Gopichand crashes
out of Malaysian Open

NEW DELHI, July 20: All England Badminton Champion and sixth seed Pullela Gopichand crashed out of the Malaysian Open Badminton Championships............more

Victory continues
to elude Anand

DORTMUND, (Germany) July 20: Victory continued to elude world champion Viswanathan Anand as he failed to get through the defenses of Grandmaster Michael Admas of England in the 7th round of the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess meeting 2001 last night...........more

Laxman makes respectable contribution
India foxed by pitch, Kiwi
bowlers; lose by 84 runs

COLOMBO, July 20: India put up one of their worst performances in recent memory to surrender meekly against a steady New Zealand bowling attack on a slow pitch to lose their opening one-day league ......more

Ganguly blames slow
pitch for India’s fall

COLOMBO, July 20: Indian captain Saurav Ganguly blamed the turning pitch for India’s 84 run loss......more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

KATHUA, July 20: With compound wall holes covered, both gates closed and keys handed over to Chowkidar; .........more

Blue Star win by 8 wkts in
Gagandeep Memorial Cricket

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, July 20: Blue Star Cricket Club defeated KCC, Miran Sahib by eight wickets to reach the second ......more

Bhalwal Panchyat
deputation calls on DC

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, July 20: A deputation of Bhalwal Panchayat led by its Sarpanch, Narinder Singh Jamwal .....more

Circle Kabaddi
trials on July 24

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, July 20: The Jammu and Kashmir Amateur Circle Kabaddi Association......more

Coaching sessions in different description in progress at Sports Stadium, Kathua

Gopichand crashes out of Malaysian Open

NEW DELHI, July 20: All England Badminton Champion and sixth seed Pullela Gopichand crashed out of the Malaysian Open Badminton Championships.

Gopichand lost 6-8 3-7 5-7 to unseeded Indonesian Rony Augustinus in the pre-quarter finals in Kuala Lumpur last night according to information received here.

Against Augustinus, Gopichand played too aggressively and committed a number of errors. The Indonesian weathered the early attack from his Indian rival and then slowly took control to win in straight games.

Playing his first tournament in the new seven-point scoring system, the Indian champion failed to adjust to the new format against Augustinus, the Asian Championships silver medallist.

He had reached the last 16 with a laboured 7-2 0-7 8-7 7-3 victory over Sairul Amar Ayob of Malaysia in the second round earlier in the day.

Gopichand’s exit ended the Indian campaign in this four-star tournament as Indian number two Abhinn Shyam Gupta, men’s doubles pair of Sanave Thomas/V Diju and the mixed pair Chetan Anand/PVV Lakshmi went out in the second round.

Gupta, lost in straight sets to eighth seed Ong Ewe Hock of Malaysia, 1-7 2-7 2-7.

Sanave/Diju, who reached the second round with a 6-8 7-4 6-8 7-3 7-0 win against Fairuzizuan Mohammed B Tazari and Woon Fui Lin of Malaysia, went down to giant-killers Nathan Robertson and Anthony Clark of England, who had upset the second seed Chinese pair Zhang Wei and Zhang Jun in the first round. The Indian pair lost 3-7 4-7 4-7.

In mixed doubles, Chetan anand and Lakshmi went down tamely to eighth seeded Michael Lamp and Ann Lou Jorgenson of Denmark 7-0 7-0 7-5.

Three Indians — Chetan Anand, Sachin Ratti and B R Meenakshi — were ousted in the first round itself.

Anand showed his mettle as he took top seed Chen Hong to extra points before going down 0-7 2-7 7-8. Ratti, who made it to the main draw following the withdrawal of second seed Taufik Hidayat, could not make the most of the chance, going down 6-8 7-4 4-7 0-7 to Pei Wei Chung of Malaysia.

Meenakshi, the lone Indian in the women’s singles main draw, put up a stiff fight before losing 1-7 8-7 5-7 8-6 3-7 to Yuli Marfuah of Indonesia. (PTI)

Victory continues to elude Anand

DORTMUND, (Germany) July 20: Victory continued to elude world champion Viswanathan Anand as he failed to get through the defenses of Grandmaster Michael Admas of England in the 7th round of the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess meeting 2001 last night.

GM Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria made most of the positional inaccuracy by his opponent GM Alexander Morozevich of Russia and jumped into lead alongside braingames world champion GM Vladimir Kramnik of Russia on 4.5 points.

GM Peter Leko of England occupies the third spot on four points while Morozevich lies fourth on three. For the first time in his illustrious career Anand is finding it hard to strike form and lies at the bottom of the table with Admas on 2.5 points.

Playing black against Adams, Anand faced the Rosslimo Sicilian and did not have any trouble in equalising after the opening. The game was a repeat of an earlier Adams game against GM Kramnik played in Bundesliga in 1999 and it seemed highly improbable that Adams and a substantial improvement up his sleeve.

Not wanting to test him in his preparation, Anand was the first to deviate from that game on his 19th turn and his novelty put an end to white’s plan, if there was one.

The fresh situation on board provided Anand with a perfectly balanced position and with two minor pieces and a rook already off the board the outcome of the game was not in any doubt. After playing another four moves the draw was agreed to without further ado. It was an equal position that did not give either player any chance.

Dortmund kept its date with one victory in the day for the 6th day in succession. And that came from an in-form Topalov who gate crashed into Morozevich’s territory.

Playing white against the enterprising and uncompromising Russian, Topalov played a highly imaginative game in the Sicilian defense with white pieces. Morozevich’s plans of getting into something less explored in the opening went haywire as Topalov seized the initiative with resounding technique and a timely breakthrough in the centre that left Morozevich’s king dancing to his tunes.

By the 25th move Topalov was clearly on top and he played precisely to romp home in 38 moves. For Morozevich, who had scored to successive victories prior to this game, it was a disheartening loss but he continues to be the one with maximum number of decisive games.

Kramnik played an honourable draw against Leko in another Sicilian defense game of the day. Leko faced the Scheveningen set up and went for the king in the early phase of the game by castling on the queenside.

The exponent of openings that he is, Kramnik thwarted white’s foray in copy book style. After ripping the centre open in quite like a champion’s manner, Kramnik got the queens exchanged and did not look in any difficulty right through. The pieces got exchanged at regular intervals and draw was agreed to in 35 moves.

Standings after round 7:

1-2: Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov - 4.5 points; 3: Peter Leko - 4 pts; 4: Alexander Morozevich - 3.5 pts; 5-6: V Anand, Michael Admas - 2.5 pts.(PTI)

Laxman makes respectable contribution
India foxed by pitch, Kiwi bowlers; lose by 84 runs

COLOMBO, July 20: India put up one of their worst performances in recent memory to surrender meekly against a steady New Zealand bowling attack on a slow pitch to lose their opening one-day league match of the Triseries by a big 84-run margin here today.

Bogged down by an exceptionally sluggish wicket and some tight bowling by the Kiwis, India never really looked to be in the chase, losing two vital wickets by the second over of the innings after New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat.

Lured into complacence by a less than modest total of 211, India were dismissed for 127 with 8.5 overs to spare and only V V S Laxman making a respectable contribution of 60.

Earlier, riding on a 117-run knock by all-rounder Nathan Astle, New Zealand tried to make most of the far from friendly pitch to cross the 200 mark after they were off to a disastrous start, losing opener Mathew Sinclair to the very first ball of the match.

India’s woes began with Yuvraj Singh’s unlucky dismissal at six and the total on 13. He was adjudged leg before off paceman Kyle Mills when the ball seemed to pitch outside the leg stump.

But it was anything but luck when skipper Saurav Ganguly, who was expected to lead by example in the absence of his illustrious teammate Sachin Tendulkar, gifted his wicket away without a run being added to the total.

Tendulkar was ruled out of the entire triseries owing to hairline fracture in the right big toe.

Ganguly’s five runs came off 17 deliveries before he was caught by veteran Chris Harris at point off seamer Daryl Tuffey.

India’s hopes hinged heavily on Rahul Dravid but he too disappointed failing to judge a rising delivery by the medium pace bowler Dion Nash and edging to Mathew Sinclair when on 15.

With the pitch playing tricks, more so after sunset, and a superb fielding and bowling attack, it was never going to be easy for India and it seemed the batsmen realised this early on and had prepared themselves for the defeat.

It was almost over for India when Nash struck twice in the 21st over to dismiss Hemang Badani (2) who nicked to wicketkeepr Adam Parore, and Virender Sehwag who ballooned a simple catch to Harris at point for a duck.

Though India was down at 50 for five and needed 5.42 runs an over, Laxman offered a glimmer of hope with a couple of robust shots. He reached his half century in style with a brilliantly cut four off Astle.

Reetinder Sodhi, who came at the fall of Sehwag, also infused some life into the batting with his heroics which included a powerful six over long on off Vettori but his efforts were not enough to see India through as he fell for 18, clean bowled by Harris.

Laxman, who has struggled with his footwork ever since the Australian series, also succumbed to mounting pressure and holed out a catch to Harris off Vettori to leave India in dire straits at 123 for 8.

The scores of other Indian batsmen were nothing to write home about - Sameer Dighe (9), Harbhajan Singh (0), Zaheer Khan (2), A Nehra (2 not out), all falling prey to a Kiwi attack which gave nothing away.

The bowling figures said it all in the end with tuffey returning 7-2-7-1, Nash 6-0-13-3 and Harris 8-1-23-3.

Earlier, New Zealand batsmen too found it difficult to score on a pitch where the ball was coming slowly on to the bat with only man-of-the-match Nathan Astle’s fighting century shining among mediocre performances from his teammates.

Astle played the sheet anchor role to perfection and held on till almost the end, hitting nine fours and a six in his 117-run knock off 148 balls before being run out by Sodhi.

Astle alongwith Fleming overcame the loss of Sinclair to put up a vital 70-run stand for the second wicket.

New Zealand, however, failed to step up the run rate in the end overs against some tight Indian bowling and good fielding and it seemed they could have done with about 20-30 runs more to the total.

Harbhajan Singh was the most economical bowler for the Indians, claiming 2 wickets for 25 off his 10 overs as Ganguly used his spinners to bowl 33 out of 50 overs.

But Nash and Harris made up for the modest total scalping three wickets each to strangulate the Indian batting line up. (PTI)

SCOREBOARD

New Zealand:

M Sinclair lbw b Zaheer Khan 0

N Astle run out (Sodhi) 117

S Fleming c Sehwag b Harbhajan Singh 25

C McMillan st Dighe b Yuvraj Singh 17

L Vincent c Yuvraj Singh b Harbhajan Singh 16

C Harris run out (Dighe) 1

A Parore st Dighe b Badani 9

D Nash b Zaheer Khan 5

D Vettori not out 5

K Mills not out 1

Extras (lb-4, w-9, nb-2) 15

Total (8 wkts, 50 overs) 211

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-70, 3-106, 4-158, 5-163, 7-198, 8-208.

Bowling: Zaheer Khan 9-1-41-2; Nehra 7-0-35-0; Sodhi 1-0-7-0; Harbhajan Singh 10-1-25-2; Sehwag 8-1-31-0; Yuvraj Singh 10-0-43-1; Badani 5-0-25-1.

India:

Yuvraj Singh lbw b Mills 6

S Ganguly c Harris b Tuffey 5

V Laxman c Harris b Vettori 60

R Dravid c Sinclair b Nash 15

H Badani c Parore b Nash 2

V Sehwag c Harris b Nash 0

R Sodhi b Harris 18

S Dighe c Nash b Harris 9

Harbhajan Singh c and b Harris 0

Zaheer Khan c McMillan b Vettori 2

A Nehra not out 2

Extras (b-2, lb-3, w-2, nb-1) 8

Total (all out, 41.1 overs, 175 mins) 127

Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-13, 3-41, 4-50, 5-50, 6-88, 7-118, 8-123, 9-125.

Bowling: Tuffey 7-2-7-1; Mills 7-1-24-1; Nash 6-0-13-3; Vettori 8.1-0-39-2; Harris 8-1-23-3; Astle 5-0-16-0. (PTI)

Ganguly blames slow pitch for India’s fall

COLOMBO, July 20: Indian captain Saurav Ganguly blamed the turning pitch for India’s 84 run loss to New Zealand in the Triangular one-day series here tonight.

"We did not expect it (the pitch) to turn so much in the latter part of the day," Ganguly said trying to explain the strong Indian batting line-up’s collapse.

"But eventually they (New Zealand) played better cricket and deserved to win," a crestfallen skipper added.

Commenting on India’s performance in the field restricting the Kiwis to 211 conceding just 41 runs in the last ten overs, Ganguly said: "we did a pretty good job with the ball".

"Still, this was just the first match, we have to hold our heads high and go for wins in the remaining matches," said Ganguly.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming was happy to bounce back into the tournament after losing the opener to the hosts.

"It was important for us to win after the disappointment of losing to Sri Lanka, Fleming said. "It was good to post a convincing win against India."

The Kiwi skipper praised man-of-the-match Nathan Astle for his solid knock of 117, which gave them a fighting total.

Astle said he was not worried with the dismissal of his opening partner Mathew Sinclair and said it was a lucky day for him.

Asked how he was adapting to the hot and humid weather, he said: "we are coming from eight degree celsius and here it is 32. But we are slowly getting used to it." (PTI)

Sports activity back at Kathua

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

KATHUA, July 20: With compound wall holes covered, both gates closed and keys handed over to Chowkidar; entry restricted only to the growing number of trainees at the lush green fields, the Sports Stadium at Kathua is now a changed lot.

Not only this, the happy coaches having one point programme to raise the number of trainees in the respective disciplines and the cordial atmosphere created by obedience subordinate staff, really speaks of the hardwork and interest shown by the innovative management under the able guidance of head of the J&K State Sports Council in improving the sports facilities at the district level.

Constructed in 1977-78, the Kathua Stadium has a unique distinction of not holding the Republic-day, Independence Day and other related functions any more, but still has things to bury, the non-cooperation of the people and false promises made by the donors for the upliftment of this Stadium.

Although, MLA, Sagar Chand donated Rs one lakh in December last, yet an equal amount was promised jointly by Haider Ali, Deputy Speaker, J&K Legislative Assembly (Rs 50,000) and Lal Chand, MLA Billawar (Rs 51,000) during a function at the Stadium, which has not been released. The amount donated by Sagar Chand was used in repairing the compound wall and construction of a concrete nallah to divert the flow of waste water from filling station of police Lines (which otherwise was flowing through the stadium).

Having sitting capacity of over 10,000 people at a time, the Sports Council run Stadium Kathua is imparting training to nearly 200 regular senior and junior players in the disciplines of Cricket, Handball, Football, Hockey and Athletics. It also has the coaching facilities for Weightlifting, Gymnastics and Fencing, but due to non-availability of coaches, the players are themselves practicing in these disciplines, while, demand for twin games of Basketball and Roller Skating is fast growing in the town.

The number can be increased many fold provided there are competitions, feel the coaches. They were of the view that due to lack of competitions, the players get discouraged and some time leave the game in dejection.

When the trainees are paying fee for using the facilities at the Jammu and Srinagar stadiums, the coaching was free for all at the Kathua Stadium.

"When I was made the incharge stadium, there was hardly any regular activity and broken compound ball was an open invitation to the stray animals and the anti-social elements, but things have now entirely changed, the compound wall has been raised and the gates are only open for the sportspersons", these were the words of present incharge stadium, Mr Rajan Sharma who was interacting with the visiting Correspondent.

Rajan said, his only aim was to attract youth towards sports and for that matter he has sought the cooperation of the locals. However, he was positive that the way the number of trainees was increasing, by the next year the figures will touch new heights.

Last year, Kathua Stadium hosted two North-zone level cricket matches in junior groups after the ground was approved by the experts from Delhi. This year too, incharge sports stadium is expecting a couple of matches in the month of November.

This Correspondent also interacted with the coaches posted at the Stadium to gather their view point.

HANDBALL: Sports Authority of India coach, Mrs Nirmal Kour has given re-birth to the game of handball in Kathua town. With over 30 students, she has created history by hosting the first ever district championship in the town. To further increase the number of players and popularise the game, Nirmal Kour has approached the colleges and school, especially for girl players, only to wait for the positive response.

However, she has not let down and has continued her efforts for the separate coaching centre for girls, because she has aimed for a medal at the national level in the girls section. Anyway, Nirmal has produced two national level players, namely Abhimanyu and Arshad.

HOCKEY: In hockey too the number of players has been increasing in both boys and girls sections. Sports Authority of India coach Mrs Baljeet Kour has indicated that lack of competitions restrict the raising number of the trainees. However, she was satisfied with the performance of her trainees whose number is touching 30.

Asha Rani, who, although, belongs to a poor family, has represented J&K four times in the Junior Nationals hockey tournaments. A Higher Secondary student and youngest in her family, Asha aims at a national medal. She has all praise for her coach, who she said, used to provide her the kits whenever required.

FOOTBALL: Unhappy with the Jammu and Kashmir Football Association for extending little opportunities to the players from Kathua in the formation of the State teams for various competitions, the SAI football coach at Sports Stadium, Kathua, Satish Kumar Sharma said that in the absence of competitions, the game is not getting popularity amongst the young generation. ‘When a player practices for a complete year and later could not get a competition, he gets dejection and ultimately quits the game", , he said adding that despite this, the game of football is flourishing in the town.

ATHLETICS: Athletics being the game of stamina and requires a lot of diet, thus becoming the costlier affair, has not been responded well by the people of the town. Though a bronze medal came in the 4x400 meters race for the district through, Arshad at the North-zone level, still the number has not increased upto the expectation of the coach, Baljinder Pal Singh of State Sports Council. He too was of the opinion that lack of competitions at the district level resulting into players stay at home.

CRICKET: Leaving all other events far behind, cricket coach has managed to gather a good crowd of youngsters around him. Cricket coach Naveen Sharma could not be contacted because he was on leave.

FENCING: Amandeep Singh, who has played the junior nationals, is presently coaching near 10 youngsters at the stadium.

GYMNASTICS: National level gymnast, Ajeet Kumar, is imparting training among ever since the SAI gymnast coach got transferred from Kathua.