Inter-distt Volleyball tourney begins at Leh

Excelsior Correspondent

Leh, July 28: As many as 330 students below 17 years from across the State are participating in the Inter-district Volley Ball Tournament that commenced here today. The tournament has been organized by the Youth Services and Sports Department.

Inaugurating the tournament, the Chief Executive Councillor, LAHDC, Mr. Thupstan Chhewang said that youth of Ladakh have skill in sports activities and they should prepare themselves for participation in various State as well as national level events.

The Director, Youth Services and Sports, Mr. Shyam Lal stated that this is the first tournament of its kind being held in Ladakh. He disclosed that coaching centres will be set up at Leh and Kargil for sharpening the sports talent among the youth of the area.

Shooters collect three golds to boost medal haul

MANCHESTER, July 28: The strong Indian shooters gave ample display of their class as they continued their dominance by grabbing three more gold medals to boost India’s medal collection in the 17th Commonwealth Games here today.

The talented duo of Anjali (Ved Pathak) Bhagwat and Suma Shirur stole the thunder by not only picking up the coveted yellow metal but also scripting a new games record in the women’s 10m air rifle pairs event on a highly productive day for the largest-ever Indian contingent.

The shooters expectedly turned the spotlight on themselves by virtually setting the shooting ranges in Bisley ablaze and scooping up three of the seven gold medals on offer to take India’s overall medals tally to four gold and two silver medals after three days of competitions.

Moraad Ali Khan and Rajyavardhan Singh were the other Indian heroes as they clinched the gold in the men’s double trap pairs event to bring much cheer for the shooting contingent which has traditionally been the medal suppliers in the multi-discipline games.

The Indian marksmen bagged the gold medal in the men’s 50m pistol pairs event also with the seasoned Samaresh Jung and Vivek Singh keeping their reputation intact with an aggregate of 1088 points.

While the shooters did the bulk of the medal shopping, there were moments of despair on the hockey field with the Indian women’s team succumbing 1-3 to strong contenders New Zealand and jeopardising their semi-final prospects.

The Indians, who had scraped past Canada by a solitary goal in their opening Pool-B match, could not counter their much faster Kiwis opponents despite raising hopes of a stunning victory by taking an early lead through Jyoti Kullu.

The Indian eves have no option but to win their last league match against hosts England to keep their semi-final hopes alive.

Shweta Chaudhary and Sheila Kanungo did their bit to improve India’s medals tally by claiming a silver medal in the women’s 10m air pistol pairs event with a total of 744 points.

The paddlers kept themselves in reckoning by registering their second consecutive victory in the men’s table tennis team event, spanking lowly Mauritius 3-0 in a rather one-sided contest.

There was some cheer for the small athletic contingent with Anju B George qualifying to the final of the women’s long jump event. She lept to a distance of 6.36 m to finish second in a Pool-A qualifying round behind Australia’s Bronwyn Thompson (6.47m). (PTI)

New Zealand prevail over India 3-1

Indian women’s hockey team jeopardised their chances of securing a semi-final slot when they went down 1-3 to title aspirants New Zealand in a Pool-B league match of the Commonwealth Games here today

The Indian eves, desperately trying to win their first ever medal in the Commonwealth Games, failed to counter their much faster opponents in what turned out to be a rather one-sided contest.

The Indians fired the first salvo in the early stages of the proceedings through Jyoti Kullu but failed to keep the momentum going as they conceded three goals, paying a heavy price for their defensive lapses.

The hard-working Jyoti Kullu raised hopes of a dream Indian victory by putting her team in the lead as early as the 16th minute of the contest but the euphoria was shortlived as the Kiwis staged a brilliant comeback to take the game away from the Indians with Suzie Pearce (25th), Colleen Gubb-Suddaby (40th) and Moira Senior (70th) scoring for their team.

The Indians, who had won their opening encounter against Canada by a solitary goal, have no option but to win their last league match against England tomorrow to keep their semi-final hopes alive.

New Zealand, who had held England to a 2-2 draw in their opening league match, are now in a strong position to make it to the semi-finals as the champion team from Pool-B.

Both teams played a little defensively in the initial stages of the contest before Jyoti Kullu displayed superb stickwork to produce a gem of a goal.

Kullu outwitted as many as five defenders to break through the Kiwis’ defence to find the target, giving no chance at all to the rival goalkeeper.

But midfielder Suzio Suzie pearce restored parity within nine minutes with a brilliant field goal capitalising on a defensive lapse.

With the score tied 1-1 at the interval, the Kiwis stepped up the pace of the game in the second session and kept the Indian defenders on tenterhooks with a flurry of attacks from both the flanks.

Colleen Gubb Suddaby and Moira senior converted penalty corners in the second session to seal India’s fate in this crucial match. A victory today would have assured a semi-final berth for the team.

The Indians squandered all the seven penalty corners that came their way, again exposing their weakness in this department of the game. (PTI)

Ramanand falls in second round

The experienced Ramanand’s medal hopes were shattered when he lost to England’s Andrew Morris in the second round of the boxing event today.

Ramanand, who had moved into the second round after defeating Jules De Gannes of Trinidad yesterday, could not counter his stronger English rival to go down 16-25 on points in the upto 60 kg weight category.

With Ramanand’s second round exit, four of the seven Indian pugilists have already bowed out of the competitions.

The Indians, who had clinched a silver medal in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, have not really made much of an impact in the first three days of the competitions

while two of the Glovesmen Dingko Singh and Harpal Singh lost against their first round opponents by slender point margins, Dalvir Singh failed to live upto expectation as he went down by a huge margin to bow out of the championship on the first day itself. (PTI)

Have I finished yet? Naali asks after marathon

Tanzania’s Francis Naali ran for two hours, 11 minutes and 58 seconds to win the men’s marathon at the Commonwealth Games today — and then completed an extra lap of the track just to make sure.

After a race through the streets of Central Manchester, Naali crossed the finishing line in the city of Manchester Stadium ahead of Kenya’s Joshua Chelanga and Australian bronze medallist Andrew Letherby.

Letherby snatched the bronze after sprinting past Kenya’s Olympic silver medallist Eric Wainaina in the last 70 metres of the race. (Agencies)

Corretja stuns Ferrero to win Austrian Open

KITZBUEHEL (Austria), July 28: Alex Corretja upset second seed Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4 6-1 6-3 in an all-Spanish final at the Generali Open today to win his second crown at this Tyrolean Alpine Resort.

With the sun beating down on the clay from a cloudless sky, both had difficulty holding their serve in the first set and traded seven breaks of serve. The eighth-seeded Corretja then turned up the pressure in the second, forcing a rash of errors from Ferrero.

Ferrero, ranked eighth in the ATP tour champion’s race to Corretja’s 17th, was unable to tame his opponent’s powerful game and had to concede defeat after just under two hours.

The 2000 champion, who has now notched up 17 career titles, had never beaten Ferrero before and the high altitude evidently suits his game. Corretja won his first title of the year just two weeks ago at Gstaad in the Swiss alps.

The 28-year-old said he had been playing some of his best tennis to date at Kitzbuehel in a week which also saw him pulverise top seed and French Open champion Albert Costa in the quarter-finals. Kitzbuehel, the last major claycourt tournament of the year, has now been won by a Spaniard six times in the last eight years with the nation fielding at least one finalist in each of those years. (AGENCIES)

Indian shuttlers keep themselves on medal course

Indian shuttlers kept themselves on track for a coveted medal by registering their second consecutive victory in the Commonwealth Games Badminton mixed event at the Bolton arena here today.

The Indians, who had swamped Northern Ireland with an emphatic 5-0 margin in their first match yesterday, continued their winning run by thrashing lowly Seychelles with an identical margin today to brighten their medal prospects.

Marcos Bristow and Sachin Ratti gave the Indian team the perfect start by carving out a comfortable 3-0 victory over Georgie Cupidon and Nicholas Jumaye in men’s doubles. They recorded a straight set 7-0 7-0 7-2 victory.

The talented Abhinn Shyam Gupta, who had played a stellar role in India’s silver-medal winning effort in the team event of the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, consolidated the team’s position by winning his singles match against Georgie Cupidon 7-0 7-0 7-0.

The women’s doubles team comprising Deepti and Neelima Choudhury had no difficulty brushing aside the challenge of the Seychelles duo of Juliette-ah Wan and Katherina Paulin with a 7-1 7-3 7-1 verdict to give India an invincible 3-0 lead.

In the women’s singles, B R Meenakshi continued the Indian dominace drubbing Juliette-ah Wan 7-1 7-4 7-4 while mixed doubles team of Nikhil Kanetkar and Trupti Murgunde provided the finishing touches to the rout with a 7-0 7-0 7-2 victory over Nicholas Jumaye and Katherina Paulin in the mixed doubles event. (PTI)

Three Indian boxers fall in first round

The Indian boxing campaign began on a dismal note as three pugilists, including light weight hero Dingko Singh, bit the dust in the very first round of the Commonwealth Games boxing event.

While two of the Glovemen Dingko Singh and Harpal Singh lost against their first round opponents by slender point margins, Dalvir Singh failed to live upto expectation as he went down by a huge margin to bow out of the championship.

Harpal Singh began with a flourish with a barrage of punches to unsettle his opponent but could not sustain the tempo to eventually go down to Michael Macaque of Mauritius 18-20 in the over 91 kg category.

Dalvir Singh, who looked totally off colour, could not counter his much superior opponent Emanuel Nketu of Lesotho to lose 14-23 in what turned out to be a dampner for the Indians in the upto 51 kg category.

Light weight hero of the Bangkok Asian Games, Dingko Singh also began on a impressive note but seemed to lose his rhythm towards the later stages allowing his taller rival Ezekiel Letuka of Lesotho to carve out a narrow 14-12 win to proceed to the second round in the upto 54 kg category.

The seven-member Indian boxing squad is taking part in seven weight categories hoping to improve upon their tally of one silver medal collected in the last 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

With three boxers having made their exit, it is now left to Mohd Ali Quamar, S B Pun, Jitender Kumar and Ramanand to keep the Indian medal hopes alive. (PTI)

Three girls may create history for India

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, July 27: Three Indian women athletes can create history if they reproduce their feats at the ongoing 17th Commonwealth Games at Manchester.

With a string of good performances behind them, long jumper Anju Bobby George, thrower Neelam K Singh and high jumper Bobby Alosius could figure on the victory podium if they could repeat their best performances back home.

Only the legendary Milkha Singh (gold in 400m, Cardiff, 1958), Praveen Kumar (silver in Hammerthrow, Kingston, 1966) Mohinder Singh Gill (silver in triple jump, Edinburgh, 1970) and Suresh Babu(bronze in long jump, Edmonton, 1978) have earned medals for India in athletics at the Commonwealth Games.

Anju cleared 6.7 mt in March this year in an all India departmental meet at Ludhiana, coming back after a two-year break due to a right-foot injury she suffered in her in an earlier meet. She is now mercifully fit, thanks to the traditional ayurvedic treatment by Karanthoor Chandran Gurukkal after the last national games in Ludhiana.

Her qualities like explosive power, strength, speed, flexibility and coordination have shown "tremendous improvement", according to her husband and coach Robert Bobby George, himself a former national triple jump champion.

Brownwin Thomson(Australia) who has done 7mt in march this year, Elva Goulbone (Jamaica, 6.8 m in July), Jade Thomson (UK, 6.64m in June) and former Olympic champion Chioma Ajunwe (Nigeria) will be Anju’s main rivals.

Neelam Singh who consistently hurls the discus more than 60mt in India has a personal best of 61.95m and Bobby Alosius who did 1.9 m in high jump after her recent training in Moscow also can make it to the victory stand if everything clicks. While Neelam Singh will have a New Zealander (66m) and A Briton (62m) as her main rivals, Bobby will face stiff competition from a South African(2m), a Canadian (1.95m) and an Australian(1.93 m)in claiming a medal for India. (UNI)

Condolence meeting held

The Indian contingent at the Commonwealth Games village here today held a meeting to mourn the death of Vice President Krishan Kant.

The condolence meeting, attended by Sports Minister Uma Bharti, Chef-De-Mission M C Showhan, senior officials of the Indian Olympic Association and athletes, observed a two-minute silence in memory of the departed soul.

The 75-year-old Krishan Kant died at New Delhi this morning following a massive heart attack. (PTI)

Harsha Bhogle among four heckled at Lord’s

LONDON, July 28: Famous cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle and three fellow members of the television network he works for were "heckled and physically assaulted" by a Lord’s steward today.

According to Bhogle, he left the ground late and in order to attend a mobile call, and to beat the traffic noise of the road, he came back inside the gate. At this point, the Steward asked Bhogle, who works for ESPN-Star Sports, to leave the ground and allegedly made sneering comments on the press credentials he produced.

The steward, who according to Bhogle was drunk, proceeded to violently push one of the television crew members to the ground and then slammed the iron gate on bhogle.

The media men informed security supervisors of the incident and a high-level inquiry has been reportedly ordered into the whole episode with help being taken from close circuit tv cameras. (PTI)

Spectator invades pitch to accost Tendulkar

LONDON, July 28: In a disconcerting incident, Sachin Tendulkar was accosted by a spectator at the Lord’s cricket ground here today as he walked back to the pavilion after another failure prompting the Indian team management to voice concern over the safety of players.

The spectator, whose name was withheld, was in police custody after having entered into the ground, accosting Tendulkar and then walking alongside him all the way to the pavilion.

Tendulkar was clean bowled by paceman Matthew Hoggard for 12.

Manager of the Indian team, Ranga Reddy, termed the incident regrettable saying, "there is so much of concern about players’ security and we even have had serious meetings on the issue.... I just hope it doesn’t happen again." (PTI)

Spectator invades pitch to accost Tendulkar

LONDON, July 28: In a disconcerting incident, Sachin Tendulkar was accosted by a spectator at the Lord’s cricket ground here today as he walked back to the pavilion after another failure prompting the Indian team management to voice concern over the safety of players.

The spectator, whose name was withheld, was in police custody after having entered into the ground, accosting Tendulkar and then walking alongside him all the way to the pavilion.

Tendulkar was clean bowled by paceman Matthew Hoggard for 12.

Manager of the Indian team, Ranga Reddy, termed the incident regrettable saying, "there is so much of concern about players’ security and we even have had serious meetings on the issue.... I just hope it doesn’t happen again." (PTI)

| home | state | national | business | editorial | advertisement | sports
| international | weather | mailbag | suggestions | search | subscribe | send mail |