Kournikova happiest away from glare LONDON, June 26 — It’s not easy being the permanent centre of attention — and Russian teen Anna Kournikova is quite happy to leave the centre court stage to her rivals as she homes in on Wimbledon glory, despite a brief security scare on court two yesterday.

Jeev maintains impressive run
NEW DELHI, June 26 — Jeev Milkha Singh continued his solid performance for the second successive day at the 1.4 million Euro (£ 1 million) Compaq European Grand Prix Tournament when he shot a three-under 69 during the second round at the De Vere Slaley Hall course in Hexham, England, on Friday.

We're not in top league: Hussain LONDON, June 26 — England’s new captain Nasser Hussain admitted today his country was no longer in the top flight of international cricket and needed to win back the faith of English cricket fans. Roa gives up game for religion MADRID, June 26 — Argentine national team goalkeeper Carlos Roa, one of the world’s best and wooed by clubs including Manchester United and Real Madrid, has said he is giving up his career for religion. Burrell stuns Jones in long jump EUGENE, June 26 — Dawn Burrell derailed Marion Jones’s bid for a perfect season by overtaking the slightly injured superstar for a stunning victory in the women’s long jump at the US championships yesterday.

LONDON: Nasser Hussain (left) and Duncan Fletcher, at a press conference held at Lords in London on Friday. Zimbabwean Fletcher takes the post of England coach at the start of the new season, until then he will continue to coach county side Glamorgan. Hussain was nominated as the newly appointed England Cricket Captain on Thursday. AP/PTI

Pitch invasion: ICC to act tough
LONDON, June 26 — Cricket’s governing body has threatened to deny grounds approval to stage internationals if crowd invasions persist.

Air-India storm into Q-finals
BANGALORE, June 26 — Air-India stormed into the quarter-finals, along with Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, in the 30th Junior National Hockey Championship here today.

Indians notch up second win
CHANDIGARH, June 26 — India continued with their winning spree for the second day of the third Asian Cup Baseball Championship in progress here at the Panjab University grounds here today. India blanked Malaysia by 18-0 through a scintillating performance by Vijay Patrodh.

Ratti in 7-member badminton team
CHANDIGARH, June 26 — Sachin Ratti hailing from Jalandhar (Punjab) figures in the seven-member Indian badminton team announced by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) which will participate in the two major international meets.

Olympic run to mark Khalsa tercentenary
CHANDIGARH, June 26 — The 13th edition of the Olympic Day Run, under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee and the Indian Olympic Association is being held at Anandpur Sahib on Sunday, June 27. The run has been dedicated to the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa.

Becker ousts Hewitt; Agassi in last 16

LONDON, June 26 (AFP) — Evergreen Boris Becker prolonged his Wimbledon love affair by another match today when he saw off Australian upstart Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets to reach the last 16 of the men’s singles.

The centre court clash between the 31-year-old three-time winner and his 18-year-old opponent ended 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) in favour of the German, who admitted he was presently surprised by his form.

"I just go out there and try to enjoy myself and all of a sudden I’m winning a few sets and it’s looking good," Becker said.

Men’s fourth seed Andre Agassi also advanced with a four-set win over Spaniard Alberto Martin and women number three Lindsay Davenport waltzed into the last 16 too with a straight sets win over Laura Golarsa of Italy.

But there was a shock when France’s Julie Halard-Decugis became the seventh women’s seed to be eliminated, blown away 6-3, 6-3 by American Amateur Alexandra Stevenson.

All eyes, though, were on centre court where Becker, who is playing in his final Grand Slam before retiring, showed there was life in the old dog yet with another consummate serve and volley display.

After being taken to five sets by British wildcard Miles Maclagen in the first round, Becker has now beaten two up-and-coming youngsters having already seen off 21-year-old compatriot Nicolas Kiefer in the second round.

Hewitt has been one of the sensations of the men’s tour this year but the world number 35 — Becker is 77 — seemed a little overawed making his first appearance on the court Becker calls his backyard.

The Adelaider never got his baseline game going and after threatening to break Becker warly on was blown away in the first set.

Hewitt double-faulted to lose his serve at 3-3 in the second and he was quickly two-love down and facing defeat.

The Australian rallied at the start of the third, breaking Becker at last for a 2-0 and the 4-2 lead, but the German broke back to love for 3-4 and went 6-4 up in the tie-break before smashing away his second match point.

Becker is likely to face another Australian, second seed Pat Rafter, in the last 16.

Reuters adds: Ninth seed Mary Pierce and unseeded Nathalie Dechy avoided the fate of compatriot Halard-Decugis. Dechy beat Tatiana Panova of Russia 6-0 6-3 while Pierce took out Elena Wagner of German 6-3 6-0.

Agassi lost his way for one set but eventually beat Spain’s Martin 6-2, 6-0, 2-6, 6-3. After winning 10 games in succession to move two sets ahead it was suddenly not easy any more for Agassi, whose French Open triumph this month made him only the fifth man to win all four Grand Slam titles.

Martin fought him hard and broke Agassi’s serve in the first game of the third set. The errors began to flow from the American fourth seed’s racket. He lost his serve again and the Spaniard was back in the match.

But Agassi recovered his concentration in the fourth set and broke serve in the eighth game to earn his place in the last 16 where he will play Wayne Arthurs or 14th seed Tommy Haas.

Stevenson, hitting strongly from the baseline, overwhelmed her French opponent 6-3 6-3. She is playing in her first tournament as a professional and said her goal since the age of nine had been to win Wimbledon by the age of 19.

She now meets compatriot Lisa Raymond, who beat seventh seed Arantxa Sanchez Vicario on Thursday and former champion Conchita Martinez of Spain on Saturday, 6-3, 6-1.

Davenport has reached the last eight twice here, including last year, and has dropped just 12 games in three rounds.

With Martina Hingis out of the way in her half of the draw the American feels she could go all the way in 1999.

Like Kuerten, who had never won a match on grass until this week, she is benefitting from the glorious weather in London. The sun-baked courts are bouncing higher and truer than normal at Wimbledon where the ball usually skids through.

Davenport now plays Austrian Barbara Schett, the 14th seed who beat Larisa Neiland of Latvia 6-2, 6-3.

"It’s a good match for me to play, hopefully my hard shots can overpower her," said Davenport who is delighted at the lack of attention being paid to her on and off the court.

"For me, it’s a huge relief. I don’t have anything terrible in my closet. I don’t do anything overly exciting. I think my life is pretty great, pretty calm, and not too many crises yet."

Qualifier Clijsters to meet idol

LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) — Just days ago Kim Clijsters was sitting her English exam at high school. Now she faces an even tougher test - playing Steffi Graf in the last 16 at Wimbledon.

"It is a dream come true for me," said Clijsters, who caused one of the biggest upsets of the first week when she beat 12th seed Amanda Coetzer 6-2 6-4 in the third round yesterday, just two weeks after her 16th birthday.

"For a moment I couldn’t take it in," said the Belgian schoolgirl who got into the main draw through the qualifying tournament. "It is a great feeling to beat a player like that."

Clijsters, who was granted time off from school to come here, had expected to be playing only the junior tournament at Wimbledon, after reaching the final last year.

Her mother Els had the same expectations and made plans to come to London just for the second week of Wimbledon, when the junior event is played.

Fortunately father Leo was on court there to see his self-possessed and determined daughter thrash South African Coetzer, ranked 10th in the world, in her third straight-sets win of the championships.

Both proud parents will be there to watch her against Graf, Clijsters’ idol - and her father’s.

"For my family it has already been a great week," said a beaming Clijsters, the youngest player in the draw. "And for my father - well, Graf is his favourite player."

Clijsters’ success has caused her some unexpected dilemmas: how can she turn professional when she is in full-time education and should she still play the juniors?

"School is compulsory in Belgium until you are 18," said Clijsters who faces more exams - mathematics, French and chemistry - in August.

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) says it would allow Clijsters to play in the main tournament and the juniors, which starts today, if she wanted.

In the immediate aftermath of her upset win, Clijsters was undecided.

"I haven’t thought about the juniors yet. I didn’t think of it until a journalist asked me. I will have to discuss it with my coach. I suppose I have got a good reason not to play now."

Clijsters, making her Grand Slam debut, looked every inch the seasoned professional against the vastly more experienced Coetzer, who has appeared 38 times in the big four tournaments.

She had to cope with a long wait as Jim Courier took four hours 25 minutes to beat Dutchman Sjeng Schalken in the first match on court three.

"For two-and-a-half hours of that I stayed in the dressing room just watching and going to the toilet," she said. "I was getting nervous but once I got on the court everything was okay."

Coetzer (27) surrendered the first break on a doublefault and was then broken again to love to give Clijsters a 5-2 lead.

Though Clijsters squandered two set points she earned herself a third chance with an ace and then saw Coetzer put a backhand into the net.

After an exchange of breaks at the start of the second set Clijsters broke again for 5-4 and then serenely served out to 15 for victory.

The first five days of Wimbledon have been a triumph of youth over experience with Australian qualifier Jelena Dokic -just two months older than Clijsters - evicting world number one Martina Hingis in the opening round and 17-year-old Croat Mirjana Lucic beating Monica Seles in the third.

Dokic and Clijsters are allies, having won the French Open doubles title last year.

Whatever happens against Graf, Clijsters is guaranteed to soar up the rankings from her current 195. Plus she can look forward to going into the main draw for the US Open.

That would mean more time off her studies. "I’ll have to talk to the school director," she smiled.

Mohun Bagan sail into semis

CALCUTTA, June 26 (UNI) — Favourites Mohun Bagan sailed into the semi final of the McDowell Cup Football Tournament defeating Tata Football Academy (TFA) 2-0 in their last league match from group "A’’ at the Salt Lake Stadium here today.

After a barren first half, Bagan struck twice through indefatigable medio Satyajit Chatterjee in the sixth minute after the breather while striker Kasif Jamal consolidated the lead three minutes before the long whistle.

In spite of the defeat TFA are not out of reckoning as even a draw in their next league match against Mohammedan Sporting will put them through to the last four stage. They have conceded lesser number of goals than Mohammedan Sporting so far.

Mohammedans in their first match lost to Mohun Bagan 0-3 on June 24 last.

Though the main thrust in Bagan attack Nigerian Emeka Achilefu was off colour today. Bagan maintained their supremacy since the beginning itself and made forays mostly through the Satyajit-Basudev Mondal duo who moved in tandem to fashion their attacks, mostly through the right flank. But they had to wait till the second half because of poor marksmanship by their frontliners.

TFA, who fielded a new lot with an average age of 18 years, made their presence felt through the first half with defender Amandeep Singh scheming their raids which however, proved abortive.

Bagan began their attack as early as in the third minute but striker Abdul Khaleque shot over from close off an Emeka pass. Then an Emeka left footer was fisted out by TFA keeper Surojit Chatterjee for a corner. Bagan had a couple of more chances in the first half but missed most.

Bagan went all out in the second session and shot into the lead in the 51st minute when Kasif Jamal sent a pass to Emeka who in turn headed it towards TFA box and Satyajit, who was lurking inside Bagan box unmarked, banged home with a powerful half volley (1-0). Three minutes before close Bagan scored again, through striker Kasif Jamal who beat TFA custodian hands down from about 30 yards (2-0).

TFA forced a chance to reduce the margin a minute before end but their striker Trijit Das wasted the sitter of the day shooting straight to TFA keeper from hand shaking distance.

Kournikova happiest away from glare

LONDON, June 26 (AFP) — It’s not easy being the permanent centre of attention — and Russian teen Anna Kournikova is quite happy to leave the centre court stage to her rivals as she homes in on Wimbledon glory, despite a brief security scare on court two yesterday.

Kournikova, who is heading for a fourth-round clash with tough American sixth seed Venus Williams after seeing off an injury-stricken Ines Gorrochategui of Argentina, revealed she was happiest away from the glare of the main courts.

Yet she was the subject of a security lapse when a fan managed to get on to the edge of the court before being detained by security.

Kournikova didn’t allow that to worry her, however, as she progressed to the last 32. "I don’t know how it happened. I turned around and he was already leaving. Of course we’re very close to the spectators, but I don’t think there was any danger," she said.

Nevertheless, the incident will have sent a few shivers down the spines of officials at the All England Club who are doubtless mindful of the trauma suffered by former world number one Monica Seles, victim of a courtside stabbing during a change-over in Hamburg in 1993.

Kournikova said she always enjoyed the atmosphere on the more intimate courts. "I like it when the courts are small and the spectators are close to you. It’s cosy and warm."

Off court, however, she admitted she keeps her distance and avoids going walkabout in the stadium complex.

On her game, Kournikova, a semifinalist two years ago on her only previous appearance here, said she was rapidly getting into the swing of things.

"I think I am playing better with each match. You get your rhythm — that’s usually the way it happens," said 17th-seeded Kournikova, who was 7-5, 3-1 ahead when Gorrochategui was forced to withdraw with a shoulder strain.

But Kournikova was happy with her showing long before the Argentine threw in the towel. "It was a good match — she’s a tough player on grass. She knows how to mix it up. But I think I was playing really well and it was my game that was dominating," said the 18-year-old Blonde Bombshell.

"I played much better than in my second-round match. I was much more aggressive."

After Venus got past Sarah Pitkowski of France, Kournikova now faces her first really stiff test against one of the most powerful players on the women’s circuit.

Venus beat Kournikova in straight sets at the Italian Open in May but the Russian said: "If she wins it’s Gonna be tough — she’s a big girl but grass isn’t her game."

"I’ll have to out-think her, play smart. I’ll just have to get ready for it and not worry about who’s on the other side."

Kournikova, who was seeded after the withdrawal through illness of 10th seed Serena Williams, Venus’ sister, revealed that, like the other teenagers in the women’s game, she had been assigned a mentor — in her case Kathy Rinaldi.

"We just talk to each other about all sorts of different things — which I’m not going to discuss here," laughed the Russian, who for once was not bombarded with questions about her romantic situation.

She reiterated her conviction that she was not about to go the way of former teen stars such as Jennifer Capriati and Andrea Jaeger, who suffered from severe teenage ‘burnout’.

"I have a great team around me, my family, team management help me. I have a lot of fun doing what I’m doing," she insisted.

Although Kournikova has yet to win a singles crown she said part of the reason for that was because she had quickly risen up the rankings and started early on the Grand Slams.

"I played the big ones right away and it’s tougher to win those," she asserted.

McEnroe back to standing ovation

LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) — "Bad boy" John McEnroe returned to a standing ovation at Wimbledon and boasted "I’m not totally extinct yet".

He partnered Steffi Graf in the mixed doubles yesterday and it was one long love-in during their 6-2 6-4 first round win over Czech Eva Melicharova and South African Jeff Coetzee.

"I felt so nervous coming out. I was kind of proud to play with you," Graf told her partner afterwards.

"Me too," replied the 40-year-old McEnroe, back playing at Wimbledon for the first time since 1992.

McEnroe, cheered every time he struck the ball, said: "it was meant to be. I could not have picked a better partner. Onward and upward."

The pair sheepishly admitted to having an uncontrollable giggling fit at the start of the match over Melicharova’s unorthodox serving style.

"It needs a bit of work," said McEnroe, now more used to the television commentary box than being on court.

There were no McEnroe cries of "you cannot be serious". The elder statesman of tennis was on his best behaviour, even blowing kisses to the adoring crowd on court number one.

The pair, two of the most experienced players in the world, confessed to being very nervous after all the hype surrounding their decision to pair up for Wimbledon.

McEnroe, three times a singles champion at Wimbledon, jokingly slammed his racket on the ground when Graf missed her first volley. She did the same when McEnroe missed his. But dominance was soon established by the wily duo.

"I do believe we have a chance to win it," said McEnroe, the competitive fires still burning bright even if the hair is grey and receding fast.

Graf was thrilled to be competing alongside her childhood hero: "I have always admired the way he has played. He is the one player I watched when I was growing up. It’s always been a wish of mine to play with him."

Graf, at 30, is favourite to land her eighth singles title at Wimbledon. She is fresh from an epic triumph over 18-year-old Martina Hingis in the French Open final when the Swiss world number one stormed off court in petulant fury.

Graf’s next opponent at Wimbledon is 16-year-old qualifier Kim Clijsters and McEnroe joked: "Steffi is going to destroy another teenager. See, it’s nice to be 30."

Jeev maintains impressive run
From Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, June 26 — Jeev Milkha Singh continued his solid performance for the second successive day at the 1.4 million Euro (£ 1 million) Compaq European Grand Prix Tournament when he shot a three-under 69 during the second round at the De Vere Slaley Hall course in Hexham, England, on Friday.

According to information reaching here, Jeev shot as many as six birdies, but his efforts were undone by three bogies, including one on his final hole. But the three-under 69 round was enough to move him two places up the leaderboard to joint fourth along with three others at seven-under 137.

At the par-72,7,088-yard course, the 27-year-old Chandigarh pro began with a birdie on his first hole (he started from the 10th tee). He bogied the par-5 11th, birdied the par-5 12th and bogied the par-4 12th to be level-par after four holes. Thereafter, he made birdies on the 331-yard par-4 15th and 184-yard par-3 17th to make the turn at two-under.

Jeev went four-under after 12 holes with birdies on the Ist and 3rd, but finished badly with a bogey on the 9th. Though he required only 27 putts to complete the round, three less than the first round, Jeev could only find 12 greens in regulations as against 16 yesterday.

Leading the tournament was Welshman David Park, who celebrated his birthday in style by equalling the course record of 65 which took him on top of the leaderboard at 12-under 132. Park, who lost a six-hole playoff last week in the Moroccan Open, began with three successive birdies and ended with an amazing 30-footer birdie putt on the 18th. He had eight birdies in all as against one bogey. Overnight leader David Carter of England shot a three-under 69 and was two strokes off the leader.

The cut was applied at level-par 144 and 75 players made it to the money-making round. Among them was England’s Justin Rose who made his first cut in 22 attempts when he played a three-under 69 second round to be level-par 144 for the tournament. Rose had set the 1998 British Open on fire when he finished fourth in the championship as an amateur.

Among the major names, South African Retief Goosen, currently second in the Volvo Order of Merit, was tied for 9th place at six-under 138 after a four-under second round, while Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke was joint 20th at four-under 140. World No 9 Lee Westwood of England, struggling after a shoulder injury, also made the cut and was tied for 35th place at two-under 142 along with the legendary Spaniard Seve Ballesteros.

Scores (after 36 holes): Ist: 132 — David Park (Wal) 67,65, 2nd 134 — David Carter (Eng) 65,69; 3rd: 136 — Sven Struver (Ger) 69,67; T-4th: Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 68,67, Peter O’Malley (Aus) 66, 71, Jose Coceros (Arg) 69,68, Miles Tunnicliff (Eng) 69,68.

We're not in top league: Hussain

LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) — England’s new captain Nasser Hussain admitted today his country was no longer in the top flight of international cricket and needed to win back the faith of English cricket fans.

Hussain was named as the new skipper to replace Alec Stewart on Thursday after the host country’s disappointing first-round exit from the World Cup last month. He is under no illusions about the difficult task ahead.

"We have to be realistic. If we are being compared to (World Cup winners) Australia and South Africa you have to be honest and at the moment the results show that we are not in their league," he told a news conference at Lord’s.

"We have to start getting up towards them...People know what a determined character I am. We have to start winning. We have got to win back the faith of the public."

Indian-born Hussain, who had a reputation for being a fiery character in his younger days, takes on a team described by former England coach David Lloyd as not being "tough enough" after their failure to make the World Cup Super Six stage.

The role of England cricket captain is one of the most high-profile positions in British sport, coming a close second to managing the England soccer team.

Hussain’s first press conference since his appointment was broadcast live on British radio and television.

Outside, fans were enjoying a relaxing, sunny day watching a match between Oxford University and Cambridge University at the world’s most famous cricket ground.

Roa gives up game for religion

MADRID, June 26 (DPA) — Argentine national team goalkeeper Carlos Roa, one of the world’s best and wooed by clubs including Manchester United and Real Madrid, has said he is giving up his career for religion.

"The reason is that my faith does not allow me to play football on Sundays. This is the day God rested after creating the world,’’ the 29-year-old seventh day adventist said yesterday in Palma de Mallorca.

Roa, whose performance at last year’s World Cup made him one of the world’s most sought-after keepers, was declared best in the Spanish league this season after he let in just 29 goals in the 35 matches he played for his club Real Mallorca.

It was also his sound goalkeeping that helped the provincial side win the Spanish Super Cup, reach the last ever final of the European Cup Winners Cup, and come third in the Spanish league, meaning a chance of qualifying for the European Champions League next season.

"Now I shall preach in my homeland,’’ said the vegetarian who is nicknamed "Leuchuga’’ (lettuce) by his team-mates. "Money is not everything. I shall certainly never play football again.’’

Roa’s decision means he will not be fulfilling his contract until 2001 with the Mallorca club. It has reacted by placing the contract with football’s world governing body FIFA, as proof of his legal commitment in the event of him suddenly signing with another side.

Burrell stuns Jones in long jump

EUGENE, June 26 (Reuters) — Dawn Burrell derailed Marion Jones’s bid for a perfect season by overtaking the slightly injured superstar for a stunning victory in the women’s long jump at the US championships yesterday.

Burrell, younger sister of former 100 metres world record-holder Leroy Burrell, soared 6.96 metres on her fifth attempt, and Jones, the world’s top-ranked women’s jumper who slightly sprained her right knee two weeks ago, could not regain the lead.

Jones still made the American world championships team with her second-place finish of 6.78 metres.

Jones, who fouled once and passed twice to protect the knee, said she still hoped to win four gold medals at August’s world championships in Seville, Spain.

The surprising evening also produced an emotional triumph by veteran Dennis Mitchell in the men’s 100 metres and the return of former two-time Olympic champion Gail Devers, who finished second in the women’s 100 metres behind Inger Miller.

The 33-year-old Mitchell, who faces an IAAF arbitration hearing next month after a positive doping test for a high ratio of testosterone, won the men’s race in a wind-assisted 9.97 seconds. Brian Lewis and Tim Montgomery both clocked 10.00 seconds to make the American team for Seville.

Pitch invasion: ICC to act tough

LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) — Cricket’s governing body has threatened to deny grounds approval to stage internationals if crowd invasions persist.

The International Cricket Council’s new harsh line followed several pitch invasions during the World Cup, prompting fears for players’ safety.

The ICC said in a statement that "sanctions in the form of removal of a ground’s approval to hold international cricket" were to be seriously considered together with other measures to improve safety.

It did not elaborate on the safety measures.

The ICC said no spectator had the right to enter the field "during play and until the players and umpires have left the field after play".

World Cup officials decided not to ban pitch invasions at the end of matches despite complaints from players.

After a meeting with police and Cup security officials, events manager Michael Browning said it was a tradition in England for cricket fans to be allowed on to the pitch in front of the pavilion for presentations.

Air-India storm into Q-finals

BANGALORE, June 26 (PTI) — Air-India stormed into the quarter-finals, along with Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, in the 30th Junior National Hockey Championship here today.

The airmen defeated Bihar 13-0 in the last match of the league phase. Earlier, Bengal routed Haryana 4-0 and Uttar Pradesh got past Andhra Pradesh 4-1.

Punjab and Sind Bank and Bombay have already reached the semifinals, defeating Punjab and hosts Karnataka respectively.

Air India’s Prabhjot Singh top scored with six goals, of which four were in a row in the second half. Bihar were completely off colour, except for a few sporadic rallies, the game was well in control of the winners.

International Deepak Thakur chipped in with four goals while, M Fahad struck two and Sanjeev K Singh added one for the airmen.

In the group ‘G’ match, Bengal routed Haryana 4-0 to enter the last eight. The winners led 1-0 at the breather.

Earlier, Bengal had beaten Patiala 9-0 and Vidharba 17-0.

In another match, Patiala walloped Vidharba 7-1. Though the teams were tied 1-1 at half time, Patiala slammed in six goals after the interval.

Domnic scored two goals while Rajwinder Singh, Ravinder Singh, Vikas Kumar, Harsh Dhir and Jasbir Singh struck one goal each for the winners.

Indians notch up second win
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, June 26 — India continued with their winning spree for the second day of the third Asian Cup Baseball Championship in progress here at the Panjab University grounds here today. India blanked Malaysia by 18-0 through a scintillating performance by Vijay Patrodh. He was helped by Gopinath, Girish and Amit. Scores-India; Vijay, Girish (four runs each) Gopinath, Amit (three runs each) Abhey (two runs) Rajesh, Hemant (one runs each).

In the second match, the Philippines who yesterday humbled Malaysia, today drubbed Iran by 18-0 in a one sided match. This was Iran's second defeat. The most extraordinary performance in this match came from pitcher Placides Ramil of the Philippines.

Scores: Philippines — Angeles Ruben, Jimenez (three runs each) Icban Lorenzo, Ramos, Mariquina Victor, Hidalgo, Recto Ferdinand (two runs each) Jimenez Ricardo, Velasquez Alejandro (one run each).

Ratti in 7-member badminton team
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, June 26 — Sachin Ratti hailing from Jalandhar (Punjab) figures in the seven-member Indian badminton team announced by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) which will participate in the two major international meets.

The other members of the team are Gopi Chand, Abhin Shyam Gupta, Jassel P Ismael, Vincent Lobo (men) and Aparna Popat, Manjusha Kanwar (Women). The two championships are Malaysian Open from June 30 to July 4 scheduled to be held at Kuala Lumpur and Thailand Open from July 7 to 11 at Bangkok (Thailand).

The BAI has also selected an eight-member Indian junior team which will take part in the Asian Junior Badminton Championship to be organised at Yangoon in the mid July this year. The boys are A. Bakshi, V. Diju, Pallab and A. Pridhvi and girls-Trupti, Mukdha, Parul Priyadarshni and Pooja Patil.

Badminton lovers of the country will witness the Thomas Cup 2000 first round matches at New Delhi to be staged from February 13 to 20, next year and the semifinals will be simultaneously hosted by Bulgaria at the same time.

The sources also told that the finals of the Thomas Cup would be hosted by Malaysia in May 2000.

The World Junior championship for the Sudirman Cup will be organised in Spain in May-June 2000 while China will host the World Junior Badminton Championship.

Olympic run to mark Khalsa tercentenary
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 26 — The 13th edition of the Olympic Day Run, under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee and the Indian Olympic Association is being held at Anandpur Sahib on Sunday, June 27. The run has been dedicated to the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa.

The Olympic Day is the anniversary of the founding of the International Olympic Committee by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, on June 23, 1894 — exactly 105 years back — at the Sorbonne University in Paris (France). To mark this historic occasion, the Olympic Day Run takes place all over the globe, symbolising the spirit of brotherhood and peace which are essential for progress and prosperity.

Since 1987 all the national Olympic committees have had the opportunity to host the 'Olympic Day Run', an annual event that brings together people from all walks of life who share an enthusiasm for physical exercise.

The run is being organised for the first time in Punjab. The Punjab Olympic Association and the Anandpur Sahib Foundation are jointly hosting this event with the blessings of the Chief Minister of Punjab, Mr Parkash Singh Badal.

The run will be flagged off by the Punjab Chief Minister at 8 a.m on June 27 from Panj Pyara Park in Anandpur Sahib and will culminate at Gurdwara Sri Kesgarh Sahib. Over 3000 children from different parts of the State are expected to participate in the run. After the conclusion of the run, the participants will pay their obeisance and participate in langar, specially arranged for them.

A special message sent by the President of the International Olympic Committee, Mr Juan-Antonio Samaranch, has conveyed, to the organisers and participants, his best wishes for the success of the 1999 Olympic Day, when sport will be in the spotlight as an essential element for the well being of the national community.

Nawanshahr eves in final
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, June 26 — Faridkot defeated Moga 39-26 in the opening match of the second Punjab Circle Kabaddi Championship being organised by the Punjab Amateur Circle Kabaddi Association at the Sector 17 football stadium here today.

In another keenly contested tie, Ludhiana overpowered Mansa by 47-32. In another encounter, Sangrur had an easy outing against Faridkot whom they beat 51-28 and qualified for the semifinals. Fatehgarh Sahib, who were scheduled to meet Gurdaspur, gained a walkover since the opponents failed to turn up.

In the women’s section, Nawanshahr moved into the final by notching up impressive wins against Amritsar (23-18) and Sangrur (36-23). The other team to move into the final in the women’s section was Patiala. After gaining a walkover against Kapurthala, the Patiala eves went on to beat Gurdaspur 35-20.

Capt Narinder Singh (IAS) who was the chief guest, announced a grant of Rs 11,000 for the association.

Tomorrow the matches will commence at 7.30 a.m.

Punjab judokas to be honoured
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, June 26 — Judokas of Punjab who won medals at the National Games at Manipur and in the India Cup International Judo Championship at Chandigarh, will be honoured at a function to be organised by the Punjab Judo Association at Lake Club here tomorrow.

The function will be preceded by the general body meeting of the association, according to a press note issued by Mr T.C. Gupta.

The Deputy Commissioner-cum-Director Sports, Chandigarh will be the chief guest.