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| Pak delay Kiwi series by a week KARACHI, Nov 17: Pakistan cricket chiefs today agreed to New Zealand’s request to postpone the upcoming one-day series by a week, raising hopes the troubled tour will finally take place..........more Resurgent
India KOLKATA, Nov 17: Restoring their confidence with a resounding victory in the last match, a resurgent India will rely on their batting might as they go into the TVS Cup triangular cricket series final with greater conviction of being able.....more DUBAI, Nov 17: Buoyed by the success of champions trophy, the International Cricket Council is now planning to add....more Kasparov
beats NEW YORK, Nov 17: World chess champion Garry Kasparov claimed a crucial victory yesterday in the third of a four-game............more |
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13th State Billiards & Snooker
Championships Narrow escape for Avish, Abdul in Jr Snooker Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 17: Avish Sharma and Abdul today qualified for the next round of junior snooker after undergoing tough.....more By Sanjeev Sharma JAMMU, Nov 17: Breaking the myth that Billiards and Snooker game belongs to society’s.........more Commerce
College claims Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 17: Government SPMR College of Commerce today lifted the inter-college Weightlifting trophy after they secured highest....more J&K
skaters perform well Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 17: Three skaters of Jammu and Kashmir who were in the Indian team and who......more |
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Showkat to lead J&K U-17 team against Punjab...... Ganguly to undergo fitness test today..... |
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Pak delay Kiwi series by a week KARACHI, Nov 17: Pakistan cricket chiefs today agreed to New Zealand’s request to postpone the upcoming one-day series by a week, raising hopes the troubled tour will finally take place. The tour, which was scheduled to begin on Thursday, ran into trouble over security fears which led to four New Zealand players, Lou Vincent, Craig McMillan, Scott Styris and Ian Butler opting out. Captain Stephen Fleming dealt a further blow when he too withdrew from the five-match series today due to an abdominal injury. But Pakistan officials said they had received a request from New Zealand Cricket (NZC) to postpone the series by a week, and immediately agreed to the proposal. "We have proposed a revised itinerary to the NZC, who wanted its players to have a sufficient gap after the Indian tour," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman Samiul Hasan told AFP. New Zealand ended a seven-week tour to India on Saturday after failing to qualify for the final of the limited-overs tri-series that also featured world champions Australia. New Zealand will now be required to arrive in Pakistan on November 27 instead of November 20, according to the revised itinerary drawn up by the PCB. Kiwi officials will announce tomorrow if the tour will go ahead. Fleming ruled himself out of the tour due to an abdominal injury that forced him to miss Saturday’s crucial tri-series match at Hyderabad, which India won to join Australia in the final. (AFP) |
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Resurgent India hope to stop Australian juggernaut KOLKATA, Nov 17: Restoring their confidence with a resounding victory in the last match, a resurgent India will rely on their batting might as they go into the TVS Cup triangular cricket series final with greater conviction of being able to tame the formidable Australians. But the Indians are aware that nothing but an extra-ordinary display is the need of the hour to stop the Australian juggernaut from rolling to another title triumph in what promises to be a classic contest of nerves and skills. Sourav Ganguly and his men, desperate to bury the ghost of the World Cup final, will turn to the nearly one lakh spectators who are expected to throng the majestic Eden Gardens for inspiration in their quest to conquer the world champions who look quite unstoppable at the moment. Barring the defeat against the Indians in their opening match in Gwalior, the reigning monarchs of world cricket have hardly been tested in the series with five consecutive wins and will be determined to cap their impressive sequence by clinching the title at the floodlit Eden Gardens tomorrow. With both teams boasting of quality batsmen in their ranks, the tussle for supremacy could well turn out to be a batting war as bowling has been the weak link for both the sides. While the Indians will be hoping that the law of average catches up with their famed opponents, Ganguly knows that his team’s character and resilience will face its biggest Test in the series. "If we can play as well as we did at Hyderabad, then we stand a good chance of winning," Ganguly said. For the Aussies, the venue is steeped in Nostalgia. It was at the eden that the men from down under edged out England in the final to lift the coveted World Cup for the first time in 1987, and Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting would be hoping to win yet another final. India have fond memories of hosting Australia in the longer version of the game the last time around in 2001. V V S Laxman scripted an Indian record of 281, as the home side caused a fascinating turnaround culminating in a historic win to level the series. However, with the dew likely to make batting difficult in the evening session, the toss may play a vital role in determining the course of the match. Ganguly said as much. "Yes, I think the toss will be crucial." History shows that six out of the eight day-night international matches at the Eden have been won by the side batting first. The Indian batting has been built around little master Sachin Tendulkar, who has been in awesome form. He leads the run scorers chart notching up 421 at a highly impressive average of 84.2, inclusive of two strokeful hundreds. The dashing Virender Sehwag, who had disappointed his fans with a dismal show from his blade in the earlier stages of the tourney now seems to have at last found his rhythm. On a high after scoring a career best 130 at Hyderabad, he would surely want to continue the good work with another substantial contribution with the bat. The Australian batting, known for its lethal ability to tear apart any bowling, is spearheaded by the swashbuckling Adam Gilchrist, regarded by many as the best ever wicket-keeper-batsman of the game. Gilchrist has been in mesmerising form in this tournament giving Australia flying starts match after match. Gilchrist’s opening partner Matthew Hayden, who has not been at his shining best so far, will also be keen to come out with something spectacular on the ‘big day’ to do justice to his reputation. Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting, the nemesis of the Indian bowlers in the World Cup final, gave the hosts a taste of the same medicine in the Bangalore match last week, when he launched an audacious assault to score 108 runs of only 102 balls, hitting seven sixes on the way. Crisis man Michael Bevan, who pulled Australia out of the dumps against the kiwis at guwahati, Damien Martyn and Andrew Symonds are all capable of murdering any bowling attack on their day. The Aussie bowling, believed to have been weakened in the absence of their battery of frontline pacers, have got a new lease of life, thanks to the new ball pair of Nathan Bracken and Brad Williams. While the former has picked up 13 wickets, the latter has got three less in the tournament so far. The Indian team, on the other hand, needs to ponder over the bowling combination they would use against their mighty opponents. None of the Indian bowlers have so far been able to show consistency, and this is one area likely to cause worries to the team think-tank. (PTI) |
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DUBAI, Nov 17: Buoyed by the success of champions trophy, the International Cricket Council is now planning to add another high-profile event billed as the ‘super series’ to its calendar. The tournament would pit the best team in the world against the rest of the world side, the members of which would be picked based on their international rankings. "The World Cup and Champions Trophy are the two major events being conducted by ICC. Soon ICC will stage another event called the super series," ICC chief Ehsan Mani was quoted as saying in the `Gulf News’ today. "The super series will be a contest between the best team in the world against the rest of the world which will comprise top players," Mani said. Elaborating on the proposed event, Mani said "players for the rest of the world will be selected based on the ICC rankings for the best players. The best openers and outstanding middle-order batsmen as well as bowlers will make the team". The series, comprising one test match and three one-day internationals would be held after every four years. "ICC will provide excellent incentives to the players to ensure that the event is keenly contested. Most likely nearly half a million dollars will be on offer in every match," he said.(PTI) |
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Kasparov beats computer to tie up match NEW YORK, Nov 17: World chess champion Garry Kasparov claimed a crucial victory yesterday in the third of a four-game match with his computerised rival x3d fritz, tying the first virtual-reality showdown at 1.5 points each. The "man vs machine" match, played at the New York Athletic Club, pitted Kasparov against the 12-year-old program that has recently been developed into a virtual-reality game by x3d technologies, a sponsor of the match. "It was just a dominating performance by Kasparov," said John Fernandez, x3d’s chess consultant. "He disarmed the computer’s biggest weapon, which is its calculating ability." Fernandez said Kasparov dominated the five-hour game from the opening move and then continued to play "perfectly" as several hundred spectators looked on. Kasparov, 40, tied the computer last week in the first game and lost the second one. Players get 1 point for a win, 0.5 point for a tie and no points for a loss. A confident Kasparov told a press conference following the match that he was "in a very good mood now." Yet despite the win, Fernandez said he thought Kasparov would have a hard time repeating his performance at the final match tomorrow. "It’s hard to believe he’d beat this thing two games in a row," Fernandez said. "It’s always hard to beat these things. You need to get a good position that the computer doesn’t understand and then play perfectly." The International Computer Games Association and the US Chess Federation have sanctioned the match as the first official world chess championship in virtual reality. (AP) |
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13th State Billiards
& Snooker Championships Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 17: Avish Sharma and Abdul today qualified for the next round of junior snooker after undergoing tough matches in the ongoing 13th State and inter-district Billiards and Snooker Championships being held at MA Stadium, here. Both Avish and Abdul were able to turn the match in their favour in the last fifth frames that too on black ball. Avish beat Azan of Srinagar 3-2 wining the final frame by a margin of just two points 5-14-9. On the other hand, Abdul had five points gap in the fifth frame 59-52. The detailed results: Sumit Gupta bt Sohail Sharma 31-53, 70-30, 60-19, 73-47; Sumesh Turki bt Neeraj Gupta 64-11, 64-30, 50-36; Almiyat Ahmed bt Neeraj Sharma 65-42, 44-42, 3-54, 9-52, 69-21; Gurpal Singh bt Arush Seth 67-3, 75-31, 55-42; Abdul bt Sohail Plassar 51-26, 29-52, 37-45, 59-50, 59-52; Ankush Gupta bt Sachin Saminotra 28-57, 70-19, 63-29, 80-35; Ishan Chowdhary bt Ankit Gupta 75-26, 23-59, 64-26, 71-23; Aditya Mahajan bt Harmeet Singh 60-26, 80-45, 101-19; Avish Sharma bt Azan (Sgr) 54-43, 45-9, 32-54, 49-62, 51-49; Nikhil Kapahi bt Raman Kumar (Bunty) 31-46, 59-18, 45-51, 65-32, 47-23; Deepak got walkover Akshay and Prabhdeep bt Sunny Sawhney 75-25, 59-70, 38-47, 68-48, 59-43. |
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By Sanjeev Sharma JAMMU, Nov 17: Breaking the myth that Billiards and Snooker game belongs to society’s higher class, a poor boy, Raman Kumar (Bunty) has today surprised one and all at the Billiards Hall, M A Stadium playing an excellent game against an matured player. Raman, who is product of a Snooker pool, Royal Pool & Snooker Club, located at Talab Tillo is just 11 years old, sixth standard student of Government High School, Nowabad. Raman has been allowed to have free play at the Royal Pool by its owner Shailender Singh. Belonging to a poor family with his three elder sisters and a younger brother, Raman stunned Nikhil Kapahi in Junior Snooker first round match, which was decided only in the final fifth frame in favour of Nikhil. The score: 31-46, 59-18, 45-51, 65-32, 47-23. Being semi-finalist in the senior Snooker in the recently held district Jammu championships, Nikhil was offered an easy match, but had a terrible experience for him to play against Raman. Raman who played his match wearing shoes had to put-off soon after the match was over and to put them back at home. However, he returned to the Billiard Hall to watch others’ games but wearing ‘chapples’. "He is an intelligent player and has excellent command over potting. He can be transformed into a good cue player provided he be given attention", said Nikhil looking at Raman, who was sitting in front of him. General Secretary of the JKBSA, Sheetal Gandotra said, "for his excellent play against Nikhil Kapahi and being youngest participant in the State meet, the organising committee has decided to waive off his entry fee for the senior group competitions." |
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Commerce College claims Weightlifting trophy Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 17: Government SPMR College of Commerce today lifted the inter-college Weightlifting trophy after they secured highest 18 points in the competitions held at MA Stadium, here. Second place went to to Government MAM College with 11 points while GGM Science College finished third obtaining 10 points. Post Graduate Departments and Degree College, Kathua were other two college who bagged five points each. In total, nine colleges took part in this tournament including Degree College, Poonch, Degree College, Udhampur, Dogra Law College and Degree College, Rajouri. The results: 56 kg: Shuv Kumar, DC Kathua, Ist; Deepak Kumar, Commerce College, 2nd and Amit of Science College, third. 62 kg: Sunil Sharma, PG Deptts, Ist; Gurmeet Singh, MAM, 2nd and Vijay Maratha, Commerce College, third. 69 kg: Vishal, MAM, Ist; Bhanu Partap, Commerce, 2nd and Dalbir, MAM, third. 77 kg: Bhupinder Singh Sambyal, Dogra Law College, Ist; Ashwani Chandyal, Commerce, 2nd and Parmeet Singh, MAM, third. 85 kg: Vishal Khajuria, Science College, Ist; Abhinav Dhar, Commerce, 2nd and Amit Vaid, Science College, third. 94 kg: Sanjay Digra, MAM, Ist; Shiv Prasad Sharma, Science College, 2nd. 105 kg: Amir Akhtar, Commerce, Ist; Harjinder Singh, Science College, 2nd and Inderjit Singh, MAM, third. Plus 105 kg: Aziz-ul-Rehman, Commerce, Ist and Anshumali, MAM, 2nd. Basketball tourney today JAMMU: Inter-college Men’s Basketball tournament will start from tomorrow at 11 am at University courts, here. In the opening scheduled match, Degree College, Rajouri will take on Government Medical College while MIET will meet Bhargwa Degree College. In the third scheduled match, Degree College, Udhampur to meet SPMR College of Commerce. |
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J&K skaters perform well in world championship Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 17: Three skaters of Jammu and Kashmir who were in the Indian team and who took part in the 27th world Skating Speed Championship gave excellent performance thereby improving their rankings. The world championship was held at Barquisimete in Venezuela (South America) from November 1 to 9. Asian No.2, Arjun Gandotra, who has already participated at world level, has improved his ranking in all the events he took part. His present rankings: 10,000 mts Rink race-8th; 500 mt Road race-9th; 42 km Merathon-11th; 15,000 mts Rink race 16th; 50 mts Rink race 22nd. Krish Gupta, another promising skater from J&K, gave his best performance getting 13th position in 200 mts Sprint. His rankings are: 200 mts Sprint-13th; 500 mts Road race-18th. Third skater from the State, Tarun Gandotra, who is also a national champion, participated in 42 km Merathon race. In all, 42 countries with skaters from each participated in each race. All these three skaters are regular trainees of of Kamal Anand at Shiva Roller Skating Institute, Peer Kho, here. The performance of the skaters at the world level was outcome of the world class facilities being provided by the Institute, said president of the J&K Roller Skating Association, G S Khurmi. Showkat to lead J&K U-17 team against Punjab Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 17: Showkat Ahmed Sheikh has been made captain of the Jammu and Kashmir under-17 cricket team taking on Punjab in their first match on November 20 at Patiala. In the 16-member squad, which will proceed for the venue tomorrow, Munish will be the vice-captain. Other members of the team include Ian Dev Singh, Nadeem Ahmed Rishi, Danish Kambli, Shabir Ahmed Wani, Ubaid Ahmed (wicket-keeper), Aslan Arshad Choudhary, Sahil Bhalwal, Majid Ajaz Maqbool, Raj Kumar, Kapil Deol, Narinder Kumar, Appnam Gupta, Afis Ali and Zahid Farooq. Ved Parkash is manager of the team while Ashok Gupta is coach of the team. The team was selected by four-member team comprised of G M Ronga, Ankush Arora, Ashok Gupta and Moulvi Masood Ahmed. Ganguly to undergo fitness test today KOLKATA, Nov 17: Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly, who pulled a groin muscle during the match against New Zealand on Saturday, would have to undergo a fitness test before the cricket tri-series final against Australia tomorrow. "Ganguly will have to appear for a fitness test before the game," cricket board president Jagmohan Dalmiya said. Ganguly also admitted that he would have to assess his fitness although there was "not any chance" of him sitting out of the final. "I am improving everyday. There are still 24 hours to go (for the final). So let us wait and see," said Ganguly who had batting practice in the nets today. But the Indian skipper said he was not sure whether he would be able to bowl tomorrow. "I still don’t know (if I can bowl as well). Tomorrow morning I will see..." Ganguly had to opt for a runner in the match against the Kiwis in Hyderabad after pulling a groin muscle while taking a run. He also did not come out to field. The doctors attending on the Indian skipper, however, declared that Ganguly was match-fit. "His injury is healing fast. From the medical point of view he is fit to play," Dr Mrinmoy Nandy told PTI. Nandy, who had earlier treated the abscess on the Indian skipper’s left thigh, said Ganguly was undergoing physiotherapy as suggested by team physio Andrew Leipus. He has also been prescribed some analgesics and given an exercise regime. The doctor said the muscle pull had nothing to do with the abscess which had healed completely now. (PTI) Indian juniors brace up to face Lanka ‘A’ RAJKOT, Nov 17: High on confidence after convincingly beating Sri Lanka to clinch the Asia Cup U-19 cricket title in Pakistan, Indian juniors brace up to face a more experienced Sri Lanka A, as the two teams clash in a three-day encounter starting here tomorrow. Despite having the advantage of playing on home soil, the Indian team would definitely feel the absence of young pace sensation Irfan Pathan, who created a world record by scalping nine Bangladesh wickets in Pakistan. The feat earned Pathan a berth in the Indian squad to tour Australia. Pathan is currently playing for Baroda in Ranji Trophy against Andhra Pradesh in Baroda. Given the fact that Sri Lanka has as many as six players, who represented their national team, albeit in few matches, Indian colts will have to work hard in all departments of the game to turn the tables on the visitors, who are fresh from a fairly impressive tour to South Africa and Kenya last month. India skipper Ambati Rayadu, who shot into limelight after a scintillating 177 in the one-dayer against England U-19 last year, will be keen to display his batting acumen as also Rakesh Solanki, the young Baroda player, whose unbeaten 56 helped his team to script a comfortable eight wicket win against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final in Lahore earlier this month. (PTI) It is going to be hard to beat India:Waugh SYDNEY, Nov 17: Terming India as a "quality" side, Australian Test captain Steve Waugh today admitted that it would be a difficult task to beat the Asian nation on their tour starting later this month. "It’s a pretty experienced squad with not too many surprises and they’re a quality side so they’re going to be hard to beat," he said as India get ready for the tour which will see them play four Test matches besides a triangular one-day tournament also involving Zimbabwe. "I see they’ve got five seamers, so obviously they feel as if they need a few quick bowlers in Australia," Waugh told an Australian website. The 38-year-old Australian skipper said he only had a brief look at the Indian line-up but it appeared to be a quality side. The Saurav Ganguly-led 16-member Indian team will land in Australia later this week. The team, which includes players like master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman and frontline bowlers Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, will play Test matches at Brisbane (Dec 4-8), Adelaide (Dec 12-16), Melbourne (dec 26-30) and Sydney (Jan 2-6). Waugh said he was unsure how many of Australia’s frontline pace bowlers among Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee would be available fit at the start of the Test series. However, he said it was good to see Gillespie on the comeback from injury after he was named in the South Australian squad to play new South Wales tomorrow. (PTI) |
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