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Sydney olympics blowing SYDNEY, Oct 1: The Sydney Olympics drew to a close today, with the finish to the men’s marathon.......more India share 70th position with ten countries SYDNEY, Oct 1: The millennium’s first Olympic Games which came to a spectacular end this evening left India ruminating over the lone bronze and sharing the last position (70th) along with 10 other countries on the medal ....more Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 1: Jawahar Navodya Vidyalaya Nud in Samba organised Cluster level sports meet group-B games for girls in the events of Volleyball, Kho-Kho, Basketball and Kabaddi.....more Badminton players’ monthly competitions held Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 1: About fifty shuttlers took part in the monthly coaching cum competitions organised under the supervision of SAI....more |
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State circle Kabaddi teams qualify for National Games Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 1: The Jammu and Kashmir circle Kabaddi teams have qualified for the forthcoming National Games to be held in Punjab..........more Billiards, Snooker Asso elects new body Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 1: Jammu and Kashmir Billiards and Snooker Association today held its annual general body meeting which was presided over by K K Khosa. The house of 30-member quorum decided to.........more MAM clinches Inter-college Judo trophy in Men’s group Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 1: Government MAM College today bagged yet another trophy in the Judo event in the ongoing Inter-college competitions being held at...more HSS Reasi wins U-19 Excelsior Sports Correspondent UDHAMPUR, Oct 1: Higher Secondary School, Reasi lifted the under-19 year Cricket trophy beating Happy Model Higher Secondary School, Udhampur by four wickets at Government Degree College, here........more |
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Sydney olympics blowing toward a fabulous finish SYDNEY, Oct 1: The Sydney Olympics drew to a close today, with the finish to the men’s marathon set to unleash a spectacular closing ceremony and what is being billed as the biggest fireworks display ever. Weather forecasters predicted the gusty winds that were creating havoc at the last six Canoe/Kayak sprint finals would die down by evening, in time for the closing ceremony extravaganza and a mammoth fireworks display - unleashed by f11 fighter jets - at downtown Sydney. "We are expecting a fine night for the fireworks with moderate strength winds and pretty clear skies," a Weather Bureau spokesman said. In the meantime, however, Canoe/Kayak officials were starting to worry if their races could be run. "They’ll be wrapping it up today," Milton Cockburn, senior spokesman of Sydney Organizing Committee Socog said. "They’ve got to go todoy." But one attempt to get the racing underway on the wind whipped course ended abruptly when a support motor boat capsized and sank. The competitors trying to stay lined up for the start amid the waves duly paddled back to shore. Canoeing officials have again appealed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to consider putting off racing until Monday, or perhaps to run the races under floodlights tonight when the wind has dropped. The IOC was also dealing with another drug tempest today after an Armenian weightlifter and Norwegian wrestler failed dope tests. Armenian weightlifter Ashot Danielyan was stripped of his bronze medal won in the super heavyweight division after testing positive for steroids, International Olympic Committee Director-General Francois Carrard said. Norwegian wrestler Fritz Aanes, who came fourth in the 85 kg Greco Roman wrestling also failed a dope test, Carrard said A rash of further drugs cases announced in the build-up to the Olympics has ensured the doping issue has rarely been out of the spotlight in Sydney. However carrard rejected suggestions the Sydney Games would go down in history as the drugs Olympics. "These games are not `plagued’ by drugs," Carrard said "there have been eight in competition cases and one out of competition. "Taking into account that we’ve got some 11,000 athletes, you cannot say that we have been plagued by drugs," he said. The IOC and Sydney organisers were hoping the gusts would die down, inside and outside, by the time the first marathon finishers made their weary way into stadium Australia. In a break with tradition, the marathon was to start not in the morning but at 4:00 p.m. (1030 Ist), so that the finishers will be greeted by more than 100,000 spectators primed not only for a medal presentation but also for a massive going away party. The field of 90 marathoners includes several potential winners in a race that’s always hard to handicap, more so since it remained to be seen how the warmer afternoon temperatures would affect the competitors. Compatriots Abel Anton and Martin Fiz have said they plan to join forces in an effort to capture gold for Spain. "One of us must win in Sydney," Anton said. "From 35 or 40km, we’ll work together to help each other. As usual Kenya is a threat, with Eric Wainaga, Kennedy Cheruiyot and Elija Lagat in the field. Japan’s men will be trying to make it a Japanese double, after Naoko Takahashi’s triumph in the women’s marathon. "I cried as I watched the race over and over on television," said Nobuysuki Sato, who won the men’s Marathon bronze medal at the seville world championships last year. It has inspired me so much that I hope to go all the way myself." In all, 24 medals are on offer today, in sports including boxing, basketball, water polo, wrestling, modern pentathlon, show jumping, handball, volleyball and rhythmic gymnastics. The disappointing "dream team" of National Basketball Association stars tries to bring the United States its 13th olympic gold medal, and third in a row, in men’s basketball in a final against surprising France. The US men narrowly escaped against lithuania winning 85-83 after a last-second three-pointer miss by Sarunas Jasikievicius. France, the only team to qualify for the playoff round with a losing record, routed Canada and Australia to reach the final against the Americans, who defeated the French 106-94 in a qualifying-round game. Lithuania earned their third consecutive bronze medal with an 88-71 victory over Australia. (AFP) |
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India share 70th position with ten countries SYDNEY, Oct 1: The millennium’s first Olympic Games which came to a spectacular end this evening left India ruminating over the lone bronze and sharing the last position (70th) along with 10 other countries on the medal tally. Out of the 199 participating countries, 80 made it to the medal chart, topped by the United States with 39 gold, 25 silver and 33 bronze and followed by Russia (32g, 28s, 28b) and China (28g,16s, 15b) in the second and third spots. Even tiny countries like Italy (7th-13g, 8s, 13b), Cuba (9th-11g, 11s, 7b), Ethiopia (20th-4g, 1s, 3b) and Kenya (29th-2g, 3s, 2b) fared much better than the 70-odd strong Indian contingent which shouldered the aspirations of more than one billion people. The sporting facilities in India leave much to be desired, but certainly the Indians did not live up to the expectations and in a number of events they could not realise even their own potential. The Australian bureau of statistics, using a different yardstick which measured the number of medals on per capita basis, put India at the bottom pitting its lone bronze against a one billion people. Barbados with a bronze against a population of 2.7 lakh was placed at the top. In the hundred years of the games from Athens to Atlanta (1896-1996) and now Sydney, India have a measly total of 16 medals-eight gold, three silver and five bronze. The Indians came up with a token presence in most of the events here, the only exception being weightlifter Karnam Malleswari who picked up the lone medal for the country out of the more than 900 at stake and pugilist Gurcharan Singh whose hair-raising fight in boxing went in vain by a whisker. The main hopes for India, hockey team and tennis duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, did not quite come close to a medal. With a 3-1 win against Argentina in the hockey classification match, India finished seventh, barely one notch above their worst ever performance at Atlanta where they were relegated to the eighth spot. The Indians were most disappointing in the track and field events, considered the most glamorous at the Olympics. Only K M Beenamol salvaged some pride on the tracks running into the semifinals of 400 metres. She became the third Indian to reach an athletic semifinal after Shiny Wilson and Usha in 16 years. However, the Kerala woman ran much below her best to finish last in her semifinal in the company of eventual gold winner cathy freeman of Sustralia. In athletics, 4x400m women’s relay is one event in which India have reached an Olympic final in the past apart from P T Usha’s remarkable run in 400m hurdles in Los Angeles in 1984 where she missed the bronze by the hundredth fraction of a second. Malleswari put India on the medal map on the fourth day of 15-day competitions with a bronze in women’s 69 kg class and became the first ever Indian woman to claim individual Olympic honours and only the third since independence. Gurcharan was unfortunate to have missed his date with a medal which would have been the first for the country from the Olympic ring. He was leading 12-11 till five seconds from the bell in the quarterfinal bout in light heavyweight class before his Ukrainian rival Fredi Fedtchouk equalled the scores. On judges backcount, the Punjab pugilist was declared loser at 42-60. The hockey team flattered to deceive. India played well initially and kept themselves in medal contention less than two minutes from time in the last league encounter against Poland who finally spoiled the party with a late equaliser. India needed a win or at least a 2-2 draw to go to the semis and eventually Korea benefitted at their expense. A loss to Britain put them even out of the champions trophy. It is in hockey that India are credited with an Olympic record of maximum medals from a single event — eight gold, one silver and two bronze. The last medal ( gold) came twenty years back in Moscow before the Indians gradually slid to the abyss. In many ways, it was Atlanta revisited. Four years back, tennis ace Leander Paes got the sole bronze while the hockey team finished at the bottom (eighth). This time, Malleswari ensured that the contingent returns with at least one medal to boast of. At Atlanta, India shared the last spot (71st) on the medal table with eight other countries. The Indians had a strong medal hope in former world number one tennis pair of Peander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. But they faced the famed pair of Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge a bit too early and bowed out in the second round. Leander was a poor shadow of his ‘Atlanta’ self and was swamped by Sweden’s Mikael Tillstrom in the singles. Shooter Anjali Vedpathak came up with a creditable performance becoming the first Indian to reach an Olympic shooting final when she shot her way into the grade in the 10m air rifle event. However, she finished last among the eight finalists. In the men’s section, Anwar Sultan shot wide off the mark. India had little expectations from its largest ever athletic squad at the games. But Beenamol’s performance came surely as a consolation, especially as others failed to come anywhere near even their personal marks, much to the bewilderment of the accompanying coaches and officials. Throwers Shakti Singh and Bahadur Singh (shot put) and Jagdish Bishnoi (javelin) were eliminated even without a whimper. Shakti, the silver medallist at the recent Asian championships at Jakarta, and Bahadur were were heaving over twenty metres in training till two days before the games. But at the crunch time, Shakti’s best throw measured a poor 18.40 metres while Bahadur was a shade better at 18.70 metres. Bishnoi, Asian champion with 79.67 metres, managed only 70.86 metres. Quartermiler Paramjit Singh, who had broken ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh’s record (45.60), clocked 46.64 seconds against his personal best of 45.56. Besides Malleswari, the other lifters could not match the prowess of their competitors. In the 53 kg, Sanamacha Chanu, winner of all three gold medals in the recent Asian championship, failed to lift herself anywhere near the medal count while in the men’s section, T M Muthu was listless. Jitender Kumar was the only boxer besides Gurcharan to record a win here. Asian Games gold medallist Dingko Singh was far below his best and bowed in the second round after a first round bye. S Suresh lost his very first fight. In badmintion, national champion Pulella Gopi Chand was overwhelmed in the pre-quarterfinals by world number two hendrawan of Indonesia. On the distaff side, Aparna Popat went down fighting against Kelly Morgan of Wales in her very first match. It was a repeat story in table tennis with Chetan Baboor and Raman Subramanyan who went down tamely. The swimmers (Hakimuddin and Nisha Millet) and rowers (Kasam Khan and Inderpal Singh) sank without any trace while Imtiaz Anees, a late entrant in the equestrian event, also finished at the bottom. (UNI) |
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Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 1: Jawahar Navodya Vidyalaya Nud in Samba organised Cluster level sports meet group-B games for girls in the events of Volleyball, Kho-Kho, Basketball and Kabaddi. Nine KVs of Chandigarh region participated in the games with full sportsman spirit and enthusiasm. After the competition of the competitions, five students from each game were selected for the regional level games to be held in Maseetan in Punjab. They included Indu Bala (Volleyball), Swati and Bharati (Kho-Kho), Bablu and Anita (Basketball). Mrs Anila Singh distributed prizes among the winners, while Mr S Jamwal, Treasury Officer, Samba presided over the function. He appreciated the Principal for hosting such a big event in the school. Vote of thanks was presented by Mr Rakesh Singh, TGT (Science). Earlier, the two-day meet was declared open by the Director School Education, Mr Suresh Kumar and Mrs Zahida Khan, Deputy Secretary, Personnel. They were welcomed by the Principal of the host school, Mrs Anila Singh Charak. The Director recalled his days when he was the chairman of the Vidyalaya during 1996-97 and stated that now the whole scenario has been changed and the golden dreams of the late Prime Minsiter, Rajiv Gandhi seems to be fulfulled. |
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Badminton players’ monthly competitions held Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 1: About fifty shuttlers took part in the monthly coaching cum competitions organised under the supervision of SAI coach, Mr Sat Pal Sharma at Indoor Complex, M A Stadium, here. The competitions were organised to improve the standard of play of those getting regular training at the only indoor complex in the Jammu Province. In these competitions, Avnish Sharma defeated Gurvinder Singh 15-9, 15-3 in Men’s group. In the Junior girls singles, State champion, Smarika Manhas beat Madhvi Jolly 11-5, 12-15, 15-12. Arunav Gupta was winner in Junior boys who beat Abhishake 15-13, 12-15, 15-12 and in Sub-junior boys singles, Divay Manhas beat Vipul Saini 15-13, 12-15, 15-11. In the Mini-boys singles, Varun Saini beat Alok in easy straight sets of 15-3, 15-1 and in Mini girls group, Bhumika beat Umang easily 11-2, 11-0. Prof Devender Sharma, who was chief guest in the finals, gave away prizes to the winners. Others, who were present included the office bearers of the Jammu City and District Badminton Association, namely Dr Pradip Sankhyadhar, Mr Ashish Sharma, Mr Arvind Dogra and Mr Ved Saini. When contacted the coach Sat Pal Sharma, he said, "in absence of the regular competitions, the state shutters always remained behind their opponents from other states. So we have made an attempt to overcome and identify the reasons for their being incompetent against the states like Delhi and Maharashtra". Earlier, the state players used to compete only in the calender tournaments of the Association. But from the last couple of years the competitions have gradually been increased, but with this monthly coaching cum competition strategy, the trainees at the MA Stadium will definitely gain, he further said. |
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State circle Kabaddi teams qualify for National Games Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 1: The Jammu and Kashmir circle Kabaddi teams have qualified for the forthcoming National Games to be held in Punjab. This was stated by Mr Kuldeep Kumar Gupta, who is general of the Jammu and Kashmir Amateur Kabaddi Association, here today. State’s entry into the qualified teams was made after witnessing its performance in the 2nd Circle Style Senior National Kabaddi Championship which held at Rampura Phul, Bhatinda in Punjab, recently. J&K has fielded its both the teams in this championship which was organised by the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India. In the Men’s qualifying rounds, J&K defeated Himachal Pradesh 48-40; Rajasthan 57-45 and Maharashtra 56-45. But in the quarterfinal rounds, state team lost to host Chandigarh by eight points. Whereas, in the Women’s section, the state did equally well. They defeated Haryana 33-25, Delhi 39-23 and Gujarat 57-32. But again lost to Chandigarh 28-57, followed by another defeat in the hands of Himachal Pradesh. The circle Kabaddi is a new event for the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a game of teams but played one to one, while in the normal Kabaddi it a team which played against a team, informed Mr Gupta. |
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Billiards, Snooker Asso elects new body Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 1: Jammu and Kashmir Billiards and Snooker Association today held its annual general body meeting which was presided over by K K Khosa. The house of 30-member quorum decided to elect the office bearers of the Association for a term of four years . Sports Council observer, Som Raj Gupta also attended the meeting. It was decided that Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah will continue to be the chief patron of the Association. Sidharath Sharma was unanimously elected as the president of the J&K Billiards and Snooker Association. While G N Tantri will be the vice president of the Association from Kashmir, Kamal Rohmetra was elected as vice president from Jammu province. The meeting elected Sanjeev Gupta as general secretary. Mushtaq Ahmad and Vishal Abrol were elected as joint secretaries from Kashmir and Jammu provinces respectively. Rajesh Sharma was made the treasurer of the Association. Rajbir Singh, Ajay Sharma and Varjinder Sharma were elected as executive members from Jammu. Similarly, Mushtaq Ahmad Qureshi, Riyaz Ahmad Khan, Abid Keen, Abdul Qayoom, S A Hamid and G R Beig will be the executive members from Kashmir province. The meeting elected the outgoing president K K Khosa and vice president Gautam Lakra as patrons. Later, after the annual general body meeting , the newly elected office bearers held a meeting , wherein it was decided to hold 10th District Billiards and Snooker championship from October 12. It was also decided to hold 10th State championship from November 10. The meeting also discussed means and ways to promote the game in the State. |
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MAM clinches Inter-college Judo trophy in Men’s group Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 1: Government MAM College today bagged yet another trophy in the Judo event in the ongoing Inter-college competitions being held at Gymnasium Halls, University of Jammu, here. The MAM College secured 13 points to take away over all trophy, while GGM Science College finished runners-up with 19 points in its tally. Third position went to Degree College, Kathua with 14 points and Degree College, Udhampur lacked behind by just point to Kathua to finish fourth in the medals tally. Messrs Arshi Nad, Rozy Jamwal, Vikas Dogra and Bansi Lal officiated the fights. Vikas Dogra also acted as technical official. Suraj Sharma and Pankaj Sharma were scorers, while Shashi and Rohit Gupta were time-keepers. The Inter-college competitions are being held under the supervision of Mr M M Sharma, Assistant Director, Department of Physical Education, University of Jammu. Detailed results Below 50 kg: Rahul Sharma of GGM Science College, Ist; Sansar of Degree College, Udhampur, 2nd and Dharwari Lal of MAM finished. Below 55 kg: Sohan Singh of Science College, Ist; Ashok Kumar of Degree College, Kathua, 2nd and Tara Singh of MAM, third. Below 60 kg: Krishan Singh of Degree College, Kathua, Ist; Hardip Malhotra of MAM, 2nd and Amar Singh of Degree College, Udhampur, third. Below 65 kg: Bikram Krishan of MAM, Ist; Ajay Kumar of Degree College, Kathua, 2nd and Sunil Manhas of Science College, third. Below 71 kg: Kuljeet Singh of PG Department, Ist; Ashok Kumar of Degree College, Udhampur, 2nd and Gulzar Ahmed of Degree College, Kathua, third. Below 78 kg: Vinod Vaid, Ist. Below 86 kg: Ravinder Sharma of Science College, Ist; Sunil Sharma of MAM, 2nd and Shindhu Sharma of Degree College, Kathua, third. Open + 86 kg: Sarabjeet Singh of MAM, Ist and Udhaybir Singh of Science College, 2nd. |
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HSS Reasi wins U-19 boys Cricket tourney Excelsior Sports Correspondent UDHAMPUR, Oct 1: Higher Secondary School, Reasi lifted the under-19 year Cricket trophy beating Happy Model Higher Secondary School, Udhampur by four wickets at Government Degree College, here. Batting first after winning the toss, Happy Model decided to bat and scored 117 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted 25 overs. Happy model chased the target in the 23rd overs. Akhil was the top scorer from Happy Model with 30 runs on the board, while Ashfaq Shah contributed 28 runs and Atif Malik added 15. For HSS Reasi, Naseer and Neeraj took two wickets each, while Rajeev, Nitin and Shanu shared one each. From HSS Reasi, Aijaz Malik hit a splendid knock of 44 runs which helping his side to reach the required total easily. Neeraj too played nice innings and added valuable 24 runs. For Happy Model, Atif, Arun, Akshay and Kunal shared one wicket each. Mr Aijaz Malik of HSS Reasi was declared as the man of the match. Mr Ashok Kumar, District Youth Services and Sports Officer was the chief guest, who also gave away winners and runners-up trophies. Mrs Krishna Gupta, Principal Girls Higher Secondary School, Udhampur presided over the function, while Mr Yashpal Sharma, Deputy Superintendent, District Hospital Udhampur were the guest of honour on the occasion. They also distributed individual prizes among the participants. On the occasion, prizes were also distributed among the winners of the other cricket tournaments which held in other age groups this month. Prominent among those present in the prize distribution function included Messrs Sham Sawroop, Pardeep Chopra, Ravi Vasandi, Sita Ram, Sunil Sharma, Vikram Slathia, Jyoti Kumar and Pawan Kumar. The tournament was organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports. |
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