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| Tuesday,
August 7, 2001, Chandigarh, India    |
WORLD ATHLETICS
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Beenamol
in semis
Romania's Andrei Pavel celebrates after defeating Australia's Patrick Rafter 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3 in the final of the Tennis Masters Series in Montreal on Sunday. |
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India meet Aussies
today Saurav
Ganguly, behave like a captain and not a Maharaja! Kumble writes Windies win The
politics of Arjuna Award Gangjee,
Sheeraz set for debut 257 dope
tests positive
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WORLD ATHLETICS
Edmonton, August 6 It was royal performance for Greene who led a US clean sweep, winning in 9.82 seconds, short of his world record of 9.79seconds. Tim Montgomery, who had run the fastest 100m this season until Greene snatched the gold this evening, came home second in 9.85 seconds with Bernard Williams third in 9.94 seconds, But Greene paid a high price for his gold. His hopes of pulling off the sprint double vanished after he snatched at his left leg a split second before he powered across the line and quickly pulled up.
The 200m heats start tomorrow and Greene ruled out any possibility of taking part. “I’m not going to do the 200 - that’s out,” he stated, explaining that he was suffering from a hamstring problem. “It was a very tough race. I knew it was going to be a tough race, but I was not going to stop for anyone. “I felt something in my hamstring and I’m going to get it checked out,” said Greene. The 25-year-old Jones gave a regal performance as she swept towards today’s final. Jones ran the fastest women’s 100m race ever seen in Canada as she breezed across the line to clock 10.93 seconds in her opening heat. Despite being 16-1 on favourite, Jones refuses to be complacent “I still remember when I was beaten in the world championships in 1997 by Merlene Ottey and I didn’t like it,” said Jones, who since then has gone unbeaten in the Blue Riband event. The European challenge to Jones is led by Olympic silver medalist Ekaterini Thanou of Greece. The 26-year-old is being tipped by Jones as one of her key rivals. “I am in top form and am ready to push Marion,” warned the Greek, who in the quaterfinals joined Jones as the only sprinter to run under 11 seconds. She timed 10.97. While the USA dominated on the track eastern Europe set the pace on the field. Poland’s Szymon Ziolkowski needed to set the first championship record of the meeting to snatch the title in a dramatic men’s hammer final. The competition’s early leader, Koji Murofushi of Japan, had to be content with the silver medal after Ziolkowski, the Olympic champion, snatched the lead in the fifth round with a Polish national record of 83.38 metres. With the next throw, Murofushi improved his own mark, but not enough, finishing with a best of 82.92m. The bronze medal went to Russia’s Ilya Konovalov with 80.27m. Yanina Korolchik from Belarus added the world shot put title to her Olympic gold medal with a winning throw of 20.61 metres, a national record. Germany’s Nadine Kleinaert-Schmitt won the silver medal with a lifetime best of 19.86m and European champion Vita Pavlysh of Ukraine took bronze with a 19.41m effort. Astrid Kumbernuss’s six-year reign as world champion thus came to an end as Germany’s three-time winner placed sixth with 19.25m. Russia’s new world heptathlon champion Yelena Prokhoroa admitted yesterday her task in the two-day event was simplified with the premature departure of her two main rivals. Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis of Britain withdrew before the event after complaining of stomach problems, while France’s defending world champion Eunice Barber dropped out on Saturday after failing to score any points in the shot putt. “Suddenly, there was only four of us competing for the medals instead of six. Mentally it got a lot easier,” 23-year-old Prokhorova said . After two days and seven events to discover the world’s best all-round woman athlete, Prokhorova scored 6,694 points. The silver medal went to Natalya Sazanovich of Belarus with 6,539 points, while the American Sheila Burrell claimed bronze with a lifetime best of 6,472 points. Morocco’s 1500m world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj had his hopes of winning a third successive world title boosted when Algerian star Ali Saidi-Sief decided to avoid taking him on and race in the 5000m instead. The 23-year-old Algerian, who won Olympic silver in the 5000m last year, had been racing over 1500m this season and his potential match-up with the 27-year-old Moroccan had been due to be one of the highlights of the championships. El Guerrouj, who is to switch to 5000m after these championships, had already accused the Algerian’s camp of avoiding taking him on during the Grand Prix season. The most emotional moment of yesterday was the farewell of Canadian sprint legend Donovan Bailey.
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Beenamol in semis Edmonton, August 6 Beenamol finished fifth in her heats last night, clocking 52.17 seconds and qualified as one of the six best losers alongwith the top three in each of the six heats, who qualified automatically. Beenamol, who had reached the semifinals in the Sydney Olympics last year, will run in heat No.2 in the semifinals today. However, heptathlete G. Promila Ganapathy finished last of the 15 athletes who completed the greulling event. Promila tallied 5492 points in the event which was won by Russian Yelena Prokhorova (6694 points). Promila remained at the bottom right from the first event, the 100 m hurdles. She finished third in heat No 3 (14.41sec) and was 14th out of 17 competitors with 921 points, far behind defending champion Eunice Barber of France, who led with 1158 points. She cleared 1.73m in high jump, achieved 11.43m in shot put to drop down to 15th place with 2435 even as Barber dropped out fouling all her attempts. Promila touched the tape in 25.04 seconds to finish second in 200m in her heats. She could then leap only 5.92m in long jump but returned the worst show in javelin managing just 34.60m.
PTI |
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Donovan Bailey ends career Edmonton, August 6 The 1996 Olympic champion and former 100-metre record holder finished sixth in his semifinal heat yesterday at the world championships, then confirmed his retirement from competition. Bailey (33) had said he wanted to run for the last time before his home fans, and they showed their appreciation for a career that helped restore pride in Canadian athletics after the Ben Johnson doping scandal at the Seoul Olympics. Cheered loudly by the crowd at Commonwealth stadium when introduced before the race, Bailey was given a standing ovation afterward. He then got a Canadian flag and took a farewell lap around the track as the crowd continued to applaud him. He said he wanted a better result, such as a top-four finish that would have earned a berth in the final. “I didn’t really want it to end up with me not winning or not even advancing to the finals,” Bailey said afterward. “I ran a pretty bad race today, but at the end of the day, I gave it all I had, and definitely it was my last race.” That Bailey even made the semifinal was a surprise. He complained of an injured left knee all week, snapping at journalists who questioned the seriousness of the problem. Yesterday, he summed up his career by saying he always tried as hard as he could. “The Canadian public has always given me respect and always given me support,” Bailey said. “I’ve done all I can. In all my years of hard work, that is really what I was working for. “I did it every day,” he added. “I ran proudly, cleanly, and with dignity for our country.” On Saturday, Bailey was clocked at 10.20 seconds in his morning race then 10.11 in the quarterfinals, his best times this year. He was unable to keep up in the semi-finals, though, clocking 10.3 against a field led by the 10.01 of Maurice Greene, the American who broke his record in 1999.
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Unseeded Pavel stuns Rafter Montreal, August 6 The 27-year-old’s victory yesterday, which earned him 100 Champions Race points, was his third ATP Tour title. “I had some luck today, but I also played well. I came here with few expectations and just took it a day at a time,” said Pavel. “I know the feeling of watching other guys win here. For me to be in this position is a dream.” “This a success that not everyone can have. It shows that tennis is a tight sport. There is a chance for anyone to take a shot at the big guys.” Pavel, the first Romanian to lift a Canadian title since Ilie Nastase in 1972, joins the ranks of low-profile Canadian winners, including Mikael Pernfors, Thomas Johansson, Chris Woodruff and Andrei Chesnokov. Pavel combined his own strong serve with smooth passing returns to counter Rafter’s trademark serve-and-volley game. He took the first set on a tiebreak and then after losing the second set, broke Rafter in a tight eighth game of the deciding set to go 5-3 up before serving out. “The balls were flying away from me,” admitted Rafter, who was beaten by Goran Ivanisevic in an epic Wimbledon final earlier this year. “I never really felt comfortable out there.” The Queenslander, who has not won a title for over a year, added: “I’m bored with not closing out tournaments. “But other than the final, it was a pretty good week.”
San Diego, (California): Venus Williams thwarts Monica Seles’s bid to defeat the world’s top three players in succession with a 6-2, 6-3 victory to retain her Acura Classic title. The reigning Wimbledon champion yesterday showed improved technique on her forehand side and had too much court savvy for Seles in capturing her fourth title of the year. “I feel great. I love to play in Southern California,” said Williams, who grew up in Los Angeles. “The first couple times I played here in 1994 and 1995, I had a lot of problems. But the last two years have been really exciting.” Unlike her triumphs over Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis on Friday and Saturday, Seles did not have the luxury of facing a weak second serve she could attack. Williams, the tour’s most dominant server, frequently belted first serves past her opponent or peppered her with wicked slice serves into the body. The second-seed fired down 13 aces and hit 37 winners in the match. Seles had chances to gain early momentum in the opening game, but the seventh seed failed to convert three break points and Williams quickly found her feet. The six feet two inches (1.88 m) Williams broke Seles to seize a 4-2 lead with two full-swing volleys on the run and a forehand down the line. Williams won the set with another service break on a thumping backhand crosscourt winner, and raced into a 4-0 lead in the second set. Seles immediately broke back but Williams held for 5-2 with a 113 mph (182 kph) ace, and in the final game, served three successive aces to capture the title.
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India meet Aussies today
Kuala Lumpur, August 7 India, who have lost two and drawn one match so far, have their task cut out against the Olympic bronze medallists who have looked in fine touch in this tournament. India and Australia last played in the Sydney Olympic Games last year with the match ending in a 2-2 draw. However, both the teams have seen a lot of changes after that. India had a day to recover after their energy-sapping match against Pakistan. And if they can play with the same flow while keeping their defence tight against the Australian forwards, they can have a great shot at winning the game. Devesh Chauhan has come up with a few brilliant saves, only to let in a couple of stupid shots to negate the effort. That goes for the forwards too. Deepak Thakur has scored great reverse shot goals but fumbled at straight forward chances. That’s where probably Australia won’t give them an inch and will take a mile. The key would again be the forwards and their conversion ability with a lot hinging on the penalty corners and shooting home the rebounds.
PTI
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Saurav Ganguly, behave like a captain and not a
Maharaja! Chandigarh, August 6 Saurav Ganguly might have picked up the mannerisms of the Aussies but not their fighting qualities. The way he kept on shouting at his own players and glaring at the umpires when the chips were down in the final of the triangular series against Sri Lanka at Colombo yesterday gave one the impression that he is not the right person to lead India at this critical juncture, specially since a number of youngsters are trying to cement their place in the Indian squad. And the best example of his negative impact was visible to all on the television screens when the young Yuvraj Singh — a protege of the Maharaja of Kolkata if ever there was one — screamed and ranted at Zaheer Khan when he dropped a skier from Sanath Jayasuriya when the Sri Lankan opener was in his seventies. Maybe, the catch could have changed the course of the game but then did Yuvraj have the right to scream at Zaheer with the skipper remaining a mute spectator ? Or did the ‘‘superstar’’ from Chandigarh have the tacit support of his skipper since he too was doing the same antics as the Sri Lankans were making merry ? Ganguly might be the only current international skipper who has been forced to sit out of an international match for showing dissent. But instead of repenting his mistakes he has gone back to the field to rave and shout at his own teammates, specially when the maurading Sri Lankans made mincemeat of the Indian attack. That the Indians were playing one bowler short was known very well to the Indian captain even before the start of the match. But even as the fast and medium fast bowlers were being carted around the ground he did not think of calling up Laxman or Rahul Dravid to try their luck with the ball with their slower stuff. Maybe, an irregular bowler would have broken the concentration of the Sri Lankans. Why he did not only the Indian captain can answer. If the team did not have adequate bowlers it is Saurav who should be blamed because it is he who had a major say in the selection of the squad. If Ajit Agarkar can remain a passenger in series after series it is the captain who has to have an answer. Why the likes of Agarkar or for that matter Debashis Mohanty were doing in the touring party only Saurav can answer. But instead of giving answers he raves and shouts when the going becomes tough and game after game slips away as it has done time and again in the recent past . When Saurav Ganguly after the tour of Zimbabwe made a plea to the national selectors that the captain should be appointed on a year to year basis many thought that he was speaking in the right vein since an insecure captain could not lead the team effectively. But the way he has been behaving of late gives enough indication that the national selectors are probably following the right path of appointing him captain on a series-by-series basis. The Indian team needs a mature leader to lead at the moment. The modern game does need a captain who is hard and combative but combative does not mean screaming and ranting your own players or glaring at umpires. Saurav needs to cool down, pull up his game at least by a couple of notches and lead from the front if Indian cricket is to prosper. You cannot win all the time but you can definitely maintain yours, as well as the nation’s, dignity. |
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Kumble writes The final was a disappointment once again as Sri Lanka posted the highest score of the tournament to crush India by a huge margin. India will rue the fact that having reached the final, they didn’t play to potential and caved in rather meekly. After winning the toss and electing to bat, Jayasuriya and Gunawardane laid a solid foundation in quick time. It is amazing how often Jayasuriya rises to the occasion in a big game like the one on Sunday. I can hardly remember an innings he has failed to score in an important game against us except the World Cup semi-final at Kolkata. He did have his moments of good fortune but the way he takes the psychological advantage whenever he is in the middle is something Indians must take stock of. Our fast bowlers looked nervous, with both Ashish Nehra and Zaheer spraying the ball around and this gave Sri Lanka the momentum. Among the bowlers, the only exception was Harbhajan, who once again commanded a lot of respect from the Sri Lankan batsmen to finish with 2 for 29 in his quota of 10 overs. The Premadasa wicket was a good one for the final unlike in the previous matches during the league phase of this Coca Cola triseries. The Indians perhaps expected the pitch to behave like the previous matches and were in for a surprise when Jayasuriya and Co. took charge. This final was quite similar to the one in Zimbabwe against the West Indies, where the opening pair went on the attack against Zaheer and Nehra early on. Our bowlers could not come to terms barring Harbhajan, albeit we did show glimpses of pulling back at the Sri Lankans for a very brief period before Russel Arnold and Kalu took the game away from us. The body language of the Indians was not positive to say the least, when one saw the team going back to the pavilion after conceding 295 runs. The wickets of Sehwag, a needless runout and a soft dismissal of the skipper early on did not help India’s cause. There was a glimmer of hope when Rahul and Laxman were at the crease, but once these men departed the writing was on the wall. It is never easy to get over such disappointments but the sooner we do that, the better. We will have to play better in a final and the only way of getting rid of the tag of ‘chokers’ is by winning. The focus now shifts to the Test series. With Laxman and Nehra ruled out, India will definitely miss them. I hope that their injuries are not serious and they will get back soon. I also hope that Zaheer would be available for the Test series, and his injury is nothing serious. I am really happy for Venky who makes a comeback into the Test squad. He has really worked very hard on his fitness and game and I wish him well. And of course, one player who the team will be eagerly awaiting for the Test series will be none other than the little master.
Gameplan |
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Windies win
Nairobi, August 6 SCOREBOARD Kenya (first innings): 233
(S. Tikolo 59) West Indies (first innings):
Ganga c Obuya b M. Suji 0 Garrick b Odumbe 71 Hinds lbw b Odoyo
83 Sarwan c&b M. Suji 108 Chanderpaul c Obuya b Odoyo 46 Browne not out 52 Mohammed c sub (Patel)
b Odumbe 26 Black c Tikolo b Odumbe 0 Extras (1b-11, w-5, nb-12) 28 Total (For seven wickets
declared, 110.4
overs) 414 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-121, 3-207, 4-330, 5-334, 6-405, 7-414 Bowling: M. Suji 18-3-70-2, Odoyo 19-4-75-2, Ochieng 13-2-44-0, T. Suji 9-0-45-0, Omondi 20-1-77-0, Tiklo 11-0-34-0, Odumbe 20.4-4-58-3 Kenya (second innings): K. Otieno c sub b Black 4 J. Kamande c Sarwan b Black 0 S. Tikolo b Black 25 M. Odumbe lbw c Collymore 14 T. Odoyo c Browne b Black 7 H. Modi lbw b Collymore 0 M. Suji lbw b Black 29 T. Suji c sub b Mohammed 17 C. Omondi lbw b Collymore 17 D. Obuya not out 9 P. Ochieng lbw b Black 0 Extras (1b-2, nb-10) 12 Total (all out, 48
overs) 134 Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-12, 3-45, 4-49, 5-55, 6-55, 7-90, 8-113, 9-134. Bowling: Black 15-5-35-6, Collins 12-4-39-0, Collymore 11-2-27-3, Mohammed 9-1-30-1, Chanderpaul 1-0-1-0.
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The politics of Arjuna
Award Patiala, August 6 Rachna Govil is employed as a Deputy Director at the corporate office of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) at New Delhi and her only `notable’ achievement till date is that she once won a half-marathon race in a domestic athletic competition held a decade ago. Apart from this `feat’ she has done little of note to warrant one of the country’s premier sports awards. She was among the 14 veteran sportspersons to have been nominated for the Arjuna Award under the ‘life time contribution’ category. In the normal process to nominate a sportsperson or coach for either the Arjuna or Dronacharya Award, respective National Sports Federations (NSF) recommend names of deserving sportspersons to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) which furthers the list of the recommended names to the Sports Ministry. A panel, headed by the Sports Minister, finalises the names for these awards. In the case of Rachna Govil, who looks after various schemes initiated by the SAI from time to time, the Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI) did not recommend her name to the IOA and the Sports Ministry. On the contrary, the AAFI, apart from recommending the names of K.M Bennamol, Milkha Singh, Yadvindera Vashisht (handicapped category), also recommended the name of Vijayamala Bhanot, who also happens to be the wife of Lalit Bhanot, the all powerful secretary of the AAFI and who is considered to be close to Suresh Kalmadi, President of the IOA. Sources disclosed that when the list reached Ms Uma Bharti for finalising the names, the Sports Minister took no time in striking off the name of Vijayamala Bhanot, who several years ago was the national record holder in the discus throw event. The minister
insisted that the AAFI should first recommend the name of Rachna Govil and only then the name of the wife of Lalit Bhanot would be cleared for the Award. To further compound matters, Mr Bhanot’s proximity to Mr Kalmadi came in the way of his wife’s name being cleared since both Mr Kalmadi and Ms Uma Bharti are at loggerheads with each other over various issues, including the composition of various committee’s for the Afro-Asian Games. It took several rounds of meetings between the Sports Ministry officials and the IOA top brass to break the deadlock. Ultimately, the AAFI caved in to the wishes of the Sports Minister and it was at the 11th hour that the AAFI prepared a revised list in which the name of Rachna Govil was included. On her part, the Sports Minister duly approved the list containing the names of Vijayamala Bhanot and Rachna Govil, and finally both were declared recipients of the country’s most prestigious sports award, notwithstanding the sporting credentials of the two women. However, as has been proved from the manner in which they have been conferred upon with the Arjuna award, both have impressive connections. |
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Gangjee, Sheeraz set for debut New Delhi, August 6 The Hindu Open is the lung-opener of the 2001-2002 Hero Honda Golf Tour. Gangjee and Kalra will be joined in the event by a host of other leading golfers for the Rs 1,21,500 prize money. The Kolkata-based Gangjee made up for a luke-warm start to the season with three consecutive wins at the northern, western and eastern India amateurs. This propelled him to the number one spot in amateur ranking. The Hindu tournament will witness a full field, with winner of the title for the past two years Vijay Kumar, ‘Champion golfer of the Year’ Mukesh Kumar and ‘Rookie of the Year’ Rahul Ganapathy in the fray for a shot at the top prize. The Indian Golf Tour has grown in stature over the past three years with the 2000-01 season offering a total prize money of Rs 2.10 crore. Mukesh Kumar, Vijay Kumar and Shiv Prakash, the top three golfers on the Order of Merit, earned in excess of Rs 10 lakh each, and as many as 53 golfers crossed the Rs 100,000 mark. |
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257 dope tests
positive New Delhi, August 6 However, since the SAI’s dope control laboratory is not accredited, the result of such tests could be at best taken as “only indicative,” the minister said in a written reply. The results are forwarded to the national federations concerned for necessary action in accordance with the laid down norms of their respective international federation.
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