INDIANAPOLIS : France's Sebastien Grosjean pumps his fist to the crowd after he defeated Marcelo Rios of Chile in a third round match at the RCA Championships in Indianapolis Thursday, Aug. 19, 1999. Grosjean upset the sixth seeded Rios 6-4, 6-2.— AP/PTI

Kafelnikov, Andre Agassi breeze into last eight WASHINGTON, Aug 20 — Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Andre Agassi advanced into the quarterfinals of the Legg Mason Classic last evening, but third seed Tim Henman from Britain and fifth-seeded Spaniard Alex Corretja were toppled. Will stalwarts put back golden smile? SEVILLE, Aug 20 — Athletics, reeling after the recent series of drug scandals that sent shock waves through the sport, are looking to the 3Ms to restore its tarnished image.

Early shocks for England
LONDON, Aug 20 — Struggling England looked to captain Nasser Hussain to bat them back into contention in the series decider against New Zealand at The Oval today.

Pak cancels judicial probe
KARACHI, Aug 20 — The Pakistan government has cancelled a planned judicial probe into the national team’s performance at the cricket World Cup.

Pillay to lead team to Europe
MUMBAI, Aug 20 — Axed Asian Games national hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay is to lead a 16-member Maharashtra Olympic Association (MOA) team on a tour to the Netherlands and Germany next month to take part in two club tournaments and in the Hague Hockeydays event.

Kailash Nath, Millet raise medal hopes
NEW DELHI, Aug 20 — Despite a bout of viral fever, Kailash Nath came up with an excellent performance to bag three gold medals in swimming in the recent World Police Games at Stolkholm, Sweden.

Rafter warned not to risk future
BRISBANE, (Australia), Aug 20 — Australian coach Tony Roche has warned the country’s number one player Pat Rafter not to put his tennis future at risk to play Davis Cup against Russia here next month.

Douglas latest to test positive
SEVILLE (Spain), Aug 20 — Dutch sprinter Troy Douglas’ positive test to Nandrolone continues a rash of positive tests for the steroid and further tarnished the World Championships due to start here tomorrow.

• World record by Bindra
• Football match live on DD

Nisipeanu’s dream run ends

LAS VEGAS, Aug 20 (PTI) — Romanian Grandmaster Liviu Nisipeanu’s fairytale run at the World Chess Championship ended when Alexander Khalifman of Russia clipped his wings in a two-game playoff (1.5-0.5) to advance to the final against Vladimir Akopian of Armenia.

The 23-year-old Nisipeanu, who forced this tie-breaker to decide the second semifinal winner with a classic win on Wednesday that evened their four-match tie 2-2, made an unwise knight sacrifice in the first game yesterday to hand over an initiative to Khalifman.

Khalifman, who now has the unenviable task of upholding Russian pride in the chequered game of chess, seized the advantage as Nisipeanu’s position steadily deteriorated.

The 36th seeded Khalifman, who has lived dangerously throughout this tournament — he beat India’s Dibyendu Barua, and Gata Kamasky of the USA after being in deficit — now takes on 27-year-old Akopian, another find of the tournament.

Akopian, who has won three junior world championships in under-16, under-18 and under-20 categories, had upset fifth seed Briton Michael Adams in the semifinal (2.5-0.5).

The two, hailing from former Soviet bloc countries, will now start a six-game battle on Sunday to decide the new FIDE world chess champion, the title currently held by Russia’s Anatoly Karpov.

Should Khalifman, a stronger and more experienced player among the two, win the title, the two-decade-long Russian dominance on the mind sport will continue, but not for ever.

FIDE is planning to hold this championship annually and with newer talent emerging from across the world, it certainly is on cards that a non-Russian will Donn the mantle of chess champion in the new millennium.

Khalifman, 33, a self-contained GM who prefers not to participate in many tournaments on the FIDE calendar, won the first tie-break game playing with white pieces and then drew the next with Nisipeanu to share the point and shatter all the hopes of young Romanian at Caesars Palace here.

In the first game, Khalifman dominated his opponent by forcing a position and robbed Nisipeanu of any freedom of move his pieces. The Romanian sacrificed a knight to gain some mobility but his position deteriorated and he lost the game in 42 moves.

Again faced with must-win situation, underdog Nisipeanu played wonderfully starting with the opening. He gained position where he could have won to force another set of playoffs.

However, Nisipeanu’s nerves failed him for the first time as he made a wrong move and then followed it up with a serious mistake. This set of errors was enough for Khalifman to force a draw and move into the finals.

Tendulkar ready to play

COLOMBO, Aug 20 (PTI) — Indian cricket captain Sachin Tendulkar today set at rest rumours about his fitness and said he was ready to play in the tri-nation tournament involving Australia and host Sri Lanka.

“I will be actively taking part in the game,” Tendulkar told waiting reporters at the hotel lobby soon after arriving.

Like in his first stint as captain, Tendulkar is leading a 15-member side to Sri Lanka — his first assignment after taking over the reins of the Indian team.

The three captains — Tendulkar, Australia’s Steve Waugh and Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka — were to address a joint press conference later this evening.

The Indian team arrived here this afternoon from Chennai. The Aussies reached here on Tuesday and have played a warm-up match against Sri Lankan Board President’s XI which they won.

Australia and Sri Lanka will clash in the inaugural match at Galle Stadium on Sunday while India open their campaign on Monday with a match against World Cup champions Australia.

Leaving the scare of his back problem behind, Tendulkar looked cheerful and circulated freely among members of the squad at the Chennai airport. “We are raring to go and I am confident all of us will do our best for the country”, he told reporters just before departure for Colombo.

Team: Sachin Tendulkar (capt), Ajay Jadeja, S Ramesh, Saurav Ganguly, R. Dravid Amay Khurasia, Vinod Kambli, Robin Singh, M S K Prasad, Anil Kumble, Nikhil Chopra, L R Shukla, J Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Debasis Mohanty. Coach: Anshuman Gaekwad; manager: G A Siddique; physio: Ravinder Chaddha.

India not to play in Sahara Cup

MUMBAI, Aug 20 (UNI) — The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today said that the government had stated that it would be inappropriate to go ahead with the Sahara Cup against Pakistan in Toronto.

The BCCI secretary, Mr Jaywant Lele, addressing a Press conference after the board working committee meeting also informed that the television rights for international matches to be played in India has been awarded to Prasar Bharati (Doordarshan) for the next five years.

The Prasar Bharati will also show live 21 days of domestic matches, including the finals of Ranji Trophy, Wills Trophy and Duleep Trophy. The Irani Trophy and the four challenger matches will also be shown live.

The BCCI also finalised the New Zealand home tour itinerary, while renewing the contract for team sponsorship and Wills Trophy for the next three years with ITC. The dates of the BCCI annual general body meeting (BCCI) were also finalised and will be held on September 21 and 22 in Mumbai, Mr Lele informed.

Mr Lele stated in a letter that the Ministry of Sports, Government of India had stated that although it would be inappropriate to hold matches in Toronto against Pakistan under the present circumstances, it also intimated that there would be no difficulty in participating in future triangular or larger tournaments.

Hence the board will honour its commitments to play in Australia and all other tournaments. Mr Lele also informed that this cancellation of the Sahara Cup is only for the present year.

On the reported sharing of losses with the IMG on this cancellation, Mr Lele stated that since it was the government which had called off the tour the question did not arise, there was a clause in the contract which stated that, he added.

The Test matches for the forthcoming home tour of New Zealand will be held at Kanpur, Ahmedabad and Mohali, while the one-dayers will be held at Rajkot, Gwalior, Delhi, Guwahati and Hyderabad. The three warm up matches of New Zealand against the India “A”, Board President’s XI and Ranji Trophy champions will be held at Pune, Jodhpur and Bangalore respectively, Mr Lele informed.

The itinerary of the South African tour will be announced later after discussions with the South African Cricket Board, Mr Lele added.

Mr Lele also said a BCCI special committee for ground and pitches would be visiting Indore and Faridabad during the first class matches and submit a report.

For curbing rowdyism and disruptions, the board will impose a ban of one year on those centres where a match is abandoned due to crowd behaviour. A two year ban will be imposed if such an incident reoccurs at a centre within five years.

Mr Lele also affirmed that the BCCI headquarters would remain in Mumbai.

Kafelnikov, Andre Agassi breeze into last eight

WASHINGTON, Aug 20 (Reuters) — Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Andre Agassi advanced into the quarterfinals of the Legg Mason Classic last evening, but third seed Tim Henman from Britain and fifth-seeded Spaniard Alex Corretja were toppled.

Top seeded Kafelnikov overcame American Justin Gimelstob 7-5, 6-4 and Agassi breezed past Germany’s Bjorn Phau 6-1, 6-3. Fourth seed Todd Martin received a walkover after Ramon Delgado sprained his left ankle in practice and left the ground on crutches.

Czech Jan Kroslak claimed his third victory in three meetings with Henman, taking advantage when the Briton’s serve began to unravel early in the second set.

Corretja was upset by recent Pan-American Games gold medallist Paul Goldstein.

Tomas Zib had gained just one victory on the ATP tour this year before coming to Washington, beating Marat Safin in Prague in April. Now after struggled to make ends meet on the challenger circuit he is already assured of banking $ 14,325 this week after upsetting seventh seed Marc Rosset 6-3, 6-2.

In other matches, Fabrice Santoro of France swept aside Russia’s Marat Safin 6-0, 6-4 in under an hour, and sixth-seeded German Nicolas Kiefer overcame John Van Lottum of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-2.

INDIANAPOLIS (DPA): Pat Rafter quit the $870,000 RCA Championships after reaching the quarterfinals on Thursday as his shoulder tendonitis worsened.

The second seed pulled out after a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 win over Canadian Daniel Nestor. He told tournament director Rod Davis that he would be back next year.

The withdrawal was not a total surprise since the Australian has been dealing with the problem for nearly three months and is set to aim for a third straight US Open crown starting a week from Monday.

Rafter will fly to his base in Bermuda on Friday and will not play next week in Long Island at another ATP tour event.

Third-seed Gustavo Kuerten got a straight-set third-round win, while fellow South American Marcelo Rios went out without a whimper on the hardcourts.

Kuerten, the 1997 French Open champion, beat Swede Magnus Norman, a three-event winner this year, 6-4, 7-5. His victory in the third round helped salve disappointment after Sebastien Grosjean’s 6-4, 6-2 upset of sixth-seeded Rios of Chile.

Ecuadorian 11th seed Nicolas Lapentti ousted Arnaud Di Pasquale of France 6-4, 7-6 (7-5). Florida’s Vince Spadea handed France a double defeat on the day with his 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) scoreline over Arnaud Clement.

Rios has played only one match since missing a month of tournament play with tendonitis in his hip and groin. That was the first round here when he beat an unknown Israeli.

The Chilean, a former world No 1, made a massive 45 unforced errors during the 73-minute loss to Grosjean. He will now take a wild card into next week’s event in Boston in hopes of getting more matches prior to the start of the US Open.

TORONTO (Reuters): American Monica Seles kept alive her hopes for a fifth consecutive Canadian Open title by defeating Russian Elena Likhovtseva 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 in third-round play on Thursday.

Top seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland recovered from a 0-3 first-set deficit to win 10 games in a row and record a comfortable 6-3, 6-1 win over 16th seeded American Chanda Rubin.

France’s Mary Pierce, seeded third, also reached the quarterfinals. She downed German Anke Huber to set up a meeting with her compatriot, 10th-seeded Sandrine Testud.

Spain’s Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the fifth seed, extended her career-record over 12-seeded countrywoman Conchita Martinez to 12-3 with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 victory.

Seles, who will play ninth-seeded Barbara Schett of Austria in quarterfinals, had to save a set point trailing 6-7 in the first-set tie-break. She did so by manoeuvring Likhovtseva around and then belting a forehand winner that wrong-footed the 21st ranked Russian.

Two points later, Seles, ranked fifth, won the set when Likhovtseva, on a high ball through the middle, muffed a forehand volley into the net.

Hingis said she expected her next match, against Sanchez Vicario, to be “mentally easier because I have a very good winning record against her.” The world No 1 leads the 10th-ranked Spaniard 10-1, having lost only their very first meeting.

In another quarterfinal, sixth-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa plays unseeded Anne-Gaelle Sidot of France.

Will stalwarts put back golden smile?

SEVILLE, Aug 20 (AFP) — Athletics, reeling after the recent series of drug scandals that sent shock waves through the sport, are looking to the 3Ms to restore its tarnished image.

And few doubt that Marion Jones, Maurice Greene and Michael Johnson are capable of putting a golden smile back on the frowning face of athletics.

The 23-year-old Jones is targeting an unprecedented four golds - 100m, 200m, long-jump and relay.

Greene has his sights on three golds — and a world record. Already the fastest man in the world, Greene is convinced he can go faster and the world championships offer him the perfect stage.

“Given the right conditions in Seville I can take the record to 9.76. They say it is a very fast track and I want to see just how fast it really is,” says Greene.

Johnson, who is the only man to do the world and Olympic 200/400m double, has cut a surly figure round the European circuit this season but insists that even approaching 32 and bedevilled by niggling injuries he can still see off the best on the track.

Johnson said: “I feel back to the form I was in in 1996”.

But Jamaican-born naturalised-American Jerome Young, who has never beaten Johnson, believes his day is fast approaching.

“It has never been the right moment when I have raced against Michael. But this is the right time now,” said the quiet-spoken Young.

But while the 3Ms may top the billing, the seventh World Athletics Championship offers a tempting menu.

Denmark’s 800m world record holder Wilson Kipketer has recovered from the malaria that laid him low, and although he has not yet matched the performances of 1997 when he finally smashed Seb Coe’s record, gold looks assured.

The 1,500 showdown between world record holder and defending champion Hicham El Guerrouj and Kenya’s Noah Ngeny promises a battle royal while Haile Gebrselassie of Ethopia will defend his 10,000m title.

International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) president Primo Mebiolo has vowed that the championships will overshadow the doping scandals that have harmed the sport.

“Athletics is in good shape and has an even more brilliant future,” he said.

Eight days of competition will prove whether or not he is right.

Showdown uncertain

Don’t look for an immediate showdown between the world’s two fastest sprinters, Maurice Greene and Michael Johnson.

Greene, the world record-holder at 100 metres, will defend his 100m title and try for a tough sprint double in the 200.

Johnson, the world record-holder at 200m and the 1996 Olympic gold medallist at 200 and 400 metres, will be chasing his fourth consecutive 400 title at the worlds.

A natural meeting between the two would be over 200m.

“I will probably run against Michael in the 200 in Sydney,” Greene said, referring to next year’s Olympic Games.

Early shocks for England

LONDON, Aug 20 (AFP) — Struggling England looked to captain Nasser Hussain to bat them back into contention in the series decider against New Zealand at The Oval today.

Hussain, back after missing the Old Trafford Test with a broken finger, led from the front with an unbeaten 35 as England reached tea on 84 for three in their first innings.

But after taking the wickets of Mike Atherton, new boy Darren Maddy and Graham Thorpe before England reached 50, New Zealand were bossing day two, with Daniel Vettori the star.

The Kiwis added 66 in just under even time — Vettori hitting 51 from 48 balls - to swell their first innings to 236, a score which took on greater stature when England suffered their triple loss.

NEW ZEALAND (first innings) overnight 170-8:
Horne c Caddick b Irani 15
Bell c Stewart b Mullally 23
Fleming not out 66
Astle c Stewart b Caddick 9
Twose c Maddy b Giddins 1
McMillan b Tufnell 19
Parore c Ramprakash b Tufnell 0
Cairns b Mullally 11
Nash c Ramprakash b Caddick 18
Vettori lbw b Tufnell 51
O’Connor lbw b Caddick
Extras: (b-9 lb-9 w-2 nb-2) 22
Total: (all out) 236
Fall of wickets: 1/39 2/45 3/54 4/62 5/87 6/87 7/104 8/157 9/236
Bowling: Caddick 33.1-17-66-3, Mullally 26-12-34-2, Giddins 16-4-41-1, Tufnell 16-3-39-3, Irani 11-3-38-1.

England (first innings):
Atherton c Fleming b Nash 10
Maddy b Vettori 14
Hussain batting 37
Thorpe c Fleming b Cairns 10
Stewart batting 10
Extras (nb-3) 3
Total (for three wickets) 84
Fall of Wickets: 1-25, 2-29, 3-46.
Bowling: Chris Cairns 11-5-19-1, Dion Nash 9-4-20-1, Shayne O’Connor 7-1-24-0, Daniel Vettori 16-5-21-1, Nathan Astle 1-1-0-0.

Pak cancels judicial probe

KARACHI, Aug 20 (AFP) — The Pakistan government has cancelled a planned judicial probe into the national team’s performance at the cricket World Cup.

“The government has told us not to probe the allegations of match-fixing during the World Cup,” Lahore High Court (LHC) registrar Abdus Salam Khawar told AFP.

Judge Malik Qayyum was asked by the government to investigate the World Cup defeat on top of an inquiry he has been conducting into match-fixing allegations since last September.

Pakistan’s collapse in the final of the World Cup against Australia raised widespread concerns. Some former players and other observer raised accusations of match-fixing.

But Khawar said: “We will not widen our probe and will finalise our findings according to our previous mandate.” He did not say why the government had changed its mind. But sources said the decision could have been at the request of the Accountability Bureau (EB) which had conducted a probe into team activities during the World Cup.

A report by the EB, which questioned suspended skipper Wasim Akram and other players, has been sent to President Muhammad Rafiq Tarar, patron of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

The World Cup squad would now not have to appear before the judicial commission which had summoned them for Monday, officials said.

Pillay to lead team to Europe

MUMBAI, Aug 20 (PTI) — Axed Asian Games national hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay is to lead a 16-member Maharashtra Olympic Association (MOA) team on a tour to the Netherlands and Germany next month to take part in two club tournaments and in the Hague Hockeydays event.

Among the 40 probables shortlisted for the tour are three other Bangkok Asian Games gold medal winning members — Anil Aldrin, Sandeep Somesh and Sabu Varkey, it was announced at a press conference here last night.

The squad, to be accompanied by former international goalkeeper Mir Ranjan Negi and ex-Mumbai player Mukul Pandey as coaches, will tour Europe between September 7 and 22.

It is to play matches with Dutch first division teams containing internationals on September 8 and 9 at Arnhem and Utrecht before travelling to Germany to play matches against the country’s league champion club Red and White in Cologne and Bad Kraeuznach at Bad Kraeuznacht, 70 kms from Cologne.

The invitation for the tour, budgeted to cost Rs 20 lakh, had been routed through the Mumbai-based sports organisation Acosa which is arranging to have ex-Dutch skipper Tom Van’t Hek as the doctor for the team, it was announced.

The 40 probables, including internationals M.K. Prakash, Gagan Ajit Singh, Rajesh Chauhan,Gavin Ferreira, Rahul Singh and Jude Menezes will have a camp here from August 20 to September 4 before the team is announced.

Kailash Nath, Millet raise medal hopes

NEW DELHI, Aug 20 (PTI) — Despite a bout of viral fever, Kailash Nath came up with an excellent performance to bag three gold medals in swimming in the recent World Police Games at Stolkholm, Sweden.

And the young CRPF swimmer — now fully fit and in top form — is again in the hunt for medals at the 13th Asia Pacific Swimming and Diving Championship starting at the Talkatora swimming pool here on Sunday.

The Delhi-based Kailash Nath and freestyle swimmer Elvis Ali Hazarika will be India’s main hopes in the men’s section in the three-day annual continental meet.

Though the competition is expected to be tougher than the police games, the swimmer is confident of doing well.

“I have returned some good times in my pet 1500 metres freestyle event. I am also hopeful of doing well in 200 and 400 metres freestyle.”

“We had a good training camp and I have worked hard in all my disciplines. Though being the only long distance swimmer for my category in the camp I faced some problems in endurance training. I am still hopeful.” Kailash Nath told PTI.

Coach Tapan K. Panigrahi said Kailash was in good form and a medal prospect in 200 and 400 metres freestyle, he is also expected to do well in the 1500 metres. Hazarika is also returning good timings and is a good medal prospect, he said.

The Indian challenge in women’s section would be led by star swimmer Nisha Millet, basking in the glory of her superb performance in the February Imphal National Games and the Junior National Swimming Championships at Jodhpur recently.

Millet the runaway leader in the domestic circuit who beat her opponents by a long distance, is overdue for medals in the continental meet after narrowly missing out at Kuala Lumpur last year.

The 17-year-old golden girl of Indian swimming, who bagged a record 14 gold medals at Imphal, would be the biggest hope in group I (15 to 17 years age group).

“I am running good times and when compared to timings returned by swimmers in the previous meet, I am in the medals bracket so I am hoping to do well,” the star swimmer said.

Rafter warned not to risk future

BRISBANE, (Australia), Aug 20 (AFP) — Australian coach Tony Roche has warned the country’s number one player Pat Rafter not to put his tennis future at risk to play Davis Cup against Russia here next month.

Roche said it would be unfair to expect Rafter to withdraw from his US Open defence to help spearhead Australia to their first Davis Cup final since 1993 and potentially their first win since 1986.

Australia take on the Russians at ANZ Stadium’s grass court surface for the September 24 to 26 semi-final tie.

Rafter, passionate about playing for his country at any cost, is playing through the pain of a shoulder injury which flared at last week’s ATP final against Pete Sampras in Cincinnati.

After struggling to beat French qualifier Anthony Depuis in a third set tie-breaker in the RCA Championships in Indiana on Wednesday Rafter admitted he may have to pull out of the tournament because of his injury.

“Pat knows where his shoulder injury is at and you don’t want to have somebody put their career at risk, even if it is for the Davis Cup,” said Roche today.

“Pat’s health has to be his first priority but I don’t think it’s going to be a matter of life or death.”

Roche knows it would take more than a shoulder injury to stop Rafter playing for Australia, especially in his first appearance in front of his home fans who exhausted the 10,000 tickets in quick time last week.

“If I know Pat, it’s going to take more than a sore shoulder to stop him.”

Because of concerns over Rafter’s shoulder injury and fitness doubts hanging over Mark Philippoussis (knee) and Lleyton Hewitt (ankle), Australia yesterday named a four-men squad which contained only one half of the Woodies, Mark Woodforde, with Todd Woodbridge missing out.

Bhutia yet to get work permit

CALCUTTA, Aug 20 (PTI) — Star-striker Baichung Bhutia, who became the first Indian to sign for a European football club, was yet to get a work permit to play in Europe.

“I am yet to get the work permit, but hope to get it within the next few days,” Bhutia, who has signed a three-year contract with English second division club Bury, told newsmen here yesterday.

“Now everything depends on the British Government who are to issue the work permit. Since I have already signed the contract with Bury, I think they would be able to procure the permit by showing a copy of the agreement to the government,” he said.

The nimble-footed footballer from Sikkim, who has been selected for the prestigious Arjuna Award for 1998, was also yet to take an international transfer.

“So far, I have only taken a no-objection certificate to play a match for Fulham FC. But I will apply for the international transfer soon.”

Bhutia, who came to the city yesterday from Sikkim, went to his last year’s club East Bengal during the day.

Douglas latest to test positive

SEVILLE (Spain), Aug 20 (AP) — Dutch sprinter Troy Douglas’ positive test to Nandrolone continues a rash of positive tests for the steroid and further tarnished the World Championships due to start here tomorrow.

The International Amateur Athletic Federation’s medical commission chief Arne Ljungqvist today said the Dutch federation had confirmed Douglas’ positive test.

“It was judged as clearly a positive case,” Ljungqvist said. “He’s definitely not coming (to Seville).”

World record by Bindra

NEW DELHI, Aug 20 (UNI) — Teenage shooter Abhinav Bindra set up a new world record in air rifle junior men event in the selection trials at Sai Centre, Bangalore.

Abhinav shot 594 out of possible 600 bettering the existing world record by one point,according to the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) press note here today.

The existing world record of 593/600 in this event is being held by Bulgaria’s Stojan Stamenov and Denmark’s Rasmus Lund.

Football match live on DD

NEW DELHI, Aug 20 (UNI) — Doordarshan will telecast live the 19th Asian Clubs Cup Championship football match to be played between Mohun Bagan (Calcutta) and Mukti Jaddha Sangshad (Dhaka) at Salt Lake Stadium, Calcutta tomorrow from 3.02 p.m. to 5 p.m. or till the end of the match.

The telecast will be on the national network (DD-1) and on DD sports channel.

Doordarshan will also telecast live the 13th Asia Pacific Age Group Swimming and Diving Championship to be held here from August 22 to 24.

Rifle shooting

PATIALA, Aug 20 (FOSR) — The Patiala district Rifle shooting Championships will be held here on August 28 and 29.

The championship will act as trials for selecting the Patiala team for the Punjab State Shooting Championships.

Entries may be sent to Major G.S. Bhullar, general secretary, 17 Stadium Road, on August 27 between 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.

Chamba win

SUNDERNAGAR, Aug 20 (FOC) — Chamba has won the 13th Himachal Pradesh Karate Championship held at Kaza, Spiti Valley, according to Mr Mahesh Chander Sharma, Press Secretary, Himachal Pradesh Karate Association.