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Women Hockey BUSAN, Oct 6: Silver medallist India faces a herculean task as they take on defending champion Korea in their second round Robin League match of the four nation women hockey competition in the 14th Asian Games here tomorrow. ........more Athletes
hope to BUSAN, Oct 6: As the blue ribbon event of the games - athletics - gets going here tomorrow at the main stadium, the huge Indian contingent is looking at ........more Paradorn,
India BUSAN, Oct 6: Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan and India’s men’s doubles duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh ......more West
Indians make BANGALORE, Oct 6: The three-day match between the West Indians and Board President’s XI ended in a tame draw . . .........more |
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Luxmi Club trounces VCC in Kulbir Memorial Cricket Cup Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 6: Luxmi Cricket Club (LCC) trounced Veteran Cricket Club (VCC) by 17 runs in the Kulbir Singh Memorial (Veteran weekends) Cricket Cup Tournament being played at Model School, Satwari, here..........more Distt
Poonch TT Championship Excelsior Sports Correspondent POONCH, Oct 6: Varun Banotra and Gurvinder Singh have qualified for the final of the Cadets boys after beating their opponents in straight sets in the District Poonch Table Tennis Championship which began here today.. ........more Jammu
wing Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 6: Jammu wing of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association has announced 17 probables for the forthcoming coaching...........more |
Women Hockey BUSAN, Oct 6: Silver medallist India faces a herculean task as they take on defending champion Korea in their second round Robin League match of the four nation women hockey competition in the 14th Asian Games here tomorrow. "Yes it is going to be very tough challenge," admitted Indian coach G S Bhangu but added "it is not impossible to beat the hosts." A win against Korea will keep India in contention for the gold, because first two teams of the league will battle it out for the top medal, but a defeat will mean that they will have to fight for bronze. The fourth team in the fray is Japan, with whom India played 1-1 draw at Bangkok Asiad. Korea had beaten India in the final 2-1 at Bangkok, but India took the revenge in the Asia Cup held in New Delhi beating the them 3-2 in the league. However, Koreans had the last laugh as they beat India 3-2 in the sudden death to lift the Asia Cup also. "We just can’t afford to play the way we did against China," Bhangu told UNI," Koreans will not let go the chances which the Chinese missed. In the opener against China, Indian defence was seen in poor light while the forwards looked jaded and that made one wonder how this team won the Commonwealth Games title only a month back. The Chinese totally outpaced Indians in all departments of the game and Bhangu was candid enough to confess that "we got away with light punishment". Indians also missed a penalty stroke, though it would not have made much difference on the result, but experienced player like Manjinder Kaur failing to convert raising question of the mental preparedness for such level. "The Koreans are very fast and play hit and run game," said Bhangu and added, ‘’our girls will have to counter their rival with some swift counter moves". He was confident that his girls will last full 70 minutes against fast rivals after all beat Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa in Manchester, two of the matches went into extra times and not only we defended well but won those matches. The coach was not able to explain what happened to his side yesterday, "it was just one off day which can befall on any team, but it befell on us in a crucial match." He hoped that Indian forward line spearheaded by Jyoti and Mamta Kharab along with Pritam Rani will regain its Manchester form. Sita Gussain in defence is very hard working and if the midfield functions well and does not concede many penalty corners, we are in with a chance.’’ "We have to play long passes, release the ball early and not dribble much." He said we have to earn and convert penalty corners, that fetched us gold in Manchester, I wish we can repeat it here." Bhangu was of the view that after a poor outing, girls will put up better show against Korea, after all you can’t have poor day every day. "Indians will have to mark and watch Seon Ok Lee and Eun Jin Kim." It was seon who snatched victory from India in the Asia Cup. "All players are fit, there is no physical problem with the Indians," the coach informed. Asked about the strategy for the match, he said sometime even well thought out strategies fail. It all depends how one plays on the field." He described the team as bunch of very talented players who did the country proud at Manchester. "They just have to motivate themselves and the result could be different." Koreans have the home advantage but that can turn out to be a burden because local fans expect too much from their side. India are underdogs and that may go be in their favour only if they keep their nerves and do not get rattled down by Korean flourish. Koreans are not invisible, they can easily get rattled by lightning counter moves by their rivals, though they won against Japan they had to battle it out before emerging 3-2 winner. Indians just need to keep cool, play attacking game and keep the pace of the game slow that will certainly effect their rivals. (UNI) |
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Athletes hope to end India’s bad run in the asiad BUSAN, Oct 6: As the blue ribbon event of the games - athletics - gets going here tomorrow at the main stadium, the huge Indian contingent is looking at its sports persons to end the medal drought for the country in the Asian Games. "We have a good chance, we are well prepared," said chief coach Bahadur Singh. Talking to UNI here he exuded confidence of doing well than the previous games. "Some of our athletes, including Anju George and K N Beenamol are in good shape. And if they reproduce the form, we are in for a good haul." Admitting that the competition was very tough, he said "China is the major power horse in the continent and hosts South Korea are also strong. Central Asian countries are also there and one can’t even underestimate Sri Lanka." "I think we do have good chance in throws," the coach said, adding "there will be no excuses in case of failures." One of the main medal contenders for India is K M Beenamol, who will compete in the women’s 400m and 800m event. She has run a 2:02.01 sec this season for the 800m, which is the best timing for the event in Asia this season. Beenamol had not been running the 800m at the highest level in the nationals for three years, but experts feel that she has a very good chance for striking gold this time. Jyotirmoyee Sikdar had won this event in the 1998 Bangkok Asiad, where she had also won the 1,500m. Zamira Amirova of Uzbekistan, who came third at the Asian Championships, Colombo, clocking 2:04.48 sec, has the second best timing in Asia for the 800m (2:02.30 sec) this season. Japanese Miho Sugimori, winner in Colombo in 2:03.59 sec, and Tatyana Borisova from Kyrgystan, who won the bronze in Colombo, should be the other contenders. The Chinese threat is not known. There is no guarantee that in a middle distance event, the timings will go according to plan. It depends on how the race is run. Beenamol should also have a bright chance of aiming for the gold in the 400 metres, though here, unlike the 800m, she has a tougher rival in Sri Lankan Damayanthi Darsha. The Sri Lankan missed the Asian meet in Colombo because of an injury. Her fitness and race preparations will be in doubt. A very powerful runner, she won the 200m and 400m at the last Asian Games in Bangkok. She also won the 2000 Asian Championships in Jakarta, beating Beenamol. She has beaten Beenamol twice this season and lost once in the Asian Grand Prix Circuit in May. Beenamol has a time of 51.47 sec in the 400m, which again is the best in Asia this season. Tatyana Roslanova of Kazakhstan should be the other main contender. She won in Colombo in 52.61 sec. In the 1,500m, India’s challenge will be spearheaded by Sunita Rani who clocked a 4:08.60 sec at the Federation Cup in Chennai. That is the leading time in Asia this season. Coming back from a two-year gap due to injuries, her form during the last few meets has been ordinary. Coaches, however, expect the gold without much problems. The Chinese, Japanese and Kyrgystan athletes should test her. If she could get near the 4:08 sec mark, Sunita should win but if she manages to get into the 4:10-4:12 sec region, she maybe lucky to get a medal. Again, this being a tactical race timings will not matter. In high jump, Bobby Aloysius has cleared 1.90m this season. She won the silver at Colombo at 1.84m, behind Tatyana Efimenko of Kyrgistan (1.92m). Efimenko is expected to win in Busan. Others in contention are Miki Imai and Yoko Ota of Japan and Kazakhstan’s Svetlana Zalevskaya and Marina Korzhova. On current form, bobby should get a medal, though she has a poorer record than all others. In the long and triple jump events, Commonwealth medallist Anju B George is a medal prospect. Her 6.74m long jump that equalled her national record in the open national in Delhi, is the leading mark in Asia this season. She has the potential to win the gold if she is around that mark or if she betters it. Kazakh Yelena Kashcheyeva has the next best of 6.63m. Kashcheyeva beat Anju in all the three Asian Grand Prix meets this season, but since then Anju has improved considerably. Potentially a 6.80 jumper in Asian Games, by current projections, she also has a chance for a medal in the triple jump. Her main event, however, should be the long jump. Japanese Maho Hanoka, Chinese Gu Ying and Yin Yan are the other contenders in long jump. In discus throw, Neelam J Singh, who won the silver at the Commonwealth Games, may find it difficult to live up to her potential and reputation. Chinese Song Aimin and Ma Shuli have the psychological advantage since both beat her in the Asian Grand Prix Circuit. Neelam had a bronze at the Bangkok Games behind two Chinese, Luan Zhili, Liu Fengying. However, she won the gold in the Asian meet in Jakarta in 2000. India’s second entry in discus, Harwant Kaur will struggle to get a medal. In Heptathlon, medals are expected from either Soma Biswas or J J Shobha. Shobha won the silver in Colombo. In the 4x400m event, India should be able to repeat their Colombo gold-winning performance. However, only Soma Biswas from the Indian relay team that participated in Colombo is likely to figure in this team. The others are Jincy, Manjima Kuriakose (subject to fitness) and Beenamol. This is probably the only athletics event in which one can bet on India winning a gold. Among the men, India has hopes in winning a medal in shot put. Shakti Singh and Bahadur Singh have topped the Asian lists for the season with a throw of 19.99m and 19.93m respectively in Ludhiana. China has not entered any one in this event for the first time in many years. China’s Liu Hao, China had won the gold in Bangkok, while Shakti bagged the silver. Qatari Saad Billal Mubarak, the winner in Colombo, is another main contender in this event, but it is expected that if shakti is able to throw around 20 metres, then Mubarak would have no chance. All others, including the Kazaks and Uzbeks, are now struggling to find form. In the men’s 4x400m relay, India is supposed to fight for the gold, according to coaches and federation. But this seems to be unlikely. Realistically, India can hope only for a bronze. Japan, Sri Lanka, Kuwait and Korea will form the challenge. Among the other athletes from India, Paramjeet is fancied to get a medal in the 400m, but the field is really too tough. Paramjeet, who won a bronze in the Bangkok Asiad, has had a poor run this season. The other 400m entry, P Ramachandran is also expected to make it to the final. There was also a possibility of india not entering an individual entry in the men’s 400m and concentrate on the 4x400m relay only. Team’s are allowed to confirm their entries or withdrawals 24 hours before the event, but they cannot introduce an entry, whose name does not figure in initial entry list in the form. In the 800m, K M Binu has a chance of claiming bronze with hosts South Korea and Qatar expected to put up a tough fight. In the discus, Anil Kumar has thrown a 62.12m for a national record in Hungary, where he is training. An excellent performer, Anil won the silver in Bangkok and might just be able to clinch the gold. He is expected to face stiff competition from Qatari Rasheed Al-Dosari, who threw a 64.43m in colombo to win the gold. China’s Wu Tao and Nuer Maimaiti also look good enough to fight for a podium finish. However, it will be tough for hammer thrower Pramod Kumar Tiwari to win a medal with the two Japanese, world no. 2 Koji Murofushi and Hiroaki Doi expected to make it a one-two finish. Tiwari will have to fight Uzbekistan’s Viktor Ustinov and Dilshod Nazarov of Tajikistan to claim the bronze. In the women’s 200m, Saraswati Saha’s 22.82 sec was the season’s best, since equalled by Sri Lankan Susanthika Jayasinghe in the World Cup in Madrid. Susanthika should be the overwhelming favourite though the Ameteur Athletics Federation of India (AAFI) is talking about the gold for the Bengal girl. Saha has a better chance of making it to the podium in the 400m, with Jiny Philip having a remote chance of finishing with a bronze. The women’s 8,000m and 1,500m will see Madhuri Singh competing for India. In the 5,000m, Sunita Rani will have her task cut out against a tough looking Japanese and North Korean challenge. In hammer throw, Hardeep Kaur is supposed to be a medal prospect with two Chinese and two Japanese athletes expected to give her a tough time. China’s Gu Yuan had an Asian record of 71.10 in Colombo and Hardeep is about 10 metres behind even with her new national record in Delhi. In the javelin, even though Gurmeet Kaur did not reach a norm she is also tipped to get a medal. The Indian performance in the athletics can be expected to be lead by Beenamol in the 400m and 800m events, followed by Sunita Rani in the 1,500m and Anju George in the long jump. India will at least try and get as many medals they got in the athletics events in the Bangkok asiad. The tally there stood at 15, including two golds by Jyotirmoyee. In an overall perspective, China that won 10 gold medals in the Asian meet in Colombo, should add to that in Busan. But this time around they are not as strong as they used to be, especially in women’s track events. Japan is another strong contender, especially in the jumps and throws disciplines with Koji Murofushi is expected to win the hammer gold. They are also tipped to dominate the men’s sprints, 400m hurdles and the 5,000m and 10,000m. Qatar won eight golds in Colombo and hope to retain that number, if not add some more. They were second to china, but might yield to Japan here. (UNI) |
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Paradorn, India duo huge favourites for Tennis gold BUSAN, Oct 6: Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan and India’s men’s doubles duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are heavy favourites for Asian Games gold. The lure of bringing home a medal for his nation will bring ATP no. 31 paradorn here after the greatest win of his career, a 6-4 6-3 quarter-final ouster of world no. 1 Lleyton Hewitt at the ATP Japan Open. Paradorn lost to Denmark’s Kenneth Carlsen in the semi-finals, but his best year on tour has included a second round victory over Andre Agassi at Wimbledon and his first ATP title, coming at long island the week before the US Open. "This could be the biggest, bigger than Andre, because he is number one in the world," Paradorn said. "If I keep my level high, I can play with anybody." At the Asiad, his rivals are nobodys. Paradorn’s draw opens with Kyrgystan’s Eduard Koifman. Qatar’s Nasser Al-Khelaifi, ranked 1,015, is likely next with Taiwan’s no. 189 Lu Yen-Hsun in a quarter-final. Uzbekistan’s Oleg Ogorodov, rated 148th, is the highest rated possible foe in the semi-finals with Paradorn’s likely only test a possible final against South Korea’s 79th-ranked Lee Hyung-Taik or Japan’s no. 110 Takao Suzuki. "A lot of people expect me to win it, but there are some good players like Lee and Suzuki. I will have to play well to win." Paes and Bhupathi are re-uniting after splitting up six months ago. They won three Grand Slam doubles titles together. Bhupathi won his first US Open men’s doubles crown last month with new partner Max Mirnyi of Belarus. The desire to bring India a gold medal has brought Bhupathi and Paes together again. "Some of us have to put our best foot forward rather than sit back and say there is pressure. You just have to go deal with it," Paes said. "Would you rather we not try to bring India a gold medal? "We’re professionals. We have to go out and be professionals about it and play for our country. I will put myself out there for India. I think in doubles we have the best chance to get a medal." Having not played together since winning at Majorca five months ago should be no problem, Paes said: "it’s like riding a bicycle. You never forget." Bhupathi and Paes are rated 26th while doubles second seeds Vadim Kutsenko and Dmitry Tomashevich are 483rd. Thailand’s 27th-ranked Tamarine Tanasugarn is the women’s top seed but her path is much tougher with Uzbekistan’s 40th-rated Iroda Tulyagnova seeded second, 84th-rated South Korean Cho Yoon-Jeong third and Indonesia’s no. 91 Angelique Widjaja fourth. Indonesia’s Widjaja and Wynne Prakusya are the top women’s doubles seeds. Their doubles victory over Japan’s Miho Saeki and Saori Obata brought a team title and Indonesia’s first Asian Games gold medal. China’s Zheng Jie and Yan Zi are second seeds, but at 254th in the world are 123 places behind the favourites. Japan’s Shinobu Asagoe and Thomas Shimada are the top mixed doubles seeds with Bhupathi and Manisha Malhotra second and Uzbekistan’s Ogorodov and Tulyagnova third. (AFP) |
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West Indians make full use of three-day match BANGALORE, Oct 6: The three-day match between the West Indians and Board President’s XI ended in a tame draw here today with the tourists using the opportunity to gain vital batting practice ahead of the first test starting in Mumbai on October 9. Ramnaresh Sarwan became the second batsman to hit a century in the West Indian innings which remained unfinished at 606 for four when the two captains decided to stop the match after six mandatory overs had been bowled on the third and final day today. Sarwan made a strokeful 140 with 18 fours and a six in nearly seven and a half hours before retiring hurt in the second session of play. His century followed the 147 scored by Wavell Hinds yesterday. Other batsmen also chipped in with handsome contributions as West Indians took a massive 331-run lead over Board President’s first innings score of 275 for eight declared. Captain Carl Hooper scored 67 while Ryan Hinds made a solid 74 before retiring. Wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs also completed a half-century and the match was called off immediately after he reached his fifty. For the home team, left-arm spinner Murali Kartik was the most successful bowler claiming two wickets for 92 runs while off-spinner Sarandeep Singh and medium-pacer Laxmipathi Balaji took one wicket each. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was the only batsman to miss out on a big score in this West Indian innings, the left-hander being dismissed by Balaji in the second over of the day after adding just five runs to his overnight 20. But Sarwan, who completed his century with a three off Tinu Yohannan, and Hooper flayed the home team attack and added a brisk 85 runs for the fourth wicket. Hooper was in a combative mood and picked Amit Mishra, who was yesterday included in the 14-member Indian squad for the first two tests, for some special treatment. Mishra was hit for two fours by Hooper in his first over and then two successive sixes in his next over. Mishra’s first three overs cost him 34 runs. Sanjay Bangar, who replaced Mishra, was not spared either and was hit for a huge six that brought up the half-century of Hooper. Hooper’s big hitting was brought to an end by Kartik who struck with his very first ball of the day. Hooper attempted a defensive shot but the ball popped up and wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel took a simple catch. Hooper’s 67 came in 97 minutes and contained seven fours and three sixes. Ryan Hinds also got down to scoring quickly and raced to 53 at the tea time when the West Indians were placed at 549 for four. He retired hurt at the total of 583 after scoring 74 which included nine fours and a six. He shared an 89-run partnership with Jacobs. The tourists raised their 600 in the 175th over. (PTI) |
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Luxmi Club trounces VCC in Kulbir Memorial Cricket Cup Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 6: Luxmi Cricket Club (LCC) trounced Veteran Cricket Club (VCC) by 17 runs in the Kulbir Singh Memorial (Veteran weekends) Cricket Cup Tournament being played at Model School, Satwari, here. Though Veteran Club batsmen played fast, yet they failed to attain the target because of the fall of wickets on regular intervals after they suffered initial loss in the hands of Ramesh. Ramesh claimed first three wickets reducing Veteran Club to ten for three and later adjudged as man of the match. Earlier, batting first after winning the toss, LCC set a target of 132 runs in the allotted 25 overs for the loss of nine wickets. In reply, VCC could not reach the required total and were bowled out for 114 runs in 20 overs. Luxmi openers who failed in their attempts to give fillip to the innings, were struggling at 65 for five. But thanks to the marathon innings played by Pawan Gupta who remained at the crease for 15 long overs, thereby keeping the other end intact. Pawan was highest scorer with 25 runs including four boundaries. Another good knock came from the tail-ender Kiran Bhatt who played quick-fire innings of 24 runs. Dr Anil and Des Rattan contributed 14 and 11 runs respectively. Rajinder Singh was most successful bowler from LCC, who clinched four wickets, while Ashok Dutta, Ravi Sharma and Krishan shared one each. Batting second, Veteran Club made a poor beginning when their first three wickets fell for just 10 runs on the board. However, third down Ravi Kant, who is a former Ranji player, played some good shots and accelerate the score. But his run towards the victory target was halted by Harsh Dev at a score of 29. Tale-ender Mohan Sharma added quick 27 runs to the total but lost his wicket. Other batsmen could not reach the double figure mark. Besides Ramesh (chairman of the LCC), Harsh Dev bagged three wickets and Sunil two. |
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Distt Poonch TT
Championship Excelsior Sports Correspondent POONCH, Oct 6: Varun Banotra and Gurvinder Singh have qualified for the final of the Cadets boys after beating their opponents in straight sets in the District Poonch Table Tennis Championship which began here today. In the semi-finals, Varun defeated Manjot Singh in close sets 12-10, 11-9, whileas Gurvinder sidelined Samandeep on way to the final. Earlier, in the first round of the quarterfinal, Gurvinder Singh beat Nikhil Puri 11-4, 11-4 and Samandeep outplayed Ankit 1108, 11-6. Manjot Singh and Varun got walkovers Aatif Wandey and Sohail Wandey respectively. In the Sub-junior boys first round, Baljeet, Gaganpreet, Manmeet, Antriksh and Ishan among ten paddlers qualify for the second round. The detailed results of the first round matches: Baljeet Singh beat Samandeep Singh 11-9, 11-6; Gaganpreet beat Sohail 11-6, 11-3; Navjot got walkover Japjapan Singh; Manmeet beat Nikhil Puri 11-8, 11-7; Antriksh beat Arun Bali 11-4, 11-7; Ishan Tandon got walkover J P Singh; Varun Bhalla beat Manjot 11-8, 11-5; Bhanu Partap beat Arush Soodan 12-10, 11-8; Panky beat Bhanu (Jr) 1-4, 11-4; Aditya beat Gurpreet 9-11, 16-14, 12-10; Vimalpreet beat Arun 11-9, 11-8. |
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Jammu wing announces 17 Rajni probables Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 6: Jammu wing of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association has announced 17 probables for the forthcoming coaching camp going to be held in Srinagar. These selected cricketers will be joining the probables from Kashmir wing for the joint coaching camp prior to the final selection of the J&K Ranji team, said Mr Hardev Singh, joint secretary, JKCA, Jammu wing. The probables include Vijay Sharma, Kawaljeet Singh, Gurpartap Singh, Hardeep Singh, Shami Salaria, Surinder Singh, Shashi Kumar, Sanjay Sharma (senior), Jagtar Singh, Vivek Singh, Vikrant Taggar, Dhruv Mahajan, Rohit Mattoo, Rajesh Gill, Sameer Khajuria, Rakesh Koul and Sanjay Sharma. |
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Taufeeq takes Pak closer to victory COLOMBO, Oct 6: Opener Taufeeq Umar struck 88 today to take Pakistan closer to victory on the fourth day of the first test against Australia. At tea Pakistan, needing 316 for victory after fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar destroyed the Australia batting on Saturday, were 179 for three. Taufeeq and fellow opener Imran Nazir put on 91 for the first wicket as Pakistan reached 103 for one at lunch after Imran was caught by Glenn McGrath off Shane Warne for 40. Imran survived a chance to Mark Waugh at second slip off paceman Jason Gillepsie before Pakistan had opened their account. The ball flew to the boundary for the first of his seven fours. He had a second life after scoring 25 when wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist missed a stumping chance off Warne. Imran, who was smacked on the helmet by Brett Lee, was finally dismissed when he lofted Warne to McGrath at mid-off. Right-hander Abdur Razzaq became Warne’s second victim when he was dismissed lbw for four then Waugh redeemed himself, just before tea, with a leaping catch at second slip off fast bowler Brett Lee. Taufeeq had struck 16 boundaries. Australia, who had a comfortable first innings lead of 188, were dismissed for 127 in their second innings on Saturday with Shoaib taking five wickets in 15 balls. The final session of the day was washed out. (AGENCIES) |
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Kapur provides thrust to India’s medal hunt BUSAN, Oct 6: Shiv Kapur struck gold in individual golf event to revive the sliding fortunes of the Indian contingent which had its most productive day at the 14th Asian Games here today. Apart from Kapur’s gold, India also won a silver in the the Billiards doubles event through the pair of Geet Sethi and Alok Kumar as the medal hunt resumed today after a dry day yesterday. After the eighth day of competitions, India have two gold, two silver and three bronze medals and are placed 12th in the medals tally which is being led by China with 92 gold medals. South Korea were a distant second with 32 gold medals while Japan followed in the third place with 28 gold medals. Kapur was the toast of the nation as he battled inclement weather to win the golf gold for the country after a gap of 20 years. Lakshman Singh had won India’s previous gold in the event in the 1982 Delhi Games. The Indians could have secured another gold medal but the duo of Geet Sethi and Alok Kumar, who were billed as favourites, unexpectedly lost the Billiards doubles final to Thailand’s Praput Chaithanasakun and Mongkhon Kanfaklang. The Thais registered a 62-100, 100-14, 100-69 victory to snatch the gold medal from India who had won the event in the previous edition of the games in Bangkok. The Kabaddi team kept themselves on course for a fourth Games gold medal in a row by trouncing Sri Lanka to register their fourth successive victory in the round robin event. The Indians will now clash with arch-rivals Pakistan for deciding the gold medal winners. Although Shiv Kapur put up a consistent display, his teammates Keshav Mishra, Manav Das and Harendra Prasad Gupta fared badly which prevented India from winning a medal in the team event of golf. India finished fourth with a combined total of 902, 17 strokes behind bronze medal winners Japan. The Indian shooters had another unproductive day in the ranges which once again saw South Korea ruling the roost. The Indian trio of Anjali Bhagwat, Deepali Deshpande and Kuheli Gangulee finished a poor seventh in the women’s 50m rifle 3 position team event with a total of 1701 points. None of them finished in the top eight in the individual event. Heavyweight pugilist Harpal Singh moved into the quarter-finals of the boxing event defeating Lebanon’s Mansour Ali 20-16 in a closely contested encounter but the other Indian in the fray Som Bahadur pun lost in the first round to China’s Tongzhou Chen. Harpal became the third Indian boxer to make it to the quarter-finals following Mohammad Ali Qamar (light flyweight) and Jitender Kumar (middleweight). The Indian archers failed to make much of an impact in the FITA round preliminaries as none of them could finish in the top ten in both the men’s and women’s sections. (PTI) India face a herculean job against Korea BUSAN: Silver medallist India faces a herculean task as they take on defending champion Korea in their second round Robin League match of the four nation women hockey competition in the 14th Asian Games here tomorrow. "Yes it is going to be very tough challenge," admitted Indian coach G S Bhangu but added "it is not impossible to beat the hosts." A win against Korea will keep India in contention for the gold, because first two teams of the league will battle it out for the top medal, but a defeat will mean that they will have to fight for bronze. The fourth team in the fray is Japan, with whom India played 1-1 draw at Bangkok Asiad. Korea had beaten India in the final 2-1 at Bangkok, but India took the revenge in the Asia Cup held in New Delhi beating the them 3-2 in the league. However, Koreans had the last laugh as they beat India 3-2 in the sudden death to lift the Asia Cup also. "We just can’t afford to play the way we did against China," Bhangu told UNI," Koreans will not let go the chances which the Chinese missed. In the opener against China, Indian defence was seen in poor light while the forwards looked jaded and that made one wonder how this team won the Commonwealth Games title only a month back. The Chinese totally outpaced Indians in all departments of the game and Bhangu was candid enough to confess that "we got away with light punishment". Indians also missed a penalty stroke, though it would not have made much difference on the result, but experienced player like Manjinder Kaur failing to convert raising question of the mental preparedness for such level. "The Koreans are very fast and play hit and run game," said Bhangu and added, ‘’our girls will have to counter their rival with some swift counter moves". He was confident that his girls will last full 70 minutes against fast rivals after all beat Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa in Manchester, two of the matches went into extra times and not only we defended well but won those matches. The coach was not able to explain what happened to his side yesterday, "it was just one off day which can befall on any team, but it befell on us in a crucial match." He hoped that Indian forward line spearheaded by Jyoti and Mamta Kharab along with Pritam Rani will regain its Manchester form. Sita Gussain in defence is very hard working and if the midfield functions well and does not concede many penalty corners, we are in with a chance.’’ "We have to play long passes, release the ball early and not dribble much." He said we have to earn and convert penalty corners, that fetched us gold in Manchester, I wish we can repeat it here." Bhangu was of the view that after a poor outing, girls will put up better show against Korea, after all you can’t have poor day every day. "Indians will have to mark and watch Seon Ok Lee and Eun Jin Kim." It was seon who snatched victory from India in the Asia Cup. "All players are fit, there is no physical problem with the Indians," the coach informed. Asked about the strategy for the match, he said sometime even well thought out strategies fail. It all depends how one plays on the field." He described the team as bunch of very talented players who did the country proud at Manchester. "They just have to motivate themselves and the result could be different." Koreans have the home advantage but that can turn out to be a burden because local fans expect too much from their side. India are underdogs and that may go be in their favour only if they keep their nerves and do not get rattled down by Korean flourish. Koreans are not invisible, they can easily get rattled by lightning counter moves by their rivals, though they won against Japan they had to battle it out before emerging 3-2 winner. Indians just need to keep cool, play attacking game and keep the pace of the game slow that will certainly effect their rivals. (UNI) |
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