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India in Sri Lanka
Hurt Australia strike back with vengeance
Ministry’s surprise at IOA dithering
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On This Day
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More sting in the ring
HI announces list of members
India draw 3-3 with Belgium
Guardiola agrees new
contract with Barca
Chandigarh, Mumbai in semis
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India in Sri Lanka
Colombo, July 14
India were still trailing by 223 runs when stumps were drawn for the day and the home team has the option to enforce a follow-on when the third and final day begins tomorrow. Mendis gave away just 67 runs in his 17.2 overs and denied India a chance to redeem their pride after having failed terribly while bowling. Gambhir (89) missed out on his hundred but Yuvraj Singh scored a measured 118 as the duo shared a 143-run stand for the fifth wicket to save India from a precarious 80 for four. But once the partnership was broken by Mendis, India just about managed to reach near the 300-run mark. It was paceman Chanaka Welegedara who struck the early blows by accounting for dangerous Virender Sehwag (18) and dependable Rahul Dravid (11). Mendis then began weaving his spin magic and his first victim became Sachin Tendulkar (4), who fell leg before. Stylish Laxman arrived at the crease but his stay was cut short as Mendis had him caught by Prassana Jayawardene behind the wicket, leaving India tottering at 80 for four. Gambhir, who had been holding one end brilliantly, found an able ally in Yuvraj and the two left-handers rescued India with their terrific partnership. Mendis was at it again as he separated the pair by scalping Gambhir. Young off-break bowler Sachithra Sananayake then struck two telling blows when he dismissed India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and ended Yuvraj's entertaining innings. The left-hander, who came back to team after being dropped for poor form, hit six sixes and 11 fours in his 154 ball knock. Mendis then quicky wrapped up the innings by sending back Ishant Sharma and Pragyan Ojha. Earlier, Sri Lanka resumed their innings at 432 for five and added 82 runs to their total before declaring. Overnight batsmen Dinesh Chanadimal, who was on five yesterday, remained unconquered on 47. Pragyan Ojha added two more wickets to take his tally to for 153. — PTI Scoreboard Sri Lanka BPXI's (1st innings): Overnight 432/5 Tharanga c Laxman b Ojha 110 Thirimanne c Gambhir b Ojha 66 Kandamby st Dhoni b Mishra 101 Samaraweera c Gambhir b Ojha 102 P Jayawardene st Dhoni b Mishra 13 Chandimal not out 47 Silva b Ishant 19 Senanayake lbw b Mithun 11 Mendis b Ojha 10 Welegedara lbw b Ojha 0 Extras (lb-7, wd-2, nb-26) 35 Total (For 9 wickets dec, 104.3 ovrs) 514 Bowling: Ishant 23-3-104-1, Mithun 25-2-99-1, Mishra 26-1-125-2, Sehwag 2-0-15-0, Ojha 27.3-0-153-5, Yuvraj 1-0-11-0. India (1st innings): Gambhir c Tharanga b Mendis 89 Sehwag b Welegedara 18 Dravid b Welegedara 11 Tendulkar lbw b Mendis 4 Laxman c Jayawardene b Mendis 6 Yuvraj b Senanayake 118 Dhoni c Kandamby b Senanayake 10 Mishra lbw b Mendis 1 Ishant c Senanayake b Mendis 5 Ojha c Kandamby b Mendis 4 Mithun not out 9 Extras (b-5, lb-2, wd-1, nb-8) 16 Total (all out in 64.2 overs) 291 Bowling: Welegedara 10-1-45-2, Fernando 12-1-55-0, Senanayake 23-1-94-2, Mendis 17.2-3-67-6, Kandamby 2-0-23-0. |
Hurt Australia strike back with vengeance
London, July 14 Only opener Salman Butt provided any sustained resistance with a composed 63 in nine minutes short of three hours, alternating resolute defence with wristy elegance before he was clean bowled by Watson. Pakistan were uneasily placed at 75 for three, after the Tasmanian pair of Ben Hilfenhaus and debutant wicketkeeper Tim Paine had combined to dismiss Imran Farhat (4) and Azhar Ali (16), when Ricky Ponting invited Watson to bowl from the Nursery End. The burly all-rounder responded by dismissing the two Akmal brothers in identical fashion within the space of four balls. Umar Akmal fell lbw for five from the fourth ball of Watson's opening over, shuffling across his stumps. In Watson's following over, Kumar Akmal completely misjudged another full-pitched delivery and was out lbw for a duck without playing a shot. New Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, scorer of the fastest century in one-day cricket and playing his first test for four years, opted to bring Twenty20 cricket to the test arena. He lofted Watson over the mid-wicket boundary and mid-off for two sixes in an innings of 31 from only 15 balls including four boundaries. After transforming Watson's figures from two for nought to two for 30 Afridi was caught at mid-off by Mitchell Johnson trying another big hit. Mohammad Aamer gave Paine his fourth catch of the innings when he was caught behind for a duck. — Reuters Scoreboard Australia (1st innings) 253 Pakistan (1st innings): Farhat c Paine b Hilfenhaus 4 Buttb b Watson 63 Azhar c Paine b Hilfenhaus 16 Amin c Paine b Johnson 1 Umar lbw b Watson 5 Kamran lbw b Watson 0 Afridi c Johnson b Watson 31 Aamer c Paine b Bollinger 0 Gul c Watson b Bollinger 7 Kaneria not out 11 Asif not out 0 Extras (lb 2, nb 1) 3 Total (9 wickets; 39 overs) 141 Bowling: Bollinger 11-3-38-2, Hilfenhaus 12-2-37-2, Johnson 9-2-24-1, Watson 7-1-40-4. |
Ministry’s surprise at IOA dithering
New Delhi, July 14 “Given the enormity of the factors involved in hosting such a major sporting event, it is not understood as to why it took nearly four months to inform this department of their decision to bid for the games. Further, the first communication received from the IOA on this matter was in the form of an abrupt email dated 28.4.2010 attaching a draft letter of guranatee to be issued by the Host Government”, the Ministry wrote to the IOA. “Since the decision to bid for a major sporting event like Asian Games requires Government endorsement at the highest level, IOA was expected to submit comprehensive documentation, giving adequate lead time to the Government to hold inter-Ministerial consultations and if deemed appropriate , to place the matter before the Union Cabinet for favourable consideration. “Unfortunately, in the instant case, IOA has neither provided the deaprtment with requisite documentation nor has it given the department adequate time to appraise the proposal in consultation with all concerned, including the Government of Delhi", the Department of Sports noted. It said despite six reminders, seeking specific details on various issues, "the IOA has failed to submit the required information and merely furnished a copy of their 2014 Asian Games bid document along with a formal estimate of the operational budget of Guangzhou Asian Games 2010.” The Ministry had also sought IOA’s justification on the choice of Delhi for the 2019 Asiad Games bid, especially in the light of Delhi having lost out to Doha for the 2006 Asian Games, and the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon (South Korea). |
New Delhi, July 14 Among the Africans, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania, are set to field full 10-member squads. In all, 18 African boxing teams will be seen in action at the Delhi Games. Europe and Oceania are a distant second in the entry list with 45 boxers each. European powerhouses England and Northern Ireland will have full 10-member squads in competition, while Scotland has so far committed to seven. “It is going to be one of the biggest Commonwealth Games as far as boxing is concerned. The size of draws is going to be huge. The participation is unprecedented for any Games,” the Tournament Director for boxing in this year's Commonwealth games, Lenny D'Gama, told PTI. "The countries are yet to send the name-wise list for the Games but it won't be too long before they send that," he added. From Oceania, strong contender Australia will field boxers in all 10 weight categories, while New Zealand will participate in eight divisions. Given the huge number of entries, light weight (60kg) and welter weight (69kg) categories are set to have the toughest draws with 40 each. The super heavy weight (+91kg) category is expected to have the smallest draw as only 17 entries have been received so far. Indian boxers have a reasonably good record in the Games. Mohammad Ali Qamar (2002, Manchester) and Akhil Kumar (2006, Melbourne) won gold medals for India in previous two editions of the event. In the Melbourne edition, Indian boxers fetched six medals. Apart from Akhil's gold (54kg), Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh, a welter weight boxer at that time, clinched a silver. The boxing competition of the Delhi Games would be held at the newly-constructed Talkatora Stadium. — PTI |
HI announces list of members
New Delhi, July 14 According to Hockey India secretary-general Narinder Batra, elections will be held for president, senior vice-president, vice-presidents (4 - two men and two women), secretary-general, treasurer, joint secretaries (four - two men and two women) and five executive members. As per 4 (a) (ii) of rules and regulations of Hockey India “It shall be mandatory that out of a total of 17 members of the executive board, at least 40 per cent of the members shall be of either gender”. Justice RC Chopra (retd) will be the returning officer for the elections while Election Commission official R.K.Mendittra will be the Government observer. Batra announced that from the permanent State/UT members, one male and one female and only one member from either gender representing institutional/boards will be allowed to vote. The elections will be held through secret ballot. Madhya Pradesh are currently hosting the National Hockey Championship, being held under the auspices of KPS Gill-led Indian Hockey Federation, whose suspension had been revoked by the Delhi High Court. Since most of the States/UTs participating in the IHF nationals also figure in the HI list, there are obviously parallell bodies in those States.
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India draw 3-3 with Belgium
New Delhi, July 14 In yesterday's encounter, Belgium began strongly with an attack by Greg Gucassoff after being set up with an overhead pass from his captain Truyens, but an alert Indian goalkeeper P Sreejesh waived-off danger momentarily. Shortly after, Belgium created a fast break through the centre but Cedric Charlier's short went wide off the target. India also missed an opportunity to take the lead when Vikas Pillay fumbled on the edge of the Belgium circle after receiving a diagonal cross from Sandeep. Belgium too wasted another opportunity after Thomas Briels snatched the ball from Gurbaj Singh but his one-touch pass to Thys was hit wide. With both the teams struggling to control the ball in the new turf, India mounted an attack from the left flank through Dharamvir Singh, Danish Mujtaba and Ravi Pal. The trio penetrated into the Belgian striking circle but Dharamvir's well-taken shot was saved by goalkeeper Jeremy Gucassoff. Belgium, however, took the lead in the 13th minute through Thys, courtesy a miscommunication between Indian custodian Sreejesh and Gurbaj. The goal came as a wake up call for the Indians who soon swung back into attack with one-touch passes and earned their first of the four penalty corners but Dhananjay Mahadik pushed the ball wide-off target from an indirect set up. Sandeep was the bright spot in the Indian back line. Manning the defence in the absence of injured Sardar Singh, he came up with crisp passes to set up many Indian attacks. It was Sandeep who first found the equaliser for India in the 26th minute and then gave the visitors a 2-1 lead two minutes later from another set piece. Belgium, however, restored parity in the 48th minute when skipper Truyens found the mark from a penalty corner. But India again surged ahead with Vikas Pillay finding the back of rival net 10 minutes later after being set up by Hari Prasad, only to witness Briels restoring the parity in the very next minute. India too were little lucky not to have conceded another goal at the fag end of the match with Birendra Lakra Jr making a goal-line save.
— PTI |
Guardiola agrees new contract with Barca
Madrid, July 14 The local media has reported that Guardiola did not want to be tied to a long-term deal. The former Barca midfielder has won seven titles in two years since replacing Frank Rijkaard at the helm in 2008, lifting the Champions League in 2009 and back-to-back La Liga trophies. — Reuters Henry moves to New York Red Bulls New York: France striker Thierry Henry has quit Europe to play for the New York Red Bulls, following players such as David Beckham into the Major League Soccer (MLS). The 32-year-old Henry announced today that he had agreed to leave Barcelona to take up a "multi-year" deal with the Red Bulls. "This marks an exciting new chapter in my career and life," he said. The former Juventus and Arsenal forward will join England's Beckham and former Swedish international Freddie Ljungberg among the league's designated players who have most of their salary paid outside of their team's salary cap. Henry is expected to play his first match next week when the Red Bulls host the English Premier League team Tottenham at their new stadium. "It is without question that Thierry Henry is one of the most successful and recognisable soccer players over the past 15 years," said Dietmar Beiersdorfer, head of New York's owners, Red Bull Global Soccer. "We are thrilled that Thierry has decided to come to New York to help the Red Bulls compete for championships this year and for years to come. His international pedigree is second to none and he is a proven winner." — Reuters |
Bhopal, July 14 Harmanpreet scored the first goal in the eighth minute to give Chandigarh a 1-0 lead to his team but Upendra Pillai of the MPSHA equalised through a brilliant field goal 15 minutes later. After five minutes, Gurjant Singh of Chandigarh through a controversial field goal made the score 2-1, although the MPSHA players raised objection against referee's decision. Soon the MPSHA equalised and both the teams were locked 2-2 after the stipulated time.The teams also failed to score during additional time. Chandigarh converted all the five penalties, while MPSHA captain Shailendra Bundela missed his team's third attempt and the side exited from the tournament. In the other quarterfinal, Amit of Mumbai scored a brilliant field goal in the 21st minute to give a 1-0 lead to his team but Punjab equalised in the 45th minute by converting a penalty corner through Karanjeet Singh. Later, Mumbai struck two goals in a span of three minutes by Gursev Singh (49th) and Laxman Rao (52nd) to make the score 3-1. In the 63rd minute, Mumbai consolidated its lead to 4-1 by putting the ball inside the net through Jayesh Jadhav. However, Karanjeet of Punjab hit his second goal through penalty stroke in the 66th minute to reduce the margin 4-2. In another fixture earlier, SAIL defeated Orissa 5-3 and booked a berth in the quarterfinal. — PTI |
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