• Paul could face ban
• School soccer begins
• Sangrur swimmers
• Smriti finishes joint 32nd

• Parnita among golf probables
• RCF champions
• Cricket trials
• Sangrur kho kho

Rios, Graf fall; Hingis through

NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) — Unseeded Swede Magnus Larsson served second-seeded Marcelo Rios right out of the US Open to complete a night of upsets.

Larsson slammed his 17th ace on his third match point to finish the 6-1 6-7 (3-7) 2-6 6-3 6-2 third-round victory over the left-handed Chilean at the Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday.

Larsson’s upset of Rios came on the heels of the biggest surprise on the women’s side of the opening week, 12th-seeded Patty Schnyder’s 6-2 6-4 toppling of five-time champion Steffi Graf, the eighth seed.

Graf’s fourth-round exit was her earliest loss at the open since she was a first-round loser in her 1984 debut at Flushing Meadows.

"I’m still having my setbacks," said Graf, who missed the open last year after having knee surgery and went out in third round at Wimbledon in her return to Grand Slam play this summer.

While Graf has struggled the past year to regain the form that made her the world number one player eight times, Schnyder was still surprised by the ease of her 59-minute victory.

"I was the lucky winner," said Schnyder, who will now play Wimbledon champion and third-seeded Czech Jana Novotna in her first open quarterfinals. Novotna beat ninth seed Irina Spirlea of Romania 6-3 6-3.

The only other women’s quarterfinal matchup determined so far features top-seeded defending champion Martina Hingis against sixth-seeded and two-time champion Monica Seles and is worthy of a Grand Slam final.

Hingis beat unseeded Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy 6-4 6-4 while Seles turned back the challenge of Kimberly Po 6-2 4-6 6-3.

Hingis knows she will have to pick up the calibre of her game if she wants to avenge a loss to Seles from the French Open semifinals.

"I played today like a 6, 7, maybe that," said Hingis. "It’s going to have to be a 9 or 10 against her."

"She’s got unbelievable angles," the 17-year-old Swiss star said of Seles, a three-time French Open and Australian Open champion. "She’s always attacking you."

Larsson picked up the pace of his attack in the final two sets as he regrouped after losing his focus in the third set. In the last two sets, Rios had only two break points and those came in the last game of the two hour 28 minute match.

"I was a little bit too defensive in my game," said the 6'-4" (1.94 m) Larsson. "I just decided to give it a match and I know you have to stay with him because he can make some easy mistakes."

AP: Jan-Michael Gambill and Geoff Grant came within a few points of glory yesterday, but within a span of 14 minutes both were losers joining most of the tournament’s other American men in defeat.

As the US Open completed its first week, only two American men — former champions Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi — remained on court. A tournament once dominated by the host nation has turned into a showcase for global tennis.

The number of Americans in the men’s main draw, which does not include wild cards and qualifiers, has declined steadily over the last two decades. In 1981, there were 74 US men in the main draw. This year there were 10.

The men lost another seeded player when no. 5 Richard Krajicek withdrew in the second set of his match against Thomas Johansson with tendinitis in his left knee. The winners included no. 7 Alex Corretja, no. 11 Yevgeny Kafelnikov and no. 13 Tim Henman.

Gambill, expected to make his Davis Cup debut for the USA later this month, lost 6-2, 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) to French Open champion Carlos Moya in a three-hour match in which both players tossed rackets in frustration.

Gambill took a 4-3 lead in the final set and was up 40-15 on his serve. But Moya, nursing a right ankle injury, rallied to win the game and get back on serve.

After his shot sailed long to give Moya the game, Gambill stood forlornly at the net, bent at the waist, staring down at the court.

Gambill, a 21-year-old blond from Spokane, Washington, faced a match point two games later after a shot by Moya clipped the net and bounced high over Gambill’s racket. Gambill threw his racket in disgust, then saved the match point with a lob.

Gambill made several errors in the tiebreaker, netting a forehand on Moya’s third match point and walking slowly to the net in defeat as Moya raised his arms to the crowd.

Moya, the 10th seed, had rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat Michael Chang in a marathon match that lasted until 1:33 a.m. on Saturday.

Sanzaruz Zaman of India lost to Andy Ram of Israel in the first round of the boys singles of the $ 14 million US Open at the Usta National Tennis Centre in Flushing Meadows yesterday.

Andy Ram scored an easy 6-2,6-1 win over Zaman.

Team confident of winning: Jadeja

CHENNAI, Sept 7 (UNI) — The captain of the Indian team which would be competing in the first-ever cricket competition in the Commonwealth Games, Ajay Jadeja today expressed surprise at the reports that key batsman Sachin Tendulkar and two others would be joining the Sahara Cup squad at Toronto, if his team could not qualify for the semifinals in Kuala Lumpur.

Talking to newsmen along with coach and former Indian captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth on the eve of the departure of the team to join the other Indian contingents in the Games, Jadeja said: "I don’t know how this impression got around."

He said there was no indication from the cricket board that the three players would be joining the team which would be playing in the Sahara Cup.

"If that is so then why send a team at all for the Games," Jadeja said and added, "we are confident of bringing home a gold medal and honour to the country."

Asked about the composition of the team Jadeja and Srikkanth said: "We have a side with experienced players and young talent."

"This is another wonderful opportunity for the young players in the team to come good . The youngsters should rise to the occasion, Srikkanth added."

"I don’t want to make any predictions. One day game is funny. It’s the performance on the day that counts," Srikkanth said.

Concurring with Srikkanth’s viewpoint Jadeja added yes, in a limited overs game , it takes just a couple of overs to change the complexion of a game.

But we have a decent side, both averred.

Asked if he would be missing the two key fast bowlers, Javgal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad who are in the Sahara Cup squad, Jadeja said nobody misses anybody once a team is picked.

Srikkanth said as far as bowling was concerned, spin was our strength in this team. We have Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh to play key roles in this aspect.

When asked whether Anil Kumble would find the new wicket on which the matches are to be played to his advantage, Srikkanth and Jadeja said: "We have not seen the wicket yet. We cannot talk about strategy right now".

Jadeja when asked whether the added responsibility of captaincy would put pressure on his batting, said: "I don’t think it will make any difference."

"On the contrary it will make me more responsible, if anybody thinks that I am not responsible," he said in jest.

Asked how does it feel the coach the senior team Srikkanth said: "It was a great responsibility. But ultimately, it is the batsmen,the bowlers and the fielders who have to get the runs, take wickets and hold the catches for the team to click.

"A coach can only put things together from outside the arena and help the captain along."

"But for both the coach and the captain it’s all a result-oriented job", Srikkanth said."

"They are hailed when their strategy clicks and berated when it fails as it happened for Sachin Tendulkar when Robin Singh once failed and later clicked when promoted to no 3 in the batting order," Srikkanth added.

Graft haunts SE Asian soccer

HANOI, Sept 7 (Reuters) — Bribery and match-fixing hamper the development of soccer in Southeast Asia, and a farcical game in the recent Tiger Cup championship has further tarnished the sport’s image, coaches and officials said.

The region’s most popular sport was being held back by unscrupulous bookmakers and players seeking personal gain, they said.

"We already suffer from a lack of credibility in this region partly because of the problems from match-fixing," Singapore’s English coach, Barry Whitbread said before the Tiger Cup Final in Hanoi on Saturday.

"Everyone saw the game between Thailand and Indonesia and that has dragged the region’s reputation down even further."

Thailand has been fined by the Association of South East Asian Nations Football Federation after playing a bizarre match in Ho Chi Minh City during the group stages of the Tiger Cup last Monday.

With both sides assured of a semi-finals berth it appeared neither wanted to win their final group match.

This would have meant a trip to Hanoi and a tough game in the semi-finals against home team Vietnam. An Indonesian defender scored an own goal giving Thailand victory.

Earlier, fines of $ 40,000 each were reduced on appeal.

Thailand and Indonesia both lost in the semifinals, leaving Singapore and Vietnam to play out the final on Saturday.

Singapore won that close-fought match 1-0, but the widely publicised Thai-Indonesian game hung over the tournament which brought together the best teams in South-east Asia.

"If you want to be accepted internationally then the authorities have to take strong action to curb match-fixing in the leagues and stop situations like the Thailand and Indonesia game from occurring again," Whitbread said.

Earlier this year, several Indonesian referees were suspended from the country’s domestic league for accepting bribes to influence matches.

Vietnam coach Alfred Riedl, an Austrian, said there were also problems with match-fixing in the communist-ruled country’s National League.

"They have some problems here with match-fixing," said Riedl, who has been working in the region for four months.

"It’s not as bad as Malaysia was a few years ago but it is still going on and it is ruining the game."

Malaysian football was hit in the mid-1990s when dozens of players and officials were implicated in match-fixing scandals

Chris Momfort, general secretary of the Philippines football Federation and his country’s representative on the executive committee of the Asean Football Federation, said the issue was hobbling the game in the region.

"Bribery and corruption are stopping development here. A player is not playing at his highest level because when he goes into the game he is thinking of things other than the game and his team-mates," he said.

Full professionalism was the only way to push the sport forward in Southeast Asia, Momfort added.

"Maybe players are not paid enough. The leagues here are not really professional, not like China, Japan or Korea," he said.

Weightlifters confident of good show
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Sept 7 — Seven-member national weightlifting squad, keen to erase some bitter memories of the last two editions of the Commonwealth Games, left for New Delhi today afternoon to take part in the 16th Commonwealth Game slated to be held at Kuala Lumpur from September 11 to 20.

The Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) had to face the ignominy in the 1990 Auckland Games when ace weightlifter Subroto Paul was tested positive for having used a banned drug, earning the dubious distinction of being the first Indian sportsperson to be found on dope in international sport. This time, however, the IWF seems to be taking no chances as the urine samples of all the seven ironmen have been taken twice within a span of seven days. The results of the samples, till today, were neither known to the lifters and nor to the officials accompanying the squad.

In the 1994 games held at Victoria (Canada) where India won one silver and two bronze medals, a lot of heat and dust was raised when an Indian lifter Onkar Singh, after collecting his boarding pass at the airport on the return journey, decided to perform the 'disappearing act'. The authorities are yet to locate the whereabouts of Onkar Singh, although it is presumed that the lifter is living in the USA.

The lifters are riding high on the crest of success as during the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships held at Nuaru in May this year the team bagged five gold and one bronze medal. "Bouyed up by the fine showing at Nuaru, the boys have peaked at the right time and are physically and psychologically in the right frame of mind to take on their opponents at Kuala Lumpur," asserted chief coach Mr A K Sirohi.

According to the chief coach the Indians stand a very good chance of winning a gold in the 56 and 62 kgs while in the 77 kgs category Satish Rai, who won a silver in the last games, is rated highly.

The team: D. Wilson and A.K. Pandyan (56 kgs), M. Arun and G. Nanashekhar (62 kgs), Sandeep Kumar and G. Vedivellu (69 kgs) and Satish Rai (77 kgs) Chief coach: A. K. Sirohi, Assistant coach: D.K. Sharma. Manager: Suresh Sehgal.

New record in relay; Nisha bags 3rd gold

BANGALORE, Sept 7 (PTI) — Karnataka women set a new national record in the 4 x 100 m freestyle relay and two new meet records were shattered on the third day of the 53rd Senior National Aquatic Championship here today.

Karnataka women’s team, comprising Nisha, her younger sister Reshma Millet, Shikha Tandon and Abhinaya Shetty set a new national record clocking four minutes 09.49 seconds, breaking the earlier record 4:14:20, also set by the hosts at the 1997 National Games. The state relay team had clocked 4:14.77 at the last nationals.

Right from the start, the hosts, who were in lane four, had a clear edge over others. Kerala (4:26.80) and Maharastra (4:30.26) followed the order of medals.

In the 1500m freestyle, Kailash Nath (Police) created a new meet record with 16:56.80, leaving silver to Shreesh Reddy (Kar) and bronze to Nilendu Jana (Services). The national record remained intact in the name of J. Abhijith, also of Police (16:53.85 set in 1993).

Railwaymen rewrote their own record with 3:42.70 in the 4x100m free style relay. The same team had set a timing of 3:41.99 at the national games in 1997. O.K. Jonson, Antony Manimayil, I.C. Raju and Sebastian Xavier did the job.

The event completely belonged to policemen but it was a tough tussle for the second and third positions. Services had an edge over police in the third leg but Hakimuddin swam past in the last leg to bag silver for the team.

Karnataka’s wondergirl Nisha Millet bagged her third gold in a row in the 50m freestyle clocking 28.40 seconds. The event was almost a family affair for the Millet sisters with Nisha’s younger sibling, Reshma bagging the silver (28.53).

Nisha, however, failed to better her record of 28.01 set at the last nationals. Reshma was followed by Richa Misra.

The toughest of the day’s event, women’s 400m individual medley, went in favour of Delhi’s Richa Misra with 5 minutes 30.10. She pocketed her second gold to follow upon her 200 m medley.

Richa was a clear leader in all the four strokes. But there was a keen tussle for the second and third spots among the hosts Chitra and Abhinaya Shetty. Abhinaya was lying second but at the last freestyle laps, Chitra, stroking powerfully, captured the silver.

In the 200m breaststroke for men, hot favourite from Police squad Umesh Tokas and Deepak Kumar Singh settled for gold and silver with 2:31.57 and 2:31.75 respectively. Paramanad of Delhi got the bronze (2:38.84).

Dharmani beaten up, seriously injured
From Jangveer Singh
Tribune News Service

PATIALA, Sept 7 — Pankaj Dharmani, Punjab Ranji player, was seriously injured after being hit in the head with a brick by Ashutosh Gautam, son of district BJP president Pitambar Dutt, near the 22 number shopping complex here today evening.

The incident occurred when Dharmani was going to exercise at gymnasium. His assailant, who was travelling with another person on a scooter, apparently took umbrage to the water splashed by Dharmani's car.

Dharmani, who is presently in the surgery wing of the local Rajindra hospital, told TNS that Ashutosh abused him and overtook his car and forced him to stop. Dharmani said when he protested that he had not splashed water on them, Ashutosh started abusing him and boxed him under the eye. Dharmani said when he got up again, his assailant took hold of a brick and hit him on the head with it. "After that I did not know what happened", he said adding "I was only able to put a handkerchief on my head to control the profuse bleeding".

Dharmani's father, who is a Superintending Engineer in the PSEB, told that the owner of the Fireball gym came out after the assault. He said the owner first tried to intercept the assailants but on seeing Dharmani bleeding profusely started tending to him. The gymnasium owner got him to the hospital, Dharmani's father added.

Dharmani, who at present is under observation, has got 15 stitches on his head besides eight stitches under his right eye. His father said X-ray reports were still awaited.

District police chief Parampal Singh Sidhu said the police would record Dharmani's statement following which it would register a case in this regard. He said investigations into the incident were going on. Mr Sidhu disclosed that the assailant had been identified as Ashutosh Gautam.

Test Cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, visited Dharmani in the hospital and spent some time with him. Sidhu said the beating up of Dharmani was a clear case of hooliganism and that the authorities should take strict action in the matter. Sidhu said he hoped the career of a budding cricketer would not be spoiled by such a "senseless" act.

Cricketers' selection for camp "illegal"
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 7 — Mr Surinder Singh, secretary of the Chandigarh Cricket Association affiliated to the Haryana Cricket Association, has described the under-19 cricket camp organised by the Haryana Cricket Association at Rohtak from August 17 as "illegal and unfair".

Mr Surinder Singh said the selection of the cricketers for the camp was "illegal" as he was not involved in the selection of the trainees. Mr Surinder Singh is one of the junior selectors of the Haryana Cricket Association. He was appointed to the post last year and can only be removed when the next annual general body meeting of the association is held this year.But according to information available here the annual general body meeting of the association is yet to be held this year.

Mr Surinder Singh said that as per his information even Sarkar Talwar, another junior selector of the association based at Faridabad, was also not invited for the selection committee meeting.

The secretary of the CCA alleged that the HCA organised the camp in haste as the HCA secretary, Mr Ranbir Singh, was provoked by the statements of Kapil Dev, who of late has been accusing the HCA of doing nothing for the promotion of the game in the state.

Originally, the camp was scheduled to be held at Gurgaon but was later shifted to Rohtak.The camp was shifted without giving any information to the district units, Mr Surinder Singh alleged.

According to a statement issued by the secretary of the Rohtak District Cricket Association the state under-19 team would be selected from the players who attended the coaching camp.

Mr Ranbir Singh, when contacted by TNS on trunk telephone was not available for comment.

Shahbaz Ahmed to retire yet again

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 (AFP) — Pakistani hockey legend Shahbaz Ahmed has announced for the fifth time that he will retire. This time after the Commonwealth Games.

Shahbaz, along with brother-in-law and former captain Tahir Zaman, last announced their retirements when Pakistan failed to defend its World Cup title in May.

But with the games hockey tournament starting here on Wednesday, the two players have suddenly earned a late recall.

The recall is the latest twist in the long running saga surrounding Shahbaz.

Four times he has fallen out with the authorities and quit only to announce he was willing to return if required.

The answer has always been an emphatic "yes" but this new return by Shahbaz, who was dropped by former manager Islahuddin Siddiqui in the latter stages of the World Cup, is the strangest yet given that the present Pakistani management says the Commonwealth Games is an ideal build-up for far more important than the Asian Games competition in December.

The gold medallists in Bangkok qualify automatically for the Olympics.

However, Zakaudin, the Pakistani team manager, announced that Shahbaz, Tahir and two other Pakistani veterans Mohammed Shahbaz and Naveed Alam would be playing in Kuala Lumpur.

The return of the trio once again illustrates the political infighting that dogs Pakistani hockey.

The recent case of Pakistan manager Islahuddin, the only Pakistani captain to lead his side to the triple crown of the World Cup, Asian Games and Champion’s Trophy in the same year, illustrates the problems.

Islahuddin was angered when Shahbaz Ahmed (senior) and Tahir were selected for the World Cup, because he wanted to get younger players.

While Islahuddin paid with his job, his successor Zakaudin sees no problem in insisting that the youth policy will continue despite recalling the veterans.

However, Pakistan’s free dribbling, freescoring approach which has delighted spectators round the world appears to be a thing of the past following recent comments by coach Shahnaz Sheikh.

Shahnaz, who took over from Ayaz Mahmood two months ago, said Pakistan could not dwell on the past glory and had no choice but to introduce drastic changes into their game.

"Our game will be different from the one we used to have here when people talk about Pakistan’s hockey, they remember the dribbling skills of our players," he said.

"Things are changing very fast. The Europeans have overtaken the Asians, we must keep pace with them by thinking up new ideas".

Henman a happy birthday boy

NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) — Tim Henman was a happy birthday boy on Sunday after the Wimbledon semifinalist snatched four-set victory for a spot in the US Open fourth round.

"I brought my parents here, so I should get a few extra presents," the 13th-seeded Henman said after his 6-3 7-5 1-6 6-4 win over German qualifier Michael Kohlmann yesterday.

"If I had lost, my birthday would have been irrelevant," added Henman, who was not at his best yet persevered through blustery conditions at Louis Armstrong Stadium court.

Henman, 24, was pleased with the way he competed through the up and down two-hour, 31-minute struggle against the last qualifier left in the tournament.

"In the past I’ve lost to players like this when I’ve played badly," said the Briton, who has been upset by unheralded players such as Jerome Gomard, Rainer Schuttler, Sargius Sargsian this season.

"I won when I was playing pretty ordinary," said Henman, who matched his best US Open result of two years ago by reaching the final 16.

"I got the job done in difficult conditions and playing pretty ugly tennis at times," said Henman, who had 46 unforced errors.

After battling back from a 4-1 deficit to take the second set, Henman lost his way in the third set. "The wheels fell off for a while," he said of the 27-minute third set.

In the final set, however, Henman turned up the pressure on the German. He lost just five points on his serve, holding serve at love in three of his last four games.

On Kohlmann’s serve, he chipped and charged on the returns, following that tactic to perfection in the last game when he broke serve at love.

The 149th-ranked Kohlmann saluted Henman’s net rushing prowess. "I’ve never played a guy who was moving so well at the net," Kohlmann said of Henman, who had 19 winners at the net.

Satinder, Kamal TT champions
From Our Sports Reporter

LUDHIANA, Sept 7 — Satinder of Government Medical College, Patiala, and Kamal Sachdeva of Government Medical College, Amritsar, emerged champions among women's and men's sections, respectively, of the Nozitt-98. The second North Zone Inter-Medical Table Tennis Tournament which concluded at the Dumra auditorium of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital here today.

In the finals, Satinder survived some anxious moments before overcoming her rival, Reetika of Government Medical College, Amritsar, 21-18, 21-19 while Kamal Sachdeva fared well against Amit Kashyap of Government Medical College, Patiala, whom he drubbed 21-13, 21-11.

Government Medical College, Patiala, outplayed Government Medical College, Amritsar, 3-1 to clinch the teams championship in the men's section. In the women's section Government Medical College, Chandigarh, blanked hosts, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, 2-1 to lift the team title.

Final results:

Team championship (men) GMC (Ptl) B GMC (Asr) 3-1, Amit Kashyap lost to Kamal 18-21, 16-21, Suresh b Sandeep 21-15, 21-17, Rajan b Munish Dhawan 21-12, 21-14 and Suresh B Kamal Sachdeva 21-15, 22-20.

Team championship (women) GMC (Chd) b DMC and H (Ldh) 2-0, Anuradha b Dimple 23-21, 21-17 Tript b Anubha 23-21, 18-21, 21-18.

Men's singles: Kamal Sachdeva (GMC, Asr) b Amit Kashyap (GMC, Ptl) 21-13, 21-11.

Women's singles: Satinder (GMC Ptl) b Reetika (GMC Asr) 21-18, 21-19.

Men's doubles: Dinesh and Suresh (GMC Ptl) b Kamal and Rajan (GMC Asr) 21-14, 21-15.

Women's doubles: Tript and Anuradha (GMC Chd) b Anubha and Dimple (DMC Ldh) 21-18, 24-22.

Mixed doubles: Geetinder and Tript (GMC Chd) b Vikas and Sarika (DMC Ldh) 24-23, 20-22, 21-18.

DMC doctors' final: N K Aggarwal b Ashok Gupta 21-18, 21-15.

Moya a "damn tough competitor"

NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) — French Open champion Carlos Moya is taking the long and hard road through the US Open, pulling out his second successive five-set marathon last evening.

Trailing 4-2 in the fifth set and playing on an aching right leg, the 10th-seeded Spaniard dug deep to get past crowd favourite Jan-Michael Gambill 6-2 3-6 3-6 6-3 7-6 and into the fourth round.

"I would rather win easier, but if I have to win 7-6 in the fifth, I don’t care, as long as I am winning," said Moya.

"Moya is one of the toughest competitors on tour," Gambill said of the 22-year-old Spaniard. "I don’t have to give him credit, he has earned that credit. He’s a damn tough competitor."

In his previous match, Moya rallied from two sets down and saved three match points to outlast the gritty Michael Chang in a nearly four-hour epic that didn’t end until the early morning hours on the same Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

"I got a lot of confidence with these two victories and we’ll see what happens," said Moya, who failed to advance past the second round in his first two opens. "As long as I’m winning I don’t care."

Widely touted as the best up-and-coming American, Gambill could only lament his wasted chances.

"I gave him the match basically," the 21-year-old Gambill said of his failure to capitalise on three game points and extend his lead to 5-3 in the last set. "He didn’t do anything special."

Little separated the two at the end of the three-hour dogfight. Moya won 155 points, Gambill 151.

In the climactic tiebreaker, Moya went up 2-0 on Gambill’s 10th double fault of the match. He stretched the lead to 6-3 in the decider.

Gambill turned back a match point with a forehand volley winner, but finally succumbed on the next match point by netting a forehand to lose 7-4.

Gambill had come up with a clutch shot of his own in the 10th game to extend the match.

Down match point at 4-5, the bleached-blond Gambill lofted a two-handed backhand topspin lob that glanced off the top of Moya’s outstretched racket.

But the American’s reprieve was short-lived as Moya remained to fight another day.

"I am still surviving," said Moya.

Smriti finishes joint 32nd

NEW DELHI, Sept 7 (PTI) — Top Indian woman pro Smriti Mehra returned a poor final day’s card of 74 to finish joint 32nd in the Safeway Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Golf Championship at Portland, Oregon yesterday.

The lone Indian on the LPGA Tour, Smriti, who just managed to make the cut, finished with a three-round aggregate of 221 (70-77-74), according to scores provided by AFP.

Mehra, who came a creditable sixth in the British Open last month, improved upon her second round score but ended up way below the list of top prize winners.

Overnight leader Danielle Ammacappane claimed the title with a 12-under 204 (65-67-72) after returning a par 72 in the final day of the 54-hole tournament to stave off the challenge by Emilee Klein.

Emilee Klein, three strokes adrift of the leader into the final round, carded a two under 70 to aggregate 205 while Dina Ammaccapane scorched the course with a 66 to come third (207 - 71-70-66). Kris Tschetter (71-72-65) and Erika Wicoff (70-68-70) shared the fourth position with an identical 208.

Krishnan gives tips to trainees
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Sept 7 — As many as 20 promising boys and girls attended the coaching camp being held under supervision of former tennis great Ramesh Krishnan at the Sector 10 CLTA Complex here today.

Ramesh Krishnan, who came back from Shimla, last evening, imparted training in the inaugural three-hour evening session. The local tennis coach also oversaw the warming up session of tennis trainees and also arranged exercises before they reported to Ramesh Krishnan. The CLTA coach Kawaljit Singh, whose trainee, A. Vishal Rao, won the singles title in the national tennis championship which ended two days ago at Chennai, was also present on this occasion.

Ramesh Krishnan gave valuable tips on the synthetic court to four trainees — A Vishal Rao, Sarbarinder Singh, Sunil Kumar and Sukh Amrit — when he threw balls to the trainees in different directions while another session was being run on the other synthetic court where Simi Rani, Harsimran Kaur, Akash Sharma and Anoop Anand were getting trainee from the local coach M. Kapoor, which also Ramesh Krishnan take over later.

The morning session will start from 6.20 a.m. and continue up to 11 a.m. while the evening session will be from 3.30 to 6.30 p.m. till the week-long camp concludes.

Sport dept flayed for honouring outsiders
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Sept 7 — The executive members of the Chandigarh Olympic Association (COA) have strongly criticised the Chandigarh Sports Department for honouring the sportspersons other than those of the city beautiful recently.

Mr K.S. Sahota, secretary of the COA, and also secretary of the Fencing Association of India, Mr A.S. Bains, president of the Chandigarh Football Association and Mr Reet Mohinder Singh, all executive member of the COA also condemned the behavior of a coach of the Chandigarh Sports Department with girl trainees. They also said that a strong action should be taken, if the coach is found guilty.

They also condemned a coach of the department for misbehaving with a sports journalist during the function.

They said that they will take these matters with the administration.

Paul Ince could face extended ban

LONDON, Sept 7 (AFP) — England midfielder Paul Ince could face an extended international ban for his angry reaction to being sent off in Saturday's European Championship qualifier with Sweden in Stockholm.

The Liverpool star seems certain to miss England’s next European Championship clash with Bulgaria at Wembley in October after receiving his marching orders for two bookable offences during the 2-1 defeat.

But television pictures showed him apparently launching a verbal attack against Italian referee Pierluigi Collina and making an obscene gesture towards the crowd.

English Football Association director of Public Affairs David Davies said yesterday: "I am not aware of this incident and we will await a report from UEFA".

School soccer begins

MALERKOTLA (FOC): The 44th Punjab School Football Tournament (boys and girls under 19) was inaugurated here on Monday by Mr Jaspal Singh Jassi SDM. The tournament will end on September 11.

Sangrur swimmers hog limelight
From Our Sports Reporter

SANGRUR, Sept 7 — Sangrur won the overall championship in swimming in the Punjab School Swimming Competition held at Jalandhar, according to Karam Singh, coach of the team.

Sangrur won the boys under-14 under-17 and under-19 events. In the girls' section Sangrur got the first place in the under-19 category.

Parnita, Irina among Indian golf probables
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 7 — Parnita Garewal and Irina Brar of the Chandigarh Golf Club are among the 10 probable Indian lady golfers for the Asian Games to be held in Thailand in December.

Giving this information to The Tribune Mrs Madhu Brar, captain of the club's ladies section, said the probables would undergo intensive coaching and physical conditioning before the team is finally selected in the first week of November.

Parnita Garewal is currently ranked number one in the country while 14-year-old Irina is the only subjunior to be selected among the probables for the Indian ladies' golf team.

RCF champions
From Our Correspondent

KAPURTHALA, Sept 7 — Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, won the All-India Railway Mid-session Golf Championship by securing 506 points. Southern Railway, Chennai, with 545 points, were the runners-up.

The meet was held at Ooty, from August 30 to September 1.

According to a press release of the RCF today, Hardev Singh of RCF was declared the second best golfer of the championship while Amar Singh won the senior best golfer position.

Cricket trials
From Our Sports Reporter

LUDHIANA, Sept 7 — Trials to select the Ludhiana district cricket team (senior) for the Katoch Shield Tournament will be held here at the S D Government College ground on September 9, at 3 p.m., according to Mr Vinod Chitkara, general secretary, Ludhiana District Cricket Association. Interested players should report at the venue.

Sangrur kho kho

SANGRUR (FOSR): The Sangrur district kho kho championships for men, women juniors and seniors will be held at Mirheri, about 20 km from here, from September 9 to 11, Mr Bant Singh, District Sports Officer, has said.