US Open

NEW YORK : Andre Agassi blows kisses to fans after defeating Arnaud Clement, of France, at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York on Monday. Agassi won 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. — AP/PTI Jana Novotna to retire by year-end NEW YORK, Sept 7 — Women’s tennis will soon lose another of its grande dames as Jana Novotna announced at the US, Open yesterday that she will retire at the end of this year.

Agassi, Kafelnikov roll on; Rios ousted NEW YORK, Sept 7 — Andre Agassi gained momentum at the US Open yesterday as the second seed and 1994 champion rolled into the quarter-finals with a straight-sets victory over Arnaud Clement. Bhupathi-Sugiyama move into quarters NEW YORK, Sept 7 — India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and Ai Sugiyama of Japan rolled into the mixed doubles quarter-finals at the US Open Tennis Championships without breaking sweat as third unseeded opponents withdrew following injury. It’s now or never: Kafelnikov NEW YORK, Sept 7 — Yevgeny Kafelnikov is playing the best tennis of his life and feeling that if he is going to add a US Open title to his Grand Slam resume he had better strike while the iron is hot.

England face Poland in crucial tie
PARIS, Sept 7 — England travel to Poland tomorrow for what is effectively an eliminator as to who finishes runner-up in their Euro-2000 football group five and maintain hopes of making it to next year’s finals through the play-offs.

Rafter likely to miss Davis Cup
SYDNEY, Sept 7 — Mark Philippoussis is almost certain to miss out and Pat Rafter has only an outside chance of playing in this month’s Davis Cup tennis semifinal against Russia, Australian captain John Newcombe said yesterday.

Christie cleared but may face probe
LONDON, Sept 7 — British sprinter Linford Christie was cleared of drug taking by UK Athletics yesterday but looks certain to face a probe by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) over the positive urine sample he gave in February.

Sanjay emerges sole leader
NEW DELHI, Sept 7 — The Madras Gymkhana course is fast turning out to be the favourite hunting ground of Sanjay Kumar. On the opening day of the Rs 7.5 lakh Color Plus Open, the defending champion shot a sizzling round of five-under par 65 to take sole possession on top of the leaderboard.

Dilpreet, Harinder advance
Sangrur, Sept 7 —All seeded players moved into the second round in boys singles in the Punjab State Junior Badminton Championship, which got off to flying start here today.

No ex-player to head panel: IHF
MUMBAI, Sept 7 — The Indian Hockey Federation Secretary, Mr K. Jyothikumaran, yesterday ruled out the possibility of any former international player heading the selection panel.

• Punjab boxing calendar

Rain rescues India; replay today

SINGAPORE, Sept 7 (PTI) — Indian batting was floundering against the steady West Indian pace attack led by Reon King when heavy showers left the field soggy and forced abandonment of play in the final of the Singapore Challenge Triangular One-day Cricket Tournament today.

As both sides have to bat a minimum of 25 overs each for a result, the final will be replayed tomorrow.

Electing to bat on a mildly damp track, India were off to a decent start but sloppy batting saw them struggling at 149 for six wickets in 38.2 overs when heavy showers forced play to be halted at the packed Kallang Stadium here.

Umpires Rudy Koertzen and Darrel Hair called off play at 3.45 pm (1.15 pm IST) after their third inspection citing a soggy outfield that posed danger of injury to the fielders and said the match would be replayed tomorrow, the reserve day.

With the Indian innings terminated once the heavens opened up, the officials tried to prepare the ground to ensure that the West Indies were able to bat for atleast a minimum of 25 overs to ensure a result.

Play had to start at 4.05 pm local time (1.35 pm IST) for the overs to be completed and as per the Duckworth-Lewis rule, the Caribbeans had to make 140 in 25 overs to win.

But the drying up process was affected as the “super sopper” machine broke down leaving the umpires with no other choice but to abandon play.

The fickle Singapore weather that had reduced the previous two league ties involving India to 30 overs-a-side affairs seemed to have relented when play began promptly under bright sunshine after a rain-free day yesterday.

The Indian innings progressed steadily despite left-hander S. Ramesh, brought in to open with Tendulkar, falling to an off-side trap to the same combination of short mid-off Nehemaiah Perry and King after making 15 (23 b, 3x4).

Ramesh, who hit King for two fours off his legs, uppishly drove a well-pitched ball from the bowler and Perry made no mistake in taking the low catch. The due had plotted his dismissal in an identical fashion in the league game which India lost by 42 runs.

Tendulkar (40-65 b, 6x4), looking determined to give India the upperhand, struck speedster Marvyn Dillon for three fours after cracking Courtney Walsh for a superb boundary on the rise through mid-off. He added two more by sending Jimmy Adams’ left arm slow stuff crashing through covers.

But the 36-year-old Jamaican, who has time and again got the better of the batting maestro, frustrated him coming on for his second spell. Once he jumped out but Walsh surprised him with a short rising ball and then was lucky as the bowler could not hold on to a low return catch.

But Tendulkar clearly looked impatient as he twice played and missed before edging an intended uppish drive to a shortish ball to be caught behind by wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs.

King, who replaced Walsh immediately at the far end, dealt another big blow by removing Dravid, the batsman leaning into a drive only to see Sherwin Campbell at extra-cover leap to his left and bring off a good catch.

Left-hander Vinod Kambli, looking totally out of sorts, lasted just five balls before presenting the 24-year-old Guyanese speedster his third wicket and Nikhil Chopra, surprisingly promoted ahead of Robin Singh, also did not last long to leave India gasping at 137 for five.

Sourav Ganguly (23-44b, 1x6) played patiently and slammed off-spinner Nehemaiah Perry for a straight six-Ricardo Powell not able to hold the catch leaping in the air — but once again paid the penalty for his lethargic movements.

The left-hander, who was stumped off paceman Nixon McLean in the league game on Sunday casually trying to regain his crease, took off for a run and was too slow to return to safety as Chanderpaul at short third man picked and rifled a perfect throw for Jacobs to complete the run out.

The weather intervention also hit the Indian team’s plan to leave here tonight for Toronto to play the three-match one-day series against the Caribbeans there on September 11, 12 and 14.

SCOREBOARD
India:
Tendulkar c Jacobs b Walsh 40
Ramesh c Perry b King 15
Dravid c Campbell b King 29
Ganguly run out 23
Kambli c Jacob b King 1
Chopra c and b Dillon 9
Singh not out 8
Extras: (LB-7, NB-6, W-11) 24
Total (for 6 wkts, 38.2 overs) 149
Fall of wickets: 1-42, 2-102, 3-105, 4-111, 5-134, 6-149.
Bowling: Walsh 7-1-21-1, Dillon 9-0-38-1, King 8-1-25-3, Adams 5-0-27-0, Bryan 5-0-12-0, Perry 4.2-0-19-0.

Blatter and AFC chief resolve dispute

ZURICH, Sept 7 (AP) —FIFA President Sepp Blatter and the President of the Asian Football Confederation today resolved the dispute over Asia’s allocation of slots in the 2002 World Cup finals, FIFA said.

Asia “is pleased to accept” UEFA’s offer of half a qualifying berth, giving a third Asian team a chance to reach the finals through qualifying, according to an agreement signed by Blatter and AFC President Sultan Ahmad Shah.

The AFC has decided to cancel an extraordinary congress in Kuala Lumpur on October 10, which would have addressed a possible Asian boycott, it added.

In July, Asian officials walked out of a FIFA congress in Los Angeles in a dispute over their allocation of berths in the 2002 finals, to be co-hosted by Japan and South Korea.

Host nations get automatic berths, so Asia had two guaranteed slots for the next World Cup. But that left only two berths for the remaining 43 Asian nations.

Four Asian nations came through qualifying to take part in last year’s World Cup finals in France, Iran winning its place in a play-off with Australia.

UEFA, Europe’s governing body, offered half of one of its berths to Asia — meaning that the 14th — place team in European qualifying would face the third-place team in Asian qualifying for a spot in the final round. But the Asians initially weren’t satisfied.

England face Poland in crucial tie

PARIS, Sept 7 (AFP) — England travel to Poland tomorrow for what is effectively an eliminator as to who finishes runner-up in their Euro-2000 football group five and maintain hopes of making it to next year’s finals through the play-offs.

The most interesting match is the group seven tie in which Romania, inspired by the ageless Gheorghe Hagi, host Portugal. A win for them would wrap up the group and even a draw should suffice as their last match is in Liechtenstein.

The Portugese, trailing Romania by a point, only have themselves to blame since what should have been a certain three points in Azerbaijan on Saturday ended with the European giants grabbing an injury-time draw, and allowed Romania to take back the initiative.

Elsewhere in group four, world champions France, who were unimpressive in the 0-0 draw Ukraine, must win in Armenia to keep up with Ukraine, who lead them by a point and travel to Iceland, and second-placed Russia, who play Andorra.

For the English, who have been boostd by 6-0 win over whipping boys Luxembourg on Saturday, it is their last match while Poland could still scrape through with a draw against the visitors and then hope to grab another point away at group winners Sweden in October.

It is scoring that is proving troublesome for the world champions and a totally out of sorts Nicolas Anelka could well be dropped for the match after what even the normally self assured 20-year-old admitted was a poor show on Saturday.

Rafter likely to miss Davis Cup

SYDNEY, Sept 7 (AFP) — Mark Philippoussis is almost certain to miss out and Pat Rafter has only an outside chance of playing in this month’s Davis Cup tennis semifinal against Russia, Australian captain John Newcombe said yesterday.

Newcombe, who has been hit by an injury crisis only weeks before the tie, has decided to assemble his squad for the September 24 to 26 semifinal in Brisbane, 48 hours earlier than scheduled because of the likely enforced changes.

Newcombe told Australian Associated Press in New York that Philippoussis was 75 per cent certain he wouldn’t recover from his knee and ankle injuries in time to play, while Rafter had only a 20 per cent chance of playing as he nurses a torn shoulder rotator cuff.

Rafter is receiving treatment in New York and wants to play in the semifinal even if limited to playing doubles.

Agassi, Kafelnikov roll on; Rios ousted

NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) — Andre Agassi gained momentum at the US Open yesterday as the second seed and 1994 champion rolled into the quarter-finals with a straight-sets victory over Arnaud Clement.

On the Labour Day holiday, Agassi worked for under two hours as he honed his game for the stretch run in a dominating 6-4 6-4 6-3 victory over the 52nd-ranked Frenchman, who had upset 15th seed Nicolas Kiefer in the previous round.

“I managed to feel good about every aspect of my game,” said Agassi, who is on the kind of roll that visitors to his native Las Vegas only dream about.

Including his historic French Open victory that made him one of only five men ever to have won all four Grand Slams, Agassi has won 32 of his last 36 matches. Three of those four losses were to Pete Sampras, who is on the sidelines with a back injury.

Third-seeded Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov stayed on course for a semifinal showdown with Agassi by dismissing good friend and practice partner Andrei Medvedev, the French Open runner-up, 7-6 6-1 6-0 in 95 minutes.

Medvedev, who needed five gruelling sets to win his previous match, later complained of weakness during the lopsided contest with Kafelnikov, and the affable Ukrainian promised to give the fans a better show next year.

While Kafelnikov likely awaits down the road, Agassi seems to have a personal troop of French minesweepers clearing his path for him.

First Clement took rising German star Kiefer out of his way and now French qualifier Nicolas Escude has posted a stunning 6-4 6-4 7-5 upset of 10th seed Marcelo Rios, who had figured to give Agassi a contest in the quarter-finals.

While the Moody, unpredictable Chilean is capable of losing at any time, it had seemed highly unlikely that Rios, who held the world number one ranking for six weeks last year, could be bounced by a 136th-ranked qualifier, much less in straight sets.

There were no surprises in women’s fourth-round play.

Seventh seed Serena Williams dropped her first set to crafty veteran Conchita Martinez, but came roaring back to defeat the 16th-seeded Spaniard 4-6 6-2 6-2 and reach her first career Grand Slam quarter-final.

Williams, whose third-seeded older sister Venus advanced to the quarters on Sunday, left no doubt that the first set was an aberration by racing out to a 4-0 second-set lead on the strength of her punishing groundstrokes. Martinez was barely hanging on the rest of the way.

Fifth seed Mary Pierce later grabbed a final-eight berth with a 6-3 7-6 (8-6) victory over Sabine Applemans of Belgium.

Pierce came back from 0-4 down in the second set and saved a set point in the tiebreaker before extending her record against Applemans to a perfect 7-0.

In the opening match on a hot, muggy day that defied predictions of a rainy washout, fourth seed Monica Seles ended the crowd-pleasing run of a rejuvenated Jennifer Capriati 6-4 6-3.

The match was played on the eighth anniversary of their classic 1991 semifinal in which Capriati came within two points of reaching the final at age 15 before the 17-year-old Seles won a third-set tie-break en route to the first of her two consecutive US Open titles.

Capriati left the match encouraged by her resurgent game but left her post-match interview in tears after asking that her much-publicised troubled past be closed for discussion once and for all.

Agassi was intent on not revisiting a more recent past, when his French Open run was nearly derailed by Clement in the second round.

Clement was two points from winning that match before Agassi ran away with the fifth set. Agassi was having none of such drama on Monday as he controlled matters from start to finish.

Bhupathi-Sugiyama move into quarters

NEW YORK, Sept 7 (PTI) — India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and Ai Sugiyama of Japan rolled into the mixed doubles quarter-finals at the US Open Tennis Championships without breaking sweat as third unseeded opponents withdrew following injury.

Second seeded Bhupathi — Sugiyama were leading 4-1 in the first set when their Australian rivals Rachel Mcquillan and Andrew Florent withdrew retired hurt here last night.

Bhupathi, who is aiming for his third straight Grand Slam men’s doubles title with his partner Lander Paes, is in line for a mixed double crown as Sugiyama is showing excellent understanding with him.

With the upset loss of top seeds Leander Paes and American Lisa Raymond, who were expected to win the title following their Wimbeldon triumph, Bhupathi — Sugiyama chances at the mixed doubles event has increased.

Bhupathi is the first Indian to win a Grand Slam event when he clinched the 1997 French Open mixed doubles title partnering Rika Hiraki of Japan before their association fell apart at the end of the season.

Since then, Bhupathi has played with different partners, including Croation teen sensation Mirjana Lucic, Dutchwoman Caroline Vis and Anabel Cllwood of Australia before teaming up with Sugiyama.

The understanding between the two has been tremendous as Sugiyama, despite her weak serve, played major role in winning their first round match. The Indo-Japanese pair beat Martin Damm of the Czech Republic and Alexandra Fusai of France 6-2, 7-5 in the first round.

Indian duo in last 8

Top seeded Indian Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati set aside their first set slackness to beat American pair of Justin Gimelstod and Richey Reneberg 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to storm into the quarterfinal of men’ doubles event at the US Open tennis championship last night.

World number one pair of Paes-Bhupathi earned a decisive break in the eighth game of the third set on Renebrg’s serve before Bhupathi served out the match winning the ninth game to end the third round battle in one hour 25 minutes at the Louis Armstrong Stadium here.

The 15th seeded American pair gave the title-favourites a scare in the quest for their third straight Grand Slam title when the home players ran away with the first set 6-2.

It’s now or never: Kafelnikov

NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) — Yevgeny Kafelnikov is playing the best tennis of his life and feeling that if he is going to add a US Open title to his Grand Slam resume he had better strike while the iron is hot.

“I’m thinking in the back of my mind that this is the only shot I will have in the US Open probably ever to win,” said the third seed after racing into the quarter-finals for the first time with a 7-6 6-1 6-0 rout of Andrei Medvedev yesterday.

“I’m not a junior anymore. I feel like I’ve been in this locker room forever,” said Kafelnikov, 25. “That’s why I can say that (this is) probably going to be my only shot to win the US Open.”

The US Open landscape changed dramatically after the withdrawal of four-time champion Pete Sampras with an injured back and the quick exit of two-time defending champion Patrick Rafter with a shoulder injury.

It was under similar circumstances earlier this year, when Sampras decided not to play the Australian Open, that Kafelnikov won that Grand Slam crown for the first time.

“Hopefully he’ll (Sampras) watch the Press conference (on Sunday) and say, ‘God, Yevgeny owes me twice,” quipped Kafelnikov, the 1996 French Open champion.

According to Kafelnikov, without Sampras and Rafter, only three men left are capable of winning-second seed Andre Agassi, 12th seed Richard Krajicek and himself.

Kafelnikov could face former Wimbledon winner Krajicek in the quarter-finals and Agassi in the semis before emerging as the favoured finalist.

Medvedev was expected to give him a real test, but instead it turned out to be a runaway victory for Kafelnikov, who now has won 20 of his last 25 matches, reaching two finals and two semifinals on hardcourts this summer.

“I couldn’t ask for anything better than that to finish the match in three straight sets,” Kafelnikov said of the 95-minute romp.

Kafelnikov suggested that Medvedev was worn down physically after a taxing five-set victory in the previous round over Lleyton Hewitt of Australia.

“The fatigue factor played a huge role in the match today,” said Kafelnikov. “You know, once I won that first set, he thought, ‘Oh God, I have to tough it out.’ That’s not easy, especially against a guy like me where you have to basically work for every point.”

Kafelnikov refused to gloat about the lopsided victory over his frequent practice partner and close friend from Ukraine.

“It was all business,” said Kafelnikov. “It was something I had to do. I’m glad I’ve done the job and it was all business on the court.”

Jana Novotna to retire by year-end

NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) — Women’s tennis will soon lose another of its grande dames as Jana Novotna announced at the US, Open yesterday that she will retire at the end of this year.

For a while now, Novotna has been toying with the notion of leaving the professional tour, and fulfilling her lifetime goal of winning Wimbledon in 1998 made the move more palatable.

“I think that winning Wimbledon last year made this decision much easier”, Novotna said. “I can look back and just be very thankful for the very long and healthy career that I had”.

“Winning Wimbledon and becoming a Grand Slam champion is the greatest thing ever, but don’t forget tennis pretty much gave me everything, gave me the opportunity to travel, to speak another language, just to be a different kind of person. That’s the one thing I will always appreciate and treasure”.

Unfortunately, an ankle injury sustained during a doubles match at the French Open hindered Novotna’s chances of successfully defending her most cherished title, Wimbledon. The injury also hampered her mobility at the US Open and the eighth seed was ousted by Anke Huber in the third round.

Novotna, who is not sure what the future holds beyond splitting her time between homes in Boca Raton, Florida, and Antwerp, Belgium, ended her valiant quest at this year’s Wimbledon in the quarter-finals.

The departure of Novotna follows on the heels of the sudden retirement of superstar Steffi Graf last month after a career in which she won 22 Grand Slam titles. Both are 30 years old, ancient by women’s tennis standards.

“It’s really sad that we’re losing two great players”, said 17-year-old Serena Williams. “They were both great for their times”.

“I like her (Novotna’s voice. It’s the sweetest voice I’ve ever heard — it’s like so light”.

For Novotna, the moment that clearly defines her career is when she finally won Wimbledon on her third trip to the finals, but tennis fans will more likely remember a notorious defeat.

In the 1993 Wimbledon final Novotna led Graf 4-1, 40-15 in the third set, but crumbled on the verge of victory. Newspaper headlines called it the “Czech choke”.

Always emotional, Novotna ignored protocol about keeping a proper distance from the royals and dissolved in tears on the Duchess of Kent’s shoulders during the awards ceremony.

Nowadays, Novotna can joke about the moment and even said, in jest, that she consulted the Duchess before announcing her retirement.

“Yes, I called her last night, actually”, Novotna said, laughing. “She said, ‘don’t do it’. I said, ‘I have to, but I’m still going to come because I have that little (Wimbledon) badge”.

With the departure of Novotna, tennis loses one of the rare serve-and-volleyers in the women’s game.

Novotna glided her way around the world’s tennis courts in graceful fashion, achieving success not only in the singles arena with 26 career trophies, but in doubles with 84 titles.

While there was only one Grand Slam singles success to her credit in four final appearances — the 1993, 1997 and 1998 Wimbledons and 1991 Australian Open — there are 12 doubles and four mixed doubles Grand Slam trophies in her resume.

She played alongside many of the game’s great doubles players, including Helena Sukova, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Gigi Fernandez, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis.

Novotna, who will honour her commitments through the end of the year, noted that it is a sign of the times that both Graf and she have chosen to retire and leave the game to the “younger generation”.

She readily admits that Graf, who beat her on 29 of 33 occasions, was her most troublesome opponent.

“Steffi was one of the greatest players ever”, Novotna said. “As I said many times, I think she was the most complete player. I think she has brought women’s tennis to another level”.

Christie cleared but may face probe

LONDON, Sept 7 (AFP) — British sprinter Linford Christie was cleared of drug taking by UK Athletics yesterday but looks certain to face a probe by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) over the positive urine sample he gave in February.

The 39-year old, the 100 metres Olympic champion in 1992, attended a UK Athletics disciplinary hearing on Friday after testing positive for the steroid nandrolone.

UK Athletics announced the outcome of the hearing yesterday, saying in a statement: “The disciplinary committee concluded that it could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt that the substance present in the sample was derived from a prohibited substance. Linford Christie has, therefore, been cleared of all charges.”

Christie was heard by the same committee that in July cleared European 200m champion Dougie Walker, who also tested positive for nandrolone.

Sanjay emerges sole leader
From Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, Sept 7 — The Madras Gymkhana course is fast turning out to be the favourite hunting ground of Sanjay Kumar. On the opening day of the Rs 7.5 lakh Color Plus Open, the defending champion shot a sizzling round of five-under par 65 to take sole possession on top of the leaderboard.

That gave him a two-stroke lead over the Chandigarh trio of Amritinder Singh, newly-turned pro Harmeet Kahlon and Gursimran Singh Sethi, last season’s Rookie of the year. All three shot three-under 67s. In joint fifth place at two-under 68 were Vijay Kumar, winner of last week’s Hindu-Cosmo Open, 1998 Wills Indian Open champion Feroz Ali of Calcutta and veteran Rohtas Singh.

Sanjay, who won his first career title last season here, played like a man possessed. The Lucknow pro, who got married recently, played a bogey-free round. His first birdie came as a result of sinking a difficult 8-footer downhill putt on the 3rd hole, and he followed that up with birdies on the 5th, 6th, 10th and the 16th holes. “I think I can win here again. On second thoughts, I believe I will surely win,” he said after the round.

Amritinder Singh, winner of the 1998 Hero Golf Chandigarh Open, continued to enjoy a good run of form. Joint runner-up last week at the Hindu-Cosmo Open, Amritinder opened with a par before birdying the second hole. He made a double-bogey on the 3rd when his drive landed in the horses’ swimming pool adjacent to the fairway. But that was made up with a fine eagle on the 7th, set up by a driver and a 3-wood. The Chandigarh pro added three birdies and a bogey on the back nine. “I am really playing well at the moment and am confident of doing even better tomorrow,” he said later.

Gursimran too made an eagle on the par-5 7th, after reaching the green with a driver and 3-iron. Otherwise, he had three birdies and two bogies. “I was hitting the ball well, but more importantly, was relaxed throughout the round,” said the young pro.

Playing in his first tournament as a pro, the 1998 Arjuna Award winner Harmeet Kahlon was level-par at the turn with two birdies and an equal number of bogies. However, his game caught fire during the back nine as he made four birdies before fining off with a bogey on the final hole.

Vijay Kumar, the Mahindra Player of the Year for last two seasons, continued to be in the limelight as he stayed near the top of the leaderboard with a two-under 68 card. The Lucknow pro was in his elements again, as he began with successive birdies on the first two holes. By the time he reached the 15th hole, he was five-under without making a single bogey. On the 15th, he missed a two-footer birdie putt, made a bogey on the 16th and then three-putted from six feet to make a double bogey on the 17th. “But for those three holes, I played a very satisfying round of golf” he said later.

Feroz Ali enjoyed a bogey-free round of two-under 68, while veteran Rohtas Singh made four birdies and two bogies for the same score.

Scores (after 18 holes): 65 Sanjay Kumar; 67 Amritinder Singh, Harmeet Kahlon, Gursimran Sethi; 68 Vijay Kumar, Feroz Ali, Rohtas Singh, 69 Gast Ram; Amateurs: 69 B Gurunath.

Dilpreet, Harinder advance
From Our Sports Reporter

Sangrur, Sept 7 —All seeded players moved into the second round in boys singles in the Punjab State Junior Badminton Championship, which got off to flying start here today.

Top seed Dilpreet Singh of Ludhiana thrashed Mujahid of Sangrur 15-4, 15-3, while second seed Harinder Singh of Patiala faced no resistance from Harpreet Singh. Harinder won 15-7,15-12. Sangrur’s Tausieef, seeded third had no difficulty in trouncing Karambir of Gurdaspur 15-0, 15-1.

In the girls section all the four seeded players — Nazma Parveen, Sumit Kalra, Vidhu Vatrana and Sehnaz moved to the next round.

Results:

Boys singles (U-19): (1st round)

Dilpreet Singh (Ldh) b Mujahid (Sgr) 15-4, 15-3, Ashok Kumar (Ptl) b Suresh Kumar (Jal) 15-12, 15-12, Mayank (Asr) b Jaskaran Singh (Jal) 15-10, 15-3, Akhtar (Sgr) b Jatinder Singh (Gsp) 15-0, 15-1, Rohit Kapoor (Jal) b Vaibhav Suneja (Asr) 15-10, 15-3, Kazim (Sgr) b Mandeep (Moga) 15-11, 15-2, Ranbir Singh (Ldh) b Jatin Dhir (Rpr) 15-0, 15-3, Varun Khanna (Asr) b Ankit Dhir (Ldh), Ramnik Singh (Jal) b Sandeep Kumar (Asr) 15-2, 15-8, Jatinder Singh (Ldh) b Bhaskar (Sgr) 15-4, 15-3, Karandeep Kohli (Jal) b Ramnik Sharma (Ldh) 15-3, 15-5, Harinder Singh (Ptl) b Harpreet Singh (Sgr) 15-7, 15-12, Tousieef (Sgr) b Karambir Singh (Gpr) 15-0, 15-1, Ikbal (ldh) b Umesh (Hsp) 15-1, 15-6, Ikbal Singh (Ptl) b Harjot Singh (Jld) 15-12, 15-6, Varun Gulati (Asr) W/o Manbir Singh (Ropar).

Junior Girls singles (under-19):

Amrit Pal (Ptl) b Radha (Asr) 11-10, 11-5, Arti Varma (Ropar) b Madhuri Yadav (Jal) 11-3, 11-6, Navpreet (Hsp) b Rupinder Kaur (Ldh) 10-11, 11-3, 11-1, Vidhu Vatrana (Ptl) b Saruchi Bhanot (Ldh) 11-0, 11-0, Navdeep Kaur (Moga) W/o Sruti Bansal (Ropar), Indermeet Kaur (Hsp) b Irma Thind (Gsp) 11-0, 11-0, Balreet Kaur (Ldh) b Heena Kapoor (Jal) 11-5, 11-6, Sandhya Yadav (Jal) b Harneet Kaur (Ldh) 11-2, 11-1, Sarabjit Kaur (Asr) b Paral S.P. Singh (Ptl) 11-6, 11-5, Sehnaz (Sgr) b Kamaljit (Ldh) 11-2, 11-0, Rajni (Asr) got W/o Anju Verma (Ropar), Navneet (Hsp) b Annu (Ldh) 11-3, 11-3, Jaspreet (Ptl) b Deepika (Ldh) 11-0, 11-2, Sumit Kalra (Jal) b Nividita (Grs) 11-2, 11-2.

No ex-player to head panel: IHF

MUMBAI, Sept 7 (UNI) — The Indian Hockey Federation Secretary, Mr K. Jyothikumaran, yesterday ruled out the possibility of any former international player heading the selection panel.

The key post had always been the forte of the IHF President and the current President, Mr K.P.S. Gill was doing a very good job, Mr Jyothikumaran told reporters here.

He said the IHF, from time to time, invites the opinions of former players’, but they ignore it most of the time. He also defended the sacking of six players after the Asian Games title win last year by Mr Gill. Most of them showed no commitment, he said.

He said the IHF never sacked any coach or player but bade good-bye to them after their utility was over. Mr Gill’s statement that the sacked layers would never represent India had to be seen in that context, he added.

He said it was wrong to assume that veteran players could be the best choice for selection. Mr Jyothikumaran said India’s most promising player Samir Dar would had been totally sidelined but for his and Mr Gill’s initiative. The selectors had not picked Dar even in the 80 probables, he explained.

Regarding the monetary benefits which the players have been pining for, he said players all over the world played hockey for glory. The German and Pakistan authorities never paid their players for representing the country but the IHF still gave cash incentives, he said.

He said, Mr Gill wanted players to be extremely fit and the axed players did not fall in that category. Now the IHF was trying to employ foreign physical trainers for junior and senior teams to intensify the teams fitness, he added.

The IHF, the Taj group of hotels and Tata tea signed a more than Rs 1 million sponsorship deal, that is expected to help the Indian junior and senior teams prepare for the world cup and Sydney Olympics, respectively.

Mr Jyothikumaran, while announcing the deal, said it would go a long way in throwing up future players and also providing them with foreign exposure.

The Indian team build-up for the Sydney Olympics will continue with curtain raiser tournaments in Canberra and Sydney between September 16 to 26, in which India, hosts Australia, South Korea and Canada will participate.

The IHF has also decided to hold two camps simultaneously at Pune and Bangalore for three weeks for about 48 under-18 and under-21 juniors for team selection for the 2001 World Cup in Australia.

The Pune and Banglore camps will be conducted by Clarence Lobo and Ajay Bansal.

Mr Jyothikumaran also announced V. Bhaskar would be the main coach for the Indian team till the Sydney Olympics while the coaching reins of the juniors will be in the hands of Sports Authority of India coach Ajay Bansal.

Punjab boxing calendar
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 7— The calendar for the Punjab State Boxing Championships for 1999-2000 has been finalised.

According to the president of the Punjab Amateur Boxing Association, Mr S.S. Dhindsa, the Punjab Senior Boxing Champion-ship will be held from September 23 at War Heroes Stadium, Sangrur. Thereafter a coaching camp for 20 boxers will be organised at Sangrur from October 1 to 10 and the selected teams will take part in 46th Senior National Boxing Championship being organised by the Himachal Pradesh Amateur Boxing Association at Shimla from October 12.

The subjunior Boxing Champion-ship will be held from October 27 to 30. Later a coaching camp of 15 days will be held and then the team will participate in the subjunior nationals at Imphal in November.

The Punjab Junior Boxing Championship will be organised by Shaheed Udham Singh Boxing Club in the first week of December at Sunam. After a coaching camp of 15 days, the team will take part in Junior National Boxing Champion-ship being held from January 14, 2000, at Bangalore.

The first Northern India Boxing Championship has been allotted to Hoshiarpur and will be organised in February 2000.

Khamanon lose to Amloh in kho-kho

FATEHGARH SAHIB, Sept 7 (FOC) — On the opening day of the district level inter-school sports competitions, Amloh beat Khamanon in kho-kho, Khamanon beat Amloh in football, Fatehgarh Sahib beat Amloh in handball, Khamanon beat Fatehgarh Sahib in volleyball and Khamanon beat Amloh in Kabaddi. In another kho-kho match Fatehgarh Sahib beat Bassi Pathana.

The competitions started at local Mata Gujri Senior Secondary School here today. Mrs Bashwinder Kaur, Principal, Senior Secondary School, Khamanon inaugurated the games.

Cricket trials

FEROZEPORE, Sept 7 (FOC) — Trials to select Ferozepore district cricket team to participate in the under-19 inter-district cricket tournament being organised by Punjab Cricket Association will be held at the local Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium on September 12 to 2 p.m., according to a district cricket association spokesman. Ferozepore will play its first match against Faridkot.

Hisar sports festival

HISAR, Sept 7 (FOSR) — The Hisar District Women’s Sports Festival will be held here in Mahabir Stadium from September 9 to 10, according to Mr Shiv Kumar, District Sports and Youth Welfare Officer.

Over 250 girls are expected to take part in gymnastics, kabaddi, athletics, handball, basketball volleyball, kho-kho and hockey competition. He said the Haryana State Women’s Sports Festival would also be held here from September 23 to 25.

Meanwhile, the District Olympic Association has decided to honour those players who had won medals in the world women’s wrestling championship in Poland and the North Zone Athletic Championship in Allahabad recently.

Bhupinder sails into snooker final

CHANDIGARH, Sept 7 (BOSR) — Bhupinder sailed into the finals of the handicap snooker event in the YMCA Open Billiards and Snooker Championship at the YMCA, Sector 11 today. Bhupinder got the better of Anil Sharma in two straight frames 60-48, 60-49.

In a major upset of the day, B. Khurana pulled off a surprise victory over Rakesh Gupta in the handicap billiards event. Rakesh with superb display covered up the handicap by levelling the scores near the half-way point but Khurana, in a high scoring match finally won 384-335. Both players hit many mini-breaks of over 25 points each.