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Gagan: Hope I am third time lucky
Kalmadi permitted to go to London, Maken unhappy
Hockey team to flaunt six-pack abs
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Greenest Games ever, but is it enough?
Can’t promise medal, but will give our best shot: Sania
Leethal brett calls it a day
SPAT pushes Haryana to national rural tournament’s top slot
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Gagan: Hope I am third time lucky
New Delhi, July 13 Since missing out on the final by a point in the Beijing Games fours summers ago, Narang has gone on to win numerous medals in the ISSF World Cups, World Championship, Commonwealth Games and the Asiad, besides creating a new world record in 2008. "I have been unlucky twice (Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008), hope I get third time lucky," Narang told PTI. "An athlete's ultimate ambition is to win and I am determined to go all the way and do whatever it takes," the genial medal hopeful from Hyderabad adds. Narang will be representing India along with Beijing Games gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra in their pet event — 10-metre air rifle on July 30. Besides 10-metre, Narang is also competing in 50-m Rifle Prone (August 3) and 50-m Rifle 3 Position (August 6), giving himself enough chances of winning a medal at the Royal Artillery Barracks. Going by his form over the past couple of years, Narang stands a realistic chance of standing on the podium in London, and the experience of having represented his country in two previous Olympics only adds to the hopes and expectations. "Olympics is everyone's dream. We know what's coming. We have come a long way. All I can say after representing the country twice already is that I have better control keys," he says. As cliched as it may sound but for Narang, the thought of winning a medal in Olympics is something that cannot be explained in words. "All of world's eyes are trained on the Games. So winning at that stage is heroic. It is a different feeling altogether and cannot be explained in words," is how the 29-year-old responds when one asks him about his desire to win at the Olympics. A knee problem limited his participation to just one World Cup last year, but he had by then done enough to make people take notice of him. After the disappointment in the Beijing Games, Narang shot a new world record of 703.5 in the World Cup Finals in Bangkok, including a perfect 600 out of 600 in qualification. Narang was at his best in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, winning four gold medals, which was followed by two silver at the Asian Games in Guangzhou. Had the CWG been recognised by the International Shooting Sports Federation, Narang's score of 703.6 would have been his second world record. The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna honour last year came at the right time and, according to Narang, it would "spur him to bring more laurels for the country". India is hoping that the Punjabi from Hyderabad lives up to his word. — PTI
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Kalmadi permitted to go to London, Maken unhappy
Chandigarh, July 13 He and 10 others have been charge-sheeted under the Prevention of Corruption Act for several illegal and corrupt practises at the Commonwealth Games by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Kalmadi is currently out on bail after spending around 10 months in jail pending investigation into the graft charges against him.
Special CBI Judge Talwant Singh accepted Kalmadi's request to visit London from July 26 to August 13, and ordered him to furnish a bond of Rs 10 lakh and a surety of the same amount. Kalmadi had informed the court that as a member of International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) Council, he had been invited to attend the Olympic Games. Sports Minister Ajay Maken has stated that he would try to make sure that Kalmadi is not part of the official Indian delegation. "It is unfortunate. As sports minister I would just try to ensure that he will not be part of the Indian delegation. This I can ensure that Mr. Kalmadi won't be part of Indian delegation," Maken said. Maken followed upon his words and late in the evening, his ministry requested the Indian Olympic Association to not sponsor or facilitate the visit of Kalmadi to London. Onkar Kedia, joint secretary in the sports ministry, said: “Taking into consideration the serious charges levelled against Kalmadi in the matters relating to conduct of the Commonwealth Games and that the court is still seized of the matter, the ministry requests that the IOA, on ethical grounds, should not facilitate or sponsor the visit of Kalmadi to London in any manner, including air travel, lodging & boarding in London and giving tickets for witnessing the opening and closing ceremonies and sports competitions of the London Olympics.” The acting president of the IOA, VK Malhotra, clarified that Kalmadi’s visit has got nothing to do with the IOA. "He is not going there as IOA president. IOA is not involved in it. The court has given him the permission and it will be the court which will do whatever is required in this regard," Malhotra said. "He applied to the court and court gave him the permission to go to China earlier (for the 2010 Asian Games)," he added. "As far as invitation from the IOC or the IAAF is concerned, we will look into it, from where the invitation has come and if need be, we will speak to them," Maken told a new channel. “I think saner sense will eventually prevail. Olympics is not just about participation and winning medals. Ethics and morality should be supreme. No one tainted of corruption should be allowed to participate in the Olympics.” Clean Sports India (CSI), a body of sportspersons and administrators campaigning against corruption in sport, criticised Kamladi’s efforts to go to London: “CSI is extremely disappointed to know that such a tainted official will be present at the London Olympics.” (With agency inputs)
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Hockey team to flaunt six-pack abs
New Delhi, July 13
"Earlier, we used to feel shy to show off our body which is not the case now. In fact, if we do well in the Olympics, we have plans to celebrate the success by showing off our six-pack abs," he said. As suggested by chief coach Michael Nobbs, Sardar is crucial to India's success in London. Being part of the FIH All-Stars team for two consecutive years, Sardar is considered the driving force of the team, but he does not want to take undue pressure. "As such there is no additional pressure on me. Obviously, there is the pressure to perform for the country but being a professional player I know how to handle such situations," he insisted. "The only pressure we have is to get Indian hockey back to its previous glory. We have the potential to finish in top four. We have good players in all positions. With a little bit of luck we can produce a surprise result for the country," Sardar added. He was a part of the team that suffered heartbreak in Chile four years ago, but for Sardar that debacle is a thing of past. "Chile is no doubt a very bad memory for the country. The memories of Chile are hard to forget, but we slowly managed to overcome that. One bad loss in Chile cost us a spot in Beijing Olympics. — PTI
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Greenest Games ever, but is it enough?
London, July 13 Friends of the Earth senior campaigner Jane Thomas said: "There's been some huge principles that have been good — about no private vehicles arriving, recycling, the water supply, the principle of reusing the facilities. That's already set a benchmark for things that come in the future, and that can only be applauded." When the Games start on July 27, spectators will take public transport to an east London Olympic park studded with recycling bins aimed at a tough "zero waste to landfill" target. The former industrial site has been cleaned up to be a wetland park with 300,000 plants and 2,000 native trees. Millions of meals of sustainably-sourced fish and local meat in compostable containers will be bought at a giant, entirely recyclable McDonald's, whose cooking oil will become biodiesel to power its trucks. And fans will watch cycling greats in a showpiece energy-efficient, naturally ventilated arena, half the weight of the Beijing velodrome. "We've put a marker in the sand for managing sustainable events," David Stubbs, head of sustainability for London, said. The Sydney Games left a legacy of solar panels and a big urban renewal project, but Stubbs said London had gone much further. Beijing installed large areas of solar panels but sustainability standards were patchy in other areas, while many of that Games' lavish purpose-built venues are now crumbling. "The Green Games programme in Sydney was brilliant but Athens and Beijing didn't really follow up," said Shaun McCarthy, head of the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, a watchdog for the Games. London has, however, made its own concessions to practicality. These have included axing an on-site wind turbine, halving renewable energy use from a planned 20 percent, and lighting the Olympic flame with ordinary propane and butane. The sustainability commission criticised other decisions including heavy steel use in the "pointless" Arcelor Mittal Orbit, a 114.5-metre tall, 1,500-tonne tower. It also lamented the production of tonnes of merchandise from polluting plastics with no guarantee of an ethical supply chain. Games sponsorship has meanwhile become so contentious that campaigners set up an ironic award, "Greenwash Gold", for the sponsor covering up the worst environmental offences. The main stadium's wrap advertises Dow Chemical, which owns the firm behind the 1984 Bhopal disaster, while metal for the prized Olympic medals comes from a Utah mine where owners Rio Tinto face a pollution lawsuit. "Dow, with the Union Carbide factory, is particularly problematic... they could have done an awful lot more to have progressed that satisfactorily and taken on the moral responsibility," said Friends of the Earth's Thomas. Some London green activists have meanwhile wrangled with whether to support a one-off event requiring huge construction work and mass air travel. Jenny Jones, Green Party member of the London Assembly, said: "If we wanted to keep hosting these extravagant Games every four years, the greenest option would be to tour around four or five cities that already have everything in place." Campaigners say the Games' green credentials can only really be assessed afterwards. Keen to avoid "white elephant" venues, organisers want the site to stay in use and regenerate a deprived area. But the main stadium has yet to find a long-term occupant, and in an unpromising sign, Andy Altman, head of the London Legacy Development Corporation, recently announced he would resign in August. However, sponsor Coca Cola has developed a permanent new recycling plant in Lincolnshire. McDonald's says it will make lasting changes to its British supply chain. McCarthy said the International Olympic Committee should demand far more such commitments. "The sponsors are keen to get involved — they're not dragging them there kicking and screaming," he said. "It's the first time anyone's tried to judge it through a green prism... We're moving in the right direction," Friends of the Earth’s Jane Thomas said. — AFP
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Can’t promise medal, but will give our best shot: Sania
Mumbai, July 13 Also present at the occasion, Sports Minister Ajay Maken, when asked to comment on the cutting down on the number of non-sports persons as part of the contingent hoped that by the time the next Games come around even the Sports Minister would be a former sportsperson. — PTI |
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Leethal brett calls it a day
Sydney, July 13
The 35-year-old affable pacer, who retired from Test cricket in 2010, had been most recently laid low by a calf injury. He will, however, continue to play in Australia's Twenty20 Big Bash and the Indian Premier League. Lee, a part-time bass guitarist who enjoys a huge fan-base in India, said he could not carry on anymore given the suffering his body has endured. "I guess you ask yourself a lot of questions when you've been injured or been through a tough time. It's been the last two or three nights I have thought about it a lot. I woke up this morning and I knew this was the right day to do it," Lee told reporters at the Sydney Cricket Ground. "In a team environment you have to be committed 100 per cent, both mentally and physically. Looking at the next two months I just didn't have that desire any more. It wouldn't be fair on me or the rest of the team if I was to go over there with that attitude - not lack of commitment, but you just get to a point in your life when you decide enough is enough," he said.
Lee had initially planned to retire after the upcoming World Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka. Rated among the fastest bowlers in modern era, the ever-smiling six-footer took 380 wickets in 221 one-day internationals and 28 wickets from 25 Twenty20 appearances for Australia. Lee said he was happy to have played "in a fantastic era, playing with the likes of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist, Steve and Mark Waugh, heroes of mine growing up". "It's now stage two of my life coming up so I'm pretty happy and pretty excited. My holiday will be at home, I'm sick of being away." Lee retired from Test cricket in February 2010 after taking 310 wickets in 76 matches. He continued playing for Australia in one-day matches and in the Twenty20 arena. Interestingly, his Test career began against India, a country he frequents for reasons beyond cricket. It was a sensational debut in 1999 as Lee grabbed seven wickets — five in the first innings itself to announce his arrival at the international stage. But the promise he held out at the start of his career was hampered by frustrating injury breakdowns. — PTI
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SPAT pushes Haryana to national rural tournament’s top slot
Chandigarh, July 13 The tiny state of Haryana has emerged as the overall champions with 66 medals, including 33 golds, at the rural competitions organised under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports at Kolkata recently. Not only that, the state’s atheletes created national records in six disciplines —shot put, high jump, discuss throw, 4x400 metre relay race, 400 metres and jump. Not ruling out the possibility of a link between Haryana’s success at the national rural tournament and SPAT, OP Singh, Director, Sports and Youth Affairs, maintained that SPAT had been a huge success in popularising sports in the state at the grassroots level. In fact, the success of Haryana’s sports talent hunt SPAT, initiated in 2010 for the age group of 8-19 years, is clearly reflected in its performance at the PYKKA tournaments organised for under-16 boys and girls since 2010. In 2010, when the number of SPAT participants scoring +75% marks was 1606, the state won just 27 medals, including 20 gold. In the year, 2011 when the number of SPAT participants scoring +75% marks rose to 4996, the state bagged 43 medals, including 19 gold. This state’s tally went up to a whopping 66 medals, including 33 gold, against the backdrop of 12,645 SPAT participants scoring +75% marks. What is SPAT Initiated in 2010 under its ambitious “play for India” campaign, SPAT is conducted to identify talented players at young age to nurture them into high-performing atheletes. Under the programme, 5000 budding players are given monthly scholarship of Rs 1500 in the 8-14 age group and Rs 2000 in the 15-19 age group for one year.
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New Delhi, July 13
Despite dozens of compromises since London's winning bid seven years ago promised an idyllic eco-Olympics with a "clean" flame, this year's Games are still set to be the greenest ever. Even environmental campaigners say London 2012 will surpass all others in the modern era, with Sydney in 2000 the only serious runner-up and the smog-clogged Beijing Olympics in 2008 lagging behind.
Indian tennis star Sania Mirza today refused to make predictions on how many medals country's tennis players will win at the upcoming London Olympic Games but promised that they will give their best shot. "I think it's unfair to put a number (on medals). As it is, all of us are under pressure going to the London Olympics. We can't promise a medal but will give our hundred per cent," said
Sania, who would be taking part in the women's doubles with Rushmi Chakravarti and mixed doubles with Leander Paes in the Games, commencing July 27.
The case against Kalmadi
Sardar is one of the fittest players not just in India but in the world and the soft-spoken midfielder from Sant Nagar village of Haryana's Sirsa district credits team's exercise physiologist David John for the transformation. "Our fitness has witnessed a sea change in the last one year and all credit goes to David for making the difference," Sardar told PTI in an interview from La Albericia, the capital city of Cantabria in Spain.
