Tuesday, September 28, 1999
spotlighttoday's calendar
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S P O R T | Tuesday, September 28, 1999 |
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Syngkom wins gold in karate |
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Meenakshi puts Haryana in semis Britain,
Italy stay in Davis Cup world group Mohota
wins, jumps to 2nd place Heyns
breaks two more world marks Johnnie
Walker golf championship N.
Rly, Customs move up |
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Indian domination continues KATHMANDU, Sept 27 (UNI) — India’s domination in the pool continued unabated as Nisha Millet sunk yet another record on her way to winning two more gold in the swimming events of the eighth SAF Games here today. Adding to her yesterday’s 100 m Free style gold, the Indian mermaid was involved in a neck-and-neck race with her compatriot Shikha Tandon, before winning by one hundredth of a second to win the 400 m free style gold with a record timing of 4 min 38.29, bettering the 4. 55.79 set by Sangeeta Rao of India in the 1991 Games. In a battle between two Indians, Shikha Tandon gave her illustrious compatriot a run for the money before losing to Nisha in a photo finish by a split second. Though Shikha Tandon also bettered the SAF Games record, she had to be content with the silver in spite of her brave effort. Nisha also won the 100 m back stroke to beg her fourth gold in this games, ahead of her sister Reshma with a time of 1 min 12.12 secs. the latter clocked 1. 13.03 to win the silver. In the men’s events India suffered a reverse at the hands of Pakistan when N. Suresh Reddy lost to Kamal Salman Masud in the 200 m butterfly, while T. Ksenthil Kumar and Kailash Nath won 200 m back stroke and 400 m free style gold in style to swell the medals’ tally. India, who is all set to complete a golden splash, had so far won 10 out of the 11 gold in swimming events. Results: Men’s 200 m back stroke: T.K. Senthil Kumar (Ind) 7 min 1955, Asaka Nradeen (SL) 2. 25.13, 3MD Taaz (Nak) 2. 25.30 200 m Butterfly: 1 Kamal Salman Masud (Pak) 2. 10.87, 2 N. Suresh Reddy 2. 14.92, 3 Ghefari Dulapandian (SL) 2. 17.32. 400 free style men: Kailashnath (Ind) 4. 20.29, 2 Sanlee (SL) 4. 35.27, 3 E.J. Fernando (SL) 4. 36.54. Women: Nisha Millet (Ind) 4.38.29, 2 Shikha Tandon (Ind) 4.38.30, 3 Teekshana Ratnasekara (SL) 5. 12.72. 100 m back stroke: Nisha
Millet (Ind) 1. 12.12, 2 Reshma Millet (Ind) 1.13.03, 3
Radeesha Daluwatte (SL) 1. 16.61. |
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Muthu, Arun clinch gold KATHMANDU, Sept 27 (UNI) — Indian lifters started their medal hunt in a grand style winning both the gold medals at stake on the opening day of the weightlifting events in the eighth SAF Games here today. T. Muthu gave India the first gold when he easily won the 56 kg category with a total lift of 240 kg (snatch 105 kg+ jerk 135 kg) behind Pakistan’s Ghafoor Ishtiaq (238 kg) and Nepal’s D Rakesh Ranjeer (220 kg). M. Arun completed the day on a happy pocketing the 62 kg event gold with a total lift of 280 kg way ahead of Pakistan’s Irfan Islam (268kg) and Bangladesh’s Hamidul Islam (243 kg). The revised weight categories, which was introduced for the first time in this year’s edition, did not bother the Indian lifters who performed creditably. Muthu started with 100 kg in the snatch and improved upon by five kgs in the second. He however, faltered in the third when the barbell was loaded with 107.5 kg. Ghafoor on the other hand, improved upon by five kgs in every lift starting with 95 kg in the first and cleared 100 kg in the second. He tied with the Indian in the snatch easily clearing 105 kg in his third and last attempt. But it was a jerk, which the Indian managed to march ahead of the Pakistani. Muthu started with 130 kg whereas Ghafoor started with 127 kg then cleared 132 kg in the second, before trying 137.5 kg in his third and final attempt but in vain. Muthu easily cleared 135 kg in his second attempt to assure Indian of a gold and opted for 140 in his third and final attempt, which proved abortive. In the 62 kg event, Arun hardly faced any threat. He cleared 120 in snatch in his second attempt after failing in his last attempt opting for 125 kg. Irafan played it safe increasing his every lift by five kg to gain a 2.5 kg lead over the India finishing the snatch at 122.5 kg. But it was in jerk, that the Indian asserted his supremacy to ensure the gold. After Irfan finished his attempts clearing 145 kg, Arun straight away opted for 150 kg and cleared it with elan for the gold. His next two lifts were a mere formality. He opted for 160 kg and cleared it in the third after faltering in the second lift. Scores: 56 kg T. Muthu (India)
snatch 105 kg+jerk 135kg-total 240kg, Ghafoor Ishtaq
(Pak) 105+132.5=238 (half a kg was round off): Ranjeet
Rakesh (Nep) 95+125=220. 62kgz: M. Arun (Ind) 120+160=280
Islam Irfan (Pak) 122.5+145=268 (round off), Hamidul
Islam (Bd) 105+137.5=243 (rounded off). |
Lankan athletes dominate KATHMANDU, Sept 27 (UNI) — It was Sri Lanka’s day in athletics. The athletes from the island nation dominated the proceedings winning six of the 10 gold at stake on the second day of the competition. Even their star sprinter Damayanthi Darsha came up with yet another record-shattering effort in the 400 m to complete a golden double. The double gold medallist at the Bangkok Asian Games, 24-year-old Darsha, who won the 100 m sprint yesterday, won the 400 m gold with a new record time of 52.11 secs, erasing the existing record by one hundreth of a second set by India’s Shiny Wilson (52.12) in the 1995 Games at Chennai. Sriyani Kulawansa rewrote her own record in the 100 m hurdles clocking 13.12, as against 13.34 in 1995 and the lanky Rohan Premkumar clocked 45.77 secs in the men’s 400 to account for the third record of the day. Rohan clocked 45.77 secs set in 1993 games at Dhaka. As far as India, who dominated the yesterday’s show winning seven of the nine athletic gold medals, it was a below par performance managing a mere three gold medals, as Lankans took a stranglehold breaking from the shackles of the Indian domination. Sri Lanka won five of the six golds in track events- men’s 400 m, 110m hurdles, 800 m and women’s 400m and 100 m hurdles. The other gold for them came in the men’s long jump. India’s hopes were held with gold winning performances by K Shankar in 5,000 m Hridayanand (discus) and Pramod Kumar Tiwari (hammer throw). Besides, the three gold medals India won eight silver and two bronze medals, finishing second behind Sri Lanka in most of the events. Pakistan opened their gold tally when Rehana Kausar won the women’s high jump gold (1.69 m) pushing India’s Jaicy Thomas (1.66) and Jayanthi Sudarraj ( 1.60) to the second and third place respectively. While it was Susanthika Jayasinghe, who caused a severe dent in India’s hopes in 1995, it was Damayanthi this year. Having won the 100m sprint with a career-best performance, which was even better than her Asian Games performances, Damayanthi was clear winner in the 400 m. India’s Beenamol could not cope up with the giant strides of her illustrious rival and expectedly finished second. Damayanthi was quick off the blocks. The lead kept on increasing as the Sri Lankan accelerated towards the end and won by the clear margin with a new record time of 52.11 secs Men: 400: 1 Rohan Premkumar (SL) 45.55 secs, 2 P. Ramachandran (Ind) 46.10, 3 Injo David (Ind) 46.86. 800 m: 1 Ranakumar (SL) 1 min 51.08 secs, 2 Anil Mathew (Ind) 1:52.23, 3 Md Tariq (Pak) 1:52.42, 110 m hurdles: 1 Mahesh Perera (SL) 14.22 secs, 2 P.T. Tesudoss (Ind) 14.31, 3 Md Shah (Pak) 14.33. 5000 m: 1 K. Shankar (Ind) 14 min 49:52.00. Long jump: 1 P.K.S. Rohita (SL) 7.76m, 2 Sanjay Kumar Rai (Ind) 7.63, 3 Banaris Khan (Pak) 7.23. Discus: 1 Hridayanand (Ind) 53.11 m, 2 Md Javid (Pak) 51.92, 3 T. Falei Leema (SL) 47.28. Hammer throw: 1 Pramod Tiwari (Ind) 65.84 m, 2 Istiyak Ahmed (Ind) 61.00, 3 Ghulam Bari (Pak) 59.35. Women: 400m: 1 Damayanthi Darasha (SL) 52.11 secs, 2 Beenamol (Ind) 52.59, 3 S.N. De Soyza (SL) 53.95 . 100m hurdles: 1 Sriyani Kulawansa (SL) 13.12 secs, 2 Anuradha Biswal (Ind) 13.72, 3 Inoka Umayani (SL) 14.77. High jump: 1 Rehana
Kausar (Pak) 1.69 m, 2 Jaicy Thomas (Ind) 1.66, 3
Jayanthi Sundaraj (Ind) 1.60. |
Syngkom wins gold in karate KATHMANDU, Sept 27 (PTI) — India’s Damag Syngkom won a gold in the men’s under 50 kg category as Nepal continued their dominance claiming three of the five gold medals at stake on the second day of the SAF Games karate competition here today. It was India’s lone gold so far in the karate events which has been introduced for the first time in SAF games this year. Nepal’s karatekas, who had swept all the six gold medals on offer on the first day yesterday, added three more golds to their kitty by claiming the honours in the women’s under 60 kg category, men’s under 70 kg and women’s 53 kg category. Pakistan’s Farhan Ahmed took the gold in the men’s under 80 kg category by defeating Nepal’s Durga Raj Niraula. Results: Men’s under 60 kg: 1 Damang Syngkon (Ind), 2 Karim Razaul (Ban), 3 Nawaz Shah (Pak) and Bahadur Singh Makendra (Nep) both bronzes. Women’s under 60 kg: 1 Junu Rai (Nep), Shibani Kulkarni (Ind), 3 Srmiti Bibi (Ban) and Kanchana Abyasinghe (SL) Women’s under 53 kg: 1 Meena Pathak (Nep), 2 Yogitha Vinshu Mohan (Ind), 3 Shahima Ibrahim (Ban) and Shiromi Amarasinghe (SL) Men’s under 70 kg: 1 Surendra Lal Shreshtha (Nep), 2 Hussain Talib (Pak), 3 Hossain Ali (Ban) and Vinod Bhoma (Ind). Men’s under 80 kg:
1 Firman Ahmed (Pak), 2 Durga Raj Niraula. 3
Chandrasekhar Shetty (Ind) and Md Nitaz Juranpanthy (SL). |
Indians expected to sweep all TT gold KATHMANDU, Sept 27 (PTI) — There is no worthwhile opposition to challenge the formidable Indian paddlers, who are expected to sweep all the seven gold medals on offer in the eighth SAF Games table tennis championships beginning here tomorrow. The Indian contingent, comprising numero uno Chetan Baboor, S. Raman, Arup Basak, Arjun Datta and Deepak Thukral, are so strong that it would be a contest among themselves for the gold, silver and bronze in all the events, though all the seven SAF nations have fielded entries. Chetan Baboor, who is head and shoulders above the other Indian members, looks certain to walk away with the men’s singles gold while the rest would battle for the silver and bronze. Having guided India into
the semifinals for the first time in the Asian Junior
Championships held recently in Chennai, and the rich
experience they had gained by playing against superpowers
China, Japan and Korea) the women’s team is unlikely
to face any opposition and should sweep away the titles
with consummate ease. |
Not much challenge for Indian shooters KATHMANDU, Sept 27 (PTI)— Restoration of key pistol events that are favourites of ace marksman Jaspal Rana has given a big fillip to the strong Indian contingent that looks unlikely to face any challenge in the SAF Games shooting competitions that begin tomorrow. The Indian shooters, who
have always done the bulk of medal grabbing in
international meets, are upbeat after the addition of
Rana’s pet centrefire and rapidfire pistol events
that had been deleted from the original list of events. |
Desperate SA clash with Zimbabwe NAIROBI, Sept 27 (PTI) — Smarting from the crushing eight-wicket defeat against India that yet again exposed their weakness against spin yesterday, South Africa meet a confident Zimbabwe tomorrow aware that second defeat will knock them out of the LG Cup quadrangular cricket tournament. The formidable Proteas, desperate to erase a nightmarish clash against Australia that knocked them out in the World Cup semifinal in England, looked quite rusty in their first outing in three months as their batsmen floundered on a track that was exploited to the hilt by the Indian spinners led by left armour Sunil Joshi. That scotched skipper Hansie Cronje’s hopes of making a winning start to their post-World Cup campaign and his team will be under tremendous pressure meeting their fearless African rivals. Zimbabwe, at the top of the table with India after their three-wicket win over hosts Kenya, enter the game a buoyant lot and know the South Africans can be toppled after their upset win in the World Cup league tie. “Yes, we are under some sort of pressure, but that is nothing new. We are still a bit rusty and not really at home with the spinning tracks here. But tomorrow will be a different day,” Cronje said after a long nets where his batsmen largely faced spin bowling. South Africa, who were swept away by the magical bowling effort of 10-6-6-5 by the 30-year-old Joshi with off-spinners Nikhil Chopra (3/26) and debutant Vijay R. Bhardwaj (1/16) providing the ideal back-up on a slow, turning track, may not encounter spin of similar class tomorrow. But leg-spinner Paul Strang, off-spinner Andy Whittal alongwith the nagging left-arm slow stuff of Grant Flower and Zimabwe skipper Alistair Campbell’s fastish off-spin may not be easy for the South African batsmen, who have time and again panicked and run out of ideas faced with decent spin bowling. Zimbabwe, happy with the form of Murray Goodwin and Andy Flower who both hit up half-centuries against Kenya, are looking to enhance their stature in international cricket after laying the right foundation by almost clinching a last four berth in the May-June World Cup. South Africa will be looking forward to a good start and will be banking heavily on Cronje and all-rounder Jacques Kallis — two good players of spin in the side — to provide the base for the likes of hard-hitting Lance Klusener to exploit in the slog overs. Though he did not admit it, Cronje must be ruing his decision to leave out unorthodox left-arm spinner Paul Adams against India, especially after the the impressive effort by off-break bowler Derek Crookes despite the ability of Indian batsmen to counter spin. Adams, arguably the best South African spinner, looks certain to get a look in and could pose problems to the host of left-handers in the Zimbabwe ranks with his stock ball that skids into them from a difficult angle. The inclusion of Adams could mean the axe will fall on Steve Elworthy despite his decent medium pace bowling against India as Cronje can ill-afford to go into the crunch tie with one specialist batsman short. Alistair Campbell has nothing to lose tomorrow. His side has already fetched their first points in the tournament and though their overall record is poor, the World Cup win is definitely a plus for them. “We will play positively as we have been doing in the past few months. The spinning tracks here should not be a serious problem as we are familiar with tackling the slow bowlers,” he said after nets where the Zimbabwe batsmen also focussed on playing spin. Campbell is good against spin and with the Flower brothers Andy and Grant and all-rounder Neil Johnson, they should find themselves in a cozy position. But Zimbabwe have often been let down by indisciplined direction of their bowlers, as batting and fielding has been their constant strength. Despite a favourable pitch, a good showing will depend much on the line and length being adopted by their bowlers. Nairobi Gymkhana, which has a reputation for producing high scoring games, has not favoured free stroke-making. Another low scoring game would mean the side which handles pressure better will end up winner. For the record though, South Africa enjoys a clear advantage with a 6-1 record against Zimbabwe. But one-day
cricket’s fastest improving side have never really
bothered about reputations and an upset by Zimbabwe will
not really be a surprise tomorrow. |
It’s going to be very tough: Fleming MUMBAI, Sept 27 (PTI) — The New Zealand cricketers, led by Stephen Fleming, landed here today with high, but difficult to realise, hopes of snatching their first-ever Test series win on Indian soil in seven attempts in the wake of an epoch-making 2-1 series win over England in the latter’s backyard. “It is going to be very tough. Our batting was not very great in England. We have to bat very well against the Indian spinners, who are expected to be the main wicket-takers,” the Kiwis skipper told reporters after checking in at the team hotel in south Mumbai. “It is a different challenge (to play in India). But I am quite confident it will be a good series”, Fleming said. “It is a very young side which is in the regrouping phase. It was great to win in England”, the left-hander, who did not have a great time in England with the bat, said. Fleming said the team members got together only three or four days ago at home after taking a break for three weeks at the end of the tough four-month grind in England. “We could not practise outside because of the weather conditions and are looking forward to go out and practise”, he added. But any hopes the Kiwis might have entertained of practising today were dashed by the early morning thundershowers which greeted them on their arrival here. The Kiwis open their tour with a three-day match against the Board President’s XI at Pune from September 30. They are to play a three-Test series against the home side followed by a five-match limited overs series. They will also play two other three-day matches. Fleming, who has played in India as a member of the 1995 squad under Lee Germon and was also part of the 1996 World Cup team, admitted that the absence of injured pace bowlers Simon Doull and Geoff Allott was disappointing. “It is always disappointing when you don’t have such players in your team. But at the same time we have confidence in the replacements for the two and see it as an opportunity for them to gain experience”, the Kiwis captain said. On the omission of Roger Twose from the team, Fleming said the player’s form had not been great of late but was sure he would be able to stage a comeback later. About the absence of a regular third spinner to complement off-spinner Paul Wiseman and left-arm tweaker Daniel Vettori, the Kiwi skipper was confident Chris Harris, with his slowish stuff, would do the job effectively. Fleming was quite happy with the itinerary while adding the team members were disappointed at not being able to perform in the main centres, especially at Eden Gardens where no tour match has been fixed. About the change on the coaching front, with former Kiwi player David Trist having taken over from Australian Steve Rixon at the end of the England tour, Fleming said it was time for a change. The team: Stephen Fleming (capt), Dion Nash (v-capt), Nathan Astle, Matthew Bell, Chris Cairns, Chris Drum, Chris Harris, Matt Horne, Craig McMillan, Shayne O’Conner, Adam Parore (wk), Andrew Penn, Craig Spearman, Daniel Vettori and Paul Wiseman. Reminded about his poor form in England, Fleming said he did have a tough tour of England with the bat. “I am looking forward to getting back into form and scoring lot of runs here”, he added. Kiwi tour itinerary: Sept 30-Oct 2: v India ‘A’ at Pune; Oct 5-7: v Board President’s XI at Jodhpur; Oct 10-14: 1st Test at Mohali; Oct 17-19: v Ranji champions Karnataka at Bangalore; Oct 22-26: 2nd Test at Kanpur; Oct 29-Nov 2 : 3rd Test at Ahmedabad; Nov 5: 1st one-day international at Rajkot; Nov 8: 2nd one-day international at Hyderabad; Nov 11: 3rd one-day international at Gwalior; Nov 14: 4th one-day international at Guwahati; Nov 17: 5th one-day
international at Delhi. |
Meenakshi puts Haryana in semis MUMBAI, Sept 27 (PTI) — Skipper Meenakshi stroked reigning champions Haryana into the semi-finals while centre forward Ejren Dadel scored four, including a hat-trick, in Orissa’s upset 9-0 win over Manipur in the 31st Junior Women’s National Hockey Championship here today. Haryana, who pipped Bihar by a solitary second half goal, will now play Karnataka in the first semi-final while Orissa, who led last year’s runners-up 3-0 at half time, will take on Chandigarh in the second semi-final to be played on September 29. Tomorrow is the rest day. Haryana were given a tough time by lowly Bihar in the first quarter-final of the day. The match was disrupted for 10 minutes due to heavy showers and slippery ground conditions slowed down the pace of the match considerably. All the action for most part of the match was confined to the mid-field. In the 55th minute, Bihar’s defender Shyama Purty stopped a goal-bound ball with her body in a goal mouth melee and Haryana was awarded a penalty stroke which was converted by Meenakshi. In the Orissa-Manipur match, Ejren slammed home the first four goals (17th, 32rd, 34th and 37th minutes) while outside right Anna Rita (45th and 47th minutes) got a brace. Left half Jacinto Toppo and substitutes Bahamani Tirkey and Anjana Dhrua chipped in with goal each for the winners. Earlier, Maharashtra defeated West Bengal 3-1 after trailing by a goal at half time in a pool-H league match. Centre forward Koruna Patra scored West Bengal’s lone goal while forward Sonal Navalkar, centre half Vijaya Mogal and defender Aninta Shinde were the scorers for Maharashtra. Results (quarter-finals): Orissa 9 (Ejren Dadel 4, Anna Rita 2, Bahamani Tirkey 1, Anjana Dhrua 1, Jacinto Toppo 1) beat Manipur 0 (HT: 3-0). Haryana 1 (Meenakshi 1) beat Bihar 0 (HT: 0-0). League: Pool-H —
Maharashtra 3 (Vijaya Mogal 1, Sonal Navalkar 1, Aninta
Shinde 1) beat West Bengal 1 (Koruna Patra 1). HT: 0-1. |
Britain, Italy stay in Davis Cup
BIRMINGHAM, Sep 27 (DPA) — Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski kept Britain in the elite Davis Cup world group by winning their reverse singles matches against South Africa yesterday. World No. 7 Henman produced some of his best tennis for months to defeat Neville Godwin in straight sets and guarantee victory for the home side. Henman’s 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 victory in front of another large crowd in the national indoor arena gave Britain an unassailable 3-1 lead with only Greg Rusedski’s singles match against Grant Stafford to come. And the 25-year-old’s return to form after a miserable few weeks gave the British No. 2 renewed hope that a first Davis Cup since 1936 was genuinely within reach. ‘’Over a whole year you need a little bit of luck but if Greg and I first and foremost stay healthy, we know we can beat anyone in the world,’’ Henman said afterwards. Team captain David Lloyd added: ‘’We needed to stay in the world group. It’s very important to be in the premier division. ‘’Hopefully now we can get some home matches and who knows perhaps we can win the cup, I really believe we can.’’ Henman’s display against Godwin hinted at a return to form. ‘’It just goes to show, you get a win under your belt and slowly but surely your confidence comes back. I was pleased with the way I played on Friday and I wanted to build on that. ‘’I was very excited to go out and play a live match and do well. ‘’I wanted to make sure I played a good match mentally and there were no lapses in concentration and I think I can’t ask for more under the circumstances. ‘’I think you can say your form is temporary and hopefully your class is permanent. My form hasn’t been good but I still think there’s plenty of class left in my game and perhaps I showed a little more of that this afternoon.’’ British No. 1 Rusedski later delighted the large crowd with a comfortable 6-4, 7-5 win over 500th-ranked Grant Stafford in the dead rubber, a match reduced to the best of three sets. SASSARL, (Italy), (Reuters): Davide Sanguinetti kept last year’s beaten finalists Italy in the Davis Cup world group when he beat Finland’s Tuomas Ketola in the fifth and deciding rubber of their qualifying tie on Sunday. Sanguinetti’s comfortable 6-2, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 victory completed a dramatic comeback for Italy, who had trailed 2-1 overnight after losing Saturday’s doubles. The Italians had looked destined for their first taste of relegation when Andrea Gaudenzi found himself two sets to one down to Ville Liukko in the fourth rubber. But Gaudenzi fought back to take the fourth set and push the match into a fifth set which he won 6-3, setting the stage for Sanguinetti’s victory. Italy and the Czech Republic, are the only nations never to have been relegated from the world group of Davis Cup Tennis. PAU (France), (AP):Belgium avoided a whitewash in their Davis Cup semifinal against France on Sunday when Christophe Van Garsse beat French No. 1 Cedric Pioline. The 25-year-old Van Garsse won 6-3, 6-4 to inflict the first defeat on Pioline in Davis Cup play this year. But in the day’s other ‘dead’ match, Fabrice Santoro downed Christophe Rochus, 7-5, 6-4 to give France a 4-1 overall win. The French, winners of the Davis cup in 1991 and 1996, built an unassailable lead on Saturday when doubles pair Olivier Delaitre and Fabrice Santoro beat the inexperienced team of Xavier Malisse and Christophe Van Garsse. POERTSCHACH (Austria): Austria secured a surprising 3-2 victory over sweden in their Davis Cup qualifying tie on Sunday after Markus Hipfl easily swept past Magnus Gustafsson 6-1, 6-2, in the decisive singles. In the opening match of the day, Magnus Norman defeated Stefan Koubek 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, giving holders Sweden a second point. Hipfl, ranked 69th in the world, outplayed Gustafsson in all respects, capitalising especially on flawless serve and powerful baseline play. Hitting over 30 groundline winners, Hipfl gave the Swede no chance in the first two sets, clinching them in just under an hour. Gustafsson then briefly got back into the match, breaking Hipfl’s serve to level the third set at three games apiece. But Hipfl made a crucial break in the 11th game, comfortably winning the match. In the first match of the day, both Norman and Koubek started with a patient, mostly defensive tennis, rarely appearing on the net. The first set had to be decided in a tie-breaker after a one-hour battle as either player broke his opponent’s serve once but neither managed to confirm the break. Norman, 23rd in the ATP
tour ranking, then easily clinched the second set as the
increasingly nervous Koubek, under pressure from the
home-crowd, lost two serves in a row. |
Mohota wins, jumps to 2nd place YEREVAN, (Armenia), Sept 27 (PTI) — Nisha Mohota grew in experience with every round and showed her real class with a demolition of China’s Kuang Yinghal to jump to second place after the ninth round of World Junior Chess Championships here. Indian IWM Mohota (6) is just one point behind leader Maria Kouvetsou of Greece and may spring a surprise by winning her remaining two games in the 11-game Swiss format event. India, however, suffered setback when junior national champion Sundararajan Kidambi (4.5) suffered another humiliating defeat by Chibukhchian Artur (5.5) of Armenia. After winning sixth and seventh rounds, Kidambi was held to a draw in the next before he went down in the ninth round today. In kings Indian defence game, Kidambi had an clear advantage and could have won an exchange and the game but he chose inferior line of winning a piece and in the variation he lost three pawns for the piece. Artur extracted full compensation for the piece and launched a fierce attack of Kidambi’s king. Finding no defence to save his king. Kidambi resigned to give Artur the full point. Mohota played excellently in the ninth round to beat Kuang who had been unbeaten till the eighth round. The Chinese played queen pawn gambit declined variation and got into a slight minus position but in the middlegame she won a pawn and had queen side pawn majority and double bishop advantage. Mahota kept her eye on opponent’s king side and gave threatened the king several times. Kuang underestimated Mohota’s threats and continued to promote her queen side pawns and got mated. Greek girl Maria Kouvetsou drew her game with Vazda Szidania (6) of Romania, but still has maintained clear one point lead over six players including Mohota. In the boys section, grandmaster Alexander Gatkin (7.5) agreed for a quick draw on the first board with IM Aronian Levan (6.5) of Armenia and maintained his half point lead over rest of the pack. Gatkin is followed by
Alexander Naumann (7) of Germany who defeated Zhang
Pongxiang (6) of China. |
Heyns breaks two more world marks DURBAN, Sept 27 (AFP) — South African double Olympic champion Penny Heyns knocked over two more world records yesterday, continuing her splash of swimming successes at a national short course event in the east coast city of Durban. Heyns (24) first broke her 100 metre breaststroke record, finishing the course in 1 minute 05.40 seconds. She set the previous record at the beginning of the month by swimming the race in 1:05.57 in Johannesburg. Heyns then opted to do a solo 50-metre time trial to please fans at the King’s Park pool. She smashed that record as well, touching home in 30.60 seconds, beating the old time of 30.77. This was her 14th world record and the 11th in the past nine weeks. Heyns declined requests
to attempt a hat-trick of records and refused to swim a
200 metre event saying, the “distance is too far for
me today.” |
Johnnie Walker golf championship NEW DELHI, Sept 27 — Tollygunge Cloub, Calcutta, triumphed at the East Zone regional finals and Bangalore Golf Club won the South Zone regional finals of the sixth annual Johnnie Walker International Club Championship, 1999. Tollygunge Club garnered a total of 426.8 points, while Bangalore Gold Club had a score of 468.8. The runners up were Fort William Golf Club (431.2) in the East Zone and Mercara Downs (469.4) in the South Zone. These four teams, along with the other regional finalists, will now participate at the International Finals, which will be held in Delhi at the Classic Golf Resort on October 15 and 16. The Regional Finals in Calcutta and Bangalore are being followed by a similar round in Mumbai at the United Services Golf Club on October 9 and 10. The Nepal finals was held in Kathmandu on September 11 and the Sri Lanka Finals will be held in Colombo on October 3. Finalists from Sri Lanka
and Nepal will join the India Regional Finals winning
teams to compete for the title. |
N. Rly, Customs move up CHANDIGARH, Sept 27 —Northern Railway, New Delhi,All-India Customs, Indo-Tibetan Border Police,and Food Corporation of India (Northern Region) notched up victories in contrasting style to remain in the hunt for the title in the 29th All-India Gurmit Memorial Hockey Tournament which entered its third day at the Sector 42 hockey stadium here today. While Northern Railway were lucky to get past a fighting Punjab and Sind Bank Academy with a last-minute strike by Daud Suleman, All-India Customs had a comparatively smooth passage with a 3-0 verdict over Ropar Hawks. In the day’s other two matches, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Jalandhar, and Central Industrial Security Force made an inglorious exit from the tournament,going down to Indo Tibetan Border Police and Food Corporation of India by 0-1 and 5-6 (tie-breaker), respectively. Last year’s quarterfinalists Northern Railway, under the watchful eyes of former Olympian Balwinder Singh, had to mobilise all their resources before prevailing over Punjab and Sind Bank Academy,who gave a good account of themselves in the day’s last match. With a couple of senior players in their ranks, including full back Bhupinder Singh and centre half Harpreet, who have also played for Punjab and Sind Bank’s senior team, the lads from Jalandhar matched their rivals move for move. The first half,which remained goal-less, saw both the teams attacking with ferocity. Northern Railway’s Parmod and Daud Suleman made the first serious move early on but it proved futile. Punjab and Sind Bank Academy were quick to counter-attack and midway through the first half, Harmit Singh put Yudbir Singh in possession who in turn gave a well-measured pass to Sarabjit (junior). However, Sarabjit’s poor anticipation saw the chance going abegging. Soon after, Rajwinder of PSB Academy had a golden chance when he found himself unmarked inside the ‘D’ but his rasping hit struck the upright and rebounded into play. Again a well-directed hit by Yudbir accidentally hit team-mate Rajwinder although the defenders had been clearly caught off guard. After the lemon break, Northern Railway introduced urgency in their attack and forced penalty corners in rapid succession which, however, went waste. A combined move by Navsher Singh and Daud Suleman saw the latter giving a quick pass to Ajinder Pal whose reverse flick narrowly missed the target. Finally it was in the dying minutes that Northern Railway clinched the issue. Sukhdev’s powerful hit from the 25-yard line beat a host of PSB Academy defenders and Daud Suleman just had to direct the shot in sending a wave of joy in the railway men’s camp. The CISF-FCI tie was also a close affair which went into the tie breaker after the two sides were level 3-3 at the end of the stipulated period. CISF took an early lead through a field goal scored by skipper GV Xaxa in the opening minute but FCI were quick to restore parity when Sanjeet found the target 13 minutes later. Thereafter Satish Kumar scored another field goal for FCI to consolidate the lead which, however, proved shortlived as Xaxa once again found the target for the CISF to make it 2-2. After the breather, the ding-dong battle resumed and the CISF were once again ahead through Xaxa’s goal in the 42nd minute. But as luck would have it, FCI’s Navbir Singh came up with a gem of an effort in the 51st minute to keep the issue deadlocked. In the tie-breaker that followed, FCI were on target thrice, the scorers being Kulwinder, Saghwan and Navbir while for the CISF only Xaxa and Mangra Munda tasted success. The final score thus was 6-5 in favour of FCI. Customs launched their campaign today by snuffing out the challenge by the youthful Ropar Hawks 3-0. The first goal came as early as in the 12th minute when Kulwant found the target with a deft placement. However, Ropar Hawks prevented any further damage and kept their rivals in check till half time. However, after the lemon break, Customs scored two more goals through skipper Rahul and Adolf in the 44th and 49th minutes, respectively, to seal the fate of the young Ropar side. Earlier, ITBP cut short the dream of EME, Jalandhar,with the all-important goal by Raman Kumar in the 28th minute. Both the sides earned three penalty corners each which all went waste. Tuesday’s fixtures:
CHA XI v Sikh Regimental Centre — 10 a.m.; PSEB v
IAF—11.30 a.m.; ITBP v NR — 1p.m.; Central
Railway v AOC Secunderabad — 2.30 p.m. |
Shilpa emerges TT champion SHIMLA, Sept 27 (PTI) — Adhish Rana and Saurab Sharma bagged two titles each in the Shimla District Table Tennis Championships which concluded here last night. Shilpa emerged champion in women’s section. Saurabh beat Jaswant Gangta 21-12, 21-15, 18-21 and 21-12 in four extended sets in men’s singles finals to clinch the title. Earlier Saurabh defeated Partho Chowdhary 21-18, 21-17, 17-21 and 21-19 while Jaswant beat Manu Sharma 21-12, 21-18, 18-21 and 21-12 in semifinals. Shilpa beat Stuti 21-17, 19-21 and 21-19, in women’s singles finals while Rohil defeated Bhanu Lohumi in boys singles finals. Saurabh and Parthi paired to beat Jaswant and Manu in lucky doubles while Adhish Rana defeated Prashant in sub-junior finals and trounced Divya in cadet boys finals. The district table tennis teams were also announced after the championships. Alkesh Saini, Manu
Sharma and Arvid Tanwar would represent the district in
men’s section, Bhanu Lohumi, Rohil Puri and Prashant
in junior boys section Shilpa and Stuti in women’s
section and Adhish Rana, Prashant and Vipin in sub-junior
boys section.
Amateur golf meet from today NEW DELHI, Sept 27 — Amit Luthra, Sheeraz Kalra, Shiv Kapur, Rahul Jaitha and Simmerjeet Singh are among 150 players taking part in the Northern Indian Amateur Golf Championship starting at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) course here tomorrow. The course has been in an ideal condition and participants are expected to return good scores. Many out-station players had a good round today to get acclimatised to the course. The four-day competition will conclude on October 1. In the case of a tie, there will be sudden death play-off hole by hole as stipulated in rules. The championship is a
categorised competition of the Indian Golf Unions (IGU). |
Ludhiana in semis PATIALA, Sept 27 — Ludhiana beat Faridkot by a comfortable margin of 10-4 to enter the semi-final in the boys section of the Punjab State Junior Handball Championships being played at Kheri Manian village, near here, today. Playing to a pattern the Ludhiana boys never had to stretch themselves much and their defence functioned with a measure of coordination and confidence. In the girls section amidst a plethora of one-sided games the only match which proved to be a lively contest was the one between hosts Patiala and Sangrur, although the scoreline may indicate a lone-goal victory for the Sangrur girls. It was only during the last minutes of the match that hosts lost their grip as their defence was ripped open against a sustained attacking display dished out by Sangrur. In other match which witnessed a tight finish, Jalandhar just about managed to quell a spirited challenge put up by the Ludhiana girls who fought on grimly till time ran out for them. Jalandhar eventually conquered Ludhiana 8-6. Ludhiana girls were far from disgraced in their defeat. The other results: Boys section: Ropar b Muktsar by 13-4 goals, Ludhiana b Nawanshahr by 13-5 goals, Gurdaspur b Mansa by 21-12 goals, Sangrur b Jalandhar by 22-19 goals. Quarter-final: Ludhiana b Faridkot by 10-4 goals. Girls section: Amritsar b Hoshiarpur by
18-6 goals, Ropar b Bathinda by 19-12 goals, Jalandhar b
Ludhiana by 8-6 goals, Sangrur b Patiala by 10-9. |
H
Bishnoi CC win CHANDIGARH, Sept. 27 — A partnership of 167 runs between Gautam Gambhir (83) and Virender Sehwag (76) enabled Bishnoi Cricket Club to rout PUNCOM XI by eight wickets and enter the final of the sixth J P Atray Memorial Cricket Tournament at the PCA Stadium today. For (PUNCOM XI) Gautam Sharma and Prabhjot contributed-65 runs after the early loss of a wicket. Gautam ran himself out, while Prabhjot was also dismissed by Sanjay Gill for his individual score of 32 runs. Half their side was back in the pavilion with only 75 runs on the scoreboard. Ajay Mehra (51) and Devinder Mattoo (26) played sensibly and were involved in a partnership of 63 runs. Towards the end Obaid Kamal played well to enable PUNCOM XI to register a modest total of 193 runs in the stipulated 50 overs. The Bishnoi team was also rocked early as Oniel Wilson and Mithun Minhas were dismissed cheaply. At this stage young Gautam Gambhir was joined by Virender Sehwaj. Playing without any pressure Sehwaj executed brilliant square cuts and cover drives. None of the bowlers were spared as Sehwaj completed his 50 off Just 48 balls. At the other end, Gambhir who was cruising along well opened up later as he struck 83 runs of 109 balls which included one six and five boundaries. Sehwag notched up a well-compiled 76 with seven boundaries and a six. Bishnoi Club reached the victory target easily in the 34th over of the innings. Gautam Gambhir declared the Man of the Match. In the final to be played tomorrow at the PCA Stadium, Bishnoi Cricket Club will take on Punjab Cricket Club. Mr I R Soni, commissioner, Central Excise, Chandigarh, will be the chief guest. Brief scores PUNCON XI: 193 all out in 48.3 overs ( Ajay Mehra 51, Prabhjot Singh 32, Gautam Sharma 23, Devinder Mattoo 26, Obaid Kamal 21, Ajay Sharma 2 for 13, Oniel Wilson 2 for 32, Amit Bhandari 2 for 32). Bishnoi Cricket Club: 196 for 2 in 33.4 overs ( Gautam Gambhir 83 n.o. Virender Sehwaj 76 n.o.) PSEB win title PATIALA, Sept 27 (FOSR) — A fluent unbeaten 46 by Kulwinder Khanda and a breezy 42 compiled in just 18 balls by Shahid Saida enabled PSEB to clinch the title in the third Maharaja Hira Singh Cricket Tournament played at Nabha, near here, today. In today’s final PSEB handed a sound six-wicket drubbing to ICC, Chandigarh, as the powermen overtook their rivals total in just 26 overs. Scores: ICC, Chandigarh: 174 all out in 34.1 overs (Jagjit Saini 28; Munish Worell 28; Jitendera 24; A Kakria 3 for 24; Ajay Joshi 3 for 25; Sandeep Kohli 2 for 32; Rajesh Deegia 1 for 29; S. Tinku 1 for 20;) PSEB: 176 for 4 in 26 overs (K.Khanda 46 N.O.; Shahid Saida 42 N.O.; Sanjeev Kapuria 30; Ranbir Nain 3 for 46). Aggrasen College wins TT title YAMUNANAGAR, Sept 27 (FOC) — Maharaja Aggrasen College, Jagadhri, has won the Kurukshetra University table tennis (Men) team championship at Kurukshetra University here. Three students of this college — Gaurav Garg, Varun and Gagan Jeet Singh — have been selected to represent the Kurukshetra University table tennis (Men) team. Handball trials HISAR, Sept 27 (FOSR) — Trials to select boys and girls teams of Haryana for 16th Sub-Junior National Handball Championship to be held at Bangalore from October 21 to 26 will be held here in Government College ground on October 3 at 11 a.m., according to Mr R.M.S. Malik, Secretary, Haryana State Handball Association, here today. Boys and girls born on or after January 2, 1984, are eligible to take part in the trials. Cricket trials BATALA, Sept 27 (FOSR) — Trials to select Gurdaspur district under-16 cricket team for the Punjab State Inter District Cricket Championship for M.L. Markan cricket trophy will be held on October 3 at S.L. Bawa DAV College ground at 10.00 a.m., according to Mr Balraj Mahajan, Hony Secretary, Gurdaspur District Cricket Association. The probables must bring
their date of birth certificate from the head of their
respective institution. The players born on or after
September 1, 1983 are eligible for the trials. |
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