The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

SPORTS

AI, Bangladesh XI enter semis
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, December 1
Sports Authority of India (SAI) Centre, Bangalore and Air India scored comfortable victories on the penultimate day of the league phase of the 13th Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey Tournament at the Shivaji Stadium on Sunday.

SAI Centre stunned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) 4-1 but could not make the semi-final grade while Air India flew past Bangladesh XI 3-0, but both the teams qualified for the last four stage.

In the semi-finals on Monday, Air India will take on Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at 1 p m while Indian Airlines will clash against Bangladesh XI at 2.45 pm.

In a Pool A match, SAI Centre, comprising promising players, trailed by a goal scored by S Jeelani of BPCL till the 24th minute. Once Avesh Ansari slotted in the equaliser, there was a deluge of goals as Somanna struck home two goals in a row and Hemant Gathe gave the finishing touches with a brilliant field goal, which earned him the man of the match award from senior India coach Rajinder Singh.

In the last Group B match, Air India called the shots from the word go, but could open their account only in the 29th minute when Devinder Kumar found the mark. Two minutes later, centre-forward Sandeep Michael scored a goal to make it 2-0 before half time.

In the second half, Bangladesh XI tried hard to score a goal, but the solid Air India defence, marshalled by Anil Aldrin, blunted their attacks with tight marking. Air India completed their tally in 60th minute when Kishore Kumar scored off a penalty corner rebound. International Vikram Pillay was adjudged the Man of the Match for his efficient mid-field play.

15 teams for DSA Clubs League
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, December 1
Former league champions Mughals will meet Simla Youngs in the opening match of the Delhi Soccer Association (DSA)-SAIl Open Clubs Football League Championship, starting at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium east ground on Monday. Fifteen teams, including defending champions Hindustan Club and runners-up Indian Nationals, have been divided into two groups of eight and seven teams each. Group A comprises Hindustan, Mughals, Frontiers, Delhi Police, Tarun Sangha, New Delhi Heroes, Simla Youngs and B B Stars.

Group B comprises Indian National, City Club, Indian Air Force (New Delhi), Moonlight, Shahdara, Garhwal Heroes and Goans. The top five teams of each group will qualify for the Super League while the bottom teams will be demoted to Division A.

Meanwhile, the All India Football Federation has declared seven Class-I referees of Delhi as national referees after conducting cooper test and theory examination. The referees are: Hari Chand, Sitendu B Saha, Govind Kanojia, Jagmohan, Bikramjit Purkaystha, A K Ghosh and Mohd Kamil. The federation has also retained Mohd. Arif of Mamta Model School for the final selection trials of the India Under-14 team, for participation in the Asian Football Confederation Festival meet, to be held in Kathmandu.

Mayo College-Doon School golf tussle
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, December 1
One hundred and twenty players, comprising ex-students of Mayo College, Ajmer and Doon School, Dehradun provided exciting golf in the Gibson Goodwill Golf Tournament played at the Jaypee Greens Golf Resort course at Greater Noida on Sunday.

The old boys of both the teams included some of the top guns from the corporate world like Amit Judge, chairman of Turner Morrison Group, Ashish Bharatram, director, DCM, Vikram Mehta, chairman and managing director, Shell India, Anand Sahai, head franchisee, Pepsi, Gautam Chadha of Royal Caribbean and Arun Murugapa, managing director, TI Group.

Prominent golfers like ex-Doons Ranjit Nanda, Ashok Mallik and Vikramjit Singh provided a thrilling golfing feast.

Haryana Govt to select 20 TT players for training

New Delhi, December 1
The Haryana Government has decided to provide a four-year special training to 10 promising players each from the boys and girls category, who are participating in the 64th Sub-Junior National Table Tennis Championship, starting at the Chaudhary Dalbir Singh indoor Stadium in Sirsa.

Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) president Ajay Singh Chautala said during the training period, these players would be given opportunities to play abroad in addition to putting them through special training sessions.

Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala will inaugurate the championship, in which over 800 players, representing various State teams, would be participating.

Ajay Singh said the championship would be conducted on the lines of an international competition and 40mm ball would be used for the matches. He said the Haryana Government was sparing no effort in tapping and training the immense sports talent in the State, and to buttress his observation, asserted that a majority of the medal winners for India in the Commonwealth Games at Manchester and Asian Games at Busan, belonged to Haryana. OSR

PMG beat Young Cricketers in DDCA League
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, December 1
Professional Management Group (PMG) beat Young Cricketers by 35 runs in an A-II Division match at the Vikaspuri ground.

Scores: PMG: 258 for 6 in 40 overs (Ranjeet Singh 73 n o, 8x4, 2x6; Priyank Tehlan 50, Mahesh Prasad 40, Jitender Solanki 30 n o, Vikas Rathi 3 for 29).

Young Cricketers: 223 for 7 in 40 overs (Sunil Kashyap 60, Yogesh Nagar 58, Rahul Prasad 43, Ranjit Singh 2 for 9). Pusa Youngsters beat State Bank of India by 98 runs in an A-I Division match at the Shanti Sports Complex ground.

Scores: Pusa Youngsters: 212 all out in 39 overs (Rashid Mohd. 79, Rajesh Brown 32, Zeeshan Mohd 4 for 46, Vijay Bahadur Mishra 3 for 24).

SBI: 114 all out in 31.4 overs (Hitesh Sharma 51, Yogesh Sharma 4 for 6, Atul Brown 2 for 7).

Jat Heroes beat Alpine Club by eight wickets in a B Division match at the Yamuna Sports Complex II ground. Scores: Alpine Club: 153 all out in 37.5 overs (Anand Chaturvedi 55 n o, Nitin Sharma 42, Sulabh Dutta 3 for 18).

Jat Heroes: 155 for 2 in 28 overs (Agnesh Surya 104 n o, Sulabh Dutta 32 n o). South Delhi beat Delhi Police by 64 runs in an A-I Division match at the Palam ground.

Scores: South Delhi: 170 for 3 in 35 overs (Gayu Kumar 54, Mayank Tehlan 57 n o). Delhi Police: 106 all out in 26.4 overs (Rajesh Sharma 23, Rodney Charles 4 for 19.

SAI drub Dimapur

New Delhi, December 1
Sports Authority of India East centre, Kolkata drubbed Government School, Dimapur (Nagaland) 2-0 in the Subroto Mukherjee Cup Football Tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium on Sunday. Suman Chandra and Pradeep Roy were the goal-getters.

Bangladesh Krira Shikha Protisthan, Dhaka trounced St. Sain Convent School, Gwalior 14-0. Milon Kumar scored six goals, Ranbir Chakma three, Rahul Amin and Earsadur Rehman two each and Hiror Joerder one.

Brinder Sainik Mahavidyalaya, Lalitpur, Nepal crushed Central Memorial Public School, Srinagar 6-0. Pradeep Kumar scored five goals, including a hattrick. Narayan Khadka was the other goal-getter.

Government Boys School, Mus, Carnicobar outplayed Bamungaon School, Bongaigaon 2-0 in Group VII. Captain Nicoda and Ashail W scored the goals in the second half. OSR