New Delhi: Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his seven teammates from north zone sweated it out here today as coach Gary Kirsten took stock of their fitness condition before next month’s tour of Sri Lanka and Champions Trophy. Besides Dhoni, pacer duo of Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, opening batsman Gautam Gambhir, RP Singh, Praveen Kumar and Suresh Raina also attended the four-hour session at Feroze Shah Kotla ground.

However, swashbuckling Delhi batsman Virender Sehwag missed the session as he is undergoing treatment for his injured shoulder. The cricketers worked out in gymnasium and also carried out physical training on the ground under watchful eyes of Kirsten, mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton and team physio Nitan Patel.

Kirsten expressed satisfaction about the cricketers’ fitness. “I think, the boys are doing fine and also looking in right shape. I am happy with their physical condition,” Kirsten said after the session. The BCCI is likely to hold a camp for India team at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore on August 25 after which the players will participate in inaugural inter-corporate tournament between September 1 to 8.

India’s next international assignment will be the tri-series in Sri Lanka also involving New Zealand, starting on September 12, followed by the Champions Trophy in South Africa. — PTI 

Hyderabad, August 10
India failed to exploit the home advantage as barring ace shuttler Chetan Anand none could advance to the second round on the first day of the World Badminton Championship here today. The men’s doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas, Aditi Mutatkar in women’s singles, and mixed doubles pair of Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan crashed out the tournament in the first round itself.

Chetan was the lone Indian who shone on the first day by winning his men’s singles opener against Korean Ji Hoon Hong 21-8, 21-16 in 32 minutes. After a high of recent success at the Asian circuit, Rupesh-Sanave hit a low as they lost 13-21, 21-23 to the 14th seed Japanese pair of Kenichi Hayakawa and Kenta Kazuno in just over half an hour match. A Mutatkar lost to world number 11 Juliane Schenk 8-21, 12-21.

Arun and Aparna also succumbed to Japanese pair of Noriyasu Hirata and Shizuka Matsuo 14-21, 20-22 in 29 minutes. Meanwhile, top seed Malaysian Lee Chong Wei won his opener against Dieter Domke 21-14, 21-10 in just 25 minutes, while Chinese fifth seed Lin beat Misha Zilberman 21-9, 21-11.

However, Lin’s compatriot Bao Chunlai was handed a shock defeat by Dicky Palyama of Holland, while world number three Dane Peter Hoeg Gade beat Valeriy Atrashchenkov 21-11, 21-16 in the tournament opener. Peter Gade beat Valeriy Atrashchenkov 21-11, 21-16, while Dutch Dicky Palyama defeated Chunlai 21-18 21-14 in their first round matches. — PTI 

Jeev Milkha Singh tumbled down the ladder playing his worst card of the event (six over 76) to finish tied 64 as world number one Tiger Woods created history on the par-70 greens of Firestone Country Club clinching the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational for a record seventh time at Akron in Ohio (USA) yesterday.

It was a game Jeev would like to forget. On a day when he found birdies difficult to shoot and pars difficult to maintain, he conceded four bogeys on the front nine to be four over 39 at the turn. Another two bogeys on the 13th and 15th and he was six over. He got some relief as he sank a brace of birdies on the 16th and 17th. But then a double bogey on the 18th and he was six over 76. His final tally was nine over 289.

Tiger Woods played like the true champion. It was a display of his imperious form as he repeated yesterday's five under par 65 card on the final day also to clinch the trophy with a 12 under 268 tally,. This was four shots better than Ireland's Padraig Harrington and Australian Robert Allenby who finished joint second. Harrington started the day with the overnight three-stroke lead. And going by his performance in the earlier three rounds it appeared that the Irishman would be celebratring his first success of 2009.

But with Tiger on the prowl it was not going to be an easy task. The champion that he is, Tiger showed his devastating class as he picked up five shots over his first nine holes to come back from three behind Harrington to be two in front.

Harrington came back into the game on the return nine. But finally he caved in on the 16th when he triple-bogeyed to virtually hand over the game to Woods.

Two-time Asian Tour winner Yang Yong-eun of Korea was the best among the Asian Tour participants when he played a four under par 66 for a share of 19th place, 11 shots behind Woods.

New Delhi, August 10
Abhinav Bindra gave India its most cherished moment by winning the first individual Olympic gold medal exactly a year ago and then went into a hiatus, triggering speculation of retirement. But the world champion rifle shooter, who recently took to the shooting range again, cleared the air today.

“I had taken this sabbatical from competition but definitely not from the sport,” he said on the first anniversary of his unprecedented achievement at Beijing Olympic. “I wanted to reset my goals, recharge my batteries and come back with a renewed vigour and zest to achieve results that are better than before,” he added.

The 27-year-old Chandigarh-based marksman, who recently shot a perfect 600 during practice, said he would love to participate in the 2010 Commonwealth Games to be staged in the capital. “I have started training again and am in good shape. It would be wonderful to be able to compete,” he said.

He admitted that he was also nurturing a dream to win another gold at London Olympics. “Olympic medals are the ultimate in sports achievement and like any other athlete I believe in that,” he said. Asked if he would be shooting in other rifle events as well, Bindra said, “Maybe the 50 metres Rifle 3 Position. I still have to decide on this.”

Abhinav, who is continuing his stint with German coach Gaby Buehlmann and Dr Uwe Reisterer, said he also had a team of mental and physical trainers assisting him. The ace shooter was, however, critical of the “archaic laws” in the country which he felt were hampering his contribution to promote the sport here after Beijing.

“To be able to promote the sport of shooting in the country, we need to take it to the masses. And that can only be done if the equipment is readily available. The good quality guns that are available are very expensive and cannot be afforded by all. Keeping this in view, Walther - the brand of guns that I use, developed a very good quality gun especially for the Indian market, using materials which aren’t very expensive.” — PTI 

Chandigarh, August 10
Ace Indian spiker Gurinder Singh, who was the second highest scorer in the Under-21 Volleyball World Championship, received a rousing welcome at the Chandigarh airport as he reached the city, here today.

Speaking to The Tribune, the 21-year-old, said, “I was behind by just four points to a Russian player to become the top scorer however, I am happy as the Indian team finished fourth in the World Cup and rose from the ninth rank.”

A product of Shivalik School Academy said that it was a great experience and Brazil was the toughest team to whom we lost in the semifinals. Singh who is working as a constable with Punjab police will be going to attend the practice camp on August 19 for the Senior Asian Championship in Banglore.

Mohan Nargetta, the coach of the team, said, Gurinder played in the universal position, which can be losely termed as an all-round position in volleyball. “He is very athletic and has been the favourite of the team,” added the coach.