Keeping tab 8212; No oars, no practice

The Andhra Pradesh rowing team has a major problem confronting them. They have not been able to practise for three days now. The reason: sh...

The Andhra Pradesh rowing team has a major problem confronting them. They have not been able to practise for three days now. The reason: shortage of oars. The AP coach alleged the Karnataka team is being given preference while providing the oars for practise. What is worse, the Karnataka oarsmen are believed to have broken a few oars. The coach also alleged that the Karnataka association had also been sanctioned a grant of Rs one crore to buy boats from China. But they do not not seem to have purchased them.

Cheers for others

Why should a group of journalists from Kerala celebrate be glad when Karnataka, Delhi and Haryana sweep almost all the medals in the canoeing and Kayaking events on Monday? Simple. The medal winners were all from Kerala, but were representing other states, having left Kerala for greener pastures, elsewhere. After establishing that the winner was from Kerala, the next step was finding out the village. Imagine the delight, when one of the scribes discovered that the winner was not only from the same village, but had his house almost next doors. Talk of borrowed glory !

EFI academy

The Equestrian Federation of India is considering Karnataka8217;s request to establish the All India Equestrian Academy at Mysore. The Association president Gen. Sharma said, 8220;We will be glad to establish the academy at Mysore if the state comes forward and extends support, in terms of sponsors, infrastructure and funds. There is a school of thought which was also feels that Mysore is a little out of the way and the academy should be established in the central India. But, if Karnataka comes forward meeting the requirements, we will actively explore the possibility of establishing the academy at Mysore,8221; he said.

Dope tests

Random dope tests would be conducted on athletes participating in the ongoing fourth Nationnal Games as per the guidelines of the International Olympic Council medical commission. Dr Rajeev Ahuja, departmennt of sports medicine, SAI said that a maximum of three athletes would be randomly tested for each discipline. Samples would be sent to the dope lab at SAI centre, New Delhi. A maximum of 50 athletes would be tested during the Games.

Sponsorship deal

The Indian Olympic Association IOA has signed a mega sponsorship deal with the Lausanne-based ISL-Meridien Olympic marketing for its Top IV programme which is to net the apex sports body US 641,000 over Rs 2.2 crore over the next four years. As per the agreement the Indian contingents for the 1998 Asian Games at Bangkok and the 2000 summer Olympics at Sydney would be covered. The new deal gave the IOA an increased revenue of Rs 1.71 crore when compared to the sponsorship agreement for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, which contributed the association coffers a whopping Rs 52 lakh US 150,900.

Flame rekindled

The flame in the Games torch was increased to its optimum level on Tuesday following a report in The Indian Express that it was not visible. Indian Oil Corporation, the sponsors of the Olympic Torch, clarified that at no point of time was the flame totally extinguished. However, they accepted that the torch flame was reduced to the minimum owing to 8220;safety reasons and to conserve valuable fuel8221;.