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Sandhyarani saves the day for India
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IPL-IV to start six days after World Cup final
Jagjit Singh Kular was one of the best
Strong start by Himachal
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Sandhyarani saves the day for India
Guangzhou, November 17 The 27-year-old Sandhyarani's achievement was the lone bright spot in an otherwise heart-breaking day which generally saw below-par performances in most disciplines though star pugilist Vijender booked a berth in the quarter-finals. With the addition of just a silver medal, India's medal tally rose to one gold, five silver and seven bronze but the collection could have been far better had the shooters lived upto their reputation. Pugilist Vikas Krishan (60kg) also had a good day as he romped into the pre-quarter finals, but Virdhawal khade, who scripted history by breaking the swimming medal drought after 24 years, failed to qualify to the finals in his event alongwith compatriots Aaron Agnel Dsouza and Rehan Poncha. India had a mixed day in tennis as Karan Rastogi and Vishnu Vardhan started their campaign with a comfortable victory in men's double while Rushmi Chakravarti and Poojashree Venkatesha crashed out of the women's doubles in the first round. The day clearly belonged to Sandhyarani for her feat of winning a silver medal in wushu, a traditional chinese sport which integrates several martial art forms. The Manipuri lost 0-2 to Iran's Khadijeh Azadpour in the 60 kg final to fetch the second medal from the event. But India's medal quest has been badly hit by the poor show of the shooters who again drew a blank at the Aoti shooting range. The shooters put up a dismal show on another windy day with only pistol expert and Melbourne Commonwealth Games hero Samaresh Jung coming up with something notable in the morning session of the competitions. Bespectacled Jung, who earned the nickname 'Goldfinger' after grabbing a record five gold medals four years ago in Melbourne, missed the men's 25m standard pistol shoot-off for the bronze by one point in a straight final to finish 7th overall with 569 points from amongst 39 shooters. But Jung's two other teammates, Pemba Tamang and Chandrahas Chaudhary, performed very poorly, shooting only 550 and 549 out of 600 to end up 22nd and 23rd respectively and the combined effort cost India a team medal too as they finished fourth with 1668 points, well behind bronze winners North Korea's 1690, from eleven contestants. World women's prone position champion Tejaswini Sawant too put up a disappointing display and brought up the rear, finishing 23rd out of 45 shooters with a shocking 569 points in the women's 3-position rifle event. Her teammate Lajjakumari Gauswami ended up a rung below her with the same score and Charanpreet Kaur Nilon secured the 31st spot with 559. In boxing, Vijender prevailed over Yu Ting Yang of Chinese Taipei 9-4 to move into the quarter finals of the 75 kg category. Vikas (60kg) beat Thailand's Saylom Ardee in his opening round bout to join Suranjoy Singh (52kg) as the second Indian in the pre-quarters stage. The Haryana-lad, a reigning world youth champion and a bronze medallist of the inaugural Youth Olympics this year, won 8-1 against Saylom Ardee in his first bout at a senior international event. However, there was disappointment elsewhere with swimmers failing to create a splash. After ending India's 24-year-old medal drought in the pool in Asian Games, teen swimming sensation Virdhawal Khade topped his 100m freestyle heats but the effort was not good enough to fetch a place in the finals of the event. Khade, who clinched a 50m butterfly bronze yesterday to become the first Indian swimmer in 24 years to clinch an Asian Games medal, clocked 51.25sec to top the 100m freestyle heats today but the eventual eight qualifiers returned timings of under 51 seconds. India's woeful show continued in sepaktakraw with both the men's and women's team losing their second consecutive group matches to bow out of medal contention. |
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India rout Bangladesh 9-0
Guangzhou, November 17 Two-time champions India, who opened their campaign to regain the gold they last won in 1998 and qualify for the 2012 Olympics with a facile 7-0 victory over Hong Kong, led 3-0 at half time before upping the pace in the second half and pumping in six more goals to complete the rout. The Rajpal Singh-led team warmed up nicely for the much-awaited clash with arch-foes Pakistan on November 20. The took some time to find their bearing in the first half before scoring their 17th victory in 18 meetings against their South Asian rivals and the fifth in as many attempts in the Asiad. Tushar Khandekar, who combined very well up front with skipper Rajpal, Arjun Halappa and Shivendra Singh, opened the floodgates in the second minute and then found the mark again in the 39th minute. Sandeep Singh, who was very effective in his penalty corner tries, scored the second goal in the 13th minute, and then fired home thrice more with hits off penalty corners in the 47th, 63rd and 66th minutes for India's seventh and eighth goals before Dharamvir Singh completed the tally a minute from the end. Shivendra Singh scored the third goal which was a field try, in the 22nd minute, Rajpal Singh (37th, field goal) that put India 4-0 up two minutes into the second half and Khandekar who scored his second goal with a field effort in the 39th minute. It was a totally one-sided encounter in which India virtually pitched their tent in the rival half and could have scored a few more goals but for some missed attempts, mainly by Bharat Chikara, in the first half. Khandekar provided the perfect start for the eight-time Olympic champions very early by deflecting to the roof of the goal a through pass from Arjun Halappa. It was also India's 100th goal against Bangladesh.
— PTI |
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Indian eves lose
Guangzhou, November 17 India, who went into the match with a victory over Malaysia and a defeat against Japan under their belt, dominated the entire second half after conceding an early goal to the Koreans but failure to apply the finishing touch, which cost them the match and precious points. To their chagrin, the Indian women also saw their last-gasp goal from captain Surinder Kaur being overturned by umpire Moyano Sanchez of Argentina, who first signalled a goal, but conferred with other umpire Chen Hong of China after the Koreans protested and then overturned her own verdict. The defeat, eighth against the Koreans since women's hockey made its Asian Games debut in 1982, has virtually ended India's hopes of a gold or a silver medal. But the Indian women remain in the hunt for the bronze if they finish the round-robin league third or fourth as there is a play-off for the medal between the 3rd and 4th league finishers.
— PTI |
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IPL-IV to start six days after World Cup final
Mumbai, November 17 Like the first three editions, there will be eight teams participating in the Twenty20 event, with 60 matches to be played with the title clash to be held on May 22. "The IPL GC met today to discuss matters related to next IPL. It was decided that the players auction will take place on January 8 and 9, 2011 in Mumbai. The IPL season will start on April 8 and end on May 22 but the opening ceremony will be held on April 7," BCCI secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement. The dates were fixed at a meeting of the reconstituted five-member IPL Governing Council, headed by Chirayu Amin, here. Even though the statement did not mention anything about troubled IPL franchisees -- Kochi and Rajasthan Royals-- it said that only eight teams will participate in the Twenty20 league next year. "There will be a total of 60 matches, played by eight teams. The hosting venue arrangements were finalised and approved at the meeting," Srinivasan said in the release. The committee also announced a new format to decide the finalists of the IPL on the basis of play-offs. The play-offs will be played based on league standings with the Team 1 meeting Team 2 and Team 3 meeting Team 4 in the semi-finals. The winner of play-off 1 will automatically qualify for the grand finale. However, the losers of play-off 1 will get a second chance as they will take on the victorious team of play-off 2 in a preliminary final, winner of which will progress to the grand finale. BCCI Vice-President and IPL Governing member Rajiv Shukla said the issue of Kochi IPL franchisee was not discussed during the meeting at all. "Basically, today's meeting was about preparations for IPL 4. Because now the preparations for IPL-4 has started in full strength. We have to make IPL-4 a full success," Shukla told reporters after the meeting. "The issue of the Kochi was not discussed at all during today's meeting. Because they have been given a notice of one month which expires on November 27. The issue was not in the agenda at all. A decision on the issue will be taken only after that," he said. Kochi were given a 30-day notice by the BCCI last month to sort out their internal differences. Speculation is, however, rife that the group of investors in the franchisee is not interested in running the franchisee and will soon ask permission of the Cricket Board to withdraw from it. On retention of players in the IPL teams, Shukla said that it would stay the same as decided by the technical committee of Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi earlier this year. "The same players' rules as decided by the technical committee will be implemented," he said. A maximum of four players from each team, including a maximum of three Indian players, have been allowed to be retained by the franchisees, with USD 1.8 million to be deducted from their kitty for the first players and so on. As per an earlier decision taken by the BCCI, the retention of players would result in reduced amount available with each franchise with amounts of USD 1.8 million per annum for the first player so retained, USD 1.3m, 0.9m and 0.5m for the other three players reduced from its kitty. This is irrespective of the actual player fee paid to each of these players. If a franchise retains four players, its salary cap will be charged by USD 4.5 million in each of 2011 and 2012 seasons and it will have only USD 4.5m remaining to pay as player fees for the remainder of its registered squad. The IPL has added a rider to player retention saying the franchisee and the player must mutually agree to it as well as the player fee to be paid for 2011 and 2012 seasons. The two new franchisees -- Kochi and Sahara Pune -- who did not participate in the 2010 season were allowed to sign upto four players from the list of players who were not a part of the squad of any of the teams in the past three IPL editions.
— Agencies |
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Jagjit Singh Kular was one of the best
Chandigarh, November 17 Jaggi, as he was known among his hockey friends, was in fact one of four players from Sansarpur that made the 1966 Asian Games gold medallist team. Others were Colonel Balbir Singh (Services), Balbir Singh (Punjab Police) and Tarsem Singh (Border Security Force). Tarsem Singh died a few years ago. Jaggi, who later paved way for his village mate Ajit Pal Singh at the pivotal position, had been one of the best centre halfbacks India produced in late 60s. He played for Punjab police and later for Border Security Force. In Mexico Olympics Sansarpur created history with its players representing both India and Kenya simultaneously. Among Sansarpurians who played the 1968 Olympic games were Balbir Singh (Services), Balbir Singh (Punjab Police), Tarsem Singh, Jagjit Singh, and Ajit Pal Singh. Hardev Singh (Kenya). Some years back when Sansarpur celebrated 75 years of its glory in hockey, Jaggi was among the prominent participants in celebrations as “Kulars” from all over the globe had descended on the village on the outskirts of Jalandhar Cantonment. Of late he had not been keeping good health and had a paralytic stroke also. His cremation has been held up as his son, now settled abroad, is expected to reach Jalandhar any time. Though some of his contemporaries moved out of the village to nearby areas, Jaggi continued in his ancestral home. At times, he would join youngsters training in the village ground in providing them tips for improving their skills. Recalling his association with Jaggi, Colonel Balbir Singh says, “He was one of the most handsome boys in the college and a very talented and versatile hockey player.” Punjab Director Sports Pargat Singh, who is from a nearby village, also described Jaggi as one of the finest midfielders India ever had. Several Olympians and internationals including Sukhvir Grewal, Jagdeep Gill, Gagan Ajit Singh, Harmik Singh, Ajit Singh, Gurdishpal Singh, Hardeep Singh Grewal, Ramandeep Grewal, Charanjeet Kumar, Rajinder Singh Jr, Gundeep Kumar, Baljit Singh Dhillon besides the Basketball Federation of India chief Rajdeep Singh Gill and Secretary of the Punjab Basketball Association, Teja Singh Dhaliwal, have condoled the untimely death of Jagjit Singh. |
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England aim to win all matches
Sydney, November 17 If you play to win, invariably you get what you want out of the game anyway," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Gooch, as saying. "This three-match series, as I like to call it, against Western Australia, South Australia and this game [Australia A], it's a series to win." "We've won one, drawn one. We can win this one, that's a two-zip win. That's the difference. We're here to win the games," he added. England had drawn the first match played against South Australia at Adelaide and won the second match played against Western Australia at Perth. The team is currently playing their last warm-up match against Australia A at Hobart. — ANI |
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‘Ashes squad shows depth’
Sydney, November 17 The Australian selectors have been generally criticized for announcing a 17-man first Test outfit, one more than England's entire touring squad. Critics had claimed that their uncertainty ensures there are now major question marks over the likes of Mike Hussey, Marcus North and Nathan Hauritz ahead of the Ashes opener in Brisbane. "Selectors had no alternative but to name a big squad. We've still got some Shield games to play and there's probably some spots up for grabs. But I don't see any dramas with it," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Border, as saying. "I am surprised by the media. It has been very negative. I am wondering if Australia should bother turning up, that's how bad we are going according to the media," he said.
— ANI |
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Strong start by Himachal
Dharamsala, November 17 Dogra and Indulkar build on the good start provided by their openers to help the side reach 256 for four at stumps on day one of the contest as Punjab had a tough day at HPCA Stadium here. The duo shared an 118-run stand after Bhavin Thakkar (38) and Sangram Singh (31) put on 77 for the first wicket. Jaskaran broke the opening partnership by trapping Singh and soon Thakkar's run out left Dogra and Indulkar to steady the boat. The duo did a wonderful job as they hit useful fifties at a good pace. India discard Yuvraj Singh separated them by scalping Dogra and Manpreet Gony later removed Indulker for another LBW decision. Dogra's 65 came off 96 balls with 11 fours while Indulkar took 122 balls for his 60, which had 10 hits to the fence. — PTI |
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Unheralded Sandhyarani Devi proved to be the saving grace for India by bagging a silver medal in wushu while the fancied shooters fell by the wayside for the third successive time on a rather unproductive fifth day of competitions in the 16th Asian Games here today.
