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Praful Patel to run for IHF chief’s post
Anand settles for draw again
Cash crunch puts Winter Games body in a bind
Money no criterion for coach: Mahendra
Prince, Kemp guide SA to win
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Shoaib rejects Bhatt’s offer
China lift Sudirman Cup
Arjun Singh finishes 8th at Macau Open
Confusion over shifting of SAI centre
Sania fails to qualify
Federer retains Hamburg title
Mauresmo lifts Rome crown
11 make it to main draw
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Praful Patel to run for IHF chief’s post
New Delhi, May 15 “The Minister has agreed to contest the May 23 elections for President’s post after a lot of persuation by us,” IHF sources said today. “The IHF office-bearers who have been controlling the game in the country for the last 12 years now are to be blamed for the financial mess and the present slide in performance of the team,” they said. “During these years, they have neither shown accountability for their financial bunglings, nor submitted detailed accounts for the present liability of over Rs two crore.” The sources said all their efforts to streamline the functioning of the Federation went in vain and claimed that Praful Patel would put back the national game in a proper footing to realise the past glorious days. “Patel will be nominated on the floor of the elections in Kolkata by Indian Airlines, which is a full member with voting rights in the IHF,” they said, adding. “We are confident of Patel, a high-profile man and a lover of sport, especially hockey, winning the elections.” The 48-year-old Patel is the president of the Western India Football Association, vice-president of the All-India Football Federation and member of the Cricket Club of India and of the National Sports Club of India. The IHF sources claimed, “There is no technical hitch in Patel being nominated by “Indian Airlines” and hoped that he would be supported by incumbent K.P.S. Gill, who had repeatedly announced that he would step down from his post upon completion of this term.” Gill, in a sudden and surprise move, had called for early elections to the post of president and other office-bearers in Kolkata on May 23. The term of the present office-beaers of the IHF expires only in February 2006. Several office-bearers were agitated that even the executive commitee members were not taken into confidence by Gill before deciding in favour of early elections. “It was wrong on the part of Gill to have called for an early elections without sanction of the executive. We were surprised to receive a circular to this effect,” they said. “We are not individually against Gill and the secretary, K.Jothikumaran, but have been demanding transparency in their functioning. Like handling of finance without the knowledge of the treasurer and the executive committee, they have kept all 33 affiliated members in the dark in other matters, including team selections for international events and appointment of coaches,” they added.
—PTI |
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Anand settles for draw again
Sofia, May 15 In a real thriller on another board, Briton Michael Adams defeated Russian Vladimir Kramnik to jump into sole lead with two points out of a possible three while the other game of this category-20 double round-robin tournament between Hungarian Judit Polgar and local star Veselin Topalov also ended in a draw. As things stood now, Anand, Polgar, Kramnik and Topalov were right behind the leader on 1.5 points, having drawn all three games they had played while Ponomariov was a not-so-distant last with one point in his bag. Interestingly enough, the rules that forbid draw offers in this tournament had not quite had any desirable effect as so far out of nine only two games had ended decisively. The Petroff defence was steadily and surely getting into the repertoire of every top player of the world these days and it came as no surprise when Ponomariov employed it with his black pieces against Anand. Going for a topical variation, Anand apparently had some advantage after a pawn sacrifice in the resulting middle game, but Ponomariov kept himself on guard to find the correct resources and steered the game to a draw with repetition of moves. “Well it is modern classical chess, people play tough openings and than check it on the computers. I understood that I had some advantage with my central pawns, but did not know how to maintain it that way for long. At first I thought I was better and the danger came when Ponomariov expanded on the king side, I think that the draw was a just result,” Anand said after the game. Kramnik was the big loser of the day. The Russian had often been ridiculed for his dry style of chess, but herein he was the only one involved in both decisive games so far — a victory that came easy against Ponomariov in round one and a loss yesterday that was disastrous. — PTI |
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Cash crunch puts Winter Games body in a bind
New Delhi, May 15 But despite the cash crunch, the WGFI has been doing its best to keep the sportspersons well-tuned and in good shape so that they are able to perform well in major international competitions. Due to the low-profile image of winter sports in the country, no corporate sector has come forward to bail the WGFI out, except Ratan Tata, who has given an initial donation of Rs 5 lakh to help the WGFI mount its action plan. The WGFI was founded in 1984, and India took part in their first competition at the 1986 Asian Winter Games, with the Indian participants finishing fourth, fifth and sixth. In 1988, one girl (Shailaja) and two boys (Gul Mustafa and Hav Rai) were fielded in the Winter Olympic Games at Calgiri. In 1992, two athletes, Chunni Lal and Nanak Chand,participated in the Val Thorens (France) games. India could not field a team in the 1996 Lilehammer Olympics, which was reported to the Indian Government by the country’s Ambassador to Norway as a loss of face, as he was very much upset that such a vast country like India could not field a few athletes for the winter, games. In the 1998 Nagano and the 2002 Salt Lake City games, India fielded just one athlete — Siva Keshwan — who finished 17th. The WGFI was very upset when the Sports Ministry refused to pay for the participation of the Indian team for the Asian Winter Games in 2002, despite the fact that the Olympic torch for all Asian Games starts from Delhi. Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Suresh Kalmadi and Secretary General Randhir Singh came to the rescue of the WGFI by sponsoring a few athletes, though the IOA could not clear the entire squad due to its own resource crunch. Some athletes and officials paid their own expenses to participate in the Asian Winter Games, which created a very wrong precedent. But the WGFI, without losing heart, kept on trying to put the federation on a firm footing, and achieved much success. During the 2003 Asian Winter Games at Aamori (Japan), WGFI Secretary R.K. Gupta had a meeting with the Secretary of the Japanese Ski Federation at Hakuba and finalised a two-year training programme, under which the Happo-One-Ski School at Nagano (Japan) would give free coaches and use of the lifts, and Indian skiers would pay for airfare, board and lodging. In addition, $ 500 were required to take part in every race, which was paid for by the WGFI. Out of the four athletes who participated in the Happo training programme, Hiralal, a young athlete from Manali, has qualified for the 2006 Winter Games. Hira Lal was not the only beneficiary of Japan’s help to Indian skiers. Neha Ahuja, another Indian who has qualified for the Alpine ski event of the Winter Olympics, has been trained by Sony Corporation, which had also finacially supported the Indian skiers in 1997. In cross-country skiing, Gupta Bahadur Gurung from the Army, who had been adjudged as the best athlete in the National Winter Games held at Auli in 2002, was refused to be treated as an ‘Indian’ by the organising committee of the Aomori Winter Asian Games as his passport had a Napalese address, though he serves in the Indian Army. But in 2005, the WGFI, with the help of a Norwegian coach,held international ski races in Gulmarg, in which Gupta Bahadur Gurung cantered away with a bronze medal. He was later sent to Turkey to take part in International cross-country races in which he stood ninth out of 24 racers to qualify for the 2006 Winter Olympics. The WGFI has spent a large sum to help the qualification of the four Indian athletes. Unfortunately, games like skiing, ice skating, ice hockey and luge do not figure in the list of games approved by the Sports Ministry, which can give advantage to the national champions by gaining extra points for getting admission to colleges as well as securing jobs. WGFI Secretary R.K. Gupta said the government had not given any reason for excluding winter games from the priority list. He said it was an irony that there was no infrastructure for winter sports in the country, and sportspersons had to be sent abroad, at considerable cost,for training, despite the fact that winter games had been approved by the IOA and the Sports Ministry. Gupta said winter games in India could develop much faster if the country possessed the right infrastructure. Though crores had been spent in putting up gandolas and cable cars, no planning had been done to create proper racing ski tracks. The WGFI has done its bit by getting experts from abroad to suggest the line of tracks. But the state governments (notably Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal) have yet to implement the same even after a four years. And whatever infrastructure has been created for winter games is being used for “summer tourism”. The four athletes who have qualified for the 2006 Winter Olympics are Hira Lal and Neha Ahuja (Alpine ski), Gupta Bahadur Gurung (cross-country ski) and Siva Keshwan (luge). |
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Money no criterion for coach: Mahendra
New Delhi, May 15 Referring to reports that the BCCI might have to dole out huge fees to rope in someone like Greg Chappell, the former Australian captain with vast experience among the four shortlisted by the BCCI, Mahendra told BBC in an interview that “money will not stop us from making the best choice”.
— PTI |
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Prince, Kemp guide SA to win
Port of Spain, May 15 Chasing 232 to win from 50 overs, South Africa reached their target in the 47th over, when Prince swung a delivery from Corey Collymore over the top and into the mid-wicket boundary for the last of his six fours to give the visitors a 4-0 lead in the best-of-five series yesterday. Prince, who had four catches in the West Indies’ innings, hit the top score of an undefeated 89 from 117 balls to earn the man of the match award, and Kemp struck five fours and two sixes in 65 from 75 balls. Scoreboard West Indies Gayle c Prince b Ntini 3 Marshall c Prince b Ntini 3 Sarwan c Hall b Kallis 48 Lara c Prince b Nel 22 Chanderpaul not out 85 Bravo c Boucher b Ntini 28 Smith b Hall 13 Browne c Boucher Bradshaw c Prince Edwards not out 0 Extras (lb-2, w-3, nb-7) 12 Total
(8 wkts) 231 Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-16, 3-61, 4-111, 5-160, 6-180, 7-212, 8-230. Bowling:
Pollock 7-0-37-1, Ntini 8-1-34-3, Nel 10-2-42-1, Langeveldt 8-0-42-2, Hall 9-0-42-1, Kallis 8-0-32-1. South Africa De Villiers c Gayle b Bradshaw 17 Dippenaar c Marshall Kallis c Gayle Prince not out 89 Kemp c Sarwan b Gayle 65 Boucher not out 10 Extras
(lb-1, w-14, nb-2) 17 Total (4 wkts) 232 Fall of wickets:
1-27, 2-36, 3-61, 4-193. Bowling: Edwards 10-0-51-0, Bradshaw 8-0-43-2, Collymore 8.5-1-30-1, Bravo 8-0-32-0, Smith 7-0-44-0, Gayle 5-0-31-1.
— AFP |
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Shoaib rejects Bhatt’s offer
Islamabad, May 15 “I love cricket and want to concentrate on it. I have absolutely no intention of featuring in films,” he was quoted by local daily ‘The News’ as saying. “It (report of him acting in a film) is absolutely rubbish. I have nothing to do with films. I want to fully concentrate on my cricket, which is my bread and butter,” he said. Akhtar, discarded for Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies reportedly on the basis of his fitness, said all cricketers got offers to act in films and he had been receiving such offers for the last six years. “For the last six years, I have been getting such offers, and so do players like Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik,” he said. “I do not want any distractions as I am at the peak of my cricketing career,” he said. Akhtar said players of yesteryears, Imran Khan and Wasim Akram, too got film offers. “The offers or someone talking about it does not mean that the players are serious about featuring in movies,” he said. Shoaib, however, admitted to having met Bhatt, and said most in the Indian film industry were his fans. “They are all my fans as a majority of the Indian film industry people are. My fans wants to see me as a cricket star, not a film star,” he said. — PTI |
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China lift Sudirman Cup
Beijing, May 15 Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir kindled Indonesian hopes of an upset over the heavily favoured hosts by taking the first game in their key mixed doubles with Gao Ling and Zhang Jun. But China turned the tide and Gao’s net prowess and Zhang’s baseline firepower enabled them to edge clear for a 12-15, 15-5. 15-8 victory. Chinese top singles player Lin Dan faced his stiffest challenge of the tournament against Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat and had to come from behind in both games to win their battle 17-15, 15-9. Zhang Ning, an Athens gold medallist and the world’s number two women’s player, gave China their fifth Sudirman title by overwhelming Fransisca Hari 11-1, 11-7 for a 3-0 victory, that sent the crowd in the Capital Stadium into flag-waving delirium. The next Sudirman Cup would be held in 2007 in Glasgow, Scotland. — Reuters |
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Arjun Singh finishes 8th at Macau Open
Macau, May 15 Arjun carded a four-under 67 on the final day to finish with a total of eight-under 278, as the 42-year-old Wang Ter-chang of Chinese Taipei ended a six-year winless streak emerging victorious by just one stroke over the Australian duo of Jarrod Lyle and Marcus Both, who made a fine charge with 67 and 66, respectively. Wang turned in a card of three-under-par 68 for a total of 14-under-par 270 on a wind-swept day at the Macau Golf and Country Club. Last year’s champion Jason Knutzon took a share of the fourth place with compatriot Edward Loar and Australian Terry Pilkadaris on 274 while two-time champion Zhang Lian-wei of China reserved his best for the last with the day’s best round of six-under 65 that saw him shoot to the eighth place. Arjun’s fine top-10 finish apart, the steady Amandeep Johl climbed to tied 20th with a final round of 70, which meant he was the only Indian to shoot par or under on all four days. Harmeet Kahlon slipped on the final day with a horrendous back nine of five-over 41 that saw him bring in a 73 and finish at five-under 283 and tie for 26th, the same as Rahil Gangjee. Gurbaaz Mann, Uttam Mundy and Sandy Lehal all shot par rounds of 71 each, as they ended tied 31st, tied 48th and tied 55th. Arjun, who missed an entire season back in 2000 due to back injury, had his last top-10 finish — a fourth place in Mecuries Masters — in 2003. The Indian had four birdies and a bogey on the front nine and then on the return journey, he had two more birdies and one bogey for his 67. Johl had five birdies but also four bogeys for which he ended with a 70, which could have been far better on any other day. Like Kahlon, Gangjee was done in by a poor back nine, where he went for two-over 38 after a great three-under 32 on the front nine. Still it was one of Gangjee’s better finishes this season.
—PTI |
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Confusion over shifting of SAI centre
Chandigarh, May 15 Since then, a fresh proposal and representations had been made by employees based in Chandigarh and coaches posted in the region. The SAI has its corporate office at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi. The eastern centre is in Kolkata, the north-eastern is in Guwahati, the western centre is in Gandhinagar and the southern centre is in Bangalore. After the Asian Games in 1982, the National Institute of Sports was taken over by the SAI and its northern regional office named Netaji Subhas Northern Centre. About two decades back, it had been shifted to Chandigarh. Since then, it continued to be at the mercy of the UT Administration, which allotted it a few rooms at Sports Complex, Sector 42. It controls posting of coaches, holding of national camps, running of sports training centres, centres of excellence and NSTC centres and liaison with sports departments in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier, the local office had a post of Regional Director (In charge), which was later elevated to Regional Director. One of the coaches said the fault was of the UT Administration, which had never considered allotting land to the SAI, as a result of which the SAI corporate office had to think of finding an alternative site for the northern region office. The various Directors posted in Chandigarh had been trying to convince the Punjab Government, the UT Administration and the Haryana Government to allot them land. Land had once been nearly finalised in Sector 17, Panchkula. The PUDA sports complex opposite the PCA Stadium, Mohali, had also been considered. During the National Games in Punjab in 2001, SAI officials had requested the Punjab Government to give the Academy of Martial Arts, Anandpur Sahib, on lease. It had been proposed that recurring expenses would be borne by the SAI. An announcement to this effect had been made when the foundation stone of the sports complex, Sector 3, Panchkula, was laid a few years back. Sources said the SAI corporate office was ready to go ahead with the shifting to Sonepat district and the formal date for inauguration by the Chief Minister of Haryana was being considered. The Punjab Government had also agreed to hand over the Anandpur Sahib academy. The employees had sent a representation to the Union Sports Minister, Mr Sunil Dutt, for not shifting the local office. |
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New Delhi: Sania Mirza had a not-so-impressive return to the tennis court after an injury layoff as she failed to qualify for the main draw of the $ 170,000 Strasbourg Open in France on Sunday. Sania won her first qualification match against Svenja Weidemann of Germany before losing in the next round to Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine in straight sets in the tournament, which is the last before the French Open. The Indian made short work of her German opponent 6-1 6-1 before being subdued by Vakulenko 6-3, 6-3 on the clay courts at the Sport Center of Hautepierre in Strasbourg, according to information received here. Sania played both her matches on Sunday since no play was possible on Saturday due to heavy rain. — PTI
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Federer retains Hamburg title
Hamburg, May 15 The top seed was never at his best but Gasquet, ranked 56, failed to convert his break points when they came as Federer secured his 19th consecutive victory in an ATP final. The win, wrapped up 7-4 in the third-set tiebreak, completed a highly satisfactory warm-up for Federer a week before he bids to win the French Open for the first time.
— Reuters |
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Mauresmo lifts Rome crown
Rome, May 15 Mauresmo won 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in just under two hours at a packed Foro Italico and once again established her credentials as one of the favourites for the French Open title, starting in Paris in a week’s time.
— AFP |
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11 make it to main draw
Amritsar, May 15 Results: boys (U-18): Sushant Arora (Pb) bt Tanveer Sandhu (Chd) 6-2, 6-3; Akshat Joshi (Chd) bt Dody Sridhar (Delhi) 6-2, 6-4; Gursimran Brar (Chd) bt Amarinder Singh Mann (Chd) 6-3, 7-5; Harmeet Singh (Delhi) bt Saurab Sharma (Pjb) 5-7, 7-5, 6-3; Arvinder Pal (Chd) bt Rahul Singroli (MP) 2-6, 6-2, 6-0; Gaurav Sharma (Pb) bt Inderjot Singh (Pb) 6-1, 6-3; Rakesh Upadhyaya (UP) bt Martandya Kaushik (Hry) 6-2, 6-7 (3), 7-6(3) and Gauravinder Toor (Chd) bt Baljinder Singh (Pb) 6-3, 6-2; boys (u-14): Pranshu Bhartwal (UP) bt A. Verma (UP) 6-3, 6-1; Gagandeep Singh (Pb) bt Jaivardhan Gupta (Chd) 6-4, 6-2 and Amarinder S. Mann (Chd) bt Rahul Pandey (UP) 6-2, 5-7, 6-2. — OSR |
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Ramu wins marathon
India's K.C.Ramu, winner in men's category,
congratulates women's champion Kone Alemu (Ethopia) during the prize distribution
function in Bangalore on Sunday. Some 140 runners from different countries
participated in the 42-km marathon. — PTI photo |
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Ashwell Prince and Justin Kemp, helped by a comedy of fielding errors from their opponents, piloted South Africa to a six-wicket victory in the fourth one-day international against West Indies.
In video
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Bangalore, May 15
