India File

8220;Let8217;s better leave them as rumours. Let8217;s stick to reality,8221; he replied in an interview to Star News last night.

BCCI meeting

CALCUTTA: Cricketing ties with Pakistan in the wake of the Kargil conflict and India8217;s performance in the World Cup are among the host of issues to be discussed in the Board of Control for Cricket in India8217;s BCCI working committee meeting here tomorrow.

The forthcoming international calendar featuring India would also be discussed.

Kirtanes lose final

PUNE: Kirtane cousins, Nitin and Sandeep of India lost in the doubles final of first leg of Egypt Futures, going down to the Australian pair of Glen Knox and Darren Curral 7-6, 2-6, 5-7, according to the reports reaching here.

The duo from Pune had defeated A Youzni Russai and Timur G Uzbekistan 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 in the semi-finals, on Thursday. The cousins earned 12 points for their effort.

Indians beaten

MUMBAI: Top-seeded Nicol David of Malaysia justified her ranking when she beat her compatriot and third seed Leong Siu Lynn 9-5, 9-3, 9-2 in the final of the Tenth World Junior girls Squash Championship at Antwerp yesterday.

According to information received here today, the Indian girls, who are ranked 19th in the team events, went down 0-3 to Germany in their opening Pool C match.

Nicole Fries, the No 1 German player, gave her team a 1-0 lead by beating India No 1 Pia Abraham 9-4, 9-2, 9-1. Simone Leifels increased the margin with a 9-6, 9-0, 9-3 win over Deepali Anvekar while Kathrin Rohrmuller completed the rout when she crushed Vaidehi Reddy 9-1, 9-6, 9-2

Baljit to miss tour

NEW DELHI: The Indian hockey team for the coming tour of South Africa suffered a big jolt today when star striker Baljit Singh Dhillon was ruled out of the squad due to leg injury.

Dhillon was the second highest scorer for the team at the Bangkok Asian Games where India won the gold after 32 years.

The substitute for Dhillon will be announced after chief coach Vasudevan Bhaskran discusses the issue with selection committee chief and president of the Indian Hockey Federation KPS Gill

Tadittra causes upset

CALCUTTA: Unfancied Tadittra Majumder caused the first upset by holding ninth seed Sampat Mallick to a draw in the second round of the 12th Telegraph Schools8217; Chess Championship here today.

All the other seeded players had little difficulty in beating their second round opponents.

National under-10 girls champion Mary Ann Gomes outplayed Shirshadar Majumder quite easily while Somak Palit required only 30 moves in a Sicilian defence to prevail over Soumya Thakurta.