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IHF secy-gen Jothikumaran caught taking bribe, resigns
‘Saddest day of Indian hockey’
Afridi to bolster Chargers |
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Eden Pitch Fiasco
Eves desperate for win
Archery World Cup
Bhupathi enters doubles 2nd round
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IHF secy-gen Jothikumaran caught taking bribe, resigns New Delhi, April 21 Soon after 'Headlines Today' beamed the sting operation Jothikumaran called up IHF President K. P. S. Gill and informed him that he had resigned from the post which he had occupied for close to 15 years. The channel said in a release that its special investigation team found that the selection process in hockey was not "always fair, the current administration is highly corrupt and that IHF President Gill is oblivious of the corrupt practices of his colleagues." The channel claimed that after receiving a cash payment of Rs 2 lakh and taking a promise of another Rs 3 lakh to be given to his man in Delhi, Jothikumaran assured the channel's team of getting a player picked up for the senior hockey team for the Azlan Shah hockey tournament next month. It claimed that the bribe money was given to him in a five star hotel in Delhi in two instalments on April 10 and 11. Jothikumaran, who could not be immediately contacted after the news broke out, later denied that he had resorted to any corrupt deals and said he had accpeted the money under the impression that it was for a proposal for conducting a big tournament. "I was genuinely under the impression that a proposal for conducting a big tournament on the lines of Azlan Shah tournament was being debated with me by the reporters of 'Aaj Tak' and 'Headlines today'. At no point of time did I raise anything about selection," Jothikumaran told PTI. "The money they allege that I had taken was in my opinion to meet the initial expenses for organising the event in India on the same lines of Azlan Shah tournament," said Jothikumaran. Gill reacted sharply to the issue, saying Jothikumaran was in no way involved in the selection process and it was surprising that he promised a place in the national team for the particular player. "It is shameful and I have no words to condemn such an act," he said. "Jothikumaran talked to me over phone and informed me that he has resigned from the post of IHF and will not be associated with the federation until his name is cleared from the alleged incident," Gill later added. Gill said the team for the Azlan Shah was scheduled to be selected tomorrow and Jothikumaran's claim that he could include the player was wrong. New Sports Minister M S Gill was also quick to react. "I have just seen the video being shown on Aaj Tak television channel about Jothikumaran, secretary of IHF. While a detailed inquiry must be held in the shortest possible time by appropriate authority, I am of the firm view that Jothikumaran must immediately resign from his office," he said. The channel also showed transcripts of a telephone conversation where Jothikumaran is heard assuring the party that he would try to get the player included in the senior team for the Azlan Shah. Jothikumaran told the party to keep the matter confidential till the formal announcement is made on the team. Former Olympian Dhanraj Pillay was furious and Pillay in fact went on to claim that Jothikumaran had pushed Adam Sinclair in the 2004 Athens Olympic team using his clout. "I can tell you that this boy did not know how to hit the ball but Jothikumaran got him in and the then coach Gerard Rach tutored him thrice a day to teach him the basics," he said. —
PTI
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‘Saddest day of Indian hockey’
Chandigarh, April 21 Reacting to the sting operation conducted by a TV channel showing the IHC secretary taking money for facilitating holding of a major tournament besides promising to get a raw player selected in the national team, Pargat said though a lot of hue and cry was being raised for the past several years, nothing has been done so far. “It is the saddest day in the history of Indian hockey. We never expected that it would reach this level that the secretary of the national federation of national sport is shown on camera demanding and taking money,” said Pargat, adding, “Even the failure to qualify for the Olympics for first time in 80 years was lesser a shock than this exposure.” Several other Olympians and international players echoed similar views after the TV channel started telecasting the sting operation in detail. “It could not have been worse,” remarked former international and national coach Sukhvir Singh Grewal. “How do you expect hockey to come up when those assigned to look after the sport were themselves wreaking havoc with it?” Olympian Balbir Singh expressed shock and dismay at the exposure. “Though everyone had been talking about it, but no one ever believed it. Now he has been caught on the camera. It makes all of us hang our heads in shame. These are the people before whom we have been putting proposals, offering our unconditional services besides volunteering to work for reviving the game,” said Balbir. The general feeling echoed by Olympians, international players, past and present, and administrators was to immediately disband the Indian Hockey Confederation, control be given to the Indian Olympic Association and the Central Bureau of Investigation be ordered to hold an in-depth probe into the working of the IHC for the past 10 years. Efforts to reach Jothikumaran proved futile, as repeated calls to his mobile phone went answered. Shock and dismay prevailed in the entire Indian hockey fraternity.
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Watson, Warne power Royals’ win Jaipur, April 21 A restrictive spell of 3 for 19 by Shane Warne restricted Kings XI Punjab to 166 but the target was overhauled fairly comfortably, thanks to a fiery 49-ball 76 by Watson, supported by a fearless unbeaten 36 by Ravindra Jadeja. Earlier, Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne produced a superb 3 for 19 to restrict Kings XI Punjab to 166 for eight. Warne’s act of leading from the front overshadowed a chancy but strokeful half century by his opposite number Yuvraj Singh (57). The visitors would have been in a worse position had Yuvraj not been dropped twice when he was on 15 and 27, the first time off Warne and the second off Siddarth Trivedi. Warne, however, removed Yuvraj, who was caught and bowled while trying to sweep the retired spin legend. Yuvraj struck six fours and three huge sixes in his 34-ball innings. Warne also cut short Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara's explosive but short innings of 20 made from eight balls and studded with six fours, besides removing opener James Hopes (16). The other opener had promised a lot at the top of order with two huge sixes off Munaf Patel who, however, had the last laugh clean bowling the young Punjab batsman for 26 (3x4, 2x6). India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla made a late flourish with an unbeaten 11-ball 24 to take to a competitive score. For Royals, Trivedi returned figures of 2-25 while Munaf took one wicket for 36 runs.
— Agencies Scoreboard Kings XI Punjab Goel b Patel 26 Hopes lbw Warne 16 Sangakkara c & b Warne 20 Jayawardene st Akmal b Salunkhe 2 Yuvraj lbw Warne 57 I Pathan b Trivedi 12 Sohal run out 4 Lee c Akmal b Trivedi 0 Chawla not out 24 Mota not out 1 Extras (lb-1, w-2, nb-1) 4 Total (8 wkts, 20 overs) 166 Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-56, 3-63, 4-72, 5-135, 6-135, 7-135, 8-148. Bowling: Patel 4-0-36-1, Watson 4-0-39-0, Trivedi 4-0-25-2, Warne 4-0-19-3, Salunkhe 2-0-20-1, Pankaj 1-0-12-0, Y Pathan 1-0-13. Rajasthan Royals Kaif c Sangakkara b Sreesanth 5 Akmal c Chawla b Hopes 15 Pathan c & b Lee 7 Watson not out 76 Lehmann lbw Pathan 17 Jadeja not out 36 Extras (lb-2, w-6, nb-4) 12 Total (4 wkts, 18.1 overs) 168 Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-19, 3-48, 4-99. Bowling: Lee 4-0-35-1, Sreesanth 3.1-0-38-1, Hopes 4-0-33-1, Pathan 4-0-21-1, Chawla 2-0-27-0, Mota
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Hyderabad, April 21 The home side will have a big advantage in their game against the Delhi outfit as explosive Pakistani import Shahid Afridi will join the team for tomorrow's clash at Rajiv Gandhi international stadium. Apart from Afridi, the Chargers have a strong batting line-up consisting of captain VVS Laxman, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Y Venugopal Rao, Rohit Sharma and Ranji players D B Ravi Teja and Kalyan Krishna. The bowling department also looks impressive with the presence of Scott Styris, Chaminda Vaas, R P Singh and talented Hyderabad left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who took crucial wickets of Sourav Ganguly and Mohd Hafeez in their first match against the Knight Riders. The Delhi Daredevils led by Virender Sehwag are on a high after their convincing victory over Rajasthan Royals in Delhi. The Daredevils will have the likes of A B de Villiers, Shoaib Malik, Mohammed Asif, Tillakratne Dilshan and Abdul Razzak, who missed the first match against the Rajasthan team, will join the squad. The Rajiv Gandhi stadium is braced up for the occasion with the light towers becoming formally functional last week. With a capacity to accommodate 40,000 spectators, the venue is going to have its share of the high voltage entertainment dished so far in the IPL. Teams (from): Deccan Chargers: VVS Laxman (Captain), Scott Styris, Adam Gilchrist (WK), H Gibbs, Andrew Symonds, Sanjay Bangar, Rohit Sharma, Chamara Silva, Y Venugopal Rao, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Haldhar Das (wk), D Kalyan Krishna, Pragyan Ojha, DB Raviteja, PM Sarvesh Kumar, R P Singh, P Vijay Kumar and Arjun Yadav. Coach: Robin Singh Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (Captain), Gautam Gambhir, Manoj Tiwari, Daniel Vettori, Shoaib Malik, Dinesh Kartik, Glenn McGrath, Mohammed Asif, Ferveez Meharoof, Pradeep Sangwan, Brett Geeves, Rajat Bhatia, Shikar Dhawan, Yo Mahesh, Tillakratne Dilshad, Abdul Razzak, Mithun Manhas, Mayank Tehlan, Amit Mishra, Tejaswi Yadav, A B de Villiers and Yogesh Nagar. Coach: Greg Shipperd. — PTI Today’s match Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers 8 pm
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Eden Pitch Fiasco
Kolkata, April 21 Accusations of mismanagement flew thick and fast as the BCCI bosses expressed 'serious concern' over the pitch fiasco and a senior state minister held the Cricket Association of Bengal responsible for the mismanagement, "which has sullied the reputation of Kolkata". Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty said the three-member committee would look into the 31-minute power disruption, the non-functional scoreboard and the poor state of toilets at the ground during the game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers. The committee would submit its report to the West Bengal government before April 29, the date of the next match and suggest measures to CAB to prevent such faux pas. "Nobody wants the image of Kolkata to be sullied, but this has happened because of the mismanagement by the organisers in the Eden Gardens," the minister said. He regretted that though the sports department was the custodian of sports infrastructure in the Maidan - the sporting hub around the Eden - there was little coordination on part of the CAB though four letters had been sent to it. Eden Gardens curator Kalyan Mitra also went to the dressing room of the Kolkata Knight Riders to apologise to the players, whiles there was a move to fly in a pitch consultant from Australia to improve the state of the wicket. Key Knight Riders player Ricky Ponting said "We are very shocked at the nature of the pitch. Hopefully we will get a better wicket in the next match. "The curator came to our dressing room after the match and apologised to all of us. He has promised a better wicket for our next match as also the five other games the team will play at the Eden later in the tournament," the Australian skipper said. Ponting's comments was an echo of Deccan Chargers captain V V S Laxman, who termed the track as "shocking for any format of the game" after losing the match by five wickets. — PTI
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Eves desperate for win
Kazan (Russia), April 21 The Indians started the tournament with a comfortable 3-1 victory over the hosts Russia in their opening match but suffered a big setback in the second match when they went down 1-2 to Netherlands Antilles yesterday. The defeat will no doubt put enormous pressure on the Indian players who have no option but to pull up their socks and win against Belgium to remain in contention for a spot in the Beijing Olympics. The USA were currently on top of the table with six points, having a better goal ratio than Netherlands Antilles who too have six points. India find themselves in the fourth position in the six-nation qualifiers with three points from two games. Belgium also had three points from as many matches but occupied the third position on account of a better goal difference. Lowly France and Russia were yet to secure a single point and were at the bottom of the table. The rest day today has given coach M K Kaushik some time to devise the strategies for the crucial game and the former Olympian was hoping that his wards would be able to deliver the goods when it mattered most. "In the last match against Netherlands Antilles, the opposition had the advantage of physique and they succeeded in blocking our moves. We cannot afford to make mistakes tomorrow," Kaushik said. The failure to convert the penalty corners has been a worrying factor and captain Mamta Kharab has acknowledged that her team had to do much better in this department to be able to counter the other teams. "We have to do better with penalty corners. We have to try and convert as many as possible. We are working hard on this aspect of the game and I hope we put up a better show", she said. The presence of the legendary Ric Charlesworth should come handy for the Indians as the Australian expert has loads of experience to plug the loopholes ahead of the crucial match. Charlesworth, who has been formally appointed as the Technical Advisor following the men team's failure to qualify for the Olympics, will now have a big role to play to bring the campaign back on track. Charlesworth and Kaushik will have to give a serious thought to the composition of the team against Belgium who are known to be a fighting unit capable of turning the table on any fancied team on their day. India's forward line has hardly been consistent in the two matches so far and much will depend on how they perform tomorrow. The young Rani Devi, the 15-year-old rookie who has already made an impression with two goals in the tournament, has a big role to play while the experienced Jasjeet Kaur and Pritam Rani Siwach also have the abilities to score the goals. Mamta has not scored a single goal yet but the nippy frontliner has always been regarded as a dangerous customer. The team management is hoping that the side has learnt its lessons from the first two matches though the chilly climate here has made it difficult for the girls to acclimatise to the conditions. India could still make it to Beijing but for that to happen, the team has to dish out an inspired show. The Indians have to play four matches in a week's time and there was enough scope to command its share of wins. The coming days will test the team's mental composure and toughness to stay focused on the job. The Indian girls have showed that they have these qualities in ample measure in the last Asian Games and World Cup and there was no reason why they cannot do so again. — PTI
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Archery World Cup
New Delhi, April 21 Rahul displayed his best ever individual performance in the Olympic elimination round, defeating Weiss Johan of Denmark and Rohbberg of Germany in the 1/32 and 1/16 matches, respectively. After beating compatriot Mangal Singh Champia by a comfortable nine point margin in the 1/8 elimination round, Rahul outplayed Wan Aziz Wmk of Malaysia in the quarterfinal. In the semifinal, Rahul waged a grim battle against defending champion Park Kim of South Korea, fighting to the final arrow before clinching victory with a three point margin (110 vs 107). Rahul, however, lost the final to Girouille of France and had to settle for the silver. In the men's team recurve event, the Indian trio of Rahul Bannerjee, Jayanta Talukdar and Mangal Singh Champia pipped France (220 v 213) in a tight encounter to win the bronze medal. They had pipped Germany (224 vs 212), Ukraine (226 vs 219) while losing to Italy (226 vs 225) in the earlier rounds. In the womens' recurve segment, L Bmbayla Devi and Pranitha Devi put up impressive individual performances. Bombayla Devi lost the qurterfinal in the tie-breaker to Mospinek of Poland while Pranitha Vardineni eliminated Geargia and Great Britain archers in the first two rounds. In the compound event however, the men and women archers disappointed with only Jhanu Iansdah reaching the quarterfinal. — UNI
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Bhupathi enters doubles 2nd round
New Delhi, April 21 The Indo-Bahamian duo, seeded fourth in the tournament, will start their quest for a third ATP doubles title this season against the winners of the match between the Brazilian combination of Marcelo Melo and Andre and French-Serbian pair of Richard Gasquet and Janko Tipsarevic in the second round. Bhupathi and Knowles had earlier won back-to-back titles in Memphis and Dubai without dropping a set before their 10-match winning streak ended in the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells Masters to the eventual champions Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram. Meanwhile, the unseeded pair of Leander Paes and Australian Paul Hanley will have a tough task in their opening match as they face clay court specialist Argentine pair of Davis Nalbandian and Sebastian Prieto. If Paes and Hanley get past the opening round, they will be up against second seed Israeli pair of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in the next round.
— IANS |
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