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Sandeep scores brace as India thrash Pak 4-1
Ashok Kumar flays IHF policies
Cricketers keen to strike form
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News Analysis
SC notices to Centre, BCCI
Agarkar in Mumbai squad
Series against Pak in February
PCC score huge win
Namdhari-XI, Army XI sail into q-finals
HP cricket
Command team win 2nd leg of Golf cup
Era, Dinesh best swimmers
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Sandeep scores brace as India thrash Pak 4-1
Quetta, September 27 Riding on a brace by drag-flicker Sandeep Singh (13th and 17th minutes) and a 33rd minute strike by Ignace Tirkey, the visitors took a 3-0 lead by half-time before Tushar Khandekar added to the tally in the 60th minute with an opportunistic goal. Pakistan wasted four penalty corners before scoring from the fifth in the 69th minute through Sohail Abbas for their consolation goal. India got themselves into a position of strength in the first half itself when Sandeep Singh scored two goals in a span of three minutes, both coming from penalty corners, before Ignace Tirkey hammered home for a 3-0 lead. Sandeep, who had a tremendous outing in the junior Asia Cup where he was the tournament top scorer, brought an end to a lean patch at the highest level with the twin strikes, outwitting Pakistani goalkeeper Salman Akbar on both the occasions. The youngster from Haryana, expected to fill in the shoes of expert drag flicker Jugraj Singh, scored from the first two penalty corners the side got in the first 17 minutes. Akbar, who was expecting high flicks from Sandeep on both the occasions, was foxed when the Indian beat him with cleverly hit carpet shots, much to the delight of the visitors. Pakistan tried hard to stage a comeback briefly when they made some dangerous moves from both the wings and in the process earned a couple of penalty corners in the 23rd and 30th minute. But the hosts' hopes of reducing the margin came crashing down after goalkeeper Adrian D'Souza charged out to effect fine saves on both the occasions -- first from a variation and second from a powerful drag-flick from Sohail Abbas, the world's second highest goal scorer behind Holland's Paul Litjens. The Indians made the life of Pakistanis difficult further when Ignace scored in the 33rd minute from a fine counter move. Vivek Gupta's hit into the Pakistan circle was well stopped by Arjun Halappa, whose reverse pass was used to the maximum effect by Igance, who unleashed a rasping hit to beat Akbar all ends up. The visitors suffered a jolt when key midfielder Viren Rasquinha was temporarily suspended for an infringement in the 55th minute. However, Pakistan failed to take advantage of the 10-men India even though they managed to win two penalty corners with Dilwar Hussain being unable to stop Rehan Butt's pushes from the setpieces. Young forward Khandekar, who had an outstanding game today, deservedly hit the last nail in Pakistan's coffin with a goal in the 60th minute to seal the fate of the match.
—PTI |
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Schedule for India-Pak
hockey Tests
Chandigarh, September 27 The schedule: Delhi — October 4, 1.30 pm; Chandigarh — October 6, 1.30 pm; Amritsar — October 8, 1.30 pm; Hyderabad — October 10, 8 pm. |
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Ashok Kumar flays IHF policies
Chandigarh, September 27 Talking to The Tribune in an exclusive interview here today on the eve of Indian Airlines’ quarterfinal match against Namdhari XI in the ongoing SN Vohra’s 34th All-India Gurmit Memorial Hockey Tournament tomorrow, the hero of the 1975 World Cup winning side was critical of the policies being pursued by the national federation. “The national championship is not being held for years. There is neither a proper selection committee nor a pool of players from which the national team can be picked,” said Ashok, who represented India in the 1972 Munich Olympics as well as the Montreal Olympics in 1976. “Thanks to the academies, particularly in this region, we have plenty of good stuff. What we need is a proper selection committee at the national level which can spot talent and look after the budding players,” said Ashok Kumar, one of Dhyan Chand’s seven sons, who mesmerised the crowds with his brilliant stickwork. Incidentally, it was Ashok Kumar’s decisive goal against Pakistan in the 1975 World Cup at Kuala Lumpur which fetched India the gold medal for the first time. Referring to the induction of a German coach a few days before the Olympics, Ashok Kumar said it was certainly not a wise decision. “ How is it possible for a coach to assess the players and open up before the boys in 2-3 weeks,” he asked adding “when someone goes to somebody’s house, it takes time to familiarise. I don’t think anything will come out of this experiment.” Regarding the style of play, Ashok said: “We can’t compare ourselves with the Europeans who are much more fit and fast. What we can do is minimise their counter-attacks through a tight defence while at the same time emphasise on attack through four forwards.” Currently working in Indian Airlines as a member of flying cabin crew, Ashok Kumar is amazed at the amount of money being paid to players as well as cash incentives accompanying top awards. “During our time we played for national pride,” said Ashok, perhaps the best right-in that India have ever produced. Decorated with the Arjuna Award in 1974, Ashok Kumar is pained by the controversies surrounding the coveted award now. “ Today we have devalued our national award,” he said adding “ the joy of receiving the Arjuna Award then along with a cup of tea had to be experienced to be believed.” Born in Meerut in 1949, Ashok Kumar wants top players to lead by example. “I certainly do not approve of the tendency of senior players to run down junior team-mates. Even Dhanraj Pillay tried to blame some of his team-mates which was not a wise thing,” said Ashok who is always willing to call a spade a spade. |
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Cricketers keen to strike form
Bangalore, September 27 With the Australians already in their backyard and the first Test scheduled for October 6 to 10 at the same venue, Sourav Ganguly and Co. would be looking to utilise the opportunity to get their batting woes sorted out at the M Chinnaswamy stadium. And for those waiting in the wings to break into the squad, this is a chance to turn in impressive performances to catch the attention of the selectors and place themselves on a better footing. Paceman Zaheer Khan, who is hoping to return to the side, as well as three wicket-keepers - Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Kaarthick and Mahendra Singh Dhoni -- are also bound to come under the scrutiny of the selectors. The teams (from): India Seniors:
Sourav Ganguly (Captain), Aakash Chopra, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Dinesh Kaarthick, Ambati Rayudu and Siddarth Trivedi. India 'A': Dinesh Mongia (Captain), Dheeraj Jadhav, Gautam Gambir, Mohammad Kaif, Sridharan Sriram, M S Dhoni, S S Paul, Murali Kartik, Amit Bhandari, Ashish Nehra, Joginder Sharma, Sarandeep Singh, Kiran Pawar and Y Venugopal Rao.
—PTI
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Sourav optimistic about Sachin
Kolkata, September 27 On the occasion of the formal announcement of the launch of ‘Sourav’s’ a multi-cuisine restaurant, Ganguly said: “There are still eight or nine days left before the first Test begins on October 6. “If Sachin (Tendulkar) declares himself fit before that he will surely play. Otherwise, he may have to miss the first Test”. Asked if the absence of someone like Sachin affected the team, Sourav said, “Why only Sachin, if Rahul Dravid or Zaheer Khan is not playing that too affects the side.” “But, yes, it surely makes a difference to the team when a big name like Sachin is missing from the squad,” he added. Asked if the absence of Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar neutralises the advantage of either side, Sourav said, “We are hoping that Sachin will play. So the question does not arise.” A nagging tennis elbow has kept Sachin out of action and the little champion had to skip the Holland triangular series and NatWest Challenge serices against England and the ICC Champions Trophy.
— UNI |
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When politicians call the shots
BCCI elections to be a fight to the finish Abhijit Chatterjee Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 27 If on one hand it is Maharashtra’s strongman and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who is the leader of the National Congress Party, on the other hand it is Mr Ranbir Singh, a Congressman who has the unstinted support of the current BCCI President, Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya. Mr Dalmiya is known to be close to the Leftists in power in his home state of West Bengal as well as Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. Over the years politicians of various hues have played stellar roles in the functioning of the BCCI but never have they shown their political colours either in the elections or in the day-to-day functioning of the board. But this year it seems to be different. One remembers that when Mr Madhavrao Scindia, Union Minister in the Rajiv Gandhi Cabinet, was the BCCI President between 1990 and 1993 he opted to send Mr Dalmiya, a successful businessman, and a senior Punjab cadre IAS officer, Mr Inderjit Singh Bindra, President of the Punjab Cricket Association, to plead the sub-continent’s case in the International Cricket Council for allotment of the 1996 World Cup to India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Even in his own state of Madhya Pradesh where Mr Scindia was the president and who helped put Gwalior on the international cricket map by organising one-day internationals, Mr Scindia enjoyed the confidence of politicians of all hues, who found prominent places in his association. Then when Mr Bindra took over from Mr Scindia as BCCI President in 1993 he had Mr Manohar Joshi of the Shiv Sena as Vice-President. Mr Joshi went on to become the Chief Minister of Maharastra but attended meetings of the BCCI presided over by Mr Bindra and the working of the board went on smoothly. Even in the Kolkata meeting of September 29 politicians of various parties will be present but it is difficult to predict which way they will vote. The board has a total of 31 affiliated units with one vote each. The DDCA (Delhi) is headed by Mr Arun Jaitley, who is from the BJP. Yet another north zone unit, Himachal Pradesh, is headed by Mr Anurag Thakur, son of a former BJP Chief Minister of the state. And in Jammu and Kashmir it is Dr Farooq Abdullah who calls the shots in the cricket association. The Railways and the Services are voting members of the board and it is the ministers concerned who will decide who will attend the Kolkata meeting. Union Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav has already pitched in in favour of Sharad Pawar. Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, has, however, not spelt out his mind. The Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association is headed by Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia, son of former BCCI chief Madhavrao Scindia, of the Congress while the newly-affiliated Jharkhand Cricket Association is under the control of Kirti Azad, former BJP MP and Test player. The Bihar Cricket Association of which Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav is the President has recently been disaffiliated from the board. On the other hand of the spectrum the Karnataka Cricket Association is headed by Brijesh Patel, a supporter of Mr Dalmiya, while Baroda is being led by Kiran More, another Dalmiya product. Uttar Pradesh-based Samajwadi party leader Amar Singh has got into the Cricket Association of Bengal as a representative of one of the clubs and is likely to attend the BCCI meeting. Yet another politician Rajiv Shukla of the Congress is a Vice-President of the Board while Gautam Roy of the Congress heads the Assam cricket body. He is said to be close to the Board President. The southern units of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are not headed by politicians though the Kerala boss is the present BCCI Secretary Karunakaran Nair. Rajasthan is the fiefdom of the Rungtas. Former Board President Raj Singh Dungarpur calls the shots in the Cricket Club of India (Mumbai) but it is difficult to predict which way he will go since he at different times has been close to Mr Dalmiya as well as the Punjab Cricket Association President.
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SC notices to Centre, BCCI
New Delhi, September 27 A three-Judge Bench, comprising Mr Justice N Santosh Hegde, Mr Justice B.P. Singh and Mr Justice S.B. Sinha while issuing notices to the respondents, ordered the transfer of the case to a five-Judge Bench for hearing tomorrow because Zee had raised an important question of law whether its rights under Article 14 had been violated and a contract could be recalled after it has been awarded to a party. The notice was also issued to Price Waterhouse Corporation Ltd, a marketing company for ESPN Star. While Zee’s counsel Harish Salve said the BCCI had cancelled the contract after it had become operational, BCCI counsel K.K. Venugopal said it was done because Australian Cricket Board had threatened to cancel the tour to India if the coverage of the matches were not as per the specified international standards. Mr Venugopal said the BCCI had now decided to produce the live telecast package by itself of the Australian and South Africa matches and provide feed of the signal for domestic coverage through Prasar Bharati and for international viewers through its own arrangement. Zee’s counsel said his client was not seeking restoration of the contract right now, but challenging its cancellation, once it had become operational with the domestic channel making advance payment of $ 20 million to the board. “The entire process of cancellation was not in the interest of promotion of sports in the country as Zee is launching a separate domestic sports channel from October 2 to promote coverage of sports events in the country,” he said, adding that “unilateral” cancellation of the deal amounted to violation of Zee’s rights under Article 14. The initial bid of Zee was $ 260 million and that of its rival ESPN Star’s $ 230 million. But during the negotiation, the BCCI committee, raised it to $ 308 million if the rights had to be given to Zee till 2008, Mr Salve informed the court. |
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Agarkar in Mumbai squad
Mumbai, September 27 Medium pacer Santosh Shinde and Rohit Sharma have also been included in place of injured pace bowler Munaf Patel and Onkar Khanwilkar respectively. The squad: Sairaj Bahutule (Capt), Vinod
Kambli, Vinayak Mane, Wasim Jaffer, Bhavin Thakkar, Vinit Indulkar, Amol
Muzumdar, Vinayak Samant, Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar, Avishkar Salvi, Swapnil
Hazare, Nilesh Kulkarni, Robin Morris, Santosh Shinde and Rohit Sharma. — PTI |
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Series against Pak in February
New Delhi, September 27 “Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had sent us the proposal for the series in February and we have informed them that we can host (Pakistan) after February 25 which they have agreed to. But the exact dates, venues and number of Test and one-day matches are yet to be finalised,” BCCI secretary S.K. Nair told UNI. This will be Pakistan’s first tour of India since 1999. Earlier this year, India visited Pakistan to play five
one-dayers and two Test matches and won both the series. — UNI |
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PCC score huge win
Chandigarh, September 27 Replying to the huge total, BPCL innings folded at 139 runs in 38.4 overs leaving PCC victorious by 149 runs and with 5 points including a bonus. Ravneet Ricky was declared the man of the match. In the second mach India Airlines defeated Indian Oil Corporation by five wickets at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium. In the third match played at Sector-3, Panchkula, Bengal defeated Madhya Pardesh by seven wickets. Winning the toss
M.P.C.A. were restricted to 155 for 9 in 50 overs. Bengal chased the total in 39.3 overs by scoring 158 runs for the loss of three wickets with Arindam Dass remaining not out 58 and Laxmi Rattan Shukla not out on 40. Tuesday’s fixtures: Indian Oil vs All India Associate Banks, PCA Stadium Mohali at 9 am; BPCL vs Air India, Sector 16, Chandigarh at 9 am. |
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Namdhari-XI, Army XI sail into q-finals
Chandigarh, September 27 While Namdhari XI snuffed out mild resistance from the young Central Reserve Police Force to emerge victorious by a 4-2 margin thanks to a superlative performance by international Didar Singh, Army XI mauled Central Railway 6-0 in a match clearly dominated by the defence personnel. In the other two pre-quarterfinals, Western Railway edged out Ropar Hawks by a solitary goal while BPCL overcame stiff resistance from Chandigarh XI before winning 5-2. For Namdhari XI, international Didar Singh, who represented India in the Asia Cup at Kuala Lumpur and the Champions Trophy at Amstelveen, emerged as the hero with three goals, all coming off short corners through drag flicks executed to precision. In fact, all the goals in the match came off penalty corners but Namdhari XI were clearly the superior side as they not only consolidated the early gains but also kept the rivals in check, especially in the first half. Namdharis tasted success as early as in the eighth minute when Didar Singh’s drag flick off the first penalty corner caught CRPF custodian Robindro Singh on the wrong foot (1-0). A series of penalty corners followed thereafter but off the fourth short corner in the 18th minute, Hans Pal sounded the board with a direct hit to make it 2-0. Eight minutes from the breather, Didar was once again on target for the Namdharis with his drag flick off a penalty corner which gave Robindro Singh under the CRPF bar absolutely no chance (3-0). Two minutes before half time, Namdhari XI forced another penalty corner but this time they attempted a different variation. Following the push by Harvinder Singh, Gurcharan Singh sent a quick pass to Karamjit but the move proved abortive. Another drag flick off a short corner by Didar at the stroke of half time was palmed away by Robindro. In the second half, CRPF displayed urgency upfront, forcing penalty corners in quick succession. Off the third short corner in the 44th minute, S. Tete managed to scoop the ball home past Namdhari custodian Swinder Singh (1-3). However, Namdhari XI were once again on the offensive and in the 54th minute, Didar Singh found the roof of the net with his drag flick, executed with clinical precision (4-1). CRPF forced a short corner four minutes later and Simon made no mistake to reduce the margin to 2-4. But that was all the paramilitary outfit, which according to team manager Jaswinder Singh is in the building process, could achieve as they gracefully accepted the verdict. Army XI, who mauled runners-up of the Baba Farid Gold Cup, Central Railway 6-0, once again gave an impressive display of their awesome firepower. Leading by a third-minute goal through GS Xaxlo off a penalty corner, Army XI pumped in five more to derail Central Railway. Two field goals in the 32nd and 35th minutes by Suresh Kumar and Suresh KV boosted the tally to 3-0 at half time while E.Lakra made it 4-0 through another field goal a few minutes after resumption. A penalty stroke awarded to Army XI after the Central Railway goalkeeper brought down a forward inside the striking circle was dutifully converted by Avtar Singh making it 5-0. MS Murum completed the rout off a short corner in the 51st minute to send Central Railway packing (6-0). BPCL, who beat Chandigarh XI 5-2, displayed early domination and shot into the lead in the sixth minute when Ravi Naiker converted a penalty corner. However, Chandigarh XI equalised through Amit Tyagi who converted a short corner the 13th minute. Thereafter, BPCL added two more goals. M.K. Prakash converted a penalty stroke in the 18th minute which was followed by Amar Aiyamma’s field goal six minutes later which made it 3-1 in favour of BPCL. In the second half, Chandigarh XI attacked with ferocity and managed to cut the deficit to 2-3 through Navdeep Singh’s field goal. But thereafter it were BPCL all the way as they added two more goals through Amar Aiyamma to dash the hopes of the local outfit. As Mr YP Vohra, organising secretary said, the result was not a true index of the contest, which by all accounts was a well-contested tie. Earlier, Western Railway relied on Hemant Gathe’s field goal which came midway in the second session, to down a fighting Ropar Hawks 1-0. Having won the Baba Farid Gold Cup at Faridkot a few days back, Ropar Hawks put up plucky resistance but ultimately failed to carry the day in the face of mounting pressure. Western Railway were awarded four penalty corners while Ropar Hawks could force only one. Tuesday’s fixtures: (Quarterfinals): Indian Airlines v Namdhari XI — 2 pm ; BSF v BPCL B— 3.30 pm. |
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HP cricket
Hamirpur, September 27 Earlier, Hamirpur dismissed the Sirmaur team on 120 runs in their first inning thanks to fine piece of bowling by Vishal 3 for 17, Devinder 3 for 37 and Virendra 2 for 13 runs. |
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Command team win 2nd leg of Golf cup
Chandigarh, September 27 Earlier, on September 12, the Command team had also won the first leg of the tournament played at the Annadale Golf Club in Shimla, according to a statement issued here. The last leg of the tournament is scheduled to be played at the Naldehra Golf Club on October 10, where the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh is likely to preside.
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Era,
Dinesh best swimmers Patiala, September 27 Results: 200m free style (men): Saggar Sethi-1, Ravinder Kumar-2 and Gopi Dev Raj-3. 100m back stroke (group-2) (men): Johny Bhatia-1, Mayank Batish-2 and Nishu Kumar-3. 50m butterfly (boys): Karan Kalia-1,Shubham Walia-2 and Anmol Mahajan-3. 50m butterfly (girls): Amritosh Sidhu-1, Chahat Gupta-2 and Noorjit Sidhu-3. 100m breast stroke (boys-3): Kamaljit Sidhu -1 Jiwanjot Sethi-2 and Swatanter Singh-3. 100m back stroke (women): Himani Puri-1, Lajdeep Kaur-2 and Manjot Sidhu-3. 100m back stroke (men): Chander Kamal-1, Saggar Sethi-2 and Gopi Devraj-3. 200m free style (boys-3): Harinderjit Singh Saini-1, Mayank Batish-2 and Nishu Kumar-3. 200m free style (girls-2): Era Kaila-1, Amandeep Thakur-2 and Gurneet Kaur-3. 100m back stroke (boys-3): Jatinder Singh-1, Swatanter Singh-2 and Jiwanjot Sethi-3. 100m butterfly (men): Dinesh Rajaria-1, Surinderpal Singh -2 and Gopi Devraj -3. 50m back stroke (girls): Era Kaila-1, Amandeep Thakur-2 and Gurpreet Shergill -3. 100m back stroke (girls-3): Era Kaila-1, Jaspreet Kaur-2 and Amandeep Thakur-3. 50m butterfly (girls 2): Era Kaila-1, Jaspreet Kaur-2 and Gurneet Kaur-3. 100m breast stroke (men): Manraj Singh-1, Azad Singh-2 and Rahul-3. 50m free style (girls 2): Era Kaila-1, Amandeep Thakur-2 and Gurpreet Kaur Shregill-3. 50m back stroke (women): Himani Puri-1, Manjot Kaur-2 and Lajdeep Kaur-: 3.50m free style (men): Dinesh Rajaria-1, Surinder Pal Singh-2 and Sanjay Khan-3. 50m free style (women): Era Kaila-1, Manjot Sidhu-2 and Himani Puri-3.
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