The Hindu : Sport Digest

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 14, 2002

Sport

Sport - Sports : General

Sport Digest

CRICKET: ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan skipper Zaheer Abbas has said his country could win the next World Cup, but termed Australia as the favourites. "Pakistan can win the World Cup to be held in South Africa early next year if it maintains its good form, but to me Australia is the favourites,'' said the legendary Run Machine. Zaheer said Pakistan and South Africa were the favourites after the Australians to wrest the title. Commenting on Waqar Younis' captaincy, Zaheer said he was doing well and must not be removed before the World Cup. ``Waqar is now well set and doing his job with great commitment,'' The News quoted him as saying. When asked about Pakistan's World Cup squad, he said it must be chosen from among the present lot, but added that Pakistan must have a reliable opening pair and number three 3 batsman. ``The opening and one-down positions are like the backbone of a batting line-up and Pakistan has to get it right if it wants to win the World Cup,'' he noted. On Pakistan's batting, he said, "We should not depend only on Inzamam-ul-Haq or Yousuf Youhana and everyone should play his part in the team's victory. Even if the top six batsmen score 35 runs each, they can easily make 250 or more in the end.''

BOXING: LONDON: Heavyweight boxer Lennox Lewis added another prize to his two championship belts on Friday (July 12) by becoming a Commander in the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in a ceremony at Britain's Buckingham Palace. Prince Charles awarded the title to the towering British boxer, who demolished America's Mike Tyson in their championship bout in Memphis last month. Snappily dressed in a formal black tailcoat, dark grey striped trousers and bow tie, his dreadlocks streaming down from under a top hat, Lewis posed for photographers holding his new medal alongside to a bemused `Beefeater' guard. The new title is just one step below a knighthood, which would have turned Lewis into Sir Lennox. After defeating Tyson, the boxer declared his reputation cemented and mission completed, but at the age of 36 has yet to say conclusively whether he plans to retire.

FOOTBALL: ZURICH: Portuguese international Joao Pinto has been banned from club and international football until October 17 for punching a referee during the World Cup finals, FIFA said on Friday (July 12). He had originally been suspended after striking Argentinian referee Angel Sanchez in a melee after being shown a red card during Portugal's 0-1 defeat against South Korea, which sent the Portuguese crashing out of the tournament. FIFA's disciplinary committee on Friday imposed a six-month suspension, but said two of those were considered a partial suspension, meaning the 30-year-old Sporting Lisbon player will be allowed to play again in October. Pinto was also placed on probation for one year, meaning that if he commits a similar offence during that period he must serve the additional two months suspension. He was also ordered to pay a fine of 50,000 Swiss francs ($33,700) and he will also have to meet the procedural costs of 15,000 Swiss francs.

MADRID: Spain's soccer federation confirmed Inaki Saez as the national team's new coach on Friday. No contract length was specified but federation officials said Saez , who has managed Spain's junior sides since 1996, was expected to extend his existing contract to cover Euro 2004 in Portugal. Saez was named as temporary coach last week when Jose Antonio Camacho handed in his resignation 10 days after Spain exited the World Cup after losing to co-host South Korea in the quarterfinals. Saez has been an extremely successful coach with the junior side, winning the European U21 trophy in 1998, the u-20 World Cup in Nigeria in 1999 and finishing runner-up in the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Spain's senior side is a perennial underachiever having only ever won one competiton, the European Championship in 1964. Initially, the federation intimated it would look for another permanent coach but federation Secretary General Gerardo Gonzalez denied on Friday that other coaches had been sounded out. ``Saez is the ideal man,'' said Gonzalez. ``He's won enough titles to deserve the chance of coaching the first team.''

TENNIS: St. Petersburg (Florida): Martina Hingis will miss this year's US Open as she continues to recover from left ankle surgery, the WTA Tour announced on Friday. The former world No. 1 from Switzerland had surgery on May 20 in her homeland to repair ligaments in her ankle. According to her representatives, rehabilitation is ``progressing well'' and Hingis hopes to resume play soon. Hingis will not appear in upcoming events in San Diego, Los Angeles and Montreal and will not submit an application for the year's final Grand Slam event. The 1997 US Open champion and five-time Grand Slam champion has missed each major in 2002. Initial reports claimed Hingis' injury - allegedly caused by her sneakers - was career threatening. Hingis, who will be 22 in September, won titles in two of her first three appearances in 2002, increasing her career total to 40. She claimed the Australian Open crown from 1997-99 and Wimbledon in 1997.

GSTAAD ( Switzerland): Alex Corretja is supporting the idea of Wimbledon starting a week later to ease the pressure on top players. Corretja, who beat fellow Spaniard David Sanchez on Friday to clinch his place in the Swiss Open semifinals, missed this year's Wimbledon because he believed there was insufficient time to prepare after playing at the French Open on clay. The interval between the two events is only two weeks and that is why so many players, particularly Spanish clay court specialists, are no longer playing at both, said Corretja. ``It is too much for the players. There needs to be a bigger gap between them to help the players. ``I've talked to the guys from Wimbledon and they all said three weeks would be better.'' Corretja, one of the tennis circuit's respected `elder statesmen', has been on the professional tour for 11 years and accumulated more than $9.4 million along with his 15 titles. But Gstaad remains a favourite. ``I've been coming for 10 or 11 years and I know the place well, the hotel, the waiters and the reception staff. I feel at home here. I really do. It's a great event.''His popularity with the local Swiss has resulted in him participating in various promotional events over the years, including, this time round, taking a bath in cow's milk.

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