He said he would win and he did it

By Chan Tse Chueen

Two hours, 27 minutes and seven seconds after the 6 a.m. flag-off, he became the first of 2,503 competitors to cross the finishing line at the National Stadium.

Fifteen minutes later, he was already holding court with a crowd of reporters, fielding questions without being out of breath.

Asked about his race, the 31-year-old said: "It was easy. Yes, I did it."

The course, though new to him, was not a problem, he added.

The weather, which was hot and humid, also suited him just fine.

It was his first race in Singapore, but his fifth international.

He could not top his season best of 2:16:10 yesterday, but did enough to earn himself the top prize of $2,500, which would go towards raising his three-year-old son, Junior.

Nkodima kept to his game plan of sticking with the pack for the first three-quarters of the race.

At the halfway mark in Ang Mo Kio, he was jostling alongside compatriots Zacharia Mosala, the defending champion, and Brian Zondi.

Also keeping pace were Kiwi Mark Hutchinson, Sri Lanka's A.M. Ajith Bandara, Norwegian Tor Erik Nyquist and Indonesian Osias Kamiase.

With a quarter of the 42.195km journey left, the South Africans, the clear pre-race favourites, started to break away.

At the 33km mark, Nkodima began to leave even his compatriots behind.

Mosala finished just over a minute behind in 2:28:09 while Indonesian Osias Kamiase prevented a South African sweep by taking the third spot in 2:29:05.

In the Women's Open competition, Indonesia's 1997 South-east Asia Games gold-medallist Ruwiyati announced she was still a title contender at next year's SEA Games in Malaysia with yet another win.

AIS are Under 15 cricket Champs

Instrumental in AIS's success was the superb batting performances of the Man of the Series, Andrew Anton. A half-century in the Preliminary Round was followed by 95 not out in the Semi-Final and 120 in the Final. The latter score earned him the Best Batsman award too. 

Chipping in with the ball for AIS was Chamminuwan Vidanaarachchi who was awarded the Best Bowler's Trophy for his 4 wickets in the Final. Earlier he had contributed a brisk half-century to his side's total. 

Ironically this is the first year since the inception of this tournament that AIS have not been its organisers. This year, the responsibility was taken on by Belvoir College International. 

In his closing address, Mr. P. Samaranayake, Warden of Belvoir College, complimented all teams not only on the high standard of play, but also on the excellent sportsmanship displayed throughout the Tournament. 

Big prize money for Inter Club Tennis

The Inter Club has been divided into 9 regular divisions, 4 veterans' divisions and two women's divisions. The initial stage of the Inter Club will be on a league basis, with 4 to 5 clubs placed in a group depending on the number of entries for a particular division. The home team will receive 2 cans of Fischer tennis balls and the winning team of a tie will receive Rs. 1,500. Each club is expected to play around 3 to 4 matches, just image how much a club which has entered 10 teams, and winning most of their matches would earn, said an official of the SLTA. The finalists will receive Rs. 2,500, while the winners Rs. 2000. However, the division 1 winners and runners-up will receive a slightly higher figure of Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 3,000. 

The Inter Club is scheduled to begin in the first week of January, and will continue until March 2001. Last year Queen's Club and SLTA (playing section) took honours winning most of the titles. Last years winners were - Division 1 - SLTA (playing section), Division 2 - SLTA (playing section), Division 3 - Queen's Club, Division 4 - Queen's Club, Division 5 - Carlton Club, Division 6 - Cosmopolitan Club, Division 7 - SLTA (playing section), Division 8 - St. Peter's College, Division 9 - Asian International School while the Women's Division was won by SLTA (playing section). 

"What is most encouraging is that outstation Clubs such as Carlton Club, Moratuwa and Cosmopolitan Club, Dehiwala are winning titles. This time we hope to see more outstation clubs participating and performing well too," said Subramaniam. 

Marvan, Mahela were brilliant

The SSC for many, many years boasted of having in their ranks the best of batsmen in the country. In the last three decades stalwarts like Anura Tennekoon, Duleep Mendis, Sunil and Sidat Wettimuny, Roy Dias and Arjuna Ranatunga have played dazzling knocks in varied conditions. That night, Ranatunga waited buckled up, the adrenaline must have been pumping, to go out and join the fray, but the stream of runs that flowed from Jayawardena's and Atapattu's batting were unending. When the target reached single figures Ranatunga knew the pair would see it thorough and removed his pads, requesting a lower order player to step out should the need arise!

It was a good idea to culminate this tournament on the eve of the Sri Lankan team's departure to South Africa. A majority of the players were seen in action. The disappointment was that the pitches were nowhere near what they would encounter on the tour. The semi-final games in particular were played on slow turners whilst the pitch for the finals gave the batsmen a better chance of playing strokes. Quicker pitches were what was required. A valuable object to keep in mind when such instances occur in the future.

Batting first Colts Cricket Club and SSC were able to secure a finals berth with average totals. Both teams struggled to get runs in the middle of their innings but played sensibly in the final ten overs to reach a score that was enough to gain victory.

The game between the CCC and SSC was a nail biter. It could be said that neither team deserved to lose on the day. The Maitland Place Club had the advantage of experience. The performances of Arjuna Ranatunga and Hemantha Wickremaratne with the bat followed by Promodya Wickremasinghe and Tilan Samaraweera with the ball, were of such value. Anushka Polonowita played a gem of an innings that brought the Maintland Crescent Club within two runs of victory. It was the lack of experience that prompted Polonowita to charge out with seven required off five deliveries. His dismissal signalled the end for CCC.

Colts survived to even make a match of the finals against their mighty opposition, thanks to Dulip Samaraweera who came in at number five and held the innings together. His 81 not out lasted 128 deliveries and consisted of six boundaries. That knock was superb in the circumstances. But then the brilliance of Marvan and Mahela overshadowed it by a fair margin.

Considering the scores made in the semi-final games 214 seemed a tough chase for the SSC. When two wickets fell in the first and fourth deliveries of Chaminda Vaas's opening over, the target looked even more massive. It was to be the last piece of success that the Colts players and supporters enjoyed.

It was not simply the quantity of runs which made the partnership between Atapattu and Jayawardena so valuable. The manner in which they accumulated the runs was an object lesson on batsmanship. From the outset they selected to attack the score- able delivery. Neither wanted to take the lead role or on the other and play second fiddle. They tackled the bowling as it was sent down.

The pace of Chaminda Vass, Eric Upashantha, Dulip Liyanage and Kaushalya Weeraratne, was ideal on that pitch for the batsmen to play strokes. They were not given the chance to waver whatsover. Dinuk Hettiarachchi was brought on too late. The SSC pair was in a murderous mood and the left arm spinner was dispatched to all parts, conceding 46 in five overs.

It was a treat to watch Atapattu and Jayawardena run between wickets. They scampered every possible single, ran the first run fast and collected all the possible twos and threes. Being on the verge of a national tour they were supremely fit.

Their stand was worth an unbeaten 216 runs. They scored those runs in 152 minutes off just 34.5 overs. That day their performance was as good as anything comparable. Sri Lanka hopes they would continue in this fashion in South Africa.

Weaknesses in our outstation cricket

By Malsiri Kurukulasuriya 

The answer was staring me in the face. These boys since leaving school have now played two years for Kandy CC. During this time they never had a coach. You know how easy it is to acquire bad habits even without realizing it. This is where a coach would have helped. I was able to spot some of the basic problems early enough and the boys gained in confidence as we went along. We ended the season strongly winning the final game by an innings. 

On the pittance that the outstation clubs receive from the Board it is impossible to pay for a coach. For example, we received around Rs. 6000.00 for each game. When you spend Rs. 2000.00 for ground hire, plus charge for practice nets (since these clubs do not have their own ground), pay for 3 lunches and travelling expenses there is nothing left over. 

The point is unless the Board establishes a District Coaching staff to help these clubs we will continue to lose talented players. (Kumar Sangakkara, and Weeraratne were lucky to join clubs in Colombo straight from school). Obviously it may not be able to allocate a coach to each club, perhaps 3 clubs 2 days at each. With the proliferation of clubs the situation is going to get worse. However this should not deter or delay the start of this important project to save our budding cricketers from self-destructing. 

There is also a need to have scouts in the outstations whose duty is to witness the games of schools and clubs in his allocated territory. Naturally these "scouts" must have played the game at a high level. He will then submit names of players who should be earmarked for further training. I have already recommended 3 players to a Colombo club for a trial. 

This makes the development of an academy at Pallekelle, a top priority item. The work to bring the ground to Test level, should be second priority, particularly now the Dambulla stadium is on schedule. 

It may interest readers that 2 of the 3 boys I have recommended are from Ginigathhena Central, which many of you may have not even heard of. As Napoleon said, "Talent without opportunity is a terrible waste". 

We must harness our energies to protect this all important age group (19-23 years) from quitting the game for lack of opportunity. Let's start now and keep expanding the coach/scout corps. 

Thomian motor show and rally

The event will be sponsored by HNB. M. Balasubramaniam speaking at a press briefing in regard to the staging of the above event said Senior Deputy General Manager of H N B Upali De Silva will flag off the first vehicle at 9.00 am opposite the Art Gallery on January 20.

The vehicles are bound to travel down to Mt Lavinia along Galle Road.

Members of the Classic vintage car club have also agreed to assist the STC O B A by displaying their vehicles at this motor show. The cars will be on display at the Small Club grounds STC on the 20 and 21.

The Automobile club of STC will be organising the ground arrangements.

Required security is to be provided to look after the vehicles.

The vehicles will be parked in enclosed sheds and the STC Automobile Club will be providing the entertainment and decor plus lighting to give the show a facelift.

Tickets to enter the venue will be priced at Rs. 10 which is to go towards the College funds.

England has still to find an all-rounder of Botham's calibre

By Bernie Wijesekera 

They were great crowd-pullers on their own wherever they played and answered their country's clarion call. It was fortunate to see these all -time greats. Firstly it was Keith Miller, who was here with Bradman's invincible team, in 1948 and later with the Commonwealth teams. Along with the likes of our own Ivers Gunasekera, who smashed Australia's Lindsay Kline for five sixes at the 'Sara' stadium where the inaugural Test against England was staged here in 1981, but today not good enough to stage an international match. Miller and Gary Sobers were good friends of the late M. Sathasivam. 

But when it came to a champion all-rounder, Ian Botham held England together on his broad shoulders. With his heart-throbbing performances be it for Somerset or for England will be hard to match. For more than a decade, Ian held his own and helped England to dominate the international scene. 

Here was an all-rounder, who never went for averages, but weighed in with some spectacular performances for England's cause. He injected fresh blood when they were tottering and fought to the bitter end. He speaks his mind, on and off the field. England, has still to find an all-rounder of his calibre since he retired in mid- 80s, who was much feared by the opponents. He played for Somerset with the likes of Viv Richards, Joel Garner (West Indies) greats, who helped the Caribbeans to reach the pinnacle. 

In 1979 World Cup final at Lord's against England, Richards hit the last ball of the innings from Mike Hendrick to the Taverners for an awe-inspiring 136 n.o. Garner in turn bowled the Windies to the second World Cup win under Clive Lloyd. They won the inaugural, defeating Australia in 1975. 

There are quite a number of performance where Botham held sway in a number of Test matches to put England in front. But 'Beefy's' effort in 1981 against the Aussies at Headingley will be remembered in the annals of English cricket history. 

England were facing certain defeat with a first innings deficit of 217. With an unbeaten 149 in the second innings, he helped England to a nail-biting 18-run win. The Aussie team was led by Kim Hughes. Following on England tottering at 135 for 7, Ian was joined by Graham Dilley . The pair added 80 runs for the eighth wicket. This was followed with a ninth wicket stand of 67 runs with Yorkshireman Chris Old. Then with the man, who bowled England to victory gangling fast bowler, Bob Willis, added 37 runs. Willis made two runs. 

'Tennis is a business'

By Nandakumar Marar

Tennis remains the focal point of his life like before, but the sheer intensity associated with professional sport is a distant memory as this 44-year-old Swede steps on court for the Seniors tour, savouring the camaraderie amidst competition against old foes John McEnroe at Hong Kong, Vijay Amritraj and Guillermo Vilas at Bangalore. At the back of his mind is a dream project which could fructify one year from now - a tennis academy for Sweden's top juniors in Stockholm. 

Borg is getting ready to change the course of his life once again, this time to give something back to the game. Way back in 1982 and at just 26 years of age, he had quit with the tennis world at his feet. Now when the Seniors circuit (known as the ATP Legends Tour) has expanded into a globe-trotting series of 22 events, offering prize money to its star attractions, he is prepared to walk away from the delights and dollars at the end of this year to focus on coaching juniors back home. 

The Swede has an explanation. "The Legends tour has around 20-21 tournaments worldwide. This year I have played 13 or 14 events. Next year, if I am playing the Legends tour, maybe one or two tournaments. But I will stay involved with tennis. Maybe do a few exhibitions or the special events," said Borg, during a stopover in Mumbai, on his first-ever visit to India which saw him take part in a private clinic at Goa's, The Leela Palace Hotel and then onto Bangalore for the ATP Legends tournament. 

"I still want to practise and play tennis. It is not that I am going to leave tennis. I still love the sport and enjoy it. The thing is that one year from now, I am probably going to handle 10 kids between 14 to 17 years, the best juniors in Sweden. It is going to be a five-year project and I want to give back whatever I can to Swedish junior tennis. I have been helping them for so many years now, but not in this way. This is my thing, my project." 

Borg at 44 retains the lean, wiry look of the past. Clear signs that he has never been far away from a tennis court after quitting at the top. The trademark beard is missing, so is the intensity that was part of his persona, but the Swede, at ease with himself and the world, still takes pride in his performance and retains the hunger to win. Just like the other seniors on the circuit - McEnroe, Connors, Amritraj, Vilas form his generation and Mats Wilander, Henri Leconte from the next - whom he knows have to be beaten in the ATP Legends event so that they listen to him. 

"It is just a matter of how devoted I was, how focused I was with me and tennis. I wanted to be the best, wanted to be successful and decided that tennis was going to be the road I would take," said this tennis icon in an interview to The Sportstar. "I sacrificed a lot of things to achieve all those victories. It is a hard way to work, but I have no regrets. It is something that came from my heart, which is very important, apart from setting goals in your life. Plus I was a very stubborn guy too, once I really set my mind on something, I never really gave up."

He points out that men's tennis today needs rivalries. ''Five years ago, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras played the best matches. Everybody was excited. It is too bad Agassi got injured, too bad that they didn't continue, and another guy didn't come in to challenge them. Women's tennis has a lot of rivalries and many personalities. Many people enjoy watching women's tennis which is now very popular."

Excerpts:

Question: Playing against Vijay Amritraj may have given you an insight into India, Indian tennis and the Indian way of life. Now that you are finally here, how do you relate to those past experiences?

Answer: With Vijay, as a friend and competitor, we have played so many great matches all those years. One match I remember was at Wimbledon. He almost beat me. I think he was a little unlucky not to win. 

What he did for tennis not only in India but all over the world is similar to what I did for Swedish tennis. Then to come and play in India is nice.

o The ATP Legends series creates opportunities to renew old rivalries. Is the intensity the same when say a Borg meets a McEnroe at the Hong Kong Legends event? Or are you into the enjoyment part of it?

Everybody is still very competitive. It is something you have inside since you were a kid. But the thing is that if you lose it is not the end of the world, like it used to be. We are proud to play those matches and win. The atmosphere is probably more relaxed because it is a contest among friends. We have become very close to each other, all the guys. It is nice to have such competitors.

o Success is great. How did you handle the defeats? How did you come back from difficult situations, going on to win 11 Grand Slams and featuring in many Davis Cup victories?

It is a thing you have to learn. In the beginning you will lose matches. On your way up to success, you encounter defeats too. But later in life or tennis if you lose important matches, like Grand Slams or Davis Cup you have to accept defeat. You have no choice than to look forward to the next event, the next tournament.

o After all these years, does it really hurt you a little bit to realise that the US Open eluded your grasp? What exactly went wrong?

Sitting here today, I have no regrets because I did not really do anything wrong, regarding preparing myself or not doing the right things. It is just a matter of not having the luck I had at Wimbledon, winning one or two important points. Two of those finals I played at the US Open, I should have won but I did not. The positive thing about it is that I do not have any regrets. I did everything I was supposed to do.

o It is said you were really confident of winning the 1981 final. There were some death threats.....

The death threats happened every year, for three years. That was more like to disturb my concentration. I have no idea who did it, but my not winning the US Open has nothing to do with it.

o Pete Sampras is finding it difficult to win the French Open. What do you think is happening, considering he possesses an all-round game?

The French Open is physically and mentally the most difficult tournament to win. Regarding Pete's patience, I don't think he has the patience to be out there, to rally for two weeks. You need to be more patient on slow clay. With his type of game, it is possible to win maybe a couple of matches. But to do that in seven matches, best of five sets over two weeks is difficult.

o What did you do? In a matter of a few weeks, adjusting from clay to grass?

I knew that if you survive the first couple of rounds at Wimbledon you can go far. First of all, you have to be confident playing on all surfaces. That is number one. You have to learn, you have to be able to say this is my surface too. In the beginning at Wimbledon when I started playing on grass I had no idea. I was trying to stay back and come in. I didn't know what to do, how to play. It took me three- four years to learn. By 1975 when I lost in the quarter-final, I was playing well. I knew this was my surface too. 

o Do you still watch videos of your best matches, like the 1980 final against John McEnroe? 

I only saw it once, when my son (Robin) asked, about two-three years ago. Otherwise I never ever watch, though I have all my matches on video. But it is only when my son asks that we watch it together.

o Watching your best matches is part of the psychological training in modern sport, so that the mind slips into that phase. Since you are known as a big-match player, how did you prepare?

Nothing special. Just went through my routine everyday, the day before. You know your rivals, you know you have to go out and play your best tennis. Watching tapes may be very good. but I never did that.

o What are you planning to do at the Stockholm academy. What does the Borg school of tennis mean?

The base is going to be in Stockholm, the kids come from all over Sweden. Some of them are still in school, they have their coaches in different clubs. It has to be a joint effort. You have to organise a camp so that everybody works together, with the coaches working with me taking them to all over the world and playing. Sometimes I will be travelling with them.

As far as teaching goes, these kids are very good but my thrust will be on how to improve their game, the whole psychological and mental part of tennis. And the important thing is to create opportunities for them to go out and play. I don't know how hard the situation is in this part of the world, but in Europe, for kids it is very difficult to find the sponsors to go out. That is what you need to do, go out and play. If the kids cannot do that, then you have a big problem. 

o Richard Williams had a different view, keeping his daughters Venus and Serena away from junior tennis, getting them to learn their skills in isolation before unleashing them on world tennis when he felt they were ready...

I don't agree with him. The important thing is to play tournaments, matches. Playing against other nationalities, other stars is very crucial to learning.

o At one point, you were the most well-known face on earth. From that point onwards, did you plan your career, mainly the business part? Or that it just happened?

I believe it just happened. Things happen for a reason, I believe that. Nothing is really planned.

o Now you have young talent being snapped up by the agents, who handle the business part of the player's career...

Tennis today is a business, so much money is available. There is nothing wrong with agents getting involved with the game. Tennis is very popular. That is why I want to give those Swedish kids a better chance to make it big.

o Your view on the state of Swedish tennis now?

We have been spoilt for some time now. First it was me, then Wilander, Edberg. Swedish tennis is still very, very good. We have a few young and promising players. So you are going to hear new names, maybe two years from now.

o Have you seen Leander and Mahesh play? Did their approach to tennis impress you?

Certainly yes. You have to just wait and see how they develop. I like the way they play.

-Courtesy the Sportstar 

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