~!~ Olympics 2008 ~!~

**naz** · 09-08-2008, 12:25 AM

BEIJING: The Beijing Olympics 2008 has been declared open amid a colourful ceremony, which was promised to be a spectacular Olympic opening gala, here today.

The three-hour show at Beijing's iconic "Bird's Nest" national stadium is being attended
by many international personalities including Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and President of the United States George W. Bush.

With the beginning of the greatest show on earth the world’s dream will come true as athletes from 205 countries will compete for 17 days to win 312 medals.

The mega event has begun at 8:08 pm, on the eighth day of the eight month of 2008 -- a tribute to the number eight that many Chinese deem lucky as it represents prosperity.

On this occasion, more than 10,000 performers showcase the nation's ancient history
and its rise as a modern power before an audience of 160,000 people.

The opening ceremony has been marked with spectacular performance of acrobatics, cultural shows and enormous fireworks display across the city.

As China claims the history will view the 2008 Olympics as a significant milestone in the country's remarkable transformation.

**naz** · 09-08-2008, 04:27 PM

PAKISTAN AT 1952 OLYMPIC GAMES: ALL RESULTS
by Gul Hameed Bhatti
ATHLETICS

100 metres: 1st round heat 7 Mohammad Sharif Butt 11.0sec 3rd out of 7. 1st round heat 9 (Jemadar) Mohammad Aslam 10.9sec 2nd out of 6. 1st round heat 11 Abdul Aziz 11.2sec joint 4th out of 6. 2nd round heat 1 (Jemadar) Mohammad Aslam 10.9sec 4th out of 6

200 metres: 1st round heat 8 Abdul Aziz 22.7sec 5th out of 5. 1st round heat 9 (Jemadar) Mohammad Aslam 22.2sec 3rd out of 4. 1st round heat 11 Mohammad Sharif Butt 22.3sec 3rd out of 5

400 metres: 1st round heat 1 Abdul Rehman 51.2sec 6th out of 6. 1st round heat 3 Aurang Zeb 51.0sec 6th out of 6.

800 metres: 1st round heat 3 Alam Zeb 1:56.3min 5th out of 6

10,000 metres: Abdul Rashid 30th out of 33

Marathon: (Havildar) Mohammad Aslam 2:43.38.2hrs 38th out of 53, another 13 interrupted. Mohammad Benaras interrupted

400 metres hurdles: 1st round heat 2 Mohammad Shafi 56.1sec 4th out of 5. 1st round heat 5 Mirza Khan 56.3sec 4th out of 4

4x100 metres relay: 1st round heat 4 Pakistan (Mohammad Sharif Butt/Mohammad Fazil/Abdul Aziz/Jemadar Mohammad Aslam) 42.8sec 3rd out of 3. Semifinals heat 1 Pakistan 42.0sec 6th out of 6

4x400 metres relay: 1st round heat 2 Pakistan (Abdul Rehman/Mohammad Shafi/Mirza Khan/Aurang Zeb) 3:23.2min 6th out of 6

10,000 metres walk: 1st round heat 1 Allah Ditta disqualified

Throwing the javelin: Qualifying trials heat 1 Jalal Khan 55.56m 12th out of 13

Throwing the hammer: Qualifying trials heat 1 Fazal Hussain 48.36m 15th out of 16. Qualifying trials heat 2 Mohammad Iqbal 47.45m 15th out of 16.

BOXING

Featherweight (57kg): 1st round Sydney Greve beat A Leyes (Argentine) KO first round. 2nd round Sydney Greve lost to J Ventaja (France) 3-0

Lightweight (60kg): 1st round bye. 2nd round Mohammad Ali lost to V Marute (Venezuela) KO 1st round

Welterweight (67kg): 1st round Anwar Pasha Turki lost to H van der Linde (South Africa) TKO 1st round

Middleweight (75kg): 1st round Khan Mohammad beat H Nowara (Poland) 2-1. 2nd round Khan Mohammad lost to W Sentimenti (Italy) 3-0.

CYCLING

1,000 metres sprint scratch race: 1st round heat 5 Mohammad Naqi Mallick 3rd out of 3. Repechage heat 3 Mohammad Naqi Mallick 3rd out of 3, didn't qualify for the quarter-finals. Placed 19th overall

1,000 metres time trial: Imtiaz Bhatti 1:21.2min 25th out of 27

Team competition individual road race 190.4km: Mohammad Naqi Mallick and Imtiaz Bhatti both broke off and didn't finish.

HOCKEY

First round bye. Second round Pakistan beat France 6-0 (half-time 1-0). Semifinals Pakistan lost to Holland 1-0 (ht 1-0). 3rd place match Pakistan lost to Great Britain 2-1 (ht 2-1). Pakistan finished 4th.

SHOOTING

Small bore rifle (40 shots in the prone position, distance 50 metres): Azam Jan 90/96/94/96=366 58th out of 58.

SWIMMING

400 metres free style: 1st round heat 8 Mohammad Ramzan 5:45.7min 7th out of 7

1,500 metres free style: 1st round heat 2 Mohammad Ramzan 23:44.3min 6th out of 6

200 metres breast stroke: 1st round heat 2 Mohammad Bashir 3:01.3min 8th out of 8.

WEIGHTLIFTING

Middleweight (75kg): Mohammad Iqbal Butt press 95kg, snatch 100kg, jerk 130kg, total 325kg 17th out of 20.

PAKISTAN DID NOT WIN ANY MEDALS

**naz** · 09-08-2008, 04:27 PM

PAKISTAN AT 1948 OLYMPIC GAMES: ALL RESULTS

ATHLETICS

100 metres: 1st round heat 11 Mohammad Sharif Butt 4th out of 4

200 metres: 1st round heat 9 Mohammad Sharif Butt 22.8sec 2nd out of 4. 2nd round heat 4 Mohammad Sharif Butt 6th out of 6

110 metres hurdles: 1st round heat 6 Mazhar-ul-Haq Khan 5th out of 5

400 metres hurdles: 1st round heat 2 Mohsin Khan 59.5sec 4th out of 4

Putting the shot: Zahur Ahmed Khan and Nazar Mohammad Malik did not qualify for the final

Throwing the discus: Zahur Ahmed Khan and Nazar Mohammad Malik did not qualify for the final

BOXING

Bantamweight (up to 54kg): 1st round Alex Monterio lost to B Lall (India) referee stopped fight in first round

Featherweight (up to 58kg): 1st round Sydney Greve lost to D Shepherd (South Africa) on points

Welterweight (up to 67kg): 1st round Anwar Pasha Turki lost to A Obeyesekere (Ceylon) on points

CYCLING

1,000 metres scratch: 1st round heat 10 Mohammad Naqi Mallick lost to J Heid (USA). Repechage heat 3 Mohammad Naqi Mallick lost to C Bazzano (Australia)

1,000 metres time trial: Wazir Ali 1:24.8min 20th out of 21

Cycle road race: Wazir Ali did not finish.

HOCKEY

Preliminary Groups: Group C Pakistan topped with 4 played, 4 won, goals for 20, goals against 3, points 8. Pakistan beat Belgium 2-1 (half-time Belgium 1-0), beat Denmark 9-0 (ht 5-0), beat France 3-1 (ht 1-1), beat Holland 6-1 (ht 0-0)

Semifinals: Pakistan lost to Great Britain 2-0 (ht 0-0)

Third place match: Pakistan drew with Holland 1-1 (ht Pakistan 1-0). Replay of third place match: Pakistan lost to Holland 4-1 (ht 1-1). Pakistan finished 4th.

SWIMMING

400 metres free style: 1st round heat 3 Anwar Aziz Chaudhry 6:17.4min 7th out of 7. 1st round heat 6 Sultan Karamally 7:16.9min 7th out of 7

1,500 metres free style: 1st round heat 1 Anwar Aziz Chaudhry 25:37.4min 7th out of 7

200 metres breast-stroke: 1st round heat 3 Iftikhar Ahmed Shah 3:28.1min 8th out of 8

100 metres back stroke: 1st round heat 2 Jaffer Ali Shah 1:30.2min 7th out of 7

4x200 metres relay: Heat 1 Anwar Aziz Chaudhry/Sultan Karamally/Iftikhar Ahmed Shah/Jaffer Ali Shah 12:25.8min 6th out of 6.

WEIGHTLIFTING

Middleweight (up to 75kg): Mohammad Iqbal Butt press 92.5kg, snatch 90kg, jerk 122.5kg, total 305kg 22nd out of 24

Heavyweight (over 82.5kg): Mohammad Naqi Butt press 97.5kg, snatch 97.5kg, jerk 125kg, total 320kg 15th out of 16.

WRESTLING

Mohammad Amin (bantamweight), Shaukat Ali (featherweight), Abdul Hamid (lightweight) and Mohammad Anwar (heavyweight) were the four contestants. It transpired later that all had been entered for the Greco-Roman style competition and not free style. All four eventually couldn't take part in the wrestling event.

PAKISTAN DID NOT WIN ANY MEDALS.

**naz** · 09-08-2008, 04:30 PM

BEIJING: Indonesia started their Olympic badminton campaign in style Saturday with Maria Kristin Yulianti causing an upset in the women's singles as some of her rivals were forced to sweat.

Yulianti fought back from one set down against Germany's Juliane Schenk, who is eight world rankings higher than the Indonesian at 13, before emerging with a 2-1 on the first day of Olympic competition.

Indonesia are gunning for at least one gold at this tournament, counting on their world champion men's and mixed doubles to come up with the goods.

But Yulianti, who recently downed defending Olympic champion, China's Zhang Ning, proved Indonesia were also a chance on the women's side.

Schenk, third at the European championships, said she threw everything at the Indonesian and was disappointed her Olympic dream was over so soon.

Yulianti takes on Spain's Yoana Martinez in the last 32 after she easily accounted for Australia's Erin Carroll 2-0.

With the seeded players, including China's formidable champions, enjoying a bye on the first day, it was left to the underdogs to battle it out for the second round.

Germany's Marc Zwiebler had to fight all the way against Scott Evans in the men's singles before sneaking through with a 2-1 victory.

The tenacious Irishman, almost double Zwiebler's ranking at 47, levelled the match at 1-1 and they went point for point in the third game, before the German edged over the line.

Zwiebler next plays Taiwan's Hsieh Yu Hsing, who made light work of Iran's Kaveh Mehrabi for a 2-0 win.

Poland's Przemyslaw Wacha, ranked 13 in the world, also enjoyed a 2-0 win over 20-year-old Estonian Raul Must, playing in his first Olympics.

In other women's matches, Canada's Anna Rice survived a marathon encounter
against the USA's Eva Lee, eventually winning 2-1 after 65 minutes.

Rice, ranked 32 in the world, paid tribute to Lee's aggressive tactics but was proud of her efforts to dig deep at 1-1 and come through with a win.

Rice now takes on Switzerland's Jeannine Cicognini who dispensed with Portugal's Ana Moura 2-0.

Bulgaria's Olga Konon also downed a sluggish Xing Aiying from Singapore 2-0 before.

Egypt's Hadia Hosny won 2-1 over Deyanira Angulo from Mexico, while Larysa Gryga from the Ukraine had few problems against Italy's Agnese Allegrini for a 2-0 win.

Japan's Eriko Hirose also advanced over Iceland's Ragna Bjorg Ingolfsdottir who was forced to retire after twisting her knee.

**naz** · 09-08-2008, 04:31 PM

BEIJING:Czech shooter Katerina Emmons overcame a splitting headache to win the first gold medal with a record performance as the first full day of competition at the Beijing Olympics began on Saturday after a dazzling opening ceremony.

After China showcased its rich history in a breathtaking spectacular on Friday night, competitors began their quest for the seven gold medals on offer on the opening day.

The first came at the shooting range where Emmons shattered China's hopes of a dream start, leaving defending champion Du Li a distant fifth in the women's 10m air rifle.

Emmons equalled the world record in the qualification rounds and finished with a total 503.5, breaking the Olympic record of 502 Li set four years ago.

Li, under pressure to produce 'aoyun shoujin' - first Olympic gold - fled the hall in tears, and later said she "wasn't fully prepared for the pressure of competing at home".

But there were no sign of nerves when Chen Xiexia won China's first gold an hour later, taking the women's 48kg weightlifting title and setting two Olympic records on the way.

In hazy, hot and humid conditions, with temperatures around 33 degrees Celsius (91 degree Fahrenheit), the other medal events on Saturday include the men's 10m air pistol, the men's cycling road race, women's individual sabre fencing as well as two judo divisions.

The competition proper began at dawn in Hong Kong when veteran Olympic champion Mark Todd came out of retirement to become the first rider to compete
in the three-day equestrian event.

Later Saturday, American swimming ace Michael Phelps dives into his quest for eight gold medals and Olympic immortality with the heats of the 400m individual medley.

Australian ace Grant Hackett, who has his sights on a historic third straight Olympic 1,500m freestyle title, will warm up for his signature event the 400m freestyle.

The first session of swimming finals is on Sunday.

The march into the stadium of thousands of athletes from 204 nations and territories brought roars from the crowd, especially for Taiwan which is enjoying closer ties with its long-time rival.

Iraq, which was only allowed to compete here at the last minute, also brought thunderous applause, along with Russia and North Korea.

But the loudest cheers were saved for China's athletes, led into the stadium by famous NBA basketballer Yao Ming and nine-year-old Lin Hao, who survived China's devastating earthquake in May.

**naz** · 09-08-2008, 04:31 PM

BEIJING: Hosts China has dominated the first day at the Beijing Olympics with two gold medals here on Saturday.

China bagged gold medals in weightlifting and shooting while Katerina Emmous of Czech Republic became the first gold medal winner at the Olympics 2008.

The contests for winning medals are going on at the Beijing Olympics as China is leading the race with two gold medals.

China’s Chen Xiexia set a new world record and won gold medal in women’s 48 kg weightlifting while Sibel Ozkan of Turkey got silver and Chen Wei-Ling of Chinese Taipei obtained bronze medal.

Pang Wei, also from China, won gold medal in men’s 10 m Air Pistol shooting while Jin Jong-oh of Republic of Korea came second with silver and Kim Jong-su of Democratic republic of Korea got third position with bronze.

The first gold medal in the Olympic Games went to Katerina Emmous of Czech Republic who got first position in women’s 10m Air rifle shooting followed by Galkina Lioubov of Russia (silver) and Pejcic Snjezana of Crotia.

**naz** · 09-08-2008, 04:32 PM

BEIJING: China's maternity wards and registry offices were crammed Friday with parents and couples desperate to share the lucky date with the Beijing Games, with one proud father even naming his baby "Olympics."

While the world's attention was turned towards the spectacular opening ceremony, hospitals across China put on extra beds in the expectation of a flurry of expectant mothers, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Friday's opening ceremony was chosen to be held on the eighth day of the eighth month, a date considered particularly auspicious as the Chinese word for eight sounds like the word for wealth.

In a country obsessed by lucky and unlucky signs, parents were delighted to take advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime chance to combine the lucky eights with the opening of the Olympic Games.

Chen Qian, a doctor and deputy director of the maternity department, said they would not be inducing babies or performing caesarean sections purely at the parents' request, adding the date was only of secondary importance.

Each newborn at the hospital was presented with one of the Fuwa Olympic mascots, while the hospital was lined with "I love China" posters and Games' flags.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of couples were rushing to get married across the country.

In Beijing, 16,400 couples had applied for marriage registration, Xinhua reported, compared to 170,000 marriages in the capital in the whole of 2006.

In Shanghai, the number stood at 5,000, and other cities in China such as Guangzhou in the south and Wuhan in central China had seen a surge in applications, Xinhua said, quoting local civil affairs authorities.