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Malik predicts exciting tour
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Asif ruled out of ODI series
Aussies recall MacGill
Jitender, Jai lose in pre-quarters
Durand Cup
Indoor Asian Games
Airlines, Indian Oil enter final Members of the Surjit Hockey Academy rejoice after winning the junior title of the 24th Indian Oil Surjit Hockey Tournament in Jalandhar on Thursday. — Tribune photo by Pawan Sharma
Gurbaaz tied 11th
J&K take lead against HP
Ludhiana, Kotkapura boys advance in b’ball
Punjab on top
Handball meet
BBK DAV eves wrestling champs
Nomadic ‘fans’
Shokeen stuns top seed
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Malik predicts exciting tour
New Delhi, November 1 It’s a national war”, he said in a typical drawl. Malik said both India and Pakistan were well-matched in the 50-over contests, and the team which made mistakes would be at a disadvantage. The Pakistan captain conceded that India enjoyed home advantage, and from the Pakistan point of view, he was also relieved that “The Wall”, Rahul Dravid, would not be playing in the first two ODI matches. “Dravid is a very good player, but he has been omitted as the Indian team may be looking at the younger option,” he said. “But it’s good for us that Dravid is not there”, he added.
Malik said Indian vice-captain Yuvraj
Singh was now playing at his best, and he was also impressed with the
remarkable stride made by pacer Rudra Pratap Singh. “RP has improved
and he’s an extraordinary bowler”, Malik added. The Pakistan
skipper said the Indian pace attack was good, “but we have a plan in
place” to tackle it. Malik said he had no problem dealing with the
senior players in the team as they had been very cooperative. He also welcomed the return of Shoaib Akhtar into the fold after a long gap. Malik said Akhtar, who played the last ODI against South Africa at home after a gap of 13 months, would be a major cog in the wheel of their gameplan against India. He said on the subcontinent’s wickets, no team held any special advantage as in an India-Pak contest, there would invariably be scores of around 300. “But the key to success would be making minimal mistakes”, he explained. Lawson said the new-found aggression of the Indian team (particularly in the home series against Australia) was not very surprising, as the Pakistan team also played their cricket tough as it comes. “We had a very uncompromising series against South Africa”, Lawson said. Malik, making his point about the increased volume of cricket activity, said there was nothing wrong in playing more cricket as it was a ‘gentleman’s game’. Malik admitted that the Pakistan team was yet to find a suitable player to fill the void created by the retirement of former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq. “A replacement will emerge, though presently we have none”, he said. When asked whether the flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi, who was keen to go up in the batting order, would open the innings, Lawson said a cryptic “no”. Afridi had been sent into bat lower down in the past few months, though he opened in one match against Bangladesh in the Twenty20 World Cup. Afridi had skipped the Test series against South Africa as he wanted to take a break to attend to personal and family commitments. Afridi, the seniormost player in the team after Inzamam’s retirement, had said he felt comfortable batting as an opener “because it gives me the freedom of playing with the field restrictions”. Malik said the Pakistan team was here to play competitive cricket irrespective of the results. “Only one team can win,” he reasoned. He said the injured Mohammad Asif was likely to return to the team after two weeks, and he was looking forward to play an exciting series against Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team with a positive frame of mind. The Pakistan team will play a limited-overs match against the Delhi Ranji Trophy team at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here tomorrow to warm-up for their first ODI against India at Guwahati on November 5. Gambhir to lead Delhi
PTI adds: Virender Sehwag, who lost his father earlier this week, would be missing from action and Gautam Gambhir would skipper Delhi in his place for the match against Pakistan. Delhi would be minus the pace duo of Ashish Nehra and Ishant Sharma as well. While Nehra has ruled himself out of the match, Ishant is recuperating from a shoulder injury which he sustained in the Challenger Series and the team would allow him more time to recover and play the Ranji opener against Rajasthan later this week. “Sehwag and Ishant would not play tomorrow but it’s a huge opportunity for others to make a mark. After all, you don’t get to play against an international side too often,” Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya said. Dahiya said it’s a gilt-edged opportunity for his boys to face a quality opponent before the Ranji season that lies ahead and he did not rule out an upset tomorrow. “It’s the perfect way to start our Ranji campaign. “On tomorrow’s outcome, it’s better not to try to predict the result because anything can happen. I can only assure you that my boys would give their best,” he added. |
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Lahore, November 1 Hours before Pakistan embarked on the high-voltage month-long tour, Asif pulled out of the ODI series because of a chronic elbow injury but the Pakistan Cricket Board said he might even miss the full tour. “He himself told us he is not 100 per cent fit because of his elbow problem and he wants more time to make a full recovery,” Shafqat Naghmi, chief operating officer of the board, told a press conference here. “We can’t say when he will be fit. He might be fit for the last two one-dayers or he might miss the full tour. His injury is such there is no medication for it and he has just been advised rest and some specific exercises,” Naghmi said. He also said that given the uncertainty over Asif’s elbow problem, no replacement was being announced for him. Naghmi said since the squad named for the one-day series already included four specialist pacers and a couple of all-rounders, there was no emergency to name a replacement. A source, however, said Pakistan were also facing some issues with the fitness of pacer Umar Gul who has been in good form in recent matches. Asif said last week in an interview that he needed a week more to recover from his elbow problem and bowl at his best.
— PTI
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Brisbane, November 1 Leg-spinner Stuart MacGill and left-armer Brad Hogg are likely to vie for a single spinner’s position in the Australian line-up for the November 8 match at the Gabba ground. Brett Lee will lead an Australian pace attack comprising Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait. MacGill, 36, picks up the leg-spinning role left vacant by the retirement at the end of Australia’s last Test season of world record wicket-taker Shane Warne. He is favoured to play his 41st Test and his first since last April’s match against Bangladesh at Chittagong. Hogg’s recent good form in domestic first-class cricket has won him inclusion in the Australian squad and his left-arm bowling offers the selectors, and captain Ricky Ponting, additional variety. His last Test was against Bangladesh at Sydney in 2003. Chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said he wanted to see all 13 players training in Brisbane before making a final decision on the Australian XI. “MacGill is an excellent leg-spinner with a great record for Australia, and Hogg, despite having limited (Test) experience due to his outstanding one-day record, is coming off a very strong performance for Western Australia in the domestic Pura Cup,” Hilditch said. “Having both of them in the squad gives us the opportunity again to assess the conditions and decide upon what selection is best.” Shaun Tait squeezed Ben Hilfenhaus out of the fourth fast bowling position, following his strong recovery from elbow surgery. Meanwhile, New South Wales opener Phil Jaques has been chosen to replace the retired Justin Langer as Matthew Hayden’s opening partner. The left-handed Jaques, 28, will be playing only his third Test and his first for 18 months. Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist backed Hogg’s recall after keeping wicket to him as he returned match figures of 8 for 83 for Western Australia against Queensland this week. Squad: Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Phil Jaques, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Stuart MacGill, Andrew Symonds and Shaun Tait.
— AP
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Jitender, Jai lose in pre-quarters
Chicago, November 1 Jitender went down fighting 9-14 to three-time European champion Georgy Balakshin of Russia in the flyweight
category. Bhagwan, on the other hand, lost 7-16 to Colombian Darley Perez in the lightweight category. The duo needed to make the quarterfinals to book a berth in the Beijing Olympics next
year. Jitender and Balakshin were off to a slow start with both boxers tied at a point each in the opening round. The Russian got going in the second round and established a three-point
lead. Jitender tried hard for a comeback in the next two rounds but could not bridge the
gap. Bhagwan’s bout was also a close affair in the first two rounds with the Indian being just a couple of points behind his rival. The turning point of the fight was the penultimate round in which Bhagwan failed to score a single point. Perez then came up with a flurry of punches in the final round to overcome the
Indian. Jitender and Bhagwan’s loss leaves AL Lakra as the only Indian in fray after the last-16 stage. The featherweight pugilist will take on Chinese Yang Li in the quarterfinals. India are currently tied for the 17th spot in the championship table with nine points. Russia lead the pack with 24 points, closely followed by China, with 23 points. The USA are third with 21 points.
— PTI
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Durand Cup
New Delhi, November 1 Dempo scored through Ranty Martins(6), Chidi(45th, 75th), and Silva(21st, 71st). It was a mismatch of a tie, and Dempo, without India stars Mahesh Gawli, Climax Lawrence, Clifford Miranda and Samir Naik, were overwhelmingly superior and never in trouble throughout the match. On the other hand, IAF, who are the reigning Delhi league champions, could not get a single clear look at the Dempo goal. The action began as soon as the match started with Nigerian Chidi blasting a powerful right-footer from outside the box, but the IAF goalkeeper was equal to the task, punching away for a corner. Ranty opened the account for Dempo from a Chidi spadework. Chidi collected an Anthony Pereira pass inside the box and after getting the better of his marker, essayed a low cross for Ranty to blast home with the goalkeeper standing like a mute spectator. Silva, who captained the team last year when his side emerged champions, made it 2-0 connecting a pass from Chidi, who cut through the IAF defence before sending a flighted ball from near the right touchline for his Brazillian teammate to slam home with a scorching right-footed volley. Dempo went up 3-0 at the stroke of half-time with Chidi finding the net. Silva initiated the move, sending defence splitting pass for Pereira, who in turn gave it to an unmarked Chidi, and the Nigerian side-stepped a defender before driving a low left-footer into the net. After the resumption, there was no respite for the IAF defenders with several attempts coming from the Dempo forwards. Silva completed his brace in the 71st minute with Ranty sending a through pass for him to shoot home on the run. Chidi rounded off the tally in the 85th minute, heading home a Ranty cross from the right. Dempo will play their quarterfinal match on November 3.
— UNI
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Indoor Asian Games
Macau, November 1 Apart from Vinod’s gold, Indians won three silver and four bronze medals on the last day of the athletics competitions. However, Chinese Liu Qing denied Sinimol Paulose a second gold by beating her in the 800m final. Liu clocked 2:06.13, while silver winner Sinimol finished with a timing of 2:06.32. A Vijila took the bronze
(2:06.75). Vinod claimed his first continental level title in combined category by scoring 5,561 points in the two-day long gruelling event. The 28-year-old Vinod beat Kazakhstan’s Dubitskiy Pavel (5,432 points) by more than 100 points after the completion of the 1000m run, the final event of the heptathlon. In the women’s 3000m final, Preeja Sreedharan won the silver medal with a timing of 9:27.62, while Surendra Singh claimed the silver in men’s 3000m with a timing of 8:04.99. Sunil Kumar took the bronze (8:10.07). R Rajeev won the bronze in men’s 800m (1:50.87). The Indian women 4x400m relay team of Anu Mariam Jose, Antony
Vijila, Sini Jose and Machettira Poovamma Raju won the bronze with a timing of 3:41.09. Meanwhile, Sandeep Sejwal won his second silver at the Indoor Asian Games by finishing second in the men’s 50m breaststroke. Delhi’s Sandeep timed 28.41 seconds and missed the gold by 0.06 of a second. The gold went to Iran’s Mohammad Ali
Rezaei. Vorrawuti Aumpiwan of Thailand took the bronze clocking 28.49s. The 18-year-old Sejwal had finished second in the 100m breaststroke earlier in the
games. Shikha Tandon finished seventh in the women’s 50m backstroke final, clocking 30.50s.
— PTI
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Airlines, Indian Oil enter final
Jalandhar, November 1 The more experienced Airlines team, including big names like Dhanraj Pillay, Prabodh Trikey, Sandeep Michael and Sandeep Singh subdued the aggressive Bharat Petroleum side, which had Hari Prasad and Tushar Khandekar in their ranks. Airlines captain VS Vinay scored a field goal on a pass from Sandeep Singh in the 13th minute. Three minutes later, drag flicker Sandeep gave his team a 2-0 lead by converting a penalty corner. Bharat Petroleum reduced the margin towards the end of the first half as Gurpreet Singh converted a penalty corner. The second half saw Bharat Petroleum put up a spirited fight but they failed to convert any of the six penalty corners they earned. Airlines goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza foiled all their attempts to score. Bharat Petroleum goalkeeper Ajay Saroa stopped a drag-flick from Sandeep. Airlines forward Sandeep Michael scored in the 58th minute to put his team 3-1 up. In the second semifinal, Indian Oil’s star forward Deepak Thakur give his team the lead by scoring a field goal in the 6th minute. Full-back Raghunath added two goals by converting penalty corners in the 30th and 43rd minutes. In the dying minutes of the match, Vikramjeet converted a penalty corner to reduce the margin. Meanwhile, in the final of the junior category, Surjit Academy beat Punjab and Sind Bank 3-2. Gurpreet Singh, Sukhdeep Singh and Jaswinder Singh scored for the Surjit Academy in the 5th, 9th and 36th minutes, respectively. Sajjan Singh scored both goals for the Punjab and Sind Bank.
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Gurbaaz tied 11th
Chandigarh, November 1 India’s highest ranked golfer on the Asian Tour event, Gaurav Ghei, played a one-over-par 72 to be tied 39th in the $4 million prize money tournament. Nineteen-year-old Gaganjeet Bhullar of Kapurthala, who had almost clinched the Indonesian President Invitational at Jakarta last week, could manage a two-over-par 73 to tie for the 52nd spot with Shiv Kapur. Amandeep Johl and Harmeet Kahlon of Chandigarh struggled to return six-over-par 77 and eight-over-par 79 cards to be poorly placed tied at 116 and 130, respectively. World number two Phil Mickelson struggled with wayward driving to record a three-under-par 68. But this performance was overshadowed by a trio of AsianTour regulars. Australian Gavin Flint, who is half-Singaporean, compatriot Kane Webber and American rookie Jin Park enjoyed their day in the sun by eclipsing the world’s stars to jointly lead with 66s.
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J&K take lead against HP
Srinagar, November 1 Resuming at an overnight score of 102 for 7, the visitors were dismissed for 278 after avoiding a follow-on, due to a brilliant century by Barun Sharma (124). Abishek Sharma scored 65. The hosts lost an early wicket when the score was just 20 in their second innings after taking a first-inning lead of 94 runs. Manish Dogra, who scored a century in the first innings also, completed his half-century in the second innings before he fell on 53. Brief Scores: J&K (1st innings): 372; HP (1st innings): 278 (Barun Sharma 124, Abishek Sharma 65, Zahoor Sofi 5 wickets) J&K (2nd innings) : 138/4 (Manish Dogra 53, Vishal Sharma 2 wickets).
— UNI
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Ludhiana, Kotkapura boys advance in b’ball
Ludhiana, November 1 In a ding dong battle, Government Multipurpose School, Ludhiana, prevailed over Spring Dale Senior Secondary School, Amritsar, 83-72. Ludhiana lads were leading by four points at the end of the first quarter (22-18). However, Amritsar boys made a fine rally to surge ahead (39-37) at half time. In the third quarter, Ludhiana, not only wiped out the deficit, but took six-point lead (65-59). They managed to increase the lead in the last quarter and eventually wrapped up the issue by eleven-point margin (83-72). In another match, Sports Wing, Kotkapura, defeated Government Senior Secondary School, Husner (Gidderbaha), 82-61 to top their group and secure a berth in the super league. In the girl’s section, DAV Senior Secondary School, Gurdaspur, beat Government Senior Secondary School, Amritsar, 71-44, while Malwa Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Ludhiana, outnumbered Government Senior Secondary,
Amritsar, 53-43.
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Punjab on top
Patiala, November 1 Brief scores: Haryana (1st innings) 102 all out (Davinder 32, Vijay Chowdhury 5-23, Girkirat Oshan 4-20); Punjab (1st innings) 98 for no loss (Manan Vohra 73 n.o.).
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Handball meet
Amritsar, November 1 Ravi Shankar University defeated Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, 48-22, while PAU crushed Behrampur University 26-6. The veterinary university beat Utkal University 21-19.
— OC
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BBK DAV eves wrestling champs
Amritsar, November 1 Lakhwinder, Rajwinder and Sumanjit were the gold medallists, Varinder and Rajbir won the silver, while Kanchan won the bronze. Varinder and Rajbir won the silver medals HMV, Jalandhar, and Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, stood second and third, respectively, with 17 and 13 points. Meanwhile, Rajwant, Lakhwinder, Rajwinder and Sumanjit have been selected to represent the Guru Nanak Dev University wrestling team for the All-India Inter-University Championship to be held at Kohlapur from November 15 to 18. The other members of the team are Navneet and Rajwinder.
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Nomadic ‘fans’
Chandigarh: They knew nothing about the teams or the date of the match, yet they were standing in a long queue at the ticket sale counter of the PCA Stadium in
Mohali.
After purchasing general block tickets for the upcoming India-Pakistan one-dayer, some nomadic women, who were at least 10 in number, preferred to run away from the spot. “Definitely, someone ‘planted’ them to purchase tickets with an ulterior motive. The tickets would be sold on the black market because these women cannot afford to dish out Rs 300 to see the match,” said a person standing in the queue. Doubting the women’s authenticity, a person selling tickets at the counter gave them one each instead of two.
— TNS
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Shokeen stuns top seed
New Delhi, November 1 Also advancing to the last four stage was fourth-seed Divij Sharan.
— PTI
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Lahore, November 1
Brisbane, November 1
Jalandhar, November 1
The Pakistan team will play five ODIs and three Tests in their over-a-month-long itinerary. India and Pakistan would be playing their fourth straight series, and Pakistan’s Australian coach Geoff Lawson described it as “bigger than the Ashes (between England and Australia)”.
