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Somdev stuns Cilic
WADA Code Row
‘Cricketers can trust WADA’
Sushil Kumar
‘No problem’
Vijender Singh |
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Selangor Masters
Gaganjeet Bhullar
Waiting for new stripes?
Pak manager: No match fixing
Rural sports in Punjab gets boost
Indian eves sink Belarus, reach medal league round
India dominate
Asian Cadet Wrestling Championship
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Washington, August 5 “It’s definitely the biggest win of my career. He's a great player. He's in top 15 already and on his way to the top 10," Somdev gushed after the win. All along I played well. My plan was to compete as hard as possible. I took my chance and I'm proud of the result," said Somdev who saved five of the seven break points that his opponent had. Cilic had ended Somdev's dream run in January in Chennai, where the 24-year-old had reached his first ATP final with wins over players like Carlos Moya and Ivo Karlovic. Somdev said he did not have any butterflies in the stomach in the second round match and neither was he out to settle an old score. “It wasn't my first Tour final tonight so I wasn't as nervous going out," said the 153rd-ranked Indian. "But there was no (revenge factor) for my loss to him in Chennai. There's no ill feelings. We were just two competitors out there today," Somdev added. Somdev, who won the NCAA singles titles in 2007-08 while playing collegiate tennis at nearby University of Virginia, said competing in the qualifying rounds gave him an advantage against Cilic. "I already had three matches under my belt and this was his first match of the tournament. I just wanted to go out there and play my game, compete as hard as I could and let the chips fall where they may," said the youngster. Having played a lot of tennis at the University of Virginia, Somdev had enough support from the stands and if he can pull off a couple of more surprises, he might run into top seed Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals of the hardcourt event. "Andy who?" quipped Somdev. "I'm aware of where I am but I have to take it one match at a time," he said. On a more serious note, he said, "I've put in a lot of work. I'm doing things the right way. I’ll take a deep breath when I have some breathing space," said Somdev who played four matches in as many days. ‘WADA clause impractical’New Delhi: Tennis sensation Somdev Devvarman has endorsed the Indian cricketers' rejection of a WADA anti-doping clause, saying that it is "impractical and intrusive". "It's not practical at all. I would like to have my privacy. If WADA would like to test athletes then they should give a day's advance notice because honestly, I don't really know my schedule for the next day normally, so how can I inform someone else about it," Somdev said. Somdev said he was not against the code but it was not acceptable in its present form. "I support WADA in their attempt to stop substance abuse, but I feel they need to come up with a more practical way of dealing with it," he added. Somdev is not a signatory to the code because of his low ranking. — PTI
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Don’t compare cricket with others: Yuvraj
New Delhi, August 5 Yuvraj said while the athletes from other sports were entitled to their opinions, the cricketers' concerns were not without basis either. "I feel we are travelling more. We are playing a lot of time in a year and we should be given more space with due respect to other sports," Yuvraj told CNN-IBN. "After nine months of playing, we come home for just 10 days. We don't want somebody to intrude our privacy for dope tests during that small period. We have put out our points in front of the BCCI and they will speak to the ICC," he added.
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‘Cricketers can trust WADA’
New Delhi, August 5 Sushil said Agency would not divulge players' personal information to anyone and cricketers could be assured of maintaining their privacy. "Why are cricketers worrying so much? The worries of cricketers about infringement of privacy and possible security threat are not justified. ," Sushil said. — PTI |
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‘No problem’
Mumbai, August 5 "We (boxers) had signed the clause some 6-7 years ago. Abhi tak WADA se koi panga nahi hua hain (Till now we have not faced any problems from WADA)," Singh told reporters here. "Cricketers know best about their worries, but I have not lost my freedom till now," he said.— PTI |
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Bhullar falters, Lahiri leads Indian pack
Donald Banerjee A lightning storm which interrupted play for 75 minutes turned a good start into a night-marish experience for Gaganjeet Bhullar who finished the day at a poor three over par 74 at tied 80th slot as Malaysia's Danny Chia fired a seven under par 64 to take the first round lead at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters at Petaling Jaya in Malaysa today. The 21-yar-old Kapurthala lad fell back after firing a hat-trick of birdies on the fourth, fifth and sixth. He conceding a double bogey on the seventh and lost another four strokes after the weather interruption from which he could not recover. The winner of the Indonesia President Invitational and Brunei Open runner-up will have to come up with a good performance tomorrow to remain in contention for the $ 3 lakh Asian Tour event. Twentytwo-year-old Anirban Lahiri, led the Indian pack firng six birdies and an eagle to card a four under par 67 score to be tied sixth after the first round. The Bangalorean, whose best this season has been the fourth spot at the Black Mountain Masters, said he was hopeful of making it this time. He said his mental trainer Pradeep Aggarwal had flown down from India as he had failed to show a steady showing this season. Pradeep Aggarwal is also the mental trainer for Bhullar. Just one stroke behind Lahiri is 30-year-old Rahil Gangjee from Kolkata, who fired a three under 68 to be placed tied 10th. Another stroke behind at 69 is Digvijay Singh at tied 15th place. C. Muniyappa and Gaurav Ghei shared the tied 34th slot at even par 71, with Himmat Rai being one over after 15 holes when bad light forced suspension of play for the day. Chiragh Kumar (76) and Manav Jaini (77) are the other Indians in the fray. A total of 21 players will return tomorrow to the course at 7.45am on Thursday to resume their first round. Play was suspended at 9.25 a.m. (local time) for an hour and 15 minutes due to a lightning storm this morning. The leading scores: 64 - Danny Chia (Malaysia); 65 - Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand); 66 - James Kamte (RSA), Iain Steel (Malaysia) and Darren Beck (Australia); 67 - Jbe Kruger (RSA), Shaaban Hussin (Malaysia), Anirban Lahiri (India) and Noh Seung-yul (Korea); 68 - Rahil Gangjee (India), Pariya Junhasavasdikul (Thailand), Rick Kulacz (Australia), Mitchell Brown (Australia) and Panuwat Muenlek (Thailand); 69 - Scott Hend (Australia), Andrew Dodt (Australia), S. Siva Chandhran (Malaysia), M. Sasidaran (Malaysia), Siddikur (Bangladesh), Chinnarat Phadungsil (Thailand), Juvic Pagunsan (Philippines), Digvijay Singh (India), Mars Pucay (Philippines), Bae Sang-moon (Korea) and Yeh Chang-ting (Taipei).
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Madrid, August 5 "Liverpool Football Club this evening confirmed they had reached agreement for the sale of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid, subject only to a medical," the statement said. "The terms of the deal will remain confidential and undisclosed." Real confirmed the agreement in a statement on their website (www.realmadrid.com). Spanish media reported the deal was worth around 30 million euros ($43.17 million), which would take Real Madrid's close-season spending up to around 250 million euros. Alonso came up through the youth ranks with Real Sociedad and was one of Rafael Benitez's first signings when he took charge of Liverpool in 2004, moving for 10.5 million pounds. He quickly became a Kop favourite helping them win the European Cup in 2005 and the FA Cup the following year. Alonso has also been a regular feature in the Spain squad since 2003 and was a part of Luis Aragones's victorious side at Euro 2008. Benitez fought hard to keep a player central to his plans but media reported it was Alonso who requested a transfer. The nine-times European champions have been keen to land an experienced defensive midfielder, who is also a good passer of the ball, to give balance to a side packed with offensive talent. — Reuters Xabi Alonso l
Born Nov. 25, 1981 in the Basque town of Tolosa. l
Made his debut for Real Sociedad as a substitute in the 1999-2000 season. l
His assured performances for Real Sociedad earned him a call-up to the national side. l
In 2004 Real Sociedad sold him for £10.5 million to Liverpool. l
Scored a vital goal in the Champions League final in May 2005 where he took a penalty against AC Milan. l
Continued to impress in 2005-06 and scored a spectacular strike from his own half against Luton Town in the FA Cup and Newcastle United. l
Helped Liverpool reach second place in the 2008-09 Premier League title race. l
Made four appearances for Spain at the 2008 European championships, three as a substitute, helping his country to the title. |
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Karachi, August 5 Yawar said he was flabbergasted by the statements of some former players who had voiced concerns that some players might have fixed matches and have pointed out to the Colombo incident to prove their point. "I am very disappointed with these statements coming out of Pakistan at a time when the team needs the support of their former players and critics," Yawar said. "It is absolutely rubbish that any match fixing could have taken place or that Indian bookmakers had approached our players. I would say to these people if they have any evidence of any sort of our players involvement in this heinous crime they should come forward with it and we will take exemplary action. But if they don't have evidence they should keep quiet," he said. Pakistan's former chief selector Abdul Qadir and former Test pacer Sarfraz Nawaz have called on the authorities to hold an independent inquiry into match fixing allegations in Sri Lanka and have expressed fears that some players might have fixed matches. — PTI
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Rural sports in Punjab gets boost
Muktsar, August 5 Disclosing this, the Director (Sports) Pargat Singh said that the scheme was aimed at promoting talent at the grass root level by organising competitions at panchayat, block levels, district and state level. He added that his department had placed orders worth Rs 2 crore to purchase sports kits and infrastructure which would be distributed in these villages. He added that the focus would be on games like football, athletics, badminton, hockey, gymnastics, table tennis, volleyball and kho-kho. Pargat said that under the PYKKA scheme, ten per cent of all the villages in the state were being covered each year and in this way the necessary sports infrastructure would come up in all the villages of the state in the next ten years. Grants of Rs 10,000 to each of the 1,233 villages identified in the first phase would be distributed on August 29.
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Indian eves sink Belarus, reach medal league round
Boston, August 5 Roselin Dung Dung (16th), Poonam Rani (38th), Ritu Rani (51st) scored the first three goals for India before Rani Devi (53rd, 54th and 58th min) went on a scoring spree as the Indians scored five times in the second session for a facile win. The match began on a cautious note with largely midfield play, India took territorial supremacy, pushing action in the Belarus end, as the first half progressed.
— PTI |
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India dominate
Asian Cadet Wrestling Championship
New Delhi, August 5 The championship, held from July 29 to August 2, saw a record participation of 22 countries. In the men's free style event, India got five gold medals, three silver and one bronze. Deepak (50 kg), Harphool (54 kg), Anil (58 kg), Sumit (69 kg), and Rajesh (76 kg) were the gold medal winners. In female wrestling, India won four gold, two silver and three bronze. Sanju Jakhar (38 kg), Ritu (40 kg), Vinesh (43 kg) and Priyanka (49 kg) were the gold medal winners. India comfortably won the team championship in both men free style and female wrestling. In Greco Roman style, India got four silver and secured fourth position in overall team championship.
— PTI |
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Somdev Devvarman registered the biggest win of his fledgling career when the wiry Indian upstaged sixth seeded Marin Cilic in straight sets in the second round of the USD 1.4 million Legg Mason Tennis Classic here. The Indian qualifier, who lost to Cilic in his maiden ATP final in the Chennai Open earlier this year, took one hour and 42 minutes to sent the Croatian packing 7-5, 6-4 to reach the third round where he would meet either the big-hitting Croatian Ivo Karlovic or German Raine Scheuttler.
New Delhi, August 5
Supporting WADA's much-debated "whereabouts" clause that has been rejected by the Cricket Board, Beijing Olympic bronze medal-winning pugilist Vijender Singh, today said he faced no problems in complying with it.
