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Tour opener against Victoria from today Ganguly expects tips from Akram Kale issue: BCCI probe from Saturday Murmurs against selectors: Rungta PIL against BCCI dismissed
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60-run lead for India ‘A’ Rajiv Nayyar out of Himachal Ranji squad Railways roll past Delhi’s total Gaurav wrecks J&K Punjab in precarious situation Hussain joins squad Mauresmo leads France to Fed Cup victory
Doping: IAAF plans to punish coaches Punjab Police, Indian Airlines enter final Punjab cyclists pedal to glory
Sports medicine course at Amritsar GND varsity defeat KU in football
tourney Himalayan trials thrill US mountain bikers Karan, Garima shine
in chess meet
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Tour opener against Victoria from today Melbourne, November 24 With just two warm up games before the Brisbane Test which begins on December 4, India have chosen to let their frontline batsmen hit an early form on the daunting tour by including all of them against Victoria Bushrangers tomorrow, even if that means one or two bowlers would miss out on a critical opportunity. The twelve announced by Ganguly does not include left-arm paceman Irfan Pathan, veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble and reserve openers Deep Dasgupta and Sadagopan Ramesh. “We have not ruled out five bowlers in matches ahead but for the present, it will only be four bowlers against Victoria with a toss-up between Ajit Agarkar and Laxmipathy Balaji for the last spot,” Ganguly said. India went with five frontline bowlers against Australia in the triangular series final in Kolkata and there is a growing belief in the side that Australians must not be allowed to run away with a huge total which would put the Indian batting under enormous pressure. Ganguly also gave a vote of confidence to Delhi opener Virender Sehwag who recently appeared all at sea against Australian bowlers and who lately has shown his distaste for lifting deliveries. “Sehwag will surely open in the game tomorrow,” Ganguly said with a touch of finality. The match is critical for wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel for even though he has been allowed a headstart over Dasgupta, there is every possibility the Bengal wicketkeeper could come into the picture because of his superior batting ability against faster men. All this against a Victoria side which is an experimental one and intended to keep tourists undeprepared for the fast bowling demons who lay in wait for the Test encounters. Even though both Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath have been ruled out for the first two Tests, Australia has enough fast bowling reserves as was seen in the performance of Nathan Brackan and Brad Williams in India recently. Victoria has “rested” its bustling fast bowler Michael Lewis who was the state’s leading wicket taker last summer with 33 scalps. Only yesterday, Lewis prowess was again on display against Western Australia in the Pura Cup where he took five wickets. Even though Lewis is 29, he is improving with every season and is a lively seamer who looks threatening even on placid wickets. He represented the Prime Minister’s Eleven against England last season. Lewis is replaced by Brett Harrop who took 10 wickets in a second eleven game last week but the youngster is still to play a first class fixture. He would thus cut his teeth at a higher level tomorrow. Mercifully, Victorian XI includes red-haired left-arm quick Matthew Innes who is not express but persistent and not far below national honours. He is 25 and took 28 Pura Cup wickets last season. India will face an interesting leg-spinner in Cameron White who bowls much like Anil Kumble. He is only 20 but is very mature and a former Australian under-19 captain. He even led Victoria in both forms of the game this season in the absence of regular Darren Berry who returns to take his appointed place against the Indians tomorrow. Teams (from): India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Aakash Chopra, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Parthiv Patel, Ajit Agarkar, Laxmipathy Balaji, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra. Victoria: Darren Berry (captain), Cameron White, Jason Arnberger, Matthew Elliott, Brad Hodge, Jon Moss, David Hussey, Ian Harvey, Andrew McDonald, Peter Roach, Brett Harrop, Mathew Inness, Brendan Joseland. — PTI
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McGrath doubtful for series Brisbane, November 24 Fellow fast bowler Brett Lee also remains in doubt with abdominal and ankle problems and is unlikely to be selected for the opening Test at the Gabba in Brisbane starting Decemebr 4. Both were assessed by team physiotherapist Errol Allcott over the weekend with neither given a clean bill of health.
— AP
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Ganguly expects tips from Akram Melbourne, November 24 While conceding that Akram would have been a “sensitive selection”, Ganguly hoped that the former world record holder would especially help out the young left-arm pace brigade of Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan and rookie Irfan Pathan. “Akram would be a sensitive selection though I would love to have him around and help our guys out”, said Ganguly. Akram, who has retired from international cricket, would be in Australia to commentate on the four-Test series for a TV channel. Ganguly said: “I rate Akram as the best left-arm paceman I have ever seen. I know he would be around with a television network and hopefully he could offer tips. He would be useful also because we have quite a few left-arm paceman in our squad.
— PTI
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Kale issue: BCCI probe from Saturday New Delhi, November 24 “I have only received the faxed copies of the relevant papers from the cricket board. The originals have not yet reached me. I will start the probe process from Saturday,” Rao, who is also the chairman of the Bar Council of India, told PTI over the telephone from Visakhapatnam. Asked whether the scope of the bribe inquiry would be broadened in view of the fresh allegations against some former selectors, Mr Rao said: “It will be limited to these three persons. The terms of reference have been restricted, so I will not be looking into other issues”. He said it was for the cricket board to decided whether to expand the scope of inquiry considering the new developments involving former first class cricketers Vanka Prathap and Pavan Kumar who have alleged that selectors asked bribe for a place in the team. Mr Rao said all three persons involved in the case would be called to Visakhapatnam for the hearings and notices would be sent to them in the next couple of days. Mr Rao, who is based in Visakhapatnam, said in the next couple of days he would finalise all the modalities and the logistics required to carry on the investigations. Rocked by the bribery scandal, the cricket board had suspended Kale for allegedly offering Rs 10 lakh each to two national selectors for a place in the Indian team to Australia and appointed Mr Rao as the commissioner of inquiry. The commissioner has been asked to submit his findings within 15 days. The inquiry report would be referred to the board’s disciplinary committee for final adjudication and till that time Kale would remain suspended from participating in any tournament conducted by the Board. Kale, who has denied the charge, has already appeared before the Maharashtra Cricket Association’s three-member inquiry committee in Pune. — PTI
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Murmurs against selectors: Rungta
Jaipur, November 24 “There always were murmurs of such kind (selectors taking money) and there may be much more in the allegations against Kale than what meets the eye,” Mr Kishore Rungta, who recently stepped down as board treasurer, told PTI. Maharashtra batsman Kale was suspended by the BCCI after two national selectors Kiran More (west) and Pranab Roy (east) filed a written complaint that the player offered them Rs 10 lakh each for including him in the Indian team to tour Australia. Though Mr Rungta agreed that there were no formal complaints, he said the integrity of some selectors were questioned in the past when two of them were found with some girls in their hotel rooms. “There were also rumours regarding they getting money and the then chairman of the selection committee, Mr Kishan Rungta had offered his resignation to BCCI,” said Kishore, a nephew of Kishan Rungta. Though Mr Kishan Rungta declined to comment on the controversy, Mr Kishore went on to say that the matter should be thoroughly investigated and the selectors should be questioned. “A thorough investigation in the case is a must. The menace may creep into domestic cricket where players in all likelyhood will be getting Rs 35,000 per match if the proposals are approved by the working committee,” said Mr Kishore, who was instrumental in advocating a handsome fee hike for domestic cricketers. “As secretary of Rajasthan Cricket Association I feel that all units too want a thorough investigation into the matter to re-establish the credibility of the selection process,” Mr Kishore said. “We should appoint such persons as selectors whose integrity is above board. Everyone is worried and unless the matter is investigated including the two selectors the credibility will remain suspect,” he said. — PTI
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New Delhi, November 24 A bench comprising Chief Justice B.C. Patel and B.D. Ahmed dismissed the Public Interest Litigation filed (PIL) in April 2000 alleging that the apex body of cricket in India and its member associations were functioning in an arbitrary and opaque manner. The court dismissed the petition as neither the petitioner nor his counsel appeared for hearing on Friday. The petition filed by two cricket lovers, Rahul Mehra and Shantanu Sharma had sought investigation into BCCI’ account for the past five years from the date of filing the PIL contending that the BCCI and its other member associations were functioning as private empires of some businessmen and traders, who have come to control and abuse cricket for their own interest and profit. The PIL had alleged that the BCCI and its member associations were acting contrary to the objectives for which they were created and the development and promotion of the game was suffering at the cost of board functionaries. The petitioners had sought audit of the accounts of the BCCI and other member association by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). — PTI
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60-run lead for India ‘A’
Ahmedabad, November 24 The Lankans could add just one run to their overnight score of 243 for eight this morning as speedster Amit Bhandari removed tailenders L. Lakshitha and R. Marlinga in a space of eight balls to take his innings tally to six wickets. In reply, Indians made a steady start but lost openers — skipper Shiv Sundar Das and Gautam Gambhir — when the scoreboard read 96. One-down batsman Mohammed Kaif and Hemang Badani scored half centuries but failed to convert them into a big score, as the hosts continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. Badani, who cracked an aggressive 50 with five boundaries and a six, was caught by keeper Jayawardane when he tried to cut an outgoing delivery by spinner Herath. Kaif, who made a patient 53 of 149 balls with four fours, also perished off a Herath delivery as he offered a forward defence to be caught at silly point by Lanka de Silva. Like Kaif and Badani, Rohan Gavaskar also failed to capitalise on his half century. The southpaw smashed six fours and two towering sixes for his 60, which came off 82 balls, before he ambitiously tried to clear midoff only to be caught by Lakshitha. Lankans were also not very impressive with their bowling, as they conceded 29 no balls, the main offender being Marlinga, who bowled 19 of them. Marlinga overstepped in 13 of the 18 overs he bowled. — PTI
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Rajiv Nayyar out of Himachal Ranji squad Chandigarh, November 24 “I was told on Saturday night that my name was not there in the final eleven,” the veteran batsman told TNS today. “I was told that there were better players in the side,” Rajiv, the leading scorer of the zone having 6800 runs, including 19 centuries and 35 half centuries, in Ranji Trophy matches to his credit, said. “I was the highest scorer in the friendly match among Himachal players at the Sector 3 cricket stadium at Panchkula,” a veteran of 92 Ranji Trophy matches said. Rajiv scored 60 runs in the match. “I did not fare badly in the drills meant to determine the physical fitness level of the players either,” the 33-year-old player said. In a distinguished career spanning 18 years, it is for the first time that the dependable middle order batsman failed to find a berth in the squad on account of reasons other than the batting form. Criticising the inclusion of many non-Himachal players in the side, he said: “Genuine and deserving players from the state were being denied the opportunity to represent the state.” “In the team playing the current four-day match against Services, as many as four players—Manvinder Bisla, Sandeep Sharma, Vishal Bhatia and Amit Sharma—are non- Himachalis. Bisla is from Haryana, while the last three hail from Jalandhar. Even Vinod Minhas, the 12th man in the match, is from Jalandhar,” revealed Nayyar. He said that Rajdeep Kalsi, the coach of the team who conveyed to him the message regarding his ouster from the team, was also from Jalandhar. Kalsi, he said, had played two Ranji Trophy matches for Punjab. The doughty batsman said that he was determined to fight it out and had no plans to quit. Rajiv practises daily twice during the day and was a regular at the Sector 16 cricket stadium. The genesis of Rajiv’s ouster perhaps lies in the memorandum submitted by a couple of former and current Himachal Ranji Trophy players, including Rajiv, to the Una Deputy Commissioner in which they had highlighted certain irregularities against R R Rohi, secretary of the Una District Cricket Association. Following the findings of the preliminary enquiry ordered by the Deputy Commissioner, a committee having an initial tenure of three months had been appointed “to streamline the financial management and functioning of the DCA, Una.” “Tehsildar Una, assisted by three members of DCA ( except the previous president, general secretary and treasurer) shall carry out the daily affairs of the DCA, Una, for a period of
three months,” the order issued by Deputy Commissioner, Rajneesh Kumar, said.
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Railways roll past Delhi’s total New Delhi, November 24 Railways were 200 for nine off 75.1 overs in 369 minutes in reply to Delhi’s first innings total of 195 when the match was stopped due to poor visibility, with eight of Delhi’s quota of overs still to be bowled. Delhi tried to speed up play by persisting with the spinners but fading light forced the play to be stopped with the exit of Yere
Goud. But Railways achieved their first target of overtaking Delhi’s total to enjoy a five-run first innings lead with two wickets still in hand. The first innings lead may turn out vital for Railways if Delhi fail to put up a better display in the rest of the match. Delhi, who resumed at 194 for eight, could add only one more run to their overnight total after 14 minutes of batting in the morning before they folded up. Railways took the crease with much optimism, but debutant Kunal Lal, son of former Indian Test player Madan Lal, who is the manager of the Delhi Ranji team, put paid to their hopes when he, with a clever delivery, induced Amit Pagnis to edge one into the hands of wicket-keeper Vijay
Dahiya. Kunal, who troubled the Railway batsmen with his speed and penetration, put Railways on the backfoot when they lost Pagnis with just 13 runs on the scoreboard. The experienced Sanjay Bangar and Tejinder Pal Singh then anchored Railways to a safe position when they put on 96 runs for the second wicket. Tejinder Pal Singh, who was mastering the Delhi bowling, made his exit when he was run out by Dahiya following a perfect throw from the covers by Sarandeep Singh. It was just as well that Sarandeep was responsible for Tejinder Pal Singh’s run out as the Delhi spinner was put to the sword by both Tejinder Pal Singh and Sanjay
Bangar. Bangar hoisted him for two consecutive sixes to the long off and long on fence while
T.P. Singh too gave him the stick. T.P. Singh made 47 off 88 balls with six boundaries, and after the addition of one more run to the total, Kunal Lal forced Sanjay Bangar to snick into the gloves of Dahiya. Dahiya had a fine day behind the wickets as he took four catches. With three wickets down for 110 runs, Railways were in serious trouble. So long as Sanjay Bangar was around, Railways looked set for a decent total. Bangar scored 42, off 77 balls with four boundaries and two sixes. J.P. Yadav too fell when he was shaping up well, trapped lbw by N.S. Negi. Yadav made a slam-bang 47 off just 31 balls with three boundaries. But Yere Goud played the waiting game to perfection even as wickets continued fall at the other end. Siddarth Verma, S.
Khanolkar, Sudhir Wankhede and Harvinder Singh crashed for cheap scores but Yere Goud continued to defy the Delhi pace and spin attack to be the last man out at three minutes past 5 p m when Railways had reached the magical figure of 200. Railways crossed Delhi’s first innings total when Harvinder Singh carted Kunal Lal to the cover fence to take the score to 196. But Kunal had the last laugh when he bowled one short, which Harvinder tried to hit high, but ended up holing out a simple catch to Varun Kumar at square leg. Railways lost their eighth wicket for 200 and off the first ball of the very next over,
N.S. Negi had Yere Goud caught by Dahia for the same team total. Goud made 36 off 138 balls with three boundaries, and occupied the crease for 217 minutes. Scores: Delhi (first innings): 195. Railways (1st innings):
200 for 9 in 75.1 overs,369 minutes (Amit Pagnis 9, Sanjay Bangar 42,
T.P. Singh 47, J.P. Yadav 47, Yere Goud 36, S. Khanolkar 18, Sudhir Wankhede 7, Harvinder Singh 9, Zakir Hussain batting 0, Gill 1 for 40, Kunal Lal 3 for 63, Negi 2 for 53, Sarandeep 1 for 28). |
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Gaurav wrecks J&K Rohtak, November 24 Resuming their innings from the overnight score of 218 for six, Haryana went on to score 304 runs due to brave efforts by tailenders - Gaurav Vashisht (32) and Mahesh Rawat (33). Shafiq Khan, after contributing valuable 71 runs off 158 balls during his stay of 207 minutes at crease, was first to depart today as he spooned a full toss to extra cover in the hands of Kanwaljit Singh off off-spinner Sameer Khajuria who bowled his career best spell, taking 5 wickets at the cost of 117 runs. He was ably supported by left arm spinner Jagtar Singh who sent back three of Haryana batsmen. Jammu and Kashmir started their innings on disastrous note as Rajesh Gill was trapped in front of wicket by Sumit Narwal without troubling the scorer, Narwal then sent back Vikrant Taggar who was brilliantly caught in second slip by Shafiq Khan with the scoreboard reading 13 runs. Vashist then uprooted the middle stump of Ashwani Gupta through bat and pad at a total of 42 runs. Gaurav took four more wickets with an addition of 35 runs to J&K total as they were tottering at 77 for 7 after 43 overs. Haryana fielders fielded well as Ishan Ganda took four catches at silly point while Shafiq Khan got two catches. Leg-spinner Pradeep Sahu captured two wickets as J&K were bundled out for 96 runs after 49.4 overs. Scoreboard : Haryana (Ist innings):
Jitender Singh c Taggar b Bagal 1, Chetan Sharma c Taggar b Sharma 5, Sunny Singh lbw Jagtar 66, Ishan Ganda b Khajuria 57, Shafiq Khan c Kanwaljeet b Khajuria 71, Sumeet Narwal c Kanwaljeet b Khajuria 11, Joginder Sharma c Vijay b Khajuria 0, Pradeep Sahu c Fayaz b Jagtar 12, Mahesh Rawat b Khajuria 33, Gaurav Vashisht c Taggar b Jagtar 32, Aparajit Singh not out 0, Extras ( B-11, lb-3, nb-1, w-1) 16. Total :
304 all out in 117 overs. Fall of wickets: 1/8, 2/26, 3/106, 4/164, 5/191, 6/191, 7/235, 8/245, 9/300. Bowling:
S. Bagal 21-7-55-1, Vijay Sharma 20-5-46-1, Kanwaljeet Singh 4-2-2-0, Ashwani Gupta 4-1-14-0, Jagtar Singh 29-13-50-3, Sameer Khajuria 35-6-117-5, Dhruv Mahajan 4-2-6-0. Jammu and Kashmir (Ist innings): Vikrant Taggar c Shafiq b Narwal 6, Rajesh Gill lbw Narwal 0, Kanwaljeet Singh c Ganda b Vashisht 19, Ashwani Gupta b Vashisht 13, Dhruv Mahajan c Jitender b Sahu11, Fayaz Ahmed c Ganda b Vashisht 6, Majid Dar c Ganda b Vashisht 2, Vijay Sharma c Ganda b Vashisht 10, Sameer Khajuria c Shafiq b Sahu 6, Bagal lbw Vashisht 4, Jagtar not out 3. Extras (B-4, lb-9, nb-3) 16. Total 96 all out in 49.4 overs. Fall of wickets:
1/1, 2/13, 3/42, 4/53, 5/65, 6/71, 7/77, 8/89, 9/89. Bowling:
Joginder Sharma 8-3-12-0, Sumeet Narwal 9-6-3-2, Sunny Singh 4-1-6-0, Gaurav Vashisht 15.4-6-32-6, Aprajit Singh 5-1-13-0, Pradeep Sahu 8-2-17-2. Jammu and Kashmir (second innings): V.Taggar batting 13, R. Gill batting 18. Total 31 for no loss in 10 overs. |
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J & K bundled out for 158 Patiala, November 24 In reply, at the draw of stumps the hosts were sailing comfortably at 104 for 3 with Gaurav Marwaha batting on a well made 31. Brief scores J&K (1st innings)
158 all out (Pranav Kumar 39, Satyajit 32, S.P. Singh 4 for 40, Varun Khanna 4 for 23). Punjab (1st innings)
104 for 3 (Binwant Singh 13, S.P. Singh 17, Amardeep Singh 15, Gaurav Marwaha 31 n.o, Sachin Sachdeva 9
n.o).
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Punjab in precarious situation
Vadodara, November 24 After losing two wickets of prolific scorer Ravneet Ricky and Munish Sharma at a total of 18 runs, Mongia and Dharmani came to the rescue of the team and their unbeaten third wicket partneship adding 80 runs without any further damage. Mongia’s 53 included nine hits to the fence while Dharmani’s score was studded with six fours. Earlier, resuming at 233 for three, Jacob Martin (149) and Nayan Mongia (47) enabled Baroda put up a healthy total. — PTI
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Hussain joins squad Colombo, November 24 Besides Hussain, Graham Thorpe, Mark Butcher, Geraint Jones, Matthew Hoggard and Robert Croft have also arrived here to bolster their team for the test series, Mark Hodgson said. “They are all practicing” along with the remaining players of the one-day squad, Hodgson said. Some of the one-day players were sent home at the end of the rain-marred three match one-day series that the hosts won 1-0. Two matches were abandoned due to rain.
— AP
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Mauresmo leads France to Fed Cup victory
Moscow, November 24 Navratilova, 47, and Lisa Raymond crushed French duo Emilie Loit and Stephanie Cohen-Aloro in 48 minutes, with the 6-4, 6-0 scoreline doing little to indicate that the veteran first played Fed Cup before either Loit, 24, or Cohen-Aloro, 20, were born. But the victory was too late to save the US team who were prevented from taking their 18th title, with France winning 4-1. Amelie Mauresmo capped a return to form by claiming the decisive match over Meghann Shaughnessy, giving French an unbeatable 3-0 lead. The world number four, who had looked close to quitting the game last year after a series of career-threatening injuries, took one hour to see off the top American here 6-2, 6-1. Loit then saw off Alexandra Stevenson in 54 minutes to put France 4-0 up. But for Navratilova and Raymond, the most powerful tennis nation would have suffered an embarrassing whitewash. The French last won the women’s team trophy in 1997 against the Netherlands, and the win here was even sweeter as it came at the expense of the USA whom they had never beaten before after 10 previous meetings. Shaughnessy, ranked 17th, gave an error-strewn performance against in-form Mauresmo, who is riding a wave of confidence after a recent win at Philadelphia and reaching the final of the Masters in Los Angeles. The American achieved just two points on her opponent’s serve in the first set, and lost her opening service game for love in the second. The Frenchwoman took her foot off the pedal in the third game, allowing Shaughnessy hold her serve to love and keep in touch 2-1. But Mauresmo increasingly gained confidence as her opponent piled up the errors and took the tie on her second match point as her exhausted rival hit a forehand hopelessly into the net. Mauresmo, 24, fell to her knees and ran to embrace captain Guy Forget. “Ending the season like that after what I went through at the end of last year, when I didn’t know if I’d play tennis again, it’s beyond belief, fabulous,” said a tearful Mauresmo. “I thought about all that, about the team too, and that’s why I was crying.” Shaughnessy admitted that she had not made the most of her chances. “I was very tired and it was a very tough match,” said Shaughnessy. “Amelie played very well and I would have really needed to play exceptionally to beat her. I wasn’t able to and I think that few players would have been able to today.” French number one Mauresmo and teammate Mary Pierce had given France a 2-0 overnight lead by beating Lisa Raymond 6-4, 6-3, and Shaughnessy 6-3, 3-6, 8-6 respectively. — AFP
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Beckham helps Real back to top Madrid, November 24 The reigning champions have 26 points from their 12 games, the same number of points and goal difference as second-placed Deportivo La Coruna but are ahead having scored more goals. Deportivo left the door open to Real after they could only draw 0-0 at Real Betis on Saturday. Beckham put Real in front after 37 minutes with a long-range strike, the inch-perfect looping right foot shot from a pass by Zinedine Zidane flying past Albacete goalkeeper Carlos Roa and into the net from 25 metres. It was the England captain’s third goal of the season and provided a modicum of revenge over Roa following the Argentine’s exploits on the last occasion they came face-to-face. At the 1998 World Cup, Roa was Argentina’s goalkeeper in their infamous last 16 match which the South Americans won on penalties. |
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Doping: IAAF plans to punish coaches
Berlin, November 24 “We are now well equipped to deal not only with the athletes who cheat but with all those surrounding them who are also guilty,” Diack told reporters yesterday at the end of a two-day meeting of the IAAF’s policy-making council. The rules reflect the code of WADA, the world anti-doping agency, which has been accepted by IAAF, the International Association of Athletics Federations. Coaches, doctors and other officials involved with an athlete who flunks a drug test will be suspended for a minimum of two years, with possibility of lifetime bans, “depending on the gravity of the case,” Diack said. Similar rules apply to athletes. Lifetime bans are possible for repeat offenders. Diack said track and field officials will keep the “exceptional circumstances” provision that allows shorter bans in some rare cases. “We will listen to it, but it really will be an exception. They can’t say they didn’t know,” Diack said. The move follow the recent disclosures of the designer steroid THG. THG, or tetryahydrogestrinone, was uncovered last summer as a steroid deliberately modified to avoid detection in standard drug tests. The US Anti-Doping Agency has identified California’s Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) as the source of THG, an accusation denied by BALCO owner Victor Conte. The IAAF said Saturday that two athletes tested positive for the THG at the world championships in August in Paris. The 402 samples taken in Paris were retested for the THG. It was not immediately clear if the two athletes were among the five already known to have tested positive for the THG - four Americans and British sprinter Dwain Chambers. IAAF general secretary Istvan Gyulai said the two athletes were from different countries. Chambers, the European 100-metre champion, tested positive in an out-of-competition control in Germany in August and has been suspended pending a hearing by UK Athletics. The names of the four US athletes who tested positive at the national championships in June at Stanford, California, have not been officially announced. But several news organisations, including the AP, have identified three of them as middle-distance runner Regina Jacobs, shot putter Kevin Toth and hammer thrower John McEwen. The French sports daily L’Equipe, without naming its sources, said Toth was one of the athletes who tested positive at the worlds. The IAAF officials declined to comment. In another decision yesterday, the IAAF lowered the entry standards for some events at next year’s Athens Olympics to allow the quota of 2,000 athletes to be met. “The old standards were too high, we wouldn’t have met the quota,” Diack said. Among the lowered standards are men’s 1,500 meters and the marathon, the women’s 100 and 400 and the women’s marathon. — AP
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Punjab Police, Indian Airlines enter final
New Delhi, November 24 Later in the day, defending champions Punjab Police ensured that tomorrow’s summit clash will be a repeat of the last edition’s final by prevailing over Bharat Petroleum 2-0. It was a virtual goal rush for Airlines in the last 25 minutes when they scored five of the half dozen goals and if not for the South Indian team’s custodian, Natrajan, the scoreline would have been disastrous for the losers. Skipper Dilip Tirkey (47th, 62nd), Arjun Halappa (15th, 60th), Mukesh Kumar (50th) and Dhanraj Pillay (68) sounded the board for the winners while Laxman Prabhakaran (53rd) scored the only consolation goal for Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu team, which had showed tremendous fighting spirit in its come from behind victory over Air-India yesterday, looked like taking the game to the wire in the first half as it not only held the airmen but also launched some probing attacks on the opposition. In fact, it was Tamil Nadu XI which had greater ball possession in the first half after international Halappa had given the lead to Airlines in the 15th minute on a through pass by Pillay. But the failure of Arumugam and Jagan Senthil to control the ball in the box cost the Tamil Nadu side dearly as they missed at least three easy scoring chances. Airlines would have taken a 2-0 lead at the stroke of half time but Natrajan brilliantly saved a penalty stroke from Halappa. Soon after resumption of play in the second half the airmen made their intentions clear as Pillay and company kept the opposition defence busy. Tirkey opened the floodgates with a direct penalty corner conversion in the 37th minute after which there was no looking back for the team which boasts of 16 players with international experience. In the other semi-final, Punjab Police recorded a 2-0 victory over Bharat Petroleum. The match never gained momentum as neither of the teams made any good moves. While Bharat Petroleum concentrated on keeping the ball in its possession and trying for penalty corners, the Jalandhar team looked satisfied with the few counter attacks which came its way. Even as the match looked like heading for a goal-less draw, international Tejbir Singh deflected a free hit by Pardeep Singh in the 54th minute. Olympian Baljit Singh Dhillon put the result beyond doubt when he converted the team’s seventh penalty corner in the 68th minute. — PTI
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Punjab cyclists pedal to glory Ludhiana, November 24 In the 500m time trial (boys u-16 years), Sarabjeet Singh of Punjab (0.37:642 secs) faced a stiff challenge from his own state-mate Raninder Singh (0.38:003 secs) before emerging victorious. Andaman and Nicobar rider, Windsor clocked 0.38:558 secs for the bronze medals. Kevin, representing Punjab (u-14 years) proved too fast for to his opponents to clinch the gold in the 500m time trial event. He clocked 0.43:587 secs to finish ahead of others. He was followed by Lakappakurni of Karnataka (0.43:636 secs) and Bakhshish Singh of Punjab (0.43:684 secs). In the 1 km time trial for boys (u-18 years), Abhishek Rana of Punjab took 1.115:987 secs to bag the gold medal. Maharashtra’s Prasad Gaikwad clocked 1.18:577 secs for the silver medal while Neeraj Sawhney of Punjab with timings of 1.18:998 secs had to be content with the bronze. Punjab bagged the fourth in the 500m time trial for girls (u-18 years). Gurpreet Kaur clocked 41.640 secs to emerge victorious. The silver medallist Saritha S. of Kerala took 43.773 secs and Nisha Kohle of Maharastra clocked 44.174 secs to secure the bronze medal. Other results: 1 km time trial (men) — Sukhjinder singh of Punjab Police (1.12:614 secs) 1, K Indera Singh of RSPB (1.13:365 secs) 2, Gurpreet Singh of Punjab Police (1.13:441 secs) 3. 500m time trial (women)-Rejani V of Kerala (0.40.323 secs) 1, Gurpreet Kaur of Punjab (0.41:247 secs) 3; 500m time trial (girls u-16 years) — Nisha Kohle of Maharashtra (0.43:223 secs) 1, Saritha S of Kerala (0.43:564 secs) 2, B Neeta of Andaman & Nicobar (0.43:778 secs) 3. 500m time trial (girls u-14 years) — Martha of Andaman & Nicobar (0.47:900 secs) 1, Jasmeen Cheema of Punjab (0.49:855 secs) 2, Mary of Andaman & Nicobar (0.50.720 secs) 3. 500m time trial (boys u-12 years) — K B D Teja Reddy of Andhra Pradesh (0.47:585 secs) 1, Dattu R Pishe of Karnataka (0.49:073 secs) 2, Manbir Sidhu of Haryana (0.52:749 secs) 3. 500m time trial (girls u-12 years) — Parvathy C of Kerala (0.57.271 secs) 1, Amrita Taneja of Uttaranchal (0.59:886 secs) 2, K. Tapsya Bedi of Himachal Pradesh (1.03:850 secs) 3; 1 km time trial (men) — Sukhjit Singh of Punjab Police (1.12:614 secs) 1, K Indera K Singh of RSBP (1.13:365 secs) 2, Gurpreet Singh of Punjab Police (1.13:441 secs). |
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Sports medicine course at Amritsar Amritsar, November 24 As many as 100 research papers in sports sciences will be presented with additional 20 poster presentations. During the congress, fellowships will be awarded to outstanding sports scientists of India. The open house session in the end will feature the expectations of the sportspersons from the sports medicine consultants. The plenary sessions will feature eminent sports scientists from all over the world, including Prof Kai Ming Chan, President, International Federation of Sports Medicine, Dr Wahdi Al Kharusi, President, Asian Federation of Sports Medicine, Dr C. Thurairaja, President, Sri Lanka Association of Sports Medicine, Dr Parvaiz Razvi, Secretary-General, Sports Medicine Association of Pakistan, Dr E.B.S. Ramanathan, Chairman, Scientific Commission, Asian Federation of Sports Medicine and Dr Theodora Papadopoulou, Secretary-General, Sports Medicine Association of Greece. Capt Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister, will inaugurate the congress. Dr N.K. Ganguly, Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research, will be the guest of honour for the inaugural ceremony. |
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GND
varsity defeat KU in football tourney Fategarh Sahib, November 24 In the opening match of the day, Guru
Nank Dev University defeated Kurukshetra University by two goals. Both
goals were scored by Kamal Deep Singh in 49th and 62nd minutes of the
match. The players of Kurukshetra University tried to give a fight but
could not contain the GND University players. The second match of the
day was played between Panjab University, Chandigarh, and Punjabi
University, Patiala. The teams scored one goal each and the match
ended in a draw. The match was mostly confined to the midfield as none
of the teams took a chance and played a defensive game. According to
Mr Surjeet Singh the secretary of the trust, the tournament is an
annual feature. Tomorrow, Kurukshetra University will face Panjab
University, while in second match, GND University will compete with
Punjabi University. Karate tourney AMBALA:
Members of the Haryana
team hailing from Ambala have done well in the inter-state karate
championship. The Technical Director of the District kick-boxing
Association, Mr Surinder Passi, said of the seven Ambala players in
the Haryana team, five had won medels. He said Deepak Parche and Sonia
Chaudhary won gold medals, Sumit Piwal won a silver medal, while
Piyush Bhalla and Rahul Passi won bronze medals. Roller-Skating
trials The district roller-skating trials for the forthcoming 17th
Haryana State Roller-Skating Championship will be held on November 26.
Mr Arun Kumar, the general secretary of the District Roller-Skating
Association, said the trials would begin at the skating rink in Netaji
Subhash Chandra Bose Park at 9 am.
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Himalayan
trials thrill US mountain bikers Patiala, November 24 Over the years, both Gordon and Brad have earned a name for themselves in the highly competitive world of mountain biking which is widely perceived to be a high risk sport. The four-day tour of the US-based riders was sponsored and organised by the Innerline Trek and Travels, an adventure tourism company of India. Both cyclists carried handy global positioning systems (GPS) sets to aid them on their arduous trek. The riders cycled at altitudes as high as 10,000 feet above the sea level. Guided by their local contact, Amarjung Singh the duo passed through the tourist resorts of
Hatu, Jaubagh, Muralkanda and Giriganga which fall in Shimla district. Both the riders, who have competed in various mountain bike championships in countries like the UK, Belgium, Germany and Holland, raced on sophisticated 27-gear bikes. Gordon, who rode a custom made K2 Razorback had this to say about his cycle: “ With all suspension locked out, the bike has a good climbing feel. K2’s particular flavour of aluminium with carbon fibre seat is made for a nice climb. It also has the advantage of holding its line even through bumpy turns.” Recounting his experiences in the Himalayas, Gordon said: “ Some of the trails were so dangerous that they should be better left to those who have a serious addiction to adrenaline. At some places the ride lengths were longer, climbs deadlier and descents downright dangerous. In mountain biking parlance they called masochistic trails.” The riders, who travelled 45 km everyday, praised their tour managers for locating trails which were good and comprised “ roots, rocks, steep drops, high climbs and tight twisting ribbons of dust. The elements and the topography of the region added to the adventure.” Gordon said the famous recreational trails in Fruita back home in his native Colorado were the best trails in the world. Brad, who is one of the world’s best off-road endurance rider, while commenting on his Himalayan sojourn said, “ The Innerline Trek and Travels management did a splendid job of locating trails in dense forests. We will be back next year and we have asked our tour managers to find more challenging trails for our next trip.”
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Karan, Garima shine
in chess meet Patiala, November 24 Nearly 100 students from 10 schools of the city participated in the tournament. A former Chairman of the
CBDT, Mr Gurcharanjit Singh Sidhu, was the chief guest on the occasion. Under-12 (boys):
Dhruve, Deepam Kundel and Sim Sim from Sunflower Model School, St Peter’s Academy and Sri Aurobindo International School, respectively bagged the first, second and third positions. Under-12 (girls):
Nupur, Ritu and Vishwadeep from Sunflower Model School, Veer Haqikat Rai School and Sri Aurobindo International School stood first, second and third respectively. Under-16 (boys) Karan, from Guru Nanak Foundation and Saurav, Chandan from Sunflower Model School got the first, second and third positions respectively. Under-16 (girls):
Garima, Rajul and Swati, all from Sri Aurobindo International School, bagged the first, second and third positions, respectively.
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Chandigarh, November 24
Video
