Aussies, South Africa tie in repeat thriller

MELBOURNE, Aug 18 (Reuters) — Australia and South Africa today battled each other to a tie in a thrilling one-day repeat of last year’s epic World Cup semifinal.

Australia looked to have the upper hand at the indoor Docklands Stadium after restricting the South Africans to 226 for eight from 50 overs and then cruising to 164 for 3.

But the Proteas struck back as the world champions lost their next five wickets for just 50 runs to collapse to 214 for 8.

With all their recognised batsmen gone Australia, who won the first match of the series, needed 13 off the final over.

Somehow though they managed to get 12 and forced a tie when leg spinner Shane Warne scrambled through for a single off the final ball.

“It’s a fair indication of the closeness of the two sides,” Australian captain Steve Waugh said.

“We probably both thought we should have won the game so it was probably a fair result.”

The tie rekindled memories of last year’s World Cup match in England which also finished level.

Australia advanced to the final — after South Africa’s final pair engineered a suicidal run-out — because of a superior run-rate from their earlier games. They went on to win the title for a second time.

The sides have played each other five times since for two wins apiece and a tie.

“It was a very exciting game,” South African captain Shaun Pollock said. “It really could have gone either way.”

After winning Wednesday’s opening match of the three-game series by 94 runs with an imposing total of 295, the Australians seemed to be on target to clinch the series after the South African innings.

Australia’s fast bowler Jason Gillespie made a triumphant return to the international arena by taking three vital wickets in his first match since fracturing his leg and wrist in a collision with Steve Waugh 11 months ago.

Gillespie clean bowled Jacques Kallis for 22 in his first spell, then returned to pick up the wickets of all-rounders Lance Klusener and Pollock to finish with 3 for 40.

Mark Waugh (48), Gilchrist (37) and Ricky Ponting (39) gave the home side the perfect start but no-one was able to go on and make a big score.

Steve Waugh, who scored an unbeaten 114 on Wednesday, smacked a quick 30, including 14 off one Pollock over, to help rescue his side after Damien Martyn, Symonds, Harvey and Bevan came and went.

But Waugh departed in the penultimate over, leaving Warne to chase the remaining 13 off the final over.

Warne hit the first ball of Pollock’s final over for four then took a single off the next. Gillespie picked up four overthrows off the next ball but was run out on the next.

Back on strike and with Glenn McGrath at the other end, Warne took two off the penultimate delivery with a legside glance then a single off the final ball when his straight drive cannoned into the stumps.

The final match of the series will take place on Sunday. 

SCOREBOARD

South Africa

Kirsten lbw b Harvey 22

Hall c M.Waugh b Symonds 37

Kallis b Gillespie 22

Cullinan c Warne b Symonds 0

Rhodes c S. Lee (sub) b McGrath 54

Boucher c Warne b Harvey 51

Klusener c M. Waugh b Gillespie 12

Pollock c S. Lee (sub) b Gillespie 4

Boje not out 8

Telemachus not out 6

Extras (b4, lb3, w1, nb2) 10 Total (8 wkts, 50 overs) 226

Fall of wkts: 1-43, 2-70, 3-78, 4-95, 5-182, 6-201, 7-210, 8-210.

Bowling: McGrath 10-0-47-1, Gillespie 10-0-40-3, Harvey 10-1-43-2, Warne 10-0-33-0, Symonds 10-0-56-2.

Australia:

M.Waugh c Hall b Boje 48

Gilchrist c Pollock b Kallis 37

Ponting b Telemachus 39

Martyn b Boje 18

Symonds b Klusener 17

S. Waugh b Hall 30

Harvey c Hall b Klusener 7

Bevan c Boucher b Hall 3

Warne not out 9

Gillespie run out 0

McGrath not out 0

Extra (lb-11, nb-3, w-4) 18

Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 226

Fall of wickets: 1-78, 2-105, 3-146, 4-164, 5-177, 6-193, 7-213, 8-214, 9-223.

Bowling: Pollock 10-0-51-0 (w-1), Telemachus 10-1-37-1 (nb-2, w-1), Terbrugge 3-0-24-0 (w-1), Kallis 4-1-21-1, Klusener 10-0-41-2 (nb-1, w-1), Boje 10-1-33-2, Hall 3-0-8-2.

England win Test in 2 days

LEEDS, Aug 18 (AFP) — England beat West Indies by an innings and 39 runs on the second day of the fourth Test at Headingley here today in an extraordinary match to take a 2-1 lead in the five-Test series.

Andy Caddick took five wickets, including four in six legitimate deliveries, as West Indies already in deep trouble at 49 for five slumped to 61 all out, Ramnaresh Sarwan 17 not out.

It was only the second time since World War II that a Test had been won inside two days. The last time was when Australia beat New Zealand by an innings and 103 runs at Wellington in 1945/46.

It was the first time a Test in England had been won inside two days since Australia beat England by 10 wickets at Trent Bridge in 1921.

England must be confident of recording their first series victory over the West Indies since they beat them 2-1 in England in 1969. The final Test is at the Oval on August 31.

After Dominic Cork had bowled tourists lynch pin and captain Jimmy Adams for 19, Somerset fast bowler Caddick who finished with figures of 11.2-5-14-5 took over.

Wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs moved across his stumps and was given out lbw by New Zealand umpire Doug Cowie for one although the ball looked to be going down the legside.

There was no doubt two balls later when Nixon McLean had his off-stump knocked out for a duck and then Curtly Ambrose was yorked first ball. Reon King avoided the hat-trick but to his third ball he was clean bowled by Caddick.

SCOREBOARD

West Indies (1st innings): 172

England (1st innings):

Atherton c Lara b Ambrose 6

Trescothick c Lara b Ambrose 1

Hussain lbw b Walsh 22

Thorpe lbw b Walsh 46

Stewart c Campbell b Walsh 5

Vaughan c Jacobs b Ambrose 76

Caddick c Jacobs b Ambrose 6

Hick st Jacobs b Adams 59

White c Jacobs b Mclean 0

Cork not out 11

Gough c Griffith b Walsh 2

Extras (b-4, lb-13, w-3, nb-18) 38

Total (all out in 81.5 overs) 272

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-10, 3-80, 4-93, 5-96, 6-124, 7-222, 8-224, 9-269.

Bowling: Ambrose 18-3-42-4; Walsh 24.5-9-51-4; King 11-2-48-0; Mclean 22-5-93-1; Adams 6-1-21-1.

West Indies (2nd innings):

Campbell c Hick b Gough 12

Griffith b Gough 0

Hinds lbw b Gough 0

Lara lbw b Gough 2

Adams b Cork 19

Sarwan not out 17

Jacobs lbw b Caddick 1

McLean b Caddick 0

Ambrose b Caddick 0

King b Caddick 0

Walsh b Caddick 3

Extras (lb-3, nb-4) 7

Total (all out in 26.2 overs) 61

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-3, 3-11, 4-21, 5-49, 6-52, 7-52, 8-52, 9-52.

Bowling: Gough 9-2-30-4, Caddick 11.2-5-14-5, Cork 5-0-14-1.

Ambrose sticking to retirement plan 

LEEDS (England), Aug 18 (Reuters) — West Indies fast bowler Curtly Ambrose, who has taken his 400th Test wicket is sticking to his plan to retire at the end of the current series against England.

The 36-year-old Antiguan said: “Yes, it still stands. I have my own mind, of course some people are trying to talk me out of it, but I have my own mind and I am sticking by that.” Ambrose, playing in his 97th Test, yesterday became only the fifth bowler in Test history to take 400 wickets on the first day of the fourth Test at Headingley.

Needing two to reach the milestone when play began, he dismissed openers Marcus Trescothick for one and Michael Atherton for six, both caught at first slip by Brian Lara. Ambrose was swamped by joyous team-mates and given a standing ovation by the crowd.

He joins team-mate Courtney Walsh (475 wickets), India’s Kapil Dev (434), Richard Hadlee of New Zealand (431) and Pakistan’s Wasim Akram (407) in the elite group. The towering paceman said it was appropriate that Atherton was his 400th victim since the former England captain was the batsman he had dismissed most in his 12-year Test career. He said: “He came to say well done and all that. It was nice to get him out.

“I was saying to myself that either Mike Atherton or Alec Stewart would be nice. No disrespect to the other players but that they are the most senior players in the team.

“We’ve had some good battles over the years,’’ he added.

West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) President Pat Rousseau praised Ambrose after he reached the landmark. “Today at Headingley, Leeds, Curtly Ambrose reaffirmed his great qualities as a fast bowler by joining four other great fast bowlers in the 400 club,” Rousseau said in a statement. “Nobody on the cricket field has to put out as much energy as the fast bowlers and it is a supreme performance that is required to take 400 or more wickets.

“It is p1easing to see Curtly still bowling in top form after so many years of Test cricket.”

Ramesh suffers setback

AMSTERDAM, Aug 18 (UNI) — International Master R.B. Ramesh (four points) of India suffered a reverse in the sixth round of the ‘Lost Boys’ International Open Chess Tournament here, losing to Russian Grandmaster Pavel Tregubov in a hard-fought game. Four GMS -Michael Gurevich, Ivan Sokolov, P. Tregubov and Friso Nijboer share the lead with five points each. Top seed Gurevich displayed his class yesterday, scoring a brilliant victory over Vadim Milov.

Ramesh employed king’s Indian defence with black pieces against Tregubov and had to face the positional ‘G3’ system. After a dynamic middlegame, Tregubov managed to get an outside passed pawn in the b-file in a rook and knight endgame. Ramesh’s gallant defence in this difficult ending wasn’t enough to save the game — the Russian GM won in 60 moves. Ramesh might now need to win the remaining three games for the elusive GM norm.

Im elect T.S. Ravi (four) inflicted the second defeat, at the hands of Indians, on Swedish GM Tiger Hillarp Persson in a well-contested game. Persson sacrificed a queen side pawn to obtain centre control in the white side of nimzo Indian defence. Ravi played with good understanding of the position to beat back the initiative and won one more pawn in the first time control, coasting to victory in 58 moves.

Young Sundararjan Kidambi (three) went down to Russian GM V. Epishin with white pieces in a lengthy endgame. Kidambi lost a pawn in middlegame but managed to steer the encounter into a drawish rook and knight endgame. In time scramble, he made the mistake of exchanging the rooks.

IM V. Saravanan (3.5) drew with Rebers of Holland with white pieces. The Indian converted his opponent’s pirc defence to the saemish variation of king’s Indian defence and enjoyed a good advantage in the opening stages. Rebers played actively, sacrificing two pawns to gain some attack in the middlegame with opposite coloured bishops on the board. With accurate play by either side, the game was drawn.

Arup, Kasturi champions

MUMBAI, Aug 18 (UNI) — In a nail-biting final, Arup Basak of BSCB lifted the men’s title while the women’s section saw Kasturi Chakraborty (also of PSCB) mixing aggression with caution to emerge champion at the India Cup Table Tennis Tournament today.

Basak lost the first game, but rallied to beat teammate Arjun Dutta 17-21, 21-18, 21-16, 22-20 and bag a prize money of Rs 40,000. Dutta had to be contented with a Rs 20,000 prize money at the two-day event organised by the Khar Gymkhana.

Sixth seed Kasturi cornered the women’s honours upsetting second-seeded Poulomi Ghatak 21-19, 10-21, 21-18, 21-12. The victory made 19-year-old Kasturi, a trainee officer with Indian Oil, richer by Rs 20,000. Class X student Poulomi, who had reached the finals beating Anindita Chakraborty earlier in the day, received a Rs 10,000 cash prize for the runner-up.

Former national champion Basak, a 27-year-old Sports Officer with Hindustan Petroleum, came back from a virtual brink of defeat. 

Sydney countdown — 46

Secret of America’s swimming power
By Andy O’Brien

According to the company that makes them, horse bars is “a comprehensive all-in-one equine wellness and performance formula” containing a mix of nutrients and protein. Another requirement of team 2000 is that they go out on Wednesday night, dance, socialise, have a beer. The US code forbids athletes of any age to drink alcohol, a rule Bottom believes squashes their individuality. However, even a mix of beer, sweat and horse food may not be potent enough to overcome Popov. At 28, the Russian claims to be losing his motivation, yet it was only in June that he set his world record. Beating him might well mean setting another one in Sydney.

Norman swings into golf’s Olympics bid

Champion golfer Greg Norman has taken a swipe at the International Olympic Committee over its failure to consider golf as an Olympic sport. “I think it is a crying shame that it is not,” Norman said during his preparation for golf’s final major tournament of the year, the PGA Championship at Valhalla, Louisville, starting on Thursday. The Australian will carry the Olympic torch in Sydney on the day the 2000 Games open and says golf is getting a raw deal. “For tennis to be in there and not golf, I don’t understand that,” the 45-year outspoken Norman said. “For basketball to be in there and not golf, I don’t understand that. “I’m not decrying other sports. I just think golf is not getting a fair shake of the stick. “Golf on a global basis exceeds the demographics of a lot of other Olympic sports.”

Norman called on the golf world to pull together in an effort to persuade the IOC that the game was worthy of a slot in future Olympics. “You have got to try and make this a unified front where everyone is involved: pros, amateurs, males, females,” Norman said. “You have got to go right across the gamut. If we all get together and we all co-ordinate this, an overwhelming concerted effort to the IOC would be pretty hard to turn down. I think it is time to see just how popular the game of golf really is on a global basis. It deserves to be in there.”

Norman is not the first big name in golf to campaign for the game to be included in the Olympics. In 1994, Spanish star Seve Ballesteros lobbied Olympic boss Juan Antonio Samaranch to have golf added to the 1996 Atlanta Games. But not all high-profile golfers are in tune with Norman’s thoughts.

World No. 1 Tiger Woods does not see it as a priority. “We have four major championships with equal significance every single year,” Woods said. “(For) most of those (Olympic) athletes that is the pinnacle; it comes once every four years.”

Norman said being selected to carry the Olympic torch into Sydney on the morning of the Games’ opening ceremony was one of the highlights of his sporting life. “Of all the things I have ever experienced in sport, this would probably be in my top two ever,” Norman said. He rates only his 1993 open championship victory at Royal St George’s in England higher. “It is a great honour because I am not an Olympian,” he said. “And it is a great honour because Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House are two of the most recognisable structures in the world. And it is on the morning of the opening ceremony, so there is going to be a lot of atmosphere and hype about it — Australia is very up about the Olympic torch right now. So for me to be part of that was a surprise. I never anticipated it.”

TV channel dumps lovers

The head of the official TV network for the Sydney Olympics Seven Network has removed the station’s Olympic broadcast anchorwoman, Tracey Holmes, following adverse publicity over her decision to live with her network co-star Stan Grant. Seven’s also ended its contract with Grant, host of its high rating evening current affairs program Today Tonight. It was revealed a fortnight ago that Grant, 36, had left his wife and three children in June and had moved in with Holmes, 35.

With the Games less than a month off, the move to end Holmes’ role leaves Seven’s broadcast plans in chaos, with no decision on a replacement. In 1995, Channel 7 paid $ 45 million for the rights to broadcast the Olympics and signed Holmes after she quit SOCOG several years ago. For months the Olympic network has promoted Holmes as one of its three Olympic hosts.

Holmes also hosts Seven’s Olympic Show. There is a further dilemma, with thousands of government buses plastered with pictures of Holmes and the rest of the Olympic broadcast team as part of Seven’s Games promotion. — PMG

Sydney-bound boxers join camp
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Aug 18 — All the four Indian boxers who have qualified for the Sydney Olympics have joined the national camp being held at the NIS here, after undergoing an intensive training-cum-competition stint in Cuba. The Indians competed in three world class events during the rigorous 45-day tour.

The four Sydney bound boxers — N.G. Dingko Singh, Gurcharan Singh, Jitendra Kumar and Suresh Singh — were part of the eight-member squad that toured Cuba. The other members were Mohammad Ali Qamar, who defeated several Olympic qualified boxers and won two gold medals, K. Sanjit Singh, Jeevan Fernandez and Dalvir Singh.

Suresh Singh, who will compete in the light fly weight class in Sydney, put up a below par performance in all the three competitions, losing in the first rounds.

Bantamweight Dingko Singh and Jitendra Kumar, are still recuperating from hand injuries while light heavy weight Gurcharan Singh despite having a minor problem with his shoulder, competed and bagged a gold and two silver medals.

Jitendra Kumar, due to a thumb injury, did not compete in any competitions and opted only for training have enough time for his thumb to heal.

Despite carrying any injury, the aggressive Dingko Singh, won a silver in the first and only competition he took part in. Dingko had to face some tough competition from the Argentinian and Cuban boxers before losing to a Cuban in the final. Due to the tough bouts, the pain in Dingko’s thumb aggravated to such an extent that he was forced to skip the remaining two tournaments.

The only pugilist to put up splendid show as Mohammad Ali Qammar. He bagged two gold.

In the Eduardo Garcio Cup, Ali Qamar beat three Sydney-bound boxers. Competing in the light fly weight category, he beat Asian Games gold medallist Suban Punom, then went on to outbox Danilo Liero of the Philippines and in the final, beat Mascara La Paene of Indonesia. Jeevan Fernandez bagged a silver in the first competition of the tour.

Code of conduct high on agenda
By Abhijit Chatterjee
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 18 — The meeting of the working committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) , to be held at Bangalore tomorrow, is scheduled to discuss in depth the Code of Conduct for players drawn up by a special committee constituted by the board. Once finalised, the code, which will have to be ratified by the general house meeting of the board scheduled to be held next month, will be applicable not only to the players, but also to officials involved in the game, umpires as well as administrators. The need to adopt such a Code of Conduct arose after the issue of match-fixing and betting not only threatened to rip the Indian cricket apart but also cast serious doubts about the legibility of the very game of cricket itself.

The working committee is the highest decision making body of the board. Its recommendations are generally accepted by the general house without much debate since all shades of opinion in the board are represented in the working committee. The Bangalore meeting tomorrow is the last meeting of the working committee prior to the general house meeting of the board and therefore it is quite likely that members will hold extensive debate on all matters listed on the agenda of the meeting. Besides a discussion on the Code of Conduct, the working committee will also examine all draft reports submitted by various sub-committees of the board, finalise the domestic tournaments for the year 2000-2001 as also discuss other matters arising out of the reports submitted by various committees.

The code draws heavily on the Code of Conduct finalised by the International Cricket Council. However, certain changes have been made to suit Indian conditions. The code makes it clear that it will be the responsibility of the players to report to the manager in case any bookies makes any offer to them. In case they fail to do so the player/official can be suspended from the team immediately. Also, the code is clear on the course of action to be adopted in case any bookie is able to make contact with the player . The code makes its mandatory for the manger to report to the local police the doings of any bookie so that immediately action can be taken by the law enforcing agencies.

The code makes it clear that players cannot indulge in betting in any form and in case any player is found indulging in such practice he will be immediately suspended and necessary action will be taken subsequently. Also, the code makes it clear that in case a player does make contact with a bookie or is contacted by a bookie without the knowledge of the team management he will be summarily suspended.

In any case the board has taken precautions to sanitise the dressing room of the home team at match venues. No unauthorised persons will be permitted to approach or enter the Indian dressing room . Also, under the code, players cannot even talk to the media without the permission and presence of the manager. (In fact, this clause already exists and only the captain or the manager can speak to the media regarding issues concerning the match). However, the Code of Conduct or the action plan of cricket, which will also be discussed at Bangalore tomorrow, makes no mention of drawing up an annual contact with the players which was advocated by certain sections involved with the game in the country.

The Bangalore meeting will also discuss the action plan of the board, a copy of which was recently handed over to the Union Sports Minister, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, in New Delhi. There are certain sections within the board who have not taken kindly to the fact that the BCCI has made available a copy of the action plan of the board to the government without proper discussion within the board. Therefore, there is every possibility that members might wish to incorporate certain changes in the action plan. Besides the action plan, the role of the cricket academy set up at Bangalore will also be discussed. The BCCI had earlier said that it wanted to establish zonal academies of a similar nature.

One issue not listed in the agenda but likely to come up for serious discussion is whether coach Kapil Dev should be allowed to continue till such time he is cleared by the CBI as well as the Income Tax Department. Mr Dhindsa, time and again has stressed that players named in the betting and match-fixing issue should be asked to stay away from international cricket till such time they were cleared by the CBI, which is currently conducting a probe into the issue. And this is probably one of the reasons why the Union Government denied permission to the board to field a team in the five-match series against Pakistan for the Sahara Cup in Toronto. Kapil Dev, it might be mentioned, was appointed coach of the national squad for an unprecedented two-year term by the last annual general body meeting of the board. Previously, coaches were appointed on a year-to-year basis.

Punjab Govt move to boost sports
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 18 — To Boost sports activities in the state, the Punjab Government has undertaken the construction work of 16 block-level stadia at a cost of Rs 25 lakh each, which are expected to be completed within the next three months.

According to a spokesman of state Sports Department, the construction of three district-level stadia at a cost of Rs 1 crore at Muktsar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Mansa has been completed while the construction of other three district-level stadia at Gurdaspur, Bathinda and Kapurthala is in progress.

Punjab has the maximum number of athletic synthetic tracks and hockey Astro Turfs. Laying of athletics synthetic track at sports school and college, Jalandhar, at a cost of Rs 3 crore has been completed while replacement of Astro Turf at Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium, Jalandhar, is being carried out. This project entails a cost of Rs 2 crore and is likely to be completed in October.

The spokesman pointed out that work on laying of the Astro Turf at PAU Ludhiana, had been accomplished while the construction of the stadium was on the anvil. The laying of the athletics track at Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana, is going on a war footing. It is likely to cost Rs 3 crore.

The ‘Martial Sports Academy’ at a cost Rs 15.50 crore has been set up at Sri Anandpur Sahib and will be functional from the next academic session. Similarly, to boost equestrian activities in Punjab a stadium equipped with latest facilities has been constructed at a cost of Rs 60 lakh at Sri Anandpur Sahib.

Referring to central financial assistance for sports projects, the spokesman said construction of multipurpose Indoor halls at Moga and Badal was going on smoothly. These halls would cost Rs 60 lakh each and the Central Government had already released the grant in this regard. The pension scheme for eminent and outstanding sportspersons has been broadbased. Under the revised pension scheme all Punjabi sports persons who had participated or won medals at any recognised international competition would be entitled to the pension. Renowned Asian gold medalists. Swarn Singh and Parduman Singh had been recently included in the revised list for pension.

Anjali makes it to Olympics 

NEW DELHI, Aug 18 (UNI) — Mumbai’s Anjali Vedpathak has made it to the Indian shooting squad for the Sydney Olympics after getting a ‘hardship quota’ slot. Anjali is the second Indian to get this privilege after teenager Abhinav Bindra of Chandigarh. Both of them will take part in the air rifle event. With this, the Indian shooting team for the Olympics will have three members, Anwar Sultan having qualified in the trap event earlier. National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) Secretary Baljit Singh Sethi said here today that the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) decided to give Anjali a ‘hardship quota’ because of her consistent good showing in the five World Cup competitions held in 1999-2000.

He said 29-year-old Anjali has scored 395 and 396 out of 400 in all these competitions. She also made it to the finals of four World Cup events. Anjali narrowly missed direct qualification at the Asian championship held in Lankawi (Malaysia). In the championship she lost out by 0.8 points. Anwar Sultan qualified for the Olympics in this championship.

Pankaj stuns top seed Robert Murphy

BANGALORE, Aug 18 (UNI) — Fifteen-year-old wonderboy Pankaj Advani of India stunned top seed Robert Murphy of Republic of Ireland while another title hopeful from the host country Manan Chandra went down tamely as upsets continued at the kheladi.com World Under-21 Snooker Championship here today.

Youngest in the tournament, Pankaj Advani scored his fifth win from six matches as he handed out Robert Murphy his second defeat in group “A”. Pankaj, who went down to Supanchi Wiwatarangkoon of Thailand yesterday, won 68-35, 5-81, 61-51, 70-23, 74-37.

Other seeded cueists, who lost their matches today, were fourth seed Gerrit Bij de Leji of the Netherlands and seventh seed David John of Wales.

India had mixed luck as four of the eight Indians in the tournament won their encounters. Besides Pankaj Advani, the lone seeded cuiest and national champion Rishab Thukral was the other prominent winner.

HOA chief to get ‘Khel Ratna’
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 18 — HOA president Abhay Chautala would be awarded “Khel Ratna” award on August 29 in Karnal at birth anniversary celebrations of hockey maestro Dhayan Chand.

This was announced here today by the Haryana Olympic Association General Secretary MS Malik saying the entire sports community in the state, including HOA, various sports associations, sports units of public undertakings, district Olympic and sports associations, national and international medal winners, Arjuna, Dronacharya and Bhim awardees will honour Abhay Singh.

Mr Malik disclosed that Mr Abhay Singh Chautala has announced that the Association would give Rs.25 lakh as a reward to the Olympic gold medallist of Haryana in addition to Rs. 1 crore announced by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala.

Mr Malik said that the celebrations of birth anniversary of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand be jointly organised by the Haryana Hockey Association and Sports and Youth Welfare Department would be a historical event. Besides other programmes, the celebrations would include an exhibition match between Haryana women’s hockey XI and the Rest of India, Haryana junior hockey (men) championship and a photo exhibition of life of Dhyan Chand.

He said that the most attractive feature of the celebration would be a polo match in which world renowned players would take part.

He said that it was because of the efforts of Mr Abhay Singh Chautala that a number of achievements had been accomplished and action was under way on formulation of various schemes for the promotions of sports. These included formulation of a comprehensive sports policy for the benefit of sportspersons and promotion of sports in the State, release of a grant of Rs 5 lakh to HOA by the Chief Minister’s secretariat for development of sports, inclusion of sports as a compulsory subject in the educational curriculum, 3 per cent reservation in vacancies in boards and corporations for sportspersons, 75 per cent concession in the fare of Haryana Roadways buses to sportspersons for taking part in sports competitions, allotment of one acre land to HOA for Olympic Bhawan in Sector-3 at Panchkula, reopening of college of sports in CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, laying of Astro-turfs playgrounds in Gurgaon, Ambala and Rohtak, adoption of games by the boards and corporations, setting up of sports nurseries in different parts of the state, curbing exodus of outstanding sportspersons from Haryana, creation of sports development fund, increase in diet money for the players from Rs.30 to Rs.50, increase in duration of coaching camps from two weeks to eight weeks, sports stadium at Faridabad at a cost of Rs.8.43 crore and release of financial assistance to needy sportspersons.

Mr Ashwini Kumar, a Member of International Olympic Committee, would be the chief guest on the occasion.

‘No concrete evidence to nail anybody’

NEW DELHI, Aug 18 (PTI) — The CBI is likely to submit an interim report on match-fixing scandal to the government soon amidst reports that the agency had “so far not found any concrete evidence to nail anyone in the scandal.”

The report, which is likely to be submitted to the Sports Ministry, will brief the government about the investigations made so far in the case, agency sources said here today.

It will also highlight what if anything, the agency was able to get out of the nation-wide swoop by the Income Tax authorities on players and others on July 20 to pursue the match-fixing case further.

The agency had registered a Prelimnary Enquiry (PE) into the case on May 2 and its sources did not rule out the possibility of registering a Regular Case in the scandal.

Terming the likely submission of the report as a “routine” thing, the agency sources said the interim report will be submitted as everyone in the country is curious to know about the investigations.

Rohtak retain overall trophy
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 18 — Last year’s champion Rohtak retained the title by winning the overall championship with nine points in the 16th Haryana State Yoga Championship which concluded yesterday at Narnaul. Faridabad team finished second scoring 7 points.

Late Smt Prabha Chahal Memorial Trophy was jointly won by the women of Jind and Yamunanagar scoring equal points. Jind team won the title in veteran group scoring 11 points.

Mr Dharamvir, President, Indian Yoga Federation gave away prizes to the winners. Mr Dharamvir disclosed that ninth World Olympic Yoga Sport Championship would be organised by the IYF at Talkotra Stadium in New Delhi on Dec 1 and 2 in which about 16 countries are expected to participate.

The results are: Sub-Junior (Girls): 1 Deepika (K’shetra), 2 Neha, 3 Bharti (both Y’nagar). Boys: 1 Rakesh Arya, 2 Rakesh Jakhar, 3 Vishal (all Faridabad).

Junior (Girls): 1 Yashoda, 2 Meenu (both Jind), 3 Nisha (M’garh). (Boys): 1 Deepak Sharma (Hisar), 2 Pawan Kumar (Rohtak), & Parveen (Fatehabad), 3 Ramesh (Faridabad).

Senior (Girls): 1 Suman (Rohtak), 2 Nidhi (Y’nagar), 3 Pooja (Y’nagar) & Shashi (M’garh).

Boys: 1 Narender (Rohtak), 2 Sunil Sharma (M’garh), 3 Surender (Rohtak).

Elderly (Women 25-40 Yrs): 1 Inderjeet Kaur (Y’nagar), 2 Geeta Sharma (M’garh), 3 Urmila (Jind).

Men 30 to 40 yrs: 1 Ramjit (F’bad), 2 Ajay Aggarwal (M’garh), 3 Shiv Kumar (Hisar) & Ravinder (Jind).

Veteran (Women 40-50 Yrs): 1 Parminder Kaur (K’shetra), 2 Sushila, 3 Satya Wanti (both Jind).

Men 40-50 Yrs: 1 Jora Singh (Jind), 2 Satya Vir (Kaithal), 3 Raj Singh (Jind)

Men above 50 Yrs: 1 Col Vikram Singh (P’kula), 2 Budh Singh (F’bad), 3 Rati Ram (Jhajjar).

Bhadu appointed HOA Director
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 18 — Haryana Olympic Association, president Abhey Singh Chautala has appointed Mr H.S. Bhadu as Director of the HOA to run the sports activities and to implement the sports development schemes in the state in an effective way. This is a newly-created post and Mr Bhadu took charge today.

Mr Bhadu who retired from Haryana Sports Department as Dy Director Sports after 33 years of service. Besides being as a sports administrator, he was an outstanding athlete. He has been general secretary of Haryana Amateur Athletic association, joint secretary HOA, Chairman Technical Committee, Amateur Athletic Federation of India and member of technical committee of Asian Amateur Athletic Association. He has been awarded four times by the Governor of Haryana for his contributions in promotion of sports in Haryana.

REGIONAL SPORT BRIEFS

NICS Academy lift Britannia cricket trophy

PATIALA Aug 18 (FOSR) — NICS Academy beat Budha Dal Cricket Academy (BDCA) by four wickets to lift the Britannia Trophy. The tournament, which was organised by the Patiala Cricket Association (PCA), for under 16 cricketers, concluded at Dhruv Pandove Stadium, here, today.

Brief scores: BDCA: 119 all out (Akashdeep 46, Sumit Gupta 25, Daljit Singh 10, Sunny Sahni 3 for 21, Yuvraj Singh 2 for 14, Ankur Jund 1 for 33.

NICS Academy: 121 for 6 (Navjot Matharu 36, Bhupinder 23, Hardevinder 19, Yadvinder 2 for 33, Vikrant Makkar 1 for 24, Vijayveer Kaleka 1 for 20, Arshdeep 1 for 12).

Gurinder Pal, Anita to lead

JALANDHAR, Aug 18 (FOSR)— Gurinder Pal Singh of DAV College and Anita of HMV, will lead the Jalandhar district boys and girls teams for the Punjab State Junior Basketball Championship slated to be held at Badal, Muktsar from August 18 to 20.

The teams: Boys: Gurinder Pal Singh (captain), Vikas Chawla, Amandeep Hayer, Navjot Singh, Mangal Dhillon, Amrinder Singh Malhi, Jaspal Singh, Pawan Kumar, Davinderjit Singh, Amandeep Singh, Nirbhai Singh and Ajay Kumar.

Golf tourney

Girls: Anita (captain), Baljinder Kaur, Manisha, Kiran Bala, Maninder Kaur, Shama Gill, Sapanjot Maddan, Jaswinder Kaur, Sonia Thakur, Sunita Rana, Payal Pathak and Satinder Kaur, Coach: Kanwarjit Singh.