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Dhoni, Yuvraj over the moon
ICC defers decision on CT date
Champions League rights go for $975m
Anand out of contention for top finish
National Athletics meet ends
‘Not disabled enough’
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— Reuters photo
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Paralympics
Punjab dominate ring
Lahore Lions enter semis
3rd day’s play washed out
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Dubai, September 11 "It feels great to know that I am the first Indian player to get this particular award and it's very special because now I am in the company of a lot of other good cricketers," said an elated Dhoni. The Indian beat off tough competition from teammate Sachin Tendulkar, Australia fast bowler Nathan Bracken and Pakistan stalwart Mohammad Yousuf to take the prestigious award. "Some fantastic players have won this award in the past and to be mentioned During the voting period, Dhoni played 39 ODIs and scored 1,298 runs at an average of 49.92 and at a rate of 82.46 runs per 100 balls faced. In that time, he hit a century and nine fifties, making sure he led his team Also in that time, the wicket-keeper in him captured 62 dismissals - 46 catches and 16 stumpings - which is almost twice as many as the next best. Currently ranked number one in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, Dhoni thanked all for standing by him. It was an honour, says Yuvraj
Winning the inaugural Twenty20 International Performance of the Year Award was icing on the cake but even getting nominated for the honour was a big honour in itself, according to star India batsman Yuvraj Singh. The flamboyant left-hander became the first winner of the newly introduced award at the ICC gala last night for his amazing six sixes in a Stuart Broad over during the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa. "For me, it was very important just to get nominated," a beaming Yuvraj said after collecting his award from former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga. "There were other great performances during the past year, for example Chris Gayle's innings in the World Twenty20 was fantastic. I am very happy to collect this award and I would like to congratulate the other players who were nominated alongside me," the dashing left-hander said. This new award highlights the most impressive performances by players in Twenty20 Internationals during the 12-month voting period and it marks the advent of this exciting new format of the game at international level. On the September 19 match last year, Yuvraj smashed every delivery of the 19th over beyond the boundary rope, in the process registering a 12-ball half-century and putting his team on course for victory. It was the first time a player had hit six sixes in a single Twenty20 International over. Herschelle Gibbs did it in an ODI during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies while Garry Sobers became the first batsman to achieve the feat during a first-class match back in 1968. According to the LG ICC Awards Voting Academy, Yuvraj's effort was the most impressive performance of the past 12 months. It beat off competition from his team-mate Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who led his team to victory at the ICC World Twenty20 2007 in South Africa, Gayle who scored 117 off just 57 balls against host team South Africa in the opening match of the same tournament in Johannesburg and Australia's Brett Lee who became the first bowler to take a hat-trick in the event against Bangladesh in Cape Town. Recalling the eventful over, the Indian said he could sense history when he had hit his fifth straight six. "After the fifth six in that over I remember having butterflies in my stomach and I knew that if I managed to hit it for six it would be very special. It was a great feeling when I saw the ball go over the boundary," he reminisced. We are happy: BCCI
Mumbai: The BCCI today expressed happiness over the ICC annual awards won by Indian players Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh while adding that it expected Ishant Sharma too to join the ranks of the award winners. "We are happy that two Indian players received the ICC's annual awards, particularly Mahendra Singh Dhoni who had an outstanding season. We thought that probably (young pacer) Ishant Sharma would also get the Emerging Player honour, but it did not happen," said BCCI's CAO Ratnakar Shetty today. Ishant Sharma lost out to Sri Lanka's spin sensation Ajantha Mendis who bagged the Emerging Player honour at the annual ICC awards function held in Dubai.
— PTI |
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ICC defers decision on CT date
Dubai, September 11 The global governing body also admitted that some cricket boards have objected to the staging of the eight-nation prestigious tournament in October next year. India had objected to that date because of its ODI series against Australia the The ICC Board and CEC, after two-day meeting, decided that CEO Haroon Lorgat would engage Member Boards in this regard and discuss the matter in ICC Board meeting next month. “Lorgat will engage with member boards likely to be affected by the rescheduling of the tournament to September/October 2009 and he would report to the ICC Board on the result of that engagement at its next meeting, in October,” Morgan said. The CEC also decided to continue the trial of Umpire Referral System, which took place in the recent Sri Lanka-India Test series, to some upcoming series before its actual implementation. A final report on the system will be submitted by ICC umpires’ and referees’ manager Vince van der Bijl and ICC umpires’ manager Doug Cowie after the trials to ICC Cricket Committee in May next year and it will be considered by the CEC in June. The primacy of ICC events over bilateral series was also restated during the meeting besides the Future Tours Programme post 2012. PCB pins financial hopes
on India series
KARACHI: After the disappointment of Australia’s Test tour and Champions Trophy postponement, PCB is now pinning hopes on the home series against India early next year to shore up its financial resources. PCB director of cricket operations Zakir Khan said India was not expected to raise security issues in their tour to Pakistan in January next year. “The tour is important and we don’t believe we will face any problems with the Indians over security issues. Right throughout Champions Trophy crisis, they strongly supported us and insisted the tournament must be held in Pakistan. So we have no doubt they will come,” Zakir said. “In a way after months without cricket a tour by India would be the perfect way to revive international cricket activities in Pakistan. It will also shore up our revenues,” he added. Zakir said the board would send a tentative itinerary for the series involving three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 game to the Indian board for final approval. “Since we don’t have any international commitments in next few weeks we are working on preparing venues and finalising other details for the tour. We are also prepared for an Indian delegation to visit Pakistan for a security check ahead of the series,” Zakir said.
— PTI |
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Champions League rights go for $975m
Dubai, September 11 The channel has secured the rights to telecast all seasons until 2017, starting from the inaugural season to be held from December 3 to 10, for what is being claimed as the highest value cricket tournament on a per game basis. Abu Dhabi Sports Club and DIC were the other bidders in contention for the rights. All the bids were opened in Dubai today. While DIC's bid was $751.3 million, Abu Dhabi Sports Club's proposal was disqualified for being a conditional bid. Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner of Indian Premier League described it as the best commercial deal for the inaugural season. "We have what we believe to be the best commercial deal for inaugural Twenty20 Champions League season," he said in a statement issued by the channel.
— PTI |
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Anand out of contention for top finish
Bilbao (Spain), September 11 After suffering his second loss in the tournament, Anand's number one world ranking also came under threat and unless there is a revival in fortunes of the Indian ace, he stands to lose some precious rating points as well from the tournament. On another day of 'bloody battles', former world champion Veselin Topalov scored his second victory over Magnus Carlsen of Norway to regain sole lead while Vassily Ivanchuk's new-found form helped him grind Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan. With just two more rounds remaining in the double round robin event with a soccer-like scoring system, Topalov has 14 points. He is followed by Aronian at 12. Ivanchuk and Carlsen share the third spot with 11 points apiece while Anand and Radjabov are now distant joint fifth having just 6 points apiece. For Anand, there were two disturbing things from the defeat against Aronian. One he lost with white and secondly he misplayed a superior endgame. It was a Scotch opening that gave Anand slightly better prospects after the queens got traded early and the Indian nursed his position well to reach a better rook and minor piece endgame. After winning a pawn, disaster struck Anand as he lost control in quick time. Aronian took his chances and turned the tables with some deft manoeuvres. It was a bad day in office for the world champion when nothing went right. — PTI
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The championship, held under floodlights on the synthetic track of the Maharaja’s College Grounds here, saw only one national and one meet record being set in the Men’s 110m Hurdles and Women’s Triple The Railways, though dominating the meet, saw their medal tally dip from 75 they garnered at the 47th Championship at Jamshedpur last year. Their gold haul dipped to 27 from 29 last year while the silver went down to 19 from 25 and bronze to 14 from 21 at Jamshedpur. Joseph G. Abraham of Railways was judged best male athlete of the 48th Championship while Sinimole Paulose of ONGC, who bagged two golds, repeated her Jamshedpur achievement to be adjudged best female athlete at Kochi. — UNI
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‘Not disabled enough’
Beijing, September 11 Derek Malone, an athletics bronze medallist at the 2004 Paralympics, was ruled ineligible after officials said he did not “demonstrate enough impairment of function in football” in Ireland’s first match in the seven-a-side soccer in Beijing. The 28-year-old said he was “bitterly disappointed” and the victim of his own success in training so hard to manage the symptoms of his condition, an impairment which results in altered neuromuscular function. “Cerebral palsy has shown to be a very trainable condition but if you stop training for any length of time, the symptoms will return. There’s no cure for cerebral palsy,” Malone told a news conference on Thursday. “I find it ridiculous. High-performance sport is about pushing the limits...how can you have a system that penalises athletes for working hard at their skills? I refuse to let a flawed process cast aspersions on integrity of the achievements I have made.” All athletes competing in the seven-a-side soccer, a sport contested only by athletes with cerebral palsy at the Games, are assessed and classified by officials according to the extent of their impairment. Those, like Malone, who have the least disability must have “an obvious impairment that has impact on the sport of football”.
— Reuters |
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Athletes matching Olympic greats
Beijing, September 11 But the distinction blurs when it comes to achieving the goal. US swimmer Erin Popovich, who stands 1.34 metres tall, plucked her third gold medal of the Beijing Paralympics with a world-record time of 1:31.60 in women’s SB7 100m breaststroke. The 23-year-old is often referred to as “the Paralympic Michael Phelps”, but it seems more accurate to pin a nickname on Phelps: “the Olympic Popovich”. In the Athens Olympics in 2004, Phelps came up one short of matching Mark Spitz’s 1972 gold medal haul, while Popovich went 7-for-7 in five individual events and two relays in the ensuing Paralympics. “The best thing about the Paralympic Games is that stereotypes are dispelled,” said Popovich. “You see someone in a wheelchair or with a certain disability and instead of dwelling on their problems, you see they are focused on what they can achieve. I’m blown away by their abilities.” Popovich is not an exception at the Paralympics. More than 4,000 disabled athletes from around the world competing here want to be recognised - win or lose - for their sporting achievements. South African sensation Oscar Pistorius started his quest for three gold medals on a winning note as the double amputee, using a pair of carbon-fibre prosthetic legs, overcame a slow start to win the men’s TT44 100m sprint in 11.17 seconds at the Bird’s Nest stadium. — Xinhua
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Punjab dominate ring
Bathinda, September, 11 Other results: Fly 51kg: Hemant Kumar (Jha) bt Ashwani Sharma (AIP) 15-9; M. Suranjay Singh (SSCB) bt Mukesh Kumar (RSPB) 20-10;
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Lahore Lions enter semis
Sirsa, September 11 The Lahore Lions skipper Babar Adil Khan Bhindara won the toss and put the Young Club, UAE in to bat. The UAE team scored 125 runs with the help of 37 (40b) by wicketkeeper Rajinder Bist and 23 extras. In reply, Lahore Lions reached the target in 18.1 over with seven wickets to spare. Faisal Javed of the Lahore Lions entertained the crowd with 62 of 46 balls studded with four hits to the fence and two towering sixes. |
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3rd day’s play washed out
Hyderabad, September 11 The umpires inspected the ground at the Rajiv Gandhi International cricket stadium at 12.30 pm. For the second consecutive day the ground conditions remained unsuitable for play. Only three hours play was possible on the first day due to
the wet outfield and poor light conditions while the remaining two days were completely washed out due to rain.
— PTI |
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grabbed one more last night when he became the first Indian to win the ICC ODI Player of the Year award and the star stumper-batsman is relishing it.
World Champion Viswanathan Anand bowed out of contention for a top finish in the Bilbao Grand Slam final chess tournament after losing from a better position against Levon Aronian of Armenia in the eighth round here.
It was a day of the passionate Punjab pugilists who shined in all the three matches held till the filing of the report - Light fly 28 kg, Light 60 kg and Middle 75 kg bouts, in the semifinals on the sixth day and secured their position in the finals of the 55th Senior National Boxing Championship, here today.
Kochi, September 11
KOLKaTA: