India File

Footballers killed in mishapGUWAHATI: A jubilant party of nine local soccer players and their fans met a tragic end when the bus they wer...

Footballers killed in mishap

GUWAHATI: A jubilant party of nine local soccer players and their fans met a tragic end when the bus they were travelling in, turned turtle official sources said.

Forty other passengers were injured in the tragedy last night at Naharani near Demow in upper Assam8217;s Sibsagar District, the sources said today. The players and their supporters were on way back to their homes in Barua Changmai village after winning a local football tournament organised by the Demow Deodhai Balijan Surujmukhi Yuvak Sangh.

BSF edge out Peerless

CALCUTTA: Border Security Force came closer to a berth in the semi-final of the Airlines Gold Cup Football when they edged past Peerless by a solitary first half goal in a Group A round-robin league tie at the Salt Lake Stadium today.

The all-important goal was netted by striker Gauranga Paul who found the target capitalising on a left flank cross in the 41st minute of the first half. In Group B, since there were only two teams, bothMohammedan Sporting and Tollygunge Agragami have already assured their berths in the semi-finals.

Kabaddi team cleared for Asiad

NEW DELHI: Lifting curtains over the suspense shrouding the participation of the Indian kabaddi team in the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok, Delhi High Court has rejected the plea of some players against them non-inclusion in the squad and paved way for the team8217;s departure tomorrow.

The High Court, however, severely criticised the Indian Olympic Association IOA for moving late in sorting out the internal dispute in the kabaddi federation and delaying the selection of the team for the Asiad.

Koneru Humpy in lead

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CHENNAI: Koneru Humpy, 11, shot into lead with four points at the end of fourth round of the Sportstar 25th National B8217; Chess Championship here today by beating V Aishwarya.

Saheli Dhar Barua dropped half a point against SR Radha. Anupama Gokhale handed Madurai youngster Kasturi her first loss while local lass, JE Kavitha pulled off a surprise,defeating fifth seed Safira Shanaz. Saheli Dhar Barua, SR Radha, Anupama Gokhale, JE Kavitha, Aarthie Ramaswamy S Meenakshi and E Sheena are closely following the leader with 3.5 points.

Kallis bags award

BANGALORE: South African Jacques Kallis bagged the first BPL player of the week award here on Tuesday.

The award, carrying a cash prize of US 500, was launched in the presence of Sunil Gavaskar and Vivian Richards, with Tony Greig who came on line from Australia.

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The little master Sunil Gavaskar, who also spoke, said all the international cricket matches played around the world every week from Friday to Thursday, would be monitored. A two-minute capsule with the highlights of matches will be telecast on all important television satellite channels.

Former star players BS Chandrashekar, GR Vishwanath, Brijesh Patel, EAS Prasanna and Roger Binny were present on the occasion.

UP lads upstage Mumbai

HYDERABAD: Bengal and Uttar Pradesh moved into semi-finals of the Cooch Behar TrophyUnder-19 Cricket Tournament with first innings leads over Gujarat and Mumbai after their quarter-final matches ended in draws here today. In the semi-finals, Bengal will play against Punjab and Uttar Pradesh against Tamil Nadu from December 9 to 11.