Daily Excelsior.........state

Kapil Dev

Indians react strongly
to rude umpire Hair

SYDNEY, Dec 4: Rude behaviour by Australian umpire Darrell Hair slighting ...more

World Cup draw
Global football calendar top FIFA meeting

TOKYO, Dec 4: The highlight of next week’s FIFA meeting in Tokyo will .....more

Pak Board sacks cricket
coach Richard Pybus

KARACHI, Dec 3: Pakistan sacked English-born.....more

J&K body builders
participating in
North-Zone Champ

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 4: Jammu and Kashmir Body Building..more

Inter-college Cricket
Big win for MAM as
Udhampur collapses

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 4: Lack of match temperament and little exposure to test play, Degree College, Udhampur collapsed and could make meager 84 runs against a big score of 482 by Government MAM College on the second day of the two-day semi-finals of the Inter-college Cricket competitions being held at University of Jammu grounds, here today......more

National Softball
games from Dec 7

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 4: After successfully conducting School National Games ....more

Adventure training for
boys from December 6

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 4: Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter sports ....more

Vijay Club stuns Forest XI
in Sher-e-Kashmir Football

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 4: Vijay Club thrashed Forest XI 4-0 to enter....more

Indians react strongly to rude umpire Hair

SYDNEY, Dec 4: Rude behaviour by Australian umpire Darrell Hair slighting Indians and Pakistanis provoked a strong reaction from Indian coach Kapil Dev here today.

After a couple of dubious decisions on the third day of the tourists match against New South Wales, Hair rudely remarked to an appealing stand-in skipper Saurav Ganguly, Pakistanis did this and now you are doing it.

Taking umbrage at this kind of sweeping remark, Kapil Dev said I am not bothered about good umpiring or bad umpiring but no umpire is supposed to say anything like this.

We all make mistakes. Mistakes will be made. Nothing wrong in it. But, saying something like this, I felt was bad when I talked to Ganguly. I felt really bad. This is not the way I expected a senior umpire to react.

Kapil Dev, however, said he was not going to file any complaint. We have come here to play cricket and not to report and complain.

Umpire Hair was unavailable for comment as he is bound by contract not to react in press.

Sources said Hair had gone up to Ganguly and told him you people are not allowed to look at the replay. It is taken as a dissent by ICC. We had told the Pakistanis the same thing and we are now telling you, Indians, the same thing.

The protest arose first when NSW opener Greg Hayne was given not out by Hair while padding up to Venkatesh Prasad and then when his partner Simon Taufel ruled nightwatchman Gavin Robertson not out when the batsman had clearly edged the ball via his pads to VVS Laxman at silly mid-off. (PTI)

World Cup draw
Global football calendar top FIFA meeting

TOKYO, Dec 4: The highlight of next week’s FIFA meeting in Tokyo will undoubtedly be the draw for the qualification groups for the 2002 World Cup, but football’s world governing body also hopes to discuss the selection process for the following World Cup hosts as well as hammer out a new global football calendar.

Technical and organisational questions top the schedule for Tuesday’s meeting in Japan, the co-hosts along with South Korea of World Cup 2002. The qualification draw will be attended by a record 197 of 203 National Football Federations from around the world.

The qualifiers will comprise: Europe - 14 places (including france as world champions) plus one play-off. Asia - four places (including Japan and Korea as hosts) plus one play-off. South America - four places plus one play-off. Oceania - one play-off Africa - five places. North and Central America and the Caribbean - three places.

Since the five candidates for hosting of the 2006 World Cup will be present at Tuesday’s meeting, FIFA’s 24-member executive committee also wants to determine how the host for the 2006 World Cup will be selected during the body’s July 6, 2000 meeting in Zurich.

There have never before been more than two candidates, but with Brazil, England, Germany, Morocco and South Africa all vying for football’s top tournament, the body must change its voting method.

FIFA will likely choose the "olympic variation" which awards the tournament to the country receiving an absolute majority of votes. If no country has that majority, the country with the fewest votes is thrown out of the running and the members repeat the voting process until an absolute majority winner is determined.

Also on the agenda for FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his delegates is a global football calendar, bringing all countries’ football seasons into harmony.

Blatter would like to have the new calendar in place by 2004. Reports from FIFA sources said, however, that there is already an agreement from the six continental federations for their 2000-2004 calenders.

A sticking point in the negotiations is the Confederations Cup, which hosts Mexico won last July and which Europeans do not overwhelmingly like.

FIFA delegates may soon vote to completely do away with the competition or declare the 2001 tournament a test run for the 2002 World Cup. This would also anchor Blatter’s eventual plans for a World Cup every two years.

The executive is also expected to accept new doping measures recently approved by the International Olympic Committee which are a prerequisite to keeping football part of the olympic programme.

The regulations include unannounced testing during training, which is scheduled to begin at next year’s European Championships in Belgium and Holland. (DPA)

Pak Board sacks cricket coach Richard Pybus

KARACHI, Dec 3: Pakistan sacked English-born coach Richard Pybus today, barely two days after the beleauguered squad returned from their 3-0 test whitewash against mighty Australia.

Pybus was the fifth Pakistan coach to leave this year.

Pakistan Cricket Board has released coach Richard Pybus after the conclusion of the first leg of the Australian tour, said the Board’s secretary Shafqat Rana in a statement.

A decision on Pybus’s replacement will soon be announced, he said. Pybus, 35, was first hired as assistant coach during the World Cup in England this year and was promoted to coach in October.

I think it has to be performance-oriented and we were not achieving that, so we released him, Zafar Altaf, the Board’s ad-hoc committee chairman, told AFP from Faisalabad.

Altaf was reported to be unhappy with Pybus’ lucrative contract, thought to be around 5.4 million rupees (100,000 dollars) a year.

The officials of the Board met him in Lahore and settled the issue. I personally liked the guy but since we concentrate on performance the decision had to be made, Altaf said.

Pybus said today he was disappointed at the decision, but had been expecting it since the defeat in Australia.

It’s very sad but I knew it was on the cards, he said.

You can’t put all the blame of defeat in Australia on the management. I think players were not prepared for that exacting series, he said.

Former test opener Mudassar Nazar is tipped as favourite to take the thorniest job in Pakistani cricket. (AFP)

Inter-college Cricket
Big win for MAM as Udhampur collapses

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

With today’s emphatic win, defending champions, MAM College has entered into the finals in style. Now, they will take on dark horse, Degree College, Kathua in the three-day finals from December 6.

Earlier, in continuation to their yesterday’s total of 325 for five, MAM college declared their innings adding 157 more runs to put on 482 runs target losing eight wickets before Udhampur.

Manjeet Chib, who was playing at 11 yesterday, completed his unbeaten century with the help of 14 boundaries and one six before lunch. Kapil also completed his fifty before his was stumped by Sanjeet at 59 including 12 boundaries.

Soon after Manjeet’s ton (100 off 80), MAM College declared the innings before lunch at 482 for the loss eight wickets. Rakesh Bhat and Amit were only successful bowlers from Udhampur, who took three wickets each.

Batting second, Udhampur came under severe psychological pressure and could not control over their bat and started losing wickets. They surrendered before fast bowling of Umesh Gupta and Dalbir Singh and ended their innings at meager score of 84, thus losing the match by 398 runs.

Amit Dubey was only batsman, who dare hit seven boundaries in his score of 29. Vikram scored 11, while no other batsmen could not reach the double figure.

Fast bowler, Umesh Gandotra, who claimed five wickets crippled the Udhampur innings, while Dalbir Singh took three for 32 in nine overs and Munish bagged two for eight in three overs.

As Udhampur innings ended an hour before the time, MAM college was asked to again play 20 mandatory overs. In these overs, MAM scored 119 runs for the loss of two wickets. Raj Kumar and Ravinder remained unbeaten at 56 and 26 runs respectively. The out going batsmen were Anil and Baffar Hussain.

Messrs Ashwani Sharma and Ravi Kalu were umpires. Bhagwan Dass was scorer.

National Softball games from Dec 7

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 4: After successfully conducting School National Games in the events of Football and Kho-Kho (boys and girls) in Srinagar, the Department of Youth Services and Sports is going to organise National Softball competitions in under 19 years group at Jammu from December 7 to 13.

Although, the game is quite new in Jammu and Kashmir, but host have decided to participate in both boys and girls sections and are all set to gave tough fight to the opponents.

This was disclosed by the Director General, Youth Services and Sports, Mr S S Ali, while talking to media persons, here this afternoon.

He said that the department was particular in hosting Softball games in the state to encourage budding talent and also to promote the game in Jammu and Kashmir.

The competitions on league cum knock out basis will be held at different playing fields, besides at MA Stadium, while the out stationed teams will be lodged at newly constructed Youth Hostel at Nagrota, here.

Presently, the J&K teams are being given special coaching by the Department through a Rajasthan based Softball coach who has been called specially for the purpose.

No doubt, the game is new in the state, even then, Amardeep Koul has found place in the National squad as a good catcher, so the game has good prospects in the competitions, informed Mr Ali.

Prior to the National games, the Department had organised a couple of Softball competitions in districts of Kathua and Srinagar.

Giving details about the other activities of the department, Mr Ali said that various cultural and sports events were organised for the handicapped, orphans and slum areas childrens, who are otherwise an ignored part of the society. By organising such programmes, the department has provided them a chance to spoke their heart out at stage which is a dream for them.

Besides this, sports melas were organised in the border belts, wherein people from all age groups took part and enjoyed the rare moments of their life. The purpose behind organising such melas is to get these people who are victims of firing from across the border, out of their day to day tensions, he further said.

To help the talented youth in sports, the department has also initiated scholarships for such sports persons. Under this scheme, 200 students have been benefited for which Rs 2.40 lakhs distributed so far, the Director General informed.

In addition to ogranising sports activities, the department is also making efforts to get benefit out of various Centrally sponsored schemes. As of now, Centre has sanctioned 50 out of 100 proposals sent by the Department for creating sports infrastructure in the far-flung

areas of districts of Doda, Rajouri, Budgam and Anantnag.

However, he expressed his concern over the non-cooperative attitude of the Private schools, who are spoiling the careers of students by not contributing to the funds pool of the department.

To participate in the various competitions organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports, every school (private and government) have to contribute 50 per cent of their sports funds to the pool to ensure the participation of their students. But, most of these schools have disobeyed the various orders issued time to time by the Education Department, thus denying participation to the upcoming players.

Adventure training for boys from December 6

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 4: Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter sports is organising yet another 15 days training course in adventure sports for 40 boys from all over the country. The training course will be held at Patnitop from December 6.

The Principal of the Institute, Wing Commander, S S Puri has revealed that the majority of the trainees are coming from Kendriya Vidayalayas from West Bengal besides 10 students from Jammu region. He, however lamented that there is no response from the State youths and it is the outsiders who are venturing to come to Institute for training in mountaineering, skiing, rock climbing, environment and adventure.

He disclosed that in these 15 days, the boys of age between 14-17 years would be given exposure in all types of adventure activities which include, rock climbing, high altitude, trekking, snow craft, river crossing, first aid, yoga, camp life and moral education. The Institute would lay special stress on environment education and the trainees will also participate in a social service activity and tree plantation.

The Principal also plans to have a environment camp during the training periods, wherein students from local school will also participate in nature trek, polythene cleaning and a debate on environment. The environment camp will held under the aegis of WWF and Department of Environment and Forests.

The prize distribution ceremony of the training course will be held on December 19 in which National Chairman of YHAI Dr Harish Saxena and Director IMF are likely to be the chief guest and guest of honour for the function, said release issued here today.