NEW DELHI, Aug 19 (UNI): Jeev Milkha Singh has worked his way upto 59th place in the official World Golf Rankings as a resultof his inspiring tied ninth finish at last week's USPGAChampionship held at the Oakland Golf and Country Club inBloomfield Township, Michigan.
Jeev's tied ninth finish in Michigan was the best by an Indian at a Major.
The Chandigarh golfer moved up seven places as he was ranked 66 prior to the USPGA Championship.
Jyoti Randhawa on the other hand, dropped from number 88 to 92 in the official World Golf Rankings.
Jeev has now come closer to his goal of getting back into the world's top-50.
His best ranking so far has been number 37 which was achieved as a result of four victories in 2006.
The 2006 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner is currently placed 14th (Euro 1,014,938) on the European Tour Order of Merit and second (540,694 dollar) on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
Jeev's next stop is the USPGA Tour's Wyndham Championship which will be held this week at the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina.
PHF chief blasts team after hockey debacle at Olympics Beijing, Aug 19 (UNI): Expressing his disappointment at the national team's failure to qualify for the Olympic semifinals,an irked Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Asif Bajwatoday blamed the players and the team management for the debacle.
Pakistan lost their Pool A match to Netherlands 2-4 to crash out of the Olympics.
"I am absolutely disappointed with the performance of Pakistan team.
They failed to deliver in any department of the game," Bajwa told mediapersons after the match.
"It was a bunch of individuals and they badly failed to play as a team.
This was main cause and the reason of their downfall." Expressing his disappointment at the performance of the senior players he said, "Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi, Adnan Maqsood, Mohammad Saqlain, Salman Akbar, all failed to live up to the expectations.
"All of them are experienced players but failed the test despite playing in their second Olympics." The former Olympian urged the players to focus on teamwork which is essential in a game like hockey.
Individual excellence is nothing in a team sport and players badly failed to come up to the nation's expectations.
PHF fully facilitated the players in every area of the game but end result was zero," he stated.
"It is scoring the goals which matters and not agility speed, dribble and indivial excellence.
It was a bunch of individuals and they badly failed to play as team.
This was main cause and the reason of their downfall," he added.
Bajwa informed that he was thinking of bringing in a foreign coach and would take a decision after the Games.
Anju's three foul jumps add to Indian athletics misery It was the kind of exit Anju Bobby George may not have had in her worst nightmare as she crashed out with three foul jumps in the Olympic long jump qualification here Tuesday morning.
Anju's 'X-X-X' (all foul jumps) ouster added to the pathetic showing of the Indian track and field contingent at the Games, where not a single athlete has progressed beyond the first stage.
And worse, all of them have performed at levels way below what they had achieved to get into the Olympic team.
The 31-year-old Kerala jumper, who had been way below her best even in the run-up to the Games, said she hurt her ankle during the warm-up and could not come up with a good showing.
In any case, she stepped over the board on all her three attempts and did not record a single legal jump.
With the automatic qualification for the final set at 6.75m, Anju needed a performance way above what she has been achieving in recent months to make the grade.
At Athens, she did make the final and finished sixth with a best of 6.83m, a mark she has not been able to come close for some time now.
In the end, she crumbled under pressure, though some of the officials expressed surprise at her not being able to record a single jump.
'An experienced athlete like her should have at least recorded a legal jump in the first or second attempt and then tried to go all out,' he said.
Anju herself was very upset.
'I hurt my ankle in the warm-up.
But since this is the Olympics I did not want to pull out.
I tried my best but I was unable to do anything,' she said and was seen clutching her ankle after the final attempt.
Britney Reese of the US was the top qualifier with a best of 6.87m in Group B, where Anju was one of the only two athletes not to record a single distance.
In Group A, the top qualifier was Maureen Higa Maggi of Brazil with 6.79m.
The last of the 12 qualifiers trooped in at 6.60m and it was Chelsea Hammond of Jamaica who made the grade at that distance.
Anju has not been able to make an impression at the world level ever since her bronze medal in the 2003 World Championships in Paris and then silver at the 2005 IAAF World Athletics final.
In 2003, she had cleared 6.70m to become the first Indian athlete ever to win a medal in the World Championships of Athletics.
Now the Indian challenge in the track and field rests solely with the 4X400 women's relay squad comprising Mandeep Kaur, Chitra Soman, S Geetha, Sini Jose, M R Povamma and K Mridula.
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