Varun Aaron, Bhuvneshwar Kumar loosen their limbs before a net session in Dhaka. PHOTOS: AFP

Pak aim to start title defence with a win over SL

Pakistan is determined to defend their trophy, but Sri Lanka's captain Angelo Mathews remains optimistic as the two cricket giants face off in the opening match of the five-nation Asia Cup on Tuesday, in the run-up to the Twenty20 World Cup.

Pakistan, who won the title in 2012, are aiming to put pressure on their opponents with a team balancing experienced players and newcomers.Both teams are focusing not just on the opening match but on the whole tournament.”We have played a lot against Pakistan and India,” Mathews told reporters at a news briefing on Monday. “We know them and they also know us.” “All the teams are even. They will want to win the matches. We also would like to win. Hopefully there will be a really good competition,” he added. For Tuesday's opening match at Fatullah, Sri Lanka has one thing in its favour — it played here a month ago against Bangladesh, winning two tests, three One-day internationals and two Twenty20s.”I think we need to show more good performance to go further,” Mathews said said on Monday. — Agencies

Dhaka, February 24
Far from being bogged down by captaincy, Virat Kohli said he is looking forward to leading an under-fire Indian cricket team in the Asia Cup starting on Tuesday even though it is a tough position to be in.

Kohli has been made stand-in captain for the regional mega-event after regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is under the scanner following the team's dismal showing in the recent tours of South Africa and New Zealand, was forced out due to a side strain.

“I don't think this is anything compared to what he has gone through in the past few years,” Kohli said while addressing the media after the team's arrival in Dhaka.

“I am captain for just one tournament. It is completely different from regularly captaining the side. When you win, you're praised, when you lose, you're criticised. It is all a part of it.”

“I am not in a position right now to experience all that. I have got this one-odd opportunity like I did in the past as well. I am sure it is a very tough position to be in. You have to be ready to take all the criticism and praise that comes your way,” he added.

The 25-year-old batsman, whose fine form was one of the few positives that India could latch on to during their winless streak in South Africa and New Zealand, said he is excited about leading the side. “I have only been captain for about eight games till now. It went pretty good but this is a big tournament. It's a challenge I'm looking forward to. We have got a young group of guys and some exciting players,” Kohli said. “I think that excites me to have a group that I can have a chat with and be on the same page.” — PTI

Chandigarh, February 24
Vindu Dara Singh, the actor who was arrested last year in connection with the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing and betting scandal, has been recorded making shocking revelations in a sting operation by a TV channel.

In a wide-ranging conversation with an undercover reporter of a leading TV channel, Singh, apparently unaware that he's being recorded by a hidden camera, says that he was a just a minor player in the whole affair. “This entire case is actually a tussle between (former IPL commissioner) Lalit Modi and (BCCI chief and IPL team owner) N Srinivasan,” Singh says. “We have nothing to do with it. We did nothing... But were still dragged into it.”

Modi and Srinivasan were both administrators in the BCCI and IPL at one time, but have become bitter foes since then. Modi fled India soon after being kicked out of the IPL in 2010. More pertinent, from a cricket fan's perspective, is Singh's statement that IPL matches are fixed and that the event is stage-managed like professional wrestling.

“It’s like World Wrestling Entertainment — every match is fixed. People have paid so much money to watch a game, they'd not be happy if a match finishes in just a few overs,” Singh says. Thus, says Singh, the matches are scripted in such a manner that two teams involved in a match seem to be evenly matched — they exchange a position of dominance through the game before reaching a scripted result.

Singh says that Modi was involved in fixing the IPL matches when he was in charge of the tournament, and that he has a stake in four IPL teams. Singh also says that Vijay Mallya, liquor baron and owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore, makes a lot of money from betting in the IPL.

Asked if the team owners know of fixing in the IPL, Singh says: “Barring Vijay Mallya, nobody knows anything. Mallya is himself involved in betting, he earns 100-200 crore in IPL.”

He also says that players are willing to fix matches because of the money involved. “These people can easily pay a player 14-15 crore rupees, which they can't get by playing for India,” he says. “There they get a lakh or Rs 25,000 per match. They've never seen 14-15 crore rupees. They know crowd needs to come (to watch the games) and the entire world should tune into our matches.”

Is it possible that these players could fix international matches too? “IPL has brought everyone close,” Singh says. “All players — (Shane) Watson, Smith, (Ricky) Ponting — are sleeping in one room, friendship develops. Then it has to happen.”

Singh says he was called for an informal chat with the Justice Mudgal probe committee, which was set up by the Supreme Court to investigate the spot-fixing and betting scandal. Singh says he wanted to appear before the committee, but his lawyer advised him against this.

Justice Mudgal presented his findings in a report to the Supreme Court on February 10. The sting has been done after that. — TNS

Dubai, February 24
Pakistan are through to the final of the Under-19 World Cup after a nail-biting win over England in the semifinals. Needing 205 to win, Pakistan had slumped to 7/142 before a stunning lower order partnership between Zafar Gohar and Amad Butt took Pakistan to victory with five balls to spare.

The match, played in front a passionate Pakistan crowd, was a heated affair as plenty of words were exchanged as Pakistan match-winner Gohar strode out to the wicket. The umpires had to be called on several occasion to separate Gohar from the English players.

Baljeet Saini, coach of the junior Indian team, insisted that the youngster deserved the accolade. “He was without doubt the best young player. He scored the important goals and his assists helped his team win matches,” he said. “He has been playing under me for two years. He is a complete player; he is an opportunistic striker and an intelligent playmaker.”

Turbulent transition

That intelligent and intuitive play in the practice match, and many others in the subsequent years – two years at the Punjab Sports Department’s academy in Ludhiana and four at Surjit Academy, Jalandhar – captivated coaches and audiences alike. He was the next big thing, the one everybody discussed.

“He was so talented that when he was 14 we played him in the U-17 team,” said Avtar Singh, coach of Surjit academy. “He has good one-to-one skills, his reverse hit is deadly. At the academy his confidence grew immensely; he could beat one or sometimes two defenders with absolute ease.”

So why has it taken this long for his breakout moment? “It takes two-three years for the transition from school level to international level. The pressure is huge. Compared to others like Mandeep, Akash was always a bit over-critical of himself and he was not the best at handling pressure.”

Akashdeep, who only got into the senior team last year, has also had to contend with injury problems. He missed over four months to first a shin-splints injury and later a hamstring pull.

Ranchi, February 24
Aiming to prepare in the best possible way for this year’s World Cup, the Indian hockey team will train at the event`s host city — The Hague, Netherlands — from April 11 to 19.

India had earlier decided to skip the Azlan Shah Cup to be held in Ipoh, Malaysia from March 13 to 23 to tour a European nation keeping in mind the preparations for the World Cup.

Indian hockey`s High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans said India will play five to six matches during their nine-day tour.

“It was a conscious decision to miss the Azlan Shah Cup and go for a tour to Europe to give the players an idea what to expect during the World Cup,” Oltmans told PTI.

“And so understandably there was no better choice than The Hague where the World Cup is scheduled. We will tour The Hague from April 11 to 19,” he said.

“During the tour we will play top European teams like Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and one or two local club teams.”

The World Cup will be held in The Hague from May 31 to June 15 in relatively cooler climatic conditions than tropical Malaysia. — PTI

Rio De Janeiro, February 24
World number one Rafael Nadal shrugged off the injury concerns that wrecked his Australian Open bid as he dismantled Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3 7-6 to win the Rio Open on Sunday.

The 13-time Grand Slam winner showed no evidence of the back injury that hampered him in Melbourne as he wrapped up his 48th ATP title against an opponent with no answer to the relentless pressure exerted by the Spanish clay-court legend.

And by winning a 43rd career clay court title, the 27-year-old threw down a gauntlet to pretenders to his French Open crowd which he defends in Paris in May.

Nadal went into the match with a 4-0 winning record against Dolgopolov with the Ukrainian never having even broken the world number one’s service.

And the Spaniard was on top quickly in the first set, breaking Dolgopolov’s second service game to love as the Ukrainian made a succession of unforced errors.

Dolgopolov could find no rhythm against Nadal’s trademark topspins on the Rio clay and made little inroads into the world number one’s service games as he raced into a 4-1 lead in less than 20 minutes.

Dolgopolov held his next service game with three aces and earned a break point in the crucial seventh — the best of the match — which Nadal saved with incredible retrieving and a sublime drop shot. Nadal snuffed out two further break point opportunities and finally took the game himself as Dolgopolov, seeking to shorten the points in intense humidity, shelled a forehand long.

The disappointment of squandering three break points appeared to deflate the Ukrainian and Nadal took the first set 6-3 with a love service game in 39 minutes.

The second set followed a similar pattern, as Nadal broke the mercurial Ukrainian in his second service game, taking it with a drilled backhand that Dolgopolov was unable to dig out at his feet.

Dolgopolov hit several exquisite winners, especially from the backhand wing but struggled to find a consistent enough game to trouble Nadal, who hit only a handful of unforced errors in the whole match.

To his credit, the Ukrainian refused to buckle and broke Nadal’s serve for the first time ever as the world number one attempted to serve out the match.

The success appeared to galvanise Dolgopolov who held his serve to take a 6-5 lead, forcing Nadal to hold for a tie-break, which he did.

In the tie-break, Dolgopolov hit a crucial double-fault followed by an unforced error on his backhand to give Nadal an early lead and the world number one needed no second invitation, taking the set 7-6 and the match in one hour and 41 minutes. — AFP

Sochi, February 24
When the flame went out in Russia’s Sochi on Sunday, the 2014 Winter Games went down in history as the most expensive Olympics with an overall price tag estimated at more than $50 billion.

Never had a Winter or Summer Olympics — which are several times the size and scope of the snow-and-ice spectacle — soaked up so much spending, although some Russian officials dispute the reported costs.

Organisers also stress that the aim has been to build infrastructure that will service sport and tourism for years to come.

Sochi was also the first Winter Games host to create an Olympic park littered with gleaming new venues. Some will remain, some will move, but whether they will ever bring a return on investment remains to be seen.

“We hope that Russia will create the blueprint and new standards in efficiency and compactness of the Games. It will be difficult to repeat because we had the natural advantage of not having anything here and built everything from scratch,” Games chief Dmitry Chernyshenko had said last week.

“Difficult” would seem an understatement, with the cost of Sochi already sending shivers down potential candidates’ spines.

For the 2022 Winter Olympics, Switzerland and Germany held referendums to decide whether to bid, with voters emphatically turning down any such plans. Concerns over costs and the impact on the environment were the two main points of opposition. — Reuters

Russia mocks its Olympic ring gaffe
During the closing ceremony, Russia poked fun at its infamous opening ceremony gaffe, in which one of the five Olympic rings failed to form, leaving four rings and a snowflake. Near the beginning of the festivities on Sunday night, a group of dancers wearing bright outfits converged to form four Olympic rings. But the fifth ring didn’t form. After holding the gag for the perfect amount of time, the dancers quickly burst from their pack and completed, finally, the fifth ring.

Dehradun, February 24
Nearly two years after the central government cleared hiring of foreign coaches for the judo teams, the Judo Federation of India (JFI) has roped in two coaches. Korean coach Kawang Sun Yoo will train the senior boys’ team, while the 60-year-old Vladmir Evgenievich of Uzbekistan will sharpen the skills of the senior girls’ team.

JFI president Mukesh Kumar said a memorandum of understanding had been signed among the Ministry of Sports, JFI and the coaches for imparting training to the players. “The MoU was signed last Wednesday after the coaches and their respective governments accepted the terms. The coaches have been hired till 2016 Olympics,” he said.

“In Asia, our position is seventh or eighth. At the world level, we are ranked 20th. Our players are capable of winning more medals and improve the rankings; it’s for this reason we have hired the foreign coaches. For women teams, we wanted to hire a female coach, but couldn’t find one; the ones we had shortlisted were already working with other countries,” he added.

Kumar said the coaches would arrive to take charge once the national camps start in April. The two coaches will work with nearly 50 probables picked for the national camp.

“We have three coaches each for the senior boys and girls’ teams. While the national camp for boys will be organized at SAI centre in Patiala, the one for the girls will be held at Bhopal. We are expecting a good performance from our players in the international tournaments after getting trained by coaches of such high calibre.”

The JFI president, however, did not disclose the salary the foreign coaches have been hired at. Kumar said that, based on the performance of the team in the Olympics, the contracts of the foreign coaches will be reviewed.

Dehradun, February 24
Punjab won the overall championship in the boy’s category while Manipur won it in the girl’s category in the four-day National Youth and Junior Judo Championship.

Manipur girls dominated the junior girls category by winning two gold medals on the last day. In the under-78kg category, Rashidevi Khaide of Manipur bagged gold while Manpreet (Haryana) and Nisha from Punjab took the second and third spots respectively. Sarjubala Devi (Manipur) won gold medal in the plus 78kg category while Harpreet Kaur (Punjab) won the silver medal.

In the the junior boys category, Punjab won two golds. Yadvinder Singh bagged the first place in the under-90kg category while Naveen Anand (Haryana) bagged the second spot. In the under-100kg category, Punjab’s Avtar Singh won the gold while Pawan Shirbhate of Maharasthra bagged the silver. In the +100kg category, Rohit Dhaiya (Haryana) bagged gold and Nitin Koirala (Delhi) took silver.

In the youth boys +81kg category, Delhi’s Sachin Mann clinched gold while Deepak (Haryana) won the silver medal.

Juventus’ Andrea Barzagli (right) challenges Torino’s Ciro Immobile for the ball during their Serie A match in Turin on Sunday. Reuters

Atletico forward Diego Costa, who has 21 goals in La Liga this season, toiled up front but a typically gritty defensive performance from Osasuna kept him at bay.

Tevez gives Juve derby win over furious Torino

Turin: Carlos Tevez scored a stunning goal as Serie A leaders Juventus beat Torino 1-0 on Sunday to continue an extraordinary dominance of their neighbours.

Torino, who havn’t scored in the last 10 meetings with Juventus and have failed to beat their rivals since 1995, were furious at having a late penalty appeal turned down while the hosts notched their 13th straight home win in the league. — Reuters

BRIEFLY

Susie Wolff to drive in F1 practice sessions
London: Susie Wolff will become the first woman driver in 22 years to take part in a Formula One Grand Prix weekend this season after Williams said the Scot would be on track for them in two free practice sessions later this year. The team said the 31-year-old wife of Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff, a former Williams executive director, would remain their development driver in an expanded role that will include two Friday outings.

Delhi to host 64th National Basketball Championship
New Delhi: The 64th National Basketball Championship for Men and Women will be organised from Feb26 to March 6 at the Thyagaraj Stadium. Defending men's champions Uttarakhand will be hoping to repeat their last year's performance, while Indian Railways, in the women's section, would like to carry on with the unblemished record of last six years.

Lahiri eyes top 50 ranking, playing in Europe in 2014
New Delhi: India’s golfing sensation Anirban Lahiri is eyeing the world top 50 ranking and also a European Tour card this season. “I’m just looking forward to a good start to the season. My long term goal would be to break into the top 50-60 in the world. Probably to get onto the European Tour, win at least one title in the Asian tour. Lots to do,” Lahiri said.

Barcelona pay 13.5 million euros in Neymar tax fraud
Madrid: Barcelona have paid 13.5 million euros to the Spanish authorities after they were charged last week with tax fraud in the signing of Neymar, the club said. The Spanish champions insisted they had not committed any tax offence and said the payment had been made due to a “possible difference of interpretation” about the amount they owed after signing Neymar from Santos in the close season. — Agencies

South Africa fired up to end Australia jinx
Cape Town: South Africa's dramatic 231-run victory over Australia in the second Test set up an enticing decider at Newlands which could see the hosts seal a first home series win over the tourists in 44 years. After their humiliating 281-run defeat in the first Test, the Proteas were written off. But if South Africa have proved anything on their way to the number one ranking in Tests it is that when they are pushed into the corner they are street-wise enough to battle back.