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Bangladesh shock DHAKA, Dec 26: Bangladesh pulled off a stunning 15-run upset win over favourites India in the second one-day cricket international here today to level the three-match series 1-1. India were caught napping by an opposition which gave the packed Bangabandhu stadium a chance to celebrate the home team’s first victory on home soil in 36 one-day............more Advani
to get training NEW DELHI, Dec 26: Former world amateur snooker champion Pankaj Advani would be heading to England next year for advance training under the Central Government’s talent search scheme. ................more Team was not complacent, says defiant Ganguly DHAKA, Dec 26: Springing to the defence of his batsmen, captain Sourav Ganguly said the 15-run shock defeat to Bangladesh was not ............more Woolmer rejects Sarfraz match-fix claims SYDNEY, Dec 26: Coach Bob Woolmer has cited his team’s deep religiosity as an obvious antivenin to match-fixing that former fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz recently claimed was still rampant in Pakistani cricket. "They are far too honest, and a religious bunch of people, who pray to Allah three or four times a day. I don’t think there’s any chance of any match ............more |
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Second Banarasi Dass memorial football tourney from Dec 29 Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 26: Young Hero’s Football Club has decided to organise IInd Banarasi Dass memorial football tournament, under the aegis of J&K Football Association, from December 29 at GGM Science College ground, here..............more Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 26: Jammu and Kashmir today entered the knock-out stage of quarterfinals of the ongoing 18th senior national korfball championship at Hyderabad. J&K won four of there five league engagements..............more S D Sabha wins by 29 runs in veteran cricket meet Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 26: S D Sabha Rehari registered a 29-run win over Evershine Cricket Club to enter the semi-finals of ongoing veteran cricket tournament..........more Despite Deepu’s 92 UCC loses in quarters of cricket Excelsior Sports Correspondent UDHAMPUR, Dec 26: Even as Deepu made unbeaten 84ball 92 studded with one six and ten boundaries,.......more |
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Martyr’s memorial cup begins....... Youhana leads from front for revitalised Pakistan..... |
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Bangladesh shock India to draw level DHAKA, Dec 26: Bangladesh pulled off a stunning 15-run upset win over favourites India in the second one-day cricket international here today to level the three-match series 1-1. India were caught napping by an opposition which gave the packed Bangabandhu stadium a chance to celebrate the home team’s first victory on home soil in 36 one-day internationals. Chasing Bangladesh’s modest total of 229 for nine in 50 overs, India were bowled out for 214 in 47.5 overs, crashing to their first ever defeat to the minnows in any form of the game. Bangladesh, playing their 100th one-day international and having won only five of these before today’s day-night encounter, belied their greenhorn status by some excellent display with the ball and in the field. The Indians, who fielded a new look team after being hardly tested in any of the matches of the series so far, paid the price for over confidence and in the end made a heavy weather of chasing a modest Bangaldesh total which was built around an enterprising 67 by Aftab Ahmed. For India, Sridharan Sriram, seeking to make a comeback, topscored with 57 while Mohammad Kaif also made a fluent 49 but that was about all as the visitors capitulated against a supremely determined opposition. The Indian chase never really took off after they lost Virender Sehwag off the third ball of the innings, and a series of bad strokes led them to their worst defeat since losing to Kenya in a triseries in South Africa in 2001. The brightest phase of the innings came when Kaif and Sriram featured in a 63-run stand for the fourth wicket. Joginder Sharma showed pluck in unleashing audacious shots to remain unbeaten on 29 but the lower order cracked under pressure. The jam-packed stadium erupted in delirium after Aftab Ahmed’s direct hit knocked the non-striker’s stumps to run last man Murali Kartik out in the 48th over. Paceman Mashrafe Mortaza, declared man-of-the-match for his all-round display, provided a thunderous start as he broke through the defence of Sehwag. But more shock was to follow as Yuvraj Singh’s full blooded drive off Tapash Baisya then landed straight in the hands of Rajin Saleh at cover. At seven for two, Bangladesh smelled blood. It also meant captain Sourav Ganguly had to curb his attacking instincts and with Sriram also taking his time to settle down, it was a period of lull. Baishya strayed in line and length occasionally and there were a couple of overthrows, but the field placings were attacking, so much that India’s first 50 came only in the 17th over. Bangladesh tasted another success when Ganguly, trying to improve the scoring rate, drove off the medium pace of Khaled Mahmud and ended up with a simple catch to Mortaza (2 for 36 in 9 overs) at point. The arrival of Kaif injected some vigour as he found the gaps consistently. It also spurred Sriram, who had gone into a shell, to open up. The Tamil Nadu batsman executed two reverse sweeps off left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique to reach his maiden half century. He earned the benefit of doubt from the TV umire for a run out appeal but soon ran out of luck. After being beaten by Rafique while trying to sweep, the left handed batsman lost sight of the ball that rebounded off the keeper’s pads on to the stumps. As he came out of the crease, Mashud reacted in an instant to grab the ball and pluck the stumps from the ground. Sriram’s 57 came off 91 balls and contained seven fours. India’s second 50 came in 10 overs and although Dinesh Mongia fell cheaply, there was no let up in the shot making. Mahendra Singh Dhoni adopted a slambang approach, but after striking two boundaries, played a pull shot off Mortaza that was taken low at midwicket by captain Bashar. That brought the crowd back to its feet. The equation was balanced with 60 needed from 60 balls. But what followed defied logic with even Kaif being run out and two balls later Ajit Agarkar holing out to Aftab Ahmed, India suddenly reduced to 172 for eight. Sharma and Zaheer Khan then struck four boundaries between them, and the 200 came in 45th over. But just when things seemed to be under control, Zaheer went for a big one against Mahmud and Mortaza, who has been the face of Bangladesh’s new found confidence, took a well judged catch at long on. Earlier, an enterprising half century by Aftab Ahmed helped Bangladesh overcome a disastrous start and post a respectable total. However, the moments of domination Aftab enjoyed over the Indians was interspersed by a series of setbacks and it needed some pyrotechnics from Mortaza to push the hosts’ total past the 200 mark. Aftab’s 67 came off 98 balls with five fours and a six, and he featured in two crucial partnerships with Mohammad Ashraful (28) and Khaled Mashud (20). Mortaza slammed three fours and a six for his unbeaten 31 as he stitched 39 runs for the ninth wicket which fetched as many 46 runs from the last five overs. Agarkar and Zaheer claimed two wickets each but were expensive while Murali Kartik was more economical with figures of 2-43. The city was still shaking itself out of slumber when strong tremors were felt in the morning. But that did not stop the thousands of fans from filling the stadium to capacity for the day-night encounter. The hosts got started on the right note when Bashar won the toss for the second time and chose to make first use of a good batting track. But Mohammad Rafique failed once again as a pinch hitting opener, as he fell leg before to Zaheer Khan in the second over of the match. Neither did the other opener Nafis Iqbal last long as he flashed outside the off stump for an edge to Dhoni, the 23-year old wicketkeeper’s first dismissal in international cricket. It was Agarkar’s 200th scalp in his 133rd one-day international. He became the fourth Indian to cross the milestone after Anil Kumble (321), Javagal Srinath (315) and Kapil Dev (253). The Mumbai bowler claimed another wicket in his next over when Bashar inside edged a harmless one to his stumps. Mohammad Ashraful stamped his class immediately on arrival with two fours in the same over of Zaheer and followed it up a six in the bowler’s next over over backward square leg, effortlessly with frontfoot in the air. With Ashraful at the other end, runs flowed thick and fast. The two youngsters had starred in a century stand in the second Test earlier in the series, and threatened to take the Indian bowling apart now. But the partnership was nipped in the bud through a tame dismissal when Ashraful (28) tried to turn Kartik off his pads and ended up giving a simple return catch. The out of form Rajin Saleh then departed without scoring, run out by a direct hit from Yuvraj Singh while attempting a cheeky single. The momentum gained briefly with the daring Khaled Mashud joining Aftab at the crease. The two were on top of Indian bowlers and brought 44 runs in nine overs before indiscretion got the better of Mashud. The wicketkeeper batsman (20), having driven Zaheer Khan for a four, topedged a sweep against Sriram and Sharma completed a tumbling catch at short fine leg. Aftab though showed no inhibition. He lofted Sriram first over extra cover and his next shot went over long on. His knock came to an end when he played all over Kartik and lost his leg stump. (PTI) SCOREBOARD Bangladesh: Nafis Iqbal c Dhoni b Agarkar 9 Mohammad Rafique lbw b Zaheer 0 Habibul Bashar b Agarkar 17 Mohammad Ashraful c and b Kartik 28 Aftab Ahmed b Kartik 67 Rajin Saleh run out 0 Khaled Mashud c Sharma b Sriram 20 Khaled Mahmud run out 17 Mashrafe Mortaza not out 31 Tapash Baisya b Zaheer 17 Nazmul Hossain not out 3 Extras (lb-4, w-6, nb-1) 20 Total (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 229 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-26, 3-37, 4-81, 5-88, 6-132, 7-168, 8-187, 9-226 Bowling: Agarkar 9-1-31-2, Zaheer 8-1-53-2, Sharma 10-1-51-0, Kartik 10-0-43-2, Sriram 10-1-37-1, Mongia 3-0-10-0. India: V Sehwag b Mortaza 0 S Ganguly c Mortaza b Mahmud 22 Yuvraj Singh c Saleh b Baishya 4 S Sriram st Mashud b Rafique 57 M Kaif run out 49 D Mongia lbw Baishya 12 M S Dhoni c Bashar b Mortaza 12 A Agarkar c Ahmed b Rafique 9 Joginder Sharma not out 29 Zaheer Khan c Mortaza b Mahmud 10 M Kartik run out 3 Extras (lb-4, w-3) 7 Total: (all out in 47.5 overs) 214 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-5, 3-51, 4-114, 5-131, 6-155, 7-170, 8-172, 9-204 Bowling: Mortaza 9-2-36-2, Baishya 10-2-35-2, Nazmul Hossain 7-0-26-0, Khaled Mahmud 9.5-0-40-2, Rafique 10-0-57-2, Aftab Ahmed 2-0-16-0. (PTI) |
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Advani to get training in England NEW DELHI, Dec 26: Former world amateur snooker champion Pankaj Advani would be heading to England next year for advance training under the Central Government’s talent search scheme. This is the second time that Advani would be going for training under the scheme, which provides monetary support amounting to rs five lakh for training-cum-competition in England, Billiards and Snooker Federation vice-president Ravi Tandon said here today. Advani was sent for training under the same scheme in July last year and the 20-year-old made the most of the opportunity by winning the world title two months later at Jiangmin, China. The Bangalore-based cueist would have to submit his proposed schedule to the government at the end of this week, Tandon said, adding he would have to avail of the scheme before April. An elated Advani said he was looking forward to his stint in England. "This year I did not participate in tour events outside India as travelling to england is very costly and if you want to play in the professional league one needs to be based there," said Advani, who joined the coaching workshop being held here by former world billiards champion Manoj Kothari. The country’s second ranked junior, Sourav Kothari, was sent to train in England in March this year under the scheme which provides for coaching to budding youngsters in various sports disciplines. (PTI) |
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Team was not complacent, says defiant Ganguly DHAKA, Dec 26: Springing to the defence of his batsmen, captain Sourav Ganguly said the 15-run shock defeat to Bangladesh was not a result of complacency although he would now have to re think on the team combination for the decider tomorrow. Bangladesh, who made 229 for nine in 50 overs in the second one-dayer played under lights, recorded their first-ever win over India after the visiting batsmen threw away their wickets to be bowled out for 214 with more than two overs to spare. "There are a lot of youngsters in the side who are keen to play well and keep their place in the side. So there was no complaceny," Ganguly said after the match. "We lost wickets early on and kept losing them. Bangladesh also play an outstanding game and fielded brilliantly under pressure." With the three-match series level at 1-1, Ganguly said India would have to have a rethink on the composition of the team for tomorrow’s decider. "We have to play better tomorrow. Better that what we did in the first two matches. We have to think about our team composition." Home captain Habibul Bashar gave credit to his side for the "big win" and said that it was fielding which made all the difference in the end. "It was not a big score so we knew that if we had to win we would have to field well. I am happy that we fielded quite well," Bashar said. "I am also happy with the performance of the lower oder batsmen. They chipped in valuable runs and also when their turn came for bowling, they did very well." Mashrafe Mortaza, who was declared man of the match for his all-round performance, said he tried to maintain a good line and length in a bid to tie down the Indian batsmen. "I tried to bowl straight, with a good line and length. I am happy to do well in the first match since coming from injury," he said. Mortaza made 31 with the bat before taking two wickets including that of opener Virender Sehwag who was castled for zero in the third ball of the Indian innings. He also took two catches including that of Ganguly to play an important role in the home side’s first ever win over India. (PTI) |
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Woolmer rejects Sarfraz match-fix claims SYDNEY, Dec 26: Coach Bob Woolmer has cited his team’s deep religiosity as an obvious antivenin to match-fixing that former fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz recently claimed was still rampant in Pakistani cricket. "They are far too honest, and a religious bunch of people, who pray to Allah three or four times a day. I don’t think there’s any chance of any match fixing going on in this team at all," the Sydney morning Herald quoted Woolmer as saying today. He added that this included not only the fixing of match results, but also the manipulation of events during the course of a match. The Sunday age had reported yesterday that Sarfraz claimed corruption still existed in matches involving Pakistan, including their 2-1 home Test series defeat to India last March-April. "Everyone knows it," Sarfraz, 56, was quoted in Melbourne’s Herald Sun yesterday as saying from his home in Lahore, "they’re still doing it, in both Test and one-day cricket." Woolmer, who took over as coach from former batting great Javed Miandad in June, scotched Sarfraz’s comments, saying the former paceman "has been known to make these sort of statements", and said the present Pakistan team was clean. Woolmer cast doubts on how Sarfraz would have got his information. "I’ve not seen him anywhere around Pakistan cricket. He hasn’t been to any games," he said. Sarfraz yesterday told the Sunday age his claims were based on what he saw watching certain matches, including "the body language of some players and the manner in which they were playing". Sarfraz has made similar allegations before but has been unable to substantiate them. Woolmer also challenged Sarfraz to take any information he had to the authorities, not just to the media. "If he knows anything he must let us know so we can deal with it," Woolmer said, adding, "there are right channels to go through - the Pakistan Cricket Board and the International Cricket Council are there. But certainly nothing is happening in this team at the moment." Betting is illegal in Pakistan but officials tolerate it and bets can be placed on many aspects of the game, the age reported. Sarfraz also described the ICC anti-corruption unit as ineffective, the paper added. (UNI) |
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Second Banarasi Dass memorial football tourney from Dec 29 Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 26: Young Hero’s Football Club has decided to organise IInd Banarasi Dass memorial football tournament, under the aegis of J&K Football Association, from December 29 at GGM Science College ground, here. Final of the fortnight long championship is expected to be held on January 12 at the same venue. This was stated by the organising secretary of the Club, Ashok Sharma talking to the newsmen here this afternoon. He said, " in all, 22 teams, including three from Srinagar and an equal number of teams representing Border Security Force (BSF) and District Football Association (DFA) Kathua." In the opening two matches to be played on December 29, DFA Kathua will take on New Dogra while New Bharat to face Young Sports in the second match. To further improve the standard of Banarasi Dass memorial tournament by the next year, the Club in cooperation with Jammu wing of the Jammu and Kashmir Football Association has decided to invite teams from neighbouring states of Punjab and Himachal, informed Mr Sharma. Recalling Banarasi Dass’s contributions to the Young Hero’s Club, the organising secretary said that a tough defender to beat, Banarasi died last year. In the meantime, as an assistance to the organising committee, president of the club, Ved Mahajan (MLC) has contributed Rs 10,000. Earlier, prior to the press conference, office bearers of Young Hero’s Club held a meeting with referees and other members of the Jammu wing of the JKFA including vice-president Dr Nirmolak Singh and joint secretary Shiv Pal Sharma. |
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Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 26: Jammu and Kashmir today entered the knock-out stage of quarterfinals of the ongoing 18th senior national korfball championship at Hyderabad. J&K won four of there five league engagements losing only match against Delhi. Now, in the quarterfinals, J&K will take on Uttar Pradesh. Other teams qualifying for knockout stage were Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. According to reports reaching here, on the third day today, J&K lost to Delhi in the fourth match 5-9 and in the second league encounter of the day, J&K defeated Pondichery 15-5. Tarandeep (4), Amit (4), Jatinder Pal (3), Ashwani (2) and Komal (2) scored for J&K. |
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S D Sabha wins by 29 runs in veteran cricket meet Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 26: S D Sabha Rehari registered a 29-run win over Evershine Cricket Club to enter the semi-finals of ongoing veteran cricket tournament being organised by Roshini Cricket Academy at GGM Science College here today. Earlier, Evershine Club won the toss and opted to field. Batting first, S D Sabha made 143 runs in the stipulated 25 overs for the loss of seven wickets. Vijay, who opened the innings for S D Sabha, made highest 51 runs including five boundaries. Sanjeev and Shashi contributed 16 and 15 runs respectively. From Evershine, Bansi Lal and Rajinder shared two wickets each. Later, chasing the target of 144, Evershine made bad start with first wicket lost at a score of three. If was followed by fall of wickets at regular intervals. Evershine conceded the defeat when their score on board was 114 for nine in 24.2 overs. Parshotam was top scorer with 46 runs made with the help of four hits to the fence. Rajinder and Narinder contributed 17 and 14 runs respectively. Vijay was declared man of the match for his match winning innings of 51 runs. |
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Despite Deepu’s 92 UCC loses in quarters of cricket Excelsior Sports Correspondent UDHAMPUR, Dec 26: Even as Deepu made unbeaten 84ball 92 studded with one six and ten boundaries, United Cricket Club (UCC) lost to Challenger Cricket Club in the quarterfinals by three wickets in the fourth round of qualifying cricket tournament at Sports Stadium here. Earlier, batting first after winning the toss, UCC made 159 runs losing all their wickets in complete 30 overs. In reply, Challenger chased the target in 27.4 overs making 162 runs for the loss of seven wickets. Deepu, who opened the innings for UCC could not get support from rest of the batsmen except Raman, who contributed 29 runs. Five batsmen lost their wickets without opening accounts while remaining could not reach the double figure mark. Guru claimed four wickets for Challenger and Dimple took three. Batting second, Challenger reached the required total in 27.4 overs winning the match with a boundary with three wickets in hand. Opener, Guru was top scorer with 39 runs while Vijay and Varinder contributed 31 and 32 runs respectively. Sanjeev added 26. RCA Udhampur and Aryna Cricket Club have already entered the semi-finals. Next match: NCC to take on Rehari Cricket Club. Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 26: A limited overs Martyr’s memorial cup cricket tournament started today at Jamna Das cricket ground, Paloura, near here. Tournament, wherein, 30 teams are taking part, was declared open by president National Peace Front, Sunil Dimple, who was chief guest in the inaugural function. Tournament is being organised to express solidarity with families of the martyrs. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Dimple expressed solidarity with the families of the Martyrs of the national who sacrificed their lives for the Nation. He urged upon the government to develop the Jamna Das cricket ground into a ful-fledged stadium so that youth of Paloura and surrounding areas could take benefit out of it. Youhana leads from front for revitalised Pakistan MELBOURNE, Dec 26: Stand-in skipper Yousuf Youhana worked over Australia’s bowling to put the boot on the other foot for Pakistan in a dramatic swing in fortunes in the second cricket Test here today. Youhana, who took over from sidelined captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, revelled in his new responsibility to hammer a spirited century, his 12th overall and first against the Australians, who humiliated Pakistan by 491 runs in the first Perth Test a week ago. Inzamam did not recover in time from a stiff back but the beleaguered tourists found an inspirational replacement leader with 30-year-old Youhana taking to master leg-spinner Shane Warne, hoisting him for three of his four sixes. Pakistan went to stumps at 318 for six with wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal on 16 and Abdul Razzaq not out one. Pakistan’s miserable second innings capitulation of 72 off 31.3 overs before fourth-day lunch in Perth became just a memory as Youhana combined in a record 192-run fourth-wicket stand with Younis Khan. Youhana was imperious in his 117-ball hundred as he and Younis gave back some of Australia’s own medicine on what is regarded as the showpiece day of Australian cricket year before 61,552 fans at the cavernous Melbourne cricket ground. Warne (1-100) finally snared Youhana 12 overs from the end for his 556th Test wicket when he had him stumped down the leg-side by Adam Gilchrist for 111 off 134 balls with 11 fours and four sixes. Youhana was given a generous ovation from the Australian crowd as he left. Younis missed out on his century when Gilchrist snapped him up off Gillespie for 87 off 157 balls eight overs before stumps. Gillespie had 3-72 off 22 overs. At the close of an uplifting day for Pakistani cricket, the tourists lost another wicket with Gillespie claiming youngster Shoaib Malik for six, caught at the second attempt by second-slipper Ricky Ponting. Youhana, whose previous highest-score against Australia was 95 in Brisbane on their last tour here in 1999, had held the previous highest fourth-wicket stand of 177 with Saeed Anwar in that Gabba Test. Younis Khan also surpassed his previous best effort of 58 against Australia with a steely supportive role. Pakistan signalled their intentions from the outset to regain cricket credibility with Salman Butt and Imran Farhat sharing in an 85-run opening stand before farhat was out nearing lunch. Farhat was caught by a flying Ponting at second slip off Michael Kasprowicz for 20 off 76 balls. Salman, dropped by Hayden on two off the third ball of the test, paid for a lazily-taken second run when he narrowly failed to beat home a throw from Michael Clarke at backward point and was out for 70 soon after lunch. The 20-year-old left-hander batted for 130 minutes and hit 10 boundaries off 99 balls. Salman perished in the over after recalled Yasir Hameed was trapped leg before wicket on the crease to gillespie on his lunch score of two. Salman, who hooked Glenn McGrath’s first delivery of the Test for two, was put down by Hayden off the third ball of the match. Hayden, fielding in the gully, got two hands to the hip-high chance, and put down another chance late in the second session when he got both hands to a hot chance at point when Youhana was on 43. Opener Justin Langer, man-of-the-match in Australia’s last two Tests, passed a fitness Test on a lower back complaint and retained his place in the eleven as once again Brett Lee was nominated as 12th man — his eighth successive Test as drinks waiter. Pakistan bolstered their batting with yasir and Shoaib Malik coming into the eleven for Inzamam and paceman Mohammad Khalil. (AFP) Cairns, Fleming lead New Zealand to comfortable win AUCKLAND, Dec 26: A four-wicket haul by veteran all-rounder Chris Cairns and a comprehensive 77 not out by Stephen Fleming set New Zealand up for a comfortable seven-wicket win with 17 overs to spare against Sri Lanka in a one-day cricket international here today. Sri Lanka’s lack of batting preparation for New Zealand conditions was underlined as they lasted just 42 overs before being dismissed for 141, and the black caps comfortably cruised to 144 in the 33rd over with the loss of only three wickets. After a dismal batting performance, the pressure was on the Sri Lankan bowlers to perform, but after striking early to dismiss Nathan Astle they were at the mercy of the New Zealand batsmen thereafter. Backing Fleming’s unbeaten 77, Mathew Sinclair chimed in with 31 in a 57-run partnership for the second wicket, and Hamish Marshall was not out 14. (AFP) Binu, Anju emerge as hopes for future NEW DELHI, Dec 26: Indian athletes put in a spirited performance on the international stage in 2004 which saw K M Binu joining Anju Bobby George as the country’s future hope. While world number six Anju had to be content with a dream first jump that measured 6.83m — a new national record erasing her own of 6.74m set in 2001 and equalled in 2002 —to finish sixth in a top class field at the Athens Olympics, Binu took hold of the men’s 400m national record as he reached the semis. In the process, he also bettered ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh’s time set in the 1960 Rome Olympics which was till then the best set by an Indian on foreign soil. Also impressing were heptathlete J J Sobha with her never-say-die spirit and the women’s 4x400m relay quartet which reached the final bettering it’s own national record. The impressive performance blunted the skeptics after the athletes were accused of taking performance enhancing drugs when they went to Russian Republics and sought the help of trainers in East European countries. In the end, it was the athletes and officials who came out smiling as none of the members of the athletics squad were caught in the net cast by the world-anti doping agency. The turnaround began with Anju getting India back on the world map with her historic bronze win at the 2003 world championships in Paris. That raised the expectations on the 27-year-old customs officer and the Keralite and her husband and coach Robert Bobby George had a trying time to maintain their focus. In the end the duo came out of the Olympics with their heads held high without a medal though. On the men’s side, it was binu who emerged as the star. The 24-year-old came up with a dream run clocking a personal best of 45.59 seconds in April in Delhi that gave him a berth to Athens. He did not disappoint his fans at the games producing a new national record of 45.48 seconds to qualify for the semifinals. Thus binu got on level terms with his elder sister K M Beenamol, who was India’s saving grace at the Sydney games four years back. For Anju and Robert, the disappointment at Athens only hardened their resolve to go for the ultimate prize in the next games coming up in Beijing in 2008. It was a mixed year for Anju who saw her form dip alarmingly at some of the preparation events before giving it her all against the world’s best at the Olympic Stadium in August. She began the final in right earnest shattering her own national record to raise hopes of thousands of Indians who stayed awake late in the night to catch the action live. But she was unable to improve her mark as her form went down hill even as the three Russians leaped past the seven metre mark to finish on the podium. But Anju’s determination was to the fore as she quickly got over the disappointment to finish fourth — again behind the three Russians — in the world athletics final in Monaco. Then she also gained a measure of revenge upsetting Olympic champion Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia to win the gold medal in the Yokohama track and field meet in Japan which was also the swan song for legendary German long jumper Heike Drechsler. Anju ended the season on a high winning the gold medal at the first Asian all star athletics championship in Singapore. Her gold winning effort measured 6.66 metres. India also claimed another gold in the meet through Manjit Kaur who won the women’s 400m clocking 53.08 seconds. Earlier in June, the 22-year-old rewrote the national record in Chennai clocking 51.05s. She alongwith another promising athlete Chitra K Soman, seasoned campaigner K M Beenamol and Rajwinder Kaur eclipsed their own national record clocking 3:26.89 seconds to reach the 1600m relay final in Athens. The quartet had earlier best of 3:27.35s came in the Asian Grand Prix meet in Colombo. The Asian all star meet also brought forward some of India’s new talents like men’s 400m hurdles silver winner P Shankar, who achieved a personal best of 50.74s the second all time best time by an Indian. Another young talent was silver winning high jumper Hari Shankar Roy who rewrote the national record clearing 2.25m. Earlier this year, Roy and Benedict Starly broke the 11-year-old record of 2.17m by Chandrapal Rathi at the inter-state meet in Chennai. Roy added another feather to his cap when he won the gold in the 1st youth Commonwealth Games in Bendigo, Australia earlier this month. The year also witnessed some depressing efforts by Indians as shot putter Bahadur Singh failed to make a single valid throw at the Olympic Games. Similar was the plight of the Indian athletes in the world junior championships in Grosseto, Italy. It also saw high jumper Bobby Aloysius crying foul after she was ignored yet again for the Arjuna award. The Keralite aired her disenchantment with the system and quit the game in protest. In Athens, the 30-year-old national record holder had crashed out in the preliminary round failing to go over 1.89 metres. (PTI) |
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