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Sodhi guides Punjab (India)
to 43-run victory
Sidelights
Pak recall Taufeeq, Arshad
Aussies clinch 10-run win
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Amazing feats at Kila Raipur games
Lamba, Guran, Verma win Am-Am Golf Title
Obituary
Venus ousts Clijsters
Mumbai to clash with Vizag in final
Mukul, Karamjit declared best athletes
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Sodhi guides Punjab (India)
to 43-run victory
Patiala, February 19 Due to heavy morning fog coupled with a light overnight downpour, the match began 90 minutes late and the stipulated overs were reduced to 40 a side. Pakistan Punjab skipper Ijaz Ahmed won the toss and opted to field in view of the heavy cloud cover. However, this decision seemed to have backfired when both Sodhi and Dinesh Mongia put on 151 runs for the second wicket after opener Ravneet Ricky was dismissed with the scoreboard yet to enter double figures. Chasing a formidable looking 234, the visitors were never really in the reckoning as wickets tumbled at regular intervals with just southpaw Qaiser Abbas coming up with 69. The visitors made a hash of things early on in the innings with openers Imran Nazir and Ali Naqvi trying to belt every ball they faced. Once Nazir holed out at midwicket, trying to hoist Gagandeep Singh over the top, and Ali Naqvi found himself in two minds while trying to pull Vineet Sharma, the visitors were virtually out of contention. At 113 for 2, the Pakistan team seemed to be crawling their way back into the match but a bunch of wickets in the middle overs knocked them out of the contest. And at 157 for 7, when left-arm medium pacer Amit Uniyal bowled Ijaz Ahmed with a yorker, it was all over for Pakistan. Earlier, the visitors started strongly when their medium pacer Kashif Raza sent in a vicious incutter, delivered from close to the stumps, which clipped the bails off Ravneet Ricky’s off stump when the hosts score read just nine. However, for the next 35-odd overs, the visitors could not do much as both Sodhi and Mongia combined well to put on 151 for the second wicket. The left-handed Mongia curbed his natural instinct to attack while Sodhi played with patience to thwart the bowlers. Sodhi, after getting his eye in, opened up when he flicked Shazad Butt to the midwicket fence to get going. Both batsmen were helped by an erratic spell of bowling by medium pacer Jafeer Nazir who bowled nine extras in his first two overs. His first over, the opening over of the contest, which had three no-balls and three wides, seemed to be a never-ending one even as the crowd lapped up every error the paceman made. Sodhi became more and more confident once he crossed his twenties and the Patiala cricketer brought up his fifty with a sweetly timed glide to the third man fence. He followed this up with a rasping drive to long off which left both bowler Butt and the fielders flummoxed. On the other hand, Mongia was matching Sodhi shot for shot and the skipper brought on his half century in style with a short arm pull that landed one bounce into the stands. Slowly but steadily, these two batsman steered the hosts to a position of relative safety. After playing a series of controlled shots in the eighties, Sodhi inched towards the three-figure mark. However, once he reached the nervous nineties, Sodhi seemed to have lost his way before he pulled off spinner Tariq Mahmood to the mid wicket fence to bring up his century. There was nothing impressive in the visitors’ attack as it lacked venom to go through the visitors strong batting line-up. Pacers Jafeer Nazir and K. Raza bowled at a military medium pace which rarely bothered either Sodhi or Mongia. Spinners T. Mahmood and Q. Abbas bowled without giving enough flight to the ball and rarely used the crease as they were well handled by the batsmen. Scoreboard Punjab (India) Ravneet Ricky b Raza 5 Reetinder Sodhi not out 106 Mongia c Ijaz b Abbas 69 Dharmani not out 32 Extras 12 Total
(for 2 wickets) 234 Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-160. Bowling:
Jafeer Nazir 7-0-41-0, Kashif Raza 8-0-28-1, Shazad Butt 6-0-48-0, Tariq Mahmood 8-0-48-0, Qaiser Abbas 8-0-37-1, Ali Naqvi 3-0-25-1. Pakistan Punjab I. Nazir c Gupta b Gagandeep 11 A. Naqvi c Ricky b Sharma 16 K. Siddique b Gupta 41 Q. Abbas not out 69 N. Latif c Dharmani b Sanwal 11 Z.Halder lbw Sanwal 4 T. Mahmood st Dharmani S. Butt c Dharmani
b Gagandeep 0 Ijaz Ahmed b Uniyal 11 K.Raza c Ricky b Sanwal 2 J. Nazir run out 0 Extras:
16 Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-51, 3-113, 4-133, 5-135, 6-152, 7-157, 8-186, 9-191, 10-191. Bowling:
Gagandeep Singh 8-0-35-2, VRV Singh 4-0-26-0, V. Sharma 4-0-30-1, A. Uniyal 6.1-0-36-1, G. Gupta 4-0-21-2, D. Mongia 4-0-19-0, S. Sanwal 6-0-33-3. |
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Fans disappointed as Yuvraj fails to turn up
Patiala, February 19 Yuvraj was to come from Chandigarh in the morning along with colleague Dinesh Mongia but it was only the latter who drove here in his car from the City Beautiful in the morning. *** So dense was the fog in the morning that even the Clock Tower end was not visible from the main pavilion. Even the players of both teams who were warming up near the pitch could not be sighted from a few metres away. However, once the sun broke through the clouds, the contest commenced and youngsters cheered every hit. *** Owing to the inclement weather, which forced the organisers to delay play by 90 minutes, the Pakistan team arrived a bit late. And when they did make it to the Dhruv Pandove stadium, PCA officials accorded them a warm reception. However, the crowd, which was still filling up, failed to respond and the visitors were given just a muted applause once they started warming up. *** The Patiala MP, Mrs Preneet Kaur, made everybody wait. Once it was known that the Chief Minister would be unavailable for the inaugural ceremony, the organisers invited the MP at the eleventh hour. The players of both teams were made to line up for the traditional introductions with the chief guest but after 15 minutes, when there was still no news about the MP’s arrival, the umpires walked to the middle and the teams dispersed. However, barely was this over that the MP walked in. — R.D.
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Pak recall Taufeeq, Arshad
Karachi, February 19 There were hardly any surprises as Pakistan cricket selectors decided to more or less retain the squad that was whitewashed 3-0 in the recent Test series against Australia. Younis Khan was named the vice-captain in place of Yousuf Youhana while Waqar Younis was appointed the bowling coach. Umar, 22, last played for Pakistan against India at Rawalpindi while 34-year-old Arshad Khan’s previous appearance in a Test was against England in November, 2000. Paceman Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Khalil were retained in the squad after they passed fitness tests in the morning that were conducted by coach Bob Woolmer and foreign trainers Daryl Lifson, Murray Stevenson and Grant Compton. Sami had to return from the Australian tour because of a shin injury while Khalil was nursing a groin injury. Earlier this week, Sami had appeared in a drawn Patron’s Trophy game for National Bank of Pakistan in which he had figures of 14-7-21-2. Imran Farhat and Mohammad Asif, who toured Australia, were dropped from the Indian tour while Shoaib Akhtar was not considered after withdrawing from the India tour yesterday citing an aggravated hamstring injury. “We have basically stuck to the policy of consistency as evident from the fact that the team consists mostly of players who undertook the tour of Australia,” Chairman of Selectors Wasim Bari said. “The team is a unanimous choice of the selectors and the team management. We all know that the tour of India will be difficult but we have faith in your youngsters. I am sure they must have learnt a great deal from the Australian tour,” Bari, a former Pakistan captain, said. Together, the Pakistan team has 316 Tests between them with skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq alone having played nearly one-third of these (97). The average age of the squad is 26.5. Arshad, a 34-year-old Pathan, is a crafty off-spinner who has claimed 30 wickets in eight Tests at 28.40. In 168 first-class matches, he has 558 wickets. Bari said Arshad had been rewarded for his consistent performance. “He has been recalled keeping in view the Indian conditions,” he said. Inzamam said he had mixed feelings about the squad. “I am happy that Sami and Khalil passed fitness tests because they must have gained something in Australia. But I am sorry for Shahid Nazir who missed the bus by a whisker. He has actually been elbowed out by Khalil.” The captain said he had a young but talented team at his disposal. “It is a young team which is determined and committed to do well. I am sure if we maintain discipline on the field, we will succeed,” he added. Woolmer, who arrived this morning from Cape Town (South Africa), told reporters: “It is a going to be a challenging tour of India and I am looking forward to it. We will definitely miss Shoaib but frankly speaking we need a fit Shoaib.” The squad: Inzamam-ul-Haq (captain), Younis Khan (vice-captain), Taufeeq Umar, Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Yousuf Youhana, Asim Kamal, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal (wicketkeeper), Arshad Khan, Danish Kaneria, Shahid Afridi, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Khalil and Abdul Razzaq.
— PTI |
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Aussies clinch 10-run win
Wellington, February 19 As Australia defended a score of 236, McGrath finished with four for 16 after ending his first spell with exceptional figures of one wicket for seven runs from seven overs. He fittingly ended the match when he bowled Daryl Tuffey for one with eight balls remaining to dismiss New Zealand for 226. Scoreboard Australia Gilchrist c Sinclair b Mills 4 Hayden b Styris 71 Ponting c Vettori b Styris 61 Martyn b Styris 7 Symonds b Cairns 53 Clarke c Marshall b Styris 0 Katich c McCullum b Cairns 0 Hogg not out 25 Lee not out 4 Extras
(b-1, lb-1,
w-4, nb 5) 11 Total (6 wkts, 50 overs) 236 Fall of wickets:
1-7, 2-140, 3-153, 4-158, 5-158, 6-160, 7-239. Bowling: Tuffey 8-0-47-0, Mills 9-1-48-1, Cairns 10-0-56-2, Styris 10-1-40-4, Vettori 10-0-33-0, Astle 3-0-10-0. New Zealand Fleming lbw Lee 5 Astle b Hogg 65 Sinclair c Gilchrist b McGrath 0 Styris c Hayden
b Symonds 14 Cairns run out 0 Marshall b McGrath 76 McMillan st Gilchrist McCullum c Katich b Lee 8 Vettori b Lee 0 Mills not out 1 Tuffey b McGrath 1 Extras
(lb-6, w-8, nb-5) 19 Total (all out,
48.4 overs) 226 Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-16, 3-72, 4-73, 5-113, 6-179, 7-218, 8-224, 9-224. Bowling:
Lee 9-1-41-3, McGrath 9.4-3-16-4, Kasprowicz 10-1-62-0, Symonds 10-0-52-1, Hogg 9-0-44-1, Clarke 1-0-5-0.
— AFP, AP |
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Narain dazzles, finishes fourth
Barcelona, February 19 As testing before next month’s Australian Grand Prix came to an end here yesterday, the Indian finished at number four position, right behind Ralf Schumacher of Toyota, while Karthikeyan’s team-mate Tiago Monteiro was around half a second slower. Fernando Alonso (1:13.967) of Renault was quickest on the final day of testing, followed by team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella (1:14.064), Ralf Schumacher of Toyota (1:16.519), Narain Karthikeyan (1:16.999) and Jordan’s Tiago Monteiro (1:17.560). On the fourth and final day of the team’s test here, Karthikeyan and Monteiro’s schedule concentrated on race simulation work for reliability testing in the morning. At the end of the test day, Monteiro completed 120 laps and Karthikeyan 83. Nicky Pastorelli also tested for the Jordan team, completing 29 laps. He is the 2004 Euro 3000 Champion and is one of the candidates Jordan Grand Prix has been evaluating as test drivers. Later Monteiro said, “Today was very important because every kilometre of running was valuable and as always, I wanted to do more than as was done in the week so far. We had planned our first qualifying and race simulation, which we were a little bit anxious about, but it went very well — I did 56 laps and two stops.” “In the afternoon, we tested various parts of the car and we improved the lap times a lot. We are getting slightly closer to the front, more or less three seconds from the fastest time,” he said.
— UNI |
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Randhawa jumps to second place
Kuala Lumpur, February 19 The Thai pulled six shots clear of the chasing pack and is poised to defend a title for the first time in his illustrious career. Randhawa made it a day for the Asian Tour, taking advantage of the par-fives with two eagles and one birdie. The Indian, who won the Volvo Masters of Asia in Kuala Lumpur last December, did not want to rule out the prospect of catching the runaway leader. “It seems tough and Thongchai looks to be playing well and he is a good player. But what can you say in golf. A guy on 11-under can come from behind and win. One more day to go and I’ll take my chances tomorrow,” said Randhawa, who was second behind Thongchai on the Asian Tour Order of Merit last season. Irish star Padraig Harrington, ranked eighth in the world, birdied his last two holes for a 67 to force his way into the final group tomorrow. He is joint third with Thailand’s 20-year-old Prom Meesawat and Swede Henrik Stenson, seven strokes off the lead.
— AFP |
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Stage set for grand finale
Congratulations to Gaganjeet Bhullar on his stupendous performance at the Royal Challenge Samarvir Sahi Amateur Golf Tournament. The 16-year-old has displayed tremendous potential in his rookie season winning three titles on the Royal Challenge Indian Golf Tour and I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that this young talent will keep the Tricolour flying high for many years to
come.
Gaganjeet is part of a bright new crop of youngsters making an impression on the amateur circuit. This season I have noticed a change in the attitude of these players towards the game. A majority of them are getting increasingly ambitious and looking at turning professional. This I would credit to the advent of Royal Challenge as the first-ever sponsors of amateur golf in India. By lending support to the circuit they have not only made golf a serious career option but also provided the perfect platform for amateurs to hone their skills. The 2004-05 season of the Tour has experienced a discernible change in the standard of golf. I was thrilled to witness inspired performances by new faces like Jaskirat
Dullet, Amardip Singh Malik, Joseph Chakola, Chirag Kumar and of course
Gaganjeet, besides veterans like brothers Simarjeet and Jasjeet Singh, and Keshav Misra and Manav Das. Unlike the situation that prevailed at this level of golf a few years ago, when only a handful of names would feature among the winners, today there is fierce competition and each week players have to put in that extra effort to emerge above the rest. It is not easy to choose a winner anymore and nothing reiterates this better than the fact that the 11 events this season have thrown up nine winners with only Gaganjeet claiming more than one title. The stage is now set for the grand finale with top amateurs from Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka and India congregating at Delhi for the 104th Royal Challenge-Eveready All-India Amateur Tournament, the final stop on the amateur circuit this year. I assure all golf lovers in the country that this tournament will provide the ultimate thrills with some of the best golfing talent from the Asian region on display. Coming back to the Royal Challenge Samarvir Sahi Amateur Tournament, I feel that the event is a great tribute to a promising golfer who was unfortunately lost to the world at a very young age. Had he been alive today I am sure he would have done not only his city but also his nation proud in the sport that he loved so much. The week itself witnessed exciting moments as players were tested to the limit by the unpredictable weather. The Chandigarh Golf Course, with its demanding layout and unblemished fairways and greens, provided the perfect venue for the event. It was a close call for the eventual winner on the final day as there was just a solitary stroke that separated him from runner-up AS Malik, but in the end the fine quality of golf displayed by the amateurs along with the good spirit in which the event was played formed the ultimate tribute to the memory of Samarvir Singh
Sahi. |
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Amazing feats at Kila Raipur games
Ludhiana, February 19 A young boy, Oscar Gill, from a nearby village, lifted a scooter with his shoulders without using his hands. Gurmeet Singh Bhamarian dragged a car tied to his ears over a distance of 100m. He later lifted a bicycle, tied to a 30-foot wooden ladder, with his teeth. Subhash Chander Sharma dragged a car, in which four persons were sitting, with his teeth. Girl students of the Deaf and Dumb School, Ludhiana, performed giddha. Ajit Singh (70) of Bassi Shekhan village, near Kurali, rotated a ‘moongli’ weighing 42 kg. Physically challenged boys took part in a tricycle race, which was won by Naresh Kumar of Ludhiana. Krishna Rani (70) attempted 10 rounds of shooting and hit the target every time. Competitions in kabaddi, loading and unloading tractor-trailers, hockey, dog race and bullock cart race were also held. In dog race, Charanpreet Singh’s Chahal finished first, followed by Premi’s Ruby, Premi’s Babbar and Didar Singh’s Cheetah. Results: 100m (men): Jagbir Singh of Patiala 1, Bhagwant Singh of Punjab Police 2 and Vishal Pathak of Mastuana 3; 100m (women): Rupinder Kaur of Kila Raipur 1, Harpreet Kaur of Ludhiana 2 and Narinder Kaur of Patiala 3; 1500m (men): Kashmir Singh of Punjab Police 1, Satnam Singh of Jalandhar 2 and Lovely of Ludhiana 3. Mr Sunil Dutt, Union Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs, was the chief guest today. Presiding over the function, he asserted the need to preserve Indian rural traditions. Expressing joy over the enthusiasm shown by villagers, he said he was delighted to note that a large number of people still had interest in the rural games. The minister flagged off a cart race. Talking to mediapersons later, Mr Dutt said the government was chalking out a comprehensive plan for preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, scheduled to be held in New Delhi. |
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Lamba, Guran, Verma win Am-Am Golf Title
Chandigarh, February 19 They beat the team of Aditya Gupta, Sudhir Verma and A.B.S. Deol on the basis of a better third score in what proved to be a fitting conclusion to the main event. On a rather chilly morning around 100 of the city’s top golfers got together to compete across various categories of prizes. The event was played on a stableford format with a unique concept introduced by Royal Challenge that allows participants in each category to win an award. In the 0-6 handicap category Mohit Verma emerged triumphant with 39 stableford points, Jaideep S Grewal walked away with top honours in the 7-12 handicap category with 41 points while Sudhir Verma was declared the winner in the 13-18 handicap category on a better back nine score from Dr G.S Kocchar with 40 points. T.L. Verma won the first prize in the 19 and above category and had 42 points to his name. Meanwhile, H.S.Kang edged out Sagar Bhatia to win the individual gross prize.
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Sports administrator par excellence
Prof Gursewak Singh, an eminent academician and one of the ablest sports administrators Punjab has produced after Independence, was instrumental in making Patiala the second home of the Punjab Olympic Association (POA), the parent body of state sports associations.
A hockey player and international umpire in his younger days, Gursewak Singh not only rose to be Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala, but also remained associated with the Federation International de Hockey as a member of its technical committee, besides serving the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) in various capacities. He remained treasurer, secretary general and vice-president of the IHF between 1959 and 1996, besides being a member of its selection committee, technical committee, finance committee and disciplinary committee. He also officiated as an umpire in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, where India won gold. In 1958, he accompanied the Indian hockey team to the Asian Games as manager. Prof Gursewak Singh enjoyed cordial relations with the Patiala family in general and Raja Bhalendra Singh in particular. He was considered a trusted lieutenant of Mr Ashwani Kumar, doyen of Indian hockey. As an administrator, he got hockey and other grounds prepared in various colleges, including Government Mahendra College, Patiala, and Government College, Bathinda. Sports was his passion. He remained a member of the executive committee of the POA till his death last week. I had many chances to interact with him and discuss the state of sports not only in Punjab, but in the rest of the country. His indepth knowledge, good memory and contacts worldwide spoke high of his qualities of leadership and respect for fellow sportspersons and organisers. There was not a single major sporting event in India since the early 1950s with which Gursewak Singh was not associated. A teacher of English, Prof Gursewak Singh had take several initiatives in the field of higher education. He remained closely associated with Punjabi University as well as the office of Director of Public Instruction (Colleges). His son, Dr Manmohan Singh, is chairman of the medical commission of the Indian Olympic Association, which looks after dope control in the country. Among those who condoled his death and paid rich tributes to him were former Union Fertilisers Minister and Punjab Olympic Association president Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, POA life president Umrao Singh, International Olympic Association secretary general Randhir Singh and National Commission for Minorities Chairman Tarlochan Singh.
— Prabhjot Singh |
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Venus ousts Clijsters
Antwerp, February 19 Ginepri never dropped his serve but still lost to Roddick 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/2), in an all-American quarterfinal. Rotterdam: Top-seeded Roger Federer advanced to the semifinals of the ABN Amro, defeating sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 7-5.
— AP, AFP |
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Mumbai to clash with Vizag in final
Paradip Port, February 19 In a press release, Mr B. Raju, PRO, Paradip Port, has said that Vizag Port Trust, with the help of N. Srinivas Reddy, who made 39 off 37 balls, could score 115 runs losing 9 wickets in 22.5 overs. Prasant Halankar of Mormugao took 4 wickets giving 37 runs in his 8 over spell and Dharmendra Ugrani captured 2 wickets conceding 28 runs in his 7.5 overs. Mumbai Port Trust defeated Kolkata Port Trust by 121 runs. Kolkata won the toss and elected to field. Mumbaikars were 255 all out in the stipulated 40 overs. In reply, Kolkata scored 134 runs in 38.4 overs. Indronil Chakraborty of Kolkata made 40 off 65 balls and Amitav Devanath 33 off 40 balls. Pramod Masurkar of Mumbai took 3 wickets giving only 9 runs in his 5 overs. |
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Mukul, Karamjit declared best athletes Ambala, February 19 Mukul Lakra of BA III was declared the best athlete among men, while Karamjit Kaur of M. Com II was declared the best athlete among women. On the second day, in 4x400 relay race, team of Naresh Kumar, Mohit Sehgal, Ravi Kumar and Hem Raj won the first prize, the team of Shiv Kumar, Rajiv Kumar, Kranti Kumar and Ajay Singh stood second, while the team of Chander Pal, Rakesh Verma, Akash and Abhilekh was declared third. In 4x100 relay race (women), the team of Sonia, Kulvinder, Malkiat Kaur and Karanjit Kaur won the first prize, the team of Amana, Sapna, Jaswinder Kaur and Manjit Kaur was declared second, while the team of Neeru, Anu, Usha and Kuldeep Kaur stood third. In discus throw (men), Chandervir Singh stood first, Harshvinder was second, while Arvind was third. In 10,000 metre race, Gurcharan stood first, Sunil Kumar was second and Jitender Kumar was third. In 100 m race (women), Karamjit Kaur stood first, Malkiat Kaur was second and Kulvinder Kaur was third. In 3000 m race (women), Karamjit stood first, Sonia was second and Jaswinder Kaur was third. In non-teaching staff race, Gaurav came first, Pardeep Kumar was second and Ajaib Singh was third. In 100 m race (men), Harshwinder was first, Mukul Lakra was second and Narender Kumar was third.
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