
France, Australia set up Davis Cup summit clash
LONDON: France will play Australia in the final of the Davis Cup after a convincing doubles victory. It is the third time this decade that France has made the final. The French pair of Olivier Delaitre and Fabrice Santoro defeated the inexperienced Belgian team of Xavier Malisse and Christophe van Garsse 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, giving France an insurmountable 3-0 lead in a best-of-five semi-final series. France had taken a 2-0 lead on singles victories by Sebastien Grosjean and Cedric Pioline.
In the other semi-final, Australia took an invincible 3-1 lead over Russia, after Lleyton Hewitt8217;s 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 win over Yevgeny Kafelnikov today. Kafelnikov and Andrei Olhovskiy had defeated Aussies Mark Woodforde and Sandon Stolle 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 8-6 earlier in doubles.
In qualifying-round best-of-5 series, with the winners advancing to the World Group for next year8217;s competition, it was Czech Republic 3, Uzbekistan 0; Finland 2, Italy 1; Zimbabwe 2, Chile 1;Britain 2, South Africa 1; Spain 3, New Zealand 0; and Germany 2, Romania 1.
Korean archers target world mark
SYDNEY: South Korea produced a world record score on its way to winning the men8217;s team event at the Olympic archery test event today. Jang Yong-Ho, Hong Sung-Chil and Kim Bo-Ram started today8217;s competition with a rush against the Australian Paralympic team by shooting 18 bulls eyes from their 27 arrows for a world-record score of 260 points from a maximum 270. They beat Italy in the gold medal match by 246 to 241, reversing the outcome at last month8217;s World Championship final in France. Turkey took the bronze with a 244-224 win over Sweden.
The Koreans8217; score broke the old world mark of 259 set in 1994 by another team of South Koreans at Hiroshima, Japan. The South Korean women won the team event yesterday.
Rain ruins Lanka-Australia Test
GALLE, SRI LANKA: Heavy rains forced the second cricket Test between Australia and Sri Lanka to be abandoned after 19 minutes of play for adraw on the fifth and final day here today. The umpires and captains agreed to call off the match after rain flooded the Galle International Cricket Stadium. The third and final Test commences at the Sinhalese Sports Club grounds in Colombo from Thursday.
SCOREBOARD
Sri Lanka 1st innings: 296.
Australia 1st innings: 228
Sri Lanka 2nd innings: S Jayasuriya not out 21, M Atapattu not out 28; Extras: lb3, nb3 6. Total: for no loss, 17.2 overs 55
Bowling: McGrath 7-2-23-0, Fleming 4-0-15-0, Miller 3-1-9-0, Warne 3.2-1-5-0.
Result: Match Drawn.
Spirited Dempo hold Salgaocar
MARGAO: Spirited Dempo rallied mid-way into the second session to hold title aspirant Salgaocar to a one-all draw in the second edition of the Director8217;s Special Professional Football League, here today.
Salgaocar, who dominated the first half, shot into the lead in the 52nd minute through medio Habib Adekunle after a barren first half. Mid-way through the second session, aresurgent Dempo found the equaliser through medio Mathew D8217;Costa.
Despite the draw, Salgaocar head the table with 11 points from five matches. Today8217;s result also helped Churchill Bros, who are two points behind Salgaocar, to remain in the hunt for the title. Dempo now have six points and are placed third.
Dhaval shocks top seed Shenesh
PUNE: Twelth seeded Dhaval Adhav created the biggest upset on the opening day of the 10th State Mini Chess Tournament as he toppled the top seed Shenesh Aher in the second round of the boys under-7 section at the Manohar Mangal Karyalaya, here today.
Pune8217;s Adhav, who took up chess only six months back, played Sicilian Defence with white pieces. In the middle-game, Adhav won black8217;s rook to finish the game in 26th move.
IMPORTANT 2ND ROUND RESULTS
Boys under-9: Subodh Lakhe 2 Nag bt Chinmay Duvedi 1 Pun; Konde Gaurav 2 bt B Aditya 1 Nag; Bhat Nitesh 2 Mum bt Anuj Tiwari 1 Mum; Ajinkya Petane 1 A8217;bad lost to Mohan Gupte 2 Mum; ChinmayKulkarni 2 Pun bt Abhishekh Sane 1 Pun; Vivitesh Agwan 1.5 Mum drew with Tarun Yadav 1.5 Mum. Under-7: Abhishek Kelkar 2 Pun bt P Nagare 1 Mum; Apurva Nilida 2 Mum bt Vishal Gujrathi 1 Nagar; Archit Mokashi 2 Pun bt Kushal Gupta 1 Nag; Vishal Thakre 2 A8217;bad bt Sudarshan Lamture 1 Mum; Dhaval Adhav 2 Pun bt Shenesh Aher 1 Pun.
Girls u-9: Mohita Agarwal 2 Pun bt Parkhi Sheyasi 1 Nag; M Gayatri 2 Mum bt Girija Kadlaskar 1 Pun; Mitali Patil 1.5 A8217;bad bt Shivali Dandekar 1.5 A8217;bad; Shruti Ratnakar 1 lost to Saba Mhate 2. Under-7: Devangi Patankar 2 Pun bt Anuja Borkar 1 Pun; Siddhali Shetey 2 Mum bt Chaitra Vable 1 Pun; Gauri Chavan 2 Sol bt Tanvi Wable 1 Pun.
Mistry heads Pune8217;s dominance
PUNE: Pune8217;s Noshirvan Mistry bounced from last to first to win the Maharashtra State Triathlon championship held at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi, today. Faltering in the pool, Mistry came back strongly with cycling, his forte, winning thecompetition with a timing of 3.01:40 seconds. The display, however, failed to enthuse the 26-year-old tri-athlete who admitted he didn8217;t push hard enough. Following Mistry were Mumbai8217;s Manoj Belekar who clocked 3.13:02 and Ajit Sawant with 3.16:18.
Mistry8217;s triumph highlighted Pune8217;s dominance at the event. In all, Pune claimed eight medal positions in the event 8212; a forerunner to the National championships scheduled to be held in Kochi in October.
RESULTS
Men senior: 1. Noshirvan Mistry Pun 3.01:40; 2. Manoj Belekar Mum 3.13:02; 3. Ajit Sawant Mum 3.16:18. Boys juniors: 1. Vilas Rathod Pun 1.21:39; Swapnil Jadhav Pun 1.21:42; 3. Milind Zondge Pun 1.23:04. Sub-junior: 1. Kunal Dhanwant Nsk 29.03:84seconds; 2. Arjun Nimblekar Pun 30.39:18; Vikas Shelise Pun 31.18:09
Girls junior: 1. Sonali Patil Pune 1.34:29; 2. Rupali Repale Mum Sub 1.36:46; 3. Yogita Wani Pun 1.39:25. Sub-junior:: 1. Amruta Karkhanis Mum Sub 35.10:91; 2. Julie Shetye Mum City 35.47:84; SwapnaPatil Mum Sub 39.03:85.