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| Friday, November 17, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Dementieva stuns Davenport 5 DD officials cheated
govt: CBI |
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India lose in
doubles of ITF meet India fall by 10 spots
in FIFA rankings Chandigarh cagers
record win Vivek to spearhead
UT challenge Thorpe, White put
England on top Ranjit, Vishal in
joint lead Argentina beat Chile
2-0 AIR commentary
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No magic formula:
Wright NEW DELHI, Nov 16 — India’s newest cricket coach, John Wright of New Zealand, says he does not have “any magic formula”, but assures that he would “work hard to make a difference” and help the Indian team do well. “I don’t have any magic formula”, snapped the former Kiwi skipper and opener, after the Indian team’s longish workout at the National Stadium here today, as they gear up to take on Zimbabwe in their first of the two-Test series, starting at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground from November 18. Wright sees in his new assignment a great opportunity to improvise, but “it’s going to get some time for me to adjust”. His sound barely audible, with all the shouting and jostling going around him, and Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly sporting a whimsical smile on his face, Wright kept his cool, like a true professional, and spoke only what he wanted to be spoken. He did not want to sound pompous, and give out tall promises and great expectations, but felt that “it’s a great opportunity for me to work with such a talented bunch of players. I am delighted to be here”. Wright did not think that the recent match-fixing scandal had in any way affected the morale of the Indian players. “To me, the morale of the Indian team is good. I don’t see any apparent difference”, observed the talented coach, whose brief, apparently, is to take India to a higher plane-in their game. He said he was honoured to be bestowed the coaching assignment “as I know there is some pride and passion when you are representing your country.” He sees a lot of hard work ahead, as “I have got to familiarise with Indian pitches”. But with his kind of hard work, Wright hopes to set some wrongs in the Indian team’s approach and attitude towards cricket at the highest level, right. He refused to be dragged into a discussion on the Indian Government’s decision not to resume cricket ties with Pakistan as such decisions are “beyond the station of a simple coach”. Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly, fresh from India’s victory against Bangladesh in the latters’ debut Test at Dhaka, “which we were expected to win”, said India definitely held the edge of having home advantage against Zimbabwe, but hastened to add that “no way we are putting them down. We have to play real good cricket to beat them”. This would be the fourth cricket Test between India and
Zimbabwe. Their first meeting at Harare in 1992-93, which was Zimbabwe’s debut Test, had ended in a draw, while India crushed them by an innings and 13 runs in their second meeting at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in 1993. But Zimbabwe returned the compliments in October 1998, crushing India by 61 runs at their home ground. So the score is 1-1-1. Saurav said the Indian team were in good form, particularly after the return of
speedster Javagal Srinath into the fold. “We have been strengthened by the coming back of Srinath. It’s been a pleasure playing with these youngsters after a long time, and now we have a good blend of youth and experience”, elaborated the skipper. Saurav said India had been playing good cricket for the last four months, except one lone tournament in Sharjah, and he was happy with the improved bowling performance of the team, and the emergence of some talented cricketers like Yuvraj Singh, Shiv Sunder Das and Zaheer Khan on the scene. Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar utilised the occasion to promote Child Care India cards as he felt that “the destiny of our nation lies in the well-being of the children. Their health, education, and integrated development are the responsibility of not only parents and governments, but also of every citizen”. Meanwhile, the Ferozeshah Kotla ground looked like a green carpet, just 48 hours before D-Day, though the ticket sales for the Test match in the 29,000 capacity stadium has not been very encouraging as the match-fixing scandal has definitely taken a toll on the spectator front. Former Test opener and Delhi and District Cricket Association senior vice president Chetan Chauhan said 26,500 tickets had been printed, out of which 20
complimentary tickets each would be given to 40 schools who participated in the various age-group tournaments conducted by the DDCA. Fifty complimentary tickets have been issued to disabled persons and the clubs have been issued their normal quota of complimentary tickets. Chauhan said the wicket had been prepared by a 10-member pitch committee headed by him and asserted that “it is a good Test match wicket which should play well for the first three days. It will assist the bowlers as well as the batsmen”. The Zimbabwe team got the first feel of the Kotla ground as they had a session in the afternoon. Their coach, Carl Rackmaan, said the team were in high spirits, and they had a good mix of youth and experience. He said medium-pacer Heath Streak was fit, and may even play in the Test. |
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Dementieva stuns Davenport NEW YORK, Nov 16 (DPA) — Russian teenager Elena Dementieva saved a match point in the second set en route to a huge upset win over title holder Lindsay Davenport in the first round of the season-ending $ 2 million Chase Championships late last night, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4. Davenport is only the second defending champion in the event’s 24-year history to crash out in the opening round after Czech Jana Navotna in 1998. The third-seeded Monica Seles did better as she breezed past French player Sandrine Testud, 6-3, 6-4. Tournament number 6 Nathalie Tauziat won the other French-American battle, 6-3, 6-2, against Amy Frazier. “That was definitely not the best way to end this year,” conceded Davenport after her stunning defeat to the 19-year-old Dementieva. Three days after her Philadelphia final win over world number 1 Martina Hingis, Davenport wasted her match point at 7-6 in the second test tiebreak. She was finally overwhelmed by the accurate groundstrokes from Dementieva, who claimed her first career win over the second-seeded Australian Open champion Davenport in their sixth meeting. “This is a great day for me,” said Dementieva. “I think she was a little tired after her title (in Philadelphia). I improved during the match and believed I could win.” With Davenport eliminated and the flamboyant Williams sisters Venus and Serena sidelined with injury, Yugolavia-born Seles is now the sole local hope in the season-ender. Yesterday she was unstoppable against Testud in what is her last appearance at the Masters tournament. The tournament moves from New York to Munich from 2001 on for at least five years, and Seles will not play in Germany after being stabbed in the back by a fan of her former rival Steffi Graf during the 1993 Hamburg tournament. “It is very sad because there is no better place in the world for the Masters than Madison Square Garden. And tennis is not so much in the spotlight in Germany anymore after Boris (Becker) and Steffi retired,” Seles said. In the quarter-finals on Thursday, Anna Kournikova takes on Conchita Martinez and Tauziat plays world number 1 Martina Hingis. On Friday, Seles meets Amanda Coetzer and Dementieva plays a teenage duel with 17-year-old Belgian Kim
Clijsters. |
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5 DD officials cheated govt: CBI NEW DELHI, Nov 16 (PTI) — The CBI has accused five top Doordarshan officials of cheating the government of crores of rupees by “wrongfully” awarding the marketing rights of 1997 French Open and Wimbledon tennis tournaments to a Delhi-based company. The agency has registered two separate cases in this regard. In the first FIR, the CBI alleged that the then Director-General of Doordarshan, Mr K.S. Sarma, Deputy Director-General (Sports) K. Kunhikrishnan and Deputy Director-General (Commercial and Sales) Rakesh Bahadur entered into a criminal conspiracy with M/s Stracon India Pvt Ltd and awarded the marketing rights of the French Open to the said company “showing undue favour”. The telecast rights of that 1997 event were purchased by Doordarshan for a licence fee of $ 90,000. The normal procedure after this should have been calling of bids for marketing but the three Doordarshan officials called no bids and “dishonestly and fraudently” awarded the contract to the said company on May 16, 1997 on a single offer basis and in a single day, thereby causing huge loss to DD, the CBI alleged. In the second FIR, the agency has accused five Doordarshan officials of cheating the government of Rs 1.98 crore by “wrongfully” awarding the marketing rights of 1997 Wimbledon Tennis Tournament to the same company. |
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Jeev Milkha makes impressive start BANGKOK, Nov 16 (PTI) —India’s Jeev Milkha Singh shot a four-under-par 68 in the first round of the Johnnie Walker Classic today, the most important tournament he has played since making a comeback from a wrist injury. Singh, out of action for most of the season with torn ligaments in his right wrist, played the Alpine Golf and Sports Club without the benefit of a practice round after arriving late from the US Tour qualifying school in Texas. He did not drop a shot all day and his four birdie haul put him in a challenging position, three strokes behind early leader Wayne Smith of Australia. “I hit it well today. I am working this week on my mental side — I am trying to get back to where I was before I had the injury. I just want to focus on one point on the fairway or green — do not think about hitting it left, right or in the water. If I can do that I will be fine,” he said. Singh was given a medical exemption by the European Tour and has 11 tournaments, starting from this week’s Johnnie Walker Classic, to make $ 65,000 and keep his card. “This is an important week for me as i start counting again from this event,” said Singh, who won four times on the Asian PGA circuit before qualifying for the European Tour last year. “With this event being played in Asia, where I am used to the conditions, its is a good opportunity for me to do well. The course is playing well. The greens are in great shape but a little firm.” Countryman Arjun
Atwal, bidding for a third straight title after victories in the Hero Honda Masters and Star Alliance Open on the Davidoff our, opened with a disappointing
one-iver-par 73. “I did not strike it well today for some reason I was not that confortable out there,” said
Atwal, who had three bogeys and two birdies. “I did not drive the ball well and felt out of sync. I am going to go to the range and hit some balls and hopefully it will come back.” The Johnnie Walker Classic is tri-sanctioned and is the first event on the Asian PGA circuit.
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Corretja keeps hopes alive PARIS, Nov 16 (DPA) — Spain’s Alex Corretja stayed in the chase for a spot at this month’s season tennis finale with a second-round victory at the $ 2.95 million Masters Series event here. In a match which ended early today morning, second seed Marat Safin beat Swiss George Bastl, 7-5, 6-4, to reach the third round. Corretja, seeded eighth and number 8 in the champions points race, outlasted Arnaud Clement, 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, handing the local player a loss three days after the Frenchman won his first career title in Lyon. Corretja managed to do what rivals Tim Henman and Thomas Enqvist could not at the Bercy Omnisport with less than a fortnight to go before the start of the eight-man Masters Cup final in Lisbon. Henman was beaten in his opening match on Tuesday while seventh-seeded Swede Enqvist lost a Wednesday struggle against 35-old-old wily Italian Gianluca Pozzi, the “grandfather” of the game, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5). The Pozzi-Enqvist test lasted one hour, 47 minutes with the off-form Swede committing 57 unforced errors to 22 for the veteran. Teenaged Australian Lleyton Hewitt is also one of a handful of men chasing two late season finale spots, but he pulled out ill before the start of his first match here with a mystery virus which has bothered him for months. Paris top seed Gustavo Kuerten, US Open winner Safin, Swede Magnus Norman, Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Americans Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi are already into the Lisbon field. Agassi also withdrew injured from Paris and has flown home to Las Vegas in hopes of getting fit and returning to Europe. Two Australian seeds — neither in Lisbon contention — took victories yesterday. Number 13 Mark Philippoussis roared back with 15 aces to recover with a 1-6, 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-1) second-round result over Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia. Philippoussis next faces fourth seed Kafelnikov: “I can’t afford to be flat tomorrow,” Philippoussis said.
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India lose in
doubles of ITF meet CHANDIGARH, Nov 16 — Sergei Krotiouk of Russia, the giant killer of the $ 10000 ITF tennis tournament in progress at CLTA courts, Sector 10, finally made it to the finals of the meet when he outplayed fifth seed Slovakian Branislav Sekac 6-3,6-3 here today. He will face John Doran of Ireland who also created a flutter by beating Viktor Bruhans of Slovakia in easy straight sets at 6-1, 6-2. The Indian challenge in doubles also came to end when both pairs made their exit from the tournament. In the first semifinals, Tomas Janci and Michal Mertinak of Slovakia downed Nitin Kirtane and Saurav Panja of India at 6-2, 6-2 while in other semifinals, Branislav Sekac and Viktor of Slovakia defeated Mustafa Ghouse and Vishal Uppal of India at 6-2, 6-4.
The finals will be held at 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.
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India fall by 10 spots
in FIFA rankings MUMBAI, Nov 16 (UNI) — India have fallen by 10 spots in the Coca-Cola FIFA world rankings in the last nine months, but have a chance to improve, when they host the Millennium Cup here early next year. India were ranked 106th at the end of 1999 but slipped to 116 at the end of September this year collecting only 349 points. In Asia India are still ranked at 20, ahead of North Korea, Hong Kong, Nepal, Yemen and Bangladesh. Korea (South) are still at the top in Asia with world ranking of 42 but in the next ranking they will certainly go down for losing to Japan in the Asian Championship recently in the Gulf. Japan are currently third in Asia and 57th in world. |
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Chandigarh cagers
record win KOTKAPURA, Nov 16 — Chandigarh cagers defeated Indian Cultural Club (Canada) by 69-56 in the opening match of the 5th Sardar Nachattar Singh Gill Memorial All India Basketball Tournament which started here last evening. Though Indian Culture Club cagers displayed good skills, they could not adjust to the cement floor of the court. By the half time they were trailing behind by nine points. In the last three minutes of the game, the Canadian team played with only three players as their five players were fouled out. In the absence of bench support, they took the score to 56. For Chandigarh Jaspreet (9 points), Harjot (18), Neeraj (13) and Arunpal (15) played well. For Canadian team, Garth (20), Samir (14) and Andrew (15) were main scorers for the losers. In another match UP cagers defeated Punjab by 50-39. At half time the UP men were leading by 40-23. In women’s section, Andhra Pradesh women defeated Chandigarh girls by 38-17. Sandhya and Padmavathy scored 11 points each for Andhra team, while for Chandigarh, Harpreet (7 points) was the main scorer. In morning matches, Punjab (Red) defeated Army Signals by 62-59. The match was keenly contested and both the teams exchanged leads time and again. At half time, Punjab (Red) enjoyed lead of three points. However, after change of sides, the Army Signals team played well and wrestled lead from Punjab (Red), Tall Jayarangan of Army Signal was sent out of court for foul and after it the Punjab (Red) men faced no challenge and finally won the match. In another one-sided match in women’s section, Andhra Pradesh defeated Rajasthan by 80-55. Mr R.P. Meena, DIG, Punjab Police, Faridkot range, inaugurated the tournament. More than 12 teams are participating into this championship which would conclude on November 19. |
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Vivek to spearhead
UT challenge CHANDIGARH, Nov 16 — Vivek Sharma, the dark horse of Chandigarh, will spearhead the challenge in the quarterfinals of the Narang Cup against east zone champions Uttar Pradesh tomorrow in the Servo-Indian Oil 56th Junior National Inter-State Badminton Championships at the Sector 42 indoor hall. The Chandigarh boys had recently bagged the north zone title at Delhi and thus qualified for the inter-zonal tie here. In the girls section for the Shafi Qureshi Cup, Delhi, the north zone winners, will take on West Bengal, east zone winners, in the first quarterfinal tomorrow. The other boys’ section preliminary matches included, Maharashtra (west zone) versus Nagaland (NEZ); Girls: Assam( NEZ) versus Maharashtra (WZ). In the boys section, Air-India, the defending champions, and Andhra Pradesh, have been given a bye in the quarterfinals while in the girls section, defending champions AP and Air-India were given byes. Meanwhile, today the last stage of the qualifying matches was over. Sahil Arora of Punjab displayed his prowess by surprising all with his fine cross-court smashes and made it to the main draw of boys singles. Another boy who performed well was Puneet Bansal who also entered the main draws. The boys singles players who qualified for the main draw are, Harjot (Pb), Sahil Arora (Pb), Amit Kumar (Pb), Manish Gupta (UP), Tauseef Ahmed (Pb), DB Thapa (UP), B. Vikas Raddy (AP) and Prashant (Mah). The doubles qualifiers are Praveen and Amar (Mah), Dilprit and Iqbal (Pb), TS Bisht and Gaurav (UP), Sameer and Sandeep (Pb), Varun and V Gulati (Pb), Nitin and Vinay (Mah), Sidharth and Abhishek (Mah) and Touseef and Ranbir (Pb).The girls singles players who qualified are Aditi Biswas of Karnataka and Upma Singh of MP while in doubles Shalini Prakash and Aditi of Air-India qualified. |
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Thorpe, White put England on top LAHORE (Pakistan), Nov 16 (Reuters) — Graham Thorpe scored 118 and Craig White 89 not out as England reached 393 for six against Pakistan today at the end of the second day of the first Test. The left-handed Thorpe batted for most of the day, facing 301 deliveries during an innings of over seven hours as he recorded his seventh Test century on a slow track at the Gaddafi Stadium. Allrounder White, scoring much faster than his partner, made his best score in Tests as the two put on 136 for the sixth wicket. Off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who removed Thorpe in the final session, has taken all six wickets to fall. He removed Graeme Hick lbw for 16 in the morning, ending the day with six for 131 from 57 overs. England had resumed on 195 for four after opting to bat yesterday. England (first innings) overnight 195-4: M. Atherton c Youhana b Saqlain 73 M. Trecothick c Elahi b Saqlain 71 G. Thorpe c&b Saqlain 118 A. Stewart lbw b Saqlain 3 N. Hussain c Akram b Saqlain 7 G. Hick lbw c Saqlain 16 C. White not out 89 I. Salisbury not out 0 Extras (b-3 lb-4 nb-9) 16 Total (for six wickets, 161 overs) 393 Fall of wickets: 1-134, 2-169, 3-173, 4-183, 5-225, 6-391. Bowling: Wasim Akram 16-6-29-0 (nb-4), Abdur Razzaq 17-5-47-0 (nb-1), Saqlain Mushtaq 57-14-131-6 (nb-3), Mushtaz Ahmed 39-6-116-0 (nb-1), Shahid Afridi 18-6-38-0, Qaiser Abbas 14-3-25-0. |
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NOIDA, Nov 16 (UNI) — Jaipur’s Vishal Singh and Ranjit Singh of Chandigarh jointly led the field at three-under 69 on a high scoring opening day of the Rs 7-lakh ongc-ngc Open Golf Championship here today. Fancied Shiv Prakash, Vijay Kumar, Mukesh Kumar and Gast Ram were jointly placed third one stroke behind the leader at two-under 70. Former Indian Open champion Ali Sher and Akbar Ali at one-under 71 occupied the joint seventh-spot. Samodh Palace-sponsored Vishal Singh teed off from the 10th and after paring the first three holes of his front-nine, three-putted from 10 feet to drop a shot on the 13th. A birdie on the following hole undid the bad work and with back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th, Vishal entered his back-nine at a score of two-under. On his return journey, Vishal birdied the second, before missing a one feet par putt on the 5th. His fifth birdie coming on the 8th placed him in the joint-lead at three-under 69. Ranjit Singh overshadowed his more illustrious counterparts with a blemish free round of golf today. Ranjit started with a birdie and pared the next six holes before carding back-to-back birdies on the 8th and 9th to make the turn at a daunting three-under 69. Scores:
69 Vishal Singh, Ranjit Singh; 70 Shiv Prakash, Vijay Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Gast Ram; 71 Ali Sher, Akbar Ali; 72 Amit Dube, Pappan, Vinod Kumar (d), Vivek Bhandari; 73 K.P. Sekhon, Manohar Dike, Mohd Islam, Rohtas Singh, S. Madaiah, Yusuf Ali Amateurs: 71 Simarjeet Singh; 73 Sheeraz Kalra. |
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SANTIAGO, Nov 16 (Reuters) — Ariel Ortega scored a stunning individual goal as Argentina beat Chile 2-0 in a bruising World Cup qualifier yesterday. Ortega also set up pass for Claudio Husain to score in injury time as Chile’s hopes of qualifying for Japan and South Korea suffered a serious blow while Argentina stayed firmly on course. Chile’s third successive defeat in the South American group left them in seventh place with only 10 points from 10 games. Argentina, who overcame the absence of several top players through injury, maintained a five-point lead at the top over Brazil and Paraguay. The match was littered with vicious fouls as the players lunged two footed at each other’s ankles. Most went unpunished by a tolerant Paraguayan referee. Argentina, missing Claudio Lopez, Gabriel Batistuta, Hernan Crespo and Javier Zanetti through injury and Diego Simeone through suspension, still had the better of the first half. They were rewarded in the 27th minute when Ortega burst through the middle of the Chilean defense, ghosting past three baffled defenders before slipping the ball under advancing goalkeeper Nelson Tapia. Argentina goalkeeper German Burgos had almost nothing to do until the 43rd minute when he tipped a Pablo Contreras header onto the crossbar. The second half was a scrappy affair, with Chile’s midfield failing to get the ball anywhere near strikers Marcelo Salas and Ivan Zamorano as the tackles continuing to fly in. Salas had one good effort in the closing minutes, but his shot bounced wide of the Argentine goal. In injury time, Ortega split the Chile defense with an incisive pass to Husain, who blasted the ball into the top corner of the goal with a first time shot.
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AIR commentary NEW DELHI, Nov 16 (UNI) — All India Radio will broadcast live commentary alternately in Hindi and English on the national hook-up of the India-Zimbabwe cricket series to be played from November 18 to December 14. The tour itinerary. Nov 18 to 22: 1st Test at Delhi, Nov 25 to 29: 2nd Test at Nagpur, Dec 2 1st ODI at Cuttack, Dec 5 IInd ODI at Ahmedabad, Dec 8 IIIrd ODI at Jodhpur, Dec 11 IVth ODI at Kanpur, Dec 14 Vth ODI at Rajkot. The commentary timings of the Test matches shall be 9.25 a.m. to 11.35 a.m., 12.05 p.m. to 2.15 p.m./, 2.25 p.m. to 4.35 p.m. or till end of the day’s play. The commentary timings of the one-day matches except Cuttack shall be 8.55 a.m. to 12.35 p.m. and 1.10 p.m. to 4.50 p.m. or till end of the day’s play. The commentary timings of Cuttack shall be 8.25 a.m. to 12.05 p.m. and 12.40 p.m. to 4.20 p.m. or till end of the day’s play. |
KU, Delhi varsity
triumph KURUKSHETRA, Nov 16 — Kurukshetra University and Delhi University entered the finals of the All-India Inter-University, Handball (men) Championship by defeating University of Pune and Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, 27-25 and 34-20, respectively, at Kurukshetra University here today.
In the women’s section, Punjab University, Patiala, and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar entered the finals by defeating Kurukshetra University and Panjab University, Chandigarh, by14-11 and 14-13 respectively.
Gaurav Sehgal, Nitin Sehgal and Virender (captain) of Kurukshetra University played well while the goalkeeper, Prashant made seven saves. Azad appointed
match referee CHANDIGARH, Nov 16 — Former Punjab Ranji Trophy captain and India’s first cricket Dronacharya Awardee Desh Prem Azad has been appointed match referee for the Ranji Trophy league match between Vidarbha and Uttar Pradesh to be played at Nagpur from December 28 to 31, as per a communication received by him from Mr Sharad Diwadkar, Executive Secretary, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Mumbai. |
Airlines, SRC
post wins NEW DELHI, Nov 16 (UNI) — Delhi XI overcame a two-goal deficit in the last 20 minutes to win their league encounter against Karnataka XI 6-4 in the 37th Nehru-ONGC Hockey Tournament today. In another encounter, Indian Oil XI were one goal down before they fought back and clinched the match against UP XI 4-1. In other matches, Indian Airlines beat SAIL XI 1-0 and Sikh Regimental Centre overcame TA Sports Club 2-0.
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Cricket trials
at Rohtak ROHTAK, Nov 16 — Trials to select the Haryana cricket team (under-22) will be held at Sat Priya Cricket Academy here on November 19 at 9.30 a.m., according to Mr R.S. Mahendera, secretary, Haryana Cricket Association. These trials were earlier scheduled to be held at Gurgaon.
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