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Indian boxers win Commonwealth title
Swimmers win two gold medals
Ganguly loses, Gupta wins
Advani, Sethi register wins
Atwal tied 44th
Pakistan are champions |
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Asia, Africa share trophy
Lin sets up title clash with Hidayat
JCT victorious
CM to open CSJA seminar on hockey
Irina for Madras golf
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Indian boxers win Commonwealth title
New Delhi, August 21 India, who had assured themselves of a top finish after seven of their boxers had entered the finals, also claimed three silver and two bronze medals to relegate England and hosts Scotland to the second and third positions, respectively. Som Bahadur Pun, declared the ‘most courageous boxer of the championship’, led the Indian gold rush beating Herbert Nkabiti in the 64 kg final. Pun won 19-14 on points. Akhil Kumar pipped Bongani Mahalangu of South Africa by a narrow margin, 18-17, for the yellow metal in the 54 kg final. The two other gold medal winners for India were AL Lakra (57 kg) and Jitender Kumar (+91 kg). Lakra recorded an easy 12-5 win over Stephen Smith of England, while Kumar beat Greg Weenink of New Zealand 12-8, the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation said in a statement here today. Balbir Singh, the favourite to win a gold medal, had to be content with a silver after the junior national champion failed to live up to the expectations during his 12-25 loss against Mohammed Nazir of Wales in the 48 kg final. Arun Singh (51 kg) and Vijender (69 kg) bagged silver after losing their respective finals against Botswana boxers Lechedzani Luza and Bongani Mwalase on points. IABF President Abhay Singh Chautala has congratulated the Indian contingent for their “fantastic” performance.
— PTI |
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Swimmers win two gold medals
Chennai, August 21 Aaroon D’Souza and Veerdhayal Khade, the schoolgoing kids from Bangalore and Maharashtra, respectively, garnered the two yellow metals by finishing first in their respective events, while Bangalore’s Jason Shiraz added a silver medal to India’s kitty. The brace of bronze medals were won in the diving events by Maharashtra’s Viraj Patil (one metre spring board) and Bengal’s Mamoni Mondal, who annexed the high board event (open group) bronze medal today. Aaroon, who claimed the 400m individual medley bronze medal yesterday, was in sublime form as he made the 1500m freestyle event a start-to-finish affair clocking 17min 04.84 secs for the gold medal. Veerdhayal Khade, winner of the 100m freestyle silver yesterday, grabbed the gold medal in the 200m freestyle final with a time of 2min 01.00 secs. In the boys water polo event, India failed to counter the Chinese onslaught in the last quarter as they went down 6-10. India were leading by five goals until the end of third quarter.
— PTI |
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Ganguly loses, Gupta wins
Abu Dhabi, August 21 International Master D.V. Prasad also scored an emphatic victory over GM Mikhail Ulibin of Russia but India’s best bet GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly succumbed to his second straight defeat in the event, bowing down to IM Sale Srdjan of Croatia. Meanwhile, at the top of the tables Grandmaster Alexander Goloshchapov of Ukraine joined GM Ashot Anastasian of Armenia in the lead defeating GM Konstantin Chernyshov of Russia in his sixth-round game. With both leaders having five points apiece, six players, including the top seed, former world junior champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, are in joint third spot having 4.5 points each. Another half a point adrift is a pack of nine players including Gupta and Prasad with just three rounds remaining in this $ 16,400 prize money tournament. Gupta was relentless in his duel against Kursonov and the effort the 15-year-old Indian put in to his game was highly commendable. Playing black, Gupta faced the Rauzer attack against his Classical Sicilian and showcased his growing positional as well as tactical sense to down his higher-ranked opponent. The middle game was as intense as it could have been as Kursonov looked on top for sometime when Gupta had his king in some optical troubles, but soon the Indian advanced his passed pawn on the king side to wrest the advantage. Kursonov was soon under tremendous pressure and the remaining technicalities were no problem for Gupta who wrapped up the issue after 69 moves. If Gupta played a tense game, Prasad took a simple approach to his game while playing the white side of a Sicilian defence against Ulibin. A fine attacking plan in the middle game gave Prasad a lot of play on the king side and Ulibin had no answers when he knocked down two pawns in succession to reach a won endgame. Ulibin tried hard to hold on but in the end Prasad’s material advantage had the final say. The game lasted 63 moves. Ganguly apparently did not come out of his shocking defeat in the previous round against Goloshchapov and paid a heavy price against Srdjan. The Croat was in some trouble when Ganguly initiated an attack against his king in the middle game arising out of a Ruy Lopez Exchange variation, but some impressive defence helped him survive the scare. Later in the middle game, Ganguly blew his chances when he failed to spot a knight fork in his calculation. Among the other Indians, Parimarjan Negi, Eesha Karavade and seasoned M.B. Muralidharan went down to Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan, Sfergei Simonenko of Turkmenistan and Homayoon Toufighi of Iran, respectively. Woman-Grandmaster-in-waiting Tania Sachdev did well to hold Russian International Master Alexander Raetsky while Akshat Khamparia and Kruttika Nadig scored wins over their lower-ranked opponents.
— PTI
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Advani, Sethi register wins
New Delhi, August 21 Former world billiards champion Sethi was in ominous form as he steamrolled Saudi Arabian Isa Al Ratsi 3-0. Advani registered breaks of 56 and 76 on way to blanking his opponent from Bahrain, Hussein Al Watni, 4-0. However, Mehta was stopped in his tracks in the under-21 category 3-4. In the senior section, Sethi picked up from where he left off yesterday and won his match without giving Ratsi any chance to bounce back. It was a flawless performance from the seven-time world champion who thrashed Ratsi 63-2, 78-3 and 67-3, according to information received here today. Former world snooker champion Advani registered breaks of 56 and 76 as he overran Watani 60-53, 56-5, 99-8, 112-5.
— UNI |
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Atwal tied 44th
Reno (Nevada), August 21 Atwal, who had barely made the cut at even par, is now three-under for three days, after five birdies and two bogeys in this round, to be tied 44th. He had bogeys on the first and fourth and birdies on the second, eighth, ninth, 11th and 18th for a fair day’s work. Former Asian Tour No. 1 Atwal, who has already secured his 2006 PGA, had his driving from the tee improved and so did his approach with 83 per cent greens in regulation. But it was putting that came a bit short, as he needed 29 to complete the round. Defending champion Vaughn Taylor, whose only PGA Tour win came at Reno Tahoe last year, opened up a six-stroke lead with an eight-under 64 that had four birdies in the first five holes. At 21-under 195, he had set a new tournament record for three days. Taylor also set the 36-hole record and is now in a position to beat the 72-hole record of 17-under set by Kirk Triplett in 2003. Todd Fischer, the local man, is second at 15-under after 69. He birdied the last five holes to overcome three early bogeys. — PTI |
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Randhawa improves
Akron (Ohio), August 21 Randhawa still had two more holes to play, but in the 16 he did complete, he was two-over, a big improvement on his nine over and seven over on the first two days. He is still 14-over and in last place at the South Course at Firestone Country Club. Graeme McDowell, who withdrew and Ted Purdy, who was disqualified, were the only ones behind him.
— Reuters |
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Pakistan are champions
Amstelveen, August 21 Trailing 2-3 at the break, Pakistan outwitted the favourites with a display of aggression, backed by a solid defence, where goalkeeper Salman Akbar emerged as the hero. The Pakistan goal-scorers were Imran Warsi (18th minute), Adnan Zakir (32nd), Rehan Butt (42nd) and Mudassar Ali Khan (50th) while for Australia, Travis Brooks (eighth), Grant Schubert (24th) and Ben Bishop (34th) found the mark. The Aussies began on an electric note, testing Akbar four times in the first five minutes, with forays from Schubert, Jamie Dwyer and Brooks. Earlier, Champions Trophy holders Spain shrugged off a late challenge from South Korea to emerge 2-1 winners and claim the bronze medal. Spain, who led 1-0 at the breather, scored through a brace by Santi Freixa from penalty corners, while Yoon Sung Hoon reduced the margin for the Koreans. Even though Spain remained unbeaten in this tournament, they struggled to find their rhythm upfront. Coupled with a vulnerable defence, they conceded six penalty corners, which to their fortune, were kept out by spectacular saves from goalkeeper Bernardino Herrera. Spain made the best of the two corners, scoring from both, Freixa’s flick being first deflected in by Hyung Bae Han in the 31st minute and then a perfect drag-flick went past Ko Dong Sik in the 57th minute. Korea rallied towards the end of the game and succeeded with a brilliant effort from Jang Jong Hyun who weaved past the Spanish defence to set up Yoon Sung Hyun in the 65th minute. Yesterday, a hat-trick by drag-flicker Taeke Taekema enabled hosts Holland to whip Germany 5-0 and claim the fifth spot. The Dutch, who led 1-0 at the break, stepped on the pedal in the second session to demolish the Germans as they fired home penalty corners with consistency. Taekema scored in the 25th, 44th and 52nd minutes while Roderick Weusthof flicked in the 48th while striker Floris Evers found the target in the 70th minute. Germany had two penalty corners in the second half but Florian Keller first lifted the ball and then pushed wide. Holland were more determined after the break and were rewarded with three goals in eight minutes with clever passes from Teun de Nooijer, Evers and Rob Reckers. The German defence caved in leading to the Dutch corners which were converted twice by Taekema and Weusthof. Evers rounded off the Dutch tally when he got the better of Schulte in a goalmouth scramble in the last minute. — PTI
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Asia, Africa share trophy
Durban, August 21 After skittling out Africa XI for a paltry 106, Asia XI were eight for two in three overs. Scoreboard Africa XI: Smith lbw b Akhtar 0 Dippenaar c Jayawardene
b Zaheer 7
Kallis lbw b Zaheer 4 Rudolph run out 7 Prince c Muralitharan
b Akhtar 0
Kemp lbw b Zaheer 8 Taibu c Sehwag
b Razzaq 10
Pollock not out
44 Streak lbw b Afridi 14 Steyn lbw b Muralitharan 1 Zondeki run out 0 Extras: (b-8, w-3) 11 Total: (all out, 32.5 overs) 106 Fall of wickets:
1-1, 2-16, 3-26, 4-26, 5-26, 6-35, 7-54, 8-105, 9-106. Bowling:
Akhtar 8-3-16-2, Zaheer 10-2-21-3, Nehra 6-1-30-0, Razzaq 2-0-18-1, Muralitharan 4-1-8-1, Afridi 2.5-1-5-1. Asia XI: Sehwag b Steyn 5 Afridi c Streak b Pollock 0 Sangakkara batting 1 Jayawardene batting 0 Extras: (w-1, nb-1) 2 Total:
(2 wickets, 3 overs) 8 Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-7. Bowling:
Pollock 2-0-6-1, Steyn 1-0-2-1. — PTI |
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Turkish delight for Raikkonen, Narain 14th
Istanbul, August 21 Spaniard Alonso, now 24 points clear of Raikkonen with five races left, snatched the runner-up slot after the Colombian spun on the penultimate lap while following Raikkonen home. Without that slip, McLaren would have been celebrating their first one-two in five years. The Finn’s commanding win from the pole position at the new Istanbul track was his fifth success of the season and second in a row. Montoya, struggling with a flat-spotted tyre, finished third ahead of Renault’s Italian Giancarlo Fisichella. Briton Jenson Button was fifth in a BAR, ahead of Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and the Red Bull pairing of David Coulthard and Christian Klien. In yet another finish for Narain Karthikeyan, the Jordan driver took the 14th place in the retirement-marred race. Karthikeyan, who had a disappointing qualifying yesterday, returned with an improved show to finish just ahead of team-mate Tiago Monteiro, who came last in a race which saw as many as five drivers, including seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, crashing out due to different reasons. Christijan Albers of Minardi, Schumacher, Nick Heidfeld of Williams, Felipe Massa of Sauber and Mark Webber of Williams were the casualties as they failed to finish the race under hot conditions. Karthikeyan ended his race three laps behind the winner, but managed to record his 10th finish in 14 races of the season so far. The undulating anti-clockwise track, likened to Belgium’s daunting Spa circuit by many, threw up plenty of overtaking for the estimated 90,000-strong crowd that included former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. There was no Turkish delight for Williams or Ferrari’s Schumacher. Schumacher, who had struggled in practice and was running 10th, was put out of the running by Williams’ Australian Mark Webber. The two collided on lap 15 as Webber, apparently attempting to unlap himself after a pitstop to replace a punctured tyre, tried to squeeze past at the final corner. Schumacher spun, pitted and resumed the race but then returned to the garages and got out of the car. After a furious effort by the champion’s mechanics, he eventually resumed 19 laps down in a bid to improve his qualifying position for Ferrari’s home Italian Grand Prix on September 4 at Monza. He finally retired with six laps to go. Both Webber and Williams team-mate Nick Heidfeld retired after repeated rear tyre failures. They were only bit players on a day that once again belonged to McLaren, who were left nine points adrift of Renault in the constructors’ standings. While Fisichella made the better start from the front row, leading Raikkonen into the first corner, the Finn sliced through at the end of the back straight to regain the lead on lap one. On the next lap Renault instructed Alonso to pass his team-mate: “Fernando, you’re faster than Fisi, overtake him,” the Spaniard was told on the team radio. Montoya managed to get ahead at the pitstops, despite a mix-up that saw his refueller knocked to the ground when the Colombian was released too early. Alonso, still on course to become Formula One’s youngest champion at the age of 24, has 95 points to Raikkonen’s 71. — PTI |
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Lin sets up title clash with Hidayat
Anaheim (USA), August 21 Lin beat third seed Peter Gade of Denmark 15-9, 13-15, 15-11 and No. 6 Hidayat swept No. 5 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia 15-3, 15-12 yesterday. Top seed Zhang Ning of China, the defending Olympic and world champion in women’s singles, reached the final after an 11-7, 11-9 semifinal sweep of No. 6 Xu Huaiwen from Germany. She will face second seed Xie Xingfang of China. Xie had to come from behind for a 2-11, 11-5, 11-6 victory over Taiwan’s Cheng Shao-Chieh. In the women’s doubles final, Olympic champions Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen of China rallied in both games to take the world title away from China’s Gao Ling and Huang Sui with a 17-16, 15-7 victory. In men’s doubles, No. 13 Tony Gunawan and Howard Bach became the first Americans to have a shot at a world badminton title, beating No. 4 Luluk Hadiyanto and Yulianto Alven of Indonesia 15-9, 15-13. The Americans will face second seeds Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto of Indonesia, who recovered from a 3-9 deficit to defeat No. 9 Chan
Chong Ming and Koo Kien Keat from Malaysia 15-9, 15-11 in the other semifinal.
— AP |
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JCT victorious
Chandigarh, August 21 The second goal was set up by Parveen who sent a measured pass to Gyan Moin in the 37th minute. Gyan controlled the ball and shot past the hapless Mahilpur goalie making it 2-0. The third goal for JCT followed in the 57th minute when Daljit’s cross from the left saw Parveen attempting a good header and the ball sailed into the net, with the goalie looking on helplessly. In the 75th minute, a cross from the right by Paramjit was headed goalwards by Parveen but unluckily the ball struck the horizontal and bounced back into play.
Baldip, who was standing unmarked, capitalised on the chance and shot home to make it 4-0. Tomorrow, JCT Football Academy will take on PSEB at Phagwara. In the second division, Harcharan SC lost to Sikh National FC, Banga, 1-2 at Hoshiarpur. |
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CM to open CSJA seminar on hockey
Chandigarh, August 21 Briefing the participants, senior sports journalist Prabhjot Singh informed that the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, would be the chief guest at the seminar in which several former Olympians, captains, national coaches, sports promoters and those associated with the game had already confirmed their participation. Among them are captain of the 1975 World Cup winning team Ajit Pal Singh, former national coach Rajinder Singh (Sr), Jagbir Singh, Balwinder Singh, Tarsem Singh, Mukhbain Singh, and Balbir Singh. “Many former Olympians have evinced keen interest in the proposed seminar and preparations are under way to ensure its grand success,” he said. An exhibition of photographs by Ashok Vahie will also be organised on the occasion. A large number of messages have been received from abroad and the proposed seminar has generated considerable interest among NRIs as the Indian hockey team has just concluded its engagements in the Rabobank Hockey Tournament at Amstelveen on a dismal note. The seminar will be the first in the series of discussions on Indian sports planned for this year. The meeting also mourned the demise of Lovely Dang, wife of hockey Olympian Sanjeev Dang of Punjab and Sind Bank, who died at Jalandhar a few days ago. |
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Irina for Madras golf
Chennai, August 21 The event has attracted the top 12 lady golfers, except Delhi’s Anjali Chopra. The 72-hole strokeplay tournament will be held in three divisions, gold, silver and bronze, and is open to all golfers with a valid handicap up to 36. “More than half the field among 47 entries are in the gold division (handicaps 12 or below)” Rani Chadda, chairperson of the championship, told reporters here on Thursday night. Defending champion Shruti Khanna of Delhi is expected to face stiff competition from Irina, Vaishnavi Sinha (Noida), Bahavana Shetty (Karnataka) and Shalini Malik (Delhi).
— PTI |
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Istanbul,
August 21
