S P O R T S

India to go for kill in Durban
Durban, December 25
After sharing the honours in a thrilling draw, India and South Africa will renew their exciting battle for supremacy in the series-deciding second and final Test which promises to be another epic encounter starting here tomorrow.

Zaheer Khan will hold the key against South Africa in the second Test in Durban. File photo

Jacques of all trades to quit Tests after Durban
Durban, December 25
South Africa's Jacques Kallis, the greatest all-rounder of his era, will retire from Test and first-class cricket after the Boxing Day match against India in Durban, the country's cricket board said on Wednesday. Kallis, cricket's fourth highest test run-getter, would be available, however, for selection in the limited-over formats, Cricket South Africa said in a statement.

2013 Review hockey
Indian girls stole the limelight
New Delhi, December 25
The launch of a much-hyped professional league on the lines of IPL, the rise and fall of colts, an overhaul of the coaching set-up and women overshadowing their male counterparts — 2013 was an eventful roller-coaster ride for Indian hockey.

Punjab conquer Delhi; stay in contention for quarterfinal stage
NEW DELHI, December 25
Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag couldn’t stand up and be counted when it mattered the most as Punjab recorded one of the most inspiring victories in recent times, beating Delhi by 98 runs in a Ranji Trophy Group A game to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive.

Haryana among six states banned by AFI
New Delhi, December 25
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has banned six states, including Delhi and Haryana, for fielding overaged athletes while slapping two year suspension on 14 other athletes for doping. The decision was taken during a two-day meeting of the Executive Committee of AFI on December 22nd and 23rd.

Passion runs high for Boxing Day Test
MELBOURNE, December 25
England captain Alastair Cook believes the fourth Ashes Test starting in Melbourne on Thursday is the perfect stage for his battered side to salvage some pride and work towards ending what has been a miserable series on a high. Cook's men arrived as favourites to retain the Ashes with a fourth successive series win over hosts Australia but have already relinquished the urn and were rocked further with the shock retirement of spearhead spinner Graeme Swann on Monday.

Alastair Cook and Jonny Bairstow at a nets session in Melbourne

Bindra shoots gold; Vijay settles for silver
New Delhi, December 25
Ace shooter Abhinav Bindra shot 208.9 to win gold in the 10 meter air rifle event while Vijay Kumar had to be content with silver in the centre fire event on the concluding day of the 57th National Shooting championship. Bindra, Beijing Olympics gold medallist, beat Army's Ashok Chavanke, who shot 204.3 to take silver while another Olympian Sanjeev Rajput of Navy shot 182.8 to claim bronze.

Most expensive Brazil WC stadium has leaking roof
SAO PAULO, December 25
The most expensive of the 12 stadiums built or revamped for the 2014 World Cup has a leaking roof less than eight months after it was finished, the stadium's operators said on Tuesday.

KM Rachna of Punjabi varsity breaks meet record
Patiala, December 25
KM Rachna of Punjabi University set a new meet record in hammer throw with an attempt of 53.86m, ensuring another gold for the host university in the 74th All India Inter-University Athletics Championship on Wednesday. The third day of the championship, at Punjabi University, witnessed another record tumble as Annu Rani of CCS University, Meerut, won gold in javelin throw with a record-breaking effort of 52.64m.

Punjab finish third in archery nationals
Patiala, December 25
In their best performance ever in the senior nationals, Punjab won a total of nine medals in the 34th Senior National Archery Championship that concluded at Tata Nagar, Jharkhand, today.

Male players deserve more recognition than women: Ibrahimovic
STOCKHOLM, December 25
Players in the men’s soccer team deserve to get more recognition than their female counterparts in Sweden and people should stop whipping up a gender storm about it, Zlatan Ibrahimovic said.

India to go for kill in Durban
SA, having played 39, won 13, lost 13, drawn 13, have never felt easy at Kingsmead

Jacques of all trades to quit Tests after Durban

Durban, December 25
South Africa's Jacques Kallis, the greatest all-rounder of his era, will retire from Test and first-class cricket after the Boxing Day match against India in Durban, the country's cricket board said on Wednesday.

Kallis, cricket's fourth highest test run-getter, would be available, however, for selection in the limited-over formats, Cricket South Africa said in a statement.

“It's been an honour and a privilege to have been part of the South African test team since making my debut 18 years ago," said the 38-year-old, who has amassed 13,174 runs and taken 292 wickets from 165 Tests. “I have enjoyed every moment out in the middle but I just feel that the time is right to hang up my test whites.

“It wasn't an easy decision to come to, especially with Australia around the corner and the success this team is enjoying but I feel that I have made my contribution in this format.” The broad-shouldered top-order batsman and medium-pace bowler has been a pillar for South African cricket since he made his debut as a 20-year-old against England in Durban.

His Test batting average of more than 55 and his knack of picking up crucial wickets make him undoubtedly one of the greatest all-rounders to have played the game.The right-handed batsman also has the second highest number of centuries (44) in tests behind Sachin Tendulkar

2015 Dream

Kallis, who has also made 11,574 runs in 325 one-day internationals, will give himself one last chance to win a World Cup for South Africa in 2015, when the tournament will be hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

“The last two years specifically have been a memorable journey with an exceptional group of cricketers,” Kallis said. “I am fortunate enough to have ended my Test career amongst a group of talented cricketers but more importantly, friends whom I will cherish for years to come.

“I don't see it as goodbye because I still have a lot of hunger to push South Africa to that World Cup in 2015 if I am fit and performing.”

Coach Russell Domingo said it will be difficult to find another player of Kallis' stature. “The impact Jacques has made has been immense, not just as a player but as a human being. I'm not sure we will ever see another player of that stature,” Domingo said. — Reuters

2013 Review hockey
Indian girls stole the limelight
The junior women team’s bronze in World Cup was the high point of the year

Punjab conquer Delhi; stay in contention for quarterfinal stage

NEW DELHI, December 25
Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag couldn’t stand up and be counted when it mattered the most as Punjab recorded one of the most inspiring victories in recent times, beating Delhi by 98 runs in a Ranji Trophy Group A game to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive.

Chasing a target of 327, Delhi were all out for 228 on the final day with Rajat Bhatia scoring a gutsy hundred on a difficult track.

Punjab will take a lot of positives from this game as despite being shot out for 74 in the first innings they came back to win the match.

Punjab now have 23 points from seven games and will be aiming for six points as they try to get a quarterfinal berth.

For Delhi, it’s almost the end of the road as they are placed fifth in the table with 19 points and even an outright win with bonus points against Karnataka won’t ensure knockout berth.

Delhi (60/3) began the day with Gambhir (30) poking at an away going delivery from Manpreet Gony to Gurkeerat Singh in the slip-cordon. Virender Sehwag (12) played a nice drive off Gony and then fended a short ball that sailed over slips for another four. But that was it. Trying to hit Jaskaran Singh over mid-on, Sehwag just managed to lob the balls towards mid-on for a simple catch.

With Gambhir and Sehwag out in the first session, Delhi were reduced to 82/5. Night-watchman Ashish Nehra (16 of 128 balls) showed a lot of character as he was involved in a 82-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Bhatia.

Bhatia, who hit his 14th First-Class hundred, faced 182 balls laced with 16 fours in the process.

Once off-spinner Gurkeerat Singh removed Nehra and wicketkeeper-batsman Rahul Yadav (0) off successive deliveries, victory was just a matter of time. Bhatia was the last man to be dismissed when he edged Gony’s delivery to wicketkeeper Gitansh Khera.

Opener Jiwanjot Singh, whose century was the game changer, said that it was satisfying to score a ton that helped Punjab in such a big victory.

“Our hopes of qualifying for the quarterfinals are alive after this win. This century is satisfying as the wicket was difficult to bat on and the opposition had quality bowlers. Also a lot of people said that opposition will sort me out in my second season. So it was a big boost to my confidence. Also words of encouragement from coach Bhupinder Singh Senior helped,” Jiwanjot told reporters at the end of the match. — PTI

Haryana among six states banned by AFI

New Delhi, December 25
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has banned six states, including Delhi and Haryana, for fielding overaged athletes while slapping two year suspension on 14 other athletes for doping. The decision was taken during a two-day meeting of the Executive Committee of AFI on December 22nd and 23rd.

“In order to curb the overage and doping menace the Executive Committee of Athletics Federation of India, which met here on 22nd and 23rd, have decided to enforce stringent measures on both erring athletes and their respective state-units,” AFI said in a release.

“As much as 44 athletes found over-aged during the year in various age-group meetings have been barred for two years while the six erring states, to which the above athletes belong, will be suspended for 1 year.

“The federation also noted 14 athletes found positive on doping from the beginning of this year and suspend them for a period of 2 years,” the release said. The six states, namely, Delhi, Haryana, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh will not be able to field their athletes for the next season.

But the athletes of these states can take part in National events under the banner of AFI.“Further it was also decided not to allow the six states to participate in any competitions for one year,” the AFI said. “However, the athletes may be allowed to participate under the banner of AFI if the President/ Secretary so desire.” — PTI

Passion runs high for Boxing Day Test

MELBOURNE, December 25
England captain Alastair Cook believes the fourth Ashes Test starting in Melbourne on Thursday is the perfect stage for his battered side to salvage some pride and work towards ending what has been a miserable series on a high.

Cook's men arrived as favourites to retain the Ashes with a fourth successive series win over hosts Australia but have already relinquished the urn and were rocked further with the shock retirement of spearhead spinner Graeme Swann on Monday. The England captain, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Wednesday, will be forced to reshuffle his bowling attack following Swann's departure but was keen to look for positives ahead of Thursday's match after a woeful tour to date.

“It's been an interesting week,” Cook said on Wednesday with his England side already 3-0 down in the five-test series after heavy defeats in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. “Losing the Ashes and with Swannie going as well, it has been a different week.

"When you lose games of cricket, naturally your confidence does slip."

Monty Panesar is expected to come in for Swann while pace bowlers Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad are battling against a loss of form and a foot injury respectively.

Wicketkeeper Matt Prior could also miss out due to a poor run of form with the bat and recent problems with the gloves but Cook insists that whoever lines up for England in Melbourne will be united in their quest for redemption in the series.

“We're desperate to turn it around and you don't often get the chance to play a Boxing Day Test match at the MCG, which reportedly is going to be pretty much sold out for the first day," the left-handed opener added. “That's an incredible opportunity we have as players. We know we're up against it in terms of the last three results.

“But you've got to keep believing in yourself.”

Cook praised Swann's contribution to the England side over the past five years and was keen to emphasise the spinner's comments on Tuesday accusing some international players of "disappearing up their own backsides" were not aimed at any of the current touring squad. “A phone call to Swannie reassured me very quickly that it wasn't at all about any of the England players,” Cook added. — Reuters

Bindra shoots gold; Vijay settles for silver

New Delhi, December 25
Ace shooter Abhinav Bindra shot 208.9 to win gold in the 10 meter air rifle event while Vijay Kumar had to be content with silver in the centre fire event on the concluding day of the 57th National Shooting championship. Bindra, Beijing Olympics gold medallist, beat Army's Ashok Chavanke, who shot 204.3 to take silver while another Olympian Sanjeev Rajput of Navy shot 182.8 to claim bronze.

Bindra was third in the qualification but he fought back to win the title in the finals. Gagan Narang could not make it to finals of 10m Air Rifle.

In the center fire pistol event, gold went to Army's Pemba Tamang, who shot 583, four more than his teammate and London Olympics silver medallist Vijay. There was a tie for bronze medal between Commonwealth games medallists Harpreet Singh and Omkar Singh, with both the Navy shooters on an equal score of 578.

Harpreet then claimed bronze with 50/50 against Omkar's score of 46/50 in the tie-shot.

Ravi Kumar of the Air Force bagged the “Champion of the Champions” title in Air Rifle event by defeating Olympian Sanjeev Rajput of Navy.

Punjab shooter Ekambir singh Mandi scored 616.8 for a Gold in 10m Rifle men's Junior event while Akhil Sheoran of UP had to be satisfied with silver medal on equal score. Bronze medal went to Punjab's shooter Harmanvir S. Mansahia with 614.3 points. Pratik C Borse of Maharashtra bagged gold with 612.6 in the Youth category of 10m Air Rifle. — PTI

Most expensive Brazil WC stadium has leaking roof

SAO PAULO, December 25
The most expensive of the 12 stadiums built or revamped for the 2014 World Cup has a leaking roof less than eight months after it was finished, the stadium's operators said on Tuesday.

Secopa, the local government agency that runs the Mane Garrincha National Stadium in Brasilia, will ask the company that rebuilt it to explain why parts of the roof let in rain during last weekend's women's match between Brazil and Chile.

Local media reported that almost the entire lower ring of the stands was soaked although Secopa played down the problem, saying the leaks were not serious and would not affect any of the matches being played there during next year's World Cup. "Because it is a new, grandiose and complex stadium, some small points are still being corrected and tested but there is nothing that compromises the running of the stadium or the holding of events there," Secopa said.

The stadium comes with a five-year guarantee and any repair work will be paid for by the builders, Secopa added.

The national stadium in the capital Brasilia cost more than 1.2 billion real (£310.92 million). It will stage six World Cup matches including a quarterfinal and the third-place playoff. The venue was inaugurated in May and hosted the opening match of the Confederations Cup in June.

At least three of the six World Cup stadiums still to be finished before the tournament kicks off in June will be handed over behind schedule. A total of five people have died while working on the 12 venues, including one man in Brasilia. — Reuters

KM Rachna of Punjabi varsity breaks meet record
Tribune News Service

Patiala, December 25
KM Rachna of Punjabi University set a new meet record in hammer throw with an attempt of 53.86m, ensuring another gold for the host university in the 74th All India Inter-University Athletics Championship on Wednesday. The third day of the championship, at Punjabi University, witnessed another record tumble as Annu Rani of CCS University, Meerut, won gold in javelin throw with a record-breaking effort of 52.64m.

It was another dominant show by the host contingent as it won five medals (four gold and one silver) today, gaining valuable ground in their quest to win the overall trophy.

In the men’s shot put, Tejinder Pal Singh Toor and Navtejdeep Singh of Punjabi University won gold and silver respectively, while Gagandeep Singh of Panjab University, Chandigarh, won bronze.

Gurlal Singh of Punjabi University was the fastest man, winning the 100m race, ahead of Anuroop of MGU, Kottayam, and Husandeep Singh of Panjab University.

Manjot Singh got the host team its fourth gold of the day, winning the 800m race. Lalit Mathur of Delhi University and Lijo Mani of University of Calicut won silver and bronze respectively.

Punjab finish third in archery nationals
Tribune News Service

Patiala, December 25
In their best performance ever in the senior nationals, Punjab won a total of nine medals in the 34th Senior National Archery Championship that concluded at Tata Nagar, Jharkhand, today.

The team won one gold, three silver and five bronze medals and finished overall third behind Jharkhand and Services Sports Control Board. Punjab coaches Jiwanjot Singh and Surinder Singh informed that the men’s compound team of Kanwalpreet Singh, Sukhbir Singh, Jaspreet Singh and Amanjeet Singh won gold.

The recurve women’s team — Madhu, Preeti , Priyanka and Komal — won the silver medal. Ramandeep Kaur and Kanwalpreet Singh won a silver medal each in the individual categories in the compound Olympic rounds. Ramandeep finished overall third in the compound ranking round.

The compound mix team of Kanwalpreet and Ramandeep, recurve mix team of Madhu and Lovejot Singh, compound women team of Raman, Trisha, Parveena and Gaganjot won bronze medals in their respective rounds. Parveena and Ramandeep won individual bronze medals in individual compound Olympic rounds.

Deepika retains title

Top ranked recurve archer Deepika Kumari (Jharkhand) retained the individual title, while in the men's section Atanau Das (PSPB) emerged winner in the individual Olympic round. Jhanu Hansdah (Jharkhand) and Rajat Chouhan became women and men national champions in the compound section of the championship.

Male players deserve more recognition than women: Ibrahimovic

STOCKHOLM, December 25
Players in the men’s soccer team deserve to get more recognition than their female counterparts in Sweden and people should stop whipping up a gender storm about it, Zlatan Ibrahimovic said.

The Sweden captain spoke out after his country’s FA was slammed for presenting midfielder Anders Svensson with a new Volvo for breaking Thomas Ravelli’s record of 143 international caps. However, when women’s midfielder Therese Sjogran didn’t get similar recognition at the same soccer gala despite earning a record 187 caps, the move was widely criticised.

“With all respect for what the ladies have done, and they’ve done it fantastically well, you can’t compare men’s and women’s football. Give it up, it’s not even funny,” the Paris Saint Germain striker said. “When I come out in Europe they compare me to Messi and Ronaldo. When I come home they compare me to a female player.”

“With all respect for the ladies, they should be rewarded in relation to what they generate (financially). I was asked (by Swedish media) in the summer who was the better player, me or (Sweden striker) Lotta Schelin. You’re joking with me, right? When I’ve broken all these records, who shall I compare it to; to whoever has the record, or the ladies?” — Reuters