Greene favourite at Tokyo meet
TOKYO, Sept 14 — American Maurice Greene, the fastest man in the world, will launch the final shot of the season as a heavy favourite in the men’s 100 metres at the Tokyo track and field meet here tomorrow.

SA captain wins 100 m freestyle
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 14 — South African squad captain Brendon Dedekind won the 100m freestyle at the All-Africa Games (AAG) here, grabbing victory in the final few metres.

Sachin confident of full recovery
ADELAIDE, Sep 14 — Star Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar was confident of a full return to fitness from a lower spine injury after consulting Australian doctors here today.

Maharashtra team win two ties
MUMBAI, Sept 14 — The Maharashtra state hockey team won two matches and drew one in their first leg tour of Holland.

Gymnastics squad selected
PATIALA, Sept 14 — A twelve-member Indian gymnastics squad, comprising six boys and six girls, has been selected by the Gymnastic Federation of India for the 34th Artistic World gymnastic Championships to be held at Tianjin, China, from October 8 to 16.

Pro-am title for Bhandari’s team BANGALORE, Sept 14 — Vivek Bhandari and his team emerged triumphant at the pro-am event of the Rs 6 lakh Wills Southern Open golf here today.

Punjab overall champions

LUCKNOW, Sept 14 (UNI) — Punjab team won the overall championship of the 39th Inter-State Athletic Meet which concluded at the Guru Govind Singh Sports College here today.

Uttar Pradesh (with 73 points) won the men’s team championship followed by Kerala (64) and Punjab (57 points) while Punjab (with 76 pts) won the women’s team championship. Kerala (67 pts) and Delhi (65) came second and third respectively.

G.G. Prameela of Karnataka won the best women athlete of the meet award while the men’s award went to T. Durai of Tamil Nadu.

Today three new meet records were established. Thirugnana Durai established a new meet record in 100 metre men’s race, clocking the distance in 10.40 secs. Anand Menzes (Mah) and T. Gogai (Bihar) came second and third respectively.

The other two meet records were broken in hammer throw men’s and women’s seventh Virendra Punia of Rajasthan bettered his own record of 65.92 metres, measuring 67.41 metre in the men’s event while Surinderjeet Kaur of Punjab bettered her own last year’s record measuring 53.26 metre.

Jasmen Kaur of Punjab won the first gold of the day in the 10,000 mt walk covering the distance in 53 18.5 secs. Y. Bala Devi (AAFI) and Jiji Jose (Kerala) came second and third respectively.

P.T. Usha won her second gold in 100 metres clocking the distance in 11.61 secs. Saraswati Dey of West Bengal and Vinita Tripathi of Delhi came second and third respectively.

Arti Roy of Madhya Pradesh won the 400 metres women’s hurdles clocking the distance in 59.89 secs. B. Joseph of Uttar Pradesh and Rajinder Pal Kaur of Punjab stood second and third respectively.

AAFI team consisting of Vinita Tripathi, S. Mitra, Sukumari and S. Geeta won the womens 4x400 metre relay clocking the distance in 3:41.07 secs followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu teams.

K. Shankar of Tamil Nadu won the 10,000 metres race in 30:50.8 secs. Harish Tewari of Uttar Pradesh and Satish Kumar of Rajasthan came second and third respectively.

P. Ramchandra of Tamil Nadu won the 400 metres mens race clocking the distance in 46.40 secs. Manoj Lal of Kerala and Jata Shankar of Uttar Pradesh came second and third respectively.

Shish Pal of Haryana won the 400 metre mens hurdles clocking the distance in 52.03 secs followed by Murli doss of Tamil Nadu and Abhishek Pandey of Uttar Pradesh.

Robin M. Verghese of Kerala won the mens triple jump event in 15.96 metre followed by Gurmeet Singh of Punjab and Digio Bregenza of Gujarat.

The following are the results: Decathlon (men) Dharmpal Singh (Har) first 6398 points, Barmeshwar Nath (Guj) second 6277 points, P. Kannan (TN) third 6026 points.

10,000 metres (men): K. Shankar (TN) first 30 50.8 secs. Harish Tewari (UP) second 30:54.0 secs Satish Kumar (Raj) third 31:42.2 secs.

400 metre (men): P. Ramchandra (TN) first 46.40 secs. Manoj Lal (Ker) second 46.78 secs Jata Shankar (UP) third 46.87.

Hammer throw (men): Virendra Poonia (Raj) first 67.41 mt (NMR) Rupinder Pal Singh (Pun) 62.73 mt Rakesh Kumar (UP) third 62.61 mt.

Triple jump (men): Robin M. Verghese (Ker) 15.96 mt Gurmeet Singh (Pun) 15.63 mt Digio Bregenza (Guj) 15.18 mt.

400 metre hurdles (men): Shish Pal (Har) first 52.03 secs Murli Doss (TN) second 52.10 secs Abhishek Pande (UP) third 52.21 secs.

100 metre race (men): Thirugnana Durai (TN) first 10.40 secs (NMR) Anand Menzes (Mah) second 10.73 secs. T. Gogai (Bihar) third 10.74 secs.

4x400 metre relay (men): Kerala first 3:11.19 secs, AAFI (second) 3:11.40 secs. Uttar Pradesh (third) 3:13.60 secs.

100 metres (women): P.T. Usha (Ker) first 11.61 secs. Saraswati Dey (WB) second 11.81 secs Vinita Tripathi (Del) third 11.90 secs.

400 metres hurdles (women): Arti Rai (MP) first 59.89 secs B. Joseph (UP) second 1:00.18 secs Rajinderpal Kaur (Pun) third 1:00.65 secs

4x400 metre relay (women): AAFI team first 3:41.07 secs Kerala second 3:42.56 secs Tamil Nadu third 3:52.55 secs

10,000 m walk (women): Jasmen Kaur (Pun) first 53:18.5 secs. Y. Bala Devi (WB) second 54:13.0 secs Jiji Jose (Ker) third 55:14.4 secs

10,000 mt race (women): Pushpa Devi (Del) first 36:18.8 secs L. Aruna Devi (WB) second 37:16.6 secs Amarjeet Kaur (Pun) third 38:30.5 secs.

Hammer throw (women): Surinderjit Kaur (Pun) first 53.26 mt (NMR) K. Jibeswari (WB) second 52.90 mt Hardeep Kaur (Pun) third 52.50 mt

Triple jump (women): Anju Markose (TN) first 12.97 mt Anusuyia C Roy (TN) second 12.74 mt Reena Thomas (Ker) third 12.45 mt.

Heptathlon (women): J.J.Shobha (AP) first 4802 points J.R. Udai Luxmi (AP) second 4614 points Poonam Shau (Har) third 4229 points.

Wins surprise Whatmore

COLOMBO, Sept 14 (PTI) — Sri Lankan cricket coach Dave Whatmore, who has helped the beleaguered islanders re-discover their winning ways, has warned that the Australian team would bounce back from the first Test defeat in Kandy.

Whatmore, the Sri Lankan-born Aussie whose return for his second tenure after the World Cup debacle has worked wonders in the young side, said he expected the Aussies to stage a strong comeback in the remaining two Tests.

Whatmore told the state-owned Daily News that he was surprised Sri Lanka managed to beat India and Australia in the recent one-day triseries followed by the historical first-ever Test win over the Aussies.

“When I took over (on August 1), I did not expect them to go and beat Australia in the one-dayers and Tests. I think they are playing a bit closer with each other. They are moving towards becoming a very tightly-knit family. That alone makes them very powerful,” he said.

“If you are playing in the team, it has to be very close,” Whatmore, the chief architect of Sri Lanka’s surprise World Cup victory in 1996, said.

The former Aussie batsman said the hosts won because they managed to get on top of Australia early.

“What we wanted to do was to try and get an advantage early, whether we bowled or batted first. To get on top of the opposition and to put pressure on them. This was done really well last Thursday and it turned out to be a big factor.”

Sri Lanka, after losing seven Tests and drawing three, beat Australia by six wickets with over two days left in the 11th Test between the two.

Whatmore said normally it was difficult to maintain the early advantage, gained when the Aussies were skittled out for 188 in the first innings.

“In subsequent days the gap widens, but in this case it remained closed. We had to try and get as many runs as possible, but it was not done very well, with only Aravinda (de Silva) and Mahela Jayawardene doing it for us.

“Another key factor was the bowling of (left arm pacemen) Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa,” he said.

Whatmore attributed the return to form of Vaas, who bowled poorly in the AIWA Cup, to his brief stint with Aussie pace guru Dennis Lillee at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai.

“A chat with Dennis, who had a look at Vaas, gave him a little bit more confidence,” he said. The bowler’s recovery was evident in his six-wicket haul in the match.

Sri Lankan manager Chandra Schafter cautioned that the team should not be carried away by the victories. “It would be foolish to think we are world champions again,” he said.

Greene favourite at Tokyo meet

TOKYO, Sept 14 (AFP) — American Maurice Greene, the fastest man in the world, will launch the final shot of the season as a heavy favourite in the men’s 100 metres at the Tokyo track and field meet here tomorrow.

Greene, who set a world 100 metres record of 9.79 in June, retained his 100 metres world title in Seville last month and added the 200 metres title to become the first man to achieve the sprint double in the world championships.

The 25-year-old American is heavily favoured to win the 100 metres race at the National Stadium.

Jason Gardener of Britain, seventh in Seville, is the best contender, while Japan’s Koji Ito, holder of the Asian 100 metres record of 10.00, American Kurtis Johnson and Yin Hanzhao of China will also challenge Greene.

Some 150 athletes, including Colin Jackson of Britain and Susanthika Jayasinghe of Sri Lanka, will take part in the 18 events here.

To the disappointment of fans, world pole vault record holder Emma George of Australia and three-time world long jump champion Ivan Pedroso of Cuba pulled out with injuries.

George, who missed a medal in Seville after suffering a back injury in a heavy fall during training in July, failed to recover fully from the injury, the organisers said.

Jackson set the world 110 metres hurdles record of 12.91 to win the 1993 world championships and regained the title in Seville winning it by a narrow three hundreds of a second in 12.04.

Jackson’s rivals in Tokyo will be 1999 US champion Mark Crea and his compatriot Larry Wade. Bangkok Asian Games champion Chen Yanhao of China will also challenge him.

Susanthika became Sri Lanka’s Olympic hopeful by winning the women’s 200 metres silver medal in the 1997 world championships, but her hopes of the 100 metres and 200 metres medals in Seville ended in heartbreak.

SA captain wins 100 m freestyle

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 14 (AFP) — South African squad captain Brendon Dedekind won the 100m freestyle at the All-Africa Games (AAG) here, grabbing victory in the final few metres.

Dedeking, a 50m specialist and ranked only fourth in the 100m category in South Africa, clocked 50.50 sec yesterday to push Algeria’s African record holder Salim Iles, who timed 50.58, into second spot.

Iles, who set a Games record of 50.36 in the morning heats just made the touch ahead of South Africa’s Nicholas Folker, third at the World Student Games three months ago, who claimed bronze with 50.61 secs.

Zimbabwe denied the hosts a third consecutive clean sweep of swimming gold medals, winning the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay.

Dedekind, who won gold in the 50m at the Pan Pacific Championships in Sydney last month, came out of his dive in the lead but was soon over taken by Iles, Folker and Egyptian Mahmoud Elwani.

Iles turned first, followed by Folker, Elwani and then only Dedekind, who trailed the Algerian for most of the final lap.

“I knew he was going to go out fast,” said Dedekind. “Usually people ride in my wake so I rode in his wake. I moved over slightly towards his lane.”

“The last 25m I was still behind so I decided to pick up I put my head down. With 5m to go I was still a little behind so I put my head down. I was confident if I had a good finish, I’d get him.”

Kim Van Selm and Kirsten Van Heerden repeated their one-two feat in the women’s 200m freestyle as they took gold and silver in the 400m. Tunisia’s Boutheina Elouer took bronze.

Brett Rogers and George Du Rand took gold and silver for South Africa in the men’s 200m backstroke, ahead of Benjamin Lo-Pinto of Seychelles in third.

Charlene Wittstock, winner of the women’s 100m freestyle, claimed her second gold of the competition as she swam to victory in the 100m backstroke in 1:04.31. Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe took silver in 1:05.29 with South Africa’s Taryn Ternent in third place in 1:05.95.

South Africa finished top of group 1 in the football tournament despite being held 0-0 by Uganda in the final round.

A draw was sufficient for Uganda to snatch second place with four points as Mali finally lived up to their pre-tournament promise by defeating Algeria 2-0 and the teams ended with three points each.

South Africa and Uganda will know their semi-final opponents on Tuesday after group 2 leaders Cameroon play Cote d’Ivoire and second-placed Zambia meet Mauritius.

Agassi keen to end year as No 1

NEW YORK, Sept 14 (DPA) —Andre Agassi moved back to world number 1 yesterday hours after a thrilling five-set victory at the $ 14.5 million US Open the previous day.

But the glory, not the numbers, are what mean the most to the veteran.

Almost two years ago, Agassi was lacking motivation, overweight and full of self-pity.

But a brilliant comeback in late 1997, which started slowly at challenger tournaments and gained momentum throughout 1998, bloomed into full blossom in 1999 as the Las Vegas right-hander won two Grand Slam titles from three straight finals he contested.

In Paris in June, Agassi joined the pantheon of the game, becoming only the fifth man ever to win all four Slams in a career.

A loss on the Wimbledon grass to impeccable Pete Sampras was only a minor setback.

After a successful hardcourt season at home this summer, Agassi capped his comeback with his second New York title, beating compatriot — and fellow 29-year-old — Todd Martin 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-2 to win his second US Open crown after 1995.

It was at the Australian Open last year that Agassi made a pact with trainer, bodyguard and friend Gil Reyes, a longtime Las Vegas buddy.

“In his hotel room, he made the declaration that this was going to be the year for him and he wanted to be in the best shape of his life,” said the hulking Reyes. “he’s in the best shape of his life.”

While Agassi’s muscles will never match those of his minder, he was by far the fittest man in the 128 strong open field.

Practising shirtless in the heat of the day, his head and body shaved, he put in the effort it takes to pick up a fifth career Grand Slam and 43rd over all title.

“There’s no secret to it, just a lot of hard work,” said Reyes. “It’s the hardest he has ever worked, it’s the most Andre has ever grown. What you will see from Andre now on is his best.”

While number 1 is nothing new to Agassi, who first achieved the placing as best in the world four years ago, his re-birth is something special.

“I have more titles in me, my goal is to win more,” said Agassi.

His return to the top should lead to a renewal of the see-saw battle between Agassi and Sampras, currently resting with herniated discs in his back.

“This is what you play for,” said the champion. “It means a lot to win when it matters the most. It’s hard for me to not keep things in perspective.”

“I’m thrilled to be in this situation. I’m allowing myself to appreciate this time in my life. I can’t think of a better place to be than the Open final. It feels good to accomplish this.”

Next in Agassi’s sights: the year end world number 1 ranking which Sampras has owned for the past six years, a record.

“It’s definitely a goal,” said Agassi. “It would be great. I’ve never done it.”

A graph of Agassi year-end rankings looks like a heart-attack cardiogram, with big ups and deep down the rule. Nine times in the past 11 years, he has finished in the year-end top 10. He was second behind Sampras in 1994 and 1995.

“Before Paris, I didn’t think this was possible,” said Agassi after his fifth Grand Slam title.

“It was not until the middle of Paris that I felt I was able to let my shots fly in the big moments. Until you do that, you are waiting for someone to lose. You never build confidence that way.”

With everything to play for, Agassi is living for the moment. With age 30 staring him down the barrel next April, he is happy to be where he is right now.

Sachin confident of full recovery

ADELAIDE, Sep 14 (AFP) — Star Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar was confident of a full return to fitness from a lower spine injury after consulting Australian doctors here today.

Australian Cricket Academy doctors told Tendulkar he had defects in his lower vertebrae and scar tissue had formed, which occasionally became inflamed and caused his back pain.

Tendulkar, who first felt the effects of the injury while playing in a Test series against Pakistan in January, sought help from doctors in India and England but the problem recurred in recent months.

He came here on the advice of officials at India’s MRF pace foundation, where Australian fast-bowling great Dennis Lillee is head coach.

Tendulkar said he was relieved to know the exact nature of his injury and expected to regain full fitness in three to four weeks, although he will have to do special exercises for the rest of his career.

“I feel more satisfied because they have given me an exact programme of how to go about it, this is very important because I feel now it’s up to me to get back in action and overcome the problem,” Tendulkar said.

He said he would play in the three Test series against Australia in December and was looking forward to it after last playing a Test match in this country in 1991 as a 17-year-old.

“I’ve always enjoyed coming to this country ... last year I came for Don Bradman’s 90th birthday and that was a great experience so I like coming here,” he said.

Indian fast bowler Ajit Agarkar came to Adelaide with Tendulkar and received treatment for a hamstring injury. He is expected to play again in about a month.

Both players plan to stay at the academy for another three or four days to observe its workings and attend training sessions.

MUMBAI: The selection committee meeting to pick the 14-member Indian squad for the September 25-October 3 four-nation tournament in Nairobi has been put off by a day to September 17 and is to be held in Baroda and not in Mumbai as was scheduled earlier.

“The meeting has been postponed by a day and will be held on Friday at Baroda as coach Anshuman Gaekwad is returning with the other team members from Toronto only on September 16. The team is landing in Delhi”, board’s executive secretary Sharad Diwadkar told PTI here today.

This is the last assignment for the current committee before it is reconstituted at the Board’s annual general meeting scheduled at Jaipur on September 21 and 22.

Skipper Sachin Tendulkar would not be present at the meeting as he is expected to return only next week from Australia where specialists are examining him to determine the cause of his recurring back stiffness.

Maharashtra team win two ties

MUMBAI, Sept 14 (PTI) — The Maharashtra state hockey team won two matches and drew one in their first leg tour of Holland.

According to information received from the state hockey association here today, the Maharashtra team drew their first match against Kawpong Club at Utrecht 3-all with internationals Anil Aldrin and Sabu Varky and state player Manoj Lokhande scoring a goal each.

In the second match against a strong Orange Zwart at Eindhoven (Philips City) the state team won 2-1 with Manoj Lokhande and Kishore Kumar getting the goals. The Orange Zwart has three players who have played for Germany in their ranks.

The state team drubbed Daring Hockey Club 8-1 with internationals Dhanraj Pillay and Gavin Ferreira scoring a brace each and Amjad Khan, Yogesh More, Manoj Lokhande and Kishore Kumar scoring once each.

Pro-am title for Bhandari’s team

BANGALORE, Sept 14 (UNI) — Vivek Bhandari and his team emerged triumphant at the pro-am event of the Rs 6 lakh Wills Southern Open golf here today.

Rafiq Ali and his team finished runners-up while Mohammed Islam and his team finished third. The field comprised 34 professionals and 102 amateurs with a number of leading professionals such as last week’s Color Plus Open champion Feroz Ali, Hindu Open winner Vijay Kumar, SSP Chowrasia, Ali Sher, Vivek Bhandari, Basad Ali, Shiv Prakash, Amritinder Singh and Sanjay Kumar took part.

The amateur filed was studded with several well known personalities, including former Indian cricketers Syed Kirmani and GR Vishwanath.

Vivek Bhandari teaming up with K.V. Reddy, D. Rice and Rani Sonti, carded a winning total of 113 points with Bhandari contributing a healthy 72 points to the tally. Rafiq Ali contributed 75 points to his team’s tally of 137 with the amateurs Manu Mool, R. Mirchandani and Col Devecha filling in the balance points.

Mohammed Islam and his team of Manpreet Sachdeva, MV Raghavan and Denzil Lobo tallied 138 points. Islam scored 72 out of the total. Two other professionals, Mohammed Maqbool and Mait Dube shared the prize money with second runner-up team as their teams had tied with Islam’s team.

Bhandari as the professional in the winning team earned Rs 7,000 while the runner-up team professional Rafiq Ali, earned Rs 5,000. Islam as the pro in the second runner-up team pocketed Rs 3,000.

‘ICC asked NZC to keep quiet’

HAMILTON, Sept 14 (AP) — The New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said today they were asked by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to keep quiet on an approach to captain Stephen Fleming to influence the outcome of a Test series against England.

The NZC Chief Executive, Mr Christopher Doig, said his organisation would have liked to release details of the incident immediately. The story was broken on Sunday by English newspaper News of the World.

The newspaper also revealed that former England Test player Chris Lewis was asked to fix the result of the third Test at Old Trafford by offering bribes to Alec Stewart and Alan Mullally.

Gymnastics squad selected
From Our Sports Reporter

PATIALA, Sept 14 — A twelve-member Indian gymnastics squad, comprising six boys and six girls, has been selected by the Gymnastic Federation of India (GFI) for the 34th Artistic World gymnastic Championships to be held at Tianjin, China, from October 8 to 16.

The squad was selected after trials held at the National Institute of Sports (NIS), which concluded late yesterday evening.

The teams: Men: Vikas Pandey, Sudip Jana, Rajinder Parsad, Mayanak Srivastava, Avinash and Mohit Yadav.

Women: Thumpa Debnath, Jaswant Kaur, Sundri Mandal, Chanchal Chakraborthy, Manisha and Poonam Chabbra.

K.S. Rathour and Sudhir Mittal will accompany the teams as managers and Husan Jan from Kazakhistan who is on contract with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Kalpana Debnath will be the coaches.

Fatehgarh Sahib finish on top

FATEHGARH SAHIB, Sept, 14 (FOC) — On the concluding day of the three -day Inter District Football Tournament for boys under-19, Fatehgarh Sahib stood first and Khamanon second. In the girls section, Bassi Pathana beat Fatehgarh Sahib. In kabaddi (boys) Amloh defeated Fatehgarh Sahib in the final while in the girls section Fatehgarh Sahib beat Khamanon. In kho-kho for boys under-17 Fatehgarh Sahib were first and Khamanon second. In the girls section, Fatehgarh Sahib defeated Khamanon.

According to Mr Adhiatam Parkash, Press Secretary, District Tournament Committee, the state-level games of schools will start from September 15.

Rani, Manisha lift titles

PATIALA, Sept 14 (FOSR) — Manisha Sharma of KV-2 picked up her third title by winning the women’s singles event, disposing of her schoolmate Harleen 21-18, 23-21 in the Patiala District Table Tennis Championships which concluded at the DCW Recreation hall here today.

In the men’s final Ravi Chandran lifted the title overcoming Harmanpreet Singh 19-21, 21-17, 21-12, 21-15.

The other results (all finals:

Cadet boys: Kamaljit b Manish Saini 21-15, 21-10; cadet girls: Manisha Sharma b Yashpreet Gulati 21-19, 18-21, 21-16, sub junior girls: Sarika Sharma b Neha Sharma 15-21, 21-18, 21-17. Sub junior boys: Sher Bahadur b Pawan Saini 21-16, 21-19.

Junior boys: Rahul Bose b Randeep Singh 21-15, 21-18.

Junior girls: Manisha Sharma b Neha Sharma 21-18, 21-18.

Rain interrupts Katoch Shield tie

PATIALA, Sept 14 (FOSR) — Patiala made a formidable 240 all out in the one day Punjab State Katoch Shield cricket match against Ludhiana before rain interrupted the match played at the Dhruv Pandove Stadium here today.

After several inspections the umpires decided to abandon the match.

Patiala will play Ludhiana in the two-day Katoch Shield match scheduled for tomorrow.

Schools’ swimming from today

ROPAR, Sept 14 (TNS) — The 45th state-level Punjab School Games (Swimming and water polo) for boys and girls will be held from September 15 to 18 at the Nehru Stadium swimming pool here.

According to official information, Mr Kulbir Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner will inaugurate the swimming and water polo meet at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Handball trials

JALANDHAR, Sept 14 (FOSR)— Trials to select the Jalandhar district junior boys and girls handball teams will be held at Labhu Ram Doaba SS School on September 17 at 3 pm, according to Mr Shashi Sharma, secretary-general, Jalandhar Handball Association.