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Wednesday,
August 27, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Clijsters
advances, Rusedski out Emotional
Sampras bids adieu Pete Sampras cries as he is honored by the
US Tennis Association after announcing his retirement from tennis at a ceremony in Arthur Ashe Stadium
on Monday, at the US Open tennis tournament in New York. Behind him are former competitors Boris Becker, left, and Jim Courier.
— AP/PTI photo Paes
relieved not to have tumour |
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Bhupathi-Mirnyi
top seeds 3
handball players go missing in Italy
Kim Collins, winner of the
men's 100m final at the IAAF World Athletics Championships, is interviewed near the Arc de Triomphe as he visits Paris the day after his
victory on Tuesday.
— Reuters photo
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
being welcomed by G. S. Randhawa, first recipient of the Arjuna Award in 1961,
along with Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports Vikram Verma, during the inaugural session of
the All-India Sports
Congress in the Capital on Tuesday. — Tribune photo Mukesh Aggarwal
BCCI
elections in September Gopi
lone Indian to win Satish Bhatia has narrow escape SAI
Training Centre lift boxing trophy
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Clijsters advances, Rusedski out
New York, August 26 American Davenport stormed through with a 6-1, 6-0 demolition of Belgium’s Els Callens while Clijsters began her bid for a first career Grand Slam title in emphatic style by taming American wildcard Amber Lui 6-2, 6-3. They were joined in the winners’ circle by Clijsters’ long-term boyfriend and men’s sixth seed Lleyton Hewitt. Champion here in 2001, Hewitt crushed Romania’s Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in the night match at Flushing Meadows. The Australian’s one-sided victory followed an emotional farewell by Pete Sampras, champion here last year. The 32-year-old winner of a record 14 Grand Slam titles was treated to a standing ovation which reduced him to tears on center court. ‘’It’s not easy saying goodbye,’’ Sampras told the crowd. ‘’I love playing here in New York but in my heart I know it (retirement) is the right thing to do.’’ Hot favourite to win the women’s title following the withdrawal of defending champion Serena Williams and her sister, twice winner Venus, top seed Clijsters got her match off to a stuttering start against her 290th-ranked opponent. But in the end, the Belgian needed only 62 minutes to reach the second round. ‘’I felt good...was moving good,’’ Clijsters told reporters. ‘’That is a great feeling to have at a tournament.’’ Davenport, champion here in 1998, raced through the opening set of her match in 21 minutes and then turned up the tempo in the second, completing the contest in a lightning-quick 47 minutes. But eighth-seeded American Chanda Rubin produced a horrible performance as she crumbled in the first round 4-6 4-6 to Venezuelan Maria Vento-Kabchi. ‘’It was just a really bad day for me,’’ said Rubin. ‘’I just didn’t play with enough glue, with enough consistency. I really didn’t concentrate well enough. ‘’She hit a lot of balls, played pretty well that way. I needed to be more aggressive. Overall it was a poor match for me.’’ Rubin, who reached the fourth round here last year, was at a loss to explain her display. ‘’I don’t know, I just wasn’t ready to play today,’’ she said. ‘’I thought I would play a little better but it didn’t happen. I missed a lot. ‘’I can’t remember playing quite this bad (before). This was definitely one of the worst.’’ Earlier on day one of the $17.1 million Grand Slam, Ashley Harkleroad gave the home crowd something to cheer by racking up her first US Open victory, the American teenager thumping Russian Vera Douchevina 6-4, 6-2 in 65 minutes. In the men’s draw, third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Czech Jan Vacek 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 but ninth seed Sebastien Grosjean and 17th seed Tommy Robredo fell. Frenchman Grosjean, a Wimbledon semifinalist this year, lost to Paraguayan Ramon Delgado 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6 and Robredo was beaten 3-6, 4-6, 2-6 by fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. Former finalist Greg Rusedski of Britain lost a marathon match 4-6, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5, 4-6 to Frenchman Gregory Carraz. Davenport’s participation in the US Open appeared in doubt on Saturday when she was forced to retire midway through the Pilot Pen final against Jennifer Capriati because of a painful, pinched toe nerve in her left foot. The former world No 1 skipped a scheduled practice session on Sunday after receiving a cortisone injection on Saturday evening to help with the pain. ‘’Today, I was extremely nervous and kind of edgy and trying to go out there, ‘if it’s gonna hurt, will it be okay?’’’ said Davenport, who will undergo surgery after the US Open. ‘’It’s kind of a weird feeling not knowing. I’m just happy to get through this match and get through quickly.’’ In the second round Davenport will take on Italy’s Maria Elena Camerin. With the Williams sisters sidelined through injury, Davenport was rated as a top contender for the title until her foot injury flared again in New Haven. But her performance against the 80th-ranked Callens indicated the 27-year-old American could still be a major threat at the season’s final grand slam. ‘’I think right now I’m more worried about my health and how it’s going to be on a day-to-day level,’’ said Davenport. ‘’I think maybe if I didn’t have my foot (injury) and I was 100 per cent, I would be a little more eager, excited.’’
— Reuters  |
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Emotional
Sampras bids adieu
New York, August 26 Blinding banks of camera flashes bathed the Flushing Meadows centre court yesterday in a suitably surreal light as more than 20,000 fans bade an emotional farewell to the man who won more Grand Slams than anyone else in history. That same Centre Court had been the scene of his first Grand Slam triumph 13 years ago and it was also the stage for his 14th and final one last year. Perhaps only Wimbledon’s magical turf which Sampras ruled for the best part of a decade would have provided a more fitting backdrop for his departure from tennis. But Sampras saved his farewell for his own people on his home arena. “Wow, this is the last time I’m going to be here. It is hard to say goodbye but I know it is time,” he told the Centre Court crowd, tears glistening in his eyes. “I am going to miss playing here. I love playing in New York, in front of you guys but I know in my heart it is time to say goodbye,” he added as calls of `we love you Pete’ rang out around the arena. Twelve months ago Sampras took apart his great rival Andre Agassi for a final time in a championship match which encapsulated Sampras’s style and his mastery of the serve-and-volley game. He had not played competitively since that landmark match and the 32-year-old’s decision to turn his back on professional tennis came as no surprise. Still, though, the formal stamp on his decision to retire marked an emotional and poignant end of an era. Since winning his first major title here in 1990, Sampras has ruled the world of tennis with a style and modesty seldom seen on the sporting stage. His collection of grand slam crowns tell only part of the Sampras story and his career of records and milestones which make the $ 43 million of prize money amassed seem a mere footnote to his success. Much more than the seven Wimbledon crowns, five US Opens titles and two Australian Open titles he won, the manner of his victories and the memories and legacy he leaves behind will last in the memory. Never one for histrionics or on-court emotion, Sampras’s mask slipped only briefly during his career. But on those few occasions it did, the world was treated to a fascinating insight into the mind of one of the most dominant sportsmen of all time. Behind the laid back and gentlemanly demeanour, Sampras was tigerishly competitive and ravenous for success. The evening he clinched his seventh Wimbledon crown in 2000 brought rare tears to his eyes as he held the trophy aloft in the dank London dusk on a Centre Court sparkling with flashlights. It was the evening he etched his name into the record books, matching a 19th century record for Wimbledon men’s singles titles and clinching a record 13th Grand Slam crown.
— Reuters |
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Paes relieved not to have tumour
Orlando (Florida), August 26 Paes (30) has been hospitalised since last week. Test results released over the weekend found that he has
neurocysticercosis, a parasitic infection that causes a brain abscess. “It’s just a matter of time until I overcome this illness,” Paes said yesterday at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Orlando where went for treatment. “There are times in the day when I get dizzy... and feel very lightheaded. I have to have 24-hour monitoring.” A brain abscess is a mass of immune cells, pus and other material that can occur when the brain is infected by bacteria or fungus. Paes is taking
albendazole, an anti-parasitic medication, to shrink the abscess, steroids to reduce the swelling and an anti-seizure medication. He could be released from the hospital in anywhere from eight to 20 days and could return to playing professional tennis in three to fourth months. Paes said he still wasn’t sure how he got the parasite, which usually comes from eating pork. Paes doesn’t eat pork, so more likely suspects are raw leafy vegetables and raw fish since he became an avid sushi-eater last year. NEW DELHI: Paes said he was deeply moved by his former doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi’s gesture of visiting him in hospital saying “it definitely built back the bridge that was almost broken between us”. Reflecting on the wonderful partnership he had with Bhupathi, which won the pair three Grand Slam titles, before their second separation last year, Paes said “one of the disadvantages we human beings have is that we don’t forgive and forget very easily.” The pair popularly known as ‘Indian Express’ was scheduled to play at the Long Island ATP tournament in New York last week but pulled out after Paes was hospitalised. “It was very heart warming and very special to have Mahesh here and spend about three hours with me. That was very nice of him. His visit definitely built back the bridge that was almost broken between us. It meant a lot to me,” an emotional Paes told NDTV at the MD Anderson Cancer Hospital. “I believe that once you love someone that love remains for ever. It’s just that it is interpreted in a different way. As far as my relation with Mahesh... I hold him in very high regard. I support him in his tennis always and I
encourage him to be the best he can be,” Paes said. “We had some wonderful years. Wonderful memories that I will never forget,” said Paes who more than 20 ATP titles with Bhupathi. Paes also thanked tennis legend and mixed doubles partner Martina Navaratilova for her support while he had been undergoing treatment. “The courage, the strength, she intsills in me with her words is also overwhelming. She actually calls me every two days,” he said. “I’m very blessed to have a partner like Martina who is not only a legend of her game, not only a spokesperson for mankind ... She is one of the nicest persons I’ve ever met.”
— AP, PTI |
Bhupathi-Mirnyi top seeds NEW DELHI: Defending champions Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi have been top seeded in the men’s doubles events of the US Open tennis championships. Bhupathi and Mirnyi, who won their first Grand Slam title as a pair at the Flushing Meadows last year, will take on Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia and Andre Sa of Brazil in the first round. The Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike of the USA, are the second seeds while Mark Knowles of Bahamas and Canadian Daniel Nestor are the third. Wimbledon champions Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Australian Todd Woodbridge are seeded fourth. David Rikl, who partnered Leader Paes this year, will pair up with Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov and the duo are seventh seeds while last year’s runners-up Jiri Novak and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic are the 16th seeds in the 64-size draw. The draw for the mixed doubles is yet to be made.
— PTI |
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3 handball players go missing in Italy Sangrur, August 26 Of the 35-member squad, including 11 girls, all but three have returned after participating in the International Menia Cup. The whereabout of the three are still not known. The Sangrur Public School team had 24 boys in the under-16 and under-18 sections and 11 girls under-21 sections. They were accompanied by coaches Shivraj Singh and Baldeep Singh and school Principal Labh Singh. However, Virender Kumar, Amrit Pal, Sandeep Kumar who were in the under-16 age group “ran away” from their rooms, while the officials were supervising a match. Principal Labh Singh immediately reported the missing of the boys to the police. When contacted, the Principal confirmed that the three boys were missing and he was trying to get them back at the earliest.
— UNI |
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Neelam falters in final
Paris, August 26 The 32-year-old Indian, who produced her season’s best effort of 60.33m to go past the automatic qualifying mark of 60m to reach the final, faltered in the final managing only a best of 57.92m here on Monday. Only two of her six attempts were measured and Neelam’s best result came on her third attempt after fouling her first throw and recording a poor 54.42m on the second try. Her last three efforts were not measured. The gold medal went to Irina Yatchenko of Belarus (67.32m) while Anastasma Kalesmdou with a hurl of 67.14m bagged the silver. The bronze was won by Greece’s Ekatermni Voggoli (66.73m). The trio upset defending champion and World No 1 Natalya Sadova of Russia who finished sixth after heading the field going into the final.
— PTI
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PM laments lack of “sports culture” New Delhi, August 26 Addressing the National Sports Congress at Vigyan Bhavan here today, the Prime Minister admitted that India, with a billion-strong population, “can do much more by way of sporting achievements in the larger areas like Olympics”. He appreciated the recent successes of Indian sportspersons in the Commonwealth and the Asian Games, which have “kindled some hopes of an upswing in our performance in international events”, but conceded that “we have a long way to go” to achieve that. He hailed the remarkable performances of the women athletes, but lamented the absence of a “sports culture and the inadequate sports infrastructure in most of our educational institutions”. He admitted that “we have so far not accorded due importance to sports, physical training and yoga as an instrument of human resource development”. He said it has become imperative for Indian sportspersons to “achieve excellence in international sports events” and to “popularise a robust sports culture among the masses, especially among children and
the youth.” Sportspersons, sports officials and sports administrators, including ministers, had gathered from all over India for the one-day Sports Congress, organised by the All India Council of Sports (AICS), after a gap of almost 40 years. The last such Sports Congress was held way back in 1964. This was perhaps for the first time that many veteran sportspersons came face to face with each other, though they had heard and read about each other for long. They may never ever meet again, but the ideas and suggestions they
preferred in the Congress gave the Government a clear idea about the ground realities of Indian sports. AICS president Vijay Kumar Malhotra had set the ball rolling when he put forward some concrete suggestions for the Prime Minister to adopt. And the PM, like a benign leader, readily agreed to accept his suggestion that the existing Sports Development Fund be renamed as the Prime Minister’s Sports Development Fund, at par with the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund, to “attract more contributions from organisations and individuals alike”. Mr Vajpayee also announced that allocation for sports has been increased manifold to Rs 1146 crores in the 10th Five-Year Plan compared to Rs 472 in the 9th Five-Year Plan. But he exhorted the sports federations to make “earnest efforts to raise additional resources through corporate sponsorship deals and other means and reduce the
dependence on the Government”. He also advised the sports federations to be “transparent and accountable in their functioning”. The Prime Minister, acceding to another suggestion from Mr Malhotra, said the
Finance Ministry “may consider the suggestion for granting 100 per cent tax benefit to business houses for creation and maintenance of sports infrastructure, sponsoring sports
championships, and for sponsoring sportspersons for participation in international meets”. Mr Vajpayee conceded that cricket was a rage in the country “and there is a big gap between cricket and other sports”. But he averred that “no one can possibly grudge the focus that cricket receives, because it is a game that excites the young and the old alike, all over the country”. The remedy he suggested to catch up with cricket was the “need to increase the attention on other sports”. He welcomed the revival of popular interest in hockey. The Prime Minister also felt that there was an absolute necessity to upgrade the quality of coaches. He also agreed to amend the guidelines to allow the use of Rs 20 lakh per annum for purchase of sports equipment, creation of sports infrastructure and sports promotional activities from the Member of Parliament’s Local Area Development Fund. Though politicians held the centre stage, sportpersons were also given their say and prominence. The honour of presenting bouquets to the Prime Minister were given to the first Arjuna Awardee in athletics, hurdler Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, and mentally challenged sportsperson Ketan Bhobe, who won three gold medals in the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Dublin (Ireland) while former table tennis queen Indu Puri and badminton ace Madhumita Bisht managed the dais. Flying Sikh Milkha Singh said the conference provided an excellent platform to air his opinion, though Dronacharya cricket coach Des Prem Azad could not suppress his angst at the politicians hogging all the spotlight. Punjab Sports Minister Jagmohan Singh Kang suggested that sporting excellence should be rewarded suitably instead of treating “gade and ghode” alike. He minced no words in proclaiming that Punjab was the backbone of Indian sports. Himachal Pradesh Sports Minister Thakur Ram Lal said the hill State was getting a step-motherly treatment as the high altitude training centre at Shilaroo was in a deplorable condition. He also pointed out that creating sports infrastructure in a hill state required far more skill and expenditure than that required in creating similar facilities in the plains. |
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BCCI elections in September New Delhi, August 26 Mr Nair said the matter would be taken up in the “appropriate forum (he did not clarify which forum it was)”. The cash-rich BCCI was requested to part with a small portion of its enormous wealth when BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya called on Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel in Delhi a few week ago. A few charity matches were all that the Ministry wanted, if not cash. Mr Dalmiya did not make any firm commitment, but promised to put the suggestion in the Working Committee meeting. But the Working Committee had other important issues to deliberate in Chennai in view of the coming elections, and hence, the ministry’s request has been put on hold. Mr Nair said the bomb blasts in Mumbai will not affect the upcoming Test series against New Zealand and the triangular series that will follow. He said the International Cricket Council (ICC) had not made any enquiries on the bomb blast, but if it does, “we have our system to deal with it”. Mr Nair said there was nothing unusual in not picking Virendra Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra for the Challenger Series to be held in Bangalore next month. He said they have been “rested” to enable them to fully recuperate from their injuries. He said the Indian team would be picked only in the first week of October. |
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Gopi lone Indian to win New Delhi, August 26 Gopichand, making a comeback after a knee-injury kept him away from competitive badminton for a about six months, thrashed Hartono Andi of Indonesia 15-3, 15-2 in the second qualification round yesterday. The ace shuttler, who received a bye in the first round, would now take on M. Hendry of Indonesia in the penultimate qualification round, according to information received here. Meanwhile, Chetan Anand, Anup Sridhar, J.B. Vidyadhar, Arvind Bhat in the men’s section and Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurian in the women’s section lost to better opponents to end their challenge in the qualifiers. Anand beat Zulkifli Salleh of Brussels 15-3, 15-9 in the first round but went down to Santono Agus of Indonesia 9-15, 15-8, 9-15 in the next. Vidyadhar got the better of Citra Made of Indonesia 15-7, 15-2 before losing to Mohammed Latifi of Malaysia 9-15, 15-9, 4-15. Sridhar was defeated by Naoki Kawamae of Japan 8-15 10-15 while Bhat lost to Yunyang Wu of China 9-15 9-15. Jwala gave a walkover to Indonesia’s Marissa IP after defeating another home challenger Dwi Ratna 11-6, 11-9 while Shruti lost to Yoo Mi Song of Korea 3-11, 11-6, 1-11 after getting the better of Indonesia’s Siti Mahiroh 11-6, 4-11, 11-6.
— PTI |
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Satish Bhatia
has narrow escape Chandigarh, August 26 Satish Bhatia, a retired Wing Commander of the IAF, who suffered head injuries and fractured his ribs, was removed to Combined Medical Institute, Dehra Dun, where he was kept in the intensive care unit for six days. The Tribune got a number of telephone calls enquiring about the condition of Satish Bhatia. The mystery was solved yesterday, when The Tribune got a call from Satish Bhatia saying he was recovering and that he was still in the Combined Medical Institute, Dehra Dun. Satish Bhatia had created a record of sorts when he took on his opponents with his special spin service. Rudy Hartono was stumped by the spin service. Satish Bhatia was called for a special test in England as experts doubted the spin service. But he cleared the test and went on to defeat the then Asian
champion Dinesh Khanna to clinch the national title in 1969-70. |
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SAI Training Centre lift boxing trophy Jalandhar, August 26 In a high-voltage encounter, Sarbjit Singh of Sangrur,-A thrashed Randeep Singh of Patiala 35-26 to secure the champions’ title in the final of the 45-48 kg
category. Similarly, Birdevinder Singh of the SAI Training Centre grabbed the title in the 51-54 kg category, defeating arch rival Gopal Singh of Patiala through RSC-I Patiala’s Barinder Singh ousted Sukhdeep Singh of Sangrur-A 21-3 in the 64-69 kg category. However, in the 57-60 kg category, Gagandeep Singh of SAI Training Centre emerged victorious after Rajbir Singh of Jalandhar retired during the third round. Somnath of Mansa was adjudged as best boxer while Jalandhar’s Ajit Singh was selected as the best loser of the tournament. |
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New York, August 26
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