|
|
|
|
|
IOC keeps Olympic door shut on India
IOA, Sports minister differ on IOC directive
|
|
|
Chance to revive sports policy, says ‘vindicated’ Aiyar Gutta in trouble for ‘instigating’ players in IBL Let Sachin play milestone Test at home: Ganguly
Neighbours make all the noise
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
IOC keeps Olympic door shut on India
New Delhi, September 5 In its Special General Body Meeting last month, the IOA had come up with a compromise formula to IOC's directive to bar chargesheeted persons from contesting elections with the proposal that the sanction be applied only to those who are convicted and sentenced to a jail term of more than two years. But the IOC stood firm on its earlier stand during its Executive Board (EB) meeting yesterday ahead of the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires and asked IOA to accept all demands in full before conducting elections. "Since the suspension of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in December 2012, the IOC has been working towards finding a solution to improve good governance within the National Olympic Committee (NOC)," the IOC said in a statement on its website. "The IOC provided the IOA with a roadmap and sent observers to the IOA's General Assembly (GA) that took place on 25 August. The EB heard a report that the GA had approved most of the amendments to the IOA's constitution requested by the IOC, but one specific clause had not been adopted.” "This clause, which deals specifically with the eligibility of members, is key to the good governance of the NOC and needs to be fully accepted before the suspended IOA can proceed with the elections. An official notification of the IOC's position will be sent to the IOA," the statement read. — PTI |
|
IOA, Sports minister differ on IOC directive
“There are certain issues the IOC is insisting on, including ethics and good governance. So I hope better sense prevails, and the IOA incorporates some of the changes suggested by the IOC,” Sports Minister Jitendra Singh said. Singh said there should not be any problem in incorporating the changes in the IOA constitution suggested by the IOC “because it is part of the Olympic Charter, and nothing new”. He said it was sad that the IOA did not amend its constitution as per the IOC guidelines, international benchmark and the Olympic Charter. He urged the IOA to give “preference” to the interest of the sportspersons, instead of sticking to its own stand. But elected IOA president Abhay Singh Chautala (suspended by the IOC), insisted that the IOA constitution could not go beyond the law of the land and the IOC cannot force these provisions on it. “We cannot go beyond the law of our land. We’ll make our constitution according to our laws. We had told the IOC observers that we cannot go beyond the law of the land,” Chautala stated. IOA acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra (recognized by the IOC), on the other hand, suggested that the IOC should make the chargesheet clause mandatory for all the member nations, instead of applying it selectively. “If it is for all the countries, we will have to follow it. I don't think this clause is in the constitution of other countries because these questions never arose before,” he noted. Malhotra regretted the IOC decision not to revoke the IOA suspension, but promised to make “all-out efforts to see the country’s return to the Olympic movement.” Malhotra said IOA should stand united to find a way out to get the IOC ban lifted, “as the continuance of the ban is detrimental to Indian sports.” He, however, agreed that India should follow the IOC Charter, adding the IOC needed to make certain clarifications so that the things would be clear and better understood. |
|
Doubles delight: Leander in final, Sania storms into semis
The fourth seeded Indo-Czech pair denied the Bryans a piece of history with their 3-6 6-3 6-4 win as the American twins were trying to become first doubles team since 1951 to collect all four Grand Slam titles in the same year. The Bryans ran away with the first set but faced stiff challenge in the second, which Paes and Stepanek dominated to take the match to full length. Paes stood out with his backhand slice and chips while Stepanek was solid with his blistering double-handed backhand. The two teams began well but Paes and Stepanek handed the advantage to the Bryans in the sixth game of the opening set. Facing a breakpoint, Stepanek double faulted which handed the Bryans a 4-2 lead, which soon became a comfortable 5-2 when the Americans held the next. Paes served to stay in the set and he held the game, which featured an entertaining 21-shot rally. Bob served at love to quickly wrap up the first set in just 29 minutes. The fourth seeds were put under pressure straight away as they were facing a break point in the first game of the second set but Paes saved that with a volley winner at the net. Bob slightly lost concentration and was soon facing two break points. Paes hit a terrific backhand slice winner to convert the first chance and go up 2-0. However the advantage was lost when the Indian dropped his serve in the next, double faulting at 30-40. Nevertheless, they kept fighting and succeeded in breaking Bob in the sixth game. As Paes held his own, they soon had a 5-2 cushion and kept that lead to force a third set. The Indo-Czech combo had chance to get an early break in the decider on Mike's serve and after an engrossing tussle they succeeded in converting the fourth chance of the third game to open up a mini 2-1 lead and consolidated that to 3-1 with a hold. Stepanek saved three breakpoints in the sixth game to take a 5-1 lead but Paes failed to serve out the match in the eighth, allowing Bryans to comeback. Bryans closed the gap to 4-5 however, Stepanek served out the match after some anxious moment. Meanwhile, on Wednesday night, Sania Mirza and J.Zheng also made it to the semis after beating S.Hsieh and S. Peng (CHN) 6-4, 7-6. — PTI Quarterfinals Men’s Singles 2-Rafa Nadal (Spain) beat 19-Tommy Robredo (Spain) 6-0 6-2 6-2 8-Richard Gasquet (France) beat 4-David Ferrer (Spain) 6-3 6-1 4-6 2-6 6-3 Women’s singles 2-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) beat Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) 6-2 6-3; Flavia Pennetta (Italy) beat 10-Roberta Vinci (Italy) 6-4 6-1 Women’s Doubles Sania Mirza/Jie Zheng bt 4-Su-Wei Hsieh/Shuai Peng 6-4, 7-6(5)
|
|
|
New York, September 5 The second-seeded Spaniard needed just an hour and 40 minutes to get the job done on Arthur Ashe Stadium against Robredo, who had upset Swiss master Roger Federer in the fourth round. However, he was no match for Nadal, receiving an ironic cheer when he finally won a game at 0-2 in the second set. Nadal will play Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the semi-finals on Saturday. Robredo won the first point with an unreturnable serve but that was about as good as it got for the 31-year-old, who was constantly on the back foot as Nadal dictated play with heavy forehands and only 15 unforced errors for the match. Azarenka in semis Meanwhile, Azarenka struck a blow for the younger generation by beating Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 6-2 6-3 to join a trio of 31-year-olds in the semifinals. The Belarusian, the second seed , will play unseeded Italian Flavia Pennetta. — Reuters
|
|
Sania-Zheng in semifinals
New York, September 5 Tenth seeds Sania and Jie upset Chinese Taipei-Chinese fourth seeds Su-Wei Hsieh and Shuai Peng 6-4, 7-6(5) in one hour and 50 fifty at the Louis Armstrong Stadium Wednesday to proceed to the last four. The 10th seeds won two break points to their opponents' one in the first set which helped them close the set in 45 minutes. In the one hour and five-minute long second set, both the pairs converted two break points pushing the match into the decider which was won by Sania and Jie. Though Sania and Jie committed more unforced errors than Hsieh and Peng, they had 12 more winners. They will take on Australian eighth seeds Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua in the semis Thursday. India's Leander Paes with Czech partner Radek Stepanek will also play Thursday in men's doubles action as they take on American top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan in the semifinal.
— Agencies |
|
Chance to revive sports policy, says ‘vindicated’ Aiyar New Delhi, September 5 Recalling his unceremonious exit from the Union Cabinet in 2008 in the midst of an ongoing debate around the sports policy he had drafted, Aiyar attributed his sacking to the powerful sports bodies in India. “The opposition of sports bodies to the idea of sports policy was such that 24 hours prior before the policy was to be presented to the Cabinet for discussions I was sacked. I was at the Hong Kong airport and was rushing back to attend the Cabinet meeting,” Aiyar told The Tribune in an exclusive interview on Thursday. The veteran Congress man said all sports bodies including the IOA “should be dumped in the Arabian Sea to clean up the system”. “These bodies are backed by political establishment. I paid a heavy political price in personal terms for taking them on. I feel vindicated today. I am happy these scoundrels stand exposed,” he said. Aiyar said the IOC's decision has offered an opportunity to the government to revive the sports policy. “My successor's first contribution to the ministry was to withdraw the sports policy and no substitute document has since been prepared. The present sports minister and his predecessor have prepared a draft bill but legislation without a policy is like putting the cart before the horse,” Aiyar said. He said all sports bodies must be covered by the RTI Act and must face criminal investigation for the corruption they breed. “I accept my argument would discriminately mean the BCCI would also be covered even though it is not hopelessly dependent on the Government for funding. Those dependent on Government money must be covered by stricter laws,” said former sports minister.
|
|
|
Gutta in trouble for ‘instigating’ players in IBL New Delhi, September 5 A controversy had erupted during the August 25 tie when Delhi smashers had threatened to pull out of the tie over the issue of a player replacement. Delhi Smashers were upset that the IBL governing council had allowed Banga Beats to replace its injured singles player, Hong Kong's Hu Yun with Denmark's Jan Jorgensen at the last minute. Beats then left out Jorgensen and played Arvind Bhat, who was already part of the team. S Muralidharan, chairman of BAI’s disciplinary committee, had said said that Gutta had stopped some players from playing that tie. At its Special General Body and the Executive Council meeting held in Mumbai on August 31, BAI asked its disciplinary committee to investigate the issue. Gutta has already been served a show cause notice. "BAI's disciplinary committee headed by S Muralitharan has been asked to investigate Jwala Gutta's conduct during the Indian Badminton League. She has been served a show-cause notice and have been asked to explain her conduct during the incident. She will have to respond to the notice within 14 days," a BAI spokesperson said. The IBL Governing Council has also been asked to appoint a retired High Court judge to investigate the incident involving the two sides. Saina Nehwal to skip Japan Open After guiding her side Hyderabad Hotshots to inaugural Indian Badminton League title, a 'tired' Saina Nehwal has decided to skip Japan Open Super Series tournament as she wants to take proper rest before the European circuit challenge. In Saina's absence, P V Sindhu will represent India as lone singles player in the meet while P Kashyap will spearhead the men's team. In all, an eight-member team has been selected for the event, starting September 17-22 in Tokyo. “I will not be able to play in Japan. I am tired after playing in the IBL,” Saina said.
|
|
|
Let Sachin play milestone Test at home: Ganguly Kolkata, September 5 “It would be the biggest thing if Tendulkar gets to play the 200th Test in Mumbai purely on emotional grounds. He has all his friends and family members there,” Ganguly said. “At this moment, it seems it would be impossible for anybody to break the record of playing 200th Tests. It would be fulfilling moment for him,” he said. “Hope we all would be there. It would be a treat to watch Sachin take guard for his 200th Test. This moment would not come again, Sachin should enjoy the moment fully,” said Ganguly who also hailed the BCCI's initiative to squeeze in the West Indies home series in view of Tendulkar's 200th Test. The former left-hander said he would not like to speculate about Tendulkar's retirement plans but added it would leave a vacuum in the Indian cricket. “We have seen many retirements, like Gundappa Viswanath, Sunil Gavaskar, and in recent past Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Players will come and go... Presently, it's an era of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja. “But we would never see a player like Tendulkar again. The void that Tendulkar would leave would be hard to fill,” Ganguly told a Bengali news channel today. Reminiscing Steve Waugh's retirement in Sydney, he said Tendulkar should plan his retirement properly and make a prior announcement so that he could be able to play freely. “We want to see him go with his bat held high, and we don't want to see a struggling Sachin. If Tendulkar retires by scoring a century, the critics would say he could have played a little more,” Ganguly added. — PTI
|
|
|
Juneja misses 200; Test ends in draw
Visakhapatnam, September 5 In reply to New Zealand A's first innings score of 437, Indians finished their first innings seven runs short at 430. In the second innings, the Kiwis finished at 176 for three in 51.2 overs as the umpires decided to call off the match after taking consent of the two skippers. In all 62.5 overs of play was held on the final day. The honours were shared as both the Test matches failed to yield any positive outcome for either of the two teams. The only interest in final day's play was whether young Juneja (193, 362 balls, 20x4, 1x6) would get to score his second first-class double hundred but seamer Mark Gillespie (4/80 from 29.3 overs) dismissed him caught by Corey Anderson. Resuming the day at 408 for seven, India added 22 more runs with Juneja scoring 15 off them. But Gillespie used his slower delivery to good effect as Dhawal Kulkarni (10) was caught and bowled. Juneja was the next man out, while Imtiaz Ahmed was also castled by him as he finished with four wickets in the match. With a result out of question, New Zealand A skipper Tom Latham (61, 100b, 7x4) put his head down to get some runs, which will help his confidence before the start of the List A series. After Neil Broom (0) was trapped leg before by Kulkarni, Latham in company of Carl Cachopa (76, 139 balls, 13x4) added 128 runs for the second wicket and the contest was as good as over. Left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhurv (2/45) removed the two set batsmen in successive overs but it was too late in the day.
— PTI |
|
SAFF meet: India lose to Nepal
Kathmandu, September 5 The six-time champions were clearly the inferior side in their last Group A match at a packed Dasarath Stadium and they were lucky to make it to last four stage after Pakistan beat Bangladesh 2-1. For Nepal, who were cheered by a vociferous home crowd, Anil Gurung and Jumanu Rai scored in the 70th and 81st minutes while Syed Rahim Nabi pulled one back for India in the stoppage time (92nd minute) with an impressive side volley. India and Pakistan ended on four points behind Group A toppers Nepal — who garnered seven points from two wins and one draw — but Wim Koevermans' men qualified for the semifinals as group runners-up having beaten Pakistan in the head-to-head encounter. A lucky India had beaten Pakistan 1-0 in opener thanks to an own goal before escaping with a 1-1 draw against Bangladesh.
— PTI |
|
Neighbours make all the noise
Chandigarh, September 5 There is no chance that even a trace of lint can unruffle the majesty of a sporting tradition that has come to be associated with Punjab. It has to be Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, or Punjabi University, Patiala. This year on the National Sports Day, it was both. The two recipients waited patiently for their turns to hold a piece of silverware that seems like eternally belonging to them. When their turns came, there was a bounce in their gait, a glint in the eye and swell of chest that marked the pride of the Punjabi community. They have done done it umpteen times, yet they never seem to be getting tired of it. The more they do it, the more it eggs them on. Where else would you see two vice-chancellors, cast in intellectual moulds, pulling out all stops to grab sports silverware? Where would you find two vice-chancellors of universities fighting with childlike doggedness and dragging each other to as far as the High Court? In Punjab, at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and at Punjabi University, Patiala. The two were made joint winners in 2009. But they protested vehemently, saying it was like swallowing their pride, and both ended up in the High Court! All for a trophy they have won innumerable times! But for them, it’s not just a trophy. It’s a triumph of their passion, their sporting culture, their never-say-die spirit. It’s often that the brows are raised and eyeballs confronted as the two institutions arm-wrestle in various events during the inter-varsity meets round the year. It is here that the elegance, pride of Malwa (Punjabi University, Patiala) is pitted against the brutish power and innovation of Majha-Doaba combine (Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar). Losing to any other opponent may be forgiveable but defeat to the next-door neighbour is unpardonable. Archery, cycling, athletics, wrestling, shooting and rowing are some of the disciplines where the bar is raised every time an athlete from any of the university performs. “Logon ko shauk hai khelne ka. There is a throbbing sporting culture in Punjab. Earlier, a majority of the national athletes used to be from Punjab. Times have changed now, yet, there is a genuine interest in sports even now,” sums up Ajitpal Singh, Hockey World Cup winning captain. Between the two there may be a bitter rivalry but when combined, (chances are both may find the idea an affront) their stranglehold over the annual inter-university championships is hegemonic. It’s cast in stone. Guru Nanak Dev University has won it record 22 times. Punjabi University has won it four times in a row (2006, '07,'08 and joint winners in '09). They are the winners this time too. Taken collectively, the trophy has not moved out of Punjab for the last seven years. Their contribution to the national pool of players too is rising year by year. "Punjabi has sent 15 players to represent India in different disciplines,” said sports director Raj Kumar Sharma. As many as 22 teams from the university have secured the first position in different disciplines during inter-university championships, while 26 teams finished second, and eight teams were in third spot, he adds. MAKA trophy was instituted in 1956-57 as a running trophy by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, in the name of first Union Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The trophy is awarded by the President each year to a university which has all round best performance in sports at inter-university, national and international competitions The Feud
The script begins like a typical revenge movie from Bollywood. Punjabi University was celebrating the win for 2010-11 when Court ordered a stay on the notification issued by the sports ministry. Consequently, the trophy was not awarded during the National Sports Day (2011) as the Sports Ministry could not arrive at a consensus. GND University, Amritsar alleged that Punjabi University had sent the entries after the last date. Nonetheless, the ministry issued a notification on February 13, 2012 and GNDU went ahead and filed a writ petition against the decision of Sports Ministry and AIU. Following this, the trophy was not awarded to any university. However, the court decision is pending till date. The same happened in 2011-12 and thus the award for the 2011-12 session was not given. The award for the session of 2005-06 is also pending in the court due to unresolved complications. GNDU sports director HS Randhawa cheekily says, “Though they had not filed any objections against the claims of stake-holders, they had asked the AIU authorities to collect photocopies of certificates to cross-check the claims.” Punjabi University 53,590 pts Kurukshetra University
33,715 pts Guru Nanak Dev University 31,955 pts Panjab University, Chandigarh 24,355 pts University of Mumbai
11,025 pts Top teams
Punjabi University: Archery, Cycling, Athletics, Weightlifting, Rowing, Kayaking. GND University: Archery, Cycling, Shooting, Hockey, Athletics Top Guns
Punjabi University: Harveen Srao (shooter, two times World University Games champion), Sikandar Mann (shooter), Rajwant Kaur, Sumanpreet (both handball players), Trisha Dev (archer); GND University: Rahul Sharma (cricket), Manpreet Singh (hockey), Pargat Singh (hockey), Khushbir Kaur (athlete), Amanpreet Singh (shooter) — Dr Jaspal Singh, Punjabi University VC
— Ajaib Singh Brar, GND University VC
|
|
Lahiri leads Omega Masters after an 8-under Round 1
Chandigarh, September 5 Lahiri, who is playing with a knee injury, made two eagles, on the par-five 14th and the par-four 18th hole. Starting at the tenth hole, he bogeyed the 13th, but an eagle and a birdie on the next two and yet another eagle on the 18th took his score to four-under at the turn. He then carded back-to-back birdies on the first and second holes, followed by two more on the sixth and ninth to finish the day at eight-under-par. “It’s nice to be back with a bang. It was a tough pill to swallow last year but I’ve learnt a lot from that. The weather was so much colder and it was a big adjustment for me. It was a harsh lesson but a valuable one,” said Lahiri, who led the same event after the first round last year too. Meanwhile, Jeev Milkha Singh and Gaganjeet Bhullar tied with similar scores of three-under-par after 18 holes. "I am happy with my round as I was able to put into practice a lot of things that I have been working on at the range. But the day belongs to Airban who carded a dream round today and it is a matter of great pride to lead the field on the European Tour," said Jeev. “It could have been better as I struck the ball pretty well but I just got a bit unlucky on the back-nine. I just kept it going and focused on the task ahead. I have to stay calm and positive for the next three days as that is key for me,” said Bhullar. Himmat Rai and Digvijay Singh finished two and five-over respectively. |
|
Vijayan holds spotlight in Durand Cup
New Delhi, September 5 At 44 years, though, he is well past his glorious playing days, Vijayan still showed flashes of brilliance during the 30-odd minutes he was on the field under a scorching noon-day sun in the second half for Kerala Police in a qualification match against Navy. Kerala Police lost 0-1 to bow out of the tournament, and Vijayan too made his last bow at the historic tournament, though he was far from done in. After his return to active playing for Kerala Police a year back (he is a Circle Inspector), Vijayan has been playing in various tournaments across the country. And now, he looks forward to playing in the Reliance-IMG IPL-type football league, not only for the money, but for playing alongside and against quality foreign players. He said he got to watch very little I-League matches as his home state had no team in it, and the format of the league was rather drab, but he was excited about the proposed money-flush football league, and would gladly accept if he gets an offer to play, or even coach. Vijayan has completed a B-Licence coaching course, and would now sit for the A-Licence course, as he has a deep desire to be associated with the game in some capacity or the other. Vijayan lamented at the recent trend of professional clubs downing shutters one after another, and he felt very deeply when Punjab’s very own JCT folded up a couple of years ago. “I don’t know the reason why JCT wound up the club. Perhaps, it was due to financial reasons, or perhaps due to logistical reasons. But I felt sad when I heard about the disbanding of the club as I had spent a memorable time with the club,” Vijayan told The Tribune. Vijayan said there were many people with deep pockets who wanted to own football clubs. But they had neither the expertise nor the knowledge to run a professionally-managed football club, and that was the reason many clubs folded up. Vijayan said during his time, he played the game not for money but for passion. But now that big money is coming into the game through the Reliance-IMG League, he’s ready to give it a try — for the sake of money. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
New Delhi, September 5
New York, September 5
We have spent huge sums on developing sports infrastructure, providing better facilities in the university and players are reciprocating by winning laurels.
Out of 38 years of its actual participation in the inter-university, we have been winning one or the other positions since 1971-72. No other university in the country could boast of such performance.
