S P O R T S

Australia complete 3-0 whitewash

Sydney, January 5  Australia swept to another convincing four-day victory over Pakistan with a nine-wicket win in the final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground here today.

The Australian Test cricket team pose with the series trophy after beating Pakistan in the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Australia won the Test by nine wickets giving them a 3-0 series win over Pakistan. — Reuters photo

Tendulkar to play, but won’t bat
Mumbai, January 5
Sachin Tendulkar today confirmed that he would take part in the tsunami relief fund-raising match but said he would not bat in the charity tie between an Asian XI and ICC XI in Melbourne on January 10.

South Africa on verge of victory

Cape Town, January 5 Two wickets in successive overs enabled South Africa to move closer to a series-levelling victory on the fourth day of the third Test against England today. England, set to make a world record 501 to win, were 151 for five at the close. Langeveldt out England bowler Steve Harmison (L) celebrates with team-mates after taking the wicket of South African batsman AB de Villiers for 10 runs on Wednesday. — Reuters photo

Bangladesh eye maiden Test win
Chittagong, January 5
Zimbabwe make their return to Test cricket here tomorrow, while host Bangladesh looks to register their maiden win in 34 matches.

Hockey league: 13 foreign players to take part
Hyderabad, January 5
Thirteen foreign players, including short corner specialist Sohail Abbas of Pakistan, will take part in the Premier Hockey League, billed as the mega hockey event of the year, starting at the Gachibowli hockey complex here from January 13.

Innovations at PHL

Australia's Stuart MacGill celebrates taking the wicket of Pakistan's Danish Kaneria for a duck during the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
— Reuters

	Ponting, Gilchrist blast Pak attack January 5, 2005
	Ganguly to lead Asia XI against ICC XI January 4, 2005
	Ponting, Fleming, Lara in World XI January 3, 2005
	ICC XI, Asia XI to play 2 fund-raisers January 2, 2005
	Sports bodies rally to help victims January 1, 2005
	BCCI announces 1 cr for relief fund December 31, 2004
	Aussies beat Pak by 9 wickets December 30, 2004
	India surrender lead to draw with France December 29, 2004
	India beat Bangladesh to clinch series December 28, 2004
	Minnows Bangladesh stun India, level series December 27, 2004

Bjorkman, Kim upset
Chennai, January 5
Fourth seed Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and eighth seed Kebin Kim were upset by their unseeded opponents on the third day of the ATP Tour Chennai Open here tonight. Justin Gimelstob of the USA beat Bjorkman 6-0 4-6 6-3 and Thomas Zib (Czech) shut the door on Kim winning 6-3 7-5 to join defending champion Carlos Moya of Spain in the quarterfinals.

JCT meet Dempo in NFL opener
New Delhi, January 5
JCT, Phagwara, will take on Dempo of Goa in Goa on January 16 in their opening match of the ninth edition of the ONGC National Football League (NFL), starting in Kolkata on January 12 with a match between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the NFL.

Indoor stadium eludes Himachal players
Mandi, January 5
Even though Himachal Pradesh’s sportspersons have excelled at the national level in athletics, volleyball, boxing, shooting, archery and other sports, they still do not have an indoor stadium with a synthetic track and an Astro-turf to undergo training.

Schumacher gifts $ 10 m for tsunami-hit
Paris, January 5
Seven-time world Formula One champion Michael Schumacher led the pack of sporting donors to victims of last week's Asian tsunamis, gifting a massive 10 million dollars. "The dawning of the New Year has not been as joyful for us this year because of the catastrophe in Asia," Schumacher said.

4 Indians share lead
New Delhi, January 5
Four Indian players shared the lead with a cent per cent record after the fourth round in the third Parsvnath International Chess Tournament at the Bapu Samaj Sewa Kendra here today. Laxman, Satyapragyan, Preetham Sharma and Deep Sengupta were tied at the top table.

Delhi soccer trials tomorrow
New Delhi, January 5
The Delhi Soccer Association (DSA) will hold selection trials to pick the Delhi team for the Junior National (Under-19) Football Championship for the Dr BC Roy Trophy to be held at Basti in Uttar Pradesh from January 27.

Russia's Elena Dementieva (left) and compatriot Maria Sharapova react in this combo photo during a tennis challenge match between the two in Hong Kong on Wednesday. Dementieva beat Sharapova 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-1. — Reuters

 

 

 

Australia complete 3-0 whitewash

Sydney, January 5
Australia swept to another convincing four-day victory over Pakistan with a nine-wicket win in the final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground here today.

Skipper Ricky Ponting hit the winning boundary off his first delivery after Justin Langer was deceived by a Danish Kaneria wrong’un and was bowled for 34 just four runs short of victory.

The Pakistanis had a minor triumph by erasing a 264-run innings deficit to force Australia into a second innings, primarily due to a resolute 87 from number five Asim Kamal, who was the last wicket to fall in the tourists’ second innings of 325.

Australia required just 9.3 overs to polish off the required runs in 38 minutes to deliver them their first win of 2005 after winning 10 of their 14 Tests last year, only losing in the dead rubber Mumbai Test against India in November.

At the finish, Australia were 62 for one with Matthew Hayden not out 23 and Ponting on four and not having to face pace spearhead Shoaib Akhtar, who did not take the field for the last rites.

Pakistan also lost their other two Tests in the series on the fourth day, going down by 491 runs in Perth and by nine wickets in Melbourne.

Pakistan last beat Australia 13 Tests ago in Sydney by 74 runs in 1995 and overall Australia lead Pakistan 10 to five since they began playing each other in 1956.

The best and worst of Pakistan cricket was in evidence today.

Shahid Afridi (46) triggered a collapse of wickets with a reckless run-out to derail Pakistan’s momentum built up by a fighting fifth-wicket stand of 74 runs with Asim.

Afridi was tardy in backing up a sharp single from Asim and did not beat home Damien Martyn’s throw to give the Australians the big breakthrough and a run at Pakistan’s brittle tailend.

The wickets tumbled — five for 32 — as Kamran Akmal (4), Rana Naved-ul-Hassan (9), Shoaib Akhtar (0) and Kaneria (0) followed Afridi back to the dressing room as leg-spinners Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill shared the wickets.

But Asim, playing in his sixth Test, showed the required resolve and joined in a spirited 55-run last-wicket stand with Mohammad Asif to keep Australia’s winning bid on hold for an hour.

Ponting snapped up a spectacular one-handed slip catch to finally end Asim’s innings 10 minutes after tea, giving Jason Gillespie his only wicket of the Test.

Asim, who was out for 99 on his Test debut against South Africa in Lahore in October, 2003, faced 143 balls in 181 minutes with 15 boundaries.

Warne finished with 4-111 off 26 overs to finish the series with 14 wickets and take his world record wicket tally to 566 in 120 Tests.

His spin twin, MacGill, captured 3-83 for match figures of 8-170 on his return to Test cricket after nine months in limbo.

MacGill was later named man of the match ahead of Ponting, who scored 207 in the first innings, and Adam Gilchrist, who changed the course of the match yesterday with a spectacular 113 off 120 balls.

Pakistan took two quick body blows before lunch with the key dismissals of senior batsmen Yousuf Youhana and Younis Khan off consecutive balls.

The tourists were looking secure with skipper Yousuf and Younis combining in a determined 60-run partnership for the third wicket.

But Pakistan’s hopes of building a big enough lead to put pressure back on Australia in the last innings were dashed when MacGill bowled Yousuf with a big leg-break for 30 in 94 minutes on the last ball of his 13th over.

Younis followed next ball, giving debutant Shane Watson his first Test wicket when he was trapped leg before wicket for 44 in 154 minutes, leaving the Pakistanis wobbling at 164 for four.

Pakistan opener Yasir Hameed was out to a dubious lbw decision to Warne for 63 off 77 balls after 34 minutes’ play.

Television replays suggested the line was marginally outside leg stump, but English umpire David Shepherd raised his finger to Warne’s joy.

Scoreboard

Pakistan (1st innings) 304

Australia (1st innings) 568

Pakistan (2nd innings)

Butt c Warne b MacGill 21

Hameed lbw Warne 63

Younis lbw Watson 44

Youhana b MacGill 30

Kamal c Ponting b Gillespie 87

Afridi run out (Martyn) 46

Akmal c Hayden b Warne 4

Rana lbw Warne 9

Shoaib c Martyn b Warne 0

Kaneria b MacGill 0

Asif not out 12

Extras (b-4, lb-3, nb-2) 9

Total (all out, 89.2 overs) 325

Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-104, 3-164, 4-164, 5-238, 6-243, 7-261, 8-269, 9-270.

Bowling: McGrath 16-2-53-0, Gillespie 13.2-2-39-1, Warne 26-2-111-4, MacGill 25-3-83-3, Watson 9-2-32-1.

Australia (2nd innings)

Langer b Kaneria 34

Hayden not out 23

Ponting not out 4

Extras (nb-1) 1

Total (1 wicket, 9.3 overs) 62

Fall of wicket: 1-58.

Bowling: Rana 3-0-28-0, Asif 2-0-16-0, Kaneria 2.3-0-16-1, Afridi 2-0-2-0. — AFP

Tendulkar to play, but won’t bat

Mumbai, January 5
Sachin Tendulkar today confirmed that he would take part in the tsunami relief fund-raising match but said he would not bat in the charity tie between an Asian XI and ICC XI in Melbourne on January 10.

“I am definitely participating in the match. But I won’t be batting in that game as advised by my doctors,” the master batsman said, adding that he would leave for Australia on Friday.

Tendulkar said he was looking forward to the match as it gave him a great opportunity to do his bit for tsunami-affected families.

“I feel happy to contribute towards the cause and do my bit. The occasion is such that everyone needs to be there and provide help,” Tendulkar said about participating in the fund-raiser for the thousands of victims.

Asked about his elbow, Tendulkar said he had been advised complete rest by his doctor.

Akhtar doubtful

SYDNEY: Pakistani paceman Shoaib Akhtar is in doubt for Monday’s all-star cricket fund-raiser after injuring his right leg and failing to bowl on the last day of the third Test against Australia. 

South Africa on verge of victory

Cape Town, January 5
Two wickets in successive overs enabled South Africa to move closer to a series-levelling victory on the fourth day of the third Test against England today. England, set to make a world record 501 to win, were 151 for five at the close.

England, leading 1-0 in the five-Test series, recovered from the loss of Marcus Trescothick to the second ball of the innings when only one wicket fell between lunch and tea.

Andrew Strauss, England's top scorer in the first five innings of the series, was leg before wicket to left-arm spinner Nicky Boje for 39.

Robert Key and England captain Michael Vaughan stayed together for 20 overs and were looking solid before there was a dramatic change of fortunes, with both men out in quick succession.

Key, who made 41, went down the wicket against Boje and the ball spun past his bat for wicketkeeper AB de Villiers to make an easy stumping.

Scoreboard

South Africa (1st innings) 441

England (1st innings) 163

South Africa (2nd innings)

Smith lbw Hoggard 2

Gibbs c G.Jones b Flintoff 24

Rudolph c Key b S.Jones 23

Kallis run out 66

Dippenaar c Vaughan b Flintoff 44

Boje run out 4

Amla c G.Jones b S.Jones 10

De Villiers c Giles b Harmison 10

Pollock not out 3

Ntini not out 0

Extras (b-7, lb-12, nb-7, w-10) 36

Total (8 wkts dec.) 222

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-62, 3-101, 4-184, 5-190, 6-203, 7-215, 8-219.

Bowling: Hoggard 10-0-46-1, Harmison 19-3-55-1, Flintoff 18-1-46-2, Giles 13-2-41-0, S.Jones 9.3-4-15-2.

England (IInd innings):

Trescothick c Amla b Pollock 0

Strauss lbw b Boje 39

Key st De Villiers b Boje 41

Vaughan c Rudolph b Ntini 20

Thorpe batting 22

Flintoff c De Villiers b Pollock 20

Jones batting 2

Extras (b2, nb5) 7

Total (5 wkts, 77 overs) 151

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-68, 3-103, 4-105, 5-146

Bowling: Pollock 17-8-26-2, Ntini 15-3-30-1, Langeveldt 11-2-31-0, Boje 20-10-25-2, Kallis 12-4-26-0, Smith 2-0-11-0. — AFP, Reuters

Langeveldt out

CAPE TOWN: South Africa seamer Charl Langeveldt has ruled himself out of the rest of the series against England despite claiming five wickets on his debut in the third Test at Newlands. The swing bowler, who was nursing a broken left hand after being struck while batting on Monday, bravely took the field and proceeded to carve through the English batting as they slumped to 163 all out. “Ideally any cricketer would like to play on in the series after playing well in his first Test,” Langeveldt said on Tuesday. — Reuters

Bangladesh eye maiden Test win

Chittagong, January 5
Zimbabwe make their return to Test cricket here tomorrow, while host Bangladesh looks to register their maiden win in 34 matches. “This is an important Test for us. Expectations are high and there is much pressure on us,” Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar said today. “But we have to maintain consistency, and do good in batting, bowling and fielding.”

Zimbabwe have not held International Cricket Council Test status since a boycott by most of their top players prompted a massive loss to Sri Lanka in May. Subsequent tours by Australia and England featured limited-overs matches only.

The first of the two Tests between cricket’s lowest-ranking Test playing teams will be contested at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong, while the second Test will begin in Dhaka from January 14.

Bangladesh will field almost the same team that lost a two-Test home series 2-0 to India last month. However, a shock 15-run victory over India in the second of three limited-overs matches has given his side a “moral boost”, Bashar said.

“Zimbabwe are not a bad team,” he said.

In a three-day warm-up match earlier this week, a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI struggled to a draw after a Zimbabwe side notched 522-3 declared in reply to the hosts 316-7 declared.

“It’s an exciting series,” Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu said today.

“I am not really a big one for naming anybody as favourite — I believe that the better team will win,” said Taibu, 21.

Bangladesh’s Australian-born coach, Dav Whatmore, agreed.

“It is a very interesting series because both teams feel that they have a good chance to win,” Whatmore said, adding that “Bangladesh — probably slightly — are the favourite.”

Looking for an extra spinner to suit a flat Chittagong wicket, Bangladeshi selectors included Enamul Haque to play alongside Mohammad Rafique, but left out pacers Talha Zubair and Manjurul Islam Rana from the final line-up.

“Spinners will be the key to the game,” Whatmore said.

Left-hand spinner Haque, 18, last played against New Zealand at home in November, after making his Test debut against England in October, 2003.

“Bangladesh have good spinners, but we are not worried, we have got a few spinners, too,” Taibu said. — AP

Hockey league: 13 foreign players to take part

Hyderabad, January 5
Thirteen foreign players, including short corner specialist Sohail Abbas of Pakistan, will take part in the Premier Hockey League, billed as the mega hockey event of the year, starting at the Gachibowli hockey complex here from January 13.

"We have made many innovations and the new format will provide a different kind of dynamics on the field," Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) President, K P S Gill told reporters while releasing the list of PHL Tier-I teams today.

Five teams -- Hyderabad Sultans with Dilip Tirkey as captain, Bangalore Hi-Fliers led by Arjun Halappa, Sher-e-Jalandhar with Gagan Ajit Singh at the helm, Maratha Warriors led by Viren Rasquinha and Chennai Veerans headed by Ignace Tirkey -- will be playing the month-long round robin league matches, he said.

Besides Sohail Abbas, who holds the record of scoring the highest number of goals in international hockey, Juan Pablo Escarre of Spain, Wasim Ahmed, Ahed Alan, Dilawar Hussain, Kashif Jawwad, Muddassar Ali Khan, Zeeshan Ashraf, Ali Raza, Mohammed Saqlain, Mohd Sarwar (all Pakistan), Kuhan Shanmuganathan and Nor Azlan Bakar (both Malaysia) have confirmed their entries, he said.

Two more foreign players are likely to join the league, Mr Gill said adding, next year no country (hockey playing) will go unrepresented as our efforts are to popularise hockey through live telecast and increasing frequency of the matches to give more exposure to players and viewers as well. For the first time, players will be getting appearance money in hockey, Mr Gill said but held back the exact amount to be paid to foreign players.

The incentive for Indian players was earlier announced with the skippers getting Rs one lakh each.

Infusing more attraction into the league, a total prize money of Rs 71 lakh is on offer of which Tier-I winners will pocket Rs 30 lakh and runners up Rs 10 lakh.

Speaking on the format, Mr Gill said the matches will have four quarters of 17 minutes and 30 seconds each instead of the present two halves.

Number of players will be reduced during extra time which will change the dynamics of the play drastically and improve the efficiency of the boys, he said.

On composition of teams, Mr Gill said "we tried to balance all the sides giving opportunity to youngsters and also the seniors who are in 30s to prove themselves. Things will be clear after we release the Tier-II list at Lucknow shortly."

Tier-I (Premier Division) matches will be held here while Tier-II (First Division) matches will be held at Lucknow. The league will be played in a round robin format with all teams playing each other twice. Winner in the stipulated time will get three points for each victory while the team winning in extra time will share the points 2:1.

The following is the list of teams released by the IHF chief:

Hyderabad Sultans: Dilip Tirkey (captain), S Rajasekhar, Inderjeet Singh Chadha, Ajitesh Rai, Harsha Vardhan, Chandan Singh, Suresh, Lazarus Barla, Sameer Dad, Cyril Ekka, Sreejesh (GK), Nitya Jayanand, Susan Topno, Ahmed Alam (GK Pakistan),Sohail Abbas and Wasim Ahmed (Pakistan). Coach: Narendra Pal Singh.

Bangalore Hi-Fliers: Arjun Halappa (captain), Bharat Kumar Chetri and Kuttappa (GKs), Irshad Ali, Ajay Kumar, Chandrasekhar Xalxo, VS Vinay, Len Aiyappa, Prabodh Tirkey, Pawal Lakra, Amar Aiyamma, Sabu Varkey, Sandeep Michael, Hari Prasad, Sunil Ekka, Tushar Khandekar, Muddassar Ali Khan (Pakistan) and Kuhan Shanmuganathan (Malaysia). Coach: Ramesh Prameswaran.

Sher-e-Jallandhar: Gagan Ajit Singh (captain), Maninder Singh and Kamaldeep Singh (GKs), Kanwalpreet Singh, Harpal Singh, Jatinder Pal Singh, Baljit Singh Saini, Prabhdeep Singh, Balwant Singh, Ajmer Singh, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Daljit Singh Dhillon, Prabhjot Singh, Deepak Thakur, Didar Singh, Parminder Singh, Mohammed Sarwar (Pakistan) and Noor Azlan (Malaysia). Coach: Ramandeep Singh.

Maratha Warriors: Viren Rasquinha (captain), Adrian D'Souza and Baljit Singh (GKs), Conroy Remedius, Jaswinder Singh, Sunil Yadav, Vijay Alphonso, Dhanraj Pillay, Girish Pimpale, Shivendra Singh, Devinder Kumar, Errol D'Silva, Hemant Ghete, Humza Mujtaba, Junaid Jada, Ali Raza, Mohammed Saqlain and Kashif Jawwad (Pakistan). Coach: Clarence Lobo.

Chennai Veerans: Ignace Tirkey (captain), Devesh Chouhan and Rajarajan (GKs), William Xalxo, Nitin Kumar, Jagath Jothi, Vivek Gupta, Bimal Lakra, Prabakaran, Jagan Senthil, Adam Sinclair, Venkatesh, Raja, Birender Lakra, Sandeep Singh, Dilawar Hussain (Pakistan) and Juan Pablo Escarre (Spain). Coach: Harender Singh. — PTI 

Innovations at PHL

The inaugural edition of the Premier Hockey League (PHL), which will be kicked off on January 13, will witness a few innovations.

During the month-long tournament, each game will have four quarters of 17 minutes and 30 second each, instead of the two halves. New concepts of time-outs have also been introduced in order to liven up the game. The winner within the stipulated time will get three points for each victory while the team winning in the extra time will share the points 2:1.

ESPN STAR Sports has won the rights to telecast all Tier-Imatches to be played here live. Selected Tier-II matches will be broadcast on a deferred live basis. These will be preceded by a special weekly programme called 'Scoop'.

At a press conference, ESPN Software Indian Pvt Ltd Managing Director R C Venkateish said they were in talks with master operators for live telecast at Hyderabad.

According to sources, ESPN is asking for Rs 15 fee per connection from the master operators.

The first match of the league will be between the home team' Hyderabad Sultans' and Gaganajit Singh lead 'Sher-e-Jallandhar'. — UNI

Bjorkman, Kim upset

Justin Gimelstob  of USA returns to fourth seed Tomas Bjorkman of Sweden at the Chennai Open on Wednesday. Gimelstob shocked Bjorkman  by 6-0,4-6,6-3. — PTI photo

Chennai, January 5
Fourth seed Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and eighth seed Kebin Kim were upset by their unseeded opponents on the third day of the ATP Tour Chennai Open here tonight.

In the decider, Gimelstob, better known for his doubles play, continued with his tactic of hustling to the net and succeeded with a break in the seventh game to lead 5-3.

Leander-Zimonjic pair in quarters

Overcoming his loss in the singles, Leander Paes entered the doubles quarter finals of the ATP World Tour Chennai Open here last night along with his new partner, Serbian Nenad Zimonjic.

In a late night match on centre court, Leander and Zimonjic started off their partnership on a perfect note, knocking out in straight sets, the French pair of Jean Francois Bachelot and Gregory Carraz 6-4, 6-2 in just 38 minutes.— UNI, PTI

JCT meet Dempo in NFL opener
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, January 5
JCT, Phagwara, will take on Dempo of Goa in Goa on January 16 in their opening match of the ninth edition of the ONGC National Football League (NFL), starting in Kolkata on January 12 with a match between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the NFL.

In their other matches, JCT will meet Sporting Club de Goa on January 21 in Goa, Fransa Pax Club of Goa in Goa on January 25, Salgaocar in Punjab on January 30, Vasco in Punjab on February 2, East Bengal in Kolkata on February 6, Mohun Bagan in Kolkata on February 9, Mahindra United in Mumbai on February 14, Churchill Brothers in Punjab on February 20, Tollygunge Agragami of Kolkata in Punjab on February 23 and State Bank of Travancore in Punjab on February 28.

Indoor stadium eludes Himachal players
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Mandi, January 5
Even though Himachal Pradesh’s sportspersons have excelled at the national level in athletics, volleyball, boxing, shooting, archery and other sports, they still do not have an indoor stadium with a synthetic track and an Astro-turf to undergo training.

Talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of the Golden Jubilee HP State Olympic Games that concluded here recently at the Paddal stadium, top sportspersons said they were not always able to perform well at national-level competitions due to lack of training on synthetic tracks.

“I get tired as I am not trained to run on a synthetic surface,” said Pushpa Thakur, a national bronze medallist, who remains unbeaten in the 100 metres and 200 metres races for the past 10 years in the state. “Athletes of the state also have little exposure as they get to attend very few camps before national meets”, she added.

Highlighting the need for a modern indoor stadium complete with a synthetic track and an Astro-turf, the sportspersons said Himachal Pradesh could excel in athletics, volleyball, boxing, hockey, shooting and archery if they got modern training surfaces such as those in states like Punjab.

“Sportspersons, especially women, are recognised neither by society nor by their parents. The latter do not approve of girls taking sports as a career. In HP, volleyball has a bright future, but there is no indoor stadium for players to practise,” said Aruna Tomar of Sirmaur, who represented India at the Children of Asia Volleyball Championship in Russia in July last year, in which India was the runner-up.

The sportspersons who make a mark nationally and internationally have to run from pillar to post in search of jobs as the state government neither has funds nor posts to accommodate them, said Sanjeev Sharma, a volleyball national, who headed the Shimla team, citing the case of archer R Dorjee, a bronze medallist in shooting.

“The state needs a state-of-the-art indoor stadiums as Himachal players have won at the national level in volleyball, shooting, boxing and archery despite lack of facilities”, he added.

Only Shimla has an indoor stadium for volleyball and other indoor games in the state, but that does not maintain the required temperature. In summer it is too hot and in winter too cold, revealed the players.

A former Director, Youth Services and Sports, Mr TL Vaidya, said sportspersons from the state had won several gold medals in the nationals. “Boys in Lahaul-Spiti have the ideal physique for weightlifting and mountaineering, but very few of them come forward. In Shimla, boys have a good height and it has produced outstanding volleyball and kabaddi players. It is a question of giving them incentives,” he added.

Admitting that Himachal Pradesh was far behind in sports infrastructure, Suman Rawat, a former Olympian and Arjuna awardee, who is the Deputy Director, Youth Affairs and Sports, Himachal Pradesh, said things had improved a lot in the state. “We are constructing indoor halls at Una, Dharamsala and Bilaspur. But more needs to be done. Then funds remain an area of concern”, she added.

Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Minister for Forests, Sports and Youth Affair, said the government’s priority at present was to provide minimum sports infrastructure at the district level. “Synthetic and Astro-turfs are a pre-requisite in sports, but they require a lot of money,” he said.

Schumacher gifts $ 10 m for tsunami-hit

Paris, January 5
Seven-time world Formula One champion Michael Schumacher led the pack of sporting donors to victims of last week's Asian tsunamis, gifting a massive 10 million dollars.

"The dawning of the New Year has not been as joyful for us this year because of the catastrophe in Asia," Schumacher said.

"We sympathise with the victims in their grief," said Schumacher, whose own government was set to become the biggest donor to the Indian Ocean nations devastated by tsunamis by pledging 500 million euros in aid.

Fellow German, tennis star Nicolas Kiefer came up with a novel way of fundraising, saying he would donate 100 dollars per ace he served in three Australian tournaments.

"For every ace, starting now in Adelaide, then in Sydney, and finally in Melbourne, I will donate 100 dollars.

The German football federation and league announced a donation of 1.5 million euros, while Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich will stump up at least 300,000 euros for a school or orphanage project in Sri Lanka.

The French football federation also donated one million euros in what is seen as a kickstart to efforts to mobilise a donation drive across all sports. — AFP

FIFA, AFC gather $ 3 m

ZURICH: World soccer governing body FIFA will give US$2 million and the Asian Football Confederation has pledged an additional US$1 million to a fund to help soccer associations in tsunami-affected nations.

The money will be spent in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand, mostly to restore soccer facilities and provide balls, shirts, boots and goals, FIFA said.

FIFA and the AFC also plan to work together to coordinate help from other continental confederations and national associations, ranging from charity match takings to donations of equipment.

"FIFA and AFC will also call upon famous football personalities - primarily former players - to help with distribution efforts.” — AP

4 Indians share lead
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, January 5
Four Indian players shared the lead with a cent per cent record after the fourth round in the third Parsvnath International Chess Tournament at the Bapu Samaj Sewa Kendra here today. Laxman, Satyapragyan, Preetham Sharma and Deep Sengupta were tied at the top table. Top seeded Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran scored a convincing Sicilian Najdorb win over woman Grandmaster Aarthi Ramaswamy and moved into the second spot with 3.5 points.

While the established Grandmasters struggled to maintain their form, the top of the table spot went to four youngsters who pressed hard and got the better of their opponents. On the top board, Andhra boy Dasari Sai Srinivas held his own against the experienced Abhijit Kunte.

Srinivas was surprised by the draw offer of Kunte on the 12th move and gladly accepted it. Srinivas has now taken his points tally to 3.5, and shares the second spot with 15 others, including GMs Sasikiran, Kunte and Kayumov. Asian junior champion Arun Prasad held International Master Enamul Hussain of Bangladesh to a draw in 27 moves.

National lightning champion Laxman scored a quick victory over woman international master Nalluri Vinuthna while international master-elect Deep Sengupta outplayed giant-killer Aminul Islam of Bangladesh in 28 moves. Seven more rounds remain in this Swiss league event, which has participation by players from 12 countries. 

Delhi soccer trials tomorrow
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, January 5
The Delhi Soccer Association (DSA) will hold selection trials to pick the Delhi team for the Junior National (Under-19) Football Championship for the Dr BC Roy Trophy to be held at Basti in Uttar Pradesh from January 27.

DSA secretary NK Bhatia said the selection trials would be conducted at the Ambedkar Stadium on January 7 from 2 p.m. by MM Sultan, Kishori Lal and Sunil Patwal.

Delhi have been clubbed with Punjab, Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir in Group B and play their first match against Punjab on January 27, meet Jammu and Kashmir on January 29 and take on Chandigarh on January 31.

BRIEFLY

Four-time national squash champion Ritwik Bhattacharya (left) explains the finer points of the game to Indian speedsters Ashish Nehra (centre) and Irfan Pathan during the CCI-Ezra squash championship in Mumbai on Wednesday. — PTI

Geet Sethi, Alok for nationals
MUMBAI: The country’s top cueists, including seven-time world professional billiards champion Geet Sethi and double-title holder Alok Kumar, are to participate in the Rs 3 lakh prize money National Billiards and Snooker Championship for Juniors and Seniors to be held here from January 8-29. The tournament, to be held at suburban Goregaon Sports Club, has attracted entries from 22 states and units affiliated to the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI), it was announced at a press conference here on Wednesday. — PTI

Windies lose
MELBOURNE: The West Indies opened their Australian tour with a seven-wicket loss in a limited-overs warm-up match on Wednesday ahead of next week’s tri-series that also involves Australia and Pakistan. The West Indians hadn’t played at the international level since their upset win over England in the International Cricket Council Champions Trophy final at London in September and struggled after the long lay-off. Chris Gayle belted 33 runs off 23 balls at the top of the order, including 18 runs in one over, while six other batsmen reached double figures in a disappointing total of 201. Skipper Brian Lara (24) was caught behind off rookie Victorian allrounder Tim Welsford. — AP

Football trials
PHAGWARA: Trials to select to probables for the Punjab junior football team for the Junior (Under-19) National Football Championship (North Zone), to be held at Basti (UP) from January 27 to February 6, would be held here from 10 am on January 10 at the JCT Football stadium. This was stated on Wednesday by Arjuna awardee Inder Singh, honorary secretary, Punjab Football Association. Players born on or after January 1, 1986, are eligible. — OC

Soccer tourney
PHAGWARA: In the Phagwara Cup Football Tournament being organised here by The International Sports Association, Guru Nanak College Phagwara (Red), today defeated GNNB College, Narur Panshta, 1-0. The goal was scored in the beginning of the first half by Amarjit. In the second match, Layalpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, defeated Guru Nanak College, Phagwara (White), 2-0. Both the goals were scored by Sikander. — OC