The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Abide by anti-racism code, ICC tells BCCI
Melbourne, October 17
The International Cricket Council has warned the Indian board that it must abide by its anti-racism code and act seriously on the incident of racist crowd behaviour against Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds in Vadodara.

Steps taken to curb the menace: PCB
Karachi, October 17
The Pakistan cricket Board has denied receiving any letter from the ICC on racism as yet but asserted that it has beefed up measures to eliminate the menace from stadiums in the country.

‘Racism prevalent in Australia’
Melbourne, October 17
Ricky Ponting and Co are complaining of racial abuse in India, but it seems a classic case of pot calling the kettle black after a human rights report came out with the finding that racism is prevalent in Australia. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission recently did a survey on the cultural diversity and racism in Australian sports and the findings are not very flattering, according to a report in 'The Australian'.

McMillan retires
Wellington, October 17
New Zealand all rounder Craig McMillan is retiring from cricket for health and personal reasons. McMillan, 31, said he wanted to end his career on a high after strong performances in the recent Twenty20 World Cup, in which he was New Zealand's highest scorer.

Okubo nets twice as Japan beat Egypt 4-1
Osaka, Japan, October 17
Yoshito Okubo scored his first two international goals during the first half to help Japan to a 4-1 win over Egypt in a friendly international on Wednesday. Vissel Kobe striker Okubo stroked a delightful left-foot shot into the top corner in the 21st minute for his first goal in 21 appearances as Japan overwhelmed the under-strength African Nations Cup champions.

Japan's midfielder Kengo Nakamura (R) fights for the ball with Egypt's forward Omar Gamel during their friendly soccer match in Osaka, western Japan, on Wednesday. — Reuters

Federer back into victory mode
Madrid, October 17
Roger Federer kick-started the concluding phase of his season, defeating Robby Ginepri 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 at the Madrid Masters.

Military World Games
India shoot silver medal
Hyderabad, October 17
A silver and a bronze medal came India’s way on the third day today to take its medal tally to three in the 4th Military World Games here.

Sonepat girls clinch overall trophy
Yamunanagar, October 17
Sonepat district clinched the overall trophy at the Inter-state Schoolgirls Sports Championship which concluded at Tejli Sports Stadium here today. Kurukshetra eves were declared the runners-up followed by girls of Jind district.

Simarjeet takes lead
Manav Das strikes a hole-in-one
Chandigarh, October 17
Three-time Sri Lanka Amateur Open champion and India's No 1 ranked amateur Simarjeet Singh played a par round of 72 to take a slender lead on the opening day of the LG Samarvir Sahi Amateur Golf Championship at the Chandigarh Golf Club here today.

Shahabad girls to meet Ranchi in hockey final
New Delhi, October 17
SGNP Girls Senior Secondary School, Shahabad will meet Government Girls High School, Bariatu, Ranchi, in the final of the 14th Nehru Junior Girls Hockey Tournament at the Shivaji Stadium here tomorrow.

CAT rules in favour of Sinha
New Delhi, October 17
Former secretary of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Dr B.K. Sinha, who was removed from his post a few months ago, has got a verdict in his favour from the CAT.

Sourabh races to victory
Ambala, October 17
Sourabh stood first while Gurvinder stood second in the 60m race (boys’) during the District school games being held at War Heroes Memorial Stadium, Ambala Cantonment.

	Out-of-form Dravid dropped Mumbai, October 17 Struggling former captain Rahul Dravid was today left out of the playing eleven by the Indian team management for lack of form and replaced by reserve wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Kaarthik for the inconsequential seventh and final one-day international against Australia here. The Bangalore stalwart, who had earlier in his career fought back into the one-day team after being considered unsuitable for this format by taking up the wicketkeeper's slot, came into the tie with a tally of only 51 runs in five innings that he had batted and the list included ducks he recorded at Hyderabad and Vadodara in the third and fifth ties. Dravid, who stepped down from captaincy after leading the country to a Test series triumph in England after 21 years and later said he took the decision to concentrate on his batting, failed to prosper against the relentlessly aggressive Australian pace attack and notched up scores of 31,0,13,0 and 7 in the second to sixth ties. "The Wall" has had a tremendous run in Tests as well as ODIs, having scored over 20,000 runs combined in the two formats after having played in 333 ODIs and 112 Tests in an international career than began in 1995-96. However, against the World Cup champions his form in the 50-over game has been less than average. Ricky Ponting, the Australian skipper, told reporters after the Vadodara match that his bowlers had executed the plans chalked out against him to a nicety. "I don't know if he's (Dravid) under pressure or not. I know we have bowled very well to him so far, if you look at his dismissals. We have got him out like you probably expect to get top order players out. He's a class player and class players don't stay away from scoring too long. "(But) We need to keep him under pressure and make sure we execute our game plans exactly right. If we don't and give him a chance to get off the mark and get away then you will see how good and dangerous player he can be," said the touring captain. The extent to which Dravid has struggled in the ODIs of late is evident by a look at his recent stats. He has piled on a measly 73 runs in his last nine matches at just under 10 per innings, after having secured the man of the match award in the Bristol ODI just prior to his terrible run of form. — PTI
	Abide by anti-racism code, ICC tells BCCI Melbourne, October 17 The International Cricket Council has warned the Indian board that it must abide by its anti-racism code and act seriously on the incident of racist crowd behaviour against Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds in Vadodara. The BCCI has played down the incident only to irk the Australian team and the ICC, which has sought an explanation from the Indian board on the issue. BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah has also conceded that the board has not appointed an anti-racism officer, despite it being a requirement of the ICC for all Test-playing nations, a 'Sydney Morning Herald' report said today. But both Ray Mali, ICC's acting chairman, and David Morgan, the chairman-elect, have stated in no uncertain terms that India must fall into line with other cricketing nations and abide by the anti-racism code. "Every member of the ICC is a signatory to that code, and we expect everyone to follow it," Mali told a local daily here. "If there is someone not abiding by that, then certainly we will do something about it. As the ICC president, I strongly condemn incidents of racism wherever they occur throughout the world. This is a serious issue, and we need to act on it to the best of our abilities," Mali said. Morgan, who will assume the ICC chairmanship next year, echoed Mali's sentiments and denied the council afforded preferential treatment to the BCCI on account of the millions of dollars it brings to the game in the form of television rights and sponsorship deals. "There should certainly be a consistent approach in the way the anti-racism code is enforced and I have no reason to believe it will not be in this instance," Morgan told the 'Herald Sun'. "ICC guidelines have to be followed by all ... (and) I certainly will be pressing buttons to ensure there is a zero-tolerance policy towards racism around the world. Sensing trouble, the BCCI has come forward from its initial indifference over the issue. The Indian Board has decided to display anti-racism messages during the matches and is reportedly having negotiations with Cricket Australia and the ICC on how to address the situation. The Australians, meanwhile, have reacted strongly to comments from former internationals Mark Waugh and Allan Border that Symonds has been over-sensitive in his reaction to the racial taunting. "I don't think he has been (precious). Mark Waugh and Border played in a world that's slightly different to the one we are currently playing in," Aussie captain Ricky Ponting was quoted saying. "It would be disappointing if (BCCI) is accusing (Symonds) of lying because we all know that that is not the case. — PTI
	Steps taken to curb the menace: PCB Karachi, October 17 The Pakistan cricket Board has denied receiving any letter from the ICC on racism as yet but asserted that it has beefed up measures to eliminate the menace from stadiums in the country. Reacting to reports that the ICC had asked it for reports about racism during the second Test against South Africa last week, PCB Chairman Nasim Ashraf said the letter had not been received as yet and insisted that the Board's policy on racism in cricket remained very clear. "We have not received the letter as yet but whenever we get it the thing is that our policy on racism in cricket is already very clear and the swift action we took against the people involved in the incident shows our concern over this menace," Ashraf said. The ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said that the ICC was determined to keep cricket free of "the scourge of racism". "We have noted media reports of racist chanting during the India-Australia ODI...and also of racist abuse directed at South Africa players and team officials in Lahore. Andrew Symonds was allegedly subjected to monkey chants during the ODIs in Vadodara and Nagpur even though the Indian board denied the charge. The police in Lahore had arrested four spectators on Friday for allegedly making racist remarks about the South African team officials, Faisal Negal, Vincent Barnes and player Vernon Philander. The four were later released, a senior police official said. He also indicated that the South African security officer might have blown the incident out of proportion as the four were Pakistani teenagers from Australia who claim to have exchanged banter with the security officer after he made some signs to them while walking around the ground. "During the course of our investigation we didn't find these youngsters racists," he said declining to be identified. — PTI
	‘Racism prevalent in Australia’ Melbourne, October 17 Ricky Ponting and Co are complaining of racial abuse in India, but it seems a classic case of pot calling the kettle black after a human rights report came out with the finding that racism is prevalent in Australia. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission recently did a survey on the cultural diversity and racism in Australian sports and the findings are not very flattering, according to a report in 'The Australian'. "It is clear that incidents of racial abuse and vilification are prevalent across all major sporting codes," race discrimination commissioner Tom Calma was quoted as saying. "The fear of racism in Australian sport is also a major barrier to participation for indigenous people," he said. "Racism has been the ugly underbelly of Australian sport for over a century," the report noted. It also sheds lights on some uncomfortable truths like the under-representation of migrants and indigenous people and the disadvantages the young women face in sports in Australia. — PTI
	McMillan retires Wellington, October 17 New Zealand all rounder Craig McMillan is retiring from cricket for health and personal reasons. McMillan, 31, said he wanted to end his career on a high after strong performances in the recent Twenty20 World Cup, in which he was New Zealand's highest scorer. ''I have decided that the time is right for me to retire from cricket to spend more time with my family, as well as look after my health, as I have had ongoing issues related to diabetes,'' McMillan said in a statement today. — Agencies
	Okubo nets twice as Japan beat Egypt 4-1 Osaka, Japan, October 17 Yoshito Okubo scored his first two international goals during the first half to help Japan to a 4-1 win over Egypt in a friendly international on Wednesday. Vissel Kobe striker Okubo stroked a delightful left-foot shot into the top corner in the 21st minute for his first goal in 21 appearances as Japan overwhelmed the under-strength African Nations Cup champions. The former Real Mallorca marksman doubled the lead in the 42nd minute with a well-placed header before fellow forward Ryoichi Maeda opened his international account 11 minutes later with a tidy finish. Mohamed Fadl deflected in a Hosni Abdrabo free kick with his head to pull one back for the visitors in the 58th minute before Akira Kaji restored the three-goal advantage 10 minutes later with a well-placed strike. Egypt manager Hassan Shehata left seven Al Ahly players at home while the team prepare to defend their CAF Champions League crown, while Middlesbrough's Mido was also absent. Japan, without Celtic playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura, rested Urawa Reds duo Marcus Tulio Tanaka and Tatsuya Tanaka ahead of the J.League club's Asian Champions League semi-final second leg next week. — Reuters
	Federer back into victory mode Madrid, October 17 Roger Federer kick-started the concluding phase of his season, defeating Robby Ginepri 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 at the Madrid Masters. Unseeded Andy Murray scored his second overwhelming victory in two days with a definitive 6-1, 6-3 crushing of Argentine Juan Chela, the 15th seed, in 66 minutes. Ivo Karlovic compounded the Masters misery for mountain-climbing Russian Marat Safin as he bundled the 2004 champion out 6-3, 6-4. German Nicolas Kiefer beat the weekend's losing Vienna finalist Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 7-5, 6-3 while Spain's Nicolas Almagro put out Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 6-4. The 2003 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero gave home fans a thrill as he re-lived the glory days with a win over Alejandro Falla 6-4, 7-5. Tommy Haas may find in Shanghai his fate in the hands of others after missing an opportunity to maintain his eighth position with a loss to Juan Monaco 6-4, 7-5. Zurich Open: Serena retires Zurich: Serena Williams retired with a sore right thigh while trailing Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-0, 3-0 in the first round of the Zurich Open. Amelie Mauresmo struggled to beat Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, and Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli advanced by defeating Peng Shuai of China 6-7 (4), 6-0, 6-1. — Agencies
	Military World Games India shoot silver medal Hyderabad, October 17 A silver and a bronze medal came India’s way on the third day today to take its medal tally to three in the 4th Military World Games here. India's men's 25m Centre Fire Pistol team of Vijay Kumar, Pemba Tamang, C.K. Chaudhary and Hambhir Singh shot 1744 in best of three aggregate score to come second behind China, whose team totalled 1758 points. Russia was third with 1740. Then Chatholi Hamza ran 3:42.84 min to finish third behind Kenyan duo of Gathimba Gideon (3:41.01) and Korir Shadrack (3: 41.56) in men's 1500m race. India in v’ball semis India came from behind to score a 3-1 victory over Brazil in a nail-biting group league match and storm into the semifinals of the men's volleyball competition today. Both sides recorded one win and one loss each in the four-team Pool B league, the hosts began on a wrong note conceding the first set to the South Americans only to script a remarkable fight back to post a 23-25, 25-17, 26-24, 25-17 win in front of vociferous home supporters at KVBR Stadium in Yousufguda here. — UNI
	Sonepat girls clinch overall trophy Tribune News Service Yamunanagar, October 17 Sonepat district clinched the overall trophy at the Inter-state Schoolgirls Sports Championship which concluded at Tejli Sports Stadium here today. Kurukshetra eves were declared the runners-up followed by girls of Jind district. Sudhir Mohan, director sports and youth affairs distributed the prizes. Results: 800m race - Ritu Chikara (Sonepat), Varsha (Hisar) and Ashwani (Sonepat); high jump - Sonu (Hisar), Sandeep (Bhiwani) and Pawandeep (Sirsa); shot put - Sandeep (Bhiwani), Seema (Sirsa) and Pooja (Jind); long jump - Pooja (Hisar), Sonu (Hisar) and Sandeep (Bhiwani); javelin throw - Komal Deep (Sirsa), Navdeep (Sirsa) and Sandeep (Bhiwani); 3000m - Varsha (Hisar), Pooja (Hisar) and Sujata (Rohtak); 400m - Ritu Chikara (Sonepat), Ashwani (Sonepat) and Pooja (Hisar); 400m relay - Sujata, Babita, Joyti, Sarita (Rohtak), Sujata, Sandeep, Jyoti, Kavita (Bhiwani) and Anita, Monika, Manjeet, Mamta (Mahindergarh); volleyball - Kurukshetra, Jind and Jhajjar; football - Sonepat, Kurukshetra and Karnal; hockey - Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar and Sirsa; basketball - Sonepat, Jind and Hisar; table tennis - Sanjiya, Parneet and Navjot (all Fatehabad); badminton - Panchkula, Sonepat and Faridabad; Archery - Noopur, Abhilasha, Gaganjot, Gurpreet (Sirsa), Neetu, Priya (Narnaul) and Anjali, Nisha, Sarita and Sariya (Gurgaon); Archery (FITA) - Oseen, Sanjana, Karishma, Ritu (Gurgoan), Dimple, Kiran, Partibha, Kanchan (Hisar) and Natasha, Namrata, Jyoti, Palak (Faridabad); Wrestling - 30kg - Asha (Panipat), Kajal (Yamunanagar) and Usha (Fatehabad); 32kg - Poonam (Fatehabad), Simran (Yamunanagar) and Pooja (Kurukshetra); 34 kg - Mamta (Jind), Saya (Yamunanagar) and Rita (Kurukshetra); 37 kg - Anu (Jind), Ritu (Kaithal) and Usha (Fathehabad); 40 kg - Sanju (Hisar), Santosh (Fatehabad) and Anita (Kurukshetra) and Suman (consolation, Yamunanagar); 48 kg - Kavita (Jind), Lalita (Hisar) and Sonia (Kaithal) and Manju (consolation, Sonepat); 52 kg - Siksha (Jind), Poonam (Hisar) and Seema (Sonepat) and Sudesh (consolation, Bihwani); 57 kg - Anil (Jind), Anita (Bhiwani) and Anita (Sonepat); 62 kg - Ritu (Sonepat), Sonia (Hisar) and Nidhi (Bhiwani) and Neelam (consolation, Kurukshetra).
	Simarjeet takes lead Manav Das strikes a hole-in-one Donald Banerjee Chandigarh, October 17 Three-time Sri Lanka Amateur Open champion and India's No 1 ranked amateur Simarjeet Singh played a par round of 72 to take a slender lead on the opening day of the LG Samarvir Sahi Amateur Golf Championship at the Chandigarh Golf Club here today. Just one stroke behind the leader was Ashbeer Saini, a junior player from Kapurthala, playing a one-over par 73 Bangalore 's Abhishek Jha and Noida's Depankar Kaushal shot a two over 74 each to share the third place. Chandigarh 's HS Kang and Abhijeet Singh Chadha were a further stroke behind in tied-fifth position at 75 while JS Dullet, Karan Vasudeva and Lt. Col Lakra were tied seventh at 76 each However, it was Manav Das of Ambala who stole the limelight by becoming the first golfer on the Indian Amateur Golf Tour to clinch hole-in-one on the 14th. Das won a brand new Taylormade Golf Set for his effort. This incidentally was his second hole-in-one at this club. Simarjeet's started with three pars. He then birdied the fourth and fifth. A bogey on the seventh was followed by a birdie on the ninth where he sank a 20 foot left to right putt to take the turn at two under. On the back nine, Simarjeet dropped shots on the 14 th and 17th to end the day at 72. Scores (after 18 holes): Simarjeet Singh 72, Ashbeer Saini 73, Abhishek Jha and DIpankar Kaushal 74, H.S. Kang and Abhijeet Singh Chadha 75, Karan Vasudeva, J.S. Dullet and Lt Col Lakra 76, Ram Pal and Hamsa Yunus 77, Aman Guron, Tarun Ghogale, Arshdeep Tiwana, Karan Taunk, Vipin Kumar, Sandeep Sandhu, Gagan Verma and Rahul Bajaj 78.
	Shahabad girls to meet Ranchi in hockey final Our Sports Reporter New Delhi, October 17 SGNP Girls Senior Secondary School, Shahabad will meet Government Girls High School, Bariatu, Ranchi, in the final of the 14th Nehru Junior Girls Hockey Tournament at the Shivaji Stadium here tomorrow. In a closely-fought semifinal here today, the enterprising Shahabad girls had to battle it out against Padma Raje Higher Secondary School, Gwalior, before recording a 1-0 victory to sail into the final. The match-winner was knocked in by Ritu Rani off a penalty corner seconds before the half-time hooter. In the second semifinal between Government School, Ranchi, and Government Senior Secondary School, Kairon, Amritsar, the Punjab girls made a brilliant fightback after trailing 0-3 to narrow the lead before losing 3-4. Sabnam Lakhra and Shilwanti Minjur scored a brace each for Ranchi while Sandeep Kaur, Ramandeep Kaur (Sr) and Harwinder Kaur got the goals for Amritsar. Twenty-four teams, including defending champions Government High School, Harnamdaspura (Jalandhar), and runners-up Town High School, Sundergarh (Orissa), will participate in the 25th Sub-Junior Boys (Under-15) Nehru Hockey Tournament starting at the Shivaji Stadium here tomorrow.
	CAT rules in favour of Sinha Our Sports Reporter New Delhi, October 17 Former secretary of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Dr B.K. Sinha, who was removed from his post a few months ago, has got a verdict in his favour from the CAT. The CAT went through his file notings and the correspondence between the SAI and the Sports Ministry before ruling that he be reinstated. Dr Sinha, an IPS officer of the Haryana cadre, said the CAT ruling has vindicated his stand that he had been unjustifiably removed from the SAI. But a top source in the SAI said the CAT ruling was not binding on it as it can be challenge in the court. "SAI cannot be forced to reinduct an officer who was removed due to administrative reasons", the source added.