Dambulla (Sri Lanka), August 14
Miffed with the practice pitch at the Rangini Dambulla Stadium here, a furious Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni today walked out of a practice session after Dinesh Karthik injured his hand due to the uneven bounce of the track.

The three-hour training session ahead of India's second tri-series clash against Sri Lanka on August 16 witnessed some drama after Karthik was rendered a doubtful starter for the match due to the hand injury he picked up while practicing.

Indian manager Ranjib Biswal said players did have some problem while facing good-length bouncing deliveries. But denied that Karthik or any other player got injured.

“Facilities for practice at the stadium are good but the pitch is not ideal for practicing. We had some problem with the pitch," Biswal said. Biswal said barring pacer Ashish Nehra, everyone attended the practice session. However, he did not reveal the reason behind Nehra's absence. "We will again have a practice session tomorrow at the same time. There will be no briefing today,” he said before leaving for the hotel. India lost the lung-opener by a massive 200 runs against a depleted New Zealand team. — PTI

London, August 14
Manchester City unleashed around £ 70 million worth of signings as the Premier League kicked off on Saturday but it was Joe Hart, a keeper who cost nothing, who earned them a point in a 0-0 draw at Tottenham Hotspur.Hart, who played for England against Hungary on Wednesday, made six superb saves to keep City in the game before halftime. His team mates finally woke up to give Tottenham a contest after the interval.

In the end a draw was just about a fair result as City shaded the second half and both sides showed enough to suggest they will be serious contenders to finish in the top four, and possibly even in the mix for the title. Chelsea, who won the league and FA Cup double, begin their season later at home to West Bromwich Albion while Manchester United, runners-up last season, must wait until Monday to open their campaign against Newcastle United.

Tottenham and City were involved in an absorbing scrap for fourth place last season, a fight Tottenham finally won thanks to a 1-0 win at Eastlands in May.

Harry Redknapp's side were the more cohesive unit on Saturday as they clicked straight into their old rhythm. They could have been out of sight before halftime as Roberto Mancini's rich side played the opening half at half pace.

City, who have spent more than 100 million pounds ($156 million) in the transfer market since finishing fifth last season, gave debuts to Yaya Toure, David Silva and Aleksandar Kolarov, but it was Hart who kept them in the game.

As late as Friday, Mancini said he had not decided whether Hart or Shay Given would start the season in goal for City. The Italian's eventual decision proved fully justified as Hart denied a rampant Tottenham in the first half.

Melbourne, August 14
A policeman, a plumber, an apprentice mechanic and a school kid make for an interesting mix of archers picked today in Australia's 12-strong team for the Delhi Commonwealth Games in October.

Archery will make only its second appearance at the Commonwealth Games following its debut in Brisbane in 1982. Eight gold medals in total will be on offer for men and women in the individual recurve, team recurve, individual compound and team compound events.

The Australian contingent will be led by three-time Olympian Matthew Gray, an officer with the water police in New South Wales, the Australian Commonwealth Games Federation said in a statement.A member of the 1999 world indoor championships gold medal winning team, the 37-year-old first took up the sport thirty years ago at the age of seven when his father bought him a bow at a local garage sale.

Gray will compete in the recurve event alongside Perth school student Taylor Worth who recently won the US Open championships, Mathew Masonwells, Dawn Nelson, Alexandra Feeney and Deonne Bridger from Western Australia.

Thirty-eight year-old Bridger, who competed at the 1996 Atlanta and 2004 Olympics, was the archery team section manager in Beijing but will make her return to the other side of the fence in Delhi.

Australian head coach Simon Fairweather said the Australian archers have faced an intensive year of camps, trials and overseas competition in order to be selected.

“The members of this year's squad have shot over 100 matches in preparation for the Games. This is far more match practice than any previous Australian team has ever done prior to an event and I feel that it will stand our archers in good stead once we get to Delhi," he said NZ contingent to have less than 200 athletes

Wellington: For the first time in 16 years, New Zealand's Commonwealth Games contingent will feature less than 200 athletes when it lands in Delhi for the 19th edition of the quadrennial extravaganza.The last time it happened was in the 1994 Victoria Games, which did not have hockey in its list of sports. The naming of New Zealand's table tennis, tennis and hockey teams brought the total number of competitors for the October 3- 14 to 193. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Modi re-elected president of Nagaur dist association
MUMBAI: Suspended IPL chairman Lalit Modi was re-elected on Saturday as president of Nagaur District Cricket Association for the third consecutive term. Modi was re-elected along with other office bearers at the elections held under the supervision of retired district and sessions judge M R Farooqui, said Modi's legal counsel Mehmood Abdi in a media release. Rajender Singh Nandhu and Nasruddin Nagauri were elected as secretary and the treasurer respectively, the release said. — PTI

Zulqarnain in doubt for 3rd Test
Karachi:Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider, who made an impressive debut in the second Test against England at Edgbaston, is a doubtful starter for the third match starting at the Oval next week due to a finger injury. Pakistan manager Yawar Saeed confirmed from England that Zulqarnain had suffered a hairline fracture in one of his fingers while playing in the match. “We don't know how serious the injury is right now but we will have him checked up in London by a specialist to find out if he can play or not,” Yawar said. Pakistan had already lost pacer Umar Gul, who had been ruled out of the series due to a hamstring injury, which he picked up during the second Test. — PTI

Youth Olympics begin
SINGAPORE: The inaugural Youth Olympic Games officially opened on Saturday in a spectacular blaze of colour, with Jacques Rogge hailing it as a new chapter in the Olympic movement. With the Singapore skyline as an impressive backdrop, some 7,000 singers and dancers performed in an opening ceremony on a floating platform at Marina Bay. “Tonight we open a new chapter in the history of the Olympic movement,” International Olympic Committee president Rogge told the 27,000-capacity crowd and a worldwide television audience in declaring the Games open. The Games run from August 14-26. — AFP

Razzaq hopeful of Test comeback
Karachi: Pakistan's veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq has not given up hope of playing Test cricket for the national team despite being overlooked for the ongoing tour of England. Razzaq said he still had hopes of making it into the Test team once again. Razzaq, who is playing for Hampshire in the Friends Provident Twenty20, said he would have been a worthy addition to Pakistan's Test squad in England because of his experience and performances. — PTI

Atwal misses cut
SPRINGFIELD (USA): A disastrous back-nine cost Arjun Atwal dearly as he missed the cut at the Nationwide Tour's Price Cutter Charity Golf Championship here after carding a two-over 74 in the second round. Atwal, playing in only his fourth nationwide event of the year, signed off with a total of even-par 144. — PTI