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Tuesday,
September 30, 2003, Chandigarh, India
  
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Coach-captain spat mars team arrival
Team dedicates win to Jugraj Win inspires budding Sansarpur players Chandigarh wins turf war Punjab Police win Gurmit hockey title |
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Anil sets new meet record Karun Chandok ends season with victory Komalpreet-Steffi clinch doubles badminton title Boxing teams announced
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Coach-captain spat mars team arrival
Chennai, September 29 The celebrations at the airport were marred by confusion while the press conference held later in a city hotel saw the row between the two when Pillay, who was surrounded by reporters and cameramen, was reprimanded by the coach for giving interviews. The
temperamental Pillay shouted back at the coach “I am speaking on behalf of the team. I am not seeking any publicity for myself.” Later the Indian Hockey Federation downplayed the incident and secretary general K. Jothikumaran, who received the players at the airport, termed the incident as “a minor one.” Rajinder Singh arrived first from the airport to the hotel, where team sponsor Sahara India had arranged the press conference. Pillay and other players then walked in to the conference hall and soon the team was swamped by reporters,
photographers and videographers. Pillay did not utter a word to the media even as Rajinder Singh called the players to the lobby where he was sitting. It took a while for Pillay to move in with the other players. Finally when Pillay joined others, Rajinder was saying something to the players which irked the Indian captain. “I am also a player. I am the captain, tell me.” Later an upset Pillay narrated the incident to Jothikumaran with tears rolling down his cheeks. Camaras picked up the drama before Jothikumaran asked the players and the coach to go to their rooms. He also requested the waiting media personnel to be seated in the conference hall and informed that the media briefing would take place within a short time. Jothikumaran said the question and answer session, will follow a felicitation ceremony. Then in the press conference Jyothikumaran tried to playdown the incident. “When the coach is advising or instructing the players, he has every right to do so. Players are taking it sportingly,” he said referring to the recent ban which refrains the players from talking to the media. An emotional Pillay told reporters that he never did anything to get publicity. “I have played hockey for the country for 15 years. From the bottom of my heart, I am telling today in front of this large media gathering that all my players should get the same recognition that I get from the media. “Sometimes, I also feel bad. I never ever called any media person and sought publicity. I will never do it in future also. I want Indian hockey to go up,” he said. “I request you all to give recognition to all players. The coach is telling there was disturbance in the camp earlier and we were a bit restricted. One should take such things in a sporting way,” Pillay said seeking to put an end to the controversy. Rajinder Singh, who was asked whether there was any code of conduct for himself and players, said: “We require the media support for development of hockey in the country.” “Last time we had a bitter experience because so many players in the camp were not concentrating on the game during Champions Trophy. “Many players were going in for phone-in interviews and some were also writing articles in newspapers. Such things definitely disturb the team’s rhythm. I was only trying to explain this to the players today,” he said.
— PTI |
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Team dedicates win to Jugraj
Chennai, September 29 Indian Hockey Federation secretary K Jothikumaran told reporters here that “the victorious team members have dedicated the Cup to Jugraj Singh”. “We are going to meet him along with federation President, K P S Gill and other officials tomorrow morning with the Cup. We are grateful to the young boy for inspiring our players every day, including yesterday, before we took to the final match against Pakistan. We all pray for his quick recovery and return to the hockey field at the earliest,” Jothikumaran said. “We missed Jugraj Singh. He always used to be a motivator and a good defender. We mainly missed him for his superb drag flicks,” coach Rajinder Singh said. Mercurial forward and captain of the team, Dhanraj Pillay was also looking forward to meeting Jugraj. “All my players played this tournament for Jugraj. We are all going to see him tomorrow. “Each and every member of the team decided to dedicate this Cup to him before we left for Malaysia. Jugraj wanted us to win all the matches and he was talking to us regularly. “Yesterday also, he spoke to all senior players and coaches. Really, we played our heart out to win this Cup, so that Jugraj could be happy. We pray that he should be back on the field soon for our country,” he said. Bone loss in Jugraj’s right elbow NEW DELHI: A fresh set of x-rays have revealed “some bone loss” on the right elbow of hockey star Jugraj Singh, the doctor treating the injured player said. The 20-year-old also has a wound on the elbow which will take some time to heal, said Dr Laljee Kent, senior consultant orthopaedics at the Batra Hospital and
Research Centre here. Though all the fractures had been operatively fixed, the player “still has a wound on the posterior aspect of the right elbow joint,” Kent said. “The exact condition of the fractures, suffered by Jugraj Singh in the car crash earlier this month, was assessed with a fresh set of x-rays yesterday. It revealed the wound and bone loss which could take some time to heal,” Kent told PTI without giving any time frame for his complete recovery. The doctor also said the player, who is recovering fast, will undergo a vigorous physiotherapy.
— PTI |
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Win
inspires budding Sansarpur players Sansarpur, September 29 The victory of the Indian team has also enthused about 30 young players of the Karam Chand Thapar Hockey Academy here, to emulate their seniors and win laurels for the country. It was a festival-like scene at homes of Kamalpreet, Baljit Dhillon and Baljit Saini when The Tribune visited them today. A large number of friends, well-wishers and relatives were seen dropping in with flowers and sweets to congratulate family members of the players. Offering sweets to visitors, veteran Bakshish Singh, Kamalpreet’s father said, “Winning is another thing, but winning in this way and lifting the Asia cup for the first time certainly makes a difference. More important as the team has scored victory against Pakistan.” An overjoyed Gurbachan Kaur, the 75-year-old maternal grandmother of Kamalpreet, said, ”My joy had known no bounds on two occasions. One — the day Kamalpreet was born and second yesterday when he contributed to Indian victory.” Baljit Dhillon’s father Gurmukh Singh, a retired SHO, however, had a different view as he felt that there should be no hatred against any country. In the sports arena, “Everybody should play with the spirit of a true sportsman. The news has brought cheers to entire family,” he said. Dhillon’s wife Manjinder Kaur said she was over the moon after the victory. Friends and relatives also distributed sweets in front of the urban estate residence of Baljit Saini. “He has done a lot for India,” said one of his friends. “As we came to know about India’s victory, we burst crackers”, said Raminder Kumar, a plus one student and a member of the Karam Chand Thapar Hockey Academy, where 30 players are being imparted training from 4.30 pm to 7.30 pm daily. Raminder said his ideal player was Prabhjot Singh. “ I have a liking for his dynamism.” Pradip Kumar, another teenaged player said he was enthused over India’s victory and would try to emulate Jugraj Singh. “All of us converged in the village playground and burst crackers to celebrate the victory,” he added. Sandip, a 17-year-old said his role models were Dhanraj Pillai and Baljit Saini. Jatinder Pal Singh (12), another player rued the fact that despite producing so Olympians like Ajit Pal Singh, Balbir Singh, Udham Singh and Tarsem Singh, the village still did not have its own ground, particularly, after the playground was taken over by the Army authorities about five years ago and no government support available for budding players. Players maintained that the India’s victory should be enough for government authorities to realise the importance of Sansarpur and to do something for revival of its lost glory. |
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Chandigarh
wins turf war Chandigarh, September 29 Afro-Asian Games, featuring India and Pakistan in the hockey competition, are scheduled to be held in Hyderabad from October 24 to November 1. Since the arrival of the surface ordered for Hyderabad was getting delayed, the organisers wanted to use the Chandigarh surface to meet the deadline of getting the surface in place by October 5. The synthetic surface — System 5 SD 548PG — is the latest version of Astroturf which is being used worldwide for holding hockey tournaments. Recent stint of victories in international hockey have revived the interest of youngsters in the game. As such the number of hockey academies and training centres in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh have been on the rise. Unfortunately, the number of synthetic surfaces are far from adequate to meet the demand for proper training facilities. The Andhra Pradesh Government and the Organising Committee of the Afro-Asian Games were able to build pressure on the Chandigarh
Administ-ration because even after several months of importing the surface, it was not getting it installed. “We are now getting this surface installed early next month,” says Mr JPS Sidhu, Joint Director of Sports of the Chandigarh
Administ-ration, holding that besides the main surface, the Administration has got a “warm up pitch complimentary from the manufacturers. Both these pitches will be ready for use by the end of next month.” He says that experts from Astroturf are already in India. They have started work at Hyderabad and after finishing the installation work, they will be in Chandigarh on October 7. “We hope that our turfs will be commissioned by the end of October,” adds Mr Sidhu. Once the new surface is installed next month, Punjab and Chandigarh will have six artificial surfaces. Besides the one here, the one at Guru Nanak Dev University campus in Amritsar is also a brand new surface. Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium at Jalandhar, Prithipal Hockey Stadium at Ludhiana and
NSNIS, Patiala, also have synthetic hockey playfields. Namdharis are getting a second hand surface at their headquarters at Bhaini Sahib, near Ludhiana. Since the installation of the new surface at the Sector 42 stadium has been getting delayed for technical and administrative reasons, there was pressure from the organisers of the inaugural Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad to allow this surface to be shifted to the Andhra capital immediately. Even the Union Government supported the move on the plea that when the surface purchased by the Andhra Pradesh Government for Hyderabad arrives from the manufacturers abroad, it would be shipped to Chandigarh for installation here. Chandigarh has been without a synthetic surface after the previous surface over ran its life. Since the use of a worn out synthetic surface is discouraged as it can lead to serious injuries to players, all hockey activities were shifted to the Sector 18 Hockey Stadium with a grassy field. Even the last two editions of the city’s only all-India hockey event — SN Vohra Memorial Gurmit Hockey Tournament - were organised on the Sector 18 Stadium on a grassy pitch. |
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Punjab
Police win Gurmit hockey title Chandigarh, September 29 After the two teams were locked goal-less in regulation time, the tie-breaker rule was applied in which Punjab Police converted all the five strokes while Punjab and Sind Bank missed the fourth and bowed out of contention for the title they won last year. Much was expected of the two outfits after the
scintillating performance in the semifinals yesterday but except for brief sessions, the match was bereft of excitement normally seen in a clash of titans. However, Punjab Police deserve full credit as the fighting brigade without stars like Baljit Singh Dhillon, Gagan Ajit Singh, Kanwalpreet Singh, Tejvir Singh and Jugraj Singh, kept the defending champions firmly in check while carrying out counter-attacks. Punjab Police were off to a promising start with Gurjant Singh getting a good chance on receiving a cross from the right but he fumbled in interception. In the 20th minute, the Punjab cops had another good opportunity when Sarabjit Singh, after covering considerable ground on the right flank, had only one defender to beat but his pass to skipper Daljit Dhillon went waste as the latter was dispossessed. Another brilliant move by Prabhdeep Singh, who weaved his way towards the 'D' , proved frustrating as his strong push into the goal was disallowed by umpire Varinder Bahadur. Punjab and Sind Bank attacked through Ravi Pal Singh, the promising lad from Sansarpur, Ajit Pal Singh and Sandeep Singh. In the second session, Ravi Pal initiated a good move and sent a quick cross for Ajit Pal but the latter failed to hit the ball in. Soon after skipper Sandeep Singh also had a good opportunity but he only managed to shoot high over the bar. Midway through the second session, Punjab Police forced three penalty corners in quick succession which, however, failed to yield desired results. With time running out, the two teams grew desperate to gain the initiative and on one occasion a bout of rough tackling saw umpire Virender Bahadur flashing the yellow card for Harmik Singh and Rajinder Singh of Punjab Police and Punjab and Sind Bank, respectively. Since the issue remained deadlocked, the tie-breaker rule came into force. Punjab Police scored through Prabhdeep Singh, Gabbar Singh, Avtar Singh, Sukhpal Singh and Daljit Dhillon while Baljit Singh Chandi, Davinder Singh and Ajit Pal Singh successfully converted their strokes for Punjab and Sind Bank. The winners received a cash award of Rs 25,000 along with the trophy while the runners-up were richer by Rs. 15,000. Mr JS Randhawa, Minister for Public Health, Punjab, who was the chief guest, gave away the prizes. Western Railway were adjudged the most well-behaved team. The best goalkeeper's award went Sairam of Western Railway while Jatinderpal Singh of Punjab and Sind Bank was adjudged the best full back. Prabhdeep Singh of Punjab Police and Inderjit Chadha of Chandigarh XI were adjudged the best half back and best forward, respectively. Teams:
Punjab & Sind Bank:
Teja Singh, Harpreet Singh, Sharanjit Singh, Ravi Pal Singh, Sandeep Singh, Rajbir Singh, Naginder Singh, Baljit Singh Chandi, Parminder Singh, Davinder Singh, Ajit Pal Singh, Maninder Singh, Jatinderpal Singh, Kulwinder Singh, Davinderpal Singh, and Rajinder Singh. Umpires:
Varinder Bahadur and Shakeel Qureshi. |
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Anil sets new meet record
Bangalore, September 29 Haryana’s Anil Kumar, who missed the silver by a whisker at Manila after his 59.50 metres effort, went a notch further here, with a creditable 60.07 metres at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. He erased Shakti Singh’s 57.70 mark. Two other new meet records were created by Police’s Navnidh Singh (men’s 110 metres hurdles) and Punjab’s Jasmine Kaur (women’s 20km walk) as competition hotted up in the premier event. Coming home in one hour, 48 minutes and 28.8 seconds, Jasmine rewrote her own 1:51:14 mark set two years ago at Chennai, where she had represented Railways. Navnidh reigned supreme clocking 14.12 seconds, obliterating the October 2001 mark of 14.18 seconds of compatriot Gurpreet Singh, who finished second here with a timing of 14.50 seconds. Services’ Krishna Mohan picked up the silver, timing 14.52 seconds. Railways’ Sanjay Rai bagged the men’s long-jump event with an effort of 7.58 metres, while compatriot K.J. Manoj Lal took the men’s 400 metres crown, as expected, in 46.04 seconds. — PTI
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Karun
Chandok ends season with victory New Delhi, September 29 Yesterday’s victory was his eighth win of the season, taking his tally to a total of 19 podium finishes in all. This year’s season ended with Chandhok in third place in the driver’s championship standing, with 10 points separating the top three contenders, the closest ever run in a long time, according to information reaching here. The result makes Chandhok the most successful Indian driver at this level of competition.
— UNI |
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Komalpreet-Steffi clinch doubles badminton title Jalandhar, September 29 Earlier, Jalandhar’s Anil Bhatti entered the final of the veterans singles thrashing rival U.S. Tandon of Jalandhar 15-7, 15-8 while Varun Arora of Jalandhar overcame Navjot Singh from Amritsar 15-6, 13-15, 15-11 to enter the boys’ singles under-16, final. Sehar Chadha of Amritsar will lock horns with city-mate Sania Sareen in final of the girls singles under-16 event while the duo of Sukhman-Komal of Patiala will face Shruti-Sehar duo of Amritsar in the final of the girls double under-16 event. Results: semifinals: Veteran’s doubles: Anil Sudhakar b G. Kochar H.K. Sharma Jal) 15-10, 15-11; U.S. Tandon Rajan (Jal) b R. Dhaul. S.P. Thakur (Jal) 15-12, 15-6. Boys doubles U-16: Gurbax Rajkumar (Lud) b Abhiseikh Navjot (Asr) 15-3, 15-7; Varun Anandbudh (Jal) b Jaswinder Bharat (Nwr) 15-12, 12-15, 15-11. Boys singles U-13: Raj Kumar (Ldh) b Anand Tiwari (Lud) 15-5, 15-3; Avish Mukul (Jal) b Bob Sharma (Pta) 15-8, 4-15, 15-13; doubles: Raj Kumar Pranav (Ldh) b Akshit Deepak (Asr) 15-5, 15-6; Avish Mukul Bob Sharma (Jal) B Maheep Arjun (Ropar) 15-9, 15-2. |
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Boxing
teams announced Margao, September 29 India Red: Khimand Beswal (48 kg), S. Suresh (51 kg), Bijender (54 kg), Dharambir Singh (57 kg), Jai Bhawan (60 kg), Vijender (64 kg), Subodh Kumar (69 kg), Parminder Singh (75 kg), Harpreet Singh (81 kg), V. Johnson (91 kg) and Harpal Singh (91 + kg). India Blue: Suranjay Singh (48 kg), Girish Pawar (51 kg), Dharam Singh (54 kg), Naveen Dev (57 kg), Ranjit Singh (60 kg), Harvinder (64 kg), V. Lavi (69 kg), L. Kanta Singh (75 kg), Raj Kumar (81 kg), Sarabjot Singh (91 kg).—
UNI |
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