Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 12: Thirty-twocueists will compete in the firstround of the knock-out stagefrom tomorrow during the ongo-ing 1st J&K State Open Six RedBall Tournament, being organ-ized by Jammu and KashmirBilliards and SnookerAssociation (JKBSA), atBilliards Hall, here.

The cueists, who will com-pete in the first round of knock-out stage are Abhishek Pathania,Vidit Gawri, Ishuk Chowdhary,Adnan Lone, Jaideep Manocha,Vishal Abrol, Nikhil Kapahi,Abid Bhutt, Younis Kuchey,Mudasir Ashiq, Stabdan, IshanChowdhary, Nitin Sharma,Abhishek Goswami, AnkitGupta, Vipan Malhi, RohitSharma, Maqudar Sawhney,Satypreet, Furkan Wani, AvishSharma, Sahil Arora, ArjunSingh, Akshay Kumar, Rizwan,Sourav Dogra, Aseem Ghai,Aman Chowdhary, Rahil Bhatt,Abhi Gupta and Umar.

Earlier in the first leaguematch on the day-6 of the tour-nament, Sourav Dogra defeatedMousim Mir by straight 3-0frames with the score of 36-03,54-01 and 39-35, whereas in the

second match, Rizwan crushedSamarth Amla by 3-1. Rizwanwon the first frame by 36-03 andalso registered win in the secondframe by 31-05. Reeling underextreme pressure of 2-0 frames,Samath bounced back in thegame and won the third frameby 30-13, but lost the fourthframe to Rizwan by 34-14.

In the third match, AkshayKumar beat Kanav Nayyar by 3-2. Kanav made a good start andwon the first two frames by 44-12 and 30-3 respectively, butpassionate Akshay routed himout by winning the next three

frames by 46-15, 42-29 and 41-13.

Aseem Ghai registered winover Maskeerat Singh bystraight 3-0 frames in the fourthmatch with the score of 30-12,38-16 and 39-17, whereas in thefifth game, Rahil Bhat beatAnkush Sharma by 3-0 and thescore was 50-18, 35-20 and 31-01.

In the sixth match, Omar gotwalkover against Varun, where-as in the seventh match, AbhiGupta got walkover againstJaswinder.

Aman Choudhary beatSarath in the eighth match bystraight 3-0 frames with thescore of 48-11, 28-16 and 44-10,whereas in the ninth match,Aseem Ghai registered win overNitish Sharma by 3-0 and thescore was 42-02, 45-12 and 34-22.

The matches were being heldunder strict supervision of theJKBSA members and playedwith the rules and regulations ofBilliards and SnookerFederation of India (BSFI).

Rakesh Sharma acted asmarker of the tournament.

According to JKBSAspokesperson, last date ofentries for Junior and Sub JuniorSnooker matches will close onOctober 14 at 5 pm.

AGARTALA, Oct 12:

Poor condition of roads inTripura has prompted India'slone Olympian DipaKarmakar to return her BMWcar presented by HyderabadDistrict BadmintonAssociation.

Though Dipa did not wantto disclose the decision in

public, her father DulalKarmakar stated that the pre-mier BMW car would not beuseful in Tripura because ofbad road condition and inade-quate maintenance scope inNortheast.

"There is no BMW servicecentre in Tripura. If the cardevelops any technical snag,how would we manage therepairing? There are no roadsin Agartala and Tripura to plysuch luxury car. Better toreturn before it gets dam-aged," Karmakar said.

He also said Dipa's CoachBisheshwar Nandi in consulta-tion with Dipa had discussedthese matters with VChamundeshwarnath ofHyderabad BadmintonAssociation a week ago and heagreed to deposit the moneyequal to a BMW car cost toher bank account.

"Dipa is shy to discuss thematter in public and made itclear that she would be happywhatever amount they give inreturn of the car," Karmakarsaid adding that the issue wasdecided collectively by hercoach, parents and other fam-ily members. (PTI)

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2016 (PAGE 10) DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU

Ashwin regains number onespot in Test rankings

DUBAI, Oct 12:

Indian off-spinnerRavichandran Ashwin todayreclaimed the number one spotin Test rankings for bowlers fol-lowing a career-best match haulof 13 for 140 in the third Testagainst New Zealand in Indore.

Ashwin, who was namedman of the series after he fin-ished with 27 wickets in a 3-0sweep by India, now has 220wickets, the most by any bowlerafter 39 Tests.

Ranked third before the finalTest in Indore, Ashwin, who alsoholds the top position in rank-ings for all-rounders, hasleapfrogged pace bowlers JamesAnderson and Dale Steyn toattain a career-best rating of 900points.

Ashwin, who finished the2015 year-end rankings as thenumber-one bowler and wasalso at the top briefly in July thisyear, has joined a select band tohave touched a rating of 900points since 2000, the othersbeing Muttiah Muralitharan,Glenn McGrath, VernonPhilander, Dale Steyn and Shaun

Pollock.In the rankings for Test bats-

men, India's middle-order bats-man Ajinkya Rahane hasattained a career-best sixth rankwith scores of 188 and 23 notout.

Rahane, whose previous bestwas eighth in August this year,has gained five slots after start-ing the match at 11th position.

Prolific scorer in the NewZealand series, CheteshwarPujara and captain Virat Kohlialso moved up the rankings.

Pujara's knocks of 41 and101 not out have helped himmove up one place to 14th while

Kohli's scores of 211 and 17 atIndore helped him move up fourplaces to 16th position.

For New Zealand, openerMartin Guptill has moved up 10places to 58th with knocks of 72and 29 while Jimmy Neeshamhas moved up 12 slots to 70thposition.

In the all-rounders' list,India's Ravindra Jadeja hasreached a career-best joint-thirdrank.

Meanwhile, Pakistan teamdoes not have a chance toreclaim the number-one rankingfrom India even with a 3-0 winagainst the West Indies. (PTI)

Six Red Ball Tournament Day-632 cueists to compete in first round

of knock-out stage from today

Sports help channelizeenergy of youth: Lal SinghExcelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 12: Ministerfor Forests, Ecology andEnvironment Choudhary LalSingh stressed that sports arepivotal for channelizing theenergy of youth in the positivedirection besides keeping themphysically and mentally fit. Hereiterated that the Governmentis committed to promote sportsactivities in every nook and cor-ner of the State.

This was stated by theMinister at a wrestling competi-tion organised by R. S. PuraDangal Committee. Wrestlersfrom Jammu and Kashmir,Punjab, Haryana, Delhi andother States participated in thechampionship.

Member LegislativeAssembly (MLA) GaganBhagat, ex-Minister R S Chib,ex-Member Parliament TrilokSingh Bajwa, Chief Conservatorof Forests Roshan Jaggi besidesa large number of wrestlinglovers and locals were presenton the occasion.

Choudhary Lal Singh saidthat sports are imperative foroverall personality developmentof youth as it help in inculcatingdiscipline among them. He said

that the Government is endeav-oring to create adequate sportsinfrastructure to provide youthan opportunity to excel in theirfield.

The Minister informed thatsports stadiums are being con-structed at district and block lev-els to provide necessary sportsfacilities to the youth. He askedthe youth to come forward andparticipate in such type of dan-gal competitions being held atvarious levels in the State fromtime to time.

Choudhary Lal Singhstressed upon parents and teach-ers to imbibe liking for sportsamong the youth so that they cangrow into physically and men-tally strong citizens and con-tribute in the development ofstate and the nation.

In his address, MLA GaganBhagat said that sports inculcatethe sense of sportsmanship anddiscipline amongst the youthand urged parents to encouragetheir children to take part in thesports activities. He saidGovernment has taken severalinitiatives to promote the sportactivities, especially in the ruraland far-off areas of the State toinvolve youth in the sport activ-ities.

District Badminton C’ship concludesSaiyam, Soham secure winner,

runner-up positions in U-14 SinglesExcelsior Sports Correspondent

POONCH, Oct 12: DistrictBadminton Championship,organized by TT Alfa Club atGovernment Boys HigherSecondary School concluded,here today.

In under-14 Singles, Saiyamemerged winner, while Sohamsecured runner-up positions,whereas in under-17 Singles,Amrinder and Burhan emergedwinner and runner-up respec-tively.

In under-14 Doubles,Saiyam and Krishan emergedwinner, while Tandon andJaskirat bagged runner-up posi-tion and in under-17 Doubles,Amrinder and Burhan clinchedwinner's trophy, while Danish

and Abhishek bagged runner-upposition.

On the valedictory functions,Lieutenant Colonel CB Blawarawas the chief guest, who award-ed winners and runner-ups inpresence of Sham Lal Sharma,retd SAI Hockey Coach, DaljeetSingh, Nirdosh Kumar, InchargeSports Stadium Poonch, PawanKumar, Fitness Trainer, BCCINCA and JKCA.

The matches were officiatedby Rajinder Singh Toofan,Kewal Krishan, Harbans Singhand Matinder Singh.

The championship wasorganised under the overallsupervision of Narinder Singh,Chairman, TT Alfa Club andVijay Kumar, Secretary, TT AlfaClub.

Winners of District Badminton Championship displaying tro-phies while posing for group photograph at Poonch.

A cueist aiming at target during match at Billiards Hall, MAStadium, Jammu on Thursday. -Excelsior/Rakesh

Minister Choudhary Lal Singh and MLA Gagan Bhagatinaugurating Wrestling competition at R S Pura.

School Olympicsfrom today

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 12: The open-ing ceremony of SchoolOlympics 2016 being organizedby District AdministrationJammu in collaboration withDepartment of Youth Services &Sports will be held at MAStadium at 3 pm tomorrow.

All the participating schoolswill attend march past at MAStadium which will be followedby the two opening matches ofVolleyball in the boys and girlscategories.

The seven day long sportsfestival will include Basketball,Volleyball, Football, Hockey,Kabaddi, Badminton, TableTennis and Athletics as theevents. The closing ceremonywill be held at BSF Camp,Paloura on October 21.

Around 4100 children from125 Government and privateschools are participating in theSchool Olympics. The schoolsas far as from the border areas ofPallanwala, Arnia andSuchetgarh are also participat-ing.

The event will be conductedat six different venues. Around150 officials of Youth Servicesand Sports Department will bedeployed for conducting theevents. The CRPF will be facili-tating the opening ceremony atMA Stadium.

Chinmei Sharma, D/oG i a n e s h w a rSharma, W/oVikas Pandatra,who has beendeclared quali-fied for theAward of Degree

of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)in Music by Indra Kala SangitVishwavidyalaya Khairagarh.She worked on the topic“Ladakh ke Parvatiya Sangeetka VishleshnatmakAdhyayan”, under the supervi-sion of Dr Kuldeep Raina.

Amit Kumar, S/o RanjeetKumar andChandra Devi,R/o VillagePranoo, DistrictDoda, who hasqualified NET-JRF in Life

Sciences with All India Rank98, the result of which wasdeclared by CSIR, recently.

Excelsior Correspondent

SURAT, Oct 12: ConfidentJ&K side is hopeful of posing astrong challenge against Goa inthe Ranji Trophy Group C matchat Lalabhai Contractor Stadium,here tomorrow.

With the inclusion of skip-per Mithun Manhas who didn'tplayed first match againstKerala, J&K will be relying onhim along with the trio of PervezRasool, Ian Dev Singh andBandeep Singh in the battingdepartment, while on the otherhand Goa will heavily rely ontheir main batting mainstayAsnodkar in the batting depart-ment.

In the bowling department,J&K is having pacers SamiullahBeigh, Ram Dayal and UmarNazir, who will be equally sup-ported by spinners PervaazRasool and Amir Aziz.

Goa will be dependent onleft arm spinner Shadad Jakati inthe bowling department.

With the pitch seemingly onslower side, toss will be crucial.

However it will be the battleof nerves all together and theteam which holds its nerves bet-ter in the crunch situation will bethe winner.

J&K Team: Mithun Manhas(c), Pervez Rasool, ShubhamKhajuria, Adil Reshi, Ian devSingh, Bandeep Singh, PuneetBist, Amir Aziz, Ram Dayal,Umar Nazir, Samiullah Beigh,

Rohit Sharma, Zahoor Sofi,Amir Sofi, Pranav Gupta andMohsin Mufti.

Goa Team: Sagun Kamat(c), Harshad HanumantGadekar, Felix Alemao, AmitYadav, Sumiran Amonkar,Swapnil Asnodkar, SaurabhBandekar, Amogh Sunil Desai,Samar Shravan Dubhashi (w),Shadab Jakati, SnehalKauthankar, Darshan Misal,Amulaya Pandrekar, RiturajSingh and Keenan Vaz.

Ranji TrophyJ&K hopeful of posing strongchallenge against Goa today

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 12: Twentythree members judo team com-prising of 10 boys, 10 girls and 3officials left today to participatein the Sub Junior NationalChampionship, which will beheld at Patna Bihar fromOctober 13 to 16. The team hasbeen selected by J&K StateSports Council.

The boys, who have beenselected, are Ujwal Kumar,

Arnav Gupta, Ayush Raina,Danish Gupta, Gourav KIumar,Munish Sharma, Varun Sharma,Mohammad Irfan Khan, AareenKumar Kotwal and Perteak Bali.

The girls, who have beenselected, are Antu Choudhary,Sunakshi Devi, Nirali Sharma,Sakshi Devi, Isha Dhar, KhushiThakur, Vidushi Dogra, BindiyaMahajan, Charulata and AnshikaManhas.

Arshi Nad and Jugal Kishorewill accompany the team ascoaches, while the team manag-er will be Manish ChatwalRanjodh.

Kuldeep Singh Jamwal,General Secretary, J&K JudoAssociation asked the players toexhibit their skills with zeal tobring laurels to the State.

Judokas standing alongwith Kuldeep Singh Jamwal, GeneralSecretary, J&K Judo Association and others after their selectionfor nationals.

J&K judokas leave to participatein Sub Junior National C’ship

Sajan Thakur, S/o LateSewa RamThakur andPushpa Thakur,R/o Tulsi Nagar,Matta, DistrictKishtwar, whohas qualified

NET in Life Sciences with AllIndia Rank 44, the result ofwhich was declared by CSIR-UGC, recently.

NEW DELHI, Oct 12:

Indian Junior Men's hockeyteam under Harjeet Singh is allset to participate in the four-nation International Juniorhockey tournament fromOctober 24 to 30 in Valencia.

Dipsan Tirkey will shoulderthe responsibility of the vice-captain.

Goalkeeper Vikas Dahiya,

who was stand-by goalkeeperfor PR Sreejesh at the RioOlympics, will also feature inthe team along with SurajKarkera as the second goalkeep-er.

The defence line-up will seeVarun Kumar, who had animpressive outing at theAustralian Hockey League with

seven goals including a hat-trick. He will be joined byGurinder Singh, Dipsan Tirkey,Harmanpreet Singh, HardikSingh and Anand Lakra.

The midfield will be formedby captain Harjeet, NilakantaSharma, Santa Singh, Sumit andShamsher Singh, while the for-ward line will be led by the tal-ented Armaan Qureshi, whoscored four goals in the recently

concluded Australian HockeyLeague, alongside Manpreet,Gurjant Singh, Parvinder Singh,Ajay Yadav, Simranjeet Singhand Ajit Kumar Pandey.

India will take on 2013Junior World ChampionsGermany in their opening gameon October 24 before playingBelgium and hosts Spain.

Harjeet to lead India in 4-nationJunior hockey at Valencia

Poor road, inadequate maintenanceprompts Dipa to return BMW car

CHINESE TAIPEI, Oct 12:

Sourabh Verma notched upsuccessive wins on the secondday of the Chinese TaipeiMasters to enter the pre-quarter-finals of the Grand Prix bad-minton tournament, here today.

2011 National championSourabh disposed off local shut-tler Yi-Hsiang Yang 12-10 11-311-5 in the first match and thenedged out Japan's HashiruShimono, seeded seventh, 11-68-11 12-10 11-3 in 41 minutes.

Sourabh, who had reachedtwo finals at Belgium and Poland

this year, will next take onJapan's Ryotaro Maruo.

National Champion SameerVerma, who is the youngerbrother of Sourabh, had got a byein the opening round.

But Sameer's campaignended in the next round after los-ing 10-12 11-6 3-11 4-11 to ChiaHung LU of Chinese Taipei.

Among other Indians,Shreyansh Jaisal and RahulYadav Chittaboina bowed out ofthe tournament, which is one ofthe events where the BWF istesting its experimental scoringsystem. (PTI)

Sourabh enters pre-quarters

Australia, Japanbeat rivals in

Kabaddi World CupAHMEDABAD, Oct 12:

Australia snapped their twomatch losing streak at theKabaddi World Cup after gettingthe better of Argentina 68-45while Japan beat Poland 33-22 inthe first contest of the evening toqualify for the semifinals.

For Australia, the defensiveissues remained the biggestproblem so far into the extrava-ganza. And that changed onWednesday with Jasvir Singhdoing the job with 11 tacklepoints to his name.

On the other side of thecourt, Kuldeep Singh did thejob with the attack and pickedup a cumulative 14 pointsincluding 12 raid points.

The win took Australiaabove Argentina but still havemuch to do if they are to moveto the next stage of the event.(Agencies)