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| Thursday, September 14, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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India score narrow 2-1 win SYDNEY, Sept 13 — Crafty frontliner Baljit Dhillon and speedy winger Mukesh Kumar scored once each in the first half of play to help India rally from an early goal deficit and record a narrow 2-1 win over Canada in their last warm-up tie in the run-up to the Olympic hockey competition here today.
Baboor, Raman confident SYDNEY, Sept 13 — Getting ready to take part in his third successive Olympics, former national table tennis champion Chetan Baboor today exuded confidence that he would do better this time. Italy, Brazil begin with wins |
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| Jesus prays for a miracle SYDNEY, Sept 13 — The lone boxer from the Democratic Republic of Congo could fly all the way to the Sydney Olympics and miss the Games. Lightweight Kakonge Jesus Kibunde and the eight strong Congo team missed their original flight and are now due into Sydney at 10 a.m. tomorrow, the day before the opening ceremony. IOC move angers mediamen Record Olympic team representation by one family
Nirupama, Manisha gain direct entry Woodies ready for golden farewell Shruti upsets Sai Jayalakshmi NEW DELHI, Sept 13 — The expectations from the Indian hockey team of a medal are so great that even before they have begun their campaign in the 27th Olympic Games at Sydney, the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) has received many lucrative sponsorship deals. 5-wkt haul by Wiseman Anand wins World Cup No tax return filed by Ajay Sunita to go as observer? 
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India score narrow 2-1 win SYDNEY, Sept 13 (PTI) — Crafty frontliner Baljit
Dhillon and speedy winger Mukesh Kumar scored once each in the first
half of play to help India rally from an early goal deficit and record
a narrow 2-1 win over Canada in their last warm-up tie in the run-up
to the Olympic hockey competition here today. It was a comfortable
win for India in the ultimate analysis considering that it was
achieved despite coach Vasudevan Baskaran preferring not to field
Mukesh Kumar and his other trump card in the forwardline, the
mercurial Dhanraj Pillay, for the major part of the encounter for
tactical reasons. India, striving to end their 20-year medal drought
in Olympic hockey event, were stunned by a fifth minute strike from
Canada’s Scot Masher before Dhillon converted a penalty-stroke to
restore parity. Then veteran Mukesh struck home through a maze of
legs in a goalmouth melee to provide them with the winning touch in
their last match before the games. Each half in the match, which was
played on the practice pitch adjacent to the main one, was restricted
to 25 minutes duration. India, who had beaten Sydney XI 3-2 in a
practice game on Monday, will now have a few more practice sessions
before opening its group B campaign against Argentina, their bugbear
at the last games in Atlanta four years ago, on September 17. In a
match played on the new, bouncy practice pitch, Canada struck through
Masher before the Indians had settled down, following a fine,
concerted move down the left flank. Stung by the early reverse India
launched a counter-attack, Mukesh Kumar raced down the right flank and
provided a cross to Pillay who was bodily blocked by the Canadian
custodian. The resultant penalty-stroke was converted without any fuss
by Dhillon who scooped the ball to the roof of the net. But the
Canadians were not idle. They forced a penalty-corner in the eighth
minute but Pillay, charging out, brought off a fine save. At the
other end Mukesh Kumar, playing in the inside right position, was off
again with the ball and from almost the goal-line sent it across but
it went too fast for the speedy Pillay to connect. But the Indians
were not to be denied for long. Dhillon moved in from the left and, in
the ensuing goalmouth melee, Mukesh Kumar managed to push the ball in
through a tangle of legs. Though the second session was barren, it
provided a fine opportunity for coach Baskaran to try out the younger
lot like Sameer Dad and he appeared satisfied with his team’s
display. “That was a good match for us”, he told the handful of
Indian reporters after the match. Though conceding that a coach was
never satisfied till the team produces the necessary results, Baskaran
said. “We tried more things like sharper ball running and opening up
the flanks. I am satisfied our strategies are working out fine”. AP
adds: Malaysia, heading for a tough opening match against Germany on
Saturday, played with tight marking when it beat Argentina in its
final practice match. Coach Stephen Van Huizen played down the
victory. “We cannot read the results but it helps the boys to be in
the right frame of mind before the tournament proper,” he said. S.
Kuhan flicked in the solitary goal on a penalty corner in the 50th
minute. In earlier friendly matches, the Malaysians lost 0-1 to
Poland and beat Spain 2-1. Malaysia, which finished 11th in the 1996
games, is in pool A with Canada, Britain, Germany, the defending
champion Netherlands and Pakistan. |
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Baboor, Raman confident SYDNEY, Sept 13 (UNI) — Getting ready to take part in
his third successive Olympics, former national table tennis champion
Chetan Baboor today exuded confidence that he would do better this
time. I think I am better prepared for this Olympics,’’ Chetan
told UNI in the Games Village adding “I have the best
chance.’’ “Though it is my third Olympics, the aura surrounding
the game is awesome,’’ Chetan admitted candidly. Chetan made it to
the Sydney Olympics after qualifying in the Asian championship held in
Hong Kong early this year. “I finished eighth and there were nine
slots for the Olympics, so I am here,’’ he said. His doubles
partner is national champion Raman Subramanian, for whom this is the
first Olympics. “Yes, I was overwhelmed by the thought of playing in
the Olympics, but I am overcoming it, I am getting used to it, we came
here in the first week of this month and the feeling (of taking part
in the games) is sinking in,’’ Raman said. Raman and Chetan had
finished ninth as a doubles pair in the Asian qualifier, which earned
Raman the ticket for Sydney. “We are ranked 20th in the world as a
doubles pair’’ Raman informed adding that they have been playing
against top class pairs in practice matches. Paulomi Dutta, is the
lone woman table tennis player from India in the Olympics and she said
playing in the Olympics was itself a great experience. “I will learn
and emerge a better player.” Chetan said much would depend on the
draw. “Victory in the first round always gives you the much-needed
confidence.’’ Raman echoed his partner’s feeling and said he was
hoping that as a doubles pair they would put up a good show. |
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Italy, Brazil begin with wins MELBOURNE, Sept 13 (Reuters) — Italy, searching for their first Olympic soccer gold medal for 64 years, scored a highly fortunate 1-0 win over Australia in their opening Group A match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday, with Andrea Pirlo grabbing the winning goal nine minutes from time. Pirlo, who scored both goals when Italy won the European under-21 final in June, was lucky to score after being played into the clear by substitute Massimo Margiotta. With only goalkeeper Danny Milosevic to beat, he mis-cued his right-foot shot which hit the right-hand post and seemed to take an age to spin over the goal-line. Australian defender Hayden Foxe scrambled the ball away and for several moments it appeared that referee Peter Prendergast of Jamaica, who had a poor game and seemed to be on the verge of losing control, had waved play on. But with the Italian substitutes jumping for joy on the touchline he suddenly pointed to the centre-spot to confirm the goal. It brought a chorus of booing from the 93,000-plus crowd, who saw their side challenge the Italians all the way in a keenly-fought match that Australia could easily have won with better luck and crisper finishing. Italian goalkeeper Christian Abbiatti denied them with three outstanding saves and was lucky to keep a clean sheet when Mark Viduka had the Italian goal at his mercy but could not control a fierce high cross from the right which bounced off his knee and over the bar. AFP adds: Brazil’s women footballers romped to an easy 2-0 victory against Sweden in their group E opener as the Olympic Games sports action got underway, two days ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony. Goals either side of half-time clinched victory for the South Americans, who rarely looked troubled by their Scandinavian opponents before a large crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Brazil took the lead on 21 minutes when Pretinha took the plaudits as the ball was prodded into the Swedish net from just inside the six-yard box after some good build-up work down the right flank. However, Swedish defender Sara Larsson appeared to get the decisive touch under pressure from the Brazilian. Brazil doubled their lead in the second half after Katia rifled in a firm shot to make it 2-0. Brazil are one of the strongest teams in the women’s tournament and are expected to challenge favourites, the
USA, China and Norway for the medal honours. CANBERRA: Germany beat Australia 3-0 as women soccer players kicked off the 2000 Olympics in the Australian capital Canberra on Wednesday. European champions Germany eased to victory with Inka Grings scoring a close-range goal in the 35th minute, midfielder Bettina Wiegmann notching up the second with a header in the 70th and Renate Lingor hammering in the third goal in the final minute. Local sports officials, however, are still trying to live down an embarrassing blunder which almost left the city without its scheduled 11 games. Bruce Stadium, which is normally used for rugby, was re-turfed last month but the grass, grown in Cairns in tropical north Queensland, turned brown after being moved to Canberra where August temperatures fall to zero. Attempts to paint the grass green failed to fool anyone and the officials had to move quickly to order new turf which was hurriedly laid, receiving approval from the soccer world governing body FIFA just last weekend. |
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Nirupama, Manisha gain direct entry SYDNEY, Sept 13 (PTI) — Indian women’s tennis got an unexpected boost with its two top players, Nirupama Vaidyanathan and Manisha Malhotra, getting direct entries to the doubles event of the Olympic Games tennis championship today. The duo, who represented India at the Federation Cup tournament in Thailand in February before bowing out in the final league match, got a shot in the arm after German star Anke Huber pulled out of both the singles and doubles events with a wrist injury. Nirupama and Manisha will now replace Huber and her partner Jana Kandarr in the draw for the 32-nation women’s doubles tournament which will be made on Friday at the Sydney Opera House. India’s Chef-De-Mission Ashok Mattoo said necessary clearances had been obtained from all concerned and he was making frantic efforts to contact the two players through the All-India Tennis Association (AITA) in New Delhi. Nirupama, the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games bronze medal winner, is right now in the USA and Manisha, who won the $10,000 ITF Women’s Circuit event in Delhi last week, is in Paris. Nirupama and Manisha are based in the USA and have been growing tennis-wise outside the Indian system. While Nirupama’s credentials are already established (she is in world’s top 200), the win over the weekend for national grass court champion Manisha proves that she is in good form. Manisha, after winning the Delhi ITF event, skipped the Bangalore leg and flew to Paris to play in some inter-club events. “She was to take part in some exhibition tournaments 100 kms off
Paris and then play a $ 75,000 tournament in the French capital,” her mother told PTI in New Delhi. “We came to know early this morning. Manisha has been informed by Mahesh (Bhupathi) and she has rushed back to Paris to get her Australian visa done,” she said. Manisha will be flying to Sydney directly from Paris, her mother added. |
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Woodies ready for golden farewell SYDNEY, Sept 13 (Reuters) — The timing is perfect, the setting ideal and a Hollywood climax a wonderful possibility as Australia’s famed “Woodies’’ prepare to defend their men’s doubles title in the Olympics tennis tournament.
Mark Woodforde, fast approaching age 35 and the birth of his first child, is retiring at year’s end, thereby dissolving a partnership with Todd Woodbridge that has produced a record 58 career titles, including 10 Grand Slam crowns. The Olympics tournament will mark their farewell performance in Australia and give the Woodies a chance to go out on a golden blaze of glory. “This will be the last time I get to play in Australia. It’s fantastic to be able to go out in the Olympics,’’ said Woodforde, instantly identifiable by his bushy shock of bright red hair. “And a great way to put an end to a fabulous partnership with Todd as the Woodies.’’ In winning the 2000 French Open title, the Woodies broke the record for most titles won by a partnership. Woodbridge, ranked first in the world in doubles and at age 29 not about to quit the game, joined Woodforde for a run of five successive Wimbledon titles from 1993 but said their Olympics triumph in Atlanta ranked near the top of his career list. “Winning the Olympics gold medal has been one of the highlights of my career,’’ said Woodbridge. “It’s one of the greatest experiences of your whole life.’’ The men’s singles tournament has been hit by the late withdrawals of 1996 champion Andre Agassi, missing the games for serious personal reasons, and 1992 winner Marc Rosset, who complained of being too tired. The field also lacks Grand Slam singles king Pete Sampras due to his general disinterest, an affliction shared by women’s world No Martina Hingis. Woodbridge believes they are the losers. “Anyone who misses it is a fool,’’ said Woodbridge. While the Olympics will mark their last competition before the home folks, the Woodies are expected to end their partnership in one last flourish at December’s Davis Cup final in Spain. “The last two events of my career, I’ll be playing for my country,’’ said Woodforde, who has also won two Grand Slam doubles titles with other partners and five mixed doubles titles in Grand Slam events. “It’s an exciting time for me to be able to go out on that note.’’ |
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Jesus prays for a miracle SYDNEY, Sept 13 (AFP) — The lone boxer from the Democratic Republic of Congo could fly all the way to the Sydney Olympics and miss the Games. Lightweight Kakonge Jesus Kibunde and the eight strong Congo team missed their original flight and are now due into Sydney at 10 a.m. tomorrow, the day before the opening ceremony. Kibunde will be praying his flight is early so he can make the compulsory weigh-in between 8 a.m. And 10 a.m. “The weigh-in is between eight and 10 tomorrow (Thursday) and everyone has been advised if any boxer misses it, they will unfortunately miss the tournament,” boxing competition manager Paul Thompson said. “We’re going by the AIBA (International Amateur Boxing Association) rules, that’s the official stance.” Thompson said there would be no exemption for extenuating circumstances. |
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IOC move angers mediamen SYDNEY, Sept 13 (AFP) — The International Olympic Committee today announced it was banning the media from the plush Sydney hotel where its members are staying during the Games — prompting a furious reaction from reporters organisations. The move, which an IOC spokesman said had been taken for security reasons, was condemned by the International Sports Press Association as a breach of the IOC’s commitment to greater transparency in the wake of a series of sleaze scandals. “At a time when the IOC has agreed to televise sessions and become more accountable, this banning of the media creates a damaging precedent to impede access to IOC members,” the ISPA’s first vice-president, Alain Lunzenfichter, said in a letter to IOC chief Juan Antonio Samaranch. The letter urged Samaranch to reconsider the decision. Accredited media had until today enjoyed access to the hotel, offering reporters the opportunity to catch IOC members for informal off-the-record briefings of the kind that have frequently led to leaks that have
embarrassed the organisation’s hierarchy. |
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2 expelled after
testing positive SYDNEY, Sept 13 (ANI) — A Taiwanese weightlifter Chen Po-pu and Bulgarian triple jumper Iva Prandzheva were barred from the Olympic Games after testing positive for methandienone and nandrolone, respectively. Prandzheva was also caught for taking methandienone after she won a silver medal at the 1995 world championships. |
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Sydney countdown — 72 Did you know that a family who migrated from India to Australia have a record of having the most Olympic team representations by one family. So while Olympics dreams are about to start coming true in Sydney for some, for Perth’s Pearce family the Games Opening Ceremony will stir up golden memories. Brothers Mel (70), Eric (68), Gordon (66) and Julian (60) are members of the most successful sporting family in Australian Olympic history. In fact the three eldest were members of the Australian team when the Games were last held in this Island continent: 1956 in Melbourne, which laid the foundation for Australia’s hockey success. The Pearce family migrated from India soon after Independence and Pearce Senior — who worked in the Services — and his two elder sons were already accomplished hockey players when they came to Western Australia. The three elder brothers of this Anglo-Indian family cannot wait for the Sydney games to start on Friday. “It’s something you never forget,” said Gordon, two-time Olympic medal winner. “Melbourne was our first Olympics and the team was untested.” The team finished sixth at the Melbourne games, (India winning the gold) but the Pearce boys —with the inclusion of young brother Julian — went on to represent the country in various combinations at a further three Olympics. This week the Pearce brothers caught up with an old friend and opponent of theirs. India’s legendary Leslie Claudius, who is passing through Perth on his way to the Sydney Olympics. The Pearce brothers had played in the same era as the Indian great who won three golds and one silver between 1948 and 1960. Gordon played in 1956, 60 and picked up silver in 1968; Melville in 1956; Eric competed at four Olympics and won bronze and silver at the 1964 Tokyo and 1968 Mexico games. He even carried the Australian flag at the closing ceremony in Mexico. Julian, who missed selection for the Melbourne games, also picked up medals in Tokyo and Mexico. If the two Olympic selection of Eric’s daughter Colleen are counted, the family has been in a record 13 Games’ representations. A fifth Pearce brother Cec also played for Australia but not at Olympic Games. Apart from being successful on the field, the Indian born brothers have also had very successful professional careers in Australia. Gordon pursed a career in the WA State Public Service until 1985 when he was appointed chief executive of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. Melville Pearce owned a successful real estate business for 35 year. Married with four children, he now works part-time as marketing manager for a real estate company. Eric Pearce is retired and lives in Perth. While in Perth, Leslie Claudius also met up with another legendary hockey player Kevin Carton who’s family also migrated from India and he went on to be Australian vice-captain in 1960, the year Claudius captained India to a silver in Rome. Now 67 years old, Kevin Carton also captained Australia in 1961 and ‘64. He works for a hotel management company and is the Chairman of the Western Australian Tourism Commission. “It was great to meet up with these champions who came from India and have contributed to the game in this country,” Claudius told this correspondent yesterday. “I’m really looking forward to Sydney so I guess for these blokes it is extra special since they are considered real heroes in this great sporting nation,” Claudius said. IOC admits drug flaw Some athletes could get away with using the banned endurance drug EPO without fear of expulsion from the Olympics or being stripped of any medals won, the IOC has now conceded. The testing process was hailed last month as a breakthrough in the fight against drugs, but Australian scientists who developed the test now say that a three-day loophole existed. The IOC says labelled as “sour grapes” complaints by Australian scientists that the use of the lesser test is merely a public relations exercise. Two Australian-developed blood tests, one that can detect EPO use up to 28 days before screening and one that shows if it has been taken within the past five days, are being used along with a French urine test that can only detect drug use in the previous three days. An athlete who fails only the 28-day test merely becomes a target for further testing. To be sanctioned, the athlete must fail the other two tests. Peter Larkins, a member of the SOCOG’s medical team, said that the 28-day test alone should have been used. “If they were going to catch athletes using EPO at the Sydney Olympics, they had to have a test that would catch them weeks after their last dose when EPO was being used to its best advantage,” he told the ABC’s Four Corners last night. IOC medical Director Patrick Schamasch conceded that the combined test could only detect drug use within the three preceding days, giving athletes a chance to stop taking the drug in time to clear the test. “If an athlete is competing in the second week and if he stops just before coming to Sydney there will be much less effective use,” he said. However, Dr Schamasch claimed the EPO test was enough to frighten drug cheats because a significant number of athletes had already withdrawn from the Sydney games. And the EPO 2000 research team said that a stand-alone 28-day test would never have withstood legal challenges from athletes. Australian swimmers Ian Thorpe, Kieren Perkins and Hayley Lewis were among the first athletes who undertook the blood test when they arrived at the Games Village on Monday. But there was controversy when national coach Don Talbot said drug testers were avoiding sprinters in favour of testing distance athletes. “There’s talk that EPO only helps distance people — that’s baloney, it helps everyone,” Talbot has said. America’s world 100m freestyle champion Jenny Thompson also warned that testing authorities should look beyond endurance athletes. “I think it’s a mistake for them not to test sprinters, because everyone trains with endurance to some degree, and sprinters will probably use it,” she said. Dutch manager Ad Roskam confirmed that two of his team’s distance swimmers had also been blood-tested since they arrived in Sydney on Saturday. Australian marathon runner Susan Hobson, who is competing in her third Olympics, predicted 20 per cent of the runners in her event would be using EPO despite the tests. “In the weeks leading up to the games and possibly in the period following the games, you know, I will wonder just how many girls in my marathon race were on EPO or any other drugs for that matter,” the Western Australian athlete said. “EPO is the drug you would turn to, to improve your performance in my event.” The drug, originally developed to combat kidney failure, boosts the production of red blood cells, which carry oxygen through the body. —
PMG |
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Shruti upsets Sai Jayalakshmi BANGALORE, Sept 13 (UNI)
— Wild card Shruti Dhawan of India ran amuck to pack home top seed
and compatriot Sai Jayalakshmi on a day of upsets today to enter the
quarterfinals of the third leg of the $ 10,000 Khodays-ITF Women’s
Tennis Tournament here today.
Shruti, who had been a nemisis for Sai
Jayalakshmi as she had beaten her fancied rival in their three
previous encounters, earned her fourth victory in a hard way at 7-6
(9-7), 7-5 in a match that lasted 106 minutes. In their seven outings
so far, Shruti now has a 4-3 edge. She would now take on fifth seed
Archana Venkataraman, who took just 55 minutes to despatch unseeded
Geeta Manohar 6-1, 6-2. Two other seeds to fall today were second
seed I-Ting Wang of Chinese Taipei who lost 2-6, 3-6 to national grass
court champion Radhika Tulpule, who is unseeded here and eighth seed
Arthi Venkatraman, who in an absorbing two hour encounter lost to T.
Yamini 3-6, 7-5, 1-6. However, the remaining five seeded players
sailed into the quarterfinals with straight set victories. Second
seed Rushmi Chakravarthi of India playing with confidence thrashed
qualifier Nandita Chandrashekar also of India 6-2, 6-3. |
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IHF nets another sponsorship deal NEW DELHI, Sept 13 — The expectations from the Indian hockey team of a medal are so great that even before they have begun their campaign in the 27th Olympic Games at Sydney, the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) has received many lucrative sponsorship deals. Major companies like the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) and Samsung India had already pitched in with substantial amount as sponsorship fee for the hockey team. And the latest to join the bandwagon is Today’s Writing Products Ltd, which presented a cheque for Rs 5 lakh to IHF President KPS Gill here today. Chairman and Managing Director of Today’s Products, Rajesh Drolia also announced a cash award of Rs 50 lakh to the Indian hockey team if they won the gold medal at Sydney, Rs 11 lakh for the silver and Rs 5 lakh for the bronze. IHF president K.P.S. Gill, who was confident of India lifting the gold at Sydney, said the association with Today’s “is not an association restricted to the Olympic Games alone, as it will be an ongoing process. I hope this association brings luck to Indian hockey”. Today’s has chosen an ideal time to build an association with hockey”, Mr Gill added. Today’s had pioneered the exciting “jeetna hai today” campaign during the cricket World Cup last year in England and it plans to extend the campaign to the Olympic Games as well, said Mr Mukesh Gupta of Today’s. He said a special motivational song, especially composed by Louis Banks and sung by Vinod Rathore, has been dedicated to the Indian hockey team. It may be recalled that both ONGC and Samsung too have announced additional cash prizes to the hockey team if they strike a medal in the Olympics. Samsung has promised Rs 50 lakh for winning the gold medal. Meanwhile, the Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey Tournament Society has collected a sum of Rs 6,21,000 from the benefit match conducted for ailing former Olympian Joginder Singh at the National Stadium here on August 29. |
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5-wkt haul by Wiseman BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Sept 13 (Reuters) — New Zealand ended the second day of the first test on 62 for two, 288 runs behind Zimbabwe who lost their last five first innings wickets for 68 on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe’s 350 was built on a fine 88 by Alistair Campbell who is still searching for his maiden test century. New Zealand’s Matthew Horne was 40 not out at the close. Zimbabwe, who resumed on 185 for four, seemed set for a total in excess of 400 while Campbell and Heath Streak were at the crease sharing a sixth-wicket stand of 76. However, Campbell was trapped in front by medium-pacer Nathan Astle an hour after lunch, the start of a slide which saw Zimbabwe crumble from 282 for five to 350 all out.
SCOREBOARD Zimbabwe (Ist innings): (185-4 overnight) G.Flower c Parore b Vettori 24 Rennie c McMillan b Wiseman 36 Carlisle c Horne b Wiseman 38 Campbell lbw b Astle 88 A.Flower c Astle b Cairns 29 Wishart c Richardson b Wiseman 17 Streak c Parore b Wiseman 51 P.Strang c Richardson b Wiseman 0 Nkala not out 30 B.Strang c Parore b O’Connor 10 Mutendera b Cairns 10 Extras: (b-5 lb-4 nb-8) 17 Total: (all out, 175.2 overs) 350 Fall of wickets: 1-40 2-91 3-120 4-157 5-206 6-282 7-291 Bowling: Cairns 28.2-9-77-2 (nb-1), O’Connor 30-7-63-1 (nb-1), McMillan 9-3-23-0, Vettori 52-23-79-1 (nb-6), Astle 11-6-9-1, Wiseman 45-16-90-5. New Zealand (Ist innings): Richardson c Carlisle b Streak 6 Horne not out 40 Sinclair lbw b Strang 12 Wiseman not out 1 Extras: (nb-3) 3 Total: (for 2 wickets, 25 overs) 62 Fall of wickets: 1-15 2-52 Bowling: Streak 7-1-23-1 (nb-1), Nkala 4-1-9-0 (nb-1), P Strang 8-3-11-1, B Strang 4-0-17-0 (nb-1), Mutendera 2-0-2-0. |
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Anand wins World Cup SHENGYANG (China), Sept 13 (UNI) — Indian grandmaster Vishvanathan Anand beat grandmaster Evegenne Bareev of Russia by 1.5-0.5 in the two game final to win the inaugural World Chess Cup here today.
The grandmaster from Chennai was awarded $ 50,000 and is expected to regain his second spot behind Garry Kasporov. Wearing a yellow chequed shirt Anand looked confident throughout the game. Bareev opened the game with French defence, shocking the experts, as Anand is having a ‘French killer’ reputation and has a massive score against the French defence. World champion Alexander Khalifman has recently changed his defence from French to Sicilian, after two comprehensive defeats from Anand. Bareev, knowing Anand’s reputation, tried to find solace in the endgame by exchanging the queens in the ninth move and seemingly equalised with his phalanx of pawn in the centre. However, Anand controlled his proceeding by the clever development of pieces and soon forced weakness in the black camp forcing Bareev to resign. This is a major psychological boost for Anand for the world chess championship to be held at New Delhi from November 25. |
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No tax return filed by Ajay NEW DELHI, Sept 13 (PTI) — The Income Tax authorities today claimed that former Test cricketer Ajay Sharma had not filed a single tax return so far, even as they were planning to summon more cricket players for questioning.
Highly-placed IT sources said that Sharma had not filed any tax return so far despite having taxable income. The sources claimed that when Sharma was confronted with the fact, he could give no plausible explanation for the lapse during the seven hour long grilling by the IT officials yesterday. They also recorded his preliminary statement on the raids conducted by the IT officials on his premises on July 20. The sources said Sharma would be again called for questioning after the authorities prepared his assessment report. Sharma, a prolific batsman and highest century maker in the domestic cricket, had left the country for London immediately after the match-fixing controversy was exposed by Delhi Police on April 6. He returned from London on September 11. During his stay in London, the CBI, which is also probing the case, had recorded his statement. Sharma, meanwhile, was not available for his comments on the IT claims. |
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Sunita to go
as observer? PATIALA, Sept 13 — Although the Amateur Athletic Federation of India [AAFI] has not included the name of middle distance runner Sunita Rani in the list of 24 athletes for the Sydney Olympics, the Union Sports Ministry’s proposal of sending Sunita Rani to Sydney in her capacity as an `observer’ is in the final stages of being implemented.
Top AAFI sources reveal that the Union Sports Minister, Mr S.S. Dhindsa, is in the forefront of sending the athlete to the Olympics as an observer. Earlier the Sports Ministry was keen to send Sunita Rani to the Olympics for exposure, for the athlete had already attained Olympic qualifying norms in three events before she had sustained a stress fracture in her right thigh. However, sources maintain, this move of the Sports Ministry backfired when certain experts pointed out that Olympics was not meant for `exposure’. This move would also have stirred a hornets nest among top athletes of the country who had missed the bus for the Olympics. |
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Did you know that a family who migrated from India to Australia have a record of having the most Olympic team representations by one family. So while Olympics dreams are about to start coming true in Sydney for some, for Perth’s Pearce family the Games Opening Ceremony will stir up golden memories. 
