S P O R T	Wednesday, July 22, 1998
weather n spotlight today's calendar

Aussies, Kiwis to field top teams KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — New Zealand and Australia, hoping to repeat their performance at the 1994 Commonwealth Games this year, have said they would field their best athletes for September’s competition in Malaysia... Klusener ruled out of tour DERBY (England), July 21 — Lance Klusener was ruled out of the rest of South Africa's tour of England yesterday after he was told he needed surgery to cure an inflamed tendon above his ankle... Neelam J. Singh of India follows the discuss she threw during women's discuss throw at the 12th Asian Athletic Championships in Fukuoka on Tuesday. AP/PTI

Liu Jing of China (17) crosses the finish line ahead of her compatriot Wang Chunmei (21) and Jyotirmoyee Sikdar (right) to win the women's 1500 meter at the 12th Asian Athletic Championships in Fukuoka on Monday. AP/PTI Sikdar lifts 2nd bronze, Usha in 200m final FUKUOKA (Japan), July 21 — Even heavy rain could not dampen P.T. Usha’s determination as she equalled her national record to storm into the women’s 200 m final in style and Jyotirmoyee Sikdar took her second bronze medal in the 800 m in the 12th Asian Athletic Championship at the Hakata No-Mori Stadium today...

Jones bags 200m title; O’Brien wins NEW YORK, July 21— Dan O’ Brien has confirmed his status as the finest all-round track and field athlete of the 1990s before setting his sights on the 2000 Sydney Olympics... Malpractices dog Pak cricket: Anwar Islamabad, July 21 — Former Test captain and the team’s best one-day batsman Saeed Anwar has said that Pakistan cricket is corrupt with malpractices of sorts... India meet N. Korea in inaugural tie HYDERABAD, July 21 — Hosts India will take on North Korea on the inaugural day of the four-nation Asian qualifying round group-D under-16 football championship which gets underway at the flood-lit Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium here on July 24... Jackie leaving with mixed emotions UNIONDALE (New York), July 21 — It's time to say goodbye, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee is having mixed emotions about her final track meet... Gopichand, Popat in semifinals BANGALORE, July 21 — Top seeds and national champions Aparna Popat and P Gopichand took their appointed place in the women’s and men’s finals of the BPL All India Open Badminton Tournament in contrasting styles here today... Jeev Johnnie Walker Golfer of the Month NEW DELHI, July 21 — Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh has been voted Johnnie Walker Asian Golfer of the Month for June after finishing an impressive joint-eighth in the English Open held at Marriot Hanbury Manor, Ware, from June 4 to 7... Sandipan shocks Westernin BALAGUER (Spain), July 21 — Young Sandipan Chanda (4) shocked GM Westernin of Finland to emerge joint second but former national ‘A’ champion P. Konguvel (4) let Croatian GM Komlejnovic off the hook to split the point in the fifth round of the third Balaguer International Chess... Federation Cup H'ball in Srinagar CHANDIGARH, July 21 — The Commonwealth Inter-Club Handball Championship for men and women will be held at Ludhiana in the last week of January, next year... Harvinder stars in Sports Club win AMRITSAR, July 21 — Excellent bowling performance by India's ace speedster Harvinder Singh, who took three wickets for 6 runs helped his club, Sports Club eleven, crush Siti Blue by nine wickets and enter the final today of the district league-cum-knockout cricket tournament... Mumbai keep semis hope alive CHENNAI, July 21 — Star-studded Mumbai XI virtually made sure their safe passage to the semifinals of the MCC Murugappa Hockey Tournament for the Independence Cup with a whopping 10-1 win against Gujarat at the Radhakrishnan Astro-Turf Stadium today... Air-India, TN enter semis CHENNAI, July 21 — Air-India, Mumbai, held on to their two first-half goals to move into the semi-finals at the cost of national champions Railways in their last league match in group ‘A’ in the M.C.C. Murugappa All-India Hockey Tournament for the Independence Cup... May hits century against SA DERBY, July 21 — A century by Derbyshire opener Michael May was the only notable performance at the Racecourse Ground yesterday as the English county and South Africa ground out a draw in their three-day match... Olympian Pillay in hospital MUMBAI, July 21 — Govind Perumal Pillay, member of the gold medal winning Indian hockey team of 1952 and 1956 Olympics was hospitalised here yesterday following a mild paralysis attack... English fan sentenced MARSELLE (France), July 21 — An English soccer fan was sentenced to two months in jail yesterday for throwing rocks at the police before England's World Cup match against Tunisia in June...

Sikdar lifts 2nd bronze, Usha in 200m final FUKUOKA (Japan), July 21 (PTI) — Even heavy rain could not dampen P.T. Usha’s determination as she equalled her national record to storm into the women’s 200 m final in style and Jyotirmoyee Sikdar took her second bronze medal in the 800 m in the 12th Asian Athletic Championship at the Hakata No-Mori Stadium today. The men’s 4 x 400 m relay quartet broke the national mark in reaching the final alike the 4 x 100 m relay team, but Neelam J Singh’s hopes might have been dealt a blow as rain brought a halt to the women’s discus competition with the Indian leading with 56.34 m after two rounds. Veteran P.T. Usha raised visions of a gold and showed there was much fight left in her by clocking a superb 23.27 seconds to win the second of three heats, equalled her own national mark set in 1989, and come through as the fastest qualifier. She will have to battle it out with Chinese 100 m gold medallist Yan Jiankui, who won the final heat in 23.94, and the first heat winner Huang Hui (China — 23.73). Heavy rain accompanied by thunder earlier in the day forced the organisers to put off all the field event finals for tomorrow morning. Chen Yanhao of China won the men’s 110 m hurdles in 13.53 seconds, Kazakhstan’s Olga Shishigina claimed the women’s 100m hurdles in a meet record of 13.04 seconds while Zhang Jian added another gold for China in women’s 800 m — the only other final decided today. Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, defending her 800 m title won at Jakarta in 1995, broke the meet mark for second day running but had to be content with the bronze as in 1500 m yesterday. Both Jyotirmoyee and Rosa Kutty, yet to touch full form after a bout of typhoid earlier in the year, had planned to run a fast-paced race to take the sting out of Zhang Jian and Liu Jing, but the Chinese women proved to be too strong and made it a one-two. Zhang Jian clocked two minutes 01.16 sec followed by Liu Jing (2:01.85) and Jyotirmoyee (2:02.65) as all three broke Shiny Wilson’s meet mark of 2:03.16 set at Jakarta in 1985. Rosa Kutty faded away in the final stages to come in eighth among 10 finishers at a slow 2:09.26. The Indian men’s longer relay quartet of Jata Shankar, Ramachandran, Lijo David Thottan and Paramjit Singh broke the national mark to qualify for the final. They ran an excellent race in the heats, fighting it out all the way with Japan to clock 3 min 06.33 seconds to better the record of 3:06.66 they set in the trials on July 3 during the Chennai Federation Cup. India also made the men’s 4 x 100 m final, Anand Menezes, Vikram Singh, Amit Khanna and Rajeev Balakrishnan clocking 40.53 seconds to finish fourth in their semifinal heat. Neelam J Singh took the lead with a 56.34 m throw, with China’s Yu Xin (56.33) and Xiao Yanling (53.32) in tow, when the weather interruption forced the cancellation of the event. G.G. Prameela had the fifth best time of 14.64 sec in the 100 m hurdles — the first event in heptathlon — before the morning’s rain intervention. Men’s and women’s discus, pole vault, triple jump and high jump — the other finals — have been shifted to tomorrow. Usha was easily the fastest qualifier with Huang Mei winning the first heat in 23.73 and Kazakhstan’s Svetlana Bodritskaya, who pipped Usha for the 400 m silver, qualifying behind Usha in a comfortable 23.81 seconds. Yan Jiankui (China — 23.94) was the only other runner to dip under 24 seconds as the battle lines were clearly drawn. Kazakh hurdler Olga Shishigina prevented the Chinese athletes from making a clean sweep of all the three finals on the track today as events began on a wet track after the rain stoppage. Olga, the world silver medallist who is back after a doping ban, pipped Feng Yun of China to win the 100 m hurdles in a championship record of 13.04 seconds — putting to shade the existing mark of 13.07 set by China’s Zhang Yu in the 1993 edition at Manila. Favourite Koji Ito of Japan scorched the tracks with a 20.68 seconds effort to lead the qualifiers in the men’s 200 metres. In the fastest first heat, Oman’s Hameed Al-Dalhami clocked 20.97 sec. Chinese Yin Hanzhao (21.19) and Han Chaoming (21.14) won the remaining two heats. The peerless Qatari Talal Mansoor’s meet mark of 10.22 could be threatened in the final. The following are the results on the third day: Men: 110 m hurdles: 1. Chen Yanhao (Chn) 13.53 sec. 2. Qi Zhen (Chn) 13.74. 3. Andrey Sklyarenko (Kzk) 13.86. Women: 800 m: 1. Zhang Jian (Chn) 2:01.16 (NMR — old 2:03.16). 2. Liu Jing (Chn) 2:01.85. 3. Jyotirmoyee Sikdar (Ind) 2:02.65. 100 m hurdles: 1. Olga Shishigina (Kzk) 13.04 sec (NMR — old 13.07). 2. Feng Yun (Chn) 13.10. 3. Sriyani Kulawansa 13.16.

Aussies, Kiwis to field top teams KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 (Reuters) — New Zealand and Australia, hoping to repeat their performance at the 1994 Commonwealth Games this year, have said they would field their best athletes for September’s competition in Malaysia. "We have put in place a very stringent performance-based selection criteria," said Michael Hooper, Secretary-General of the New Zealand Olympic Committee here yesterday. "As a consequence of that, we are hoping for a successful games," he said in an interview in the Malaysian capital. New Zealand clinched a total of 41 medals at the 1994 game in Victoria, Canada. "It will be nice to think that we can...slightly surpass that to show improvement." He said New Zealand would be a strong contender in rugby sevens, hockey, netball and cricket. Australia, which won 87 gold medals and a total of 182 medals at the Victoria Games, said it hoped to maintain this performance at the September 11-21 Kuala Lumpur games. Australia’s Chef de Mission for the games, Don Stockins, was yesterday quoted by Malaysia’s national Bernama news agency as saying that all sports associations had been told to pick their best for the Australian contingent. This was to ensure that Australia could maintain its status as one of the best sporting nations in the commonwealth, he said in the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi, the venue for the shooting event. Stockins said humidity would be a factor in the Australians’ performance but it should not be an excuse if they did not perform well. New Zealand’s Hooper said he was happy with the games preparations by the organisers and expressed hope that the September event would run smoothly. Hooper and other leading members of the management of the New Zealand Commonwealth Games team are in Kuala Lumpur for a final inspection of games facilities. On heat and humidity, Hooper said some New Zealand teams would embark on a pre-games tour to northern Australia, Brunei and Singapore to help acclimatise. Klusener ruled out of tour DERBY (England), July 21 (AP) — Lance Klusener was ruled out of the rest of South Africa's tour of England yesterday after he was told he needed surgery to cure an inflamed tendon above his ankle. The 26-year-old allrounder was sent home for diagnosis and fitness checks having sustained the injury by constantly landing in the deep bowlers' footholes at Old Trafford in the drawn third Test. After bowling 20 deliveries at Centurion Park, Klusener broke down again and surgery was arranged for today once an X-ray revealed that the tendon was badly inflamed. "It's obviously disappointing for Lance because he's had a very good tour and has made a big contribution, but he can now concentrate on his recovery after he's had the operation," said South African coach Bob Woolmer, whose team leads the series 1-0 with two tests to play. "We're very pleased because we have found out what the problem was. It's been a bit of mystery up to now but now he know the problem we can take steps to cure it." Klusener is expected to be in plaster for up to a month, which rules him out of the last two tests, the triangular one-day series against England and Sri Lanka and South Africa's squad for the Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur in September. The South Africans are confident he will return for the home series with West Indies in November. English fan sentenced MARSELLE (France), July 21 (AP) — An English soccer fan was sentenced to two months in jail yesterday for throwing rocks at the police before England's World Cup match against Tunisia in June. Garry Wyatt, a 30-year-old carpenter from Jarrow, tyne and wear, was arrested on June 14 after attacking the plainclothed officers. He pleaded guilty to the charges. Wyatt also was accused of resisting arrest by fighting with the officers. One officer's elbow was injured in the incident had to stay off work for eight days. During yesterday's hearing, Wyatt pleaded guilty, but said he acted out of self-defence, claiming that he was being attacked by rival Tunisian fans. As a result of time already served, Wyatt is likely to be freed in early August. Wyatt was the last of 15 Britons to be tried in Marseille for World Cup violence. Dozens of people were detained after English fans clashed with local residents, many of them north Africans during three days of violence in the port city.

Jones bags 200m title; O’Brien wins NEW YORK, July 21 (Reuters) — Dan O’ Brien has confirmed his status as the finest all-round track and field athlete of the 1990s before setting his sights on the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The 32-year old American won the Goodwill Games title in his first competitive outing since taking the 1996 Atlanta Olympic gold and in the process seriously threatened his own world record. O’ Brien posted the highest total after nine events in the history of the event but the effort required in his least favourite descipline. The 1,500 m proved too much and he eventually settled for a total of 8,755. "I would like to go out in 2000 and score 9,000," he said. "I didn’t know what my fitness level was coming into competition, with a better 400 and 1,500, I will get the world record." Marion Jones added the 200 gold to her 100 title in a year’s best of 21.80 after taking a brief-break from her busy European schedule. On the second day of the 15-event 15-day games, Belarussian Ivan Ivankov added the Goodwill all-around gymnastics title to his 1997 world title. Ivankov, denied a chance of gold in Atlanta after rupturing an Achilles’ tendon, posted an aggregate 57,500 to defeat Russian Alexei Bondarenko. In basketball, Brazil defeated Puerto Rico, conquerors of the USA on Sunday by 96-92 in overtime. The USA, led by Wally Szczerriak’s 23 points, rallied late in the match to beat China 91-76. Marion Jones caused a brief stir at the Goodwill Games when she said some of her opponents had been "trash talking" asked to explain, Jones said a small group of runners, whom she declined to identify, had tried to upset her in order to gain a mental advantage. "They say they know my secrets, it’s a bit vexing," she said. Not vexing enough to upset the tall American who is enjoying a wonderful season on the track and now goes back to Europe and the golden league circuit. The best race of the night came in the women’s mile, when Russia’s double Olympic champion Svetlana Masterkova held off a determined challenge from 34- year old American Regina Jacobs to win in four minutes 20.39 seconds. "She went out so fast," Masterkova said. "It was my experience that helped me to win the race." American Mark Crear was one of the three competitors to false start in the men’s high hurdles but recovered well to beat Olympic gold medallist Allen Johnson and US champion Reggie Torin. His time of 13.06 equalled the third fastest time in the world this year.

Malpractices dog Pak cricket: Anwar Islamabad, July 21 (ANI) — Former Test captain and the team’s best one-day batsman Saeed Anwar has said that Pakistan cricket is corrupt with malpractices of sorts. Talking on a Pakistan Television (PTV) chat show, Anwar said the lower rungs in Pakistan cricket were infested with nepotism, which he said was harming Pakistan cricket severely. "Wherever you go, one can notice people indulging in unfair means to get their favourites selected in regional teams," said Anwar. He said such practices were more evident at regional levels where cricket associations forget the true value of merit to select a player. "This thing is really harming Pakistan cricket. We no longer get good players coming through such a poor system." he added. "Mind you, there is no such thing at the national level as all the performances of the senior team players are in public view," he clarified. Anwar pointed out that this was the reason for the dearth of quality batsmen for Pakistan’s senior team. "Look at Inzamamul Haq. Everybody knows he is a great player but we’ve had to pull him into the playing eleven even if he’s not in a position to walk." The left-handed batsman said there have been occasions when Haq had been administered four pain killing injections at a time for important games. To a question, the world’s highest individual scorer in One-day internationals said he was no longer interested in taking the leadership of the senior team. "I have captained in the past but many people have observed, including myself that I have lost form while leading the national side." "So in the interest of the Pakistan team, I have volunteered to decline the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) offer of captaincy for the next season," he said. The PCB is yet to announce a captain with several names being bandied in the press. Anwar was one of four Pakistan captains to have been sacked during the 1997-98 season. Surrounded by Pakistan’s top TV faces, including Moin Akhtar and Shahnaz Sheikh, Anwar remembered his 194 scored against India with great affection. "It was very overwhelming to achieve that feat," he said. "But one thing I cannot forget was the standing ovation I got from the public at Chennai. It was memorable indeed." Last year in May, Anwar blasted an Indian attack to all parts of the Chepauk Stadium to score the world’s highest one-day score, 194, with the help of 21 fours and 5 sixes off 148 balls. Interestingly, he hit Anil Kumble for three consecutive sixes before surpassing the previous record held by Viv Richards of the West Indies.

India meet N. Korea in inaugural tie HYDERABAD, July 21 (PTI) — Hosts India will take on North Korea on the inaugural day of the four-nation Asian qualifying round group-D under-16 football championship which gets underway at the flood-lit Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium here on July 24. All-India Football Federation president Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi said Pakistan and Kazakistan were the other teams in the tourney, which is being conducted on a round-robin format with two matches every day. Releasing the tournament fixtures, Mr Dasmunshi said neutral referees from Nepal, Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka, UAE and Tajikistan had been invited for the smooth conduct of the event. AIFF secretary, Kedernath Maur, said if India qualified in this tournament, the team would be sent to Germany for international exposure before embarking on the Qatar tour where the Asian under-16 football tournament will be held in October. The following are the fixtures: Pakistan vs Kazakistan and India vs DPR Korea (July 24); DPR Korea vs Pakistan and India vs Kazakistan (July 26); DPR Korea will clash with Kazakistan while India will take on arch rivals Pakistan on July 28. S. Bharathi of Tata Football Academy (TFA) will lead the 24-member Indian team. The team was selected by Amal Raj, Akbar, Shankar Mitra and N. Tarun Ghosh. Team: S.G. Mukherjee (TFA Bihar), Arindam Ghosh (WB), Safir Ahmed (UP) (goalkeepers). Amit Dey (WB), S. Bharathi (captain) (TFA Bihar), Surkuma Sing (TFA Bihar), Palash Karmakar (WB), S.B. Chakrabarthy (WB), Amardeep Hundal (TFA Bihar), Debabrata Das (WB), Madhusudan Mazumdar (WB), Napolian Singh (TFA Bihar) and Vizaroo (Nagaland) (defenders). T. Ragui (TFA Bihar), Sanjay Das (WB), S. Patnayak (Orissa), Jasheer Abbas (TFA Bihar), Deepankar Roy (Punjab) and R.K. Kushal (Assam) (mid-fielders). B. Mandal (WB), Samson Singh (Manipur), Mohammed Kaizer (TFA Bihar), and T. Das (TFA Bihar) (forwards). Coaches: Shanker Mitra and Tarun Bose (WB).

Jackie leaving with mixed emotions UNIONDALE (New York), July 21 (AP) — It's time to say goodbye, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee is having mixed emotions about her final track meet. The 36-year-old world record-holder and two-time Olympic gold medallist in the heptathlon will compete in her last multi-event today and tomorrow at the Goodwill games. No one else has won the Goodwill heptathlon. Then on Saturday at Edwardsville, Illindis, not far from her hometown of East St. Louis, Joyner-Kersee will end her career in the U.S. Open, an international grand prix meet being promoted as her farewell to track and field. "For me, it's a celebration, but I'm sure I will be sad," she said on Monday. "I'm looking forward to this being the last, because of all the hard work I've put in to be the best." "I've enjoyed myself, but I'm looking forward to the day when I don't have to do any more 500 or 600 repeats with 10 seconds rest." Joyner-Kersee has not completed a heptathlon since the 1996 Olympic trials, but thinks she can do well despite the lack of competition. "I believe I'm in great shape," she said. "Things have been going well (during training) in some events but not others, like the technical events (the javelin and shot put)." Joyner-Kersee has won 24 of the 35 heptathlong in which she has competed and has the six highest scores ever, including five over 7,000 points. Her coach and husband, Bob Kersee, also has faith in his wife's ability to do well in her heptathlon finale. "I felt I could get her in shape to win, even though a couple of events are rusty," Kersee said. She's coming here to win. She wants to win her last heptathlon on American soil. "This is a touching moment for me and Jackie. Her performances have inspired me. We're not only losing a great athlete from track and field but a great person." Joyner-Kersee would have preferred to leave the sport without any fanfare. "If I had my way, I would have come to the Goodwill Games and that would have been it," she said. "If I didn't show up again, nobody would have noticed." "Now I'm here and I said, enjoy yourself. You're not going to run and jump forever. These are happy times and sad times. You never want to say goodbye, but eventually you have to." Ronaldo to miss season opener PARIS, July 21 (PTI) — Embattled Brazialian soccer star Ronaldo, who is yet to come to terms with Brazil’s defeat to France in the soccer World Cup, will miss his club Inter Milan’s serie ‘A’ season opener in September through suspension. Ronaldo, who is being bogged down by the media back home trying to know the exact drama that occurred in Brazil’s dressing room just before the World Cup final, faces one-match suspension for his criticism on the refereeing. The failed hero was punished for criticising refereeing after Inter Milan’s 1-0 loss in April to eventual champions Juventus. He was initially dealt a two-match suspension, but after a review of the decision, the Italian League reduced the suspension to one-game penalty. Italian serie A season kicks of on September 13, the Italian League announced in Rome yesterday.

Gopichand, Popat in semifinals BANGALORE, July 21 (PTI) — Top seeds and national champions Aparna Popat and P Gopichand took their appointed place in the women’s and men’s finals of the BPL All India Open Badminton Tournament in contrasting styles here today. While local girl Aparna Popat had to quell a stiff challenge from P.V.V. Lakshmi of BPCL to script a 9-11 11-1 12-9 win, Gopichand (IOC) had it easy against local favourite and sixth seed Ajith Wijetilek, whom he demolished in straight games 15-8 15-7. Popat, who finished runner-up in the junior world championships at Silkeborg, Denmark, began well to lead 11-2 at one stage but committed many unforced errors to surrender the huge lead and the game at 9-11 as Lakshmi rallied well. The second game was a different story as the star player played true to her seeding and finished the game in just eight minutes. She took seven points at a stretch and attacked right from the start to take the game at 11-1. But Lakshmi came back strongly in the decider. After drawing level at 7-7 she lead 9-7 to bring the game alive. Both players then played a fast and attacking game but the national champion called on all her experience to wrap up the game 12-9 and the match. Popat later said of her tough semifinal encounter, "I might have been in touch after playing a lot of tournaments but lack of practice showed the difference in our game. Lakshmi played a faster game compared to the usual one." Gopichand, who struggled in the quarterfinals against Sachin Ratti yesterday, had it easy against Wijetilek. The Karnataka lad who showed great promise in his upset of fourth seed Srikanth Bakshi in the quarterfinals yesterday, hardly put up a fight today. Though Wijetilak began well, he was soon outpaced by Gopichand who had him running all round the court with some excellent smashes and meticulous drops. The national champion thus wrested the game easily at 15-8. Despite returning from a long layoff following a knee injury, Gopichand showed amazing agility and did not let Wijetilak into the match at all. The Karnataka lad could earn just seven points as the top seed moved into the final winning the second game 15-7.

Jeev Johnnie Walker Golfer of the Month From Our Sports Reporter NEW DELHI, July 21 — Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh has been voted Johnnie Walker Asian Golfer of the Month for June after finishing an impressive joint-eighth in the English Open held at Marriot Hanbury Manor, Ware, from June 4 to 7. Singh's joint-eighth place enabled him as the first Indian golfer to finish in the top 10 on the European Tour. The 26-year-old from Chandigarh finished just seven shots behind Lee Westwood of England, who took the title and the £ 108,330 winner's cheque. Singh, who turned professional in 1993, shared eighth place with South African Roger Wessels at 10 under par, with a final score of 278. Singh shot under par for the four rounds of the event, scoring a remarkable 67, five under par in the third round. Singh took home £ 15,380 in prize money, bringing his total earnings to £ 50,799.91 so far this year. Also contributing to his nomination as Johnnie Walker Asian Golfer of the Month, Singh finished joint 22nd with Nick Price of Zimbabwe at the Deutsche Bank — TPC of Europe in Hamburg, Germany at the beginning of June, making him the best Asian finisher in two events this month. Following these successes, Singh now holds 59th position on the Volvo ranking. By introducing the Asian Golfer of the Month and Asian Golfer of the Year awards, it is Johnnie Walker's intention to encourage talented, up-and-coming professional golfers in Asia, Johnnie Walker also aims to further develop worldwide recognition of the ever-increasing standard of Asian golfers.

Mumbai keep semis hope alive CHENNAI, July 21 (PTI) — Star-studded Mumbai XI virtually made sure their safe passage to the semifinals of the MCC Murugappa Hockey Tournament for the Independence Cup with a whopping 10-1 win against Gujarat at the Radhakrishnan Astro-Turf Stadium today. With two wins and a draw in group ‘B’, Mumbai were sitting pretty with a plus eleven goal average. The other contender for the last four berth from the group, Punjab and Sind Bank have a tough task on their hand, needing to get past the strong Services with a six goal difference. The bankmen had shared the point with Mumbai and beat Gujarat 7-1 for a plus six average. In a group ‘D’ match, Food Corporation of India, New Delhi, beat Bihar XI by an odd goal in five. In the Mumbai-Gujarat match, India captain Dhanraj Pillai and Mumbai captain Sabu Varkey along with Gavin Ferriera shared the 10 goals among them. Mumbai, leading six-one at half-time, toiled hard for this massive victory to scuttle P&B’s chances of making it to the semifinals. Services, with a match against P&B had defeated Gujarat (2-0) and lost to Mumbai (1-3). Like Gujarat, who have lost all their three matches, Services are out of the reckoning. Despite this, Services are expected to give the bankmen a run for their money. For Mumbai, Pillai scored three goals — two within a minute (12th and 13th — while Ravi Nayakar (5th, 9th) and Cleas Ferriera (6th, 7th) netted twice. Gavin Ferriera, Cheops d’Costa and Sabu Varkey scored a goal each. Sashi Gorade netted the lone goal for Gujarat. In the second match of the morning, FCI, who showed much venom in their win over IHF colts yesterday, were made to sweat by Bihar. FCI’s Amar Singh Negi drew first blood in the 20th minute and four minutes later, Bihar equalised through captain Dung Dung. Surprisingly and against the run of play, Bihar went ahead in the 42nd minute through Manohar Topno. Negi, who had missed an easy chance earlier, found the mark in the 57th minute to make it 2-2. FCI kept up the tempo and scored the winner in the 60th minute. In a combined move, Negi from the centre passed to Sandeep Sangwan and the latter dodged past a few defenders, dragged the goalkeeper and placed the ball in. Sandipan shocks Westernin BALAGUER (Spain), July 21 (PTI) — Young Sandipan Chanda (4) shocked GM Westernin of Finland to emerge joint second but former national ‘A’ champion P. Konguvel (4) let Croatian GM Komlejnovic off the hook to split the point in the fifth round of the third Balaguer International Chess. The 15-year-old Chanda from Calcutta scored an excellent win. Employing the Kings Indian attack with white pieces, the Indian did not have any opening advantage, but he outfoxed his superior opponent in a rook and pawn ending. Konguvel missed clear winning chances against Komlejnovic in a knight versus bishop ending to split the point and remain second along with compatriots Rahul Shetty, Neelotpal Das, Sandipan Chanda and IM-Elect V. Saravanan. IM Tibor Karolyi (4.5) of Hungary shocked top seed GM Alexandr Baburin to join overnight leaders IM Narcisso Dublan and GM L. Pshakis — the two played out a draw — in the lead. Playing black in a Sicilian Dragon Maroczy bind set up, Konguvel’s king penetrated deep into the queenside in the endgame and could have collected an enemy pawn. But he erred in trying to queen his ‘D’ pawn, allowing Komlejnovic to sacrifice his bishop for a couple of pawns and force a draw.

Federation Cup H'ball in Srinagar By Our Sports Reporter CHANDIGARH, July 21 — The Commonwealth Inter-Club Handball Championship for men and women will be held at Ludhiana in the last week of January, next year. This was stated by Mr S.M. Bali, Secretary of the Handball Federation of India, here yesterday. He said the field included among other teams from Pakistan, Kenya, South Africa, Bangladesh, United Kingdom, Uganda and two from the host country. Mr Bali said the Senior National Women's Handball Championship had been allotted to the Punjab Handball Association which would organise this championship at Anandpur Sahib in the first week of January. The Federation Cup Handball Championship would be conducted in Srinagar in the first week of September this year. The All-India Inter-Zonal Handball Tournament would be held at Pondicherry in the first week of August, Mr Bali said. The Senior National Men's Handball Championship had been allotted to the Andhra Pradesh Handball Association and it would be held at Vijaywada in the last week of December. The Sub-Junior National Handball Championship for boys and girls would be organised at Jammu in November while the Junior National Girls Handball Championship would be held at Lucknow in September. However, the Junior National Boy's Handball Championship had been allotted to the Haryana State Handball Association which would hold it at Hisar in the last week of October. Harvinder stars in Sports Club win From Our Sports Reporter AMRITSAR, July 21 — Excellent bowling performance by India's ace speedster Harvinder Singh, who took three wickets for 6 runs helped his club, Sports Club eleven, crush Siti Blue by nine wickets and enter the final today of the district league-cum-knockout cricket tournament being played here at Gandhi Ground. Siti Blue which opted to bat first were bundled out for 114. While their star batsman Gagan Chopra scored 46, the other batsman fell cheaply. For Sports Club, Tejinder Singh (3/17) and Sandeep (2/17) were the other wicket takers. In reply Sports Club reached the target for the loss of only one wicket. Ravneet Ricky and Gurbeer Chadha remained unbeaten at 32 and 80 respectively. In the final Sports Club would clash with Phoenix Club on July 25. Brief scores: Siti Blue: 114 all out (Gagan Chopra 46, Harvinder 3/6, Tajinder Singh 3/22 and Sarandeep 2/17) Sports Club: 116 for 1 (Ravneet Ricky 32 n.o. and Gurbeer Chadha 80 n.o.).

May hits century against SA DERBY, July 21 (Reuters) — A century by Derbyshire opener Michael May was the only notable performance at the Racecourse Ground yesterday as the English county and South Africa ground out a draw in their three-day match. Derbyshire finished a long, tedious day on 337 for four in their second innings. The home side decided to bat all day after South Africa had extended their first innings until 16 overs before the close on the second day. May, who is 27 in two days’ time, took advantage of the pressure-free third day to compile his third first class century. The stocky right hander required 201 deliveries in three hours and 54 minutes to reach 101 but his celebrations were short lived when the next delivery from Makhaya Ntini found the outside edge and was caught by wicketkeeper Mark Boucher. Earlier, Australian Test opener Michael Slatter scored 63, which, combined with his first innings 185, earned him the man of the match award. South Africa travelled to Nottingham immediately after the match to begin preparations for the fourth Test against England at Trent Bridge which begins on Thursday. Olympian Pillay in hospital MUMBAI, July 21 (UNI) — Govind Perumal Pillay, member of the gold medal winning Indian hockey team of 1952 and 1956 Olympics was hospitalised here yesterday following a mild paralysis attack and now is in stable condition. Bombay Hockey Association (BHA) secretary Kisen Lal Passi said here that Perumal was admitted to Nanavati Hospital by the BHA which will also pay his medical bill.

Air-India, TN enter semis CHENNAI, July 21 (PTI) — Air-India, Mumbai, held on to their two first-half goals to move into the semi-finals at the cost of national champions Railways in their last league match in group ‘A’ in the M.C.C. Murugappa All-India Hockey Tournament for the Independence Cup here this evening. Last year’s national runners-up Tamil Nadu, who defeated Indian Hockey Federation Colts XI 4-1 to top group ‘D’, play Indian Airlines in the other semi-final. Air-India would await the leader of group ‘C’, in which Mumbai XI are sitting pretty with a six-goal advantage over Punjab and Sind Bank. The bank men need a huge win against Services with a minimum of six-goal difference to upset the hopes of Mumbai for a place in the last four stage. Railways were rather shoddy in their approach and both the forwards and defence did not play upto the mark. On the other hand, Air-India’s forwards played well. Especially the 18-year-old Gagan Ajit Singh was prominent in all his forrays and the Railway defenders were unable to read his movements well. Playing with good coordination, Air-India’s defence re-grouped to thwart the railwaymen time and again. In fact, Railways had more of the ball in both the sessions and earned four penalty corners, but could not translate it into goals.

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