Spa-Francorchamps, August 30
After 29 false starts, the Vijay Mallya-owned Force India finally nixed the hoodoo and scored their maiden Formula One points with Giancarlo Fisichella finishing second in the Belgian Grand Prix here today.

The 36-year-old Italian driver, rumoured to have one foot in Ferrari, shunned extravagance to run a flawless race and trailed Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari, which had snatched the lead using the Kinetic Energy Recovery System, all the way for a podium finish and earn eight valuable points.

The Italian finished less than a second behind Raikkonen. Fisichella's Force India teammate Adrian Sutil had a rather rollercoaster outing with the German eventually finishing 11th.

With this, Fisichella renewed his tryst with Spa, which has traditionally been benign to him. It was at the same track in 1997 that Fisichella had finished second in a Jordan car.

For a car without the KERS boost, Fisichella displayed amazing racecraft in a race marked and marred by opening lap pile-up, early safety car and pit-stop fumbles. The opening lap scramble cost defending champion Lewis Hamilton and current drivers' title leader Jenson Button their races as both spun off.

The turn five mishap also ended the race for Renault rookie Romain Grosjean and Torro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari.

Even though Fisichella was elated with the show, the 36-year-old Italian felt he could have won the race but for KERS.

"Of course I could have won it. It's a great result. The target was to win our first points and I finished second to get eight points. So that is great but I'm still a little sad since I could have won the race," Fisichella said.

Colombo, August 30
Sri Lanka clinched second spot behind South Africa in the official rankings as they swept aside New Zealand by 96 runs in the final cricket Test today to sweep the series 2-0. Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath claimed five wickets as the Kiwis, set an improbable victory target of 494 runs, were bowled out for 397 in their second innings just before tea on the fifth day.

Sri Lanka had to overcome spirited batting by Kiwi captain Daniel Vettori and heavy rain during the lunch break that delayed resumption by 35 minutes to build on their 202-run win in the first Test at Galle. Vettori hit 140, his fourth Test century, to lead a stirring fightback by the lower order after the top batsmen had failed to put up any resistance.

The left-hander frustrated the Sri Lankans for more than four hours in which he faced 189 deliveries and hit 16 boundaries, before he was last man to be dismissed. Vettori scored 272 runs and claimed 10 wickets in the series, and in the process became only the eighth batsman in the world to achieve the double of 3,000 runs and 300 wickets. — AFP

Scoreboard

Sri Lanka (1st innings) 416
New Zealand (1st innings) 234
Sri Lanka (2nd innings) 311-5 dec
New Zealand (2nd innings)
(overnight 182-6)

McIntosh b Prasad 7

Guptill c P. Jayawardene b Herath 28

Flynn lbw Herath 50

Taylor Jayawardene b Herath 27

Ryder lbw Herath 38

McCullum b Muralitharan 13

Oram c Sangakkara b Dilshan 56

Vettori c Herath b Muralitharan 140

Patel c Kapugedera b Muralitharan 12

O’Brien c P. Jayawardene b Herath 12

Martin not out 0

Extras (lb 13, nb 1) 14

Total: (all out, 123.5 overs) 397

Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-41, 3-97, 4-131, 5-158, 6-176, 7-300, 8-318, 9-387, 10-397.

Bowling: Paranavitana 1-0-2-0, Thushara 23.3-1-78-0, Prasad 15-1-56-1, Herath 48-9-139-5, Muralitharan 28.2-2-85-3, Dilshan 6-0-15-1, Kapugedera 2-0-9-0.

New Delhi, August 30
Defending champions India start as underdogs when they take on last year’s runners-up Syria in the final of the 14th editon of the $100000 prize money Nehru Cup International Football Tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium here tomorrow night.

N.P.Pradeep’s superb goal to get the match-winner against Syria to help India lift the prestigious Nehru Cup for the first time is till savoured by fans who had thronged the Ambedkar Stadium last year to watch the cerebral contest. Another high-voltage drama is sure to unfold when hosts India clash against Syria tomorrow, though this time, the visitors hold the upper hand on the sheer strength of their unbeaten record.

Syria maintained an all-win record to log the maximum 12 points to storm into the final while India made the grad with two wins and as many defeats. The Indians were lucky that they were declared as having made the final cut even before Sri Lanka took on Kyrgyzstan, on the basis of their “head to head” victory against the Island nation in the round-robin league round.

This ruling of the All India Football Federation came as a surprise, though the rule existed, and Sri Lanka did not in any case create an embarrassing situation to the hosts as they were beaten fair and square by Kyrgyzstan to notch their first victory. India suffered a numbing jolt when Lebanon stunned them in the opening match.

Though they made up by beating Kyrgyzstan and Sri Lanka to earn six points, the defeat at the hands of Syria, though inconsequential, in the last round-robin league match yesterday, is a warning about the things to unfold in the final on Monday.

The Indian attack still centres around the nippy, 32-year-old power house, Baichung Bhutia, whose uncanny knack to score goals from improbable situations and positions is legendary. Bhutia, who has logged over 100 international matches for the country - the first Indian soccer player ever to achieve the feat--set the ball rolling for goals both against Kyrgyzstan and Sri Lanka.

Though he was rested against Syria, he will certainly play the pivotal role in the title clash. Bhutia’s able foil in the strike line, Sunil Chhetri, has not been in fine form, though Climax Lawrence has worked his heart out to not only fashion moves, setup goals, but strike a goal himself.

N.P.Pradeep and Climax Lawrence have also been valuable assets for the game plan of chief coach Bob Houghton, and the role played by the tall custodian Subrata Paul has been exemplary. 

Punjabi University vice chancellor (R) recieves the MAKA Trophy from President Pratibha Patil in New Delhi on Saturday. A Tribune photograph

Patiala, August 30
Punjabi University, Patiala, proved its supremacy in no uncertain terms in the field of sports by winning the coveted Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy for its overall best performance in the All-India Inter-University competitions held during the year 2007-08. In the process, it emerged as the “Best Sports University” of the country for the second time in a row, even as it tremendously enhanced its tally of medals bagged during the previous year.

University’s Vice-Chancellor, Dr Jaspal Singh received the Trophy alongwith a cash prize of Rs 10 lakhs from the President of India, Dr Pratibha Devi Patil in the Ashoka Hall of Rashtarpati Bhawan in New Delhi yesterday. Earlier, the University had entered a new leaf in the annals of its history by clinching the Trophy last year for the first time since its inception by dethroning GNDU, Amritsar.

Dr Jaspal Singh in a statement here today said that “August 29 seems to have occupied the status of a distinctive day for Punjabi University. It was this day last year when I had the privilege of receiving the prestigious Trophy from the President of India. I felt myself on cloud nine with a repeat show on the same day this year, he said.

Another significant feature of winning the MAKA Trophy by Punjabi University this time was immensely improving upon the haul of medals that it had targeted during 2006-07. While it was 107 gold, 47 silver and 44 bronze medals that time, it was 132 gold, 64 silver and 21 bronze medals in 12 events in the Inter-University competitions held during 2007-08. Punjabi University won top positions in 13 team events, while it cornered second and third positions in eight and two team events, respectively. 

New York, August 30
Roger Federer and Serena Williams will begin the defence of their U.S. Open titles at Flushing Meadows on Monday, while Kim Clijsters returns to grand-slam tennis for the first time in two years. World number one Federer, chasing a modern-day record sixth straight title at Flushing Meadows, plays American wild card Devin Britton in the first round in his first grand-slam event since the birth of his twin daughters last month.

The Swiss, bidding to add the U.S. Open to the French Open and Wimbledon titles he won earlier this year, is hoping to equal the mark set by American Bill Tilden in the 1920s. Moreover, Federer can extend his record of grand-slam wins to 16 by winning in New York.

It is a far cry from 12 months ago when he arrived in New York without having won one of the first three grand slams for the first time since 2002. “I’m just more relaxed this time,” he said. “I’ve already won slams this year.

That takes away pressure from having to do well here, like the feeling I had last year, not having won a slam last year, trying to get the first one. This year is different. I feel like I’m playing great. That gives me obviously a lot of confidence and relaxes my mind.”

Andy Roddick opens his campaign against German Bjorn Phau. Women’s champion Serena Williams, seeded second, plays fellow American Alexa Glatch in the first round. Victory for Williams over the next two weeks would give her a 12th grand-slam title, equalling Billie-Jean King’s mark.

Serena's sister, third seed Venus Williams, plays the first night match against Russian Vera Dushevina, while the tournament begins with the return of Clijsters after two years off the tour. — Reuters

Prakash Amritraj was the last player, who represented India in a Grand Slam when he played in the US Open in 2002. Somdev broke Jerzy once and saved a breakpoint to clinch the first set. Then he converted two more chances in the second set to get closer to a memorable win. Somdev had earlier failed in all three attempts to book a berth in singles competition of a Grand Slam event. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Vijay On Track: The Indian Grand Prix for 2011 is on track. The promoters of the event have acquired land and spent significant money in getting the track built, together with surrounding infrastructure. — Vijay Mallya 

Indian cricketers wrap up camp
BANGALORE: The Indian cricket team wrapped up its four-day preparatory camp for the upcoming tri-series in Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy with a final session of batting and bowling drills here on Sunday. Most players who packed their bags on Sunday are playing in the season-opener Sahara BCCI Corporate Trophy to be staged from September 1 to 8 at Mohali, Vishakhapatnam, Dharamsala and Bangalore. — PTI

Tiger Woods reacts after missing his birdie putt on the 16th hole during third round play of The Barclays golf tournament in Jersey City, New Jersey on Saturday. — Reuters

Review Nielsen’s role: Buchanan
MELBOURNE: The 2-1 Ashes defeat has forced former Australian coach John Buchanan to call for a review of his successor Tim Nielsen’s position and said the cricket Board needs to find solutions to the problems rather looking for scapegoats. “The coaching position needs to be looked at, whether we need a restructure of the position and the personnel,” Buchanan said. — PTI

Butt planning Altaf’s PCB ouster
KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board COO Saleem Altaf could be sacked by next week as PCB chairman Ejaz Butt is expected to pass a vote of no confidence against him in a governing council meeting. Well placed sources in the PCB said that Butt was expected by next week to make his move to oust Altaf. “He has been in touch with the governing council members and wants them to pass a vote of no confidence against Altaf,” one source pointed out. — PTI

Shiv Kapur tied seventh
SCOTLAND: Shiv Kapur squandered a rollicking start to settle for a level-par card that had the Delhi golfer tied for the seventh place after the penultimate round of the Johnnie Walker Championships here. After rounds of 69, 70 and 72, Shiv lies three shots behind leader Peter Hedblom (208) and a top five result here would go a long way to salvage his European Tour card. — PTI

AIFF to take legal opinion
NEW DELHI: The All India Football federation on Sunday decided to refer the dispute between Baichung Bhutia and Mohun Bagan to an arbitrator after a meeting between the two parties failed to break the deadlock. “Both the sides took a very firm view that they were right on the issue, so we cannot take a ruling. So we will seek a legal solution now,” acting President Praful Patel said. — PTI

Wenger to receive apology
LONDON: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is to receive an apology from the head of the Premier League referees body Keith Hackett after his dismissal just before the end of his side’s 2-1 defeat at Manchester United on Saturday. Wenger was sent to the stands when fourth official Lee Probert called over referee Mike Dean after the Arsenal manager kicked a water bottle along the touchline after Arsenal were denied a late equaliser for offside. — Reuters