Olympics head promises crackdown on bribes

LAUSANNE, Dec 14: The integrity of the Olympics will be protected, the head of the international organization said Sunday, responding to the biggest corruption scandal in the Olympics’ 104-year history.

"If we have to clean, we will clean," Juan Antonio Samaranch said. "After, the IOC will be even stronger than before."

Samaranch said yesterday that the crisis was as serious for the International Olympic Committee as the political boycotts of the 1980s and Ben Johnson’s drug scandal at the 1988 Seoul Games.

"They were difficult moments, and now we are facing another difficult moment," he said. "But I am sure that we will solve this problem. After the black day, the sun will come again."

Shaken by allegations of vote-buying and payoffs leveled by one of his own senior aides, Samaranch said, "I am not happy, but my obligation as President of the IOC is to look forward to try to solve the problems and to reinforce the Olympic movement."

Samaranch ruled out any possibility of taking the 2002 Winter Olympics away from salt lake city as a result of the scandal over scholarship funds benefiting relatives of IOC members.

"Salt Lake officials apologised yesterday for the

embarrassment’’ caused by the controversy.

Samaranch spoke at a news conference at the close of another extraordinary day at IOC headquarters. Senior Swiss official Marc Hodler "the man who made the bombshell corruption allegations Saturday claimed he was muzzled" by Samaranch and might be kicked out of the IOC.

Samaranch ruled out expelling hodler, but said he was taken aback by his allegations and disappointed that he had made them to the media and not the IOC.

"For me, I was really surprised," Samaranch said. "If he has names and evidence, he must go to the executive board."

Hodler cited alleged irregularities in the election of at least four Olympic cities Atlanta, Nagano, Japan Sydney, Australia and Salt Lake.

Samaranch said Hodler’s allegations would be considered by a special panel investigating the Salt Lake case. (AP)

India move into winning position against Welllington

WELLINGTON, Dec 14: Medium-pacer Robin Singh jr, seeking his test debut, today bowled himself into contention for next week’s series opener, as India fought back brilliantly to move into a winning position against Wellington on the penultimate day of the four-day game at Basin Reserve here.

Thecricketer from Delhi, who had a lucky break when Ajit Agarkar pulled out of the team just before the squad left Mumbai, rocked Wellington with a three-wicket burst as the home team was skittled out for a paltry 124 in the second innings, leaving India a target of 174 to win in one and a half days.

The tourists were 30 for one at stumps, needing another 144 runs with nine wickets in hand to score a morale-boosting win ahead of the first test at Dunedin commencing on December 18.

Robin Singh finished with fine figures of 3 for 30, which included the wicket of home team skipper Roger Twose who made 99 in the first innings. He was well-supported by spinners Anil Kumble (3 for 26) and Sunil Joshi (2 for 14) as Wellington were bundled out 50.1 overs.

The tourists, who trailed Wellington by 49 runs on the first innings by making 268 in reply to the home team’s 317, had lost opener Ajay Jadeja (11) before close.

India had lost the tour opener against Central Districts at Napier last week. (PTI)

GWC Parade excels in combined annual training camp

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 14: Deepika Raina, Payal Kapoor, Sakshi Arora, Kamlesh Sharma, Mukta Kant and Rekha Devi of Government Women College (GWC), Parade Ground, here have been selected for Republic Day camp.

There selections were made in the combined annual training camp held at Nagrota from November 28 to December 9.

Parade College students also got a number of medals in other competitions. Miss Neelam Saini got gold for best shooter and firing and Supreet Kaur got silver in firing. Deepika Raina was awarded as best cadet, while Deepika Raina and Saakshi Arora were best voice comparers.

Shallu Chib, Suman Manhas and Supreet Kaur got second prize in drill competition. While, Deepika and Arti got gold medals in CMS rally. Shallu Chib and Kamlesh also got gold in CMC rally for piloting, whereas, Saakshi Arora was declared best MC.

No. 13 proves golden for Thais at asian games

BANGKOK, Dec 14: Thirteen has proved a lucky number for Thailand, where millions swear by the numbers.

At the 13th Asian Games yesterday December.13 the hosts reached their record number of gold medals 13.

Thailand’s best previous performance at Asia’s version of the olympics was 12 gold at the 1966 games in Bangkok. Before the current event started, Thai sports officials had targeted just 10 golds.

The Thais, including political leaders, are great believers in numerology and frequently make decisions based on numbers.

Trashy art: Spectators at the Asian Games are being asked to throw trash into art.

To recycle some of the 70 tonnes of rubbish discarded daily at one of the major sports complexes, four plastic sculptures are being used as mega-garbage cans.

Encouraged by free gifts, fans at the Thammasat Sports Complex are urged to toss empty aluminum cans into the sculptures for recycling. Additionally, the Asian Games rubbish contractors employ 600 people just to keep the one complex clean.

Tuk-Tuk threat: Drivers of Bangkok’s noisy, fume-belching but beloved "Tuk-Tuk" taxis are threatening to strand athletes and officials at the Asian Games.

Some 70 drivers of the three-wheeled, open-sided vehicles were hired to shuttle games’ participants at the Thammasat Sports Complex, one of the major games centers.

They first went on strike before the games started December 6 because they had not been paid their promised daily allowance of 300 baht (8 dollars) even though they had been working since November.

Now, about 20 of the drivers have gone home while the rest are threatening to strike again. They don’t trust organisers to honour the contract since the last payment is not due until December. 23 when the games will have finished.

Negotiations are under way.

Ticketless Thais: Thais scouring for hard-to-get tickets to watch their soccer team play at the Asian Games have turned to touts, who in turn are being rounded up by police.

Authorities arrested about 70 people selling black market tickets to Saturday’s match between Thailand and Qatar, sometimes asking for 300 percent over the official price.

Ticketless Thais scaled fences and hurled bottles, cans and shoes at police when they could’t buy tickets to yesterday’s game, which Qatar won 2-1. Despite the loss, the Thais reached the quarterfinals anyway. (AP)

Weather-hit 2nd test abandoned as draw

LAHORE, Dec 14: The weather-hit second cricket test between Pakistan and Zimbabwe was abandoned as a draw after mist and fog prevented any play on the fifth and final day today.

Umpires Darrel Hair of Australia and Mian Aslam inspected the ground several times during the day before finally calling off play on their sixth inspection.

The weather caused nearly 16 hours and 223 overs to be lost over the five-day game.

The touring side, facing a deficit of 142 runs, were overnight 48 for no wicket in their second innings. Pakistan made 325 for nine declared in reply to Zimbabwe’s modest first innings total of 183.

The result meant Zimbabwe cannot lose the series and carry their 1-0 lead by virtue of victory in the Peshawar test to Faisalabad where the third and final test begins from Thursday.

Zimbabwe have never won a test series.

We are obviously happy over the result as we’ve been able o keep our lead intact, Zimbabwe captain Alistair Campbell said.

We were looking for a respectable second innings total so that we had something to bowl at. We are not too disappointed with the result.

Pakistan captain Moin Khan said he was disappointed the weather had disrupted the match so badly. Obviously our efforts were to win here and then wrap up the series in Faisalabad.

Pakistan’s Yousaf Yohanna who scored an unbeaten 120 for his maiden century was adjudged ‘Man of the match’. (REUTERS)

Pak Vz Zimbabwe
Weather-hit second test abandoned as a draw

LAHORE, Dec 14: The weather-hit second cricket test between Pakistan and Zimbabwe was abandoned as a draw after mist and fog prevented any play on the fifth and final day today.

Umpires Darrel Hair of Australia and Mian Aslam inspected the ground several times during the day before finally calling off play on their sixth inspection.

The weather caused nearly 16 hours and 223 overs to be lost over the five-day game.

The touring side, facing a deficit of 142 runs, were overnight 48 for no wicket in their second innings. Pakistan made 325 for nine declared in reply to Zimbabwe’s modest first innings total of 183.

The result meant Zimbabwe cannot lose the series and carry their 1-0 lead by virtue of victory in the Peshawar test to Faisalabad where the third and final test begins from Thursday

Zimbabwe have never won a test series.

We are obviously happy over the result as we’ve been able to keep our lead intact, Zimbabwe captain Alistair Campbell said.

We were looking for a respectable second innings total so that we had something to bowl at. We are not too disappointed with the result.

Pakistan captain Moin Khan said he was disappointed the weather had disrupted the match so badly. Obviously our efforts were to win here and then wrap up the series in Faisalabad.

Pakistan’s Yousaf Yohanna who scored an unbeaten 120 for his maiden century was adjudged ‘man of the match’. (REUTERS)

Bhupathi, Srinath storms into QFs, Vaidyanathan lose

BANGKOK, Dec 14: Mahesh Bhupathi and Prahlad Srinathmaintained Indian hopes for individual medals by storming intothe men’s singles quarterfinals with facile straight sets victories but the challenge ended in the women’s singles withNirupama Vaidyanathan going down in the second round at theAsian Games Tennis Championships today.

The 24-year-old Bhupathi sent down four aces and played a steady game to quell the challenge of 1226-ranked Filipino Bryan Julnio 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 while Srinath took a few minutes longer at the adjacent outer court to dispose of Chinese Taipei’s Chen Wei-Ju with an equally impressive 6-4 7-5 win.

But India’s top player Nirupama Vaidyanathan, ranked 167 in the world, found second seed and world no 40 Li Feng of China too hot to handle and also get slip advantages in the second set before going down 1-6 2-6 which put out the last Indian hope in women’s singles.

Both the 372-ranked Bhupathi and his 393-ranked teammate Srinath run into formidable Uzbekistan opponents in top seed Oleg Ogorodov and second seed Vadim Kutsenko respectively in the clashes for semi-final spots. India had beaten the Uzbek duo in claiming the Asia Cup in Delhi last month and will hope to reenact the same here with upset victories. (UNI)

ICC to probe scandals

NEW DELHI, Dec 14: In a far-reaching decision, the International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced that it will step no the growing betting-and-match-fixing scandal by instituting a high-powered commission to investigate the allegations that have brought the game into disrepute.

The Commission will investigate the burning issue in the aftermath of the series of allegations aired by individual cricketers - past and present - at its two-day executive board meeting in Christchurch on January 10 and 11, ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya told a press conference here.

Dalmiya also warned that anyone found guilty of match-fixing by the commission will face stringent action.

The ICC has decided to step into the betting and match-fixing controversy and will not allow the issue to be swept under the carpet, the world governing body’s chief said adding that the Commission will be set up at the christchurch meeting after talks with the chiefs of the boards of cricket playing nations.

The spate of betting and match-fixing allegations that have come up afresh after Australia’s Shane Warne and Mark Waugh sensationally admitted that they had accepted money in 1994 from an Indian bookie in exchange for Mundane weather and pitch information, have forced the game’s governing body to step in.

In the best interest of the game of cricket and in order to find out the veracity of the charges and allegations, the ICC shall collect all available data and discuss the matter thoroughly at the executive board meeting, Dalmiya said. The ICC chief said the recent betting allegations have brought the game into disrepute and the governing body could not just sit on the fence and watch the game being tarnished. It is time for ICC to step in and take concrete steps.

The revelation by Warne and Waugh last week and the Australian Cricket Board’s (ACB) subsequent disclosure that it had punished the players then and reported to the ICC as a confidential matter have stirred a hornet’s nest.

To a question whether he was aware of ACB’s action and the two Australian cricketers folly of taking money from a bookie, Dalmiya said: It was a confidential matter between ACB and ICC which was informed "bally". There is no written record of it.

It is spreading like a viral disease. Some allegations may be true but we have to go to the bottom of the entire scandal, the ICC chief said.

Dalmiya warned that players, if found guilty, will be severely dealt wit and at the same time no individual will be allowed to misuse the opportunity for the purpose of publicity or settling personal scores.

ICC wants to set things right and create a clean and congenial atmosphere so that all players can play their natural game fairly and fearlessly, he said. (PTI)

10th Sukhbir Memorial Hockey Tourney
Richie Land wins opening match

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 14: Richie Land Club defeated Singh Club, Bandhu Rakh 2-0 in the inaugural match of 10th Sukhbir Memorial Hockey Tournament begun at Green Fields ground, here today.

Richie Land Club scored both the goals in the second half of the match. The first goal was hit by centre-forward Gurmeet Singh in the 46th minute after getting a timely pass from right-in Hardeep Singh.

Left-in Harbaksh Singh made second goal in the 65th minute of the second half getting pass from Gurmeet Singh. Rajinder Singh also played a fine game for Richie Land Club.

The Minister of State for Home, Mr Mushtaq Ahmed Lone, who was chief guest in the opening match inaugurated the tournament.

The eleven-day tournament is being sponsored by Sukhbir Sports Centre and being held under the auspices of the Jammu and Kashmir Hockey Association.

Sukhbir Singh, in whose memory the tournament is being organised was closely associated with sports. He was all-round sportman and presented Jammu University and J&K State in weight lifting in 1972-73. He also represented Punjab University in weight lifting from 1975 to 1979 and enjoyed the distinction of being the first lifter of th state to won the Punjab and Haryana open weight lifting competition in 1976.

Sukhbir also won gold medal in open weight lifting competition held at Chandigarh in 1997.

Tomorrow’s fixture: Ist Rajput Club, Samba V/s G S Club, Bhore Camp.

Khalsa Club V/s Grenadiers-B.

Eleven Stars beat Sang Club in Cricket tourney

Excelsior Correspondent

RAJOURI, Dec 14: Eleven Stars beat Sang Cricket Club in the inaugural match of the Ist Sher-e-Kashmir Memorial Cricket Tournament being played at Government Higher Secondary School (Boys) grounds, here today.

In another match, Bhat Cricket Club outplayed Modern Cricket Club wherein, Nafees Dar (Sonu) was declared man of the match. While in the inaugural match allrounder Avinash Jasyal of Eleven Stars adjudged as man of the match.

The tournament which is being organised by District Youth National Conference, Rajouri was declared open by District Development Commissioner Rajouri amid huge gathering. Deputy Inspector General of Police and Senior Superintendent of Police were also present on the inaugural function and appreciated, DYNC president Mr Tazeem for organising such events.

The opening match of the tournament which is being sponsored by APTEC Computer Education Centre, Rajouri was live telecasted through cable network with the help of Jasyal Cable network.