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I was tricked, blackmailed: Hameed
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Women’s Hockey World Cup
Rooney to stay with England
‘B’ samples test positive
Indian football lacks good club structure: Bhutia
Visually impaired golfers get chance on Asian Tour
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I was tricked, blackmailed: Hameed
Karachi, September 6 But the batsman denied giving any such interview to the tabloid and said the undercover reporter, who spoke to him posing as a sponsorship agent, sent him intimidating text messages to stick to the comments shown in the video released yesterday. Hameed was summoned to the Pakistan High Commission in England for a meeting with High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan in London yesterday. After the meeting, the Pakistan Cricket Board's legal adviser Tafazzul Rizvi released a statement on behalf of Hameed. In the statement, Hameed said he was offered money and even blackmailed to stand by the remarks attributed to him in the video which he claims was shot without his knowledge. “I would like to respond to comments attributed to me by the ‘News of the World’ today. I wish to stress I have never been approached by the NOTW and neither did I approach anyone connected with it to disclose any allegations concerning the Pakistan cricket team or any other players,” Hameed said in his statement. He also claimed that he was having dinner with a friend at the Holiday Inn Nottingham on the evening of August 30 and was approached by a man who introduced himself as Abid Khan and offered to arrange a sponsorship deal for him (Yasir) with ETIHAD Airways. “Naturally, I was interested in what he had to say and we began a conversation. He offered me at least £50,000 for the deal, which was for an ETIHAD sticker at the back of the cricket bat plus TV and billboard advertisements in the UAE,” he said. “Then Abid Khan started asking about the current match fixing allegations and as I saw him as a friend and a potential agent, I naively started to answer his questions. He asked me about the match fixing allegations against the current three Pakistani players and if I had any further knowledge. As far as I can recall I only told him whatever I had already read in the newspapers about this matter,” Hameed stated. The cricketer said two days after the meeting, he began receiving text messages telling him that the conversation between him and Abid had been taped. “It seems that Abid had a hidden camera which I was totally unaware of. Two days later Abid then called me and offered me £25,000 to give a statement against the three current players under investigation, which I immediately refused and put the phone down.” “I neither called nor answered any calls from Abid after this conversation.,” Hameed said. However, neither Hameed nor Rizvi explained why the player did not report his meeting with Abid Khan aka Mazhar Mahmood earlier to the team management. — PTI Pakistan to probe cricketers’ assets
Islamabad: In the wake of the spot-fixing scandal involving three Pakistan cricketers, the government has decided to investigate the assets of current and former players who have represented the country over the last five years. The Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) has directed its regional officers to collect details of the bank accounts and other assets of the cricketers, leading Urdu daily Jang reported on Monday. Even the officials have been asked to take account of the number of cars in the possession of the cricketers, the report said. The PCB will also be asked to submit its expenses for the players, selectors, coaches and managers, an FBR officer Israr Rauf was quoted as saying by the daily. Lankan board chief denies betting on IPL
Colombo: Former chairman of the Sri Lankan cricket board T Sumathipala on Monday rejected Arjuna Ranatunga's allegations that he was involved in placing bets on IPL matches and threatened to sue the World Cup winning ex-captain. Reacting to reports quoting Ranatunga, Sumathipala said contrary to the allegations, he has been working against illegal bookmakers. “I am one person who is fighting against illegal bookmakers. If Arjuna has said this, I will sue him and I will take him on because that man and Arvinda de Silva's name was mentioned in the CBI report during the Hansie Cronje episode," Sumathipala added.
— PTI |
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New York, September 6 Eleventh seed Kuznetsova, champion in New York in 2004 and runner-up in 2007, led by a break of serve in both sets but lost her way with 42 unforced errors as Cilbulova reached the US Open quarter-finals for the first time. Kuznetsova led 4-2 in the first set but world number 45 Cibulkova hit back to win it and then recovered from 3-1 down to lead 5-3 in the second. Bopanna-Qureshi
in quarters
India's Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi advanced to the men's doubles quarterfinals of the US Open with an upset win over second seeded Canadian-Serbian pair of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic here. Indo-Zimbabwean pair of Leander Paes and Cara Black also advanced to the last-eight stage of the tournament in the mixed doubles event.The 16th seeded Indo-Pak pair of Bopanna and Qureshi streamrolled their opponents 6-3 6-4 in a one-sided pre-quarterfinal clash at Flushing Meadows here. Both Bopanna and Qureshi were on song with their trademark aggressive serves and precision forehands as the duo demolised the Grand Slam contenders in straight sets. They will next face the daunting South African-Belgian pair of Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman, who reached the semi-finals of the French Open and Wimbledon this year. This will be the second consecutive appearance at a Grand Slam quarter-final for the Indo-Pak pair who made it to the final eight at the Wimbledon..
— Reuters/PTI |
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Women’s Hockey World Cup
Rosario (Argentina), September 6 Jasjeet Kaur Handa accounted for India's second goal from a penalty corner in the 43rd minute. With this result, India have leapfrogged Japan into fourth place in the Pool 'A' standings. The star of the Indian team was once again the 15-year-old striker Rani Rampal who scored her fifth goal of the tournament. She finished off a slick attack with Poonam Rani and Saba Anjum to ensure that her name continued to be on the scoresheet of every match that India has played in this World Cup. Japan had large spells of possession in the first half but were often frustrated by superb work from the Indian mid-fielders Asunta Lakra, Deepika Thakur, Ritu Rani and Kirandeep Kaur who made a number of important blocks just when their opponents threatened to score. Japan were awarded a sequence of penalty corners on the stroke of half time, giving them the perfect opportunity to draw level. However, good anticipation from India goalkeeper Dipika Murty guaranteed India the advantage at the break. Japan came out at the start of the second period with all guns blazing, but India soon found their rhythm and began to force their opponents onto the back foot. A strike from Japan's Kaori Chiba caused problems for the Indian keeper a few minutes later, with the video umpire Claire Adenot being called into action to double check if the ball had found its way into the goal, but India's 2-0 advantage remained intact. India will now play their last Pool match against New Zealand on Tuesday. India have three points and are placed above New Zealand and Japan who have one point each.
— PTI |
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Rooney trained as normal with his England teammates yesterday morning — hours after the News of the World and the Sunday Mirror alleged that the Manchester United player cheated repeatedly on his then-pregnant wife last year with a prostitute. According to the Sunday Mirror, the affair with 21-year-old Jenny Thompson began last June and their last meeting in Manchester was in October, a month before Rooney’s wife Coleen gave birth to their first son Kai. This is the second time this year that England coach Fabio Capello has had to deal with the fallout of lurid allegations against one of his players. Capello stripped John Terry of the captaincy in February after newspaper allegations that the defender had an affair with England teammate Wayne Bridge’s former partner. Capello complained that Terry was not setting “an example for the young people - for the children and the fans”. The Rooneys, who married in 2008, have cultivated their fame to become one of Britain’s leading celebrity couples. Coleen has her own TV series and magazine column and is considered a fashion icon. There was no comment on the latest allegations from the Football Association (FA) or Manchester United, but the Premier League club is willing to provide support to Rooney. — AP
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‘B’ samples test positive
These wrestlers were earlier ‘provisionally suspended’ when their A-samples were found positive for the banned substance methylhexanamine, which was included in the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) list of prohibitive drug this year. Four of them - men's freestyle wrestlers Rajiv Tomar (120kg), Sumit (74kg) and Mausam Khatri (96kg) and women's freestyle wrestler Gursharanpreet Kaur (72kg) - were removed from the Commonwealth Games squad. Rahul Mann (60kg) and Joginder Singh (120kg) were the other two wrestlers. Three-time national champion Tomar was last month conferred Arjuna Award. Giving information in this regard, director-general, NADA, Rahul Bhatnagar informed that all six wrestlers' B-samples had also returned positive. “A copy of the second notice has been sent to them and the anti-doping disciplinary committee will give the wrestlers a date of hearing tomorrow,” he added. Besides these wrestlers, two athletes, shot putter Saurabh Vij and discus-thrower Akash Antil, two swimmers, Richa Mishra and Jyotsna Pansari, also appeared before the NADA for their B sampling today - the reports of which would be out by Wednesday. They also tested positive for methylhexanamine in their A-samples. It is pertinent to mention here that the NADA has taken its zero tolerance policy on dope offenders to the next level with almost 2,000 samples being taken from January to August. In the next few days, it will also begin testing the CWG contingent before it enters the Games OC hands over
completion certificates for all venues
NEW DELHI: CWG organising committee on Monday handed over copies of the completion certificates from all competition and non-competition venues, including the Games Village, to CGF CEO Mike Hooper. "We got copies of the completion certificates given by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to the venue owners today and, as promised, handed them over to Hooper," OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi said. "We are confident that the CWG federation and its members will be satisfied," he said. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi issued 14 completion certificates to the venue owners of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Complex, Indira Gandhi Indoor Sports Complex, RK Khanna Tennis Stadium, Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges, Thyagaraj Stadium, all facilities in the Delhi University North Campus, Chhatrasal Stadium and Ludlow Castle School. The New Delhi Municipal Council had given completion certificates for three venues last week, including Maj Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Talkatora Indoor Stadium and Dr SPM Aquatics Complex. No specific
security threat to CWG: Home Secy
Thiruvanathapuram: The Centre on Monday said no specific security threat had been received to the Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi next month. Acquisition of para gliders by Lashkar-e-Toiba had come to the notice of Centre, but it did not cause any direct threat to CWG, Union Home Secretary G K Pillai told reporters here. Asserting that the Centre was not concerned by the LeT acquiring para gliders, he said government would take all necessary steps for foolproof security for the games.
— PTI |
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Indian football lacks good club structure: Bhutia
New Delhi, September 6 India, ranked 138th in the FIFA rankings and 24th in Asia, have played just one international this year, against Thailand on Saturday, with the return leg scheduled for Wednesday. “We badly need a good club structure. Clubs should give the national team quality players, that’s how the system works in top footballing nations, but unfortunately, we don’t have a good club structure at the moment,” Bhutia said on the sidelines of a promotional event here today. Bhutia, who played his 100th international match in the Nehru Cup last year, said, “It is difficult for an Indian footballer to play 100 matches in a career considering the limited number of international games the country plays.” “It’s not too easy considering the fact that we play just two or three matches in 96 or 97 days,” Bhutia said. The India skipper, however, sounded positive when asked about the composition of the current team. "It’s got a great future. Almost all players who's played in the last match (against Thailand on Saturday) were young, except Mahesh (Gawli) I think,” he said. “Sixty to 70 per cent of the players in the team are young, with an average age of 24 or 25, and that’s a good sign,” he said. — PTI Any venue better than India, says Houghton
Slamming the training facilities and the infrastructure in India, national football coach Bob Houghton today said any stadium in the world is far better than the ones in the country. Houghton said poor facilities in India is precisely the reason why they always look for overseas trips for training of the national team. Houghton and his wards have just returned from Thailand, following a two-month long tour of Portugal.
— PTI |
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Visually impaired golfers get chance on Asian Tour
Singapore, September 6 “The visually impaired golfers are an inspiration to me and professional players alike. They understand the course in different ways and it’s amazing to see them strike the ball so well. The tournament features a line-up, including Asian number one Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, at Singapore’s Orchid Country Club from September 9-12.
— AFP |
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Karachi, September 6
In my own honest personal view, I think age would come into account in these matters. But that is something the independent tribunal will have to decide upon
Match-fixing or spot-fixing brings disrepute to the game. It does not restrict only to the people who are doing it or the side they belong to. People start associating it with the whole fraternity which means all cricketers
Watford (England), September 6
Patiala, September 6
