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| Nel bowls South Africa to victory BRIDGETOWN (Barbados), Apr 25: Purposeful fast bowling from Andre Nel and their opponents’ continued wretched batting in the second innings propelled South Africa to an innings and 86-run triumph over West Indies to reclaim the Sir Vivian Richards Trophy on Sunday.................more South
Africa swing two BRIDGETOWN (Barbados), Apr 25: South Africa have named all-rounders Justin Kemp and Justin Ontong, as the two changes to their 15-member squad for the five-match limited-overs cricket international series against West Indies.............more Russia,
France, Spain, LONDON, Apr 25: Spain held off a comeback by Argentina while defending champion Russia, France and the United States cruised into the Fed Cup......more Pathan
hoping RAJKOT, Apr 25: Paceman Irfan Pathan, who had a poor Test series and struggled to find form in the one-day matches........more |
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J&K Bank finishes runners-up in 2nd division football Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Apr 25: Jammu and Kashmir Bank bagged runners-up trophy in the 2nd Division National Football League championship which was played at Silliguri West Bengal.......more Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Apr 25: District Youth Services and Sports Officer Jammu today held at meeting of the field staff to discuss calendar of activities for the year 2005-06..........more Advani
wants to continue BANGALORE, Apr 25: Billiards and snooker ace and teen sensation Pankaj Advani would not give up playing one sport to focus more on the other. Not at this stage. He wants to win more world titles for India..........more Usha
school of athletics KOZHIKODE, Apr 25: Can India produce another sprint queen P T Usha?...more |
Nel bowls South Africa to victory BRIDGETOWN (Barbados), Apr 25: Purposeful fast bowling from Andre Nel and their opponents’ continued wretched batting in the second innings propelled South Africa to an innings and 86-run triumph over West Indies to reclaim the Sir Vivian Richards Trophy on Sunday. Nel claimed six wickets for 32 runs from 16.2 overs, as West Indies, trailing South Africa by 252 runs on first innings, were dismissed for a modest 166 in their second innings about 50 minutes after tea on the penultimate day of the Test to give the visitors an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the four-match series. The first Test at Georgetown ended in a draw and South Africa won the second Test at Port of Spain by eight wickets. The fourth and final Test at St. John’s, begins on Friday. Nel put South Africa in command when he dismantled the West Indies batting and claimed the two ‘big fish’ -Brian Lara and West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul -on his way to match figures of 10 wickets for 88 runs that earned him the man-of-the-match award. West Indies wicketkeeper/batsman Courtney Browne however, used the opportunity to hit five fours and four sixes in his highest Test score of 66 from 75 in a little over one and three quarter hours. The West Indies’ decline however, was swift and, as they say in these parts, ‘they did not last as long as a sno-cone’. Makhaya Ntini, Nel’s new-ball partner, snuffed the early life out of the West Indies’ fightback with two wickets in the same over before lunch. The visitors strengthened their grip on the match, when Ntini removed opening batsmen Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan off successive balls, before Nel added the wicket of left-hander Wavell Hinds to leave West Indies at 36 for three at lunch. In his third over, Ntini had Gayle caught at first slip for five nibbling at the short, rising fifth ball outside off-stump, and Sarwan was caught at third slip for a duck off the next delivery fending off a another short-ball that took the shoulder of the bat as he took evasive action. Next over, Nel struck with the second ball, when Hinds, playing defensively forward, was caught at third slip for 11. All three wickets fell with the total on 17. By the time tea arrived, South Africa were within sight of victory and the Sir Vivian Trophy, and the writing was on the wall for the West Indies. Four wickets, two to Nel, saw West Indies lose their way and crumble to 119 for seven at the break. After the lunch interval, Nel started his rampage when he snared Lara and Chanderpaul, the home team’s two most experienced batsmen, in successive overs in an inspired spell of fast bowling. He had Lara and Chanderpaul both adjudged LBW for 31 and 13 respectively, both playing back to well-pitched deliveries to knock the wind out of the West Indies’ sails. When Jacques Kallis added the wicket of Dwayne Bravo caught behind for six edging a backfoot drive, and left-arm spin bowler Nicky Boje had left-hander Ryan Hinds caught at backward square leg for 15 top-edging a sweep just prior to the break, there was little room for a comeback script for the West Indies. Browne however, chanced his hand. He punished anything that was slightly not on the right line or length and spoiled the celebrations for young fast bowler Monde Zondeki and Boje, the targets for much of his savagery. The West Indies’ tail failed to wag and Browne eventually tried one big hit too many and was caught inside the deep backward square leg boundary to bring the curtain down on the match - the fourth in succession West Indies have conceded at Kensington Oval, a ground that was once their fortress. Earlier, South Africa batted for another half-hour, after they resumed on their overnight total of 521 for seven. In between a few lusty blows from the South African tailenders, West Indies claimed the wicket of Ntini brilliantly caught at backward point for 16 off Daren Powell. Second slip fielder Dwayne Bravo ran almost 20 yards before clutching the ball that dropped from the sky over his left right shoulder. Chris Gayle with three wickets for 85 runs from 27 overs, and Powell with three for 103 from 31 overs were the most successful bowlers for West Indies. (AFP) SCOREBOARD West Indies 1st innings: 296 South Africa 1st innings: (overnight 521 for eight) G Smith c King b Gayle 104 A De Villiers c Browne b King 178 B Dippenaar run out 71 J Kallis c (sub) Smith b W Hinds 78 H Gibbs c Bravo b Gayle 8 A Prince c Bravo b Gayle 23 M Boucher b Powell 28 N Boje not out 20 M Zondeki c Chanderpaul b Powell 2 M Ntini c Bravo b Powell 16 A Nell not out 4 Extras (b1, lb2, nb13) 16 Total (9 wkts decl, 177.5 overs) 548 Fall of wickets: 1-191, 2-334, 3-392, 4-410, 5-450, 6-496, 7-502, 8-504, 9-542 Bowling: Edwards 32.5-3-112-0; King 30-5-80-1; Powell 31-2-103-3; Bravo 29-3-73-0; R Hinds 18-1-67-0; Gayle 27-3-85-3; W. Hinds 9-2-18-1; Sarwan 1-0-7-0. West Indies 2nd innings C Gayle c Smith b Ntini 5 W Hinds c Gibbs b Nel 11 R Sarwan c Gibbs b Ntini 0 B Lara lbw b Nel 13 S Chanderpaul lbw b Nel 31 D Bravo c Boucher b Kallis 6 R Hinds c Kallis b Boje 15 C Browne c Dippenaar b Nel 68 D Powell lbw b Nel 5 F Edwards c Ntini b Nel 2 R King not out 3 Extras (b1, lb2, nb4) 7 Total (all out, 54.2 overs) 166 Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-17, 3-17, 4-54, 5-63, 6-71, 7-107, 8-130, 9-143 Bowling: Nel 16.2-3-32-6; Ntini 11-2-40-2; Zondeki 8-3-43-0; Boje 11-1-33-1; Kallis 6-3-7-1; Smith 2-0-8-0 (AFP) |
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South Africa swing two changes for ODI series BRIDGETOWN (Barbados), Apr 25: South Africa have named all-rounders Justin Kemp and Justin Ontong, as the two changes to their 15-member squad for the five-match limited-overs cricket international series against West Indies. Haroon Lorgat, convenor of the South Africa selectors, disclosed that batsman Jacques Rudolph and fast bowler Monde Zondeki will return home following the fourth and final Test against West Indies, starting at St John’s on Friday. "Kemp was an automatic choice after his recent exploits in limited-overs cricket and has continued this rich vein of form in the domestic pro series," Lorgat told reporters at a news conference following South Africa’s huge win over West Indies in the third Test. He added: "Ontong gets another opportunity to develop a career at international level." Lorgat noted that the selectors were not looking to change the combination that had been successful in the four-Test series that South Africa leads 2-0, but some changes were clearly evident. "We had decided that at all cost, kemp had to be in the limited-overs squad," he said. "But Jacques Rudolph suffered a recurrence of a strain to his lower back joints and was not considered for the limited-overs series. We did not want to risk him, and besides, he has not been in the best of form."(AFP) |
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Russia, France, Spain, US advance in Fed Cup LONDON, Apr 25: Spain held off a comeback by Argentina while defending champion Russia, France and the United States cruised into the Fed Cup semifinals on Sunday. Spain needed a victory by a pair who hadn’t played doubles together to finish off Argentina, which won both reverse singles on Sunday to level the first-round tie 2-2. Spain, with a shot at winning its sixth Fed Cup in 15 years, will travel to France for the semifinals on July 9-10. France put away Austria 4-1. Russia downed Italy 4-1, and will host the United States, which routed an overmatched Belgium 5-0. At Jerez, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Nuria Llagostera Vives combined for the first time in competition to beat Argentina’s Gisela Dulko and Maria-Emilia Salerni 6-4, 6-4 and nail an overall 3-2 victory. Spain led 2-0 after Saturday’s singles but in the reverse singles, Dulko swept past Marta Marrero, a late substitute for Medina Garrigues, 6-0, 6-3, and Mariana Diaz-Oliva avoided a slump at 5-2 in the first set to beat Llagostera Vives 7-6 (6), 6-4. "I didn’t breathe easily until the last point," said Spain coach Miguel Margets. "We’re really proud because we’re among the four best teams in the world, and that was our goal coming in." At Brindisi, World No. 5 Elena Dementieva continued to struggle, losing her serve five times for the second day in a row, and had to save four match points before overcoming Italy No. 1 Francesca Schiavone 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-0 and putting Russia up 2-1.(AGENCIES) |
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Pathan hoping to improve performance RAJKOT, Apr 25: Paceman Irfan Pathan, who had a poor Test series and struggled to find form in the one-day matches in the just concluded Indo-Pak series, was hoping to improve his performance in the future. Talking to reporters here yesterday after prize distribution ceremony at the Kiran More International Cricket Academy (KMICA), Pathan who played just one game in the six-match one-day series, said he had learnt a lot from his mistakes in the Indo-Pak series and would not repeat the same in future. "One receives a lot of praise when the performance is good. But when you fail everyone criticises you," the Baroda bowler said adding that he would work hard for an improved performance in future.(PTI) |
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J&K Bank finishes runners-up in 2nd division football Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Apr 25: Jammu and Kashmir Bank bagged runners-up trophy in the 2nd Division National Football League championship which was played at Silliguri West Bengal. According to reports reaching here, Bank lost to Ever-Ready Kolkatta Club in the final. A last minute goal scored by Ever-Ready Club decided the fate of the final. Played at Kanchan Jangha Football Stadium, Silliguri, both teams went for the decider with six points each from two wins. The Bank team which looked defensive most of the time, turned offensive in the dying movements resulting into a goal on counter attack in the 90th minute. In the group of four, two teams of UP Police and Bihar XI could not make any win as both lost to J&K Bank and Ever-Ready Club and drew the match they played against each other, informed Abid Gowhar, Sports Reporter of the J&K Bank. In this week-long competition, played under the aegis of All India Football Federation (AIFF) on single league basis, Ever-Ready Kolkatta managed to qualify for the second round final phase with nine points scoring 19 goals. |
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Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Apr 25: District Youth Services and Sports Officer Jammu today held at meeting of the field staff to discuss calendar of activities for the year 2005-06. After expressing their view point and elaborating various other issues related to the organisation of competitions at school, zonal and district level, the staff members present hailed the Minister for Sports Haji Nissar Ali for getting the proposal approved by the State Cabinet making sports a compulsory subject at school level. District Officer Jammu, B N Bhat said, "although its a challenging task but I hope the Physical Education Teachers (PETs) will be able to achieve the desired results. |
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Advani wants to continue playing both events BANGALORE, Apr 25: Billiards and snooker ace and teen sensation Pankaj Advani would not give up playing one sport to focus more on the other. Not at this stage. He wants to win more world titles for India. Seven time world billiards champion Geet Sethi surely would have best interests of the 19-year-old in mind when he expressed the view that the youngster has to choose between snooker and billiards if he wanted to continue as world champion. But the Bangalore boy has a different point of view. "As long as I am playing both games equally well and performing at higher levels, I don’t feel any need as to why I should not continue (playing both)," Advani said an interview here. "If I can win more world titles for my country, I don’t think why I should sacrifice one game for the other," added the star of cue sports who already has world titles in billiards and snooker under his belt. Advani, however, sees positives in the suggestion of Sethi, who had said recently that Advani has to quit one and focus on the other but says it’s not something he would vouch for at this stage of his career. "Yes, this is the call (choosing between billiards and snooker) I have to make. But not at the moment according to me. I can wait for a couple of years. May be 2-3 years". "Seventy-five per cent of my game in billiards now is because of snooker. If I leave one game and if I can further improve the other, that’s of course is a good thing. But (then) I think both games are complementary to each other". Advani then goes on to explain why playing both games makes more sense. "If you are playing good billiards, I am sure you can play good snooker as a result of that". Advani also notes that billiards touraments are over at this point in time and he has only a couple of events of that sport in the next seven-eight months. "If I am qualifying for snooker events, then why not play them. If I am concentrating only on billiards, I would not have anything to play....(for months)". Meanwhile, Advani said professional snooker tournaments being biased in favour of players from the UK is the sole reason why he is not turning pro. "All the professional tournaments are held in the UK and they are biased in favour of the UK players," he said. Noting that those tournaments are held on knock-out basis, Advani recalled that sometime back when two Indians were playing, they were deliberately grouped together so that one gets eliminated. "They did it for two Netherland players also," he said. "They do it every single time. It really becomes unfair. I got to go all the way (to England) and one of the Indians gets knocked out". The only way out he feels is to make the sport popular and market it professionally, especially in India, China and Australia, so that it can go global. "I am sure billiards and snooker would definitely go global in the years to come," he said. "I will definitely consider playing professional snooker (when it goes global)". With Advani basking in glory in the world stage, corporates have started knocking his door for possible sponsorship and endorsement deals.(PTI) |
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Usha school of athletics to be ready by year-end KOZHIKODE, Apr 25: Can India produce another sprint queen P T Usha? Tucked away in a remote village near here and shorn of media glare, is Usha herself keen to help realise the dream of young girls to make it big in international athletics. The Usha School of Athletics, coming up on a 30-acre land at Kinalur will be ready by this year-end, promising to provide state-of-the-art infrastructure matching international standards. "The school will help to realise the dreams of hundreds of young talents, who require thorough professional training to make it big at the international scene," Usha told PTI. With the registration of land fixed for April 26, the major sponsors, Shoba Developers, will immediately commence work for a 40-bedded hostel and 400m track which is expected to be completed by August, the ace athlete said. "The managing director of the builders P N C Menon has assured us that a multi gymnasium and a grass track will also be in place before the school’s inauguration in December," the former sprint queen said. Now, the girls, who have already been selected by the school, are trained at a rented premises in Koyilandy with guidance from coach R S Bhatia who had trained Usha when she staged a comeback after her marriage. On the support in the form of sponsors for bringing up the school, Usha said she was quite overwhelmed by the response from various quarters after the land was allotted to her by the Kerala Government. "More sponsors have assured to join in providing a 50m swimming pool and a synthetic track in the next two years," the Olympian said. The school, which recruited 12 girls in 2002 in its first batch, was picking up talents on a yearly basis after conducting selection trials and this year four or five girls would be enlisted, she said. While the invitation was for candidates from all over the country, those selected so far mainly belong to southern states, particularly Kerala. "This could be due to the attitude of the girls here," Usha said. Though hundreds of girls turn up for selection trials every year, the number was brought down drastically to spot the best available talent, she said. The Usha school, now imparting training only to girls, would also consider training boys in the future. "But for the time being, we want to limit it to girls," Usha said. Usha, who underwent a surgery recently, does not fail to turn up regularly to monitor the trials. (PTI) Terry awarded Player of Year in England LONDON, Apr 25: Chelsea captain John Terry was named English player of the year by the Professional Footballers’ Association, and dedicated the award to his teammates and manager. Terry, 24, was voted for by his fellow players in the English Premier League. He beat Chelsea teammates Frank Lampard and goalkeeper Petr Cech, 2004 winner Thierry Henry of Arsenal, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard and Crystal palace striker Andy Johnson. "It is unbelievable, and the ultimate accolade to be voted for by your fellow professionals whom you play against week in and week out," Terry said yesterday. "You just go out there and try to give it your best, and for them to show their appreciation and vote for me is fantastic. I want to thank all of my teammates, because without them this would not have happened." "It is my first year as captain and they have helped me a lot, on and off the pitch." Terry has been a key part of Chelsea’s success this season. The blues won the League Cup, and play liverpool in the champions league semifinals on Wednesday. Chelsea is also two points from winning the premier league for its first english title in 50 years. Terry said the team flourished under manager Jose Mourinho, who joined the club this season from FC Porto. "I think the team spirit we have got at the club this year has been the key," Terry said. "We have got no superstars, everybody respects each other, both on and off the pitch, and we get on well. We have got some great players and a great manager who has worked wonders for us, and that is shown by the fact we are top of the league and are still in the champions league." Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney was named the young player of the year, beating teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, Tottenham’s Jermain Defoe, Middlesbrough’s Stewart downing, Chelsea’s Arjen Robben and Shaun Wright-Phillips of Manchester city. "As a footballer, you are always looking to improve and learn from the people around you," Rooney said. "If I keep learning and my feet on the ground, then hopefully I can start winning more trophies." Manchester United plays arsenal in the Fa Cup final next month. Terry and the other finalists were also named in the PFA’s Premier League team of the year, again voted for by players. Others to make the team were Manchester United’s Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand, Arsenal’s Ashley Cole, Robben and Wright-Phillips. (AP) |
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