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| Tuesday, November 21,
2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Dravid, Sachin lead strong Indian
reply Rahul Dravid acknowledges cheers after completing his century on the third day's play of the first cricket Test match between India and Zimababwe at Ferozeshah Kotla in New Delhi on Monday. —PTI photo BCCI panel to discuss
Madhavan report 6-wicket haul by
Amit Mishra |
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| UP cagers annex
trophy KOT KAPURA, Nov 20 — In a thrilling encounter, UP cagers defeated the mighty Army Signals, Delhi, by 71-66 and won the trophy of 5th All India S. Nachchattar Singh Gill Memorial Tournament which concluded here today.
Tembe shocks Vishal Uppal Is NFL in
jeopardy? Third seed Sajith
bows out Punjab cops trounce
Jammu & Kashmir PSB down BP, enter last 8
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Dravid, Sachin lead strong Indian
reply NEW DELHI, Nov 20 — Rahul Dravid, still batting after scoring 118, and Sachin Tendulkar, unbeaten on 70, gave India a wonderful platform from where they can launch a big assault when the first Test between India and Zimbabwe resumes tomorrow at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here tomorrow. At stumps on the third day today, the home team, chasing the visitors’ first innings total of 422 for nine declared, ended at 275 for two and with two more days left for the match, there could be a number of interesting possibilities in the match. Play on the first two sessions tomorrow should indicate whether this match will yield a result or will it end in a tie. But in any case the game is bound to hold attention right till the end. With the Ferozeshah Kotla strip already showing signs of wear and tear and taking turn, the Indians can put the Zimbabwe team under pressure provided they can take a first innings lead of about 200 runs. And with so much batting to come, Zimbabwe might well have a hard task on hand to restrict the Indians. Also, the Indians have better spinners in Sunil Joshi and Murali Karthik than the spinners in the Zimbabwe squad — Brian Murphy, Paul Strang and Grant Flower. In fact, the Zimbabwe spinners could not extract much turn today and the second new ball was
taken by the visitors the moment it was due. But this too did not cause any problems to Dravid or Tendulkar. But much will depend on the Indian pair occupying the crease when stumps were drawn. Sachin’s 70, which came off 162 deliveries in a stay of 205 minutes at the crease, gave enough indication that the Indian maestro was willing to concentrate and get back among the runs after a string of failures in the shorter version of the game. Rahul Dravid, who faced a total of 213 balls to reach his century, had a larger share of the deliveries today and he should be the best foil that Sachin can have when the game resumes tomorrow. Today clearly was Rahul Dravid’s day and even Sachin Tendulkar, who joined him at the fall of Das’s wicket, was willing to play second fiddle, allowing the Karnataka batsman most of the strike. Rahul, whose last century was against the New Zealand team last winter at Mohali, was confidence personified as he farmed the Zimbabwe bowlers without taking any undue risk. It was apparent that the County stint which Rahul had this summer in England, has made him a more attacking batsman and the hooked four which he picked up off Heath Streak towards the close of play, showed in no uncertain terms that his array of strokes had really improved. The only blemish in his century, his seventh in 39 Tests, was a snick which was floored by Alistair Campbell at the second slip position and the bowler to suffer was Heath Streak, who today bowled his heart out in an effort to stem the Indian run rate. At that time Rahul was on 44. The Zimbabwe squad must be rueing their luck because after this, the Indian simply made no mistake as he was willing to wait for the right delivery to pick up his runs. India suffered an early loss when play resumed this morning. Just when it seemed that the Indian opening pair of Shiv Sunder Das and Sadagopan Ramesh were settling down, Heath Streak trapped Ramesh in front of the wicket with a delivery which kept low. Ramesh, who had opened the day’s proceeding with a four off Streak, fell with the Indian total reading 27. But the other Indian opener, Shiv Sunder Das, who is playing in only his second Test after making his debut at Dhaka earlier this month, showed good technique as also temperament as he scored his first Test 50 to add 107 for the second wicket along with Dravid before being out, leg before to Henry Olonga, again to a delivery which did not rise as much as expected. The 23-year-old opener from Orissa showed no discomfiture against neither pace or spin and today’s knock must have added to his confidence. One hopes that in Das the national selectors have found the regular opener which they have been searching for so desperately over the past couple of seasons. His wicket was the last success of the
visitors for the day. The only time Zimbabwe were able to apply some breaks to the Indian
innings was when Dravid was nearing his century but once he got past the three-figure mark there was very little the Zimbabwe bowlers could do. The way Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid are batting and with batsmen of the class of Saurav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman yet to come, the home team clearly held the advantage at the end of the second day’s play.
Scoreboard Zimbabwe (1st innings): 422-9 decl. India (1st innings): SS
Das lbw b Olonga 58 S Ramesh lbw b Streak 13 R Dravid batting 118 S Tendulkar batting 70 Extras (b-2, lb-6, w-2, nb-6) 16 Total (for 2 wkts, 99 overs) 275 Fall of wicket: 1-27, 2-134. Bowling: Streak 20-7-39-1, B Strang 23-7-70-0, P Strang 13-1-40-0, Murphy 22-3-51-0, Olonga 14-3-51-1, G Flower 7-1-16-0. |
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BCCI panel to discuss
Madhavan report NEW DELHI, Nov 20 — A three-member committee, headed by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president A.C. Muthiah, will discuss the report of the inquiry commissioner appointed by the board, former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Joint-Director K. Madhavan, regarding the match-fixing scandal, in Delhi on November 27. Mr Madhavan is likely to submit his report to the BCCI on November 25, which will be discussed by Mr Muthiah and two vice-presidents of the board, Mr C.K. Khanna of Delhi and Mr K. Rama Prasad of south zone, and recommend action to be taken against the players found guilty on match-fixing and other related matters, to be put before the special general body meeting of the BCCI in Calcutta on November 29. Mr C.K. Khanna, who is also the senior vice-president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association, said according to indications available, the BCCI general body will decide the line of action against the guilty players on the basis of the recommendations of the three-member committee. The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is awaiting the BCCI inquiry report, before initiating action against players found guilty in the CBI report on cricket match-fixing and related matters. Former Sports Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa had announced that the government would proceed against the guilty players, after receiving the BCCI report, though his successor, Ms Uma Bharati, has not yet come out with any firm views on the match-fixing report. |
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Action against 5
tainted players on November 29 MUMBAI, Nov 20 (PTI) — The cricket board (BCCI) will announce its final decision on the five players named in the CBI report on betting and match-fixing, on November 29 after deliberating on its watchdog K. Madhavan’s inquiry report. The BCCI, which banned the five players — Mohammed Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Manoj Prabhakar, Ajay Sharma and Nayan Mongia — after the CBI report was made public, instituted its own internal inquiry by Mr Madhavan, who is expected to submit the report on November 25. The report will be discussed at the BCCI’s special general body meeting in Calcutta on November 29, before the board takes its final stand on the players, sources said here today. The Australians are visiting India for a full series involving three Tests and five one-day internationals apart from three three-day matches during the 48-day tour starting from February 14 to April 7, 2001. |
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UP cagers annex
trophy KOT KAPURA, Nov 20 — In a thrilling encounter, UP cagers defeated the mighty Army Signals, Delhi, by 71-66 and won the trophy of 5th All India S. Nachchattar Singh Gill Memorial Tournament which concluded here today. The match was thrilling and full of action from the word ‘go’. The teams exchanged leads a number of times. At the end of the first half, Army Signals had lead of three points as the score was 33-30. The Army Signals took this lead by playing aggressively and by keeping their domination on the court. In the second half, the Army Signals men sharpened their attack and increased their lead to 10 points when the score was 43-33. The UP men then started fighting with full might and vigour and levelled the score. In the last two minutes, the UP lads took lead of one point as the score reached at 62-61. At this point, the Army Signals men though playing well lost their coordination and missed a number of shots from close range and UP men capitalised the situation. They started making counter attack and penetrated into the defence line of Army Signals well. With the tactics, the UP cagers kept on scoring points as they established domination. The Signals ultimately lost the match. For UP team Amit Singh collected 21 points, Bhinne and Asfag Ahmed came good with 16 points each. For the Army Signals Dhilip emerged as highest scorer with 17 points, T. Josep collected 15 points while S. Kumar scored 12 points. In the women’s section, the spectators were surprised as the match turned at to be one sided from the beginning though both the teams were evenly matched in their skills, speed and height. However, the MP women who exhibited good court movements, coordination, shooting skills and accuracy posted a comfortable victory. In the first half, the MP girls kept the ball in their possession and scored 44 points while the Punjab girls could collect only 22 points. The Punjab women could not bear the onslaught of the aggressive attack of MP women which made the match one sided. The Punjab women also lacked speed and accuracy and missed a number of shots . For MP Nanda scored 25 points and Savita amassed 21 points. For Punjab Sushma scored 13 points. Mr Nusrat Ali Khan, Punjab Sports Minister, gave away the prizes to the winners while Mrs Gurdip Kaur Gill, widow of S. Nachchattar Singh Gill gave away the cash prizes to players. |
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6-wicket haul by
Amit Mishra MANDI, Nov 20 — The crucial four-day North Zone Ranji match played at Shaheed Kishan Chand Thakur Stadium here ended in a draw. The hosts got only three points and the visitors five points from the match, taking their individual tally to eight points each. Both the teams are now out of the race for the knockout stage. Punjab are leading the North Zone with 32 points from four matches, followed by Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir. Resuming at their overnight score of 231 for four hosts were bundled out for 366 runs. Amit Sharma scored classy 82 runs guiding the hosts past the follow on mark.
Scoreboard Haryana (Ist innings): 457/5 declared. Himachal (Ist innings): Arun Verma lbw Amit Mishra 37, Nischal Gaur c Jaswir Singh b Amit Mishra 64, Rajiv Nayyar c Ishan Ganda b Amit Mishra 04, Amit sharma c Parinder b Amit Mishra 82, Virender Sharma 1bw Amit Mishra 45, Chetan Thakur b Sonu Sharma 08, Richi Kapoor c Sonu Sharma b Vineet Jain 32, Sangram Singh not out 50, Rahul Panta b Vineet Jain 00, Jaswant Rai 1bw Sonu Sharma 18, Rajinder Thakur st Ratra b Amit Mishra 04, Total all out in 175.3 overs): 366 Fall of wickets: 1/110, 2/115, 3/150, 4/220, 5/253, 6/260, 7/310, 8/313, 9/353, 10/366. Bowling: Vineet 17, 03, 71, 2, Parinder 10, 06, 07, 00, Sonu Sharma 36, 15, 50, 02, Pankaj Thakur 47, 15, 90, 00, Amit Mishra 61.3, 20, 138, 06, Sanjay Dalal 04, 02, 05, 00. Haryana (IInd innings): Ajay Ratra not out 36 Ishan Ganda not out 23. Total 62 (0 wickets, 19 overs) (Scoreboard incomplete) |
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Safin wins Paris Masters title PARIS, Nov 20 (AFP) — Russian second seed and ATP Champions Race leader Marat Safin won a cliffhanger final at the $2.95 million Paris Masters Series title at the Bercy Stadium, downing Australian 13th seed Mark Philippoussis 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10/8). The win gave the 20-year-old Russian a Tour-leading seventh title of the year and means he is almost certain to end the year as world No 1. He insisted afterwards he had to be regarded as top dog, even though the ATP Tour are still reluctant to confirm him as such. “I don’t know why I can’t think I’m No 1. I won enough tournaments. Maybe some people don’t like it, but that’s life,” he said, in a sideswipe at the Tour’s marketing of the Champions Race as the prime indicator. And he said he would look to win the Masters Cup in Lisbon starting November 28 so that the tennis establishment do not regard him as “that yo-yo from Moscow.” He added he thought he would have to quit after a bad fall in the third set, when he cut himself above his right eyebrow going for a low volley, when he saw the blood dripping from the wound. “I thought I’d have to say thank you and bye bye,” he admitted. Safin’s success, achieved on his sixth match point after a heartstopping finale, made him the only player to claim more than one Masters Series title in 2000 having earlier won in Toronto, Canada. And it meant he also went one better than last year, when he lost on his Paris indoor debut in the final to Andre Agassi. Safin’s success takes him to close on $ 3 million in earnings for the year after a 7-2 record in title matches. “It’s bad luck on Mark — he played really well. It was great game. I had more luck than him,” said Safin after his win, achieved in three hours 29 minutes. Philippoussis was gracious in victory. “Marat deserved it. He played so well all year — that’s why he’s No 1 in the world.” The Australian had shocked top seed Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (13/11) in a fascinating semifinal tussle on Saturday whereas Safin had ousted a tired-looking Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain for the loss of just four matches. US Open champion Safin now leads Kuerten by 75 points in the ATP Champions Race it should ultimately be confirmed as the youngest-ever world No 1 in the entry system next week. Against Philippoussis he took his career record to 2-1 after the pair split two matches last year. NEW YORK (Reuters): In a fitting farewell to Madison Square Garden, two great champions engaged in a classic struggle as top seed Martina Hingis battled third seed Monica Seles tooth and nail until the Swiss world No 1 hoisted the year’s final trophy at the Chase Championships. Hingis fought a fiercely determined Seles for an exhausting two hours and 21 minutes before taking the thriller 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4 yesterday for her second career title in the season finale. “Until the last point we played I didn’t know what was going to happen,’’ said Hingis, who ended the year by winning four of the last five events she entered. “She’s a great champion and it was a great match today. I think I was may be a little lucky at the end to win here,’’ admitted Hingis, who also won the doubles title Saturday with Anna Kournikova. Hingis collected $ 500,000 for her tour-best ninth title of the year in the last year-end championships at Madison Square Garden before the event moves to Munich, Germany next year. The Garden had been home to the WTA Tour’s year-end championships continuously since 1979. “I was very emotional because this is it,’’ said Seles, who won the season finale three years running beginning in 1990 when she became its youngest champion a month shy of her 17th birthday. “It was just emotional to know that the championships are not going to be here,’’ added Seles after her first final here since the last of her three titles in 1992. The exciting contest was filled with long, high-intensity rallies as the pair ran each other ragged, leaving them both gasping for breath at several points in a match that produced a stunning 102 winners — 49 for Hingis and 53 for Seles. Seles, the sentimental favourite but decided underdog coming into the final, appeared to turn back the clock to the days when she ruled the women’s tennis roost. “She keeps pounding on you and she keeps pressuring you and it’s just hard to find a solution,’’ said Hingis, who also won in 1998 and who was in her fourth final in five years here. “I was sometimes just waiting for her to miss or just get short, but she wouldn’t ... and she was running so well. I was so surprised,’’ added Hingis, who improved to 12-2 in career meetings with Seles and an impressive 23-1 in indoor matches this year. Seles was equally surprised by her performance after being sidelined for the past month with foot problems. “It was just a really wonderful surprise how well I played and just the great, great feeling to have the crowd so behind me. It was just a really fantastic week,’’ said Seles, who walked away with $ 250,000 runner-up. “I played some great tennis and Martina was just too tough at the end.’’ |
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ROME, Nov 20 (Reuters) — An Italian third division player is in a coma after he was punched in the head following the Serie C match between Como and Modena. Modena midfielder Francesco Bertolotti is in the Sant Anna hospital in Lecco where medical staff say he is in a state of “first degree” coma. Bertolotti fell to the floor following a punch from a Como player yesterday during clashes which took place in the dressing room after the game, won 1-0 by Como. The Italian news agency ANSA said Bertolotti, born in Blackburn, England, lost consciousness and also suffered a minor heart attack before he was treated by paramedics and then taken to hospital. All the players were kept in the dresssing room by a local police chief while investigations into the attack were carried out. |
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Kulwinder claims shot put gold VISAKHAPATNAM, Nov 20 (UNI) — Bihar and Karnataka athletes came out with flying colours claiming two gold apiece in the eighth Junior National Athletic Championship (under-22), which began at Rajiv Gandhi Port stadium here today. While Bhagion Singh won the long jump gold in the men’s section, Harwant Kaur brought the second gold for Bihar picking up gold in the women’s shot put event. Karnataka women won both the gold for their state as B Hemalatha emerged winner in 1500 m run, while Harshini Kumari clinched the gold in high jump. In the men’s section, Kuldeep Kumar of UP (1500 m) and Kulwinder Singh of Punjab (shot put) won the golds medals. The following are the results: Men: 1500 m: 1 Kuldeep Kumar (UP) (3 min 55.1 sec) 2, Biranchi Narayan Mahanto (Ori) 3, Arvind Saha (Mah). Shot put: 1 Kulwinder Singh (Pun) (17.33 m) 2, Ameet Thagi (UP) 3, Rajiv Kumar (Dli). Long jump: 1 Bhagion Singh (Bih) (7.42 m) 2, Rajesh Babu (Ker) 3, Jeet Banu (Dli) 3. Women: 1500 m: 1 B. Hemalatha (Kar) (4 min 36.59 secs), 2, Paramjeet Kaur (Pun) 3, Suresh Kumari (HP). High jump: 1 Harshini Kumari
(Kar) (1.69 m), 2 Manju Pauldis (Ker), 3 Lucy Deshmukh (WB). Shot put:1 Harwant Kaur
(Bih) (12.14 m), 2, T. Banupriya (TN), 3, Manmeet Bains (UP). |
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National Football League postponed NEW DELHI, Nov 20 (UNI) — All-India Football Federation (AIFF) president Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi today asserted that attempts by some clubs or individuals to “hijack the federation” would be frustrated. “Football is not cricket and if anybody wants to be Kerry Packer of football his dream will not be fulfilled”, Mr Dasmunshi said at a hurredly called press conference. “Football in India is not for sale, it is not cricket. We have much better infrastructure and the game does not need any Kerry Packer,” Mr Dasmunshi said. He also announced the deferring of the 5th edition of the National Football League (NFL) which was to start from November 25. The new dates will be announced on November 26 after the AIFF executive meeting here. He claimed that under FIFA, Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and AIFF’s rules there is no place for any parallel body. “Those who are thinking or dreaming of challenging the AIFF’s authority are living in their own make believe world”. Mr Dasmunshi was at pains to explain that there was no threat to the AIFF. “There is no question of succumbing to any pressure. We are open to discuss anything which will help Indian football but in no case authority of the AIFF will be allowed to be diluted”. The press conference was called to counter the challange posed by some major clubs of the country who have formed Indian Premier Football Association (IPFA) with industrialist Vijay Mallya as their president. Mr Dasmunshi said he had a detailed discussion with Mr Vijay Mallaya here this morning and he (Mallya) assured me that the IPFA was not a parallel body”. The IPFA has demanded that the National Football League (NFL) be run on professional lines, it should be properly marketed and sponsores should get exposure on the television. “I had a useful discussion with Mr Vijaya Mallya, who came to meet me on behalf of few clubs and now the whole issue will be discussed at an emergency meeting of the AIFF here on November 26”, Mr Dasmunshi said. Asked if the formation of IPFA was linked to the elections of the AIFF office bearers scheduled for December 16, Mr Dasmunshi said: “I don’t know, I can’t say”. He, however, said he was going to seek re-election as president “I am very much in the race and I will contest if election is thrust upon me”. Mr Dasmunshi said he told Mr Vijaya Mallaya that the NFL should not be compared with the leagues in various European countries.” One can travel through the whole of Europe in one and half day but that is not possible here. We face a lot more problems here and we are not yet very professional”. The AIFF Chief admitted that there has been some problems regarding payments to the clubs in the previous NFL but they had been sorted out”. He lashed out at Doordarshan saying “it has destroyed sports in the country and is only interested in cricket”. “Cricket and Doordarshan jointly finished other sports in the country, Doordarshan owes Rs 3 crore to the AIFF and if they had paid us our money, this problem would not have arisen,” he said. “I don’t understand Doordarshan’s obsession will cricket at the cost of other games”, he said adding that the AIFF had an agreement with Star TV but it was “Doordarshan which asked us to come to them, to be with national TV and look how we have been treated”. He also blamed some co-sponsors of not fulfilling their obligations. Mr Dasmunshi said: “While the authority of the federation and state association cannot be undermined, challenged or questioned by any outside forces at the same time all legitimate grievances of the clubs both in terms of resource mobilisation, revenue sharing and other aspects relating to the improvement of the game can be discussed.” |
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Tembe shocks Vishal Uppal MUMBAI, Nov 20 (PTI) — Wildcard Kedar Tembe shocked eighth seed and Davis cupper Vishal Uppal 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-4 and joined his compatriots Rohan Bopanna and Rishi Sridhar in the second round of the $ 10,000 ITF Men’s Futures Tennis Tournament here today. Bopanna needed a first set tie-break to beat Tamas Gyorgy of Hungary 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 in an hour and 20 minutes while Sridhar took exactly one hour to down his countryman and qualifier Nipun Gupta 6-2 6-1 to move into the second round. Local lad Tembe, who took one hour 15 minutes, to pip Uppal, broke his opponent’s serve in the second game and then held his own to open up a 3-0 lead in the first set. However, Uppal fought back gallantly and with a break in the seventh game he narrowed the margin 3-4 and then held his own serve to equalise at 4-4. The players held their serves from then on and forced the tie-break. In the tie-break Tembe served and volleyed better than Uppal and won 9-7. In the second set Uppal pulled up his socks and with a break in the 12th game won the set 7-5. The decider saw the games go with serves till the eight game before Tembe broke Uppal in the ninth and crucial game to lead 5-4 and then served out the match in style. Bopanna, who saw eight other Indians bite the dust, had a good day when he came to face the Hungarian. He first broke his rival in the sixth game of the first set but failed to hold his own serve in the next game. The games went with serves from then on forceing a tie-break. In the second set, the Indian took a firm grip after breaking his rival in the third game. Though tamas fought tooth and nail he could not stop the Indian from serving out the match at 6-4. The fourth Indian to make it to the second round was Manoj Mahadevan, who beat his compatriot Kedar Shah 6-2 7-5, in one hour fourty minutes. Other Indians seen in action - Mustafa Ghouse, Vijay Kannan, Vinod Sridhar, Vijayendra Laad and former Davis Cupper Nitin Kirtane - failed to cross the first hurdle. Results (men’s singles first round): Juraj Hasko (Svk) bt Jonathan Marray (GBR) 6-3 6-4, Anton Kokurin (Uzb) bt Mustafa Ghouse (Ind) 3-0 (conceded), Tomas Janci (Svk) bt Vijay Kannan (Ind) 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5), K. Tembe (Ind) bt V. Ippal (Ind) 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-4, Miloslav Grolmus (Svk) bt Vinod Sridhar (Ind) 6-2 6-1, Efe Ustundag (Tur) bt Josef Nesticky (Cze) 6-2 6-1, Branislav Sekac (Svk) bt Sergei Krotiouk (Rus) 6-3 6-2, Baptiste Dupuy (Fra) bt Leslie Demiliani (Fra) 7-6 (8-6) conceeded, M. Mahadevan (Ind) bt K. Shah (Ind) 6-2 7-5, Michal Mertinak (Svk) bt Stephen Nugent (Irl) 7-6 (7-4) 6-0, Kamil Patel (Mri) bt Vijayedra Laad (Ind) 6-4 6-4, M.R. Sridhar (Ind) bt N. Gupta (Ind) 6-2 6-1, R. Bopanna (Ind) bt G Tamas (Hun) 7-6 (9-7) 6-4, Viktor Bruthans (Svk) bt Nitin Kirtane (Ind) 6-3 6-3. |
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Is NFL in
jeopardy? CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — Is the fifth edition of the high-profile National Football League under the aegis of the All-India Football Federation in jeopardy ? The question assumes significance in the light of the developments at Mumbai on November 18 where as many as nine of the 12 participating clubs joined hands before rising in revolt against the federation to set up the Indian Premier Football
Association. Leading the charge was none other than liquor baron Vijay
Mallaya, whose interest in the affairs concerning Indian football is well known. Mr Mallaya is currently sponsoring the three Calcutta giants — Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan
Sporting. The IPFA has already put forth its demand before the AIFF headed by Mr Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi — recognition for the new body and organising the National Football League under the banner of an autonomous body on professional lines. The sudden development seems to have caught the federation unawares. Only a few days back, the chairman of the NFL organising committee, Mr Alberto Colaco, had released the draw for the first leg of the league. As per the draw, the NFL was scheduled to kick off on November 25 at four different centres namely New Delhi, Margao, Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram. As per the established norm, star-studded Mohun Bagan and arch rivals JCT Phagwara were to clash in the lung opener at Delhi's Ambedkar Stadium on the opening day. Elsewhere on the same day, Salgaocar were scheduled to meet East Bengal at Margao; ITI were pitted against Air-India at Bangalore and State Bank of Travancore were scheduled to meet debutants Vasco at
Thiruvananthapuram. However, the latest developments indicate that the league has run into rough weather with a majority of the contestants, including JCT Phagwara, Mohun Bagan, Salgaocar, East Bengal, Mahindra
United, Mumbai, Goa's Churchill Brothers, FC Kochin and Tollygunge Agragami under the umbrella of the IPFA threatening a boycott of the NFL in case the demands of the IPFA are not conceded and the AIFF adopting a tough posture on the issue while announcing a postponment of the national league today. Discontentment against the All-India Football Federation had been simmering since long. Despite offering a whopping Rs 1.5 crore as prize money, the participating clubs were not paid outstanding dues within the time frame in the previous
league. After having successfully organised the league in its inaugural year in collaboration with a renowned soft-drinks company, the AIFF plans went haywire in the subsequent editions. Many of the established norms like man-of-the-match awards were given a go-by and TV coverage of the matches was woefully inadequate. With Zee TV jumping into the arena as sponsors of Goa's Churchill Brothers this season, and other sponsors unhappy with the state of affairs in the previous years, revolt against the parent body was a foregone conclusion. |
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Third seed Sajith
bows out CHANDIGARH, Nov 20 — Third seed PV Sajith of Kerela today tasted defeat at the hands of unseeded Vinayaka Putran of Maharashtra in the third round in the first upset of the boys singles event on the second day of the 25th Servo Indian Oil Junior National Badminton Championship being played here at Sector 42 Indoor hall. Sahil Arora of Punjab, who had till previous rounds played good game, went down fighting to Ankur Barua of Assam in three games. Among girls, Samritika of Haryana made no mistakes in beating Deepa Mathur of Rajasthan in straight games while third seed G. Jwala of Andhra Pradesh proved too good for Uima Tarnang of Nagaland to enter the next rounds. Poonam of Himachal Pradesh lost to Radhika Reddy of AP in another girls tie. The results
for the matches played are: Boys singles: Dilprit Singh (Pb) b Anuj (Rly) 9-15, 15-3, 15-2; Ajeet Pathak (AI) b C Deyalan (TN); Utsav Prakash (Ktk) b DB Thapa (UP)15-7, 15-4; P Sunil (AP) b Krishan Gupta (Raj) 15-3, 12-15, 15-6; Nishad Dravid ( Mah) b Vasu Pande (UP) 15-2, 15-4; Vinayak Putran (Mah) b Deepak Sidhu (Chd) 15-8, 15-4; Doubles — A Prithvi and P Sunil b B Bora and Joy J (Asm) 15-4, 15-5; Vasu and A Pant (UP) b Hrithik Parikh and Ankit (Guj) 15-9, 15-11;Vinod and Vinayak (AP) b Varun and Varun Khanna (Pb) 15-5, 15-11; Bidin and Vineet (Ker) b Vivek and Tanveer (Chd) 17-14,15-6. Girls singles: Nithva b Sumitra 11-3,11-4; B Ashwini (Ktk) b Parul Rawat ( Dli) 11-3,11-4; Samarika (J&K) b Sohini (WB) 11-6,11-2; Aditi (Ktk) b Sapna ( Rly) 11-8, 11-3; Ridhi (Mah) b Shalini (AI) 7-11, 11-2; 11-8; Aprna (Ker) b Rashmi ( MP)11-4, 11-2; Anjali (Asm) b Renu (Dli) 11-4, 13-11; Singles: Ankur Arora (Asm) b Sahil Arora (Pb)15-8, 13-15, 17-14; Nitin (Mah) b Kuldeep (MP) 15-5, 15-9; SDS Krishna (AI) b P Pramanik (Ors) 15-3, 15-4; Ramesh (Rly) b Vipin (HP) 15-6, 15-10. G Jwala (AP) b U. Tamang (Nag) 11-0,11-6. |
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Punjab cops trounce
Jammu & Kashmir HYDERABAD, Nov 20 (UNI) — Joler Topno shot home the golden goal as Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) shocked holders Border Security Force (BSF) 3-2 to storm into the finals of the 49th All India Police Hockey Championship here today. In the other semi-final, Punjab overwhelmed Jammu and Kashmir 4-1 to set up the title clash with CRPF. In an interesting fare, BSF held the edge throughout and even led twice, but CRPF managed to level 2-2 at the end of the full time. Joler’s strike in the 14th minute of the extra time sealed the fate of the champions. Tanveer Jamal and S.K. Vashist scored the two goals for CRPF, while Peter Kirkee and Amrit Lakra did the scoring for BSF. Gurjeet Singh opened the account for Jammu and Kashmir but Punjab soon asserted their supremacy as Gurajan Singh struck twice within a span of one minute to take his team to a 2-1 lead. Sarvajanth Singh consolidated his team position further, while Daljit Singh Dhillon rounded off the tally for Punjab. |
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PSB down
BP, enter last 8 NEW DELHI, Nov 20 — Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) beat Bharat Petroleum 2-1 to move into the quarter-final from pool I in the 37th Nehru-ONGC Hockey Tournament at the National Stadium here today. Rajinder Singh converted a penalty corner in the tenth minute to open PSB’s account, and held the lead till the 23rd minute of second half, when Sabu Varkey equalised for Bharat Petroleum. But Parminder Singh quickly regained the lead for PSB, and helped them win the match. In other matches, Army XI beat Indian Oil XI 4-2, after leading by 3-0 at half time, though both the teams qualified for the quarter-finals from pool III while Indian Navy drubbed Youngster Club, Bareilly 7-2 and Air-India, Mumbai, downed Delhi XI 2-0. |
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Sport psychologists leaving NIS PATIALA, Nov 20 — The Sports Psychology Department of the National Institute of Sports (NIS) has virtually become a white elephant after some top sport psychologists of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) have left the institute. The reduction in the teaching staff of the department began when one of the country’s leading sport psychologists, Mr H.A. Khan, left the NIS in March past year, never to return. Past month, the SAI corporate office in New Delhi terminated his services. Mr Khan was also the personal psychologist of Chiranjeev Milkha Singh. Sources say that, although Mr Khan has settled in Canada, whenever Chiranjeev Milkha Singh needs him, he reaches wherever the golfer is playing. After Mr Khan, his wife Ms Manoranjani Khan, a Junior Scientific Officer in the department, left the NIS. She had obtained a leave of absence till October 20. However, she has still not returned to the NIS. Sources say that She, too, has reached Canada and may not return. When contacted, the Regional Director of the NIS, Mr G.S. Anand, said, if Ms Khan did not return, the institute would take possession of her flat forcibly under the rules governing Central Government employees. The apartment, situated within the NIS Complex, was alloted to Mr H.A. Khan. Another sport psychologist, Mr Bhupinder Singh, has also left the NIS to join Punjabi University as Joint Director Sports. With three top sport psychologists of the NIS gone, the department has become hollow. Another psychologist, Ms Reena Kaul, is on a study leave and is unlikely to join the institute in the next few months. However, Mr G.S. Anand said the teaching work at the NIS would not suffer as the sport psychology classes for this session were already over. He said another sport psychologist, Ms Madhalsa Mittal, could teach the students if needed. However, sources say that she is a Junior Scientific Assistant and is not fit for teaching those studying for their MS degrees. Mr Anand said the NIS authorities had already written to the SAI corporate office regarding the vacancies in the department. |
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NEW DELHI, Nov 20 — Rahul Dravid, still batting after scoring 118, and Sachin Tendulkar, unbeaten on 70, gave India a wonderful platform from where they can launch a big assault when the first Test between India and Zimbabwe resumes tomorrow at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here tomorrow.
