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INDIA-AUSTRALIA
ODI Series
French Super Series
CWG 2010
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Surjit hockey tournament from Nov 7
Jalandhar, October 30 The 26th Edition of the Indian Oil Servo Surjit Hockey Tournament would be held at the local Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium, Burlton Park from November 7 to 13. The tournament would be played on league-cum-knock-out basis. President of Surjit Hockey Society Ajeet Singh Pannu (C) addresses the media in Jalandhar on Friday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh
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ODI Series India out to hurt injured Oz M.S.Unnikrishnan Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 30 And it was pleasant news for Indian captain Mahender Singh Dhoni that Brett Lee and James Hopes would miss the third ODI too. Mitchell Johnson has recovered from his injury and Graham Panou has flown in for the injured wicket-keeper Tim Paine, who has flown back home with a broken ring finger. Manou comes with the confidence of playing in the third drawn Test of the Ashes series against England at Edgbaston, but the newly-laid Ferozeshah Kotla pitch would prove to be a litmus test for him as the ball is likely to keep low and slow. The dew factor will prove to be crucial too, and winning the toss thus will be vital. “Hopes played at the nets, he’s almost OK”, added Ponting, but hinted that the all-rounder was still not fully fit to play the game tomorrow. In the absence of Brett Lee, the pace department will be handled by ICC cricketer of the year Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle. Ponting said whether to include a third spinner John Holland to add depth to the spin department composed of batting all-rounder and left-arm Adam Voges and off-spinner Nathan Hauritze, has not been decided. The Indian team management is unlikely to tinker with the winning squad at Nagpur, as the Kotla is ‘home’ to star players like Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma. Sehwag has carried forward the good form he had displayed in a few matches of the Champions League Twenty20, while Gambhir has regained his Midas’ batting touch after flopping in the Champions League. Ishant is back on his wicket-taking ways, and the Kotla turf has always proved to be lucky for many Indian players who had struggled on the edge. Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh et al reinvented their sagging career with match-winning spells at the Kotla ground. And it’s time Harbhajan regained his wicket-taking skill. Runs were not easy to comeby on the newly-laid turf during the Champions League. No surprise, Ponting noted after having an inspection of the pitch, that “it’s a slow and low pitch, and batting first is a good option here”. Australia have many players from the News South Wales and Victorian Bushranger squads who played their league and semifinal matches at the Kotla, and are familiar with the condition of the pitch and the ground. “They will have something to add at the team meeting”, Ponting observed. Ponting was unhappy with the wet practice ground, and made the pithy observation that “Everyone in the world, except the groundsman, knew that we were coming here at 10 a.m”. Dhoni is happy that he came good with the bat at Nagpur, with a blistering century, and the top-order also contributed their might to hoist a handsome total which the Aussies found difficult to surpass. With Yuvraj back in the team, and Suresh Raina blasting 62 off 50 balls in the second ODI, India seem to have enough batting riches, though Sachin Tendulkar is yet to click in the series. Lee returns home Australia’s campaign against India received a body blow today with pace spearhead Brett Lee ruled out of the remainder of the series because of an elbow injury. The 32-year-old would return home midway through the series to consult specialists, the team management said in a statement. “ Brett’s elbow injury has not responded as well to treatment as we would have liked and therefore a decision has been made to send him home to consult with an elbow specialist,” team physiotherapist Kevin Sims said. — PTI |
French Super Series
New Delhi, October 30 Eighth seed Saina beat Pui Yin Yip 21-15, 21-14 to set up a last eight clash against top seed Wang Lin of China, who spanked Bulgarian Petya Nedelcheva 21-2, 21-8 in another second round match yesterday. Indian mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and D Viju also put up a brilliant fight to bounce back from a game down and book a quarterfinal berth. Sixth seed Jwala-Diju beat English pair of Dean George and Samantha Ward 19-21, 21-10, 21-16 in a 42-minute battle. However, Jwala, partnering Ashwini Ponnappa, couldn’t create the same magic in the women’s doubles as the duo went down 18-21, 20-22 against fifth seed Chinese pair of Jin Maa and Xiaoli Wang in 32 minutes. It was also curtains for men’s doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Thomas Sanave after they lost their pre-quarterfinals match against third seed Dane combo of Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen 15-21, 21-13, 21-12. — PTI |
Hooper stays on, monitoring panel put on hold
London, October 30 After weeks of acrimony over organisational matters, the Indian organisers and the Commonwealth Games Federation today tried to do a balancing act and pledged to work together for the success of the Delhi Games. A marathon peace meeting between Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) President Michael Fennell and Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi ended with a carefully worded joint statement being issued, which largely spoke of the need to focus on the functional areas that are essential for the success of the sporting extravaganza. Although the joint statement did not specify what decisions the two had taken during the much-awaited meeting, sources in the Organising Committee said that CGF CEO Mike Hooper will continue to remain in New Delhi to oversee the preparations of the Games. But the proposal to form an independent monitoring panel to oversee the preparations of the October 3-14 Games has been put on hold for the time being. The Organising Committee had rejected the proposal and the development to put it on hold is seen as a reconciliation on the part of the CGF, the parent body of the Games. “It is agreed that there have been misunderstandings and unfortunate media statements and reports that have created a regrettable set of circumstances,” the joint statement, aimed at making a public show of unity, said. “However, we feel that is critical that our attention is focused entirely on those functional areas that are essential to the successful celebration of the Games in 2010 and no useful purpose would be served by spending precious time on those issues and we will put this behind us,” the joint statement issued by Fennell and Kalmadi said. “We have agreed that we will continue to work together as partners, fully recognising and respecting our individual roles and ensuring that our attention is not diverted from meeting all the targets that have been agreed upon.” The meeting of the two top officials took place immediately after the Queen’s Baton relay and was initiated by India’s Sport Minister M S Gill. While the OC had sought Hooper’s transfer out of Delhi calling him “useless” and an “impediment” in the smooth functioning of the Organising Committee, Kalmadi is learnt to have taken a much more softer stand in his meeting with Fennell. Hooper and Kalmadi were engaged in a bitter public spat barely a few days after the CGF’s General Assembly in Delhi early this month. A final decision on whether to go ahead with the monitoring panel would be taken only after the Coordination Commission’s visit to Delhi from December 14. “We also met with office-bearers of the Indian Olympic Association present in London and the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, Hon’ble Dr M S Gill and informed them of our understanding and all agreed that we must now move forward with the sole objective of guaranteeing the successful celebration of the 2010 Games in Delhi,” the statement said. — PTI |
Surjit hockey tournament from Nov 7
Jalandhar, October 30 Last year champions Punjab and Sind Bank, Delhi and Runners Up, Javed Hockey Club, Gojra, Pakistan would be the main attraction at the tournament. All the teams have been directly seeded in to the league stage and divided into four pools. The team having highest points in their credit in each pool, will qualify for the semifinals scheduled for November 12. Earlier the tournament was scheduled from October 23 to 30 but due to delay in laying of new Astroturf the tournament dates have been rescheduled from November 7 to 13. The annual tournament would be held under floodlights. President of the Surjit Hockey Society cum Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar, Ajeet Singh Pannu said that the German Engineers who are laying the Astroturf have confirmed to complete their work before November 4. Pannu added that the Surjit Hockey Society has increased the prize money for the winning team as well. “The winners would be given cash prize of Rs 2.5 Lakhs while the runners-up team would be awarded Rs 1.5 Lakhs. Apart from this the best player of the tournament would be awarded Rs 25,000. Even the best goalkeeper, best full back, best half back and best forward would also be awarded during the tournament”, added Pannu. The other teams of the tournament include Air India Mumbai, Indian Oil Mumbai, Namdhari-XI Sirsa, BSF Jalandhar, RCF Kapurthala, Bharat Petroleum, Mumbai, Punjab Police, Jalandhar, EME Jalandhar, Punjab National Bank, Delhi, Corps of Signals, Jalandhar and Indian Air Force, Delhi. The tournament would be inaugurated by Punjab minister for Local Bodies, Manoranjan Kalia while Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Badal would give away prizes to the winning teams on the concluding day. |
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