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HI, IHF merger on the cards
India win rain-hit tie, lead 2-0
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Youngsters want to handle pressure, says Kohli
‘Bust-up with Clarke reason for Katich axing’
Saina, Kashyap enter quarters
London unveils ‘golden glow’ Olympic torch
Mirrahimi ousts Indian stalwart Jayanta 6-5
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HI, IHF merger on the cards
New Delhi, June 9 Maken said he had gone to former IHF president KPS Gill’s residence in Delhi last month to mediate for the merger. Representatives of HI and IHF were also present but nothing came out of that meeting. “But I am now hopeful that both the bodies will agree on a merger. We are very keen about it as there should be only one hockey federation. “We have something in mind if they don’t agree. The Government will then take a firm step,” the minister warned. He said the formula suggested by him was that there should be equal representation from both bodies in the new body. “Yes, we have got an invitation for the meeting. We will attend it with a positive frame of mind,” said HI secretary-general Narendra Batra. Maken said there was also no problem in the appointment of a foreign coach as money was not an issue. He said the Government had cleared 28 foreign coaches out of which 17 had assumed charged. “We have raised the monthly salary of a foreign coach from $5000 to $7000 and are willing to give more for a suitable hockey coach, if Hockey India comes up with one. Money is not a problem for a good coach as we will pay as much as required,” assured Maken. But the problem was that HI was rooting for the formalisation of Harendra Singh’s appointment as National coach and it wanted a foreign coach only as a consultant. The Government had funded the team’s participation in the Azlan Shah Tournament in Malaysia where defending champions India had finished sixth under Harendra Singh. “Qualifying for the Olympics is very important for me and we will do everything possible to help the hockey team,” Maken informed. He said the Government had appointed a steering committee which will finalise the foreign coach’s name, suggested by the seven-member Development Committee of Hockey India, headed by Pargat Singh. Interacting with the media here this afternoon, Maken said the Mukul Mudgal Committee report on the Draft Sports Development Bill was ready and will be submitted to the Government on Sunday. The proposed National Sports Legislation would be based on the recommendations of this committee. But whatever be the recommendations, Maken said he would insist on a few points: That the autonomy of the National Sports Federations should not be tampered with, while insisting on transparency, accountability and good governance; That we will take the Sports Legislation forward whatever be the opposition of the NSFs and the Indian Olympic Association; Appointment of an ombudsman for settling disputes; Bringing the Sports Authority of India (SAI) also under the ambit of the legislation to make it accountable, outside the purview of the policy and administrative decisions that govern it. Maken said the Government was going ahead with a properly structured coaching programme for the 2012 London Olympics teams, codenamed ‘Project Opex 2012’. A budget of around Rs 260 crores has been earmarked for the project. He said the daily nutrition and diet allowance of the Olympic probables has been hiked to Rs 650 per day. Maken said he would appoint a three-member committee, consisting of a representative from the IOA, a renowned sportsperson and the Sports Ministry, to visit the Olympic coaching camps and submit a weekly report directly to the minister to find quick solutions for any lapse in the conduct of the camps, including boarding and lodging, proper diet, equipment etc. “We would ensure that the best of facilities are provided to the Olympic probables,” Maken assured. Gill first mooted merger
Former president of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), KPS Gill, said here today that he was the first to moot the suggestion of a unified hockey body following Justice Muralidhar Reddy's order, asking the Government to recognise the Indian Hockey Federation. Reacting to Sports Minister Ajay Maken's proposal to hold a meeting of the representatives of Hockey India and IHF on Saturday to thrash out the formalities of a merger, the former Supercop said he could not comment "unless I see the proposal". But Gill pointed out that when he was the IHF president, he had written to the Government to take steps for the merger of the two hockey bodies, as suggested by Justice Reddy. "But nothing happened then," he told The Tribune. Gill said the president and secretary of IHF would be attending the meeting called by Maken. |
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India’s Tour of the West Indies
Port of Spain, June 9 Virat Kohli (81) played a stellar hand, first partnering opener Parthiv Patel (56) for 120-run second wicket stand and then withstanding a little tremor induced by the rain breaks. Chasing a target of 241, India were 100 for one in 22 overs when a sharp passing shower made the square unfit to play for 85 minutes. The rain break reduced the visitors' innings to 37 overs and the target was revised to 183, implying they needed 83 runs from 90 deliveries. And India achieved it comfortably in 33.4 overs. Earlier, India restricted the hosts to 240 for nine after skipper Suresh Raina won the toss and elected to field at the Queen's Park Oval. Amit Mishra (4/31) and Munaf Patel (3/35) struck in the late moments to stop the run flow and trigger a collapse after the Windies got off to a good start. For the hosts, Ramnaresh Sarwan (56) and Lendl Simmons (53) cracked individual half-centuries up the order but their middle-order crumbled, slipping from 175 for three in 34 overs to 229 for nine in 48.5 overs. — PTI Scoreboard West Indies Simmons st Patel b Yusuf 53 Edwards c Patel b Mishra 25 Sarwan c Yusuf b Munaf 56 Samuels st Patel b Yusuf 36 Bravo c Harbhajan b Mishra 8 Pollard lbw b Mishra 0 Baugh b Mishra 2 Sammy not out 22 Rampaul c Raina b Munaf 14 Bishoo c Patel b Munaf 0 Martin not out 0 Extras (b 1, lb 6, w 16, nb 1) 24 Total (9 wkts; 50 overs) 240 Bowling: Praveen 10-0-54-0, Munaf 10-2-35-3, Mishra 10-2-31-4, Harbhajan 10-1-51-0, Yusuf 8-0-51-2, Raina 2-0-11-0. India Patel c Baugh b Martin 56 Dhawan c Pollard b Rampaul 3 Kohli c Pollard b Bishoo 81 Raina not out 26 Rohit not out 7 Extras (w 8, nb 2) 10 Total: (3 wkts; 33.4 overs) 183 Bowling: Rampaul 6.4-0-32-1, Sammy 10-1-38-0, Bravo 3-0-20-0, Bishoo 7-0-37-1, Martin 4-0-29-1, Pollard 3-0-27-0.
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Youngsters want to handle pressure, says Kohli
Port of Spain, June 9 "The young Indians players want to handle pressure. We want to improve in every game. Take as much responsibility as we can. We want to make use of every opportunity," said Kohli at the post-match press conference. Chasing a target of 241 on a sluggish wicket, Kohli played a stellar hand, first partnering opener Parthiv Patel (56) for 120-run second wicket stand and then withstanding a little tremor induced by the rain breaks. Revealing that the Indian team think-tank wants him, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma to take on as much responsibility as they could in the on-going ODI series, Kohli said, "We have been around for sometime and so are expected to take most of the responsibility to ensure that others bat with a lot more freedom, without much pressure." Batsmen must take more responsibility: Sammy
"We were in a good position to capitalise. We had two set batsmen at 192 for 3. But then they were dismissed in quick succession. We should have made 270-odd runs," said Sammy. West Indies went into a complete disarray in their final nine overs. After Ramnaresh Sarwan (56) and Lendl Simmons (53) cracked individual half-centuries up the order, the Windies middle-order crumbled, slipping from 175 for three in 34 overs to 229 for nine in 48.5 overs. "The batsmen need to take more responsibility and bat through the end. Someone should have done what (Virat) Kohli did for India," he said. Defending spinner Devendra Bishoo, who was slightly off-colour yesterday, Sammy said, "He is very young and played in every match since the World Cup. There would be days when he would be off colour." The captain also rued that his team failed to apply pressure after claiming an early Indian wicket in the form of Shikhar Dhawan. — PTI |
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Jayasuriya to retire after England tour
Colombo, June 9 "I will retire after the England tour from all forms of the game," said the veteran left hander, who will turn 42 on June 30. Jayasuriya was today picked to replace Upul Tharanga, who is facing disciplinary action for testing positive for a banned substance during the World Cup, in the 16-member squad which will play five one-day internationals and a single T20 international. Jayasuriya, now a Member of Parliament for the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance, was last seen in action in an ODI in India in 2009, which was abandoned due to a poor pitch, where he scored 31 runs. He was overlooked for the World Cup which he claimed to be one of the biggest disappointments of his 22-year long international career. Jayasuriya said he would play in the T20 game and one of the five one-day internationals starting from June 25. "I do not want to be unfair on upcoming players by trying to play for too long. I will be available to them to share my experience," said Jayasuriya. Jayasuriya retired from Test cricket in 2007 with 6973 runs in 110 matches at an average of 40. His left-arm spin also came in handy for his team and he picked up 98 wickets. In the 444 ODIs, he played before this comeback, the dashing opener made 13,428 runs at an average of 32 and a strike rate of over 91. The veteran was left out of the list of 20 players who were offered central contracts by Sri Lanka Cricket in 2010. — PTI
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‘Bust-up with Clarke reason for Katich axing’
Melbourne, June 9 Former opening batsman Slater hinted that the 35-year-old Katich, who was dropped despite a reasonably good Test record, paid for the dressing room showdown with Clarke in 2009. "I think he has been appallingly hung," Slater was quoted as saying. "Maybe the new captain (Clarke) hasn't been a great supporter, but I don't think that can be blamed for him (Katich) not making the list of contracted players," he said. Slater also rejected Cricket Australia's explanation that the left-hander was not included in the list because of his age. "If his replacement came in scoring hundreds and was red hot, then I can understand an injury stopping someone in their mid-30s," Slater said. "But that clearly hasn't happened. The system that is being reviewed at the moment around the country, what are they reviewing? "The first thing they should be reviewing is the selectors and the selection process and I'd start with the chairman of selectors (Hilditch)," he said. But an outraged CA rubbished Slater's claims that the Katich-Clarke showdown had any bearing on the list of contracted players. "It's absolute nonsense. It's hardly worth dignifying with a response," CA public affairs manager Peter Young said. "The selection panel reports direct to the board and is independent of the influence of players, administrators, states or anybody else. Anyone who knows Andrew (Hilditch) would know that it's a joke," he added. The infamous incident happened during the 2009 home series against South Africa. After a thrilling win over the Proteas, the Aussie celebrations turned ugly when Clarke and Katich had to be separated by teammates when the former grabbed the latter by the throat during an argument over the singing of the team song. It is understood Clarke had wanted the song sung early so he could leave to be with family and the then girlfriend Lara Bingle and it was this persistence that irked Katich. — PTI
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New Delhi, June 9 World number four Saina beat unseeded Japanese shuttler Mitani Minatsu 21-13, 15-21, 21-7 in a 46-minute match to set up a clash with seventh seed Xuerui Li in the quarterfinals tomorrow. In men's singles, top Indian P Kashyap and young gun Sourabh Verma also registered contrasting wins in the pre-quarters to reach the last-eight stage. Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Kashyap, seeded 14th, outlasted Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif of Malaysia 21-16, 19-21, 21-12 in a 58-minute match. The Andhra Pradesh lad will face top seed Chen Long of China, tomorrow. Madhya Pradesh-player Sourabh, who turned heads with his giant killing act in the Indian Open Super Series in April, continued his rampaging run and defeated Beng Hong Kuan of Malaysia 21-19, 23-25, 21-14. The 21-year-old will take on third seed Korean Sung Hwan Park in the quarterfinals, tomorrow. While the singles players impressed, the doubles pairs disappointed with both the men's and women's combos becoming first round causalities. Up against the fifth seeded Chinese pair of Biao Chai and Zhendong Guo, Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas went down 21-8, 21-14 in 30 minutes. Also, the eighth seeded women's pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa couldn't cross the first round and suffered a 21-23, 13-21 defeat to Lok Yan Poon and Ying Suet Tse. — PTI
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London unveils ‘golden glow’ Olympic torch
London, June 9 The torch is a three-sided golden cone made from an aluminum alloy. The flame will burn through its 8,000 circular perforations - one to represent each torchbearer. The torch, unveiled at London's Saint Pancras train station, has been created by designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, the BBC reports. "We felt it should be something that's really beautiful and simple," said Osgerby. "But it had to feel like a functional object, a piece of sporting equipment like a baton" said Barber. — ANI
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Mirrahimi ousts Indian stalwart Jayanta 6-5
Kolkata, June 9 The 2010 Archery World Cup Finals bronze-medalist, Talukdar, squandered a 4-0 lead and gave up in the tie-break after the duo were locked 5-5, yesterday. In a one-arrow tie-break, the Iranian hit a perfect 10 while the Indian shot a nine, according to the information received here today. The 15th ranked Indian was in comfortable lead taking the first two sets 29-24, 29-25 to cruise to a 4-0 lead. Talukdar, however, lost the next set 27-28 as the 98th ranked Iranian snatched the opening to draw the next set 27-27 to reduce the lead to 3-5. In the final set, Talukdar lost 23-29 and allowed the contest drift to into a tie-breaker. — PTI
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Port of Spain, June 9
New Delhi, June 9
The West Indies skipper Darren Sammy blasted his batsmen for not taking responsibility after his side slipped to 0-2 deficit in the five-match ODI series against India here.
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