The more the merrier seems to be Sydney’s motto now
LIKE the now lit fire at the Homebush Olympic cauldron, Sydney is jumping. With the Opening Ceremony over and done with, there is a sigh of relief. Before it’s entry into Sydney on Thursday, the last time the Olympic flame was in Sydney, an imposter created havoc with a homemade replica of the real thing. 

• Japan’s Tamura wins judo gold 

Men’s sprint relay quartet qualifies
NEW DELHI, Sept 16 — The Indian men’s 4x100m relay quartet of C.T. Durai, Rajeev Balkrishnan, Ajay Raj Singh and Anil Kumar today qualified for the Sydney Olympics following a specially held qualification trial at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here.

Cairns leads Kiwis to victory
BULAWAYO, Sept 16 — New Zealand cruised to a seven-wicket victory in the first Test today after seamer Chris Cairns had wrecked Zimbabwe’s second innings with a spell in which he took four for nine. Cairns’s morning contrasted sharply with that of Zimbabwe left-arm spinner Grant Flower who was called for throwing by Australian umpire Darrell Hair.

East Bengal lift IFA Shield
CALCUTTA, Sept 16 — Riding on the crest of their recent successes, East Bengal kept their cool in the crucial stages to fashion a thrilling 5-2 victory via a tie-breaker against arch rivals Mohun Bagan to regain the IFA Shield here today.

REGIONAL SPORT BRIEFS

• Punjab School Games begin 

• Trials

• Women’s football camp

Aussies make early exit; Kuwait win

SYDNEY, Sept 16 (AFP) — Host nation Australia became the first high-profile casualty of the Olympic men’s soccer tournament here today as Italy lived up to their status as one of the favourites for gold by cruising into the quarter-finals.

In the night’s other matches, Kuwait upset the Czech Republic in Brisbane and the USA drew 1-1 with Cameroon, leaving group C still wide open.

A terrible mistake by Australian defender Simon Colomiso gifted Nigeria a 3-2 victory at a packed Sydney Football Stadium, leaving the Olyroos with two defeats from two games and no chance of progressing.

His 64th-minute back header was woefully short and Victor Agali was able to round goalkeeper Danny Milosevic to slot the ball into an empty net.

Colomiso was lucky to still be on the pitch at that point after the game boiled over ten minutes into the second-half. Australian captain Brett Emerton elbowed his Nigerian counterpart Celestine Babayaro in the face sparking a prolonged melee during which Clomiso appeared to strike Yakubu Ayegbeni to the ground.

Amazingly it was Babayaro not Colomiso who joined Emerson on the long walk to the touchline for an early bath. Two classic goals on the counter-attack had earlier put the Nigerians in the driving seat.

First Pius Ikedia ran onto a through ball from Julius Aghahowa and finished clinically from 10 yards then Aghahowa produced a delicate chip from a tight angle to lift the ball over the onrushing Milosevic.

But the Australians showed great character and hit back with two goals in three minutes just before the interval to level the game up.

Hayden Foxe’s free-kick took a wicked deflection to cut the deficit then a sublime piece of skill from Celtic striker Mark Viduka put Kasey Wehrman in for the equaliser.

Italy made light work of Honduras in the other group a match in Adelaide, racing to a 3-0 lead after just 21 minutes.

Gianni Commandini opened the scoring with glancing header from Nicola Ventola’s flick-on after 11 minutes.

Three minutes later Massimo Ambrosini thumped in a header from outside the penalty box to double the lead.

Then Commandini added his second, capitalising on poor defending to fire home from the edge of the area.

He should have claimed his hat-trick just minutes later but headed wide before he did indeed find the net for the third time in the game.

Unfortunately it was his own goal as he headed julio Cesar Leon’s corner past a startled Christian Abbiati to give Honduras a glimmer of hope.

However, with the job completed, Italy sat on their lead and played out the second-half in time honoured tradition, though Ventola managed to squander two simple opportunities.

Nigeria need a point in their final match, against the Italians, to be certain of finishing above Honduras in the second qualifying pace.

In group C, striker Faraj Laheeb scored two stunning goals as Kuwait battled back from a goal down against the Czech Republic.

Kuwait, who lost their opening match 3-2 to Cameroon, had appeared to be heading for an early flight home when Marek Heinz put the Czechs ahead after only two minutes.

But after Khalaf Almutairi had equalised, 10 minutes after the break, they overpowered their supposedly superior opposition with some wonderful flowing football.

Laheeb’s first strike came at the end of a sweeping more out of defence that carved the Czech defence apart. His second was the goal of the tournament so far — a beautifully flighted chip over Czech goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobyny that ended in the top corner.

Big defender Roman Lengyel headed home in injury time for the Czechs.

Squandered chances cost the USA dear in Canberra. Both Josh Wolff and Conor Casey spurned a series of opportunities that should have allowed the Americans to wrap up the three points long before the finish.

As it was they needed a 65th minute penalty from Pete Vagenas to cancel out Cameroon’s 16th minute opener. Patrick Mboma slotted home for the Africans after Jeff Agoos pulled down Lauren Etame Mayer in the box.

Thorpe gives Aussies dream start

SYDNEY, Sept 16 (AFP) — Australian swim sensation Ian Thorpe bagged two gold medals as the biggest Olympic Games in history exploded into action today with nine world records and Aussie swimmers stealing a march on arch rivals the USA.

Five of the world records were in the pool, two of them involving Thorpe who bettered his own 400m freestyle mark to claim Australia’s first gold, and anchored the Australian team which broke the 4x100m freestyle relay record.

There were also world records in weightlifting and archery. East Timor made its Olympic debut and Muhammad Ali, now suffering from Parkinson’s disease, made an emotional appearance at the boxing to enhance the Olympic flavour.

But some of the gloss was taken off with the news that IOC supremo Juan Antonio Samaranch had rushed back to Spain early on Saturday to be with his sick wife Maria Teresa Salisachs-Rowe who is believed to have cancer.

On the first full day of Games competition, the glamour action was at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre — four finals, five world records.

Before a packed house of 17,500 spectators — Australian Prime Minister John Howard, US President Bill Clinton’s daughter Chelsea and golfer Greg Norman among them — the teenager they call Thorpedo began his Games quest for four gold medals with two out of two.

“This is the proudest moment of my life,” said Thorpe, still four weeks shy of his 18th birthday." I had to swim hard, but I knew I was in great form and the record proves it.”

Michael Klim led off the relay in a world record 48.18 sec and Chris Fydler and Ashley Callus swam the middle legs as Australia dealt the USA their first ever defeat in the event in Olympic competition.

The USA didn’t go home empty-handed of gold winning the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay in record time and delivering Jenny Thompson her career sixth Olympic gold medal.

Ukrainian Yana Klochkova claimed the fifth world record in the women’s 400m individual medley.

Turkey’s little dynamo Halil Mutlu smashed three world records on his way to winning the Olympic weightlifting gold in the 56kg category, setting new marks in the snatch, clean and jerk, and combined.

Kim Soo-Nyung gave lie to fears that the notorious gusty winds could reduce the archery competition a shambles, leading South Korean to a world record team total of 671 in the ranking round.

Thorpe’s form in the pool saved the day for Australian who had confidently predicted they would start the medal race with an Aussie one-to-three in the women’s triathlon, but they only got the silver part right.

Swiss Brigitte McMahon outpaced local hero Michellie Jones in a shoulder-to-shoulder battle over the final five minutes of the gruelling two-hour endurance event to claim her place in history as the Olympic’s first triathlon winner.

Divers armed with electrical shark repellers rode shot un to protect the field of 49 in the 1500m harbour swim, the first leg of the event which is followed by a 40km cycle ride and a 10km run.

The first medal of the Games went to American shooter Nancy Johnson and she described the honour as “pretty cool,” after winning the women’s 10m air rifle.

Frenchman Franck Dumoulin provided a heartwarming story of triumph over adversity when he clinched the men’s 10-metre pistol shooting title. A year ago his sporting career was in tatters when he was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident which shattered one leg and left him wheelchair-bound.

“It’s amazing, amazing,” the emotional Dumoulin said after his triumph. “A year ago I was in a wheelchair and now I’ve an Olympic gold medal.”

East Timorese weightlifter Martinho De Araujot was thrilled to just to be at the Games and make history as the first athlete from the devastated former Indonesian territory to compete at an Olympics.

“I lifted not only weights but my country as well,” beamed the 25-year-old, wearing a plain white vest sporting the five Olympic rings.

At the boxing the crowd chanted “Ali! Ali!” as the sports legend Muhammad Ali entered the ring where he hugged and kissed ‘Aussie’ Joe Bugner, who twice went the distance with the three-time world heavyweight champion.

Australians, meanwhile, were unanimous in their praise of the opening ceremony, capped by Aboriginal sporting heroine Cathy Freeman lighting the flame in a symbol of reconciliation between black and white Australians.

Newspapers described it as a “masterstroke” and “our finest hour,” saying the images portrayed to the world gave hope that black and white Australia could heal their rifts.

Before leaving, Mr Samaranch described the opening as “the most beautiful Olympic ceremony of my presidency.”

Mutlu claims gold, sets new records

SYDNEY, Sept 16 (AFP) — Mighty mite Halil Mutlu of Turkey claimed his second consecutive Olympic weightlifting gold medal in world record fashion today.

Mutlu, nicknamed the “Little Dynamo”, lived up to his raging favouritism by outclassing his opponents with a peerless performance in front of hundreds of flag-waving Turkish supporters.

The 1.50m (4ft 11 inch) tall Mutlu broke his own snatch, clean and jerk and overall world records in the 56kg category to add to the gold he won in Atlanta in the 54kg division.

The reigning world and European champion, and the 1999 lifter of the year, took the title with a total of 305kg (137.5kg and 167.5kg).

“It is a good feeling (to win again),” he said. “And a huge success to break all my world records.”

Like Naim Suleymanoglu, who will go for an amazing fourth straight Olympic weightlifting gold tomorrow, Mutlu was born in Bulgaria before switching allegiance to Turkey, the land of their fathers. Their golden weightlifting ways have made them superstars in their adopted country.

Bulgaria’s Ivan Ivanov, gold medallist in the 52kg category at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and a former world champion, claimed the silver with a total of 292.5kg (130kg and 162.5kg). Ivanov bent down and kissed the weights after clinching silver with his lift in the clean and jerk.

“I am the happiest man in the world ... It was fantastic to finish second and I feel like I have succeeded,” he said.

Third place went to 19-year-old Chinese Wu Wenxiong with a total of 287.5kg (125kg and 162.5kg). He beat compatriot Zhang Xiangxiang, a silver medallist in Atlanta, to the bronze on lower body weight.

Mutlu capped a riveting performance by breaking the world records for the clean and jerk and total with a mighty effort. He punched the air with glee after hoisting 167.5kg, to break his clean and jerk mark by one kg. His new overall mark of 305kg betters the old record by 2.5kg.

The only sour point of the night was when he failed to break the record again with a lift of 170kg.

Twenty-seven-year-old Mutlu, undefeated since 1995, displayed his near invincibility in the opening snatch division by breaking his own world record by 0.5kg.

McMahon spoils Aussie party

SYDNEY, Sept 16 (DPA) — Switzerland’s Brigitte McMahon spoiled the opening day party for Australia by stealing an historic first triathlon Olympic gold from under the hosts’ noses in Sydney today.

She fended off by a mere two seconds a challenge by Australian favourite Michellie Jones — and for good measure, McMahon’s team-mate Magali Messmer took bronze in the race’s thrilling Olympic debut in and around Sydney Harbour.

“When I saw the finish line I thought ‘this is it, go like hell’,’’ the 33-year-old said — delighted at a Swiss success which came, she said, because “we tried to stay relaxed about everything” while “the Australians had a lot of pressure from the media and everyone else”.

For the last 3 km it was all down to McMahon fending off the merciless challenge of a world top-ranked rival she knew had never lost a final-stage sprint in a decade.

Victory — in 2:00:40 hours — was all the sweeter given the high profile that Australians accord the event, into which 32-year-old twice world champion Jones and team-mate Loretta Harrop, the top world-ranking pair, had gone as favourites.

As it was, Jones — “a silver medal’s can’t be bad” — and Harrop — “I lost my legs” — ended second and fifth as the Swiss pair did their stuff and Joanna Zeiger of the USA ended fourth.

McMahon, mother of a three-year-old son Dominec, said she had expected a race that would end in a sprint. “It’s what I have practised when out on the track,” she said. “I pictured myself winning against Michellie — and today I found myself in that position and said ‘Right, I’m just going to do it’.”

Jones was gracious in defeat and expressed her delight for the sport at finally seeing Olympic medal. “It’s the first time I’ve ever, ever seen an Olympic medal,” she said. “I’m very, very proud.”

Thousands turned out in the Sydney sun to watch the debut of an event included at the hosts’ insistence because of the sport’s popularity in Australia, and which sees the men’s version on Sunday.

US 1996 4x200m swim gold medallist Sheila Taomina dominated the initial 1.5 km swimming section, building up a 30-second lead as she reached the tricky first transition where the girls had deftly to peel off their wetsuits and hop onto bikes.

Taomina, who finished overall sixth, kept her lead for the first of six laps of the 40 km cycle course — but then the field caught up and the grind of the cycling and 10 km of running kicked in.

Jones and Harrop looked like dominating after their swift and practiced switch to running mode — though US co-favourite Jennifer Gutierrez and Germany’s Joelle Franzmann, youngest competitor at 21, were also in contention.

But it was the Swiss who posed the final threat — and despite all the local urging, it was they who triumphed over the local favourites as McMahon edged Jones and Messmer — last year’s ITU World Cup winner — edged Zeiger and Harrop.

Canada hold Pakistan

SYDNEY, Sept 16 (AFP) — Unheralded Canada sounded a warning to their rivals in the Olympic men’s hockey by holding former champions Pakistan to a 2-2 draw here today.

The Pan-American winners marked their return to the Olympics after 12 years by twice taking the lead in the group A match, before Pakistan fought back to escape with a lucky draw.

What should have been an easy outing for Pakistan almost turned into a nightmare as the Canadians — with six India-born players in their ranks — had the better of the exchanges.

Canada took an early lead in the fifth minute when Ken Perreira swooped on a long hit and deflected the ball past the hapless Pakistani goalkeeper Ahmed Alam.

Kamran Ashraf equalised for the three-time champions in the 15th minute, but Canada hit back five minutes later through a goal by Sean Campbell to go 2-1 up.

Pakistan’s Sohail Abbas, who wasted five penalty corners in the first 15 minutes, finally found the target just before half-time to help his side draw level.

It proved to be a lucky break as the Pakistani forwards and Abbas’ reputation as an ace marksman made no impression on Canadian goalkeeper Mike Mahood in the second half.

Mahood, who saved 11 of the 12 penalty corner hits from Abbas, was helped along by three close friends — Bob, Jim and Frank.

These are the names he has given to his goal-posts.

“I talk to them before the match and sometimes even during it,” Mahood said. “Most goalkeepers in the Canadian national league give names to their posts, so I did as well.”

It helped. At least two shots from the Pakistani forwards and three penalty corner hits banged against the posts and went out.

World champions the Netherlands opened their defence of the Olympic men’s hockey title with a tough 4-2 win over the UK after Calum Giles wasted a penalty stroke.

The Dutch, the pre-tournament favourites with the Olympic, world and Champions Trophy titles in the bag, struggled to keep the British at bay till Giles let slip the advantage.

With the scores level 2-2 midway through the second half, American umpire Steve Horgan gifted Britain a stroke when a Dutch defender obstructed inside the circle.

Giles, Britain’s penalty corner ace, however, pushed the ball straight into veteran goalkeeper Ronald Jansen’s pads to give the Dutch a new lease of life.

Captain Stephen Veen capitalised on the let-off, scoring twice in the remaining period to give the champions full points in the group A match.

AP: Asia Cup champions South Korea held Olympic and world silver medallist Spain to a 1-1 draw in another pool B match today.

The brisk moving Koreans caused the rival defence a lot of problems but the Spaniards fell back to crowd their territory and keep themselves out of trouble.

Spain opened the scoring in the second minute of play when Pablo Amat capitalised on Juan Escarre’s pass to drive past Korean goalkeeper Kim Yoon.

The Koreans came back strongly to level in the 29th minute, with an open play strike by Song Seung-Tae, who slipped in a quickly taken free hit into the boards before the defenders could settle down.

AFP: Gold medal contenders Germany began their campaign with a 1-0 win over Malaysia in a group A match here today.

Bjorn Emmerling scored the match winner through a penalty corner in the 43rd minute after both teams were locked goal-less at half-time.

Germany, which last won the Olympic title at Barcelona in 1992, joined defending champions the Netherlands at the top of the group with three points.

The more the merrier seems to be Sydney’s motto now 
By Andy O’Brien

LIKE the now lit fire at the Homebush Olympic cauldron, Sydney is jumping. With the Opening Ceremony over and done with, there is a sigh of relief. Before it’s entry into Sydney on Thursday, the last time the Olympic flame was in Sydney, an imposter created havoc with a homemade replica of the real thing. It was back in 1956 and the torch was on its way to Melbourne. Perry Larkin, then a University student, decided to pull a hoax by making a homemade look alike torch from a broome handle, a tin can and a pair of boxer shorts dipped in gasoline. Dressed in athletic attire, he ran to Town Hall and handed the false flame to the waiting Mayor of Sydney. It was only when the Mayor was half way through his speech and the real torch arrived that the hoax was uncovered.

Today the word ‘larrikin’ is Strine (Australian!) to describe a mischievous young person who has little regard for convention or tradition, such as cricketers Rod Marsh and Dennis Lillee in their hey days. On Friday, with 1956 larrikin Perry Larkin looking on at Stadium Australia in Homebush, there were no imposters carrying the Olympic torch, and now Sydney is one big sporting party. With sunny days and the city tarted up like never before, it is one hell of a party. Going off, showing off, whatever you want to call it, Sydney is swinging from the Olympic chandelier with a gusto that defies belief. Looking as scrubbed and polished as an altar boy, Australia’s biggest metropolis is now into what surely is its biggest ever challenge. While the countdown to the opening ceremony, was comparable to water torture, this normally bad-tempered, bombastic but beautiful city has never looked better.

Teased with bright, sunny days since last week and draped in tens of thousands of colourful flags that drip from every light-pole, the Central Business District, Darling Harbour and Circular Quay have provided the world’s media with almost screen-saver like backdrops for interviews and news stories focusing on Australia’s cultural and social fabric. It’s worth billions in free publicity which you couldn’t buy with all of Olympic special guest Bill Gates’ brass. Let’s be honest. There’s plenty to show off about.

The Sydney Opera House is understandably the focal point for hundreds of thousands of visitors who now carpet the walkways, cafes, shops and pubs that pepper the quay along the harbour and the historic Rocks area nearby. In the waters of the harbour, venue of the swimming leg of the men’s and women’s triathlon, divers in black and bright yellow suits are going through final trials of equipment which will be used for the first time at an Olympic Games. When the women triathletes take off on their swim on Saturday morning to decide the first gold medal of the Games, the divers will be swimming under them. Each diver will be fitted with a gadget which can detect sharks and crocodiles. The divers won’t be around for the Olympic sailors who, for the first time in the Olympic history, will be competing in a “live/working” harbour. However, there is reassurance for the sailors in research which shows that sharks and crocs never venture into Sydney’s harbour waters in these Spring months. Those who will be venturing out especially at night, will be the girls (and other genders!) of King’s Cross, the biggest red light district in the southern hemisphere.

The athletes will probably keep away from ‘the Cross’ during competition, with rumours that some of them are actually sleeping in oxygen tents to build up their O2 levels before their events. But like the girls from ‘the Cross’, Sydney at night now takes on another, more seductive form, if that’s at all possible, as light shows wrap her in opal, outback ochres, sunset blues and gentle pinks. The Harbour Bridge, now in her 68th year, complements her more ostentatious mate, the Sydney Opera House. The five Olympic rings made out of 1,70,0000 lights have been hammered on to the side, of Sydney’s Coat Hanger (what the locals call the bridge because it so resembles a clothes hanger). The giant 75m by 35m rings on the bridge will remain lit for the duration of the games. Six venues around the city come to life every evening having been set aside as public party zones with giant screens and non-stop concerts by some of the country’s most popular performers. They give onlookers hours and hours of live world-class concerts only interrupted by Olympic moments flashed up on giant video screens. Organisers say they can’t predict how many will turn up to the live sites through the next few days. Who knows? Who cares? The more the merrier seems to be Sydney’s motto now. The stunning Harbour is as busy as ever. Now docked at the Quay is one of the world’s biggest and most expensive liners, the blinding white Crystal Harmony, which is about the size of Chatterjee International in Calcutta if you pushed it on its side.

Apparently you can pay up to $10,000 a night for one of its luxury cabins. But before you rule it out completely, remember drinks are free. While you can’t actually smell the money, you can pick up the scent of Armani cologne in the bulging restaurants and packed bars now open 24 hours a day. Tanned Americans in bright red jumpers stroll alongside manicured Milan-type fashion folks who stand to watch street side musicians and comedians working the growing sidewalk crowds. Inside the Sydney 2000 official Olympic store, shoppers go through racks, bins, and shelves of memorabilia like locusts, taking home fuzzy mascots, shirts, caps, jackets, swimsuits, and even a special edition “Olympic Barbie.” While they shop, they pass displays which hold such vital information as the kilometres of toilet paper and hot dogs that will be consumed by everything Olympic (14,960 and 38.1 respectively), and the amount of garlic that will be used to prepare athletes’ meals (400 kg). And the number of towels that will be used by athletes — if piled up they will reach higher than Australia’s highest mountain Mt Kosciusko.

Even the Sydneysiders, known around the country for being a bit short with those who dare to ask for directions or advice, have at last found their long-lost manners. Conversations instead of grunts. In fact, Sydney’s two-week festival of fitness, franchising and fans could have positive effects on Australia’s tourism industry for two decades, according to a leading industry figure. The general optimism, which has grabbed Sydney and all those in her by the throat since the opening ceremony bash, can only be described as outrageous. — PMG

Japan’s Tamura wins judo gold 

SYDNEY, Sept 16 (AFP) — Four-time world champion Ryoko Tamura of Japan finally won the Olympic gold today that had eluded her throughout her career when she secured the 48kg women’s title. After a cautious start to the competition, Tamura staged a decisive win in the final, throwing Russia’s Lioubov Brouletova to win by ippon. Germany’s Anna Maria Gradante and Belgium’s Anne Simons took home bronze medals. Tamura won silver in Barcelona and was considered the favourite in Atlanta in 1996. But she dislocated a finger in Atlanta, costing her a chance to win the title there and putting off her dream of Olympic gold until Sydney." I came here to win and that was all I would have settled for,” said a delighted Tamura. “I had the all the weight of the last eight years on my shoulders which helped me focus,” she added.

Indians go down to Dutch pair in TT

SYDNEY, Sept 16 (UNI) — India capped their disastrous campaign on the opening day of the Olympics when their doubles pair of Chetan Baboor and Raman Subramanyan went down to Holland’s Danny Heister and Trinko Keen 17-21, 14-21 in the preliminary league match of the table tennis doubles here.

The match lasted barely 20 minutes, with the Dutch pair winning the first game under nine minutes.

The Dutch duo started the game, and the Indians showing grit took a 3-2 lead. However, the Europeans came back strongly to make it 5 all. After that Heister and Keen took 10 straight points, breaking five services of the Indians, to lead the game 15-5.

The Indians tried to halt the slide and managed to snatch three points off their rivals’ service and then took four off their own serve to reduce the lead to 12-18. Baboor and Raman combined well to snatch four more points to make it 16-19.

The Dutch pair fought back and took two points off their rival’s serve to clinch the game at 21-17.

The second game was virtually the repeat of the first with the Indians taking 3-2, 6-4, 8-7 lead. But once the opponents found the rhythm, they just swept the Indians off their feet.

Heister and Keen retained four points off their own serve making it 11-9 and increased the lead to 14-11, 18-12 and finally closed the game and match at 21-14.

Later, Raman and Baboor said the Dutch pair was far more experienced and the two had been playing together for long.

The Indians were found wanting in both serve and return. They were wide off the table and failed to consolidate their lead especially in the second game, for which they paid the price.

Indian rowers begin campaign today

NEW DELHI, Sept 16 (UNI) — Kasam Khan and Inderpal Singh take to the waters off the Sydney Harbour tomorrow to register Indian challenge in coxless pair.

It is for the first time that Indian rowers will feature at the Olympics and they have a tough job at hand. The least they have to do to be in the reckoning for medals is to cover the 2000 m in six minutes twentyfive seconds.

“All the major teams are clocking the timing of six minutes twentyfive seconds and we have to keep that in mind before we take the field,” Khan and Singh said.

They had clocked a timing of six minutes 59 seconds when they won the semifinal race in Canada to get a chance to represent the country.

The slot in the event was won by Surinder Singh and Johnson Xavier, who won a silver at the Asian Rowing Championship at Nagano in Japan in November 1999 by covering the 2000 m stretch in seven minutes two seconds.

The team had a three-and-half month training stint in the USA. Singh and Khan said the practice had helped them a lot and were confident of a good show.

Popat crashes out

SYDNEY, Sept 16 (PTI) — National champion Aparna Popat snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and crashed out in three games in a first round women’s singles match against her more fancied opponent Kelly Morgan of England in the Olympic Games badminton championship here today.

Aparna played superbly to race away with the first game 11-5 and led 7-4 in the second against Morgan, the Commonwealth Games champion, before suddenly suffering an inexplicable loss of form and direction to lose 11-5, 7-11, 2-11 in a matter of 40 minutes.

The defeat of Aparna, who was poised at one stage for a spectacular upset win over the rival, who had thwarted her twice at Kuala Lumpur in the Commonwealth Games two years ago, was a huge disappointment for the Indian camp.

It was not that the British woman played badly in the first game. It was Aparna, silver medallist at Kuala Lumpur, who led her British rival on a merry dance with her speed and court-craft to stun Morgan into a state of utter helplessness.

The same momentum carried the Indian champion to a 4-2 advantage in the second game.

Anjali finishes creditable eighth

SYDNEY, Sept 16 (PTI) — Ace Indian shooter Anjali Vedpathak today made history by becoming the first Indian to figure in the final of the Olympic Games shooting competition when she finished a highly-creditable eighth in the women’s 10 metre air rifle event here today. The 30-year-old Commonwealth Games gold medallist, fired a stunning score of 99.1 in the eight-woman final round to tie with South Korean markswoman Choi Dae-Young at 493.1 points. But her preliminary round score of 394.0, one less than Choi’s, placed her in the eighth position.

How close the competition was could be judged from the fact that the gold medal winner Nancy Johnson of the USA tallied 497.7 and Anjali was just 4.6 points adrift.

Johnson won the gold medal with Korea’s Kang Cho-Hyun (497.5) and Gao Jing (497.2) of China, settling for silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Anjali, who earned a hardship quota to the Olympics after her consistent performance in the world cup events in the run up to the Olympics, shot confidently but achieved a modest 394 earlier in the day to make the finals at the Sydney International Shooting Centre.

The Indian woman, who performed better at this very range when competing in the Sydney World Cup in March by tallying 495.5 (396+99.5), was up against the likes of favourite German Sonja Pfeilschifter and Nancy Johnson of the USA.

Anjali’s performance here was, however, below her best. The Indian has a personal best of 500.4 (396+104.4) shot at Kathmandu saf Games last year. This year she scored 496.1 at the Asian Shooting Championships in Langkawi, Malaysia.

There was further disappointment for the Indian camp as another of their hopes — Anwar Sultan — crashed out in the preliminary stage of the men’s trap event.

Anwar Sultan, who earned direct berth into the games with a silver medal effort at Langkawi Championships in January, could hit only 63 birds off 75 to be placed joint 27th with four others and bowed out of the games.

Muthu out of medal race 

SYDNEY, Sept 16 (PTI) — India’s Thandavamurthy Muthu put himself out of contention in the medal race by finishing fifth in group B of the men’s weightlifting competition here today.

Muthu lifted 105.0 kg in his very first attempt in snatch and achieved 135.0 kg in the third attempt in clean and jerk to finish fifth in the group with an aggregate of 245.0 this afternoon.

Muthu’s fifth position finish has put him out of the race for medals as his overall position can only go down further and not up.

Men’s sprint relay quartet qualifies

 NEW DELHI, Sept 16 (PTI) — The Indian men’s 4x100m relay quartet of C.T. Durai, Rajeev Balkrishnan, Ajay Raj Singh and Anil Kumar today qualified for the Sydney Olympics following a specially held qualification trial at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here. Anand Menezes would be the reserve runner, the general secretary of the Amateur Athletics Federation of India (AAFI), Lalit K. Bhanot, announced after the trial. Menezes was one of the runners who participated today in the trial in place of Anil Kumar and the quartet clocked 39.56 secs, which was well inside the qualifying mark of 40.00 prescribed by the federation. The same quartet had, in fact, achieved the qualifying mark by clocking 39.70 in the Asian championship at Jakarta last month. 

India at a glance

SYDNEY, Sept 16 (UNI) — India at a glance at the Olympics today:

Badminton: Aparna Popat went down fighting against Kelly Morgan of Wales 11-5, 7-11, 2-11 in the first round.

Shooting: Anjali Vedpathak finished last after making it to the finals of 10 m air rifle event while Anwar Sultan virtually went out of reckoning with a disastrous score of 63 out of 75 in the men’s trap event.

Weightlifting: T.M. Muthu finished 17th in the 56 kg category after a below par performance.

Table Tennis: Chetan Baboor and Raman Subramanyan went down 17-21, 14-21 to Holland’s Danny Heister and Trinko keen in the preliminary doubles league match.

India’s schedule today

India’s schedule at the Olympic Games today (September 17, all times IST)

Rowing: 0330 — 0630 Men’s coxless pair heats

Hockey: 0630 India vs Argentina

Badminton: 0330 Women’s singles 2nd round

Shooting: 0330 Men’s trap

Swimming: 0430 Women’s 100m backstroke heats

Table Tennis: 0430 Men’s singles preliminaries and women’s singles preliminaries

Boxing: 0730 48kg

Judo: 1130 Women’s 52 kg preliminaries/repechages.

The medal winners

SYDNEY, Sept 16 (Reuters) — Collated medal winners on the first day of Olympic competition:

Cycling:

Women’s 500m time trial:

Gold — Felicia Ballanger (France)

Silver — Michelle Ferris (Australia)

Bronze — Jiang Cuihua (China)

Men’s 1km time:

Gold — Jason Queally (Britain)

Silver — Stefan Nimke (Germany)

Bronze — Shane Kelly (Australia)

Fencing:

Men’s individual epee:

Gold — Pavel Kolobkov (Russia)

Silver — Hugues Obry (France)

Bronze — Lee Sang-Ki (South Korea)

Judo:

Men’s extra-lightweight (60 kg):

Gold — Tadahiro Nomura (Japan)

Silver — Bu-Kyung Jung (South Korea)

Bronze — Manolo Poulot (Cuba)

Aidyn Smagulov (Kyrgyzstan)

Women’s extra-lightweight (48 kg)

Gold — Ryoko Tamura (Japan)

Silver — Lioubov Brouletova (Russia)

Bronze — Anna-Maria Gradante (Germany)

Ann simons (Belgium)

Shooting:

Women’s 10-metre air rifle

Gold — Nancy Johnson (U.S.)

Silver — Kang Cho-Hyun (South Korea)

Bronze — Gao Jing (China)

Men’s 10m air pistol:

Gold — Franck Dumoulin (France)

Silver — Wang Yifu (China)

Bronze — Igor Basinsky (Belarus)

Swimming:

Women’s 400m individual medley:

Gold — Yana Klochkova (Ukraine)

Silver — Yasuko Tajimo (Japan)

Bronze — b Batrice Caslaru (Romania)

Men’s 400m freestyle:

Gold — Ian Thorpe (Australia)

Silver — Massimiliano Rosolino (Italy)

Bronze — Klete Keller (USA)

Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay:

Gold — USA

Silver — Netherlands

Bronze — Sweden

Men’s 4x100m freestyle relay:

Gold — Australia

Silver — USA

Bronze — Brazil

Triathlon:

Women: Gold — Brigitte Mcmahon (Switzerland)

Silver — Michellie Jones (Australia)

Bronze — Magali Messmer (Switzerland)

Weightlifting: 

Men’s under 56kg:

Gold — Halil Mutlu (Turkey)

Silver — Ivan Ivanov (Bulgaria)

Bronze — Wu Wenxiong (China)

Medal tally 

SYDNEY, Sept 16 (Reuters) — The following is the medal tally after the first day of Olympic competition today (given in the following order: Country, Gold Silver Bronze).

Australia 2 2 1

USA 2 1 1

Japan 2 1 0

France 2 1 0

Russia 1 1 0

Switzerland 1 0 1

Britain 1 0 0

Turkey 1 0 0

Ukraine 1 0 0

South Korea 0 2 1

China 0 1 3

Germany 0 1 1

Italy 0 1 0

Bulgaria 0 1 0

Netherlands 0 1 0

Belarus 0 0 1

Sweden 0 0 1

Belgium 0 0 1

Romania 0 0 1

Cuba 0 0 1

Brazil 0 0 1

Kyrgzstan 0 0 1

Note: Two bronze medals awarded in judo

Cairns leads Kiwis to victory

BULAWAYO, Sept 16 (Reuters) — New Zealand cruised to a seven-wicket victory in the first Test today after seamer Chris Cairns had wrecked Zimbabwe’s second innings with a spell in which he took four for nine.

Cairns’s morning contrasted sharply with that of Zimbabwe left-arm spinner Grant Flower who was called for throwing by Australian umpire Darrell Hair.

Zimbabwe, resuming their second innings on 100 for five, were dismissed for 119 just 10.5 overs into the day’s play, Cairns taking his four wickets in a spell of 5.5 overs. He finished with five for 31.

New Zealand, set a modest victory target of 132, made light of their task. Matthew Sinclair anchored the innings with a patient, unbeaten 43 off 119 balls and Craig McMillan ended the game with a flourish by hitting two sixes and two fours in his unbeaten 31.

Flower was no-balled by square leg umpire Hair in the eighth over of New Zealand’s innings. He ruled Flower threw the second, fourth and sixth deliveries of his second over.

Under Test match playing conditions Flower was suspended from bowling for the rest of the innings.

SCOREBOARD

Zimbabwe (Ist innings): 350

New Zealand (Ist innings): 338

Zimbabwe (2nd innings):

G. Flower c Parore b O’Connor 3

Rennie b Cairns 2

Carlisle b Wiseman 15

Campbell lbw b Cairns 45

A. Flower lbw b Astle 22

Wishart c Richardson b Wiseman 1

Streak c McMillan b Wiseman 15

Nkala c Sinclair b Cairns 0

P. Strang not out 8

B. Strang b Cairns 5

Mutendera c Parore b Cairns 0

Extras: (lb-1 nb-1 w-1) 3

Total: (67.5 overs) 119

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-23, 3-23, 4-75, 5-86, 6-100, 7-100, 8-110, 9-119.

Bowling: Cairns 14.5-5-31-5, O’Connor 9-5-8-1, Wiseman 25-8-54-3, Richardson 1-0-1-0, Astle 18-10-24-1.

New Zealand (2nd innings):

Richardson lbw b Rennie 13

Sinclair not out 43

Fleming lbw b P. Strang 12

Astle c Nkala b P. Strang 27

McMillan not out 31

Extras: (lb-2 nb-3 w-1) 6

Total: (for 3 wickets, 45.4 overs) 132

Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-43, 3-93.

Bowling: Streak 5-0-21-0, Nkala 2-1-2-0, P. Strang 20.4-3-49-2, G. Flower 1.3-0-5-0), Rennie 13.3-0-40-1, Campbell 1-0-3-0, B. Strang 2-0-10-0.

East Bengal lift IFA Shield

CALCUTTA, Sept 16 (PTI) — Riding on the crest of their recent successes, East Bengal kept their cool in the crucial stages to fashion a thrilling 5-2 victory via a tie-breaker against arch rivals Mohun Bagan to regain the IFA Shield here today.

The East Bengal marksmen showed their shooting prowess while Mohun Bagan failed to keep their nerve as their first two players Sammy Omollo and Dulal Biswas muffed the penalty opportunities in the tie breaker of an exciting contest at the Salt Lake Stadium.

East Bengal shot into the lead midway through the opening session through medio Chandan Das but their traditional foes Mohun Bagan managed to restore parity just seven minutes before the long whistle with striker Jose Baretto finding the target much to the delight of his team-mates.

Chandan Das, Suley Mussah, Ratan Singh and Dipendu Biswas converted their penalties without much fuss for East Bengal in the tie-breaker as both the teams failed to break the 1-1 deadlock after the regulation and extra time.

Satyajit Chatterjee was the lone Mohun Bagan player to put in across East Bengal custodian Sangram Mukherjee after the generally reliable Samuel Omoloo and Dulal Biswas messed up their attempts.

East Bengal, who had recently won the coveted Super Division League title for the third time in a row, maintained their dominance over their arch rivals this season by snatching the shield as well. They had begun the season by winning the Mcdowell Cup.

REGIONAL SPORT BRIEFS

Punjab School Games begin 

AMRITSAR, Sept 16 (FOC) — The 46th Punjab School Games commenced with much fanfare here today.

Mr Satwant Singh Johal, Joint Secretary, Punjab, inaugurated the games for both boys and girls at Guru Nanak Stadium.

The District Education Officer, Ms Suvinder Kaur, and the organising secretary of the games were also present on the occasion.

As many as 884 players took part in the march past while Dalpreet Kaur took the oath.

An impressive cultural programme was also organised on the occasion. A Gujjar dance and ‘bhangra’ were the highlights of the function.

The disciplines include basketball, table tennis, lawn tennis besides others. 

Trials

CHANDIGARH, Sept 16 (TNS) — Trials to select the Chandigarh team to participate in the Punjab Inter-District Cricket Tournament will be held at DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, at 1 p.m., according to Mr Mohinder Singh, secretary of the Chandigarh Cricket Association.

Women’s football camp

Stating this here today, Mr G.S. Virk, secretary, Punjab Football Association, said the probables already selected during trials held at the local JCT Stadium on July 29 should report for the camp at 3 p.m.