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Fatigue was not the WELLINGTON, Dec 14: Indian captain Saurav Ganguly refused to say his players had played too much cricket over the last year after his side’s 10 wicket loss to New Zealand in the first test that ended today. .......more DURBAN, Dec 14: After months of controversy, the theme song for next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup in South Africa has been released. The song, in English and the African Nguni language, was released...........more 24
hour continuous HISAR, Dec 14: Fiftytwo year old Vaidya of Hansi Rattan Dev Jangra has thrown an open challenge to walk reverse continuosly for 24 hours. He is a world record holder in backwalk. Tomorrow on December 15 he would undertake the backwalk near India...........more India
suffer WELLINGTON, Dec 14: Repeating the same mistakes which spelt their doom in the first innings, India’s formidable batting line-up crumbled for the second time in three days as the visitors.........more |
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Vijay Merchant U-17 Cricket Ankur takes nine wickets in DDCA’s win over J&K Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 14: Dark horse, Ankur Garg, who in the first innings took only one wicket for DDCA, today wiped out the whole J&K side, taking away nine wickets sending the whole hosts side to the pavilion for 107 runs in 42.2 overs, thereby winning .....more Semis
position cleared in Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 14: Semi-finals position has been cleared in the Women’s section in the Inter-college Badminton Tournament being held at University Campus..........more RBI Jammu
team wins Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 14: The Badminton team of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Jammu returned with winners trophy in the 20th All India RBI Sports meet 2002 organised by Reserve Bank Sports and Cultural Club at Jaipur..........more Pillay
stars in victory over HYDERABAD, Dec 14: A dazzling display by Dhanraj Pillay enabled Maharashtra to score....more |
WELLINGTON, Dec 14: Indian captain Saurav Ganguly refused to say his players had played too much cricket over the last year after his side’s 10 wicket loss to New Zealand in the first test that ended today. The series against New Zealand is the Indians’ sixth in the last 12 months and facing a first innings deficit of 86, India only mustered 121 leaving New Zealand a target of just 36 runs, which they achieved in 43 minutes late in the middle session of the third day. "Talking about too much cricket is providing an excuse," Ganguly said. "It’s hard touring, but that’s how life is. "We were beaten fairly and squarely today, which was very disappointing, but it’s not because we are fatigued". "Our shot selection was poor. We’ll be spending a lot of time in the nets before the next match". "We will improve and i am confident the New Zealand public will see us at our best." India coach John Wright, who was a former New Zealand opener, said his side had been undone by a lack of experience of New Zealand conditions, particularly the fast and bouncy Basin Reserve pitch. "We have to adjust. We thought the wicket would be similar to those we faced in England this year, but this one was much harder and faster," said Wright. "Ideally we would like another match now, so we can have a look at players outside the 11. But...Touring is like that these days and we have to live with it." New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming meanwhile, praised the wicket, and said he had been asking for pitches with more bounce for some time. "All I ask for in New Zealand is bounce," said Fleming. "They make us better with the bat and ball and this wicket, and hopefully a similar one in Hamilton, is heading in the right direction." (AGENCIES) |
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DURBAN, Dec 14: After months of controversy, the theme song for next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup in South Africa has been released. The song, in English and the African Nguni language, was released yesterday and will be sung during the opening and closing ceremonies of the mega event. The opening ceremony will take place in Cape Town on February 8 and the closing ceremony at the wanderers in Johannesburg in March. The original version of the song was rejected because many people considered it to be too "eurocentric". The composer, sello "Chico" Twala, whose version was selected after 42 submissions from different artistes and record companies, said the song reflected the "Africanness" of South Africa. "It’s a song that truly reflects who we are", he said. "It’s an African song that everybody will be proud of and participate. The song reflects the true African beat and tradition." ICC cricket World Cup CEO, Ali Bacher, said he was confident the song would be well received by all South Africans. "It reflects Africa and who we are", he said. The CD will be available to the public in stores from next week. (PTI) |
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24 hour continuous back walk challenge by Hansi Vaidya HISAR, Dec 14: Fiftytwo year old Vaidya of Hansi Rattan Dev Jangra has thrown an open challenge to walk reverse continuosly for 24 hours. He is a world record holder in backwalk. Tomorrow on December 15 he would undertake the backwalk near India gate in Delhi at 9 am and finish the same without break after 24 hours i.e. on Monday morning. This show has been organized for the help of the handicapped and the infirm. According to Rattan Dev Jangra so far none has back-walked for continuously for twenty four hours. It will be a new record. He says that backwalk should be included in the national and international games similar to that of swimming in which a player can swim forward and backward both for a competition. Rattan Dev Jangra had walked reverse from Hisar to Delhi covering 181 kilometers in a walking time of 48 hours and 20 minutes. In 1998 he back-walked at Ram Lila ground Delhi for twenty hours and forty minutes and covered a distance of 164 kms breaking the earlier record of 153.24 kms in 24 hours. This record was registered by Guinness Book of World Records in December 2000. Mr Jangra claims that he will be the first man on earth to have walked backfoot continuosly for 24 hours on the morning of Monday. Ayurvedic doctor by profession Jangra is a teetotller, vegetarian and recommends germinated grains for the players apart from milk, ghee and fruits for better stamina. He wants a separate trek for practice of backwalk because on roads it is too dangerous while backwalking alone. Bhartiya Dalit Sahitya Academy had honoured him with Shorya Shiromani Award. (UNI) |
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India suffer ignominious defeat WELLINGTON, Dec 14: Repeating the same mistakes which spelt their doom in the first innings, India’s formidable batting line-up crumbled for the second time in three days as the visitors crashed to a humiliating 10-wicket defeat against New Zealand in the first test here today. The Indians gave an extremely poor account of themselves as they managed to bat just 96.5 overs in two innings to suffer one of their worst defeats in recent times allowing the hosts to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. After pace spearhead Zaheer Khan captured his first five-wicket haul to restrict New Zealand’s first innings lead to 86 runs, the batsmen put in an appalling display to be bundled out for a paltry 121 in just 38.1 overs on a Basin Reserve pitch which had eased out considerably. Sachin Tendulkar was the top scorer for the beleaguered Indians with 51 but none of the other batsmen showed the temperament to stay at the crease as speedsters Shane Bond (4/33), Darryl Tuffey (3/35) and Jacob Oram (3/28) again shred the batting to pieces. Needing just 36 runs to record their fourth consecutive win against India at this Port City, New Zealand openers Mark Richardson (14) and Lou Vincent (21) rattled up the required runs in 9.3 overs much to the delight of a sizable home crowd. New Zealand resumed at their overnight score of 201 for seven and didn’t go beyond 247 but the 86-run lead was enough to knock the wind out of India’s sails. Overnight not out batsman Richardson’s effort to become only the second New Zealand player to bat through the innings failed when Zaheer trapped him in front with the very first delivery with the new ball when the batsman was on 89. Earlier Richardson was dropped in the slips by Dravid when the batsman was yet to add to his overnight score of 83. The left-handed opener batted for 407 minutes and hit 10 fours from 244 balls. Zaheer then picked up his fifth wicket when he took the edge of Daniel Vettori’s bat for a catch to wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel. Shane Bond was the last batsman to be out for 2 bowled by Ajit Agarkar, the one and only victim of the bowler in the innings. Sourav Ganguly’s men hardly appeared a bunch who has had such a successful run through the calendar year in which it notched up wins in every Test Series. Nor did it appear a team which has an ambition of scoring India’s first series win outside the sub-continent in 16 years. India lived the nightmare of its first innings’ 161 again, and if anything their second innings effort of 121 from 38.1 overs in less than three hours of batting, was worse. VVS Laxman bagged a pair in the match, captain Sourav Ganguly managed just 19 in two innings and the openers, Sanjay Bangar (12) and Virender Sehwag (12) failed once again to leave India staring at defeat. The Indians returned to the pavilion mid-way through the first session with a little spring in their steps after restricting New Zealand Courtesy Zaheer Khan’s career-best figures of 5 for 53. Openers Bangar and Sehwag had moved swiftly to 23 from 7 overs when Sehwag played back to an incoming swinging delivery from Bond and was trapped plumb in front. Bangar was unlucky to be given out though when he had played full-stretch forward to Oram and the dipping inswinger hit him outside the line of stumps. Bond broke the back of India’s batting in his seventh over when he claimed the vice-captain and captain - Rahul Dravid (7) and Sourav Ganguly (2) - in four balls to sent a chill down the Indian spine. Dravid drove at a ball which wasn’t pitched up and moved a shade to rattle his stumps while Ganguly poked his bat at a moving delivery to underline once again his weakness outside the off-stump. India, 35 for 4 at lunch, quickly slipped to 36 for five when Laxman edged Oram to slips to bag a pair to go with the dropped catch of Richardson in the first innings. India could have been six down for 42 had umpire Asoka De Silva not thrust out his left-arm to call a no-ball as a Shane Bond delivery made a mess of Tendulkar’s attempted drive and scattered his stumps when the maestro was just on three. Tendulkar and wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel then delayed the inevitable for 12 overs before Patel made a tentative jab at a tuffey delivery and was caught at first slip. Tuffey took two more wickets as he removed Ajit Agarkar (9) and Harbhajan Singh (1) from the middle, enjoying a spell of 3 for 18 from six overs. Agarkar was out to a wretched shot, offering a catch to deep point while Harbhajan became one more victim in the slip cordon, highlighting India’s extreme handicap negotiating deliveries aimed at at the corridor of uncertainty. Helplessly watching the procession of his teammates from the other end Tendulkar opened up taking on Bond who was brought back to finish off the good work he began. But Tendulkar took him head on and hit 14 runs from the over with three classy fours as he raced to 51 from 37. In the process he also dented Bond’s impressive figures to 33 runs from 13.1 overs. Last man Ashish Nehra survived the next five balls before Tendulkar dragged one back on to his stumps off Bond to pull down the curtains on India’s miserable second innings. Tendulkar batted for two hours and faced 74 balls, slamming seven fours but it brought little cheer to a sizable number of Indian fans. (PTI) |
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Vijay Merchant U-17
Cricket Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 14: Dark horse, Ankur Garg, who in the first innings took only one wicket for DDCA, today wiped out the whole J&K side, taking away nine wickets sending the whole hosts side to the pavilion for 107 runs in 42.2 overs, thereby winning the league tie match of Vijay Merchant U-17 Cricket by an innings and 55 runs at M A Stadium, here. Surviving the first session of the day, J&K held the innings for just 35 minutes after lunch, losing the remaining two wickets of Abid Nabi and Omar Majid. Needing 162 runs to level the lead taken by DDCA in the first innings, but J&K flutter like candles in the wind in the hands of right-arm leg spinner, Ankur Garg, who finished his spell of 19.2 overs with nine wickets for 27 runs. The only wicket left was taken by Ajit Ranjan, who made Rahul Rai his victim getting him caught through Ankur Garg just before the lunch. However, two of the DDCA bowlers got severe thrashing from J&K batsmen, Rahul Rai and Omar Majid, but they were immediately stopped by the skipper by the Delhi skipper from further spell of overs. Willkins Victor gave away 11 runs off two overs, while Karan proved more expensive with 14 runs in two overs. Rahul was only batsman, who survived the bowling wrath of Ankur Garg and played for long. He made highest 42 runs facing 99 deliveries before he was caught by Ankur Garg off Ajit Ranjan. Earlier, J&K made a poor start when they lost first wicket of Imran Shafi without any score on the board. It was followed by the loss of successive wickets and at one stage, J&K were struggling at 24 for four. SCOREBOARD J&K first innings 243 DDCA first innings 405 J&K second innings Rahul Rai c Ankur Garg b Ajit Ranjan 42 Imran Shafi lbw Ankur Garg 0 Raj Kumar b Ankur Garg 3 Munish Dogra c&b Ankur Garg 4 Parveen Singh lbw Ankur Garg 0 Manik Partap c Gourav b Ankur 19 Sumit Silwal b Ankur Garg 2 Munish Raghvanshi lbw Ankur Garg 2 Abid Nabi c Mayank Sidana b Ankur Garg 6 Omar Majid lbw Ankur Garg 20 Mudasir Mushtaq not out 3 Extras ( nb-4, lb-1, b-1) 6 Total (all out in 42.2 overs) 107 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-14, 3-24, 4-24, 5-59, 6-61, 7-77, 8-77, 9-101, 10-107. Bowling Analysis: Shawej Khan 10-3-18-0; Ankur Garg 19-2-0-27-9; Ajit Ranjan 9-1-35-1; Willkins Victor 2-0-11-0; Karan Singh 2-0-14-0. |
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Semis position cleared in Inter-college Badminton Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 14: Semi-finals position has been cleared in the Women’s section in the Inter-college Badminton Tournament being held at University Campus, here today. Whileas Government College Women (GCW), Parade and Government Medical College found berths in the last four stage after fighting the competitions, GCW, Gandhi Nagar and Degree College, Kathua had a cake walk reaching the semi-finals getting walkovers. In the quarter-finals, Medical College defeated Post Graduate Departments 2-0. Ketika Manhas beat Shikha 11-4, 11-2 and Chharu Mahajan outplayed Nidhi Vaid 11-2, 11-3. GCW, Parade down Degree College, Udhampur 2-0. Kanchan beat Rohani 11-2, 11-3, while Rema outplayed Nimisha in straight sets 11-2, 11-2. In other two quarter-finals, GCW, Gandhi Nagar got walkovers BEd College, while in the Degree College, Kathua pool all the opponent teams failed to arrive. |
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RBI Jammu team wins Badminton trophy Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 14: The Badminton team of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Jammu returned with winners trophy in the 20th All India RBI Sports meet 2002 organised by Reserve Bank Sports and Cultural Club at Jaipur. The winners RBI, Jammu team was comprised of Rahul Sharma, Gurvinder Singh, Mahender Sharma and Anil Pandotra. Two of the four members of the winners team, Rahul and Gurvinder have also been selected for the all India RBI team taking part in the All India Inter-Bank Tournament scheduled to be held in Bangalore in the month of January 2003. Earlier, in the individual singles event, Rahul Sharma and Gurvinder Singh reached the semi-finals and quarterfinals respectively. However, in doubles event, Rahul and Gurvinder, who were holding the title from the last two years, lost to R Shekhar and K Madhu of RBI, Tiruvananthpuram 5-15, 7-15. Rahul Sharma is current J&K State Badminton champion in both singles and doubles event. Besides Badminton, Table Tennis, Caroom and Football competitions were also organised by the Club. Meanwhile, on the their return, the team members were congratulated by the Regional Manager, RBI Jammu, Mr JB Bhora. |
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Pillay stars in victory over Karnataka in Hockey HYDERABAD, Dec 14: A dazzling display by Dhanraj Pillay enabled Maharashtra to score an emphatic 2-0 victory over last games silver medallists Karnataka and virtually book a place in the semis, while Punjab downed a fighting Chandigarh 3-2 in the men’s hockey competition league matches at the Police Stadium at Begumpet in the 32nd National Games here today. Maharashtra with this win have six points from two victories, while for Karnataka this was the first match in their group. In the other group, Punjab have a cent per cent record with one match and one win, but for Chandigarh this was their second consecutive loss, effectively putting them out of the race for a semi final berth. In the first match of the day, Maharashtra set the pace, earning a penalty corner in the very first minute. This set the tone for the match as Maharashtra led by the indomitable Dhanraj Pillay who had a hand in both the goals scoring the second himself, just did not allow the Karnataka players to settle down to a rhythm. The boys from the Western State played perfectly to a plan drawing the Karnataka players out and then punishing them on the counter attack. Maharashtra took the lead in the 21st minute when a move from the middle saw Pundalik Bellary pass on to Dhanraj, who then gave a cross into the centre of the box. Karnataka goalkeeper Bharat Chetri, who had represented India at the Busan Asian Games, tried to cut of Shivendra Singh lurking at the left corner of the goal. However, bellary seeing that dashed into the circle and tapped the ball in for the first goal. The second goal was a beauty when Vikram Pillay released a ball from the centre straight to Dhanraj who was left unmarked for the first time in the match and he pouncing on the opportunity rammed the ball in giving Chetri no chance at all to put Maharashtra up 2-0 in the 53rd minute. In the second match, Punjab took the lead in the eighth minute following a penalty corner. Jugraj Singh, India’s penalty corner specialist, sold a perfect dummy to the Chandigarh defence leaving Baljit Singh Dhillon to take the shot and make it 1-0. However, Chandigarh fought back and equalised in the 14th minute when Gurpreet Singh made a brilliant solo down the left side to finish it off in style and make it 1-1. Punjab again took the lead in the 33rd minute when Daljit Singh scored off a rebound to go in at the break with his team leading by 2-1. They increased the lead in the 47th minute through a controversial goal. Baljit Singh Dhillon, sounded the boards from top of the circle, but the umpire ruled as a hit-in for Punjab. After the Punjab players protested, he consulted the other umpire and then signaled for a goal. However, Chandigarh were not the one to go down without a fight and pulled one back after a move started by Devendra Kumar saw him relay the ball to Raj Pal Singh inside the box who made no mistake to make it 3-2 in the 58th minute. After that Chandigarh went on all out attack and received a final chance when the umpire signaled for a penalty corner a second before the hooter went off. According to the rules the penalty corner had to be taken. However, it went in vain and Punjab emerged victorious. (UNI) Kerala storm into semi-finals of men’s Volleyball Formidable Kerala stormed into the semi-finals with a convincing straight set win over Punjab in the men’s volleyball event of the 32nd National Games at the Yousufguda Indoor Stadium today. Kerala, who won 25-9, 25-21, 25-17, had 4 points from as many outings and were tied with Punjab in group ‘B’. But the Southern state scraped past by virtue of better set average. The second team from the group would be decided after the Services-Karnataka match to be played later today. In a group ‘A’ match, hosts Andhra Pradesh defeated Uttar Pradesh in straight sets 25-15, 25-15, 25-14. Defending champion Tamil Nadu had almost made into the semi-final grade, and will play their last match against Haryana, which would decide the group winner and the runner-up. Earlier, in the women’s section, Maharashtra faced little resistance from punjab in a Group ‘A’ match before winning in straight sets 25-12, 25-14, 25-14 while West Bengal notched up an easy 25-19, 25-14, 25-15 win over Chandigarh in a Group ‘B’ encounter. The star-studded Punjab surrendered rather meekly in the face of onslaught led by Kerala captain Kishore Kumar and star spiker Tom Joseph. Tom fetched nine points on the trot with his powerful jump services and spiking to help Kerala raced to 14-3 lead before finally wrapping up the set 25-9. Reshmi Das creates new meet record in high board diving Reshmi Das of Andhra Pradesh won the gold in high board diving logging 365.30 points at the aquatic stadium. In the process, Reshmi erased the previous meet record of Suparna Paul of West Bengal who netted 361.95 points at Imphal in 1999 to stamp her superiority in the event. Suparna finished second today and had to be content with the silver. West Bengal got the bronze too when Mondal Mamoni finished third. (AGENCIES) |
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Pakistan wins World Cup cricket for the Blind CHENNAI, Dec 14: Displaying brilliant all-round performance, Pakistan scored a five-wicket win over defending champions South Africa in the final of the Petro World Cup Cricket for the Blind here today. After restricting South Africa to 255 for eight in the allotted 40 overs, Pakistan romped home, scoring 256 for five in 37.2 overs. The highlight of the Pakistani innings was a gritty unbeaten 87 (96 b, 5x4) by Ashraf Bhatti. Bhatti held the innings together after Pakistan lost their dependable openers Tariq Samuel (14) and Sulman Elahi (10) with the score at 33. Bhatti put on 72-runs for the fourth wicket with Muhammad Shahbaz (28) in only 9.2 overs and then put on 54 runs for the fifth with skipper Abdul Razzaq (30). Bhatti and Muhammad Fayaz (25 not out, 3x4) then saw Pakistan home with an unbroken 56-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Pakistan’s task was made easier, as the South Africans gave away as many as 47 extras. Earlier, put into bat, South Africa were in trouble after losing their consistent scorer and skipper R C Field when he was run out for seven with the score at 26. With the Pakistan bowlers bowling a good line and length and well supported by the fielders, South Africa found the going tough. They were struggling at 86 for 5 before Meyer and Liebenberg put on 96 runs for the sixth wicket in 14.1 overs. Liebenberg was dismissed for 51 when we was caught by Bhatti off Elahi. Meyer topscored with 59 (67 b) before he was bowled by skipper Abdul Razzaq (7/206). Le Roux and Prinse (16) added 46 runs for the eight wicket before the latter was bowled by Amir Ishfaq. Le Roux and Johanneskotze remained not out with 34 and one respectively when the overs ran out. Pakistan thus avenged their defeat at the hands of the the same rivals in the final of the 1998 inaugural World Cup at New Delhi. For his match winning knock, Ashraf Bhatti was declared man of the match. Australia’s Nathan Foy was adjudged player of the tournament. Brief scores: South Africa 255 for 8 in 40 overs (NA Meyer 59, R W Liebenberg 51, P A Le Roux 34 not out, A Razzaq 2/50, Muhammad Waqas 2/53, Elahi 2/30). Pakistan 256 for 5 in 37.2 overs (Ashraff Bhatti 87 not out, Razzaq 30, Johanneskotze 2/36). (PTI) DURBAN, Dec 14: After months of controversy, the theme song for next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup in South Africa has been released. The song, in English and the African Nguni language, was released yesterday and will be sung during the opening and closing ceremonies of the mega event. The opening ceremony will take place in Cape Town on February 8 and the closing ceremony at the wanderers in Johannesburg in March. The original version of the song was rejected because many people considered it to be too "eurocentric". The composer, sello "Chico" Twala, whose version was selected after 42 submissions from different artistes and record companies, said the song reflected the "Africanness" of South Africa. "It’s a song that truly reflects who we are", he said. "It’s an African song that everybody will be proud of and participate. The song reflects the true African beat and tradition." ICC cricket World Cup CEO, Ali Bacher, said he was confident the song would be well received by all South Africans. "It reflects Africa and who we are", he said. The CD will be available to the public in stores from next week. (PTI) |
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