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Looking back Looking ahead
Indian colours for citizens only
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Lanka to tour Pakistan
Regime change spells trouble for Modi
BSF, EME, Punjab cops in last 4
Punjab, Haryana dominate
Nayar restricts HP
RCF lift soccer trophy
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Looking back Looking ahead
New Delhi, December 26 Keeping pace with her dreams, Saina had made her intent clear at the start of the year when she became the first Indian girl to enter a Super Series semi-final in Singapore Open before losing to Mi Zhou of Hong Kong. She also made it to the last eight of the Thailand open. With a new found optimism, the 18-year-old then sizzled at the Beijing Games, stunning world number five and fourth seed Wang Chen of Hong Kong in a three-game thriller to become the first Indian woman to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympics. The little Hyderabadi teen soon attained the tag of a 'giant killer' as she galloped her way to an impressive win in the Yonex Chinese Taipei Open, beating Li Ya Lydia Cheah of Malaysia 21-8 21-19 in September. The National champion also clinched the Youth Commonwealth Games and World Junior Championship titles and was adjudged the most promising player of the year by the Badminton World Federation soon after she broke into the elite top 10 bracket. With the year nearing end, another opportunity came her way when she qualified for the prestigious World Super Series Masters final in Malaysia after two of the Chinese pulled out of the event at the last moment. However, her participation in the event came in jeopardy when her passport got entangled in a bureaucratic quagmire. But a timely intervention by the Ministry of External Affairs settled everything on time as Saina emerged as the only Indian to reach the semifinal of the prestigious event, defeating two top level player on a single day. The Hyderabadi teen defeated World number seven Hongyan Pi of France and world number 11 Mew Choo Wong of Malaysia in the round-robin league before going down to world number six Chen Wang in the final four. Among male, 2008 saw the resurgence of Chetan Anand into the forefront once again. The 28-old-year shuttler rose like a phoenix, first winning the national championship for the third time on the trot and then romping home with the Kenya International Open, Spanish Open in Madrid and Nepal Open in June. He reached the peak, claiming the Bitburger and Czech International titles as his ranking shoot to World number 15. The Arjuna awardee also made it to the finals of Indian Open, Belgium Open and Dubai Open. While Chetan weaved a web across his opponents in the singles, his wife and national champion Jwala Gutta kept the flag fluttering in the doubles events. Combining with Shruti Kurian, the Hyderabadi lass romped home with two titles, Nepal International Series and KLRC Bulgaria Open GP, while reaching the semi-finals of the Yonex Dutch Open Grand Prix in October. It was a year of resurgence for the seven-time national doubles champion, who had to go through a bureaucratic hegemony last year along with her husband Chetan as critics started writing their obituary. However, a gritty Jwala shrugged off all criticism and galloped her way to three more titles with partner D Viju in the mixed doubles. The world number 38 duo won the Nepal International Series, Bitburger Open Grand Prix and KLRC Bulgaria Open Grand Prix to complete a hat-trick of titles. While, the whole country was celebrating the winning feats of these shuttlers, one man who sat all alone in one corner was ace shuttler Anup Sridhar. Riding on his last year's performance, the 25-year-old Bangalorean got a ticket to the Beijing Olympics and soon became the best Indian male shuttler ranking world number 14 but a foot injury in the first quarter of the year dented his hopes as it kept him out of the court for most of the season. Sridhar started the year winning the All-India ranking tournament in New Delhi and reached the pre-quarterfinals of the Proton Malaysia Super Series where he lost to Hyun Il Lee, the eventual runner-up. Even in the tournaments he played - Indonesian Open, Singapore Open and Thailand Open - he failed to make any mark and made early exits. However, Sridhar didn't let go the opportunity of representing the country in the world biggest sporting extravaganza and took to the courts in Beijing with cortisone shots and defeated Marco Vasconcelos of Portugal in the first round before going down to Shoji Sato of Japan. In fine, the year gone by has filled a new aura of self-belief in Indian shuttlers which is here to stay. As former All-England Champion Pullela Gopichand would put it,"Indian badminton has come at the World stage."
— PTI
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Indian colours for citizens only
New Delhi, December 26 This rule will also apply to sportspersons seeking to avail of government assistance to represent the country. The issue of Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) representing the country in international competitions has been hanging fire with some of the National Sports Federations (NSFs), and in the absence of a uniform national policy on the matter, different federations have been following different rules. Recently, the decision of the Sports Racket Federation of India (SRFI) to allow only those players who hold the citizenship of India to represent the country had been challenged by the affected players and the Delhi High Court had directed the government to formulate a uniform policy on the matter in the "best interest of sports in the country". The Government statement said pursuant to the direction of the Delhi High Court, the Government consulted the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and all recognised NSFs and sought their comments on: 1) Whether a person who is not a citizen of India should be allowed to carry the flag of India or walk under it and represent the country in any national/international sports events; 2) Whether local talent should be given preference in talent scouting, nurturing and training with the objective of promoting and developing local talent to international standards; 3) Whether it is appropriate that slots available to represent India my be taken up by non-citizens depriving the opportunity to local talent to learn and develop from competitions. A sports ministry official said while the IOA did not respond to the government posers, most of the NSFs favoured the government stance. The All-India Tennis Federation (AIFF), though supporting the government decision, wanted the government to consider the issue of "dual citizenship" to those wanting to represent the country, as tennis would be one of the most affected if the Government insisted that only Indian passport holders would be allowed to represent the county. Tennis players like Prakash Amritraj, Sunitha Rao, Shikha and Neha Uberoi, who hold US passports, junior squash player Karm Kumar, who holds a British passport, will be the immediate casualties of the government fiat. A Sports Ministry official said the purpose of the Government decision was to encourage local talent as those holding "US and UK passports cannot have allegiance to the Indian national flag". "The whole issue is a storm in a tea cup created by a few tennis and squash players who are not citizens of India", the official added. He said PIO and OCI derive economic benefits given by the Government of India and the PIO does not get any right of dual citizenship. "Even the Indian law or Constitution does not provide for. Whenever the benefit of dual citizenship is given by the Government, the Ministry would look afresh into the matter", he added.
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Lanka to tour Pakistan
Colombo, December 26 Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa today discussed the issue with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollgama, who recommended that the tour should proceed as scheduled from January 20 to February 25. The series, which has been arranged only because India called off its tour in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, will feature three Tests, as many ODIs and a Twenty20 match. Before giving his nod for the tour, Bogollagama contacted the Minister of Sports and Public Recreation Gamini Lokuge and sought his views. Lokuge had earlier stated that since the series in Pakistan would be taking place under the aegis of the International Cricket Council, it should be subject to security clearance of the ICC. With Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in two minds on whether to tour or not, the acting High Commissioner of Pakistan in Colombo FazalUr-Rahman Kazi had also spoken to the Foreign Minister on Wednesday on the issue. The Minister said since SLC had already accepted the invitation from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the tour should proceed as agreed, a Foreign Ministry statement said. Minister Bogollagama was of the view that sport was an effective means of promoting connectivity between nations and thereby enhancing friendship and mutual goodwill between countries. Shunned by most visiting teams because of the volatile security situation there, Pakistan were desperate to host some international cricket after India cancelled their tour in the wake of the Mumbai carnage. The Sports Minister had earlier made it clear that the cricket team would require a clearance from the Foreign Ministry before going ahead with the tour. "We also need the foreign ministry clearance for the cricket tour to Pakistan and will be discussing the matter soon," Lokuge said. The Sports Minister discussed the issue with the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa who took up the issue with the Foreign Minister today. The interim committee headed by Arjuna Ranatunga, which was dissolved recently, had accepted the PCB invitation to play a full series in Pakistan.
— PTI |
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Regime change spells trouble for Modi
Jaipur, December 26 Modi, whose closeness to former Chief Minister and now BJP leader of opposition Vasundhra Raje had led him to make cricket stadium in the Sawai Mann Singh complex, main centre of IPL activity, is all set to lose control over it. Gehlot has ended the 20 year lease agreement of the stadium signed by Rajasthan Cricket Association led by Modi with the previous BJP government. Under the lease, Modi was entitled to use the stadium as he wants. During Raje's tenure, the state level functions were held outside Jaipur. But Gehlot has sought the stadium back saying he wants to have the complex back, as he wants to continue the tradition of holding the functions here. While players on a whole are upset over such use of the sport field, the RCA has already given in saying they would agree to the Chief Minister's wish and not take the matter to the court. Modi, meanwhile is knocking the doors of the senior Congress leaders using the clout of BCCI president Sharad Pawar and film actor Shah Rukh Khan, who is close to the Gandhi family. Gehlot recently made a widely circulated remark that the stadium was of 'aam aadmi' and it should be taken back from the 'khaas aadmi' (modi). Besides the move to take the stadium back, Gehlot was also looking into the real estate deals made by Lalit Modi in last five years. Modi is also under fire over the worse performance by Rajasthan cricket team in the Ranji championship. Critics are asking for his removal saying his move of making bringing Greg Chappel as head of the Centre of Excellence set up in the stadium has not yielded any results. They point out the team could not win a single match and no player showed potential enough to emerge at the national scene. |
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BSF, EME, Punjab cops in last 4
Nabha, December 26 The Jalandhar based teams which made the last four cut were holders BSF who quelled a forceful challenge put up by the high flying Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), Patiala 2-1, EME who sunk the aspirations of a lacklustre Northern railway 2-1 and Punjab Police who downed Corps of Signals 3-1. The only non-Jalandhar team to make the semi-final stage was CISF, New Delhi who downed Namdhari XI 1-0. BSF started off strongly with Marilas Lakra putting the team ahead with a stunner. The smooth flowing Lakra collected a loose ball from the half line and after deftly making his way past as many as six players found himself in a one-to-one situation with goalkeeper Rajpal Singh. Showing tremendous physical agility, Lakra body feigned his way past the keeper and caressed the ball home. PSEB started using the wings more effectively and both left in Harpreet Singh and left out Manbir Singh created enough space upfront for their strikers to move freely. However, the BSF defence stood as rock with custodian Major Singh saving the team the blushes on many occasions. BSF finally managed to take the lead through Varinderjit Singh who scored off a penalty stroke awarded to the eventual winners after a PSEB player fouled striker Peter Tirkey just as he was to score. Once the security men had a one goal cushion they steadfastly hung on to the lead to beat PSEB 2-1. |
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Punjab, Haryana dominate
Gurdaspur, December 26 Punjab logged 63 points. Haryana and Mizoram got 48 points each and vied for second place. However, Haryana were declared second whereas Mizoram were given the third place after the rules applied by the organisers of the tournament. In girls section, Haryana pocketed 73 points and were declared first, host Punjab remained second with 71 points whereas Maharashtra got 60 points and won the third place in the wrestling event. Punjab’s Gurmukh Singh and Gurpreet Singh bagged gold in weightlifting in snatch and clean and jerk. In 56 kg snatch, clean and jerk category, Gurmukh Singh clinched gold by lifting 167 kg (73 kg snatch, 94 kg clean and jerk), A Subraminium of Tamil Nadu lifted 165 kg (72 kg snatch, 93 kg clean and jerk) and won silver medal and Lal. Mghakliana of Mizoram got bronze with 128 kg (47 kg snatch, 81 kg clean and jerk). Gurpreet Singh won gold by lifting 162 kg (73 kg snatch , 89 clean and jerk). Zange Appa of Maharashtra won silver with 151 kg (66 kg snatch , 85 kg clean and jerk) whereas Surj Yadave of Haryana had to remain satisfied with bronze by lifting 110 kg (52 kg snatch, 58 kg clean and jerk). Maharashtra state dominated in table tennis in both boys and girls sections. Their boys defeated Tamil Nadu by 3-1 and its girls outplayed the host by 3-1 in final matches. In the girls section, the third place went to Haryana who defeated Kerala by 3-2. |
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Nayar restricts HP
Ahmedabad, December 26 Scoreboard Himachal Pradesh (1st innings): Thakkar c Powar b Kulkarni 29, Sangram c Jaffer b Nayar 13, Indulkar lbw b Nayar 0,Dogra b Kulkarni 12, Mukesh lbw b Nayar 4,Mannu c Samant b Powar 61, Sarandeep c Bahutule b Nayar 75, Bhatia not out 21, Thakur b Powar 8, Malik b Nayar 7, Mehta b Nayar 0. Extras (lb-2, w-1, pen 17) 20. Total (all out for 80.5 overs) 250. Fall of wickets: 1-50, 2-50, 3-50, 4-64, 5-74, 6-175, 7-223 8-237, 9-244. Bowling: A Agarkar 11-1-32-0, DS Kulkarni 19-2-45-2 RA Shaikh 12-0-46-0, AM Nayar 17.5-6-46-6, SV Bahutule 11-1-50-0, RR Powar 10-1-29-2. Mumbai (1st innings): Samant not out 14, Jaffer not out 0. Extras (nb-5): 5 Total (for no loss in six overs) 19. Bowling: A K Thakur 3-0-8-0, V S Malik 3-0-11-0.
— PTI |
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RCF lift soccer trophy
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 26 The lone scorer in today's match was forward Pankaj Suri of RCF who hit the ball in in the first half of match in 15th minute. Both the teams showed an impressive game and enthralled the audience. RCF maintain the lead of 1-0 but failed to score any further goal. PSEB men fought hard to restore parity but strong defence maintained by the RCF did not allowed them to score. Punjab Tourism and Jail Minster Heera Singh Gabria handed over the trophy to RCF players amidst loud cheers and applause by audience. |
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From being just another promising young shuttler to breaking into the world's top 10, the year gone by has seen the metamorphosis of Saina Nehwal into a sensation, whose exploits helped India rise up the world badminton chart. Riding on her success story, Indian badminton enjoyed a steep-rise over the past few seasons to leave its mark on the world canvass.
Among male, 2008 saw the resurgence of Chetan Anand into the forefront once again. The 28-old-year shuttler rose like a phoenix, romping home with the Kenya International Open, Spanish Open in Madrid and Nepal Open in June. He then reached the peak of his form, claiming the Bitburger and Czech International titles as his ranking shoot to world number 15
While Chetan weaved a web across his opponents in the singles, his wife and national champion Jwala Gutta kept the flag fluttering in the doubles events. Combining with Shruti Kurian, the Hyderabadi lass romped home with two titles, Nepal International Series and KLRC Bulgaria Open Grand Prix, while reaching the semi-finals of the Yonex Dutch Open Grand Prix in October