The Hindu : Sports Digest

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 17, 2002

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Sport - Sports : General

Sports Digest

CRICKET: BLOEMFONTEIN: South African fast bowler Makhaya Ntini claimed a hat-trick on the first day of a four-day match for Border against Free State at Goodyear Park here on Friday. Ntini collected six for 37 in 13 overs as Free State slumped to 94 for nine in reply to Border's 94 all out. Ntini removed tailenders Rashad Lewis (9), Allan Donald (0) and Dewald Pretorius (0) in the 21st over, his 11th. It is the second time Ntini has taken a first class hat-trick, the first coming two seasons ago against the same opposition at the same venue.

SHARJAH: Sir Paul Condon, head of the International Cricket Council's Anti Corruption Unit (ACU), is confident next year's World Cup in South Africa will be free of any match-fixing. ``I am very confident that the measures being put in place in South Africa and around the cricket world will ensure that the World Cup will be a tournament played entirely on merit,'' Condon told reporters. ``There will be a sensible but stringent security regime in place, which will act as a major deterrent to would-be corruptors. At the same time it will be as unobtrusive as possible as far as players and spectators are concerned.'' Condon is at the desert venue to review security measures recommended by the ACU last April to eliminate widespread corruption from the sport. The move follows the ban imposed on several Test players - including former South African captain Hansie Cronje - for their links to illegal bookmakers. The proposals include strict controls on access to players' dressing rooms and team hotels and restricting the use of mobile phones by players during matches.

FOOTBALL: GUATEMALA CITY: A member of the national champion soccer team Municipal died on Friday of injuries he suffered when a portable goal toppled over in practice. Johny Aldana, a 21-year-old midfielder, had undergone several operations since the accident on Monday cracked his skull. He never regained consciousness. ``I don't have the words to express my grief.... I am thankful for all the support from everybody,'' said his father, Hugo Aldana. Aldana also had been a member of the national under-21 team that won the championship of the most recent Central American Games.

MILAN: Injury-blighted Ronaldo has added to the tension surrounding his current stay in Brazil by saying mistakes have been made in his club Inter Milan's handling of his return to action this season. The twice World Player of the Year is currently in Rio recuperating from his latest injury setback which is throwing doubt over his possible involvement in this year's World Cup. In an interview with Italian television station Rai, Ronaldo, whose decision to train alone in Rio during the carnival season raised eyebrows in Italy, says he is paying the price for errors made in his stuttering comeback. ``Although I do not want to deal with this in depth, certainly some mistake happened,'' said Ronaldo. ``I don't know exactly what or where but there was (a mistake) and now I am paying for it. In the future we will try to do it better with a more studied programme of work that brings me to a targetted return so as not to make any more mistakes,'' he said. There has been criticism of Inter's decision to play Ronaldo, who was easing his way back from two years on the sidelines, in three games in nine days prior to his thigh injury in the December 23 Serie A game against Piacenza.

MANCHESTER: Manchester United midfielder David Beckham should be fit for next week's Champions League game against Nantes, manager Alex Ferguson has said. Beckham aggravated an ankle injury during England's 1-1 draw with the Netherlands in a friendly on Wednesday in Amsterdam and missed training on Friday. ``David got a kick,'' Ferguson said. ``Fortunately it's not serious and he should be ready for Wednesday.'' Paul Scholes also missed training with a thigh problem, but Ferguson said he too should play against Nantes. ``I don't think (Beckham is) the biggest worry to be honest with you and I think Paul Scholes has got a more worrying injury, but we think he should be OK too,'' Ferguson said.

LISBON, Portugal: The Portuguese Soccer Federation on Friday suspended national goalie Joaquim `Quim' Silva after he tested positive for nandrolone, a banned steroid. The suspension will remain in place until the federation's disciplinary committee considers his case. No date has yet been set for a hearing. Quim will miss his club Braga's league game against Santa Clara. The suspension could also wreck his chances of making Portugal's World Cup squad for the May-June finals. The 26-year-old, who has made 12 international appearances, has denied that he took nandrolone. His club claims the amount of nandrolone found in Quim's urine is too small for a reliable reading.

WINTER OLYMPICS: SALT LAKE CITY: Forget the medals. Prince Albert of Monaco has a score to settle when he takes part in a record fifth Olympics in the four-man bobsled event. His goal is to beat a quartet from Hungary with a magnum of champagne at stake. Adding color to the private matchup, two of the Hungarian team live in London and met by accident while jogging round a park. Nicholas Frankl, 30, whose father fled Hungary in 1956, became fascinated by the bobsled in 1992 while watching it on TV during the Games at Albertville, France. He decided to form his own Hungarian team and, by coincidence, found his brakeman when he ran into another London-born Hungarian while out jogging. ``On our travels we met Prince Albert in Norway. He had money-no-object backup for his hobby, a team of about 20 and was extremely generous, lending us tools and equipment,'' Frankl said. All of this has backfired on Prince Albert, the oldest bobsled driver at 43 in this year's Winter Olympics. Frankl's team finished 28th at the Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, while the Monaco foursome placed 43rd. Four years later at Nagano, Japan, Frankl beat the Prince by two places and now they're heading for showdown No. 3. The two-day event begins February 22 with Prince Albert the first bobsled competitor to race in five Olympics.

The following are the highlights of Day Eight in the winter games: Olga Danilova, Russia: Took a surprise gold in the women's cross-country pursuit. A better classical skier, she came on strong in the second-race freestyle to beat out fellow Russia Larissa Lazutina with bronze for Canadian Beckie Scott.

* Patric-Fritz Leitner and Alexander Resch, Germany: Claimed the men's luge doubles gold with the Americans Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin winning silver and countrymen Chris Thorpe and Clay Ives in the bronze-medal spot.

* Philipp Schoch, Switzerland: Gave the Swiss their third gold medal, this one in men's parallel giant slalom. Richard Richardson of Sweden took silver and Chris Klug of the United States won bronze.

* Isabelle Blanc, France: The French went 1-2 in women's parallel giant slalom with Blanc taking gold and Karine Ruby winning silver. Lidia Trettel of Italy claimed bronze.

Medals table after 33 of 78 events at the games (tabulated under nation, gold, silver, bronze and total). Two gold medals awarded to Russia and Canada in pairs figure skating: Germany 5-7-4-16; Norway 5-5-0-10; United States 3-6-5-14; Russia 3-4-2-9; Switzerland 3-0-1-4; France 2-2-1-5; Finland 2-1-1-4; Italy 2-1-1-4; Canada 2-0-2-4; Spain 2-0-0-2; Austria 1-2-7-10; Netherlands 1-1-0-2; South Korea 1-1-0-2; Estonia 1-0-1-2; Croatia 1-0-0-1; Sweden 0-1-2-3; Japan 0-1-1-2; Poland 0-1-1-2; Bulgaria 0-0-1-1; China 0-0-1-1;Czech Republic 0- 0-1-1.

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