Sports festival

Trials put off

Ludhiana shooting

Gagandeep bags TT title

Vikrant, Gaurav score wins

Ronaldo Europe's player of season

Barua clinches silver

JCT go down fighting to Sporting

CALCUTTA, Aug 28 (PTI) — Cassius Owino fired a golden goal to seal JCT’s fate and propel Mohammedan Sporting to the last eight stage of the Kalyani Black Label Federation Cup at the Salt Lake Stadium here today.

The Kenyan scored the only goal of the match in the 11th minute of the second half of extra-time breaking the deadlock after 116 minutes of intense struggle in the fast-paced, lively pre-quarterfinal encounter.

Following a combined move from the left, the ball landed in the Phagwara outfit’s box and custodian Baljit Singh and a JCT defender were taken completely off-guard. Exploiting the momentary defensive lapse, Owino latched on to the ball and unleashed a snap right footer, from the top of the six yard box, which entered the goal between the legs of Baljit much to the rejoicement of the around 8,000 Mohammedan Sporting fans in the stadium.

Earlier, both teams muffed up a number of scoring opportunities in the match which saw some spectacular moves. But a drizzle just before the extra-time made ground condition heavy and the pace tardy.

Mohammedan Sporting will now take on Punjab State Electricity Board in the quarterfinal here on August 30.

East Bengal drub Vasco

BANGALORE (UNI): East Bengal, Calcutta ended the dream run of Vasco Sports Club, Goa, with a 5-0 win to storm into the semifinals of the Kalyani Black Label Federation Cup, here today

Playing only at half its pace, former champion club East Bengal was lead 1-0 at half time. For the winners, forward Raman Vijayan and Renedi Singh (two each) and Carlton Chapman scored.

East Bengal will meet Churchill Brothers on September 5 at Siliguri. Churchill Brothers had defeated Border Security Force 2-0 in the quarterfinals at Delhi yesterday.

Though the Calcutta team took time to settle down, it should have won by a bigger margin. However, many opportunities were missed and after half time, they took things easy and rested key players.

With seven minutes left for the breather, hard working Raman Vijayan of the red and yellow brigade made best use of custodian Richard Sanchez’s lapse. Renedi Singh gave a cross to charging Raman Vijayan. Richard Sanchez had not covered the angle, and Vijayan tapped the ball in.

The first 20 minutes of the second session saw a flurry of activity near the Vasco goal mouth and three goals were scored in the space of 11 minutes.

Indian hockey camp concludes

BANGALORE, Aug 28 (PTI) — The Indian men’s hockey team bound for next month’s Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games wound up their month-long preparatory camp at the SAI (south) centre today with the chief coach and captain promising a show vastly better than that at the Utrecht World Cup in May.

Expressing satisfaction over the progress made at the camp, new coach Maharaj Kishan Kaushik and captain Dhanraj Pillay said it was vital not to concede any ground in their opening group ‘A’ clash against the formidable Australia if they had to go far in the event.

The 16-member team leaves here for Chennai tomorrow and will proceed to Kuala Lumpur on September 3. India, who came a poor ninth in Utrecht are grouped with Australia, South Africa, Wales, Trinidad and Tobago and New Zealand in their group.

On India’s chances, spearhead Pillay said the clash against Australia was very important. "We should go flat out and should not concede a goal in the first 15 minutes".

He admitted the team was still weak in penalty corner conversions compared to their European counterparts but said they had been concentrating on this aspect for an hour daily since the camp began on August 1.

"We are improving and corner experts Baljit Singh Dhillon and Dilip Tirkey are working very hard", the Mumbai star said.

Describing the present outfit as one of the best in a long-time, Pillay welcomed goalkeeper A.B. Subbaiah’s — who was inexplicably axed from the World Cup squad — return.

Daljit Singh Dhillon, replacement for fellow Punjab forward Sanjeev Kumar who was dropped on medical grounds, joined the camp today.

Pillay, one of those blamed for the World Cup debacle after carrying an injury into the tournament, expected himself and other seniors like right-winger Mukesh Kumar and Sabu Varkey to perform at a "very very high level", and admitted their performance at Utrecht was not up to expectations.

On India’s strategy against Australia, he said: "We will play according to the situation. We are working on what formation to adopt", he said and added that they were studying videos of the Aussies in action and would mark both rival forwards.

Pillay said he was upset for a while in the wake of Press reports after the World Cup that previous coach Vasudevan Baskaran had come out openly against him and some other players in his report to the Indian Hockey Federation.

"I have been retained captain. Still all (those cited in Baskaran’s report) are in the team. I am very free to play my game now", he said.

Pillay, who had a poor relationship with Baskaran and Cedric D’Souza before him, said players were very happy to have Kaushik who, he said, was doing a wonderful job and was very cooperative by consulting seniors and juniors, "which was lacking earlier".

Kaushik, who advocated longer camps, hinted at having a two-month long camp for the Asian Games. "After short camps, players don’t follow the system needed in international competition. For that matter, they do not even maintain their fitness".

The coach also named South Africa in India’s group as a tough side having recently beaten England.

He also felt frequent change of national coach affected the team’s performance.

Unbeaten 156 by Crawley

LONDON, Aug 28 (Reuters) — John Crawley stroked a Test career-best of 156 not out and shared a record last wicket stand of 89 with Angus Fraser to propel England to first innings total of 445 in the one-off Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval today.

Crawley dominated the second half of England’s innings as they took their overnight 228 for four to 445 all out on the second day, his third Test century beating his previous best of 112 against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 1996-97.

The Lancashire batsman’s partnership with Fraser (32) was the highest for the 10th wicket by any country in Tests against Sri Lanka and enlivened a day on which England had made painstaking rather than spectacular progress.

Crawley shared the individual honours to a degree with off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan whose seven for 155 were his best figures in Tests. It was the 15th time in his 42nd Test that he has taken five or more wickets in an innings.

Crawley took centre stage after overnight century-maker Graeme Hick was dismissed without addition to his 107.

Hick was out after receiving only eight deliveries in the morning, Pramodya Wickremasinghe producing an outswinger which the batsman snicked to wicketkeeper Romesh Kaluwitharana.

Crawley and Ben Hollioake were held in check for most of the morning session — it produced just 58 runs in two hours — and the guile of Muralitharan was mainly responsible.

The off-spinner was rewarded with Hollioake’s wicket when the all-rounder tried to hit over the top but was caught by Marvan Atapattu at mid-on for 14.

SCOREBOARD
England (Ist innings):
Butcher c Jayasuriya b
Wickremasinghe 10
James c and b Muralitharan 36
Hick c Kaluwitharana b
Wickremasinghe 107
Stewart c Tillekaratne b Perera 2
Ramprakash c Jayawardena b
Muralitharan 53
Crawley not out 156
Hollioake c Attapattu b
Muralitharan 14
Cork b Muralitharan 6
Salisbury b Muralitharan 2
Gough c Kaluwitharana b
Muralitharan 4
Fraser b Muralitharan 32
Extras (b-1, lb-11, w-2, nb-9) 23
Total (all out, 158.3 overs) 445
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-78, 3-81, 4-209, 5-230, 6-277, 7-333, 8-343, 9-356.
Bowling: Wickremasinghe 30-4-81-2, Perera 40-10-104-1, Dharmasena 18-3-55-0, Muralitharan 59.3-14-155-7, Jayasuriya 11-0-38-0.

Dilpreet, Arti bag titles
From Our Sports Reporter

HOSHIARPUR, Aug 28 — Dilpreet Singh of Ludhiana and Sahil Arora of Jalandhar won the boys under-16 and under-13 singles and doubles titles, respectively, in the Punjab Junior Badminton Championship here.

Dilpreet Singh thrashed Varun Khanna of Amritsar in the boys singles under-16 final 15-6, 15-8. Holder Diplreet faced no resistance from Varun, who played like a novice. Later, Dilpreet joined Rohit to win the doubles under-16 titles defeating Varun and Varun of Amritsar 17-14, 15-0.

Sahil Arora, who won the boys under-13 doubles title yesterday added another feather to his cap when he won the single titles also. In the final Sahil outclassed giant-killer Gurinder of Gurdaspur 15-9, 15-6.

Ludhiana stunned a big crowd at the indoor hall here when they overwhelmed spirited Jalandhar 2-1 in boys under-19, inter-district final here.

The girls under-19 title went to Jalandhar who defeated Patiala 2-1 in a thrilling encounter.

Junior Punjab champion Rohan Kapoor of Jalandhar and Dilpreet Singh of Ludhiana clashed in the first singles. Rohan Kapoor took early lead of 8-4 but Dilpreet Singh fought back to level the score at 9-9. However, Dilpreet was unable to cope with powerful smashes of Rohan, who won 15-11, and the second game at 15-10.

The doubles match between Jalandhar and Ludhiana was the best match of the day. The Ludhiana pair of Dilpreet and Amandeep won the first game rather easily at 15-10 from the Jalandhar pair of Rohan and Ritun Khanna. But the Jalandhar pair surprised all by winning the second game 15-6. The deciding game was a cliffhanger. Both pairs were neck and neck till 12-12. At this stage the Jalandhar pair made some unexpected mistakes which cost them the game 12-15 and the match.

The deciding match between Amandeep of Ludhiana and Ramandeep of Jalandhar went to three games which Amandeep won 3-15, 15-8, 15-2.

In the girls inter-district final Jalandhar defeated Patiala 2-1. Navdeep of Patiala defeated Sumeet of Jalandhar 11-5, 11-5 in the first singles. Navdeep dominated the proceeding from the start and never allowed Sumeet to settle down. The Jalandhar pair of Sandhya and Sumeet just managed to defeat Navdeep and Vidhu of Patiala in doubles in three well-fought games to level the score 1-1. The Jalandhar pair won 15-9, 15-17, 15-12.

The deciding match between Sandhaya of Jalandhar and Vidhu of Patiala was also a cliffhanger. Sandhya lost the first game 5-11 but managed to win the next two games 11-8, 11-6.

Boys singles (under-16) final: Dilpreet Singh (Ldh) b Varun Khanna (Asr) 15-6, 15-8.

Doubles (U-16) final: Dilpreet & Rohit (Ldh Jal) b Varun & Varun 17-14, 15-0.

Girls singles (u-16) final: Arti (Rpr) b Shahnaz (Sang) 11-3, 8-11, 11-9.

Doubles (u-16) final: Madhuri &Arti (Jal, Rpr) b Gurpreet & Gorika (Hsp) 15-5, 5-15, 15-11.

Boys singles (u-13) final: Sahil Arora (Jal) b Gurinder (Gsp) 15-9, 15-6.

Boys singles u-19): Ramandeep (Gsp) got w/o Mujahid (Sang), Jatinder Singh (Ldh) b Jatin Jain (Rpr) 15-2, 15-5, Sahil Gupta (Pat) b Imsan (Sang) 15-3, 15-3, Amandeep (Ldh) b Anup Kumar (Hsp) 15-2, 15-4, Ratik Ahuja (Ldh) b Jaspreet (Hsp) 15-5, 15-4, Narinder (Pat) got w/o Bashir (Sang), Karandeep (Jal) got w/o Namit (Ldh), Amardeep (Pat) b Jiwan (Gsp) 15-1, 15-4, Tauseef (Sang) b Gagan (Jal) 15-1, 15-3, Ankit Dhir (Ldh) b Saurabh (Jal) 15-7, 15-4, Ranjeet (Jal) b Vineet (Hsp) 15-7, 15-3, Bhupinder (Rpr) b Rishi (Pat) 15-0, 15-6, Rohit Kapoor (Jal) b Guneet (Asr) 15-0, 15-1, Abhishek (Jal) b Harpreet (Sang) 15-6, 15-7.

Girls singles (u-19): Garika (Hsp) got w/o Mehnez (Sang), Sandhya (Jal) b Ruchika (Rpr) 11-3, 11-5, Navneet (Hsp) b Punam (Pat) 11-6, 11-0, Gurpreet (Hsp) got w/o Arti (Asr), Paramjeet Kaur (Ldh) b Deepika (Jal) 11-2, 11-4, Anu (Ldh) got w/o Sharanjeet (Asr), Madhuri (Jal) b Rupinder (Ldh) 11-2, 11-1, Balreet (Ldh) b Ritu Behal (Pat) 11-3, 11-2, Gurpreet (Hsp) b Palvi (Sang) 11-3, 11-3.

Bjorkman keen to regain confidence

NEW YORK, Aug 28 (DPA) — While talk ahead of Monday’s start of the $ 14-million US Open has centred on the mental fortitude of top seed Pete Sampras, Swede Jonas Bjorkman is working to overcome motivation problems of his own.

The 12th-seeded Swede began turning his game around this week at the MFS Cup in Boston, reaching the quarterfinals. That’s at least two rounds better than the 25-year-old has performed in recent weeks when he lost early on hardcourt in Cincinnati and Indianapolis.

Bjorkman broke into the ATP Tour ranking top 10 last autumn, but has slipped out this month after a modest year.

The Swedish Davis Cup Stalwart is hoping to be back to form when the final grand slam of the year begins.

"I’ve been frustrated for a long time that my game was not at the level that I’d like," admitted Bjorkman, who reached the semifinals at Flushing Meadows in 1997. "I need to feel a bit more confident again and stay positive."

The popular Swede’s morale hit rock bottom this summer after his early hardcourt exits.

He admitted earlier this month that he didn’t know how to refocus his game around, but is slowly working on that goal.

"I’ve been talking to people back home and here," said the Boston top seed. "I’ve been regaining confidence."

The Bjorkman recipe for the open — keep the pressure to win away.

"I’ll try to be more positive and take it more easy," he said. "I’ll try to take it one ball at a time go out there and play.

"If I win some matches at the Open or if it comes later, I’ll have to wait and see.

"You cannot predict when it will come. It takes time. There are a lot of ups and downs in tennis. You have to mentally prepare for that."

Bjorkman is hoping to use Boston as a start on his renaissance. "I know if I play this well next week, I’m going to be tough to beat."

Holder Sampras is another protagonist who cannot afford to look too far into the future.

One more title will mean the 27-year-old from Florida will come level on 12 grand slam trophies with Roy Emerson, the Australian who set the record in the mid-1960s.

But Sampras, who opens the first round against modest German Marc Goellner, could end up facing dangerous rivals, including Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals or defending champion Pat Rafter in the semis.

Sampras is keeping his hopes in harness.

"You can’t look ahead, that’s kind of the kiss of death. You got to get through the first couple of matches and then you start worrying. I’ve been in this position too many times to look ahead," said Sampras, looking for a fifth title at the US Open to match his five at Wimbledon.

"I’ve had tough draws all my career. There’s up advantage to being top seed here. All these guys can play."

Sampras’ own confidence took a blow at Cincinnati, when he lost a final to Rafter on a disputed line call. He went out earlier than expected at New Haven last week.

Sampras got in his first hit yesterday on the Open site, where he lost in the fourth round a year ago to Petr Korda of the Czech Republic.

"My preparation has been pretty good, I’m in pretty good match shape," said Sampras. "Let’s go out and play."

Tendulkar charms Bradman

SYDNEY, Aug 28 (PTI) — Sachin Tendulkar charmed the world's greatest ever batsman Sir Donald Bradman so much that the living legend described the Indian batsman as "bonzer", a colloquial term for an excellent and pleasant person.

Tendulkar who was accompanied by champion leg-spinner Shane Warne during an hour-long private meeting with Sir Donald at his residence in Adelaide yesterday, described his journey as a pilgrimage and admitted he was very nervous.

After Tendulkar had taken his leave, Sir Donald said to his son John Bradsen, what a bonzer little fellow he’s lovely chap.

But there is no doubt, and Tendulkar conceded on his arrival in Adelaide, that the best compliment a cricketer could ever get was the one Sir Donald showered on him a few years ago when he told an interviewer that the premier Indian Batsman played much the same as I used to.

Later speaking at a birthday party attended by over 1000 admirers to celebrate Sir Donald’s 90th birthday, Tendulkar said: "I was very nervous. I didn't know what to ask the great man".

I have really enjoyed this afternoon with Sir Donald Bradman and I am very pleased that he spent about 45 minutes to an hour with me talking about cricket, said Tendulkar who was keen to discuss his batting technique with the legend.

12 Wing champions
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Aug 28 — Last year’s finalist 12 Wing Air Force, Chandigarh, won the Western Air Command Inter-Area Hockey Championship which concluded at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium here today.

They blanked defending champion 9 Wing Air Force, Halwara, 6-0 in a one-sided final encounter after leading 3-0 at the interval.

In a dull final both sides made no positive attacks. In the eighth minute when 12 Wing got a penalty corner which was well padded by the rival goalkeeper S.K. Ojha. But on rebound the ball was pushed into the goalpost by centre-forward Avtar Singh to put his team into the lead.

Two minutes later, Avtar Singh sent a pass to his team-mate and inside right Nand Kumar who was near the goal-mouth and made no mistake in netting the ball to make it 2-0. He scored again in the 17th minute. The half time score stood at 3-0.

The listless display continued after resumption in the 40th minute 12 Wing players made a fine attack in the rival goal area when outside left Deepak Ahluwalia beat the custodian Ojha to make it 4-0.

Nand Kumar 52nd ad R.K. Joshi (57th) completed the tally for 12 Wing. The final tally stood at 6-0.

In the 63rd minute, outside left Charanjit Singh of 9 Wing got a chance to reduce the margin but his try was in vain as his hit went into the side lines.

Earlier, in the semifinal, 12 Wing Air Force thrashed 18 Wing Air Force, Pathankot 8-2, and 9 Wing Air Force, Pathankot, beat 34 Wing Air Force 2-1.

Kerala p'lifters dethrone Punjab

HYDERABAD, Aug 28 (UNI) — The talented Kerala powerlifters won the overall team champions title with 105 points in the 26th Senior National Powerlifting Championship for men and women.

Kerala who were runners up last national held at Jaipur pushed title holder Punjab team to the second who yesterday could muster only 96 points.

Maharashtra with 81 points finished third in the overall team champions events.

Kerala men edged out defending champions Punjab for the team championship title. Kerala collected 60 points while Punjab scored 59 points. Maharashtra with 55 points secured the third place.

In the distaff section Kerala were on top with 59 points. Kerala women who were runners up last year at Jaipur, improved their performance and won the team championship title.

Kerala women secured two gold, three silver and one bronze.

However, for the second position there was a tie between West Bengal and Karnataka. Both the teams had gained 49 points. But, the Bengal team who had a better medal tally took the second position.

Bengal had one gold, two silver and one bronze, while Karanataka secured one gold and three bronze.

Punjab’s powerlifters created two new national record in 110 kg category.

However, it was international I.S. Ubee of postal department who was the unsung hero of the day when he won his 15th national title in a row, which is unique record in the nationals.

Ubee, who announced his retirement from powerlifting championship after being unbeaten for the past 14 years, won the gold medal in the 110 kg class with a total of 807.5 kg and ended his career which he began in style.

Rashpal Singh of Punjab created a new national record in the bench press event with a lift of 203 kg as against the old mark which stood in his name was 202.5 kg.

Another powerlifter from Punjab Manjeet Singh went on to create a new national record in the deal lift event with a clean lift of 325 kg against the old mark of Ubee which was 312.5 kg.

Rajith Mohan Das of Kerala won a double winning the inter state and overall gold in the 100 kg category for men.

Mohan Das with a total lift of 780 kg won the grand double. Andhra Pradesh won another gold medal when B. Tejaseani with a total lift of 402.5 kg won the 60 gold while Jamuna Gurung of Uttar Pradesh and Renna Bai of Tamil Nadu won the silver and bronze medal.

In the 67.5 kg for women it was Tapasi Datta of Delhi who clinched the gold medal with a total lift of 435 kg as Geeta Dongre of Madhya Pradesh and K.N. Shylaja of Karnataka took the silver and bronze medal, respectively.

Rafter advances to quarterfinals

JERICHO (New York), Aug 28 (Reuters) — Second-seeded Australian Patrick Rafter advanced to the quarter-finals with routine victory over Czech Martin Damm yesterday in the Hamlet Cup.

Rafter continuing his final preparations for defence of his U.S. Open title starting next week, beat Damm 6-4 6-2 in 68 minutes as he raised his all-time record against the Czech player to 6-1.

Rafter broke in the 10th game of the first set and in the second game of the final set to move into his 10th quarter-final of the year.

Rafter admitted he did not know his first-round opponent at the open would be Hicham Arazi of Morocco, who could have been his next opponent in this event. However, Arazi fell 6-3 3-6 6-3 yesterday to Frenchman Nicolas Escude, who fired 10 aces.

"I don’t like to look ahead," Rafter said. "At times, it’s distracting while I’ve still got a job to do at this tournament."

The 25-year-old Australian is playing a crucial three-week period. He has points to defend this week, having lost to Spain’s Carlos Moya in last year’s final, and more than 1,000 points for winning last year’s U.S. Open.

Rafter failed to match last year’s runner-up performance at New Haven, losing in the third round. But he claimed back-to-back titles in Toronto and Cincinnati.

In the only other match involving a seeded player, eighth seed Felix Mantilla of Spain defeated Czech Bohdan Ulihrach 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.

In the quarter-finals, Mantilla will take on wild-card Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, who saved four match points and outlasted Spaniard Francisco Clavet 2-6 6-3 7-6 (10-8).

The 21-year-old Kuerten has struggled since becoming the first Brazilian to win a grand slam last year in Paris. However, his form is beginning to return after his second career title in Stuttgart, Germany last month. He dispatched top seed and world number two Marcelo Rios of Chile in Tuesday’s first round.

Novotna, Graf move into last four

NEW HAVEN, Aug 28 (AP) — Wimbledon champ Jana Novotna exacted a measure of revenge yesterday, beating Amelie Mauresmo 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) to advance to the semifinals of the Pilot Pen International, and Steffi Graf continued her comeback in dominating fashion with 6-3, 6-0 victory over Amanda Coetzer.

In the late match, top-seeded defending champion Lindsay Davenport made her first appearance in the tournament and advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Anke Huber. She will play Graf in a semifinal today.

Earlier this year, Mauresmo eliminated Novotna in the semifinals of the German Open. Novotna characterised that three-set match on the berlin clay as "long and tiring."

Novotna dispatched Mauresmo 6-1 in 20 minutes in the first set, but then battled over the next 11 minutes to break her in the first game in the second set. The game had seven deuces and ended on Novotna’s lob that Mauresmo was unable to run down.

"It was a very long game and definitely for me a very important game," said Novotna, the No. 2 seed. "I’m definitely very happy to give it to her back and not just to lose to the same player twice in a row."

Novotna, winner of four tournaments this year, played an aggressive chip and charge game, consistently pouncing on Mauresmo’s second serve.

Graf, looking whole and healthy after knee surgery 14 months ago, was relentless with her backhand, keeping Coetzer on her heels.

"It was a very important shot today. I kept them pretty low and felt I could go backhand crosscourt with her," said Graf, the No. 4 seed. "She didn’t really know what to do off them."

Graf, winner of 21 Grand Slam titles, broke the unseeded South African five straight games. The Pilot Pen is only her ninth tournament of the year since undergoing knee surgery on June 10, 1997.

The win over Huber gives Davenport her 13th straight match win. She is making a bid for her fourth straight singles title and became the first player to sweep the Stanford-San Diego-Los Angeles events and the first since Martina Navratilova in 1988 to win three consecutive tour events in a calendar month.

She waited the longest in the field to compete. After receiving a first-round bye, Davenport advanced to the quarterfinals without lifting a racket when second-round opponent Virginia Pascual Ruano withdrew after hurting her left hamstring in practice.

"It’s great to be able to play matches," she said.

The 22-year-old Californian broke Huber four times in the first set as Huber struggled with her serve.

"I think of all the shots Anke has, her serve is the most vulnerable," Davenport said. "I was able to break her a few times in the beginning and maybe that got her a little weary."

Novotna will play Julie Halard-Decugis of France, who advanced 7-5, 6-1 over Mary Joe Fernandez. The match was Fernandez’s second of the day. She beat Sandrine Testud 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the completion of a second-round match suspended on Wednesday due to weather.

Villeneuve survives horrific crash

SPA FRANCORCHAMPS (Belgium) Aug 28 (AFP) — World champion Jacques Villeneuve walked away unhurt after a massive 180 mph (290 kph) shunt during today’s practice for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix here.

The 27-year-old’s suddenly went out of control at the exit of Eau Rouge which is one of the fastest and most dangerous chicanes in Formula One.

He could do nothing to slow himself as the rear of the car slipped away sending his careering over the gravel to smack into the tyre barrier.

The Canadian — fortunate that the back of the car took the impact — was able to immediately jump from the cockpit though the rear was badly smashed.

Race officials quickly halted the second practice session while the debris was cleared away with Villeneuve taken off to the circuit’s medical centre for a precautionary check-up.

"That was a big one," said Villeneuve. "One of the biggest I have ever had... I had some big ones in my time in America in Oval racing, but that was as big as any of them."

Villeneuve’s father Gilles was killed in practice for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder in a horrific accident.

His death left him forever linked with Ferrari and exalted to near-legendary status in the Italian team.

World volleyball grand prix in Chennai
From Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, Aug 28 — Four of the world’s top women’s teams, including the world number one and two-time Olympic champions Cuba and the number two ranked team in the 1997 World Grand Prix Champions, Russia, will compete for the Indian Oil Servo Cup 1998 at Chennai from September 4-6.

This is the first time that World Grand Prix women’s volleyball has come to India. Korea, ranked fourth and Italy, ranked ninth, compete the line-up for the event.

The World Grand Prix is the premier volleyball tournament for women and one of the most popular and fiercely competed international volleyball events in the world.

The World Grand Prix 1998 which has a total circuit prize money of US $ 1.5 million features eight national Olympic women’s teams competing in two simultaneous qualifying events. The Indian Oil Servo Cup 1998 is the fifth leg of World Grand Prix 1998.

China, Brazil,Japan and the USA will compete in the other qualifying event. The top three teams from the qualifying events along with hosts China will contest the final in Hong Kong from September 12-13.

Announcing the event, Dr Sivanthi Adityan, president of the Volleyball Federation of India said: "We are especially excited that Cuba, Russia, Italy and Korea will participate in our event which will be held for the first time in India. We are committed to bringing such high calibre action and the highest performance in volleyball to India and are proud to have this event in Chennai".

The World Grand Prix’ 98 will see many firsts in the game of women’s volleyball —new rules and regulations, new uniforms incorporating the latest fashion designs that allow easy identification of teams and players, a new coloured ball (yellow and blue) and a shortened warmup time for teams.

Arjuna Award row: HC issues notice

NEW DELHI, Aug 28 (UNI) — The Delhi High Court yesterday issued show cause notice to the Ministry of Human Resource Development on a petition filed by long distance runner Sunita Godara seeking explanation for her non-inclusion in the list of Arjuna Award winners but refused to stay the prestigious Arjuna Award function.

Justice Anil Dev Singh refused the plea of Sunita for staying the function keeping in view the fact that less than 48 hours were left for felicitation of sportspersons with the Arjuna Award for the year 1997.

The awards would be conferred by President K.R. Narayanan on August 29.

Justice Singh directed the ministry to file its reply by October 8 when the case would come up for hearing next.

The marathon runner demanded that no awards, rewards or benefits meant for sportspersons should be given to those who do not follow the uniform drug testing medical code as was being done by the sportspersons participating in Olympics.

Sunita urged the court to seek an explanation from the central government as to why and how she, Milkha Singh and Kamaljit Sandhu were not conferred with the Arjuna Award.

The athlete urged the court to intervene as the country’s executive had failed in keeping this function dignified by following pick and choose policy and arbitrary exercise of powers in which many deserving candidates had been left out.

She urged the court to direct the government to come out with a rational comprehensive awards policy.

Carrizo, Chilavert South America’s
goalies of century

WIESBADEN, Aug 28 (DPA) — Argentina’s Amadeo Raul Carrizo and Jose Luis Chilavert topped the list for South American goalkeeper of the century issued by the International Federation for Football History and Statistics yesterday.

Which one of the two actually won the vote among South American football journalists will remain a secret until an IFFHS gala from January 10-11.

Carrizo won 20 caps 1954-1964 and represented Argentina at the 1958 World Cup. The flamboyant Chilavert was an inspiration for his team at the 1998 World Cup in France and has also made a name for himself as a 34-times scorer with freekicks and penalties.

The pair is also in the running for the world goalkeeper of the century vote also to be made at the gala in January.

World Cup renamed Mandela Trophy

LONDON, Aug 28 (Reuters) — The athletics World Cup will be renamed the Nelson Mandela Trophy for future editions of the four-yearly continental team event, the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) said yesterday.

The eighth World Cup will be staged in Johannesburg from September 11 to 13.

In a statement, IAAF President Primo Nebiolo said Mandela was an "inspirational figure".

"We are honoured that the world cup trophies will now be named after him," Nebiolo said.

In an attached letter, Mandela said he was "humbled" by the IAAF decision.

"I accept this extraordinary gesture not as a tribute to me but to all athletes, especially to those in Africa who have inspired the world with their legendary achievements despite their underprivileged beginnings," he said.

Rajan Kashyap COA President
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 28 — Mr Rajan Kashyap today took over as president of the Chandigarh Olympic Association in place of Mr J.S. Maini who resigned from the post.

At a meeting of the COA Executive Committee earlier it was decided to appoint Mr Kashyap as president. In his letter of resignation Mr Maini expressed his inability to function as COA president on account of his posting in New Delhi.

Mr Kashyap’s appointment as president has been made under Clause 5 of the Rules and Regulations of the COA.

Chairman of the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association, Mr Kashyap brings to the COA his vast experience as a sports administrator. He has been the moving spirit behind bringing Chandigarh on the international tennis map. The city has hosted Davis Cup matches besides several international tournaments.

Basketball results
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Aug 28 — On the second day the Chandigarh Inter- School Basketball Championship for girls under-17 being held at the Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 17, here today. Acro Basketball Club beat Moti Ram Arya Senior Secondary School, Sector 27, 26-2.

Navneet Gyatri and Anita bagged eight points each for the winners while Rekha could scored only two points for the losers.

In other matches Government Girls Coaching Centre, Sector 16, defeated Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, 9-8, Government Model High School — 26 routed Dev Samaj Senior Secondary School, Sector 21, 26-8, Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, beat Dev Samaj Junior Model School, Sector 21, 18-5, Dev Samaj Senior Secondary School beat Carmel Convent School, Sector 9, 24-4.

Sports festival
From Our Sports Reporter

HISAR, Aug 28 — The Fatehabad District Women’s Sports Festival will be held at MM College Fatehabad on September 5 and 6, according to Mr R.S. Nehra, District Sports and Youth Culture Officer, Fatehabad. Over 500 women from all over the district are likely to take part in this festival.

Competitions will be held in kabaddi, volleyball, basketball, hockey, kho-kho and archery. The district teams will be selected on the basis of the performance in this festival for the state-level women’s sports festival to be held at Gurgaon from September 9.

Trials put off
From Our Sports Reporter

HISAR, Aug 28 — Selection trials for the women’s wrestling team of Haryana scheduled to be held at Mahabir Stadium here on September 8 have been put off, according to Mr Sukhbir Singh, secretary of the Haryana State Wrestling Association. Trials for the Haryana men’s wrestling team scheduled to be held at Sonepat on September 6 have also been put off.

Ludhiana shooting
From Our Sports Reporter

LUDHIANA, Aug 28 — The seventh edition of the Ludhiana District Rifle Shooting Championship will be conducted at the shooting range of Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur, on September 12 and 13, according to Mr J.S. Brar, president, Ludhiana District Rifle Association.

Interested shooters may send their entries to Mr M.S. Dhaliwal or Mr N.S.Bhogal, general secretary and vice-president of LDSA, respectively, by September 10 along with two passport size photographs and age-proof certificates.

UT subjunior carrom begins today
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Aug 28 — The three-day eighth Sub-Junior Chandigarh Carrom Championship for boys and girls under-14 years will be held at the Sector 45 St Stephen's School here from tomorrow.

According to a press note of the Chandigarh Carrom Association, more than 100 boys and girls are taking part in this championship in boys and girls singles and doubles events, respectively.

During the championship, subjunior boys and girls teams will be selected for the 26th Subjunior National and Inter State Carrom Championship being held at Barauni (Bihar) from September 18 to 22.

Gagandeep bags TT title
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Aug 28 — Gagandeep Kaur of Chandigarh annexed the title in the cadet girls singles, beating Taraunpreet Kaur also from Chandigarh 21-12, 13-21, 21-15 in well contested final match on the opening day of the Prof R.S. Mehta Memorial Table Tennis Tournament being held at the Sector 23 Table Tennis Hall here today.

In the boys cadet semifinal round, Vineet Sharma from Ropar upset the second seeded Aditya Puri of Chandigarh by 21-14, 7-21, 21-16 while Sajal Kaushal, a student of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 35 beat Jitender Kapoor 21-13, 21-10 in another tiff semifinal.

Vikrant, Gaurav score wins
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Aug 28 — Vikrant beat Vinay Sharma 15-3, 15-4 in an easy first round match in the boys under-19 singles in the Panchkula District Badminton Championship being held at the Sector 7 Community Centre, Panchkula, today.

In the boys under-13 singles' first round, Gaurav Kapoor ousted Parav Dhingra 15-2, 15-2 in a onesided affair while Anshul Aggarwal beat Bharat Mittal 15-10, 9-15 and 17-16 in well hard fought match.

The association has introduced competition in the boys and girls under-10 section on the request of the Badminton Association of India.

In other matches:

Boys under-10 Ist round — Parteek Mittal b Ankit Sharma 15-0, 15-2 Sanchit b Bhanu Malik 15-9, 15-11, Akshit Mahajan b Arjun Chopra 15-2, 15-0, Dhruv b Shantanu Kidia 15-0, 15-1, Adhiraj b Nabhi Grover 15-0, 15-2.

Ronaldo Europe's player of season

MONACO, Aug 28 (Reuters) — Brazil's Ronaldo was awarded the trophies for best forward and most valuable player in the 1997-98 European season yesterday.

Ronaldo, who helped Inter Milan win the UEFA Cup in May, was presented with both trophies at UEFA's gala dinner on the day the draw for this season's champions' league was made.

Inter, runners-up to Juventus in the 'Serie A' championship were drawn to meet European Cup holders Real Madrid away in the group O on the opening day of the competition on September 16.

In the voting by the coaches of the 24 teams that reached the quarter finals of Europe's three club competitions last season, Juventus' Marcello Lippi was named best trainer.

Peter Schmeichel of Manchester United won the best goalkeeper award Real Madrid's Fernando Hierro was named best defender and France's Zinedine Zidane of Juventus picked up the best midfielder award.

Barua clinches silver

TEHRAN, Aug 28 (PTI) — Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua clinched silver medal at the inaugural Asian Chess Championships after a quickfire 10-move draw with teammate V. Saravanan as the final round here failed to provide any explosive tussles that were expected for the second spot.

All top board games ended in draws and as GM Pravin Thipsay drew the top seed Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam, who also was vying for the silver medal, the Indian camp went into cheers following Barua’s success through a better tie-break scores.

Asian chess gold was claimed by Rustam Kasimdhzanov of Uzbekistan, who led the tournament right from the start and was full point clear of Barua and Dao with final round to go.

Kasimdhzanov drew his last round game in farcical six moves with S. Ghane of Iran and earn remarkable nine points from 11 rounds.

The 18-year-old Kasimdhzanov, is the second best Uzbek player after the highly rated Nenashev. His excellent win here makes him the man to watch out for in the near future as Kasimdhzanov remained unbeaten throughout the tournament.

The Uzbek managed wins almost at will, winning seven and drawing four of his games in the 21-player, 11-round Swiss tournament.

Thipsay appeared for his final game despite being unwell and held Dao for a draw.