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Anand
leads with NEW DELHI, Aug 19: The king of speed chess, Viswanathan Anand scored a flawless five out of five on the first day.......more Schalken
upsets WASHINGTON D.C, Aug 19: Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands shocked top seed Andre Agassi 3-6 6-4 6-4 in the ..........more Williams
to meet TORONTO, (Canada), Aug 19: American Serena Williams outslugged Monica Seles 7-5 7-6 (7-5) in a thrilling, hard-hitting semifinal in......more Robin
Singh hoping JAIPUR, Aug 19: All-rounder Robin Singh today rejected reports that he was planning to retire from international cricket and said he was perfectly fit......more |
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Vishal Abrol makes
highest break Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Aug 19: Top seed Kamal Rohmetra and Sanjeev Gupta continued their winning spree to maintain.........more I-Day
cultural show at Srinagar Excelsior Correspondent SRINAGAR, Aug 19: The Information Department this evening presented a colourful variety programme at the Tagore Hall as part of Independence Day celebrations. .........more Major
Ajay Singh Jasrotia Memorial Cricket Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Aug 19: National Institution of Sports (NIS) cricket club defeated Toph Sherkhania Cricket Club by a margin of 60 runs in the 3rd Major Ajay ......more Annual
Sports Meet Excelsior Correspondent AKHNOOR, Aug 19: Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1 Akhnoor celebrated its annual Sports Day on August 17 and 18. ....more |
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Anand leads with perfect result after first day NEW DELHI, Aug 19: The king of speed chess, Viswanathan Anand scored a flawless five out of five on the first day of the two-day rapid event at the Villarobledo International Open Tournament last night. Anand, a brand Ambassador of the Indian IT giant, NIIT, shared the top spot with Yugoslav player, Ljubomir Ljubojevic, who also had a similar score of five out of five. The two-day event in Villarrobeldo, which carries a total prize purse of three million Pesetas (approx 16,500 dollars), has attracted some 30-odd Grandmasters and International Masters in a field of more than 180 players. Four more rounds will be played on the second day. Five players with 4.5 points each are in the shared third place, and this bunch includes Alexei Shirov of Spain, whom Anand beat in the Fide World Championships final last year. The other four with 4.5 points are GM Francisco Valleja (Spain), GM Miaden Palace (Croatia), GM Bojan Kurajica (Bosnia) and IM Michael Oratovsky (Israel). Another bunch of 15 players have four points each and this bunch includes Georgian Elizbar Ubilava, who has been Anand’s second for the past six years, Slovenian GM Alexander Beliavsky and Swiss GM Vadim Milov. Interestingly, the draw saw Anand clash with Ubilava in his fifth round and the Indian duly won in 36 moves after a rather irregular opening. In his opening round, the top seeded Indian beat untitled Gabriel Fernandez and then in the second, Anand beat Fide Master Daniel Barria with black pieces. The third round saw Anand score another fluent win with white pieces against Oscar De La Riva. In the fourth round, Anand with black scored a full point against Swedish GM Evgenij Agrest. In the fifth round, Anand rounded off the day with a good win over Ubilava, the niit-sponsored Anand has twice before this Villarrobledo event in 1996 and 1998. (UNI) |
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Schalken upsets Agassi to advance to Washington final WASHINGTON D.C, Aug 19: Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands shocked top seed Andre Agassi 3-6 6-4 6-4 in the semifinals of the Washington Classic. Agassi got out to a fast start, racing to 5-1 lead in the first, before claiming the set 6-3 yesterday. However in the second set he seemed to noticeably tire, making three errors in the 10th game to allow Schalken back into the match. Both players then held serve throughout the third set before the 10th game when Schalken took a 0-15 lead on a forehand winner before Agassi made two errors and double faulted to lose the match. It was 10th-seeded Schalken’s first victory in six tries over Agassi, who is ranked number two in the world. On Friday, Schalken said he’d be surprised to pull out a win against Agassi because "he always has a sixth gear against me that I can never find." However Agassi said he never quite found that gear yesterday. "There was a gear for me to shift to that I was kind of grinding in," Agassi said. "I just never got to that next step. I’ve always had to find that extra level of tennis to put him away. The guy has a real nice game." Agassi, a five-time champion at the event, said he was disappointed not to make the final and take on up-and-coming American Andy Roddick. "I would have loved to be in the finals against Andy but Sjeng is more deserving," he said. "It will be interesting to see how it plays out." (REUTERS) |
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Williams to meet Capriati in Canada final TORONTO, (Canada), Aug 19: American Serena Williams outslugged Monica Seles 7-5 7-6 (7-5) in a thrilling, hard-hitting semifinal in the Canadian Open yesterday. The number-four seeded Williams will now meet Jennifer Capriati in the final after the top seed outlasted 14th-seed Anke Huber of Germany 6-3 3-6 6-3 in an earlier semifinal. Williams, who held six match points before eventually losing to seles in Los Angeles last week, watched Seles fight off another six match points (three in the second-set tiebreaker) before she eventually ran out the winner. "I think I was more ready this week and I was more focused and a little more prepared," said Williams. Seles admitted after that she was feeling fatigue from having played in four straight tournaments. The American pulled out of the new haven tournament next week and will rest in Florida instead before going to the U S Open, which begins on August 27. "She really wanted to win tonight and Serena played a fantastic match," said Seles, a four-time winner of this tournament. Capriati, who won the Canadian title in 1991, looked to be running away with her match but huber forced the American into some long, punishing rallies that seemed to sap the strength of the two-time Grand Slam champion. "I was tired from having played two matches yesterday (because of rain delays on Thursday)," said Capriati. "I had to work hard out there. I had to do a lot of running side to side." In her game against huber, Capriati used three service breaks to race to a 6-3 first-set victory after 34 minutes and was up 2-0 in the second set when Huber began her comeback. The 26-year-old German, changing the pace and upsetting the rhythm of Capriati, reeled off five straight games and scored some key points off drop shots as she brought Capriati in to the net. In the third set, Capriati regained the momentum and broke huber early to go up 2-0. The world’s no.3-ranked player, who will have the no.2 seed at next week’s U S Open, stretched her lead to 3-0 with an ace. Huber fought back to 3-3, but errors started creeping into her game and Capriati broke in the eighth game to go up 5-3 before serving out the game. After the winning point, Capriati looked over at her father, Stefano, and he raised a left fist to congratulate her as a crowd of 10,000 applauded. Huber said there was little she could do to reverse her losing record against Capriati, who took a 5-1 lifetime record against huber into the match. "She’s more consistent and more powerful than before," said Huber. (REUTERS) |
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Robin Singh hoping for a comeback JAIPUR, Aug 19: All-rounder Robin Singh today rejected reports that he was planning to retire from international cricket and said he was perfectly fit and raring to make a comeback. "I have no immediate plans for retirement...I am fit enough and hoping for a comeback," Robin Singh told PTI here. Selectors, of late, have refuted his claims for a place in the national side on grounds that he is well past his prime and youngsters must be given a chance. Robin Singh said though many youngsters had been tried recently, they had failed to perform consistently. "Youngsters have been tried recently but they have not been consistent. There have only been a few good scores by them," the 38-year-old said. "May be the yougsters got their places in Indian team easily and did not have to work hard for it and that is why they look complacent," he added. He said India’s dismal performance against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka showed that the players were "lacking in application". "Against the much stronger Australians, the Indians had shown much better application but recently their approach has not been positive. "May be when our players go abroad the failures of the past haunt and they come under pressure and commit mistakes. There should be a more positive approach," the cricketer said. The unassuming player regretted his omission from the national squad and said: "sometimes I feel opinions are made before hand. Players are labelled and treated accordingly. Why bother about the age if a player is performing. Merit alone should be the criteria for selection". Brushing aside his disappointment, Robin Singh said he failed to understand how the team could lack in motivation. "Playing for your country is the biggest motivation. Earlier, cricketers were getting peanuts but now they get so much money and fame and playing for the country is an honour in itself". Robin Singh, who has to his credit many a match-winning performance, said the players should be made to earn their places in the side in order to make themselves mentally tough. "The players should be made to earn their places in the Indian side. Let them compete for a place in the team and if they go through the hard way then strength and toughness will come automatically. But they also need to apply themselves. It is a long process and it comes through struggle," he said. On the spate of injuries to players, Robin Singh said, "you should know your own body. I am fit because I worked hard and knew the requirements of my body. You have to work hard for fitness and harder to maintain it". He refused to put the blame for failures of the team on skipper Saurav Ganguly and said "he may be in bad form but it is a collective game and every body has a responsibility". He admitted that the team was over-dependent on star batsman Sachin Tendulkar. "Sachin’s absence should not be an excuse because all teams have to go without their star players at some time or the other. Those who are playing should show commitment". (PTI) |
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Vishal Abrol makes
highest break Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Aug 19: Top seed Kamal Rohmetra and Sanjeev Gupta continued their winning spree to maintain lead in the senior Snooker in the ongoing Ist Invitational Billiards and Snooker Championship being played at Amar Singh Club, here today. Both these top players have won all the league matches played so far and are approaching towards the final berth. Kamal has won all the five matches, while Sanjeev Gupta won four games in an equal number of encounters. On the other side, Sheetal Gandotra and Karan Kapoor have failed to open their accounts. Both Sheetal and Karan Kapoor have already lost three matches each. However, Jyoti Anand, who had placed himself among the winners by taking away two matches yesterday, failed to maintained his tempo and lost all the three matches he played today. In today’s league ties, Vishal Abrol remained in the limelight for his highest 42 points break he made against Karan Kapoor. Vishal won the match in straight frames of 89-31, 57-37. Kamal too made a good break, but that was of 37 points against Arun Gulati. Kamal beat Gulati 2-0 (66-22, 62-31) in his very first match of the second day. Kamal, in the second league encounter today, had a tough time against Nishant Azad, who stretched the game to three frames. Nishant surprised Kamal in the very first frame when he clinched the frame with a point’s margin 63-62. Although Kamal lost the first frame, but he was quite confident of his victory. In the remaining frames he played his natural game and won easily making it a 2-1 win. The score: 62-63, 81-59, 60-19. Kamal won his third match against Jyoti Anand, who could not touch the double figure mark in the first frame (66-6) and lost the second 63-21. Title contender and experienced Sanjeev Gupta won his both today’s matches. He beat Sheetal Gandotra in close frames of 44-34, 41-31 in the first match and won second against Karan Kapoor in straight frames of 59-22, 55-36. In other matches of the day, Sohail Khalid beat Jyoti Anand 56-47, 66-54; Nishant Azad beat Jyoti Anand 23-38, 60-38, 50-7. |
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I-Day cultural show at
Srinagar Excelsior Correspondent SRINAGAR, Aug 19: The Information Department this evening presented a colourful variety programme at the Tagore Hall as part of Independence Day celebrations. A galaxy of political leaders, senior officers, artists, media persons and prominent citizens, jam-packed the auditorium witnessed the cultural bonanza and profusely cheered the performing artists. The Chairman, Legislative Council, Mr. A R Dar, was the Chief Guest while the Minister for Industries and Commerce, Dr Mustafa Kamal presided. The Minister of State for law and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Mushtaq Ahmad Lone was the Guest of Honour. Minister of State for Agriculture and Ladakh Affairs, Mr. Koshak Tugdon Rinpoche, Member Parliament, Mr Sharief-ud-Din Shariq, Chief Whip of National Conference in the Legislative Assembly, Mr Mubarak Gul, Members of State legislature, Mr Mohammad Syed Akhoon, Mr Faqir Mohammad Khan, Syed Abdur Rashid, Vice-Chairman, J&K Muslim Auqaf Trust, Mr Ghulam Nabi Kochak and Additional Director General of Police, Mr Kuldeep Khuda were among those present. The programme that went on for 2 hours evoked huge response from the audience who appreciated the talent by uninterrupted cheers. Ghazal singers, Sham Sajan and Muneer Ahmad Dar presented urdu ghazals, while Waheed Jeelani, Abdul Salam Kaimoh and Abdul Rahim Bhat received their share of applause on Kashmiri ghazals, Rouf and Chhakri, respectively. The highlight of the programme was the variety of items from Punjabi Gidda, to Hafiz Hagma and Dogri and Kashmiri music. Artist Hilal Mattoo stole the show by performing the item, musical Rail Yatra. The child artist, Baby Saima’s dance to the famous Bollywood tune, Bombro Bombro, was another highlight of the show. The Chairman, Legislative Council presented her a cash prize of Rs. 1000 in appreciation of the talent of budding artist. The audience was ecstatic on witnessing the variety programme that was said to be of high quality in many years. |
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Major Ajay Singh
Jasrotia Memorial Cricket Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Aug 19: National Institution of Sports (NIS) cricket club defeated Toph Sherkhania Cricket Club by a margin of 60 runs in the 3rd Major Ajay Singh Jasrotia Memorial day-night Cricket Tournament being played at Vikas Nagar, here. Batting first after winning the toss, NIS set a big target of 136 runs in the 12 overs match for the loss of five wickets, which Toph Sherkhania Club could not chase and the whole side was bowled out for 75 runs. Narinder scored highest 35 runs off mere 15 balls hitting three sixes and one four, while Dheeraj contributed 27 with two sixes. Vicky added 26 runs off 16 balls including four sixes and Anil contributed 12. From Toph Sherkhania, Uday and Goldie shared two wickets each. Batting second, Toph Sherkhania Club lost all the wickets for 75 runs. Romal was the only batsman who dared the NIS bowling and made 24 runs with two sixes. No other batsman could reach the double figure mark. From NIS, Anil took four wickets, while Narinder bagged two and Raja one. Narinder was adjudged as man of the match for his all-round performance. Vishal Sudan and Manjeet Chib were umpires in this match, while Mangal Chib maintained the score. The tournament is being organised by the Chib Cricket Club through Vishal Singh (Kala), Manjeet Chib, Nitin, Yatin and Akshay Bali (Ashu). |
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Annual Sports Meet held at KV Akhnoor Excelsior Correspondent AKHNOOR, Aug 19: Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1 Akhnoor celebrated its annual Sports Day on August 17 and 18. According to a release, Brigadier Deepak Talwar Chairman VMC was the chief guest on the occasion. He declared the meet open with flying of baloons and pigeons to the sky. It was followed by variety of programmes including Physical exercises /PT, cultural programmes, Yoga and other sports activities. Lt Col P S Yadav and other guests and parents of the students highly appreciated the programme. Mr N S Chib, PET was the chief organiser of this meet. Principal, Mr M L Aggarwal welcomed the chief guest and threw light on the importance of games and sports in the present educational set up. A large number of students participated in the activities during two day programme. About 600 prizes were distributed among the participants by the chief guest. |
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