Ageing a matter of choice: Dr Chopra
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 27
According to statistics, in the next 50 years the expectancy of life at birth may well surpass 80 years. A national survey conducted reveals 45 per cent of the older people in India have chronic diseases. This was revealed at a function organised in the Capital today by the HelpAge India along with Rahat Charitable Trust and Medical research Trust to help people age in a healthy fashion.

The seminar, ‘Staying Younger, while living longer’, was inaugurated by Dr A. K. Walia. Speaking at the function, Dr A. B. Dey, chief of geriatrics, AIIMS, stressed on the healthy and functional status in late life. Also present was Dr H. K. Chopra, director, Heart Care Foundation of India. Dr Chopra said: “Ageing is a matter of choice. Worry is the most common cause of premature aging. Retirement is the beginning of disease, keep yourself busy.”

SPORTS

Ankur, Rohit bowl Delhi to victory
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, December 27
Deadly bowling performances by Ankur Julka (3 for 16) and Rohit Saini (3 for 17) helped Delhi beat Karnataka by eight wickets and entered the final of the 48th National School Games Under-16 Vinoo Mankad Cricket Tournament at the Bharat Nagar ground. Delhi will take on Chandigarh in the final.

Chandigarh beat Assam in the second semi-final. The final will be played on Saturday at the Bharat Nagar ground from 9.30 a.m.

Scores: Karnataka: 76 all out in 24.5 overs (Ravi Poddar 16, Ankur Julka 3 for 16, Rohit Saini 3 for 17, Abhishek Sakuja 2 for 11).

Delhi: 78 for 2 in 24.3 overs (Saumik Chatterji 39).

Chandigarh: 202 all out in 40 overs (Siddarth Kumar 48, Karan Sharma 44, Simranjeet Singh 45).

Assam: 132 all out in 36.2 overs (Samanto Das 42, Ram Kripal Gupta 40, Mukul Vadhvan 3 for 21, Gaurav Gambhir 3 for 20).

Devender Cricket

An all-round performance by Haryana Ranji Trophy player Padamjeet Sehrawat (46 and 3 for 16) and fierce bowling by Manjeet Singh (4 for 13) helped Neeraj Cricket Academy beat Jay Rapid Roller Club by 97 runs in the second Devender Memorial All-India Cricket Tournament at the Government Senior Secondary School ground. Sehrawat was adjudged the man of the match.

Scores: Neeraj Cricket Academy: 203 for 9 in 30 overs (Padamjeet Sehrawat 43, Sachin Rana 41, Bhuvnesh Sharma 30, Amanjeet Singh 3 for 39, Naveen Kumar 3 for 25).

Jay Rapid Roller Club: 106 all out in 24 overs (Sunil Sudan 37 n.o, Manjeet Singh 4 for 13, Padamjeet Sehrawat 3 for 16).

Delphi defeat HCL

Delphi Automotive defeated HCL Technologies by 37 runs in a Super League match of the first Luminous Cup Cricket Tournament played at the Airport Authority ground.

Scores: Delhi Automotive: 144 all out in 22.4 overs (Amit Sareen 30, 4x4, 6x1; Neeraj Mathur 24, 4x3; Murli Dhar 2 for 25, Yogesh Kumar 2 for 23).

HCL Technologies: 107 all out in 19.3 overs (Saurabh Singhal 43, 4x5; Amit Sareen 2 for 4; Neeraj Mathur 2 for 22). Amit Sareen was named the man of the match.

Ravindra School win

Half centuries by Virat Kihli and Akash, and deadly bowling by Sidhant and Sandeep, helped Ravindra Public School defeat Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium by 81 runs in the SPM Under-17 Cricket League Tournament at the SPM College ground, Punjabi Bagh.

Scores: Ravindra School: 253 for 6 in 30 overs (Akash 76, Virat Kihli 87, Tushar 38, Sandeep 27, Ajay Besoya 2 for 36, Anil 2 for 44).

Nehru Stadium: 172 for 7 in 30 overs (Ajay Besoya 36, Anil 25, Amit 25, Sidhant 4 for 46, Sandeep 2 for 19).

Rahul Dravid all set to hit top spot
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, December 27
Rahul Dravid is poised to regain the top spot in the 2002-03 CEAT Cricket Rating that he lost to Chris Gayle three weeks ago. Dravid won two fielding points for his smart catching in the second Test and first one-dayer (as the wicket-keeper) against New Zealand.

This, added to the one batting point he got for his 39 in the first innings of the Wellington Test, gave him a total of three points in the week gone by. His tally of points is 82, only one behind Gayle. With the West Indians not playing any cricket till the World Cup and India still having six one-day internationals to play in New Zealand, it seems virtually certain that the "Wall" will wrest back the top spot.

The Indian team, however, stand fourth in the Team Rating, with 60 points, behind toppers Australia (68), South Africa (64) and the West Indies (62). Winning the one-day series in New Zealand will give India at least ten points, but it could still be difficult to regain the top spot, considering the kind of form the Australians are in.

Harbhajan Singh, fourth in the overall rating, maintains his position at the top of the bowling points' table with 54 points.

The second position in the bowlers' table is occupied by another Indian, Zaheer Khan, with 42 points.

FOOTBALL
Moonlight shine in clubs league
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, December 27
Former league champions Moonlight Club prevailed over Goans by a solitary goal to earn full points in a Group B preliminary league match of the Delhi Soccer Association (DSA)-SAIL Annual Open Clubs Senior Division Football Championship at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium East ground on Friday.

Striker Dharmender Kharola scored the all-important goal in the 15th minute. Moonlight and Goans completed their engagements by securing ten and eight points respectively from six matches.

In a Group A match, Frontiers Club defeated Delhi Police, also by a lone goal, to record their first victory.

Inside-right Anil Kumar scored the match winner in the 16th minute. Frontiers have earned only three points from seven matches to be out of reckoning while Delhi Police have collected nine points from six matches.

Saturday's fixtures: N D Heroes vs Delhi Police (1.30 p.m); Simla Youngs vs B B Stars (3 p.m)--Nehru Stadium East ground.

Aniruddha hits ton for Delhi Colts
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, December 27
A swashbuckling 135 by Aniruddha Tripathi helped Delhi Colts beat Raghuvir Willowers by nine runs in an A-II Division League match of the DDCA League at Kotla II ground.

Scores: Delhi Colts: 316 for 5 in 40 overs (Aniruddha Tripathi 135, Dalbir Singh 60, Satpal Yadav 2 for 65).

Raghuvir Willowers: 307 all out in 34.4 overs (Tejesh Anand 64, Hemant Bansal 58, Satpal Yadav 39, Kumar Abhishek 33, Arjit Gill 4 for 60).

Pelicans beat T N Colts by 46 runs in an A-I Division match at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground.

Scores: Pelicans: 142 for 6 in 25 overs (Ashwani Tyagi 50, Rahul Mahajan 32 n.o, Vinod Sehgal 2 for 28, Ravinder Singh 2 for 28). T N Colts: 96 all out in 22.1 overs (Ravinder Kumar 23, Sandeep Kumar 3 for 22). Delhi Wanderors defeated Oriental Bank of Commerce by ten wickets in a B Division League match at the Yamuna Sports Complex ground.

Scores: Oriental Bank of Commerce: 87 all out in 17.2 overs (Dhanpat Lal 22 n o, Surender Kumar 6 for 17, Manish Choudhry 2 for 34, Nitin Sharma 2 for 14). Delhi Wanderors: 87 n.o loss in 14 overs (Manish Chawla 37 n.o, Deepak Kumar 34).

Murtuza races to victory in MRF Formule
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, December 27
Murtuza Bootwala of Mumbai raced to victory in the 14-lap Indian Karting Senior Championship (IKC) in a time of 9:54.492 in the MRF-MAI Formule Mondiale Championship at Freeway 19, Palace Ground.

Sudarshan Rao of Baroda, in a late surge, pipped favourite Rajiv Patel to the third position. Rao occupied the second place with a time of 10:13.418. Rajiv Patel had to be satisfied with the third slot, missing out to Rao narrowly (10:14.939).

In the IKC Intermediate category, Ashwin Sunder of Chennai emerged the winner with a time of 7:35.141. Vishnu Prasad, also of Chennai, raced to the second position in a time of 7:41.399 while Harsh Aggarwal of Bangalore finished third (7:47.998).

In the gruelling 20-lap event, Sriju Sadasivan of Bangalore exhibited his skills on the wheel to zoom past fellow-Bangalorean Shivprakash Mogali and Digvijay Kathiwada of Mumbai, and annexed the title by clocking 13:01.298 secs.

Mohammed Rohairijaz of Malaysia raced to victory in the 25-lap ANKC with a time of 15:55.577. Aditya Dev and Preetham M of India took the second and third position respectively, with timings of 15:55.987 and 15:56.319.

Najafgarh beat Shanti Sports
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, December 27
Jitender Pal (50 and 3 for 21) and Vishwas Sehrawat (36 and 3 for 18) played star roles as Najafgarh Sports Club beat Shanti Sports by six runs in a league match of the first Shanti Memorial Under-14 Cricket Tournament, organised by Shanti Gyan Niketan School, at Najafgarh Sports Complex ground.

Scores: Najafgarh Sports Club: 149 for 6 in 25 overs (Jitender Pal 50, Vishwas Sehrawat 36, Hemant Singh 3 for 34).

Shanti Sports: 143 all out in 24.4 overs (Dinesh Jakhar 37, Harsh Yadav 34, Jitender Pal 3 for 21, Vishwas Sehrawat 3 for 18).