S P O R T

SA down fighting Pakistan
SHARJAH, March 24 — South Africa made heavy weather of a manageable chase set up by Lance Klusener’s superb five-wicket haul before downing a fighting Pakistan by three wickets with 5.3 overs to spare to score their second straight victory in the Coca Cola cup triseries here tonight.

SHARJAH : Mohammed Azharuddin acknowledges the applause from the crowd for his fifty, which setup his team's win over Pakistan, in their cricket match in the Sharjah cup, in the Sharjah stadium, UAE, on Thursday. — AP/PTI photo

Azhar slams critics for ‘loose talk’ SHARJAH, March 24 — A day after winning the man of the match award in the crucial league clash with Pakistan, Mohammad Azharuddin slammed his critics for their “outrageous statements” against him. Kapil praises Azhar’s knock SHARJAH, March 24 — Indian coach Kapil Dev has praised Mohammad Azharuddin for his knock of 54 in the team’s five-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan dispelling notions that relations between the two former captains were strained.

REGIONAL SPORT BRIEFS

• Chandigarh men beat Karnataka
• Bank sports meet
• Fencing results
  
  
  
  
  

SA down fighting Pakistan

SHARJAH, March 24 (PTI) — South Africa made heavy weather of a manageable chase set up by Lance Klusener’s superb five-wicket haul before downing a fighting Pakistan by three wickets with 5.3 overs to spare to score their second straight victory in the Coca Cola cup triseries here tonight.

The 28-year-old Klusener cut through the unsettled Pakistan batting line-up after a 115-run second wicket stand between teenaged opener Imran Nazir (71) and fellow Rookie Younis Khan (48) to restrict them to 196 for eight wickets on skipper Moin Khan electing to bat first.

The South African chase threatened to come unstuck as Pakistan fought back with a depleted bowling attack before left-hander Nicky Boje hit an unbeaten 39 off only 41 balls to help his team reach 199 for seven wickets in 44.3 overs in the third straight low-scoring tie at the Sharjah stadium.

The result kept South Africa’s unbeaten record at this desert venue intact — it was their 14th victory — and lifted them to the top of the table with four points ahead of India’s two as Pakistan were left at the bottom after two straight defeats going into the second set of league matches starting on March 26.

Paceman Waqar Younis (2/28) dealt an early blow when he removed in-form Herschelle Gibbs for a first ball nought and then sent back the other opener Gary Kirsten (20) also in an identical fashion, caught by Inzamam-ul Haq at slips.

Pakistan made a match of it despite the absence of bowling stalwarts Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar due to groin trouble as they exposed South African batsmen’s weakness against spin.

An aggressive Jacques Kallis (35 off 38 balls) was caught behind by Moin Khan off paceman Abdur Razzaq before off-spinners Arshad Khan (2/34) and young Shoaib Malik joined hands to snare neil McKenzie (31), skipper Hansie Cronje (14) and Klusener (5) to leave South Africa struggling at 136 for six wickets in the 33rd over.

But Mark Boucher hit a patient 27 off 51 balls to keep the South African innings alive and though leg spinner Shahid Afridi had him caught and bowled to raise hopes for Pakistan, Boje underlined his batting abilities yet again by smashing a few boundaries, including two in succession off an otherwise impressive Younis, to herald victory well within the distance.

Pakistan fielded brilliantly with Inzamam’s leaping catch to remove Kirsten and Shoaib Malik’s similar effort at squareleg after Cronje swept Arshad Khan firmly standing out.

Klusener was declared man of the match for his brilliant effort with the ball. The medium-pacer bowled Nazir, who endured a painful blow on his hip off a Steve Elworthy (2/43) delivery to make his strokeful half-century, and also claimed Younis Khan before adding the experienced Inzamam-ul Haq (7) and Yousuf Youhana (15) cheaply to give South Africa the edge.

Earlier, the explosive Shahid Afridi (6) fell cheaply for the second time in the tournament when Elworthy removed him.

But the 18-year-old Nazir, who had also top-scored against India by making 43 in Pakistan’s five wicket defeat, batted freely and packed much power in his frail body by hitting three sixes, one off young paceman Makhaya Ntini and two off Cronje’s medium-pace stuff.

His 71 came off 114 balls and was also studded with five fours.

Younis Khan (48 - 95 b, 4x4, 1x6), who made a sensational Test debut against Sri Lanka recently with a century, played patiently in the century partnership with Nazir, but was caught by Elworthy at leg slip as Klusener struck the very next ball after being hit for a six.

Only Razzaq with a breezy 23 off 25 balls at the fag end enabled Pakistan to reach around the 200-run mark.

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan:

Nazir b Klusener 71

Afridi c McKenzie b Elworthy 6

Younis Khan c Elworthy b

Klusener 48

Moin Khan lbw b Klusener 0

Haq c Boucher b Klusener 7

Youhana b Klusener 15

Razzaq c Gibbs b Elworthy 23

Younis c Boje b Ntini 8

Malik not out 3

Arshad Khan not out 1

Extras (lb-7, nb-1, w-6) 14

Total (for 8 wkts in 50 overs) 196

Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-129, 3-129, 4-142, 5-145, 6-165, 7-192, 8-193

Bowling: Hayward 10-1-21-0, Kallis 3-1-3-0, Elworthy 10-1-43-2, Ntini 9-1-38-1, Cronje 4-0-24-0, Klusener 10-0-47-5, Boje 4-0-13-0.

South Africa:

Kirsten c Inzamam b Waqar 20

Gibbs c Inzamam b Waqar 0

Kallis c Moin b Razzaq 35

Cronje c Malik b Arshad 14

McKenzie lbw b Arshad 31

Boucher c and b Afridi 27

Klusener c Moin b Malik 5

Boje not out 35

Elworthy not out 4

Extras (b-14, nb-6, w-8) 28

Total (for 7 wkts in 44.3 overs) 199

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-45, 3-69, 4-98, 5-124, 6-136, 7-163.

Bowling: Waqar 7-0-28-2, Mohd Akram 7.3-0-44-0, Razzaq 10-1-43-1, Arshad Khan 10-2-34-2, Malik 7-0-33-1, Afridi 3-0-3-1.

Olympian Udham Singh dead

JALANDHAR , March 24 (UNI) — India’s hockey legend Udham Singh died of cardiac arrest at his home in native Sansarpur village here last night.

The four-time Olympian suffered cardiac arrest for the second time within hours after being discharged from a private hospital here last evening, according to Colonel Balbir Singh, a former hockey Olympian and also from the same village.

Dr Darshan Singh, who treated the Olympian, told UNI that Udham Singh was “brought dead” to his hospital around 9 p.m.

Col Singh said India’s veteran Olympic forward at Helsinki, Melbourne, Rome and Tokyo in 1952, 1956, 1960 and 1964 respectively, had celebrated his discharge from hospital by distributing sweets to young hockey trainees at his village before returning home.

Udham Singh’s native village Sansarpur is popularly known as India’s hockey nursery for having produced several Olympians.

Udham Singh is survived by his third wife and three-year-old daughter, Col Singh said.

The Olympian’s body has been kept in a private mortuary at Bundala village and would be cremated after the arrival of his nephews from abroad, expectedly on March 26.

Udham Singh, the first Arjuna awardee, was the second Indian to have played four Olympics, but missed playing the fifth in 1948 owing to hand injury, Col Singh said. L. Claudius is the other Indian who saw action in four Olympics. From the Indian subcontinent, Udham Singh was among the four legends who played four Olympics. The remaining two were Brigadier Hamidi and Brigadier Atif of Pakistan Army, Col Balbir Singh added.

Udham Singh, after his retirement from national hockey, played for Border Security Force and Punjab Police for several years and remained an inspiration for younger players for his sheer grit and dedication to the cause and promotion of hockey till his death.

Against the advice of Mr Darshan Singh for mandatory two-week rest for recuperation after first heart attack a few days ago, Udham Singh, went to Sansarpur playground and distributed sweets to youngsters to celebrate his hospital discharge and returned home only to suffer the second heart attack which proved fatal.

Col Singh said in his death, the nation had lost a legendary player who remained committed to hockey all his life. His dedication will continue to inspire young players for times to come, he added.

A teetotaller, Udham Singh, a physical fitness freak, lived by example and would give a run for money to players in their twenties by running around the Ashwini Stadium in BST campus here four times at a stretch.

Udham Singh maintained a low profile throughout his life and never craved for awards. To the young boys at Sansarpur where he continued to harness budding talent till the last breath, he was a hero who inspired them to give their best every day during training at the playground set up with the initiative of then corps commander and now Western Command chief, Lt-General H.B. Kala.

Self-sufficient and self-reliant, he distributed playing kit to youngsters from his own resources to keep the flame of hockey burning in his native Sansarpur.

Kapil praises Azhar’s knock

SHARJAH, March 24 (UNI) — Indian coach Kapil Dev has praised Mohammad Azharuddin for his knock of 54 in the team’s five-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan dispelling notions that relations between the two former captains were strained.

“It was very sensible batting ... Azharuddin played like a mature cricketer,’’ Kapil said after the match last night.

During India’s disastrous tour of Australia late last year under Sachin Tendulkar, there were numerous media reports about the strained relations between the team management and Azharuddin. As the Indian batsmen failed Down Under, wilting under the Australian pace attack, it was said the BCCI’s move to recall Azharuddin, who had been in the wilderness since leading the side in the World Cup in England, was thwarted by Kapil Dev and Tendulkar.

Both Kapil and Tendulkar had maintained that they wanted to build a side for the future, in an oblique disapproval of the inclusion of 37-year-old Azharuddin.

Meanwhile, Azharuddin continued to represent Hyderabad and did get runs in a bid to stage a comeback and when Tendulkar decided to quit captaincy after the two-Test series against South Africa back home coinciding with Azharuddin’s return to the side, many in the cricketing circles found a linkage between the two events. After missing the Mumbai Test due to injury, Azharuddin scored a century in the second Test at Bangalore to silence the critics.

Kapil and Azharuddin were also seen exchanging views in the players’ gallery at the ground last evening during the early part of the India innings.

Speculation was rife in the press box whether pace bowler Javagal Srinath had been dropped or was injured, as indicated by the team management.

Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly does not shy away from saying his mind and is quite forthright while dealing with the media. But with regards to Srinath’s exclusion, he remained a bit elusive when grilled about it. He gave a one word answer “Injury’’.

When asked pointedly whether Srinath would have played had he not been ‘’injured’’, Ganguly groped for an answer and said.’’ That made my job easier.’’ This was enough of a hint for the journalists to pick up that Srinath had been dropped because of his poor showing since his return to the side in the fourth one-dayer against the South Africans after being rested following the Test series.

The seamer currently finds himself against the run of play. He was hammered by the South Africans in the last three matches. In the inaugural tie against the Proteas on March 22, Srinath bowled only four overs giving away 25 runs as openers Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs heaped a 10-wicket defeat on India.

Venkatesh Prasad, who replaced Srinath, bowled with venom and provided a breakthrough off his very first ball in the second over of the Pakistani innings, claiming Shahid Afridi. His bowling quota of 10 overs read a miserly 29 for two wickets.

Ganguly attributed the win to the bowlers who contained the rival batsmen to a modest total. “We were upset about the loss against South Africa and played to a plan. The boys were very keen to do well,’’ he said.

The Indians have now two days to recharge their batteries and take on Pakistan and South Africa consecutively on March 26 and March 27.

The Indian skipper predicted low scoring matches in the current tournament because of the wicket. “The ball does not come on to the bat and the outfield is very slow.’’

About the rivals in the current tri-series, Ganguly said Pakistan has an edge in bowling while “overall South Africa is a better side.’’

Azhar slams critics for ‘loose talk’

SHARJAH, March 24 (PTI) — A day after winning the man of the match award in the crucial league clash with Pakistan, Mohammad Azharuddin slammed his critics for their “outrageous statements” against him.

The 37-year-old former Indian skipper, who made an excellent 54 to help India beat their arch-rivals in the trination series, dismissed as “loose talk” suggestions that he had aged.

“I think people basically make statements these days to be in news. They don’t know what they are talking. By giving, what should I say, outrageous statements. It allows them to be in news. It just shows the class of these people”, he told PTI here today.

Asked whether he needed lot of mental strength to overcome such criticism, Azharuddin said “I don’t want to talk about it. People are bound to talk. You can’t have everything in life. I have always kept myself strong and taken things in my stride. I have still not said anything about anyone”.

On his return to the team after being in the wilderness since the World Cup in England last year, the wristy batsman said: “I am quite pleased with the way things have gone. I was out for seven months. I made a lot of sacrifices. It has paid off. I am happy”.

Azharuddin, who won a man of the match award in a one-dayer after 15 years — he last claimed the honours in the Bensen and Hedges world series in Australia in 1985 — said mental strength was the key to his successful return.

“I have never really felt very tired,” said Azharuddin, still one of the fittest and agile players in the side, when asked whether he felt like choosing his games owing to his age.

Azharuddin conceded he was not “agile as I used to be” and that he felt a bit stiff after a game. But “that’s about it”, he said adding he enjoyed all games and did not feel the need to be rested from time to time.

The artistic batsman, who burst on the international scene in 1984-85 with centuries in each of his first three Tests against England, claimed there was no magic potion behind his longevity and said “I just try to control my dietary habits and exercises”.

A veteran of 329 one-dayers and one short of 100 Tests, Azharuddin said he always tried to play as positively as he could. “In the last 10 years, the game has changed a lot. When I came to international cricket, there was a lot of stress on playing defensively. But because of one-dayers the game has changed for the better. One-day cricket has made players play a lot of shots”.

He said he always made it a point to play his natural game. “I have never curbed my natural instincts. What comes naturally to you, you must do. You are only noticed when you do what you are good at...,” he said.

Cairns to Kiwis’ rescue

WELLINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) — Allrounder Chris Cairns struck a dramatic century to boost New Zealand to a first innings 298 on the opening day of the second Test against Australia today, and the home team went on to seize two quick wickets.

At the close, Australia were 29 for two, losing Greg Blewett for a duck off Simon Doull and Shane Warne, sent in early as night watchman, leg before to Daniel Vettori for seven. Mark Slater was unbeaten with 22 when stumps were drawn.

Cairns hit 109, including two sixes and 14 fours off 122 balls in 159 minutes, and figured in two solid run-getting partnerships with Nathan Astle and Adam Parore.

New Zealand picked three seamers and surprisingly elected to bat against the best strike attack in the world on a wicket expected to favour bowlers on the first day.

The home side, who have not lost a Test to Australia at wellington’s Basin Reserve for more than 50 years, staggered to 69 for five at lunch against an aggressive Australian attack.

Glen McGrath opened the bowling for Australia with a maiden, and two early wickets fell to rising paceman Brett Lee. Craig Spearman was caught behind by Adam Gilchrist and Matt Horne was well taken by Warne.

Matthew Sinclair went leg before to Miller in the last ball of the 10th over.

After seeing the score dribble to 53 by the 19th over, captain Stephen Fleming, troubled by a recurring groin strain, lobbed up a catch in Warne’s first over.

Next to go was Craig McMillan, caught behind by Gilchrist for one off Lee 10 minutes before lunch, taking Lee’s figures to 3-20 in his ninth over.

Astle steadied the innings and reached his 50 in the 35th over. That, combined with a series of cracking sixes from Cairns, bolstered New Zealand.

But Astle, with eight boundaries, was caught in the slips by Mark Waugh off Warne for 61.

Cairns continued to flay the bowling, taking New Zealand to 204 for six by tea. However, his 109-run partnership with Parore was broken shortly afterwards when the plucky wicketkeeper was caught by Gilchrist off Blewett for 46.

Cairns later defended New Zealand’s decision to bat, noting that the wicket flattened out later in the day.

“I thought we made the correct decision to bat first... They took the upper hand, we just had to fight back.”

New Zealand manager David Trist said the pitch played exactly as he had expected and pointed the finger at his batsmen for the poor start.

“We’re disappointed that the top order isn’t firing the way it should,’’ Trist said, adding that taking two Australian wickets before the close of play put New Zealand in a good position to push forward.

SCOREBOARD

New Zealand (1st Innings)

M. Horne c Warne b Lee 4

C. Spearman c Gilchrist b Lee 4

M. Sinclair lbw Miller 4

S. Fleming c Miller b Lee 16

N. Astle c M. Waugh b Warne 61

C. McMillan c Gilchrist b Lee 1

C. Cairns c Blewett b Miller 109

A. Parore c Gilchrist b Blewett 46

D. Vettori c Langer b Warne 27

S. Doull c Slater b Warne 12

S. O’Connor not out 2

Extras (B-1 lB-8 NB-3) 12

Total (All Out 80.5 Overs) 298

Fall of Wickets: 1-4 2-9 3-18 4-53 5-66 6-138 7-247 8-282 9-287 10-298

Bowling: McGrath 17-4-60-0 (NB-2), Lee 17-2-49-3, Miller 20-2-78-2, Warne 14.5-1-68-4 (NB-1), G. Blewett 8-1-24-1, S.Waugh 4-0-10-0.

Australia (1st Innings)

Slater not out 22

G. Blewett c Astle b Doull 0

S. Warne lbw Vettori 7

Extras 0

Total (For Two Wickets) 29

Fall of Wickets: 1-8 2-29

Bowling (To Date): Cairns 3-0-14-0, Doull 3-1-12-1, Vettori 1-0-3-1.

Anand registers 1st victory

MONTE CARLO, March 24 (UNI) — Viswanathan Anand moved one more step forward and became the joint second as he scored his first win in the rapid section defeating Jeroen Piket of the Netherlands in the seventh round of the Amber Chess Tournament here.

Anand leads the standings in blindfold with 5.5 point out of seven and is a clear full point ahead of Veselin Topalov, Alexei Shirov, Antoly Karpov and Vladimir Kramnik who all have 4.5 each.

Anand has 3.5 points from rapid, in which section Shirov is way ahead with six out of seven. Shirov also leads the overall standings with 10.5 points, while Anand and Topalov are joint second with nine points each. There are still four more rounds to go in the tournament.

The Indian Grandmaster, who had a poor start in the tournament has now won at least one game in each of his last three rounds. He won the rapid game in style and then drew the blindfold game to score 1.5-0.5 victory against the Dutchman. That took Anand’s tally to nine points from a maximum possible 14. He shares the second place with Veselin Topalov, who had a bad day against Alexei Shirov, the leader.

Shirov won the rapid game and drew the blindfold against Topalov and now leads the 10.5 points from seven rounds.

Anand, whose result in the rapid games have been rather poor this time, finally logged a win. In a long and technical game, where Anand was always slightly better in a closed ruy lopez-position, he played his strong and active knight against Piket’s passive bishop and wrested the control decisively. He won in 46 moves.

In the blindfold game both players agreed to a draw after 26 moves.

Shirov had a great day beating his most important opponent Topalov. The Latvian born Spanish GM has won each of his seven rounds by an identical 1.5-0.5 margin and is now the only unbeaten player in the tournament.

In the rapid game it was Topalov, as black, who sacrificed the exchange in a sharp line of the Sicilian. But it did not work and Shirov got control over the position. Topalov fought gamely for 75 moves before resigning.

In the blindfold game both players again played sharply. The game was an exciting draw after 35 moves.

Karpov and Nikolic played two exciting draws, where Karpov even missed a mater in two in the rapid. The rapid game went on for a marathon 111 moves and the blindfold went on for 63 before being drawn.

Talking of missed chances, Loek Van Wely missed a big chance in the rapid game against Ivanchuk. Ultimately Ivanchuk turned the tables and went on to win himself. In the blindfold Van Wely again lost a safe position to hand Ivanchuk a good 2-0 win.

Kramnik beat Lautier 1.5-0.5 while Ljubomir Ljubojevic lost 0-2 to Boris Gelfand.

Results of the seventh round:

Rapid: Lautier lost to Kramnik; Ljubojevic lost to Gelfand; Van Wely lost to Ivanchuk; Shirov beat Topalov; Karpov drew with Nikolic; Anand beat Piket.

Blindfold : Kramnik drew with Lautier; Gelfand beat Ljubojevic Ivanchuk beat Van Wely; Topalov drew with Shirov; Nikolic drew with Karpov; Piket drew with Anand.

Rapid standings: 1. Shirov 6.0 2. Ivanchuk 5.0 3. Topalov 4.5 4. Gelfand, Karpov 4 each; Van Wely, Anand, and Kramnik 3.5 each 9. Nikolic 2.5 10. Piket and Lautier 2 each 12. Ljubojevic 1.5.

Blindfold standings: 1. Anand 5.5 2. Topalov, Shirov, Karpov and Kramnik 4.5 each 6. Piket 4 7. Gelfand 3.5 8. Ljubojevic and Ivanchuk 2.5 each 10. Nikolic, Lautier and Van Wely 2 each.

Overall standings: 1. Shirov 10.5 2. Topalov and Anand 9.0 each 4. Karpov 8.5 5. Kramnik 8.0 6. Ivanchuk, Gelfand 7.5 each 8. Piket 6 9. Van Wely 5.5 10. Nikolic 4.5 11. Ljubojevic and Lautier 4.

BSF must win against ITI
By Amardeep Bhattal
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, March 24 — An intense battle for survival is on the cards as debutants Border Security Force, Jalandhar, and Indian Telephone Industries, Bangalore, lock horns in the concluding round of the National Football League at Ludhiana’s Guru Nanak Stadium tomorrow.

Currently trailing at the tenth and eleventh positions with 17 and 16 points, respectively, the two teams are on the brink of relegation. While BSF are in a must-win situation as three points gained from a victory tomorrow will help them retain their slot in the NFL next year, a draw will be enough to ensure ITI’s survival as one more point will enable them to pip the para-military outfit for the tenth position. The two bottom placed teams, as per norms laid down by the All-India Football Federation, are relegated to the second division while the winners and runners-up from this division are promoted to the NFL. Incidentally, BSF had qualified for the NFL this year by virtue of finishing runners-up in the second division last year.

ITI, who are the Karnataka League champions for the past 17 years, last played at Ludhiana against JCT on February 6 when they lost by a solitary goal. Till now, ITI have played 21 matches, out of which they have won only three. The team, coached by Nagendran, have drawn eight ties while losing ten matches till the penultimate round. With BSF virtually breathing down their neck, the Bangalore outfit desperately need a point tomorrow which alone can save them from relegation.

Playing in the NFL for the second year in running, ITI have in their ranks a couple of foreigners,including Nigerians Oneka, Gabriel and George. Another foreigner, Yousuf Mohammed, who plays as a stopper back, is from Oman. Besides, the team has some talented Manipuri youngsters like Khogen Singh, Rajesh Meethi and Candid Maring. ITI’s defence comprises Sunil Kumar, Murlidhar, N. Jamal and Yousuf while Gabriel, Meethi and Candid control the midfield. George and RC Prakash lead the attack upfront with N. Balaji doing duty under the bar.

In their previous outing against State Bank of Travancore at Thiruvananthapuram on March 21, ITI gave their rivals a tough fight, although they lost 3-4. The scorers were RC Prakash, George and Murlidharan. In 21 matches, ITI have scored 18 goals while conceding 27.

BSF, in contrast, have an inferior scoring rate. In 21 matches, the security men have scored only nine goals while conceding 23. This, in fact, is coach Shyam Kumar’s main worry. However, going by the performance of the security men in the last few matches, it seems the Jalandhar outfit are gradually improving. Although BSF are trailing at the 11th position, they have already caused a few ripples in the league, including stunning victories over Mahindra and Mahindra and Dempo. The last victory over FC Kochin has really sent their spirits soaring.

BSF have the reliable Bibhas Saha under the bar and the defence manned by Raghubir Singh, Mobi Singh, and Pradip Gorai have given a good account of themselves. In the midfield, Sane Lama, Prasanta Das and J. Oseph form the vital link while the attack is spearheaded by Gurjit Atwal and D.S. Negi.

As part of their strategy, BSF have been utilising the services of J. Oseph upfront which has really paid dividends. In the match against Mahindras at Ludhiana on February 19, J. Oseph scored both the goals in the team’s 2-0 win.

With tomorrow’s tie assuming immense significance, coach Shyam Kumar will leave nothing to chance, since it is the question of his team’s survival in the NFL.

The kick-off is at 3 p.m.

MCM, DAV win PU championship
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, March 24 — MCM DAV College for Women, Sector 36, Chandigarh in the girls section and DAV College, Sector 10, in the boys section won the overall championship for the session 1999-2000 securing 413 and 462 points, respectively, in the annual sports prize distribution function of Panjab University held at PU gymnasium hall today. Prof MM Puri, Vice-Chancellor of the university gave away the prizes to the winners. Dr Ajmer Singh, Director, Sports, read the annual report of the college.

In the girls section, Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, Chandigarh, secured second place with 275 points and Government College for Girls, Sector 11 was third with 244 points. In the boys section, Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, earned second place with 246 points while GGD SD College, Sector 32, was third with 216 points.

This year in the All-India inter-varsity meet, judo girls team bagged the gold medal. The boys cycling and weightlifting team and softball girls team secured the runners-up position. PU boys were also placed third in badminton, boxing, handball, hockey, basketball, and softball while the girls got third place in cross country. Other honours garnered by PU boys were in gymnastics, athletics, judo, swimming, wrestling, best physique and powerlifting at All-India level while the girls earned medals in athletics, yoga, powerlifting and weightlifting.

At the North inter-varsity level, PU girls were runners-up in handball and basketball, earned third place in kho-kho and table tennis and were placed fourth in volleyball. PU boys were the winners in football, runners-up in handball, hockey, table tennis, lawn tennis and basketball, in kho-kho they were placed third and in volleyball they secured fourth position.

Stage set for eves’ qualifiers
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, March 24 — With the completion this week of the men’s qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games, won by Spain, six more teams have earned the right to participate in the men’s Olympic hockey tournament. And beginning tomorrow in Milton Keynes, the last of the qualifiers in the women’s section will be determined.

Along with Spain, the other teams to have qualified for the men’s Olympic tournament are Pakistan, Korea, Poland, Great Britain and Malaysia. Argentina finished in seventh place, making it the first reserve team to go to Sydney, should any of the 12 qualified countries not participate. The men’s qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games was successfully hosted in Osaka by the Japan Hockey Association, according to Ms Mary Coyle, Manager Communications, FIH.

The six other teams who had already qualified for Sydney watched with interest to see the remainder of the Olympic field fill up in Japan. Australia had already qualified as hosts and winners of the Oceania Cup. The Netherlands qualified as current Olympic champions, and continental representatives who qualified are Canada (winners of the Pan Am Games), Germany (winners of the European Nations Cup), India (winners of the Asian Games) and South Africa (winners of the All Africa Games). There remains, however, a question as to whether South Africa would be permitted to participate in Sydney. While not included with the Olympic team recently announced by the National Olympic Committee of South Africa, efforts are being made to get that decision reversed. The FIH is awaiting the outcome of ongoing internal discussion on the matter.

Five of the 10 teams participating in the women’s qualifying tournament for the Olympics Games will earn a spot at the Olympic later this year. Vying for those precious last places are Pool A — Germany, India, Ireland, Spain and the USA; Pool B — China, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand and Russia. Already qualified for the Sydney Olympic are Australia (hosts, Oceania Cup winners and current Olympic champions), Argentina (winners of the Pan Am Games), Korea (winners of the Asian Games), Netherlands (winners of the European Nations Cup) and South Africa (winners of All-Africa Games.)

Patiala college win volleyball title
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, March 24 — Government Medical College, Patiala won the volleyball event beating Government Medical College, Faridkot in a five-set thriller of the penultimate day of the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences inter-medical college sports meet being played at the Medical College grounds here today.

After being two sets down, Amarpreet Singh and Jatinder Pannu led a superb fightback to enable their team to win 19-25, 23-25, 25-16, 25-14, 15-7.

In fencing, Government Medical College, Patiala had little problem winning the title, beating Government College, Amritsar. While the Amritsar boys won the sabre event, the hosts outplayed their rivals in epee and foil events to pick up the title.

In football, the final will be played tomorrow between Government Medical College, Patiala and Government Medical College, Amritsar. Earlier, in the semifinals the hosts crushed Dental College, Patiala 4-0 while Medical College, Amritsar managed to scrap past fighting Medical College, Faridkot by a solitary goal.

In cricket Medical College, Amritsar beat DAV Ayurvedic College in the first semifinal and will meet the winners of the match between Medical College, Patiala and Dental College, Faridkot.

Rafter included in Davis Cup squad

SYDNEY, March 24 (Reuters) - Former US Open champion Patrick Rafter was included today in a seven-man Australian squad for next month’s Davis Cup quarterfinal against Germany.

Rafter has not played Davis Cup in almost a year because of a shoulder problem. Australia’s non-playing captain John Newcombe said the serve and volleyer would not be considered for either of the two singles berths but could play doubles.

A final decision on the makeup of the Australian team will be made next week when the squad is cut to four players, Newcombe said.

“We will be carefully considering all of our options. There’s a multitude of combinations with this line-up and we want to go with the most powerful.”

Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Philippoussis are almost certain to be given the two singles spots.

REGIONAL SPORT BRIEFS

Chandigarh men beat Karnataka

GURDASPUR, March 24 (FOC) — Mr Natha Singh Dalam, Minister for Public Relations inaugurated the 13th Inter-State Kabaddi Championship being organised by the Amateur Circle Kabaddi Federation of India at Dhariwal today. As many as 15 teams in the men’s section and 10 teams in the women’s section are participating.

In the opening match in the men’s section Chandigarh beat Karnataka 47-44. Several national players, including Kuldip Singh Kahiya from Punjab, Kuldip Singh Rupa from Chandigarh, Satbir Singh from Haryana and A.P. Pandey from Madhya Pradesh are participating in the tournament, representing their respective states.

Mr Dalam said the Punjab Government would spend about Rs 10 crore for the benefit of players participating in national tournaments and meets.

Bank sports meet

PATIALA, March 24 (FOSR) — More than 300 players are expected to take part in the third annual sports meet of State Bank of Patiala which starts at Physical College of Education here tomorrow.

The multi-discipline meet will include events of athletics, badminton, table tennis, carrom and kho-kho. Mr A.K. Batra, Managing Director of the State Bank of Patiala, will distribute the prizes.

Fencing results

LUDHIANA, March 24 (FOSR) — Following are the results of the Ludhiana District Fencing Championship for boys and girls held here at the Arya College for Boys on Thursday.

Girls (epee)-1-Saruchi Dhir, 2-Shilpi Dhir, 3-Radha Rani; foil-1-Rupinder Kaur, 2-Sonia Sharma, 3-Vandana Vaid.

Boys-(sabre)-1-Surinder Pal, 2-Gurjeet Singh, 3-Karamdeep Singh; epee-1-Munish Kumar, 2-Thomas Masih, 3 Satish; foil-1-Amanpreet Singh, 2-Amandeep Singh, 3-Sandeep Joshi.