Kokrajhar boys enter qtrs

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 29 – Riding on luck DN Himatsingka HS School, Kokrajhar cruised into the quarterfinals of the Dilip Sarma Memorial Inter District School Cricket championship.

Their match against Don Bosco High School, Mangaldai ended in tie as both the teams scored 160. After the match coin was tossed to bring out the result and the Kokrajhar captain called correctly. Put into bat the Kokrajhar school scored 160 with Rupan Aich being the top scorer with 22. But despite a solid knock off the bat of Niyar Pawan Deka (37) the Mangaldai team failed to cross the opponents’ total as they were all out exactly at the total of 160.

Brief scores: Kokrajhar 160 (Rupan Aich 22, Soni Dey 19, Sagar Mahanta 3/22, Niyar Pawan Deka 3/45). Mangaldai 160 (Niyar 37, Arnab Jyoti Saharia 18, Anupam Saha 3/33, Amit Sarkar 2/40). ASSAM TRIBUNE

Nazira team disqualified

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 29 – Major anomalies have emerged regarding age of players in the Dilip Sarma Memorial Inter-district School Tournament which is simultaneously going on at Nagaon, Guwahati and Maligaon.

The tournament, introduced by the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) last year, is for students in the age group of under 15 years. But it has appeared that almost all the participating schools have violated rules by fielding players above the higher limit.

Based on a complaint filed by Loyla English Medium School of Nagaon, the ACA has carried out medical examination to probe the age of players of HSMP School of Nazira and found all the 14 players of the team were over-aged. Following medical report, the ACA disqualified the Nazira team from the championship. The ACA secretary today said several players of schools like Dhemaji, Mangaldai and Kokrajhar are also found over-aged. ASSAM TRIBUNE

Brisk preparation on for ACA diamond jubilee celebration

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 29 – The Assam Cricket Association (ACA) is gearing up for celebrating its diamond jubilee in a gala manner.

Disclosing about various programmes in a press conference here today, the ACA secretary Bikash Baruah said the eight-month-long celebration will begin on April 1 and will be concluded on November 30.

The adhoc committee of the ACA was formed on November 30, 1947 with Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi as president and Pulin Das as secretary. On April 1, 1948 the body became full-fledged with Bordoloi retained as president and Nurul Amin became the new secretary. Since then Fakruddin Ali Ahmed, Radha Govinda Baruah, Surendra Nath Das, Ratanlal Singhania, Nilimoy Choudhury, Gautam Roy and Prafulla Kumar Mahanta adorned the chair of ACA president. After Nurul Amin, Rameswar Tripathi, Krishna Dutta Hazarika, Pulin Das, Sahajananda Ojha, Rana Goswami, Nandan Bezbaruah, Abdul Matin were the secretaries of the Association in different periods. At present Gautam Roy and Bikash Baruah are the president and secretary of the Association respectively while Ghanashyam Baruah is the treasurer.

Baruah said the celebration would be kicked off with a mass jogging at 6 am on April 1, which will be flagged off at the Nehru Stadium by former Test cricketer Maninder Singh. In the afternoon, the ACA will felicitate former first class cricketers, above 60 years of age in a function to be held at the Pragjyoti ITA Centre here. Along with the former players the organizers will also honour former presidents, vice presidents, secretaries, treasurers and two former international umpires. The immediate kin of the deceased officials will also be honoured on the occasion.

During the eight-month programme, several competitions like quiz, essay, art, etc. will be organized time to time along with holding seminar for umpires and discussions for the development of the game in the State.

The ACA secretary further revealed that the BCCI has agreed to allot a T20 match with first class players on the occasion. He, however, could not disclose about the teams and the date.

Along with the ACA office here, all the 40 ACA affiliated units will celebrate the opening day by hoisting flags at their respective offices. Other ACA officials, Bhakti Medhi, Ghanashyam Baruah, Bishnu Ram Nunisa, Biswanath Saha, Imdad Hussain, Dilip Nandi were also present in the press conference. ASSAM TRIBUNE

More players barred from school meet

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 30 – After Nazira school, several more players were disqualified from the ongoing Inter District School Cricket Tournament for the Dilip Sarma Trophy.

At Nagaon altogether seven players of Senairan HS School, Tinsukia and two players of BPBMHS School, Charaideo have been found to be over aged by the medical board after carrying out medical examination. At Maligaon seven players of the Govt HS School, Karimganj were disqualified by the medical board today. The tournament is meant for players of under 15 years but after medical examination it is found that most of the disqualified players are of over 20 years.

The Assam Cricket Association (ACA) secretary Bikash Baruah said , the tournament was introduced to give a proper platform to the school boys to exploit their talents. But blaming the school authorities the ACA secretary said such type of practice will ruin the tournament and the intention of the organizers will never be fulfilled. He, however said that the concerned schools will be allowed to take part in the championship if they replace the over aged players with boys of proper age. ASSAM TRIBUNE

GCCC camp concludes

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 30 – The camp for fast bowlers, organized by the Guwahati Cricket Coaching Centre (GCCC) on the occasion of its silver jubilee celebration at the Nehru Stadium here, came to an end today.

The 10-day camp was conducted by noted pace bowler of the State Gautam Dutta were 31 pacers from organizations like-host GCCC, City CCC, Navajyoti Club, Ankurjyoti Club, Bud Cricket Club took part.

Gautam Dutta, NCA level I coach and a leading wicket taker of the State Ranji team, taught about the technical aspects of the art of pace bowling. Addressing the players in the closing function today he urged them to work hard to fulfill their dreams. He said, the coaches can show the way but they are the players who have to complete the job. Noted coach RP Baruah also advised the players to analyse the technical sides of the game before applying on the ground. He urged the campers to follow the great players and always observe the actions thoroughly in TV. ASSAM TRIBUNE

NETF tournament comes to an end

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 30 – The All Guwahati Junior Tennis Championship, organized by the North East Tennis Foundation on the occasion of its 19th foundation day came to an end at its Dispur complex last evening.

Former State footballer and noted physician Dr Sarat Dutta gave away the prizes in the closing function.

The final results: Boys (U-10): Partha Pratim Bora bt Ronit Bora. (U-12) Aditya Phukan bt Eaunak Bora. (U-14) Nabarun Gogoi bt Santosh Acharya. (U-18) Alok Tripathy bt Arunanshu Borthakur.

Girls (U-12) Pratiksha Sharma bt Hema rani Basumatary. (U-14) Marisha Dutta bt Manaswinee Hazarika. (U-18) Marisha Dutta bt Rizuana Begum.

Doubles (boys U-14) Parijit Krishnarishi/Jonaid Taushif bt Nabarun Gogoi/Aditya Phukan. (Girls U-14) Marisha Dutta/Manaswinee Hazarika bt Hema Rani Basumatary/Snehankit Bora. (Mixed doubled U-18) Alok Tripathy/Marisha Dutta bt Bikram Baruah/Pamir Gogoi. ASSAM TRIBUNE

Assam boxers bag 8 medals

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 30 – Assam won eight medals, including four gold in the Sub Junior National Women Boxing Championship held at Calangutt in Goa from March 25 to 30. Pinki Kachari, Anjali Musahary, Sanashree Brahma and Minu Basumatary were the gold medal winners while Hangma Basumatary, Susmi Gorh and Queen Basumatary clinched silver medals for the State team. Suman Munda was the lone bronze medal winner of the team, informs Assam Boxing Association secretary Hemanta Kalita. ASSAM TRIBUNE

19 teams for school cricket

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 30 – Altogether 19 schools will vie for the title in the Amulya Das, Raismodi Nunisa, Lilaboti Lekharu and Biswanath Ghosal memorial U-14 inter school cricket tournament which begin at the Nehru Stadium here from April 2. Don Bosco, Guwahati will play against Panitema Satgaon High School while Panbazar Pragjyotish will take on Little Angels High School in two matches on the opening day. The tournament will be a league-cum-knock out affair. ASSAM TRIBUNE

Alok, Arumanshu, Rizwana advance into finals

By our Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, March 27: In the 19th Foundation Day Celebration All Guwahati Tennis Championship today, Alok Tripathi beat Abhinanshu Borthakur (6-1), (6-3) and Arunanshu Borthakur beat Sabir Hussain (7-6), (5-7), (6-3) in the semifinal of the boy’s U-18 category .
In the girl’s U-18 category, Rizwana Begum overcame M Hazarika (6-0), (6-1) in the semifinal. In the boy’s U-14 semifinal, Santosh Acharya beat Abhinash Kaushik in a walkover.

In the girl’s U-14 section semifinal, M Dutta beat Amrita Nath (6-2), (6-1) and M Hazarika beat S Bora (6-0), (6-1). In the girl’s U-14 doubles final, Marisha Dutta and M Hazarika beat the pair of Himaran Basumatary and S Bora (8-1).
In the boy’s U-12 semifinal, Raunak Bora beat Khyatee Baruah (6-1), (3-6), (6-2). THE SENTINEL

Dhemaji, Rangiya school in next round

By our Sports Reporter
GUWAHATI, March 28: Dhemaji H S School and Madhya Panduri High school, Rangiya won their respective matches and entered into the next round of the All Assam Dilip Sharma Inter School Cricket tournament held in two different venues in the city on Saturday. Dhemaji school registered thumping nine wickets victory against S S High school, Hailkandi at the Nehru stadium while in the other match held at NFRSA stadium, Maligaon, Madhya Panduri High school beat Sivsagar Government Higher Secondary school by four wickets.

Brief score: Nehru stadium- S S High School 51 (19.4 overs) Alaman Mazumdar 12, bhaskar Saikia 5-27, Ranajit Tarapdar 3-11, Dhemaji H S School 52-1 (9.4 veers) Rahul Saikia 45.
NFRSA stadium: Sivsagar Government Higher Secondary school 92 (30.3 overs) Biku Bargohain 31, Mona Das 4-15, Madhya Panduri High school, Rangiya 93-6 (18.3 overs), Hicky kalita 24 (no), Mona Das (21 no)

Marisha lifts U -14 title

Marisha Dutta lifted girls U-14 title defeating Manaswinee Hazarika in the final of the All Guwahati Tennis Championship held at the NRTF court on Saturday. In the fina Marisha defeated Manaswinee by 6-3, 4-6, 7-6. The final results of the other events: boys U-10 Partha P Bora bt Ronit Bora 6-1, 6-0, boys U-12 Aditya Phukan defeated Raunak Bora 6-2, 6-0, boys U-14 (doubles) Parijit Krishnarishi and Jonaid Taushif beat Nabrun Gogoi and Aditya Phukan 6-3, 7-6, girls U-10 Suranjita Saikia bt Nazir Ahmed 6-2, 5-7, 7-6, girls U-12 Pratiksha Sharma defeated Hema Rani Basumatari 4-6, 6-4,6-3. THE SENTINEL

Kokrajhar School victorious

Kokrajhar School entered into the next round of the Dilip Sharma All Asom Inter-School Cricket tournament defeating Don Bosco School, Mangaldoi, in a nail-biting match via toss. The match between the two sides ended as a tie at the Nehru Stadium on Sunday. The Kokrajhar team, who batted first, scored 160 runs for the loss nine wickets in 40 overs. Don Bosco were bowled out on the same score.

Marisha shines in NEFT tennis
Marisha Dutta clinched four titles in the All Guwahati Junior Tennis Championship which concluded at the NETF court on Sunday. Marisha, who bagged the U-14 girls title on Saturday, also collected the girl’s U-14 doubles, girl’s U-18 singles and mixed doubles title on Sunday. In the girl’s U-18 final, she defeated Rizuana Begum while in the mixed doubles, Marisha, who paired with Alok Tripathy, defeated Bikram Baruah and Pamir Gogoi to clinch the title. In the girl’s U-14 doubles final, Marisha and Manaswinee Hazarika defeated Hema Rani Basumatary and Snehankita Bora. Alok Tripathy also collected double crowns in the championship which included the mixed doubles and the singles title in the boy’s U-18 categories. THE SENTINEL

ACA to host T20 match to celebrate its 60th year

Our Sports Reporter
GUWAHATI, March 29: The Assam Cricket Association (ACA) might get a chance to host a T20 match featuring international players as part of its diamond jubilee celebration. Top officials of the ACA have already contacted the BCCI in this regard and a final picture will be out within the next couple of months.

The diamond jubilee celebration of the ACA will kickoff in April 1 with a day-long programmer at Guwahati. Former Test cricketer Maninder Singh will be the chief guest in the inaugural function. Different affiliated units of the ACA will also organize different functions on that day in their own districts.

It may be mentioned here that the ACA was established on November 30, 1947 with an adhoc committee which continued till March 31, 1948. However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India granted affiliation to the ACA on April 1, 1948 and it marked the official beginning of the parent body of State cricket.

Talking to the mediapersons, the secretary of the ACA Bikash Baruah said that a detailed programme has been chalked out to celebrate the diamond jubilee celebration which will continue till November 30. He added that other programmes, except the April 1 programme, and the total budget, will be announced officially after the forthcoming governing body meeting of the ACA which is likely to be held in May.

It has been learnt that apart from the T-20 match, the ACA will organize different functions including quiz programme for school students. The ACA will also announce incentives for former cricketers on April 1.

Commenting on the T20 match, Barua said that they have already held discussions with the officials of the BCCI. With many BCCI officials busy for the IPL in South Africa, the final decision would be taken after the IPL gets over. Barua further said that on April 1, the celebrations will start with mass jogging and this would be followed by a felicitation and cultural function at the Pragjyotish ITA Complex, Machkhowa.

Barua also said that the ACA will have no objection if the BCCI allows Asom cricketers who have joined the ICL, to take part in the diamond jubilee celebration.

Replying to a specific query, Barua said that though it would have been encouraging to see the completion of the proposed stadium of the ACA this year, but this would not be possible as last year the work of the stadium was hampered due to heavy rains. He told that the new stadium would be ready by the end of 2011. THE SENTINEL

Brazil stumbles 1-1 against Ecuador

Quito (Ecuador), March 30: Brazil looked well poised to win against Ecuador, but the home side equalised just one minute before the end of the game at high altitude here at the South American qualifiers towards the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

In the other game that was played on Sunday, Chile beat Peru 3-1 in Lima to climb past Brazil and a joint second place in the table.

Brazil now have 18 points from 11 games in the qualifiers and stand third, five points behind leader Paraguay and a point behind arch-rival Argentina and Chile. Ecuador are seventh, with 13 points, while Peru remain last on just 7 points.

At an altitude of over 2,800 metres here, Julio Baptista put Brazil ahead in the score in the 72nd minute. He had come onto the pitch for a lacklustre Ronaldinho just a minute earlier, and his long-range effort hit the base of the near post before bouncing on the back of Ecuadorian keeper Jose Cevallos and finding the net.

Keeper Julio Cesar was probably the best Brazilian player of the day, but even he could do nothing to prevent the draw Sunday. Just a minute before the end of the game, another substitute, Christian Noboa, gave Ecuador a well-deserved point off a rebound from the Inter keeper.

In the first half in particular, Ecuador had several good chances to pull ahead in the score, but its strikers just missed the net or found Cesar. The keeper did well to block the ball twice in the 15th minute, and eight minutes later Ecuadorian midfielder Antonio Valencia hit the post in a long-distance effort.

Brazilian stars Robinho and Ronaldinho delivered poor performances, and an injured Kaka did not even travel to Ecuador. The host appeared to have done more to open the score, but it was the team coached by Carlos Dunga who hit first.

In the end, however, Brazil were denied their first-ever win here in South American qualifiers.
Brazil did not play well, and they are likely to have a hard time when it play the demoralised Peru on Wednesday in Porto Alegre. The demanding Brazilian fans have booed their team in recent home presentations, and they have not scored a goal - and therefore not won a game - in their last three qualifiers at home. (Agencies)

Sivasagar, Hailakandi schools enter next round

By our Sports Reporter
GUWAHATI, March 25: Sivasagar Government HS and MP School and Sishu Sadan High School won their respective matches in the Dilip Sharma All Assam Inter-School Cricket tournament held in two different venues in the city today. Sivasagar School defeated Srimanta Shankar Academy of Guwahati at NFRSA Stadium, Maligaon, by 73 runs while in the other match at the Nehru Stadium, Sishu Sadan School beat SPEM School, Dhubri, by five wickets.

Brief scores: Nehru Stadium: SPEM School 79-9 (20.2 overs), Raj Kumar Raut 21, Rahul Chakraborty 5-18, Rimon Das 3-19; Sishu Sadan High School 82-5 (18.4 overs), Alaman Majumder 24, Sandip Gala 3-16

NFRSA Stadium: Sivasagar Government HS and MP School 172-9, Biku Borgohain 55, Saidul Islam 52, Subhankar chakraborty 5-25, Mrinmoy Baishya 3-32; Srimanta Sankar Academy 99 (27.5 overs), Subhankar Chakraborty 26, Nilutpal Dowrai 3-11, saidul Islam 2-15, Vakirul Jaman 2-25, Yachin Ali 2-13. THE SENTINEL

Shuttlers aim to exploit home conditions at Indian Open

Hyderabad, Mar 24 (PTI) Saina Nehwal was on guard for lower-ranked rivals, while Chetan Anand was not looking beyond the first round but Anup Sridhar was targetting the semis as Indian shuttlers geared up for the Yonex Sunrise Indian Open Grand Prix that rolls out here tomorrow.

With a relatively easy draw and home conditions, second seed Saina is undoubtedly a hot favourite at the event but the Indian, who opens her campaign against unseeded Chew Yen Daphane Ng of Malaysia, is not taking her opponents lightly as their game is unknown to her.

"I have never played against her (Chew). I don't know her game, I don't know her weakness or strength, so I am not setting any targets as such. It is an important tournament for me and I know it would be tough," Saina told PTI.

"There are some good players like Julia (Pei Xian Wong), Maria (Kristin Yulianti) and others. Each of them are good. The first two rounds are OK and I know people expect me to win and take it easy. One may say that I have a 60 per cent chance of winning because they are lower ranked than me but I won't take any player lightly," she said.

Meanwhile, Chetan will be up against a lesser known Chong Chieh Lok of Malaysia in the first round but the world number 12 Indian doesn't want to put pressure on himself and has avoided a look at the draw. PTI

India make flying start in Indian Open

Hyderabad, Mar 24 (PTI) Indian shuttlers had a good day in office with as many as four reaching the main draw of women's singles after winning their respective qualifying round matches in the Yonex Sunrise Indian Open, here today.

Aparna Balan, Ashwini Ponnappa, Arundhati Pantawane and Chitralekha progressed to the main draw.

Balan beat Mohita Sachdev 21-11, 21-14 in just 20 minutes in the first round of qualifiers and then edged past PV Sindhu 21-16, 15-21, 21-18.

Ponnappa defeated Bibar Basumatari 21-14, 21-11 before accounting for Anuradha Shrikhande 21-17, 21-17 in the second match.

Pantawane defeated Meenakshi Nair 21-13, 21-15 and then made short work of Manisha K 21-5, 21-14 while Chitralekha knocked out Sara Devi Tamang 21-16, 21-11 and then beat Anita Ohlan 21-17, 25-23 to make it to the main draw.

In men's doubles qualifier, Sai Praneeth B and Pranav Chopra, Bennett Anthony and PH Suraj and Jayan James and KS Hersen won their respective matches and alongwith D Guruprasad and Vineeth Manuel, who got a walkover, entered the main draw. PTI

Harendra eyes top-six finish for Indian hockey this year

Bhopal, Mar 24 (PTI) India's men's hockey coach in-charge Harendra Singh is eyeing a top-six finish in world ranking this year and confident about winning the Azlan Shah Cup tournament in Malaysia next month.

"India ranks ninth among the hockey playing countries and we are aiming to finish among the top-six nations in the sport by the end of the year," Harendra said today.

Talking to PTI at the central regional centre of Sports Authority of India (SAI), where the team for upcoming Azlan Shah hockey starting on April 5 will be picked up, Harendra said his boys will adopt an attacking strategy this time to clinch the title.

"We are going to lift the Azlan Shah Hockey Cup.

"The team will play an attacking game for which India is known world over. I don't believe in playing a defensive game as it does not lead to victory," Harendra said.

India finished runner-up in the tournament last year.

"The players' morale is high after the team's stunning performance in New Zealand, where India won the Test series 2-0," he added.

Five teams - New Zealand, Pakistan, Egypt, Malaysia, besides India will participate in the tournament. PTI

Saina's Olympic nemesis comes calling at Indian Open

Hyderabad, Mar 24 (PTI) She crushed Saina Nehwal's Olympic dreams in Beijing and world number 18 Maria Kristin Yulianti is hoping for an encore if the two face off in the Indian Open Grand Prix Badminton tournament starting here tomorrow.

"Saina is a world class player. What happened in Beijing is past. This is a new tournament and a new challenge. I have always enjoyed playing against Saina. She is really fast and cover the court really well. I hope I can defeat her this time too," 23-year-old Yulianti said.

Yulianti had beaten Saina in the Olympic quarterfinals where she came back from 12-19 down to get the better of the Indian.

Saina is not the only one Yulianti is wary of and said she is not taking her other opponents lightly either.

"The field is tough and if one has to win this one, she has to be really at her best," she said.

Playing such a big tournament after a long knee injury lay-off after the Olympics, Yulianti said she is here to acclimatise herself for the world championship to be held here in August. PTI

Anand beats Kramnik to take sole lead

From our chess correspondent

Nice (France), Mar 23 (PTI) World champion Viswanathan Anand crushed Vladimir Kramnik in the blindfold section and romped home with a 1.5-0.5 victory in the crucial eighth round of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid chess tournament, here today.

Anand won the blindfold game and surged ahead in this section to share the second spot in this section.

With the rapid game ending in a draw the Indian ace is now in sole lead on 10.5 points.

Levon Aronian of Armenia defeated Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan in the blindfold game and played out a draw in the rapid to win by a similar margin like Anand and so did Magnus Carlsen of Norway in his match against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.

Both Carlsen and Aronain remained on Anand's heels, half point behind, and it might well be a race between these three for the title in the last three rounds.

Kramnik slipped to fourth following the loss with 9.5 points. The fifth place is held by Peter Leko of Hungary on 8.5 points while American Gata Kamsky, Topalov and Alexander Morozevich of Russia are locked on 7.5 points apiece.

Ukrainians Vassily Ivanchuk and Sergey Karjakin and Radjabov share the ninth spot on 6.5 points while Wang Yue of China is now in the cellar with 5.5. PTI

India stun Pakistan 3-1, reach final of four-nation hockey

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Johor Bahru (Malaysia), Mar 13 (PTI) India today pumped in three first half goals to stun fancied Pakistan 3-1 and set up a summit clash with the arch-rivals in the final of the Genting Four-Nation Under-21 Hockey Tournament at the Taman Daya Stadium here.

Playing firebrand hockey right from the start, the Indians scored through Pramod Kumar (1st min), Diwakar Ram (14th min) and Danish Mujtaba (19th min) to lead 3-0 at breather.

Pakistan reduced the margin in the 51st minute with a penalty corner strike by Muhammad Attique.

The traditional rivals will feature in Sunday's summit clash at the same venue.

This was India's third convincing win in as many days. Earlier they had outplayed hosts Malaysia and then demolished Singapore.

For Pakistan, it was their first defeat of the tournament.

India pressurised the Pakistan defence from the opening minute. Skipper Diwakar Ram's crisp hit on the right flank was relayed by Mandip Antil for wily striker Pramod Kumar to connect past rival goalkeeper Imran Butt and give India lead.

The Pakistan defence were caught on the wrong foot as India mounted their raids with crafty stick-work and ball skills by Danish Mujtaba and Victo Singh. PTI

Barpeta need 63 to win

Correspondent
JORHAT, March 12 – In the low scoring final of the U-15 inter district cricket tournament for the Amarjit Sarma Trophy, Barpeta require 63 runs in their second innings to win the title.

On the first day of the two-day final three innings were completed. Batting first Margherita scored 50 and Barpeta managed to take a marginal 10-run lead. In the second knock also Margherita batsmen failed to click and were bundled out for 72.

On the final day tomorrow Barpeta team has to score only 63 runs in their second innings if they have to bag the crown.

Brief scores: Margherita 1st innings 50 (Rajah Khan 18, Manoj Pathak 7/22, Jitul Das 2/18).

Barpeta 1st innings 60 (Parthajit Das 28, Zaved Khan 4/9, Rajah Khan 3/12, M Ahmed 2/12).

Margherita 2nd innings 72 (Porag Gohain 16, Manoj Pathak 7/33, Jitul Das 2/6). ASSAM TRIBUNE

Assam, Manipur win EZ handball titles

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 12 – Assam men and Manipur women clinched titles in the East Zone Handball Championship which concluded at the Tarun Ram Phookan Indoor Stadium, in the RG Baruah Sports complex here last evening. In the finals Assam men defeated Bihar 42-23 in a convincing manner while in the women’s category Manipur totally outplayed Assam 20-3.

The Assam men team, the quarterfinalist in the last senior national held at Bisakhapatanam, performed creditably throughout the championship. Right from the pool league matches upto final all the players maintained good form. In final, the title contender Bihar virtually surrendered meekly to the home team. Jharkhand teams took the third positions in both the groups. In the play off matches Jharkhand women beat Nagaland 12-5 while Manipur men gave walk over.

Takeswar Sarma of Assam and Sandhya Rani of Manipur were emerged best players in the men’s and women’s sections respectively. Altogether eight state teams took part in the three-day meet organised by the Assam Handball Association. In the closing function State Social Welfare Minister Akon Bora, former Sports Commissioner Pradip Hazarika, Joint Director Sports Rajib Prakash Baruah, Mifta Uddin Ahmed gave away the prizes. ASSAM TRIBUNE

India blank Singapore 12-0

Johor Bahru, March 12: Mandip Antil scored five goals including a hat-trick to help India trounce Singapore 12-0 in their second match of the four-nation Genting U-21 hockey tournament at the Taman Daya Stadium here today.

The Indian colts, who led 4-0 at the break, found the net at will through Antil, Danish Mujtaba and Lalit Upadhaya, who scored thrice goals each, and Mohd Amir Khan.

With two back-to-back victories, India are sitting pretty at the top of the table with six points. Diwakar Ram-led side had earlier beaten Malaysia 3-1 yesterday. Though India coach A K Bansal was happy with the result of the match, he expressed little concern at his boy’s inability to convert any set piece penalty corner. (PTI)

National Games from June 1: Bali

By our Sports Reporter
GUWAHATI, March 12: The much-awaited 34th Jharkhand National Games is all set to start from June 1. Three venues will be used to hold the tournament which will conclude on June 14. This was disclosed by the convenor of the Games Technical Conduct Committee SM Bali here last night. Bali is also the secretary general of the Handball Federation of India. The 34th National Games was postponed thrice earlier as the venues were not ready to host the Games.
Commenting on the progress of work of various stadiums, Bali said that all the projects are almost complete except two. The taking over of venues by different sports association will start from this week, he added.

If the 34th National Games is held in June then the athletes would bear the harsh summer temperature of the State. However, Bali said that the weather will not be a negative factor.
Meanwhile, Bali added that the second meeting of the GTCC will be held in April in Ranchi. The equipment, will start arriving at the venues from the next month, Bali said.
The overall cost of organizing the National Games will be around Rs 1,000 crores including Rs 850 crore for developing the infrastructure of the State.

Nuruddin semis begin today

The elite group semi final matches in the Nuruddin Senior Inter-District Cricket Tournament will get under way from Friday in two separate venues. Silchar will face Nagaon in one of the semifinal which will be held at the NFRSA stadium in Maligaon while in the other match, Dibrugarh will face NF Railway in their home ground.

Asom men’s team lift East Zone Handball title

Asom lifted the men’s title of the 13th East Zone Handball Championship which concluded at the Deshbhakta Tarun Ram Phukan Indoor Stadium on Wednesday. In the final, the host team thrashed Bihar 42-23. The final match was a one-sided affair and Asom took the upper hand in the game from the very beginning. However in the women’s section, Asom lost tamely to Manipur. The visitors won the game 20-3. Jharkhand bagged the third spot in both the men’s and women’s sections. O Sandhya Rani of Manipur and Takeswar Sharma of Asom were adjudged as the best player in women’s and men’s sections respectively. THE SENTINEL

TTFI in search of another foreign coach

Indore (PTI): Barely two months after appointing Massimo Constantini as the new national coach, the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) is searching for another foreigner to share the Italian's responsibility.

TTFI secretary-general Moolchand Chauhan said although they have not finalised any name as yet, the new foreign coach, to be brought in either from China or North Korea, would be appointed within a month and could be entrusted with the responsibility of the women's team.

"We are looking for another foreign coach, either from North Korea or China. But we are highly interested in a candidate from North Korea as they are very good in this sport," Chauhan said on the sidelines of the ongoing Pro Tour Indian Open here on Thursday.

"He should be here within a month and then we can share the responsibilities of the coaches. The new coach can well take care of the women separately," he added.

Constantini, who represented Italy in 70s and 80s and has also worked as a high-performance coach and education course conductor of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), has been handed the responsibility of grooming 40 'core probables' selected for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

United favourites for Liverpool showdown

LONDON (AP): Under normal circumstances any side fresh from a 4-0 win over Real Madrid would be considered hot favorites for their next match, but third-placed Liverpool go into Saturday's Premier League showdown at Manchester United seven points behind the leaders, having played a game more.

Liverpool prepared for one of the most eagerly awaited fixtures of the season with an overpowering display against Real in the Champions League at Anfield Tuesday, but their spluttering domestic form and an over-reliance on striker Fernando Torres and midfielder Steven Gerrard means United start as clear favorites.

United's prosaic progress to the quarterfinals of the Champions League with a 2-0 win over Inter Milan on Wednesday may work against Liverpool. Manager Alex Ferguson was incensed by the way senior players like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes squandered possession against the Italians and Liverpool can expect a reaction at Old Trafford.

``It was really reckless football and it allowed Inter Milan to get a grip of the game,'' Ferguson said. ``From the middle of the first half to the end of the first half they (Inter) were the better team.''

Nemanja Vidic, scorer of United's first goal, admitted the performance had been flawed.

``We're at home in front of our crowd and I hope we are going to be much better than we were against Inter,'' Vidic said. ``We will definitely try to improve, to erase the mistakes we made and play better against Liverpool.''

Liverpool have taken four points from their last three league games, but they should at least provide United with a stiffer test than they did in the corresponding fixture last season, when they slipped to a 3-0 defeat after Javier Mascherano was sent off.

Torres and Gerrard have scored 17 league goals between them this season, while the rest of the squad have combined for just 25.

Both should be fit, although Torres needed a painkilling injection to play against Madrid. ``I feel good,'' he said. ``My ankle felt a little painful in the second half against Real, but that doesn't matter for a match like this.''

``We will work hard on the injury and train hard and I think I will be 100 percent for Saturday. It is a massive game that I hope to win because that will give us more chances in the league. We know it's very important to win there, if not they will be many points ahead.''

Chelsea, second ahead of Liverpool on goal difference, hosts Manchester City on Sunday, looking for a fourth consecutive league win under temporary manager Guus Hiddink. Striker Didier Drogba's form has revived under Hiddink, but the key to the rest of their season could be the return from injury of Ghana midfielder Michael Essien, who marked his return to the starting lineup with a goal in the Blues' 2-2 Champions League draw at Juventus on Tuesday.

City's Brazil striker Robinho, openly courted by Chelsea last summer, should be fit for the game at Stamford Bridge provided he emerges unscathed from Thursday's UEFA cup tie with Aalborg.

Aston Villa face Tottenham Sunday looking to halt a slump in form that threatens their hold on fourth place and with it the final Champions League qualification spot.

Villa have gone six games, in all competitions, without a win, but manager Martin O'Neill says his side are rejuvenated, after a short break in Dubai.

``We have trained and enjoyed some sun,'' he said. ``The players now feel refreshed. It was vital to regroup, get ourselves together again and now we want to go out and win some games.''

Fifth-placed Arsenal is three points behind Villa and hosts Blackburn on Saturday, less than 72 hours after its victory on penalties over Roma.

The Gunners will recall Andrei Arshavin, who was ineligible for the Roma tie.

Blackburn's confidence was boosted when they climbed out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win at Fulham on Wednesday.

``It's a huge relief from a mental point of view,'' manager Sam Allardyce said. ``Continuing to see yourselves in the bottom three doesn't help, even though you tell the players 'You can't look at the papers, stay away from them'.''

There are two games between teams struggling to avoid relegation. Middlesbrough, 19th, hosts Portsmouth, which is one place and two points above them in the table. Newcastle, which is above Portsmouth on goal difference, travels to Hull, four points ahead of them.

In Saturday's other fixtures Everton hosts Stoke, Fulham travels to Bolton, and Sunderland hosts Wigan.

Antil scores five as India blank Singapore 12-0

Antil scores five as India blank Singapore 12-0

Johor Bahru (PTI): Mandip Antil scored five goals including a hat-trick to help India trounce Singapore 12-0 in their second match of the four-nation Genting U-21 hockey tournament at the Taman Daya Stadium here on Thursday.

The Indian colts, who led 4-0 at the break, found the net at will through Antil, Danish Mujtaba and Lalit Upadhaya, who scored thrice goals each, and Mohd Amir Khan.

With two back-to-back victories, India are sitting pretty at the top of the table with six points. Diwakar Ram-led side had earlier beaten Malaysia 3-1 on Wednesday.

The Indians opened their account in the seventh minute when Mujtaba side stepped past two Singapore defenders after being set up by Pramod Kumar.

The hapless Singaporeans were found wanting against the Indian strikers and their defence caved in without any resistance.

Antil scored his first goal in the 13th minute combining well with Mujtaba and then followed it up with a penalty corner rebound in the 24th minute.

Substitute striker Upadhaya put India further ahead with a deflection from a fiery down the middle shot by skipper Ram shortly before the half time.

After the change of ends, the Indian colts went out full throttle, scoring four goals in a span of seven minutes.

Antil registered his hat-trick when he scored the sixth, seventh and eighth goal for India in the 38th, 40th and 43rd minutes.

Earlier, Amir Khan netted one in the 36th minute from an Upadhaya pass.

The mauling continued unabated as India fired home four more with Mujtaba and Upadhaya being the goal scorers twice each.

Though India coach A K Bansal was happy with the result of the match, he expressed little concern at his boy's inability to convert any set piece penalty corner.

In Wednesday's match against Malaysia also, the Indians were disappointing with short corners and their conversion rate was a dismal one strike in eleven attempts.

India will next face arch-rivals Pakistan in their final league match on Friday.

Australia clinch series against South Africa

Durban, March 10: Australia clinched the Test series South Africa when they won the second Test by 175 runs at Kingsmead here today.

South Africa were bowled out for 370 in their second innings with 37.4 overs to spare on the final day.

The series win enabled Australia to bounce back after losing a home series against the same opponents earlier in the season.

The victory was virtually sealed when the tourists dismissed overnight batsmen Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers inside the first hour.

South Africa lost another two wickets before lunch. Although Mark Boucher and Morne Morkel resisted for 79 minutes after the break, the end came quickly after Boucher gave a return catch to part-time spinner Marcus North.

A win for Australia would clinch the three-match series after they won the first Test in Johannesburg by 162 runs. Kallis and De Villiers made their third wicket stand worth 187 before Kallis was caught at second slip off Mitchell Johnson in the sixth over of the day for 93. Kallis added just five runs after being dropped by Michael Clarke at point off Ben Hilfenhaus in the previous over.

Three overs later De Villiers was caught behind in Peter Siddle’s first over of the day for 84.
With no chance of chasing down a target of 546, Duminy and Boucher resisted for an hour until Duminy was caught behind for 17, gloving a vicious lifter from Hilfenhaus.
Paul Harris was caught at deep midwicket off occasional left-arm spinner Simon Katich, who went on to take two more wickets and finish with figures of three for 45.

Australia took the new ball which was due when South Africa resumed at 244 for two at the start of the day. (PTI)

Anand draws again against Grischuk

Linares (Spain), March 7: World champion Viswanathan Anand settled for a draw with Russian Alexander Grischuk in the 13th and penultimate round of Magistral Ciudad de Linares chess tournament here today.

Anand will meet Carlsen in the last round and the only way he can finish tied first is if he wins and both Grischuk and Ivanchuk lose the final round game a highly unlikely scenario given the form of both the players.

Anand employed the Sicilian Najdorf, an opening that has been a major discussion amongst top players for decades, and went for the sharp Poisoned pawn variation.
Grischuk showed that he had a new idea up his sleeves when he played his 20th move and Anand was forced to go to the defense with his king side coming under pressure.
The world champion warded off white's threats with an exchange sacrifice that gave compensation but the position remained risky for a long time with all white's pieces trained to go for the kill on black's king.

A minor inaccuracy by Grischuk on move 29th enthused life back in Anand's position according to the experts and the Indian came back strongly after another mistake by the Russian to force an equal position. The game was drawn after 33 moves.

Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine rose to the occasion and defeated Levon Aronian of Armenia to joint Grischuk in lead on 7.5 points out of a possible 13. Norwegian super talent Magnus Carlsen missed a winning opportunity to join the leaders after he mishandled a won endgame against Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan and now stands sole third on seven points while Anand is now clear fourth a half point behind.

Radjabov, Aronian and Wang Yue of China share the fifth on six points each while Lenier Dominguez of Cuba remained at the last position with 5.5 points in his bag.
With just one round to come, Ivanchuk will have black pieces against Dominguez while Grischuk will also play black against Aronian. (PTI)

RS Academy upset FCI, CAB down GTC

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 5 – Defending champions Food Corporation of India (FCI) Delhi suffered a five-wicket defeat against RS Academy, also from Delhi while Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) downed Gauhati Town Club by six runs in two matches of the on going Airtel All India T20 Cricket Tournament here at the Nehru Stadium today.

It was second consecutive victory for RS Academy and they virtually booked a berth in the knockout stage.

With some good knocks off the blades of Ankit Rawat (35), Ajmeer Singh (34) and Akash Malhotra (25), FCI piled up a fighting 148 for eight. But the score was not enough as RS Academy reached the target in 18.1 overs losing five wickets. Md Ahmed (36), Amandeep Sonkar (33) and Vaivab Despandey (30) were their leading run getters.

In the second match, displaying superb fielding, the young Bengal boys restricted the GTC team to 124 after setting a winning target of 131.

Brief scores: FCI 148/8 (Ankit Rawat 35, Ajmer Singh 34, Akash Malhotra 25, Sumit Poria 3/21). RS Academy 150/5 (Md Ahmed 36, Amandeep Sonkar 33, Vaivab Despandey 30, Pankaj Thakur 2/37).

CAB 130 (Sudip Chatterjee 39, Ranjit Mali 3/34, Pankaj Saikia 2/17, Binoy Kalita 2/9). GTC 124 (Sib Sankar Roy 21, Sarupam Purkayastha 20, Pankaj Saikia 19, Subhadip Kr Sinha 3/14, Satya Sarkar 2/33). ASSAM TRIBUNE

Tennis meet at NETF

GUWAHATI, March 5 – The North East Tennis Foundation (NETF), on the occasion of its 19th foundation day, has proposed to hold an all Guwahati (open) junior tennis tournament from March 23 to 28, stated a release.

The events to be played in the championship are: Both boys and girls (singles) U-18, U-14, U-12, U-10. (Doubles) U-14.

Barek, Matowara winners in Marathon

Abdul Barek bagged the men’s title in the Ranjit Gogoi All Assam Marathon Championship held in Guwahati on Wednesday. The women’s title was won by Matowara Ahmed (Barpeta). Altogether 30 runners took part in the men’s event while in the women’s section, the number of entries were 12. Barek, who turned up for NF Railway, completed the race clocking 2 hours 36:05 seconds while Matowara, an athlete from Barpeta, took 1hour 36 minutes and 31 seconds to bag the first spot. The winner in the men’s section received a cash award of Rs 5,000 while Matowara was richer by Rs 4,000. There was cash award for few other position holders too in both the categories.
The first fourth position holders in each category: Men: First: Abdul Barek (N F Railway), Second: Saiful Ali (Barpeta), Third: Somesh Uddin ( Guwahati), Fourth: Azghar Ali (Nalbari). Women’s: First: Matowara Ahmed (Barpeta), Second:Sahida Khanna (Barpeta), Third: Mina Bordoloi (Morigaon) and Surya Bhanu (Guwahati). THE SENTINEL

Asom Police lift Inter District Athletics title

Assam Police emerged champion in the 34th Senior Inter District Athletics Championship which concluded at the Indira Gandhi Stadium at Sarusaji on Wednesday. Assam Police have collected 20 medals in the championship which includes 14 gold, three silvers and three bronzes. North East Frontier Railway came second with eight gold, two silvers and one bronze medals.
However, the performance of the Guwahati team was not upto the mark as they had to satisfy with the fifth spot bagging two gold, seven silvers and five bronze medals. Meanwhile, few events were held in the concluding day of the championship.

Assam Police collected gold medals in the 4X400 m relay in both men and women sections. In the hammer throw event, Mukul Buragohain (29.81m) came first in the men’s section. In the women’s category, Tiluttama Deka of Morigaon collected the gold medal throwing the hammer in a distance of 25.17 m. Pabitra Medhi and Dipti Chutia, both from Assam Police, were adjudged the best male and female awards of the championship. THE SENTINEL

OILFC register big win in National League Soccer

Oil India Limited Football Club (OILFC) kept themselves in the contention to earn the next round berth in the National Second Division Soccer League as they registered a thumping 4-1 win over Bengal-Mumbai Club at Silchar on Wednesday. It was the first win for the Duliajan outfit and they now have four points from two outings. The tournament was resumed on Wednesday after it was stopped for a day to mourn the death of Ugandan player Kapeete Alex.
It may be mentioned here that Alex played the first match for Gorge Telegraph on Monday and later died in his hotel after a massive cardiac arrest in the early morning of Tuesday .

Oil India Limited Football Club badly needed a win in this match to strengthen their position in the championship as they drew their first match against Lajong Football Club 1-1. The side played some attacking soccer in the match and inform striker Durga Boro lead the team from the front. Durga alone scored two goals in the 50th and 55th minutes while Stephen and Yusuf added the other two. However, Bengal-Mumbai scored the first goal of the match through Penn who netted the goal from penalty in the 15th minute of the first half. THE SENTINEL

Lawn ball camp begins

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 4 – The month long coaching lawn ball camp for the 2010 Commonwealth Games got off here at Sarusajai here today.

The camp is organized by the Sports authority of India (SAI), for which 30 players from all over the country have been invited. Altogether 22 players have reported today along with Australian coach Richard Gaile. All the players were seen toiling under the watchful eyes of Gaile this morning.

NRL to host tennis meet

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 4 – The Kalyani Club under the aegis of Numaligarh Refinary Limited (NRL) will host the second All Assam Ranking Tennis Championship on the NRL premises from march 18 to 22.

Events like boys U-18, U-14, girls U-18, U-14, combined boys and girls U-10 and veterans, above 30 years will be conducted in the championship where Rs 75,000 is at stake as prize money. Interested players may contact Pratul Saikia at Kalyani Club, Numaligarh.

An organising committee has been set up for the five-day meet with SK Baruah, DGM of NRL as president.

OIL outplay Mumbai team

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 4 – Oil India Football Club rallied to outplay Mumbai Bengal Club 4-1 in their National B Division Football League match at Silchar today. Stephen, Durga Boro (two) and Mithun Basumatary were the scorers for OIL.

Latasil, Navarang enter final

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 4 – Latasil Maroon and Navarang Club cruised into the final of the NEEDS organized Uma Charan Bania Trophy Day/Night Cricket tournament.

In two semifinals played at the Latasil playground here last evening, Latasil Maroon defeated Unique Sports Club by 59 runs while Navarang Club prevailed over Hindu Muslim Club by 33 runs.

The final will be played tomorrow.

Brief scores: Latasil 138 (Rajeeb Kalita 27, Pallab Das 27, Sanjaw Brahma 3/20, Shibham Dey 3/24, Ambar Bhattacharyya 2/19). Unique 79 (Bikash Chetry 4/23, Rajinder Mahato 2/8, Ibrahim Ali 2/17).

Navarang 161 (Utpal Medhi 28, Mimo Singha Roy 26, Sib Sankar Roy 23, Manoj Malo 18, Arun Basfor 2/28, Navajyoti Kaushik 2/35, Jintu Das 2/40). Hindu Muslim 128 (Nayan Deka 35, Raj Hussain 23, Sarupam Purkayastha 3/25, Utpal Medhi 2/18). Assam Tribune

Police athletes top table

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 4 – Assam Police topped the table with 14 gold, three silver and as many bronze medals in the 34th Senior Inter District Athletic Championship which concluded at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Sarusajai here today.

Police athletes Pabitra Medhi and Dipti Chutia were adjudged best athletes in the men’s and women’s sections respectively. In the morning today, Abdul Barek of NF Railway and Matowara Ahmed of Barpeta won the coveted marathon titles in the men’s and women’s sections respectively.

The Police teams swept the 4x400 and 4x100m relay races. In the closing function Assam Football Association secretary Ankur Dutta was present as chief guest. The Guwahati Sports Association organized the three-day meet where 152 athletes from 17 districts took part. Assam Tribune

Price of terrorism: Mega sporting events at risk

NEW DELHI, March 3: Pakistan’s most charismatic cricketer, Imran Khan, must be feeling let down by the gunmen who attacked the Sri Lankan team coach on its way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore’s upmarket Gulburg area on the third day of the second and last Test.

The former Pakistan captain has been insisting that the terrorists will never attack cricketers and implored other cricket-playing nations to visit the country without any fear. He, like many in the subcontinent, thought that cricket is like an elixir and players will not be touched by the zealots.

Cricket tours were cancelled in the past for fear of attacks, death threats, natural calamities or on grounds of racial discrimination but never were cricketers targets of terror attacks.
The 1972 Munich massacre is by far the worst case of terror in sport when 11 Israeli athletes were gunned down by Palestinians in the Olympic Village.

The Lahore attack has now put the 2011 World Cup in jeopardy. With a suicide Tamil Tiger last year killing a minister and athletes at a marathon event in Sri Lanka and the mutiny in Bangladesh, the other two co-sponsors are also jittery. India alone seems to be a safe bet though the teams will still insist on fool-proof security.

Two weeks ago, International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Haroon Lorgat asked the World Cup organisers that they should seriously consider shifting venues, both within and outside Pakistan if political climate there worsens.

Soon after the Lahore incident he had clearly stated that in the next couple of days some serious decisions will be taken, thereby hinting that it will be highly difficult to retain Pakistan as a co-host of the quadrennial event. Some climbdown from the position that the World Cup is still a long way to go and it is too early to be concerned about security.

Lorgat minced no words when it came to telling Pakistan that the ICC would not post match officials for a series in Pakistan unless it is satisfied with the security arrangements. Though the statement irked the Pakistanis, they know that the ICC by inference is backing its member-countries and taking their apprehensions seriously.

Pakistan have not played a Test the entire last year as country after country refused to play them in their backyard. As many as five countries - Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, England and the West Indies - declined to play there. The ICC had to postpone the Champions Trophy, which was to be held in September, and now the event has been shifted out in the face a spate of bombings and machine gun attacks. What broke Pakistan’s back was India’s cancellation of the tour in December.

Sri Lanka were actually playing in Pakistan to fill in for India. The island nation has also agreed to bail out the Indian board by playing a one-day series, sandwiching it between their One-Dayers and Test in Pakistan. The short visit to Sri Lanka was to compensate for the Indian board’s Rs 1.2 billion loss due to cancellation of England’s last two games and the subsequent Twenty20 Champions League.

If the security fears continue, then there will be only a few countries where cricket could be played. There were comparisons between what's happening in Pakistan and the terror strikes in India, but things were soon put in perspective by two of the most sensitive teams, Australia and England, going ahead with their tours. England returned to play the Test series in the aftermath of Mumbai.

The Pakistani board in sheer desperation even toyed with the idea of playing India at a neutral venue, but the move was dropped in the face of mounting public pressure in both the countries.
The ICC concern is to protect international cricket from the uncertainties of terrorist attacks. Only Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies and South Africa are free from the menace, but security concerns in Africa and the Caribbean are of different nature.

In fact, the costs of terrorism is making a lot of countries wary of hosting mega sporting events like the Olympics and the World Cup Soccer. Can sport be held in camera or stopped for ever fearing violence? The answer is: No. (IANS)

Force India 4th fastest on wet track

Jerez (Spain), March 3: Despite heavy rains lashing the circuit, Giancarlo Fisichella of Force India was the fourth quickest on the second and penultimate day of the official test session.

Fisichella managed just 54 laps, the least among the eight runners, clocking a best of one minute, 31.547 seconds as compared to the top three of Timo Glock (Toyota, 1:30.979, 89 laps), Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber, 1:31.327, 70 laps) and Nico Rosberg (Williams, 1:31.451, 114 laps) here on Monday.

Running on extreme wet and standard wet Bridgestone tyres, Fisichella displayed good pace but problems with fuel system precluded a more extended run in the brand new VJM09.

“Considering the amount of laps we did today, it was quite encouraging. It was a reasonable time and six-tenths off the fastest, so I am quite pleased,” said Fisichella who will make way for Adrian Sutil for Tuesday’s test session.

The team’s technical director James Key said: “Again, difficult weather and we missed some of the better conditions in the morning as we had a few technical issues. It was the same problem with the fuel system, but we found a solution from mid-morning onwards that allowed us to do some more running.” (IANS)

Anand held by Dominguez in Linares

Linares (Spain), March 3: World champion Viswanathan Anand played out another draw with Cuban Lenier Dominguez, but other results of the day helped him figure joint third after 10th round of the Magistral Ciudad de Linares chess tournament here.

With just four rounds remaining in the tournament, which is a part of Grand Slam of Chess, Anand took his tally to five points out of a possible 10 and after the fourth consecutive draw in the tournament only a great finish can propel him to the top of the tally.

Overnight sole leader Alexander Grischuk of Russia ensured his stay on the top with 6.5 points after a hard-fought draw with Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, who now stands sole second.
Anand shares the third spot with Aronian and Carlsen on 5 points while Radjabov and Wang Yue are now joint sixth on 4.5 points, a half point clear of tail-ender Dominguez.

Anand went for the sharp Russian system against Dominguez but the Cuban kept his cool in complications. By pushing his central pawn to the sixth rank Anand tried to make headway along the central files but again Dominguez stayed in the game with effective maneuvers.

The exchange of pieces ensued and the queens got traded on the 26th move. Nine moves later the draw was agreed to in a balanced endgame. During the day Magnus Carlsen of Norway found his nemesis in Wang Yue of China, Armenian Levon Aronian was also on the receiving end against Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan.

Carlsen suffered his second loss against Wang Yue in about a month when the Chinese proved superior with black pieces. The Slav defense by Wang Yue resulted in an active position and the latter was at his technical best in posing maximum problems for Carlsen.

In the late stages of middle game Carlsen won an exchange but his king went for a long ride with threats of checkmate looming large. Even though Wang Yue missed a simple win, the position always remained in his control and steady moves led to a queen versus double rook endgame wherein passed pawns on the king side decided the issue. (PTI)

AP dominate in Senior I-D athletics

The athletes of Asom Police are continuing their good form in the 34th Senior Inter-District Athletic Championship and bagged nine golds to finish the second day at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium at the top of the points tally. North East Frontier Railway is in the second spot bagging six medals while Goalpara finished the day at third spot with three gold medals. Meanwhile, the Ranjit Gogoi Memorial Marathon will be held in Guwahati on Wednesday. The race will start from Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium and it will conclude at Ajara. Several disciplines were held on the second day of the championship. The gold medals winners of those events are: 400 m men-Suraj Gogoi (Assam Police), Women-Basanti Rava (Goalpara); 1500m Men- Dadul Ahmed (Nagaon), Wome-Dipti Chutia (Assam Police); 10,000m Men- Apurba Rava (Goalpara), Women-Mofida Hazarika (Nagaon); 110m hurdle Men-Ripul Bramha (Kokrajhar), 100 m hurdle women-Janaki Rava (Goalpara); 200m women- Mina Deka (Assam Police), men Pabitra Medhi (Assam Police), Discuss men- Rajiv Tamuli (Nagaon), Women- Pramila Bharali (Railway), long jump men-Suraj Gogoi (Assam Police), women-Dipshikha Talukdar (Guwahati).

All Assam Ranking Tennis from March 18

Kalyani Club of Numaligarh Refiner Limited will host the second All Assam State Ranking Tennis Tournament which will get under way at the NRL Town ship court from March 18. The tournament is offering scholarship of Rs 75,000 to the players. (Our Correspondent, Jorhat).

India spank Kiwis in first ODI

NAPIER, March 3 (PTI): Shrugging off the T20 defeats, India today bounced back with a solid batting display to spank New Zealand by 53 runs on the basis of Duckworth-Lewis method in the rain-marred first cricket one-dayer and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

India rode on skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s unbeaten 84 and blistering half-centuries by Virender Sehwag (77) and Suresh Raina (66) to rattle up 273 for 4 in 38 overs and then put up a disciplined bowling performance to prevent the Kiwis from upstaging them.

Rain-interruptions added to the woes of New Zealand, who were forced to chase a stiff target of 216 from 28 overs when the drizzle halted play for the second time in the match. The Kiwis could manage just 162 for nine. They were 111 in 20.5 overs while chasing original 274 from 38 overs when play was suspended and on the resumption the Kiwis were left with a daunting task of scoring 105 runs off 7.1 overs. After the first rain break, the match was reduced to 38 overs per side.

Martin Guptill (64) and Ross Taylor (31) scored the bulk of the runs for the hosts. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (3/27) and paceman Praveen Kumar (2/28) shone with the ball for India.

India were on top of their game today as their batting, despite a lull in the middle overs was awesome, with Suresh Raina providing the thrust with a 39-ball 66. Their bowling was sharp and disciplined, with Praveen Kumar removing the wind out of the Kiwi sail with two crippling blows at the start, and Harbhajan Singh scything through the latter order. The Blackcaps did well to recover from a staggering start through Guptill and Taylor but the asking rate was always way too high to be achieved under lights.

Requiring a stifling 105 off 43, they lost wickets in a trice as Harbhajan Singh produced a brilliant spell and came close to getting a hat-trick in the 24th over.

New Zealand lost four wickets in five balls to capitulate to their worst defeat in the season. Apart from Raina, who savaged the Kiwi attack with casual disdain Sehwag, Dhoni also contributed to India’s cause. Sachin Tendulkar (20) and Yusuf Pathan (20 not out) also chipped in their mite.

Earlier, a 141-minute rain-break had little effect on Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar as the celebrated openers went about caning the Kiwi pace attack without much ado.

India were cruising along at 69 for no loss in the tenth over when Tendulkar, venturing to work the ball to third man, nicked Ian Butler to Brendon McCullum.

If runs had cascaded like the Brahmaputra in spate at the start, it began to dry up in the middle overs (13 to 18) as Daniel Vettori and Butler bottled up Sehwag and Dhoni.

Sehwag braved to break out of the Kiwi shackles, only to watch Ross Taylor produce an outstanding catch at short covers off Vettori.

Assam Tribune

ACA condemns Lahore incident

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 3 – The Assam Cricket Association (ACA) has strongly condemned the attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore today.

The ACA president Gautam Roy and secretary Bikash Baruah said drastic action should be taken against the culprits as it has made a huge damage to the cricketing world. Baruah said, the ACA has contacted the BCCI and urged them to take a strong stand in this regard. ACA also prayed to the almighty for speedy recovery of the injured players. Assam Tribune

FCI, RS Academy earn full points

GUWAHATI, March 3 – Defending champions Food Corporation of India (FCI), Delhi and their city mate RS Academy earned full points in today’s matches of the Airtel All India T20 Cricket Tournament.

In two well-contested encounters at the Nehru Stadium here today, FCI earned a five-wicket victory against Radial Club of Nagaon while RS Academy edged out Bud Cricket club by seven runs.

Put into bat, Radial Club scored 130 in the allotted 20 overs and in reply, the FCI outfit gahthered 132 in 19 overs losing five wickets. Rajinder Bist of the Delhi team was adjudged man-of-the-match.

The second match was a close one as in reply to RS Academy’s 134, the local team managed to score 127. RS Academy bowler Amandip Sonkar received the man-of-the-match award.

Brief scores: Radial 130 (Dhiraj Goswami 33, Amit Sinha 22, Diptesh Saha 20, Rana Sarma 19, Tauhid Ali Talukdar 19, Pankaj Thakur 2/15, Rohit Saini 2/25). FCI 132/5 (Rajinder Singh Bisht 51, Bichitra Baruah 4/23).

RS Academy 134 (Amit Yadav 40, Rohit Jhalani 21, Krishna Das 4/19). Bud CC 127 (Rishab Das 27, Subhadip Ghosh 21, Amandip Sonkar 4/13, Sumit Poria 2/20).

Today’s matches: CAB vs GCCC; Air India vs GTC.

Assam Tribune

State footballer dead

GUWAHATI, March 3 – Former State footballer Tafiqueuddin (Rubul) Ahmed died at the Guwahati Medical College Hospital this afternoon. He was 40.

Rubul was an employee of the Assam State Transport Corporating (ASTC) and represented the State junior and school teams on several occasions as goalkeeper. He also represented the State handball team in national championships on a couple of occasions. He was a familiar footballer of the GSA league, playing for the ASTC team in nineties. His untimely demise has cast a pall of gloom among the football players of the city. Assam Tribune

Ugandan player dies

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, March 3 – A footballer of the Camellia George Telegraph of Kolkata died at Silchar today.

Alex Kettite, who was from Uganda met the tragic incident this morning who was quite upset after their match in the National B Division Football League at the Satindra Mohan Dev Stadium, Silchar against Lajong Football Club of Shillong yesterday, which they lost 1-2.

The Kolkata team recruited the Uganda player this year and yesterday’d match was his first one in India. Although he missed two sitters in the match against Lajong, he netted the lone goal for his team and according to the reports available here he was upset after missing the scoring opportunities.

According to the informed sources, he felt pain in his chest and was rushed to the Silchar Medical College Hospital by the officials of the Silchar District Sports Association. But unfortunately the 24-year footballer breathed his last on the way to the hospital.

The football fraternity of the State mourned his death. Today’s match of the championship was put off due to the tragic incident. Assam Tribune

ONGC start with a win in 2nd division soccer

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ONGC start with a win in 2nd division soccer

ONGC, Mumbai, collected full points in group ‘A’ match of the Second Division National League defeating Bengal-Mumbai 2-0 at Silchar on Sunday. Both the goals of the match were scored by Tarif Ahmed in the 23rd and 25th minutes of the game. It may be mentioned that this was the second game of the competition. With this win, ONGC is at the top of the points table collecting 3 points. Earlier, OILFC and Lajong Football Club shared points in the first match of the tournament on Saturday.

Asom ready to defend handball title

The officials of the Assam Handball Association (AHA) sounded optimistic that the State team will perform well in the forthcoming East Zone Handball Championship which will get under way in Guwahati from March 9. The Assam Handball Association (AHA) would host the event.
Talking to a mediapersons, the president of the AHA Kalyan Gogoi said that the men’s team of Asom, who were runners-up in the earlier edition of this championship, performed well in the recently concluded senior national handball championship. This performance will definitely boost the morale of the team. “On the other hand, the women’s team will go into the competition as the defending champion and I am optimistic that they would be able to perform will come out with shinning results,” said Gogoi.

The media briefing was also attended by the chairperson of the organizing committee Rani Narah and secretary Munin Nobis. Elaborating on the preparation of the tournament, Narah said that it everything is going according to schedule. The total budget of the competition will be around Rs 9.8 lakh. The preliminary matches of the championship will be held at the Nehru Stadium while the Deshbhakta Tarun Ram Phookan Indoor Stadium will be the venue for the semi final and final matches.

The secretary of the AHA Gautam Choudhury, who was also present in the media briefing, added that altogether eight teams will take part in the championship and they are: Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and Asom. The Sentinel

Asom lift NE T-20 cricket title

From our Correspondent The sentinel
SHILLONG, Feb 28: Assam lifted the first North East T-20 Cricket title defeating Nagaland by five wickets in Shillong today. Krishna Das of Asom, who picked up three wickets for just 16 runs, bagged the man of the match title in the final.

Nagaland won the toss and elected to bat first in the match. However the side managed to score only 85 runs losing 9 wickets in 20 overs. Hokaito Zhimoni, the top scorer for nagaland, scored 49 runs from 67 balls.

Krishna Das took 3 wickets for 16 runs while Gokul Sarma claimed 2 wickets for 21 runs in his four overs..

In reply, Assam reached the target in 16.5 overs losing 5 wickets. Sib Sankar Roy (30) was the top scorer for the winning team. Aosashi bagged 2 wickets for Nagaland giving away 16 runs.
The champion team received cash award of Rs. 1,50,000 while Nagaland, the runners up of the tournament, was richer by Rs. 75,000. Hokaito Zhimoni of Nagaland adjudged Man of the Tournament..