SPORTS

Young Boys record facile victory in DSA League
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, July 31
Young Boys trounced Youngsters 5-0 in a Group C match of the Delhi Soccer Association-SAIL A Division Football League Championship at the Ambedkar Stadium on Thursday. Young Boys led by 2-0 at half time.

Young Boys, reinforced with the arrival of five of their top players who were part of the Delhi team for the Sub-Junior Under-16 National Football Championship at Haldwani, were in a marauding mood, and put a virtual siege on the Youngsters’ citadel. They could have gone up by three goals within minutes of the start of the match, but forwards Surinder Kumar, Anand Kabui and Vijay Kumar squandered away easy chances.

But the Boys could not be denied a goal for long, and outside-left Anand Kabui atoned for his earlier lapses to draw first blood in the 17th minute. Inside-right Surinder Kumar enhanced the lead in the 26th minute.

Young Boys maintained their attacking momentum in the second half too, adding three more goals. Surinder Kumar scored the third goal two minutes after resumption with a fine effort while Anand Kabui struck again to add the fourth goal in the 53rd minute. Mid-fielder Nobin Singh completed the tally six minutes later.

Young Boys have earned four points from as many matches while Youngsters have drawn a blank after two matches. In a Group B match, Ahbab prevailed over Uttranchal Heroes by a solitary goal. Mid-fielder Rupesh scored the goal five minutes before half time.

In another Group B match, played at the Nehru Stadium, Panchkuian Club defeated Cosmos 2-1.

Cosmos took the lead through Anil in the 20th minute while Panchkuian equalised through Vinod Arya in the 47th minute. Sushil scored the match-winner in the 56th minute.

Panchkuian have tallied seven points from four matches while Cosmos have just one point from five matches. In another Group B match at the Nehru Stadium, Hans Club defeated Delhi Cantt 1-0. Paritosh Sharma scored the lone goal off a pass from Anubav Jha in the 35th minute. Hans have earned six points from four matches while Delhi Cantt have seven points from four matches.

Friday’s fixtures: Ashoka vs Bangadarshan (3.30 p m); Royal Rangers vs Navjyoti Nepal (4.45 p m)—Ambedkar Stadium. State Bank of India vs Veterans (3.30 p m); Royal vs Victory (4.45 p m)—Nehru Stadium.

Formula I race live on Star
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, July 31
The Formula 1 season continues to intrigue, throwing up surprises in every race, and providing just the sort of competitive racing that the fans look forward to. This weekend’s Mobil I German Grand Prix is the 12th fixture of the 16-race season, and both the drivers’ and the constructors’ title are still very much up for grabs. The dram will unfold ‘live’ on Star Sports.

There have been seven different winners in the 11 races so far. A complete shift from the domination of five-time world champion Michael Schumacher in the past two seasons.

New challenging rules and technical specifications and the emergence of some great young drivers have certainly added a lot of drama to the race. And Hockenheim is likely to carry forward all the action.

As the Schumacher brothers prepare to race on their home circuit, Michael Schumacher leads the table with 69 points. Following him are Raikkonen with 62 points, Montoya with 55, Ralf Schumacher with 53 and Barrichello with 49. Star

will beam special ‘live’ screenings on August 3 (Sunday) at 4.30 pm with the complete package of ‘Race Day’, the preview show, up to 7.30 p m, ending with the review show ‘Chequered Flag’.

Jeev Milkha shows spectacular form
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, July 31
Jeev Milkha Singh produced a spectacular opening round of six under-66 to be tied for the third place in the $120 million yen Aiful Cup, which started at the par-72 Twinfields Golf Club in Ishikawa on Thursday.

According to information reaching in New Delhi, the Hero Honda Motors-sponsored Jeev was in superb form as he completed the first half of his journey, five-under par, and could have finished the day on top of the ledgeboard if not for an unfortunate bogey on his finishing hole.

Asia’s No 1 player Jyoti Randhawa,the other Indian in the fray, struggled to a one-over 73, and was tied for 109th place.

Jeev started with a birdie on the par 5 tenth hole and then saved strokes back to back on the 12th and 13th holes. Another brace of birdies on the 17th and 18th saw him make the turn at five-under. On the back, yet another brace of birdies on the par-3 second and third took him to seven-under after 12 holes.

After parring rest of the holes, he arrived on the 425-yard par-4 ninth. “It was a stupid bogey I made there”, said Jeev. “I miscalculated the distances after hitting a great tee shot. The pin was 120 yards and I calculated 115. I left the pitching wedge just short of the green and missed my only up-and-down there,” added Jev.

Jeev’s putter was hot and he required only 24 putts to complete the round. “Not only did I putt well, I was also hitting the ball much better”, said the 31-year-old, who became the first Indian to qualify for the Japanese Tour in 2001. He also made five chip-putts for pars wherever he missed the greens.

Randhawa also started the day with a birdie on the opening par-6 hole, but could manage only one more—on the par-5 10th.

However, his iron play was not at its best as was evident from the fact that all three bogeys came on par-3 holes..

Hidehisa Shikata, a rookie on the Japanese tour this season, started in a whirlwind fashion before two bogeys in his last two holes stopped his juggernaut. Shikata, currently ranked 135 in the Order of Merit, with his previous best finish being a tie for the 26th place at Yomiyuri Open, started from the 10th tee.

BASKETBALL
Top school teams for Jindal basketball tournament
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, July 31
Twelve top schools from Delhi will be among those vying for honours in the Jindal Photo Films Basketball Tournament, to be organised at the Master Prithvi Nath Basketball Stadium, Ajmal Khan Road, Karol Bagh from August 2 to 17.

The Delhi School teams expected to participate in the tournament are Delhi Public School, R K Puram and Mathura Road, St. Columba’s School, Ryan School. St. Xavier’s School and Father Angel School.

A total of 37 matches will be played and the title winners will be presented attractive gifts.

This tournament is a welcome event as there were not many basketball tournaments meant for school children in the Capital, though the game is very popular in Delhi schools.

Thanks to the efforts of the Delhi Basketball Association, Fuji Films have come forward to sponsor this event, which the sponsors plan to take to other parts of the country to give a big boost to the game at the school level.

Delhi used to boast of a number of basketball tournaments a few years back.

But over the years, many of the tournaments folded up owing to financial crunch and as a result, the budding players got very few opportunities to test their skills on a competition arena.