Saturday, August 15, 1998
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S P O R T | Saturday, August 15, 1998 |
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IOA 'final authority' MUMBAI, Aug 14 — The Indian Olympic Association today reiterated its stand as the final authority to decide any team’s participation and also warned the Board of Control for Cricket in India not to insist on sporting logo of a tobacco company for the Commonwealth Games. Sri Lanka thrash SA NOTTINGHAM, Aug 14 — Sri Lanka made a blazing start to the triangular one-day series in England, hammering 258 to beat South Africa by 57 runs at Trent Bridge today. Tyson to get quick Nevada hearing LAS VEGAS (Nevada), Aug 14 — A hearing on Mike Tyson’s application to regain his license to box in Nevada will be held as soon as possible, a state boxing official has said. |
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 Serena Williams returns a shot to Sandrine Testud of France, during the quarterfinal round match at the Acura Classic, in Manahattan Beach, California, on Thursday. She won the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. — AP/PTI Seles sails into semifinals MANHATTAN BEACH (California), Aug 14 — Defending champion and fourth seed Monica Seles defeated fifth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France 6-4 6-4 yesterday to become the first semifinalist at the Acura Classic here. |
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Shruti Dhawan goes down fighting Indians falter in final rounds |
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IOA 'final authority' MUMBAI, Aug 14 (UNI) — The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) today reiterated its stand as the final authority to decide any team’s participation and also warned the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) not to insist on sporting logo of a tobacco company for the Commonwealth Games. In a rejoinder to three major points raised by BCCI Secretary J.Y. Lele yesterday IOA Secretary Randhir Singh said today in a reply that any team participating in the Commonwealth Games has to go under the aegis of the National Olympic Committee/Commonwealth Games Association affiliated to the Commownealth Games Federation, Thereby indicating that the Indian cricket team will have to play under the IOA banner objected by the BCCI which feared losing its autonomy. Randhir Singh further mentioned in a faxed reply here that whether the cricketers are professionals or not they would not be permitted to wear any logo except the name of the sports gear manufacturers which can be exhibited on the apparel worn by each competitor according to the games rules. The IOA Secretary also said that regarding dope testing of the sports persons the norms of the Commownealth Games federation are to be followed. This practice existed at the Asian and Olympic level too, he added. Randhir wanted the BCCI and its parent body in London to sort out the matter of Commonwealth Games cricket’s status. In conclusion he urged the BCCI to send the team members’ names even now without any further delay since the last date of entries was August 11. "The IOA will make every effort to have your late entry accepted", he ensured. Randhir’s reply came following a communication from the BCCI on August 12 and reported outbursts of Dungarpur and Lele terming the IOA stand as "unfortunate and uncalled for". The BCCI Secretary had also sought clarifications on certain points. Mr Lele had, in his hard-hitting communication, made it clear that the BCCI would brook no "dictates" from the IOA and that the cricket team’s participation would strictly be under the aegis of the ICC. On the technical issues raised by the BCCI, Randhir Singh said cricket was introduced in the games as per the decision taken in the general assembly held in Victoria in 1993. "I am sure the Commonwealth Games Federation must have been in touch with the ICC," he added. NEW DELHI (PTI): Meanwhile, when contacted Randhir Singh denied any quarrel between the IOA and the BCCI. "We are only interested in ensuring the cricket team’s participation and for that we need to send the names of the players immediately,’ he said. Saying that there was no
scope for exempting cricket from the scope of the doping
rules, he asked, "If the Indian cricketers do no
wrong, why should they be afraid of the doping law?" |
Sri Lanka thrash SA NOTTINGHAM, Aug 14 (Reuters) — Sri Lanka made a blazing start to the triangular one-day series in England, hammering 258 to beat South Africa by 57 runs at Trent Bridge today. Sri Lanka made their trademark lightning start, racing past 100 in the 15th over before stumbling mid innings only to be rescued by their ever reliable captain Arjuna Ranatunga who hit a patient 58. In reply, South Africa tumbled to 66 for five before a century stand between Pat Symcox and Jonty Rhodes for the sixth wicket gave them a glimmer of hope. Sanath Jayasuriya, who nearly did not play because of a hand injury, smashed 36 from 38 balls and added 85 for the first wicket in just 11 overs with Romesh Kaluwitherana who scored 33 from 39 balls. Marvan Atapattu struck 40 from 60 deliveries and added 80 with Ranatunga for the fourth wicket to set Sri Lanka up for about 300 with the score on 182 for three in the 32nd over. But Atapattu was stumped by Mark Boucher off Symcox and captain Hansie Cronje, using himself as a seventh bowler, delivered eight overs for just 29 runs to strangle the innings before Shaun Pollock wrapped it up by claiming the last three wickets for 11 runs in 13 balls. Pramodya Wickremasinghe took three wickets in his opening spell and new ball partner Suresh Perera made it 32 for four by bowling Daryll Cullinan. When Cronje was trapped lbw for 21 by Muttiah Muralitharan, South Africa were 66 for five. Symcox, promoted to number five, batted with unusual caution to score 58 from 87 balls while Rhodes chipped and sprinted his way to 54 from just 49 balls as they rebuilt South Africa’s chances with a stand of a 100. But both were caught on the boundary in successive overs from offspinner Kumara Dharmasena, however, and Sri Lanka’s victory was all but complete. The one-day series, hosted by England, is the first international triangular tournament in the country. Coloured clothing and a white ball also featured for the first time in an international on English soil. Sri Lanka play England at Lord’s on Sunday. South Africa must beat England comfortably in the final qualifying match in Birmingham on Tuesday to have a chance of reaching the final, also at Lord’s on Thursday. South Africa: |
Seles sails into semifinals MANHATTAN BEACH (California), Aug 14 (Reuters) — Defending champion and fourth seed Monica Seles defeated fifth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France 6-4 6-4 yesterday to become the first semifinalist at the Acura Classic here. "I was very intense in competing on every point. I had some spurts where I played really good tennis. Overall, I’m pretty happy," Seles said. Seles improved to 9-0 lifetime without the loss of a set to this summer’s Wimbledon runner-up and the world’s 11th-ranked player. The victory set up a meeting tomorrow with the winner of the Lindsay Davenport-Natasha Zvereva quarter-final pairing. In second-round matches, Davenport, eyeing her third title in as many weeks on the California hardcourts, crushed Julie Halard-Decugis of France 6-0 6-4 in 49 minutes and eighth-seeded Zvereva of Belarus breeezed past Spaniard Magui Serna 6-2 6-1. Davenport, the world’s second-ranked player and second seed, ran off the first set in 16 minutes and went ahead 4-1 in the second. But Halard-Decugis got on track to level the score at 4-apiece. Ahead 5-4, Davenport smacked a forehand winner on match point for the decisive break in the final game. "I was really on a good roll and but just lost my concentration at 6-0, 4-1," said Davenport, who stretched her unbeaten match streak to nine. "I was just cruising and all of a sudden it was 4-4, 30-30. But I was able to really hold my serve and break in the last game." In other second-round matches, 16-year-old American Serena Williams powered past seventh-seeded Sandrine Testud of France 6-4 3-6 6-1 while lucky loser Elena Tatarkova of Ukraine surprised seventh-seed Romanian Irina Spirlea 6-2 6-2. Seles has been showing an unrelenting ground attack in a quest to capture her first title of the year and fourth here at the Manhattan Country Club. The lefthander rode a
service break in the ninth game to take the opening set
from Tauziat but fell behind 4-1 to the serve-and-volley
stylist before reeling off the final five games to
complete the sweep. |
Tyson to get quick Nevada hearing LAS VEGAS (Nevada), Aug 14 (Reuters) — A hearing on Mike Tyson’s application to regain his license to box in Nevada will be held as soon as possible, a state boxing official has said. Tyson has asked for a hearing to be relicensed in Nevada and has withdrawn his application in New Jersey, one day before a decision there was expected. "We’ll do our best to get it scheduled as soon as possible," Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Marc Ratner said yesterday, after receiving a one-paragraph letter from the former heavyweight champion’s manager Shelly Finkel, dated August 13, asking for the hearing. "As Mike Tyson’s representative I would like to have a hearing for Mike Tyson to be relicensed in the state of Nevada. We would like to schedule the hearing as soon as possible, with the understanding that it would take 10 days to two weeks to set up the hearing," the letter said. The request, addressed to Nevada State Athletic Commission chairman Elias Ghanem, came shortly after attorney Anthony Fusco Jr., said he was, upon Tyson’s instructions, withdrawing the fighter’s application to be relicensed to box in New Jersey. Mr Ratner also said he was looking into the availability of a site for the hearing, one that has adequate space to accommodate the expected media crush. Tyson’s license to box was revoked by Nevada officials just over a year ago and he was fined $ 3 million after he twice bit the ears of champion Evander Holyfield and was disqualified in their title rematch in Las Vegas on June 28, 1997. Tyson, 32, had applied to New Jersey in early July, one day after the one-year Nevada revocation ended. But he withdrew his New Jersey application yesterday, one day before a decision was expected, a spokeswoman for the office of the Attorney General confirmed. The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board had scheduled a session for today and was expected to vote on Tyson’s application. Spokeswoman Rita Malley said the public meeting was cancelled. The Nevada Commission had been angered by the application to New Jersey, and Finkel’s request is being made to a panel whose fairness he had questioned a month ago. The Las Vegas Sun in its July 21 edition quoted Finkel as saying: "I can’t discuss it for the record but (if you believe the NSAC would relicense Tyson) then they’ve been lying to you. You’re not being told the truth." All five commissioners,
who will vote on whether to reinstate Tyson’s
license, criticised Finkel’s comments. "This
angers me," said Ghanem. "This is pure
nonsense." |
Vince Spadea ousts Krajicek KRAJICEK MASON (Ohio), Aug 14 (Reuters) — Unheralded American Vince Spadea continued his run of upsets at the ATP Championship yesterday, taking out eighth-seeded Richard Krajicek 6-2 6-3 in a third-round match. For the first time in his seven-year career, the 44th-ranked Spadea posted back-to-back wins over top 10 players. He beat ninth-ranked Andre Agassi here in a third-set tiebreaker in the second round. He has defeated four top 10 players this year, upsetting then third-ranked Patrick Rafter at Key Biscayne in March and the then third-ranked Petr Korda at Toronto last week. Spadea will try to keep the momentum going tonight when he faces defending champion and top-seeded Pete Sampras in the quarter-finals. In their three previous outings, Sampras has never lost a set to Spadea. The second-ranked Sampras, who can move back into the world number one ranking if he wins a third career ATP Championship title on Sunday, captured a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 third round win over 60th-ranked Jan-Michael Gambill of the USA. "I just go out and
play and, hopefully, my tennis is good enough to beat
him," Sampras said of Gambill, an up-and-coming
player more noted for his movie star looks. In the other quarterfinals, third-seed Korda plays fifth-seeded Patrick Rafter of Australia. It took the third-ranked Rafter, who won last week’s event in Toronto, three sets to secure a 3-6 6-3 6-2 victory over 31st-ranked Todd Martin of the USA in a featured third-round evening match. By the time Rafter pulled his serve-and-volley game together to establish a two service break lead in the final set, he had totally frustrated the normally mild-mannered Martin. After losing his serve in the seventh game of third set, the 31st-ranked Martin slammed his racket into the net post and received a warning for racket abuse. The eighth-ranked Krajicek’s game feeds off his serve, and he was serving below his usual level, so the 1996 Wimbledon champion was repeatedly pressured by Spadea. The American’s own serve was never broken in the match and he managed to break Krajicek’s serve in the second and eighth games of the first set and the eighth game of the second set. Sampras, playing Gambill for the first time, needed a little time to get acquainted with his opponent’s atypical game. Gambill hits a two-handed shot off the forehand side. In the first set, there were no service breaks, but Sampras took immediate control of the tiebreaker by winning the first six points. Sampras had the only service break in the 73-minute match, in the fourth game of the second set. AP adds: Davis cupper Mahesh Bhupathi and Paul Haarhuis (Netherlands) lost their second-round doubles to Pablo Albano and Nicolas Lapentti in the 2.45 million dollars ATP Championship here. Argentina’s Albano
and Lapentti of Ecuador defeated Bhupathi and Haarhuis
7-5, 7-6, (7-3). |
'No ODI status' for cricket in Games NEW DELHI, Aug 14 (PTI) — Cricket matches in the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games next month will not have official one-day international status, according to International Cricket Council (ICC) president Jagmohan Dalmiya. "The controversy between Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the cricket board is a matter between the two parties and they should sort it out," Mr Dalmiya told PTI from Calcutta. Clarifying why
‘official’ status has not been accorded to the
ties, Mr Dalmiya said "a number of participating
countries do not enjoy official ODI status. So the ICC
decided as a matter of policy that the ties could not be
accorded such status." Hosts Malaysia do not enjoy official ODI status while Barbados, Jamaica and Antigua at the games are otherwise constituents of the West Indies team. "There appears to be some communication gap between IOA and Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). It will be better if IOA gets the guidance and clarifications from CGF regarding their understanding with the ICC, to avoid unnecessary confusion". Mr Dalmiya said the CGF and SUKOM (Malaysian organising committee) had sought ICC permission to include cricket in the games and ICC gave its nod without making any commitment for future editions of the Commonwealth or Olympic Games. "The ICC saw inclusion of cricket in the 1998 games as a unique avenue for globalisation and development of the game. It was with this in view that the ICC cleared cricket’s inclusion on a trial basis and even assisted the organisers in various related administrative matters ranging from overseeing preparation of grounds and turf wickets to determining the teams that would participate," Mr Dalmiya said. Matches in the Commonwealth Games would be played as per the playing conditions approved by the ICC and ICC code of conduct and regulations would apply, Mr Dalmiya reiterated. Mr Dalmiya said on the basis of the understanding between the ICC, the CGF and SUKOM, it was decided the teams will be selected by the respective boards. It was also settled that the players would be permitted to sport only the manufacturer’s logo on their clothing and equipment and they would not be paid by the CGF or SUKOM even though their boarding and lodging would be provided by the organisers and that the ties would not enjoy official ODI status, the ICC chief said. The ICC had initially decided that apart from the nine Test playing countries, Barbados, Jamaica and Antigua from the West Indies, hosts Malaysia and four Commonwealth Countries on the basis of their performance in the 1997 ICC Associates Trophy Tournament would participate. But with England, the parent country of the Commonwealth fraternity, dropping out, the number of associate member participants was increased to five — Bangladesh, Kenya, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Canada, Mr Dalmiya said. On the current tug-of-war
between the IOA and the BCCI, Mr Dalmiya said there
appeared to be a communication gap between the apex
sports body and the Commonwealth Games federation. |
Tiger Woods forges ahead REDMOND (Washington), Aug 14 (Reuters) — Tiger Woods, just trying to play safe, shot a course-record 4-under-par 66 yesterday to take the lead in the first round of the PGA Championship, then watched as numerous players made serious charges at him only to fall back. Woods made seven birdies and three bogeys on Sahalee Country Club’s 29-year-old par-70 course, which was hosting its first major championship and the first in the Pacific north west in more than 50 years. No one else could quite match Woods’s performance as eight players shot 2-under 68. Three of them got to 3 under par, two reached 4 under and one, Glen Day, got to minus 5, all before falling back. Day, who was at 5 under
after 13 holes but double bogeyed the 14th and bogeyed
18th, was joined at 68 by 1993 champion Paul Azinger,
Billy Andrade, Bob Estes, Frank Lickliter, Bill Glasson,
Scott Gump and Shigeki Maruyama of Japan. "I was just trying to play safe," the 22-year-old Woods said after eclipsing the previous low score at Sahalee — a 67 shot by Jack Nicklaus in an exhibition shortly after the 6,906-yard course was opened. "There were so many pins in the corners of the greens that I just tried to put the ball in the middle and take my chances from there," said Woods, who drained six putts of more than 15 feet but also had two lip out. "The greens are so
perfect that you just have to hit the ball on line and
start walking," added Woods, who is still using the
putter he says he "stole" from Mark
O’Meara, his good friend and neighbour, just before
the British Open, which O’Meara won in a playoff
while Woods finished one shot back. "It’s nice to shoot in the red (under par) any time in a major championship," said the 41-year-old O’Meara, who won the masters in April for his first major title in an 18-year career. O’Meara started out slowly, making bogeys on two of the first three holes, but he righted himself with three birdies coming home. Defending champion Davis Love was in an even bigger group at even-par 70, including Colin Montgomerie of Britain, who lost a playoff to Elkington in the 1995 championship. Love said he was happy shooting par because he did not play well. The long-hitting Woods said Sahalee, which has towering trees overhanging most of its fairways, suited his game perfectly because he could hit irons off most tees and keep the ball out of trouble. Woods felt so comfortable with his irons that he did not use his driver all day. "I didn’t pull it out once," he said proudly. He started the day with a bogey when his 8-iron approach at the first found the rough and his putt for par lipped out. But he recovered with a birdie four at the 507-yard second, despite hitting a 220-yard 3-iron over the green. His only other bogeys came at the 480-yard sixth, where his tee ball and approach both landed in bunkers and his 10-foot par putt lipped out, and at the 374-yard 14th, where he three-putted, missing a four-footer for par. Six of Woods’s birdies came on putts of 18 feet or less, but he also drained a 35-footer for his final birdie at the par-3 17th. Woods, who said he had "no idea at all" how many course records he has set, said in response to a question that he was not thinking about winning - yet. "I’m just trying
to give myself a chance," he said. "With three
days to go — that’s an eternity." |
Godara demands Arjuna Award NEW DELHI, Aug 14 (PTI) — Peeved at being omitted from the list of Arjuna Award winners announced, veteran woman marathoner Sunita Godara has threatened to move the Delhi High Court if she is not chosen for the award within a week. The 38-year-old former Asian marathon champion with over 50 marathons and as many road races behind her, termed the criteria for selecting awardees as "arbitrary" and threatened to obtain a stay on the awards function to be held at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan on August 29. Godara today sent a legal notice to the human resource development secretary with copies to the President, Prime Minister, HRD Minister, Minister of State for Sports and the Indian Olympic Association demanding that she be given the award within a week, failing which she would move the court. Godara, winner of the Asian marathon gold in 1992 and 20 marathon and 10 half-marathon titles, claimed her name had been recommended by both the IOA and the Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI). She was the first Indian
women to take part in the Boston marathon in 1984-85 and
the first Indian to be selected as an escort runner of
the Olympic flame in the 1996 centennial Olympics at
Atlanta. |
Jeev confident of winning title CHANDIGARH, Aug 14 — Playing professional golf in the European Tour, Chandigarh's Chiranjeev Milkha Singh, or Jeev Milkha Singh as he is known in the tour, has his eyes set on winning at least one title during the remaining period of the tour which ends in October next.So far his best showing has been in the English Open, where he finished eighth. Now in Chandigarh for a very short holiday before he flies to Dublin, Ireland, to take part in the Smurfit European Tour Tournament from August 20 to 23 , Chiranjeev will play in at least five of the remaining seven tournaments scheduled this year.Admitting that the competition was getting tougher by the day he was hopeful that he would able to make a mark in at least a couple of tournaments and win at least one tournament. Winning one tournament will serve two purposes for Chiranjeev. First by winning one tournament he will be assured of his European card for at least two years. And secondly, he will be able to pick and choose the tournament he wants to play in next year's European Tour.Now as a qualifier he has to depend on the organisers to get permission to play.Sometimes it happens,as it happened in Spain, he cannot play as the field is full. In such circumstances one full week is wasted . Europe at the moment hosts 33 tournaments every year. While admitting that the competition is very tough in Europe, Chiranjeev has already attained a rank of 77 in Europe, not bad going when one considers that he is among the 40 golfers who qualified for the tour from among 1,200 who appeared in the qualifying tournament. He discloses that golfers who rank up to 115 can retain their cards for the following year. Chiranjeev says that playing in the Omega Tour of Asia (where he finished second overall last year) gave him the necessary confidence to play in Europe where the standard of the game is far more competitive than in Asia. Chiranjeev will shift to the Omega Tour in October (he will have to play a minimum of six tournaments in the Omega Tour to retain his card in the Asian tour), and then move to Australia where he plans to play in five out of 12 tournaments of the tour (he also has a card to play in Australia and hopes to renew this by playing this season). In between he will come to India to play in the Hero Honda Open in early November, the SAIL-PGA tournament as well as the Indian Open, the richest tournament played in India at the moment. As the only Asian in the Omega tour as well as the European tour, Chiranjeev is aware that he has had to fight all odds to make a niche for himself in the tour. But nowadays he is sure of himself and is confident that he would be able to improve his showing in the future. Chiranjeev is aiming for
the US Tour for only one reason: to play the game against
the best in the world. But he is in no hurry to head for
the USA. He would rather establish himself in Europe
before he makes an attempt to qualify for the US tour,
where also the competition is even tougher. |
Neha, Puneet move into q-finals CHANDIGARH, Aug 14 — Neha Sharma ousted her schoolmate Ami Wig 15-14 in a nail-biting finish in the pre-quarterfinals of the junior girls' category in the Chandigarh Ranking Carrom Tournament for the St. Stephen's trophy being held at St. Stephen's School, Sector 45, here today. Puneet Lamba, Nabhi Sahni and Harneet Chahal also moved into the last eight stage in the same category. In the boys' section, up and coming players Gagandeep, Jagdev Mann, Devinderjit, Yogeshwar and Rozario Sampson easily sailed into the third round in the junior singles event. About 200 players are taking part in the three-day tournament for sub juniors and juniors. The results are: Boys (sub-juniors — 2nd round): Raman Preet bt Harjit Singh 25-2 Harkirat bt Ankur 25-0 Lovneet Singh bt Aman Bhasin 25-0 KP Bhargava bt Kush Tevatia W/O Deepak bt Adhitya 25-0 Dhurva bt Gaurav Malhotra 25-0 Yodh Preet bt Ankur Kapila 25-0 Shashank bt Gaurav 18-0 Ramesh bt Vaibhav Jaggi 25-0 Girls (juniors — 1st round): Neha Sharma bt Amit Wig 15-14 Roomika bt Eveleen 25-0 Puneet bt Bhavneet Kaur 21-3 Nabhi Sahni bt Pallavi 25-0 Harneet Chahal bt Geetu 25-0 Shabri Parsad bt Umang Preet W/O Poonam Jain bt Komal Deep W/O Prabhjot bt Tanya 25-0 Boys (junior — 2nd
round): Yogeshwar bt Charan Kamal 25-6 Jaspreet bt Varun
Raghav 24-0 Panini bt Lokinder Singh 15-14 Harpal Singh
bt Rohit 25-7 Vishal bt Aita Ram 19-17 Saurabh Verma bt
Asher Wilson 20-18 Rozario Sampson bt Varun 25-0 Jigashu
bt Randheer Kalsi 25-1 Taranpreet bt Money Bansal 25-12
Ajay Pal bt Gaurav 25-0 Amit Kumar bt Mandeep Singh W/O
Sahil bt Abhinav 25-0 Charrukh bt Alok 25-0 Paramdeep bt
Gur Partap 25-0 Devinder Jit bt Asshak 21-5 John P. Rao
bt Hasneet Nehra 15-13 Jagdev Mann bt Baninder Singh 25-1
Gurbagh Singh bt Sumit 25-11 Dhruva bt Rajat 16-14
Jaideep Singh bt Manoj K. Mittal 20-8 Gagandeep bt Vaneet
Wadhwa 25-0 Vinod bt Simranjit 19-4. |
Shruti Dhawan goes down fighting CHENNAI, Aug 14 (PTI) - Top seed Uzma Khan of Andhra Pradesh quelled a stiff challenge from Delhi’s Shruti Dhawan to be on course for her third successive title with a 6-7 (10-12) 6-4 6-0 win in the semifinals of the IOB National Junior Hard Court Tennis Championship here today. Uzma will now cross swords with fourth seed Radhika Tulpule (Mah) in the title clash. Tulpule scored an easy victory over statemate Radhika Mandke 6-3 6-3 in the other semifinal. Dhawan began well against Uzma to clinch the first set (7-6) which went into the tie-break, lost the second after a stiff fight, but threw in the towel in the decider in the two-hour battle. However, all is not lost for the Delhi girl who along with Gautam Sheetal of Karnataka is top seeded in the doubles and likely to clinch the duel against Radhika Tulpule and Radhika Mandke in the final tomorrow. The boys semifinals will be between top seed and favourite Vijay Kannan of Delhi and Manoj Mahadevan (TN) and Sanzaruz Zaman (WB-second) vs unseeded P. Chaturvedi of Delhi. In the quarterfinals,
Kannan survived a scare from local boy Avinash Arun
before winning 7-5, 7-6 (7-4). Zaman beat Mustafa Ghouse
of Maharashtra 6-2 6-4 and third seed Mahadevan defeated
Ravikiran Bhat of Karanataka 6-2 7-5 while Chaturvedi
quelled the challenge of unseeded Akshay Jagdale (Maha)
to win 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3). |
Indians falter in final rounds KOSZALIN (Poland), Aug 14 (PTI) — Defending champion Grandmaster Igor Khemkin of Israel won the M.K. Cafe Cup chess tournament after drawing his final round game to collect eight points, one point clear of the seven GMs, who tied for second spot with seven points here yesterday. Indians, notably the two former national ‘A’ champions P. Konguvel and Abhijit Kunte, had started their campaign in style, but faltered in the final rounds and lost the initiative of earning the all important GM norms. The best performance amongst Indians was given by International master D.V. Prasad (5.5), he drew GM John van Der Wiel in the final round and stands to gain 12 ELO points. Im Konguvel (5) was unfortunate as he lost in the final two rounds when he needed just one point from these games to earn his maiden GM norm. Konguvel’s showing here will give him 17 ELO points. JM Kunte (5), also faced similar fate as Konguvel when he also blew away his chances of earning the final GM norm. After remaining unbeaten till the seventh round, he needed two points to take the gm title but made serious mistakes in the eighth game against GM Ljubomir Ftacnik which cost him dear. |
MCA sacks Sandhu MUMBAI, Aug 14 (PTI) — The two-year reign of Balwinder Singh Sandhu as the coach of the state’s Ranji Trophy squad came to an end with the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) deciding to axe him and appoint a new coach for the forthcoming season. The MCA managing committee unanimously decided yesterday to sack former Test seamer Sandhu, under whom Mumbai won the Ranji and Wills Trophy tournaments in 1996-97, according to the association’s Joint Secretary Prof. Ratnakar Shetty. The MCA also vested a seven-member committee - comprising former Test stars Sunil Gavaskar, Ajit Wadekar, Sandeep Patil and Dilip Sardesai among others — with the powers to select a new Ranji Trophy coach for the 1998-99 season, Shetty said. The sacking of Sandhu was on the cards after Mumbai were shocked in the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy by underdogs Uttar Pradesh. He also failed to submit
his report to the MCA for more than three months after
the team’s surprise exit and gave the report only
last week, sources said. |
Transformed Dutch defy Indian attack AMSTERDAM, Aug 14 (PTI) — Dutch batsmen were a transformed lot as they breathed defiance in reaching a fighting 253 for nine wickets in their first innings on the opening day of the second three-day match against India ‘A’ here today. In ideal batting conditions after India ‘A’ skipper Vikram Rathore won the toss and put the hosts into bat, Sinclair (53) struck a fine half century and three others posted 40 or more scores to finally match the Indian bowlers, who have completely dominated so far on the tour. Leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule captured six for 76 and seasoned off-spinner Kanwaljeet Singh took two for 61 to share the spoils on a track that offered the bowlers little help. Holland got off to a splendid start with a 66-run opening stand between Houberne (25) and Zulfikar (43 - 6 x 4). A second half century stand of exactly 50, between Statham (40) and Sinclair (53) for the fourth wicket, further consolidated the Dutch position. Sinclair negotiated the Indian spinners well in his chanceless knock containing five boundaries. India ‘A’ hopes of ending the Dutch innings on the first day itself were dashed by number nine batsman Bouter, who thwarted the Indian bowlers to remain unbeaten with 45 at close after cracking four fours and a six. Rathore claimed the second new ball in the fag end of the day hoping to snip the Dutch tail but the last wicket pair ensured the battle was carried into the second day. Brief scores: Holland 253
for 9 (Zulfikar 43, Statham 40, Sinclair 53, Bouten 45
n.o, Sairaj Bahutule 6-76, Kanwaljeet Singh 2-61). |
Bhiwani boxers corner glory CHANDIGARH, Aug 14 — Bhiwani pugilits dominated in the senior section and won the trophy in the sub-junior, junior and senior Haryana State Boxing Championship which ended at the Sector 10 Haryana Model High School here today. The trophy in the junior section also went to Bhiwani boxers after their pugilists' superb performance at the meet. Surender of Bhiwani proved to be the quickest boxer of the tournament when he knocked out his rival pugilits Hisar's Virender in less than 15 seconds. In the junior section
(welterweight class) Ankit of Bhiwani took 30 seconds to
knock out Kaithal's Rakesh when up and coming boxer sent
down an excellent volley of punches on his rivals face
which he could not bear. The ring referee declared a
knocked out in favour of Ankit. The results: (all finals) Junior category (light flyweight 48 kg) Akhil (Bhiwani) b Mandeep (Hisar) on points. Flyweight (51 kg): Naveen (Hisar) b Sunil (Kaithal) by RSC (OC)-III, Bantam weight (54 kg); jai Parkash (Bhiwani) b Satish (Jind) on points, Featherweight (57 kg); Shashi Kant (Bhiwani) b Pankaj (Hisar) on points. Lightweight (60 kg): Kuldeep (Rohtak) lost to Tara Chand (Faridabad) K/0-1. Lightwelter weight (63.5 kg): Dharamender (Gurgaon) lost to Satish (Bhiwani) by K/0-1. Welterweight (67 kg) Ankit (Bhiwani) b Rakesh (Kaithal) by K/o-1. Light middleweight (71 kg): Ravinder (Bhiwani) b Joginder (Rohtak) by K/O-1. Middleweight (75 kg); Surajmal (Bhiwani) b Ish (Hisar) retd-1. Light heavyweight (81 kg): Jagmohan (Kaithal) b Haresh (Hisar) RSC (OC)-1. Heavy weight (91 kg): Mandeep (Hisar) by Rakesh (Bhiwani) on points. Senior category (all finals): Light weight (48 kg): Surender (Bhiwani) b Virender (Hisar) by K/O-1. Flyweight (51 kg): Naveen (Bhiwani) b Ramesh (Fatehabad) on points. Bantamweight (54 kg): Rajesh (Hisar) b Sushil (Sirsa) on points. Featherweight (57 kg): Jitenderr (Bhiwani) b D. Negi (Panchkula) on pts. Lightweight (60 kg): Subodh (Bhiwani) b Devinder (Sonepat) retd-I Light welterweight (63.5 kg): Virender Dangi (Panchkula) b Harpreet (Fatehabad) on points. Welterweight (67 kg): Ram
Rattan (Bhiwani) b Surender (Hisar) on pts. Light
middleweight (71 kg): Vinod (Bhiwani) b Ajay Pal
(Panchkula) on points. Middleweight (75 kg): Viney
(Hisar) b Dalbir (Bhiwani) on points. Light heavyweight
(81 kg); Sunil Nara (Panchkula) b Vinod (Bhiwani) on
points. Heavyweight (91 kg): Manoj (Faridabad) b Sushil
(Sirsa) retd-I. Super heavyweight (above 91 kg) Parminder
(Hisar) b Jaswinder (Fatehabad) retd-II. |
Krishnan to hold coaching camp CHANDIGARH, Aug 14 — Former national tennis champion and international star Romesh Krishnan would hold a one-week special coaching camp for talented young players from the city at the CLTA tennis stadium, from September 5 to 11, Mr Rajan Kashyap, Chairman, CLTA said this after the CLTA AGM here today. Krishnan had agreed to conduct the clinic after observing the excellent performance in the national and international circuit of CLTA trainees. It would be the first time that Krishnan would hold a fullfledged coaching camp in another venue outside Chennai. The CLTA would give special awards to four youngsters — Amanjot Singh, Sunil Kumar, Akshay Vishal Rao and Harsimran Kaur. According to Mr Gurpal Singh, Honorary Secretary, CLTA, the general body had approved the hosting of an International Masters Satellite Tournament in January, the senior nationals, the Chandigarh Open as well as several national-level junior tournaments. The CLTA would also
establish three additional synthetic courts, including
one court for holding major events. It would also develop
tennis in other selected schools and institutions in the
city, even in those not directly affiliated to CLTA, Mr
Kashyap added. Shukla chief of rugby body CHANDIGARH, Aug 14 — Mr Arpit Shukla, SSP, Sangrur and Mr T.C. Sharma have been unanimously elected president and secretary of the Punjab Rugby Association. The association has decided to hold the state rugby championship at Sangrur in October and will bid for the third National Rugby Championship next year. The Punjab Rugby Association is planning to popularise rugby in the state at the grass roots. The other office-bearers
are: senior vice-president — Mr Vijay Khurbanda
(Jalandhar), vice-president — Mr Raghbir Singh
(Patiala), joint-secretary — Mr V.K. Verma (Patiala)
and treasurer — Mr Surjit Singh (Patiala). |
|
CALCUTTA, Aug 14 (PTI) — The Kalyani Black Label Federation Cup pre-quarterfinal matches scheduled to be held at Kochi and Guwahati have been shifted to Delhi and Cuttack respectively. Announcing the revised fixture of the tournament, AIFF President P.R. Dasmunshi said the final at the Salt Lake stadium here has been postponed to September 13 from September 6. The semifinals would be played at Siliguri on September 5 and at Calcutta, the next day. The play off for the third
place would be held in Calcutta on September 12. CHANDIGARH (BOSR): Trials
to select the Chandigarh rowing team for the National
Games in Manipur from October 4 to 14, will be held at
the Sukhna Lake course here on August 18 at 8 a.m.,
according to Mr Kailash Nath, Secretary, Chandigarh
Rowing Association. The trial for both men and women,
will be held in coxed fours, scoxless pairs, single
sculls and double sculls. |
Savraj, Jasmeet win I-Day Cup CHANDIGARH, Aug 14 — Jasmeet Sawhney and Savraj Dhillon clinched the Independence Day Cup in the annual golf here today. The tournament was played by lucky draw of partners on match play basis against handicap. Sixty golfers took part in this tournament held annually by the Chandigarh Golf Club. In a keenly contested final Jasmeet Sawhney and Savraj Dhillon of the PSEB beat Tanya Grewal and H.S. Kang on the 17th hole. The following are the results of the losers' plate. Gross score: Sandy Lehal 78, A.S. Bhaika 79. Nett score: Prince Dhillon 75, Brig B.S. Bains 78. Savraj Dhillon and Jasmeet
Sawhney |
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