OID‰‰†‰KOID‰‰†‰OID‰‰†‰MOID‰‰†‰C 20 Tuesday,June 24, 2003 TIMES SPORT The Times of India, New Delhi Ronaldo provides double treat to Real fans AP Madrid: Ronaldo promised perstar teammates celebrat- Ronaldo, with Athletic goal- ond highest tally of goals in Real Madrid fans a special ed under a spectacular fire- keeper Daniel Aranzubia the Spanish first division be- treat before Sunday’s crucial works display. pulling off brave saves before hind the 29 notched up by De- game against Athletic Bilbao The World Cup winner had former Spanish internation- portivo’s Dutch striker Roy and the Brazilian striker re- taken the field with a com- al Bitor Alkiza levelled the Makaay. mained true to his word as he plete skinhead apart from a scores after 36 minutes with Real Sociedad looked as scored twice in their 3-1 win tuft of hair at the front - a his first goal of the season. though their nerves had got to give Real a record 29th ti- style he sported in the clos- Alkiza was given acres of the better of them during the tle. ing stages of the World Cup space just outside the box first half of their encounter After a week in which the finals last year as he led and his swerving left foot against Atletico, which end- imminent arrival of England Brazil to victory. shot from 20 metres left Real ed goalless, but they hit top captain David Beckham from Ronaldo, completing his goalie Iker Casillas standing gear after the break. Manchester United has over- first season with Real, staring at the ball as it hit the Goals from Darko Kovace- net. shadowed the team’s league opened the scoring after just vic, Javier De Pedro and Ni- However, there were a few decider,Real got back to busi- nine minutes finishing off a hat Kahveci gave them a com- anxious minutes for the ca- fortable victory, although it ness to end Real Sociedad’s move which started with pacity 75,000 crowd packed was ultimately in vain. league ambitions. Luis Figo darting down the into the Bernabeu. Athletic’s loss at Real Sociedad started the day left wing. Real took the lead again Madrid opened the door for two points behind their ri- The Portuguese winger’s nearly two minutes into first- Barcelona to move up to vals from the Spanish capital pass found Roberto Carlos, half injury time when Rober- sixth and snatch the last but, despite a 3-0 win over who produced a defence- to Carlos fired home one of UEFA Cup place. Atletico Madrid, they were splitting pass from the touch- his trademark thunderbolt The Catalans took full ad- frustrated in their bid to lift line which left Ronaldo to slot freekicks. vantage of the opportunity their first title in 21 years. As home the ball home from The game ended as a con- and beat the Champions the final whistle sounded at close range. test when Zinedine Zidane League-bound Celta Vigo 2-0 Real’s Santiago Bernabeu Real had two other caught the Athletic defence in the Nou Camp. AFP stadium, Ronaldo and his su- chances, from Raul and napping just after the hour and Ronaldo ran through THE HONOUR LIST Spanish league table their poorly executed offside P W D L GF GA Pts trap to score his 23rd league Real Madrid’s honours: Real Madrid 38 22 12 4 86 42 78 goal of the season. Founded: 1902 Spanish leagues: 29 (record) Real Sociedad 38 22 10 6 69 42 76 Ronaldo’s stellar season si- Spanish Cups: 17 D’ La Coruna 38 22 6 10 67 47 72 lenced his many critics who Spanish SuperCups: 6 Celta Vigo 38 17 10 11 45 36 61 Spanish League Cup 1 Valencia 38 16 10 12 56 35 60 voiced their concerns when Barcelona 38 15 11 12 63 47 56 he arrived from Inter Milan (no longer in existence) Athletic Bilbao 38 15 10 13 63 61 55 last August about whether he European Cups/Champions Real Betis 38 14 12 12 56 53 54 would stand up to the week- Leagues: 9 Real Mallorca 38 14 10 14 49 56 52 Real Madrid supporters pack Madrid’s central Cibeles square to celebrate their team winning the Spanish League title on in week-out punishment of UEFA Cups: 2 Sevilla 38 13 11 14 38 39 50 Monday. The team arrived on a special bus to circle the Cibeles fountain (C), a traditional ritual when Real madrid win titles. the Spanish first division. Intercontinental Cups: 2 Real Madrid beat Athletic de Bilbao 3-1. In the end, he had the sec- GRASSHOPPER AFP A class apart: Oracene Price, mother of the all-con- quering Williams sisters, is confident there will be no re- peat of the harsh treatment her younger daughter Serena received at the hands of the French Open crowd earlier this month. Serena was left in tears after being booed and jeered on her way to defeat by Justine Henin-Hardenne. But Oracene, who predicted the experience would make her daughter “harder and stronger”, says similar behav- iour by the genteel Wimble- don crowd would be unthink- able. “Not at Wimbledon,” she said. “There, you are dealing with class.” Taxman cometh: One of the perks of living in SW19, the London suburb that hosts the world’s biggest tennis tournament, is the opportuni- ty to rent your home out for a tidy sum during the Wimble- don fortnight. Family homes are in such demand that some residents even decamp to hotels for the duration of the tournament to enable them to cash in by giving over their properties to play- ers or officials. But this year tax authorities have promised a clampdown and a leading accountant has warned resi- dents they could have an un- expected visit from an Inland Revenue inspector. A tennis fan sports a hat with a genie on a flying carpet and tennis racquet on the opening day of 117th Wimble- Mac the Mouth: John don championship on Monday in London. McEnroe, three times the finds fans waiting on his 124th-ranked Lucie Ahl, Ele- king of Wimbledon, used to every word. na Baltacha (149), Jane O’- have the traditionalists rolling Donaghue (238) and Julie their eyes at his regular con- British no-hopes: British Pullen (256). tretemps with umpires. How- hope Anne Keothavong is ever, the one time bad boy of seeking strength in numbers - String change: Tim Hen- Centre Court is finally joining but in vain. The British num- man has changed his strings the establishment as the ber one and national champi- as he looks to improve on a BBC have secured his serv- on has been a first-round los- record of four semi-finals in ices to commentate on the er in her previous two visits to five years at the All England women’s final. The 44-year- Wimbledon and the home Club. The 28-year-old Briton old former world number one women hardly feature on the has is keen to take the pres- will commentate on the radar at Grand Slams. If sure off his suspect right men’s final for the US broad- Keothavong, whose parents shoulder which was operated caster. Alongside him in the are from Laos, can see off on last year and his new booth for the women’s trophy Katarina Srebotnik of Slove- strings, a mixture of gut and match will be former US star nia she would face two-time synthetic fibre, are designed Pam Shriver. Mac the Mouth, champion Venus Williams. to reduce the strain on his bane of umpires, thus now Britain’s other hopes are serving arm. Sunil beats Vishal, Ajay self-destructs TIMES NEWS NETWORK ITF MASTERS New Delhi: Taking a cue quizzed on his stuttering from the cool winds buffet- strokes at the moment of ing DLTA on Monday,Sunil reckoning. Sunil’s game’s Kumar Sipaeya breezed been quite like the weather into the second round with these days: slivers of rain an hour-long 6-1, 6-4 warm between days upon days of up against Vishal Uppal. sear. The gifted left-han- The Masters got off to a der’s baptism to the Tour is damp start as rain delayed definitely getting to be an matches and later the ac- ordeal. tion refused to spark up be- Rohan Gajjar did well to yond the ordinary. subdue Kedar Tembe 6-2, 7- The Sunil-Vishal face-off 6 (2). His stint with the Uni- had the ingredients of a versity of Arakansas in the classic encounter: youth US has left Rohan sharper versus maturity, serve and on court. But it has not, yet, volley up against an aggres- aided the cause of his legs. sive stroke-maker. But it Unless he’s willing to put in turned out to be a bore. The hours developing his first set took 16 minutes and physique off the court, he Vishal ten points. Sunil too will coast along the dol- raced on to a 5-1 lead in the lar-highway to the usual lot second before his throttle, of our players who avail of as is his wont these days, these sponsorships. They seemed to taper off. At 5-2 he do well for themselves but had three match points not for their tennis. which he was reluctant to Ajay Ramaswami was avail. The set dragged on be- this set and a break up in fore he managed to shut the the second to Eliran door at 6-4.