Ahmedabad, October 10
Upul Tharanga slammed his second successive century as Sri Lanka showed little mercy to trounce minnows Zimbabwe by 144 runs and secure a berth in the main round of the ICC Champions Trophy here tonight.

The 21-year-old Tharanga gave another fine exhibition of his batting skills to score a polished 130-ball 110 and steer his team to a competitive 285 for nine before the Lankan bowlers skittled out their unfancied opponents for 141 in a floodlit qualifying match at the Motera Stadium.

The right-handed opener, who had struck 105 in the opening match against Bangladesh, notched up his sixth ODI century and continued his sequence of big scores in his brief 31-match career.

Kumar Sangakkara was the other notable performer for the the islanders with a 86-ball 80 and his 165-run third wicket partnership with Tharanga was the corner stone of the Lankan innings which could have gone well beyond the 300 mark but for some quick dismissals in the slof overs.

Brendan Taylor (30) and Hamilton Masakadza (30) provided a semblance of resistance for Zimbabwe before the innings folded up in 42.3 overs in what turned out to be a rather lop-sided contest.

Tharanga grabbed the spotlight for the second time in a row as he played an innings of flair and character to bail out the Lankans from a shaky start which saw saw the rampaging Sanath Jayasuriya (9) and captain Mahela Jayawardene (4) perish cheaply.

The lanky opener found an able ally in the experienced Sangakkara as the duo rebuild the innings without taking too many risks.

After taking the team to a safe position, the two batsmen unleashed a flurry of strokes to entertain the handful of spectators who had turned up at the stadium.

Tharanga played a classy knock, doing the bulk of his scoring on the off-side, before departing in the 39th over with Sri Lanka at 219/3 and looking set for a 300 plus score.

However, Sangakkara and Dilshan Tilakratne (6) returned soon after and the Sri Lankan lower order failed to fire in the slog overs.

Scoreboard
Sri Lanka

Tharanga b Matsikenyeri 110
Jayasuriya run out 9
Jayawardene c Taylor b Ireland 4
Sangakkara c Matsikenyeri
b Chibhabha 80
Atapattu not out 33
Dilshan c Kamungozi b Utseya 6
Maharoof lbw Kamungozi 13
Muralitharan c Matsikenyeri
b Kamungozi 10
Malinga not out 5

Extras (b-3, w-6, nb-6) 15

Total (7 wkts, 50 overs) 285 Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-49, 3-214, 4-219, 5-235, 6-259, 7-273.

Bowling: Ireland 10-0-53-1, Mupariwa 6 -0-31 -0, Chigumbura 4-0-24-0, Rinke 3-0-21-0, Chibhabha 5-1-25-1, Utseya 10-0-58-1, Kamungozi 10-0-55-2, Matsikenyeri 2-0-15-1.

Zimbabwe

Mufambisi c Jayawardene
b Malinga 5
Rinke b Perera 1
Chibhabha c Dilshan b Malinga 4
Masakadza c Sangakkara
b Maharoof 30
Taylor b Fernando 30
Matsikenyeri c Jayasuriya
b Fernando 2
Chigumbura run out 2
Utseya c Jayawardene
b Muralitharan 20
Mupariwa b Malinga 20
Ireland c Sangakkara
b Muralitharan 0
Kamungozi not out 0

Extras (lb-1, nb-7, w-19) 27

Total (in 42.3 overs) 141

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-7, 3-23, 4-86, 5-86, 6-88, 7-107 8-126, 9-134.

Jaipur, October 10
Bangladesh will need a spark of inspiration to thwart the West Indies’ hopes of a smooth passage into the main stage when the two teams clash in their second qualifying round match of the Champions Trophy here tomorrow.

The title holders are one win away from qualifying into the group stages after a crushing victory over Zimbabawe in the opening match of the biennial event, but Dav Whatmore’s team might not be a push-over.

Bangladesh might be languishing at the bottom of the ICC Championship table — only above Kenya — but they have beaten five of the nine one-day teams, including world champions Australia, ranked above them. And they have won five of their last nine matches.

Unlike Zimbabwe, who lasted just more than 30 overs while being bundled out for 85 at Ahmedabad, the Asian Test playing nation held their own against the Lankans.

Whereas the Windies-Zimbabwe was a lopsided contest, Bangladesh did well to restrict Sri Lanka to 302 for eight after Upul Tharanga had provided the 1996 World Cup winners a strong start. And though their chase was never on in the real sense, they lasted their full quota of overs.

Captain’s Habibul Bashar’s two-ball duck and bowling indiscipline were the two dark spots in an otherwise creditable performance by Bangladesh.

Yet, the West Indies go in as favourites and they would definitely not like to leave themselves in a do-or-die situation against Sri Lanka, one of the genuine title contenders, in their final qualifying match.

Skipper Brian Lara spoke of the team’s intent after defeating the African team who have been stripped of Test status.

“We came here to win this game emphatically, and we did that,” he said after the win in Ahmedabad.

“The bowlers had to get a run and they got five-six overs under the belt and performed well. We did well in the field too.

“It doesn’t matter what the opposition got - we went out and batted with purpose, which was important.”

The ridiculously short Zimbabwe innings meant West Indies’ batsmen were not really tested. But Chris Gayle showed his form in short innings of 41 and he played a cracking innings in the warm up match.

The left-handed opener from Jamaica would be only hoping that this time around he is either asked to set a formidable target or chase a reasonably good total, so that he could have enough match practice for the crucial games ahead. — PTI

Jalandhar, October 10
Dronacharya awardee and former coach of the Indian weightlifting team Pal Singh Sandhu has vowed never again to coach after the doping fiasco of the 2004 Athens Olympics regarding Sanamacha Chanu. The man who was involved with the national weightlifting teams for more than 20 years says he had enough of coaching.

Sanamacha Chanu in action at the 55th All-India Police Games at the indoor PAP Complex, Jalandhar Cantonment, on Tuesday. — Tribune photo by Pawan Sharma

A category-I international referee, he is in Jalandhar to officiate at the 55th All-India Police Games at the indoor PAP Complex, Jalandhar Cantonment.

Lifting the veil from the Sanamacha Chanu doping episode at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, he says she was a victim of circumstances. It was perhaps an instigating factor for Sandhu to quit what he had been doing since 1981. Chanu exited the Olympics in disgrace after testing positive for a diuretic.

“She tested positive due to an inside job. Someone from inside the Indian camp, and a person she trusted, gave her the vial containing the diuretic (Shane Warne was also sent home from the 2003 cricket World Cup in South Africa after he tested positive for a diuretic).

“Chanu presented those bottles to the International Olympic Committee inquiry. The same diuretic as her urine was found in the bottles. She was always underweight in her category, so she had no reason to lose weight. No weightlifter takes diuretics these days. They are totally obsolete. The shame at the world stage was too traumatic.”

“It was to disgrace the athlete, the coach and the federation. The episode was a shame for everyone.”

Sandhu, however, refused to name the coach or the player responsible for the disaster, saying he can’t divulge the information as yet. He will do it at a more appropriate time.

Meanwhile, the one-year ban on Indian weightlifters at the world arena has given them time to prove their mettle at these games. After Kunjarani Devi set two national records yesterday, Sanamacha Chanu took centre stage today. Representing the CRPF, she dominated the action in the 53 kg weight category. She took the gold medal and set three new meet records. Her total of 187 kg bettered the previous record. She lifted 82 kg in the snatch and 105 kg in the clean and jerk category for new records.

CRPF continued to dominate the women’s weightlifting while Punjab Police took both the gold medals in judo.

Stung by ban, the weightlifting federation has also taken steps to check the malaise of doping. Tests would be carried out at all the services games and police took the initiative to start the tests. The athletes are being tested at these games.

Results: Weightlifting: women: 53 kg: Sanamacha Chanu (CRPF) 1, N. Mani Thombi (CRPF) 2, Usudha Prabhu (Karnataka) 3; 58 kg: W. Nandini Devi (CRPF) 1, Sukhbir KAur (CRPF) 2, Kalpna Sawant (Maharashtra) 3.

Men: 69 kg: Baljit Singh (CRPF) 1, Prem Singh (CRPF) 2, DattaTray Tole (Maharashtra) 3.

Judo: 56 kg: Bhupinder Singh (Punjab Police) 1, Navjot Channa (Punjab Police) 2, Dinit Singh (BSF) 3; 66 kg: Kamaljit Singh (Punjab Police) 1, Bhupinder Singh (Punjab Police) 2, Bharat B. Bhadale (Karnataka) 3.

Karachi, October 10
Pakistan Cricket Board’s Director (Operations) Abbas Zaidi has resigned from the post following in the footsteps of his mentor Shaharyar Khan.

Zaidi was a key figure in the Board during the tenure of Shaharyar, who quit as PCB chairman last week in dramatic circumstances a day after Younis Khan had refused to captain the side in the Champions Trophy.

“Yes I have resigned. I decided this was the best time to go. I am feeling very relieved. I felt it was fair that the new Chairman should be given the opportunity to have his team to run the cricket affairs,” Zaidi told PTI yesterday.

Zaidi’s resignation did not come as a surprise as he was seen as Shaharyar's right hand man since December 2003. — PTI

Nagpur, October 10
Rest of India were comfortably placed at 45 without loss at the end of the second day’s play in the Irani Trophy match after being set a target of 114 for victory by Uttar Pradesh.

Captain Wasim Jaffer with 25 and Gautam Gambhir with 18 were at the crease when stumps were drawn. Rest of India now need 69 more runs for victory with 10 wickets in hand.

Earlier, UP were bundled out for 166 in 50.1 overs in their second innings, ending up merely 113 runs ahead of Rest of India. Only skipper Jyoti Yadav (38), Shivkant Shukla (33) and Gyanendra Pande (32) salvaged some prestige. As many as six UP batsmen failed to reach double digits with three going back for a duck.

V.R.V Singh inflicted the most damage on UP by capturing four wickets for 40 runs. Zaheer Khan and L Balaji scalped two wickets each. — UNI

New Delhi, October 10
The flame of the Doha Asian Games arrived here today on the first stop in its journey across the continent, which will take it to 22 cities in 15 countries and regions.

The flame, which was lit at Doha’s Khalifa Stadium on Sunday, was received at the airport by IOA president Suresh Kalmadi and would be taken on a 5km route on the streets of Delhi tomorrow as part of the torch relay.

The Doha flame would be ‘married’ with the ‘Eternal Flame’ of the Olympic Council of Asia at the capital’s National Stadium before it is taken around by a host of Indian sporting luminaries.

Among the prominent torchbearers would be Milkha Singh, P.T. Usha, Dhanraj Pillay, G. S. Randhawa, Khazan Singh, Kirti Azad, Zafar Iqbal and Dola Banerjee.

The flame would be taken to Agra the next day before it moves to South Korea for the next stop on its journey, which will end in the Qatari capital on December 1, when the fortnight-long sporting extravaganza kicks off. Covering a distance of 50,000 km, the flame for the 15th Asian Games will undertake the longest journey in the history of the Games. — PTI 

New Delhi, October 10
Former national champion Vinod Sridhar found the youthful exuberance of Tushar Liberhan too tough to handle and threw in the towel in a second-round men’s singles match of the DSCL Open National Tennis Championship at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association deco-turf court here today.

Sridhar, who cruised to the first set at 6-3, found to his dismay that his aging limbs could not match the agile court craft of the young Liberhan as the second set meandered into tie-break without a break and Liberhan hit the winners true and hard in the “shoot-out” to prevail at 7-2.

A “tired” Sridhar preferred to opt out during the changeover instead of facing the humiliation of an outright defeat. And it was just as well, as Liberhan could escape the heat and keep himself fresh for his next round, instead of going the whole hog to tame Sridhar.

The women’s singles continued to provide minor tremors as seventh seeded Liza Pereira and eighth-seeded Sagarika Phadke also bit the dust to join fifth seeded Asha Nandakumar in the sidelines.

Liza failed to sustain the momentum gained after winning the first set to bow to Kelsey Sundaram of Tamilnadu at 6-4, 4-6, 4-6 while qualifier Deepna Vazirani of Maharashtra made mincemeat of Sagarika Phadke 6-1, 6-3.

That Kelsey is a versatile players and a storehouse of stamina was evident when she recorded a quick 6-2, 6-0 victory against Tejaswini Narayana in the girls under-18 second round.

In the boys under-18 section, seedings held good as top seed Sumit Prakash Gupta defeated Irfan Hussain 6-3, 6-0 while second seed Kinshuk Sharma made short work of Moani Chillar 6-3, 6-1.

Results (men’s singles): Tushar Liberhan b Vinod Sridhar 3-6, 7-6 (7/2) conceded, Pratim Parekh b Kiran Kumar 6-4,7-5, Vishnu Vardhan b Nishank Mishra 6-4, 6-1 and Arjun Goutham b Arnav Jain 6-4, 6-4.

Women’s singles: Esha Sanghvi beat Jilke Nelord 7-6 (7/3),6-3; Sweta Solanki b Anukriti Prasad 6-1, 6-3.

Boys under-18 (2nd round): Sriram Balaji b Akshay Bajoria 6-2, 6-7, 6-4; Jacob Tariq b Abhijeet Tiwari 6-7, 6-4, 6-3; Nikunj Siwach b Gursher S.Harika 7-5, 6-3; Akash Gujarathi b Palash Tiwari 6-4, 7-5; Rubal Shandilya b Himanshu Mali 6-3, 6-0; Rahul Belwal b Deepinder Bains 6-3, 6-1; Ashwin Vijayaraghavan b Jagadeesan Kumar 6-2, 6-0; Vijayant Malik b Manav Dhawan 6-3, 7-6; Christopher Marquis b Rishab Dev Raman 4-6, 6-0, 6-3; Arnav Jain b Sitaram Sudanwa 7-6, 6-2; Karanuday Singh b Allan Gomes 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; Faiz Mohammad b Rohan Shah 6-2, 6-2; G.P Prajnesh b Akshay Kohli 6-1, 6-3; Vishnu Rajam b AS Suresh Krishna 2-6, 6-3, 4-1 (conceded).

Girls singles: Jilke Nelord b Ratnika Batra 6-4, 7-5; Vishaka Sheoran b Akansha Kohli 6-0, 6-2; Nobva Patel b Neha Rana 6-1, 6-0; Nupur Kaul b Garima Vatwani 7-5, 6-3; Shalini Sahoo b Shivani Singh 6-2, 6-1; Kyra Shroff b Tejaswini Surya 6-0, 6-0; Hena Ahuja b Rekha 6-2, 1-6, 6-1; Shweta Solanki b Divija Mandwa 6-0, 6-4; Madura Ranganathan b Deepna Vazirani 6-2, 6-2; Ashmita Easwaramurthy b Vaidehi Patel 6-3, 6-2; Rishika Sunkara b PV Raja Rajeswari 4-6, 6-4, 7-6; Sanjana Kapur b Sowjanya 6-3, 6-3.

Chandigarh, October 10
The Army’s Cavalry Red team torpedoed the Navy in the final to lift the Punjab Cup at the ongoing Punjab Polo Season-2006 at Patiala today. The cavalry won by four goals to two-and-a-half.

Captained by Col J.S. Virk, Cavalry Red dominated the match and was ahead by two goals, when the Navy team, led by Lt Cdr A.P. Singh, scored their first goal.

Based upon the handicaps and points awarded to its players during the calendar year, Cavalry Red was a 10-goal team, with the Naval team being rated as a nine-goal team. This gave the Naval team a bonus half goal at the start of the match.

Major N.S. Sidhu of the Cavalry was the top scorer of the match, with two goals to his credit. Other riders who put the ball through the posts were Lt Col T. Sirohi and Capt Vishal. The scorers for Navy were Lt Cdr Akhil Sirohi and Lokendra Singh, a civilian playing for the team.

Earlier, an exhibition match between Sangrur Tigers and Nabha Tigers was played. Draw of lots for the Patiala Cup, the finals of which are scheduled to be held on October 15, will be held tomorrow.

Bathinda, October 10
Punjab School Games concluded today amidst boycott of kho-kho by one of the teams due to “assault” of its two players by some outsiders. DEO (Secondary) Surinder Kaur Kataria said she had sent a report in this regard to the higher authorities.

Meanwhile, other sport ties were concluded without any hitch. As per the results available, Bathinda ranked first in under-14 handball (girls) followed by Tarn Taran and Amritsar. In boy’s category of the sport, Sangrur stood first followed by Bathinda and Jalandhar. In handball under-19 (boys), Sangrur came first, Bathinda second and Faridkot third. In girl’s category Sangrur, Ropar and Bathinda captured first three positions.

Volleyball under-14 (boys) saw Tarn Taran clinching first spot followed by Muktsar and Ropar. Similarly, volleyball under-17 (boys) had Muktsar on first place, Sangrur on second and Patiala finishing third. Ludhiana stood first in volleyball under-19 (boys) followed by Sangrur and Jalandhar. Ferozepore finished first in cricket ties followed by Patiala and Amritsar. In kabaddi under-14 (boys), Mansa stood first followed by Bathinda and Muktsar. — TNS