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

‘New big dog’ is ready
to bark and bite

NEW DELHI, Oct 3: Dwayne Bravo believes he can be the next great all-rounder after Sir Gary Sobers to have come from the West Indies. Bravo, whose all-round abilities will be crucial for Windies’ defense in the Champions .......more

Jeev on top,
Randhawa narrows
gap in Golf rankings

NEW DELHI, Oct 3: A tied third finish at the Tokai Classic in Japan tour saw top-ranked Jeev Milkha Singh cementing his place as the top-ranked Indian player in the lastest Golf rankings .........more

Narrow win for
Indian Airlines

NEW DELHI, Oct 3: Power-packed Indian Airlines managed a narrow 3-2 win over ONGC while BPCL defeated BSF 3-1 in the two matches of the ...more

Let me catch ball
tamperers, says Pak’s
Sultan of Swing

ISLAMABAD, Oct 3: Former Pakistan fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz said today he was able to detect ball-tampering from ...more

Inter-Collegiate Weightlifting
Championship
Science College emerges
overall Champion

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 3: GGM Science College today lifted Inter-Collegiate Weightlifting Men .........more

St Peter’s School bags
four medals in Inter-
School Fencing

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 3: St Peter’s High School bagged four medals in Inter-School Fencing .......more

Nirmala High
School organises
Annual Sports Meet

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 3: Nirmala High School Dhanger today celebrated Annual Sports Meet in the ......more

Vikram Club beat Jagjit
Club in Senior Hockey

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Oct 3: Vikram Club defeated Jagjit Club in the first semi-final of the ......more

‘New big dog’ is ready to bark and bite

NEW DELHI, Oct 3: Dwayne Bravo believes he can be the next great all-rounder after Sir Gary Sobers to have come from the West Indies.

Bravo, whose all-round abilities will be crucial for Windies’ defense in the Champions Trophy starting this weekend, said he was aware the team has missed an all-rounder for long and he was keen to fill that void.

"There is a big void there. Those are big shoes to fill in as top all-rounder," Bravo said.

"I think Sobers is the best all-rounder this game has seen and I have a long way to go. But I am only 22, so I can try and improve my game."

Bravo made an impact on the Indian minds when he cleaned up Yuvraj Singh with a slower ball to give his team a one-run victory in the second odi in the Caribbean early this year.

Bravo said the slower one he had mastered over the years was his "lethal weapon" and intends to use it to deadly effect in the Champions Trophy.

"I developed it after watching international cricket on television," he said.

"Courtney Walsh had a good slower one, Waqar Younis, Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis too. But what I bowl is my own variety.

"I started by bowling it from a short run-up and then from a long run-up," Bravo said.

"Mostly bowlers use in the death to slow up the scoring but I bowl it in the middle overs as well to keep the batsman thinking by varying the pace."

Bravo has skipper Brian Lara as his role model, and even calls himself the ‘new big dog’, derived from the batting legend’s nickname ‘big dog’ in his home town Trinidad.

Lara in turn has heaped praise on the youungster, mentioning him as a future great, and the fact that both hail from the same island has made critics talk about the two in the same breath.

Bravo, however, said there was no comparison between the two.

"Lara is 37 and i am 22. There is a big gap in terms of experience and achievement. And he is a batsman, I am an all-rounder.

"It is not Lara but other players also think highly of me. But then it is not just about me but other young players as well," he said.

"Dwayne Smith is equally a good all-rounder and there are four or five players who are really good." (PTI)

Jeev on top, Randhawa narrows gap in Golf rankings

UBS Asian tour order of the merit leader Jeev, who finished tied third in the Tokai Classic, gained three places and was 138th with 1.23 average points.

Jyoti Randhawa (1.18), who finished a creditable tied 17th at the World Golf Championship-American Express, also climbed 11 rungs to 143rd despite a week of inactivity.

Shiv Kapur (.94) was static while Orlando (GA)-based Arjun Atwal dropped down two places to 218th with 0.79 average points.

Gaurav Ghei (.72) made huge gains and climbed to 235th spot after winning the mercuries Taiwan Masters.

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods cemented his lead atop the table after winning the World Golf Championship (WGC). Tiger (23.20) enjoys a whopping 14.42 average point lead over Jim Furyk who displaced fellow American Phil Mickelson from the second spot.

1.(1) Tiger Woods (US), 2.(3) Jim Furyk (US), 3.(2) Phil Mickelson (US), 4.(5) Adam Scott (Aus), 5.(4) Vijay Singh (Fiji), 6.(7) Ernie Els (SA), 7.(6) Retief Goosen (SA), 8.(8) Luke Donald (Britain), 9.(9) Sergio Garcia (Esp), 10.(10) Geoff Ogilvy (Aus). (UNI)

Narrow win for Indian Airlines

NEW DELHI, Oct 3: Power-packed Indian Airlines managed a narrow 3-2 win over ONGC while BPCL defeated BSF 3-1 in the two matches of the 17th Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey Tournament here today.

Indian Airlines, leading 2-0 at half-time, were given a run for their money as ONGC struck twice in the second half and provided some anxious moments to their high-profile rivals.

In the first half, skipper Sameer dad netted two goals (23rd and 31st) to give the airlines team a comfortable lead.

Mercurial striker Dhanraj Pillay shot home in the 59th minute to score the third goal for airlines.

For ONGC, Amarjeet Pratap (50th, 66th) compeleted his brace to add some thrill to the match.

In another match, Amar Aiyamma shot two goals (48th and 49th) within two minutes and Pundlik (44th) scored once to script BPCL’s victory over BSF.

Marinus Lakra (51st) was the lone scorer for BSF. (PTI)

Let me catch ball tamperers, says Pak’s Sultan of Swing

ISLAMABAD, Oct 3: Former Pakistan fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz said today he was able to detect ball-tampering from 1,000 yards (metres) away and offered cricket chiefs his services to stop the practice.

Nawaz, hailed as the pioneer of reverse swinging the ball during his heyday in the early 1970s and 1980s, said tampering was out of control in the modern game and called on world cricket chiefs to act.

"I can catch a player or bowler tampering from 1,000 yards," said Nawaz, who played 55 tests and 45 one-dayers for Pakistan.

"It is rampant at the international level and it’s the incompetence of the umpires who cannot catch tampering. I offer my services to the International Cricket Council (ICC) to stop this."

Tampering returned to haunt cricket during August’s fourth test at the Oval between Pakistan and England, which snowballed to become one of the game’s most bitter episodes.

Australian umpire Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrve of the West Indies changed the ball and awarded five penalty runs against Pakistan on suspicion that the condition of the ball had been illegally altered.

Incensed Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq refused to take the field after tea on the fourth day and the South Asian team were deemed to have forfeited the match — the first forfeit in 129 years of test cricket.

Inzamam was cleared by the ICC of ball-tampering charges at a hearing last week after experts said they found no evidence, but was handed a four-match ban for bringing the game into disrepute.

Nawaz said he did not believe that Pakistan would have been foolish enough to tamper with the ball.

"Despite possessing reverse swing talent Pakistan have been accused of tampering (in the past), so they would have been foolish to do so with so much focusing and so much witch-hunting against them," Nawaz said.

"But I tell you, tampering does not always guarantee reverse swing and neither does reverse swing guarantee you a wicket, because you need to have great control over your length to get wickets."

Hair had got it wrong and should have stopped play at once had he suspected any tampering, Nawaz added. "The Oval and Old Trafford are two english grounds where the ball gets old quickly," he said. (AFP)

Inter-Collegiate Weightlifting Championship
Science College emerges overall Champion

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 3: GGM Science College today lifted Inter-Collegiate Weightlifting Men Championship organised by the Department of Physical Education, University of Jammu.

The second place was bagged by MAM College while Post Graduate Department of Jammu University clinched third place.

Detailed results: In 56 kg weight category, Gourav Kumar of MAM College bagged first position, Munish Charak of GGM Science College secured second position and Nitish of Commerce College bagged third position.

In 62 kg weight category: Amit Sharma and Parveen Sadhotra of GGM Science College bagged first and second positions while Rajesh Kumar of MAM College bagged third position.

In 77 kg weight category, Anish Yousaf of GGM Science College bagged first position, Sunil Kalsi of MAM College secured second position and Ashwani Kumar of Post Graduate Department clinched third position.

Pawan Kumar of MAM College bagged first position while Sumit Raina of GGM Science College and Zaheen of Commerce College clinched second and third positions respectively in the 85 kg weight category.

In 94 kg weight category, Jonesh Kumar of GGM Science College bagged first position, Sanjay Kumar of MAM College clinched second position and Rajinder Singh of PG Department secured third position.

In 105 kg weight category: Akash Mahajan of Commence College bagged first while Ajit Pal Singh of PG Department and Ankush Bhojpuri of GGM Science College secured second and third positions respectively.

Amarjeet Singh of GGM Science College bagged first while Aziz-ur-Rehman of PG Department and Arjun of Science College bagged second and third positions respectively in plus 105 kg weight category.

St Peter’s School bags four medals in Inter-School Fencing

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 3: St Peter’s High School bagged four medals in Inter-School Fencing Championship organised by Department of Youth Services and Sports at DBN Higher Secondary School, Talab Tillo.

Asrar Ahmed Kichloo bagged gold medal in Sabre event while Rohin Raina clinched gold in Epee event. Adeel Hussain and Shivam Gupta bagged silver and bronze medals in the Epee and Foil events. Sanchit Verma bagged medal in the Under-14 category.

Recently, these five fencers of St Peter’s High School participated in the VII Sub-Junior and III Cadet National Fencing Championship held at Guwahati (Assam) in which Sanchit Verma bagged bronze medal for Jammu and Kashmir.

Nirmala High School organises Annual Sports Meet

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 3: Nirmala High School Dhanger today celebrated Annual Sports Meet in the school premises.

The Meet was declared open by Dr Peter Clestine, the Bishop and president of Catholic Dioceson Education Society. Zonal Education Officer Jourian Phoola Koul, Fr Santosh, School Manager, Sr Olga, Principal and Pratibha, head girl of the School were also present on the occasion.

To add colour to the sports meet, the students displayed their various talents through yoga, umbrella drill, weight lifting, kids drill and bhangara.

Prizes for all the winners were distributed by the Zonal Education Officer and the overall Championship Trophy was lifted by "Peace House". The "Loyalty House" lifted the runners-up trophy. The "Peace House" was adjudged the best in the march past event too.

Vikram Club beat Jagjit Club in Senior Hockey

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Oct 3: Vikram Club defeated Jagjit Club in the first semi-final of the Senior District Hockey Championship of Budgam District organised by Hockey Association.

In the stipulated time-frame, both the teams scored equal goals thereby leaving the decision of the match on tie-breaker. Finally, Vikram Club won the match by 5-4.

For Vikram Club, Ranbir, Rajinder, Ajit Pal and Sumit Pal Singh scored the goals while Ravi Raj, Amandeep Singh and Gurmeet Singh scored goals for Jagjit Club.

Second final of the Championship will be played tomorrow.