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Paes-Bhupathi duo loses in semis
Prasad goes down fighting
Pakistan thrash Korea 3-0
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Hamm stands tall despite fall TT: Chinese top seeds ousted
Moya crashes out, Chile bag bronze
J&K minister chef-de-mission
Haryana eves enter last eight
India to host junior handball meet
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Paes-Bhupathi duo loses in semis Athens, August 19 Neither Leander nor Mahesh could put their game together against Germans who excelled both in service and their ground strokes. Now, Leander and Mahesh will play the bronze medal match where they take on the losers of the second semifinals between Croatia and Chile. The Germans never allowed their more fancied opponents to settle down. They broke the Indians' service in the fifth game and again in the seventh game to wrap up the first set at 6-2 in just 33 minutes. The second set was no better as both Mahesh and Leander lost their service games to give the Germans the match in 66 minutes. Men's third seed Carlos Moya of Spain crashed out of the Olympics singles tournament, beaten by the Chilean Nicolas Massu 6-2, 7-5 at the quarterfinal stage today. Countryman Fernando Gonzalez also progressed into the semifinals with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory over eighth seed Sebastien Grosjean of France ensuring Chile of at least a bronze medal. Massu and Gonzalez are also into the last four of the men's doubles. In the women's matches, third seed Anastasia Myskina of Russia cruised into the semifinals with a 6-1, 6-2 win over No 11 Francesca Schiavone of Italy. Japan's eighth seed Ai Sugiyama bowed out in a 4-6, 4-6 defeat to Alicia Molik of Australia. |
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Prasad goes down fighting
Athens, August 19 Prasad, who turns 26 next month, looked in his elements as he led his formidable opponent 139-138 at the end of the fifth and penultimate series, before Im displayed superb concentration and accuracy to reverse the course of the pre-quarterfinal in the last series. The Korean, who won the individual silver in the World Championship last year, levelled the score at 147 picking up nine points with his first arrow in the last series even as Prasad had to be satisfied with a nine-pointer. Both archers then hit ten-pointers with the next arrow, as the fight went to the wire at the historic Panathinaiko Stadium. With the fate of the tie depending on the 18th and last shot, the Korean struck a nine, but Prasad apparently became a bundle of nerves and managed only seven points to bow out of the competition. Prasad, who finished a lowly 48th in the ranking round before getting the better of Japan’s Yuji Hamano and Ron van der Hoff of The Netherlands in the first two rounds, hit seven ten-pointers and also found the bull’s eye once in the pulsating contest. The Indian returned impressive scores of 26, 29, 26, 29 and 29 in the first five series.
— PTI |
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Chance for Anjali to salvage pride
Athens, August 19 |
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IOA announces Rs 11 lakh for Rathore
Athens, August 19 IOA President
Suresh Kalmadi announced it at a party thrown in honour of the marksman
at a local restaurant here last night. — UNI |
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Indians 18th
in sailing
Athens, Aug 19 |
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Pakistan thrash Korea 3-0
Athens, August 19 In the clash between two top Asian teams, Pakistan, aiming for a gold medal after 20 years, played a scratchy first half but regrouped in the second to inflict a humiliating defeat on the Sydney Olympic silver medallists. Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi and Sohail Abbas scored the goals for Pakistan to take their team’s points tally to six from three outings. Pakistan, who last won the gold at the 1984 Los Angeles games, looked out of sorts in the first half preferring to get the measure of their wily opponents. But the Koreans also lacked the understanding and penetration to trouble the Pakistanis as both teams were unable to make any brilliant moves. But the breather seemed to do wonders for the Pakistanis as they went on the offensive from the word go and launched attacks from both flanks on the Korean goal. But it was a lucky deflection by centre forward Rehan Butt which broke the deadlock, as he barely connected a free hit from Abbas. With the Koreans pressing for an equaliser, the Pakistanis resorted to fast-paced counter-attacks and the move paid off as Abbasi capped off a brilliant move from Butt in the 56th minute. Penalty corner specialist Abbas made it 3-0 when he converted the team’s third penalty corner five minutes from time to take the game away from the Koreans. Earlier, Karel Klaver scored the winner in the penultimate minute as defending champions the Netherlands fought back to defeat South Africa 3-2. The Dutch, seeking a hat-trick of Olympic golds, were stung by two goals from Steven Evans and Ian Symonds which put the South Africans 2-0 ahead by the 23rd minute. But a disputed penalty corner goal by Geert-Jan Derikx six minutes before the interval and two in the second half by Teun de Nooijer and Klaver helped the Dutch take full points from the match. It was the third successive victory for the Netherlands in group B, while the South Africans would consider themselves unlucky to miss out. They are stuck on three points from as many games. Evans provided the perfect opening for South Africa when he beat the Dutch goalkeeper with a stinging reverse hit from the top of the circle in the 16th minute. Symons made it 2-0 soon after when he deflected in a penalty corner, only to see a disputed goal spark the Dutch fightback.
— Agencies |
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Hamm stands tall despite fall
Athens, August 19 Needing a 9.825 on high bar, his best event, to tie Kim Dae-eun of South Korea for gold, Hamm was dazzling. The highlight of his routine were his three straight release moves, and he did it to perfection. Hamm, the reigning world champion, threw himself up and over the bar, catching it on the way down once, twice and then a third time, soaring higher with each toss. As he caught the bar the third time, the crowd roared. Hamm’s dismount was perfect, and he hit the mat with a solid thud. Knowing the gold was his, Hamm thrust his fists into the air and threw his head back. He waved at the crowd and then sprinted off the podium clapping his hands while his coach, Miles Avery, jumped up and down on the sideline. The celebrations were just beginning. When Hamm’s score of 9.837 flashed, the arena went into a frenzy. Hamm’s triumph ended 52 years of Soviet and Asian domination of the men’s all-round competition and vindicated the USA’s decision to completely revamp their training methods. Since 1952, the men’s all-round gold had belonged exclusively to gymnasts from the former Soviet Union, Japan or China. Before Hamm’s come-from-behind win, the US men’s team had won only one all-round medal in Olympic history — a silver for Peter Vidmar on home ground in Los Angeles in 1984 when the Soviet Union boycotted the games.
— AP, Reuters |
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TT: Chinese top seeds ousted
Athens, August 19 Wang, the Olympic singles and doubles champion, and Zhang will play South Korean third seeds Lee Eun-sil and Seok Eun-mi in the final after they thrashed compatriots Kim Bok-rae and Kim Kyung-ah 4-0 in the other semi-final. In the men’s doubles quarter-finals Chinese top seeds Chen Qi and Ma Lin polished off Polish pair Lucjan Blaszczyk and Tomasz Krzeszewski 4-1. Sweden’s Jan-Ove Waldner, the 38-year-old who upset Ma in the singles on Wednesday, was eliminated when he and partner Jorgen Persson lost 4-1 to Danes Michael Maze and Finn Tugwell. Russia’s Dimitrij Mazunov and Alexei Smirnov beat South Korean fourth seeds Lee Chul-seung and Ryu Seung-min 4-1.
— Reuters |
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Zhang gives China badminton
gold
Athens, August 19 She finished runner-up for Indonesia as a 16-year-old prodigy at the 1996 Atlanta games. It was the first-ever badminton medal for the Dutch. |
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Popov fails to qualify in 50m
Athens, August 19 Popov (32), tied for 18th with a time of 22.58 seconds — well off the world record of 21.64 he set in June 2000. Van den Hoogenband, the 100 free gold medalist, was 17th in 22.56 — just three-hundredths of a second out of the 16th and last berth. Gary Hall Jr, the defending Olympic champion, qualified with the fastest time. Hall, who tied teammate Anthony Ervin for gold at the Sydney Games and finished second to Popov in 1996, was clocked 22.04. Frederick Bousquet of France was second in 22.24 and Bart Kizierowski of Poland was third in 22.26. The results were as surprising as the 100 free, when Popov was eliminated in the semifinals Popov became the first man to win consecutive 50 freestyle Olympic titles when he won at Barcelona in 1992 and at Atlanta four years later. Van den Hoogenband blamed his failure in the 50 on the exciting aftermath of his victory in the 100 freestyle yesterday night. He got about four hours’ sleep, staring at the ceiling of his room before stepping out on the balcony to see the sights. “I was not focused. I knew this could happen,” the Dutchman said. “Yesterday I was so happy. I don’t care about the 50.” Van den Hoogenband could hardly make his way around the athletes’ village, the bus and the pool without being stopped by admirers. In the men’s 100 butterfly, Ian Crocker of the United States qualified from first place in 52.03. Andriy Serdinov of Ukraine was second in 52.05, ahead of Michael Phelps, in 52.35. Geoff Huegill of Australia, the 2000 bronze medalist, was fifth. In the women’s 800 freestyle, Laure Manaudou of France, who won the 400 freestyle in Athens, qualified first in 8:25.91 and Rebecca Cooke of Britain was second in 8:28.47. The United States has won the event in five straight Olympics, including consecutive titles by Janet Evans in 1988 and 1992, whose 15-year-old world record still stands, and Brooke Bennett, who won in 1996 and 2000, but didn’t make the team for Athens.
— AP |
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Moya crashes out, Chile bag bronze
Athens, August 19 Countryman Fernando Gonzalez also progressed into the semifinals with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory over eighth seed Sebastien Grosjean of France ensuring Chile of at least a bronze medal. Massu and Gonzalez are also into the last four of the men's doubles. In the women's matches, third seed Anastasia Myskina of Russia cruised into the semifinals with a 6-1, 6-2 win over No 11 Francesca Schiavone of Italy. Japan's
eighth seed Ai Sugiyama bowed out in a 4-6, 4-6 defeat to Alicia Molik
of Australia.
— DPA
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Athens, August 19 The Japanese came into the tournament as a heavy favourite after last year’s world silver medallist, Regla Zulueta, defected to the USA from Cuba and could not compete at the Olympics. In the final, Ueno met Edith Bosch of the Netherlands. The match featured a contrast in style and body types — Ueno is short and stocky and Bosch is tall and lean. Ueno used her lower centre of gravity while Bosch made attacks from all angles. After two minutes, Ueno got the advantage and took the Dutch athlete down with an ippon — or full takedown. — AP
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J&K minister chef-de-mission
Srinagar, August 19 Ali has already left for Athens and will be in charge for the second half of the games, an official spokesman said. All-India Football Federation President and Union Minister for Water Resources Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, who was chef-de-mission for the first half of the games, has returned to New Delhi. This is the first time that a minister from Jammu and Kashmir has been nominated by the Union Sports Ministry to head the Indian contingent.
— PTI |
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Haryana eves enter last eight
Kapurthala, August 19 Haryana controlled the game in the midfield. They forced 12 penalty corners in reply to three by Tamil Nadu. However, the Haryana girls, trained by former Indian coach Baldev Singh, could convert only one penalty corner when Anshul sounded the board with a direct powerful shot in the 19th minute. Earlier, centre forward Ritu Rani had given Haryana the lead with a field goal in the 13th minute. Tamil Nadu tried hard to score and their efforts bore fruit in the 31st minute when inside-right Ramaihiaha caught the Haryana defence on the wrong foot before scoring a field goal. The second session proved unproductive as no team could convert the chances that came their way. Delhi commenced their group F league programme with an easy 5-0 victory over Andhra Pradesh, who had trounced Bhopal 11-0 in their opening outing. Delhi centre forward Savita (11th and 44th minutes) contributed one goal in each half. Outside-right Seema had put them ahead in the 10th minute. Right half Bubly (27th minute, penalty corner) and Sushila (49th minute) also scored one goal each.
— UNI |
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SAI
testing lab comes under cloud Chandigarh, August 19 Among the lifters tested positive at Athens was India’s Pratima Kumari, who was scheduled to take part in the 63kg category yesterday along with Sydney Olympics bronze medallist Karnam Malleswari. But the question is: why could not the Sports Authority of India (SAI) dope testing laboratory in New Delhi, where all Indian lifters who were bound for Athens were subjected to testing, detect that Pratima, winner of two gold medals at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002, was using some banned substance? And that too when the Indian Olympic Association is seeking IOC recognition for the New Delhi laboratory. But even for this the IOA had a ready reply: while the New Delhi laboratory only tested the urine samples of the athletes, at Athens the lifters were subjected to a blood test. Then are we to assume that this facility is not available at the SAI laboratory? Prior to taking part in the Olympics, the Indian lifters — incidentally all were women, with no male lifter having qualified — practised for over 50 days in Belarus at the insistence of Belarussian coach Leonid Taranenko, who was of the opinion that the facilities at the SAI’s Bangalore centre were not up to the mark. The Weightlifting Federation of India agreed to the proposal but added a rider: the lifters had to come back to India, undergo a dope test and then go to Athens. But even this precaution failed to catch the cheater! |
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India to host
junior handball meet
Athens, August 19 |
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