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PICK OF THE DAY
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When Dhyan Chand & Co. defied Hitler IOA clears boxers’ physio
Indian team neither mentally tuned nor physically trained India-Sri Lanka Test
series Proteas threaten to skip
CT Paes-Dlouhy lose
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A 53-year-old Israeli Olympic athlete arrested in northern Ethiopia on fraud charges was released on bail on Friday, a regional prosecutor said. Ethiopian-born Ayele Seteng, Israel’s only runner in the Beijing Olympics marathon next month, was arrested for allegedly taking money from two individuals saying he would arrange their travel to Israel, the police said. Israel requested the athlete’s release so he could compete in Beijing. Regional prosecutor, who declined to be named, said, “The court considered the request by Israel for his release and the guarantee offered to return him at the end of the Olympic Games,” the prosecutor told Reuters by telephone. The official added that Ayele, who finished 20th in the Athens marathon in 2004, would fly to Addis Ababa on Friday. The Jewish state began bringing Ethiopian Jews to Israel in the early 1980s. Tens of thousands of Ethiopians are living there, but thousands more, many hard put to prove their Jewish descent, still await permission to move to Israel. A sex determination lab has been set up for Olympics to test female athletes suspected to be males. Suspected athletes would be evaluated from their external appearances by experts, besides being subjected to blood tests to examine their sex hormones, genes and chromosomes. The test aims to maintain fairness in the Olympic Games. The first athlete to be caught in a gender test was Polish runner Ewar Kobukkowska, who won a gold medal in the women's 4X100 meter relay and the bronze in the women's 100 meter sprint at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, but failed the early form of a chromosome test in 1967. She was found to have a rare genetic condition which gave her no advantage over other athletes, but was nonetheless banned from competing in the Olympics and professional sports.
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Federer needs to rediscover touch
London, July 27 After being thrashed by Rafael Nadal in the French Open final, the Swiss maestro lost again at Wimbledon to the Spaniard who won a five-set epic on Federer's Centre Court fortress. The world number one turns 27 on the day of the Beijing opening ceremony and he will have to rediscover his A-game after also suffering a surprise defeat in the Toronto Masters to France's Gilles Simon. Nadal is again lurking in the strongest field at an Olympic tournament since it returned to the Games in 1988. The top five men in the world and seven of the top 10 women will gather in Beijing. Women's champion Justine Henin retired this year and Amelie Mauresmo, silver medallist in Athens, is also absent, with an injury. Wimbledon champion Venus and sister Serena will start as favourites to emulate their domination in Sydney eight years ago when Venus won the singles and then teamed up with her "little" sister to win the doubles. "I love the Olympics," Venus said at Wimbledon where she claimed her seventh grand slam title by beating Serena. The highlights of Federer's two previous Olympic Games amount to meeting his long-standing girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec in Sydney and carrying the Swiss flag at the opening ceremony in Athens four years ago. In 2000 he lost a semi-final to Tommy Haas and then let a bronze medal slip through his fingers against Frenchman Arnaud Di Pasquale. Four years later he lost in the second round to Tomas Berdych. Nadal said recently Beijing was his third priority behind the French Open and Wimbledon. With those two in the bag this year, the 22-year-old will be going full tilt next month. Despite a hard DecoTurf surface that does not compliment his game as well as clay or grass, nobody will be better prepared for the blast-furnace heat expected in Beijing than the dynamic Spaniard who could oust Federer from the top spot by 2009. The surface suits world number three Novak Djokovic of Serbia as he demonstrated at Indian Wells this year. Reigning champion Nicolas Massu, who also partnered Fernando Gonzales to victory in the doubles in 2004, needed a special ITF invite and is unlikely to last long. Zheng Jie's run to the women's semi-finals at Wimbledon has stoked home hopes of Chinese success. Zheng won the Wimbledon and Australian Open doubles titles in 2006 with long-time partner Yan Zi and will be aiming to repeat the feat of Athens gold medallists Sun Tiantian and Li Ting.
— Reuters |
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Athletes’ village opens
Beijing, July 27 Chen, a senior Communist Party official, was handed the key to the heavily-guarded compound by Beijing Olympic chief Liu Qi during a ceremony held under skies still grey with the pollution that China has promised to clear in time for the August 8-24 Games. “The Olympic village has prepared everything and we warmly welcome the athletes, officials and journalists from all nations and regions to live here,” said Chen, who is also a vice-president of the organising committee (BOCOG). China was the first delegation to take residence by raising its flag at the village, with NBA All Star Yao Ming and high hurdles world champion Liu Xiang among the hundred or so athletes present to witness the event. The 42 newly-built apartment blocks can house 17,000 people in 9,000 rooms but officials say 1,000 fewer than that total will take up occupancy during the Games. International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge will have a room in the village, while mayor Chen will live in a traditional Beijing “Siheyuan”, or courtyard. “This Olympic village has distinctive Chinese features, including a centre where athletes can learn Chinese as well as folk arts like kite-making,” said Deng Yaping, the former Olympic table tennis champion who is deputy director of the village.
— Reuters |
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When Dhyan Chand & Co. defied Hitler
New Delhi, July 27 In fact, a new book suggests, India was one of the only two contingents - America being the other - which refused to salute Adolf Hitler during the opening ceremony of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. "Olympics: The India Story" by Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta sheds light on an obscure but glorious chapter of Indian sports and relives how a bunch of mostly unsuspecting, rustic Indians went on to make a political statement in a grand gesture of defiance. The book narrates the opening ceremony of the Berlin Games, which was as much a Nazi propaganda vehicle as a sporting extravaganza. Hindenberg, the giant Zeppelin, whirred over the stadium as Hitler arrived for the guard of honour amid great fanfare. The Indians, Dhyan Chand carrying the flag, were arguably the most dazzling contingent in their light blue turban and golden outfit, resembling a 'marriage procession', as one of the players later remarked. "But this was no ordinary 'marriage procession' its members were about to make a huge political statement by becoming one of the two contingents who refused to salute Hitler," the book recalls. The crowd watched in dismay as the Indians did not offer the Nazi salute and while their gesture went largely unnoticed back home, it created quite a stir in Germany, the book claims. "For most journalists, the Americans were the story of the Games but the Indian decision not to salute Hitler was grand gesture of defiance, totally in sync with the tenets of the dominant stream of Indian nationalism and the Congress Party," the book says. Its authors admit there is no concrete evidence to suggest that there was a direct linkage between the athletes' gesture and the Congress party but maintain it was a political gesture nonetheless. "The fact remains that it was a political act, breathtaking in its audacity, in direct opposition to most other contingents at the Games, including the British," they observe. They also doubt the veracity of the sporting folklore that Hitler was so impressed by Dhyan Chand's sorcery with the stick that he offered him an officer's commission in the Wermacht. "This story is almost certainly apocryphal because none of the contemporary sources mention this incident and neither does Dhyan Chand in his autobiography," they say. The book also digs out another interesting trivia about how Dhyan Chand and the team management enforced a strict discipline code for the players in Berlin only to violate it himself and going out in the night to see the dance of a certain Ms Menaka. "Newspaper archives and contemporary reports of the period give no clue about the identity of the intriguing Ms Menaka but it's clear that it wasn't just all work for the Indians in Berlin; they were also having good fun," the book says. For the record, India crushed Hitler's Germany 8-1 in the final to complete their golden hat-trick in Olympics.
— PTI |
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New Delhi, July 27 The development comes after the boxers, most notably bantam weight hope Akhil Kumar, expressed their displeasure at the IOA's initial decision to leave Matthews out despite accommodating the additional support staff of tennis stars Sania Mirza, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. “The Indian Boxing Federation (IBF) thanks the Indian Olympic Association for having acceded to our request of including the world famous South African Physiotherapist Heath Matthews to accompany the Boxing Contingent to Beijing,” IBF secretary general Col P K M Raja said in a statement. “This wonderful gesture will certainly pay rich dividends in India's quest for a podium finish for the pugilists at Beijing,” he added. Matthews has been with the team in their ongoing training camp in Patiala, playing a crucial role in the recovery and rehabilitaion of Akhil, who had been struggling with a wrist injury for almost a year. “He saved my career. Had it not been for him, I am not sure whether I would have recovered from the wrist injury. I am sure Matthews' presence in Beijing would be of great help not just for me but also for the entire team,” Akhil said. — PTI
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Jeev posts 2nd major win Chandigarh, July 27 The birdie on the last hole was a perfect 20-foot downhill putt. And watching the perfect stroke by the Chandiarh master putter was his wife, Kudrat, who flew down from Delhi to be just in time to see the match on the last three holes. Kudrat could not have asked for a better date from her hubby, who was richer by 30 million Japanese yen, the prize money for the tournament. This was Jeev’s second win of the year 2008 and first on the Japan Golf Tour since the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup in Tokyo in December 2006. Jeev secured his first title of 2008 during the European Tour’s Bank Austria Golf Open in June. With this victory Jeev climbed up the ranking to be placed seventh in the Japan Golf Tour order of merit. Although the world golf ranking was still to be updated, according to Jeev it should be somewhere in the sixties from the current 75th ranking. “But I intend climbing up the ladder. I will definitely repeat my 2006 performance. Maybe I will do better this time”, said Jeev. He admitted that his ankle was still giving him trouble. “But my game is good. My putting was just perfect today”, he added. And this was amply proved when he fired seven birdies on the last day of the tournament for a six-under par 66 card. Jeev was tied fourth after the third round. His ankle was giving him trouble. But he appeared in great form as clouds gathered and a Japanese home crowd of 5,000 egged on their favourite Sushi Ishigaki, who had a four-stroke lead over the Chandigarh golfer. But Jeev appeared determined as he sank birdies on the third, fourth and eighth to cut down the lead to just one stroke. He levelled with a birdie on the 11th. Both bogeyed on the 12th. With the home crowd egging him on, Sushi birdied the 13th and 14th. Jeev struck on the 15th and 16th to level the score. A six iron drive and a perfect 20-foot putt saw him birdie the 18th hole. The Japanese faltered to concede a bogey and lost by two strokes. Back home at Milkha Singh’s Chandigarh residence, his mother danced despite nursing an injured foot. Milkha Singh was flooded with telephone calls from golf lovers from all over the country. Jeev had an overall score of 13 under 275. Japan’s Sushi Ishigaki came in second at 11 under 277. Jeev rounded off his week with scores of 67, 74, 68 and 66. The Chandigarh-based professional has been in supreme form this year as he has registered two wins, two runner-up finishes and four other top 10s. His tied 25th at the US Masters this year was also the best ever finish by an Indian at a Major. |
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Indian team neither mentally tuned nor physically trained Colombo, July 27 In fact, Sri Lanka Cricket had to secure a loan from the BCCI to meet their interim outgoings, which they can only repay from the sponsorship and television revenues derived from India’s current tour. While historically often unelected, the dispensation at Sri Lanka Cricket at least has former Test players in key positions, unlike the BCCI, who are governed by a nexus of politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats. Sri Lanka Cricket recognise limited overs cricket as essential because this generates income, but treat Tests as the ultimate article. Indeed, Arjuna Ranatunga, now chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket, is contemptuous of Twenty20 cricket. There is no greater honour than to represent your country and win, especially in Tests. Ranatunga and his colleagues are fiercely conscious of this. The BCCI think making money is their primary purpose; national honour does not appear to be paramount. Their policies incessantly pander to Indian sponsors and TV channels, neither of whom have established that they are either knowledgeable about the sport or have its best interests at heart. And as for the legions of cricket lovers in India, the caring among them are in a miniscule minority. Cricket followers externally may appreciate to a certain extent India’s success in the 1983 World Cup and last year’s World Twenty20; but unqualified respect can only be earned by becoming champions of Test cricket. India commenced the last three Test series abroad - just as a case in point - noticeably under-prepared. They were fortunate to be saved by the weather at Lord’s last summer, crashed to defeat in Melbourne in winter and have now been thrashed by Sri Lanka. The Australians - unequivocally the best in the world and an example to follow - underwent thorough orientation before tackling even the West Indies this year, withdrawing their players from the Indian Premier League (IPL) - a meaningless exercise other than for the riches it provides to the participants. The BCCI give the impression of partaking in Tests because it’s a fait accompli, merely going through the motions, without being fully committed to it. They, in the prevailing instance, exhausted their cricketers by staging a six-week IPL, when the World Twenty20 was of less than three weeks duration, and then despatching them to Bangladesh and Pakistan only for the votes of the respective cricket boards at ICC meetings as well as made little effort to prime Test specialists for the Sri Lanka series. Those not involved in the ODIs switched off; they needed to re-focus. Coach Gary Kirsten has tended to lay emphasis on mental conditioning. The fact is his squad were neither mentally tuned nor physically trained. The fitness of the Sri Lankan team was miles ahead of the Indians. After Ishant Sharma’s performance in the Perth Test, there was hope that India might narrow the gap with Australia. India, quite simply, had to eclipse Sri Lanka, Australia, England, Pakistan and New Zealand between now and next March to accomplish this. This ought to have been the BCCI’s priority. The Indian side have, admittedly, demonstrated an ability to surprise observers with comebacks. But the fact is they may not have lost the series in Australia had they been ripe for battle in Melbourne. In short, without absolving the players, the BCCI’s neglect of Test cricket is an integral source of India’s inconsistency at the highest level. |
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India-Sri
Lanka Test series India's defeat and by the third heaviest margin in its cricketing
history will no doubt sharpen the knives of its critics but it may be
more realistic to give credit to Sri Lanka's spin twins, Muttiah
Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis rather than just crucify the Indians. The duo spun such a web around the Indian batsmen that despite all the experience at the Indian's command they were unable to extricate themselves from it. The disturbing aspect of the loss is that India's much vaunted batting could bat only 45 overs in the second innings. Well, though the spin twins bowled, the pitch was not that venomous that India's batting should falter so badly. For far too long now India's batting under pressure in the second innings folds up without a fight. The Indians were perhaps hoping that VVS Laxman may once again do what he did so famously seven years back against the world champions Australia when having been asked to follow-on he scored a magnificent 281. He had, in that game at the Eden Gardens, batted well in the first innings getting a half century and since he had got a similar score the Indians promoted him to that same number three position in the second innings. Unfortunately, history did not repeat itself and neither Laxman nor Rahul Dravid who also had a massive innings at the Eden Gardens were able to get going. Apart from some resistance from Gautam Gambhir nobody in the line-up looked like prolonging his stay at the crease and that is the disappointing bit about the innings. Indian supporters are entitled to ask more of their batsmen for the first six have a total of nearly 40,000 runs between them at this level and just below them Dinesh Karthik and Anil Kumble have Test match hundreds against their names so there is no dearth of ability. It's the determination and application that needs to be looked at. It was never going to be easy to bat out the last two days to save the game but when was the last time India batted out the last day to save a Test match? Adelaide perhaps when Sehwag played an innings of such responsibility that when one sees the manner of his dismissals in recent games one wonders where and how the change to being casual has come. Of course he does not want to get out but at this highest level unless there is a discipline about shot selection the road back to the pavilion is already laid out for the batsman. The 309 he got against the South Africans was an innings where every ball was treated on its merits with no premeditation at all. The next morning when in sight of the record 400 every ball was played as if it was a T20 game and predictably the dismissal came sooner than later. 'Viru' can demolish and demoralise any attack in the world but only if he stays away from premeditated shots. Then he will be unstoppable and India will get the start that it needs to put pressure on the opposition. India have played Murali quite often but the great man still has tricks up his sleeve and with Mendis giving him good support from the other end there was simply no respite for the Indians. He took 11 wickets in the game and the Indians may have made the mistake of ignoring his threat amidst all the hoopla about Mendis. Now they have an extra day to try and unravel the mysteries of the spin twins. We will soon see if they have done it.
— PMG |
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Johannesburg, July 27 “From the players' point of view, we do have major concerns with security in Pakistan,” skipper Graeme Smith said. “A lot has happened in Pakistan, from a security point of view, since we were there and those are things that are worrying us. Generally, that's a full-player view. I don't know any players who don't have issues with regards to security in Pakistan,” he added. “There were bombings taking place in Karachi and bombings are taking place in Lahore now. Within three days (of us returning home), there was a state of emergency so we have seen how quickly things can develop.” Smith reposed confidence in the players' association and Cricket South Africa (CSA) chief executive, Gerald Majola, to take the correct decisions on the matter. — UNI
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Toronto, July 27 The Indo-Czech duo mised several opportunities in the contest that lasted an hour and 10 minutes. Devvarman in final Lexington: Somdev Devvarman entered the singles final after his semifinal opponent retired mid-way through in the USD 50,000 ATP Challenger tournament here. — Agencies
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Marie-José Pérec (born May 9, 1968) is a French athlete who won the Olympic 400 m gold in Barcelona in 1992, becoming the first Frenchwoman to win an athletics Olympic gold medal since 1968 when Colette Besson won the same event in Mexico City. Four years later--again, as the defending 400 m World Champion--she entered in the 200 m at the Olympics in Atlanta. Surprisingly, she achieving a rare 200/400 m double gold medal. She won the 400 m in the Olympic record time of 48.25 sec. Perec was the first athlete of either sex to win the 400 m title twice and to accomplish the 200/400 gold medal double at a non-boycotted Olympics; she completed her double 20 minutes before Michael Johnson matched the feat.
