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Phelps hits a sixer |
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Big 3 in 100m semis
Pak go down to Oz 1-3
Blake loses to Gonzalez
Chinese eves storm into final
Spain beat China; Dutch clinical
Fedex & Co. derail ‘Indian Express’
Slovakian twins make it three a row
Pavol (L) and Peter Hochschorner (2ndL) of Slovakia shake hands with Jaroslav Volf and Ondrej Stepanek (R) of Czech Republic after finishing the men's canoe double (C2) final at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on Friday. — Reuters
Elsewhere...
Champions Trophy
Harika world jr girls champ
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Beijing ’08
Cao Lei won China's seventh weightlifting gold medal and smashed three Olympic records on Friday in the women's 75-kilogram division. Love birds who put Chinese shooters to shade Matt Emmons was known as the American who famously squandered a gold medal by firing his final shot at the wrong target at the 2004 Olympics. From now on, Emmons will be better known as half of a hot-shooting US-Czech couple that won three, and possibly four, medals at the Beijing Olympics — incorrigible love birds who snatched headlines from the sharpshooting China hosts. ''I'm known for a lot of things. Whether it's this (his wife) or the other (wrong target), it doesn't matter to me, ''Emmons said. His wife Katerina won gold and silver medals in her events. Emmons said love was the key ingredient that helped him become a better shooter. ''Anyone happy in their personal life -- it's a definite help and a positive thing,'' said Emmons, a shy 27-year-old who has nevertheless been hugging and kissing his wife before, during and after each of their events. US accuses Cuba of dirty tricks Controversy erupted after Cuba's 5-4 victory over USA in baseball on Friday after USA manager Davey Johnson accused a Cuban pitcher of trying to injure American batter Jayson Nix, who was left with a serious eye injury. Nix was hospitalized after being struck in the left eye when an 11th-inning fastball from Cuban hurler Pedro Luis Lazo struck his bat as he tried to bunt and deflected into his face. "I'm sure he was throwing at his head," Johnson said. "Jayson fouled it off and it hit him in the eye. He's in bad shape”. Lazo denied the pitch that struck Nix was thrown intentionally to hurt. Thieves stole eight bicycles belonging to the New Zealand team from the athletes village but returned them anonymously after an appeal from Kiwi officials. The stunned athletes found their bike rack almost empty one morning this week, with eight of the 10 bikes shipped to Beijing to help athletes get around the village missing. It said that without the pushbikes, swimmers complained of tiredness. Within two days the bikes had been returned, appearing one morning in the New Zealand's bike rack just as mysteriously as they had disappeared.
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Phelps hits a sixer
Beijing, August 15 Phelps dominated right from the start of the 200-metre individual medley and won in 1 minute, 54.23 seconds. He knocked off his own mark of 1:54.80 set at last month's US trials, his sixth world record of the games. Ryan Lochte tried to pull off a daunting double, going against Phelps just 29 minutes after swimming the final of the 200 backstroke. Lochte couldn't keep up, though he did hold on for bronze. Laszlo Cseh of Hungary picked up his third silver of the games - all of them trailing Phelps. Phelps is already the most successful athlete in Olympic history with 12 career golds, but his sights are on eight in the Beijing games. He is just one gold away from tying Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics. He hung on the lane rope in a familiar pose, admiring his time while his rivals gasped for breath. He extended his right hand to Lochte in the next lane, and the two friends shook hands and patted each other on the head. Phelps returned right after the medal ceremony for the 100 butterfly semifinals. "I switched from my dress sweats to my parka, shoes, threw my cap and goggles on and then they pushed us on out. No time," he said. "The medal was in my warmup jacket." A half-hour after winning another gold, Phelps was second fastest behind Milorad Cavic of Croatia in the 100 fly, setting himself up to tie Spitz's record in Saturday's final. World record-holder Ian Crocker of the US bounced back from a disappointing swim in the prelims to post the third-fastest time. "There wasn't much time," Phelps said, "but I think there's going to be a lot of time for me to rest over the next 18 hours or so, and I'll be able to be ready for tomorrow morning's 100." If all goes according to plan, Phelps will get gold No. 7 in the fly - his signature stroke - and have the coronation Sunday in the 400 medley relay. The Americans are always heavily favored for gold in that one. He is taking nothing for granted, especially in the fly. "It's never a relief," he said. "Tomorrow is going to be a tough race. For me to be a player in that race, I have to be closer at the 50. If I'm not, then it will be tough. I was over a body length behind at the 50 in the prelims and came up a bit short, so I have to be there." Still, he showed little signs of tiring from the gruelling schedule. He's already raced 15 times and has two more left - both going for gold. "I actually don't feel too bad now," Phelps said. Lochte got quite a consolation prize: a world record and the first individual gold medal of his career in the backstroke. He edged teammate Aaron Peirsol in 1:53.94 to break the mark he shared with Peirsol. Rebecca Soni gave the US women's swim team a much-needed boost, setting a world record in the 200 breaststroke with an upset of Australia's Leisel Jones. — AP
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Beijing, August 15 Jamaican Bolt, who set a world record of 9.72 in May, followed him with another impressive run of 9.92 to take heat four before his compatriot Powell, who had complained of a stomach ache in the morning, clocked 10.02 to win his heat. The semifinals and final take place in the evening session at the Bird's Nest tomorrow, the second of the 10 days of athletics competition. Earlier, there were no major upsets in qualifying for the men’s shot and hammer, while American Hyleas Fountain was the early pacesetter in the heptathlon. Bolt, who holds the world record of 9.72 seconds, went in the first heat in front of a near-91,000 National Stadium full house. He eased out of the blocks, picked up his running just enough to get his long stride working and coasted from halfway to cross the line in 10.20 seconds, a time that would have won gold in the final of the 1980 Games. Powell put more into his race and was clear after 20 metres. He too eased off but still clocked a lively 10.16. The former world record holder said he had suffered with stomach problems after his breakfast but was happy enough. All eyes were on Gay when he came out of the blocks in his first competitive outing since pulling a hamstring in the U.S. trials last month but he looked comfortable in posting 10.22. “It feels good,” he said. “I felt a little sluggish but my body has woken up now.” Tyrone Edgar, virtually ignored at the British trials in the furore over whether banned Dwain Chambers would be allowed to go to the Games, was the fastest qualifier in 10.13 seconds. — Reuters
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Pak go down to Oz 1-3
Beijing, August 15 Earlier, Taeke Taekema scored a hat-trick as strong contenders Holland overcame Canada 4-2, while Spain waged a grim battle to overcome spirited China 2-1 in the Olympic Hockey Competition here. Both Holland and Spain have now three victories, from as many matches, to their credit and with nine points each they have virtually assured themselves of a place in the semifinals in this 12 - team competition. For both Canada and China it was their third defeat in a row and they are out of medal contention. This was Pakistan's second defeat in three outings while Australia almost assured themselves a semi final berth with third straight victory. Pakistan played good first half but could not maintain the tempo for the rest of 35 minutes. Some leading senior players were seen missing chances at crucial stages and at the other end defence extended too much leverage to the Aussies to retain the possession. Australia were well in control of the game at early stage of the match and got good number of chances in the first 12 minutes with Mathew Wells and James Dwyer missing the targets on separate opportunities. Against the run of the play, Pakistan shot into the lead in the 16th minute with Shakil Abbbasi fully utilising the opportunity to send a rare wave of joy in Pakistan camp. Minutes later, Pakistan were reduced to 10 men. Mohammad Waqas' absence proved a telling blow as Australia banged home the equaliser a minute later through a field effort. Grant Schubert found himself on right place to dodge the keeper for his team's opening goal. Pakistan matched every Australian move in the next 15 minutes as the first half ended 1-1. Australia were right on the attack with the start of the second session and scored their second goal through veteran Jamies Dawyer on the indirect penalty corner conversion that saw Pakistan defence standing helplessly. Australia put the match beyond Pakistan when Travis Brooks deflected the ball into the net in the 59th minute though a delightful move. Meanwhile, Pakistan lodged protest over the controversial suspension of M Saqlain and Mohamad Waqas's longer stay at the sideline because of the yellow cards. In another match, Germany were held to a 3-3 draw by South Korea, while New Zealand beat Belgium 4-2 and Britain downed South Africa 2-0. — UNI
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Beijing, August 15 Gonzalez fell behind 5-6, love-40 serving in the final set. But the Chilean hit four consecutive winners to hold, and on his fifth match point in the final game, he smacked a serve that Blake hit into the net. Blake, a first-time Olympian and the last hope for a U.S. medal in singles, still has a shot at the bronze. He beat top-seeded Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. The No. 12-seeded Gonzalez will play in Sunday’s final against the winner of the later match between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Four years ago in Athens, Gonzalez won the doubles with Nicolas Massu for Chile’s first gold medal in any sport. Venus and Serena Williams, both eliminated in singles yesterday, completed a suspended second-round doubles match and beat Ayumi Morita and Ai Sugiyama of Japan, 7-5, 6-2. — AP
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Beijing, August 15 Earlier, top seed and world No. 1 Xie Xingfang pulled back from behind to beat third seeded compatriot Lu Lan 2-1 to reach the gold medal bout. In men’s doubles, Cai Yun fell to his knees and yanked off his shirt after he and partner Fu Haifeng knocked out South Korea’s Lee Jae-jin and Hwang Ji-man, revealing the tattoo across his back in frilly letters: “Face of Adversity”. The crowd-pleasing home team favourites then chucked their towels to the adoring fans after reaching the final. They will play the top seeded Indonesians Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan, who knocked out Denmark’s Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen. Despite being the Olympics’ second seed, Zhang said she was surprised to have gone so far. Xie had a rocky start on Friday when Lu dominated game one to win 21-7 with accurate drops. But Xie found her game and won the second 21-10 denying Lu the lead from the fourth point of the match onward. Xie cruised to an easy third game win 21-12. Despite giving up game one, Xie, whose boyfriend is the men’s singles top seed Lin Dan, said she was not worried. “We all practise together every day and we all know each other very well, also it’s not as if she is a bad player,” she said. The gold will be decided tomorrow. — Reuters
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Spain beat China; Dutch clinical
Beijing, August 15 The Netherlands, silver medallists four years ago, also stayed on course for a last four place by demolishing Canada 4-2, their third win in as many matches in the opposite pool. China went ahead in the sixth minute through a penalty corner by Na Yubo, a livewire upfront, but went into a shell afterwards. The hosts, playing in their first Olympics, are yet to win a point but have shown remarkable posture playing the world’s top teams. They still have a chance of qualifying for the last four but need to win both their remaining games to stay in contention. —
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Rampaging Akhil lifts gloom
Beijing, August 15 Doing the unthinkable, 27-year-old Akhil from Haryana stunned Vodopyanov in an edge-of-the-seat bout to put himself just one win away from an Olympic medal here tonight in a perfect Independence Day gift to India at the Games. Trailing 2-6 at one stage, a gritty Akhil, who had said prior to today's match that he is inspired by the gold-winning feat of shooter Abhinav Bindra, drew parity in the dying seconds and won on points to reach the quarterfinal of the 54kg category at the Workers' Gymnasium. The scores were tied at 9-9 at the end of the four-round bout but the five-member declared Akhil the winner on points. The winner on points is decided by the jury by considering the accepted scores and deleting the highest and lowest scores of the two boxers. An elated Akhil, who plays his next match on Sunday, insisted he is not ready to settle for anything less than the gold even though he would be assured of a medal if he wins his quarterfinal bout on Sunday. The Russian world champion grabbed early initiative as he raced to a 6-2 lead midway through the third round. To make it even more difficult for the Indian, the Russian used both the orthodox and southpaw stance but it did not unsettle Akhil who went on the offensive. Making a remarkable fightback, Akhil prevailed in the third round to reduce the gap (7-8) and then in the final round, unleashed a couple of punches bang on target on the Russian to drew parity at 9-9. The defeat brought the shattered Russian to tears as he clutched his head in disbelief and refused to shake hands with Akhil after the bout. "It was not easy, for he is the world champion but once I levelled the score, I knew I cannot lose," said Akhil, bathed in sweat. It's not possible to assure you of the gold but I can tell you that I'm here to win only gold," said the boxer brimming with confidence and determination. "I know things would not be easier, in fact it would get even more difficult from now onwards. But I'm here to do my job and return with the gold. If luck decides the outcome, I may return with the bronze. But if confidence is the determining factor, gold is mine," he thundered. Coach G.S. Sandhu was effusive in praise for his ward and said, "Only Akhil can do that. He was all along confident and he proved that it was not mere wishful thinking on his part. We are so proud of him.”— PTI
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Fedex & Co. derail ‘Indian Express’
Beijing, August 15 In the quarterfinal match spread over two days due to rain interruption, the silky Swiss pair of Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka tamed the Indians 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 22 minutes to move to the semifinals of the doubles event here today. Stung by his shock defeat against James Blake in the singles, Federer joined hands with Wawrinka to unleash his pent up frustration on Paes and Bhupathi and the Indians could only watch the Swiss pair decimating them with consummate ease. Rain interrupted the match with the Indians trailing 1-4 last night and things were hardly any different when the tie resumed. Federer was playing the same breathtaking tennis with Wawrinka playing the second fiddle to perfection. In the first game today, Bhupathi held his serve to reduce the gap but the Swiss hit back soon. Wawrinka too held his serve and then Federer proved why he is considered among the all time greats and he sealed the set with a backhand half volley. Their back against the wall, Paes and Bhupathi fought tooth and nail in the second set, desperately hoping to stay afloat. The first nine games went with the serve and the Swiss did not relax even though they were leading 5-4. The 10th game started on an ominous note with Bhupathi's return twice sailing wide and Wawrinka making it 40-15 with a scorcher of a return. Leander smashed one up front hoping to hang around but even he could not delay the inevitable and India's medal hopes went up in smoke when Bhupathi, for the umpteen time, knocked it long and wide. Bajranglal finishes 21st
Bajranglal Takhar ran out of steam in the closing stages but managed to better his personal best timing to finish 21st in the men's single sculls rowing event at the Olympics here today. The Indian led the 19-24 place classification race until the 1500m mark but slowed down in the final 500m, clocking 7:09.73 to finish third in the race and 21st overall. Thakar, however, had the satisfaction of bettering his personal best time of 7:41.73 which he clocked in the Munich World Championships last year. Meanwhile, in men's lightweight double sculls, Devender Kumar Khandwal and Manjeet Singh came third in the classification race to finish 19th overall. Khandwal and Manjeet clocked 6:40.34, which also brought down the curtains of India's rowing campaign. Gagan, Sanjeev shown the door
Young guns Gagan Narang and Sanjeev Rajput could not rise above mediocrity and were readily shown the exit door in the qualifying round of shooting's 50m rifle prone event at the Beijing Olympics here today. After yesterday's incessant rain, a refreshingly blue sky hung over the Beijing Shooting Range but the gloom in the Indian camp persisted with Sanjeev (591) finishing 26th and Narang (589), an unflattering 35th in the 56-shooter field. Gagan, who almost made it to the final of the 10m air rifle before eventually losing on countback, had an average start with identical 98s before he fired 99 in the third series. Shobha placed dismal 29th
JJ Shobha finished day one of the two-day heptathlon event at 29th place, ahead of compatriots GG Pramila and Susmita Singh Roy who finished 32nd and 34th respectively in the Beijing Olympics here tonight. Shobha, who won hearts in the Athens Olympics by running despite a torn ligament, totalled 3482 points after four events - 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200m - while Pramila tallied 3419 and Susmita 3391. The combined events contest got off with the 100m hurdles with the Indian trio vying for space. Of the trio, Shobha went on to post her personal best timing of 13.62, which fetched her 1033 points. GG Pramila (983) and Susmita Singha Roy (963), however, were nowhere near their best as they timed 13.97 and 14.11 respectively. In high jump, it was Pramila's turn to post her personal best and she leapt 1.74m to win 903 points. In the same group, Shobha cleared 1.65, her season's best, which earned her 795 points. Susmita cleared 1.71m to finish 18th and add 867 points to her tally. In shot put, Shobha cleared 13.07 for 732 points, while Pramila (639) hurled 11.66 and Susmita (613) 11.27. In 200m, the fourth and final event of the day, Shobha (922) timed 24.62, Pramila (894) 24.92 and Susmita (948) 24.34. —
PTI Athletics: Heptathlon: Sushmita Singha Roy, GG Parmila, JJ Shoba Women’s 400m (heat): Mandeep Kaur Men’s Discus (qualifying): Vikas Gowda Boxing: 51 kg (Light weight): Jitender Kumar vs Tulashboy (Uzbekistan) 75kg (Middle): Vijender Kumar vs Angkhan Chomphuphuang (Thailand) Rowing: Lightweight Men's Double Sculls. — UNI
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Swimming Women's 200m Breaststroke Gold - Rebecca Soni (United States) Silver - Leisel Jones (Australia) Bronze - Sara Nordenstam (Norway) Men's 200m Backstroke Gold - Ryan Lochte (United States) Silver - Aaron Peirsol (United States) Bronze - Arkady Vyatchanin (Russia) Men's 200m Individual Medley Gold - Michael Phelps (United States) Silver - Laszlo Cseh (Hungary) Bronze - Ryan Lochte (United States) Women's 100m Freestyle Gold - Britta Steffen (Germany) Silver - Libby Trickett (Australia) Bronze - Natalie Coughlin (United States) Athletics Men's Shot Put Gold - Tomasz Majewski (Poland) Silver - Christian Cantwell (U.S.) Bronze - Andrei Mikhnevich (Belarus) Women's 1000m Gold - Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) Silver - Elvan Abeylegesse (Turkey) Bronze - Shalane Flanagan (U.S.) Canoeing Women's Kayak Single Gold - Elena Kaliska (Slovakia) Silver - Jacqueline Lawrence (Australia) Bronze - Violetta Oblinger Peters (Austria) Men's C2 Canoeing Gold - Pavol Hochschorner/Peter Hochschorner (Slovakia) Silver - Jaroslav Volf/Ondrej Stepanek (Czech Republic) Bronze - M. Kuznetsov/Dmitry Larionov (Russia) Shooting Men's 50m Rifle Prone Gold - Artur Ayvazian (Ukraine) Silver - Matthew Emmons (U.S.) Bronze - Warren Potent (Australia) Gymnastics Individual All-Around Gold - Nastia Liukin (U.S) Silver - Shawn Johnson (U.S) Bronze - Yang Yilin (China) Weightlifting Women's 75kg Gold - Cao Lei (China) Silver - Alla Vazhenina (Kazakhstan) Bronze - Nadezda Evstyukhina (Russia) Men's 85kg Gold - Lu Yong (China) Silver - Andrei Ribakou (Belarus) Bronze - Vladimir Sedov (Kazakhstan) Cycling Men's Track Team Sprint Gold - Chris Hoy/Jason Kenny/Jamie Staff (Britain) Silver - Gregory Bauge/Kevin Sireau/Arnaud Tournant (France) Bronze - Rene Enders/Maximilian Levy/Stefan Nimke (Germany) Archery Men's Individual Gold - Viktor Ruban (Ukraine) Silver - Park Kyung-mo (South Korea) Bronze - Bair Badenov (Russia) Judo Men's +100kg Gold - Satoshi Ishii (Japan) Silver - Abdullo Tangriev (Uzbekistan) Bronze - Teddy Riner (France) Bronze - Oscar Brayson (Cuba) Women's +78kg Gold - Tong Wen (China) Silver - Maki Tsukada (Japan) Bronze - Idalis Ortiz (Cuba) Bronze - Lucija Polavder (Slovenia) Fencing Men's Team Epee Gold - France Silver - Poland Bronze - Italy Badminton Women's Doubles Gold - Du Jing/Yu Yang (China) Silver - Lee Kyung-won/Lee Hyo-jung (South Korea) Bronze - Zhang Yawen/Wei Yili (China)
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Slovakian twins make it three a row
Beijing, August 15 ''Of course we're coming back,'' Pavol said. ''This keeps me motivated,'' the 28-year-old added as he lifted his gold medal and waved it to Chinese spectators seeking autographs and pictures. ''We will keep competing for as long as we can,'' Peter said. Paddling under a rare blue Beijing sky, the twins won comfortably ahead of the Czech Republic's Jaroslav Volf and Ondrej Stepanek and Russia's Mikhail Kuznetsov and Dmitry Larionov, despite committing several gate errors which cost them time penalties. The twins have dominated white water canoeing for years and won medals at nearly every major championship over the past decade which made them strong favourites in Beijing. Their plans to compete at the London Olympics appeared to be one of few issues the twins, who look anything but identical, agreed on. — Reuters
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Elsewhere...
Colombo, August 15 Yuvraj smashed the ball all over the park in his 121-ball innings and reached his hundred with a glance to fine leg for four. He then unleashed an array of big shots and the Sri Lanka Invitation attack had no answers. Eight boundaries and 13 sixes flowed from Yuvraj's blade. Suresh Raina contributed 45 runs. Yuvraj's 100 came in 95 balls, but his next 50 runs came in only 16 balls and 13 minutes. He took off-spinner Jehan Mubarak to the cleaners, hitting four successive sixes in the 44th over and then smashed three successive sixes off left-armer Chanaka Welagedara. Yuvraj rode on his luck twice, courtesy Dilhara Fernando. He first put him down at long-off to let the ball sail pass the ropes when he was on 129. He then put down a skier off his own bowling. Fernando, coming back from injury, had a disastrous day as he went wicketless and conceded 75 runs in his ten overs which included ten wides and four no balls. Yuvraj was involved in a 99-run stand for the fifth wicket with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (20 not out). India were 235 for four in 43rd over, but what followed then was absolutely mayhem as the duo smacked 99 in 40 balls in just 32 minutes. The Sri Lankans had included seven of their regular players for the warm up game, but all they could do was stand and watch towards the latter part of the Indian innings. — IANS
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Champions Trophy
Melbourne, August 15 "We're very short of time now. If we're going to relocate now, it needs to be made within the next few days.” Operationally, it would be difficult but it's certainly not an option that would be discarded and it could be relocated," ICC general manager (cricket) Dave Richardson said after meeting Cricket Australia (CA) officials. Richardson said if England, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand remained reluctant to visit Pakistan over security concerns, there is just enough time to move the Champions Trophy to Sri Lanka. While CA chief executive James Sutherland said the ball was in the ICC's court in terms of how they responded to Australia's worries, Richardson said he was seeking a commitment either way from Australia. Richardson said until the four countries made their decisions it was impossible to predict where or in what format the tournament would take place. "They (Cricket Australia) need to give us a firm commitment. All they've done is to listen to the facts. We know that there are still some concerns, particularly from the players' association, mainly on the actual implementation of the security measures which are in place," he added. — PTI
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Harika world jr girls champ
Gaziantep (Turkey), August 15 Harika took her tally to an unassailable 10 points out of a possible 12 and steered a full point clear of Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine who was held to a draw by Anastasia Bodnaruk of Russia. It implies that, with her better progressive score, Harika is assured of the title with one round still to come in the premier junior event for girls. Harika is the second Indian girl ever to win the junior world champion title after Koneru Humpy in 2001. Harika had won the 2006 world under-18 girls title and was plain unlucky not to win this title last year when she lost the last three rounds after being in lead. —
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