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| Thursday, September 28, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Athletes shine but doping takes centrestage
Aussie eves in final SYDNEY, Sept 27 — Argentina stormed into the Olympic women’s hockey gold medal game against Australia with a 7-1 thrashing of New Zealand today.
Pakistan determined to win, says Islahuddin
India lost out tactically |
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Bubka fails to qualify Gardner foils the
‘invincible’ Night of defeats
for Cubans Susanthika
sails into 200m semis Will Rungta step down?
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Athletes shine but doping takes centrestage SYDNEY, Sept 27 (Reuters) — The USA again shone on the Olympic track today but their athletes could not shake off the cloud of doping. The Olympics anti-drugs chief accused shot putter C.J. Hunter, husband of would-be five-times gold medallist Marion Jones, of providing a “cheap excuse” for a test showing 1,000 times more than the permitted level of a performance-enhancing steroid. The White House drug chief Barry MaCaffrey called for US sports authorities to name and shame drugs cheats. But Craig Masback, head of USA Track and Field, refused. Jones, seeking to become the first woman to win five athletics golds at the same games, said she had survived the toughest day of her Olympic schedule by qualifying for the semifinals of the 200 metres and the final of the long jump. She already has the 100 metres gold. Scandal even swirled around Stadium Australia itself. In scenes reminiscent of an arrest, officials marched world champion hammer-thrower Mihaela Melinte of Romania off the track because she had tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone earlier in Italy. International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) spokesman Giorgio Reineri said the Romanian federation had been informed two days ago but Melinte, the world record holder, apparently did not know. Romania paid a 50,000 fine earlier in the Olympics to avoid its entire weightlifting team being expelled after three lifters were suspended within a year for taking drugs. Tiny Romanian gymnast Andreea Raducan will learn on Thursday whether her appeal against a drugs bust will succeed. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped her of her gold medal after she tested positive for a drug she said was contained in an over-the-counter cure she had taken for a cold. The games, in their 12th day, have been dogged by drugs controversies with five athletes testing positive, including four who have been stripped of their medals. The biggest headline-grabber has been Hunter. The IOC officials said he had tested positive four times this year for nandrolone. Hunter, who pulled out of the games before they began citing a knee injury, wept at a news conference on Tuesday and swore to clear his name. Jacques Rogge, an IOC medical commission member and favourite to become IOC President next year, accused Hunter on Wednesday of giving a “cheap excuse”. He said the nandrolone levels were so high they could not be explained away by the food supplements Hunter said he had taken. Hunter, whose case is being considered by the US national athletics body, faces a battle to avoid a two-year suspension. Commentators have accused the USA of hypocrisy for failing to disclose positive testings while calling for “clean” athletics. The cheating row failed to spoil the enjoyment of the 110,000 people packed into the main stadium who went wild when their own Aboriginal hero, 400 metres gold-winner Cathy Freeman, qualified for the semifinals of her less favoured event, the 200 metres. The Americans again justified their status of track superpower when Angelo Taylor won the men’s 400 metres hurdles. He finished in 47.50 seconds, beating Saudi Arabian Hadi Souan Somayli (silver) and Llewellyn Herbert of South Africa. It was the fifth Olympics in a row that a US athlete has won the title. Americans have won the event 17 times out of 22. Elsewhere on the track it was a day of surprises. Nils Schumann of Germany upstaged three-times world champion Wilson Kipketer to win the men’s 800 metres. Schumann, the 1998 indoor and outdoor European champion, timed one minute 45.08 seconds to beat Kipketer, the overwhelming favourite, and Aissa Djabir Said-Guerni of Algeria. Kipketer, who was born in Kenya but switched allegiance to Denmark, got boxed in on the back straight of the second lap. Double Olympic champion Svetlana Masterkova became the latest big name injury victim, dropping out of her 1,500 metres heat. The Russian, who won gold in the 800 and 1,500 metres in Atlanta and the 1,500 in last year’s world championships, pulled up with a leg injury. But Marla Runyan, an almost-blind athlete from the USA and a multiple Paralympic Games champion, qualified for the women’s 1,500 metres semifinals. The 31-year-old athlete from Eugene, Oregon, finished seventh in heat two, one place outside an automatic qualifier’s slot, only to discover she had sneaked through as a fastest loser. Runyan has been suffering from the degeneration of her retinas since she was nine and only has peripheral vision. Away from the track, Venus Williams of the USA, the dominant force in women’s tennis this year, took gold after making short work (6-2 6-4), of Russia’s Elena Dementieva. Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge, the world No 1 pairing. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 27 (Reuters) — Argentina stormed into the Olympic women’s hockey gold medal game against Australia with a 7-1 thrashing of New Zealand today. Inspired by four goals from Vanina Oneto, the Argentines produced their best performance to date. In what is likely to be her final international tournament, the 27-year-old forward turned on a classy display. The best of her goals came in the 40th minute, as she left three defenders in her wake and drove a superb reverse stick shot past the hapless Helen Clarke. Karina Masotta and Cecilia Rognoni also showed flashes of brilliance up front as Argentina sent an ominous warning to the defending champions. Argentina have progressed to the final from a seemingly impossible position after entering the “super six” medal pool round with no points. “We were not prepared to give up. We believe in our strength and will always keep fighting,” said Argentine coach Sergio Vigil. As if to answer the challenge thrown down by Argentina, the Australians tuned up for the final by overwhelming China 5-1. Nikki Hudson’s two goals made her the tournament’s leading scorer with six, while Jenny Morris, Claire Mitchell-Taverner and Julie Towers also found the net. The defending champions have now scored 10 goals in their last two matches and look to be right on track for their tilt at history. Victory on Friday would make Australia the first team to win back-to-back goldmedals since women’s hockey was introduced to the Olympics in 1980. In other medal pool Games, Barcelona gold medallists Spain forfeited any chance they had of making the final when they lost 2-1 to the Netherlands. Spain started the game aggressively, playing with four forwards and no sweeper, but their confidence appeared to drop when they were unable to grab an early goal. With Carol Thate and Dillianne Van Den Boogaard making the play, Netherlands gradually assumed control, two goals from Susan Van Der Wielen sealing their victory. The win took Netherlands to third in the medal pool, and they will take on Spain again on Friday for the bronze. Playing in their first Olympics, China’s fifth placing was full of merit, while New Zealand’s big loss relegated them to sixth. In the classification match for seventh and eighth, star striker Natascha Keller found her best form to guide Germany to a 2-0 win over Britain. The 1999 international player of the year posted her first goal of the tournament with a brilliant run and reverse stick shot in the 21st minute. Another scintillating burst early in the second half resulted in a penalty stroke, which Britta Becker duly converted. In the play-off for ninth and 10th, Atlanta silver medallists South Korea saved some face with a 3-0 win over South Africa. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 27 (Reuters) — It began as a joyous celebration of a brilliant career but ended as a wake. Daniel Nestor and Sebastien Lareau of Canada stunned top-seeded Australians Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde today to win the men’s doubles gold medal at the Olympic Games. Nestor and Lareau beat the defending Olympic champions 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) in two hours 46 minutes, stunning a sellout crowd that had expected a home victory in the Woodies’ final match as a team. Instead, Woodbridge and Woodforde, the most successful doubles combination of all time, said farewell to their Australian fans as losers. The match ended when Woodbridge, who struggled throughout the match, served two successive double faults to hand victory to the Canadians. It was Canada’s first Olympic gold medal in tennis — and the first major title for Nestor and Lareau. The fourth-seeded pair had twice lost to the Woodies earlier in the year but they played cool, calm tennis to silence the pro-Australian crowd and rob the Woodies of a fairytale farewell. The Woodies had aimed to bow out by becoming the first team to successfully defend the Olympic men’s doubles title, but left-hander Nestor and Lareau silenced a crowd that began the day in festive mood, singing waltzing Matilda and repeatedly chanting “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. OI. OI. OI.’’ While the Australians started well enough, they were worn down by their more consistent rivals. Woodbridge, in particular, wilted in the quickfire cut and thrust. The Australians, who won 11 Grand Slam titles, an Olympic title and helped Australia to victory in the Davis Cup, will almost certainly not play again as a combination. With Woodbridge’s wife Natasha expecting a baby in December, he will not be available to partner Woodforde for Australia in the Davis Cup final against Spain. |
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Pakistan determined to win, says Islahuddin SYDNEY, Sept 27 (UNI) — After 28 years, two Asian teams will figure in the Olympic hockey semifinals here tomorrow when former champions Pakistan clash with Asia Cup winners South Korea. Defending champions Holland will take on hosts Australia to fill the other spot for the finals. Way back in 1972 at Munich, India and Pakistan made it to the last four with Pakistan finally finishing runners-up and India bagging a bronze. Pakistan had a lucky passage to the semifinals. They drew their opener with Canada. In the second match, they equalised 2-2 against Malaysia just 35 seconds before the closing time. Then the Pakistanis overcame Holland 2-0 to reserve a slot in the final. So far Pakistan’s success story has been a repeat of the 1982 Los Angeles Olympics where they were on the verge of elimination but went on to win gold. Holland and Korea are in the last four, courtesy Britain and Poland. Britain surprised Germany and Poland held India, thus helping Holland and Asia Cup winners to move to the semifinals. Interestingly, Korea’s claim to fame in the international hockey started with their famous victories over India and Pakistan in the 1986 Asian Games. After that, the Koreans have beaten Pakistan twice in the Asia Cup. For Korea this is first entry into the Olympic semifinals and they will not let it go easily and their fast moving forwards know the Pakistani style of hockey. This is 10th entry for Pakistan in the Olympic semifinals out of the 13 outings. They are also determined to make it to the final. Pakistan’s forward-line will be spearheaded by veteran Kamaran Ashraf, who playing his 136th international match, will be supported by young Kashif Javed, experienced Atif Bashir and Sarwar Mohd. “We are ready for the clash. We have our plan for the game. We understand the Korean style of hit and run hockey. My boys are fit enough to take them on,” said a confident Pakistan manager Islahuddin Siddiqui. Islah, a legendery winger of his times, admitted that Pakistan had a rough passage on the way to semifinals but added. “That helped us. That’s why boys played with so much determination against Holland. Now we are in the medal zone after eight years. We are determined to win.” Despite Islah’s brave talks, the Pakistani camp realises that the Koreans are going to be a very tough customer. The former Olympic champions do not have a very solid defence, though the midfielders Irfan Yousaf and Imran Yousaf have displayed consistant game. They have come to their defence’s rescue but will the Koreans allow them this luxury of moving back and forward remains to be seen. Pakistan will depend on the penalty corner expert Sohail Abbas though he has not been very consistent during the Olympic matches. On his day, he can be a match winner. However, Pakistan can derive a sense of strength and confidence in their captain and goalkeeper Ahmad Alam, who has brought off some fantastic saves. He has stepped in several times where defenders Ali Raza and Tariq Imran failed, but the former world champions can ill-afford to be overtly dependent on Alam in such a crucial tie. For the Korean this is a god-sent opportunity and they will go flat out for victory. They are not overawed by Pakistan’s reputation after beating them several times in last few years. They are an extremely fit and tight marking team which is capable of ripping apart any defence with sheer speed and stamina. Their ‘hit and run’ tactics are almost part of hockey folklore and they have some very good forwards who are capable of converting the half chances. Korean attack will be spearheaded by veteran of 164 internationals, captain Keon Wook Kang and forward Oh Seung Shin, the highest goal scorer and player of the tournament in the last Champions Trophy. The Koreans have a very solid defence manned by Jong Ho Seo and Jung Woo Lim. They have an added advantage of their forwards and midfielders falling back in the time of crisis. For them there is no compartmentalisation of positions as they play “total hockey”. They have also been good with executing their penalty corners, with tearaway moves which often catch the rival defenders on the wrong foot. It will be after 16 years that an Asian team will figure in the Olympic hockey final. The second semifinal clash between Holland and Australia is going to be a battle royale. The Aussies, one of the strongest teams, have never won an Olympic gold. In Atlanta, they were beaten by Holland and finished third for a bronze. This is the time for coach Terry Walsh and his boys to win the elusive gold. “We have prepared ourselves for this occasion. We will give our best,” Australian skipper and veteran of 274 internationals Michael York said. Walsh was also confident of going into the final saying: “We are focused and our aim is gold. If we play to our potential we will win,” Walsh said adding: “The dutch are very competitive. They will not give up easily.” On paper, Australia is a very balanced side with 24-year-old Michael Brennan (99 internationals) being their spearhead. Troy Elder and James Elmer complete the forward trio while they have a very strong half line with Jay Stacy, Brent Livermore and Adam Commens. The other crafty players in the home side are Craig Victory, Stephen Davies and Daniel Sproule. “We have a chance and we won’t let it go,” said Jay Stacy. Before the start of the competitions, Walsh had warned against the “unpredictable Asians”. “I have been proved right as Pakistan and Korea made it to the last four. It could have been another Asian side (India) in place of Korea.” The Dutch have has to thank Britain who helped them move in by beating Germany. The defending champions have not been very impressive so far but have very good strikers in Tuen De Noojier and Ramco Van Wijkand. They also have a very crafty player in Stephen Veen. The Dutch are very formidable and will battle it out against Australia despite odds being against them as their reputation as world champions is at stake. Coach Maurits Hendriks said they had planned well for the semis. “We have played the Aussies earlier and beaten them. We know their style and I am confident the boys will give their best.” Walsh was of the view that the Australians will have the advantage of playing before the home crowd and familiar surroundings but they will also be under tremendous pressure to perform. It can work both ways. “I think boys will rise to the occasion. We are very close to the Olympic gold and it will be befiting if we win before our home crowd.” |
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Expert comments Poland shattered all hopes of India qualifying for the semis with a last-minute goal to equalise and did Korea a big favour helping them enter the last four. The shock was just too much for everyone around the stadium and I can imagine what it could be for the Indian team. Never has fate been so cruel in deciding a match as this one. My heart goes out to the Indian players. Sitting here in the stands before the game could begin, I had this uneasy feeling of the weather with the rains coming down and I thought that it would play spoil sport and surely it did as I would attribute this as one of the factors to India’s loss today. Apart from this factor, the whole team lost out tactically and is to blame for not keeping possession of the ball with a minute left on the clock and giving away possession for the Polish team to score the equaliser. What surprised me most was that we did it against Spain a couple of days back when Dhanraj was holding onto the ball at the far corner of the Spanish half and here we were in a similar situation and no one took the responsibility. Normally teams in this situation work the ball cleverly into the far corners of the opponent’s half and freezing the ball. The pace was set by the Poles who adapted very quickly to the wet conditions and dominated play with brisk counter attacks and having quite a few shots on the Indian goal. The Polish defence was successful in bottling up Dhanraj and Mukesh and we never pushed an extra man from the mid-field into attacks which could have broken the Polish defence. In a tough man-to-man marking of the forward line like today we needed our mid-fielders to overlap and interchange positions with the marked forwards. I thought we were too cautious and gave the Poles too much respect. Once again our build-ups were in trying to get to the ball right onto the player’s stick instead of playing it into the empty space and letting the forwards collect it. This made man-to-man marking on Dhanraj and Mukesh easy for the Polish deep defence. In the second half the Indian coach brought back Pillay into the role of an attacking mid-fielder like in the match against Spain. But that alone was not enough as the Poles came out tops with their strong tackling and physical play. We did have our scoring chances from penalty corner rebounds but were not sharp enough with the finish. Finally it was good to go one up off a goal from Tirkey which was in some ways similar to the one he scored in Spain. I thought this goal would spur them on to gaining confidence and to a certain extent we looked good in patches especially when we managed to get another penalty corner with seven minutes left on the clock. Dhillon who had executed his flick so well against much tougher opponents like Spain and Australia should have ensured he was on target meaning anywhere on goal instead of picking a spot high in the corners of the goal and flicking over the post. At that point in time having the advantage of a penalty corner we need to get at least a rebound if not a goal. With a minute left came the killer blow when Poland gaining possession and building an attack on the left switched the ball across the Indian circle to the right finding Cichy Tomasz on top of the circle whose shot beat Jude in the goal. It is hard to get over this “so close yet so far” story but we need to pick ourselves up and finish among the top six for a place in the Champions Trophy. |
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Disappointments for India SYDNEY, Sept 27 —Disappointments, as usual, have been far too many. The worst, however, has been in hockey where Indian hopes of a medal in 20 years came down crumbling like a pack of cards after unfancied Poland held them to a 1-1 draw. And whatever chances this nation of one billion people had of improving upon its previous best Olympic medal tally of two – a gold in hockey and a bronze in wrestling — in the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games, vanished this afternoon following defeat of its ace boxer, Gurcharan Singh, in the last eight round of 81 kg category. Though Gurcharan matches his Ukrainian opponent, punch for punch, and move by move, yet referee’s verdict went against him though points tally stood at 12 each. And after hockey team’s failure to make the medal’s round, Gurcharan was the last Indian medal hope in this universal gathering of sportsmen and women held every four years. And with the exception of 1996 when Leander gave the country a bronze in men’s singles and K. Malleswari in women’s weighlifting this time, India has turned out be a country of croppers since the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games hockey gold medal. Major disappointments besides hockey have been in tennis (Leander Paes in singles and in partnership with Mahesh Bhupathi in doubles), track and field (all except for Beenamol who made it to the semifinals), rowers, equestrian stars, table tennis, weightlifting (with the sole exception of K. Malleswari), wrestling, shooting ( with the exception of Abhinav Bindra and Vedpathak), all members of Indian contingent have been a major disappointment here. In hockey, where the sentiments and emotions of the people are attached, no one could have imagined this time that on September 28 instead of playing in the semifinals, India would be playing Great Britain in a classification game to decide fifth to eighth positions. And the difference was made by a goal. “If Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government could be defeated on the floor of the house by one vote, why cannot a goal deny same India a place in semifinals,” remarked a sports cynic at the Homebush Hockey
Centre. Some of the senior members of Indian team, disappointed and dejected as they are, said, “One more goal in earlier games would have stood by us and taken us to semis. Even if we had drawn against Poland 2-2, we would have been in semifinals.” But then this “elusive” goal was not there. Unfortunately, India’s fate in competitions like Olympics and world cups invariably gets sealed by unknown or unfancied teams. In Barcelona, it was Poland. In Atlanta, it was Argentina and now it was Poland again. One of the reasons given for this unceremonious exit from the medal round has been “inconsistency” in its performance. On the other hand, the sources quote the example of Pakistan, which came from nowhere, toppled a much more fancied opponent, the defending champions, to make it to the last four round. |
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SYDNEY, Sept 27 (Reuters) — World pole vault record holder Sergei Bubka failed today to qualify for the Olympic men’s final, missing three times at his opening height of 5.70 metres. The 36-year-old Ukrainian, increasingly injury-prone in recent years, did not enter the qualifying round until three hours into the competition. After generous applause from a crowd privileged to watch the greatest pole vaulter in history, Bubka began but did not complete the first of his three attempts. On his second attempt his approach looked laboured and, although he rose above the bar, he brought it down with his body. His third attempt also brought down the bar and Bubka left an Olympic arena for the last time. Bubka set 17 world records including the first vault above six metres. He won six world titles in a row but had a chequered Olympic career. |
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Gardner foils the
‘invincible’ SYDNEY, Sept 27 (DPA) — Russian wrestling icon Alexander Karelin was sensationally handed his first defeat since 1987 today by American Rulon Gardner, who won the final to lift gold in the Olympic Greco-Roman 130kg category. Gardner beat the 33-year-old champion by a minimal points margin when he forced the Russian to release his clinch at the start of the second period, thwarting Karelin’s bid to win an unprecedented fourth Olympic gold in the event. |
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Night of defeats
for Cubans SYDNEY, Sept 27 (Reuters) — Cuba suffered their worst night in the Olympic boxing ring today as four medal hopes, including awesome super-heavyweight Alexis Rubalcaba, were beaten in the quarterfinals. Somluck Kamsing, who gave Thailand their first gold in 1996 and was trying to become only the second boxer from a non-Communist country to retain an Olympic title, also lost. Rubalcaba, the biggest Cuban at the games, went out 25-12 to Kazakhstan’s Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov. Light-middleweight Juan Hernandez Sierra, a two times Olympic silver medallist at welterweight, was also taken out by another less-fancied Kazakh. |
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Susanthika
sails into 200m semis SYDNEY, Sept 27 (Reuters) — Controversial Sri Lankan sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe cruised into the semifinals of the women’s 200 metres today. Jayasinghe won her second round heat in 22.54 seconds, the fourth fastest time going into Thursday’s semifinals behind Beverly McDonald of Jamaica (22.44), Melinda Gainsford-Taylor of Australia (22.49) and favourite Marion Jones of the USA (22.50). The final will also be run on Thursday. Earlier on Wednesday, Jayasinghe easily won her first round heat in 22.53 seconds. Jayasinghe said last week she had put a drug scandal and injury worries behind her and 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. Months later 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 going to the USA to train. 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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SYDNEY, Sept 27 (AFP) — Medals table of the Sydney Olympic Games: USA 29 15 25 69 China 22 14 15 51 Russia 18 16 21 55 Australia 13 21 12 46 France 12 13 8 33 Italy 11 6 11 28 Romania 10 4 4 18 Germany 8 1 1 17 36 Netherlands 8 6 3 17 Great Britain 6 8 5 19 South Korea 5 7 9 21 Japan 5 7 4 16 Bulgaria 5 3 2 10 Cuba 4 8 2 14 Poland 4 4 1 9 Sweden 4 3 1 8 Ukraine 3 7 5 15 Greece 3 5 1 9 Hungary 3 2 1 6 Spain 3 1 3 7 Turkey 3 0 0 3 Belarus 2 1 10 13 Canada 2 1 5 8 Czech Republic 2 1 3 6 Finland 2 1 1 4 Austria 2 1 0 3 Lithuania 2 0 2 4 Iran 2 0 0 2 Slovenia 2 0 0 2 Switzerland 1 5 2 8 Indonesia 1 3 2 6 Slovakia 1 3 1 5 Mexico 1 2 0 3 Kazakhstan 1 1 0 2 New Zealand 1 0 3 4 Ethiopia 1 0 2 3 Croatia 1 0 1 2 Latvia 1 0 1 2 Azerbaijan 1 0 0 1 Colombia 1 0 0 1 Mozambique 1 0 0 1 Brazil 0 4 2 6 Denmark 0 3 1 4 Belgium 0 2 3 5 Jamaica 0 2 2 4 Nigeria 0 2 0 2 Chinese Taipei 0 1 4 5 South Africa 0 1 3 4 North Korea 0 1 2 3 Kenya 0 1 1 2 Norway 0 1 1 2 Argentina 0 1 0 1 Ireland 0 1 0 1 Moldova 0 1 0 1 Saudi Arabia 0 1 0 1 Trinidad and 0 1 0 1 Tobago Uruguay 0 1 0 1 Yugoslavia 0 1 0 1 Georgia 0 0 4 4 Algeria 0 0 2 2 Armenia 0 0 2 2 Costa Rica 0 0 2 2 Estonia 0 0 2 2 Barbados 0 0 1 1 Iceland 0 0 1 1 India 0 0 1 1 Kyrgyzstan 0 0 1 1 Kuwait 0 0 1 1 Morocco 0 0 1 1 Portugal 0 0 1 1 Qatar 0 0 1 1 Thailand 0 0 1 1 |
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Will Rungta step down? CHANDIGARH, Sept 27 — Will the annual general body meeting (AGM) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which is scheduled to be held at Chennai on Friday (September 29), ask the Treasurer of the board, Mr Kishore Rungta, to step down from the post till such time the CBI, which is conducting an enquiry into the issue of betting and match-fixing, submits its report? Logically this should be done given the fact that players like Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Nikhil Chopra, etc, have not been included in the Indian team for the ICC Trophy only due to the fact that the CBI, as also Income Tax Department officials, conducted raids on their houses and business premises in connection with the same scandal. His alleged role in the scandal has also cost Kapil Dev his post as national cricket coach in spite of the fact that the board, in an unprecedented step, had appointed him to the job for a two-year term at the last AGM of the board. In fact, the Chennai meeting is scheduled to look for his successor (Anshuman Gaekwad has been given the job only as a temporary measure and by all indications will not continue once the team returns from Kenya after playing in the ICC Trophy). In fact the Chennai meeting might finally decide on appointing a foreign coach as this is the only issue where the two groups within the BCCI probably see eye to eye. Who the foreign coach will be will be left to the board President and the Secretary to decide. It was during the time that the CBI was conducting nation-wide raids that the home and business premises of Kishore Rungta was searched. Not only that. The home and business premises of Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya, former President of the International Cricket Council and the man behind the current team of office-bearers of the BCCI, who are all eligible for reelection, was also searched. So logically he too should be asked to step aside — he continues to be a permanent invitee to all meetings of the board — and be asked to stay away from such meeting till the issue of match-fixing and betting is sorted out. But it is very unlikely that this will happen given the vote politics in the board. In fact there are indications that Mr Dalmiya might take the board President — handpicked by Mr Dalmiya himself for the job — to task for bowing to the diktats of the Union Sports Minister, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, on whose repeated insistence the BCCI had to ask its national selection committee not to consider the “tainted” players for national duty. This is, of course, stoutly denied by the powers that run the BCCI. Sources in the board also point out that the President of the board, Dr A.C. Muthiah, has been named as one of the accused in a multi-crore scam filed against the AIADMK supremo, Ms Jayalalitha. But since the matter is not connected with cricket this issue is not of immediate concern to the delegates attending the AGM of the board. There are indications that in case the BCCI does opt to appoint a foreign coach then Anshuman Gaekwad might, as a sop, be asked to replace Chandu Borde as West Zone’s representative in the National Selection Committee. The only other serious candidate for the job from that zone, Ajit Wadekar, is tipped to take over as President of the Mumbai Cricket Association with the current incumbent, Mr Manohar Joshi, indicating his desire to step down from the post. Similarly, the north zone representatives might like to change their member in the National Selection Committee as well as the Junior Selection Committee. The current national selector from this zone, Madan Lal, might make way for somebody from Delhi itself and in this connection the name of former India wicketkeeper Surinder Khanna is being mentioned. Similarly, Rajinder Goel from Haryana might make way for somebody else from Haryana in the Junior Selection Committee and in this connection the name of Sarkar Talwar is being mentioned. The various groups within the BCCI are expected to assemble at Chennai by tomorrow morning and the discussions within these groups will have a great bearing on how things will shape up within the most powerful and prosperous sports body in the country. |
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CBI to submit report
next month NEW DELHI, Sept 27 (PTI) — The CBI, which was earlier scheduled to present its interim
report on match-fixing by the end of this month, has delayed its
submission to early next month. Highly-placed agency sources said
that the report, which is likely to contain names of some of the
cricket players, would be submitted by early next month to the Union
Sports Minister, Mr S.S. Dhindsa. |
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