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| Wednesday, June 7, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Confident Pak face Lanka today DHAKA, June 6 — Pakistan, in quest for their maiden title in Asia Cup cricket, start favourite when they meet holders Sri Lanka in the final of the seventh Asia Cup cricket at Bangabandhu Stadium here tomorrow. CBI zeroing in
on bookies Allow Cronje to
play: Woolmer Kapil Dev to sue CNN, Bindra SA cricket goes on trial Paes, Bhupathi to ‘mend fences’ |
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Indian player tried
to ‘coerce’ Jones Euro 2000 Zidane key figure for France
Sister fails to
follow Safin Punjab outplay
Chandigarh PT Usha to start athletics school Kazakh gold medallists to get $ 100,000
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Confident Pak face Lanka today DHAKA, June 6 (UNI) — Pakistan, in quest for their maiden title in Asia Cup cricket, start favourite when they meet holders Sri Lanka in the final of the seventh Asia Cup cricket at Bangabandhu Stadium here tomorrow. While this is Pakistan’s first entry into the final of this four-nation biennial meet, Sri Lanka have an enviable record of reaching the title clash of all the Asia Cup held so far having won the title twice earlier. This time Pakistan
reigned supreme in the round robin league of this tournament and emerged at the top of the league table with six points after winning all their league ties. Sri Lanka came next with four points after having lost to Pakistan. India,who earlier won this Cup four times, finished a poor third with one win and losing to both Sri Lanka and Pakistan while hosts Bangladesh ended at the bottom losing all their league matches. But it would be wrong to judge the fate of the final by looking at the group league encounters between Pakistan and Sri Lanka where the former defeated the latter comfortably last night. Pakistan no doubt are rated favourites, but one cannot simply rule out the islanders who have won everything that has come in their way since their disastrous performance in the last World Cup in England and would like to continue in the same way. According to performance they displayed in this meet so far Pakistan look much stronger having tremendous depth in both the departments of batting and bowling. To add to that their fielding is superb. Pakistan won all the one-day internationals they played earlier at Sharjah and in West Indies since Moin Khan assumed captaincy. “We are all determined to maintain this winning streak here as well,” the skipper said. He said: “All the boys in the team are motivated and charged up to win the title this time. If we can perform the way we have been playing here we will definitely win the Cup. The motivation for us this time is that we have not won this cup so far. This factor is guiding the boys to put extra bit of efforts. And ultimately it is that little extra bit of effort that makes the difference,” Moin Khan said. Their main strength lie in their bowling, he said adding: “Our main weapon is our bowling. But one cannot discount our batting either, which was magnificent in all the league matches we played here. Specially Yousuf Youhana is doing an excellent job here,” the captain added. He said that the Sri Lankan strength lay in their batting. |
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CBI zeroing in on bookies NEW DELHI, June 6 (UNI) — The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), inquiring into the match-fixing scandal plaguing cricket in India for the past few months, was zeroing in on 100 top bookies whom the agency identified during investigation. The country’s top investigating agency has positioned its sleuths at various places to monitor the movement of these alleged bookies closely. It has plans to question them on their possible role in the match-fixing scandal. Bureau sources said though the agency had identified about 100 top bookies, suspected of having close connections with cricketers alleged to be involved in match-fixing and betting, it feared that thousands of other small-time bookies could be present in the country. The sources said the bookies had reportedly either gone underground or changed their business due to the fear of being caught. “Our men are on their trail and a close watch is being maintained on them,” sources told UNI. Most of these top bookies belong to Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Lucknow. Besides trying to locate the bookies in Delhi, CBI teams are understood to have been sent to all the other places to gather information and establish the whereabouts of these bookies, the sources said. The Bureau has plans to question these bookies to reach to the root of any possible cricketer-bookie nexus. It would also be trying to find out the details of fixing of matches in the country, the sources revealed. The cricketer-bookie nexus is widely believed to be behind match-fixing and betting in the country and abroad. Even matches of the Pepsi one-day series which India won against South Africa were fixed with the involvement of bookies. |
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Allow Cronje to play: Woolmer LONDON, June 6 (PTI) — Former South African cricket coach Bob Woolmer has said disgraced former captain Hansie Cronje should be allowed to play international cricket again despite his having admitted to accepting money from bookmakers for providing match information, media reports said here today. “Mark Waugh and Shane Warne were convicted of the same offence by the Australian Cricket Board and given a monetary fine,” Woolmer told The Times yesterday. “If Hansie has done the same as them, why should we be any different?” the daily quoted him as saying. “Hansie should be brought back into the fold as quickly as possible,” Woolmer said. “He certainly has admitted he has done something wrong and that should be taken into account.” Woolmer, who was coach of the South African side from 1994 to 1999 and is now with Warwickshire, flew to Cape Town to offer his assistance to the commission inquiring into the match-fixing scandal, though he has not been summoned, the daily reported. The commission, which is to begin public hearings tomorrow, was set up after Cronje admitted in April to taking $ 8,200 from an Indian bookmaker during a triangular series involving England and Zimbabwe early this year. |
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Kapil Dev to sue CNN, Bindra NEW DELHI, June 6 (UNI) — Former India captain Kapil Dev, whose reputation as one of the most respected cricketers is at stake due to match-fixing allegations, would be filing a Rs 10 crore suit against American television news channel ‘CNN’ and former BCCI president I.S. Bindra next month. Kapil is also planning to file a separate defamation suit against ex-team-mate Manoj Prabhakar and website ‘tehelka.com’ for tarnishing his image and reputation. The cost of the suit against Prabhakar and tehelka.com is yet to be decided as Kapil and his lawyers are trying to assess the value of the assets owned by the former allrounder and the website. |
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SA cricket goes on trial CAPE TOWN, June 6 (Reuters) — South African cricket goes on trial tomorrow when retired Judge Edwin King opens an inquiry launched after former national captain Hansie Cronje admitted taking money from bookmakers. Cronje was sacked as South Africa captain on April 11 after confessing he had accepted up to $15,000 from bookmakers for providing pitch and weather information. He has denied involvement in match-fixing. Journalists and officials from Britain, Australia and India arrived in Cape Town today to monitor the government-appointed inquiry, which some officials say could last several months. United Cricket Board (ucb) Managing Director Ali Bacher told Reuters the probe was vital to the future of the game. “There is no other way out. We have got to be decisive and resolute to eradicate this cancer from our game. The revelations have shattered this country and that is still the case,’’ he said. Cronje has lived as a virtual recluse since his midnight confession to Dr Bacher that he accepted between 10,000 and 15,000 dollars in cash from bookmakers based in South Africa and India. Friends said he was in Cape Town today, though it was not clear whether he would attend the inquiry until called to testify towards the end of the process. Officials said Mr King would submit an interim report to South African President Thabo Mbeki by June 30 and could continue hearings indefinitely. Mr King, has said that if the inquiry points towards any criminal activity by anyone involved in the sport he will recommend prosecution. Forty-five witnesses, including Dr Bacher and former team-mates of Cronje, are scheduled to appear before the inquiry in Cape Town’s former state archive, now the centre for the book. The first witnesses will include Mr Brian Basson, the UCB chief of umpiring, and Mr Neil Andrews, an expert on spread betting in sport who will lay a foundation for further testimony. Cronje has been accused of providing information to bookmakers involved in spread betting. Dr Bacher is scheduled to testify on Monday. Cronje’s shock admission came four days after the Delhi police charged him and team-mates Herschelle Gibbs, Pieter Strydom and Nicky Boje with involvement in match-fixing during a one-day series in India. “This is the nastiest thing which has struck cricket,’’ said Kepler Wessels, Cronje’s predecessor as captain. |
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Paes, Bhupathi to ‘mend fences’ NEW DELHI, June 6 (PTI) — After making premature exits from the French Open tennis tournament, last year’s men’s doubles champions Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have renewed efforts to resolve their difference and come together again. The two Indian stars along with their coaches held meetings at Paris after losing in the initial rounds at Roland Garros last week and Bhupathi hoped something will come of it in the next 2-3 days. “If it does not happen this week, it will not be possible for whole year as we have to commit to alternative partners for the year,” Bhupathi told Zee news on phone from Paris last night. Bhupathi also said it would have been different for both of them had they played together at the French Open. Paes, partnering Duchman Jan Siemerink, lost in the first round itself while Bhupathi and his partner David Prinosil survived a round only to fall by the wayside in the next. Unseeded Paes/Siemerink went down to French pair of Guy Forget/Gulliaume Raoux 6-7 (5/7), 3-6 while the ninth-seeded Bhupathi/Prinosil lost to the Spanish combination of Juan Ignacio Carros and Jairo Velesco Jr 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 1-6. |
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Indian player tried
to ‘coerce’ Jones
HOBART, June 6 (AP) — Former Australian batsman Dean Jones said yesterday he risked being killed if he revealed the name of an Indian cricketer who tried to coerce him to throw a cricket match. Speaking at a function here, Jones said he’d been offered $50,000 to throw a match against Sri Lanka in 1992 after being introduced to an illegal bookmaker by the cricketer. He said he’d only reveal the name of the cricketer who brokered the offer if he was forced to by a court of law, adding that he feared the player had links with organised crime. “I’m a bit worried about if he’s got mafia connections,” said Jones. |
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Euro 2000 BRUSSELS, June 6 (AFP) — World Cup holders France are looking to do the double, Holland are counting on home advantage and Spain will hope to match their club form when a potentially thrilling Euro 2000 kicks off this weekend. Europe’s showcase tournament has all the makings of being a memorable one when Germany defend the trophy they lifted in Wembley Stadium four years ago. France, inspired by the creative genius of Zinedine Zidane, have every chance of becoming world and European champions, while Dennis Bergkamp’s skilful Dutch side want to make the most of being joint hosts with Belgium. Spain may have been the biggest flop of the 1998 World Cup but they put three teams into the recent European Champions League semifinals and a new generation of players have the continent at their feet. Germany may not have looked so exciting in qualifying but always rise to the occasion, Italy have faith in their flair players like Alessandro Del Piero, while England coach Kevin Keegan may have the right blend of experience and explosive talent to really make an impact. Add to that an outsider like Yugoslavia or 1996 finalists the Czech Republic and the recipe is all there for three weeks of riveting football, provided the crowds behave themselves. The fatal stabbings of two Leeds United fans in Istanbul, the running battles in the streets of Copenhagen between Arsenal and Galatasaray supporters and the memory of the near-fatal beating handed out by German fans to a French policeman at France 98 are all too recent reminders of a scourge which still dogs the game. And it’s a scourge which started 15 years ago in the very stadium that will host Saturday’s opening match here between Belgium and Sweden. Renamed in honour of King Baudouin, the Heysel Stadium witnessed the fatal charge by Liverpool supporters that led to the deaths of 39, mainly, Italian fans before the European Cup final with Juventus. The Belgian and Dutch police believe they can cope with the new threat and make Euro 2000 the footballing festival which the real fans — and a global television audience — are dearly hoping for. When the curtain finally does go up, and that TV audience settle into their seats, Zidane will be one of those walking into the spotlight. The gifted playmaker from the poor tenements of Marseille captured the coveted Golden Ball Award after his two first-half headers ripped the heart out of Brazil in the 1998 World Cup final. Now he is back on the world stage after a sparkling season with Juventus that very nearly brought him another Italian league title. On paper, France look even stronger than they did two years ago. The absence of skipper Didier Deschamps has been offset by the promotion of Patrick Vieira into the best midfield in the game. More importantly, they are unlikely to be let down as badly as they were at France 98 by their strikers. Now things have changed. Thierry Henry has been transformed by his move from Juventus to Arsenal, David Trezeguet is the French league’s second highest scorer and there remains the brooding talent of Nicolas Anelka. France also have world-class defenders like Parma’s Lilian Thuram and Laurent Blanc, Inter Milan’s most reliable man at the back last season. But the French, who won this tournament in 1984 with Michel Platini, cannot afford to be complacent. Holland, who lost in the roulette of a penalty shoot-out with Brazil in the World Cup semifinals, have the firepower up front of Bergkamp and Patrick Kluivert, plus the telling runs down the flank by Marc Overmars. |
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Zidane key figure for France PARIS, June 6 (AFP) — France’s Zinedine Zidane is the French team’s catalyst and perhaps the most important player in their bid for the Euro 2000 title. His two headed goals against Brazil in the 1998 World Cup final granted him legendary status among teammates and the French public and earned him the world player of the year award. The shy man of Algerian extraction, brough up on the outskirts of Marseille, has had continual problems with his knee since that famous 3-0 Stade de France victory, but the French public are willing the 27-year-old Juventus playmaker to say healthy this summer. France’s group D has Euro 96 runners-up Czech Republic, Euro 92 winners Denmark, and Holland, many football experts choice as the most complete team at the 1998 World Cup. “I think England’s and Germany’s group is the toughest one,” he told Italian press in March. “However we are world champions and have no need to fear anyone.” He’s such a key figure for France, in terms of skill and personal influence, coach Roger Lemerre knows he would be virtually impossible to replace. |
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Costa, Arantxa Sanchez triumph PARIS, June 6 (Reuters) — Spanish claycourt specialist Albert Costa finished off ninth seed Lleyton Hewitt 6-3 4-6 6-2 6-4 today to march into the quarterfinals of the French Open. Australian Hewitt had been trailing 6-3 4-4 when the match was called off last night because of failing light. He fought his way back into the match when it resumed on centre court levelling at one set all. But the Spaniard’s vast experience on the slow surface soon told and he closed out for a quarterfinal with Argentine Franco Squillari. Squillari needed less than 15 minutes on
Tuesday to complete a 6-4 6-1 6-3 victory over Moroccan 15th seed Younes El Aynaoui and reach his first grand slam last eight. The world number 27 had been leading El Aynaoui 6-4 6-1 3-3 yesterday when that match was halted on court Suzanne Lenglen, and the 23-year-old wasted no time in polishing it off. Squillari’s whipped left-handed forehand and concentration gave him the edge over El Aynaoui on both days. The Moroccan looked far less comfortable on the court and seemed much more troubled by the constant drizzle on Monday. Squillari dug in and stuck to his task to record his best Grand Slam result. “It’s an immense joy to be in the second week of the French Open and to start winning big matches,’’ Squillari said. “I still have to improve match after match but I think I can reach a good level of tennis.’’ Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten, the 1997 champion, was taking on 1996 champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov in another quarterfinal today, while 10th seed Alex Corretja faced fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 16th seed. In the women’s quarterfinals, former champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain, seeded eight, defeat fourth-seeded American Venus Williams 6-0 1-6 6-2. Hingis wins World number 1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland breezed into the semifinals of the 10.25-million-dollar French Open today with a 6-1, 6-3 rout of unseeded US player Chanda Rubin. Hingis (19), needed only 57 minutes to clinch her seventh victory over the 25th-ranked Rubin in nine meetings on third match point with an easy volley. Hingis advanced to the last four for the fourth straight year. She was a junior champion in 1993 and 1994, but is yet to take the women’s title at the clay court climax and complete her collection of Grand Slam crowns. In the semifinals on Thursday, Hingis will meet either 3 seed and three-times winner Monica Seles of the USA or French 6 seed Mary Pierce. “I am looking forward to my next match. But it will be tough. I lost to
Monica in the semifinals two years ago and Mary is my doubles partner,” said Hingis, who was very satisfied with herself on Tuesday. “I am happy to win and played very good from the start.” Brazil’s 1997 French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten outlasted 1996 champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov in five gruelling sets today to reach the semifinals at Roland Garros. Kuerten’s 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win in exactly three hours over the fourth-seed was almost a mirror image of the 1997 quarterfinal when Kuerten also came from two sets to one down to beat the Russian. The Brazilian fifth seed will play the winner of the all-Spanish quarterfinal between Alex Corretja and Juan Carlos Ferrero in the last four. |
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Sister fails to follow Safin PARIS, June 6 (DPA) — The dream of a double success for the Safin family at the French Open today ended when Marat Safin’s talented sister Dinara Safina was knocked out in the second round of the junior competition, 6-4, 6-3 by Marie-Eve Pelletier of Canada. Safina, who turned 14 on April 27, lost in the worst possible way, ending the match with two double faults. Safina shared the fate of Josely Hewitt, younger sister of Lleyton, who was playing a fourth round game in the men’s field, and Giovanni Lapentti, younger brother of the 1999 Australian Open semifinalist, Nicolas, who were also early casualties in Paris. Marat Safin is still in the men’s draw and due to a strong showing considered among the favourites. There are also plenty of young Russian women, such as the 1999 junior world No. 1 Lina Krasnoroutskaya, but Safin said recently they will be nothing compared to Dinara. ‘‘I hope I am going to play well,’’ said Safina, who is said to be as temperamental on court as her brother. Safina said she and Marat had inherited their temperament from their Father, Misha, who is director of a tennis club in Moscow. Safina started playing tennis at eight and was taught by her mother, Rausa Islanova, herself once an under-18 semifinalist at Roland Garros. Islanova is a well-known coach in Russia, and is also teaching Anastasia Myskina the game. ‘‘She worked at Spartak (Moscow) and I came with her and practised there. I seriously started practising when I was eight years old,’’ Safina said. |
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Punjab outplay Chandigarh VISAKHAPATNAM, June 6 (UNI) — Defending champions Punjab, last year’s runners-up National Handball Academy, hosts Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh entered the semifinals of the 23rd Junior National Handball Championship (boys) here this evening. Earlier, in the quarterfinals, Punjab outplayed Chandigarh 32-13 to secure the berth in the semifinals. The winners were leading by 17-7 at half time. Balbir Singh scored eight goals and Pavan Kumar netted six for Punjab while Ramesh Kumar of Chandigarh scored four. In another quarterfinal, hosts Andhra Pradesh beat Maharashtra by 32-21. The winners were leading by 14-11 at half time. For Andhra, Anand netted nine and Khaleel Baba pumped five goals while Purushotham of Maharashtra scored seven goals. Himachal Pradesh beat Madhya Pradesh by 27-21. Sukhbir Singh netted eight goals while Barbir Singh scored seven goals for winners. Dhanaraj netted nine for Madhya Pradesh. National Handball Academy outplayed Rajasthan by 25-8. Rajashtan failed to score any goals in the second half. Jain Prasad of National Handball Academy scored eight goals while Harbansilal of Rajasthan netted five. Punjab will take on Andhra Pradesh while Himachal Pradesh will clash with National Handball Academy in the semifinals tomorrow. Lisha Augestine of Kerala was declared the best player of the
day. |
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PT Usha to start athletics school NEW DELHI, June 6 — PT Usha had ushered in a new era in Indian athletics when she took part in the Moscow Olympic Games in 1980 at the young age of 15 years, to be one of the youngest athletes ever to make Olympic debut. Twenty years and many Olympics and an assorted number of medals later (though an Olympic medal has eluded her), Usha is keen to give back something to athletics, which has made her what she is today-the golden girl of Indian athletics. The Usha School of Athletics will soon become a reality, “to give something back to the sport, which has given me everything-money, fame, awards and rewards”, said the golden girl in a chat with The Tribune at the Nehru Stadium here today, just before she left for Bangalore along with her personal coach J.S. Bhatia by the evening flight, to resume her track training, which she had discontinued for the last three months due to a recurring knee injury. Usha was in Delhi to receive the Special Cash Award of Rs 2,75,000 for her exploits on the track in international competitions during the last two years, from Union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa at the Vigyan Bhawan here yesterday. She was much sought after at the function, but whatever little time she got to spare in Delhi she devoted to do the spadework for her ‘school of
athletics’, which will become a reality “very soon”. Usha said she was in the process of acquiring about 30 acres of partly plain and partly hilly land at Quilandy, near her home town Payyoli, to setup the athletic school, for which the Kerala Government has already set apart Rs 15 lakh in its budget. “It will be one of the most modern athletic training centres, comparable with the best in the world”, Usha said, oozing with a lot of confidence, as she was confident of finding sponsors for the project. “Sponsorship should not be a problem,” she said. Usha said the athletic school will have all the modern facilities, including a website of its own. “It will be a big project”, she said. Her husband Srinivasan, a former Central Industrial Security Force Inspector, and a national kabaddi player, is now busy preparing the blue print of the school. Usha said a five-member trust, including herself and her husband as members, has been constituted to run the school. “The Indian Olympic Association, the Sports Authority of India and the Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI) will also be involved in the functioning of the school”, Usha disclosed. She said the athletic school will be one with a “national character” where she hopes to fashion future athletic champions, taking care of what all facilities she had missed out during her formative years as a budding athletic star. She said she has not yet given a final thought about her retirement plans, though indicating that she would be a non-starter for the Sydney Olympics. “I have seen a lot of Olympic Games. Now what’s there for me to achieve in the Olympics. I am past the age of winning an Olympic medal”, said the golden girl candidly. Usha said she had been training on the Payyoli beach, and on the nearby hill, to strengthen her muscles as she had been unable to train on the track due to a recurring left knee injury. She would decide about her future plans after she begins training on the track in the company of her coach J.S. Bhatia at the SAI centre in Bangalore from tomorrow. Bhatia said she would be given speed work to determine her fitness, and after that they will decide whether to participate in the Asian Track and Field Championships to be held in Jakarta from September 3 to 5 just before the Olympic Games in Sydney. |
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Kazakh gold
medallists to
get $ 100,000
ASTANA (Kazakhstan), June 6 (Reuters) — The former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan will pay large bonuses to their medal winners at this year’s Sydney Olympics, the country’s sports chief said today. ‘‘It has been agreed with our government that we will pay 100,000, 50,000 and 30,000 dollars, respectively, to each athlete, who wins gold, silver and bronze medals — the same amount we paid our winners in Atlanta four years ago,’’ chairman of the Kazakh State Sports Committee Daulet Turlykhanov told Reuters. |
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PARIS: Twelth-seeded Marat Safin of Russia, left, shakes hands with sixth-seeded Cedric Pioline of France, whom he defeated 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 during their fourth round match at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros stadium in Paris
on Monday. — AP/PTI photo
