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Yuvi is back with a smashing ton
Wrestlers set for worlds
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Ban on Sree against principles of natural justice, says lawyer
Srinivasan tries to drum up support of South units
clt20
PCB shouldn’t agree to India tri-series: ex-PCB chairman
Oz police smash ‘multi-million dollar’ fixing ring in second tier football league
Serbia beat Canada as Novak sizzles
Sanam loses; Balaji-Ranjeet win in Egypt
Bekele pips Farah in battle of greats
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Yuvi is back with a smashing ton
Bangalore, September 15 Yuvraj, who played his last international match in January, produced a sensational exhibition of strokeplay to tear apart the West Indies ‘A’ bowlers as he struck eight fours and seven sixes in his scintillating innings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Mandeep Singh and Yusuf Pathan played perfect second fiddle to help themselves to 67 (78 balls; 7x4, 1x6) and 70 not out (32 balls; 4x4, 6x6). West Indies ‘A’ chose to field as the match was reduced to a 42-over-a-side affair after the wet outfield forced its start to be delayed by one hour and 45 minutes. Yuvraj, who has had no match practice in recent months, was simply superb with his drives on the up and the pull shots which all came with impeccable placement and timing. He treated the visiting team bowlers with disdain in the later part of his innings by unleashing his wide range of strokes in his entertaining innings. The 31-year-old left-hander was circumspect in the beginning as he took 39 balls to hit his first boundary and scored his fifty in 61 balls. But in the next 19 balls, he raced to his century as a torrent of fours and sixes flowed from his blade and the visiting bowlers had no clue how to contain him. Yuvraj got able support from Mandeep, who shared a 100-run stand for the third wicket with him before Yusuf, who is also looking for a national team comeback, gave him company for 125 runs for the fourth wicket from just 55 balls.
Yusuf took the score past 300 with a late flurry of fours and sixes after Yuvraj was out in the 40th over. West Indies ‘A’ bowlers got some help early on but once the sun was out the pitch eased up. India ‘A’ found themselves in a spot of bother after openers Unmukt Chand (1) and Robin Uthappa (23), who were in fine form against New Zealand A side earlier in the month, had returned to the pavilion with the scoreboard reading just 47. After the early loss of Chand, Uthappa and Mandeep put on a 39-run stand. Chasing a stiff target of 313 runs, the West Indies 'A' lost three quick wickets for just 58 runs as local lad Vinay Kumar struck twice. Nkruma Bonner gave keeper Naman Ojha a low catch off the very first over off Vinay after the opener had scored 16 with four boundaries to his credit.Vinay and Narwal then accounted for captain Kieran Powell (17) and Kirk Edwards (19) respectively to leave the West Indies 'A' in tatters. Andre Fletcher did not last long as he top-edged a Yusuf Pathan delivery for a simple catch to Unmukt Chand after scoring 29 runs with two fours and a six. Yusuf bagged another wicket by trapping Devon Thomas LBW for 10. Andre Russell was then run out for one and leg-spinner Rahul Sharma picked up the wickets of Narsingh Deonarine and Nikita Miller (2) in consecutive overs. Unadkat got Ronsford Beaton (15) out for hit-wicket and then Narwal wrapped up the West Indies innings by claiming Ashley Nurse (57). — PTI Score board India A (42
overs) West Indies A
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Budapest, September 15 After bagging two medals at the London Olympics, Indian wrestlers would be hoping to script another success story at the week-long championships. The sport received a massive boost after it was endorsed by the International Olympic Committee to rejoin the Olympic movement as an additional sport for the 2020 and 2024 Games. Being held after an Olympic year, the championships will begin with men’s freestyle competition (September 16-18) followed by women’s freestyle (18-20) and Greco-Roman (20-22) at the Papp Laszlo Sports Arena. India’s only gold in the World Championships has come through two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar who won in the 66kg freestyle category in 2010. India failed to bag a medal in the 2011 event. Sushil last played a competitive bout at the London Olympics where he lost in the gold medal match. A shoulder injury has kept the 30-year-old out of action for over an year, but Sushil said “it has completely healed now”. Arun Kumar has been named stand-by for Sushil in the 22-member team. Arun had won a gold medal at the Junior Asian Wrestling Championships at Jakarta in 2011. India will, however, be without London Olympics bronze-medallist Yogeshwar Dutt, who is nursing a nagging knee injury. His place has been taken by Bajrang (60kg). India have so far bagged seven medals — one gold, one silver and five bronze —in these championships. Reigning Asian champion Amit Kumar will kickstart India’s campaign with the 55kg event and there are high hopes from the 20-year-old Sonepat grappler. Arun (66kg) and junior world bronze medal winner Satyawart Kadian (96kg) will be the other contenders in fray tomorrow. Geeta will be spearheading Indian women’s challenge at the marquee event. Squad Freestyle: Amit Kumar (55kg), Bajrang (60kg), Arun Kumar/Sushil Kumar (66kg), Narsingh Pancham Yadav (74kg), Pawan Kumar (84kg), Satyawart Kadian (96kg) and Hitender (120kg). Greco Roman: Gaurav Sharma (55kg), Ravinder Singh (60kg), Sandeep Tulsi Yadav (66kg), Rajbir Chhikara (74kg), Harpreet Singh (84kg), Hardeep (96kg) and Naveen (120kg). Female: Nirmala Devi (48kg), Vinesh (51kg), Pooja Dhanda (55kg), Geeta (59kg), Geetika Jakhar (63kg), Navjot Kaur (67kg) and Jyoti (72kg). — PTI
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Ban on Sree against principles of natural justice, says lawyer
New Delhi, September 15 Sreesanth was banned for life by the BCCI after being found guilty of spot-fixing in the IPL in an internal inquiry conducted by the Board’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit chief Ravi Sawani. “The (BCCI) order is completely against the principles of natural justice,” John said. “It has based its findings on personal interactions with members of Delhi Police as well as taken material from the chargesheet that has been filed by the police before a sessions court. “If that is so then they should have waited for the court to determine whether or not any of this holds up in legal proceedings,” she pointed out. John described the Sawani report as “loose” and questioned the basis of its findings. “They just picked up conversations they had with members of Delhi Police where they said Sreesanth and other members of the cricketing community confessed before them. It is a very, very loose report with little or no substance in it,” John said. She wondered how the evidence which wasn’t enough to keep the accused players in jail could be considered proof of their guilt by the BCCI. Sreesanth, along with four other cricketers, is currently out on bail after spending quite a few days in jail. “The fact is that the sessions court has released players on bail and said none of this adds up as a case. (The court said) it is very, very tenuous — the link between whatever bookie you are saying had a role to play and the players, particularly Sreesanth, and granted him bail,” she said. “And then this BCCI’s one-man committee says that Sreesanth is guilty of spot-fixing and hands over a life sentence to him! Not only is it excessive, it is completely contrary to all principles of natural justice,” she reasoned. — PTI
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Srinivasan tries to drum up support of South units
New Delhi, September 15 According to reliable sources in the BCCI, Srinivasan had called all the BCCI affiliated units from southern part to assemble in Chennai to pledge their support for the Tamil Nadu strongman ahead of the AGM, but the absence of Goa Cricket Association (GCA) and Andhra CA from the meeting has led to speculations about an election being on the cards. “Yes, the BCCI president (Srinivasan) did call the southern units for a meeting in Chennai. But I had some work over here and couldn’t attend the Chennai meeting,” Goa Cricket Association president Vinod Phadke told PTI over phone today when questioned about his absence from the meeting. Asked whether it was about Srinivasan wanting the southern units to pledge their support for him, Phadke said, “It was an internal meeting and I can’t tell you anything about it.” There are reports that a number of affiliated units out of 31 want former BCCI president and eminent Nagpur lawyer Shashank Manohar to contest the elections against Srinivasan and buzz is that GCA is the unit that will propose his name. When queried on the matter, Phadke gave an open-ended reply. “We haven’t yet decided on that matter,” GCA top boss replied. It has been learnt that apart from Srinivasan’s home state association TNCA, Hyderabad CA, Kerala CA and KSCA representatives attended today’s meeting. The last date for filing nominations for elections is 11:30 am on September 28th while any withdrawal can happen on the floor of the meeting. — PTI
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Wolves stay in stadium due to visa trouble
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 15 The team and the support staff were stranded in the hotel lobby as uncertainity prevailed over the place of their stay. Till 2 pm, the team was at Chandigarh, mulling shifting to Mohali at the Punjab Cricket Association’s Club House as their possible place of stay overnight. “The PCA will accommodate them in the clubhouse for today and the BCCI is in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Home Ministry to see that they get visa for Chandigarh also. We are hopeful that it will be done by tomorrow and they will be shifted back to the Chandigarh hotel,” PCA Joint Secretary GS Walia said. In the hotel lobby, Faisalabad coach Naveed Anjum said, “There are some issues and they are being sorted out.” Kandurata Maroons of Sri Lanka, Otago Volts and Sunrisers Hyderabad are the other teams which are currently based in Chandigarh. Faisalabad were earlier denied visas on the ground that they faced a security risk in India. Qualifiers will be tough: McCullum
Brendon McCullum, the captain of New Zealand team Otago Volts, said today that qualifying for the main tournament would be quite a challenge, especially since there are three teams from the subcontinent in the fray, too. “This is a tough qualifiers round. Look at all the teams... They are all good on paper,” McCullum said. “We know it is going to be tough for us to get past the qualifiers, but we also know that if we do make it to the main tournament, we will go with a good headstart.” Volts had lost their first two matches 2009 to crash out of the 2009 edition of the tournament. This time around, the teams Otago Volts would compete against in the qualifiers, which start in Mohali on Tuesday, include ones from India (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Pakistan (Faisalabad Wolves) and Sri Lanka (Kandurata Maroons). “The wicket is slightly faster and bouncier than the normal Indian tracks, we can be confident that we have the right team to exploit the conditions,” McCullum said. He also said that his team was prepared to handle the spin challenge likely to be thrown up by the three teams from the subcontinent. “In Sri Lanka we played on some spin-friendly wickets and our batsmen seemed to stand up to the challenges reasonably well,” he said. “I know it’s challenging for the western teams to play spin bowling, but we believe we have ticked off the preparation well and time will tell if we were spot on or not.” “I think 2009 was a great experience for us. It was the first time that a lot of our guys had toured outside New Zealand and had to play in totally alien conditions,” the captain added. Shikhar says scoring big runs has made him confident
The new Sunrisers captain Shikhar Dhawan, discussing the road ahead, said today: “Once you score big runs at the start of your international career, you get really confident because that is one part which is really tough as every player is nervous at the start of the career.” |
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PCB shouldn’t agree to India tri-series: ex-PCB chairman
Karachi, September 15 “I would advise the PCB officials to not run after the Indians and not try to reschedule the coming “home” series against Sri Lanka for the sake of this tri-series which is apparently the brainchild of the BCCI,” Mehmood said. The top officials of Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka Boards reportedly discussed the possibility of such a tri-series sometime in December in India on the sidelines of the Asian Cricket Council meeting in Chennai yesterday. Media reports said a final decision had been deferred until the BCCI officials meet their South African counterparts next week to iron out a dispute over the itinerary of India’s tour to South Africa this season. Mehmood said PCB should not make compromises on its home series for the sake of accommodating the Indian board. “We shouldn’t say yes just because it now suits India. The BCCI never supports the PCB and it will be detrimental for us to revise our home series for their benefit,” he said. “If the PCB wants to play the tri-series and agrees to it than it should only be on condition that BCCI plays us in a bilateral series in the near future and we organise it,” Mehmood, who was PCB Chairman in the 90s, added. Mahmood said Pakistan needs to have a long term agreement with India to benefit its cricket. “The BCCI has not been very supportive to us and if I recall they didn’t pay us anything for the one-day series we played in India in December. They also owe us compensation for not touring Pakistan in 2009. So, now it is time we benefitted financially,” he said. — PTI
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Oz police smash ‘multi-million dollar’ fixing ring in second tier football league
Melbourne, September 15 Police said their investigation into matchfixing in the 12-team league started in August and had been prompted by information provided by the national governing body, Football Federation of Australia (FFA). “It is believed the players and staff involved are all affiliated with the one sporting club,” read a Victoria Police statement. “Many of the players arrested are from the United Kingdom and were playing in the Victorian league in their off-season.” Those arrested could face sentences of up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of matchfixing. The FFA said they were nine players and a coach from the Southern Stars club and commended the action of the police in making the arrests. “The integrity of football is paramount,” FFA chief David Gallop said in a statement. “We provided information to Victoria Police within 24 hours of receiving an alert from our international betting integrity monitoring agents. “We’re determined to keep football clean. Alongside other sports bodies in Australia and globally, we must eradicate corruption.” The arrests form the latest in a string of matchfixing scandals in a year when Europol said it had cracked a syndicate accused of having manipulated 380 games between 2011 and 2013. Victoria police Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton said there was a big threat of matchfixing in Australia because of the attractiveness of the time zone to gamblers in other countries. “It’s believed there has been estimated betting winnings in Australia and overseas of more than A$2 million identified to date in connection with this particular operation,” he said. “We will continue to work with the relevant sporting codes and the Australian Crime Commission to create an environment that is hostile to those seeking to engage in illegal activities.” — Reuters
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Serbia beat Canada as Novak sizzles
Belgrade, September 15 Serbia will take on holders Czech Republic in the November 15-17 final. Earlier, world number one Novak Djokovic beat 11th-ranked Milos Raonic 7-6(1) 6-2 6-2 in Sunday’s opening singles match to level the tie 2-2. Djokovic handed the 22-year-old Raonic a claycourt lesson in their first meeting. Thriving in the same kind of fervent home support which helped Serbia win the 2010 title when they beat France 3-2 in an epic final at the same venue, Djokovic outclassed his hard-hitting rival after a nervy start. — Reuters
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Madrid, September 15 The Welshman, who joined Madrid from Tottenham for a reported record fee of around $124 million earlier this month, turned home Dani Carvajal’s cross five minutes from half-time to send Madrid in level at the break after Cani had given Villarreal a deserved lead. Bale was then withdrawn to make way for Angel Di Maria on the hour mark, but the visitors were in front just two minutes later when Cristiano Ronaldo’s effort ricocheted past Sergio Asenjo in the Villarreal goal. However, Giovani Dos Santos, another former Tottenham player, swept home after Diego Lopez had denied Cani a second 21 minutes from time to preserve Villarreal’s unbeaten record on their return to the top flight. “I think it is a fair result because Villarreal played well, they are a very good team,” said Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti. “The matches after an international break are always difficult. The preparation is different and it is not just a physical problem, but a mental one too. The reaction after the first goal was good and with more attention we could have won, but it was a fair result.” 100 percent BarcaBarcelona maintained their 100 percent league record in controversial circumstances as Alexis Sanchez’s injury time goal handed them a 3-2 win over Sevilla. The visitors were left fumming as not only did the Chilean’s goal arrive after the three minutes of additional time indicated by the referee had been played, but they also had what appeared to be a perfectly good goal ruled out in the second-half. “It was a robbery. If they take so many things away from us, it has been a robbery,” Sevilla captain Fernando Navarro said. “Everyone has seen what has happened, we played a good game, but with things like this you can’t do anything.” Dani Alves had headed Barca into a first-half lead before the first controversial moment arrived when Juan Cala’s header was ruled out for a push 25 minutes from time. Lionel Messi then looked to have sealed the points when he fired home 15 minutes from time, but Sevilla bounced back with two goals. Ronaldo extends contract
Cristiano Ronaldo has agreed a contract extension with Real Madrid, the club said on Sunday. Real said Ronaldo and club president Florentino Perez would appear at a ceremony at the Bernabeu stadium. —
Agencies |
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Sanam loses; Balaji-Ranjeet win in Egypt
New Delhi, September 15 Second seeded Sanam lost 2-6, 2-6 to his top seeded rival, a local favourite, in the final match of the $15,000 hard court tournament. The diminutive Indian had won his first title in America in March. Meanwhile, N Sriram Balaji and former national champion Ranjeet Virali Murugesan won the doubles title in Sharam-Al-Sheikh. The top seeded Indian pair defeated Egyptian fourth seeds Karim Hossam and Karim-Mohammed Maamoun 6-4, 7-6 (10). Balaji had lost in the singles semifinals after a tough fight against Egyptian qualifier Mazen Osama. The second seeded Indian lost 6-7 (3) 4-6. — PTI
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Bekele pips Farah in battle of greats
London, September 15 Bekele, the world record holder over 5,000 and 10,000, won in one hour nine seconds on his debut over the 21.08-km distance from Newcastle to South Shields, with Briton Farah one second behind in wet and windy conditions. Multiple world and Olympic gold medallist Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia was third in 1:00:41, an over-40 world best, as the three athletes, who between them have won all the Olympic men’s 10,000 titles since 1996, raced together for the first time. Bekele attacked on a downhill section in the final 1.6 km to pull clear of Farah and Gebrselassie and although the Briton, renowned for his pace on the track, chased down his rival over the last 400 metres he found himself crossing the line in the unusual position of second. “It was a great race and a great finish,” Farah, who will make his marathon debut in London next year, told BBC television. “When Kenenisa went with a mile to go I thought the pace was ridiculous.” “I thought I could come back. It came down to the last 200 metres,” added the 30-year-old, who became the second man behind Bekele to simultaneously hold the world and Olympic distance double when he triumphed in Moscow last month. London marathon champion Priscah Jeptoo of Kenya won the women’s race in 1:05:44, ahead of Ethiopia’s world and Olympic distance champions Meseret Defar and Tirunesh Dibaba. — Reuters
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Yuvraj Singh on Sunday staked claim for national team selection as he struck a brutal 89-ball 123 to lead India ‘A’ to a formidable 312 for four from 42 overs in the first of the three-match unofficial ODI series against West Indies
‘A’. Yuvraj, who played his last international match in January, produced a sensational exhibition of strokeplay to tear apart the West Indies ‘A’ bowlers.
Buoyed by wrestling’s re-inclusion in the
Olympic Games, a 22-strong Indian team of grapplers will fight out it
against a strong international field.
Calling the life ban imposed on S Sreesanth “bizarre”, his lawyer Rebecca John said the tainted pacer will challenge the BCCI’s decision in court as it is “completely against the principles of natural justice”.
Sreesanth was banned for life by the BCCI after being found guilty of spot-fixing in the IPL in an internal inquiry conducted by the Board’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit chief Ravi Sawani.
No sooner had the Faisalabad Wolves players arrived in Chandigarh they realized that the visa issue is still creating hassles in their participation for the Champions League T20. The players, who arrived in a Chandigarh hotel, were told that the visa issued to them was for Mohali and not for Chandigarh where all the teams are staying.
exhibition of strokeplay by hitting eight fours and seven sixes in his scintillating innings to help India raise 312/4
Yuvraj smote Nikita Miller for three sixes and a four to collect 23 runs in the 25th over to reach to 90 and then raised his 18th List A hundred in style with a six off Ronsford Beaton in the 38th over. He took 24 runs off that over with two sixes and three
fours.
Australian police arrested 10 people, many of them British, across Melbourne early on Sunday as part of an operation to smash a “multi-million dollar” matchfixing ring centred on the second tier Victorian Premier League.
