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Waugh hits out at reports PERTH, Feb 3: Australian captain Steve Waugh today said it would be against the spirit of the game if reports that Indian officials had ordered ........more
Hingis, Davenport TOKYO, Feb 3: Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport each suffered second-set slips in their semi-finals at the Pan Pacific Open today but.........more
Sports Minister rejects MADURAI, Feb 3: Sports Minister Uma Bharati today rejected the Cricket Board’s proposal for the ...........more WELLINGTON, Feb 3: A second consecutive half-century today by Russel Arnold pushed New .......more |
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41 Bn beat 16 Bn to reach semis of IVth CRPF Inter-Bn Football Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Feb 3: The 41 Bn outplayed 16 Bn by a solitary goal to become the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of the ongoing IVth CRPF Inter-Bn Football Tournament being played at Gulshan Grounds, here today. The lone goal came in the 55th minute of the match through Ct Sanjeet Singh, who did no mistake in giving direction to a corner pass right into net.......more Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Feb 3: The 5-Sikh Regiment today reached the final of the VIII Sadiq Memorial Football Tournament outplaying Union Club, Ambala 4-2 in the tie breaker at Mini-Stadium, Parade, here today. In the second match of the day, Jammu and Kashmir Bank defeated Young Star by a solitary goal to find berth in the semi-finals. Now, the Bankers will clash with BSF, Kashmir tomorrow at 3 pm for place in the final.......more JCC
wins inaugural match of IInd Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Jan 3: Janoon Cricket Club defeated Raju Cricket Club by four wickets in the inaugural match of the IInd Amar Shaheed Gulbadhan......more Roller
Skaters collect Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Jan 3: Adhoc body of Jammu and Kashmir Roller Skating Federation of India today organised a rally for relief fund.........more |
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Waugh hits out at reports of slow wickets in India PERTH, Feb 3: Australian captain Steve Waugh today said it would be against the spirit of the game if reports that Indian officials had ordered lifeless wickets to blunt Australia’s pace attack were true. "You’re not allowed to influence the state of the wicket," Waugh told reporters ahead of Australia’s limited overs international match against Zimbabwe tomorrow. "You’re not supposed to talk to groundsmen, so I’m pretty surprised that they’ve been quoted as saying this is what the wickets are going to be like because you’re not supposed to do that." Reports from India this week suggested the pitches for the three-test series starting on February 27 would not be the traditionally dry variety, mainly because spinner Anil Kumble would be unavailable because of a shoulder injury. Lifeless wickets would not only detract from the impact of Australia’s champion leg-spinner Shane Warne, they would blunt the pace trio of Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie. "I expect the wickets to be slow and not a lot of life in them," Waugh said. "But I think we can beat them on any sort of wicket so it doesn’t really concern me what type of wickets they produce. "It just concerns me if someone is influencing what type of wickets they are producing because that’s not in the game of cricket." Australia will go to India aiming to extend their world record winning streak of 15 tests. McGrath today told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Radio slow wickets held no fears for him. "I think if all our quicks are fit and ready to go, I’d hate to be India," McGrath said. Australia are undefeated after seven limited overs matches against Zimbabwe and West Indies in the triangular series. McGrath said the media should focus on how well Australia were playing, not how weak the opposition were. "I think at the end of the day the truth is that the Australia side is just so good and we’re not giving the other teams a chance at all, and I think that’s what the media should focus on," McGrath said. "We’ve got everything covered." (REUTERS) |
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Hingis, Davenport in Tokyo showdown TOKYO, Feb 3: Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport each suffered second-set slips in their semi-finals at the Pan Pacific Open today but advanced to set up a showdown between the world’s top two women players. Hingis received a wake-up call after a miserable second set and defeated Bulgaria’s Magdalena Maleeva in the semi-final 6-3 1-6 6-0 of the 1.2 million dollars indoor tournament. Davenport weathered a storm from Russian number three seed Anna Kournikova to book a spot in the finals with a 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-0 victory. The Hingis-Davenport match will mark the 16th time the two have met in a final. Davenport has won nine of those contests but Hingis has won three of the last four, including a three-set thriller in a warm-up event in Sydney last month for the Australian Open. Hingis and Davenport are both looking to rebound from losses at the Australian Open as the tall American fell to Jennifer Capriati in the semi-finals and Hingis tumbled against the same player in the final. Swiss number one seed Hingis had a rough start against Maleeva as she battled for nearly every point in the first set and lost her precision and focus in the second. "After the second set, I guess I woke up again," Hingis said. "The second was when I let (myself) down and maggie played some unbelievable shots," Hingis said. The wake-up alarm rang loudly in the third, as Hingis blitzed the Bulgarian veteran to take it to love and completed her victory with an ace on match point. Hingis is aiming to claim an unprecedented third straight pan pac title. "I played a lot of tennis in the last month so I am confident going into the finals," Hingis said." Davenport had been a wrecking ball in Tokyo going into her semi-final match with Kournikova, allowing less than a point per game off her serve while averaging more than an ace per game. Davenport demolished Kournikova in the first set as the Russian seemed to lose some of her fight after dropping her serve in a marathon fifth game to put Davenport 4-1 up. In the second, both players held serve for the first seven games as Kournikova took control of the match firing laser-like shots down the flanks and spotting her first serve with deadly accuracy. Both players exchanged breaks in the eighth and ninth games to set up the tie-break, which Kournikova won by being the better player off the baseline. "I don’t think I did anything wrong," Davenport said when asked how she recovered after dropping the second set after leading 5-3. "She lifted her game tremendously." Kournikova was broken in the first game of the final set and never came back as she lost it to love. In the deciding set, the Russian suffered from three double faults while the American pounded four aces. First prize in the tournament is 175,000 while the runner-up takes home 94,000 dollars. (REUTERS) |
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Sports Minister rejects BCCI proposal to play in Sharjah MADURAI, Feb 3: Sports Minister Uma Bharati today rejected the Cricket Board’s proposal for the Indian team’s participation in a triangular series involving Pakistan and Bangladesh in Sharjah from February 8 to 11 to mobilise funds for the Gujarat earthquake victims. However, she welcomed the Board’s intention which was to collect aid for the quake victims. ‘I am happy with the BCCI’s suggestion that Rs 20 crore can be raised through the Sharjah matches. But, Rs 200 crore can be raised if our team plays matches with the film stars in the country,’ she told PTI here. Bharati’s stand in line with the Government’s decision not to have any sporting links with Pakistan in the aftermath of Kargil assumes significance in the context Pakistan’s military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf making a telephone call to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to convey sympathy for the loss of life and devastation in Gujarat. Board secretary Jaywant Lele had yesterday announced that the Government had given the ‘go ahead’ for the tour and said the official communication from the concerned ministry would be received on February 5. The idea to play in Sharjah was first mooted by the finance committee of the Asian Cricket Council at its meeting in Lahore on February 1. Later, she told reporters in Chennai that this was her view and she had conveyed it to the External Affairs Ministry from which she was yet to get a reply. "I they want to organise matches in aid of the Gujarat earthquake victims, they can do it in other ways in India itself. There is no need to play match against Pakistan in Sharjah or anywhere in the world,’ Bharati, who was in Madurai enroute to Delhi after a visit to Rameswaram, said. Bharati said she had conveyed her views to BCCI through the secretary of the Youth Affairs and Sports Department. She said her Ministry could act as a nodal agency to help BCCI organise matches between the cricket players like Saurav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar with film stars including Hrithik Roshan, and suggested that aid-matches could be held at four venues in the country. They could be staged at a venue each in Punjab, Bhopal, the Northeast and the South. The Indians were more generous and BCCI could collect much more than what they could mobilise outside the country. People would know that they were going to help the quake victims, she added. Asked why the Government has not reviewed its stand vis-a-vis cricket ties between India and Pakistan, she said it was a bilateral issue and only the External Affairs Ministry could decide. ‘Now the situation is such that the cricket team cannot be allowed to go to Sharjah,’ she added. ‘I am nobody to review the situation. Whatever I do I do in consultation with the Foreign Minister. The External Affairs Ministry also felt there should not be matches between India and Pakistan,’ the Minister added. (PTI) |
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WELLINGTON, Feb 3: A second consecutive half-century today by Russel Arnold pushed New Zealand to its ninth loss in 10 limited-overs matches and gave Sri Lanka a chance to wrap up the five-match series in Auckland on Tuesday. Sri Lanka overhauled New Zealand’s innings of 205 for eight with three balls remaining and three wickets in hand to triumph in a tense, low-scoring affair on a sluggish pitch at Westpactrust Stadium. New Zealand’s solid bowling effort was again marred by late scoring, with the 46th and 48th overs both conceding 13 runs as Sri Lanka swiftly brought down the asking rate to manageable proportions. Nuwan Zoysa, who earlier took career-best figures of four or 28, hit the winning single off Craig McMillan. But it was Arnold, who scored an unbeaten 50 in the series opener in Napier, that steered Sri Lanka to victory with an unbeaten 78. He took the man-of-the-match honours with a composed 90-ball innings that included four fours and a six. Arnold blasted his six over midwicket off Chris Martin in the penultimate over to release the pressure. Sri Lanka only had 49 overs to reach the target after they were penalised for a slow over rate. James Franklin also suffered in the 46th when he went for 13 although the damage could have been minimised had 12th man Andrew Penn not misfielded on the boundary, allowing a crucial four. Penn was fielding in place of Roger Twose, who sprained his left thumb when he collided with batting partner McMillan during New Zealand’s innings and is doubtful for Tuesday’s match. New Zealand seemed on course for victory when Daniel Vettori claimed the key wicket of Arvinda De Silva with the last ball of the 40th over. The left armer again produced a crucial spell, his 10 overs surrendering just 30 runs. (AP) |
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41 Bn beat 16 Bn to reach
semis of IVth CRPF Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Feb 3: The 41 Bn outplayed 16 Bn by a solitary goal to become the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of the ongoing IVth CRPF Inter-Bn Football Tournament being played at Gulshan Grounds, here today. The lone goal came in the 55th minute of the match through Ct Sanjeet Singh, who did no mistake in giving direction to a corner pass right into net. In another match played in the evening session, 79 Bn defeated Group Centre, Bantalab 6-0 in a one sided affair. Ct. Satyajeet Verma played a brilliant game and scored four goals for the winners. He struck in the 7th, 13th, 61st and 63rd minute of the match. While, the remaining two goals were scored by Ct B Ekka in the 14th minute and Ct Nilesh Chhote in the 57th minute. Earlier, in the morning session, 74 Bn defeated 6 Bn by five goals to nil to reach the quarter-final stage. Ct Pawan Kumar Rai scored three goals in the 28th, 40th and 65th minute of the match, while Nirmal and Raju Pegu scored one goal each. Today’s matches were officiated by Mohd Shafi Nari, Mushtaq Ahmed, Mohd Hussain, Noor Mohd, Bilal Ahmed and Bashir Ahmed of the Jammu and Kashmir Police. Tomorrow’s quarter-finals: 8 Bn V/s 50 Bn at 9.30 am; 33 Bn V/s 39 Bn at 2.30 pm and 74 Bn V/s 79 Bn at 4 pm. |
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Sadiq Memorial
Football Tournament Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Feb 3: The 5-Sikh Regiment today reached the final of the VIII Sadiq Memorial Football Tournament outplaying Union Club, Ambala 4-2 in the tie breaker at Mini-Stadium, Parade, here today. In the second match of the day, Jammu and Kashmir Bank defeated Young Star by a solitary goal to find berth in the semi-finals. Now, the Bankers will clash with BSF, Kashmir tomorrow at 3 pm for place in the final. The Union Club, Amabala scored the first goal in the 28th minute which was equalised within 10 minutes by the Sikh Regiment. Ajay of Union Club had got a pass from Yadav just a few yards away from the centre line and dribbled the ball dodging the defenders to take the lead. Soon after the first goal, Sikh Regiment fought back and scored the equaliser in the 38th minute through Ramesh Rai, who flicked the ball over the goal-keeper’s head. It was forty minutes half. Ending the first half at 1-1, no side was able to score after the breakers, thus ending the crucial tie in a draw. It was followed by the 15 minutes extra time, which remained barren. In the tie-breaker, Sikh Regiment emerged victorious by hitting three successful shots against one by Union Ambala. For Sikh Regiment, Manjinder, Sukhvinder and Kuldeep were successful shooters, while from Union Club, Ambala, Gope made the only goal. In the second match, Jammu and Kashmir Bank defeated Young Star to enter the semi-finals. Young Hero gave a tough fight to the professional bank side and held them till the 60 minutes game. But, a brilliant solo goal by Deepak ended the formers hope of playing a draw in the game time. The experts who watched the Sikh Regiment’s game were of the view that if the title holders Jammu and Kashmir Bank went through to the final after tomorrow’s semi-final encounter with BSF, Kashmir, it will be a hard nut to crack for the Bankers in the final. Playing for the first time in any tournament in Jammu and Kashmir, the tough Sikh Regiment side has now set eyes on the glittering Cup. Senior footballers, who also watched the Jammu and Kashmir Bank’s game against the local Young Hero Club said that, if local club can hold the professional Bankers till the last minutes, the Sikh Regiment have the potential to beat them (J&K Bank) up. Meanwhile, the manager of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank team has lodged a written complaint with the organising secretary, R K Kohli regarding playing of non-registered players by the Young Star in today’s match. On the contrary, the secretary of the Young Star, Shiv Paul Sharma has lodged a complaint of violating the norms. He said that during the play one of the referee was changed, which according to the rules they (organisers) cannot do. The tournament is being organised by the Sadiq Memorial Football Committee and co-sponsored by the Pepsi and Jammu and Kashmir Bank. |
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JCC wins inaugural
match of IInd Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Jan 3: Janoon Cricket Club defeated Raju Cricket Club by four wickets in the inaugural match of the IInd Amar Shaheed Gulbadhan Singh Bhau Memorial Cricket Tournament which began at BJD grounds at Paloura here today. Batting first after winning the toss, Raju Club set a target of 109 runs in the allotted 15 overs for nine, which in reply, Janoon Club chased in mere 11.1 overs losing six wickets. Showkat was the main scorer from Raju Club, who scored 37 runs off 33 balls with the help of three sixes and an equal number fours, followed by Vicky with 14. For Janoon Club, Amit took three wickets. Batting second, Arun made the Janoon victory easier with his brilliant 38 (off 13 balls, 4x6, 3x4) runs inning. While Rohit added 14. From Raju Club, Gourav claimed one wicket. Arun was declared as man of the match for his superb batting. Rafiq Ahmed and Nareshwar Singh were umpires, while Romy was scorer. Earlier, the tournament was declared open by the wife of Gulbadhan Singh, DySP, who sacrificed his life while fighting the militants in Kashmir. Mr Javed Shah, MLC, who was special guest in the inaugural function donated Rs 10,000 to the organisers for the tournament and also assured of any further support in this regard. Prominent among those who graced the occasion included DIG, Jammu-Kathua range Mr S P Vaid, advocate Balbir Singh, Shamsher Singh Chib and Balwan Singh. The tournament has been jointly organised by Narinder Singh, Makhu, Jagdish Singh and Nareshwar Singh. Tomorrow’s fixture: Tiger Cricket Club V/s SSC at 3 pm. |
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Roller Skaters collect Rs 50,000 for Gujarat Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Jan 3: Adhoc body of Jammu and Kashmir Roller Skating Federation of India today organised a rally for relief fund, wherein skaters collected Rs 50,000 for the earthquake victims of Gujarat. The rally, which was flagged off by the Secretary, State Sports Council, started from Satwari Chowk and culminated at M A Stadium after passing through Gandhi Nagar, Vikram Chowk, Fly Over and Parade. The highest contributor to the fund was Mr G S Khurmi, chairman of the rally, who donated Rs 15,000, besides track suits to at least 100 skaters. Rally was held under the supervision of Prabhat Aggarwal, Anil Gupta, Neeraj Gupta, Sunila Sharma and Mrs Anand. While, Roshan Gupta and Kamal Anand too assisted in the successful conduct of the rally. Later, Mr Khurmi, who is also chairman of the association, thanked the skaters, their parents and citizens of Jammu, especially the police for their support and cooperation. During the rally, the skaters were given refreshment by Link Road Traders Association and Mr Raju of Lakhdata Bazar. |
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