Sub-Junior National Football

Punjab, Mizoram set up title clash
Hoshiarpur: Hosts Punjab and Mizoram will meet in the final of the 31st Sub-Junior National Football Championship for Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy in Mahilpur on October 6.
In the semifinals played on October 4 at the Principal Harbhajan Stadium here, hosts Punjab eked out a hard-fought 1-0 verdict over Goa.
After a barren first session, Punjab managed to score a goal in the 46th minute. Sarbjit pounced on a rebound off the Goa goalkeeper and shot into the goal which turned out to be the winner.
In the second semifinal, Mizoram got the better of Assam 2-1. The Assamese opened the account through Hitler in the 7th minute. Mizoram restored parity in the 17th minute through Lalnunmawia.
Lalnunmawia again scored in the 64th minute to steer his team into the finals.
Source: United News of India (UNI)

Pride of Manipur

Manipuri lifter Monika Devi selected for Beijing Olympics

New Delhi, July 15: Manipuri weightlifter L Monika Devi was today unanimously chosen ahead of Shailaja Pujari to represent the country in the Beijing Olympic Games after a selection trial in Bangalore, bringing to an end a selection controversy and allegations of bribery.

Monika, who won a silver and two bronze in the Asian Championship in Japan in April-May to help book the lone berth for India, will compete in the 69kg category while Shailaja (75kg) would be the reserve lifter.

"Monika was chosen for the Olympics by an unanimous decision of the Selection Committee. I am happy that everything went off smoothly during the trials," Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) President Harbhajan Singh said.

"Dev Dutt Sharma will accompany Monika as coach in Beijing," he added.

Monika and Shailaja were shortlisted for the final selection after an earlier trial in Pune on June 29 was followed by allegations of bribery on IWF General Secreatry B R Gulati to select Shailaja. Gulati had rubbished the allegations as "baseless".

Shailaja was also alleged to have used kneeguards, which were not permitted under IWF rules, in the Pune trial. This led to the Sports Ministry ordering probe into the bribery scandal and asking to cancel the trials besides directing to shift the trial venue from Pune to NIS, Patiala.

IWF stuck to its guns on the repeat selection trials though it shifted the venue of trial to SAI Centre, Bangalore.

Sharma's selection as coach was also against Ministry directive that a woman coach should accompany a woman lifter in Beijing.

Source: Press Trust of India

Other Stories:
Monika gets the nod
IWF selects Monika ahead of Shailaja

Junior National Weightlifting Meet

Imphal, Nov 26: The 44th Men and 20th Women Junior National Weightlifting Championship 2007 was opened today at SAG Hall, Khuman Lampak here.

The championship is being participated by 237 lifters from 23 states.

In the Women's 48 kg category competition today, M Shivarani of Andhra Pradesh bagged gold with a total lift of 147 kg.

B Usha of Andhra Pradesh and L Herosana of Manipur took silver and bronze with total lifts of 139 and 134 kg respectively.

The opening ceremony of the championship was graced by Chairman of the Manipur Pollution Control Board E Dwijamani as chief guest and president of the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Harbhajan Singh as president.

Manipur is fielding 22 lifters in the competition.

Source: The Sanghai Express

India-Pak Guwahati ODI

No rivalry off the field: Malik

Nov 4: India and Pakistan cricketers were seen enjoying company of one another during nets session at the Nehru Stadium one day before the match.

Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was seen involved in gossip with Harbhajan Singh and later Zahir Khan also joined the duo while Sourav Ganguly was speaking with Mohammed Yousuf in such a mood that it looked like both friends were meeting after a long time.

It is for the first time the two sides are facing each other at the Nehru Stadium and also the first time after the Tewnty20 World Cup final.

Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik admitted that rivalry was just confined to the ground while outside they were all very good friends.

“Nowadays, we are facing each other frequently. So I personally feel that there is no extra pressure on us. We confine the rivalry to the ground only and off the field we are very good friends,” he said.

The two teams had a 40-minute work out before two separate pre-match conferences.

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said both the sides were evenly matched and whoever handles the situation well would have the last laugh. He said the small ground (65 sq yards) could be a nightmare for the bowlers.

Earlier, the IndianOil Cup was unveiled by both the captains at a city hotel in the presence of senior IOC officials and Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson.


Fans fail to see cricketers at nets:

Nov 4: It was a tough day for the crowd that came to witness the cricketers for a little while. The police didn’t allow a single fan inside the stadium to see the two teams at the nets.

Security personnel took extra cautions and did not allow a single person unless he had a pass.

There were restrictions on crowd movement at the B Borooah Road from the morning and once Team India checked in at the nearby hotel, complete ban on movement was imposed on the B Borooah Road.

A crowd of more than 5,000 gathered near the main gate of the RG Baruah Sports Complex when the bus carrying Indian team entered the stadium. The news of the arrival of the Indian team brought in more supporters near the main gate.

Source: The Sentinel