OID‰‰†K 16 Tuesday,January 7, 2003 TIMES SPORT The Times of India, New Delhi Prevalence favourite for 2000 Guineas New Delhi: Prevalence, win- Northern Trioka Plate (div.II): 1,100m: Prince Carlito’s Way wins: Results: Splash Plate: Honey 1, Prince of Cheats 2, King of Mohra 3. ner of the 1000 Guineas, is in Empress of India 1, Roman Flame 2, Cormac Jerwah Plate; 1,200m: Power of Zero 1, Silent 3. Halebeedu Plate: Aerobee 1, Squeeze 2, Stats come to East Bengal’s rescue fine shape. She is well poised Winner 2, The Ghost 3. Doaba Stud & Agricul- Grey Bull 3. Treasure Girl Plate: Strawber- Harish Tyagi to lift the Tribhovandas tural Farm Cup: 1,200m: Hopes Are High 1, ry 1,Walk In The Clouds 2, Clipper 3. Varuna By Nilankur Das for this match,” he informed and ran anga. “We needed this defeat, the Seeker 2, Manaslu 3. Tribhovandas Bhimji Za- Plate (div.II): Silk Petals 1, Crystal Delight 2, Bhimji Zaveri 2000 Guineas, veri 2000 Guineas: 1,400m: Prevalence 1, No- TIMES NEWS NETWORK downstairs to be with his team as team was getting very complacent. ble Nancy 2, My Great Hope 3. Cornish Dame Caesarr 3. Continual Trophy: Carlito’s Way New Delhi: A man was sitting alone they were coming out of the ground, This should come as a wake-up call,” the main event of Tuesday’s Plate: 1,600m: Inner Voice 1, Quick Step 2,Aca- 1, Full Moon 2, Black Flower 3. Varuna Delhi races. cia Blossom 3. Sweet Lucky Delia Plate; Plate (div.I): Dream of Sun 1, Brave Risk 2, on the top tier of the Ambedkar Sta- defeated 0-1. was all he could say after a match Northern Trioka Plate (div.I): 1,100m: 1.30pm: 1,000m: 4.35pm: Winning Surprise 1, Divine Anjam 3. Lalbagh Plate: Brave Dream 1, dium. Seeing his sullen face, one did- Though credit is due to MEG for which saw mispasses, pedestrian Royal Charger 1, The Arowana 2, The Mob 3. Power 2, Gangotri 3. Omni Presence 2, Young Gentleman 3. TNN n’t to be a psychologist to conclude the way they played, East Bengal movement and awful ball-control. that his favourite team was losing. goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee The second match, however, went But what made a Nigerian feel sad in must take the blame for the conced- on predictable lines. Salgaocar a Durand Cup match between East ing the goal. He fumbled with a drubbed Assam Regimental Centre Bengal and MEG, Bangalore? The harmless free-kick by Shiyad and without much fuss. Nigerian Dudu man was Mike Okoro, who had Ajith Kumar gleefully nodded in. Omagbemi scored the first hat-trick scored twice in East Bengal’s first And more than that, considering that of the tournament in the 3-0 victory. match. “We will be out of the tourna- they are one of the top contenders for What didn’t work for East Bengal, ment if we lose today,” he said. this year’s NFL, the rest of the East worked for the Goans. Obviously the burly striker didn’t Bengal team should feel ashamed Their move to try out Dudu in know that the Kolkata outfit would that they couldn’t score against a place of Liberian Sunday Seah came be through to the semis by virtue of a team that doesn’t have much of an off well, actually a little too well for better goal average and he grinned existence in Indian football. coach Savio Mederira, who now has from ear to ear the moment he was Even coach Subhas Bhowmick’s to decide between the two for the statistically updated. last resort Tushar Rakshit couldn’t semifinal against East Bengal on But why was the last tie’s hero sit- change the complexion of the match. Wednesday. ting out? “The coach wanted to try Trijit Das missed three golden oppor- Salgaocar striker Dudu Omagbemi in Tuesday’s match (semifinal): Mohammedan Sport- out Gilmar Gonzalves (from Brazil) tunities and so did Malsamwa Tulu- action against ARC in Durand Cup. ing vs Army XI 2.30pm. Pankaj storms into semis ‘Sponsors have By Indraneel Das without a warning. Rafat learnt it and it’s TIMES NEWS NETWORK nothing new he felt; so did Rishab of Delhi in the pre-quarters, who said later, ‘‘Pankaj was Jammu: Pankaj Advani will savour this mo- to show interest’ simply unstoppable’’. ment for the rest of his life. No he’s not won For the first two frames, Rafat was just a By Nilanjan Datta they doing it? the senior National snooker title, as yet, but spectator to Pankaj’s outstanding callisthen- TIMES NEWS NETWORK Unless the Federation has broken a jinx and is into the semifinals ics on the table. On his next visit to the table New Delhi: forces it down their throat no for the first time in his six-year-old career. He’s the only club or state association will That, too, after toppling two seeded players — after breaking the frame, Pankaj potted a long red in the far left from the right corner. Indian to take it seriously. Only the fa- No 4 Rishab Thukral, in the pre-quarters, and score a hat- ther can control his mischie- then Rafat Habib (No 5), in the quarters. ‘‘That sent out a sensation up my spine and it gave me the confidence I needed to play more trick and a vous child. Very few children What was more satisfying for the preco- double hat- do it themselves. cious 17-year-old was the way he was hitting difficult shots,’’ he said. Potting and canons never looked so easy. trick in an in- How’d you stop the talent- the ball. ‘‘It was fantastic,’’ Pankaj said after ternational ed youngsters from fading? He controlled his shots with great finesse and beating Rafat of Railways in the here late on tournament. Age hasn’t Basic education is a must went on to record a 59-break. Rafat seemed Monday. He next plays Siddharth Parekh of toned down Subhas for a player. Self-discipline rattled and never recovered. He missed a sim- Railways who beat Kamal Chawla 5-3. Bhowmick, the East Bengal comes next. For example, I ple red and gave away the frame to Pankaj 83- However, Yasin Merchant is yet to be test- coach. He still stands robust have made a diet-chart for ed in the tourney. On Monday, he stormed 22. The second frame was no different. Rafat with a do-or-die attitude. He my boys. But I don’t stay with into the last four beating Brijesh Damani in coiled himself up into his defensive shell, fears God, loves reading, is a them round-the-clock. Then, five straight frames for a showdown against shielding the object balls, but Pankaj had oth- disciple of Ramakrishna they are expected to go to the No 2 seed Dharmender Lilly of Punjab. Yasin er ideas. Gaining in confidence, Pankaj wait- Math and Mission and is a physio regularly. If they also recorded the highest break of the tour- ed for Rafat to make mistake. Rafat did and rare-breed among Indian don’t, their life-span as a nament, 135, in the morning when he beat that was all Pankaj needed. A straight red coaches who’s updated with player is shortened. Kanish Jhanjhariya in four straight frames and a fine cut to pocket the black and he latest soccer evolutions. He How would you rate the in the pre-quarters. rounded the frame with a 52-point break (84- spoke to Times News Net- physique of Indian players? The surprise of the championship has 0). The third witnessed Rafat coming back work. The excerpts: Poor. Genetically, the mod- been the ouster of defending champion and into the match with a small break of 21. Can the present club ern day generation is fragile No 1 seed Alok Kumar,who lost 3-4 to Madhya Pankaj, however made the decisive breaks of structure produce a pro- which is one of the major rea- Pradesh’s Kamal, a fringe player only. 33 and 43 enroute his 84-46 win. fessional set-up? sons for the poor perform- Snooker can be cruel, sometimes. It not Results: Quarter-finals (best of 9): Yasin Merchant bt B Unless the financial elites ance over the last two only needs talent and big concentration, it Damani 5-0, Dharmender Lilly bt Varun Taneja 5-2, Pankaj Advani show their interest it’s im- decades. Hyderabad and Kar- also needs immense patience. Despite play- bt Rafat Habib 5-3, Sidharth Parekh bt Kamal Chawla 5-3. Pre- possible. Much alike horse- quarters (best of 7): Kamal Chawla bt Alok Kumar 4-3, Sidharth nataka, that were once the ing well, you may be resigned to your fate — Parekh bt A Danda 4-1, Rafat Habib bt Kamal Rohmetra 4-2, racing the public money has supply-lines produced players of being a mere spectator when the opponent Pankaj Advani bt R Thukral 86-23, 74-23, 70-0, 63-12, Yasin Mer- to be involved. The clubs too with excellent physique. The pots ball after ball. You just have to bear the chant beat K Jhanjhariya 4-0, B Damani bt Shyam Jagtiani 4-3, have to generate their own day they stopped coming and torment in silence as the pressure multiplies Varun Taneja bt Sourav Kothari 4-2, D Lilly bt A Haque 4-0. money.If ‘Playwin’ can be le- playing in Kolkata, Indian galised by the government soccer died it’s natural death.