 |
Tuesday,
August 6, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
Weightlifter Rai fails dope test Cash awards for winners announced
India emerges a major force with best-ever
haul |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Hockey: Pakistanis see match-fixing
Venus Williams holds up another championship crystal after her 6-2, 6-2 victory over Jelena Dokic in the championship match
on Sunday at the Acura Tennis Classic in Carlsbad, Calif. — AP/PTI
photo Comfortable win for
Lanka SAI slashes centre’s budget
|
|
Weightlifter Rai fails dope test Manchester, August 5 Lifter Satheesha Rai, who won two gold and one bronze in the Games which concluded yesterday, has tested positive for a stimulant, according to Mr ASV Prasad, Director of Indian Olympic Association. The Commonwealth Games Federation has made no official announcement about Rai so far. The Indians will certainly appeal. If Rai is stripped of his medals, India’s original haul of 32 gold will be reduced to 30, one less than Canada who will then climb to the third position behind Australia and England in the medals tally. Mr Prasad said CGF may take a couple of days to make an official announcement and India will request for a test of his B-sample. When contacted, the
Commonwealth Games Secretariat declined to respond to queries. PTI M.S. Unnikrishnan adds from New Delhi: IOA secretary-general Randhir Singh said from London that the B sample of Krishnan Madasamy, who had tested positive earlier, would be sent for dope testing in a London lab, as desired by the lifter, who has professed his innocence of any wrong doing in the matter. Mr Randhir Singh said arrangements had been made to deposit $200 required for testing the B sample of Madasamy. When asked about the news of Satheesha Rai also testing positive, Mr Randhir Singh said he had not received any official confirmation in the matter. In the case of Madasamy, ad hoc committee members Balbir Singh Bhatia and R.R. Singh asserted that strict action would be taken if the lifter was found guilty of any misdemeanour. “No lenient view will be taken in this matter. The country’s name will not be compromised under any circumstances”, they averred. To be on the safe side, the ad hoc committee had made each of the 12 male and 12 female weightlifters, who attended the national camps at Bangalore and Patiala respectively, sign a declaration, stating that the lifters would be fully responsible if caught out for a drug offence. Krishnan Madasamy, in his declaration, had stated that “I, K. Madasamy, son of Shri B.P. Krishnan, hereby willfully declare that I have not used any of the drugs banned by the IWF and the IOC to enhance my sports performance. I agree for the dope test conducted as per the IWF rule at any time and if I am found positive, I shall accept the penalty imposed by the IWF. I have not been advised or forced by any one to take any performance enhancing banned drugs”. This declaration was signed on April 27,2002, during the final phase of the national camp at Bangalore. But Mr Balbir Singh and Mr R.R. Singh asserted that they would not absolve their own responsibility in the matter. “We are certainly accountable for it (the conduct of the weightlifter)”, they explained. The ad hoc committee members said they had taken all precautions to make the lifters aware of the banned drugs, and the lifters themselves had given the assurance that they were aware of the banned drugs. Mr Balbir Singh said the Sports Authority of India (SAI) had even circulated a list of the banned drugs to the
weightlifters. “The authorities at Patiala used to carry out surprise room checks on the weightlifters”, Mr Balbir Singh said. While the women’s camp were held in Patiala, the men trained at Bangalore, under former Commonwealth Games silver medallist, national champion and Arjuna Awardee Tamil Selvan and Dr Ramilal. Mr Balbir Singh informed that officials of SAI’s dope-testing laboratory had taken more than 30 samples during the national championships in Bhilai in March this year. But none of the samples tested positive when tested in the SAI lab. Mr Randhir Singh, however, claimed from London that the whole controversy, could have been avoided had the Government cleared enough number of doctors with the Indian contingent. He said the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports cleared only two out of the five doctors recommended by the IOA. The two doctors cleared were Dr Ashok Ahuja and Dr Sarla. The IOA secretary-general was also critical of the indifferent attitude of official carriers Air-India and official travel agents Balmer and Lawrie, who left the athletes in the lurch after the closing ceremony last night. Air-India sent just one small coach to pick up over 40 athletes and officials, to be transported to the London airport, he said. Only the hockey players could be accommodated in the coach, and the rest of the contingent members were transported in a coach provided by the organising committee at 3’O clock though the games closing ceremony had concluded at 12’O clock. As a result, the last batch of athletes reached London just 15 minutes before the check-in time. “It was absolutely disgusting”, Mr Randhir Singh fumed on the phone. The government had shelled out an enormous amount of money to fly the athletes by the national carrier while other airlines had provided tickets at much cheaper rates. Meanwhile, Mr N.K. Gupta, Managing Director of Laxmi Publications, and treasurer of the Winter Games Federation of India, announced a cash award of Rs 2 lakh to the women’s hockey team, who won the gold, beating England in the final. While Rs 1 lakh would be given to the whole team, Rs 1 lakh would be awarded to Mamta Kharab, who scored the match-winner. |
|
Cash awards for winners announced New Delhi, August 5 “Each gold medal winner will receive Rs 20 lakh, while the prize money for the silver and bronze medalists is fixed at Rs 15 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, respectively,” Ms Bharati told newspersons here, adding that the gold medal winning women hockey team would get Rs 30 lakh. Hailing the
performance of the sportspersons, Ms Bharati said this was country’s best ever performance at the international level. “They have made every Indian proud and this will set a new trend in the history of Indian sports,” she noted. The Sports Minister said the Sport Authority of India had a major role in India’s “unexpected and unprecedented” performance at the Games as SAI was instrumental in winning 29 medals, including 14 golds, six silver and nine bronzes. Ms Bharati attributed the glorious
performance to the new sports policy initiated by the Centre. “The Sports Ministry has given primary importance to the performance of the players and standard of the coaches. As much as Rs 32 crore was spent last year for sports as compared to Rs 17 crore the year before,” she pointed out. The minister said the inclusion of more foreign coaches to the sportspersons had also resulted in such tremendous success. “The number of foreign coaches have been increased from 11 to 42 in the last one year,” she added. Ms Bharati said the players were given international exposure which helped them in being mentally and physically tough and competitive. She said her ministry would now concentrate on the coming Asian Games in Busan in South Korea in October. “Two months time is a very short period but the ministry is prepared to render all support to the players preparing for the Asian Games,” she added. Ms Bharati said an investigation would be ordered on issue of Indian weightlifter Krishnan Madasamy’s testing positive for a metabolite of the banned steroid nandrolone, which stripped him of three silver medals for the country. The minister said she would
review the cut down of doctors from five to two during the Games. UNI |
|
Final medal tally Manchester, August 5
Reuters |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Award announced
for Sita Gossain Shimla, August 5 He congratulated every member of the women’s hockey team for this spectacular achievement and hoped that its winning spree would continue. The Chief Minister said Sita Gossain had brought laurels to the country and state at international level and announced a reward of Rs 50,000 to her. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
India emerges a major force with best-ever haul Manchester, August 5 The 148-member contingent returned with the best-ever haul of 32 gold, 21 silver and 19 bronze medals to take the third position on the medals table and emerge as a major force in the Commonwealth sporting fraternity. The spectacular display of the Indian sportspersons warmed the hearts of millions of countrymen and the gold booty was all the more creditable since it had never exceeded 13 gold in the history of the Games. Though the Indians did not pose a serious challenge to traditional powerhouses Australia and England who expectedly occupied the first two positions, their unprecedented gold collection made them the surprise package of the Games. The Indians were expected to put up an improved show at the Games this time around, but nobody really thought they would rake in as many as 72 medals. Although there were many star performers and first-time achievements in India’s dream run at this north-western English city, the shooters and the lifters did the bulk of the shopping, collecting as many as 27 of the 32 gold. But India’s phenomenal success at the Games lost some sheen with lifter Krishnan Madasamy testing positive for the performance-enhancing drug nandrolone — the only moment of disgrace for the Indians. The 28-year-old lifter was stripped of all the three silver medals he won in the 56 kg category. The shooters were the toast of the nation as they virtually set the ranges in Bisley ablaze with their gold grabbing feats to complete their engagements with a rich haul of 14 gold, 12 silver and 2 bronze medals — their best showing in the Commonwealth Games so far. Pistol King Jaspal Rana and Anjali (Ved Pathak) Bhagwat provided the sparks by clinching as many as four gold medals each while talented youngster Abhinav Bindra (one gold and one silver) also made his presence felt with his heroics. The weightlifting arena proved to be a happy hunting ground for the Indians as it brought 13 gold medals thanks mainly to the women lifters who amply proved their class by fetching the bulk of the golds. Seasoned lifters N Kunjarani Devi (48 kg), Sanamacha Chanu (53 kg) and Shailaja Pujari (75 kg) reigned supreme as they made a clean sweep of all the three gold medals in their respective categories. The women’s weightlifting event was held for the first time in these Games and the Indian eves made the most of it. Satheesha Rai also had his moment of glory picking up two gold medals in the men’s 77 kg while Pratima Kumari narrowly missed a clean sweep in the women’s 63 kg and had to be content with two golds and a silver. The Indian women’s hockey team also fulfilled a long cherished dream of winning a gold medal in the event which had never brought them a medal till now. The Indian eves fought back brilliantly after almost being knocked out of the championship at one stage to clinch their first medal in women’s hockey though the summit showdown against hosts England ended in controversial fashion. India’s moment of glory had to wait for a brief while as the umpire initially disallowed the golden goal by Mamta Kharab but changed her mind after discussing with her fellow umpire and consulting technical committee officials, prompting protests from the England team. It was indeed a remarkable performance from the Indians as they demolished highly rated teams like South Africa, New Zealand and England during their giant-killing spree. After finishing third in pool-B, the Indians were a trans- formed lot in the play-off stage and the two come-from-behind victories against South Africa and New Zealand boosted their confidence ahead of the final. The dream victory should go a long way in giving the desired confidence to the team which has struggled to make a mark at the international level because of its inconsistency. Light flyweight pugilist Mohammed Ali Qamar also made history by becoming the first Indian boxer to clinch a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games by prevailing over England’s Darren Langley in a closely contested final. Another Indian boxer Som Bahadur Pun managed to reach the final bout could not defeat Pakistan’s Hyder Ali and had to be content with the silver medal. The Indian grapplers, who joined the action towards the later stages of the Games, contributed to the gold deluge by claiming three gold and two silvers and one bronze. Krishan Kumar (up to 55 kg), Ramesh Kumar (up to 66 kg) and Palwinder Singh Cheema (up to 120 kg) were the gold winners from the wrestling arena while Anuj Kumar fetched a silver in the up to 84 kg category. While the squads in most of the disciplines brought cheer to the country, the shuttlers and the paddlers failed to strike gold though they did manage to pick up a couple of bronze medals. Star performers Pullela Gopi Chand and Aparna Popat failed to live upto their awesome reputations in these Games much to the disappointment of badminton fans. Gopi Chand suffered a stunning straight-set defeat at the hands of Malaysia’s Choong Haan Wong in the quarter finals to make a premature exit in the men’s singles while Popat could not advance beyond the semi-final stage. The Indians took part in ten disciplines and won medals in nine with only the gymnasts returning home empty handed. The medal deluge in the Commonwealth Games will raise the level of expectation when the contingent leaves for the Asian Games in Busan but it remains to be seen whether they can come anywhere near the record tally of 72 medals.
PTI |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Milkha lauds India’s show Chandigarh, August 5 He said all the medallists should be suitably rewarded by the President or Prime Minister and private sector undertakings so that the younger generation received encouragement. “There is no substitute for hard work, discipline, will power and determination. We should not relax after the Commonwealth Games and should continue with the efforts to achieve glory in the Olympics. I would like to see India’s flag flying high during the Olympics before my death”, he added. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Hockey: Pakistanis see match-fixing Islamabad, August 5 Many fans and critics of the game are accusing the players of match-fixing, an allegation that in the past was mostly reserved for the country’s cricketers. Though the record four-time World Cup champions Pakistan have not managed to win any major international title in recent years, the team was still rated as favourites to play against defending champions Australia in the final with most hockey fans at home thinking that the semi-final against the Kiwis would not be anything more than a practice game ahead of the gold-medal run. But at a time when most of their countrymen back home would have gone to bed on Friday, the green shirts achieved the unthinkable in Manchester when they lost to New Zealand by a stunning margin of 7-1, easily one of their worst defeats in history. To say that the result was surprising would be an understatement as the Pakistanis had won all their group three matches in the competition and had not conceded even a single goal in their games against hosts England, Wales and Canada. On the other hand, the Kiwis just barely managed to reach the last four and were thrashed 6-1 by Australia in a league game. The Pakistanis went into the match with an unbeaten record against the New Zealanders having won 23 of their last 27 matches with three ending in ties. In such a scenario, many were anticipating a one-sided encounter, with Pakistan as the victors. “I could not believe my eyes when I heard the result of the match on Saturday morning. For me it was too hard to digest. The only possible reason for the defeat that came to my mind was match-fixing. I think Pakistan just threw away the encounter deliberately,” The News, quoting a student, reported today. He was not the only one to smell a rat about the result. Many others expressed the same suspicions while allegations of match-fixing were also levelled against the Pakistanis on a few hockey websites as the team’s fans tried to make some sense out of the unexpected result. Even Kiwi visitors, happy over their team’s victory, were not entirely convinced that New Zealand were so good that they could just thrash Pakistan like they did in the semifinal. “A startling result in hockey, great for New Zealand but can the Kiwis really feel they beat Pakistan, rather than Pakistan lost the match?’’ was a question asked in one Kiwi fan’s comment posted on a prominent international hockey website. Another fan summed it up rather harshly, “I am Kiwi but we are not so good to crush Pakistan with such a margin. I do believe that all major tournaments should be held without Asian teams. They are corrupt.”
UNI |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Venus beats Dokic San Diego, August 5 The 55-minute romp brought second-ranked Williams her sixth title of the year and second in as many weeks. She won $ 125,000 and extended her winning streak to nine matches since a loss to top-ranked sister Serena in the Wimbledon final. “If I’m winning with this
scoreline, I must be doing something right,” said Williams. “It’s really nice to keep coming back to a tournament that is so familiar and where winning is so familiar.” Serena Williams rose to number one in the world by beating Venus in the French Open and Wimbledon finals. But both are preparing for the year’s final Grand Slam event, the US Open that begins in New York in three weeks. “She is crazy about beating me down nowadays,” Venus Williams said of her sister. “Maybe she will give me a small break and I will be able to take something home for myself.”
AFP |
||
|
Comfortable win for Lanka Colombo, August 5 Young paceman Hasantha Fernando and spinner Upul Chandana wrought havoc as they shared six wickets after Bangladesh had elected to bat on a slow, turning pitch at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground. Sri Lanka knocked off the 77 runs required to wrap up the three-match series in just 15.4 overs, with opener Marvan Atapattu remaining unbeaten with 31 and Mahela Jayawardene with 27. The hosts won the opening match by five wickets yesterday. Hasantha Fernando, 22, and leg-spinner Chandana scripted the Sri Lankan win in the 13th-shortest one-day international with disciplined spells. The fast bowler took 3 for 12 in his second match and Chandana 3 for 2 as Bangladesh were shot out in 30.1 overs a day after posting their highest total of 226 for 8 against the hosts in the first one-dayer at the same venue. This was Bangladesh’s worst batting display in 52 one-day internationals, the previous being 87 against Pakistan at Dhaka in June 2000. Extras top-scored with 20 in the Bangladeshi innings, the 23rd time this has happened in the history of the shorter version of the game. “Our batting was really disappointing. I think it’s just one of those things,” said Bangladeshi skipper Khaled Mashud. SCOREBOARD Bangladesh: Sahariar c and b D Fernando 5 Ashraful c Sangakkara b Vaas 4 Bashar lbw b H Fernando 10 Kapali c Jayasuriya b D Fernando 5 Imran c Arnold b Muralitharan 10 Mashud c Muralitharan b Chandana 15 Rahman c Sangakkara b H Fernando 0 Mahmud c Atapattu b H Fernando 0 Rafique b Chandana 5 Baisya c Vaas b Chandana 2 Islam not out 0 Extras (b-4, lb-9, w-7) 20 Total (all out in 30.1 overs) 76 Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-16, 3-27, 4-40, 5-50, 6-51, 7-55, 8-61, 9-67. Bowling: Vaas 6-1-9-1, D Fernando 6-1-21-2, H Fernando 6-2-12-3, Muralitharan 9-4-19-1, Chandana 3.1-1-2-3. Sri Lanka: Jayasuriya c Islam b Baisya 14 Atapattu not out 31 Sangakkara c Baisya b Rafique 4 Jayawardene not out 27 Extra (nb-1) 1 Total (for 2 wkts, 15.4 overs) 77 Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-37. Bowling: Islam 4-1-13-0, Baisya 6-0-36-1, Rafique 3-0-16-1, Kapali 1.4-0-11-0, Ashraful 1-0-1-0.
AFP |
|
SAI slashes centre’s budget Patiala, August 5 The centre, which was started about two years ago, had started giving excellent results with a number of players turning out in national and international meets. Sydney Olympian and a member of the junior World Cup winning hockey squad Deepak Thakur is a product of the centre. Apart from Deepak, other trainees of the centre who have excelled in the international arena are judoka’s Ashu Dalal and Sapna Chouhan and a few athletes. The centre, functioning under acute financial constraints, will now admit 60 sportspersons in five disciplines- hockey, judo, gymnastics, cycling and athletics. Trails to select the players for this session have already been conducted and the list of the selected players will be released only after the approval of the Corporate Office of SAI. Some coaches attached to the centre suggested that SAI could have slashed the budget of various other schemes which were turning out to be money guzzlers. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Indian
shooters after winning 13 gold medals at the 17th Commonwealth
Games in Manchester return home to a rousing welcome in New
Delhi. 
(
