RI 'pencak silat' team to tour Europe

RI 'pencak silat' team to tour Europe

JAKARTA: A nine-member Indonesian pencak silat team will tour
France, Switzerland and Belgium to promote the Indonesia-based
martial arts worldwide.

The tour is scheduled to run from March 29 through April 6,
with the entourage to carry out a demonstration of pencak silat
in Paris, where it will be one of the 20 kinds of martial arts
participating at the World Martial Arts Festival.

They will head to Switzerland on March 31 before taking part
in the three-day Belgium Open.

"This is part of our moral support to those countries,
especially in Europe, we have so far assisted in developing
pencak silat as a martial art," Eddie Nalapraya, chairman of the
Indonesian Pencak Silat Association (IPSI), said at a meeting
with National Sports Council (KONI) Chairman Agum Gumelar here on
Tuesday. --JP

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McRae praying for New Zealand rain
JP/9/Brief

McRae praying for New Zealand rain

WELLINGTON, New Zealand: Former world champion Colin McRae is
praying for rain here next month as he prepares to chase his
third victory in the Rally of New Zealand.

McRae, currently second in the standings with his new Citroen
team, reckons the New Zealand rally presents him with one of his
best chances of victory this season.

But the Scot believes he needs either wet or humid conditions
to tame the sun-baked roads in the Auckland region.

McRae will run second on the gravel roads on the first day,
determined by his overall points standing behind current
championship leader Richard Burns. --AFP

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Dredge misses Masters qualification
JP/9/Brief

Dredge misses Masters qualification

LONDON: Britain's Bradley Dredge fell five places short of a
U.S. Masters debut when the world rankings were published this
week.

The 29-year-old Welshman had hoped his runaway win in the
Madeira Island Open at the weekend would take him from world
number 72 into the top-50 and qualification for Augusta.

But when the world rankings were published Dredge had moved
only to 55th. With no tournament on the European Tour this week,
he will now be unable to qualify for the opening major of the
season. --Reuters

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Leafs fall to Bruins
JP/9/Brief

Leafs fall to Bruins

BOSTON, Massachusetts: Mats Sundin's 1,000th NHL game was not
one to remember, his Toronto Maple Leafs falling 3-2 to the
Boston Bruins Monday.

The Swedish-born Sundin failed to collect a point while
registering two shots on goal.

Mike Knuble grabbed the game-winner for Boston 15 seconds into
the final period after earlier goals by Rob Zamuner and Martin
Lapointe. Darcy Tucker and Tomas Kaberle had Toronto's goals,
newcomer Owen Nolan assisting on the second. --Reuters

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Johnson agrees to contract deal
JP/BASEBALL

Johnson agrees to contract deal

PHOENIX, Arizona: Randy Johnson, in the midst of one of the
most dominant stretches by a pitcher in the last 50 years, Monday
agreed to a two-year contract extension with major league
baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks.

The deal is believed to be worth in excess of 31 million
dollars, making Johnson the highest-paid pitcher ever.

He was in the final year of a four-year, 53.4 million dollars
deal he signed in November 1998. --AFP

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Champ Germany closer to final
JP/9/Brief

Champ Germany closer to final

IPOH, Malaysia: World champion Germany stepped closer to the
final of the 12th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup when they overcame a
stubborn South Korean side to win 2-0 here Monday.

It was the second consecutive victory for the defending
champions after a slim 4-3 win over Pakistan on Sunday, while the
Asian champions remained on three points after beating hosts
Malaysia 2-0 on Saturday.

It was scoreless in the first 35 minutes but the powerful
Germans settled the encounter with two well-taken penalty corners
in the second half.

Timo Wess, who scored against Pakistan, put the Germans in the
front in the 41st minute before Max Landshut made it 2-0.

The Koreans were fast in their counter-attacks but, with seven
newcomers in the team, they lacked the experience to take on
their strongly-built opponents. --AFP