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| Monday, July 31, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Lance Klusener props up SA with century PALO ALTO (California), July 30 — Top seed and defending champion Lindsay Davenport fulfilled the wishes of Northern California tennis fans on Saturday when she ousted Monica seles to set up a meeting with Venus Williams in the Palo Alto final for the third consecutive year. Cronje cashing
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IT probe to pick up Anil, Rachita set new records Cairns, Mullally
fashion Rest win
McEnroe hits boy accidentally
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Lance Klusener props up SA with century KANDY, July 30 (AFP) — Allrounder Lance Klusener saved South Africa from total collapse with an unbeaten century on the first day of the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka played here today. Klusener smashed two sixes and 13 fours as he rescued South Africa from a disastrous 34 for five to 253 all out, after Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya had won the toss for the fifth consecutive occasion. Jayasuriya put South Africa to bat at the Asgiriya International Stadium, under overcast conditions. The 28-year-old left-hand Klusener held the South African innings together in partnership with vice-captain Mark Boucher, who helped him in a sixth wicket stand of 124, and then with the tailenders with whom he raised a further 80 runs to raise the total to some respectability. By close, Sri Lanka who lead 1-0 in the three-match series, had replied with 15 for no loss. Klusener was harsh on the spinners, hitting Muttiah Muralitharan and Upul Chandana for a six apiece, as he mixed caution with aggression to break the stranglehold the slow bowlers had on the batting. The partnership was ended when Klusener called non-striker Boucher for a sharp single after playing the ball wide of bowler Muralitharan, who pounced on it. In a flash he sent a return to wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara leaving Boucher with no chance to get to the other end. Boucher, who survived a bat-pad chance to Mahela Jayawardene off Muralitharan at 44, struck eight fours in his 61, which came off 111 balls. His partnership with Klusener lasted 115 minutes. Klusener went on the offensive against danger man Muralitharan, straight driving him for a six to bring up South Africa’s 150 in the 52nd over, and then following it up with an ondrive for four to reach his fifty in 121 minutes off 99 balls. It comprised six fours and a six. He completed his century, his third in Test cricket, when he pulled a short delivery from Muralitharan to the mid wicket boundary for four. His century came up in 210 minutes off 178 balls and comprised 12 fours and two sixes. Leg-spinner Upul Chandana struck a double blow in his ninth over when he had Shaun Pollock caught off bat-pad by Jayewardene at silly mid-off for five and trapped Nicky Boje leg before wicket off the next delivery to end the over. Klusener, however, played down the hat-trick ball and had assistance from Paul Adams (6) and last man Nantie Hayward (13) who helped him raise South Africa’s total by 80 runs for the last two wickets. South Africa had got off disastrously when they lost openers Gary Kirsten and Neil McKenzie without scoring to be four for two. It soon became 34 for 5 when Kumar Dharmasena bowled first Test run-getters Darryl Cullinan and Jonty Rhodes, and Muralitharan trapped Jacques Kallis lbw for 16. Muralitharan who took 13 wickets in the first Test, was taken to task by Klusener and conceded 95 runs for two wickets. Dharmasena and Chandana took five wickets between them. Scoreboard South Africa (first innings): Kirsten lbw b Vaas 0 McKenzie c Jayawardene 0
Kallis lbw b Muralitharan 16 Cullinan b Dharmasena 2 Rhodes b Dharmasena 12 Klusener not out 118 Boucher run out 60 Pollock c Jayawardene 5
Boje lbw b Chandana 0 Adams c Jayawardene 6
Hayward b Muralitharan 13 Extras (b-9 lb-6 nb-6) 21 Total 253 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-4, 3-16, 4-34, 5-34, 6-158, 7-173, 8-173, 9-210. Bowling: Vaas 8-5-11-1, Zoysa 6-2-16-1, Dharmasena 20-3-58-3, Muralitharan 30.5-3-95-2 (6nb), Chandana 20-2-58-2. Sri Lanka (first innings): Atapattu not out 1 Jayasuriya not out 10 Extras (lb-1 nb-3) 4 Total (for no wicket) 15 Bowling: Pollock 4-1-12-0 (2nb), Hayward 3-2-2-0 (1nb). |
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PALO ALTO (California), July 30 (Reuters) — Top seed and defending champion Lindsay Davenport fulfilled the wishes of Northern California tennis fans on Saturday when she ousted Monica seles to set up a meeting with Venus Williams in the Palo Alto final for the third consecutive year. The big Californian downed the fourth-seeded Seles 7-5 7-6 (7-2) yesterday to earn a shot at her third consecutive title here. Earlier yesterday, second seed Williams used a go-for-broke mentality that completely disarmed ninth seed Anna Kournikova on the way to a 6-4 7-5 semifinal victory. Davenport beat Williams here in 1998 and 1999, but both turned out to be hotly contested matches between two of the game’s hardest hitters. “We both enjoy playing here. Every year we have come in during different points in our career, but reaching the final three times in a row shows what consistent players we are, especially on hard courts,” said Davenport. The top seed has lost three of her last four matches with Williams, including this year’s Wimbledon final when she surrendered her crown as Williams claimed her first career Grand Slam title. “It will be a tough match. Venus hits harder than Monica and covers the court better. She’s not playing her best this week, but I’ll have to be aggressive because she’s obviously on a roll after winning Wimbledon,” Davenport said. “She’s got a lot of firepower.” Williams said she let chances slip away in her first two finals at Stanford University, a mistake she hopes not to repeat today. “In the first final I was up 3-0 in the third set and squandered it, and last year I had set points in the first set,” said Williams. “Last year she played very well, hitting a lot of lines on her first serve. I was the victim. Hopefully, this year I won’t be.” Davenport served the lights out against Seles, whom she has now beaten seven times in a row. As has been the case in nearly all of their matches, Davenport stepped it up on the big points while Seles looked a bit lost. “She did play the key points better and I had a really hard time reading her serve,” Seles said. “I’m disappointed, but fortunately I’ll get to play her again.” |
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Cronje cashing in on disgrace DURBAN, July 30 (PTI) — Disgraced former South African captain Hansie Cronje has hired a leading London ‘scandal merchant’ to help him cash in on his fall from grace in the cricketing world, newspaper reports said here today.
According to the reports, Mr Max Clifford, a celebrity public relations agent, has confirmed that he was promoting Cronje and brokering interviews and book deals. He was also floating the idea of a Cronje film following queries from international scriptwriters. Mr Clifford confirmed that the deals made so far include an interview with the Australian 60 minutes television programme which, newspapers said, netted him 800,000 rands ($117,800). Also a contract for an undisclosed
amount with the South African TV station, M-Net Superspot, to film him for three days and an interview with British tabloid, News of the World, which has already paid large sums for exclusive interviews. Mr Clifford said he was in talks with four publishers about a Cronje book deal for which a figure of 1000,000 to 250,000 pounds sterling ($151,148 to 377,871) has been mentioned in industry circles. Cronje, who earned 800,000 rand ($115,360) a year as South Africa’s captain and who was paid about $100,000 by dodgy bookmakers, stands to pocket more from telling about his disgrace than he made by disgracing himself. |
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IT probe to pick up NEW DELHI, July 30 (PTI) — The probe into the searches launched by the income tax authorities in the premises of top cricketers, administrators and bookies is likely to gain momentum from tomorrow with the cricketers returning from abroad this week. The cricketers playing in the one-day charity match at The Oval in London are expected to return this week with Ajay Jadeja likely to arrive tomorrow, top IT sources said. The sources said the department has also received information from Jadeja, Mohammed Azharuddin, coach Kapil Dev and Nikhil Chopra about their arrival this week. However, Ajay Sharma has indicated he would be able to return only in September in view of his contract with the scottish second division club Pedhnam. The sources clarified that the search at the places of Azharuddin, Jadeja, Nikhil Chopra and Ajay Sharma was not complete and would resume after they return from abroad. The tax authorities had so far opened nine of the 17 lockers here, sealed during the massive searches conducted by the authorities at the premises of top cricketers,
administrators and bookies in the wake of match-fixing scandal. However, they refused to divulge the contents seized from these lockers saying they were being scrutinised. The IT authorities had found jewellery worth Rs 15 lakh from the four lockers, belonging to a cricketer and a bookie, opened early this week. IT authorities were ascertaining whether the jewellery had been included in the annual returns filed by the cricketer before initiating action against him, they said. In a nation-wide swoop on July 20, IT officials raided premises of cricketers including Kapil Dev, Jadeja, Ajay Sharma, Nikhil Chopra and Manoj Prabhakar (all in Delhi), Azharuddin (Hyderabad and Mumbai) and Navjot Siddhu (Patiala), former International Cricket Council chief Jagmohan Dalmiya (Calcutta), Worldtel Chairman Mark Mascarenhas (Bangalore) and BCCI treasurer Kishore Rungta (Jaipur), besides some bookies. |
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Anil, Rachita set new records CHENNAI, July 30 (UNI) — Two more national and meet records were established while favourites Anil Kumar and Rachita Mistry emerged as the fastest runners in the Indian Oil Servo inter-state athletics championship here today. As expected the limelight was on the gangling Kerala star Anil Kumar who made it a one-horse race winning the show piece event — 100 m dash — clocking 10.36 secs for a new meet record eclipsing the existing mark of 10.4 secs set by Rajeev Balakrishnan. In the women’s Rachita Mistry of Maharashtra breasted the tape at 11.48 secs, knocking off .07 secs from her previous effort of 11.55 secs for a meet record. But it was far below her personal best of 11.26 set in the second leg of domestic meet at Bangalore early this month, which was yet to be ratified. But the day’s honours were shared by Orissa’s Anuradha Biswal (100 m hurdles) and Gurdev Singh of Punjab who showed enough endurance in winning the gruelling 20-km walk with a record time of 1:25:21.7 erasing the long-standing 10 year-old record of 1:25:48.0 get by C S Rathi in the Delhi meet way back in 1990. Anuradha, an employee of Nalco in Bhubaneswar, ran one of the best races in her career to stop the clock at 13.44 sec, 0.13 secs shy of her previous best of 13.57 secs for a new national record. It was a touch and go race in the initial stages before Anuradha, who was determined to clock under 13 sec mark, stepped up the pace after the first three hurdles before emerging an easy winner. Debi Bose of Bengal thwarted a strong challenge from B. Poonam of Karnataka to finish second, clocking 14.26 secs. Poonam finished at 14.34 secs. In the women’s high jump, Kerala’s Bobby Aloysius set a new meet record, scaling a height of 1.84 m, bettering her own previous effort by .03 metres. A K Deepa of Delhi and M Sangita of Tamil Nadu were placed second and third, respectively. |
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Thorpe poised to be the first to take global leap IAN Thorpe has big plans — and they extend well beyond the quest to win four Olympic gold medals in
Sydney. Win or lose in the pool, Australian swimming sensation Ian Thorpe expects to have half the sponsors after the Olympics that he has now, although each will be paying a premium for their association. He will also announce an extension of his philanthropic pursuits (he already donates generously to charities) with the assistance of a major international corporation. Thorpe will turn 18 in October (eventually allowing his age to be greater than his size 17 feet) and his entry into adulthood will coincide with his rise as a significant player in the business world. If dual 1500m gold medal winner Kieren Perkins was the first Australian swimmer to demonstrate that the pool could launch a professional career, Thorpe is poised to be the first to make the global leap. Just call him Thorpedo International. While it is nothing that Michael Jordan or Greg Norman have not done before, the difference, as Thorpe’s manager David Flaskas notes, is that they were not in their teens. “We are taking a 17-year-old Aussie kid from the suburbs to the global market — and he can handle it,” Flaskas said. “People said you can’t market an Australian swimmer overseas, but the interest in him is great.” Thorpe’s endorsement of a recent drugs press conference in Sydney last week turned what would have been a fairly low-key announcement into a media event, with media from the USA, Japan and Germany clamouring for his attention. His international potential was further underlined by his experience at an altitude training camp in Colorado Springs last month. On the pool deck, a US Swimming official noted everything that he did, writing down every lap time, every stroke rate. Outside the pool, his hotel was besieged by media inquiries. Among those wanting interviews were the NBC Today show, ESPN and the New York Times. He refused all requests so he could concentrate on his training, but that did not stop people recognising him in the shopping malls. And this is before the Olympic Games, the vehicle that will push his face into the world’s living room for the first four days of the Games. “That did come as a surprise,” Thorpe said of his burgeoning fame in the USA. Thorpe’s sponsors already include Telstra, Qantas, Adidas and Channel Seven. His image adorns television commercials, billboards, magazines and newspapers all over Australia. He is the biggest national hero Australia currently has. But Thorpe does not intend to become merely the face of any number of products. His ambitions are more complicated and far-reaching. “We want long-term relationships and we want business partnerships, but he’s not a commodity and he wants to have a real involvement in what he’s doing,” Flaskas said. Thorpe has demonstrated a business acumen and fascination for economics and financial markets. He was a prominent guest at the launch of the perspective of an Internet day-trading company in Sydney last week and has done some preliminary investing of his own with his “pocket money”. Thorpe intents to make his business career far outlast his swimming career.
Beware what you are carrying into Sydney If you are travelling to Sydney for the Olympics, let me warn you that Australia’s quarantine laws are perhaps the strictest in the world. So much so that for the 1956 Olympics at Melbourne the equestrian events were not held in Melbourne because the overseas horses were not allowed into Australia. The events were held in far off Stockholm, Sweden. The laws here forbid anyone bringing in any eatable, foodstuff, plants, wooden items and soils. So take my advice and if you are carrying anything for your friends, declare it because chances are they will allow you to take it in, especially if the items are Indian sweets and spices. If you are caught without declaring them, well, you won’t be seeing a single Olympic event that’s for sure. To give you an example of the strict quarantine laws, an advance party of British Olympic athletes are getting ready for the trip to Sydney — via a stopover at Heathrow Airport’s quarantine centre. The 18 horses that make up the British equestrian team will report at Heathrow on August 7 before their departure in a fully equipped “flying stable” on August 23. The trip, which will cost the British Olympic Association a staggering £ 230,000 ($589,000), will involve a team of grooms and veterinary surgeons. One consolation for the horses is that they will not be required to observe the normal six-month quarantine period on their return to the UK, because of Australia’s own fastidious quarantine laws.
Facilities equal to a holiday resort It’s been dubbed Club Media. With masseurs, a gymnasium, wildlife sanctuary, 24-hour dining hall and, nearby, an 18-hole golf course, the accommodation for media covering the Olympics is equal to any holiday resort. Olympic officials joke that some hacks might never want to leave the Sydney 2000 Media Village — the biggest hotel in the Southern Hemisphere. Almost 6000 journalists, photographers and broadcasting officials will start arriving from around the world next week to showcase Sydney and report on the 16 days of Olympic competition. Every effort has been made to placate the normally fickle media. So there are pool tables and pinball machines and, of course, a 24-hour bar. Open for inspection this week, the 50ha complex has an Australiana theme. One of the most memorable sights at the Atlanta Games was the now infamous inflatable kangaroos riding into the closing ceremony on the backs of BMX bike riders. In Sydney there will be no such imposters because the real things will parade around the International Media Village for the benefit of foreign journalists. There will be 11 wallabies, two emus and other native birds in its wildlife sanctuary, a cricket pitch and outdoor barbecue areas. Organisers say many of the foreign media will be very busy while they’re here and won’t necessarily have time to leave the city to see wildlife. The Media Village also boasts a medical and fitness centre, hairdresser, dining and a 24-hour bus centre for trips to Olympic venues and around the village. The single and double rooms have been fully booked for $ 220 and $ 290 a night including breakfast, with minibars, televisions (including cable) and laundry and dry-cleaning services, with blue Sydney 2000 quilts thrown in.
— PMG |
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Tszyu sends Chavez into retirement PHOENIX (Arizona), July 30 (AFP) — Australia’s Kostya Tszyu sent Julio Cesar Chavez into retirement here
yesterday stopping the Mexican in the sixth round to keep his World Boxing Council super-lightweight title. Russian-born Tszyu rose to 25-1 and one drawn with his 21st early stoppage. Once-mighty Chavez fell to 103-5 with two drawn and suffered only the second knockdown of his career 25 seconds into the sixth round. After hammering Chavez in the fifth round, Tszyu slammed a right to the Mexican’s temple and watched him fall forward to the ring — the first time Chavez had been knocked down in a fight since Frankie Randall did it in 1994. “It wasn’t my strongest punch,” Tszyu said. “It was just accurate timing and in the right place. He left an opening. Boom. He was gone. Tszyu, 30, looked like Chavez in his prime, dominating the fight from the start and making the former champion look like a very tired 38-year-old man. “It looks like it’s time for me to retire,” Chavez said. “Definitely, it’s time for me to retire. I didn’t have a problem with making the weight. It’s just time for me to leave.” Chavez was a dubious WBC choice as mandatory challenger for Tszyu, having not fought at so light a weight since 1998. He had not met a top-10 foe in two years and last October lost to journeyman Willy Wiase. But Chavez is popular with Hispanic fans and makes promoter Don King millions of dollars simply off the fame of his bygone glory days. |
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Cairns, Mullally fashion Rest win LONDON, July 30 (AFP) — Pacemen Chris Cairns of New Zealand and left-armer Alan Mullally of England did the damage as the Rest of the World (RoW) beat Asia XI by 15 runs here at the oval today.
Cairns took three for 29 and Mullally three for 41, Kiwi Cairns finishing the match with seven balls to spare bowling Venkatesh Prasad for one. Rest of World: 219 Asia: Anwar c Cairns b Walsh 16 De Silva c and b Cairns 35 Azharuddin c Stewart b Streak 33 Jadeja run out 29 Mongia c Hollioake b Johnson 11 Akram b Mullally 15 Chopra c and b Cairns 30 Kumble b Mullally 19 Saqlain b Mullally 1 Srinath not out 3 Prasad b Cairns 1 Extras (lb-7, w-1, nb-3) 11 Total (all out in 48.5 overs) 204 Fall of wickets: 1-50, 2-73, 3-107, 4-123, 5-139, 6-161, 7-198, 8-200, 9-201. Bowling: Walsh 10-2-29-1, Streak 10-1-51-1, Mullally 9-1-41-3, Cairns 9.5-1-29-3, Hollioake 3-0-19-0, Johnson 7-0-28-1. |
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A shooter has ‘to start afresh’ CHANDIGARH: At 17 he will not only be the youngest member of the Indian contingent to the Sydney Olympic Games in September but he will probably also be the youngest shooter to take aim at the shooting ranges at Sydney when the competitions get under way. But Abhinav Bindra would not like to talk of his age as being a factor for doing well or otherwise at Sydney. He knows that the competition at Sydney would be tough, much tougher than what he has faced during the past two years as he honed his skills in various competitions around the world, keeping any eye “on the greatest show on earth” . He frankly admits that there is very little to choose between one shooter or the other at the top-level competition which any Olympic Games sees. In Chandigarh for some well deserved rest, Abhinav told TNS that whatever he has learnt over the past two years should stand him in good stead when he takes aim in the 10-metre air rifle event at Sydney. But unlike other members of the Indian contingent who would take some time to acclimatise themselves to the conditions at Sydney once they reach there, Abhinav has been to Sydney thrice in the past one and half years, twice in 1999 and once in March this year when he was there for the World Cup. So getting used to the Olympic venue would the least of his worries. The city-based shooter, who has progressed by leaps and bound over the past three years due to sheer grit and perseverance, does not hold the Sydney shooting ranges in high esteem. To put in his own words the Sydney ranges “is not the best ranges in which I have taken part.” But in the same breath he says that he is hopeful that the organisers of the Olympic Games must have renovated the ranges since he visited it last. He hopes to be in Sydney by September 5 when the first batch of the Indian contingent for Sydney arrives down under. The shooting range at Sydney, according to information available here, will be thrown open for the participants on September 2. The first time Abhinav was in Sydney was to take part in the Oceania Championships — a meeting in which shooters from Australia and New Zealand took part and where he was a special invitee — where besides team events individual events were also conducted. The winners of the Oceania meet qualify for the Olympics. Abhinav was of the view that shooters from Australia and New Zealand find it easy to qualify for the Olympics since these two countries by themselves constitute one qualifying zone. He compared this with shooters from India who have to go through a number of qualifying events at the Asian level before they could think of going to the Olympics. Abhinav’s last international outing before he reported for the Olympic training camp, currently under way at Bangalore, was in the Czech Republic in July where he shot 594/600, two short of the record-breaking score of 596/600 which he shot in the Munich World Cup in June. Explaining his score, Abhinav said a shooter had to start afresh in every competition and on a given day one might not touch peak form. But the weather conditions rarely play any part in his event and it was only a matter of concentration and skill which differentiated one shooter from the other. Abhinav was of the view that if he could touch his record breaking feat at Munich (596/600) in the Sydney Games then he might be able to qualify for the final shootout in which just eight of the expected 70 shooters of the event would take part. And once in the final shootout “it can be anybody’s day” was the frank admission of Abhinav who in spite of being much in the media glare has not lost his youthful charm. Abhinav knows that the competition ahead will be hard and tough. Therefore, he is putting everything he has as he prepares for Sydney. Working for 10 hours a day at the ranges he admits he has learnt a lot from Hungarian coach Laszlo Szucsak, who has been with the Indian shooters for the past one year. Besides working at the range he does a lot of jogging and stretching exercises so that he will be totally fit for the big day. The one thing that does not trouble Abhinav during his travel is food, a problem with any Indian sportsman going abroad be it a hockey player or a cricketer. At home with any type of food, for Abhinav getting adjusted with the food of the places he visits is his least worry. From the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games, where Abhinav was a greenhorn, to Sydney has been a long journey for this young shooter but he promises to put in all that he has learnt over the years to keen the nation’s hopes and aspirations alive. |
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McEnroe hits boy accidentally CHIACAGO, July 30 (AP) — John McEnroe accidentally hit a young boy in the stands with a near-empty water bottle during an argument with the chair umpire at the Nuveen Champions senior tournament yesterday.
McEnroe whipped a water bottle behind him from his seat while arguing during a changeover in the second set of his 6-2 4-6 11-9 semifinal victory over Mikael Pernfors. The bottle sailed over the side wall and hit a boy seated in the front row. |
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