SPORTS

DDCA to organise two junior tournaments
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, April 18
The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) will organise under-15 and under-17 tournaments for registered clubs in the second week of May. DDCA sports secretary Sunil Dev said the tournaments will be of 40 overs a side, and will be played on a league-cum-knock out basis.

Sunil Dev said these tournaments will be the basis for shortlisting promising players on the basis of their performances. He said the criteria for shortlisting promising players are (for under-15): Batsmen scoring 40 runs in an innings and bowlers taking three or more wickets in an innings; 25 runs and two wickets for all-rounders.

Players, born on or after September 2, 1989, will then be called for trials for the Polly Umrigar Trophy.

For Under-17, a batsman’s minimum score should be 50, but the rest will remain the same as in the under-15 tournament. In the case of all-rounders, the requirement is 35 runs and two wickets. Players born on or after September 2, 1987 will be eligible for selection.

Sunil Dev said two committees have been formed by the Sports Committee to conduct these tournaments, to be headed by Sunil Khanna and Ajit Singh Madhok respectively. The entry fee for the tournaments for affiliated clubs is Rs 1,500.

The DDCA sports secretary said the League will be completed by April 30, and thereafter, the Sports Committee will conduct the Super League and the Hot Weather Tournament. Thirty-six teams each will participate in these tournaments.

Sunil Dev also added that a new invitational tournament, consisting of teams who make the semi-final grade of the Super League and the Hot Weather Tournament, will be held in which the DDCA Under-19 team, who won the national championship this year, and three teams from outside Delhi, will also participate. He said this tournament, to be sponsored, will carry a prize money of Rs 1 lakh for the winners and Rs 50,000 for the runners-up. Cash awards will be given to the best batsman, best fielder and the best bowler.

Sunil Dev said the DDCA will host an Umpires’ Seminar after a gap of six years, from June 3 to 7. He said senior umpires like Ram Babu Gupta, S K Bansal, Hariharan, Vijay Chopra, Arun Bhardwaj and Rajan Seth were expected to conduct the classes. He said those who are 45 years of age shall be eligible to attend the seminar. Those interested will have to deposit Rs 500 with the DDCA by May 31 to attend the class and appear for the State panel examination. He said cricketers who have played Ranji Trophy and are bonafide citizens of Delhi are eligible to participate in the seminar.

And lastly, the Sports Committee has also decided to send a DDCA President’s XI for the tour of England from this year.

Players who are 22 or under will be eligible for selection. He said the Sports Committee has cleared the proposal and was now waiting for the final ratification from the Executive Committee.

Sunil Dev said the tour will be for a duration of 20 days during which period the team will play around a dozen matches all over England, in July. Cricketers who have represented various levels of cricket for Delhi should immediately apply to the DDCA Sports Officer for attending the trials.

Utkarsh Gupta lifts tiny tots title in Hans Raj TT
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, April 18
Utkarsh Gupta of Hans Raj Model School annexed the tiny tots title, defeating Keshav Sachdeva 11-6, 11-8, 11-8, in the final of the 8th Hans Raj Model School Open Table Tennis Tournament at the school premises on Sunday.

Top seed Aman Ahuja and second seed Sarthak Gandhi defeated Sanchit Jain 11-7, 11-4, 11-5 and Raunaq Bhatia 11-8, 11-6, 11-3 respectively, in the sub-junior boys pre-quarter-finals.

Dhruv Arora, Kartik Kukreja, Kunal Kathuria, Pranshu Gupta, Sajal Khandelwal and Varun Anand also moved into the quarter-finals.

In the sub-junior girls section, top seeded Esha Monga and second-seeded Sanya Sehgal of Hans Raj School entered the quarter-finals. Esha beat Manvi 11-7, 11-2, 11-4 and Sanya got the better of Pooja Shamshykla 11-3, 11-6, 11-6.

Following are the other results: Tiny Tots (boys) semi-finals: Keshav Sachdeva b Arjit Singh Goomer 11-2, 11-9, 11-9; Utkarsh b Akash Bhalotia 11-3, 11-1, 11-4.

Daffodils (semi-finals): Vatsal Makhija b Jai Mehlawat 5-11, 11-9, 11-8; Shivin Bhanga b Shivan Sethi 11-7, 11-4.

Final: Vatsal b Shivin 11-3, 13-11.

Sub-junior boys (pre-quarter-finals): Kartik Kukreja b Rajat Kumar 6-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-5; Nikhil Gupta b Kunal Kathuria 11-7, 11-7, 11-12, 11-9; Pransu Gupta b

Piyush Dwivedi 11-5, 11-5, 11-8; Aman Ahuja b Sanchit Jain 11-7, 11-5, 11-5; Sarthak Gandhi b Raunaq Bhatia 11-8, 11-6, 11-3; Dhruv Arora b Sahil Guleria 11-2, 11-9, 12-10; Sajal Khandelwal b Shashwat Roy 11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 11-6.

Sub-junior girls (quarter-finals): Arushi Asawa b Pooja 11-8, 15-13, 11-5; Nikita Kumar b Tanushree Sethi 11-2, 11-4, 11-5; Nupur Kumar b Shruti Sethi 11-8, 11-4, 11-4; Esha Monga b Manvi 11-7, 11-2, 11-4; Tina Khurana b Amrita Aggarwal 11-5, 11-3, 11-2; Sanya Sehgal b Pooja Shamshykla 11-3, 11-6, 11-6.

Kids (boys quarter-finals): Naman Kakkar b Sudhanshu Grover 11-5, 8-11, 10-12, 11-6, 12-10; Utkarsh Gupta b Kanishk Nanda 11-1, 11-6, 11-2; Himanshu Kumar b Sahil Sachdeva 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 13-15, 11-4; Raghav Pangasa b Nikhil Jain 11-5, 11-6, 11-6.

Kids (girls semi-finals): Priya Mittal b Pragya Babbar 11-2, 11-5, 11-3; Manika Batra b Shuchi Bhatia 11-1, 11-2, 11-5.

Boys singles (third round): Sarthak Gandhi b Rajat Walecha 7-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-9; Pranshu Gupta b Sidhant Khurana 11-7, 12-14, 11-7, 12-10; Varun Anand b Vinay 8-11, 7-11, 11-9, 12-10, 13-11; Nandit Passey b Dhruv Saxena 11-9, 11-5, 11-9; Nishank Bajaj b Kartik Kukreja 5-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-3; Ramit Bhatnagar b Rajesh Goel 11-2, 11-7, 10-12, 13-11; Nikhil Gupta b Rajat Kumar 12-10, 11-6, 11-7; Yakshap Jindal b Sahib Singh 11-2, 11-3, 11-5; Jasdeep Singh b Raunaq Bhatia 11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 11-8; Aman Ahuja b Rishab Aggarwal 11-7, 11-8, 11-6; Akash Verma b Mukul 11-5, 11-5, 11-6; Varun Jindal b Yatin Matta 11-6, 11-3, 11-8; Ketan Jain b Luv Sachdeva 11-8, 11-4, 12-10; Kunal Puri b Abhinav Kumar 11-6, 11-8, 11-5.

Digvijay bags SRF Matchplay Trophy
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, April 18
Digvijay Singh braved a memorable fightback from Jumman to clinch the SRF All-India Matchplay Championship title on the 18th hole at the Delhi Golf Club course on Sunday.

Digvijay won 2-up to pocket the winner’s cheque of Rs 1,75,000 while Jumman took home Rs 1 lakh.

Vijay Kumar gave a walk over to Rafiq Ali in the battle for the third and fourth positions. Vijay earned Rs 35,000 while Rafiq received Rs 50,000.

The Digvijay-Jumman encounter seemed to be a mismatch as the young and dynamic Digvijay was a clear favourite. But it was no cake-walk for Digvijay who had to wait till the 35th hole to finally put the lid on the contest.

The final teed-off with Digvijay birdying the opening hole to go one-up. Jumman set the trend with a par on the very next hole.

Then the fortune swung like a pendulum with the players matching wits at every subsequent hole.

On the par-three 35th (17th hole), Jumman’s tee shot landed left of the green, and that was that.

Vishal, Lalit produce match-winning bowling
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, April 18
Devastating bowling performances by Vishal Pandey (3 for 12) and Lalit Verma (3 for 25) and a dashing knock of 62 (1x6, 5x4, 84b) by Vinay Sharma helped Vaijayti Devi Cricket Academy, Agra defeat Maharaja Umaid Singh Club, Jodhpur by six wickets in the Om Nath Sood Memorial Cricket Tournament on the Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce ground, Pitampura, on Sunday.

Vinay Sharma received the Pepsi man of the match award from chief guest S N Sharma.

Five overs were deducted from the Jodhpur team for their late arrival to the ground.

Scores: Maharaja Umaid Singh Club: 137 in 34.3 overs (Deepak Anand 33, Rajiv Sharma 24, Vishal Pandey 3 for 12, Lalit Verma 3 for 25, Javed 2 for 35).

Vaijayti Devi Academy: 138 for 4 in 32.4 overs (Vinay Sharma 62, Rajesh Gupta 30, Rajeev Sharma 2 for 27).

Monday’s fixture: Indian Navy vs Rajdhani Sports; 7.30 am—Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce ground, Pitampura.

Kho-kho championship trial on April 25
Our Correspondent

Rewari, April 18
The trials for the selection of the Haryana State teams (men and women), both for the 26th National Junior (under 19) Kho-Kho Championship as well as for the 10th Senior North India Kho-Kho Championship will be held at 8 am on April 25 in Haluwasia Senior Secondary School, Bhiwani.

The 26th National Junior ( under 19) Kho- Kho Championship ( boys and girls ) will be held at Solan ( Himachal Pradesh ) from June 2 to 4 , 2004, while the 26th Senior North India Kho-Kho Championship ( men and women) will be organized in the last week of May, 2004, informed Mr Satpal Singh, General Secretary , Haryana State Kho- Kho Association.