Cameroon, who had agreed to take part in the meet, sent a fax to the organisers expressing their inability to participate in the tournament, thus becoming the second team after Iraq to withdraw in the last 48 hours.

“We have received a communication from Cameroon in this regard. They are now bargaining and are asking for more appearance fees. We have asked the FIFA to intervene and the position will become clear by tomorrow,” All-India Football Federation (AIFF) President Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi told a press conference here today.

He said Iraq had also pulled out after initially agreeing to take part though the exact reason for their withdrawal was not known.

“We have informed the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to take appropriate steps in this regard. We hope the AFC efforts will yield result,” he said.

The high-profile tournament, billed as the largest soccer extravaganza in the country, received a setback earlier with the last-minute pullout by Iraq, reducing the event to a 15-team affair.

With just a day left for the meet to kick off, it is extremely unlikely that the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) will be able to find a replacement for Iraq at such a short notice. Panama, who were the likely replacement for Iraq, have also expressed their inability to participate in the tournament.

Despite most of the teams fielding their second string players or juniors, the tournament promises to provide a treat for soccer buffs in the country who will get an opportunity to witness teams like Chile, Uruguay, Romania and Yugoslavia in action.

The tournament will be held at three different venues — Goa, Kochi and Kolkata — and the two top teams from each of the four groups will qualify for the quarterfinals.

After the official inauguration ceremony where a host of dignitaries will be present, Chile and Bahrain will set the ball rolling at the giant Salt Lake Stadium in what promises to be an exciting contest of skill and nerves.

Both the teams arrived in the city this morning and had a light workout to get acclimatised to the wintry conditions.

The Chileans have brought a C-level team for the tournament and the absence of world cupper Ivan Zamorano, who was expected to turn up as promised by the organisers, will come as a huge disappointment for the soccer fans in the country.

Both Zamorano and Marcelo Salas were busy with their club engagements and could not join the team.

Chile’s defender Eros Roque Perez, who played in their recent World Cup qualifying matches, has also withdrawn due to an injury which could weaken their defence a little bit.

The Chileans, known for their attacking brand of soccer, have eight players who represented the country in the Sydney Olympics and certainly start as one of the favourites in the $150,000 prize money tournament.

The eight players who took part in Sydney Olympics are goalkeeper Christian Andrez Alvarez, Rafael Andres, Olara Guerra, David Esponoza, Javier Hoste, Rodrigo Nunez Ortez, Francisco Arrue Pardo and Andres Oros.

Bahrain have also brought a relatively young team having just a couple of experienced players to control the game at the middle.

The players have been playing together for some time and were capable of springing a surprise on any fancied team on their day.

Uzbekistan will open their campaign with a floodlit encounter against Japan in the second match scheduled on the inaugural day.

While Japan have virtually brought a team comprising university students, the Uzbeks have assembled a number of promising youngsters from various clubs for the event.

“It is a young team with an average age of 20 to 22 years. We are looking forward to this meet and we hope to do well,” Uzbek coach Rauf Inileev said.

The Uzbeks will be heavily relying on midfielder and captain Otabek Piramatov and Oybek Usmankhodjaer who had represented the country in the last Asian Games in Bangkok.

“The main team is playing in Tel Aviv. We have assembled some talented youngsters to get a feel of the new crop emerging in the country,” the coach, who is on his first assignment, explained.

The team, which practiced together for two weeks, comprised four players from Pakhtakor Club, three from Pablodar and four from league champions Dusleague.

Clawing back from the first half deficit, Madhya Pradesh scored a sensational 67-65 win over Punjab and will now meet Indian Railways, who humilated hapless Karnataka 61-17, in the semifinals, tomorrow.

In the men’s section, Kerala defeated West Bengal 72-42 to decide on the positions in the pre-quarterfinal draw. Both have already qualified for the knock-out draw.

In the losers knock-out matches, Orissa drubbed Assam 74-33 and Haryana edged past fighting Delhi 93-89.

The encounter between Madhya Pradesh and Punjab rose to dizzy heights in the last quarter when the winners first equalised the score at 51.

Punjab were in the lead in the first three quarters and surrendered it in the last eight minutes. Starting off well, Punjab were leading 17-15 at the end of the first session. With some fine understanding, Punjab increased the lead in the second quarter to finish the half time at 40-33.

During the break, Madhya Pradesh worked out the strategy and effectively blocked Punjab’s ace shooters and scored with ease capitalising on the lapses to be just two points (49-51) at the end of the third quarter.

A three pointer saw Madhya Pradesh surging ahead and they held on to the lead. With Poonam Singh (30) scoring baskets with ease, the pressure mounted on Punjab. Poonam got admirable support from Anju Lakra (13) and Seema Singh (13).

With about a minute left, Punjab managed to reduce the margin to 65-63. The two teams scored a basket each and Madhya Pradesh were in possession of the ball in the last few seconds. For Punjab Savitri top scored with 18 and Sarabjit and Poonam made 12 each.

Karnataka were no match for star-studded Indian Railways and succumbed meekly to the 13-times champions.

Railways did not even field their top players and were leading by 37-4 at half time. The hosts scored their highest of seven points in the third quarter. For Railways, Shiba Meggan made 11.

Following are the results: Men (to decide the placings in pre-quarters): Kerala 72 (Subash Shenoy 22, Sunny Thomas 17) b West Bengal 42 (Suhas Bhattacharjee 8); Losers knock-out: Orissa 74 (Ashok Kumar 15, Sashikanth Mohnaty 15, Amarish Patra 13) b Assam 39 (D. Choudhary 11), Haryana 93 (Manjo 32, Surinder 26, Praveen 19) b Delhi 89 (Dalbir Singh 22, Vinay Sheron 20).

Spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo took 3 for 28 off his 10 overs as Australia A, full of eager young hopefuls, gave a poor display, making 145 all out off 42.3 overs with tailender Andy Bichel and all-rounder Shane Lee each making 30.

West Indies, as was their custom during the Test series, started badly, slumping to 23 for two before Wavell Hinds (29) and Marlon Samuels (45 off 68 balls including five fours) added 71 for the third wicket.

After an Indian government’s crackdown on illegal cricket betting, a number of big Indian punters have diverted their investments towards Australia where sports betting is legal and well organized.

The unidentified Indian punter is said to have made reasonably good money in the recently concluded Test series between Australia and West Indies.

The Indian punter has been brave enough to bet $ 155,000 (Australian) (approximately Rs. 3.8 million) with the leading betting company CentreBet to back a series win for Steve Waugh’s side. West Indies and Zimbabwe are the two other sides involved in the triangular Benson & Hedges series.

The odds for the Indian punters would not be as good as that in the Test series where Australia easily whitewashed West Indies with a margin of 5-0. The Caribbeans though showed more stature in the last few Tests and were growing in confidence as the series came to a conclusion.

The chances of the Indian getting his dividends get threatened by another fact that the Australians are also plagued by a spate of injuries to their leading bowlers. Bret Lee, the world’s fastest bowler, is still out of action. Shane Warne, claimed to be the world’s best spinner, is still unwrapping after his recovery from a shoulder injury.

The third team in the series, Zimbabwe, have just come from New Zealand after winning the one-day international National Bank Trophy there. Zimbabwe, which would be practicing in Brisbane from Wednesday, would start their campaign in the tournament on Saturday as they face a more confident West Indian side.

The unidentified Indian has put $ 155,000 (Australian) on stake in a series of sizable bets and would be looking forward to win $ 28,200 (approximately Rs.700,000) if all of his bets work. The said punter is risking $ 60,000 on Australia to win the limited overs series and he stands to win $ 7,200 from this bet as CentreBet is offering odds of $ 1.12 (1-8) for an Australian win.

The big player from India is stated to have placed his second bet of $ 35,000 for the hosts’ win in the opening encounter against West Indies at Melbourne Cricket ground on Thursday. If everything goes according to his calculations then the punter would be getting a dividend of $ 10,000 from this one match.

The leading Australian betting company, CentreBet is offering odds of 2-7 on the Australian win in the series opener. He has also invested $ 60,000 to back Australia against Zimbabwe in the second match of the triangular one-day series. CentreBet has offered 2-11 odds for an Australian win in this game. Indian punter stands to gain $ 11,000 from this Australian victory.

Obviously the CentreBet managers are very happy with the turn of events which has led to big sized Indian punters investments flowing to Australia.

Playing with white pieces, Sharma opted for the Reti opening. However after transpositioning of moves the game landed in Alapin variation of the Sicilian defence. Facing the second seed of the tournament, Dinesh chose to exchange the central pawns to simplify the position.

However, soon after a tactical skirmish, he ended with two pieces for his opponents rook. This tiny edge did not promise Dinesh a win and the players agreed to a draw after 29 moves.

In the other upsets of the day, the fifth seed G.M. Lev Psakhis (Israel) had to sign the truce after 59 moves against Escobar Forero (Columbia) in an old Indian defence game while teenage sensation G.M. Bacrot (France) was held to a draw by Aimen Rizouk (Algeria).

Bacrot’s Sicilian tactic was met with Alapin variation by Rizouk and queens were off the board at the opening stages. White sacrificed a pawn on his 13th move and had the advantage of the double bishops. However, Bacrot returned back the pawn to steer the game to the notoriously drawish opposite colour ending.

International masters R.B. Ramesh and Sandipan Chanda scored facile victories over their lesser rated opponents Alejandro Moreno and Maria Jose Espinolia respectively. Ramesh had no problems on the white of the Richter-Rauzher variation of the Sicilian defence and won a pawn on the 26th move.

After losing another pawn on the 46th move and faced with checkmate, Black threw in the towel. Handing the black side of the Sicilian defence with customary ease, the 17-year-old Calcutta lad Chanda, notched his victory in just 36 moves.

I.M. norm aspirant Chandrasekhar Gokhale suffered a setback going down to G.M. Giorgi Kacheishvilli from the white side of the Leningrad variation of the Nimzo-Indian defence.

Switzerland’s Martina Hingis (left) and Monica Seles of the USA chat between points during their first round doubles match against Serena and Venus Williams of the USA at the Sydney International tournament on Tuesday.  — Reuters photo

“If I’m not ready now then I should just go home,” she said.

Mauresmo starts with win

SYDNEY, Jan 9 (AFP) — Amelie Mauresmo learned a few hard lessons after her euphoric victories over Grand Slam champions Mary Pierce, Martina Hingis and Iindsay Davenport on the way to winning last year’s Sydney International here.

Australia became her happy hunting ground as she downed Davenport in the final after reaching the 1999 Australian Open final unseeded, where she lost to Martina Hingis.

Yet days after her rousing leadup 2000 tournament win in Sydney she fell to Patty Schnyder in the second round of the Australian Open — she was out and on her way home in the first week. “It was disappointing,” she said here today. “But it was the first time I had to handle a win in a tournament and then go into a Grand Slam. “So it was an experience. When it happens to me again — and hopefully it will — I will know better how to handle the situation.”

Mauresmo, unseeded here, kicked off her title defence today by thrashing Luxembourg’s Anne Kremer 6-1, 6-4 in less than an hour.

The big-hitting Frenchwoman, with the sublime backhand is next up against South African terrier and seventh seed Amanda Coetzer tomorrow in the second round.

Mauresmo was troubled by a back complaint throughout last year, but has worked hard during the northern winter to strengthen herself for the coming season.

“I hope I’m going to be healthy for all the year. I’ve tried to prevent injuries this winter in practice and we did well, so hopefully it’s going to last 12 months now,” said the 21-year-old, who finished last year ranked No. 16.

Eighth-seed Anna Kournikova beat Russian qualifier Elena Bovina 6-4, 6-4 in the first round and later was coy over the reasons for her split with doubles partner Martina Hingis.

The 19-year-old Russian glamour denied the bust-up ended in tears and said it was over something else. When pressed on what was the cause, Kournikova was non-commital.

The split follows reports of a row between Hingis and Kournikova at a singles exhibition match in Chile a month ago.

Kournikova, who with Hingis won this year’s Chase Championships and four other doubles titles along with the 1999 Australian Open, disagreed that it was a breakup and denied there were any ill-feelings with Hingis.

“It’s not like a breakup,” said Kournikova. “It’s just that we both have different partners.

“It’s not like we’re never going to see each other, never going to talk to each other. No way.

Attorneys for Becker and his wife Barbara were scheduled to argue yesterday whether the split should be settled by a US or German judge. But they entered the courtroom with an agreement to delay the hearing for 10 days while continuing negotiations about money and child custody.

“Barbara and Boris are focused on getting this matter resolved properly and promptly with dignity and privacy,” her attorney, Samuel Burstyn, told a media horde outside court. “We are very hopeful that will happen in the next few days.”

Meanwhile in Germany, television beamed live coverage of the legal battle, drawing critical and worried reaction just as Germany’s highest court is to decide whether cameras should be allowed in domestic courtrooms.

“Becker vs Becker — the war of the roses live from Miami” was how the RTL television trumpeted its special coverage that dominated the station’s programmes for the day.

The prospect of seeing one of Germany’s biggest celebrities publicly air his marital woes in a courtroom proved unsettling in a country that closely guards personal privacy.

Becker’s separation late last year from his wife of seven years has already drawn unprecedented publicity with page-one coverage since the three-time Wimbledon champion filed for divorce last month.

The couple were photographed over the weekend on exclusive Fisher Island, the location of one of their five homes. Barbara Becker moved into the Fisher Island condominium with their six and one-year-old children after he told her their marriage was over in November, her court filings say.

At a 10-minute hearing with none of the Beckers present, both sides said they would be back before Circuit Judge Maynard Gross if they fail to reach an agreement. He set a hearing for January 18, if needed.

Although Mr Burstyn said both sides “were very hopeful” they would reach a settlement within days, Robert Kohlman, attorney for Boris Becker, indicated in court that he was ready to aggressively pursue legal options.

Mr Burstyn added that Boris Becker had agreed to keep paying “support and maintenance” for his wife and children and would continue “without need for any order of the court.”

The private discussions followed Judge Gross’ decision last week leaving Barbara Becker’s request for alimony and child support in a public forum, rejecting her husband’s request for closed-door court hearings and files.

Barbara Becker signed a prenuptial agreement in 1993 agreeing to divorce in Germany, but Florida law allows her to pursue alimony, custody and support without requesting for divorce.

Boris Becker filed for divorce but not custody in Munich last month after she filed her request in Miami. The 1993 agreement guaranteed her about $ 2.5 million plus inflation in case of a divorce.

Alind Naidu came in at the fall of the third wicket at 64 and when he was dismissed the score was 229 for eight. Naidu played both the seamers and the spinners with equal confidence and showed great temperament with wickets falling all over him.

G. Rao and K. Khadkikar were also out cheaply to leave India under-19 at a precarious 102 for five, when the captain joined Naidu in the middle.

The much-awaited appearance of Gurcharan turned out to be a damp squib for the crowd that thronged the ring as the bout finished in the jiffy.

A right puch onto Rakesh’s chest was all that Gurcharan did as curtains fell on the bout.

In another encounter, Gurcharan’s Sydney-mate Jitender Kumar of Railway earned a referee contest (RSC) in the first round against Gurcharan Singh of Punjab.

Six knock-outs were the order of the second day with four coming in the flyweight category. The knock-out winners included Marl Marx of Tamil Nadu, S.K. Fahim of Bihar, Dinesh Kumar Yadav of Madhya Pradesh and Sunil Kumar of Rajasthan.

The other two came in the form of Suraj Mal of Haryana in the middleweight category and S.S. Deol of All-India Police in the super heavyweight section — both being in the first round itself.

UNI Adds: Olympian Suresh Singh of Central Industrial Security Force (CSIF) and national champion Ramanand of Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) lived up to their reputation and entered the second round the fly weight and feather weight class, respectively.

While Suresh Singh who was the member of the Indian Olympic team for the Sydney games recently over came a resolute Amrinder Singh of Punjab after clobbering him with a flurry of jabs but the referee stopped the contest in initial stage of the third round.

Ram Jagtap emulated the feat of his team-mate Rajesh Pawar by winning his bout against Afzal Ali Khan of Bihar on an unanimous points decision.

The 19-year-old first year Ness Wadia collegian of Pune showed tremendous grit and determination and did not disappoint a large partisan crowed.

International Ramanand also managed to ward off the challenge of Andhra Pradesh’s Rama Rao after sustaining early punches. The SSCB boxer who has been on the national and international scene for the last four years attacked the rival with sustained jabs and right and left combination.

Results:
Flyweight: S. Surech Singh (CISF) b Amrinder Singh (Pun), S.K. Thapa (Assam) b Sanjeet Chauhan, Naveen Dev (Har) b Ashikh Kumar Sharma (UP), Karl Marx (TN) b B. Sushant Sawan (Goa), Sarfaraz Alam Khan (Bengal) b Chankaur Singh (Chd), Sunil Kumar (Raj) b U.R. Rehman (Orrisa), S.K. Fahim (Bihar) b Md Sadeeq (J&K).

West Bengal won the Group A match 25-14, 25-17, 25-14.

In the men’s Group C Assam and Chandigarh prevailed over Goa and Maharashtra, respectively, in five setters.

The following are the results:

Men: Group B: Delhi b Karnataka 25-21, 22-25, 25-18, 25-21; Railways b West Bengal 25-14, 25-12, 25-18.

Group C: Chandigarh b Pondicherry 16-25, 25-17, 25-27, 26-24, 15-7; Orissa b Pondicherry 25-23, 25-22, 25-21; Assam b Goa 5-23, 25-27, 25-16, 21-25, 15-11; Chandigarh b Maharashtra 17-25, 25-23, 25-23, 24-26, 16-14.

Group D: Bihar b Haryana 21-25, 25-22, 25-22, 21-25, 15-9; Jammu and Kashmir b Tripura 25-20, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23.

Women: Group A: Maharashtra b Punjab 25-21, 22-25, 25-16, 25-20.

Group B: Delhi b Madhya Pradesh 25-20, 25-20, 25-22; Madhya Pradesh b Pondicherry 25-13, 25-7, 25-13.

Group C: Orissa b Bihar 25-22, 25-23, 25-22; Bihar b Rajasthan 25-11, 25-20, 25-13; Karnataka b Orissa 25-15, 25-12, 25-16.