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| Saturday,
September 23, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Bailey’s Olympic hopes dashed
Romania’s Adrian outboxes Jitender China’s Ding, Zhan lift gold |
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Skilful Spaniards can spoil India’s party Bulgarian weightlifting team expelled Paes-Bhupathi duo
bite the dust Aussie eves blank
Indian duo Dutch eves end German dream Bailey says he was sick Jones wins opening
heat in style Redgrave attempts to win five in row Imtiaz Anees finishes last Beenamol saves day; others fall aside Mutola overcomes first hurdle Sweet revenge for Koreans
Ervin, Hall share medals, horse food Cuban boxers roll on US men complete miserable outing Jayasinghe qualifies for
100 m semis
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SYDNEY, Sept 22 (Reuters) — Olympic 100 metres champion Donovan Bailey failed to complete the first day of the Sydney Games athletics programme on Friday and will not defend his title on Saturday night. In common with a number of athletes in the Olympic village, Bailey has been suffering from influenza and breathing problems this week and appeared under stress when finishing third in the morning’s first round heats. He false-started in his second round heat and when the race finally got underway he was clearly in trouble. At the halfway mark the 32-year-old Canadian gave up altogether and jogged across the line in eighth and last place. “It’s some sort of virus,” Bailey said. “But I don’t really know what’s going on. I tried to lumber my way through this morning, muscle through. I just couldn’t move properly, I couldn’t breath.” Marion Jones, in contrast, made a flawless start to her campaign for five gold medals, pacing herself perfectly through the first two rounds of the women’s 100 metres. The American clocked 11.20 in the first round and, running in a bodysuit on a cool but still evening, ran 10.83 in the evening session. “I’m having a ball,” she said. “I just wanted to set up my body for tomorrow mentally and physically. I know what I can do, now is the time to do it.” Men’s world sprint champion and record holder Maurice Greene was equally impressive. Following a time of 10.31 in the first round, he clocked 10.10 in the evening with plenty in reserve. Asked what he predicted for Saturday’s final, Greene grinned and said: “Great things.” Forty-year-old Jamaican Merlene Ottey, whose team-mates protested at her inclusion in the 100 metres after the world governing body’s arbitration panel lifted her drugs ban for the steroid nandrolone, won both her heats and said she felt vindicated. “I’ve shown them that’s the right decision,” she said. Another athlete reinstated after a drugs ban, Cuba’s high jump world record holder Javier Sotomayor, finished top in his qualifying group. Sotomayor had a two-year ban for using cocaine halved on humanitarian grounds. Olympic champion Charles Austin of the USA failed to qualify for Sunday’s final. Australia world 400 metres champion Cathy Freeman generated most noise from an exuberant opening day crowd of 102,485, with an easy first round victory in 51.63. Freeman is now the overwhelming favourite to win the title on Monday night after her main rival Marie-Jose Perec unexpectedly quit the games on Wednesday and flew home to France. Perec, who preceded Michael Johnson to a 200-400m double at the Atlanta games four years ago, was regarded as Freeman’s only serious opposition although she has pulled out of several meetings this year and was a virtual recluse after arriving in Australia. The first gold medal of the athletics programme went to Poland’s Robert Korzeniowski in the 20 km walk when Mexican Bernardo Segura was disqualified after crossing the line first. Segura surged ahead as the pair entered the stadium, threw up his arms in celebration and was giving a television interview when the chief judge intervened to break the unhappy news. Four cautions and three warnings had been given, with the third only four minutes from the finish of the race. The chief judge went to the track to advise Segura he had been disqualified for not maintaining continuous contact with the ground, hesitated when he saw the athlete was being interviewed and finally decided to interrupt. |
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Bulgarian lifters expelled; US track giants advance SYDNEY, Sept 22 (Reuters) — The entire Bulgarian weightlifting team was evicted from the Olympics today as the stigma of doping cast a shadow over the long-awaited entrance of the athletics stars. US track giants Michael Johnson, Maurice Greene and Marion Jones, some of the biggest crowd draws of the games, made their first appearance, gliding through their heats with the greatest of ease. But weightlifting, a repeat offender, produced yet another drug scandal when Bulgaria’s team was thrown out after two of its medallists were shamed and stripped of their medals for taking a banned diuretic. “The Bulgarian weightlifting team is suspended forthwith for a period of not less than 12 months pending further investigations,” the International Weightlifting Federation said. “All remaining lifters as well as officials from Bulgaria will not be allowed to take part in the Olympic Games.” The two banned lifters, Izabela Dragneva, gold medal winner in the women’s 48 kg category, and men’s 62 kg bronze medallist Sevdalin Minchev were both ordered out of the Olympics. They followed men’s 56 kg silver medallist Ivan Ivanov, thrown out on Wednesday. Dragneva, 29, was the first gold medal winner in Sydney to be branded a drugs cheat. IWF rules allow a federation to escape suspension by paying a 50,000 fine. But Bulgarian national committee chief Ivan Slavkov said his country would not do the same. IWF vice-president Sam Coffa said: “Anyone who brings this much darkness to us on a world stage should forefeit the right to be members of our community.” Weightlifting was almost dropped as an Olympic sport after five doping cases at the 1988 Seoul Games, two of them involving Bulgarian gold medallists who had taken the same diuretic, furosemide. Bulgaria withdrew its team from those Olympics. Six doping cases involving weightlifters have hit the Sydney Games - the three Bulgarian medallists plus two Romanians and one Taiwanese lifter who failed pre-Olympic tests. Diuretics can be used by weightlifters to decrease weight before competition or to mask the presence of other banned substances. At the track, Jones successfully began her bid for five gold medals with an untroubled win in the opening round of the 100 metres. She looked supremely relaxed as she crossed the line in 11.20 seconds, slowing sharply at the finish. World champion and record holder Maurice Greene was equally convincing in the men’s event, clocking 10.31 seconds. Defending champion and world record holder Michael Johnson, one of the biggest stars of the Atlanta Olympics, coasted effortlessly through the first round of the 400 metres. Canadian defending 100 metres champion Donovan Bailey, who had looked a doubtful starter after he caught flu, qualified for the second round by finishing third in his heat. Swimming, which dominated the Games’ first week, still had some thrills to offer with a titanic clash in prospect for the title of world’s fastest man in the 50 metres sprint. Russian veteran Alexander Popov, bidding for an historic third title, will face off against Dutch double gold medallist Pieter Van Den Hoogenband and American Gary Hall. Australian Kieren Perkins made a devastating start to his bid for an historic third successive 1,500 metres freestyle title, finishing nearly seven seconds quicker than American second-fastest overall qualifier Erik Vendt. Dutch swimmer Inge De Bruijn, who has broken two world records, headed remorselessly towards a golden treble when she posted far and away the fastest time in the women’s 50 metres freestyle heats. Track star Marie-Jose Perec, who dramatically fled the Olympics on Thursday, told France’s Sports Minister she had ‘’cracked under the pressure of the Australian Press” which had branded her a petulant prima donna. A spokesman for Minister Marie-George buffet said she had spoken to the triple Olympic champion by the telephone from Sydney while Perec was awaiting a flight in Singapore. The reclusive runner, whose departure robbed the Olympics of and eagerly-awaited 400 metres contest against Aboriginal hero Cathy Freeman, arrived in Paris on Friday. Despite the presence of so many sporting giants, two obscure swimmers from equatorial Guinea staked claims as the Games’ most endearing heroes, embodying the Olympic ideal that competing, not winning, is the important thing. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 22 (Reuters) — Americans Anthony Ervin and Gary Hall made swimming history with their fingertips at the Sydney Olympics today while Dutchwoman Inge de Bruijn smashed her second world record on the penultimate day of competition in the pool. Ervin and Hall touched the wall at exactly the same time of 21.98 seconds to share the gold medal in the fastest race in the sport — the 50 freestyle “splash and dash” — which ended in a dead heat for the first time in the men’s swim events at the games. The women’s 100 freestyle ended in a dead heat at the 1984 Los Angeles games. Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband took the bronze, 0.05 seconds behind. It was the towering Dutchman’s fourth medal in Sydney after two individual freestyle golds and a relay bronze. His compatriot De Brujin, who already had the 100 butterfly and freestyle titles to her name and had already broken the butterfly world record in the Sydney poll, clocked 24.13 in the women’s 50 freestyle semifinals to shave 0.26 seconds off her own world record of 24.39 set in June in Rio de Janeiro. But one of the biggest names in swimming failed to gain a special place in the history of the sport. In the men’s race world record holder Alexander Popov, bidding to become the first man to win an individual event at three successive Olympics, finished sixth in 22.24. After De Bruijn’s effort, the fastest poll in the world, has witnessed 13 historic swims — 12 new marks and an equalled world record, an astonishing number compared to four at the 1996 Atlanta games. One of the other best races of the night saw Swede Lars Frolander produce a devastating last 20 metres to snatch the men’s 100 butterfly title away from Australian world record holder Michael Klim in the last few strokes. Klim had led at the turn under his record split time with 24.10 seconds but the Swede closed him down with a magnificent finish to just touch the wall ahead in 52.00 with the Australian second in 52.18 and compatriot Geoff Huegill third in 52.22. It was Sweden’s first gold medal of the swimming. Romania’s Diana Mocanu, at 16 the youngest swimmer in the women’s 200 backstroke final, won her second gold medal of the games with ease, dominating the second half of the race to win in 2:08.16 ahead of France’s Roxana Maracineanu (2:10.25) and Japan’s Miki Nakao (2:11.05). Mocanu had previously won the 100m race in the discipline. The USA have dominated action in the pool, especially in the women’s events. Brooke Bennett kept up the trend when she dominated the women’s 800m freestyle from start to finish to win her second gold after taking the 400 freestyle title. Bennett clocked 8:19.67 ahead of Ukraine’s Yana Klochkova (8:22.66) with American Kaitlin Sandeno third in 8:24.29. AFP adds: Kieren Perkins broke 15 minutes in the 1500m free for the first time in four years, an outstanding qualifying performance that had Grant Hackett installing the world record holder as Olympic favourite. “It’s fantastic he’s gone under 15 minutes,” said Hackett, who usurped Perkins’ world title in 1998. “Right now he’s the favourite. He’s the one to beat.” But the 27-year-old Perkins, who was aiming for a time in the 15:05 range when he clocked his 14:58.34, said it was too soon to tell what would happen in tomorrow’s final, which many expect to be the greatest 1500m free race ever. Perkins, who has been plagued by illness since Atlanta, punched the air with a clenched fist after touching the wall, as the crowd at the International Aquatic Centre screamed “Kieren, Kieren”. He was followed in the qualifiers by American Erik Vendt (15:05.11) and Hackett (15:07.50). Vendt won the heat after Perkins’, and said he watched the Australian on TV. “It was a little demoralising,” he admitted. “But even though Perkins was really fast, a lot of other guys were slower than 15.10,” said Vendt. And the 19-year-old American, who broke 15 minutes at the US Trials, said he deliberately held back to have steam left for the finals. |
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Romania’s Adrian outboxes Jitender SYDNEY, Sept 22 (UNI) — Commonwealth Games silver medallist Jitender Kumar’s dream of an Olympic medal was floored as he was punched out by Romania’s Adrian Diaconu on points (3-12) in the second round of the middleweight (75kg) category bout here. The 23-year-old pugilist from Haryana was hardly any match for the stocky and swift Romanian who conceded just three points in the four-round bout. Jitender, who had outclassed Canada’s Donald Grant in the first bout raising India’s medal hopes, could not reproduce the same punch against much superior former world champion runners-up in 71 kg category. Adrian did not give any chance to Jitender and the Indian failed to take advantage of his height as the Romanian protected his flanks very well. Adrian adopted defensive tactics. He opened up only when he was sure of his punches and effectively used his right hand jabes and hookes. The Indian let his guard down and tried to entice his rival to open up. But Adrian saw through the game. He remained defensive in his approach and landed blows on Jitender with telling effects. In the initial 60 seconds of the first round, the Romanian displayed his class with two incisive blows which fetched him as many points while the Indian managed one in the fag end of the round. In the next, Adrian just outboxed Jitender. The Indian tried hard to land his punches on the Romanian but the short-built boxer was too fast for the him. Jitender came in for heavy punishment in the second round. He was unable to open his rival’s defence whereas Adrian collected points at will. In 47 seconds of the second round, he had built up a 5-1 lead with three quick points by landing punches on Jitender. The Indian was confused and started attacking without any success. All his blows, hooks and jabes proved ineffective. Adrian was not only defending well but also scoring his points. The second round saw Adrian earn four points and the Indian connected one to settle at 6-2. After taking such a big lead, the Romanian relaxed a bit. Jitender tried tricks to entice the Romanian to lower his guard but failed. Adrian was very effective with his right-handed jabs. He did not tire himself but waited for the chance to attack. He got two points in the third round as he hit Jitender wit a powerful right-handed hook and a big punch on the head. Leading 8-2 in the third round, Adrian unleashed a flurry of punches that rattled the tall Haryanvi in the last round. He punched four more blows to earn as many points. The Romanian reduced the fight to a one-sided contest with Jitender not knowing how to deal with the crafty rival. . With Jitender’s defeat, Gurcharan Singh (81 kg) remains the lone surviver in boxing. |
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Skilful Spaniards can spoil India’s party SYDNEY, Sept 22 (PTI) — India, who started their campaign on a glorious note in the group B league raising visions of their first entry into the Olympic hockey championship semifinals since 1980, now face a daunting task in achieving this goal following the unexpected 0-2 reverse against South Korea yesterday in their third match. The Bangkok Asian Games champions have been forced into a corner due to the loss to their continental rivals Korea and can afford, only at their own peril, to lose their remaining two league clashes against Atlanta games silver medallists Spain (tomorrow) and Poland (September 25). The points position in the group is intriguing. Favourites Australia and Korea jointly lead the bunch with 5 points each followed by India and Poland (4 points apiece.) Argentina and 1996 runners-up Spain bring up the rear with 2 points each and, surprisingly, are still in contention. Tomorrow’s fourth round of matches should make the picture clearer. India have gone off the boil after thrashing their old tormentors Argentina 3-0 in their lung-opener and then squandering the lead twice to allow Australia to draw 2-2 in their second match. Yesterday, while Korea — the much faster and fitter team on view — took their chances and scored, India blew away the few opportunities they got and slumped to defeat. They now have to put their loss to Korea firmly behind and lift their game up once again to put it across the very skilful Spaniards. Bumps in a team’s progress are a part of the game. It is not too late here for the Indian team to recover from the setback. Only the margin of error is getting closer to zero. “We have two good matches on hand”, explained chief coach Vasudevan Baskaran. “The boys are not demoralised and are determined to fight it out. We have our strategies worked out”. Eight-time champions India have played Spain 37 times in the past, winning 19 of those clashes, losing nine and drawing the rest of all internationals. India have scored 64 goals and conceded 46 to the Spanish armada. In the Olympics India have come out the better of the two outfits by winning five of their eight encounters. Only once have India lost to Spain at the games while twice their matches have ended in a stalemate. While India have pumped in 17 goals, the Spanish have replied with 12 at the Olympics. India’s recent record against Spain after the last games at Atlanta is also quite encouraging with the former winning three of their last four clashes while losing the other. India had a memorable clash against Spain in the 1980 Moscow games, their last gold-medal winning show, when they had to defend with all their might to deny penalty corner expert Juan Amat in the last 10 minutes of the pulsating final to win the match and the title. Incidentally, current coach Baskaran was the captain of that triumphant team, the last hockey squad to bag medal of any hue in Olympics. India’s final standing has since then shown a declining trend progressively with the eighth place finish at Atlanta four years ago being their worst-ever finish in the games. They are currently ranked seventh in the world behind the second-ranked Spain who, however, have picked up their game after a shock 1-4 rout against 11th seeds Poland. The Spanish armada have sounded warning bells with a 2-2 draw against Australia following a 1-1 draw against Asian champions South Korea, both group leaders, indicating they cannot be taken lightly. Spain, though having only an outside chance of qualifying, are capable of spoiling India’s party. Skipper Ramandeep Singh and his team-mates would be well aware of this fact. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 22 (Reuters) — China took both gold medals in Olympic weightlifting today and women’s superheavyweight world champion Ding Meiyuan smashed three world records. Zhan Xugang won an eventful men’s 77 kg contest, equalling the world clean-and-jerk world record of 207.5 kg to squeeze out Greece’s Viktor Mitrou on body weight. Mitrou matched Zhan’s overall total of 367.5 kg but had to settle for silver after tipping the scales at 76.48 kg to Zhan’s 76.20 kg. When scores are tied the lighter athlete wins. Arsen Melikyan took bronze to give Armenia the first weightlifting medal of their Olympic history. They were the only three from the 10-man leading “A” group of lifters to finish the competition. Bulgaria’s Plamen Zhelyazkov was barred from competing after his team were booted out of the games for a series of doping offences. An Armenian withdrew with an injury on Friday morning and two Qatari team-mates pulled out with upset stomachs. That reduced the starters to six. An Iranian lifter then failed to make a lift in the snatch and therefore failed to qualify. Then an Albanian and a Ukranian retired injured to leave Zhan, Mitrou and Melikyan as the only medal contenders. In the earlier women’s over-75 kg event, Ding won a thunderous battle with Polish teenager Agata Wrobel to ensure all four members of the unstoppable Chinese women’s team will leave Sydney with a gold medal. European champion Wrobel made the first move, lifting 132.5 kg to break her own world record in the snatch. But Ding hit back within minutes, taking the bar to 135 kg to lead at the halfway stage of the competition. It was the same in the clean-and-jerk where Wrobel set a world record of 162.5 kg before Ding strode on stage and lifted 165 kg, barely flinching as she heaved the groaning bar over her head. That left Wrobel, the heaviest of the two women, needing to lift a full 170 kg — 9 kg above the pre-competition world record mark to take gold. The 19-year-old from the Polish mountain town of Zywiec made the attempt but did not even get the bar to her knees. Ding’s total of 300 kg was an overall world record and made her the first woman to hit the 300 kg barrier in the combination of snatch and clean-and-jerk. Wrobel took silver while American Cheryl Haworth, who at 139.38 kg became the heaviest woman to step onto the Olympic weightlifting platform, took bronze. Haworth made all six of her lifts and looked as if she could have perhaps taken more weight. The 17-year-old art student from Savannah, Georgia, snatched 125 kg and jerked 145 kg for a combined 270 kg. |
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Bulgarian weightlifting team expelled SYDNEY, Sept 22 (AFP) — Bulgaria’s weightlifting team has been expelled from the Olympics and suspended for a year after three of its lifters failed drugs tests, the International Weightlifting Federation said today. The IWF said in a statement Bulgaria’s weightlifters would be suspended from all competition for 12 months after three members of their team tested positive for banned diuretics at the Olympics. “The Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation is suspended forthwith for a period of not less than 12 months pending an investigation,” the statement said. “All remaining lifters as well as officers from the Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation will not be able to take part in the Olympic Games, it added. The statement was released following an extraordinary xecutive committee meeting of the IWF. The decision to boot out the Bulgarians comes after women’s 48kg gold medallist Izabela Dragneva of Bulgaria and compatriot Sevdalin Minchev, the men’s 62kg bronze medallist failed dope tests. Their double test came after silver medallist Ivan Ivanov was banned for testing positive for the same drug. Both tested positive to banned diuretics in tests take after their competitions earlier this week. Diuretics help to eliminate fluid from the body and are used by competitors to lose weight quickly in sports with weight categories. They can also increase the rate at which urine is produced and eliminated to make it more difficult to detect banned substances. Dragneva’s gold medal will now go to Tara Nott of the USA, the silver to Lisa Raema Rumbewas of Indonesia and bronze to her compatriot Sri Indriyan. “It was just starting to sink in that I won the silver, so right now I’m kind of in shock,” said Nott, who also becomes America’s first weightlifting gold medallist in 40 years. Gennady Oleshchuk of Belarus will be promoted to bronze from fourth place in the men’s 62kg. Under the IWF’s current anti-doping policy a clause allowed the payment of a $ 50,000 fine to stay at the games, invoked by the Romanian team earlier this week. However IWF General-Secretary Tamas Ajan told a press conference that accepting a fine to allow the Bulgarians to continue competing had not been an option. In a further twist on Friday, two Bulgarian-born weightlifters due to represent Qatar at the Olympics withdrew from competition citing health reason, the officials said. Salelem Nayef Badr formerly Petar Tanev, and Sulyan Abbas Nader, formerly Andrey Ivanov, pulled out from today men’s 77kg category final complaining of a “virus,” weightlifting officials said. |
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Paes-Bhupathi duo bite the dust SYDNEY, Sept 22 (UNI) — Former world number one duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi today went down fighting to top seed Australian pair of Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) in Olympic tennis doubles. Today’s loss ended India’s tennis campaign dashing the hopes for an Olympic medal in the event. The Indian pair had won their first round against Romanian rivals Andrei Pavel and Gabriel Trifu 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday. Atlanta Olympics bronze medalist Leander was beaten by Sweden’s Mikael Tillstrom 6-2, 6-4 in the singles in the first round. After all the hoopala rushing them here from different parts of the world, the Indian pair of Nirupama and Manisha suffered the ultimate humiliation going down in straight sets without taking a game against teenager Dokic and her senior partner Stubbs. In the first round match that was over in just 35 minutes, the Indian girls could manage just 18 points in the entire match — seven in the first set and 11 in the second. Nirupama would be leaving Australia with mixed feelings as in this very country, in Melbourne, she became the first Indian woman player to get past the first round in a Grand Slam event when she achieved the distinction in the 1998 Australian Open. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 22 (UNI) — Wildcard entrants Nirupama Vaidyanathan and Manisha Malhotra’s tryst with Olympic women’s double’s tennis lasted barely 35 minutes as they were swamped by sixth-seeded pair of Jelena Dokic and Rennae Stubbs of Australia in a first round encounter today. Playing with clinical precision, Jelena and Rennae gave the Indian duo a few lessons in tennis blanking them 6-0, 6-0, a ‘double bagel’ as it is described in the game’s parlance. The Australian pair was ruthless, not giving any quarter to their rivals, who looked like novices. The way the Indians lost even embarassed the Indian supporters who had come to watch the encounter. Nirupama and Manisha must have realised that they have a long way to go before they can make a mark at higher echelons of the game. The Indian pair was lucky to get a last-minute call, as Anke Huber and her partner Jana Kandarr withdrew because of injuries. Manisha opened the match but was unable to hold her serve. Nirupama did no better as she lost hers. The Australians showed the Indians how to serve and hold it. But they refused to learn and maintained the trend throughout the match. The Indians won a mere seven points in the first set, and two of them came via double faults from the rivals. In the second set, things were only marginally better as the Indian pair managed to collect 11 points. The Indians thus won a total of 18 points as against 50 by the Australians, indication of the massacre on show court. The Australians converted their break points without wasting any time. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 22 (AFP) — The Netherlands squeezed into the next round of the Olympic women’s hockey after holding gallant Germany to a 2-2 draw here today. The Germans, who needed a win to qualify, fought back twice to draw level but failed to score the important winner that would have carried them forward. Both Germany and the Netherlands ended the preliminary round on five points and the same goal difference, but the Dutch moved ahead having scored nine goals to Germany’s six. The Dutch joined New Zealand and China as group B qualifiers for the medal pool round which starts on Sunday. Defending champions Australia and Argentina have also qualified from group A. In a replay of the Champions Trophy final in May, which the Dutch won 3-2, the Germans matched their rivals with swift counter-attacks. The Dutch took the lead four minutes before half-time through Susan van der Wielen, but the Germans made it 1-1 the very next minute when Fanny Rinnie deflected in a penalty corner. The Netherlands went ahead again midway through the second half as Carole Thate broke free from a goalmouth melee and scooped the ball over the German goalkeeper sprawled on the ground. Realising time was running out on them, the Germans launched an agressive attack in the last quarter. Nadine Ernsting-Krienke equalised with a deft flick five minutes before the end, but there was not enough time left for the Germans to pump in one more. The defeat ruined German striker Natascha Keller’s dream of adding to her family’s tally of two Olympic golds and three silvers. Keller, voted the International Hockey Federation’s player of the year recently, belongs to German hockey’s first family, which has produced three Olympic medallists in the past. Her grandfather, Erwin Keller, was part of the German team which won a silver at home in Berlin in 1936. Father Carsten won a gold at Munich in 1972. Her elder brother, Andreas, topped that with two silver in 1984 and 1988 and a gold at Barcelona in 1992. Gold medal favourites Australia knocked Asian champions South Korea out of Olympic women’s hockey with a 3-0 win in their last group A match. The Koreans, silver-medallists at Atlanta, needed a win to stay in contention for a place in the medal pool round. The defeat, instead, carried Spain into the next round from the group with Australia and Argentina. Australia, hoping to become the first women’s team to retain the Olympic title, ended the preliminary league with 10 points, the most by any side in the tournament. South Korea were confined to two points, way behind Argentina’s six and Spain’s five. Australia showed why they are the most feared team in women’s hockey by outplaying the Koreans through the 70-minute encounter. Cheered by a full house at the State Hockey Centre, the hockeyroos took an early lead in the eighth minute with a goal from Katrina Powel. Alison Peek increased the margin in the 22nd, before nikki Hudson completed the tally just as the final hooter sounded. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 22 (AFP) —Canada’s former 100 metres world record holder Donovan Bailey saw the last of his individual crowns — the Olympic one — disappear here today as he trailed in an also-ran in his second round heat. The 32-year-old, who won the Olympic title in 1996 establishing the then world record of 9.84 seconds to add to his 1995 world title, said although he had been sick with flu for days prior to the heats today he would not let it stop him from running. “I have been sick for four days and have a lot of fluid in my lungs,” he said. “Normally I wouldn’t have
raced but this was my Olympic title and I have never been one to back down. “I said to myself I can’t lay down.. I can’t do that,” he added. Bailey, who had his bitter rivals and founders of the abb club (Anyone But Bailey) Ato Boldon and the man who has taken his world title and world record from him Maurice Greene watching after they won their heats, said despite his illness it was still a very hard pill to swallow. “I am very upset,” he said. “I didn’t want it (my Olympic title) to end this way because the Olympics are the ultimate,” he added. Bailey, who has found it tough going since he returned last year after rupturing his Achilles tendon playing basketball, didn’t come out and announce his retirement though he added he was going to call his family. One of Bailey’s training partners Bajan Obadele Thompson, who breezed through his second round heat in 10.04 and was nominated by Greene as his toughest opponent, paid tribute to the Jamaican-born former marketing executive. |
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Jones wins opening heat in style SYDNEY, Sept 22 (Reuters) — Marion Jones took the first smooth strides on her path towards a possible five gold medals at the Sydney Olympics today by winning her opening heat of the 100 metres in an unhurried 11.20 seconds. With her hair freshly braided and smiling broadly as she stepped into the blocks, Jones was cheered to the echo by a crowd in excess of 100,000 at Stadium Australia for the opening morning of the Games’ athletics programme. The American rewarded the spectators with a smooth, stylish performance which would have been well under 11 seconds if she had not slowed in the final 10 metres. “I feel great, it’s been a long time waiting but it’s here now and there are no excuses,” said Jones, who is hoping to win gold in both sprints, the long jump and the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. The first track and field gold medal of the Games went initially to Mexican Bernardo Segura, who crossed the line first in the men’s 20 kms walk. |
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Redgrave attempts to win five in row SYDNEY, Sept 22 (AFP) — While the great Steve Redgrave will attempt to become the first rower to win five successive Olympic golds in finals this weekend, there are plenty of other multiple winners looking to add to their medal tally. An unprecedented 26 nations have qualified for this weekend’s rowing finals. Australia has achieved the largest qualification total with boats in the finals of 10 of the 14 events, followed by the USA and Germany with nine each. South Africa and Japan have crews in the finals for the first time. At the grand old age of 38, Redgrave, from Britain, is preparing to become the world’s greatest Olympian in an endurance sport. Only one man, Hungarian fencer Aladar Gerevich, who won six gold medals between 1932 and 1960 has struck gold at more games. And Redgrave is fired up and ready to exact revenge for what he sees as a big injustice in the men’s coxless fours. “Italy are number one seeds here, we are fourth seeds and that has p...ed us off,” said Redgrave. For Redgrave and his team-mates, who have been world champions since 1997, it is the final insult punishable by water torture. The British quartet of Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent, Tim Foster and James Cracknell will view Italy and Australia as the main competition. Pinsent, who won gold with Redgrave in the coxless pairs in 1992 and 1996 and carried Britain’s flag in opening ceremony, is one of seven men going for a third gold medal. The others are Agostino Abbagnale of Italy and three German’s, Andreas Hajek, Stephan Volkert and Andre Willms in the quadruple sculls. Mike McKay of Australia will attempt the treble in the eight’s while fellow Australian James Tomkins will go for gold in the coxless pairs. Elisabeta Lipa of Romania, already a triple gold medallist, will try for a fourth in the women’s eight’s. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 22 (UNI) — India’s Imtiaz Anees finished at the bottom of the pool of 23 riders with a total of 236.60 penalty points in the three-stage Olympic equestrian event today. Riding ‘Spring Invader’, he collected 10 penalty points in the third stage (show jumping) on the third day of the event today. Two riders dropped out of the race overnight. David O’Connor of the USA, astride ‘Custom Made’, won the gold in the event while Australian Andrew Hoy and Mark Todd of New Zealand, riding ‘Eyespy II’, got the silver and bronze, respectively. David had 34 penality points, andrew 39.80 and mark 42. Imtiaz had come last of the 25 riders after the second stage (cross-country) collecting 165.60 penalties, the maximum by anybody in that leg. He was placed 32nd (with 61 penalties) after dressage on the first day in a field of 38 riders from 21 countries. Thirteen riders either retired or were eliminated from the race yesterday. Brazil’s Roberto macedo and Danish rider Nils Haagensen fell from their mount. Macedo suffered a pelvic fracture and Haagensen a broken shoulder. Greece’s Heidi Antikatzidis, who was second yesterday, dropped to the sixth position when she knocked down two rails and ran over time in show jumping today. Imtiaz thus joined the growing list of Indian sportspersons who captalised on the low qualification standards back home, to take part in the Olympics under the pretext of gaining international exposure, but it was only at the expense of the country’s reputation. Imtiaz had been training and competing in Australia for the past few months and had achieved the Olympic qualifying standards in competitions here. The rider was not part of the Indian contingent cleared by the government initially. He requested Chef-de-Mission Ashok Mattoo to forward his name for representing the country at the Olympics as he had passed the revised qualifying mark for the games. Imtiaz was given permission to take part on September 17 by the Indian Government and he was finally given the green signal by the games authorities only one-and-half hours before the final inspection of horses on September 19 on the eve of the three-day equestrian event. |
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Beenamol saves day; others fall aside SYDNEY, Sept 22 (PTI) — K.M. Beenamol lifted the gloom enveloping India’s large athletics contingent in the morning with a blistering run in the women’s 400m race this evening in which she clocked the best time in the first round on way to winning the seventh heat in 51.51 seconds. Kerala-born Beenamol, considered the heir-apparent to Indian track legend P.T. Usha who was Asia’s best woman quarter-miler in her prime, scorched the track and qualified for the second round in a time better than that returned by even gold medal favourite Cathy Freeman of Australia. Freeman, the aboriginal athlete who was given the singular honour of lighting the Olympic Games flame during last Friday’s glittering opening ceremony, took control of heat four and won it in 51.63. She is the red hot favourite in the event following the withdrawal in controversial circumstances of triple Olympic champion Jose-Marie Perec of France who has fled home to Paris after claiming she had been threatened by a stalker who had broken into her room in the athletes village. Beenamol, in fact, had clocked 51.41 while winning the silver medal behind Sri Lanka’s Damayanthi Darsha in the Asian championship at Jakarta last month-end, which is yet to be ratified by the Amateur Athletics Federation of India, obliterating Usha’s 51.61 set in the 1985 ‘world’ cup at Canberrra. Darsha qualified for the second round by coming in third in heat 2 in 52.13. Beenamol finished her race with a powerful surge on the final straight, getting past second-finisher Olga Kotlyarova of Russia who eased up towards the end and timed 51.99. Beenamol’s fine show, albeit in the first round where top athletes generally do not go flat out, came as a breath of fresh air for the rest of the team who were feeling deflated after the listless display put up by some of their top men athletes in the morning. Shot-putters Shakti Singh and Bahadur Singh, javelin thrower Jagdish Bishnoi and star quarter-miler Paramjit Singh all made their exit from the competition with below-par show. National record holder Shakti, silver medallist at the Jakarta Asian Championship last month-end, and Bahadur Singh ended up 32nd and 27th in a field of 36 by throwing the iron ball to 18.40 and 18.70 metres, respectively, feats which were much below their personal bests. Shakti, whose ratified national record stands at 20.09 metres but who is credited with a best personal effort of 20.60 m (achieved at the AAFI circuit meet at Bangalore. His comrade-in-arms, fellow-shot-putter Bahadur Singh, performed slightly better with his only legal put of 19.70 m which fetched him the 27th position. He too has a personal best of 20.01, done at home, to boast of. Star quarter-miler and eraser of ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh’s 38-year-old 400m flat Indian record, lanky Paramjit, also performed well below his potential while finishing a poor seventh in his first round qualifying heat in 46.64 seconds. It was well off his ratified national mark of 45.70 set in Calcutta two years ago. Punjab’s Paramjit, bronze medallist at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games, had clocked a very impressive 45.56 at the inter-state meet in Chennai which served as the basis for selecting the Indian team for the Jakarta Asian meet in which the one-lap runner was timed 45.82 while finishing fifth. Javelin thrower Bishnoi, credited with having thrown the spear to 79.67 m at one of the AAFI’s circuit meets held earlier this season, could achieve only 70.86 here, a steep decline in form, and finished 30th out of 36 throwers. Bishnoi had also won the gold in the Jakarta Asian meet less than a month ago with an effort of 76.81m and, viewed in that perspective too, his show today was way off the mark. India have entered 29 competitors in the track and field events here, their biggest Olympic team since the Moscow games in 1980. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 22 (AFP) — Mozambique track queen Maria Mutola took her first step towards securing her country’s first ever Olympic gold when she cruised through her 800m qualifying round here today. The 28-year-old 1998 Commonwealth Games champion was never pushed as she came home in 1min 59.88 seconds — well outside her personal best of 1:55.19. “Everything is going well but you never know. This is the Olympic Games, anything can happen,” she said. “I liked the track. It is hard and fast,” she added. Her title dreams were boosted when arch-rival Ludmila Formanova failed to finish. The 800 metres world indoor and outdoor champion pulled off the track 200 metres from the end with an ankle injury. She left the track in tears but later spoke, confirming that her ankle had been hurting for several months. “I think an operation will be necessary,” said
Formanova, who had not competed in two months. “The long flight to Sydney wasn’t good for my ankle and two days ago I felt a big pain.” The 26-year-old
Formanova, who stormed to victory with a late charge at last year’s world championships, admitted her Olympic dream was almost certainly over, saying she probably would start a family before the 2004 games in Athens. |
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Gong wins gold SYDNEY, Sept 22 (AFP) — China’s world number one Gong Zhichao defeated Camilla Martin of Denmark here today to win the Olympic badminton women’s singles gold medal. After a hard fought opening game Martin’s play fell apart, Gong finally winning 13-10 11-3. Martin takes silver medal, while China’s Ye Zhaoying won bronze. |
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Sweet revenge for Koreans
SYDNEY, Sept 22 (Reuters) — South Korea gained sweet revenge and won the gold medal when they beat Italy 255-247 in today’s men’s team archery final at the Olympic Games. The victory of Oh Kyo-Moon, Jang Yong-Ho and Kim Chung-Tae saw the Koreans avenge their loss to the Italians in last year’s world championship final in France and take out the teams event for the first time since the 1988 games in Seoul. South Korea won three of the four archery gold medals in Sydney, also taking the women’s individual and team events. The joy showed on the faces of all three men’s team members and they pumped their fists after being presented with their medals. Italy, with world No 1 Michele Frangilli leading Matteo Bisiani and Ilario Di Buo, beat the defending champions from the USA 244-241 in the semifinals. The Koreans led from the start and cruised to a 240-229 semifinal win over Russia. |
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Sydney Diary SYDNEY, Sept 22 (AFP) — Anthony Ervin and Gary Hall shared the gold medal after dead heating in the men’s 50m freestyle — and they also share some unusual dietary habits. Their coach Mike Bottom claims he feeds the pair with nutritional supplements fed to Kentucky Derby winner, Fusaichi Pegasus. Champion for 11 minutes Andy Warhol famously said that everyone has 15 minutes of fame and Mexican road walker Bernardo Segura found out what it was like to be an Olympic champion for just 11 minutes. That was how long after he crossed the line first in the 20km walk that it took officials to inform him that he had been disqualified. Segura had just said on Mexican television to his mother: “Mama, I have won!” But officials cut short the interview and promptly told him that Poland’s Robert Korzeniowski was the new champion. His Mexican team-mate Noe Fernandez, therefore, had his bronze upgraded to silver but sympathised with his team-mate, saying: “The bronze was fine. I am not happy to receive this (silver) medal.” Chelsea treat for Williams’ Chelsea Clinton was in the crowd to see Venus Williams reach the quarterfinals of the Olympic tennis tournament then hooked up with her and younger sister Serena after the match. Chelsea, representing her father at the games, praised Venus on her win and Serena on her ability to get to nearly as many hot-ticket Olympic events as she has, according to one witness. President approval Romania’s President Emil Constantinescu is expected in Sydney tomorrow to meet his successful Olympians, notably the female gymnasts. The Romanians have also struck gold in swimming and fencing. But one blot on their copybook has been the positive dope tests that has tarnished the Romanian weightlifting team. Coach in trouble France’s women’s basketball coach Alain Jardel is rueing a wager he made before the start of the Olympic tournament. He told his charges that he would eat only burgers from a famous multinational company if they reached quarterfinals. For someone from the Perigord — a region that enjoys a reputation for gastronomy and where fast food is seen as a cultural abomination - that was no idle bet. One more victory will mean Jardel will have to fulfil his bet. Cheerleader undergoes makeover Australian Prime Minister John Howard has never been renowned for his dress sense — predictably, he’s a white shirt and dark suit kind of fellow. But it seems the PM, who dubbed himself
Australia’s “chief cheerleader” in the leadup to the Olympics, has undergone a makeover of sorts for the Sydney games. He’s been seen donning the dark green blazer, pale green shirt and “greeny-gold tie” that make up the official Australian team uniform several times in the past week, The Sydney Morning Herald reported today. “We all feel like he’s never looked better,” the Herald quoted someone close to Mr Howard as saying. “The colours suit him and he’s feeling very comfortable.” Mr Howard isn’t alone in undergoing a makeover — his normally staid wife, Janette, has been seen around town wearing pieces from the tea uniform. Among them: a scarf by Melbourne label “Vixen”. No dope for these records Mustapha Larfaoui, the Algerian President of swimming’s world governing body FINA, insists doping is not the reason behind the records that are tumbling like skittles in the Olympic swimming pool. Whispering campaigns against Sydney gold medallists by beaten opponents have led to speculation that drugs are fuelling some of those performances. But Larfaoui said: “It is very rare to find positive tests in swimming because we have led a pitiless war against the use of doping products.” |
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Cuban boxers roll on SYDNEY, Sept 22 (Reuters) — Three Cuban boxers punched through to the Olympic quarter-finals today while two Americans, including light-flyweight world champion Brian Viloria, went out. Lightweight Mario Kindelan, light-flyweight Maikro Romero and middleweight Jorge Gutierrez all made the last eight in their divisions without trouble. That took the Cuban running total to five quarter-finalists, with heavyweight Felix Savon and bantamweight Guillermo Rigondeaux having gone through on Thursday and six boxers still waiting for their turn in the ring. Kindelan beat Thailand’s Phongsit Wiangviset 14-8 while Romero outclassed Romanian Marian Velicu in the fourth round with only one point scored against him. Gutierrez beat Greece’s Antonios Giannoulas 20-7 and forced a standing eight count on him in the second round after catching him cleanly on the chin. |
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US men complete miserable outing SYDNEY, Sept 22 (AFP) — American involvement in the men’s tennis at the Olympics came to an abrupt and embarassingly premature end today as their US team-mate Venus Williams moved a step closer to gold in the women’s singles. Jeff Tarango, the only American to get through the first round in the singles, succumbed to Argentina’s Mariano Zabaleta, hours after highly-rated doubles pair of Alex O’Brien and Jared Palmer fell at their first hurdle. The rout cruelly exposed the weakness of a US men’s team lacking Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi on a day that saw Williams give her aura of invincibility another polish. |
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Jayasinghe qualifies for
100 m semis SYDNEY, Sept 22 (Reuters) — Controversial Sri Lankan sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe qualified for the women’s 100 metres semifinals at the summer Olympics today. American Marion Jones was the quickest overall in a time of 10.83 seconds, followed by Ekaterini Thanou of Greece in 10.99. The top four from the four heats moved into the semifinals, and Jayasinghe finished fourth in her heats and 12th overall. After the morning heats where she finished fifth fastest, Jayasinghe had predicted bigger things. “I have big hopes. I feel so good, I’m strong,” Jayasinghe, the former world 200 metres silver mediallist told Reuters. The Sri Lankan said last week she had put a drug scandal and injury worries behind her, adding she felt she could repeat her surprise silver medal in the world championships three years ago. That performance in Athens shocked the athletics world and made her a national hero. Within months, she tested positive for an anabolic steroid but was later cleared by Sri Lankan athletics
officials. Jayasinghe was then hit by lower back and hamstring problems, and a dispute with sports officials in Sri Lanka which led to her leaving to train in the USA. Sri Lanka have won only one Olympic medal, a silver in the 400 metres hurdles by Duncan White in 1948 in London. |
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India’s schedule
today SYDNEY, Sept 22 (PTI) — India’s schedule at the Olympic Games tomorrow. (All times IST). Athletics:
0430 various events. Hockey: 1000 India vs Spain. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 22 (UNI) — Following is the summary of India’s performance at the 27th Olympics here today: Athletics: Woman quartermiler K.M. Beenamol qualified for the second round while rest of the Indian participants failed to make their presence felt. Tennis: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi lose to Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde 3-6, 6-7, (1-7) and crash out of the men’s doubles competition in the second round. Wildcard entrant Nirupama Vaidyanathan and Manisha Malhotra swamped by sixth seeded pair of Jelena Dokic and Rennae Stubbs of Australia 0-6, 0-6 in the first round. Boxing: Jitender Kumar went down (3-12) fighting to swift punching Adrian Diaconu of Romania in the middleweight (75 kg) class. Equestrian: Imtiaz Anees finished at the bottom of the pool of 23 riders with a total of 236.60 penalty points in the three-stage Olympic equestrian event. |
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Medal tally SYDNEY, Sept 22 (Reuters) — Olympics medals table after the seventh day of competition
on Friday: (Given in the following order: Country, Gold, Silver,
Bronze) USA 16 10 14 China 14 7 9 France 9 10 4 Australia 8 11 9 Italy 7 3 10 Netherlands 6 2 3 Russia 5 8 10 Romania 5 2 4 South Korea 4 5 7 Japan 4
4 3 Germany 3 5 7 Sweden 3 1 1 Bulgaria 3 1 0 Ukraine 2 6 3 Britain 2 5 3 Cuba 2 2 2 Poland 2 2 0 Hungary 2 1 1 Spain 2 0 1 Turkey 2 0 0 Slovakia 1 3 1 Switzerland 1 3 1 Indonesia 1 2 2 Canada 1 1 2 Mexico 1 1 0 Czech Rep 1 0 3 Lithuania 1 0 0 Croatia 1 0 0 Finland 1 0 0 Colombia 1 0 0 Azerbaijan 1 0 0 Greece 0 2 1 Brazil 0 2 1 Denmark 0 2 0 Belarus 0 1 6 Belgium 0 1 2 South Africa 0 1 1 Taiwan 0 1 1 North Korea 0 1 1 Yugoslavia 0 1 0 Uruguay 0 1 0 Nigeria 0 1 0 Moldova 0 1 0 Estonia 0 0 2 Costa Rica 0 0 2 Thailand 0 0 1 Portugal 0 0 1 New Zealand 0 0 1 Latvia 0 0 1 Kuwait 0 0 1 Kyrgyzstan 0 0 1 India 0 0 1 Georgia 0 0 1 Armenia 0 0 1 |
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Ajay Chautala HSTTA chief CHANDIGARH, Sept 22 — Mr Ajay Singh Chautala, MP, has been re-elected president of the Haryana State Table Tennis Association (HSTTA) in the general body meeting of the association held at Panchkula last evening. Mr Chautala after his re-election announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh to the association. It was decided at the meeting that a table tennis hall with latest facilities would be constructed at Sirsa which would provide better facilities. He said the second Haryana State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament would be held at Rewari from October 3 to 6 while the Haryana State Table Tennis Tournament would be organised from October 30 to November 6 at Faridabad. The following bave been elected are the other office-bearers of the HSTTA: chairman — Mr V.K. Garg, patrons — Mr Raj Kumar Gupta, Mr Sanjeev Kumar, Mr Anand Mohan Saran, Mr Alok Nigam, Mr Harbakash Singh and Mr S.N. Rai, sr vice-presidents — Mr Vidhya Dhar, Mr Sant Parkash, Mr Jagdeep Singh, Mr Kulwant Singh, Mr B.M. Bhargawa, Mr Rajinder Sharma and Mr Rajinder Raja, vice-presidents — Mr Chhatter Singh, Mr S.S. Rana, Mr R.S. Saini, Mr Subhas Batra, Mr Surinder Sapru and Mr Yudhvir Nain, secretary — Mr M.P. Singh, organising secretary — Mr Mahinder Khanna and Hony treasurer — Mr Harinder Khanna, technical advisers — Mr K.L. Sethi, Mr Ram Singh Yadav, joint secretaries — Mr J.C. Babbar and Mr Ram Singh Yadav; and executive members — Mr B.P. Singh, Mr Nalin Somani, Mr Dharampal and Mr Manoj Kumar Chawla. PCC to meet CRSB CHANDIGARH, Sept 22 — Defending champions Punjab Cricket Club will take on Central Revenue Sports Board in the opening match of the seventh J.P. Atray Memorial Cricket Tournament to be held at the PCA Stadium, SAS Nagar, from September 24. The six teams of the tournament have been divided into two pools. Air-India (Mumbai), Punjab Club and CRSB XI comprise pool ‘A’ while Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Bishnoi Club and PCA Colts figure in Pool B. The winners and runners-up of each pool will qualify for the semi-finals. The league matches are scheduled to be played from September 24 to 28, the semifinals on September 29 and 30 while the final is slated for October 1. A number of international and Ranji players will be seen in action during the tournament. They include Parveen Amre, Amay Khusraisa, Vikram Rathore, Pankaj Dharmani, Yuvraj Singh, Reetinder Sodhi, Virender Sehwag, Amit Bhandari and Rahul Sanghvi. The organising committee has also decided to honour Mr Mohinder Singh, secretary, Chandigarh Cricket Association, affiliated to the PCA, and Sukhwinder Bawa, SAI coach, for their service in the promotion of the game in the region. Mrs Vineeta Rai, Adviser to the Administrator, Chandigarh Administration, will inaugurate the tournament while Lt-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (Retd) , Governor of Punjab, will be the chief guest on the final day. Ropar Hawks, SPS meet in
opener today CHANDIGARH, Sept 22 — The opening match of the 30th S.N. Vohra All India Gurmit Memorial Hockey Tournament will be played between Ropar Hawks and Shivalik Public School, Chandigarh at 2.30 p.m. tomorrow at the hockey stadium, Sector 18, here. As many as 24 teams are participating in the tournament. A special feature of this year’s tournament is that four academics, namely Punjab & Sind Bank, Jalandhar, Air-India Delhi, Speed Hockey Ludhiana, Shivalik Public School Chandigarh and an Army Junior XI have been included in the draw. This will provide an excellent opportunity to young players to rub shoulders with their more experienced counterparts. Mr Bhim Sain Bassi, IGP UT Chandigarh, will inaugurate the tournament. The Punjab Governor has consented to preside over the final day’s function.
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