OLYMPICS Hockey India’s
crunch game against
Aussies today

SYDNEY, Sept 18: Much is at stake for eight time gold winners India as they take on 1999 champions trophy winner and hosts Australia for the.....more

Millet wins her heat
but fails to advance

SYDNEY, Sept 18: India’s slim hope in swimming, were completely washed out when Nisha Millet failed to qualify for the women’s 200 metres....more

Pullela Gopichand

OLYMPICS Badminton
Gopi wins opener,
but rest flounder

SYDNEY, Sept 18: Shuttler Pullela Gopichand cruised to a hard-earned second round win in men’s singles .....more

China pick up two
medals in shooting

SYDNEY, Sep 18 : China picked up gold and bronze medals in Olympic shooting today and looked set to add another in women’s weightlifting.....more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Sept 18: Semi-finals line-up has been drawn in the ongoing Rajinder Tickoo Memorial day-night Cricket Tournament which is being ..........more

Shahnawaz showing
interest in J&K
Kabaddi complex

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Sept 18: The Union Minister of State for Sports, Syed Shahnawaz Hussain has shown keen interest in the proposed indoor ....more

Arnia Club win
opening cricket tie

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Sept 18: Challenger Club, Arnia defeated Pasgal Cricket Club by seven runs in the inaugural match of the first Manohar Lal (Billa) Cricket Tournament which was declared open by Mr Basant Singh Saini ........more

Army school Nagrota
excels in national
competition

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Sept 18: The Army school Nagrota students excelled in the national level competition organised by the Bharatiya Manav.....more

OLYMPICS Hockey India’s crunch
game against Aussies today

SYDNEY, Sept 18: Much is at stake for eight time gold winners India as they take on 1999 champions trophy winner and hosts Australia for the crunch pool ‘B’ encounter in hockey at the 27th Olympiad here tomorrow.

It could be a nerve-wracking encounter as both the sides are on an even keel after victories over their respective rivals yesterday. The match could well chalk out the semifinal line-up as the defeated side will find it hard to finish second in the pool, needed to qualify for the grade. More than stickwork, it will be a battle of nerves.

India broke the jinx of losing the opening matches after 12 years in the Olympics with an emphatic 3-0 win over Argentina. The Australians also opened their campaign with a 4-0 win against Poland, but the victory did not look as convincing as that of India.

However, the Indians cannot afford to be complacent playing against the awesome Aussies, particularly before the home crowd. Australia have won every title except Olympics. Coached by veteran Terry Walsh, the hosts are determined to achieve the feat.

India had won the last Olympic hockey gold at the truncated Moscow games in 1980. After the team’s triumph at the last Asian Games, the Indian supporters will wait with bated breath for a repeat after two decades.

But the Indians are notorious for their inconsistency. "It has always been a case of sublime or ridicule as far as Indians are concerned. Some day they thrill with their classic display and put up a pathetic show later," said an hockey official adding "the Indians have to be consistent because a win will put them on the road to the semifinals."

The Australians, who have won the World Cup, the champions trophy and various other titles, have so far won three silver and two bronze medals in their nine Olympic appearances.

The last time India beat Australia (3-1) in Olympics was in 1972 at Munich. Against the Aussies, India suffered their biggest defeat 1-6 in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, 2-4 at 1984 Los Angeles games and 0-1 at Barcelona (1992). India have beaten Australia in the four-nation tourney here earlier this year, the only win against the rivals in recent years.

Coach V Bhaskaran was confident that his boys will rise to the occasion saying "we have crossed the first hurdle quite convincingly and the boys know that win against the Aussies will boost their chances of a medal."

The coach declined to disclose the strategy and said,"we will play according to the occasion." the Indians, especially the defence, will have to settle down quickly as the Aussies will not allow them so much time to get their act together.

Dinesh Nayak and Dilip Tirkey are confident as defenders and Jude Menezes was superb under the bar. But the Indians cannot afford to concede too many penalty corners as they did against Argentina. Australian veteran Jay Stacy is a penalty corner expert, who will try to convert as many as possible.

Captain Ramandeep Singh cannot continue as the third defender as it will put pressure on the half line against the formidable rivals.

Dhanraj Pillay as usual has been India’s spearhead. He, along with Mukesh Kumar, made some good moves in the opener but both tend to hold on to the ball a bit too long. There is no doubt that Indian attack will depend on the brillance of Pillay and if he gets the support from other forwards, it will be tough for the rivals.

Mohd. Riaz, Baljit Singh Saini and Thriumal Valavan have appeared good in the midfield but the aussies are a different class and the trio will have to work hard to control their aggressive moves.

The hosts have a very solid half line comprising Stephen Holt, Paul Gaudoin, Sproule and Brent Livermore. The attack will be charged up by 31-year-old deadly striker Stephen Davis and Michael Brennan. Davis has so far played 265 internationals while Brenan 95.

Jay Stacy, playing his fourth and last Olympics, is a penalty corner expert. Michael York, the captain could change the mode of the game at any moment.

As many as nine players of the 16 in each team are first time Olympians.

Coach Walsh said, "the team knows that it must play the final at the end of the tournament, not the beginning. We are eyeing the gold."

Since 1976, no single team has repeated a gold medal winning performance. The last six gold were won by New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Britain, Germany and Holland.

"It is a good omen. Going by the results of the past six Olympics, it will go to either Spain or Australia," said former Australian coach Richard Aggiss Jocularly.

Teams: India: Jude Menezes, Dilip Tirkey, Dinesh Nayak, Ramandeep Singh (captain), Mohd. Riaz, Thirumal Valavan, Baljit Singh Saini, Sameer Dad, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Mukesh Kumar, Dhanraj Pillay (Davesh Chauhan, Lajrus Barla, Gagan Ajit, Sukhbir Gill and Deepak Thakur). Australia : Damon Diletti, Michael York (captain), Paul Goudoin, Jason Duff, Daniel Sproule, Jay Stacy, Stephen Davis, Michael Brennan, Brent Livermore, James Elmer, Craig Victory, (Lachlan Dreher, Adam Commens, Elder Troy, Stephen Holt, Wells Mathew). (UNI)

Millet wins her heat but fails to advance

SYDNEY, Sept 18: India’s slim hope in swimming, were completely washed out when Nisha Millet failed to qualify for the women’s 200 metres free style event at the Sydney Aquatic Centre here today.

Millet earned the dubious distinction of winning her heats but still failing to qualify for the next round as her timing 2 minutes 08.89 seconds was nowhere near her best effort of 2:06.62 and ended up 37th in a field of 39.

Millet swam the first 50 metres in 30.16 seconds, 100m in 1:02.49 and 150m in 1:35.65 before completing the race in 2:08.89.

Millet’s compatriot, S Hakimuddin, the only other Indian swimmer, bowed out of competition yesterday, finishing 50th in the men’s 200m free style, clocking 1:58.35. (PTI)

OLYMPICS Badminton Gopi wins opener, but rest flounder

SYDNEY, Sept 18: Shuttler Pullela Gopichand cruised to a hard-earned second round win in men’s singles but his other Indian compatriots found themselves out of depth at the Olympic Games here today.

National champion Gopi, ranked tenth in the world and given a first round bye, carved out a 15-3 10-15 15-7 win over his Ukraine rival Vladislav Druzchenko in less than an hour to earn a third round clash against second seed Hendrawan of Indonesia.

Gopi began the match in great style by taking a commanding lead in the opening game and won it easily before the Ukrainian shuttler clawed his way back and took the second to restore parity.

The Indian champion got his act together in the decider and won it 15-7 in five minutes.

Gopi’s creditable first outing, however, was the lone silverlining on the otherwise gloomy scenario for India as teenaged rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra, champion frestyle woman swimmer Nisha Millet, weightlifting hope Sanamacha Chanu and paddlers Chetan Baboor and Poulomi Ghatak were left severely wanting.

Bindra, the 17-year-old and youngest shooter at the Olympics, narrowly failed to qualify for the 10 metre men’s air rifle final by one point and finished joint 11th with two others after tallying 590 out of 600 points. (PTI)

China pick up two medals in shooting

SYDNEY, Sep 18 : China picked up gold and bronze medals in Olympic shooting today and looked set to add another in women’s weightlifting.

Cai Yalin, a 23-year-old from Chengde in Hebei province, won the men’s 10 metre air rifle while Gaoe picked up a bronze in the women’s trap.

It was China’s second gold after Tao Luna won the women’s 10 metre air pistol.

Cai’s 696.4 points also broke the Olympic record of 695.7 set four years ago in Atlanta by Russia’s Artem Khadjibekov, who finished second this time ahead of compatriot Yevgeny Aleinikov.

China also won a Bronze in women’s trap, with Gao finishing behind winner Daina Gudzineviciute of Lithuania and France’s Delphine Racinet.

China also appeared on the verge of adding another gold in women’s weightlifting after Yang Xia took the lead in the 53 kg category by setting a world record with a 100.0 kg lift in the snatch competition. Lying second was Taiwan’s Li Feng-ying with a 97.5 kg.

Pakistan made a stunning turnaround from a limp opening 2-2 draw with Canada in the men’s hockey by thrashing Britain 8-1 to improve their chances of going through to the medal round.

Indonesia launched their Olympic campaign in earnest with their hopes for gold focused on Taufik Hidayat in men’s singles badminton and Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan in men’s doubles.

Gunawan and Wijaya beat 8-seeded Simon Archer and Nathan Robertson of Britain 15-13 15-11 in the quarter-finals, but two other Indonesian doubles teams went down.

The fourth seeds, Ha Tae-kwon and Kim Dong-moon of south Korea beat Ricky Ahmad Subagja and Rexy Ronald Mainaky, the gold medallists four years ago, 15-5 15-9.

And in a slight upset, Tan Fook Choong and Wan Wah Lee of Malaysia beat third-seeded Eng Hian Flandy Limpele of Indonesia 15-10 15-9.

World number one Hidayat was matched against Japan’s Hidetaka Yamada in his first match.

Indonesia also have the second seed in the men’s singles, Bendrawan. Marlev Mario Mainaky is the 8th seed, raising the possibility Indonesia could have a repeat of Barcelona in 1992 where it finished one-two in men’s singles.

Other Asian athletes were seeking to get back on track.

Lee Lai-shan, who won Hong Kong’s only Olympic gold medal four years ago, was looking to improve on a weak start to her windsurfing title defence.

Lee was in 6th place with 15 points after two races. There are 11 races, with the worst two scores thrown out.

Japan were seeking to add a swimming medal to their two judo golds, with Mai Nakamura, world short-course champion in 1999 and world long-course bronze medallist in 1998, expected to battle behind 16-year-old Diana Mocanu of Romania in women’s 100 metres backstroke final.

Nakamura’s team mate Noriko Inada could also be a factor.

But Singapore’s top swimmer Joscelin Yeo failed to qualify for the women’s 200 metre individual medley. Yeo may have been distracted because her brother was injured in a car accident in Singapore last Friday.(REUTERS)

Semis line-up drawn in Rajinder Memorial Cricket

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Sept 18: Semi-finals line-up has been drawn in the ongoing Rajinder Tickoo Memorial day-night Cricket Tournament which is being held at Paloura, here today.

In today’s quarter-finals, Baba Jamuna Dass Cricket Club and Sainik Colony Cricket Club sailed into the last four stage beating their rivals.

Now, in the semi-finals, Baba Jamuna Dass Cricket Club will take on Sainik Colony Cricket Club tomorrow and Karan Nagar Cricket Club will meet Karam Chand Cricket Club in the second semi-final.

Earlier, Baba Jamuna Dass Cricket Club (BJDCC) outplayed Junoon Cricket Club by five wickets. Batting first, Junoon Club scored 102 runs in the allotted 15 overs.

Vicky was the highest scorer with 37 runs off 40 balls with the help of one six and two boundaries. Imran contributed 15 off 11 balls including two sixes. For BJDCC Pummy took three wickets. While’s Titus, who bowled out two batsmen on two successive deliveries turned the match in favour of BJDCC.

In reply, BJDCC made good start, but fall of five wickets in a short span of 19 deliveries put pressure on the batsmen. However, responsible innings played Rajesh and Anil helped BJDCC to achieve target in 12.5 overs for the loss of five wickets. Anil scored 22 runs in 16 balls hitting two sixes and two fours, while Rajesh contributed 16 runs off 15 balls.

Pummy was declared as man of the match for his all round performance.

In another match, Sainik Colony Cricket Club (SCCC) defeated Suryavanshi (Jr) Cricket Club by five wickets.

Suryavanshi Club after winning the toss and opted to bat first bowled out for 81 runs in 14.3 overs. Gitty was the only batsman who could face the bowling attack of Sainik Colony and to score highest 22 runs. For SCCC, Nittu and Sameer took three and two wickets respectively.

Batting second, SCCC achieve the target in 14 overs for the loss of five wickets. Suryavanshi Club bowlers fought well, but a expensive over by Gitty, who gave away 15 runs proved costly for Sainik Colony batsmen. Sameer was the main scorer with 38 runs off 28 balls and included two sixes and four boundaries. While Prince added valuable 15 runs.

Sameer was given man of the match award for his all round show.

Today’s matches were officiated by Messrs Surinder Singh Shinda and Shafeek Ahmed Khan.