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Archery Championship Bhutan upsets India to emerge leader NEW DELHI, Nov 1: Bhutan upset India to emerge the leader in the 3rd round of the Asian Archery Championship which concluded here today. Besides the team gold in both the women’s and men’s sections, Bhutan also won the top honours in the men’s individual event........more Stuttgart Masters Series STUTTGART (GERMANY), Nov 1: Andre Agassi, seeking to end a frustrating year in style, made ......more Durand Cup NEW DELHI, Nov 1: Riding on a hat-trick by star-striker Dipendu Biswas, Calcutta giant Kingfisher .........more 34th Chess Olympiad ISTANBUL, Nov 1: Indian men scored a comprehensive 3-1 victory over United States of America .........more |
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‘Mentioning my name by Azhar
is serious’ I never let down my country, says Jadeja Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 1: Ajay Jadeja, who has been named by Mohd Azharuddin in the fixing of matches allegations...........more Ranji
Trophy Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 1: Jadeja’s ton has put Jammu and Kashmir in driver’s seat, as host have taken..........more Discipline
prevails After the last two days mis-management of the crowd, the organisers today managed to control .......more Science
College beats Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 1: The GGM Science College today defeated Degree College, Bhaderwah in the Inter-college.....more |
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Asian Archery Championship NEW DELHI, Nov 1: Bhutan upset India to emerge the leader in the 3rd round of the Asian Archery Championship which concluded here today. Besides the team gold in both the women’s and men’s sections, Bhutan also won the top honours in the men’s individual event. The sole consolation for India was provided by Reena Kumari (India A) who grabbed the gold with a difference of just one point in the individual women’s event after a nerve-wrecking battle with Tshering Chhoden of Bhutan. Reena won 105-104 after the stipulated four rounds of 120 points. In men’s individual shooting, Somai Murmur (India B) disappointed local fans by succumbing in the tiebreaker 107-107 (8/10), after giving a spirited fight to Rinzin Choppel of Bhutan. Thus, India failed to make most of a depleted field in the absence of Asian heavyweight and faltered when it mattered the most. Bhutan, on the other hand, shot consistently, without giving the home-team a chance to dominate. The fight for bronze, however, saw the Indians Dola Banerjee (India A) and Gurucharan Singh (India B) overcome their rivals Chekrabalu Sakro (India B) and Tashi (Bhutan) respectively, in the men’s team bronze event, Kazakhstan (236) beat Sri Lanka (195) by a comfortable margin, while in the women’s section, Indian juniors (203) walked away with the bronze against the Sri Lankans (89). The Rinzin-Somai duel set the Adrenalin flow and generated much excitement among the crowd. The first of the four rounds saw Somai Murmur shoot into the yellow thrice to earn 27 points which his tough opponent answered with 24 points. A brilliant performance was displayed by Rinzin Choppel in the immediate round - a three consecutive bull’s eye - which gave him a lead of crucial 3 points. The rest of the two rounds provided an edge to the Indian as Rinzin faltered twice. However, another two bull’s eye by the Bhutanese in the 3rd and the 4th rounds tied the score at 107 each. In the ensuing tiebreaker, an exceptional shot of perfect 10 by the bhutanese fetched him the coveted gold. When Reena Kumari stopped twice before the final shot in the women’s individual gold event, her nervousness was palpable. She had performed under-par in the team event earlier in the day and knew this was the only chance to salvage some pride for the Indians. Reena gained a slender one-point lead against Bhutanese Tshering Chhoden after the first round which she squandered in the next to level the score at 24-24. The closely-contested third round saw both shoot one perfect-10 each but Reena outplayed her opponent in the other two efforts to lead 28-26. A first bull’s eye in the final round sealed the score in Reena’s favour and India won its only gold in the championship. (PTI) |
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Stuttgart
Masters Series STUTTGART (GERMANY), Nov 1: Andre Agassi, seeking to end a frustrating year in style, made a winning comeback by beating Swede Thomas Johansson 6-4 6-2 to reach the third round of the Stuttgart Masters Series yesterday. The former world number one missed the Sydney Olympics to stay close to home with his mother and sister who were battling breast cancer and had not played competitive tennis since his shock defeat by Frenchman Arnaud Clement in the second round of the US Open last August. "It’s nice to feel nervous again," he said. It’s been a while and I was a bit anxious. But i was looking forward to it." Fourth seed Agassi, who had a bye through to the second round like all seeded players in the prestigious indoor event, relied on his trademark, agressive baseline play to sweep aside Johansson. "Today was a great step for me," he said. "I feel like I’m striking the ball well. My game’s still there." Agassi began 2000 by winning the Australian Open but the rest of the year was disappointing by his own, high standards and he dropped to ninth in the ATP champions’ race. The current leader, Gustavo Kuerten, survived two tiebreaks to move past Nicolas Escude of France 7-6 7-6 in his second round match. The French Open champion, fighting to end the year in top spot, had lost to Escude in their three previous meetings but he showed more composure this time. "We always play tough matches and this one was close, too," said Kuerten. "But my game is maybe better than ever at the moment and I was ready for it." Kuerten goes on to meet either Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean or Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador. Krajicek’s hopes shattered Grosjean was virtually faultless in an impressive 6-4 6-2 victory over local favourite Tommy Haas in a first round match. Former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek later saw his hopes of a third title shattered by Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt, the eighth seed. Krajicek has a remarkable record in the prestigious indoor event, having appeared in five finals in the past seven years and won the title twice, in 1995 and 1998, but he could do little against an inspired Hewitt who beat him 6-4 7-5. Another Australian, 12th seed Mark Philippoussis, moved comfortably through to the third round by defeating the unseeded clement 6-3 6-3. Greg Rusedski also reached the third round, overpowering Argentine Mariano Puerta 6-2 6-3. Rusedski, recovering his best form at the end of an injury-plagued season, hit 15 aces to oust the 16th seed. A semifinalist in Stuttgart last year, Rusedski will now face either top seed Marat Safin of Russia or Frenchman Fabrice Santoro. "I think that’s definitely as well as I’ve done this year," Rusedski said after showing glimpses of his old form. "I’m going in the right direction." In the day’s last match former French Open champion Michael Chang lived up to his reputation as a formidable competitor by winning nine successive games to beat seventh seed Alex Corretja of Spain 1-6 7-5 6-0. Corretja, who must have thought he had it made when he served for the match leading 5-3 in the second set, seriously undermined his chances of making the year-end Masters Cup for the world’s top eight players to be played in Lisbon next month. (REUTERS) |
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Durand
Cup NEW DELHI, Nov 1: Riding on a hat-trick by star-striker Dipendu Biswas, Calcutta giant Kingfisher East Bengal trounced Muktijoddha Sangsad K C of Bangladesh 3-1 in a quarterfinal match of the Durand Cup at the Ambedkar Stadium here today. In the other quarterfinal, Goa League champions Zee Churchill Brothers drubbed JCT Phagwara 3-0. The match between East Bengal and Muktijoddha began on a contesting as both the teams made no bones about their thirst for goal and made repeated forays into each others domain. The Bangladeshi lads went into the offense right from the word go and dominated the proceedings of the first 15 minutes of the play. But gradually East Bengal lads began counter-attacks from both the flanks and playing in 4-4-3 combination wreaked havoc on Muktijoddha’s defence. East Bengal fired the first salvo in the 35th minute through a penalty kick. Centre forward Dipendu Biswas, the player of the day, was brought down stopper back Md Sujan and referee S M Balu had no hesitation in awarding the East Bengal a penalty-kick. Dipendu took the kick and scored to make the score 1-0. Four minutes later East Bengal clinched the lead when medio Carlton Chapman passed the ball to outside left Bijen Singh whose powerful right-footer hit the Muktijoddha custodian failed to collect and Dipendu lurking in the penalty box tapped it in to make it 3-0. Dipendu fired the final salvo for his team in the 83rd minute of the match when left stopper back Dipak Mondal intercepted a Muktijoddha pass and passed it to Dipendu who was advancing from the right flank. Dipendu dribbled one Bangladeshi defender and advanced near the penalty box. His powerful angular right-footer swerved into the goal taking Muktijoddha custodian Aminul Haque completely by surprise. The Bangladesh lads reduced the margin in the 89th minute when Rejaul Karim Litton scored the goal through a long right-footer. Speaking to UNI Muktijoddha coach Saiful Islam Manik said the penalty awarded to East Bengal by the referee was totally unfair as Dipendu was not brought down intentionally. "You know, after the penalty goal my team got demoralised. I am highly dissatisfied with the refereeing in this match." The other match between Churchill brothers and JCT was a lop-sided one as the goans dominated the proceedings throughout the 90 minutes of the play. Churchill lads impressed all by their speed and agility and well-coordinated passes. Of course, JCT played well, but in patches. Churchill scored the first goal in the 35th minutes of the first half when led by their outstanding centre forward Francis Silviera mounted an attack on the JCT from the left flank. Fellow forward Uday Konar reached outside the penalty box and dribbled two JCT defender and lobbed it to right half Somtai Shaiza whose powerful grounder beat JCT custodian Baljit Singh into the net to make it 1-0 till the half time. The goans clinched the lead in the 45th minute when Konar intercepted a JCT pass and forwarded it to centre forward Silviera whose swerving shot hit the net to make it 2-0. Silviera fired the final salvo in the 82nd minute when medio Andre Requena gave a mid-field pass to right half Noel Wilson who lobbed it to Silviera. Silviera’s angular shot hit the net beating JCT goalkeeper to make it 3-0. JCT coach Sukhwinder Singh speaking to UNI said his team lacked coordination, but hey would regain their confidence to perform well in the next two matches. "I think we should give a chance to Daljit Singh in the next match" was all he said about his plans for the next match. (UNI) |
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34th
Chess Olympiad ISTANBUL, Nov 1: Indian men scored a comprehensive 3-1 victory over United States of America but the women went down 0.5-2.5 to Moldova in the fourth round of the 34th Chess Olympiad being played here. The men’s team, with 11.5 points from four rounds are placed joint sixth behind leaders Germany (13.5), Israel (12.5), Russia, Brazil and Ukraine (12 each) while the women are placed 11th with 7.5 points. Georgia lead the women’s competition with 10 points from four rounds. In the men’s section, Germany shot into lead on 13.5 points by outplaying other overnight leader Hungary with a 3-1 margin while in the women’s section the favourites Chinese slipped to second position behind georgia after conceding a 1.5-1.5 draw against the Netherlands. The Indians dropped IM Harikrishna and Surya Sekhar Ganguly in the fourth round. On the top board grandmaster Sasikiran proved once again that he has it in him to take on any opposition. Playing white the Indian stalwart opened with the Larsen opening and caught GM Alexander Shabalov off guard on the kingside soon after the opening. Shabalov pushed his central pawns in the middlegame in trying to contain the activity of whites forces but Sasikiran maneuvered his knight to the centre and gained space advanta-ge. The queen bishop file became most important for both and Sasikiran controlled it better to finally invade the opponent territory with decisive threats. Abhijit accounted for GM Gregory Kaidanov in a technical game with white pieces on the second board. On the third board GM Dibyendu Barua drew with GM Alex Yermolinsky and consolidated the lead given by Sasikiran. Playing white Barua faced the Scheveningen Sicilian and got a slight advantage in the middlegame. However, routine exchanges of pieces at regular intervals witnessed the advantage slipping from Barua’s hand and the game soon entered a rook and pawns endgame. The players signed the truce after 44 moves. IM D V Prasad drew with GM Nick Difirmian on the fourth board to register an emphatic victory for the Indians. In the women’s section WGM Vijayalakshmi salvaged some pride with another good performance today. With black pieces the Chennai girl held Almira Scripchnko Lautier to a draw. In the Scotch game routine theoretical manoeuvres followed and Vijayalakshmi equalised quite comfortably. Almira tried to venture into complications but some fine positional moves enabled Vijayalakshmi to trade most of the pieces and enter a perfectly balanced endgame. The draw was agreed to after 54 moves. M Sheremetieva gave Moldova an early lead by outsmarting Saheli Barua. Saheli caught herself in a tactical web in trying to go for an all out attack against the king. A timely retreat of forces by Sheremetieva gave her ample counter-chances on the queenside. To complicate further Saheli sacrificed a piece but did not get the desired counterplay to prove her material deficit. Sheremetieva exchanged the queens with right defensive moves and won the endgame easily. On the third board IWM Pallavi Shah went down to M Agababean in a Trompowvsky attack game with black pieces. The game transposed to a position akin to the Samisch variation of the kings Indian where Pallavi appeared at sea in the middlegame. Her counter attempts on the queenside were dealt with in copybook fashion by Agababean who leads Pallavi by more than 200 points in the FIDE rating list. The game came to a sad end from India’s perspective when Agababean’s queen and rook penetrated the kingside to deliver checkmate after 42 moves. (PTI) |
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‘Mentioning my
name by Azhar is serious’ Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 1: Ajay Jadeja, who has been named by Mohd Azharuddin in the fixing of matches allegations in the 162 pages reports submitted by the CBI to the Government, has asserted that he never let down his country in cricket career. Jadeja was talking to the waiting newsmen soon after the completion of the third day play against Haryana at M A Stadium, here this evening. Replying to a question regarding the CBI report and mentioning of his name by Azharuddin, he said, "I will not make any comment on the report because I have yet to go through it. Since morning I was in the ground and as and when I read the report, I will let you know about my stand". However, he admitted that, "since may name has been figured by Azharuddin in the report, I have taken it seriously, so I must look into how it has happended". "Whatever I heard is quite surprise for me. I have never played any part of my game to lose. I have never let down my country because I have always done justice with the the game", tired Jadeja continued. With saying of "very sad", Jadeja stood up and paid good bye to the newsmen. It may be recalled that Azharuddin has named his former team mates Ajay Jadeja and Mongia as being involved with him in fixing matches, said that 162 pages report submitted to the Government by the CBI previous day. Former international players Manoj Prabhakar and Ajay Sharma, who is playing for Himachal Pradesh are the two other Indians named by the investigating agency. Meanwhile, Jadeja, who has brought hopes for J&K, refused to say anything about the tomorrow’s strategy against Haryana, apprehending that people may involve it with ‘match fixing’. |
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Ranji Trophy Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 1: Jadeja’s ton has put Jammu and Kashmir in driver’s seat, as host have taken a handsome 186 runs first innings lead over Haryana. Haryana in the second innings made a dismal start losing six wickets for 100 runs in the 43 overs play at the end of the third day play at M A Stadium, here today. Medium pacers, Abdul Qayoom and Surinder Singh Bagal did a great job for J&K. Surinder Singh bowled tightly and claimed the first wicket of Jatinder Singh. While Abdul Qayoom, who in the first innings took four wickets, clinched four wickets in a row. Earlier, in the morning J&K started its further journey from 247 runs and added 117 runs to end the innings at 364 in 140.3 overs play. Jadeja, who faced two early dismissals in the shape of Dhruv Mahajan and Ajay Sharma played good innings with Abdul Qayoom and both of them added 70 runs for the eight wicket partnership. Despite the building up pressure of match-fixing reports, Skipper Ajay Jadeja played comfortably throughout and scored 120 runs studded with 13 boundaries and two sixes. He resumed his innings from 58 runs to bring his personal score to 98 at the time of lunch break. And after lunch he completed his ton with the help of two straight sixes. As soon as Jadeja crossed the 100 runs mark, he started hitting big shots including a six on the long-on. But, that did not last long and was caught by Jasbir Singh at the boundary on the bowling of Amit Sharma. Afterwards, Surinder Singh Bagal and Jagtar Singh were also bowled out cheaply by Haryana’s right-arm leg spinner Amit Mishra, who claimed five wickets including the last three. Chasing the score, Haryana started their second innings on a bad note when they lost six wickets for 67 runs. However, Sanjay Dalal and wicket-keeper Ajay Ratra somehow eased the pressure and were on the crease at 14 and 17 runs respectively. Going through the available records, the Jammu and Kashmir is in full command over the match and if wicket help them in the morning, they can send the Haryana side to pavilion before lunch, feels the experts. Meanwhile, for the first time, the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association has appointed a doctor with the state Ranji team. Dr Sandeep Singh, who himself is a good cricketer and international Judo player has been entrusted the job. Dr Singh, who has just completed his MBBS from Government Medical College, Jammu and wants to be a sports medicine doctor. SCOREBOARD Haryana first innings 174 Jammu and Kashmir Ranjit Singh c Ajay Ratra b Vineet 5 Vidhya Bhaskar c Jatinder b Pankaj Thakur 62 Mohd Aslam c Parinder Sharma b Firoz Gyas 1 Kanwaljeet Singh c Sanjay Dalal b Vineet 93 Ashwani Gupta st Ajay Ratra b Amit Mishra 2 Ajay Jadeja c Jasbir Singh b Amit Mishra 120 Dhruv Mahajan c Ajay Ratra b Feroz Gyas 4 Vijay Sharma c&b Amit Mishra 10 Abdul Qayoom st Ajay Ratra b Amit Mishra 28 Surinder Singh lbw Amit Mishra 0 Jagtar Singh n-o 0 Extras: 39 Total 364 (all out in 140.3 overs) Fall of wickets: 1-10; 2-25; 3-116; 4-136; 5-247; 6-257; 7-287; 8- 357; 9-357; 10-364. Bowlings: Vineet Jain 17-3-57-2; Firoz Gyas 23-5-72-2; Amit Mishra 27.3-17-99-5; Parinder Sharma 6-2-9-0; Pankaj Thakur 37-6-88-1; Rajan Gupta 7-0-18-0; Sanjay Dalal 3-1-4-0. Haryana second innings Jatinder Singh c Kanwaljeet Singh b Surinder 8 Jasbir Singh b Abdul Qayoom 3 Rajan Gupta lbw Abdul Qayoom 13 Parinder Sharma c Mohd Aslam b Abdul Qayoom 16 Rajesh Puri c Vijay Sharma b Abdul Qayoom 15 Sanjay Dalal n-o 14 Amit Mishra c Mohd Aslam b Vijay Sharma 10 Ajay Ratra n-o 17 Extras: 4 Total 100 for four in 43 overs. Fall of wickets: 1-4; 2-16; 3-26; 4-45; 5-56; 6-67. Bowlings: Surinder Singh 10-5-12-1; Abdul Qayoom 13-4-35-4; Ashwani Gupta 8-2-32-0; Vijay Sharma 4-1-9-1; Jagtar Singh 5-2-9-0; Ajay Jadeja 2-1-1-0; Dhruv Mahajan 1-0-1-0. Umpires: Sukas Phadkar and R Subramanian. Scorer: Ashwani Sharma. |
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Discipline prevails in MA Stadium After the last two days mis-management of the crowd, the organisers today managed to control the unexpected huge crowd by arranging their sitting beyond the main pavilion. After a long time, tunnel gate was opened to pave way for the crowd on the open stadium. Ban on the entry of the general public from main entrance also helped both the teams to sit in the pavilion in a cordial atmosphere. When asked about the unrest during the first two days play, the organisers said that such a big crowd never came for the Ranji Trophy, so they had prepared themselves accordingly. "We will further improve the arrangements in the coming matches by taking up the matter of some loop holes with the State Sports Council, because the Stadium belonged to the Sports Council and not the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA)", said the joint secretary of JKCA, Mr Ashok Singh. To take the glimpse of their favourite cricketer, Ajay Jadeja, the fans still made attempts from the loop holes in the boundary wires to come closer to the entrance of dressing rooms. And at the end of the day, the situation once again turned bad as police was unable to control the crowd from sitting near the boundary line. |
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Science College beats
Bhaderwah by 7 wkts Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 1: The GGM Science College today defeated Degree College, Bhaderwah in the Inter-college Cricket Tournament which began at University of Jammu grounds, here today. Batting first, Degree College, Bhaderwah lost all the wickets for 117 runs in the 29.3 overs in 40 overs match. Fazal was the main scorer with 28 runs. Later, chasing the score, Science College reached the required target of 118 runs in 21.1 overs for the loss of three wickets. Shamsher Singh made unbeaten 23 runs, while Tahir contributed 24 runs to the total. However, extra 60 runs made the Science College target easy. On tomorrow, Degree College, Rajouri will take on Government Medical |
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