Sport - Sports : General

St. Thomas, Vimala the best

KONDOTTY: St. Thomas and Vimala College, both from Thrissur, emerged as the team champions in the Calicut University inter-collegiate athletics championship at the EMEA College ground, here on Friday.

In the men’s event, St. Thomas finished with 61 points, ahead of Sree Krishna, Guruvayur, and Malabar Christian, Kozhikode. In the women’s section, Vimala scored 85 to edge out Mercy, Palakkad, which totalled 82. SNG, Chelannur, was third with 15 points.

The final day of the meet saw four new meet records being set. The record-breakers were K.P. Anusha of Vimala (women’s pole vault), K.D. Sindhu of Vimala (heptathlon), the St. Thomas men’s 4 x 400 relay quartet (Jithin Paul, Shijil Varghese, M. Kasim and M.J. Antony) and the Vimala 4 x 400 relay team (Merlin K. Joseph, M.K. Jaseera, Sithara Thomas and P. Suryamol).

At Kadavanthra, the fourth Peak Telecom South India inter-collegiate prize-money badminton tournament, organised by the Engineers Club, will be held at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium on December 11 and 12. Competition in singles and doubles for men and women will be conducted. An alumni event, which is open only to engineers, will also be held simultaneously. Competition in men’s and veterans’ (above 45 years) doubles will be held under this category.

Prizes for the best college and for two outstanding players of Kerala will also be presented during the tournament.

Entries are to reach the convenor, Badminton Tournament 2008, Engineers Club, 33/588-B, Vennala, Chakkaraparambu, Kochi 682 028 (tel. & fax 0484-2808792) before 5.30 p.m. on December 8.

At Kottayam, a defiant knock by Farooq (39 not out) enabled Thiruvananthapuram to hold on to a draw against Kollam in the South Zone under-14 inter-district cricket tournament on Friday.

Chasing 225 for a win, Thiruvananthapuram ended the day at 148 for nine off 48 overs despite a fine spell by Sirash Khan (six for 32). Kollam got three points for taking the first innings lead.

The Alappuzha-Pathanamthitta match also ended in a draw. Resuming at 66 for five, Pathanamthitta was all out for 116, giving Alappuzha the all-important first innings lead and gained three points.

The scores: Kollam 183 & 139 in 40.3 overs (S.A. Nithin 47, Ajay Sharma seven for 75, Vishakh Chandran three for 26) drew with Thiruvananthapuram 98 & 148 for nine in 48 overs (Farooq 39 not out, Vishakh Chandran 37, Sirash Khan six for 32); Alappuzha 147 & 256 for three in 65 overs (Fakiruddin 65, Anooj 60, Ashok Chandran 53 not out, Vishnu 41 not out) drew with Pathanamthitta 116 in 55.2 overs (Prashob 33 not out, Balu Babu four for 25, Sreejith four for 42).

At Kochi, World junior badminton champion Saina Nehwal will inaugurate the Choice Centre for Fitness and Aquatics at The Choice School on Saturday.

The centre includes an air-conditioned badminton hall and a 25m indoor swimming pool. A gym with all modern facilities is also fast coming up.

Saina will then proceed to the Regional Sports Centre which will honour her with an honorary life membership. National badminton coach P. Gopi Chand, swimming star Wilson Cherian and Olympian Shiny Wilson will also be present at the RSC event.

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