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Olympic Qualifiers |
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Table-toppers India aim to stifle Aussies
Ponting is jaded: Arthur
Women wrestlers all geared up for Asian Olympic Qualification tourney
Premkumar wins bronze at Asian meet
Mumbai Indians add five uncapped players
Avantha Masters
Haryana dominate national basketball and wrestling
Archers bag gold on first day at Asian GP
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India thump Singapore 15-1
M.S. Unnikrishnan Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 18
But there was a disturbing aspect too, as out of the five penalty corners earned by the hosts, and despite having two outstanding drag-flickers in Sandeep Singh and V.R.Raghunath, India could make use of only two, with just one direct hit by Sandeep, off the fifth. Singapore custodian Samudra Chian Ong did a stubborn job under the bar, deflecting the drag-flicks of Sandeep and Raghunath with brilliant agility and anticipation. Though the Indian domination was almost total, they had to wait for nearly 10 minutes to hit the first goal through Gurwinder Singh Chandi. The second goal followed within seconds from the stick of medio Sardar Singh, and then on, there was a torrent of goals from Shivendra Singh, Gurwinder Singh Chandi, Danish Mujtaba (he scored off the second penalty corner after Sandeep’s sweep was deflected by the custodian) and again by Shivendra to retire for the half time break with a facile 6-0 lead. But immediately on resumption, Singapore pulled one back through Lathif Abdul, before India resumed their scoring spree. Chandi and Tushar kept the scoreboard racing and then Sandeep got his drag flick right for the first time. Uthappa made it 10-1, Danish Mutaba 11-1, followed by goals from Yuvraj Walmiki, S.V.Sunil, Tushar and Birendra Lakra in that order. At close, the only point of interest was who was the Indian player who could not score a goal, and there were not too many of them. Though every second or third move fetched the hosts a goal, the match was not really a yard stick to assess their game plan, as Singapore simply withered in the second session, unable to withstand the pace and speed set up by the fit-like-a-fiddle Indian forwards and mid-fielders where Sardar Singh stood out. Earlier in the day, Canada blanked Italy 8-0 while France edged past Poland 2-1. India-Ukraine play out draw
Indian eves played a 1-1 draw with Ukraine to drop a valuable point in their opening match of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the National Stadium here tonight. To confound India’s humiliation, they trailed by a goal in the first half before coming back to equalise on resumption to split points, which may dash their hopes of booking a berth in the 2012 London Olympics, as earlier in the South Africa got past Poland 2-1 while Italy and Canada played out a 2-2 draw. The Indian girls mostly dominated the game, but lost their way once inside the dee. They invariably lost possession of the ball when poised for the strike, and never even attempted to earn a penalty corner till very late in the second session, when they muffed two penalty corners in a row. A third was wasted during stoppage time play, and though the umpire whistled for a fourth one when the final hooter was almost sounded, the intervention of the second umpire forced the cancellation of the PC, robbing the hosts a final chance of striking another goal. In another match, South Africa found the mark through Kate Woods off a penalty corner and Pietie Coetzee (field goal) to down a fighting Poland, who reduced the margin through Magdalena Zagajska. Italy and Canada took lead in turn before settling for a 2-2 draw to share honours. Sunday's fixtures:
Poland vs Italy (10 a.m), South Africa vs Ukraine (2 p.m, India vs Canada (6
p.m).
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Table-toppers India aim to stifle Aussies
Brisbane, February 18 Pleasantly surprised to see themselves atop the table at the halfway stage, India are aware the arduous climb would only begin in earnest from now on. Sri Lanka scrambled the stakes with a damning defeat of Australia in Sydney last night - the likes of which the hosts have rarely suffered - and might just be peaking at the right time in the tournament. Little separates the three teams and all could change in a matter of two games. The Gabba double-header thus assumes enormous significance for M S Dhoni's men. India have shown their appreciation of the situation and the last couple of days have been hard work-outs for the boys at the venue. The vexed issue of dropping one of the three openers has worked itself out with the likely absence of Virender Sehwag in the day-night encounter. Sehwag is ill at ease with his back spasm and even though he stayed around in the nets and also padded up at the fag end for a few hits, the right-hander looks a non-starter. It would give an extension to the in-form Gautam Gambhir, not to forget yet another shot at the elusive 100th century to Sachin Tendulkar, both of whom straining at the leash to stamp themselves on the Australians who have been ruinous to their reputation this summer. Gambhir has kicked on with two brilliant near-centuries in Adelaide and has 188 runs from three matches at 62.65 average. He also has a notable strike rate of 83.55 which has made him an enviable anchor for other two teams. The rotation thus would have to be centred around the bowlers but it too isn't a straight forward decision. The bouncy pitch at Gabba demands that India go with an extra medium-fast bowler at the expense of a spinner. So far Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have been the go-to spinners for the Indians. One of them could sit out to accommodate Irfan Pathan, impressive in his first game, as Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav, not to forget Praveen Kumar, have legitimate calls to be included in the eleven. Vinay Kumar, who has played four straight matches, could sit out to allow others a game in the middle. India, to be fair, have enhanced their one-day reputation on the present tour. A largely young side, they surely have a good grasp of one-day ethics. — PTI Australia have lost back-to-back matches in the tri-series. Match Starts: 8.50 am
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Brisbane, February 18 "If I have to be totally honest, Ricky is a little bit jaded...and last night was a bit of unacceptable," remarked Arthur as he took stock of two successive defeats against India and Sri Lanka in the one-day series here. Australia were unable to defend a total of 269 against India at Adelaide and last night lost by eight wickets to Sri Lanka, conceding a bonus point, in Sydney. "The guys are hurting and this is an opportunity for them to atone for what happened last night...if they don't atone for it, they know what the consequences are," said Arthur. Ponting was given the respect he deserves for his dazzling career but Arthur minced no words on how performance alone can guarantee a cricketer his place in the side. "Ricky is a little bit jaded, like a couple of our Test players that have played all summer but that's the treadmill of international cricket and they have to find a way to make their performances count and have an impact on the team. “I'd like to see Ponting in our team all the time but as I've said through the summer, every cricketer's currency is performance, that's what gets you into the Australian team. A character like Ponting is someone you want around the team all the time because he's so inspirational, he's still our fittest player and hardest trainer. He trains with the most intensity, he's a fantastic example to every guy who comes into the team," he said. "Ricky is a class act, there is no way you can write off a champion like him. He faced those same issues around the first couple of Test matches and he came through the Test series, had a great series against India and I hope he turns it around tomorrow," he added. Ponting has only 11 runs from four innings at an average of 2.75 in the present series. Due to injury to regular skipper Michael Clarke, he is also leading the Australian side as a stop-gap arrangement. "It's totally Michael Clarke's team and Ricky is aware of that. He was outstanding around the group, he oozes confidence and to have a guy like Ricky leading the ship, we are in a very fortunate position if something does happen to Michael Clarke," he said. — PTI
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Women wrestlers all geared up for Asian Olympic Qualification tourney
Patiala, February 18 Notably, women wrestling was introduced in Olympics just eight years back in 2004 and ever since then, no Indian woman has qualified for this mega event. Moreover, in Olympics there are only four weight categories for women i.e. 48 kg, 55 kg, 63 kg and 72 kg, which makes the competition even more severe. After a disappointing show at the World Wrestling Championship in Turkey last September, which was the first Olympic qualifier, majority of the wrestlers are looking forward to this Asian qualifying round to make an entry into Olympics as it will be comparatively easier because many strong contenders, who have already qualified for the Olympics, will not take part in this championship. For this, the Indian team took part in one month training-cum-competition in USA recently, but only Babita could win a medal there. Now, the team is currently in South Korea taking part in the Asian Championship that is underway at Gumi. Having already won two bronze medals in this championship - Neha Rathi in 51 kg and Geeta Phogat in 55 kg - coaches and players are on a new high and feel that their chances of qualifying for the Olympics are much higher. Talking to The Tribune in this regard, coach Monika said these medals would boost the morale of all girls. “Asian Qualification Tournament will be most crucial for all women wrestlers because they are in the best of form and have had enough foreign exposure which will add to their confidence. Though there are two more qualifying events after Asian qualifiers, but we are hopeful that we will certainly make history by qualifying for the Olympics in these very qualifiers,” she added.
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Premkumar wins bronze at Asian meet
New Delhi, February 18 19-year-old Premkumar made a jump of 7.62m in the finals to win the bronze. Ling Qing of China also registered the same distance but Premkumar was adjudged third as he had a better series than the Chinese. However, the Indian missed the silver medal by just one centimetre to defending champion Rikiya Saruyama of Japan. The gold in this event went to China's Li Jinzhe who had a jump leapt of 7.98m. Premkumar's mark today bettered the previous Indian indoor record of 7.49m set by Maha Singh in the Asian Indoor Games at Pattaya, Thailand, seven years ago. Apart from Premkumar's bronze, all the other Indian athletes finished outside the podium of the two-day championships. Metric miler Kariappa Ranjan was fourth in 1500m (4:00.03), missing the bronze medal by 0.2 secs, while his compatriot Ravinder Singh Rautela finished sixth 1.4 secs behind. — PTI
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Mumbai Indians add five uncapped players
Mumbai, February 18 The MI team management followed performance of many youngsters throughout the domestic circuit this season and zeroed in on this quintet of players following their impressive performance, zeal to learn and passion for the sport, a statement from the IPL franchise said. While, Wankhede, Nayak, Marathe and Yadav are to don the MI’s uniform for the first time, Shukla, who had been part of the team in the third IPL, makes a comeback. 19-year-old Wankhede, a promising batsman from Vidharbha, had impressed with his batting technique, ability to score big and quick runs and is an agile fielder. Nayak has represented Mumbai in C K Nayudu tourney for three years now as a batsman and a left arm orthodox bowler. Kuldeep Yadav, the youngest of the five at 18, is a left arm wrist spinner and was a notable performer in his first U-19 Cooch Behar season for UP. — PTI
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Indians slip on Day 3
Gurgaon, February 18 Anirban Lahiri was the best-placed Indian at tied 20th after carding an even-par 72 with a couple of birdies against an equal number of bogeys at the DLF Golf and Country Club here. His three-day total stood at six-under 210, five strokes off the lead which was grabbed by South African Jbe Kruger with a flawless five-under 66 - studded with a couple of eagles and an equal number of birdies. Shiv Kapur staged a late recovery to card a one-under 71 for a share of the 31st spot - two strokes behind Lahiri. It was a dramatic turnaround for Kapur who staggered to three-over in his first nine holes, managing just a lone birdie against a couple of bogeys and a double bogey. But his fortunes changed for the better in the return journey and Kapur sent down five birdies and dropped just one stroke to avoid being in the bottom half of the leaderboard. The Delhi-pro shared the spot with Vijay Kumar (71) and Shamim Khan (74) among others. The rest of the Indians in fray endured an even tougher day with defending champion SSP Chowrasia lying sixth from bottom at tied 58th. The Kolkata pro, who is competing despite a wrist problem, went over-par for the first time this week carding a 75. That left his overall tally at two-over 218 and his title hopes in tatters. Mukesh Kumar (75), Manav Jaini (75) and Gaurav Pratap Singh (74) were also tied for the 58th position. Just a couple of strokes ahead of them was Jeev Milkha Singh. The Chandigarh golfer continued to find it tough to shake off his indifferent form of the past many months and turned in a disappointing 75 for a share of the 50th spot along with Vivek Bhandhari (75) among others. In the top half of the leaderboard, overnight leader Peter Whiteford of Scotland was pushed to the second spot, which he shares with German Marcel Siem (68) and Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (69). The trio is just a stroke adrift of Kruger, who is ranked 159th in the world. — PTI
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Haryana dominate national basketball and wrestling
Sirsa, February 18 In basketball (women), Punjab defeated Himachal Pradesh by 46 points to 17, while Kerala defeated Karnataka by 47 points to 24. Haryana outplayed Karnataka by 66 points to 23. Punjab defeated Tamil Nadu by a narrow margin of three points. In this way, Haryana and Punjab have made it to the semifinals. In the wrestling championship for girls, in the 38 kg category, Prema of Karnataka came first, Sheetal Sokhar of Maharashtra came second and Santoshi Chandrakar of Chhatisgarh and Pinky of Haryana both came third. In the 40 kg category, Poonam of Haryana stood first, Trishi Mandeka of Maharashtra stood second and Harvant Kaur of Punjab alongwith Besur Rajisa of Karnataka came third. In the 43 kg category, Nandini of Maharashtra came first, Manpreet Kaur of Punjab came second and Kimti of Haryana along with Vipina V. of Kerala came third. In the 46 kg category, Monika of Haryana came first, Swati Sindhir of Maharashtra came second and Ragini Yadav of UP alongwith Shohida of Karnataka both came third. In the 49 kg category, Neha from Delhi won the first position, Sharanjit of Punjab and Lalvikesi R. of Mizoram came second and Shamili of Maharashtra came third. In the 52 kg category, Kurukhili (Nagaland) came first, Manju (Haryana) second and Ashwini (Maharashtra) alongwith Jeet Kaur (Punjab) came third. In the 56 kg category, Pinki (Punjab) came first, Reshma (Maharashtra) second and Arlal Chaimani alongwith Pooja (Haryana) came third. In the 60 kg category, Rajni (Jharkhand) came first, Priyanka (Maharashtra) came second and Sushma (MP) alongwith Pooja (Haryana) third. In the 65 kg category, Tejal (Mah), Chandni (UP), Suman (Haryana) alongwith Ashwini (Mah) and Sunita (Haryana) made it to the semifinals. In men’s wrestling (42 kg), Monu Pehalwan (Haryana) came first, Manpreet (Pb) came second and Palak Shagovda alongwith Parbhat B. (Chhatisgarh) came third. In the 46 kg category, Kailash (Haryana) came first, Sukesh (Kerala) second and Sisodiya Viswajit (Gujarat) alongwith Sajjan (Delhi) came third. In the 50 kg category, Sagar Markanday (Mah) came first, Ram Singh (UP) second and Taslim (Uttrakhand) alongwith Deepak (Har) came third.
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Archers bag gold on first day at Asian GP
Kolkata, February 18 According to information received here, the compound archers bagged one gold, one silver and one bronze, while in the fancied recurve section, India settled for two silvers. The day belonged to teenage duo of Chittibomma Jignas and national champion Rajat Chauhan as they gave India a top-two finish in the men's compound sections. Fresh from winning the senior nationals in Jamshedpur, Chauhan gave Jignas a top fight in the final with both being tied 144-144. Both hit the bull's eye but Jignas' arrow found to be closer to the centre to earn him the gold ahead of Chauhan who made it memorable by making to the final in his maiden international outing. India missed a clean sweep narrowly when Ritul Chatterjee bowed to Nguyen Tien Cuong of Vietnam 143-147 in the bronze play-off. Both the Indian entries in the women's compound semifinals - Jhano Hansdah and Gagandeep Kaur - were beaten on way to the final. Jhano lost to eventual gold medalist Aung Ngeain of Myanmar 142-145 and Gagandeep lost to silver medalist Nurfatehah Mat Salleh Fatin of Malaysia 141-143. Jhano however settled for the bronze when she pipped Gagandeep after being tied 139-139. Jhano got a bull's eye to Gagandeep's 8. — PTI
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India swamped Singapore 15-1 in a virtual massacre of the innocents in their opening match.
Brisbane, February 18
Brisbane, February 18
India swamped Singapore 15-1 in a virtual massacre of the innocents in their opening match of the men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium here tonight. India were expected to sweep through Singapore without much toil, and in the end, the victory proved easier than expected.
