 |
|
|
Australians up the ante
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Afridi powers Pak victory
Delay Champions Trophy: Pak
Nadal confirms participation
Hockey needs India: Ric
Punjab State Rural Games
This village is a v’ball nursery
Randhawa slips to 92nd, Jeev 77th
Rly athletes steal the show
Yuki Bambri loses, Shokeen advances
Delhi eves win by a mile
Soccer trials
today
Railway volleyball
Hong Kong sixes tourney
Handball meet
|
|
Australians up the ante
Melbourne, October 23 Just back from an ill-tempered one-day series against India, which his side won 4-2, Hayden said India had replaced England as his favourite punching bag with the bat. "I think India is close on being my favourite side to beat. They've almost taken the number one seed off England in a lot of ways," Hayden was quoted as saying by 'Sydney Morning Herald'. "It's a side that within it's psyche has amazing highs and amazing lows. So it doesn't take long to realise they're at a low when you're standing in front of 70,000 people at a stadium and you can hear a pin drop. "It's a great position to be in and you know you've got them beat," he said. "Our ambition is to keep their crowd as quiet as we possibly can and just play good cricket. It's not a personal thing," added Hayden, an old Team India nemesis. The hard-hitting opener said India doomed themselves by pretending to match the Australians in the aggression stakes, which only ended up spurring Ricky Ponting's men to thrash them in the one-day series. "I think it's one of the greatest misconceptions of this side ever, that it's aggressive. I think what we are, it extends from our culture, is just having a great mateship and camaraderie within any kind of team," Hayden said. "You put any 12 blokes together and you'll get a job done. Whether it's getting a bogged four-wheel-drive off the beach or standing in front of a cricket wicket and making sure we're in a dominant position. It's the same dog, different leg action, so to speak," he said. "I think it shows an insecurity to do anything else other than that. All it really does is just amp up the intensity of the way we play our cricket. It's a good thing for us. "You never want an Australian with his back up against the wall. We saw that last summer against England, you're seeing that now with this verbal jousting that's happening between India and Australia," Hayden said.
— PTI
|
|
Ponting dares India to sustain it
Melbourne, October 23 Ponting said the Indians played the just-concluded series in an aggressive manner quite uncharacteristic of them and it would be interesting to see if they could sustain it in Australia. "They made it pretty clear right at the start of the series they were going to fight fire with fire but for us we know that's generally not the way they play their cricket," Ponting was quoted as saying by 'The Age'. "We've got a lot of cricket against them in the next few months so it will be interesting to see just how long that aggressive-natured cricket does last from them," he said. After the home series against traditional rivals Pakistan, India arrive here for four Test matches against the hosts, followed by a triangular one day series also involving Sri Lanka. Leg-spinner Stuart MacGill parroted Ponting's line and warned pretending to be aggressive could backfire for India. "If you believe in yourself and you're convinced the way you're playing is the right way to play then it doesn't really matter how you carry yourself," he said. The Australian captain also predicted that his side would have a clear edge over India in the forthcoming series. "I think that's always been their greatest challenge when they come to Australia, bowling us out twice," he said.
— PTI
|
||
|
McGrath’s advice to Sreesanth
Melbourne, October 23 Though no more part of the team, McGrath keenly followed Australia's just-concluded one day series against India, which saw heated altercations with Sreesanth featuring in quite a few of them. McGrath said it was high time the youngster delivered the goods with the ball. "At the end of the day you've got to be able to back it up. You can talk the talk but if you can't go out there and perform then you're not going to be around for very long," McGrath was quoted as saying by 'The Australian'. The lanky pacer also doubted that Sreesanth's on-field aggression was not natural at all. "I've had a chat to him a few times and it doesn't seem to be in his character," he said. "He's trying to be aggressive and it's a little bit unusual. "You want your fast bowler to be aggressive. Giving blokes send-offs or sledging when you talk back I don't agree with but that's up to the officials to sort out," McGrath said. And he warned the Indian team to expect enough hostility when they arrive here later in the summer to play four Test matches. "The Indians really don't like the quicker or bouncier wickets so we'll wait and see what happens. "I'm sure they'll come and try to be aggressive but I think no-one does it better than the Australian team," McGrath said. An Australian team going through a re-building would live up to the expectations in the series, he said. "I think it's going to be an interesting and exciting time for Australian cricket with the young guys putting their hands up. "I think the first thing is who's going to be selected in the team and when they (India) come out I think the brand of cricket Australia plays we'll be right over here," he said. McGrath did a yeoman service to the Australian team before leaving on his own term. Commenting on the current pace attack options, the 'Pigeon' said Australia faced a problem of plenty. "It will be interesting to see which way they go. The way Mitchell Johnson has bowled over in India - he's definitely put his hand up. Brett Lee's coming back, Shaun Tait's down in South Australia there and is coming good again.
— PTI
|
||
|
Skip Aussie tour, Murali advised
Melbourne, October 23 Muralitharan has had a soured relation with the Australians where the crowd greeted him with catcalls and boos and Ranatunga fears it might get worse this time. "I told him I wished he wasn't touring Australia because of the amount of trouble he has had," Ranatunga was quoted as saying by the News Limited
papers. Murali, however, was determined to go, Ranatunga said. Sri Lanka will play two Test matches in Australia before competing in a tri-series that also involves
India. Muralitharan, a veteran of 113 Tests, has 700 wickets under his belt and need just nine scalps to eclipse Warne's record of 708 wickets in 145 Tests. Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland, however, reacted coldly to Ranatunga's comments and said he was not surprised. "I am not particularly surprised about that," Sutherland said. "(But) Murali is clearly able to make his own decisions. He has been to Australia before. The mere fact that he is coming is fantastic for cricket," he added
— PTI
|
||
|
ICL to kick off on November 30
Chennai, October 23 The League, which will have West Indies batting great Brian Lara and some other recently retired international cricketers as its star attraction, will be held in Panchkula, Chandigarh, from November 30 to December 16. The tournament, to be played at Tau Devi Lal Cricket Stadium, will have 20 matches in all and will carry a prize money of USD 1 million. The dates and venue were finalised at the ICL's Executive Board meeting here, giving the rebel body a head start over the BCCI's proposed Indian Premier League, which is scheduled to be held in April next year. The tournament, a brainchild of Subhash Chandra-owned Essel Group, will have 20 matches, which includes 15 round robin matches and five classification ties. The grand final preceded by three classification matches will be played on December 16. "The ICL Twenty20 championship will be held as promised, later next month at Chandigarh. We are working hard to deliver a very exciting tournament for the viewers. "I am confident that the public in this country will witness for the first time a fully professionally organised cricket extravaganza," ICL Chairman Kapil Dev said. Pakistan's Abdul Razzaq, Imran Farhat and Azhar Mahmood, South Africans Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje and New Zealand's Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Nathan Astle, Hamish Marshal and Darren Maddy of England are some of the other foreign players who have signed up for ICL. Dinesh Mongia, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, JP Yadav, Deep Dasgupta, Nilesh Kulkarni, S Sriram, T Kumaran, Ambati Rayudu, Mihir Diwakar, Rakesh Patel, Kiran Powar are the top domestic players who will be seen in action. Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and prolific batsman Mohammad Yousuf had initially signed for the ICL, but cancelled their contracts and have now aligned with the IPL, which is seen as a counter to the breakaway league. The ICL has not got the recognition of the International Cricket Council or its affiliated members. Soon after the ICL announced its plans to stage the Twenty20 tournament, the BCCI launched its own T20 venture with the support of several Test playing nations and offered hefty prize money to lure top cricketers to its fold.
— PTI
|
||
Faisalabad, October 23 Yousuf followed up scores of 53 and 117 with an unbeaten 58 as Pakistan reached their target of 198 with 11 balls to spare to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. The experienced Yousuf shared a stand of 79 with captain Shoaib Malik (42) and an unbroken
partnership of 55 with Misbah-ul-Haq (29 not out). Scoreboard Pakistan
|
||
|
Faisalabad, October 23 Shafqat Naghmi, chief operating officer of the Pakistan Cricket Board, said he hoped the date of the tournament could be moved to avoid the month-long fast and minimise the risk of a decline in ticket sales. “Since Ramzan starts around September 4 and continues for a month, we want the ICC to hold the event from early October onwards,” Naghmi said. Pakistan is hosting the trophy for the first time since its inception in
1998. Nagmi said a final agreement on the dates was yet to be reached because India, England, West Indies and New Zealand had already arranged tours during October
2008. — Reuters
|
||
|
Chennai Open
Chennai, October 23 The 21-year-old
Nadal, who won his third straight title at the Roland Garros this year, has confirmed his participation for the South Asia's premiere ATP tournament which is in its 13th edition, the organisers said in a press note today. On his third appearance in the Chennai Open in the past five years, Nadal was confident of making a good start to the new year with a title win. "I lost in the semifinals last time and I hope to win my first Chennai Open title this year. I had some injuries this year, but I am confident that I would make a good start to the year and improve my performance playing in this tournament," Nadal said. "It feels great to be coming back to
Chennai. I like the crowd and their enthusiasm and support. They always push you to give your best," said the Spaniard, who won six titles in eight finals in 2007, including at the Roland Garros and ATP Masters Series at Monte Carlo where he defeated World No.1 Roger
Federer. The $ 416,000 Chennai Open ATP Tour tennis tournament is among the three season openers along with Adelaide and Doha events to be held in January.
— PTI
|
||
|
New Delhi, October 23 The newly-appointed technical adviser of Indian hockey thinks that the country is a minefield of talented players who can be groomed to become 'The
Invincibles' again. "India has now failed to perform for so long. We are missing the artistry and aesthetics that stamped the first part of the 20th century.” "Equally, hockey needs India doing well to survive and thrive worldwide. I believe India has the raw materials in skilled, clever and talented people to be outstanding again as a hockey nation. To play a part in the renaissance is a great challenge and I am privileged to have this opportunity," Charlesworth told PTI in an
interview. Charlesworth, who till recently was working with the New Zealand Cricket as a high performance manager, said the first challenge after being "on the ground" in December would be to know the functioning of Indian hockey. "Everyday will bring a new challenge. The immediate one will be to discover how hockey works in India...to watch, learn and listen and to construct with Indians a better way forward," said the former Australia hockey captain. "I have one or two commitments (for a couple of weeks) that I have already agreed to before this assignment. After that I will be practically full time except for the occasional speaking engagement," he added. The Aussie great said the deal with India was a result of years of negotiations, which could have been even longer without International Hockey Federation's 'Promoting Indian hockey'
programme. "Over some months and following considerable discussion, it has been developed. Such things are seldom quick or easy and without FIH's programme for India, it may have taken longer. The first contacts were back in 2002 and then after Athens," he said. On the Indian men's team Asia Cup winning feat, Charlesworth said though the result could not be undermined, but the side needed more exposure. "I still haven't seen the final game but the result was encouraging...of course often in hockey the result can deceive but Korea are a quality team. Overall though we haven't played enough games this year. We need more exposure."
Charlesworth, who coached the Australian women's side to two Olympic gold, hoped that both the men and womens teams of India would qualify for the Beijing Olympics, though it would not be a cakewalk to emerge as champions in the qualifiers. "I hope so for both the men and the women (but) it will not be easy against similarly ranked teams in a one-off match," he said.
— PTI
|
||
|
Punjab State Rural Games
Bathinda, October 23 More than 1,400 sportspersons from all districts of the state are taking part in disciplines including hockey, weightlifting, athletics, kabaddi, archery, kho-kho and volleyball. The local MP Paramjit Kaur Gulshan inaugurated the games. R.P.S. Pawar, principal secretary, Department of Sports and Youth Services, Rahul Tiwari, deputy commissioner, Pargat Singh, director sports (Punjab), Kuljitpal Singh Mahi, SDM Bathinda, and Sohan Lal Lotey, assistant director, Sports, were also present on the occasion. The results: 800 m: gold - Sapinder Kaur, Fatehgarh Sahib; silver - Pardeep Kaur, Hoshiarpur; and bronze - Navneet Kaur, Sangrur. Kho-Kho (1st round): Moga beat Fatehgarh Sahib 16-0; Gurdaspur b Barnala 12-1; Amritsar b Faridkot 6-0; Sangrur b Mansa 10-1; Nawanshahr b Ropar 10-1; Muktsar b Kapurthala 3-2. Kabaddi (1st term): Gurdaspur b Patiala 50-23; Muktsar b Barnala 60-20; Sangrur b Bathinda 45-31; Hoshiarpur b Ludhiana 34-33; Mohali b Nawanshahr 60-20.
|
||
|
This village is a v’ball nursery
Bathinda, October 23 Captain Gagandeep Kaur, Waheguru Pal
Kaur, Amandeep Kaur, Sandeep Kaur, Arshpreet Kaur, Manpreet Kaur and Rajinder Kaur are students of Government School,
Bhokhra. Volleyball (smashing and shooting) is an event in which a team has 12 players. Seven of them are on the court at a time, while five are substitutes. For the past three years, these girls have been representing their state in the event. Their village panchayat has decided to honour them at the school’s annual function. Incidentally, almost all girls who have played for the state in this event in recent years have been from this
school. Gagandeep, who started playing this sport four years ago, and Sandeep come from a humble background. A teacher at Government School,
Bhokhra, said various teachers had been giving financial and moral support to these girls. Former deputy commissioner of
Bathinda, Rahul Bhandari, had helped them financially, he added. However, much more needs to be done to motivate the talented players.
|
||
|
Randhawa slips to 92nd, Jeev 77th
New Delhi, October 23 Randhawa, who broke back into the top 100 last week after his Indian Open triumph, has 1.61 average points after spending a week away from course. Jeev, on the other hand, continues to be the highest ranked Indian in the list with 1.77 average points. The seasoned pro had signed off tied 40th at last week's Portugal Masters. Ghei slipped three spots to be 203 this week with 0.89 average points. Delhi pro Shiv Kapur was further down at 330th with 0.54 average points. The US-based Arjun Atwal, whose hopes of securing his PGA Tour card are in tatters after a disastrous performance on the US Nationwide Tour, is at the 475th position, way behind Kolkata pro SSP Chowrasia, who is at the 445th spot. At the top, American Tiger Woods continued to lead the pack with compatriot Phil Mickelson a distant second. Woods' lead over Mickelson is 13.88 average points.
— PTI
|
||
|
Rly athletes steal the show
Jamshedpur, October 23 Kerala girl Preeja Sreedharan (Railways) achieved new national meet record of 33:25:0 seconds bettering her own record of 34:11:45 in the previous meet in the final of 1000 m women's run. Another Railways athlete Bendict Starley created a new meet record of 2.19m in men's high jump. He surpassed the previous meet record of 2.18m of Hari Shankar Roy. Star sprinter Sinimole Paulose of Steel Plants Sports Board (SPSB) bagged gold in the final of the women's 1500 m by clocking 4:15:5 seconds. She, however, was much less than the meet record of O.P. Jaisha (4:11:83). Her own best performance was 4:10:51 in last year's Inter-state meet in Chennai. Sinimole said, “For me, it was more important to get the gold than setting the meet record.” Railways O.P. Jaisha, the holder of the meet record and Sushma Devi got silver and bronze with 4:18:6 and 4:19:1 seconds respectively. In the men's 1500m run final, C. Hamza of SSCB secured gold clocking 3:39:8. He missed the national meet record narrowly which was created by Bahadur Prasad (3:40:06) in the 1994 meet. Satish Joshep of Railways got silver as he timed 3:41:6 while ONGC's Pritam Bind had to be satisfied with bronze.
— UNI
|
||
|
Yuki Bambri loses, Shokeen advances
Bangalore, October 23 On a day that produced exciting duels, unseeded Yuki, who stretched the Croatian to the limit, went down fighting 7-6(8), 4-6, 6-7(6). The 15-year-old teenager from Delhi at one stage led 4-1 in the decider and even had two match points at 6-4 in the tie breaker. However, Ivan had the last laugh as he reeled off three winners in a row to claw back into the match from brink of a defeat on the centre court. In other matches, unseeded Indians Vivek Shokeen and Vijayant Malik defeated their compatriots to make it to the second round. While Vivek defeated Vignesh Chandrasekhar 6-3, 7-6(3), Vijayant rallied back to beat Ajay Selvaraj 2-6, 6-3,
7-5.— UNI
|
||
|
Srinagar, October 23 Jammu and Kashmir won the toss and elected to bat first on a flat wicket at the picturesque Sher-i-Kashmir cricket stadium here. The home team lost some quick wickets and did not recover after that. A breezy knock of 30 runs by Meenu helped Jammu and Kashmir reach 80 for the lost of six wickets at the end of their stipulated 50 overs. For Delhi, Deepti took two wickets. After being set a paltry total of 81 runs, Delhi scored the required runs in just 13.1 overs with all ten wickets intact. For the visitors, Neha Tanwar scored 44 runs and her opening partner Latika Kumari chipped in valuable 27 runs to hand over a humiliating ten-wicket defeat to Jammu and Kashmir. Neha was declared man of the match. Earlier yesterday, a two-day match as part of the ongoing tournament, being organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), between the two teams ended in a draw.
— UNI
|
||
Soccer trials
today
New Delhi, October 23 The players should report to convener Dilip Ghosh or coach Tarun Toy at 2.30 pm at the stadium’s north side ground. 28 teams, divided into four groups each in two clusters, will participate in the championship. The DSA will also hold trials at the Daulat Ram College ground from October 25 to select the Delhi team for the 6th Girls Junior National Football Championship to be held at Dindigul (Tamil Nadu) from November 23. Faisalabad, October 23 Pakistan has asked the International Cricket Council
(ICC) to move next year's Champions Trophy to October because it coincides with the Muslim holy month of
Ramzan. Shafqat Naghmi, chief operating officer of the Pakistan Cricket Board, said he hoped the date of the tournament could be moved to avoid the month-long fast and minimise the risk of a decline in ticket sales. “Since Ramzan starts around September 4 and continues for a month, we want the ICC to hold the event from early October onwards,” Naghmi said. Pakistan is hosting the trophy for the first time since its inception in
1998. Nagmi said a final agreement on the dates was yet to be reached because India, England, West Indies and New Zealand had already arranged tours during October
2008. — Reuters
|
||
|
Railway volleyball
Kapurthala, October 23 While Central Railway beat Western Railway 3-2, Southern Railway defeated Eastern Railway 3-0. South-Central Railway defeated South-Eastern Railway 3-0 and Central Railway beat West Central Railway 3-0. Earlier, Southern Railway beat South-Central Railway 3-0 and Eastern Railway defeated South-Eastern Railway 3-0. As many as seven teams are participating in the four-day championship which has been organised by RCF, sports association. The meet was formally inaugurated yesterday by the president of the association Gurdev Singh.
|
||
|
Hong Kong sixes tourney
New Delhi, October 23 Launched in 1992, the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes has emerged as the foremost sixes event in the world with a prize money of $285,000. Defending champions South Africa feature in the Sobers Group along with Bangladesh, All-Stars and Australia while Pakistan, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka make up the Cowdrey Group. The ten teams will play 21 matches in two days which will be telecast live by ESPN Star Sports. Shane Warne will lead All-Stars, which will include Brian Lara, Glenn McGrath, Shahid Afridi, Anil Kumble, Craig McMillan and Heath Streak.
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Melbourne, October 23
