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| Monday, July 10, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Rain disrupts play at Wimbledon LONDON, July 9 — Patrick Rafter and holder Pete Sampras were forced to haunt the locker room this afternoon as their final at the $ 12.8-million Wimbledon Championships was repeatedly interrupted by rain. Changing the game No more nightmares for Venus Doubles crown for Woodies |
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| Zimbabwe beat England LONDON, July 9 — Alistair Campbell shook off his wretched form to score a crucial 80 runs as Zimbabwe sustained their successful start to the triangular one-day series with a five-wicket win over England at The Oval yesterday. Zimbabwe, buoyant after beating the West Indies by six wickets in the day-night opening game at Bristol on Thursday, restricted England to 207 all out in exactly 50 overs and surged past that target to reach 210 for five with 10 balls to spare. Akopian holds Anand DORTMUND (Germany), July 9 — Computer programme junior 6 created a history of sorts when it defeated veteran grandmaster Robert Hubner of Germany in the second round of Spartassen chess meet being held here.
Waqar Younis
suspended for
ball-tampering Sureshwaren gets
pole position Match-fixing No pardon for
match-fixers,
says minister Sydney countdown — 6 Jose Perec qualifies for Sydney Dempsey to quit FIFA denies reports Beckenbauer
threatens to quit India win U-15 Asian meet
Coaching centre win in Patiala cricket
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Rain disrupts play at Wimbledon LONDON, July 9 (DPA) — Patrick Rafter and holder Pete Sampras were forced to haunt the locker room this afternoon as their final at the $ 12.8-million Wimbledon Championships was repeatedly interrupted by rain. The best-of-five-set match-up started an hour late, then was hurried off after just 26 minutes. The players returned for a game and part of another - nine more minutes of play - before heavier rain began to fall. Top seed Sampras is bidding for a seventh title here and a place in the record books with 13 Grand Slam singles titles. Rafter, the double US Open winner, has never lost in a Grand Slam title match. Rafter began with a love game after an hour-long starting delay due to drizzle. Sampras answered as the match quickly settled down to a duel of serve under the clouds and in chilly conditions. The Australian survived a first mini-crisis, escaping from 0-30 in the fifth game to hold for 3-2. He then won a lengthy game with multiple deuces for a 4-3 lead as light rain forced the covers on to centre court after 26 minutes of play. When they returned around half-an-hour later, the same scenario continued, with Sampras holding for 4-4. Rafter saved three break points a game later, the third when Sampras netted a return with the 12th seed looming dangerously at the net. But after only nine more minutes of play, more rain interrupted the proceedings at deuce in the ninth game. |
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Changing the game WIMBLEDON, July 9 (AP) — Centre Court at Wimbledon has never seen a celebration quite like it. With unabashed joy, Venus Williams jumped up and down on the hallowed grass yesterday after winning her sport’s most prestigious championship. All of tennis had reason to join in the jubilation. Even the player Williams defeated, defending champion Lindsay Davenport, graciously admitted that Venus and her sister Serena are changing the game for the better. They combine power, athleticism and charisma in a way that has electrified the sport and increased its popularity. ‘‘Venus and Serena certainly have grabbed the imagination and hearts of people in a way that crosses all colour barriers,’’ six-time Wimbledon champion Billie Jean King said. |
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No more nightmares for Venus Dreams do come true and it does not matter from where you come. Richard Williams know his children were going to be the champions before Venus and Serena were born. From the ghettos of Los Angeles to the magnificent lawns of the All-England Club, it is a very very long way and even the thought of getting there would be nothing short of a dream. Venus said after her incredible final against the No 2 seed and champion Lindsay Davenport that she would have these dreams of herself winning a Grand Slam event and then wake up to find it was a nightmare. Now she doesn’t have to feel that anymore. Venus has won the Wimbledon and Serena has the US Open. The chances of this happening are so miniscule it is hard even to imagine it. The world over we are fully aware as to how incredibly difficult it is to become a great
athlete. Or for a family to have one child become a professional athlete or in this case a tennis player. For every one Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi there are thousands who fall by the way side and it is often not through lack of trying. That being the case, to make one child into a tennis player, a champion, is so remote that most people just walk away from it after a few years. To do what Richard Williams did and made two world champions is a real impossibility. The final itself was not of the highest quality tennis wise. Both players have similar games with Davenport usually the more committed of the two which explains the 9-3 records that she holds over Venus. Both the girls are very tall or as the book shows, the combined heights of the two players in the women’s final is more than the length of the men’s finalists combined. The tennis was patchy but the occasion was enormous. Davenport had reached the final with a fairly easy passage beating none but Monica Seles who had any chance at the title. Seles was not a real contender for the title but she could make the
quarterfinals or even the semifinals if she had a good draw. Davenport beat Dokic in the semifinal in an easy match and was able to play through the two weeks
heavily strapped from the waist down. Still she got better as the tournament progressed and her semifinal against the Australian showed that in spite of not being 100 per cent fit she was still the champion and intended to keep it that way. Venus Williams on the other hand a tough win to the final. Her
quarterfinal match against Martina Hingis, the No 1 player in the world was easily the best match of the tournament. When she served out the match at 5-4 on the final set against Hingis, I got the feeling that as tight as she gets in tense situations, she had overcome it enough to be a champion. She had lost to Hingis in the semifinal at the US Open where her nerve and serve let her down. Then her emotional semifinal win over Serena, her little, sister, was tough more mentally than anything else. When she got to the final the stage was set for her to win and her father had said so. I saw him about an hour before the match and he said to me very confidently that Venus would win. In the final he held up various signs on a board for the world to see. Serena by his side looked nervous for her sister till she won and the long hug between Venus and Serena told the story of the closeness of the two. At the end of an amazing and historic day Venus became the new Wimbledon champion and with Serena the current US Open champion the real winner was Richard. — PMG |
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Doubles crown for Woodies LONDON, July 9 (AFP) — The pair that just can’t stop winning did it again as the ‘Woodies’ picked up their sixth Wimbledon men’s doubles crown. Top seeds Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge of Australia captured the title yesterday by ousting second seeds Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands and Australia’s Sandon stolle 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 in one hour 37 minutes. The match had earlier been interrupted by rain with the Woodies leading 5-2 in the opening set. Haarhuis and Stolle saved one championship point, but Stolle then netted a backhand volley to concede the match
and the delighted Woodies embraced and then bowed to the crowd. Woodforde asked for and got a ball from the match as a souvenir as he is retiring at the end of the year. The pair were given a huge ovation as they lifted their silver bowl trophies after being announced and feted as the pair “affectiontely known as the Woodies.” The Australians cemented their position as the greatest pairing of all time by winning the French Open title last month and here they scored their fourth straight title success this season for what was also their 11th Grand Slam crown and record 60th overall as a team. Should they also win the US Open this autumn they will equal compatriots John Newcombe and Tony Roche, who won a record 12 doubles Slams. They are also hoping to emulate their Atlanta gold medal with another victory at the Olympic Games in Sydney. Woodbridge was also delighted — though his joy here has been tempered by his being dropped from the Australian Davis Cup squad to face Brazil in the semifinal on grass in Brisbane next week. The Woodies went into yesterday’s match on a 20-match winning streak which began at Hamburg in May and prior to Wimbledon they had already won six events this year — Adelaide, Sydney, Miami, Hamburg, Roland Garros and Queen’s. The Australian’s first played together at New Haven in 1990 and this will be their last year as a combination as left-hander Woodforde is retiring. Once they had taken the opening set it was all over bar the shouting as the pair, who co-starred in Australia’s Davis Cup success last December, broke for 4-3 in the second set against the same opponents whom they put to the sword in Paris four weeks ago. Two quickfire breaks in the third set put them on the path to glory with both players pulling out some stunning shots, no more so than when Woodforde produced a brilliant return to secure the opening break at the start of the third set. That followed hot on the heels of what looked to be an impossibly low volley from Woodbridge late in the second set which just crept over the tape on the Stolle serve, although Stolle finally brought his serve through. But the Woodies, keen to make up for losing the 1998 final to Haarhuis and Jacco Eltingh after five straight titles, were not to be denied this time and steamed through the third set as their opponents increasingly lost heart. |
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Zimbabwe beat England LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) — Alistair Campbell shook off his wretched form to score a crucial 80 runs as Zimbabwe sustained their successful start to the triangular one-day series with a five-wicket win over England at The Oval
yesterday. Zimbabwe, buoyant after beating the West Indies by six wickets in the day-night opening game at Bristol on Thursday, restricted England to 207 all out in exactly 50 overs and surged past that target to reach 210 for five with 10 balls to spare. Campbell, who made his runs from 136 deliveries and hit eight fours, produced his most significant contribution of the tour at a timely moment. He helped his side recover from 35 for three in the 12th over as he shared a fourth wicket stand of 123 with skipper Andy Flower. It was Campbell’s highest score since he made 150 in the first game against Hampshire at the end of April. Flower proved an effective ally by hitting 61 off 88 balls as Zimbabwe hammered their last 103 runs from 17.2 overs Flower’s brother Grant helped the acceleration by smashing an unbeaten 33 from 29 deliveries, including a straight six off Robert Croft’s off spin, and two fours. Skipper Flower said: “He (Campbell) has been working on his batting to sort out one or two technical things. He is looking more comfortable, but this is only one innings and he has to keep doing it.’’ Campbell stole a little of the spotlight from England opener Marcus Trescothick, who had earlier illuminated a gloomy day, on which showers and bad light caused three interruptions, by stroking 79 off 102 balls on his international debut. SCOREBOARD England: Trescothick c Campbell Stewart lbw b Johnson 12 Hick c G. Flower b P. Strang 50 Maynard b P. Strang 3 Thorpe c and b Viljoen 12 Flintoff c Whittall b B. Strang 2 Ealham c Whittall b G. Flower 32 Croft c Whittall b Viljoen 5 Caddick b G. Flower 2 Gough not out 3 Mullally c Whittall b G. Flower 0 Extras (lb-2, w-5) 7 Total (all out in 50 overs) 207 Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-136, 3-150, 4-150, 5-153, 6-183, 7-191, 8-197, 9-206. Bowling: Johnson 8-1-25-1, B. Strang 10-1-39-1, Brent 7-0-42-0, Viljoen 10-0-45-2, P. Strang 10-0-36-3, Whittall 2-0-9-0, G. Flower 3-0-9-3. Zimbabwe: Johnson c Maynard b Caddick 0 Wishart lbw b Caddick 2 Goodwin lbw b Ealham 11 Campbell lbw b Croft 80 A. Flower b Mullally 61 G. Flower not out 33 Extras (b4, lb5, w4, nb6) 19 Total (5wkts) 210 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-9, 3-35, 4-158, 5-206 Bowling: Caddick 10-2-27-2, Gough 10-0-47-0, Ealham 10-0-44-1, Mullally 9.2-2-33-1, Croft 5-0-30-1, Flintoff 4-0-20-0. |
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Rain stops play as
England collapse
LONDON, July 9 (AFP) — England were 157 for eight off 43 overs when rain stopped play in their triangular series one-day international against West Indies at Lord’s today. Robert Croft was four not out and Darren Gough two not out. Zimbabwe are leading the tournament with two wins out of two having beaten West Indies by six wickets on Thursday and England by five wickets yesterday. The other two teams have yet to win a match.
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Akopian holds Anand DORTMUND (Germany), July 9 (UNI) — Computer programme junior 6 created a history of sorts when it defeated veteran grandmaster Robert Hubner of Germany in the second round of Spartassen chess meet being held here. With all other games being drawn, junior 6 (1.5 points) has now joined hot favourite grandmaster Viswanathan Anand (India) and three others in the lead. Anand (1.5) was held to a draw by FIDE world championship runner-up GM Vladimir Akopian (0.5) of Armenia. The 500 spectators at the auditorium were witness to a historic win scored by junior 6. In fact, Hubner, a former world chess championship candidate was so distressed by his own position after just 20 moves that he threw in the towel unexpectedly. It was an unusual gesture from the German grandmaster known for his opening preparation. He tried to confuse the computer by selecting an obscure line and was left tied in knots by junior 6. FIDE world champion Khalifman felt Hubner’s resignation was premature as the latter had not lost any material. Akopian and Anand were involved in semi-Slav variation of queen’s gambit defence. The Indian grandmaster, playing with the slight disadvantage of black pieces was allowed an easy equality by the Armenian. Anand’s ninth move of his king pawn left Akopian without any advantage and after trading of pieces at regular interval, peace treaty was signed. Top-seeded Russian grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik (1.5) was also helpless against Jeroen Piket’s solid handling of white side of Nimzo-Indian defence. The Dutchman emerged with a healthy pawn in the center but felt that Kramnik’s position was too firm to crack. |
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Sri Lanka win by 6 wkts COLOMBO, July 9 (Reuters) — Sri Lanka handed a comprehensive six-wicket defeat to Pakistan today to win their third match in a row and reach the final of the one-day triangular tournament which also includes South Africa. Set a target of 241, Sri Lanka won the game with four balls to spare when Russel Arnold hit Azhar Mahmood for a four. Captain Sanath Jayasuriya featured in a rousing 96-run first wicket partnership with hard-hitting Avishka Gunawardena off 101 balls to set Sri Lanka’s course to victory. Jayasuriya, who made 54 off 81 balls with six fours and a six, earlier claimed two Pakistani wickets for 33 runs to take the man-of-the-match award. Gunawardena hit 47 off 50 balls with six fours. The Pakistani attack seemed tame without Waqar Younis and the Sri Lanka batsmen had little trouble fending off the bowlers on a slow pitch. Pakistan, electing after winning the toss, slumped to 19-2 before being rescued by a third-wicket stand of 82 between Younis Khan and Inzamam-ul Haq. Younis hit a career-best 59, while Inzamam made 47 on his way to becoming Pakistan’s leading one-day batsman. Inzamam, playing his 228th match, surpassed current coach Javed Miandad’s tally of 7,381 runs when he reached 12. Azhar Mahmood smashed an unbeaten 43 off 25 balls towards the end to raise Pakistan’s hopes of preventing a third successive defeat in the tri-series also featuring South Africa. Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya claimed two wickets with his left-arm spin. Scoreboard: Pakistan: Anwar b Vaas 13 Nazir run out 2 Younis b Jayasuriya 59 Inzamam c Atapattu
b Jayasuriya 47 Youhanna c Jayawardena b Dharmasena 39 Moin c Atapattu
b Murlitharan 10 Razzaq not out 17 Azhar Mahmood not out 43 Extras: (lb-2, nb-4, w-4) 10 Total:
(for six wickets) 240 Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-19, 3-101, 4-146, 5-175, 6-182 Bowling: Vaas 8-0-44-1, Zoysa 9-1-47-0, Dharmasena 7-0-38-1, Murlitharan 10-0-35-1, Chandana 10-0-41-0, Jayasuriya 6-0-33-2. Sri Lanka S Jayasuriya c Moin b Malik 54 A Gunawardena b Razzaq 47 M Atapattu c Moin b Shabbir 25 M Jayawardena b Razzaq 49 K Sangakkara not out 36 R Arnold not out 13 Extras (b-1, lb-10, nb-4, w-5) 20 Total (for four wickets) 244 Fall of wickets: 1-96, 2-126, 3-167, 4-219. Bowling: Shabbir 10-0-52-1, Mahmood 9.2-0-48-0, Razzaq 10-0-50-2, Arshad 10-0-43-0, Malik 10-0-40-1. |
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Waqar Younis
suspended for
ball-tampering
COLOMBO, July 9 (AFP) —Pakistani fast bowler Waqar Younis was axed from the Singer Cup one-day international against Sri Lanka here today for tampering with the ball, becoming the first cricketer to be banned for this offence. Waqar was handed a one-match suspension and fined 50 per cent of his match fees for lifting the seam off the ball during yesterday’s game against South Africa here. Two other Pakistani players, captain Moin Khan and allrounder Azhar Mahmood, were also hauled up by tournament referee John Reid of New Zealand in connection with the same offence. In a statement released here on Reid’s behalf by the Sri Lankan cricket board, Mahmood was fined 30 per cent of his fees and Moin severely reprimanded for “allowing the spirit of the game to be impaired. Reid said the players had contravened the laws and spirit of the game after both Waqar and Mahmood were caught on television tampering with the ball. Waqar received a heavier penalty than Mahmood because he had been warned for a similar offence by Reid during the third Test against Sri Lanka at Kandy last week. |
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Sureshwaren gets
pole position NEW DEHLI, July
9—Parthiva Sureshwaren of India has earned a pole position for himself for the second leg of the Formula Asia Championship. He earned this edge after an outstanding performance in the qualifying race. According to his sponsors J K
Tyres, the second round of Formula Asia 2000 will consist of three races. The races will be held on the tracks of Shah
Alam, Malaysia. |
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Match-fixing NEW DLEHI, July 9 (UNI) — Former President of International Cricket Council (ICC) Jagmohan Dalmiya today said that some players were definitely involved in match-fixing scandal that has rocked the game. “In my opinion 10 to 15 per cent of the blame should go to the players and the rest to bookies,” Mr Dalmiya told internet portal, tehelka.com in his first interview after stepping down as ICC president and also added that he has severed all links with the ICC. “Let me tell you that bookies are the root cause of the problem,” he said adding that it was for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Indian Government whether it would like to have an open King’s Commission type of inquiry in the country. Mr Dalmiya rejected allegations that he misused his position as ICC president to help certain business houses. “There is no specific charge against me. But yes my role in some negotiations has been questioned and I have been accused of helping World Tel . He claimed that two publications who had levelled the charges had given an undertaking in the Calcutta High Court that they would not write damaging articles against him until the defamation case was disposed of. Asked if it did not ever strike him even once, as an astute businessman, that some players were throwing away matches for money, Mr Dalmiya said “only once during India vs West Indies one day international tie in October 1994, Prabhakar and Mongia were dropped but they returned after tendering an unqualified apology. May be I was too naive but except for that occasion, never else did it occur to me that matches were actually being fixed .” “In hindsight, it appears that instead of the Chanderchud Commission we should have approached the government to institute a CBI inquiry ,” he said. Asked what action he was contemplating against Ajit Wadekar for his alleged derogatory remarks against him in the Prabhakar tapes, Mr Dalmiya replied “Wadekar has denied making those remarks.” About the reported statement that Wadekar had informed him that Prabhakar had named Kapil Dev and he still did nothing, Mr Dalmiya, a former secretary of the BCCI said in 1997 itself, Wadekar had written two letters to the board saying that Prabhakar had not mentioned any names . Dalmiya, who is now chairman of the Asian Cricket Foundation (ACF), admitted that the game had suffered a lot due to this scandal. “There are definitely some black sheep who must be identified and punished. An impression has gained that cricket is played for the sake of bookies-one of the worst things to happen.” |
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No pardon for
match-fixers, says minister
JAIPUR, July 9 (UNI) — Union Minister of State for Sports Shahnawaz Hussain today ruled out the possibility of granting pardon to the cricket match-fixers. He said that they should be punished like war criminals as it concerned large number of fans and the image and dignity of the country. Talking to mediapersons here, the Union Sports Minister said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe was going on satisfactorily and the country’s premier investigating agency was working faster than the South African commission on the matter. He pointed out that the CBI had recorded the statements of more people than the King Commission but said, “no action could be taken against anybody before the filing of chargesheet by the agency”. No one could be hanged just on the basis of “suspicion”, he added. |
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Sydney countdown — 6 In these columns recently we spoke of Betty Cutberth being one of the favourites to light the Olympic flame at Homebush Bay on September 15. But Australian punters have no doubt who should light it. If the public voice counts for anything — and money talks — it will almost certainly be Dawn Fraser, the red hot favourite at even money (1 to1). But with the cricket betting scandal fresh in people’s mind’s, CentreBet (the Alice Spring based biggest sports betting shop in the southern Hemisphere) is not accepting bets on who will light the flame. And there’s a very good reason for that. It’s called prior knowledge or “fixed”! Australian betting outlets have been taking calls for the past nine months on the subject of the Olympic flame, and the most commonly asked question was straight to the point. What price Dawn Fraser? That’s all the punters want to know. Fraser like Cuthbert (4 to 1 odds) will be running a leg of the Olympic torch relay, but her other main rivals for the lighting post — Ron Clarke (also 4 to 1) and Herb Elliott (8 to one) — haven’t been told of their involvement as of yet. “We will not be taking bets on who will light the Olympic flame, but it’s not because we wouldn’t want to. Business would be great,” a spokesperson for CentreBet has announced. “But it isn’t an option and there’s no other reason than that someone out there already knows who will be lighting it. It’s that simple. Information is leaked and it suddenly isn’t an even playing field,” he said. “The punters’ network is far too good when there is money to be won.” So just for argument’s sake, CentreBet have framed the odds on which light the Olympic flame. Sir Donald Bradman rates as a 100 to 1 chance to do the honours, but the great man has next to no hope compared with 10 to 1 Majorie Jackson, 15 to 1, John Landy, 20 to 1 Shane Gould and even former PM Gough Whitlam, who is 50-1. Evonne Cawley, the last Australian woman to win Wimbledon, is also 50-1 as are the likes of Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman and swimmers Susie O’Neill , Kieren Perkins and Ian Thorpe. Olympic hockey’s pitch battle Earlier this year when the Indian hockey team came to Australia to participate in two four-nation tournaments in Sydney and Perth, Indian coach Baskaran may have been criticised for complaining about the surface at Sydney’s Olympic hockey stadium. The man who led India to their last hockey gold (in Moscow 1980) had said his team was not happy with the uneven bounce of the pitch on which most of the Olympic competition will be played. Since the Indian team finished third out of the four teams participating in Sydney, Baskaran’s words might have been laughed off by many as an excuse. Of course, India went on to win the title in Perth where Baskaran said the pitch was much better than the Olympic one. Now Australian women’s coach Ric Charlesworth and German women’s coach Berti Rauth have joined in condemning the pitch for the Sydney Olympics. Charlesworth, a legend as a player and now the coach of the world’s most successful women’s hockey team, said there is a pronounced grain on the artificial turf and the ball bobbles rather than running smooth. Last year, Charlesworth said the Olympic pitch was b-grade quality and for $100,000 more the games organisers could have had the best. Rauth rubbed his hand back and forth across the turf a few days ago and said: “There are floors which don’t have this roughness..this is a mistake,” he said before his team played Australia in the final of the three-nation series at Homebush Bay on the warm-up pitch next to the Olympic field. The two pitches are supposedly identical, but during last week’s Australian men’s national hockey league titles many players felt the No 1 pitch played better than the Olympic field. Leading supplier to steroid black market Leading up to the games it has now been revealed that Australia has become a leading supplier to the multi-million-dollar world steroid black market as a result of lax Australian government export controls. This revelation in the media comes despite the government’s calls for an international crackdown on the use and trafficking of steroids, with penalties akin to narcotics offences. Official records obtained by a media organisation show that more than a quarter of Australian-made steroids are exported to Mexico, the centre of the black-market trade. Australian steroids are made for veterinary use, but are highly sought after by athletes and bodybuilders for their quality. And how do athletes get hold of it? Any Australian exports of human steroids are tightly regulated and require a permit. However, exactly the same chemical, marked for veterinary use, requires no permit or permission to export. Messenger has been shot and silenced The doping backlash that has hit whistleblower Australian athlete Werner Reiterer is almost Olympian in its strength. As is often the case with whistleblowers, Reiterer is being savaged. He is a cheat himself so why should anyone believe the rest of his allegations? And his timing was calculated to sell his book and is only damaging Australia’s Olympic preparations. Two-time Olympic 1500m freestyle gold medal winner Kieren Perkins has called for the Australian swimming teams to bring a “class action” in court against the two-time Olympian and a Commonwealth gold medal winning discus thrower who claimed many Australian representatives going to Sydney would be on drugs taken under the protection of officials. The most powerful man in Australian sport, Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates has added fuel to the public burning, saying the accusations had cast doubt on the team and a slur on the Sydney Games. When Reiterer declined to name names before an official inquiry, the son of an Austrian carpenter was crucified. Talk now and pay later or remain silent, he was told. Many people will be sleeping a lot more peacefully now knowing that Reiterer has been forced to back down. There are passages in his book which, to those in the sport, identify the guilty. But their names will not come out, not now, not 10 weeks from the start of a home Olympics. The messenger has been shot and silenced. The vertical line remains intact. Let the games begin. —
PMG (The writer is a well-known sports journalist now settled in Australia) |
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Jose Perec qualifies for Sydney NICE, July 9 (AFP) — France’s triple Olympic champion Marie-Jose Perec showed she was back on track in her bid for Olympic gold when she booked a spot at Sydney here despite coming third in her first 400 metres race in four years. The 32-year-old Guadeloupean, reigning 200 and 400 metres Olympic champion, who has been racked by injury since Atlanta, took another step in her bid for an unprecedented third gold medal over 400 metres at the Sydney games when she clocked 50.32 seconds. For her first 400 metres since 1996 it was an excellent result, coming on the heels of her second place and 22.71 second in Lausanne in the 200 metres event. Perec, in lane four between winner Katharine Merry of UK and runner-up Lorraine Graham of Jamaica, gave a strong performance despite a cautious start. Merry’s winning time was 50.05 seconds “I’ve a lot of regrets. I was so scared at the start that I waited too long during the first 150 to 200 metres. I told myself that I couldn’t finish the second part. I thought that the last 100 metres would be very difficult and frankly it wasn’t as bad as I thought,” said Perec. “I even surprised myself. I thought I would run between 50.50 and 51 seconds. I’m happy because I’ve never made a 400 metres return with such a time! It’s as if a weight has been lifted. I feel lighthearted and reassured,” said Perec, who has suffered from the energy sapping Epstein-Barr disease. And she confirmed that she will also participate in the 200 metres at the Gateshead meet in England between July 15 and 16 in her bid to reach top form for Sydney. Perec’s training partner Anthuan Maybank of the USA won the men’s 400 metres, his first race of the season, with 44.80 seconds ahead of Jamaica’s Gregory Haughton in 45.03 seconds and Briatin’s Jamie Baulch in 45.38 seconds. Running in the outside lane, Maybank powered away from the start and built up a lead that he was to hold right to the finish, despite spirited attacks from Baulch and Haughton as they rounded the final bend. Both Maybank and Perec sang praises of their German coach Hermann Meier: “It’s all thanks to him,” said Perec. “There are a lot of coaches who could learn from Meier. Thanks to him I found it easier to come back now than in 1995.” In the 3000 metres steeplechase Moroccan duo Brahim Boulami and Ali Ezzine produced a season’s best in the event as Boulami won the sprint from his compatriot to time 8:03.30. In the 1000 metres Kenyan Noah Ngeny won the sprint from France’s Mehdi Baala in a time of 2:14.78. The women’s 1500 metres was won by Olga Kunetsova of Russia in 4:03.50, followed by her compatriot Olga Nelyubova and Hayley Tullet of Britain. And in their first encounter of the season Gete Wami of Ethopia and Tegla Loroupe of Kenya were forced into second and third positions, respectively, behind Russia’s Tatyana Tomashova who clocked 8:36:37 in the women’s 3000 metres. Double European gold medallist Sonia O’Sullivan of Ireland had to settle for fourth place. Olympic pole vault champion Jean Galfione of France, making his return to competition after an operation on a collapsed lung, cleared 5.50 metres for eighth place, in a competition won by reigning world champion Maksim Tarasov with 5.82 metres. |
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Dempsey to quit AUCKLAND, July 9 (AFP) — The man at the centre of the 2006 World Cup Furore, New Zealander Charlie Dempsey, today announced he was stepping down from his position but declined once more to unravel the mystery of the threats he said forced him to allow Germany to host the tournament. Mr Dempsey’s decision to retire in September came after he met the executive of the Oceania Football Confederation, whose presidency he is giving up, to explain why he abstained in the final FIFA vote over who should run the competition in six years’ time. Mr Dempsey’s abstention — disobeying orders to back South Africa from the confederation and the New Zealand Government — gave Germany a one-point victory, with the final vote 12-11. Had the vote tied at 12-12, FIFA President Sepp Blatter would have been left with the casting vote, which he would have given to South Africa, his favoured candidate. |
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FIFA denies reports ZURICH, July 9 (AFP) — The FIFA yesterday denied reports that executive committee member Charlie Dempsey received death threats ahead of the decision to award the 2006 World Cup to Germany. That directly contradicts the earlier statement made by FIFA’s own Communications Director Keith Cooper that New Zealander Dempsey had indeed received such threats. The FIFA last evening released a statement saying that such reports — including the remarks of its own director of communications were inaccurate. The FIFA stresses that these and other such reports, including a comment by its own director of communications (Cooper), were inaccurate, said the statement. “In fact Mr Dempsey had told the committee before the voting had begun that he had come under ‘extreme pressure’ as a result of which he had been legally advised to abstain after the first round of voting. He had not however made references to death threats.” |
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Beckenbauer
threatens to quit
MUNICH, July 9 (AFP) — German football legend Franz Beckenbauer, who spearheaded his country’s victorious bid to host to 2006 World Cup, has threatened to quit the German Football Federation (DFB) because of their lack of vision. In an interview on Saturday in the German daily Bild, the man nicknamed the ‘Kaiser’ said: “I am a team man not a federation man. In federations, civil servants are responsible for administering projects but don’t have vision.” He left open the possibility of whether he would run again in
April 2001 for the post of DFB vice-president. “I have not abused the vice-presidency or the title that has helped me in my travels around the world. It was important and necessary. Today I don’t need it anymore,” he added. President of Germany’s World Cup organising committee, Beckenbauer also left a question mark over his future intentions. |
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India win U-15 Asian meet MUMBAI, July 9 (UNI) — India won the inaugural Asian U-15 championship beating Pakistan by 54 runs in the final at Kuala Lumpur, Malayasia, today. According to information received here, India won the toss and elected to bat and made 209 (all out) in 39 overs. At one stage the Indians were 172 for four. The man of the tournament A. Raydu propped up the India innings with well-made 77 which had 10 hits to the boundary. He was ably supported by S. Kumar (48) and P. Das (28). In reply, Pakistan could make only 155 runs in their allotted 40 overs losing nine wickets. Brief scores: India: 209 all out in 39 overs (A. Raydu 77, S. Kumar 48, P. Das 28). Pakistan: 155 for nine in 40 overs (M. Choudhary 2 for 24, N. Rathod 2 for 10 Talukdar 1 for 30, Raju 1 for 19, Irfan Pathan 1 for 16). |
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