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MONDAY 25 AUGUST
2008 |
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ASEBSC
suffer first defeat in Super
League:
The unbeaten run of ASEBSC came
to an end as the side suffered
a defeat against FCISC in the
Super Division Soccer League
match held at the Nehru stadium
here today. FCISC won the game
2-1.
ASEBSC which started the league
as the defending champion is
also considered as the front-runner
for the title. The side won
all their matches till the fourth
round but today was not their
day.
FCISC started to dominate proceedings
from the very beginning and
they maintained it till the
end. ASEBSC tried to come back
in the game after concealing
the first goal but they failed
to stop FCISC who looked more
confident today then their opponent.
FCISC opened its account in
the 18th minute of the game
through Manoj Rajkonwar and
the side was able to hold to
the lead in the entire first
half. ASEBSC scored the equalizer
in the 58th minute through experienced
striker Utpal Basumatari. However,
the FCISC hit the final blow
in the 65th minute and this
time Bhaskarjyoti Bora put the
ball in ASEBSC’s net.
With this win, FCISC has 10
points from their five matches
and they are now jointly in
the second spot along with Dynamo.
On the other hand, the defeat
would not alter the position
of ASEBSC in the points tally
and they are still in the top
spot collecting 12 points from
five outings.
Meghalaya win in NE School Soccer:
Meghalaya registered a 2-1 win
against Kokrajhar SAI in a group
‘A’ match of the
North East Soccer Tournament
held at the Nehru stadium on
Sunday. In the other match of
the day, held in the same venue,
Nagaland played a goalless draw
with Guwahati SAI.
The first match between St John
School of Meghalaya and Kokrajhar
SAI held in the morning was
well contested but the Meghalaya
outfit won the game for better
execution of the opportunities.
The match was hardly three minutes
old when St Johns School got
the lead through N Laloo who
scored the goal with a beautiful
shot taken from just outside
the box. They increased the
margin in the 12th minute and
this time N Phawa put the ball
with a long shot which went
into the goal after hitting
the bar. Kokrajhar SAI reduced
one through Baisung B Basumatary
in the 26th minute of the match.
Meanwhile, in the other match
of the day, Nagaland and Guwahati
SAI shared points by playing
a goalless draw. Though Nagaland
dominated the first half, Guwahati
SAI came back in the second
half and fought hard in the
remaining period of the game.
Today’s match: Sikkim
vs Meghalaya (8 am), Mizoram
vs Kokrajhar SAI (8 am), Asom
vs Arunachal Pradesh (3.30 pm).
Green Valley register big win:
Green Valley collected full
points in the ‘A’
Division Soccer League defeating
Chandmari Club 4-0 at the Nehru
stadium on Sunday. Anupam Chetia
opened the account for Green
Valley in the 14th minute of
the match and later they pumped
in another three goals through
Saficul Islam, Apurva Phukan
and Prasanjit Singh. Green Vally
scored the last two goals in
the dying stages of the game.
17 State athlete in East Zone
squad:
Seventeen State athletes have
been selected in the East Zone
squad for the 20th National
Zonal Athletic Championship
which would be held at Jamshedpur
from August 31. The selected
athletes are: U-14: Kulen Das
and Geeta Boro, U-16: Jayanta
Kalita, Momin Gogoi, Mijing
Basumatari, Daimushri Basumatari,
U-18 Samarjit Rava, Swapan Barua,
M Narzary, Padum Das, Hamen
Baishya, Samim Rajib Laskar,
Garima Pathak, U-20: Anuj Bora,
Beauty Deori, Abati Rava, and
Ainu Sonowal.
Elvis eyes to swim English Channel:
Ace swimmer Elvis Ali Hazarika
will swim 26 hours at a stretch
in the Bimala Prasad Chaliha
Swimming pool in Guwahati on
August 27. Talking to mediapersons,
the swimmer on Sunday said that
he has a dream to swim the English
Channel and it is the beginning
of his preparation to reach
that goal.
Police AC win:
Police AC defeated Silchar Sporting
3-2 in a well-contested Super
Division League match held at
Silchar on Sunday. Babu Rongmei,
Ibochuba Singh and Maijilong
Rongmai scored the goals for
the Police outfit while C Ferce
and Kaguigaipao Kamei reduced
two for Silchar Sporting. (From
our Correspondent, Silchar). |
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Seamers and Dhoni craft India’s
victory
Colombo, Aug
24: India made mess of a brilliant
start as they just managed to
scrape through to a narrow 33-run
win in the third cricket one-dayer
to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match
series, here tonight.
Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene
raked up a sensational 94-run
knock and brought his team close
to the doors of an incredible
victory but could not finish
the game in his team’s
favour as the hosts innings
folded at 204 in 49 overs. After
putting up 237 on board, India
had the Lankans on the mat as
the hosts were reduced to 94
for seven at one stage but visitors
dropped as many as four catches
to put themselves in an embarrassing
situation in the flood lit affair.
A sloppy fielding allowed Jayawardene
— dropped once and Thilan
Thushara — dropped twice
— to stitch an 81-run
stand, raising hopes of a Lankan
win at R Premadasa stadium.
Indian strike bowler Zaheer
Khan came to the rescue of his
team when he bowled Thushara
(30) with a yorker but tension
was yet to evaporate from Indian
faces as Jaywardene was still
at the wicket. The Lankan skipper
departed when he chipped one
off Munaf Patel and Praveen
Kumar this time made no mistake
in holding on to the chance,
missing out on a well deserved
century.
Yet, he succeeded in teaching
a few cricketing lessons to
the Indian team.
Early during the Lankan chase
Khan and Praveen Kumar produced
a devastating spell of seam
bowling to put India on the
victory path.
Kumar and Khan shared five wickets
between them after their skipper
Mahendra Singh Dhoni led from
front with his 76-run knock
to help India put a fighting
total on the board.
Jayawardene, dropped by Yuvraj
Singh at 75 off Patel, hit six
fours and one six in his defiant
knock as he waged a lone battle
from one end and saw his teammates,
barring Thushara, departing
one after another from the other.
Thushara, after being dropped
by Rohit Sharma in slip and
by S Badrinath at the long on,
did his bit in Lankan’s
losing cause helping himself
with two boundaries.
Earlier, the pace duo of Khan
(3/23) and Kumar (2/62) had
squeezed the life out rival
batting line up by their amazing
discipline and accuracy as they
kept a tight line and bowled
wicket to wicket.
Patel claimed three wickets
while off-spinner Harbhajan
Singh and part time bowler Yuvraj
chipped in with one wicket each.
Opening the bowling for India,
Kumar posed questions straight
away, beating explosive Sanath
Jayasuriya off the seam movement
a couple of times.
Kumar was rewarded for the good
work when Jayasuriya offered
a low catch in covers but was
dropped by Virat Kohli, who
went down to his knees and the
shot crashed to the boundary
after kissing the tips of Kohli’s
fingers.
The Meerut paceman, however,
had the last laugh when the
left-hander edged one in the
hands of stumper Dhoni.
Khan, bowling with good pace,
was not far behind as he plotted
the fall of other opener Kumar
Sangakkara with a beautiful
in swinger.
He trapped Sangakkara (9) with
a gem of a delivery and umpire
Billy Doctrove had no hesitation
in raising his finger.
Kapugedara, who got off to the
mark with an elegant cover drive,
hit Kumar for a mid-wicket six
trying to break the shackles.
But Kumar got the revenge two
balls later when he caught him
plumb and the umpire issued
his marching orders.
It looked that Indian pacers
were involved in a race to outshine
each other as Zaheer Khan struck
for the second time exactly
six balls later when he trapped
Chamara Silva (1), leaving the
hosts reeling at 40 for four.
Tilakratne Dilshan then hit
Kumar for two boundaries, trying
to arrest the slide as he hosts
desperately required a good
partnership to get near to the
Indian total.
However, there was no end to
the woes of Lankans as Munaf
Patel dealt a sever blow to
the hosts when he had Dilshan
caught behind, leaving his captain
with the lower order. Harbhajan
Singh stunned the capacity crowd
when he castled Chaminda Vaas
with a quick delivery. (PTI)
Scoreboard
India
Kohli run out 25
Gambhir lbw Kulasekara 8
Yuvraj c J’wardene b K’sekara
12
Raina run out 53
Badrinath c Vaas b Mendis 6
Dhoni c J’wardene b Mendis
76
Sharma c K’gedera b T’shara
32
Harbhajanh c S’kkara b
Mendis 2
Kumar not out 2
Zaheer c Murali b Thushara 1
Extras: 20
Total: (For 9 wkts) 237
FoWs: 1-39, 2-40, 3-62, 4-91,
5-145, 6-212, 7-229, 8-229,
9-237.
Bowling: Vaas 10-2-33-0, Kulasekara
7-1-32-2, Thushara 9-1-36-2,
Mendis 10-0-56-3, Muralitharan
9-0-48-0, Jayasuriya 5-0-24-0.
Sri Lanka
Jayasuriya c Dhoni b Kumar 13
S’kkara lbw Khan 9
Kapugedera lbw Kumar 12
J’wardene c Kumar b Patel
94 Silva lbw Khan 1
Dilshan c Dhoni b Patel 16
Vaas b Harbhajan 0
Kulasekara lbw Yuvraj 11
Thushara b Khan 30
Mendis not out 6
Muralitharan b Patel 6
Extras: (lb 2, w 4) 6
Total: (all out) 204
FoWs:1-18, 2-26, 3-37, 4-40,
5-58, 6-59, 7-94, 8-175, 9-192,
10-204
Bowling: Kumar 10 -0-62-2, Khan
10 -3-23-3, Patel 10 -1-42-3,
Harbhajan 10-0-29 -1, Yuvraj
8-0- 37 -1, RG Sharma 1 -0-9-0
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ICC postpones CT until
Oct 2009
Dubai,
Aug 24: Giving in to the pressure
mounted by top countries like
South Africa and Australia,
the International Cricket Council
today postponed the next month’s
Champions Trophy (CT) in strife-torn
Pakistan until October 2009.
ICC President David Morgan said
they could not remove the reservations
of some of the participating
countries about their safe tour
of Pakistan under the current
situation and postponed the
event to October 2009.
“There was complete support
and sympathy for the Pakistan
Cricket Board and the situation
it finds itself in, which is
not of its making,” Morgan
said in a statement after a
teleconference of ICC Executive
Board.
“However, there was also
a realisation that, under the
current circumstances, some
of the teams due to compete
in the ICC Champions Trophy
had reservations about touring
there which could not be removed.”
“In those circumstances
it was considered prudent to
postpone the event to October
2009, a time when we all hope
conditions may be more acceptable
for all the competing teams,”
he said.
The game’s world governing
body ended weeks of suspense
over the fate of the high-profile
event two days after South Africa
had formally pulled out of the
event, citing security apprehensions.
Apart from South Africa, top
countries like Australia, England
and New Zealand had also publicly
expressed concerns over playing
in Pakistan which has witness
a series of violent incidents
and bomb blasts in the recent.
Morgan also said the ICC Board
would have the right to decide
about the tournament’s
location if the doubts persisted.
“It was agreed Pakistan
would retain the right to host
the event next year but that
if, at a certain time, any Members
still had reservations then
the ICC’s Board would
have the right to relocate the
event,” he said.
The ICC Executive Board will
meet again next month to discuss
the details of the postponement.
The ICC decision came just 19
days before the tournament was
to kick-off on September 12,
which was a very short time
for relocating the event to
another country. “Every
one of our members wishes to
ensure the ICC Champions Trophy
is a world-class event and the
prospect of relocating it at
short notice in order to make
sure it was played this year
would not allow that criterion
to be fulfilled,” said
ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat.
“Today’s agreement
provides clarity for our members
and in September we will look
to put in place a timeframe
for arrangements ahead of the
event taking place in 2009,”
he said. The ICC had formed
a task force which also included
BCCI President Sharad Pawar
and ICC Principal advisor I
S Bindra to monitor the security
situation and hold discussion
with the participating countries.
The task force also had a teleconference
on Friday and had left the final
decision on all powerful executive
board.
The postponement news comes
as a setback for Pakistan, which
was keen to host the tournament
and had promised to provide
a fool-proof security to the
teams.
However, Pakistan also had its
own share of problems with Nasim
Ashraf stepping down as chairman
of the Cricket Board following
resignation by President Pervez
Musharraf, who was also the
patron of the PCB. (PTI) |
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‘Bindra’s
gold historic breakthrough
for India’
Beijing, Aug 24: India’s
best-ever performance at the
Olympics here is a “historic
breakthrough” for the
country according to analysts
here, who consider shooter
Abhinav Bindra’s gold
equal to that of Chinese sharpshooter
Xu Haifeng, who won the first
gold for the communist giant
in 1984.
“The first individual
gold for India in the history
of Olympics is a historic
breakthrough and augurs well
for the country’s future,”
former Chinese Ambassador
to India, Cheng Ruisheng said.
“I consider Bindra’s
gold medal as important as
that of Xu,” Cheng,
who is now a visiting professor
at the Institute of South
Asian Studies at the Sichuan
University, told PTI here.
Xu, a 50 metre pistol shooter
had won the first gold medal
for China in the 1984 Los
Angeles Summer Olympics. Enthused
by Xu’s historic performance,
China has made impressive
strides at the Olympics, topping
the medals chart at the 2008
edition here.
“I am sure other Indian
athletes will get inspired
by Bindra’s success
in Beijing and will try to
emulate him,” Cheng,
who was the Chinese Ambassador
to India from 1991 to 1994,
said.
The view of the former Chinese
ambassador to India was also
echoed by another leading
South Asian scholar, Professor
Ma Jiali, who described Bindra’s
success in Beijing as “a
key breakthrough for the world’s
second most populous nation”.
“It is a historic achievement
for India and it would contribute
to the growth of India’s
comprehensive national strength,”
said Ma, who works with the
China Institutes for Contemporary
International Relations (CICIR),
a major Chinese think-tank.
Ma said Chinese people were
happy to share the glory achieved
by India at the Beijing Olympics.
Qin Gang, spokesman of the
Chinese Foreign Ministry and
several other Chinese diplomats
warmly applauded India’s
best-ever performance at the
Olympics while talking to
PTI. Bindra shot his way into
history in the 10m Air Rifle
event here with a gold while
Sushil Kumar and Vijender
Kumar earned a bronze each
in wrestling and boxing for
the nation, marking India's
best-ever performance in the
history of the quadrennial
event.
Indian Ambassador to China,
Nirupama Rao also aired similar
views and said Bindra’s
success at the Beijing Games
should serve as a powerful
inspiration for millions of
young sports personnel in
the country.
“The dedication and
commitment to his sport that
Abhinav (Bindra) symbolises
and the success he has achieved
should serve as a powerful
inspiration to millions of
our young countrymen and women,”
Rao said. (PTI)
Host China win gold medal
race; US first overall
BEIJING, Aug 24: China proved
an acquisitive first-time
Olympic host, topping the
gold-medal chart with one
of the most dominating and
diverse performances ever.
The United States, Britain
and an array of small nations
also had reasons to celebrate.
China’s haul of 51 gold
medals was the largest since
the Soviet Union won 55 in
Seoul in 1988. Fielding athletes
groomed since childhood in
sports academies, it won medals
in 25 different sports, including
its first ever in sailing,
beach volleyball and field
hockey.
Not since 1936, when Nazi
Germany prevailed at the Berlin
Olympics, had a country other
than the US or the Soviet
Union/Russia led the gold
medal list.
The United States trailed
well behind the Chinese in
golds with 36, the first time
since 1992 it didn’t
lead the category. But the
Americans did break their
own mark for total medals
in a non-boycotted Olympics;
they won 110 in all, two more
than their previous high set
in 1992 and 10 ahead of China’s
overall tally this year.
Britain, getting an early
jump on its host role for
the 2012 Summer Games, had
its best Olympics in a century
with 19 gold medals —
good for fourth place behind
the Russians. Its cyclists
and sailors were the class
of the field, and 19-year-old
Rebecca Adlington stunned
the swimming world with two
golds in distance events.
It was also a satisfying Olympics
for many of the world’s
weaker sporting nations. A
record 87 nations won medals,
seven more than the previous
high in Sydney in 2000, and
a dozen nations won either
their first-ever gold medal
or first medal of any colour.
If there was a prominent loser
at the games, it was Russia,
whose team was deprived of
10 athletes due to doping
accusations. The Russians
finished a distant third in
both gold medals, with 23,
and overall medals with 72
— down from 27 and 92
four years ago in Athens.
Germany and Japan also fared
noticeably worse than in Athens.
The United States was disappointed
by its boxing team (one bronze
medal) and a lack of golds
by its sprinters, but was
delighted by breakthroughs
in lesser sports such as fencing,
as well as by the historic
eight golds for record-smashing
swimmer Michael Phelps.
“Both on the field of
play and off, this will go
down as one of the greatest
performances ever for a United
States Olympic Team,”
spokesman Darryl Seibel said
on Sunday.
Overshadowing the entire US
effort, however, was a recognition
of China’s arrival as
the dominant Summer Olympics
power.
“China has been systematically
targeting every single available
medal, and we’re going
to have to do that in the
future,” said US Olympic
Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth.
“The resources that
they put toward their Olympic
team and the population base
and the dedication is fantastic,”
he said. “It’s
much more difficult for the
rest of the world to compete,
but that’s the way it
should be.”
China, of course, has the
largest population pool —
1.3 billion people —
from which to recruit athletes.
Several far smaller nations
distinguished themselves in
medals per capita.
Jamaica’s sprinters
and hurdlers — led by
triple-gold sensation Usain
Bolt — won 11 medals,
one for every 245,000 of its
2.7 million people. With a
population of 21.4 million,
Australia won 46 medals, one
for each 465,000 people. Cuba
won 24 medals, one for each
470,000 of its 11.3 million
citizens. Populous countries
with no medals included Pakistan,
the Philippines and Bangladesh.
Kenya, despite election-related
unrest which killed hundreds
and disrupted its preparations,
had a great games with five
golds and 14 medals overall.
Ethiopian runners Kenenisa
Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba
each won rare double golds
in the 5,000 and 10,000. Overall,
Africa won 40 medals —
the most ever. Those included
the first-ever Olympic medals
for Togo in canoeing, Mauritius
in boxing, and Sudan in the
800 meters. Also winning first-ever
medals were Tajikstan, Bahrain
(a gold by Rachid Ramzi in
the men's 1,500), and war-torn
Afghanistan. (Agencies)
Rogge
tells London how to leap over
Beijing bar
BEIJING, Aug 24: As London
prepared to follow Beijing
as the Olympic host city,
International Olympic Committee
president Jaques Rogge praised
the British capital’s
“unique assets”
and called on it to stage
a “fair play”
Games.
The size of the Beijing Olympics
have dwarfed all those that
have gone before, with legions
of staff drafted in to assist
competitors, spectators and
the world’s media. Meanwhile,
Chinese authorities deployed
vast numbers of military personnel
to create an Olympic ‘bubble’
where only one security search
is required rather than repeat
inspections at each and every
venue.
London 2012 chief Sebastian
Coe has already contrasted
the situations confronting
his team, for example, over
planning consent, with the
lack of such problems in a
Communist state such as China.
But Rogge, the head of an
organisation whose motto is
“faster, higher, stronger,”
said bigger did not always
mean better.
“It is clear that China
has put the bar very high,”
the Belgian said. “It’s
going to be a challenge for
London and also for all subsequent
Games. I believe, and my hope
will be, that London will
put the bar higher.”
However, the IOC supremo,
speaking here Sunday on the
final day of these Olympics,
admitted there were areas
where London would not match
Beijing “There are issues
that London will not be able
to copy or equal.”
“The ability to bring
in hundreds of thousands of
volunteers to different sites,
not only in Beijing but also
Qingdao (where the sailing
events were staged, Hong Kong
(equestrian) and other cities
— is something that,
numbers-wise is not going
to be easy for London.”
“Athens (in 2004) was
a return to the roots, the
country that has invented
the Olympic Games, China was
coming to the most populous
country of the world.”
“London will be the
city of the country that has
invented modern sports, the
country that has invented
the rules of sport and brought
in the values of fair play.
That is the identity that
has to be used in London,”
he added. Rogge also said
London’s diverse population
sat well alongside Olympic
ideals with the east of the
city, where the central athletics
stadium and Athletes Village
will be situated, home to
a succession of immigrant
communities for hundreds of
years. “London is also
a very cosmopolitan city,
multi-ethnic, multi-cultural,
multi-religious. This is also
an asset.” (Agencies)
Wansiru
hogs limelight on concluding
day
Beijing, Aug 24: (PTI) Samuel
Wansiru became the first Kenyan
to win an Olympic marathon
gold medal with a record timing
as the world’s biggest
sporting extravanganza came
to end today with hosts China
asserting their supremacy
with a record haul of 51 gold
medals.
The formidable Chinese, who
maintained their dominance
right through the Games, added
a couple of more medals to
their impressive kitty on
the concluding day to finish
with 51 gold, 21 silver and
28 bronze for an overall tally
of 100 medals.
The United States of America
finished in the second position
with a tally of 36-38-36 while
Russia had to be content with
the third place with a tally
of 23-21-28. Britain took
the fourth position with 19-13-15,
not being able to add any
more medals to their overnight
tally.
The 21-year-old Wansiru hogged
the limelight on the last
day as he clinched the coveted
gold medal in the gruelling
marathon event with an Olympic
record timing of 2 hours,
6 minutes, 32 seconds.
He thus became the first Kenyan
to win the Olympic marathon
title with an awesome display
of stamina and skill in bright
morning sunshine. Kenya had
twice won men’s marathon
silver medals, most recently
in 2000, but never a gold.
“In Kenya we have many
medals. But I’m glad
I have this one”, Wansiru
said after the race.
The Games will, however, be
remembered for US swimming
sensation Michael Phelp’s
incredible eight gold medals
and Jamaican sprinter Usain
Bolt’s golden treble
in sprint events, feats which
have been the high point of
the Olympics.(PTI)
US
men win 4x400 relay
Beijing, Aug
24: Jeremy Wariner anchored
the US 4x400-meter relay team
to victory in an Olympic record
2mins 55.39secs today, enabling
the Americans to avoid the
shame of matching their worst
athletics gold haul.
New 400m Olympic champion
LaShawn Merritt, 400m hurdles
Olympic champion Angelo Taylor,
400m bronze medallist David
Neville and two-time world
400m champion Wariner broke
the old mark of 2:55.74 set
by the US men in 1992.
It was the fastest showing
for a US relay since a world-record
effort of 2:54.29 at the 1993
world championships in Stuttgart,
Germany.
“We all just gave it
our all and ran an Olympic
record,” Wariner said.
“It was close to the
world record, the fastest
time since then. We have a
lot more to come.” US
men have won the event 16
times in 21 tries, including
11 of the past 13.
Bahamas, last year’s
world runner-up, were second
in 2:58.03 with Russia third
in 2:58.06. With their seventh
Beijing gold medal, the Americans
nosed past Jamaica and Russia
by one in overall golds and
raised their athetlics medal
total to 23, five more than
second-best Russia.
The triumph also enabled the
disappointing US squad to
avoid the shame of matching
an all-time Olympic low for
athletics gold.
US squads managed only six
Olympics golds in 1972, 1976
and in 2000 when four others
were stripped for doping,
three from Marion Jones. Sydney
was a US low of 14 total medals
with the next-worst being
22 from 1972 and 1976. US
sweeps in the men's 400m and
400m hurdles and men's and
women's 400m relays eased
the pain from flops by such
stars as world champions Bernard
Lagat, sprinter Tyson Gay
and Wariner, who lost the
400 crown to Merritt.
“A lot of things happened
here we weren’t expecting.
But that gives us a lot to
work on for the world championships
next year.” Merritt
was ecstatic to double his
gold tally.
“I wanted my second
gold medal so this felt good,”
Merritt said. “My first
Games, two gold medals, a
personal record, an Olympic
record - can’t ask for
more than that.” Merritt
put the Americans ahead on
the opening leg and Taylor
stretched the margin before
making the handoff to Neville,
a carefully made pass given
dropped batons by both US
4x100m relays.
Neville handed the stick to
anchor man Wariner and the
2004 Olympic champion sped
off, serving notice to the
field the Americans would
not be denied. Bahamas anchor
Chris Brown surged into second
and held off Russia’s
Denis Alexeev at the line.
(AFP)
Yelena,
at home with the loneliness
of a pole star
Beijing, Aug 24: In the foreseeable
future, Yelena Isinbayeva
will keep raising the bar
till she hits that vertical
limit. Post-retirement, the
iconic Russian pole vaulter
says she wants to help the
sport expand its horizon to
newer pastures, including
India.
In an exclusive interview
with PTI, the greatest female
pole vaulter in the game’s
history said she would return
to 2012 London Olympic Games
to defend the gold medal she
won here.
But once she calls it quits,
Isinbayeva said she would
love to tour India if that
helps spread the game.
“Once I’m through
with it all, it would be my
obligation to spread the game,”
she told PTI at the Omega
Pavilion here.
“If travelling India
and interacting with the youngsters
helps the cause, I would love
to do that,” said the
lithe Russian, who won the
gold medal here bettering
her previous world record
with an intimidating 5.05m,
something she has also started
putting beneath her calligraphic
autograph these days.
Isinbayeva continues the glorious
tradition of erstwhile Soviet
Union’s incredible supremacy
in pole vault and reckons
the Russian and Ukrainian
dominance stems from their
excellent infrastructure,
good coaches and a crop of
talented athletes.
“We have a lot of good
athletes back home, besides
technically sound coaches.
In fact, some of the other
countries also have Russian
coaches,” said the 26-year-old
athlete. And she prescribes
the same formula for India.
“It’s a slightly
complicated sport, for which
you need really good facilities.
Poles are quite costly and
then you need proper pit and
machines as well. Having good
coaches around is also very
crucial.”
“Maybe India needs one
good coach to start it off
and others would pick it from
there. It has to start somewhere,”
said the Russian, the first
female pole-vaulter to cross
the five metre mark and having
created 24 world records so
far.
Isinbayeva has ruled the game
with an iron fist, taking
it far beyond the reach of
lesser mortals. Asked if she
felt lonely at the top with
no real competition from anyone,
she said she wanted it that
way.
“No complaint at all,”
said the lissome Russian,
also an Omega brand ambassador.
“It gives me immense
satisfaction if I can make
people around me happy. I
like it that way. It’s
never boring for me. I want
to remain at the top,”
said the Russian, a marketing
man’s delight for her
looks and craft. A nine-time
major champion, Isinbayeva
cherishes each and every moment
of her illustrious career
but says nothing can really
match the feeling of winning
an Olympic gold. “It’s
always a privilege for me
to represent my country. In
fact, nothing gives me more
pleasure than making my country
happy. It feels good to think
that I give them a reason
to celebrate,” she said.
Asked what has been the best
moment of her career so far,
Isinbayeva said, “Not
one but so many like my first
world record, my first Olympic
gold at Athens, crossing the
5m mark, and now winning the
gold here. So you see, it’s
not just one moment.”
Often dubbed Sergey Bubka
of women’s pole vault,
Isinbayeva doffed her hat
at the Ukrainian legend and
said she drew inspiration
from him. (PTI)
Final medals tally
of Beijing Olympics
Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze
Total
1 China 51 21 28 100
2 US 36 38 36 110
3 Russian 23 21 28 72
4 Britain 19 13 15 47
5 Germany 16 10 15 41
6 Australia 14 15 17 46
7 South Korea 13 10 8 31
8 Japan 9 6 10 25
9 Italy 8 10 10 28
10 France 7 16 17 40
11 Ukraine 7 5 15 27
12 Netherlands 7 5 4 16
13 Jamaica 6 3 2 11
14 Spain 5 10 3 18
15 Kenya 5 5 4 14
16 Belarus 4 5 10 19
17 Romania 4 1 3 8
18 Ethiopia 4 1 2 7
19 Canada 3 9 6 18
20 Poland 3 6 1 10
21 Hungary 3 5 2 10
21 Norway 3 5 2 10
23 Brazil 3 4 8 15
24 Czech Republic 3 3 0 6
25 Slovakia 3 2 1 6
26 New Zealand 3 1 5 9
27 Georgia 3 0 3 6
28 Cuba 2 11 11 24
29 Kazakhstan 2 4 7 13
30 Denmark 2 2 3 7
31 Mongolia 2 2 0 4
31 Thailand 2 2 0 4
33 North Korea 2 1 3 6
34 Argentina 2 0 4 6
34 Switzerland 2 0 4 6
36 Mexico 2 0 1 3
37 Turkey 1 4 3 8
38 Zimbabwe 1 3 0 4
39 Azerbaijan 1 2 4 7
40 Uzbekistan 1 2 3 6
41 Slovenia 1 2 2 5
42 Bulgaria 1 1 3 5
42 Indonesia 1 1 3 5
44 Finland 1 1 2 4
45 Latvia 1 1 1 3
46 Belgium 1 1 0 2
46 Dominican 1 1 0 2
46 Estonia 1 1 0 2
46 Portugal 1 1 0 2
50 India 1 0 2 3
51 Iran 1 0 1 2
52 Bahrain 1 0 0 1
52 Cameroon 1 0 0 1
52 Panama 1 0 0 1
52 Tunisia 1 0 0 1
56 Sweden 0 4 1 5
57 Croatia 0 2 3 5
57 Lithuania 0 2 3 5
59 Greece 0 2 2 4
60 T&Tobago 0 2 0 2
61 Nigeria 0 1 3 4
62 Austria 0 1 2 3
62 Ireland 0 1 2 3
62 Serbia 0 1 2 3
65 Algeria 0 1 1 2
65 Bahamas 0 1 1 2
65 Colombia 0 1 1 2
65 Kyrgyzstan 0 1 1 2
65 Morocco 0 1 1 2
65 Tajikistan 0 1 1 2
71 Chile 0 1 0 1
71 Ecuador 0 1 0 1
71 Iceland 0 1 0 1
71 Malaysia 0 1 0 1
71 S Africa 0 1 0 1
71 Singapore 0 1 0 1
71 Sudan 0 1 0 1
71 Vietnam 0 1 0 1
79 Armenia 0 0 6 6
80 Chinese Taipei 0 0 4 4
81 Afghanistan 0 0 1 1
81 Egypt 0 0 1 1
81 Israel 0 0 1 1
81 Moldova 0 0 1 1
81 Mauritius 0 0 1 1
81 Togo 0 0 1 1
81 Venezuela 0 0 1 1
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Ghei,
Lahiri end tied 49th in Brunei
Open golf:
It was a disappointing finish
for the Indian trio led by seasoned
golfer Gaurav Ghei on the last
day of the $300,000 Brunei Open
here on Sunday. Ghei, eighth
after the second day had slipped
to 32nd on third and on the
final day he slipped further
with a four-over 75 that saw
him finish at even par 284 and
in tied 49th place. Also in
the 49th place was Anirban Lahiri,
who also shot a 75. Rahil Gangjee
improved to a one-under 70 after
his five-over 76 on third day,
but failed to make any big movement
as he ended 58th. Meanwhile,
Australian rookie Rick Kulacz
holed a stunning bunker shot
for birdie to defeat Chinese
Taipei’s Lu Wen-teh in
a play-off to win the title.
Kulacz, the 2001 world junior
champion, produced one of the
shots of the season to capture
his maiden Asian Tour title
at Empire Hotel and Country
Club after tying Lu on 13-under-par
271. The 23-year-old, who held
the overnight lead, overcame
an early double bogey on his
first hole en route to a one-under-par
70 in the final round but was
caught by Lu, who closed out
with a 67. Thailand’s
Somkiat Srisanga and American
Anthony Kang, who both held
the lead during an enthralling
back nine duel, shared third
place after a 68 and 67 respectively
to finish one behind the winner.
In the first hole of a sudden-death
shoot-out, Kulacz and Lu found
the greenside bunker at the
par four 18th hole and after
Lu had splashed out to five
feet, the Perth-based Kulacz
produced the unlikeliest of
winning shots. (IANS)
Shevchenko to rejoin
AC Milan from Chelsea:
AC Milan said they
are awaiting the return of their
former striker Andriy Shevchenko
from Chelsea after closing a
controversial deal. The website
of the Serie A giants said on
Sunday that the Ukrainian was
due “in Milan to undergo
medical tests on Monday. The
terms of the financial agreement
with Chelsea are confidential”.
Sheva, who turns 32 Sep 29,
played seven seasons at Milan.
He scored 173 goals in 296 games
and won a Serie A title and
the Champions League with them.
“I’m fine and I’m
happy,” he was quoted
as saying. “I have been
hoping to return for a while
and I hoped that the negotiation
turned out well. For me, it’s
like having won a Champions
League. There have been some
complications, but now that
it’s over I’m truly
happy.”
(IANS) |
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