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| Thursday, September 7, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Kiefer ousts Norman; Safin wins
China axes 27 athletes |
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Anand manages
quarter-final berth Jayalakshmi, Rushmi bow out
Calcutta
families on Olympic pilgrimage in Australia
Radhakrishnan causes a major upset Govt to decide
on cricket ties: Muthiah Indian athlete’s death shocks
athletic fraternity
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Kiefer ousts Norman; Safin wins NEW YORK, Sept 6 (Reuters) — Third seed Magnus Norman was unable to continue his victorious run anymore, falling to 14th-seeded German Nicolas Kiefer yesterday in the fourth round of the US Open tennis championships. Kiefer had not been past the third round in his two prior US Open appearances, but he improved his record in round of 16 Grand Slam matches to a perfect 4-0 with a 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 6-3 victory over the French Open runner-up. The 23-year-old German counter-puncher reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 1997 and the Australian Open in 1998 and this year, where he lost to Norman in their lone previous meeting. If he is to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal, Kiefer will have to beat sixth-seeded Russian Marat Safin, who appears to be peaking at just the right time. Safin, who needed five sets to get through both his second and third-round matches, crushed 12th-seeded Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1 6-2 6-2 in just 83 minutes. In a five-set, last night thriller, American Todd Martin beat Carlos Moya (Spain) 6-7 (3-7) 6-7 (7-9) 6-1 7-6 (8-6) 6-2. He will next face unseeded Swede Thomas Johansson, who halted the surprising run of Australian qualifier Wayne Arthurs. Arthurs had stunned second-seeded French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten in the first round, but Johansson reached his second US Open quarter-final in three years with a 6-4 6-7 6-3 6-4 victory. Kiefer was elated with his victory over Norman. “He’s playing great for the last nine months. Everywhere he goes he goes to the finals, semifinals and he wins. He’s a very tough player.” “I played a great match today. I played my game. I didn’t give him a chance to play his game,” added the German. Norman had played escape artist in the third round, coming back from two sets down to win a nail-biter of a fifth-set tiebreaker from relentless net charger Max Mirnyi. It was a tremendously gutsy performance in which the Swede saved four match points in the more than four-hour epic. That incredible victory in the best match so far at the 2000 US Open could have raised Norman’s game to the next level on the way to a possible Grand Slam breakthrough. Instead, except for some very strong play in the second-set tie-break and late in the last set when he survived five match points before succumbing on the sixth on a rare serve and volley point by Kiefer, Norman had a terrible time finding the range on his shots in difficult, windy conditions inside Arthur Ashe stadium. “I was not sharp enough today. My rhythm was not there, my body was not there, my shots were not there,” lamented the disappointed 24-year-old Swede, winner of four titles this year, including the Hamlet Cup just before the Open. Venus, Hingis set up semifinal clash World number one Martina Hingis swept into the semifinals with an impressive 6-0 7-5 dismantling of two-time former champion Monica Seles. The top seed improved to 11-2 against the sixth-seeded Seles and set up a final-four showdown with her great rival Venus Williams. Hingis, who has reached the US Open final the past three years, holds a 9-6 advantage over Williams in career meetings, including wins in 1997 Open final and last year’s semis. Williams beat Hingis in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon on the way to her first career Grand Slam title this year. “I’ve got two days now to relax and just practice and then worry about Venus. We had a great match here last year,” Hingis said. “At Wimbledon I lost to her so I’d like to turn it around.” “Venus Express” hit a bump yesterday but would not be derailed as the third seed reached the semifinals for the fourth successive year with a 6-4 1-6 6-1 victory over eighth seed Nathalie Tauziat of France. Williams overcame a surprisingly lethargic start to beat the crafty veteran after dropping a set for the first time here this year. She extended her unbeaten run to 24 matches with her triumph over the the 32-year-old Tauziat, the last of the true serve and volleyers in women’s tennis. While Williams has the winning streak, Hingis has been the best player at this open so far. |
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BEIJING, Sept 6 (Reuters) — China confirmed today it had axed 27 athletes from the Olympic team, some of them over “suspicious” results from stringent tests aimed at ending a series of doping embarrassments at international events. Among those cut were six of the seven members of “Ma’s family army” of women long-distance runners originally named to a 311-strong squad — and mercurial coach Ma Junren himself. An official at the China Olympics Committee confirmed that only 284 athletes would now go to the Sydney Olympics, which start on September 15. A China Athletics Association official told Reuters that Ma, who said famously his world-conquering athletes trained on turtle’s blood and high altitudes would not go to Sydney. And a partial list of the new team issued by the official Xinhua News Agency showed that all but one of his medal hopes would also stay at home. The only survivor was Li Ji, one of only 20 women on a track and field team from which 14 athletes were chopped. The other six members of Ma’s army originally slated to go to Sydney were Dong Yanmei, Song Liqing, Yin Lili, Li Jinnan, Lan Lixin, Dai Yanyan. Ma had been aiming for gold medals in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres events. Ma abruptly abandoned his high-altitude camp on the Tibetan plateau on Sunday, setting off a frenzy of speculation that China’s stringent testing programme for drugs ahead of the games had entrapped his group. “Some had problems in their blood tests,” said a China Athletics Association official. He stressed that did not mean necessarily they were taking drugs. Ma always said his athletes took traditional Chinese tonics like caterpillar fungus — not drugs. Tu Mingde, Secretary-General of the Chinese Olympic Committee, said before the new team list was published the cuts meant China would now have a hard time retaining the fourth spot in the medals table achieved at Atlanta and Barcelona. “It won’t be very easy to maintain fourth place this time,” he told Reuters Television, adding that there were various reasons for leaving athletes at home. “The first is that in the course of conducting blood tests we found suspicious results — suspicious — in several athletes,” Tu said. “Second, some athletes sustained injuries in training and can’t reach their normal levels. Third, a few athletes are not well — they have fallen ill. We decided they should not go in order to protect their health.” China did not name all the athletes cut from the squad, but John Coates, head of the Australian Olympic Committee, said they comprised seven rowers, four swimmers, 14 track and field athletes and two canoeists. Xinhua said those axed from the team would not go to Sydney “for the purpose of their health and to protect the principles of fair competition.” Chinese references to “problems” with the blood tests of those cut from the squad suggested there may not have been convincing proof of drugs use, but that Beijing was not prepared to risk its new-found reputation as tough on drugs. The Sydney Olympics will feature the first widespread tests for the banned drug EPO, sometimes indicated by an unusually high concentration of red blood cells. |
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Anand manages quarter-final berth SHENYANG (China), Sept 6 (PTI) — Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand of India did the needful when he drew his final round-robin game against GM Vladislav Tkachiev of France to top his group and enter the knockout quarter-final stage in the first FIDE World Cup Chess Championship here. The result meant Anand qualified for the next stage with 3.5 points in group D while Tkachiev and GM Boris Gelfand of Israel — tied on 3 points each after Gelfand also drew his game against Tissir Mohamed of Morocco — battled it out in a tie-break to decide the second qualifier from the group. Gelfand eventually claimed the second spot after winning the tie-breaker. Anand will now take on GM Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, who defeated compatriot R Ponomariov to finish second in group B, in the quarter-finals. The final round matches saw five decisive results as the scramble for a place in the quarters reached its height. Anand had a comfortable game from the black side of a queens Indian defence as the French GM could not claim any advantage inspite of introducing a novelty in the early middlegame. The minority attack opted for by Tkachiev was tackled in copy book fashion by Anand and the game levelled after just 15 moves. Though Anand remained saddled with a bad Bishop on the queenside, his position became impregnable. Tkachiev offered the truce proposal after the 25th move which was agreed to by Anand. However, Tkachiev was lucky go into tie-break when Gelfand failed to convert an advantageous position into a win against Tissir Mohamed. Gelfand outplayed his opponent in all departments of the game but faltered to give a knockout punch and settled for a draw after 50 moves. The other group D match between FIDE world champion Alexander Khalifman and Pavel Tregubov (both Russians) ended in a draw after only 12 moves. Tregubov, with white pieces, obviously failed to anticipate the result of Gelfand’s game, otherwise a win would have found him also in the tie-break. From group A, GMs Gilberto Milos of Brazil and Zurab Azmaiparashvili of Georgia made it to the quarter-finals. |
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Jayalakshmi, Rushmi bow out NEW DELHI, Sept 6 — The upset defeats of second-seeded Sai Jayaram Jayalakshmi and fifth seeded Rushmi Chakravarthi made it a day of mixed luck for India in the $ 10,000 ITF Women’s Tennis Circuit Second Leg Tournament at the Delhi Tennis Association deco-turf courts here today. Top-seeded Manisha Malhotra, eighth-seeded Sonal Phadke and Karishma Patel, however, moved up to keep the Indian challenge alive. Though Manisha was given a hard time by Shalini Thakur, the top seed had enough fire power in her arsenal to sail to a 6-4, 6-2 victory, while Sonal and Karishma had comparatively easy outings against Radhika Tulpule and Geeta Manohar, respectively. The defeat of second seed Sai Jayalakshmi at the hands of the unseeded Shruti Dhawan at 0-6, 6-2, 3-6 was totally unexpected. For Jayalakshmi was expected to have a cake-walk victory over the unfancied Dhawan, whom she had beaten many times, but lost only twice, in the past. But today, Shruti Dhawan turned the tables on her better-ranked rival, as she capitalised on Jayalakshmi’s erratic form to grab big points and that eventually helped her post a surprise victory. Jayalakshmi was slow to start with and to confound her woes she committed far too many errors to lose out at six love in the first set. However, Jayalakshmi fought well in the second set and wrested it. She was going great guns and heading for victory in the decider when she squandered two break points in the eighth game and that spelt doom for her. She was enjoying a 4-3 lead and a break in the eighth game would have made it 5-3 in her favour, but she not only wasted two break points, but also dropped serve in the ninth game to botch up her chances. “I never thought I would lose”, said the second seed dejectedly. Rushmi Chakravarthi, the giant-killer, who had scalped Monique Adamczak of Australia, winner of a double crown in the first leg at Jaipur last week, failed to produce the same form, as she could not cope up with the
allround game of Veronika Raimrova of Czechoslovakia, and lost in straight sets at 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and five minutes. Raimrova had run up a 5-1 lead in both the first and second sets, before winning without much ado. Third-seeded Orawan Wongkamalas of Thailand rushed past Yamini Thukkaindi of India 6-0, 6-1 in just 35 minutes while fourth-seeded I-Tingh Wang of Chinese Taipei weathered a brief resistance from Megha Vakharia before winning at 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 in one hour and 35 minutes. Seventh-seeded Suchanan Viratprasert of Thailand edged past Jennifer Schmidt of Austria 6-2, 6-3 as the quarter-final line-up was completed. Rushmi and Jayalakshmi had some consolation as they advanced in the doubles, beating Thukkaindi and Manohar 6-3, 6-0. |
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Sydney countdown — 65 THREE Perth families, who migrated from Calcutta to Australia about 20 years ago, are making an Olympic pilgrimage across this vast island continent to experience Sydney’s Olympic spirit. The Gabriel family and friends leave Perth this week in cars and vans to trek across this vast openness between Western Australia and the eastern coast. The tour group consists to seven adults and seven children (and even one mother-in-law). Most of them are formerly from Calcutta’s Park Circus and Elliot Road area, and one of them from Bangalore. Leslie Gabriel, who did his B.Com degree at St Xavier’s College Calcutta, says: “Ours is a journey which will take us seven days across a huge vastness of desert and red sand. But we hope to be in Sydney in time to sit — with our other Calcutta friends and relatives — and watch the opening ceremony on television”. Over 3,500 km is quite a distance to go to watch the Games on TV. But as Heather Roy (nee Gonsalves), puts it, “Kya karega bhai, it’s the closest we will get on an Olympic Games. And what better way to get the khandhan and friends together in one place than at Olympic time in Olympic City.” And true, there’s nothing like the atmosphere in an Olympic host city. Sydney has blossomed during its Olympic preparations. The city repaved streets, widened sidewalks and added parks. Developers spent billions on new skyscrapers and hotels. At Homebush Bay, the main site of Summer Games, sleek steel-and-glass structures rise from what used to be wetlands and a eucalyptus forest. “The city really has never looked so good,” says one resident, Emma Bowman. But like hundreds of thousands of others, Bowman has little appreciation for the Olympics, and she’s leaving town when the Games begin. Atlanta was known for its enthusiasm over the 1996 Summer Games, Sydney may become known for its cynicism and indifference. Many Australians have leapt to criticise the nation’s readiness to serve as Olympic host. But the clearest sign of scepticism may be the coming exodus of the city’s residents. During what is usually a quiet month for travel from Sydney, one recent survey reported that 560,000 of the city’s 4 million people will leave. The survey, by Games sponsor Ansett Airlines, found that about 15 per cent of Sydney’s population planned to escape, with 55 per cent of those indicating that they would travel overseas during the Games, which will run from September 15 through October 1. The airline also found that only 60 per cent of Australians had a “positive” view of the 2000 Summer Olympics. A practical reason for some people to leave Sydney is that schools, many businesses and most government offices will close. Bad publicity has soured the Olympic for others. Allegations of corruption hit Olympic officials in May when a Greek-Australian schoolgirl, picked to carry the Olympic torch on the first leg of its journey from Athens to Sydney, was replaced by the daughter of the vice-president of the International Olympic Committee, Australian Kevan Gosper. There was more controversy when some Aboriginal leaders made threats about riots during the Games if the government did not apologise for its history of racial injustice. “If you want to see burning cars and burning buildings, then come over,” Mr Charles Perkins, a well-known Aboriginal activist, declared earlier this year. “It’s burn, baby, burn.” Fears that the city simply will be too crowded have prompted still others to book outbound flights in the next few days. “It will be completely impossible to get around,” said Mr Andrew Boucher, who lives in the Sydney suburb of Coogee and will vacation in England during the Olympics, “and completely impossible to enjoy the city because it will be so overwhelmed by the Olympic phenomenon.” One Sydney chruch, in a bid to attract people fed up with the Olympics, has put out the following tongue-in-cheek notice outside it’s gates: “Heaven: Good seats still available. Come in”. For the Gabriels and their friends, just being in Sydney during the Games period will be heaven. Take your Mark, and go! The message is clear to Australia’s tennis star Mark Philippoussis, he is not wanted in the Olympic team. No one in the Australian men’s team wants to be his room-mate at the Olympic village. A rift between Olympic team-mates Philippoussis and Pat Rafter remains unresolved less than two weeks before the start of the Games in Sydney. Neither player approached the other during US Open in New York to sort out their differences over Davis Cup availability. Philippoussis didn’t back away from his condemnation of Rafter, another Olympian Lleyton Hewitt and Cup captain John Newcombe who were critical of his late withdrawal from the team that beat Brazil in Brisbane in late July. The split in the Games men’s team was revealed to be just as wide as ever after the world No. 15 lost to American Jan-Michael Gambill 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in their delayed second round match yesterday. On whether he and Rafter had a chance to chat, Philippoussis replied: ‘‘No, I don’t want an opportunity. He said what he had to say. That’s final. I’ll just worry about myself and play my matches.’’ Philippoussis is now in Melbourne to practice after what he described as a disappointing US hardcourt season when he won only four matches in five tournaments. He said he was eager to get to Sydney to represent Australia and enjoy the atmosphere living in the athletes’ village at Homebush. To the question of team harmony, he said: ‘‘There are only a couple of guys who said something that upset me. I’ve lost respect for them. ‘‘Like I said, there was a couple of guys and the captain that said things. And the other guys, I have no problems with. They said nothing and I’ll say hello and that’s it. But I wouldn’t go out to dinner with them.’’ Philippoussis said he was looking forward to marching in the Games opening ceremony and to soak up the excitement heightened by the event being held in Australia. ‘‘Like the last Olympics, it was a thrill. It was a great atmosphere staying in the Olympic village with all the athletes. I know what to expect and I’m just going to try and come up with a medal.’’ The powerful-serving 23-year-old Victorian said: ‘‘I’m just going to go back to Melbourne, see my mother and sister, see my friends, just relax, see my girlfriend and just train and look forward to the Olympics.’’ His team-mates are not looking forward to him being there though! —
PMG |
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Indian troupe for opening ceremony SYDNEY, Sept 6 (PTI) — For some Indian dancers here, it has been a dream come true to be performing at the Olympic Games opening ceremony. While the Sydney organising committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) and choreographer Jason are keeping the show a secret to surprise the world on September 15, the troupe selected to perform find it difficult to conceal their joy. Raghavan Nair, with his troupe of nine dancers and Devinder Dharia, with his group of 15, will represent Indian culture as the eyes of the world turn centrestage to witness the opening of the world’s greatest sports festival. “One morning I received a call from the Ethnic Department asking me to come for audition. I could barely believe what I had heard. I went with 20 of my Indian and Australian students. “There were about 35 groups waiting. Each was given two minutes to perform. Our excitement knew no bounds when we were amongst the chosen 20-odd groups comprising about 2,000 dancers”, says Nair, who hails from Kasergoe village in Kerala and whose father, Krishnan Nair, was a famous Kathakali dancer at Kalakshetra in Chennai. “As I was growing up, I realised that my village had only green fields and farming to offer. We moved to Delhi at the age of 10 and it was while living in Mandi House that I was exposed to the rich world of dance, drama and music”. |
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Protective gear seized from Israeli guards SYDNEY, Sept 6 (Reuters) — Australian police confiscated bullet-proof vests and pistol holsters from guards accompanying the Israeli Olympic team, a Sydney Olympics security source said today. “They got caught in the (athletes’ village). It’s my understanding the items were found in some luggage,” the source told Reuters. The source said no weapons were found. The Australian Customs Service said only that some “personal protective equipment” had been seized from officials of an unidentified team on Saturday. “The items were found by New South Wales police during screening of baggage entering the Olympic village last Saturday night,” customs official Leon Bedington said. “The items have been formally seized by Customs and a warning letter delivered to the relevant team official. Customs is not taking any further action.” Australian authorities have said agents from overseas security organisations will not be allowed to carry guns during the Games. They also said measures had been put in place to ensure that diplomatic immunity would not cover any unauthorised person found carrying weapons. Local media reported that several countries, including Israel and the USA had asked for dispensation to bring their own armed security agents to protect their teams. |
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Radhakrishnan causes a major upset JALANDHAR, Sept 6 — Major upsets were recorded in the 30th Senior National and Inter-State Carrom Championship at Punjab Armed Police Complex when world No. 1 and Arjuna awardee A. Maria Irudayam (two-time world champion and nine-time national champion) of Indian Airlines lost to K. Radhakrishnan of Tamil Nadu at 25-3, 15-23, 10-25, in the prequarter final match of men singles. In another keen pre-quarterfinal lasting three games upcoming star of Maharashtra Yogesh Pardosh defeated India No. 1 and defending champion Nagsen Etambe of Bank Sports Board at 6-15, 14-11, 17-16. N. Natraj of Indian Airlines defeated Raju Katare of Mank Sports Board at 15-25, 25-19, 18-13. R.M. Shankara of Karnataka defeated ex-junior champion D. Kubendra Baby of Tamil Nadu by 21-13, 25-11. India No. 2 B. Arokia Raj of Bank Sports Board crushed L.I.C. player Prakash Gaikwad at 21-14, 9-25, 25-12. V.K. Sridhar of Andhra defeated B.C. Ananda of Karnataka at 023, 24-19, 13-12. Raju Bhaisara of Vidarbha, who had earlier defeated Jagan Bangle of Bank Sports Board in fourth round, won against J.P. Dash of Indian Audit & Accounts at 21-5, 13-25, 23-9. Surujuddin Ahmed (LIC) defeated Suresh Pradhan of Orissa at 25-16, 15-24, 25-6. In the women single pre-quarter final three-time national champion and India No. 1 R. Sharmila of Tamil Nadu edged out G. Renathy of Bank Sports Board at 25-6, 19-8. Other results: R. Saritha (RBI) b Rashim Ranjan (Bihar) at 23-9, 25-8, A. Ponnarsi (TN) b Deepti Kesari (Bihar) 25-0, 25-12, P. Nirmala (LIC) b K. Swarna (Hyderabad) 25-6, 18-17. Sangeeta Chandorkar (RBI) loses to S. Apoorna (Hyderabad) 25-123, 21-11. Anupama Kedar (BSB) b Asmita Kanukak (Mah.) 25-1, 20-18. Sujata Hylinge (Mah) b Bharti Narayan (LIC) b 25-3, 22-18. Rashmi Kumari (BSB) b Bhanu Dass Assam 25-0, 13-18, 25-0. |
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Govt to decide
on cricket ties: Muthiah DUBAI, Sept 6 (PTI) — Cricket board president A.C. Muthiah said today resuming of cricket ties with Pakistan would ultimately depend on the Indian
Government. “I may generally discuss the resumption of cricket ties with Pakistan board chief Lt-Gen Tauqir Zia who is also here. But a final decision will be subject to the views of the country,” he told PTI. Mr Muthiah, who is here to attend the Asian Cricket Foundation (ACF) meeting, said “if the government decides that we should not play against Pakistan we will abide by that. We have limited choice in the matter”. On the issue of Kapil Dev continuing as the national team’s coach, Mr Muthiah said he would decide only after he returned to India after the ACF meeting. “I will have one more sitting with Kapil Dev before taking a final decision in the matter,” he said. Former ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya and Sri Lanka board president Thilanga Sumathipala are also attending the ACF meeting. Meanwhile, General Zia said the Indian board should decide by the end of September whether they would be able to tour Pakistan. |
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Indian athlete’s death shocks
athletic fraternity PATIALA, Sept 6
— The news of the death of one of India's top
athlete, discus thrower, Ajit Bhaduria, has not only sent
shock waves among the athletic fraternity at the NIS
here, but more significantly, his death has finally unveiled the cloak that has been shrouding the dope
infested world of Indian athletics for too long. Ajit
Bhaduria was a regular at the NIS for the past several
years, attending various national camps and with his
charming personality he had endeared himself to the local
populace. The locals , both inside and outside the NIS
complex, remember the well built thrower as a soft
spoken, affable and happy go lucky type of a man, always carrying an infectious smile. Ajit Bhaduria bagged a gold
medal in the 1995 Manila Asian Track and Field meet and a
bronze in the 1998 ATF held at Fukuoka. However, in the
Bangkok Asian Games he slipped to the sixth spot. The
news of one of the country's leading athletes has been
met with shock and disbelief at the NIS
here. Intriguingly, several senior coaches, under whose
tutelage Ajit Bhaduria trained, choose to maintain a
sphinx-like silence over the manner of the athletes
demise. Ajit Bhaduria died at Jamshedpur on Monday
morning. He was working with the Tate's at Jamshedpur. However, a top coach was candid enough to
admit that “Ajit Bhaduria`s death should act as an
eye opener to other athletes who are heavy on dope.
Otherwise, many more Bhaduria`s will follow as the number
of athletes who are on dope is increasing every day. The
case of Ajit Bhaduria should serve as a grim reminder to
the younger lot who opt for dope to enhance their
performance level”. Coaches here recall how during
training stints at the NIS, throwers register unheard of
distances. But the performance's of the same athletes dip
to abysmally low levels, whenever they compete abroad and
even statistics prove this. Similarly, sports medicine
experts are worried as to how a young athlete like Ajit
Bhaduria should have succumbed to a ‘heart
stroke’. Said a top sports medicine doctor
“Death due to cardiac arrest at the age of just 32
of an active athlete like Bhaduria just does not add up.
There is more than what meets the eye in Ajit Bhaduria`s
case”. Another sports medicine doctor explained
“The long-term effects of anabolic steroids is too
well known to be illustrated. It is also true that the
use of anabolic steroids is all too prevalent in the case
of throwers and sprinters more than in any other athlete
competing in any other event”. Another athletic
coach, stunned on hearing Bhaduria`s sudden death said,
“The use of anabolic steroids has been associated
with cardio-vascular diseases, including sudden heart
strokes in athletes who are in their
thirties”. Ajit Bhaduria had said sometime ago that
he was trying to shift his base from Jamshedpur. He was
planning to join the Railways. Bhaduria had even
forwarded his job application to the Railways recently,
it is learnt. After three of her four long-standing
records were put to shade in recent months, P.T.Usha had
urged the association to get all three athletes ,who had
shattered her records, tested for dope, before the
federation ratified the records. This request from
P.T.Usha shows that there is something drastically wrong
with Indian athletes. A top athlete had confided earlier
during a national camp, “Indian athletes being on
dope is no big news. It is the in thing for every athlete. Just for the sake of a medal, these athletes are
risking their own lives”. The sudden death of a top
Indian athlete is indeed a frightening thought, said a
prominent coach. Now, the AAFI must ensure that certain
concrete ways and means are established to eradicate this
dope menance, which has already reached alarming proportions. How far the AAFI goes in its effort to wipe
off this evil, is anybody's guess.
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Roy Fredericks dead LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) — Former Guyana and West Indies opener Roy Fredericks died yesterday from throat cancer in a New York hospital, the CANA news agency said today. He was 58. Fredericks, a small, pugnacious left-hander, played 59 Tests and scored 4,334 runs at an average of 42.49. |
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