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Smith keeps Australia on top
No Khel Ratna for Poonia |
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Arjuna award a big boost for golfers, says Bhullar
Gaganjeet Bhullar
HOTSHOT SAINA
With Messi off colour, it’s up to Neymar to rescue Barca
Gareth Bale
Sharapova out of US Open
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Smith keeps Australia on top
London, August 22 Smith lofted Jonathan Trott for six to bring up three figures and had moved on to 112 not out at the interval as Australia, seeking a consolation victory in a series they trail 3-0, turned the screw on England. Australia resumed on 307 for four when play started three and a half hours late due to rain and England fast bowler James Anderson soon bowled nightwatchman Peter Siddle for 23 with a peach of a delivery. But Smith and Brad Haddin shared an untroubled sixth-wicket partnership of 65 as the England fast bowlers failed to take full advantage of overcast conditions. Smith, 66 not out overnight, continued to find the boundary at regular intervals and England captain Alastair Cook was forced to turn to part-time medium-pacer Trott. Smith launched Trott over long-on with a crisp strike to get to his first hundred in his 12th test, an innings spanning five hours and including two sixes and 14 fours. Trott did force Haddin, on 30, to chop the ball on to his stumps but Smith was joined by James Faulkner, making his test debut, and the pair took the touring side safely through to tea. Injured Bird sent home
Australia fast bowler Jackson Bird is returning home for treatment on a lower back injury, Cricket Australia said on Thursday. Bird played in the fourth test at Durham, taking two wickets, but was dropped for this week's fifth match of the series at The Oval. "Jackson has had low back pain over the past week of The Ashes tour and will return to Australiatoday to begin the process of investigating the source of the pain and rehabilitation," Australia physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said in a statement. Fast bowler James Pattinson returned to Australia after the second test at Lord's due to a back injury and spinner Ashton Agar also went home this week due to illness. Skipper Michael Clarke could not fire as Watson left Australians in a good position. It was left to Smith to take the situation under control. — Agencies Scoreboard Australia 1st innings |
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No Khel Ratna for Poonia New Delhi, August 22 The Ministry also confirmed that in a rare move, the date of the national sports award function has been postponed from August 29 to August 31 due to Sports Minister Jitendra Singh's non-availability on the earlier date. Normally August 29, which is legendary Dhyan Chand's birthday is celebrated as 'National Sports Day' and all the government sports awards are presented on that very day. “The file has been cleared by Jitendra Singh and there has been no addition to the original list of awardees for both Khel Ratna and Arjuna award. We have stuck to the recommendations made by the committee,” Sports Secretary P K Deb confirmed the development to PTI. “The award function, which was earlier to be held on August 29 has been shifted to August 31,” Deb added. Deb said the reason for the delay in announcing the list of awardees was because the Minister was looking into the grievances made by Poonia and London Paralympics silver medallist H N Girisha after their names were left out from the list of recommendations made by the selection panel. “We were looking into all complains and the grievances of some athletes and that was the reason why we delayed the announcement of the awards,” he said. After the chorus for considering Poonia's name for the Khel Ratna grew, Jitendra held a number of meetings with his Secretary to arrive at a final decision, even as the Ministry continued to indicate that there would be no change in either the name recommended for the Khel Ratna award or the initial 15 names of sportspersons nominated for the Arjuna awards. — PTI
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Delay in trials won’t affect show at Worlds: IBF
Patiala, August 22 The World Championship is scheduled for October 4-13. The trials, which were originally scheduled to be conducted from August 16 to 18, were rescheduled for August 27-29 at NIS, Patiala. The IBF postponed the trials citing some technical issues. Speaking to The Tribune, IBF Abhishek Matoria said: “We had trials for various international tournaments in three cities — Vishakhapatnam, Bhopal and Patiala. Following these, there was some problem in making all arrangements for the selection panel to be there on the scheduled dates. Therefore, we had to postpone the trials by few days.” He added that the delay would cause no problem in the participation of the Indian team at the World Championship, because “the last date of submission of entries for the World Championship is September 1”. “We will be sending the entries well in time,” he added. Meanwhile, all eyes will be set on the Olympic medalist boxer Vijender Singh during these. Vijender will step in the ring for the first time after his name figured in the multi-crore drug haul in Punjab. Though all charges were dropped against him almost four months ago, Vijender has maintained a very low profile during this period and has been rigorously training to make a comeback, leaving all bad memories behind. Vijender and the IBF had decided to cooperate with the police to ensure the investigations were conducted as soon as possible. During this time, Vijender missed a couple of invitation tournaments. Now, since the Sports Ministry and NADA have given him a clean chit, the boxer started his training back at Sonipat for few a months and has once again joined the camp at Patiala ahead of the World Championship. Boxing coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu says Vijender is totally fit and fully geared up for the trials. “We are hopeful of a good show during the trials,” he said. “He hardly takes any time to come back to his form and at present, he is in his best shape. Moreover, since all top Indian pugilists are taking part in the trials, it will certainly be a challenge for the organising committee to select the Indian contingent. They are all so good and fit.” Sandhu said though the championship is in October, the team is planning to leave for Kazakhstan in the last week of September to get acquainted with the weather and do some pre-competition training. Meanwhile, sources inform that while there were rumours that Vijender might shift to a heavier weight category for this tournament, he is most likely to compete in the his usual weight category, ie 75 kg.
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Arjuna award a big boost for golfers, says Bhullar
Chandigarh, August 22 “I would like to thank the Government of India for giving this award to a golfer after a gap of six years,” said Gaganjeet, who is taking some off before he gets back on tour next month. “I really appreciate it and am sure this will inspire the next generation. It will convince people that golfers are doing well abroad and is a message for youngsters who earlier thought that golfers only receive awards after turning 35. I am very hopeful that this award will reach out to the entire community.” Gaganjeet is quite hopeful of winning the award. Sources aware of the situation have, however, told The Tribune that officials from the Sports Authority of India have already visited his home to verify all the paperwork required to be completed for a visit to the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Gaganjeet has four victories on the Asian Tour and he carded two of them — the 2012 Yeangder Tournament Players Championship and the Venetian Macau Open — last year. He is currently ranked second on the Asian Tour Order of Merit with earnings of $269,006. He had finished fifth last year on the Asian Tour Order of Merit. He has also won a European Tour Challenge Tour event — the Gujrat Kensville Challenge — and has carded ten victories on the PGTI Tour, five of them in 2009. Bhullar was also a member of the silver medal-winning team at the 2006 Asian Games, held in Doha. Bhullar, who also won the World Juniors Masters Championship in 2005, is motivated by his nomination. "I am working on my swing and on my fitness and am looking forward to the second half of the year. I will be playing all the way till Christmas so I need to be mentally and physically prepared.” “We are very excited that a golfer has been nominated as we put up names every year and it is a matter of honour for the Professional Golf Tour of India to get one of our plays in the final line up for the award,” said Uttam Singh Mundy, Director PGTI. “It is a matter of get pride for the Indian golfing community to have one of our own boys nominated and we wish him all the best,” said Jeev Milkha Singh on the phone from Scotland. Arjun Atwal was the last golfer to win this award when he received it in 2007. Only three other professional golfers have been bestowed this honour — Jeev Milkha Singh was the first and received it in in 1999, Shiv Kapur in 2002.
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HOTSHOT SAINA
Pune, August 22 Despite a thrilling victory by world number one Lee Chong Wei of Mumbai Masters in the opening match, the Hotshots bounced back with Saina winning her women's singles, followed by triumph of men's doubles combo of V Shem Goh and W L Khim and later men's singles player Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk emerged victorious to seal the tie in Hyderabad's favour. Having registered three victories from four outings, the Hotshots are at the top with 15 points. Two-time silver medallist at the Olympics, Lee opened the account for Mumbai Masters with a thrilling 21-19 11-21 11-5 win over Ajay Jayaram in the first men's singles that lasted 47 minutes. However, world number four Saina Nehwal thrashed P C Thulasi 21-7 21-10 in a 28-minute women's singles match to bring Hyderabad's campaign back on track here. Saina said, “It feels so good to win all the matches I have played so far. I came here for the World Championship last time and got the same support from Pune. I am glad to once again make my fans in Pune happy.” — PTI Results Lee Chong Wei of Mumbai Masters beat Ajay Jayaram 21-19 11-21 11-5 Hotshot’s Saina Nehwal thrashed P C Thulasi 21-7 21-10 Hyderabad's Goh and Khim rallied to beat B S Reddy and Manu Attri of Mumbai to give Hotshots a 2-1 lead with a 11-21 21-16 11-9 victory. World No 12 Marc Zweibler of Mumbai was stunned (21-19 17-21 11-6) by Saensomboonsuk of Thailand Vladimir Ivanov and Sikki Reddy beating Tarun Kona and Padyna Gadre of Hyderabad 21-18 21-19 in the mixed doubles |
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Defying all odds, the braveheart powers on
Patiala, August 22 Given that he had to get his lung removed 19 years back makes the feat even more praiseworthy. The 50-year-old, despite the setback, didn’t give in and went on to win several laurels in the national Master Championships, including four in international meets over the last ten years. While he won two bronze medals in International Veterans Athletics Championship and International Delhi Half marathon, the other two came in the Indo-Pak-UK Master Athletics Championship. An employee of Diesel Motor Works, Bant Singh was warned against doing any rigorous physical activity after his lung was removed at the PGI, Chandigarh, in 1994. Bant Singh, however, not only recovered but took to athletics to keep himself fit. “I was advised to do some walk after the operation but gradually I realized that I could walk for kilometers without getting tired. So I started training for long distance races, hoping that one day I might be able to compete in a national-level tournament. Interestingly, I started clocking timings that were good enough to win medals in national-level master championships and that’s how I took up athletics," said Bant Singh. “However, passion alone can’t help athletes in our country. Money is big factor and I am glad that our Financial Advisor and COA Dawa Charing and AK Kansal, Chief Administrator of Railways, lent me a helping hand after I competed in some tournaments by spending money from my own pocket. I am hoping to find some sponsors for the Brazil Championship so that I can give it my best shot,” he said. Notably, Bant Singh had finished fifth in the 17th Asia Masters Athletics Championships held at Taipei, Taiwan, from November 2 to 7 in the 3000m steeple chase event. “I want to be a role model for those who give up on life because of some ailments. What has happened cannot be undone but one should live life to the fullest and have the self belief,” he said. India bags 4 medals in Nanjing AYG
Anjana Dhavalu Thamake clinched the third gold for India by winning the girl`s 800m race on the concluding day of the track and field events in the second Asian Youth Games here on Thursday. Rochelle Macfarlane Maria picked up a silver in girl`s triple jump to end India`s controversy-marred track and field campaign on a high. Thamake clocked a personal best of two minutes 11.47 seconds to bag the gold ahead of Savinder Kaur (2:14.14) of Malaysia and Sri Lanka`s K Dilhani Fernando (2:15.72). Thamake, who was participating as an Independent Olympic Athlete as India is serving a ban, led the eight-athlete field all through and won the race comfortably. Maria jumped to her personal best of 12.38m which she came up in her fifth and penultimate attempt to win the silver. With Thursday`s gold and silver, India`s medal tally swelled to 10 (three gold, three silver, four bronze) to remain at the ninth spot with just one day to go in the Games. — PTI |
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Ivanovic helps Chelsea beat Villa
London, August 22 Moments after the Serb had walked away with a caution after he appeared to elbow Villa striker Christian Benteke, the defender rose to power a free kick from Frank Lampard into the back of the net and apply a gloss to a lacklustre Chelsea display. It was not the only decision that drew the ire of the Aston Villa dugout as, deep in stoppage time, John Terry parried the ball with a flailing arm, unseen by referee Kevin Friend. That incident ensured a match, which came to life only when Benteke cancelled out an early own goal from Antonio Luna, ended with Chelsea chalkiang up their second home win of the campaign. Goalkeeper Petr Cech made two excellent second-half saves from Andreas Weimann “I think in this moment, if we are here with a draw, it wouldn’t be an unfair result,” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said. “They don’t play a lot but they fight a lot. They create great difficulties. If Petr hadn’t saved that one (from Weimann) we probably wouldn’t have got a point.” His Villa counterpart, Paul Lambert, laid the blame for the defeat squarely with the referee. “I think we were done by two bad decisions,” he said. Chelsea were handed the opener on a plate. Oscar set Eden Hazard through down the left and the Belgian’s side-footed finish was parried by Villa keeper Brad Guzan into the path of Luna, who, oblivious to the danger, bundled it into his own net. The memory of last season’s 8-0 demolition in the same fixture was perhaps still fresh in the visitors’ memories as their desire to stay compact and be hard to break down meant they spent most of the early stages encamped in their own territory with little ambition to cast off the shackles. Weimann was caught off-guard by a cross from the left that found him unmarked in the box on 20 minutes and a long-distance effort from Karim El Ahmadi that flew wide were rare bright spots for a Villa team who were demonstrating none of the enterprising counter-attacking football on view when they beat Arsenal 3-1 in the opening match. — Reuters
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With Messi off colour, it’s up to Neymar to rescue Barca
Madrid, August 22 David Villa struck a superb 12th-minute volley against the club he left in the close season to put Atletico ahead in the two-legged event that pits last term’s league champions Barca against the King’s Cup winners. On a sweltering night at the Calderon, Barca struggled to create chances for an equaliser against a typically resolute Atletico defence, with World Player of the Year Lionel Messi unusually anonymous. The Argentina forward was replaced by Cesc Fabregas at the break as a precaution after picking up a problem in his left thigh muscle before Neymar made a near-immediate impact after coming on for Pedro. The 21-year-old sped in unmarked at the far post and leaped to nod home a cross from compatriot Daniel Alves for a 66th minute leveller. He had only been on the pitch a matter of minutes and it was his first goal in a competitive match since a high-profile move from Santos. “If they had told us what his first goal in an official game was going to be we would not have expected a header,” Barca sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta said. “Neymar is a player of great quality and we will give him time to adapt.” Zubizarreta said Messi’s injury appeared to be the result of bruising and the club said on their website he would be having more tests on Thursday. — Reuters
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Real’s pursuit of Bale nears completion
Madrid, August 22 The nine-times European champions have a reputation for getting their man and sports daily Marca were sourcing radio station Cadena COPE when they said a deal had been agreed and would be confirmed on Friday for 99 million euros (85 million pounds). Real play a friendly against Qatar side Al Sadd, the annual Santiago Bernabeu trophy, on Thursday evening when the club will be celebrating the return of their all-time leading scorer Raul. They are unlikely to want to trump that event with the Bale signing. Even if the deal for the Bale is not confirmed on Friday, all the indications are that the player will be running out at the Bernabeu this season in the currently vacant number 11 shirt. The 24-year-old has been ruled out of action for the opening matches of Tottenham’s season as he has suffered a couple of niggling injuries, though media speculation has suggested it is part of a tactic to force through the move. — Reuters
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New York, August 22 The four-times grand slam winner, who triumphed at Flushing Meadows in 2006, fired coach Jimmy Connors last week after just one match together. The 26-year-old world number three, who is suffering from inflammation in her right shoulder, said withdrawing from the year’s final grand slam was “a really tough decision to make”. “I have done everything I could since Wimbledon to get myself ready but it just wasn’t enough time,” she said. “I have done many tests, received several opinions and it all comes down to taking the proper amount of time to heal my shoulder injury properly. It’s certainly not an easy decision to make ahead of one of my favourite tournaments, but I know it’s the right one that will get me back on the courts soon. I plan on taking the next few weeks off, receiving proper treatment and rehabilitation,” she said. Sharapova lost to 20-year-old American Sloane Stephens in the second round of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati last week in her only match since a second-round exit at Wimbledon. — Reuters
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BCCI clocks Rs 350 crore net income in 2012-13 Gambhir scores 31 for Essex Kiwis demand more Tests
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Steve Smith's maiden test century led Australia to 398 for six at tea on a rain-affected second day of the final Ashes test against England at The Oval on Thursday.
Smith lofted Jonathan Trott for six to bring up three figures and had moved on to 112 not out at the interval as Australia, seeking a consolation victory in a series they trail 3-0, turned the screw on England.
Putting an end to all speculations, the Sports Ministry today confirmed that it will stick to the original list of winners for the Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards thereby dashing discus thrower Krishna Poonia's hopes of getting country's highest sporting
honour.
Professional golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar has been nominated for this year’s Arjuna Awards and his being decorated is just a matter of formality.
“I would like to thank the Government of India for giving this award to a golfer after a gap of six years,” said
Gaganjeet, who is taking some off before he gets back on tour next month.
Pune, August 22
Brazilian forward Neymar came off the bench to head his first competitive goal for Barcelona and rescue a 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup on Wednesday.
