New Delhi, May 15
The joint meeting among the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), the Sports Ministry and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at Lausanne today to get the IOC suspension of the IOA revoked seems to have had the desired results as the IOC would allow the IOA back into the Olympic fold provided fresh elections are held to the Indian Olympic body. The IOC’s objection to the IOA elections held on December 5 last year, in accordance with the Sports Code of the Government, following a direction by the Delhi High Court, was that it had violated the Olympic Charter.

The IOC continued to deal with IOA acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra and secretary-general Randhir Singh, who is also a member of the IOC. The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) followed suit, creating a piquant situation, and all these points were explained in detail at the IOC-convened meeting, chaired by IOC president Jacques Rogge, leading to the IOC softening its stand towards the IOA.

But IOA acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra, who continues to remain as the IOC-recognized president, said he had not received any communication from the IOC to this effect. “We will make our stand clear after we receive the IOC communication and the court verdict (the court is yet to pronounce a verdict challenging the imposition of the sports code on the IOA and the NSFs). In any case the IOA has to change its constitution before holding fresh elections”, Malhotra said.

If fresh elections are held to the IOA , the major casualty would be present secretary-general Lalit Bhanot. It is understood that according to the understanding reached in Lausanne, president Abhay Singh Chautala would seek re-election while Hockey India secretary-general Narinder Batra would come in place of Bhanot. The elections would be held under the supervision of the Election Commission of India. The IOA was represented by a five-member delegation, headed by senior vice-president Tarlochan Singh, while the Ministerial delegation was led by Sports Minister Jitender Singh. Though five months have elapsed since the IOA elections, the IOC had steadfastly refused to deal with the new office-bearers of the IOA, till this meeting.

That the IOC was serious about revoking the IOA suspension was evident from the fact that it went ahead with the meeting despite the withdrawal of Malhotra and Randhir Singh, who had objected the inclusion of Batra and R.K.Anand of the Jharkhand Olympic Association in the IOA delegation. The IOC also did not give heed the Olympic Council of Asia’s demand that the IOA delegation be kept out of the meeting.

Sports Minister Jitendra Singh’s forceful presentation also helped change the IOC stance towards the IOA. He said the IOC suspension following allegations regarding Government interference in the IOA elections, and the recognition of the two-member body consisting of acting president V.K.Malhotra and secretary-general Randhir Singh, had “created an immediate legal crisis in India”

“The IOA is an association registered under the Societies’ Act. Under Indian law, once the elections are announced, they cannot be stopped and once a new elected body comes into existence, the older body has no legal existence any longer. An election can be annulled, but then the charge of the society would be given to an administrator who would usually be a Government functionary. So we had a situation where the IOC recognized a body that had no legal sanction and the legally-elected body was placed in a limbo”, Jitendra Singh argued.

He further explained that the “bone of contention” for IOC suspending the IOA was allegedly the National Sports Code, and in particular the age and tenure restrictions that it imposed on the IOA and the National Sports Federations (NSFs). “This was construed as a Government interference in the affairs of t he IOA. Strangely, the Sports Code was not imposed by the Government. In the case of the IOA, it was imposed by the High Court of Delhi, which is completely independent of the Government”, the Minister added.

He pointed out that over the years, the judiciary had expressed its dismay at the state of affairs in many N SF, as because of the absence of any clear guiding principles of governance among the NSFs, the judiciary had repeatedly taken recourse to the Sports Code, and had insisted on the NSFs adhering to its principles. 

New Delhi, May 15
Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore today found himself at the centre of a controversy with his name being dragged into a “failed” dope test that was conducted before the Athens Games way back in 2004.

In the 2004 World Cup in Bangkok, Rathore had tested positive for ‘A’ sample, but the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) cleared him after the double-trap ace returned negative for his ‘B’ sample.

The surfacing of the issue after a gap of nine years has surprised Rathore, who felt it was the handiwork of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) whose April 6 elections were declared “null and void” by the Delhi High Court last month.

NRAI challenged the decision of the single judge who had allowed the plea of Rathore that the election was a “sham and be quashed” as he was denied an opportunity to contest.

“The events of today are a clear attempt to defame me to divert attention from Hon HC decision of nullifying NRAI elections. To rake up a non issue from 9 years earlier is vendetta and a last ditch attempt to protect the stranglehold over the NRAI,” Rathore said.

“In 2004 the highest officials of the ISSF were absolutely convinced about my credibility and had cleared me. I am amazed at the resistance of a few NRAI officials to allow free and fair elections. These things won’t stop like-minded athletes from trying to clean up Indian sports,” the 43-year-old Colonel added.

Claiming that Rathore’s allegations were baseless, NRAI President Raninder Singh said that the body was “with” Rathore in 2004 and continues to “support” him even now.

“This is baseless. All I can say is that we are always with the athletes. We were with him back in 2004 and we are with him now,” Raninder said. Raninder expressed surprise at the sudden surfacing of a nine-year old issue.

“What is the relevance of all this? It was the international body which has exonerated him then. How has the ISSF let him off I can answer nothing about it,” Raninder added. — PTI

Sandnes, May 15
World champion Viswanathan Anand let Russian Sergey Karjakin off the hook and drew after a stellar performance in the sixth round of Norway Chess Super Tournament here.

Right from the start, Anand was seen pressing for some advantage and it came after some real hard work. However, Karjakin did his bit to keep finding defensive moves and in the end the Indian had to settle for perpetual checks to force the split of the point.

World number one and local star Magnus Carlsen played a vintage endgame to beat Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan on an exciting day that also saw Armenian Levon Aronian scalping for Norwegian Jon Ludvig Hammer.

In other games of the day Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria shared points with Wang Hao of China, while American Hikaru Nakamura got the same result against Russian Peter Svidler.

With just three rounds to go in the 10-player round-robin tournament, Karjakin continued to lead the table on 4.5 points with Carlsen closing in with four points in his bag.

Nakamura and Aronian share the third spot another half point adrift while Anand slipped to joint fifth spot along with Svidler having three points apiece. Topalov and Radjabov are on seventh spot with 2.5, a half point more than Wang Hao while Hammer was pushed to the bottom on 1.5 points.

Anand faced the Berlin and went for a position akin to the exchange variation in the Ruy Lopez. The Indian ace came up with some brilliant manoeuvres in the middle game to exert pressure on an uncastled black king and many believed the world champion will cruise home. After a slow start Carlsen is catching up big time. On the receiving end was Radjabov who along with most of the others believed the endgame that reached as black should have been drawn. — PTI

Ranchi, May 15
Pune Warriors snapped their nine-match losing streak and knocked Kolkata Knight Riders out of the Indian Premier League with a thrilling seven-run win, on Wednesday.

Manish Pandey (66), skipper Aaron Finch (48) and Yuvraj Singh (30) guided Pune to a competitive 170 for four after being asked to bat.

Yusuf Pathan (72) hit his first IPL half-century in three years and almost steered KKR home with splendid hitting but he got out in a bizarre fashion towards the end of the chase as he became the first batsman in the IPL history to be given out for obstructing the field. After managing to negotiate a yorker from Wayne Parnell, Pathan attempted a single. As Pathan ran, the bowler too tried to get close to the ball but Pathan pushed the ball with his foot, causing obstruction in the field.

The matter was referred to the third umpire and he was declared out. His dismissal in the 18th over was turning point of the game as KKR did not have the batsmen to score required 23 runs from 13 balls after that.

Pune restricted Kolkata to 163 for seven to complete their third win from 15 matches.

KKR’s chase was far far from ideal as they lost the top three batsmen, including skipper Guatam Gambhir, inside five overs to be struggling at 30 for three. — PTI

Scoreboard
Pune Warriors
Uthappa b Senanayake 25
Finch b Balaji 48
Pandey run out 66
Singh c ten Doeschate b Kallis 30
Wright not out 0
Extras: (WD-1) 1
Total (4 wkts; 20 overs) 170
Bowling
Balaji 4-0-41-1
Senanayake 4-0-22-1,
Narine 4-0-26-0,
Kallis 4-0-48-1
Bhatia 3-0-26-0,
ten Doeschate 1-0-7-0.

Kolkata Knight Riders
Gambhir c Yuvraj b Pandey 12
Bisla lbw b Parnell 1
Kallis b Parnell 1
Pathan obstructing the field 72
ten Doeschate run out 42
Tiwary c Pandey b Kumar 0
Das not out 8
Bhatia run out 10
Senanayake not out 2
Extras: (LB-4, W-11) 15
Total (7 wkts; 20 overs) 163
Bowling
B Kumar 4-0-22-1
Parnell 4-0-34-2
Pandey 2-0-17-1
Mathews 3-0-25-0
Murtaza 4-0-34-0
Yuvraj 1-0-11-0
Wright 1-0-11-0
Gomez 1-0-5-0

Mumbai, May 15
Mumbai Indians regained their top spot with a comprehensive 14-run win over Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League match on Wednesday.

Mumbai, with this win, go to the top of the table with 22 points, pushing Chennai to second on run-rate basis, while Rajasthan, who have already qualified for the play-off stage along with the top two, stay at third spot with 20 points.

Chasing 166, the Rajasthan top order fell cheaply as the scoreboard read 28 for four at one point. Despite a late flourish from Stuart Binny (37) and Brad Hodge (39), the Royals could only manage 152 for seven in 20 overs. For Mumbai, Mitchell Johnson and Dhawal Kulkarni took two wickets each.

Earlier, Aditya Tare hit an attacking half-century as Mumbai scored 166 for eight. Tare, who replaced an injured Sachin Tendulkar, paid back for the faith showed in him by the team management, with a 37-ball-59.

The Rajasthan bowlers put up an impressive performance especially in the death overs conceding only 34 runs in the final five overs. James Faulkner (2/32) and Shane Watson (2/30) were the most successful bowlers for Rajasthan.

Save Tare, none of the other MI batsmen made significant contributions. The new-look Mumbai opening pair of Tare and Maxwell, put on 25 runs out of which 23 were scored by the Australian batsman. — PTI

Brief scores

Mumbai Indians: 166/8 (Tare 59, Maxwell 23; Faulkner 2/32, Watson 2/30) Rajasthan Royals: 152/7 (Hodge 39, Binny 37; Johnson 2/23, Kulkarni 2/21)

Dharamsala, May 15
By the time IPL makes it’s presence felt in Dharamsala every year, Kings XI Punjab are out of the contention or barely hanging in there and hoping against the hope. The story this year is no different.

At best, they have a mathematical chance of making it to the play-off berths. Having played 14 games and gained12 points, they are languishing at the sixth position right now. The top three berths for the playoffs have already been booked and it is a tussle between Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab for the fourth and final spot.

The home team needs to win both their matches here and hope that Bangalore and Hyderabad lose their remaining games. RCB play table-toppers Chennai Super Kings in their last game, while Sunrisers face Rajasthan Royals in remaining league match.

Whether Kings XI Punjab win or lose, it does not matter much to the people of Himachal Pradesh as long as they get their yearly dose of cricket and a chance to see their favourite stars, irrespective of the teams they are playing for, up close. This hill town has been buzzing with the excitement for past one week and people are eagerly waiting for the play to begin. As usual, the picturesque Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, in the backdrop of glistening Dhauladhars, is stealing all the limelight.

Meanwhile, the news of Sachin Tendulkar being unfit for the Rajasthan Royals match has given anxious moments to fans here who have been eagerly awaiting to see the Matser Blaster here in the last match.

Dharamsala, May 15
The teams of Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils arrived in chartered flights at Gaggal airport today afternoon.

The players remained indoors, and are scheduled to have practice session tomorrow morning.

Much to the relief of the organisers, the weather remained moderate and the sky remained clear today, and there was no indication of the notoriously unpredictable Dharamsala rain.

The district administration, especially the police, are gearing up for about 20,000 people who are going to throng Dharamsala tomorrow for the match. Thousands of vehicles that enter the town during the IPL matches generally clog the entire area. Inadequate parking places are already a big problem in the town. Traffic generally remains blocked at certain points at the Kotwali market during rush hours.

The district administration has announced enforcement of one way traffic system in the town. Most of the spectators would have to park their vehicles near Dari or Sidhbari, three to six kilometres from the stadium, and then trek to the venue or use the local buses.

Locals also are likely to face problems due to the one-way traffic system.

The police would have to ensure security at Mcleodganj, where most of the tourists rush to after the matches. Last year miscreants broke the window panes of restaurants at the main crossing of Mcleodganj after they were denied entry due to no vacancy. The Mcleo restaurant has been a favourite joint for post-match parties attended by the players. Large numbers of youth generally gather around the restaurant to get a glimpse of their cricketers.

Meanwhile, sources here say that the district administration might not charge the IPL organisers for providing police security, however, when in the Opposition, the Congress had accused the previous BJP government of providing free security to this commercial event. The charges can be levied on the organizers in case they demand police security for inside the stadium. However, controlling traffic outside the match venue was the responsibility of the district administration.

New Delhi, May 15
India’s Mouma Das, K Shamini and Madhurika Patkar have entered the main draw of the women’s singles event while Soumyajit Ghosh too made the cut in the men’s competition at the World Table Tennis Championships in Paris.

In the second preliminary round, Das got the better of Rheann Chung of Trinidad and Tobago 4-1 to secure her place in the main draw.

K Shamini defeated Sovenia’s Manca Fajmut 4-2 while Madhurika Patkar too beat Gulchekhra Khusseinova of Kazakhstan.

However, Neha Aggarwal (428) went down to Monika Pietkiewicz (262) of Poland in a seven-set encounter. Aggarwal lost the match 11-6 9-11 8-11 6-11 11-6 11-8 10-12.

In the men’s singles, Ghosh (189) recorded a six game win (8-11 11-9 11-3 11-5 5-11 11-5) over Julien Indeherberg in the second preliminary round. The 20-year-old Indian will now take on world number 2 Long Ma of China.

Achantha Sharath Kamal is seeded in the main draw while Anthony Amalraj was given a direct entry among top 128 paddlers. — PTI

Serena Williams beat Laura Robson 6-2 6-2. — Reuters

Robson broke serve in the opening game but the American quickly hit her stride to take the first set. Robson battled hard early in the second to reach 2-2 but then folded in the face of Williams’ power and placement. Robson’s second service was picked apart by Williams and the Briton did her chances no good with eight double faults.

Birthday blow for Murray

On Wednesday, Andy Murray retired injured from the Italian Open on his 26th birthday, moments after he had levelled the second round match by winning the second set against Spain’s Marcel Granollers. The Scot, who had lost the opening set 6-3, won the second 7-6 but then decided to retire due to a hip problem that had been troubling him. — Reuters

London, May 15
England have been left in no doubt about what will be required of them in the first test against New Zealand starting at Lord’s on Thursday.

The world’s second-ranked team struggled on their recent tour of New Zealand where they were outplayed in the three-test series, salvaging a 0-0 draw only by stubbornly batting out a gripping final day of the third match in Auckland.

With the five-match Ashes series against Australia starting in July, captain Alastair Cook and his teammates know they must focus fully on beating New Zealand under the leadership of Brendon McCullum.

England arrived in New Zealand on a high after their first Test series victory in India since 1985 but their batsmen failed to make enough runs.

New Zealand, ranked eighth in the world, showed great resilience after a turbulent end to last year in which captain Ross Taylor was sacked in acrimonious circumstances and they lost two Tests in South Africa in January.

Peter Fulton made 347 runs in the series against England and the pace attack of Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Trent Boult caused the batsmen problems. — Reuters

Sao Paulo, May 15
Ronaldinho and Kaka have been left out of Brazil’s team for the Confederations Cup in June. Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari also overlooked Alexandre Pato and Ramires for the World Cup warm-up tournament that Brazil will host. The team does include Santos’ Neymar, Chelsea’s Oscar, Real Madrid’s Marcelo, and Paris Saint-Germain’s Lucas and Thiago Silva.

“I sincerely hope that from now on, regardless of the players who were chosen or left out, we start working together and support the national team,” Scolari said. The coach had said he would likely choose between Ronaldinho and Kaka for the Confederations Cup, and Ronaldinho apparently was set to secure his place after playing well recently.

While Kaka was struggling to get a chance to play with Real Madrid, Ronaldinho was making the most of his matches with Atletico Mineiro in Brazil. Ronaldinho had a remarkable performance in a high-profile Copa Libertadores match last week, helping his team rout Sao Paulo 4-1 and advance to the quarterfinals. “When I make my choices I think about what I can gain and what I can lose,” Scolari said. “I make the decisions taking into consideration what is best for the team.” — Agencies

London, May 15
England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand announced his retirement from international football on Wednesday.

The decision came nearly two years after Ferdinand last played for his country in a Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland on June 4, 2011. The FA said the central defender, who made his England senior debut against Cameroon at Wembley in 1997 and won 81 caps, had informed England coach Roy Hodgson of his decision. — Reuters

BRIEFLY

AIFF receives three bids for new I-League clubs
New Delhi: JSW, a consortium from Kerala and Mumbai Tigers submitted its bid documents to register themselves as prospective I-League Clubs for the 2013-14 edition of the I-League. The three clubs submitted their documents at the Football House here today. JSW will play their home matches in Bangalore while Mumbai Tigers (owned by Dodsal Group) would be based in Mumbai. The consortium from Kerala, whose leading company is Eagles FC, will have its base in Kochi. The decision on the bids will be taken on May 22.

Sunil Chhetri to run in TCS World 10K Race
Bangalore: Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri will be running in the TCS World 10K Race for a charitable cause. “I am going to run smooth like I do while jogging. I don’t want to chase anyone because I am doing it for a cause,” he said here. Chhetri, currently playing for Churchill Brothers in the I-League on loan from Sporting Clube de Portugal, said he would take the Race easy and not strain his body.

Former Maradona club sets up football academy
Bangalore: The club synonymous with the legendary Diego Maradona, Boca Juniors, today entered Indian shores by launching its academy in Bangalore. The Argentine club, one of the most successful in the world, was once home to Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta and Carlos Tevez. This will be the first time that a Latin American club will be launching a round the year football school in India. Boca Juniors chairman, Daniel Angelici was excited to bring the Argentinean style of football to India. “We are thrilled to bring the Boca Juniors Football School to India,” he said. — Agencies