New Delhi, May 20
In the wake of the spot-fixing scandal that has rocked the Indian Premier League, the organsiers of the cash-rich T20 tournament has stepped up security for the remaining four teams by providing them officers from its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU).

The decision was taken following yesterday’s emergent meeting of the BCCI’s working committee.

Both Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, who are in the capital for the first playoff match, were today provided an officer each. They are scheduled to face-off tomorrow at the Feroz Shah Kotla. The other two teams, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals, who are scheduled to arrive in Delhi tomorrow, have also been allotted an officer each.

“According to what we have been told, the officer will stay with the team, travel with us and will work with the team security in-charge,” a official from one of the franchises said.

The IPL last week found itself engulfed in a sensational spot-fixing scandal after Indian paceman S Sreesanth and two of his Rajasthan Royals teammates — Ajit Chadila and Ankeel Chavan — were arrested by the Delhi police which claimed that the trio received upto Rs 60 lakh from bookies for bowling manipulated overs.

The arrested players police custody ends today evening. BCCI’s ACSU chief Ravi Sawani, who is also heading the commission of inquiry into the allegations against the three players, met senior Delhi police officials today.

“I had a very useful meeting with the Delhi Commissioner of Police,” he said after the meeting.

He may have betrayed thousands of his fans back home in Kerala, but Shaji and Sajan are going to script their upcoming movie - Cricket - around Sreesanth’s life on and off the cricket pitch. The film will be about the rise and fall of a young cricketer from Kerala. Apparently, it will trace his rise from school cricket to national fame, after which he falls prey to greed and unchecked desire. According to the movie makers, Sreesanth’s life perfectly fits the bill. The movie will also explore the nexus between cricket and the underworld and throw light on the seamier side of the game. 

According to Kerala State Cricket Association chief TC Mathew, Sreesanth had some personality issues that did not make him the most popular among fellow cricketers. The movie will capture such moments of a sportsperson, who spurned the opportunity to become a great role model. — Agencies

New Delhi, May 20
Rajasthan Royals chairman Ranjit Barthakur has said that the team, recovering from the shock of the spot-fixing scandal involving three of their players, has “re-grouped” after the scandal and were ready for the IPL playoff match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground on May 22.

“We have been working closely with the BCCI, and following the meeting with them on Sunday, we have taken a number of definitive steps”, he said in a statement.

Barthakur said based on the information provided by the authorities, the contracts of all the three players (Sreesanth, Ankit Chavan and. Ajit Chandila) have been suspended pending enquiry and has also filed a complaint against the three with the Delhi Police and the security deployment for the team has been expanded in consultation with the BCCI.

He said the team management was in daily contact with the police authorities in Delhi, Jaipur and Mumbai for providing any cooperation/information that they might require. “We have initiated additional internal measures, all developed with the full support of the players at their weekend regroup in Jaipur”, he added.

Kuala Lumpur, May 20
Indian shuttlers Monday lost their second and final Group A tie to Indonesia 1-4 to exit the Sudirman Cup on the second day of competitions at the Putra Stadium here.

After suffering a humiliating 0-5 loss Sunday to four-time defending champions China in the biennial tournament, India only managed to win one match out of five as Parupalli Kashyap was the lone bright spot.

In the first match of the day, India’s Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Jerry Chopra lost their men’s doubles tie to Pratama Angga and Saputro Rian Agung 13-21, 10-21 in 24 minutes. P.V. Sindhu, who brilliantly fought to take a game from World Champion Yihan Wang Sunday, however, disappointed the Indian contingent losing to Lindaweni Fanetri 15-21, 10-21 in 36 minutes in the women’s singles tie.

This was Lindaweni’s second win over the Hyderabadi in four career meetings. In a do-or-die men’s singles clash, Kashyap, who looked completely out of colour against Chen Long Sunday, defeated Rumbaka Dionysius Hayom 21-18, 21-14 in 44 minutes for the first time in his career in three meetings. This was India’s only win in this edition’s world team championships.

In the fourth match-up, Ashwini Ponnappa and Pradnya Gadre lost their women’s doubles match to Polii Greysia and Maheswari Nitya Krishinda in two incredibly close games which lasted 37 minutes.

The Indian duo held a game point too in the second game but went on to lose the next three to lose the game and match 19-21, 20-22.

In the mixed doubles dead rubber, Aparna Balan and Arun Vishnu could not put up a fight against Ahmad Tontowi and Natsir Liliyana losing 13-21, 14-21 in 29 minutes.

The last group match will be between China and Indonesia to decide the table-toppers as both nations have qualified for the next stage. — PTI

New Delhi, May 20
Indian boxers have made history by winning a record haul of 10 medals, including four gold, in the Invitation FXTM International Boxing Cup held in Limassol, Cyprus.

Pugilists Madan Lal (52kg), V Durga Rao (56kg), Mandeep Jangra (69kg) and Praveen Kumar (+91kg) won gold while Manoj Kumar (64kg), Dinesh Kumar (91kg) and Sukhdeep Singh (75kg) had to be satisfied with silver medals.

This is also the first time Indian boxers have managed to win a tournament on the European circuit.

Earlier in the tournament, Anil Kumar (60kg), Jagroop Singh (81kg) and L Devendro Singh (49kg) had crashed out in the semifinals and ended up with a bronze each.

It was a heart break for Manoj Kumar as he lost to Abdelkader Chadi of Algeria in the final of 64kg category.

Both the boxers started cautiously, waiting for the other to make the move but in the end it was the Algerian boxer who dominated the first round. Manoj came back strongly to win the second, but Chadi’s precise attacks helped him maintain the overall advantage in the final round. Ultimately the Indian lost the bout by 3 points.

Reigning national champion, Madan Lal was up against Ayigah Dodsi from Belgium in the first match. He started strongly to register an early lead. Lal’s sharp combinations of straight punches and hooks helped him gain a 5 point lead in the first round.

In the second, the Belgium boxer tried to make a comeback but the 21-year-old Indian was up to the challenge. Lal quickly changed his strategy and relied more on counter attacks in the final two rounds and went on to bag the fly weight title with consummate ease in the end. 2009 Youth Olympic Games gold medallist V Durga Rao had to dig deep against German boxer Dieter Dier. After three round of intense action the scores were knotted at 12-all. In the end though, it was Rao who emerged victorious on individual judge’s score to bag his very first international medal on the senior tour.

Mandeep was in exceptional touch as he devoured Victor Vega Blanco of Spain in a completely one-sided affair to bag the welter weight title. Super heavy-weight boxer Praveen Kumar won the fourth gold after overhauling Beguerni Hamza from Algeria. Dinesh Kumar Chouaib Bouloudinat from Algeria in the semis, came up short against the power hitting of Fotios Arapoglous from Greece. — PTI

Khabarovsk, May 20
India’s Thokchom Nanao Singh (49kg) and Dilbagh Singh (69kg) had to content with silver medals after losing their final bouts today, at the Khabarovsk International Competition in Khabarovsk, Russia even as Indian pugilists finished with five medals.

Nanao, the reigning national champion, went up against local lad Sagaluev Bator in the title round. Sagaluev had a similar technique to Nanao and both the boxers were equally matched. But the Russian seemed to have an edge with his precise attacks.

The 22-year-old Indian tried hard to reduce the margin, but Sagaluev kept nicking crucial points to maintain the advantage. In the end, Nanao lost 8-12 and settled for a silver in the light flyweight division. Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Dilbagh had a bad day at office and seemed out of sorts against Kozhabekov Bakytzhan of Kazakhstan. He too had to content with a silver medal as he was crushed 3-9 in the final bout. Earlier, Sunil Kumar (52kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg) reached the semi-final stage of the tournament to bag the bronze medal in their respective weight categories. — PTI

It was a great day for Asian golf on Sunday. Korean Sang-Moon Bae won his first PGA Tour event, the US$6.7 million HP Byron Nelson Championship while in Europe Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee narrowly lost winning the Volvo World Matchplay, finishing second to Ireland’s Graeme McDowell. Just 26-years-old, Sang-Moon Bae won his first tournament in only his second season on the PGA Tour. He carded a final round one-under-par 69 to win with a total of 12-under-par, one stroke of ahead of Keegan Bradley. 

Bae started the day two strokes behind the overnight Keegan Bradley but made a hot start to his round and was four under through seven holes and leading by four shots. A double-bogey on the par four ninth, saw his lead cut to half. Bradley, who led the tournament for the first three rounds fought back to be tied for the lead after 14 holes. However, Bae pulled ahead with an excellent birdie on the 15th and held on to his one shot lead to win.

As Bae himself said later, “the course was tough and the winds were very strong. I did well this week.” However, Sang-Moon did much better than just “well” as most would describe his victory as monumental, at least for Asian golf!

“Sang-Moon Bae’s victory just goes to show that Asian golf has a lot of depth and youngsters are steadily coming up through the ranks. A strong regional tour is giving the Asian professionals the confidence and the right exposure to compete with the world’s elite,” said Jeev Milkha Singh, who also honed his skills on the Asian Tour before moving on to Europe and Japan.

SSP Chowrasia, Gaganjeet Bhullar and Jeev will be joining the European Tour for the BMW PGA Championship at the beautiful Wentworth Golf Course this week. They will get an opportunity to play alongside Theo Walcott, Alan Hansen and Ian Wright.