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| Tuesday, September 19, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Pak humiliate Britain 8-1 Hoogenband, Chinese w’lifter Yang
dazzle
Gopi moves into pre-quarters Ban on Romanian team lifted |
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India face Aussies in crunch hockey tie Indian challenge in table tennis
ends Paes, Bhupathi stand a good chance Baboor wins; Ghatak out Argentina eves triumph Funeral mass for Samaranch’s wife Abhinav Bindra placed joint 11th Zerox Golf opens today
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SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) — Pakistan handed Great Britain their worst ever defeat in the event and Germany defeated Canada to take the top position in pool A of the men’s Olympic hockey tournament today. Germany’s win, with two late goals, set up an enthralling showdown with Pakistan on Thursday. Pakistan’s 8-1 drubbing of Great Britain revived memories of their Olympic glory days in the 1950s and 60s and gave them a major boost after they only managed a 2-2 draw against Canada in their opener. Striker Sohail Abbas scored twice from corners and once from a penalty stroke, while Mohammad Nadeem also found the net to give Pakistan a 4-0 half-time lead. While Pakistan converted three of their four penalty corners in the first half, it was a story of missed opportunities for Great Britain, who had only Mark Pearn’s 20th minute goal to show for their six corners. Things went from bad to worse for Great Britain’s goalkeeper Simon Mason in the second half, with Nadeem grabbing a second and Atif Bashir, Kamran Ashraf and Mohammad Sarwar adding to the rout. “This was a humiliating performance and a humiliating result,” said Great Britain coach Barry Dancer. “We were bad in a number of critical areas, including set pieces and midfield defence.” Britain next face Malaysia on Wednesday. Malaysia spilt blood for their cause but it was the Dutch campaign which may have been badly wounded in a scoreless draw in their pool A match. With the Netherlands desperately pushing for a winner late in the game, Malaysia’s Shanmuganathan Kuhan was struck in the face by a ball deflected off an attacker’s stick. Kuhan was taken to
hospital for stitches and could be in doubt for the next
game against Britain, but his play typified
Malaysia’s performance against the defending Olympic
champions. After holding Germany to one goal in their
opening match, the Malaysians again resorted to playing
11 men behind the ball. They had only two shots at goal
compared to 15 for the Dutch, but Malaysian coach Stephen
Van Huizen made no apologies for his team’s
defensive approach. “If we had played an open game
against the Dutch we would have been in for a hard
time,” he said. |
Hoogenband, Chinese w’lifter Yang dazzle SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) — Flying Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband blocked the triumphant Olympics progress of Australian swimming hero IanThorpe today when he robbed him of a third gold medal in the 200 metres freestyle. Despite the cheers of a frenzied home crowd, van den Hoogenband ruined the Australian party by winning a magnificent four lap showdown and beating the “Thorpedo’’ into second place. The Dutchman equalled his own world mark of one minute 45.35 seconds, set in the semifinals on Sunday, when he served notice that Thorpe would not get everything his own way. After five world records on Saturday’s opening day and another three on Sunday, van den Hoogenband’s performance was the only historic swim on the third day of the Games. The eight new world marks and one equalled world record are still an astonishing number compared to the four set during the whole of the swimming at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Thorpe still has another chance at a gold on Tuesday when Australia are favourites in the 4x200 freestyle relay. The swimming was a welcome return to sports excellence after a bizarre day of confusion over policy on drugs involving the shamed Romanian weightlifting team. After hours in which the fate of the weightlifters swung back and forth, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) accepted a loophole in the sport’s rules allowing Romania to pay a fine to cancel a blanket ban. This meant that, while two male weightlifters who failed drugs tests remained barred, the squad’s remaining four members were freed to compete in the games. Within hours one of them — Marioara Munteanu — took part in the women’s 53 kg event. She finished eighth. The Romanians had been suspended under the International Weightlifting Federation’s “three strikes and out’’ rule which sanctions any team recording three positive tests in a calendar year. In addition to the pair who tested positive in Sydney, another lifter failed a test earlier in the year. Team officials said the country’s Olympic committee had paid the IWF a $ 50,000 fine to keep their four “clean’’ lifters — Munteanu and three men — in the competition. The drama increased again when two of the banned lifters, Traian Ciharean and Andrei Mateias, threatened to go on hunger strike if they were not allowed to have more drug tests. But Tiriac said Ciharean had failed a separate doping test in August and would be sent home later on Monday. Mateias would follow his shamed team mate if the positive finding from his pre-games test was confirmed by analysis of a “B” sample. But it was not all bad news in weightlifting. Chinese woman lifter Yang Xia of China cracked three world records in the 53 kg category for the combined, clean and jerk and snatch. Taiwan’s Li Feng-Ying also broke a world record in the snatch only to see Yang eclipse it minutes later. Li took silver while Winarni Slamet of Indonesia took bronze. Li lifted a world record 98 kg in the first section of the contest but Yang beat it with 100 kg, becoming the first woman ever to snatch a three-figure weight. The tiny Chinese woman
then lifted a world record 122.5 kg in the clean and jerk
before upping the record to 125 kg with her second lift
for a total, and new overall world record, of 225
kg. |
Hoogenband pips Thorpe for gold SYDNEY, Sept 18 (AFP) — Pieter van den Hoogenband completed his demolition of Ian Thorpe in the 200m freestyle today, beating the Australian to Olympic gold in scintillating style. The baby-faced Dutchman had already snatched the world record in the semi-finals from Thorpe — who had lowered the mark four times in little more than a year. ‘‘I thought the world record would last for only two minutes, now it’s two days,’’ van den Hoogenband said. ‘‘It’s so weird: the world record and Olympic gold.’’ Van den Hoogenband rubbed it in in the final, matching his world record of 1:45.35. The pair made the final turn in precisely the same time, and Thorpe, who set a world record in winning the 400m free and anchored the Australian 4x100m free relay to victory in a world record time on Saturday, didn’t have enough gas in his tank to respond to van den Hoogenband’s finishing kick. ‘‘Maybe I went out too fast, maybe I didn’t go out fast enough,’’ Thorpe said. ‘‘You can analyse it too much afterwards. ‘‘It doesn’t matter to the result. In the last part of the race, I don’t think I could have given it anything else.’’ Thorpe, who was also swimming with the weight of all Australia’s expectations on him, couldn’t match his semi-final time, which was just two-hundredths of a second outside van den Hoogenband’s newly minted world record. He couldn’t match his own previous two world records, taking the silver in 1:45.83. ‘‘I was pretty flat,’’ the 17-year-old said. “That’s because of the Olympic programme. It’s something I don’t like, but I have to deal with it.’’ All four of Thorpe’s likely gold medal events were scheduled for the first half of the eight-day competition. On Tuesday come the heats of the 4x200m free relay which may yet see him join Murray Rose and Dawn Fraser as the only Australians to win three gold medals in one Olympics. Van den Hoogenband said he didn’t have a strategy for beating Thorpe. In fact, he tried not to think about thorpe at all. ‘‘I pushed off the last turn, I just thought, I want this gold medal,’’ van den Hoogenband said. Italian Massimiliano Rosolino, silver medallist behind Thorpe in the 400m free, took the bronze in 1:46.65. US’s Lenny Krayzelburg, who like Thorpe set the Olympic pool alight at the Pan Pacific championships in August of 1999, couldn’t match his world record in the 100m backstroke. But he emerged with the prize he came for: Olympic gold. ‘‘This is better than anything I’ve ever done,’’ the world champ said. ‘‘In this sport you’re judged by Olympic medals.” Krayzelburg, holder of all three backstroke world records, won in a Games record 53.72, fending off Aussie Matt Welsh who took the silver in 54.07. Germany’s Stev Theloke took the bronze in 54.82. Penny Heyns, winner of both breaststroke gold medals in Atlanta, couldn’t hang on to her 100m title. Breaststroke babies
Megan Quann of the USA and Liesel Jones of Australia
relegated South Africa’s world record-holder to
bronze. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 18 (UNI) — National champion Pulella Gopi Chand overcame a second game slump to down Ukraine’s Vladislav Druzchenko 15-3, 10-15, 15-7 and move into the pre-quarterfinals of the Olympic badminton competition here today. Ranked number 10 in the world, 26-year-old Gopi Chand brought some cheer to the gloomy Indian camp this afternoon. The Hyderabad-based unassuming shuttler was at his best in the first and third Games to send the sturdy Ukrainian packing. “I lost my concentration a bit in the second game,” Gopi said complimenting his rival for serving better. “I was confident of doing well. After that slump, I recovered my ground quickly in the decider,” said Gopi after the match, which lasted 58 minutes. Vladislav put up a good fight but Gopi Chand was far superior in all departments of the game. The Indian began fluently racing to 10-0 lead before Vladislav could open his account. The Ukrainian was finding it hard to cover the court as Gopi tossed the shuttle all over. With some deft and powerful shots, the Indian champion rattled his rival. Vladislav tried hard to counter Gopi and attempted long rallies, but Gopi was smart enough to apply the ‘kill’. Gopi used his shot judiciously and many a time Vladislav was left stranded in the court as the shuttle went past him. The Ukrainian tried to attack Gopi’s defence but the Indian was equal to the task in this department. He showed that his defence was also very strong. Gopi allowed his rival only three points in the first game which he wrapped up comfortably. As it looked that the Indian will emerge an easy winner, Vladislav struck back and Gopi’s concentration and form slumpped. After holding on to his serve, Gopi suddenly found himself totally out of place as the Ukrainian raced to 13-1 lead. With only two points remaining for the game, Gopi came back to show his class. From 1-13 he reduced the gap to 7-13. Vladislav managed to take one more point to make it 14-7, but Gopi refused to give up and took three more points before losing the game 10-15. In the decider, Vladislav took 2-0 lead before Gopi made it 3-2 but the Ukrainian made it 3-3. Then Gopi unleashed a flurry of powerful shots which bewildred Vladislav. Gopi with intelligent drops and cross-court shots took a five-point lead to go up 8-5 and at this stage Vladislav tried to involve Gopi in a long rally which lasted for 37 seconds, but the Indian ended it with a beautiful smash. Vladislav managed three more points to trail 6-8 but then the Indian went on an offensive to finish the match, allowing his rival only one more point before closing the game at 15-7. Gopi will face world No
2 Indrawan of Indonesia in his next round tomorrow. |
Jitender pulverises Canadian boxer SYDNEY Sept 18 (PTI) — Middleweight Jitender Kumar was at his brutal best as he pulverised Donald Grant Orr of Canada into submission and forced referee Janusz Nalecki of Poland to stop the contest in the third round itself in the Olympic games boxing championships here tonight. Commonwealth Games silver medallist Jitender’s left hook was so lethal that it caused a severe cut under Orr’s left eye leaving the Canadian’s face a bloody mess and the referee had no hesitation in stopping the bout for head blow. By that time Jitender was enjoying a comfortable 9-3 lead leaving no one in any doubt that the Indian had simply outclassed his opponent in a sort of revenge for what happened to his mate Suresh Singh in the lightfly category last night. The 23-year-old Jitender took his time in the first round sizing up his rival but managed to win it 3-2. Having decided what to do against Orr, Jitender launched into the attack straightaway in the second round and one solid left punch knocked the Canadian down to the ground. Though Orr got up, Jitender now enjoyed supremacy and the score at the end of the round read a very healthy 5-2 for him. A lightening right hook followed by a left gave the Indian two more points and the by now desperate Orr got into a skirmish in which he secured his third point. But there was no stopping Jitender Kumar now and with arms pumping like pistons he got yet another lethal hook of his going, this time connecting with Orr’s face under the left eye. The bout did not seem to have tired Jitender a bit as he was still jumping around while being taken to the competitors dressing room and coach Gurbaksh Singh Sandhu had a tough time draping him as a protection against night chill. While the indian boxing officials were busy rushing to Jitender to congratulate him, Sandhu was reluctant to say anything more than “bachcha shandar lada (kid fought great)”. Perhaps he was vary of talking to media after the recent controversy over the fitness of the Indian boxers for the Olympic Games that had put him in corner just a week before the start of the Games. Light heavyweight
Gurcharan Singh will take on Choi Ki-Soo in the afternoon
on Wednesday. |
Weightlifter Chanu finishes sixth SYDNEY, Sept 18 (UNI) — India’s hopes of a weightlifting medal came crashing down as star performer Sanamacha Chanu could not even lift her best and finished sixth in the 53 kg category in the 27th Olympics here today. China’s Xia Yang totalled 225 kg for the gold while Chinese Taipei’s Li Feng Ying with 212.5 kg and Indonesia’s Winarni Binti Slamet with 202.5 kg were placed second and third, respectively. Chanu lifted 195 kg (85 kg, 110 kg) which was 2.5 kg less then her best and due to her heavy weight she was placed sixth despite being in three-way tie at fourth place with 195 kg. The Indian was hailed as a bright prospect and the only Indian sportsperson who figured in the “Sports Illustrated” magazine’s projected medal hopes in the individual category. There was much expectation amongst the Indians here that the diminutive Manipur girl might become the third Indian to win an individual medal in the Olympics after Independence. Chanu even failed to better her own record which had fetched her three gold medals in the Asian meet at Osaka earlier this year. She began the snatch with a lift of 80 kg and then opted for 5 kg more in the second attempt. In the third attempt, she failed to lift 87.5 kg which sealed her fate. She ended snatch with a total of 85 kg. In the clean and jerk, she started with 105 kg and then increased to 110 kg in the second attempt. In her third and last attempt, she tried 117.5 kg and came out unsuccessful. Chanu could not hold on to the weight properly in the second attempt and failed to lift in the third. The Indian evidently lost her battle for the medal in the third attempt of the snatch event. Had she been able to lift 87.5 kg, she need not have gone for 117.5 in her last clean and jerk attempt. She could have easily opted for 115 kg in that attempt and that would have totalled 202.5 kg, the same weight which earned Indonesian lifter Slamet the bronze. In case of tie, Chanu
would have won because she was lighter than Slamet. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 18 (AFP) — An Olympic ban on the Romanian weightlifting team was lifted today with the IOC’s backing after the Romanian Olympic Committee paid a $ 50,000 fine. Romanian Olympic Committee president Ion Tiriac justified the move, saying innocent people should not be punished for the actions of others. “I believe the rule should be that everyone caught cheating should be banned for life, but these other weightlifters are innocent. They have spent four years working for this moment,” he said. The International Weightlifting Federation announced the team’s ejection yesterday after three positive doping tests, which sparks an automatic one-year suspension or the option to pay the fine. But Mr Tiriac said they jumped the gun. “We have still not received the ‘B’ sample for Mateias” he said. “They announced the decision before waiting for the test. I don’t know why they did that.” Andrei Mateias and Traian Ciharean, a bronze medallist in Barcelona eight years ago, were both tested on August 20 and Tiriac received Ciharean’s positive “B” sample on Saturday. Mateias’s is expected tomorrow. Another Romanian lifter tested positive earlier this year. Protesting his innocence, Mateias today threatened a hunger strike unless given another drug test to clear their names. Ciharean was leaving for home today and Mateias will follow if his “B” sample is positive. Female lifter Marioara Munteanu took part in the Olympic 53 kg competition and finished eighth. While the IWF has offered no explanation for inadverently announcing a ban, vice president Sam Coffa said the federation was now satisfied that the remainder of the team could still, legally, compete. Earlier Mr Patrick Schamasch, director general of the IOC’s medical commission, insisted the Romanians were out of the Games. He said there was no question of them buying there way back in. “A fine can never, never replace a sanction. All the weightlifters have to leave the village,” he said. Mr Tiriac said he did not know the facts when he made the comments and IOC vice-president Dick Pound later said: “We accept the rules of the international federations.” Earlier today, Norwegian weightlifter Stian Grimseth as expelled from the Olympics after testing positive for banned drugs. Seven other athletes from Canada, Taiwan, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Kazakhstan were kicked off their Olympic teams before the Games got underway after positive dope tests. Romanian swimmer Cezar
Badita, who finished 7th in last night’s men’s
400 metres individual medley final is also facing
expulsion if world swimming body FINA rejects his appeal
for testing positive for Nandrolone in May. |
India face Aussies in crunch hockey tie SYDNEY, Sept 18 (UNI) — Much is at stake for eight time-gold winners India as they take on 1999 Champions Trophy winners and hosts Australia for the crunch pool ‘B’ encounter in hockey at the 27th Olympics here tomorrow. It could be a nerve-wracking encounter as both the sides are on an even keel after victories over their respective rivals yesterday. The match could well chalk out the semifinal line-up as the defeated side will find it hard to finish second in the pool, needed to qualify for the grade. More than stickwork, it will be a battle of nerves. India broke the jinx of losing the opening matches after 12 years in the Olympics with an emphatic 3-0 win over Argentina. The Australians also opened their campaign with a 4-0 win against Poland, but the victory did not look as convincing as that of India. However, the Indians cannot afford to be complacent playing against the awesome Aussies, particularly before the home crowd. Australia have won every title except Olympics. Coached by veteran Terry Walsh, the hosts are determined to achieve the feat. India had won the last Olympic hockey gold at the truncated Moscow Games in 1980. After the team’s triumph at the last Asian Games, the Indian supporters will wait with bated breath for a repeat after two decades. But the Indians are notorious for their inconsistency. “It has always been a case of sublime or ridicule as far as Indians are concerned. Some day they thrill with their classic display and put up a pathetic show later,” said a hockey official adding ‘’the Indians have to be consistent because a win will put them on the road to the semifinals.” The Australians, who have won the World Cup, the Champions Trophy and various other titles, have so far won three silver and two bronze medals in their nine Olympic appearances. The last time India beat Australia (3-1) in Olympics was in 1972 at Munich. Against the Aussies, India suffered their biggest defeat 1-6 in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, 2-4 at the 1984 Los Angeles Games and 0-1 at Barcelona (1992). India have beaten Australia in the four-nation tourney here earlier this year, the only win against the rivals in recent years. Coach V. Baskaran was confident that his boys will rise to the occasion saying “we have crossed the first hurdle quite convincingly and the boys know that win against the Aussies will boost their chances of a medal.” The coach declined to disclose the strategy and said: “We will play according to the occasion.” The Indians, especially the defence, will have to settle down quickly as the Aussies will not allow them so much time to get their act together. Dinesh Nayak and Dilip Tirkey are confident as defenders and Jude Menezes was superb under the bar. But the Indians cannot afford to concede too many penalty corners as they did against Argentina. Australian veteran Jay Stacy is a penalty corner expert, who will try to convert as many as possible. Captain Ramandeep Singh cannot continue as the third defender as it will put pressure on the half line against the formidable rivals. Dhanraj Pillay as usual has been India’s spearhead. He, along with Mukesh Kumar, made some good moves in the opener but both tend to hold on to the ball a bit too long. There is no doubt that the Indian attack will depend on the brillance of Pillay and if he gets the support from other forwards, it will be tough for the rivals. Mohammed Riaz, Baljit Singh Saini and Thriumal Valavan have appeared good in the midfield but the Aussies are a different class and the trio will have to work hard to control their aggressive moves. The hosts have a very solid half line comprising Stephen Holt, Paul Gaudoin, Sproule and Brent Livermore. The attack will be charged up by 31-year-old deadly striker Stephen Davis and Michael Brennan. Davis has so far played 265 internationals while Brennan 95. Jay Stacy, playing his fourth and last Olympics, is a penalty corner expert. Michael York, the captain could change the mode of the game at any moment. As many as nine players of the 16 in each team are first time Olympians. Coach Walsh said: “The team knows that it must play the final at the end of the tournament, not the beginning. We are eyeing the gold.” Since 1976, no single team has repeated a gold medal winning performance. The last six gold were won by New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Britain, Germany and Holland. “It is a good omen. Going by the results of the past six Olympics, it will go to either Spain or Australia,” said former Australian coach Richard Aggiss jocularly. Teams: India: Jude Menezes, Dilip Tirkey, Dinesh Nayak, Ramandeep Singh (captain), Mohammed Riaz, Thirumal Valavan, Baljit Singh Saini, Sameer Dad, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Mukesh Kumar, Dhanray Pillay (Davesh Chauhan, Lazrus Barla, Gagan Ajit Singh, Sukhbir Gill and Deepak Thakur). Australia: Damon
Diletti, Michael York (captain), Paul Goudoin, Jason
Duff, Daniel Sproule, Jay Stacy, Stephen Davis, Michael
Brennan, Brent Livermore, James Elmer, Craig Victory,
(Lachlan Dreher, Adam Commens, Elder Troy, Stephen Holt,
Wells Mathew). |
Indian challenge in table tennis ends SYDNEY, Sept 18 (PTI) — Indian challenge in the men’s and women’s table tennis championships at the Olympic Games ended here today with its players losing their final league matches in singles and doubles too. Indian pair of Chetan Baboor and S. Raman lost their last group B match to Nigeria’s Nosiru Kazeem and Segun Toriola 24-26, 21-17, 18-21 to bow out of the competition with no wins late in the evening. Earlier in the day, India No 1 Baboor went down to New Zealand’s Peter Jackson 23-25, 18-21, 21-23 after a tough fight in his final group C match. Yesterday, the ace Indian paddler had lost to Petr Korbel of the Czech Republic, the world No 24, to open his campaign on a dismal note. The Baboor/Raman pair had lost to Dutch pair of Danny Heister and Trinko Keen on Saturday and their tie against the Nigerians was of academic interest. Woman national champion
Poulomi Ghatak lost her group L qualifying last round
match to Anne Boileau of France 12-21, 9-21, 9-21 to end
India’s miserable outing in the ping pong game. |
Paes, Bhupathi stand a good chance SYDNEY, Sept 18 (PTI) — They may have not played much together during the past one year and they may not be in the best of their forms right now, but India’s tennis heroes Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi can never be counted out. The duo was knocked out of the recent US Open in the first round as they were both a bit rusted and they needed to get their act together once again. Also, they were playing on the circuit as individuals, for themselves. But the Olympic Games, like the Davis Cup, is a differnet court altogether. Playing under one flag, they get pepped up and manage to overcome all odds, however difficult they may be. And this is the time and the place to do it. Paes, does not have much chance in the singles in which he got the wildcard entry. But he desperately wants to add one more medal to the bronze he won in the men’s singles at Atlanta. Tennis pundits here are not taking them lightly either — the Daily Telegraph already predicting a bronze for the Indian pair. The tennis events start tomorrow but Paes, currently 152-ranked on the ATP circuit, will play his first singles match on Wednesday against 61st-ranked Mikael Tillstrom of Sweden and in the doubles, the former world number one indian duo will clash with Andrei Pavel and Gabriel Trifu of Romania on Thursday. For the two Indian girls
Nirupama Vaidyanathan and Manisha Malhotra, who earned a
surprise entry through a wild card after Germany’s
Anke Huber and her partner Jana Kandarr withdrew
following an injury to the former, this will be more of
an exposure to the game at the highest level. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 18 (UNI) — It was a day of mixed fortunes for India today as Chetan Baboor registered his first win while Poulomi Ghatak suffered her second defeat to be eliminated from the Olympic table tennis competitions. Baboor salvaged some pride for India defeating New Zealand’s Peter Jackson 25-21, 21-18, 23-21 in a tough group ‘C’ match here. The Indian paddler had to fight every inch of the way. He was lucky to survive despite committing several unforced errors. All throughout the marathon match, lasting over 56 minutes, the former Indian champion struggled hard as his little-known rival put up a brave fight. In the women’s section, Indian teenager Poulomi Ghatak crashed out of the Olympic table tennis competitions as she suffered her second successive defeat in the three-player group-I league match today. Seventeen-year-old Ghatak, who had also lost her
first match yesterday, went down to Anne Boileau of
France in straight sets 21-12, 21-9, 21-9 in 29 minutes. |
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SYDNEY Sept 18 (AFP) — Argentina, the surprise package of the Olympic women’s hockey, overcame Britain 1-0 today to record their second successive win in the competition. Captain Karina Masotta scored the match-winner midway through the first half, lifting Argentina to the top of group A with six points from two matches. The Argentine girls, returning to the Olympics after 12 years, had stunned Atlanta Games silver-medallists South Korea 3-2 in Saturday’s opening match. The setback for the British women came on the day their male counterparts suffered their worst-ever defeat at the Olympics, a 8-1 rout by former champions Pakistan. Like the men, the
British girls have yet to open their account after two
matches. They lost to defending champions Australia 2-1
yesterday. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 18 (UNI) — The schedule for India at the Olympics on September 19 (all timings IST) Rowing: Kasam Khan and Inderpal Singh (men’s coxless pair-repechage 1) 0440. Badminton: Gopi Chand vs Indradwan (singles pre-quarterfinal) 1400 Weightlifting: Karnam Malleswari (women-69 kg) 1300 Hockey (m): India
vs Australia 1500. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 18 (PTI) — The following is the summary of Indian performance at the Olympic Games here today. Boxing: Middleweight boxer Jitender Kumar defeats Donald Grant Orr of Canada in the first round of 57 kg category. Jitender lead 9-3 in the third round when referee stopped the bout. Badminton: Pullela Gopichand enters the third round beating Vladislav Druzchenko of Ukraine. Gopi won 15-3, 10-15, 15-7. Swimming: Nisha Millet wins her heat in 200 m freestyle event but fails to advance as she ends poor 37th out of the total 39 participants. In the men’s section Hakimuddin bows out of the competition in the 200m freestyle event. Shooting: Abhinav Bindra fails to qualify in 10 metre rifle shooting finals despite scoring 590 points out of total 600. He finishes joint 11th. Weightlifting: Asian women’s champion Sanamacha Chanu finishes lowly 6th in 53 kg category lifting a total of 195 kg (85 kg in snatch and 110 kg in clean). Table Tennis: The
pair of Chetan Baboor and S. Raman lose to Nosiru Kazim
and Segun Toriolu of Nigeria 24-26, 18-21, 21-13 in their
last league match. In singles Baboor loses to Peter
Jackson of New Zealand 23-25, 18-21, 21-23. Poulumi
Ghatak goes down to Ana Boileau of France 12-21, 9-21,
9-21 in the women’s singles. |
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SYDNEY Sept 18 (Reuters) — The Olympic medals table at the end of the third day of the competition on Monday (given in the following order: Country, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Total): USA 6 5 2 13 France 4 6 2 12 China 4 1 5 10 Australia 3 5 5 13 Italy 3 1 3 7 Netherlands 3 1 0 4 Japan 2 3 1 6 Turkey 2 0 0 2 Germany 1 3 2 6 Russia 1 2 3 6 Britain 1 2 1 4 Cuba 1 1 2 4 Switzerland 1 1 1 3 Bulgaria 1 1 1 3 Ukraine 1 1 0 2 Romania 1 0 1 2 Spain 1 0 1 2 Czech Republic 1 0 1 2 Canada 1 0 1 2 Mexico 1 0 0 1 Lithuania 1 0 0 1 Hungary 1 0 0 1 Croatia 1 0 0 1 Slovakia 0 2 1 3 South Korea 0 2 1 3 North Korea 0 1 1 2 Brazil 0 1 1 2 Yugoslavia 0 1 0 1 Taiwan 0 1 0 1 Greece 0 1 0 1 Indonesia 0 0 2 2 Belarus 0 0 2 2 South Africa 0 0 1 1 Thailand 0 0 1 1 Sweden 0 0 1 1 Latvia 0 0 1 1 Kyrgyzstan 0 0 1 1 Georgia 0 0 1 1 Costa Rica 0 0 1 1 Belgium 0 0 1 1
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Funeral mass for Samaranch’s wife BARCELONA, Sept 18 (Reuters) — International Olympic Comm-ittee President Juan Antonio Samaranch will attend a funeral mass in Barcelona later on Monday for his wife Maria Teresa Salisachs, who died on Saturday. A private ceremony was held on Sunday at Montjuic, the site of the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. The Olympic flag was flown there at half-mast. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar was among the visitors to the Samaranch-Salisachs house yesterday. Mr Samaranch, who
learned of his wife’s death from cancer on the plane
while travelling back from Sydney, is due to return to
the Games after the funeral. |
Abhinav Bindra placed joint 11th SYDNEY, Sept 18 (PTI) — Dame luck deserted Indian teenager Abhinav Bindra who, despite recording 590 points out of 600, failed to qualify by just one point for the final of the men’s 10-metre air rifle event at the Olympic Games shooting championship here today and eventually finished joint 11th out of 47 contestants. Bindra, with a career-high performance of 596 at the World Cup in Munich which is a global standard for juniors, notched up a fine sequence of 98, 99, 98, 97, 100 and 98, to tally 590, but failed to make the cut-off mark by a Shisker. Bindra was tied with Slovakian Jozef Gonci, Mohammad Abdel Ellah of Egypt and Young-Sueb Lim (Korea) after the qualifying round. Overcoming the ‘out of sortness’ he fell soon after reaching here, the Olympic debutant — who will be 18 10 days from now — shot with great assurance, but without much luck. Cai Yalin of China won the gold with an aggregate of 696.4, which included his tally of 594 which was the highest in the preliminaries, while Russia’s Artem Khadjibekov and Evgueni Aleinikov took care of the silver and bronze with 695.1 and 693.8 respectively. Bindra, who is on an International Olympic Committee (IOC) scholarship, can take solace from the fact that the silver and bronze medallists at the Atlanta Games four years ago finished seven and eight places behind the Indian prodigy, according to his Hungarian coach Laszlo Sczucak. The disappointed Bindra
said “qualifying for the Olympics is not enough for
me, I will win a medal next time.” |
Zerox
Golf opens today CHANDIGARH, Sept 18 — The cream of Indian professional golf will assemble at the Classic Golf Resort in Delhi tomorrow, to welcome Xerox Modicorp Limited, the latest sponsors to join the Wills Sports Golf Tour. The tournament offers a total prize purse of Rs 6 lakh, with the winner’s cheque worth Rs 97,200. A full-field of 100 professional golfers have entered the tournament. The main four-round 72-hole strokeplay event starts on Tuesday, while the pro-am is scheduled for September 23 Among the marquee names who will be seen in action are Jeev Milkha Singh, the only Indian to have qualified for the European PGA Tour, and Jyoti Randhawa, the twice Hero Honda Masters winner and the defending Wills Indian Open champion. Winners of the first three events of the 2000-01 season — Vijay Kumar (Hindu Open), Rafiq Ali (Ford-Madras gymkhana Open) and Indrajit Bhalotia (Wills Southern Open) — will also be seen in action. In fact, the top 20 of last season’s Order of Merit have confirmed their participation. The presence of the top three finishers of the 1999-00 Order of Merit — Vijay, Feroz Ali and the Mahindra Player of 1999-00, Mukesh Kumar — will ensure a tough fight for Jeev and Randhawa. Speaking to the media on Monday, Mr H.N. Nanani, Managing Director, Xerox Modicorp Limited said: ‘‘ Xerox Modicorp is making its first-ever foray into the Indian sports arena with the Xerox Open Golf Championship, Internationally, Xerox has been associated with the Olympics since 1964. This is our way of giving something back to the society’’. The tournament will be
played at the par-72 Jack Nicklaus-designed Classic Golf
Resort, which is known for its carpet-like fairways and
lightning-fast greens. The wind is expected to be a major
factor in the championship. |
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