Live telecast of AIWA Cup
MUMBAI, Aug 13 — Sony entertainment television will telecast live the AIWA Cup cricket between India, Sri Lanka and Australia to be held in Sri Lanka and the Singapore series featuring India, the West Indies and Zimbabwe.

Khalifman defeats Polgar, takes lead
LAS VEGAS (USA), Aug 13 — Grandmaster Alexander Khalifman of Russia today snatched the lead by defeating grandmaster Judith Polgar (Hungary) in the first game of the quarterfinal match for the $ three million World Chess Championship here.

Paes-Bhupathi shocked in second round
CINCINNATI (Ohio), Aug 13 — Top seeded Indian duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi suffered a setback in their tune-up to the US Open Championship when they lost in the second round of the Greater American Insurance Tennis tournament here.

POA felicitates award winners
CHANDIGARH, Aug 13 — It is a matter of great pride for all sports enthusiasts that as many as seven outstanding sportspersons of Punjab have been bestowed the coveted Arjuna Award for sporting excellence and for winning great glory and honour in this year for the country at various international sports arenas, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, President, and Mr Arvind Khanna, Secretary-General, Punjab Olympic Association, said here today.

Ban lifted on Ranatunga
COLOMBO, Aug 13 — Former skipper Arjuna Ranatunga joined the Sri Lankan team for practice today after the cricket board lifted the two day suspension against him on disciplinary grounds.

Yugoslavia prepare to take on Croatia
BELGRADE, Aug 13 — Manager Vujadin Boskov announced a 20-man Yugoslav squad for the crucial Euro 2000 qualifier against Croatia in Belgrade next Wednesday and called for “110 per cent” effort from his players.

Part-timers savour glory at UEFA Cup
LONDON, Aug 13 — Three teams managed seven goals each in the UEFA Cup qualifying round, first leg, yesterday — a veritable who’s who of European soccer’s lightweights.

Ripudaman, Anita enter semis
LUDHIANA, Aug 13 — Ripudaman of Jalandhar division along with Deepa Narang and Anita Agnihotri both of Delhi division moved into the semifinals of the 33rd LIC North Zone Table Tennis Tournament (men and women), here today.

TV rights decision on Aug 19
MUMBAI, Aug 13 — A decision on TV rights for coverage of international cricket played in India would be taken at the Board of Control for Cricket in India marketing committee meeting here on August 19 and announced after its working committee meeting, which is scheduled for the next day.

A dream come true, says Mongia
BARODA, Aug 13 — Indian stumper Nayan Mongia yesterday said he was happy to bag the Arjuna-Award along with team-mate Rahul Dravid.

• Malleswari honoured
• National kho-kho

Thipsay displays devastating form

SCARBOROUGH (England) Aug 13 (PTI) — India’s junior national champion, Sundararajan Kidambi, extended his international master (IM) norm to 10 games when he held highly rated Irish GM Alexander Baburin to a draw on a day when Pravin Thipsay showed his devastating form in the penultimate round of the British Open Chess Championship here.

Double GM-norm holder Abhijit Kunte (6.5) and fellow IM K. Sasikiran (6.5) agreed for a truce after a hard fought battle even as English GM Julian Hodgson (8.5) cemented his title hopes with a clear one-point lead with a round to go.

IM Kidambi (6) adopted the Grunfeld defence with black pieces against Baburin who preferred to play the ending early on in the game. He went for multiple exchange of pieces which left him with a slight advantage.

However, the promising Indian fought resolutely to simplify the game into a drawn knight versus bishop endgame.

GM Thipsay (6.5) joined Sasikiran and Kunte on joint fourth position when he effectively disposed of Broomfield of England. In a game featuring classical variation of the Sicilian scheveningen, Thipsay, playing white, held a small advantage as the position simplified into an ending.

In an equal rook ending Thipsay’s experience stood him in good stead as he outwitted his opponent in style even as his opponent faced time trouble in the final stages.

Among the other Indians in fray, Anupama Gokhale (5) won her game while other three — V. Saravanan, Bhagyashree Thipsay and world (under-12) girls champion Koneru Humpy — lost their games.

Pairings between Indians have become a common occurrence in these European tournaments, as most of the time there are at least two or three of them in the same point group. In 10th round yesterday, IM Sasikiran and IM Kunte faced each other.

Kunte, with white pieces adopted the advance variation against Sasikiran’s Caro-Kann defence. The middlegame revolved around control of the crucial D4 square and after exchanges, both had opposite coloured bishops and major pieces. A draw was agreed on, as no progress could be made.

Saravanan (5.5) suffered a setback when he lost to woman GM Harriet Hunt of England. Saravanan adopted Sicilian Najdorf with black pieces and allowed a combination in the middlegame which cost him a piece.

Hunt moved on to 6.5 points and is the top runner for the British Championship woman title, where she is followed by IWM Jovanka Houska, also of England on 6 points.

IWM Anupama Gokhale outsmarted Oliver Jackson (4) while her two woman compatriots faced reverses. Koneru Humpy (4.5) lost to Simon Knott (5.5) while at a disadvantage of black pieces and IWM Bhagyashree Thipsay (3) continued her poor form here going down to Melanie Buckley (4) with white pieces.

Top seed GM Hodgson now needs a draw from the final round to clinch the title.

Hodgson, who was held to a draw in the penultimate round by IM J. Rawson of Scotland, has a full point lead over Bangla IM Zia-Ur Rahman, who earned his maiden GM norm by outwitting GM J. Emms in a marathon rook and pawn ending. GM Peter Wells is also on 7.5 points and only a loss for Hodgson and win of either of these two could force a tie-breaker.

Steffi Graf announces retirement

HEIDELBERG (Germany), Aug 13 (AFP) — German tennis legend Steffi Graf today announced her immediate retirement from tennis here at a Press conference. Her decision caught the tennis world by surprise. Earlier this month Graf, who had already said she would not play the French Open or Wimbledon, said she had been hasty.

“I made a mistake,” Graf said. “That is the way I felt and that was my immediate response.” 

During her 17-year career Graf won 22 Grand Slam titles and 107 WTA titles. The 30-year-old also broke the record for successive weeks as world No 1 - 377.

Her career ran almost parallel to that of Germany’s male star, Boris Becker, and both were responsible for making tennis one of the most popular and lucrative sports in Germany and became huge stars in their homeland.

Becker also retired earlier this year, playing his last match at Wimbledon.

In 1997 Graf had a eight month lay-off because of injury. She underwent surgery on her left knee and last year she had minor surgery on her right wrist.

Graf made her comeback this year with a huge win — title triumph at the French Open — beating world No 1 Martina Hingis in the final. She followed her impressive run with a Wimbledon final showing before going down to American Lindsay Davenport.

In South California earlier this month, a left hamstring injury forced the German to retire from a WTA hardcourt event.

“I couldn’t have moved another step,” said Graf at the time. 

A brief career history of Steffi Graf:

1969: Born June 14 in Bruhl, Germany.

1973: Aged four, starts playing tennis.

1982: October 18 - turns professional after winning European Championships 12’s and 18’s. Second youngest player to receive ranking on professional tour at No 124.

1983: Loses in opening round of first Grand Slam appearance at Australian Open. Reaches second round of French Open.

1984: Wins first Wimbledon match against American Susan Mascarin 6-4, 5-7, 10-8 before advancing to fourth round where she loses to Britain’s Jo Durie 3-6, 6-3, 9-7.

1985: Loses in fourth round at Wimbledon, but then reaches semifinal at US Open.

1986: Wins eight singles tournaments.

1987: Reaches first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros and beats Martina Navratilova 6-4, 4-6, 8-6. Loses in straight sets in Wimbledon final to Navratilova, who also beats her in the US Open final. Becomes world No 1 for the first time in August.

1988: Completes Grand Slam of all four major titles, including her first Wimbledon victory at expense of Navratilova. Wins gold medal at Summer Olympics in Seoul.

1989: Wins Australian Open and US Open as well as Wimbledon, but loses to Arantxa-Sanchez Vicario in French Open final.

1990: Wins Australian Open — her ninth Grand Slam title.

1991: Wimbledon is her only major success, as she clinches a marathon tussle with Gabriela Sabatini 8-6 in final set. German tax authorities start to probe her financial affairs. 

1992: Loses to Seles in French Open final, but beats same opponent to win Wimbledon.

1993: Only Australian Open slips by as she wins all three other majors.

1994: Wins Australian Open, but suffers shock first round exit at Wimbledon at hands of American Lori McNeil — the first top seed to lose at the first hurdle in the women’s event at Wimbledon (Martina Hingis became the second in 1999).

1995: Captures all three Grand Slams in which she competes — at French, Wimbledon and US Open. From start of the French, Graf reels off 45 consecutive Grand Slam victories. Father, Peter, is arrested in the wake of lengthy tax investigation.

1996: She repeats her 1995 feat, to set a winning streak of reaching 21 consecutive finals. The Wimbledon title was her 100th career singles title.

1997: Competes in only the Australian Open, where she loses in fourth round, and French Open, where she loses in quarterfinal — both defeats at the hands of South Africa’s Amanda Coetzer. Surgery keeps her out of Wimbledon for first time in 11 years.

1998: Wins first two tournaments as an unseeded player and quickly regains top 10 ranking. Returns to Grand Slam action at Wimbledon but is beaten in third round by Natasha Zvereva. Has minor surgery on right wrist following fourth round exit at US Open.

1999: Returns to Roland Garros to clinch a memorable victory against Hingis — her 22nd Grand Slam victory — before announcing that she would not compete at French Open again.

July 4 - Beaten in Wimbledon final by Lindsay Davenport in straight sets. After walking off court announces it is her last appearance at the tournament.

August 3 - Retires with a left hamstring injury from WTA event in South California.

August 13 - Announces her retirement at a Press conference in Heidelberg, Germany.

Live telecast of AIWA Cup

MUMBAI, Aug 13 (UNI) — Sony entertainment television will telecast live the AIWA Cup cricket between India, Sri Lanka and Australia to be held in Sri Lanka and the Singapore series featuring India, the West Indies and Zimbabwe.

Addressing newspersons here, Sony outlined its plans to enter big time cricket.

Sony officials said they had bought the television rights for a period of 18 months in Sri Lanka with the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) for Rs 7.75 million.

Sony will be bringing live action of all the matches of the AIWA Cup, starting on August 22. Besides the triangular series, it will also telecast all three Test matches between Sri Lanka and Australia.

The Singapore triangular series will also be shown live on Sony, starting from September 2.

Schedule:

AIWA Cup:

August 22 — Australia vs Sri Lanka at Galle international stadium, August 23 — Australia vs India at Galle international stadium, August 25 — Sri Lanka vs India at Premadasa stadium, August 26 — Sri Lanka vs Australia at Premadasa stadium, August 28 — India vs Australia at Singhalese Sports Club Ground, August 29 — India vs Sri Lanka at Singhalese Sports Club Ground, August 31 — final Premadasa stadium.

The AIWA Test series — to be played between Sri Lanka and Australia-September 9 to 13: first Test at Aagiriya Stadium, September 22 to 26: second Test at Galle international stadium, Sept. 29 to Oct. 3: third Test at Singhalese Sports Club Ground.

Singapore Challenge: one-day international to be played at Singapore.

September 2 — West Indies vs Zimbabwe, September 4 — India vs Zimbabwe, September 5 — India vs West Indies, September 7 — final.

Khalifman defeats Polgar, takes lead

LAS VEGAS (USA), Aug 13 (UNI) — Grandmaster Alexander Khalifman of Russia today snatched the lead by defeating grandmaster Judith Polgar (Hungary) in the first game of the quarterfinal match for the $ three million World Chess Championship here.

Khalifman would require just a draw from the black pieces to enter the semifinal stage. All the other games failed to produce results in spite of bitter competition.

Vladimir Kramnik could not effectively utilise the slight advantage of white pieces against Michael Adams of England while second seeded Alexy Shirov’s risky play could result only in a draw against giant-killing Romanian Livier-Dieter Nisipeanu. The Akopian-Movsezian encounter could produce no result though it was enterprisingly fought. The quarterfinalists are already assured of $ 69,120 and playing to double the stakes with each round of the championship.

Since her childhood Judith Polgar is nursing an ambition of winning the men-dominated world chess championship. She had never participated in women’s tournaments. This 23-year-old Hungarian, who became the world’s youngest ever grandmaster at 15, beating Bobby Fischer’s 43-year-old record, was devastated by her loss today.

In vienna variation, Judith improved upon Jan Timman’s play in his world championship match with GM Anatoly Karpov at Kuala Lumpur. The Hungarian accepted broken king side structure for targeting Khalifman’s weak pawn on the queen’s side.

However, the Russian played some imaginative moves and forced Judith to go back on defence. Khalifman sent his major pieces on king hunt and Judith lost precious time organising defence. The unseeded Russian set a cunning trap which Judith could not see in time trouble. He won a crucial central pawn and then finished the game in 44 moves with a majestic king hunt.

The 2-1 hot favourite Alexy Shirov (Spain) continued with his ultra sharp style against Nisipeanu. The Spaniard’s choice of polugaevsky variation of sicilian Najdorf defence assured of a thrilling game. Nisipeanu sacrificed two pieces against Shirov’s provocative play and soon Shirov’s king was running for a cover. However, Shirov had all the tactics under control. He counterattacked suddenly and forced Nisipeanu to share the point after 22 moves.

Tendulkar third, Kumble 7th

LONDON, Aug 13 (PTI) — Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who regained the Indian captaincy last month, is placed third behind his West Indian and Australian counterparts Brian Lara and Steve Waugh, respectively, in the latest Pricewaterhouse Coopers Test Cricket ratings for batting.

Tendulkar, with a career average of 54.49 — against 51.98 of Lara and 50.81 of Waugh— had gleaned 811 points in the rankings released here on Tuesday.

Lara maintained his top position with 917 points with Waugh following at 884 in the list for the world’s top 30 Test batsmen and bowlers, updated after the third Test between England and New Zealand at old Trafford last week.

Rahul Dravid (796 points, av 54.43) has been ranked fourth and left-hander Saurav Ganguly 14th (676, 49.68) while deposed skipper Mohd Azharuddin (633, 44.88) at 22nd and young left-handed opener Sadagopal Ramesh (600, 62.00) at 26th are the other Indian batsmen to make it to the list.

The list for batsmen comprises five Indians and South Africans each, four from England, three each from Australia, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and New Zealand and two each from the West Indies and Sri Lanka.

Leg-spinner Anil Kumble at seventh is the highest ranked Indian in the list of bowlers, which also includes speedsters Javagal Srinath (10th) and Venkatesh Prasad (28th).

Fiery South African paceman Alan Donald leads the honours with Australia’s Glenn McGrath and South African Shaun Pollock second and third respectively as the top five places are taken by fast bowlers.

The rankings have been updated after third Test between England and New Zealand that ended on August 9.

Allan Donald heads the list with 886 points and a career average of 21.66 with McGrath close behind with 871 points (22.60).

Donald’s new ball partner Pollock (865 points, 21.60) is followed by veteran West Indian Curtly Ambrose (831, 21.31) and Pakistani paceman Wasim Akram (765, 22.67) respectively.

Paes-Bhupathi shocked in second round

CINCINNATI (Ohio), Aug 13 (PTI) — Top seeded Indian duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi suffered a setback in their tune-up to the US Open Championship when they lost in the second round of the Greater American Insurance Tennis tournament here.

The world No 1 pair, coming together after more than a month following Bhupathi’s layoff due to abdomen injury during their highly successful Wimbledon Championships, were beaten 6-3, 3-6, 1-6 by unseeded Australian combination of Andrew Florent and David MacPherson.

The French Open men’s doubles champions, who received a bye in the first round, started well by winning the first set 6-3 but their game fell apart after that and they lost the next two sets.

Paes partnered American Jared Palmer, Swede Jonas Bjorkman and Wayne Arthurs on the tour last month as Bhupathi was recuperating from the injury. Paes won the Hall of Fame tournament in Newport with Arthurs.

The Bangalore-based India No 2 had not fully recovered from his injury but joined Paes at Cincinnati to gain as much match practice as possible before the US Open starting on August 30.

DPA adds: It took six match points last night, but Andre Agassi finally joined the rest of the seeds in the quarterfinals at the $ 2.45 million ATP championship.

The crowd favourite outlasted Czech Jiri Novak 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5). Agassi said he was proud of the effort, especially since his backhand was not on target.

Top-ranked Pete Sampras, No 2 Pat Rafter and the rest of the top seven emerged winners.

World No 1 Sampras, who turned 28, had a 7-5, 7-6 (7-2) win over Rainer Schuttler of Germany, running his unbeaten run of matches to 19 this year.

The second-seeded Rafter easily handled Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador 6-2,6-3.

Agassi was relieved to get through: “You’re looking at a man who feels pretty lucky to get out of here with a win. I was a little flat-footed on my backhand. I got careful and that’s when thing can break down”.

Fourth-seeded Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov beat American Chris Woodruff 6-4, 6-4 winning the last three games of both sets.

Fifth seed Tim Henman of Britain stopped Germany’s 12th seed Nicolas Kiefer 6-4, 6-1 to set up a match with Kafelnikov

Sixth-seeded Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten, competing on hardcourt for the first time this summer after a three-week pause from the game, defeated German Tommy Hass 7-5, 7-5 to move into a match against Agassi.

Novak saved three match points in the 12th game and two more in the tie-breaker before Agassi triumphed.

“It’s not how your good days are, it’s how good your bad ones are”, said Agassi. “I’m committed to giving everything, just so I can sleep well at night knowing I did my best. Those guys are out there swinging for the fences just waiting for an upset”.

Agassi added: “It was good to fight through. I stayed focused on the job I had to do”.

Rafter next plays the resurgent Michael Chang, who whipped Frenchman Cedric Piolone 6-1, 6-4. The former world No 2, who has been battling injuries for the past one year.

But it looks like it has started to turnaround for the 27-year-old. “He’s playing better than he has in a year”, said Rafter. “You never know what to expect from him”.

The Australian is hoping that his shoulder holds up enough for him to get through the US Open, which he will be trying to win for a third straight year.

“But if the shoulder gets bad, I’ll sacrifice a tournament (he plays at Indianapolis next week and Long Island afterwards). The US Open is what we’re preparing for. But I’ll try to play in every event than I can”.

While Rafter is pushing himself, Sampras appears to be trying to throttle back.

He hinted yesterday that he could easily skip next January’s Australian Open for the second year in a row in order to rest.

“I want an off-season”, he said. “I need to give myself some time off. But I haven’t decided about next year yet. It’s a tough schedule and I don’t know how I’m going to plan it”.

“Playing all of the super-nine events (a new tour rule in 2000) plus the Davis Cup and the Grand Slams is tough.

The trip Down Under looks expendable in the American’s mind.

“I’d like to play in Australia, but I’ll have to see how I feel after the US Open and at the end of the season”, said Sampras.

POA felicitates award winners
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 13 — It is a matter of great pride for all sports enthusiasts that as many as seven outstanding sportspersons of Punjab have been bestowed the coveted Arjuna Award for sporting excellence and for winning great glory and honour in this year for the country at various international sports arenas, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, President, and Mr Arvind Khanna, Secretary-General, Punjab Olympic Association, said here today.

The most deserving awardees of the state include the champion woman discus thrower Neelam J. Singh, are quartermiler Paramjit Singh, who broke the legendary Milkha Singh’s 30-year-old record, hockey star Baljit Singh Dhillon, the brilliant young Commonwealth Games shooting champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu and the mercurial judoka Narinder Singh. Mr Khanna said that the award to one of the greatest hockey full backs, the late Surjit Singh, as also Baldev Singh, though belated, was most richly merited.

Mr Arvind Khanna extended heartiest congratulations to the outstanding middle distance runner and triple Asian medallist Jyotirmoyee Sikdar for getting the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. He also felicitated the Arjuna awardees of other states as the POA takes pride in commending the sporting achievements of all our sportspersons who bring glory and laurels to the country.

Mr Khanna also praised the Dronacharya Award to the coaches Hargobind Singh, Bahadur Singh and G.S. Sandhu.

However, there was one name missing from the list which the POA had strongly recommended for the award — that of the legendary Asian triple gold medallist Parduman Singh. Mr Khanna hoped that the glory and honours won by the great athlete at international sports arenas would be recognised soon and his name would duly figure in the next year’s honours list.

The feat of Guru Nanak Dev University for winning the prestigious Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy for a record 14th time was also most commendable and deserve all the praise. Mr Khanna added, the university was a veritable source of rich talent and budding sportspersons.

Randell jailed for four years

HOBART, Aug 13 (AFP) — Australian Test cricket umpire Steve Randell was jailed for four years by the Supreme Court here today for 15 sexual assault charges against young girls.

The 43-year-old school teacher, was convicted by a jury on Tuesday of molesting and fondling nine primary school girls aged 10 to 12 while he taught at a school in the Tasmanian town of Burnie between 1981 and 1982.

Five of the girls, now in their late 20s, applauded and other raised her finger in a mock umpire’s dismissal as Randell was led away to the police cells at the end of Tuesday’s hearing.

The 12-member jury found Randell had ingratiated himself with parents to gain their confidence and trust before he indecently assaulted the girls in class and at their homes.

Randell, a father of two who is married to a former Miss Tasmania, had pleaded not guilty to 17 charges.

Passing sentence, judge Peter Underwood told the court that Randell’s brazen actions indicated he had felt free to treat the girls as his sexual playthings.

He said Randell was guilty of serious paedophilia and not isolated, impulsive acts and the court had a clear duty to send a message to people that it would protect children.

Randell had seriously breached the confidence and trust of the girls and their parents and the offences warranted condemnation and punishment, the judge said.

Randell, who was Australia’s top international umpire with a record of 36 Tests behind him, stood down from umpiring and was suspended on full pay from teaching after he was first charged in May last year.

Randell’s counsel Peter Barker told the court that his client had already been severely punished.

Randell would never get back his $ 70,000 (about Rs 19.56 lakhs) Australian Cricket Board contract nor be able to teach again.

Barker said he would never be rehabilitated in the eyes of the public and for the rest of his life would be vilified shunned and ostracised.

He said the charges had also had a tragic impact on his wife Angela, with whom he team-taught at a Hobart primary school, his six-year-old daughter Lauren and four-your-old son Paul, who has autism.

Ban lifted on Ranatunga

COLOMBO, Aug 13 (PTI) — Former skipper Arjuna Ranatunga joined the Sri Lankan team for practice today after the cricket board lifted the two day suspension against him on disciplinary grounds.

Ranatunga, barred by team manager Chandra Schaffter for not following procedures before leaving for Toronto to play an exhibition match on Sunday, has been permitted to join the team after the board accepted his explanation.

“Ranatunga explained circumstances in which he left for Canada. The reason why he did not follow procedure was because there was a breakdown of communication between him and cricket board secretariat,” Schaffter told state run ‘Daily News’.

He said confusion arose as the board’s decision to obtain a letter from Ranatunga was not conveyed to the former skipper in time before he left for Canada.

For his part, Ranatunga thought the approval he obtained from Sports Minister S. B. Dissanayake and Chairman of the board Rinsie Wijayathilake was adequate, Schafter said.

He said Ranatunga had also assured him that in future all communications would be addressed through proper channel. In view of this assurance he was permitted to rejoin the practice session, the manager said.

Sri Lanka’s new coach, Dave Whatmore, also took active part in the negotiations to end the row which prevented Ranatunga from practising for the three-Test series against Australia.

Yugoslavia prepare to take on Croatia

BELGRADE, Aug 13 (Reuters) — Manager Vujadin Boskov announced a 20-man Yugoslav squad for the crucial Euro 2000 qualifier against Croatia in Belgrade next Wednesday and called for “110 per cent” effort from his players.

“We must bow to Croatia for finishing third in the World Cup. We had a better team and still went out in the second round. My players will have to be above themselves physically and mentally to win,” Boskov told a news conference yesterday.

The 68-year old manager included only three home-based players, two from Partizan Belgrade and one from Red Star.

He said Yugoslavia would sorely miss Dejan Savicevic, who ruptured a tendon in Rapid Vienna’s European Champions League qualifier against Galatasaray of Turkey on Wednesday.

“It would have been a different story with him because he is in top form. The starting 11 should leave the dressing rooms with only one thing on their minds — to win and move a step closer to the European Championship finals next year,” Boskov said.

Yugoslavia will also miss veteran skipper Dragan Stojkovic, whose Japanese club Nagoya Grampus Eight refused to release him a week in advance because of a vital league match.

Predrag Mijatovic, who joined Fiorentina from Real Madrid this summer, will assume the captain’s role.

“It was a close call between him and Sinisa Mihajlovic of Lazio,” Boskov said, adding he was sure the two Italian-based stars would spearhead “an historic victory” in the first meeting between the two sides since the former Yugoslavia broke up in 1991.

The squad:

Goalkeeper: Ivica Kralj (PSV Eindhoven), Nikola Damjanac (Partizan Belgrade), Aleksandar Kocic (Red Star Belgrade).

Defenders: Zoran Mirkovic (Juventus), Goran Djorovic (Celta Vigo), Miroslav Djukic (Valencia), Sinisa Mihajilovic (Lazio), Slobodan Komljenovic (Kaiserslautern), Nisa Saveljic (Girondins Bordeaux), Drazen Bolic (Salernitana).

Midfielders: Slavisa Jokanovic (Deportivo La Coruna), Albert Nadj (Oviedo), Jovan Stankovic (Mallorca), Djordje Tomic (Partizan), Dejan Stankovic (Lazio), Ljubinko Drulovic (Porto).

Strikers: Predrag Mijatovic (Fiorentina), Savo Milosevic (Zaragoza), Darko Kovacevic (Juventus), Nenad Bjekovic (Aek Athens).

Part-timers savour glory at UEFA Cup

LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) — Three teams managed seven goals each in the UEFA Cup qualifying round, first leg, yesterday — a veritable who’s who of European soccer’s lightweights.

Lokomotiv Moscow, Lyngby of Denmark and Norway’s Viking Stavanger were the trio celebrating the goals, with Anderlecht just off the pace with six as the expanded 121-team competition lumbered into action.

Although the night’s 72 combatants included three former European champions it was generally an occasion for the part-timers to savour a brief taste of the big time.

Lokomotiv, European Cup Winners’ Cup semifinalists in the last two seasons, won 7-1 against Belarussian side Bate Borisov.

Georgian striker Zaza Dzhanashia led the way with a hat-trick in the sixth, 33rd and 60th minutes.

The Belarussian premier division leaders, who had lost only once in 18 league matches, were 3-0 down at half-time and simply gave up after the break.

It was a bad night for Belarus as their other representatives, Belshina Bobruisk, lost 5-1 at home to Omonia Nicosia of Cyprus.

Stavanger won 7-0 at home against Principat of Andorra and Lyngby recorded the same result against Malta’s Birkirkara.

Anderlecht, UEFA Cup winners in 1983, swept past Iceland’s Leiftur 6-1 while Dinamo Bucharest won 6-2 against Luxembourg’s Mondercange.

Celtic had the best result of the three former European Cup winners, thrashing Welsh outfit Cwmbran Town 6-0 away, helped by two goals from Henrik Larsson.

Crvena Zvezda Belgrade, European champions in 1991, must have wondered how they every reached such giddy heights as they travelled to Neftchi Baku of Azerbaijan and collected a 3-2 victory.

Steaua Bucharest, like Crvena Zvezda, European Cup winners on a penalty shoot-out, had a comfortable 3-0 home win over Estonia’s Levadia Maardu with two goals from Sabin Ilie and one from Cristian Ciocoiu.

Joachim Standfest was another hat-trick manas Graz AK of Austria overpowered Ki Klaksvik of the Faroe Islands 5-0 in Toftir.

Torpedo Kutaisi of Georgia, Legia Warsaw, Croatia’s Hajduk Split also claimed 5-0 victories to ensure their progress to the first round proper.

Northern Ireland’s Linfield were happy to lose only 1-0 at Lokomotiv Tbilisi after suffering as attack of food poisoning.

“We lost half of our team,” said Linfield assistant coach W.J. McCoubrey.

Ripudaman, Anita enter semis
From Our Sports Reporter

LUDHIANA, Aug 13 — Ripudaman of Jalandhar division along with Deepa Narang and Anita Agnihotri both of Delhi division moved into the semifinals of the 33rd LIC North Zone Table Tennis Tournament (men and women), here today.

National player, Ripudaman had to sweat it out to win her quarterfinal match against Radha Ramrakhiani of Jalandhar division.

She won 21-17, 21-16 and 21-17. In an other quarterfinal match Deepa Narang of Delhi had an easy time against Chetna Tiwari of Jaipur division as she won 21-8, 21-11 and 21-13 while Anita Agnihotri of Delhi got the better of Nirmala Ajwani of Ajmer division 21-16,21-15 and 21-4.

In the men’s singles, Ram Singh of Bikaner division, N.K. Jain of Jodhpur division, Ashwani Kumar of Chandigarh division and Satnam Singh of Shimla division made it to the last four stage.

More than thirty players from 15 divisions of Northern Zonal offices of Life Insurance Corporation are taking part in the tournament.

Results:

Women’s singles (pre-quarter final): Rajni Gupta (Ldh) lost to Radha Ramrakhiani 21-15, 21-11, Mamta Mukhi (Delhi) b Hemlata (Karnal) 21-9, 21-13, Deepa Narang (Delhi) Walkover Ritu Garg (Ajmer), Nirmala Ajwani (Ajmer) b Rekha Khullar (Delhi) 15-21, 21-19, 23-21.

Quarterfinals: Ripudaman (Jal) Radha Ramrakhiani (Jal) 21-17,21-16, 21-17, Deepa Narang (Delhi) Chetna Tiwari (Jaipur) 21-8, 21-11, 21-13 Anita Agnihotri (Delhi) Nirmala Ajwani (Ajmer_ 21-16, 21-15, 21-9

Men’s singles (Pre-quarterfinals)

S.K. Jain (Ajmer) b Ashok Sharma (Chd) 21-19, 21-9, Ramsingh (Bikaner) Anuj Kumar Pal (Delhi) 21-17, 21-23, 21-8, Anupam Walia (Di) R.P. Lahoti (Udaipur) 13-21, 21-18, 21-19, M.S. Chauhan (Jodhpur) b Hardip Singh (Asr) 21-12, 19-21,21-16, N.K. Jain (Bikaner) b Rakesh Gandhi (Karnal) 21-10, 21-11, Ashwani Kumar (Chd) S.K. Jain (Aj) 21-18, 14-21, 21-17, Ajit Kumar (Di) b T.P.S. Nanda (Ldh) 21-18, 21-8, Charanjit Singh (Shimla) b Nand Kishore (Jal) 15-21, 23-21, 21-18, Satnam Singh (Shimla) V.K. Sachdeva (Jaipur) 21-10,21-11.

Quarterfinals: Ram Singh (Bikaner b Anupam Walia (Di) 16-21, 21-11, 21-9, 21-12, N.K. Jain (Jodhpur) b M.S. Chauhan (Bi) 13-21, 22-24, 21-16, 21-18, 21-18. Ashwani Kumar (Chd) b Ajitkumar (Di) 21-17,21-17,21-15, Satnam Singh (Shimla) Charanjit Singh (Shimla) 21-14, 21-17, 21-18.

TV rights decision on Aug 19

MUMBAI, Aug 13 (PTI) — A decision on TV rights for coverage of international cricket played in India would be taken at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) marketing committee meeting here on August 19 and announced after its working committee meeting, which is scheduled for the next day.

The board Secretary, Mr Jaywant Lele told PTI here today that four TV channels, including Doordarshan, and two other firms have bid for the TV rights.

The board has announced that it has decided to entertain offers for TV rights from the main television channels and networks having adequate coverage.

The board has also announced that while awarding television rights it would try to ensure that a maximum number of people would be able to see the telecast.

Talks are around that some bids are in the region of Rs 100 crores.

The TV rights issue has cropped up after the expiry of the board’s contract with the Trans World International (TWI) last season.

A dream come true, says Mongia

BARODA, Aug 13 (PTI) — Indian stumper Nayan Mongia yesterday said he was happy to bag the Arjuna-Award along with team-mate Rahul Dravid.

“It is just great and a dream come true,” Mongia told PTI here.

About his finger injury, Mongia said: “I feel very sad to miss the forthcoming tri-series tournaments in Sri Lanka and Sringapore but am hopeful I would be fit soon.”

The BCCI Secretary and national coach also expressed happiness with Mongia and batsman Dravid getting the Arjuna Award.

Malleswari honoured
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Aug 13 — Former world weightlifting champion and Bangkok Asian Games silver medallist K. Malleswari Tyagi was honoured by a private firm in recognition of her services in the discipline of women weightlifting at the NIS here. K. Malleswari was handed over a purse of Rs 25,000 in the presence of the Executive Director of the NIS, Col. B.S. Ahluwalia, Director (Administration) G.S. Anand, Deputy Director and in charge of national camps being held at the NIS Rifaquat Ali and a host of other international sportspersons, prominent among them being Kunjarani Devi

National kho-kho
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, Aug 13 — The 35th Senior National ( men and women) Kho-Kho Championship will be held at Dhulia, Maharashtra, from October 26 to 31, according to Chand Singh, Vice-President, Kho-Kho Federation of India.

The 13th national open men’s and women’s tournament and the 14th national Sub-Junior Kho-Kho Championship would be held at Chandan Nagar, West Bengal and Vardha, Maharashtra, respectively.