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

Premier hockey league
to kick off next year

NEW DELHI, Nov 17: The much-awaited Premier Hockey League, featuring almost all the top stars of the country as well as international players, would kick off in Hyderabad on January 13, the Indian Hockey Federation said today..........more

Fired up Hewitt
rallies past Moya

HOUSTON, Nov 17: A fired-up Lleyton Hewitt underlined his determination to end the season with a third Masters Cup title as he rallied past Spain’s Carlos Moya 6-7 6-2 6-4 to complete their rain-delayed opening match.............more

Green park pitch
given green signal

KANPUR, Nov 17: Indian team coach John Wright and match referee Jeff Crowe today inspected the green park pitch and expressed their satisfaction over the preparations for the first cricket Test between India and South Africa starting here on November 20. ........more

Teammates should
come out to support
Ganguly: Jadeja

NEW DELHI, Nov 17: Amazed at the "silence" on part of the Indian cricketers on the issue of captain Sourav Ganguly’s suspension for the two Test matches against South Africa, Delhi captain Ajay Jadeja said it was......more

Ashwani, Surinder
deserve better deal: JKCPA

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 17: Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Players Association (JKCPA) in a handout issued today has requested the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) president, Dr Farooq Abdullah to reconsider their.........more

Mudassar helps Science
College upset Rehari
Club by one wicket

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 17: Mudassar’s crucial unbeaten 43 ball 69 (1x6, 7x4) runs that too at the later stages of the match today guided GGM Science College to a one-wicket.............more

Sanjay’s hat-trick
inspires big win for
PG Law & Science

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 17: A splendid knock of 60 followed by a magnificent four wickets haul including a hat-trick by Sanjay Sharma today guided PG Law and Sciences to a big 88 runs victory over Degree........more

Distt Poonch TT
meet begins today

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

POONCH, Nov 17: District Poonch Table Tennis Association is holding district championship in all age groups here from.....more

Tendulkar to bat for hockey!.......

Udhampur, PG enter Volleyball final......

Australians on their guard against New Zealand......

Ranji Trophy
Zuffri, Sarvanan rescue Assam .......

Premier hockey league to kick off next year

Announcing the names of captains for the top tier of the event, to be held at Gochibowli Stadium, IHF president K P S Gill said negotiations were on with 17 foreign players to play alongside their Indian counterparts in the month long competition.

"We have been discussing about the hockey league for the last three years and now it has been more or less finalised. The first year it will be held in Hyderabad and subsequently it will be extended to other parts of the country," Gill told reporters here.

"So far 17 international players have expressed their keenness to play in the league. But it’s premature to name them as it is still in the negotiation stage."

As per the format of the PHL, ten teams will be divided into two tiers, each having "interesting names to catch the attention of the hockey lovers."

The tier I teams are Sher-e-Jallandhar, Maratha warriors (Mumbai), Chennai Veerans, Hyderabad Sultans and Bangalore high-fliers.

The teams will be captained by Gagan Ajit Singh, Viren Rasqunha, Ignace Tirkey, Dilip Tirkey and Arjun Halappa respectively.

The tier II teams, whose captains are yet to be named, are Delhi Dazzlers, Lucknow Nawabs, Imphal Rangers, Bengal Tigers and Chandigarh Dynamos. (PTI)

Fired up Hewitt rallies past Moya

Returning to the Westside Tennis Club under gloomy skies and just two points from taking the opening set, Hewitt’s play was as dreary as the texas weather, allowing Moya to claw back from 5-4 0-30 down to claim the set in a tiebreak 7-5.

But the Adelaide fighter, Masters Cup champion in 2001 and 2002, was quickly back to his fist-pumping best in the second set as he twice broke the Spaniard on the way to a 4-0 lead.

Hewitt, who enjoyed a superb hard-court campaign with back-to-back titles in Washington and long island and a place in the US Open final, met unexpectedly tough resistance in the third set.

Nursing a shoulder injury that prevented him competing on the european indoor circuit, the spaniard refused to be run off the court by the energetic Australian.

"He didn’t look like a bloke that hasn’t played for a few weeks," said Hewitt. "He’s a hell of a player, he really is."

A relentless Hewitt finally make the breakthrough in the seventh game, however, with two fist-clenching winners to secure the break and a 4-3 lead.

Moya continued to fight but finished the match without earning a break point on Hewitt’s serve.

The win left Hewitt tied atop the red group standings with world number one Roger Federer of Switzerland, who opened with a 6-1 7-6 win over Argentina’s Gaston Gaudio.

"I feel like I’m playing well," said Hewitt. "Obviously through the US summer I feel like I played extremely well the whole way through and ran into a red-hot Federer in the final of the US (Open).

"I haven’t played a whole heap of tennis since then but I felt like I was hitting the ball extremely well."

"I think there are a lot of positives I can take away from that match."

"I just kept trying to hang in there." (AGENCIES)

Green park pitch given green signal

District Magistrate of Kanpur city Prashant Trivedi also held a meeting with the officials of Public Works Department, Kanpur electricity supply company and the Municipal Corporation to take stock of preparations.

The South African team is expected to arrive here by late evening via Lucknow and are likely to have nets tomorrow.

The members of Indian team would arrive in groups by tomorrow.

Both the teams will be staying at hotel land mark where tight security arrangements have been made.

The incharge of Green Park ground Shiv Kumar said light roller was used today and same would continue till November 19.

The sale of tickets is yet to pick up although authorities expect a full house for the match.

Meanwhile, a three-member team of civil engineering department of Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, led by CVR Morthy inspected the students’ enclosure of the stadium. (PTI)

Teammates should come out to support Ganguly: Jadeja

"It wasn’t only Sourav’s fault, the whole team faltered and everyone should have come forward to share the blame of the slow over-rate. It’s really surprising that none of the boys have, so far, come out for him," the former India vice-captain told UNI.

Ganguly was suspended for the two test by the International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Clive Lloyd on Sunday due to slow over-rate during the India-Pakistan one-off one-dayer in Kolkata the day before.

Jadeja said the rules of the ICC have been there for quite sometime and there was no use crying foul now, the various fall-outs need to be thought of when the rules are formulated. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice president Rajiv Shukla, however, ruled out the possibility of any motive behind Ganguly’s suspension. ICC has framed certain rules and players have to abide by them, Mr Shukla said.

He evaded a direct reply and said, "we have filed an appeal with the ICC in this (Sourav’s) regard," when asked if the rules set by ICC are too rigid and unrealistic which do not take the situation on ground into account."

The vice-president refused to comment whether cricketers from the sub-continent are victimised by the match referees, saying "I can't say anything about this." BCCI media manager Amrit Mathur refused to be dragged into the controversy and declined to comment. (UNI)

Ashwani, Surinder deserve better deal: JKCPA

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

The JKCPA senior vice-president, Ranjit Kalra said that the procedure of selecting the final 14 for J&K Ranji team was not followed properly. He said that Ashwani Gupta was sent to Srinagar with the Jammu team as captain and it was very surprising that when he reached Srinagar he could not even featured in final 14.

Ashwani, he said is the highest scorer for J&K in Ranji matches and even in the last season he was the second highest run getter after Kavaljeet Singh scoring 273 runs, including two half-centuries.

Likewise Surinder Singh Bagal since 1998 has been the highest wicket-taker pace bowler for the state and even in last season he was the maximum wicket taking pacer with nine wickets.

Moreover, the BCCI had also kept him as a stand-by for this year’s Deodar Trophy.

General secretary Ravi Dogra added that the normal procedure of conducting selection matches between Jammu and Srinagar teams was not followed this season though the teams were present in Kashmir.

Reacting sharply to the absence of one of the Jammu selectors at the time of final selection which took place at Srinagar and his appearance only on the final day also cost dearly to the Jammu players. He said many players of Kashmir region who did not belongs to affiliated clubs but were better players were also left out thus making it the game of the few.

Pleading the case of all-rounder Vijay Sharma, batsman Vikrant Taggar and budding star Ian Dev Singh, Ranjit said that Vijay had been instrumental against J&K’s win over Bihar last season and was a genuine experienced all-rounder. He hoped that with the whole season to go, the JKCA selectors will give a second thought towards the inclusion of many deserving cricketers.

Mudassar helps Science College upset
Rehari Club by one wicket

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 17: Mudassar’s crucial unbeaten 43 ball 69 (1x6, 7x4) runs that too at the later stages of the match today guided GGM Science College to a one-wicket win over Rehari Cricket Club (RCC) in the cricket tournament being played at Science College grounds, here.

In the remaining 10 overs, Science College were in need of 110 runs with three wickets in hand. And, Mudassar led the dream run for a difficult target, which was chased in 29.4 overs of the 40 overs match with one wicket in hand.

Mudassar made 69 runs off 43 balls with the help of one six and seven boundaries. Narinder Singh took played fine innings of 26 runs coming off 21 balls.

Earlier, batting first after winning the toss, RCC made 184 runs losing all their wickets in 29.1 overs. Satyajit was top scorer with 60 runs while Abhishek and Pankaj contributed 33 and 26 runs respectively. From Science College, Narinder claimed four wickets followed by Varun and Sunny who shared two each.

In reply, Science College chased the target of 185 runs sparing one ball of their 30 overs innings. Besides Mudassar and Narinder, Varun took played nice innings of 21 runs. From RCC, Rohit clinched four wickets for 11 runs in six overs while Pankaj Sasan bagged two.

Mudassar was adjudged a man of the match. Joginder Singh and Pappu were umpires while Rajeev Pakhotra was scorer. Next match, Pathankot Cricket Club to take on Aryan Cricket Club at 9.30 am.

Sanjay’s hat-trick inspires big win for PG Law & Science

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

Anoop Mangotra too played a fine innings for the winners contributing second highest 51 runs and then taking away three wickets.

Earlier, batting first after winning the toss, PG Law and Sciences set a big target of 274 runs for the loss of seven wickets. In reply, Bhaderwah boys could not chase and were bowled out by PG Law and Science bowlers, especially Sanjay and Anoop, at partly 185 in 32.5 overs.

Faheen also batted well for PG Law and Sciences contributing 50 runs while Shalinder Slathia and Vijay contributed 29 and 28 runs respectively. From Bhaderwah Raja Majeed was most successful bowler who took three wickets for 44 runs in seven overs.

Batting second, Mohsin and Asim Khan played excellent innings for Bhaderwah contributing 59 and 50 runs respectively to the team’s total. However, the rest of the batsmen could not face Sanjay and Anoop and the surrender of four of them on successive balls to the former caused Bhaderwah’s defeat.

Sanjay clinched four wickets for 21 runs in seven overs while Anoop bagged three for 41.

Distt Poonch TT meet begins today

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

POONCH, Nov 17: District Poonch Table Tennis Association is holding district championship in all age groups here from tomorrow.

While cadet, sub-junior and junior boys competitions shall start on the inaugural day tomorrow, the matches in senior group shall begin from November 18 at 3 pm, informed general secretary of the Association, Saleem Bandey.

According to the organising secretary, entries in senior groups should reach the organising committee upto 10 am on November 18 so as to draw the fixture.

Tendulkar to bat for hockey!

NEW DELHI, Nov 17: After drawing fans to cricket, Sachin Tendulkar will use his mass appeal to woo people to hockey, the country’s national game which has been struggling to regain its popularity.

Tendulkar will be seen in an advertisement promoting the inaugural Premier Hockey League (PHL), to kick off on January 13 next year.

The star batsman, a brand ambassador for ESPN-Star Sports, which will be telecasting the PHL matches live, would be seen testing his skills with Indian hockey stars in the ad which will go an air soon.

The shooting of a part of the commercial featuring Tendulkar is almost over, an ESPN source told PTI adding Indian captain Dilip Tirkey, Gagan Ajit Singh, Viren Rasquinha, Ignace Tirkey and Arjun Halappa would also be seen in the advertisement.

The hockey players, all of whom would captain different teams in PHL, would come to Delhi tomorrow to complete the shoot.

"We will be starting with a couple of teasers before the main commercial which we are sure will catch the imagination of people," the source said.

Besides Tendulkar, espn is also planning to rope in other cricketers and film stars to promote PHL, which the channel intends to "market, produce and broadcast for at least the next 10 years." (PTI)

Udhampur, PG enter Volleyball final

JAMMU: Degree College Udhampur and Post Graduate Departments today reached the final of inter-college volleyball tournament being organised by Department of Physical Education, University of Jammu here.

Both will meet each other for the title clash on November 18 at University courts.

Earlier, in today’s semi-finals, Udhampur defeated Degree College Poonch 24-26, 25-22, 25-14, 25-19. Vikas Karlopia and Mohd Ilyas played fine game for the winners while Devinder Kumar and Shahid Jaffar fought well for Poonch.

In the second semi-final match, PG outplayed Degree College Kathua 25-16, 16-25, 25-19, 25-23 to reach the final. Anil Sharma, Mohd Wasim and Kamaldeep Saini remained in limelight for their power-ful spikes and defence while Vishal Sharma was instrumental in giving close fight to the winners in the last two sets.

Australians on their guard against New Zealand

BRISBANE, Nov 17: Australia captain Ricky Ponting has warned his players to expect the unexpected when they meet New Zealand in the first Test at the Gabba starting tomorrow.

The world’s top-ranked side are favourites to win the two-match series against a Kiwi team down in seventh place in the ICC championship table. Ponting, though, says his players need to be on their guard.

"They are a side that are always well-planned and think things through pretty well," he told a news conference today.

"They’ll pick our game plan to pieces and think what they can do to combat that." Although New Zealand have not won a Test on Australian soil since 1985-86, they drew 0-0 three years ago under the captaincy of Stephen Fleming, who frustrated the hosts with clever field placements and astute tactical decisions. (AGENCIES)

Ranji Trophy
Zuffri, Sarvanan rescue Assam

AMRITSAR, Nov 17: Propped up by a valuable 92-run third-wicket partnership between left-handed SZ Zuffri (41 not out) and SV Saravanan (49), Assam rallied to score 113 for three in 41 overs against Punjab on the second day of their four-day round elite group match in the Ranji Trophy championship at the Gandhi ground here today.

The visitors now trail by 309 runs with seven first-innings wickets in hand. Punjab were dismissed for 422 in 128.3 overs with the addition of 125 runs to their overnight score of 297 for three.

Assam were in trouble soon when they came to bat as they suffered two quick blows. Punjab medium pacer Gagandeep Singh trapped opener P K Das (12) leg before and bowled P Aziz (0) in three deliveries of his fifth over.

However, the left-hand and right-hand combination between Zuffri and Saravanan defied the Punjab bowlers. This partnership was finally broken by left arm spinner Navdeep Singh who got Sarvanan adjudged Leg Before Wicket. Saravanan stayed at the wicket for 143 minutes and faced 106 deliveries. Left-handed Zuffri was at the crease on 41 when the stumps were drawn for the day. He hit five fours in 106 deliveries. RM Gohain (0) was giving him company. with breezy knocks (agencies)