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Martin wins
to reach NEW YORK, Sept 8: Nothing comes easy for Todd Martin. Two sets down one night, two sets up another, Martin lurched......more
India will win gold NEW DELHI, Sept 8: It’s a gesture which will go a long way in boosting the morale of the Indian athletes participating in Sydney Olympics held between ......more Manisha rolls on into NEW DELHI, Sept 8: Top seeded Manisha Malhotra pounded three aces to show a remarkable .......more Inter-KV
Regional Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 8: The Inter-KV Regional Kabaddi meet will be declared open tomorrow at KV Miran Sahib tomorrow at 9.30 am by .......more |
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HSS Nowshera lifts AP Singh Memorial Volleyball trophy Excelsior Sports Correspondent RAJOURI, Sept 8: Higher Secondary School, Nowshera lifted the first A P Singh Memorial Volleyball Championship............more All
India Police Football Champ Excelsior Sports Correspondent SRINAGAR, Sept 8: In the ongoing All India Police Football Championship..........more Inter-zonal
competitions of Jammu distt Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 8: Samba zone girls have entered the finals of Kabaddi and Kho-Kho finals in the under-19 .........more Rajinder
Tickoo Memorial day-night Cricket Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 8: Suryavanshi (Jr) Cricket Club, Nightstar Cricket Club and Aap Shambu Cricket Club won .......more |
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Martin wins to reach SFs against Safin NEW YORK, Sept 8: Nothing comes easy for Todd Martin. Two sets down one night, two sets up another, Martin lurched into the US Open semifinals last night with a ragged 6-4 6-4 3-6 7-5 victory over Thomas Johansson. There was no victory lap this time, no high-fives with fans, no reason to feel wonderful about a match that he almost let slip away. Martin, the runner-up last year, looked nearly as exhausted after this triumph as he did after a five-set win two nights earlier over Carlos Moya. Now he has to wonder if he will have anything left in the semis against young Marat Safin. "I’d like to walk off the court without holes in me," he said, referring to Safin’s huge serves. Martin worried that he might not have any energy against Johansson after playing 4 hours, 17 minutes against Moya. "I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to get going in the first place," Martin said. "The energy from the crowd really helped. I made a couple of good plays at crucial times in the fourth and that raised my energy." Down a break at 2-4 in the fourth set, Martin steadied himself and let Johansson spray errors to give up the lead. Martin broke back to 4-4, then broke again in the final game to close it out. It wasn’t pretty, but it was good enough to satisfy Martin. "I think the uglier the tennis, typically the better tennis player wins," Martin said. Like the Gangly young Pete Sampras who won his first US Open with raw power a decade ago, Safin is a player everyone in tennis has seen coming and has been waiting to see mature into a champion. That moment might be coming soon. Safin showed off his many-splendored talents - 135 mph serves, crushing groundstrokes, a wall-climbing retrieval of a overhead - during the afternoon to reach the semis in a performance reminiscent of Sampras at 19. Infamous already for breaking more rackets than anyone else, the 20-year-old Russian kept his temper in check and his errors down as he beat Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-3. In advancing to a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time, the no 6 Safin gave the open crowd a glimpse of what all the excitement has been about among those who have watched him over the past few years. No one else among the new generation of players seeking to take over from the likes of Sampras and Andre Agassi and Patrick Rafter possesses the combination of serving and groundstroke power, coupled with size and athleticism that the 6-foot-4 Safin has. Those were all on display against the 14th-seeded Kiefer, especially in key moments when the momentum the match shifted. Down 3-2 in the third-set tiebreaker, Safin drilled a pair of 130 mph service winners, then picked up the decisive minibreak with a two-fisted backhand that Kiefer netted. (AFP) |
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India will win gold in hockey: Gill NEW DELHI, Sept 8: It’s a gesture which will go a long way in boosting the morale of the Indian athletes participating in Sydney Olympics held between September 15 and October 1. The athletes, leaving the Indian shores on the night of September 9, were exhorted to do well against the host country by none other than Australian High Commissioner to India Rob Laurie here last night. In a dinner hosted by him to honour the athletes at the Australian High Commission here, Mr Laurie said "I wish all of you to do well. I am deeply impressed by the performance of the athletes. Try to give your personal best and win laurels for your country." "In sports winning or losing does not matter. But my country should be proud to have you all at Sydney. Enjoy your game," he added. Almost all the athletes, selected for the games along with their coaches and other officials received encouraging words and later a sumptous dinner. Indian Hockey Federation president KPS Gill, who was present on the occasion, expressed his happiness over the performance of the hockey team. "We are confident of winning the gold. Our preparation, training and hard work will bear result." Another sports official said, "if we reach the semi-final stage then we will win a gold." With Dhanraj Pillay and Mukesh Kumar, the most experienced duo, will give their best as this is going to be their last Olympics. Moreover they are in best form and raring to go for the hits. The 4x400 relay team - Lijo David, P Ramachandran, Manoj Lal K J , Paramjit Singh, which won a silver in the Jakarta track and field meet said they would do much better in Sydney. "Our first aim is to beat Sri Lanka, which snatched gold in Jakarta. We will give our personal best." An official of the Table Tennis Federation said, "we pin our hopes in Chetan, who had beaten the world number one six months back. He has prepared well and hope to be in semi final." Sprinter Rachita Mishtry, who won a bronze in Jakarta, said she would give her best and hope to break into the final round. "I have already bettered P T Usha’s record of 11.39 by clocking 11.26 and hope to do well in a competitive atmosphere." (UNI) |
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Manisha rolls on into second straight final NEW DELHI, Sept 8: Top seeded Manisha Malhotra pounded three aces to show a remarkable improvement in her services in demolishing the fourth seed Taiwanese Wang i-Ting for a place in the final of the ITF Women’s Circuit Tennis Tournament here today. Manisha, runner-up in the first leg at Jaipur, played a power-packed match against Wang to win 6-4 6-2 in an hour and 25 minutes. The India number two faces the Czech Republic’s Veronika Raimrova in tomorrow’s final at the DLTA Deco courts here. Veronika scored a thrilling three-set win over seventh seed Suchanan Viratpresert of Thailand. Veronika won the second semifinal 4-6 7-6 (9/7) 6-1. Both Manisha and Wang played attacking game and tried to overpower each other. Though Wang broke Manisha in the opening game of the first set, the Southpaw could not take control of the proceedings. She dropped her fourth and tenth games as Manisha took the first set 6-4. Manisha’s all the aces came in the first set while Wang answered with just one. Manisha dominated the second set breaking her opponent in the fourth, sixth and eighth games with blistering down the line returns and some delightful passing winners for an easy 6-4 6-2 victory. The Taiwanese was also disturbed by long rallies she got engaged in with Manisha in the second set. Wang could not sustain the pressure and gave up. The second semifinal between Veronika and Suchanan went on an expected line as they took the encounter to the distance. Veronika and Suchanan were sensational, as both, known for their baseline game, played long rallies. The Thai girl looked to threaten the Czech opponent by taking the first set 6-4, but the strongly-built European quickly changed her strategy and recovered her composure. Veronika gave a tough fight to her worthy opponent in the second set keeping Suchanan guessing all the time. Both the players traded serves thrice as the set petered into the tie-breaker. The two played exceedingly well in the tie-breaker also, but in the end it was Raimrova who prevailed winning it 9-7 to take the match into third set. The decider was entirely dominated by the Czech girl as she won it 6-1 making a dramatic entry into the final. After tomorrow’s final, third leg of the circuit will start in Bangalore on Monday.(PTI) |
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Inter-KV Regional Kabaddi meet begins today Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 8: The Inter-KV Regional Kabaddi meet will be declared open tomorrow at KV Miran Sahib tomorrow at 9.30 am by Brig. Bhagwan Singh, Commander 162 Inf. Brigade, who is the chief guest in the inaugural function. The final of the meet in which over 400 students drawn from over 30 schools will be played on September 12. This is for the time that KV Miran Sahib is hosting the Inter-KV Regional level meet. |
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HSS Nowshera lifts AP Singh Memorial Volleyball trophy Excelsior Sports Correspondent RAJOURI, Sept 8: Higher Secondary School, Nowshera lifted the first A P Singh Memorial Volleyball Championship trophy beating Pintoo Club, Rajouri 3-2 in the interesting final which played here. Earlier, in the best of five sets final, Pintoo Club was leading with two sets, but HSS Nowshera fought back strongly and won the remaining three sets to claim the winners trophy. Although, Pintoo Club played good game in the deciding fifth set, but a superb combination of drops and smashes by Permanand and Vikram foiled their attempts won the set 15-12. The final score: 25-21, 25-21, 25-20, 25-18, 15-12. Before the start of the final, two minutes silence was also observed by the finalist teams and officials and organisers to pay homage to late A P Singh in whose memory the championship was organised by the Indian Youth Organisation (Rural) in collaboration with the District Youth Services and Sports Office, Rajouri. Mr S P Bhardwaj, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri, who was the chief guest in the final, gave away prizes to the winners and runners-up teams. Speaking on the occasion, he complemented the Indian Youth Organisation for organising the tournament and said that the other NGOs should also come forward for organising such events. Mr Mahesh Bali, president, Indian Youth Organisation (Rural) presented vote of thanks and said that his organisation will start Bal Bhawan for the exploitation of talent of the young and energetic youth. He also informed that he will also organise an Inter-club cricket tournament at Nonyal in the month of November. Prominent among those present on the occasion included Messrs Mohan Lal, DySP, R P Damral, president Citizens Council, Nowshera, Ved Parkash Gupta, ex-president, S D Sabha, Nowshera, Tara Chand, general secretary BCCI, Nowshera, R K Gupta, Suresh Sharma, Bashir Bhat, Bahadur Singh Choudhary, Sita Ram, M R Choudhary and Ravi Kant. |
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All India Police
Football Champ Excelsior Sports Correspondent SRINAGAR, Sept 8: In the ongoing All India Police Football Championship at two different venues, here, the league match between RPF and Uttar Pradesh Police ended in a goalless draw. In the second league match, Orissa defeated Haryana by four goals to two at Bakshi Stadium. Both the teams played a nice game, but a good team work of Orissa created an edge over Haryana. CRPF after losing their tie yesterday compensated the loss by outplayed Nagaland by two goals. Mushtaq Ali again proved his mettle by scoring both the goals in the first half of the match. In another scheduled match of the day, SSB awarded walkover when Kerala team failed to turn up. Manipur also won its tie beating Karanata 2-0 at Amar Singh College, yesterday evening. In another yesterday match, Assam beat Uttar Pradesh by a solitary goal. Meanwhile, SSB, Assam, RPF and Uttar Pradesh have completed their league match. SSB is leading with nine points, while Assam and UP has six and one point respectively in the first league round. Tomorrow’s fixture: Chandigarh V/s Haryana at 9 am; Delhi V/s Tripura at 2 pm and CISF V/s Manipur at 4 pm will be played at Bakshi Stadium), while the matches between J&K Police V/s MP at 9 am; Rajasthan V/s Maharashtra at 2 pm and Karnataka V/s Assam Rifles at 4 pm will be played at Amar Singh College. |
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Inter-zonal
competitions of Jammu distt Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 8: Samba zone girls have entered the finals of Kabaddi and Kho-Kho finals in the under-19 yrs group in the ongoing Inter-zonal competitions of Jammu district being played at Government Girls High School, Gandhi Nagar, here today. In Kho-Kho semi-finals Samba zone defeated Jammu zone by an inning and nine points. Now, in the final, Samba zone will take on Domana zone tomorrow. Earlier, Domana zone defeated Akhnoor zone by an inning and eight points in the semis to reach the final. In the Kabaddi U-19 quarters, Jammu zone had outplayed RS Pura zone by an inning and 11 points. Samba zone has also qualified the final of Kabaddi under-19 years. In the semi-finals, they defeated Ramgarh zone by 24 points. In Kabaddi under-19 yrs, Akhnoor zone will take on Ramgarh zone in the final tomorrow. Earlier, in the first semi-final, Akhnoor beat Bishnah zone by 10 points, while Ramgarh beat Khour zone by 11 points in the second semi-final of the day. In Volleyball U-19 years, R S Pura outplayed Jammu zone in straight sets of 25-15, 25-11. With the end of the second day events, the Jammu zone girls have little chances to win any of the event in the Inter-zonal are bleak. The competitions are being organised by the District Youth Services and Sports Department, Jammu. |
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Rajinder Tickoo
Memorial day-night Cricket Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 8: Suryavanshi (Jr) Cricket Club, Nightstar Cricket Club and Aap Shambu Cricket Club won respective matches and entered the pre-quarter final stage of the ongoing Rajinder Tickoo Memorial day-night Cricket Tournament being played here. In the first match, Suryavanshi (Jr) Cricket Club (SCC) defeated Shiva (Sr) Cricket Club by 23 runs. Batting first, SCC made 110 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted 15 overs. Narotam was the top scorer with 43 runs made with the help of five sixes. In reply, Shiva Club surrendered to the fine bowling by SCC bowlers and the whole side was bowled out for 87 in the 13th over. Narotam claimed three wicket for SCC and was declared as man of the match. Second match was won by Nightstar Cricket Club (NCC), who outplayed Doctor Manzoor Club (DMC) by two wickets. Batting first, DMC set a target of 71 runs which was chased by NCC losing eight wickets in 14 overs. Vishal (Sr) was adjudged as man of the match. In the third match, Aap Shambu Cricket Club (ASCC) beat YSCC by 12 runs. Batting first, ASCC made 88 runs losing all the wickets. Ajay Manhas made brilliant 47 runs and included one six and four boundaries. For YSCC, Sunil claimed five wickets. Batting second, YSCC could score 76 runs for the loss of five wickets in the allotted 15 overs. Ajay Manhas was declared as man of the match for his batting performance. In the rain effected match, Combine Cricket Club emerged winner by three wickets beating Best Eleven. Messrs Rajesh, Ninda, Rajiv, Surinder and Dhavinder officiated today’s matches. Next matches: Junoon Cricket Club V/s Luxmi Cricket Club; Nice Cricket Club V/s Rahul Cricket Club; Sanjay Cricket Club V/s Kashyap Club. |
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