 |
|
|
Veronica seals Jamaican sweep
Germany, Spain set up golden clash
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Messi Nigeria’s biggest worry
Vijender up against Olympic champ’s son
Celebration time at Bhiwani
Grappler Tomar blanked
It happens only in India
Relay team take the heat today
Elsewhere...
Mendis phobia won’t last: Kapil
Defending champ Ryu makes
early exit
|
|
Beijing, August 21 The Americans had a nightmare night with both the women and the men dropping their batons during the heats of the 4x100 metre relay to crash out. They also lost the final of women's softball, the first time they have failed to win gold in that event.
The Caribbean island's Veronica Campbell-Brown powered to gold in the 200m, taking a metre's lead by the halfway mark. The 2004 winner's face was creased with pain but broke into a broad grin at the finish, where she dropped to her knees for a prayer. American world champion Allyson Felix came second and 100 metre silver medallist Kerron Stewart of Jamaica was third. The victory will bring more rejoicing to an island already exultant over the two world records and double sprint gold of Usain "Lightning" Bolt. His jawdropping speed has brought superlatives pouring forth from media and commentators. Usain Bolt, who received his second gold medal straight after Campbell-Brown's victory, completed the men's sprint double on Wednesday and Shelly-Ann Fraser led Stewart and Simpson home in a Jamaican sweep of the women's 100m. "The Americans have dominated (in the past), but this Olympics has been a Jamaican Olympics," said Stewart. Bolt, 22 on Thursday, collected his second gold in a rain-soaked ceremony in the Bird's Nest stadium and gave his signature lightning bolt gesture for the cameras. The head of the International Olympic Committee has questioned the Jamaican's sportsmanship, taking exception to his exuberant celebration of his 100 metre win on Saturday when he pounded his chest even before crossing the finish line. "I think he should show more respect, shake hands, give a tap on the shoulder to the other ones. Not making gestures like the one he made," Jacques Rogge said. "He still has to mature." Jamaican coach and former sprinter Don Quarrie defended Bolt, saying his celebrations were just youthful high spirits, from a man who is "playful, funny, happy". Little consolation The USA have won a major sprint medal at every Games since 1984 and this year's collection of silvers and bronzes will be little consolation. The failure in the relays, an unexpected loss in the final of the women's water polo to the Netherlands and defeat to Japan in the softball will be salt in the wounds for the Americans. Softball will not be at the 2012 Games and the U.S. had won every gold on offer since it became an Olympic sport in 1996. There was a win for the U.S. in the men's 400 metres, where LaShawn Merritt beat defending champion Jeremy Wariner to deliver the seventh straight gold in the event for the Americans. That will do little to chip at the dominance of China in the medals table. The hosts have a commanding 45 golds to the U.S.'s 27, a lead that China says shows it now has the sporting prowess to match its growing economic might and superpower clout. In Athens, the U.S. team topped the medals table with 36 golds to China's 32, but the hosts have invested heavily in selecting and training athletes intensively over many years. "The world has to learn to live with a change of geopolitical nature," the IOC's Rogge said, adding that China's sporting success would last "as long as their sports system lasts". Americans did enjoy success in women's beach volleyball. An excited home crowd sheltered from torrential rain as China's Tian Jia and Wang Jie lost to the defending champions, U.S. pair Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, in straight sets. May-Treanor and Walsh, who have dominated the sport for five years, left the door open to a return in London 2012, but said that might depend on plans to have children. The rain did not matter to the men's marathon swimmers. Dutchman Maarten van der Weijden, who was given only a slim chance of survival when diagnosed with leukaemia seven years ago, won the 10km swim, one of the most testing Olympic events. A stem cell transplant and chemotherapy saved van der Weijden's life. "That makes it extra special," he said. "It proves that even after such an illness you can win gold." As expected Cuba's Dayron Robles won the 110 metres hurdles in a race that had been promoted as a showdown with Chinese sporting idol and defending champion Liu Xiang. But Liu hobbled out of his heat with an injured foot, devestating Chinese fans. — Reuters
|
|
Germany, Spain set up golden clash
Beijing, August 21 In the other semifinal played today, Spain outplayed favourites Australia 3-2 to confirm their place in the final and will now fight it out for the gold medal with the Germans. Ironically, the man responsible for Dutch defeat was their hero Taeke Taekema who missed the crucial first sudden death penalty stroke to see Germany take place for the summit meet following an epic battle in the first semi-finals. It was all square at 1-1 till the scheduled 70 minutes of play and later during the extra 15 minutes of action. Even the five penalty strokes given to each team produced the same result with both teams scoring three times each. When it came to sudden death penalty strokes, Germany scored through experienced Christopher Zeller while Taekema's high scoop deflected over the bar by German goalkeeper Max Weinhold to the jubilation and delight of the German players and fans. In an edge-of-the-seat encounter, Germany had an edge in the initial stages. Holland however, fought back well and produced stunning stuff late in the second half. In the process they earned their second penalty corners. Taekema's bullet push was deflected in the net by Timme Hoyng for the opening goal of the match in 66th minute. Netherlands coach Roelant Oltmans had hardly settled down from jumping with joy at the sideline when Germany pulled back the equaliser through Philipp Zeller who was standing unmarked at the goalmouth. Even the two halves of the extra time did not produce any results and both teams were awarded five penalty strokes each. Taekema, Ronald Brouwer and Nooijer Teun scored for Holland while Germany netted penalty strokes through Christopher Zeller, Niklas Meinert and Tibor Weissenborn. Rob Reckers and Weusthof's strokes were saved well by the German keeper while Keller and Philip Zeller missed opportunities for Germany to score goals on penalty strokes. — UNI
|
|
Beijing ’08
|
||||||
|
Messi Nigeria’s biggest worry
Beijing, August 21 Barcelona superstar was at the heart of the defending champions' attacks as they humiliated Brazil 3-0 in Tuesday's semi-final with Brazilian coach Dunga lamenting his team's inability to control a man he calls a 'genius'. "Messi is a superstar. He is a genius and my tactics against him didn't work well," Dunga admitted. Nigeria have a great belief that they can deny the odds and upset the dazzling Argentines and repeat their success at the 1996 Atlanta Games as the first African nation to become Olympic football champions. — AFP |
|
Vijender up against Olympic champ’s son
Beijing, August 21
Though the strapping six-footer from Haryana has achieved his primary goal and cannot wait to stand atop the podium with the medal dangling from his neck, success has only whetted his appetite and Vijender says he is hungry for more. "I've achieved what I came here for and no one can take it away. That surely takes the pressure off my shoulders and I'll be in a free state of mind tomorrow," said Vijender, ahead of his 75kg semifinal bout against formidable Cuban Emilio Correa Bayeaux at the Worker's Stadium here. "But that does not mean I'll just go through the motions tomorrow. It will be the same vigour and the intensity too would remain same. I'm going for the gold," Vijender told PTI. The two-time Pan-American champion Cuban would not be an easy meat but if Vijender's recent form is to go by, the Indian, who would enjoy a slight height advantage, has it in him to punch the Cuban's light out. "I don't think personal reputation would count. So many world champions and Olympic medallists have bowed out, losing to unheralded opponents," added Vijender, who beat Athens gold medallist Bakhtiyar Atrayev in a recent competition. Son of Emilio Correa Vailant, one of the best boxers in the 1970s who won the welterweight gold in the 1972 Munich Olympics, Bayeaux hopes to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious father and Vijender would need to do something special to halt the Cuban in his stride. "I have not played him earlier but watching recordings of his bout to get a fair idea about him. He is a tough customer but I'm no novice either and you can be sure that we would not be treating each other with kid gloves," Vijender predicted. "Winning a medal has been a dream-come-true and I'm not in a hurry to return," quipped the Indian. Coach G.S. Sandhu refused to predict the outcome of tomorrow's bout and said anything can happen. "All we can say is that we have done our home work well. We have studied the Cuban and formulated a strategy. But plans alone won't win you bouts, it all depends on how you react in the rings.” "No doubt Vijender has got a tough opponent to tackle but then he is also in good form. We're keeping our fingers crossed," Sandhu said. — PTI
|
|
Celebration time at Bhiwani
Bhiwani, August 21 For the first few moments family members looked in disbelief as the crowd’s celebratory mood threatened to create a mini stampede. But luckily, celebrations remained celebrations, howsoever riotous. It took several minutes for the female family members to bring petha for the guests as they had been watching the bout live in a room whereas the males were watching it on another television set in the open outside the house. Within minutes of Vijender’s win scores of youths from the Bhiwani Boxing Club started arriving at Kaluwas carrying boxes of sweets. Everyone present wanted a share of sweets from every box opened. In the melee the floor was soon covered with laddoos, barfi and petha pieces. But none had the time for niceties; celebration is all that they wanted. Vijender’s parents and siblings were dumbfounded. They could not utter a word beyond “We are very happy” for the first few moments. It was much later that they regained their postures and said they would have been even happier if both Akhil and Jitender had also won. Fellow junior boxers from Jitender’s village Devsar also came calling bringing in candles and earthen lamps. Vijender’s parents had declared early in the morning that should their son win, there would be diwali in the village. The spirit of sports runs through the Bhiwaniwalas blood. Residents of Kaluwas were quick to say that whichever medal Vijender wins it will always remind the future generations of the trio - Akhil, Jitender and Vijender collectively. “Hum Bhiwani ke boxers ka ek parivar hai aur yeh medal us poore parivar ka hai akele Vijender ka nahin”, commented an elderly resident of the village.
|
|
Grappler Tomar blanked
Beijing, August 21 The euphoria of the medal-winning efforts of unheralded grappler Sushil Kumar and boxer Vijender Kumar quickly gave way to disappointment as Tomar, the lone Indian in the fray today, failed to make much of an impression in the wrestling arena. Tomar fought a slipshod qualifying round bout against Steve Mocco and the American hardly broke a sweat as he blanked the Indian grappler 4-0 to show him the exit door. And if there was any hope of a Sushil-like turnaround, it went up in smoke with Mocco failing to reach the final. The American lost his semifinal bout against Russian Bakhtiyar Akhmedov 1-3. Had Mocco reached the final, Rajiv would have played in the repechage and could have been in the hunt for a bronze medal. Tomar, however, was not equally lucky or plucky. Once he went down tamely to Mocco, his medal chances hinged more on providence than performance. — PTI |
|
It happens only in India
Beijing, August 21 “We did not have a dedicated masseur. I asked a masseur ‘Do you have time to attend to me?’ and he said ‘no’,” Sushil told mediapersons today. “So team manager Kartar Singh had to do the job. We did not have any idea about the doctors either, who had been attached with the contingent,” he said. Yesterday, after fighting three bouts, Sushil was to play losing semifinalist Leonid Spiridinov at 1710 hrs and all along he did not have a masseur to do the rubbing and massaging. “Going into my fourth bout of the day, I was really tired and there was hardly any time to relax in between. I badly needed the rubbing and massaging,” he said. The wrestler said technically there was not much to choose between an Indian grappler and his foreign counterparts but facilities made all the difference. “Gold medal is not an absurd dream. We have a talent pool deep enough and all you need is infrastructure,” he said. Asked how he celebrated his bronze medal-winning feat, he said, “I just eat food. Before a bout, we generally go on a fast to ensure we are not overweight. Even if you drink a glass of water, it becomes a reason for panic.” “Once my bout was over, I had enough food. I'm a vegetarian and I ate mostly fruits,” he said. The medal winner admitted that he occasionally grapples in ‘akhara’ for easy money, even though with cash awards flowing from all quarters and a promotion promised, he may not need to do it again. “I'm not sure (about the promised awards). Once I reach home, I would have a better idea,” the new prince of Najafgarh said. Asked about the other celebrity sportsperson from Najafgarh, Sushil said he once met Virender Sehwag, “It was in some function that both of us were felicitated together. That was it,” he added.— UNI |
|
Relay team take the heat today
Beijing, August 21
There has been much talk about the women's 4x400 relay for the past several months and the hope expressed by sports minister M.S. Gill that he would be very happy to see the team get a medal or even make the final should have given a big boost to the team. However, it is surprising that so much attention is on the relay team which had to struggle even to qualify and is being considered as medal prospect. The relay squad had a performance of 3:28.29 in the second leg of the Asian Grand Prix circuit in Korat, Thailand. Eventually, it managed to get in as the 15th best team in the world out of 16 that qualified. Last time at Athens, the team had clocked a sensational 3:26.89, still a national record, in the heats before finishing seventh in the final. — UNI
|
|
Elsewhere...
Dubai, August 21 Apart from the ICC Board teleconference, a separate hook-up of the task team, which visited Pakistan recently, has been called tomorrow. The decision to call the two hook-ups was taken after ICC president David Morgan, vice-president Sharad Pawar and chief executive Haroon Lorgat met here yesterday to discuss the feedback from the task team briefings with stakeholders from England, Australia and New Zealand. "As a result of that feedback, Wednesday's meeting agreed that, subject to confirmation from the relevant participants, teleconferences would be called of the task team (on Friday) and the ICC Board (on Sunday)," an ICC statement said. The meeting was also attended by Pakistan Cricket Board's chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi. Prior to the two hook-ups, Lorgat will meet Cricket South Africa officials to brief them on the safety and security measures in place for the tournament. Bangladesh ready to play Melbourne: With Australia, New Zealand and England refusing to commit their participation in next month's Champions Trophy in Pakistan fearing the safety of their players, Bangladesh said they are ready to replace any team which pulls out of the tournament. Ninth in the world rankings, Bangladesh could slip into the eight-team Champions Trophy if a re-shuffle of teams is required and coach Jamie Siddons said his side is ready to play in the tournament if invited. "I think we're free to play if it happens but, personally, I can't see it happening. We've been called to Pakistan recently to fill in for the Aussies and we'll do it again if we get invited," Siddons was quoted as saying by The Age.— PTI |
|
Mendis phobia won’t last: Kapil
Jalandhar, August 21 Commenting upon the performance of the Indian cricket team he said the solution to tackle the fine bowling techniques of Mendis lies with the Indian cricketers. “Only the players can actually tell that whether there is any ‘Mendis factor’ looming large over them or not,” he said. Talking about the future of ICL Kapil said he hoped to successfully repeat the same performance in the upcoming matches too. “ICL played an excellent game last year and once again we would be back with the same level”, he added. On being asked about the decision of the Essel Group of Zee Telefilms to set up cricket academies in the country he quipped, “ICL is new in the country. We are planning things and when the right time will come we would definitely set up cricket academies to hone young talent”. To a query that given a chance to select Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly or VVS Lakshman in his team whom he would prefer? Kapil maintained that in a game like cricket personal interests need to be kept at bay. |
|
Defending champ Ryu makes early exit
Beijing, August 21 Ryu was slow off the mark against the relentless attack from Hong Kong's Ko Lai Chak, world number 32, dropping the first three games. Ko won the match 11-7 11-8 11-6 4-11 5-11 and 12-10. ''I was too hard on myself towards the end of the match, as I was so keen to win. I feel very regretful about losing the first three games so easily,'' Ryu said. Tenacious athleticism and a fierce topspin powered Ryu to gold in Athens but his form has slipped since then, as has his world ranking from 2nd to 8th. Ryu had dropped five of his eight singles matches in the team event, though his countrymen compensated for his struggles to lift South Korea to a bronze. ''Even though there has not been a great deal of pressure on me, I have met many strong players in this tournament,'' Ryu said. Hong Kong's Ko definitely counted among them. ''I know him well. I knew that I had to take the initiative in attacking. Both of us are poor at defence,” Ko said. — Reuters
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Beijing, August 21
Bhiwani, August 21
