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Government gives partial clearance to Bangla tour NEW DELHI, Dec 7: The Government today gave a partial go-ahead for the Indian cricket team’s tour of Bangladesh for the first Test match beginning on Thursday but its security delegation will go to Chittagong, the other venue, to make an assessment of the threat...............more John
Wright to KOLKATA, Dec 7: John Wright will continue as the coach of the Indian cricket team till the Pakistan series at home in February-March ..........more Second-half blitz guides India to their first win LAHORE, Dec 7: India bounced back from a one-goal deficit to beat a spirited Germany 3-1 for their first win in the Champions Trophy hockey tournament here today................more Punjab players take ten gold, Pak tally at 3 PATIALA, Dec 7: East Punjab took formidable lead over Pakistan Punjab’s counterparts bagging as many as ten gold medals while the visitors earned their second gold today in the men’s cycling event and another one in wrestling taking their total gold tally to three so far in the first Indo-Pak Punjab Games played here. Zulfikar Ali of Punjab Pakistan finished first in the 1 km final cycling event clocking 1:13:6 while Hitraj Singh (1:14:2) ................more |
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Nagbani School celebrates
annual day Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 7: Saying that the younger generation holds hope for bright future, Governor Lt. Gen. (Retd) S K Sinha today called for renewed efforts at every level to sharpen their intellect and ensuring their harmonious growth........more Semifinals line-up drawn in senior snooker Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 7: Semi-finals position has been cleared in senior snooker with Kamal Rohmetra, Sumesh Turki, Kuldeep Sharma and Jaideep Manocha qualifying for the knockout stage ...........more U-19 cricket tourney from December 13 Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 7: Roshni Cricket Academy in association with Tawi Sports and Social Club is organising under-19 school boys cricket tournament at GGM Science College ground,.........more Town Planning XI wins friendly cricket match Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 7: Town Planning Organisation XI won their friendly cricket......more |
Government gives partial clearance to Bangla tour NEW DELHI, Dec 7: The Government today gave a partial go-ahead for the Indian cricket team’s tour of Bangladesh for the first Test match beginning on Thursday but its security delegation will go to Chittagong, the other venue, to make an assessment of the threat perception there before clearing that segment. The 15-member cricket team led by Sourav Ganguly will leave tomorrow from Kolkata by an Indian Airlines flight. The Government’s green signal came after the Indian security delegation, currently in Dhaka, sent its report after on the spot assessment of the security environment. India plays the first Test in Dhaka followed by the second in Chittagong from December 16. The first of the three one-day matches is slated in Chittagong and the remaining in Dhaka. "The Indian security officials and their Bangladesh counterpart carried out a thorough joint on-site inspection of the venue of the match, the hotel where the players would be accommodated as also the route which would be used for travel by the team", a statement issued by External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said. The Indian officials made a number of recommendations for strengthening the security arrangements for the Indian team and "these were accepted in entirety by Bangladesh authorities", he said. The spokesman said Bangladesh home secretary Omar Farooq personally reviewed all the arrangements and assured implementation of all additional measures suggested by the Indian security team. Farooq also took personal interest to ensure that there is no risk to the safety of the Indian cricket team, he said. "On this basis, the Government is advising BCCI to proceed ahead with the tour of the Indian cricket team for matches in Dhaka", the spokesman said. Referring to the Chittagong leg of the tour, the spokesman said the Indian security delegation would now proceed to that city to make an similar assessment of the arrangements for the visit of the cricket team there and a decision on it will be taken on the basis of the assessment to be given to Government by the security team. The tour had come under a cloud after a militant outfit, identifying itself as Harkat-ul-Zihadi, threatened to kill the Indian players if they toured the country. The BCCI welcomed the government’s decision and said it would make necessary logistic arrangements. "We have received the communication from the government, the matches in Dhaka have been cleared and we welcome the decision," BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla told PTI. In Dhaka, the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s media committee chairman R A Mamun said they were yet to receive any communication from India on the tour but welcomed the decision nevertheless. "We have not got any confirmation from India as yet but anyway we welcome the positive decision," he said. (PTI) |
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John Wright to continue till Pak series KOLKATA, Dec 7: John Wright will continue as the coach of the Indian cricket team till the Pakistan series at home in February-March next year, putting to rest speculation that the former Kiwi captain would hang up his boots after the Bangladesh series. The continuation of 50-year-old Wright till the end of 2004-05 season was confirmed during meetings with Jagmohan Dalmiya here over the past couple of days, according to BCCI sources. The sources said there was nothing new in Wright continuing till the end of the season since he had been appointed the team’s coach till 2004-05 season by the board’s working committee in August and it was approved by the adjourned AGM here on September 30. Both Dalmiya, who technically continues to be the BCCI president since the AGM has not concluded as yet, and Wright were unavailable for comment. Doubts about Wright’s continuation arose following some comments by the coach himself after India lost to Pakistan in the Platinum Jubilee match here on November 13. "Sometimes a new coach brings in fresh ideas, which turn out to be good for the team," Wright had said after the loss, which capped a string of defeats of the Indian team including the fourth consecutive defeat in one-dayers at the hands of the Pakistanis. Wrights’s comments reflected his disappointment over the poor performance by the team since the beginning of the current season. Before the Platinum Jubilee match, the team had lost in the Asian Cup, tri-series in Holland, Natwest Challenge and Champions Trophy before going down to Australia in the home series. The just-concluded Test series win against South Africa has been the first success for the Indian team in the current season. Wright has been with the Indian team since November 2000 and during his tenure he helped it achieve many highs, including beating Australia in a Test series and reaching the World Cup final. The BCCI working committee had decided in August to extend Wright’s contract till the end of 2004-05 series and after the controversial AGM here on September 30, president-elect Ranbir Singh Mahendra had announced that Wright would continue till the Pakistan series. "Wright is very much with the Indian team. He will be there in the coming series against Australia, South Africa and Pakistan," he said. (PTI) |
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Second-half blitz guides India to their first win LAHORE, Dec 7: India bounced back from a one-goal deficit to beat a spirited Germany 3-1 for their first win in the Champions Trophy hockey tournament here today. After a listless display in the first half when they conceded a goal in the 20th minute, India pulled up their socks in time to secure their first points in this elite six-nation tournament at the National Stadium. They bounced back with goals from Sandeep Michael (40th minute), Arjun Halappa (59th) and Vivek Gupta (68th) while Jan-Marco Montag (20th minute) scored the only goal for Germany in the match which saw Indians dominate in the second half and play some superb hockey. India struggled to get the rhythm for the better part of the first half as their opponents dominated the proceedings. Germany, fielding a second string side, made a spirited attempt on the Indian post right from the start and in fact came quite close to scoring when Michael Purps got the ball from Christian Wein in the midfield before proceeding near the Indian circle. With hardly any player to challenge him, purps looked all set to give Germany the lead in the fifth minute, but much to the dismay of his teammates, he stepped on the ball. Soon after, goalkeeper Adrian D’souza came to India’s rescue when he showed superb reflexes to stop Eike Duckwitz’s attempt at the post as India hung on grimly to survive the German onslaught. The Europeans were a lot more decisive and attacking in their approach as against a sloppy display by the Indians who had lost to Spain and Holland before this match. It came as no surprise when Germany took the lead after yet another attack on the Indian post earned them a penalty corner. Montag’s superb flick from the set piece went to the right side of the goal at shoulder height, beating D’souza. India also had their chances in the first half but they were far and few in between as they found it extremely hard to penetrate their opponents’ defence. On one such occasion, just a minute before Germany took the lead, India made a very good move which saw Vikram Pillay testing German goalkeeper Ulrich Bubolz. But the custodian was smart enough to thwart the danger. India raised hopes for the equaliser when they earned a penalty corner just a minute before the half time, but Sandeep Singh’s drag flick was deflected out by the German defenders. India gave a little more thrust to their game on resumption and it earned them immediate results as they levelled the score with a Sandeep Michael strike. Dilip Tirkey’s long ball from the half line was stopped well by V S Vinay inside the German 25-yard and the forward dodged Bubolz, who charged out, before passing to Michael who had no problem in putting the ball in. The Indians grew in confidence after erasing the deficit and intensified the attack that saw them taking the lead in the last quarter of the game. After getting the ball near the 25-yard, Halappa moved ahead swiftly past a couple of defenders before rolling the ball inside the circle and unleashing a powerful hit. Even though Bubolz charged out in a bid to stop the attempt, the ball went through his legs as India secured a 2-1 lead. Vivek Gupta swelled the lead further after Sandeep Singh sent a perfect pass to him from a set-piece just a minute before close to ensure that India remained in hunt for a top four finish. In the other matches of the day, defending champions the Netherlands beat Pakistan 4-1 to remain on course for a third title win in a row while Spain managed a tough 3-1 win against New Zealand. With nine points each from three matches, Spain and Holland jointly lead the tables. Pakistan have six points from as many outings. Tomorrow, India take on arch-rivals Pakistan, Holland play Spain and Germany lock horns with New Zealand. Holland drub Pakistan 4-1 LAHORE: Defending champions Holland drubbed Pakistan 4-1 with a late burst of goals to secure their third straight victory and set sights on a third title triumph in a row in the Champions Trophy hockey tournament here today. It turned out to be a memorable outing for Dutch captain Jeroen Delmee, playing his 300th international, as his team overcame a resilient Pakistan side before thousands of their home supporters in the thrilling contest. The win took Holland’s points tally to nine from three games, the same as Spain, whereas Pakistan stayed on six points from as many outings in this round-robin tournament. Holland scored two goals in the last five minutes to seal the victory after the teams went to half time with scores level at 1-1. Ronald Brouwer (15th) gave Holland the lead before the hosts drew parity through Sohail Abbas, who equalled Australian Mark Hager’s Champions Trophy record of 32 goals. Taeke Taekema (39th) and Karel Klaver (65th) added to the tally before Delmee rounded off the tally with a 69th minute strike. Although the result suggested a one-sided game, the Pakistanis had themselves to blame for the defeat as they squandered a number of opportunities to score the equaliser when the socreline was 2-1 in favour of Holland. Shakeel Abbasi and Rehan Dutt missed sitters to leave the home side rueing their misfortunes even though they did manage to outplay their rivals at times. "We played the best hockey in the tournament in the last part of the second half. Pakistan played well and they had a few opportunities for them. I am very pleased with the way we played," Holland coach Terry Walsh said. With the tournament going past the half-way mark, the Dutch are now clear favourites to move into the final. "We are half-way through and sitting on nine points. But still there are two more matches to go. We have to play spain tomorrow. So let’s wait and see," Walsh said. The high-profile match drew over 15,000 fans to the stands but the home side supporters were disappointed by the way their side lost the match after dominating it for long. "If you look at the score it looks like a big defeat. But that was not the case. We had goal scoring opportunities but we missed them. But I am sure the team will come back hard in the next matches," Pakistan coach Roelant Oltmans said. The home team’s scoring problems were compounded by the failure of Abbas to score more than once from penalty corners. Abbas scored the equaliser with his trade mark drag flick, but failed to beat veteran Holland goalkeeper Guus Vogels in his subsequent attempts. "Holland scored twice from two penalty corners while we managed just once. This only added to our problem as our strikers also struggled to put the ball in even from open chances," Pakistan captain Waseem Ahmed said. In tomorrow’s matches, Holland will play Spain while Pakistan will clash against India. (PTI) |
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Punjab players take ten gold, Pak tally at 3 PATIALA, Dec 7: East Punjab took formidable lead over Pakistan Punjab’s counterparts bagging as many as ten gold medals while the visitors earned their second gold today in the men’s cycling event and another one in wrestling taking their total gold tally to three so far in the first Indo-Pak Punjab Games played here. Zulfikar Ali of Punjab Pakistan finished first in the 1 km final cycling event clocking 1:13:6 while Hitraj Singh (1:14:2) finished second and his teammate Abhishek Rana earned bronze. "In the 6 km event yesterday, I missed out, but today I was determined to go for it. It was a good race and a good experience to compete in these games", he said. The women’s 500 m cycling event was won by Gurpreet kaur (41.6s) of East Punjab and Manpreet Kaur and Kulwinder Kaur also of Indian Punjab finished second and third, respectively. The gold in 4 km men’s team pursuit and 3 km women’s pursuit also fell in India’s kitty. In the 4 km cycling individual (men) pursuit, Prabhjit Singh of India won gold, 3 km individual (women) pursuit, Kulwinder Kaur of India won gold. In the wrestling events, Rohit Kumar of East Punjab won gold in the 57 kg category while his compatriot Sukhchainjit Singh won gold in the 62 kg category. Gubinder Singh of Indian Punjab prevailed over Bhupinder Thakur, also from Punjab in the 68 kg category. Pakistan’s Mohammad Umar prevailed over Harwinder Singh in the 96 kg event. West Punjab had earned their first gold yesterday in the men’s badminton. The medals tally so far: East Punjab (India) gold (10), silver (10), bronze (4): Total medals:24. Pakistan (West Punjab) gold (3), silver (3), bronze (6): Total medals: 12. Over 600 players from both sides are competing in 12 disciplines over a period of six days. (PTI) |
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Nagbani School celebrates
annual day Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 7: Saying that the younger generation holds hope for bright future, Governor Lt. Gen. (Retd) S K Sinha today called for renewed efforts at every level to sharpen their intellect and ensuring their harmonious growth. Speaking at the annual day function of prestigious Maharaja Harisingh Agri. Collegiate School in the suburb Nagbani this afternoon, the Governor said that moral education along side academics is imperative for overall growth of children. ‘This vital aspect should not be neglected’, he felt. The Governor was appreciative of the school management in observing ancient traditions and said, ‘this hold us together as a Nation’. He complimented them for grooming the students so well and hoped that they will march towards the odyssey of excellence with same vigour. General Sinha said that he was impressed by the high standards exhibited by the students in their drill movement during the march past and felt that this inculcates discipline and self pride among youngsters. He lauded the students of the school for bringing laurels by bagging top slots in various competitive exams and promotional tests. Lady Governor, Mrs. Premini Sinha presented trophies and awards to the students for excelling in various examinations during 2003-04. While presenting academic awards, she complimented the students for maintaining high standards. The Governor took salute at an impressive past and inspected the parade of well-attired contingents of NCC and other disciplines of the Schools. Earlier, he and the Lady Governor laid wreaths at the statue of Maharaja Hari Singh. The school children presented a scintillating cultural programme, highlighting the glimpses of composite and rich ethos of the State. Capt. Dewan Singh welcomed the Governor at the annual day function and dwelt at length on the history of the School. He presented a memento to the Lady Governor. The Principal B R Gupta presented the annual report. He gave an overview of the achievements in the field of academic and extra-curricular activities of the School during the previous years and said that every year a number of students from Nagbani are selected in various prestigious professional institutions all over the country. ‘They leave the cocooned atmosphere of the school and make a great crash entry into the outside world by qualifying the public examination conducted by CBSE’, he said. The School has bagged prestigious Certificates of Achievements awarded by DAV College Managing Committee and Laureate Certificates from CBSE. The School has maintained the top slot in Jammu and Kashmir in getting awards under CSIR Programme on Youth for Leadership in Sciences for the seventh year consecutively. |
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Semifinals line-up drawn in senior snooker Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 7: Semi-finals position has been cleared in senior snooker with Kamal Rohmetra, Sumesh Turki, Kuldeep Sharma and Jaideep Manocha qualifying for the knockout stage after contesting the quarterfinals league round in ongoing 14th state billiards and snooker championships at Indoor Complex, M A Stadium, here today. Now, in the semi-finals, to be played tomorrow, Kamal will take on Sumesh in the afternoon at 2 pm while Kuldeep will meet Jaideep in the morning session at 10 am. In the snooker league round, Kuldeep Sharma has emerged as the most powerful cueist who has won all his matches including that against Kamal Rohmetra. In the meantime, according to organising secretary, Abhimanyu Arora, the senior billiards competitions shall start from December 10. Draws can be seen by the participants at the Billiards Hall notice board on December 9. Detailed results: Quarterfinals League: Kamal Rohmetra bt Vishal Abrol 39-67, 57-48, 82-47, 76-33; Sunny Arora bt M N Khan 69-17, 48-60, 34-58, 74-17, 61-51; Sumesh Turki bt Jaideep Manocha 63-35, 62-23, 16-59, 43-51, 60-45; Kamal Rohmetra bt Ishuk Chowdhary 56-24, 52-39, 33-65, 59-6; Kuldeep Sharma bt Vishal Abrol 45-56, 65-16, 74-12, 67-41; Vishal Abrol bt Ishuk Chowdhary 52-63, 55-58, 53-12, 53-13, 38-31; Sumesh Turki bt M N Khan 85-30, 92-46, 71-23; Kuldeep Sharma bt Kamal Rohmetra 28-54, 54-44, 59-16, 56-33; Jaideep bt Sunny 3-0. |
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U-19 cricket tourney from December 13 Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 7: Roshni Cricket Academy in association with Tawi Sports and Social Club is organising under-19 school boys cricket tournament at GGM Science College ground, here from December 13. According to a handout, in this tournament teams from Poonch, Rajouri, Kathua and Doda districts will take part. |
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Town Planning XI wins friendly cricket match Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 7: Town Planning Organisation XI won their friendly cricket match beating Architects Organisation XI by 10-wicket at GGM Science College ground, here. Earlier, after winning the toss and elected to bat, Architects were bowled out for 91 runs. In reply, Town Planning Organisation XI chased the target without losing any wicket. Openers Vinod Malhotra and Anil Raina played unbeaten innings chasing the total in 16 overs. Anil Raina was declared man of the match. Vice-Chairman, JDA, KB Jandial was chief guest, who presented winning trophy to Town Planning Organisation XI. He remarked that playing games inculcates self discipline and team spirit among the participants which are very essential in achieving success in other walks of life as well. Excelsior Sports Correspondent UDHAMPUR, Dec 7: Roshni Cricket Academy (RCA) XI defeated Warrior Cricket Club (WCC) by three wickets in the cricket tournament being organised by Roshni Cricket Academy at Sports Stadium, here today. Batting first after winning toss, WCC made 159 runs in the allotted 30 overs. Later, RCA XI chased the target in 28.3 overs for the loss of seen wickets. Sahil and Fickey were top scorers with 44 and 25 runs respectively while Farooq contributed 20. From RCA Munish was most successful bowler with five wickets for 32 runs in six overs including hat-trick. Sourav took two wickets. Batting second, RCA XI chased the score making 163 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 28.3 overs. Sahil was maximum scorer with 26 runs, followed by Deepak 18, Anil 19 and Sachin and Akhil added 13 each. From WCC, Avnish took three wickets while Fickey bagged two. Munish was adjudged man of the match for his five-wicket haul. Sourav and Nipun were umpires while Puneet Khajuria was scorer. Next match: Yorkshire Cricket Club will take on Bahu XI. UP wins by 7-wkt in North Zone AG cricket Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 7: Uttar Pradesh (UP) defeated Himachal Pradesh (HP) by seven wickets in the North Zone Indian Audit and Accounts Department cricket tournament being played at GGM Science College hostel ground, here today. Earlier, HP won the toss and decided to bat. They made 122 runs for the loss of nine wickets in stipulated 35 overs. Amitab Sharma was top score with 36 runs while Anup Viz contributed 24. Arvind Singh and Satish Durrai shared two wickets each for UP. Batting second, UP chased the target making 125 runs in 26.4 overs with seven wickets in hand. Askari Abbass was highest scorer with unbeaten 46 off 48 balls studded with seven fours. Romesh Chander too remained unbeaten at 31 while Salman Masood added 20 runs. From HP, N Dayanand took two wickets for 15 runs and Shambu Sharma bagged one for 16 in two overs. Today’s match was officiated by Akshay and Rajan. Narinder Sanotra and Rajeev Kumar were scorers. 8 J&K Police women boxers in Indian team Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 7: Creating history for the state police, eight women boxers of Jammu and Kashmir Police have been selected in the national team to represent All India Police Sports Board in the forthcoming senior National boxing championship to be held at Kollam in Kerela. It was in the very first year of the introduction of game in the state police that J&K women boxers were not only appreciated but also named in the prestigious Board team. Recognising state police ability to hold big events, Board has also assigned the duty of holding the coaching camp to J&K Police. Presently, the full team of the Board, including eight J&K women are undergoing training sessions under the supervision of SI Satyakam Sharma coach and SI Anita Katal (manager) at BSF campus, here. These J&K women boxers are Anita Devi, Radha Devi, Simi Sharma, Arti Sharma, Anju Bala, Satwinder Kour, Madhu Rani, Shehnaz Akhtar. For this achievement of the boxers, Director General of Police (DGP), Gopal Sharma and ADGP, Kuldeep Khoda have congratulated the state police boxing coach, Satyakam Sharma for their achievement. They assured all the facilities. It is important to mention here that Board teams are selected out of the best stuff from all the state police forces and paramilitary forces of the country on the basis of their performance in the all India Police competitions. Pt Trilochan Dutt cricket final on December 12 Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 7: The final of Pt. Trilochan Dutt memorial cricket tournament will be played on December 12 at Sikenderpur Kothey in Bishnah. Tournament is being organised by youth welfare and village development society (NGO), Shergarh, Jammu. |
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