SPECIAL COVERAGE
CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI


THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
S P O R T S

Sachin cleared for Lanka tri-series
Fitness test scrapped
Mumbai, July 18
Sachin Tendulkar’s right shoulder is match-fit and he is available for selection for India’s tour of Sri Lanka next month for a one-day triangular series, the cricket board said today.

                            
Sachin Tendulkar

Commonwealth Games 2010 to cost
Rs 7000 crore

New Delhi, July 18
Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Mani Shankar Aiyer said here today that the 2010 Commonwealth Games, to be held in Delhi, would cost the exchequer around Rs 7000 crore, out of which Rs 3000 crore was expected to be realised through public-private partnership.

Tiger back in flow for Hoylake
Hoylake, July 18
Twice champion Tiger Woods believes he is back in the competitive flow for this week’s British Open, despite playing just two tournaments since the death of his father Earl on May 3.

Jaques pounds India A attack
Melbourne, July 18
A fine unbeaten knock of 199 by opener Phil Jaques propelled hosts Australia A to a strong position on the opening day of the four-day Top End series cricket against India A at Cazaly’s Australian Rules Football Park, Cairns, today.

Indian motor sports bodies still poles apart 
New Delhi, July 18
Indian motor sports seems to have made little headway towards having a single governing body, with the Motor Sports Association of India (MAI) and Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) showing little signs of coming together as per the diktat of the sport’s world governing body, FIA.



Russian Tatyana Lebedeva competes in the triple jump event during the IAAF Athletics Meet at Vallehermoso Stadium in Madrid on Monday. Lebedeva won with a jump of 15.02 metres. — AFP

EARLIER STORIES




Larsson hangs his boots 
Stockholm, July 18
Sweden striker Henrik Larsson called time on his international career yesterday. “I’m quitting now. It feels right. I’ve done my time for the national side,” the former Barcelona and Celtic striker told Canal Plus. Larsson made his international debut in 1993. He scored his final goal for Sweden in the 2-2 draw against England in the group stage of the World Cup.
Henrik Larsson

Ex-footballer Sathyan commits suicide
Chennai/Thiruvanathapurm, July 18
Former Indian football captain V.P. Sathyan committed suicide in Chennai today, leaving the country’s football fraternity in shock. Sathyan, who was an assistant manager with Indian Bank, jumped from a moving train in the afternoon.

Houghton’s boys in action today
Vancouver, July 18
Newly appointed coach Bob Houghton kicks off his stint with the national football team when India takes on local favourites Vancouver Whitecaps in the inaugural Nations Cup opener at the Swangard Stadium tomorrow.

Sania-Marta in second round
Cincinnati, July 18
Sania Mirza and her Polish partner Marta Domachowska sailed into the second round with a facile 6-4, 6-3 win over the South African-Venezuelan pair of Natalie Grandin and Milagros Sequera in the $ 175,000 Cincinnati Open here.

BCCI summons Dalmiya
New Delhi, July 18
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has issued summons to former President Jagmohan Dalmiya following his failure to reply to a showcause notice, a top BCCI official said today.

BCCI appoints delegation for women’s tour 
New Delhi, July 18
A three-member delegation led by Raj Singh Dungarpur will travel to England to mark the first tour of Indian women’s cricket team under the aegis of the BCCI.

Former PFA secy seriously ill
Chandigarh, July 18
Mr K. Kapoor, former secretary of the Punjab Football Association who also served as chairman of the selection committee constituted by the All-India Football Federation for the 1986 Asian Games, is seriously ill and is bed-ridden at his residence in Gurgaon.

JCT Academy qualify
Chandigarh, July 18
JCT Academy and Sri Guru Gobind Singh Society, Jalandhar, have qualified for the Punjab State Super League due to kick off on July 26.

Juniors bow out of squash meet
New Delhi, July 18
India’s challenge at the 14th World Junior Men’s Squash Championship in North Palmerston, New Zealand, came to an end today with the third-round exit of Sandeep Jangra and Parth Sharma.

Abhijeet bags maiden GM norm
New Delhi, July 18
Teenager Abhijeet Gupta has bagged his maiden Grandmaster norm after a sparkling performance in the 24th Andorra International Open Chess tournament in Andorra La Vella last week.


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Sachin cleared for Lanka tri-series
Fitness test scrapped

Mumbai, July 18
Sachin Tendulkar’s right shoulder is match-fit and he is available for selection for India’s tour of Sri Lanka next month for a one-day triangular series, the cricket board said today.

“Sachin is fit and available for selection for the Sri Lanka tour,” Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Niranjan Shah told IANS over phone.

“Indian team’s physiotherapist John Gloster has been observing Sachin for the past five days in Mumbai. So there is no need no have a fitness test tomorrow as decided earlier,” he said.

South Africa is the third team in the triangular series to be played between August 14 and 29 in Colombo.

Tendulkar, who injured his shoulder during the home series against England in March, has been undergoing graded physical testing of his right shoulder for the past five days here under the supervision of Gloster.

“His final physical assessment by his surgeon in London prior to his participation in the London Twenty20 match (for a World XI) was very satisfactory,” Shah said.

The 33-year-old Tendulkar, who has amassed 10,468 runs in 132 Tests and 14,1406 runs in 362 one-day internationals, also played five festival matches for Lashings club, hitting a few centuries.

Gloster also met and assessed Tendulkar’s fitness while both were in London. It was in London that orthopaedic surgeon Andrew Wallace operated the Mumbai maestro in March.

Tendulkar, who returned to Mumbai last week, was diagnosed of the injury in his right shoulder after the three-Test series against England ended in Mumbai on March 21.

The BCCI said he would miss international cricket for eight weeks, including the seven-match home one-day international series against England and the subsequent two one-dayers against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.

But Tendulkar also missed the tour to the West Indies, comprising five one-day internationals and four Tests. — IANS

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Commonwealth Games 2010 to cost Rs 7000 crore
M.S. Unnikrishnan

New Delhi, July 18
Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Mani Shankar Aiyer said here today that the 2010 Commonwealth Games, to be held in Delhi, would cost the exchequer around Rs 7000 crore, out of which Rs 3000 crore was expected to be realised through public-private partnership.

In his inaugural address at the seminar on “Preparing for the Commonwealth Games 2010: Role and opportunities for business”, Mr Aiyer said around Rs 5000 crore would be spent in the creation of infrastructure alone though the 2010 Games were not expected to generate much income, compared to the 2002 Manchester Games in the United Kingdom.

But he conceded that for India, the Games were not just about income and profit as the sports momentum to be generated through the Games was expected to provide a great impetus for Indian sports, besides the creation of world class infrastructure.

The Sports Minister said according to the data available with him, a total of $ 130 million was spent on the Manchester Games out of which the government share was only $ 37 million. In the end, the organising committee of the Manchester Games generated 56 million pounds over and above the total expenditure with the bulk of the profits coming from television rights (12 million pounds), sponsorships (26 million pounds), ticket sales, endorsements etc.

Mani Shankar Aiyer said the maximum amount India could generate through sponsorships and endorsements and sale of rights would not exceed Rs 1000 crore, and it was therefore essential to have “private-public participation” to recover part of the huge amount to be invested by the government.

He said the government, in fact, should not spend more than Rs 2000 crore on the Games, though Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi had assured him that quite a tidy sum could be generated through ticket sales, sale of rights and through endorsements.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said though resources were not a constraint in successfully holding the Games in Delhi, the multiplicity of authority was delaying the execution of works with just four years remaining for the conduct of the games. She said creation of infrastructure, power, water and transport were the main areas of concern in which focussed attention needed to be given to get the work on board without wasting any more time. She said power and water, per se, was not a major problem, but its equitable distribution was.

Ms Dikshit said the participation of the government and the civil society was essential to tackle these problems satisfactorily and she was hopeful that the hiccups would be surmounted to hold the best ever Commonwealth Games in Delhi. She said the Delhi Government was giving thought to even the minutest aspect so that nothing is left to chance or imagination.

She said the Games would provide a great opportunity for Delhi to “change all that we wanted to change” to make it a truly world class city, though the multiplicity of authority was a “major headache”. Though power is an area of major concern as Delhi would need 5000 mw when the 2010 Games comes around from the present requirement of 3800 mw, the Delhi Government would be creating 1,50,000 mw electricity by setting up a 2000 mw power plant in Chhattisgarh, through solar energy and a bio-diesel projects in Delhi.

Ms Dikshit said 3,00,000 paying guest and guest house accommodation would also be created, which would be in addition to the rooms to be made available by the five-star hotels.

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Tiger back in flow for Hoylake

Hoylake, July 18
Twice champion Tiger Woods believes he is back in the competitive flow for this week’s British Open, despite playing just two tournaments since the death of his father Earl on May 3.

The world No. 1 missed his first cut as a professional in a major at last month’s US Open but lifted his form at the Western Open two weeks ago where he tied for second.

“I feel like I’m back into playing again after taking such a long time off prior to the US Open,” Woods told a news conference today as he prepared for his title defence at Hoylake’s Royal Liverpool Golf Club.

“I took a lot of time off before the US Open and I wasn’t hitting the ball as well as I wanted to in competition. Plus it’s the hardest US Open venue we’ve ever played and that made it really difficult,” he added, referring to Winged Foot Golf Club in New York.

“But I fixed those mistakes prior to the Western Open and I got back into the competitive flow again.” Woods, who coasted to his second British Open title by five strokes at St Andrews last year, relishes playing links course golf.

Asked whether he had come to terms with the death of his father, Woods replied: ‘’There’s not a day that I don’t think I’ll ever go through life without thinking about my Dad.

Tiger, who was introduced to golf as a young child by Earl, has often attributed his mental toughness in tournaments to his former Green Beret father. The 135th British Open starts on Thursday. — Reuters

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Jaques pounds India A attack

Melbourne, July 18
A fine unbeaten knock of 199 by opener Phil Jaques propelled hosts Australia A to a strong position on the opening day of the four-day Top End series cricket against India A at Cazaly’s Australian Rules Football Park, Cairns, today.

After being put into bat, Australia A openers proved the Indians’ decision wrong by piling up a 171-run partnership. At stumps, the hosts were 361 for 2, with Jaques and Travis Brit (82 off 142 balls, including nine fours) at the crease.

Jaques and his opening partner Chris Rogers (55) laid the platform for a big total.

Jaques stole the show by playing a patient innings, which came off 284 balls and included 19 hits to the fence.

Later, the New South Wales batsman put up an unbeaten partnership of 289 runs with Brit to lead his side to a commanding position.

SS Paul and Piyush Chawla were the successful bowlers for India.

Chawla, who provided the breakthrough for India by claiming Rogers, finished the day with 1-83 from 20 overs.

Paul, who picked up first-down Australian batsman Mark Cosgrove (1), returned with figures of 1-48 off 13.3 overs. — PTI 

 

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Indian motor sports bodies still poles apart 
K. Kumaraswamy

New Delhi, July 18
Indian motor sports seems to have made little headway towards having a single governing body, with the Motor Sports Association of India (MAI) and Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) showing little signs of coming together as per the diktat of the sport’s world governing body, FIA.

“It is premature to say anything. The merger is easier said than done,” MAI President Nazir Hoosein said, suggesting that there were still some thorny issues.

After a meeting of its World Motor Sports Council in Paris earlier this month, FIA had directed MAI and FMSCI to come together as one body under the chairmanship of business magnate and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Mallya by September 1, failing which, FIA said, it would be forced to de-recognise both of them and appoint an alternative body to run Indian motor sports.

Since the July 6 order of FIA, however, there has been no talks between the two parties.

“I am into talks only with Mallya, and we have not met since Paris,” Hoosein told PTI on the phone.

Mallya is the chairman of the rival organisations who have been fighting a bitter battle to control the sport in the country.

“He has been the chairman for a number of years now, but no progress has been made,” Hoosein said.

While the MAI has been the Sporting Authority of FIA in India, the FMSCI has the recognition from the government.

Hoosein had played the FIA card well all along, but the world body’s recent missive has caught him on the wrong foot.

“The government has recognised FMSCI. Will it recognise the new body,” he asked.

FIA’s move came after the Indian Government’s decision last month to dismiss MAI’s application for recognition and reconfirm FMSCI as the sole authority to manage the sport in the country.

Hoosein sought to draw comparison with the stand-off between FIFA and Greece a few weeks ago, wherein the European nation’s Parliament was forced to go back on an amendment to a bill after football’s global governing body banned the country from all levels of competition.

“We have to get the basics right. It is a democracy, anyone can run a motor sport event in the country. But when you go to the international road, you have to follow the principles,” he said.

“It is similar to the Greece-FIFA situation, but FIA has been handling it delicately.” If FIA has been cautious, it might be more because it does not want to antagonise the Indian Government.

With the European Union tightening its norms on tobacco sponsorship, Asia has emerged as the alternative market for motor sports. And with a population of a billion, India is a country FIA can hardly ignore.

So, if the scales were heavily loaded in favour of FIFA against Greece, it is evenly balanced between FIA and India.

The root of the problem is of course who controls what. Even without the merger, MAI and FMSCI have an understanding that while the former manages the four-wheeler segment, the latter handles the motorcycle category. — PTI

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Larsson hangs his boots 

Stockholm, July 18
Sweden striker Henrik Larsson called time on his international career yesterday.

“I’m quitting now. It feels right. I’ve done my time for the national side,” the former Barcelona and Celtic striker told Canal Plus.

Larsson made his international debut in 1993, earning 93 caps and scoring 36 goals. He scored his final goal for Sweden in the 2-2 draw against England in the group stage of the World Cup.

Sweden lost 0-2 to hosts Germany in the second round of the World Cup. Larsson failed to convert a penalty during the match.

The 34-year-old Swede played 13 years abroad and wrapped up a final season with Barcelona by setting up both goals in the Catalan club’s 2-1 win over Arsenal in the Champions League final.

He returned to his home-town club Helsingborg this season after 13 years abroad. — Reuters

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Ex-footballer Sathyan commits suicide

Chennai/Thiruvanathapurm, July 18
Former Indian football captain V.P. Sathyan committed suicide in Chennai today, leaving the country’s football fraternity in shock.

Sathyan, who was an assistant manager with Indian Bank, jumped from a moving train in the afternoon. The police found two notes from his pocket saying he was ending his life due to financial problems and for failing to do well as a player.

Sathyan’s body will be brought to his hometown Tellicherry in Kerala’s Kannur district for funeral tomorrow. He is survived by his wife and a daughter.

Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, president of the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) and Union Broadcasting Minister, and AIFF General Secretary Alberto Colaco said in a statement: “It is a huge shock for the football fraternity. His death is a great loss for the game in the country.”

C.V. Papachen, a former footballer who represented India along with Sathyan, said: “I am shocked that he took away his life. We played for the Kerala Police, Kerala state and India on numerous occasions. We met last year when he came to Kochi for the Santosh Trophy. We used to talk over telephone.” Papachen and Sathyan began their football career together in 1982 when they joined the Kerala Police.

“I am what I am today because of him. He groomed me very well and never ever treated me like a junior player,” said former Indian football captain I.M. Vijayan. “He used to be serious and reserved,” he added.

Sathyan, who began his career with the Kerala Police and took a break to play for Mohun Bagan in the late 80s, was an outstanding defender. After resigning from the post of deputy superintendent of police with the Kerala Police, he joined Indian Bank at Chennai and played for them. Later, he became the coach of the bank team and was settled in Chennai.

Sathyan led the Indian team in the 1986 Merdeka Tournament. He was also member of the team that took part in the Seoul Asian Games in 1986 and South Asian Federation Games in 1989.

He played at the senior level for 12 years. While with Mohun Bagan club he was awarded AIFF Player of the Year award in 1995.

Sathyan was coach of the Indian Bank team since 2002 and the team qualified for the National Football League in 2002 and 2003. He was also member of the AIFF selection committee in 2002-03. — IANS

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Houghton’s boys in action today

Vancouver, July 18
Newly appointed coach Bob Houghton kicks off his stint with the national football team when India takes on local favourites Vancouver Whitecaps in the inaugural Nations Cup opener at the Swangard Stadium tomorrow.

China’s under-20 team plays Cardiff City FC of Wales on Friday in their first outing in the four-team tourney. Winners’ battle in Saturday night’s final while losers play for third place late Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Bob Houghton, a globetrotting British expatriate who led Toronto Blizzard from 1982 to 1984, would see how his boys fare in their maiden tournament under the new coach.

Houghton is no alien to the land and the Blizzard were runners-up in 1983’s Soccer Bowl championship at BC Place Stadium.

India is also hoping to benefit from Houghton’s first hand knowledge of Chinese football should India meet China’s under-20s on Saturday. Houghton had coached China’s national team to its first World Cup berth in 2002.

The Chinese colts, guided by 1988 Asian Footballer of the Year Jia Xiuquan, are expected to be a quality bunch and they are eyeing an entry in next summer’s FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Canada.

Another important job for Houghton would be to sound out players of Indian origin and try to convince them to play for the country of their origin. Before leaving India, Houghton had also predicted a tough fight from the Chinese youngsters, who, he felt, would form core of their under-23 team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Cardiff City is expected to arrive with 300 vociferous fans to add to the gloss.

Whitecaps captain Jeff Clarke, meanwhile, exuded confidence that his colleagues would make the most of the tournament after a break from the USL First Division schedule.

“It’s going to be great for those who are tired of the break, while some others are coming off injury. And this will be an opportunity for the young guys also to make their mark,” Clarke remarked. — UNI 

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Sania-Marta in second round

Cincinnati, July 18
Sania Mirza and her Polish partner Marta Domachowska sailed into the second round with a facile 6-4, 6-3 win over the South African-Venezuelan pair of Natalie Grandin and Milagros Sequera in the $ 175,000 Cincinnati Open here.

The third seed Indo-Polish pair will now take on the unseeded pair of Uzbek Varvara Lepchenko and Chinese Meng Yuan, who beat the Russian-Georgian duo of Vasilisa Bardina and Salome Devidze.

The Indian teen and her Polish partner capitalised on the mistakes committed by their opponents and broke them thrice before comfortably clinching the first set.

The second set also took little effort from Sania and Marta as they smashed 35 winners on their way to sealing the match.

Among the other Indians in the fray, Shikha Uberoi and her Canadian partner will be up against the top seed Italian-Argentine pair of Maria Elena Camerin and Gisela Dulko in their first-round match in women’s doubles.

Shikha has already dropped out of contention in the singles competition after her first-round loss in the qualifiers. — UNI 

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BCCI summons Dalmiya

New Delhi, July 18
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has issued summons to former President Jagmohan Dalmiya following his failure to reply to a showcause notice, a top BCCI official said today.

“Dalmiya has been asked to appear before the Disciplinary Committee on July 26 in the Capital,” BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah told PTI on the phone.

The committee is headed by board President Sharad Pawar and includes Shashank Manohar and Chirayu Amin.

The BCCI had issued showcause notice to Dalmiya, asking him to furnish details of transfer of Rs 40 crore from an Indian Overseas Bank account in Bhawanipur to Cricket Association of Bengal, of which the latter is the president, between 1996 and 2005.

After Dalmiya failed to reply to the notice, the BCCI debited the said amount to the CAB and also decided to withhold all subsidies to it.

Earlier, the board had alleged misappropriation of the 1996 World Cup funds by Dalmiya and filed an FIR at a Mumbai police station a few months ago. — PTI 

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BCCI appoints delegation for women’s tour 

New Delhi, July 18
A three-member delegation led by Raj Singh Dungarpur will travel to England to mark the first tour of Indian women’s cricket team under the aegis of the BCCI.

The other two members of the delegation are former Test cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar and co-ordinator of women’s wing Shubhangi Kulkarni, a press release said here today.

The delegates would be at hand when the Indian eves take on their English counterparts in the first one-dayer at the Lord’s cricket ground on August 14. — PTI

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Former PFA secy seriously ill
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 18
Mr K. Kapoor, former secretary of the Punjab Football Association who also served as chairman of the selection committee constituted by the All-India Football Federation for the 1986 Asian Games, is seriously ill and is bed-ridden at his residence in Gurgaon. According to former national coach Sukhwinder Singh, the condition of Mr Kapoor, now nearing 80, is deteriorating and he is unable to get up. Mr Kapoor, who was the vice-president of the AIFF, has expressed a desire to get in touch with old associates and former footballers. His contact number is 098713-70129. 

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JCT Academy qualify
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 18
JCT Academy and Sri Guru Gobind Singh Society, Jalandhar, have qualified for the Punjab State Super League due to kick off on July 26.

On the concluding day of the second division championship at Phagwara today, JCT Academy beat Mahilpur FC 1-0 with Sikandar Singh scoring the match winner. In the second match, SGGS Society defeated Bassi FC 2-0. 

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Juniors bow out of squash meet

New Delhi, July 18
India’s challenge at the 14th World Junior Men’s Squash Championship in North Palmerston, New Zealand, came to an end today with the third-round exit of Sandeep Jangra and Parth Sharma.

Sandeep lost to Tom Pashley of England 5-9, 5-9, 1-9, while Parth went down to Simon Rosner of Germany 0-9, 2-9, 1-9.

Earlier in the day, in their second-round matches, both Sandeep and Parth moved ahead in contrasting fashion.

Sandeep had an easy 3-0 victory while Parth fought hard to win the match in five games. Sandeep crushed Bastin M (Hong Kong) 9-2, 9-0, 9-3, while Parth got past Benjamin Fischer (Switzerland) 0-9, 9-8, 9-4, 6-9, 9-1.

Other four Indians in the fray — Harinderpal Singh Sandhu, Vikram Malhotra, Ramit Tandon and Sandeep Jangra — bowed out in the second round of the tournament. — PTI

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Abhijeet bags maiden GM norm

New Delhi, July 18
Teenager Abhijeet Gupta has bagged his maiden Grandmaster norm after a sparkling performance in the 24th Andorra International Open Chess tournament in Andorra La Vella last week.

Gupta scored an impressive victory over Sasha Kaplan of Israel in the ninth and final round to tally 6.5 points which was enough for his first GM norm.

Gupta, who was seeded 25th, was among a pack of eight on joint second, half a point adrift of winner Igor Khenkin of Germany, but finished sixth after the tie break was resolved on Sunday. — PTI

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 BRIEFLY

Srinath to officiate Lanka-SA series
Dubai:
Javagal Srinath will finally be seen in the match referee’s role when he takes charge of the Sri Lanka-South Africa Test series later this month.
According to an ICC release here on Tuesday, the former Indian spearhead will officiate in both matches of the two-Test series, at the Sinhalese Sports Club starting on July 27 and at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium beginning on August 4. — UNI

Stankovic Cup
New Delhi:
India has been placed along with Jordan, Lebanon, Japan and Kuwait in Group B for the second edition of Stankovic Cup basketball tournament to be held in Damascus, Syria, from July 20-19.
India will meet Japan in their opening encounter on July 20. They then take on Jordan (July 22), Lebanon (July 23) and Kuwait (July 24). — PTI

Indians slip
New Delhi:
Missing the cut at the Scottish Open last week saw Jeev Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa slip down in the latest Official Golf Rankings. While Jeev has slipped four places to 148th, Randhawa is down two spots to 161st.
Meanwhile, despite his relatively good show in the last John Deere Classic, Arjun Atwal has slipped seven places to 184th. — UNI

AIFF plans hailed
New Delhi:
India maybe grappling with brain-drain but the AIFF plans to reverse the trend by luring home the expatriates making waves outside and the football federation’s initiative received a thumping thumbs-up from former players who feel this might be just what the doctor ordered to revive the sagging fortune of the game.
Meanwhile, former India skipper Prasun Banerjee hailed the move and also showered praise on Houghton and said the Indian reins were in safe hands and the Englishman might bring about a turnaround in the fortunes. — UNI

Basketball trials
Sangrur:
Selection trials to select district sub-junior basketball teams for participation in the Punjab State Sub-Junior Championships being held at Mansa from July 26 to 29 will be held at War Heroes stadium here, on July 21 at 4.30 pm. Players born after January 1, 1993, are eligible for the selection. Interested players may contact R.S. Bhullar, basketball coach. — OSR

New Aussie physio
SYDNEY:
Cricket Australia on Tuesday announced Alex Kountouris as the team physiotherapist to replace long-time incumbent Errol Alcott. Kountouris, who was Sri Lanka’s former team physiotherapist, was Alcott’s understudy in the Australian set-up for the last three years.
Kountouris’ first major task will be preparing the Australian team for the home Ashes series against England that starts in November. — AFP

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