Daily Excelsior.........sports

Manipur and Bengal
to clash in final

CHENNAI, June 22: Bitter rivals Manipur and Bengal set up a title clash posting contrasting wins in the semifinals of the 11th National Women’s Football Championship here today. . ......more

PCA to hold annual
interactions with
umpires and coaches

MOHALI, June 22: Inspired by the Aussies, the Punjab Cricket Association today decided to conduct annual interactive sessions and seminars for coaches and umpires in the.......more

Soccer hero Beckham
can’t act, fails even
in walk-on role

LONDON, June 22: His soccer superstar status and drop-dead looks notwithstanding, David Beckham failed to grab even a walk-on role ..........more

Thakur back in
Hockey squad

NEW DELHI, June 22: Deepak Thakur made an expected comeback into the national team after a brief injury lay-off as the Indian Hockey Federation today named an 18-member squad for the Four-nation Hamburg Masters.........more

Kulbushan Handa declared winner in tie match, enters final

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, June 22: Kulbushan Handa Cricket Club (KHCC) today entered the final of the Ist B A Kitchloo Memorial Cricket Tournament being organised by Mohammadan Sporting Cricket Club at M A Stadium after the decision of a ....more

Aditya’s 7-wkt haul guides JKCA-A to a big win

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, June 22: Even as Ram Dayal and Zian Ajaz had already completed half of the job with their act with the bat, Aditya Pratap Singh gave ......more

RNCC, MCC win in
Jasbir Cricket

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, June 22: Roop Nagar Cricket Club (RNCC) and Munna Cricket Club (MCC) won their respective......more

Position holders in Matriculation

Priyanaka Dhar D/o Mr M K Dhar, a student of Model Academy, who bagged 13th position securing 91 per cent marks......more

Shoaib and Sami give England a roasting.....

Hinds, Lara tame Murali on Collymore’s day ....

Manipur and Bengal to clash in final

CHENNAI, June 22: Bitter rivals Manipur and Bengal set up a title clash posting contrasting wins in the semifinals of the 11th National Women’s Football Championship here today.

Manipur scored a confident 3-0 win over Bihar, while Bengal managed to hold on to a Swapna Guria goal, scored in the first half, to oust a fighting Kerala.

The final is slated to be held on Tuesday.

Manipur did not have to exert themselves much though Bihar did manage to put up a semblance of fight briefly in the first half.

In the other semi, Bengal forwards worked hard though the exchanges were pretty even during the first half. However, Bengal capitalised on a defensive lapse to go ahead in the 38th minute.

Kerala could have gone ahead twice in the first ten minutes. But five minutes into the match, Sabitha Poovatta muffed a good chance and in the 10th minute P Sreelatha’s measured lob from just outside the box hit the cross-piece.

Eight time champions Manipur have made it a habit to appear in the final and are making their 12th appearance in the title clash, while Bengal, who have won the title twice, figure in the finals after a gap of one year.

But Manipur received a huge blow ahead of the big match as their star shooter Bala Devi will sit out of the final, picking up her second yellow card today. Devi was booked for returning to the playing area (after an injury) without seeking the permission of referee Basker Nanda of Orissa.

Kerala continued to attack and in the 20th minute, Amrutha Aravind’s good try was saved by Ranjitha Khan under the Bengal bar.

In the very next minute, Bengal had their first look at Kerala goal. But Rinku Ghosh, on a through pass from Alpana seal, was dispossessed by Kerala defenders Terry Maria Souza and K S Preena.

The southern team, unrelentless in its attack, got another chance at the half hour mark. But luck was not on Kerala’s side today as the cross-bar came to the rescue of Bengal for the second time in the match.

Once again it was Amrutha, who was fed by C N Ajitha, a Municipal Councillor in Kochi. Amrutha’s shot popped out of Ranjitha’s hands and hit the cross piece but the danger was averted when Purnima Majhi cleared the ball to safety.

To add to their misery, Kerala was handicapped by the injury to key striker Angel Adolphes who limped out mid-way through the first half.

In the 35th minute, Kerala’s goal almost fell but Alpana Seal’s lob from the right flank just missed the mark. Action continued to be in Kerala’s area and Bengal took the lead in the next minute.

Kerala ‘keeper Preetha Kumari did not gather cleanly following a first time right-footer by Shilpi Deb and Swapna Guria pushed the ball home before Kumari could recover.

Crossing over, the rivals missed couple of chances that came their way.

For Manipur Bola Devi scored the first and third goals, while captain Lokeshori Devi slammed the second goal converting a penalty awarded when Bola Devi was brought down by Bihar goalkeeper Samira Topno. (PTI)

PCA to hold annual interactions with umpires and coaches

MOHALI, June 22: Inspired by the Aussies, the Punjab Cricket Association today decided to conduct annual interactive sessions and seminars for coaches and umpires in the state.

"Atleast once in a year selected coaches and umpires on the PCA panel will be provided a platform to share the fundamental technicalities concerning their respective jobs before the start of a season," PCA secretary M Pandove told reporters on the final day of the five-day seminar, organised by PCA for coaches and umpires of Punjab.

Pandove said "if need be, the coaches and umpires could meet twice a year."

"The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) has a definite syllabus for their players and those associated with the game. Now the PCA is trying to follow them," he said.

The interactive session, which was the first of its kind, witnessed the participation of 28 umpires and 14 coaches.

The idea behind the session was to maintain uniformity in coaching imparted in the ten regional coaching centres run by the association in different districts, Pandove said.

The emphasis was to show techniques adopted by the Australian Cricket Academy and Marylebourne Cricket Club in London to the umpires and coaches, he said adding that this would enable upcoming talent to get training on similar lines in their districts.

Pandove said renowned coaches like Gurcharan Singh, D P Azad and Ravinder Bhatnagar would provide inputs to coaches and umpires during these annual sessions. (PTI)

Soccer hero Beckham can’t act, fails even in walk-on role

LONDON, June 22: His soccer superstar status and drop-dead looks notwithstanding, David Beckham failed to grab even a walk-on role in a Hollywood flick after faring poorly in the screen test.

The England skipper, now with Real Madrid, learnt it the hard way when he was told during his promotional tour of America that his acting was so bad he would not even get a walk-on part.

The glamorous soccer hero, who spent a week in the US with his wife and two children earlier this month, went for a secret screen test but was told he had no future as an actor and should stick to playing football, according to a report in ‘The Mail on Sunday’.

"The screen test was a complete flop and it would be fair to say Beckham should stick to soccer," the tabloid said quoting a source close to the star.

Beckham, currently on Asia tour, had hoped to land himself a small role as part of the couple’s bid to conquer America.

There was speculation that wife victoria, a former spice girl, was keen to get her husband involved after she was told that if they became known in the states, there was scope for added promotional work which is already earning the soccer star more than 50 million pounds a year.

Victoria has tried to launch her own film career in America and a source said she was close to signing for a part.

A spokesman for Beckham denied that the soccer star had taken a test but did hint about Victoria featuring in a movie. "It’s far more likely that you will see Victoria in a film role, not David." (PTI)

Thakur back in Hockey squad

Thakur and V S Vinay were the two inclusions into the 20-member side that played a two-leg tournament in Australia recently, while four players including former captain Mukesh Kumar were left out.

Mukesh Kumar had made himself unavailable for this tournament citing family problems.

Others to have been left out are Prabodh Tirkey, Tushar Khandekar and Arjun Halappa.

The team, led by striker Dhanraj Pillay, will play against Germany, Spain and Argentina in the Hamburg Masters in Hamburg from June 27 to 29. It will also play a one-off Test against Germany at Duisburg on June 25.

Team: Devesh Chauhan, Kamaldeep Singh, Dilip Tirkey, Kanwalpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Ignace Tirkey, Viren Rasquinha, Bikram Pillay, Bimal Lakra, V S Vinay, Baljit Singh Saini, Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Tejbir Singh, Deepak Thakur, Sandeep Michael, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Dhanraj Pillay.

Chief coach: Rajinder Singh

Coach: Baldev Singh

Physical trainer: Sampath Kumar

Umpire: Suresh Bhatia. (PTI)

Kulbushan Handa declared winner in tie match, enters final

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

Earlier, after winning the toss, KHCC had made 159 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the stipulated 25 overs. In reply, National Cricket Club (NCC) played equally good innings but completed their 25 overs quota at the same score of 159, losing eight wickets.

Finding both the semi-finalists in a tied situation, the organisers committee decided the winner on the basis of 13 overs average. In the end of the 13 over game, KHCC had made 86 runs whereas NCC were a bit slow at that point of time. Since NCC had managed 72 in the first 13 overs of play, KHCC were declared winner of the first semi-final.

The main highlight of the match was Vivek Singh’s 80 runs off 74 deliveries including one six and six boundaries. But Vivek’s efforts yielded no results when the match ended in a tie. However, Vivek was rewarded for his brilliant innings with the man of the match award.

Batting first, KHCC made 159 runs losing eight wickets in the stipulated 25 overs. Shashi remained unbeaten at 43 including three boundaries, while opener Rajal made 34 runs with the help of four hits to the fence. Dhruv and Pardeep Bali too played well and contributed 32 and 25 runs respectively. Sanjay was the most successful bowler who claimed five wickets for 25 runs.

Later, NCC made a good start with opener Vivek Singh holding one end confidently, but after dismissal on the bowling of Kulbushan, the incoming batsmen progressed the innings steadily by setting the scoreboard moving. Unfortunately they could not manage their victory run in the last 25th over and the match was tied, bringing the score equal to that of KHCC 159 for the loss of eight wickets.

Kanwaljeet was the highest scorer with 25 runs while Inderjeet contributed 12. For KHCC, Raman took three wickets for 30 runs, followed by Kulbushan two and Pardeep Bali one.

Rajesh Dhar and Javid were umpires. Ravi Turki was scorer.

Next match: Hosts Mohammadan Sporting Club will take on Guru Nanak Cricket Club and Ramneet Cricket Club will face Vishal Cricket Club.

Aditya’s 7-wkt haul guides JKCA-A to a big win

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, June 22: Even as Ram Dayal and Zian Ajaz had already completed half of the job with their act with the bat, Aditya Pratap Singh gave finishing touches to the JKCA-A’s big 215 runs victory over JKCA-B taking away seven wickets for 19 runs in 6.4 overs in the Under-15 Cricket Tournament being played at GGM Science College hostel grounds, here today.

Defending their big score of 322 for five in 40 overs, Aditya Pratap Singh with active support from Ram Dayal (7-0-23-2) bowled out the whole JKCA-B team for 107 runs in 21.4 overs, thus helping their side to a big win.

Aditya, who also contributed 28 runs to the score, was adjudged as man of the match.

Earlier, batting first after winning the toss, JKCA-A punished the JKCA-B bowlers by hitting them hard with all of them bowing at an average of over seven runs per over.

In the stipulated 40 overs, JKCA-A made 322 runs for the loss of five wickets. Ram Dayal gave splendid performance making 86 runs off just 55 deliveries including 12 boundaries. Zian Ajaz too played brilliant innings of 75 (off 58 balls, 5x4). Vishwadeep and Kanav Sharma contributed 33 and 37 runs respectively. Aditya Pratap Singh added 28.

Chetan, Raghav, Ramit and Aman shared one wicket each.

Batting second, JKCA-B could not face the bowling wrath of Aditya Pratap, who, right from the very beginning had managed to build up pressure on the batsmen. Despite a lot of pressure mounted by loss of wickets at regular intervals, Abhishekh maintained his cool, contributing unbeaten 39 runs with the help of six fours. Raghav, who was trapped leg before by Aditya, contributed 11 runs including a boundary.

Today’s match was officiated by Mani and Bittu while Suresh Singh was the scorer.

RNCC, MCC win in Jasbir Cricket

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, June 22: Roop Nagar Cricket Club (RNCC) and Munna Cricket Club (MCC) won their respective ties to enter the second round of pre-quarterfinals of the Ist Jasbir Memorial Cricket Tournament underway at Paloura, here.

In the first match, RNCC defeated PAM Club by a margin of 22 runs. Batting first after winning the toss, RNCC made 138 runs for the loss of six wickets in the allotted 14 overs, which, in reply, PAM Club could not chase and bowled out for 116 runs in 12 overs. Shakoor, who made 30 runs for the winners was named man of the match.

In the second match, Munna Club beat Ravi Club by four wickets. Batting first, Ravi Club lost all th wickets for 115 runs in 11 overs. In reply, MCC chased the total in 10.5 overs with four wickets in hand. Janu was declared as man of the match for his unbeaten 32 runs and three wickets.

Position holders in Matriculation

Priyanaka Dhar D/o Mr M K Dhar, a student of Model Academy, who bagged 13th position securing 91 per cent marks.

Tanvi Koul D/o I K Koul, a student of Shastri Memorial Hr. Sec. School, Rehari-Subash Nagar, Jammu, who bagged 14th position securing 90.80 per cent marks.

Baseerat Kaur D/o Liaq Singh, a student of Future Pack Hr Sec. School, Gadi Garh, who bagged 15th position securing 90.60 per cent marks.

Sonakshi Sharma, a student of Happy Model HSS, Udhampur, who bagged 17th position securing 90.20 per cent marks.

Sonam Gupta, a student of Happy Model HSS, Udhampur, who bagged 19th position securing 89.80 per cent marks.

Aditya Mahajan, a student of Happy Model HSS, Udhampur, who bagged 19th position securing 89.80 per cent marks.

Shoaib and Sami give England a roasting

LONDON, June 22: England, chasing 230 to win, clung on against a Pakistan pace barrage to reach 48 for one after 10 overs in the third and final one-day international at Lord’s today.

Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan were at the crease as strike bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami both reached speeds of 95mph or more.

Vaughan was dropped on nought and bowled by a no-ball while England also had several run-out scares after some hesitant running.

Earlier all rounder Andrew Flintoff took four for 32, including a wicket with his first ball, as England dominated the early stages.

Pakistan, put in, looked in deep trouble at 117 for five in the 34th over but Younis Khan helped rebuild the innings with 63 before all rounder Abdul Razzaq produced some explosive late hitting.

He made 64 before falling to Flintoff off the penultimate ball, putting on 60 in 37 balls with Azhar Mahmood as 91 came off the last 10 overs.

The series is tied at 1-1. (AGENCIES)

Hinds, Lara tame Murali on Collymore’s day

GROS ISLET (St Lucia), June 22: The West Indies kept spin magician Muttiah Muralitharan at bay to reach 161-2 in their first innings in reply to Sri Lanka’s 354 on the second day of the opening Test here.

Off-spinner Muralitharan removed Chris Gayle for 27 runs in his second over to reduce the West Indies to 66-2, but Wavell Hinds and skipper Brian Lara denied Sri Lanka further success with their bold and exciting stroke-play.

Hinds was batting on 74 and Lara on 36 at stumps yesterday as muralitharan conceded 39 in his opening six overs before being removed from the attack.

The left-handed pair put on 95 for the unfinished third wicket off just 17.1 overs after the West Indies had nearly squandered the advantage given by fast bowler Corey Collymore, who finished with 5-66 in only his second Test.

Collymore had enhanced the hosts’ chances of restricting Sri Lanka to below 300-mark, only to see his team-mates struggle to polish off the tail.

Sri Lanka were tottering at 288-8 after resuming at a healthy 250-4, but tail-ender Chaminda Vaas (38) helped his team add 66 for the last two wickets with Muralitharan and Prabhath Nissanka.

Lara and Hinds, however, ensured that Collymore’s excellent effort did not go to waste as they steadied the innings after the dismissals of Gayle and opener Daren Ganga (12).

Both the batsmen severely punished Muralitharan as Hinds swung the spinner for two of his four sixes, while lara flicked and swept for two boundaries early in his innings. Hinds was more aggressive, hitting four sixes and three fours in his 87-ball knock for his 11th test half-century.

The morning session belonged to Collymore, a 25-year-old Barbadian returning to the team after taking just one wicket in his only test in 1999 against Australia.

Sri Lanka failed to cope with Collymore’s pace and bounce as they lost four wickets in a space of 38 runs.

Collymore rocked Sri Lanka with two quick wickets in his incisive opening spell with the second new ball, taken after two overs in the morning.

The fast bowler trapped Romesh Kaluwitharana leg-before and had Kaushal Lokuarachchi (15) caught by a diving Lara in the slips.

It was part-time seamer Hinds who provided a vital breakthrough when he had Sri Lankan opener Marvan Atapattu (118) caught by Lara in the slips in his first over of the day.

Atapattu was beaten by a delivery that moved away and edged a drive straight to the West Indies captain.

The Sri Lankan opener had started with a cover-driven four off Collymore, but could add only 10 runs to his overnight score.

Atapattu hit 15 fours in his 11th test century, the first against the West Indies and the fourth away from home.

The big moment for Collymore came when he got rid of Thilan Samaraweera (11) to take his fifth scalp.

Samaraweera, who had averaged 83.00 in his previous 10 tests, added four to his overnight total before being caught by wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs. (AFP)