Punjab win overall trophyPunjab team won the overall championship of the 39th Inter-State Athletics meet. Uttar Pradesh (with 73 points) won the men's team championship followed by Kerala (64) and Punjab (57 points) while Punjab (with 76 pts) won the women's team championship. Kerala (67 pts) and Delhi (65) came second and third respectively.Sachin advisedMaster batsman Sachin Tendulkar, after consulting Australian medical experts, said today he was confident of a full return to fitness from a lower spine problem in three to four weeks. Tendulkar said he had been told by Australian Cricket Academy doctors that he had defects in his lower vertebrae and scar tissue had formed, which occasionally became inflamed and caused his back pain.Tie unlikely indications are now clear that the Ultimate World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov may, after all, not take place this year. The proposed match which led to Anand staying away from the official FIDE World Championships which concluded last month in Las Vegas is now likely to be held sometime early next year.Speed kingParthiva Sureshwaren is a young man in a hurry. He has been that way ever since he got behind the wheels of a Maruti 800 at the age of 13, and felt the rush of blood to his head. He slammed on the accelerator pedal to the floor, and discovered a new world. He was a self-confessed `speed devil' by the age of 15 and his frequent accidents on packed Chennai roads made his father see red.Impressive talentThe journey from Coimbatore to Britain could have been faster for Narain Karthikeyan if experts in motorsports are to be believed. And the transition to Formula-1 is just a matter of time. Racing legend Jackie Stewart called him an ``impressive talent''.
