Sunday, May 13, 2001,  Chandigarh, India






THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
S P O R T S

India down Brunei 1-0
Bandar Seri Bagawan (Brunei), May 12
India won the game but failed to make it to the final round of qualifiers for World Cup football 2002 as they managed to down minnows Brunei by a solitary goal here tonight.

Camp for probables from today
Bangalore, May 12
The six-day cricket coaching camp for the Indian probables, starting here tomorrow ahead of the coming Zimbabwe tour, is expected to be an indepth exercise in redrafting the strategy to end the country’s victory drought overseas.

Greene clocks year’s fastest 100m
Osaka, May 12
Sprinter Maurice Greene sounded an early warning to his rivals today, clocking the fastest 100 metres of the year and brushing aside a Grand Prix field with ominous ease. Greene, the Olympic champion and world record holder, romped away to win the Osaka Grand Prix event in Japan in 9.96 seconds in a repeat of his early-season victory here last year.

McKenzie rescues S Africa
Poer Of Spain (Trinidad), May 12
South Africa included all five of the players fined for smoking Marijuana today but they failed to shine as the tourists made just 190, the lowest total of the one day series with the West Indies.

American world record holder Maurice Greene raises his fist as he crosses the finish line to win the men's 100 m race at the IAAF Japan Grand Prix in Osaka on Saturday.
American world record holder Maurice Greene raises his fist as he crosses the finish line to win the men's 100 m race at the IAAF Japan Grand Prix in Osaka on Saturday. 
The Olympic champion clocked 9.96 seconds. 
— Reuters photo



EARLIER STORIES

 


Gibbs, five others caught smoking cannibis

Johannesburg, May 12
The star South African batsman of the tour to the West Indies and five of his team-mates have been caught smoking cannibis in a hotel room, the country’s cricket governing body said today.

Pak, India invited for hockey series
Lahore, May 12
Olympic and world champions Holland have invited Pakistan and India to take part in the tri-nation hockey tournament to be held from June 25 to July 1.

SOCCER STAMPEDE
Youths storm police station

Accra, May 12
Hundreds of Ghanaian youths seeking revenge stormed a police station after attending the burial of 25 people who died in Africa’s worst stadium tragedy.

Sasikiran wins, grabs lead
Colombo, May 12
On a dramatic day at the Asian Zonal Chess Championships, grandmaster K.Sasikiran grabbed the lead at the end of the penultimate round from the Kolkata duo of GM Dibyendu Barua and S.S.Ganguly here today.

Spikers’ losing streak continues
Islamabad, May 12
India’s nightmarish run in the 10-nation Asian Junior Volleyball World Cup qualifying tournament continued as they lost to top-seed Saudi Arabia in straight games here today.

IWF secy held on cheating charges
New Delhi, May 12
Indian Weightlifting Federation Secretary Gopal Khanra has been arrested here on charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust following his alleged failure to return about Rs 5.78 lakh he had taken from the Union Sports Ministry.

Bullfights in Stade de France opposed
Paris, May 12
A plan to organise bullfights at the Stade de France near Paris drew fire from animal rights groups who said the move would smear the image of the stadium that hosted the 1998 soccer World Cup.

Jr athletic meet at Gurgaon
Chandigarh, May 12
The Haryana State Amateur Athletics Association has finalised the sports calendar for the year 2001-02, according to a press note released by Mr H.S. Bhadu secretary of the association.

3 ice hockey rinks in J&K likely
Srinagar, May 12
The Jammu and Kashmir government is contemplating setting up three ice hockey rinks, one each at Leh, Kargil and Gulmarg. An Astro-Turf will also be laid at Srinagar while flood lights will be installed at K.K. Hakhu Stadium, Jammu.

Education dept to bid for cricket meet
Chandigarh, May 12
The Punjab Education department will bid for the Asian Schools Cricket Tournament in the coming session and proposals in this regard will be sent to the Asian Schools Sports Federation and the School Games Federation of India.

Chandigarh to meet Punjab in semis
Chandigarh, may 12
Chandigarh boys went down fighting to Uttar Pradesh in the last league match played here last evening at football stadium, Sector 17.

Goan eves whip Rajasthan
Gurusar Sadhar (Ludhiana), May 12
The Goan girls went on rampage today, scoring a spectacular 16-0 win over a helpless Rajasthan on the first day of the ninth Senior National Women’s Football Championship being played at GHG Khalsa College, here today. Bihar also registered a comfortable 6-0 win over Meghalaya.Top

 





 

India down Brunei 1-0

Bandar Seri Bagawan (Brunei), May 12
India won the game but failed to make it to the final round of qualifiers for World Cup football 2002 as they managed to down minnows Brunei by a solitary goal here tonight.

Surprise-packet Yemen upset the applecart of the strong UAE 2-1 last night and are now strong contenders for the next round with 11 points and a return match in hand. India have bagged creditable eight points, with a match in hand, but they lag in goal difference.

The maximum India can now hope for is a second place finish in the Asian Zone Group 8 competition.

The action-packed match tonight saw India grappling with a determined opposition who went into the match with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Though the Indians dominated the proceedings throughout, the scoreline failed to reflect their effort. The visitors missed some crucial scoring chances and it was only in the 78th minute that a Joe Paul Ancheri header found the target.

A quick move from the centre caught the Brunei’s defence off-guard. The ball deflected off a defender and an alert Ancheri, capitalising on the loose ball, headed in the all-important goal with just 12 minutes to go for the final whistle.

“Brunei played their hearts out as they thwarted India’s forays more than once. They had nothing to lose and this affected badly our team’s chance to score more goals,” coach Sukhwinder Singh told PTI after the match.

Confirming skipper Baichang Bhutia’s prediction two days ago, Sukhwinder Singh admitted India were taken by surprise by a much-improved Brunei side. Brunei have had a disastrous run so far, losing 0-12 and 0-4 to UAE then again 0-5 and 0-1 to Yemen.

“We put in tremendous team-effort and all players contributed their bit,” the coach said.

India, who had complained about poor refereeing in the previous two matches with Bhutia vehemently airing his displeasure about some decisions, were satisfied today.

“There were no cards shown to either side and it was all fair play throughout. I must say refereeing was good and overall it was a good match..,” Sukhwinder Singh said.

India leave for Bangalore, the venue for the last match against the same rival on May 20, tomorrow.

Yemen defeated the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in an Asian World Cup qualifier match late last night to take the lead in Group 8 standings.

Yemen, playing its best match of the preliminary series so far, held the upper hand throughout the game at the Ali Muhsin Mureisi Stadium. However, a misjudgment on the part of Yemeni goalkeeper Faozi Omar allowed Saeed al-Kasto score the Emirates’ only goal in the 44th minute.

Yemen came out strong in the second half, scorings an equaliser in the 52nd minute with a powerful shot by Abdulsalam Hamood that pleased the 45,000 spectactors in the stands.

The Yemen team continued to dominate play, showing technical prowess but missing several scoring chances. It finally went a head in the 73rd minute wiht a shot by Ali al-Nono to the far right corner. The winners of the 10 Asian groups advance to the final qualifying round. Two or three teams from the continent will qualify for the 2002 World Cup finals. South Korea and Japan qualify as hosts.

French coach Henri Michel was sacked as Emirates national coach after his team were beaten and pushed to the brink of elimination from the competition. Michel, who led France, Cameroon and Morocco to World Cup finals, was fired by the UAE Football Association yesterday after his side had squandered a 1-0 half time lead and lost top slot in group eight of Asia’s World Cup qualifying tournament to the unfancied Yemenis.

Michel resigned as Morocco’s coach in February 2000 after the team performed poorly in the African Nations Cup. He took charge of the UAE team later that year. PTI, Reuters
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Camp for probables from today

Bangalore, May 12
The six-day cricket coaching camp for the Indian probables, starting here tomorrow ahead of the coming Zimbabwe tour, is expected to be an indepth exercise in redrafting the strategy to end the country’s victory drought overseas.

The camp, in preparation for the tour commencing on May 28, has assumed significance as it comes in the backdrop of India’s stupendous home Test series win over Australia.

The cricket board has named 26 probables, virtually retaining all those who played against Australia, for the camp, notable omissions being wicketkeeper Nayan Mongia and seamer Venkatesh Prasad.

The selectors are expected to meet in Mumbai on May 17 to pick a 15-member squad for the tour.

Skipper Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and the new batting star V.V.S. Laxman are among those picked for the camp.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who played a key role in India’s success against Australia, all-rounder Virender Shewag and attacking left-handed batsman Yuvraj Singh would be keen to impress the selectors during the camp, expected to lay emphasis on physical fitness of the players.

Ace leggie, Anil Kumble, who has returned from Johannesburg after undergoing a surgery to his shoulder, is back at nets, but unavailable for the Zimbabwe tour.

Coach John Wright, who played a key role in shaping up the side in recent times, has already gone on record saying he would involve players, selectors and team managers in a thorough introspection to find out the reasons for the country’s failure when it plays away from home.

The camp would also focus on the need to address the problem posed by long Indian tail.

Wright and physio Andrew Leipus have already arrived, while the probables were expected to reach here later today.

Following are the probables: Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Hemang Badani, Sadagopan Ramesh, Shivsundar Das, Mohammad Kiaf, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Shewag, Dinesh Mongia, Samir Dighe, Ajay Ratra, Deep Das Gupta, Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Harvinder Singh, Ashish Nehra, Debashish Mohanty, Rakesh Patel, R.S. Sodhi, Harbhajan Singh, Sharandeep Singh, Rahul Sanghvi and Sairaj Bahutule.

Wright said India could not take Zimbabwe lightly. “Zimbabwe are a good playing side on home conditions and the team will have to play well to win,” he added.

Agreeing with the coach, Ganguly had also made it clear that the Indian players would have to improve their fitness and fielding.

Other departments of the game would also be looked into, Wright said. Benchmarks would be set up for each player and their performance would be carefully monitored, he added.

The players would be put to a fitness test on the first day to see if they had followed the workouts given to them for the off season.

Wright said the aim would also be to increase level of endurance.

The Indian team will be selected on May 17. India play a two-test series against Zimbabwe and later participate in a triangular series in which the West Indies is the third team. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jaywant Lele has indicated that some changes would be made for the triangular series. PTI, UNI
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Greene clocks year’s fastest 100m

Osaka, May 12
Sprinter Maurice Greene sounded an early warning to his rivals today, clocking the fastest 100 metres of the year and brushing aside a Grand Prix field with ominous ease.

Greene, the Olympic champion and world record holder, romped away to win the Osaka Grand Prix event in Japan in 9.96 seconds in a repeat of his early-season victory here last year.

The American star went on from that win to strike gold twice at the Sydney Olympics and is hoping that Osaka can provide a similar platform for glory in the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada, this August. “I ran the best race I could. I knew it was going to be tough because I’ve been training with Bernard Williams and I knew that he was going to come out here and push me down the track,” Greene said.

“I want this season to be better than last. I want to take it from here and break my world record.” But if the second-placed Williams did any pushing, it was from a long way behind Greene who was deprived of a real test by the late withdrawal of Sydney bronze medallist Obadele Thompson of Barbados.

Greene said his aim for this season, besides breaking his own world record of 9.79 seconds, was to go one better than his Olympic haul of two golds in Edmonton by taking the 200 metres title as well as the shorter sprint and the 4x100 metres relay. The 200 metres was the only real blemish on Greene’s golden season last year after a dramatic injury in the US Olympic trials ruled him out of a triple in Sydney.

Greene’s stated goal is to be ranked above American sprinting greats such as Carl Lewis and Jesse Owens but to do that he may first have to extend his dominance to another event.

“I want to run a lot faster than I have, I want to compete at a higher level than I’ve been competing at and just make the overall season better. I believe my toughest rival is myself.”

Greene is aiming for a world mark of 9.76 seconds this year but says his coach believes he can go as fast as 9.60.

There were few outstanding performances in the other Grand Prix events, with many top athletes looking rusty as they picked themselves up from the Olympics and began to prepare for the World Championships.

Kenya’s Bernard Lagat, winner of the 1500 metres bronze at the Sydney Olympics, suffered a surprise defeat by Canada’s Kevin Sullivan, who bravely held off the Kenyan down the home straight. Reuters
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McKenzie rescues S Africa

Poer Of Spain (Trinidad), May 12
South Africa included all five of the players fined for smoking Marijuana today but they failed to shine as the tourists made just 190, the lowest total of the one day series with the West Indies.

However, with the South Africans, for whom Neil McKenzie top scored with 73, already holding an unbeatable 4-1 lead in the seven match series, the hosts have only pride to play for.

Sent in on a pitch which had early life as well as uneven bounce, South Africa were in early trouble before a third wicket stand of 92 between McKenzie, who was returning after recovering from the hamstring injury he suffered in the first one-dayer, and Justin Kemp (46) revived them.

Kemp’s dismissal, when he was given out lbw after missing a sweep against West Indian captain and offspinner Carl Hooper, started a collapse in which eight wickets fell for 67 runs.

Mckenzie, Roger Telemachus, Paul Adams and new cap Andre Nel — the latter three along with Herschelle Gibbs and Kemp were fined for smoking marijuana — came into the side while Gary Kirsten, Justin Ontong, Allan Donald and Makhaya Ntini were rested.

Opening bowler Cameron Cuffy bowled superbly in an unbroken spell of two for 26 in 10 overs, dismissing both opening batsmen, Gibbs and Boeta Dippenaar.

He received good support from a new opening partner, Corey Collymore, who took two for 29.

Hooper also proved difficult to score off, taking two for 27 in his 10 overs.

The West Indies made two changes. Batsman Ricardo Powell and fast bowler Corey Collymore replaced Chris Gayle and Mervyn Dillon.

Teams:

West Indies: Carl Hooper (capt), Daren Ganga, Ricardo Powell, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Ridley Jacobs, Dinanath Ramnarine, Kerry Jeremy, Corey Collymore, Cameron Cuffy.

South Africa: Shaun Pollock (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Boeta Dippenaar, Jacques Kallis, Jonty Rhodes, Neil Mckenzie, Mark Boucher, Justin Kemp, Roger Telemachus, Paul Adams, Andre Nel.

SCOREBOARD

South Africa

Dippenaar lbw b Cuffy 7

Gibbs b Cuffy 1

Mckenzie c Jacobs b Collymore 73

Kemp lbw b Hooper 46

Kallis b Hooper 3

Rhodes c Lara b Collymore 25

Pollock c and b Samuels 5

Boucher b Jeremy 3

Telemachus b Jeremy 2

Adams b Samuels 6

Nel not out 3

Extras: (b-2, lb-9, w-4, nb-1) 16

Total: (49.5 overs) 190

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-31, 3-123, 4-131, 5-152, 6-157, 7-170, 8-177, 9-184.

Bowling: Cuffy 10-2-26-2, Collymore 8.5-1-29-2, Jeremy 9-0-42-2, Hooper 10-0-27-2, Ramnarine 7-0-41-0, Samuels 5-1-14-2. AFPTop

 

Gibbs, five others caught smoking cannibis

Johannesburg, May 12
The star South African batsman of the tour to the West Indies and five of his team-mates have been caught smoking cannibis in a hotel room, the country’s cricket governing body said today.

Herschelle Gibbs — who scored a match-winning century at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Wednesday, and five other members of the tour party were fined $ 1250 each and severely reprimanded, South Africa’s United Cricket Board said in a statement.

The players were celebrating after South Africa sealed the five-match series by winning the fourth Test in Antigua on April 10.

Gibbs, Paul Adams, Roger Telemachus, Andre Nel, Justin Kemp and physiotherapist Craig Smith admitted to smoking cannabis in a hotelroom, the statement said.

“The accused all admitted their guilt and the Misconduct Committee (made up of team management and senior players) accepted that this was a one-off incident,” the UCB said.

“The accused all expressed remorse, apologized and gave an assurance that this would not happen again.”

Gibbs, however, could face a three-match ban and a further 10,000 rand fine — suspended elements of a past punishment which would have fallen by the wayside had he waited another five days.

On April 14 last year, he was disciplined for partying until the early hours of the morning of a day-night match against Australia in Cape Town.

For that infringement, Gibbs was fined $ 1880 and banned for three matches, but 10,000 rand of the fine and the ban were suspended for one year.

“This (cannabis-smoking) amounts to a similar offence of which Gibbs has been found guilty within that period,” UCB Director of Cricket Operations Brian Basson was quoted as saying by South Africa’s SAPA news agency.

“The suspended part of that sentence must now come into effect and he will be fined the additional 10,000 rand and face the three international match ban.

The fine and ban, however, cannot be invoked by the team’s on-tour misconduct committee, which means the opener will at least be able to play in Saturday’s sixth one-dayer against the West Indies, the UCB said.

“The United Cricket Board will review the situation as soon it has had the opportunity to do so,” UCB spokeswoman Bronwyn Wilkinson said. AFP
Top

 

Pak, India invited for hockey series

Lahore, May 12
Olympic and world champions Holland have invited Pakistan and India to take part in the tri-nation hockey tournament to be held from June 25 to July 1.

Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has already accepted the invitation .

PHF secretary Mussaratullah Khan, however, made it clear that the tournament would only be played if India takes part in it. The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) is yet to confirm its participation. As per the tentative draw, Pakistan and India are scheduled to take on each other on June 28.

Pakistan are already scheduled to tour Spain and Germany from June 13. In Spain, Pakistan will play two Tests, while in Germany, they will take part in the quadrangular contest.

Besides the likely clash in the Netherlands, the traditional rivals had been invited in a triangular competition next year in February in Dubai with either England or the Netherlands competing the line-up. UNI
Top

 

SOCCER STAMPEDE
Youths
storm police station

Accra, May 12
Hundreds of Ghanaian youths seeking revenge stormed a police station after attending the burial of 25 people who died in Africa’s worst stadium tragedy.

The youths yesterday blamed the police in Wednesday night’s incident, which occurred when officers fired tear gas into a crowd of 70,000 people at an Accra football match, causing a stampede that killed 127 fans.

Mourners expressed grief and anger at Friday’s burial, the first to be held in the tragedy, after authorities began releasing bodies earlier in the day.

The youths from Nima, a suburb that suffered the most casualties in Wednesday’s stampede, were returning home from the burial when, eyewitnesses said, they charged their area police station, threatening to teach the police a lesson.

Some of them created a barricade of tyres and wooden poles on a busy road that linked their suburb with the station and set it on fire.

Some people in the group attempted to calm the rioters, but the youths did not disperse until troops arrived. The group then vandalised telephone booths and traffic lights as they retreated.

The unrest occurred despite pleas earlier in the day from the chief Imam, Sheikh Osumanu Sharubutu, who appealed to those who lost loved ones to exercise restraint in their anguish and advised them not to take the law into their own hands against the police.

Mr Sharubutu spoke before the burial to thousands who sobbed and wailed as they attended prayers at the Central Mosque. Mr Sharubutu asked Allah to grant the souls of the deceased eternal bliss. He also prayed that the relatives of the dead should be granted the fortitude to bear the loss.

President John Agyekum Kufuor led his Cabinet, including vice-President Aliu Mahama, in participating in the prayers. Top executives of the Ghana Football Association and a group of players also attended.

Mr Kufuor addressed the people and assured them that the government would not shield any person found to have contributed to the tragedy.

“There will be no cover-ups,” Mr Kufuor said as he also appealed for calm.

The officers involved in the stampede were criticised by their colleagues on Thursday who said the officers overreacted. A small group of rowdy fans for Kusami Asante Kotoko who were angry that their team was down 1-2, began ripping plastic seats from the stadium and throwing them, along with bottles and stones on the field during a match with Ghana’s other leading team, Accra Hearts-of-Oak.

Although the stadium’s gates were shut, police officers began firing tear gas.

“They did not react correctly,” one senior police officer said. “It was excessive since the supporters were causing damage to the seats not against each other or the police.”

“Once you decide to use tear gas, you must ensure that all the gates are open,” he added. “You have to provide escape routes since you want to disperse the crowd.”

Ghana’s Inspector General of Police, Mr Ernest Owusu Poku, appeared on national television on Friday night and apologised to the nation and bereaved families for the loss.

Mr Kufuor and the police chief have announced investigations into the stampede.

To maintain calm as the burials began, the government deployed armed troops at Friday’s prayers and on streets leading to the cemetery.

But pockets of angry youth sang and chanted anti-police slogans and threatened retaliatory action if the government does not withdraw the police from the public eye. “They should be punished for killing our brothers,” they shouted.

There was, however, an uneasy calm at the graveyard as the corpses were lowered into the earth on the day that began a three-day period of national mourning.

The government also announced that it would pay 2.5 million cedis to the families of each of the dead and would pick up the medical bills of the injured in addition to paying a “handshake”, meaning a token amount of money for the injured after they are out of hospital. DPA
Top

 

Sasikiran wins, grabs lead

Colombo, May 12
On a dramatic day at the Asian Zonal Chess Championships, grandmaster K.Sasikiran grabbed the lead at the end of the penultimate round from the Kolkata duo of GM Dibyendu Barua and S.S.Ganguly here today.

In the crucial penultimate round game, top seed Sasikiran defeated overnight leader international master Surya Sekar Ganguly moving to 8.0 points. Barua’s unexpected defeat at the hands of Bangladesh’s Abu Safin Shakil gave the sole leader status to Sasikiran. Despite the defeats, Barua and Ganguly remain in the second place with 7.5 points.

It was a day full of twists and turns. But, for the methodical Chennai-based Sasikiran it was a hardworking win over Ganguly. The Bengal junior, who was having a glorious tourney, was out of sorts today. In the queens gambit accepted game, the queens were exchanged early and the game drifted into a minor pieces ending. Holding equality for long, Ganguly erred just under the fourth hour in time pressure ceding a pawn to Sasikiran. Rest was a routine technique from the top seed who grinded Ganguly to take the point on the 55th move.

In the upset of the day, rookie Abu Safin got the better of Barua scoring a fine 29-move victory in an advanced French game. Holding a vice-like grip on the position Abu Safin exploited Barua’s queen side pawn pursuits with a wave of kingside attack that fetched him a piece and the game comfortably. The defeat of the overnight leader saw lead changing hands, with just one round to go.

GM Abhijit Kunte was held to a draw in a thrilling Sicilian Pelican game against Enamul Hossain of Bangladesh. Repeating theory with great speed the game chartered into unknown territory after more than 22 moves. Hossain played energetically posing consistent threats to the Pune GM at the cost of his exchange. Sensing danger, Kunte took the draw with perpetual checks saving the day for himself. Kunte remains in the third place with 7.0 points.

The other Indian in fray, IM D.V.Prasad scored an easy win over Srilankan Laxman Wijayasurya in a Catalan game that went upto 50 moves. But the result was never in doubt as Prasad went a piece up early and sewed up the game comfortably.

Pallavi Shah is having the time of her life at the “Pearl Island” scoring at will against the higher seeds and moving closer to her career best title performance. In a Pirc game lasting 33 moves, Pallavi outplayed India’s woman grandmaster S.Vijayalakshmi logging 7.0 points. Right from the word go, the Maharashtra girl held the initiative, giving little away and forced the issue in just under three hours. With just one round to go, Pallavi is trailed by Vijayalakshmi’s sister Meenakshi at 6.5 points.

While Meenakshi scored an easy victory in a queens gambit declined game lasting 36 moves against Tanima Parveen of Bangladesh, overnight leader Swati Ghate slipped. In an exciting Sicilian Pelican game, Saheli Barua came up with a brilliant move that clinched the issue in her favour. It was petering out to be a rook and opposite coloured bishop ending, when Saheli’s move, which came like a bolt from the blue, stunned Swati to resign a few moves later. PTI
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Spikers’ losing streak continues

Islamabad, May 12
India’s nightmarish run in the 10-nation Asian Junior Volleyball World Cup qualifying tournament continued as they lost to top-seed Saudi Arabia in straight games here today.

Plagued by poor service and lacklustre finishing, the Indians lost to an in-form Saudi team 19-25, 11-25, 11-25.

This was India’s third consecutive straight-games defeat after losing to South Korea and Iran in their previous matches.

Though the Indians began well today, they lost their way in the middle of the first game with many of their services sailing way over the line or crashing well into the net. Cashing in on the Indians’ unforced errors, Saudi Arabia wrapped up the match in just 54 minutes.

Coach G.E. Sridharan said India’s prospects in the remaining five games were bright as they were slated to meet weaker opponents. However, he conceded India’s chances of qualifying appeared remote as the team had lost all their matches in straight games. India hope to bounce back into the tournament winning their fourth match against Chinese Taipei tomorrow.
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IWF secy held on cheating charges

New Delhi, May 12
Indian Weightlifting Federation Secretary Gopal Khanra has been arrested here on charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust following his alleged failure to return about Rs 5.78 lakh he had taken from the Union Sports Ministry.

Khanra was picked up late last night from a hotel in the Paharganj area of Central Delhi, police sources said.

He had allegedly taken Rs 7 lakh from the Hinduja Sports Foundation towards boarding and lodging of women weightlifters and coaches for the World Championships at Chiang Mai in Thailand in December 1997, Federation sources said. Later, in March 1998, he submitted a claim to the Sports Ministry for Rs 7 lakh allegedly without mentioning that he had taken the money from the Hinduja Foundation. The Ministry paid Rs 5.78 lakh towards the expenses.

Later, when the Ministry came to know about the Hinduja Foundation’s funding, it ordered a probe which found the charges true. Subsequently on December 13, 1999, it asked Khanra to refund the money taken from the Ministry with 14 per cent interest. PTI
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Bullfights in Stade de France opposed

Paris, May 12
A plan to organise bullfights at the Stade de France near Paris drew fire from animal rights groups who said the move would smear the image of the stadium that hosted the 1998 soccer World Cup.

“The stadium gave France a superb image during the World Cup and I don’t think people would approve if it now were to host a bullfight,” said Stephanie Roche, a member of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, named after the former French film star and animal rights campaigner.

Her comments came after Stade de France officials said they were planning next year to organise a bullfight at the stadium, which can hold about 80,000 people.

Jean-Christophe Giletta, in charge of organising major events at the facility located north of Paris, said the idea was “slowly” taking shape and two tentative dates in June of next year were being considered. AFP
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Jr athletic meet at Gurgaon
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 12
The Haryana State Amateur Athletics Association (HSAAA) has finalised the sports calendar for the year 2001-02, according to a press note released by Mr H.S. Bhadu secretary of the association.

The Junior State Athletic Championship will be held from June 21 to 23 at Gurgaon, followed by the participation in the Senior Federation Cup to be held at Bangalore from June 28 to 30.

The calendar:

Off season coaching camp (June 1-15, Hisar); Jr State Athletic Championship (June 21-23, Gurgaon); Federation Cup Sr (June 28-30, Bangalore); Federation Cup Jr (July 3-5, Bangalore); Sr State Athletic Championship (Aug 2-5, Kurukshetra); North Zone Jr Athletic Championship (Sept 10-11, Dehradoon); Inter-State Athletic Championship (Sept 24-26, Ludhiana); State Athletic Championship U-22 (Oct 12-13, Faridabad); Open National Athletic Championship (Oct 19-21, Chennai); National Championship U-22 (Oct 27-28, Kerala); Junior National Athletic Championship (Jan 9-12, Chennai); State Cross country Championship (Jan 20, Sirsa); National Cross country Championship (Feb 6, Pune); Federation Cross Country Championship (March 3, Sanglee, Maharashtra).
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3 ice hockey rinks in J&K likely
Ehsan Fazili
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 12
The Jammu and Kashmir government is contemplating setting up three ice hockey rinks, one each at Leh, Kargil and Gulmarg.

An Astro-Turf will also be laid at Srinagar while flood lights will be installed at K.K. Hakhu Stadium, Jammu.

Stating this at the inauguration of the scientific coaching programme camp at Bakshi Stadium here, the Minister for Sports and Youth Services, Mr Ajatshatru Singh said these decisions were taken during a high-level meeting between the state government and the central government officials in Delhi recently.

Addressing sportspersons at the coaching camp, the minister said it was a unique camp which would continue for five years.

The camp is aimed at bringing about professional excellence and promoting professionalism among sportspersons. The minister also announced a grant of Rs 10,000 for the participants.

Secretary Sports Council Sheikh Fazal Ahmad presented a detailed resume of the activities being carried on by the state government for the promotion of sports.

He also informed that the proposal to set up sports academies at Srinagar and Jammu was under active consideration of the government.
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Education dept to bid for cricket meet
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, May 12
The Punjab Education department will bid for the Asian Schools Cricket Tournament in the coming session and proposals in this regard will be sent to the Asian Schools Sports Federation and the School Games Federation of India. This was one of the items on agenda which was discussed and approved in the annual meeting of the department chaired by Jathedar Tota Singh, Education Minister, Punjab, held three days back. While confirming the same, the Education Minister said last January Asian Schools Hockey meet was organised at Ludhiana where India bagged gold. He said cricket was very popular in Punjab and elsewhere so to give impetus to the sport, the Asian schools cricket meet will be organised for the first time in India.

He said another important decision taken was to start a school hockey academy for under 14 boys at Takhanbadh near Moga. The minister said the idea was to have sports academy for rural boys. In the initial phase, they have budget approved for 18 boys but will have sanctioned strength of 22 boys all below 14.

While releasing the calendar of activities of Punjab Schools Games, Mr PS Chhabra, Deputy Director (PE ) said it was also decided to introduce chess in the state school sports meet from this year. He said the players of Punjab who were in the Indian team for the Asian schools tennis held in 1999, Asian schools basketball held in 1998, Asian schools football in 2000 along with other medal winners at various National Schools Games during the previous years will be honoured at a function to be held next month.
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Chandigarh to meet Punjab in semis
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, may 12
Chandigarh boys went down fighting to Uttar Pradesh in the last league match played here last evening at football stadium, Sector 17. Being No 2 in the pool, the city boys will now face defending champions Punjab in the semifinal knock-out tie tomorrow. In the other semifinal match tomorrow, Delhi will cross swords with UP, which now head the pool.

In the match played between Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh, both teams played on even terms. But it was R. Yadav of Uttar Pradesh who stole the show when he scored the lone goal in the 27th minute of the match. 
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Goan eves whip Rajasthan
Kamal Kishore Shankar

Gurusar Sadhar (Ludhiana), May 12
The Goan girls went on rampage today, scoring a spectacular 16-0 win over a helpless Rajasthan on the first day of the ninth Senior National Women’s Football Championship being played at GHG Khalsa College, here today. Bihar also registered a comfortable 6-0 win over Meghalaya.

For Goa, Blanka scored 5 goals, Julie and Laura scored 4 each, while Girija Devi, Elora and Livena scored one goal each. The Goan girls dominated the game from the very beginning with Blanka scoring the first goal in the eighth minute.

The Rajasthan girls seemed clueless with none of their forwards able to lead even a single attack during the entire game. Their line of defence proved too fragile to create any hurdles for the rampaging Goan girls.

It was a simple win for Bihar as well. Though not as emphatic as the Goan girls the Bihar victory was impressive. Top

 
 SPORTS BRIEFS

PAK ACCUSES INDIA OF "INTRANSIGENCE"
ISLAMABAD:
Accusing India of “intransigence”, Pakistan says there is little chance for Indo-Pak cricket series in the near future. “The Indian Government’s intransigence is the main hurdle in the resumption of Pakistan-India cricket series, Pakistan’s Sports Minister, Col S.K. Tressler, told reporters on Friday. “Pakistan government and the country’s cricket board wanted to have cricket ties with India. But perhaps the Indian Government right now is suffering from a defeat phobia in the cricket field,” Colonel Tressler said. “As such there is very little scope for the teams of the two countries to play,” he said adding that “still the ball is in Indian Government’s court as far as the resumption of the cricket ties between the two countries are concerned.” PTI

UEBEL WINS TITLE
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Third seeded Lars Uebel of Germany annexed the singles title of the first leg of the ITF men’s satellite tournament with a facile 6-1, 6-2 victory over Anton Kokurin (sixth seed) of Uzbekistan here today. The 20-year-old Berliner won a prize money of $ 812.50 for his win, while runner-up Anton, hailing from Tashkent, became richer by $ 562.50. The day’s final, watched by a moderate crowd, turned out to be an one-sided affair. While Uebel did full justice to his ATP ranking of 569 points, Anton (ATP rank 762) was a pale shadow of his earlier self in the tournament. He was simply outplayed by the winner. UNI

"DIDI" DEAD
RIO DE JANEIRO:
Brazilian football legend Didi died today after fighting respiratory problems for more than two weeks in a Rio de Janeiro hospital. Didi (72) whose real name was Waldir Pereira, had been hospitalised in intensive care since April 28. He was on a respirator since Thursday and took a turn for the worse Friday, his doctors said. In the last several days Didi underwent emergency surgery for removal of his gallbladder and parts of his intestines. With his elegant play, Didi led Brazil to World Cup titles in 1958 and 1962. In 1950 he shot the first-ever goal in legendary Maracana Stadium. DPA

MARADONA’S DEFENCE
NAPLES:
Nearly 100 lawyers,legal advisers and commercial law experts - all self-proclaimed fans of former soccer great Diego Armando Maradona — have volunteered to defend the Argentine star in a $ 25 million tax fraud claim. The massive defence committee, led by renowned Neapolitan lawyer Vincenzo Maria Siniscalchi, will support Maradona’s appeal against claims by Italian tax police that he owes 53 billion lira in back taxes and interests. Maradona, the captain of Argentina’s team which won the 1986 World Cup, was a star of Napoli in the Italian league and lived for several years in this southern city. Maradona was delivered a payment injunction by tax inspectors when he landed at Rome’s international airport last January to appear on Italian television shows. AP

LOSING RECORD
AMSTERDAM:
RBC Roosendaal set an unenviable record of 26 defeats in a Dutch first division season when they were beaten 1-2 by champions PSV Eindhoven. With two games still to come and relegation already a certainty, RBC surpassed the 25 defeats notched by several Dutch clubs in past seasons. RBC have eked out a meagre 14 points from 32 league matches and are 63 points behind leaders PSV, celebrated their 16th league title last weekend when RBC were doomed to return to the second division after only one year in the top flight. RBC will be replaced by second division champions Den Bosch next season. Reuters

LANKAN SELECTOR
COLOMBO:
Former Sri Lankan Test player Amal Silva has been made a member of the re-constituted selection committee of the Sri Lankan Cricket Board. Sports Minister Lakshman Kiriella included Silva and another former selector, K.M. Nelson, in the five-man panel in place of former leg-spinner Lalith Kaluperuma and Shammi Silva. The other three, Tikiri Banda Kehelgamuwa, Brendon Kurppu and Kapila Wijegunawardena have been retained. PTI
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