KATHMANDU: Sita Pandey, general secretary of the Nepal Basketball Association (NBA) left here on Wednesday for Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia to participate in the Congress and Convention of the Asian Basketball Federation to be held there on May 4. According to a press note issued here by the NBA on Wednesday, the convention will elect the body of the federation and its executive committee for 2002-2006 terms. During her visit, Pandey will also take part in a meeting of Middle Asia Zone to be held there.

Basu School in semis

KATHMANDU: Basu, Holyland, Daffodil and Bal Dikshya secondary schools entered the semifinals in the ladies’ team event of the first Mayor Cup inter-secondary schools Table Tennis championship that got underway in the capital on Wednesday. In the girls’ event, Anita Dangol and Manila Pandey of Kanya School, Smriti Limbu of The Excelsior School and Neelam Roju of Wise Land School entered the second round beating their opponents. Earlier, CPN UML leader Bamdev Gautam and chairman of Ward No 29 of Kathmandu Metropolis jointly inaugurated the championship being organised by Ikshya Enterprises.

Three Australian cities bid

SYDNEY: Australia will stage their Davis Cup promotion-relegation tennis playoff against India in Sydney or Adelaide or Tasmania, Tennis Australia said on Wednesday. Submissions to host the September 20-22 tie closed on Tuesday, with Tennis Australia to decide on the venue at a board meeting next Monday. But a TA spokesman indicated the tie will be played at either the Olympic courts at Sydney’s Homebush Bay, Adelaide’s Memorial Drive or the Domain Tennis Centre in Hobart. Australia must win the playoff to retain their place in the World Group for next year’s Davis Cup.

Moravcik heading to Japan

GLASGOW: Celtic veteran Lubo Moravcik will join Japanese J-League outfit JEF United Ichihara when he quits Parkhead this summer. The Slovak playmaker will leave the club after playing in this weekend’s Scottish Cup final with Rangers and the Scottish Premier League match at Aberdeen the following week. After months of deliberating, the 36-year-old admits his next destination will be the Far East to join up with an old friend - Ichihara’s former Czechoslovakia national coach Jozef Venglos. “I will probably go to Japan, but it’s not yet official,” Moravcik said.

Hookes appointed Victoria coach

MELBOURNE: Former Australian Test batsman David Hookes was announced on Tuesday as the new coach of the Victorian cricket team. Hookes, 47, signed a two-year contract as replacement for Mick O’Sullivan, who will stay on as Victorian chairman of selectors. Hookes, who played for South Australia, retired from first-class cricket 10 years ago after a career which included 23 Tests and 39 one-day internationals. He will combine his coaching commitments with a media career. “It’s a great feeling to be involved again at first-class level and I’m looking forward to working with the players within the squad,” Hookes said.

Gold medalists retire

MONTREAL: Canadian figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, gold medalists at the Salt Lake City Olympics earlier this year, said on Tuesday they were retiring from the amateur circuit. The pair, awarded a joint gold medal with Russian pair Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze following judging controversy in the February games, said they would be joining the professional ranks. Earlier on Tuesday at a two-day hearing in Lausanne, the sport’s amateur world governing body ISU banned French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne and French official Didier Gailhaguet for three years over the issue.

IAAF agree to pay damages

BERLIN: Disgraced German sprinter Katrin Krabbe won her battle with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on Tuesday when the world governing body agreed to pay her unspecified damages. Krabbe, who was crowned 100m and 200m world champion in 1991, had been awarded $660,000 by a Munich court last June when the IAAF were found to have acted excessively in extending a one year ban imposed by her national federation for taking clenbuterol in 1992 by another two. The IAAF had appealed against the original decision but agreed to the deal in front of the Munich court of appeal.

Barcelona criticises UEFA

MADRID: Barcelona criticised UEFA’s decision to have Italian Pierluigi Collina referee their European Champions League second leg against bitter rivals Real Madrid on Wednesday. The Catalans, who are 2-0 down after the first leg in their own Nou Camp stadium last week, have accused Collina of being biased towards the eight-times kings of European club football. The reason for Barcelona’s wrath is that Collina, who is widely regarded as one of the world’s best referees, has a contract with the same sportswear company as Real stars Raul and Zinedine Zidane.

Japan mourns death

TOKYO: Japan on Tuesday mourned the death of a retired US pro-wrestler who was a symbol of fair play when the country was experiencing the after-effects of post-war US occupation and the sport still commanded wide respect. Japanese media paid nostalgic tribute to Lou Thesz, 86, who scored 936 straight wins between 1948 and 1955 as the undisputed world heavyweight pro-wrestling champion, in reporting his death from a heart ailment on Sunday at a hospital in Orlando, Florida.