Date:22/11/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/11/22/stories/2007112262921900.htm

Sport - Sports : General

Punjab, Delhi notch up wins

Bangalore: Fancied teams like Punjab and Delhi continued to make steady progress in the 36th National senior handball championship for men at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium courts here on Wednesday.

Defending champion Punjab defeated Jammu & Kashmir, Railways and Haryana in Pool ‘A’ while last year’s runner-up Delhi defeated Rajasthan 22-13 in a Pool ‘B’ match.

Chaos

However late in the evening, Punjab’s 21-20 victory over Haryana drew some attention for the hasty manner in which the match was concluded. According to the organisers, each half is of 25 minutes duration each but the Punjab-Haryana clash did not go beyond 20 minutes. Observers stationed close to court number one, presumed that it was half-time when it dawned on them that the match was actually over and that the players were trooping out! The tournament officials are yet to make an official statement though rumours about fudged score sheets are doing the rounds.

Chaos was evident in an earlier match too as Orissa failed to turn up for its Pool ‘D’ match against host Karnataka. Karnataka was awarded a walk-over.

The results: Pool ‘A’: Haryana bt Chandigarh 32-12; Punjab bt J&K 26-24; Railways bt Puducherry 42-5; Haryana bt Bihar 23-6; Punjab bt Railways 27-23; Punjab bt Haryana 21-20.

Pool ‘B’: Gujarat bt Rajasthan 22-20; AP bt Kerala 37-26; Delhi bt Rajasthan 22-13; AIU bt Manipur 34-26; Delhi bt Manipur 29-18; AP bt Rajasthan 30-14.

Pool ‘C’: SSCB bt West Bengal 18-3; SSCB bt Jharkhand 14-4; Tamil Nadu bt Uttarakhand 30-27; U.P. bt Maharashtra 24-19; SSCB bt Tamil Nadu 28-11; U.P. bt West Bengal 23-10.

Pool ‘D’: MP bt HP 15-10; NHA bt HP 18-8; MP bt Orissa 36-22; Karnataka bt Assam 38-25; Chhattisgarh bt Orissa 45-18; Assam bt HP 36-23; Karnataka w/o Orissa; MP bt NHA 25-20. — Principal Correspondent