New Delhi, December 6
Hosts India put up a gallant fight before going down 2-3 against the formidable Netherlands in their opening match of the Hero FIH Junior hockey World Cup, here today. The Indians conceded three field goals in the opening half as the Netherlands scored twice through Milan van Baal (3rd minute, 28th) and once through Mark Rijkers (25th) to make life difficult for the hosts.

For India, Gurjinder Singh (13th) converted a penalty corner while Akashdeep Singh (42nd) scored from a field effort.

India started on a bright note but as the game progressed, they fizzled out, allowing the Dutchmen to take control. Netherlands stunned the handful of cheering home supporters at the floodlit Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on a chilly evening by striking the first goal in the third minute.

The Dutchmen scored from their very first attack when Milan van Baal sounded the board from close range after receiving a pass from Tom Hiebendaal. The Indians had an opportunity to equalise in the next minute on their first penalty corner but Sukhmanjit Singh faltered. They, however, equalised soon from their second penalty corner which was perfectly converted by Gurjinder Singh to level the score.

But the home team's joy was shortlived as Netherlands pumped in two quick field goals, courtesy some sloppy work at the back by the Indians.

Mark Rijkers first scored with a fierce reverse hit, and then, three minutes later, an opportunist Van Baal made the scoreline 3-1 in favour of the Netherlands after tapping home a rebound as the Indians were guilty of committing hara-kiri inside their 'D'.

Just five minutes from half time, the Netherlands earned their first penalty corner but wasted the opportunity as India went into the breather trailing 1-3.

The Indians looked more sharp and effective after the change of ends. Trailing by two goals, India had no option but to attackZX and they did just that. It did not take long for the Indians to pull one back as Akashdeep scored a brilliant field goal to raise the tempo of the match.

Pumped by the goal, the Indians went on the offensive and put pressure on the Netherlands defence with relentless attacks. But Dutch defence stood tall like a rock to thwart India. — PTI

Cape town, December 6
While the world mourns his death, Nelson Mandela will also be celebrated as the man at the heart of South Africa's return to world competition after decades of Apartheid-enforced isolation, using sport as a means of reconciliation between the country's diverse racial groups.

Mandela trumpeted an early return to international participation, encouraged South African sporting personalities and significantly saved the Springbok emblem, putting a firm lid on a contentious debate

His presence at key contests at which South African teams triumphed led to the concept of 'Madiba magic', a play on his clan name and the awe-inspiring effect he produced.

Sport had been targeted for sanctions during the country's Apartheid rule, leading to bans from the Olympic Games and various World Cups and an almost complete isolation by the time Mandela was released from his long jail sentence in 1990.

His African Nations Congress moved quickly to use sport to implement a nation-building policy with South Africa allowed to send a team to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and enter the 1994 soccer World Cup qualifiers, long before the change in the political system was complete. It was also a two-way street with major international sporting bodies keen to re-incorporate South Africa back into their families.

Amritsar, December 6
Riding on a stupendous performance of their raiders, Kenya thrashed Argentina 55-37 in the World Kabaddi Cup at Guru Nanak Stadium here today. Kenyan raiders Orando Simon and Kiburg garnered 15 and 13 points, respectively, and outclassed their opponents with their good foot work and the ability to wriggle out from tough situations.

They received good support from their stoppers, O Lock and Wandera, who contributed patient 9 and 8 points, respectively. Argentine just ran out steam once the Kenyans began to assert themselves.

In another match, Canada battered Scotland 72-21 in a one-sided match. With Canada having majority of the players of Punjab origin in their ranks, Scotland had just no chance against them. Raiders Kulwinder and Ranjodh Singh contributed 10 points each. Stoppers Kuljinder Samra and Daljinder Singh chipped in with six and five points, respectively.

For Canada, Raiders Liam Frame (5) and Cambly Alexandra (4) displayed some spark but overall their lack of skills was pretty much evident.

In the third match of the day, Denmark women defeated Mexico 43-25. Raiders of the victorious team, Mlie (13, Caroline (5) and Sophia (7) kept up the pressure on their rivals throughout the game. Stopper Jasmine (4) and Tersa (3) were remarkable too.

For Mexico, Diana (9) and Ali (5) impressed as raiders while Chriseno (4) did some good work as a stopper.

Johannesburg, December 6
A livid Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni squarely blamed his bowlers for the crushing loss in the opening ODI against South Africa, saying that their bad performance left the batsmen under pressure.

“Overall I think it was a bad performance. But it started with the bowling initially. This was not a 300-plus wicket. We didn't start well, and we were supposed to bowl slightly up,” said Dhoni. “Experience of these conditions is crucial.

South African bowlers know what lengths to bowl and that is why I want my bowlers to step up. You can't give away 300 or 300-plus runs, because that also puts pressure on the batsmen.

“Right from the start then, they have to go after opposition bowlers, which in these conditions is slightly difficult. At the same time, we needed the batting to back the bowlers up,” he added.

“If you see death bowling for different teams across the world, bowlers are going for runs. With the extra fielder inside the circle and the lack of reverse swing, even the best bowlers will go for runs," Dhoni said. “So, the new ball bowling becomes important, especially in conditions like these. More often than not, the last ten overs will go for runs and so it is important to take wickets in the first ten overs, so we can put pressure in the middle overs and so that they do not have many wickets in the end,” he opined.

As per Dhoni's reasoning then, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohit Sharma were the most to blame, but he did not single out anyone in particular for criticism.

“Mohit is the one with the inexperience and it will be a good learning for him. Bhuvi has played a fair bit outside the subcontinent, which means that he should quickly adapt to the conditions. “But at the same time let's not be unfair on him. It's one of many games where he has not done really well. So let us think that it was an off day for him and move on,” he said. — PTI

Adelaide, December 6
How many blows can a fighter absorb before he can hit back no more? England have forced their way out of many difficult positions in recent series, but they must now be wondering if the Ashes are slipping from their grasp.

England have been wounded more deeply than they could have imagined in six days’ Test cricket this winter. It is one thing to wither against the extreme pace of Mitchell Johnson, as England did in Brisbane; quite another to help the opposition through your own poor cricket.

Had the tourists held their catches yesterday, they would have dismissed George Bailey, Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin for low scores. Failure to do so cost England 286 runs, with both Clarke and Haddin making centuries today, and the latter benefiting more than anyone from England’s generosity.

The result? Australia 570 for nine declared, including 12 sixes, an innings record in Ashes cricket. Then, with Johnson regularly topping 90mph, Alastair Cook played inside a venomous delivery and was bowled for three. England reached the close with no more wickets lost – but not without two huge scares. First, Michael Carberry would have been run out had a late run-out attempt hit the stumps two balls from the end of play, after Joe Root took an unwise single. Then, Australia decided not to review an lbw appeal from Johnson against Carberry from the final ball of the day. Had they done so, England would have been 35/2.

Brief Scores: England (35/1) trail Australia (570/9 dec (Clarke 148, Haddin 118, Harris 55*, Broad 3/98) by 535 runs

Chandigarh, December 6
Qualifier Rimpledeep Kaur beat Renu Sharma 6-2, 6-4 while Kunal Anand beat Ankit Sachdeva 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to lift the women’s and men’s titles, respectively, in The Tribune Cup National Ranking Championship tournament at the CLTA tennis courts today.

Rimpledeep had it easy against the fourth seed as she annexed the title in straight sets. The first set was a stroll in the park but the next proved out to be a little tougher as Renu put up relentless pressure on Rimpledeep. In the end, however, it was Rimpledeep who flashed a broad, triumphant smile as she shook hands with her rival.

Top seed Kunal Anand had to grind it out against qualifier Ankit Sachdeva. Anand won the first set 6-4 but Ankit covered the ground by racing to a 4-1 lead in the second, set using good variations.

Knowing that it would be tough task to make a comeback in the set, Kunal seemed to let it go to preserve his energy to have a good start in final set. Ankit won the next two games comfortably and closed out at 6-1.

In the final set, Kunal stepped up the attack right from the start and consolidated a 5-2 lead. Not the one to give in, Ankit broke serve and made it 4-5. Just when it mattered the most, Ankit made some unforced errors and lost the final set 6-4.

KK Sharma, Advisor to Administrator, UT Administration gave away the prizes to the men’s finalists and Justice S.S. Sodhi, President, The Tribune Trust gave away the prizes to women finalists. Justice S.S. Sodhi announced that the ‘The Tribune Tennis Cup’ will be an annual event.

Johannesburg, December 6
Indian freestyle grapplers bagged seven gold, four silver and three bronze medals in the 2013 Commonwealth Wrestling Championships in Johannesburg and won the Team Title in the category.

As the event allows a country to field a maximum of two competitors per weight class, Indian wrestlers claimed a medal each in the seven weight divisions on Thursday.

Sandeep Tomar (55kg), Jaideep (60kg) and Amit Kumar Dhankar (66kg), Praveen Rana (74kg), Pawan Kumar (84kg) Satyavart Kadian (96kg) and Joginder Kumar (120kg) clinched gold medals in their respective weight categories.

While Narender (55kg), Ravinder Singh (60kg), Naresh (84kg) and Rohit Patel (120kg) won silver medals, bronze went to Arun Kumar (66kg), Pardeep (74kg) and Hardeep (96kg) at the three-day long event.

The championships are held on regular bi-annual basis since 1985. The Indian team is defending their title from 2011 championships in Melbourne where they won the men's and women's freestyle and men's Greco-Roman. Female wrestlers will be in action today followed by Greco Roman on Saturday. — PTI

Mohali, December 6
Punjab batsmen seem to have become overtly defensive and diffident for some strange reason. Staying on the wicket and scoring runs is fast becoming a problem that they seem incapable of solving.

And had it not been for the bowlers, who had chipped in with precious runs besides picking up wickets, the batsmen's poor run would have made things even worse for Punjab.

While it was pacer Sandeep Sharma's cameo with the bat that helped them avoid a defeat against Haryana at Lahli, the tail waged yet again to spare them the blushes against Vidarbha on their home ground on Friday.

With the top order giving in yet again, with the sole exception of skipper Mandeep Singh who scored 56, it was yet again the tail that helped them reach a modest 184 in their first innings. Had it not been for VRV Singh's 30 and Sandeep Sharma's 20, Punjab wouldn't have crossed 150.

Yet, Punjab may not escape defeat this time around, for the visitors have already put on 75 for the loss of just one wicket. So, once again, Punjab's fate is in the hands of their bowlers.

Brief scores: Punjab 1st innings: 184 all out in 47.4 overs (Mandeep Singh 56; Wagh 3/34, Jungade 3/63) Vidarbha 1st innings: 75 for one in 32 overs (Faiz Fazal 34 not out, Ravi Jangid 24 not out).

Mohali, December 6
Wicket-keeper Nitin Saini (109) smashed his fifth first class century to stand tall amid ruins as Haryana were all out for 247 against Karnataka on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match, here today.

It was a listless batting show by most of the Haryana batsmen as only Sachin Rana (36) and Avi Barot (35) resisted the Karnataka attack apart from Saini.

BRIEFLY

100 per cent in the dark over inquiry, says Cairns
Wellington: An emotional Chris Cairns on Thursday said he was "100 per cent in the dark" about the ICC's allegations of match-fixing against him and that he would co-operate with the anti-corruption unit's investigators to come out clean. New Zealand Cricket was rocked by allegations of match-fixing with a report in the 'New Zealand Herald' claiming that three cricketers - former all-rounder Cairns, fast bowler Daryl Tuffey and batsman Lou Vincent - are being investigated by the ICC for their role in fixing. Cairns spoke publicly for the first time since the sensational fixing claims surfaced in the media and said his "heart sank" when he heard he had been linked to the ICC's investigation into three former Kiwi internationals.

Magnificient Bravo keeps West Indies in the game
Dunedin: Darren Bravo provided stubborn resistance to New Zealand's bowlers bringing up his maiden Test double century to ensure West Indies made the hosts bat again and sent the first Test into the final day. The Kiwis, in the first innings, had put up a massive 609-run total. Brief Scores: WI: 213 and 443/6 (Bravo 210*, Sammy 44*) lead New Zealand 609/9 dec by 47 runs.

‘U-17 World Cup will change the game’s face in India’
Kolkata: India’s football fraternity described the world body's decision as a historic development which may change the face of the game here. Legendary Indian footballer Chuni Goswami said hosting the mega event would be a boon for infrastructure development and will also give a chance for youngsters to showcase their talent. — Agencies