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Sports Ministry is hiring
Minister upset with India’s preparations for CWG
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My comments on BCCI taken out of context: Dravid
India colts log first win in Lanka
badminton World Championships
HC orders police to register criminal case against TNCA
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Sports Ministry is hiring
Patiala, August 6 It's as shocking as it gets. The Sports Authority of India (SAI), the field arm of the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, meant to support and nurture talent in youth, with coaching, infrastructure, and equipment, has not recruited a single coach since 1993. Which means India has participated in five Olympics since then, every time the number of coaches plumbing new depths. Insiders say, SAI has been showing more faith in contracted coaches rather than the permanent recruited ones. But the intake here too has been abysmal, only 135 coaches, including foreign coaches which take care of national camps only, have given contract after the Olympics and Commonwealth Games. According to sources, the ministry of sports has now paved way for fresh recruitment with 27 former Olympians already shortlisted and sent letter of appointments. "In order to address the shortage of coaches, recruitment of regular coaches in phased manner has been planned and accordingly, 200 coaches in the disciplines of Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Cycling, Fencing, Hockey, Gymnastics, Judo, Kayaking & Canoeing, Rowing, Shooting, Swimming & Diving, Taekwondo, Volleyball, Weightlifting, Wrestling and Wushu has been initiated," sources said. Maximum of these coaches would be recruited for boxing (38), Taekwondo (22), Archery and athletics would get 18 each. A total of 160 male and 40 female coaches are being recruited in the initial stage. "A special mention on the acute shortage was made in the report submitted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development to the Parliament in April 2011," said a senior official. The report further states that the "present status of coaches in the country is very disappointing. The committee has been given to understand that strength of 1,623 way back in 1997 was brought down to 831 by the Ministry of Finance. It took prolonged deliberations in bringing back the strength to 1,258 on regular basis and 85 coaches on contract basis". In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports Jitendra Singh has said the shortage of coaches in various disciplines has arisen mainly due to fact that there was no recruitment since 1993. He said, in order to address the shortage of coaches, recruitment in phased manner has been planned. Bare facts
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Minister upset with India’s preparations for CWG
New Delhi, August 6 The Minister was unhappy that only a handful of federations had given detailed training programme for their probable medal winners for these two international events. He directed that a chief coach and the necessary support staff be appointed for each discipline and they should be entrusted with the responsibility of coaching the elite athletes. Singh directed that a Steering Committee, headed by the Secretary (Sports) of the Ministry, be set up to make a weekly review of the progress being made on the coaching front, till the Commonwealth Games. He also suggested that the training needs of the medal hopefuls be identified and funded from the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF), though the main expenditure of training of sportspersons would be from the plan head. He directed SAI Director-General Jiji Thompson to make an estimate of the expenditure involved for the purpose so that provision could be made to get funds. It was also decided to collect scientific data of all probables and make that information available to coaches so that they could tailor the coaching needs of each sportsperson as per available parameters. The Minister was concerned that India would stand to lose at least 30 medals in the CWG at Glasgow due to the exclusion of disciplines like archery, Greco-Roman wrestling, team events in shooting etc. These events had fetched India more than 30 per cent of the total medals won in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. He sought to know how this decision to exclude these events was taken two years back without eliciting the views of India. Jitendra Singh directed secretary (sports) P.K. Deb to take up the matter with the top brass of the Commonwealth Games secretariat, as the exclusion of these events will severely impact India's overall standing in medal tally. The Minister was, however, relieved that the events excluded from the Asian Games-chess, snooker, billiards etc--- would not impact the medal haul of India much, though had these games were included, India could have surely bolstered their medal tally. — TNS |
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My comments on BCCI taken out of context: Dravid
New Delhi, August 6 "It is disappointing that my comments have been taken out of context by some sections of the media," Dravid was quoted as saying in a tweet posted by 'ESPNCricinfo', the website to which he gave the interview. The website also urged the readers to wait for the full interview tomorrow. "A lot of conclusions and inferences have been drawn from Rahul Dravid's quotes on credibility. Wait for the full interview," read the website's twitter handle. Dravid had expressed anguish over the recent IPL spot-fixing scandal and its fallout, saying that restoring the credibility of the game is of utmost importance, failing which cricketers may lose respect of their fans. "There are so many fans, and so many people who care deeply about this game, and it is because of these fans that we are who we are as cricketers. "Administrators are there because of the fans and the cricketers to run this game, so credibility of a game, or a board, or even a government for that matter, is important irrespective of what you do. If you are in public life it is important," he had said.
— PTI |
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India colts log first win in Lanka
Kurunegala, August 6 In today`s match, the India Under-19 team, after deciding to bat, put on board a fighting 240 before being bowled out in 48.4 overs. Skipper Vijay Zol top scored for the side with a 65-run knock which came off 75 balls with the help of seven boundaries, including a six. The Indians then bundled out hosts for 218 in 47 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. Medium fast bowler Abhimanyu Lamba (3/35) was the pick of the bowlers with a three-wicket haul while off-spinner Aamir Gani (2/41) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/35) scalped two batsmen each. openers Ankush Bains (38) and Akhil Herwadker (33) provided the side a good start with their 70-run stand but Indians struggled to form partnerships following their dismissal.
— PTI
Brief scores |
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Of captain Cook and English summer
Manchester, August 6 England, in trouble at 37 for three chasing 332 after lunch on Monday's final day before rain intervened, will keep the urn as holders after the third test stalemate at Old Trafford meant they stay 2-0 up in the series with two matches left. Fireworks at the Oval and sprinkler dances at the MCG and SCG marked England's success in 2009 and 2011, but in traditionally rainy Manchester the sprinkler was in the sky. “If you'd have said 14 days ago to me that you'd be sitting here and it might have rained the last day but you'd have retained the Ashes after three games I'd have snapped your hand off,” Cook told a news conference. British sport is enjoying a purple patch much like the 2012 UK summer with Andy Murray winning Wimbledon, Chris Froome the Tour de France and the British and Irish Lions vanquishing Australia. Now the Ashes are staying in England. British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: “And to think some people criticise the British weather. Congratulations to our cricketers on retaining the Ashes.” However, Cook is not satisfied with merely retaining the Ashes because of a drawn series, he wants to make sure they beat an improving Australia outright for the third straight time.“It's showing this test match how competitive Australia are,” he said. “We need to up our levels a bit at Durham (in the fourth test starting on Friday).” Australia woke up to the knowledge the Ashes will stay in England's hands for a third series in a row for the first time in 57 years on Tuesday but the prevailing mood in the nation's media was still more of hope than despair. The fact that Australia were bowling for victory when the Manchester rain brought a premature end to the third test was encouragement enough after the nadir of the second test defeat at Lord's which gave England a 2-0 lead. Daily Telegraph correspondent Malcolm
Conn, with others, pointed out that the draw had at least helped Australia avoid matching the lowest point of their country's test cricketing history. “Australia played well enough to wipe away the prospect of a
record-equalling seventh successive defeat, which would have left the side linked with the darkness of 1885-88,” he wrote. Gideon
Haigh, who doubles up for the London Times and The Australian, was less confident of a coherent batting line-up emerging but thought that England were also no longer the ruthless side that won the 2010-11 series in Australia.
— PTI |
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badminton World Championships
Guangzhou, August 6 Top-ranked Ma Jin and Xu Chen lost their opening game in Guangzhou 18-21 to unseeded Danish pair Mads Pieler Kolding and Kamilla Rytter Juhl, who found answers to their trademark nimble play and dynamite smashes. Xu sent back scorching returns of up to 277 kilometres per hour (172 miles), leaping in the air for his overhead shots, but the Danes held their nerve and withstood the onslaught. The home crowd fell into a nervous quiet as the Danish pair went up 10-6 in the second, but the Chinese duo pulled it back to take the game 21-17. A frenetic third game saw Xu nailing acrobatic shots, including one behind his back, as the crowd roared him on. The Chinese number ones eventually took victory in just under an hour, pumping their fists and shouting as they won the third game 21-13. Reigning world champions Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, also from China and ranked second, will step into the spotlight later Tuesday when they play Anthony Dumartheray and Sabrina Jaquet of Switzerland. The Chinese pair are favourites with fans after revealing they were a couple by hugging and kissing following their victory in the Japan Super Series in 2010. Mixed doubles third seeds Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia beat Malaysia's Jian Guo Ong and Yin Loo Lim 21-14, 21-11 in their first-round match Tuesday. The Indonesians are serious challengers for the title after winning three of the four Super Series they have taken part in this year.
— PTI |
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Can’t sit on laurels, need to move on: Hawgood
New Delhi, August 6 The Indian girls created history on Sunday by winning the country's first-ever bronze medal in the Junior Women Hockey World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany after pipping England 3-2 on penalties in the third-fourth place play-off match. “It (the junior team's success) might inspire them (senior men's team) but at the end of the day we did our job. If we can play a little part in inspiring them we will be more than happy,” the Australian told PTI in an exclusive interview. After having failed to secure a direct berth in the FIH Men's World Cup in Hague, The Netherlands from the FIH World League Round 3 in Rotterdam, India will now have to win the Asia Cup in Malaysia to qualify for next year's mega-event. But Hawgood sees no reason why the eight-time Olympic champions can't win the upcoming eight-nation tournament. “But in the end they (men's team) know what they have to do. They are good enough to play and win the Asia Cup,” Hawgood said. But for Hawgood it is back to business as he had already set his eyes on his next target — the Asia Cup in Malaysia —which is also a qualifying tournament for the Women's World Cup. “The feeling has sunk in. It has sunk in over there. It is past now as we have to get on quickly in the next couple of days. You can't linger on to it for too long because in four weeks time we have to play a senior World Cup qualifier — the Asia Cup in Malaysia,” the coach insisted. “My next target is to try and make the senior team qualify for the World Cup,” he added. The eighth Women's Asia Cup too will be held in Ipoh, Malaysia from September 21-29. The coach observed that Indian women's team is at par with the rest of the world in the Under-21 level. “I believe our girls in 3-4 years time will start playing really well. We are actually quite level with the rest of the teams in the Under-21 category. I think the average age of players in the senior teams is about 24-25 and ours is 20-21 so there lies the big difference,” Hawgood
said. — IANS |
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Struggling Tomic makes early exit
Montreal, August 6 Mayer, ranked 50th in the world, came from a set down to win 5-7 6-3 6-3 as the year’s sixth Masters series event began under blue skies and warm conditions. Tomic has endured an inconsistent few months since the ATP banned his father and coach John for allegedly assaulting his practice partner in May. He made a promising start on Monday but Mayer capitalised on the Australian’s rising unforced error count at the start of the second set, and used his unorthodox backhand slice to great effect. The 29-year-old German needed just one break of serve to draw level before repeating the feat in the decider, taking the match in an hour and 37 minutes. Mayer will face defending champion Novak Djokovic in the second round. Tipsarevic’s hopes of rediscovering the form that took him to number eight in the world last year were shattered when he was humbled by Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin 6-4 6-3. The 16th seed regularly held a top 10 spot during 2011-12 but has struggled for consistency this year, reaching the quarterfinals in just three of his last 15 tournaments. Japan’s ninth seed Kei Nishikori had to work much harder for his win and was given a stern test under the lights before breaking down Canadian qualifier Peter Polansky 4-6 6-4 6-2.
— Reuters |
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Sharapova tops Forbes rich list for 9th straight year
Moscow, August 6 American Serena Williams is second on the list with earnings of $20.5 million, followed by Chinese tennis player Li Na on $18.2 million and Belarusian Victoria Azarenka on $15.7 million. Besides being a successful athlete, Sharapova also launched a candy business in 2012 and looks forward to expand into fashion, accessories and make-up.
— IANS |
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HC orders police to register criminal case against TNCA
Chennai, August 6 Justice K.B.K. Vasuki passed the order on a criminal petition filed by J.Mohanraj, General Secretary, 'Jabamani Janatha Party' and also directed police to register the case against TNCA office Bearers. The petitioner submitted that TNCA had adopted different stands at different times on the issue of stability of the stadium since 2009. TNCA obtained stability certificate from PWD to conduct a Test Match in 2009 and submitted another letter to the Collector seeking permission to demolish the entire stadium and rebuild it on the ground that it was old and weak. — PTI |
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