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Pak board chief looks to Natwar on Ahmedabad
Pressure to be put for match
in Delhi
Security at PCA stadium tightened
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Kotla, Green Park next targets: Sena
Narain braves rain
Kila Raipur games from Feb 17
Tollygunge draw with Mahindra
Athletes honoured
Need to work hard on compulsory events: Randhir
Sher-e-Jalandhar
down Veerans
Mehak wins gold in 400m
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Sania marches into final
Hyderabad, February 11 The 18-year-old, who became the first Indian to reach the third round of a Grand Slam event at the Australian Open last month, got the better of eighth seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) in the semifinal at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh stadium here. Sania will play Alyono Bondarenko of Ukraine in the summit clash tomorrow. Bondarenko advanced to the final without hitting a ball after her opponent, second seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany, pulled out after suffering from acute right knee strain yesterday. Egged on by a vociferous crowd, Sania looked like running away with the match as she opened up a 3-0 lead in the second set. But in a bid to finish off the match as early as possible she committed far too many unforced errors to her own liking and allowed her opponent to come back into the match. Sania, in fact, made two successive double faults in the ninth game while serving for the match, thereby losing her serve. And when the Hyderabadi girl failed to hold her serve in the 11th game, it looked like the Indian was beginning to lose her way. However, Sania had a different plan as she came up with a couple of big winners in a long-drawn 12th game and save a set point to force a tie-breaker. In the ensuing tiebreaker, the Russian took a 4-2 lead before Sania won the next five points to wrap up the match. Sania, who has been a revelation this year, was on her job from the very beginning as she broke her opponent’s serve in the fourth game of the first set. The Indian, who played with a strapped left-thigh in the earlier part of the set, however lost her serve in the very next game. But, undeterred by Kirilenko’s charge, Sania kept going for her shots and even came up with a couple of big serves on her second serves to take the set. With the form she was in, it appeared that the local girl would wrap up the issue in no time and the hopes of the large crowd almost fulfilled before the Russian, ranked 94, came back to push Sania to the hilt.
— PTI |
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Pak board chief looks to Natwar on Ahmedabad
Islamabad, February 11 “If the matter of the venues is not decided properly, it will have an impact on our bilateral relations. So I met foreign office officials and they have taken note. They will interact at the government level and decide,” PCB chief Shaharyar Khan was quoted as saying by local daily ‘Dawn’ today. Khan was confident that the Indian minister would “definitely” discuss the matter during his visit to Islamabad on February 15 and 16 to prevent the issue from becoming a “diplomatic incident”. The foreign office here said Pakistan’s security concerns about playing in Ahmedabad remained. “Cricket is followed like a passion in both countries and that is why we want to avoid any mishap. We feel for the people of Ahmedabad and we hope India will listen to our stance,” Shaharyar said. He said he had told senior foreign ministry officials about the background of the tour, due to start on February 25, and brushed aside speculation that rejection of Ahmedabad would lead to the tour being cancelled. “That limit will not be reached. It is our request to change a venue and that is based on fears of safety and security. We still wait for the Indian board’s reply and will never want the language of ultimatum (used) in this matter,” he said. LAHORE:
After shooting down the proposal for a Test match at Ahmedabad, the PCB said it would consider playing a one-day match at the Gujarat city if the BCCI came up with such a proposal. ‘The News’ quoted PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan as saying, ‘’So far, we have not been given a formal proposal about playing a one-dayer instead of a Test in Ahmedabad. But if and when such a proposal is made to us, we will consider it.’’ Shaharyar, however, refused to divulge whether the matter was raised during his interaction with Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla, who was here earlier this week. During India’s tour of Pakistan last year, the PCB had to scrap the Test at Karachi and instead hold a one-dayer after India refused to stay there for long, citing security apprehensions.
— PTI, UNI |
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Pressure to be put for match
in Delhi
New Delhi, February 11 “We will put it very strongly and assertively to the BCCI if it proposes to change the venue. We will complete our job in time. All pressure will be put to hold the match here. And then it is upto the board,” Chauhan said. The former Test player also said BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla had given him positive indications about holding one of the five one-dayers at the Feroze Shah Kotla ground. He, however, said he had not received any information from the board that the PCB had asked for a change of venue. Chauhan said though there were mounds of soil on the ground and laying of the carpet grass would begin on Sunday, the ground would be ready by March-end.
— PTI |
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Security at PCA stadium tightened
Mohali, February 11 Issuing an alert to other proposed venues of the upcoming Indo-Pak series, PCA president I.S. Bindra and DIG Ludhiana Parag Jain said the attack on the stadium was not a stray incident, but the result of a criminal conspiracy hatched at a higher level. Mr Jain said preliminary interrogation of the six persons arrested from the stadium yesterday revealed that all these were identity card holders of the Shiv Sena and office-bearers of the party in Haryana. The bid to dig up the pitch was allegedly planned by Goyal in Delhi early this month, said Mr Jain, adding that the role of Bal Thackeray could only be ascertained after Goyal’s arrest. Addressing a joint press conference here, Mr Bindra said a detailed report on yesterday’s incident had been filed to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and a response was being awaited. He assured that the incident would not have any effect on the organisation of the Test match between India and Pakistan, to be held at Mohali in the first week of March. “The instructions from the Chief Minister are clear. The match will not be sabotaged due to vandalism by a handful of people and investigations into the case will be taken to their logical conclusion,” pointed out Mr Jain. He added that while the six activists had been arrested under various sections of the IPC relating to trespass, rioting, creating communal disharmony, Goyal had been booked for criminal conspiracy. Unprecedented security arrangements were put in place at the stadium to prevent any similar incident. Punjab police took over the security of the stadium and would direct the stadium’s private security. A three-tier security cordon, an anti-sabotage check system and a police control room were put in place. The security of the stadium would be under the direct supervision of the ADGP Crime Anil Kaushik, on orders of the Chief Minister, said Mr Bindra. Condemning the act as politically motivated, Mr Bindra declared politics could never overtake cricket. “The high-profile game is used as a vehicle, but the game is far more important than a few isolated obstructionist thinkers,” he said. Showing mediapersons the stadium ground, Mr Bindra said the six miscreants laced with iron rods scaled the outer gate of the stadium, ran across the two inside gates that were open and managed to reach the pitches. “They tried to cause damage to two of the pitches, but were stopped before they could succeed,” he said. |
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Kotla, Green Park next targets: Sena
New Delhi, February 11 “After damaging the pitch in Mohali, our targets are New Delhi and Kanpur,” said Delhi Shiv Sena chief Jai Bhagwan Goyal at a press conference here. The Shiv Sainiks courted arrest after their abortive bid to damage the pitch in Mohali to warn the Union Government that they could go to any extent to prevent the Pakistan team from visiting India, he said. Mr Goyal also described as totally wrong the claims by the Punjab police and the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) that they had foiled the Shiv Sainiks’ attempt to dig up the pitch. He condemned the government for ‘’supinely’’ allowing Pakistan to play in India on its own terms. If Pakistan wants to come here, it should release 182 Indians languishing in its jails, stop exporting terror to Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country and hand over main accused in Mumbai blasts and others, said the Delhi Shiv Sena chief. “Without accepting these conditions, Pakistan will not be allowed to play here in peace,” he said. The Shiv Sena has taken strong exception to Pakistan’s refusal to play a Test match in Ahmedabad citing security reasons. Meanwhile, the BCCI has said it would be issuing a set of instructions to avoid any Mohali-like incident. Board President Ranbir Singh Mahendra said, “Keeping in mind the importance of the series, we expect more vigilance at the venues.” According to the Punjab Cricket Association, more than 16 persons had yesterday jumped the wall of gate number three of the PCA Stadium, but alert security guards caught them while they were entering the stadium. Six of them were caught and handed over to the Mohali police for interrogation.
— UNI |
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Narain braves rain
London, February 11 Rain made track conditions increasingly difficult and after attempting some laps on extreme wet weather
tyres, along with work on start and pitstop practice, the team had to curtail the day’s schedule. Both Jordan drivers — Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro — were scheduled to complete the week’s test tomorrow, weather conditions permitting, before the team would move its test programme to Barcelona next week. Earlier yesterday, Narain completed the customary 300km of Formula One testing. — UNI
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Kila Raipur games from Feb 17
Chandigarh, February 11 Some years ago, the Union Ministry of Tourism had included this event in the calendar of national festivals. The organisers of the festival were scheduled to get a grant of Rs 5 lakh every year, with Rs 2.5 lakh coming from the Centre and a matching grant from the Punjab Government, but not a single paisa had been given to the organisers till date. A spokesman of the organising committee said while the Centre had given the money to the state government, the state government was yet to forward the money, together with its share. One of the highlights of the festival this year will be the participation of veteran athlete K.S. Punia from Canada, who has over 300 medals under his belt, and veteran marathon runner Fauja Singh from England. The Grewal Sports Award will be conferred on Bishen Singh Bedi (cricket), Balbir Singh, Col Harcharan Singh and Arvind Chhabra (all hockey), Anil Punj and Kiran Ajitpal (both basketball), Pritam Singh (bullock cart race), Sarwan Singh (kabaddi) and Sikander Singh (camel race). A special award will be presented to Surjit Pattar for literature and Gurbhajan Singh Gill for promoting sports and culture in Punjab. The Grewal Sports Association will institute an award in memory of Balkishan Singh Grewal. The award will be conferred on the best sportsman of the year in the rural events category. The bullock cart race, considered the ‘piece de show’ of the games, will have more than 100 bullock carts fighting it out for top honours and will keep spectators on the edge of their seats on all three days. The champions will walk away with a total cash prize of Rs 1,50,000. Prizes worth more than Rs 6 lakh will be awarded to the winners in cash and kind. There will be a tricycle race for the physically handicapped and special events for the deaf and dumb. Teams of all age groups from the region will participate in most events. In cycle races and athletics, there will be competitions for all age groups — sub-juniors, juniors, seniors and veterans. Teams from SAI hostels, BSF, Punjab Police, CRPF, ITBP and CISF will participate. The Bhagwant Memorial Gold Cup hockey meet will also be conducted. Besides an aero-modelling show, there will be air pistol, 30m rifle and clay pigeon shooting events. There will be three categories in kabaddi. In the inter-varsity tournament, teams from Guru Nanak Dev University, Punjab University, Kurukshetra University and Rohtak University will participate. The second category will be the village open, with three players permitted from outside the village. The third category will be for those who weigh under 62 kg. |
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Tollygunge draw with Mahindra
Mumbai, February 11 Mahindra had but themselves to blame for not pocketing the full three points as they wasted chances galore, with their foreign recruit Flavio Rodrigues being the culprit on most occasions. The match started with the visitors Tollygunge coming on to attack and were rewarded early at the 10th minute, when from the right flank Surajit Bose, seeing the Mahindra goalkeeper Sandip Nandy slightly out of position, lobbed the ball perfectly into the far corner of the net to put his team up 1-0. Mahindra United went on to attack and two minutes later a Jatin Bhist free kick saw the ball sailing into an unmarked Rodrigo De Almeida, who headed it into the open goal to even things up. After this, it was Mahindra all the way and in the 20th minute, they should have taken the lead, but Flavio Rodrigues received a perfect pass from Surkumar Singh on the right flank, but missed the goal. Ten minutes later, Sukumar Singh’s pile driver went just over the cross-bar. In the 35th minute, Flavio was once again the culprit as a short pass from inside the box by Jatin Bhist found him clear, but Flavio once again managed to mess things up and the chance went abegging. The second half was played totally in Tollygunge’s half, but still Mahindra could not find the target. Mahindra United made good moves from the midfield, but the forwards seemed to run out of ideas once inside the box to gift one point to Tollygunge. Mahindra United moved to 11 points from six matches while Tollygunge Agragami were a point behind them as they have played one match more.
— UNI |
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Jeevan, Amina clinch tennis titles
Chandigarh, February 11 Later, Jeevan also claimed the boys doubles title in partnership with Vivek Shokeen when they defeated Vaja Uzakov of Uzbekistan and Stas Zoravsky of Russia 6-3, 6-3. Left-hander Jeevan, ranked 43rd in ITF, did not face any resistance from third seed Xiao-Peng Lai of Hong Kong whom he beat 6-3, 6-0. Jeevan played an attacking game and got a initial lead of 5-1. Jeevan got another break in the ninth game for a 6-3 win in the first set. After trailing in the first set, Xiao-Peng was not able to settle down and failed to match the superb game of Jeevan, who maintained his poise all through to bag the title. Jeevan earned 60 ITF points. In the girls final, Amina was in total command against Martina Lautenschlager of Switzerland. Martina could not settle down in the first set as she committed a number of unforced errors. Amina won the set 6-2. In the second set, the Kazakhstan girl raced to a 3-0 lead. But Martina came from behind and her backhand volleys gave a tough time to Rakhim. Martina levelled at 3-3 and then took the lead at 4-3. With Rakhim serving, it was deuce seven times when finally a double fault by Martina helped Rakhim to level at 4-4 and then rallied to win the set and the title. Amina got 60 ITF points. Gen SF Rodrigues (retd), Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, watched the singles final and gave away prizes to the winners. Results (all finals): Boys singles:
Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (Ind) b Lai Xiao-Peng (Hong Kong) 6-3, 6-0. Boys doubles:
Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vivek Shokeen (Ind) b Vaja Uzakov (Uzb) and Stas Zoravsky (Russia) 6-3, 6-3. Girls singles: Amina Rakhim (Kaz) b Martina Lautenschlager (Sui) 6-2, 6-4. Girls doubles:
Yanina Wickmayer and Goele Lemmens (Bel) b Madura Ranganathan and Sandhya Nagaraj (Ind) 6-0, 1-6, 7-5. |
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Athletes honoured
New Delhi, February 11 Saurabh Vij, who won a gold in the shot put event with a heave of 18.45 metres in the Junior Commonwealth Championship in Australia, was awarded a cash prize of Rs 10,000 and a blazer. Harpreet Singh, who lifted the discus throw silver medal with a throw of 53.16 metres in the Junior Commonwealth Championship, was presented a cash award of Rs 7,000 and a blazer. Other athletes who were honoured were shot putter Ashwani Solanki, sprinter Pavneet, shot putter Monica Joon and sprinters Komal Thelan and Puneet Vij. Robin Bisht, who was declared the best player of the Commonwealth Cricket Series played in Delhi last October, was presented a cash prize of Rs 4,000. Some of the footballers from the DDA Academy, who had represented the country and the state, were also felicitated. They included India under-17 player A.A. Williams and under-16 player Manish Thapa. |
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Need to work hard on compulsory events: Randhir
Chandigarh, February 11 Kolkata has training facilities for lawn bowls, says Randhir Singh, adding that the Government of India is being requested to allow coaches from abroad. He says the Netball Federation of India, headed by Gurbir Sandhu, has made efforts to promote the sport and it has been introduced in all schools and colleges. He says recommendations have come from rowing, basketball, canoeing, kayaking and archery federations, but the games committee of the Commonwealth Games Federation will have the final say on the inclusion of three more disciplines at its meeting in Melbourne in April. On the proposed bid for the 2014 Asian Games, Randhir Singh says he has got clearance from the Olympic Council of Asia, adding that the final bid will be opened on March 1. |
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Sher-e-Jalandhar
down Veerans
Hyderabad, February 11 The win took Sher-e-Jalandhar’s points tally to 14 from seven matches, two less than table leaders Hyderabad Sultans who were on 16 points from the same number of matches. Jalandhar now must earn full three points from their last match against Hyderabad on Sunday to emerge as champions in the inaugural edition of the event. Hyderabad Sultans need only to take the crucial match to the extra-time, in which case they will get a point, to clinch the title. Dilip Thakur put Jalandhar ahead in the ninth minute and his team took total control of the game when Deedar Singh increased the lead in the 42nd minute. Sandeep Singh reduced the margin for Chennai Veerans in the 49th minute. However, Veerans failed to do anything more to level the score and take the match to extra time. — PTI
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Mehak wins gold in 400m Bhaddal (Ropar), February 11 While Ruchika was second Shweta was third in the event. A total of 212 students of the college took part in the various events in the two-day annual athletic meet. The former Olympian Milkha Singh inaugurated the meet in the morning. In men’s events, Inderjit was first in 1500m race, while Sandeep Singh was second and Manjinder Singh third. In long jump women’s events, Navkiran secured first position, Kamaljit second and Poonam third. In short put (women) Aarti was first, Reema second and Manpreet Kaur third. In men’s long jump Prabhjot Singh secured first position, Hitesh second and Yattan Singla third. In javelin throw, Karamjit Singh was first, Narpal Singh second while Hameer Singh got third position.
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