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Paes takes India into Asia LUCKNOW, Feb 6: Leander Paes put India’s two-year-long botched-up Davis Cup.....more Davis Cup shocks as PARIS, Feb 6: There were some major shocks as some of the sport’s top nations faced....more Churchill Bros hold MARGAO, Feb 6: Judging from the form at home with five win and one draw....more Ranji-super league NEW DELHI, Feb 6: Opener Ashu Dani hit a strokeful 82 and captain Ajay Sharma.....more |
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Deepak
Memorial Cricket Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Feb 6: Hat trick by Sandeep helped Sarwal Cricket Club to beat Khanpur Cricket (KCC) by 48 runs in the ongoing Deepak Kumar Memorial Cricket Tournament organised by the J&K Vikas Party in association with .....more 7th Godhi Memorial
Cricket Excelsior Sports Correspondent AKHNOOR, Feb 6: Pargwal Cricket Club today entered the finals of the 7th Godhi Memorial Cricket Tournament beating Vijyant Cricket Club (VCC), Akhnoor by six wickets in the first semi-finals at Government Higher .....more Patriotic spirit marks Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Feb 6: Patriotic fervor marked the post Republic-Day function in the New Light Academy, Balore morh in Samba tehsil where tiny tots ......more Korchonoi, Akopian CALCUTTA, Feb 6: World championship runner up Vladimir Akopian and veteran Swiss Grandmaster Victor Korchonoi drew with their respective rivals .....more |
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Paes takes India into Asia Oceania zone 2nd round LUCKNOW, Feb 6: Leander Paes put India’s two-year-long botched-up Davis Cup campaign back on rails with an impressive straight sets win over top Lebanese Hicham Zaatini which gave the hosts an unassailable 3-1 lead and a place in the Asia-Oceania Zone Group I second round against South Korea. Paes executed every possible shot at the net and used inch-perfect lobs to frustrate Zaatini in winning 6-3 6-1 6-4 in 85 minutes as the hosts came back strongly after yesterday’s doubles debacle at the Oudh Gymkhana Club. India take on South Korea at New Delhi from April 5 to 7. Korea defeated Japan 3-2 in Kashimashi, Japan. Paes had given India an expected start by beating ali Hamjadeh 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) win in the opening singles before Syed Fazaluddin put the hosts 2-0 ahead by beating Zaatini 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) on Friday. Lebanon rallied back superbly as Zaatini/Hamadeh beat Paes and Fazaluddin 6-7 (7/2), 7-6 (7/3) 4-6, 6-3 6-4 but Paes ended their hopes today with a brilliant performance. The world’s best doubles player, who has been concentrating on his singles play ever since his regular partner Mahesh Phupathi underwent shoulder surgery, was at his best in demolishing the lanky Lebanese. After suffering a setback in the doubles tie yesterday, Paes was fired up and easily quelled the spirited challenge put up by his Labanese rival as he came out firing on all cylinders right from the start to deny any Zaatini any chance. Zaatini survived one match point on his serve in the 10th game of the third set but nothing went in his favour as he double-faulted to give Paes the second chance. Zaatini sent in good serve but Paes’ backhand slice flew just over the net which the Lebanese netted to give India a deserving win. Paes, ranked a modest 125 on the ATP singles after a simplified ranking system was introduced at the start of the new millennium, gave no openings to Zaatini who looked determined after doing well in the doubles yesterday. Zaatini’s strategy to stay on with Paes and wear him down later paid no results as the Indian executed excellent volleys and sliced shots at the net. After both the players held on serves till five games in the first set, paes upped the gear as he lobbed, hit a blistering fore hand return to to break Zaatini to go 4-2 up. Paes blasted four aces, one an amazing down the middle on a second serve, as he took the set 6-3 in 25 minutes. Zaatini was all at sea in the second set as Paes raced to a 4-0 lead employing drop shots to perfection using the dampness on the court to his advantage. Heavy thundershowers yesterday made poodles on the right side of the court but bright sunshine since the morning helped organizers to make the court playable. Play started half an hour late than the schedule time after match referee Hiro Yahata of Japan made first inspection early on. Both Paes and Zaatini served an ace each but two double faults by the Lebanese cost him dear as the Indian broke him for the third time in the set, which he won 6-1 in 25 minutes. There was a slight scare for paes in third set when he was broken for the first time in the match when the Indian netted a backhand slice to give the Lebanese some hope. But Paes returned with newer zeal in the eighth game and broke back to level at 4-4 and then won the next two games with ease. Syed Fazaluddin was to play Lebanese number two ali Hamadeh in the fifth and final tie of the rubber later in the day. (PTI) |
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Davis Cup shocks as top nations trail PARIS, Feb 6: There were some major shocks as some of the sport’s top nations faced early first round exits from the Davis Cup Tennis Tournament last evening. France, beaten finalists in the last year’s Davis Cup, were eleminated from this year’s tournament as Brazil grabbed an unbeatable 3-0 lead in their tie in Florianapolis. While the United States and defending champions Australia both trail 1-2 going into the deciding reverse singles. In yesterday’s crucial doubles match Brazilian duo Gustavo Kuerten and Jaime Oncins took 2hr 04 min to defeat French number one Cedric Piolie and Nicolas Escude in straight sets 6-4 6-4 6-4. Fernando Meligeni had given Brazil a flying start when he beat Pioline 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in Friday’s singles, followed by local hero Kuerten who made it a double defeating Jerome Golmard 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2 in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. It was sweet revenge for the Brazilians who were eliminated 3-2 in last year’s quarter-finals by France. In Harare, the Americans went behind against Zimbabwe after Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett came through a five-set thriller against Rick Leach and Alex o’Brien. Leach served a double fault on match-point in the fifth set to hand the hosts a 7-6 (7/4) 5-7, 0-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory and the chance of securing victory on home soil. All now depends on the reverse singles in which byron black will take on world number one Andre Agassi and brother Wayne is due to play Davis Cup debutant Chris Woodruff who lost his first singles on Friday. Switzerland hold a shock 2-1 lead over defending champions Australia, courtsey of a doubles victory by Roger Federer and Lorenzo Manta. Manta and Federer, who beat Mark Philippoussis in the opening singles on Friday, fought back to win 3-6 6-3 6-4 7-6 against Wayne Arthurs and Sandon Stolle. Australian hopes are now pinned on Lleyton Hewitt, who tackles federer in first reverse singles. Philippoussis, who guided Australia to victory over France in last year’s final, plays in the final singles. Germany lead Holland 2-1 thanks to David Prinosil and Marc-Kevin Gollner who beat Dutch pair Paul Haarhuis and Jan Siemerink 4-6 6-3 7-6 6-3 in Leipzig. Tommy Haas can clinch victory for Germany - and a quarter-final berth against Switzerland or Australia - if he overcomes Sjeng Schalken in the first reverse singles. If haas loses, the final singles between Rainer Schuettler and John Van Lottum will decide the tie. Czech Republic lead Britain 2-1 in Ostrava after Jiri Novak and David Riki beat Tim Henman and Neil Broad 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2 after Friday’s singles finished 1-1. Three ties however are settled with Spain, Slovakia and Russia already into the quarter-finals. Karol Kucera and Dominik Hrbaty beat Austria’s Julian Knowle and Alexander Peya 6-4, 6-3 6-4 in Bratislava to give Slovakia a winning 3-0 lead. At Murica, Spain’s Alex Corretja and Joan Balcells beat Andrea Gaudenzi and Diego Nargiso 6-4 6-3 6-1 for a similar lead over Italy, and Russia’s Marat Safin and Andrei Cherkasov beat Christophe Rochus and Olivier Rochus of Belgium 4-6 7-6 (7/2) 1-6 6-1, 6-3 to earn a last eight berth. (AFP) |
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Churchill Bros hold edge over Tollygunge MARGAO, Feb 6: Judging from the form at home with five win and one draw from six matches, Churchill Bros look firm favourites for tomorrow’s match when they meet Tollygunge Agaragami in National Football League. Churchill, who had beaten Tollygunge 1-0 in away match, and led the table at the end of the first phase, got a setback in their first match of the second phase in quest for the title as they were held to 1-1 draw by lowly placed BSF to find themselves placed one point behind Bagan, who are leading the table with 25 points from twelve matches. Tollygunge, who also started their campaign well with a string of successes, suffered four defeats and four draws in the latter part of the first phase to have them placed seventh with 16 points form 12 matches. Churchill Bros coach Danny McLennan said tomorrow’s match is an important for us. We have to captilise on home advantage and win all our home if we are to be in race for the title as the boys have not performed so well in away matches where we have won two, drawn two and lost two. He also pointed out that bad decision by the referee in their last last match against BSF had cost them two points as they drew 1-1. (PTI) |
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Ranji-super
league NEW DELHI, Feb 6: Opener Ashu Dani hit a strokeful 82 and captain Ajay Sharma and Virendra Sehwag came up with fine half-centuries to place delhi at a comfortable 279 for five on the second day of their Ranji Trophy super legue encounter against Rajasthan here today. Electing to bat after the first day’s play was washed out, Delhi started out tentatively with openers Akash Chopra and Dani playing cautiously. Chopra looked uncomfortable and finally edged medium pacer Sanjeev Sharma to wicketkeeper Rohit Jhalani after making 11 off 56 balls. Dani and Gautam Gambhir then got down to building the innings. Dani was impressive as he played a wide range of strokes all around the field. He reached his fifty off 125 balls with six hits to the fence. Just when the second-wicket pair looked set, left-handed medium pacer P Krishnakumr struck for Rajasthan, forcing Gambhir to edge an outgoing delivery to Jhalani. Gambhir scored 33 off 73 balls with four boundaries. Captain Ajay Sharma then joined Dani and the two put on 63 runs for the third wicket in a fluent stand as they found the gaps and boundaries with equal ease. Dani, however, missed a well-deserved century when he knicked a spinning Mohd Aslam delivery to Jhalani. He made 82 off 171 balls with 11 fours. Ajay Sharma took charge from the other end and stepped up the scoring. His fifty came off 101 balls and included seven fours. He was run out soon after by a direct hit from wicketkeeper Jhalani to the non-striker’s end while trying to sneak a second run. Sehwag, who had joined Sharma at the fall of Dani’s wicket, then continued the good work of his captain as new batsman Mithun Minhas struggled to settle down. Sehwag scored 64 off only 66 balls with nine boundaries before offering a simple catch to Ajay Mehra at covers off a Shamsher Singh delivery. The scoring slowed down considerably after Sehwag’s departure as the Rajasthan bowlers bowled an accurate line. Minhas (16) and Vijay Dahiya (2), however were able to see the day through without further damage. For Rajasthan, veteran Sanjeev Sharma, P Krishnakumar, Shamsher Singh and Mohd Aslam claimed one wicket each but none could trouble the host team much. With a result virtually ruled out, Delhi’s main goal will be to put up a decent total tomorrow so that they can take the vital first innings lead. (PTI) |
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Patriotic spirit marks R-Day function in New Light Academy Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Feb 6: Patriotic fervor marked the post Republic-Day function in the New Light Academy, Balore morh in Samba tehsil where tiny tots performed various cultural items, skits and solo songs, today. Special attraction of the four-hour long function was two thought provoking skits highlighting affect of the social evils on young generation. In the first one, the young students tried to teach the villagers about the ramification of the bad habit of drinking which often created tension in the family. It was displayed in the skit that how a helpless wife of the drunker husband has to leave her in-laws house with children and took refuge at her parental home. While, in the second skit which they performed amidst a big crowd was to highlight that how a teacher behaved in a village school, leaving the students to learn from each other. Both the items got appreciations of hundreds of people who were gathered in the school premises to witness the programme. Earlier, the function begin with flag hosting ceremony, followed by National Anthem and march past. Later on, a number of students were also felicitated for their distinguished achievements on the occasion included four students, who got selected in the Novodhya Vidhyala, Nad after passing the entrance test and six other regular students of the school, who bagged first positions in various classes. Those selected in the Novodhya Vidhyala included Asha Rani daughter of Mr Rattan Chand of Balore, Balvinder Kumar son of Janak Raj of Dabo, Tilak Raj son of Baldev Raj of Balore and Mandeep Singh son of Shail Singh of Balore. While, the position holders were, Jyoti Choudhary (Ist), Sukhdev Singh (2nd), Pinku (3rd), Asha Rani (5th) and Mohan Singh of class 6th. Mr Gulchain Singh Charak, ex-MLC and president Dogra Sadar Sabha was the chief guest in the function. He was also accompanied by Dr H R Sharma and Dr N R Sharma of the University of Jammu, who are also associated by the Intellectual cell of the Dogra Sadar Sabha. Mr Shivdarshan Singh Sambyal and Mr Thapa, both retired ZEO and residents of Samba were also sitting on the dais. The chief guest, Mr Charak, who left the function half way due to some urgent work, congratulated the Principal of the school, Mr Shiv Charan Singh for a well organised function to celebrate the Republic Day. He said that due to the hard work of Shiv Charan the school has progressed a lot in every field since its inception a few years back. While lauding the efforts of the management committee, Principal and staff members, he assured of all sorts of help to the institution. He also donated Rs 500 from his pocket for refreshment to the participants. Later, the prizes were distributed by Dr H R Sharma and Dr N R Sharma. Speaking on the occasion, Dr H R Sharma recalled the whole function and appreciated the organisers for inculcating the sense of patriotism among the students through cultural items. All most all the cultural items one or the other way were pertaining to the nation building, he added. Prominent among those present on the occasion included the management committee members Messrs Rattan Chand, president, Sardar Singh, vice-president and Shiv Charan Singh, secretary, besides Shatar Singh, Dharam Chand and Guran Ditta, all members of the committee. |
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Korchonoi, Akopian draw with rivals CALCUTTA, Feb 6: World championship runner up Vladimir Akopian and veteran Swiss Grandmaster Victor Korchonoi drew with their respective rivals in the opening round of the 11th Goodricke International Chess Tournament here today. While Armenian GM Akopian shared point with WGM Qin Kanying of China, Korchonoi spent some anxious moments before settling for a draw with Ziaur Rahaman of Bangladesh. India’s Women’s International Master (WIM) Vijaylaxmi, who is fighting for a WGM title, played an excellent game to finish with a draw against British GM Lalic Bogdan, while GM aspirant K Sasikiran posted a comfortable win against C S Gokhale. Third seeded chinese GM Peng Xiaonmin shared point with international master R V Ramesh of India, while Russian GM Ibragimov got the better of Surya Sekhar Ganguly of Goodricke National Chess Academy. In another match, GM Horvarth Joseph of Hungary had little difficulty in overcoming a feeble challenge from Indian IM V Saravanan. (PTI) |
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