|
|
| Honours split as rain forces abandonment
yet again COLOMBO, Sept 30: In an anti-climax to the much-hyped Mini World Cup, India and Sri Lanka were named the joint winners of the Champions Trophy after rains ruined India’s advantage once again and forced the..........more Billiards and Snooker BUSAN, Sept 30: The 12-member Indian billiards and snooker team will open their campaign in the ........more Schumacher’s stunt is INDIANAPOLIS (USA), Sept 30: Formula one racing was given another black eye when Ferrari ..........more Hopes
rest on Kunjurani BUSAN, Sept 29: India’s hope of bagging the first medal rests on former champion Kunjurani Devi and Sanamacha Chanu in 48 kg category event of........more |
|
12th Jammu Distt Billiards and
Snooker Championship Shining star Kuldeep is new Distt Jr Snooker champion * Semis position cleared in the Sr Billiards as Gautam, Sohail win ties Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 30: Budding cueist, Kuldeep Chowdhary today lifted his maiden title after he defeated Nishant Azad in the Junior Snooker final in the 12th Jammu District Billiards and Snooker Championship being played at M A Stadium, here..........more Mixed day
for Indians BUSAN, Sept 30: Emphatic victories in league matches of men’s hockey and football events were offset by a disappointing show by the women weightlifters as India started their campaign in the 14th Asian Games on a mixed note here today.......more Ten
arrested on LUCKNOW, Sept 30: Police here busted a betting racket involving crores of rupees during the ICC cricket final match being played between India.........more |
Honours split as rain forces abandonment yet again COLOMBO, Sept 30: In an anti-climax to the much-hyped Mini World Cup, India and Sri Lanka were named the joint winners of the Champions Trophy after rains ruined India’s advantage once again and forced the abandonment of the final match for the second successive day here today. India were placed at 38 for one in 8.4 overs in reply to Sri Lanka’s 222 for seven when rains disrupted the game. The match was being replayed today after it met a similar fate yesterday when play was abandoned with India at 14 without loss while chasing Sri Lanka’s 244 for five. Like yesterday, India succeeded in restricting Sri Lanka to a modest score and then also had a good start to their innings but were helpless against the rain gods. Following yesterday’s experience when veteran speedster Javagal Srinath bowled an expensive spell, India left him out today despite flowing him from England to replace an injured Ashish Nehra for this final. They included leg-spinner Anil Kumble in his place keeping in mind the turning nature of the track. Sri Lanka effected a similar change and brought in spinner Upul Chandana in place of Pulasti Gunaratne. The move seemed to have yielded results for the Indians as Kumble not only bowled an impressive spell, but also got rid of the dangerous Aravinda De Silva who scored 27, an improvement over his yesterday’s score of 18 in his last match at home soil. The Indians had reduced Sri Lanka to 71 for four in the 17th over before the top-scorers Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold rescued the innings with an 118-run partnership for the fifth wicket. The two batsmen, who did not have much to show for in this tournament, denied the Indians any more success till the 46th over when Jayawardene got out after making a solid 77 with six boundaries. Arnold carried on and remained unbeaten on 56 off 101 balls. India had a much better start today with Zaheer Khan crashing through the defences of Sanath Jayasuriya to dismiss the Sri Lankan captain off the very first ball of the match. He very nearly sent back Kumar Sangakkara too when the left-hander, who exchanged his usual number three position with opener Marvan Atapattu, snicked the last ball of the over to Dinesh Mongia in the second slip. Mongia dived full length and got both hands to the ball but failed to hold on. Mongia compensated for his mistake in the eighth over when he took an equally spectacular catch off Ajit Agarkar’s bowling to dismiss Atapattu who could make only ten runs today compared to the 34 he had scored yesterday. De Silva, who hit Agarkar for 22 runs in an over, was the next man to go, caught by Mohammad Kaif off Kumble with the score on 63. Three overs later, India got the prized wicket of Sangakkara who was run out in a terrible mix-up with his partner Jayawardene. Sangakkara scored 26. Jayawardene and arnold resurrected the innings after that, scoring slowly but ensuring that Sri Lanka did not lose any more early wickets. Jayawardene finally became the second of the three victims of Zaheer Khan when he lobbed a simple catch to Sourav Ganguly at covers. Chandana was out cheaply for one before Chaminda Vaas scored a quickfire 17 off ten balls to take Sri Lanka past 200. Vaas was out in the last over of the innings, caught by Kumble off Zaheer Khan. India went through a couple of quite overs when they began their reply and even lost the wicket of Dinesh Mongia (o) who gave a simple catch to Jayawardene while trying to pull a shorter delivery from Vaas. But Sehwag soon came into his own and scored three boundaries before lofting Vaas for a stunning six over covers. He remained unbeaten on 25 off 22 deliveries while Tendulkar, who came at number three, was not out on seven. (PTI) SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka S Jayasuriya b Zaheer Khan 0 K Sangakkara run out 26 ]M Atapattu c Mongia b Agarkar 10 A De Silva c Kaif b Kumble 27 M Jayawardene c Ganguly b Zaheer Khan 77 R Ronld not out 56 U Chandana c Kaif b Harbhajan Singh 1 C Vaas c Kumble b Zaheer Khan 17 M Muralitharan not out 0 Extras (nb-7, w-1) 8 Total (for 7 wkts, 50 overs) 222 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-24, 3-63, 4-71, 5-189, 6-193, 7-215. Bowling: Zaheer Khan 9-1-44-3, Agarkar 5-1-36-1, Harbhajan Singh 10-0-34-1, Kumble 10-1-41-1, Sehwag 8-0-31-0, Tendulkar 8-0-36-0. India D Mongia c Jayawardene b Vaas 0 V Sehwag not out 25 S Tendulkar not out 7 Extras (b-1, w-4, nb-1) 6 Total (for 1 wkt, 8.4 overs) 38 Fall of wicket: 1-6. Bowling: Vaas 4.4-1-24-1, Fernando 4-0-13-0. (PTI) |
 |
Billiards and Snooker teams to open their campaign today BUSAN, Sept 30: The 12-member Indian billiards and snooker team will open their campaign in the 14th Asian Games here tomorrow hoping to garner a couple of gold medals for the country. India had won two gold, one silver and one bronze medal in the last Asian Games in Bangkok and the team will be determined to emulate that performance this time around though the new 150-point format to be tried out in this edition of the games could prove to be a disadvantage for them. The Indian challenge in billiards will be spearheaded by former world champion Geet Sethi who had clinched the doubles gold medal last time in Bangkok alongwith Ashok Shandiliya. Sethi has been in the circuit for a long time and would be relying more on his experience to make smooth progress in the championship which will see a number top cueists in action. Sethi will definitely start as one of the favourites for the coveted gold medal in the singles section while Devendra Joshi and Alok Kumar have the potential of winning medals if they maintain the desired consistency and concentration level. The Indians were expected to face a stiff challenge from Sri Lanka and Thailand who have improved in leaps and bounds in the sport. Sri Lanka’s Sriroma and Udon Khaimuk of Thailand have made rapid progress in recent times and could pose a major threat to the Indians. While Geet Sethi and Devendra Joshi will take part in the billiards singles events, Sethi and Alok Kumar will team up for the doubles event. In snooker, India will be represented by Yasin Merchant, Manan Chandra, Rafath Habib and Pankaj Advani but the chances of winning a medal look quite remote with none of the players having the class to pose much of a problem for the seasoned players in the circuit. India will also be taking part in carom, 8-ball pool and nine-ball pool. With the controversy surrounding Sethi, who was inadervertently entered in the pool event instead of billiards by the local organisers, having been sorted out the cueists will be hoping to keep themselves focused for the championship and win medals for the country. The championships will begin with the snooker doubles event tomorrow followed by snooker teams, carrom freeball singles, pool 8 ball singles, snooker singles, pool 9 ball singles and billiards. (PTI) |
|
Schumacher’s stunt is "payback" for Austria INDIANAPOLIS (USA), Sept 30: Formula one racing was given another black eye when Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher surrendered the lead at the finish of the 2002 United States Grand Prix. Schumacher had an almost three-second lead with two laps to go yesterday before losing by a wafer-thin 0.011sec to teammate Rubens Barrichello. The move brought back memories of the Austrian Grand Prix and couldn’t have come at a worse time for formula one in the us as it struggles to boost its credibility here. Schumacher was handed the Austrian Grand Prix win in May after the Ferrari crew told Barrichello to let the German ace pass him. "It is fair to say that both of us understood and accepted the decision in austria because we know that the interests of the team come first’’. "I feel today equalises what happened there, even though we were trying to finish side-by-side," said Schumacher. In June, the Sport’s Governing Body (FIA) decided not to strip Schumacher of his Austrian victory but it did fine Ferrari one million US dollars. The FIA could not be reached for comment yesterday. Although Schumacher said he was hoping for a dead heat, he added that Barrichello deserved the win as "payback" for times earlier in the season when the Brazilian followed orders. "He (rubens) has made sacrifices for me at least twice this year and I guess that what goes around comes around," said Schumacher. (AFP) |
|
Hopes rest on Kunjurani for 1st medal for India BUSAN, Sept 29: India’s hope of bagging the first medal rests on former champion Kunjurani Devi and Sanamacha Chanu in 48 kg category event of women weightlifting. These two will test their prowess tomorrow in the category in which India has the best chance. At Commonwealth Games in Manchester Kunjurani and Chanu won three gold medals each. Kunjurani had participated in the 48kg category and Chanu in the 53kg category at Manchester last month. According to coach Pal Singh Sandhu the main aim at Manchester was to earn medals and so they had participated accordingly but Asiad was going to be a different ball game as China and South Korea are likely to dominate the sport. China is fielding Mingjuan Wang and Li Zhou, who share the world as well as asian record in the snatch, clean and jerk events amongst themselves. Kunjurani, who was banned for six month in the latter part of last year, and Chanu will be hoping to earn her medal here. Both of them are no stranger to the Asian scene. During the camp in Patiala, they lifted 190 kgs plus in practice. The Asian record in this weight category stands at 87.5kgs (snatch), 113kgs (clean and jerk) and overall 197.5kgs. Veteran lifter Balbir Singh Bhatia told UNI, "our main hope of earning medals in weightlifting depends on Kunju and Chanu, they are the best among the Indian lifters who have come here." Kunju excuded confidence of doing well so did Chanu but both admitted that competition here is going to be much tougher than compared to what they faced in Commonwealth Games. (UNI) |
|
12th Jammu Distt
Billiards and Snooker Championship Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 30: Budding cueist, Kuldeep Chowdhary today lifted his maiden title after he defeated Nishant Azad in the Junior Snooker final in the 12th Jammu District Billiards and Snooker Championship being played at M A Stadium, here. Kuldeep, though faced tough resistance from equally good opponent, yet recovered every time and clinched the final 3-1 in the best of five frames of the game. In the first frame, Nishant had build-up good score in the beginning but Kuldeep soon covered-up the lead bringing the score to an interesting stage when both of them were in a need of the remaining black ball on table. However, Kuldeep succeeded in potting the seven pointer and went a head 60-51. After going through some trouble moments in the opening frame, Kuldeep spared no chance for Nishant to build any pressure. In couple of minutes, Kuldeep raised an unbeatable score of 60 points against just one in Nishant account. And the frame finished at 78-7 in favour of Kuldeep. Kuldeep again played superbly in third frame, but could not hold his nerves when he needed the remaining black ball. Even as Kuldeep made a brilliant attempt on the black ball, but the ball stopped just on the mouth of pocket. Finding the lucky ball at an easy place, Nishant did not make any mistake in potting the same and made it 2-1 score. However, in the fourth frame, both played an equal game, but some misses at crucial stages, followed by a foul shot coming out of Nishant’s cue, caused his defeat. The score: 60-51, 78-7, 36-48, 81-44. Talking to EXCELSIOR soon after the final was over, Kuldeep said that he was desperate to win the title because he had edge over his opponent as for as potting was concerned. "Now, I am looking at making it a double title victory when I will take on Nishant again in the Billiard final scheduled for October 2 at 12 noon", he said. A first year student at the Government SPMR College of Commerce, Kuldeep wants to become a professional player in his life. Nishant in his version said, "it was totally a bad luck for me. I could not play the way I wanted. Every shot initiated by me gave poor results". However, Nishant was confident that he will improve his game in the times to come and disclosed that he will put in all his efforts to grab the Billiards title. Meanwhile, semi-finals position in the senior Billiards has been cleared with the entry of Gautam Lakra and Sohail Khalid in the last four stages. Gautam Lakra defeated Kuldeep Chowdhary 433-343, while Sohail outplayed Arun Gulati 280-240. Kamal Rohmetra and Vishal Abrol have already reached semi-finals yesterday. According to the organising secretary, Sheetal Gandotra, the senior Snooker final between Kamal Rohmetra and Vishal Abrol shall be played tomorrow at 4 p.m. |
|
Mixed day for Indians at Asian Games BUSAN, Sept 30: Emphatic victories in league matches of men’s hockey and football events were offset by a disappointing show by the women weightlifters as India started their campaign in the 14th Asian Games on a mixed note here today. Triple gold medal winners at the Manchester Commonwealth games, weightlifters N Kunjarani Devi and Sanamacha Chanu failed to grab a medal in the 48kg category, which was won by Li Zhou of China with a world-record equalling effort of 200kg. Kunjarani finished seventh with a total lift of 172.5 kg which was better than her performance at Manchester but way behind even the bronze medal winning effort of Lisa Raema Rumbewas of Indonesia who lifted 195 kg. Chanu lifted 77.5 kg in snatch in the same event before pulling out of the clean and jerk section due to injury. The day started on a bright note for the Indians with the men’s hockey team opening their title defence with a 5-1 thrashing of Hong Kong. Gagan Ajit Singh and Jugraj Singh struck twice while Daljit Singh scored the other goal for India who however missed a lot of other opportunities. Skipper Farooq Saeed scored the lone goal for Hong Kong which was the first conceded by India to their lowly rated opponents in six encounters. India kept alive their hopes for a quarter-final berth in the football competition as they recovered from an early jolt to defeat Turkmenistan 3-1 in a Group C league match. Captain Baichung Bhutia led from the front scoring twice in the 54th and 79th minute in the all-important match. The other goal scorer for India was Abhishek Yadav who netted home in the 56th minute. Vladimir Bariamov scored the consolation goal for Turkmenistan. India next meet the formidable China on Wednesday in the 24-team championship where the top team of each of the six groups will move into the last eight stage. In squash, the Indians had a satisfying day with Joshna Chinappa and Vaidehi Reddy romping into the quarter finals in the women’s section while Saurav Ghosal almost scripted a stunning victory over strong contender Mohammed Saoud Al Sulati before bowing out of contention in the men’s section. Young Ghosal won the hearts of the spectators as he virtually gave a scare to his fancied rival before going down 2-3 in an absorbing contest which saw fortunes fluctuating on either sides. Earlier, in Weightlifting medal aspirants Kunjarani Devi and Sanamacha Chanu, triple gold winners in the recent Commonwealth Games, failed to make an impact in the women’s 48 kg category. While Kunjarani had to be content with the seventh position, Chanu had to pull out due to a shoulder injury after taking part in the snatch event, much to the disappointment of the team. Kunjarani managed a total lift of 172.5 kg which was quite creditable but was not enough to come anywhere near the bronze medal. Chanu managed 77.5 in the snatch but could not complete the event because of the injury. Creating a new Asian Games record, China’s Li Zhuo claimed the coveted gold medal with a total lift of 200 kg (snatch 90, clean and jerk 110) while the silver was taken by Thi Win Kay of Myammar with an identical lift of 200 kg. The Chinese was given the gold because of a lighter body weight. Lisa Raema Rumbewas of Indonesia had to be content with the bronze medal with a total lift of 195 kg. Though the Indians did not win any medals on the opening day of the competitions, coach Pal Singh Sandhu was quite satisfied with Kunjarani’s performance. "I think it is a creditable effort because she has improved upon her Commonwealth performance. It was always going to be tough to win a medal in the Asian Games," he said. "The Chinese are far superior and have progressed a lot. They are also the Olympic Champions, so it is very difficult to beat them," Sandhu said. Kunjarani tried to lift 80 kg in the third attempt in snatch but could not manage it while in clean and jerk her last attempt of 102.5 kg also did not bear fruit. The Indians had won just one silver medal in the last games in Bangkok and the five-member contingent here is trying to improve upon that tally in this edition of the games. (PTI) |
|
Ten arrested on betting charges LUCKNOW, Sept 30: Police here busted a betting racket involving crores of rupees during the ICC cricket final match being played between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo and arrested 10 persons in this connection. On a tip off that a group of people was indulging in betting in the Kaiserbagh area, the police raided two places and arrested 10 persons, a police spokesman said. Three of those apprehended had been arrested earlier also on similar charges, the spokesman said. He said six mobile phones, two television sets, three tape recorders and a ledger with the statistics of all the Champions Trophy matches were seized. The spokesman said during interrogation it was revealed that the betting racket was being run through prominent bookmakers in Delhi and Mumbai. They named Pawan and K D as the representatives of the Delhi bookmaker and Tony as that of the Mumbai link who were running the business here on their behalf, he said. They told police that one Jagmohan of Mumbai and Basant Rathi, Sanjay Dhamani and Dinesh Jain of Kolkata had stakes in Lucknow, the spokesman said adding that the payment of the winning amount was immediately made after the completion of the matches through Hawala in Delhi and Mumbai. (PTI) |
|
Ganguly says match could have gone either way COLOMBO, Sept 30: Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly admitted it was disappointing to end their impressive Champions Trophy campaign with a no-result match which could have gone either way. "We bowled well on both the days to restrict Sri Lanka but it could have been anybody’s game today," Ganguly said after the final against Sri Lanka was washed out and the trophy shared between the two finalists. The winner’s purse of $30,000 was also shared. India restricted Sri Lanka to 222 for seven off 50 overs and were 38 for one in reply in nine overs when rains forced disruption of the final for the second successive day. Ganguly said it was not for him to predict who could have won today as the match could have gone either way. "But we have played some outstanding cricket over the past ten months. We have also played lot of cricket and it is good to see the boys come charged up each morning and give a fight to the opponent," Ganguly said. The Indian skipper said everyone had worked hard for the team’s success including the coach and the physio. "The boys are also hungry for success. It is very important to maintain the same form till we go to South Africa (for the World Cup) next year." Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya said a total of 222 "was a good score on this wicket" and it could have been a very good match. "The wicket would have become slower and slower. Our seamers started well and once spinners were introduced, it would have been difficult for Indian batsmen." (PTI) |
|
|
BUSAN, Sept. 30 Setting at rest all sepculation, tennis stars Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati arrived here today along with ten other players including six women to represent India in the Asian Games. There were speculations that Leander Paes may not play here as Mahesh had opted out of the Davis Cup tie against early this month. But with the arrival of the estranged duo, who once were world’s top double pair, India chances of medals in the competition has increased considerably. Other members of the team are : (Men) Vishal Uppal, Rohan Bopanna, Sunil Kumar, Mustafa Ghouse. (Women) Nirupama Vaidyanathan, Manisha Malhotra, Sania Mirza, Isha Lakhani, Ankita Bhambri and Rushmi Chakravarthi. Coaches: Anand Amritraj, Enrico Piperno, Manager: Manik Goswami, Dr Vece Paes. (UNI) Japan, S Korea and China make their mark BUSAN (South Korea), Sept 30: Japan dominated the swimming, South Korea moved towards the soccer quarter-finals and China’s women added to the country’s gold medal haul in Cycling, Weightlifting, Judo and Fencing at the Asian Games today. Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima was a class above the opposition as the Pan Pacific Champion stormed to gold in the men’s 100 metres breaststroke. Takahiro Mori, Yuko Nakanishi and the men’s 4x200 metres freestyle team were also victorious at Pusan’s Sajik pool as Japan won four out of five finals to take a 4-1 first-day lead over fierce rivals China in the swimming gold medal standings. Kitajima lowered the Asian Games record for the second time in eight hours in the final, clocking one minute and 45 seconds. "I swam a great race in Yokohama but there was something missing today. I still managed to get the job done and win gold. Now I have to focus on the 200 and hopefully do it again." Mori, who won silver behind American phenomenon Michael Phelps in Yokohama, went one better this time, touching in a new Asian record of 2:00.53 in the final of the 200 individual medley to take the first gold of the evening. "I was aiming for the (Asian) record in Yokohama but my priority was to win gold today, so it’s a bonus that the record came here," said Mori. China briefly interrupted Japan’s dominance when national champion Yang Yu won the women’s 200 freestyle in another games record and a personal best of 1:58.43. Normal service was quickly resumed, however, as Yuko Nakanishi won the women’s 200 butterfly final in 2:08.99. Japan underlined their superiority by winning gold in the men’s 4x200 freestyle relay in 7:20.59, the fourth games record of the day. South Korea marched towards the soccer quarter-finals with the 5-2 thrashing of Oman that had the home fans screaming with joy as goals from Cho Sung Hwan, Kin Du Hyan, Lee Dong Gook and a couple from centre forward Lee Choon soo secured the points. Coach Park Hang-Seo, who took over from Duthcman Guus Hiddink after the World Cup, was delighted with his team as they followed their opening 4-0 win over the Maldives with another impressive attacking display full of speed and invention. China are also in the running for a place in the last eight after coasting to a 3-0 win over Bangladesh. They next face a showdown with India, who trailed at the break but rallied in the second half to beat Turkmenistan 3-1, to decide top spot. Thailand and the United Arab Emirates will contest qualification from their group after the former beat Vietnam 3-0 and the latter secured a 2-1 win over Yemen. More gold medals were handed out in cycling with Kazakhstan’s Andrei Teteriouk winning the men’s 48.4 km individual time trial with a time of 1:02:11. In the women’s 24.2 km individual time trial, the gold went to China’s Li Meifang. China advanced to the basketball quarter-finals with a 114-36 victory over Hong Kong, while North Korea were beaten 89-63 by the Philippines. Hosts South Korea topped Japan 79-62. South Korea’s Jo Su-Hee topped Mizuho Matsuzaki to win the women’s under-78 kg judo gold. China’s Pan Yuqing and Nasiba Salayeva of Turkmenistan got bronze medals. In the men’s under-100 kg, Japan’s Keiji Suzuki beat World Jang Sung-Hoo of South Korea 2-1. The bronze medals went to Kazakhstan’s Askhat Zhitkeyev and Abbas Fallah of Iran. Chinese Olympic champion Sun Fuming won the gold in the women’s over 78-kg, with South Korea’s Choi Sook-Ie taking the silver and bronzes going to Dolgorma Erden of Mongolia and Thailand’s Pestonyee Parad. In the women’s 48-kg weightlifting, China’s Li Zhuo won gold with a total of 200 kg, with Kay Thi Win of Myanmar taking the silver and Raema Lisa Rumbewas of Indonesia taking the bronze. (AGENCIES) |
| home | state | national | business | editorial | advertisement | sports |
