NEW DELHI, Dec 25: A dream series win at home over the mighty Australians, highly creditable performance by chess prodigies and the first signs of a possible reversal of the country’s sliding hockey graph were the high points of 2001 which otherwise saw Indian sports being confined to the depths of mediocrity yet again........more

Give Lee time to regain
his amazing form: Waugh

MELBOURNE, Dec 25: Australia captain Steve Waugh defended fast bowler Brett Lee today, saying Lee was slowly returning to the amazing form of his first seven tests following elbow surgery................more

South Africa wait on
Donald to prove his fitness

MELBOURNE, Dec 25: South Africa will delay naming their team for tomorrow’s second test against Australia until the morning of the game as Allan Donald makes a desperate bid to prove his fitness for the crucial match...........more

Andhra pile up 232 for 4

HYDERABAD, Dec 25: A sparkling century by Y Venugopal Rao and his unfinished 182-run partnership ....more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 25: The Minister for Sports, Harbans Singh today declared open by the 47th National ......more

Open Chess Tournament
Master Chela Ram,
Harvinder, Sumit
maintain winning spree

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 25: Master Chela Ram Dogra, who is in his eighties, Sumit Grover and Harvinder Singh have ....more

Harbans declares open
National School Games

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 25: The Minister for Sports, Harbans Singh today declared open by the 47th National School Games....more

CA XI beats Income Tax XI
by 17 runs in friendly cricket

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 25: The Chartered Accountants (CA) XI defeated Income Tax XI by 17 runs in a limited overs friendly cricket.....more

Few sparks, more disappointments in
another mediocre year

NEW DELHI, Dec 25: A dream series win at home over the mighty Australians, highly creditable performance by chess prodigies and the first signs of a possible reversal of the country’s sliding hockey graph were the high points of 2001 which otherwise saw Indian sports being confined to the depths of mediocrity yet again.

The win against the all-conquering Australians early in the year raised hopes of a welcome change in cricketing fortunes but that turned out to be the only moment of glory, much to the disappointment of millions of cricket lovers.

The perennial problem of inconsistency continued to haunt the team as the cricketers completed their engagements with most of their dreams, particularly of breaking the jinx of a series win abroad, remaining unfulfilled during the year which saw another major crisis break out after match referee mike Denness punished as many as six Indian cricketers.

Failure to handle pressure in crunch situations also came to the fore as the Indians succumbed tamely in most of the one-day international finals during the year, a sequence which began in 1998-99 and now a cause for serious concern.

Indian hockey, struggling to regain its magic, brought a whiff of fresh air with the junior team winning the World Cup and the seniors claiming the honour in the champions challenge trophy. The victories raised hope of a new beginning for hockey after struggling to make a mark for nearly two decades.

Star tennis duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi impressed as they won the French Open doubles title while veteran cueist Geet Sethi also stole the limelight with another scintillating display.

Star shuttler Pullela Gopichand kept the Indian tricolour aloft by claiming the title in the All England Badminton Championship, a feat which was first achieved by Prakash Padukone 21 years ago.

The year also proved lucky for talented chess players Pendyala Harikrishna and Koneru Humpy proving that the country had a bright future in the game as a number of other players continued their quest for securing the GM title.

Harikrishna became the youngest Grandmaster in the country with a creditable performance in the Asian Individual Chess Championship in Kolkata although the ratification came a few days later when he was playing in Teheran.

Harikrishna’s performance in Kolkata helped him qualify for the World Chess Championship alongwith two other Indian GMs Dibyendu Barua and Surya Sekhar Ganguly as they finished in the top ten.

The 14-year-old Humpy gave ample display of her talent by grabbing the title in the World Junior Chess Championship in Athens becoming only the second woman Grandmaster after S Vijayalakshmi.

Cricketing relations between the two neighbours India and Pakistan continued to remain strained during the year with the Indian Government sticking to its stand of snapping cricketing ties with Pakistan following the Kargil conflict in 1998.

The Government expectedly refused permission for the cricket team to visit Pakistan for the Asian Test Championship forcing the Indian cricket board to pull out of the championship at the last minute, reducing it to a three-team affair.

The remarkable come-from-behind victory over the mighty Australians not only served as a huge morale booster for the indian cricketers but helped them maintain their impressive track record at home.

The all-conquering Aussies, desperate to tame the Indians in their own den and extend their record shattering 16 consecutive test victories, put themselves on course for a dream series triumph by winning the first test in Mumbai with an emphatic ten-wicket margin.

The visitors seemed prepared to deliver the knock-out punch in the second test in Kolkata’s Eden Gardens before a heroic effort of 281 by the stylish V V S Laxman and some superb bowling by Harbhajan Singh changed the complexion of the game.

In one of the most incredible fightbacks in test history, the hosts showed character and grit rarely seen by Indian cricketers to eventually script a dramatic victory in front of 90,000 spectators and level the three-match series 1-1.

The deciding test in Chennai also turned out to be a cliff-hanger before the Indians managed to pull off a narrow victory, shattering the Australian hopes of conquering the ‘last frontier’.

The Indians then embarked on the tour of Zimbabwe hoping to fulfill a long-standing dream of winning an overseas series and the convincing eight-wicket victory in the first test in Bulawayo raised hopes of a turnaround in their overseas fortunes.

But the quest of a series win remained unfulfilled as the Indians suffered a shock defeat in the second test much to the disappointment of millions of fans back home.

The Indian cricketers, known for their inconsistency, failed to lift their game in the subsequent series against Sri Lanka with most of their top order batsmen failing to find form.

The absence of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who ruled himself out of the series because of a toe injury, compounded their misery further as they suffered a 1-2 defeat against the Lankans who capitalised on home conditions admirably.

After a humiliating defeat in the first test in Galle, captain Sourav Ganguly and his men raised hopes of staging a comeback when they won the second test in Kandy by seven wickets but failed to sustain their performance in the deciding test.

The third test in Colombo turned out to be a damp squib as the Indians surrended rather tamely, failing to match the Islanders in every department of the game.

The Indians faced one of their biggest challenges when they landed in South Africa where the tracks have a lot more bounce and the nine-wicket defeat in the first test in Bloemfontein again exposed India’s perennial weakness in such conditions.

The drawn second test will however be remembered more for its off-field drama as match referee Mike Denness punished six Indian cricketers, including captain Ganguly and Tendulkar under various sections of the code of conduct manual for players, triggering allegations of racial discrimination. (PTI)

Give Lee time to regain his amazing form: Waugh

MELBOURNE, Dec 25: Australia captain Steve Waugh defended fast bowler Brett Lee today, saying Lee was slowly returning to the amazing form of his first seven tests following elbow surgery.

Lee was recovering his rhythm in the same way that Australia’s leg-spinner Shane Warne eventually returned to his best after serious shoulder and finger injuries in recent years, Waugh said.

"He hasn’t got back to what he was before but he’s making progress most of the time," Waugh said.

"The same with warney when he came back from major surgery, it took him 12 months to get back to where he was and maybe it will be the same with Brett".

"He’s probably a little bit frustrated with his own form. I guess realistically his first seven or eight test matches, he was never going to keep up that sort of standard throughout his career".

"That was pretty amazing stuff."

Lee, 25, made his debut two years ago at Melbourne cricket ground against India, boasting match figures of 7-78.

The blond speedster took 42 wickets at 16.07 from his first seven tests before suffering an elbow injury during the 2000-01 season that required surgery.

He missed Australia’s three-test tour of India in February and March and since surgery lee has taken a further 25 wickets in nine matches at 38.32, including nine wickets at 55.11 in this year’s Ashes series.

Lee will be vital to Australia’s chances of retaining the world number one ranking in the three-test series against South Africa which Australia lead 1-0. The second test starts at Melbourne cricket ground tomorrow.

Lee will have to take a more senior role in the pace attack after the withdrawal through injury of Jason Gillespie, who broke down at training yesterday with a sore right shoulder.

Lee was clocked at 156 kph in Johannesburg during a one-day match against South Africa in April 2000 and is described in glowing terms by Waugh and coach John Buchanan as one of the most exciting players in world cricket.

The right-arm fast bowler’s honeymoon with the Australian media appears over however, as criticism continues over his short-pitched bowling to tailenders in the first test against South Africa.

Waugh said he had no problems with Lee’s tactics, even though Lee twice struck South African Makhaya Ntini on the helmet then followed a back-pedalling number 11 Mornantu Hayward with two more short balls down leg-side.

"I’m sure he would have (been hurt by the media criticism)," Waugh said.

"He didn’t do too much wrong. He bowled four (short) balls at the tailenders".

"When I first played against the West Indies, they bowled 40 overs (of short-pitched bowling)".

"I didn’t see anyone saying too much then. He won’t be changing a thing, no".

"Once something happens on the field it’s going to be written about but it should probably stop after 20 or 30 articles - you don’t need to crucify him."

Lee was fined us 4,290 on december 4 for an angry send-off after dismissing New Zealand tailender Shane Bond in the third test in Perth. (AGENCIES)

South Africa wait on Donald to prove his fitness

MELBOURNE, Dec 25: South Africa will delay naming their team for tomorrow’s second test against Australia until the morning of the game as Allan Donald makes a desperate bid to prove his fitness for the crucial match.

South Africa team manager Goolam Raja today said that the touring side had nothing to report on Donald’s foot injury which has hampered him on the Australia tour.

Raja said the team would not be named until Wednesday. Australia will retain their world number one ranking if they win the second test.

South Africa, who lost the first of the three-match series by 246 runs in Adelaide earlier this month, are keen to get Donald, who has taken 325 wickets in 69 tests, back in the side.

Makhaya Ntini, who took 0-77 from 27 overs in the first test, appears set to make way for Donald if the veteran, who hasn’t played test cricket for eight months, is cleared to play.

South Africa captain Shaun Pollock said at his pre-match news conference that Donald was struggling with the foot complaint and the matter lay in the hands of the team’s physiotherapist.

"It’s not a structural problem as regards to bone or anything like that. There’s an off chance that he can maybe take an injection and just take away the pain," Pollock said.

Australia captain Steve Waugh said he thought Donald was likely to be selected.

"If he gets out on the park, we expect he’ll play well and we’ve got to respect him," Waugh said.

Donald took 0-64 from 21 overs and 0-27 from four overs in last week’s drawn tour match in Sydney against New South Wales State and gave little indication he was back to full fitness. (AGENCIES)

Andhra pile up 232 for 4

HYDERABAD, Dec 25: A sparkling century by Y Venugopal Rao and his unfinished 182-run partnership for the fifth wicket with I Srinivas (91) helped Andhra to post 232 for 4 against Hyderabad on the opening day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Cricket match here today.

Recovering from an early collapse, after electing to bat, the South Zone toppers smashed Hyderabad bowling at will with Venugopal Rao and Srinivas propelling the scores from 50 to 232 without being separated at close.

Medium pacers Vishnuvardhan and N P Singh got rid of the top order sending test discard M S K Prasad (5), Amit Pathak (13) and G Srinivas (0) back to pavilion with score reading just 21.

Venugopal was joined by Fiaz Ahmed who was trapped by Daniel Manohar for 13 which brought the stylish I Srinivas to crease to usher in the 182-run partnership.

The duo negotiated Hyderabad bowling with care and caution as Venugopal compiled a patient unbeaten knock of 106 during his 335-minute stay at the wicket in a space of 269 balls studded with 15 hits to the fence.

The more aggressive I Srinivas scripted a fluent innings of unbeaten 91, laced with 12 fours off 203 balls he faced during his 263 minute action at the crease.

For hosts test discard and spinner Venkatapathi Raju went wicket less giving away 45 runs in 25 overs off which 8 were maidens. Medium pacer Vishnuvardhan claimed two wickets while N P Singh and Daniel Manohar took one wicket each. (PTI)

Harbans declares open National School Games

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 25: The Minister for Sports, Harbans Singh today declared open by the 47th National School Games in Football at Mini-Stadium, Parade here this afternoon.

In these games overs 400 participants from 18 states of the country are taking part.

Declaring open the games, the Minister, who was chief guest on the occasion, lauded the efforts of the organisers for holding the national level competitions in the present scenario when there is tension on the border.

Earlier, the Director, Youth Services and Sports, Syed Asgar Ali welcomed the distinguished gathering and participants and also gave brief note of the competition being organised at three different venues in the city.

On the occasion, children presented colourful cultural programmes to welcome the guests from different states of West Bengal, Gujarat, Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Navodya Vidyalaya Sangthan, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangthan, Kerala, Assam and host Jammu and Kashmir.

On the opening day, West Bengal played the inaugural tie against Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangthan (KVS). The match remained a one-sided, affair. West Bengal remained in dominating position in both the halfs beating KVS by five goals to nil.

Jivan Mandal scored two goal for West Bengal in the 20th and 62nd minute of the match, while Sukanta Rai and Randeep Dass netted the ball in 23rd and 64th minute respectively. Skipper, Vapan Dass struck in the 65th minute to make it a big 5-0 win.

Meanwhile, talking to EXCELSIOR, the winners West Bengal forwards termed the ground as ‘non-playable’. They said that the field is uneven and the ball is bouncing in absence of the grass on the field. One of the player was quick to say that this ground is injury prone and there are every chances of players getting injured.

Tomorrow’s fixture

Mini-Stadium, Parade: Delhi V/s Goa at 9 am; UP V/s Sikkim at 10.30 am; Assam V/s Karnataka at 12 noon and Maharashtra V/s Rajasthan at 3.30 pm.

GGM Science College: J&K V/s NVS at 9 am; Punjab V/s Jharkhand at 10.30 am; HP V/s MP at 2 pm and Delhi V/s Kerela at 3.30 pm.

University of Jammu: Maharashtra V/s Chatisgarh at 9 am; Sikkim V/s Jharkhand at 2 pm and J&K V/s Rajasthan at 3.30 pm.