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Tuesday,
October 15, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Busan bids touching farewell
Drug row mars India’s decent show Sunita fails another dope test
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Saudi Arabians a new running force Hidayat pips Lee for singles gold
‘Future bright for Pak cricket’
Windies arrive in Chennai All-India Junior Golf opens today Chandigarh lose to Bihar Sports varsity in Sirsa Randhawa sports adviser to VC Amarjit stars in
PU victory GND varsity basketball
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Busan bids touching farewell Busan, October 14 Moments of triumph and failure during the last 16 days of competitions were forgotten with the participants gathering for one last time amidst rousing cheers from the capacity crowd as the first games of the millennium was ceremonially brought to a close. Dazzling fireworks lit up the night sky to herald the start of the closing ceremony of the games which saw many new sporting heroes emerge in the Asian scene but powerhouse China continued to retain their stranglehold. The games, symbolising prosperity and unification for a new millennium across Asia, saw over 6,000 athletes from all the 44 countries battle for glory and will be remembered for the first-time participation of a North Korean contingent on South Korean soil. The 70-minute closing ceremony, held at the magnificent main Asiad Stadium, began with a marching band playing traditional Korean music which received a loud applause from the spectators many of whom had taken up their seats much before the scheduled start. Poignant scenes depicting the innocent playfulness of children and the love of the mothers took centrestage after the marching band retreated. The athletes and officials of all the participating countries then entered the stadium to a loud ovation as the children and mothers stood in a line to watch them make their way into the ground. They were led into the stadium by the emblem flag-bearers. The flag sported signs of all the 38 games disciplines and also bore names of the participating nations. After the formal speeches, the flag of the Asian Games was handed over to the next host country. In 2006 the 15th Asian Games will be held in Doha, the capital city of Qatar. Following the lowering of the Asian Games flag, the Games’ flame, which had brightened the main stadium and inspired competitors for the last 16 days, was extinguished with a lone woman praying next to the torch tower. The woman represents the Korean mother who prays for the safety of all foreign athletes and guests who will leave for their home countries. The figure of praying mother symbolises a wish shared by all Koreans that all the visitors return home safely. The ceremony came to an end with the ‘Flying Duria’ the mascot of the games, being released into the evening sky alongwith a big spaceship. PTI
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Drug row mars India’s decent show Busan, October 14 Desperate to prove that the phenomenal success at the recent Commonwealth Games was no flash in the pan, the largest ever Indian contingent produced a rich haul of 36 medals, their best ever show abroad in the games and the best since the 1982 Asiad in New Delhi. But drug scandal returned to haunt the Indians in major international meets for the second time in three months. The 22-year-old Sunita Rani, who won the gold in women’s 1500m setting a ne games record, has tested positive for nandrolone and faces the danger of being stripped of her medal plus a ban if the B-sample also turns out to be positive. After a rather disappointing start to their campaign in the first week, India’s medal collection gathered momentum after the athletes joined the action to eventually complete their engagements with 11 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze medals and finish seventh with 36 medals. In the last edition of the games in Bangkok, the Indians had managed a tally of 35 - seven gold, 11 silver and 17 bronze medals to take the ninth position on the medals table while in the 1994 Hiroshima games they had won four gold, three silver and 16 bronze medals. India’s impressive medal haul was mainly because of the efforts of athletes who won as many as seven gold medals while golfer Shiv Kapur, snooker doubles team of Yasin Merchant and Habib Rafath, tennis and kabaddi teams also added to India’s gold medal collection. Anju Bobby George set the tempo by clinching the gold in the women’s long jump while Bahadur Singh (men’s shot put), K.M. Beenamol (women’s 800m), Sunita Rani (women’s 1500m), Neelam J. Singh (women’s discus throw), Saraswati Saha (women’s 200m) and the women’s 4x400m relay team were the star performers bringing home the gold. The shooters, who had done the bulk of the medal shopping in the Commonwealth Games, were a huge disappointment managing just two silver medals. Jaspal Rana, Abhinav Bindra and Anjali Bhagwat were considered as strong medal prospects but none of them could counter the Chinese and Korean shooters, who swept away most of the medals at stake. The men’s trap shooting team of Manavjit Singh, Mansher Singh and Anwer Sultan and the women’s 10m air rifle team comprising Anjali Bhagwat, Suma Shirur and Deepali Deshpande were the silver medal winners in an otherwise lacklustre Indian display at the Chang Won shooting range. The men’s hockey team, hoping to retain the title they won in the last games in Bangkok, stumbled at the final hurdle and had to be content with the silver medal. The women’s hockey team, gold medal winner at Manchester, had a dismal trip losing all their four matches. The fancied pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, playing together since splitting for a second time six months back, showed signs of the old magic winning the gold in the men’s doubles as the tennis squad contributed four medals to the Indian kitty. Bhupathi and Manisha Malhotra lost in a thrilling final of the mixed doubles event to a Chinese Taipei pair and settled for the silver medal. Leander Paes and Saia Mirza (mixed doubles) and Vishal Uppal and Mustafa Ghouse (men’s doubles) were the bronze medal winners. Former world champion Geet Sethi also turned out to be a disappointment as the billiards team failed to impress despite having the potential. Sethi, a gold medal aspirant, managed a bronze in the individual event while the Indians were made to take the silver in the doubles event. Barring a bronze medal winning effort by Palminder Singh Cheema, none of the other Indian grapplers made it to the podium while the pugilists also failed to make any impact, though four of them reached the quarterfinals. Sailor Nitin Mongia had to settle for a silver in ok Dinghy class following a controversial decision to disqualify him from one of the 11 races. PTI
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Sunita fails another dope test Busan, October 14 Indian contingent’s Chef-de-Mission Jagdish Tytler said today the medical commission of Olympic Council of Asia had informed him that banned substance nandrolone was once again found in the athlete’s urine sample though the level was 50 per cent lower than what was detected in the first instance. The 22-year-old Sunita Rani, who vehemently denied having ever taken any banned substance, has appealed for the test of her B-sample which will be done on October 16, Tytler said. The athlete will be stripped of her medals and banned if her B-sample also returns a positive result. “I have not taken any drug. I am proud to be an Indian and I will not do any wrong,” Sunita Rani, who won the 1500m with a new games record, said. Not ruling out the possibility of contamination of the sample, she said, “While going from the waiting room to the dope test lab, may be someone mixed something. I do not remember. But I had taken water before going for the dope test. “Sometimes we drink water from outside and also share our water bottles.” Sunita Rani is the third Indian to fail a drug test at a major international meet in the last three months. Weightlifters K Madasamy and Satheesa Rai had also tested positive during the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in July- August. The issue has once again put the country in an embarassing situation but Tytler was quick to stress that India stood for drug-free sport. “We would like to record our opposition to use of drug by athletes. It is against the spirit of the games,” he said. While deposing before the medical commission, Sunita Rani stressed that she had not taken any banned drug or chemical or medicine and pointed out that the pre-competition tests done in Delhi prior to her departure for Busan had been negative, Tytler said.
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Saudi Arabians a new running force Busan, October 14 “It’s about how you put it together,” said Smith after Saudi Arabia topped the men’s track and field programme with seven gold medals. Although the Saudis had never won an Asiad athletics gold before, they knew they had the right weaponry coming into Busan. “We expected this. We prepared for this for the past four years in the John Smith programme,” said Saudi athletics boss Prince Nawaf bin Mohammed. Money is no object for the oil-rich kingdom as the previously unheralded Makhlid al-Otaibi won a promise he could have anything he wanted to further his athletics career after pulling off a 5,000m-10,000m double. “He’s the star of the programme,” said the prince. “We will offer him all the facilities he needs to compete at the highest level.” Al-Otaibi, who is already gauranteed $ 80,000 from his country for the double, is the only leading Saudi runner not listed as being coached by John Smith, whose stable includes Olympic champion Maurice Greene and fellow US sprint stars Ato Boldon and Jon Drummond. The Asian Games glory is being treated by Saudi Arabia as the first page of a masterplan which takes in next year’s World Championships in Paris and the Athens Olympics in 2004. “From my perspective there is absolutely plenty to look forward to. With my influence and some of the other coaches, there is lots of potential,” Smith said. Put in perspective, al-Otaibi’s winning 5,000m time of 13 minutes 41.48 seconds would have put him more than a lap behind the great Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie when he ran his world record 12:39.36sec four years ago. But 400m hurdler Hadi al-Somaily, a silver medallist at the Sydney Olympics, and 400m flat runner Hamden al-Bishi are already established among the world best. While the Saudis headed the men’s medal list — their seven gold was three more than China — the Chinese retained their place at the top of the overall table winning 14 of 44 events with only the men’s marathon to be run. Saudi Arabia and India, which also won seven gold medals mainly in women’s events, rocked the established order of Asian track and field. A struggling China failed to meet their own exectations, and their traditional rivals Japan failed all round, dropping to fifth on the honour board behind Kazakhstan. In the blue-riband 100m, Saudi Arabian Jamal al-Saffar shut out Japan’s Nobuhara Asahara who had been by far the quickest Asian this year and came to Busan with a win over Greene under his belt. There was no upset in the women’s 100m where Sri Lankan sprint queen Susanthika Jayasinghe raced away with the crown. But in a cruel twist of fate, her dream of a sprint double was shattered when she aggravated an old right hamstring injury during the heats of the 200m. India’s performance was blighted when Sunita Rani, the women’s 1,500m gold medallist and 5,000m bronze medallist returned a positive doping test. Rani has protested her innocence, and a testing of a “B” sample on October 25 will determine the outcome. The heroic performance at the Games came in the women’s marathon where Ham Pong-Sil struggled to the line suffering stomach pains attributed to living hunger-wracked North Korea. “When I got to the top of the hill at the 40km mark I felt a lot of stomach ache, but I didn’t give up,” said the gold medallist who had a message of support written in blood on her wrist by friends. “I haven’t been eating food in my country, and I think maybe I had digestive problems.” AFP
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Hidayat pips Lee for singles gold Busan, October 14 Hidayat gave another glimpse of his temperamental nature in the final against South Korean Lee Hyun Il, which he won 15-7 15-9, but only after disputing a line call that held up play for five minutes. Later in the women’s doubles final, the Chinese pair of Gao Ling and Huang Sui too protested and their match against South Koreans Ra Kyung-Min and Lee Kyung-Won was stopped for 10 minutes in the second game. Hidayat had staged a two-hour walk-out during the team championship final against South Korea citing biased calls by South Korean linesmen. The 22-year-old Indonesian had lost his match of that tie to Shon Seuong-Mo but extracted revenge in the men’s semi-finals. That match went off smoothly but Hidayat held up the final when he was 9-8 up in the second game. Chief referee Boon Kong Ee of Singapore intervened to control the situation and said the call was good. Hidayat though insisted it was a bad one. “You feel bad when you get such decisions but I’m getting used to it,” said Hidayat. “There was great pressure on me but I guess so was it on Lee. “I thought he didn’t play a good game today,” he said about left-handed Lee, who is currently ranked 13th in the world, one place above Hidayat. Hidayat could not hide his jubilation at sealing victory over Lee with a delightful flick that caught his opponent out of position. The Indonesian clenched his fists and roared his delight in the direction of line judges before waving to Indonesian fans in the stands. There were similar scenes of joy later in the day as the third-seeded Korean pair of Ra Kyung-Min and Lee Kyung-Won prevailed over second seeds Gao Ling and Huang Sui 11-8 11-7 in a tense match. AFP
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Kitajima
Best BUSAN: Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima, who broke swimming’s oldest standing men’s world record, was voted best athlete of the Asian Games which wrapped up on Monday. Kitajima, a triple gold medallist, was the overwhelming choice in the vote by journalists covering the event. He became the first man to crack the 2:10 seconds barrier in the 200m breaststroke in his swim of 2:09.97 to smash American Mike Barrowman’s 10-year-old mark.
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‘Future bright for Pak cricket’
Sharjah, October 14 ‘’I will ask people back in Pakistan to keep in perspective the age of the players, the amount of Tests they have played and look at our opposition,’’ Pybus told newspersons here yesterday. He pointed out that only recently the second best team in the world South Africa was grilled by Australia, losing five matches in six Tests. ‘’And the South African side is a much stronger side than ours. So it is a learning curve for our players, they are learning the literacy of Test cricket. Give us time so that we can identify the players but this cannot be an overnight thing,’’ he added. The 38-year-old Englishman also noted that some of the key players, who formed the nucleus of the Pakistan batting line up, were injured. Pybus pointed out, ‘’If you have Younis at three, Youhana at four and Inzamam at five, this is a world class middle order. Look at the amount of the pressure on Younis now becausehe knows he is looked at for runs. He has played just 23 Tests and is the only one who has an average of over 40.’’ He revealed that he had spoken to Pakistan Cricket Board chief Tauqir Zia yesterday. ‘’I gave my perspective on the defeat. It was a very disappointing performance. But we can take positives from the debacle. ‘’I told him about where we are now and that I need an opportunity to work with the boys. I told him I am very confident that the future is very bright for Pakistan cricket. But we need to do things patiently.’’ Pybus said to sort out the problems in the team, the board and selectors needed to play with a nucleus of players consistently. ‘’I do not believe in reactive management. We need to have consistency. We need to make these players battle hardened.’’ Pybus pointed out that one main reason for Australia’s strength was that their replacement players were all ready for Test cricket. UNI
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Windies
arrive in Chennai Chennai, October 14 The team members checked in at the five-star Taj hotel. “We are disappointed with our performance in Mumbai. We have to make some quick changes in the side,” captain Carl Hooper said during a brief chat with newspersons. Asked what he felt about his team’s chances in the Chennai Test, Hooper said “It’s going to be tough. But we will take it as it comes.” Hooper welcomed the inclusion of cricket in the next Asian Games at Doha in 2006. “It’s good. There are some great cricketers in this part of the world.” The Caribbeans, who wil be playing what would be their eighth Test against India in Chennai, will go to the nets tomorrow. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association authorities said eight members of the Indian team, including Rahul Dravid besides Zaheer Khan and Sanjay Bangar, were scheduled to reach here by this evening. Saurav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar will be arriving here tomorrow morning.
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All-India Junior Golf opens today Chandigarh, October 14 In this tournament four categories of juniors/subjuniors are taking part : Class ‘A’ (15 to 17 years); Class ‘B’ (13 to 14 years ) ; Class ‘C’ (11 to 12 years) and Class ‘D’ (under 10 years). There are 94 entries in all the four classes. All the participants had two days of practice round to acquaint themselves with the playing conditions of the golf course. It will be pleasing to see young budding golfers, some carrying their own bags, some pulling a trolley and a few taking help from the caddies. Mr Jaskirat Singh Dullet, and Ajeetesh Sandhu, who have recently won the junior championship in their respective categories, will be in the field to retain their titles. Other prominent golfers Sagar Bhatia, Nitin Mittal, Zorawar Singh and Sanyal will also be participating. The youngest participant is Virat Badhwar from Delhi Golf Club. It will be a pleasant surprise to see Rohit Singh, son of a seasoned professional Rohtas Singh, also playing in ‘‘B’’ Class . It is going to be more interesting as the father will be playing in the Hero Pro Tour at Forest Hill Resort and Country Club and Rohit will be playing at the Chandigarh Golf Club, Chandigarh. Tee off will be at 7.30 a.m. on October 15. |
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Chandigarh
lose to Bihar Chandigarh, October 14 Score: Boys team championship: Zone I: Bihar b Chandigarh 2-1 (Subodh Sharan Sinha (Bihar) lost to Dhruv Chakraborty (Chd) 19-17, 24-20; Md. Mubassir (Bihar) b Rahul Nanda (Chd) 12-25, 25-0,25-0; Mithilesh Kumar (Bihar) b Taranpreet (chd) 25-2, 21-17. Zone I: AP b J&K 3-0 (D.S.R.K. Reddy (Andhra) b Mohd. Salim Mir (J&K) 25-0, 25-0; D. Sudhakar (Andhra) b Nadeema Ahmed (J&K) ) 25-0, 25-0. Zone II: Assam b Kerala 3-0 (Ritupan Dutta (Assam) b E.S. Arun (Kerala) 25-1, 25-0; B. Rabha (Assam) b R. Prashant (Kerala) 25-0, 25-0; Abhijit (Assam) b M.L. Arun (Kerala) 25-0, 25-7. Zone II: Meghalaya b Chhattisgarh 3-0; B. Shouten (Meg) b. Sayed Arshad Ali (chat) 15-13, 25-4; R. Noungram (Meg) b Sumit Somani (Chat) 25-1, 25-8; Lo Laloo (Megh) b Ashquer-ul-Haque (Chat) 25-0, 25-0. Zone III: Orissa b Goa 3-0 (Santosh Kumar Roy (Ori) b Andrew Candreila (Goa) 25-0, 25-15; Jitender Kumar (Ori) b Agnelo Almeido (Goa) 25-0, 25-0. Zone IV: Gujarat b Tripura 3-0 (Manoj Solanki (Guj) b Pinku Devnath (Tri) 25-0, 25-0; Deepak Solanki (Guj) b Prasenjit (Tri) 25-0, 25-0; Magesh Khopkar (Guj) b Sushant Acharjee (Tri) 25-0, 25-0. Girls team championship: Maharashtra b J&K 3-0 (Komal Kajrolkar (Mah) b Tazeem Khan (J&K ) 25-0, 25-0; Anjali Sangam (Mah) b Rabia Sofi (J&K) 25-0, 25-0; Ashmita Kanukale (Mah) b Shaila (J&K) 25-0, 25-0; Hyderabad b Chandigarh 3-0; (Preeti Ashwa (Hyd) b Pallavi Piplani (Chd) 25-0, 25-6; Asma H. Ansari (Hyd) b Shikha Nanda (Chd) 23-7, 20-13; Ch. Srenica (Hyd) b Juguna Deewan (Chd) 25-6, 25-0; AP beat Punjab 3-0 (Ch. Niharika (AP) b Bholu Kapoor (Pun) 25-0, 25-5; M. Nalini Kumari (AP) b Sukhpreet kaur (Pun) 25-0, 25-4; G. Naga Sulochana (AP) b Ramandeep Kaur 25-0,25-0. |
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Sports
varsity in Sirsa Karnal, October 14 This was announced by the Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala while addressing the players after inaugurating 37th state school level sports meet at Karan Stadium here today. The Chief Minister announced that the Haryana Government would award a sum of Rs 10 lakh Rs 7 lakh and Rs 5 lakh to the players who would bring gold, bronze and silver, respectively, in Asiad Games and Rs 7 lakh Rs 5 lakh and Rs 3 lakh to gold, silver and bronze winners, respectively during Common Wealth Games. The Chief Minister also congratulated the players hailing from Haryana who gave excellent performance during Asiad Games held at Busan. He yesterday visited the house of Ram Mehar at Bhiwani, captain of Indian kabaddi team which won gold. He also went to Jind to congratulate Ms Neelam Jai Singh who had won laurel in Asiad Games. |
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Randhawa
sports adviser to VC New Delhi, October 14 Swarn Singh Bopari, a Padmashree and Kirti Chakra award winner, is keen to strengthen and broadbase the sports set-up in the 50-odd colleges under Punjabi University. Randhawa has been roped in to prepare the blue print and execute the plans to make Punjabi University the numero uno in
sports in the country once again. “I am really honoured to be
associated with such a highly decorated person. It’s a privilege to
be the sports adviser to Bopari”, Randhawa noted. Randhawa was a
gold medallist in the 1962 Asian Games at Jakarta, and was adjudged
the ‘Best Asian Athlete’ the same year. He had finished fifth in
the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo with a record time of 14.0 secs in the
110-metre hurdles. Randhawa said his thrust would be to tap certain pockets under Punjabi University to unearth talent in specific sports disciplines and groom them for bigger deeds, instead of spreading thin the sports budget of the university. Randhawa
informed that the Vice-Chancellor has called a meeting of all the
principals of colleges under Punjabi University on October 23 in
Patiala, in which the principals would be told to concentrate on
chosen disciplines to produce better results. “For example, Sangrur
is a nursery for boxing and if we can tap talent from there and groom
them, it would be good for the sport.” “I will also request the
VC to provide incentives to the youngsters who excel in sports to
enable them to remain focussed on their chosen discipline and bring
honours not only to Punjabi University, but also to the country”,
Randhawa said. The former Olympian will also liaise with the Punjab
Government for securing the necessary assistance and help from the
government for furthering sports activity in Punjabi University. Randhawa
said he would also emphasise on the need to organise more competitions
at the college and university-level “as unless competitions are
regularly held, there would be no encouraging results”. |
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Amarjit
stars in PU victory Fatehgarh Sahib. October 14 All the goals were scored in the first half. Amarjit Singh gave the lead to his team by scoring the first goal in the 27th minute. After three minutes he consolidated the lead scoring the second goal in 30th minute. Gurmit Singh scored the third goal in the 33rd minute and sealed the fate of the PAU team. The second half mostly confined to the midfield. The second match of the tournament between the Punjabi University, Patiala and Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar was a goa-less draw. Both the teams missed the chances of scoring.
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GND varsity basketball Amritsar, October 14 Hindu Kanya College, Kapurthala, remained runners-up in ‘A’ division, while BBK DAV College for Women, Amritsar, remaind third. SN College, for Women, Amritsar, got runners-up position in the ‘B’ division and the SHKMV Kala Sanghian placed third.
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