The Hindu : Sport Digest

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 29, 2002

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Sport Digest

CRICKET: JOHANNESBURG: Following the recent 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Australia at home, Shaun Pollock's captaincy has come under microscope of the United Cricket Board of South Africa. ``We'll be looking at the captaincy... If the incumbent falls short then action will be taken,'' said Percy Sonn, the President of the United Cricket Board of South Africa. South Africa lost both their away and home Test series to Australia, sparking a nationwide anguish. The national selectors too have come in for sharp criticism, forcing the UCB to hold crisis meeting of the General Council last Monday. A significant outcome of the meeting is the appointment of National Cricket Committee to look into issues of selection, leadership and management. The Committee includes four former Test players - Andrew Hudson, Craig Matthews, Omar Henry and Pat Symcox - Gerald Majola, the Chief Executive of the UCB, Dr. Logan Naidoo, President of the Natal Cricket Association, Anton Ferreira, Haroon Lograt and Imran Munshi. But the Committee will have only powers of recommendation.

GOLF: LAS PALMAS (Canary Islands): Sergio Garcia shot a 5-under-par 67 on Saturday in the third round of the $1,530,000 (1,722,000 euros) Gran Canaria Spanish Open to stand on the brink of his first professional victory on home soil. The 22-year-old, who has staked out fresh territory on the U.S. tour with three victories there in the last 11 months, finished 14-under at 202. He will now carry a 5-shot lead over Italy's Emanuele Canonica into Sunday's final round.

Canonica shot a 70 to finish at 207 and England's Greg Owen had a 72 for 208. Garcia will play his final round paired with Canonica and 17-year-old Spanish amateur Rafael Cabrera, born and bred on the island of Gran Canaria and urged on by an extended support group of family and friends. He shot a 67 to tie Owen for third slot at 208. Cabrera stood 7-under after 16 holes and needed two pars for a course-record 65 but then bogeyed twice.

GREENSBORO (North Carolina): Rocco Mediate, putting nothing like his PGA Tour stats indicate, shot a 6-under-par 66 on Saturday for a two-shot lead over Mark Calcavecchia heading into the final round of the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic. Mediate, the winner in 1993, began the third round one stroke behind co-leaders Calcavecchia and Robert Gamez, but birdied his first three holes at Forest Oaks Country Club to tie for the lead. Mediate bogeyed his next two holes to fall from the top of the leaderboard as quickly as he got there. However, he rebounded on the back nine with three birdies in four holes, then sank a 20-footer on No. 18 for a 15-under total and an opportunity for his fifth PGA Tour victory on Sunday. Mediate began the week 140th on tour in putting average, but needed just 25 putts in his third round and 77 so far after 54 holes.

Weightlifting: ANTALYA (Turkey): Russian Alexei Petrov lifted a total of 400.0 kilograms (880 pounds) for gold and George Asanidze of Georgia beat out Mariusz Rytkowski of Poland on body-weight on Saturday at the European Weightlifting Championships. Petrov, who won a gold at the 1996 Olympic games and a bronze in 2000, lifted 185.0 kilograms (407 pounds) in the snatch and 215.0 kilograms (473 pounds) in the clean-and-jerk to win the men's 94-kilogram (206.8-pound) weight-class. Petrov also took a gold for his snatch lift. Milen Dobrev of Bulgaria hoisted a total of 397.5 kilograms (874.5 pounds) for second place overall. Nizami Pashayev of Azerbaijan took third place with 395.0 kilograms (858 pounds). Although he didn't end up finishing in the top three, Moldovan Vadim Vacarciuc's 217.5-kilogram (478.5-pound) clean-and-jerk was good enough for a gold in that competition and defeated three other athletes' failed attempts to lift 222.5 kilograms (489.5 pounds).

FOOTBALL: PHUKET (Thailand): The president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has said that Asia would back embattled FIFA boss Sepp Blatter in his fight to keep the top job in world soccer against challenger Issa Hayatou. "The people of Asia have said they will support you, and we will stick to our word,'' AFC president Mohamed Ben-Hammam of Qatar told Blatter in a speech at a gathering of Asian soccer officials on the Thai resort island of Phuket. ``You have so many friends. Your fight is our fight.'' FIFA president Blatter paid a flying visit to Thailand yesterday to attend the gathering. He faces a stiff battle to keep his job in the face of a challenge from Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Hayatou, who has won the backing of European soccer's governing body UEFA as well as most African nations. FIFA's 204 member associations must choose between Swiss Blatter and Cameroon's Hayatou at their congress in Seoul on May 29, two days before the start of the World Cup finals that are being co-hosted by South Korea and Japan.

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