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The week in Indian sports

SHOOTING
Abhinav Bindra equals World Jr. mark
Munich, June 12: Abhinav Bindra helped the Indian squad wind up its 42-day tour of Europe on a bright note when he finished fourth in the World Cup which concluded in Munich last week. Bindra shot a world junior record-equalling score of 596 out of 600 in the men's air rifle event. The 17-year-old Abhinav was tied with three others going into the eight-member final, but a poor last shot in the 10-shot series resulted in him missing the bronze by 0.1 point. It was the first entry in a World Cup final for the Chandigarh lad who had grabbed the gold in the national championship in Phillaur earlier in the season, with a score of 593.

Coming close on the heels of Anjali Vedapathak's consistent entry into the finals in the last three World Cups in Sydney, Milan and Munich apart from the Grand Prix in the Czech Republic, Abhinav's fine performance has strengthened the case of 'hardship quota' for the Indian rifle shooters. The shooters had missed the 'Olympic quota' narrowly in the Asian championships at Langkawi.

Meanwhile, Jaspal Rana failed to make it to the final of the air pistol event by two points as he shot 581 out of 600. The other Indian marksman Ved Prakash shot 574. Earlier in the week, Anjali Vedapathak made her second successive entry into a World Cup final but could only achieve eighth place in the air rifle event. Anjali shot a 396 in the preliminaries and 101.4 in the final for a total of 497.4 to finish in eighth place. Another Indian, Deepali Deshpande, ended joint 26th with a score of 393 while Suma Dixit was oint 71st with a score of 388.

In the men's free rifle three-position event, A.P. Subbaiah, despite a creditable 1154, finished joint 52nd. In a field of 92 T.C. Palngappa, with 1147 points, was 72nd. In the women's sport rifle-three position event Anjali Vedapathak was joint 23rd, with a score of 577; Deepali Deshpande, with 575 points, and Kuheli Gangulee, with 573, were joint 32nd and 37th respectively. In the free pistol event too, the Indian contingent disappointed. Three Indians, Ved Prakash (547), Samaresh Jung (544) and Pemba Tamang (502), occupied 42nd, 50th and 76th places respectively.

TENNIS
Harsha Mankad falls at final hurdle
Bangalore, June 17: Despite fitness problems, top-seed Danai Udomchoke of Thailand won the men's singles title defeating fourth seed Harsh Mankad of India 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the second leg of the ITF Satellite tennis tournament in Bangalore last week. Much was expected of Mankad, the son of former Test cricketer and present coach of Bombay's Ranji Trophy team Ashok Mankad, but he failed to grab the opportunities presented by Udomchoke, who was handicapped by a muscle pull. Udomchoke had lost the final of the first leg due to a similar injury, to Sandeep Kirtane in Bombay the previous week.

"I could not concentrate in the first set. A terrible muscle pull would have cost me the title but I managed to serve well and I was lucky too," said Udomchoke, who is the number two player in Thailand and plays Davis cup for his country.

In the first set, Udomchoke hit some aimless shots and lost it 4-6. However, Mankad failed to capitalise on the advantage in the second, hitting wayward shots on both flanks. He dropped serve and presented easy points to his rival. Udomchoke broke in the eighth game and levelled the match at four games all. He held the next game, and after a few tense moments in which deuce was called three times, broke Mankad in the tenth game to take the set.

In the decider, Mankad got back into the match when he broke his rival in the first game and led 2-0. However, he then lost focus. He failed to hold serve in the eighth game, and that proved to be costly. The top-seed held his nerves and came out winner. "I failed to come to terms with Udomchoke. He virtually gave up in the beginning, but my own mistakes proved very expensive," said a disappointed Mankad. Udomchoke took home the winner's purse of $812.50.

Harsh Mankad had some consolation as he won the doubles title, partnering Ajay Ramaswamy. They beat Vikrant Chadha and Kunj Majumdar 6-4 7-5. Chadha and Majumdar, who were winners in the first leg in Bombay, made mistakes at crucial junctures and paid the penalty. The winners collected $393.75. Among the other Indians to make a mark during the week were US-based Ajay Ramaswamy, who got to the semi-finals, defeating Davis-Cupper and third-seed Vishal Uppal 6-3, 6-3 in the quarter-finals.

GOLF
Gurbaaz Man wins Singapore Jr Open
Singapore, June 14: India's Gurbaaz Mann won the Singapore junior golf championship after a splendid effort last week. Mann won the Lee Kim Yew Challenge trophy with a three round aggregate total of 221, after a round of 76 on the third and final day of the event. There was more good news for India when Ashok Kumar, the defending champion and one of India's leading amateurs, claimed second place with a final round of 75 to finish with a total of 225 , four strokes off the pace. Three strokes behind him was Khor Kheng Hwai of Malaysia, who had a cumulative score of 228.

Mann, who began the championships with a four over-par 76, finished tied for third place after the first round. Wee Jason of Malaysia and Liu Min-Yu of Chinese Taipei jointly led the field with a score of one over -par 73. The 16-year-old Jason shot the best round of his young career on the course -- all the more creditable as it was his first time around. Defending champion Ashok Kumar began with a disappointing round of six over 78 and lay tied at seventh position after the first round. But he made up with a fine 72 on the second day to storm back into contention. The other Indian golfers were not able to match the efforts of their counterparts though. Ranjit Singh finished with a total of 236 , Jaskirat Dullet was eight shots behind on 244, Mohommed Wazir also finished at 244 while Manav Jaini carded a three round total of 249. Balpreet Ghuman was completely out of depth and finished with a disastrous three-round total of 278. A total of 57 players from 11 countries were involved in the three-day tournament.

CHESS
R B RAMESH wins Rapid chess nationals
Jalandhar, June 13: R.B. Ramesh of Petroleum Sports Control Board won the seventh national rapid chess tournament in Jalandhar last week. The 24-year-old Ramesh, an officer with Indian Oil, won the title after settling for a draw with International Master R.B. Ramesh in his final game. His final tally of ten points was one point more than runner-up Dinesh Kumar Sharma.

Much of the sheen had been taken away from the tournament as the leading names of Indian chess including Grandmasters such as Abhijit Kunte, Dibyendu Barua and Pravin Thipsay gave the event a miss. After the gruelling National 'A' championships in Bombay, which lasted 22 days, most were mentally fatigued. And competing at the rapid chess nationals was obviously not on their priority list. With the Chess Olympiad in Istanbul later this year, those players are also preparing for that crucial event.

However, none of this takes the credit away from Ramesh. The top-seed never had to delve into his reserves and defeated Santosh Kumar Sinha and Manoj Mishra to ensure the first prize of Rs.22,000 and a glittering trophy with a round to spare in the 11-round tourney. With a cushion of 1.5 points, Ramesh accepted a nine-move draw from Kiran Panditrao in the final round to finish with 10 points. While Dinesh Kumar Sharma took sole possession of the runner-up slot, there was a three-way tie for third place between Survajt Saha, Yogesh Gore and Kiran Panditrao.

After his victory Sharma said, "For me this victory means a lot since I have been waiting for such a breakthrough. It will spur me on to go for more." Ramesh thought that his performance of nine wins and two draws could have been better. Indeed, Ramesh had failed to drive home a two-pawn advantage against Survajit Saha on the second day. Add to it the formality of finishing the tournament with a draw and Ramesh's lack of satisfaction is understandable.

BADMINTON
Prakash Padukone resigns
Bangalore, June 13: India's badminton legend Prakash Padukone resigned last week as executive president of the Badminton Association of India. The 1980 All-England champion said his decision to step down was "purely personal". His letter to the BAI president said: "It is almost three years since the new BAI was formed and over the three years I have realised that handling the responsibility of the executive president of the BAI is not my forte. Consequently, I feel it is not advisable for me to continue with this burden."

Padukone highlighted the significant gains made by the BAI and Indian players on the international stage. He pointed out the 1998 Commonwealth Games, where India won two silver and two bronze medals, and the recent entry into the final round of the Thomas Cup after a gap of over one decade. Padukone also pointed out the heartening performances of Indian players like P Gopichand, who won international tournaments during his tenure, and the rapid strides by Sachin Ratti and Siddharth Jain.

The seven-time national champion's resignation comes in the wake of his public pronouncement of concentrating on coaching at the BPL-sponsored Prakash Padukone academy in Bangalore. Several other factors too seem to have played a part in the maestro's decision. Ever since he took over the distributorship of Ashaway, a sports gear and wear firm, he is reported to have felt that his name should not be unnecessarily dragged into any controversies because of his business commitments.

There was also a suggestion that the federation was not functioning to his professional expectation. Though he was able to charter a brave new course for the game after he merged the breakaway Indian Badminton Confederation with the BAI in 1997, Padukone seemed to be weighed down by the responsibility. The fact that the BAI was not fully overhauled in the post-merger period also seemed to have influenced his decision.