known compatriot Natalya Nazarova on the line in a photo-finish. Pospelova’s victory, in a personal best 51.66 seconds, marked the biggest success of her career. Nazarova had been favourite, having anchored Russia to world relay golds, both indoors and outdoors, last year. She had to settle for the silver in 51.69, with the Czech Republic’s Helena Fuchsova taking bronze in 52.32, matching her performance two years ago. Germany’s dismal run of luck at the championships continued when Claudia Marx fell after 300 metres following a tangle with Ireland’s Karen Shinkins and Bulgaria’s Daniela Georgieva. Germany’s big hope for the gold medal, Anja Ruecker, last year’s world outdoor silver medallist, limped off the track in her 400 metres semifinal with a knee injury. Several other German competitors have either fallen by the wayside due to injuries or failed dramatically to live up to expectations. Bulgaria’s Ilya
Tsevontov, (21), continued the success of young
up-and-coming athletes at the championships, winning the
men’s 400 metres in 46.63 seconds. |
Kochin edge out SBT 3-2 THRISSUR, Feb 28 (PTI) — Formidable FC Kochin overcame stiff resistance from State Bank of Travancore (SBT), Thiruvananthapuram to win 3-2 in a National Football League match here today. With this win, the Kochin team has climbed up to sixth position in the 12-team league with 25 points from 16 matches while the SBT is in the ninth spot with 20 points from 18 outings. The Kochin team forged ahead in the 20th minute through a header from striker Issac Tondo which was neutralised by the SBT in the 45th minute when Ignatious slotted the ball home. The bankmen went into the lead in the 53rd minute when Ignatious found the target again. However, Sunday Seah brought parity for Kochin in the 73rd minute and Noushad headed the winning goal in the 84th. Kochin team dominated most of the proceedings and could have returned with a much more bigger margin had their strikers been on target. Seah, who played as the
goal-keeper for most part of the game, later took the
role of an attacker in the 67th minute and proved the
dangerman for the bankmen on several occasions. |
|
LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) — World No. 72 Marc Rosset stunned top seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-4, 6-4 to win the $ 800,000 London Indoor Championships in convincing fashion yesterday. The Swiss player maintained his extraordinary supremacy over the world No. 3 and has now won 10 of their 13 matches. By reaching the final, Kafelnikov became the leader of the new ATP champions race, which counts results from this year only, leapfrogging over Andre Agassi at the top. Rosset, the only man apart from Agassi to have won titles in the 1980’s, 1990’s and this decade, started electrically, whipping a backhand pass down the line for a break in the third game. Kafelnikov, champion here in 1998, broke back immediately with a similar backhand but three games later Rosset again broke the Russian’s serve. Kafelnikov, so impressive in his semifinal demolition of Greg Rusedski, seemed unable to impose his game on the Swiss. Rosset used his full 2.01 metres frame to smash down serves and his court coverage frustrated the normally cool Kafelnikov. He served out the opening set — clinching it with an ace — in just 35 minutes as Kafelnikov struggled for ideas. It was the same story in the second set as Rosset threatened the Russian’s serve at every turn and rarely looked troubled on his own delivery. He made the breakthrough in the seventh game of the second set, stepping in to a short ball and slamming a forehand into the corner past the groping top seed. His own serve was threatened in the next game but he fought off three break points before holding with an exquisitely-angled backhand volley. Kafelnikov held comfortably before Rosset came out to serve for victory. Two sizzling aces, a netted Kafelnikov backhand and a winning volley clinched victory. “It’s been a dream of a week for me,” said Rosset. “But I’m not going to tell why I have such a good record over him — I want to keep winning.” OKLAHOMA CITY: Monica Seles capped her return this week from a five-month layoff by capturing her 45th career title with a victory over fifth seed Nathalie Dechy of France at the IGA Superthrift Tennis Classic. After powering her way through three lopsided victories in under an hour each, the second seed had to battle back from 2-5 down in the second set to post a 6-1, 7-6, (7-3) victory over Dechy and claim what was for Seles a somewhat unexpected title. “This tournament
rates high up there with my others because I hadn’t
played in five months,” said Seles, who had been
sidelined by a stress fracture to her right foot, an
injury that caused her to miss the Australian Open. |
1-year suspension for Mohun Bagan CALCUTTA, Feb 28 (UNI) — Calcutta football giants Mohun Bagan have been suspended for one year by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) from the Continental Club Cup Tournament for failing to take part in their return leg match against Japanese Jubilo Iwata last year. The hundred-year-old club also will be charged a fine of $ 3000, , according to a decision taken by disciplinary committee of the AFC in a meeting at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, said AIFF Secretary Kedar Nath Mour. Mr Mour said the action on Mohun Bagan had been taken as the club refused to take part in their return leg match against the Japanese opponents. The match was to be held at Salt Lake Stadium last year but the local club intimated that the match could not be held owing to non-arrangement of police protection in the stadium for various reasons. ‘‘Mohun Bagan officials did not inform the Indian National Federation of this either. Surprisingly, Jubilo Iwata officials were told of the matter in Japan while they were all set to come to Calcutta for the match,’’ a report said. The suspension, however,
will not affect other tournaments in the country. |
Salgaocar to clash with JCT MARGAO, Feb 28 (UNI) — A keen tussle is on cards when defending champions Salgaocar (Goa) clash against favourite JCT Phagwara in the return match of the National Football League, to be played at Nehru Stadium Fatorda here tomorrow. Both the teams are equally balanced and will go all out for securing full points. Placed fourth on the league table with 27 points from 16 matches Salgaocar will be hoping to use the home advantage while it will be a revenge tie for JCT, who had lost to Salgaocar in the inaugural match in Delhi 0-1. The visitors, presently placed above Salgaocar with 30 points from 17 outings with eight wins, six draws and three defeats, will certainly be going out for an outright win as three points will enable them to occupy second place below the table toppers Calcutta’s Mohun Bagan with 35 points. Churchill Brothers, Goa is presently on second place with 32 points. JCT will be depending heavily on their ace striker Hardip Gill who have five goals to his name. Helping him will be Jaswinder Singh and Jaswant Singh but it remains to be seen whether they will be able to split the solid Salgaocar defence led by Robert Ferandes, Franky Barreto, Francise Coelho and Roque Pereira. JCT’s hardworking medio Hardip Sangha and dependable defender Daljit Singh are likely to be played tomorrow to strengthen their midfield and defence. Hardip Sangha, Hardip Saini, Rampal and Harinder Singh form the visitor’s good midfield and equally match the Salgaocar’s midfield comprising playmaker Habib Adenkunle, Gbenga Lawal, S. Venkatesh and Dharamjit Singh. Salgaocar too have a
well-knit team, having performed well so far. Their
strikers Joao Dos Santos, Bruno Coutinho, Azamat Aburamov
and Alvito D’ Cunha will have to play a
well-organised game to boost their tally |
Rourkela, DAV lads move into final NEW DELHI, Feb 28 (PTI) — Rourkela Municipal College edged past their state counterparts Birsa College, Ranchi, and made it to the final against all-conquering DAV College, Jalandhar in the Nehru Champions Colleges Hockey tournament here today. The Rourkela boys, riding on Baghu Xalxo’s brace, defeated Birsa 3-1 after leading 2-0 at the half time in the first semifinal at the National Stadium. In the other semifinal DAV College streamrolled Lala Lajpat Rai Government College, Moga, 3-0 to book the place in the final. Xalxo put the Rourkela team ahead in the 19th minute when he fired a field goal to stun the Birsa defence. The striker came good again in the 30th minute banging in another field effort as Rourkela team went into the breather 2-0 ahead. Birsa, who yesterday scored a big win, reduced the margin (1-2) through Sushil Tiru’s 64th minute goal but the Ranchi boy’s resistance came a bit too late. Sushil Tirkey put the
issue beyond doubt when he struck in the dying minutes
for a 3-1 verdict. |
DFA Hoshiarpur triumph FATEHGARH SAHIB, Feb 28 — DFA Hoshiarpur beat DFA Kapurthala by 2-0 and lifted the JCT Cup on the final day of 53rd Punjab State Senior Football Championship being played at ITI ground Bassi Pathana yesterday. The match started on a fast pace and the teams excelled in speed skill and stamina. Hoshiarpur boys initiated the first move in the 20th minutes of the game. Kapurthala boys mounted pressure but were unable to beat the sturdy defence of Hoshiarpur. Nirmaldeep of Hoshiarpur headed the ball in to the net from a lob and took the lead for his team. The first half score was 1-0 in favour of Hoshiarpur. In the second half Parveen of Hoshiarpur collected the ball in the midfield and scored another goal for DFA Hoshiarpur. Mr V.K. Janjua, Deputy
Commissioner, announced Rs 25,000 grant to the DFA
Fatehgarh Sahib. |
Real Madrid, Bayern Munich score wins PARIS, Feb 28 (AFP) — They are two of the greatest teams in world football and Real Madrid and Bayern Munich both had plenty to celebrate at the weekend as they prepared for their European Champions League meeting tomorrow with impressive domestic performances. Real are back at their very best just as the going gets tough — as they proved with a rampaging 3-0 win over arch-rivals Barcelona on Saturday night. Bayern, who celebrated their centenary yesterday, took a stranglehold on the German league race 24 hours earlier with a 4-1 win over an Eintracht Frankfurt side that had won their last three games. It all points to a classic encounter tomorrow night between teams who have been European champions 10 times between them. Real may have more to play for. Their place in next season’s tournament still hangs very much in the balance while it is hard to see Bayern slipping in the German title race. Deportivo La Coruna raced six points clear at the top of the Spanish league after a 2-1 win at home to Mallorca yesterday. Prolific Dutch striker Roy Makaay and Brazilian Djalminha scored the goals as Deportivo moved to 49 points from 26 matches, six ahead of Real Zaragoza and Real Madrid. Both have 43 points. Real Zaragoza kept up their championship challenge with 2-1 win at home to Celta Vigo, while Japanese international Shoji Jo scored his first goals in Spain to lift Valladolid to a 2-1 win over Real Oviedo. Jo opened the scoring in the 34th minute on the counter-attack and then scored the match-winner with a header. Alaves scored a 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid to leave the capital’s second club still in danger of relegation. The triumph lifted unfashionable Alaves into fourth place, ahead of Barcelona. In Saturday’s headline match, Brazilian star Roberto Carlos and French international striker Nicolas Anelka laid the foundations for Real Madrid’s swamping of Barca. Fullback Roberto Carlos gave Real the lead with a 35-metre free-kick that powered its way past Barca goalkeeper Francesc Arnau after just five minutes. Anelka, playing for the first time since January 10, then ended his league scoring drought in the 23rd minute. Real made certain of
victory in the 53rd minute when Morientes claimed his
15th goal of the season with a piece of clinical
finishing — delighting an 84,000 crowd. |
IBF
contemplates changes in game CHANDIGARH, Feb 28 — The International Badminton Federation (IBF) and the Asian Badminton Confederation are contemplating changes in the game by increasing the points in a game from 15 to 25 for men in the best-of-three system. The ‘rally point system’ was also discussed at a meeting of the IBF and the ABC held at New Delhi last week during the Asian Zone Thomas and Uber Cup matches. Mr Datuk Punch Gunalan of Malaysia, the secretary general of the ABC said:‘‘The very idea is to sell the game to rope in more sponsors thus synchronising with its otherwise growing popularity graph’’. Mr Gunalan, who is also the Vice-President of the IBF, was however, satisfied the way sponsors have started taking interest in badminton despite the competition threat from cricket. The Delhi meet had BPL, an indigenous company, as the main sponsor, with Yonex of Japan, Proton of Malaysia among other sponsors. Mr Gunalan was happy the way the Badminton Association of India President, Mr V.K. Verma and former All-England champion Prakash Padukone, now executive President of the BAI had worked for promoting badminton. He said with new innovative changes the basic structure of the game will not be disturbed. Last year coloured clothing were allowed, now the proposed change of having a break after every five point will benefit TV advertisers as they could use the few seconds for commercials. However, since the All-England championship and Sydney Olympics are due this year, so the changes will be experimented after September 2000. To start with, the changes will be first tried in domestic tournaments. Similar changes will also be made in the women’s section. He said: ‘‘Badminton is played on a smaller court as compared to lawn tennis where more time is consumed to finishing any match. Even cricket management had experimented with one dayers and now five day Tests have become obsolete in terms of popularity’’. He said Asian countries had always dominated in badminton, but now more European nations are coming up, a good sign for badminton. On the future of
badminton in India, he said: ‘‘The prize money
tournaments are on the rise in India so the corporate
sector must think of providing a good career for the
deserving badminton players so that more sportspersons
play the sport.’’ |
MES XI
clinch crown CHANDIGARH, Feb 28 — A fine knock of 81 runs by Rajesh Patha enabled MES XI, Patiala, to beat Godrej Cricket Club, Chandigarh by four wickets and clinch the title of the second Pathankot Challenge Cup Cricket Tournament which concluded at Pathankot yesterday. The MES XI skipper won the toss and elected to field. The decision backfired as Himachal Ranji player Rahul Panta smashed 30 runs in the first two overs, including 16 runs in one over of Punjab under-19 player Harikrishan Kali. Gurinder Saini played sensible to score 40 runs. The middle order of the Godrej Club collapsed as left arm spinner Roshan claimed four wickets. While Godrej Club were reeling at 117 for five after 23 overs Amit Kakria stole the limelight as he struck an unblemished 58 off just 34 balls which contained three huge sixes. None of the Godrej batsmen could offer him company as the team was bundled out for 212 runs in the penultimate over of the innings. Chasing the total, the Patiala team lost the wicket of Saini cheaply, but the other opener Ravinder took the game out of Godrej Club’s hands as he struck a hurricane 67 off just 33 balls which included 10 fours and three towering sixes. In the first ten overs the MES XI scored 97 runs. Though the Godrej bowlers tried hard, the pair of Rajesh Patha (81) and Kulwinder Khanda (39) did not offer them much opportunity to come back in the match. Madan Lal of Godrej Club was declared the ‘best bowler’ while Rajesh Patha and Roshan of MES XI were declared the ‘best batsman’ and ‘best allrounder’, respectively. The MES XI got a cash award of Rs 21,000 while Godrej Club were richer by Rs 11,000. Scores: Godrej C.C. 212 all out (Amit Kakria 58, Gurinder Saini 40, Rahul Panta 30, Lakhbir Singh 24, Roshan 4 for 28, Rajesh Patha 2 for 31). M.E.S. XI: 214 for 4 in
32.4 overs (Rajesh Patha 81, Ravinder 67, Kulwinder
Khanda 39, Madan Lal 2 for 29, Lakhbir Singh 2 for 31). |
Bindra
for
Sydney World Cup CHANDIGARH, Feb 28 — Abhinav Bindra, national champion and international rifle shooter who bagged a bronze medal at the recently-concluded Asian Shooting Championship in the open men’s senior category at Langkawi, Malaysia, will represent India along with other elite national shooters at the World Cup in Sydney, Australia, from March 21 to 31. Top shooters from all over the world who have already qualified for the Sydney Olympics and those in the final round of getting wild cards will show their prowess in the new Olympic ranges. This World Cup is a pre-Olympic competition which hold great significance for India. Abhinav is the youngest
shooter in his category to represent India in various
competitions. After the World Cup he has a very tight
schedule for participation in competitions in the Czech
Republic, Polland, Hungry, Italy, Germany and the USA for
participations for the Olympics which he hopes to
represent India at this young age of 17 years, creating
national history. |
Cricket
stadium
for Himachal Pradesh KANGRA, Feb 28 — Himachal Pradesh will have a cricket stadium of international standards and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has sought a report from the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association in this regard. A 17-member team of HPCA headed by Mr Raguvir Singh visited Dharamsala in this connection recently. According to the sources, BCCI had asked the HPCA to provide adequate space in the state with a nearby airport and standard hotels, for the construction of a cricket stadium. The BCCI had suggested Shimla or Manali for the purpose but it was not viable. Meanwhile, HPCA has identified Dharamsala, Paonta Sahib, Una, Solan and Bilaspur for the purpose. Dharamshala was
considered ideal as it fulfilled all the conditions laid
down by the BCCI. The HPCA team will also visit the other
short-listed places in this connection. The final
decision would be taken only after visiting all the four
cities but Dharamsala seems the most viable place as
besides being a hill resort it has an airport at Gaggal
and also good hotel facilities. |
India make bid for 2006 Asiad NEW DELHI, Feb 28 (UNI) — India today formally made bid to host the Asian Games of 2006 in the national capital. Announcing this at a news conference here, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Suresh Kalmadi said the decision to make the bid was taken after the Union Government had given its consent to the IOA’s proposal in this regard. The Delhi Government and the city administration had also welcomed the bid and assured their support to what they called ‘’great honour bestowed on Delhi”, Mr Kalmadi added. In case the bid is
accepted, India would be staging the event for the third
time — Delhi had hosted Asiad’s first edition
of 1951 and in 1982 earlier, he added. A bidding
committee had been appointed headed by Union Minister for
Youth Affairs and Sport S.S. Dhindsa, which had it first
meeting on January 11. In response to the invitation of
the Olympic Council of Asia, the IOA had sent the
“letter of intent” on February 25. |
Chauhan heads WGFI SHIMLA, Feb 28 — Col H.S. Chauhan (retd) has been elected president of the Winter Games Federation of India (WGFI). Mr B.K. Prabhakar, Capt R.S. Salhuria, Dr Shamsher Singh, Mr B. Banga and Mr I.S. Negi have been elected vice-presidents. Other office-bearers
are: Mr Henry Benon (secretary), Mr Sanjeev Attri (joint
secretary), Mr Jagmohan (treasurer), Mr Mangat Dhani
(advisor) and Mr T.L. Vaidya, technical advisor. |
 |
| 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 | |
