The Hindu : Sport Digest

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 08, 2002

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Sport - Sports : General

Sport Digest

FOOTBALL: LONDON: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is confident Argentine midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron will be fit for Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final second leg against Deportivo Coruna. ``I have no worries about Seba,'' Ferguson told The Mail today. ``This is a situation he will love. He has been involved in many huge football occasions and he revels in them. He will be up for this one. He would look forward to a game like this and he couldn't be coming back at a more opportune time for us.'' Veron has missed United's last three matches with a heel injury and flew to Rome last week to see a specialist. The Argentina international has made clear his intent to be fit for this year's World Cup finals, but United need him to bolster their midfield for the Deportivo clash at Old Trafford. United leads 2-0 from the first leg in Spain, but is missing Roy Keane through injury and Paul Scholes through suspension. David Beckham is also battling to overcome an ankle injury sustained in the Riazor stadium last Tuesday. Media reports say Marcelo Bielsa, the Argentina coach, wants Veron to rest and gain full fitness ahead of this year's finals in South Korea and Japan, which begins on May 31

STOCKHOLM: Tickets for Sweden's World Cup match against England are being offered for $ 2,225 each on the black market in Tokyo, a Swedish newspaper reported on Saturday. A reporter from the Swedish daily Dagens Industri said that they had been offered tickets for the match at that price. The sold-out match at the 63,700-seater Saitama stadium near Tokyo is scheduled to be played on June 2. It will be the first for both teams in Group F, which also features Argentina and Nigeria. Dagens Industri quoted an official at the Swedish embassy in Tokyo as advising people not to buy black market tickets, which might well be forged. Some 2,000 Swedish football supporters are expected to travel to the World Cup, the newspaper said.

ATHLETICS: PARIS: Frenchman Benoit Zwierzchlewski won the Paris Marathon on Sunday, missing the event record by 7 seconds, while Marleen Renders of Belgium set a new best time in the women's race. Zwierzchlewski, 25, threw his shoes into the crowd to celebrate his victory in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 17 seconds. His previous best time was 2:10:47. Estonia's Pavel Loskutov took second place, finishing 35 seconds behind the winner. Italian Migidio Bourifa placed third and was 49 seconds slower than Zwierzchlewski. In the women's race, Renders crossed the line in 2:23:04 to knock 39 seconds off the event record she set two years ago. Japan's Rie Matsuoka was 1:27 behind and Kenyan Esther Kiplagat placed third, 2:28 behind the winner. The women's world record of 2:18:47 belongs to Catherine Ndereba of Kenya. Some 29,000 runners took part in the 26th edition of the Paris Marathon

GOLF: DULUTH: South Africa's Retief Goosen treated the field at the BellSouth Classic to a superb display of putting, needing just 22 of them en route to a four-under-par 68 and a two-stroke lead over Phil Mickelson. Goosen, ranked number eight in world, posted the day's low round and sits at 14-under-par, while overnight co-leader Mickelson turned in a 71 on the par-72, 7,293-yard TPC at Sugarloaf on Saturday to stay in contention. Denmark's Thomas Bjorn is three shots back at 11-under-par, while Canadian Mike Weir and second round co-leader Steve Elkington are four shots back at 10-under-par. Goosen, the reigning U.S. Open winner, one-putted the seventh through 15th greens during a round that featured seven birdies. ``I'm pretty happy where I am,'' said Goosen after his third straight round in the 60s. ``I've not been playing all that well this week, but like I said, I've been putting great, and that's why I am where I am.''

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