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Champions
Trophy
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Koreans pedal to
glory
Asian TT
Zaidi rocks Punjab
Impressive wins by
Jalandhar teams
Avneet shoots 400/400
CISF beat power board
A centre of excellence for budding pugilists
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Australia clinch
title
Prabhjot Singh Tribune News Service
Chennai, December 18 Intermittent showers since yesterday did disrupt the game which was played at an exceedingly fast pace with Australian dominance remaining apparent. The dominance of the Aussies was so much that the Netherlands could force their only penalty corner of the game in the 65th minute. It proved abortive. Playing with a packed defence and excellent markmanship, the Australians left nothing to chance in a game which saw either side resorting to tough tactics. Except for the last 20 minutes, the match was played in the pouring rain. Australians also cornered both the individual awards as Bevan George was adjudged man of the tournament while Jamie Dwyer got the man of the match award. Earlier, Spain blanked Germany 5-2 to take the bronze while Pakistan came from behind to defeat India 4-3 to take the fifth spot. Spain also got the Fair Play trophy. Though the Netherlands tried to wrest the iniative in the beginning of the game by mounting pressure on the Aussies goal but not with much success. Teun de Noojier, who was adjourned man of the year by the International Hockey Federation yesterday, did work out some excellent moves with Karel Klaver but could not crack the deep defence where Stephen Lambert in the goal and Mathew Wells stood like a rock. It was in the 21st minute that Mathew Wells hoisted the first Australian goal after Brent Livemore had taken the penalty corner push. Mathew’s direct shot beat veteran Guus Vogels in the Dutch goal. After changing over, it was Liam De Young who scored Australia’s second goal, following a brilliant run down the flank. Two minutes later, the game was suspended because of incessant rain. On resumption, though the Dutch tried desperately to get back in the game, but tireless Australians, keeping the pace, not only forced three more penalty corners but ultimately saw Jamie Dwyer picking a ball, dribbling his way through to the top of the Dutch circle from where he unleashed a powerful reverse flick to put the issue beyond any doubt. With 3-0 lead and only five minutes remaining, the Aussies slackened the pace a bit and conceded their first penalty corner from which Taeke Taekema slammed the rebound home for the consolation of the Netherlands. Earlier, Santi Freiza and Pablo Amat (two each) and Alex Fabregas scored for Spain to give them a comfortable 5-2 win over Germany in the bronze medal match. The Spaniards enjoyed complete supremacy in the game in which Montze Furste and Mathias Watthaus scored for Germany in a high-scoring match.
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India finish last
Chennai, December 18 For Pakistan,
their first win of the current edition, came at an appropriate time to
secure their berth in the next edition of the tournament. Pakistan also
maintained its tradition of beating India in all the classification
games the two nations have played in this elite tournament so far. This
has been India’s fourth consecutive defeat at hands of Pakistan in the
classification game in the Champions Trophy. India had some consolation in seeing both Prabhjot Singh and skipper Gagan Ajit Singh scoring goals again after fullback Kanwalpreet had given the team a flying start with a penalty corner conversion in the opening minute of
the game. An overcast sky with intermittent drizzle saw the home team dominating the proceedings for the first 15 minutes of the game before slowing down the pace of their game and allowing their opponents to settle down and retaliate with a goal just before the two teams broke for halftime. Leading
2-1 at the breather, India looked in deep trouble midway in the second
half, conceding three more goals to trail 2-4 before Gagan deflected the
ball into the goal from a free hit taken by Kanwalpreet to score India’s
third goal in the 68th minute. India could have equalised in the 67th
minute but Prabhjot missed the target. After Kanwalpreet’s strike
in the first minute, it was Prabhjot who capitalised on a deflection
from a defender’s stick to send the rising ball into the net to make
it 2-0 for India. Mohammad Imran scored Pakistan’s first goal with
a neat flick from team’s first penalty corner. It was skipper Mohammad
Saqlan who restored parity in the 48th minute with a neat conversion of
penalty stroke after Rehan Butt’s goalbound shot was body stopped by
an Indian defender. A minute later when Kanwalpreet took the second penalty corner, the ball went into the goal but the umpire disallowed it, signalling it as an obstruction. Kanwalpreet argued with the umpire which earned him a green card. Spain
settle for bronze
Holders Spain, who were unlucky to make it to the title, outplayed
eight times champion Germany 5-2 to win the Bronze in the play off match
for the third and fourth positions of the Champions Trophy hockey at
Mayor Radhakrishnan stadium here.
— UNI |
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FIH chief ‘displeased’
with IHF’s functioning
Prabhjot Singh Conspicuous by his absence at the India-Pakistan match was the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) Chief, Mr K.P.S. Gill. In fact, the President of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), Els Van Breda Vriesman, has made no secret of her “displeasure” over the working of the Indian Hockey Federation. Yesterday, when the FIH presented its annual Hockey Players of the Year awards, none of the IHF’s top brass was present. Sources maintain that the FIH chief has expressed her “displeasure” over the manner the game was being administered in the country. In spite of intermittent showers since yesterday, turnout for the first game was moderate. Many carried their umbrellas inside the stadium as securitymen in plain clothes were everywhere in anticipation of the visit of the Chief Minister. A tragedy in the flood relief camp in the city early in the morning notwithstanding, huge hoardings of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Dr J. Jayalalitha, popped up all over Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium, the venue of the Champions Trophy hockey tournament. In one such hoarding at the entrance to the stadium was the smiling portrait of the Chief Minister. “Faithful Follower Inbathtamilan, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister” read the bottom line of the hoarding. Similar hoardings of which one read “Champion of Champions”, had appeared inside the stadium also. Others screamed “Our eternal pride, Amma”. Intriguingly, there were no cutouts or portraits of any hockey greats inside or outside the gate. Not only that, two special plaques were put up at the entrance of the stadium thanking the Chief Minister for the new pitch and flood lights at the stadium. It may be perhaps the only stadium which has four plaques at its entrance, all in honour of Jayalalitha. “Without her intervention, this tournament would not have been possible. We not only got a new pitch and floodlights in the stadium, besides the necessary modifications, but also got an additional pitch at the YMCA ground here,” remarked Mr B. Eswar, Media Officer of the Champions Trophy. China’s national team which is preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is also in the city. The Chinese have been training at the YMCA pitch. Before the start of the India-Pakistan match, one minute silence was observed as a mark of respect to those who died in the stampede in the city in the morning.
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India recover after rocky start
Ahmedabad, December 18 Sling-arm style pace bowler Lasith Malinga and ace off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan packed off the Indian top order to have the hosts tottering at 97 for five but Laxman came to the rescue with an unbeaten 71 to bail his team out somewhat. When stumps were drawn after an extended final session of play to make up for the one hour late start, India were 247 for six with Irfan Pathan giving company to Laxman on an unbeaten 39, which contained seven fours. Laxman first staged the recovery through a fighting sixth-wicket stand with wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, playing only his third Test. After
Dhoni’s fall for a quick-fire 62-ball 49, inclusive of seven fours,
Pathan gave another exhibition of clean hitting after having scored 93
as an opener in the previous Test at Delhi, to continue India’s
recovery. Laxman was standing like a rock in his 319-minute stay at the wicket. He faced 194 balls and struck nine meaty fours, and equally important, held the lower order together like a glue. Laxman and Pathan put on 64 runs for the unfinished seventh wicket in 114 balls after getting together at 183 for six in the extended final session. It
was Laxman’s 24th half century in his 69th Test and 109th innings. However, the Indians, who won the toss and elected to bat, were still not fully out of the woods, given that the Motera ground is a good batting track. Full credit then should be given to the Lankans who had to leave out their indisposed frontline pace bowlers Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando this morning from the eleven. Undaunted by the absence of their pace duo, Sri Lanka, trailing the hosts 0-1 and looking out for their first ever Test win on Indian soil, gained the upper hand by sending back four top order Indian batsman in the second session of play after the home team had made a brisk start in the opening session. India, 51 for one at lunch, slumped to 125 for five in 45 overs at tea before Laxman and the attacking wicketkeeper batsman Dhoni, who missed his second half century by just one run in his fourth Test innings, stemmed the rot with a stand of 86 for the sixth wicket in 132 balls. The hosts lost the wickets of stand-in-captain Virender Sehwag (20) Sachin Tendulkar (23), Yuvraj Singh (0) and Mohammed Kaif (4) in the second period of play after having lost opener Gautam Gambhir (19) cheaply before lunch. While
Sehwag and Kaif threw away their wickets by failing to read the angle of
Malinga’s deliveries, Tendulkar was undone by a sharp break from
Muralitharan who then sent back the under-pressure Yuvraj Singh for a
duck two balls later at the same score of 88. The multiple strikes by Lanka brought together Laxman, who batted fluently by mixing caution and aggression judiciously even as he saw wickets falling in a cluster at the other end, and Dhoni who batted in a forthright manner for which he has become popular of late. While Dhoni attacked the bowlers, including Murali, with lofted shots in front of the wicket, Laxman rotated the strike as the sixth wicket duo sought to repair the severe damage in the post-tea session. Laxman, who used his wrist dexterously to play each ball on merit, was the fulcrum around which his more attacking and younger partners Dhoni and later the left-handed Pathan revolved to stage the recovery acts with half-century partnerships. Earlier, India started their innings on a brisk note in the morning while losing the out-of-form Gambhir cheaply before lunch. But
the visitors hit back immediately after lunch, taken with India on 51
for the loss of Gambhir’s wicket. Sehwag, who struck the bowler,
playing his first ever Test against India, for a few attractive glances
and drives in the session before lunch, failed to add to his lunchtime
score of 20. His opening partner Gambhir had also fallen to an impetuous
hook shot to a short ball from the same bowler before lunch when the
hosts’ total was 31. The Lankans were right on top when Muralitharan struck twice in the space of three balls in the fourth over of his new spell after lunch to send back in-form batsmen Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh for a second-ball duck. Scoreboard
India (1st innings): Gambhir c Tharanga b Malinga 19 Sehwag b Malinga 20 Laxman batting 71 Tendulkar
c Mubarak Yuvraj c Samaraweera Kaif c Atapattu b Bandara 4 Dhoni lbw Muralitharan 49 Pathan batting 39 Extras
(b-6, lb-9, nb-7) 22 Total (6 wkts, 78 overs) 247 Fall
of wickets: 1-31, 2-52, 3-88, 4-88, 5-97, 6-183. Bowling:
Malinga 18-2-62-2, Maharoof 17-6-34-0, Muralitharan 21-3-76-3, Bandara
19-2-52-1, Dilshan 3-0-8-0.
— PTI |
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Aussies gain upper
hand
Perth, December 18 The Australians dug-in against the tourists, allowing them just three wickets for the day after resuming in the morning at 38-1 at the WACA ground. At
stumps, the Australians were 272 runs ahead of South Africa’s first
innings total of 296. The Australian’s much-maligned middle order
battened down, unlike the first two days which saw the wickets of both
teams fall freely, with a series of partnerships putting the home side
in a comfortable position. Test newcomers Brad Hodge and Michael Hussey added an unbeaten 126 runs for the fifth wicket. Hodge, playing in only his third Test, grafted his innings of 91 off 184 balls with seven fours, surpassing his previous best score of 60 against the West Indies. Hussey was the other not out batsman on 54, after he was put down by AB de Villiers off the bowling of Charl Langeveldt shortly before stumps. Australia’s
batting was painfully slow at times, with the run rate sometimes less
than two an over. South Africa were denied the opportunity to gain the upper-hand when Ricky Ponting was spared while on four. The captain had attempted a pull shot off
Langeveldt, only to hit a high catch to Jacques Rudolph at forward square leg, who took it brilliantly with his left hand. But
West Indian umpire Billy Doctrove, a former international football
referee, ruled the delivery a no-ball, although replays showed
Langeveldt’s front foot was safely on the crease. It was a crucial moment in the match as Ponting went on to make 53 before being caught behind off Makhaya
Ntini. Hodge was also fortunate to stay the course, after he was dropped on 13 at third slip by Justin Kemp, again off the bowling of
Langeveldt. Nightwatchman Brett Lee was the first Australian wicket to fall today after adding a useful 32 with opener Justin Langer. Langer, then joined at the crease by Ponting, strained his left hamstring just before the lunch break and returned after the interval with fellow opener Matthew Hayden as his runner. But he added just four runs to his tally before chopping paceman Shaun Pollock onto his stumps for 47. Australia then seemed in a potentially precarious position at 129-3. The lefthander was taken to hospital for scans on his leg, but the results were not immediately known, with the second Test starting in Melbourne on December 26. Scoreboard
Australia (1st innings): 258 South Africa (1st innings): 296 Australia
(2nd innings): Langer b Pollock 47 Hayden c Boucher Lee lbw b Langeveldt 32 Ponting c Boucher b Ntini 53 Hodge batting 91 Hussey batting 54 Extras
(lb-2, w-1, nb-10) 13 Total (4 wkts, 99 overs) 310 Fall of
wickets: 1-37, 2-86, 3-129, 4-184. Bowling: Pollock
26-6-60-1, Ntini 23-6-81-1, Langeveldt 21-2-71-2, Nel 21-2-67-0, Rudolph
5-1-20-0, Kemp 3-0-9-0.
— AFP |
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Koreans pedal to
glory
Ludhiana, December 18
The reigning champions with 19 gold, 13 silver and 11 bronze medals topped the chart while China finished second with nine gold, four silver and three bronze medals. Hosts India with three silver medals occupied the 12th position among the first 16 countries which won medals. Indian girls won all three silver medals. The cyclists from South Korea who dominated the proceeding from day one, gave another excellent performance winning four out of nine gold medals decided today while China and Malaysia shared two gold medals each and Kazakhstan lifted one. Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, former Union Minister and the President, Cycling Federation
of India, gave away prizes to the winners. |
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Sharath in last eight
New Delhi, December 18 Sharath, ranked 160 in the world, swept away his unfancied rival 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 in a one-sided affair in Group ‘C’. With Waleed being defeated 11-4, 11-4, 11-2 by Hong Kong’s Li Ching also, Sharath is safely through to the quarterfinals as two players from each of the four groups qualify for the knockout stage. India’s other player in the men’s singles draw, Soumyadeep Roy, however, went down 4-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 to Kim Sang Soo of Korea in a Group ‘A’ match. India’s top women paddler, Poulomi Ghatak, beat her higher ranked opponent, Nozomi Hasama of Japan in Group ‘A’. Poulomi triumphed 5-11, 11-8, 11-6, 4-11, 12-10 against the Japanese girl who is placed 16 spots above her in the world ranking. However, the Indian went down to Zhang Rui of Hong Kong, ranked 21, 12-10, 11-8, 14-12. In her last match of the day, she went down to Khim Sock Ng of Malaysia 11-7, 11-6, 11-8. In Group ‘B’, India’s Mouma Das lost both her matches against world number 8 Tie Yana of Hong Kong and Singapore’s Fern Pey Tan. Tie Yana and Xi Xiao Li, ranked 15 in the world, share top spot in the group. — PTI
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Zaidi rocks Punjab
Lucknow, December 18 At the close of play, the visitors had reached 70 for three, still needing 213 runs to avoid the follow-on. Pankaj Dharmani (13) and Ratinder Singh Sodhi (6) were unbeaten when the play ended due early due to bad light. Hyderabad: Hyderabad restricted Haryana to 106 for five in their first innings after they were bowled out for 328 in the Ranji Trophy elite group B match played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket stadium near here today. Hyderabad spinners extracted bounce on the second day's track and put the brakes on Haryana innings. New
Delhi: Gujarat seamers once again wreaked havoc to reduce Delhi to 186
for five in the second innings and leave the Ranji Trophy Elite group A
cricket league match on the razor’s edge. Delhi now have an overall
lead of 112 runs. Earlier, Gujarat were 143 all out. Mysore: Hosts
Karnataka replied strongly making 117 for one in response to Bengal’s
first innings total of 335 all out on the second day of their Ranji
Trophy Elite group A cricket league match here today. Rohan Gavaskar top
scored for the visitors with a 235-ball 96 that included seven hits to
the fence. — UNI, PTI |
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Impressive wins by
Jalandhar teams
Chandigarh, December 18 In other matches, Government High School, Maqsudan, and Malaysia XI played a 2-2 draw while GHP School, Delhi, prevailed over Birsa Munda Vidyapeet, Orissa, 2-0 after leading by one goal at half time. The local Lyallpur Khalsa school owed their success to Daler Singh, who not only put his side ahead with a field goal in the third minute but also added two more shortly before half time to give his side an unassailable lead. The other scorers were Lakhwinder Singh and Manjit Singh. Another Jalandhar outfit, Government Model Senior Secondary School, who won 6-1, were served well by Lakhwinder Singh who scored a hat-trick. The other scorers were Deepak Sharma and Hardeep Singh. Amit Parkash pulled one back for the losers. The only foreign outfit, Malaysia XI, who were leading 2-0 till the 50th minute, found the going tough against GHS Maqsudan who scored two field goals in a span of five minutes to restore parity. |
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Avneet shoots 400/400
Chandigarh, December 18 Avneet who practised at village Badal in Muktsar district has now secured a berth in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, to be held in Melbourne, and in various other meets to be held next year. Later, talking to The Tribune on the phone from Hyderabad, Avneet said she was aiming to do well in the 2006 Commonwealth Games and would strive hard to bring home a medal in her event. Avneet became the third Indian shooter to shoot a perfect score after Abhinav Bindra who shot 600/600 at a shooting event at Colorado Springs, USA, in 2003. Suma Shirur also got 400/400 at the Asian Championship in Malaysia in 2004. However, this record score of Avneet will not be considered as an official world record as this event is not an ISSF calendar event. |
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CISF beat power board
Chandigarh, December 18 CISF took the lead in the 16th minute when Prateek Kumar converted a penalty corner. Cyril Ekka and Jai Paul were the
other scorers. The second match between Centre of Excellence, Patiala, and Northern Railway ended in a 1-1 draw in the regulation period. The match was decided in favour of the Railway team 5-3 by penalty strokes. In the last match of the day, Chandigarh Hockey Academy went down 1-4 to
EME, Jalandhar. |
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A centre of excellence for budding pugilists
Patiala, December 18 The 38th junior Punjab boxing meet, which concluded at Patti (Gurdaspur) recently, saw as any as seven boxers of the centre winning gold medals. Punjab Sports Department coach Harpreet Singh, has produced many national and international boxers. Harpreet Singh, a coach considered to be the most technically qualified in this part of the country, has toured USA, Germany and Indonesia in his capacity as junior coach of the national squad. He takes pride in the fact that at this year’s junior meet at Patti, it was one of his pupils, Parminder Singh was declared the best boxer while competing in the light heavyweight category. Incidentally, Parminder Singh has also been selected by Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) to tour Uzbekistan for a one-month combined training early this year. The other pugilists who landed gold medals in their respective weight categories were Bikram Singh (bantamweight), Jagwinder Singh (light welterweight), Kuldeep Singh (Welterweight), Bipranbir Singh (middleweight), Manpreet Singh (heavyweight) and Gurpreet Singh (super heavyweight). The boxers who won silver medals at Patti and training at the centre were Mangal Singh (featherweight), Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (lightweight) and Dheeraj Kumar (light flyweight). Harpreet Singh laments that there is a dearth of equipment at the centre.
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Lawyers
XI win Basketball
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Chennai, December 18
