The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : `Stress on pace a prominent feature'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 21, 2005

Sport

Sport - Cricket

`Stress on pace a prominent feature'

HYDERABAD: Reduced reliance on the spinners and increased stress on pace were the prominent features of India's win against England in the women's cricket series, said skipper Mithali Raj at a felicitation function here on Tuesday.

It was got up by A.P. State Tourism Minister, Dr. Geeta Reddy, a long time patron of the game and President of the AP Women's Cricket Association. "It was a good series, throwing up talent such as Sravanthi Raj Naidu (also from AP)," said the Indian skipper, who longed to have more players from the state in her team.

"Women's cricket needs to be projected on TV and the Women's Cricket Association of India (WCAI) should be merged with the BCCI," she said, while acknowledging the support of Dr. Reddy and the A.P. Chief Minister, Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

Earlier, lamenting the lack of support for women's cricket, Dr. Reddy said their male counterparts were showered with fame and fortune everywhere, while the ladies' game, badly in need of sponsorship, survived mostly on state support. Despite these handicaps, she said the game had spread to almost every district of the state.

Also felicitated were India all rounder Sravanthi Raj, young India players Gauhar Sultana and Savitha Nirala and a host of promising players, such as Sowmya, just 12 years old and a fan of Sachin Tendulkar and Nooshin Al Qadir.

National kabaddi

The 53rd senior National kabaddi championship for men and women will be organised at Uppal Stadium here from December 27 to 31, according to Mr. Kasani Gnaneshwar, Ranga Reddy district zilla parishad chairman and president Hyderabad Kabaddi Association.

Mr. Gnaneshwar said that 33 teams in men's section and 30 in women's category would vie for top honours in the event featuring about 200 league matches.

Railways and Punjab were joint-winners in the men's section while Railways and Maharashtra finished first and second respectively in the last edition.

It is also said that the event will also have a special feature of each team picking a minimum of Rs. 10,000 cash incentive and the winner and runner-up in both sections Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 25,000 respectively.

Some of the familiar names in action will be Arjuna Awardee Sanjeev Kumar, Honappa, B.C. Ramesh Sunder and Pooja, Archana, Swathi and Anuradha in women's category.

Symond Blues beats

Moon Star CC

At Visakhapatnam, Symond Blues edged out Moon Star CC by six runs to make the quarterfinals of the 20th D. Sekhar Rao memorial cricket tournament on Tuesday.

Rain denied a probable victory for Jai Andhra Colony CC as its rival Colts CC moved up through spin of coin.

The scores: Symond Blues 146 in 27.4 overs bt Moon Star CC 140 for five in 30 overs.

Colts CC 151 for six in 25 overs bt Jai Andhra Colony CC 48 for one in seven overs by spin of coin after rain stopped play.

ENC Civil Employees CC 110 in 25 overs (Gopi 48, Venkatesh four for 21) lost to Gayatri CC 111 for seven in 21.2 overs.

Kendriya Vidyalaya CC 163 in 25 overs bt Hindustan Shipyard Apprentices School 137 for nine in 25 overs.

Half-marathon

The Paradip Port Trust will organise the third open State-level half-marathon on January 3.

The race will be flagged-off near the Mahanadi confluence in Sector 21 (near Jawahar Guest House) and the course is planned through the port town for 21 km, with the finishing point at the Gopabandhu stadium, according to a press release from the Paradip Port Trust. Entries close at 4 p.m. on January 2 and are to be sent to the secretary of Paradip Port Sports Council, R.K. Das (mobile 94373 17133) or the sports inspector, S.K. Das (94371 83515).

Medical examination of the participants will be done on January 2 evening and only physically fit persons will be allowed to participate in the half-marathon.

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