Date:16/05/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/05/16/stories/2007051607832100.htm

Sport - Sports : General

Indian team takes lead

R. Jayaram

KARACHI: Having taken a narrow lead over surprise package Bangladesh in the open teams event in the BFAME Championships, India beat bottom-of-the-table Sri Lanka handsomely, gaining all 25 VPs, in the morning round on Monday, easily bettering the earlier lead.

With a bye in the last round of Round Robin-I and obtaining another in the first round of Round Robin-II, India is on top of the table with 117 VPs.

Pakistan, which is on 90 VPs and playing against Sri Lanka next, cannot catch up with India even if it collects all 25 VPs in this match.

Round Robin matches will continue up to Friday to decide the two finalists. The finals will be played on Saturday and Sunday.

Neck and neck race

There is a neck and neck race between India and Jordan in the ladies event for the Vinodini Goenka Trophy. Both were on 97 VPs at the close of play on Monday, with four more rounds to go. The other teams in this event, Pakistan and Palestine, seem to be out of the race. In the seniors' event for the Jordan Trophy, Pakistan and India are in the lead with 93 VPs each. Here also the other two teams, Sri Lanka and Jordan, are faring badly. The India-Pakistan match is slated for Wednesday morning. India's senior team continues with their lacklustre display. It shared Tuesday's morning match with Sri Lanka 15-15. In the afternoon match, it beat Jordan 22-8 to recover and reach a sharing top position with Pakistan.