The Morung ExpressSPORTSThursday3 March 201110 Dimapur

Churchill Brothers hand Indian Arrows first defeatGURGAON, MARCH 2 (PTI): Indian arrows suffered their first home defeat in the I-League with a 1-2 loss against Churchill Brothers in a Round XVII match on Wednesday. Prolific striker Odafe Onyeka Okolie and Kayne Vincent scored for Churchill Brothers in the 10th and 88th minute respectively while Jeje Lalpekhlua pulled one back in the 90th minute for Arrows at Tau Devi Lal Stadium. After Wednesday's win, Churchill jumped to second spot with 33 points ahead of East Bengal (32). Salgaocar are still on top spot with 37 points. Churchill drew first blood in the 10th minute through their Nigerian striker Odafe. The prolific striker made no mistake with his left foot of a Steven Dias corner after Indian Arrows failed to clear the ball.

Indian Arrows tried their best to restore parity in the opening session but failed to breach the Churchill defence led by India International Gouramangi Singh. The Manipuri defender was later adjudged man-of-the-match for his steady performance at the back. The home side got their best chance in 29th minute when Subodh Kumar's free-kick was marginally over the woodwork with goalkeeper Lalit Thapa beaten all ends. Churchill Brothers further got a golden opportunity to increase the lead but to their despair, Amouri's right footer hit the woodwork from the top of the 18-yard box. After changing ends, Indian Arrows did put lot of pressure through free-kicks, but failed to notch up the equalizer. Churchill Brothers then brought in Kayne Vincent and Bineesh Balan in place of Odafe and Dias respectively and the duo paved the way for the second goal. Vincent found the back of the net two minutes before the end of the match. Bineesh picked up a loose ball and made a swift run from the center before essaying the ball to Vincent who made no mistake to put Churchill on the drivers' seat. The match saw a dramatic end as Jeje Lal-pekhlua pulled one back in the last minute with a su-perb shot from the top of the box. Indian Arrows now have 16 points from 17 matches.

UEFA wants five officials at Euro 2012WARSAW, MARCH 2 (AFP): UEFA wants to have five officials on hand for matches at Euro 2012, its chief Mi-chel Platini said on Tuesday, in a renewed drive to deal with disputed on-pitch decisions. Speaking during a visit to Poland, co-host of the 2012 European championships along with neighbour Ukraine, Platini said adding offi-cials to the traditional trio of a referee and two linesmen had proven its mettle in continental club competitions. "I'm 500 percent satisfied with the way having five of-ficials has worked in the Champions League and Europa League," he told reporters. "The results have been great, and the referees are really happy to have two colleagues to help them out," he added. The concept of extra offi-cials is being tested out by FIFA, world football's govern-ing organisation. The International Football Association Board, which determines the rules of the game, has been wrestling with how finally to end years of controversy over goals deemed to have been disallowed or approved unfair-ly. "We have an International Board meeting on Friday and Saturday in Wales and we're going to return to the issue of five officials," Platini said.

"We've asked the International Board to allow five officials during the European championships. We'll see that they have to say to us. I hope the answer will be posi-tive," he added. Platini spoke at a ceremony to mark the start of ticket sales for the 16-nation tournament -- Euro-pean football's showcase -- which kicks off in Warsaw on June 8, 2012 and ends with the final in the Ukrainian cap-ital Kiev on July 1. The event started with hiccups, as staff had to rip down a stage curtain behind which Platini and fellow officials were sitting, after it failed to glide open.

Platini's microphone then failed to work right away and when it did, was hit by interference from his mobile telephone, which he threw to a colleague in the audience. "You see, that's the problem with technology," Platini said, with a grin, taking advantage of the situation to re-affirm what he not want to see in refereeing. "That's why I'm against using video," he said. FIFA has also rebuffed calls for the use of video to resolve contentious decisions, despite it being a success in sports such as tennis, cricket, and rugby league and union. The rationale is that it would disrupt the flow of the game.

LONDON, MARCH 2 (REUTERS): Chelsea came from behind to beat Manchester United 2-1 thanks to Frank Lampard's 79th-minute penalty at Stamford Bridge on Tues-day and put the brakes on the visitors' charge towards the Premier League title.

United deservedly led through Wayne Rooney's 29th-minute shot but de-fender David Luiz equalised nine minutes into the sec-ond half. The champions, unbeaten at home against United since 2002, surged forward after that and took the points after Chris Smalling tripped substitute Yuri Zhirkov.

Defender Nemanja Vidic's stoppage-time red card for a second booking completed United's miser-able night. The result leaves United on 60 points, four clear of Arsenal, who have a game in hand. Manches-ter City are third on 50 with champions Chelsea now up to fourth on 48. The fixture that has so often been billed as a virtual title decider in recent seasons, initially had something of a low-key feel about it with Chelsea unac-customedly so far adrift of their rivals and their hopes of retaining the title long gone. Coach Carlo Ancelotti opted to go with Fernando Torres and Nicolas Anelka as his front men, leaving Di-dier Drogba on the bench.

Alex Ferguson also permed two from three with Rooney and Javier Hernandez starting togeth-er, with Dimitar Berbatov among the substitutes. It was the same strike force from Saturday's 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic.

The manager said before the game that Rooney was

Chelsea vs Manchester United: Chelsea fight back to beat Manchester United 2-1

fortunate to be playing hav-ing escaped a ban for his off-the-ball elbowing of Wigan's James McCarthy but he was not the only pantomime vil-lain on show as United gave a special welcome to Ashley Cole. The England defender had been fined and investi-gated by the police for shoot-ing a member of the Chelsea staff with an air gun at their

training ground. One Unit-ed fan held up a sign saying: "Don't shoot Ashley" while all of them roared "shoot" every time he touched the ball. In an open, attacking game, United gradually took control and Rooney should have put them ahead when he mistimed a header after 21 minutes.

He made amends eight minutes later when he col-

lected the ball 25 metres out, turned in acres of space and drove a fierce low shot be-yond Petr Cech into the bot-tom corner. Chelsea showed more energy after the break and levelled after 54 min-utes when Ivanovic headed a deep cross into the path of Luiz and the Brazilian de-fender waited for it to drop before expertly slamming a

shot past Edwin van der Sar. Drogba replaced Anelka af-ter an hour while Berbatov went on for Hernandez 10 minutes later. Ryan Giggs also joined the fray for his 606th league game, equal-ling Bobby Charlton's Unit-ed record set on the same ground in 1973. Chelsea be-gun to control more of the ball, forcing United to de-

fend deep and it was another subsitute, Zhirkov, on in the 71st minute for Florent Ma-louda, who turned the game when he went down under the challenge of Smalling. Lampard dispatched a pow-erful penalty and Chelsea, instead of trailing the lead-ers by 18 points, are now 12 adrift and back in the Cham-pions League places.

Chelsea's David Luiz, goes for the ball with Manchester United's Wayne Rooney during their English Premier League soccer match at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge ground in London, Tuesday, March 1. (AP Photo)

C H A R L E R O I ( B E L G I U M ) , MARCH 2 (AP): Rafael Nadal is ready for a return to top-level tennis, declaring himself 100 percent fit on Tuesday after fully recovering from a thigh injury sustained at the Austra-lian Open.

The top-ranked player said he is ready to spearhead Spain in the open-ing singles match against Belgium on

Friday in the first-round series, af-ter injuring his left hamstring in the quarterfinals in Melbourne in Janu-ary. "If I am here it is because, physi-cally, I am 100 percent," Nadal said after a training session.

After taking time off before slowly resuming training, he has been par-ticipating in two practice sessions a day with his Davis Cup partners in

Charleroi. With Nadal and top-10 players David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco, Spain is the overwhelming favorite against Belgium. The top-ranked player for the hosts is Xavier Malisse, ranked 51st in the world, and the only one in the top 100.

During practice on the hard in-door surface, Nadal's leg was no longer strapped and he moved freely on the

court. Smiling happily, Nadal knows fully he can count on his teammates this weekend. On Saturday, Ferrer successfully defended his Mexican Open title before rushing to Belgium.

If team captain Albert Costa calls on his best player twice this weekend, Nadal will be ready. "I am practicing hard. If the captain thinks I am the right player to start on Friday, I will

do my best. We will see," Nadal said.If play goes according to form,

Spain could wrap up the best-of-five tie during the doubles on Saturday. It would give Nadal the sweetest come-back to competitive tennis before he moves to Indian Wells for the Parisbas Open next week.

He knows, though, that the Davis Cup rarely goes according to form, es-

pecially when the Spiroudome will be filled to its 6,500-capacity on Friday.

"When we play away all the con-frontations are difficult," Nadal said.

Based on rankings, Spain should be a perennial challenger, but last year the team was whitewashed 5-0 by France in the quarterfinals. "There are a lot of teams around the world that are able to beat us," Nadal said.

NADAL BACK AFTER INJURY, FIT FOR DAVIS CUPSpain's Davis Cup team players from left, Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco, team captain Albert Costa, Feliciano Lopez, and David Ferrer, address the media during a media conference in Charleroi, Belgium, Tuesday March 1, 2011. Spain will play against Belgium for the Davis Cup World Group Round 1 on 4, 5 and 6 March 2011. (AP Photo)

NEW DELHI, MARCH (AGEN-CIES): With a golden cone switch-ing young hands in rapid motion, they hared around the hoarding-void ground, screaming at emp-ty yellow and blue seats. Their sounds may have echoed off the spectatorless Holkar Stadium in Indore but the voice of Jharkhand cricket was finally heard around the country. With the World Cup being played in the subcontinent, even the staunchest supporters of domestic cricket decided to give this one a miss, but nothing was going to stop 11 youngsters from celebrating their finest hour — Jharkhand’s first domestic title.

As Shahbaz Nadeem and wicketkeeper Shiv Gautam tag-teamed to run-out Gujarat’s Ishwar Choudhary short of his

crease, the first of the on-field celebrations began with the cus-tomary snatching of stumps. Jharkhand was also presented the Vijay Hazare Trophy for being the best one-day team in the domes-tic circuit.

For a state that has never risen from the obscurity of the second tier in the Ranji Trophy, winning the limited-over equiv-alent is unparalleled. Nadeem collected his Man of the Match award for rattling out the oppo-sition for 96, beaming the way he did while forging scintillating fig-ures of 4/6 from four overs. The left-arm spinner was unread-able, three out of the four bats-man he dismissed out for nought. The fourth, Amit Singh, was put out of his misery for 3.

Ishank Jaggi, Jharkhand’s top-order batsman, scored a pa-tient 58 on a pitch that witnessed an unprecedented seven ducks in the second innings. The Vi-jay Hazare is a tournament Jaggi won’t forget for a long time, top-scoring in the tournament with 346 runs (at 57.66 per innings) in seven matches — none of which Jharkhand lost. “With our track record, nobody gave us a chance before the tournament. I think we’ve changed the way the state will be seen now,” says Jaggi.

To be fair to the critics, though, they weren’t wrong in writing the team off. Since the southern por-tion of Bihar was bifurcated to form a new state a shade over ten years back, Jharkhand has won just six of their 36 Ranji matches.

The numbers are more shocking over the last five years — two wins in 25 matches. This year was no dif-ferent as Jharkhand finished sec-ond last in their group, above the only team they managed to muster a win against — Tripura. This, from a state that has produced the cap-tain of the Indian team.

“Let’s put this in perspec-tive,” says Amitabh Choudhary, president of the JSCA. “For long, we’ve been noted only for giving rise to Dhoni or Saurabh Tiwary. What we’ve done today is so much greater. This is a huge step in our evolution,” he says, stressing on the last word.

The ‘evolution’ began when they beat giants Mumbai by three wickets in the quarter-finals, de-spite a century from skipper Wa-

sim Jaffer. Varun Aaron was the pick of the bowlers then, a pros-pect said to have set the speed guns smoking, constantly bowling over 140 kmph. Jaggi’s 85 smashed Vi-darbha’s hopes — a team that had knocked out Tamil Nadu — in the penultimate round. The best was left for last as Jharkhand, under Tiwary’s leadership, won by a whopping 159 runs.

Says Jaggi: “Winning is a habit and we have cultivated it this year. The timing of this victory will be a key to unlock a bright future for Jharkhand cricket.”

Brief scores: Jharkhand 255 for 8 in 50 overs (Ishank Jaggi 58, Kumar Deobrat 52, Varun Aaron 34, Shiv Gautam 35); Gujarat 96 all out in 24 overs (Niraj Patel 46*; Shahbaaz Nadeem 4/6)

Jharkhand lift Vijay Hazare domestic trophy