Daily Excelsior.........sports

Yadav to make
his debut today

JAMSHEDPUR, Nov 5: Faced with a resurgent opposition and the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, India have decided to cap Railways all-rounder J P Yadav and included V V S Laxman in the side for tomorrow’s series-opening one-day match against West Indies...........more

Billiards, Snooker
nationals in Jammu
as per schedule

Excelsior Sports Correspondent/Agencies

NEW DELHI, Nov 5: National Billiards and Snooker Championship will be held as per the scheduled ........more

Anand bounces back to
complete hat-trick at
Corsica Open

NEW DELHI, Nov 5: Viswanathan Anand added a fourth world-level title to his collection as he........more

Manipur wins Santosh
Trophy for the first time

IMPHAL, Nov 5: Manipur created history by annexing the coveted Santosh Trophy for the first time .........more

Jammu Distt Gymnastics Championship ends
Harleen Singh is
all-round best in
Rhythmic Gymnastics

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 5: Harleen Singh bagged the senior girls all-round best trophy in Rhythmic in the Jammu District Gymnastics Championship which concluded today at the Indoor Halls, M A Stadium, here..........more

Inter-college Cricket
Inderjeet hits double
ton as MAM College
thrashes Kathua

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 5: Unbeaten double ton by Inderjeet Singh powered Government MAM College to a record 222 runs victory over Degree College.........more

Inventors House bags
Rangoli competition

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 5: Inventors House bagged first position in Rangoli competition organised by the Atman High School to celebrate Diwali at the school premises here........more

Yadav to make his debut today

Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly, looking quite upbeat following the convincing 2-0 victory in the three-match test series, today announced the final eleven that included Yadav.

"You will see him on the ground tomorrow," Ganguly said about Yadav who was also picked for Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka last month but did not get to play a match.

"We want to give a chance to new boys like Yadav. He played very well in the Irani Cup match."

The absence of Tendulkar, who has been ruled out of the seven-match series due a hamstring injury, has provided another chance to Laxman to prove his worth in the one-dayers.

"Since Sachin is not there, it provides a good opportunity for Laxman to show his class," Ganguly said about the stylish Hyderabad batsman who is not a regular member of India’s one-day team.

Ganguly said Laxman will bat in place of Tendulkar and there will be no change in the batting order.

Speedster Javagal Srinath, Sanjay Bangar, who was rewarded with a one-day berth following his consistent performance as a test opener and left-hand batsman Dinesh Mongia, Tendulkar’s replacement in the 14-member squad, will be the three players left out for tomorrow’s game.

West Indian skipper Carl Hooper, on the other hand, was quite excited with the inclusion of batsman Ricardo Powell who is one of the three changes in the touring side for the one-day series.

"He is a very talented batsman. He is also a brilliant fielder and a handy off-spinner. I hope he can prove himself," Hooper said.

Hooper did not announce his final team for tomorrow’s game but Powell is almost certain to be included.

The newly-laid pitch at the Keenan Stadium, which has a lot of cracks, was the subject of intense discussion with both captains unsure of how it was going to behave.

Hooper, who was quite upbeat about his side’s chances following their much improved show in the third and final test in Kolkata, looked very disappointed with the pitch.

"The wicket is very dry with a surprising amount of cracks. I don’t want to say its the worst but I must say that it certainly looks very funny," Hooper said.

Ganguly was more controlled in his reaction. "It has a lot of cracks. But it is not that bad. We have asked the groundsmen to do some good rolling," he said.

Both the captains felt that the one-day series would be more closely contested than the tests.

Recalling the one-day series between the two sides in West Indies earlier this year, Hooper said, "that series was very close. I don’t think this series is going to be any different. We will have a good series."

"This is a different ball game. But I hope we can carry on from where we left at Eden Gardens in Kolkata," Hooper said referring to his side’s improved performance in the last test.

Ganguly also said that his team was expecting a much tougher contest in the one-dayers even though the players were on a high after winning the test series.

"This is a different series and we have to play well for 100 overs," he said.

The exclusion of Srinath means that Ajit Agarkar would share the new ball with left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra while Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble will continue with their double spin attack.

Ganguly did not commit himself when asked whether he would like to bat if he won the toss tomorrow but Hooper said he would definitely like to bat first.

The overall one-day record between the two teams is heavily loaded in favour of the West Indians. The visitors have won 42 of the 69 matches against India. The hosts have finished winners on 25 occasions.

Record at the Keenan Stadium also favours the visitors as the only West Indies-India match here in 1983 had also ended in a resounding 104-run victory for the Caribbeans. But Ganguly was visibly annoyed when reminded of that result.

"That was a long time back. Just because West Indies had got 333 then does not mean that they will do it here this time too. Or that they won’t do it this time," he said.

Teams:

India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Ashish Nehra, Ajit Agarkar, J P Yadav.

West Indies (From): Carl Hooper (Captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Cameron Cuffy, Mervyn Dillon, Vasbert Drakes, Darren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Ryan Hinds, Wavell Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Ricardo Powell, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Umpires: Asoke De Silva (Sri Lanka) and A V Jayprakash (India).

Third umpire: I Shivram.

Reserve umpire: S C Gupta.

Match referee: Mike Procter. (PTI)

Anand bounces back to complete hat-trick
at Corsica Open

NEW DELHI, Nov 5: Viswanathan Anand added a fourth world-level title to his collection as he rebounded strongly from a first-game loss to beat Anatoly Karpov in the final of the sixth edition of the Corsica Open Chess Tournament.

The NIIT brand ambassador, has over the last three months won the Eurotel title in Prague in May, followed by the chess classic of Mainz title in July and the World Cup in Hyderabad in October and now the Corsica Open.

In the final against Karpov, former FIDE world champion, the Indian lost the first game but bounced back to win the next and send the match into a play-off. They drew the next two before Anand won the last two game played in the Blitz format.

This was the first match in the knockout stage, where Anand had been stretched beyond the normal two-game match.

The 32-year-old Anand, who ironically had lost the FIDE World Championships final to Karpov in the rapid games tie-breaker back in 1998, has now beaten the 52-year-old Russian in their last two finals at Eurotel Championships in Prague and Corsica.

It was a very interesting and gripping battle between two of the greatest players of the game. They clashed in front of a large audience that included more than 200 school students and for them seeing a match between two former world champions was indeed a treat. Both Anand and Karpov are big hits in Bastia, where the tournament was played.

In the six games in the final, they went through a whole series of openings. It could well have been a clash for the books, where they showed all their skills in various kinds opening and with Anand recently signing up to promote a chess-for-schools programme with his sponsors, niit, this match could well be one to use a great example of skills. Anand lost the first game with black in a queen’s Indian opening, but then struck back with white in a petroff defence employed by his rival.

The next two games were drawn in Caro-Kann and queen’s gambit accepted. In the fifth game, now being played in the Blitz format with five minutes for the game besides five seconds being added for each move, Anand won in Neo Gruenfeld with black pieces.

In the sixth game needing only a draw, he sealed the title in style in a Sicilian but Karpov was also taking chances knowing he had to win to stay in the hunt.

The time control for the first two games was 20 minutes plus 5 seconds for every move and then it was 10 minutes plus 5 seconds for the next two games and then 5 minutes plus 5 seconds for the Blitz Games.

The 32-year-old once called the lightning kid in his early years, because of the speed of his play, has continued to maintain that style. At Corsica Open he became the first player to win the title three times in a row, having won it on previous two occasions, too.

In his last four rounds in the knock-out format Anand beat Javier Cornero Moreno of Spain, Artur Yusupov of Germany, Mikhail Gurevich of Belgium and finally Anatoly Karpov of Russia.

Kaprov meanwhile got past Jurij Zezulkin, Vladislav Tkachiev, and Alexei Shirov before succumbing to Anand.

For Karpov, this has been the third final he has lost this season. A week before Corsica he lost the finals to Boris Gelfand in Cape D’agde.

The Corsica Open is an unique tournament in which more than 350 players take part. The initial stage is spent in getting the 16 top players for the elite knockout event. The 16 then play two-game matches in the rapid format leading to the title match, which is also in the same format.

Anand will now start his preparations for the coming year when he plays the traditional strong tournaments in classical format like Wijk Aan Zee and Linares early next year.

Anand is the brand ambassador of the Indian IT giant NIIT and has recently drawn up plans to start a chess for schools programme with his sponsors. (UNI)

Manipur wins Santosh Trophy for the first time

IMPHAL, Nov 5: Manipur created history by annexing the coveted Santosh Trophy for the first time as they scripted a thrilling 2-1 victory over holders Kerala in the 58th edition of the National Football Championships here today.

The promising yongster W Tomba Singh produced the golden goal early in the extra time after both the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of the scheduled time in a match which saw fortunes fluctuating from one side to the other till the very end.

Spurred on by a vociferous home crowd, the hosts shot into the lead as early as the 6th minute of the contest with the diminutive L Tikken Singh finding the target. But the Keralites bounced back by finding the equaliser through Abdul Naushad just three minutes before the regulation time.

Tomba Singh’s golden goal in the fourth minute of extra time sent the 25,000 home fans into raptures as Manipur fulfilled a long-cherished dream of winning the trophy for the first time since 1941.

Kerala players immediately protested against the golden goal awarded to Manipur arguing the ball instead of directly landing into the net had instead hit the top of the net and rebounded.

The Kerala players were seen pleading with the referee to disallow the goal even as television replays confirmed it be a legitimate one.

Strengthened by the services of outstation players like Moni Tombi Singh, Bijen Singh and James Singh, the dimunitive and fast moving Manipur forward line combined well to launch furious onslaughts on the tight Kerala defence right from the word go.

Four-time winners and five-time runners up Kerala was in for a shock as the Manipur forwards ripped apart the Kerala defence.

Manipur who dominated the proceedings in the first half, shot into the lead in the sixth minute, much to the delight of the capacity crowd.

A long throw-in from Uttam Kumar saw Tikken Singh heading it in (1-0).

Playing in the 4-3-3 formation, Kerala, which has impressed as the most balanced and compact team in the championship, however, failed to keep their momentum going today.

The final scoreline betrayed the level of play Manipur produced as the ball was totally in the Kerala half for most of the time in the first half while in the second half Kerala could took the advantage for a bare ten minutes.

The home team could have gone in to the lead in the second minute and then again in the fifth but James Singh, Rennedy Singh, Bijen Singh and Bungo Singh missed easy chances despite having only the goalkeeper to beat.

Kerala’s first shot at the Manipur goal was in the 11th minute when their star forward Sylvester Ignatious, who had a miserable final, shot side of a good free kick from top of the box.

Vinu Jose, a key Kerala defender in the middle who has rarely been porous, was totally off-colour faltering under pressure from the Manipur attacks.

But Manipur were also guilty of messing up chances. Bijen Singh, top scorer of the tournament with ten goals, shot wide once in the first half. Bijen was also guilty of missing at least three more easy chances in the second half.

Manipur custodian Noren Singh, hero of semi-final victory against Goa, again stood up to the task effecting a brilliant save off a good header from the hardworking forward Aseef Saheer.

In the 32nd minute, Manipur could have virtually sealed the match in their favour by taking a 2-0 lead but Bijen Singh was again the culprit as he shot wide off a beautiful Tomba Singh cross.

In the second half, Kerala seized the initiative for a while and it seemed that the Manipur defence had become exhausted.

In the 79th minute, Kerala’s dependable defender Mohammed Shafeeq came near scoring but his powerful shot just missed the target.

Manipur held on to the lead till the 87th minute. However, a defensive lapse on the part of Manipur skipper Ratan Singh saw opportunistic Shiv Kumar give a through pass to substitute Abdul Noushad who lobbed the ball on top of Noren Singh’s head in the 88th minute to level the score 1-1.

It did not take long for Manipur to create history. Four minutes into the extra time, the stadium burst into ecstasy when W Tomba Singh, receiving a pass from the midfield, raced down and outwitted some Kerala defenders before unleashing a powerful right-footer for the golden goal. The ball landed at the top corner of the left post with Kerala custodian Purushothaman beaten completely. (PTI)

Jammu Distt Gymnastics Championship ends
Harleen Singh is all-round best in Rhythmic Gymnastics

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 5: Harleen Singh bagged the senior girls all-round best trophy in Rhythmic in the Jammu District Gymnastics Championship which concluded today at the Indoor Halls, M A Stadium, here.

Second place in this group went to Sonal Gupta, while Shilpa Gupta finished third.

In senior girls Aerobics, Indeep Kour secured first position, followed by Asmita Prabhakar and Manpreet Kour at second and third place respectively.

Maninder Singh bagged the senior boys Artistic trophy. Sushant Gupta remained at number two position in this group, while Udaypal Singh finished third.

Junior boys Aerobics title was won by Jaskaran Singh, followed by Honey Mehra at number two position and Kuldeep Gupta, third.

In Junior girls Aerobics finals, Mitali Dogra got first position, Ravia Sagoch bagged second and Shuchi Malhotra finished third.

Sahil Sahi was winner of the Sub-junior boys Aerobics event, while Bobby Bakaya got second place and Vikas Bakaya declared third.

Junior boys all-round best trophy in Artistic went to Gourav Dhiman. Satwant Singh finished second and Honey Mehra and Gourav Sharma shared third position.

Other detailed results

All-round Junior girls Artistic: Manpreet Kour, Ist; Shuchi Malhotra, 2nd and Richa Malhotra, third.

Sub-Jr Girls Aerobics: Vibhuti Wattal, Ist; Jasleen Kour, 2nd and Tejpal Kour finished third.

Sub-Jr boys Artistic: Bobby Bakaya, Ist; Vikas Bakaya, 2nd and Sahil Sahi remained at third position.

Sub-Jr girls Artistic: Jasleen Kour, Ist; Mitali Dogra, 2nd and Tejpal Kour, third.

Mini-boys Artistic: Gaganjot Singh, Ist; Sagar Sahi, 2nd and Sushil Sharma, third.

Mini-girls Artistic: Antra Mahajan, Ist; Palak Kapoor, 2nd and Vishakha, third.

In addition, consolation prizes were given to Rajesh Kumar and Navjot Singh.

Secretary, State Sports Council, Sheikh Fazal Ahmed, was the chief guest on the occasion, who gave away prizes to the winners and runners-up in various groups and events.