American Natalie Coughlin became the first woman to repeat as Olympic champion in the 100m backstroke on Tuesday, holding off world record-holder Kirsty Coventry for the gold.

Beijing, August 12
Michael Phelps carved his name among the Olympic greats on Tuesday, smashing another world record in the pool to join Mark Spitz and Carl Lewis in an elite group on a record nine career golds.

An imperious victory in the 200 metres freestyle also gave the 23-year-old American his third gold in Beijing as he seeks to overtake Spitz’s other record, seven golds at a single Games. “The ball’s rolling,” he said in his usual laid-back style, after carving almost a full second off his own world record. “We just need to keep that ball rolling.”

Togo won its first Olympic medal, in kayaking, and North Korea won a rare gold, but the record books will remember Phelps on Tuesday for another powerful performance at the Water Cube.

Phelps joined compatriots Lewis and Spitz, as well as “Flying Finn” distance runner Paavo Nurmi and Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina with a total of nine golds. He could overtake them all on Wednesday when he swims in two more finals. “To be tied for the most Olympic golds of all time, with those names in Olympic history ... it is a pretty amazing accomplishment,” he said.

Phelps led an American fightback against Chinese dominance of the medal table on day four, the U.S. team winning three out of four golds on offer in the pool. They picked up another when a hunter from Texas, Walton Eller, beat an Italian policeman to first place in the men’s double trap shooting.

China struck back with gold in the men’s team gymnastics, an elegant victory in the women’s 10 metre synchronised platform diving, a fencing gold in the men’s individual sabre and another weightlifting title. By early evening they led the Americans 13 golds to seven.

The hosts have spared no expense in staging the Games and preparing their athletes. Nothing would be sweeter than toppling the Americans off the top of the final medals table, after coming second in Athens. They have dominated the weightlifting, won all three diving golds so far and picked up victories in shooting and judo.

The gymnastics victory was among the sweetest. Gold medallists in Sydney, the Chinese failed to win a medal in Athens. This time they stormed to victory in front of an ecstatic crowd, led by double world all-round champion Yang Wei, who called it “a glory for China”.

Little has been left to chance by organisers desperate to make a good impression, with cheerleaders being used to fill vacant seats in several venues. Organisers also admitted some of the opening ceremony fireworks were pre-recorded and rebroadcast on the night to enhance the event’s televised choreography.

In the country’s far northwest, three security guards were stabbed in the third attack in Xinjiang province in just over a week. Muslim separatists are the likeliest suspects, and security has been visibly tightened at the Games venues. An armoured personnel carrier is now stationed outside the press centre and armed soldiers man some barricades.

Back in the sporting arena, there were celebrations for North Korea, the reclusive communist state winning its first gold since 1996 in the women’s 63 kg weightlifting. “This gold medal is the best present for the President and for the people of the country,” Pak Hyon-Suk said, saying she was delighted to win for “our dear homeland”. World champion Leisel Jones ended eight years of gut-wrenching defeats by winning her first individual gold.

Chen Ruolin and Wang Xin, made it three out of three victories for China in diving, winning the women’s synchronised 10m platform. The youthful Chen, just 15, and Wang, who turned 16 on Monday, dived with adult composure to dominate the contest. — Reuters

Beijing, August 12
Pak Hyon Suk won North Korea's first gold medal at the Beijing Olympics today, taking the women's 63-kg weightlifting division on the last lift of the competition that equalled the Olympic record.

Pak risked being eliminated after dropping two clean and jerks at 135 kg (297.6 pounds), but nailed her final attempt to clinch the gold.

She had lifted 106 kg in the snatch and finished with a total of 241 kg (531.3 pounds), just 1 kg (2.2 pounds) ahead of silver medallist Irina Nekrassova of Kazakhstan. Lu Ying-chi of Taiwan took bronze with 231 kg.

World champion and world record-holder Liu Haixia of China was not competing because the Olympic host chose to prioritise other weight categories. Teams can compete with a maximum of four women in Olympic weightlifting.

Svetlana Tsarukaeva of Russia was the favourite to win the event, but crashed out with three failed attempts to lift 107 kg (235.9 pounds) in the snatch. Visibly shaken, she bumped her head into the wall as she left the platform in tears. That left Nekrassova in the lead after clearing 110 kg (242.5 pounds) in the snatch and Pak under pressure to catch up in the clean and jerk. — AFP

Beijing, August 12
Rafael Nadal crushed former world number one Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-2 at the Olympic Tennis Centre on Tuesday before Roger Federer gave El Salvador’s Rafael Arevalo a tennis lesson he will never forget.

Dogged Australian Hewitt tried everything he knew to contain Spanish powerhouse Nadal but he proved no match for the 22-year-old who is looking to add Olympic gold to the French Open and Wimbledon crowns he has won this year.

While Nadal faced a familiar foe, Federer had probably never heard of Arevalo who arrived on Centre Court with a ranking of 447. The Swiss duly won 6-2, 6-4 but Arevalo played a full part in an entertaining tussle played in a crackling atmosphere.

Chilean Nicolas Massu’s hopes of emulating his incredible run to the singles title in Athens four years ended at the hands of Argentine David Nalbandian, who won 7-6, 6-1.

Nikolay Davydenko became the highest-ranked men’s casualty so far when he fell to 7-5, 6-3 to Paul-Henri Mathieu, one of three Frenchman into the third round. Novak Djokovic of Serbia made no mistake when he saw off Germany’s Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 6-2.

New world number one Jelena Jankovic beat Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko 7-5, 6-1.

American sisters Serena and Venus Williams powered on towards a likely gold medal showdown with easy second-round wins in the Olympic singles today. Serena needed just 44 minutes to blow away Australian Samantha Stosur 6-2 6-0 on day three of the tennis tournament. Venus was not quite as ruthless but still beat Czech Iveta Benesova 6-1 6-4. — Reuters

Togo's first medallist at an Olympics, white water kayaker Benjamin Boukpeti, said it was finally time for him to visit the country he competes for.

He was born in France to a French mother while his father and two sisters are from Togo. "Unfortunately, I've only ever been once to Togo, when I was very little, because my mother wanted to present me to my grandmother," Boukpeti said after earning a bronze in the singles kayak event on Tuesday. "But now I think I have a very good reason to go." Boukpeti, ranked 56th in the world, stunned the field and bewildered spectators when he took the lead in the first of two final runs, then held on for bronze in his second run. Boukpeti, 27, sought to compete for the West African nation when it became clear that he was too old to have a real shot of making the French team. 

Parts of the acclaimed Beijing Games opening ceremony on Friday were pre-recorded including some of its spectacular fireworks, Olympics organisers said on Tuesday. The ceremony won rave reviews around the world for its use of fireworks and a series of perfectly choreographed sequences, watched by an estimated 1 billion people. Some of the fireworks though did not actually go off that night.

An "oily slick" covering about two sq km was floating off the coast of Qingdao, where Olympic sailing events are being held, the Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday. The unidentified substance on the sea's surface was first reported about 30 nautical miles from the sailing course. Wang Weiping, deputy secretary general of the city government, said. "We think it will not affect the sailing events" Wang said.

Beijing, August 12
Jitender Kumar pummelled his Turkish opponent Ulas Furkan Memis in less than three rounds to storm into the fly weight pre-quarterfinals of the boxing competition at the Olympics here today.

Jitender, who was making his Olympic debut, led 13-2 before Memis threw in the towel just a few seconds into the third round of the lopsided bout.

Jitender, an Asian Championship bronze medallist, was aggressive from the word go and launched a flurry of straight punches on Memis, who was left scurrying for cover.

The Indian led 5-0 in the first round before stretching the lead to 9-2 by the end of the second round.

The Haryana-lad rarely had his guard up but with lightening fast reflexes, he easily managed to evade whatever little challenge Memis threw at him.

Jitender's persistently aggressive assault left Memis with no choice but to surrender.

Middle weight pugilist Vijender is the other Indian boxer to have advanced to the pre-quarters.

Meanwhile, Akhil outpunched Ali Hallab of France 12-5 in another lop-sided bout in the 54 kg category.

"My next round match is going to be crucial and fighting against a world champion is never going to be easy. I'll put my best foot forward," Akhil said. — PTI

Beijing, August 12
The seventh seeded duo of Paes-Bhupathi was their usual self as they tamed the French pair of Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-3 in less than an hour.

The Indians now meet the Brazilian pair of Marcelo Melo and Sa Andre, who upstaged the Czech pair of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek 5-7, 6-2, 8-6 in a gruelling first round match at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre.

Swimming

Men's 200m Freestyle

Gold - Michael Phelps (U.S.)

Silver - Park Tae-hwan (South Korea)

Bronze - Peter Vanderkaay (U.S.)

Women's 100m Backstroke

Gold - Natalie Coughlin (U.S.)

Silver - Kirsty Coventry 
(Zimbabwe)

Bronze - Margaret Hoelzer (U.S.)

Men's 100m Backstroke

Gold - Aaron Peirsol (U.S.)

Silver - Matthew Grevers (U.S.)

Bronze - Arkady Vyatchanin (Russia)

Women's 100 Breastsroke

Gold - Leisel Jones (Australia)

Silver - Rebecca Soni (U.S.)

Bronze - Mirna Jukic (Austria)

Shooting

Men's 50m Pistol

Gold - Jin Jong-oh (South Korea)

Silver - Kim Jong-su (North Korea)

Bronze - Tan Zongliang (China)

Men's Double Trap

Gold - Walton Eller (U.S.)

Silver - Francesco D'Aniello (Italy)

Bronze - Hu Binyuan (China)

Gymnastics

Men's Team Final

Gold - China

Silver - Japan

Bronze - U.S.

Diving

Women's Synchronised 10m Platform

Gold - Wang Xin and Chen Ruolin (China)

Silver - Briony Cole and Melissa Wu (Australia)

Bronze - Paola Espinosa and Tatiana Oritz (Mexico)

Canoeing

Men's C1 Single Slalom

Gold - Michal Martikan (Slovakia)

Silver - David Florence (Britain)

Bronze - Robin Bell (Australia)

Kayaking

Men's K1 Single

Gold - Alexander Grimm (Germany)

Silver - Fabien Lefevre (France)

Bronze - Benjamin Boukpeti (Togo)

Weightlifting

Women's 63 Kg

Gold - Pak Hyon Suk (North Korea)

Silver - Irina Nekrassova (Kazakhstan)

Bronze - Lu Ying-chi (Taiwan)

Men's 69kg

Gold - Liao Hui (China)

Silver - Vencelas Dabaya-Tientcheu (France)

Bronze - Tigran Gevorg Martirosyan (Armenia)

Wrestling

Greco-Roman Men's 55kg

Gold - Nazyr Mankiev (Russia)

Silver - Rovshan Bayramov (Azerbaijan)

Bronze - Roman Amoyan (Armenia)

Bronze - Park En-chul (South Korea)

Men's 60kg

Gold - Islam-Beka Albiev (Russia)

Silver - Vitaliy Rahimov (Azerbaijan)

Bronze - Ruslan Tiumenbaev (Kyrgzstan)

Bronze - Nurbakyt Tengizbayev (Kazakhstan)

Judo

Women's 63kg

Gold - Ayumi Tanimoto (Japan)

Silver - Lucie Decosse (France)

Bronze - Won Ok Im (North Korea)

Bronze - Elisabeth Willeboordse (Netherlands)

Men's 81kg

Gold - Ole Bischof (Germany)

Silver - Kim Jae-bum (South Korea)

Bronze - Roman Gontiuk (Ukraine)

Bronze - Tiago Camilo (Brazil)

Fencing

Men's Individual Sabre

Gold - Zhong Man (China)

Silver - Nicolas Lopez (France)

Bronze - Mihai Covaliu (Romania)

Equestrian

Team Eventing

Gold - Germany

Silver - Australia

Bronze - Britain

Individual Eventing

Gold - Hinrich Romeike (Germany)

Silver - Gina Miles (U.S.)

Bronze - Kristina Cook (Britain)

Archery

Men's individual 1/32 elimination: Mangal Singh Champia

Badminton

Women's singles quarterfinal: Saina Nehwal vs Maria Kristin Yulianti (Indonesia)

Rowing

Men's single sculls semifinal C/D: Bajrang Lal Takhar

Tennis

Men's doubles: Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes vs Marcelo Melo/ Andre (SA)

Women's doubles: Sania Mirza/Sunitha Rao vs Dinara Safina/Svetalana Kuznetsova.

Colombo, August 12
It was Nasser Husain, as England’s captain, who added grist to the mill about the Indian middle order of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly and VVS Laxman being something special.

It is undoubtedly exhilarating when on song. But had it really been extraordinary, India would have saved more Tests than otherwise.

In the last three series alone, they have succumbed to pace and spin at Melbourne and Sydney respectively, on a green-top at Ahmedabad and now in Sri Lanka.

Muttiah Muralitharan in his backyard has been the severest examination for batsmen. Now, with the added ammunition of Ajantha Mendis, it’s become an even bigger assessment. And the foursome failed miserably under such inspection.

Tendulkar, after an inspiring display in Australia, was a shadow of himself. It’s not that the mysteries of Mendis bothered him unduly; his impatience and lack of organisation was his undoing. His departures to Chaminda Vaas in the second test and to debutante Dhammika Prasad in the third reflected an absence of application. Now, has his elbow injury aggravated an earlier, more serious problem?

He and Ganguly compiled less than 100 runs each in six innings. The latter, who as a left-hander has nonchalantly negotiated spin off bowlers’ footmarks, was also a victim of edginess. His penchant for the sweep when it was more sensible to play straight twice cost him his wicket.

Dravid had to his credit worked out the puzzle of Mendis towards the end of the encounter. But since he’s unlikely to figure in another Test in Sri Lanka, it will remain an anomaly that he never scored a century here.

Laxman, too, doesn’t have a Test ton in this island, but then, he’s featured in only three tests on this soil. Besides, he was comparatively the most successful of the four; and gave the impression of being relatively at ease every time he came out to bat, though he didn’t quite cash in.

Age is obviously encroaching on the crown jewels of Indian batting. All four enjoyed a six-week break after the Indian Premier League. It’s a catch-22 scenario that, on the one hand they need the rest, on the other, they perhaps require more time to re-focus after relaxing. Besides, the disproportionate rewards from the IPL cannot but be dampening their appetites for other appearances.

Indian cricket cannot afford another failure of the kind just witnessed. The first two Tests in the upcoming home series against Australia have, therefore, got to be the moment of reckoning. If any of the veterans falter, the selectors must immediately introduce a replacement. They should not be caught in a situation in which they are compelled to incorporate inexperience en mass.

Coach Gary Kirsten he proclaimed last week his boys “were ready to make history”. He further claimed, India would top the Reliance ICC Test Championship by April. He was wide off the mark on both counts.

New Delhi, August 12
Back at a venue where they tasted success last year, a confident Indian team will seek to put aside Tajikistan's challenge and grab the coveted prize of 2011 Asian Cup qualification when the two sides take on each other in the final of AFC Challenge Cup football tournament here tomorrow.

After incessant rains at Hyderabad forced the Asian Football Confederation to shift the summit clash and the third place play-off here, the home team is upbeat that they will play at the Ambedkar Stadium where India won the Nehru Cup in August last year, a major international title after a long time.

Bob Houghton's charges have also shown immense fighting spirit in all matches till the semifinals and they realise they are just one match away from their goal of joining the elite stage of the continent by qualifying for 2011 Asian Cup after 24 years.

India last played in Asian Cup in 1984 in Singapore where they finished last in their group. Before that, they finished runners-up in Israel.

A win tomorrow will arouse hopes of beginning of a turnaround and awakening of a "sleeping giant" after years of slumber and will go into record books of Indian football which does not have much to write about in terms of recent achievement.

By beating Tajikistan tomorrow, Houghton's charges will have the feat of winning two international titles within 12 months. It will be the second major title after the 1962 Asian Games gold, though Indian youth team were joint winners with Iran in 1974 Asian Youth Championship.

It will also answer the critics after the debacle in SAFF Cup with Houghton and players getting a lot of flak for losing to Maldives in the final in June.

The Indian players are in fact itching to play their "most important 90 minutes" of their career which they said would do a lot of good to Indian football.

"The final match will be one of the biggest moments of Indian football and making to the Asian Cup is huge," captain Baichung Bhutia said.

The two sides have played each other in the group stage and India, who started without four key players in the starting line up then, had to come back from behind to play out a draw.

Losing semifinalists Myanmar and DPR Korea face each other for the third place play off before the final. — PTI