China
commands early lead on medal table
BEIJING, Aug 9: China took an early
lead in the Olympic march to sports
supremacy, winning two of the first four
golds when the Beijing games began in
earnest Saturday while Spain and the
Czech Republic shared the others.
However,
it wasn’t quite the dream start the
Olympic hosts wanted when Czech shooter
Katerina Emmons won the
attention-commanding first medal after
China’s defending champion Du Li
wiltered under pressure.
After
China had showcased its rich history in a
breathtaking opening ceremony last night,
competitors began their quest for the
seven gold medals on offer on the first
day.
Pang Wei
made amends for China in the shooting,
taking the men’s 10m pistol even and
Chen Xiexia won the women’s 48kg
weightlifting title, while Spanish
cyclist Samuel Sanchez won the gruelling
road race.
But the
honour of first on the podium went to
Emmons who overcame a splitting headache
to produce a record-breaking performance
in winning the women’s 10m air rifle
title.
"I
couldn’t believe it. I had a
headache this morning. I felt so terrible
that I didn’t know how I’d
shoot. So to win the first gold medal of
this Olympics is pretty amazing,"
said Emmons.
Emmons
equalled the world record in the
qualification rounds and finished with a
total 503.5, breaking the Olympic record
of 502 by du set four years ago.
Du, under
pressure to produce ‘Aoyun
Shoujin’ - first Olympic gold - fled
the hall in tears, and later said she
"wasn’t fully prepared for the
pressure of competing at home". But
there was no sign of nerves when Chen won
her weightlifting gold and set two
Olympic records.
"I’m
very happy and I think I did a very good
job," Chen said.
"Today
I have tried my best to compete, whether
or not this medal was the first
gold."
Pang Wei
kept China’s momentum going with his
shooting gold after team officials
withheld news that Du had failed.
"We
have to focus on our own performance and
this helps me to relax and not come under
pressure."
In hazy,
hot and humid conditions, Sanchez
prevailed in the cycling road race for
the biggest win of his career after a
tough 6hr 23min 49sec in the saddle.
Pre-race
favourite and reigning champion Paolo
Bettini of Italy was left trailing after
a decisive attack on the final climb by
Australian Cadel Evans.
That move
also dropped co-favourite Alejandro
Valverde of Spain, and ultimately led to
a six-man finish with Italian Davide
Rebellin a close second and
Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara.
The other
medal events still to be decided today
included the women’s individual
sabre fencing as well as two judo
divisions.
The
competition proper began at dawn in Hong
Kong when veteran Olympic champion Mark
Todd came out of retirement to become the
first rider to compete in the three-day
equestrian event.
"I
didn’t expect to be number one, it
was just the luck of the draw," said
todd, equestrian’s "rider of
the 20th century" who won gold at
Los Angeles and Seoul, and retired after
claiming individual bronze in Sydney in
2000.
"I’m
used as cannon fodder. They said send the
old bugger out there first and see what
happens," he said after finishing in
the middle of the field in the first
round.
The
opening day of the games, however, was
not without controversy as Greece
recalled a track athlete after testing
positive for a prohibited performance
drug.
Greek
officials did not immediately name the
competitor but Greek media revealed it
was men’s 200 metre runner Tassos
Gousis, who denied any wrongdoing.
"I am
innocent and my conscience is
clear", Gousis told reporters.
"It would be stupid for me to take a
banned substance just before the
games."
In Hong
Kong, a pro-Tibet activist was forced to
leave the equestrian venue where she
planned to unfurl a Tibetan flag.
But drugs
scandals, as well as political and
pollution concerns were laid aside, at
least briefly, at the stunning opening
ceremony staged before 91,000 spectators
in the iconic "bird’s
nest" stadium. (AGENCIES)
India’s
olympic campaign starts on a mixed note
BEIJING, Aug 9: India
began its Olympic campaign on a mixed
note here today with three ace shooters
failing to qualify for the finals while
the women archers and a rower made it to
the quarterfinal.
Showcased
as India’s best bets for a podium
finish, Anjali Bhagwat, debutant Avneet
Kaur Sidhu and veteran Samresh Jung
failed to fire their way into the finals
of the their respective individual
events.
However,
Manavjit Singh Sandhu hung around for a
place in the final of the trap shooting
event even though compatriot Mansher
Singh has an uphill task to qualify for
the last lap for the medal.
The
experience of Anjali and the verve of
Avneet were not enough as they could not
make it to the business end of 10m air
rifle event, finishing 29th and 39th
respectively.
Samresh,
on the other hand, could not reproduce
his 2006 Commonwealth Games performance,
which had earned him the moniker of
‘goldfinger’ and shot
92,95,96,98,96 and 93 to total 570 and
finish a lowly 42nd in the air pistol
event.
Anjali,
who is toiling more these days for her
pet 50m rifle 3 position event, shot 393,
while Avneet totalled 389 at the Beijing
shooting hall range.
Anjali
began well and looked impressive in her
first two attempts before losing her way.
She shot 99 in the first two but things
went haywire in the third where she shot
97 and signed off with 98 which was just
not enough to make the cut for the
eight-shooter final.
The only
silver lining on a gloomy day for Indian
shooters came from Manavjit who shot
23,23, and 24 to total 70 out of 75
target to secure 12th position and
reamain in contention for a place in the
final six.
Mansher,
on the other hand, began well but fumbled
towards the end and his 75-shot total of
70 had him at 21st, making it more
difficult for him to qualify for the
finals.
The
marksmen would return to the Beijing
shooting range tomorrow for two more
rounds that would make or mar their fate.
In
archery, the trio of L Bombayla Devi,
Dola Banerjee and Pranitha Vardhineni did
enough to ensure that the women’s
team, courtesy its sixth place finish in
the ranking rounds, got a bye in the
first round.
The eves
would now take on hosts China (1916), who
finished third, straight in the
quarterfinals.
Bombayla
(637), Dola (633) and Pranitha (627) came
22nd, 31st and 37th respectively in
today’s ranking round and their
aggregated tally of 1897 helped India
finish among top six sides which got a
bye.
In the
individual section on Tuesday, in-form
Bombayla will face lowly Iwona
Marcinkiewicz of Poland, who finished
43rd with a score of 620, while
experienced Dola takes on Marie-Pier
Beaudet (628) of Canada, who finished
34th.
Young
Pranitha will have a tough task to get
past Australian Jane Waller, who shot 634
today to finish 28th.
Team
manager KS Kang was happy about the women
archers performance saying, "it was
a quality show by the archers. Though
Olympic is a different ball game
altogether, we are happy with them."
The Indian
camp got some good news from rowing
competition when Bajranglal Takhar made
it to the quarterfinals of the men’s
singles sculls event.
Competing
in heat four, Takhar finished overall
third, ahead of Monaco’s Mathias
Raymond.
The first
four out of a total of five competitors
qualified for the quarterfinals. (PTI)
Anjali,
Avneet fail to make finals of 10m air
rifle
BEIJING, Aug 9: Touted as
India’s best bets for a medal at the
Olympics, Indian shooters started off on
a disappointing note with Anjali Bhagwat
and Avneet Kaur Sidhu failing to make the
finals of the 10m air-rifle event here
today.
While
Anjali ended 29th in qualifying and
Avneet finished further down at 39th.
Anjali
shot a total of 393/400 and Avneet could
manage 389/400.
Czech
Katerina Emmons, a bronze medallist from
Athens 2004, created Olympic records in
both qualifying and final rounds to
clinch the gold medal.
In
qualifying, she shot a perfect 400/400,
and followed it up with a 103.5 which
aggregated her score to 503.5 eclipsing
the previous record of 502 set by
China’s Du Li at Athens.
The silver
went to Russian Lioubov Galkina (502.1)
while the bronze was won by
Croatia’s Snjezana Pejacic (500.9).
(PTI)
Sangakkara
ton helps Sri Lanka take first innings
lead
COLOMBO, Aug 9: A valiant unbeaten
107 by Kumar Sangakkara steered Sri Lanka
to a two-run first innings lead against
India as the hosts piled up 251 for 6
before bad light stopped the play on the
second day of the third and final cricket
test here today.
Sangakkara
dispatched loose deliveries from spinners
and pacemen alike with impunity and raced
to his 17th test century with the help of
11 boundaries.
Sangakkara
also shared a dogged 95-run stand with
night watchman Chaminda Vaas to pull his
team out of any trouble after they lost
opener Michael Vandort.
Though the
Indian bowlers kept the Sri Lankan
batsmen under a leash, a breakthrough
eluded them for a long time.
Sri
Lankans also overcame the loss of Tilan
Samaraweera and Tilakratne Dilshan in the
final session and it would be interesting
to see if they could really consolidate
on their lead tomorrow as the track seem
to be wearing down.
Earlier,
Vaas continued to frustrate the Indian
bowlers as he dealt with the spinners
with caution.
The crowd
came alive when the left-hander drilled a
Kumble delivery to the mid-off boundary
for four runs. The pacer later survived a
lbw decision after opting to challenge
the field-umpire’s decision and
winning it in his favour.
Kumble
went on the defensive positioning only
one fielder for himself and Harbhajan
after lunch.
Vaas
finally went caught by Virender Sehwag
off Harbhajan 3 short of his 14th half
century. He executed nine boundaries
during his long stay.
For India
it surely was not a great day as they
were playing without VVS Laxman, who
suffered an injury while practicing in
the morning and lost Sachin Tendulkar
when he hurt his elbow while trying to
grab a sharp chance of Vaas at backward
short leg.
As if it
was not enough, Ishant Sharma went back
limping badly amidst his spell soon after
tea, probably pulling his muscle.
The
surprisingly thin weekend crowd at this
old Saranvanamutu stadium enjoyed every
bit of batting by Sri Lankans as
Sangakkara and other batsmen worked
towards taking the team to a position of
safety.
Defying
the pitch forecast for today, Sharma
generated a good pace of 140 kms and
above and kept the batsmen on their toes.
When play
began, South African umpire Rudy Koertzen
was seen taking a close look at Sharma
who was inadvertently landing near the
danger area. There was, however, no
official warning.
It was the
turn of umpire Mark Benson to pin point
the incident to Kumble soon after tea.
A
determined Indian pace attack did not
allow a boundary for almost half an hour
when play began before Vaas flicked
Zaheer to the cover boundary.
Displaying
confidence, Vaas pulled Sharma to the
long leg boundary and another one to the
backward square leg.
India
found the breakthrough when Vandort
placed his front leg across towards the
of stump and could not get his bat on
time.
The umpire
had no hesitation in the declaring the
tall left hander leg before. Vaas and
Vandort shared a 28-run partnership
before being separated.
Sangakkara
was a bit lucky when he uppishly hit past
the diving point fielder of a Khan
delivery and got a boundary.
The diving
Rohit Sharma, substituting for Laxman,
was inches away from the ball when it got
past him.
The Indian
bowlers hardly appeared to be making an
impact in the second hour after drinks as
the spin-pace duo deployed by Kumble
struggled to keep the batsmen under
check.
The vital
breakthroughs eluding them, the Indian
fielders were also found to be out of
sorts on some occasions as they allowed
the Sri Lankans to get away with some
quick singles.
It was no
different story when Harbhajan Singh was
introduced into the attack with the two
warding off any spin and waiting for the
loose ones to score.
Sangakkara,
slowly finding his lost touch shifted his
line to outside leg and swept the ace
spinner to the backward square leg
boundary.
The vice
captain got a life when a Kumble delivery
failed to stick at the waiting hands of
Rahul Dravid in the first slip.
The ball
was sliding away from Sangakkara who
pushed hard at it and the ball flew fast
and Dravid in vain lunged to his left
with a outstretched left hand.
A glimmer
of hope came India’s way when
dangerman Mahela Jayawardene departed
declared leg before of Harbhajan for 2
runs.
It was not
before the batsmen unsuccessfully
appealed for third umpire review.
The perked
up Indian spinners then tried hard to
prevail over the newcomer Thilan
Samaraweera.
Both
Harbhajan and Kumble eventually
accelerated their speed to unsettle the
batsmen.
While
Samaraweera was trying to come to terms
against an improved Indian spin bowling,
Sangakkara continued to hit the spinners.
Samaraweera
survived a confident appeal from Kumble
as the umpire review endorsed the
field-umpire’s verdict of not out.
The right
hander was lucky for the second time when
he successfully appealed for a review
after being declared caught at short leg
by Gautam Gambhir of Kumble.
Samaraweera
finally departed caught by wicketkeeper
Parthiv Patel of the bowling of Khan for
35. His knock included three hits to the
boundary.
Dilshan
then fell lbw to Kumble at the fag end of
the day as the batsman’s decision to
opt for a umpire review proved futile.
Scoreboard
India 1st
innings: 249
Sri Lanka 1st innings: (overnight 14-1)
Michael Vandort lbw b Khan 14
Malinda Warnapura b Sharma 8
Chaminda Vaas c Sehwag b Singh 47
Kumar Sangakkara not out 107
Mahela Jayawardene lbw b Singh 2
Thilan Samaraweera c Patel b Khan 35
Tillekeratne Dilshan lbw b Kumble 23
Prasanna Jayawardene not out 1
Extras (2 b, 9 lb, 1 nb, 2 w) 14
Total: (for six wickets in 92 overs) 251
Fall of Wickets: 1-14, 2-42, 3-137,
4-141, 5-201, 6-244. Bowling: Zaheer Khan
20-4-57-2, Ishant Sharma 15.3-3-33-1,
Harbhajan Singh 31.3-8-81-2, Anil Kumble
24-2-68-1, Virender Sehwag 1-0-1-0.(PTI)
AFC
Challenge Cup final shifted from
Hyderabad
HYDERABAD, Aug 9: Unsuitable ground
conditions following incessant rains in
the city today forced the Asian Football
Confederation to postpone and shift the
AFC Challenge Cup final between India and
Tajikistan scheduled for tomorrow here
and Delhi is likely to host the game in a
week.
An AFC
delegation will fly to New Delhi tomorrow
morning to inspect the ground conditions
at the Ambedkar stadium and take a
decision whether the final could be held
there. The delegation will decide the
date of the match which the organisers
said would be within a week.
Heavy
rains which lashed the city for the past
eight days made Gachibowli and Lal
Bahadur stadiums unsuitable for the final
match of the eight-nation tournament,
whose winners would automatically qualify
for the 2011 Asian Cup.
"Hyderabad
has been ruled out and an AFC delegation
will inspect the Ambedkar satdium in
Delhi tomorrow morning and take a
decision in the afternoon whether to hold
the final there. The date for the final
and third place play-off will be decided
after inspection in delhi but the match
will be held within a week," AFC
media officer Steve Tae Kim told.
All India
Football Federation general secretary
Alberto Colaco will also accompany the
AFC delegation to the capital.
Playing in
Hyderabad after a few days was not
considered an option because of
uncertainty that rain may stop in the
next couple of days.
New Delhi
was also in the running to host the July
30-August 10 elite tournament but
Hyderabad had pipped the capital as it
had organised the Nehru Cup last August,
in which India came out victorious.
Earlier in
the day, an AFC tournament organising
committee inspected both Gachibowli and
Lal Bahadur stadium and later issued a
media release reading that "the
matches on August 10 have been postponed
and the amended schedule will be
announced tomorrow."
Because of
incessant rain, the playing surface at
the Gachibowli stadium has deteriorated
and India’s last group match against
Turkmenistan and the semifinal against
Myanmar were played virtually on a paddy
field, with mud and pools of water all
over the ground, and it later prompted
Myanmar coach Marcos Antonio Falopa to
comment that their semifinal match
against the hosts was like a rugby game.
Steve had
earlier told reporters that the
organisers have three options at their
disposal.
"We
have three options now. First, it may be
played tomorrow as scheduled either at
the Gachibowli stadium or Lal Bahadur
stadium here. The second option is to
shift the venue to another city and play
within a week. The last option is to
postpone the game for a month or
two," he said.
However,
India football team coach Bob Houghton
ruled out playing at the Lal Bahadur
stadium at the heart of the city and
wanted to shift the game to another city
but with rain prevailing almost
everywhere in the country he said he
would not suggest any venue. (PTI)
McEnroe
says Sampras breathing easier as Federer
stalls
LOS ANGELES, Aug 9: John
McEnroe says Pete Sampras is surely
breathing a sigh of relief with Roger
Federer’s impending drop from the
world number one spot after four and a
half years of domination.
"I’m
sure pete is sleeping a bit better than
he was nine months ago," the
American tennis icon said during a senior
tour stop at Los Angeles.
"It
was looking for a while that Federer
would blow through the (all-time) record
of 14 (Grand Slam titles when the Swiss
hit his 12th last year at the US
Open)."
McEnroe
added that his one-time rival Sampras
would have good chances had he been able
to play either Federer or Wimbledon and
French Open champion Rafael Nadal at his
prime.
Federer,
trying to revitalise his season at the
Beijing Olympics from this weekend, will
lose his ranking to a week from Monday,
dropping to second behind Nadal.
The Swiss,
who turned 27 on Friday on the same day
he carried the flag for his nation in the
Olympic opening ceremony, will be trying
to come good in Beijing and the US Open
afer failing to win a major in nearly a
year.
"It
doesn’t get any easier," said
49-year-old McEnroe, playing this week at
the seniors in La with others including
Jim Courier. "I think Pete won the
majority of his slams at age 27 or
below."
McEnroe
said he fully believes that Nadal has
earned his impending number 1 status.
"You
think it will never change for Roger, but
the law of averages catches up. Nadal has
improved, his ranking is well-earned. He
did something (French and Wimbledon
titles in the same season) that had not
been done since 1980 (Bjorn Borg)."
(AGENCIES)
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