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| Tuesday, December 19, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Leander, Nirupama pull
out Expert Comments Indian eves crash to 3rd
defeat
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Jeev qualifies for Japanese PGA Tour Aussies poised to win
Test England U-19 tour itinerary UTCA to streamline
cricket AAFI shortlists 74
athletes NFL Roundup Bharat Petroleum
meet Punjab cops PPS Nabha in
lead Big win for PU eves Punjab pip Haryana in roller hockey
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Leander, Nirupama pull
out NEW DELHI, Dec 18 — India will be sans Leander Paes and Nirupama Vaidyanathan, but the fourth edition of the $ 90,000 prize money Asia Cup Tennis Tournament, starting at the R.K. Khanna Stadium here tomorrow, is likely to witness some keen contests, as China, Korea and Thailand have brought their best teams. Women’s event will make its debut in the six-day Asia Cup, but it will be a three-team affair, as Indonesia could not make it due to non-availability of air tickets to Delhi. The men’s field will be without defending champions Uzbekistan who have cried off, citing “Davis Cup preparation” as the reason, though differences between players and the Uzbek tennis association is learnt to be the actual reason for the defending champions not entering their team. The tournament will be played on a round-robin basis, both in the men’s and women’s section, with the best two teams qualifying for the final. The women’s final will be played on Saturday and the men’s final on Sunday. The men’s field comprises India, China, Korea and Thailand while the women’s section have India, China and Thailand. Thailand have been drawn to meet China in the opening men’s match tomorrow in the draw of lots picked up by Union Minister for Law and Justice Arun Jaitley here today, while Indian men play their first match against Korea on Wednesday. China clash against Korea and India take on Thailand on Thursday. The India-China match will be held on Friday and the Korea-Thailand tie on Saturday. In the women’s section, India meet Thailand in the inaugural match tomorrow and take on China on Wednesday, while China will clash against Thailand on Friday. The Asia Cup will afford India an excellent opportunity to measure the strength of the Chinese team, before their Asia-Ocenia Davis Cup tie, slated to be played in Beijing, in February next year. The Chinese team of Ben-Qiang Zhu, Yu Zhang, Yu Wang, Bin Wu and Peng Sung are supposed to be their best lineup, and India couldn’t have asked for a better venue to have a match-up with the Chinese than Delhi. Leander’s absence will be sorely felt by India as Korea too have brought their best players. According to All-India Tennis Association (AITA) secretary Anil Khanna, Leander wanted to treat his knee, which has been giving him trouble for quite some time now, and, therefore, wanted to be excluded from the Asia Cup, though sources say the numero uno player pulled out due to his soured relationship with the AITA. Be that as it may, a team without Leander will put a heavy burden on Mahesh Bhupathi, who will have to now bear the brunt of the action, though Syed Fazaluddin, Harsh Mankad and new national hard court champion Nitin Kirtane are all there to give him solid support. Nitin Kirtane and Harsh Mankad looked lost and subdued at the draw ceremony as Bhupathi, non-playing captain Ramesh Krishnan and Syed Fazaluddin had not joined the team today. They are expected only in the evening. Reserve player Sunil Kumar of Chandigarh too was missing. Though Leander had played in the Asia Cup last year, he was virtually a disinterested spectator, and when the defending champions sank without a trace in the semi-finals, it was non-playing captain Jaideep Mukherjea’s goose, that had been cooked. Leander further soured his relationship with the AITA, to confound his problems, troubled as he already was, after his split with his doubles mate Mahesh Bhupathi. Mr Anil Khanna said women’s ace Nirupama Vaidyanathan is also nursing a knee injury, and hence could not make it for the Asia Cup. Nirupama’s loss is reserve player Shruti Dhawan’s gain as the Chandigarh lass may get a chance to play in the tournament. But women’s non-playing captain Nandan Bal, a former Davis Cupper, said he was yet to decide about the playing combination, and would make up his mind only on the morrow. Even without Nirupama, India have a competent team in players such as Manisha Malhotra, Sai Jayalakshmi, Rushmi Chakravarti and Shruti Dhawan. Bal’s dilemma is in selecting the doubles combination as Manisha is good in doubles too. Because Bal does not want to take any chances against neither China, nor Thailand. Each tie would consist of two singles and one doubles in the best of three sets format. And all the three matches will be played just in case a count back is required to spot the finalists. The Korean team include world No 90 Lee Hyung-Taik, who had made it into the fourth round of the US Open this year, before falling to Pete Sampras. He had also beaten Goran Ivanisevic in an ATP tournament a few days back. The men’s event carries a total prize money of $ 50,000 while the women’s event will have a prize money of $ 40,000. The winners in the men’s and women’s events will pocket $ 25,000 and $ 20,000, respectively. Mr Anil Khanna said the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association is providing free five-star hospitality to the teams in addition to bearing the air passage cost of all the teams.The tournament is being sponsored by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Central Bank. |
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Expert Comments So near, yet so far. The adage is apt for Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi’s continued bad luck at the World Doubles Tennis Championships. Paes and Bhupathi were comprehensively beaten by South African Piet Norval and American Donald Johnson in the final of the (World Doubles) Championship, which concluded in Bangalore on Sunday. The score: 7-6 (10-8) 6-3, 6-4. For the 7000-odd spectators and the millions of Indians who were watching the final, it was a, huge anti climax. Everybody was hoping for an Indian victory but had to be content with being second best. The Indian pair could not deliver on the big occasion and were left ruing their missed chances. Coming together after nearly two months and having played only six tournaments together through out the year, Leander and Mahesh did well to reach the final. Both of them have struggled with injuries and indifferent form over the past year. Unfortunately, they cannot seem to get the monkey of their back and have now lost all three World Championship finals that they have featured in. I had mentioned in my earlier column that the Indian pair is not playing their best and will find the going tough if they find a team that returns serve well. This is exactly what happened on Sunday. After getting of to a great start and breaking serve in the first game, the Indians had a chance to go double break up in the third game, but squandered the opportunity. It goes to show that in modern day Tennis you get very few chances and if you don’t capitalise on them, you are going to end up on the losing side. Mahesh’s serve looked ordinary and Leander’s returns were below par. The energy that is their trademark was completely missing. There were no high fives; no chest bumping and the body language left a lot to be desired. Having said that, Norval and Johnson must be complimented on their victory. They stuck to a strategy and it paid them handsome dividends. Norval and Johnson constantly put pressure on the Indian service games and before long; they wrested control of the match and dictated the pace. The foreigners appeared calm and collected did not let the crowd bother them. The crowd on the other hand did everything to upset their rhythm including shouting between first and second serves. It almost seemed like a Davis Cup match. The good news is that Leander and Mahesh are going to continue playing together next year. Hopefully, they will keep their differences off the court and concentrate on the job at hand. They were on a roll in 1999 and seemed invincible. That aura is gone and now more than their strokes, they will have to find a way to strike fear into the teams in the same manner that they did in 1999. And that is, easier said than done.
— PRO Sports |
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Indian eves crash to 3rd defeat NEW DELHI, Dec 18 (UNI) — Throwing out all Indian hopes of a semifinal berth, defending champions China trounced the hosts 94-29, for the third defeat in a row in as many days in the 15th Asian Basketball Championship for junior women at Talkatora Stadium here today. However, in other keenly-contested matches, Korea beat Thailand 81-51 and Malayasia outlasted Sri Lanka 65-42. Playing with clinical precision, China taught India a lesson, dominating the show throughout except the first five minute. The only time India could surpass the score of the opponents, was when China were on three. The hosts with a field goal reached five. A shocked China consolidated their position and kept on scoring without looking back. At the breather India’s score was 17 against China’s 52. The diminutive Indians were no match for the champions. Most of the times Indian passing was intercepted by the taller Chinese. If sometimes Indians could manage to go near the basket, their execution was too poor. China kept up tempo till the very the end, replacing the whole bunch of players in the second half. The rejuvenated side did not allow the Indians to take home ground advantage or the advantage of crowd support. India could manage only 12 points in the second half against China’s 42. For India Anju Lakra (10) and Sofi Sam (8) were the top scorers where as Ren Lei (13), Ma Zengyu (12) and Chen Nan (12) were for China. In another pool ‘B’ match, seven-time champion Korea beat Thailand registering their third successive victory in the tournament. In the first half the score was 39-30 in favour of Korea. Korean Bang Ji Yun scored 15 points, the highest in the match. In the second half, Korea scored 42 points against 21 of Thailand. For Korea Park Eun Jin (9) and Lee Youn Hua (8) were the other major scorers where as R. Supranee (11), C. Jintan (10) and Inueng Intira (7) scored for Thailand. In a keenly-contested pool ‘A’ match, Malaysia trounced Sri Lanka. At the half time the score was 34-20 for Malaysia. |
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MUMBAI, Dec 18 (PTI) — Local outfit Mahindra United held JCT, Paghwara, to a 1-all draw in their second match of the AIFF National Football League at the Cooperage here today. JCT went ahead in the 34th minute when their mid-fielder Ram Pal scored off a forward Hardip Gill’s cross after Gill himself had hit over a Sukhjit Singh backward pass five minutes earlier. However, the equaliser came three minutes after interval when Mahindra mid-fielder Habib Adekunle scored off a weak clearance by one of the JCT defenders after Aqueel Ansari had given a good forward pass. The first good move came in the 20th minute of the match when the home team’s forward Shamsy Raza’s try off a Abbas Ali Rizvi centre just missed the mark after both the teams were confined to mid-field tussle for the first 19 minutes or so. In the 43rd minute Mahindra’s mid-fielder S. Venkatesh header went over after defender Ramesh Rajak cross. Soon after JCT’s Gill made a good move on the right flank and Hardip Sangha’s try rebounded to Surjit Singh but Surjit’s shot missed the mark. The teams went in for the breaks with JCT leading by a goal which was neutralised soon after resumption. In the 51st minute JCT’s Surjit Singh’s try off a rebound was well saved by Mahindra custodian Virender Singh. JCT were again on the attack in the 60th minute and Virender Singh did well to punch over a Gill try. JCT, who looked like scoring, put lot of pressure on Mahindra citadel and in the 72nd minute Hardip Sangha’s try off mid-fielder Harinder Singh cross just missed the mark. Six minutes later Mahindra substitute Nitin Pradhan, who came in place of forward Manjit Singh, headed towards the goal mouth off a Ansari lob, it was just off the mark. Soon after JCT substitute Jagjit Randhawa’s, lob went over and with just eight minutes to go for the hooter, the home team who got a golden chance to score messed it up. Defender Navshad Moosa, who was
totally off colour today, lobbed a ball to Pradhan. Pradhan in turn
headed it to an on rushing Habib Adekunle who could only manage to hit
over and the teams had to settle for a draw. CALCUTTA (UNI): Soccer titan Mohun Bagan
rallied to defeat Tollygunge Agragami 2-1 here on Monday. Tollygunge,
which went into the lead in the 27th minute of the first half through
Nigerian Seriki, however Bagan’s bounced back into the reckoning in
the second half and netted a brace in the 56th and the 64th minutes
through Brazilian Santos and R.C. Prakash, respectively. The match,
which never rose to any dizzy heights, witnessed both Bagan and
Tollygunge making inroads into the rival forte umpteen times, but the
upfront of both the teams bungled the opportunities. |
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Jeev qualifies for Japanese PGA Tour NEW DELHI, Dec 18 (UNI) — Jeev Milkha Singh added another first to his credit today when he became the only Indian in the history of professional golf to qualify for the lucrative Japanese
PGA tour. At the par-72 UMK golf course in Miyazaki, a southern city in Japan, Jeev shot an amazing round of eight-under 64 on the final day to finish tied for the third place in the extremely competitive final stage of the q-school. Jeev, who is sponsored by Hero Honda, tallied 15-under 417 for six rounds. The winner was t.
Kondo of Japan at 20-under 412, while another Japanese, Sakiyama, was second at 19-under 413. Jeev, who is also the only Indian to have qualified for the European
PGA tour, was among 200 participants who made it to the final stage. Cut was applied after four rounds and the top-90 and ties received their cards for the 2001 season. Of these, only the top-40 will get full exemption and can pick and choose their events during the season. |
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ADELAIDE, Dec 18 (AFP) — Australia survived some anxious moments to ease themselves into a winning position against the West Indies on the fourth day of the third cricket Test at Adelaide Oval here today. Set a target of 130 after bundling out the tourists for a second innings 141, Australia went to stumps with 98 for four - needing just another 32 runs - and well poised to extend to 13 their world record sequence of Test victories. Not out batsmen Justin Langer (43) and Damien Martyn (18) will pad up tomorrow aiming to secure for Australia the win which will give them an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series, ensuring they retain the Frank Worrell Trophy. Australia were in deep trouble at various stages of their second innings, but again displayed that resilience under pressure which makes them the best Test side in the world. The home country were struggling with 27 for three in the 10th over and again with 48 for four in the 15th over before Langer and Martyn came together in a crucial fifth-wicket liaison which turned the game. They did not find it easy against a much more spirited West Indies’ outfit, but showed much character in adding 50 in 82 minutes off 124 balls. There were early dramas in the Australian second innings as paceman Mervyn Dillon removed Michael Slater for one and veteran speedster Courtney Walsh ousted Matthew Hayden (14). Dillon weighed in again to send back Mark Waugh for five, as Australia teetered on the edge with 27 for three. The first three dismissals were all the result of catches by wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs. West Indies (Ist innings): 391 Australia (Ist innings) (overnight 403 for 9): Slater c sub (Sarwan) b Samuels 83 Hayden run out 58 Langer c Lara b Samuels 6 M. Waugh lbw Dillon 63 Gillespie lbw Walsh 4 Ponting c Jacobs b Walsh 92 Martyn not out 46 Gilchrist c Jacobs b McLean 9 MacGill c Jacobs b Dillon 6 Miller c Campbell b McLean 1 McGrath b Dillon 1 Extra: (b-5, lb-13, w-5, nb-11) 34 Total: (all out 127.4 overs) 403 Fall of wickets: 1-156, 2-160, 3-169, 4-187, 5-310, 6-369, 7-386, 8-397, 9-398. Bowling: Walsh 32-7-73-2, Black 18-1-75-0, Dillon 24.4-2-84-3, McLean 21-1-69-2, Adams 13-2-35-0, Samuels 19-6-49-2. West Indies (2nd innings): Campbell c Gilchrist b McGrath 8 Ganga lbw Miller 32 Hinds c Martyn b MacGill 9 Lara c Langer b Miller 39 Adams c Martyn b Miller 15 Samuels c Hayden b MacGill 3 Jacobs c Ponting b Miller 2 McLean c Hayden b Miller 0 Dillon lbw McGrath 19 Black not out 3 Walsh c Gilchrist b McGrath 0 Extras: (nb-1, b-6, lb-3, w-1) 11 Total: (all out, 51.5 overs) 141 Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-36, 3-87, 4-96, 5-109, 6-109, 7-109, 8-116, 9-137. Bowling: McGrath 9.5-1-27-3, Gillespie 13-5-18-0, MacGill 12-2-55-2, Miller 17-6-32-5. Australia (2nd innings): Hayden c Jacobs b Walsh 14 Slater c Jacobs Dillon 1 Langer batting 43 M. Waugh c Jacobs b Dillon 5 Ponting lbw b Walsh 11 Martyn batting 18 Extras: (b-3, nb-3) 6 Total: (for 4 wkts in 35 overs) 98 Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-22, 3-27, 4-48, Bowling: Walsh 10-3-28-2, Dillon 8-2-22-2, Samuels 6-1-17-0, McLean 5-1-9-0, Adams 3-0-7-0, Black 3-0-12-0. |
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England U-19 tour itinerary MUMBAI, Dec 18 (PTI) — The England under-19 cricketers would play three ‘Tests’ against their Indian counterparts at the Barbourne Stadium in Mumbai (from January 9-12, 2001), Chennai (from January 20-23) and Hyderabad (from January 26-29), respectively, in January next. The itinerary: Dec 28, 2000: arrival in India. Dec 29-31: rest/ practice in Pune. Jan 1-3, 2001: three-day game in Pune. Jan 5-7: three-day game at Barbourne um, Mumbai. Jan 9-12: first ‘Test’ at the Barbourne ium, Mumbai. Jan 15-17: three-day game at Chennai. Jan 20-23: second ‘Test’ at Chennai. Jan 26-29: third ‘Test’ at Hyderabad. Feb 2: one-day practice game. Feb 4: first one-day international at Rajkot. Feb 6: second one-day international at Ahmedabad. Feb 8: third one-day international at Baroda. Feb 9: departure for UK from Mumbai. |
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UTCA to streamline
cricket CHANDIGARH, Dec 18 — The UT Cricket Association (UTCA), which is keenly looking forward to the visit of the fact-finding team of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has formulated a number of schemes to streamline the game of cricket in the Union Territory, according to informed sources. The association has decided that all affiliated clubs must maintain a register of players so that proper records of players in Chandigarh can be known. The copies of the registers would also have to be deposited at the office of the UTCA functioning at the Sector 16 cricket stadium. Also, it has decided that in future anybody wanting to hold a cricket tournament, where registered clubs will field teams, will have to seek the permission of the association. If such a permission is not sought the association might not permit registered clubs to field teams in the tournament. These steps are being taken for two reasons. First, the association has seen that often teams field non-regular players in these tournaments as a number of prize money tournaments are being held in the Union Territory. Also, certain unscrupulous elements have often come forward to organise tournaments, collect the fees and then discontinued the tournament midway through. Such conditions, it is learnt, are also existing in various state units affiliated to the BCCI. There are also reports that the association might also restructure the format of the Chandigarh Cricket League. But a final decision will be taken at the next annual general body meeting of the association which will be held once the BCCI fact-finding team conducts its inspection. Meanwhile, it is learnt that the BCCI fact-finding team might visit Chandigarh in the last week of this month or early in January next year. The fact-finding team is scheduled to examine the cricketing facilities in the Union Territory. On the basis of the report of the team, which will consist of Shivlal Yadav, a former Test player based in Hyderabad, Mr Ratnakar Shetty, secretary of the Mumbai Cricket Association, and Mr Sharad Divadkar, executive secretary of the BCCI, the board will decide whether to grant direct affiliation to the UTCA, which has been waging a long-drawn battle to get direct affiliation with the board. But in any case, Chandigarh’s case can only be decided at the next annual general body meeting of the BCCI which is generally held in the last week of September. The BCCI team was scheduled to visit Chandigarh in late November. The decision to send the team to Chandigarh was taken at the last annual general body meeting of the board held in Chennai in September last. However, for various reasons the team kept on postponing its visit. Now that the BCCI secretary, Mr J. Y. Lele, is free since the Zimbabwe team has returned home and India’s tour of Pakistan has been called off he can devote more time to administrative matters now. Besides deciding on Chandigarh’s case, the BCCI will also have to decide on the affiliation issue of Pondicherry as also of the newly created states of Jharkhand, Uttaranchal and Chattisgarh. |
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NEW DELHI, Dec 18 (UNI) — Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI) today short-listed 74 athletes (34 men and 40 women) in preparation for the World Championship, Afro-Asian, Commonwealth and Asian Games. World Championship will be held at Edmonton (Canada) from August 3 to 12 and Afro Asian Games are slated here from November 3-11 next year. Commonwealth Games will be held in Manchester (England) and Asian Games in Pusan (South Korea) in 2002. AAFI Secretary Lalit Bhanot said here that the coaching camp for these athletes will start at Patiala from January 4 next year and it will continue till the start of the Afro-Asian Games. He said 11 coaches will supervise the camp and are empowered to recommend addition or deletion of athletes as per their performance. The athletes picked up for the camp are: Men: 100 mts, Anil Kumar (Ser), C.T. Durai (TN), Ajay Raj Singh (Pol). 4x400m: Paramjit Singh (Pol), P. Ramachandran (Ker), Lijo David, Manoj Lal (Rly) Jatta Shankar (UP) Anil Kumar Rohil, Satbir Singh, Jayson P.T. (Ser), Sekh Shamsher (Ben), Rajpal (Har) Saroj Lakra (Bih), Bhupinder Singh (North Zone). Discus: Anil Kumar (Har), Hridayanand Singh, K.K. Sharma (Pol) Amardeep Singh (Pun). Shot Put: Shakti Singh (Rly) Bahadur Singh, Mukesh Kumar (Pol) Jaiveer Singh (Ser), Kuldeep Maan (Dli). Long Jump: Sanjay Rai, Amit Saha (Rly), Vinod Kumar (Pol), Satish (Dli). Javelin: Jagdish Bishnoi, Ranjit Mauriya (Pol) B.S. Dubey, Sunil Goswami (LIC) Fazal Ansari (Ser), Naval Singh (Dli). Women: 800m/1500m: Geeta Manral, Ramla Devi, Inderjeet Kaur (Pol), Sunita Dahiya (Har), C. Latha(tn), Sunita Rani, Jyotirmay Sikdar (Rly) Sunita Rani, K.P. Sudha (Dli), Madhuri A. Singh (Pun), Hemlata (Kar), 4x100m: Rachita Mistry, Sarswati Dey, Anuradha Biswal, V. Pandeshwari (Rly) Vinita Tripathi (LIC) V. Jaya Lakshmi (TN), Mukti Saha (Ben), H. Lalitha, Ch.K.M. Laxmi (South). 4x400m: k.M. Beenamol (Rly), Manjuma Kuriakose, Jincy Philips, Ashik Bebi, Seema (Pol) Paramjit Kaur (Raj) Sapinder Kaur (Pun), Priya Rose, Samanathgam (TN), Sanga Mitra Lainka (Ori), Geetha, N. Tharani (AP), Tejinder Kaur (Pun). Discus: Neelam J. Singh, Sugan Yadav (Rly) Harwant Kaur (Dli) Seema Antil (Pol) Heptathlon: Soma Biswas, G.G. Pramila (Rly). Javelin: Gurmeet Kaur (LIC). Chief coach: Bahadur Singh. Men: 4x400 m: Harbans Singh (Chd), Shot Put: Karamjeet Singh (Patiala) Gurmeet Singh (Police). Long Jump: Kuntal Roy (Sai/East) Discus: Yet to be decided. Women: 4x100 m Relay: S. Verghese (Sai/West), 4x400 m: Harjit Singh (Chd) Discus: Jaswant Singh (Rly), Yadwinder Singh (Oil India), Heptathlon: Kuntal Roy (SAI/East). |
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NFL Roundup CHANDIGARH, Dec 18 — The opening round of the fifth National Football League which concluded on December 15 produced a couple of upsets. Among the notable defeats were those of Goa’s Churchill Brothers, who lost to debutants Vasco by a solitary goal scored by Kashimov Awazbek. Vasco, who qualified for the NFL through the Second Division this season, played their hearts out to quell a strong Churchill challenge at Fatorda. Another upset was recorded at Mumbai, where Air-India overpowered Mahindra United 2-1 with goals coming through defender Radhakrishna Dubey and Bungo Singh. The experienced Abbas Ali Rizwi eventually pulled one back for Mahindras but that did help them much as they lost three valuable points. The third upset again occurred at Fatorda where former champions Salgaocar lost to FC Kochin 2-3. In fact FC Kochin, in a well-planned strategy, deployed goalkeeper Sunday Seah in the attack in the second half and the move paid dividends as Seah found the target followed by I.M. Vijayan and Jo Paul Ancheri. For Salgaocar, Dennis Cabral and Climax Lorence fetched some consolation at the cost of three points. The rest of the results were more or less on expected lines. JCT and Mohun Bagan played a 2-2 draw in New Delhi’s Ambedkar Stadium in the lung opener. In fact JCT were lucky to get away with a draw with Hardip Gill and Ram Pal proving to be the saviours after Basudev Mondal and Jose Baretto had put the Calcutta outfit on the course to victory. JCT’s promising midfielder Hardip Singh Sangha, who remained on the injured list last season, had a major role in the drawn game. Indian Telephone Industries and State Bank of Travancore played a goal-less draw at Bangalore while East Bengal commenced their campaign on a fluent note with a 2-0 verdict against Tollygunge. The second round will conclude on December 20 after which the NFL will come to a halt due to the forthcoming Millennium Cup. It will resume at the end of January, 2001. |
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Bharat Petroleum
meet Punjab cops LUDHIANA, Dec 18 — Last year runners-up Bharat Petroleum will clash with Punjab Police in the first match of fourth All-India Romesh Chander Memorial Farmtrac Cup Hockey Championship, here tomorrow at Punjab Agriculture University Astroturf. Mr Sarabjit Singh, Director-General of Punjab Police will inaugurate the championship tomorrow. In the afternoon session, holders Punjab and Sind Bank will clash with Border Security Force (BSF). The first match in U-15 boys section will be played between Escorts Romesh Chander Academy and Amritsar XI. In the tournament eight teams will vie for the Farmtrac Cup while four teams will play for the Farmtrac Boys Cup. The men’s teams are grouped in two pools. In the men’s section pool A are Punjab Police, Bharat Petroleum, Indian Railways, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF); in pool B are BSF, Punjab and Sind Bank, Steal Authority of India (SAIL), and Army XI. The teams in boys U-15 section are Escorts Romesh Chander Academy (Jalandhar), Namdhari Academy, Amritsar XI and Ropar XI. This is one the highest prize money hockey tournaments in the country. In men’s section winners will be awarded the Farmtrac Cup along with a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000 while runners up will get Rs 50,000. In the boys section, winners will get Rs 20,000 while runners -up will get Rs 10,000. The ‘Atlas player of the Tournament’ Award will be given to the outstanding player along with a cash prize of Rs 10,000. The men’s final wIll be telecast live on DD 1. The championship is being organised by the Ramesh Chander Society for Sports in the memory of Romesh Chander, former Editor of the Hind Samachar group of newspapers. It is an annual fixture in which top teams of the country take part. Punjab and Sind Bank won the inaugural championship in 1997. Punjab Police were the runners-up. The championship is played on a league basis, on the format of Champions Trophy. |
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PPS Nabha in
lead PATIALA, Dec 18 — Punjab Public School (PPS), Nabha were leading the points table with a tally of 75 points in the boys section on the penultimate day of the 37th All India Inter Public School athletic championship at the PPS Sports Complex at Nabha, near here, today. The MNSS, Rai, with a total tally of 69 points were placed second as Ankita Sood of Modern School, Nabha, created two new meet recors in discus and Javelin throw in the girls section. Other results: (Boys): 3000m: Jagandeep Singh (PPS,Nabha)-1, Ashok Sain (MNSS,Rai)-2. Justin Burret (Doon school, Dehra Dun)-3. Pole vault : Gurjeet Singh (PPS)-1, Sandeep Minhas (SS, Kapurthala)-2.
Triple jump: Vaibhav Tanwar (PPS)-1,Shyam Deep [SD, Anandpur Sahib]-2, Tushar Bansal (Doon school, Dehra Dun)-3.
200m: Ravish Maithani (Modern School)-2, Sandeep Malik (MNSS, Rai)-2, Harpal Singh (SD,Ananapur Sahib)-3.
High jump: Harpinder Singh (PPS, Nabha)-1, Vikramjit (YPS, Patiala)-2, Simrandeep Singh (SD, Anandpur Sahib)-3. (Girls): 200m: Puja Mahindera (Modern School)-1, Puja Pallavi (Birla Ballika, Pillani)-2, Jyoti (MNSS, Rai)-3.
1500m: Anjana (MNSS, Rai)-1, Ranju Gupta (Vidya Peeth Jindal School, Hissar)-2, Gurkirat Kaur (PPS)-3.
Discus throw: Ankita Sood (Modern School)-1, Sarita (MNSS, Rai)-2, Isha Varshey (Wellham’s Girls School, Dehra Dun)-3 Javelin throw: Ankita Sood (Modern School)-1, Sarita (MNSS, Rai)-2, Kamaldeep Bassi (PPS, Nabha)-3. |
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Big win for PU eves CHANDIGARH, Dec 18 — The third day of the All India Inter- University Hockey Tournament for women in progress here at the Panjab University campus grounds again featured flurry of goals from the various teams. The hosts Panjab University made the mincemeat of MJP Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, by 13 goals to nil. In another tie MD University, Rohtak, blanked HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar (UP) at 17-0. The other winners of today’s matches included, Laxmibai National Institute of Physical Education (LNIPE), Gwalior, Mumbai University Mumbai, Madras University, Chennai and Delhi University, Delhi. In the match played between PU and Rohilkhand, it was Sports Authority of India Training Centre, Sector 18 girl Sangeeta Kadiyan who scored maximum number of three goals in 24th, 48th and 68th minutes. Dimple Thakur, Sadhna Singh and Prem Lata scored two goals each, Babita and Bharti was the lone scorer for PU team. In the tomorrow’s fixtures, the LNIPE, Gwalior will play with MDU Rohtak; Ranchi University, Ranchi with Mumbai University; Madras University with Delhi University and Panjab University with Gujarat University. Today’s results: LNIPE, Gwalior b RS University Raipur 2-1(half time-1-0); Mumbai University, Mumbai b Bangalore 3-0 (half time-2-0); MDU, Rohtak b HNB Garhwal, 17-0 (half time 6-0); Madras University b HP University, Shimla 2-1 (2-0); PU, Chandigarh b MJP Rohilkhand, Bareilly 13-0 (half time 6-0); Delhi University b Lucknow University, Lucknow 6-1 (half time 2-0). |
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Punjab pip Haryana in roller hockey FARIDABAD, Dec 18 — Punjab boys defeated host Haryana by 2-1 in a closely contested roller hockey match of juniors (12-16 years) in the finals of the 38th National Roller Skating Championship which concluded at DAV School (Sector-14) grounds here today. The winners, who were trailing by a goal, were able to change the equation in last 10 minutes of the game by launching superb attacks. Haryana and Punjab teams (juniors) entered the final by beating, Maharashtra and Delhi by 17-0 and 14-0, respectively. In artistic skating (figure) Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh players excelled. Ishita Desai of Maharashtra won first position in 10 to 12 years age group final. Maithli Parikh of Gujarat and Devanshi of Maharashtra bagged silver and bronze, respectively. In boys section (12-14 years), Jeet Shroff of Maharashtra claimed gold medal, while Karan Dave and Ajit Desai of Maharashtra got second and third positions. Anjashi Patel of Gujarat won in free skating (6-8 years) section. Ashna Shah and Anshini Bhatt of Gujarat got second and third spots. In ‘pair skating’ (boys) Andhra Pradesh players dominated Bhaskar Varun and L.L. Priyanka of AP got first position, while Abhishek and Sanjana (Gujarat) got second spot. |
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Corretja claims title MADRID, Dec 18 (Reuters) — Alex Corretja confirmed his status as Spain’s number one with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Carlos Moya in the Spanish Masters in Madrid. Corretja, who helped Spain to their first Davis Cup win against Australia in Barcelona last weekend, needed just 80 minutes yesterday to see off Moya, the man who beat him in the French Open final. |
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