The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Sarfraz set to replace Akmal at Gwalior Lahore, November 12 Uncapped Pakistan wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed will be sent to India as reinforcement on the request of the team management after regular keeper Kamran Akmal injured himself during the third ODI in Kanpur yesterday. ''We received a SOS call from the team management that Kamran Akmal has aggravated an injury on his left hand, and the national selection committee has decided to send young wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed to reinforce the team,'' Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Dr Nasim Ashraf told 'Dawn'. ''Sarfraz will arrive in India before the fourth ODI at Gwalior on Thursday and if Kamran does not recover in time for the match, Sarfraz will play in Gwalior. ''We are not calling Kamran back as he is our first choice,'' the chairman added. In all probability, young Sarfraz might make his debut against arch rivals India in the remainder of the five-match ODI series as Kamran is under fire for his glove work in recent times. But the only thing which has saved the 25-year-old keeper from the axe till now is his batting skills, although presently he is unable to do justice to his abilities with the willow too. — UNI
	Aussies trounce Lanka by an innings New Delhi, November 12 Man of the match Brett Lee completed his second successive four-wicket haul as Australia thumped Sri Lanka by an innings and 40 runs in the first cricket Test in Brisbane today. Resuming at their overnight score of 218 for five, the Lankans, who were forced to follow on after being bundled out for 211 in reply to a mammoth Australian total of 551, were bowled out for 300 on the final day. Lee was the wrecker-in-chief for the hosts, returning match figures of 8/112 after picking up 4/86 in the second innings. For the visitors Chamara Silva was the only batsman to put up some resistance today scoring a valiant 43 before edging Lee to Michael Hussey to start the Lankan collapse. The visitors' tail-enders failed to contribute much as Lee and Stuart Clark (2/75) completed the formalities. — PTI Scoreboard Australia (1st innings):(4 wickets dec): 551 Sri Lanka(1st innings): 211 Sri Lanka (2nd innings) Atapattu c Gilchrist b Symonds 16 Jayasuriya c Ponting b Lee 39 Vandort b MacGill 82 M. Jayawardene c Gilchrist b Johnson 49 Samaraweera c Hussey b Johnson 20 C Silva c Hussey b Lee 43 Prasanna Jayawardene lbw b Clark 1 Maharoof b Lee 18 Vaas not out 11 Fernando b Lee 4 Muralitharan b Clark 4 Extras (b 4, lb 3, nb 6): 13 Total (all out; 99.2 overs): 300 FoW: 1-53, 2-65, 3-167, 4-213, 5-215, 6-226, 7-259, 8-281, 9-290, 10-300 Bowling: Lee 27-7-86-4; Johnson 19-5-47-2; Clark 22.2-3-75-2; Symonds 6-1-21-1; MacGill 25-3-64-1.
	U-16 footballers do India proud New Delhi, November 12 Less than three months after the Baichung Bhutia-led team gladdened the hearts of Indian football fans by winning the ONGC Nehru Cup here, the display of the national under-16 team in the recent Asian Football Confederation Group C qualifiers at Dammam, Saudi Arabia, has come as another breath of fresh air. The boys, under the overall care of Colin Toal, director of the All-India Football Federation's (AIFF) youth development programme, moved into the final stages from their six-team group with an unbeaten record - four wins and a draw against Iraq, a match in which they showed their fighting qualities by coming back from 0-2 down to finish on level terms. The entire team that played in Dammam will be also be eligible for next October's final. The team's coaching staff is aware that the finals will be a much tougher proposition. The following countries have qualified for the finals: Group A: Yemen and Syria. Group B: Iran and Bahrain. Group C: Iraq and India. Group D: Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Group E: China and Singapore. Group F: Japan and Indonesia. Group G: Korea and Australia. Group H: Republic of Korea. After Dammam, the boys are confident of giving a good account of themselves against Asia's best under-16 teams. As for the coaches and the AIFF, the Dammam showing was proof that the youth development programme was moving in the right direction. An old drawback of our teams has been lack of height and smaller physique, something for which you can't blame the players. But still Toal and his staff decided to do something about it. They selected the right kind of young footballers and put them through rigorous training camps. To start with, 60 boys were selected for camps at Kolkata and Gandhinagar, 30 at each centre, coach Sanjay Sen told IANS. The list was then pruned to 33 for the next camp at Goa. Of these, 11 were sent home because of suspicions about their exact age following medical tests. According to the Kolkata-based Sen, the team was a mixture of tall and not-so-tall boys who were able to hold their own against opposing teams at Dammam, in football skills as well as physique, the tallest being Gurpreet of Chandigarh who stands well over six feet. Gurpreet was, in fact, the second choice goalkeeper, but took over the responsibility under the bar after Harshad Mehr of Maharashtra was injured. But the team functioned on the principle that all were equal, no first and second choices, said coach Sen, something that stood the squad in good stead, as things turned out. Gurpreet gave an outstanding display, according to Sen. Another positive outcome of the youth development programme is that players have started emerging from hitherto unlikely places, as is also the case with Indian cricket in recent times. For example, for the first time in the history of Indian football there were two boys from Haryana, both from Hisar and also from the same school, St Sophia Higher Secondary School. They were strikers Manandeep, who is 5ft 10in tall and still growing, and Vivek Kumar, a couple of inches shorter. Manandeep scored two of the 18 goals the team aggregated in five matches. Back in Hisar, Principal Varsha Rana said with understandable pride that for St Sophia it was a unique distinction that two of its boys had created football history. Manandeep celebrated his birthday Nov 3 in Dammam. Besides Haryana, Chandigarh and Maharashtra there were also boys from Gujarat, Manipur, Mizoram and Sikkim, not to mention Delhi, Punjab and West Bengal. They came from all directions, but at the Goa camp they were moulded into one cohesive unit. Malsawamfela was India's top-scorer with four goals, followed by Lalringdika (3), Manandeep (2), Akshay Mal (2), Brijinder Rai, Bikramjit Singh, Tanmay Ghosh, Deepak Devrani, Ashish Chhetri and Abhishek Das. The boys were taught to enjoy the game and always be on their best behaviour. Five yellow cards in as many outings is a fair record. More important, there is no question of resting on their laurels. They have to keep working hard to improve their game and be stronger, taller and better footballers by next October. Meanwhile, the AIFF would do well to arrange adequate exposure in the shape of some games against foreign teams. — IANS
	Gonzalez stuns Federer Shanghai, November 12 World number one Roger Federer suffered a shock 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 defeat by Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez in his opening match at Tennis Masters Cup today. The Swiss, chasing his fourth title at the season-ending tournament, had never previously been beaten in round-robin play at the Masters Cup. “I thought it was ridiculous some of the shots he was coming up with,” Federer told reporters, baseball cap pulled down over his eyes. Federer had appeared to be in control after taking the opening set, but he lost his cool after Gonzalez ripped through the second-set tiebreaker 7-1. The 12-time Grand Slam champion vented his fury at the umpire on returning to his chair and his mood darkened further in a torrid third set. Federer’s frustration grew as Gonzalez valiantly saved five break points on his way to his first victory in 11 attempts over the world’s top player. American Andy Roddick survived a scare against Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko to win the earlier Red Group match 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. The Russian rallied from a set down but collapsed in the decider, losing in two hours and two minutes. — Agencies
	Cristiano does it for Man U London, November 12 Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Manchester United pulled clear at the top of the English Premier League with a 2-0 win over in-form Blackburn at Old Trafford. The champions’ win came as Chelsea’s climb up the table was stalled by Tim Cahill, whose spectacular last-minute equaliser earned Everton a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge yesterday. United moved three points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table. Third-placed Manchester City lost ground on the leaders after settling for a goal-less draw at Portsmouth. Elsewhere, Tottenham hammered Wigan 4-0 to claim their first league win under new manager Juande Ramos, Aston Villa emerged 2-1 winners from their local derby at Birmingham and Bolton shared the points with fellow strugglers Middlesbrough after a goalless draw at the Reebok. Two goals in as many minutes in the first half from Ronaldo allowed United to make light of the absence of the injured Wayne Rooney and coast to a 2-0 win over a Blackburn side that had begun to harbour aspirations of joining the title holders in the Champions League next season. Christopher Samba had hit the post for Blackburn in the 18th minute but they were undone by Ronaldo, who headed in a 34th-minute corner from Ryan Giggs barely a minute before he fastened on to a Tevez pass to double the lead. Ferguson’s side’s advantage over Chelsea is now five points after Cahill cancelled out a Didier Drogba header with an overhead kick one minute from the end of match dominated by the Londoners. — AFP
	Skipper Rehan axed, Salman to lead Pak Lahore, November 12 The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has axed skipper Rehan Butt from the team and named goalkeeper Salman Akbar as the new captain of the national side for the upcoming Champions Trophy. Salman will lead a 20-member side in the eight-nation tournament scheduled to start at Kuala Lumpur from November 29. The squad was announced by the President of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali in the presence of chief selector Khawaja Zakauddin and members of the selection committee, Olympian Abdul Rasheed and Samiullah Khan and PHF Secretary Khalid Mahmood. Squad: Goalkeepers: Salman Akbar (captain), Nasir Ahmed. Full-backs: Zeeshan Ashraf, Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Kashif, Kamran. Half-backs: Imran Khan, Adnan Maqsood, Dilawar Hussain Bhatti, Ghazanfar Ali, Sajjad Anwar. Forwards: Waqas Sharif, Shakeel Abbas, Waqas Akber, Shabbir Ahmed Khan, Abbas Hyder, Akhtar Ali, Muhammad Arshad, Inyatullah, Muhammad Afzal. — UNI
	Henin ends season on perfect note Madrid, November 12 Justine Henin's inspired season reached a suitable climax when she defended her title at the tour-ending event, the WTA Championships, her victory over Maria Sharapova completing a quartet of other notable achievements. Tired, bothered by a bad foot, and suffering from the labours of an intense season against a relatively fresh opponent, Henin's 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 win over the comeback Russian took fully three hours and 25 minutes, the longest final since the event switched to the best of three sets in 1999. If also made Henin the first woman ever to have earned more than $ 5 million prize money in one season; the first in 10 years, since Martina Hingis, to win 10 titles in a season; and the first in 18 years, since Steffi Graf, to remain unbeaten post-Wimbledon. Henin, who has recovered from a marital breakdown and ridden the emotion of a family reunion after seven years' estrangement, also achieved a personal best of 25 consecutive wins - the best on the tour in seven years. It was nevertheless a notable effort too by Sharapova, not having achieved a win since the US Open in September, struggling with a long-term shoulder problem, and now coming so close to the title. — AFP
	Namdharis lift hockey title Akash Ghai Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 12 Last year’s runners-up Namdhari XI beat tough opponents Indian Airlines (IA) 8-7 in the final to win the 37th SN Vohra’s All-India Gurmit Hockey Tournament at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium here today. The match was decided through sudden death after both teams were level 1-1 at the end of the regulation period and 5-5 after the tie-breaker. The winners pocketed Rs 70,000 while the runners-up got Rs 45,000. The first half went barren as the strong defence line of the Namdharis thwarted many good moves made by IA strikers. Airlines forwards Sandeep Michael and Dhanraj Pillay missed some easy goal-scoring chances, which cost their team dear. Michael wasted a good move initiated by Pillay from the left flank as he could not collect a neat pass by the star striker in front of the Namdhari goal. In the 25th minute, Pillay, too, hit the ball a few yards wide off the target when he had only the goalkeeper to beat. In the first minute of the action-packed second half, Joga Singh opened the account for the Namdharis, collecting a pass from Gurbaaz Singh from the right side of the ‘D’ area. But the goal did not deter the determined IA strikers, who made a clinical attack to earn a penalty corner in the 37th minute. With great accuracy, drag-flicker Sandeep Singh pierced the defence to equal the score at 1-1. The Namdharis got a penalty corner in the same minute but IA’s alert custodian padded the shot out of the danger zone. Earlier, the Namdharis had wasted two penalty corners in the first half. For IA, the second penalty corner came in the 68th minute. The golden chance was squandered and Ajay Marriya was shown the red card as he hit the dead ball. In the tie-breaker, both teams were locked 5-5 as Gurvinder Singh (Namdharis) and Sandeep Michael (IA) missed their shots. IA lost the match in sudden death as Arjun Halappa’s shot was padded out by goalkeeper Harinder Singh. Harinder Singh (Namdharis) was declared the best goalkeeper of the tournament, while Sandeep Singh (IA) got the best fullback award. The best halfback title went to Viren Rasquinha (Indian Oil Corporation), while Saboo Virkey (BPCL) was awarded the best forward title in the tournament. Punjab revenue minister Ajit Singh Kohar was the chief guest on the occasion.
	Nehru Junior Hockey 2 more Punjab teams move into semis New Delhi, November 12 The SGPS Academy, Ludhiana, and Govt School, Ladowali Jalandhar chalked out contrasting wins to move into the semifinals of the 36th Nehru Junior Hockey tournament here today. Another Punjab team, Lyallpur Khalsa School, Jalandhar has already qualified for the last four. Completing the last four line-up was local challenger GHP School, Shahdara, who pipped Govt School, Gurgaon 3-2. The SGPS Academy overpowered Army Boys Coy, Bangalore 3-0 while Govt School, Jalandhar waged a grim battle to down former champion Birsa Munda Vidyapitha, Rourkela 1-0. Playing an attacking game, the Ludhiana team opened their scoring through Manpreet Singh who converted a penalty corner in the 33rd minute. They maintained their supremacy in the second half, scoring through Basant Singh and Navdeep Singh in the 66th and 70th minutes respectively. Govt school, Jalandhar, pipped Birsa Munda, Rourkela through a solitary goal by Mandeep Singh who scored just before the break. In another match, the GHP School, Shahdara, overcame Govt School, Gurgaon, in a thrilling encounter. Hasan Raza snatched the lead for the home team in the 23rd minute. Their lead did not last long as the Haryana team equalised in the 30th minute when Naresh scored from a penalty corner. Suman Minz and Md Shafique scored in quick succession after half time as the Delhi boys gained the upperhand. Vikash Siwatch scored the solitary goal for the Gurgaon team in the 67th minute to reduce the margin. — UNI
	28 state teams for B.C. Roy soccer Our Sports Reporter New Delhi, November 12 Twentyeight state teams will contest in the 44th Junior National Football Championship for the B.C. Roy Trophy, to be held at Faridabad and Gurgaon, from November 14 to 31. Hosts Haryana will take on Pondicherry in the opening match at Gurgaon on November 14, while Bengal meet Jammu and Kashmir in the second match. In other matches, to be played at Faridabad, Punjab take on Bihar, Maharashtra clash with Nagaland, Tamil Nadu face Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh meet Mizoram. The teams have been divided in two groups with each group having four clusters. The Group A clusters contain three teams each, while Group B clusters have four teams each. The toppers of each cluster will qualify for the quarterfinal league. Delhi have been placed in Cluster III in Group A, along with Tripura and Jharkhand. Punjab are in Group B Cluster V along with Maharashtra, Bihar and Nagaland, while Cluster VIII features Chandigarh, Karnataka, Manipur and Chhattisgarh.
	Haryana girls’ meet begins Tribune News Service Karnal, November 12 The 42nd state-level sports meet for girls kicked off at the Karan Stadium here today. About 2,500 girls from all over Haryana are taking part. Deputy commissioner B.S. Malik inaugurated the four-day meet. Speaking on the occasion, Malik said the Haryana government had given 3 per cent reservation in government jobs to outstanding sportspersons. It has also decided to construct stadiums and mini-stadiums in rural areas, he added. Deputy director, sports, Surjit Singh Dhillon, said increasing the diet money of school players from Rs 50 to Rs 100 per day and hiking the sports kit allowance for national players from Rs 450 to Rs 1,000 was also under consideration. R. K. Singh, SDM, and Santosh Rana, DEO, were also present on the occasion.
	GND varsity, PU win in handball Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 12 Hosts Guru Nanak Dev University and Panjab University, Chandigarh, won their opening matches in Pool A of the men’s section of the All-India Inter-Varsity Handball (men and women) Championship which began here today at the university sports complex. In the women’s section, the hosts, Calicut University and Nagarjuna University won their opening matches. In the men’s section, Guru Nanak Dev University beat Kakatiya University, Warangal, 39-25. Panjab University defeated Osmania University, Hyderabad, 46-35. In women’s Pool A matches, Calicut University beat MGU, Kottiyam, 21-20. Guru Nanak Dev University defeated Kurukshetra University 31-22. In Pool B, Nagarjuna University outclassed Kaktiya University, Warangal, 26-3.