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Jung family on cloud nine
2 weightlifters in dope mess
3 boxers in final, 2 win bronze
Army Chief leaves for Melbourne
Gowda, Pinki disappoint
British media thanks ‘charitable’ Dravid
No super sub in ODI series
HC reprieve for Dalmiya
Rafique helps Bangladesh
clinch series
Dhillon appointed shooting coach
Sandhu shoots final round of 64 in Florida
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Rathore, Anuja shoot gold
Melbourne, March 23 Samresh Jung’s better half Anuja made sure that the spotlight remained on the family by winning the gold in women’s 50m rifle-three positions, while Vijay Kumar clinched the title in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol. Boosting the tally, Pemba Tamang grabbed the silver in the 25m event, making it a 1-2 for India. India maintained their stranglehold in the discipline to lead the shooting tally with 15 gold, six silver and three bronze medals. Rathore, who had lost the team gold to his former coach Mark Russel and had to content with a second-place finish, fired 181 (137+44) to pocket the gold at the Lilydale Range in men’s double trap. “I am happy that I lived up to the pressure of the sport and ultimately the reputation is kept intact,” Rathore said. Defending champion Rathore, languishing at the third place in both the qualification and the final rounds, was patience personified as he peaked in time to clear any doubts about his abilities. “In my events, the field was tough. Including myself there were three Olympic champions vying for top honours. The target was also wavering a little bit. “I missed couple of shots because of that. I have been telling myself that it has to turn around at some point of time,” he said. The Lt-Col was lagging behind England’s Stevan Walton (141) and William Chetcuti of Malta (139) in the qualifying round and trailing Byron Swanton (46) and Mark (44) in the final. Walton picked the silver with a card of 180 and Chetcuti bagged the bronze firing 179. Another Indian in the fray, Vikram Bhatnagar, finished fourth. An elated Rathore clenched his fists and raised his Perazzi towards the sky with both hands. Anuja Jung claimed the gold in the women’s 50 m rifle 3 position on a day when her husband pistol shooter Samresh, was taking a break from his golden run. Anuja, who got a silver with Anjali Bhagwat in the pairs competition of the same event on Sunday, fired a total of 670.7 (574+96.7) for a golden finish. Anuja later said she had aimed for two gold medals at the games and but was happy to return with one silver and one gold. “I have done my mite by winning a gold and a silver. But I was wishing for two gold medals here,” she said. South African Esmari Van Reenen bagged the silver with 670 (576+94) and Malaysian Nur Suryani Binti, who topped in the qualifying round, picked up the bronze with 668 (576+92). Anuja, started off well, scoring 195, but dropped nearly six points to Suryani Binti and Van Reenen, who shot 199 out of 200 from prone and standing positions. The Indian made her intentions clear in the final round with 9.5, 10.3 and 10.1 points. Her over-10 point scores in two cards and three remarkable scores of over nine points in three cards helped her to the top place. Malaysia’s Nur Suryani, finished with a bronze behind Esmari van Reenen of South Africa. Soon after Anuja’s golden haul, Vijay Kumar, a Havildar in the Army, brought cheers to the country by adding the 25m rapid fire pistol title to his pairs gold with a new games record, totalling 778.2 (581+197.2). To the credit of Kumar and his partner in the pairs event, Pemba Tamang, a Subedar in the Army, maintained the tempo to finish behind his Army mate for silver with a total of 775.00 (580+195). Amir Hasli Izwan Bin of Malaysia finished third with a total of 770.4 points. However, Harveen Sarao disappointed her fans by finishing way behind the leaders in the women’s 10m air pistol event. Her tally of 470.1 (374+96.1) was good enough for the fifth place. — PTI |
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Jung family on cloud nine
New Delhi, March 23 As the sweets get passed around, he assures that the “real celebrations” would begin once his son Samresh and daughter-in-law Anuja, who incidentally also won a gold medal at the games today, get back to India. Having won five gold medals, Samresh is eyeing a Commonwealth record with two events to go. No wonder Colonel Jung is keeping his fingers crossed. “Samresh called up to say that his pistol was misbehaving and he was getting one of its parts replaced,” he says. Recounting how it all began, Colonel Jung told The Tribune that shooting had more or less been a family tradition. He himself belonged to the 58 Engineers Regiment and retired from Director-General, Border Roads Organisation, in 1992. His father, Samresh’s grandfather, was a freedom fighter and an ace shooter himself. “My father was a well-known hunter of his times and also a freelance writer. Today we all feel extremely proud of Samresh and Anuja’s achievements. Clearly my son and daughter-in-law have made the country proud and everyone in the family, including my wife Pratima and mother Nirmala Sher Jung, are extremely happy. We always knew that both of them would do well. Now I hope that he also wins his quota place for the next Olympic Games, which he just missed by 0.4 points last time,” he adds Colonel Jung remembers how Samresh and Anuja just somehow managed to get married after dropping an event each in the 2001 National Games. In fact, the trigger-happy couple met each other at a shooting camp. “Samresh proposed and Anuja agreed. But they had to drop an event each to get married. Interestingly, they both still managed to set a national record,” he says. The couple now has a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Sauravi , who is equally excited at her parents’ achievements and just cannot stop clapping happily every time she sees her “mama “ and “baba” on the TV. But it has not been all that easy for the ace shooter and the family to sustain the expenses of this “very costly sport”. “We had to shell out money from our own pocket. After he won two gold and three silver medals in the last Commonwealth Games, things improved. But I do hope that the government does away with sanction on importing air pistols. This will help the sport a lot.” Samresh’s tally of medals stands at five gold and one silver so far in these games. If he wins one more gold he will equal the existing Commonwealth record and yet another will make him the leader. Colonel Jung is keeping his fingers crossed and so is the rest of the country. |
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Eves reach hockey final
Melbourne, March 23 After a lacklustre first half, which ended goal-less at the State Netball Hockey Centre, the Indian eves got their act together and intensified the attack from the right. One such move paid off in the 62nd minute when an alert Surinder Kaur deflected an excellent cross from Sabba Anjum to score the match-winning goal. The forwards, led by Mamta Kharab, exhibited good coordination to keep the New Zealanders on the backfoot. Kharab, who made at least five attempts at the goal, showed her usual flamboyance to launch several raids on the Kiwi citadel right from the start of the second half. In the initial moments after the break, she got a precise pass from the right and fired a hit only to be stopped by Kiwi goalkeeper Beth Ellen Jurgeleit. New Zealand resorted to some counter-attacks soon after and nearly scored two goals after fooling the Indian defenders. But experienced Indian custodian Helen Mary stood like a rock and warded off the two dangerous shots by Frances Kreft. Later, a good attempt by Stacey Carr also went in vain. Besides a few lapses, the Indian defence line performed in a coherent manner, not allowing the Kiwi forwards to walk away with the lead. In the first half, India had not got a single penalty corner as against New Zealand’s three. But they earned three in the last 15 minutes of the match, though those turned out to be futile. The joyous moment came for the Indian girls eight minutes before the final hooter. Saba Anjum sent a fast cross from the right flank and an unmarked Surinder deflected the ball in. Minutes later, the Kiwis missed a golden chance to equalise as Honor Dillon fumbled in front of the goal, with Helen Mary down, after receiving an accurate pass. Mary sent the ball away from Dillon’s reach. The Indians quickly regained control of the game, going into an attacking mode, though without being able to score any more goals. In the other semifinal, Australia posted a convincing 3-0 win over England. Suzane Faulkner, Kate Hollywood and Emily Halliday scored a goal each for the hosts. The final will be held on Saturday.
— PTI |
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2 weightlifters in dope mess
Melbourne, March 23 The two lifters — Edwin Raju (56 kg) and Tejinder Singh (85 kg) — were caught for using performance-enhancing drugs, leaving the Indian camp in a now-familiar doping mess. The latest blow means India face the prospect of being slapped with another 12-month ban as three lifters have now tested positive in this calendar year, the third being Shailaja Pujari who had dropped out of the Melbourne-bound squad at the last minute. The shameful development, which has now become a regular feature in major multi-disciplinary events, ironically comes seven months after India had come out of a similar one-year doping-related ban. “The two lifters have been verbally told that they have been caught for drug abuse. They have already left the Games Village,” a highly-placed source in the Indian contingent told PTI today. “However, the Indian contingent has not received any official communication in this regard,” the source said. Commonwealth Games Federation Chief Executive Mike Hooper said no details would be officially released on any doping tests until B samples had been analysed and cases confirmed. Shailaja is already serving a provisional ban from the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) after she was caught doping in an out-of-competition testing by the World Anti-Doping Agency officials at NIS, Patiala last month. According to the IWF’s anti-doping policy, three positive tests from one country in the same calender year makes its lifters liable to be banned for one year from all international competitions. Sources in the Indian Olympic Association said they were “puzzled and perplexed”. “The lifters were cleared to travel on March 8 only after WADA and SAI had tested them on March. We are puzzled as to what happened in the meantime,” the sources said. “The lifters reached here on March 10 and their samples were collected the next day. They were informed about the results of the tests yesterday morning,” they said. Rumours of a drug scandal were rife after Tejinder pulled out of men’s 85 kg class competition at the last minute on Monday citing “illness”. Edwin Raju had finished fourth in men’s 56 kg division competition, in which compatriot Vicky Batta won the silver medal on March 16. The organising committee had collected their samples and sent them to Sydney for tests. John Harnden, Chief Executive Officer for the games, had earlier said that samples of all medal winners and some at random had been taken and sent to Sydney for tests. “It is a long-drawn process adhered to under the rules of WADA and we do not disclose either the positive or negative results of the tests to anyone other than the athlete concerned,” Harnden had told PTI. “The tests are being done at the Australian Sports Drug Test Laboratory in Sydney and they will inform the games Medical Commission, which in turn deals with the athlete concerned,” Harnden said. Earlier in the day, Indian contingent Chef-de-Mission H.J. Dora and the manager of the weightlifting team for the games Harbhajan Singh had denied Australian media reports that Tejinder had tested positive for drugs.
— PTI |
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3 boxers in final, 2 win bronze
Melbourne, March 23 Among the three pugilists making it to the title round, heavyweight Harpreet Singh stood out with a knockout win — the second such result in the ongoing games — over Anderson Fitzgerald Emmanuel of Barbados. The opening round bout lasted just 35 seconds. Harpreet charged in and rolled his left before landing his right on Anderson’s forehead. He will fight Australian Bradley Michael Pitt in the golden bout. In the welterweight semifinals, Vijender won on points (22-14) over Neil Perkins of England, while India’s bantamweight man Akhil Kumar scored a slender two-point win (26-24) over Nestor Bolum of Nigeria. Akhil takes on Louis Richard Bruno Julie of Mauritius, while Vijender faces South African B Mwelase on Saturday. Both Johnson and Jitender collected bronze medals in their semifinal loss. Johnson went down to England’s David Price, whose jab with seconds to go for the end of the bout forced the Indian to get trapped on the rope. At that stage, Johnson, trailing 11-20 initially, was ahead 12-7 in the fourth and last round. Flyweight Jitender Kumar lost his bout on points 26-31 to Don Gareth Broadhurst of England and collected a bronze medal. Sharath advances in TT singles India’s top paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal advanced to the quarterfinals even as his compatriots made a quiet exit from the men’s and women’s table tennis singles events at the Commonwealth Games here today. Third seed Sharath is now the sole Indian medal hope in the men’s draw as Shubhajit Saha and Soumyadeep Roy failed to repeat their gold-winning performance in the team event and bowed out. In women’s singles, seasoned Poulomi Ghatak and national champion Mouma Das also failed to reach the last-eight round. Commonwealth championship winner Sharath carved out a facile 7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-6, 11-5 win against Andrew Rushtom of England. Sharath set up a clash with Cai Xiao Li, who edged past the Indian 3-2 in the team event finals. Earlier, Sharath, who got a bye in the first round, had an easy outing against Jason Surgue of Nigeria, drubbing him 12-10, 11-5, 11-1, 16-14 to enter the pre-quarterfinals. Popat in quarters
Olympian Aparna Popat caused a major upset as she overpowered defending champion Li Li of Singapore to enter the quarterfinals of the open event of badminton at the Commonwealth Games here today. Aparna displayed amazing stamina and energy in a gruelling 53-minute contest to oust third seed Li Li in three games. However, teenage prodigy Saina Nehwal and Trupti Murgunde lost in contrasting styles. Aparna played percentage badminton and despite losing the first game, staged a brilliant comeback to win the next two to chalk out a 10-21, 23-21, 21-17 win. In the men’s section, Anup Sridhar also caused a big upset as he ousted fifth seed Geoffrey Bellingham of New Zealand, while fourth seed Chetan Anand crushed his Mauritian rival Stephen Beeharry in straight games to sail into the quarterfinals. In women’s doubles, the Indians had mixed fortunes. While Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurian moved into the last eight, Saina Nehwal and Trupti Murgunde failed to cross the pre-quarterfinal hurdle. The men’s doubles pair of Chetan Anand and Valiyaveetil Diju also bowed out, losing to the Singaporean duo of Ronald Susilo and Kurniawan Hendri Saputra in straight games. —
PTI, UNI |
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Army Chief leaves for Melbourne
New Delhi, March 23 The cheques were handed over to their family members at Mantripukhri by the Officiating GOC, 3 Corps, Major-General A. K .Samantaray, on behalf of the COAS. An award of Rs 75,000 was also given to L. Monika Devi from the state who bagged silver in weightlifting in the games. Meanwhile, General J.J. Singh left for Melbourne today to witness the closing ceremony of the games. As per a press release, the General had been requested by the Indian Olympic Committee to witness the games in his capacity as the Vice-Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Committee and the Chairperson of the Ceremonial Committee for the Commonwealth Games 2010. This visit also assumes significance as the Armed Forces are hosting the World Military Games in India in 2007. |
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Gowda, Pinki disappoint
Melbourne, March 23 India’s medal hopes in discus throw were dashed when Vikas Gowda finished sixth with a best effort of 60.08 metres while Pinki Pramanik bowed out in 800 metre semifinals. India’s representative in the EAD (Elite Athletes with Disabilities) category, Girraj Girraj was disqualified in the 200m final. Gowda, the 22-year-old student based in the United States, made his best throw in his fifth attempt but it was not enough to land him a medal in his favourite event. The Mysore lad must be bitterly disappointed because if he had managed to clear anywhere near his personal best of 64.69m, he would have claimed the gold medal here today. Pinki managed to clock 2:03.83 seconds to finish fifth in the second 800m heat which was not good enough for a place in the final. She also failed to match her personal best of 2:03.42 seconds. Janeth Jepkosgei of Kenya won her heat in 2:01.34 seconds.
— PTI |
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British media thanks ‘charitable’ Dravid
London, March 23 The common refrain across the British dailies today was Dravid’s generosity and how it went on to shape a rare England triumph on Indian soil. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, former England opener Geoffrey Boycott said England had a one-in-a-million chance of winning the Mumbai Test and Dravid gave them that one chance when he won the toss and asked them to bat. “No one in India could believe that he had put a side in at the Wankhede Stadium where the pitch usually helps the bowlers, and particularly the spinners, later in the game,” he wrote. “India probably thought England were lacking confidence, having lost a Test four days earlier, and their batting was prone to collapse. India probably got over-confident but credit has to be given to England for taking the lifeline that Dravid gave them. “The Indians reckoned the England spinners were so ordinary that a grandmother could play them. Well, bring on your grandmothers because Shaun Udal will never have a bigger day in his life. When he had Sachin Tendulkar taken at short leg it must have felt like scoring the winning goal in the Cup final at Wembley,” said Boycott. Writing in the same daily, Simon Hughes said, “The Indian batting has been like a closing down sale ‘Everything going cheap!’ The beneficiary has been Matthew Hoggard, with 13 wickets in the series.” “The Hoggard neurosis reached acute levels in Mumbai when they elected to field, apprehensive of what he might do on a first-day pitch with a hint of moisture,” he said. The Times said much of the pressure was created on India by Dravid’s decision to bowl first on a pitch that had a reputation for turning capriciously as days go by. A report with the headline “England’s education complete after India spin out of control” by Christopher Martin-Jenkins said Dravid had indeed handed a “huge advantage” to England. “India, as every rational observer knew, had handed England a huge advantage by fielding first. The red-brown pitch duly took spin on the last day and allowed Shaun Udal, four days after his 37th birthday and in his 17th year as a first-class cricketer, to enjoy a Test analysis of four for 14 that he will cherish for life.” A report in The Sun said: “Once India’s big two batsmen departed, the rest surrendered their wickets with a string of suicidal shots. And none more daft than Mahendra Dhonut, sorry, Dhoni. The big-hitting wicketkeeper launched a huge slog at Udal and the ball spiralled towards Monty Panesar at mid-off. “Now, as we know, Monty is not the best catcher. He dutifully cupped his hands and peered hopefully towards the heavens — only for the ball to land with a thud two yards in front of him. “You wouldn’t believe what happened next. Dhoni attempted exactly the same shot two deliveries later and this time Monty held a textbook catch. “He was engulfed by team-mates who could not contain their laughter. It was a true comic moment and Flintoff then knew England would win.” — PTI |
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No super sub in ODI series
Mumbai, March 23 “The Board of Control for Cricket in India and the England and Wales Cricket Board have agreed to do away with the super-sub rules introduced by the ICC on experimental basis,” a BCCI release said today. “However, the power play rule will continue,” it added. When contacted, a board source said even before the ICC’s scrapping of the super-sub rule at its recent Executive Board meeting in Dubai, the BCCI and the ECB had decided to do away with this experiment that has been severely criticised by international captains. The main grouse of the captains was that the rule was lop-sided in favour of the team that wins the toss.
— PTI |
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HC reprieve for Dalmiya
Mumbai, March 23 Deferring their anticipatory bail plea till April 10, Justice
V.M. Kanade ordered Dalmiya and others to attend the inquiry being conducted by Economic Offences Wing
(EOW) in Mumbai and concerned authorities in Kolkata. Besides Dalmiya, others who have sought anticipatory bail in a case filed by BCCI for alleged misappropriation of funds are S.K. Nair, former BCCI Secretary, and Kishore Rungta and Jyoti Bajpai, former BCCI treasurers. The court ordered Dalmiya and others to attend EOW inquiry in Mumbai on March 27, 28, 29, and 31 before the concerned authority in Kolkata from April 3 to 5. The judge asked them to appear before the concerned authorities in Kolkata on a plea made by Advocate General Ravi Kadam who said investigations pertained to the World Cup 1996 account operated in Kolkata. The court also ordered them not to leave the country without its permission. The suggestion to attend the inquiry pending the decision on anticipatory bail petitions came from Judge
V.M. Kanade who observed that the investigations should continue unhindered. Meanwhile, Jagmohan Dalmiya will leave for Mumbai on March 27 in compliance with the Mumbai High Court order for interrogation. Sources close to Dalmiya said here that he would attend the inquiry being conducted by Economic Offences Wing
(EOW) in Mumbai from March 27 to 31. The former cricket board chief will then come back to Kolkata and face an inquiry from April 3 to 5, the sources said.
— PTI |
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Rafique helps Bangladesh
clinch series
Narayanganj, March 23 Electing to bat first, Bangladesh scored 231, which proved enough to continue their winning streak after having already taken an unbeatable 2-0 lead. Kenya were bowled out for 211 in reply. Opener Shahriar Nafees and middle-order batsman Alok Kapali slammed fine half-centuries to boost the home side. Left-hander Nafees, who scored 91 in the opening match, continued his fine form to strike a determined 57 with 10 fours while Kapali returned to form with a well-paced 55 to help recover from 132-6. Seamers Peter Ongondo and Steve Tikolo bagged three wickets each but with former captain Khaled Mashud (39) and Rafique on form, Bangladesh were never in much trouble. In reply, Kenya were rattled by an early twin-strike from paceman Mashrafe Mortaza, who dismissed openers Kennedy Otieno (1) and David Obuyo (13) before Rafique came on to torment the batsmen. Tanmesh Mishra (48), Collins Obuya (45) and Hitesh Modi (37) did well for Kenya, with Mishra continuing his fine form after scores of 33 and 43 in the previous two matches. Bangladesh won the first match by 131 runs in Bogra and the second by nine wickets in Khulna.
— AFP |
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Dhillon appointed shooting coach
Chandigarh, March 23 The Indian shooting team, presently at Melbourne for the Commonwealth Games, will be the mainstay of the Indian shooting team at World Cup. In the Commonwealth Games, only two shooters per event can participate from a team, whereas in the World Cup, top five shooters each in rifle and pistol (men and women events) will be participating. In the World Cup quota places can be achieved for the Olympics. The Indian team for the World Cup will include Jaspal Rana, Abhinav Bindra, Anjali Bhagwat, Deepali Deshpande, Suma Shirur, Samresh Jung, Vivek Singh, Satendra Kumar, Ronak Pandit, Harveen Sarao, Shweta Chaudhary, Avneet Kaur, Tejaswini Sawant and Soudaminaee Gavankar.
— TNS |
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Sandhu shoots final round of 64 in Florida
Chandigarh, March 23 Sandhu opened his final round with two birdies in his first three holes, and closed the front nine with an eagle, to make the turn at four-under 32. He stayed hot on the back, posting four more birdies. Sandhu’s back nine 32 matched his score on the front, and he finished the day at eight-under 64. Sandhu’s outstanding round distanced him from the rest of the field, and his 10-under-par total for the weekend was good for a nine shot victory. Also in the final group on Sunday, Max Greil (Rome, Italy) followed his first round 71 with an even par 72 to finish alone in second place. Jan Prokop’s (Prague, Czech Republic) back to back 72’s were good enough for third. |
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Football
tourney begins
Ambala, March 23 Former MLA from Ambala Cantt, Mr Anil Vij, said more than 10 teams were participating in the tournament. In the first match today, Ambala defeated Yamuna Nagar by four goals.
— TNS
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Cricket tournament Patiala, March 23 Brief scores: Patiala: 153 all out (Gaurav Sharma 29, Om Parkash 18, Atul Bansal 20, Harjivan Kumar 19). Sangrur: 145 all out (Harvinder Singh 50, Manohar Lal 25, Amarjit Singh 5 for 310).
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