Gopi Chand seeded fourth in World Grand Prix

BANGALORE, JULY 27. The All England champion, Pullela Gopi Chand, in his maiden appearance has been seeded fourth in the Brunei World Grand Prix finals, to be held from August 8 to 12 at the Hassanal Bolkiah Indoor Stadium, Bandar Seri Begawan.

Gopi Chand will face 1999 runner-up Marleve Mainaky, Olympic champion Ji Xinpeng and British number one Richard Vaughan in Group C. Every participant in this six-star event takes a share of $ 250,00.

Peter Gade of Denmark tops the seeding list in the strong men's singles line-up. The reigning champion, will be out to settle scores with Hendrawan to whom he lost in the World Championships in June, but will first have to overcome Xia Xuanze, Wong Choong Hann and Budi Santoso in Group A.

World Champion Hendrawan is drawn in Group B with an off-form Roslin Hashim of Malaysia, Denmark's Anders Boesen and Luo Yigang of China.

The Chinese tower over the rest in the women's singles event, occupying four places in the 12-strong field. World Championship silver medallist Zhou Mi is the top seed and will take on Mia Audina of the Netherlands and Ellen Angelina of Indonesia in Group A. - Our Special Correspondent

Racism rampant in Zimbabwe cricket: report

ZIMBABWE, JULY 27. Racism in Zimbabwe cricket is so rampant that the sport's very existence is threatened, a research group hired by cricket administrators has said.

The Test cricket nation was divided along racial lines, creating tensions, open hostility and anger among players, officials and supporters, researcher Ranga Zinyemba said in a report released on Wednesday.

The group found that ``racism was right at the heart of Zimbabwe cricket. Zimbabwe cricket was sitting on a powder keg that was ready to explode,'' he said. The report, compiled by Zinyemba's consultancy group, U.S. management consultant R.E. Zackrison and local cricket officials, recommended measures to promote blacks in the traditionally white-dominated sport.

During three months of surveys and interviews, researchers found that ``racism does exist and is rampant'' and threatened to tear the sport apart, Zinyemba said.

Zimbabwe was awarded Test status a decade ago when its team was all white. Seven blacks have played in the national team in the past three years, but the country has never fielded more than three blacks at any international match.

- AP

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