Baichung leads India to Nehru Cup triumph

N Pappachan Pradeep shot in on the run three minutes before the half time break to help India beat Syria 1-0 and realise their dream of winning the title in the 13th edition of the ONGC Nehru Cup Prize Money International Football Tournament at the flood-lit Ambedkar Stadium.

The title win brought India a huge cash bonanza of $ 40,000 as prize money and an equal amount as bonus from sponsors ONGC in a magnanimous gesture to reward the good work of Baichung Bhutia and his boys.

Mahesh Gawli, who yet again gave a standout display in the defence, was adjudged the Man of the Match while Captain Baichung Bhutia was given a special cash prize of Rs 10 lakh by All-India Football Federation president Priyaranjan Dasmunsi.

Playing in front of a packed house, with every inch of the stadium occupied by enthusiastic spectators, India roze to dizzy height to script a captivating victory, which was their best-ever performance in the Nehru Cup. It was a victory India will savour for a long time, though Syria had been reduced to 10 men after defender Wael Ayan was given the marching orders during injury time play in the first half for threatening to hit Bhutia with a water bottle.

Referee Sikhrakar Surendra of Nepal took out the card only after Bhutia brought the intimidating behaviour of the rival player into his notice, though. But it was a timely and just decision, as the Syrians were getting physical when their moves floundered in the face of stout resistance put up by the enterprising Indian defence.

Though India mounted pressure and came by many scoring chances, they could put the ball in only when Pradeep took the ball on the run to blast it into the empty goal to bulge the net after a Sunil Chetri cross was chested down by Bhutia, which hit a defender before Pradeep latched on to it to home in with a grounder.

It was just as well that Pradeep, who opened the scoring in the tournament when he powered in a long-range goal against Cambodia to start the goal-glut in the inaugural match, signed off in style by scoring the last goal too.

India played a no-holds-barred game with their focus on attack and sustained it throughout even when Syria challenged the Indian goal with quick counter raids. Many thought they would not last the distance after the initial fury, but the defence, midfield and attack held out with marvellous consistency.

The Syrians, for once, found their attacking tactics fetching no rewards as they found India more than a match. The many daring, difficult saves effected by custodian Subrato Paul also frustrated the Syrians as they just could not beat this ‘wall’ even after dodging the defence many a time, to suffer their first defeat in five matches.

India’s English coach Bob Houghton fielded the best possible combination to start with as for the first time, Ajayan was given precedence over Renedy Singh. And Ajayan, along with Stevean Dias, used the flanks to rip open the Syrian defence, with Bhutia brilliantly marshalling the attack, despite taking many shoves and blows on his body.

The Indian defence, manned by Irungbani Surkumar Singh, Gouramangi Singh, Mahesh Gowli and N.S.Manju gave effective coverage to goalie Paul with their quick tackles and clearances to dispossess Syrian strikers Maher Al Sayed, Zyad Chaabo and Mahmoud Al Amena whenever they closed in at the goal area. The midfield played admirably as well with Ajayan, Pradeep and Stevan Dias playing their parts to the hilt to create moves and take shots.

India played with the short and long balls to suit the occasion to fox the Syrian midfield and defence, but a fine chance they earned in the 10th minute went abegging as Chetri shot wide with an open goal in front after Baichung’s cross from the left was shot into the box by Manju which was palmed away by rival custodian Mowssab Blahowss.

As the match tempo gained momentum, the Syrians used foul tactics to intimidate Bhutia and company but the referee flashed the cards often to prevent the situation getting out of control.

Jayanta receives Arjuna Award

World trap shooting champion Manavjit Sandhu led the star parade as President Pratibha Patil conferred a Rajiv Khel Ratna Award on him and bestowed Arjuna Awards on 14 other sportspersons at a glittering function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

The packed hall reverberated with thunderous sportspersons received the honour from President Patil - her very first award presentation ceremony since she assumed the office last month.

The Rajiv Khel Ratna Award comprises of Rs 500,000, a scroll of honour and a medal in recognition of spectacular and most outstanding performance in sports.

Sandhu is the only Indian trap shooter to win a medal - gold - at the world level last year, after a gap of 44 years. Dr Karni Singh was the first when he struck silver in the 1962 World Championship.

Earlier last year, Sandhu won a bronze at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and followed it with two silvers at the Doha Asiad in December last year. He has already qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Pentala Harikrishna (chess) was the only awardee who did not turn up but his mother Padmavati received the award on her son’s behalf.

Four women Arjuna Award recipients - Anjum Chopra (cricket), Jyoti Sunita Kullu (women’s hockey), Geeta Rani (weightlifting) and Geetika Jakhar (wrestling) - also received big ovations when their names were called for the honours.

Geetika also earned the distinction of being the first women grappler to receive this prestigious award.

The Arjuna Award, country’s oldest sports honour, was started in 1961 and comprises a cheque of Rs 300,000, a statuette of legendary archer Arjuna, and a scroll of honour, in recognition of outstanding achievements at international competitions.

Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar, created a record by winning the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy for the 20th time. Vice-chancellor Jai Rup Singh received the trophy for the university.

The MAKA trophy carries a cash prize of Rs two lakh and a rolling trophy.

Cricketer Kapil Dev chaired the panel that picked the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the Arjuna Awards and the Dhyan Chand Awards. Badminton legend Prakash Padukone headed the panel that chose Dronacharya Award winners.

The award winners:

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna: Manavjeet Sandhu (Shooting)

Arjuna Awards: Jayanta Talukdar (archery), K. M. Binu (athletics), Chetan Anand (badminton), Vijender (boxing), Pentala Harikrishna (chess), Anjum Chopra (cricket), Jyoti Sunita Kullu (women’s hockey), Vijay Kumar (shooting), Sourav Ghosal (squash), Subhajit Saha (table tennis), Geeta Rani (weightlifting), Geetika Jakhar (wrestling), Naveen Gautam (kabaddi) and Rohit Bhakar (badminton-disabled category) Dhyan Chand Awards: Varinder Singh (hockey), Shamsher Singh (kabaddi), Rajendra Singh (wrestling).

Dronacharya Awards: R. D. Singh (athletics

/paralympic games), Damodaran Chandralal (boxing) and Koneru Ashok (chess).

Tenzing Norgay National Adventure awards: Palden Giachho (land adventure), Motuku Indra Kanth Reddy (air adventure) Tapas Chowdhury(water adventure), Gurdial Singh (life-time achievement).

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