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Gopichand wins All England Badminton BIRMINGHAM, Mar 11: Pulella Gopichand won the men’s singles title of the All England Badminton Championship defeating Chen Hong of China.....more New
Zealand need AUCKLAND, Mar 11: Pakistan batsman Younis Khan hit a career-best unbeaten 149 to have New Zealand battling to save the first cricket test at Eden Park today.......more Former World Boxing Association Champ Greg Page fights for life CINCINNATI, Mar 11: Former World Boxing Association Heavyweight Champion Greg Page was fighting for his life in a Cincinnati Hospital today after collapsing in the last round of a 10-round fight in nearby Erlanger, Kentucky. .....more Harbhajan’s historic hat-trick halts Aussie march KOLKATA, Mar 11: Off spinner Harbhajan Singh took the first test hat-trick by an Indian as part of a five-wicket haul to cause an Australian slide after a. ....more |
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I hope Harbhajan will CHANDIGARH, Mar 11: "It was excellent, I hope my son will do much better and everything will be good," said Avtar Kaur (50), mother of off spinner ........more Kabaddi
Asso felicitates Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 11: The Jammu and Kashmir Amateur Kabaddi Association president and Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Prof Chaman Lal....more Kuerten named player of the year, Safin wins 3 awards LONDON, Mar 11: Brazil’s Gustavo Kuerten has been named the Association of Tennis Professionals’ player of the year for 2000 after.....more Ranji-pre
quarter final CUTTACK, Mar 11: Hosts Orissa piled up 369 for three wickets with two superb centuries by Rashmi Ranjan Parida and Prabhanjan Mallick on their opening day of the Ranji Trophy pre-quarter ....more |
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Gopichand wins All England Badminton BIRMINGHAM, Mar 11: Pulella Gopichand won the men’s singles title of the All England Badminton Championship defeating Chen Hong of China 15-12 15-6 in the final here tonight. (PTI) |
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New Zealand need 431 runs to win the first test AUCKLAND, Mar 11: Pakistan batsman Younis Khan hit a career-best unbeaten 149 to have New Zealand battling to save the first cricket test at Eden Park today. Set a record 431 to win, New Zealand lost opener Matthew Bell (28) to finish the day on 105 for one at stumps with Mark Richardson and night watchman Paul Wiseman unbeaten on 59 and two respectively. New Zealand will resume tomorrow, the final day, needing a further 326 runs in a minimum 103 overs to claim an unlikely win and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Only two teams - India against the West Indies (1975/76) and Australia against England (1948) - have scored more than 400 runs in the fourth innings to win a test. New Zealand’s last successful run chase was against Pakistan, when it chased 323 and won by five wickets at Christchurch in 1993/94 in a series it had already lost 2-0. With the portable pitch - the first such surface to host a test match - already showing signs of wear, New Zealand will be up against the spin twins of offspinner Saqlain Mushtaq and leggy Mushtaq Ahmed. The pair has already got the ball to dart around menacingly with the odd deliveries jumping or keeping low from both ends. But Younis’ third test century in his 10th test appearance was by far the innings of the series opener as he blazed four sixes and 14 boundaries in a punishing innings. Putting behind the disappointment of missing out on a century in the first innings, dismissed for 91, the 23-year-old Younis once again anchored the new-look batting lineup to shut New Zealand out of the test. Resuming the day on 98 for three, Pakistan finally declared its second innings on 336 for five after Younis and Faisal Iqbal, 52 not out, shared an undefeated 147 runs for the sixth wicket in 15 minutes under three hours. Younis’ two big innings here followed a 116 against Sri Lanka in Kandy in his last test outing. Personal problems forced him out of Pakistan’s home series against England in November last year. Returning to the injury-hit side with a new found confidence and an aggressive approach, Younis badly exposed the mediocrity of the New Zealand’s bowling. After dominating a 79-run stand with the experienced Yousuf Youhana (42), Younis and debutant Faisal accumulated the runs off just 269 balls. Faisal, the nephew of coach Javed Miandad, and flown into boost the side, scored his maiden test half century, following his 42 runs in the first innings. New Zealand began the run chase positively with Richardson and bell taking the side to 91 without loss before disaster struck. Bell hesitantly responded to Richardson’s call for a single and was narrowly run out at the bowler’s end in a decision that needed the assistance of the third umpire Billy Bowden. (AP) |
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Former World Boxing Association Champ Greg Page fights for life CINCINNATI, Mar 11: Former World Boxing Association Heavyweight Champion Greg Page was fighting for his life in a Cincinnati Hospital today after collapsing in the last round of a 10-round fight in nearby Erlanger, Kentucky. Officials at university hospital listed his condition as critical but stable from a head injury sustained during Friday night’s bout with Dale Crowe, a lefthanded Journeyman heavyweight from Norwood, Ohio. Jack Kerns, chairman of the Kentucky Athletic Commission, said Crowe appeared to be dominating the fight against the 42-year-old page, but both boxers landed several heavy punches throughout the match. Page, from Louisville, Kentucky, reigned as WBA champion for five months in 1994 after he knocked out South African Gerrie Coetzee, but lost his crown to Tony Tubbs of Cincinnati and never fought for the title again. Page said he had been inspired to follow in the footsteps of fellow Louisvillians Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Ellis as world titleholders. He compiled a record of 54 wins and 14 losses, including fights with several top contenders, during a professional career that began in 1984. (REUTERS) |
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Harbhajan’s historic hat-trick halts Aussie march KOLKATA, Mar 11: Off spinner Harbhajan Singh took the first test hat-trick by an Indian as part of a five-wicket haul to cause an Australian slide after a rampaging start on the opening day of the second cricket test here today. A brilliant five for 66 by the 20-year-old Punjab spinner left the tourists at 291 for eight after having been 193 for one largely due to a powerful 97 by opener Matthew Hayden who had scored a century in the first test in Mumbai which the tourists won by ten wickets. Harbhajan took all the five wickets in the post-tea session claiming Ricky Ponting, the Dangerman Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne to become the first ever Indian to achieve the feat since the country started playing test cricket nearly 70 years ago. In all seven wickets fell for 98 in the final session of play as the Indians came roaring back into the match before a mammoth 70,000 crowd at the Eden Gardens. The crowd cheered Harbhajan Singh vociferously as he approached to bowl the hat-trick delivery to Warne after having trapped Ponting (6) and Gilchrist (0) leg before wicket. A tense Warne, with five players close around him, played forward tentatively and Sadagopan Ramesh latched on to a low catch at forward short leg sending the spectators into a frenzy. But the young spinner’s moment of glory had to wait for a while as umpire S K Bansal referred the catch to the third umpire. There was pin drop silence in the ground before the red light flashed, signalling Harbhajan’s entry into the record books. At stumps, Steve Waugh stood amidst the ruins with a brave 29 while Jason Gillespie was giving him company with six. After they won the toss and elected to bat, the Australian opening pair provided a solid foundation by stitching 103 runs as the Indians allowed them to settle down early in the innings by bowling a number of loose balls. Just when the partnership was assuming dangerous proportions, Zaheer Khan provided the vital breakthrough by getting rid of Slater shortly after the lunch break much to the delight of the huge holiday crowd who had very little to cheer in the pre-lunch session. Slater, who invited ICC match referee’s wrath by commenting on his controversial catch of Rahul Dravid in the Mumbai test, could add just one run to his lunch tally before flashing at an away going delivery to Nayan Mongia behind the stumps. The hosts had themselves to blame for allowing the Aussie openers to flourish as the script would have unfolded differently if the Indians could latch on to the catches that came their way. Dravid dropped a fairly easy catch of Hayden at first-slip when he was on 67 while Tendulkar spilled a rather difficult chance of Justin Langer at the mid-wicket region to let the visitors off the hook early in the proceedings. Langer, who joined the action after Slater’s dismissal, gave able support to the hard-hitting Hayden as the duo put on 90 runs for the second wicket to consolidate the position for the visitors. Hayden was particularly severe on the spinners who failed to check the run flow as the post-lunch session yielded a brisk 105 runs to leave the hosts a demorlised lot. The last session, however saw a dramatic turn-around due to Harbhajan’s hat trick. Harbhajan Singh produced the dream spell to virtually turn the match on its head and leave the visitors gasping at 252 for seven after being comfortably placed at 214 for two at one stage. The hosts got rid of Mathew Hayden (97), Justin Langer (58), Mark Waugh (22), Ricky Ponting (6), Adam Gilchrist (0) and Shane Warne (0) in quick succession to shatter Australian hopes of a big first innings total. The departure of Hayden, who fell three runs short of what could have been his second consecutive century, opened the floodgates as Harbhajan Singh suddenly looked a totally different bowler showing excellent control. (PTI) |
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I hope Harbhajan will do better, says mother CHANDIGARH, Mar 11: "It was excellent, I hope my son will do much better and everything will be good," said Avtar Kaur (50), mother of off spinner Harbhajan Singh, who made history by claiming hat trick against Australia in the second test at Kolkata today. "I know little about the game, but I always had hope that my son will do something great in the game," an excited Avtar Kaur, who started taking interest in cricket after Harbhajan’s entry into national squad, told PTI here. Kaur, who was watching the game on television along with her son Kartar Singh and daughters Amrit Paul and Ginni, said she hopes for further excellent performance from his son. Kartar Singh, who is Sports Officer in Jalandhar, said: "We all were on our feet when we saw our family member taking one wicket after another." "I can’t express my happines at this moment," he said. "He (Harbhajan) missed an opportunity to take a hat-trick in the last match also and we knew he would do something good," he said. He said people in their locality had started pouring into their house to share the happiness for Harbhajan Singh’s feat. "We will do bhangra, throw a party to the locality in the night," he said. "After all it was great moment for all of us." (PTI) |
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Kabaddi Asso felicitates Jr Asian medalist Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Mar 11: The Jammu and Kashmir Amateur Kabaddi Association president and Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta today felicitated Rakesh Kumar, who won gold medal in the Junior Asians, in a simple function held at president’s house, here. Rakesh was part of the Indian team which participated in the Junior Asian Kabaddi Championship held at Faridabad in India and won gold medal. The Secretary, State Sports Council, Sheikh Fazal Ahmed and general secretary of the Kabaddi Association, Mr Kuldeep Kumar Gupta, besides the coach, B S Tirthi were also present on the occasion. Prof Gupta, who appreciated the efforts of Rakesh for bringing laurels to the State, strongly recommended his case to the Chief Secretary, Mr Ashok Jaitely for appointment in the Government service as per the SRO-349 at the earliest. The president has also introduced a special scheme for the international Kabaddi players to provide them with accidental insurance for an amount of Rs one lakh, besides cash incentives alongwith Pandit Prem Nath Dogra award. He also praised the coach B S Tirthi for producing such players and general secretary of the Association, Kuldeep Gupta for the promotion of the game in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The Minister hoped that the young coaches will continue their search for the hidden talent and work hard to produce more international players from the State. Others present on the occasion were Dinesh Gupta, district secretary and Rajeev Jandial, press secretary of the Association. |
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Kuerten named player of the year, Safin wins 3 awards LONDON, Mar 11: Brazil’s Gustavo Kuerten has been named the Association of Tennis Professionals’ player of the year for 2000 after becoming the first South American to finish the year ranked number one. Kuerten headed the winners list at the ATP’s annual awards, announced last night ahead of next week’s Indian Wells Masters Tournament in California. Kuerten, who takes over from Andre Agassi as player of the year, won five titles in 2000 - including the French Open, the Hamburg Masters and the season-ending Masters Cup in Lisbon. Heading into Lisbon, Kuerten needed back-to-back victories over Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi to overtake Marat Safin for the year-end world number one ranking. The only player to have achieved that double had been Michael Chang in Toronto in 1990, but Kuerten achieved what many had thought impossible, beating both on his way to taking the title — and winning the ATP champions race to finish number one. Kuerten also won the fans’ favourite award, voted for the first time by fans online at the ATP’s website www.Atptennis.Com. Safin, the Russian US Open champion who won an ATP-best seven titles during the year, picked up three awards. Most improved The 21-year-old was voted most improved player by his fellow professionals, new balls please player of the year and ASAP Sports most quotable player of the year by the International Tennis Writers’ Association. Australian Pat Rafter won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship award for the second consecutive year and third time overall, while twice French Open champion Sergi Bruguera became the first person to win the comeback player of the year award for the second time. The injury-plagued Spaniard leaped from a ranking of 372 in 1999 to 84 in 2000 after reaching the final in San Marino and a semifinal in Palermo. Bruguera also won the award in 1997. Belgium’s Olivier Rochus pipped brother Christophe to win the newcomer of the year award following his first ATP title in Palermo, while John McEnroe was awarded the ATP champions tour player of the year for the third successive year. Dutchman Richard Krajicek won the Arthur Ashe humanitarian of the year award. The awards for sportsmanship, newcomer, most improved player and comeback player of the year were voted by the players themselves. The Ericsson Open Miami was voted the tennis masters series/international series gold tournament of the year for the third consecutive year by the players, who also named Halle, in Germany, as the best international series tournament of the year. (REUTERS) |
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Ranji-pre quarter
final CUTTACK, Mar 11: Hosts Orissa piled up 369 for three wickets with two superb centuries by Rashmi Ranjan Parida and Prabhanjan Mallick on their opening day of the Ranji Trophy pre-quarter final match against Jammu and Kashmir at the Barbati stadium here today. Jammu and Kashmir captain Abdul Qayoom won the toss and asked the East Zone champion Orissa to bat. Orissa suffered the first casualty when Jammu and Kashmir skipper A Qayoom bowled opener Suresh Kumar for only three runs. East Zone champion Orissa was tottering with 64 runs for 3 when Rashmi Ranjan Parida and Prabhanjan Mallick, in their fourth wicket partnership, took the tally to a staggering 369 runs. Both Rashmi Ranjan (194) and Prabhanjan (147) were on the crease when the curtain was drawn for the day. They together piled up 305 runs in their fourth wicket partnership while facing 406 balls in 269 minutes. Rashmi Ranjan’s 194 came in 277 balls and 341 minutes which included 31 boundaries while Prabhanjan scored 147 runs in 267 minutes facing 184 balls. He hit as many as 16 shots to the fence and three sixes. For Jammu and Kashmir, the third position in the North Zone, skipper A Qayoom, Jagtar Singh and Vijaya sharma claimed one wicket each. Orissa skipper Sanjaya Raul and opener Pradeep Das failed to withstand the Jammu and Kashmir spinners and were out at 10 and 08 runs respectively. Raul remained on the pitch for only eight minutes and played six balls when he was caught by Jagtar Singh off Vijaya Sharma delivery. Rashmi Ranjan who put a brave fight shattering the hopes of the Jammu and Kashmir spinners, scored half century in 93 minutes facing 61 balls. He hit the century in 202 minutes and 147 balls while his 150 runs in 269 minutes and 213 balls. Similarly, Prabhanjan Mallick who remained not out with 147 runs, collected his half century in 100 minutes facing 66 ball which included six fours and one six. He scored 147 runs in 184 balls and stayed for 267 minutes before the match was called off for the day. Brief score: Orissa (1st innings) 369 for 3 (R R Parida 194 (not out), Prabhanjan Mallick 147 (not out) Jammu Kashmir (A Qayoom 1/60, Jagtar Singh 1/99, Vijaya Sharma 1/60). (UNI) |
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