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AITA confirms players’ CWG boycott threat
Premier Brands may come back as merchandise partner
Injured Rice pulls out
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Vishy Anand to take on 40 mathematicians
Now, England wc bid team hires Octopus Paul
IWF to abide by govt guidelines
No kissing, follow dress code: CWG to tourists
Suranjoy eyes gold at CWG
Cook rides his luck
BCS win soccer tourney
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AITA confirms players’ CWG boycott threat
New Delhi, August 20 The men's team for CWG - Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna - wrote a signed letter to the All-India Tennis Association that if they were not paid the dues by next month "none of them will be available for the Games in October". Except for a minimal payment to Bhupathi, no player has received a single penny for their CWG preparations. AITA Secretary General Anil Khanna, who had yesterday denied any such development of a possible boycott, today admitted to it and said talks with the Sports Ministry were on and the matter would be resolved within a week. "The government is sensitive towards the players and I am hoping that within a week a solution will be reached," Khanna said. Khanna had a meeting with Sports Ministry officials today but did not divulge the details. However, he said progress had been made on the issue and that all players will be available for the Games. ]According to the letter Khanna wrote to the players, the AITA has asked the Sports Ministry to release $17,250 each to all four men's players and Sania Mirza for their preparations. The sum is for two years and the payment is in accordance with the players' entitlement of $115 per day for 75 days in a year for CWG preparations as per the government rules. The AITA was pressing that the allowance for tennis players should be for a minimum of 180 days and a maximum of 280 days in a year. The government though has refused the proposal reportedly saying they cannot change rules for tennis players. The government wanted the players to produce their hotel bills, air-tickets and other expenses in original which is quite tough for the players as they travel extensively and are not keen to go through cumbersome government procedures. "We suggested to the government that since we have proof of players playing in international tennis, we should not ask for bills as that is a very difficult exercise and since players are carrying their support staff, they are in any case spending a large amount of money out of their pockets," Khanna said in his explanation to the players. Apart from the CWG dues, the players have also complained in their letter about delay in clearance of dues for the Asian Games and Olympics and also want support staff for CWG like Davis Cup. Khanna said AITA had no role in clearing those dues as the money for those tournaments has to be cleared by Indian Olympic Association and they can just talk on behalf of the players with the relevant authorities. The players made it clear in their letter that no dues were pending from AITA as far as Davis Cup ties were concerned. — PTI
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Premier Brands may come back as merchandise partner
New Delhi, August 20 The executive committee of the OC had met today and decided to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Though the Premier Brands has kept mum over the controversy. “It is for the OC to take the call,” Suresh Kumar, Chairman of Premier Brands told The Tribune. He said discussions are going on but a final decision is yet to be taken as far as the reviving the contract is concerned. “We have not been given any confirmation so far. Discussions are going on,” he said. According to the contract, the OC will sell the rights to the company to produce and sell products with the CWG logos and branding. The company has earlier pulled out of the contract citing losses due to the OC’s delay in starting the merchandising process. The disagreement between the two also emanated from the OC’s objections to certain conditions put forth by the company. The contract to produce the merchandise was signed on May 19 with a minimum profit guarantee of 15-20 percent, which could have been around seven crores. But due to delay of three months, it came down to three crore even as the firm is expected to be investing a total amount of Rs 13 crore on the project, which involves opening outlets across the Games venues and stores across shopping malls, Metro stations and the airport. The hapless OC, which is at present engulfed in a spate of corruption scandal, also seems to not have any other option as going for fresh tenders for awarding the contract could mean huge revenue losses with only 44 days left for the event. Sources also revealed that Premier Brands has already invested Rs 50 lakh on merchandising products. Merchandising is an integral part of big-ticket sports events around the world, and is usually one of the primary techniques to earn back the money that has been invested in infrastructure and the conduct of the event.
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The 22-year-old swimmer, who is struggling with a problem in her right shoulder since March, also has been ruled out of the ongoing Pan Pacific Championships in California. Rice decided to skip the games to undergo a surgery in her shoulder in the hope of getting her full fitness before the 2012 Olympics. She had earlier put off the surgery till the Commonwealth Games but decided to fix her inflamed joint immediately after consulting her coach Michael Bohl. "It's very disappointing, the Melbourne Commonwealth Games was a fantastic event to be part of, and for me personally, and I was really looking forward to the colour and excitement of Delhi," an emotional Rice was quoted as saying in the Swimming Australia website. To not be able to compete at 100 per cent here at the Pan Pans has been hard enough, but to make the decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games has been very difficult. "It's the right decision long-term though, because the sooner I can get the shoulder looked at properly and have the surgery done, the sooner I can get back in the pool, training at 100 per cent," she said. The Beijing gold medallist in the 200 and 400m individual medley, and 4x200m freestyle relay will return to Australia next week to have the surgery. A disappointing Swimming Australia head coach Leigh Nugent said Rice's loss is big setback for the Delhi-bound team. "There is no question Stephanie is a fantastic athlete, but unfortunately all athletes have their hurdles," said Nugent. "The priority is to get her back to top fitness as soon as possible and to do that she will have to miss the rest of the these championships and the Commonwealth Games. She will come back stronger from this injury," she said. — PTI
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Vishy Anand to take on 40 mathematicians
Hyderabad, August 20 The event is part of the ongoing International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), a nine-day event which has brought together nearly 3,000 delegates from 50 countries. The prestigious Congress, organised once every four years, is being held in India for the first time in its 113-year history. Hyderabad is hosting the prestigious event. Anand will simultaneously play against 40 volunteers chosen from among delegates and participants at the ICM. “We wanted something unique in the Congress’ cultural programme, keeping in mind the origin of chess in India,” said MS Raghunathan, a mathematician with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, and chairman of the organising committee of the ICM. In a statement released through the ICM secretariat, Anand : “I am quite looking forward to attending the Congress and maybe even hearing some lectures. When I first got the grandmaster title, someone presented me - The Man Who Knew Infinity,” a biography of the Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujam. That was my first introduction to a mathematician.” The 40-against-one tournament will require Anand to shift from table to table. “The format poses a greater challenge to the grandmaster and more mathematicians will get an opportunity to play against him,” Raghunathan said. Raghunathan had first conceived the idea of requesting Anand to play against mathematicians while he was at the last ICM in Spain in 2006. At an event hosted by the Indian ambassador in Spain, some of the Indian delegates at the Congress had approached Anand, who agreed to take part in the tournament.
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Now, England wc bid team hires Octopus Paul
London, August 20 Germany beat England 4-1 in the second round of the World Cup in the most recent instalment of the nations' ongoing football rivalry, but the switch is a natural one for Paul. Although he became famous by calling Germany's results and the Spain-Netherlands final from an aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany, Paul is English born. He hatched at Weymouth Sea Life Center on England's south coast in 2008. “Paul has spent the last two years of his life in Germany but he is definitely a proud Englishman,'” Weymouth Sea Life Center manager Nicola Hamilton said. “We have had a number of football approaches from around the world but Paul was only ever going to choose his homeland." With his eight tentacles, Paul is more adept at shaking hands than sweet-talking FIFA's 24-man executive committee which will vote in December on which nation gets to host the tournament. But his role is simply to bring extra publicity to a country competing with the United States, Russia and joint bids by Belgium-Netherlands and Spain-Portugal. "Paul the Octopus is undoubtedly one of the biggest names in football," former England winger John Barnes said. "Huge numbers of people will follow Paul's lead and back the bid." Paul's World Cup success garnered huge attention, with footage of him making predictions by choosing which of two mussels to devour appearing on television worldwide. Paul made his choice by opening the lid of one of two clear plastic boxes, each bearing the flag of one of the teams and containing a mussel. Imitators sprang up all over the world, including Mani the parakeet in Singapore and Lorenzo the parrot in Hannover, Germany. The latest is a saltwater crocodile named Dirty Harry, who predicted Spain's World Cup final win and this week called the result of Australia's general election by snatching a chicken carcass dangling beneath a caricature of Prime Minister Julia Gillard. But Paul has stopped short of predicting that England will host the World Cup for the first time since 1966. After his uncanny run of World Cup success, Paul retired from the role of octopus oracle. — AP
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IWF to abide by govt guidelines
Patiala, August 20 The beleaguered IWF, which is finding it difficult to pay the fine of $3.75 lakh imposed on it following several doping offences, has now written to the Sports Ministry asking it to bail it out. It is pertinent to mention here that if the IWF does not pay the fine to the international body by August 31, it may have to miss the Commonwealth Games bus. Sources reveal that the IWF was hoping to win anything between 11 to 14 medals in both men’s and women’s sections in the games. The IWF president BP Bhaishya has written to the Sports Ministry seeking funds to pay the fine. At the same the federation has said it would abide by the ministry’s guidelines in which no officer bearer can hold office if he or she is above 70 years. It will also abide be the decision of the ministry in which the tenure of NSF officials has been restricted to two terms of 6 years each. Confirming this Bhaishya said that the general body of the IWF would be giving final approval to the guidelines shortly. The IWF will become the second NSF to abide by the controversial guidelines, already rejected by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). The first NSF to have reacted positively to the guidelines was the All-India Tennis Association. The IWF had initially asked the IOA to bail it out by giving a Rs 1-crore interest free loan that the federation wanted to pay to the international body as part of the fine imposed for doping violations. However, the IOA washed its hands off the issue forcing the IWF to knock the Sports Ministry’s door. Interestingly, IOA president Suresh Kalmadi, who is vehemently opposed to the guidelines, was instrumental in getting Bhaishya the post of the IWF president. Sources reveal that now Bhaishya has made a u-turn just to ensure that Indian weightlifters, both men and woman, participate in the Commonwealth Games.
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No kissing, follow dress code: CWG to tourists
New Delhi, August 20 In its 'travellers zone' section, the OC have given a list of tips on 18 varied topics ranging from Visa to Toilets, besides a separate point on 'some important dos and don'ts'. "The Western practice of a peck on the cheek as a form of greeting a lady or a grown up girl is JUST NOT DONE when you are in India unless you happen to be in 'Westernized Indian' circles.. — PTI |
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IPL: No decision on number of matches
Mumbai, August 20 "We discussed the IPL accounts. After that there was a (BCCI) finance committee meeting," said Cricket Board secretary N Srinivasan. According to BCCI sources, the board has suffered a deficit of Rs 39 crore for 2009-10 season after deducting an amount of Rs 202 crore distributed to 25 state associations and each association was likely to get at least Rs 6 crore. "The expenses had mounted due to IPL (II) being held in South Africa. A total amount of Rs 83 crore was spent," they said. IPL vice-chairman Niranjan Shah also confirmed that nothing else was discussed barring the accounts at today's meeting while adding another meeting of the Council is to be held in the first week of September. "Nothing else other than IPL accounts was discussed meeting. There would be another meeting in the first week of September," Shah said. — PTI
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Suranjoy eyes gold at CWG
Patiala, August 20 Experts and friends term him an “angry” boxer although in the same breath they insist that he manages to channelise this anger into a sort of momentum that, in the ultimate analysis destroys his opponents. This is the story of Suranjoy Singh who won gold at the Commonwealth Championship in the 52-kg weight category in New Delhi in March. In the final against Oliver Lavigi of Mauritius, it was just a stroll in the park for the diminutive Manipuri as he outwitted his rival in just 25 seconds. He even dared him with an open guard-an effrontery that disturbed his coaches. Suranjoy has styled himself on Dingko Singh whose claim to fame is the Asian Games gold medal he won in 1998. Suranjoy studied in the same Chiwa High school as Digko and was later inspired into the combat sport by his brother and international boxer Suranjit Singh. Suranjoy shot into the limelight when he became the first Indian boxer to win gold in the prestigious President’s Cup held in December last year. He was also declared the best boxer of the President’s Cup - an achievement that chief coach GS Sandhu says “was a massive accomplishment for Indian boxing.” Boxers like Suranjay, like to fight danger. Says Suranjoy, “ Boxing is a sport where speech can slur, memory becomes short term, hands shake, sight dims, walk slows, headaches persist. But no one quits, not even Mohammad Ali. I am not the one to accept defeat. I hate to lose.”
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London, August 20 At tea England were 194 for three, an overall lead of 119, after they had started the second innings on Thursday with a deficit of 75. Cook, with only 106 runs in eight test innings this season, rode his luck in the opening hour. He edged Mohammad Asif for consecutive fours and slashed Wahab Riaz at catchable height through a vacant fourth slip position. As the day's play progressed, the left-hander grew in confidence and authority. He took 12 off a wayward over from Riaz and was given plenty of short-pitched bowling to feed his enchant for the hook and cut. Pakistan looked flat in the field with Asif unable to find the late movement which has made him such a threat throughout the series. Cook reached his 13th test century when he played the ball back to Asif, who caught the ball on the bounce, then inexplicably hurled it high over wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal's head for four overthrows. Asif later conceded 15 runs in an over. — Reuters Brief Scores: England 233 and 194 for 3 (Trott 36*, Pietersen 23*) lead Pakistan 308 by 119 runs.
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BCS win soccer tourney Chandigarh, August 20 A chaotic dribble in the goal area led Alamjot Brar of BCS to scoring again, taking the score to 3-0. The second half brought rain and thrill in to the game when a penalty was converted by Aman Suyal, giving hosts Sanawar their first goal. The game picked up momentum as both teams played desperately hard to outscore the other. Sanawar once again reduced the deficit through a penalty and Aman shot well to make it 3-2. The match ended with BCS winning by that very margin and lifting the coveted trophy.
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A day after vehemently denying that India's top players have threatened to pull out of the Commonwealth Games due to non-payment of dues, the AITA was today left red faced when it came to light that four elite players had indeed given the threat.
New Delhi, August 20
He is an undisputed champion in the world of chess, having defeated the best of the brains and well-programmed computers in the game of 64
squares.However, chess king Viswanathan Anand is up against a new challenge now.
The event is part of the ongoing International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), a nine-day event which has brought together nearly 3,000 delegates from 50 countries. The prestigious Congress, organised once every four years, is being held in India for the first time in its 113-year history.
Boxing takes troubled young men off the streets, it is said. It provides them a legalised vehicle for their anger and it also allows them to dream and, for a few, to escape dismal lives. Rich boys are rarely found in rings. This in essence sums up the till yet effervescent career of one of the country’s most talented boxer - Mayengbam Suranjoy Singh - as he readies himself for the punch of a lifetime - the Commonwealth Games gold medal.
Chandigarh, August 20
Melbourne, August 20
Mumbai
India lose 0-1 to Portuguese