Anand, Humpy to lead fray

Chennai: Viswanathan Anand and Koneru Humpy will lead the Indian men’s and women’s teams, respectively, in the Chess Olympiad to be held in Spain from October 14 to 31.

Anand, who is expected to claim the second spot in world rankings when the next list comes out in April, will be taking part in the meet after ten years.

According to an announcement by the All India Chess Federation (AICF), the men’s team will include Krishnan Sasikiran, Surya Sekhar Ganguly, Sandipan Chanda, P. Harikirishna and Abhijit Kunte apart from Anand.

Indian men had finished eighth in the last Olympiad in Istanbul. Humpy will lead the four-member women's team of S. Vijayalakshmi, Nisha Mohota and Dronavalli Harika.

Indian women begin well

New Delhi: Commonwealth Games champions India beat Malaysia 4-2 in their opening league encounter in the 5th women’s Asia Cup hockey meet. The hosts faced stiff resistance before emerging supreme. Mamata Kharab (eighth, 58th), Jasjeet Kaur (19th) and Suman Bala (54th) scored for the home team. Nurul Nadia (32nd) and Ayu Afnida (40th) struck for Malaysia. In other matches, defending champions South Korea thrashed Sri Lanka 15-0, while Japan whipped Singapore by a similar margin. World championship bronze medallists China defeated Kazakhstan 4-1.

Doping compensation fund

Berlin: Some 185 former East German athletes whose health was ruined by performance-boosting drugs they took unknowingly or against their will have qualified for payments from a compensation fund, the German government said. Each former athlete has received $12,087 from the $2.5 million government fund set up in 2002 to help pay their medical bills, the interior ministry said. Four applications are pending and another 111 were rejected due to weak supporting evidence. No names were released.

The government estimated that about 1,000 of the 10,000 east German athletes who were doped suffered serious health damage in the systematic programme that turned east Germany into a sports powerhouse in the 1970s and 80s.

Felix Trinidad eyes comeback

Caracas: Former WBA middleweight champion Felix ‘Tito’ Trinidad is ready to come out of retirement under the right terms for a bout against rival Oscar De La Hoya, promoter Don King said Saturday. King, visiting Venezuela for an anti-drug charity boxing event, the Puerto Rican was prepared to return to the ring.

“The reason he retired is because Bernard Hopkins would not give him a rematch. So now Tito has said if they meet his requirements, he will come back and he will fight Oscar de la Hoya,” King said.

Wilkinson recovery

London: Injured England flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson said on Sunday he was confident he would play in this year’s Six Nations championship opening on February 14.

Wilkinson, who kicked the winning drop kick in the World Cup final against Australia last November, has played only 55 minutes for Newcastle since the tournament. On Sunday he told BBC radio he had sustained a neck injury which was affecting a nerve in his shoulder but added he was still training hard.

French problem

Paris: France coach Jacques Santini faces a selection problem after Djibril Cisse’s five-match ban was confirmed by Uefa on Friday, leaving the AJ Auxerre striker with no chance of taking part in Euro 2004. Cisse, 22, was potentially the perfect deputy for Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet in a squad which now lacks strength up front.

Santini should reveal his intentions when he announces the squad to take on Belgium in a friendly.

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