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Saturday,
October 5, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Ali Qamar
brings cheer to Indian camp
India
knocked out of team tennis
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India’s Daljit Singh (R) celebrates after scoring a goal with Deepak Thakur (L) as South Korea’s Kim Kyung-Seok looks on during their hockey match on Friday. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
— Reuters photo HOCKEY
Sergey Filimonov of Kazakhstan reacts after lifting 202.5 kg during the clean and jerk event of the men's weightlifting 77kg category competition
on Friday. Filimonov won gold with a combined weight of 375 kg and set a new world record with a weight of 173 kg in the snatch event. Learn
from errors, Rajinder tells his players
Shiv
Kapur slips in golf ‘Positive
tests due to medication’ Asiad
tickets Gibbs,
Ntini lead SA to victory Aussies in command Pakistan's Faisal Iqbal celebrates his half century against Australia on the second day of the first
Test between Australia and Pakistan in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on
Friday. — Reuters photo Lanka
bank on pace for SA tour
Mongia
hits ton Punjab
Colts barge into Atray final PSEB, Punjab cops in semis
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Ali Qamar brings cheer to Indian camp
Busan, October 4 Qamar, who had won a gold medal in the recent Commonwealth Games in Manchester, set himself on track for another golden conquest as he thrashed Pakistan’s Hafeez Imran with a 12-1 verdict before the referee stopped the contest in the men’s light fly weight category. The 22-year-old boxer from Kolkata has been in very good form in recent times and he showed it today as he unleashed a series of punches to unsettle his Pakistani opponent who was left with no option but to defend. The Pakistani never really recovered from the early assault as Qamar kept outwitting him with a combination of sharp punches and deft body feints. Qamar also moved well and was quick on his feet which only compounded the misery of his rival in a potentially explosive showdown. Such was Qamar’s dominance that referee Kamiseki Yu of Japan had to stop the contest. Qamar’s performance brought some cheers for the Indians after 1998 Bangkok Asian Games gold medal winner Dingko Singh fell by the wayside in the very first round yesterday against his North Korean opponent. Riders take bronze Riders added another bronze to the Indian tally when they won their first equestrian medal. The team comprising Indrajit Lamba, Bhagirath Singh, Rajesh Pattu and Deep Ahlawat, who were in fourth place after the cross country section on Thursday, took the bronze in the team event with a total of 224.08 points after a brilliant display in the jumping competition. After the dressage round on Wednesday, India had ended in fifth place. The Japanese team won gold with 176.13 points, while hosts South Korea took silver with 189.87 points. The Indians, however, could not make much of an impact in the individual competition.
Wins in kabaddi While the Indians routed Malaysia 32-9 in the first match, they spanked lowly Japan 39-3 in the second match of the day. The Indians, who won gold medals in the event in the last three editions of the games, were under no pressure in both the matches as they brushed aside the challenge easily. The Indians managed to get four points against Malaysia while against Japan they secured six points.
Shamsher Singh (C) of India is tackled by Sivabalan Ramachandram (L) and Nagarajan Rajamanickam of Malaysia during the men's preliminary match of kabaddi at the Asian Games
on Friday. India defeated Malaysia 47-21. — Reuters photo Consolation win for spikers The spikers beat Macau in straight sets 25-13, 25-16, 25-21 to register their first win in their third volleyball league match. It was an all-round display by the Indians, who had been outplayed in their first two preliminary matches against hosts South Korea and Iran, the second one being a tough five-setter. India today attacked from both flanks from the word go and maintained their tempo throughout the match with Amir Singh, Tom Joseph, Subba Rao and Jobi Joseph being the main attackers. In fact, Amir Singh, who looked completely lacklustre yesterday against Iran, was the leading spiker. The Indian spikers, who have been playing consecutively for the last three days, will get a couple of days rest before taking on Qatar, hosts of the 2006 Asiad, on October 8 in their last league match.
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India knocked out of team tennis Busan, October 4 While the men’s team failed to match their strong rivals from Uzbekistan to go down 0-3, the women’s team was shown the door by Chinese Taipei, who won 2-0. Star performer Leander Paes, playing the first singles, never really found his rhythm against the big-serving Vadim Kutsenko, who registered a facile 6-0, 6-4 victory to give his team the lead in what proved to be a one-sided contest. Paes had himself to blame for not being able to hold serve even once in the first set as he committed a number of unforced errors to give the advantage to Kutsenko, who was in total control right through the contest. The ace Indian Davis cupper raised his game by a few notches in the second set and did trouble the Uzbek to some extent. But Kutsenko wriggled out of a tight situation to eventually wrap up the set and the match. Playing the second singles, Rohan Bopanna raised hopes of a spirited fightback by the Indians as he made his opponent Oleg Ogorodov fight for every point before the Uzbek carved out a hard-fought 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 victory in a match which lasted nearly one-and-a-half hour. After losing the first set, Bopanna came back strongly to take the second set quite convincingly but seemed to lose his rhythm midway in to the decider allowing his rival to bounce back. In the doubles, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sunil Sipeya failed to register a consolation victory for India going down fighting to Dmitry Tomashevich and Vadim Kutsenko 1-6, 6-4, 6-7. The women’s team also played below par, barring a valiant effort from Sania Mirza, to go down to Chinese Taipei who have now romped into the semifinals. Despite her inexperience, Mirza gave a scare to Janet Whids Lee in the first singles before her rival dug deep into her reserves to pull off a laborious 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 victory in a tussle which lasted over two hours. Displaying an attacking brand of tennis, Mirza claimed the first set and very nearly pulled off an upset victory before her rival turned the tables on her in an exciting tie-breaker. Nirupama Vaidyanathan, playing the second singles, could not counter Su Wei Hsieh, who recorded a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 victory in a match which lasted a little less than an hour. The Indians will now try their luck in the singles and doubles event which will begin from
October 6.
Yasin Merchant Yasin Merchant bowed out of the snooker singles event losing to China’s Jin Long in the preliminary round. Yasin, who teamed up with Rafath Habib to fetch India their first and only gold in the games, lost 1-3 to his Chinese opponent. India met with a similar fate in the billiards pool nine ball singles event too, with Dharminder Lilly losing 4-11 to Singapore’s Choon Tey Kiat.
Ravinder bites dust Ravinder Singh went down to Japan’s Sasamoto Makoto in the Greco-Roman wrestling. Ravinder Singh was defeated on points in the 60kg third
preliminary round of the event.
Poor show by shooters After grabbing two silver medals from the Changwon international shooting range so far, Indians had an unproductive day today with the women’s 50m rifle prone team finishing seventh at the 14th Asian Games here today. The team comprising star shooter Anjali Bhagwat, Raj Kumari and Kuheli Gangulee could manage a score of 1738 points to fall well short of expectations on a rather disappointing day for the Indian contingent. Although the Indians were not really expected to win a medal in the event, the seventh position came as a disappointment with Anjali managing a total of 585. Raj Kumari (577) and Kuheli Gangulee (576) did not do well too. The gold medal in the event went to the South Korean trio of Mi Kyung lee, Hyun Ah kong, Sun Min lee, who set a new Asian Games record with a total 1778 while the Chinese team comprising Xian Wang, Hong Shan and Jing Gao had to be content with the silver despite having an identical score of 1778. It was yet another day of Chinese domination at the shooting range as they added two more gold medals to their kitty. The Indians featured in only one of the three events scheduled for the day.
PTI |
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Hockey: India hold Korea 1-1
Busan, October 4 Daljit Singh scored the equaliser for the Indians in the 10th minute of the second half after Olympic silver medallists South Korea had taken the lead through Jong Ha jeon in the fourth minute of the match, watched by a goodly home crowd. The result left both teams tied with seven points but South Korea emerged group A toppers on account of a better goal average. Korea scored 19 goals and conceded two compared to India’s tally of nine goals for and two against. Pakistan, who defeated Bangladesh 9-0 in a group B match today, are likely to top their pool after their final league match against Malaysia on Sunday. Both Pakistan and Malaysia, who defeated China 3-2 today, have six points now and even a draw on Sunday would ensure an India-Pakistan clash in the semifinals. India and Pakistan met twice during the Champions Trophy in Cologne last month with both teams winning once. India today fielded the same 11 that they played with in their previous match against Japan and used similar formations and planning against South Korea. Both the teams played a fast-paced game with India showing more fluency in midfield where they dominated the possession but the Korean defence did not provide much leeway to the Indian forwards. Despite a partisan home crowd, the Indians made a number of attacks early in the game but their moves were thwarted just ahead of the striking circle. Even on the few occasions when they did make their way into the circle, the Koreans came in great numbers to dispossess the Indians. The Koreans were lucky to go ahead in the fourth minute following their first penalty corner, which was awarded when Kanwalpreet Singh made a tackle on Jong Hyun hwang. Jong Ha jeon scored off an indirect shot to give the hosts the lead. Kanwalpreet Singh, meanwhile, was given a warning for a hard tackle on Jong Ho seo inside the 25-yard line and Gagan Ajit Singh was shown the yellow card when he flicked a ‘dead’ ball. Ten minutes before the half-time, the Koreans started to dictate terms and earned a penalty corner but it was abortive. Moments later, Indian coach Rajinder Singh replaced goalkeeper Bharat Chetri with regular Devesh Chauhan. In the 30th minute, India appealed for a goal when a free hit by Bimal Lakra appeared to have crossed the goal-line following a deflection from Deepak Thakur but Australian umpire Grime Murray ruled otherwise. Crossing over, India replaced Dinesh Naik with Ignatius Tirkey and the team started a fresh wave of attacks in the second half. The mercurial Dhanraj Pillay latched on to a good opportunity and moved dangerously towards the South Korean goal before being obstructed by a rival defender. Two penalty corners followed, but were wasted by the Indians. Indian found the equaliser in the 45th minute from a good pass from Ignace Tirkey from the right flank. The ball went to Jugraj, whose attempt at the goal was padded away by South Korean goalkeeper Yoon Kim. Daljit Singh, who was lurking nearby, then scooped the ball over the goalkeeper to score the goal.
PTI |
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HOCKEY Busan, October 4 “It is going to be a very challenging match, but we are confident of doing well,” said coach G.S. Bhangu. Talking to UNI, Bhangu said he did not read much in China’s win of the Champions Trophy. “We have also won the Commonwealth Games. England, New Zealand, Australia played in Manchester and we beat them. We also beat China in the Asia Cup.” “The Chinese are a very unorthodox team, they don’t play a conventional game. They adopt hit-and-run tactics and depend more on speed and stamina, but my players are also very fit and can last full 70 minutes,” Bhangu said, adding “in the Commonwealth Games, we won two matches against South Africa and England in extra time”. He said “Our attack will mainly revolve around Jyoti Kullu and Mamta Kharab and we have a very dependable defender in Sita Gussain.” The coach was of the view that his players will have to seize the chance that will come their way. “We have to convert even a half chance. At this level of competition, you just can’t afford to let go the chance.” Describing Pritam Rani as “Our Dhanraj Pillay”, he said “Pritam Rani is very experienced and can create openings in difficult situations.” Bhangu said though it is not going to be an easy opener for “us but still our recent record against China is good. We have drawn 1-1 with them in Bangkok and beaten them 2-1 in the Asia Cup.” A four-team league format may give the impression that a medal is easy to win in women’s hockey. But it’s quite the opposite. Other teams in the fray are defending champions South Korea and Japan. India won the gold in this event in 1982 at Delhi and the silver at Bangkok last time and were placed fourth at Hiroshima in 1994. The Koreans are a fancied lot. They have home advantage but it can also be counter productive. Playing before the home crowd also puts pressure on them, Bhangu said.
UNI |
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China forge ahead as records tumble Busan, October 4 Chinese athletes were responsible for one of the world records, with their women’s 25m sport pistol team shattering a 13-year-old best set by the Soviet Union in 1989. Tao Luna teamed with Li Duihong and Chen Ying for a combined new world record total of 1,768 points, four points better than the old mark, as China started with a gold. The other record-breaker was Kazakhstan weightlifter Sergey Filimonov, who set a new best in the snatch section of the men’s 77kg competition. Filimonov lifted 173kg, breaking the old mark of 172.5kg set by Plamen Zhelyazkov of Bulgaria in March this year. Just moments after Filimonov set the new mark, it was equalled by China’s Li Hongli, who also lifted 173kg to set up a thrilling climax to the event with the clean and jerk still to come. The two world records came as China added five more gold medals to their overnight total of 58 in early events, other golds coming in gymnastics, cycling and men’s shooting. With over a week of competition to go, which includes banker medal events such as athletics, badminton and table tennis, China is now eyeing Asian Games medal record of 183 set in Beijing 1990. China could edge close to that haul in the swimming finals later, where its swimmers will attempt to add to the 13 golds they have already won. The Chinese need just four more golds in the pool to torpedo Japan’s defence of its Asiad swimming title. They set about the task with an Asian record in the heats early today, with Xu Yanwei setting a new best in the 50m freestyle. Xu clocked 25.46 seconds to beat the mark set by Le Jingyi at the drug-tainted 1994 world championships in Rome. There was more glory for a Chinese athlete in the squash event. But this time it was Hong Kong’s Rebecca Chiu, who finished with a gold around her neck after a victory over reigning champion Nicol David of Malaysia in the women’s singles. The 23-year-old clinched a 9-7, 9-5, 9-7 win in 55 minutes to gain revenge over the double world junior champion who had beaten her in the final of the last Asian Games in Bangkok in 1998. Malaysian pride was saved later when top seed Ong Beng Hee defeated Pakistan’s Mansoor Zaman 9-0, 9-7, 9-0 to lift the men’s crown. Outside of the sporting arenas, officials revealed eight Nepalese athletes and one Mongolian have gone missing from the Asian Games. Officials from the Nepali delegation told AFP the athletes, here to compete in the boxing, judo, weightlifting and shooting events, left the athletes village last night and have not returned. Local reports said police feared they were planning to remain in the country illegally. A female canoeist from Mongolia also left here for Seoul on Tuesday to catch a plane home, but has vanished. China’s A team women and Japan’s men got a golden tan at the beach volleyball. China B and Indonesia got burned. Wang Fei and Tian Jia, playing as China A, led the country to a one-two finish in the women’s event, defeating the China B pair of Lu Wang and Wenhui Yu 21-15, 21-13.
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Learn from errors, Rajinder tells his players Busan, October 4 “We have to look forward to the future. Mistakes like poor stopping of penalty corners need to be rectified,” coach Rajinder Singh said after the match. Rajinder, who felt that the team should have played more attacking game to convert the chances, said “Our forward line didn’t do a good job and even our penalty-corner conversions left a lot to be desired”. Asked how he assessed today’s India-South Korea match in comparison with the clash between the two sides in the Champions Trophy, he said “in Champions Trophy we had 18 players in our squad which gave the opportunity to shuffle our forward line when situation arose”. Rajinder Singh was, however, satisfied with the way the team has progressed so far. “I am totally satisfied with the performance of the team. The players have raised their game to a great extent in the last two matches.” Indian manager Hardeep Singh Dhillon said his team was fully prepared for the tough match ahead whosoever be their opponents in the semifinal. “We are prepared to play any team in the semifinal.”
PTI |
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Shiv Kapur slips in golf Busan, October 4 Three other Indians in the fray also failed to score below par in the second round. Manav Das had two over par 74 and was placed 10th, Harendra Prasad shot six over par 78 for the 40th slot and Keshav Misra had dismal eight over par 80 at 45th place. Kapur, who had two under par 70 in the first round, started poorly as he bogied the first hole. In all, Shiv hit three birdies and had five bogies. He has two round total of 145. Manav Das, who scored his second successive two over par round, had two birdies in this round in which he four bogies, including a double bogey on the eighth hole. He has a total of 148. Harender Prasad had a poor round, especially on his return nine. He had a birdie and a triple bogey in his first nine and returning back he hit two birdies but came up with four bogies, including a double on the 18th. He has a two round total of 160 (82, 78). Keshav Misra had a very bleak round. He had five bogies, including a double on second hole and only a birdie on his first nine and on his back nine he had three bogies and two birdies to end the two round with a total of 162 (82, 80). Promising Anura Rohana kept Sri Lanka’s medal chances alive after an excellent round of golf to take the lead by hitting a two under par 70 round to total 141 (71, 70).
UNI |
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‘Positive
tests due to medication’ KUALA LUMPUR: Three Malaysian sepak takraw players sent home from the Asian Games after testing positive for morphine have blamed cold medication they claim to have taken two weeks ago. Malaysian media castigated the players for bringing shame on the country, and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad criticised the incident as evidence that Malaysia’s athletes lack discipline. The Director General of Malaysia’s National Sports Council said the three players had been sent to the Asian Games in Busan after failing a drug test on September 24. “At the time, we felt that since it was the first test, there was a chance that we may have been wrong,” Mazlan Ahmad was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper on Friday. “But once we saw the second result, we knew that the players had to be withdrawn from the competition.” In their first comments on the scandal that have been made public, the players told Malaysian assistant team manager Nasir Musa they were not drug cheats, the national news agency Bernama reported on Thursday.
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Asiad tickets BUSAN: Five days into the 14th Asian Games, ticket sales remain sluggish with only 35 per cent of tickets having been sold, Busan Asian Games organising committee
(BAGOC) officials said on Friday. At the end of Thursday only 35 per cent of the total 2.72 million tickets available for the entire
Asiad, which started officially on September 29 and will finish on October 14, had been purchased. A BAGOC official, who declined to be named, said, ‘’We are still optimistic that ticket sales will improve to between 50 and 70 per cent by the end of the games.’’ The official, however, said that between 30,000 and 40,000 tickets have been subsidised to the tune of 50 per cent by Busan’s municipal government. The subsidised tickets have been given to groups of people who have been asked to support countries other than South Korea. Commenting on the appearance of empty
stadiums the official said, ‘’One ticket takes you into four games, that’s why many seats are empty.’’
DPA |
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Gibbs, Ntini lead SA to victory
Potchefstroom, October 4 Gibbs made a career-best 153 as South Africa piled up an imposing 301 for eight in their 50 overs yesterday. Ntini took three wickets in his first five overs as Bangladesh crashed to 43 for six in reply before they made a partial recovery to finish with 133. It was Bangladesh’s 21st successive defeat, only one short of their own world all-time worst streak. The one-sided match confirmed fears that the first encounter between the two countries would be a mismatch, with Bangladesh’s batsmen unable to cope against South Africa’s fast bowling on a pitch with reasonable bounce. South Africa: Smith c Omar b Jubaer 28 Gibbs c Sahariar b Baisya 153 Pollock c Al Sahariar b Talhar Jubaer 5 Kallis c Islam b Mahmud 47 Dippenaar c Mahmud b Jabaer 41 Benkenstein c Mahmud b Baisya 2 Ontong c Mashud b Baisya 2 Klusener c Omar b Jubaer 9 Stewart not out 4 Donald not out 1 Extras (b1, lb3, nb2, w3) 9 Total (8 wkts) 301 Falls of wickets: 1-63, 2-79, 3-186, 4-267, 5-283, 6-2 5, 7-287, 8-299. Bowling: M. Islam 10-1-61-0 (1nb, 1w), T. Baisya 10-1-0-3 (1w), T. Jubaer 10-1-65-4, A. Kapali 5-0-43-0 (1nb), K. Mahmud 10-0-52-1 (1w), S. Hossain 5-0-26-0. Bangladesh: Omar run out (Ontong) 8 Sarkar c Kallis b Ntini 2 Sahariar c Kallis b Ntini 1 Imran c Gibbs b Ntini 1 Hossain c Benkenstein b Donald 4 Kapali c Stewart b Donald 25 Mashud not out 34 Kahmud c Donald b Kallis 24 Baisya c Pollock b Kallis 24 Islam c Stewart b Kallis 0 Jubaer b Kallis 0 Extras (lb3, w7) 10 Total (41.5 overs) 133 Falls: 1-8, 2-10, 3-12, 4-12, 5-26, 6-43, 7-73, 8-133, 9-133. Bowling: Pollock 5-2-6-0, Ntini 10-4-18-3, Donald 7-0-22-2 (3w), Kallis 8.5-1-33-4 (4w), Klusener 6-0-27-0, Ontong 5-0-24-0.
AFP |
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Aussies in command
Colombo, October 4 Pakistan, replying to Australia’s first innings total of 467, battled hard to reach 210 for five by stumps, still 58 away from saving the follow-on. A dramatic 35-minute period in the afternoon session saw seven wickets go down for 14 runs after just five had fallen for 457 in the first four sessions of the match. Australia lost their last five batsmen for 10 runs and then claimed the two Pakistani openers with the first seven deliveries of the innings. Vice-captain Younis Khan led Pakistan’s revival with an aggressive 58, before Faisal Iqbal stunned the Australians with a breathtaking 78 not out off 80 balls. Rashid Latif was unbeaten on 30 after adding 94 valuable runs off 84 deliveries for the undefeated sixth wicket with Iqbal. Scoreboard Australia (1st innings): Langer c Latif b Razzaq 72 Hayden c Nazir b Waqar 4 Ponting c Younis b Waqar 141 Waugh c and b Saqlain 55 Waugh c Younis b Saqlain 31 Martyn c Younis b Saqlain 67 Gilchrist not out 66 Warne c Faisal b Akhtar 0 Lee b Akhtar 2 Gillespie lbw b Akhtar 0 McGrath lbw b Saqlain 4 Extras: (b-4, lb-16, nb-5) 25 Total: (all out, 116.5 overs) 467 FoW: 1-5, 2-188, 3-272, 4-302, 5-329, 6-457, 7-458, 8-462, 9-462. Bowling: Waqar 16-2-86-2, Akhtar 21-5-51-3, Sami 20-3-93-0, Razzaq 17-0-78-1, Saqlain 40.5-6-136-4, Taufiq 2-1-3-0. Pakistan (1st innings): Nazir lbw McGrath 0 Umar c Ponting b Gillespie 0 Razzaq c Gilchrist b Warne 11 Younis c Langer b Lee 58 Misbah c M.Waugh b Warne 17 Iqbal not out 78 Latif not out 0 Extras: (nb-3 lb-6 b-7) 16 Total: ( 5 wkts, 46 overs) 210 FoW: 1-2 2-4 3-45 4-75 5-116 Bowling: McGrath 9-0-29-1, Gillespie 12-2-55-1, Lee 7-3-37-1, Warne 15-5-56-2, M.Waugh 3-0-20-0.
AFP |
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Lanka bank on pace for SA tour Colombo, October 4 The 16-man squad for next month’s two-Test series has six new ball bowlers, including rookie left-armer Thilina Thushara who is considered the fastest bowler in the country. All-rounder Hasantha Fernando and pacer Tharanga Lakshita are the other new faces in the team captained by dashing left-hander Sanath Jayasuriya. Seasoned Chaminda Vaas will be supported by Dilhara Fernando, Sujeewa de Silva, Chamila Gamage, Thushara and Lakshita in the pace attack. While Vaas has played 62 Tests, the remaining five have a combined experience of only 14 Tests between them. The Tests are scheduled to be played at Johannesburg (November 8-12) and at Centurion, near Pretoria, (November 15-19). A separate squad will be named for five one-day internationals Sri Lanka will play in South Africa after the Test series.
AFP |
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Mongia hits ton
Bangalore, October 4 Mongia hit 12 fours and three sixes on his way to an unbeaten 101. At stumps, the visitors reached 20 without loss from five overs with openers Chris Gayle batting on 14 and Wavell Hinds on 5. The other highlight of the Board XI innings was a fine 67 by another left-hander Hemang Badani. The hosts skipper Mohammad Kaif chipped in with 40 but other players failed to click. Kaif won the toss and opted to bat. The opening burst by the Caribbean pace spearhead Mervyn Dillon, who sent down seven overs, saw openers Sanjay Bangar (2) and Gautam Gambhir (11) back in the pavilion in quick succession. Scoreboard Board President’s XI: Bangar c Chanderpaul b Dillon 2 Gambhir c W Hinds b Dillon 11 Badani b Collins 67 Kaif c Sarwan b Hooper 40 Mongia not out 101 Patel c and b Nagamootoo 5 Kartik b Lawson 1 Sarandeep c Sarwan b Lawon 7 Mishra run out 10 Yohannan not out 6 Extras: (b-4, lb-5, w-1, nb-15) 25 Total: (for 8 wkts, decl, 83 overs) 275 Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-17, 3-108, 4-158, 5-166, 6-178, 7-186, 8-242. Bowling: Dillon 18-4-53-2, Collins 21-3-52-1, Lawson 14-2-57-1, Nagamootoo 17-3-56-1, Hooper 13-2-48-1. West Indians: Gayle batting 14 Hinds batting 5 Extras: (nb-1) 1 Total: (without loss, 5 overs) 20 Bowling: Bangar 2-1-3-0, Balaji 2-0-13-0, Sarandeep Singh 1-0-4-0.
PTI |
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Punjab
Colts barge into Atray final Chandigarh, October 4 Punjab Colts owe their victory to young opening batsman Samrat Sharma who pitched in with a strokeful 72 and a breezy unbeaten 63 by skipper Sanjay Mahajan who batted well and enabled the team to post a fairly decent total of 256 for the loss of seven wickets. Chasing this total, Indian Pistons, who had won all their three league matches convincingly, fell short of the target by 19 runs despite valiant efforts by S Sriram, who kept the team's hopes alive with an authoritative 97. Put in to bat first, Kailash Sanwal of Punjab Colts, promoted up in the batting order, was run out when the team was yet to get off the mark. An unusually subdued S P Singh was also back in the pavilion, edging medium pacer Sumit Panda behind the wickets after scoring 19. Samrat and Gourav Gupta then steadied the innings with an 85-run stand for the third wicket before Samrat, in a sudden rush of blood, played an injudicious stroke off S Sriram and was caught at long on. The Colts' innings lost momentum at this stage as they lost the wickets of Gupta, wicketkeeper Chandan Mitra and Yuvraj Singh without any substantial addition to the total. One-day specialist Sanjay Mahajan then took charge and played some scintillating strokes all round the wickets. In the company of tailenders Amit Kakria and Amit Uniyal he added valuable runs and took the total to 256. Mahajan remained unbeaten on 63 which included three fours and two sixes. Sriram emerged the best bowler, claiming two wickets for 34 runs in 10 overs. Chasing this target, Indian Pistons were off to a disastrous start, losing opener Anand George in the very first over of left-arm pacer Amit Uniyal. Uniyal then dealt a severe blow to Indian Pistons by sending back skipper Vikram Rathore, the mainstay of their batting, who had notched up an impressive century in the last match against ONGC, having him caught in the slips by Yuvraj Singh. Rathore's contribution was 13. Hemant Kumar and Sriram were then involved in the most fruitful stand of the innings. Preferring to play all along the carpet without taking any risks they added 69 runs to the total for the third-wicket stand before Hemant's stay at the wicket was cut short by offie Kailash Sanwal when he was playing on 36. Though Sriram kept on adding crucial runs to the total wickets kept on tumbling at the other end before the team was all out in the 49th over. Amit Kakria emerged the most successful bowler and claimed three wickets, while Uniyal and Sanwal scalped two wickets apiece. Indian Pistons batsman S Sriram for his allround display was adjudged ‘‘Man of the Match’’. Sanjay Mahajan (as master blaster), Samrat Sharma (best young batsman) and Navdeep Singh (best fielder) were also given awards by Mr R S Gujral, Home Secretary to the Chandigarh Administration. Indian Pistons were awarded Rs 15,000 as losing semifinalists. Bishnoi Club will take on ONGC in the second semifinal at the same venue at 9 a.m. tomorrow. |
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PSEB, Punjab cops in semis Patiala, October 4 The Lucknow outfit will take on Punjab Police tomorrow for a place in the final as the Punjab cops downed IAF, New Delhi, 3-1. PSEB have already made it to the last four stage of the tourney by beating NIS, Patiala 6-5. The match between Gorkha Brigade and BSF dished out mediocre fare and both teams settled for a 1-1 draw at the end of regulation time. In the tie-breaker, the Lucknow team slotted in all their five goals through Bika Gautam, M.Gurung, Ratan Thapa, Bhushan Tamang and Bhakta while the scorers for BSF were Kalu, Deepak, S. Sethi and Lovinder. In the second match, Punjab Police put paid to the aspirations of IAF handing them a 3-1 drubbing. For the cops, Gurinderpal scored a brace while the third goal was scored by Gurpreet Singh. |
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The defending champions started their campaign in emphatic fashion winning both their kabbadi preliminary league matches.
