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Jung wins fourth gold
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Antil wins silver in discus
Melbourne, March 21 Despite performing well below her best, India’s Seema Antil got back into the spotlight with a silver medal in the women’s discus throw at the Commonwealth Games here today.
Easy sailing for shuttlers
Boxing: Harpreet, Johnson assured of medals
Paddlers advance
India need big win against SA today
Sehwag cleared to bat
HC grants interim relief to Dalmiya
Anand beats Vallejo Pons
Foundation stone of wrestling hall laid
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Jung wins fourth gold
Melbourne, March 21 Gault fired 645.9 points which was a way below his own record mark of 657.5 which he shot in Manchester four years ago. Roger Daniel of Trinidad won the bronze with 638.9 edging past another Indian in the fray Vivek Singh, who missed the mark by 0.3 points and ended with 638.6 at the Melbourne International Shooting Club. But there were more cheers in store for India as Gagan Narang clinched his third gold winning men’s 10 m air rifle individual event with a record score of 698.9 (597+101.9) points. Abhinav Bindra, Narang's pairs events partner, claimed the bronze with 695.5 (594+101.5) points. Singapore’s Zhang Jin bagged the silver with 696.9 (595+101.9) points. However, India saw a reversal of fortunes in women’s 25 m Pistol individual event with Sushma Rana and Saroja Kumari finishing outside the medal bracket. India has so far won 11 gold medals, four silver and one bronze in the shootings events ahead of Australia’s seven gold. The 35-year-old Jung, now just three wins away from his target, would be the hot favourite for the remaining individual pistol titles. Jung hit 554 in the qualification and a confidence boosting 96.2 in the final round in steady winds. “I am enjoying every moment of it. With every event my confidence to achieve my target is increasing,” Jung said. “It was a good day out there because the wind was not as strong as in the past few days,” he added. Gault was 552 and 93.9 in the two sections while the third-placed Trinidadian returned with the card of 544 and 94.9. Narang, another Indian expected to corner maximum number of yellow metals after Jung, eclipsed the previous mark of 691.9 made by Bangladesh's Asif Hossain in 2002 Manchester Games. The air rifle shooters will resume action in the ranges on Friday eyeing one more gold medal in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions singles. Sushma finished fourth and Saroja was sixth in women’s 25 m pistol event which was won by Australia’s Lalita Yauhleuskaya (201 points) won the gold while Kim Eagles (200.3 points) of Canada and Pamela McKenzie (199.5 points) of Australia took bronze, respectively. Sushma shot a series of 99.0 and 99 to aggregate 198.9 points while Saroja carded 97.3 and 98.5 for a total of 195.8.
— PTI |
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Antil wins silver in discus
Melbourne, March 21 The 23-year-old Seema, who in 2000 won the world junior gold in Santiago, failed a dope test and as a result had the medal stripped off. The medal was taken away but she came back into athletics claiming she had mistakenly taken a curative for common cold that had a banned substance. The Haryana champion was let off lightly. Now, having learnt her lesson, she has emerged as one of India’s leading throwers, emulating Neelam Jaswant Singh’s feat achieved four years ago at Manchester. Other Indian throwers Krishna Poonia (58.65m) and Harwant Kaur (57.64m) finished in fifth and seventh places. The tall Seema, who shifted to discus after trying hurdles and long jump, was one of the only two throwers here to go over 60 metres in the qualification won by South African Elizna Naude with a best of 61.55m. Naude had three of her throws sailing past 60 metres. Behind Seema, there was Dani Samuels of Australia, who grabbed the bronze with a best of 59.44m. Four years ago, Neelam Jaswant Singh had written a new chapter by becoming the first Indian woman to win a Commonwealth athletics medal. But last year she failed a dope test at the Helsiniki World Championship. She is currently fighting to prove her innocence and is under suspension by the Athletic Federation of India and the world body. Seema has in the past few years had to live under the shadow of Neelam Singh, but with the latter out of the frame for the present, she was the top gun in the event. Seema led the field for the first two rounds with her opening round 59.77m and her second round throw of 60.56m being the top two throws till then. Naude came into the picture with a third round of 61.55m and that held for the rest of evening. Seema, in her endeavour to come up with a big one close to her best of 64.84m achieved in Kiev in 2004, fouled two of her throws but nothing went past 60 metres. In the end she had to be satisfied with silver. Gowda enters final
Vikas Gowda entered the men’s discus final with the fourth best throw overall. He touched a best of 60.35m and went past the automatic qualifying mark of 60 metres. Gowda, who has been achieving a best of around 64-65 metres in training, could be a contender if he comes close to personal best. Manjit finishes 7th
In women’s 400m final, Manjit Kaur came seventh in 52.58s. But after running three races in as many days she looked good, which augurs well for India’s chances in the 4 x 400m relay. Christine Ohuruogu of England took the gold in 50.28 seconds, also her personal best. Tonique Williams of Bahamas touted as the favourite before the race was second in 50.76s and Novlene Williams of Jamaica was third in 51.12s.
— IANS |
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Eves cruise into semifinals
Melbourne, March 21 The first five Indian goals came off penalty corners and Saba Anjum scored the lone field goal. It was a do or die game for India. A draw or defeat would have meant their ouster from the competition and the girls gave their best to record the win in a very emphatic manner. The win saw Indian women finish second behind Australia with two wins from four matches to tally seven points, one more than Malaysia, at the end of the league stage. The Malaysians too had as many wins as India but lost out on goal difference. India scored 18 goals and conceded seven while Malaysia had seven and 15 from equal number of matches. The Indian eves will now play New Zealand in the semifinal on Thursday while England and Australia complete the line up.
— PTI, UNI |
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Easy sailing for shuttlers
Melbourne, March 21 Trupti Murgunde also won her opening round battle while national men’s champion Anup Sridhar faced little difficulty in crossing the first hurdle. Popat, who won a bronze from the Games four years back, was pushed hard by Yuan Wemyss of Scotland but in the end the Indian prevailed 21-18 21-17 in straight games. Popat, the silver medal winner in the 1998 edition of the Games, will meet Pei Xian Wong of Malaysia in the second round. All eyes were on teenage prodigy Saina Nehwal, who stole the limelight in the team event upsetting the defending women’s gold and silver medallists and the singles top seed, as she breezed past Kune Foo of Mauritus 21-6 21-3 at the Melbourne Exhibition centre. The 16-year-old, who upset Li Li, Tracey Hallam and Rebecca Bellingham without dropping a game to spearhead the Indian team’s bronze medal winning campaign, has emerged as the dark horse in the singles competition. She will meet Sri Lanka’s Thilne Jayasinghe tomorrow. In another women’s singles encounter, Murgunde thrashed Shakeira Waaithe of Barbados 21-4 21-9 to set up a clash with Dean Alissa in the second round.
— PTI |
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Boxing: Harpreet, Johnson assured of medals
Melbourne, March 21 Twenty four-year-old armyman Verghese Johnson and 27-year-old Harpreet Singh where in such lethal mood that their opponents scurried for cover and in both the cases the referee had to stop the contest. Harpreet outscored Navitalai Tawake Cagiloaloa of Fiji in a grossly one-sided quarterfinal bout that prompted the referee to stop the contest 1 minute 25 seconds into the third round. The Punjab boxer, who turns 28 next month, rained punches aplenty on the veteran Australia-based Fijian from the outset, establishing huge leads in each of the rounds to open up a wide 26-6 gulf when the clash was called off. The Indian went ahead 10-3 in the first round, and added a further nine points in the second without conceding a single point in the mismatch at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre ring. Harpreet runs into Barbados’s Anderson Fitzgerald Emmanuel in a last four clash tomorrow. Verghese plundered Michel Patrick Camille of Seychelles before the bout
was declared RSC in the third round. Camillie was simply not equipped to face the Indian. He had a harrowing seven-minute stay in the ring during which he suffered heavy punishment. He ran all over the court but could not avoid punches from the Indian being landed on his body. Verghese won the first round 8-1, the second 7-3 and was leading 11-4 when the bout was halted. However, another Indian boxer, Ajay Kumar, lost to Kenya’s Ndere Makonjio on points in the quarterfinals of 81 kg light heavyweight category. As per rules, both the losing semifinalists get a bronze medal each as there is no playoff for the third place. — UNI |
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Paddlers advance
Melbourne, March 21 National champion Shubhajit Saha and seasoned campaigner Soumyadeep Roy breezed passed their opponents in the respective qualifying pool matches on the opening day of the men’s individual event to remain on course for the knock-out stage. On the distaff side, national title holder Mouma Das, ace paddler Poulomi Ghatak, Kasturi Charaborty and Nandita Saha also cruised past their rivals at the Melbourne Sports and aquatic centre. A day after playing a vital role in India’s historic first ever gold medal from the discipline with an huge upset win over Singapore, Roy made short work of Tuvalu’s Alan Puge Resture 11-4, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 in a pool ‘M’ qualifiers.
— PTI |
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India need big win against SA today
Melbourne, March 21 The Indian predicament is of their own making. They drew a match against Malaysia, which they should have won easily, allowed Pakistan to go on a scoring blitz and conceded a crucial goal against lowly Trinidad and Tobago. The Indians have a tough match against South Africa, which is not an easy team to beat. The African champions surprised Pakistan with a draw and narrowly missed creating an upset against Malaysia today. Malaysia eventually won 2-1. The Indian forwards have shown a lack of imagination in the earlier matches and seem to be playing without any game plan. The way they have missed chances, it looks that they have a very tough hurdle to cross. Not only do the Indians have to win but they also have to worry about the other match between Pakistan and Malaysia. Malaysia is sniffing a chance of making it to the last four and they will not allow Pakistan any easy access. Even a big victory against South Africa may not sort out India’s problems as Malaysia and Pakistan will play after them. In case India wins by a two-goal margin and Malaysia loses by one goal, Malaysia will be through because of the better goal difference. So, both India and Pakistan will have to win, no matter what, tomorrow. The South Africans will also be going with a game plan to win. They are in the same position as India and if they win and Malaysia loses to Pakistan, they will be through. This very thought must be a big morale boosting factor for the Africans. While playing against South Africa, the outcome of the next match between Pakistan and Malaysia will be weighing heavily on the Indian minds and that can prove dangerous. The Indians will have to remain focused on their match and leave the rest to luck.
— UNI |
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India’s events today
ATHLETICS: RK Jayaseelan men's EAD shot put 10 am (4.30 am IST); Basvaraj Horaddi men's EAD 200m 10.04 am (4.34 am IST); Girraj Girraj men's EAD 200m 10.04 am (4.34 am IST); JJ Shobha, Susmita Singha Roy, Soma Biswas heptathlon 10.20 am (4.50 am IST); Anju Bobby George long jump (qualifying) 12.10 pm (6.40 am IST); Pinki Parmanik women 800m rd 1 12.36 pm (7.06 am IST); Ghamanda Ram men 800m rd1 8.42 pm (2.12 pm IST).
BADMINTON:
men’s singles: Anup Sridhar v J N Morgan (Wal) Rd of 32 9.05 am (3.35 am IST); Chetan Anand v JM Wilkinson (IOM) Rd of 32 9.08 am (3.38 am IST). Women's singles: Aparna Popat v Julia Wong (Mas) Rd of 32 4.32 pm (11.02 am IST); Trupti Murgunde v Alissa Dean (Fij) Rd of 32 4.32 pm (11.02 am IST); Saina Nehwal v Thilini Jayasinghe Rd of 32 4.32 pm (11.02 am IST). Mixed doubles: Diju V/Jwala Gutta v Susilo/ Jiang(Sin) 9.03 am (3.33 am IST). BOXING:
Jitender Kumar v Luza Lechedzani (Bot) 51 kg QF 2 pm (8.30 am IST); Diwakar Prasad v Stephen F Smith (ENG) 57 kg QF 2.40 pm (9.10 am IST); Akhill Kumar v WB Mahlangu (SAF) 54 kg QF 6.50 pm (1.20 pm IST); Vijender v Andrew Carslaw (Sco) 69 kg QF 9.50 pm (4.20 pm IST). HOCKEY:
India v South Africa men 11 am (6.30 am IST). SHOOTING: men's 50m rifle prone: Sanjeev Rajput & Joydeep Karmakar 9 am (3.30 am IST); men's 10m air pistol: Samaresh Jung and Vivek Singh 9 am (3.30 am IST); men's trap: Manavjit and Mansher Singh 10am (4.30 am IST); women's 50m rifle prone: Lakshmi Priya and Deepali Deshpande 1 pm (7.30 am IST). TABLE TENNIS:
men's singles: Soumyadeep Roy v W Nyrienda (Maw) qual 12.10 pm (6.40 am IST); Shubhajit Saha v Gavin Hylton (Jam) qual 12.10 pm (6.40 am IST); Shibaji Datta v Andrew Rushton (Eng) qual 12.10 pm (6.40 am IST). Women's singles: Kasturi Chakraborty v Chiu Wenmin (Can) qual 9.30 am (4 am IST); Shamini Kumaresan v Aleena Edwards (Tri) qual 9.30 am (4 am IST); Poulomi Ghatak v Shireen Lyners (SAF) qual 10.10 am (4.40 am IST); Mouma Das v Amina Lukaaya (Uga) qual 10.10 am (4.40 am IST); Nandita Saha v Priscilla Tommy (Van) qual 10.10 am (4.40 am IST). Women's Doubles: Kumaresan/ Saha v Jeet/ Muller rd of 32 6.15 pm (1.15 pm IST). Men's Doubles: Sharath/Soumyadeep Bye in first round, opponents to be decided tomorrow morning Shibaji/Subhajit Saha Bye in first round, opponents to be decided tomorrow morning. Mixed Doubles (round of 64) Nanditaa/Shubhajit v Davies/Jenkins (Wal) rd of 64 2 pm (8.30am IST); Soumyadeep/ Mouma bye in first round, opponents to be decided in th morning Sharath/Poulomi Bye in first round, opponents to be decided in the morning. WEIGHTLIFTING:
Simple Kaur Bhumrah 75kg 2 pm (8.30 am IST); Geeta Rani 75kg 2 pm (8.30 am IST). — UNI |
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It’s anybody’s game now
Mumbai, March 21 Tenacious Indian bowlers did not permit England to score freely and bowled them out for 191 runs in their second innings in the post-tea session which meant that the home side was left to score 313 runs to win the match and the series 2-0.
In the eight overs India batted, they lost Irfan Pathan who had come to open the innings in place of an unwell Virender Sehwag, and were 18 for one at close. Sehwag, who stayed off the field virtually the whole day because of back spasm, could be a key factor in what course the match takes on the final day tomorrow. Rules do not permit the hard-hitting opener to bat till India lose five wickets which will deprive the team of an initial thrust should they fancy their chances of making 313, way beyond the highest run chase of 166 by South Africa six years ago for a win on this ground. The Indians, with only five specialist batsmen, most of them woefully out of form, could play for a draw or if they do well in the pre-lunch session, may go for a run chase. England would, on the other hand, relentlessly pursue a victory to level the series. The fourth day’s play is the story of lion-hearted bowling by Anil Kumble (4/49) and other Indian bowlers who bottled up England and took wickets at regular intervals to deprive the visitors of the option of declaring early and making India bat longer. Pathetic catching, most notably by Yuvraj Singh and wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, deprived their team of a chance to bowl out England for a much lower score than 191. The Indians dropped no less than 10 catches in England’s second innings, five of them today. Ahead by 121 on the first innings, England began their day at 31 for 2 with the hope of scoring runs fast and declaring with the lead of around 350 at about tea time. But that was not to be as the Indian bowlers kept them on tight leash allowing them only 55 runs in the pre-lunch session for the loss of two more wickets. But England skipper Andrew Flintoff stood tall among the ruins, utilising the string of ‘lives’ given by the butter-fingered Indian fielders to make an invaluable 50. Flintoff, who hit six fours and a six in his 146-ball essay, and Paul Collingwood (32) took England from a difficult 85 for five to 151 with a 66-run partnership for the sixth wicket. The Lancashire all rounder was ninth out, stumped by Dhoni who had muffed an easy stumping chance to send back Flintoff when he was 14 off Harbhajan Singh. Flintoff should have gone without scoring but for Yuvraj Singh who dropped an easy chance when the batsman pushed at Kumble. It was a very grave error as England were then only 206 runs ahead. England had only a little while earlier lost the important wicket of debutant Owais Shah and Flintoff’s wicket at that stage could have been crucial. Shah, who looked in good touch following on from his first innings 88, was brilliantly run out by Sachin Tendulkar with a flat throw to Dhoni from short third man. Yuvraj, who had dropped night watchman Shaun Udal in the last over yesterday, was simply unequal to the task of fielding at bat-pad positions. Flintoff was also let off on three other occasions off successive balls in one over from Kumble, the bowler failing to accept two difficult return catches and Dhoni dropping another catch that ballooned behind the wicket. Later in one Kumble over, Flintoff survived two difficult caught and bowled chances and in between these two ‘lives. survived being caught behind by Dhoni. It was a horrendous day for the Jharkhand-born keeper who has impressed one and all with his batting prowess since he has taken over the mantle of stumper. England took full advantage of these gifts served in abundance by the home team and consolidated their lead. The Indians may finally be left to rue these lapses on the field other than the decision of skipper Rahul Dravid to field first on winning the toss. In the first session, the tourists made laboured progress while losing two wickets, those of Udal (14) and Kevin Pietersen (7), in the process. Udal frustrated the home team for more than an hour in making 14, in the company of Shah who too curbed his natural instinct to play shots and batted in a sedate manner. The 37-year-old off spinner batted for 85 minutes and faced 51 balls before edging a drive to Wasim Jaffer who accepted a low catch to his left. He also helped his third wicket partner Shah add 40 important runs in 18.3 overs. Six overs and 12 runs later, India struck a big blow when Pietersen, who pottered around for half an hour, tried to hit Kumble against the break only to get a leading edge and to be caught by veteran leg spinner, bowling from around the wicket. In their second innings, India lost the wicket of Pathan when he played on to James Anderson. Jaffer (4) and night watchman Anil Kumble (8) were the not out batsmen at stumps. Scoreboard England (1st innings) 400 India (1st innings) 279 England (2nd innings) Strauss c Dhoni b Patel 4 Bell c Dhoni b Sreesanth 8 Shah run out 38 Udal c Jaffer b Pathan 14 Pietersen c and b Kumble 7 Collingwood c & b Harbhajan 32 Flintoff st Dhoni b Kumble 50 Jones c Pathan b Harbhajan 3 Hoggard lbw Kumble 6 Anderson c Dravid b Kumble 6 Panesar not out 0 Extras
(lb-9, nb-10, w-4) 23 Total (all out, 92.4 overs) 191 Fall of wickets:
1-9, 2-21, 3-61, 4-73, 5-85, 6-151, 7-157, 8-183, 9-188. Bowling:
Pathan 13-2-24-1, Patel 13-3-39-1, Sreesanth 13-3-30-1, Kumble 30.4-13-49-4, Harbhajan 23-9-40-2. India (2nd innings) Jaffer batting 4 Pathan b Anderson 6 Kumble batting 8 Extras
0 Total (1 wkt, eight overs) 18 Fall of wicket:
1-6. Bowling: Hoggard 4-1-7-0, Anderson 3-1-9-1, Panesar 1-0-2-0.
— PTI |
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Sehwag cleared to bat
Mumbai, March 21 Back spasm forced Sehwag out of the ground for virtually the entire day today as well as major part of the England’s second innings yesterday. “He was suffering from back spasm but now he has been cleared by the doctors to bat tomorrow,” BCCI Media Committee member Milind Rege said. Under the rules, Sehwag will come out to bat only after India lose five wickets tomorrow.
— PTI |
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HC grants interim relief to Dalmiya
Granting the interim relief to Dalmiya, Justice V. M. Kanade deferred the hearing on his anticipatory bail petition to March 23. Dalmiya moved the Bombay High Court for anticipatory bail saying he apprehended arrest in an case filed against him by the Board on March 16 at Marine Drive police station here allegedly siphoning off Rs 21.74 lakh from a bank account pertaining to 1996 World Cup transactions. Alleging that an attempt was being made by his detractors to destroy and malign Dalmiya’s image, his lawyers Satish Maneshinde and Adik Shirodkar argued that the FIR was totally false and malicious. The petition alleged that the BCCI complaint was filed only with a view to pressurise, harass and humiliate Dalmiya and cause him grave harm. Dalmiya said in the petition that after the complainant, Niranjan Shah became BCCI Secretary in 2001, all the records pertaining to two accounts in question were handed over to him. One of the them was PILCOM (Pak-Indo-Lanka committee) account and the other was imprest account of BCCI whose name was later changed from BCCI account to World Cup 1996 account. The two accounts were different and had nothing to do with each other, Dalmiya pleaded.
— PTI |
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Anand beats Vallejo Pons
Monaco, March 21 The victory helped Anand keep pace with World Cup winner Levon Aronian of Armenia in the rapid section of the event as the Indian maintained joint lead with him on 2.5 points out of a possible three. Anand jumped to the joint third spot in the overall standings with 3.5 points in his kitty alongside World champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Boris Gelfand of Israel. In the unique event of prize money Euros 216000, being held on a round-robin basis between 12 players, each round comprises a blindfold and a rapid game. In the blindfold section, 20 seconds are added to the clock after every move is made while in the rapid there is a 10 seconds increment. In the last edition of the event, Anand had won all three — blindfold, rapid and combined, titles at stake. The blindfold games are played with players only able to see the last move played while the remaining pieces remain invisible.
— PTI |
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Foundation
stone of wrestling hall laid Patiala, March 21 Prominent among those who were present were the Director, Sports, Punjab, Mr Pargat Singh, president of the Wrestling Federation of India, Mr M.S. Malik, Asian Games gold medalist Sukhchain Singh Cheema, Chairman of the Improvement Trust, Mr K.K. Sharma and Chairman of the PRTC, Mr Ved Parkash Gupta. Mr Sukhchain Cheema stated that the Punjab Government had sanctioned Rs 5 lakh for the construction of the hall.
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Football tournament Ambala, March 21
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Mumbai, March 21