 |
|
| Friday, August 18, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
|
Ramesh on verge of capturing GM norm BANGALORE, Aug 17 — Ritesh Shah of India registered an exciting 4-3 victory over Thailand’s Arnuparp Putrakul while Latvia’s Oliver Auns continued his good run in league encounters in the kheladi.com World Under-21 Snooker Championship here today. CBI re-examines Rungta |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Serena advances MONTREAL, Aug 17 — Serena Williams stretched the family winning streak to 26 matches with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Switzerland Patty Schnyder in the Du Maurier Open. Hockey team leaves for Australia World Stars lose to France
Argentina held by Paraguay Is Sydney ready for the Olympic Games ? Sydney qualified boxers involved in fracas at NIS CHENNAI, Aug 17 — Grandmasters Evgeny Vladimirov (Kazakhastan) and K Sasikiran (India) stretched their lead by one point scoring facile victories over their respective opponents in the fourth round of the Pentamedia Grandmaster Chess Tournament here today. Baboor pulls out;
Montu in semis Erik Vendt breaks 15-min barrier GND varsity to host softball, yoga meets ONGC gives Rs 5 lakh to Bindra
|
|
Gough, White wreck West Indies LEEDS, Aug 17 (Reuters) — Craig White, with his Test career-best of five for 57, and Darren Gough led the destruction of West Indies for 172 on the opening day of the fourth Test at Headingley today. White, who had a burst of three for six in 17 balls, combined with fellow Yorkshire paceman Gough, who captured three for 59 and Dominic Cork, two for 19, to give England the initiative after they lost the toss. West Indies, undone by a mixture of fine bowling and ill-judged strokes were all out 10 minutes before tea, leaving England to begin their reply after the interval. Only Ramnaresh Sarwan offered long term resistance against England’s pace attack, finishing with an impressive, unbeaten 59 after facing 82 balls and hitting nine fours. Gough made the initial breakthrough in the third over of the game when Sherwin Campbell drove at a ball outside off stump he might have left and sliced to Marcus Trescothick in the gully after making eight. A second-wicket stand of 39 between Adrian Griffith and Wavell Hinds started to repair the damage, giving no hint of the drama that was suddenly to unfold when White came on as first change for Gough. Four wickets tumbled for 10 runs as White
accounted for Hinds (16), Brian Lara (4) and captain Jimmy Adams (2) and Gough, in his second spell,
despatched Griffith for 22, sending West Indies from 50 for one to 60 for five. White has emerged in this series as an increasingly effective support bowler who can generate a high degree of pace. His burst up the hill from the rugby stand end tore the heart out of the touring side’s top order. SCOREBOARD West Indies (1st innings): Campbell c Trescothick b Gough 8 Griffith c Stewart b Gough 22 Hinds c Stewart b White 16 Lara lbw b White 4 Adams b White 2 Sarwan not out 59 Jacobs c Caddick b Cork 35 McLean c Stewart b White 7 Ambrose b Cork 1 King lbw b Gough 6 Walsh c Caddick b White 1 Extras (lb-2 nb-9) 11 Total 172 Fall of wickets: 1-11 2-50 3-54 4-56 5-60 6-128 7-143 8-148 9-168 Bowling: Gough 17-2-59-3, Caddick 10-3-35-0, White 14.4-4-57-5, Cork 7-0-19-2 |
|
Ramesh on verge of capturing GM norm AMSTERDAM, Aug 17 (PTI) — India’s international master R.B. Ramesh is on the verge of capturing coveted grandmaster norm with four points from five rounds already in his pocket as the players took first rest day at the eighth edition of the lost Boys International Open Chess tournament here. Ramesh is leading the pack of five Indians and his showing has placed him within reach of the gm norm which he narrowly missed at the Andorra Open tournament in Spain recently. The tournament is interestingly poised with gms G.M. Milov and
Paul Van der Sterren leading the event with 4.5 points followed by eight players on four points each. Ramesh needs 2.5 points out of
remaining rounds or two points if the current trend of opponents follow. Ramesh meets gm Tregubov (2611) in the sixth round. He is followed by
IM V. Saravanan, Sunderarajan Kidambi and T.S. Ravi on three points each. Im P. Konguvel has 2.5 points. Kidambi will be taking on gm Epishin, T.S. Ravi plays against gm Hillarp Persson, who is meeting the third Indian in the meet. Those who get a gm norm here will be given additional 500 Euros (about Rs 20,000) as special prize apart from the big prize money. UNI adds: Far, the tournament has been a sponsor’s delight as almost all the games have been well-fought without agreed draws. Favourites Jeroen Piket of Holland and Bosnian Ivan Sokolov have found their winning ways after a sedate start. The Indian interest in the event is practically centered around international master
R.B. Ramesh whose excellent performance in the European circuit so far, comprising international open events at Andorra, Benasque, Biel and the present one, will have a great end if he can achieve his maiden grandmaster norm. |
|
BANGALORE, Aug 17 (PTI) — Ritesh Shah of India registered an exciting 4-3 victory over Thailand’s Arnuparp Putrakul while Latvia’s Oliver Auns continued his good run in league encounters in the kheladi.com World Under-21 Snooker Championship here today. Initially, Shah struggled to get into rhythm but later started potting well and emerged winner 41-60 8-81 64-17 80-01 01-110 86-22 88-36. Shah did not have a decent start and was down 0-2, but rallied midway. The third visit of the third frame fetched him a break of 24 and saw him back in the reckoning. He went on to crack another 40 in the next visit and won the frame 64-17 (1-2). He then potted well and took the next frame 86-01 to level the scores 2-2 but the Thai player snatched the fifth 110-1 to make things interesting. Shah’s persistence and craftiness payed him dividends as he won the sixth and the decider 86-22 and 88-36. The 17-year-old Latvian Auns, who created a major upset defeating hot favourite Robert Murphy (Republic of Ireland) yesterday 4-3, continued his winning spree today, getting past Malaysian Khor Tat Siong 4-0 (60-37 70-28 65-58 71-61). Results: Group “A”: Oliver Auns (Lat) b Khor Tat Siong (Mal) 4-0 (60-37 70-28 65-58 71-61). Group “B”: T. J. Dowling (ROI) b Jaswinder Singh (Ind) 4-1 (69-21 75-06 57-51 06-57 69-22); Md Atiq (Pak) b Willie (Nzl) 4-1 (51-61 109-05 59-27 100-0 63-21). Group “D”: Sean Neil (NIL) b Kamal Chawla (Ind) 4-0 (90-40 81-38 82-32 78-34); Johan D. Hondt (Bel) b Garrit Bij de Leij (Ned) 4-1 (58-21 78-49 62-27 33-64 59-03). Group “E”: Stephen Wellesby (Eng) b Sohail Jairaj (Ind) 4-2 (42-74 64-30 88-8 62-75 69-13 63-20). Group “G”: Andy Lee (Eng) b Harit D. Parikh (Ind) 4-0 (80-33 69-41 113-06 107-07). Group “H”: Ritesh Shah (Ind) b Arnuparp Putrakul (Tha) 4-3 (41-60 8-81 64-17 80-01 1-110 86-22 88-36). |
|
NEW DELHI, Aug 17 (PTI) — cricket board Treasurer Kishore Rungta was today re-examined by the
CBI in connection with the match-fixing scandal. Rungta, who appeared before the
CBI for the second time, recorded his statement and also submitted the board’s balance sheet, agency sources said. He had earlier deposed before the agency on August 4 along with board President
A.C. Muthiah and Secretary Jaywant Lele. Muthiah had said the CBI had asked them to submit the board’s balance sheet to the agency. Rungta, who was questioned by the agency’s Special Crime Branch for over an hour, later told reporters that he had come to give some clarification to the
CBI. Though the CBI maintained silence over what transpired during the hour-long meeting, Rungta told reporters outside the agency headquarters: “We discussed general things and exchanged information and besides this they wanted some clarifications.” His deposition for the second time comes close on heels of raids on his premises during nation-wide swoop by Income Tax on those of cricketers,
BCCI officials and bookies. During the raids, CBI officials had surveyed Rungta’s premises in Jaipur from where some fixed deposits receipts were reportedly recovered. The
BCCI treasurer denied the CBI had asked any questions about interviews by some board officials on a portal. Lele has been shown on a website making some “nasty” comments, the video filming for which was done clandestinely by former Test cricketer Manoj Prabhakar. He said his deposing before the agency was only to prove the functioning of the
BCCI was transparent. “This is only to prove the BCCI has nothing to hide from anybody... afterall we cannot compromise on transparency,” Rungta said. |
|
MONTREAL, Aug 17 (AP) —Serena Williams stretched the family winning streak to 26 matches with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Switzerland Patty Schnyder in the Du Maurier Open. Williams and sister Venus, who have combined to win four straight tournaments, are closing in on the top two spots in the world rankings. “That’s our ultimate goal,” Serena Williams said. “We’re working toward it. We are producing the results and we will get better.” Serena Williams, (18), coming off a win on Sunday in Los Angeles, is ranked seventh on the WTA Tour, while Venus Williams, (20), is ranked third. Serena Williams, seeded fourth, easily dispatched Schnyder yesterday despite gusting wind and a one-hour rain delay. Williams advanced to a third-round match today against 11th-seeded Russian star Anna Kournikova, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Belgium’s Sabine Appelmans. Top-ranked Martina Hingis, the defending champion, beat Russia’s Nadejda Petrova 6-1 6-3. The Swiss star is coming off a semifinal loss to Serena Williams in Los Angeles. Second-seeded Lindsay Davenport, beaten by Serena Williams in the Los Angeles final, battled the wind and a minor foot injury to top Belgian qualifier Justine Henin 3-6 7-6 (7-2), 6-2. Davenport said she felt a slight twinge in her left foot, but was able to play doubles later in the evening. She will face Bulgia’s Magdalena Maleeva, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over ninth-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa. In other matches, eighth-seeded Sandrine Testud of France beat Ruxandra Dragomir of Romania 3-6 7-5 6-2; 10th-seeded Julie Halard-Decugis of France defeated Sandra Nacuk of Yugoslavia 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) and 13th-seeded Jennifer Capriati outlasted Virgini Ruano Pascual of Spain 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. |
|
Hockey team leaves for Australia NEW DELHI, Aug 17 (PTI) — Asian Games gold medallists India, in their quest to regain the old glory at the coming Olympic Games in Sydney, left today on their 20-day training-cum-practice tour of Western Australian suburb Murwillinbah. With all the Olympic hopes of the nation pinned on hockey, the 22-member squad with chief coach V. Baskaran and other officials took Air India flight to Hong Kong from where they will take a connecting Quantas flight to Brisbane. After getting acclimatised to the weather and a few practice sessions, a final 16-member team will be announced on August 20, Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) sources said. However, for logistical reasons, and to have reserve players fit enough for the competition in case of an emergency, the six players not making the final 16 will stay on with the team till the end of the Olympic campaign. IHF President K.P.S. Gill is scheduled to leave for Murwillinbah for the team selection, sources said. India will be playing a friendly half-match against World and Olympic champions Holland and a series of exhibition ties against local clubs during their tune up programme. The Indian team will check into the Olympic village at Homebush Bay facility on September 8 where they are scheduled to play friendlies against England and Canada before the start of the main tournament. India is in Pool B of the Olympic hockey competition with Australia, Spain, Korea, Poland and Argentina. |
|
World Stars lose to France MARSEILLE, Aug 17 (AP) — World champions France did it again, crushing a team of the world’s soccer elite 5-1 in a charity match, with dazzling precision teamwork and a hat-trick by midfielder David Trezeguet. Juvenius forward Trezeguet struck in the 10th minute, followed by goals in the 27th and 47th minutes. Arsenal striker Robert Pires netted France’s fourth goal in the 56th. “Les Bleus” showed their magic on the field led by Zinedine Zidane, who assisted with a sliding pass to Paris St Germain striker Nicolas Anelka to score the team’s final goal in the 73rd minute. FIFA World Stars single goal came from on a penalty shot from veteran Roberto Baggio of Inter Milan, in the 78th minute. The charity match, intended to raise $ 2 million for underprivileged children around the globe, comes shortly after France’s historic win at Euro 2000, which made it the first team to successively win the World Cup and the European crown. Despite an all-star lineup, the FIFA World Stars couldn’t keep pace. The team included Brazilian Carlos Dunga, Japan’s Hidetoshi Nakata of Roma and German Andreas Kopke, of Nurnberg. The World Stars’ second-half goalkeeper, Cameroon’s Jacques Songo’o, made several impressive saves against attempts by Zidane, the crowd favourite yesterday night. Each graceful sidestep and precision pass by the Marseille-born 28-year-old midfielder sent the 60,000 sellout crowd at Velodrome stadium into deafening chants of “Zizou! Zizou!” as he is fondly known. The star-studded teams spent yesterday afternoon signing autographs for a few hundred ecstatic children in a community run by the match’s co-organiser, SOS Children’s Villages, a private humanitarian group. Under a hot Mediterranean sun, players and organisers from the FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, praised the match as a worthy cause and a way for legendary players to touch the lives of underprivileged young fans. “For me, this is pure emotion. Look at the hair standing on end,” FIFA President Sepp Blatter said with a raised arm, speaking at the Parcdu Roy d’Espagne village in southern Marseille. “It’s here that soccer players play the humanitarian role of our game. They put themselves at the disposition of the youth of the world,” said Mr Blatter. The community is one of 412 so-called SO Villages in 131 countries for children who have lost their parents or can no longer live at home. Manchester United goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, Didier Deschamps, who captained the French team to World Cup and Euro 2000 titles, and Zidane were among the French champions greeted by a stampede of shrieking teenage girls and kids waving pens and notepads yesterday. Zidane, whose superstar status won him recognition in a recent poll as the most popular person in France, said he was “enormously touched” by the pre-game event. “It’s always a pleasure to help out kids. You can’t forget the kids. You can never be indifferent,” said Zidane, who grew up in Marseille, the son of a night watchman, and was FIFA’s player of the year for 1999. |
|
Is Sydney ready for the Olympic Games ? Less than a month to go and is all well in Olympic city? There are now less than 30 days to go for D-Day. The cynical Sydneysiders tripping over panicky workmen at Central Station and clumping through the mud at Homebush don’t believe it yet, but games organisers and politicians insist everything will be ready in time. Several large projects due to be completed by the games are not ready for the September 15 opening ceremony - and already the first athletes and officials are beginning to arrive. The organisers have admitted some projects are just not going to make it, such as the motorway, which was supposed to be ready for the games but now will not take its first traffic until 2002. The road is still little more than a giant puddle. Gumboots are essential equipment for anyone attempting to walk the moist and sludgy “footpath” from the Olympic athletes’ village to the ferry wharf. Sydney Central Station’s $35 million upgrade, which had been due by May, is a few days away from completion and still a source of daily crankiness for thousands of passengers who squeeze furiously through the hoardings as construction workers hammer and buzz-saw away at deafening levels. A sewerage tunnel stretching 20km along the city’s north shore, designed to stop raw sewage overflowing from drains into the harbour during peak Olympic time, will not be ready until the end of the year after a $76 million cost blowout. Other Olympic promises have also not been delivered; the city’s 301 train stations were supposed to be fitted with 4600 security cameras by games time, but only 20 per cent are ready. Bondi Beach, always the cynosure of surfies and resort groupies, has been dug up and furnished with a most unwelcome stadium, to the disgust of the locals who prowl the waterline, growling at the city fathers for fouling the playing grounds of the people. But Sydney is trying. The airport, aware of the importance of first impressions, has been done over to within an inch of its life and the roads into the city are no longer cobbled-together avenues of patchy tar, but gleaming conveyor belts with zooming vehicles being sucked into the vortex of strategic tunnels and spat out the other side. The airport was a hive of activity yesterday as the complex that will be most Olympic tourists’ first port of call showed off its $600 million makeover for the games and beyond. Sydney airport became operational for the Games yesterday, and expansion has been necessary. There are an extra 55 check-in counters, 60 more customs officers, 10 detector dogs - don’t call them sniffer dogs - expanded baggage carousels and total passenger capacity has been raised from 4560 an hour to more than 7000 an hour, to cope with the estimated 680,000 visitors between August 15 and October 2. Maps of the heart are expected to sweeten departures from Olympic city. The arriving passengers will see ahead a blaze of deep yellow walls and, once through customs, light and trees and, outside in the forecourt, a massive sculpture series based around traditional Aboriginal fibre fish-traps. If it is night, they will see arcing above the forecourt a red neon boomerang-shaped installation by a leading Aboriginal artist. For the architects the question was how do you make an international airport not look like an international airport? How do you turn it instead into a “total journey experience”, to quote the marketing jargon? It came down to five major requirements. It had to be finished by the Olympics, it couldn’t go over $450 million, space had to be found for 10 extra 747s, provide a “total journey experience” and provide for disabled people or people travelling with children.” Despite the constraints of working with an existing building (and keeping it working at the same time), the architects have been able to transform whole sections by providing large areas of glass walls to the outside, generous use of colour and treating the departure areas as a series of streets or plazas. Beginning with a series of defining Sydney images — the Harbour, the Opera House, the bridge, beaches — they derived a colour palette of strong yellows and blues and the “soft, free-form curve” that characterises the harbour bays and inlets. The harbour (a symbol of Sydney) is tarting itself up, waiting for visiting sailors and tourists, filling up with small craft buzzing about like aquatic beetles and sleek ferries darting across the water like show-off dragonflies. While the athletes practise off-stage, warming up, stretching, pumping muscle and honing backward somersaults, the people of the glistening city are holding their breath, and waiting for the big day. Sydney will be party city
during games Savage Garden, the biggest Australian act in the world, will headline a free closing ceremony concert for Olympic visitors in central Sydney. It is understood that Savage Garden has committed to perform at the closing ceremony (together with Olivia Newton John) at Homebush Bay, but a confidentiality clause in the contract prevents the band from commenting until the SOCOG announces the line-up. The organisers said the biggest and most diverse entertainment line-up in Olympics history would be showcased in Sydney. Six Olympic Live entertainment sites been designed to cater to every taste, age and nationality. They will offer free entertainment, provide information about the city and Olympic events, feature food and beverage outlets reflecting Australia’s multicultural cuisine and activities such as pin trading. Also unveiled is a list of 222 Australian entertainers and performers signed up for special live appearances all around Sydney? Those performing include Christine Anu, Leonardo’s Bride, Bachelor Girl, Mental as Anything, Neil Finn, Grace Knight, Paul Kelly, Killing Heidi, The Whitlams, Renee Geyer, Vika and Linda and Yothu Yindi. Entertainment for the kids includes The Wiggles, Bananas in Pyjamas and Olympic mascots Syd, Millie and Olly. When the events are over for the day, central Sydney will come alive with music and performances the diversity and quality of which will become a new standard for future host cities of the Olympic Games.” The official song of the Live sites, Circles in the Sky, will be sung by former Icehouse frontman Iva Davies. On the closing night on October 1, five giant screens erected on the harbour foreshores will broadcast the closing ceremony at Homebush the Bay the Olympic organisers expect more than 8 million people to converge on central Sydney to join the public celebrations, which will take place in the 21 days from September 13. — PMG |
|
Argentina held by Paraguay BUENOS AIRES, Aug 17 (Reuters) — Twenty-year-old Pablo Aimar scored to salvage a 1-1 draw for Argentina at home to Paraguay in a pulsating World Cup qualifier yesterday. Aimar rescued the Argentines in the 67th minute after Paraguay, playing a composed, defensive game, had outplayed and outhought the home side for the first hour and deservedly taken the lead through midfielder Roberto Acuna. Paraguay were forced into some desperate defending late in the game as Argentina poured forward and had an amazing let off eight minutes from time. Paraguay goalkeeper Ricardo Tavarelli missed a free kick from Juan Sebastian Veron, the ball hit the post and rebounded to Walter Samuel who had the goal at his mercy. But Tavarelli somehow recovered to save Samuel’s shot from point blank range with his legs to the disbelief of the home team. Argentina stayed top of the South American qualifying group with 16 points from seven games despite dropping their first home points. Paraguay went fifth with 11 points, behind Brazil and Uruguay on goal difference. Paraguay, with a defence superbly organised by captain Carlos Gamarra, had the better of the first half and were close to taking the lead on three occasions. Denis Caniza broke clear on the left of the Argentine defence in the 11th minute but his shot was blocked by goalkeeper Roberto Bonano. Roberto Acuna hit the Argentine post with a shot from the edge of the penalty area in the 35th minute and six minutes later, Jose Cardozo forced Bonano to make a difficult save with another low shot from 20 metres. Argentina had more of the ball but were outwitted by the Paraguay defence. Devoid of ideas, they blatantly attempted to win penalties by diving, encouraged that the tactic has paid off in two previous qualifiers. Ariel Ortega, almost inevitably, had the first attempt when he threw himself over in the 14th minute. Then Aimar tried, replays leaving no doubt that his legs crumpled without the slightest touch from an opponent. The referee waved play on both times. Argentina looked more dangerous after the break and Veron was twice close from free kicks. In the 59th minute, Ortega sneaked behind the defence but his shot was saved by Tavarelli. Two minutes later, Argentina lost possession and the ball fell to Acuna, who scored with a shot on the run from the edge of the penalty area. Paraguay’s lead lasted six minutes until Crespo headed the ball into the path of Aimar, who slid the ball home from close range. In another match Peru kept their fading hopes of a 2002 World Cup appearance alive when they scraped a 1-0 win over no-hopers Venezuela. Midfielder Roberto Palacios ended 70 minutes of agony for 40,000 at the national stadium when he scored the winner to give Peru three precious points against the rank outsiders. The win took them onto eight points in the group, two less than Chile and Ecuador and three behind Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. |
|
Sydney qualified boxers involved in fracas at NIS PATIALA Aug 17 — Ace boxers Dingko Singh and Suresh Singh, two of the four who have qualified for the Sydney Olympics, were involved in a fracas with diploma students in front of Dhyan Chand Hostel at the NIS here last evening. According to eyewitness reports, had the officiating executive director (ED), Mr
G.S. Anand, not intervened, the incident could have snowballed into a major controversy having far-reaching ramifications. According to NIS sources, Dingko Singh was showering the choicest of expletives on his opponents, even as nearly hundreds of students and national campers congregated near the hostel. With Dingko still recuperating from his hand injury and with less than a month to go before the Olympics, there was every possibility that Dingko could have been injured again, as the diploma students heavily outnumbered the three pugilists. According to eyewitnesses,
Dingko, Suresh Singh and Sanjit were returning from training a basketball diploma student, Arun Kumar, requested the boxers for some ice to apply on his swollen knee. While applying ice, Arun spoke something in his native Kannada language to one of his colleagues and started laughing. Dingko took umbrage to this and got infuriated. In the meantime, the crowd started swelling and amid high tempers, the situation threatened to take an ugly turn. However, a security personnel informed Mr
Anand, who immediately rushed to the hostel, accompanied by senior NIS officials, and was successful in placating the frayed tempers. However, Dingko Singh has a different story to tell. He said Arun Kumar never requested them for ice. On the contrary, the diploma student forcibly snatched ice cubes from Suresh Singh to which Dingko Singh objected. Arun Kumar refused to be drawn into the controversy, saying that whatever happened was a thing of the past. Mr
Anand, said the incident happened due to a communication gap as Arun Kumar was not well versed in Hindi. Whatever may be the charges, counter-charges and the explanation offered by the ED, the fact remains that had anything untoward happened, Dingko’s Olympic hopes would have faded away. The incident comes close on the heels of the murderous assault on two internationally renowned wrestlers by some Jeep-borne persons, who attacked two grapplers, Anuj Chowdhury and Sandeep
Rathi. Dingko Singh, Gurcharan Singh, Suresh Singh and Jitendera Kumar, all Olympic qualified boxers, were part of an eight-member boxing squad which returned from Cuba last week after a 45-day training-cum-competition stint.  |
|
Sasikiran, Vladimirov in joint lead CHENNAI, Aug 17 (PTI) — Grandmasters Evgeny Vladimirov (Kazakhastan) and K Sasikiran (India) stretched their lead by one point scoring facile victories over their respective opponents in the fourth round of the Pentamedia Grandmaster Chess Tournament here today. Both the GMs, having settled for only one draw, now have 3.5 points each. Another GM Abhijit Kunte and IM P Hari Krishna are in the second spot with 2.5 points each. In a classical variation of Carokann defence, former Indian national champion Sasikiran with black pieces played an energetic game against junior national champion S S Ganguly. Sasikiran put himself at risk by moving his king in the course of the opening, thereby denying himself the right to castle. At this stage, Ganguly moved his bishop to ‘e4’ square which gave black a lot of scope for counter attack. Sasikiran went all out hunting for the white queen, which proved fatal for Ganguly. After winning the queen for his rooks, Sasikiran dragged a mating net by combining his queen and bishop and strongly posted king and knight pawns. Ganguly resigned on the 41st move. GM norm holder Sandipan Chandan of Goodricke Chess Academy, Calcutta preferred Ruy Lopez opening against GM Vladimirov’s Breyer system. After the opening moves, the Kazakh GM took total control of the board by mobilising his pieces to the centre. After the queens were exchanged, the GM occupied the ‘b’ file which was the only open one available in the entire board. He co-ordinated his rooks and minor pieces so accurately that he grabbed white’s pawn. In the end game, the GM had a pair of bishops and six pawns against his opponent’s pair of knights and five pawns. Thereafter, Chandan fought a losing battle and resigned on the 61st move. The game between Indian GM Dibeyendu Barua and Alexander Fominyh of Russia ended in a draw in a theoritically drawn rook and pawns ending after 68 moves. In the English opening game which later transposed into a closed sicilian game, GM norm holder Ghaem Magham (Iran) and GM Abhijit Kunte exchanged queens early. |
|
Baboor pulls out; Montu in semis MUMBAI, Aug 17 (PTI) — Former national champion and world number 82 Chetan Baboor of Petroleum Sports Control Board (PSCB) pulled out of the Asian Cup Invitational Table Tennis Tournament after losing to his teamate Subhajit Saha 21-12 20-22 11-21 in his first league match after recurrence of ankle injury at the Khar Gymkhana here today. Former national champion Montu Ghosh of PSCB became the first woman to make it to the last four stage from Group-B, winning all her four matches pretty easily. Baboor, who was suffering from an ankle injury for the past 15 days, took the first game 21-12 in is Group-B match. He started well catching Saha on the wrong foot. Baboor covered both the flanks admirably and once he took a 15-10 lead he never looked back. However, in the second game he found his right ankle giving away and started limping a bit, though he managed to stretch his opponent before losing on extra points. In the decider, Baboor was moving with a lot of difficulty before losing the game 11-21. Mount Ghosh was picture of confidence. She first drubbed Avanti Sinha of LIC in her first league match 21-15, 21-11 and then sidelined her PSCB teammate N. R. Indu 18-21, 21-18, 21-19. She had little difficulty in trouncing T Pradeepa of Tamil Nadu 21-14, 21-19 before rallying well to down Poulami Ghatak 8-21, 21-18, 21-16 to remain undefeated in her group. N. R. Indu, who has two wins and a loss to her credit, looks certain to bag the second spot from Group-B. From Group-A, former national champion Kasturi Chakroborty, with two wins and two losses, made it to the semi-finals along with Anindita Chakraborty in the first position. Anindita has three wins and a loss to her credit. In the men’s singles (Group-B), Soumyadeep Roy of PSCB, with three wins, is topping the group followed by his teammate Shivaji Dutta in the second position. |
|
Erik Vendt breaks 15-min barrier INDIANAPOLIS, Aug 17 (AFP) — Erik Vendt shattered the American record in the 1,500 metres freestyle with a time of 14 minutes 59.11 seconds here yesterday to close the US Olympic swimming trials. Vendt and Chris Thompson, runner-up in 15:09.16, now head to Sydney to take on Australian Grant Hackett in his own backyard at the 2000 Olympics. “It’s two dreams come true at once,” said Vendt (19). “It feels great to win and set the American record in the same race. It’s been my goal ever since I started swimming the mile when I was 12 years old.” Vendt broke the previous national record of 15:01.51, set by George Dicarlo in 1984. He became the eighth-fastest performer ever in the event — second fastest this year behind Hackett and ahead of world record-holder Kieren Perkins of Australia. Vendt said he hoped his sub-15-minute time would give the US distance freestylers a little more respect in Sydney. “We’ve been criticised by the Australians, saying that we were babies and not working hard,” Vendt said. But he said it was too soon to start predicting gold. “I’m excited to race against Hackett, but I’m not a favourite,” said Vendt, also qualified in the 400 metres individual medley. “I’m still far away from him.” Thompson’s plan to set the early pace didn’t pan out. “I went out tonight wanting to lead at 600 metres and then try to hold everyone off,” said the 21-year-old who is battling lung congestion with antibiotics this week. “But Eric got out great, and I couldn’t catch him. Vendt is one of eight teenaged men to make the Olympic team, the youngest being 15-year-old butterflier Michael Phelps. At the other end of the age spectrum, 33-year-old Dara Torres won the women’s 50 metres freestyle on Wednesday ahead of 1996 gold medallist Amy Van Dyken. Torres, who also earned berths in the 100 metres freestyle and butterfly, is one of the veterans insuring that the for the first time the US women’s squad is older than the men. “The butterfly exceeded my expectations, but my times in the 50 and 100 (free) were well below my expectations,” said Torres, whose 50 metres free winning time of 24.90 seconds was a trials record. “I need to be able to go faster. The times I swam here won’t compete in Sydney.” Van Dyken won four gold medals in Atlanta but feared seven months ago that shoulder surgery had spelled the end of her career. She was delighted to have qualified in two events. “I came here hoping just to make it as an alternate, and now I’m on the relay and the 50, so this is unbelievable,” Van Dyken said of her 24.99 seconds. In all, 11 American records fell, compared to none at the 1996 trials. But some feared that that holding the trials so close to the games — Australia, for example, held their trials in May — would compromise performances in Sydney. “I think I have a lot of room for improvement,” Van Dyken said of her prospects of getting better by the time the games begin in mid-September. “A lot of people are planning and hoping to peak in Sydney. It’s going to be a lot of fun for the next 36 days.” |
|
GND varsity to host softball, yoga meets AMRITSAR, Aug 17 — Guru Nanak Dev University will host the All-India inter-varsity softball and yoga competitions for men and women during the current sports session (2000-2001) at the university campus, according to Dr RS Bawa, Registrar and Director, sports, while releasing the sports calendar of the university, here today. In the new session, powerlifting, hammer throw, triple jump and gymnastics (rhythmic) competitions for women have been introduced. He said no player would be allowed to run bare-footed in any meet this year. Competitions for kabaddi (Punjab style), wrestling (free style, (Greco-Roman) would be held in the third week of September. Swimming and water-polo (men and women) will be held in the fourth week of September. Cross country (men and women), squash and judo (men and women) competitions would commence in the fourth week of September. Subsequently kabaddi (N/S), kho-kho (men), kabaddi (women), basketball (women) and handball (men and women) will be held during the first week of October. Football (women), table tennis (men and women), gymnastics (men and women) and kho-kho (women) competitions will be held in the second week of October while basketball and cricket for men will be held in the first week of November. The Director informed that cricket (women), boxing (men), ball badminton (women), tennis (women), powerlifting (men and women), weightlifting (men and women) and best physique (men and women) competitions would be held in the first week of December. Tennis (men) and hockey (women) competitions will be held in the first week of December. Similarly, competitions for ball badminton (men) will be arranged in the second week of December and chess (men and women) will be held in the last week of December. Yoga (men and women) competitions will be organised in the third week of December and competitions for softball (men and women) will be conducted in the first week of January. Badminton (men andwomen) and gatka (men) will be held in the third week of January and fencing (men and women) and football (men) competitions will be held in the first week of February. |
|
ONGC gives Rs 5 lakh to Bindra NEW DELHI, Aug 17 — The young Chandigarh shooter Abhinav Bindra, who has been given a “hardship quota” for the Sydney Olympic Games, has been granted a sum of Rs 5 lakh by the Oil and Natural Gas Commission for him to buy world class equipment and ammunition for his preparation for the Olympics. Dr Jauhari Lal, Director (Personnel), ONGC, told The Tribune that the company would think of further sponsoring Bindra after the Olympics. “For the present, it’s a one-off deal (for his Olympic preparation)”, Dr Lal informed. Major Vinod Krishna, head, corporate communications of ONGC, said that chairman and Managing Director of ONGC B C Bora had promised to reward the hockey team suitably if they returned with a medal. The ONGC, which has pumped in something to the tune of a crore of rupees for the preparation of the hockey team, hosted a reception for the team, wishing the team good luck and success at the Olympic Games. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 120 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Less than a month to go and is all well in Olympic city? There are now less than 30 days to go for D-Day. The cynical Sydneysiders tripping over panicky workmen at Central Station and clumping through the mud at Homebush don’t believe it yet, but games organisers and politicians insist everything will be ready in time. 
