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ICC pulls Hair out of Champions Trophy
Punjab Cricket Club lift JP Atray trophy
MOHAMMAD NISAR TROPHY
Pinegrove enter semis
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GURMIT HOCKEY
Sania turns the tables on Hingis
District shooting meet
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ICC pulls Hair out of Champions Trophy
London, September 28 After weeks of speculation on whether Hair would be included in the umpires’ panel for the Champions Trophy in the wake of the Oval Test fiasco, the ICC said Hair had been left out due to “safety and security concerns”. Tournament hosts India had demanded on Tuesday that the ICC omit Hair as his presence might provoke spectators. The ICC announcement came after a disciplinary hearing found Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq “not guilty” of ball tampering, a charge laid by Hair during the Oval Test. An indignant Hair said he wished to continue on with umpiring seconds after an ICC spokesman revealed that he had been withdrawn from the Champions Trophy. “I wish to keep on being an umpire,” Hair said. “My umpiring performance or career is on public record and if other people consider I am still good enough to umpire I will continue.” Hair denied that he felt he had been made a scapegoat over the issue by the ICC. “I think the last few weeks have been quite trying on everybody,” he said. “The Code of Conduct is there to be applied, it’s been applied, I’m bound my own code of conduct but it’s good to have it over.” With regards to his offer to resign in the aftermath of the Oval row, Hair admitted that “it may well have been an ill-advised thing to do at the time, I think I’ve already admitted that.” But he took a swipe at the ICC’s decision to make the letters public. “I believe (such things) should remain confidential. We learn lots of things from the things we do in life. I still believe that those matters should be kept confidential. It’s something that’s part of the ICC Code of Conduct hearing and I’ve explained why I can’t discuss that.” Asked if the decision to penalise Pakistan was wrong, he said, “my contract at the ICC clearly states that I must umpire to the best of my ability ... all I will say is I’m out there doing my best. I’m not here to defend any decision. I umpire matches in good faith. I do it to the best of my ability.” “I’ve umpired since 1985 and from the day I started umpiring my career was in the hands of other people. People make assessments on my career on a ball-by-ball basis. If other people who have always made those decisions consider I’m good enough to still umpire, I will continue.” He also brushed aside suggestions that he had effectively put himself out of the equation for umpiring some countries. “That will be up to other people to decide whether it has damaged my relationship with any other team around the world.” Imran seeks action
against Hair
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan legend Imran Khan on Thursday called for action to be taken against Darrell Hair after Inzamam-ul-Haq was cleared of the ball-tampering charge. “I welcome the acquittal of Inzamam and the team of the ball-tampering charge. Pakistan have been cleared of very serious allegations of cheating,” he said. “The other offence is quite minor and I think the punishment is also minor,” he added. Imran, who branded Hair a “mini-Hitler” in a newspaper column after the Oval Test, added: “Now the next question is what to do with the man who created the whole controversy in the first place.”
— PTI, AFP
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Punjab Cricket Club lift JP Atray trophy
Panchkula, September 28 Ravi, who stitched a 113-run partnership with Ravneet Ricky (63) for the first wicket, hit six boundaries during his innings. Batting first after winning the toss, ONGC started on an unimpressive note as their first wicket fell at the score of 34 when opener Mithun Manhas (20) was bowled by Loveabhilish. Test player Gautam Gambhir steadied the innings with a knock of 88 (99 balls). He also stitched two valuable partnerships of 54 and 52 with Sandeep Sharma (35) and Sumit Narwal (29), respectively, to help his team finish at 248 all out in 50 overs. Rajesh Sharma claimed four for 60, while Dinesh Mongia took three for 43 runs. In reply, PCC batsmen lost only two wickets to reach the target of 249 in 48.4 overs. Dinesh Mongia made 37 runs in 45 balls, while skipper Reetinder Singh Sodhi remained unbeaten on 29 runs off 37 balls. Ravi Inder was declared the man of the match, while the man of the tournament and best bowler of the tournament awards were given to PCC’s Bipul Sharma and Rajesh Sharma, respectively. TP Singh of Minerva Academy won the best fielder of the tournament award. The chief guest, Dr AR Kidwai, Haryana Governor, gave away the prizes. The PCC got the trophy along with a prize money of 1.20 lakh, while the runners-up pocketed Rs 60,000. Brief scores: ONGC: 248 all out in 50 overs (Gautam Gambhir 88, Sandeep Sharma 35; Rajesh Sharma 4-60, Dinesh Mongia 3-43). PCC: 249 for 2 in 48.4 overs (Ravi Inder Singh 99 n.o., Ravneet Ricky 63, Dinesh Mongia 37; Rahul Sanghvi 1-28).
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Imran Nazir rescues Sialkot
Vibhor Mohan Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, September 28 Sialkot made 261 in reply to UP’s total of 316 in the first innings. UP were 14 for no loss in the second innings at the close of play today. Nazir, who had retired hurt after injuring his right shoulder while fielding, came back at a time when Sialkot were five wickets down. He took no time to settle down and played some good shots right from the outset with Shoaib Malik at the other end. The partnership, however, did not last long and Shoaib was caught brilliantly by Suresh Raina when he was on 24, which included two sixes. Nazir, who looked positive right from the very outset played some good shots and hit five sixes and 16 fours. He could not get any support from the other end except for Tahir Mughal, who made 29 before he tried to play a wild shot off the bowling of Piyush Chawla and was bowled with Sialkot at 218 for 7. On the very next ball, Mohammad Asif also fell in a similar fashion. The two quick wickets instantly brought UP back into the game. Piyush Chawla, who bowled well and claimed three important wickets struggled to bowl to Nazir. His spell of 18 overs was a bit expensive as he conceded 81 runs with only four maidens. Despite bowling as many as 11 no balls, Parveen Kumar also did reasonably well with the ball and claimed three wickets for 70 runs. He seemed to lose his rhythm in the post-lunch session and paid the price for over-stepping. R.P. Singh and S.Srivastava got two wickets each. Resuming from their overnight score of 269, UP reached a respectable total of 316 with Rizwan Shamshad, who was on 60 yesterday, added 24 runs to his score before he lost his wicket. When Sialkot went out to bat they suffered some early blows and its top order crumbled in quick succession. At one stage, they were tottering at 55 for 4 and the team badly needed a partnership to put things back on track. Due to a very slow outfield, the Sialkot batsmen had to work hard for their runs. Even though the crowd comprised mostly schoolchildren, they had a good time watching Imran Nazir bat. The element of unpredictability till the very end of the first inning kept interest in the match alive. In their second innings, UP were 14 for no loss when stumps were drawn. Scoreboard UP (first innings) 316 FoW: 1/24, 2/36, 3/45, 4/55, 5/89, 6/96, 7/218, 8/218, 9/236, 10/261. Bowling: R. P. Singh 11.1-1-60-2, Srivastava 11- 4-24-2, Kumar 17-0-69-3, Piyush Chawla 19-4-85-3, Yadav2-0-16-0. UP (second innings) Srivastava not out 6
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Pinegrove enter semis
Dharampur, September 28 In the first match, a half century by Tanika (55) enabled Pinegrove to pile up 147 for 1 in 20 overs. In reply, Daly College of Indore were bundled out for 61 runs in 18.2 overs. Kirat, Urvashi, Tanika and Rajnimrit took 2 wickets each for Pinegrove. Tanika was adjudged the player of the match for her good all-round performance. The other match between Mayo College Girls School (MCGS), Ajmer, and DPS, RK Puram, was won by the former by 112 runs. Batting first MCGS made 155 for 6 in 20 overs with the help of a fine knock by Akta (57). DPS were bundled out for a paltry 43 in 13.5 overs. Akta was adjudged the player of the match. The third match was won by Ashoka Hall, Nanital after they beat YPS, Patiala, by nine wickets. Batting first, YPS scored 62 for 7. In reply, Ashoka Hall achieved the target for the loss of just one wicket. Shweta took a hat-trick for the winners and was declared the player of the match. In the last league match of the tournament, YPS, Mohali, was defeated by Maharani Gayatri Devi School, Jaipur. MGDS made 148 run for 3 in 20 overs. Paridhi was the highest scorer for MGD with 76 runs. YPS were bowled out for 34 in 8.4 overs.
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Jugraj’s hat-trick puts Punjab cops in last 8
IAF, Ropar Hawks also move into quarterfinals Amardeep Bhattal Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 28 A new-look Punjab Police under the captaincy of Jugraj Singh kept their cool despite an initial setback to carry the day and remain in contention for the top spot in the grade A tournament. With two of their stalwarts, defender Kanwalpreet Singh and forward Gagan Ajit Singh, missing from the line-up, the onus was on Jugraj and his dedicated team-mates to prove their mettle, and expectedly they did not disappoint. Although RCF provided the first shock by taking the lead off a short corner by Satinder Pal Singh in the sixth minute, Punjab Police did not lose heart and in the 21st minute earned a penalty stroke. The stroke was awarded by umpire Varinder Bahadur when a goal-bound flick off a penalty corner by Jugraj struck RCF’s Satwant Singh on the leg. Jugraj himself took the stroke and found the roof of the net without difficulty (1-1). Just two minutes later, Jugraj made it 2-1 when his drag flick off a short corner brooked no resistance. A minute before the interval, another drag flick by Jugraj off a short corner struck the horizontal. RCF came back strongly in the second half and managed to draw level in the 38th minute through a penalty corner conversion by Yadvinder Singh (2-2). However, Punjab Police had the last laugh when they were awarded a penalty corner in the 53rd minute. As expected, Jugraj was once again on target and his third goal proved to be the match winner (3-2). In the second match, Ropar Hawks trounced Indo-Tibetan Border Police 5-0. In fact ITBP were late entrants in the tournament after Punjab National Bank cried off at the last minute. Ropar Hawks struck the first goal in the fifth minute through Swaranjit Singh while skipper Varinder Kumar made it 2-0 with another field goal in the 14th minute. Shortly before half time, Major Singh’s field goal made it 3-0 while Deepak Kumar boosted the tally to 4-0 with a field goal soon after resumption. A penalty corner converted by Manpreet Singh a few minutes from the end sent ITBP packing. In the last pre-quarterfinal, Indian Air Force, who beat Central Railway 6-5 via sudden death, took the lead through a field goal by Balbir in the 28th minute. However, just five minutes from close, Central Railway found the equaliser through Rajive Bhatkar's field goal. As the match stretched to the tie breaker, the two teams failed to break the deadlock as both converted four strokes each. In sudden death that followed, IAF’s Sanwar proved to be the team’s saviour as he converted his stroke while Sameer Jada failed to find the target for Central Railway. Friday’s fixtures (q-finals): Punjab & Sind Bank v IAF at 4.15 pm; BPCL v ONGC at 6 pm.
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Sania turns the tables on Hingis
Seoul, September 28 The 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 victory for the 19-year-old Indian came after her straight-set thrashing by Hingis before her home crowd in the Sunfeast Open semifinal at Kolkata last week. “It is my third time to play her this year and I guess that it is third time lucky,” said Sania who had also lost to Hingis in Dubai earlier this year. Hingis, on a comeback after a three-year sabbatical, had routed Sania 6-1 6-0 last Saturday, but the Hyderabadi lass was on a roll at the Seoul Olympic Park. “Every match is a different match and every week is a different week. This proves that,” said Sania, the first Indian to break into top-50 in world rankings last year, after the match. Hingis, who won the $170,000 event in Kolkata, saved two match points but eventually bowed to the superior form of the Indian. “She was too good today, she played too well,” Hingis said of her opponent ranked more than 50 places below her. “She played much better than last Saturday. I gave her more chances today ... little things can make matches.” Sania, whose ranking dipped to 70 after a second round loss at the US Open before it went up to 59 after the semifinal appearance at the Sunfeast Open, next faces Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain, whom she has never played before. Sania started the match tentatively, struggling with her serve in the first set. She fought back from two triple breakpoint situations to hold serve but four double faults proved to be her undoing. Sania then hit back to blank her opponent before her serving began to falter again in the decider. She was broken twice but held her nerve to jump 5-4 up and served out the match with confidence. “A true champion is one who comes back from being down. When I went out to serve at 5-4, I hadn't held my serve for the last two games and I told myself to do whatever was necessary,” Sania, the first Indian to win a WTA title in 2004 in her hometown of Hyderabad, said. — PTI 
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District shooting meet
Patiala, September 28 According to a press note issued by Maj G. S. Bhullar (retd), general secretary of the Patiala District Rifle Shooting Association, around 40 shooters are expected to take part in the championship.
— TNS |
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London, September 28
