SPORTS

Bengal Mumbai, Assam earn full points
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 24
Bengal Mumbai Football Club edged past Border Security Force (BSF) 2-1 and Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB), Guwahati beat Accountant General and Audit Haryana, Chandigarh 1-0 in the second phase of the Second Division National Football League matches at the Ambedkar Stadium in the Capital today.

Bengal Mumbai have collected six points from two matches while BSF have earned six points from three matches. For the Assam team, it was their first victory after losing two matches.

The star-studded Bengal Mumbai team took quite sometime to warm up as BSF had called the shots in the first 15 minutes. The BSF players combined well and initiated some pleasing moves through mid-fielders Vijay Kumar, Dharminder

Singh and Tapan Bhattacharya. Unfortunately, the BSF forwards could not cash in on the opportunities they got as their shots either went wide or over, or shook the cross piece. Santosh Kajoor’s curling shot off a flag kick almost found its way into the net, but for a last-gasp save effected by rival custodian Anup Nag.

Bengal Mumbai forged ahead, virtually against the run of play, in the 29th minute, when they converted a penalty shot. The penalty was awarded by referee Biswajit Bera when Crispin Chettri’s cross from the right flank was handled inside the box by Gurjit Singh of BSF. Star striker Chima Okerie took the shot, and it brooked no denial (1-0).

In the 70th minute of the second half, Bengal Mumbai captain Adesinha Sadiq struck the second goal with a solo effort when he dodged past defenders Amarjit Singh and Raghubir to put the ball in (2-0).

After taking a comfortable lead, Bengal Mumbai ‘gifted’ a consolation goal to BSF. Following a well-measured cross sent by Santosh Kajoor in the 85th minute, Dharminder Singh fumbled inside the box, and a panicky Bengal Mumbai defender Kamal Thapa tried to clear the ball to safety, only to drive it into his own goal (1-2).

As the match hotted up, tempers also ran high, forcing the referee to book Lanuchuba Imchen, Jinto Jose and Supang Yapang with the yellow card.

In the other match, the Assam team dominated the proceedings with medios K Shyam Bandhu Singh and M S Dawngliana initiating good moves. Despite their best efforts, ASEB could not score a goal in the first half.

In the 58th minute of the second half, their efforts finally bore fruit when skipper Kamakhya Basumatary headed home following a free kick taken by Josephy Lalnunzira. The Haryana team were unlucky that the well-directed shots of Deepak Kumar and Harwinder Paul narrowly missed the target.

There will be no match on Monday. On Tuesday, SAIL-Indian Nationals will take on BSF at 2 pm while AG Audit Haryana will meet Bengal Mumbai at 4 pm.

Punjab National Bank win in DDCA League
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 24
Punjab National Bank beat Ministry of Information and Broadcasting by 17 runs in a ‘B’ Division match of the DDCA League at the Yamuna Sports Complex ground in the Capital.

Scores: PNB: 198 for 8 in 40 overs (Sukhwinder Singh 47, Pawan Kochar 34, Rajesh Kumar 32, J S Birdi 4 for 44).

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting: 181 all out in 39 overs (Ravinder Singh 34, Mukesh Verma 5 for 37).

In a Super A Division match, Indian Airlines beat Times of India by 36 runs.

Scores: Indian Airlines: 262 for 7 in 40 overs (Dinesh Sharma 100, Varun Gupta 46, Sukhvinder Singh 34, Pradeep Chawla 33, Ajay Nagia 3/53, Sandeep Angurala 2 for 60).

Times of India: 226 all out in 40 overs (Rajesh Anand 74, Amolak Singh 38, Subhash Chaudhary 3 for 40, Sanjay Dobal 2/43).

In another ‘B’Division match at Kotla II, Bara Hindu Rao beat Sonnex Club by five wickets.

Scores: Sonnex: 211 all out in 34.1 overs (Mukesh Arora 50, Avinash Kumar 44, Vikas Dabas 5 for 19, Ravi Chikara 3 for 44).

Bara Hindu Rao: 212 for 5 in 35.3 overs (Agnesh Surya 82, Harsh Kapoor 2 for 50).

Essex Farm beat Pioneer Club by three wickets in an A-II division match. Scores: Pioneer Club: 167 for 7 in 40 overs (Anshuman 37, Umesh Sharma 30, Avtar Singh 2 for 31, Mukul Jain 2 for 37).

Essex Farm: 168 for 7 in 33 overs (Sandeep Sethi 62, Mukesh Marwah 32, Ashok Lamba 2 for 25, Sudhir Kumar 2 for 23).

Vandana Singh lifts TT title
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 24
Rewari beat Rohtak 3-1 to win the table tennis title in the 15th Haryana State Women’s Sports Festival, which concluded at the Rao Tula Ram Sports Complex, in Rewari on Sunday.

Results: Vandana Singh beat Priti 11-7, 12-10, 11-5; Anita lost to Charu 7-11, 8-11, 13-11, 2-11; Rinki beat Priyanka 11-2, 11-4, 13-11 and Vandana Singh beat Charu 11-13, 11-14, 11-9, 13-11.

In the women’s singles final, Vandana Singh beat Charu 11-9,11-3,12-10 to annex the title. In the doubles, Charu and Priti beat Deepmala and Reema of Bhiwani 12-10, 14-12.

Sonepat beat Bhiwani 4-0 to win the hockey title while Hisar beat Jhajjar 4-1 in the clash for the third place.

In volleyball, Rewari beat Jind to the title with a 25-22,25-17, 25-23 victory. Ambala beat Karnal 43-33 to bag the basketball title.

Youngsters move up in S P Jain Cricket tourney
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 24
A quick-fire knock of 87 runs by Jitender Solanki and deadly bowling by left-arm spinner Ansul Lamba (4 for 29) helped Youngsters Club defeat Telefunken Club by three wickets to enter the quarter-final of the third Sheetal Prasad Jain Memorial Cricket Tournament at the Mohan Meakins ground in Mohan Nagar. Scores: Telefunken Club: 131 all out in 38.1 overs (Amba Prasad 33, Sushil Kumar 29, Ansul Lamba 4 for 29, Jitender Solanki 2 for 21). Youngsters: 134 for 3 in 17.3 overs (Jitender Solanki 87, 10x4, 3x6, 56b); Rajeev Dubey 2 for 8).

St Marks School in semis: St Marks School, Meera Bagh, beat Delhi Public School, Vasant Kunj, by six wickets to enter the semi-finals of the Jivanjor Cricket Tournament at the Bal Bharti School ground, Pitampura, in the Capital today. Delhi Public School scored 164 all out in 32.5 overs, and St Marks School replied with 168 for four wickets in 32.1 overs. Saransh Sharma of St Marks School, who hit a match-winning 56 runs, was declared the man of the match. 6.

Delhi Police win: Harvinder Singh’s crisp all-round performance (4 for 23 and 40 not out) and a dashing knock of 69 by Sanjay Verma helped Delhi Police beat Gyan Sports by seven wickets to enter the quarter-finals of the sixth Pratap Singh Memorial Cricket Tournament at the Karawal Nagar ground. Harvinder Singh was declared the man of the match. Scores: Gyan Sports: 141 all out in 30 overs (Harry Singh 28, Vinod Kumar 20, Harvinder Singh 4 for 23, Rajesh Tyagi 2 for 20). Delhi Police: 145 for 3 in 16.2 overs (Sanjay Verma 69, Harvinder Singh 40 n o, Harry Singh 2/25).

Rajdhani sports beat CWC: Rajdhani Sports beat Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) by two runs and enter the quarter-finals of the third Sheetal Prasad Jain Memorial Cricket Tournament at the Mohan Meakin ground in Mohan Nagar. CWC won the toss and elected to field. Scores: Rajdhani Sports: 232 for 7 in 40 overs (Surender Kumar 107, Manish Chawla 66, Arun Sethi 3 for 28, Surjeet Verma 2 for 38). CWC: 162 for 9 in 40 overs (Rajeev Vinayak 51, Rupesh Ahluwalia 4 for 21).

TYCA in quarter-finals

New Delhi, March 24
Trans Yamuna Cricket Association (TYCA) beat Rising Star by seven wickets to enter the quarter-finals of the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Cricket Tournament.

TYCA: 148 for 3 in 13.2 overs (Sunil Kashyap 56 n o, Sunil Rawat 50 n o, Kapil 14, Sanjay Sharma 29 for 2, Ashwani 1 for 48). OSR