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

Jammu Distt Open Billiards, Snooker Championship
All seeded players sail into 2nd round of Senior Snooker

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 28: All the seeded players sailed into the second round of the Senior Snooker in the 16th Jammu District Open Billiards and Snooker Championship being organised by J&K Billiards and Snooker Association at Billiards Hall of MA Stadium, here.

In the second round, Nikhil Kapahi got walkover Vishal Raina in the first match while in the second match Ajaypal Singh beat Tarun Goswami by 3-1.

Ajaypal won the first frame by 64-21 but he lost the second frame by two points. Tarun could not repeated his performance in the next two frames thereby losing the match. In the third and fourth frame the score was 56-14, 72-32 in the favour of Ajaypal.

Earlier, in the first round, Rahul Gupta defeated Aditya Mahajan by 3-2. Though Rahul made a good start by winning the first frame with a huge margin of 58 points yet he faced tough competition in the second and third frames which were easily won by Aditya by 60-49 and 60-13.

With a lead of 2-1, Aditya started fourth frame game with good shots but he could not repeat his performance and lost the fourth and fifth frames by 34-50, 43-69 thereby losing the match.

In the second match, Kuldeep Sharma defeated Arjun Chowdhary by 3-0. Arjun could not pose any competition to Kuldeep Sharma in any of the frames. Kuldeep won the first frame by 61-36, second by 68-14 and third by 91-32.

Gurdev defeated Syed Shoaib Jeelani by 3-1. The score was 48-43, 42-66, 62-53, 60-12. In the fourth match of the first round, Sahil defeated Rajan Mahajan by 3-0. The score was 39-10, 38-28 and 79-21.

J&K Open Swimming Championship begins

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 28: Minister for Roads and Buildings Gulchain Singh Charak today inaugurated three-day J&K Open Swimming Championship being organised by State Swimming Association.

Around 290 participants from different districts of the State are participating in the Championship. Secretary J&K State Sports Council Ravinder Gupta, president Swimming Association Jagbir Singh Soodan, general secretary Varinder Kumar Sawhney and Divisional Sports Officer Madan Lal were among others who attended the inaugural ceremony.

In Group First 200 metres free style event, Hilal Ahmed of Srinagar bagged first position while Vikrant Gupta and Ripoo Daman of Jammu clinched second and third positions respectively.

In group second 200 metres free style, Nisser Ahmed of Srinagar, Sarthak Manhas of Jammu and Mithlesh Wanchoo of KC Public School bagged first three positions respectively.

Kavya Kamal of Jammu, Rohit Kapoor of K C Public School and Manik Sharma of Jammu clinched first three positions in the group first 100 metre breast stroke while Mukhtiar Ahmed of Baramulla, Rajan Jasrotia and Shivang Gupta of Jammu bagged first three positions in Group 3rd 50 metre breast stroke.

In group 3rd 100 metre breast stroke, Wasim Raja of Srinagar, Rudraksh Gupta of K C Public School and Manubhav Verma of Jammu clinched first, second and third positions while in group 4th 50 metre breast stroke, M Ahmed and Rafiq Bhat of Srinagar and Maqsood Ahmed of Baramulla bagged first three positions.

Rudraksh Gupta of K C Public School, Arshad Ahmed of Srinagar and Akshit Kesar of Jammu bagged first three positions in Group 3rd 50 metre breast stroke while in the group 2nd 50 metre breast stroke, Mukhtiar Ahmed and Tufail Ahmed of Srinagar and Gaganjyot of Jammu bagged first three positions.

In group first 50 metre butterfly, Mushfar Ahmed of Srinagar, Rohit Kapoor of Jammu and Vikas Sharma of Udhampur bagged first three positions while in the men section 50 metre butterfly, Shivesh Mattoo of Jammu, Amarpal Sharma of Kathua and Dinesh of Udhampur bagged first three positions.

In men section 200 metre free style, Irfan Ahmed of Srinagar, Chiwan Lal of Jammu and Ajay Kumar Sharma of Kathua bagged first three positions while in men section 50 metre breast stroke, Suresh Mattoo of K C Public School, Ramandeep Singh Sambyal of Samba and Asien Hussain of Srinagar bagged first three positions.

Malpractice in Swimming Association alleged

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 28: Parents of the swimmers today alleged that hardworking and deserving players were left behind and positions awarded to the undeserving players by the Jammu and Kashmir Swimming Association for J&K Open Swimming Championship.

In a statement, they said that no advertisement was made for the Championship as a result of which deserving players could not participate in the competition.

"In every state, the swimming competitions are taking place in sequence like district championship, state championship and then national championship but in J&K the state championship is being conducted when all the national level swimming competitions are already over", they alleged.

Continuing tirade against the Swimming Association, they said that Rs 25 per event fee is being charged for participation in the championship thereby denying the opportunity to poor swimmers. Moreover, no proper officer has been appointed by the Sports Council.

"Even in the age group of 10-12 years swimmers of 17-18 years are adjusted for the reasons best known to the office bearers of the Association", they said and appealed the Secretary Sports Council Ravinder Gupta to look into malpractice of the Swimming Association.

Jammu Distt TT Championship
Digpal, Ashwani to lock horns in final of Vetern Singles

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 28: Digpal Singh and Ashwani Sharma will lock horns in the Vetern Singles final in the Jammu District Table Tennis Championship.

In the first semi-final, Digpal Singh defeated Parshotam Khajuria by 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8 while in the second semi-final Ashwani Sharma beat Jeet Raj Kalsi by 11-8, 7-11, 12-10, 14-12.

Earlier, in the quarter-finals of the Vetern Singles, Digpal Singh defeated Rajinder Kohli by 11-8, 11-4, 11-5; Parshotam Khajuria beat Satish Dogra by 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8; Ashwani Sharma beat Mahesh by 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 and Jeet Raj Kalsi defeated Narinder by 11-8, 11-9, 11-7.

In Junior Girls first round, Deepinder Kour beat Megha Jamwal by 11-3, 11-7; Shezar Sharma beat Lavanya Sharma by 11-14, 11-7, 11-2 and Deepshikha beat Nitani by 3-11, 11-7, 13-11.

In Junior Boys first round, Rohan Sood beat Sumit Mahajan by 11-1, 11-1; Akshay beat Lokash Sharma by 11-3, 11-4; Pranav Mahajan beat Mayank Gupta by 14-12, 14-12; Rahil Bhatia beat Bhupinder Singh by 11-9, 11-9; Abhishek Kalsi beat Somya Jain by 7-11, 12-10, 11-6; Himanshu beat Aditya by 11-6, 13-11; Hiten defeated Tushar by 11-7, 7-11, 11-9; Shorya Sharma defeated Nitin by 11-5, 11-5 and Sanmeet beat Chetan by 11-2, 9-11, 11-8.

According to the organisors, 28th J&K State Table Tennis Championship will be organised from November 2. All the interested players are required to send their entries to Sunita Goel, Satish Gupta, Ravish Vaid and Menu.

Youth Talent Search organises Athletic Meet

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 28: Youth Talent Search of Jammu today organised an Athletic Meet in Alexander Memorial School, Residency Road.

In the 100 metre race, Sunil Kumar of Bikram Memorial School, Bishnah bagged first position while Suraj of New Era Environmental School clinched second position and Rahil of Bikram Memorial School secured third position.

In obstacle race, Shubam and Sunil of Bikram Memorial School, Bishnah and Rajan of S D Tarapuri School clinched first three positions.

In sack race, Anamika of J&K Police Public School, Miran Sahib bagged first position, Ashima of RRL School secured second position and Sakshi of May Fair Public School clinched third position.

In 4*100 metre relay race, Rupali Anjali, Trinana and Bharti of J&K Police Public School, Miran Sahib bagged first position while Shilpa, Sonia Mamta and Shilpa Verma of Bikram Memorial School Bishnah secured second position and Diksha, Aina, Reetika and Shivani of SD Tarapuri Public School bagged third position.

Neeraj Mehta, Principal of J&K Police Public School and Nasreen Khan, Principal Mayur Public School Jhiri were guests of honour while Dr Prem Singh, HOD Physical Education, Delhi Public School Jammu, Ajay Sharma, Physical Education Teacher, Government Hari Singh Higher Secondary School Jammu and Suresh, PET, Delhi Public School Jammu were the judges.

Focus attention on execution of plans not on plans

By Sanjay Manjrekar

What a mouth watering prospect we have today..India taking on Australia in a virtual quarter final. And its being played at that venue, Mohali, where things always tend to be different from the normal.

The obvious thought when you imagine the current Indian team taking on the Australians on the Mohali pitch we have seen so far in the tournament, you think its out & out Australia’s game. But that may not be necessarily the case when you think more of the conditions & the form of the two teams.

Australia are World Champions but are not quite playing like the best team in the this tournament. I don’t quite know why that is. It seems to be the relationship that they have with the Champions trophy. They just do not get along well with each other isn’t it ? Also with the form the Indian batting has shown in recent times if this match would have been played on a typical flat Indian pitch it would have been a battle of who scores more heavily. That would have meant a definite ‘advantage Australia’.

But with the pitch expected to be bowler friendly, Indian bowlers might just make it easier for their anxious batsmen. I believe Munaf Patel has the ability to make a serious contribution to his team very early in the game. His bowling in this tournament has been more than impressive. If he continues to put the ball in the areas that he has done so far he is capable of dismissing even the Australian top order for nothing. Its just the awkward line he bowls which can trouble even the Gilchrists & the Pontings fo the game. Patel for me is the key for India whether India bowls first or not.

Simply put India have chance in this game if there is an Australian collapse. And then when it comes to getting those runs, the onus should be more on the batsmen who have some form going for them. This is the time & the match to get your form to good use for the team. It is a bit unfair to expect too much from someone who is already fighting a battle within himself, that of keeping self doubts away. In such times men in form owe it to those who are out of form. That’s what a team game is all about.
A lot has been said & written about Indian team selections, latest being Ramesh Powar’s exclusion in the last game. Lets get one thing straight shall we ? India lost the last match against West Indies because India did not bat well. All matches are won & lost by how one plays on the field. Its time we all focus our attention on the execution of plans rather than on the plans itself.

Coaches & Selectors are getting far too much ‘ credit’ for everything. They are mere facilitators at the most, towards a winning process. So whatever the Indian combination today, It will finally depend on how they perform out there. Lets all of us, for a change, try & find the answers from whats happening on the field than off it.

Finally,if India manages to put it across Australia in these conditions, they would be most deserving of a place in the semi finals & it could be the most significant one day win for Dravid. Also today is one of the days where we will get an opportunity to see the real Indian heroes. TCM

Black belt award ceremony held at Convent School

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 28: In connection with the award ceremony, Camat-India organised a function at Presentation Convent School, Gandhinagar here today.

World Grandmaster of the organisation in Martial Arts from Australia, Mr Hugh Gardner, who was the chief guest on the occasion distributed certificates of excellence among the students, who were awarded black belts in martial arts and self-defence.

Principal, Presentation Convent School, Gandhinagar Sister Phyllis presided over the function while, Mrs Cheryal Gardner-chief instructor was the guest of honour on the occasion. The function was organised under the over all supervision of Chief Instructor of Camat-India,

Pardeep Sharma (V-Degree Black-belt), a retired Indian Air Force official. Chief Instructor for J&K, Pawan Sharma also gave demonstration on the occasion.

The Gardner-couple demonstrated some self-defence techniques before the Convent school girls and staff members. They stressed the need to learn these skills for self-defence and said that it was necessary, especially for the girls who are more prone to face challenges in life ahead. These skills will also create self-confidence among women, Mr Gardner maintained.

The names of awardees are-Palak Bijral, Prakriti, Rhea and Mahima from Presentation Convent Senior Secondary School, Vineet Kumar, Puneet, Sumeet, Rishav, Ishtiaq and Shivangi from Holy Trinity Convent School Dansal, Meera, Anamika, Mahavish, Neha, Raghav, Pritish, Abhijeet, Aryan, Rahul, Vidhur and Vishal from Govt School, Reasi whereas, Sheena, Sania, Savita, Sania, Savita, Vishu, Nitish, Vivek, Vishal, Pankaj and Keshav from Holy Family Convent School, Nagri.

The Black-belts were also awarded to instructors-Mohit (II Degree), Pawan (III Degree), Bindya ( Ist Degree), Pratibha ( II Degree), Pavitar (II Degree), Kaviraj ( II Degree), Kunal (II Degree) and Parvinder (IV Degree) by the grandmaster.

Zabarwan hill trekking, nature study programme launched

Excelsior Correspondent

Srinagar, Oct 28 : With a view to study nature and undertake hill trekking, a group of youth and students belonging to various educational institutions was flagged off today to enjoy beauty of Kashmir particularly in Zabarwan hills of Srinagar city.

The youth and students will visit Parimahal, Cheshmashahi, Botanical garden, Shalimar, Nishat , Harwan and other places to spend time their and study nature.

The programme, second of its kind in the state, was launched by Chairman, J&K Public Service Commission Mohammad Shafi Pandit.

Director Information and Public Relations, Farooq Renzu, Director Sports Kashmir University Prof. Khursheed Ahmad besides officers of Information and Public Relations department, Kashmir University, Youth Services and Sports and representatives of Peace Foundation, Bharat Scouts and Guides,NCC and a galaxy of prominent citizens, nature lovers and environmentalists were present on this occasion.

Organized by the Jammu and Kashmir branch of Youth Hostels Association of India (YHAI), the nature study programme aims at making the youth and students aware about the nature around them and the need for its preservation.

Chairman State branch YHAI S. P. Verma, State Secretary Taran Singh, Showkat Ashai, Balbeer Singh, Waheeda Shah, G. H. Malik, Sajawal Jeet Singh, Tasneem, and Shahera Shah were also present.