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Sourav, Chappell stick
to their guns
Sachin set to make comeback
India to play 5 ODIs, 4 Tests in West Indies
J.P. Atray cricket tourney begins today
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Sweden needs a Sania: Wilander
New Delhi, September 17 Former world number one Mats Wilander today said teen sensation Sania Mirza would do well to aim at becoming a “better tennis player” instead of looking to win tournaments in the short term.
Jeev tied fourth
Lyallpur Khalsa College, HMV lift varsity trophies
States to fund inter-varsity games
Bhiwani on top in
women’s meet
Harikrishna in must-win situation
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Sourav, Chappell stick
to their guns
Harare, September 17 Ganguly gave enough indications of a wandering mind when he headed off for the scenic Victoria Falls this morning while informing the media to the contrary! Chappell, on the other hand, headed for a different destination in the company of four players, taking the morning flight to Harare. The two, distanced by nearly a 1,000 km, can neither rely on notorious telecommunications network in Zimbabwe nor on their own forgiving spirits to let bygones be bygones. To an Indian mind, it is a personality clash between the two though those who know Chappell assert that he is only concerned with the larger picture and individuals do not matter to him. So far there has not been any indication of a thaw even though the two, with most of the squad, attended a private dinner in Bulawayo last evening. In the wake of the turmoil in Indian cricket because of Ganguly’s disclosure that he was asked by Chappell to step down from captaincy before the first Test in Bulawayo, certain major issues are begging attention. Some are immediate ones like the issue of team spirit, hampering of team preparation and most importantly, in what context Chappell asked Ganguly to step down ahead of the first Test. Former India captain Ravi Shastri, for one, feels the context of Chappell’s advice could hold the key to understanding the entire issue. “It’s important to know in what context Chappell said so. He might have privately gone to him and said ‘you are feeling the pressure and it would not be a bad idea to step down’. “Or, ‘you feel your own personal batting form is not the greatest, you feel the responsibility is too much so you should step down’. “In what context he said it, nobody knows. You got to get the truth.” Chappell, an upright man, which in BCCI’s context means stubborn, does not want to add fuel to fire. He believes the success of the team would take care of such issues which are “always bubbling in a team environment”. However, Ganguly might feel that it was more than just a suggestion and he has let known his distrust by not making the first move of rapprochement towards Chappell. With both holding their grounds, it becomes imperative for the higher offices of the Board to get involved. Either they can take sides and sacrifice one of them or they can urge both to seek out a working relationship. So far, the only thing one can say with certainty is that they don’t seem to agree on matters of team selection as well as about the batting orders. Sunil Gavaskar, who like Ravi Shastri was on the panel which appointed Chappell as coach, feels it would not be a bad idea for the Board to send a selector on tour for he could form an opinion or play a role in issues of dressing room. “When Australia came to India last year, they had selectors Trevor Hohns and Allan Border, accompany the team. It would give him a fair idea of what’s happening in the dressing room. “There could be some guys who are not good for the spirit of the dressing room. A selector sitting back in India wouldn’t be able to see it.” While former coach John Wright believed in preparing the team and leaving all the major decisions in the hands of the captain, Chappell is keen to play a slightly more active role. Shastri feels there is nothing wrong in it, for “towards the end of his reign, I don’t think John (Wright) was pulling his weight. “It is very important for Chappell to instill discipline. Get the right kind of camaraderie between the seniors and the juniors. If a senior player gets out of hand, it is his job to reprimand him. He must tell him that it’s a team sport and by what he is doing, the team performance can get affected.” Gavaskar also feels that it is a coach’s job to help the team to progress keeping the 2007 World Cup in mind. “A coach has to be the one who helps the team to progress, help it get to another level. He has to identify the team as well as individual goals.”
— PTI |
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Sachin set to make comeback
Bangalore, September 17 “The big news is that MRF is playing and Sachin has confirmed his participation in the tournament,” Joshi said. “This will be a good practice session for Tendulkar before he goes for the Super Series,” he said. The 32-year-old star is representing MRF in the championship that will see 15 other teams in action. The master batsman, who had pulled out of the tours of Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, may have chosen to take part in the event to check his fitness level in match situation, ahead of the ICC Super Series between the World XI and Australia next month. Tendulkar, who has been selected in World XI’s one-day and Test squads, has been asked to confirm his availability for the Super Series by September 21. MRF’s first match is against Indian Airlines on Tuesday. Chemplast, India Cements, Cricket Association of Bengal, Air India and Hyderabad Cricket Association are some of the other teams taking part in the tournament. The final is on September 27. Among the top cricketers scheduled to take part in the event are L Balaji, J.P. Yadav, M.S. Dhoni, R.P. Singh and Suresh Raina, bank’s Executive Director B Swaminathan said.
— PTI |
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India to play 5 ODIs, 4 Tests in West Indies
Port-of-Spain, September 17 The first Test is scheduled in Antigua from June 1-5, while the next matches will take place in St Lucia (June 9-13), St Kitts (June 22-26) and Jamaica (June 30-July 4). The Indian team is slated to arrive here on May 15, the release added.
— UNI |
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J.P. Atray cricket tourney begins today
Chandigarh, September 17 In the 12-day tournament, 12 teams, including Punjab Cricket Club, MP Cricket Association, Mumbai Cricket Association, Jharkhand Cricket Association, ONGC Cricket Association of Bengal, All-India FCI, Rajasthan Cricket Association, PCA Colts and the city-based ICL Cricket Club will play under the new ICC rules. A meeting was held today in which the technical committee, comprising D.P. Azad, Jasbir Singh, Rakesh Sanghi and Sushil Kapoor, apprised the umpires and scorers of the tournament of the new ICC rules on substitution and power play. The Duckworth-Lewis system will be adopted in rain-curtailed
matches. “All participating teams have confirmed their respective schedule of arrival in the city. The teams of Rajasthan Cricket Association, Mumbai Cricket Association and Jharkhand Cricket Association would reach on September 19, while the teams of MP Cricket Association, ONGC and All-India FCI would arrive on September 20,” informed Mr Sushil Kapoor, the organising secretary of the tournament. Ajay Jadeja, former India player, will be leading the Rajasthan team for the first time here after leaving the Delhi team. Last year, he had represented Delhi in Ranji Trophy matches. The other cricketers who will be participating are Romesh Powar, Ajay Ratra, Amol Mazumdar, Sarandeep Singh, Gagan Khoda, Deep Dass Gupta, Amit Bhandari and Amit Mishra. Stars like Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Dinesh Mongia and M.S. Dhoni are likely to play in the tournament. This time the prize amount has been increased. The winners would get cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, runners-up Rs 50,000 and the losing semifinalist Rs 30,000. Prizes for the man of the match, best bowler, best batsman, best all-rounder and man of the series will also be given. The other venues for the matches are DAV School, Sector 8, DAV College, Sector 10, and PCA Stadium, Mohali. Doordarshan will telecast the final live on DD Sports, scheduled to be held under floodlights at the PCA Stadium on September 29. |
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Kolkata, September 17 As per the draw, held this afternoon at the Netaji Indoor stadium, 18-year-old Sania, who has been adjudged the third seed in the tourney, could face the winner of the opening round match between Argentina’s Ma Emilia Salerni and Hungarian Melinda Czink in the second round. Both of them are way below Sania in WTA rankings. While Sania occupies the 34th slot, Salerni is ranked 103 and Czink 121. If the results go according to the seedings, Sania, India’s main hope in the event, would run into second seed Elena Likhovtseva of Russia in the semi-final. Likhovtseva, 16th in WTA rankings, would cross swords with Yuliana Fedak of Ukraine (134th) in the first-round. India’s Shikha Uberoi, ranked 151, also begins her campaign against a lower ranked rival in Japan’s Ryoko Fuda (185). Another interesting opening round fixture would see Shikha’s younger sister Neha, who has entered the tournament as a wild card, take on Sunitha Rao, an American citizen of Indian origin. Top seed and world number 13 Anastasia Myskina would clash with unseeded Edine Gallovtis of Romania in the first round. Earlier, Sania made a quiet entry into the city last night. Sania’s arrival was kept a closely-guarded secret by the organisers who went on giving elusive replies to persistent queries from scribes. Tight security arrangements have been made for Sania in view of the objections raised by some Muslim clerics on her dress while on court. “We are making good security arrangements for Sania Mirza”, the police said. Indian tennis fans are pinning their hopes on Sania to come out with an improved performance in the tournament after her first-round defeat in Bali.
— PTI |
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Sweden needs a Sania: Wilander
New Delhi, September 17 Wilander said Sania needed to have a “long term vision” to realise her dream of becoming the world number one or winning a Grand Slam. “From now on it has to be a long term vision. It should be a matter of how much better she can be in five years,” said Wilander, in city as captain of the visiting Sweden team to take on India in the Davis Cup World Group play-off next week. “The focus should be on becoming a better tennis player. It should not be on winning tournaments and rankings. It is the process that matters. “Who knows, she can then be the top-two or the number one, or even win a Grand Slam,” said Wilander, winner of eight Grand Slam titles and the youngest to win a singles crown at the age of 17 and nine months at Roland Garros in 1982. Interestingly, Wilander’s comments came when discussing the topic of Swedish tennis and promising women talent in that nordic country. “We need someone like Sania to lead the way,” said the former pro who held three major titles at the same time in 1988. “She definitely hits the ball a lot harder than me, or even than most guys on the men’s circuit. She has got unbelievable ground strokes, she is a fighter and not afraid to go for her shots,” Wilander said in praise of the 18-year old Indian.
— PTI |
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Sangrur, Jalandhar lifters shine
Ludhiana, September 17 Earlier, Dr Iqbal Singh, president, Ludhiana District Bodybuilding and Weightlifting Association, inaugurated the championship. Mr Tara Singh, Arjuna awardee and general secretary, Punjab Weightlifting Association, Commonwealth Games star Parvesh Kumar Sharma, Mr Hardeep Singh Saini, Mr Ram Singh and Mr Inderjit Sharma were among other prominent persons who were present at the inaugural function. Results: Sub-junior- (below 44 kg): Balbir Kaur of Sangrur 1; below 48 kg: Menna Kumari of Jalandhar 1: below 53 kg: Parveen of Sangrur 1, Neha Dhawan of Jalandhar 2 and Rajbir Kaur of Jalandhar 3; below 58 kg: Harpreet Kaur of Mansa 1 and Harjeet Kaur of Amritsar 2; plus 69 kg: Manjot Kaur of Jalandhar 1. Junior section (below 48 kg): Balbir Kaur of Sangrur 1 and Meena of Jalandhar 2; below 53 kg: Rachna Sharma of Jalandhar 1, Parveen of Sangrur 2 and Neha of Patiala 3; below 58 kg: Balvinder Kaur of Ludhiana 1, Amandeep Kaur of Sangrur 2 and Sunita Rani of Mansa 3; below 63 kg: Paramjit Kaur of Jalandhar 1, Sukhjit Kaur of Sangrur 2 and Dalvidner Kaur of Gurdaspur 3; below 69 kg: Ranjeet Kaur of Jalandhar 1, Rajvir Kaur of Sangrur 2 and Raveena of Ferozepur 3; below 75 kg: Navpreet Kaur of Sangrur 1, Pardeep Kaur of Ferozepur 2 and Lakhwinder Kaur of Jalandhar 3; Plus 75 kg: Manjot Kaur of Jalandhar 1 and Randeep Sharma of Sangrur 2. |
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Jeev tied fourth
Tokyo, September 17 Jeev, now nine-under 207 at the par-72 course Sapporo Golf Club Wattsu Course along with three others, will play in second group as he eyes his maiden title in Japan. This year on the Japan Tour, Jeev is lying 42nd on the money list and has had three top-10 finishes and three other results inside the top 25. On two occasions he has led and played in the last group, but this time, he will be in the second group and faces less pressure. Kapur tied 20th
TAIPEI: Shiv Kapur and Arjun Singh shot par rounds in the third round to slip down the leaderboard, while Gaurav Ghei was also languishing with a three-over 75 at the $ 300,000 Taiwan Open on the Asian Tour. Kapur is now tied for 20th at five-under 211, while Arjun Singh is tied 32nd and Ghei tied 57th at the Chang Gung Golf Club. Kapur had 16 pars and just one each of birdie and bogey as he had a frustrating day with the putter. He bogeyed the second, which was a par-four and then got back that shot with a birdie on par-five 12th. Kapur will be looking forward to a low number tomorrow to try and get into the top 10 and pick up a decent cheque to help his cause towards retaining Tour card for next year. Madaiah shines
BANGALORE: Local lad S Madaiah might have missed out on the title at the Hero Honda Open South but on Saturday he made up somewhat for the disappointment with a victory in the Pro-Am which pulled the curtain down on the second leg of the Amby Valley PGAI Tour 2005-06 season.
— PTI |
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Sair Fair concludes
Arki (Shimla), September 17 The winners of the preliminary rounds and final rounds pocketed cash prizes depending on the categories. For the winners of the final bout, the prize money is Rs 3,000, while for the runner-up it is Rs 2,500. In the bullfighting event held yesterday, Rajesh Kumar Piploya’s bull was declared the overall winner. The boys and girls titles in basketball was won by the local Government Degree College and Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Arki, respectively. The badminton senior title was bagged by Mohan, while the doubles title was won by the pair of Mohan and Rakesh. Finals of kho-kho and kabaddi events were also held. A cultural show was also organized on the occasion in which Punjabi pop singer Harbhajan Mann regaled the audience. Folk dances of Himachal Pradesh were performed by schoolchildren. Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Forest Minister, Himachal Pradesh, was the chief guest on the occasion, while Mr Dharampal Thakur, Deputy Speaker, Vidhan Sabha, presided over the function. Later, the prizes were distributed to the winners. |
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Lyallpur Khalsa College, HMV lift varsity trophies
Amritsar, September 17 More than 200 outstanding sportspersons, managers and coaches who contributed towards winning the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad trophy for the university were honoured. The first position holders were awarded Rs 1,500, runners-up were given Rs 1,100, while the third position holders got Rs 1,000 as cash prizes. Similarly, 25 national- level champions were honoured with Rs 1,000 each, while second and third position holders were honoured with Rs 700 and Rs 500, respectively. The managers and coaches were honoured with blazers. Mr Vijay Kumar Gautam, Director of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, presided over the function and gave away prizes to the winners. Earlier, Dr S.P. Singh, Vice-Chancellor, welcomed Mr Gautam and congratulated the prize winners. The university won all-India inter-university gymnastics (women), weightlifting (men), powerlifting (men), hockey (women), kho-kho (men), yoga (men & women), judo (women), kabaddi (women), archery (women), canoeing (men and women) and kayaking (women) during 2004-05, while it was runners-up in judo (men), netball (men and women), pistol shooting (women) and rifle shooting (women). It remained third in cross country (men), football (men), cricket (women), athletics (men) rowing, fencing (women) and kayaking (men). The Vice-Chancellor said the UGC had also provided a Centre for Sports Excellence keeping in view the commendable sports achievements of the university. |
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States to fund inter-varsity games
Amritsar, September 17 Talking to this correspondent, he said the funding source had been changed from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to the state governments. He said earlier the Association of Indian Universities
(AIU) used to conduct the inter-university events while the ministry was the funding authority. He said sports came under State List. He stressed that the states would get funds from the Planning Commission. Sports lovers had expressed concern over the stoppage of grant by the Central Government and were pessimistic about the ability of the state government to hold the inter- university games smoothly. Mr Gautam said there might be some hiccups in the initial stage as the system was being changed but gradually things would become smooth. He said the ministry was making all-out efforts to successfully host the Youth Games in 2008 and the Commonwealth Games in 2010. He said the government was formulating a number of special sports plans and programmes in view of these international sports events. |
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Bhiwani on top in
women’s meet
Kurukshetra, September 17 Anu of Sonepat district was declared the best athlete. She bagged gold medals in 100m, 200m, 400m and long jump. In athletics, Sonepat, Sirsa and Hisar won the first second and third positions, respectively, by securing 50, 28, and 16 points. Finance Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Haryana Government Sports and Youth Welfare Department, Mr Sajjan Singh, gave away prizes to the winners. The results: Basketball: Bhiwani 1, Sirsa 2, Jind 3. Handball: Ambala 1, Rohtak 2, Bhiwani 3. Hockey: Kurukshetra 1, Sonepat 2, Gurgaon 3. Kabaddi: Panipat 1, Hisar 2, Rohtak 3. Volleyball: Kurukshetra 1, Rewari 2, Bhiwani 3. Table tennis: Sirsa 1, Hisar 2, Rohtak 3. Lawn tennis: Eesha Chopra, Gargi Dangwal and Meenakshi (Yamunanagar) 1, Mehak Thakur, Aastha Thakur, Neha and Akaanksha (Panchkula) 2, Indu Punia (Jind) 3. Badminton: Bhiwani 1, Panchkula 2, Sonepat 3. Kho-kho: Karnal 1, Bhiwani 2, Rohtak 3. Swimming: Freestyle 100m: Rupaali (Kurukshetra) 1, Neha (Karnal) 2, Kiran (Karnal) 3. Backstroke 100m: Bhaimini (Karnal), Neha (Karnal) 2, Ankita (Kurukshetra) 3. Breaststroke 100m: Sanwari (Kurukshetra) 1, Anu Meha (Karnal) 2, Ritu (Karnal) 3. Butterfly 100 m: Bhaimini (Karnal) 1, Neha (Karnal) 2, Nidhi (Kurukshetra) 3. Individual medley 200m : Rupaali (Kurukshetra) 1, Sanwari (Kurukshetra) 2, Ritu Karnal 3. Freestyle 200m: Rupaali (Kurukshetra) 1, Kiran (Karnal) 2, Anu Meha (Karnal) 3. Freestyle 200 m: Bhaimini (Karnal) 1, Kiran Shivraan (Karnal) 2, Bhumika (Kurukshetra) 3. Breaststroke 200m: Sanwari (Kurukshetra) 1, Anu Meha (Karnal) 2, Ritu (Karnal) 3. Gymnastics: Vaulting Table: Rekha (Ambala) 1, Amrita (Ambala) 2, Poonam (Bhiwani) 3. Uneven bars: Rekha (Ambala) 1, Poonam (Bhiwani) 2, Vinay, Mamta (Rohtak) 3. Balancing beam: Amrita (Ambala) 1, Rekha (Ambala) 2, Poonam (Bhiwani) 3. Floor exercise: Rekha (Ambala) 1, Neha (Ambala) 2, Vinay (Rohtak) 3. Team championship: Ambala 1, Rohtak 2, Bhiwani 3. Athletics: 100m : Anu (Sonepat) 1, Saroj (Yamunanagar) 2, Sumitra (Sirsa) 3. 200m: Anu (Sonepat) 1, Saroj (Yamunanagar) 2, Naresh (Sonepat) 3. 400m: Anu (Sonepat) 1, Anju (Sonepat) 2, Manisha (Rohtak) 3. 800m: Anju (Sonepat) 1, Neelampreet (Sirsa) 2, Manisha (Rohtak) 3. 1500m: Neelampreet (Sirsa) 1, Jyoti (Sonepat) 2, Poonam (Yamunanagar) 3. 3,000m: Ritu (Jhajjar) 1, Jyoti (Sonepat) 2, Poonam (Mahendragarh) 3. Long jump: Anu (Sonepat) 1, Shiksha (Jhajjar) 2, Sumitra (Sirsa) 3. High jump: Neelam (Sirsa) 1, Naresh (Sonepat) 2, Reena (Yamunanagar) 3. Discus throw: Rinku (Hisar) 1, Sushila (Jhajjar) 2, Renu (Sonepat) 3. Javelin throw : Gurpreet (Sirsa) 1, Suman (Hisar) 2, Anju (Sirsa) 3. Shot put: Neelam (Hisar) 1, Rinku (Hisar) 2, Renu (Sonepat) 3. 4x400m relay race: Sonepat 1, Sirsa 2, Jhajjar 3. |
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Harikrishna in must-win situation
Lausanne, September 17 With one down in the two-game mini-match, Harikrishna faces a tall task of winning the return game in order to force a tiebreak in which games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner. |
Ronak shoots team gold Subroto football Delhi hockey BSF championship Riding display
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