 |
Wednesday,
October 2, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
Merchant-Habib duo wins gold W’lifter Muthu comes a cropper India do well in rowing, squash
India expect medals in shooting, wrestling India need big win against Japan |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Win or lose, for them just taking part is success
Ri’s record lift gives N. Korea first gold Leander Paes not to play today Zaman predicts India, Pak revival ‘Payyoli
Express’ to meet Lydia Divega
Rathore’s ton helps Indian Pistons win Punjabi varsity scrape past DFA Punjab gymnastics
from Oct 4
|
|
Merchant-Habib duo wins gold Busan, October 1 Indian supporters went wild when Yasin Merchant missed potting a simple coloured ball to signal the end of the fourth frame and a gold medal for India, the first at this Asian Games. Merchant and Rafat Habib clinched the snooker doubles title against the top-rated Hong Kong pair of Marco Ka Chun Fu and Chi Wai Au 3-1 (33-71, 74-20, 92-13, 78-21). The 31-year-old Habib, who played ‘’out of his skin’’ according to Merchant, unabashedly shed tears. It took around five minutes for him to regain composure. It was a tense final all the way. At two hours and 16 minutes it was the longest match of the day. It was also a special moment for the team coach Michael Ferreira who was celebrating his birthday. “Happy birthday, coach,’’ shouted Merchant at the top of the voice. “This win is for you.’’ “I am simply delighted,’’ said Ferreira. “Rafat was simply brilliant today. He made potting look easy.’’ Merchant appeared quite tense on the chair, but Rafat was confidence personified. The tighter the situation, the better he played. And of course, he had the run of the ball too. In the final frame, Rafat gambled with a difficult pot from the bottom of the table. It paid off as the cannon sent the red ball crashing into the top pocket and also positioned the cue ball for follow-up on the black. If Rafat’s potting was brilliant so was Merchant’s snooker. The third frame was won on his effort. At 30-13, Merchant, a two-time Asian Amateur champion, gave a snooker from which the Hong Kong pair could extricate themselves only after conceding a number of points. The Indians did not loosen the noose and wrapped the frame at 66-13. “It is a great victory for the Indian cue games contingent,’’ said a delighted Geet Sethi who along with the others were cheering and egging Merchant and Rafat on. “It is the first medal in snooker for us.’’ At Bangkok, India had won two golds, one silver and a bronze medals in billiards. Sethi described a moment in the quarterfinal victory. “The Malaysians were getting back into the game in the fourth frame. After two safety shots, Habib was given a difficult pink. He went for it from the cushion to centre pocket and succeeded. It was a brilliant shot.’’ Merchant ranks this win as his second-best ever. “This gold gives me immense pleasure, but I would rank the 1989 Asian title as my best as I was the first Indian to win it,’’ he said. Merchant won the title again two years ago. “It has given us a great confidence for the singles and team events which begin on Wednesday,’’ added Merchant, who along with Manan Chandra and Pankaj Advani will play in the team event. Both Rafat and Merchant felt that the quarterfinal victory over the Malaysian pair of Tim Sam Chong and Ann Seng Ng was the turning point for them. “They are a great side, very good in the short format,’’ said Merchant. “After beating them I had an inkling that we would be in the medal round.’’
UNI |
|
|
W’lifter Muthu comes a cropper Busan, October 1 Muthu, who was cleared at the last moment, had a readymade excuse for his dismal performance. After his event was over, he said “I was not given any non-vegetarian food by the organisers. I was having only water and I even vomitted.’’ “He has not vomitted so far but he may vomit now,” was the reaction of a disgusted Indian official. “Why can’t he accept defeat gracefully. Even if one assumes that he was not given meat to eat, do you think he would have won a medal? Every lifter is given the same treatment, why is he cribbing,” the official told UNI. It is becoming embarassing for the Commonwealth medal winners, who raked in millions, to explain their failure here. Yesterday, triple gold medalists Kunjarani Devi and Sanamacha Chanu failed and this afternoon Muthu did the same. “It is not the Asian Games standard, it is virtually a world championship,” said Balbir Singh Bhatia, member of the Indian Weightlifting Federation’s ad hoc committee. “We had told the IOA and the government that we hardly stand any chance in Asiad, but still the team was cleared, we are not at fault,” Bhatia said. Muthu lifted 237.5 kg, (107.5 kg in snatch and 130 kg in clean and jerk) which was 7.5 kg less than what he had lifted in the Commonwealth Games. China’s Wu Mejin won the gold with a total of 292.5 kg (130 kg, 162 kg), Chinese Taipei’s Shin Yuan Wang was second with 282.5 kg (127.5 kg, 155 kg) and Indonesia’s Jadi Setiadi came third for bronze with 275 kg (125 kg, 150 Kg). Muthu failed in his first attempt but cleared 105 kg in his second and then made it 107.5 in his third effort in snatch. In clean jerk, he lifted 125 kg in his first effort, made it to 130 in his second but could not raise it to 135 in his third. “He did what he could do,’’ said coach Pal Singh Sandhu, but admitted that it was a poor performance by Muthu. He was cleared at the last minute and had little time to prepare, said Sandhu, trying to defend Muthu’s dismal show. ‘’His was a symbolic representation,’’ he added. There are two more women lifters left in the fray. In 63 kg, Pritama Kumari will figure on October 3 and in 75 kg P. Sailija will show her prowess on October 7.
UNI |
|
India do well in rowing, squash
Busan, October 1 The team comprising Mujeeb Rehman Kolakkodan, Ratheesh Kumar, Saji Thomas and Kasam Khan finished their repechage round with a timing of 6:20.49 to romp into the final. In the women’s lightweight double sculls event, the Indian pair of Jincymol Verghese and Monalisa Mohanty finished fourth in the repechage ‘B’ round with a timing of 8:10.81 and will now fight for a place for the seventh and 12th positions. India’s Gurpreet Kaur finished fifth clocking 8:40.18 in the women’s lightweight single sculls repechage ‘A’ and will have to fight for a position between seventh and 12 place. In the women’s single sculls event, India’s Manjula Rai finished fifth with a timing of 8:33.80 in the repechage ‘A’.
Ritwik in quarterfinal
India’s medal prospects in the squash event were brightened with Ritwik Bhattacharya joining two of his compatriots in the quarterfinals of the 14th Asian Games here on Tuesday. With Joshna Chinappa and Vaidehi Reddy already making it to the quarterfinals on Monday in the women’s section, Ritwik ensured India stayed in the competition in the men’s section as well with a 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 whitewash of China’s Liu Qiwen. Saurav Ghosal remained the sole Indian in the four-member team to bow out of the competition but not before giving a fight to his higher-rated opponent. Though the Indians need to play exceedingly well to entertain any hope of winning the gold in the event, they are almost assured of bronze medals, which well could be the first medal for India in the event in Asian Games. Squash was introduced in the games at the last edition in Bangkok. In the women’s section, both Joshna Chinappa and Vaidehi Reddy have fair chances of making it to the semifinals. Reddy, as per the draw, will be pitted against Korea’s Kim Dong Woo in the quarterfinals. If she clears the hurdle, she will meet the top seed in the semifinal. Any of these three players making progress to the next grade means a medal for India. The 22-year old Ritwik, who has been training under the watchful eyes of former world champion Neil Harvey in London for over 18 months now, was business like in his easy win over Liu Qiwen of China, who has switched to squash after being his a national-level badminton player.
PTI |
|
India expect medals in shooting, wrestling Busan, October 1 The Indians had managed just three silver medals in the last Asiad in Bangkok but the current form of the shooters have raised the possibility of more medals coming their way this time around. The shooters, who claimed an impressive 24 medals, including as many as 14 golds in the Manchester Commonwealth Games, will find the going much more difficult here with the Chinese, South Korean and Kazakhstani marksmen expected to dominate the event to be held at the Changwon international shooting range on the outskirts of this port city. The Indian medal hopes will largely rest on pistol king Jaspal Rana, talented Abhinav Bindra, Anjali Bhagwat, Anwar Sultan and Sameer Ambekar all of whom were among the gold grabbers in Manchester. “The standard at the Asian Games is much higher and winning medals will be a lot more difficult,” the chief coach of the Indian shooting team Sunny Thomas said. The Commonwealth medal booty has certainly served as a huge morale-booster for the team but the shooters will have no option but to raise their performance level if they nurture any hope of climbing the medal podium. In the men’s pistol section, Rana, Samaresh Jung and Ved Prakash are the medal contenders in the team event. In the rifle event Abhinav Bindra, Sameer Ambekar and Bharat Singh can land with a medal if they show the desired consistency. Another medal aspirant Anjali Bhagwat will team up with Suma Shirur and Deepali Deshpande in the women’s team air rifle event and the threesome could pose a challenge to any fancied team on their day. The Indians have some other experienced shooters like T.C. Palangappa, A P Subbiah, Manavjt Singh Sandhu, Mansher Singh, Moraad Ali Khan, Kuheli Gangulee, Sheila Kanungo and Shilpi Singh in their ranks but it remains to be seen whether they can make much of an impact. Four finals - women’s 10m air rifle, men’s 10m air rifle, men’s 50m pistol and trap events - are scheduled on the opening day of competitions. Uphill task for boxers With a number of strong contenders in the fray, Indian pugilists face an uphill task of winning a medal in boxing
beginning on Wednesday. The Indians had won just one gold and a bronze medal last time in Bangkok and will be hoping to return home with a better performance this time around. The eight-member team had a strenuous training camp in Patiala before reaching this coastal city and coach Gurbaksh Singh Sandhu was confident that his wards would improve upon their performance. Dingko Singh, who had won a gold medal in the last Asian Games to break a 16-year-old jinx, will be spearheading the Indian challenge in the ring at the Masan Gymnasium. Dingko has shed a quite a few kilograms to prepare himself better for the competition which could see the hosts South Korea, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan dominating the show. Gold winner in the recent Commonwealth Games Mohammad Ali Qamar has also raised medal expectations after his superb display in Manchetster and it remains to be seen whether the Bengal boxer can bring more laurels for the country.
Grapplers hope to make impact Fresh from their impressive show in the recent Commonwealth Games the 14-member Indian wrestling team will be hoping to make an impact in the wrestling begining here on Wednesday. Kripa Shankar Patel (55kg), Pawan Kumar (66kg), Anuj Kumar (84kg) and Palwinder Cheema (120 kg) will be India’s main medal contenders in the free-style section while Gurbinder Singh (66kg), Ranbir Singh (74) and Ravinder Singh (60kg) were the medal aspirants in the greco-roman section.
PTI |
|
India need big win against Japan Busan, October 1 Though India came through as 5-1 victors over minnows Hong Kong, they lacked coordination and needlessly experimented with the line-up. It was incomprehensible to see three defenders being used when they should have attacked and got more goals. This could go down eventually to India’s disadvantage when the pool placing for the semifinal line up is drawn, as a clash against seven-time gold medallists Pakistan in the last four would be avoidable. India have met Japan in every edition of the Asian Games since the inception of this sport at Tokyo in 1958, beating them on each of the 11 occasions, including seven semifinal clashes. Though the victory margins have dwindled over the years, from 8-0 at Tokyo to 3-1 in the Bangkok semi-final four years ago, it is the 2-2 draw at the Kuala Lumpur World Cup earlier in the year, which gave the Indians a jolt. India had to come from behind on both the occasions to level the scoreline in the Malaysian capital. India will be severely handicapped with the absence of left winger Prabhjot Singh, who has been ruled out due to injury. In fact, there is a strong possibility of him not taking further part in the tournament. The Indian coach Rajinder Singh will possibly think of Daljit Singh Dhillon as the suitable replacement and also reshuffle the forward line. Also former skipper Dhanraj Pillay will have to be played from the start unlike against Hong Kong, where without the mercurial striker there was no firepower in the Indian onslaught. In other matches tomorrow, South Korea should easily overcome Hong Kong (Group A), while Malaysia will play Bangladesh (Group B).
UNI |
|
|
Win or lose, for them just taking part is success Busan, October 1 Afghanistan, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Syria, Yemen, East Timor and the Palestinians have all sent delegations of fewer than 50 members compared to South Korea’s 1,008, Japan’s 988 and China’s 946. Apart from size the other notable feature of their squads is that typically there are fewer than three women athletes. Tiny Bhutan and distant Syria have sent the smallest delegations of 26 members, including 19 and 21 athletes, respectively. Cambodia, Laos and Syria have sent only one woman athlete each. East Timor, taking part in its first Asian Games since independence from Indonesia in May, has sent 15 athletes, including just one woman, as part of a 32-member delegation even though it is not yet a member of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). The Palestinian Olympic Committee has sent one woman athlete in a 50-member delegation that includes 39 athletes. The Palestinian squad gave a reminder of the political dimension of sport when they held up a poster of President Yasser Arafat during Sunday’s opening ceremony at the main stadium. The Palestinian athletes are competing in nine sports including football, boxing, judo, fencing and taekwondo. Afghanistan is making its first appearance in a decade after it was suspended from participating in the Asian Games following the takeover of the country by the hardline Taliban regime. Most of these countries have overcome extreme hardships in the form of poverty or conflict to enter a team and their athletes have few top-class facilities and limited state support. But they are determined to make their mark at the 14th Asian Games and still hold out hope for a medal or two. The smaller nations have tasted success before. Syria won two silvers and four bronze medals in Bangkok four years ago, while Laos secured a bronze despite having the smallest delegation. Countries like Afghanistan have little hope of winning a medal of any kind, but they are keen to represent their nations. “I am proud of playing for my country and will show the world that we have athletes regardless of the result,” said football player Rahil Mohammad before they lost 0-10 to Iran. “What is important is that we are here,” he added. “We want to show the world that even through the last few years, athletes tried their best to practice.” Afghanistan’s team is competing in boxing, taekwondo, judo, cycling and football. It includes three women in taekwondo who have spent most of the last five years training in neighbouring Iran because the Taliban banned women from playing sport. “We have three women for taekwondo, the first time ever for our country,” said coach Mir Ali Asgar. “We come with only 24, that is 19 athletes and five others — trainers, assistants, a doctor and officials.” The country’s best chance of success will likely come in boxing, one of the most popular sports in Afghanistan, and they have sent a six-strong team including flyweight Mohammad Daoud. “It’s not important whether I win or lose but when I hear the national anthem I will be so proud,” he said. Afghanistan’s football team, assembled at the last minute, found out just days before the games that they would take part. The team was only confirmed when Mongolia pulled out last month. Many of their players trained secretly for years but they had not practiced as a full squad. After Afghanistan’s defeat to Iran, 18-year-old Mohammad Khalid and his team-mates watched Kuwait beat Pakistan 6-0. “Things are good for them,” he said, motioning toward the players from the oil-rich Gulf monarchy. “They have money. They have no civil wars. They can play football.” Khalid and his family fled the capital Kabul for neighbouring Pakistan when it became clear after the September 11 attacks that the USA was about to attack the Taliban government. He polished his skills playing for a team sponsored by a Pakistani bank but after six months he returned to Afghanistan to find the country and its football establishment in ruins. “Under the Taliban we had to play in long trousers and grow long beards,” said Basher Ahmad Sahadat, a 23-year-old civil engineer who featured against Iran. “But we played a lot of football because we didn’t have any jobs.” The Asian Games are a first step on the long road to sporting rehabilitation, but Afghanistan are determined to succeed. “Afghan people are strong,” said Sahadat. “If we get help we can be good at sports.” Khalid was also hopeful about the future. “With a good coach, in three to five years we will have a strong team. For now, I’m proud that our flag is there,” he said.
Reuters |
|
Ri’s record lift gives N. Korea first gold Busan, October 1 Ri, a silver medallist at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, set a new world record for the snatch in the women’s 53kg event, lifting 102.5kg on her way to victory. The record set Ri up to clinch North Korea’s first gold, as a 200-strong cheering squad of fans brandishing her country’ flags roared their support from the stands. Ri won the silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the higher 58kg division when she weighed 53.90kg. Athletes from North Korea are taking part in the Asian Games in a further example of warming ties between Pyongyang and Seoul. But their participation has sparked a security alert in Busan, with police saying today they were investigating reports of a possible terrorist threat against North Korea’s athletes and officials. A ferry boat moored in Busan and accommodating more than 300 North Korean spectators for the games may be one of the terrorist targets, police officials said. “We are considering deploying extra police troops for their safety,” an official, identifying himself only as Yim at the Busan police, told AFP. The North Korean vessel has been guarded by some 310 South Korean security forces at a nearby dock since Saturday. Police officials said they had received intelligence reports that a group of disgruntled former South Korean espionage agents were planning to attack the North Korean ferry boat, the Mangyongbong No 92. The group was planning “strong action to disrupt the Asian Games,” according to the police, who gave no details on the method or time of the alleged terrorist threat against the North Koreans. Elsewhere at the Asian Games today, Japan’s swimmers were on course for more gold medals in their swimming duel with China. Japan, who crushed arch-rivals China 4-1 in the gold medal stakes on Monday, underscored their ability in the morning’s heats, winning three out of four events. That leaves the Japanese well-placed to extend their lead over China in the swimming when the finals get underway later. China had hoped to get themselves back on track with stars Qi Hui and Luo Xuejuan, described by their coach as a “double safe” bet for gold, both taking part. But it was Japanese swimmers who set the pace, posting fastest times in the men’s 200m freestyle and 200m butterfly as well as the women’s 200m individual medley. China are desperate to win back their mantle as Asia’s premier swimming nation, something which was wrested from them by the Japanese at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games. Though China are struggling to assert themselves in swimming, the world’s most populous nation is still top of the overall medal rankings and more honours are certain to follow in other competitions. Leading the hunt is their men’s gymnastics team, the reigning Olympic champions and widely considered to be unbeatable. Three survivors of China’s Sydney Olympics success two years ago - Li Xiaopeng, Yang Wei and Huang Xu - have been joined by youngsters Teng Haibin, Liang Fuliang and Feng
Jing. AFP |
|
|
Leander Paes not to play today Busan, October 1 Paes, who flew in here last evening to join the other members of the squad, suffered the injury during a practice session here this morning but Indian officials said the injury was not serious enough to keep him out of action for a long time. The Indians, who had clinched four bronze medals in the last Asian Games in Bangkok, are hoping to improve their medal tally this time but Paes’ injury has come as a setback to their prospects. Although they can afford to go into the match without Paes against East Timor, his services will become invaluable when the team makes progress in the team event. It is unlikely that Bhupathi, who missed the Davis Cup tie against Australia recently, will want to exert himself against debutants East Timor. But if he chooses to play the doubles, it would most probably be alongside Rohan Bopanna. However, it is the possible quarterfinal encounter with top-seeded Uzbekistan that India have set their sights on. “They will be tough opponents and we have to play really well to defeat them. We have to play consistently for the entire tournament,” coach Anand Amritraj said. All the team members - except Nirupama Vaidyanathan and Manisha Malhotra - have reached the venue. The two women were expected by tonight. Paes and Bhupathi arrived here last night while the rest of the team had arrived in the morning. The two superstars of Indian tennis practiced on different courts. The Indians have easy opponents on the first day. While the men’s team will clash with lowly East Timor after getting a bye to the second round. The women’s team may also find the going easy as they take on Mongolia. While the Indians definitely have chances of winning a couple of bronze medals, getting their hands on the gold medal appears quite remote with the presence of a number of highly ranked players from Thailand, Japan and hosts South Korea. With Thailand’s Paradon Srichapan, ranked 30 in the world not taking part in the Games, Korea’s Huing Taik lee and Yoon Yong are the favourites to clinch the gold medal in the men’s singles competition. The Indians have managed to win just two gold medals in the history of the Asian Games tennis and one silver in the 1982 Games in New Delhi. The focus will clearly be on Paes and Bhupathi who have scripted a number of dramatic victories for the country in the Davis Cup arena and would need to display the same passion to take India to the medal podium. Apart from Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, the men’s team comprised Vishal Uppal, Rohan Bopanna, Sunil Kumar Sipaeye and Mustafa Ghouse while the women’s team consisted of Nirupama Vaidyanathan, Manisha Malhotra, Sania Mirza, Isha Lakhani, Ankita Bhambri and Rushmi
Chakravarthi. PTI |
|
Zaman predicts India, Pak revival Busan, October 1 “India and Pakistan will be at the top in just three or four years time,” Zaman said. “The results are already showing and I say with confidence that our game is the real hockey.” Zaman said his views on the subject had become stronger after the teams’ fine showing at the recent Champions Trophy tournament at Cologne in Germany. “Both finished in the top four, which is no mean achievement. I think over the years we’ve adjusted well to the increased pace of the game. “We might have taken time doing this, but now both countries have a strong system and are producing players in the mould required to excel at the global level.” The dominance of India and Pakistan ended with the introduction of synthetic turf in the 1970s, though Pakistan have shown better adaptability and kept afloat at the world level. Zaman felt stickwork was important even on the artificial surface and that crowds still preferred watching the flair of players from the subcontinent rather than the precision of the Europeans. “Crowds the world over love to watch India and Pakistan. It was not any different at Cologne. So why should we change our style? We only need to adapt, which we’re doing.” Zaman also praised South Korea for their improvement over the decades and consistency over the past few years. “The Koreans are a very solid team and it’s good to have a third power at the continental level. Events like the Asian Games have become more interesting since the Koreans’ emergence.” About this edition of the games, Zaman predicted some tough matches ahead. “The semifinals will be very keenly fought and I expect Malaysia to be the fourth team in the semifinals. They should not be written off.” The Pakistan coach said South Korea, Pakistan and India were all capable of winning the gold at the Busan Games. “All three teams have it in them to win the gold. It’s only a matter of how they play on a particular day. “At the Champions Trophy, India beat Pakistan in the league but lost to South Korea. Similarly, Pakistan easily beat the Koreans 4-1. But that doesn’t make any team stronger or weaker. “The field is open here. I think South Korea have a very good chance of winning gold with the advantage of playing at home.” India and Pakistan have been the traditional powers in Asia, with South Korea making its presence felt since the 1980s.
AFP |
|
‘Payyoli Express’ to meet Lydia Divega Busan, October 1 For Payyoli Tervaraparambil Usha, the meeting will evoke bitter and sweet memories of her encounter with Divega in the 1986 Seoul Asiad. Usha, who won a total of four gold medals and seven silver medals in four Asian Games from 1982-94, will arrive here with the Indian athletic team as an observer of Amateur Athletic Federation of India while the Filippino is part of a broadcasting team. The showdown between the two athletes occurred in the 1986 Seoul Asiad when Divega beat Usha to win the women’s 100m. But Usha took her revenge in the 200m winning the gold ahead of Divega. The ‘Payyoli Express’ then went on the win golds in 400m, 400m hurdles and 1600m relay to return with a big haul of 4 gold and 1 silver medal. Usha’s time of 55.42 seconds in the 400m hurdles set in the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, when she missed the bronze by one hundredth of a second, still stands as the national record.
PTI |
|
Rathore’s ton helps Indian Pistons win Chandigarh, October 1 ONGC, opting to bat first were propped up by hard-hitting batsman Sandeep Sharma. After the dismissal of Gagan Khoda, who made an uncharacteristic subdued 11, Sandeep and Mithun Minhas were involved in a 121-run stand for the second innings. ONGC lost both Sandeep and Minhas at the same score of 178. While Minhas scored 58, Sandeep made 88. Rajeev Rathod played a 34-run cameo off 25 balls as they put 239 on the board losing eight wickets. The chase proved a cakewalk for Indian Pistons as Vikram Rathore, the former Punjab skipper, was in sublime touch. He stroked the ball freely. In fact, Rathore and the other opener Anand George were involved in a big opening-wicket stand and clobbered the hapless bowlers all around the park. When George departed at his individual score of 50 failing to clear the ground off off-spinner Amit Sharma caught by Rajeev Rathod at long on, 157 were on the board in just 22.4 overs. Rathore continued to plunder runs at will. He completed his century off 70 balls before he also fell to the same bowler attempting a similar stroke and caught by the same fielder. These were the temporary setbacks suffered by Indian Pistons. S Sriram and Hemant Kumar continued to bat in the same vein and the target was achieved in 37th over. Rathore faced 76 overall balls to score 104 during which he hit 14 fours and three sixes, while Sriram took 46 balls to make unbeaten 48. Opener Samrat Sharma slammed 65 as PCA Colts scored a three-wicket victory over Mumbai CA in the second match at the PCA Stadium at Mohali. Batting first, Mumbai CA struggled in the face of some accurate medium pace bowling from PCA Colts seamers Amit Uniyal, Harish Puri and Sanjay Mahajan. They kept on losing wickets at the regular intervals. Amol Mazumdar , however, held the innings together, scoring an unbeaten 83 while opener Robin Morrison contributed a sedate 62 in 155 minutes as the team managed to put 224 for the loss of seven wickets on the board. Mahajan was the most impressive bowler and conceded meagre 28 runs in his quota of 10 overs taking one wicket. Samrat scored 65, while SP Singh contributed 50 to help PCA Colts register a three-wicket win. |
|
Punjabi varsity scrape past DFA Patiala, October 1 In the first half of the match, DFA, Patiala could have scored on a couple of occasions but it was the agility of the university custodian Anwar Ali that kept them at bay. After lemon break, Rajesh Kumar combined well with Vipin Kumar and on many occasions to beat the defence before being stopped by Anwar Ali. Deadlocked 0-0, at the end of regulation time, the tie-breaker rule was resorted to, in which the university boys scored off all their five attempts through Jaswinder Singh, Samuel Masih, Harpreet Singh, Gurjit Singh and Manpreet Singh. For the DFA team, Parveen Kumar, who otherwise gave a good account of himself in the midfield during the entire course of the match, had his shot saved by a diving Anwar Ali. Quality soccer was lacking in the match played between Harbhajan Sports Club, Mahilpur and DFA, Kapurthala, with the ball mostly being confined to the midfield in the first half. The boys from Mahilpur, found their rhythm towards the end of the match, but that effort came too late. In the ensuing tie-breaker, Makhan Singh, Parminderjit Singh, Jatinder Kumar and Lakhbir Singh scored for DFA while Amarjit Singh, Lakhbir and Sarabjit scored for the Mahilpur team giving the former a 4-3 victory margin. In the last match of the day, S.N College, Banga, downed Khalsa College, Jalandhar, 2-0. In tomorrow’s matches, S.N College, Banga, square off with AG, Haryana while Punjabi University take on Gorkha club, Lucknow. |
|
Punjab gymnastics
from Oct 4 Chandigarh, October 1 According to Mr P.S. Virk, Secretary of the Punjab Gymnastics Association, the teams from Punjab Police, BSF and the affiliated unit districts will take part in the two-day meet. Mr Virk said the Punjab teams for the 32nd National Games to be held at Hyderabad from December 13 to 22 and for the 43rd Senior National Gymnastics going to be conducted from January 21 to 25 in West Bengal would be selected during this meet. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Video
