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

Controversial run
out helps New Zealand
beat Sri Lanka

CHRISTCHURCH, Dec 9: New Zealand stumbled to a controversial five-wicket win over Sri Lanka here today in a low-scoring first cricket test which lasted less than three days......more

PCB influenced Shoaib-Asif
doping verdict: report

LAHORE, Dec 9: The Shoaib Akhtar-Mohammad Asif doping saga runs into deeper controversy with a startling revelation that the current Pakistan Cricket Borad (pcb) Chairman had unsuccessfully tried to influence the Anti-Doping Commission verdict, which held the fast-bowling duo........more

India lose to Chinese Taipei
to finish with silver

DOHA, Dec 9: India’s quest for a coveted Tennis gold medal in the Asian Games women’s team event was shattered after they suffered a heart-breaking 1-2 defeat against Chinese Taipei in the final at the Khalifa International...more

India face do-or-die battle
against Korea

DOHA, Dec 9: Having pulled themselves out of the pit with a big win in the last match against Oman, India face a do or die situation when they take on Korea in their last Asian Games group-B men’s hockey league......more

KNCC seals convincing
win over Kathua Blues

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 9: Karan Nagar Cricket Club trounced Kathua Blues by 5 wickets in the ongoing GKR Memorial Twenty-20 Cricket Tournament played.......more

Nikhil to face Sumesh
for title clash

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 9: Nikhil Kapahi will take on Sumesh Turki in the final of the Junior Billiards in the ongoing 16th J&K State Billiards and Snooker Championship being played at Billiards Hall, M.A......more

GHSS Basohli felicitates
students

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

KATHUA, Dec 9: A prize distribution function was organised in the premises of Government Higher Secondary School, Basohli to felicitate the......more

State Handball team to
participate in national
championship

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 9: The J&K State Hand Ball Association has decided to send its Men Handball team for the forthcoming National Hand Ball Championship (Men)....more

Controversial run out helps New Zealand beat Sri Lanka

CHRISTCHURCH, Dec 9: New Zealand stumbled to a controversial five-wicket win over Sri Lanka here today in a low-scoring first cricket test which lasted less than three days.

The home side was set a target of just 119 to win after Sri Lanka’s second innings ended in bizarre fashion for 170.

But New Zealand then lost five wickets as they struggled to deal with champion spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who took three of New Zealand’s second innings wickets for a match haul of seven for 99.

However, the test will be remembered for the way the spinner was dismissed to end Sri Lanka’s second innings.

The tailender was run out when he completed a single to give Kumar Sangakkara his century and immediately turned and ran back up the wicket to congratulate the mainstay of the Sri Lankan innings.

But Muralitharan did not realise the ball was still in play, allowing wicketkeeper Brendon Mccullum the easiest of dismissals, while raising questions about the sportsmanship of the New Zealanders.

The Sri Lankans could claim the run out was not within the spirit of the game.

But New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said it was within the law and the Sri Lankan paid the price for making a mistake.

"It was pretty disappointing that it takes the gloss off what I thought was a fantastic 100 by Sangakkara, but the ball was still alive and the game doesn’t stop when a player gets 100," Fleming said.

"To my mind the ball’s still alive and ... Certainly in the cut-throat environment of this competition it’s a mistake you can’t afford to make on their behalf," Fleming said.

It was the third run out in an innings where Sri Lanka needed to build a big score with plenty of time available at the crease, after being placed on the back foot by a bizarre earlier decision when Mahela Jayawardene won the toss.

The Sri Lankan captain chose to bat on what was clearly a seamer’s wicket and when they lost their first wicket in the third over it was evident he had made the wrong call.

But Jayawardene said his thinking was to give Muralitharan the last say in the match.

"There was a bit of grass on the wicket but that doesn’t mean you’re playing only one day’s cricket," he said.

"It’s five days of cricket and we’ve got the best spinner in the world in our ranks and we have to give him the best opportunity to win us matches."

Sri lanka were all out for 154 in their first innings, and managed a slightly better 170 in the second, which is the second lowest score in test cricket history where one batsman has scored a century.

New Zealand were hoping for an earlier finish, but Sangakkara and bottom order batsmen Lasith Malinga and Muralitharan frustrated the New Zealand bowlers with their stubborn resistance.

The last two partnerships put on 71 runs, 62 of them from Sangakkara who ended unbeaten on 100, while Malinga faced 28 balls without scoring and Muralitharan scored nine from 19 deliveries. (PTI)

PCB influenced Shoaib-Asif doping verdict: report

A PCB-appointed Anti-Doping Commission headed by Lawyer Shahid Hamid had found Shoaib and Asif guilty of having used nandrolone, a banned substance, and banished them from the game for two years and one year respectively.

But later, an appellate tribunal headed by a retired Judge of the Pakistan Supreme Court had exonerated the two fast bowlers of the doping charges and lifted the ban imposed on them.

Lahore-based newspaper ‘The Nation’ today reported that ‘’incontrovertible evidence, in the form of a letter signed by pcb chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf, shows that the board attempted to influence the judgment of the Anti-Doping Commission headed by barrister Shahid Hamid, with Intikhab Alam and Dr Waqar Ahmed as members.’’

The report said the PCB chairman was not happy with the Anti-Doping Commission decision to ban Shoaib and Asif but he went along with the letter of the law at that point, hoping that he would be able to bend the commission to his way of ‘’dispensing justice’’ through the weight of his office.

It said Hamid had confirmed to have received a signed letter from the PCB chairman on october 28 after the commission had been through most of its statement-recording of the accused and witnesses, cross examination and evidence-gathering and just three days before announcing its judgment.

‘’Further questions to Shahid Hamid and probes through other leads revealed that the PCB chairman had been directly involved in trying to subvert the due process and in swaying the judgment of first the Anti-Doping Commission without success, but finally getting his way with the appeals committee,’’ the newspaper went on to say.

The report also quoted Hamid as saying that he resisted the pressure brought to bear on him and his commission had arrived at its verdict in a manner ‘’most forthright and a correct application of the law.’’

Hamid said he was so incensed at receiving the missive from the PCB chairman that he had told Moeen Afzal, a member of the PCB’s Advisory Council, that the contents of the letter were ‘’insulting, out of order and tantamount to influencing the judgment of the commission’’, besides asking Afzal to pass on the message to the PCB chairman ‘’not to send any further communication till after the commission had reached its verdict.’’ (UNI)

India lose to Chinese Taipei to finish with silver

The Indians played well in patches and did not have the firepower to topple the big-serving Taipei players in a match which went on till late night after a delayed start due to inclement weather.

The Indian team comprising Sania Mirza and Shikha Uberoi had to be content with the silver medal after the men’s team, comprising veteran doubles specialists Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, failed to win any medal.

Taipei took control of the proceedings from the beginning with Su Wei Hsieh sweeping Shikha off her feet in the first singles with a 6-2, 7-5 victory in 80 minutes.

Shikha committed a number of unforced errors in the first set but raised hopes of a spirited fightback in the second when she bounced back from a 1-5 deficit to level the scores 5-5.

But a few costly blunders from Shikha left Hsieh off the hook and give her team a 1-0 lead, much to the dismay of Indian suppporters who braved the chilly conditions and the gusty winds to cheer the players right through the contest.

With the Indians trailing, the pressure was squarely on Sania, ranked 67th in the world, to retrieve the situation and she responded brilliantly by spanking Yung Jan Chang with a facile 6-2, 6-2 victory.

The Hyderabadi girl unleashed a series of winners to leave her Taipei opponent in a daze and wrapped up the contest in just 59 minutes to restore parity.

"I knew what I had to do, being 0-1 down. It was not like every other match. This was the final, and I was a bit more nervous, and also because it’s about the gold medal. I was feeling confident when I went into the doubles game", Sania said.

In the crucial doubles, the Indian pair of Sania and Uberoi virtually went neck and neck with the rival due till an unforced error saw Taipei clinching the first set 7-6 after a long duel of 54 minutes.

The Indians completely lost the plot in the second set to go down tamely 1-6 in just 26 minutes to give Taipei the gold medal in the event.

"I feel really sad, but they were the better team. There was not much we could do. We made mistakes. It was close in the first set, but things went their way. They outplayed us, and we didn’t know how to handle it", Uberoi said. (PTI)

India face do-or-die battle against Korea

The huge 9-0 victory over Oman has given them an outside chance of still making it to the semi-finals and they have no other option but to beat strong contenders Korea to achieve their objective.

It definitely is a daunting task as the Koreans have been in excellent form in this competition and it will need a huge spark of inspiration to put it across their fancied rivals.

India were now placed in the third position with six points from three matches while Korea topped the group with nine points followed by China who also had 9 points.

India have a goal difference of +14 while Korea has +21, which means that Vasudevan Baskaran’s men have only to beat the Koreans to be able to go ahead of the Chinese who have a goal difference of +6 after playing all the matches at league stage.

They find themselves in such a predicament only because of their shock defeat at the hands of China who have made rapid strides in the game in the last couple of years.

The heartnening feature in the game against Oman was that the Indians managed to convert a number of penalty corners which was regarded as one of their weak areas.

While captain Dilip Tirkey is happy with the overall performance in the last game, he is worried that the counter-attacks have not brought about the desired results.

"Our penalty corners were good in the last match but we still have to improve a lot. Our counter-attacks have to be good and we cannot afford to miss any chances against the Koreans", Tirkey said.

"The Koreans have many strong players and we have to watch out against Jang. Our defence has to be really very good", he said.

Shivendra Singh, Tushar Khandekar and Hari Prasad were among the goal scorers in the last match and should fire again in the crucial match at the Al-Rayyan Hockey Stadium.

The experienced Tirkey himself has a big role to play against the nippy Koreans who are exected to keep the Indian defenders on tenterhooks for most part of the game.

If the Indians lose the match, it will be disastrous for them for more than one way. Besides ending up without a medal, the defeat to Korea tomorrow will mean that India will have to go through the qualifying process to secure a berth in the Beijing Olympics in 2008. (PTI)

KNCC seals convincing win over Kathua Blues

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 9: Karan Nagar Cricket Club trounced Kathua Blues by 5 wickets in the ongoing GKR Memorial Twenty-20 Cricket Tournament played at GGM Science College Ground today.

Kathua Blues won the toss and decided to bat first. They accumulated 106 runs in 19.5 overs. Ujjwal was the top scorer with 15 runs followed by Arun, who also made useful contribution of 11 runs.

For Karan Nagar Club, Shabbaz and Kuldeep scalped two wickets each.

In reply, Karan Nagar Club chased the target in 18.4 overs by losing just 5 wickets.

Shabbaz played a match winning knock of 48 runs of just 47 balls.

He struck 2 fours and a six.

Kuldeep and Ashok also played well for their knocks of 24 and 15 runs respectively.For Kathua Blues, Vishawjeet took three wickets.

Shabbaz was adjudged the Man of the Match.

The umpires in the match were Santa Singh and Rajeev Kumar. The scorer was Bunty and B B Verma.

In the second match, JP World Cricket Club defeated Revolution Cricket Club. Batting first, JP World School made 147 runs in 19 overs. Aditya played a fine knock of 67 runs of just 58 balls.

He struck 8 superbly driven hits to the fence. For Revolution Club, Mukul grabbed three wickets.

Aditya for his excellent knock was declared the Man of the Match.

Nikhil to face Sumesh for title clash

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

In the semifinals played today, Nikhil Kapahi outclassed Vidit Gawri by 388-305 in a keen contest.

In the second semifinal, Sumesh Turki defeated Younus Kouchey by 311-300 in an exciting encounter.

The officials in the match were Rakesh, Surjit Singh and Shanker Dass.

The tournament is being organised by the J&K Billiards and Snooker Association and sponsored by J&K State Sports Council.

GHSS Basohli felicitates students

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

KATHUA, Dec 9: A prize distribution function was organised in the premises of Government Higher Secondary School, Basohli to felicitate the students who excelled in the recently concluded District Sports Meet held at Kathua.

The function was presided over K L Gupta, Principal, GHSS Basohli, who distributed prizes among the position holder students.

The students included Ekta Rani, who finished first in 800 mts and 1500 mts cross country and also secured first position in Long Jump.

The other students were Rakesh Kumar, Rakesh Singh and Ajay Singh Billawaria.

The principal appreciated the performance of the students and was all praise for Autur Singh, PEM and Tara Singh, PET GHSS, Basohli.

State Handball team to participate in
national championship

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 9: The J&K State Hand Ball Association has decided to send its Men Handball team for the forthcoming National Hand Ball Championship (Men) scheduled to be held at Bilaspur, (Himachal Pradesh) from December 24 onwards.

In this context, the association would conduct selection trials at DPL Jammu Handball Ground from December 11-12 in the morning. Thereafter, the Coaching Camp would commence from December 12 evening.

All the interested participants are directed to report at DPL Grounds on December 11 at 8 am.