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| Saturday, August 5, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Popat qualifies for Olympics BANGALORE, Aug 4 — Third seeded Chetan Anand of Oil and Natural Gas Commission took a bow as other fancied shuttlers advanced into the quarterfinals in the sixth All-India Open Badminton Tournament here this evening. Petit overcomes language barrier Warne loses vice-captaincy Sampras enters last eight |
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 When Waugh, busy with TV commercial, kept them waitingNever let it be said that Steve Waugh doesn’t know what day it is. It was to have been a motivational address by one of Australia’s most successful sporting leaders to a team desperate to kick a bad habit of underachieving — but the star failed to show. At noon this Wednesday, when Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh should have been at the Australian men’s Olympic hockey team hotel in Suburban Sydney, he was at Melbourne’s Colonial Stadium, shooting a television commercial for Channel Nine. Barcelona edge out Arsenal Avrukh, Huzmanin final
Cricket coach dead
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West Indies skittled out for 157 runs MANCHESTER, Aug 4 (Reuters) — Courtney Walsh single-handedly reduced England to 47 for three at tea on the second day of the third Test today after West Indies had been dismissed for 157. Dominic Cork, with four wickets, and Andy Caddick, with three, had helped sweep up the West Indies innings, the last six wickets falling for 39 runs. But England were immediately outdone by the veteran Walsh who took three wickets in his first seven overs without conceding a run. First, he removed Michael Atherton for a single, caught off the shoulder of the bat at second slip. After 10 overs it was three for one and it should have been three for two one ball later. England captain Naseer Hussain, on one, hooked Franklyn Rose to fine leg where Walsh took a comfortable catch only to step back on to the boundary rope. But Walsh, who began the match with a world record 467 wickets, made amends soon after with two victims in consecutive balls. First, he dug one in to Hussain who was caught for 10 by captain Jimmy Adams in the gully. Then he sent down a beautifully disguised slower ball to trap Graham Thorpe lbw for
naught to make it 17 for three. He reached tea with figures of 11-9-11-3. The day had begun with West Indies on 87 for four after they had opted to bat on a rain-truncated first day. Adams and Ramnaresh Sarwan extended their partnership to 69 and the score to 118 before four wickets fell for 17 runs. Cork began and finished the job. First, he trapped Sarwan lbw first ball after the morning drinks break for 36 to make the score 118 for five, then returned after lunch to remove Rose and Walsh lbw in consecutive overs to wrap up the innings. ‘Man of the match’ at Lord’s, where he helped England level the series 1-1, Cork finished with four for 23 off 17.1 overs. Caddick claimed three for 45 off 24 overs. Hussain, who saw his team level the five-match series at 1-1 at Lord’s, immediately checked that the bails were not stuck on, provoking a wide grin from his opposite number. England had taken command on a rainy first day, exploiting the damp conditions during the 42 overs available. Friday began overcast but the pitch appeared to be flattening out, with less swing also available.
SCOREBOARD West Indies: first innings (overnight 87-4) Campbell c Thorpe b Gough 2 Griffith lbw b Caddick 2 Hinds c Stewart b Cork 26 Lara c Thorpe b Gough 13 Adams c Thorpe b White 24 Sarwan lbw b Cork 36 Jacobs b Caddick 5 Rose lbw b Cork 16 Ambrose c Hussain b Caddick 3 King not out 3 Walsh lbw b Cork 7 Extras: (b-1 lb-12 nb-7) 20 Total: 157 Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-12, 3-49, 4-49, 5-118, 6-126, 7-130, 8-135, 9-148. Bowling: Gough 21-3-58-2, Caddick 24-10-45-3, Cork 17.1-8-23-4, White 9-1-18-1. England (Ist innings): Atherton c Campbell b Walsh 1 Trescothick batting 24 Hussain c Adams b Walsh 10 Thorpe lbw b Walsh 0 Stewart batting 8 Extras: (lb-1, nb-3) 4 Total: (for 3 wkts, 22 overs) 47 Bowling: Ambrose 5-3-2-0, Walsh 11-9-11-3, Rose 6-0-33-0. |
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Popat qualifies for Olympics BANGALORE, Aug 4 (PTI) — India’s top woman shuttler Aparna Popat, slapped with a three-month ban on March 13 by the International Badminton Federation (IBF) for
inadvertently taking a banned substance, has qualified for the Sydney Olympics. Confirming this here today, secretary of Karnataka Badminton
Association (KBA), S.S. Mani, said a letter to this effect had been received from the IBF. The 22-year-old Popat has become only the third Indian woman shuttler to qualify for any Olympic Games, after Madhumita Bisht (1992) and P.V.V. Lakshmi (1996). “All of us are excited about the news. I have terrific responsibility on my shoulders and I hope I will live up to the expectations,” a beaming Popat told PTI. IBF had imposed the ban on Popat based on the results of analysis of a sample taken during the Thomas/Uber Cup preliminaries held at New Delhi earlier this year. The sample analysed at a laboratory in Penang in Malaysia was said to contain phenylpropanolamine, one of the more than 200 banned items on the International Olympic Committee list, which is a common ingredient in several medications for cold treatment. Popat, in her explanation, had stated that she was suffering from a severe cold prior to the tournament and she had taken a medicine, D’Cold Total. At that time, she had said, she was not aware that the medication contained any ingredient disapproved by IBF. |
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Gopi Chand moves into q-finals BANGALORE, Aug 4 (UNI) — Third seeded Chetan Anand of Oil and Natural Gas Commission took a bow as other fancied shuttlers advanced into the quarterfinals in the sixth All-India Open Badminton Tournament here this evening. Top seed and national champion Gopi Chand of Indian Oil Corporation scored another impressive victory as he thrashed qualifier S.D.S. Krishna of Air India 15-5, 15-7 to enter the quarterfinals. However, Abhishek Bakshi of Air-India caused the major upset in the prequarterfinals accounting for Chetan Anand 15-7, 15-13 as the seeded shuttler was off colour. Other to make the last eight were Abhinn Shyam Gupta of Air-India, fourth seed Nikhil Kanetkar of Indian Oil Corporation, Arup Baidya of Railways, Siddarth Jain of ONGC, Anuj Gupta of Gujarat Narmada Fertiliser Corporation and Sachin Ratti of Railways. Earlier, in the first round, eighth seed Srikanth Bakshi of Railways had made an early exit losing to Sanave Thomas of Kerala. Numero Uno and three times national champion Aparna Popat of Indian Oil Corporation celebrated her qualification for the Sydney Olympics with a facile 11-3, 11-3 win over Krupa Telang of Maharashtra. The 23-year-old shuttler, who had got a first round bye, toyed with the Maharashtrian. Second seed B.R. Meenakshi of Karnataka also recorded an easy win over Nupura Bhide of Maharashtra 11-1, 11-0. |
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Petit overcomes language barrier BARCELONA, Aug 4 (Reuters) — France midfielder Emmanuel Petit won praise for his communication skills as well as his footballing versatility after a commanding 45-minute display in Barcelona’s 2-1 win over Arsenal in the four-team tournament in Amsterdam. Petit, making his Barca debut against his former club yesterday played alongside two Dutchmen and two Spaniards during a second half that featured several substitutions and three different defensive formations. Barcelona coach Llorenc Serra Ferrer was clearly impressed by Petit’s ability to overcome the language barrier — and his “multifunctional” footballing skills. “He doesn’t speak the same language as the rest of the defence but he played in two positions and was absolutely magnificent”, Serra Ferrer said. “He’s already shown that he can be a multifunctional player for us”. Marc Overmars, also signed from
Arsenal over the weekend, was taken off at halftime after a blow to his ankle but the injury was not thought to be serious. |
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Warne loses vice-captaincy SYDNEY, Aug 4 (Reuters) — Shane Warne’s well-published indiscretions finally caught up with him today when he was dismissed as Australia’s vice-captain. The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) removed the leg-spinner because of his off-field behaviour — despite a last-minute plea by captain Steve Waugh to give him another chance. “Shane has had an opportunity in a leadership position but given a number of incidents that have occurred it was felt it was appropriate to look elsewhere,” said ACB Chairman Denis Rogers. “We have counselled Shane over the years and he’s been very honest with us but it’s got to the point where we think it’s time for a change.” Wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist was named vice-captain even though he has been in the Test team less than nine months. Warne, currently playing for Hampshire in his debut season in English county cricket, would remain in the team and could be considered for future leadership positions if his behaviour improved, Rogers said. The victorian is Australia’s leading test wicket-taker but his genius as a slow bowler has regularly been overshadowed by his public gaffes. He was chosen as vice-captain in 1999 after Waugh was promoted to skipper following the resignation of Mark Taylor even though he had previously been fined for accepting money from an illegal Indian bookmaker. His failed attempts to quit smoking and his battle to lose weight have kept him in the headlines for all the wrong reasons but the final straw came two months ago when Warne, married and having two children, admitted to phone sex with a British nurse. Australia’s top cricket official Mal Speed said at the time that Warne’s behaviour was unacceptable and could ruin his chances of becoming captain. Warne has led Australia in a handful of limited-overs matches in Waugh’s absence but never in a Test and has made no secret of his ambition of captaining his country when Waugh eventually retires. “Obviously I am very disappointed for Shane,” Waugh said. “The vice-captaincy of the Australian team is a huge honour to have taken away.” Gilchrist’s sudden promotion completed a whirlwind rise to the top for the dashing left-hander whose brilliant performances in Australia’s one-day team forced record-breaking wicketkeeper Ian Healy into early retirement. Although he has been a member of Australia’s limited-overs side for the past four years, he did not make his Test debut until November 1999. He has now played nine Tests, scoring 629 runs at 57.18, with a top score of 149 not out. He has taken 38 catches, including a record 10 in a single Test against New Zealand “Shane and I are good friends. Hopefully, it won’t impinge on our friendship,” Gilchrist said. “He’ll be disappointed with the decision and my thoughts go out to him for that. But the (decision) was out of may control, I’m sure Shane appreciates that.” |
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Sampras enters last eight TORONTO, Aug 4 (AFP) — Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras progressed to the quarterfinal of the 2.95-million-dollar
ATP masters Series Tournament here yesterday when he saw off challenger Sargis Sargsian in straight sets. The 29-year-old American number two seed recorded a 6-1 6-2 victory over the unseeded Armenian. France’s Jerome Golmard, defeated former world number one Marcelo Rios of Chile in three sets 2-6 7-5 7-5 and described his progression in this week’s tournament as like a dream. “It’s a bit like an ongoing dream but above all it’s a big step towards my return... after seven months of injury last year when I almost gave up tennis,” said 26-year-old Golmard. Golmard, ranked 42nd in the world, caused a major unset Tuesday when he defeated top seed Andre Agassi of the USA in the first round, and went on to defeat Thailand’s Paradorn Srischaphan in Wednesday’s second round. “It’s really something that is difficult to believe and even to talk about I still get shivers. It’s really incredible what’s happening to me,” said Golmard of his win over Agassi. Fifth seeded Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov defeated Spanish young gun Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, while Czech Jiri Novak progressed after Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist was forced to retire injured. Novak won the first set 6-2 but sixth seed Enqvist came back to take the second 1-6. The third set was 3-1 in favour of the Czech player when Enqvist decided to call it a day. |
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When Waugh, busy with TV commercial, kept Never let it be said that Steve Waugh doesn’t know what day it is. It was to have been a motivational address by one of Australia’s most successful sporting leaders to a team desperate to kick a bad habit of underachieving — but the star failed to show. At noon this Wednesday, when Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh should have been at the Australian men’s Olympic hockey team hotel in Suburban Sydney, he was at Melbourne’s Colonial Stadium, shooting a television commercial for Channel Nine. The Kookaburras waited in the hotel Foyer until 12.30 pm, adjourned to lunch and waited expectantly until 1.30 pm, when coach Terry Walsh—resigned to Waugh’s non-appearance — began a team meeting ahead of a practice match. It was a huge anti-climax for the players, many of whom were at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, when Waugh and the Australian cricketers earned plaudits for their enthusiastic support of hockey fixtures and other sports. And a major embarrassment for Waugh, who did not learn of his gaffe until he touched down at Sydney airport midway through the afternoon. Waugh apparently had it in his mind it was Friday and says “he would never intentionally let anyone down.” Waugh, who with teammates including Ricky Ponting was starring in a commercial to promote the upcoming Australia versus South Africa series, has apologised to Australian hockey team’s team management and addressed the players at their hotel today. Walsh was good-natured about Waugh’s non-appearance. “It was disappointing. But if that is the biggest disappointment we have, we can live with that,” he said. Australia’s most-capped player, vice-captain Jay Stacy, seemed unaware of the irony when he said: “Steve is such a busy man. I wanted to ask him about time management. “Striker Stephen Davies said it would be fantastic to “pick the mind” of the World Cup - winning captain; who addressed the Australian rugby team ahead of their victory over South Africa in the Tri-Nations last weekend. “Any information he can give us would be of great value, such as his thoughts on how to lift against the world’s best teams and what to do when the chips are down,” he said. The Olympic chips have been down for the Australian men since hockey was first played at the Games, 44 years ago. Ten Games have yielded two fourth places, two bronze medals, three silver medals but no gold, as the Kookaburras have too often surged through the preliminary matches only to stumble in the finals. In the past three outings, they finished third (1996), second (1992) and fourth (1998), earning them a reputation for choking to rival Australias golfing legend Greg Norman. The Kookaburras return to their base in Perth tomorrow ahead of a three-Test series against Pakistan next week, their last international matches before Games. First Olympic athletes arrive They are here. The first Olympic competitors set foot — and hoof — on Australian soil on Wednesday, ready for their final assault on Sydney. But the arrivals of the two teams could not have been more different. While the Ugandan athletes were greeted at the Adelaide Airport by the local African community with drums and song, the camera-shy US horses were quietly led into Sydney Airport and whisked away to a quarantine camp. The 12 US three-day event horses, worth up to $ 2 million each, landed on a Fed Ex courier flight from Louisville, Kentucky. The US Olympic Committee paid nearly $ 50,000 per horse for the flight, which gives its horses a head-start over the other foreign Olympic horses, which arrive in late August abroad SOCOG-sponsored flights. While many athletes have visited Australia over the past few months and years, yesterday’s arrivals mark the first of the 10,200 to arrive in the lead-up to the Games. The US horses will now spend two weeks in quarantine before heading to a training camp at media mogul Kerry Packer’s stud property. Kerry Packer to host Kentucky’s best The man himself was not on hand to welcome them into Australia but in two weeks, Mr Packer will host the equine component of the American equestrian team at his plush polo estate. At the station the animals will spend two weeks undergoing tests and recovering from jet lag which, according to the team manager, they do suffer from. “These horses travel so much they’re used to it but we do have grooms and vets travelling with them to make sure,” the team manager for the US equestrian team, Jim Wolf, said. “They are very good frequent flyers though.” The early arrivals, which will take part in some pre-Games competition, missed out on the huge SOCOG-organised horse lift which will take place later this month. In the last week of August about50 horses will be brought into Australia each day on special flights from Germany, Holland, America and England. They will go straight to the Sydney International Equestrian Centre at Horsley Park, which will become a temporary quarantine station until competition begins. Sydney 2000 is the first time Olympic equestrian events have been held in Australia. During the Melbourne Games, in 1956, they were moved to Stockholm, Sweden, because Australia refused to waive its stringent six-month quarantine period. Ian Thorpe for $ 4 a day! Ian Thorpe will contest three events at an event which charges $ 4 a day for tickets. The New South Wales short course swimming championships are being held this weekend at Warringah Aquatic Centre. With Olympic swimming tickets costing up to $ 455, the presence of the world record holder Thorpe will ensure a bumper crowd. The Homebush bay pool is unavailable because of preparations for the Games so spectators will squeeze into the 3,000-seat capacity venue on Sydney’s northern beaches. World champion Thorpe has entered the 100m as well as his pet 200m and 400m freestyle events in his second last competition before the Games. NZ sends elite police squad A squad of 27 New Zealand police trained in counter-terrorism are to be sent to Sydney to bolster local police force during the Olympics. The squad, from New Zealand police Special Tactics Group, will be sworn in as NSW officers for 36 days from their arrival on August 28. The New Zealand officers will be armed with weapons similar to those being used by their counterparts in the Tactical Response Group. The costs of their “secondment” will be met by NSW police. — PMG |
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Barcelona edge out Arsenal AMSTERDAM, Aug 4 (Reuters) — Barcelona, boosted by an early goal by Josep Guardiola, beat Arsenal 2-1 in the four-team Amsterdam tournament.
Earlier, Italian champions Lazio and Ajax Amesterdam drew 0-0 in the opening
game. It was Barcelona’s Dutch contingent who drew the fans to the Amsterdam Arena. The stadium, little over half full for the Ajax-Lazio game, soon filled up when Barca paraded their Dutch internationals yesterday. And they did not have to wait long for a goal, Guardiola converting in third minute penalty awarded for a Martin Keown foul on Dani. Tomas equalised from Silvinho’s neat cross with a superb right-foot shot in the 33rd minute. But Asrenal’s joy was shortlived. Six minutes later Barcelona regained the lead when Phillip Cocu headed home Guardiola’s corner. Rivaldo, Thierry Henry and Robert Pires made an appearance in the second half but the game failed to sparkle and there were no further goals. Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit, who defected from Highbury to the Nou Camp last month, were booed by the Arsenal fans who had made the journey to Amsterdam. Earlier, a youthful and inexperienced Ajax side gave new coach Co Adriaanse some encouragement despite failing to score against a lethargic Lazio. Ajax had by far the bulk of the possession in their match with the Italian champions and almost all the chances. Andy Van Der Meyde impressed on the right wing, getting into some superb positions and showing he could be dangerous in front of goal. The 20-year-old formed a useful partnership with Aron Winter, 13 years his senior, and deservedly won the man-of-the-match award. |
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Avrukh, Huzmanin final BIEL (Switzerland), Aug 4 (UNI) — Top seed Boris Avrukh and 6th seed Alesander Huzman entered the final, defeating Andrei Shariyazdanov and Alexander Galkin, respectively, in the biel chess semifinals. Both the Israeli Grandmasters won on tie-break after the regular games ended in draw, and will now fight it out for the title tomorrow, while Shariyazdanov and Galkin will play for the third and fourth positions. IM R.B. Ramesh of India moved to 7 points, defeating team-mate
Im P. Konguvel in a sharp game. Playing the Yugoslav attack against Konguvel’s sicilian dragon, Ramesh unleashed a powerful new move on his 21st turn for which Konguvel had no satisfactory reply and only had to watch Ramesh finish off the game with a brilliant knight sacrifice. Im
V. Saravanan (6.5 points) drew with GMS Beshukov (rating-2428) of Russia with white pieces in a Sritian Taimanov variation. Saravanan went for an early queen exchange to get a slightly better endgame, but did not get much out of it as the game ended in a draw in 37 moves. S. Kidambi (6 points) drew with
Im a. Cherniaev of Russia with black pieces in slav defence. The game never left equal contours as Cherniaev did not try any ambitious plan and the players agreed for a draw in a rook and pawn endgame. Kidambi needs a win in the final round to complete the
Im title. T.S. Ravi (5 points) had to be satisfied with a draw by perpetual checks against Polish veteran Lada Ireneusz as he overlooked a defensive resource for his opponent when he sacrificed material for attack. GM Peter Svidler of Russia won the Grandmaster event with a round to spare, defeating his closest rival Loek Van Wely of Holland in the penultimate round. The other two games between Gelfand Gallagher, and Milov-Ponomariov ended in draws. |
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Abhijeet wins UK chess title SOMERSET (UK), Aug 4 (UNI) — Indian lad Abhijeet Gupta has won under-11 British Chess Championship, beating Rowe Charles of Britain. Abhijeet remained unbeaten in this tournament and this was another crown to him in international events after he won the under-12 Asian Championship in Iran.
Playing with black pieces, Abhijeet won his opponent’s pawn in the middle game and made a strong attack at his king side. Charles resigned at the end of the 29th move. |
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El Guerrouj to attempt world record LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) — Hicham El Guerrouj will make another attempt on his own world mile record at the London Grand Prix tomorrow in what may be his last race over the imperial distance.
“If things go well it will be my last race at the distance,” El Guerrouj said. “Next year I will be moving up in distance so maybe this will be my last mile race.” The Moroccan will be racing against Kenyan Noah Ngeny, who pushed him all the way to the finish line when he set the current world mark of three minutes 43.13 seconds in Rome on July 7 last year. “My objective is to go to the Olympic Games in Sydney confident and motivated by having run a fast time,” said El Guerrouj, also world champion and record holder over 1,500 metres. “That may come in London.” |
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Ambrose bemoans lack of support LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) — Curtly Ambrose, in a rare interview, has bemoaned the lack of support he and Courtney Walsh are receiving from their fellow West Indies’ pace bowlers. The most successful fast bowling pair in cricket history have taken 861 Test wickets between them and with a combined age of 73 are still carrying the West Indies’ attack. In a
television interview Ambrose, who has rejoined the side for the third Test against England at Manchester after a sabbatical in his native Antigua, said he was carrying an unfair burden. “I’ve said over the last couple of years that it is time for the youngsters to come through and take over the mantle but they’re not ready yet,” he said. “Courtney and I are still expected to do the bulk of the work. That’s unfair because the youngsters should be doing the bulk of it. That’s just not happening.” |
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Cricket coach
dead AMRITSAR, Aug 4 — A stalwart and doyen among cricket coaches Gian Parkash Berry (92), popularly known as “PT Sahib”, passed away after brief illness last evening. Gian Parkash has the distinction of producing world ace left-arm spinner and former Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi. Besides Bedi, his pupils include for India coach Madan Lal, former Indian opening batsman Vijay Mehra and leg spinner Gokul Inder Dev. Gian Parkash belonged to the era of former fast bowler Nissar Ahmed, who later migrated to Pakistan. He played cricket with stalwarts like Lala Amarnath during the many festival cricket matches. Maintaining a low profile, he never hankered after power or money. Has only mission was to produce the cricketers from the city and could be often seen giving valuable tips to youngsters at the Gandhi Ground nets. Bishan Bedi talking nostalgically, said that he planned to set up a coaching academy in his memory. |
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