Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

New York Times, NY
Aug 20 2004
When Going Pro Is More Precious Than Gold
By WILLIAM C. RHODEN
ATHENS
A HALF-HOUR after Rock Allen lost to Boris Georgiev of Bulgaria to
end a dismal day for United States boxers, the 5-foot-7 Allen, a
light welterweight from Philadelphia, faced the media music.
The United States had lost two of three bouts yesterday. Earlier,
Lorenzo Aragon of Cuba was better than Vanes Martirosyan, an
18-year-old welterweight from California by way of Armenia. After
initial days of competition that seemed to trumpet the return of
American boxing to international prominence, the team is teetering.
Suddenly, what had seemed like an enthralling story of a young United
States team beating the odds had turned into a familiar story of
experienced amateur fighters from Cuba and Eastern Europe beating up
on game, but inexperienced, American boxers.
Basheer Abdullah, the United States team’s head coach, was anxious
before Martirosyan’s bout. “I wanted that bout bad because I thought
if we got that victory against the Cuban, it would motivate the rest
of the athletes,” he said. His young boxing team, like the young
United States men’s basketball team, is fluent in the sport but
uncomfortable in international rules.
After his defeat, Allen said, “He was just a better amateur fighter,”
making a point of saying Georgiev was a better amateur, implying that
if they meet as pros the story may be different. “I have more of a
pro style,” Allen said. “By me having a pro style, it’s hard to
really adapt to the amateur game.”
We’ll probably never know. In yet another example here of the
mishmash of sports cultures, Allen will soon turn pro. Georgiev,
meanwhile, will likely beat up on another young American boxer at the
2008 Games in China.
Against seasoned Cuban and Bulgarian fighters familiar with the
nuances of how to exploit the computerized scoring system,
Martirosyan and Allen were outmatched.
“They’re well schooled on how to position themselves, where the
judges are at,” Abdullah said. “They have a system and they stick
within the system. They’re very disciplined boxers.”
There is no rush in a 10-round professional fight; Olympic boxing is
hurry, hurry, hurry. From the opening bell, the opponent rushes in
and throws the kinds of flurries that register on the computer. One
fighter builds up points and spends the rest of the fight running.
When a fighter falls behind, as Martirosyan and Allen did yesterday,
catching up, short of a knockout, is next to impossible.
Not all the American boxers have professional careers on their minds.
After his loss yesterday, Martirosyan surprised a few questioners
when he said he wanted to remain an amateur. “I’ll be back in 2008,”
he said. “Who knows?”
“I love amateurs so much,” he said. “I just love being in the ring.
You put me out there right now, just to spar, I’ll go out there and
spar.”
Someone wondered why Martirosyan would put off making money as a
professional fighter. That’s what American Olympic boxers do: they
turn pro and use Olympic stature as leverage to sign a better
contract.
Martirosyan said money wasn’t the prevailing factor with his family.
“We don’t really think about the money or whether to go
professional,” he said. “My dad just wants me to be happy, and I’m
happy when I’m in the ring.”
This was the first time I’d ever heard an American Olympic boxer even
suggest that he would hang around for the next Games. But he said he
loved the amateur environment.
“What I love about it is the fans, the people,” he said. Amateur
boxing, he said, doesn’t require “taking your head gear off and
getting hurt, because you can get hurt in the pros.”
“Amateurs, you go out there and you have fun,” he added. “You come
out, you’re O.K. You can walk instead of getting carried out on a
stretcher. Professionals, man, you can get hit with a punch that can
change your life.”
Allen, on the other hand, seems to want to turn pro immediately.
Soon, the Olympic boxing site will be crawling – and I mean that
literally – with boxing agents and promoters looking to scoop up
talent for the brutal pro fight game.
The Cubans, and perhaps to a lesser extent the Bulgarians, don’t have
to deal with these temptations, with these pressure enticements. The
Cubans in particular are forever amateurs.
“A lot of these guys here, they stick around,” Allen said. “You’re
going to see them in 2008 and 2012. Our guys, after the Olympic
Games, we always turn pro.”
The Cubans will not.
“A gold medal in Cuba – they take pride in representing their country
and wearing their colors,” Abdullah said. “Some of our athletes have
other opportunities, like track and field, boxing. They can make the
big money. They know if they fall short here, it’s not over.”
Well-compensated basketball players and tennis players have stumbled
in Athens. Now boxing has to go back to the drawing board.
We’re going to need a larger board.

Interfax
Aug 17 2004
Bayerische Landesbank allocating over $50 mln for Armenal overhaul
Yerevan. (Interfax) – The German bank Bayerische Landesbank has
agreed to provide more than $50 million in financing for a
modernization program at Armenal aluminum foil plant in Armenia.
Negotiations with German insurance company Hermes, which will cover
the program should wrap up within a month, General Director at
Russian Aluminum (RusAl) Alexander Livshits announced at a Monday
press conference in Armenia.
On top of the German bank’s input, RusAl will itself be contributing
$20 million as working capital, Livshits said. Of that, $1.5 million
has already been spent on project preparations and readying the plant
for modernization, he said.
Armenal will get a factory for making aluminum foils with maximum
thickness of 0.57mm.
After the Armenal modernization work is completed, the plant will be
put into operation in 2005, Livshits said.

armenianow.com
August 13, 2004
Too Hot for Health: August brings heat-related ailments
By Marianna Grigoryan
ArmeniaNow reporter
It happens every August. Armenians say that this intolerable month is
the hottest ever and meteorologists produce data to try and persuade
otherwise.
This week, temperatures reached 36C (97F) and, just like last year and the
year before, etc., heat-beaten residents were complaining that they’d never
seen a summer like this.
But Genadi Kojoyan of the Republic of Armenia Nature Protection
meteorological office says temperatures are the same as last year, an
average of 25C (77F).
Believe the specialists or the sweating citizens, but know this: Most days
it is brutally hot!
And for some, especially elderly and infirmed, the heat can be a danger.
Nune Szamkochyan vice manager of the Shtapognutjun ambulance service says
her unit received 140 calls in one day this week from heat-related trauma.
Her ambulance service takes about 45 people to hospital every day and,
during August, most are the result of the heat.
“August is the most dangerous month,” says Health Ministry advisor Ruslana
Gevorgyan. “People have to be very careful.”
Gevorgyan says the most dangerous time of day is from noon until 6 p.m. and
that over the past several days there has been an increase in the number of
fainting spells during those hours. At those times, she says, people should
avoid being outside.
Shade, water, anything that helps . . .
The heat also leads to other health concerns.
Specialists say that in order to overcome the awful weather, some people
leave Yerevan and others try to find ways to stay cool.
“Next to all pools in the streets of Yerevan that contain water we put
announcements, that swimming is forbidden”, says the republic’s main
sanitary doctor Vladimir Davidyants. “But children swim and even adults put
their legs in. And although pools are disinfected daily the danger is always
apparent, because not only people but also dogs swim in them.”
Nork Hospital infection specialist Ara Asoyan says many peoples’ attempt to
stay cool ultimately leads to a hospital visit. While there are not
currently any cases of water-related infection, there are, he says, a high
number of pneumonia cases and people suffering from chills.
In order to cope with the heat people always drink ice water and sit under
or in front of the air conditioners, Asoyan says “and it is evident what can
happen after that.”

BBC News
Last Updated: Thursday, 12 August, 2004, 09:49 GMT 10:49 UK
Madrid victims granted residency
The bombs were placed on commuter trains from the Madrid suburbs
The Spanish government has given residence permits to nearly 700 immigrants
who were either victims or related to victims of the Madrid bombs.
The explosions on four Madrid commuter trains on 11 March left 191 dead and
hundreds more injured.
Police said more than 2,000 other immigrants in Spain had made residence
applications, on grounds that they had been directly affected by the
attacks.
The government decided to grant permits to victims as an act of solidarity.
Following the attacks, Spanish MPs agreed that the attacks “resulted in a
huge human catastrophe, without consideration for nationality or origin”.
They agreed these were exceptional circumstances and that granting residency
to immigrants involved would help the victims and “ease their settlement” in
Spain.
Of the 673 residence permits granted to date, 355 were obtained by victims
and 318 by their relatives. Hundreds of other applications are still being
considered.
A large number of Latin Americans were among the victims of the bombings,
but people of many other nationalities were also involved.
Official figures show permits were granted to 264 Romanians, 179
Ecuadorians, 70 Colombians, 28 Moroccans, 19 Bolivians, 15 Argentinians, 19
Bulgarians, eight Cubans, six Brazilians, five Paraguayans, 13 Peruvians, 12
Poles, 18 Ukrainians and three Venezuelans, two from Cape Verde, two
Moldavians, two Chileans, one Congolese, one American, one Honduran, one
Armenian, one Nigerian, one Dominican, one Senegalese and one Malian.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

UEFA.com
Aug 12 2004
Tried and tested suits Casoni
Bernard Casoni has opted for experience for his first match in charge
of Armenia – a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier away to F.Y.R. Macedonia
next Wednesday.
Old favourites
The French coach, who was handed the reins only last week, has had
little time to acquaint himself with his squad and has therefore
named a 22-man party comprised of players used by his predecessor,
Mihai Stoichita.
Voskanyan injury
Casoni’s options have been hampered by injuries to several leading
players, including defensive midfield player Artur Voskanyan, who is
recovering from ankle surgery, while first-choice goalkeeper Roman
Berezovski is included despite lacking match fitness.
Tough task
Armenia have been drawn in qualifying Group 1 with the Czech
Republic, Netherlands, Romania, Finland and Andorra as well as F.Y.R.
Macedonia.
Armenia squad
Berezovski, Hambartsumyan, Hovsepyan, Dokhoyan, Vardanyan,
Kirakosyan, Tadevosyan, Nazaryan, Arakelyan, Sargsyan, Khachatryan, A
Petrosyan, Melikyan, Lazarian, Aleksanyan, Artavazd Karamyan,
Grigoryan, Hakobyan, Arman Karamyan, Movsisyan, Pachajyan, G
Petrosyan.

NEW DEPARTMENTS TO BE ESTABLISHED AT RA MINISTRY OF TRADE AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
YEREVAN, August 12 (Noyan Tapan). New structural departments will be
established in the staff of the RA Ministry of Trade and Economic
Development: the Department of Safety Measures and Public Relations
and Protocol Department.
According to the RA government’s press service, this decision was made
during the August 12 sitting of the RA government.

The Cincinnati Post
Publication Date: 08-11-2004
Olympics
2000 Olympic medals table
Country G S B Tot
United States 39 25 33 97
Russia 32 28 28 88
China 28 16 15 59
Australia 16 25 17 58
Germany 14 17 26 57
France 13 14 11 38
Italy 13 8 13 34
Cuba 11 11 7 29
Britain 11 10 7 28
South Korea 8 9 11 28
Romania 11 6 9 26
Netherlands 12 9 4 25
Uraine 3 10 10 23
Japan 5 8 5 18
Hungary 8 6 3 17
Belarus 3 3 11 17
Poland 6 5 3 14
Canada 3 3 8 14
Bulgaria 5 6 2 13
Greece 4 6 3 13
Sweden 4 5 3 12
Brazil 0 6 6 12
Spain 3 3 5 11
Norway 4 3 3 10
Switzerland 1 6 2 9
Ethiopia 4 1 3 8
Czech Republic 2 3 3 8
Kazakstan 3 4 0 7
Kenya 2 3 2 7
J amaica 0 4 3 7
Denmark 2 3 1 6
Indonesia 1 3 2 6
M exico 1 2 3 6
Georgia 0 0 6 6
Lithuania 2 0 3 5
Sl ovakia 1 3 1 5
Algeria 1 1 3 5
Belgium 0 2 3 5
Sou th Africa 0 2 3 5
Morocco 0 1 4 5
Taiwan 0 1 4 5
Iran 3 0 1 4
Turkey 3 0 1 4
Finland 2 1 1 4
Uzbekistan 1 1 2 4
New Zealand 1 0 3 4
Argentina 0 2 2 4
North Korea 0 1 3 4
Austria 2 1 0 3
Azerbaijan 2 0 1 3
Latvia 1 1 1 3
Yugoslavia 1 1 1 3
Estonia 1 0 2 3
Thaila nd 1 0 2 3
Nigeria 0 3 0 3
Slovenia 2 0 0 2
Bahama s 1 1 0 2
Croatia 1 0 1 2
Moldova 0 1 1 2
Saudi Arabia 0 1 1 2
Trinidad and Tobago 0 1 1 2
Costa Rica 0 0 2 2
Portugal 0 0 2 2
Cameroon 1 0 0 1
Colombia 1 0 0 1
Mozambique 1 0 0 1
Ireland 0 1 0 1
Uruguay 0 1 0 1
Vietnam 0 1 0 1
Armenia 0 0 1 1
Ba rbados 0 0 1 1
Chile 0 0 1 1
India 0 0 1 1
Iceland 0 0 1 1
Israel 0 0 1 1
Kyrgyzstan 0 0 1 1
Kuwait 0 0 1 1
Sri Lanka 0 0 1 1
Macedonia 0 0 1 1
Qatar 0 0 1 1
Pu blication Date: 08-11-2004

Times of Oman, Oman
Aug 10 2004
Fatma storms into quarters

By Our Sports Reporter
MUSCAT – Oman’s talented Fatma Al Nabhani sailed into the
quarterfinals of the 20th International Tennis Federation Junior
Championship, which began in Damascus on Monday.
According to information received from the Oman Tennis Association,
Fatma Al Nabhani, who is seeded seventh in the tournament, defeated
Syria’s Ranim Mkahal 7-5, 6-3 to book her place in the last eight
round.
She will now take on Egypt’s Rana El Derwy in the quarterfinals.
Second-seeded El Derwy got the better off Line Ghannam of Syria 6-1,
6-0.
Top seed Wing Yau Ven Chang of Hong Kong sailed into the
quarterfinals with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Syria’s Dalia Hosamo and will
take on Syria’s Dima Al Saadi, the eighth seed in the next match.
Al Saadi survived a second set scare before beating Ukraine’s
Valentyna Romanenko 6-1, 7-6 (9-7).
The others to reach the quarterfinals were fourth-seeded Lara Al
Samman of Syria, fifth-seeded Manushak Khanyan of Armenia and third
seeded Doris Waari of Romania. Al Samman beat Syria’s Lara Tlass 6-0,
6-0, Manushak beat Syria’s Sara Makee 6-3, 6-3 and D. Waari defeated
Mira Tlass 6-1, 6-0.
Meanwhile, the Oman Tennis Association has sent three players with a
coach for an external camp in Burundi. The camp will last until
August 23.
The three players are Sharifa Al Bakry, Muhatassin Al Fadhi and Sabra
Al Bakry. Madny Al Bakry accompanies the trio as coach.

Noyan Tapan, Armenia
Aug 10 2004
HAMLET GASPARIAN: `MILITANT APPEALS OF AZERBAIJAN ONLY DEEPEN
YEREVAN, 10.08.04. RA Foreign Ministry considers inadmissible
Azerbaijan`s last attempt to disguise its non-constructive position
in achievement of a long peace. Hamlet Gasparian, the Spokesman of RA
Foreign Ministry, emphasized this in the August 6 press release while
commenting upon the statement spread on August 4 by the Foreign
Ministry of Azerbaijan in connection with the military exercises held
in Nagorno Karabakh. `Azerbaijan`s militant statements, doscontent
with peace, legal, democratic elections of the Nagorno Karabakh
people or disdainful statements regarding fulfilment of the right of
self-determination by it only deepen the atmosphere of mistrust and
cynicism,` the press release said. The Spokesman of RA Foreign
Ministry mentioned that despite of unsuccessful comment of the Azeri
side, Armenia is always ready to participate in the efforts of the
international organizations is the region, in particular, in the
forthcoming exercises within the framework of the `Best Joint Effort
– 2004` program of NATO, as well as to continue being involved into
the negotiation process on peace settlement of the conflict.

The Moscow Times
Tuesday, August 10, 2004. Page 11.
A Fond Farewell to My Home in Azerbaijan
By Chloe Arnold
BAKU, Azerbaijan — I am sitting on my suitcase as I write this. I leave
Azerbaijan this week heading east — to Sri Lanka and then to India.
There is so much I will miss about the place that I hardly know where to
begin. I’ll miss the tiny shop at the end of our street that sells boxes of
apples and lemons and buckets of curd cheese and the best homemade yogurt
I’ve ever tasted.
I’ll miss the woman who sits on the pavement outside, her head swathed in a
red and yellow scarf, who sells herbs from a flat wicker basket — parsley,
dill, coriander and mint all freshly picked that morning.
I’ll miss the Caspian Sea, that stinging salty smell tinged with the whiff
of oil, which is the reason Baku has grown to be the most important city in
the Caucasus region. If not for its “black gold,” Baku would still be a
sleepy backwater, not much bigger than the jumble of cobbled alleys and
mosques that make up its centuries-old walled city.
I’ll never forget the friendships I’ve made in Azerbaijan. There was Qyzyl
Quliyeva, who at 131 would have been the oldest woman in the world if only
she’d had a birth certificate.
The day I visited, she had just baked a batch of bread and was in her
orchard feeding the hens. She scaled a ladder to the second floor of her
house and we sat on a giant Persian carpet, sipping tea with her
great-great-grandson, who translated her tales of 19th-century Azerbaijan.
Then there were the Mountain Jews, descended from one of the 10 lost tribes
of Israel. I have an abiding memory of a New Year’s Eve I spent with one of
the village elders and his best friend, a Muslim policeman.
We left them throwing back the vodka, their arms around each other’s
shoulders, laughing and singing into the night. If only Jews and Muslims in
other parts of the world could take a leaf out of their book.
I’ll miss Georgia and Armenia, too. I’ll always remember the day of
Georgia’s Rose Revolution, when I stood on a rickety balcony above Freedom
Square as tens of thousands of people marched on the parliament building to
demand the resignation of the president, Eduard Shevardnadze.
In Armenia, the spectacular drive to Geghard, a church carved into the side
of a mountain, is one I won’t easily forget.
But it’s Azerbaijan that I will be saddest to leave. I worry for the future
of the place — the corruption, the infighting between the clans who run the
country and the hardships suffered by ordinary people.
But most of all I’ll miss it because I’ve come to think of it as home.
Chloe Arnold is a freelance journalist based in Baku, Azerbaijan. This is
her final column for The Moscow Times. We wish her all the best.