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Wednesday,
May 30, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Sampras,
Safin advance; Norman falls
Gopi helps
India blank Austria Don’t
jump the gun, sprinters told |
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Ashes
squad should make Gallipoli trip: Waugh Who will
pay for team’s laundry? |
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2nd
day’s play abandoned
3
Indians in q-final W’lifters
in a dilemma 10-day
hockey camp begins at PAU HOA
proposal on Games competitions Madhuban
declared Sports District
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Sampras, Safin advance; Norman falls Paris, May 29 Safin, who has yet to win a tournament this year and who has been suffering with a back injury, steered past Austrian Markus Hipfl 6-3 6-3 6-7 (6/8) 6-1 in 2hr 14min, while Capriati ousted Emilie Loit of France 6-2 7-5 in 65min. Pete Sampras bid to win the only Grand Slam title to elude him got off to a shaky start when he had to save three match points before beating qualifier Cedric Kauffmann 6-3 4-6 6-2 3-6 8-6 in the French Open first round. The fifth-seeded American, who has not advanced further than the third round at Roland Garros since 1996 and lost at the first hurdle last year, made a string of unforced errors on the red clay against an opponent playing only his second match in a Grand Slam event. Kauffmann, the world number 250 from France, shocked his illustrious opponent with the performance of his life and served for the match at 5-4 in the fifth set in front of his home town crowd. But Sampras, looking to become only the sixth man to win all four Grand Slams, produced just enough quality tennis to clinch a second-round match against Spain’s Galo Balanco on his third match point. Britain’s Greg Rusedski upset Spanish claycourt specialist Albert Portas 6-4 7-5 6-1 in the first round. The left-handed Rusedski surprised Portas, winner of the Hamburg Masters earlier this month, with a succession of searing serves and powerful forehands. Safin reached cruising speed fairly quickly as he pocketed the opening two sets but lost his rhythm in the third before streaking through the fourth to win in 2hr 14min. Australian Open champion Capriati ripped through her opening set against Loit and although the Frenchwoman fought gamely in the second to go 5-2 clear Capriati reined her in. Capriati, for whom it all began here 12 years ago with a junior title win followed by a run to the senior semis a year later, finally won on her third match point when Loit drove into the net. The French were consoled by an effervescent Sandrine Testud, the 17th seed, who thrashed 106th-ranked Dawn Buth of the USA 6-1 6-1 in 58min. In other early men’s action, Spaniard Carlos Moya showed glimpses of the kind of form which led him to the 1998 title here as he ground compatriot Feliciano Lopez into the red dust 6-1 6-4 6-0 in just an hour and a quarter, winning 91 percent of his first service points. Tommy Haas of Germany thrashed Jerome Golmard of France 6-0 6-1 6-1 while Sargis Sargsian of Armenia also moved on when Norwegian opponent Christian Ruud retired injured with a back injury with sargsian leading 6-1 3-1. Andre Agassi shrugged off his indifferent claycourt form to ease past Sweden’s Thomas Johansson 6-2 6-3 7-6 and into the second round. Third-seeded Agassi, who arrived in Paris with just one win on clay this season, looked as comfortable on the Roland Garros Centre Court as he did in 1999 when he lifted the French title to complete his Grand Slam collection. The Australian Open champion was far from spectacular but did not have to be against the Swede, who until two weeks ago had won just three claycourt matches in three years. In six visits to Roland Garros he has now made four first-round exits. The victory, completed in just under two hours, also kept alive talk of Agassi becoming only the second man to win all four Grand Slam crowns in the same year. Spanish number 13 seed Alex Corretja edged through to the second round with a 2-6 7-6 6-3 4-6 6-1 win over Argentine Mariano Zabaleta. Corretja, runner-up to countryman Carlos Moya at Roland Garros in 1998, was unable to settle as Zabaleta, a fine claycourt player, took the match to him with an aggressive approach. It was a second successive five-set defeat at the French Open for Zabaleta, who led Yevgeny Kafelnikov by two sets to one before losing in last year’s second round. Corretja will face Germany’s Jens Knippschild in round two. Ninth seed Magnus Norman threw away a two-set lead to slump out in the first round, losing 4-6 4-6 7-6 6-1 6-2 to Spain’s David Sanchez on Tuesday. The Swede, runner-up at Roland Garros last year, started brightly on Court Two and appeared to be heading for a straightforward win. But Sanchez refused to buckle, fought back and clinched victory on his second match point when Norman dumped a backhand into the net. The 23-year-old Sanchez next plays 1998 champion and compatriot Carlos Moya. Crushing wins for
Hingis, Martinez
Top seed Martina Hingis swept into the second round with a crushing 6-1 6-0 victory over Gala Leon Garcia of Spain. The Swiss world number one was in imperious form as she began her bid for a first French Open title. Finalist in 1997 and 1999, Hingis tore through the first set with the minimum of fuss, moving the Spaniard from side to side on the Centre Court. She refused to ease up in the second set and tormented Leon with her unerring accuracy before closing out the match after 58 minutes with a forehand. Spain’s Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario came from a set and a break down to beat German qualifier Greta Arn 4-6 6-2 6-1 in the first round. The three-time former Roland Garros champion, seeded number 11, failed to find her rhythm in the opening set as a string of unforced errors gave her opponent the advantage. The Spaniard also lost her opening service game in the second set but managed to break back immediately and she was a different player after that. Sanchez-Vicario finally found the range on her forehand, hitting with such pace that Arn was unable to resist, and she wrapped up the match in one hour 44 minutes. Spain’s Conchita Martinez secured a comfortable 6-1 6-1 victory over France’s Anne-Gaelle Sidot. Eighth seed Martinez, last year’s beaten finalist and now in her 14th campaign at Roland Garros, had too much experience for her opponent in a match that lasted one hour 17 minutes. The Spaniard played with her customary patience from the back of the court, finding relentless accuracy on her groundstrokes to force errors from Sidot.
AFP, Reuters |
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Gopi helps India blank Austria Seville (Spain), May 29 Following yesterday’s 4-1 success over Wales, the Indians, look capable of moving into division two, just one step away from the elite group which fights for the cup itself every two years. Gopichand, out of action since winning the All-England title in March, was made to work for his 15-12, 15-7 success over Austrian Juergen Koch but won in the end with a little to spare. That made it 2-0 in the best of five tie and the men’s doubles pairing of Markose Bristow and Jaseel Ismail clinched victory in the following match. Conditions in the playing hall at the San Pablo complex remained hot and humid as outside Seville continued to undergo a heat wave. Yesterday, temperatures in the streets had hovered around 40° C with even the locals moved to remark on the weather. After a miserable Olympics, India has enjoyed greater sporting success this year, sparked in part by Gopichand’s All-England triumph where his victims included
Olympic champion Ji Xinpeng and the then world No. 1 Peter Gade of Denmark. India’s last opponents in group three’s round-robin tomorrow are Hong Kong, 5-0 winners over Austria yesterday, and impressive as they swept into a winning 3-0 lead over Wales today. The Welsh will struggle to keep division three status after their top men’s singles player Richard Vaughan had to pull out of his match today with Agus Hariyanto after just one game because of a hip injury. Three-time champions China and last edition’s runners-up Denmark registered comfortable victories at the San Pablo stadium here late yesterday. China, despite resting their top singles players, men’s world No. 4 Chen Hong and women’s world No. 2 Zhou Mi, had no trouble in disposing off pretenders Sweden, while the Danes led by men’s world No. 2 Peter Gade and women’s world champion Camilla Martin overpowered England 3-0. The world No. 2 mixed doubles pair of Jens Erikssen and Mette Schjoldager set the Danes off on the right track overcoming a spirited challenge from the 52nd-ranked English pair of Nathan Robertson and Donna Kellogg to win 16-17, 15-7, 15-10. Peter Gade, the world Grand Prix champion then taught a lesson or two to Mark Constable, handing out a 15-2, 15-3 drubbing to make it 2-0. His fiancee Camilla Martin, the women’s world No. 1, then completed the formality by outclassing Tracey Hallam 11-2, 11-3 in just 20 minutes as the Scandinavians registered a comfortable 3-0 win in group 1B. “We are happy to have come through. We just want to top our group and avoid playing China in the semifinals and this was a good first step. I am playing well and I feel confident we can reach the final at least,” said Gade after the tie. In group 1A, the Chinese began
their campaign to make it four in a row with a clinical demolition of Sweden. The mixed doubles pair of Zhang Jun and Gao Ling began the rout, defeating Frederik Bergstrom and Jenny Karlsson 15-6, 15-10 in just over 20 minutes. Olympic men’s singles champion Ji Xinpeng, who has never looked the same since his triumph at Sydney, overcame a mid-match slump against Indonesia-born Swede George Rimarcdi before recovering to win 15-6, 8-15, 15-2. After a patchy first two games, Ji struck form in the third and if he plays like this in the singles championship, he is likely to be a major contender. Another Olympic champion, Gong Zhichao was made to struggle in the women’s singles before overcoming Russia-born Marina Andrievskaya 11-9, 11-7 in an encounter that lasted nearly an hour. The men’s doubles combination of Liu Yong and Zhang Wei made it 4-0 with a 15-12, 15-5 win over Henrik Andersson and Frederik Bergstrom.
PTI, Reuters |
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Ashes squad should make Gallipoli trip: Waugh Melbourne, May 29 “I’d like to see all Australian sides on their way to England come here,” Waugh was quoted as saying from Gallipoli in The Age newspaper. It’s a tradition we can start, and it’s something all sides would want to do. It’s got to be good for team spirit, the guys being here. “It’s such a peaceful place, such a beautiful place. That’s the hardest thing, to realise what happened here.” Australia are ranked the best Test cricket team in the world and are on their way to England this week for a three-month tour including five Tests against England preceded by a one-day series involving England and Pakistan. Australia are also the world’s one-day champions after winning the 1999 World Cup. More than 8,000 Australian troops, under the direction of the British, died in battle against the Turks at Gallipoli in 1915, 14 years after Australia became a nation. “Speaking under a gentle sun in weather just as perfect as that day, April 25, 1915, when many of the 16,000 troops took shelter from Turkish fire on the narrow beach, Waugh spoke eloquently about his team’s first visit to the place where the young nation forged its identity,” the newspaper said. April 25 is a national holiday in Australia to remember the sacrifices of war. Waugh said when he thought of Australian troops freezing in the trenches for eight months, he realised he had nothing about which to complain. “People say we’re heroes, but really we’re not. The guys here were the heroes,” Waugh said. “We just go out and play sport.” Australian players including Steve and Mark Waugh, Glenn McGrath and Michael Bevan laid wreaths at memorials. McGrath, who is just 30 wickets away from overtaking Dennis Lillee’s Australian fast-bowling record of 355 Test wickets, was moved by the experience, the Herald Sun newspaper said. “One thing I always did on Anzac Day (April 25) was put on my (war veteran) grandfather’s medal and walk down to the war memorial,” McGrath was quoted as saying. “That was something I was very proud to do then and it means even more to me now.”
Reuters |
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Don’t jump the gun, sprinters told Eugene, May 29 Triple Olympic gold medallist Marion Jones and 100m world record-holder Maurice Greene were among 47 current and former athletes to put their names to a petition urging the IAAF Congress to vote against changing the false start rule when it convenes shortly before the world championships in Edmonton, Canada, in August. The petition, headed “The No False Start Rule — Discrimination Against Sprinters,” was circulated by athletes after the Prefontaine Classic IAAF Grand Prix meeting on Sunday. The athletes have been angered by the IAAF’s decision to try out a zero tolerance policy on false starts at Grand Prix II events this ear. An athlete will be disqualified for one false start instead of two in any event under 400 metres, with the first test coming next Sunday at the Oregon Track Classic. Jones, winner of the 100m and 200m at the Sydney Olympics, called the rule “ridiculous”. “We’re in the blocks, and if we happen to fall out, we’re dead,” she said. “It’s not fair.” “We have the reaction of the athletes, I think that’s good,” Diack said. “Now that we’ve got the point of view of the athletes, we have to discuss it. We have to make some experiments at the Grand Prix II before the Congress, and we will look at it at the Congress.” Diack said it was possible that some intermediate change would eventually be adopted, such as giving the field one free false start, and then disqualifying anyone charged with a second. Diack, who took over as president of the IAAF after the death of Primo Nebiolo, has suggested several changes for the sport to make it more of a draw on television. Also under consideration is reducing the number of attempts in the pole vault, a move that women’s world record-holder Stacy Dragila said would rob the event of drama. “The true track fan enjoys the suspense of a second and third attempt,” said Dragila, who suggested limiting the field instead. Diack, speaking on several issues to a group of journalists after the Prefontaine Classic, said he never intended to impose changes without input from a range of people involved in the sport. The IAAF technical commission will consider the change before the next IAAF council meeting in Paris, and recommendations will then be made to the Congress. “Now, I have lots of people interested,” Diack said. “We have the athletes, we have managers, the coaches, all of these people we have to have their reaction.” But it was clear that Diack does intend to press on with reforms, believing that athletics’ survival is at stake. Once the debate is over, he added, “We have to move.” Also under consideration, Diack said, are changes to the Grand Prix and Golden League programmes after the current Golden League contract expires at the end of 2002. He wants the Grand Prix to include all 33 events every year, with a season-ending Grand Prix finals expanded to two days. That meeting, which would be held in the same city for three years in a row, would cap a Golden League made up of the five top Grand Prix meetings. Looking forward to the 2001 world championships, Diack said he was disappointed that American Michael Johnson, the 200m and 400m world record-holder, won’t be competing. As reigning 400m world champion, Johnson has a bye from the IAAF, but USA Track and Field rules stipulate that Johnson must compete at the US trials to qualify — even though Johnson only wants to race a relay in his farewell season. “I was disappointed that the American federation said he was unable to run in the relay,” Diack said. “Some athletes are legends in our sport. He has the right to have something very special to end his career.”
AFP |
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Who will pay for team’s laundry? Mutare (Zimbabwe), May 29 An SOS on this issue has gone all the way from Mutare to Chennai. The laundry bills are a source of bother for the Indian cricketers who have just begun a 45-day tour of Zimbabwe. Some of the players have made millions from the game but their daily allowance on this tour is $ 32. Laundering one set of clothes will cost about one-sixth of that allowance, leaving very little for food and other expenses. When the Zimbabwean team toured India last winter, the Indian board provided for free laundry of six clothes a day for them. Now the Indian cricketers, who have yet to receive any payment from their board on this tour, want the Zimbabweans to reciprocate. The tour management had now sent a letter to board Presient A.C. Muthiah requesting him to take up the matter with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union. After all, the team wants to turn out smartly. The ball is now in the board’s court. The popular team is flooded with invitations to dinners, felicitations and shop openings from the local Indians in Zimbabwe. That distracts from their basic mission of preparing for the series but they wouldn’t want to disappoint the local fans. So, in a compromise of sorts, the team has decided to selectively accept such invitations without the players turning up en masse. “We have made a decision before we embarked on this tour,” said vice-captain and dependable bat, Rahul Dravid. “The visit to these functions is optional and not everyone has to turn up and show his face”. “It is important for us to satisfy the desire of a billion back home rather than cater to the desire of a hundred on an overseas tour,” he said. “We understand their feelings but we have the job of winning in front of us and we want to be well-prepared for every match,” Dravid said. Sure enough, there was a function by the Indian community here last evening and very few from the team attended it. Coach John Wright, captain Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar were among those who preferred to stay in their hotel rooms and mentally prepare for the next day’s play. Despite a big hundred earlier in the day and niggling pain in his right thigh muscle, Dravid did make it to the function to cheer up the expatriates who had come in from as far as Harare and other parts of Zimbabwe. “You would notice it on this tour — we will keep (attending) such functions to the minimum,” Dravid said. After all, the team has the job of reversing the trend of not winning a series abroad in the last 15 years. In their seven decades of Test cricket history, India has won only five series abroad — two rubbers in England, one each in the West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. They have yet to win a series in South Africa, Australia and Pakistan. Zimbabwe presents an excellent opportunity to reverse the current trend and there is little doubt the team wants to do it badly. The Indian board, it seems, is finding it difficult to keep pace with the new-found professionalism of its cricketers and the present squad must be the cleanest to have left the Indian shores in the last decade — if not on laundry then at least on the match-fixing account. Board secretary Jaywant Lele visited Zimbabwe earlier this month to inspect facilities, wickets and thrash out small details with ZCU. If he, or the board he was representing, had taken care to discuss it with the cricketers before finalising things, Mr Lele would have heard a resounding no on the hosts’ plan to have 105 overs a day for the two first-class games preceding the first Test. This was an experiment which the South Africans had carried out against the Indians during the tour of 1997 and it had been roundly disapproved. The Indian cricketers were again unhappy at the extra hour they were made to play against Zimbabwe A here yesterday.
PTI |
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2nd day’s play abandoned Mutare (Zimbabwe), May 29 Possibility of play appeared around noon but another shower washed all chances away. After a disastrous start in which they lost the first five wickets for just 71 runs, the Indians rallied yesterday to declare their first innings at 336 for nine thanks to a brilliant 137 by vice-captain Rahul Dravid and his 227-run sixth-wicket partnership with Sameer Dighe (87). Replying, Zimbabwe ‘A’ were 34 for one at stumps. For the Indians it was a valuable day lost as they need all the time to get used to the conditions before the first Test match begins in Bulawayo on June 7. Prior to that they play another three-day game against the CFX Academy, beginning June 2. PTI |
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3 Indians in q-final Chandigarh, May 28 The match played between Germany players top seed Uebel and Lesske went on unexpected lines when latter displayed his prowess by winning first set in 40 minutes at 6-2. Similarly in the second set, Uebel could not match the rhythm of spirited Lesske and went down fighting at 4-6 in 45 minutes to his compatriot and lost the tie. Earlier in the morning, the yesterday’s incomplete tie between Syed Fazaluddin and Manoj Mahadevan resumed from score of 3-3 in the second set with first already been won by Manoj. Fazaluddin was in command of the game right from the beginning and overpowered Manoj at 7-5 to won the second set. In third set, Fazaluddin after levelling at 2-2 game score finally took the lead to 5-2 and ultimately won at 6-3. Results (Ist round): Singles: Syed Fazaluddin (Ind) b Manoj Mahadevan (Ind) 6-7 (5-7) , 7-5, 6-3 IInd round: Pre-quarterfinal: Mustafa Ghouse (Ind) b Rohan Bopanna (Ind) 6-1, 6-4; Philip Harboe (Chi) b Vinod Sridhar (Ind) 3-6, 7-5, 6-1; Nitin Kirtane (Ind) b Kamala Kannan ( Ind) 6-4,6-3; Daniel Lesske (Ger) b Lars Uebel (Ger) 6-2, 6-4; John Doran (Irl) b Maharishi Sridhar (Ind) 6-2, 6-3; James Auckland (GBR) b Colin Bennett (GBR) 6-3,6-3; Or Dekel (ISR) b Eliran Dooyev (ISR) 6-3,7-6 (7-3); Syed Fazaluddin ( Ind) b Anton Kokurin (Uzb) 7-6, 8-6, 1-0 (conceded). Doubles
(Ist rd): Rohan Bopanna (Ind) and Nitin Kirtane (Ind) b A. Brudermann
(Aut) and G. Ghedina (Ger) 6-3, 6-2; M Sridhar and Syed (Ind) b D Tegg
(GBR) and E Dooyev (Isr) 6-3,6-4; J Auckland (Gbr) and D Sherwood (Gbr) b D Lesske and L Uebel (6-4, 1-0 conceded); P Harboe (Chi) and A Kokurin
(Uzb) b J Doran (Irl) and M Ghouse (Ind) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. |
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W’lifters
in a dilemma New Delhi, May 29 Though neither the government, nor the Indian Olympic Association have officially reacted to Kanra’s
arrest and subsequent release on bail, the weightlifting fraternity is very confused as Kanra continues to be the secretary of the federation with the court having dissolved the ad hoc committee constituted to look after the affairs of the WFI. The immediate concern of the weightlifters is the Junior World Championship to be held in Greece in June, but with the secretary having been caught in a legal tangle on a case of alleged cheating, it’s a moot point whether the government would accept a team selected by the WFI, and whether the government would release the grant to the federation in the present circumstances. |
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10-day hockey camp begins at PAU Ludhiana, May 29 Three new players Raju Kant, Satwinder Singh and Mahavir Singh have been included in the camp. The other members of the camp are Jagdish Ponnapa (goalkeeper), Bharat Chhetri (goalkeeper), Aftab Ahmed, Bikramjit Singh, I. Tirkey, Prabhjit Singh, Harmeet Singh, Vimal Lakra, Paramjit Singh, Vikram Pillay, Paramjit Singh, Samsuj Joha, Amarjit Partap, Anup Anthony, Gurhjeet Singh, Chanderpal, Ravinder, Anurag Raghuvanshi, Baljit Singh Chandi. The training schedule includes six-hour practice every day. Two coaches Amarjit Singh and Ripudaman Singh are helping the players. Yoga coach Sanjay Solanki has also been appointed. Earlier in 1996 before the Champions Trophy, a yoga coach had been appointed by the Indian Hockey Federation
(IHF). |
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HOA proposal on Games competitions Chandigarh, May 29 Mr. Abhey Singh Chautala, president, Haryana Olympic Association, said that a letter to this effect had been written to Ms. Uma Bharati to consider the demand of Haryana in view of close proximity to Delhi, its conducive climatic conditions, availability of infrastructural facilities and economic viability for holding the Afro-Asian swimming competitions. He said that the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Om Prakash Chautala, too had supported the move when he had recently discussed it with the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports. He said that the swimming pool facilities at Rai (Sonepat) were of international standards. These facilities included a covered warm up pool with the facilities of warm water and a diving pool having different platforms of varying heights. A viewing gallery for under water movement and another for technical officials and a provision of touch pads with electronics score boards. Similarly, for lawn tennis competition, Faridabad was the appropriate destination where modern facilities for international competitions were available. The technical and organising committee of Afro-Asian Games was welcome to inspect the availability of these facilities. For holding table tennis competitions all facilities were available with the Table Tennis Federation of India. He said the federation had spent Rs. 15 lakh on eight tables and a synthetic centre court. |
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Madhuban
declared Sports District Chandigarh, May 29 This was announced by the Director General of Police, Mr M.S.Malik, while declaring the games for the dependents of the police personnel open at Karnal today. He said the formation of a Sports District would inculcate interest in sports in the families of police personnel. He also informed that the process for recruiting 114 sportspersons as constables was in progress. Inspector General, Haryana Armed Police, Madhuban, Mr Alok Joshi, invited the employees of the Central and public undertakings posted at Panipat and Karnal for taking full advantage of the infrastructure created at Madhuban. |
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HC stays order
of trial court Chandigarh, May 29 |
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Vikramjit Singh gross winner Chandigarh, May 29 Cricket academy
The St Joseph’s Cricket Coaching Academy will start its operations from this session at Sector 44. Guidance of former Ranji players would be sought for imparting training to the trainees. The academy will also provide free cricket kits to deserving students. |
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Skerritt
sacked Kingston (Jamaica), may 29 |
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