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Sandeep Singh powers IA to title win
Namdhari XI banned from Surjit hockey
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Liberals hockey from Jan 5
Peshawar may not host one-dayer
New Zealand outplay Sri Lanka
Ponting, Warne top Test rankings
Former cricketer Eddie Barlow dead
Tough draw for Indians
Federer, Hingis have different goals in 2006
Zidane hints at retirement after WC
Schumacher confident of comeback
Campaign to channel energies of youth
Eight
chess stars lose to 7-yr-old Gill joins as Patiala DSO
Black Elephant club clinch title
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Sandeep Singh powers IA to title win
New Delhi, December 31 It was Indian Airlines’ 15th title win out of 24 appearances in the final of the tournament, and they earned a prize money of Rs 2 lakh, while PSB pocketed Rs 1 lakh. The semifinalists were given Rs 60,000 each. The match for the third place between Namdhari XI and Indian Oil was scrapped as a fallout of yesterday’s violent incident when Namdhari and the Oil players clashed after the former lost to Indian Airlines in the first semifinal. Indian Airlines, packed with former and current India internationals, expectedly called the shots, but barring Sandeep’s drag-flick goals, there was hardly anything exciting in the final. Indian Airlines forced three penalty corners, and Sandeep converted the first and the third. The bank men, too, earned three penalty corners, but the alert Airlines defenders foiled their attempts, with the second penalty corner shot being nicely padded away by custodian and captain Maninder Singh. The trend of the contest was set in the fourth minute when Sandeep stepped forward to sweep the ball in off Indian Airlines’ first penalty corner. Sandeep’s action was so swift and sudden that the PSB players got very little time to react. There were many exchanges, with Indian Airlines dominating the attacks, but the match seldom rose above the ordinary as PSB put up a lacklustre display. They seemed content in chasing the ball rather than going for it, and whenever their own forwards worked their way up, they failed to convert their moves into goals, partly due to the doughty Airlines defence, efficiently marshalled by captain Dilip Tirkey. With Dhanraj Pillay playing as a kind of feeder-forward, Indian Airlines mounted a series of attacks down the flanks with Arjun Halappa and Sandeep Michael igniting the moves. But the close marking by the bank men prevented Airlines from scoring a field goal, though they came close to doing that many a time. Once Dhanraj’s diagonal cross tantalisingly went past the bank goal as no forward was around to connect it. Indian Airlines added their second goal 11 minutes into the second half off their third penalty corner when Sandeep hit the mark with a clean, swift drag-flick. PSB forced two penalty corners in the second session, but failed to make use of either. This was PSB’s ninth entry into the final, and third finish as runners-up. |
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Namdhari XI banned from Surjit hockey
Jalandhar, December 31 This was stated by the secretary of the Surjit Hockey Society, Iqbal Singh Sandhu. Meanwhile, CRPF side scraped past Surjit Hockey Academy 9-8 in sudden death. The teams were level at 3-3 in regulation time and 6-6 after the tiebreaker. In the second match of the day, CISF beat Punjab National Bank, Delhi, 2-1. Siral Ekka of CISF scored the first goal in the 38th minute, while Mangra Munda struck in the 46th minute. For the losers, Damandeep Singh scored in the 64th minute. In the women’s section, Haryana XI beat Western Railway 4-1. Sarbjit Kaur of Western Railway scored the first goal, while Haryana’s Fatima Kujju scored two goals in the 12th and 43rd minutes. Seema Kalra scored a goal for Haryana through a penalty corner in the 46th minute and Asima B Despota struck in the 62nd minute. |
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Liberals hockey from Jan 5
Patiala, December 31 The tourney, which has been accorded grade` A' by the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), has attracted as many as 30 top outfits, including two from Pakistan — Ideal Hockey Club, Lahore, and Multan Hockey XI. According to Mr G.S. Bains, president of the organising committee, this year’s edition is being held in the memory of Prof Gursewak Singh, former Secretary of the IHF and the Pepsu Union Hockey Association (PUHA), who died in February this year. The teams which have confirmed their participation are holders Corps of Signals, Jalandhar, last year’s runners-up EME, Jalandhar, Punjab Police, Jalandhar, BSF, Jalandhar, Artillery Centre, Hyderabad, Punjabi University, Patiala, MAU, Aligarh, Northern Railway, New Delhi, BEG, Pune, Jagraon Police, Thapar Academy, Sansarpur, Ropar Hawks, Eastern Railway, Kolkata, PSEB, Patiala, CISF, New Delhi, Centre of Excellence, Patiala, Central railway, Mumbai, Air Force, New Delhi, RCF, Kapurthala, Rock Rovers, Chandigarh, MEG, Bangalore, CRPF, New Delhi, BEG, Roorkie, and Punjab and Sind Bank Academy, Jalandhar. The winners of this year's edition will be richer by Rs 31,000 while the runners-up will be given Rs 21,000. The eight-day tournament will be inaugurated by ADGP and senior Vice-President of the IHF, Mr Chandrashekhar, while the prizes will be distributed on the concluding day by the state PWD Minister Mr Partap Singh Bajwa. |
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Peshawar may not host one-dayer
Karachi, December 31 The Northwest Frontier Province Government has written to the board that it cannot host the second one-day international in Peshawar on February 8. The letter from the NWFP Government was received a couple of days ago and PCB has been discussing the situation with the Pakistan Interior Ministry. A top PCB official said a final decision on Peshawar would be made in the next 24 hours in consultation with Interior Secretary. “PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan is meeting the Interior Secretary in Islamabad on Monday and the final decision would be made in that meeting,” a top PCB official said. “The NWFP Government has expressed its inability to host the match in the wake of Moharram. They feel they don’t have enough manpower to provide top-grade security to the two teams and also maintain law and order in the city and the adjoining areas,” the official told PTI. The official said a similar excuse was given by the Federal Capital authorities that forced the PCB to swap the Rawalpindi one-dayer with Peshawar. Peshawar was originally scheduled to host the February 6 one-dayer while Rawalpindi was awarded the February 8 game. Another PCB official, requesting anonymity, said the PCB had also discussed the situation with BCCI and had verbally proposed to reduce the gap between the first and the second Test by a day. “We suggested to the BCCI that if we reduce the gap between Lahore and Faisalabad Tests, we could overcome the problem. But the Indian board has rejected that proposal,” the official said. The Lahore Test begins on February 13 while the Faisalabad Test starts on February 21. The PCB official further said the option of Lahore staging two one-day internationals could be ruled out but that would be the last option. “We want to have a game in Peshawar but only when we are assured of complete security for the two teams and promise that there will be no administration problems during the teams’ stay in Peshawar.” The Indian board was yet to formally approve the latest itinerary that was sent to it a couple of weeks ago. But this latest twist in the tale is certainly going to delay the finalisation further. However, the PCB remains confident that the Indians would arrive in Lahore on January 5.
— PTI |
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New Zealand outplay Sri Lanka
Queenstown, December 31 How and Fulton recorded their first limited-overs half-centuries as New Zealand overhauled Sri Lanka’s modest total of 164 with only three wickets down and almost 13 overs to spare, scoring 166-3. How, a squat opening bat with a wide repertoire of shots, made 58, the second-highest score by a New Zealander on one-day debut, while Fulton, in his second one-day international, made a fluent, unbeaten 70. Both players brought up their half-centuries with sixes. How’s fifty came in 114 minutes from 83 balls with five fours and a six off Lasith Malinga. Fulton’s fifty came in 77 minutes from 56 balls, with seven boundaries. He also raised his half century with a six over mid-wicket. How, 24, opened the New Zealand innings and batted through the dismissals of veterans Lou Vincent (15) and super sub Nathan Astle (2). Only the absent New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, who scored 90 on debut 12 years ago, has posted a higher score in his first one-day match for New Zealand. Fleming missed the match after attending the birth of his first child; a girl born in Wellington on Thursday. He will return for the second match of the four-match series on Tuesday in Christchurch. Fulton, 26, batted with more fluency than How but the latter’s responsibility to open the innings curbed his strokeplay. He stayed at the crease for six minutes more than two hours, facing 95 balls and striking eight fours and a six. His best shots were his pulls past square leg and two superbly timed on-drives through the unguarded area around mid-on. Fulton, a taller player with a prolific record in domestic first-class matches, played elegantly, striking fours mainly down the ground but equally punishing short-pitched bowling. Earlier, Sri Lanka never seemed likely to set New Zealand a demanding target as Oram, Shane Bond and Kyle Mills each took three wickets to curb their total. Oram and Mills each had figures of 3-31 from tight 10-over spells while Bond took 3-29 from 8.2 overs as Sri Lanka struggled to adjust to the pace and bounce of a hard pitch in this alpine tourist resort on New Zealand’s South Island. Oram bowled his 10 overs consecutively, capturing the wickets of opener Upul Tharanga, Mahela Jayawardene and Chaminda Vaas. Mills, who bowled tidily in two spells, removed dangermen Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu and Russel Arnold while Bond wrapped up the tail. Scoreboard Sri Lanka Tharanga c McCullum
b Oram 17 Jayasuriya c Vincent b Mills 12 Sangakkara c Fulton b Bond 0 Jayawardene c
McCullum b Oram 1 Atapattu c How b Mills 35 Dilshan c Vincent b Bond 42 Arnold b Mills 26 Vaas c Vettori b Oram 1 Maharoof b Cairns 18 Malinga not out 1 Muralitharan c Vettori
b Bond 0 Extras: (lb-6, w-4, nb-1) 11 Total: (all out, 47.2 overs) 164 Fall of wickets:
1-23, 2-25, 3-34, 4-41, 5-105, 6-132, 7-139, 8-150, 162-9. Bowling:
Mills 10-2-31-3, Bond 8.2-1-29-3, Oram 10-0-31-3, Cairns 8-0-42-1, Vettori 10-1-22-0, Styris 1-0-3-0. New Zealand Vincent c Sangakkara b Vaas 15 How b Jayasuriya 58 Astle lbw Muralitharan 2 Fulton not out 70 H. Marshall not out 16 Extras: (lb-1, w-4) 5 Total:
(3 wkts, 37.2 overs) 166 Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-41, 3-136. Bowling: Vaas 9-2-38-1, Malinga 6-0-44-0, Muralitharan 10-1-29-1, Jayasuriya 8.2-2-36-1, Maharoof 4-0-18-0. —
AP, AFP |
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Ponting, Warne top Test rankings
Dubai, December 31 Ponting’s century in the second Test against South Africa in Melbourne propelled him to the top of the batting charts while Warne’s six wickets in the same match helped him upstage compatriot Glenn McGrath in the bowlers’ rankings. The Australian captain reached the top for the first time in his career displacing South African Jacques Kallis.
— PTI
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Former cricketer Eddie Barlow dead
London, December 31 He had been confined to a wheelchair after suffering a stroke in 2000 and spent his final years in north Wales. Barlow, a burly man who wore spectacles, was a key player in a golden era for South African cricket before the international sporting boycott in response to the republic’s racial separation policies. He was an attacking opening batsman who scored five of his six centuries against Australia and an aggressive bowler whose best figures of five for 85 also came against the Australians. After his Test career was cut short following a 4-0 series victory over Australia, Barlow played for English county Derbyshire and was coach of Bangladesh briefly before his stroke.
— Reuters |
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Tough draw for Indians
Chennai, December 31 The Indian duo of Prakash Amritraj and National Grass court champion Vishal Uppal, who were given wild cards for this prestigious tournament, face Ricardo Mello of Brazil and Czech Jiri Vanek, respectively in their first round of the $ 400,000 prize money event, the draw for which was held here today. With Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi deciding to skip the singles event, much of the India’s hope would rely on the young shoulders of Prakash and the big serving Vishal. While Leander would figure only in doubles for the first time in the ten-year-history of the tournament, Bhupathi would not be seen in action at his favourite hunting ground. Prakash, ranked 297, had been trying hard for the last couple of days at the SAF Games tennis stadium here and have to bring off his best to upset the apple cart of the Brazilian, who was ranked more than 200 places higher than the Indian. Vishal Uppal, who had been doing well in recent times that saw him win the national title at New Delhi last week, would be up against the seasoned Jiri Vanek, who is no stranger to this city. If he continues with the good form he showed in the New Delhi nationals, the Czech would be hard pressed to check the Indian’s progress. However, it was rather easy draw for top seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, who is eager to perform well on his first tour of Chennai. If things go on expected times, the Croatian, who played a vital role in his country’s first ever Davis cup win recently, would run into fourth seed and four times successive finalist Thai Paradorn Srichaphan in the semifinals. Meanwhile, only three Indians, including Davis cuppers Rohan Bopanna and Harsh Mankad, out of the 13 in fray, moved into the second round of the qualifying stage of the ATP tour Chennai Open here today. Joining Bopanna and Harsh in the second round was Somdev Varman, while the remaining ten Indians bit the dust. While the big-serving Bopanna defeated Marcin Matkowski of Poland 6-3, 6-4, Harsh defeated compatriot Kamala Kannan by an identical scoreline. Somdev Varman defeated Luka Gregorc of Sloovakia 6-1, 6-4. Four qualifiers would make it to the main draw beginning on Monday. — UNI |
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Federer, Hingis have different goals in 2006
Paris, December 31 The men's world number one, who lost just four times in 85 matches in 2005, will defend his Wimbledon and US Open titles and hopes to reclaim his Australian Open crown as well as break his French Open jinx. Hingis, who collected five Grand Slams before injury sidelined her for three years, simply hopes not to be out-gunned by the muscular brigade which has supplanted her. Still just 24, Federer has already collected six Grand Slams and is widely expected to storm past Pete Sampras's record of 14 by the time he calls it quits. But the path to true greatness is filled with twists and turns and Federer's all-consuming journey traditionally suffers serious engine failure when he turns up in Paris every spring for the French Open. Like Sampras, Boris Becker and John McEnroe before him, Federer has yet to unravel the mysteries of the Roland Garros clay. His run to the semi-final in 2005, where he lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal, followed three previous appearances where he never got beyond the third round. It's a conundrum as the Swiss star can play on the dirt; in three of the last four seasons, he has won the Hamburg Masters in the run-up to Paris. "I still have got more left in me at the French Open, which is a good sign," insisted Federer. To mark his determination, he plans to play in all three of the spring clay court Masters in Monte Carlo, Rome and Hamburg in 2006 - the first time he has tackled that particular triple since 2002. While Federer starts his season as defending champion in Doha, Nadal will miss his scheduled opener in Chennai where he was to be top seed. The Spaniard, who matched Federer with 11 titles in 2005, is still nursing the foot injury which sidelined him from the Masters Cup in Shanghai. Apart from Nadal - when fit - pretenders to the Federer crown are few and far between. Andy Roddick has beaten the Swiss just once in 12 matches; Lleyton Hewitt has won seven in 18 but the last victory was in 2003; Andre Agassi has won only three of his 11, the last of which was over three years ago. Marat Safin, who deposed Federer as Australian Open champion, has won two in nine. Tomas Berdych, the Czech who has defeated both Federer and Nadal in the last two years, believes he could sustain a challenge. Argentina's David Nalbandian, who beat Federer in the Masters Cup final in November to take his career record to 6-4, is another man who can make life awkward. Britain's much-hyped Andy Murray, France's former junior number one Gael Monfils and Novak Djokovic, a promising, colourful and big-hitting Serbian, will also be keenly watched in 2006. In the women's game, scrutiny will be on Hingis, the 25-year-old who left the tour in 2002 because of a crippling ankle injury. She stages her comeback in January. The Swiss believes she can still have an impact on the game despite her old reliance on subtlety being in danger of looking like a relic compared to the brute force of Lindsay Davenport, the Williams sisters, Amelie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova. "I have to work on my strength," said Hingis who won 76 career singles titles and was once the world's youngest world number one. She also won the Australian Open in 1997, 1998 and 1999 as well as the 1997 Wimbledon and US Open titles. "The game has changed, it has become more physical but not necessarily at the technical level." Hingis made a brief comeback last year when she lost a one-off appearance in Thailand, but she insists she still has the ability to make an impact at the highest level. "I still love the game," said Hingis who added she is prepared for failure should her hopes be shattered. "There are worse things out there in the world than losing a tennis match." Hingis's first tournament back will be the Australian Hardcourt Championships in Adelaide which starts on January 1 with one eye on the Australian Open in Melbourne. The indications are, however, that Hingis will struggle leaving the way clear for the likes of Belgian duo Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne to once again tackle the American and Russian threat. —
AFP |
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Zidane hints at retirement after WC
Paris, December 31 “It is not sure that I’m going to stay until 2007,” Zidane was quoted as saying by the French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche published today. “There are still six months to go with Madrid and there will be the World Cup. Then, we will see.” Zidane shelved his international career for almost a year after Les Bleus suffered a shock elimination in the quarter-finals of the 2004 European championship. He returned for France in August and, wearing the captain's armband, helped his country qualify for the 2006 World Cup. “I came back to help France qualify. I'm certain that we have a team capable of achieving something great. Our players belong to the best European clubs,” he said.
— Reuters |
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Schumacher confident of comeback
Paris, December 31 The seven-time champion, who was outclassed by Renault's Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren last season, has been buoyed both by December testing in Jerez as well as engine regulation changes and new tyre rules for 2006. "But the two most important new rules for next season shouldn't put us at a disadvantage. The transition to the V8-engine seems to have worked well for us, the last tests were looking good.
— AFP |
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Campaign to channel energies of youth
Chandigarh, December 31 This campaign will be launched in phases in all 32 subdivisions of Patiala Range and Ludhiana Range. The former includes Sangrur, Barnala, Fatehgarh and Patiala, while the latter comprises Ludhiana, Ropar, Jagraon and Khanna. Mr Sharma said panchayats played a pivotal role in encouraging the youth to take part in various sports activities. He said several village panchayats had organised competitions in one discipline or the other, be it athletics, wrestling, kabaddi or volleyball. Mr Sharma said the campaign had been started about three months ago and so far over 10 villages had hosted competitions. He said events were held at Sahnewal village (Ludhiana) on December 30, while on January 2, Bhadson village (Patiala) would hold the competitions. |
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Eight chess stars lose to
7-yr-old
Kolkata, December 31 Das, a student of class three, got the better of six Grandmasters and two Women Grandmasters after 18 moves at the Netaji Indoor stadium. The event, organised to celebrate the first anniversary of the Chess Players’ Association of India, saw the GMs and WGMs take on about 300 participants of all ages. In a tandem simultaneous match, held for the first time in India, each of the stars played with white pieces and made his move against a player before moving on to the next board and so on. The other GMs followed suit and the day rolled on, in a carnival-like atmosphere at the stadium. “It is difficult for us. Because I don’t know the strategy adopted by the other GMs who played before me,” said GM Dibyendu Barua, who is also president of the CPAI. The competition, aimed at popularising chess, saw players as young as four and a half years participate along with older ones, against the GMs. Das played an attacking game that put the GMs in a spot and finally Abhijit Kunte resigned on his turn much to the joy of the youngster and his parents. The other Grandmasters who played were national champion Surya Sekhar Ganguly, Sanidpan Chanda, RB Ramesh and Tejas Bakre. Nisha Mohota and Swati Ghate were the WGMs.
— PTI |
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Gill joins as
Patiala DSO
Patiala, December 31 Mr Gill, who joined the department in November, 1974, has been appointed as DSO in place of Mrs Narinder Kaur Cheema who attained superannuation. |
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Black Elephant club
clinch title
Patiala, December 31 Scores: Kanwarpal Singh, Sukhminder Singh and Abhi Mehta (all of Black
Elephant club) were declared the best batsman, best bowler and best
wicketkeeper, respectively, while Karan Goyal of PDCA was declared the
boy of the tournament.
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