 |
|
Tuesday,
October 8, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
Anju, kabaddi team bring cheers Golden
start by Anju George Paes-Bhupathi in quarters |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Wrestler Cheema wins bronze
Bopanna, Sunil in third round |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Indian eves crash to big defeat Japan win team tennis
gold China shatter more weightlifting
records
Bodybuilder to lose medal Roy-Saha
duo loses
in doubles Harpal out, Ramanand
advances
‘India favourites
in World Cup’ Proposal to sack Bedi as coach vetoed
Raid-de-Himalaya flagged off Varsity
swimming Kabaddi tournament
|
|
Anju, kabaddi team bring cheers Busan, October 7 The 25-year-old Anju managed a jump of only 6.53m, far below her personal best of 6.74 registered twice earlier this year, but that was enough to fetch her the gold medal on a relatively satisfying day which saw India climb up to the ninth position on the medals tally with four gold, three silver and three bronze medals. The kabaddi team maintained its stranglehold on the game and won the gold medal for the fourth successive time with a 37-7 drubbing of arch-rivals Pakistan in the last league match. Palwinder Singh Cheema won the first wrestling medal for the country in these Games by winning the bronze medal in the 120kg freestyle category. But seven-time world champion Geet Sethi failed to live upto his awesome reputation and lost in the semi-final of the billiards singles event. Sethi, who won the silver with Alok Kumar in the doubles event, was humbled by the unheralded Kyaw Oo of Myammar with a 100-31 77-100 0-100 scoreline. Anju, who had won a bronze medal in the Manchester Commonwealth Games with a leap of 6.49m, was apparently not too happy with today’s effort since she was clearing about 6.8m in practice sessions but she was not complaining. There was mixed news from the boxing arena where Harpal Singh lost in the quarter-finals of the 91kg and above category but Ramanand progressed to the last eight stage in the lightweight category to keep his medal hopes alive. However, disappointments continued to haunt the women’s hockey team and the shooters, both of whom have failed to live up to the expectations after their sterling show at the Manchester Commonwealth Games. The women’s hockey team suffered an embarassing 0-5 defeat to South Korea, their second in as many matches, and now face the prospect of becoming the only country to return without a medal from this four-nation competition. The Indian team, which won their first Commonwealth gold in Manchester, now have to defeat Japan by a huge margin in their last league match in order to entertain any hopes of a medal. The shooters drew a blank for the fifth consecutive day today with even pistol king Jaspal Rana failing to deliver the goods. He finished a poor 10th in his pet 25m centre fire pistol event. The weighlifting competition concluded today with India failing to win even a single medal. The last Indian in the fray Shailaja Pujari finished fifth in the women’s 75kg category with a total lift of 225.5kg. The sailors kept themselves on course for a couple of medals with Nitin Mongia maintaining a slender one point lead in the OK Dinghy class after the completion of eighth of the 11 rounds. The pair of Ashim Mongia and R Mahesh contined to hold on to the second place in the Enterprise class. PTI |
|
|
Golden start by Anju George Busan, October 7 The 25-year-old star from Kerala managed a jump of only 6.53m, far below her personal best of 6.74m registered in New Delhi last month, but that was enough to fetch her the gold medal. Anju apparently was not too happy with her effort since she was clearing about 6.8m in practice sessions but she was not complaining. “It is my first international gold so I will go back to India happy,” she said. Anju, however, improved on her performance in the Manchester Commonwealth Games where she won the bronze medal with a jump of 6.49m. “To win a medal in Athens Olympics is now the dream,” said Anju, who had aimed at crossing the 7.00m mark here. Anju, who fouled three of her six jumps, said the runway at the Busan Asian Main Stadium was poor. Japan’s Maho Hanaoka (6.47m) and Kazakhztan’s Yelena Kochsheyeva (6.30m) won the silver and the bronze medals, respectively. Anju will now turn her focus on to the triple jump which will take place on Sunday. Anju brought out her best jump in her fifth attempt while her third, fourth and sixth attempts were not measured. “It is a great feeling winning a gold medal for the country. I just wanted to do well. It is a special feeling since this is my first gold in international events,” she said. Dedicating her gold medal to husband and coach Robert Bobby George, younger brother of legendary volleyball player Jimmy George, she said, “He has been a big inspiration for me. I dedicate this gold to him for all the support he has given me”. Meanwhile, India’s gold medal hopeful in women’s 400m and 800m events, K.M. Beenamol advanced to the final of the 800m by winning her heats in two minutes 08.74 seconds. The second Indian in the event, Madhuri A. Singh, also won her heats in 2:08.65 to move into the final. In heptathlon, the two Indians Soma Biswas and J.J. Shobha were tied for the second place on 3387 points after the completion of four of the seven events today. China’s Shengfei Shen was in the lead accumulating 3484 points. The Indians put in a superb display finishing 1-2 in the 100m hurdles and 200m. Biswas won the first event, the 100m hurdles, in 13.92 seconds ahead of Shobha, who finished second in 14.01. Shobha pipped her compatriot in the last event of the day, 200m, winning in 24.03 seconds. Biswas was second in 24.43. In between, the Indians fell back in high jump and shot put. Biswas finished fourth in high jump clearing a height of 1.65m while Shobha trailed in the seventh place managing a leap of only 1.62m. She won the event clearing 1.77m. Shobha managed a best of only 12.18m in shot put to finish fourth against Shen’s effort of 13.80m. Biswas ended one place below with a heave of 12.02m. The long jump, javelin throw and 800m events will be held tomorrow. In women’s javelin, Gurmeet Kaur finished a distant fourth with an effort of 54.78m. The bronze medal in the event went to China’s Xiaoyan Ha, who touched a distance of 58.29m. The gold medal was captured by South Korea’s Young Sun Lee with 58.87 m while the silver medal was taken by China’s Lili Liang with an effort of 58.77m. The Indian men, however, had a mixed opening day. Though P. Ramachandran and national record holder Paramjeet Singh moved into the semifinals in 400m, Gulab Chand as expected failed to finish the gruelling 10,000m. Running in heat 2, Ramachandran finished second in a time of 46.79 seconds while Paramjeet was fourth in his heat clocking 47.58s. Long distance runner Gulab Chand, a silver medal winner in the 5000m in the last Asian Games in Bangkok, did not complete the 10,000m run because of an injury. There were doubts about his fitness even when he was named in the team. Chand kept good pace in the initial stages of the race but started to fall behind from the 10th lap onwards before eventually deciding to give up in the 14th of the 25-lap event. Saudi Arabia’s Makhld Al Otabi bagged the gold medal with a timing of 28:41.89.
PTI |
|
Paes-Bhupathi in quarters Busan, October 7 Paes and Bhupathi, who parted ways for the second time early this year, are top seeded here and had a bye in the first round. Elsewhere too India had a lot to cheer about as up and coming talent Rohan Bopanna and Sunil Kumar Sipayea won their singles matches to move into the third round. While 22-year old Bopanna defeated East Timor’s Matias De Sousa 6-2, 6-0, the 19-year-old Sipaeya breezed past Amrit Rupasinghe of Sri Lanka 6-1, 6-2 in the second round matches. Bhupathi also tasted victory in the mixed doubles where he teamed up with Manisha Malhotra to advance to the second round. The duo registered a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Thailand’s Attapol Rithiwatanapong and Pariyawan Ratanakrong. Indian women also had a successful day with 16-year old Sania Mirza defeating Yulio Kitmchenko of Kyrgyztan 6-0, 6-1 in a first round women’s singles match. Nirupama Vaidyanathan had an easy outing moving into the second round with a 6-0, 6-0 whitewash of Mongolian Natsagsuren Jigjidsuren.
PTI |
|
|
Wrestler Cheema wins bronze Busan, October 7 Cheema lost his semifinal bout but won the bronze medal play-off against Korea’s top wrestler Jung Hun Shin with a 4-0 verdict. Earlier Cheema had defeated China’s Jin Long 3-1 in the repechage. The gold in the category was clinched by Uzbekistan’s Artur Tayazov while silver was grabbed by Iran’s Abbas Jadidi. In the 60kg division, India’s Shokinder Tomar won a preliminary bout against Vietnam’s Dang Hy Doi to move into the third round. Tomar will fight Afghanistan’s Mir Mohammad Nadar in his next bout tomorrow. In the freestyle 96 kg section, Anil Kumar Mann, failed to pose any threat to Islam Bairaqmukov of Kazakhstan and went down 0-4. Sujeet Maan defeated Mangolian Battuya Batchuluun 3-1 in the preliminary round to keep his hopes alive in the freestyle 74 kg category. In the third round tomorrow Sujeet Maan would face Pakistan’s Mohammad Ali. Indian women’s wrestler had a poor day today with both Gursharan Preet Kaur and Alka Tomar suffering defeats against their Japanese rivals. While Kaur was no match for Kyoko Hamaguchi (0-4) in the 72 kg free-style category, Alka Tomar lost to Saori Yoshida (0-4) in the direct elimination fourth round of the 55kg division.
PTI |
|
|
Wrestling in Palwinder Cheema’s blood Chandigarh, October 7 In the Busan Asian Games, the young Punjab wrestler, after being outclassed 0-10 by Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan in round one, came back strongly to trounce Nurberdy Hekimov of Turkmenistan 10-0 in round two before getting the better of Mongolian Gelegiants Usukhbayar 5-4 to stay in contention for a medal. In the repechage round one, Cheema beat Akihito Tanaka of Japan 12-1, and later China’s Jin Long 3-1. A Bachelor of Arts student through correspondence with Punjabi University, Patiala, Palwinder, who was born on November 11, 1982, owes his success to his grandfather and father. His grandfather, Kesar Singh, was a renowned grappler who was patronised by the late Maharaja Yadavindra Singh of Patiala. Kesar Singh reigned supreme for nearly a decade with the Rustam-e-Hind title which he held from 1951 to 1961. He also participated in the Melbourne Olympics in 1956. Palwinder’s father, Sukhchain Singh, was also a renowned wrestler who was a double bronze-medallist at the Tehran Asian Games in 1974. It is under him that Palwinder trains for hours at a stretch. At a young age of 20 years, Palwinder has already won the gold in the junior world championship in August, 2001, besides a silver in the Asian championship. At the Manchester Commonwealth Games, Palwinder’s opponent in the 120kg category was a Canadian, whom he floored in just four-and-a-half minutes with a score of 10-0. “August 3, 2002, will remain etched in my memory,” he had remarked during a recent meeting. “ At about 9 pm I won the gold in less than five minutes,” he recalled with glee on his face. Employed as an Inspector with the RBI Battalion of Punjab Police, Palwinder, given his young age and string of achievements, is destined to soar higher.
|
|
Bopanna, Sunil in third round Busan, October 7 Both the players, who got a bye in the first round, registered easy straight set victories in the second round, with Sipaeya beating Sri Lanka’s Amrit Rupasinghe 6-1, 6-2 and Bopanna blasting Matias De Sousa of East Timor 6-2, 6-0. In the women’s section also, Indians had smooth sailing in the first round matches. While Niruapama Vaidyanathan ousted Natsagsuren Jigjidsuren of Mongolia 6-0, 6-0; Sania Mirza defeated Yulio Kitmchenko of Kyrgyzstan 6-0, 6-1 to move into the second round.
PTI |
|
|
Indian eves crash to big defeat Busan, October 7 The Indian team, which had won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, are in danger of returning without a medal from this four-cornered competition unless they beat Japan by a big margin in their last league match. Japan shocked favourites China earlier in the day with a 2-1 victory that left the field wide open. South Korea assured themselves of a place in the final with today’s victory but the second finalist will be decided only after the final round of matches on Wednesday. South Korea scored their first goal through a penalty corner in the 32nd minute which was converted by Oh Wo-woon but the next four goals late in the second half were all field attempts. The hosts proved far superior to the Indians and enjoyed the ball possession for most part of the match. That the Indians got their first and only shot at the goal in the 41st minute was ample indication of the Korean dominance. The Koreans were much better organised both in attack and defence while the Indians looked clueless and a disjointed unit. Korean captain and mid-fielder Eun Yong Lee, whose neat distribution kept the frontline always on their toes, was the tower of Korean strength. Of the four attackers, Oh Wo-woon was so nippy and technically skillful that she single-handedly split the Indian defence on many
occasions. The Koreans earned nine penalty corners compared to just one by India in the whole match. Indian coach G S Bhangu was so disappointed with the performance that he did not even turn up for the mandatory press conference after the match. Most of the players were found wanting in their tackles inside the circle and Pritam Siwach was totally off-colour. But for Amandeep Kaur and goalkeeper Tingongleima Chanu, India would have lost by a bigger margin. These two brought about at least four saves, including a goal-line save by Amandeep Kaur. Korean manager Sang Ryul Kim said his team capitalised on the slowness of the Indians to pump in as many goals as possible. “I am very happy with my team’s performance. We wanted to retain the games title and score as many goals as possible,” he said. “The Indian players were too slow on the field.” After changing ends with 1-0 lead, the Koreans increased their margin in the 48th minute when Kim Jin-Kyung scored a field goal.
PTI |
|
Japan win team tennis gold Busan, October 7 Unheralded duo Michihisa Onodo and Takahiro Terachi stunned the home fans as Japan avenged their final defeat at the hands of the same opponents at the last Asian Games in Bangkok in 1998. After Onodo had seen off Yoon Yong-Il, it was left to Terachi to finish the job beating leading Korean player Lee Hyun-Taik 6-4, 6-2 to continue Japan’s recent tennis stranglehold over Korea. Back in February, they had defeated their old rivals in the Davis Cup — a loss that meant Korea were forced into a relegation scrap to preserve their status in the Asian zone group one. Onodo got Japan off to a flying start with a quickfire demolition of Yoon Yong-Il winning the opening rubber 6-1, 6-3 to continue his impressive run of form at the tournament. In the semifinals, the 24-year-old Onodo had saved a match point on his way to beating Vadim Kutsenko in the win over top seeds Uzbekistan and despite going down a break early in the second set, he was never really troubled by an erratic Yoon. Lee, the hugely experienced ATP tour player, had been expected to sweep past the 23-year-old Terachi, but the Japanese was fired by memories of his and his partner’s defeat against the same players in Bangkok and went about his business with greater desire than the out-of-sorts Korean.
AFP |
|
China shatter more weightlifting records Busan, October 7 While Borissov’s victory opened the games’ track and field competition, South Korea swept five gold medals in a regional version of tennis and added two in shooting and one each in cycling and athletics. The games also had their first case of an athlete facing loss of a medal over doping violations. Lebanese bodybuilder Yousseffel-Zetn, bronze medallist in the over-90kg division, did not take a mandatory drug test, and the decision to take away his medal will be just a formality, officials said. Weightlifter Sun Ruiping’s world records in the snatch, clean and jerk and total in the 75kg division helped China increase their overall gold total to 97. World records now have been broken or tied in seven of the 10 weight divisions contested so far. Sun, a 21-year-old first-year student at Beijing Sports University, said she had never expected to “embark on this road.” “I was accidentally chosen by a coach for weightlifting when I was very young,” she said. Chinese also won two golds in shooting and one each in cycling and walking. South Korea lifted their total to 41, thanks to their sweep of men’s and women’s singles and doubles and mixed doubles in softball tennis. Japan had 30 after winning gold in five-woman team bowling and men’s team tennis, where they beat South Korea in the final. In the men’s 20km walk, Borissov trailed the leaders until the last kilometre. Pushing ahead, he beat China’s Yu Chaohong by three seconds with a time of one hour, 24 minutes, 20 seconds. Then China’s Wang Qingqing led a 1-2 Chinese finish in the women’s race. She needed 1:33:40 to finish. In the stadium later, Saudi Arabia won their first gold of the games when Makhld Al-Otaibi surged ahead on the final lap and beat Qatar’s Ahmed Ibrahim M W Hashim by 1.64 seconds in the men’s 10,000 metres. South Korea’s Lee Young-sun won the women’s javelin competition, ahead of two Chinese. India went undefeated through five matches in kabaddi and finished their gold-medal run with a 37-7 victory over Pakistan. Bangladesh, a 55-15 winner over Sri Lanka today, took the silver and Pakistan won the bronze. In a break in the Chinese monopoly on shooting golds, Turkmenistan won their first of the games when Igor Pirekeev outscored China’s Yao Ye 1,266.9 to 1,260.5 in men’s 50m, three-position rifle competition. China won the team event. North Korea’s Kim Jong Su won the men’s 25m center-fire pistol shooting, but China again won the team competition. South Korea won the women’s team skeet shooting, with Son Hye-kyoung taking the individual gold. Of 38 shooting events so far, China have won 26. China’s cycling gold came when their quartet beat Iran’s by 2.355 seconds in the men’s 4km team pursuit. South Korean Kim Yong-mi won the women’s 24-km points race, well ahead of Japan’s Ayumu Otsuka. The Philippines won their second gold of the games when Francisco Bustamante and Antonio Lining defeated South Korea’s Jeong Young-hwa and Kim Won-suk 11-9 in 9-ball pool doubles. Japan’s five-woman bowling team outscored South Korea 6,389 to 6,273 for gold. In the doping violation case, Jang Bo-young, general secretary of the bodybuilding commission for the Asian Games, said El-Zetn left Busan Citizens Hall after winning his medal yesterday without submitting to the required drug test. He said the Lebanese team was unable to persuade the athlete to show up for the test today. The Asian Bodybuilding Federation met and decided to recommend that El-Zetn be stripped of his medal. It also banned him from competition for two years. The Olympic Council of Asia was expected to meet to formally take away the medal, and promote a South Korean competitor to third place. Earlier, Yemeni medal hope Sharaf Al Shaer and two team-mates were prevented from competing in bodybuilding for not submitting drug test results before the event.
AP |
|
Bodybuilder to lose medal Busan, October 7 Jang Bo-young, general secretary of the bodybuilding commission for the Asian Games, told the Associated Press today that el-Zetn left Busan Citizens Hall after winning his medal yesterday without submitting to the test. Mr Jang also said the Lebanese team was unable to persuade the athlete to show up for the test today. In response, the Asian Bodybuilding Federation held a meeting and decided to recommend that el-Zetn be stripped of his medal. The federation banned him from competition for two years. The Olympic Council of Asia was meeting later in the day to discuss el-Zetn’s case and taking away his medal was expected to be a formality. “Our rules say that any competitor who fails to take a drug test should face a two-year ban and be stripped of his medal,” said Jung. “The taking away of his medal now is only a formality.” The decision means the fourth-place finisher in the competition, Choi Jae-duk of South Korea, will receive the bronze medal. It is the second drug-related case involving bodybuilding, which made its debut this year at the Asian Games. Yemeni medal hope Sharaf Al Shaer and two team-mates were prevented from competing for not submitting drug test results before the event.
AFP |
|
|
Roy-Saha
duo loses
in doubles
Busan, October 7 The Indian pair could not counter the duo of Peng Lung Chiang and Yen Shu Chang and went down 0-3 in straight games in a rather one-sided contest. The Indians showed signs of a spirited fightback in the first set but could not maintain the tempo against their rivals who carved out a 12-10 11-4 11-9 victory to move into the quarter-finals. The Indians had earlier defeated the Mongolian team of Sukhee Gal Badhrak and Enkbhat Likhagvasuren in the first round with a 11-6 11-8 11-6 result.
PTI |
|
Harpal out, Ramanand
advances Busan, October 7 Harpal Singh was totally outpunched by his rival and the referee had to stop the fight two minutes into the third round. Ramanand moved ahead into the quarterfinals of the lightweight category defeating Tamim Ahmad Aktari of Afghanistan. Mohammad Ali Qamar and Jitender Kumar are the two other Indian boxers in the quarterfinals.
PTI |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Aussie pacers too hot for Pakistan Colombo, October 7 The Pakistanis, chasing 316 for victory, lost their last five wickets for 32 runs and were shot out for 274 after lunch on the fifth and final day at the Tamil Union ground here. Leg-spinner Shane Warne finished with four for 94 for a match haul of 11 wickets, but it was the pace duo of Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie who sealed Australia’s win. The remaining two Tests of the series, which was shifted out of Pakistan due to security reasons, will be played in Sharjah, the UAE from Friday. To Pakistan’s credit, they made Australia sweat for victory, despite the 16-man squad’s combined experience of 262 Tests being lower that the 275-Test tally of the Waugh twins alone. Veteran all-rounder Wasim Akram and opener Saeed Anwar opted out of the series to take rest, although both played in a charity indoor match in England over the weekend. Two top-notch batsmen, Inzamam-ul Haq and Yousuf Youhana, were sidelined with injuries. Starting the day at 179 for three, still needing 137 to win, Pakistan collapsed to 259 for nine by lunch after a gripping morning session. After Warne had taken two wickets, Australian captain Steve Waugh summoned the second new ball at 242 for five after 84 overs. Gillespie, who shared the pace attack with McGrath, struck with his first delivery when Rashid Latif edged a simple catch to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist after making 11. McGrath removed Saqlain Mushtaq in the next over, an ambitious drive off the fast bowler landing in the safe hands of Steve Waugh in the covers. Gillespie then had Pakistani captain Waqar Younis caught behind for one, while McGrath trapped Shaoib Akhtar leg-before with the final delivery before lunch. Faisal Iqbal, who top-scored with 83 in the first innings, was last man out for 39, caught at point by Ricky Ponting to give McGrath his third wicket of the innings. Australia were lucky to survive Mark Waugh’s astonishingly poor catching in the slips, where he spilled three catches in Pakistan’s second innings alone and four in the entire match. Scoreboard Australia (1st innings): 467 Pakistan (1st innings): 279 Australia (2nd innings): 127 Pakistan (2nd innings) (overnight): 179-3 Nazir c McGrath b Warne 40 Umar c M Waugh b Lee 88 Razzaq lbw b Warne 4 Younis lbw b Warne 51 Misbah c S Waugh b Warne 10 Iqbal c Ponting b McGrath 39 Latif c Gilchrist b Gillespie 11 Saqlain c S Waugh b McGrath 1 Wawar c Gilchrist b Gillespie 1 Akhtar lbw b McGrath 6 Sami not out 6 Extras (b-3, lb-6, nb-8) 17 Total (all out in 94.2 overs) 274. FoW: 1-91, 2-117, 3-173, 4-187, 5-230, 6-248, 7-251, 8-252, 9-259. Bowling: McGrath 24.2-12-38-3, Gillespie 23.3-8-62-2, Lee 14-1-63-1, Warne 30.3-3-94-4, M Waugh 2-1-8-0.
AFP |
|
‘India favourites in World Cup’ Bangalore, October 7 “India is certainly one (of the favourites)”, the stylish cricketer of yesteryears told reporters today. “The other one is Australia, who are a well-equipped side”. The “touch artist”, who earlier inaugurated the Bhagwan Mahaveer Turf Wicket at the Jain International Residential School on the city outskirts, said India must carry on performing consistently till the next World Cup. “I hope they keep it up. I am always worried about consistency of our team. Otherwise, we have always had a good side. Now, they are really picking up. I hope they sustain it till World Cup and I have confidence in the team,” he said referring to India’s performance in the last few tournaments. But Vishwanath stressed that India should include a fifth bowler in the team as the four-bowler theory may not work in future. “We can’t have this kind of combination (of having four bowlers) all the time. Okay, now we have won one or two matches. But we must have another bowler.”
PTI |
|
Sahara back as
team sponsors
New Delhi, October 7 The group, which had withdrawn its sponsorship due to International Cricket Council’s objections over the use of its logo during the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka last month, decided to return as sponsors following a request from the cricket board, a company press note said here today. “On the request of mr Jagmohan Dalmiya, president BCCI, and with strong desires of members of Indian cricket team and in the best interests of cricket... Sahara has decided to continue to be with the Indian cricket team,” the note said. Sahara said the decision was taken because of BCCI’s support for the company in future ICC events and the assurance towards “resolution of the logo issue prior to the World Cup 2003.” But the group said it would take all appropriate legal action against all parties that might be responsible for non- display of Sahara’s branding on team clothing during the Champions Trophy.
PTI |
|
|
Proposal to sack Bedi as coach vetoed New Delhi, October 7 The DDCA Sports Committee’s argument that Bedi has not delivered the goods as Delhi coach did not hold much water with Jaitley as the DDCA president wanted to avoid a needless
controversy with just one more year left for Bedi’s three-year contract to end. The previous Sports Committee of the DDCA had entered into a three-year contract with
Bedi, though the Sports Committee’s own tenure was only for one year. “It was a very tenuous arrangement”, observed an official. Bedi’s contract entitles him for an annual fee of Rs 6 lakh for three years, but the DDCA Sports Committee’s, grouse is that Bedi has done precious little to chalk out a winning formula for the under-14, under-17 and under-19 teams, which is part of his contractual obligations. The Sports Committee felt that instead of helping the cause of the Delhi teams, Bedi was conducting his own “private coaching camps” in Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana to the detriment of Delhi cricket. The Sports Committee was “unanimous” in its opinion that Bedi must go, but there was differing perception on the choice Yashpal Sharma as his successor. There were not many backers for Yashpal Sharma’s candidature. The DDCA senior selection committee, under the chairmanship of Chetan Chauhan, also slightly precipitated matters as it called the Ranji Trophy probables for trials a little too early, with Bedi’s fate hanging in balance, though Delhi are scheduled to play their first Ranji Trophy match of the season, against Railways in Delhi, only from November 9 to 12. With no coach to report to, the probables were left to fend for themselves, and Mr Arun Jaitley considered all these aspects before shooting down the Sports Committee’s suggestion to terminate the contract of
Bedi. Interestingly, the newly-appointed national selection committee member from Delhi, Kirti Azad, does not figure in the senior selection committee of the DDCA, though his latest job automatically entitles him to head the senior selection panel, as was done by the previous national selection committee member Madan Lal. Ironically, it was under Kirti Azad’s captaincy that Delhi last annexed the Ranji Trophy, eleven years ago. Though it was Haryana’s turn to nominate a member to the national selection committee from North Zone, with Madan Lal having completed his four-year tenure, Delhi was once again given the chance as Mr Randhir Singh Mahendra was keen to fill the vice-president’s post vacated by Mr
C.K. Khanna of Delhi, who completed his four-year term. Therefore, Delhi suggested the name of Kirti Azad, and he got nominated as national selector “unopposed”. “Kirti Azad belongs to Delhi, and it is surprising that he is not heading the DDCA selection committee, though he is the national selector”, pointed out a DDCA source. Be that as it may, the intervention of Mr Arun Jaitley has stymied the move to sack
Bedi. |
|
|
Raid-de-Himalaya flagged off Shimla, October 7 The rally was flagged off by Mr Ashok Thakur, Principal Secretary Tourism, to the state government. In all as many as 18 entries in the four-wheeler category and 25 in the two-wheeler category were received. However, during pre-event scrutiny entries of four teams in the four-wheeler category were screened out for not adhering to the prescribed safety measures. During the four-day event the rallyists will cover about 1600 km, including vast stretches of dirt in the treacherous hilly terrain of tribal area of Lahaul Spiti and Ladakh. They will cross through five-mountain passes ranging from 14,000 ft Rohtang Pass to over 16000 feet Ponglongka. After passing through Narkanda, Jalori pass, Kulu, Manali, Keylong, Sirchu, Tsokar Lake and Pang the rally will conclude at Manali on October 10. The prize distribution will be held at Manali on October 11. |
|
Varsity
swimming Chandigarh, October 7 The results: Women: 100m freestyle: Kirandeep Kaur 1, Anisha 2, Pooja 3; 100m backstroke: Kirandeep Kaur 1, Puneet Chechi 2, Anju 3; 100m breaststroke: Kirandeep Kaur 1, Jyoti 2, Pooja 3. Waterpolo (Men):
Panjab University campus, Chandigarh b Punjab Engg College, Chandigarh; Govt. College, Ludhiana b SGGS College, Chandigarh. |
|
Kabaddi tournament Hoshiarpur, October 7 As many as 33 Kabaddi teams of various villages participated in this
tournament. Dr Kewal Krishan, Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, gave away prizes to the winners. He announced Rs. 21,000 each to the Taitainik Club and village panchayat for promotion of sports. |
|||||
MONGIA ON TRACK FOR A MEDAL SAUDIS CELEBRATE MISSING ATHLETES |
 |
| 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 | |
Busan, October 7
Busan, October 7
