Paes-Bhupathi open their
campaign with easy win

SYDNEY, Sept 20: Leander Paes lost his men’s singles match against Swede Mikael Tillstrom, but later made amends by routing Romania’s....more

Paes out of singles
Gurcharan’s show
highlight of day
five for India

SYDNEY, Sept 20: A day after weightlifter Karnam Malleswari’s historic bronze-winning feat, boxer Gurcharan Singh....more

Gurcharan and tennis
duo give some
happy moments

SYDNEY, Sept 20: Light-heavy boxer Gurcharan Singh and tennis duo Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi provided the victory touch for India on.....more

Sports heroes’ kit on
offer in charity auction

SYDNEY, Sept 20: Fancy wearing US Olympic track star Marion Jones’s shoes, peering through ......more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Sept 20: The Jammu and Kashmir State Sports Council has decided to take up the working of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) coaches............more

Nikhil-Sheetal team wins
Kashmiri quiz contest

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Sept 20: The team of Nikhil Raina and Sheetal Koul won Rs 10,000 cash prize and a trophy for securing first position in the quiz ......more

HSS Udhampur girls
beat Happy Model
in U-19 Cricket final

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

UDHAMPUR, Sept 20: Higher Secondary School, Udhampur defeated Happy Model Higher Secondary School, Udhampur by 25 runs in the Inter-school girls under-19 yrs Cricket Tournament which was held here today..........more

Inter-distt Indoor sports
competitions begin

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Sept 20: Mrs Veena Bakshi, Divisional Youth Services and Sports Officer, Jammu declared the Inter-district Indoor Sports meet of Jammu Province open.....more

Miss Hardeep Kour, who has been selected for the national coaching camp for U-18/U-16 camp to be held in November at Bangalore. The Indian team after the coaching camp will participate in the forthcoming tournaments at Hong Kong and China. Also seen in the picture is her coach, Dalbir Mehta of J&K State Sports Council.

Paes-Bhupathi open their campaign with easy win

SYDNEY, Sept 20: Leander Paes lost his men’s singles match against Swede Mikael Tillstrom, but later made amends by routing Romania’s Andrei Pavel and Gabriel Trifu in the doubles tie partnering Mahesh Bhupathi at the Olympic tennis championship here today.

Atlanta Games bronze medallist Paes lost to the strong Swede Tillstrom, the world no. 61, 2-6 4-6 in less than an hour in his singles first round encounter.

However, he put behind his disappointment in the company of his partner Bhupathi to thrash Pavel and Trifu 6-3 6-4 in 69 minutes in the first round of the doubles.

The Indian stars, who have come together again after their acrimonious break-up last year, have their task cut out now with a second-round clash against title-favourites tood Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde looming up large before them.

The Indian duo, winner of the French Open and Wimbledon doubles titles last year, need to improve on their game to take on the great ‘Woodies’.

After the comfortable win over Pavel and Trifu they said, "we are coming back after a long lay-off".

The Indians broke Trifu’s serve in the fourth game which was enough to give them the first set in 31 minutes. Then the duo broke Pavel’s serve in the very first game of the second set before clinching it in 38 minutes for the match. (AGENCIES)

Paes out of singles
Gurcharan’s show highlight of day five for India

SYDNEY, Sept 20: A day after weightlifter Karnam Malleswari’s historic bronze-winning feat, boxer Gurcharan Singh brought more cheer to the Indian camp with a well-merited 11-9 win over South Korea’s Choi Ki-Soo in the first round of the light-heavyweight class at the Olympic Games here today.

The 23-year-old Gurcha at the 1998 Banglok Asian Games, overcame the Korean’s skills at gamesmanship to emerge a clear-cut winner in the bout to join middleweight compatriot Jitender Kumar in the second round of the boxing competition.

After making his customary slow start, the Indian boxer, hailing from Punjab, stepped up the tempo of his aggression to take a handy 9-5 lead midway through his bout against Choi who even resorted at times to falling on the canvas in order to recover poise and breath in the aftermath of the Indian’s ferocious left-right onslaught.

Gurcharan, who had stopped the same rival at the Olympic qualifying tournament in the Korean’s backyard at Seoul on way to winning the gold, then held off Choi’s late fightback to emerge winner on points.

However, India’s hopes continued to take a beating on other fronts on the fifth day of competitions.

Their star performer at the last games, Atlanta bronze medal winner Leander Paes, was beaten soundly by Sweden’s Mikael Tillstrom 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the tennis men’s singles event.

Paes, who is to play in the doubles partnering Mahesh Bhupathi, had fetched India their first individual medal at the Olympics in 44 years, and only their second overall, at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

India’s last shooting medal hope Anjali Vedpathak and rider Imtiaz Anees also dished out uninspiring performances in the women’s 50m small-bore rifle 3-position event and the equestrian individual competition respectively.

Anjali, after becoming the first Indian to make the final of a shooting event at the Olympics while ending up eighth in the 10m air rifle event earlier in the week, finished a lowly 33rd among the 42 starters in the 3-position event which is not her favourite.

Anjali, entered here in the event to give her more international exposure, scored 196 out of 200 in prone position and 185 out of 200 both in standing and kneeling positions to tally 566 out of a possible 600.

The 30-year-old rifle shooter was 19 points behind the top three in the preliminary stage of the event and eventually ended up way behind in ther standings.

Anjali’s exit brought down the curtains on India’s unsucessful campaign at the shooting range.

Teenaged rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra had finished an impressive joint eleventh in the men’s air rifle event after failing to make the cut for the final by just one point while trap shooter Anwar Sultan secured a lowly joint 26th position in the men’s 75-bird event.

Anees was way behind in 32nd position in a field of 35 after the first day of the three-day equestrian individual event. (PTI)

Gurcharan and tennis duo give some happy moments

SYDNEY, Sept 20: Light-heavy boxer Gurcharan Singh and tennis duo Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi provided the victory touch for India on an otherwise bleak fifth day at the Olympic Games here today.

Bangkok Asian Games bronze medallist Gurcharan pounded out an impressive 11-9 first round win over tough South Korean rival Choi Ki-Soo to join middleweight compatriot Jitender Kumar in the second round of the boxing competition.

Paes and Bhupathi, French and Wimbledon doubles champions last year before their acrimonious break-up, lined themselves up for an engrossing second-round clash with title-favourites Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde of Australia by scoring a fluent 6-3 6-4 victory over Rumanians Andrei Pavel and Gabriel Trifu.

These two victories for India, coming a day after weightlifter Karnam Malleswari had become the toast of the nation by opening India’s account here with a bronze-winning show in the 69 kg class, were like Oasis in a desert of non-achievements.

Atlanta games singles bronze winner Paes, in fact, had to put behind him the disappointment of losing in straight sets (2-6 4-6) to hard-hitting Swede Mikael Tillstrom in the first round and rise to the occasion with Bhupathi to brush aside the Romanian duo of Pavel and Trifu in 69 minutes.

Elsewhere, India’s tag of also-rans continued with their woman rifle shooter Anjali Vedpathak, who had an impressive outing in the air rifle event in which she became the first Indian to make the final, and rider Imtiaz Anees turning in listless displays.

India’s last shooting medal hope Anjali finished a distant 33rd among 42 competitors in the women’s small-bore rifle 3-position event by tallying 566 out of a possible 600 points.

The 30-year-old Anjali, entered in the event to give her more international exposure, scored 196 out of 200 in prone position and 185 out of 200 both in standing and kneeling positions. Her exit brought down the curtains on India’s unsuccessful campaign at the shooting range.

Teenaged rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra had finished an impressive joint eleventh in the men’s air rifle event after failing to make the cut for the final by just one point while trap shooter anwar sultan secured a lowly joint 26th position in the men’s 75-bird event.

Rider anees was way behind in 32nd position in a field of 35 after the first day of the three-day equestrian individual event and will have to improve drastically in the last two days to entertain hopes of a medal.

Gurcharan’s show was, thus, easily the most heart-warming for the Indian camp today. The 23-year-old from Punjab overcame the Korean’s skills at gamesmanship to emerge a clear-cut winner in his bout against Choi.

After making his customary slow start, the Indian boxer, stepped up the tempo of his aggression to take a handy 9-5 lead midway through his bout against Choi who even resorted at times to falling on the canvas in order to recover poise and breath in the aftermath of the Indian’s ferocious left-right onslaught.

Gurcharan, who had stopped the same rival at the Olympic qualifying tournament in the Korean’s backyard at Seoul on way to winning the gold, then held off Choi’s late fightback to emerge winner on points.

At the end of the fifth day the Indian interest has dwindled down drastically and their competitors are now in the fray in only five out of the 12 disciplines entered in at the beginning of the games.

Indians have made their exit from badminton, table tennis, shooting, weightlifting, rowing, judo and swimming.

For the moment their main hopes rest with their hockey team which has started its campaign to win a medal at the Olympics for the first time in 20 years on a very encouraging note with a fluent 3-0 win over Argentina and a rousing 2-2 draw with favourites Australia.

The Indians take on South Korea tomorrow in their third group B encounter and a win in that tie will enhance their semi-final hopes.

In tennis, if the Indian duo of Paes and Bhupathi score over the "Woodies" in their next clash their path later seems a smooth one up to the medal round.

An Indian wrestler, Gurbinder Singh (63 kg Greco-Roman style), and their large (29-member) athletics squad are yet to be seen in action at these millennium games. (PTI)

Sports heroes’ kit on offer in charity auction

SYDNEY, Sept 20: Fancy wearing US Olympic track star Marion Jones’s shoes, peering through swimmer Ian Thorpe’s goggles, or hitting out with Pat Rafter’s tennis racquet?

Sports fans around the world can now not only watch their heroes at the Sydney Olympics. They can also buy some of the gear used by champion athletes in an auction being organised by Olympic aid to raise funds for disadvantaged children.

Norway’s four-time winter Olympics gold medallist Johann Olav Koss won’t name names or reveal what sort of items he is hoping to attract from Olympic athletes for the auction, but he wants to raise a 5 million by the close of the Sydney Games.

"Obviously we would hope to work with the greatest names in athletics, swimming, cycling, and gymnastics," the Olympic Aid chairman told Reuters.

Olympic Aid has special collection points at the athletes village in Sydney and is appealing to athletes from every country and sport to donate items of clothing or gear used during the games for the auction which is being held on the internet on www.olympicaid.com.

It will be hoping to attract not only the obvious big names, but athletes who are huge in their regions or in less well-known sports like badminton boy wonder Taufik Hidayat, who is treated like a pop star by Indonesia’s badminton-mad millions.

Former Olympic speed skater Koss does not like to describe his work for Olympic Aid as a mission. Rather it is to him a privilege, like competing in the games.

"I’ve been very fortunate in my life," he said. "I’ve had the opportunity to be in the Olympics and been able to pursue my dreams in my sport.

"But I’ve also been fortunate enough to be able to travel to disadvantaged areas around the world and I’ve seen how much you can do with so little," he said.

"I just want all the athletes to be part of that."

Since being established at the Lillehammer Games in 1994 as an athlete-driven group, Olympic Aid has raised US 31 million. It has built a hospital in Sarajevo, established 150 schools in Eritrea, and helped vaccinate more than 12 million children.

One of its main aims is to allow children to experience the joy of sport, and it operates under the motto: "All children have the right to play".

Koss saw what sport could do in strife-torn Rwanda in 1996 when Olympic Aid set up a programme of football and running games at a centre for trauma-stricken orphans.

There was, for him, one special child, a six-year-old girl who had not spoken for two years. Wearing a blue dress and a wooden leg, the legacy of a landmine explosion, she watched on, apparently unmoved for some time. Suddenly, he said, she joined in the race for a soccer ball, yelling with excitement.

"It was as little as three hours after that that she began to speak, to have some interest in others and to open up," Koss recalled. "After a week or so, we found out that she had seen both her parents killed, right in front of her."

Donations from athletes in Sydney have started slowly, but Koss said that is to be expected with most yet to finish their competitions. But it already has some gems.

One unique item up for bidding is a pair of yellow boxing gloves worn by East Timorese boxer Victor Ramos who a year ago was hiding out in the mountains as pro-Indonesian militia unleashed a wave of killing and destruction, but came to Sydney with his teammates under the Olympic flag.

Another boxing great, Muhammad Ali, has donated a signed shirt which on Wednesday had attracted a bid of US 760, while a Presidential Olympic pin featuring the five Olympic rings in gold, given by International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Juan Antonio Samaranch was going for 455, having opened at 100.

Fifty percent of the money raised will be spent in Australia, much of it on disadvantaged Indigenous children. (REUTERS)

Sports Council to make SAI coaches accountable

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Sept 20: The Jammu and Kashmir State Sports Council has decided to take up the working of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) coaches posted in the state, with their higher ups in order to make them accountable.

First step in this direction has already been taken by the Secretary, State Sports Council, Sheikh Fazal Ahmed by asking them to submit their monthly diaries with the Sports Officer at Jammu and Srinagar, respectively.

This was stated by the Secretary himself in a chat with the newsmen, here.

Under the new arrangements, the SAI coaches, who got posted in the state on the request of the Sports Council, will work according to their (Sports Council) guidelines.

The SAI coaches, according to the Secretary have the latest techniques of coaching, so they can perform better in the areas of Sports Council’s interest. But, at present, majority of these coaches are not doing their duties the way they should, he said and added when they are drawing handsome salaries, they should do justice with the sports and sportspersons.

First initiative in this regard was taken three months back, when these coaches were asked to maintain their diaries daily and submit the same to their higher-ups at Chandigarh through Sports Officer every month. Earlier, SAI coaches used to send their monthly diaries directly at Chandigarh.

According to the sources, the need for this arrangement arose in the wake of the manipulative diaries maintained by these coaches and subsequently submitted to their officials.

And, now in such cases, Sports Officer of the J&K State Sports Council can visit the coaching centers being run by these coaches for on the spot assessment.