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Wednesday,
July 31, 2002, Chandigarh, India
  
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Indian
shooters win gold Kunjarani
Devi clinches gold England
ease into relay final When
Campbell thought of suicide |
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Namibia's Frankie Fredericks (R) beats England's Marlon Devonish (C) to win gold in the men's 200 metres final at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester on Monday. Fredericks won gold with a time of 20.06 seconds and Devonish won silver in 20.19 seconds.
Australia's Ian Thorpe removes his goggles after winning his heat in the men's 400 metres freestyle heats at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, on Tuesday. Thorpe came first in a time of 3 minutes, 47.24 seconds.
— Reuters photo Pak down
Canada 2-0 in hockey
Bangladesh
face defeat Sri Lankan batsman Michael Vandort celebrates his century during the third day of the second cricket Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at Singhalese Sports Club ground in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Tuesday.
— Reuters photo Dalmiya
elected CBA president
Expert comments: Ian
Botham Kenya
beat Punjab by eight wickets Ronaldo,
Scolari trade barbs Aamir-Becker duo
impresses
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Indian shooters win gold
Manchester, July 30 The Indian pair aggregated 1150 points to fetch the eighth gold medal for India in shooting to boost their overall medals tally to eight gold, two silver and one bronze medal. In weightlifting, the strong Indian squad began its medal contribution by picking up three silver and two bronze medals here today. The experienced Thandava Muthu and Vickey Batta made their presence felt in the very first event of the weightlifting competitions by providing five medals in the 56 kg category. While Muthu claimed the overall silver medal his colleague Batta had to be content with the bronze. Malaysia’s Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim made a clean sweep of the gold medals in the event. Muthu, who has been one of the best performers for the country in international meets, bagged the silver medal in the snatch and bronze in the clean-and-jerk. Batta collected the silver in the clean and jerk. In the 50m rifle 3 position, Charan Singh and S.A. Pemmaiah scored 2266 points to win the bronze medal in an event in which the gold was taken by Australian pair of Timothy Lowndes and Samuel Wieland with a score of 2297.
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Kunjarani
Devi clinches gold Manchester, July 30 Kunjarani lifted 167.5 kg to claim the honour while Canada’s Karine Turcotte took the silver medal with an effort of 157.5 kg. The bronze went to Ebonette Deigaeruk (145 kg).
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England ease into relay final
Manchester, July 30 The absence of Dwain Chambers and Mark Lewis-Francis, who both suffered leg injuries in Saturday’s 100 individual final, had little impact on the host nation’s relay squad as they qualified third fastest behind Nigeria for tomorrow’s final. The English quartet of Marlon Devonish, Jason Gardener, Allyn Condon and Darren Campbell clocked 39.06 seconds, just 0.11 behind the Nigerians, anchored by 100 silver medallist Uchenna Emedolu, and 0.01 behind Jamaica who won the other heat. The final takes place tomorrow, the final day of track and field at the Games. England’s Chris Tomlinson led the list of 12 finalists for the men’s long jump with an effort of 7.97 metres. Osbourne Moxey of Bahamas produced the second longest jump of 7.92. Lack of entrants forced the organisers to make several small changes to today’s track and field programme. The semifinals of the women’s 4x100m relay and the qualifying heats of the women’s high jump were both cancelled because of a lack of numbers. One of the three planned semifinals for the men’s 4x100 was also scrapped with just two races required to decide the finalists. There were six track and field finals scheduled for the evening session today where the highlight was expected to be the men’s 110 hurdles where all eyes will be on veteran Welshman Colin Jackson, the world record holder. The 35-year-old has been near the top of his sport for 15 years, winning every major title on offer except the Olympics and still holds the world record. But Jackson has said he plans to hang up his spikes sometime in the next year.
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When Campbell thought of suicide Manchester, July 30 Campbell, who took the silver in the 200 metres at the 2000 Sydney Games and was third in the same event in Manchester, said he was so depressed by the turmoil in his sporting and private life that he had thought of driving his car into a brick wall. The break-up of his relationship with girlfriend Clair, who had taken their three-year-old son Aaryn with her, made him feel he no longer wanted to live. The two have since settled their problems and the bronze medal has boosted his life. “It’s a whole new hope for life,” he told London’s Evening Standard newspaper today. “Around the New Year, I just didn’t want to live, let alone run. I just thought about ending it all, getting into my car and driving into a brick wall”.
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Ferguson completes sprint double
Manchester, July 30 The 26-year-old blew her rivals away to win in 22.20 seconds and add the 200m gold medal to the 100m she won on Saturday. Ferguson’s time was the fastest in the world this year and also broke Cathy Freeman’s Commonwealth Games record of 22.25 which the Australian set eight years ago in Canada. Jamaica’s Juliet Campbell grabbed the silver in 22.54 with Australia’s Lauren Hewitt finishing third in 22.69 but neither was able to mount any challenge to Ferguson. A silver medallist behind Marion Jones at last year’s world championships, Ferguson made a flying start and quickly opened up a lead on her rivals. She came off the bend in control of the race and did not look in danger of losing it. Namibia’s Frankie Fredericks became the oldest man to win a Commonwealth Games track title when he won the 200 metres final at the age of 34. Fredericks, double Olympic silver medallist at both the 1992 and 1996 Games, came through smoothly on the straight to win in 20.06 seconds from England’s Marlon Devonish and Darren Campbell in an extremely close finish. Campbell, England’s flag-bearer at the opening ceremony, led out of the bend but the Namibian accelerated away to win the gold. The previous oldest man to win a track medal at the games was England’s former Olympic sprint champion Linford Christie, who won the 100 metres at the 1994 Victoria games at 34. Fredericks is five months older than Christie was then. Devonish took the silver in 20.19 and Campbell the bronze in 20.21, the same time given to fourth-placed Dominic Demeritte of Bahamas. Mozambique’s Maria Mutola defended her women’s 800 metres title with a runaway victory. The reigning Olympic and world champion powered away from the rest of the field on the home straight to win in one minute 57.35 seconds. Canada’s Diane Cummins took the silver in 1:58.82 and Namibia’s Agnes Samaria clinched the bronze in 1:59.15 as the first seven finishers all broke two minutes. Mutola was content to sit back in third position through the first lap but made her move entering the final bend and was well clear once they entered the home straight, stretching further in front as she kicked for the line.
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Thorpe cruises into 400 metres final
Manchester, July 30 The world and Olympic champion, the most high-profile performer of the Games, had no need to exert himself in the first session of swimming at the Games. The 19-year-old Thorpe allowed compatriot Craig Stevens to accompany him for the first half of the race before powering away to win in three minutes 47.24 seconds. Team-mate Grant Hackett, the world and Olympic 1,500 metres freestyle champion, won the preceding heat in 3:49.13, also leaving plenty to spare for his keenly awaited-duel with Thorpe in the final. Hackett broke his own 400 metres freestyle world short-course record in Sydney two weeks ago but Thorpe, carrying nearly five kilos more weight than usual in the hope of acquiring even more sprinting power, looked ominously smooth. Scotland’s Graeme Smith qualified third-fastest for the final, winning his heat in 3:50.19. Thorpe, whose 400 freestyle world mark stands at 3:40.17, faced further action in the Australian 4x100 metres freestyle relay.
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Pak down Canada 2-0 in hockey Manchester, July 30 Pakistan’s Muhammad Saqlain, given far too much room by the Canadian defence, put them ahead in the 21st minute before Sohail Abbas, with one of his powerful flick shots, added the second from a penalty corner. It was his fourth goal of the tournament, following his hat-trick in Pakistan’s 3-0 win over England. He had hit the cross bar with another corner shot earlier. “Needing only a draw to head the group, we did not have to exert ourselves against Canada,” coach Tahir Zaman said. “We have achieved our first objective, which was to avoid Australia in the semifinals’’.
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Dronacharya awardee Ilyas Babar dead
Hyderabad, July 30
He was 76. ‘Babar Sahab’, as he was known, had undergone surgery for stomach ulcer three days ago and was reportedly recovering when he suffered a setback. The kurta-pyjama and kulah (white cap) clad, not exactly the right dress for a sportsman, Babar coached the Indian team for various international events including the Asian Games, the Olympic Games and World Championships with 17 of his wards including Suraj Singh and Charles Borromow, winning Asiad golds. His most famous product, however, was Sriram Singh who, under the benign gaze of his Ustad, ran a brilliant race in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games 800 metres final. It was the killing pace set by Sriram Singh that helped Cuban Alberto Juantorena shatter the then existing Olympic and world records. The man with tough look but a kind heart had gone all the way to Montreal, his trip financed by friends and admirers as his name did not figure in the government-cleared list, just to encourage Sriram Singh. After every race, Sriram Singh would go to Babar for a review of what he had done and the Pakistani squad in the next block would wonder who this Mullah was whose feet the great Indian athlete touched. The funeral will be held tomorrow.
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Bangladesh face defeat
Colombo, July 30 Bangladesh, set a victory target of 473 after an inexperienced home side declared their second innings on 263 for two, stumbled to 103 for four by the close. Vandort, playing in his second Test, hit 16 boundaries and one six to reach 140 before being bowled by Talha Jubair. The left-hander had hit 61 in the first innings. Fellow opener Jehan Mubarak, on his Test debut, made 31 before being run out while Naveed Nawaz, also making his debut, finished on 78 not out. Bangladesh, yet to win a test since their debut two years ago, were hoping for some respectability after being bowled out for 164 in the first innings but quickly slumped to 40 for three. Opener Abdul Hannan Sarkar struck five boundaries for his 30 before being caught off the bowling of Sujeewa de Silva while Mohammad Ashraful, who became the youngest century-maker in Test series when his team toured Sri Lanka last year, was unbeaten on 31. Al-Sahariar and Habibul Bashar made just six and three apiece, while Tushar Imran scored 28 before being stumped off Upul Chandana. Sri Lanka (1st innings): 373 Bangladesh (1st innings): 164 Sri Lanka (2nd innings): Vandort b Jubair 140 Mubarak run out 31 Nawaz not out 78 Tillakaratne not out 5 Extras (b-4, lb-1, nb-3, w-1) 9 Total (for 2 wkts decl, 66 overs) 263 Fall of wickets: 1-80, 2-252. Bowling: Islam 9-0-28-0, Jubair 14-1-52-1, Kapali 11-0-54-0, Baisya 8-0-40-0, Muntasir 19-3-56-0, Bashar 5-0-28-0. Bangladesh (2nd innings): Sarkar c Jayawardene b Sujeeva 30 Sahariar b Sujeeva 6 Bashar c Jayawardene
b Gamage 3 Ashraful batting 31 Imran st Jayawardene
b Chandana 28 Kapali batting 3 Extras (lb-1, nb-1) 2 Total
(for 4 wkts, 31 overs) 103 Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-36, 3-40, 4-99. Bowling:
Buddhika 5-2-12-0, Sujeeva 6-1-25-2, Gamage 8-1-32-1, Jayasuriya 5-2-11-0, Samaraweera 3-0-21-0, Chandana 4-3-1-1.
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Dalmiya
elected CBA president Chandigarh, July 30 It was the first time someone had dared the might of Mr Dalmiya in 15 years. So far the election to this post had been unanimous. Elections were held to two posts of joint secretary. The winners were Babloo Koile and Sudhir Chakravarty. There were no elections for the remaining posts as there were no opposing candidates. |
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Expert
comments: Ian Botham Nasser Hussain must be a proud man. He has led a team that is not full-strength to an emphatic win against a team that boasts of a formidable batting line-up, that too on a wicket that provided very little assistance to the bowlers. It was a tough game, even though the result would suggest that the hosts did not have much trouble defeating Ganguly’s men. India had their moments, none more important than reducing England to 78 for three on the first afternoon. Hussain, however, rode his good form well and played a captain’s knock to ensure that his team made full use of the advantage of batting first. The England thinktank had worked out a game plan for each of the Indian batsmen and every one of their strategies worked. In today’s game, every team has a fair idea of what the opposition is all about, and England is no different. At the Lord’s it was evident that they had done their homework well. If India’s bowlers looked like they did not have a plan it’s because they were missing one man terribly. Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra looked threatening in bits, but the absence of Javagal Srinath was sorely felt. In one of my earlier write-ups I had written that a senior pro like Srinath would have given the Indian attack much-needed experience, something that was clearly lacking in the Indian bowling attack. Srinath is an exceptional bowler and he would have given this attack more bite. The omission of Harbhajan Singh was also a big mistake. A team must pick their best four bowlers, and Harbhajan is certainly among the best four in this Indian attack. Ajit Agarkar scored a very good century, but his bowling is erratic. While the bowlers can be excused on grounds of inexperience, I was a little surprised by the way the Indian batsmen capitulated in the first innings. Full credit to England’s bowlers for bowling at the Indians and cramping them up. Mathew Hoggard was accurate as usual and Simon Jones proved equal to the task of bowling at this level. He looked quick and is young and even took the prized scalp of Sachin
Tendulkar. I’m sure that England will blood Durham’s Steve Harmison by the time this series is over. He’s another exciting prospect, and the selectors would like to have a look at him ahead of the Ashes series. From India’s point of view, the worst aspect of the loss must be the fact that there were no devils in the pitch. They scored almost 400 runs on the fourth and fifth day, and this proves that the wicket was placid from start to finish. The wicket might not have too many devils in Trent Bridge, but the Headingley and the Oval pitches are not going to be easy to bat on. India have all the thinking to do at this stage. England, meanwhile can savour the sweetness of a third successive Test win.
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Kenya beat Punjab by eight wickets Chandigarh, July 30 Kenya won the toss and elected to bat. Ravindu Shah and skipper Steve Tikolo put on 147 runs for the third wicket. Ravindu Shah scored 93 (13x4) and Steve Tikolo 178 (21x4, 1x6). Maurice Odumbe (43) and Peter Onyango (41) were the other scorers. Punjab were playing without their main bowlers Gagandeep Singh and Amit Uniyal. Pankaj Dharmani, Munish Sharma and Vikram Rathore missed crucial catches to further compound the situation. Vineet Sharma (4 for 102), Ishan Malhotra (3 for 149), Harikishan Kali (3 for 53) were the successful bowlers for Punjab. In reply Punjab scored a modest 242. Reetinder Sodhi (71), Munish Sharma (32), Vikram Rathore (28) were the other scorers. A quick fire 43 by Ishan Malhotra off 17 balls, including 28 (2x6, 4x4) runs off one over of spinner Steve Tikolo also gave respectability to the total. Forced to follow on, Punjab scored 370 in their second innings. Reetinder Sodhi got his second half century of the match (60) while Munish Sharma (49), Pankaj Dharmani (54), Vikram Rathore (35), Ishan Malhotra (42), Harikishan Kali (38), Vineet Sharma (34) were the other contributors. Set a target of 143 runs Kenya reached the target in 27 overs for the loss of two wickets. Steve Tikolo (51) and Kenedy Obuy were the main scorers. Vineet Sharma (2 for 35) was the only successful bowler for Punjab. Punjab move on to Mombasa tomorrow for the second leg of the tournament where they will take on CCA XI in a one-day match at Court Gymkhana. |
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Ronaldo, Scolari trade barbs
Rio De Janeiro, July 30 Squabbling has broken the harmony of the “Scolari family,” as coach Luiz Felipe Scolari called the team that won a record fifth World Cup title in Japan last month. And he himself began it with an unexpected slap at the team’s hero, Ronaldo. In a radio interview, Scolari said Ronaldo often acted “spoiled” and had to be reminded to put the team’s interests a head of his own. “We had to pull his ear,” the coach said. Scolari also predicted that the two-time FIFA Player of the Year would never fully recover from the knee surgery that sidelined him for nearly two years - and nearly kept him out of the World Cup. “He underwent surgery, didn’t play for two years and had difficulties maintaining his ideal weight,” Scolari said. “That has to be taken into consideration. Anyone who ever played soccer should know that.” Ronaldo, who worked hard to get back in shape during the World Cup, said he was surprised at the reproach. “It’s strange that in two months together at the World Cup he didn’t say anything about it,” the 25-year-old International striker said on his Internet site, www.r9ronaldo.com. “At least I was always sincere with him.” Ronaldo also denied that he wasn’t 100 per cent physically. In fact, he said, he’s even better. “I’m 200 per cent,” he said on his website over the weekend. “I feel nothing, no pain. That’s why I performed so well at the World Cup.” Certainly, Ronaldo’s performance seemed to lay to rest any doubts that he could still play at soccer’s highest level. He led all scorers with eight goals - the most in a World Cup since 1970 - and tallied twice in the final in Brazil’s 2-0 triumph over Germany. Still, something was missing from the pre-injury days. The bursts of acceleration, the sudden, high-speed changes of direction weren’t quite there. But Ronaldo’s standards may simply be higher, and it’s hard to argue with success. “If Ronaldo played at 80 per cent (of his capacity) and did what he did, imagine if he had been 100 per cent,” Brazil’s veteran captain Cafu said in a local TV interview on Sunday. Ronaldo’s agent, Reinaldo Pitta, teed off on Scolari, known popularly as Felipao, or “Big Phil” in Portuguese. “Felipao’s attitude was totally antiethical,” Pitta said in an interview yesterday with the Rio daily O Globo. “Let’s ask the public’s opinion who won the World Cup: Felipao or Ronaldo?” Ronaldo took a more conciliatory tone. “I thank him for giving me the opportunity to play in my third World Cup. But I did my job and was a decisive player,” he said. “I learned one thing in soccer,” he added. “Sometimes it’s harder for people to behave well after victories than after defeats.”
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Aamir-Becker duo impresses
New Delhi, July 30 And together they sent packing a boisterous Kapil Dev and the legendary Vijay Amritraj in a charity tennis match held at the DLTA courts today. The proceeds from the event will go in the form of scholarships to 15 under-privileged children with sporting talent. The crowd could not have asked for more as Aamir took a break from firing winners and did a dance step from a popular number of the blockbuster ‘Lagaan’. Becker, who was his devastating normal self punching aces at his opponents, took the lead and regaled the fans by imitating the reel hero.
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