SPORTS

Akram plays Super Selector with Moon Moon & Riya
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 1
Pakistan’s charismatic all-rounder Wasim Akram, along with Bollywood beauty Moon Moon Sen and her charming daughter Riya, will play Super Selector, on the show to be aired on Saturday, March 2 at 8 pm on Star Sports and at 11 pm on ESPN.

Hosted by well-known actor Naseeruddin Shah, the innovative, interactive and integrated game show pioneered by ESPN Star Sports, will announce the Super Selectors for the February game on the same show. Wasim Akram, durability personified, needs no introduction. His performance has always left an indelible impression on the minds of spectators and the opposition alike. This amazing all-rounder has played 428 matches till date (324 ODIs and 104 Tests) and has taken 861 wickets (447 ODI wickets and 414 Test wickets), not to mention the 6270 runs (3372 ODI runs and 2898 Test runs) scored by him in both forms of cricket.

And the 36-year-old is still going strong. And this time joining him in a pleasantly different line-up on the sets of Super Selector is an enchanting mother-daughter duo. Moon Moon Sen and her cute daughter Riya will join the ace all-rounder on this March 2 show. They will select their teams and will be eager to prove that their knowledge of cricket is better than anyone else in the tinsel town.

Daughter of legendary actress Suchitra Sen, Moon Moon’s career spans over 60 films and 40 TV serials in different languages. Moon Moon had created quite a storm with her daring role in debut film Andar Bahar in 1984.

Currently, Moon Moon is busy doing a film each with her daughters Riya and Raima. The film with Riya is being directed by award-winning director Kalpana Lajmi. Moon Moon is also writing a cookbook in Bengali.

Formula One to rev up sporting action
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 1
After a four-month hiatus the 2002 FIA Formula One world Championship revs up this weekend in Melbourne, Australia and ESPN STAR Sports is on the starting grid to deliver the most extensive Live coverage of the thrilling F1 action.

All eyes will be on reigning champion Michael Schumacher of Ferrari in the first race, the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Live on Star Sports at 8:15 am on March 3. The ultimate motorsport event, F1 reaches a global cumulative TV audience of 54.5 billion - a figure that represents every single instance of Formula 1 coverage from two-hour races to news clips, according to Formula One Management. This captive and passionate audience has not escaped discerning advertisers as three major companies complement their international on-the-ground marketing efforts of F1 with sponsorship of Star Sports’ comprehensive coverage.

Manu Sawhney, Managing Director, ESPN Software India Pvt. Ltd. said, “Formula One, over the last few years has consistently been gaining viewership among all age groups and is today immensely popular with the audiences across India. Live programming on Star Sports channel provides the most expansive and in-depth coverage of F1.”

“Through our superior production, expert commentary and quality live support programming such as Raceday and Checkered Flag we are certain that the sport will continue to gain in popularity and will continue to build a strong and loyal viewer base,” Mr Sawhney added.

Allianz, Orange and Honda return as regional sponsors of Star Sports’ Live fortnightly broadcast of F1. Leveraging on its editorial resources and its state-of-the-art production facilities, ESPN STAR Sports continues to produce Live, dedicated F1 programming that delivers the most comprehensive package of news, views and race analysis. ESPN Software India has lined up a series of marketing initiatives to further popularize the Formula One this season with on-air contests and promotions at various key outlets in major metros. The winners of contests can expect to go all the way to watch an F-1 race this season live.

At the Malaysian Grand Prix, espnstar.com will launch F1 Dream League 2002 interactive game (like Super Selector) where participants will be given an opportunity to build their own F1 team of four drivers, two cars and one tyre manufacturer. F1 Dream League points are awarded on how the seven components of the participant’s Dream Team perform in each real-life Grand Prix weekend.

It is estimated that each championship round of the Formula 1 is watched by a global audience of 350 million people, making it the second most popular television sport behind soccer. During the last season of the Formula 1, viewership of the races on Star Sports saw a 13 per cent rise across Asia over the previous season.

Preview show RaceDay starts off Star Sports’ coverage with a look at the race ahead, predictions, scenarios and past performances and how those are likely to develop in the day’s race. This is followed by Live broadcast of the race before Chequered Flag gets airtime for a recap including highlights, analysis, rankings and results, the post-race press conference and the awarding ceremony.

Allianz is also the presenting sponsor of Chequered Flag. Expanding the TV viewer’s experience of F1, espnstar.com will present the most comprehensive Formula 1 site, with Live Lap by Lap reports, in depth news, statistics, analysis, and comment from the Star Sports commentary team.

Delhi Police split points with IAF
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 1
Delhi Police held former league champions Indian Air Force (IAF), New Delhi to a goalless draw in a Group A Super League match of the Delhi Soccer Association-SAIL Senior Division Football League Championship at the Ambedkar Stadium in the Capital on Friday.

IAF completed their engagements by getting ten points from five matches while Delhi Police finished on seven points from five matches. Hindustan Club have secured ten points from five matches while Nivia-Mughals have collected seven points from four matches. Mughals will play their last league match against Shahdara on March 3. Shahdara have collected three points from four matches.

Delhi Police and Air Force played listless soccer to split points with neither team showing any enterprise for scoring.

The second match between Mughals and Sivananda New Delhi Heroes was abandoned in the 45th minute when New Delhi Heroes’ star player got injured. They played the match with seven players and the injury to another player reduced their strength to six. Referee Mohd. Naseeb, therefore, was left with no option, but to stop the match on technical grounds.

At the time of calling off the match, Mughals were leading by 3-0, after taking a 2-0 lead at half time. Ningma (first minute), Sunil Kumar (18th minute) and Sushil Bhatnagar (42nd minute) were the goal-getters.

Saturday’s fixtures: Moonlight vs Garhwal Heroes (11 am); Jorba Durga (Orissa) vs Boys Athletic Club (Sikkim) (1.30 pm) and U P Police vs Hindustan (3.30 pm).

Orissa to meet Sikkim in NFL opener

Jorba Durga, Orissa will take on Boys Athletic Club, Sikkim in the opening match of the second Division National Football League Cluster-II Championship at the Ambedkar Stadium on Saturday.

In the second match of the day, Uttar Pradesh Police will clash against local team Hindustan Club.

Five teams are participating in the Delhi leg of the Second Division National Football League. The other team in the fray are ASEB Sports Club, Assam.

Dev Dutt, Sudesh star in athletic meet
Our Correspondent

Rohtak, March 1
Dev Dutt Malik and Sudesh Rathee were adjudged the best athletes among men and women respectively of the 24th Annual Athletic Meet of Maharshi Dayanand University, which concluded here today.

Dev Dut, a student of the Department of Psychology clinched honours by winning 100m, long jump, high jump and pole vault besides finishing second in 400m and discuss throw and javalen throw events.

Among women competitors, Sudesh Rathi, a student of Physical Education department emerged winner of 3000m, long jump, discuss throw and relay race. Sunil of Physical Education department won the 1500m race for men clocking 4.49 minutes.

Sunil of Geography department clocked 5.02 minutes and Vinod of Physical Education department clocked 5.10 minutes to finish second and third respectively.

Darshandeep of Physical education department won the 1500m event of women in 6.23 minutes.

Rao Raja Hanut Singh Cup Polo
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 1
Off Season will meet Charlotte’s in the final of the Rao Raj Hanut Singh Cup (open with handicap) Polo Tournament at the Army Equestrian Centre Polo ground in the Capital on Saturday.

In the semi-finals on Friday, Off Season beat Sahagl Stud-Equisport by nine goals to three while Charlotte’s beat JPC by ten goals to two. In the first semi-final, Off Season scored five goals through Manupal Godara while Vikram Sodhi and Mickey Gupta scored two goals each.

Teams: Off Season: Mickey Gupta, Aroon Pal Singh, Vikram Sodhi and Manupal Godara. Sahagl Stud-Equisport: Maj. BP Singh, Maj. AS Randhawa, Rajesh Sahgal and Bk Maj (retd) Adhiraj Singh.

In the other match, Charlotte’s team started with a two-goal handicap and scored five goals through Lt Ravi Rathore while Raghavraj Singh scored two goals and Bhawani Kalvi one goal. Varun Sharma and Yogeshwar Singh scored one goal each for JPC.

Teams: Charlotte’s: Matar, Lt Ravi Rathore, Raghav Raj Singh, B K Bhawani Singh Kalvi. JPC: Arvind Choudhary, Yogeshwer Singh, Yuvraj Shivraj Singh and Varun Sharma.

Saturday’s fixtures: Finals of Rao Raja Hanut Singh Cup; 9.30 am — Army Equestrian Centre polo ground..

HT Trophy semi-finals: Jindal Steel and Power vs Army (Red), South Delhi vs Oberoi Blues (3.30 p m)—Jaipur Polo ground.