MASON: Pete Sampras cuts into his 28th birthday cake after defeating Rainer Schuttler of Germany, 7-5, 7-6, at the ATP Championships in Mason, Ohio, Thursday. Every year Sampras loses the French Open, but for the past six years he has been the No. 1 player in the world and now he's riding a 22-match winning streak. — AP/PTI

Carlos Moya, Kafelnikov survive early exit INDIANAPOLIS, Aug 18 — Former French Open champions Gustavo Kuerten and Carlos Moya recorded second-round victories with varying degrees of difficulty at the $745,000 RCA Championships hard court tennis event. Parnita to the fore CHENNAI, Aug 18 — Defending champion Parnita Garewal and Sri Lanka’s Tuhasini Selvaratnam, a former champion, were the joint leaders with par scores of 72 each at after the first round of the Southern India Ladies Golf Championship here today.

Susanthika’s fears
COLOMBO, Aug 18 — Controversial Sri Lankan sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe has sought permission to stay outside the games village at the Seville world athletics, fearing that her team-mates might tamper with her food and drinks.

Rohan, Sapna champs
JALANDHAR, Aug 18 — Top seeds Rohan Kapoor and Sapna Ratti outwitted their rivals easily to emerge champions in the men’s and women’s sections, respectively, in the Jalandhar District Badminton Championship which concluded at the Raizada Hans Raj Stadium here.

Clarify sports policy stand: coaches
HAMIRPUR, Aug 18 — The All-India NIS Trained Coaches Sangh has demanded that all political parties should clarify their stand on the national sports policy.

Skating squad announced
Chandigarh, Aug 18 — The Roller Skating Federation of India has selected 10 women and an equal number of men to represent India in the eighth Asian Roller Skating Championship to be held at Shanghai (China) from October 16 to 23, according to a press note of the federation.

Bhutia focuses on English league
GANGTOK, Aug 18 — Soccer star Baichung Bhutia has said he would be happy to play for the country in future but was “totally focussed” on the English league for the time being.

Kipketer likely to win third title
SEVILLE (Spain), Aug 18 — Wilson Kipketer, Denmark’s enigmatic Kenyan-born 800m world indoor and outdoor world record-holder, has bounced back this season after an illness-plagued 1998.

Sonal wins 2 ITF titles in Africa
MUMBAI, Aug 18 — Sonal Phadke of Maharashtra won two of the three ITF junior titles in a three-week playing stint on the South-Central African tour.

Odumbe named Kenyan captain
NAIROBI, Aug 18 — Kenyan cricket authorities have named outspoken all-rounder Maurice Odumbe as national team captain to replace Asif Karim, who retired last month.

• Player’s parents die in quake
• Akopian knocks out Adams

• Reiffel replaces Warne

Ottey tests positive, quits world meet

SEVILLE (Spain), Aug 18 (AFP) — Jamaican sprint queen Merlene Ottey has pulled out of the World Athletics Championships which start here Saturday after failing a dope test last month.

In a statement issued today, Ottey said there had been a “terrible mistake.” She added that she would have a voluntary test done immediately.

“This is a terrible blow for the championships,” said an IAAF official.

The drug test Ottey failed was carried out at a minor meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland, on July 5.

“Writing this statement has been the most difficult and emotionally draining of my life,” said Ottey, the most successful Athlete in World Championship history.

Ottey tested positive for nandrolone.

The 39-year-old Ottey said that she had been tested in May and on July 30 in Stockholm and as far as she knew both tests were negative.

She added that she had been told on August 15 that the ‘A’ test taken in Lucerne had been positive. The ‘B’ test results are unknown.

Ottey ran her first Olympics in 1980 in Moscow and in 1983 began her record haul of World Championship medals by taking the silver in the 200m.

Since 1983 she has amassed 14 world championship medals, including two gold — four more than American legend Carl Lewis.

A press release from Ottey’s management agency said it was contacted on Sunday by a representative of the International Amateur Athletic Federation that ‘supposedly’ a positive ‘A’ test sample was found in a drug test at an International Olympic Committee laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The ‘B’ sample has not yet been tested.

Iaaf general secretary Istvan Gyulai confirmed the report, saying he was informed a couple of days ago.

“It was a personal shock,” Mr Gyulai said.

He added it was in the best interests of the championships, which begin on Saturday, that Ottey withdrew.

“It’s in nobody’s best interests if she comes here and runs and turns out positive (after the results of the ‘B’ sample,” Mr Gyulai said.

Herb Elliott, a Jamaican delegate at the IAAF congress, first heard of Ottey’s test from the media and was very upset.

“This is a travesty of justice. In every lab, you are supposed to protect the interests of the athlete until the procedure has been completed,” he said, referring to the ‘B’ sample.

“There is nothing official yet. We know the tests are not completed. We have not been notified officially. The normal procedure is the athlete has the right to a hearing and the ‘B’ sample is tested.

Pak stars to quiz accusers

ISLAMABAD, Aug 18 (PTI) —The betting and match-fixing probe in Pakistan cricket is entering an interesting phase with the one-man judicial commission directing national team members to cross-examine their accusers in a daily hearing starting next week.

The commission, headed by Lahore High Court Judge Malik Mohammad Qayyum has issued notice to the entire World Cup team led by skipper Wasim Akram to appear before it on August 23 to begin questioning those who had made match-fixing allegations against leading players.

The cross-examination will begin with an alleged bookie and a former Pakistan medium-pacer, who had alleged that Akram and company took money for throwing away matches.

Registrar of the court, Abdus Salam Khawar confirmed the summons to the players and said the cricket board (PCB) has been directed to inform them of the order, the English daily The Dawn reported today.

“In the first hearing, we have summoned Salim Pervaiz (an alleged bookie) and Ata-ur-Rehman (former medium-pacer). Not only the eight (named in a PCB interim probe report), but the entire team will have the right to cross-examine them,” Khawar was quoted by the paper as saying.

Akram, Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmed have been suspended by PCB on recommendation by the anti-corruption Ehtesab (accountability) Bureau on the basis of the PCB report which named the trio alongwith five others after its inquiry into betting and match-fixing.

Khawar said the commission would begin investigation into allegations of match-fixing in the recent World Cup on August 28.

The investigation into betting and match-fixing allegations during the period prior to the World Cup has been completed, “barring the cross-examination part which would be completed in a week’s time,” he said.

The accountability bureau had conducted its own probe into allegations against the players at the World Cup in England and submitted its report to the President, Mohammad Rafiq Tarar, as well as the PCB.

Kiwis face serious injury problems

LONDON, Aug 18 (AFP) — A fortnight ago few would have given England any chance of winning the current Test series against New Zealand.

England faced an innings defeat by the Kiwis at Old Trafford in the third Test when rain, and a gritty Alec Stewart knock, prevented England going 2-1 down with one Test to go.

But on the eve of the decisive fourth Test which starts at the Oval tomorrow, there has been a noticeable change of mood in both camps.

The Kiwis have serious injury problems. They were already without first choice paceman Simon Doull and now Chris Cairns (knee) and Geoff Allott (back) are struggling to be fit in time for tomorrow.

A crushing innings defeat by Essek on Monday has not helped the mood in the Kiwi camp either. Coach Steve Rixon claims his side were not properly focused at Chelmsford.

“We obviously were not up to the game — our minds were planted on the final Test more than anything else,” he said.

“It was a game late in the tour after four months, and I’ll forgive on one performance.

“We have played good Test match cricket and we will reinforce all the good things we have done in the series.”

All-rounder Cairns may yet play just as a batsman but Allott is not expected to recover and his place will almost certainly be taken by inexperienced left-arm paceman Shayne O’Connor.

England have responded to the inadequate displays of the last two Tests by axing opener Mark Butcher, Graeme Hick, wicketkeeper Chris Read and Peter Such.

Captain Nasser Hussain, now fully recovered from the fractured finger he sustained in the second Test defeat at Lord’s will lead the side and uncapped trio Darren Maddy, Graeme Swann and Ed Giddins, who has made a great comeback with Warwickshire since serving an 18-month ban in 1996 after testing positive for cocaine, have also earned call-ups.

Essex all-rounder Ronnie Irani, who played the last of his two Tests against India at Lord’s three years ago, has also been given a recall.

Stewart will once again become wicketkeeper and drop down the order to bat at number five and all the players will be out to impress incoming coach Duncan Fletcher, who takes over after the series.

“The opportunity is there for us to win the series,” said chairman of selectors David Graveney.

“There’s a prospect of an exciting game — it’s the last game for both teams before a new management team comes in and it’s all there to be won.”

The four-match series is currently tied 1-1.

Teams: England (from): Mike Atherton, Darren Maddy, Nasser Hussain (capt), Graham Thorpe, Alec Stewart (wk), Mark Ramprakash, Ronnie Irani, Graeme Swann, Andy Caddick, Alan Mullally, Chris Silverwood, Phil Tufnell, Ed Giddins.

New Zealand (probable): Matthew Horne, Matthew Bell, Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Roger Twose, Craig McMillan. Adam Parore (wk), Chris Cairns, Daniel Vettori, Dion Nash, Shayne O’Connor.

Carlos Moya, Kafelnikov survive early exit

INDIANAPOLIS, Aug 18 (Reuters) — Former French Open champions Gustavo Kuerten and Carlos Moya recorded second-round victories with varying degrees of difficulty at the $745,000 RCA Championships hard court tennis event.

Kuerten, the third-seeded Brazilian, yesterday disposed of Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-2. The fourth-seeded Moya needed eight match points before outlasting Czech Daniel Vacek 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).

In night play, Mark Philippoussis’ return from a knee injury ended abruptly when the fifth-seeded Australian was toppled by France’s Arnaud di Pasquale, 6-3, 6-1. Philippoussis became the sixth seed to be eliminated in the first two days of the tournament.

Eighth seed Thomas Johansson of Sweden, who won the Du Maurier Open two weeks ago, was upset by Arnaud Clement of France 6-3, 6-2. Francisco Clavet of Spain, the 15th seed, joined Johansson on the sidelines after he was beaten by Canada’s Daniel Nestor 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 in a first-round match.

A runner-up in 1997, Moya has played inconsistently since becoming the world’s top-ranked player for a two-week stretch in March. He has reached the semifinals in only two of his last 13 ATP tour events and today’s triumph was just his third in the last six matches.

Also, Magnus Larsson swept past 1997 champion Jonas Bjorkman, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) in an all-Swedish first-round battle Andrei Pavel of Romania toppled American Chris Woodruff 6-4, 6-2. Germany’s Axel Pretzsch coasted to a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over David Wheaton of the USA and David Prinosil of Germany routed Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands, 6-3, 6-2.

Number 10 Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, No. 11 Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, No. 12 Albert Costa of Spain and No. 14 Cedric Pioline of France all won their opening-round matches on Monday. Ninth seed Felix Mantilla of Spain, No. 13 Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina and No. 16 Fernando Meligeni of Brazil failed to reach the second round.

WASHINGTON (AP): Top-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov and unseeded Martin Damm took care of the Black brothers in the opening round of the Legg Mason Classic yesterday.

Kafelnikov, ranked No. 2 in the world, overcame a horrid start for an 0-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Zimbabwe’s Wayne Black, while Damm eliminated his 12th-seeded brother, Byron Black 6-2, 6-2.

Kafelnikov attributed his slow start to the weather.

“It’s entirely humid and hot here, but I was happy to get through it,” the Russian said after eliminating the younger of the brothers. “Hopefully, I’ll be playing my best tennis in my next match tomorrow.”

Damm, of the Czech Republic, was ranked No 42 on the ATP tour in 1997, but is now 105th. He entered the match against Black having lost three straight opening-round matches and four matches in a row overall. He was also 1-5 against Black.

But he seemed to handle Black, who won an ATP event in India in April, with relative ease.

“The result looked easy, but it wasn’t easy at all,” Damm said. “I was losing a lot of matches in the last few weeks, and it was taking away a lot of confidence.”

In other matches involving seeded players yesterday, No. 4 Todd Martin, of the USA, overcame Kristian Pless of Denmark 6-4, 6-4; No. 6 Nicolas Kiefer of Germany eliminated American Mashiska Washington 6-4, 6-2; No. 8 Marat Safin of Russia topped Sebastian Lareau of Canada 7-5, 7-6 (7-2); and No. 14 Jan Kroslak of the Czech Republic beat Ben Ellwood of Austria 6-2, 6-4.

TORONTO: Monica Seles, going for her fifth straight Du Maurier Open title, rallied for a 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 6-1 victory over Russian qualifier Tatiana Panova.

The second-seeded Seles, who had an opening-round bye, made several unforced errors in the first set yesterday as she went for the lines. The 25-year-old star found the angles in the second and third sets and wore down her 23-year-old opponent.

“I was more nervous than usual, but I found my form,” said Seles, who withdrew from last week’s Acura Classic because of an injured forearm. “I just started hitting five days ago so I’m not feeling that confident.”

Top-seeded Martina Hingis beat Corina Morariu 6-0, 6-3 in a second-round match and will meet 16th-seeded Chanda Rubin a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 winner over Nathalie Dechy of France on Tuesday.

“This is one I have never won, so I’m kind of pumped,” said Hingis, who lost in the semifinals to Seles last year.

In other second-round matches, third-seeded Mary Pierce of France beat Ruxandra Dragomir of Romania 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, and sixth-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa routed compatriot Joannette Kruger 6-1, 6-2.

In first-round play, 12th-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain beat countrywoman Maria Antonia Sanchez Lorenzo 6-3, 6-1; Japan’s A. Sugiyama edged Canada’s Sonya Jeyaseelan 7-5, 6-2; Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic beat Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3; and Australia’s Jelena Dokic defeated Croatia’s Iva Majoli 6-3, 6-4.

Parnita to the fore

CHENNAI, Aug 18 (PTI) — Defending champion Parnita Garewal and Sri Lanka’s Tuhasini Selvaratnam, a former champion, were the joint leaders with par scores of 72 each at after the first round of the Southern India Ladies Golf Championship here today.

With pin positions being tricky and the weather oppressive, both Tuhasini and Parnita, two handicappers, found the going tough but managed to be partly consistent till they drove from the penultimate 17th hole.

It was not windy but they drove away from the line and also were going wayward on the green. Thus, Tuhasini lost three strokes and Parnita a brace of shots on the 18th but managed to end the day with creditable par scores.

Tuhasini had six birdies and dropped six strokes, while Parnita, who started off losing a stroke on the four stroke first hole, had birdies on the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 11th, 13th and 16th and lost a stroke each on the 5th, 6th, 17th and two strokes on the 18th.

Local lass, Pragya Misra (six handicap), performed excellently to take the third spot with a three over 75, followed by former champion and a veteran, Lalitha Balasubramanian (76). Delhi’s Anjali Chopra, Sruti Khanna and Shalini Malik returned identical 77 each.

Top six gross scores : 1. Parnita Garewal and Tuhasini Selvaratnam (Sri Lanka) - 72 each; 2. Pragya Mishra 75, 3. Lalitha Balasubramanian 76, 4. Anjali Chopra, Shruti Khanna and Shalini Malik 77 each, 5. Priyank Dey 79 and 6. Renuka Philips 80.

Susanthika’s fears

COLOMBO, Aug 18 (PTI) — Controversial Sri Lankan sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe has sought permission to stay outside the games village at the Seville world athletics, fearing that her team-mates might tamper with her food and drinks.

The 24-year-old, who won a surprise 200 metres silver medal in the last championship at Athens two years ago, said her team-mates and officials posed a threat and might try to implicate her in a drug scandal, the local media reported.

Susanthika was slapped a six-month ban last year after testing positive for drugs, but was subsequently cleared by a Sri Lankan panel amidst her allegations that Sri Lankan sports officials had tampered with her urine samples.

The world governing body, IAAF, permitted her to run again last November but said a review of her ban would be made by its arbitration panel.

Susanthika, who is at loggerheads with Sri Lankan officials and has been training in California, has been allowed to run at Seville as the IAAF arbitration panel could not hear her case before the championship.

The hearing was put off from April after her lawyers offered to present fresh evidence before the panel.

Susanthika, who raised a storm by accusing a top Sri Lankan sports official of sexual harassment and abruptly leaving the Bangkok Asian Games last December without participating, will be part of the six-member Sri Lankan team at the Spanish city.

Susanthika, who has been training in California since this January, may have to return any medals she wins in Seville if the arbitration panel finds her guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs.

The Sri Lankan squad include Asian Games women’s 200-400 metres double gold medallist, Damayanti Darsha, Commonwealth Games silver medal-winning hurdler, Sriyani Kulawansa, Asian Games 400 metres men’s champion Sugath Tillekeratne and sprinter Chintaka de Soyza.

There was no immediate reaction from the Sri Lankan athletics or sports ministry officials.

Rohan, Sapna champs
From Our Sports Reporter

JALANDHAR, Aug 18 — Top seeds Rohan Kapoor and Sapna Ratti outwitted their rivals easily to emerge champions in the men’s and women’s sections, respectively, in the Jalandhar District Badminton Championship which concluded at the Raizada Hans Raj Stadium here.

In the final Sapna got the better of Sumit Kalra in the straight sets 11-9, 11-1 while in the men’s section, Rohan beat Jaideep Kohli in a three-game thriller. After losing first game to Jaideep, Rohan won both the games comfortably to emerge winner by 12-15, 15-7, 15-10.

In the boys’ singles (under-19) unseeded Ramnik Singh won the first game in the crucial final against the seeded player Karan Deep Kohli. In the next two sets, Karan Deep kept his composure in crucial rallies and waited for his opponent to make the mistakes which bore fruits and he won the title with 8-15, 15-10, 15-11.

Men’s doubles (final) Rohan and Jaideep Kohli beat Ram Lakhan and Neeraj by 15-6, 15-12.

Women’s singles (final): Sapna Ratti b Sumit Kalra 11-9, 11-1. Doubles (final): Sapna Ratti and Sheel Bhagat b Sumit Kalra and Gurpreet Kalra by 15-11, 15-11.

Boy’s doubles under-19 (final) Rohit and Karan Deep b Ramnik and Jaskaran Singh by 15-7, 15-9.

Girls single under-19 (final): Sumit Kalra b Sandhya Yadav by 11-1, 11-5.

Veterans’ singles (final): Upkar Singh Tandon b Ramesh Dhaul by 17-14, 15-0, 15-3.

Doubles (final): Satish Kohli and Ashok Mittal b Arvinder Kohli and Ramesh Dhaul by 15-13, 15-9. Boys singles under-10 (final): Rahul Puria b Avish Mukol by 15-1, 15-4.

Boys singles under-13 (final): Varun Arora b Harsimran Singh 15-2, 15-2. Doubles under-13 (final): Varun and Harsimran b Ranjan and Karan by 15-6, 15-0.

Boys singles under-16 (final): Sahil Arora b Raj Kumar by 15-1, 15-2. Girls single under-16 (final): Heena Kapur b Bani Dhaul by 11-2, 11-1.

Boys doubles under-16 (final): Sahil and Harjot b Raj Kumar and Varun by 15-4, 15-7.

Mr Som Prakash, Deputy Commissioner, gave away the prizes.

Clarify sports policy stand: coaches
From Our Correspondent

HAMIRPUR, Aug 18 — The All-India NIS Trained Coaches Sangh has demanded that all political parties should clarify their stand on the national sports policy. The sangh feels that no political party has so far come forward for the promotion of sports in the country.

Mr Bhupinder Singh Thakur, the national convener of the sangh said here yesterday the failure of the successive governments to have an effective and national sports policy was the root cause of the dismal performances at the world level. He said the time had come the parties should tell the public what would be their policy for sports for the future generation.

He said NIS, Patiala, had so far trained more than 12,000 coaches, but more than 4,000 of them were unemployed. He said if they were put in various educational institutions, the nation would be able to show good results at the world level.

He said the sports was being treated shabbily in the country and some of the Dronacharya Award winning coaches, who had produced Asian-level sportspersons, were still without jobs.

Skating squad announced
By Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, Aug 18 — The Roller Skating Federation of India has selected 10 women and an equal number of men to represent India in the eighth Asian Roller Skating Championship to be held at Shanghai (China) from October 16 to 23, according to a press note of the federation. The selection was based on the camp held recently at Chandigarh. Four girls and six men have also been placed in the reserve list.

Six Haryana women figure in the list and the rest are from Chandigarh.

In the Men’s section, three each from Chandigarh, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir have been included.

The team:

Women: Meenakshi Kohli, Indu Madan, Priyanka Sharma, Sonia Yadav, Shreya (all Har), Radhika Mehta, Sapna, Amrita Singh (Chd), Hinna Ahuja (Har) and Amrit Kaur (Chd) (Goalkeepers).

Reserve: Rishu Bhatia (GK) (Har), K. Shweta Uthappa (Ktk), Priti V. Joshi (Mah) and Vidushi Bhardwaj ( Chd).

Men: Arvind Chaudhary, Abhishek Rattan Pal and Parminder Kamboj (Chd), Paramvir Singh, Harinder Singh and Rajesh Anand (J&K), Gautam Kamboj, Monish Kumar and Gurpreet Sadana (Pb) and Atul Sharma (Delhi).

The next camp will start from August 25 at Chandigarh.

Bhutia focuses on English league

GANGTOK, Aug 18 (PTI) — Soccer star Baichung Bhutia has said he would be happy to play for the country in future but was “totally focussed” on the English league for the time being.

The nimble-footed 23-year-old, set to sign a three-year contract with English division club Bury FC, based in greater Manchester, told newsmen last night “at present I am totally focussed on my engagements in Europe.”

Bhutia, the first Indian to have achieved such a feat, was felicitated by the Sikkim Football Association (SFA) here.

“I will be definitely happy to play for the country again,” he said.

The gifted footballer, who hails from Sikkim, refused to speak anything else on his engagements abroad.

After the felicitation, Bhutia, who had earned a Sports Authority of India (SAI) scholarship at the age of 11, said a player should not forget his ‘base’ and he was ‘grateful’ to the SFA for what he was today.

Baichung’s mentor for long, Karma Bhutia, said when the soccer star rang him up and sought his advice “on whether to sign up for Bury or not,” he suggested Baichung to go ahead without any hesitation.

Kipketer likely to win third title

SEVILLE (Spain), Aug 18 (AFP) — Wilson Kipketer, Denmark’s enigmatic Kenyan-born 800m world indoor and outdoor world record-holder, has bounced back this season after an illness-plagued 1998.

The regenerated Kipketer has forced athletics pundits to rewrite the sporting obituaries they had prepared on him.

Kipketer, who claims he is 28 but could be as old as 32, looks — on this season’s form — to be certain of winning his third successive world title here.

But he is mindful of the consequences of having suffered from malaria last year.

“Sometimes I feel as if the old King Kipketer is back and then on other occasions I feel less convinced,” he said.

“Those people who have had malaria know that it never goes away and can hit you at any time and that is always in the back of my mind.”

For Kipketer, who is engaged to a Danish sprinter, the health problems didn’t stop with malaria. After his extraordinary blowout in the European Championships final last year, where he faded from first to last in the final 150m, he was told he had a liver complaint.

Sonal wins 2 ITF titles in Africa

MUMBAI, Aug 18 (PTI) — Sonal Phadke of Maharashtra won two of the three ITF junior titles in a three-week playing stint on the South-Central African tour.

According to information received here yesterday, the 17-year-old Pune girl, won her first ITF title in a Grade-IV event in Blantyre (Malawi) and followed it up with a title in another Grade-IV event in Ndola (Zambia).

However, in between these two events, Sonal, lost a close final to world number 88 Anat Elazari of Israel in a Grade-III tournament at Harare (Zimbabwe).

Sonal is ranked 98 in the ITF under-18 list behind her Indian teammate Sheetal Gautam (No 89) and ahead of under-18 national champion Radhika Tulpule (no 109).

Sonal, who missed under-18 nationals at Chennai recently, travelled to South-Central Africa along with fellow Maharashtra players Liza Pereira and Vivek Jhaveri.

Odumbe named Kenyan captain

NAIROBI, Aug 18 (AFP) — Kenyan cricket authorities have named outspoken all-rounder Maurice Odumbe as national team captain to replace Asif Karim, who retired last month.

Odumbe captained Kenya to the 1996 World Cup, but was then removed after snubbing a call-up in 1997 for a New Zealand tour of Kenya.

He was reprimanded and fined for criticising the country’s preparations for the last World Cup in England.

Akopian knocks out Adams

LAS VEGAS, Aug 18 (PTI) — Vladimir Akopian of Armenia, branded as ‘tourist’ by chess wizard Garry Kasparov, showed his real class in eliminating highest remaining seed Britain’s Michael Adams to book a place in the FIDE World Chess Championship final here.

Akopian, the find of this tournament and ranked a modest 31st, had too much in his arsenal for fifth seed Adams despite playing with black pieces.

Player’s parents die in quake

ANKARA (DPA) — The parents of Turkish striker Hakan Sukur were killed in yesterday’s earthquake, the Anadolu news agency reported today.

Giving few details, Anadolu said the couple died in Adapazari, a city hit hard by the quake.

Sukur, a Galatasaray player, was in Oslo, Norway, when the quake struck in the early hours yesterday morning. He was with the Turkish squad that was to play the Norwegian national side in a friendly match tonight. The match was called off.

Anadolu also reported that the brother-in-law of the trainer of Fenerbahce, a top Turkish club was killed in the quake.

Reiffel replaces Warne

MELBOURNE, Aug 18 (AFP) — Former Test seam bowler Paul Reiffel was today appointed captain of Victoria state for the Sheffield Shield cricket season.

Selectors rejected last year’s captain Test spinner Shane Warne. Chairman of selectors Shaun Graf said Warne’s lack of availability due to extensive Australian team duties was the main reason he was overlooked.

TT tourney

Chandigarh, Aug 18 (BOSR) — The Prof. R.S. Mehta Memorial Open Table Tennis Tournament will be held from August 27 to 29 at the Sector 23 TT hall. In this three day meet, prominent TT players from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi will take part . The events include cadet boys and girls, sub junior and junior boys and girls and men’s and women’s singles.

Entries close with Mr Rajeev Kaushal, 228, Sector 23-A, on August 28.