S P O R T

Sri Lankan batsman Arjuna Ranatunge, (right) is bowled by South African spinner Nicky Boje, not in the picture, on the third day of the third and final cricket test match between the two countries in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Tuesday.  — AP/PTI

SA-Lanka Test heads for draw
COLOMBO, Aug 9 — South Africa plodded their way to 157 for five, an overall lead of 178, when heavy rain during the tea break prevented any further play on the fourth day of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka today.

Smooth sailing for Indians
NEW DELHI, Aug 9 — Four Indian wrestlers easily crossed the first round hurdle, while one fell by the wayside in the free style event of the 3rd Asian Junior Wrestling Championships at the Indira Gandhi Indoor stadium here today.

AIFF to hold 16-nation meet
New Delhi, Aug 9 — Buoyed by the Indian football team’s inspired performance in Britain recently, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has drawn up some ambitious plans to promote the game in the country.

HC seeks clarification from 2 cricket fans
NEW DELHI, Aug 9 — The Delhi High Court today sought clarification from two cricket fans, Rahul Mehra and Shantanu Sharma regarding the existence of certain material on their website against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which sought to initiate action for contempt of court against them.

Olympics’ opening to be spectacular SYDNEY, Aug 9 — A selection of Australia’s finest entertainers headed by John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John will lead celebrations at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games, it was announced today. Olympic village opens SYDNEY, Aug 9 — The world’s largest solar-powered suburb opened today when the Olympic athletes’ village, built on the grounds of a former saltmine, swung open its doors with a pledge to help Sydney games competitors enjoy their fortnight in Australia. Serena Williams sails through MANHATTAN BEACH (USA), Aug 9 —  Well-rested and ready to defend her crown, fifth-seeded Serena Williams steamrolled Ruxandra Dragomir 6-0 6-1 in 38 minutes in the opening round of the $ 535,000 Los Angeles Open.

Anzhela Balakhonova from Ukraine waves after jumping European record in the women's pole volt competition with 4,56 metres, on Tuesday, during the track and field meeting in Linz, Austria. — AP/PTI photo

Pak hope to reverse slide
KARACHI, Aug 9 — Pakistan’s hockey squad is going to Sydney hoping to reverse their slide from the top of the sport and silence the critics who say their golden days are over.

Rs 1 lakh award for Abhinav
CHANDIGARH, Aug 9 — Ace air rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra of Chandigarh, who will be the youngest marksman at the Sydney Olympics, is to be given a cash award of Rs 1 lakh by the National Rifle Association of India for equalling the junior world record and also for qualifying for the Sydney Olympics. 

REGIONAL SPORT BRIEFS

• PU inter-college sports schedule

• Yoga meet

SA-Lanka Test heads for draw

COLOMBO, Aug 9 (Reuters) — South Africa plodded their way to 157 for five, an overall lead of 178, when heavy rain during the tea break prevented any further play on the fourth day of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka today.

Sri Lanka picked up two wickets in the afternoon session as South Africa made no effort to accelerate the scoring on a pitch encouraging spin.

Opener Gary Kirsten’s 198-minute innings ended at 40 when he was trapped lbw by Muttiah Muralitharan to leave South Africa on 107 for four.

Jonty Rhodes and Lance Klusener then put on 45 before Muralitharan had Rhodes caught off pad and bat by Mahela Jayawardene for 54.

Klusener, top scorer with an unbeaten 95 in the first innings, was 27 not out at the close.

South Africa, resuming in the morning at 27 for no wicket, lost three wickets for just nine runs after Neil Mckenzie and Kirsten had completed a 50-run opening stand.

Off-spinner Muralitharan had figures of three for 41 off 29 overs.

Rhodes completed his half-century in 150 minutes with five fours, and off the next over was missed by wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara when he got an edge to a delivery from Sanath Jayasuriya.

However at 54, Rhodes pushed forward to Muralitharan and the resulting pad-bat catch was held by Mahela Jayawardene at silly mid-off.

SCOREBOARD

South Africa (Ist innings): 279

Sri Lanka (Ist innings): 258

South Africa (2nd innings) (overnight 27-0):

G Kirsten lbw b Muralitharan 40

N McKenzie run out 17

J Kallis b De Silva 0

D Cullinan c Arnold b Muralitharan 3

J Rhodes c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 54

L Klusener not out 27

M Boucher not out 2

Extras: (lb-2 nb-12) 14

Total: (for five wickets) 157

Fall of wickets: 1/50, 2/50, 3/59, 4/107, 5/152

Bowling: Vaas 10-2-22-0, Perera 2-0-13-0, Arnold 2-0-2-0, De Silva 18-5-40-1, Muralitharan 29-11-41-3, Jayasuriya 13-2-24-0, Chandana 3-0-13-0.

Asian Junior Wrestling Championships

Smooth sailing for Indians
From Our Sports Reporter

85kg: Mukkam Madi (Uzb) b Huang Chang Sen (Taipei) on points; Katayer Murzhan (Kaz) b Jumen Ker R (Kgz) on points; Susowake Takahito (Jpn) b Ali Rashid (Qatr); Gool Mohdi (Irn) b Naveen (Ind) on points. plus 97-130kg: Virender (Ind) b Holi Chunchu (Taipei) by fall; Sakamoto (Jpn) b Mohd Moaim Ahmed Ali (Qtr) on points.

Agassi, Sampras sail into 2nd round

CINCINNATI, Aug 9 (AFP) — Tennis icons Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras put their hardcourt games on track for the US Open in New York, blowing into the second round of a $ 2.95-million ATP Masters Series event yesterday.

On a day when rain stalled the start of play for almost three hours, the top two seeds got the job done efficiently on court.

Number one Agassi took a dose of confidence from his 7-6, (7/4), 6-1 defeat of last weekend’s Toronto semi-finalist Wayne Ferreira of South Africa.

It was the 30-year-old’s first win since Wimbledon after losing a week ago in a Canadian opener. Agassi strained his back in a freak car crash in Las Vegas a month ago.

“Physically, I’m feeling pretty good,” said Agassi. “But I need a few more matches to feel really good about my game.”

Sampras advanced smoothly as he vowed to make his own way through a chronically over-crowded annual tennis calendar.

The second-seeded 13-times Grand Slam winner, bidding for a third title here, stopped Argentine Mariano Zabaleta without ceremony 6-4, 6-2.

Both Sampras and Agassi are aiming for top performances at the US Open, the last major of the season which starts on August 28.

Neither veteran is prepared to go along with new ATP rules requiring all top 50 players to compete in the entire nine-event Masters Series.

Sampras, for one, said he won’t be pressured into playing anywhere he doesn’t feel is best for him and his game at this stage in his career.

“Nine is a lot, but that’s what we have,” the 28-year-old said of the obligatory Masters events. “About 90 per cent of the guys manage to play most of them, but that’s still plenty.

“It’s hard to play them all.”

Sampras, competing here for the 12th time in 13 years, has won 14 of his last 16 matches, with only a loss in the final at Queen’s to Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt and a defeat in the Toronto quarter-finals as blemishes.

The seven-time Wimbledon winner added: “I’m at a different point in my career than a 20-year-old guy just starting out. I’ll give myself the best chance at the big events and concentrate on the Slams.”

Two members of the Spanish Davis Cup squad which will play Australia in the final were knocked out.

Swede Jonas Bjorkman upset number six Alex Corretja, taking advantage of the Spaniard’s rustiness in his first hardcourt match of the summer.

The 6-4, 6-4 win for former world number four Bjorkman ended Corretja’s winning current streak at 11 matches, including title at Gstaad and Kitzbuehel on clay last month.

“I was feeling great after winning two tournaments and the Davis Cup tie over the US,” said Corretja. “As a European, the first event on hardcourt is always a very bad moment.”

“It was more important for me to prepare well for the Davis (on clay). That’s why I stayed on clay for a little longer.”

Italian Andrea Gaudenzi, who got into the field when Younes El Aynaoui retired before his match with an inflammed foot, took full advantage, sending Albert Costa to the sidelines as well 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Two minor seeds lost, with Frenchman Fabrice Santoro handing number 9 Australian Hewitt a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 decision while Todd Martin took revenge for a loss a week ago as he beat German Nicolas Kiefer 6-2, 6-2.

British 15th Tim Henman won his first hardcourt match of the summer, squeezing through 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 over American Cecil Mamiit. 

AIFF to hold 16-nation meet

New Delhi, Aug 9 (IANS) — Buoyed by the Indian football team’s inspired performance in Britain recently, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has drawn up some ambitious plans to promote the game in the country.

AIFF president Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi said the federation planned to hire foreign coaches and organise more foreign tours. It also plans to organise an international tournament at home, the Millennium Cup, with 16 top sides.

“We will have a foreign coach who will supersede the national coach,” Dasmunshi told IANS. He refused details saying he would make an announcement in the next couple of days. However, he confirmed that the Millennium Cup was on. “Absolutely. It will be held next year with 16 top teams in the fray,” he said.

An AIFF delegation led by Dasmunshi held talks with various countries during the 52nd Ordinary FIFA Congress at Zurich on Saturday.

Dasmunshi called the three-match series in Britain a “very positive experience”. India took on first division sides Fulham and West Bromwich besides Bangladesh on the British tour. They lost the first, drew the second and won the third match.

However, former Indian international Syed Shahid Hakim said too much should not be read into the three-match tour. “It has been our tradition that whenever we achieve a small victory, we become hysterical. And before leaving on a tour, they (the officials) give enough excuses so that when they lose, no one blames them,” Hakim told IANS.

India has tougher assignments lined up in the coming months. On the cards is a three-week tour of Brazil in March, which will help the players prepare for the pre-World Cup qualifying tournament. India is in Group VIII along with the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Brunei (subject to confirmation).

A trip is also being planned to South Korea next year (the original tour was deferred for want of sponsors). Padma-Ganga Cup, involving three teams from India and Bangladesh, is also on the cards. Efforts are also on to revive the Nehru Cup international tournament, though it is likely to be re-christened as Nehru Series Cup.

Despite all the recent activity, former players allege that the AIFF has no concrete plans or a well-thought out calendar. Before leaving for England with the Indian team, AIFF technical director P.K. Banerjee was very critical of the haphazard manner in which AIFF functions. “The AIFF has no connections and there is a lack of funds,” he had said.

The former India captain wanted AIFF to draw a “master plan” for the next five years, ensuring all age groups were given equal opportunities.

Hakim, a former Sports Authority of India (SAI) official, said, “The officials are getting more exposure than the players. Nine officials went to England with the team.” He said there was big difference between playing tournament matches and exhibition ties and the emphasis should be on the former.

Hakim remembers the “transformation period” in Indian football. “In 1954, a Russian team toured India and played around 35 matches all over the country,” recalled Hakim. “It created a revolution in India. The same Russian team won the Olympic gold medal two years later.” Hakim said he learnt a lot by watching the Russians.

Besides the South Asian Federation Games gold medal a few seasons ago, the national team has nothing to show in recent years. At the Asian level, India’s last win was the Asian Games gold in Jakarta in 1962.

HC seeks clarification from 2 cricket fans

NEW DELHI, Aug 9 (PTI) — The Delhi High Court today sought clarification from two cricket fans, Rahul Mehra and Shantanu Sharma regarding the existence of certain material on their website against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which sought to initiate action for contempt of court against them.

Sydney countdown — 37

Torch hijack forces SOCOG to review security
By Andy O’Brien

THE Olympic torch was briefly hijacked in a Melbourne suburb on Monday by a 19-year-old skateboarder. The youth snatched the torch from a 44-year-old woman before he was overcome by security staff. He managed to run only a few metres before he was tackled by two police officers. He was given a stern dressing down before being released. The youth had broken off from the crowd lining the road and the incident was over in a matter of seconds. He was questioned by the police, who took his details but did not arrest him. He is likely to be charged by summons after the police make further inquiries. A spokeswoman for SOCOG said the incident would be examined to see if any change was needed to security measures surrounding the torch, but this sort of incident had been anticipated by organisers. “You’ve got to plan that there will be little pranks tried like this”, the spokeswoman said. In a more scheduled interruption some kilometres away the torch relay paused in Berwick at the bronze statue of Edwin Flack, Australia’s first Olympic gold medallist. English-born Flack won gold in the 1896 Athens Olympics in the 800m and 1,500m track events. The Olympic flame passed into unauthorised hands briefly yesterday when a 19-year-old youth snatched it from an official torch relay runner as it passed through a Melbourne suburb.

Protest chain

An Aboriginal group has formally sought the go-ahead from the police to march on Sydney Airport daily in the five days before the Olympic Games begin, presenting many visitors with a human chain of protest as their first taste of the city. The Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, which has pledged to work with authorities after controversially winning the contract to run a cultural pavilion within Homebush Bay, has also officially notified the police that on September 15, the day of the opening ceremony, it plans to march on the Prime Minister’s city office. In negotiations with the Olympic Coordination Authority which have drawn fire from other Aboriginal leaders, the land council — known as Metro — has agreed not to protest at the Homebush Bay site. It is the designated protest leader for the state’s 118 local Aboriginal land councils. The group will also organise protest rallies, marches, human chains along Sydney roads, holding placards by the roadside. “A final rally here will be our own goodbye to all of the visitors, both athletes and spectators to our land”, a spokesman said.

Olympic tourists

The Aboriginal and other protesters at Sydney Airport may be disappointed with the numbers, as US tour companies are being forced to slash the prices of their Sydney Olympics packages in half as they fight an unexpected slump in demand for Games holidays. One high-end operator in New York, already offering 50 per cent discounts, believes it will have to drop its prices even further as the deadline draws closer. The sinking sales comes as Australian tourism bodies expect no net increase in tourism during the Olympics. Instead, they are pinning their hopes on a boom when the Games are over. The Australian Tourism Commission said it was confident 111,000 international visitors would come to the Games, part of an estimated 350,000 international tourists across Australia during September. These numbers are similar to international visits for last September. Sydney Airports Corporation has revised its estimates of incoming passengers by 160,000, saying there would be 100,000 fewer international arrivals and 60,000 fewer domestic visitors coming into the airport during the Games. Industry figures in the USA believe a combination of factors has contributed to the sinking sales, including a clash in timing with the beginning of the US school year and the realisation by potential visitors that many of the hotels on offer are 90 minutes and more from the Olympic site by train. Instead, Americans have decided to wait for a few weeks after the Olympics and buy top-of-the-range packages to baseball’s World Series. In a special tourism guide to the Games published by The New York Times on Sunday, the principal west coast agent for Sydney Olympics travel, Cartan Tours, described demand for its budget-priced packages as “weak”.

SOCOG reverses promise

People will not be able to buy tickets to the dress rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games after SOCOG reversed a decision on the matter last night. Last year SOCOG announced it would sell tickets to the second dress rehearsal in an attempt to raise an extra $ 10 million to fund the opening ceremony. Now the SOCOG will not sell tickets to the second dress rehearsal, on Wednesday, September 13, as previously planned. In fact tickets will not be sold to either dress rehearsal. It was suggested the logistical costs of managing crowds of up to 110,000 for two dress rehearsals would have nullified the ticket revenues.

Luxury vessels

The first of Sydney’s big and expensive private luxury cruisers for the Olympic Games has docked the bay, but interest in the marina is below official expectations. The Itasca, a 52-metre-long vessel worth $ 20 million, will be moored until early October with other vessels of the world’s rich and famous. However, only half of the 20 luxury vessel berths have been booked at the $ 2.7 million marina purpose-built to host large private vessels for the Games. Another 22 have confirmed bookings at prime positions around Sydney Harbour. The Waterways Authority, charged with providing temporary facilities for visiting boats in September, now expects between 40 and 50 luxury vessels, compared with the original forecast of up to 80. Apart from reasons of distance, some boat owners were reluctant to visit Sydney because the Games clashed with the European summer cruising season. Itasca is owned by the family of Mr William Simon, a member of the United States Olympic Committee for 30 years, who died in June. Mr Simon’s wife, Toni, would host three groups of guests, mostly American friends. The US Olympic Committee would also use the boat to entertain guests. It is that the stay in Sydney, which would cost the owner $ 60,000 would inject $ 500,000 into the local economy. Kerry Packer’s floating palace, Arctic P, would be moored at the Bay where it was based for this year’s New Year’s Eve celebrations. — (PMG)

Olympics’ opening to be spectacular

SYDNEY, Aug 9 (AFP) — A selection of Australia’s finest entertainers headed by John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John will lead celebrations at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games, it was announced today.

Director of ceremonies Ric Birch said the opening spectacle had presented him with his most complicated and technically difficult task but the artistes chosen would make the September 15 event the greatest in Olympic history.

Joining Farnham and Newton-John will be Tina Arena, Julie Anthony, Vanessa Amorosi, Human Nature, James Morrison and John Williamson, who will sing Waltzing Matilda. Farnham and Newton-John will perform the song Dare to Dream as a welcome to the world’s athletes as the Australian team enters Stadium Australia.

Anthony will be responsible for a special arrangement of Advance Australia Fair, which organisers say will “redefine the national anthem”.

Amorosi will sing Heroes Live Forever, a special composition written to coincide with the raising of Olympic flag and the entry into the stadium of the Olympic flame.

Arena’s moment in the spotlight will come with the lighting of the cauldron. She will sing The Flame, one of three Australian-composed theme songs selected from approximately 4,000 submitted.

Birch said they would have similar emotional and inspirational impact as those performed at previous Olympics by Jose Carreras and Sarah Brightman in Barcelona and Celine Dion with Power of the Dream in Atlanta.

Serena Williams sails through

MANHATTAN BEACH (USA), Aug 9 — (Reuters) Well-rested and ready to defend her crown, fifth-seeded Serena Williams steamrolled Ruxandra Dragomir 6-0 6-1 in 38 minutes in the opening round of the $ 535,000 Los Angeles Open.

Williams had not played since double-faulting match point to older sister and eventual Wimbledon champion Venus in the semifinals at the All-England Club five weeks ago.

However, the reigning US Open titleholder looked sharp as a tack in her first meeting with the overmatched 28th-ranked Dragomir yesterday.

“I’m back to the way I was playing at Wimbledon, trying to get off the court quickly,” said Williams, who ran off the first nine games of the match. “I played a pretty solid game tonight. I didn’t make too many errors. I’m kind of finished making all those errors. It’s a new millennium.”

Still, Williams, 18, admitted there was room for improvement.

“Definitely, I could have played a lot better,” said Williams who hammered just four aces and yielded just seven points off her delivery. “I could have served a lot better.

“My highest serve was at 177 kph and that’s uncharacteristic of me. I usually get it up there about 192 kph. I wasn’t happy about that.”

The recently named US Olympian and her sister have taken the game up another notch.

“We’re definitely taking the game to a new level,” said Williams, ranked seventh in the world. “People are definitely playing better than what they were a few years ago. You have to if you want to stay into it. If they had not, they would definitely be out of it.

“So everyone has lifted their game to stay on the top level because the top players are playing better now.”

The weeklong hardcourt tournament lost two top players, one off the court and one on.

Pak hope to reverse slide

KARACHI, Aug 9 (AFP) — Pakistan’s hockey squad is going to Sydney hoping to reverse their slide from the top of the sport and silence the critics who say their golden days are over.

Three-time Olympic and four-time world champions, Pakistan have been going through a trough for the past three years which has seen them drop from the elite six of the hockey world.

“It’s true that we have been going through a bad patch internationally but for the Olympics we have trained hard and are hoping to win a medal in Sydney,” team manager and local hockey legend Islahuddin Siddiqui said.

Pakistan won gold at Rome in 1960, Mexico in 1968 and Los Angeles in 1984 as well as three silver and three bronzes medals in field hockey since their national olympic debut in 1948.

But their slump has seen them lose their Asian Games title in 1998, the Asia Cup the following year and finish with the wooden spoon in the Champions Trophy in 1999.

Those losses meant they had to go through the humiliation of qualifying for a berth among the 12 teams heading for Sydney, an embarrassment which took its toll on team morale.

“The boys now lack commitment and will to win. We can only hope that somebody instills this and they achieve laurels at the Olympics,” said Abdul Waheed Khan, a member of Pakistan’s golden team of 1960.

Pakistan have shown some signs of resurgence this year, clinching the seven-nation Azlan Shah tournament in February and then finishing runners-up at Osaka in the Olympics qualifying rounds in March.

“Our recent performances give us the edge and our first and the only task is to win the Olympic gold,” team captain Ahmed Alam said.

Only three in the squad — Mohammad Sarwar, Malik Shafqat and Kamran Ashraf — played at the 1996 Games where Pakistan plunged to a dismal sixth.

“The team lacks experience but has a good chance at least to go to the semis and beyond that it will be all luck,” former Olympian Shahnaz Sheikh said.

Sheikh said it might be “third time lucky” for Siddiqui who did not win Olympic gold in his illustrious career but would be leading his third Olympic campaign as manager.

The team has had very little luck so far in its preparations, which have been marred by a leadership crisis in the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF).

In a week of turmoil in June, the PHF secretary was suspended, the president was sacked and the coach resigned in frustration.

“It was sad that such a crisis came about so close to the Olympics but the team and the management have seriously worked to produce good results in Sydney,” new PHF secretary Brigadier Musarratullah Khan said.

The PHF is now headed by a serving General Abdul Aziz Khan, one of at least two military appointments to top sports posts since Pakistan’s army took over in a coup last October.

Pakistan have been drawn into a tough pool in Sydney, alongside defending champions the Netherlands, European champions Germany, 1988 Olympic champions Great Britain, Pan American champions Canada and Malaysia.

“We have two of the three best European teams in our pool and for that we will play all matches as the final,” Siddiqui said.

The rise of strong, slogging European hockey teams has changed the way the game is played on the sub-continent, with Pakistan’s trademark guile and stick work no longer as effective.

Pakistan have also taken the European lead with a potent penalty corner expert in Sohail Abbas.

“Abbas will hold the key because he has matured as a penalty corner expert by playing in the Dutch league,” former captain Shahbaz Ahmed said.

“If the management let Abbas play freely, which I fear they won’t, he can deliver the goods,” Ahmed said.

Olympic village opens

SYDNEY, Aug 9 (AFP) — The world’s largest solar-powered suburb opened today when the Olympic athletes’ village, built on the grounds of a former saltmine, swung open its doors with a pledge to help Sydney games competitors enjoy their fortnight in Australia.

It will be home to more than 15,000 athletes during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

About 10,000 staff will work at the village, which will include a retail complex, extensive dining areas, a post office, bank and laundry facilities.

The heads of each competing nation’s Olympic team will arrive at the village from August 26 with athletes scheduled to arrive from September 2.

“The homely aspect is what athletes are going to appreciate, instead of being in hotel rooms,” said 1996 Olympic women’s hockey gold medallist Danielle Roche, adding that the stadiums were within walking distance.

“We have tried to provide a home away from home for the athletes of the world,” said village General Manager Maurice Holland.

However, former Olympic boxer Rick Timperi wondered whether the village was too isolated.

Rs 1 lakh award for Abhinav
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 9 — Ace air rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra of Chandigarh, who will be the youngest marksman at the Sydney Olympics, is to be given a cash award of Rs 1 lakh by the National Rifle Association of India for equalling the junior world record and also for qualifying for the Sydney Olympics. This was earlier announced by the President of the National Rifle Association of India at the last National Shooting Championships at Phillaur.

Seventeen-year-old Abhinav Bindra, who achieved a record of 596/600 at the Munich World Cup last month but missed the medal by a whisker will be given the award at a function presided over by the President of the National Rifle Association of India and the Union Minister of State for Railways, Mr Digvijay Singh, on August 11, a spokesman of the association said.

The Chandigarh-based Punjab shooter won a bronze medal in the Asian Shooting Championship held in Langkawi, Malaysia, in January, 2000, with a score of 592. 

REGIONAL SPORT BRIEFS

PU inter-college sports schedule

CHANDIGARH, Aug 9 (BOSR) — The Department of Sports, Panjab University, has announced the inter-college sports calendar for boys in 28 sports disciplines for the session 2000-2001 with wrestling for men beginning in the last week of September. The other men’s competitions are cross-country, squash, judo, handball and kho kho (first week of October), swimming and waterpolo (second week of October), kabaddi (national style) and table tennis (third week of October) gymnastics (last week of October), basketball, volleyball and hockey (first week of November), cricket (second week of November), relay races, decathlon, walk and half marathon (third week of November), boxing, weightlifting, best physique, powerlifting, tennis, cycling, athletics (first week of December), yoga, football (first week of January), softball (second week of January), badminton and kabaddi (last week of January).

Yoga meet

CHANDIGARH, Aug 9 (TNS) — At least 24 districts and university teams will compete in the Haryana yoga championship at Narnaul on August 16 and 17.

More than 300 participants in the age groups — 8-12, 12-18, 18-25 (girls), 25-40, 40-50 and above 50 years (women), 8-14, 14-20, 20-30 (boys) and 30-40, 40-50 and above 50 years (men) would compete in the championship.