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Sr National Hockey Championship in Punjab from Oct 20

CHANDIGARH, Oct 15: The 62nd Senior National Hockey Championship for Rangaswamy Cup will be held in Punjab from October 20 to November 3, Punjab Police chief S S Virk said here today.

Thirty-seven affiliated state units will be divided into eight groups, and two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stage, Virk told reporters here.

Sixteen teams will then play knockout matches and eight teams will thus qualify for the Super League.

There will be a qualifier for associate member to be held at New Delhi from October 20 to 24. Fourteen associate teams, divided into four groups, will play the qualifying round of the championship. The top team of each group will be eligible to play the Super League.

The Super League will start at Jalandhar from October 28. The semifinals will be played on November 2 and the final on November 3 at Jalandhar.

"Indian hockey has seen a decline in the participation of youngsters during the past few years which is a matter of concern. There is a collective thinking of IHF and Punjab Hockey Associastion that serious efforts are needed to revive the game.

"We need to organise more and more events like this to bring out the hidden talent and bring back the glory of Indian hockey", he said.

The last time the championship was held in Punjab was in 1981.

This time, after a gap of 25 years, the Indian Hockey Federation allotted the championship to the Punjab Hockey Association, Virk said. (PTI)

Bowlers script Indian win against England

JAIPUR, Oct 15: India relied on a clinical display by their bowlers to launch their Champions Trophy campaign with a morale-boosting four-wicket victory over England in a low-scoring Group-A contest here today.

After the bowlers did an admirable job to bundle out the visitors for a paltry 125 in 37 overs, the home team faced some anxious moments before overhauling the target with 20.3 overs to spare in a floodlit match at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium.

The Indians were cruising along comfortably at 98 for two at one stage before losing four wickets in quick succession to make things a little too tight for themselves. Yuvraj Singh (27 not out) remained till the end as India scored 126 for 6 to notch up the victory as dazzling fireworks lit up the evening sky.

The hosts, who have been going through an indifferent form in recent times, were well served by left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan who buried his own poor form with the ball to spearhead an immaculate bowling performance.

Munaf Patel (3-18) and Ramesh Powar (3-24) complimented Pathan’s extended new ball spell of 8-3-20-2 to rout the visitors to their lowest ever total against India.

The evergreen Sachin Tendulkar then guided the chase with a controlled aggressive innings of 35, which came from 41 balls and contained five fours.

The victory was worth two points for India who next face title holders, the West Indies, in their next clash at Ahmedabad on Oct 26.

England await Ashes rivals Australia at the same venue on Oct 21.

The previous lowest total by England against India was 149 in a world cricket series match in Australia in 1984-85.

It turned out to be a pathetic batting performance with only Paul Collingwood (38) and Kevin Pietersen (27) being the notable scorers for England.

England, who were routed 1-5 in the one-day series when they visited India early this year, showed no signs of having familiarised themselves with the subcontinent conditions.

The 49-run partnership between Collingwood and Jamie Dalrymple (24) for the sixth wicket was the only bright phase of the England innings which ended in 37 overs, before the sunset.

The Baroda left-arm seamer has struggled with the ball for most part of the year, and was dropped from the test team on the tour of Caribbean in May-July and then from the one-day team in the tri-series in Malaysia last month.

Patel and Pathan combined to rip through the England top order and the visitors never really recovered from 55-5 after 19 overs.

Patel (3-18) provided the opening breakthrough by trapping Ian Bell leg before the wicket.

The innovation of sending captain Andrew Flintoff at number three backfired with the all-rounder registering a blob, Pathan rapping him on the pads while trying to work across the line.

Pathan then delivered the major blow when he snared the key wicket of Strauss, caught in the slip cordon while fending a rising delivery.

Michael Yardy failed to live up to the pre-match hype, becoming the third leg before victim of the match to Patel for four.

Pietersen’s fiery innings was short-lived, though.

After driving Pathan to squareleg boundary in the 15th over, the South Africa-born batsman then collected boundaries off Ajit Agarkar in successive overs, the step out and flick to fineleg being the stand out shot.

The big-hitting Pietersen then turned his attention to Patel, punching him through the cover for another for four.

But the right-arm seamer had the last laugh when he had him caught by Tendulkar at first slip.

Collingwood and Dalrymple then led a minor recovery before Powar triggered a middle order collaps.

The Mumbaikar had Collingwood caught behind by Mahendra Singh Dhoni who held on to a bat-pad catch, ending a 54-ball innings comprising six fours. The rest of the line up capitulated meekly.

India were off to a flier. Even before the break, they had knocked out 55 of the required runs for the loss of Virender Sehwag.

Sehwag fell for nine but he tore into the England bowling during his brief stay to launch the Indian chase.

The Delhi batsman struck two stunning boundaries, an on drive to midwicket and a typcial slash over point, of Steve Harmison who seemed to bowl exactly at Sehwag’s favourite area. Tendulkar and Pathan sustained the momentum with a Rich Array of shots on both sides of the wicket. Just when things were going smoothly, India lost two wickets in the space of four balls. James Anderson delivered the twin-strike, removing Pathan and captain Rahul Dravid in the 11th over.

When Harmison struck Tendulkar in front of the stumps, India needed 28 from about 32 overs. (PTI)

Jammu Distt Billiards, Snooker begin
Dheeraj beat Aseem in inaugural match

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 15: Dheeraj Goswami defeated Aseem Ghai in the inaugural match of the 16th Jammu District Open Billiards and Snooker Championship at Billiards Hall of MA Stadium, here.

Aseem Ghai could not pose competition to Dheeraj Goswami in any stage of the match and lost by 3-0. In the first frame, Dheeraj scored 59 points as against 22 of Aseem. Dheeraj won the second frame by a margin of 35 points and third by a margin of 40 points.

Earlier, the Championship was declared open in the presence of large number of cueists, who have confirmed their participation. About 64 cueists are participating in the Championship and everyday matches will start from 1 PM, said the organisors

The Championship is being organised by Jammu and Kashmir Billiards and Snooker Association.

Prominent among others who attended the inaugural ceremony include Kamal Rohmetra, vice-president of the Association, Ajay Sharma, general secretary of J&K Table Tennis Association, Sanjeev Gupta, Jaideep Manocha and Sheetal Gandotra.

Women Sports Competition of Poonch concludes

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

POONCH, Oct 15: Women Sports Competition of Poonch block concluded today at Sports Stadium, here.

The Competition was organised by District Coaching Centre Poonch in collaboration with Department of Youth Services and Sports under the supervision of Incharge of Coaching Centre Nirdosh Kumar. Atleast 12 girls schools and clubs participated in the Volleyball, Kho-Kho and Athletics events.

SSP Poonch S D Singh Jamwal was the chief guest on the occasion and he distributed prizes.

In Volleyball, HSS Poonch defeated Government Degree College Poonch in two straight sets while in Kho-Kho Degree College Poonch defeated HSS Chandak.

In Athletic 100 metre, Manpreet Kour of Christ School Poonch bagged first position, Kuldeep Kour of Degree College Poonch second and Farsana Khatoon of MS Khorinar third.

In 200 metre, Manpreet Kour bagged first position, Prithpal Kour second and Tasweer Kousar third. In Shot-put, Narinder Kour bagged first position, Nisha Jamwal second and Yasmeen Kousar third.

In Discuss Throw, Sarla Dutta first, Prinka Sharma second and Taseem Akhter third.

Pepsi brand ambassador part of cheering team

Excelsior Correspondent

JAIPUR, Oct 15: Pepsi—the drink that stands for its ‘dare for more’ spirit and youthfulness, is lending a singular voice to the prayers of billion cricket crazy fans, who desire only one thing— Indian Cricket Team’s victory.

October 15 unbottled this very passion and revealed to everyone the power of one voice, one wish, one prayer. Creating quite a stir was Pepsi’s Blue Billion Community of cricket fans, who travelled all the way from Delhi to Jaipur in the spectacular "Blue Billion Express" to cheer and motivate the Indian cricket team.

The one of its kind train commemorates Pepsi’s efforts to support the spirit of cricket. Participants in the cheer were Mr Rajeev Bakshi, Chairman of Pepsico India, Ms Punita Lal, Executive Director Marketing, Bollywood superstars and Pepsi brand ambassadors—Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra as well as 100 Pepsi promotion winners.

The "Blue Billion" cheering squad also stood out for their endless passion and enthusiasm as they arrived Jaipur and chanted "Ooooh Aaaah India, Aaaah Yaaaa India" at the Sawai Mansingh Cricket Stadium.

"Cricket is a religion in India and has always witnessed a strong range of emotions from the countrymen. We believe that the Pepsi "Blue Billion" campaign has provided a great platform to voice support for the Indian cricket team", Ms Punita Lal, Executive Director Marketing of Pepsico India said.

Priyanka Chopra, Bollywood superstar said "Pepsi’s Blue Billion initiative is a great example of what cricket means for its fans across India".

Shatra Shaheed Football Championship
Vijay Club to take on Young Star in final

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 15: Vijay Club today entered the final of ongoing Shatra Shaheed Football Championship and will take on Young Star for the title clash on October 18, 2006.

Vijay Club entered final by defeating NGR Club by 3-1 in the second semi-final played at GGM Science College grounds. It was to well contested match as NGR Club gave tough competition of Vijay Club on way to losing the match.

Gourab of Vijay Club scored first goal in the 20th minute thereby helping the team to maintain 1-0 lead over opponents in the first half. However, in the second half the goal was equalised by Karan Abrol of NGR in the 59th minute.

NGR Club’s happiness of equalising the goal was short-lived as in the very next minute Sonu Kumar of Vijay Club scored second goal for the team to maintain lead over NGR Club.

While the NGR Club was looking for opportunity to equalise the second goal, Raman Kumar of Vijay Club scored third goal for the team in the 70th minute thereby winning the match by 3-1.

During the match, Ronny Yallop of Vijay Club was shown yellow cards twice and he would not be able to play final match. Two more footballers of Vijay Club, Rakesh and Ajay Kumar were also shown own yellow cards each.

Karan Abrol of NGR Club, who scored the lone goal for the team, was also shown yellow card.

The match was officiated by Ketan Kumar, Ricky, Mohan Madan and Chaman Lal.

Now, Vijay Club will take on Young Star for the title clash in the final of the Championship to be played on October 18. Young Star entered the final by defeating International Club by 1-0 yesterday.

The Championship is being organised by Jammu Joint Students Federation (JJSF).

Golf Course Pahalgam being upgraded

Excelsior Correspondent

Srinagar, Oct. 15: Golf Course Pahalgam is being upgraded from 9 holes to 18 holes capacity at an estimated cost of Rs. 4.32 crores. The tendering process for the project has been started and the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2008.

This was stated by the Minister for Tourism, Horticulture and PHE Mohammad Dilawar Mir after inaugurating Senator pin-n-peak invitational golf Course at Phalgam today morning.

Legislators Mohammad Sartaj Madni, Sayeed Basharat Bukhari, Secretary Tourism Naeem Akthar, Director Tourism Farooq Ahmad Shah, Managing Director JKTDC G. M. Qasba, Chief Executive officer Phalgam Development Authority Tufail Mattoo, reputed Adventurous and consultant Tourism J&K Capt. Pathania prominent businessman and PDP leader Sayeed Altaf Bukhari and several golfers of the valley were present on the occasion.

The Minister said that government is developing a circuit of modern golf courses in the valley to attract more and more tourists from across the world.