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National Games
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17 Indian athletes in Asian squad
ODI Venues
Badal seeks Rs 136 cr to revive sports infrastructure
Bayliss named Lanka coach
Gawli ‘costliest’ Indian footballer
Bhavik rows into history
Sudirman Cup
Paes-Damm enter semis
Skeet shooters disappoint
Gayle to lead in ODIs
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National Games
New Delhi, June 15 Though the names of the offenders had started to trickle in soon after the games in Guwahati in February, the IOA, which claims to be serious about “cleaning” Indian sports, stayed silent for a long time. The list has several prominent names including two current gold medallists at the National Games. The IOA has forwarded the matter to the respective sports federations for imposing sanctions. World women’s boxing champion Jenny Lalremliani and best lifter of the Commonwealth Championship (2004) Vicky Batta are among the names on the list. Lalremliani, crowned world women’s boxing champion in Delhi in November, 2006, won the gold medal for Mizoram in the 63 kg category in Guwahati by defeating Delhi’s Pinki in the final. However, she tested positive for furosemide, a diuretic, and the medal will now be forfeited. She has already been banned for two years by the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation. Batta has represented India at several international meets and won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games last year. He was also adjudged the best lifter at the Commonwealth Championships in Malta in 2004. He was fined $5,000 for skipping out-of-competition tests when officials of the World Ant-Doping Agency came calling in Bangalore in 2005. Another prominent offender was 400m gold medallist Kerala’s Jasmin Joseph, who also claimed top honours at the All India Inter-University Athletics Championships held in Bangalore in January. Taranjit Singh won gold for Assam in the +91 kg category in boxing but now faces forfeiture of his yellow metal. Javelin thrower Gajendra Kumar was the winner in the 2004 and 2006 editions of the open nationals and was second at the Guwahati games before he was disqualified for using mephentermine. The others who have been found guilty are national-level wrestlers Amol Buchade and Monika Narwal and kabaddi player Jasvir Singh. The Medical and Doping Commission of the National Games was headed by Dr Manmohan Singh. A total of 257 samples were sent to the WADA-accredited National Doping Control Centre in Bangkok for analysis. All medals, points and prizes won by these competitors will be forfeited and their results at the Guwahati National Games will be struck off the records, an IOA press note said. — PTI
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Bangalore, June 15 “I think he’s down with flu,” said Yuvraj Singh at a media conference. The media was kept in the dark about the reasons for Tendulkar’s absence in the morning practice. The liaison officer, Ramesh Rao, maintained that the master batsman would arrive in the afternoon, though he did not turn up at all. The Indian team is to depart on a tour of Ireland and England from Mumbai on June 19. Meanwhile, the day-long session included match-play with pairs batting together for eight overs each after being set a target of 44. Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan had his first stint with the ball after joining the camp, albeit for a brief while, though he did not take part in match-play held later. He also did some lengthy limbering exercises before retreating to the hotel even when his team-mates were sweating it out inside the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Zaheer did not bowl on the first two days of the ongoing camp, after sustaining a groin injury that forced him to miss the third Afro-Asia Cup clash held in Chennai on June 10. The MRI scan taken later had come out clear. — PTI
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Windies player held on rape charge
London, June 15 Guyanese allrounder Deonarine, who is also the vice-captain of the West Indies A team, was arrested in the early hours yesterday, after the complaint from the girl. The alleged rape is said to have happened in Millom in north-western England as reported by The Sun. The 23-year-old, who is in England playing as the resident professional for the Millom Cricket Club, is on police bail. Deonarine is a left-handed batsman who bowls right-arm off-break. He came into the West Indies squad after contract disputes saw seven players left out of the Test series against South Africa in March, 2005. He has played four Tests and as many ODIs. Deonarine’s claim to fame came on August 13 last year at the Stanford Twenty20 final between Guyana and Trinidad. He hit the winning six with two bowls remaining and was rewarded with the player-of-the-match award, and a hefty cheque for $25,000. — UNI
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Botham, not Becks, to be knighted London, June 15 Beckham’s omission came amid speculation that England’s most salable footballer would be knighted, a report in Daily Mail said today. He had been reportedly favoured for the knighthood following his key role in London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics. To knight him would have been unprecedented since sportspersons are usually given the honour only after their playing days. The 51-year-old Botham was awarded an OBE in 1992. The former captain was one of the greatest all-rounders of his time with 5,200 runs and 383 wickets in 102 Tests. But controversies off the field, particularly after his playing days, seemed to have put him out of favour. The charismatic “Beefy” has turned it around, though. If his expert opinions as television commentator and newspaper columnist are respected by fans and players alike, his fund-raising walks for cancer patients have endeared him to the British public. The honours are to be presented tomorrow. — PTI
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17 Indian athletes in Asian squad
New Delhi, June 15 The list includes names such as Anju Bobby George, Krishna Punia, Pinki Pramanik and Navpreet Singh. According to the Olympic Council of Asia norms, performance at the 2006 Doha Asian Games was the criterion for selection with the first four finishers in a given discipline booking their spots for Algeria. As the dates for the Games are coinciding with those of the Asian Athletics Championships that are to be held at a still undecided venue, the latter competition will be held either just before or after the Afro-Asian Games, an Athletics Federation of India official told PTI. Selected Indian athletes: Men: Navpreet Singh (shot put), Renjith Maheswary (triple jump), Hari Shankar Roy (high jump), Aboo Backer (4x400m), Joseph Abraham (4x400m), Bhupinder Singh (4x400m) and K M Binu (4x400m); Women: Sinimol Paulose (1500m), Manjeet Kaur (400m, 4x400m), Pinki Pramanik (400m, 4x400m), O.P. Jaisha (5000m), Krishna Punia (discus throw), Anju Bobby George (long jump), Soma Biswas (heptathlon), J.J. Shobha (heptathlon), Satti Geetha (4x400m) and Chitra Soman (4x400m).
— PTI
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ODI Venues
Chandigarh, June 15 While HCA officials wanted to host the match, to be held on November 6, at the Sector 16 stadium in Chandigarh, but Faridabad is the proposed venue in the BCCI schedule. The second match will be held at Mohali on November 9. Objecting to the selection of Faridabad as the venue, HCA general secretary Ranbir Singh Mahindra alleged that the BCCI officials, who had a stake in the PCA too, played the major role in selecting this venue. Talking on phone to this correspondent, Mahendra alleged, “We want to hold the match in Chandigarh. I also took up this point at the meeting of the BCCI working committee, but PCA president I.S. Bindra raised objection on it.” The main reason of the objection is that the Chandigarh stadium has not been on the venue list of the International Cricket Council (ICC) while the second reason is that it was not good to hold two matches in the neighbouring cities in a gap of three days. The third objection he moved up was that Haryana should host the match in the state as conducting match in Chandigarh does not suit the PCA, added Mahendra. Mahendra alleged that the PCA officials do not want that the HCA should hold match in Chandigarh. “There was no need of approval of the ground by the ICC team as it had hosted number of international matches in 1980s and 90s. Even last year, two practice matches between international teams during ICC Champions Trophy were held here. That time, the administration spent crores of rupees to upgrade the stadium conforming to international standards,” said Mahendra. Meanwhile, terming all allegations of Mahendra against PCA officials vague, PCA’s honorary secretary M.P. Pandove said they have no objection if the HCA wants to hold the match in Chandigarh. “As Chandigarh stadium is not on the ICC approved venue list, that is the only reason behind this row.” “We will be very happy if the HCA gets the nod to hold the match in the city. We are even ready in staggering the schedule as per their convenience,” said Pandove, who is also BCCI joint secretary.
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Badal seeks Rs 136 cr to revive
Chandigarh, June 15 The Chief Minister today met Union Sports and Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar in New Delhi and submitted a memorandum in this regard. Making an appeal to revive sports culture to utilise the energies of the youth and to wean them away from drug addiction, the Chief Minister said it was imperative to construct sports stadium in every village to encourage rural youth to participate in various traditional sports. He said Punjab was proposing to upgrade state school of sports to Punjab institute of sports as a centre of excellence and a detailed note seeking Rs 32.5 crore has been submitted to seek a grant. The Chief Minister said the Union government should provide Rs 48 crore for three regional
centres, one each in Majha, Doaba and Malwa regions of Punjab, to preserve traditional games of Punjab. The Chief Minister also sought Rs 41.5 crore for construction of state sports complex at
Mohali.
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Bayliss named Lanka coach
Colombo, June 15 “Bayliss has been appointed for a two-year period starting on August 1,” Sri Lanka Cricket
(SLC) spokesman Samantha Algama said. Bayliss, 44, who currently coaches New South Wales, replaces another Australian Tom Moody, who quit last month to work with his home state of Western Australia. Bayliss was picked over fellow Australian Terry Oliver, the Queensland coach, after being interviewed by SLC’s selection panel. He played 58 first-class matches for New South Wales as a middle-order batsman from 1985 to 1993 before making his mark as the state coach.
— AFP
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US Open
Oakmont (USA), June 15
Nick Dougherty’s two-under 68 was enough to fetch him the opening round lead on a punishing course, which the Englishman described as “barbaric.”
Jeev, however, can take solace from the fact that only two players, Dougherty and Argentine Angel Cabrera (69), broke par, while 28 players in the 156-man field did not make a single birdie. The Indian at least had a birdie as against six bogeys in his round. The Chandigarh golfer is currently seven shots behind the leader and the cut is applied at top-60 and ties or 10 off the
lead. Jeev has made the cut at both his previous US Open appearances in 2002 and 2006 and also played all four rounds at the Masters this year. World No. 1 Tiger Woods also felt the sting of the Oakmont Country Club and carded a fighting one-over 71 to be tied fifth with 15 others. A bogey quartet on his back nine marred Jeev’s round and the 35-year-old, who earlier this year led the Masters after nine holes on first day, admitted the course was demanding. A 10th tee starter, Jeev began with a bogey. He dropped another shot on the 16th but offset it with a birdie on 17th, his lone of the day. Turned at one-over, it looked reasonable. But his second nine spelt trouble. Jeev dropped a shot on the first and parred the next three holes before misfortune struck him in the form of a bogey-hat-trick which eventually dropped him to five-over. Despite the half-inch rain on Wednesday evening, the Oakmont layout stretching over 7,230 yards for a par of 70, stayed tough. Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy played with Woods and both shot 71, as did Vijay Singh, Justin Rose and 12 others.
— PTI
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Gawli ‘costliest’ Indian footballer
New Delhi, June 15 Gawli, whose has had a strong presence in the Indian team defence for the past 10 years, has been roped in by National Football League (NFL) champions Dempo reportedly for a record fee of Rs 35 lakh. Dempo have loosened their purse strings to the tune of Rs 4 crore to rope in quality players and at the last count, they have netted eight prominent players to their side, with offers of Rs 15 lakh and above. Other prominent players who have got a good deal in the transfer market are former Indian captain S. Venkatesh and N.S. Manju, who both have earned over Rs 20 lakh each for shifting allegiance from Mahindra United to Mohun Bagan. Baichung Bhutia, Stevan Dias, Climax Lawrence, Alvitto de Cunha, Satish Kumar, Rislon Rodrigues, N.P. Pradeep and Ajayan have been signed for around Rs 15 lakh. Meanwhile, the turf war between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal has been renewed after a nine-year truce. East Bengal have not only recruited five Bagan players — Mehtab Hussain, Mehrajuddin, Thomba Singh, Subroto Brar and Deependu Biswas — but has also roped in Subroto Bhattacharya as their coach.
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Bangalore, June 15 Lahiri finished with a tournament tally of 15-under 273, a whopping 13 strokes clear of his nearest rival Raj Randhawa, who shot a six-over 78 to finish second at 286. Local lad Chikkarangappa fired a final round of level-par 72 to finish third at 288, while Abhishek Jha finished tied fourth with Simarjeet Singh (73) at 289 after shooting a final round of two-under 70. Lahiri’s round was surprisingly a tale of misses. He started with a birdie on the first hole but dropped shots on the fifth and the seventh. However, birdies on the sixth, eighth and ninth saw him make the turn at two-under. On the back nine, Lahiri dropped shots on the 11th and 13th but recovered to fire birdies on the 14th and 16th to run away with the title. Raj Randhawa, who shot a five under in the penultimate round, surprisingly was out of sorts today as he managed five bogies, a double bogey and a lone birdie in his round of 78. — UNI
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New Delhi, June 15 Bhavik became the 33rd person to have rowed across an ocean. He set out from La Restinga in the Canary Islands to Antigua on his boat ‘Miss Olive’. After a gruelling journey lasting 106 days, Bhavik reached Jabberwock Beach, Antigua, on June 14. During his journey, his boat capsized 200 km from the destination but he managed to steer the boat by rowing with a spare oar. Other hardships that he endured included a ghost ship collision and a water leak, which destroyed his ration for 20 days. The 30-year-old rower, born in Mumbai, took the same route as Chritopher Columbus took when he went in search of India and found America instead. A rescue team was on standby throughout. The Ocean Rowing Society would certify the Sweden-based rower’s record. — PTI
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Sudirman Cup
New Delhi, June 15 If India manage to beat France in the playoffs, it will be the first time they would be promoted to Division 2 of the world team championship. India beat hosts Scotland 4-1 to top the Division 3-Group B. They had to buckle down and display strong nerves as all matches were tough encounters. The mixed doubles pair of V. Diju and Aparna Balan recovered from an early deficit to beat Watson Briggs and Imogen Bankier 18-21, 21-16, 21-18 in 46 minutes. Saina Nehwal also had to endure some anxious moments before getting past Susan Hughes 21-15, 19-21, 21-12 in a match lasting 49 minutes. The Indian teenager used her deceptive strokes to win the first game but the Scot came back strongly to level the match. But Saina got off the blocks quickly in the third and took a 11-4 lead after which there was no looking back. Anup Sridhar also came back strongly to defeat Craig Goddard 19-21, 21-7, 21-11 in 44 minutes to seal the tie for the Indians. The Indian was ranked 30 places higher than his opponent but the Goddard took the first game after a close contest. Sridhar soon raised his game to erase all hopes for the hosts. The men’s doubles combination of Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar then got the better of Briggs and Andrew Browman 21-14, 24-22 after saving game points in the second. However, the scratch women’s doubles pairing of Saina and Aparna lost the final match to Bankier and Emma Mason 13-21, 21-17, 14-21. France had qualified for the playoffs topping their group ahead of Canada, the United States and Ukraine. — PTI
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Paes-Damm enter semis
New Delhi, June 15 The Indo-Czech pair rallied from a set down to beat the local favourites 6-7, 7-6, 10-7. Paes and Damm will now take on third seeds Simon Aspelin of Sweden and Julian Knowles of Austria in the last four stage of the 680,250 euro event.
— PTI
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Skeet shooters disappoint
New Delhi, June 15 Arozepal was the best among the Indians as he secured 85th position with a score of 113 (24+20+24+23+22). Mairaj Khan shot a score of 104 (21+21+24+18+20) to finish 121st, while Naveen Jindal shot 98 (20+20+28+29+21) to finish 130th in the field of 135 shooters, according to information received here today. The gold in the event was won by Hancock Vincent of USA with a new world record score of 150 (125+25).
— UNI
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Bridgetown, June 15 Gayle, the powerful left-handed opener and right-arm offspinner, received the leadership yesterday when Ganga was not included in the squad by the West Indies Cricket Board. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was named vice-captain. Squad: Chris Gayle (captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (vice captain), Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Runako Morton, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Austin Richards Jr., Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith. — AP
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