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PSB conquer Surjit summit
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Joyce replaces Trescothick
Warnapura leads Lankan fightback
It’s ‘cheers’ for billiards players
Durand Cup
World Snooker
India draw 1-1 with Yemen
Saina, Chetan in quarters
Jr national soccer from today
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PSB conquer Surjit summit
Jalandhar, November 15 PSB defeated title sponsors Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) 2-0 in the final to win the prestigious tournament for the eighth time while Northern Railway clinched the women's Surjit hockey trophy for a record seventh time by defeating Central Railway 6-4 via a tie breaker. The men’s final was almost a replay of the last year’s final as the Indian Oil team had then lost in the final by the same margin against Indian Airlines. The match remained one-sided from the very beginning as the two goals of the match were scored in the first 17 minutes of the match. The bankmen established their supremacy at the very beginning when Mandeep Singh sounded the board from a penalty corner in the 10th minute. Seven minutes later, PSB earned another penalty corner and Baljit Singh Chandi did not commit any mistake (2-0). Although IOC earned two penalty corners in 6th and 41st minutes, they failed to convert any of these. In the second half, PSB maintained their grip and did not give any chance to their rivals. Teja Singh of Punjab and Sind Bank won the best goalkeeper award while Bikramjit Singh of Indian Oil was declared the best full back. Prabhdeep Singh of Bharat Petroleum won the best half-back of the tournament award. The winner team won a cash award of Rs 1 lakh while the runners-up were presented a cheque for Rs 60,000. The women’s final was played at a fast pace. The nail-biting final, which ended 4-4 in regulation time, saw Central take an early lead in the 2nd minute with a penalty corner conversion by Usha (1-0). In the 16th minute, Northern Railways equalised when Gurpreet Kaur converted a penalty corner (1-1). Pritam scored a field goal for Northern in the 24th minute (2-1) while Balwinder Kaur made it 3-1 in the 31st. At the lemon break, Northern Railways led 3-1. The second half of the match witnessed the teams playing some attacking hockey. In the 41st minute, Usha reduced the margin for Central Railway (2-3). They could have equalised in the 59th minute but they squandered the penalty stroke. However, Central Railway made amends in the 62nd minute with a field goal scored by Sarita (3-3). Northern surged ahead in the 63rd minute through Balwinder Kaur but Central again equalised in the 69th minute through Ranjeeta from the right flank (4-4). With the extra time provision not being there for the final, the match went into the tie-breaker stage. Ramneek and Monika scored for Northern in the tiebreaker while Central's Manju, Ranjeeta, Usha and Elena missed the target. The winners were awarded Rs 31,000 cash and a trophy and runners-up were presented Rs 21,000 cash and trophy. Pritam of Northern Railway was declared the best player.
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Kumble on test today
Benoni, November 15 Kumble has been dusted off the shelf and put in the one-day mix after India’s recent horrendous run in the limited overs format. His experience and nagging accuracy have made his fielding travails a minor issue. Suddenly, his World Cup hopes no longer appear just a dream. Kumble’s presence though will not make life any easy for India’s other World Cup aspirants. Harbhajan Singh’s inevitable presence would further turn the screws on the medium-pacers. Zaheer Khan’s return would stir up the pot for the likes of S. Sreesanth and Munaf Patel, and not to forget Irfan Pathan. Tomorrow’s game thus could be instructive in gauging the team’s plans ahead of the World Cup. The competition between the medium-pacers would only intensify and only at the end of it would one know who has been left standing. India would take no chances with its batsmen and all the top ones are most likely to be paraded in the middle. Everyone, from Sachin Tendulkar to Virender Sehwag to Rahul Dravid, would be keen to hit the ground. A certain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s elevation in the batting order would also be watched with interest. The opposition put together against them is far from clear. The 16-member squad is a bit bloated but the selectors’ hands have been tied because of the MTN domestic championship final between Warriors and Cobras, scheduled for Friday. A few of the players chosen in the squad, such as Johannes van der Wath for Warriors, might not be released by their respective state units. If no such disruption occurs, then the local side is strong enough to let the tourists have an idea of what to expect on the rest of the tour. The batting is strong enough in the likes of Hashim Amla, Ashwell Prince, Jacques Rudolph and Neil McKenzie. In bowling, youngsters such as Thandi Tshabalala, an off-spinner, has been rushed into bigger leagues because of lack of spin talent in the country. Albie Morkel has been spoken of as the next Lance Klusener because of his aggressive medium-fast bowling and left-handed batting. Alviro Paterson is another talent who has been given the big stage after just two first class games. — PTI
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Shoaib, Asif hearing adjourned
Karachi, November 15 The three-member commission, headed by Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, was forced to adjourn the hearing after Shoaib’s lawyer Abid Hasan Manto said the Pakistan Cricket Board had still not provided him with certain documents without which he was unable to prepare for the case. Ebrahim told reporters in Lahore that from November 20 onwards, day-to-day hearing would be held till the case was concluded. “Today we couldn’t make much progress but we have told all parties that the appeals need to be disposed of expeditiously and they should come prepared for the next hearing,” he said. However, Mark Gay, a London based legal consultant brought in by PCB, made a brief presentation on the case from the PCB point of view. Gay, who had also helped the board fight its case against the ICC after the Oval Test fiasco in August, specialises in dope ban cases. He will assist the tribunal if they so require, Ebrahim said. A PCB official said since Gay had fought many cases involving athletes who have tested positive for the same steroid and have been banned, his help had been sought. “He is an expert and his views and advice would be valuable to the tribunal,” the official stated. Shoaib and Asif, both key bowlers for Pakistan and banned for two years and one year respectively by a drugs inquiry tribunal, could miss the 2007 World Cup if their appeals are not upheld. Both tested positive for banned steroid nandrolone in tests conducted by PCB before the start of Champions Trophy. Sources said that Shoaib, whose career is on line, had asked his legal advisor to prepare a defence based on previous cases of athletes who tested positive for nandrolone and successfully argued that their trainers had given it to them by mistake in nutrition supplements. British-Canadian tennis player Greg Rusedski was cleared in March 2004 after having tested positive for nandrolone. Ebrahim said he wanted to see justice done in the case and had set no date to conclude the case. “But obviously we want a conclusion as soon as possible but only after the legal counsels of both players have had a full opportunity to present their cases,” he said.
— PTI
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Joyce replaces Trescothick
Sydney, November 15 Somerset opener Trescothick returned home today after a recurrence of his stress-related illness forced him to quit the Australian tour. Joyce, 28, was promoted from England’s Academy squad, who arrive in Perth for a five-week training camp, and has yet to play in a Test match. The left-hander made his international debut in June in a limited overs match against Ireland and played a further two times in the shortened form of the game during the English summer. Chairman of selectors David Graveney said on the English and Wales Cricket Board’s web-site: “As we already have other players in the squad who have experience of opening the innings, we have decided to choose a replacement who will be able to cover a number of different positions within the order.
— AFP
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Warnapura leads Lankan fightback
Kolkata, November 15 North declared as soon as Mahesh Rawat got to his hundred in the morning, and the bowlers grabbed a few early wickets, but Warnapura’s unbeaten 82 ensured the home side worked hard for their wickets before bad light forced an early close with Sri Lanka A 81 runs behind. Sharma, the offspinner from Punjab, removed Michael Vandort, Samaraweera and Mubarak over the course of his 31 overs on the day, but the rest of the bowling lacked bite. Gagandeep Singh, so effective in the Sri Lankan first innings, finished with none for 35. — Agencies
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It’s ‘cheers’ for billiards players
Colorado Springs, November 15 Those are among the changes adopted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to its 2007 prohibition list summarised in a release by the US Anti-Doping Agency here yesterday. While the cue-stick crew can drink all they like and the checkmates can keep their cool, WADA extended its reach by adding a term to masking agent that outlaws “other substances with similar biological effect”. That means that if a substance serves the same masking purpose as a banned substance, it also is banned even if not on the banned list. Certain steroids also received a reprieve. Glucocorticosteroids used on skin, eye drops, eardrops, nasal sprays and mouth treatments will now be permitted without the filing of a therapeutic use exemption. A change for next year renders salbutamol levels above 1,000 ng/mL and clenbuterol ineligible for reduced sanctions because they are no longer considered specified substances. Most sport supporters would need a medical dictionary to figure out the bulk of the changes.
— AFP
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BSF oust Salgaocar
Our Sports Reporter
New Delhi, November 15 BSF and Salgaocar battled it out in the tie-breaker and later in the ‘sudden death’ after regulation play ended goal-less, and it took 26 penalty kicks to decide the winners. The kicks had to be stopped after the 24th shot as the spot from where the kicks were taken got damaged and it required mending before resuming the shoot-out. The tie-breaker and sudden death ended evenly with both the teams unerringly scoring from the spot to be tied at 10-10. After exhausting all the options by the teams as they even pressed their custodians to score, Salgaocar brought in No. 2 goalie Krishna Kalsiya in place of Milagrio Medeira. But after Kalsiya too failed to make any save, defender Micky Fernandes was pressed into service under the bar, but he too came unstuck, and the sudden-death shoot-out continued till Francis Fernandes hit the cross bar with the scores tied at 12-all and Samrat Chaudhary fired in for BSF to clinch the issue at 13-12. BSF, with their long passes and tough defence and twice champions Salgaocar, with their speed and thrust, had kept the match alive during regulation play though they could not cash in on the few scoring chances that came their way. After the barren full time play, tie-breaker was straight away enforced and surprisingly, both the teams kept their slates clean by converting all their spot kicks with amazing variation. Neither goal-keeper, Milagrio Medeira of Salgaocar or Kamaswar Singh of BSF, could anticipate the shots taken by the strikers with nice variation till Francis very uncharacteristically aimed high and hit the bar though he had made no mistake with his first attempt during the tie-breaker.
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HP clinch kabaddi titles
Bilaspur, November 15 In the boys final, Himachal overpowered Maharashtra 40-32 in a keenly-contested match. The half time score was 18-19 in favour of Maharashtra. Vidarbha trounced Manipur 61-25 to clinch the third spot. The Himachal girls downed last year’s champion Haryana 37-23 in the final. Himachal were leading 21-12 at half time. Hyderabad overcame a spirited West Bengal 15-12 for the third place. Twentyeight boys teams and 23 teams girls participated in this meet. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh gave away the trophies and the prizes to the winners. He said the Luhanu Sports Complex would now be known as Kehloor Sports Complex and the government would take steps to provide Rs 2.50 crore for the laying of an astroturf in this complex at the earliest.
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Haryana games: Torch relay flagged off
Panchkula, November 15 The torch will travel through Ambala, Kaithal, Narwana, Hisar, Hansi, Bhiwani, Jhhajar, Rohtak, Bahadurgarh, Sonepat, Panipat, Karnal and Yamunanagar to reach finally at Dronacharya Stadium, Kurukshetra, on November 19. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda would inaugurate this sports event while state Governor A.R. Kidwai will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony. About 5000 sportspersons and technical officials are expected to participate in various competitions like archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, chess, cycling, football, handball, hockey, judo etc., in the games.
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Indian challenge ends
New Delhi, November 15 Chandra lost a see-saw battle to Ward 0-66, 60-5, 41-67, 64-15, 16-59, 71-27, 8-62, 75-43, 60-54, 64-41, 12-67, 36-60, 47-56, 74-34 and 44-67 late last night. The 25-year-old Ward had defeated former champion Pankaj Advani in the pre-quarters. In the women’s section, Anuja Thakur finished third after blanking Ramona Belmont of New Zealand 3-0 in a play-off. The Mumbai cueist notched up a 51-23, 64-61, 75-62 win against the Kiwi after being disappointed by Wan-Ip In of Czech Republic 2-4 (68-36, 46-6, 11-46, 55-71, 35-69, 58-62) in the semifinal. — PTI
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New Delhi, November 15 This was India’s first point in the competition after having lost their first five matches in Group ‘A’. The result, however, was immaterial in the larger picture as defending champions Japan and Saudi Arabia had already booked their place in the main event to be held in South-east Asia next year. After a goalless first period at the Ali Mohsen Stadium, India took the lead in the 52nd minute through Mahindra United defender N P Pradeep. When it seemed that the South Asian champions will hold on for their first victory of the campaign, substitute striker Ali Al Nono, who also scored when the two sides met in Delhi in March, headed home with eight minutes left to play to break Indian hearts. — PTI
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Saina, Chetan in quarters
Mumbai, November 15 Chetan Anand had to quell a determined challenge from qualifier Sachin Ratti in the second round before prevailing at 24-22, 21-18. The greater range of strokeplay and court coverage by the top seed saw him through in the end as Ratti choked on the big points to hand the match to the top seed. The top seed in the women’s section Saina Nehwal on the other hand had a cakewalk as she decimated her opponent Jui Agaskar in straight sets 21-12, 21-2.
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Jr national soccer from today
Chandigarh, November 15 As many as eight teams have confirmed their participation in the under-19 championship. While Punjab, UP, Haryana, and Chandigarh have been placed in group A, Uttaranchal, J & K, Delhi, and Himachal Pradesh will comprise group B. On the opening day tomorrow, Punjab will meet Haryana at 1 pm while UP will clash with Chandigarh in the second tie. |
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Master blaster
completes 17 years in the Indian cricket team. (
