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| Monday, September 25, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Favourites falter in rain S. Korea down Poland Venus Williams survives scare
Lewis beats the clock, elements Pramila, Soma fail
to make impact Gold for Khorkina
at last |
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Japan’s Takahashi takes marathon gold Aussie eves on course for
double Heptathlon world
champ pulls out Csollany finally
emerges on top USA, Norway eves
in soccer final Sahu, Rajpal best athletes
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SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) — Favourites faltered in the rain at the Sydney Olympics today as a sudden downpour washed away the gold medal hopes of most of the major contenders on the third day of athletics competition. The star names had flourished yesterday with Maurice Greene and Marion Jones waltzing off with the prestigious sprint titles but today belonged to some less illustrious performers, such as Russian Sergei Kliugin and Tereza Marinova of Bulgaria. With no track finals on the programme, the day’s glamour was to be found indoors, where Russian gymnast and part-time model Svetlana Khorkina finally managed a gold medal and a smile, in that order, after a string of disappointments. In Stadium Australia, Kliugin took advantage of the unpredictable weather conditions to clear 2.35 metres in the high jump, his best height of the season, before the downpour. His six other rivals, including world record holder Javier Sotomayor of Cuba, who had all cleared 2.32, sploshed out as the rain teemed down, leaving the relatively obscure 26-year-old Russian a surprise winner. Sotomayor had only been allowed to compete after a two-year ban imposed for failing a drugs test for cocaine was reduced by the sport’s governing body on compassionate grounds. The hot favourite for the event, world champion Vyacheslav Voronin of Russia, who had cleared 2.40 metres this year, struggled with the conditions and failed at 2.32 metres. It was the same story in the women’s triple jump where Marinova was fortunate to put in a winning 15.20-metre leap with her first effort just before the rain began to fall. Her last five jumps were all fouls but overwhelming favourite Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia, who had won 13 of 14 competitions this season, could not cope with the conditions and took silver. Briton Denise Lewis won the heptathlon after French world champion Eunice Barber withdrew before the last two events because of a thigh injury. The 1996 Olympic champion Ghada Shouaa of Syria had also pulled out after her opening hurdles heat on Saturday. There was a big upset too in the last event of the day, the men’s hammer, with Poland’s Szymon Ziolkowski taking gold and the expected winner Igor Astapkovich of Belarus settling for bronze. Before the rain fell, Naoko Takahashi became the first Japanese woman to claim an Olympic athletics title when she won the marathon. Takahashi, who weighs just 47 kg, had been an average track athlete before bursting on to the marathon scene two years ago, winning gold in the Asian Games. In the best track action American Michael Johnson and Australian Cathy Freeman both advanced comfortably from the semifinals to Monday’s 400 metres men’s and women’s finals, expected to be among the high points of the games. Khorkina, a 21-year-old playboy centrefold and would-be actress, had pouted and postured after flopping in the team and individual all-round events. But she finally got it right on her favoured asymmetric bars, retaining the gold medal she won four years ago. Earlier, Khorkina pulled out of the vault final, leaving her place to compatriot Elena Zamolodtchikova, who duly won it. The rowing competition closed today with Britain defying expectation to win the men’s eight, but the sport suffered a rare positive doping case when Latvian singles sculler Andris Reinholds was found to have taken the banned steroid nandrolone. He became the fourth athlete to fail a drugs test during the games competition. The other three were Bulgarian weightlifters who tested positive for a diuretic. Reinholds, 29, who failed to make the final of his event, now faces a lifetime ban if the test is ratified by the sport’s governing body, FISA. The British eight upset pre-race favourites Australia, winning the event for the first time since 1912. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 24 (AFP) — Pugnacious South Korea overcame Poland 3-2 today to leave the semi-final race in Olympic men’s hockey poised on a knife’s edge. The last round of preliminary matches on Tuesday will decide the two semi-finalists from group b as the Koreans joined hosts Australia on eight points with India breathing down their necks on seven. India must defeat Poland to qualify, while Australia must not lose to the Koreans if they are to remain in contention in front of their home crowd. The Koreans, who have an inferior goal difference to the Australians, need a win to move ahead. Australia also enjoy a better record, having lost just one match to South Korea in 26 meetings. In their last meeting at the Champions Trophy in May, Australia won 2-0. A tough battle also looms in group A where defending champions the Netherlands and Germany are tied on eight points with Pakistan on six. Having wasted a penalty corner soon after the start, the Koreans took the lead with their second in the 11th minute when Yeo Woon-Kon scooped from the top of the circle past the Polish goalkeeper. Another penalty corner seven minutes later brought South Korea their second goal when Kang Keon-Wook deflected a direct hit into the goal. The Koreans made it 3-0 soon after the interval as Hwang Jong-Hyun swooped on a pass from the right and drove hard into the goal. Poland, who upset Atlanta silver-medallists Spain 4-1 and drew a high-scoring thriller against Argentina 5-5 to mark their first Olympics in 20 years, did not give in without a fight. They were awarded a penalty stroke midway through the second-half when the dangerous Piotr Mikula was brought down inside the circle and Rafal Grotowski made no mistake in reducing the margin. Just when the men’s teams from the Great Britain and Canada thought things could not get any worse today, the rain came, as they slugged it out for a 1-1 draw in the Olympics pool A hockey tournament.
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Venus Williams survives scare
SYDNEY, Sept 24 (AFP) — Venus Williams survived a thrilling three-set battle with Spain’s Arantxa Sanchez Vicario to move within two matches of adding an Olympic gold to the Wimbledon and US Open titles she has won this year. Williams, unbeaten since losing to Sanchez in the quarter finals of the French Open in June, looked in serious danger of falling to her at the same stage here. But in difficult, cold and windy conditions on the Olympic centre court, she rallied from a set down to pull through 3-6 6-2 6-4. “I didn’t have my best day today,” Williams admitted. “I just relied on some experience and some guts. “Every game was pretty close most of the time. A lot of the time I was hitting winners and she was getting nice balls back. I just had to keep going, keep trying.” Williams now faces her American teammate Monica Seles, to whom she has never lost, for a place in Wednesday’s final. The other semi-final will pit home favourite Jelena Dokic against Elena Dementieva, the tenth seed from Russia tomorrow. |
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India’s Beenamol finishes last SYDNEY, Sept 24 (PTI) — K.M. Beenamol ran a poor semi-final race under pouring rain to finish eighth and last in the second the semi-final of women’s 400 metres which ended her hopes of becoming only the second Indian woman to enter the final of the Olympic Games athletics competition here today. Beenamol, the lone saving grace so far from the 29-strong Indian athletics contingent, could neither handle the sudden downpour, which made the track at the Stadium Australia slippery, nor the superior opposition and trailed in last in a slow 52.04 secs. Drawn in the outermost lane eight in the one-lap race, Beenamol had the advantage of the stagger to match the more fancied runners, including gold medal favourite Cathy Freeman (lane 3), and stay in contention for a first-four finish till the second curve. Thereafter, the 25-year-old Kerala athlete was outclassed by the other seven runners and trailed in last a long way behind seventh-placer Amy Mbacke Thiam of Senegal who crossed the line in 51.60. Two-time world champion Freeman, expectedly, won the race egged on by the capacity crowd in 50.01 which was the fastest achieved in the penultimate round of the event. Ana Gabriela Gyevara Espinoza (Mexico, 50.11), Falilat Ogunkoya-Osheku (Nigeria, 50.18) and Donna Fraser (Britain, 50.21) were the four who qualified from heat 2. Earlier, heat one was won by Jamaica’s Lorraine Graham (50.28) and the others to make it to the final were Katherine Mary (Britain, 50.32), Heide Seyerling (South Africa, 51.06) and Olga Kotlyarova (Russia, 51.21). But Beena could return home satisfied having done her best in the highest level of the sports. She won her first round heat in 51.51 seconds, which was better than P.T. Usha’s official national record of 51.61 achieved 15 years ago in the Canberra World Cup. She just about managed to qualify for the semi-finals yesterday because of her strong finishing kick which enabled her to storm her way over the last 35 metres yesterday and end up fourth in her second round heat in 51.81. |
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Lewis beats the clock, elements SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) — Denise Lewis battled the clock and the elements to win the Olympic heptathlon title for Britain at Stadium Australia today. Needing to stay within eight seconds of Russian Yelena Prokhorova in the final event, the 800 metres, Lewis did enough on a cold, wintry evening to take the title by 6,584 points to 6,531. Her delight at winning Britain’s first Olympic title for eight years was evident as she kissed the gold medal on the podium and embraced her closest opponents over two days of competition. Prokhorova took the silver and the bronze went to overnight leader Natalya Sazanovich of Belarus, who could have captured the title if she had headed Lewis by around 4.5 seconds in the 800 metres. France’s Eunice Barber, who beat Lewis to the gold medal at the Seville world championships last year, dropped out of the competition after the morning’s long jump with a leg injury. The evening athletics session was disrupted by gusting winds and heavy rain which swept through Stadium Australia and sent spectators scurrying for cover. The men’s high jump was particularly badly hit, the women’s triple jump also developed into a lottery and the second round of the men’s 110 metres hurdles was potentially dangerous on the treacherous surface. “This is the winter Olympics,” said American high hurdler Mark Crear. “It doesn’t seem like summer.” In the high jump Russian Sergei Kliugin upstaged team-mate and world champion Vyacheslav Voronin with a fortuitous victory. Kliugin cleared 2.35 metres in relatively calm conditions then watched as the rain swept through the stadium. Three jumpers, including Cuba’s world record holder Javier Sotomayor, who had gone over the bar with their only attempts at 2.32, found the conditions impossible and failed with all three attempts at 2.35. Sotomayor was awarded the silver medal on the countback with Algeria’s Abderrahmane Hammad third. Sotomayor, the 1992 Olympic champion, tested positive for cocaine at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg, Canada, last year and was banned for two years. He was cleared to compete in Sydney when athletics’ world governing body halved the ban on humanitarian grounds. The 32-year-old Cuban said he had competed at his last Olympics and would retire after the 2001 season. “I would have liked to compete a bit better than this but unfortunately the weather, the wind and the rain were against me,” he said. The triple jump title went to Bulgarian Tereza Marinova, a former world and European junior champion who comes from a family of track athletes. Marinova’s father Moncho Marinov was a national record holder over 800 metres and her brother Tsvetomir Marinov was third in the 1995 European junior 400 metres. In the final event of the day, Polish champion Szymon Ziolkowski won the hammer throw with his fourth effort of 80.02 metres ahead of Italy’s Nicola Vizzoni. Japanese Naoko Takahashi ran stride for stride with Romania’s world bronze medallist Lidia Simon from the halfway stage until the pair reached the Anzac bridge 35 kms into the 42.195 km race. The 28-year-old Asian Games champion surged to an unstoppable lead and crossed the line in Stadium Australia to win her country’s first Olympic women’s track and field title. Her time of 2:23.14 broke the previous games best of 2:24:52 clocked by Joan Benoit of the USA in the inaugural women’s marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles games. |
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Pramila, Soma fail to make impact SYDNEY, Sept 24 (UNI) — India’s Pramila Gudandda Ganapathy and Soma Biswas finished 24th and 25th respectively, in a pack of 27 athletes in the seven-event heptathlon at the Olympics today. Pramila earned a total of 5548 points while Soma collected 5481. Denise Lewis of Britain topped with 6584 points, followed by Russia’s Yelena Prokhorova (6531) and Natalya Sazamovich of Belarus (6527). In long jump today, Pramila and Soma had leaps of 5.96 m and 5.64 m. Soma threw the javelin to a distance of 39.59 m and Pramila 36.02 m. They clocked slow times in the 800 m (Pramila 2:20.86, Soma 2: 22.17). The two-day competition had long jump, javelin and 800 m events today while yesterday’s stretch accounted for 1000 m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200 m. Soma had finished the 100 m hurdles in 14.11 seconds and Pramila 14.22. In the high jump event, Pramila cleared 1.6 m and Soma 1.63. Soma threw the iron ball to a distance of 11.69 m and Pramila to 11.14 m. Pramila clocked 24.69 seconds while Soma clocked 24.73 in 200 m sprint. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 24 (AFP) — Once she finally held on to the uneven bars through an entire routine, Svetlana Khorkina found she couldn’t let go. Moments after the 21-year-old Russian diva of the dismount defended her Olympic uneven bars gymnastics title here today, she walked to the low bar, grabbed with both hands and kissed it as tears of joy moistened her cheeks. Khorkina overcame the psychological strain of two costly falls on the same apparatus earlier in the week and a bad spill on an improperly low vaulting horse to gain a measure of redemption and her first gold medal at Sydney. “I was absolutely quiet before,” Khorkina said. “I wasn’t very nervous. I was afraid once again the apparatus would be non-standard. But that was OK.” Khorkina won with a score of 9.862 with China’s Ling Jie second at 9.837 and China’s Yang Yun third at 9.787. The 1997 Playboy pin-up girl was so traumatised by landing on her knees in a bad leap off a flawed vault in Thursday’s all-around that she dropped out of the apparatus final. Her replacement, Russia’s Elena Zamolodtchikova, won gold. “I was vaulting very badly and I didn’t want to,” Khorkina said. “It was too soon. I need one more day for this. Then the pain will go. It would not have been good on my part if, well, it’s still a problem to me, the vaulting.” Khorkina is the reigning world, Olympic and European champion on uneven bars. But she fell from them on Tuesday to cost Russia team gold and again fell in the all-around on Thursday after first taking her bad spill on the vault. Khorkina’s traumas here mirrored falls from the balance beam at last year’s world championships, one to cost Russia team gold and the other to drop her from the all-around lead to also-ran status. After all that, it was no wonder she was irked when gymnastics officials discovered the vault she used was 2 cm too low. “It’s very difficult. It hurts a lot. It’s cruel to all the participants who had a non-standard vault. It’s quite possible to get killed if you’re not careful. Those 2 cm could decide the future of an athlete.” The arrival of her 16-year-old sister Julia and team-mates taking her on a trip to the Sydney Aquarium helped Khorkina take her mind off her woes and live up to her world-class billing on the uneven bars though. “Nothing like that has ever happened to any gymnast ever before,” she said. “My friends remained with me to help me forget about what happened. That day will remain somewhere far away, somewhere at the North Pole. “Thanks to those who helped me forget about it. I went to the beautiful Aquarium. And you don’t realise how many flowers came to the Olympic village. Thanks to all my fans, my dear ones. “I crossed this out of my life. It can never be forgotten no matter how much I want.” The International Gymnastics Federation issued an apology statement today, saying it “regrets very much the error of the vault height setting. It is very unfortunate that this situation occurred during the Olympic Games and the FIG regrets the duress that the situation placed on some gymnasts. The statement said the officials who made the error were reprimanded and new specification checks are being made on all equipment used. |
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Kakiasvilis lifts 3rd Olympic gold SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) — Greece’s Akakios Kakiasvilis became only the third weightlifter in history to take three Olympic gold medals when he won a tactical battle for the men’s 94 kg contest
today. Kakiasvilis emulated the feat of his compatriot Pyrros Dimas, who won the 85 kg category in front of around 1,000 flag-waving Greek fans on Saturday night to add to his titles from Barcelona and Atlanta. “Pocket Hercules” Naim Suleymanoglu is the only other lifter to have won three Olympic hold medals. The Turk triumphed in Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta but failed in his bid to win an unprecedented fourth title in Sydney. Polish teenager Szymon Kolecki took silver in Sunday’s battle of minds and Russia’s defending champion Alexei Petrov claimed
bronze. Kakiasvilis, who was born in Georgia but moved to Greece after his first success in Barcelona in 1992, lay second at the halfway stage of the contest behind Iranian snatch specialist Kouroush
Bagheri. The Greek lifted 220 kg with his first effort at the clean-and-jerk but then watched as European champion Kolecki lifted 222.5 kg to leave both lifters level on a total of 405 kg with two lifts to go. However, the Greek realised he was in the gold medal position because his bodyweight was lower than
Kolecki’s. When two lifters finish a contest with the same total the lighter athlete wins. Kakiasvilis then played weightlifting’s equivalent of call-my-bluff with his less experienced rival, asking for more weight to be piled on the bar only to decline at the last moment to put the ball back in the Pole’s court. Kolecki finally took up the challenge with the bar loaded to 227.5 kg but failed the lift and appeared to injure his ankle. Perhaps realising the task was beyond him, he declined his final lift leaving Kakiasvilis as champion on a relatively modest total of 405 kg. The Greek had the luxury of declining his final two lifts. Petrov totalled 402.5 kg, the same score as the slightly heavier
Bagheri, who finished fourth. “Up until now there haven’t been many weightlifters who have achieved this (three gold medals),” said
Kakiasvilis, who has also won three world and four European overall titles. “There is only Suleymanoglu and Pyrros last night.” Both Greeks will seek to succeed where Suleymanoglu failed and win a fourth gold medal in what promises to be a highly-charged weightlifting programme in Athens. “Since I have reached this point and have climbed such a high mountain I will continue to Athens in 2004,’’ the 31-year-old Kakiasvilis
confirmed. Kolecki, the man who would have been best placed to dethrone the Greek in four years time, said he planned to move up a weight class to join the heavyweights. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 24 (UNI) —Wildcard entrant Gurbinder Singh went out of the Olympic wrestling competition, losing to two-time world champion Mkkhitar Manukyan of Kazakhstan in the 63 kg greeco-roman event today. The 23-year-old Punjab Police official won a bout and lost two in his preliminary rounds as India’s challenge came to an end without any mark. The lone Indian grappler Gurbinder lost to title contender Manukyan 8-2 in his third bout. In the morning, the Indian grappler had lost to Juan Luis Maren (Cuba) 8-0 but managed to keep his hopes alive with a 3-0 win over Yassine Djakrir of Algeria. However, his hopes were finally shattered by Manukyan who just wrestled him out. Manukyan, the 1997 Asian champion in the event, was too crafty for the bearded Indian who just could not get his act together. The Kazhak took time to settle down and earned his first point in the 51st minute and then displaying great agility, he caught hold of Gurbinder’s waist and threw him on the mat. The Indian, however, foiled Manukyan’s bid to get his head touched on the floor for a knock-out result. After his one-minute effort to get the Indian knocked out failed, the Kazhak lifted Gurbinder to his waist high and held him up for about 15 minutes and then released him. In the process, he earned three points to end the first round 4-0. Gurbinder tried to avoid contact with his rival, who was very agile and fast, while the Punjab cop looked laden footed. The second round was virtually a repeat of the first, though the Indian managed to earn two points and avoided being blanked out. The 1998 and 1999 world champion, Manukyan, attacked the moment the round started, but Gurbinder became defensive and avoided direct contact. After testing the situation, Manukayan made a lightening move and caught Gurbinder’s waist with a strong grip. The Indian tried hard to free himself, but the Kazhak was in no mood to let his rival go scotfree. In a space of seven seconds, Manukyan earned four more points to take an unbeatable 8-0 lead. In the fag end of the bout, Gurbinder managed to floor Manukayan and got two points. Earlier, Cuba’s Juan Luis Maren also proved too strong for Gurbinder as he beat the Indian 8-0 after taking 3-0 lead in the first round. The problem with the Indian grappler was that he was not as fast as his Cuban or Khazak rivals. The only saving grace was that he managed a hard-fought win(3-0) against Yassine Djakrir of Algeria in a lacklustre bout. Gurbinder looked too tentative. Knowing that he was up against the world class rivals, he should have gone all out on the offensive as he had nothing to lose but everything to gain. |
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Japan’s Takahashi takes marathon gold SYDNEY, Sept 24 (AFP) — Naoka Takahashi became the first runner from Japan to win an Olympic gold medal in the marathon today, when she destroyed a world-class field in the heat of the Sydney sunshine to take the women’s 42.2-kilometre (26 miles 385 yards) race. Takahashi pulled away from her opponents with some fearless front running in the latter stages, crossing the finishing line in Stadium Australia in an Olympic record 2hr 23min 14sec, a world-class time despite the tough course in gruelling conditions. It was the first-ever Olympic athletics gold for a Japanese woman and the first athletics gold for either of the sexes since the 1936 Berlin Games. The silver medal went to Romania’s Lidia Simon, last year’s World Championship third-placer. Simon was unable to stay with her Japanese rival’s relentless surges, and despite a late rally, finished in an 2:23:22. Kenya’s Joyce Chepchumba held on strongly in the later stages to win the bronze medal in 2:24:45. An estimated quarter of the population of Japan, where marathon running is almost regarded as a national sport, will have risen early to watch Takahashi’s golden run. Only in 1936, when Korean-born Kitei Son won the Berlin Olympic marathon, has a runner representing Japan ever taken gold in the classic distance event. But Son always maintained that although he was wearing a Japanese vest in his heart he won that medal for Korea. Takahashi had come to prominence when winning the 1998 Asian Games marathon by 13 minutes, and this performance was no less uncompromising, eliminating her biggest rivals early in the piece. Tegla Loroupe, the fastest woman in the field, was effectively out of the race by the time the field left Centennial Park, barely 10 kilometres into the race. Off the back of the pack by 200 metres and gently jogging, it was clear that the winner of major city races in New York, London and Berlin would not become the first Kenyan to win an Olympic marathon here. The decisive move at the front came relatively early in the race. Early in the second hour of running, Takahashi took off. At first, only her team mate, Ichihashi, last year’s world silver medallist, could match the burst, but they were soon joined by Romania’s Lidia Simon and Alina Gherasim, Eri Yamaguchi, the third Japanese, and Esther Wanjiru, the 1998 Commonwealth 10,000m champion. Takahashi kept the pressure high, putting in the race’s fastest 5km stretch up to the 25km mark — 16min 38sec. The lead pack was soon whittled down to three by halfway, reached in 1hr 11min 47sec, with Simon and Ichihashi for company, and Wanjiru running alongside Adriana Fernandez, of Mexico, some 50 metres adrift. Further back lay Fatuma Roba, Ethiopia’s defending champion, and Chepchumba, Loroupe’s training partner and the two-time winner of both London and Chicago races. Now the race was in its final stages, with five stiff hill climbs to negotiate. Up the first, on to Anzac Bridge, Takahashi attacked again, dropping Ichihashi and, for a moment, Simon, too. But the tough little Romanian battled back on to terms as Ichihashi began to fade. From further back, Chepchumba and Roba were beginning to pick off those runners who had been too bold too soon. At 30km (1:41:41), the leading duo held a 41sec lead over Ichihashi, who was soon to be passed for the bronze medal position by Chepchumba. The pattern of the race was becoming familiar to Japanese observers, who have seen Simon win the prestigious Osaka Marathon for the past three years by out-kicking runners from Japan over the last 5km. Takahashi knew that too well, and as the temperature on the course soared above 20 degrees, the 28-year-old from Chiba, near Tokyo, made things hotter still for Simon. On the third climb, the Romanian was finally broken, Takahashi removing her wraparound shades as if to signal that she was truly getting down to business, the gap back to Chepchumba in third now more than a minute. What followed was effectively a victory parade in front of roadside spectators, sometimes five deep. |
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Aussie eves on course for
double SYDNEY, Sept 24 (AFP) —World champions Australia stayed on course to become the first women’s hockey team to retain the Olympic title with a 3-0 rout of New Zealand here
today. Nikki Hudson scored twice in as many minutes as the Hockeyroos shrugged off a hesitant start to remain the only unbeaten team in the competition. In other matches of the six-nation super league, Argentina stunned the Netherlands 3-1 and first-timers China held Spain to a goalless
draw. Australia lead the elite group with seven points, including four carried forward from the preliminary
league. A victory over the Dutch tomorrow will ensure ric Charlesworth’s girls a place in the final. With two rounds of matches to go, Spain are second with five points, followed by China with four and New Zealand, Argentina and the Netherlands with three
each. The super league, inspired by World Cup cricket rules and introduced at the Olympics for the first time, comprises the first three from the preliminary groups who take forward points earned from other qualifiers. |
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Heptathlon world
champ pulls out SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) — France’s struggling world champion Eunice Barber withdrew from the Olympic heptathlon today with two events remaining. Barber, short on fitness after injuring a thigh two weeks before the Games, withdrew after the fifth event, the long jump, as she slipped back to 10th position. Natalya Sazanovich of Belarus led overall with 4,910 points ahead of Britain’s world silver medallist Denise Lewis (4,853), with the javelin and the concluding 800 metres to come later on Sunday. Barber joined Ghada Shouaa of Syria, the Olympic champion, on the sidelines. |
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Csollany finally
emerges on top SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) — Hungarian gymnast Szilveszter Csollany lost the title of perfnnial runner-up today by winning Olympic gold. Csollany (30) has finished
second on the still rings event at every gymnastics meet in the past four years. But competing at Sydney’s superdome in his third Olympics he performed a virtually flawless routine to earn a 9.85 score and take the Olympic title. Csollany was not the only member of the old guard to serve notice of his presence during the first day of gymnastics finals. Bulgarian Jordan Jovtchev, a 27-year-old also competing in his third games, earned Olympic hardware for the first time as he took bronze medals on floor exercise and still rings. Frenchman Eric Poujade (28) placed second on pommel horse. |
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USA, Norway eves
in soccer final CANBERRA, Sept 24 (Reuters) — Olympic champions USA beat Brazil 1-0 with a hotly-disputed Mia Hamm goal in a hard-fought semifinal today to secure a place against Norway in the final of the women’s soccer tournament. Norway clinched their spot in Thursday’s final with a 1-0 win over Germany in Sydney thanks to an 80th minute own goal by Tina Wunderlich. |
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India’s schedule
today SYDNEY, Sept 24 (UNI) — The following is the schedule for India at the Olympics tomorrow (all timings IST) Athletics: Sanjay K Rai (men’s long jump qualifying A) — 0515. Neelam Jaswant Singh (women’s discus throw qualifying B) — 0610. |
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SYDNEY, Sep 24 (UNI) — The following is the summary of India’s performance at the 27th Olympics here today. Boxing: India’s hopes for first ever Olympic boxing medal were kindled when Havana international competition gold medallist Gurcharan Singh pummelled South African Danie Venter 25-14 in the fourth round to storm into the quarterfinals of the light-heavyweight (81 kg) event. Athletics: Spirited Kerala girl K.M. Beenamol finished eighth and last in a world class field in rainy conditions in the 400m semifinals. In heptathlon, Pramila Gudandda Ganapathy and Soma Biswas finished 24th and 25th, respectively, in a pack of 27 athletes. Wrestling: Wildcard entrant Gurbinder Singh went out of the Olympic wrestling competition, losing to two-time world champion Mkkhitar Manukyan of Kazakhstan in the 63 kg Greco-Roman category. |
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Medal tally SYDNEY, Sept 24 (Reuters) — Olympics medals at the end of the ninth day
of competition on Sunday: (Given in the following order: Country,
Gold, Silver, Bronze) Country G S B USA 21 12 19 China 18 14 12 France 12 12 6 Russia 12 11 16 Italy 11 6 11 Australia 10 19 11 Romania 9 4 4 Netherlands 7 5 3 Germany 5 8 15 Britain 5 7 3 Japan 5 4 4 South Korea 4 5 7 Poland 4 4 0 Bulgaria 4 2 2 Ukraine 3 6 5 Sweden 3 2 1 Hungary 3 1 1 Greece 2 4 1 Cuba 2 3 2 Czech Rep 2 1 3 Spain 2 0 2 Turkey 2 0 0 Slovenia 2 0 0 Austria 2 0 0 Switzerland 1 5 2 Indonesia 1 3 2 Slovakia 1 3 1 Belarus 1 1 8 Canada 1 1 5 Mexico 1 1 0 Finland 1 1 0 New Zealand 1 0 3 Latvia 1 0 1 Lithuania 1 0 1 Croatia 1 0 1 Colombia 1 0 0 Azerbaijan 1 0 0 Belgium 0 2 2 Denmark 0 2 1 Brazil 0 2 1 Taiwan 0 1 2 South Africa 0 1 1 North Korea 0 1 1 Norway 0 1 1 Yugoslavia 0 1 0 Uruguay 0 1 0 Trinidad 0 1 0 Nigeria 0 1 0 Moldova 0 1 0 Argentina 0 1 0 Georgia 0 0 2 Estonia 0 0 2 Costa Rica 0 0 2 Thailand 0 0 1 Portugal 0 0 1 Kuwait 0 0 1 Kyrgyzstan 0 0 1 Kenya 0 0 1 Jamaica 0 0 1 India 0 0 1 Algeria 0 0 1 Barbados 0 0 1 Armenia 0 0 1 Note: Two gold, no silver medal, awarded in men’s 50m freestyle, two bronze medals award in women’s 100m freestyle swimming and two bronze medals awarded in judo. |
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Sahu, Rajpal best athletes CHANDIGARH, Sept 24 — Ambala clinched women’s title with 49 points and Bhiwani won the men’s title with 80 points in the 34th Senior Haryana State Athletic Championship which concluded at CRA college ground at Sonepat today.` Poonam Sahu of Bhiwani emerged the best athlete among women winning two gold, six silver and one bronze medals. She also created the new record in 100m hurdle race. Rajpal of Bhiwani was adjudged the best athlete in men’s section. He won two gold medals.` Ravina of Jhajjar created the new record in 10 km walk clocking 57:55.00 time. She broke the previous record set by Manju of Bhiwani, Similarly Hari Om of Sonepat also set the new record in javelin throw hurling it to 70.30 m.` Women: 400 m: 1 Sunita Dahiya (59.68sec.) Sonepat, 2 Sunil Joon (1:02.80) Jhajjar, 3 Akvinder (1:03.37) Ambala, 10km walk1, Ravina, (57.55 m NR) Jhajjar, 2 Manju (1:01.45) Bhiwani, 3 Partibha Deshwal (1:05.53) Jhajjar, 1000m: 1 Suman (40:42.0) Karnal, 2 Saravjit (40:52.00) Ambala, 3 Sunita Sharma (43:00.0) Bhiwani. 400m Hurdles: 1 Sunil Joon (1:13.50) Jhajjar, 2 Poonam Sahu (1:14.47) Bhiwani, 3 Saroj (1:16.09) Hisar, Javelin throw: 1 Gurpreet Kaur (43.40m) Sirsa, 2 Poonam Sahu (42.30m) Bhiwani, Babita (38.50m) Bhiwani, Discus throw: 1 Seema Antil (54.42m) Sonepat, 2. Poonam Sahu (36.90m) Bhiwani, 3 Renu Sheoran (31.71m) Sonepat. 5000m race :1 Amarjeet Kaur (18:39.36) Ambala, 2 Suman (19:13.40) Karnal, 3 Renu Joon (29:70.00) Jhajjar 200m race: 1 Sunita Dahiya (26.37 sec.) Sonepat, 2 Mamlesh (27.06 sec) Ambala, 3 Poonam Sahu (27.87 sec) Bhiwani, 800 m :1 Paramjeet Kaur (2:24.15) Ambala, 2 Sunil Joon (2:29.11) Jhajjar, 3 Renu (2:39.31) Rohtak 4x400 m race: 1 Sonepat (53:97), 2 Bhiwani (53:99), 3 Ambala (55:51), Hammer throw: 1 Phoolpati (54.80m new record) Jhajjar, 2 Ravinder Kaur (50.40 m) Ambala, 3 Surnan Vedival (39.26m) Bhiwani.` Men: Shot put : 1 Malkhan Sharma (16.19m) Faridabad, 2 Jitenderpal Singh (15.35m) Sonepat, 3 Jaibir (14.48m) Faridabad, 400m: 1 Rajpal (49.53sec) Bhiwani, 2 Bhupinder (49.71 sec) Faridabad, 3 Ashok Kumar (50.06sec) Bhiwani. 100m: 1 Surinder (11.21 sec) Hisar, 2 Ramehar (11.37 sec) Bhiwani, 3 Vishal (11.38sec) Ambala 20km walk : 1 Manbir (1:38.06) Bhiwani, 2 Rajesh (1:43.08) Rohtak, 3 Rajpal (1:50.13) Rohtak. 400m hurdles : 1 Gobind (56.03) Bhiwani, 2 Sukhbir (57.97) Rewari, 3 Satish (1:00.78) Ambala. Triple jump: 1 Rambir (14.57M) Bhiwani, 2 Chaman (13.88m) Sonepat, 3 Jaidev (13.56m) Hisar. Javelin throw: 1 Hari Om (70.30m) Sonepat, 2 Dharampal (66.64m) Bhiwani, 3 Manoj Kumar (64.60m) Hisar, Discus throw : 1 Raj Kumar (47.14m) Sonepat, 2 Ravinder Rathee (45.64m) Karnal, 3 Rajesh (45.58m) Hisar, Hammer throw: 1 Vijay Singh (59.86m) Rohtak, 2 Ravinder (52.6m) Haryana Police, 3 Ramesh Kumar (52.02m). 800m: 1 Anand Kumar (1:58.09) Bhiwani, 2 Ravinder (1:58.62) Bhiwani, 3 Kashmir Singh (1:59.87) Ambala. |
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Chandigarh
XI,
CISF advance CHANDIGARH, Sept 24 — Chandigarh XI defeated Jammu and Kashmir XI 4-3 while Central Industrial Security Force overpowered Speed Hockey Academy 4-1 on the second day of the 30th SN Vohra Gurmit Memorial Hockey Tournament at the Sector 18 hockey stadium here
today. In a high-scoring match, the Chandigarh lads took an early lead when Jasmeet Singh scored a field goal in the sixth minute. However, J&K XI found the equaliser in the 13th minute through Mandeep who also scored a field goal. In the 53rd minute, Chandigarh’s Inderjeet Chadha put his side ahead with a field goal but the rivals restored parity a minute later through a penalty corner conversion by Iqbal Singh
(2-2). Two minutes later, Inderjeet was again on target for Chandigarh XI when he converted a penalty corner. Navdeep made it 4-2 for Chandigarh with a field goal four minutes
later. With seven minutes remaining, J&K XI reduced a margin when Onkar Singh found the target with a neat placement
(3-4). In the second match, Speed Hockey Academy had to wait till the 23rd minute to take the lead when Amolak Singh managed to convert a penalty corner. But that was all they could achieve as CISF came back with vengeance in the second half, scoring four goals. First G.V. Khakha scored the equaliser which was followed by Parteek Kumar’s field goal. Manjra Munda’s brace in the dying minutes sealed the fate of the energetic academy boys (4-1).
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