Sports in Briefs
Sports in Briefs
RI spikers
to Fukuoka
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's men spikers have to at least finish
second in the June 20-27 Asia Pacific volleyball championships at
Fukuoka, Japan if they want live up their dreams of places in the
national team for October's Asian Games.
National coach Wienarto said Thursday that the annual
tournament will serve as the final testing ground for the
Indonesian men's volleyball squad.
"We won't let them enter the Asian Games if they fail to meet
the target," Wienarto said. The national sports governing body
(KONI) has made men's volleyball a non-priority event for the 2-
16 October Asiad in Hiroshima, despite the fact that Indonesian
spikers won the gold medal in the last four Southeast Asian
Games.
Indonesia reached the final at last year's Asia Pacific meet
before going down to Japan. Chinese Taipei, South Korea,
Australia, China and the Philippines have also confirmed their
entries at the tournament, with Japan poised to stretch its
winning run. (amd)
Kafelnikov
into semis
MONACO (AFP): Russia's Yevgeni Kafelnikov stormed into the
semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Open here yesterday with a
straight sets win over David Rickl of the Czech Republic.
Kafelnikov, eliminated the tournament's top seed Michael Stich
and Andre Agassi on his way to the quarter-finals, won 7-6 (7-1),
6-3.
His semi-final opponent will be the winner of the match
between American Jim Courier and the Ukrainian Andrei Medvedev.
Baseball results
NEW YORK (Reuter): Results of Major League baseball games
played on Thursday
American League
Boston 6 Oakland 5
New York 4 Seattle 2
Cleveland 10 Minnesota 6
Milwaukee 6 Chicago 4
California 11 Baltimore 8
National League
Philadelphia 6 San Francisco 1
Montreal 5 San Diego 4
Los Angeles 13 New York 3
Badalona wins
European crown
TEL AVIV (Reuter): Spain's Joventut Badalona was crowned
European club basketball champion on Thursday after beating
Olympiakos 59-57 in a dramatic final decided only in the last few
moments.
With 17 seconds to go and Olympiakos 57-56 ahead, Badalona's
Cornelius Thompson sank a three-point jumper to silence the 3,000
fervent Greek fans.
Then Olympiakos's Zarko Paspalj won a foul 4.8 seconds from
time only to miss both shots.
India restricts
Pakistan's run
SHARJAH, UAE (AFP): India needs to make 251 runs to win the
Australasia cup here yesterday after restricting World Cup
champion Pakistan to 250 for six.
Pakistan looked set to make a big score when off-spinner
Rajesh Chauhan snapped up three wickets to check them in their
stride.
Opener Aamar Sohail, who made 134 in the semi-final against
New Zealand on Wednesday while sharing a world record stand of
263 with Inzaman-Ul-Haq, top scored with a fluent 69.
Three golfers
share lead
BARCELONA, Spain (AFP): Jean-Louis Guepy and Thomas Levet, two
Frenchmen with a liking for long-distance travel, shared the
first round lead with South African Gavin Levenson in the Catalan
Open here on Thursday.
Guepy, a 27-year-old who was born on the Pacific Island of New
Caledonia, and Levet, a 25-year-old from Paris, each had six
birdies in a five under par 67. As did 40-year-old Levenson from
Johannesburg, a former winner of the Belgian and Majorca Opens.
Guepy, who has a base in Bordeaux, is in his first season on
the European Tour, having qualified by finishing runner-up on the
secondary Challenge circuit in 1993.
Chinese woman
judoka banned
TOKYO (AFP): The Judo Union of Asia barred China's Tang Lihong
yesterday from competition for two years for testing positive in
a doping test at the Asian championships at Macao in November.
The union's technical committee, meeting here, also stripped
Tang of her Asian women's 48-kilogram (106 pound) bantam-weight
title and left it vacant in the first doping charge clamped on a
female Asian judoka.
The committee said Tang was found to have taken a banned
substance and she would be banned from competing at the Asian
Games at Hiroshima, Japan in October.
Rangers plot
double boost
GLASGOW, Scotland (AFP): Glasgow Rangers could edge closer to
the Premier Division title today and deliver a psychological blow
to its Cup Final opponents at the same time.
If Rangers beat Dundee United at Ibrox and Motherwell slip up
at Aberdeen, the Glasgow side will be within two points of
confirmation as Scottish champion.
And with Dundee United again the opposition in May's Scottish
Cup Final, the chance to claim a psychological edge will add to
the significance of Saturday's encounter.