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Safin, Henman advance;
Ferrero crashes out
IOC closing gap on drug cheats Visa formalities hit Anju’s plans Bahadur qualifies
for Olympics Probables for Asian volleyball championship |
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Final decision on Kale on June 2 Rameez Raja on way out?
Seeded players advance Fatehgarh Sahib to host Punjab football Sub-junior wrestling results Ludhiana lads win a cliffhanger DPCA scores win in cricket tourney Hamirpur defeat Nahan B Humpy reaches quarters
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Safin, Henman advance;
Ferrero crashes out
Paris, May 28 Sporting a look reminiscent of Alexander Dumas' French Musketeers, the moustachioed Russian eventually triumphed 6-4 2-6 6-2 6-7 11-9 to reach the third round of the claycourt grand slam. His relief was palpable as he hugged the Spaniard at the net following the four-hour, 38-minute marathon. Safin takes his place against Potito Starace for a place in the fourth round. Briton Tim Henman played a dream of a match to hammer Spain's Galo Blanco 7-6 6-1 6-2 and move into the last 16 of the French Open for the first time on his ninth visit here. ''In the past when I got to the third round here I was really excited that I won a couple of matches at the French,'' Henman said. ''But the state that my game is in now and the way I am playing I think I want much more out of it.'' Henman will play unseeded Frenchman Michael Llodra for a place in the quarter-finals. The Briton has never gone beyond round four at any grand-slam event outside of Wimbledon. Stricken Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero joined fellow defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne on the French Open scrapheap as the second Grand Slam event of the season was hit by another shockwave. Ferrero, whose participation in the tournament had been in doubt because of wrist and rib injuries, lost his second round match 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 to tournament debutant Igor Andreev of Russia yesterday. “I couldn’t play my best tennis. I wasn’t good physically and wasn’t arriving at the ball at the right time,” said 24-year-old Ferrero. “I was hitting the ball too late and I couldn’t push hard enough. My ribs felt alright, but then I started having cramps in my left leg which made it so difficult to stay in the match. Ferrero’s defeat, in 2hr 2min, follows those of sixth seed Andre Agassi and second seed Andy Roddick and gave 20-year-old Andreev a third round clash against France’s Julien Benneteau. In women's action, Russia's Maria Sharapova stormed through to the fourth round with an impressive 6-3 7-6 victory over compatriot and 10th seed Vera Zvonareva. The 17-year-old Siberian, seeded 18th, blasted past her fellow Russian, who beat Venus Williams en route to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last year. Florida-based Sharapova faces unseeded German Marlene Weingaertner for a place in the quarter-finals. ''The joy just comes from knowing that you've played a solid game and knowing that you're at Roland Garros playing on Philippe Chatrier (centre) court and you've just won,'' she said. ''It's my first time, so I definitely, you know, want to savour those moments.'' Weingaertner provided the early shock of the day when she ousted eighth-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova 6-3 6-2. Petrova, a semi-finalist last year, made 29 unforced errors. Weingaertner, who did not win a single game in her last meeting with Petrova, reached the fourth round here for the first time. ''I was very, very calm during the whole match,'' she said. ''Even at the end, I was focused very much on my game. ''I think that was the key. If I play my tennis, I can beat players like this.'' In later action, women's third seed Amelie Mauresmo faces Arantxa Parra Santonja and fifth seed Lindsay Davenport plays fellow American Marissa Irvin. Men's third seed Guillermo Coria takes on Croatia's Mario Ancic. American title favourites Serena and Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati all won through to the third round. Serena Williams, the 2002 champion, had to come back from a set down to beat 17-year-old Russian Maria Kirilenko winning 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 and she next faces Croatia’s Silvija Talaja. Williams eased past Croatia’s Jelena Kostanic 6-3, 6-3 while Pierce saw off Spain’s Gala Leon Garcia 6-1, 6-1.
— AFP, Reuters |
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Bhupathi-Mirnyi in third round New Delhi, May 28 The third seeded Indo-Belarussian pair defeated Karol Kucera of Slovakia and Australian Todd Perry 4-6 7-6 (7/2) 6-4 in the second round.
— PTI |
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IOC closing gap on drug cheats
London, May 28 But the gap is closing, and with the Athens games less than three months away, anti-doping officials say the chances of beating the culprits are better than ever. Armed with new tests for previously undetectable substances, expanded pre-games and in-competition controls and a new global resolve against drugs in sports, the Olympic doping police are making gains in their “zero-tolerance” drive. “It has always been a game between the gamekeeper and the poacher, and mostly the poacher has a bigger advance on the gamekeeper,” IOC President Jacques Rogge said. “But today I can say we have caught up with the cheats and we have the tests that are needed.” Since the IOC began drug-testing at the Olympics in 1968, there have been a total of 59 confirmed positive cases at nine summer games and 12 positives at 10 winter games. The most positives at a summer Olympics was 12 at the 1984 Los Angeles games. There were 11 in Sydney four years ago. The 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics produced seven doping cases, two more than the total at all previous winter games. The highest-profile Olympic drug bust, of course, came at the 1988 Seoul games, where Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal in the 100 metres after testing positive for the steroid stanozolol. Big stars also were nabbed in Salt Lake City, German-born Spaniard Johann Muehlegg was stripped of three gold medals, while Russians Larissa Lazutina and Olga Danilova lost gold and silver medals. The three cross-country skiers were caught after the IOC secretly introduced a test for Aranesp, or darbepoetin, a newly detected endurance-enhancing drug. “The IOC never hesitated to disqualify famous athletes. May I remind you of Ben Johnson,” Rogge said. “We have sent home famous athletes in the last Olympic Games. We will do it in the future if that is needed, there is no doubt about that.” Among the measures for Athens: The IOC plans a 25 per cent increase in the number of tests, including 2,500 in-competition controls and 380 pre-event checks. There will be extensive testing for EPO, which boosts endurance by stimulating production of red blood cells. A combined blood-urine EPO test was first introduced in Sydney, but produced no positive findings. Since then, experts have agreed on a stand-alone urine test. The top four in all finals will be tested, plus two others at random. In endurance events, all medal winners will also be screened for EPO. The testing programme will begin with the opening of the Olympic village on July 30 and last until the closing ceremony on August 29. Athletes can be tested anywhere in the world, including training sites, during that period. Pre-games tests have been expanded to cover the “full menu” of banned drugs, not just those prohibited out of competition. Previously, out-of-competition controls did not test for certain stimulants. Tests will screen for THG, the steroid unmasked last year that is at the center of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative scandal. Athletes who claim to have certain medical conditions, such as asthma, will be required to apply for “therapeutic exemptions” for use of any medications.
— AP |
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Visa formalities
hit Anju’s plans
Bangalore, May 28 Anju, the strong medal contender for the Athens Olympics, told PTI that visa requirements pertaining to her visits to different countries to participate in build-up events were “yet to be sorted out”. “While the US visa is expected this week, that of the UK may come early next week,” she said. Once she leaves India, which was likely on Tuesday night or Wednesday, Anju plans to come back to the country only after the Olympics. If Anju does not complete the visa requirements now, she would have to come back to India to get her passport stamped for visits to the countries where she plans to take part in the build-up competitions ahead of the major event, an exercise she wants to avoid. The 27-year-old star, the first Indian athlete to win a medal (bronze) at world championship, had originally planned to start off the second phase of the Olympic goal with the Hengelo event in the Netherlands, European season’s first Grand Prix meet. Now that it is off her list, she is also likely to skip the Turin meet in Italy on June 4, a Grand Prix II event. Her first stop is likely to be the Super Grand Prix meet at Ostrava in the Czech Republic on June 8. Husband Coach Bobby George said Anju would make Paris her training base in the run-up to the Olympics, during which she is hoping to take part in six to eight Grand Prix and Super Grand Prix meets.
— PTI |
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Bahadur qualifies for Olympics
New Delhi, May 28 Bahadur, who became the seventh Indian athelete to qualify for the mega event to be held in August, cleared the qualifying mark of 20.30 metres for the Olympics, Athletics Federation of India secretary Lalit K Bhanot told UNI here today. Bahadur bagged the gold while A Borodkin of Ukraine took the silver with an effort of 20.12 metres and his compatriot Y Porko Menk managed the bronze with a distance of 19.19 metres. Other athletes who have already ensured their Athens berth are Anju Bobby George (Women's Long Jump), Neelam J Singh (Women's Discus), Amritpal Singh (Men's Long Jump), K M Binu (Men's 400m), Rajwinder Kaur (Women's 400m) and J J Sobha (Heptathlon).
— UNI |
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Probables for Asian volleyball championship
Chennai, May 28 A total of 18 senior and 21 junior players selected as probables would attend preparatory camps in Bangalore, VFI Secretary K. Murugan said in a release here. The senior event is to be held at Visakhapatnam from July 13 to 18 and the Asian Junior in Doha from September 3 to 10. Probables: (Senior): Kapil Dev K.J. Kamaraj, Vineeth, P.S. Srikanth, M.N. Vikram, Amir Singh, Natarajan, Jitender, V Subba Rao, G Pradeep, Sube Singh, Rateesh, Dinesh, Tom Joseph, Sanjay Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Arun Jagmola and Kulwanth Singh. Junior: Rampal, Vikas Tomar, Sayoog, Ramakrishna Raju, Sudarshan Varma, Sudipta Kumar, Anand Mishra, Kartikeyan, Saravanan, Gurbinder Singh, Shelton Moses, Anil Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Gurvinder Singh, Maharahan, Gurpreet Singh, Balwinder Singh, Karthik Srikanth, Palaniandi, Satish Kumar and Darshan Singh. Dr G Kishore, Director, SAI-South Centre, distributed cash awards amounting to Rs.4.5 lakh from the Central Government to Indian youth boy’s team for winning the Asian Youth Championship and for finishing runner-ups in the World Youth Championship in Bangkok last year. The VFI had already given Rs 20 lakh to the Youth team for their stupendous performance. VFI President B Sivanthi Adityan would present Rs 3 lakh to the senior men’s team that won the SAF Games title in Islamabad in March. the release added.
— PTI |
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Final decision on Kale on June 2
Kolkata, May 28 Disclosing this, board sources told PTI that the three-member disciplinary committee constituted to investigate the matter would meet at a city five-star hotel next Wednesday before announcing the much-awaited final verdict. All members of the committee — BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya, and Vice-Presidents Kamal Morarka and Ranbir Singh Mahendra — will attend the meeting. The board’s decision on the biggest scandal to rock Indian cricket since the betting controversy has been delayed as Morarka was abroad on a personal trip. He also failed to attend the May 15 meeting when the committee concluded its hearing on the case which came to light in mid-November following complaints lodged by two selectors Pranab Roy and Kiran More that Kale had offered Rs 10 lakh to each of them to buy a place in the Australia-bound Indian team last year. Based on complaints, the board suspended Kale and appointed chairman of the Bar Council of India D.V. Subba Rao as Inquiry Commissioner. On receiving Rao’s report, the disciplinary committee framed charges against the cricketer and issued a show cause to him.
— PTI |
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Rameez Raja on way out?
Islamabad, May 28 Although there has been no official announcement to this effect, it was reported that PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan had got the green signal from President Pervez Musharraf to revamp the board set-up and “make changes at the top”. The papers said Shaharyar has decided to appoint Abu Shamim
Arif, a retired bureaucrat, in place of Raja shortly. The PCB chief had met Musharraf, who is also the chief patron of the PCB, two days ago and discussed a host of issues, including the recently concluded India-Pakistan series as well as plans to improve domestic cricket structure. Raja and Shaharyar have apparently not been getting along well ever since the latter took over in December last year, local daily ‘Dawn’ said in a report.
Shaharyar, a former Foreign Secretary, has been open in his disapproval of Raja’s dual role as he felt it was a conflict of interests. Despite the PCB chief’s displeasure, Raja declined to quit as commentator for broadcasters Ten Sports on the ground that the post of the CEO was honorary and he was not on the payrolls of the PCB while he made a living out of his commentator’s job.
Shaharyar has picked Abu Shamin for the coveted post as he was close friend of his. The PCB chief, it was reported, was keen that the post should be held only by someone whom he trusted.
— PTI |
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Irish rejoice at return of prodigal Keane
Dublin, May 28 Roy Keane's return to the national side, one of the most eagerly-awaited events in Irish soccer history, did not disappoint yesterday, despite his failure to score a goal. ''Roymania 1, Romania 0,'' crowed the Irish Sun after the Irish saw off the Romanians by a single goal at Dublin's Lansdowne Road. ''Joy Keane!'' trilled the Irish Star, ''Winning Royturn,'' gushed the Irish Mirror. All was forgiven for the mercurial midfielder, who broke fans' hearts twice, first by pulling out on the eve of the 2002 World Cup after a bust-up with former manager Mick McCarthy, and later by quitting the international game. Despite having bitterly divided the country and driven grown men to tears, the Manchester United captain received a standing ovation from Lansdowne Road's 42,000-strong crowd. ''He was brilliant, delivering a performance of pride, passion and panache that had everything bar a goal,'' the Irish Mirror said. While Keane came close to scoring twice on Thursday -- drilling a low shot across the goal in the eighth minute and again hitting a close-range effort early in the second half -- it was fellow midfielder Matt Holland who sealed the Irish victory with a sublime right-foot volley five minutes from time. Nevertheless, manager Brian Kerr, whose skilful overtures brought Keane back into the fold, was quietly pleased. ''He gave us a bit of presence and changed the play...and I think he showed why we wanted him back in the squad,'' he said. The Irish Sun, which put Keane's picture on page one and devoted a further six pages to match analysis, hailed a ''brilliant'' performance, quoting Romanian boss Anghel Iordanescu's praise of the Cork man as ''truly world-class''. ''Rumours of Keano's demise have, it appears, been greatly exaggerated,'' the paper said. In the broadsheets the prodigal's return was more poetic, a matter of restoring balance to the national psyche. Keane, ''magisterial and stern...still with that spare thunder in his eyes...was saying 'I'm here, let's move on','' said the Irish Independent. ''Back in green. Back in harmony,'' it added. —
Reuters |
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Seeded players advance Ludhiana, May 28 The seeded players were closely followed by Amit Sharma of Jalanadhar and Gursher Singh, Amarjit Singh and Jaipreet Singh all from Ludhiana with 2.5 points. In the third round Ludhiana champion, Arvinderpreet defeated Rajiv Verma in a 51 moves, played on theoretical lines of Roy Lopez Breyer variation. Due to a weak 15th move, Rajiv Verma lost a pawn on the 20th move. The single pawn advantage was enough for the champion to maintain pressure on Rajiv till the end. Rajiv, however, managed to prolong the game with opposite colour bishops but could not save the game. Ashwani Tiwari outplayed Randeep Singh of Faridkot with white pieces in 48 moves of Sicilian Alapin variation. Randeep committed an error in the ninth move and lost a pawn but displayed resourceful play to recover it within 10 moves. End-game from Ashwani forced Randeep to surrender in 48 moves. Third round results: Ashwani Tiwari b Randeep Singh; Arvindearpreet b Rajiv Verma; Neeraj Khera b Rohit Aggarwal; Gursher Singh drew Amit; Pardeep Arora b Harbans Singh; Mukesh b Vikarmjit; G.R. Loomba lost to Intekhab Alam; Amarjit Singh drew with Jaipreet; Kapil Gupta b Sukhdev Singh; Karan Kapoor lost to R.B. Singh; Bhupinder b Manav Sheetal; Jatinder Kapoor b Khushbir; Rajinder Sharma b Juninder; Harinderjit b Sandeep and R.K. Uppal b Diljeet Singh. |
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Fatehgarh Sahib to host Punjab football Chandigarh, May 28 This was decided at the annual general meeting of the Punjab Football Asso-ciation held at Phagwara today. The meeting was presided over by Mr JC Sodhi, senior vice-president of the PFA, in the absence of the association president, Mr Samir Thapar, who is away to the USA for treatment. According the secretary of the PFA, Mr Inder Singh, the sub-junior championship (under-16) will be held at Ropar. The Punjab State Super League will be played on home-and-away basis in which all clubs of the state will take part. The meeting lauded the achievement of international IM Vijayan, who was conferred the Arjuna Award last year and thanked the All-India Football Federation for nominating international Joe Paul Ancheri for the award next year. It also felicitated Arjuna awardee Gurdev Singh for being nominated on the technical committee of the AIFF. Representatives of all district units attended today’s meeting. |
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Sub-junior wrestling results Jalandhar, May 28 Anup, a student of 10th class in Government Senior Secondary School, Kur Khan, a remote village in Sonepat, virtually faced no difficulty in defeating Suraj of Uttar Pradesh 7-0 in a one-sided affair. Son of an agriculturist, Anup dominated the proceedings from the word go and never allowed his opponent to settle down. Third place went to Vishvanathan of the SSCB, who defeated Suraj of UP on points. In the finals of Free Style (42 kg category), Ranjit of Madhya Pradesh won gold medal as he defeated Surinder of DAWA 10-9 in a nail-biting finish. Third place was secured by Dharminder of Nidanai, who defeated Mahesh of the SSCB by fall. Results: Greeco Roman: 42kg: Tejpal (TN) beat Mandeep (Nidani) on points; Naveen (Pondi) beat Vinod Kumar (J&K) by fall; Anup (Haryana) beat Harish (DAWA) on points; Jagmeet (Punjab) beat Sandeep (Jharkhand) on points; Vishva beat Shri Sahil (Karna) by fall; Sunil (Gujarat) beat Sameer (Maha) by fall. Semi-Finals: Anup (Haryana) beat Tejpal (TN) by fall; Suraj (UP) beat Vishvanath (SSCB) on points; 46 kg: Sahin (DSAW) beat Ravi Singh (Manipur) by fall; Surinder (Haryana) beat Akhlesh Kumar (Bihar) on points; Sanjay (MP) beat Sandeep (SSCB) by fall; Sandeep Sanvant (Maharashtra) beat Bhagwan (Rajasthan) by fall; Harikishan (Punjab) beat Rahul (UP) by fall; Manish (Jharkhand) beat Vital (Karna) by fall; Surinder (Pondi) beat Pardeep (DAWA) by fall; Deepak (TN) beat Surjit Kumar (J&K) by fall. 50 kg: Vikrant (MP) beat Madan (Chd) on points; Sugit (Orissa) beat Parangit (Manipur) on points; Narpreet (Punjab) beat Harish (Rajasthan) on points; Shree beat Sambhu (Jharkhand) by fall. 54kg: Ajitpal (DSAW) beat Satish (Gujarat) by fall; Parveen beat Ramacharan (Bihar) by fall; Hanumant (Goa) beat Anish (Rajasthan) on points; Sagar (SSCB) beat Saket Mishra (WB) by fall; Sandeep (Maha) beat Subash (Nidani) by fall; Mohamad Swaley (UP) beat Sachin (DAWA) on points; Harish Sharma (MP) beat Satyan Dass (Orrisa) by fall; Hanumant (Karn) beat Vinod Kumar (Jhar) on points; Virpal (Punjab) beat Vikas (TN) by fall. Free Style: 42 kg (semi-finals): Surinder (DAWA) beat Mahesh (SSCB) by fall; Ranjeet (MP) beat Dharminder (Nidani) by fall. 50 kg (2nd round): Sumit (DAWA) beat Bache Lal (UP) by fall; Amit (Nidani) beat Satish (Uttranchal) by fall; Munish (MP) beat Dhanant Patil (Maha) by fall; Madhu Donde (Karnataka) beat Meenu Da (Delhi) by fall. |
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Ludhiana lads win a cliffhanger Ludhiana, May 28 Resuming at the overnight score of 17 for one, Mohali were struggling at 70 for 4. Then, their innings witnessed a valuable 70-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Harmanbir and Harpreet Jr. Right-arm leg spinner, Gagandeep Dhand (4 for 80) and Sushyant Kohli ( 3 for 76) bowled exceptionally well to contain the visitors at 208 for 9. Harmanbir’s gallant knock of 67 runs went in vain as the last batsman, trying to steal a single, got himself run out. Brief scores: Ludhiana 217 all out in 85.4 overs Mohali- 216 all out in 87.1 overs ( Rahul 19, Yuvraj Singh 35, Harmanbir 67, Harpreet Jr 33; Gagandeep Dhand 4 for 80, Sushyant Kohli 3 for 76) |
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DPCA scores win in cricket tourney Patiala, May 28 Brief scores: MES (A), CC: 107 all out (Ujjwal 19, Jaspreet Singh 20, Raminder Singh 12, Ankit Sharma 4 for 23, Anubhav 2 for 9, Sunil 2 for 22). DPCA, Panchkula: 108 for 8 (Ashish Kumar 21, Prasant 16, Ankit Kumar 12, Gaurav Joshi 3 for 30, Jaspreet Singh 2 for 27). In another match played at the Army School grounds, Prachar Cricket Club, Ghaziabad, downed Karnal Coaching Centre by 22 runs. Brief scores: Prachar CC Ghaziabad: 104 all out
(Ankur Tiwari 21, Tarun 17, Vishesh Kumar 13, Ajay 2 for 30, Naveen 2 for 8, Sumit 2 for 18). Karnal CC: 82 all out (Ajay 25, Sunny 17, Nitish 2 for 11, Tarun 3 for 16). |
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Hamirpur defeat
Nahan B Nahan, May 28 The biggest football tournament of the Sirmour district was inaugurated by Mr M.L. Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, Sirmour, today. As many as 11 football teams from Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttaranchal and Delhi are participating in the four-day tournament. Mr Deepak Sharma, General Secretary, All-India Rakesh Memorial Football Tournament Committee, informed that three matches would be played everyday at the Chowgan. |
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Humpy reaches quarters
Elista, Russia, May 28 Humpy, who got the better of Kosintseva was victorious in both the games that were played in rapid chess format, will play against World Cup winner Xu Yuhua of China tomorrow. In the first game playing with black, Humpy managed to win in the endgame and in the second, she won the middle position collecting an extra piece. — UNI |
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Mongia is champion Mumbai, May 28 |
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