SPECIAL COVERAGE
CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI
S P O R T S

West Indies pull off astounding win

London, September 25
Brian Lara’s West Indies held their nerve to beat England in a dramatic Champions Trophy final at the Oval and lift their first major one-day title for 25 years.

The West Indies’ Wavell Hinds (L) celebrates with captain Brian Lara following the dismissal of England’s Andrew Flintoff during their ICC Champions Trophy final at the Oval on Saturday.
The West Indies’ Wavell Hinds (L) celebrates with captain Brian Lara following the dismissal of England’s Andrew Flintoff during their ICC Champions Trophy final at the Oval on Saturday. — Reuters photo

Adam Gilchrist promises exciting series
Mumbai, September 25
Stand-in Australian captain Adam Gilchrist today said his team was better prepared to meet the stiff challenge posed by India in their own backyard this time and promised a lot of excitement in the four-Test series commencing at Bangalore on October 6.
In video: The Australian cricket team led by stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist arrives in Mumbai. (28k, 56k)


Former Pakistan captain and fast bowler Waqar Younis gives tips to young members of Karma, an NGO, at National Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday.
Former Pakistan captain and fast bowler Waqar Younis gives tips to young members of Karma, an NGO, at National Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday. — Tribune photo by Mukesh Aggarwal

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

 

Stand-in Australian captain Adam Gilchrist and coach John Buchanan attend a news conference No surgery for Ponting




Stand-in Australian captain Adam Gilchrist (R) and coach John Buchanan attend a news conference in Mumbai on Saturday. — Reuters photo

Sachin likely to be fit in two weeks
Mumbai, September 25
Sachin Tendulkar, afflicted by tennis elbow, would need at least two weeks to recover fitness, according to Dr Anant Joshi, who examined the master batsman on his return to India earlier this week.

Rest of India crush Mumbai, lift Irani Trophy
Chandigarh, September 25
The Rest of India retained the Irani Trophy beating Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai by 290 runs at the PCA Stadium in Mohali today. Facing a Herculean task of chasing 495 runs for victory, Mumbai surrendered rather meekly, being bowled out for 204.

EARLIER STORIES
 
Former German tennis player Steffi Graf talks to Argentina's tennis star Gabriela Sabatini
Former German tennis player Steffi Graf (L) talks to Argentina's tennis star Gabriela Sabatini following their tennis show match in Berlin on Saturday. Graf won the match 6-1, 7-5. — Reuters

Dhoni’s ton steers Bihar to victory
Chandigarh, September 25
M.S. Dhoni of Bihar celebrated his inclusion in India-A team by scoring the breezy 123 off 98 balls inclusive of 10x4 and 7x6s to steer Bihar to a comfortable 7-wicket win against PCA Colts in a high-scoring match at the newly laid strip at Sector 16, Cricket Stadium, here today.

Gaurav Ghei shares lead in Taiwan Open
Chandigarh, September 25
Indian professional Gaurav Ghei displayed classic golf to card an impressive three-under-par 69 and shared joint lead with Lin Chie-hsiang of Chinese Taipei in the Taiwan Open at the Taipei’s North Bay Golf and Country Club today.

Kuznetsova, Serena in final
Beijing, September 25
In an all-Russian semifinal today, US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova beat reigning Wimbledon queen Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-2 in the inaugural $ 585,000 China Open.



Serena Williams of the US speaks during a news conference after beating Russia's Vera Zvonareva in the semifinals at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on Saturday. Williams won 6-2, 6-3 and advanced to Sunday's final. — Reuters photo

Serena Williams of the US speaks during a news conference


Andy Roddick of the USA serves to Vladimir Voltchkov of Belarus in a Davis Cup semifinal match in Charleston, South Carolina, on Friday. Roddick, who won 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, beat his previous speed record of 153 mph in the match by serving the ball at 155 mph.
Andy Roddick of the USA serves to Vladimir Voltchkov of Belarus in a Davis Cup semifinal match in Charleston, South Carolina, on Friday. Roddick, who won 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, beat his previous speed record of 153 mph in the match by serving the ball at 155 mph. — AP/PTI

Top outfits crash out of Gurmit hockey
Chandigarh , September 25
It was a bad day for top-notch outfits, including Northern Railway, Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Jalandhar, and Indo-Tibetan Border Police, who made an unceremonious exit from the 34th SN Vohra’s All-India Gurmit Memorial Hockey Tournament after tasting defeat on the third day of the tournament at the Sector 42 hockey stadium here today.

Surjit academy edge out Bengal XI
Amritsar, September 25
Surjit Hockey Academy, Jalandhar, edged out Bengal XI 5-2 convincingly on the second day of the third All-India Sher-e-Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh Junior Gold Cup Hockey Tournament at the hockey ground of Guru Nanak Dev University. Full-back Gagandeep Singh of Jalandhar struck two stylish goals in the 15th and 36th minutes. The first goal came from forward Raminder Singh.

Record entries for squash tourney
New Delhi, September 25
A record number of 300 players have entered for the prize money Northern India Squash Championship to be organised by the Delhi Squash Association from September 27 to 30. Delhi will be hosting this premier event for the third time, though after a gap of several years.
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West Indies pull off astounding win

London, September 25
Brian Lara’s West Indies held their nerve to beat England in a dramatic Champions Trophy final at the Oval and lift their first major one-day title for 25 years.

The West Indians, in what is likely to be Lara’s last international match in England, dismissed the home side for 217, then fought back from 147 for eight to triumph by two wickets in near darkness in front of a stunned capacity crowd.

Tailenders Ian Bradshaw (34) and Courtney Browne (35) refused to go off when offered the light by the umpires and put together a 71-run unbroken ninth-wicket stand to seal an unlikely victory with seven balls to spare. Both recorded career-best one-day international scores.

The West Indies’ last success at the top level came with their World Cup victories in 1975 and 1979.

For England, the world’s only leading side not to have won a top limited-overs tournament, looked certain of victory before Bradshaw’s and Browne’s heroics.

Earlier, Marcus Trescothick’s defiant, well-paced 104 and his breezy 63-run stand with Ashley Giles for the seventh wicket were the only bright spots for England as it scored a modest 217 in 49.4 overs after being asked to bat first by the West Indies.

Brian Lara won a crucial toss for the West Indies and expectedly asked England to bat. In the seven conclusive meetings between the two teams this year, the teams batting second have always been successful.

Scoreboard

England:

Trescothick run out 104

Solanki c Browne b Bradshaw 4

Vaughan b Bradshaw 7

Strauss run out 18

Flintoff c Lara b W Hinds 3

Collingwood c Chanderpaul b W. Hinds 16

Jones c Lara b W Hinds 6

Giles c Lara b Bravo 31

Wharf not out 3

Gough st Browne b Gayle 0

Harmison run out 2

Extras: (b-1, lb-7, w-15) 23

Total: (all out, 49.4 overs) 217

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-43, 3-84, 4-93, 5-123, 6-149, 7-211, 8-214, 9-214.

Bowling: Bradshaw 10-1-54-2, Collymore 10-1-38-0, Gayle 9.4-0-52-1, Bravo 10-0-41-1, Wavell Hinds 10-3-24-3.

West Indies:

Gayle c&b Harmison 23

W. Hinds c Solanki b Harmison 3

Sarwan c Strauss b Flintoff 5

Lara c Jones b Flintoff 14

Chanderpaul c Vaughan b Collingwood 47

Bravo c Jones b Flintoff 0

R. Hinds c Jones b Trescothick 8

Powell c Trescothick b Collingwood 14

Browne not out 35

Bradshaw not out 34

Extras (w-19, nb-5, lb-11) 35

Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-35, 3-49, 4-72, 5-80, 6-114, 7-135, 8-147.

Bowling: Gough 10-1-58-0, Harmison 10-1-34-2, Collingwood 6-0-22-2, Trescothick 3-0-17-1, Wharf 9.5-0-37-0, Flintoff 10-0-38-3. — Reuters

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Adam Gilchrist promises exciting series

Mumbai, September 25
Stand-in Australian captain Adam Gilchrist today said his team was better prepared to meet the stiff challenge posed by India in their own backyard this time and promised a lot of excitement in the four-Test series commencing at Bangalore on October 6.

“A lot of water has flown under the bridge since that series in 2001 (which Australia lost 1-2). We have played a lot of cricket all over the world. The visit to Sri Lanka last year is significant. We played the spinners very well there. We are much better prepared mentally and cricketwise,” Gilchrist told reporters at the team hotel here.

A majority of the Australian team members, including Gilchrist and coach John Buchanan, arrived here early this morning from England after ending their campaign in the ICC Champions Trophy.

The flashy wicketkeeper-batsman said both teams would be hit hard in the likely absence through injuries of Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar for at least a part of the rubber.

“I don’t know the status about Sachin’s injury, but India would certainly miss him. We, too, would miss Ponting, but we are used to missing players due to injuries,” Gilchrist said.

“But the series would not diminish one bit in the likely absence of any player. This rivalry between India and Australia has developed into an iconic one. The series would be exciting for the fans,” he said.

Ponting had to return to Australia for treating his fractured left thumb after sustaining the injury in the semifinal loss to England. Tendulkar has been out of cricket after the Asia Cup in July due to an elbow injury.

Highlighting the intense rivalry between India and Australia, who would be fighting it out for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Gilchrist said both teams had played competitive cricket in each other’s soil over the past two series.

“India and Australia have played a lot against each other recently. We were competitive in 2001, but did not get the desired result. India were competitive last year in Australia. But this cannot be compared to the Ashes series (Australia v England). Each series has its own identity,” he pointed out.

The 34-year-old swashbuckling batsman said he and some other players were distracted due to commercial and other commitments on the last visit and had decided to temper these down on the current tour.

“There are huge opportunities in India off the field, not only for commercial purposes. There’s a lot to see in India. I personally had too much on my plate in 2001. This time we have decided to temper our off field activities,” he said.

Having taken over the reins of captaincy unexpectedly from Ponting, Gilchrist said he aimed to be in constant touch with the Tasmanian and carry out the plans as Ponting had desired before he had to return home.

“I am not going to change anything, not try anything different from what Ricky had planned, he said. — PTI

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No surgery for Ponting

SYDNEY: Australian captain Ricky Ponting will not need surgery on his broken thumb but is almost certain to miss the first Test against India, Cricket Australia said on Saturday.

Cricket Australia medical adviser Trefor James said an examination on Saturday in Sydney by specialist Ian Hargreaves confirmed a fracture to the distal phalanx of Ponting’s left thumb.

“After discussion with Ricky, we have decided he should rest for the next few days and we will organise a re-examination for later next week to check his progress and better assess when he might be able to grip a bat and field,” James said.

“It is difficult at this stage to assess when he can resume playing. It is highly unlikely he will be ready to play by the time of the first Test.”

The first Test begins on October 6 in Bangalore. — AP

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Sachin likely to be fit in two weeks

Mumbai, September 25
Sachin Tendulkar, afflicted by tennis elbow, would need at least two weeks to recover fitness, according to Dr Anant Joshi, who examined the master batsman on his return to India earlier this week.

“Optimistically speaking, he would be able to play cricket in two weeks’ time. In a worst-case scenario, it may take even two months,” Dr Joshi told PTI here.

Tendulkar, who has been sidelined with the affliction since the Holland tri-series in the third week of August, is in constant touch with Dr Joshi and Indian team physiotherapist Andrew Leipus, who are monitoring his progress.

“Rest, ice/heat packs and gentle massage” are the types of treatment that have been recommended to the champion batsman since he underwent electric shock therapy in England, Dr Joshi said.

Asked whether osteopathy can give the desired result as claimed by an osteopath recently, Dr Joshi said, “There are all types of people willing to treat Sachin’s elbow with all kinds of treatment.” — PTI

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Rest of India crush Mumbai, lift Irani Trophy
Gopal Sharma
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 25
The Rest of India retained the Irani Trophy beating Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai by 290 runs at the PCA Stadium in Mohali today. Facing a Herculean task of chasing 495 runs for victory, Mumbai surrendered rather meekly, being bowled out for 204.

The Rest of India emerged the worthy winners as they looked a more coherent side. They bowled and batted better to emerge comfortable winners with more than one day to spare.

Mumbai, in fact, looked a pale shadow of their usual self and seemed to be just going through the motions. If in the first innings they were bowled out for 198, their batting was equally pathetic in the second innings.

Opener Vinayak Mane, with a score of 41, was the highest scorer, while skipper Sairaj Bahutule and former India batsman Vinod Kambli were other main contributors with 39 and 36 runs, respectively, today.

In the absence of their main fast bowler Munaf Patel, who retired hurt on account of a shoulder injury on the first day itself, the Mumbai attack, at best, looked steady.

The other frontline pacer, Avishkar Salvi, bowled a restrictive line but never posed any threat to batsmen.

Due to the absence of Munaf and an indifferent Salvi, the bowling burden fell on Bahutule. The leg-spinner bowled 36 overs in the second innings for his three wickets.

Thankfully for Mumbai, all- rounder Robin Morris did well and finished with a match haul of nine wickets. Otherwise Mumbai’s plight would have been even worse.

The Rest of India, on the other hand, were well served by batsmen S Sriram and Parthiv Patel in the first innings, whereas Y Venugopal Rao anchored their second innings along with Parthiv and Zaheer Khan as the Rest of India put an impressive 378 on the board.

SS Paul and Zaheer caused the damage in the first innings, while Joginder Sharma, Murali Kartik and YA Golwalkar thwarted the rival batsmen in the second innings.

Scoreboard

Rest of India (1st innings): 314

Mumbai (1st innings): 198

Rest of India (2nd innings):

Chopra c and b 41

Gambhir lbw Powar 30

Sriram c and b Powar 22

Mongia c Samant b Salvi 12

Rao c Salvi b Powar 113

Joginder c Powar b Bahutule 0

Parthiv c Mane b Salvi 68

Kartik c and b Bahutule 16

Zaheer c Mane b Morris 60

Golwalkar c sub b Morris 0

Paul not out 0

Extras(lb-4, nb-12) 16

Total(all out, 114 overs) 378

Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-82, 3-103, 4-126, 5-126, 6-288, 7-311, 8-331, 9-359.

Bowling: Salvi 28-5-82-3, Morris 19-1-95-2, Bahutule 36-10-92-3, Powar 26-5-92-3, Thakkar 4-0-11-0, Mane 1-0-2-0.

Mumbai (2nd innings):

Mane c Chopra b Kartik 41

Jaffer lbw Paul 14

Thakkar c Chopra b Kartik 13

Muzumdar lbw Zaheer 11

Kambli b Joginder 36

Powar c Mongia b Golwalkar 23

Bahutule not out 39

Morris c Mongia b Golwalkar 0

Samant c Kartik b Joginder 20

Salvi b Joginder 1

Patel retired absent 0

Extras (b-2, lb-3, nb-1) 6

Total (all out, 68 overs) 204

Fall of wickets: 1-40, 2-67, 3-78, 4-94, 5-126, 6- 152, 7-154, 8-192, 9-204.

Bowling: Zaheer 13-0-39-1, Paul 15-3-47-1, Joginder Sharma 12-3-40-3, Kartik 19-4-49-2, Golwalkar 9-1-24-2. 

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Dhoni’s ton steers Bihar to victory
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 25
M.S. Dhoni of Bihar celebrated his inclusion in India-A team by scoring the breezy 123 off 98 balls inclusive of 10x4 and 7x6s to steer Bihar to a comfortable 7-wicket win against PCA Colts in a high-scoring match at the newly laid strip at Sector 16, Cricket Stadium, here today.

The wicket play true and allowed the batsmen to play all over the ground.

Winning the toss and elected to bat PCA Colts were given a rising start by Ishan Malhotra who scored 96 runs off 58 balls which include 12 fours and 4 sixes. Ravinder Singh (33), Sarabjeet Singh (29) and Vipul Sharma (36 not out) were the other notable contributors. Sumit Panda, Sujit Roy and Kishan Kumar chipped in with two wickets each. Ishan Malhotra was involved in a century stand for the 2nd wicket with Ankur Kakkar (22).

Bihar, in their reply, lost the first wicket at 59. The M.S. Dhoni in company with Aamir Hashmi (55) hammered a partnership of 135 runs for the 2nd wicket in 141 balls. PCA Colts bowlers proved to be canon fodder for the rampaging M.S. Dhoni who was in a punishing mood from the word go. Dhoni for his brilliant knock was given the Man of the Match award by Mr Lalit Sharma, Advisor to the Administrator, UT, Chandigarh.

In the second match of the day, All India Associated Banks beat Indian Airlines by four wickets at Sector 3, Panchkula Cricket Stadium.

Indian Airlines won the toss and opted to bat first but were restricted to 199 for 9 in 50 overs. J. Arun Kumar (46), Sachin Rane (46), Vijay Dahiya (23) and Chetan Sharma (28) were the main run getters from Indian Airlines. Left-arm spinner Majithia kept a tight leash on the batsman and produced an impressive figure of 10-2-34-4 which earned him the man of the match award.

All India Associated Banks chased the target in 45.3 overs with opener Suresh (40) and M.P. Sorab (24) putting 62 runs for the opening wicket. D. Manohar (28), B. Akhil (38), Shashi (40) were the other contributors. Nikhil Chopra 2 for 28 was the most successful bowler for Indian Airlines.

Sunday’s fixtures: Canara Bank vs Bihar Cricket Association at 9.00 a.m. in Sector 16, Cricket Stadium, Chandigarh.

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Gaurav Ghei shares lead in Taiwan Open

Chandigarh, September 25
Indian professional Gaurav Ghei displayed classic golf to card an impressive three-under-par 69 and shared joint lead with Lin Chie-hsiang of Chinese Taipei in the Taiwan Open at the Taipei’s North Bay Golf and Country Club today.

Ghei’s progressive scores were 73, 72 and 69 for a total of two-under-par 214 after 54 holes, according to information received here.

Chandigarh-based Amandeep Johl also returned a brilliant three-under-par 69 but was tied 10th with Hsieh Man-nan (72, 73, 74) for a total of 219. Johl had carded 77 on the first day and one-over-par 73 yesterday.

After a disastrous round of eight-over-par 80 on day one, Jeev Milkha Singh improved his position with two good successive rounds of 74 and two-under-par 70. Jeev, son of Flying Sikh Milkha Singh, was sharing 30th position with a three days’ total of 224.

Vivek Bhandari (77, 71, 72) and Harmeet Kahlon of Chandigarh were tied 12th with an identical total of 222. Bhandari today played a par round 72 while Kahlon (73, 74, 73) was one over.

Rahil Gangjee (79, 73, 75) of Kolkata was in the joint 50th position in the $ 3 lakh Asian Tour event.

Since winning his only major title in 1995, Ghei’s career has been hit by injuries and he was delighted to be in joint lead the 40th Taiwan Open.

After birdies on the second and eighth holes and a bogey on 11, Ghei finished with a stroke of genius. He had 105 yards to the pin on the par-four 16th and struck a sweet wedge that found the bottom of the cup for his eagle. “I didn’t see the ball go in as the hole plays uphill but I knew it had gone in as the crowd was cheering,” said Ghei.

The Indian will have to contend with the 43-year-old Lin, who bogeyed his first hole and double bogeyed the third. However, the local hope came charging back with five birdies against one more bogey. — UNI

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Kuznetsova, Serena in final

Beijing, September 25
In an all-Russian semifinal today, US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova beat reigning Wimbledon queen Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-2 in the inaugural $ 585,000 China Open.

It was Kuznetsova’s 14th consecutive win since taking the US Open earlier this month and pits her in tomorrow’s final against the number one seed American Serena Williams who beat fourth seed Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-3. — AFP

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Top outfits crash out of Gurmit hockey
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh , September 25
It was a bad day for top-notch outfits, including Northern Railway, Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Jalandhar, and Indo-Tibetan Border Police, who made an unceremonious exit from the 34th SN Vohra’s All-India Gurmit Memorial Hockey Tournament after tasting defeat on the third day of the tournament at the Sector 42 hockey stadium here today.

While Army XI made mincemeat of Northern Railway, mauling them 7-2, Namdhari XI ousted RCF, Kapurthala, 2-1; Corps of Signals, Jalandhar, edged out ITBP 2-0 and IHF Juniors prevailed over EME, Jalandhar, 3-2 in a close contest.

Registering the most impressive win in the tournament so far, Army XI brought Northern Railway down to their knees through a second-session blitzkrieg after leading 3-2 at the breather.

The game was hardly 10 minutes old when Sunil Ekka converted a penalty corner to put Army XI ahead by one goal. Two short corner conversions by CS Xaxlo in the 18th and 21st minutes made it 3-0.

However, Northern Railway retaliated with some fine moves. Off one such move, Harish found the target in the 22nd minute to cut the deficit.

Six minutes before the interval, Rajive’s field goal for Northern Railway further reduced the margin to 2-3.

But thereafter, Army XI were in full command and scored at will. A cross from the right parallel to the goal-line was utilised to the hilt by an agile Suresh Kumar who stretched his arm to effect a neat deflection (4-2).

A field goal by Sunil Ekka in the 55th minute made it 5-2 in favour of Army XI while Harpreet Singh’s penalty corner conversion five minutes from close consolidated the lead further to 6-2. Three minutes before the long hooter, E. Lakra scored another field goal.

RCF, former champions, who had won the title some years ago, were in for an early shock when Didar Singh of Namdhari XI scored off a short corner to put his team ahead by one goal. Didar repeated his feat five minutes before the interval to make it 2-0.

RCF did try to come back into the game with some fine moves but only managed to cut the deficit to 1-2 thanks to a short corner conversion by Satinder Pal midway into the second session.

IHF Juniors, who edged out EME 3-2, displayed early dominance and led 3-0 till the 45th minute. The first goal came in the 14th minute through a penalty corner conversion by Raghunath who was also instrumental in fetching the second goal in similar fashion five minutes from the interval.

Ten minutes into the second session, Bharat’s field goal boosted the tally to 3-0 in favour of IHF XI.

Gurmeet’s goal off a short corner reduced the margin to 1-3 while Gurmail Singh’s goal off a penalty stroke two minutes from the end made it 2-3. Earlier, Corps of Signals, Jalandhar, edged out ITBP 2-0, scoring once in each half.

G. Das found the target off a penalty corner in the 12th minute while skipper Nabin consolidated the lead through a penalty corner in the 51st minute to dash the hopes of the paramilitary outfit.

Sunday’s fixtures: Signals v Chandigarh XI (11 am); Army XI v Centre of Excellence, Patiala (12.30 pm); Namdhari XI v Indian Air Force (2 pm); IHF Juniors v Ropar Hawks (3.30 pm).

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Surjit academy edge out Bengal XI
Our Sports Reporter

Amritsar, September 25
Surjit Hockey Academy, Jalandhar, edged out Bengal XI 5-2 convincingly on the second day of the third All-India Sher-e-Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh Junior Gold Cup Hockey Tournament at the hockey ground of Guru Nanak Dev University. Full-back Gagandeep Singh of Jalandhar struck two stylish goals in the 15th and 36th minutes. The first goal came from forward Raminder Singh.

Bengal’s Jagdish, capitalising on an opportunity, soon converted a penalty corner. But goals by Inderpal Singh and Sarvapreet Singh put Surjit Academy in a sound position. Full-back Santosh scored the second goal for Bengal.

In another match, Punjab and Sind Bank, Jalandhar, thrashed underdogs Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Academy, Amritsar, 7-0.

For the winners, Navjot scored three goals. Showing good stickwork Sharanjeet struck two field goals in the 31st and 40th minutes. Tasawurjit Singh and Harjit Singh converted two penalty corners in the 55th and 60th minutes.

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Record entries for squash tourney
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, September 25
A record number of 300 players have entered for the prize money Northern India Squash Championship to be organised by the Delhi Squash Association from September 27 to 30. Delhi will be hosting this premier event for the third time, though after a gap of several years.

Tournament director Bhuvneshwari Kumari, 16-time national champion and Padma Shri and Arjuna Awardee, said the tournament would have a total prize money of Rs 3,97,000 with the open event title winner taking home Rs 50,000 and the runner-up getting Rs 25,000.

She said the tournament would be open to seven age groups in the men’s section and three in the women’s section. She thanked Asia Sugar, Delton Cable, Dhampur Sugar Mills and Khandewal Laboratories for coming forward to sponsor the event and was surprised at the overwhelming response from players from all parts of the country. 

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 BRIEFLY


Laila Ali wins
ATLANTA: Laila Ali, daughter of former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, won the International Women’s Boxing Federation light heavyweight championship by knocking out Gwendolyn O’Neil at 1:59 of the third round.
Ali knocked O’Neil down twice in the second round, each time with a right hand to the chin, as the crowd estimated at 6,000 chanted “Ali, Ali, Ali” for the 26-year old, who improved to 19-0 with 16 KOs. The 5-foot-10, 78.3-kg Ali began pounding O’Neil late in the third round and ended the fight with a barrage of punches to the face, knocking O’Neil down in a neutral corner where she sat stunned as she was counted out. — AP

Laila Ali raises her glove after knocking out Gwendolyn
Laila Ali raises her glove after knocking out Gwendolyn O'Neil in the third round of their International Women's Boxing Federation light heavyweight title fight in Atlanta on Friday. AP/PTI

Eves finish 7th
CHENNAI: India defeated Sri Lanka in straight games to finish seventh in the 12th Asian Junior Women’s Volleyball Championship in Colombo on Saturday.
India defeated the hosts 25-16, 25-08, 25-16 in the match to decide the 7th and 8th places, according to a note from the Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) here. Maldives ended up as the bottom-most team, taking the ninth position. Korea, China, Japan and Chinese Taipei have already reached the last four. — PTI

Brazilian Sandra Pires celebrates after wining a beach volleyball semifinal match
Brazilian Sandra Pires celebrates after wining a beach volleyball semifinal match against another Brazilian team at the FIVB World Tour 2004 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Friday. Pires and Ana Paula beat Juliana Felisberta and Larissa Franca 2-0. — AP/PTI

Hamirpur triumph
HAMIRPUR: Hamirpur beat Mandi by virtue of their first innings lead of 90 runs in the Himachal Pradesh state inter-district cricket match which ended at Nadaun on Friday evening. Batting first, Hamirpur scored 175 runs thanks to fine innings of 52 by Niraj and 37 by Devinder. For Mandi, Sandeep Moudgil got three wickets for 17 runs and Chetan Sharma 3 for 15. In reply, Mandi were bundled out for 85 runs due to devastating bowling by Vishal Bhatia, who got seven wickets for 21 runs. Hamirpur scored 136 for 9 in their second knock with 46 by Virendra Sharma. However, the Mandi team could score only 126 for 4 when play was stopped. For Mandi, Jaswant Singh scored an unbeaten 52. Varun Mishra of Hamirpur got two wickets for 19 runs.

Sania bows out
Hyderabad: Sania Mirza crashed out of the $50,000 ITF Women’s Tournament, being played in Lebanon, with a straight- set loss in the semifinals to Bominguez-Lino of Spain. The 17-year-old Indian lost 2-6, 4-6 to Bominguez-Lino, according to information received here on Saturday. The Spanish player took the first set quite easily, dropping two just two games. Although the Indian improved her game in the second set to win four games, she could not overcome Lino. — PTITop

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