The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Nationals, City win in DSA League
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, February 18
Defending champions SAIL-Indian Nationals and popular club from the Walled City, City Club, registered comfortable victories when they beat Frontier Club 5-0 and Garhwal Heroes 3-1 in Group B Super League matches of the Delhi Soccer Association (DSA)-SAIL Senior Division Football League Championship at the Ambedkar Stadium in the Capital on Monday.

In a lopsided first match, Nationals virtually massacred a hapless Frontiers to run up a huge 5-0 victory, after leading by 2-0 at half time.

Inside-right Harinder Singh drew first blood for Nationals in the 25th minute while outside-left ushpinder scored the second goal in the 27th minute.

Frontier, who were without some of their key players as they had played truant, just could not contain the onslaught of Nationals and their goal fell repeatedly with Sachin, Yash Pal and Gurjit Singh also hitting the target in the second half. The last three goals came in the 52nd, 69th and 78th minutes.

Nationals’ Harjinder Singh and Frontiers’ Terry Dhawan were booked with the yellow card by referee S. Saha for rough play.

In the second match, 1996 league champions City Club scored a facile 3-1 victory against Garhwal Heroes.

City, who boasted of many young Delhi players, including Sunil Chetri, who was recently chosen as one of the best players by the Durand Football Tournament Committee, opened their account through Irfan Khan, who volleyed in from the top of the box (1-0).

But the lead did not last long as Ramesh equalised for Garhwal Heroes. However, City Club ensured victory when Bhupinder Sharma scored their second and third goals.

Mobeen of City was booked with the yellow card by referee A Saleem.

Tuesday’s fixtures: Hindustan vs Shahdara (1 pm); Tarun Sangha vs Moonlight (3 pm)—Ambedkar Stadium.

Hotel Hill View eclipse Bright Club
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, February 18
Hotel Hill View, Faridabad stunned star-studded Bright Club, Delhi by ten runs in a well-contested match of the 11th All-India Davinder Singh Memorial Cricket Tournament played in the Capital. Bright Club won the toss and put Hill View into bat. Kshitji and Bhuvnesh Punni indulged in lusty hittings to score 79 and 26 runs respectively to bolster Hill View’s run-gathering to keep in check former Delhi player Akash Malhotra, who captured 4 for 42 for Bright.

Bright, in reply, started confidently, scoring 48 runs off ten overs, but with the introduction of spinners, they lost four wickets for 62 runs to put Bright in a tight spot. And the crucial run out of Shakti Singh by Ashish Malhotra turned the tide in favour of Hotel Hill View, as at that stage, Bright had required only 14 runs off 17 balls with two wickets in hand. Ashish Malhotra and Puru Singh were the most successful bowlers for Hill View as they captured three wickets each.

Scores: Hotel Hill View (Faridabad): 197 for 9 (Kshitij 79, 7x4, 3x6, 10b; Bhuvnesh Punni 26, 4x4, 23b; Akash Malhotra 4/42, Shakti Singh 1/31, Nischal Gaur 1/27).

Bright Club: 187 (Atul Malhotra 27, 4x4, 41b; Akashn Malhotra 44, 6x4, 50b; Sanjeev Saini 27, 3x4, 33b; Shakti Singh 17, 1x6, 2x4, 9b; Puru Singh 3/23; Ashish Malhotra 3/25; Rakshit Pant 2/35).

RBI rout Oriental Bank in Inter-Bank Cricket
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, February 18
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) beat Oriental Bank of Commerce by eight wickets in the opening match of the eighth Inter-Bank (Northern Region) Cricket Tournament, organised by the Banks’ Sports Board, under the aegis of the Indian Banks’ Association, at the Karnail Singh Stadium in the Capital on Monday.

Scores: RBI: 203 for 2 (Davinder Sharma 72 no, 4x2; Jitender Singh 124 no, 14x4). Oriental Bank: 202 for 7 in 35 overs ( K.K. Talukdar 39, Ashok Thakur 28, Davinder Sharma 2/29).

RBI also made a winning start in football, when they edged past Punjab National Bank (PNB) 3-2 at the Thyagaraja ground. Rajesh Rawat, Shailender Rawat and Rakesh were the goal-scorers of RBI while PNB got both their goals through Parmod.

Earlier, the sports meet was inaugurated by Mr S.S. Kohli, chairman and managing director of Punjab National Bank. Mr B.D. Narang, president, Banks’ Sports Board (Northern Region) and Chairman and Managing Director of Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) was also present.

In carrom, played at the Karnail Singh Stadium, Canara Bank beat Punjab and Sind Bank by 2-1. Hemant Kumar (Canara) beat Shabuddin (PSB) 19-14, 16-19, 24-12; Gurcharan Das (Canara) lost to N.S. Pahwa (PSB) 0-25, 11-25; Dharmender Sharma (Canara) beat N.S Nehra (PSB) 25-3, 25-0.

In another carrom match, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur beat Syndicate Bank 2-1. Satya Dev (Jaipur) beat Bagwan Abichadani (Syndicate) 25-9, 23-12; Mukesh Bansal (Jaipur)lost to Uttam Kumar (Syndicate) 4-24, 15-25; Om Prakash (Jaipur) beat D. Chatterjee (Syndicate) 22-6, 23-11. Oriental Bank of Commerce beat State Bank of Saurashtra 2-1. Ashok Agarwal (OBC) beat K. Singh (SBS) 25-0, 25-6; Davinder Kumar (OBC) lost to Dinesh Sharma (SBS) 11-24, 7-25; Rajesh Kumar (OBC) lost to Atul Sharma (SBS) 8-20, 19-21.

In the seven-round Swiss League Chess Tournament at the Karnail Singh Stadium, Manohar Dhingra (OBC) lost to Moti Ram (SBOP); Raminder Singh (SBOP) beat J.S. Bindra (BOP); A. Seshappa (BOB) lost to V. M. Rajeev (Corporation Bank); Pawan Gupta (PNB) beat Arun Sethi (CBI); G. Vishnukant (Corporation Bank) lost to D. Vallabhacharyula (Syndicate).

	5 top teams for polo championship New Delhi, February 18 Five top teams—Jindal Steel/Royal Kashmir, Oberoi Blues, McDowell’s Signature, Army Red and Army Green—will participate in the prestigious Northern India Open Polo Championship, starting at the Jaipur Polo Ground in the Capital on Tuesday. Jindal Steel/Royal Kashmir will take on McDowell’s Signature in the opening match at 2 pm on Tuesday. Lt. General Kishan Pal Yadav, PVSM, UYSM, VSM will inaugurate the championship. The Chivas Regal-Northern India Open is a 20-goal tournament, which is the highest polo championship in the country. Some of the finest polo players in the country, namely Sameer Suhag, Vishal Singh, and the Kalaan brothers, Uday and Angad, will be matching their horsemanship against world class players like Augustine Gracias and Juan Martin Nero of Argentina and Philip Elliott and Rody Williams of England. The championship trophy was donated by the Maharaja of Ratlam in 1922. Since then, the tournament has been an annual feature during the spring polo season in Delhi. OC
	Mumbai-Pune Cycle Race on March 17 Our Sports Reporter New Delhi, February 18 The All-India Balsara Advanced Odomos Cream 23rd Mumbai-Pune Cycle Race, India’s toughest and most prestigious long distance cycle race, will be held on Sunday, March 17. The gruelling 153-km race will see contestants negotiate some of the country’s steepest ghat sections. It is open to participants from all over the country. Entries close with Balsara Home Products Ltd., Balsara Advanced Odomos Cream’s 23rd Cycle Race, 43 Nagindas Master Road, Fort, Mumbai-400001 or Mr Pratap Yadav, hon. secretary, D-18, Aniket Society No 1, Bivawewadi Road, Pune 411037. The entry fee is Rs 50. Cyclists who wish to be assisted by their own pilots have to pay Rs 100 in favour of the Maharashtra Cycling Association as pilot registration fee and seek prior permission. Entries close on March 5.
	Asif Nazir creates racing history Our Sports Reporter New Delhi, February 18 India’s first-ever JK Tyre National Karting champion and Formula Asia runner-up Asif Nazir created history when he became the first and only Indian to drive in the prestigious CART Junior Barber Dodge Series, which runs in the United States and Canada alongside the main CAART racing series. After a stunning performance in his debut year of racing last year, Asif stood second in the Formula Asia championship. Asif’s great performance was noticed by the prestigious CART, and he was invited to test drive in their junior series. Asif drove the state-of-the-art 265 BHP race car capable of reaching speeds upto 270kmph and pulling upto 2.5-3 Gs of lateral G-Forces. Known as the Barber Pro Series, this series has been the breeding ground for almost all the top American drivers like Juan Montoya, Kenny Brack etc. Asif’s success story began a year back when he won the National Carting Championship.
	Motorola win in Cry Cadence Cricket Our Sports Reporter New Delhi, February 18 Motorola defeated net4India by two wickets in the second Cry Cadence Corporate Cricket Challenge held at the PGDAV College ground in the Capital. Soumen of Motorola was declared the Man of the Match. Scores: Motorola: 119 in 19.1 overs. net4India: 118 in 20 overs. In another match at the PGDAV ground, Hughes Software Systems defeated Cadence by nine wickets. Ashwini of Hughes Software was declared the Man of the Match. Scores: Hughes Software Systems: 143 in 21.3 overs. Cadence: 140 in 25 overs.
	G E Capital win in Teri Cricket New Delhi, February 18 G E Capital beat Hudco by 84 runs in the ninth Teri Cup Cricket Tournament, organised by Teri, at the Teri Oval in Gurgaon. A fine all-round performance by Rodney Charles (30 and 3 for 13), who was adjudged the man of the match, helped GE Capital race to a handsome victory after Hudco had put them to bat. Scores: GE Capital: 155 for 9 in 25 overs (Dharam 38, 2x4; Rodney Charles 30, 6x4; Mukesh Kumar 3/31). Hudco: 71 all out in 19 overs (Shashi Bhushan 16, 3x4; Gaurav 4 for 25; Rodney Charles 3 for 13). OC