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Monday,
August 26, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Chetan Sharma writes ‘India may face isolation’ |
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Lanka players set conditions Colombo, August 25 Sri Lanka, hosts of the Champions Trophy, have also put conditions before the International Cricket Council for signing the controversial contract on sponsorship rights, deepening the crisis between players and the game’s governing body.
Bhalendra
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SANTOSH TROPHY Team’s morale
high: Bhutia JCT outplay PSEB in super
league Parry joins Allenby at the top
US Open boost for
victorious Venus Sampras can ‘turn it around quickly’ Proposal to set up cycling academy All-India wrestling tournament Srichaphan, Chela in final Nagaraj creates
new record
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England forced to follow on
Leeds, August 25 England were still 116 runs behind the Indian score of 628 for eight declared after having been forced to follow on this morning when their first innings ended at 273. Skipper Nasser Hussain, batting on 90, and Alec Stewart, on 40, were fighting a grim battle for survival when stumps were drawn. The Indian bowlers kept up the pressure in the second innings with a tight line and length and the Englishmen compounded their woes by playing some indiscreet shots. Unlike in the first innings, England had a poor start with their most dependable batsman Michael Vaughan returning to the pavilion after making just 12 runs. Vaughan was trapped leg before wicket by a sharply incoming delivery from Ajit Agarkar who bowled extremely well today. After Anil Kumble had sent back Robert Key for 34, Sanjay Bangar picked two wickets to put India on top at tea. Bangar dismissed Mark Butcher (42) and John Crawley (12) to claim his first wickets of the match. However, Hussain kept England going with a few attacking shots and looked determined to score quickly. Alec Stewart, who had remained unbeaten for 78 in the first innings, also batted positively. Earlier, the England first innings came to a close in the fourth over of the morning when Kumble had Matthew Hoggard caught by Virender Sehwag to pick his third wicket. SCOREBOARD India (1st innings): 628-8 dec England (1st innings): Key c Laxman b Zaheer 30 Vaughan c Sehwag b Agarkar 61 Butcher lbw b Kumble 16 Hussain lbw b Zaheer 25 Crawley c Laxman
b Harbhajan 13 Stewart not out 78 Flintoff lbw b Harbhajan 0 Tudor c Sehwag b Agarkar 1 Giles lbw b Kumble 25 Caddick b Harbhajan 1 Hoggard c Sehwag b Kumble 0 Extras (b1, lb12, nb10) 23 Total (all out, 89 overs) 273 Fall of wickets: 1-67, 2-109, 3-130, 4-140, 5-164, 6-164, 7-185, 8-255, 9-258. Bowling: Zaheer 19-3-59-2; Agarkar 15-4-59-2; Bangar 4-1-9-0; Kumble 33-7-93-3; Harbhajan 18-6-40-3. England (2nd innings): Key lbw b Kumble 34 Vaughan lbw b Agarkar 15 Butcher c Dravid b Bangar 42 Hussain batting 90 Crawley c Sehwag b Bangar 12 Stewart batting 40 Extras: 6 Total (for 4 wkts, 86 overs) 239 Fall of wickets:
1-28, 2-76, 3-116, 4-148. Bowling: Zaheer Khan 16-7-39-0, Agarkar 14-4-42-1, Bangar 13-2-54-2, Kumble 20-7-53-1, Harbhajan Singh 22-6-43-0. Sehwag 1-0-3-0.
PTI |
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Chetan Sharma writes England barely managed to take the Test match into the final day. Their only hope of saving the match will be heavy rain on the fifth day tomorrow and with the English weather you never know what could happen at any time. On the other hand, the Indians will wish the weather doesn’t interfere in their bid to equalise the series. They have done all that is right in the Test and deserve to win it. Today was a cat and mouse game played between the England batsmen and Indian bowlers. At one time there were indications of the Test finishing today only when India got wickets in the after- noon session but towards the evening the tiredness of the bowlers was showing. Considering that they have been bowling non-stop at England batsmen for two days of play, it was but natural that they would be affected by fatigue. I am sure they will come out fresh tomorrow morning and bowl their side to a historic win. I will also give credit to the way England skipper Nasser Hussain fought so hard. He is not a very impressive to watch but he always comes up with runs when his side needs them. He scored a century at Lord’s in the first Test so he had the confidence going. He was beaten on many occasions but his determination saw him through. His knock has also given England plenty of hope of saving the Test. Alec Stewart had been batting just like in the first innings when the Indian bowlers could not get his wicket. Stewart too has been in form and with all the experience that he has with him, he was aware that the best thing to do was to spend time in the middle. Some of the shots that he played in his knock were very sweetly timed. The Indian bowlers were good at times but as I wrote earlier may be tiredness restricted them in the last session. Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar had been getting the ball to swing but were sometimes unlucky when the umpires ruled against them. A couple of times I thought Hussain was out lbw but the umpires thought otherwise. And their decision matters more than mine or yours. I was very happy to see Sanjay Bangar’s hard work coming off. He is gritty cricketer and with his intelligent medium pace bowling, he picked up two important wickets. But I thing he was over-used and India could have taken him off when his bowling had been going for runs. The spinners also toiled hard and I have a feeling that they will be crucial to the Indian team’s chances tomorrow. |
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‘India may face isolation’ Kolkata, August 25 “With all other teams either signing or on the verge of doing so, India, I fear may be somewhat isolated,” Dalmiya told PTI here. New Zealand and Pakistan teams and some of the Zimbabwe players have alredy signed the participation contract. Players of Australia, England, Sri Lanka and South Africa, who had initially opposed the contract, have also now agreed to sign subject to certain conditions. Dalmiya, however, said the board was still open to discussion with the players and hoped that the cricketers would reconsider their stand. He said BCCI would resume formal discussion with the players after the Leeds Test was over. “The players are now in the midst of a vital match. They need to stay focussed. So we can restart negotiation after the match,” he said. Dalmiya reiterated that the board would deal directly with the players and not with their spokesman Ravi Shastri. “We have an excellent relationship with the players. So I don’t see any logic in involving an outsider,” he said. The board has been caught in a fix after none of the Indian stars, now touring England, agreed to sign the controversial Players’ Terms Form which bars them from endorsing products potentially in conflict with the interests of official sponsors, during and one month before and after ICC tournaments. Though all the affiliate national boards had signed an agreement valid upto 2007 with ICC on this line, following BCCI’s insistence, the apex body had recently offered to limit the agreement to the Champion’s Trophy to be held from September 12 to 29. BCCI sources said the Indian players’ reluctance to sign would also weaken the board’s bargaining power with ICC. Dalmiya had earlier expressed ‘sympathy’ for the Indian players who stood to lose the most financially following the agreement and requested them to sign the contract for the Champions Trophy. “Had they agreed, the board could have taken up the entire matter and other related issues firmly with ICC and made it see reason,” the sources said. However, the sources said with most of the countries now reacting positively to the ICC terms, the world governing body might harden its stand.
PTI |
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Lanka players set conditions Colombo, August 25 Former fast bowler Graeme Labrooy, speaking on behalf of the cricketers, told PTI here today that the players would sign the contracts only if ICC agreed to two demands. He said their first demand was that the players should be given 30 per cent of the guarantee money paid by the ICC to the Sri Lankan Cricket Board (BCCSL) for next month’s Champions Trophy in Colombo and the World Cup 2003 to compensate them for loss of sponsorship money. Their second condition was that the players should be consulted before future contracts, relating to tournaments after next year’s World Cup, were drawn up between the ICC and the national cricket boards, Labrooy said. Labrooy, an executive committee member of the Sri Lanka Cricketers’ Association, met cricket board Chief Executive Officer Anura Tennekoon yesterday to convey the players’ position. Tennekoon, who confirmed that the players were yet to sign the contracts, will place the players’ conditions before an ICC meeting in Dubai on August 29 and 30. Under the new ICC contract, players are barred from having personal sponsorship deals with companies if the world body has arranged deals with rival firms. The demands of the Sri Lankan cricketers are similar to the terms on which the Australian Cricket Board has hammered out a solution with its players. Labrooy said four Sri Lankan cricketers had subsisting contracts for endorsements that might be in conflict with the tournament sponsors. “It is not only that. New sponsors are also coming in,” he said. Describing the terms as “unfair”, Labrooy said the players were ready to play the ICC Champions Trophy and the World Cup but certainly wanted to be consulted for contracts relating to ICC tournaments after that, and were against the continuance of the present terms till 2007. He said the Lankan cricketers had taken some time to study the controversial clauses pertaining to sponsorship terms, as they were playing a three-nation tournament in Morocco. “This should be an eye-opener for the future,” he said, and hoped a solution would be found soon for the crisis. Sri Lanka will be hosting the 12-nation ICC Champions Trophy tournament from September 12 to 29.
PTI |
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Bhalendra meet to be selection trials for Asiad New Delhi, August 25 Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI) secretary-general Lalit K. Bhanot hinted here today that the Raja Bhalendra Singh meet, to be sponsored by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), and the last circuit meet to be held in Ludhiana on August 28, will be the final selection trials before the athletic contingent is picked on August 29. Mr Bhanot clarified that the National Open Meet, to be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi from September 7 to 9, will only be a “confirmation trial” of the results achieved by the athletes in the circuit meets, and if an athlete fails to live upto the results of the trial meet, the AAFI selection committee will have the option of dropping him/her. Though the AAFI has set the qualifying norm slightly higher than the fourth-place finish of the last Asian Games at Bangkok in 1998, Mr Bhanot said a flexible approach will be adopted in evaluating the qualifying norm. But the only condition is that the athlete’s performance should be “close to the qualifying mark”. However, heptathlon athletes have exempted from trials for the present meet. He said not more than 50 athletes would be fielded for the Asian Games. “We don’t want to send any athlete who does not have a realistic chance of winning a medal”, Mr Bhanot added. No wonder, all the top athletes, who had gone to Belarus and Ukraine for competition-cum-training, have returned home to participate in the Raja Bhalendra Singh meet. They include K.M. Beenamol, Shakti Singh, Bahadur Singh, Neelam J Singh, Anil Kumar P, Navpreet Singh, Sandeep Sarkaria, Piyush Kumar, Saraswati Saha, Rachita Mistry, Kavita Pandya, Manjima Kuriakose, Jincy Philip, Anuradha Biswal, Poonam Tomar, Promod Tiwari, Paramjit Singh, K.M. Binu, Sunita Rani, Gulab Chand, Kuldeep Kumar, Soma Biswas, J.J. Shoba and others, though Bobby Alosious’ name does not figure in the list. Delhi State Amateur Athletic Association president Raja Randhir Singh, who is also the secretary-general of the Indian Olympic Association, said even after applying the fourth position of the last Asiad as the qualifying criteria, many federations were still finding it difficult to meet the qualifying standard. He disclosed that despite India winning a clutch of medals in weightlifting in the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games in Manchester, only one lifter has made the qualifying grade. Randhir Singh said 16 events will be held in the Bhalendra Singh meet. The 4x100m relay for men and women will also be held. In a surprising gesture, the staid Delhi Development Authority, leberally loosening its purse strings, has agreed to sponsor the circuit meet as well as the National Open Meet. DDA has contributed Rs 7,13,000 for the meet, which include Rs 5,60,000 as prize money. The gold medal winner will be richer by Rs 20,000 while the silver and bronze medallists will pocket Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000, respectively. “Participation of all athletes, who are aspirants for the Asian Games, is mandatory and no athlete has been exempted from participation”, Randhir Singh added. The events to be held are: hammer throw (men and women), 100m (men and women), javelin throw (men and women), shot put (men), 3000M (men and women), 800M (men and women), triple jump (men), discus throw (men and women), 100M hurdles (women), 400M (men and women) and 4x100M relay (men and women). |
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SANTOSH TROPHY Chandigarh, August 25 The amended rule of the AIFF states that ‘‘players shall be bona fide permanent residents or shall be born within the jurisdiction of the state association which they represent in the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy. ‘‘Alternately, a player whose services are not required by the state association of which he is a permanent resident or in which he is born may play for the state association for which he is registered at the time of the tournament.’’ The federation has told the state associations which require players to play for them under the amended rules will ‘‘inform the state association for which the concerned player is at present registered at least 30 days before the start of the tournament.’’ The cut-off day this year will be September 18. A copy of the request will also have to be sent by the state unit concerned to the AIFF. The state units have also been informed that all requests seeking the services of players for the Santosh Trophy will be accompanied either by the birth certificate, residence certificate, PDS ration card or Election Commission identity cards. This move by the AIFF should make it easier for units like Chandigarh and Punjab or even Himachal Pradesh to field stronger teams in the National Football Championship since a large number of players play from these states and union territory play football in other states. Also, the players who play in institution teams like BSF, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) or Steel Plants and whose units have no affiliation with the AIFF or play club-level soccer in Kolkata or Mumbai can turn out for their states in the tournament. This year Chandigarh have been placed in Cluster II of the National Football Championship along with Maharashtra and Meghalaya, while Punjab have been placed in Cluster III along with Mizoram and Madhya Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh are in Cluster IV along with Manipur and Pondicherry. The following are the other clusters: Cluster I — Bengal, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. Cluster V — Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Daman and Diu. Cluster VI — Services, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. Cluster VII — Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat and Tripura. Cluster VIII — Orissa, Delhi, Nagaland and Andaman and Nicobar. Last year’s semifinalists have not been placed in the clusters and will take part in the tournament from the quarterfinal stage where they will be joined by the winners of the eight clusters. In the quarterfinals the 12 teams will be divided into four groups of three each and the matches will again be played on league basis and the four group winners will move into the semi-finals which will be played on knockout basis. |
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Team’s morale high: Bhutia New Delhi, August 25 “After the Vietnam LG Cup triumph the morale of the team is very high...with the present form the team could make it to the knock-out stage,’’ Bhutia told UNI here. “It will be tough for China and Turkmenistan to beat us.’’ India are placed in Group C along with China, Turkmenistan and Bangladesh. He said the young side is playing good professional football and the exposure trip to England would help enormously. The Indian captain stressed the need for having “a positive frame of mind’’ on the eve of the departure of the team to England. In England, the team would play two matches with Jamaica’s national side on August 29 and September 1. It will also play a practice match in North Korea before leaving for Busan. Bhutia said the Vietnam victory has also changed the mindset of the people and “now everybody takes us seriously.’’ “Earlier, we were not getting due respect as footballers. But the tremendous victory in Vietnam seems to have opened new vistas for soccer in the country,’’ he said. India had rallied brilliantly to beat hosts Vietnam 3-2 in an exciting final to lift the six-nation LG Cup, 2002. About the future of soccer in the country, Bhutia said more work was needed to be done at the grassroots level. “I feel we should lay more emphasis on the grassroots level... There should be proper infrastructure for the youngsters. They should be exposed to international competitions from an early age and more importantly their training should be of highest standard.’’ He said these will surely give Indian soccer an international status. Bhutia was here along with other members of the team for the training camp held at the Ambedkar Stadium.
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JCT outplay PSEB in super
league Chandigarh, August 25 New recruit Gyan Moin Thapa was the hero of the mill men’s
impressive win as he alone accounted for three goals. Thapa put JCT alead in the ninth minute and thereafter the
experienced Hardip Gill with a power-packed shot from 20 yards made it 2-0. Thapa again struck in the 29th minute and JCT were leading 3-0 at half time. After the breather Thapa (60th) and Surjit Gyani (72nd) scored two more to make the match one- sided. Prior to the match, the FIFA Fairplay Day run was organised at the venue in which former internationals Inder Singh, Gurdev Singh, Parminder Singh, G.S. Parmar, Deepak Kumar, Amarjit Bhatia and Avtar Singh participated. Mr Ajit Singh Additional SP, was the chief guest. |
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Parry joins Allenby at the top Sammamish, Washington, Aug 25 Parry and overnight leader
Allenby, who birdied the 18th hole for an even-par round of 71, are locked together at 10-under-par, one shot ahead of Fred Funk. Funk maintained his run of consistency with his third straight round of 68 yesterday. World number one Tiger Woods shot a solid 67 to move up the leaderboard and into a five-way tie for fourth place at eight-under-par. The three-time defending champion’s lowest round of the tournament put him alongside Steve Lowery, Matt
Gogel, Jim Furyk and British Open winner and world number three Ernie Els of South Africa. After missing his last four cuts, Parry said he changed his outlook after watching Rich Beem win the PGA Championship last week. “I watched Rich Beem win last week at the
PGA, and I thought, ‘He’s actually getting up and trying to hit the shot he wants to hit and hitting it,’ and why can’t I do that? And that’s one of the things that stuck with me,” Parry said. “The shot he tried to play, he did play. And what I was doing meant I wasn’t focused 100 per cent on the shot I wanted to play, be it over water or down through the fairway. “On a hole like 15, you have to get it up and rip it down the middle of the fairway. “That’s what I saw in Rich
Beem, in his mannerisms and the way he was playing. I thought, ‘Why can’t you do that?’ I’ve played with Rich quite a few times this year. And he gave me a bit of confidence to go out and do it.” Parry, who has 18 victories worldwide but none on the PGA Tour for 11 years, played an impeccable round on Saturday, with five birdies and no bogeys. He hit 13 of 14 fairways and 16 greens in regulation. His only glitch came on the par-four 16th hole when he hit his approach through the green into some thick rough. He chipped out with an eight-iron to four feet and sank the par putt. This season had been particularly frustrating, Parry said, because he had been playing well, but not scoring well. In 16 PGA Tour events, he has made the cut in only eight. His best finish is a tie for 14th in the Genuity Championship in early March.
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US Open boost for
victorious Venus New Haven, August 25 It was top-seeded Williams’s 28th career title and fourth in a row in New Haven and it was achieved despite trailing 3-5 in the first set against the number two seed. Victory also meant that Williams became the first player to win four in a row in any tournament since Monica Seles at the Canadian Open (1995-98) and she joined a list of only nine players in professional tennis history to accomplish that feat. Since March of this year, Venus has won four titles and has a win-loss record of 37-4, losing only to her sister Serena (three times) and Kim Clijsters. After losing the Wimbledon final, Venus has notched up three tournament wins at Stanford, San Diego and New Haven to set herself up for another tilt at the US Open, the final Grand Slam event of the season which starts in New York on Monday. “I was 5-3 down because I was playing a lot of short balls and Lindsay was coming into the net finishing off the points.” said Venus. “I felt I couldn’t keep playing like that so I started doing to Lindsay what she was doing to me. I have never played any event like I have this one, that’s for sure. “Mentally I feel ready going into the US Open. For me that’s the whole battle is to mentally be able to feel I am in the competition. I still have to improve it a notch or two if I want to beat Serena though.” Davenport, who has only recently returned to the tour after a long injury lay-off, said she was happy with her performance. “I still need to clean up my game and focus on those close situations on closing those out,” said Davenport. “I’m very excited about next week, not having played a Grand Slam for a year now. It’s a big moment for me. “Venus is a great player, she’s so athletic. To beat her, you have to play extremely well and she has to help that player out by making some mistakes. She’s going to be tough to beat at the Open.”
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Sampras can ‘turn it around quickly’ New York, August 25 The 31-year-old American, who has endured a terrible season, is searching for the formula that made him the year-end world number one six times in a row. After each early-round defeat by opponents he used to beat in his sleep, Sampras has trudged off court with the world apparently resting on his famous drooping shoulders. For his loyal fans it has been tough viewing, and many in the game have suggested it’s time he hung up his Wilson racket for good. His preparation for this year’s U.S. Open, a title he has won four times and been runner-up for the last two years, has hardly been encouraging despite linking up with former coach Paul Annacone who was at his side for eight of his 13 grand slam titles. Sampras was knocked out in the first round of the TD Waterhouse Cup this week by 20-year-old Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, while his previous two tournaments resulted in defeats by Tommy Haas in the third round in Toronto and Wayne Arthurs in Cincinnati. Sampras has not achieved so much in the sport without a survival instinct, however, and he still believes he can climb off the canvas for another, maybe final, highlight. “You have to remember who I am and where I’m playing next week,’’ he said looking ahead to Flushing Meadows. “The U.S. Open is where you shine, and that is where I hope to shine. “My goal is to win another major and, hopefully, destiny will be on my side at the Open. “I just need one close match to get through and all of a sudden things can explode, I know I can turn it around very quickly.’’ There have been many theories as to Sampras’s descent to 17th in the world rankings. Marriage to his wife Bridgette Wilson and impending fatherhood are both popular, while many say Sampras lost the hunger after his emotional Wimbledon triumph against Pat Rafter in 2000 — since when he has not won a title. The lowest point of his year, possibly his career, came at his beloved Wimbledon. While defeat to unknown Swiss qualifier George Bastl was bad enough, the fact that the match was played on Wimbledon’s Court Two was an indication of how far the American’s stock had fallen after winning the tournament seven times in the nine previous years. The sight of Sampras staring into his racket strings long after the crowds had left the court that day was strange for those so used to watching him put opponents through the mincer on London’s grasscourts. But he was quick to rubbish rumours of retirement and re-hired Annacone in an attempt to stop the slide. “I’m going to stop on my own terms because I deserve that,’’ said Sampras. “When my heart and mind is not into the game and I feel I can’t win a major, that will tell me it’s time. That day isn’t quite here. I still feel I have the heart and game.’’ Reuters |
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Proposal to set up cycling academy Patiala, August 25 The NCA will be set up with the financial assistance from the Ludhiana-based All-India Cycle Manufacturers Association (AICMA) at a venue yet to be decided by the AICMA. Confirming this, Mr J.S. Grewal, Secretary of the CFI, disclosed that the management committee of the CFI, which met at New Delhi recently, had already given the green signal to this ambitious project of the CFI. He added that to give final shape to the academy, a meeting will be held shortly at either Ludhiana or New Delhi between the office-bearers of the AICMA and Mr S.S. Dhindsa, President of the CFI. Mr Grewal disclosed that the 595-km race will be named as ‘Ride against Tyranny’ and will commence every year from December 5 — the day the 10th Sikh leader, Guru Gobind Singh, started his war against the Mughals. For the first year, as a trial run, the race will be conducted on a national level basis. However, the CFI plans to give it an international flavour by inviting cyclists from other countries from the year 2003 onwards. Mr Grewal said that a proposal to this effect had already been sent to the International Cycling Federation (ICU). The ‘Ride against Tyranny’ will commence from Anandpur Sahib and will finish at Talwandi Sabo after passing through Muktsar, Bathinda and Kotkapura. Meanwhile, final trials to select the Indian cycling contingent for the Busan Asian games will be held at the PAU velodrome at Ludhiana from September 15 to 17. The CFI has decided to field cyclists in team pursuit, 40 km individual time trial, individual pursuit and 20 km individual road time trial. Mr Grewal added that the CFI will field a 9-member team, comprising 7 men and two women. At present, the cyclists are attending the national camp at Patiala. |
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All-India wrestling tournament Chandigarh, August 25 Wrestling bouts would be held for five titles and in different weights. These were Hind Kesri (men) plus 76 kg, Hind Kumar (men) 65-76 kg, Hind Kesri(women) plus 55 Kg., Hind Abhimanyu (boys) up to 65 kg and Hind Kumari (girls) 48-55 Kg. He said that four prizes would be given to the winners in each category. The Hind Kesri (men) winners of Ist, 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions would get Rs 1 lakh, Rs 51,000, Rs 31,000 and Rs 11,000, respectively. The winners of first, second, third and fourth positions in Hind Kumar (men) and Hind Kumari (women) would get Rs 51,000, Rs 21,000, Rs 11,000 and Rs 5,000. Each of the first four position winners of Hind Kesri (girls) and Hind Abhimanyu (boys) would be awarded Rs 31,000, Rs 15,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 3,000, respectively. He said that only the national level wrestlers would be allowed to participate in
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Srichaphan, Chela in final Commack (New York), August 25 The 23-year-old Bangkok native has now won 10 of his last 11 matches going into today’s final against seven-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina, who downed fifth-seeded Alex Corretja of Spain 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 earlier yesterday. “It must be disappointing for Tommy but it’s good for me,” Srichaphan said. “It will allow me to rest and get ready for the final.” Srichaphan will be looking to capture his first ATP Tour title after falling just short in Washington last week against American James Blake. “Hopefully, this time will be my turn,” said Srichaphan. “It would be nice to see how it feels to win it all. “I’ve been playing my best tennis these past couple of weeks. I deserve to win.” Chela (22) has reached his third ATP final of the season.
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Nagaraj creates
new record Patiala, August 25 S. Nagaraj eclipsed the old record of 800 kg by having a total lift of 800.5 kg against his name. He was followed by Ravi Sharma of Punjab who lifted 787.5 kg. On the distaff side, the hosts had something to cheer about when in the 60 kg weight category Mandeep Kaur lifted 465 kg to put to shade the earlier record of 462.5 kg. Other results: (Men) 90 kg: S.Koteswar Rao — (Indian Postal Services —808 kg) -1, S.Bhagwati (Railways- 755 kgs) -2, Mathew K.B (Kerala - 742.5 kg) -3. (Women): 60 kg: Mandeep Kaur - (Punjab-465 kg) -1, Dipti Vaikar (Maharashtra - 377.5 kg)-2, Janavi Nazarith (Karnataka- 362.5 kg)-3. 67.5 kg: G.Rajeshwari (Andhra Pradesh-507.5 kg)-1, B.Madhuri (Madhya Pradesh-412.5 kg)-2, Kalpana Savanath (Maharashtra-375 kg)-3. |
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