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| Wednesday, May 17, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Worns out; Hassler set for
comeback |
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India to host chess meet
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NEW DELHI, May 16 (PTI) — Much heat is expected to be generated over the raging match-fixing controversy and former president Inderjit Singh Bindra’s recent allegations of corruption in the game at the cricket board’s crucial working committee meeting to be held here on May 19. Some top BCCI office-bearers who yesterday attacked Mr Bindra for his recent statements, in particular his naming of former skipper Kapil Dev in connection with ex-allrounder Manoj Prabhakar’s allegation that a team-mate tried to bribe him in 1994 to play poorly, are expected to raise the issue in the meeting where Bindra, Punjab Cricket Association president, will also be present. According to the agenda, a review will be done of the recent meetings BCCI officials had with International Cricket Council President Jagmohan Dalmiya in Calcutta and that with Sports Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa here on the match-fixing controversy. The meeting will consider changes in the format of domestic tournaments, the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy in particular. The Ranji superleague will be done away with and two or three teams from each zone will move into the knockout stage while the league format is expected to be reintroduced in Duleep Trophy and it will be mandatory for all top players to participate. A contract for players and introduction of fee linked to performance besides nomination of a medical panel to determine fitness and end controversies that crop up time and again over the issue are also expected to be discussed and finalised. A request by the England Cricket Board for an under-19 tour of India in winter next year and participation of India in the inaugural Asian Cricket Council (under-15) Tournament in Malaysia next month will also be considered at the meeting. The meeting is also
expected to ratify a move to bring in medical tests in
junior cricket to determine right age. |
CBI scrutinising Bindra’s report NEW DELHI, May 16 (PTI) — The CBI, probing the alleged match-fixing scandal, is scrutinising the report submitted by former cricket board chief I.S. Bindra again and is likely to question him on the issue, agency sources said here. The agency’s special crime branch was going through Mr Bindra’s report running into 360 pages, the sources said, adding it would question him again in case of doubts. Mr Bindra’s report generally deals with allotment of TV rights of cricket matches 1996 onwards, the sources said. Mr Bindra submitted his report to the CBI yesterday when he appeared before the agency officials on his own and offered to co-operate further if required. The CBI has so far examined four persons in the case after it registered a preliminary inquiry into the scandal following a direction from the Sports Ministry on May 2. However, the sources refused to divulge their names saying that could hamper the ongoing investigations into the scandal. The CBI is also likely to procure the tapes, which allegedly contain conversation about match-fixing, from the Mumbai police and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), they said. The crime branch of Mumbai police and the DRI stumbled upon tapes of a conversation about fixing of match in 1995 while solving a case of kidnapping of a businessman in the metropolis, the sources claimed. Meanwhile, former chief
of the Indian cricket board I.S. Bindra today claimed
that he had voiced his concern over “masala
matches” being played in off-shore countries in 1997
and had demanded cancellation of all further commitments
to these countries. |
Government collecting material NEW DELHI, May 16 (PTI) — The Centre today informed the Delhi High Court that it was collecting material on the issue of alleged mismanagement of cricket by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and said it needed more time to submit its reply. “The government is collecting more material in the case and will be filing an affidavit within two weeks,” advocate Pratibha Singh appearing for the government told a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice D.K. Jain. While adjourning the
hearing to July 12, the bench said “this is a matter
which should be monitored by the Ministry of
Sports.” The court had last month issued notices to
the Centre, BCCI and others on the PIL filed by two
cricket fans — Rahul Mehra and Shantanu Sharma. |
Worns out; Hassler set for comeback MUNICH, May 16 (AFP) — German football coach Erich Ribbeck has received another piece of bad news ahead of Euro 2000 when key defender Christian Worns was diagnosed with torn knee ligaments. Worns was stretched off during Borussia Dortmund’s derby with Schalke on Saturday and must now rest his injured right knee for at least four to six weeks. “His omission is tough because he was a definite pick in my 22-man squad. Thank God though we have a few alternatives in defence,” Ribbeck said yesterday. One of those will be Bayern Munich’s Jens Jeremies who is also walking a tightrope to recover from injury in time. Jeremies broke a collarbone last week against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals but hopes to start training again in a fortnight. “I have spoken to Jens and he is healing well,” Ribbeck said. “He is confident and I expect him to be coming with us to our training camp on Mallorca.” The 22-man German squad for the European Championships will be named in a week’s time and then fly to the Spanish holiday island Mallorca for pre-tournament training from May 27 to June 2. Thomas Hassler, who was dumped from national duties after the 1998 World Cup in France, is all set to stage a comeback. The Munich midfielder is in sensational form, has the necessary experience at international level with 97 caps, and has been the subject of a personal plea by captain Oliver Bierhoff. “The coach should
think again about Hassler. He has so much experience. He
would be so happy to get a recall and would be a total
team player,” Bierhoff said. |
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KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 (UNI) — Though India’s ace shuttler P. Gopi Chand scored a fine victory, he could not save his team from going down to South Korea 1-4 in the last group league match of the Thomas Cup Badminton Championship here today. Playing flawless game Gopi Chand stunned Korea’s number one Shon Seung Mo 15-7, 15-7 in just 42 minutes but that was the only saving grace as the Indians lost the next four matches without much ado and finished last in their group. However, former all-England champion and present Badminton Association of India (BAI) executive president Prakash Padukone was of the view that India did perform reasonably well. “I think they (Indians) played as well as expected. The first day was disappointing but Gopi and Siddartha Jain came on to their own for the remaining two ties,” Prakash said adding that today’s win should do wonders for his confidence. Gopi is the only Indian who has qualified for the Sydney Olympic Games. Tonight Gopi blew away the problems that had bothered him earlier. He had defeated Shon in 3 games in New Delhi, but here he dominated from the start to run up early leads which he then maintained. “I moved a lot
better today and was also stroking better, that made so
much difference. I could also catch Shon on the wrong
foot many times and that made things easier for
me,’’ Gopi said after his win. |
India to
host Asia Cup TT CHANDIGARH, May 16 — India will host the Asia Cup table tennis tournament in November in Maharashtra this year, according to Mr Rajeev Kaushal, joint secretary, Table Tennis Federation of India. According to the calendar released, the India Cup at Kanpur will be held in July, national ranking championship (West Zone) will be from August 8 to 12, Khar gymkhana prize money table tennis at Khar (Maharashtra) will be conducted from August 15 to 18, national ranking championship (South Zone) at Vijaywada will be from August 20 to 24, followed by inter-institutional meet at Indore. The national ranking championship will be at Bhopal from September 1 to 5, the national ranking championships (North and East Zone) will be from October 9 to 13 and November 1 to 5, respectively. The table tennis event in the National Games will be played from November 9 to 13. The 62nd Junior National Table Tennis meet will be held at Bangalore from November 23 to 29, followed by the sub-junior national meet at Chennai from December 8 to 15. The 62nd senior national meet will be held at Cuttack from January 5 to 12, next year. At international level,
World Cup Table Tennis Championship will be held at Wuxi
City (China) from June 8 to 11, US Open from July 6 to 9
and the second World Youth festival at Budapest (Hungary)
from August 17 to 20. The Sydney Olympics will have table
tennis events from September 16 to 25. |
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HAMBURG, May 16 (DPA) — Patrick Rafter’s comeback effort from a shoulder injury today suffered a second setback within a week when he crashed out in first round of the $ 2.95-million Masters Series event 6-4, 7-5, against Wayne Ferreira of South Africa. Ferreira defeated the 27-year-old Rafter for the sixth time in seven meetings for an overall 6-3 lead after one hours and 32 minutes of play. Rafter, who had also lost in the first round in Rome last week, was playing only his sixth tournament since returning in February from an operation on his right shoulder in October. A former world No. 1 last summer, the two times US Open winner is now ranked a modest 77th. Ferreira (28) broke Rafter at love in the opening game. He faced two break points serving at 5-4, but got the set with two forehand winners and two return errors from Rafter. Rafter then wasted his only two break in the sixth game of the second set. Ferreira blew four chances for a 5-4 lead, but did better on his seventh break point for a 5-4 lead. He wrapped up matters in the next game when Rafter’s backhand stroke fell wide. Seeded No. 11, Rafter was the first seed to tumble, but No.14 Dominik Hrbaty followed shortly afterwards, losing 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) to the two-times Hamburg champion Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine. The 1999 French Open runner-up Medvedev wasted two match points serving at 5-4 and needed to save two set points trailing 6-4 in the tie-break before finally succeeding on his third match point. Also to go out was No. 6 Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, against big-serving Swiss Marc Rosset. Due on court later today was Pete Sampras, the top seed after the unexplained withdrawal of Andre Agassi. Sampras was playing fellow-American Chris Woodruff in his 2000 clay court debut after a one-month injury layoff. The new ATP points race leader and freshly crowned Rome champion Magnus Norman plays an all-Swedish match with Thomas Johansson. There is also an all-Australian clash between teenage sensation Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Philippoussis. Also to be in action, on outside courts, are former French Open champions Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Carlos Moya, plus defending Hamburg champion Marcelo Rios. The Hamburg tournament
is the fifth of nine in the newly created Masters Series
and the last major tuneup event for this year’s
Roland Garros Grand Slam which kicks off in less than a
fortnight on May 29. |
India to
host chess meet PATIALA, May 16 — The World Chess Championships for both men and women for the year 2000 have now finally been allotted to India. The venue for the championships will be New Delhi and both the championships will be held simultaneously from November 25 to December 4. According to the information received by the All-India Chess Federation (AICF) India’s name to host the championships was cleared at the FIDE presidential executive board meeting held in London on May 14. Apart from India, four other countries-Morocco, Hong Kong, China and South Africa — were in the fray to host the prestigious championships. However, since FIDE had already accepted Iran’s bid to hold the men’s world championships from the semifinal stage onwards, India will play host to the rounds extending till the semifinals and the final. In the women’s world championship India will play host till the finals. According to AICF sources, a major setback will be in the form of former world champion Garry Kasparov’s inability to play in India as the chess master has not played in any of the FIDE sponsored tournaments ever since the body split in 1993 and the Professional Chess Association (PCA) was formed. Sources add that for sponsoring the mega event the Bangalore based information technology giant ‘Wipro’ has already given its consent and the modalities would be worked out shortly. Two other multi-national companies have also showed an avid interest in co-sponsoring the championships in which more than a 100 top chess players of the world will participate. Sources cite the example of the recent sponsorship deal for P. Harikrishan who is the country’s youngest international master (IM) and Arthie Ramaswamy who is the reigning under-18 world champion, both of whom are being sponsored by Wipro. Sources say that a major
factor in FIDE deciding upon India to host the men’s
and the women’s championships was the fact that the
world’s governing body had taken note of the
successful organisation of the two world junior meets
— both held at Khozikode in 1993 and 1998. Apart
from this, FIDE was also impressed by the way the Indians
organised many Asian and Commonwealth meets and several
grand master (GM) tournaments. |
National
Games by November end: Dhindsa NEW DELHI, May 16 — Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa has said the National Games in Punjab will be held by the end of November this year. In an interview to The Tribune, Mr Dhindsa said the games would be delayed by about 10 days, and not more than that, from the originally scheduled dates. He assured that all the facilities for the games would be completed on time, and Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman K C Pant, have assured all help to meet the shortfall in funds. Mr Dhindsa said India had an excellent chance of bagging the 2006 Asiad, and a delegation, led by the minister himself, and comprising Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Suresh Kalmadi, Secretary-General Randhir Singh, Senior Vice-President Vijay Kumar Malhotra and member of the bidding committee Tarlochan Singh, will be leaving for Rio-de-Janeiro on May 20, to “strongly present” India’s case at a meeting of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). The delegation will return to India on May 27. Mr Dhindsa said if India won the 2006 Asiad bid, the games would be hosted in New Delhi, the venue of the 1982 Asian Games. The Union Minister disclosed that he will be preparing a comprehensive new National Sports Policy, before the next session of Parliament, for approval and implementation. He said he was also in the process of completely revamping the functioning of the Sports Authority of India, and some of the schemes run by it, to make them more viable and effective. Mr Dhindsa also asserted that he would ensure that the Arjuna and Dronacharya Awards are given to sportspersons purely on merit. The ministry may also consider some of the independent cases, even if such cases are not recommended by the respective federations. It is reliably learnt that some of the names being considered for the Dronacharya and Arjuna awards are that of veteran athletic coach Ken Bosen, badminton legend Prakash Padukone and football ace I M Vijayan. Bosen, currently working on a contract basis with the Sports Authority of India on a monthly stipend of Rs 15,000, should have been bestowed with the Dronacharya award a long time back, but somehow, his name was never seriously considered by the people who matter, but this time around, the SAI and the Sports Ministry are seriously considering Bosen’s as well as Padukone’s names for the Dronacharya Awards. The ministry has also taken note of I M Vijayan’s “keen desire” to be bestowed with the Arjuna Award, as his credentials are impeccable, and after Baichung Bhutia, he is in line for the honour. Mr Dhindsa said all the SAI schemes will be publicised all over the country to select the most deserving candidates, as most people are not presently aware of some of the SAI schemes. For example, the SAI has a Rs 5 lakh scholarship scheme to send boys and girls abroad for advanced training, but presently, it’s a somewhat guarded affair, as not many people are aware of the existence of such a scheme. Ace swimmer Nisha Millet, who has qualified for the Sydney Olympic Games, is presently undergoing specialised training in Australia, under this scheme. Mr Dhindsa said he would see to it that deserving sportspersons got their due, and assured that no one would suffer for want of support. He was appreciative of the job being done by the SAI, as it had to work with a lot of constraints. There is now hardly any complaint regarding the clearance of teams for international competitions, and the Team’s Wing, under executive-director Maj O P Bhatia, has been doing a commendable job. Yet, the minister felt that there was scope for further improvement in the functioning of the SAI and he hopes to get a better grip of things, once he starts using his new office being prepared at the Nehru Stadium. (Presently, Mr Dhindsa functions from the Nirman Bhawan, in his capacity as Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Employment, as he does not have an office at Shastri Bhawan as Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, where the ministry’s bureaucrats operate from). Regarding the match-fixing and betting scandal in cricket, Mr Dhindsa said: “now that the CBI is probing the case, I tell whoever comes to me to go to the CBI”. He refused to be drawn further into the issue. Meanwhile, the SAI has
decided to open a “Centre of Excellence” for
girls in hockey at the Sector 42 Stadium in Chandigarh,
in association with the Women’s Hockey Federation of
India. Thirty to forty girls from all over the country
will be selected for training at this “Centre of
Excellence”, starting from this academic session.
The selection trials will be held in June. The SAI has
also plans to setup a water sports centre at the Perch
Dam in Ropar. |
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NEW DELHI, MAY 16 (UNI) — Two more Indian chess stars — Abhijit Kunte and K. Sasikaran —have been conferred the title of grandmaster by the world body FIDE. The FIDE presidential board which met in London on May 13th and 14th decided to bestow this honour on Kunte and Sasikaran. It also awarded title of international master to Atanu Lahiri and women international master title to Andhra Pradesh’s Kneru Humpy. India now has five
grandmasters — Vishwanathan Anand, D. Barua, P.
Thipsy, Abhijit Kunte and K. Sasikaran. |
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PUNE, May 16 (PTI) — All-rounder Robin Singh today sustained an injury on his forehead when he collided with his Tamil Nadu mate S. Sriram, during a football game prior to the net practice on the second day of the 10-day conditioning camp for Asia Cup probables here. Robin Singh needed five stitches while Sriram got away with minor bruises, according to Maharashtra Cricket Association joint secretary A.N. Mate. Robin Singh would be fit by tomorrow, said Dr Subhash Pathki who treated him. Meanwhile, board secretary Jaywant Lele said today that skipper Saurav Ganguly, playing for English county Lancashire, would reach here on May 21. Lele told PTI that the selection committee to pick the Indian team for the Asia Cup was originally to meet on May 22. “However, as
Ganguly’s ticket from England was not confirmed till
yesterday we decided to have the meeting on May 23. Last
night, I was told by the board’s executive secretary
Sharad Diwadkar that Ganguly’s ticket was confirmed
and hence we have decided to have the meeting on May
22”, Mr Lele added. |
Tyson planning next bout in Britain LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) — Former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, who served a three-year jail term for rape, has applied for British immigration clearance to fight in Scotland next month, officials said today. The application poses a dilemma for British Home Secretary (Interior Minister) Jack Straw, who faced criticism from women’s groups and other protesters for bending immigration rules to allow Tyson into Britain in January for a fight despite his conviction for rape. “We can confirm
that Tyson has submitted an application for entry
clearance to the British consulate general in New
York,” a Home Office spokesman told Reuters. |
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NEW DELHI, May 16 (PTI) — Alarmed by the flagging popularity of the game among Asian and European public in general and sponsors in particular, the International Badminton Federation is planning to introduce a new scoring system to make the sport more combative and TV friendly. If implemented, a badminton match will be best of five games each comprising seven points instead of the existing scoring system of 15 points for men and 11 for women in singles and 15 points for both sections in doubles in a best of three games format. IBF took the first step at implementing the new five-game, seven point system when the proposal was approved by its AGM at Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. The new scoring system, which is expected to replace the existing one by next year, will be first tested at the World Junior Championships at Guangzhou in November this year. If successful, the system will then be introduced in other competitions. Though the meeting did
not decide any date for implementation of the new scoring
system, proposed as early as 1997 by the IBF rules
committee, it was decided to do it at the earliest once
the trials prove successful. |
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LONDON, May 16 (PTI) — Pakistan cricket administrators have denied reports that express paceman Shoaib Akhtar was removed from the tour game against West Indies A due to suspect bowling action and said he was omitted only because of injury, British media reported today. The reports said Pakistan board had assured Nottingham-Shire county, with whom Akhtar has signed up, that Akhtar’s dropping from the four-day tour game was not because of International Cricket Council’s insistence. Akhtar, who was
suspended by ICC’s throwing panel last December but
later allowed to play, was reportedly filmed in a one-day
international against West Indies a fortnight ago, his
only appearance of the current Caribbean tour.
Notts’ cricket chairman Stuart Foster contacted
Pakistan Cricket Board yesterday after reports in a
Sunday newspaper that ICC has demanded Akhtar’s
withdrawal from the playing eleven after viewing the
film. |
Details
of camps finalised CHANDIGARH, May 16 — A meeting of the Secretaries of state sports associations, convened by the Punjab Olympic Association, was held on Monday at Chandigarh with the State Sports Department to finalise details relating to coaching camps, venues, equipment and coaches required for preparing the State contingent for participation in the National Games, scheduled to be held in Punjab in November this year. The meeting was presided over by Col Raminder Singh, Director of Sports, Punjab. According to Mr Arvind Khanna, Secretary-General, Punjab Olympic Association, and Organising Secretary for the National Games, the meeting was attended by the secretaries of 20 sports associations. The requirements for starting the first coaching camp were finalised at the meeting. All the sports associations have been permitted to hold the preliminary camps for a period of three weeks each during the next two months. The final camps will be held later, as recommended by the associations. Equipment and coaches required for the training camps were finalised at the meeting. The dates for the commencement of the first camp in each sports discipline were finalised in consultation with the state sports associations. The quantum of financial assistance towards diet money etc. were also decided. The preliminary conditioning camps in all sports disciplines cover a large number of sports persons and this will undergo a process of elimination during the progress of the camp so that the finally selected sports persons can be put to rigorous training in the next two camps, according to the Punjab Olympic Association sources. The camps will be suitably staggered and intermingled with competitions so as to ensure that the participants reach their peak form at the time of the National Games. Col Raminder Singh promised that the pending grants-in-aid due to the state sports associations would be released within a fortnight. He also indicated that the function to honour the sports persons who won medals in the last National Games held in Manipur would also be held shortly. He appealed to the
representatives present at the meeting to actively
associate former internationals in different sports
disciplines who have settled in Punjab in the selection
and training of the state contingent in their respective
sports disciplines as their expertise and experience
would help the trainees to a great extent. |
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MUMBAI, May 16 (PTI) — Indian coach Kapil Dev is to present the “Punya Bhushan” award to national cricket selection committee chairman Chandu Borde at the Nehru Stadium in Pune on May 21. A press note from the Pune-based social organisation Tridal said some Indian cricketers, who are undergoing a conditioning camp for the May 28-June 7 Asia Cup, would be present on the occasion. Maharashtra Sports Minister Prof Ramkrishna More and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi, would be the chief guests at the function. Earlier, award winners
include well-known Hindustani vocalist Pandit Bhimsen
Joshi, late industrialist Shantanurao Kirloskar, Marathi
literateur P.L. Deshpande and astrophysicist Jayant
Narlikar, the note added. |
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PORT-OF-SPAIN, May 16 (AFP) — Brian Lara has denied newspaper reports that he has received a substantial pay hike to tour England with the West Indies cricket team this summer. The Trinidad Guardian newspaper reported Lara was allegedly granted $ 120,000, three times his present salary, for the June to September visit to England. “It is completely false to state that I have been paid additional money as an inducement to tour with the West Indies team,” Lara said in a written statement. “This was never and is not a consideration at all,” the 31 -year-old former West Indies captain added. The West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players Association have also strongly denied any payment in excess of what has been negotiated between them for the players. Fees for the visit,
which includes five Tests and a triangular limited-overs
competition featuring England and Zimbabwe, were only
concluded on Friday in Georgetown. |
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