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Bolt gears up for rare double
Shawn shines on beam
Gopichand who? Asks minister
Punish guilty, demands Monika
National awards announcedTribune News Service
Asif’s B sample tests positive
Paes steps down as Davis Cup captain
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British cyclist Chris Hoy added three Olympic gold medals to his already impressive tally when he won the men’s sprint on Tuesday. |
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And this too
Nike on Tuesday issued a strong denial of Internet rumours that it forced Chinese athletics hero Liu Xiang to pull out of the Olympics, adding it had asked authorities to investigate the posting. "The posting is a malicious rumour," Nike, one of Liu's major sponsors, said. A person claiming to be close to Nike posted a long article on the Internet shortly after Liu dramatically pulled out of the 110m hurdles race due to a foot injury, saying the US sporting firm had forced him to do so. The posting claimed Liu -- a marketing phenomenon in China -- had recovered following an earlier injury, but had not regained enough fitness to win the Olympic title. As such, it went on, he was unlikely to defend the title he won at the 2004 Athens Games. The anonymous person said Nike therefore decided to force Liu to pull out of the race, feigning injury. "That would preserve Liu Xiang's face, and as his sponsors, we would not make too many losses," the posting said.
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National beach volleyball players around the world decide on their own partners, but in Communist China, it is the government which makes up the pairs. Even the two teams who made the women's semi-finals at the Olympics do not know what is in store. "I'm not too sure about my partner in the future, but we'll go with whatever our country decides for us," said Tian Jia, who will play the U.S. defending champions in the women's final with her partner of two years, Wang Jie. "Of course there will be some regret if we have to change partners, but it's an adjustment we have to make," said Tian, still covered with sand after beating compatriots Zhang Xi and Xue Chen in an all-Chinese semi-final. Beach volleyball was introduced at the Atlanta Games in 1996 and between then and now, it has won plaudits for the stunning Sydney setting of Bondi Beach and pumped up the energy in Athens by adding dancing girls and rock music to the competition.
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Kenyans forgot their ethnic tensions and took to the streets to celebrate the seven medals their athletes have so far collected at the Beijing Olympics. Kenya has a history of excellence in athletics on the track and on Monday it bagged two golds, one silver and a bronze prompting countrywide celebrations. Brimin Kiprop Kipruto won gold for the men's 3,000 metre steeplechase while Pamela Jelimo won the women's 800 metres. Members of different ethnic groups put their differences aside and were drinking and partying together. "People were out there, especially in the areas where the athletes live. There was a lot of jubilation," said Robert Ouko, a gold medallist in the 4x400m relay at the 1972 Munich Olympics. "Sport is an extremely unifying force and makes us forget others are from a different tribe. Where we were afraid and suspicious, we became unified if only for a moment," he said.
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Women's boxing could make its Olympics debut at the 2012 Games in London after the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) agreed on Tuesday to lobby the IOC for its inclusion.The request will be officially made to the IOC, the AIBA said in a statement, following a meeting of the body's executive committee here. "The AIBA Executive Committee announced its full support for including women's boxing in the 2012 Olympic Games and agreed to develop a proposal and submit it to the IOC in the coming months," said the statement. The meeting also agreed to introduce three rounds of three minutes instead of four rounds of two, as well as 11 weight categories for women's and youth boxing.
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UK level century-old gold record
Beijing, August 19 That cemented Britain's unexpected third place in China, with 15 golds the best since the 1908 London Games and the perfect way to fire up enthusiasm at home for the next Olympics. Hosts China are way ahead on 42 golds though, their seemingly unassailable lead helping dull some of the national pain over the withdrawal through injury of track idol Liu Xiang. The USA are second with 25 golds on Day 11 and face a near-impossible task to catch China, whose medal haul reflects their new global economic and political might. While China's rise may be inevitable, given it has one fifth of the world's population to choose from, Britain's success was more surprising. Even traditional rivals were impressed. "They're certainly serving it up," Australia's Olympic Committee president John Coates said. "Their new-found cockiness has got some substance to it." Nowhere have the Britons been cockier than on bikes. Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton won a couple more golds in the men's and women's sprints, making it a remarkable eight Beijing golds on road and track for the new cycling superpower. In Qingdao, on China's east coast, Paul Goodison made up for disappointment in Athens, where he nearly quit, by winning the sailing Laser title. Britain's success, which has come chiefly in cycling, rowing, sailing and swimming, is attributed mainly to heavy new investment in sport. That has allowed athletes and coaches to train full time, as well as seen improvements in facilities. Much of the money has come from a national lottery. "We can rule the waves again," Britain's top-selling Sun said, catching the wave of patriotism. Chinese leaders and people alike showered their injured Olympics 110m hurdles champion Liu with get-well messages a day after he limped forlornly off the track, depriving the hosts of what they hoped might be their greatest single moment of glory. Liu, who along with basketball player Yao Ming is China's most idolised sportsman, surfaced on Tuesday, vowing not to quit. The locals are loving it: one man cycled 1,300km (800 miles) to tow his 98-year-old grandmother to the Games in a pedicab. Further cheering the Chinese national mood, environmental authorities said Beijing had enjoyed its cleanest air in 10 years this month despite athletes' pre-Games fears. Officials promised not to let that slip after the Olympics. "We will take some new measures to ensure that air quality will reach a new level after the Olympic Games," environmental official Du Shaozhong said on another sunny day in Beijing. One man whose lungs definitely were not affected by the heat, or any lingering smog, was Germany's triathlete Jan Frodeno. The 27-year-old outsider, who only took up triathlon to impress a girl, broke away from three of the sport's biggest names at the end to win the swim-bike-run endurance test. Germany also had success in weightlifting, Matthias Steiner winning gold in the men's super-heavyweight class to lay claim to the title of world's strongest man. Choking back tears on the podium, Steiner held up a photo of his late wife, to whom he had promised Olympic success when she was dying from a car crash. Though the "beautiful game" has long played second fiddle to other sports at the Olympics, fans awaited a mouth-watering semi-final on Tuesday between soccer powers Argentina and Brazil. — Reuters
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Beijing, August 19 The Germans fought off New Zealand 3-1 to end the preliminary league with three wins and two draws in pool A. The Dutch, who were gold medalists in Atlanta and Sydney, overcame a sluggish start to beat rejuvenated Pakistan 4-2 in pool B to finish with four wins and a draw. The remaining two semi-final spots will be decided when the last round of matches are played later today with four teams still in contention. Spain and South Korea square off in pool A with the Spanish men needing a draw to advance while the Asian Games champions, who are two points behind, must win. In pool B, defending champions Australia need a draw against Britain, who face the uphill task of securing a massive win to go through. Three-time champions Pakistan played their best hockey of the competition in the first half which ended with a 1-0 lead over the Dutch through a penalty corner goal by Muhammad Imran. The Dutch surged ahead in the second session with three goals in 17 minutes, two of them through their penalty corner ace Taeke Taekema. Jeroen Hertzberger increased the tally one minute before the final whistle to hand Pakistan their third defeat in five matches. Pakistan, who last won an Olympic gold at Los Angeles in 1984, failed to make the semi-finals for the second successive Games. Their fourth place finish in the pool meant Pakistan will miss next year's elite Champions Trophy reserved for the top six teams in the competition. Taekema blamed the first half blues on the early 8.30 am start, a complaint also made by Spanish coach Maurits Hendriks last week. "I have been up since five in the morning and found it tough to take the field so early in the day," said Taekema. "I think we improved as the game went on because we were a little more awake." Taekema said he had no preference on which side the Dutch met in the semi-final. Pakistan coach Naveed Alam said his team should have finished higher in the competition, but for several missed chances. " Germany, meanwhile, took a 2-0 lead by the ninth minute against New Zealand through goals by Timo Wess and Matthias Witthaus. Penalty corner specialist Hayden Shaw pulled one back for the Kiwis in the 46th before Florian Keller sealed Germany's domination with his team's third goal in the 55th. New Zealand ended the competition with two wins, two losses and a draw. — AFP
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Beijing, August 19 The Jamaican had defending champion Shawn Crawford and his fellow American Wallace Spearmon either side of him yet had run down the latter within 20 metres of his semi-final. Away and clear coming off the turn he cruised home in 20.09 seconds, with the two Americans also going through. Churandy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles, a surprise fourth in the 100m final, won the other semi in 20.11 ahead of Brian Dzingai of Zimbabwe and 100 bronze medallist Walter Dix. There should be yet another U.S.-Jamaica showdown in the women's 200 after all six of their athletes went through strongly to the semifinals. Christine Ohuruogu surged to the women's Olympic 400 metres title on Tuesday and provided Britain with their first athletics gold medal of the Games. The 24-year-old Londoner powered home over the last 50 metres to cross the line first in 49.62 seconds and add the Olympic title to the world title she won in Japan last year. Silnov wins high jump gold Russia’s Andrey Silnov won the gold medal in the men's high jump today, with a jump of 2.36 metres enough to give him the title. Britain's Germaine Mason took silver medal, his country's first athletics medal at Beijing, and Russia's Yaroslav Rybakov took bronze. Sweden's Stefan Holm, the gold medal winner in Athens, finished fourth after failing to clear better than 2.32. — Reuters
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Shawn shines on beam
Beijing, August 19 The 16-year-old had been expected to go home with a stash of gold medals after picking up three titles at the world championships in 2007. But she had to wait until the final day of the competition to make her mark at the Games, with a score of 16.225. She edged out fellow American and all-round champion Liukin by 0.200 of a point, while Cheng collected bronze with 15.950. China's Li Shanshan had been tipped for the title but she was one of two finalists to fall off the wood and finished sixth.
- Reuters |
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Frodeno wins triathlon
Beijing, August 19 |
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Boxing duo wants win for Akhil
Beijing, August 19 Both Vijender (75kg) and Jitender (51kg) believe that with Akhil no more in medal contention, the onus is on them to deliver and winning their respective bouts tomorrow would be the best way to alleviate some of Akhil's pain. "Now that the medal slipped through Akhil's fingers, the best way we can console him is by winning medals ourselves. In his absence, the expectation is on us and we will give our best tomorrow," Vijender, who faces Carlos Gongora of Ecuador tomorrow, told PTI. Akhil, who beat world champion Sergey Vodopyanov in pre-quarters, lost to unheralded Moldovan Gojan Veaceslav in the 54kg quarterfinals yesterday. Jitender, Akhil's protege, said he wanted to win it for his mentor. "As I have been telling, Akhil is everything for me. I was completely shattered by his defeat and even his persuasion could not lift my spirit," the 21-year-old, on his maiden Olympic trip, said. "Wherever I'm, it's all because of him. He was just unfortunate to lose the battle and I want to make him feel better and I want to win tomorrow only for him," said the youngster, who, if he upsets three-time European champion Russian Georgy Balakshin, could well be the first Indian boxer ever to assure himself of an Olympic medal. Vijender said Akhil's defeat was an eye-opener for him and he would step into the ring tomorrow, fully prepared. "I have not fought Gongora earlier and hence it's a tricky situation. I have seen his recordings and preparing accordingly. He is of my height and is a tricky customer. So it's going to be a no-holds-barred bout," said the 22-year-old Haryana boxer. "So many world champions and Olympic champions have been upstaged, you just cannot take things for granted," Vijender said. Jitender, meanwhile, has another agenda and that is to settle score with Balakshin to whom he lost by just one point in last year's World Championships in Chicago. "I lost to him once but I would not let history repeat itself tomorrow. I have a score to settle and besides, I have to win it for Akhil," said the youngster. — PTI
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Beijing, August 19 The lanky Indian toiled hard against Carneros, his partner at the San Sebastian Club in Spain, but held his nerve to win the tactical battle 6-11, 12-10, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6 and 11-7 in 45 minutes. Sharath faces a bigger challenge in the next round with Chinese-born Austrian Chen Weixing, who beat the Indian in their previous meeting in the 2006 Austrian Open. With two opponents, well aware of each other's strength and weaknesses, fighting it out, Sharath did not find going easy against Carneros, especially with the Indian spraying his forehands. Almost invariably, Sharath would race to early lead but the nagging Spaniard always found a way to crawl into the match and make life difficult for the Indian. After Carneros came from behind to win the first game, Sharath took 8-5 lead in the second but the Spaniard caught up with him at 10-10. Sharath finally wrapped up the game with two stinging forehands to draw parity and stay afloat. Sharath pocketed the third game as well but Carneros was not ready to sit back and relax. Trailing 5-8, the Spaniard hit back and won six of the next seven points to level the score 2-2. Sensing danger, Sharath raced to a 5-0 lead in the fifth game and though Carneros made desperate efforts to reduce the gap, he knocked one long and was then left cursing luck as Sharath's return touched the net before dropping dead. Sharath grew in confidence and looked more consistent and he sealed the sixth game with a fierce forehand that beat Carneros all ends up. — PTI
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New Delhi, August 19 The unbelievable happened when Gopichand and his ward Saina Nehwal - back from the Beijing Olympics - went to pay a courtesy visit to the sports minister. While Gill greeted Saina heartily, he failed to recognise Gopichand when the latter shook hands with him. "Who are you?" the minister asked Gopichand, leaving all those present dumbstruck and quite embarassed. Gopichand, however, took the ministerial lapse sportingly, and introduced himself as the national coach. Asked about the incident by mediapersons, he said, "It's ok. I didn't feel bad." Gopichand is one of the only two Indians to have ever won the All England Open Championship. While Gopichand triumphed in 2001, Prakash Padukone clinched the title in 1980. M.S. Gill had invited Saina Nehwal to his office after her return from the Beijing Olympics, where she reached the quarterfinals of the women's singles badminton competition. — IANS
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India Today
Beijing, August 19 The Indian could not have asked for a better draw, which gave him a bye in the first round and to his credit, Yogeshwar cruised to a facile 8-3 win against Kazakhstan's Baurzhan Orazgaliyev in the pre-quarters to stay in hunt. But when it mattered the most, the 26-year-old Indian came a cropper against Yumoto, whom he had beaten earlier this year in the Asian Championship, and bowed out with a 3-6 defeat. The Indian began well in the quarterfinal and led 1-0 after the first period before the Japanese hit back and scored four crucial points in the second segment to take the match away from the Indian. Anju’s hat-trick of fouls
India's best bet in athletics Anju Bobby George failed to qualify for the long jump finals today. A grimacing Anju limped off the Bird's Nest stadium after hurting her ankle in the trials putting paid her hopes for a place in the final with an NM (No Mark) tag against her name. Anju's goose was cooked in the trial itself when she hurt her ankle joint and though she tried her best to defy the injury and give it a go, her campaign was grounded before it could really take off as she failed to clear a single jump. It was a hat-trick of horrors for Anju as she botched all her three attempts.
— PTI Boxing: Quarterfinals: 51 kg (flyweight) Jitender Kumar vs Georgy Balakshin (Russia); 75 kg (middleweight) Vijender Kumar vs Carlos Gongora (Ecuador) Table Tennis: Achanta Sharath Kamal vs Chen Weixing Wrestling: 66 kg freestyle Sushil Kumar (first round bye) pre-quarterfinals.
— UNI |
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Imphal, August 19 "I could not take part in the Olympic games as a result of politics in Indian sports. All those who are responsible for framing false charges against me must be pulled up and given befitting punishment," she demanded. An emotional Monika who arrived here from New Delhi yesterday, said she never knew politics in Indian sports would be "so dirty to the extent that an innocent player who had worked hard would be dropped at the last minute from participating in the Olympic games by framing false charges." At a function organised in her honour, she welcomed the support given by the people of her state who called a bandh today in protest against her exclusion from the Olympic squad. “The stand taken by the people of my state for a victimised player like me is simply overwhelming," she said with tears in her eyes while seeking the continued support of the people in finding out the truth and punishment to the guilty. — PTI
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National awards announcedTribune News Service
New Delhi, August 19 Thus, Abhinav Bindra will get Rs 50 lakh for his gold, instead of Rs 30 lakh which had been announced earlier, while the silver medallist will get Rs 30 lakh (old incentive Rs 18
lakh) and the bronze medallist Rs 20 lakh (instead of Rs 12 lakh). Minister for youth affairs and sports Dr M.S. Gill took up the matter with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and finance minister P. Chidambaram for raising the cash incentives for the Olympic medal winners which had a ready response from them, and hence the hike. Dr Gill said that the enhanced prize money will help in "better performance" by the Indian sportspersons in the Olympic Games. Bindra will be presented the cash award by President Pratibha Patil at the Arjuna Awards function at Rashtrapati Bhawan on August 29. Meanwhile, the government also formally announced the names of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award winners for 2007, Dhyan Chand awardees for 2008 and the Dronacharya Award winners for 2007. The selection committee for the Khel
Ratna, Arjuna and Dhyan Chand awards was headed by Milkha Singh. List of awardees Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (2007) Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Cricket) Arjuna Awards (2007) Chitra K. Soman (Athletics) Anup Sridhar (Badminton) Johnson Varghese (Boxing) Harika Dronavalli (Chess) Arjun Atwal (Golf) Prabhjot Singh (Hockey) Tombi Devi (Judo) Bajranglal Takhar (Rowing) Avneet Sidhu (Shooting) Alka Tomar (Wrestling) Farman Basha (Powerlifting - Disabled category) Dhyan Chand Awards (2008) Hakam Singh (Athletics) Mukhbain Singh (Hockey) Gian Singh (Wrestling). Dronacharya Awards (2007) Sanjeev Kumar Singh (Archery) Jagdish Singh (Boxing) G.E. Sridharan (Volleyball) Jagminder Singh (Wrestling).
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India may shuffle batting line-up
Dambulla, August 19 After losing the Test series, the Indians made a poor start to the one-dayers by losing the first game here by eight wickets and it will need a far more inspiring performance by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men to reverse their fortunes. The absence of Virender Sehwag, who has been ruled out of the series because of an injury, has come as a big blow for the Indians who have been forced to have a re-look at the batting order. The Indian think tank is now toying with the idea of shuffling the batting order for the crucial second game of the five-match series. But with an average age of around 24 years, Dhoni and his men will have to move mountains to get a stranglehold of the on-going series and this may force the skipper to move himself and other seniors up the batting order. However, Dhoni will be missing the fire power of his most experienced batsman Sehwag who can really be destructive on his day. In that scenario, vice-captain Yuvraj Singh, who hit an explosive 172 in the lone practice match before the start of the ODI series, opener Gautam Gambhir and Dhoni himself will have to take the responsibility on their shoulders to guide the relatively junior batsmen of the team. Understandably, dejected with their show in the first ODI, Indian batsmen were seen practicing hard to realise their skipper's aspiration of putting up a challenging total. Apart from the batting front, the visitors also have some problems in their bowling department. Though the pacers have maintained reasonably good line and length, the spinners, led by Harbhajan Singh, are yet to prove their worth, compared to the deadly Lankan duo of Muralitharan and Mendis. Veteran Muralitharan and mysterious Mendis continue to be the nemesis of Indian batsmen as they duo rattled the visitors innings yesterday, picking up three wickets each. Mendis is turning out to be a threat for Indian batsmen who were once considered as the best players of turners and skipper Dhoni was candid enough to accept that they are facing difficulty in picking up the new spin sensation. Stating that Mendis is more unusual than even Muralitharan, the Indian skipper said the main issue was to get the score ticking in ODIs and it was not enough merely to gauge their kind of bowling. "Even if you pick him, by the time you realise what ball it is, it gets really late to play a big shot. You will see batsmen who can play him, but in ODI cricket it is not only about playing him," admitted Dhoni. — PTI Start of play: 10 a.m.
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Asif’s B sample tests positive
Karachi, August 19 “We are definitely going to appeal because the test results of the same samples are different,” Karim said. — Reuters
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Paes steps down as Davis Cup captain
New Delhi, August 19 Paes informed the All-India Tennis Association (AITA) secretary general Anil Khanna about his decision during a meeting in Beijing just after the Olympics doubles tennis event, an AITA statement said. — IANS
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Beijing, August 19
Indian sportspersons, other than cricketers, may be crying for recognition, and not without reason. Even the country's sports minister M.S. Gill on Tuesday failed to recognise former All England champion shuttler and current national coach Pullela
Gopichand.
India Today
Elsewhere...
