Saturday, August 1, 1998
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S P O R T | Saturday, August 1, 1998 |
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US Women swimmers |
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 Penny Heyns of South Africa swims on her way to take first place in the women's 100 meter breaststroke while swimming for the World All Stars against the USA at the Goodwill Games in Uniondale, New York, on Thursday. — AP/PTI Benson Barus wins gold in 10,000 m ANNENCY (France), July 31 — Benson Barus won gold for Kenya in the 10,000 metres World Junior Athletics Championship here but it was handed to him on a plate when compatriot Salim Kipsang stopped at the bell for the start of the final lap. |
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US women swimmers to the fore UNIONDALE, July 31 (AP) — Jenny Thompson thought she was tired after a tough night at the Goodwill Games. Then she remembered how grueling and successful Cristina Teuscher's night had been. "I am so spent," Thompson said after holding on in the final decisive event, the 400-metre freestyle relay. "The last 5 metres were fuzzy and in slow motion, like I was in saving private ryan." A night before, the final relay was the downfall of the US men against Germany. This time, the US team won. The American women gained a 65-57 victory over the World All-Stars with a relay triumph anchored by Thompson, a five-time Olympic gold medallist. But Thompson said the real hero was Teuscher, who won the 800 and 400 freestyles and swam an outstanding third leg on the final relay. "I shouldn't be complaining," said Thompson, 25, holding her cramping side. "Cristina had a tougher night and she did a tremendous job." The dual meet victory over the all-stars put the Americans on the inside track for the team gold medal. The two teams each won seven of the 14 events, but the USA won the meet because their finished 2-3 in five of the seven events the all-stars won. Thompson swam the
butterfly leg on the medley relay and won the 100
butterfly in the seventh-fastest time in history, just
five minutes before the freestyle relay. No U.S. Woman besides the three veterans won an individual event. But Richelle Fox played a big role in the freestyle relay. Swimming first, she took a one-second lead over Rania Elwani of Egypt. Sylvia Bereknyei maintained a half-second edge over Nadezhda Chemezova of Russia before Teuscher completed her gruelling night by extending the margin to 1.3 seconds over Wilma Van Hofwegen of the Netherlands. Martina Moravcova of Slovakia cut into the margin against Thompson, but couldn’t catch her. The times were 3 minutes, 45 seconds for the USA and 3:45.39 for the world team. "It was slow motion, but I made it to the wall,’’ Thompson said. Michelle Kwan dazzled the crowd and the judges at figure skating. The two-time world champion and Olympic silver medallist scored a string of 5.9s and one perfect 6 to take the lead after the women’s short programme. European champion Maria Butrskaya of Russia was second and Viktoriya Volchkova of Russia was third. It was another rough night for American boxers. Michael Evans lost a tight 3-2 decision to Russian featherweight Andrei Koslovsky in the first fight yesterday before a 13-9 loss by light middleweight Jermain Taylor to another Russian, Gaidarbek Gaidarbekov. Koslovsky will meet the winner of the bout between Teaunce Shepherd and Russia’s Aleksandr Mitishev in Saturday’s final. The USA placed a fighter in 10 of the 12 bouts yesterday at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. Only three of the seven American semifinalists who fought on Wednesday advanced to the final round. World champions Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov led the ice dance after the figure skating short programme, ahead of another Russian couple, Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh. Americans Jessica Joseph and Charles Butler were fourth. In women’s beach volleyball, the top two teams stayed unbeaten, while the defending champions got their first win. No. 1 Shelda Bede and
Adriana Behar of Brazil beat Julien Manser and Kerri
Pottharst of Australia, 15-9, before Lisa Arce and Holly
Mcpeak defeated Eva Celboa and Sona Dosoudilova of the
Czech Republic by the same score. |
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'Titanic' heartthrob visits Sang NEW YORK, July 31 (AP) — Paralysed Chinese gymnast Sang Lan was moved to a Manhattan rehabilitation clinic, where she was visited by actor Leonardo Dicaprio. She arrived yesterday in Manhattan by ambulance from Nassau County Medical Center for what her family hopes will be the first step in a return to athletic competition. Immobilised on a stretcher, with her parents walking alongside, she was carried through a media horde into the Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Institute. Her dreams of gold in the Goodwill Games were dashed, but the vivacious young woman quickly revealed another desire this week — to meet Dicaprio. The actor paid a private visit to Sang Lan at the hospital yesterday, according to a one-sentence statement released by a public relations firm on his behalf. The visit was confirmed by hospital spokesman Mel Granick, who said he had no further information except that the pair met for about an hour. To prepare for the
23-year-old "Titanic" star’s visit, the
young woman even learned a few words of English. She can
say, Hi, How are you?’’ Sang, who was China’s 1997 national vault champion, is fascinated with American pop culture. The teenager broke her neck a week ago during a warm-up vault at the Nassau Coliseum. She underwent surgery on Saturday, but has little sensation from the chest down. Doctors have discounted some toe movement as an involuntary twitch. Still, her spirits were soaring. "I am so happy. I feel no more pain in my neck," she told a Chinese reporter earlier this week at the hospital in East Meadow. At Mount Sinai, she will benefit from one of the few model spinal cord injury centers in the USA," said Dr. Brock Schnebel, chief medical officer for the Goodwill Games. However, he said in a statement, "there has been no change in Sang Lan’s neurological condition". In addition to physical treatment, including an experimental nerve-building drug, the teenager will get moral support from Chinese staff doctors and students at the hospital on Manhattan’s upper east side. "We’re going to translate for her. And we can give her another kind of care make her feel she’s not alone," said Dr. Jian Dong of Mount Sinai. "For the next several weeks, she will learn to optimise her physical skills ... And enhance her transition back to everyday activities," Granick said in a statement. It was here that New York Jet's Dennis Byrd was treated for a paralysing spinal cord injury he suffered during a game six years ago. The former American football player’s recovery was termed "Miraculous." To buoy her spirits at the
center, Sang also brought a treasured item: A bulletin
board adorned with Dicaprio’s picture and cards from
hundreds of well-wishers. |
Benson Barus wins gold in 10,000 m ANNENCY (France), July 31 (AFP) — Benson Barus won gold for Kenya in the 10,000 metres World Junior Athletics Championship here but it was handed to him on a plate when compatriot Salim Kipsang stopped at the bell for the start of the final lap. Kipsang, who was running in his first race outside Kenya, recovered well enough to still take silver with Ethiopian Alene Emere in third — giving the Kenyans a 4-3 lead over Ethiopia in the event, since the championships started in 1986. "We were lapping a fellow at the time and I thought the bell was for him," Kipsang said yesterday. A bemused Barus ran on looking behind him to see where Kipsang had gone but fortunately his compatriot was so far ahead of Emere that he didn’t lose out on silver as well. The race favourite said Berrioui of Morocco, who made the senior world final in Athens last year, dropped out with five and a half laps to go cutting a disconsolate figure as he trudged across the infield looking down at his ankles. In women’s 3,000 metres the orient mastered the African challenge as Lili Lin of China cantered home to a win. Lin, who posted the fastest ever time for a junior at 5,000 metres when she ran fourth in the senior championships though it was not ratified because there was no drugs test, blew away her African challenger Kiplagat of Kenya and Ethiopian Yimenhasu Taye with a lap to go. Lin was unstoppable as she cruised through the final lap while compatriot Lixin Lan faded badly being passed by Kiplagat, reigning junior cross country champion. Hungary’s Zoltan
Kovago left it to the very last throw to claim the world
junior discus title leaving British hope Emeka Udechuku a
bitterly frustrated man. Kovago, who had led the competition from the second throw to the fifth when Udechuku seized the initiative with a mark of 57.99, unleashed a massive throw of 59.36 to take gold while compatriot Gabor Mate, who only qualified for the final with his last throw in the qualifiers, won bronze with 56.96. For Udechuku, son of Nigerian parents who was educated at the top English public school Dulwich College, it was the reverse of last year’s European discus championships where he had clinched the title on the last throw. The men’s long jump went to Bulgaria’s Petar Dachev, who is the senior indoor titleholder, with a jump of 8.14 metres, while French hope Yann Domenech failed to make the last three rounds mustering a mere 7.11 metres. Finland’s Aki Heikkinen took the decathlon title rounding it off with victory in the 1500 metres, waving in celebration to the crowd and going on a lap of honour afterwards. Heikkinen, who won with a total of 7476 points, pushed his opponents to the limit with both the second Thomas Poge of Germany and bronze medallist Jaako Ojaniemi of Finland posting personal bests of 7332 and 7246 points, respectively. The men’s 10 km walk proved a real test of endurance in the sweltering heat illustrated by the world junior leader this year Xavier Moreno of Ecuador who finished eighth. Russian Roman Rasskazov won the walk with China’s Yunfeng Liu in second and the central American champion Mario Flores of Mexico in third. The bravery of the athletes was emphasised by Norwegian Erik Tysse who was sick on the track at the halfway mark but carried on to finish. Even Flores, who comes from one of the warmest climates in the world, admitted the heat had been too much. "The heat was really
intense," he said. |
Rafter beats Damm to enter last 8 LOS ANGELES, July 31 (AP) — Australia’s Pat Rafter, preparing for his US Open title defence, beat Martin Damm of the Czech Republic 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 in the second round of the Mercedes-Benz Cup. I thought I played well, but he got fit in the second. Then I got to a fast start in the final set. This is the best I’ve played in Los Angeles," said Rafter yesterday, who will face Justin Gimelstob in the quarterfinals. Gimelstob advanced when eighth-seeded Vincent Spadea retired because of exhaustion. Gimelstob led the match 6-3, 3-0. "It will be very tough, very intense. The last time we played it was very close," said the second-seeded Rafter, who beat Gimelstob 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 last year in Philadelphia. Sandon Stolle of Australia beat countryman Andrew Ilie 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), to enter the last eight. PALO ALTO (California), (Reuters): Third seed Venus Williams turned things around in the second set and beat Corina Morariu 4-6 6-1 6-0 on Thursrday to reach the quarterfinals of the Palo Alto classic meet here. Second seed Monica Seles
posted an easy 6-3 6-1 win over France’s Anne-Gaelle
Sidot in a 58-minute quarterfinal after suffering
dehydration in a victory over Fang Li on Wednesday. As the only member here of tennis’s so-called Spice Girls (with her sister Serena, Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova) and in a field highlighted by legends Seles and Steffi Graf, the 18-year-old Williams is carrying a heavy load for her generation. Williams appeared rusty against Morariu, the aggressive 20-year-old American-raised daughter of Romanian immigrants. Morariu generated tremendous pace off her one-handed backhand in the first set . But Williams began to read her groundstrokes and serve in the second set. After Morariu held to 1-3 in the second set, Williams kicked her game into high gear and ran off nine straight games. The 36th-ranked Morariu said once Williams began to increase the pace, the match fell out of her hands. Williams, who made her pro debut at this tournament in 1994 when it was played in Oakland, is currently ranked a career-high fifth. While she says that is good enough for this week, she has bigger plans for herself in the near future. Next up for Williams was seventh seed Elena Likhovtseva after the Russian scored a 6-1 6-4 victory over American Amy Frazier. The 24-year-old Seles said she regrets her decision to play Fed Cup in Madrid last weekend and then turn around and play in Palo Alto this week. Against Sidot, Seles showed few of the effects of the dehydration, jumping on her opponent’s second serve and burying backhand winners into the corner. "I was still fighting," Seles said. "I could have been more aggressive and was late to some balls but I hung in there with her." Seles will play the winner of the Williams-Likhovtseva quarterfinal tomorrow. Fifth seed Natasha Zvereva of Belarus also advanced to the quarters, setting the stage for a rematch of her recent stunning upset of Steffi Graf at Wimbledon. Zvereva beat Ukrainian Elena Tatarkova 0-6 6-4 6-2. Thailand’s Tamarine
Tanasugarn dashed the hopes of US Teen Alexandra
Stevenson, blowing her off the court 6-2 6-0 to set up a
meeting with Davenport in the quarterfinals. |
UEFA warns against new league PARIS, July 31 (AFP) — UEFA has come out strongly against the concept of a breakaway European football super league. In a no nonsense statement released here yesterday, European football’s governing body said it "presumed no clubs would be taking any commitment that would compromise their future involvement in national and international competitions." And it reminded would-be rebels that it was the sole "guarantor" of European competitions for clubs or teams. The statement also noted that UEFA had "a global responsibility for the development of football in Europe at all levels and so is opposed to all projects that would have a negative influence on existing national and European competitions or put in danger national sides." Earlier, English football’s governing bodies, the Football Association and the premier league, had joined forces to call on UEFA to prevent a breakaway European super league. FA chief executive Graham Kelly has written to UEFA General Secretary Gerd Aigner urging him to "consider a reorganisation of its champions’ league, UEFA Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup competitions." An FA statement said: "The Football Association is asking UEFA to start urgent talks on the future structure of its competitions to help head off proposals for a European super league." A consortium of marketing, legal and financial interests are currently courting Europe’s top clubs with a view to persuading them to break away from UEFA and form their own league by the year 2000. The financial lure for the
clubs involved is huge. By contrast, the prospects for
the lower ranked clubs are bleak if the leading teams
decide to go it alone. Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool are understood to have given the premier league initial assurances they will not actively pursue a breakaway without prior consultation. Many believe Europe’s leading teams could be kept within the fold if UEFA were to make enough changes to ensure the financial rewards the clubs really want. 2002 World Cup SEOUL: South Korea is determined to make the 2002 World Cup finals the most successful of all times and will spare no effort in promoting the event around the world, the government has said. "We will begin putting in all our efforts to promote 2002 World Cup at home and abroad to make this the best event ever held," an official at the Culture and Tourism Ministry said on Thursday. He said details of how South Korea would promote the event were being drawn up. "But we will try and include something on the 2002 World Cup in all the cultural events held here and overseas," the official said. South Korea and Japan are co-hosts to the 2002 World Cup finals. South Korea’s football chief Chung Mong-Joon last week denied news reports that Seoul was seeking a way to back out of hosting the event. Chung, a FIFA
Vice-President, also said South Korea was going ahead
with plans to hold the event in June and July as
originally scheduled. De Boers AMSTERDAM (Reuters): The Dutch Football Association (KNVB) has ruled that brothers Frank and Ronald de Boer should abide by the contracts they signed with Ajax Amsterdam and remain with the club. The twins signed contracts last year to stay in Amsterdam until 2004, but both are adamant they want to leave. Spanish club Barcelona has expressed firm interest in Frank and indicated they may take Ronald after Arsenal apparently lost interest. Ajax released a brief statement saying it was pleased with the decision. "Ajax trusts that Frank and Ronald de Boer, after reading the decision, will fulfil the obligations of their contracts and continue their football careers with Ajax," it said. Whether the brothers de Boer will stay at the club is open to question. This week, the dispute took a sour turn when the two Dutch soccer internationals criticised the training methods of Ajax coach Morten Olsen, calling them uninspired and based too much on fitness and too little on tactics. They have also said they will not appear for Ajax whatever the decision of the committee. It is an about-face for two players once regarded as near-perfect ambassadors for the club. Olsen said he was surprised to hear of their criticism, but suggested the comments had more to do with the dispute with Ajax than anything personal. In theory, Frank and
Ronald must now make themselves available for training in
Amsterdam on Monday. |
India can spring a surprise: Jaidip CALCUTTA, July 31 (PTI) — Non-playing captain Jaidip Mukherjea said yesterday, India would not be under pressure in its Davis Cup play-off tie against England at Nottingham in September. "Anything can happen in a Davis Cup tie. Although we have to play outside the country, I don’t think the boys will bring undue pressure on themselves," he said. He said India’s underdog status could put a little pressure on it’s opponents who would be playing at home. "On paper we are supposed to lose playing out of the country. But the boys are capable of springing a surprise in Davis Cup matches," he said. Mukherjea, who was addressing a press conference in connection with a proposed Tennis academy in the city, expressed surprise at the controversy over Leander Paes’ availability for the Davis Cup tie. "I am surpassed about the Leander controversy. He did not play the match against Italy because of injury. We had met during Wimbledon. He did not say anything about not playing," the non-playing captain explained. Mukherjea said Paes’ father, Dr Vece Paes, had also said he would definitely play in the Davis Cup and Asian Games. Mukherjea said the first singles would be crucial against England and a lot would depend on the draw. On the strength of the
England team, the non-playing captain said both Tim
Henman and Greg Rusedski were very good players but the
Indians were favoured to win the doubles with the
Paes-Bhupathi duo doing very well in the circuit. "Both Englishmen are attacking players and that would suit Leander who likes people attacking him. Paes reserves his best for the Davis Cup," he said. Asked whether Paes’ unavailability would make a huge difference for the team, Mukherjea said: "He is a great motivator. He could have made a big difference against Italy". "The opponents really can’t judge him. More the pressure, the better he plays," he added. Asked whether the gap between the top players and the second string players in the team was too wide, the non-playing captain said it could be bridged only if the players were given more international exposure. The satellite and challenger tournaments helped the Indian players to garner points but sponsorships and exposure in tournaments abroad were imperative for developing their standards. Asked whether the Indians, who were more comfortable playing on grass courts, would find it difficult to play on synthetic courts, Mukherjea said the boys had to get used to playing on all surfaces. He felt the same team that played against Italy should be retained for the tie against England to ensure continuity. Besides Paes and Bhupathi, Prahlad Srinath and Syed Fazaluddin were the two other members in the squad. The non-playing captain said the All-India Tennis Association (AITA) should lay greater emphasis on coaching at the lower level. AITA has now decentralised
its coaching to identify promising talent and groom it,
he said, adding it was a step in the right direction. |
Two top athletes get reprieve PATIALA, July 31 — The Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI) has given a reprieve to two top Indian athletes, sprinter V. Pandeeswari and hammer thrower Shubdeep Singh, both of whom were banned for taking drugs which came under the IAAF list of banned substances. Both V. Pandeeswari and Shubdeep Singh have found a berth in the final list of probables for the Bangkok Asian Games as announced by AAFI yesterday. While V. Pandeeswari, the Tamil Nadu sprinter considered to be one of the best talents in Indian athletics at present, was banned after she tested positive for use of steroids prior to the Asian Junior Track and Field Meet at Bangkok last October, Shubdeep Singh was banned by the IAAF after he tested positive in the 1994 Junior Asian Athletics Championships at Jakarata. Sources reveal that the AAFI medical panel had ruled in favour of V. Pandeeswari after having accepted her explanation that she had taken medication to regulate her menstrual cycles. Seventeen junior athletes,
including V. Pandeeswari, had been tested positive for
use of steroids during various camps in preparation for
the 1997 Bangkok Asian junior meet. While five of these
athletes have been given a reprieve by the AAFI, the rest
are still facing a ban from competitive athletics till
October 4, 1999. Sources reveal that the lifting of the ban on Shubdeep Singh by AAFI has come under controversial circumstances. As required by IAAF norms, Shubdeep Singh has cleared all the three mandatory tests – which are spaced out by a period of four months each – yet the IAAF has yet to give its final clearance to the AAFI. The IAAF anti-doping commission has recently written to the AAFI to state that it was not in receipt of the report of the third mandatory test. Since then, the IAAF's Beijing-based anti-dope laboratory, has stated that there was nothing positive in Shubdeep Singh's urine sample taken after the third obligatory test. AAFI sources also reveal that Shubdeep Singh will have to go through the tests for one last time before he gets the final nod from the IAAF. However, there is some confusion regarding the final test Shubdeep will have to undergo. The confusion has arisen as no one seems to know whether the hammer thrower will be required to clear the final test before entering in any competition or whether the IAAF will be conducting the final test during the international meet in which Shubdeep Singh be entered. Meanwhile, Shubdeep Singh has already participated in a few AAFI-sponsored domestic meets this season, though AAFI has stuck to its argument that he was never placed in any of the official results. If the name of Shubdeep
Singh has not yet been cleared by the IAAF, how is it
that the AAFI has included his name in the probables list
for the forthcoming Asian Games? |
Players reject Sohail as next captain ISLAMABAD, July 31 (PTI) — Majority of Pakistan cricket team’s members have opposed an expected decision of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) regarding the appointment of batsman Aamir Sohail as captain of the squad for the forthcoming cricket season, reports said. Most of the team members have made it clear to the PCB they would strongly oppose Aamir Sohail as skipper of the Pakistan national team, "The Nation" daily reported. Sohail has been isolated from the rest of the team after levelling charges of betting and gambling against some team members last year. So, these players anticipating a decision in Sohail’s favour, had apprised the PCB of their resolve. Some members of the team, including Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Moin Khan met a top official of the PCB in Lahore a few days ago and requested him not to support the appointment of Sohail as the captain of Pakistan team. The players claimed they enjoyed support of most of the team members including, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed and Ijaz Ahmed. The PCB executive council, which has the authority to name captain and vice-captain of the national team, was already divided on the issue, the daily said. The next meeting to be held in the middle of August is expected to be a "stormy" one before a final decision is reached. The controversy over the
appointment of the captain has surfaced ahead of the
Australian cricket team’s visit in September this
year. The Mark Taylor-led Australian team will play a
three-Test series in Pakistan. |
Punjab 'A', Haryana 'A' enter
final CHANDIGARH, July 31 — Punjab "A" registered an easy 10-1 victory over Punjab "B" in the first semifinal of the Independence Gold Cup Sub Junior Regional Hockey Tournament for boys under-14 at the Sector 42 hockey stadium here today. In another semifinal, defending champions Haryana "A" ousted Himachal Pradesh 6-1 after leading by 3-0 at the lemon break. The first semifinal was a one-sided affair as Punjab "A" opened their account through Harbinder Singh in the 13th minute. The Punjab boys added another goal through a penalty corner which was converted by Harpal Singh. In the 20th minute, Harbinder Singh did not miss the target and made it 3-0. In the very next minute, centre forward Joga Singh got a pass from Jarnail Singh. Joga Singh pushed the ball into the net comfortably and made it 4-0. Three minutes before the interval Joga Singh again scored with a solo effort. In the second half, Punjab "A" put more pressure to increase the tally and in the 36th minute outside-right Inderpal Singh scored a goal when he got a pass from inside-right Jarnail Singh. Thereafter Harbinder Singh scored two more goals in the 48th and 50th minutes. Outside-left Navdeep Singh
displayed good combination with Harbinder Singh and moved
towards the rival territory. Navdeep again gained
possession and pushed the ball past the rival custodian
and made it 9-0. Harbinder Singh scored another goal in
the 52nd minute and Punjab "B" reduced the
margin through a penalty corner in the 59th minute which
was availed by centre forward Onkar Singh. Thus Punjab
"A" won the match 10-1. Harikrishna records superb win BIKANER, July 31 (PTI) — Former world under-10 champion P. Harikrishna (3), shrugging off his second round defeat, outclassed Praveen Menon in 26 moves and closed in on the six joint leaders, who are half-a-point ahead of him in the 8th National u-18 Boys’ and Girls’ Chess Championship yesterday. Harikrishna started the game in English opening and Menon from Kerala found no answers to the sensible moves played by the former u-10 champion, who started the championship a bit off-colour. The 1996 National Sub-Junior Champion P. Mahesh Chandran (3.5) of Tamil Nadu shocked Manish Kumar of Bihar in just 13 moves and joined the leaders after the end of four rounds. In the Pric defence game Manish Kumar mishandeled the opening and resigned the game when faced with heavy attack. In the girl’s section, four players are leading the table jointly with 3.5 points each. Bengal’s Saptarshi Roy Chawdhury (3.5) succeeded in breaking the Sicilian defence of Prathmesh Mokal (2.5) of Maharashtra to earn the lead along with Sunderrajan Kidambi (3.5), who drew his game against his teammate M.R. Venkatesh. In the hard fought game of Ruy Lopez opening, Kidambi sacrificed a pawn for active positioning of his pieces. But when time trouble arose neither player was ready to risk a defeat. The two agreed for a draw. T.V. Kartikeyan (TN) tried hard to break the French defence of S. Satyapragyan (Orissa) but after 30 moves they agreed to draw in an equal ending. Bharat Gupta (3) of Rajasthan beat his teammate u-10 national champion Abhijit Gupta (2) while on the other board Abhishek Shrivastav (3) defeated his teammate Amit Dad. In the girl’s section, the four overnight leaders maintained their joint lead with 3.5 points as they draw their games among themselves. World under-10 champion
Koneru Humpy (3.5) drew her game against M.R. Sangeetha
(3.5) while International Woman Master Nisha Mohota (3.5)
drew with Asian sub-junior girl’s champion Aarthie
Ramaswamy (3.5) from a Sicilian defence game after 53
moves. |
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NEW DELHI, July 31 (PTI) — Chess wizard Vishwanathan Anand winning the prestigious "chess oscar" came in for special praise in Lok Sabha today. Raising the issue during zero hour, cricketer-turned-politician Chetan Chauhan of the BJP urged the entire House to join him in congratulating Anand for being rated as the best chess player of the world for 1997. Members from ruling as well as Opposition benches thumped their desks hailing the feat achieved by Anand. Chauhan also regretted that no follow-up action had been taken by the government on its decision to observe August 29, the birth anniversary of hockey legend Dhyan Chand, as the national sports day. The BJP member wanted Bharat Ratna to be conferred on the late hockey maestro. Minister of State
Parliamentary Affairs Ram Naik assured the House that the
government would take necessary steps in this regard. |
Third day’s play also washed out DEVENTER (Holland), July 31 (PTI) — India ‘A’ cricket team’s opening three-day fixture against Denmark ended on a frustrating note with the final day’s play also being washed out due to incessant downpour yesterday. Two full days were lost in the tie after no play was possible on the second day also. India ‘A’ had reduced their lightweight rivals to 41 for five when rain forced them indoors after lunch on the opening day which also saw a delayed start due to wet conditions. "It is really frustrating," coach Krishnamachari Srikkanth said, adding that seepage under the covers had made any prompt start, even if the weather had relented, doubtful. The players were using the free time for working out in the gymnasium and for exercises indoors, he added. The touring side is
scheduled to take on Denmark in the first of two one-day
ties tomorrow at the same venue after today’s rest
day. Haryana lad for chess olympiad CHENNAI, July 31 (PTI) — India will be represented by five under-16 players in the Sixth World Children’s Chess Olympiad scheduled to be held in Istanbul (Turkey) from August 20 to 31. The participants are: P. Harikrishna (AP), M.R. Venkatesh (TN), Prathamesh Mokal (Maha), Akash Deep (Har) and Gillford Thangkiew (Meghalaya). Harikrishna is former world under-10 boys’ champion and Venkatesh is a former under-8 silver medallist. All-India Chess Federation Secretary P.T. Ummer Koya said the players had been selected on the basis of their performances in the under-15 national championship held at Bikaner last year. The tournament, in which
100 teams from FIDE-affiliated countries were expected to
participate, was being patronised by world champion
Anatoly Karpov, who had been helping children’s
chess for some years now. Karpov, an ambassador of the
Unicef, was also the president of the Board of World
Children Chess. Swimmer to seek relief if drug declassified SYDNEY, July 31 (AFP) — Banned Australian swimmer Richard Upton vowed to seek compensation if the drug for which he tested positive was declassified in the wake of comments by Olympics chief Juan Antonio Samaranch. Upton received a three-month Olympic ban after testing positive for probenicid last February and was ordered to repay Australian $ 1,200 (approx. Rs 31,500) in funding from the Australian Olympic Committee. He had a further $ 5,000 (Rs 1.27 lakh) withheld by the AOC and was forced to pay legal fees. But at the same time Upton, a relay silver medallist at this year’s Perth World Championships, said he did not think the masking agent probenecid should ever be made legal. Samaranch stirred worldwide controversy earlier this week when he was quoted in a Spanish newspaper as saying the list of banned substances should be drastically cut and some performance enhancing drugs made legal as long as they did not harm an athlete’s health. "If they’re
going to do that, I’d definitely look into getting
some money back", Upton said yesterday. |
Azhar XI vs Latif XI ties live on Sony MUMBAI, July 31 (PTI) — Sony TV will telecast live the three 50-over a side one-day cricket matches between Mohammed Azharuddin-XI and Rashid Latif-XI at Muscat, Dubai and Doha on August 12, 14 and 15, respectively. The matches will be day-night affairs with the first one at Muscat starting at 5 p.m.. The second tie at Dubai will start at 5.30 p.m. while the third match at Doha will start at 6.30 p.m., a release said here yesterday. The teams: AZHARUDDIN XI: Mohd. Azharuddin (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Saba Karim, (wicketkeeper), Ajay Jadeja, Javagal Srinath, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, V.V.S. Laxman and Robin Singh. LATIF XI: Rashid
Latif (Captain, Wicketkeeper), Saeed Anwar, Shahid
Afridi, Aamir Sohail, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Basit Ali, Moin
Khan, Aaqib Javed, Azhar Mehmood, Mohammed Zahid,
Mohammed Hussain and Yousuf Youhana. Swimming trials SANGRUR, July 31 — Trials to select the Sangrur district junior swimming team will be held at War Heroes Stadium here on August 4 at 5 p.m., according to Mr Amarjit Singh, secretary, District Swimming Association. Trials will be conducted
in three categories — 11 to 12 years, 13 to 14 years
and 15 to 17 years. The selected swimmers will take part
in the Punjab State Junior Swimming Championship being
held at Ropar from August 7 to 9. Tennis trials CHANDIGARH, July 31 — Trials to select the Chandigarh teams for the fifth National Games being held at Imphal (Manipur) in October, will be held on August 5 at the Sector 10 Tennis Stadium here, according to a spokesman of the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association. The trials will be held for men and women. Selection will be made from players of Chandigarh domicile or who are otherwise eligible to participate from Chandigarh as students or employees. Interested persons should
report at the CLTA complex at 8 a.m. on the day of
trials. |
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