 |
|
|
Spain rout India 4-0 in Champions Trophy opener
We can bounce back: Tirkey
Pakistan overcome spirited Germany
Chef-de-Mission of Pak
contingent arrives
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balbir Singh Sr to light games flame
Indo-Pak Punjab ties steeped in history
Sodhi, VRV Singh put Punjab in command
Sangram, Mannu steady HP
Kahlon joint 18th in Hong Kong Open
Mankad, Pargat teams win
BPCL stun IA, bag hockey title
|
|
Spain rout India 4-0 in Champions Trophy opener
Lahore, December 4 In fact, India hardly put up a fight in the contest which saw the European team play cautiously in the first half, only to step on the gas after half time. Spain opened up after the initial 35 minutes during which they hardly took any risk. Both teams were on even terms in the first half but as soon as the game resumed after the break, the Spaniards made their intentions clear. India, on the other hand, hardly displayed any aggression and failed to repeat the performance that they had put up against Spain while drawing the recent two-match Test series at home. Fabregas drew first blood for the Spaniards by smartly deflecting in a fine cross from the left by Francesco Fabregas. There was no looking back for the Spanish who intensified the pressure under which the Indian defence crackled. To compound India’s miseries, Sandeep Singh was temporarily ejected from the ground for pulling down Arbos from behind in the 47th minute as the team plunged into desperation to level the score. But the Indians had no answer to the Spanish onslaught in the last quarter of the game as they conceded three more goals in just four minutes. Arbos scored an opportunistic goal after receiving a free ball inside the circle from the half line before Freixa scored from a penalty stroke to add to the tally three minutes later. Stunned by the Spanish blizzard, India tried to fight back but with their opposition defence holding ground, they failed to get a breakthrough. Captain Escarre drove the last nail in India’s coffin by scoring a minute later to seal the fate of the match. India, who made it to this prestigious event by default after Australia pulled out on security grounds, play their next match against defending champions the Netherlands tomorrow. It was a disappointing start to India’s campaign in the elite tournament as they had come to the tournament to redeem some pride which was badly dented after the seventh place finish in the Olympics. India, who seem to be the crowd’s favourite after hosts Pakistan, got good support from the stands.
— PTI |
|
We can bounce back: Tirkey
Lahore, December 4 Spain pumped in all goals in the second half to win the match quite comprehensively at the National Stadium, but Tirkey said it was too early to write his team off. “This is a young team which has shown its skills in the Test series against Pakistan and Spain. Yes, we have lost the first match, but it would be too early to dismiss us. We have still several matches to go and I am sure my boys will fight back,” Tirkey told reporters after the
match. Tirkey said his side lost its lung opener because it goofed up the chances that came its way and also committed defensive blunders. “Missing chances has been an old problem with us. We paid the price for the lapses,” he said. India’s chief coach Gerhard Rach agreed with the captain when he said India should have scored in the first half itself which could have put some pressure on the Spaniards.
— PTI |
|
|
Pakistan overcome spirited Germany
Lahore, December 4 Germany’s lone goal came through Montag Jan-Marco who scored five minutes into the second half. Germany, who entered the event without several of their established players, put up a tough fight to deny Pakistan any leeway in the early part of the match before Sohail’s goal just before the half time opened them up. In fact, the Olympic bronze medallists made some good moves and even came close to taking the lead. In the 28th minute, Florian Keller made a fine attempt but goalkeeper Salman Akbar warded off his try. Oliver Hentschel’s second shot from a rebound then went high over the goal. Sohail, world’s leading goal scorer, gave the side the lead with his trademark drag flick but that setback failed to dampen the morale of the Germans. Germany came back from the break with determination and restored parity four minutes after the break with Jan-Marco scoring from a penalty corner. But Pakistan shut the door on the Germans as they scored twice in 10 minutes, Abbasi deflecting in a sharp shot from Sohail Abbas and Jawad converting a penalty corner. Germany play Spain while Pakistan take on New Zealand tomorrow. Holland romp home
Defending champions Holland started their title defence in style trouncing New Zealand 5-2 in the tournament lung opener. Holland, seeking to win their third Champions Trophy title in a row, romped home with a comprehensive win riding on Taeke Taekema’s double strike and a goal each by Ronald Brouwer, Rob Reckers and Karel Claver. After a lull for 26 minutes, Holland burst into the lead with Taekama converting from a penalty corner. But the Dutch joy was shortlived as New Zealand equalized just three minutes later through Bevan Hari. Brouwer struck in the 31st minute to put his side back in an advantageous position as the team went to the half time with a 2-1 lead. Bevan came to New Zealand’s rescue with another goal in the 42nd minute to restore parity, but Holland surged ahead with Reckers’ goal in the 44th minute. Goals by Taekema and Claver in the 50th and 60th minutes of the match ensured that the Dutch collected full points from the match.
— PTI |
|
Chef-de-Mission of Pak
contingent arrives
Wagah, December 4 The Pakistani players were scheduled to arrive today by road. When asked about the reason of the non-arrival of players, Mr Chowdhury said there was some communication lapse and did not elaborate the reason. He informed that visas of around 180 persons had been cleared and visas of the rest would be cleared by the next day. He added “Some of the players would come today and the remaining would come tomorrow”. However, till the scheduled (4 pm) closure of the border no player had arrived. K. S. Kang, officiating as Deputy Commissioner, said that the players would come tomorrow. He said he had consulted the customs and BSF authorities to help the Pakistan players cross over by early morning so that they could reach Patiala as early as possible. The Pakistan’s volleyball team, which has been here since December 27, was formally accorded welcome by Mr Kang and SSP Kultar Singh here. Earlier, the team members were to join the rest of the players coming from Pakistan. Sports enthusiasts were dejected on the non-arrival of Pakistani players and expressed apprehensions over the smooth conduct of the games and ceremony, which is to take place from tomorrow (December 5). The district officials were present here to welcome the players and had made elaborate arrangements, including over a dozen buses and police escorts, to take them to Patiala. Mr Chowdury while talking to this correspondent said such sports extravaganza certainly helped in raising the standard of games adding that these games required large amount of funds. He said in Pakistan out of the four provinces, Punjab produced the maximum quality sportspersons. However, even then they (Pakistan as well India) were not able to make any mark in the international sports arena. Informing that he was the Chief-de-Mission of Pakistan in the Athens Olympics, he said Pakistan was not able to open its account while India managed only one silver in shooting by Major Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. |
|
Games torch enters Patiala
Patiala, December 4 Prominent among those who carried the torch were senior athletic coach J.S. Saini, captain of the Indian hockey team at the 1972 Munich Olympics Harmeek Singh, senior athletic coach Bahadur Singh, Asian Games grappler Gurmukh Singh, IG, Patiala range Mr Rajinder Singh, Mayor Vishnu Sharma, and Improvement Trust chairman Mr K.K. Sharma. The Punjab Chief Minister’s brother Mr Malwinder Singh will be the first man to carry the torch from the Quila Mubarik for its onwards journey. The flame will be lit by hockey Olympian Balbir Singh (Senior) at the YPS Stadium in the evening. A notable omission was ace grappler Palwinder Cheema who took part in the Athens Olympics and has won medals in the 2002 Busan Asian Games and the world police games held at Barcelona early this year. |
|
Balbir Singh Sr to light games flame
Patiala, December 4 With the agenda of the opening ceremony focusing on synchronising technology with human endeavour and ingenuity, the organisers will strive to project the concept of friendship on the one hand and Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiat on the other. The cultural and ceremonial committee of the games, headed by PWD Minister Partap Singh Bajwa and having in its ranks renowned personalities like Urdu poet Sardar
Anjum, ghazal singer Jagjit Singh and actor Mangal Dhillon, has assigned the task of conducting the ceremonies to the North Zone Cultural Centre
(NZCC). The centre had successfully planned and executed ceremonies during the Patiala Heritage Festival last year. Performers have been practising at the Bahadurgarh fort, on the outskirts of the city, for the past month. The script has been written by noted Punjabi poet Surjit Pattar while the artistic aspect will be handled by former Professor of the New Delhi-based National School of Drama, Prof Bansi Lal. Folk dances have been based on the poetry of Prof Mohan Singh and Nand Lal
Nurpuri. A massive stage has been erected on which about 500 artistes are expected to perform. A senior IAS officer and the Director of the
NZCC, RT Jindal will be the overall in charge of the show. Prominent among the singers who will perform at the opening and closing ceremonies are Harbhajan Mann, Hans Raj Hans, Sardul Sikander, Dolly
Guleria, Surinder Kaur, Gurmeet Bawa, Barkat Sidhu and Manpreet Akhtar. Meanwhile, the city has been enveloped with a thick security cover to ensure that the opening ceremony passes off peacefully. |
|
|
Indo-Pak Punjab ties steeped in history
Chandigarh, December 4 Though teams from the two Punjabs had been exchanging visits off and on, there was no forum available for cementing relations between the sports nurseries of the two countries. Incidentally, the two Punjabs have contributed more than 70 per cent of the total sportsmen and women to their national teams since Partition. There has been a long and rich history of sporting relations between the two nations in general and the two Punjabs in particular. Besides the state and national teams, even club teams in hockey, football, kabaddi, and other sports have been regularly exchanging visits to play in invitation tournaments. Milkha Singh, who received the games torch at Wagah, was the toast of Pakistan when he had gone to Lahore to participate in a triangular meet in January, 1960, where he had beaten Pakistan’s fastest runner Abdul Khaliq in 200 metres. Khaliq was, however, declared the fastest man of the meet as he beat India’s Makhan Singh to the third place in 100 metres. The Indo-Pak Punjab Games may not showcase Milkhas and Khaliqs in athletics, or Balbirs and Daras in hockey, yet it is a gallant attempt to bring the best of the two Punjabs together. It is just the beginning and once it becomes an annual feature, the games would provide a big fillip to the Punjabs in regaining their supremacy not only in their respective countries but also internationally. In fact, Patiala has many firsts to its credit in Indian sports. It was Patiala which played host to the first Western Asiatic Games in the early 1930s. The National Games in pre-Partition days were hosted by Patiala more than once. Hostilities and bitterness created by Partition notwithstanding, the West Punjab hockey team led by Olympian SM Yusuf came to Ludhiana in 1950 to participate in the silver jubilee celebrations of the Punjab Hockey Association. Four years later, the West Punjab hockey team returned, this time to play an exhibition match in Jalandhar. It is not only hockey in which sporting relations between the two Punjabs were established after Partition. After an Indian basketball team visited Pakistan in 1954 to play three international and four zonal matches, an East Punjab basketball team landed in West Punjab in 1955 to play at Lahore, Lyallpur, Sialkot and Rawalpindi. India was one of the participants in the first Quadrangular Basketball Championship organised by Pakistan in 1962. In boxing, the exchange of visits started in 1953 when Pakistan boxers came to Mumbai and Kolkata, followed by a return visit by the Indian team in 1953. In cricket, Pakistan came to India for the first time in 1952 and lost the rubber 1-2. In polo, Indo-Pak relations date back to 1954, when an Indian team visited Pakistan for an high handicap exhibition match. Another visit followed the next year before Pakistanis came for a return visit the same year. An Indian Army team visited Pakistan in 1957. In table tennis, the Pakistan team came to participate in the World Championship held at Mumbai in 1952, while in tennis, Pakistanis participated in the 1949 Asian Championship held at Kolkata. It was in the 1954 East Punjab Tennis Championship at Amritsar that Pakistan’s tennis stalwart Iftikhar won the triple crown. |
|
|
Sodhi, VRV Singh put Punjab in command
Chandigarh, December 4 Giving an all-round
lacklustre performance, their batsmen first made a tame surrender.
Their bowlers then proved as ineffective as Punjab were in the driver’s
seat by the end of the first day’s play in the four-day Ranji Trophy
Elite group Bleague match at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium,
Mohali, today. Put in by Punjab, Maharashtra were bundled out for 123
runs in less than an hour after the lunch break. The agony did not end
here. The bowlers failed to achieve any breakthrough as Punjab finished
the day at 174 without losing a wicket, already 51 runs ahead in the
first innings with all wickets intact. For Punjab, the day belonged to
Reetinder Sodhi and newcomer VRVSingh. Sodhi showed his worth as an
all-rounder. First he took three wickets with his medium pace to hasten
the Maharashtra batting collapse. Then, batting as an opener, he notched
up an unbeaten 89 to put his team in total command. Opener Ravneet Ricky
remained unconquered on 77. Lanky VRVSingh, who made his debut in the
match against Uttar Pradesh on this ground , made most of the
opportunity provided by the absence of Gagandeep Singh who has been
selected to the India squad for the two-match Test series against
Bangladesh. Sharing the new ball with Vineet, VRVSingh first took the
crucial wicket of skipper and former India one-day player Hrishikesh
Kanitkar and then returned to take three more wickets, including that of
in-form Dhruv Mohan, to finish with a haul of four wickets.
Maharashtra batsmen were perhaps done in by the Mohali track, which
has the reputation of giving help to seamers early on in the day.
Expectedly, the Punjab seamers got early purchase from the track, but
the type of collapse Maharashtra suffered was stunning. For
Maharashtra, the 36-run second wicket stand between Niranjan Godbole and
Kanitkar appeared to have steadied the ship after the early fall of
Dheeraj Jadhav’s wicket. But the loss of Godbole and then Kanitkar in
quick succession opened the floodgates for Punjab bowlers as Maharashtra
dramatically slumped to 69 for eight. Operating in tandem, seamers
VRVSingh and Sodhi triggered the batting collapse. A 31-run cameo by
No. 8 batsman Ranjit Khirid at the fag end resulted in the innings
extending beyond the lunch break. Khirid, who hit five fours in his
34-ball knock, emerged the highest scorer of the innings. Scoreboard Maharashtra
(1st innings): D Jadhav lbw Vineet 2 N Godbole c Guptab Sodhi 23 H Kanitkar c Dharmani b VRV Singh 15 K Marathe lbw Sodhi
10 K Aphale lbw Sodhi 2 D Mohan c Yuvraj b VRV Singh 1 S Satbhai b VRVSingh 0 R Khirid not out 31 I Siddiqui b
VRVSingh 0 K Adhav c Dharmani b Uniyal 18 A Sanklecha b Uniyal 0 Extras (b-1, lb-13, nb-7)
21 Total (all out, 41.3 overs) 123 FoW: 1-9, 2-45, 3-61,
4-64, 5-65, 6-69, 7-69, 8-69, 9-123, 10-123. Bowling: Vineet
Sharma 7-3-9-1, Punjab (1st innings): R
Ricky not out 77 R Sodhi not out 89 Extras (nb-8) 8 Total
(for no loss) 174 Bowling: Siddiqui 9-1-45-0, Sanklecha
12-0-54-0, Khirid 13-3-35-0, Adhav 9-4-29-0, Kanitkar 3-0-11-0. |
|
Sangram, Mannu steady HP
Dharamsala, December 4 Electing to bat after winning the toss,
Himachal lost both the openers Rahul Panta (zero) and Sandeep Sharma (7)
with just eight runs on the board. Sangram Singh and Manvinder Bisla
added 49 runs for the third wicket carrying the score to 57 when Bisla
was bowled by D. Mohanty for 32. Sangram Singh, who had scored 92 in
last match against Saurashtra on the same pitch, appeared to be in great
form and added another 55 runs for the fourth wicket with Paras Dogra
who was out leg before at 20, with scoreboard reading 112. Ajay Mannu,
who came next proved a big support for Sangram and both of them added
118 runs for the unbroken fifth wicket partnership. Sangram with 99 (n.o.)
and Mannu with 50 (n.o.) were at the crease at the draw of stumps. Debashees
Mohanty who claimed three wickets for 38 runs was the most successful
bowler while Deepak Mangraj took one wicket for 58 runs. Five other
bowlers tried by the Orissa failed to get any wicket. Scoreboard: Himachal
(first innings) Rahul Panta b Mohanty 0 Sandeep c wk b Mangraj 7 Sangram
(n.o.) 99 Manvinder b Mohanty 32 Dogra lbw Mohanty 20 Mannu (n.o.)
50 Extras: 20 Total: 230 for 4 in 90 overs. Fall of
wickets: 1/0, 2/8, 3/57, 4/112. Bowling: D. Mohanty
18-8-38-3, Deepak Mangraj 14-2-58-1, P.Mullick 3-0-7-0, Sanjay Satpaty
16-2-56-0, Niranjan 13-6-19-0, S.K. Jena 24-7-34-0, P. Jaichandra
2-0-8-0. J&K comfortably placed
RAJKOT: Scoreboard Jammu and Kashmir (Ist inning): S.B. Shaikh c Kotak b Maniar 41 F.G. Hazari c Jogiyani b Maniar 51 Kanwaljeet batting 82 Dar batting 62 Extras: (nb-5,w-2) 7 Total: (2 wkts) 243 Fall of wicket: 1-83, 2-105 Bowling: S. Jobanputra 22-2-81-0, S. Maniar 25-5-61-2, M. Thanki 12-1-38-0, R. Dhruv 14-6-21-0, V. Vegda 8-2-23-0, S. Kotak 7-2-11-0, J. Shah 1-0-6-0, N. Rathod 1-0-2-0. Dholpure rocks Delhi
NEW DELHI: Scoreboard Delhi
(1st innings) Chopra lbw b Pandey 37 Dhawan c Sachin Dholpure b
Sunil Dholpure 29 Bhatia c Ali b Dholpure 0 Manhas c Ojha b Dholpure
26 Bali lbw b Dholpure 0 Jadeja c Ali b Pandey 26 Dahiya c Sunil
Dholpure b Likhar 32 Sarandeep batting 31 Sanghvi batting 7 Extras: (lb-6,
nb-18) 24 Total: (7 wickets) 212 FoW: 1-46, 2-50, 3-96,
4-96, 5-104, 6-155, 7-193. Bowling: Sanjay Pandey 22-4-74-2,
Sunil Dholpure 20-7-50-4, Devendra Bundela 20-6-27-0, Jitendra Likhar
10-2-15-1, Narendra Hirwani 16-3-40-0. — PTI |
|
Kahlon joint 18th in Hong Kong Open
New Delhi, December 4 One stroke behind was Amandeep Johl with a total score of 208 (71, 69, 68) in joint 27th place, according to information received here. Johl had finished a creditable fifth in the China Open in Shanghai last week. The other Indians in the fray Gaurav Ghei was lying on joint 43rd spot with 210 and Jeev Milkha Singh in joint 66th place with
214.— PTI |
|
Mankad, Pargat teams win
New Delhi, December 4 While former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev and Virender Sehwag stole the spotlight on the opening day yesterday, it was the turn of Olympic silver medallist Major Rajyavardhan Rathore and Pargat Singh to hog the limelight today. Ashok Mankad headed a team comprising amateurs Gagan Verma, Anu Manglani and Ankur Sachdeva and they logged 126 points while the team comprising former Indian off-spinner Nikhil Chopra, Daman Siegal, Amit Luthra and Raj Adhlakha finished second on six points short. On day two, Pargat Singh, Vinod Rao, Manoj Adlakha and Ravi Sannon aggregated 117 points to emerge victorious over the team comprising Kapil Dev, Fazl-ur Rehman, Amar Raj Singh and Romi Malhotra by just two points. Kapil, however, bagged the Cricketers’ Prize with 39 points while former Indian wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani finished second. In the skills competition, Keshav Mishra, who hit 324 yards, won the ‘Line and Length’ trophy while Ricky Lal putted to two inches to win the ‘Blind-folded Monster Putt’. Ashok Mehra won the Sand Play competition. |
|
BPCL stun IA, bag hockey title
New Delhi, December 4 In a dramatic turnaround, with Indian Airlines leading 2-1, BPCL earned their sixth penalty corner just seconds before the final hooter and the bald-headed Len Aiyappa made no mistake as his scoop landed into the net to level the score 2-2 at the end of regulation play. Aiyappa had found it hard to beat the crowded Airlines defence in his attempts off the other five penalty corners, with custodian Jagdish Ponnappa effecting a couple of brilliant saves. But the last one caught everyone napping, and Indian Airlines’ hard-luck story was complete when Sanjay Bir mishit their third stroke in the shootout while the BPCL boys made no mistake with their attempts. In fact, going by the trend of the play, BPCL deserved to win as they had taken the lead as early as the seventh minute when Pundlik Bellary cut in from the right before cracking a top-of-the-circle shot into the goal (1-0). Indian Airlines, with a solid forward line to boast of, comprising Dhanraj Pillay, Brojen Singh and Altaf-ur-Rehman, put pressure on the rival defence, and after wasting a few chances, including two penalty corners, equalised when Brojen Singh connected with lightning reflexes to divert the ball in, following a hit-in from the right by Vimal Lakhra. And two minutes into the second half, Indian Airlines went ahead when Altaf-ur-Rehman scored off their third penalty corner (2-1). Though BPCL tried their best to score a goal in the rest of the session, the Airlines’ defence kept them at bay till Aiyappa came up with that stunning fag-end goal. Extra time was not played due to fading light, and in the tie-breaker MK Prakash, Deepak Sharma, Ravi N, Amar Aiyamma and Prabdeep Singh hit the target for the winners while Bimla Lakra, Altaf-ur-Rehman and Yoginder Gulia got it right for Airlines. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
