Shuttlers begin play
Shuttlers begin play
in Jakarta Open
The 18th Yonex Sunrise Jakarta Open 2004 badminton
championship, featuring about 1,000 players from 74 clubs in
Indonesia and four foreign countries, began here on Tuesday.
The six-day championship at the Asia-Africa Badminton Hall in
South Jakarta features Under-14, U-16 and U-19 divisions, as well
as an open class, with a total of Rp 30 million (US$3,200) in
prizes on offer.
The visiting teams come from Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore
and Switzerland.
Only a few national players from Indonesia's training center
are playing in the tournament, a fact that has been criticized by
the organizing committee.
The national training center has sent only two men's doubles
teams to the tournament, Stevanus Ricky/Suherlan and Ardian
Kusmanto/Raymond Dimas Lesmana, as well as the mixed doubles pair
of Mega Berlian/Olivia.
"It is very disappointing that the training center has not
sent more players to this championship. It is held in Jakarta, so
they don't have to spend much money," Retno Kustijah, vice
chairman of the tournament's organizing committee, said. -- JP
;REUTERS;
ANPAs..r..
Putbrief-Olympic-Australia
Australian athletes pose nude for calendar
JP/11/brief
Australian athletes
pose nude for calendar
SYDNEY: Swimmer Michael Klim and basketball player Lauren
Jackson were among 35 Australian Olympic athletes who posed nude
for a calendar released on Tuesday.
The Athens Dream, a 220-page special issue of Black+White
magazine, retails at A$32.95 (US$22.74). Australian athletes also
shed their clothes for the Olympic edition of the magazine in
1996 and 2000.
Shaven-headed Klim is a former 100 metres butterfly world
record holder but has only qualified for the 50 metres freestyle
relay at the Athens Games in August. Klim posed with fish in warm
water.
"They were smelly and slimy. At the end of the day I felt
quite liberated. I was ready to go again," said the 26-year-old,
who won two relay golds at the Sydney 2000 Games. -- Reuters
;AFP;
ANPAs..r..
Putbrief-Cycling-USA
Lance Armstrong heads US Olympic cycling selections
JP/11/brief
Armstrong heads
cycling selections
COLORADO SPRINGS : Five-time Tour de France winner Lance
Armstrong heads the list of cyclists named to the US Olympic team
for the Athens Olympic Games, a spokesman for USA Cycling said on
Monday.
Armstrong, who is aiming for his sixth Tour de France crown
next month, will compete in his fourth Olympics. He has a bronze
medal at the 2000 Sydney Games.
In Athens, Armstrong will be accompanied by Tyler Hamilton,
George Hincapie, Bobby Julich and Jason McCarthy.
Armstrong and Hamilton were selected on the basis of their
first and fourth place finishes in last year's Tour de France,
while Julich and Hincapie qualified based on top five finishes at
the Paris-Nice cycling race in March. -- AFP
;REUTERS;
ANPAs..r..
Putbrief-Soccer-Liverpool
Thai media mogul to use own money in Liverpool bid
JP/11/brief
Media mogul pushes
for Liverpool bid
BANGKOK: Thai media mogul Paiboon Damrongchaitham would pay
for a stake in English soccer club Liverpool using his own money
rather than that of his company, GMM Grammy, the music firm said
on Tuesday.
The chairman of Thailand's biggest music company is putting
together a private consortium to bid for a 30 percent stake in
the club after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's government
withdrew from the negotiations last week.
"The company hereby would like to clarify that a decision has
been reached that the said investment opportunity will be Mr
Paiboon Damrongchaitham's personal investment and GMM Grammy PCL
will not be involved in any possible ways," Grammy said in a
statement.
Grammy shares have dropped 5.5 percent this week to three-week
lows after broker reports questioned where the company would find
the cash for a Liverpool investment and suggested it could affect
Grammy's ability to pay a dividend. -- Reuters
;REUTERS;
ANPAs..r..
Putbrief-Olympics-Seats
Athens hands Games seats contract to Dutch firm
JP/11/brief
Dutch firm gets
Athens seats contract
ATHENS : Greek organisers have handed a disputed contract for
vandal-proof seats for the Athens Olympic stadium to a Dutch
firm, a company spokesman said on Monday.
Galvanitas, who also make school furniture, said they would
deliver 75,000 seats that had undergone special testing.
The announcement followed a May decision to ditch an
Australian supplier in a move that was linked by some news media
to tensions between Athens and Australia over Olympic security
issues. The contract had been worth a reported $2.4 million.
The main Olympic stadium featuring a 150 million euro ($181
million) hi-tech roof by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrva is
expected to be used as a soccer stadium after the Games. --
Reuters