New Delhi, September 19
Olympic fame has not affected the life style of wrestler Sushil Kumar a wee bit. He is back in the dank, dark room No 7 of the Chhatrasal Stadium wrestling centre, occupying his bed near the cooler, to pursue his rigorous training schedule, which stretches from 4 a.m to 9 a.m and from 5 p.m to 9 p m. He shares the room with several other wrestling trainees, but makes no issue of the facilities at the stadium with which he has been familiar for the past 14 years.

"If I could adjust with the facilities here and become an Olympic medallist, then I should have no reason to complain about anything. But whatever improvement needed to be made in the boarding and lodging facilities is being looked into by our coaches as it is not concerning just one wrestler, but 90-odd trainees", he said modestly.

Though Sushil continues to be his humble, modest self, his bronze medal victory in the 66kg freestyle at the Beijing Olympic Games has rekindled interest in the rustic sport as there has been a rush of young boys, including a three-year-old, wanting to join the akhara, run by former Asian Games champion Mahabali Satpal.

"It's good for wrestling, it's for the country as now there is hope of wrestlers winning medals", said Sushil who was ranked fourth in the world, and one of the best eight wrestlers in the fray in Beijing.

"And, of course, now more people recognise me, though many of them are not familiar with wrestling", he explained.

Sushil's bronze medal win also had a spinoff in the fortune of his near and dear ones as his mentor Satpal, coaches Yashbir Singh and Ramphal have been ensured of promotions while his parents have become richer beyond imagination.

Sushil has so far received Rs 1.30 crore in cash awards - Rs 50 lakh from the Delhi Government, Rs 25 lakh each from the Haryana Government and Union Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Rs 10 lakh from the Indian Olympic team sponsors Samsung and Rs 20 lakh from Union Sports Minister Dr M.S.Gill.

He is also set to receive the cash award announced by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, and has already taken charge at the Railway Headquarters at Baroda House in Delhi as Assistant Commercial Manager (ACM).

Sushil said the prize money he received had been entrusted to his parents “as they know how best to use it. They have been looking after my every need, and I continue to repose my faith in my parents to look after my interest”, he said with all innocence.

Though Sushil has been getting the cash awards promised to him one by one, he has not heard of anything about the "luxury car of his choice" promised to him by a car dealer. A luxury bike presented to him has been sent to his home at Baprola at Najafgarh as he does not know driving, nor does he have the time to drive around.

Sushil was grateful to Lalu Prasad Yadav for sparing him from attending regular office as the minister has ordered that those recruited on sports quota need not attend office till they stop competing in their chosen sport.

Sushil said his next focus would be on the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the Asian Games and later the 2012 Olympic Games in London. "If my body permits, I would continue to wrestle as long as I can", he asserted.

He said he could have taken home a better-hued medal from Beijing had he employed better tactics in the initial rounds. He admitted that India had much catching up to do when compared to the USA and Russia. "Our coaches are looking into the drawbacks and trying to rectify our mistakes", he said.

A few days after returning from Beijing, instead of basking in his Olympic glory, Sushil, along with some other top wrestlers like Yogeshwar Dutt, Rajiv Tomar and Narendra Punia, competed in an Indo-Pak tournament in Haryana. Just to be rooted to the ground, lest he forgets his moorings.

Karachi, September 19
Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf has lashed out at the national selectors for continuously giving him the cold shoulder as far as Twenty20 cricket is concerned.

Yousuf, who has played 79 Test and 269 One-day internationals, is said to be very upset on learning that the selectors have not recommended his name for the four-nation Twenty20 tournament to be held in Toronto from October 10.

"Go and ask any reputed former captain if I should not be playing Twenty20 cricket for Pakistan. Ask Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Inzamam-ul-Haq if I shouldn't be playing.

"If they say I don't deserve to be in Pakistan's T20 team, I will retire from all cricket," Yousuf said in a hard hitting interview to 'Daily Jang'.

He accused the authorities of picking the Twenty20 side on personal whims and fancies and said he couldn't comprehend the criteria that was followed while picking the team.

"I am the best Pakistan batsman and I should be in the playing XI for Twenty20 cricket," said the middle-order batsman who was shortlisted for this year's ICC's One-day International Cricketer of the Year award.

He also took a dig at the selectors and critics who had questioned his fielding abilities in the instant form of cricket.

"If they talk about my fielding than tell me how many Jonty Rhodes do we have in the Pakistan team. Everyone knows about our fielding levels."

Yousuf's comments came after he was named to lead the Lahore team in the domestic Twenty20 championship from October 4 in which all the top players are expected to take part for their regional sides.

Mansoor Sohail, a spokesman for the Pakistan Cricket Board felt Yousuf's comments were unjustified.

"I don't know what has prompted this outburst but I think his comments on Twenty20 selection were unwarranted. He is our best batsman no doubt and he remains that," Sohail said.

But he also made it clear that players needed to be careful while making comments in the media.

Yousuf has not been picked in Pakistan's Twenty20 team since last year and he also didn't get a chance to play in the Indian Premier League owing to the ongoing legal battle with the Indian Cricket League. — PTI

Colombo, September 19
Sri Lanka Cricket's (SLC) interim governing body has softened its stand on national cricketers who have signed contracts with the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) and decided to allow them to play in the domestic cricket matches, an SLC official said.

SLC spokesman Shane Fernando said the decision to revoke the ban on ICL players and allowing them to play only domestic cricket was taken at the interim committee meeting led by its chairman Arjuna Ranatunga Wednesday at the SLC headquarters here.

"The interim committee has decided to allow the ICL players to play domestic cricket games, but the ban on them playing at the international level to represent Sri Lanka remains," Fernando told IANS on Friday.

The decision by the SLC has come at a time when the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) slapped a 10-year ban last week on players joining the ICL.

The previous interim committee of the SLC, led by Jayantha Dharmadasa, imposed a total ban on all national cricketers playing the ICL tournament, preventing them from taking part in all forms of cricket and cricket related activities locally and internationally.

It, however, allowed the national players to play the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL).

Karachi, September 19
The mass exodus of Bangladeshi players to the Indian Cricket League (ICL) is giving jitters to the PCB, which is keeping a close tab on leading Pakistani cricketers to prevent them from joining the rebel Twenty20 series.

The Pakistan Cricket Board was, till recently, not too concerned about the ICL as it believed that the players who wanted to join the rebel league were already with it and no other would dare follow suit fearing a life ban.

But after the exodus of 13 Bangladesh players, many of whom are current members of the national team, the PCB has been shaken out of its complacency.

"Even when unconfirmed reports came out that senior batsman, Mohammad Yousuf was considering joining the ICL at the cost of his Pakistan career, the board officials were not too worried as the feeling is that the ICL has done the damage it could have to Pakistan cricket by signing on nearly 16 players," one source said.

"But it is now taking seriously, reports that the ICL might be on the verge of signing some more players from Pakistan to give their league a more competitive feel.

"They have also made it clear to Yousuf that he will be banned immediately like the other rebels if he tries to enter into any new agreement with the ICL which is not recognised by any Test playing nation," the source added.

Yousuf has dismissed reports that he was considering joining the ICL.

"No such thing is going to happen and all these reports are rubbish. If I wanted to play in the ICL I would not have dropped their contract in the first instance," Yousuf said. — PTI 

Chandigarh, September 19
Ashok Hall Nainital (Uttaranchal) will play the hosts Pinegrove School, while last year’s runners-up YPS Mohali will lock horns with the defending champions Mayo College Ajmer in the semifinals in the All-India IPSC Cricket Tournament for Girls being played at Pinegrove School, Dharampur.

Incessant rain played spoiltsport and rendered play impossible in the match between Daly College Indore and YPS, Mohali. Both the teams shared points which enabled the YPS girls to move into the semifinals.

The groundsmen, children and staff made commendable effort to make an eight-over truncated late night match under flood lights possible between Ashok Hall Nainital and Modi School, Laxmangarh yesterday.

The Modi girls batted first. After losing their captain Aishwariya in the 2nd over for naught, the team did well to score 36 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 8 overs. Raveena made 18 not out, while Jyoti and Himani took one wicket each.

Their opponents made the required runs in 4.2 overs, thus ensuring their advance to the semifinal stage. The Ashok Hall captain, Jyoti made 19 not out and was declared the Player of the match.

The hosts and Mayo College had already reached the semifinals on the basis of their excellent run during the league matches. 

Chandigarh, September 19
Adorning colourful soccer balls as overhead water tanks, Mahilpur, the host city for the Balwant Singh Bains Memorial 31st National U-16 soccer championship, is all set to become country’s first soccer city.

Though inclement weather may prevent Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from declaring Mahilpur as the country’s first city dedicated to a single team sport at the opening ceremony of the national championship tomorrow, a formal promulgation may be made before the conclusion of the tournament.

It is the second time in 11 years that this football nursery, which has produced nine Arjuna awardees and eight Maharaja Ranjit Singh award winners, will be playing host to the national u-16 championship.

Besides Balwant Singh Bains, contributions of principal Bakhtawar Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Gulberg Singh in promoting soccer during past five decades will also be acknowledged by raising special structures in the town.

Dominated by affluent NRIs, Mahilpur, that has given the country nine national skippers, will have special decorative gates to eulogise the contributions of soccer greats like Jarnail Singh, Inder Singh, Parminder Singh, Gurdev Singh, Manjit Singh and Yash Pal Jassi after it is declared a soccer city.

The only time India played in Olympic soccer tournament was in 1956 in Melbourne where Jarnail Singh from Mahilpur block led the country to the fourth position. It was also Jarnail Singh who had scored the gold medal-winning goal against Korea in the Jakarta Asian Games.

Mahilpur has also a unique distinction that entire team of its Khalsa School represented Punjab state that won the national crown in early 90s. This unique achievement of a school team representing the state has been unprecedented anywhere in the world.

Besides, the Punjab government will have an ultra-modern floodlit football stadium soon, said Harcharan Bains, media adviser to Parkash Singh Badal. The existing football playfields in the town -Khalsa College and Government Senior Secondary School - have been the venues of major tournaments and championships so far.

Chandigarh, September 19
Principal Harbhajan Singh Sporting Club Mahilpur will organise the 31st Sub-Junior National soccer Championship which will be held from September 20 to October 06.

The club will provide board and lodging of all participants as also the preparation of playing fields and conduct of matches. A total of 27 teams from the states and union territories are participating.

Mahilpur has a very long tradition of nurturing the game of football. Towards this end, Principal Harbhajan Singh Sporting Club has been running a major tournament every year since 1962 in four categories; namely clubs, colleges, school boys and school girls. They also run two league tournament during the summer vacations for boys under 19 and under 14 year of age.

In addition, a coaching camp for boys from in the 10 to 14 age group is also held. Scholarship are awarded to promising young players of school and college.

Chief Minister of Punjab Parkash singh Badal will inaugurate the championships.

Faridkot, September 19
Ropar Hawks outplayed Namdhari XI Sirsa 3-1 in the opening match of 17th All-India Baba Farid Gold Cup hockey tournament today.

Jagseer Singh, inside right of Ropar Hawks, opened the account when he was scored off a rebound of penalty corner in the 35th minute .

Namdhari's Jaspal Singh, centre half, equalised when he dodged the deep defence of the Ropar Hawks.

Ropar Hawks’ Jagseer Singh (inside right) again managed to score a field goal in the 62nd minute in a good move by the Ropar Hawks forwards. Ropar Hawks 3rd goal was scored by Major Singh (outside left) in the 65th minute of play. — PTI

New Delhi, September 19
Delhi will field a 20-member team in the 31st Sub-Junior National Football Championship for the Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy to be held at Mahilpur (Punjab) from September 20 to October 6.

The team: Goalkeepers: Pranav Purohit, Shashwat Misra. Defenders: Atul Rawat, Yogesh Rawat, Bhupender Singh, Anmol Tirkey, Ankit Yadav, Abhijit Burman and Purusharth Singh. Mid-fielders: Sachin Kohli (vice-captain), Michael Chongthu, Tanuj Gulati, Gopal Pathak, Ishaan Pakrashi, Soumitra Maity. Forwards: Kislay Sajwan (captain), Rohan Tuli, Supunya Devavrat, Nirbhay Narang and Arun Sharma. Nirmal Singh will be the chief coach. — TNS

BRIEFLY

Karachi
BCCI never attempted to get CT scrapped: PCB: The Pakistan Cricket Board has dismissed reports that the BCCI attempted to get the Champions Trophy scrapped from the international calender at the ICC meeting which postponed the eight-nation tourney, to be held here, until next year. Reports have said that the Indians, at the last meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Dubai, questioned the necessity of having the tournament in the first place. But PCB chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi said he was not aware of the Indian board raising any such objections. On the contrary, he said the Indians were quite flexible on adjusting the Future Tours Programme to find a new window for the tournament whose hosting rights are still with Pakistan. — PTI

PCB jittery over B’desh ICL exodus: The mass exodus of Bangladeshi players to the Indian Cricket League (ICL) is giving jitters to the PCB, which is keeping a close tab on leading Pakistani cricketers to prevent them from joining the rebel Twenty20 series. The Pakistan Cricket Board was, till recently, not too concerned about the ICL as it believed that the players who wanted to join the rebel league were already with it and no other would dare follow suit fearing a life ban. But after the exodus of 13 Bangladesh players, many of whom are current members of the national team, the PCB has been shaken out of its complacency. — PTI

New Delhi
I was never an express bowler: Irfan: Often ridiculed for his pace, or rather lack of it, Irfan Pathan says he is really baffled by the entire fuss for the simple reason that he has never been an express bowler in the first place. At some stage, Irfan was virtually being ridiculed for his dipping pace and diminishing swing but the left-arm seamer believes he never was a tearaway bowler and hence all the talk about losing pace is grossly unfair. "A lot of people talk about my swing and pace and I want to tell them that I was never a quick bowler. One must understand that even a spinner bowls slow. It's the variation which helps bowlers take wickets. I have always been a bowler who bowls at around 130-135 km/hr," Irfan said. For those who believe he is losing his swing as well, the Baroda seamer said, "I bowl first change these days and the world's greatest would agree that white ball stops swinging after the first 10-12 overs." — PTI

Colombo
SLC allows ‘rebels’ to play domestic cricket: In an unprecedented move, the Sri Lankan board has decided to allow players associated with the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) to play at domestic level but will continue to bar them from the national team. “Players will be allowed to play for their respective clubs and share their expertise, but cannot represent the country,” Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) media manager Shane Fernando said. The decision is pathbreaking considering the fact that cricket boards around the world had agreed to the BCCI diktat not to allow ICL players in official cricket. — UNI

New York
Sharapova to donate $210,000 for Chernobyl victims: UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Maria Sharapova will donate $210,000 in an initiative offering scholarships to youth from regions of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. Announcing the joint initiative between United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and her private foundation, Sharapova noted her own connection to the issue she was born in 1987 after her family fled Belarus for Siberia because of concerns about radiation in the wake of the Chernobyl accident. The Maria Sharapova Foundation will award 12 students five-year scholarships to study at two leading universities in Belarus. Working with UNDP, which coordinates the UN's work on Chernobyl, the first scholarship recipients will begin their studies in September 2009. — PTI

SANGRUR
Inter-school shooting competition: Sardar Gurbaksh Singh Sibia Inter Public School Shooting Competition is being organised by the local General Gurnam Singh Public School on October 11-12 at its indoor shooting range on the school premises here. School principal Kulwinder Singh said the competitions would be held in .177 bore air rifle (National Rifle), .177 bore air rifle peep sight (NR) and air pistol (NR) events. Entries would be closed on October 4. The participants would have to bring their weapons and ammunition. Entry fee for individual events had been fixed as Rs 100 per event while entry fee for team events would be Rs 150. — TNS

New Delhi
Punjab to give cash award to Sandhu: Dronacharya boxing coach G.S.Sandhu, whose contribution to Vijender's bronze triumph in the 75kg weight category at the Beijing Olympic Games will be rewarded with cash awards, thanks to the initiative taken by Union Sports Minister Dr M.S.Gill. Sandhu has already been given Rs 11 lakh by the Haryana Government. Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal has also promised to give Rs 11 lakh to the boxing coach. Sandhu, who has been in charge of the national boxing team for the past four years, is a recipient of the Dronacharya Award. Dr Gill also helped the cash awards of gold medallist in shooting Abhinav Bindra raised from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh and bronze medallists Vijender and Sushil Kumar from Rs 12 lakh to Rs 20 lakh each. — TNS