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Tendulkar ends run drought, puts India on top
Indian Punjab athletes
dominate the show
Punjab (India) win circle kabaddi gold
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Profile of the Day
Pak Punjab win tug-of-war ties
Organisers, cycling federation fight over tainted cyclists
Games open new vistas for athletes
Goodbye Patiala, hello Lahore
National basketball at Ludhiana
Chandigarh golfers clinch Pitch and Putt title
Indo-ASEAN car rally concludes
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Tendulkar ends run drought, puts India on top
Dhaka, December 11 Tendulkar overcame a shaky start before equalling compatriot Sunil Gavaskar’s record and was unbeaten on 159 as the visitors reached 348 for seven at close on the second day, taking a lead of 164 runs. The 31-year-old star batsman’s memorable moment came just before the tea break when he took a single off paceman Tapash Baisya to join Gavaskar at the top of the century makers’ list. Tendulkar had his share of luck in the initial stages but settled down to exhibit his class with some glorious shots and steer his team out of early trouble when they lost three quick wickets with just 68 runs on the board. Anil Kumble, yet to open his account, was giving Tendulkar company at stumps with India having taken a firm control of the game. The hosts, who threatened to spoil India’s party when they picked three early wickets, gradually conceded the advantage, thanks to some butter-fingered fielding and lack of support to their strike bowlers Baisya and Mashrafe Mortaza. For the Indians, it was second day on the trot to celebrate an individual performance following Anil Kumble claiming the 435th Test wicket to become the country’s leading wicket-taker. Tendulkar and Gavaskar are among the three batsmen to have 30 or more centuries, with former Australian captain Steve Waugh having 32 tons to his name. As did Gavaskar, Tendulkar, too, achieved the milestone in his 119th Test. And while the now retired maestro was 37 when he notched up his final hundred, Tendulkar is only 31. The little master also became the third batsman after South Africa’s Gary Kirsten and Steve Waugh to have scored centuries against all Test playing nations. But for all his feats, Tendulkar almost walked back to the pavilion without opening his account when his fierce pull shot off Mortaza nearly got stuck into Mohammad Ashraful at short leg. The star batsman then snicked a rising delivery from the same bowler when on 28 but host skipper Habibul Bashar spilled the simple catch at first slip. Another chance went abegging on 47 when a sharp turner from left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique struck the shoulder of his bat but Rajin Saleh at silly point let it go. Tendulkar also needed Gautam Gambhir to sacrifice his wicket after a mid-pitch mix-up when the former was on 19. But the batting genius, much like when scoring his 29th ton against the West Indies to be on a par with Sir Don Bradman, fought the demons inside him and went on to play what could be a match-winning knock. Tendulkar faced 272 balls so far and hit 23 boundaries during his unfinished knock. Sourav Ganguly was the second highest scorer. The skipper was more solid in his 71 and added 164 runs with Tendulkar for the fourth wicket. In the end, Bangladesh would have been better placed had their fielders supported their bowlers. The Bangladeshi seamers made the most of the morning moisture as the play began half an hour early to compensate the loss of time yesterday. Mortaza in particular, making a comeback after more than a year’s gap from injury, had the Indian batsmen hopping on their feet. Both Ganguly and Tendulkar ducked and weaved at his ferocious bouncers. Tendulkar was even hit on the helmet when Mortaza delivered short-pitched stuff, prompting the locals, frustrated by the earlier reprieves, to let out a cry “in Australia, he would have been out.” Mortaza was clearly the outstanding bowler from the moment he sent Rahul Dravid’s off stump cartwheeling in the eighth over of the day, sending a shiver down the spines of the Indians. Baisya struck the first blow when he rapped Virender Sehwag (13) on the pads in his third over but Dravid completely misjudged the line of Mortaza and let go a straight delivery at his own peril. Tendulkar lived perilously during the entire morning session, and those in the Indian camp had their hearts in their mouths while he was taking strike. The batting ace, however, was determined to play his shots and his run graph covered all parts of the ground. There was the square drive, punched on-drive and the back foot square cut that marked his trademark aggression. Gambhir also looked quite comfortable before he was run out for 35. The Delhi left-hander had collected 14 runs off Mortaza at the end with the help of three fours — a drive off the pads, a cover drive and a glance through the slips. Gambhir’s 35 came from 50 balls and contained six fours. Tendulkar, however, kept playing his shots and was particularly severe on spinners Rafique and Manjural Islam. Scoreboard Bangladesh (1st innings) 184 India (1st innings) Gambhir run out 35 Sehwag lbw Baisya 13 Dravid b Mortaza 0 Tendulkar batting 159 Ganguly b Baisya 71 Laxman lbw Rafique 32 Kaarthick c Mortaza Pathan c Rahman b Rafique 5 Kumble batting 0 Extras
(lb-6, b-2) 8 Total (7 wkts, 95 overs) 348 Fall of wickets:
1-19, 2-24, 3-68, 4-232, 5-291, 6-339. Bowling: Baisya 20-4-78-2, Mortaza 22-7-80-1, Rahman 15-4-70-1, Rafique 28-8-65-2, Islam 10-1-47-0.
— PTI |
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Indian Punjab athletes
dominate the show
Of the seven gold medals at stake today, Indian Punjab won four while Pakistan Punjab had to remain content with three. Overall, Indian Punjab won 17 gold, 18 silver and 14 bronze medals while Pakistan Punjab collected eight gold, five silver and 10 bronze medals. The winner of men’s 100 metres, Afzal Beg, bearing chest No. 536, surged ahead of Imran Ali and Jagbir Singh clocking 10.67 secs to win the gold. He had also won the gold in 200 metres yesterday. Emulating Afzal’s feat in women’s 100 metres was India’s Mandeep Kaur, who pipped Navjot Kaur and Mandeep Kaur, also of India, for the gold clocking 11.94 secs. The 400 metres gold in women’s section was also won by India’s Mandeep Kaur with a timing of 54.99 secs. The silver and bronze were won by Rupinder Kaur and Gulnaaz Ara of India and Pakistan, respectively. In women’s javelin throw, Pakistan’s Parveen Akhtar, bearing chest No. 231, clinched the gold with a distance of 41.82 metres in her fifth attempt. Recording 38.87 metres in her first attempt, she registered distances of 40.50, 39.56, 40.05 and 41.25 metres subsequently. Aged 26, Parveen hails from Sahiwal and is currently employed with Pakistan Railways as LDC. Having represented Pakistan in the SAF Games at Islamabad earlier this year, Parveen’s personal best has been 42.44 metres achieved at Quetta in the National Games. The silver went to India’s Gurmeet Kaur who hurled the spear to a distance of 36.38 metres. Sofia Dar of Pakistan won the bronze with a distance of 34.27 metres. In 800 metres for men, Pakistan’s Saeed Ahmed, also from Sahiwal, won the gold with a timing of 1:53.88 secs in a photo finish. A second-year student at Government College, Sahiwal, Saeed Ahmed pipped India’s Subhash Chander, an employee of RCF, Kapurthala, for the gold. The bronze went to India’s Kashmeer Singh. The Indians gave a good account of themselves in hammer throw. While Harpal Singh won the gold with a distance of 63.48 metres, Birkaran Singh won the bronze. In men’s triple jump, Amarjit Singh of India leapt to a distance of 15.99 metres to clinch the gold. The silver also went to an Indian, Maha Singh, who recorded 15.49 metres. Wasim Khan of Pakistan leapt to a distance of 15.41 metres to claim the bronze. The results: Javelin throw (women):
1 Parveen Akhtar (Pak) distance 41.82 metres; 2 Gurmeet Kaur (Ind) 36.38 metres; 3 Sofia Dar (Pak) 34.27 metres. Triple jump (men):
1 Amarjit Singh (Ind) 15.99 metres; 2 Maha Singh (Ind) 15.49 metres; 3 Wasim Khan (Pak) 15.41 metres. Hammer throw (men):
1 Harpal Singh (Ind) 63.48 m; 2 Habib Ullah (Pak) 60.60 m; 3 Birkaran Singh (Ind) 60.47 m. 800 metres (men):
1 Saeed Ahmed (Pak) 1:53.88 secs; 2 Subhash Chander (Ind) 1:53.93; 3 Kashmeer Singh (Ind) 1:54.18 secs. 400 metres (women):
1 Mandeep Kaur (Ind) 54.99 secs; 2 Rupinder Kaur (Ind) 56.01 secs; 3 Gulnaaz Ara (Pak) 56.22 secs. 100 metres (women):
1 Mandeep Kaur (Ind) 11.94 secs; 2 Navjot Kaur (Ind) 12.39 secs; 3 Mandeep Kaur (Ind) 12.46 secs. 100 metres (men):
1 Afzal Beg (Pak) 10.67 secs; 2 Imran Ali (Pak) 10.78 secs; 3 Jagbir Singh (Ind) 10.85 secs.
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Punjab (India) win circle kabaddi gold
Patiala, December 11 Immediately afterwards, international Imtiaz Ali was brought down by Indian stopper and skipper Bhupinder Singh. However, Pakistan Punjab notched up a five-point lead in the first five minutes of the contest. Imtiaz Alam got hold of Indian Punjab’s raider Kuldip Singh’s left leg near the base line, but the Indian player still managed his way back to the centre line to register a well-deserved point. At half time, the hosts led 26-23. Minutes into the second half, a dispute surfaced which prompted officials of both teams to rush into the playing arena. It was only after repeated pleas of AS Kochar, a Jalandhar-based swimming coach of the Punjab Sports Department, that officials took to their seats, which enabled the match to re-start. Later, a technical dispute caused the contest to be stopped temporarily. However, the dispute was resolved and the match again started, with a Pakistani raider notching up two quick points to run into the lead. However, better tackling helped the hosts emerge winners 49-44. Hundreds of spectators watched the match and enjoyed the witty commentary of AS Kochar. |
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Fastest man of the games
Amardeep Bhattal Tribune News Service
Trained by cousin Anjum Rashid, who is himself an athlete with Wapda, Afzal took to athletics only four years back. Although Rashid’s favourite event is 400 metres, Afzal has been excelling in 100 metres and 200 metres. Though he could not surpass his personal best of 10.53 secs in 100 metres recorded in Pakistan’s National Championship at Quetta, his double gold here has already motivated him to improve further. Son of Mr Islam Beg, Afzal has four brothers and six sisters. Incidentally, his father married twice. Last year, Afzal participated in the World Indoor Championship in England and later took part in the Asian Indoor Championship in Iran where he finished sixth. He also participated in the SAF Games at Islamabad in April this year where he was placed fifth in 200 metres. Despite his success on the track, no other family member is interested in pursuing the sport. His youngest brother is an FA student who is interested in becoming a lawyer or doctor while three elder brothers have settled down in Dubai, Malaysia and Greece. Born on April 10, 1979, at Gujjranwala, Afzal is grateful to his coach for constant encouragement. “It was mainly due to Anjum Rashid’s efforts that I achieved success on the track,” he says.
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Pak Punjab win tug-of-war ties
Patiala, December 11 |
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Organisers, cycling federation fight over tainted cyclists Patiala, December 11 Surprisingly, the squabble is between the organising committee of the games and the Punjab Cycling Association. The organising committee headed by Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi has decided to withdraw the medals of Gurpreet Kaur and a gold and bronze medal of Kulwinder Kaur. Both Indian Punjab players had tested positive for steriods at a meet in Anandpur Sahib one month back and the committee claims they should not have participated in the games. However, the issue is set to become murkier with Punjab Cycling Association president
J.S. Grewal claiming that the SAI lab, which had tested the cyclists, was not an internationally accredited laboratory and therefore not recognised by the International Cycling Federation. “I am abiding by the international rules and the medals will not be withdrawn, he says. What will happen is anyone’s guess and only a further round of jousting in the IOA is likely to solve the issue.” Meanwhile, the medals continue to be listed against the Indian players’ names in the medal list. Sukhwinder gives harrowing time Noted singer Sukhwinder gave a harrowing time to the organisers of the pop concert on Friday. He kept insisting on mingling with the audience and did so on four occasions to. Finally, SSP
A.S. Rai had to be firm with him on going back to the stage. He, however, found it difficult to even negotiate the steps to reach the stage again and even fell down once in the process. The singer was also more interested in dancing with the troupe members who were with him on the stage. He also sang his famous song “Chaiyan Chaiyan” for more than 20 minutes, failing to follow the planned song dance routine, which is usually decided before the show. His excuse for doing all this - “this is my
homeland”. Credit goes to DC Even though a number of politicians and sports administrators are involved in the hosting of the games, Indian Olympic Association secretary-general Raja Randhir Singh has chose to give the credit for the successful hosting of the games to Patiala Deputy Commissioner Tejveer Singh. The DC, who usually shies away from publicity, must have been pleasantly surprised to know that the IOA secretary-general gave him the credit for the successful hosting of the games during an informal briefing with newspersons.
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Games open new vistas for athletes
Patiala, December 11 Addressing a joint press conference at the NIS here today, Chaudhary Khalid
Mehmood, secretary-general of the Amateur Athletic Federation of Pakistan, Mr Salman Iqbal Butt, secretary-general, Punjab Athletics Association, Pakistan, and Mr Umrao Singh, president, Punjab Amateur Athletic Association, said after mutual discussions they had decided in principle to provide exposure to junior athletes. “We will invite junior athletes of Pakistan to our state championship,” said Mr Umrao Singh. According to Mr Khalid
Mehmood, the Pakistanis would like to participate in India’s national championship as “ we want Indo-Pak athletics competitions to increase.” A proposal has also been mooted to start contests for juniors as well as inter-city and inter-university competitions, according to Mr Khalid. Mr Salman Butt emphasised that the competitions would not be restricted to the junior and senior categories but would also include contests for veterans. “We have already been invited to compete in a veterans’ meet at Amritsar in September,” he said adding that they wanted cooperation at all levels. |
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Indo-Pak Punjab Games Diary Amardeep Bhattal
The well-conceived Punjabi opera ‘Vichhre Pani’ staged at the NIS here last night evoked nostalgic feelings and the message of unity left a lasting impression. The opera ended with the message: “Let the five rivers flow in harmony and let no one mix poison in their sacred waters,”
At the end of the proceedings, Mr Shivdular Singh Dhillon, ADC, went up to the stage to thank the artistes but distinguished Pakistani guests, including Mr Naeemullah Shahani, Sports Minister, Punjab, Mr Idris Haider Khawaja, secretary-general, POA, and Mr Mohammed Arshad Bhatti, Secretary Sports, Punjab, unable to control their feelings went up to the stage and expressed profound gratitude to the organising committee for making the event truly memorable. “Insha-Allah, when we meet in Lahore next year, we will try to reciprocate in the same measure,” said Mr Shahani while assuring all help in facilitating the Indians’ visit to Pakistan in 2005. *** The Pakistani contingent does not comprise only of Muslims. Ashraf Masih, who won a singles title in badminton here, is a Christian. A close friend of Waqas Ahmed, Pakistan’s national champion, Ashraf has fond memories of Pakistan badminton’s golden era when Tariq Wadood was the world No. 2 in the eighties. “Major changes in our federation led to a bad patch but now things are stable and Pakistan badminton is on the road to recovery,” revealed Ashraf. Incidentally, Pakistan won the silver in the SAF Games at Islamabad earlier this year. *** The success of the first Indo-Pak Punjab Games could not have been possible without the yeoman service rendered by employees of Punjabi University. Mr Sandeep Singh, in charge of Waris Bhavan who is a former team-mate of Test cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, and Mr Tirath Raj, an ex-serviceman who served in 4 Horse, besides others, have sacrificed hours of sleep remaining awake even till 2 am to ensure that guests are not inconvenienced. *** The Tribune’s coverage of the Indo-Pak Punjab Games today was described as the newspaper’s Patiala peg for sports enthusiasts by a reader at the bus stand as one full page was devoted entirely to the Patiala games. “I have never seen a full page devoted to the city before,” he said while tucking a copy into his bag. |
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National basketball at Ludhiana
Chandigarh, December 11 According to Mr RS Gill, President, Punjab Basketball Association, the championship would be played on league-cum-knock out basis. He said all 30 affiliated units of the Basketball Federation of India, including the Railways and Services, are expected to participate in the championship. Defending champions Tamil Nadu and runners-up Kerala of last year in the men’s section have already confirmed their participation. Railways, winners of the women’s championship last year, have also confirmed their participation in the tournament. All arrangements for the conduct of the championship have been completed. The championship, Mr Gill said, would be played at country’s exclusive indoor basketball stadium which has wooden flooring fibre glass boards and electronic score boards. The stadia have been renovated. All arrangements for board and lodging of players, officials and technical staff have been completed. |
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Chandigarh golfers clinch
Pitch and Putt title
Chandigarh, December 11 Nine clubs of the northern region took part in the Famous Grouse-sponsored tournament in which 34 golfers participated. The Punjab Armed Police Golf Club, Jalandhar, team consisting of Karan Singh, Amit Kumar, Arjun S. Khara and Sunny Sharma took the runners-up spot. Mr P.S. Pruthi, President of the Chandigarh Golf Association, inaugurated the tournament. After the completion of the tournament all the participants took part in the longest drive event. Karan Singh Ghuman of PAP Golf Club, Jalandhar, had a hole in one on the sixth hole. Mr I.S. Sandhu, Director of Sports, Chandigarh, gave away the prizes. The results: Team event: CGA Golf Range (Ranbir Mann, Raghav Bhandari, Dhruv Avtar Singh Ghai and Anish Gupta) 1, PAP Golf Club, Jalandhar (Karan Singh, Amit Kumar, Arjun S. Khera and Sunny Sharma) 2. Individual event: Raghav Bhandari (CGA Golf Range) 1, Arjun S. Khara (PAP Golf Club, Jalandhar) 2. Nearest to Pin: Sixth hole winner Dhruv Avtar Ghai of CGA Golf Range; Eighth hole winner Col Prem Kumar of Shivalik Golf Course. Longest drive: Karan S. Ghuman (PAP Golf Club, Jalandhar), distance 282 yards. Maximum number of birdies: I.D. Bhandari of Naldhera Golf Club. Hole in one: Karan Singh Ghuman of PAP Golf Club, Jalandhar. |
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Indo-ASEAN car rally concludes
Batam (Indonesia), December 11 With a distance of 8000 km to be covered in a 20-day span, the rallyists had to mostly drive through many towns and cities at breakneck speed but the small gestures towards the public waiting to acknowledge their efforts were enough to bind them together with a long-lasting bond. “The happiness on the faces of the people, especially children, when we slowed down to wave at them was a fulfilling feeling in itself and could not be expressed in words,” said rally chairman Rajat Majumdar. The rally, organised jointly by the Ministry of External Affairs and Confederation of Indian Industry in partnership with the Federation of Motorsports Club of India, had began its journey from Guwahati on November 23 and culminated here today after passing through seven ASEAN countries en route.
— PTI |
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Patiala, December 11
Patiala: 
