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Dhoni receives golden mace
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Railways, Delhi win
Liberals hockey tournament
‘Call on CWG participation next year’
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Force India drive home the
points
New Delhi, December 28 By the time the season was into its 12th leg, the Formula One world had got its rags-to-riches story of the year with Giancarlo Fisichella - one foot in the Ferrari camp by then - beaming on the podium in Belgium. It was a heady August weekend at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and Mallya could have been tempted to roll the seven km track and bring it back as souvenir after Fisichella earned the team’s first pole and then returned to drive one of the most mature races of his illustrious career for a second place finish. It broke a 29-race jinx and Mallya proved he had not been talking through the hat when he promised points in 2009. “If you remember, we had promised to be among points in 2009 and be on the podium in 2010. So we have actually delivered on our podium promise in advance,” an elated Mallya had said. And then Adrian Sutil’s fourth place finish in the very next leg at Monza proved Italy was no flash in the pan. The inklings of a revival in fortune was more than evident in the rain-swept Chinese Grand Prix where Sutil raced sixth, ahead of buddy Lewis Hamilton, with six laps to go before he aquaplaned. The voodoo could have been nixed in Germany also but Kimi Raikkonen - who has made quite a reputation as Sutil’s perennial bogeyman - rammed his Ferrari onto the German’s VJM02 when he was just three laps away from a fourth place finish. Raikkonen did apologise after the race but it was hardly a solace for Sutil who could not hold back tears. It, however, did not take long to bring back the smiles and Fisichella’s jaw-dropping race in Belgium marked the coming of age of an outfit, which operated on a shoestring budget and still dared to compete with its deep pocket elder brothers. As Fisichella and Sutil showed time and again, VJM02 was among the fastest cars and the slew of aerodynamic updates since the Valencia leg made them such a formidable opponent, especially in low downforce circuits. Force India’s success despite its modest budget made it an interesting case study and the F1 paddock was left pondering if this was the success model to follow in the wake of the financial meltdown. Not really impressed with the Ferrari engines, Mallya inked a new five-year deal and the package included Mercedes engine and gearbox and hydraulic systems from McLaren. The engineers then gave it their all and in less than 120 days built a car that was competitive, to say the least. Back home, the clamour was growing for an Indian driver in the cockpit but Mallya insisted F1 was not the place for such naive romanticism. Mallya retained Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi, who filled the void after Fisichella joined Ferrari, for the next season and also entered a multi-million dollar three-year deal with Computational Research Laboratories (CRL) for designing its next generation cars. Meanwhile, the 2011 Indian Grand Prix seemed to have hit a roadblock after the Sports Ministry said F1 is anything but sports and refused to give its nod for the remittance of $36.5 million to the Formula One Administration. Managing Director of JPSK, promoters of the Indian Grand Prix, Sameer Gaur subsequently said that the obstacle had been overcome - he didn’t specify how - and the construction work for the Hermann Tilke - designed 5.5 km track was in full swing. —
PTI |
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Dhoni receives golden mace
New Delhi, December 28 Dhoni said though Test, ODI ant T20 were good in their own ways, Test cricket was special and had the toughest format. India climbed to the top only due to the collective efforts of the team. Dhoni collected the handsome mace “on behalf of the team”, as he had led the country to seven wins out 10 Tests played under his captaincy. Virender Sehwag, who had contributed much in India becoming No 1, was also present to be part of the historic occasion. In his hour of glory, Dhoni did not forget the senior players like Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble, who had planned India’s journey to the top years ago. “Our ascent to the No 1 status commenced several years ago. The efforts put in by our seniors in making the Indian team a force to reckon with, will never be forgotton.” “In Tests, you have to work hard, do continuously well over a period of time. The journey to No 1 ranking was long, is a reflection of our hard work for the past two years”, Dhoni mused. He said it was very tough on the players “to focus and enjoy your cricket”. “Everything revolves around cricket for a cricketer. Everyone works to win”, said Dhoni. Since the ICC Test ranking was established in 2001, Australia topped the chart for over six years, till South Africa toppled them from the perch early this year. And India cut short SA’s reign at the top in four months. Dhoni said India would strive to stay at the top as long as possible, and he did not think they were short of matches. There will be two Tests against Bangladesh, followed by two against South Africa. And the Board of Control for Cricket India was also trying to arrange more matches. On Sehwag’s contribution to India becoming the No 1, the captain said the brilliant opener was a “special talent, a different character”. His confident level is different, he dominates the bowlers, his selection of shots is good and plays positively”, he added. Dhoni said the opening combination of Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir was excellent as they complimented each other well. Action on pitch fiasco in 14 days: Lorgat
International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executive Officer Haroon Lorgat said here today that the pitch fiasco at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground yesterday, which resulted in the abandonment of the fifth and final One-Day International match between India and Sri Lanka, was a “very unfortunate incident”. He said the ICC would take action on it in 14 days. “I do not want to comment on it, or speculate. Our procedure is very transparent”, said Lorgat at a media interaction here today. He said whatever action needed to be taken against the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) would be decided after receiving the reply from BCCI on the match referee’s report. “We have written to the BCCI and forwarded the match referee’s report. The BCCI has to respond to our communication, and after it is received, it would be forwarded to ICC chief match referee Ranjan Mudgalle and General Manager (cricket) Dave Richardson”, said Lorgat. |
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Railways, Delhi win
Ludhiana, December 28 In a group A match, Indian Railways faced no resistance and romped home winners without being challenged by Karantaka whom they thrashed 100-33 while Delhi eves overwhelmed Maharashtra 98-42 to register their second successive wins. For Indian Railways, Geetu Anna Jose and P Anitha chipped in with 13 points each while Seema accounted for 11 points and Anju Lakra netted 10 points to enable their team to script a comprehensive win. For the losers, Savitha and Kruthika fought well with 18 and 10 points, respectively. In group B, last year’s runners up, Delhi eves too proved their supremacy over their opponents, Maharashtra (98-42). Prasanthi (19), Harjeet Kaur (10) and Manjeet Passi (10) were the main architects of Delhi’s win while Shweta Mundada fought a lone battle for Maharashtra wiht 12 points. In another Group A match, Chhattisgarh scored a comfortable 94-41 win over Uttar Pradesh. Last years semifinalists, Chattisgarh had a smooth ride in the contest as the rival team failed to raise the level of the game in all the four quarters of the encounter. The group C match between Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand turned out to be a well contested affair with the former emerging winners by a narrow margin of three points 43-40. The encounter between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in group B too witnessed a fierce battle as players of both the teams fought for each point but eventually, the former managed to wrap up the issue 43-35. In the men’s section, Karnataka 81 (Kaushal 27, Sanjay Roy 12, Loyed 10) defeated Delhi 60 (Pramod 20, Gurvinder 14 and Vinay 13). In group D, Rajasthan beat West Bengal 82-60. |
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Liberals hockey tournament
Nabha (Patiala), December 28 CISF started off in style with striker Amit Kumar sounding the board. Rana equalised for Lucknow when he intelligently drew out the goalkeeper before caressing the ball into the netting while CISF making it 2-1 through the efforts of Cyril Ekka. However, their joy was shortlived with Lucknow again finding the equaliser through Chandan Singh. It was here that coach Ajay Singh decided to shift from the passive 4-4-2-1 format to the more attacking 5-3-2-1 style. Lucknow stepped on the gas and started making repeated forays into the striking circle. Defender Major Singh came in for a jaded Munda and things started looking up for CISF. In a ploy which went down well for CISF, Ajay Singh took out yet another man from the defence and placed him upfront. With half the team in the attacking mould, it was just a matter of time before CISF scored and this time they did so through the efforts of the hard working Major Singh, whose lightening fast penalty corner brooked no resistance from the goalkeeper, giving his team a 3-2 victory margin. In other matches of the day, UP Police downed NER, Gorakhpur 2-1 with Sajid Khan and Rakesh Kanojia scoring for the winners; Dhudike XI took the tie breaker route to douse a fighting Rock Rovers, Chandigarh 3-0 while in the last match of an interesting day’s card J&K Police beat Maharaja Ranjeet Singh Academy, Amritsar 3-2.
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‘Call on CWG participation next year’
New Delhi, December 28 “My coach Glen Mills will make this decision next summer depending on how my training and racing is going,” Bolt said. The Jamaican’s participation in the Games has been a subject of much speculation in the past few months as he has refused to commit to the event, hinting that he would prefer to go slow on his international assignments next year. CWG Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi has requested Bolt to participate in the Games, the build-up to which has been marred by delay in construction work and open disagreements between the OC and the Commonwealth Games Federation. Triple Olympic gold medallist Bolt said his primary target next season is to do well in the IAAF Diamond league. “In 2010, I will target the IAAF Diamond League, in 2011 the main target will be the IAAF World T&F Championships in Korea,” said the world-record holder sprinter. “I am now preparing for the 2010 IAAF Diamond League which will take place all over the world from May to August next year,” he said. Bolt said he would be trying to better his own record of 9.58s but ruled out setting any targets for himself. “I don’t try to set limits on myself. When I ran 9.7 people spoke of 9.6. When I ran 9.6, people spoke of 9.5. Now, who knows?” he said. “It gives me a lot of motivation to be the world’s fastest man. I don’t really chase times but mainly try to win races,” he said. Bolt said fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell and American Tyson Gay were his toughest competitors. “For me, Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell have been the toughest competitors in the past few years. But I think my record is safe at the moment but there are some very good sprinters out there so you never know,” said the sprint king. — PTI
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New Delhi, December 28
New Delhi, December 28
Anyone can support a team that is winning - it takes no courage. But to stand behind a team and prop it up when it is down - that takes a lot of guts. And that was precisely what CISF coach Ajay Singh did as he stood like a rock behind his squad making some intelligent substitutions when the chips were down to ensure that
CISF, Chandigarh made their way past Sports Hostel, Lucknow 3-2 in the 34th All India Liberals hockey tournament here today.
New Delhi, December 28
