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| Saturday, July 1, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Bergkamp calls it a day |
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Windies restrict England
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10-man Italy win on penalties AMSTERDAM, June 30 (AFP) — Ten-man Italy lined up a Euro 2000 final with France here, beating Holland 3-1 on penalties after the Dutch had sensationally missed two spot-kicks during the opening 90 minutes. The match was deadlocked at 0-0 yesterday after extra-time and Italy, whose last three World Cup campaigns have all ended in defeat in penalty shoot-outs, sealed victory when Dutch defender Paul Bosvelt saw his spot-kick saved by Francesco Toldo. Frank De Boer, Jaap Stam and Bosvelt all missed for the Dutch while only Patrick Kluivert netted successfully in the shoot-out for the ‘Oranje’. De Boer and Kluivert had meanwhile missed their spot-kicks during regulation time. By contrast, Luigi Di Biagio, Gianluca Pessotto and Francesco Totti all hit the target in the shoot-out for Italy with only skipper Paolo Maldini seeing his shot saved by Juventus keeper Edwin van der Sar. Holland coach Frank Rijkaard resigned after the match. “It did not work and I must now take the consequences”. Italy coach Dino Zoff paid tribute to his men for their efforts, but urged them not to stop now that they face France on Sunday. “We’ve won this battle,” he said. “Now we have a final against truly great side. But we are certainly going to go out to win it.” Toldo, who received the man-of-the-match award, said: “The whole team deserved to win — especially in the second half when they worked their socks off.” The semifinal was a victory for Italian defending over Dutch attacking, with Zoff’s back line putting in a heroic performance after playing almost 90 minutes of football with only 10 men against the tournament hosts and favourites. Gianluca Zambrotta got his marching orders in the 33rd minute from German referee Markus Merk after a second yellow card — tripping midfielder Boudewijn Zenden, who had been booked minutes earlier for taking a dive in the penalty area. Six minutes after the Juventus winger was dismissed, Holland were awarded their first penalty when Lazio skipper Alessandro Nesta tugged at Kluivert’s shirt as the Dutchman controlled the ball in the area. Toldo was booked for protesting at the decision but took his revenge almost immediately. De Boer cracked in his shot but Toldo guessed it would go to his left and pulled off a spectacular save, arms flailing, to push the ball away for a corner. It was the second setback for the Dutch in a half which had also seen Arsenal forward Dennis Bergkamp hit the post after delightfully sidestepping Mark Iuliano. The Dutch pressure and dogged Italian defending continued in the second half — causing another penalty in the 61st minute when Iuliano tripped Edgar Davids as his Juventus team-mate accelerated past. Kluivert stepped up for the kick and beat Toldo with a low shot - but could only watch in horror as it slammed against the base of the left-hand post and was scrambled away by the Italian defence. The miss set up a finale to a match which had initially gone to both team’s plans, with Holland doing all the attacking and Italy doing all the defending. Unfortunately for Italy, their expected chances on the counter-attack simply never materialised, due to a mixture of poor passing and tight defending, and they didn’t manage a single shot at goal in the first half. By contrast, Holland needed only three minutes to pierce Italy’s defence with Kluivert and Bergkamp linking up well to put Phillip Cocu through for a lob which the Barcelona midfielder hooked over the crossbar. Bergkamp was never going to beat Toldo from a dozen metres when he met Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s cross with a well-coordinated header in the 12th minute. But only a couple of
centimetres denied him two minutes later, when Bergkamp
picked up the ball outside Italy’s area, ghosted
past defender Iuliano and steered a daisy-cutter onto
Toldo’s right-hand post. |
Italy overcome penalty jinx AMSTERDAM, June 30 (AFP) — Italy’s stunning penalty shoot-out defeat of Holland here yesterday to reach the final of Euro 2000 ended a decade of failures from the spot for the Azzurri. The Italians were spared when the Dutch missed two penalties inside the regulation 90 minutes and then they grabbed their chance to win the shoot-out 3-1 as the Dutch marksmen again floundered — the hosts only converted one in six spot-kicks after squandering two in normal time. Practice proved perfect for Italy whose coach Dino Zoff had been seen spending the last 20 minutes of Friday evening’s training session at Geel, Belgium watching a group of players practise their spot-kicks. The Italians had learned a lesson from bitter experience. Italy’s last three World Cup campaigns had all ended in defeat in a shoot-out, starting in Naples against Diego Maradona’s Argentina at Italia 90 — Robert Donadoni and Aldo Serena were the guilty men. Coincidentally, one of the ball-boys at that match, a 16-year-old Fabio Cannavaro, played in defence for Italy against the Dutch. Roberto Baggio’s penalty miss in the final of USA ’94 against Brazil has meanwhile gone down in footballing history — Daniele Massaro also missed earlier in the shoot-out. And Italy’s haunting image of France ’98 was of Luigi Di Biagio collapsing backwards onto the turf at the Stade de France after crashing his spot-kick against the crossbar in their quarterfinal shoot-out with the hosts. Add to that a miss by Gianfranco Zola during their 0-0 draw with Germany at Euro ’96, which sent Arrigo Sacchi’s side heading out of the tournament at the group phase, and it was easy to understand Zoff’s preoccupations. But in a brave act of defiance, it was Di Biagio who stepped up to take the first penalty of the shoot-out which he comfortably slotted past Edwin van der Sar, a huge grin spreading over his face. That set the tone and the Dutch promptly missed their first two efforts with Gianluca Pessotto and Franceso Totti both netting to make it 3-0 for Italy. Italian skipper Paolo Maldini missed the fourth Italian penalty which would have won it, but next man up Paul Bosvelt also saw his shot saved by man of the moment Francesco Toldo and it was all over. If the Italians cast aside their reputation as penalty chokers, the Dutch have now earned one. It was the second time in succession in a major football tournament that penalty kicks have scuppered their hopes. Two years ago in the World Cup semifinal in Marseille, Brazil won 4-2 on penalties after the match had been tied 1-1. The Dutch penalty sinners that day were Ronald de Boer and Phillip Cocu. They also bowed out in the Euro 1992 tournament when Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel saved a Marco van Basten spot kick. Di Biagio said that his team-mates’ faith in him helped to banish his World Cup nightmare and convert the crucial penalty. No-one expected the Inter Milan midfielder to step up for the very first spot-kick in the shoot-out here last night against another host nation in another major tournament. This time, though, there
was no mistake as Di Biagio blasted the ball into Van der
Sar’s top right hand corner, putting his team-mates
on their way to victory — and another encounter with
France in Sunday’s final. |
Bergkamp calls it a day AMSTERDAM, June 30 (AP) — Dutch striker Dennis Bergkamp announced his retirement from the national team following the Netherlands’ Euro 2000 semifinal defeat to Italy in a penalty shootout. The 31-year-old veteran, who had already hinted that the Euro 2000 would be his last major international tournament, said he wanted more time to spend with his family and was “tired of all the games.” Bergkamp, who has scored 37 goals in 78 caps, has been a permanent fixture on the national team since 1990 when he played his first international friendly against Italy. While the Dutch forward had not scored once during the tournament, he had been crucial in striking partner Patrick Kluivert’s five-goal scoring success, feeding countless balls. For Bergkamp, the Euro 2000 tournament offered a last chance at a major international title. However, it was not only the team’s failure to advance which infuriated the blond striker but the team’s eternal failure at penalty shootouts. It marked the fourth time since Bergkamp began national duty that the team had lost in penalties. At Euro 92 the Dutch lost in a semifinal shootout to eventual champions Denmark. At the European Championships in 1996, the Netherlands lost in the same way to France in the quarterfinals and at the 1998 World Cup the Oranje team lost to Brazil in another semifinal shootout. “I don’t know why Holland can’t win in a penalty shootout,” said Bergkamp, angrily. “It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last. It’s so stupid. We have only to blame ourselves. It’s so stupid.” Many believe that Bergkamp — the only non-flying Dutchman — would retire as he did not want to go to 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea because of a paralysing fear of flying. But Bergkamp dismissed the thought as ridiculous. “If I don’t go to Japan and Korea it’s not because I don’t want to fly,” he stated. Regarding his club career, Bergkamp says he is committed to Arsenal and could well finish off his career with the English team. “I’m enjoying the English competition and with Arsenal we have chances to win things,” he said. “It’s too good to miss.” When he decides to
retire from professional soccer, Bergkamp has no
intention of becoming a coach. |
Frank Rijkaard quits as Dutch coach AMSTERDAM, June 30 (AFP) — Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard quit here last night after his side lost 1-3 on penalties to Italy in the Euro 2000 semifinals, saying he had to obey the law of the coaching game. Rijkaard, whose team failed to beat an Italian side who were down to 10 men for almost 90 minutes, said the decision was final and that it was due to the result rather than the way his team played. “It had nothing to do with the match in itself,” he said. “It’s just that I had a goal in mind and I think that this generation of football players deserved it. I didn’t manage it. For me, it’s a great, great disappointment. “But that’s part of the sport and from the bottom of my heart I want to thank all the players for their support, and for the wonderful time I had with them. “But we didn’t manage to get to the final and I have to draw my conclusions from that”, he said. And he added: “My decision was taken before the match, because my aim was to win this championship... When I started two years ago. “I find it terrible
for the players, to have had to resign. But it’s a
law in football that once something like this happens
it’s time for another man to take over. My place is
in football, but no longer with the national team.” |
Andre Agassi, Hingis forge ahead LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) — Second seed Andre Agassi staged a stunning comeback at Wimbledon today, saving two matchpoints in an epic 6-4, 2-6, 7-6, 2-6, 10-8 defeat of fellow American Todd Martin. Agassi, 2-5 down in the final set of a match stopped by rain overnight, went for his shots from the baseline to get out of trouble, wearing away at Martin’s confidence as he recovered two breaks of serve. The 30-year-old, losing Wimbledon finalist last year, thrilled a centre court crowd that included his partner Steffi Graf as he saved two matchpoints in the ninth game after serving three double faults. Displaying his famous touch and stunning returns Agassi finally broke Martin’s serve in the 18th game of the set to send the crowd into raptures. He now faces Jerome Golmard of France in the third round. “I felt I was in control but the tide can turn very quickly. Before you know it, I’m between a rock and a hard place,’’ Martin said. “Tthere were moments when I got tight and those were the critical points. I gave an inch and he took a little bit more.’’ Ttop women’s seed Martina Hingis survived early service problems to cruise past Croatia’s Silvija Talaja 6-2, 6-2 and into the fourth round. She will meet German 11th seed Anke Huber who knocked out Slovenia’s Tina Pisnik 6-2, 6-3. “I am feeling very focussed... very concentrated and physically I am feeling 100 per cent,’’ the 19-year-old Hingis said. “Going into the second week I am feeling great.’’ Zimbabwe’s Byron Black sailed into the last 16 at Wimbledon for the first time in his life and has his sights set on making the semifinals. The unseeded Black, a rare grasscourt specialist in his half of the draw, thrashed Spaniard Albert Portas 6-2, 6-0, 6-4 in barely 90 minutes. With the early culling of seeds — Magnus Norman, Greg Rusedski, Richard Krajicek and Cedric Pioline have all vanished from Black’s quarter of the draw — the veteran Zimbabwean now has no seeded players between him and the semifinals. He will next face Italian veteran Gianluca Pozzi, at 35 the oldest player in the men’s singles, who ended the giant-killing run of Belgian qualifier Olivier Rochus 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2. Rochus, at 19 the youngest player among the men, could never quite recapture the fire that helped him topple number three seed Norman in the last round.Men’s singles results at Wimbledon today: Second round: Andre Agassi (USA) beat Todd Martin (USA) 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 10-8 Third round: Jonas
Bjorkman (Sweden) beat Neville Godwin (South Africa) 6-3,
6-4, 6-4; Gianluca Pozzi (Italy) beat Olivier Rochus
(Belgium) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2; Vladimir Voltchkov
(Belarus) beat Younes El Aynaoui (Morocco) 7-6 (7-4),
7-5, 7-6 (7-4); Byron Black (Zimbabwe) beat Albert Portas
(Spain) 6-2, 6-0, 6-4. |
Seles’ life back on track LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) — Monica Seles feels her life is back on track for the first time since the infamous Hamburg stabbing in 1993 that forced her out of the sport for more than two years. The former world No 1, who has won nine Grand Slam titles, was deeply troubled when she turned up at the All England Championships last year. She was still grieving for her father Karolj, who died in 1998 after a two-year battle against cancer, and was unable to motivate herself to play tennis. Happily, this year is a different story. A more confident Seles is once again enjoying the sport she dominated so ruthlessly as a teenager. “Motivating myself has become a lot easier the last few months,” she said after her 6-4, 6-4 second-round victory over Els Callens. “It’s so nice to have that feeling again for the first time probably since ’93.” The last seven years have taken their toll on the 26-year-old American. Since her return to the WTA Tour in 1995, she has been able only to win one Grand Slam title — the Australian Open in 1996. “When I came back, there was the euphoria of the first six months and then there was my father’s illness,” Seles said. “Tennis became not as important. I think subconsciously my mind didn’t want to be there a lot of times. “That’s why I just want to keep going. I think my tennis is going to be better and I feel better as a person,” she added. Seles is assessing her career year by year and still has targets left after the four Australian, three French and two US Open titles she has won. She is hoping that this year she will finally be able to break her Wimbledon jinx and win the one Grand Slam title to have eluded her. The sixth seed’s next opponent will be France’s Sarah Pitkowski. “I love Wimbledon,
obviously I would love to do well here. It’s a
challenge every year that I keep facing, trying to do
well here.” |
Khel Ratna, Arjuna awards announced NEW DELHI, June 30 (UNI) — For the first time since the inception of prestigious Arjuna Award,no cricketer figures in the list of awardees announced here today. Versatile hockey forward Dhanraj Pillay has been selected for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award while 23 sportspersons, including eight in lifetime achievement category,have been picked for the Arjuna Award and three coaches for the Dronacharya Award. Ace shuttler Pullela Gopi Chand, golfer Chiranjeev Milkha Singh, swimmer Nisha Millet, and hockey captain Ramandeep Singh are among those who will be honoured with the Arjuna Award. Veteran V.J. Phillips (hockey) and Praduman Singh (athletics) have been honoured in the lifetime achiever category. Announcing the names of the Arjuna awardees, Sports Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa told a crowded Press conference that neither the bcci, nor any state association had recommended any cricketer’s name for the award. “We can’t force the bcci, state associations or individuals to give the name of the player for awards” he said. The minister, however, added that so far 34 cricketers had received the Arjuna Award besides the Rajiv Ratna Khel Award, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan. He said all the awardees had been picked up purely on merit and added that the ministry had also seen to it that deserving sports persons of yesteryears who were denied the recognition, were also honoured under the lifetime achievement category. The award winners are: Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna: Dhanraj Pillay (hockey). Dronacharya awards: Kenneth Own Bosen (athletics), Hawa Singh (boxing), Ajay Sirohi (weightlifting). Arjuna awards: Gulab Chand, Sunita Rani, Gurmeet Kaur (athletics), Pullela Gopi Chand (badminton), Gurcharan Singh, Jitender Kumar (boxing), Ramandeep Singh (hockey), Jagjit Singh (rowing), Vivek Singh (shooting), Nisha Millet (swimming) Sukhpal Singh (volleyball), Dalbir Singh (weightlifting), Aashim Mongia (yachting) and Chiranjeev Milkha Singh (golf). Lifetime achievement category: Praduman Singh (athletics), Sajjan Singh Cheema (basketball), Balbir Singh Kullar, V.J. Phillips, Haripal Kaushik (hockey), Tirath Raj, Balwinder Singh (kabaddi), Ashok Kumar (wrestling). Physically handicapped category: Venkata Rappa (athletics). The minister said there were 170 names for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Arard. The recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award will receive Rs 3 lakh, while the Dronacharya Award carries an amount of Rs 2.25 lakh and Arjuna Award Rs 1.5 lakh. The awards will be
presented by the president at a function to be held at
Rashtrapati Bhavan here on August 29. |
Windies restrict England LONDON, June 30 (AFP) — Curtly Ambrose spearheaded another fine display of West Indies fast bowling as England suffered one of their routine batting collapses here at Lord’s today on the second day of the second Test. After bad light forced an early tea England were 100 for eight in reply to the West Indies 267, Andrew Caddick and Darren Gough both nought not out in reply to the West Indies 267. But soon after the hosts were dismissed for 134 in 48.3 overs. The main damage had already been done: England were 58 for five at lunch. Alec Stewart England’s last recognised batsman resumed on 17 not out, with Craig White nought not out. A steered four to third man from White at least took England past the follow-on target of 67. But after a couple of forthright stokes Stewart was caught behind off Courtney Walsh for 28, following a ball that moved away off the pitch to leave England 85 for six in the 32nd over. England then lost their next two wickets on 100. Dominic Cork pushed the ball into the covers and set off for a single. But he had not reckoned with the alertness of West Indies captain Jimmy Adams whose direct hit had White comfortably run out. The third umpire confirmed the obvious and White’s 83 minute vigil for 27 was over. Scoreboard West Indies (first innings) overnight 267-9: S. Campbell c Hoggard b Cork 82 A. Griffith run out 27 W. Hinds c Stewart b Cork 59 B. Lara c Stewart b Gough 6 S. Chanderpaul b Gough 22 J. Adams lbw b Gough 1 R. Jacobs c Stewart b Cork 10 C. Ambrose c Ramprakash b Cork 5 F. Rose lbw b Gough 29 R. King not out 12 C. Walsh lbw b Caddick 1 Extras: (b-1 lb-8 w-2 nb-2) 13 Total (all out) 267 Fall of wickets: 1-80, 2-126, 3-175, 4-185, 5-186, 6-207, 7-216, 8-253, 9-258. Bowling: Gough 21.-5-72-4 (2nb), Caddick 20.3-3-58-1, Hoggard 13-3-49-0 (1w), Cork 24-8-39-4, White 8-1-30-0, Vaughan3-1-10-0. England (1st innings): Atherton c Lara b Walsh 1 Ramprakash c Lara b Ambrose 0 Vaughan b Ambrose 4 Hick b Ambrose 25 Stewart c Jacobs b Walsh 28 Knight c Campbell b King 6 White run out 27 Cork c Jacobs b Walsh 4 Caddick c Campbell b Walsh 6 Gough c Lara b Ambrose 13 Hoggard not out 12 Extras (b0,lb 5, w0, nb3) 8 Total (all out in 48.3 overs) 134 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-1, 3-9, 4-37, 5-50, 6-85, 7-100, 8-100, 9-118 Bowling: Ambrose
14.2-6-30-4; Walsh 17-6-43-4; Rose 7-2-32-0; King
10-3-24-1. |
Lanka pile up 467 for 5 KANDY (Sri Lanka), June 30 (Reuters) — Sri Lanka were 467 for five in their first innings when play was called off due to rain on the third day of the third and final Test against Pakistan today. Only 15 minutes of play was possible after rain washed out the first two sessions. SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka (first innings): (449-5 overnight) M. Atapattu not out 207 Jayasuriya c Younis b Razzaq 188 Arnold c Moin b Razzaq 24 A. De Silva c Younis b Arshad 0 Jayawardena b Arshad 2 Ranatunga c Mushtaq b Arshad 6 Dharmasena not out 12 Extras (b-14 lb-8 w-1 nb-5) 28 Total (for five wickets) 467 Fall of wickets: 1-335, 2-401, 3-402, 4-412, 5-434 Bowling (to date): Wasim
Akram 25-6-41-0, Waqar Younis 19.5-0-94-0 (3nb), Arshad
Khan 52-7-137-3 (1nb), Mushtaq Ahmed 26-2-108-0, Abdur
Razzaq 33-10-65-2 (1w, 1nb). |
‘Law may be changed’ to book guilty NEW DELHI, June 30 (PTI) — In sharp contrast to Law Minister Ram Jethmalani’s remarks, Sports Minister S.S. Dhindsa today said if there was need laws would be changed suitably to bring the guilty to book in the cricket match-fixing scandal. Referring to Mr Jethmalani’s remarks that present laws were enough to handle the case, the Sports Minister said “Jethmalani might have said so keeping in view the present scenario.” “If there is a need in the future, we may change the law to bring the guilty to book,” he told reporters. The government has asked
the CBI to give it an update within 10 days on the
progress made in the investigations in connection with
the cricket match fixing scandal. “We are determined
to go to the root of the problem,” Mr Dhindsa told
newspersons here today adding that there was no need for
being cynical that nothing would emerge out of the
investigations. |
SAI to
award
sport scholarships CHANDIGARH, June 30 — The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has invited applications for the award of sports scholarships for the year 2000-2001, according to Dr P.C. Kashyap, Regional Director of the authority. The last date for the receipt of applications , to be sent to the office of the Executive Director, SAI, National Institute of Sports, Patiala, is September 30. The SAI scholarships will be awarded to students on the basis of their performance in sports to help them in their studies and to develop their performance by having nutritious diet required for better performance. Meritorious scholarships at the rate of Rs 9,000 per annum will be given to college and university students securing the first, second and third positions in individual events of winners and runners-up in team events in recognised international meets or national meets recognised by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU). National-level scholarships at the rate of Rs 7,200 per annum is given to school students securing the first, second and third positions in individual events or winners and runners-up in team events in the recognised senior and junior national championships, National School Games, National Sports Festival for Women, All-India Rural Sports meets, North-East Sports Festival, Sub-Junior/Junior Nehru Hockey Tournament and the Subroto Mukherjee Cup Football Tournament. The Sports Authority of India will also award state-level scholarships of Rs 5,400 per annum to eligible school students securing first, second and third positions in individual events or winners or runners-up in team events in recognised state-level competitions. Every state has a quota of 100 scholarships in this category while for the union territories this number is restricted to 40. In addition to these scholarships, certain special scholarships will be given to women . Fifty scholarships at the rate of Rs 12,000 per annum will be given to women securing the first, second and third positions in individual events in the senior nationals organised by the national sports federation concerned. Also, five scholarships at the rate of Rs 6,000 per annum will be given to women having masters degree in physical education and who are doing M.Phil/Ph. D in any of the recognised physical education colleges in India. Besides this, 10 scholarship at the rate of Rs 6,000 per annum will be given to women having masters degree in physical education and doing diploma in sports coaching in any of the academic centres being run by the Sports Authority of India. The SAI has divided the various sports disciplines into two categories — priority disciplines and other disciplines. In the priority disciplines are archery, athletics, basketball, boxing, cycling, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, kabaddi, kho-kho, tennis, shooting, swimming, table tennis, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling and badminton. Disciplines like ball badminton, baseball, billiards, snookers, bowling, carrom, chess, cricket, equestrian, fencing, golf, kayaking and canoeing, karate , powerlifting, rowing, softball, squash, wushu and yachting have been included in the other disciplines category. During 1999-2000
students of the north Zone were awarded 1,226
scholarships amounting to Rs 83,44,800. The states
covered are Chandigarh (Rs 12.13 lakh), Haryana (Rs 24.26
lakh), Himachal Pradesh (Rs 5.3 lakh), Jammu and Kashmir
(Rs 7.2 lakh) and Punjab (Rs 34.48 lakh). |
Mankad lifts ITF title NEW DELHI, June 30 — Harsh Mankad celebrated his Davis Cup selection with an emphatic 6-3, 6-1 victory over top-seeded Danai Udomchoke of Thailand in the ITF Men’s Satellite Tennis Circuit Masters’ final at the Delhi Tennis Association court here today. Second-seeded mankad needed just 49 minutes to quell the challenge of the Thai Davis Cupper, to avenge his defeats in the finals of the second and third legs at Bangalore and Delhi, respectively. The title win earned Mankad three ATP points, while Udomchoke received six ATP points. The Thai logged 36 points from the Indian circuit, while Mankad collected 31 points. Sandeep Kirtane did well too, gathering 18 points overall, while Rishi Sridhar was the next best Indian, earning five points. The Davis Cup call seemed to have give a new edge to Harsh Mankad’s game, as he played spiritedly to totally outplay Udomchoke, to whom he had lost thrice in the circuit. Mankad served and returned brilliantly, and his passing shots were simply breath-taking. Often, the Thai top seed was left wondering at the falicity which Mankad executed his winners. Though Mankad matched aces with double faults (he had five each), Udomchoke realised that he was fighting a losing battle after the first set, and he seemed to simply go through his motions in the second set, which Mankad lifted with a superlative display of stroke play. His double-fisted backhand returns just whizzed past his rival, affording him no chance to attempt a retrieve, as Mankad scored the big points, with his mother, former tennis ace Nirupama Mankad, applauding his good work from the stand. The first set went with serves till the seventh game, when Mankad led 4-3. Udomchoke ws broken in the eighth game, as Mankad scored some breath-taking points with his passing shots. In the ninth game, Mankad saved two break points to hold serve, and wrest the set. In the second set, Mankad was in his element, and just reshed through, breaking the Thai in the first, fifth and seventh games. He could have finished the set in six games, but let off Udomchoke in the third game, despite getting three break points. The game went to deuce six times, and this was the only time the Thai showed some determination to hang on, despite Mankad breathing fire and brimstone. It was a well-earned
triumph for Mankad, who now proceeds to Sweden with the
Indian Davis Cup team as its new member to play in the
World Group play-off at Bastaad, from July 21 to 23, and
from there to the University of Minnossota in the USA, to
resume his studies. Mankad said with the points earned
from the circuit, he hopes to play in the US Futures next
summer. |
Eves’
hockey
trials at Patiala NEW DELHI, June 30—The Indian Women’s Hockey Federation (IWHF) will hold a 10-day talent search coaching camp and selection trials for senior players at Patiala from July 10. IWHF secretary Amrit Bose said here today that member states had been asked to send four or five talented players, above 18 years of age, who had not been in India camps before for the camp. Mrs Bose requested the state associations to immediately fax the names, date of birth, and position of the players to the IWHA office in Delhi. The players should report at NIS Patiala on July 9. She said the players should be above 5 feet, 3 inches, and physically and medically fit. Mrs Bose also announced
that the 32nd Junior Women’s National Championship
would be held at Chennai from August 22 to September 1.
She said players born on or after January 1, 1982, would
be eligible to participate in the championship. Entries,
along with registration forms, should reach the
federation office at the National Stadium in Delhi by
July 15. |
King Commission report by Aug 11 DURBAN, June 30 (PTI) — The King Commission, enquiring into match-fixing allegations in South African cricket, is pursuing the matter of obtaining tapes containing the conversation of sacked skipper Hansie Cronje and Indian bookmaker Sanjay Chawla through diplomatic channels to expedite the probe. The commission’s prosecutor, Sharmila Batohi said that the commission would be greatly assisted in its work if the tapes could be obtained from the New Delhi police. The King Commission,
which was due to deliver its interim report to South
African President Thabo Mbeki today, has been given time
till August 11 to present the report. |
Another w’lifting berth for
India in Olympics NEW DELHI, June 30 — India have been allotted an additional Olympic berth in women’s weightlifting for the Sydney Games. India had already secured two lifting berths — one each for men and women. But thanks to the personal intervention of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) secretary-general Randhir Singh, who had made a request to the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) general-secretary, Dr Tamas Ajan , during the general assembly of the national olympic committees at Rio de Janeiro in May to grant India an “invitation” berth, it has been accepted by the IWF. A fax message received by the IOA today from Dr Tamas said “with regards to your request and with great respect of traditions, and the great merits of your female weightlifters, we have decided to grant you the possibility of entering one additional female weightlifter to the Games, besides the one your country has made the qualification at the Asian Championships (at Osaka in Japan in April this year)”. Only a few days ago, Mr
Randhir Singh had written a letter to the IWF, reminding
them of his request for an “invitation” slot.
Women’s lifting will be making its debut at Sydney.
Though the IOA has not named the women lifters for
Olympics, Kunjarani Devi and Karnam Malleswari are likely
to be the two lucky ones who would make it to Sydney,
besides one male lifter. |
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