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Pak unfazed by
Shoaib, Asif’s absence
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IA trounce Jharkhand
Santosh Trophy
AP pound Andamans
Jyoti becomes highest ranked Indian golfer
Women pugilists on a roll
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SA bounce back with big win Ahmedabad, October 24 The South Africans recovered from an early collapse to post a competitive 219 for nine before the bowlers came to the rescue with a discplined performance to bundle out the islanders for a meagre 141 in a low-scoring floodlit contest at the Sardar Patel Gujarat stadium. Desperately needing a victory to keep their semifinal hopes alive, the South Africans managed to get their acts together when it mattered the most to thrash the in-form Sri Lankans with 10.5 overs to spare. The South African victory means that all the four teams in Group B, who have won a match each, are in contention for the two semifinal berths from the group. While Sri Lanka have played all their three league matches, New Zealand and South Africa have featured in two matches and Pakistan in one. Abraham De Villiers (54) and Jacques Kallis (43) were the main contributors for the South Africans who were put into bat by Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene on a slow track. The duo put on a vital 80-run partnership for the fourth wicket to pull the team out of the pits after being precariously placed at 30 for three at one stage. Required to score at a rate of 4.40, the islanders never really recovered from the early setbacks as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals. Only captain Jayawardene (36) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (36) provided a semblance of resistance. The Sri Lanka run chase got off to as rocky a start like the South Africans, the only difference being that things went from bad to worse for the islanders. Half the side was back into the pavilion into the 25th over, with only 78 runs on the board. the rest was a mere formality. Earlier, Sri Lanka seized the initiative with some intelligent bowling picking up three early wickets and then nibbled at the opponent batting at regular intervals before South Africa made full use of the slog overs to reach 219 for nine. Kallis and De Villiers performed the salvage job with their defiant fourth wicket partnership. However, Kallis's fall in the 32nd over saw the middle order come apart as the South Africans lost three more wickets to be precariously placed at 176 for 7. But Robin Peterson (22) and Shaun Pollock (21) brought the modest crowd on their feet with some lusty hittings and taking their team's total past the Scoreboard South Africa Smith c Jayasuriya b Vaas 10 Dippenaar c Sangakkara b Vaas 3 Gibbs c Sangakkara b Malinga 16 Kallis st Sangakkara b Jayasuriya 43 De Villiers c Maharoof
Boucher b Malinga 29 Kemp b Jayasuriya 7 Pollock not out 21 Peterson b Malinga 22 Nel b Malinga 0 Ntini not out 1 Extras
(b-4, lb-2, nb-1, w-6) 13 Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 219 Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-30, 3-30, 4-110, 5-145, 6-169, 7-176, 8-218, 9-218. Bowling:
Vaas 10-3-16-2, Malinga 9-0-53-4, Fernando 5-0-24-0, Muralitharan 10-0-42-1, Jayasuriya 10-0-36-2, Maharoof 5-0-34-2, Dilshan 1-0-8-0. Sri Lanka Tharanga c Boucher b Ntini 11 Jayasuriya lbw Pollock 3 Jayawardene run out 36 Sangakkara c Boucher b Pollock 0 Atapattu b Nel 2 Dilshan c Gibbs b Nel 36 Maharoof c Smith b Kallis 3 Vaas not out 29 Malinga c Smith b Nel 2 Muralidharan c Pollock b Ntini 3 Fernando lbw Kemp 4 Extras
(lb-5, nb-2, w-5) 12 Total (all out, 39.1 overs) 141 Fall of wickets:
1-9, 2-21, 3-23, 4-34, 5-78, 6-91, 7-114, 8-124, 9-124. Bowling:
Pollock 10-0-21-2, Ntini 9-0-24-2, Nel 9-1-41-3, Kallis 8-0-34-1, Kemp 3.1-0-16-1.
— PTI
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Kiwis in must-win situation
Mohali, October 24 After scoring an upset win over South Africa and then suffering a reversal at the hands of Sri Lanka, New Zealand will have to go all out and play at their optimum level against Pakistan if they have to remain in reckoning for a semifinal berth in the day-night match at the PCA Stadium here tomorrow. Pakistan proved why they are such dangerous opponents in their opener at Jaipur. With their morale having suffered a jolt before the start of their campaign on account of the doping controversy, mercurial all-rounder Abdul Razzak led their revival by his all-round efforts. Experienced Razzak took some time to find his bearings. Having done that, he did what he is known to do when at his best. He jolted the Sri Lankan boat with a four-wicket haul. While chasing, he unleashed lusty strokes as Pakistan cantered home with 11 balls to spare. In fact, it is the presence of so many all-rounders in the team which makes Pakistan the type of outfit that they are. While Razzak is a match winner on his day, swashbuckler Shahid Afridi has proved what a nightmare he can be for the bowlers with his power-packed batting. As a fastish leg-spinner, he has the uncanny knack of breaking partnerships. The emergence of Shoaib Malik as a dependable batsman capable of shifting gears whenever the need arises and his being more than an adequate off-spinner has given Pakistan a huge plus. Following in his footsteps is Mohammad Hafeez. A decent opening batsman, Hafeez is a steady off spinner. Stand-in skipper Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf are as good a batsman as any in the world. In fact, it is the presence of these world class batsmen and an impressive array of all-rounders which makes Pakistan such a dangerous outfit. Though not very consistent, New Zealand, under the inspirational leadership of Stephen Fleming and the presence of experienced players like hard-hitting Nathan Astle, Lou Vincent and Scott Styris have the wherewithal to match the best in the business. In Daniel Vettori, they have a left-arm spinner who probably is the best in the business. After pulling the rug from under the feet of world No 2 South Africa, the Black Caps suffered defeat at the hands of Sri Lankans. The Kiwis will be hard pressed for a victory as another loss will mean the end of the road for the 2000 champions. The return of pace spearhead Shane Bond and the fact that all-rounder Scott Styris has been ruled fit after being troubled by back problems should be a big relief for Fleming. Fleming is all set to become the most capped skipper overtaking former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga in the match tomorrow. It will be the 194th outing as skipper for the 33-year-old Fleming. Teammate Lou Vincent said that this would be the motivating factor as the Kiwis take the field against Pakistan. Dew will play a big role in deciding the outcome of the match. Mopping up operations would be carried out during the match. With the pitch promising enough of bounce and movement to the seamers, the contest promises to be exciting. The teams (from): New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, James Franklin, Peter Fulton, Mark Gillespie, Brendon McCullum, Hamish Marshall, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Scott Styris, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent. Pakistan: Younis Khan (captain), Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Faisal Iqbal, Iftikhar Anjum, Imran Farhat, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Umar Gul.
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Pak unfazed by
Shoaib, Asif’s absence
Mohali, October 24 Their absence has given the opportunity to other players who had played well. Seamers Yasir Arafat and Abdul Rehman have responded well to the challenge. In fact, Pakistan had a balanced bowling attack, Woolmer said. “The win against Lanka was very emotional. We have to maintain that level of energy and intensity,” he said. The former South Africa coach dismissed the idea that the victory against Sri Lanka was difficult or largely possible due to the brave efforts of Abdul Razzak, saying that there were, in fact, a lot of positives that emerged from the game. “Our openers batted well and our bowlers were good. Overall, it was a good outing for the team,” he observed. Paying tributes to the leadership qualities of New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming, who will be playing his 194th match as skipper, the most by a skipper of an international side, he said, “Fleming is an excellent skipper, having captained his side for 7-8 years. I would like to congratulate him. To be a captain for that long is very creditable.” Younis Khan, Pakistan skipper, said that he thrived playing under pressure. Maintaining that he had not set any particular targets, the genial middle order batsman said that he would expect the players to play their natural game and give their best for the team. Younis stunned those present while defending his teammate Shoaib Malik for demanding money for giving an interview to mediamen, saying there was nothing wrong in that. He categorically denied that religion was an issue with the team. “I respect Pakistan as a team. They have world class batsmen like Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf, who can turn the game on their own,” New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming said adding that Pakistan players always had the natural ability to do well and looked unstoppable at times. “But we have been working very hard trying out different things to produce good results. We have worked hard on our batting technique while playing on placid subcontinental pitches,” Fleming, the mainstay of Kiwis batting, said. Fleming concurred that for New Zealand to emerge as more serious contenders, they would have to be more consistent and beat stronger teams on a regular basis. He rued that New Zealand did not have the luxury of good bench strength as the teams like Australia, South Africa or England had. The absence of experienced players on account of injury had hit the team badly. Hinting Vettori as his successor, Fleming said that he had tried to develop the players like Jacob Oram and Marshal. Commenting on the wicket, he said that the Mohali wicket has always been a good wicket. And we expect a different game at Mohali than it was in Mumbai. “Our fast bowlers are looking forward to play on the wicket.”
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Mumbai drub Karnataka
Sanjeev Singh Bariana Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, October 24 The match witnessed paced attacks by the Mumbai team right from the word go. Stanley Fernandes opened the account for Mumbai team with his brilliant stick-work in the 18th minute. He sounded the board again in the 23rd minute. Hemant Lethe, Jasdev Singh and HKP Dinesh were the other scorers for the Mumbai team. The only goal for Karnataka came through a penalty stroke by Laxman Rao. In another match, Punjab drubbed Maharashtra 7-1. The one-sided affair appeared as a practice match for the local lads who were in possession of the ball for most of the time. The conversion rate was, however, abysmally poor in the first half as the score card read 2-0 at the half time. Maharashtra goalkeeper G. Fernandes stood like wall and checked the onslaught of Punjab forwards. He stopped three penalty corner shots by Jugraj Singh. Jugraj could convert only one penalty corner in the 64th minute. Avtar Singh(senior) struck the first goal in the sixth minute for Punjab which was followed by Ranjodh Singh and Kuljit Singh in the 38th and the 43rd minutes, respectively. Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh sealed the fate of the Universities today in close encounter. Universities lost 3-4. Universities were trailing 0-2 at the half time following goals by Ajaj Quareashi and Ladu Akka for the rivals in the 13 and 25th minutes, respectively. Soon after half time, Mohammad Hussain posted another goal in the 39th minute. The first goal for Universities came in the 53rd minute on a move by Jagjit Singh(1-3). Ajaj Quareshi scored his second goal in 64th minute. The last ditch efforts by Gurpreet Singh and Sunder Singh of Universities yielded goals in the 66th and 69th minutes, respectively, to reduce the margin but the efforts could not prevent Chhattishgarh to record a 4-3 win. In another match, Manipur displayed effective ball control and defeated Vidarbha 6-4. Vidarbha could not hold on to the lead they had secured through a penalty shot by Dhiraj Wagh in the 11th minute. The next five goals were scored by K.H. Jayanta, L Herojit and K Hera for Manipur. S Imran, Athar and Nimit lal scored for Vidarbha in the second half to give little anxiety to Manipur. Hera scored the last goal for Manipur to seal the tie. Meanwhile, Indian Oil, Namdharis, Punjab and Sind Bank and Air-India teams have qualified to participate in the Super League matches of the championship which commence from October 28 onwards at Jalandhar, Mr H.S.Dhillon, general secretary of the Punjab Hockey Association said. Fourteen teams had contested to qualify for the Super League series in Delhi.
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IA trounce Jharkhand
Bhaini Sahib, October 24 National level matches for Pool E and G are being held at this venue for the first time. Rajasthan, too, registered their first win in the league matches by defeating Himachal Pradesh 3-2. True to form, Dhanraj Pillai again displayed his stick wizardry in today’s game which saw Jharkhand players totally at sea with their game. Till half time, the winners were leading by 7-0. Pillai scored two goals while Sandeep Michael scored in the 30th, 32nd and 55th minute. Lazarus Barla struck in the 42nd and 63rd minute while Dilbagh Singh scored in the 45th and 57th minute. Brojan Singh, Sameer Daad, Rajnish Misra, Arjun Halappa scored in the fifth, 11th, 25th and the 44th minute, respectively. With this win, IA tops Pool E with nine points, while Jharkhand came second with six points. In the second match, Rajasthan beat Himachal Pradesh 3-2 to notch their first win in the league matches. Rajasthan and HP are already out of the reckoning in the championship.
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Punjab look to end 19-year title drought
Gurgaon, October 24 It will be Bengal’s 40th entry into the title round, having walked away with the trophy on an incredible 29 occasions out of a total of
60. Prashanta Banerjee’s team will go all out to get their hands on the trophy for the first time. They last won the title in Chennai in 1998-99, when they demolished Goa 5-0 in the final. But this Bengal team has been pieced together largely with players from Kolkata’s big three who are not used to playing alongside each other. But they did show improvement after a scratchy start. On the other hand, Punjab last tasted success in the championship in 1987-88 when they claimed their sixth title in Quilon defeating Kerala in the final. They have been runners-up on five other occasions but since their last success, they have reached the summit clash twice, only to be pipped at the post. But the fact that 10 of Punjab’s regular starting XI play for JCT Mills, Phagwara, may benefit Jagir Singh as co-ordination and understanding will be crucial in the big game. BSF goalkeeper Kameshwar Singh is the only exception. However, both teams are struggling with injuries. Punjab’s Manjeet Singh, who has drawn special praise from national coach Bob Houghton, has already gone home after suffering an ankle injury. He will be out of action for two weeks and would be protecting himself for international duty later this year. Bengal have problems between the goalposts as their number one custodian Sandip Nandy is out of action with a dislocated collarbone. His replacement Kalyan Choubey injured his ankle in the semi-final and is racing against time to be fit for the summit clash. Bengal had to come through the shootout with rookie Abhra
Mondal. Bengal may take some psychological advantage from their 1-0 win over Punjab in the quarterfinal league. They also have a 3-2 edge over their rivals in Santosh Trophy finals. When the two sides last met in the final in 1994-95, Bengal came out on top 2-1 on a golden goal.
— PTI Live on Zee Sports at 5 pm
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AP pound Andamans
Amritsar, October 24 In the other matches, Central India (Madhya Bharat) beat Uttaranchal 5-1 while Chandigarh and Railways scored an identical 4-0 victory over Hyderabad and Patiala, respectively, on the fifth day of the 62nd National Hockey championship being played at the Guru Nanak Dev University hockey stadium. Launching their goal spree against Andaman-Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh scored 14 goals till half time. Their star campaigner Ajay Babu scored eight goals. Their penalty corner conversion, however, remained poor as they managed to convert only four goals from the 11 penalty corners awarded during the match. The island team managed to score a field goal through their captain Amrit Eka in the 49th minute. They had been at the receiving end during their last three outings. The second match of the day saw the Madhya Bharat team trounce Uttaranchal 5-1. Qureshi of Madhya Bharat scored a brilliant field goal in the 37 minute and within two minutes, Sanjay Pandey converted a penalty corner to given them a 2-0 lead at half time. The second half saw a keen contest with Madhya Bharat scoring three more goals while Uttaranchal managed to score their solitary goal at the fag end of the game. Chandigarh, in the third match of the day, defeated Hyderabad 4-0. The first half produced some excellent hockey and both teams remained goalless. In the second half, Chandigarh showed some better striking skill and managed to score four goals. Two goals came from penalty corners conversions. Railways beat Patiala 4-0 in the last match of the day. Railways led by their captain Raju opened their score in the 29th minute. In the 31st minute, Railways manage to score the second goal through a penalty corner conversion and led 2-0 at half time. The second half saw the Railways notch up two more goals to clinch the match 4-0.
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Jyoti becomes highest ranked Indian golfer
New Delhi/Kuala Lumpur, October 24 Randhawa jumped a whopping 44 places to reach the 102nd spot — a hairbreadth away from the top-100 bracket — with 1.45 average points. Jeev Milkha Singh (1.21) slipped four places to the 147th spot even after managing to make the cut at the Mallorca Classic. Meanwhile, Jyoti Randhawa has also risen to the 14th spot on the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit. The winner’s cheque of $63,400 took Randhawa’s season winnings to $ 188,485, which sweetens his year further as he also enjoyed a solid rookie campaign in Europe where he retained his tour card comfortably.
— PTI, UNI
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Shruti leads on day one
Chandigarh, October 24 Although old favourite Shruti Khanna of Indian Oil led the field returning a one-over card of 73, Sharmila was breathing down her neck just one stroke behind. Fourteen-year-old Laverry Kumar and 17-year-old Meghna Bal finished with cards of 75 and 76, respectively, setting the stage for some exciting competition in the next three days. With a four over score which fetched her the Southern India title in her bag, the Class X student did some good driving in the return nine hitting two birdies. But the experienced Shruti played a stroke better in the return nine to finish the day with 73. Talking to The Tribune, Sharmila said she found the course a little slow. But she hopes to do better once she gets adjusted in the next three days. Chandigarh’s hope Saaniya Sharma started well today hitting a birdie in the second hole. She bogeyed in the fourth and fifth holes, but struck a birdie again on the ninth to finish with a par score after the first nine. All eyes were on this BA final year student of the Sector 11 Government College for Girls, but that was as far as this long driver could get. She bungled in the return nine with six bogeys to finish with a card of 78. But with three more days to go the competiton is still wide open. Irina Brar, who has kept out of this tournament, still leads in the national women’s circuit with Shruti a close second. That she has recovered from the fracture, which kept her left hand in plaster for six months, was evident the way she practiced on the greens. Her mother, Madhu Brar took the led in the Senior Challenge section with a gross score of 93. Just one stroke behind her was Dalbir Sahi. Binny Bath returned a card of 95. The scores: Championship Bowl: Shruti Khanna 73, Sharmila Nicolette 74, Laverry Kumar 75, Meghna Bal 76, Vandana Aggarwal 77, Saaniya Sharma 78. Silver Salver (0-12 handicap): Arshiya Singh 65, Laverry Kumar 67, Shweta Galande 69, Shruti Naik 70. Challenge Bowl (13-24): Gross — Khushboo Thiagaraja 90, Rakul P. Singh 92, Madhu Brar 93; Nett — Khushboo Thiagaraja 71, Dalbir Sahi 72, Binny Bath 72. Bronze Plate (25-36): Gross — Arshia Singh 93, Vijay Wadhawan 99, Amrita Sarna 101; Nett — Arshia Singh 65, Vijay Wadhawan 71, Neelu Chopra 72. Junior Shield (under 18): Gross — Sharmila Nicolette 74, Laverry Kumar 75, Meghna Bal 76; Nett — Laverry Kumar 67, Shweta Galande 69, Shruti Naik 70. Subjunior Shield (under 14): Gross — Mehar Atwal 85, Karishma 86, Shreya Ghei 87; Nett — Khushboo 71, Amrita Sarna 73, Karishma 73. Senior Challenge: Gross — Madhu Brar 93, Dalbir Sahi 94, Binny Bath 95; Nett — Dalbir Sahi 72, Binny Bath 72, Madhu Brar 77.
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Women pugilists on a roll
New Delhi, October 24 “Our hard work has paid rich dividends”, said world champion
M.C. Mary Kom and Asian champion L. Sarita Devi on the team’s return to Delhi here today. The Indian girls won five gold, four silver and one bronze medal in the championship in which they featured in nine of the 13 finals.
Sarita Devi, who won the 54kg gold, and Chottu Laura, who annexed the 50kg gold, said they learned a lot from the exposure at the Venus Cup where some of the best women boxers from Europe and Russia were present. Chief coach Anoop Kumar and assistant coach Chandra Lal said though world champions Russia fielded only three of their top-line boxers and five second stringers, the European teams brought their best pugilists and it was indeed very creditable on the part of the Indian girls to dominate in such a gathering and emerge overall champions.
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