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Sampras, Venus sail into quarterfinals

NEW YORK, Sept 8 (AP) — Pete Sampras strolled off the court after overpowering yet another young challenger. Venus Williams strutted in victory, pumping up the crowd with an on-court dance that looked like a football player’s end zone celebration.

On a Monday when thunderstorms turned the US Open into Wimbledon west, Sampras and Williams reached the quarterfinals with convincing wins over dangerous opponents.

But Andre Agassi was struggling to avoid elimination in a match against Karol Kucera in which Agassi mocked his opponent and the players postured at each other across the net. Kucera was up two sets to one when rain halted play for the night.

Agassi, who had complained that Kucera was stalling by practicing his service toss before hitting serves, began mimicking Kucera’s practice tosses. The two then exchanged moonballs, lofting soft shots back and forth.

Kucera led 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 0-3 when play was stopped. It was the second rain delay of the match, which will resume this afternoon.

Sampras had 18 aces and never lost his serve in a 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 win that included a 2 1/4-hour rain break, turning his power lunch with Marat Safin into a late-afternoon snack for the world’s top player.

"I was cracking it pretty hard throughout the match," Sampras said. "I got the serve going, which has been a little bit up and down throughout this past week. Today it seemed like it clicked."

The top-seeded Sampras, a four-time US Open champion, next will face the winner of the match between No. 8 Agassi and No. 9 Kucera.

Williams won the final six points of the tiebreaker in her 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) win over No. 12 Mary Pierce, celebrating her win by shimmying to the net.

"I really shouldn’t have done the dance, I should have waited until later," she said. "I didn’t plan to do the dance. I planned to win the second set really easy."

Williams’ quarterfinal opponent will be No. 4 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, who won 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 over No. 15 Anna Kournikova.

Also advancing to the quarterfinals was No. 2 Lindsay Davenport, who won 6-1, 6-4 over No. 10 Nathalie Tauziat and next will play Amanda Coetzer.

Sampras lost only 20 points on his serve in the match and closed out his 600th career win with three consecutive aces — including one at 135 mph (216 kph). He won 41 of 48 points on his first serve in the match.

Safin, 18, who wowed crowds at this year’s French Open with a string of upsets en route to the fourth round in his Grand Slam debut, showed off plenty of power, including ten aces. But he was no match for the steady Sampras.

"He’s very talented, but also very young. The first set I couldn’t believe the pace of his serve, I really had a hard time reading it. The talent is there, maybe he just needs to tone it down a little bit," Sampras said. "He’s 18 years old and he’s got plenty of years to learn from mistakes. My game at 18 was pretty bad."

Sampras was 19 when he won the US Open for the first time.

Williams took advantage of 19 unforced errors and two double faults to win the first set in 24 minutes against Pierce, who twice had her wrist treated by a trainer. Pierce was down a break in the second set when rain interrupted play.

Pierce was a different player after the break, and so was Williams who had 31 unforced errors in the second set, as compared to just two in the first set. The second set lasted 1 hour, 11 minutes.

The second set was tied 5-5 when Williams and Pierce played the game of the match. It lasted 13 minutes, 57 seconds and ended when Williams converted her seventh break point to take a 6-5 lead.

Pierce broke right back and took a 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker, but didn’t get another point in the match.

The only singles match completed before the rain was a marathon fourth-round women’s contest in which No. 13 Amanda Coetzer slammed a backhand passing shot down the line on match point to win 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 over No. 7 Conchita Martinez.

With Coetzer and Martinez engaging in long baseline rallies and occasionally hitting moonballs, the match lasted 2 hours, 39 minutes. One game had 28 points, including 11 deuces, and consumed more than 20 minutes. The second set alone, at 1:16, was only one minute shorter than the entire Sampras-Safin match.

India take on Antigua in opener today

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (UNI) — Nearly seven decades after the Commonwealth Games began, cricket makes its debut here tomorrow with a depleted Indian team squaring off against Curtly Ambrose-led Antigua.

Despite all the Test playing countries being from the Commonwealth, it has taken all this while and intense lobbying from India, Australia and South Africa for the sport to be included as a medal event. Interestingly, England, the guiding spirit of the Commonwealth, is not fielding its cricket team.

Therefore, cricket will just not be cricket, with all the stars engaged elsewhere. In fact, the only Test playing countries which have come with their full-strength squads are Australia and New Zealand.

In the weeks building up to the games, cricket occupied the centrestage in India, especially on the question of the participation and more importantly the composition of the Indian team.

The "money vs medal" controversy was, however, set at rest, and a new-look, albeit depleted Indian team, led by Ajay Jadeja and including Sachin Tendulkar, the epitome of batsmanship in contemporary cricket, arrived here all geared up for the medal-hunt.

Tendulkar's taking the flight to Malaysia instead of Toronto (for the five-match Sahara Cup against archrivals Pakistan) has bolstered India's hopes for a gold as they are placed in the toughest of the four groups with Australia.

In another group 'B' match tomorrow, Australia will meet Canada. The other matches will be Jamaica vs Zimbabwe, Malaysia vs Sri Lanka and Pakistan vs Scotland.

The Indian teams for both Commonwealth and the Sahara Cup were picked after a strenuous camp at Chennai. All the players including many new faces in reckoning are in good nick.

Besides Sachin and Jadeja, the batting line-up includes openers Gagan Khoda and V.V.S. Laxman and the left-handed Rohan Gavaskar who had a brilliant run during the India 'A' team's recent tour to Holland.

The team has a heavy dose of spin with vice-captain Anil Kumble at the lead of the pack. The fact that the matches would be played on untried wickets perhaps prompted the selectors to give enough variety in the department. Apart from Kumble's leg spin, Jadeja can choose from off-spinners Nikhil Chopra and Harbhajan Singh and left arm spinner Rahul Singhvi.

The seam attack will get the punch from Debashish Mohanty, Paras Mhambrey and the veteran Robin Singh (sr).

Manager Krishnamachari Srikkanth exudes confidence of getting the best out of the "talented" bunch of youngsters with the seniors providing the base. "We are looking for the gold," he said.

Sachin's presence has compounded the worries of Australian skipper Steve Waugh who had thought that his side's entry into the semifinals would not be tough with speculation rife of India reserving its best side for Toronto as Pakistan did.

The top team from each of the four groups are to form the semi-final line-up.

Agreeing with Waugh apprehensions, Srikkanth said that with Sachin around, no opposition was safe. Sachin had mauled the Aussies earlier this year, both at home and the one-day tournament at Sharajah so much so that even a bowler of the calibre of Shane Warne looked pedestrian.

Australians, however, will miss the magic of Warne who is still recovering after an operation and the scorcher of paceman Glenn McGrath who pulled out of the team with a strained groin.

Legendary West Indian batsman Viv Richards warned that his Antiguan team could not be taken lightly by gold medal favourites India and Australia. With Ambrose in the frontline attack, the team has former skipper and batsman Richie Richardson and Rigley Jacobs. "We are not afraid of big names in the game," coach Richards said.

Nevertheless, the recent performances by the Indian team in one-day cricket could be worrisome for any opponent. India has won four of the last five one-day tournaments, the only aberration being the defeat against Australia in the Pepsi Cup final at Delhi in April.

The BCCI's decision to split the best players for the two engagements in order to have two "formidable" teams has also come in for criticism from some quarters. It is seen as having undermined the country's chances in both the events, especially as Pakistan is sending the main team to Toronto.

Among the main players in the Mohammad Azharuddin-led side to Toronto are Saurav Ganguly, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Javagal Srinath.

The fact that England would not be sending a team to the games prompted former Australian skipper Ian Chappel to say that it was an "absolute disgrace". England's players decided not to participate apparently because they would not be paid, and furthermore, with the county cricket season in full blossom, they thought it fit to remain within shores.

Sri Lanka also cannot be written off with promising youngsters led by veteran batsman Hashan Tillekeratne part of the squad though most of the main players will not be seen in action.

Besides Antigua, Barbados and Jamaica are the other two entries from the Caribbean islands. This leaves out of the competition Brian Lara's Trinidad and Tobago.

Xavier sets 50m national mark

BANGALORE, Sept 8 (PTI) — Hot favourite Sebastian Xavier of the Railways created a new national record in the 50m freestyle clocking 22.89 seconds and Karnataka women rewrote their record in 4 x 200m freestyle relay in the Senior National Aquatic Championship here today.

Xavier achieved his timing in the third restart. The event had to be started a second time after Delhi and Maharasthra complained of a foul start. However, six of the eight swimmers again made a flip start, forcing federation officials to hold another restart.

Xavier, in lane four, swam strongly and surged ahead from the start. He won by more than a stroke from silver medallist Raju. Shane Pedder of Maharashtra won the bronze.

The Karnataka women’s relay quartet of Shikha Tandon, Chitra, Abhinaya Shetty and Nisha Millet timed 9:06.29 in the 4 x 200 m free- style to rewrite their own record, set at the last nationals. Maharashtra bagged second spot, followed by Bengal.

The earlier record of 9:31.72 was set at last year's nationals in Thiruvananthapuram.

Karnataka’s Meghana Narayan celebrated her fifth straight victory in her pet event, the 100 m butterfly. Though she was unable to break the national record of 1:06.09 in the name of Bula Choudhary (since 1984), Meghana clinched the gold clocking 1:06.48. Richa Misra of Delhi grabbed the silver.

Kailash Nath of the Police won his third gold in the meet in the 400m individual medley. Though Mario Johnson initially led in the butterfly and back stroke, Kailash took the lead in the breaststroke leg and won in 4:54.74.

The toughest event in the women’s section, the 800 m freestyle, went to young Shikha Tandon of Karnataka. Shikha emerged clear leader from 50 m onwards. The 400m mark came up in 4:44.69. She finally won the gold with a lead of almost 45 m, clocking 9:37.67.

Aussie hockey teams set to dominate

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (AFP) — Australian men and women are hot favourites to win the first-ever hockey gold medals at the Commonwealth Games even as former giants India and Pakistan embark on a comeback trail.

Australian men, who finished a disappointing fourth at the World Cup in May, are the top-ranked team in the 10-nation event being held for the first time at the quadrenniel games.

The all-conquering Aussie women’s team, nicknamed the hockeyroos, are almost certain to have an easier time.

The closest challengers for Ric Charlesworth’s Olympic and World Cup champions will be the New Zealand women, who finished a lowly sixth at the World Cup.

The spotlight, however, will be on beleaguered arch-rivals India and Pakistan as they attempt to rebuilt after twin disasters at the Olympics and the World Cup.

India, unable to keep pace with the changing trends of modern hockey, have slid rapidly since the last of their eight Olympic gold medals in the Moscow Olympics of 1980.

They finished fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth at successive Olympics and hit a new low with their ninth place at the World Cup in May in the Netherlands.

Talented but temperamental Pakistan, who won the World Cup in Sydney four years ago, came in fifth this year amidst reports of dissensions against coach Islahuddin Siddiqui.

The reaction to the World Cup debacle was swift and predictable in both India and Pakistan. They sacked the hapless coaches.

India’s Vasudevan Bhaskaran, who took over from the highly-rated Cedric D’Souza after the 1996 Olympics, made way for a rank outsider Maharaj Krishan Kaushik.

Pakistan brought in former inside-left Shehnaz Sheikh in place of Islahuddin and axed the formidable strike duo of Shahbaz Ahmed and Tahir Zaman.

The Indians, with little to choose from, were forced to retain ageing Veterans Dhanraj Pillay and Mukesh Kumar in the Games squad despite adverse reports from Bhaskaran after the World Cup.

Kaushik, an ex-winger with little coaching experience, was given a month to ready the team for Kuala Lumpur. He will remain coach till the Asian Games in Bangkok in December.

"There is little I can do in such a short time," Kaushik said. "But a start has to be made, and it has to be now."

India, whose World Cup campaign faltered after losing the opening match against Australia, face the same opponents again in their first game.

To take one of the two semifinal spots from group A, India must defeat the dangerous South Africans and New Zealand. The other teams in the group are Wales and Trinidad.

Pakistan will have to contend with England, Canada and the hosts Malaysia in group B. England finished one spot behind Pakistan in the World Cup, while Canada were eighth.

Malaysia, slippery customers always, hope to ensure a creditable display before their home fans after hiring German coach Paul Lissek soon after the World Cup.

With only South Korea missing from the top Asian line-up, the Games are expected to provide a pointer to the challenging competition ahead at the Asian Games in Bangkok in December.

"This is a good chance to see what awaits us at the Asiad," Indian coach Kaushik said. "We will study Pakistan and Malaysia carefully. How one wishes the Koreans too were coming."

Australian men’s hockey vice-captain Jay Stacy would swap his tag as their most capped player for just one major games gold medal that has always eluded him.

The 30-year-old midfielder has made over 250 appearances in 10 years. But he has just one Champions Trophy title to go with two Olympic silver medals, an Olympic bronze, four champions trophy runners-up spots and third place in the 1994 World Cup. He has also had to put up with taunts that Australians are "chokers" at the climax of big tournaments.

Stacy, who relaxes by going horseracing or listening to beach music, looked as if his 11 goals, including a crucial double in their do-or-die group match with Pakistan, would take the "kookaburras" to the World Cup final in May until they came up against the Dutch in the semi-finals.

The Dutch did their homework and closed down Stacy, restricting him to just one score as they ran out 6-2 winners and reawakened the old "chokerburras" nightmares.

It is a charge hotly denied by the redheaded Stacy, whose normal cheery and witty personality was transformed, and coach Terry Walsh.

"We had three tough sides in our pool and the Pakistan game was a semifinal for us, a do-or-die if you like, and the guys showed there that they can handle the pressure. We just didn’t get up for the challenge against the Dutch," Walsh said.

The question now is whether Stacy can inspire Australia to take the first-ever Commonwealth Games title, which is not a foregone conclusion with England their likely semifinal opponents and probably Pakistan awaiting them in the final.

Pankaj Dharmani out of danger
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Sept 8 — Former Indian cricketer Pankaj Dharmani is being kept under strict observation here at the Government Rajendra Hospital, although the doctors have declared him out of danger. Dharmani had sustained serious head injuries in a scuffle yesterday.

Dharmani is still having acute problems with his right eye's vision and is also suffering from severe nausea and headache in the back of his head.

Dharmani in all probability will be missing this years' Ranji Trophy session which is scheduled to begin in October which will be a big blow to the budding cricketer career. He was scheduled to fly to Hyderabad to play in a tournament today.

The cricketer was seriously injured after being hit by a brick on the head allegedly by Mr Ashotosh Gautam, son of the district BJP president Mr Pitamber Dutt.

Neurologists at the hospital had referred Dharmani for a CT scan. The report of the X-ray which was conducted by doctors late yesterday is awaited. The police till late evening had yet to record the Dharmani's statement.

Meanwhile, in a joint statement the Patiala District Cricket Association, the Punjab Sports Officers Association and the State Bank of Patiala Employees Federation have condemned the assault on the young cricketer.

In a memorandum submitted to the Deputy Commissioner they demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits. The SBPEF has also threatened to go on a agitation if their demand for the arrest of the culprit is not accepted.

The loss that made Sampras champion

NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) — Pete Sampras won his first Grand Slam title at the tender age of 19, but it was a loss that turned him into one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

"It took just one loss," Sampras said of the turning point in his career, when he realised he had the heart of a true champion.

"When I lost to (Stefan) Edberg here in ’92, that did it for me," Sampras said of the defeat, his only loss in five trips to the US Open final.

"Up to that point, I wasn’t sure if I really wanted it enough. After I lost that match, it was clear to me that getting to the finals isn’t good enough.

"That loss, I’m glad it happened, I really am," said Sampras, now one Grand Slam title away from tying Australian Roy Emerson’s record of 12.

The occasion for Sampras’s reflections was his 6-4 6-3 6-2 fourth-round victory over 18-year-old Russian Marat Safin, whose booming serve could make him one of the sport’s next big stars and had reporters asking the world number one to try to remember his game at 18.

"It’s easy to play when you’re 18, 19, you have nothing to lose. But I was a little flaky at times," Sampras recalled.

Sampras said he had a hard time coping with the fame and attention that came with winning the US Open at 19.

"I didn’t feel like I was prepared. I felt my tennis wasn’t good enough at that point to win a US Open. I just had a hot two weeks," he insisted.

"For about six months, I had a hard time backing it up."

But after that 1992 loss to Edberg, Sampras had no trouble proving he was meant to be champion. Three more US titles, five Wimbledon crowns and two Australian Open wins would follow.

It was his fifth Wimbledon triumph this summer that has allowed Sampras to be as relaxed as he has been at this US Open as he bids for historic major title number 12.

"I do feel pretty relaxed," he confirmed. "I do have my Grand Slam. Any time you look back at a year, when you win a major, you can’t complain about that," said Sampras, who has a chance to win two of the four majors in one year for the fifth time.

And five Wimbledon titles has even the low-key Sampras impressed.

"It was a huge moment to win five Wimbledons," he said of his five-set triumph over Goran Ivanisevic in July.

"(Bjorn) Borg’s five, I never thought that would ever be touched," said Sampras, who collected his five Wimbledon crown over six years - one more than Borg.

"To be put in that category with Borg and the Lavers was a little bit overwhelming," he admitted.

"I put so much pressure on myself."

Krishnan satisfied with CLTA scheme
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — Tennis star Ramesh Krishnan has expressed his satisfaction with the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association's ( CLTA) training programme.

He said CLTA's efforts were showing excellent results as shown by two promising Chandigarh junior tennis players — Akshay Vishal Rao and Sunil Kumar.

Meanwhile, Mr Rajan Kashyap, president CLTA, offered to conduct the AITA national coaching camp, which is proposed to be held in November for juniors tennis players of the country.

Krishhnan said CLTA had good coaches to guide the youngsters but they should conduct more tournaments. He felt that through this exposure players from the region would gain tremendously.

When asked as to why the players from the region did not make it to the national team at the senior level, he said that it will soon happen and many of the youngsters here had the talent to make it.

Krishnan was also happy with CLTA's rural talent search scheme and expressed hope that with the game spreading to all parts of the country, the players would be benefited.

He also called upon the All-India Tennis Association ( AITA) to streamline national tournaments so that the players did not suffer on account of travelling and stay.

Krishnan would be here for a week but will continue to visit the City Beautiful for further such schemes.

SGFI opts out of Macau meet
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — The School Games Federation of India (SGFI) is not fielding a team in the second Asian School Hockey Championship for boys being held at Macau from September 11 to 21, according to Mr B.D. Gandhi, Secretary-General of the federation.

The proposal to send a team was sent to the Ministry of Sports, Government of India, on March 17 last. Proposal for holding of a coaching camp for the team was also sent. The ministry did not accord approval for the holding of the coaching camp as also for the participation of the team though a provisional entry of the team was made for participation and the draws have been drawn up accordingly.

All repeated requests to the Ministry of Sports have not yielded any results, for reasons best known to the Ministry.

This championship was decided to be organised at Macau at the insistence of the SGFI. A meeting of the Asian School Sports Federation was held at New Delhi where the tournament was allotted to Macau.

The SGFI had organised the inaugural Asian School Hockey Championship in Chandigarh in December, 1984, in collaboration with Union Territory Administration in a befitting manner and countries like Japan, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and others took part. India had secured the first position.

The federation has sent a fax message to the Ministry of Education and Sports, Government of Macau which is organising the tournament. The following countries are taking part China, Macau, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Brunei and Singapore.

Mr Gandhi said that young players had been deprived of the opportunity to don Indian colour in the game of hockey which is our nation game. Time and again it has been stressed by one and all that if India is to make progress in any discipline the stress should be laid at the school level, which is the real nursery.

Warne 'to be fit' for first Ashes Test

MELBOURNE, Sept 8 (AFP) — Injured leg spinner Shane Warne said today he should be fit for the first Ashes Test against England in November.

The healing of his reconstructed shoulder was ahead of schedule and he would test it in Sheffield Shield matches starting next month, he said.

Just a few weeks ago Warne said at a sports function there was a danger he may never play again but he told reporters today it was now a matter of when, not if.

"At the physio over the last couple of weeks I’ve shown some good progress and at this stage I’m aiming for the first shield game, "he said at the launch of the Victorian season.

Warne, Australia’s second greatest wicket taker with 313 victims in 67 Tests, was reappointed Victorian captain with wicket-keeper Darren Berry his deputy.

He has made himself unavailable for Australia’s tour of Pakistan starting on September 23 but said he was aiming to make his Test comeback against England in Brisbane on November 24.

He said he needed to play the Shield Games in the lead-up to gauge how his shoulder was recovering. "You have to get confidence, you have to be able to have a few games, see how you pull up the next day, whether you can go back-to-back," he said.

"At this stage I’m hopeful of playing the first Shield Game and if it means I can play two or three Shield Games back-to-back and pull up okay I'll be available for the first Test."

Warne said with a "brand new shoulder" his bowling action should be better than ever.

Randhir elected vice-president

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (UNI) — India found representation for the first time in the Commonwealth Games Federation when Indian Olympic Association Secretary-General Randhir Singh was today unanimously elected Vice-President, Asia Zone, of the prestigious body.

Asia had become the first continent to jointly recommend names, resulting in unanimous elections of the office bearers in the general assembly of the Commonwealth Games here today.

Randhir Singh replaced Malaysia’s Hamz Tan Sri who did not seek re-election.

Micheal Fennel of Jamaica was re-elected chairman and Charles Mukora (Kenya) and Dato Alex Lee (Malaysia) were elected vice-chairmen. David Dixon of England was chosen as the honorary secretary of the body.

No plans to emulate anyone: Rohan

CHENNAI, Sept 8 (PTI) — Left handed all rounder Rohan Gavaskar, who has been included in the Indian cricket team for the Commonwealth Games yesterday asserted he had no plans to emulate anyone and would play in his own style.

"I will play in my own way and try to achieve the best I can", Rohan, son of great Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar, said.

Rohan said he was thrilled on hearing news of his selection. "I will play according to my abilities", he told reporters here.

On batting alongside master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, Rohan said: "Sachin makes batting easier for a player giving him company at the crease. I will be happy to play with Sachin".

Jadeja said he had played with Rohan in a super-eight tournament, "Rohan has a good cricketing brain and is a great improviser", he said.

Asked in what position Rohan would bat, Jadeja said: "It will depend on the decision of the coach and the committee which would meet prior to every match."

School soccer meet at Port Blair
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — The School Games Federation of India (SGFI) has accepted the offer of the Directorate of Education, Administration of Andaman and Nicobar, for holding of the under-14 National School Football Championship, according to Mr B.D Gandhi, Secretary- General, SGFI.

This championship will afford an opportunity to the players of that part of the country to watch and gauge the standard of this discipline in other parts of the country. Moreover, young budding players throughout India will get an occasion to play at Port Blair, which is a very important historical place in the struggle of our freedom, Mr Gandhi said.

The championship is likely to be held in October-November next. The affiliated units have been requested to take all steps for participation in this championship and raise a good team. Players who are below the age of 14 years and students up to class VIII are eligible to take part in this championship.

Recall of Shahbaz, Tahir ruled out

KARACHI, Sept 8 (AFP) — Pakistan hockey authorities yesterday categorically denied recalling axed stars Shahbaz Ahmed and Tahir Zaman for the Commonwealth Games.

"We have selected the best team for the Games and these is no question of recalling Shahbaz Ahmed and Tahir Zaman" Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) chief Akhtar Rasool told AFP.

Rasool's reaction came after reports from Kuala Lumpur suggested Shahbaz Ahmed, Tahir Zaman, Mohammad Shahbaz and Naveed Alam, all axed from the Commonwealth Games squad, had been recalled.

Shahbaz Ahmed along with Zaman and Alam are currently in the Netherlands to play league hockey on a lucrative contract.

"There has been no SOS from the team manager that he needs any player. Our team stands a good chance to win the hockey event, "Rasool added.

Hockey is included for the first time as a medal sport in the 68-year history of the Games.

Pakistan overhauled its hockey team after finishing a poor fifth in the World Cup hockey tournament, expelling six senior players including the mercurial Shahbaz Ahmed and captain Tahir Zaman in July.

Memorial TT from Sept 27
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — The Raj Kumar Babuta Memorial inaugural Haryana State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament will be held at the Sector 7 Panchkula near here from September 27 to 29.

According to Mr M.P. Singh, Secretary of the Haryana Table Tennis Association (HTTA) singles events in the following categories will be held: Men, women, boys and girls — under-17, under-14, under-12, and under-10.

Entries closed with Tarlochan Singh TT coach, Panchkula, or Mr Baldev Dogra, vice-president, HTTA, 224-F, Sector 14, Panchkula on September 25.

The Sardarni Surinder Kaur Memorial second Haryana State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament will be held at the Karna Stadium, Karnal, from October 8 to 10, Mr M.P. Singh added.

Entries close with Mr Jagdeep Singh, City Magistrate and the senior vice-president of the Haryana Table Tennis Association (HTTA).

The events will be same as those to be held in Panchkula.

Hindu Open Golf from Sept 10

CHENNAI, Sept 8 (PTI) — The best professional golfers of the country will vie for honours in the Hindu Open Golf to be held at the Cosmopolitan Club links here from September 10.

The management of "The Hindu" have increased the prize money by Rs 50,000 this year and the total prize money at stake was Rs 7 lakh, Brandon D’Souza, event coordinator, said. The entire tour offers Rs 2 crore in prize money.

D’Souza told a press conference last night that 36 of the top 40 prize money winners of last year would be seen in action in the third event of this year’s Indian circuit.

Delhi’s Arjun Singh and Shiv Prakash of Kanpur, the winners of the Wills Masters in Gurgaon and Wills Southern India Open in Bangalore, respectively, would face stiff challenge from Lucknow’s Vijay Kumar, the highest prize money (Rs. 6,17,214) winner in India last year. He hoped the golfers would have easy pin positions in the four-round event.

Dilip Thomas, captain of the club, said the course was in good shape and predicting a winner in advance was difficult.

Vivek Bhandari, Gaurav Ghei, Amit Chopra (all Delhi) and Amritinder Singh have not entered this year.

Question mark over boxing team manager
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Sept 8 — Even as the Indian boxing team is yet to leave the shores of the country to participate in the Commonwealth Games scheduled to be held at Kuala Lumpur from September 11 to 20, the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) seems to have been caught in a web of its own making.

Sources reveal that initially the IABF had named Narendara Kumar Rawat as the manager of the boxing contingent and his name along with those of the chief coach G.S. Sandhu and assistant coach B.J.I. Fernandez had been forwarded to the Commonwealth Games organising committee. But then for some inexplicable reasons Rawt's name as manager was withdrawn by the IABF.

This was done keeping in view the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) guidelines that only two officials would be cleared along with the four-member boxing squad. The IABF, for unknown reasons, has insisted that the manager should be a part of the contingent.

With the boxing squad scheduled to leave for Kuala Lumpur tomorrow, it remains to be seen as to whether the suspense is cleared in time, especially with the Commonwealth Games organising committee stating that it cannot entertain any entry which has originally been withdrawn.

Earlier, with the withdrawal of Rawat's name, it was certain that both coaches would be accompanying the team. But now, as things stand, the axe may fall on either of the two coaches.

Cricket trials
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — Trials to select Chandigarh cricket team for boys under 16 for the Punjab Inter-District Cricket Tournament to start from September 24 will be held at the Sector 8 DAV Senior Secondary School here on September 9.

According to Mr Mohinder Singh, Secretary of the Chandigarh Cricket Association, affiliated to the Punjab Cricket Association during the trials, city probables would be chosen for a coaching camp to be held at the trials venue, shortly.

Swimming trials

CHANDIGARH (BOSR): Trials to select the sub-junior and junior Chandigarh team for the sub-junior and junior National Swimming Championship be stage at Ludhiana, will be held at the Panjab University Campus here on September 9 at 4 p.m., according to a press note of the Chandigarh Swimming Association. Interested swimmers may report to Mr M.S. Dalal, Secretary, CSA at the trial venue.

National Games from April 25
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — The National Games will now be held at Imphal (Manipur) from April 25 to May 5, according to information received at the Punjab Olympic Association (POA) from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) here today.

Earlier the National Games were scheduled to be held at Imphal (Manipur) from October 4 to 14 but had been postponed due to non-completion of the stadiums due to heavy rains in the region.

Cricket ties to be telecast 'live'

NEW DELHI, Sept 8 (PTI) — Star Sports is to telecast 'live' the Commonwealth Games cricket ties from Kuala Lumpur featuring India against Antigua and Australia, apart from the two semifinals and final.

Tomorrow's India-Antigua clash would be beamed from 8.30 a.m. while the India-Australia tie (September 15), the two semifinals (September 16 and 17) and the final (September 19) would be telecast from 7.30 a.m. a release stated here today.