Scoreboard

India

Parthiv c Bresnan b Swann 19

Rahane c Finn b Dernbach 26

Dravid b Swann 69

Kohli hit wicket b Swann 107

Raina c Bresnan b Finn 15

Dhoni not out 50

Jadeja c Bopara b Dernbach 0

Ashwin not out 0

Extras (b 1, lb 11, w 6) 18

Total: (6 wkts; 50 ovrs) 304

Bowling: Bresnan 9-0-62-0, Finn 10-1-44-1, Dernbach 10-0-73-2, Swann 9-0-34-3, Patel 8-0-55-0, Bopara 4-0-24-0.

New Delhi, September 16
The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) is increasingly being made out to be the ‘fall guy’ for the present plight of Indian hockey, as neither the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) nor the International Hockey Federation (FIH), recognises its existence.

Both these bodies have “de-recognised” the IHF, to treat Hockey India as the sole custodian of the game in the country. But a court ruling gave the IHF a fresh lease of life, forcing the Sports Ministry to recognise it and creating a situation, which culminated with the FIH withdrawing the Champions Trophy and holding out the threat to pull out the Olympic qualifiers as well. It has also threatened to withdraw the recognition given to HI, leaving India without representation in the world body, which would shut out the country’s participation in international competitions.

Ironically, it was K.P.S. Gill as the president of the IHF who had pulled out hockey from the doghouse and made it a high-profile sport. When Gill first became the president of the IHF nearly 15 years ago, Indian hockey was tottering at the bottom, with no tangible result to boast of. There was no money and the IHF administration was in a mess. Gill came with a formidable reputation as a super cop who had crushed militancy in Punjab with an iron hand. As Director-General of Punjab Police, Gill’s presence at the IHF helm lifted the profile of the game, and hockey began getting the kind of mileage and respect which it had not got for a long time.

Gill not only brought in money but also tidied up the administration, with the quietly-efficient K. Jothikumaran as secretary. But as it invariably happens, when a game takes enough media space and sponsors come calling, detractors also mount and Gill was no exception. The highly successful Indira Gandhi Gold Cup international tournament series, sponsored by the Sahara Group, gave enough financial muscle to the IHF, which in turn got the players better facilities, culminating in India lifting the gold in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.

The Dhanraj Pillai-led team gave a standout performance to make a top podium finish, but on return, Gill and Jothikumaran’s detractors instigated the players to revolt, seeking better rewards for their Asiad triumph.

Then Gill’s rivals tried to close in to give the knock-out punch, though very few had the guts to face Gill. They adopted subterfuge methods to create a rift in the IHF and succeeded to some extent when Jothikumaran was accused of taking money for sanctioning a tournament.

The FIH was instigated to de-recognise IHF on the plea that the men’s and women’s bodies had not merged for the administration of the game, though IHF and the Indian Women’s Hockey Federation (IWHF) had jointly formed the Indian Hockey Confederation (IHC).

But with the IHF bagging the rights to host the World Cup in Delhi, pressure mounted and the detractors succeeded in the formation of Hockey India. The immediate reason was that India had failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

The rest is history, as FIH recognised Hockey India, the Sports Ministry also had to recognise it. IHF was not prepared to accept defeat, fought the case in court and got a verdict in its favour. The Sports Ministry had no other option but to once again recognise it, which resulted in the existence of two bodies, leading to the present situation.

It will not be easy to keep the IHF out from hockey administration and any effort to merge it with HI would be at its own terms, as IHF knows well its bargaining power, and its power to play the spoilsport! 

Tokyo, September 16
India faced relegation to the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone after Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna lost their singles rubbers, handing Japan a 2-0 lead on the opening day of the World Group play-off tie here today.

Somdev, ranked 65th, suffered an unexpected 3-6, 4-6, 5-7 defeat against Yuichi Sugita, who is placed 110 rungs below the Indian.

The visitors never recovered from the shock of the opening singles rubber, which lasted two hours and 32 minutes.Somdev, who has been India's hero in the Davis Cup for quite some time now, fell to a charged up Sugita, egged on by the home crowd.

India needed an exceptional performance from Bopanna to come back in the tie but the Indian was no match to the supremely talented Kei Nishikori.

World number 55 Nishikori showed his superiority by disbanding Bopanna's challenge 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in the second singles, which was over in just one hour and 37 minutes.

Colombo, September 16
Sri Lankan seamers continued to make inroads into the Australian batting when they grabbed two further wickets in the middle session on the first day of the third and final Test on Friday.

Australia, invited to bat first, went to tea at 154 for four with Shaun Marsh battling his way to an unbeaten 68 off 172 balls and Michael Hussey on 18 not out.

The afternoon session was delayed by 40 minutes due to rain but it made no difference to the home bowlers, who managed to snare the key wickets of former captain Ricky Ponting for a well compiled 48 and current skipper Michael Clarke for six.

Both batsmen fell to poor shots chasing balls wide outside the off stump and edging catches behind the wicket to Prasanna Jayawardene. Suranga Lakmal picked up Ponting's wicket at 101/3, ending a third wicket stand of 79 with Marsh, while debutant Shaminda Eranga took his second wicket of the innings when he dismissed Clarke. — Reuters

Hamilton, September 16
All Blacks coach Graham Henry gave his team nothing more than a pass mark following their 83-7 rout of Japan in their rugby World Cup Pool A match on Friday.

Henry said the All Blacks were better than their effort in the opening match against Tonga last week, which they won 41-10, and had a much better structure to launch their attack. "I think we improved considerably, which was pleasing," Henry told reporters. "We didn't try to push the game too much. We just want to get better each game."

It was a dominant performance from the All Blacks, who had racked up a four-try bonus point inside 29 minutes. — Reuters

BRIEFLY

Jeev tied fourth
Macau: Jeev Milkha Singh carded a second successive 68 to put himself in the ideal position to make a charge over the weekend as he is placed tied fourth at the midway stage of the USD 750,000 Macau Open. He is three behind the leader, Chan Yih-Shin of the Chinese Taipei who shot 67 to go with his first round 66 here at the lovely Macau Golf and Country Club. — PTI

Saina Nehwal crashes out
NEW DELHI: India's star badminton player Saina Nehwal proved no match to top seed Yihan Wang of China and crashed out of the women's singles quarterfinals of the China Masters Super Series badminton 8-21, 12-21 in Changzhou on Friday. Saina, who played a marathon match against Japan's Ayane Kurihara on Thursday, bowed out in mere 33 minutes against Wang. — IANS

India go down to Lebanon
New Delhi: Less than two minutes away from the final buzzer, India held a one-point lead over one of the Asia's finest basketball teams, Lebanon, and were on the verge of making history. But a heroic performance by Lebanon's Jean Abd El Nour denied India its chance at history, as Lebanon survived to win 71-68 in the Group A game at the 26th FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan, China, on Thursday. — TNS

IPL to get new chairman
Mumbai: The BCCI is set to elect a new chairman for the cash-rich Indian Premier League at its 82nd Annual General Meeting scheduled here on September 19. The need to elect a new person to head the IPL arose after incumbent Chirayu Amin expressed his desire to step down from the post. — PTI

Family Car Rally
NEW DELHI: The 11th Family Car Rally will be held on September 18 at Tivoli Gardens, Chhattarpur. The theme of the rally will be ‘I Love Delhi’ as the city is celebrating 100 years of completion. The rally will be organised in association with Delhi Traffic Police. Sports Minister Ajay Maken will flag-off the rally at 10 a.m. — TNS

Nikhil Gangta selected
Dharamsala: In a major achievement for Himachal Cricket one of its budding players Nikhil Gangta has been selected in the India Under-19 probables. ‘It’s a proud moment for Himachal as a youngster from the state has been chosen to represent the country,’ said Anurag Thakur president HPCA. He said HPCA is committed to provide world class facilities and training to its cricketers and as a result of that the Himachal teams have now been performing consistently well on the national circuit. — TNS

Tribute to Skrastins
RIGA: Thousands of people streamed to an arena in the Latvian capital on Friday to pay tribute to Karlis Skrastins, one of the country's most famous ice hockey players, who died in a Russian plane crash last week along with the rest of his club team. The 37-year-old was among 44 people who died when a plane carrying Lokomotiv Yaroslavl came down shortly after take-off on a flight to the Belarus capital of Minsk on September 7. — Reuters

Hammam loses appeal
Zurich: Ousted Asian football chief Mohamed bin Hammam lost his appeal against a lifetime ban from football, but insisted he will fight on to clear his name. The Qatari was slapped with the ban in July after he was found guilty of trying to buy votes in the FIFA presidential race by offering Caribbean football officials USD 40,000 each. He denied all the charges. — AFP