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Thursday,
January 3, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Australia’s
greatest opening pair |
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Ontong’s
inclusion due to ‘policy’ Windies
call off Pakistan tour Honda to
sponsor women’s India-England series Pete
Sampras makes worst possible start |
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Aussies
win; Italy shock USA Hingis
ready to face top players Johansson, Pavel in quarterfinals Vasco
look to win against Tollygunge Punjab
set up title clash with Goa Debutants
HAL claim top spot East
Bengal down spirited Churchill Neeraj
to lead kho-kho team
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Langer, Hayden flay SA attack Sydney, January 2 At stumps on the opening day, Australia were 308 for five with Mark Waugh caught behind by Mark Boucher off Allan Donald for 19 with three balls left and Damien Martyn not out on one. The South Africans, with the series already gone after humiliating defeats in Adelaide and Melbourne, had another trying day in the field chasing leather in the heat as Australia began building another formidable first innings total. Following scores of 439 and 487 in the first innings in the previous Tests, Australia were well on the way to amassing another considerable total to all but bat themselves into another unbeatable position. The South Africans rallied in the final session, snaring five wickets for 93 runs. Left-handed tormentors Langer and Hayden plundered centuries and put on 219 for the opening wicket to heap more misery on the visitors, again reportedly distracted by off-field selection controversy with Justin Ontong preferred to Jacques Rudolf to make his Test debut. Langer scored 126, his fifth century in seven Tests and 12th overall, and Hayden’s 105, his third in successive Tests and seventh overall, to give Australia another great start. Langer and Hayden launched the Australian summer season with a 224-run stand against New Zealand in Brisbane followed by 223 in the next Test in Hobart. Last week in Melbourne they put on 202 in the first innings of the Melbourne Test and they also scored 158 against England last August at The Oval. The Australians were freewheeling at 215 without loss at tea with most of the South African players leaving the field with their heads on their chests. The South Africans rued two dropped catches off either batsman before tea. Hayden was put down by Boeta Dippenaar at square leg off spinner Claude Henderson when he was on 68, and Langer on 102 was dropped by wicketkeeper Mark Boucher standing up to the stumps for left-arm spinner Boje. But the South Africans got their first breakthrough in four hours’ play when Hayden, the highest-scoring batsman in Test cricket last year with 1,391 runs, was caught by Jacques Kallis off Shaun Pollock. Hayden has now scored 705 runs this season, the most by an Australian since Greg Chappell’s 702 in 1975-76 season. Ricky Ponting lasted 28 minutes before he was run out by Ontong by 14, with Langer going for a sharpish single. Langer’s 276-minute vigil ended when he was caught by Neil McKenzie to give Nicky Boje, who only arrived on the eve of the Test, his first wicket of the innings. Langer became the first Australian batsman since former captain Mark Taylor in 1989-90 to score four centuries in a season.
AFP Scoreboard Australia (Ist innings): Langer c McKenzie b Boje 126 Hayden c Kallis b Pollock 105 Ponting run out 14 M. Waugh c Boucher b Donald 19 S. Waugh b Pollock 30 Martyn batting 1 Extras:
(b-4, lb-2, w-1, nb-6) 13 Total: (for 5 wkts) 308 Fall of wickets:
1-219, 2-247, 3-253, 4-302, 5-308. Bowling: Donald 19.3-3-64-1, Pollock 24-7-64-2, Kallis 18-1-111-0, Henderson 11-3-28-0, Boje 15-5-25-1, Ontong 2-0-10-0. |
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Australia’s greatest opening pair
Sydney, January 2 And they are now in the exalted class of the mighty West Indian combination of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes. While Greenidge and Haynes, the most prolific opening combination in the history of cricket, took 10 years to amass their four double-century stands from 1979-80 to 1989-90, the Australians have done it in one season. The two left handers passed 1,000 runs in their 10th innings together and now have 1,125 runs at an average of 112.50. That’s easily the best of the nine combinations which have scored more than 1,000 runs. The next best average of 63.75 belongs to Australians Bill Brown and Jack Fingleton who made 1,020 runs together in 16 innings. Langer and Hayden are now the third-best left-handed opening pair in cricket history, behind Kiwi combination John Wright and Bruce Edgar and Pakistanis Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar. Wright and Edgar made 1,655 runs at 31.83 in 56 innings while Sohail and Anwar have made 1,563 runs at 44.66 in 37 innings. Langer and Hayden gave Australia a flying start with a 219-run opening partnership on the opening day of the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground to surpass the scoring exploits of Bob Simpson-Bill Lawry and Mark Taylor-Michael Slater, who both compiled three double-century stands. Langer, a diminutive West Australian, and Hayden, a strapping Queenslander, are very close and often embrace each other upon reaching batting milestones. Only coming together seven Tests ago at The Oval for the fifth Ashes Test against England last August, they have proved a phenomenal success and a major reason why Australia have dominated the South Africans so comprehensively this southern hemisphere summer.
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Ontong’s inclusion
due to ‘policy’ Sydney, January 2 Sonn said he was presented with a team list last night and rejected it over what he saw as a “breach of policy”. “I did intervene as a matter of policy and that right is invested in me as President,” Sonn told reporters here. The South Africans, with the series already gone after humiliating defeats in Adelaide and Melbourne, had another trying day in the field today. South Africa had originally selected Jacques Rudolph to make his Test debut in place of axed No 6 batsman Lance Klusener. It had been anticipated the South Africans probably would have shuffled their batting order to play Rudolph at No 3 and move Boeta Dippenaar down the order to No 6. But Sonn argued “shuffling” was discriminatory to Ontong, who was selected on the tour as the lower-order backup. “Shuffling to me amounts to exclusion of a person of colour who has the right to be given the opportunity,” said the President of the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCB). “If you look at our transformation charter ... it says if there are people of colour, who have previously been disavant-aged, we must ensure those people get those opportunities.” He said the matter went beyond UCB’s stated policy of playing “at least one person of colour” in every Test. That policy was met by the inclusion of Cape coloured Herschelle Gibbs. “But the other policy says if there is an opportunity for a person of colour to represent his country then we must make sure he does get that opportunity.
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Windies call off Pakistan tour Bridgetown, January 2 But WICB president Wes Hall said the team would play the planned series of three Tests and three one-day internationals from January 25 to March 6 if the Pakistan Cricket Board arranged what he called “mutually acceptable neutral venues.” Hall said the West Indies board had informed the Pakistan Cricket Board of its position that it would be “inappropriate to proceed” with the matches in Pakistan. “My personal commitment to my players is to ensure we conduct the proper due diligence before proceeding on any tour to allow them to be free from stress and able to give unreservedly of their best,” Hall said. He said he discussed the matter with Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Gen Tauqir Zia by telephone on Sunday. “He put his board’s contention that it was still safe to hold the series in Pakistan, but I reiterated our position that we had genuine concerns about security, especially since the increase tensions on the border with India have compounded the unsettled situation in Afghanistan,” Hall said. Hall, rated one of the fastest bowlers in the game during his career from 1958 to 1968, was elected WICB president last July. He said he told Zia the West Indies is still committed to playing the series but, in view of the circumstances, only at more settled venues of Pakistan’s choosing outside of Pakistan. Pakistan has suggested the stadium in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, which has already hosted more one-day internationals than any other venue; Dhaka in Bangladesh, also a recognised international stadium; and a new, similar facility in Tangiers, Morocco, as alternatives. Such arrangements were permitted by the International Cricket Council at a meeting of its full members in Malaysia in October, following the outbreak of hostilities in Afghanistan prompted by the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington and their effect on Pakistan. If the two boards disagree, the issue would go to the International Cricket Council’s disputes committee for a final decision, Hall explained. But he said he expected that would not be necessary. Zia sounded resigned to a shift when he told reporters in Pakistan last weekend that while his board was still willing to host the tour it had “no objections to playing at a neutral venue if they (the West Indies) want to do that.” As there is less than a month before the West Indies team is due to leave the Caribbean, Hall said a settlement is urgently needed. New Zealand withdrew from a scheduled tour of Pakistan, also for three Tests and three one-day internationals, two days after the September 11 attacks. The Indian government also ordered its team not to undertake a match in Pakistan in the Asian Test Championship last February.
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Honda to sponsor women’s India-England series New Delhi, January 2 The one-day matches will be held in Chennai on January 6, two matches at Hyderabad on January 8 and 9, in Mumbai on January 21 and the fifth one at Pune on January 24. The 15-member Indian team will be led by Anjum Chopra of Delhi. There are six new players in the team, including one from Punjab. The team: Anjum Chopra (captain, Delhi/Air-India), Mithali Raj (vice-captain, Andhra/Railways), Jhulan Goswami (West Bengal/Air-India), Sunita Singh (Punjab/ Railways), Deepa Kulkarni (Mumbai/Railways), Bindeshwari Goyal (Madhya Pradesh/Railways), Jaya Sharma (Delhi), Mamatha Maben (Karnataka), Arundhati Kirkire (MP/Railways), Gulshan Sharma (Punjab/ Railways), Hemlata Kala (UP/Railways), Amrita Shinde (Maharashtra) and Nooshin Al-Khadeer (Karnataka). Tarak Sinha of Delhi, who has trained former Indian men’s players like Surender
Khanna, Manoj Prabhakar, Raman Lamba, Atul Wassan and Sanjeev Sharma, and is also the coach of women’s team captain Anjum Chopra, is the coach of the team. Secretary of the Women’s Cricket Association of India
(WCAI) Anuradha Dutt said here today that “the Indian team are a fine blend of youth and experience in a bid to fine tune the squad for the 2004 World Cup in South Africa, in which India hope to be the top contenders for the title”. The one-day series were planned to be a triangular series involving India, New Zealand and England but New Zealand pulled out at the last minute, and England advanced the dates of their tour, forcing the WCAI to schedule all the matches in south India, to give the Indian team the “advantage of home conditions.” She said the Indian players wanted the matches to be held in the hot and sultry conditions of the south than the cold and windy north as the winter chill would have benefited the English team rather than the Indians. WCAI president Ranee
Narah, MP, said “women’s cricket holds a special significance in this age of women’s empowerment. The Indian team has been performing well in international cricket and we are hopeful that they will come out with flying colours this time as well.” Anuradha Dutt said though the Indian team had won the triangular series in New Zeland which featured Australia also, and won a one-day series against Australia and England in 1995-96, lost to eventual champions Australia in the semifinal of the 1997 World Cup in India, and were placed third in the 2000 World Cup in New Zealand, “lack of tournaments in India has been affecting the growth of young talent”. |
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Pete Sampras makes worst possible start Adelaide, January 2 Sampras, who had been looking for a good start as he prepared for the Australian Open which gets underway on January 14, was beaten in his first round match by fellow American Todd Martin 6-3 3-6 4-6. “It wasn’t the start I was looking for,” a disappointed Sampras said afterwards. “It’s not a major setback. I have just got to start over, get back to the drawing board and hopefully gain some confidence next week.” The 30-year-old Sampras, who has won a record 13 Grand Slam tournaments, failed to win a tournament last year and dropped out of the world’s top five for the first time since 1991. Sampras, who will travel to Melbourne tomorrow and next week contest the Colonial Classic invitation tournament, conceded he was lacking confidence. “It would have been nice to have played really well here and get into the final and possibly win it and get that confidence,” he said. “That’s what I was looking for but it didn’t happen so I have just got to start over again and hopefully play some good tennis next week and hopefully peak at Australia (the Australian Open). “It’s not the start I wanted out this is where I’m at.” Sampras’ seventh Wimbledon title in 2000 allowed him to join former Swedish great Bjorn Borg as the only players to win at least one Grand Slam title for eight consecutive years. But today’s defeat makes it look more and more unlikely he will add to his already impressive haul of 63 titles. Mark Philippoussis, forced out for six months last year because of knee surgery, vowed he had learnt the error of his ways after completing a clinical first round victory over France’s Julien Boutter. “I have done a lot of things I felt were wrong in the past, or I haven’t given myself enough chances to do what I felt I should be doing,” the 25-year-old three-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist said after the 6-3 6-4 win. AUCKLAND:
Anna Kournikova today breezed through her second round encounter with American seventh seed Amy Frazier 6-4 6-1 in the ASB Bank Women’s Classic, but got a bit ruffled during her media conference. Luxembourg’s third seed Anne Kremer was first on court in the morning and beat Austria’s Barbara Schwarz 6-2 6-3 into the last eight, and Tunisian Selima Sfar was stopped in the second round by Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3 7-5. Later, second seed Henrieta Nagyova from Slovakia was knocked out in a hard fought match by Belarus’s Tatiana Poutchek, and fifth seed Tatiana Panova overcame American Jennifer Hopkins 6-4 6-2, which means just two of the eight seeds have made it to the quarter-finals — Kremer and Panova. In another match, Switzerland’s Emmanuelle Gagliardi beat American Kristina Brandi 2-6 6-2 6-3, while qualifier Silvija Talaja, from Croatia, is in the last eight after defeating Maja Matevzic (Slovenia) 6-4 3-6 6-2. Kournikova got annoyed with a persistent questioner in her press conference when he asked about perceived player jealousies and how it was alleged certain players were openly happy when the Russian was beaten. Kournikova answered that if that was the case she was not aware of it. “I am friends with a lot of the players on the tour,’’ she said. “I can’t be friends with all of them, that is impossible.’’ Gold Coast: American Venus Williams made a winning start to her Australian campaign today with a 6-0 6-4 victory over Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder in the Australian women’s hardcourt championship. The world number three and top seed, who had a bye through to today’s second round, is using the championship at the Gold Coast in Queensland state as part of her preparations for the Australian Open from January 14-27 in Melbourne.
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Aussies win; Italy shock USA Perth, January 2 The player’s manager later said there were fears Hewitt may have chicken pox just two weeks before he is due to start the Australian Open as top seed. In more drama as the evening session got underway, the top-seeded Americans were stunned as Seles was beaten by the tournament’s surprise package Francesca
Schiavone. The Italian followed up her shock victory over world No 5 Kim Clijsters earlier, this week by upsetting 10th-ranked Seles 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the Group A match. “Today I played really well,” she smiled courtside after the win. “I am very, very happy because now the people know me, the people like me.” The 31st-ranked Schiavone added she had to overcome a hamstring injury to seal the win. Davide Sanguinetti matched his compatriot’s feat, the world No 91 beating the 21st ranked Jan-Michael Gambill 7-6, 6-3. Sanguinetti secured Italy’s first win after they lost 2-1 to Belgium on Tuesday. The USA beat France 3-0 in their first match. “My concentration was really there today,” Sanguinetti said. “Francesca played so well and did so well I really wanted to win.” Hewitt, (20), laid low overnight and forced to see a doctor, rescued second-seeded Australia from the brink of disaster against the unseeded Argentina in the $500,000 US mixed teams’ event. Australia were trailing 0-1 after Alicia Molik went down to Paola Suarez in the women’s singles, losing 6-7 (1/7) 6-3 4-6. But Hewitt had little trouble crushing Argentina’s Mariano
Zabaleta, (23), ranked 59th. After a tentative start, Hewitt stormed home in straight sets, 6-3 6-4 in the men’s singles in 82 minutes. This levelled the tie at 1-1 before Hewitt starred as Australia fought back from a disastrous start to take the deciding mixed doubles, 5-7 6-3 7-6 (10/7). The doubles third set was decided by the super-tiebreaker system, with victory going to the first team to reach 10 points. Suarez, (25), ranked 27th in the world, beat Molik (47th) in 122 minutes in a see-sawing women’s singles encounter. “I admit I have a tendency to lose my head a bit. When that happens, I might as well pack my bags and go home.” Malisse won the opening set with relative ease, but needed all his tenacity in the second to take the honours after slipping to 2-3. Sanguinetti conceded the better player had won the men’s singles. “He played a little bit better than me today,” he said. Clijsters said she was not surprised Schiavone had placed so well in the singles. “I have played her before, so I already knew she is a great competitor. She runs everything down.” An elated Schiavone declared: “That was definitely the best win of my career. It was a great match for me — a marvellous way to start the new year. “It was important that I had a match here”
against Greece’s Eleni Daniilidou in the tournament qualifying clash last Saturday. “That was very good for my confidence.” Schiavone outsmarted her higher-ranked opponent in a scrappy opening set which she wrapped up in 35 minutes. Clijsters — the girlfriend of Australia’s world No 1 Lleyton Hewitt — began the second set promisingly, establishing a 3-1 lead before Schiavone surged back, breaking Clijsters in the third, fifth and ninth games.
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Hingis ready
to face top players Sydney, January 2 The 21-year-old, here to defend her Sydney International title next week, said she was confident she could regain the world No. 1 ranking from Lindsay Davenport. Davenport, 6ft-3 inch of muscle, and fellow Americans Venus and Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati have surpassed Hingis with their powerful hitting and serves. But
Hingis, who has not won a major tournament since the 1999 Australian Open, pointed out that Australia’s men’s world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt and Frenchman Sebastian Grosjean proved you did not need to be big to win. “It’s nice to see that players like them have the chance,” the 5ft-7in Hingis said.
Hingis, whose speed about the court and racket skills helped her stay at No. 1 for 209 weeks, said she had been training in the mountains near her home in
Trubbach, Switzerland.
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Johansson, Pavel in quarterfinals
Chennai, January 2 Johannson, ranked 18 on the ATP list, quelled Olivier Rochus of Belgium 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a 127-minute encounter on the centre court. In doubles, the second-seeded pair of Byron Black
(Zim) and Fabrice Santoro (France) took their appointed places in the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Jonathan Erlich
(Isr) and Irakli Labadze (Georgia). Fourth seed Andrei Pavel (Romania) also made it the last eight when he defeated Stefano Galvani of Italy 6-3, 6-3. In the
Johansson-Rochus match, the Belgian took control of the game initially. Ranked 98 on the ATP list, the Belgian brought off some unbelievable shots at crucial stages to wriggle out of tight situations in the first set. Johansson had an opportunity to break Rochus (30-40) in the sixth game, but the Belgian came up with a forehand winner, and managed to hold serve after three deuces. Rochus then broke the Swede in the next game and secured the first set. It was a different story in the second set as the higher ranked Johansson came back strongly, sending in some aces too. In fact, Johansson had better first serve points to his credit winning 34 of 44 first serves. He secured the break in the eighth game and managed to wrest the set. In the decider, Rochus had a break in the fourth game, but Johansson with powerful groundstrokes broke back in the next, and then went on to win. In a doubles pre-quarterfinals, third-seeded pair of Frantisek Cermak and Petr Luxa
(Cezch) beat Jeff Coetzee (Russia) and Sander Groen (Ned) 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 6-1.
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Vasco look to win against Tollygunge Margao, January 2 Vasco, who lost to Mahindras United (2-0) have settled down to a good rhythm as they gave good account of themselves against Churchill. They have five points from a win and two draws from four matches. Vasco have a reliable goalkeeper in Roger Ramos and have a sound defence led by Seby Dias, Sanjay Parte, Denzil Coutinho and Agnelo Coalco. With Tollygunge playing more defensive game, Vasco midfield which looks sluggish will have to be more creative and play on the flanks to open the rival defence. Vasco’s success will depend on the three foreigners Avazbek Khoshimov, Marcos Pereira and Rui Wanderley Weis. With Marcos and Weis combing well their attack look more thrustful. Weis who scored injury-time goal against Churchill is looking more sharp and Vasco will look upon him to score goals. Tollygunge, who lost two matches have two points from their last two drawn matches, will concentrate on defence while attacking with fast counter moves. Tollygunge, a young and inexperienced side, have not proved themselves much so far and coach Amal Datta will more likely concentrate on defence and open up on the flanks with swift counter-moves.
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Punjab set up title clash with Goa Jaipur, January 2 In the first semifinal Goa edged past favourities Bengal in tie breaker 4-2 while in the second, Punjab after being goalless in first half beat Manipur by a solitary goal in 60th minute through Kularjeet Singh. The Bengal team which had reached semifinal by topping group ‘A’ was being considered favourite against runner-up of group ‘B’ Goa. But Goa put up a spirited show and held Bengal goalless till the end of extra time. It was the goalkeeper, 19-year-old promising Paul Fernandes, who saved the day for Goa. Fernandes, the reserve goalkeeper of Dempo Club, brought about two brilliant saves in the tiebreaker as he thwarted the shots from Anupam Sarkar and Debasis Roy. Taraknath and Dulal Patra but succeeded in tricking Fernandes scoring one each. For the jubiliant Goa team, Meviton Fernandes, Anthony M. D’Mello, Bervi Teles and Joe Rodrigues smashed into the rival citadel during the penalty shootout. The Punjab-Manipur match began at a fast pace and it initially appeared that the side from the north-east would prevail over their robust rival because of their planned attacks and accurate short passes. Punjab too had good penetrative moves at times but neither team could score till the breather. In the second half, last year’s runner-up Manipur looked still better but it was Punjab who got the decisive goal in the 60th minute of the match. It was a good pass from the left side by Mandip Singh on which Sarvjeet Singh trapped the ball and passed it on to Kularjeet Singh who made no mistake banging home the match-winner with a powerful left footer. Stung by the goal, Manipur tried hard to find the equaliser and got two corners just before the close but both were wasted. In the dying minutes, they tried hard but a feeble grounder by K. Priyo Kumar was stopped by an agile Punjab goalkeeper. Punjab too had some chances to increase their margin but they too failed. The final will be held in Jodhpur on January 4.
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Debutants
HAL claim top spot Ludhiana, January 2 Braving chilly weather
conditions, the Bangalore outfit shot into the lead as early as in the eighth when the promising Dayanand made full use of a deflection by team-mate Sunil Kumar following a defensive lapse by JCT stopper backs Balkar Singh and Pawan Kumar who unsuccessfully tried to clear a lob off a
counter-attack. Following a brief aerial duel, Sunil Kumar of HAL deflected the ball towards Dayanand positioned at the far corner of the box who aimed a powerful piledriver which sailed past JCT custodian Arvind Kumar. Arvind was also to be blamed since he failed to anticipate the move and remained stranded at one end while Dayanand had all the time to aim to his left. JCT did get some chances, especially in the second
half, but a sturdy HAL defence manned by right back Santosh Kiran, left stopper Parmeswaran, right stopper Sunil Kumar, and left back G.Prakash thwarted their
designs. Although the JCT forwards managed to make some close calls, goalkeeper Gumpe Rime, as the last wall of defence gave a fine account of himself through some excellent saves to leave the mill men frustrated at the end. The HAL attack was spearheaded by Kyrgistan recruit Raja Believ Nurlan, Rajendra Prasad, and Kentbek Mamtov while the experienced Gregory
Clarke, formerly of Vasco SC, effectively marshalled the midfield. In fact the Bangalore outfit enjoyed a slight edge in the first half. JCT on the other hand found the going tough against the formidable HAL defence. Although Nigerian striker Stephan Abarowei’s induction in the second half did sharpen the
attack, the equaliser eluded the mill men. JCT’s promising medio Ram Pal tested Gumpe Rime in the 21st minute when off a flag kick he attempted an excellent back volley but the HAL custodian punched the ball over. The inclusion of
Jaswant, son of the legendary GS Parmar, sharpened the attack on the left
wing. Hardip Sangha also made some valiant attempts but in vain. A free kick by Sangha after Hardip Gill was brought down on top of the box narrowly missed the target towards the end of the first half. The second half belonged to JCT with Sangha, Jaswant and Hardip Gill making some close
calls. After Ram Pal’s volley sailed over, Sangha managed to cut in dangerously but his subsequent power-packed shot was deflected out of play by a
defender. This was followed by Jaswant’s piledriver from the left and although the ball slipped out of Rime’s hands, a HAL defender sprang forward to effect a goal-line
clearance. Towards the end, Hardip Gill finding himself well positioned inside the box, turned around before despatching a powerful shot at the goal but unluckily the ball sailed over the bar. JCT will now meet Mahindra United in the sixth round here on January 5 while HAL will clash with Punjab Police at Jalandhar on the same day. |
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East Bengal down spirited Churchill Kolkata, January 2 Defender Suley Musah produced the match-winner late in the second session to save the day for the glamour club in a match which seldom rose to great heights. The home team were a pale shadow of themselves in the opening session but raised their game after the breather with a series of attacks from both the flanks before the hard-working Musah produced a brilliant goal to help his team earn full points. Musah leaped in the air and found the target with a lovely back-header following a controlled floater from substitute medio Tushar Rakshit in the 80th minute of the contest, sending the East Bengal supporters into a frenzy. Churchill custodian Edward Ansah charged out to foil the move but the wily Musah outjumped him and back-headed the ball towards a vacant goal much to the delight of his team-mates, who otherwise had a rather ordinary day on their home ground. With this victory, East Bengal have secured 10 points from five outings while Churchill Brothers have collected eight points from as many matches. The local team, spurred on by a vociferous home crowd, started off with a flourish but completely lost their rhythm as a number of mispasses allowed their rivals to find their bearing in the match.
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Neeraj
to lead kho-kho team Chandigarh, January 2 The other members are: Jaswinder Singh, Vikramjeet
Singh, Chander Pal, Rajesh Kumar, Surinder Singh, Sanjay Tiwari, Vinod
Kumar, Pardeep Singh, Harwinder Singh (all DAVC-10), Kapil (PU campus) and Bhupinder Singh (SD College, Hoshiarpur). Mr DS Kohli, kho-kho coach, UT Sports Department, will accompany the team as coach-cum-manager. |
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