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Agassi outlasts NEW YORK, Sept 13: Andre Agassi withstood....more Krishnan Sasikiran, VUNG TAU CITY (Vietnam), Sept 13: India’s.....more
Scotland yard to probe LONDON, Sept 13: The betting and match-fixing.....more |
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One-day
Karate Champ held Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 13: Shastri Memorial Higher.....more Tendulkar, Agarkar ADELAIDE, Sept 13: Indian cricket’s star batsman......more West Indies level DMC TORONTO, Sept 13: The West Indies has roared...more Team for Nairobi being MUMBAI, Sept 13: The national cricket selectors...more
Akram cleared of ISLAMABAD, Sept 13: Deposed Pakistan cricket....more |
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Agassi outlasts Martin to capture US Open crown NEW YORK, Sept 13: Andre Agassi withstood one of Todd Martin’s finest efforts to capture his fifth Grand Slam title and second US Open crown, not losing a service game yesterday to win a dramatic five-set final. Agassi won 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-2 in three hours and 23 minutes in a matchup of 29-year-old Americans to take 750,000 dollars and his second slam title of the year following a French Open victory. It was the first five-set US Open men’s final since Mats Wilander beat Ivan Lendl in 1988 and only the third final here in a quarter-century to go the distance. Agassi, who also won here in 1994, lost only three points on his serve in the final set and was not broken by Martin. For the fortnight, Agassi dropped only six of 112 service games. How can you ask for anything better than two Americans in the final of the US Open playing a great five-set match? Agassi said. Win or lose today it was truly a privilege and an honor for me to be out here. These are the greatest times of my life and I will never forget New York. Big-serving Martin did what he had to do to beat master returner Agassi, firing 23 aces, hitting 60 percent of his first serves (65 of 91), taking 62 of 97 points coming to the net and hitting 77 winners. But the taller man still fell a bit short. It was more than a tad short, Martin said. I can’t take my hat off any more. Andre, you played great, you deserve it. I couldn’t think of a better way to go out than playing a great match against a great champion. (AFP) |
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Krishnan
Sasikiran, Vijayalakshmi top-seeds VUNG TAU CITY (Vietnam), Sept 13: India’s GM-norm holder Krishnan Sasikiran and IWM S Vijayalakshmi have been top seed in either sections of the Asian Junior boys and girls Chess Championship for the Vung Tau Cup 99 that opened at the Palace Hotel here today. There are 24 players, including 14 rated, from 13 countries in the boys section with Sasikiran, enjoying an ELO rating of 2536, as the favourite. In the girls’ section, it will be a 16-player field from seven countries with 10 of them enjoying rating. India’s Tejas Bakre has been seeded fourth, immediately behind IM Mas H Ab Rahman of Malaysia, with a rating of 2426, and IM Liang Chong (2415) of China. Both Sasikiran, the national a champion, and Bakre are slated to meet Vietnamese opponents in the first round of the tournament, comprising 11 rounds in both sections. In the girls section, IWM Le Kieu Thein Kim of Vietnam (elo 2301) is seeded second and Lim Jean Nie (Malaysia - 2227) is ranked third, followed by Wfm Wang Yu (China - 2221) and India’s Pallavi Shah (2174) in the seedings. The third Indian player, M R Sangeetha, is ranked 12th. Vijayalakshmi takes on ninth seeded Babalaeva Indira of Kazaksthan, with a rating of 2101, while both Pallavi and Sangeetha are meeting Vietnam opponents. (PTI) |
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Scotland yard to probe plot to bribe England cricketers LONDON, Sept 13: The betting and match-fixing allegations currently rocking Pakistan cricket has surfaced in England too with the Scotland yard investigating an alleged one million pound sterling (approx. Rs.7.05 crore) plot to bribe England cricketers to lose a test match against New Zealand last month. Former England all-rounder Chris Lewis and New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming have been interviewed after claims that an Indian betting syndicate had tried to fix the third test at Old Trafford, the police said. The test ended in a draw with New Zealand going on to win the series 2-1. Lewis, according to media reports here, has claimed he was approached by an acquaintance known to him only as Patel and was asked to offer 300,000 pounds sterling (approx Rs 2.12 crore) to former captain Alec Stewart and pace bowler Alan Mullaly to deliberately drop catches and bowl wides. When Lewis refused to cooperate, the syndicate contacted Fleming. Both reported the matter to the authorities. Lewis said: It was a bribe, wrapped up as a business proposition, According to a report in The times today. The New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has also confirmed that Fleming was offered money by an Asian betting syndicate during the Old Trafford test, an AP report from Wellington said. Ap adds: Fleming was approached at the team hotel prior to the third test, NZC chief executive Christopher Doig today said. A man offered him sums of money to become involved in an Asian betting syndicate, He said. Fleming immediately rejected the offer and reported the matter to team manager John Graham, who advised NZC. New Zealand cricket forwarded a written report to the International Cricket Council and the matter is now the subject of a police investigation. Match-fixing strikes at the core integrity of any sport and cricket, from the ICC through all of the nine test playing nations, is determined to tackle this issue aggressively and openly, Doig said. New Zealand cricket has put in place a protocol for all its contracted players which requires them to immediately report any incident which could possibly be construed as an approach from a betting syndicate. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said we have passed the matter to the police and there is nothing to suggest to the ecb that this is anything other than an isolated incident, a statement from the board said. The news comes just as a judicial enquiry in Pakistan that went into allegations that captain Wasim Akram and two teammates were involved in match-fixing has been completed. Akram, Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmed, who are currently suspended, could face life bans if implicated by the report, due to be submitted within a week. (AP) |
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Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Sept 13: Shastri Memorial Higher Secondary School organised a day long Inter-school Karate championship in the school premises, here today. In all, five teams drawn from Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Rehari, MIER, BC Road, Modern Academy, Stepping Angles School and host Shastri Memorial Higher Secondary School, Jammu. The day long events were held under the guidance of Mr Sanjeev Diwan, 2nd Degree Black belt, whereas, Mr Manoj Mehra, 2nd Dan and Naresh Zuver, Ist Dan supervised the events. The concluding function was presided over by Dr Surinder Kohli, Managing Director, Shastri Memorial Higher Secondary School, who also distributed prizes among the winners alongwith Mr Rajinder Gupta, Superintendent of Police. Mr Rajinder Gupta, who is president Gojuryu Karate Club was special guest on the occasion. Speaking in the function, Dr Kohli stressed the need for imparting Karate training among school children. Mementos were also presented to the staff members and other distinguished guests. |
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Team for Nairobi being selected on Sept 16 MUMBAI, Sept 13: The national cricket selectors will meet here on September 16 to choose the 14-member Indian team for the September 25 to October 3 four-nation tournament in Nairobi, the last assignment for the current committee before it is reconstituted at the Cricket Board’s Annual General Meeting scheduled at Jaipur on September 21 and 22. The Indian team is to return from Toronto (at the conclusion of the three-match series against West Indies) on September 15. It is scheduled to land in Delhi but efforts are on to bring it directly to Mumbai, Board secretary Jaywant Lele told from Baroda today. Asked about the availability of skipper Sachin Tendulkar for the tournament, Lele said the master batsman had told the Board that he wanted to skip the Toronto series only in order to go to Australia for consulting experts about his recurring back stiffness and as such, he was available for the Nairobi event also featuring South Africa, Zimbabwe and hosts Kenya. Tendulkar, who has been dogged by his back problem since February, left for Australia on Saturday with Adelaide scheduled as his first stop. Also accompanying him to Australia was Mumbai and India mate Ajit Agarkar who was to consult the doctors there about the hamstring which he injured during the conditioning camp in Chennai late last month. Agarkar had missed all three tournaments which the squad took part in after the World Cup along with deposed captain Mohammed Azharuddin and stumper Nayan Mongia, who were ruled out of contention for berths because of injuries. Vice-captain Ajay Jadeja too was rendered hors de combat during the Singapore tri-nation event when he tore a calf muscle and is recuperating from it. Mongia has recovered fully from his wrist fracture sustained during the World Cup, according to Lele, though he was yet to submit a medical certificate to the Board. I spoke to his doctor, who is an orthopaedic surgeon based in Baroda and he assured me that the wrist fracture was completely healed and there is no visible crack. He is not feeling any discomfiture, Lele said. Mongia is playing in Hyderabad (Moin-Ud-Dowla Tournament) along with Azhar, Lele pointed out and said the latter too was yet to submit a fitness certificate. Lele was confident that Jadeja would be fit for the event. We knew in Singapore itself that it would need around ten days for the injury to heal, Lele added. Among the present selection panel, the term of Hyderabad’s Shivlal Yadav is ending in September and he is to be replaced by another South zone representative. The five-man committee is headed by former captain Ajit Wadekar, who is representing West zone. (PTI) |
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Akram cleared of betting charges, to play in Toronto ISLAMABAD, Sept 13: Deposed Pakistan cricket captain Wasim Akram’s suspension has been revoked and he will return to the national squad having been exonerated by a judicial Commission of all betting and match-fixing charges. Javed Zaman Khan, senior member of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) ad hoc committee, told over phone from Lahore that Akram would be joining the team in Toronto for the three-match one-day series against the West Indies starting on September 16. Akram, who led the team at the May-June World Cup before being stripped of the post, will be only an ordinary member of the team and wicketkeeper Moin Khan would remain the skipper for the time being, Zaman Khan clarified. The decision to include Akram was taken after the one-man Judicial Inquiry Commission headed by Lahore High Court Judge, Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum, exonerated him of all charges, he said. The PCB ad hoc panel Chairman Mujeebur Rehman had earlier said that even if the judicial panel cleared Malik and Ijaz Ahmed of all charges, they would not be included in the team as national selectors had expressed reservations about them. Akram and leading players Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmed were temporarily suspended by the PCB ad hoc panel in July in the wake of betting and match-fixing allegations after Pakistan capitulated against Australia in the World Cup final. (PTI) |
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