Coca - cola Cricket Trophy to start from Nov 6

SHARJAH (UAE),Nov 3 : The Coca-Cola Cricket Trophy gets underway here on November 6 at the Sharjah cricket ground, one among the top venues of the game that has in the last one and a half decades witnessed 132 matches, of which 131 had a result and one was tied.

The tournaments here have all the hype of the tinsel world as stars from the small and big screen from India and Pakistan come to boost the morale of their respective sides besides lending glamour.

Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, an expatriate, was the first to come up with the idea of India and Pakistan locking horns and skills at a neutral cricket venue while former Pakistan Captain Asif Iqbal looked into the overall organisation of the sport. Since then it has come a long way and eleven countries have participated in different tournaments held here.

The highest number of matches played here is by Pakistan (71) of which it won 47 and lost 24. India is second, having played 53 matches, won 25 and lost 26. Apart from India, the two other countries in the fray nor the Coca-Cola Trophy are Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

Sri Lanka has played 43 matches of which it has won 14 and lost 28 and one tied with New Zealand. While Zimbabwe, the minnows of international cricket, has played 6 matches, won a solitary match and lost five. The other teams that have played here are Australia, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies and two matches by the host United Arab Emirates(UAE) team, both of which they lost.

The Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS), as the Sharjah tournament is called gives financial support to current and past players mostly to Indian and Pakistani players. One of the beneficiaries is the current coach of the Indian team Anshuman Gaikwad, former Indian wicket keeper Narendra Tamane and Roger Binny. Having lost in Dhaka the team has arrived in Sharjah and final eleven will be announced shortly.

India has so far played 375 limited overs internationals of which 167 were won, 189 lost with no result in 18 and tied three. Sri Lanka has played 277 of which 105 were won, 158 lost with 13 no results and tied one. Zimbabwe in its 103 matches has won 22, lost 75 with tying four and no result in 2.

India has played against Sri Lanka in 55 matches, won 28 lost 22 with no result in five. India met Zimbabwe 21 times, won 16, lost 3, tied two. Sri Lanka in its 13 matches against Zimbabwe has won 11 and lost two.

The highest score by India in sharjah has been 305 for 5 against Pakistan in April 1996. The highest score of Sri Lanka of 329 against West Indies in 1995 still failed to get them the winning honour and Zimbawe although had 236 against Sri Lanka in 1993 still lost the match.

The lowest score has been by sri lanka with 55 against West Indies in 1986. India at 135 against Pakistan in 1985 which India won and Zimbabwe’s lowest of 119 against Pakistan last year.

The best bowling figures S K Sharma of India against West Indies with 5 for 26 in 1988. For Sri Lanka R J Ratnaike with 5 for 32 against Pakistan in 1990 and Zimbabwe’s H S Streak 4 for 18 against Pakistan last year. (AGENCIES)

Cooch Behar Under-19 Tourney
Haryana takes 469 runs lead over J&K

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 3: Haryana has taken 469 runs first inning lead over Jammu and Kashmir in the three-day Cooch Behar Under-19 Tournament being played at M A Stadium here.

Double Ton by skipper, Satish Ohlan (207, 36x4s, 1x6) and 155 runs superb knock by wicket keeper, Ajay Ratra, who hit the ball to the fence for 25 times followed by 181 last wicket partnership stand enable Haryana to made a big total of 596 runs.

Earlier, Satish Ohlan and Bhuvneesh Sharma resumed their innings from yesterday’s total of 233 runs. Forth wicket partnership of 196 runs build confidence of the successive batsmen, who added fast runs.

Ishan Ganda contributed quick 25 runs, while Bhuvneesh Sharma played a slow inning of 64 runs.

Ajay Ratra and Rahul Rathi together made 181 runs for the last wicket partnership, which was broken by Sohail Sanghoi 30 minutes before the end of the second day’s play.

From Jammu and Kashmir Sanjay Sharma and Inderjeet took three wickets each, while Sohail Sanghoi got two wickets.

NEW DELHI, Nov 3: Ace forward Pritam Thakran will lead 16 member Indian women hockey team for the 13th Asian Games to be held in Bangkok from December 6 to 19.

Indian women team had finished last in the World Cup and ended fourth in the Commonmwealth Games this year.

The team includes 13 players from railways andone each from Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The team: Tingongleima Chanu, Marystelle Tirkey, Sandeep Kaur, Sita Gussain, Suraj Lata Devi, Nidhi Khullar, Manjinder Kaur, Pritam Thakran (capt), Kamla Dalal, Jyoti Sunita Kullu, Helen Mary, Amandeep Kaur, Lakshmi Shree (all railways) Sunita Dalal (Chandigarh), Neha Singh (UP), Surinder Kaur (Haryana), Chief Coach: G S Bhangu, Coach: N S Saini, Manager: Pupa Saini. (UNI)

NEW DELHI, Nov 3: The country’s leading professionals will hope to give their individual Asian PGA rankings a significant boost when they tee-off in the 200,000 U S dollar Hero Honda masters at Delhi Golf Culb, on Thursday.

With just four ranking events left on the Omega tour, only Indians lie within the top 60 on by the Asian PGA, there is always a chance that this quota will be reduced next year and that they will have to attend the qualifying school in January.

Furthermore, with the quality of players coming out of India continuing to improve, the completion for these places will inevitably become that much stiffer.

One player with no need to worry is Firoz Ali, winner of the Classic Indian Open earlier this year. Ali currently lies in 10th spot on the omega order of merit thanks to his Calcutta triumph, a standing that has allowed him the freedom to miss this week’s event and compete in the Gene Sarazen Invitational in America.

Arjun Atwal, in 31st place, Vivek Bhandari, 37th, and Arjun Singh, 44th, also look assured of holding on to their cards for 1999 after some consistent form throughout the season. Gaurav Ghei, currently in 76th place, will certainly be aiming to take full advantage of his local knowledge of Delhi Golf Club this week in his efforts to move into the top 60. Ghei will start the Hero Honda as one of the favourites on the strength of winning this event back in 1995 and finishing runner-up to America’s ted purdy that last year. Chandigarh’s Amritinder Singh also needs a strong showing in what will be his 13th omega tour event of the year. He sits in 88th spot with 9,522 dollar in winnings, and is likely to move into the top 60 if he can secure a top five finish in delhi. Jeev Milkha Singh, could also make certain of his 1999 card if he can reproduce the game that saw him finish joint third in Singapore two weeks ago. After a poor third round display, Jeev gave ample evidence of the form that enabled him to retain his rights on the 1999 PGA European tour with an eagle, birdie, par finish over three of the most challenging closing holes in Asia. Despite having played just two events this year, Jeev lies in 93rd place.

"I was very unhappy with my performance on the Saturday, so it was nice to come back with such a strong finish the following day," said Jeev, a three-time winner on the omega tour. "I’ve always performed quite well in this event, and hopefully I can get back to my winning ways this week."

Delhi’s Jyoti Randhawa could also turn his season round if he can find the form that saw him finish third in this event in 1995. Randhawa currently lies 110th on the omega order of merit.

Likely to be amongst the front-runners this week is the in-form Carlos Espinosa of Mexico. After struggling with his game for the best part of two years, Espinosa has recently rediscovered his confidence after finishing joint 14th in Singapore two weeks ago, and joint runner-up last week in Taiwan after losing a pay-off.

Espinosa will be joined by the highly experienced American duo of Gerry Norquist, already a six-time winner in Asia, and Mike Cunning, also a multiple champion and the winner of the 1997 omega order of merit.

The Hero Honda masters represents the 15th leg of this year’s omega tour, and the third time that the Asian PGA has visited Delhi. Hero Honda are sponsoring the event for the second consecutive year. (UNI)

20th Champions Trophy
Spain defeats Germany

LAHORE, Nov 3 : Spain trounced defending champions Germany 5-1 on day four of the 20th Champions Trophy Hockey Tournament here today.

Juan Escarre and Xavier Arnau each scored two goals and Pablo Amat scored a single for spain. Germany’s lone goal came through its experienced Christian Mayerhofer in the second half.

Germany, which fielded a young team to try to build a workable combination for the Sydney 2000 olympics, has lost its three matches.

It lost 2-0 to Australia and 4-2 to Holland and is at the bottom of the six-team competition. Spain has four points after three games. It was beaten 3-2 by Australia, before it played to a 2-2 tie against Pakistan.

Spain played a superior game with its forwards Amat, Arnau and Escarre making some dangerous moves. It opened the scoring in the 22nd minute when Amat Ran brilliantly down the right flank and gave a timely pass to escarre, who pushed the ball into the net from close range.

After conceding a 2-0 lead, Germany reduced the margin with Mayerhofer’s 39th minute fine field effort from right.

Spain scored another three goals in the second half with Arnau striking the board off the short corner and just eight minutes later, gently lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper from the left.

Amat completed the 5-1 spanish tally in the 53rd minute off an indirect penalty corner drill. (AP)

BAV College whips Vidyanaketan in junior hockey

NEW DELHI, Nov 3: Imtiaz Ahmed scored five goals including a hattrick as B A V Inter College, Meerut whipped Shivaji Vidyanaketan (Maharashtra) 12-0 in the 16th Nehru ONGC Sub Junior Hockey Tournament here today.

For the winners, who led 4-0 at half time, other scorers were Gagan Srivastava, Jagdish Yadav (two each) Mohd Imran Ansari, Hemant Kumar, Gaurav Bhardwaj (one each).

In Pool-III, children academy, Bhopal trounced Govt High School, Mizoram 6-1 after leading 2-0 at Lemon Break. Mubeen Ur Rehman, Babar Khan, M Tej Khan (two each) were the scorers.

In the first match of the day T K L School Manipur defeated G G S Khalsa School 4-2.(half time 2-1)

Th Banty Singh, S Tany Singh, Martun Singh and Tenyson Singh (one each) scored for the winners. Devinder Singh, Hardip Singh (one each) scored for the Chandigarh side.

In Pool-I Govt Boys High School, Poonch were held to a 2-2 draw by G S Kumar Vidyalaya Limbdi (Gujarat).

Jaswinder Pal and Charanjiv Singh (one each) were the scorer for poonch while Jadeja Chandra and Rana Virbhadra scored a goal each for Limbdi.

In the last match of the day, GSA academy, Amritsar outplayed Govt High School, Gurgaon 6-0.

Gurnail Singh, Gurpreet Singh (two each), Surinderjit and Sarabjit (one each) swere the goal getters. (UNI)

Philippoussis, Haas through to second round

PARIS, Nov 3: Australia’s Mark Philippoussis and Tommy Haas of Germany got off to winning starts on the first day of the 2.55 million dollar Paris Open, but Thomas Enqvist surprisingly lost to veteran Italian Gianluca Pozzi.

Philippoussis, the world no. 19 who just missed out on a seeding here, yesterday had a tough first round contest, needing two tiebreaks to beat the Czech Republic’s Daniel Vacek 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6).

The big Australian, who fired 20 aces, will play another Czech, no. 10 seed Petr Korda, in the second round.

Haas, who reached the final of last month’s Lyon Grand Prix after walkovers against Pete Sampras and Marcelo Rios, beat Spain’s Carlos Costa, 7-5, 6-1.

In the next round the 20-year-old German, making his first appearance at the Paris Open Tournament, faces Spain’s Alex Corretja the player who beat him in the Lyon Grand Prix final.

Pozzi was one of several surprise winners yesterday, overcoming Sweden’s Enqvist, the world’s no. 18, 6-3, 6-3.

Qualifier Pozzi, ranked 58, won in one hour 14 minutes and will play Andre Agassi in a second round match today.

World junior champion Arnaud Di Pasquale beat experienced Australian Richard Fromberg, 6-3, 6-4, while Swiss qualifier Marc Rosset, a finalist here in 1994, beat South Africa’s Wayne Ferreira, 6-3, 6-4.

Sweden’s Thomas Johansson will play favourite Pete Sampras in the second round, after beating 20-year-old Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean.

Johansson had a far tougher match than expected, beating Grosjean 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, in two hours, 36 minutes. (AP)

Merchant registers 4-2 win over Lilly in opening match

MUAORIE, Nov 3: Former Asian Champion Yasin Merchant gave enough indications of things to come as he registered a 4-2 win over Dharminder Lilly of Punjab in the inaugural league match of the Chand-Jaypee International Snooker Tournament at this hill resort today.

A break of 60 in his very first visit was enough to give merchant the start he needed as he won the first frame 85-24. On top of it he chalked up another splendid break of 56 to increase his frame lead to 2-0. Merchant won 4-2 (85-24, 92-32, 12-78, 18-51, 99-5, 64-62).

Merchant could have wrapped it up 3-0, but a late flourish from Lily saw him make it 2-1. The defending champion finally won the match taking the next two frames.

In a Group C match, Ashok Sandila staged a late rally to win 4-3 after being down 0-3 at one stage against junior National Champion Siddharth Anand.

I gave him enough aces in the first and the third frame. But after losing the third frame. I decided to play cool and go frame by frame. He lost out on that, Shandilya told reporters after the match.

In the Group D match, national champion Devendra Joshi beat Pakistan’s Farhan Mirza 4-1.

The Pakistan number three player began the proceedings in a whirlwind fashion with a break of 56 to win the first frame. Joshi, however won the second to mke i 1-1 and then never looked back as the Pakistani was thoroughly outclassed.

Mukesh Rehani, a late entry in place of M E Joker of UAE, trounced Delhi State Champion Manan Chandra 4-0. (PTI)

Ist Jammu Gold Cup Football Tourney
Jammu Sports Club beat International Club 1-0

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 3: Jammu Sports Club entered the quarters of the Ist Jammu Gold Cup Tournament defeating International Club 1-0 in pre-quarter-final match played at Mini Stadium here today.

In the second match, J&K Forest got bye against IInd Nagas, who did not turn up at the venue and also entered the quarter-finals.

During the first match, International Club gave a tough fight to Jammu Sports Club, but lost by a solitary goal. First goal was hit by centre forward Asif Sotra in the first ten minutes of the first half after getting a timely pass from Karamat Mattoo, who was positioning at right in.

Both the teams got two corners each but failed to convert them into goals.

Dr Nirmolak Singh was the chief guest in the first match, while Vijay Bakaya, Additional Chief Secretary, Forests was chief guest in the second match.

Suresh Dimple, Ajay Singh, D K Dass and Master Salim were referees in the match.

Quarter-finals will be started by November 5.

Tomorrow’s fixture: Alfa Army Garwal will take on Young Star, while in the second match Christian Star will play with Dummy Club in pool ‘B’.