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The week in Indian sports

MOTORSPORT---FORMULA-THREE
Karthikeyan finishes second

Chennai , May 7: India's formula-3 champion Narain Karthikeyan pulled out all the stops to win second place in round four of the British Formula-3 championship, 200, at Donington Park.

Narain, starting ninth on the grid, gave his Dallara a brilliant start and moved to fourth position by only the second lap of the 28-lap race, passing five cars in the process. He sped past Andy Priaulx (Renault) at the notoriously fast Craner Curves at an amazing 232 kmph in the very first lap. Soon after in the second lap, Narain raced past Michael Bentwood, his 1999 teammate, now driving for Fortec Motorsport, on the outside at the first corner.

Ford India boss Phil Spender, who sponsors Narain, said the race was one of the most memorable he has ever seen. "Narain challenged till the very end. This was a spirited performance from a great Indian icon," Spender said after watching the race from the beginning to the end.

Jenson Button having graduated from the British formula-3 championship into a full time driver with Williams-BMW in Formula-One 2000, reiterates the importance of the British Formula-three championship.

With this win, Narain jumped to third position in the overall championship standings.

TOP THREE POSITIONS: 1. Ben Collins-Carlin Motorsport-Great Britain-30 minutes 54.264 seconds; 2.Narain Karthikeyan-Stewart Racing -India-30 m 55.011 seconds; 3. Michael Bentwood-Fortec Motorsport -Great Britain-30m 57.047 seconds.

CHAMPIONSHIP RANKINGS AFTER FOUR ROUNDS: 1. Antonio Pizzonia -57 points; 2. Thomas Scheckter -52 points; 3. Narain Karthikeyan -35 points.

WEIGHTLIFTING
India claims two berths in Olympics

Osaka, May 8:: India clinched one berth each in the men's and the women's sections for the Sydney Olympic Games at the end of the Asian weightlifting championships in Osaka last week in Osaka, Japan. The names of the two competitors will be announced by officials later. The 19-member team returned to India after clinching nine medals, including five gold , two silver and two bronzes. India will hope to get some more berths via the 10 wild cards that will be awarded by the world body.

India began the championships in sensational fashion by winning four gold medals on the first day. The star of the day was Sanamacha Chanu in the 53 kg class by lifting a total of 197.5 kg to win gold. She left China's Li Zhou 10 kg behind in the second place. Chanu lifted 87.5 kg in snatch and added 110.0 kg through clean and jerk. Chanu won gold in both the snatch and clean and jerk categories as well besides claiming the overall gold medal, making it a clean sweep for her in the 53 kg class.

Kunjarani Devi, who has won many medals for India at international level, won silver in the 48 kg category. Kunjarani lifted 75.0 kg in snatch and 107.5 kg in clean and jerk as she totalled 182.5 kg for second place behind Japan's world bronze medallist Kayori Niyanagi who lifted a total of 185 kgs. Thailand's Udomporn Polsak settled for bronze with a total lift of 165 kg. Despite finishing runner-up in the overall standings, Kunjarani's lift of 107.5 kg won her the gold in the clean and jerk and India its fourth gold of the day. Her lift was 2.5 kg more than the effort of overall winner Niyanagi.

India's most pedigreed international lifter, Karnam Malleswari won the fifth gold for the country on the third day of the championships. The former world record holder clinched the medal in the women's 63 kg category snatch by hoisting 105.0 kg. But she had to settle for third place overall in her category as she could manage only 120 kg in the clean and jerk for an overall total of 225kg. Malleswari who is ranked fifth in the world in her category finished behind China's Chen Yanging who lifted a total of 230 kgs and Saipin Detsaeng of Thailand who's combined total for the snatch and clean and jerk was 227.5 kgs.

Among those who were close to claiming medals were Prathiba Kumari in the women's 58 kg and Khoni Devi in the 69 kg categories respectively. Pratibha lifted 87.5 kg in the snatch and 115.0 kg in the clean and jerk on the second day of the championships for a total of 202.5 kgs. The category was won North Korea's Ri-Songh Hui who lifted a total of 230.0 kg , while Yang Xia of China with 215 kg and Khassaporn Suta of Thailand with 212.5 kg won silver and bronze respectively.

Unlike her compatriot who was 10 kgs behind the bronze medallist in the 58 kg category , Khoni Devi was extremely unlucky to miss the bronze in her class , the 69 kgs. She lifted 85 kg in the snatch and 115.0 kgs in the clean and jerk to be tied with two Koreans ---Shi Sun-Hee and Park Mi-Jeong. However , Hee bagged the bronze because of her lower body weight.

While the women acquitted themselves admirably at the championships, the performance of the men left much to be desired. Sukhwinder Singh finished eighth in the 94 kg category with a total lift of 307.5 kg. In the 85 kg category Tejinder Singh also finished eighth with a total lift of 325 kg , 25 kgs less than the gold medallist in this category. Vijay Sharma came up with the best effort on the men's side with a fourth place finish in the over 105 kg class , with a total lift of 320 kgs.

SAILING
Mongia-Mahesh win Enterprise nationals

Bombay , May 13: Ashim Mongia and R. Mahesh won the Enterprise category in commanding style at the 40th Sailing nationals at the Naval Sailing Club in Bombay last week. Mongia and Mahesh had three first place finishes in the seven-round regatta in which the teams had the choice of discounting their worst result of the week. The duo, who had already qualified for the World Championships to be held in the United Kingdom at the end of July at the selection trials the week before, used these nationals as a training ground for the big event.

The duo began well by winning the first two races of the championships to open up a huge lead between themselves and the rest of the field. In high wind conditions, they showed their superior strength and skill by winning the first two races and then finishing runner-up in the third. After winning the fourth race the duo virtually sealed the national title and on the penultimate day of competiton, despite finishing in fourth place they had accumulated enough points to take home the title with a race to spare.

On the final day the point of interest was the runner-up slot at the championships. Defending champion Naresh Yadav and Jitendra Rami were in a close tussle with three other teams for the title. Ultimately it came down to a contest between Gautam Dutta and Rajesh Choudhary, and Yadav and Rami. Despite winning the final race, Dutta and Choudhary had to be content with third place behind Yadav and Rami. Although both teams finished level with 19 points each, Yadav and Rami took the second spot having won one race more than Dutta and Choudhary during the week.

The nationals, which celebrated the 40th year of the Yachting Association of India, also featured the Optimist class for under-15 sailors in India for the first time. Bombay's Sagar Padalkar established himself as India's leading young sailor by clinching the title in overwhelming fashion.The 14-year-old Padalkar won four of the seven races in this category over the week. 56 competitors from all over the country took part in this category.

Sagar will now go into the selection trials for the World Championships to be held in Poland at the end of July.

In the Cadet class for under-17 sailors too there was a pleasant surprise. The event was won by 16-year-old Sandip Jain and his 10-year-old crew Advait Parkar. The two-man boat is regarded as a stepping stone for future Enterprise sailors and the duo had a phenomenal run through the nationals. Jain and Parkar began by winning the first three races and then completed the rout by winning fifth and sixth races to clinch the title on the penultimate day itself.

The seabird category, a three-man boat was by S.K Kanwar and his cre of Anil Das and Shaji. This category is not raced internationally and was raced as part of the 40th year celebrations.

GOLF
Indians have mixed run at Macau Open

Macau , May 14: Indian professional Gaurav Ghei came up with a superb four under par 67 on the final day to finish fifth with a total of eight under par 276 to return the best card by an Indian golfer at the $200,000 Macau open last week.

Ghei, who played consistent golf throughout the week, earned $8000 for his effort.

The other Indians who took part in the tournamnet had forgettable outings. Defending Indian Open champion Jyoti Randhawa, who began the tournament in sterling fashion with a fist round card of 66, carded a four over par 75 on the final day to slip to joint 25th position with a total of one over par 285. Randhawa earned $1920 for his 25th position.

Chandigarh-based Amandeep Johl along with city mate Harmeet Kahlon carded an identical two over par 73 in the final round. Johl ended at joint 14th place and earned a cheque of $30 00. Kahlon was placed joint 38th on three over par 287 which fetched him a cheque of $1360.

The other three Indians- - Vivek Bhandari, Digvijay Singh and Amritinder Singh ended way down on the leader board. Bhandari had a poor last round of 78 and he totalled eight over par 292 to claim 55th place and a cheque for $700. Digvijay shot six over par 77 on the final day and totalled nine over par 293 for 59th place and won $ 600 in prize-money. Amritinder had a one over par 72 with a tournament score of 12 over 296 and ended at 62nd place for a total prize money of $500.

The tournament was won by England's Simon Dyson who shot a brilliant 15 under par 269 to claim the first prize of $32,300. Dyson, aged 22, closed with a four-under par 67 to win the 100th Davidoff Tour event by two strokes from last year's winner Andrew Pitts of the United States and Korean Yang Yong-Eun.

India's fortunes at another golf event, the 22nd Queen Sirikit cup for women in Taipei were not dramatically better.The Indian team gave a disappointing performance to finish eighth. India's hopes of claiming fifth place were frustrated as a resurgent Indonesia and Malaysia played well to overtake India.

However, India's youngest participant, 15-year-old Irina Brar, kept the Indian tri-colour flying when she claimed the seventh individual ranking with a fine aggregate off 22, six over par, with scores of 73, 75 and a final round of 74 in her first appearance at the Sirikit Cup. Unfortunately, teammate Anjali Chopra could neither find her luck nor her putting stroke and shot a 78. Shalini Malik carded 84. Australia won their seventh Sirikit Cup with an aggregate of 476.

SHOOTING
India win three medals at Grand Prix

Pizen; Czech Republic , May 9:Jaspal Rana won gold in his pet event, centre-fire pistol, at the 31st Grand Prix of Liberation shooting championship at Pizen in the Czech Republic. The event was the first in India's month-long tour of Europe which comprises both training and competition.

The Asian Games record holder scored 584 and tied with Enestronev of Russia. The gold had to be decided by a shoot-out. In the shoot-off, Jaspal shot 49, 50 and 48 against the Russian's score of 49, 48 and 49. Jaspal's experience in shoot-outs was obviously beneficial to the Delhi-based shooter.

In the Victoria Commonwealth Games of 1994, Jaspal shot 149 and 150 to clinch the gold. Similarly, he won gold in the shoot-off at the Asian championships in Langkawi. His only blemish came at the Asian Games in Bangkok in 1998 where he had to settle for silver in the shoot-off, despite becoming the Asian record holder.

But the real heroics at the meet came from 30-year-old Anjali Vedapathak. She missed the gold medal by a whisker in the women's rifle event final. In a championship that featured 517 shooters from 30 countries, Anjali shot the best score among the eight finalists. However, Harbartova of the host nation capitalised on her three-point lead over the Indian before the final to clinch the gold by a narrow margin of 0.2 points.

"Anjali and the Czech were tied after nine shots and Harbarotova who scored 399 , which is equal to the world record , prevailed in an exciting final," said Prof. Sunny Thomas, chief coach of the national team.

The coach was obviously pleased with Anjali's ability to consistently shoot over 395 out of 400 in international competitions. For Anjali, who is attempting to qualify for the Olympics through the hardship quota, this effort is bound to be a morale-booster. The rest of the Indian shooters in the event, Deepali Deshpande (390) , and Sushma Dixit (387) did well to help the team grab sixth position. Kuheli Gangulee shot 388.

India's third medal, a bronze, came in the team competition for the air pistol event. Jaspal Rana and Ved Prakash scored a creditable 582 each and Samresh Jung shot 573. The team finished third and missed second place by two points. This was the first time that two Indian shooters crossed 580 in this event in any international competition, according to the chief coach. Jaspal had scored 582 only once previously in international competition and Ved Prakash did it for the first time. Both were in the finals. Four of the eight shooters in the final had quota places for the Olympics and the highest score was 584.

"The lack of practice with electronic targets affected the performance of Jaspal and Ved in the finals and they finished seventh and eighth respectively," Prof. Thomas said.

Abhinav Bindra warmed up for the competitions ahead on the European tour by shooting 590 out of 600 in his only event , the air rifle. In the sport rifle-three Suma Dixit (576) , Kuheli Gangulee (574) , Deepali Deshpande (569) and Anjali Vedpathak (562) made a "commendable effort" according to Prof. Thomas.

The 12-member Indian contingent will move to Poland for another competition after a further training stint in the Czech Republic. The team is also scheduled to compete in the two World Cups to be held in Milano and Munich.

NATIONAL "A" CHESS THIS WEEK
The 37th National men's "A" Chess championships for men will be held in Bombay from May 16 to June 6. The championship which is likely to be a Grandmaster tourney, will be one of the strongest in the history of the tournament , with 20 of the best players in the country in the fray for the title.

The event carries prize-money of Rs. 84,700, including a first prize of Rs. 24, 200 , second prize of Rs. 18,150 and a third prize of Rs. 12,100. But what makes the event more attractive is the presence of a hugely taleneted teenage brigade - - P. Harikrishna, Surya Sekhar Ganguly, Sandipan Chanda and Sudarrajan Kidambi. This being the Olympiad year, the competition will be really stiff for berths in the Indian team.

Soon after the men's event, India's finest women players - 14 of them, with the exception of the prodigy Koneru Humpy - - will take the chairs before the boards in the 26th national women's championships from June 6 to 20, also in Bombay.The women's champion will take home Rs. 14, 250, the runner-up Rs. 11, 140 and the third place Rs. 8,000. The total prize money is Rs. 51, 500.

A four-member Indian team will travel to the Russian town of Yakustk for the World Youth Championship, to be conducted by the International Olympic Council from August 4 to 13. The team comprises Harikrishna, Tania Sachdev - - the Asian under-14 champion at Tehran recently - - Saptarishi Roy and Sharda Samani - - the current national sub-junior champions. The national under-12 and under-14 championships will be held at Ahemadabad according to the schedule from May 15 to 24.