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Lankan lions take on Kiwis
Patiala lad selected for US bodybuilding championship
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Power Crisis: No night matches for PCB
Now look out for Sachin in your fridge!
Anand outplays Topalov, moves into lead
Inter stun Barca, face Bayern in final
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Lankan lions take on Kiwis
The 17-day tournament, which is expected to see some high-voltage competition, begins with a double-header at Guyana National Stadium here, with New Zealand taking on Sri Lanka in the opener, followed by a match between hosts West Indies and Ireland under lights. The unpredictability of the slam-bang format would mean that the Twenty20 tournament is wide open and most of the top teams, including India and Pakistan, are fancying their chances to clinch the title. Pakistan have the best track record in Twenty20 World Cup, having reached the final in the inaugural event in 2007 in South Africa and claiming the title in the second edition in June last year in England. The Pakistanis also have the best winning percentage in the format, with 22 wins, seven losses and one no result in 30 matches, though they had a tumultuous build-up to the tournament with some of their leading players being banned and fined by their Board for indiscipline. Though India suffered a jolt by the unavailability of swashbuckling batsman Virender Sehwag due to injury, they would be banking on the IPL experience and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's astute captaincy. Australia are three-time defending champions in the 50-over version but they were unceremoniously ousted in the first round in the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup. But with a strong pool of explosive players and an able captain in Michael Clarke, the Australians will look to add another trophy to their glittering cabinet this year. Sri Lanka, the 2009 runners-up, and South Africa are both teams packed with class and depth and are strong title aspirants. The hosts are not to be discounted either, and they have two of the world cricket's most dangerous players in captain Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard who have shown their prowess in ample measure in the IPL III. Besides the home advantage and crowd support, they will also be strengthened by the return of fast bowler Jerome Taylor and veteran batsman Ramanaresh Sarwan. England, New Zealand and Bangladesh are the least fancied of the other Test nations while Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan would hope for an unexpected upset over one or two of the more established teams. —
PTI |
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Patiala lad selected for US bodybuilding championship
Patiala , April 29 Born on December 16, 1984, Sukhneet didn’t have any idea about bodybuilding till he happened to join a gym by chance eight years back. When regular exercises started yielding results, he started enjoying it more and suddenly, or maybe by destiny’s design, he happened to meet Premchand Dogra, who is also an Arjuna Awardee and honorary general secretary of Mr Universe. He then started training with him and the there was no looking back. Sukhneet then became Mr Patiala on January 18, 2009, which gave his career a major boost. Not only this, Sukhneet had recently bagged second place in the Federation Cup-2010 that was held in West Bengal and won third place in Senior Mr India Championship-2010 that was held in Himachal Pradesh. His father Krishan Singh, who is a retired government employee, said Sukhneet’s selection was like a dream come true for the family and he was very proud of his son. Sukhneet too gives the credit of his success to his family members who supported him and helped him in taking all decisions. |
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Power Crisis: No night matches for PCB
Karachi, April 29 "We have already informed the Cricket Board and all other sports bodies that the country is facing a severe power crisis and they should not hold matches under floodlights to conserve energy," Pakistan Electric Power Company the Chairman Muhammad Khalid told PTI. "Pakistan is facing an overall energy crisis and everyone needs to contribute to help overcome this problem," Khalid added. A PCB official, however, said the Board would implement the PEPCO directions from next season. "We had received the PEPCO letter but was already using generators to run the floodlights. We will implement the PEPCO directions from our next season because this year the domestic season ends tomorrow," the official said. —
PTI |
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Now look out for Sachin in your fridge!
Lucknow, April 29 Elucidating the reason for this Khan said that it had always been his endeavor to do something through ‘aam’ (mangoes) for the ‘khas’ (special) people of the country. “Sachin has brought so much prestige and honour to the country. The least that I could do as a fan was name a mango after him.” Khan explains that by crossing two varieties – Amin Guddar Shah and Chausa, he developed ‘Sachin’. “The former is a mango named after a Sufi saint of Unnao and is known for its sweetness and is extreme lusciousness. Chausa on the other hand is one of the finest mangoes of the Indian orchard. According to the grafting expert who was described as a “scientist without a degree” by former president K R Narayanan the USP of the latest variety developed by him would be its abundant and juicy fruit, just like the runs pouring out of Sachin’s bat. “No, Sachin does not know about this. I am not doing this for publicity. This is my humble tribute to a cricketing genius,” said Khan. |
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Anand outplays Topalov, moves into lead
Sofia, April 29 Anand, playing with white pieces, played the Catalan once again and came with a novelty as early as the tenth move (10. Na3) and pegged Topalov’s moves to the queenside and made him squirm and finally give up after 32 moves. It was in some senses a typical Catalan but White had full compensation. Into the game post 25th move, Anand was all set to launch his attack in a preparation that he seemed to be comfortable in. Yet he took his time before going all out. With Topalov's pieces tied, Anand launched a huge sacrificial attack on the king and carried it to through a fine win. Once Anand unleashed his novelty on move 10, Topalov went into a long think and then played a move that showed Anand had prepared well and thereafter went on to demolish his opponent. Topalov's pieces gradually got tied up on the Queenside and far away from his king. Anand went for a sacrificial attack and won the game. Thus far white pieces have produced three wins in the match so far. —
IANS |
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Inter stun Barca, face Bayern in final
Barcelona, April 29 Despite Gerard Pique's 84th-minute goal, defending champions Barcelona were unable to find the crucial second goal as 10-man Inter held on, breathing a sigh of relief when Bojan Krkic had a stoppage-time effort chalked off for handball. Inter will be playing in their first European Cup final since 1972 while Mourinho will attempt to lead the Italian giants to Europe's most prestigious prize for the first time since 1965. “The coach was screaming in the dressing room, it was very emotional," said Inter’s Wesley Sneijder. "We defended with 10 men for so long. We were compact, fought for every metre and gave everything. Mourinho always gets his tactics right to destroy the opponents. "We did it in Milan and we did it again tonight but in a different way." Guardiola made two changes to his side from the first-leg, with Toure and Milito replacing Maxwell and captain Puyol. —
AFP |
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Less than five days after a high-octane Indian Premier League, another Twenty20 extravaganza begins here from tomorrow as the world's top cricketers assemble for the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean with no team being tipped as clear favourites.
The 17-day tournament, which is expected to see some high-voltage competition, begins with a double-header at Guyana National Stadium here, with New Zealand taking on Sri Lanka in the opener, followed by a match between hosts West Indies and Ireland under lights.
Adding another feather in the cap of Patiala sports fraternity, bodybuilder Sukhneet Singh has become the first boy from the city to represent India in Musclemania University Body Building Championship to be organised on June 18 and 19 at Miami, USA.
Karachi, April 29
Lucknow, April 29
Sofia, April 29
Inter Milan reached the Champions League final, beating Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate in their semi-final despite losing the second leg 1-0 and playing an hour of the game with 10 men. Jose Mourinho's Inter, who won the first game 3-1 last week, will face Bayern Munich in the final on May 22 in Madrid.
Providence, April 29
India, who lifted the trophy in 2007 -- the country's first major title in international cricket since 1983, has become the home of Twenty20 cricket with a hugely successful Indian Premier League.
New Delhi:
New Delhi: