Anand jumps to sole lead

NICE, (France) Mar 18: World champion Vis-wanathan Anand jumped to the sole lead after playing a couple of draws with former world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the third round of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess tournament.

Anand took his combined tally to four points and is now half point ahead of nearest rivals Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, Levon Aronian of Armenia, Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Topalov who all have 3.5 points apiece.

Anand also leads the rapid section solely on 2.5 points. A half point clear of Aronian and Topalov while the Blindfold section is headed by Ivanchuk, Calrsen and Russian Alexander Morozevich who all have 2 points in their kitty.

Topalov and Anand had a theoretical discussion in one of the main lines of the catalan opening where the Indian played black. (PTI)

Brett Lee misses maiden century

SYDNEY, Mar 18: Australian paceman Brett Lee fell agonisingly short of his maiden first class century today when he was caught on 97 in the Interstate cricket final between New South Wales and Victoria.

Lee’s dogged innings put his NSW side in a dominant position as the final heads into its fifth and last day, with Victoria on 2-96 and chasing an almost impossible target of 629 for victory.

Lee, who has signed a 900,000 US dollar contract for the Indian Premier League, reached a career high score in first class cricket and was within three runs of his first ton when he was caught and bowled by Victoria’s Peter Siddle. (AGENCIES)

Inzamam remembers Woolmer

KARACHI, Mar 18: Twelve months after the death of Bob Woolmer, former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has admitted that he will never forget the inspirational cricket coach.

"Pakistan cricket will always be indebted to Bob Woolmer for his contribution to the game," Inzamam told in an interview to mark the first anniversary of the former England test batsman’s death which sent shockwaves through the sport and cast a shadow over the 2007 World Cup.

"I want to forget the tragedies of the World Cup, but I can never forget bob. He was not only an excellent coach, but also a very good human being."

Woolmer, 58, who had also coached South Africa, was found dead in his hotel room in Jamaica on March 18, 2007, just a day after Pakistan had been sensationally knocked out of the World Cup following a shock defeat to Ireland.

The tragedy was initially treated as murder with some commentators insisting that Woolmer was killed to prevent him blowing the whistle on illegal betting, the curse of the game in Asia.

However, after the biggest manhunt in Jamaican history and following months of wild speculation, an inquest jury in October eventually returned an open verdict on Woolmer’s death. (agencies)

Annual prize distribution function held

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 18: Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Mubarak Mandi celebrated its Annual prize distribution function in the school premises today.

G M Saroori, MoS for Education and Forests was the chief guest on the occasion while Ex-Mayor Narinder Singh Jamwal and A K Raina, Director, School Education were the guests of honour.

A colourful cultural programme was presented by the students on the occasion.

The eighth edition of school magazine "Sahitya Sarita" was also released by the Minister.

The chief guest alongwith Director, School Education, Ex-Mayor and Principal distributed prizes to the students who excelled in academics and sports in the previous session.

Earlier, Shashi Jamwal, Principal presented the annual report and also highlighted the achievements of the school.

State Football Championship
Vijay Club, J&K Forest cruise into quarterfinals

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 18: Vijay Club and J&K Forest cruised into quarterfinals by virtue of their convincing wins today in the ongoing 19th State Football Championship being played at Jammu University Football Field.

J&K Forests overwhelmed Jammu Sports (A) by 5-0 goals in their pre-quarter match.

After Ashiq Hussain, it was the turn of Taufiq to showcase his brilliant football skills as he scored tournament’s second hat-trick.

All five goals came in the second half with both teams remained goalless in the first half.

Taufiq struck in the 42nd 45th and 53rd minutes respectively to virtually seal the fate of the match.

Wasim Javed and Shahnawaz scored the remaining two goals in the 65th and 66th minutes respectively to seal the issue.

The second pre-quarter match played between Vijay Club and Wular Sopore proved to be another dull contest with the former rallied to a thumping 4-0 win.

Vijay Club went into the lead in the 4th minute through Gorav Bhatti. Wular Sopore had their moments in the first half but failed to capitalize on them.

Vijay Club on the other hand continued their dominant run adding three more in their kitty.

Joginder Kumar (50), Raman Kumar (53) and Gurmeet Singh (68) were the goal scorers.

In another match, Engineers XI prevailed over DFA Baramulla by 2-0 goals.

Both goals were scored by Tushar in the 8th and 68th minutes respectively.

In another match, Young Star registered a thrilling 4-3 win over DFA Bandipora in a nerve wrecking contest.

Young Star drew first blood in the 7th minute through Sunil Masih who made no mistake in striking the ball into the goalpost.

Ten minutes later, Harneel Singh slammed the second goal followed by Ranjay Kumar who struck in the 28th minute to make it 3-0.

DFA Bandipora despite 3-0 down kept their cool as Imtiaz produced a beauty in the 29th to open the account.

Tahir Maqbool then struck in the 32nd minute to minimise the lead.

The second half proved a real thriller as both teams fought tooth and nail to dominate the proceedings.

But it was DFA Bandipora, who finally succeeded in their efforts as Tariq Ahmed slammed the much needed equaliser in the 49th minute to make the contest tantalisingly close.

With 3-3 on the board the match could have gone the either way. But in the end it was Young Star who survived some anxious moments to eventually emerge triumphant.

Vinay Kumar scored the decisive goal in the 68th minute to brought down curtains.

Tomorrow, Vijay Club will face Maharaja Sports, Srinagar in the first quarterfinal while J&K Forest to clash with J&K Bank in the second quarterfinal.

S P Sharma wins Chess title

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 18: S P Sharma of National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) secured first position in Chess followed by Surinder Mohan and Sanjeev Sharma of Survey of India (SoI) who stood second and third respectively on the final day of the event today in the ongoing Central Government Employees Welfare Coordination Committee Sports Meet at M A Stadium.

S P Sharma got 3 points followed by Surinder Mohan and Sanjeev Sharma who fetched 2 points each.

In the matches played today, S P Sharma got the better of Surinder Mohan while Sanjeev Sharma defeated Anil Kumar (AG).

S K Sharma (CWC) prevailed over his compatriot Ashok Bhat whereas Rajinder Gupta edged out R K Sharma (NSSO).

The matches were conducted under the supervision of national Arbitor S P Sharma.

The matches were officiated by A K Chadha (AG), Guljar Singh (ASI), S K Sharma (CWC) and Balbir Jamwal (ASI).

However, the Carrom events commencing tomorrow at 10 am in the AG office premises.

Prof Jandrahia scholarship for best skater

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 18: Roller Athlete Skating Club, Jindrah has decided to awarded Prof Jandrahia Scholarship to the best skater of the year.

The scholarship would carry a cash prize of Rs 1,500 alongwith a memento and a Certificate of Appreciation.

Venus Sethi, general secretary of the club said the scholarships would be awarded purely on the latest achievements of the skater.

He further said it will boost the morale of the budding skaters.

Raman adjudged "Mr Jammu"

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 18: Raman Manhas was adjudged "Mr Jammu" in senior category in the 5th District Jammu Body Building Championship organised by Jammu District Body Building Association.

In junior category, Javitesh Khoda emerged winner while Pardeep Singh finished first in 90 kg category.

Kavinder Gupta, Mayor, Jammu Municipal Corporation was the chief guest on the occasion while DIG Farooq Khan was the guest of honour.

The championship was sponsored by Big 92.7 FM.

Final Results:

Junior Mr Jammu:

Below 55kg: Raman Singh (1st), Lovish Singh (2nd) and Jamana Parsed (3rd).

Below 60kg: Shoket Mehmood (1st), Raman Kumar (2nd) and Bantu Singh (3rd).

Below 65kg: Harshpal Singh (1st), Anurag Tripathi (2nd) and Abhinanda Singh (3rd).

Below 70kg: Vishal Pandey (1st), Sanjeev Sharma (2nd) and Neeraj Beli (3rd).

Below 75kg: Ankush Bakshi (1st), Aman Gupta (2nd) and Arjun Dev Singh (3rd).

Above 75kg: Javitesh Khoda (1st).

Senior Mr Jammu:

Below 55kg: Jamana Parsad (1st), Suresh Kumar (2nd) and Sunil Kumar (3rd).

Below 60kg: Shokit Mehmood (1st), Raman Kumar (2nd) and Irfan Gill (3rd).

Below 65kg: Amit Sharma (1st), Sandeep Singh (2nd) and Brite Johd (3rd).

Below 70kg: Marshal Khuja (1st), Sunil Kalsi (2nd) and Kuldeep Singh (3rd).

Below 75kg: Raman Manhas (1st), Sanjeev Singh (2nd) and Sanjeev Balotra (3rd).

Below 80kg: Parminder Singh (1st), Aman Gupta (2nd) and Kulveer Singh (3rd).

Below 85kg: Vinod Vaid (1st) and Pinku Kumar (2nd).

Nadal books rubber match with Tsonga

INDIAN WELLS (California), Mar 18: Defending champion Rafael Nadal swept aside US youngster Donald Young and booked a rematch with Aussie Open foe Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Indian Wells ATP Masters series on Monday.

Nadal, ranked number two in the world and seeded second behind world number one Roger Federer, defeated 86th-ranked Young 6-1, 6-3, taking full advantage of the 18-year-old wild card’s early nerves to pocket the first set quickly.

Young steadied in the second set, but was broken in the sixth game to trail 2-4. With Nadal serving for the match at 5-3, Young was unable to capitalise on one break point and the Spaniard duly served out what he called a "comfortable" win.

"I think he started very nervous," Nadal said. "You see the score, it was 4-0 (in the first set). In the second set, I have the break for 4-2, I think he had some mistakes. I didn’t play my best tennis, but I didn’t play bad."

Next up for Nadal is Tsonga, who was unseeded when he stunned the second-seeded Spaniard in straight sets in the Australian Open semi-finals in January.

Tsonga, now ranked 17th in the world, defeated fellow Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

"It’s going to be important for me to serve well," Nadal said of his looming encounter with Tsonga, who fell to the Spaniard in the first of their two meetings to date, at the US Open last year.

"He’s strong in his serve," Nadal said. "From the baseline I must try to play a little bit more aggressive than in Australia."

Third-seeded Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic advanced on cue in the 5.7 million-dollar tournament, which features a WTA Tier One event as well as the men’s masters series.

Serbia’s Djokovic capped the night session on stadium court with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber.

France’s Richard Gasquet, the eighth seed, got the men’s action off to a brisk start with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela.

Gasquet booked a meeting with ninth-seeded American James Blake, who beat former world number one Carlos Moya of Spain 6-3, 6-4.

Blake, who evened his career head-to-head against Moya at six wins apiece, said he was reminded of his first win against the Spaniard, which came at Indian Wells in 2003.

Women’s top seed ana Ivanovic of Serbia advanced with ease, downing Italy’s Tathiana Garbin 6-3, 6-0.

Ivanovic, whose runner-up finish to Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open propelled her to number two in the world, was pleased to turn in a solid performance after her erratic 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 victory over Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru in the previous round.

"I’m definitely better," she said. "That’s very positive, and I finished the match strong and did some things I was practicing and working on, so I’m happy about that." (AGENCIES)

Davenport feels ‘lucky’ to juggle career, motherhood

INDIAN WELLS (California), Mar 18: Tennis mum Lindsay Davenport faces the same juggling act as most working mothers, but sometimes the WTA tour amenities come in handy.

When her nine-month-old son, Jagger, developed a fever and a rash Sunday during the Pacific Life Open, Davenport took him straight to the tournament doctor.

Davenport, 31, said she felt apologetic at the possibility she might be keeping an ailing player waiting, but it didn’t stop her.

"When I went, there was no player in there, luckily," she said.

Reassured that Jagger was probably feeling the effects of teething, Davenport admitted that this first brush with infant illness had been more stressful than the everyday schedule conflicts that come with combining a career with motherhood.

"I was stressed out of my mind, yelling at my husband, all because my son has a fever and he’s not sleeping," she said.

The former world number one, a three-time Grand Slam champion, was expected to retire after 11 months off to have Jagger, but she returned in September.

Since then she has won four titles, at Bali and Quebec City in 2007 and at Auckland and Memphis this year, extending her career total to 55 WTA titles.

On Monday, she defeated Taiwan’s Chan Yung-Jan to set up a fourth-round clash with sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli as she continues her bid to add another Indian Wells title to those she won in 1997 and 2000.

Davenport said balancing work and family was challenging, but rewarding.

"Everything takes a little bit of a sacrifice, and I still dedicate as much time as I can to my career," she said. "It’s certainly not as much as I did for about an eight-year stretch between ’98 and 2006 or something.

"On a day like today, it’s really frustrating. I won’t see my son from 3:00 pm today until tomorrow morning, because by the time I get back he’ll be in bed.

"Those kind of days kind of bum me out, but for the most part I’m really lucky," Davenport added. "I feel like I get a chance to do it all." (AGENCIES)

Woolmer was a man who stood up for cricket: Dravid

BANGALORE, Mar 18: Paying rich tributes to late cricket coach Bob Woolmer on his first death anniversary today, former Indian captain Rahul Dravid described him as a man who stood up for the game’s welfare.

"Woolmer was a man who stood up for cricket. He will always be fondly remembered by cricketers and those who love the game all over the world. However, it is sad the way it ended," said the Bangalore IPL team Royal Challengers’ icon.

On this day last year, Woolmer died in mysterious circumstances in a hotel room in Jamaica, just a few hours after the Pakistan’s team’s unexpected elimination at the hands of Ireland in the World Cup.

To another question on the coming Test series against South Africa slated to begin from March 26 in Chennai, Dravid said "we will do our best." (PTI)

Bhupathi-Knowles advance to quarterfinal

NEW DELHI, Mar 18: Mahesh Bhupathi joined compatriot Leander Paes in the doubles quarterfinals of the USD 3,589,000 men’s masters series event after winning the second round along with Mark Knowles in straight sets at Indian Wells, California.

The sixth seeded Indo-Bahamas pair defeated Nikolay Davydenko of Russia and Nicolas Kiefer of Germany 6-3 6-4, last night.

Paes and his Australian partner Paul Hanley, seeded eighth, will take on Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia in the quarterfinal today.

Sania Mirza, seeded 21st, will fight it out with Slovakian fifth seed Daniela Hantuchova for a place in women’s singles quarterfinal of the USD 2,100,000 Pacific Life Open, being held at the same venue. (PTI)

Anand jumps to sole lead

NICE, (France) Mar 18: World champion Viswanathan Anand jumped to the sole lead after playing a couple of draws with former world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the third round of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess tournament.

Anand took his combined tally to four points and is now half point ahead of nearest rivals Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, Levon Aronian of Armenia, Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Topalov who all have 3.5 points apiece.

Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan are next in line a half point behind and the latter was a show-stealer on the third day with a sensational victory over Kramnik from the black side of a rarely played Budapest gambit in the Rapid game.

Anand also leads the rapid section solely on 2.5 points. A half point clear of Aronian and Topalov while the Blindfold section is headed by Ivanchuk, Calrsen and Russian Alexander Morozevich who all have 2 points in their kitty.

Eight rounds are still remaining in the tournament, which features one Blindfold and one Rapid game in each round.

Topalov and Anand had a theoretical discussion in one of the main lines of the catalan opening where the Indian played black. (PTI)