New Delhi, APRIL 13
The news is finally out. The suspense over the ownership of franchises in the city-based Indian Super League football has finally been lifted.

India's cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, along with PVP Ventures, on Sunday won the bid for the Kochi franchise, while his long-time teammate and former captain Sourav Ganguly bagged the Kolkata outfit, which he will jointly own with Harshavardhan Neotia, La Liga giants Atletico Madrid, Sanjeev Goenka and Utsav Parekh.

IMG-Reliance, the organisers of the IPL-style Indian Super League, unveiled the eight franchises for the event, which is scheduled to be held in September-October.

Sun TV, which also owns IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad, became the owner of the Bangalore franchise while the Sameer Manchanda-led Den Network got the Delhi team.

Videocon's Venugopal Dhoot, Dattaraj Salgaocar and Shrinivas V. Dempo will co-own Goa. Bollywood star John Abraham and I-League team Shillong Lajong bagged the Guwahati franchise. Ranbir Kapoor and Bimal Parekh made a successful bid for Mumbai. Another tinsel town superstar, Salman Khan, will own the Pune franchise, along with Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan of the Wadhawan Group.

The organisers had received expression of interest from more than 30 parties to its 'Invitation To Bid' tender notice, which closed on March 27. The league, to be organised by IMG-Reliance in association with Star India, has the backing of All India Football Federation (AIFF), and some of the biggest names in world football like Hernan Crespo, Robbie Fowler, Thierry Henry and Dwight Yorke could be seen in action.

On winning the bid for Kochi franchise, Tendulkar said the inaugural edition of the ISL will be a great platform for young Indian footballers.

“I will always remain a sportsman at heart who is keen to positively impact the sporting fabric of the nation. The Indian Super League presents a great opportunity to develop a platform for the youngsters to learn and enhance their talent to develop into outstanding players,” Tendulkar said in a statement.

“It has been an interesting experience interacting with the young, passionate team at PVP Ventures led by Prasad Potluri. Based on the various insights shared by the team, the opportunity of the Kochi club seemed like a compelling and challenging proposition. With the Kochi club, we will strive to 'score our goals' and play a part in developing the game of football across the country,” Tendulkar added.

Prasad Potluri, chairman and managing director of PVP Ventures Limited which owns Indian Badminton League (IBL) inaugural champions Hyderabad Hotshots, said their priority will be to develop the Kochi club.

“We look forward to developing the Kochi club in the Indian Super League and are proud to partner with one of India's greatest sportsmen, Sachin Tendulkar, in our efforts. We will tap the potential talent as also channelize the fervour and passion for football across the country to enhance the quality and competitive level of the sport,” he said.

The presence of Sachin and Sourav will do wonders for the ISL and Indian football in general. For long, business houses have been shy to invest in football. But now with the coming of the ISL, some big businessmen have come. Money will be poured into football now, it's a wonderful news. I am glad for young players, they will get chance to rub shoulders with some top players in the world.
—I M Vijayan, former india captain

It's certainly exciting times for the Indian football. With the advent of corporate sectors, real development will be seen, both in terms of infrastructure and the standard of the game. It could not have come at a better time, what with Indian football languishing at 145th place in Fifa ranking. With the inflow of money, many more youngsters will be motivated to take up the sport now.
—Chunni Goswami, former india player

It's a fantastic news. Infrastructure and facilities will improve. Money is a very big factor. In our times, when I was the coach of the Indian team for the Asian Games in 1982, many players had stopped coming to the camp for lack of money. We had suffered like anything in our days. But it's great to see that things are changing these days. I envy the boys who are getting to play in this time.
—PK Banerjee, former india player

Mumbai, April 13
A huge admirer of Barcelona Football Club and one who is often seen sporting the Catalan giants' jersey, Bollywood heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor today bought the Mumbai franchise in the ISL and is looking forward towards “translating” his passion into contribution.

“It is a moment of great pride for me to be a part of the Indian Super League and to represent the vibrant city of Mumbai. Football has never been far away from my daily life since childhood, and now as a partner in the ISL, I am looking forward to translate my passion into contributing to the growth of the sport,” Kapoor said.

“I firmly believe in the grassroots and community development program designed by the League organisers IMG Reliance, to popularise the game and that's one thing which excited me to be part of this dream,” he added. — PTI

New Delhi, APRIL 13
Alleging a nexus between the Jharkhand State Cricket Association and all the accused in the IPL betting scandal, the unrecognised Bihar Cricket Association chief Aditya Verma has demanded a CBI or NIA inquiry into the scam.

Verma, who took the IPL betting scandal to the Supreme Court which led to BCCI chief N Srinivasan stepping aside, said the JSCA was hand in glove with all the accused.

“As per the chargesheet filed by the Mumbai Police, it is recorded that Sundar Raman was in direct contact with Vindoo Dara Singh in relation to the match fixing allegations. Sundar Raman passed the information to Vindoo Dara Singh regarding the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore played at JSCA Stadium, Ranchi on May 2013,” Verma said in a statement.

“As per the chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police, some of the bookies were staying in the same hotel as the players i.e. Radission Blu, Ranchi. All the arrangements were made by JSCA, which is headed by its president Amitabh Chaudhary.”

“This clearly establishes the close proximity and the nexus between the cricket officials, and the bookies. Till date the JSCA has not come out in the open and explained its stand, which casts serious suspicion,” he added.

Verma said JSCA president Amitabh Chaudhary is a close confidante of Srinivasan. “Amitabh Chaudhary, President of JSCA is known to be extremely close to N Srinivasan, the BCCI president. A whopping Rs. 262 crores were allotted by BCCI in favour of JSCA for building the cricket stadium at Ranchi.”

“There have been numerous allegations of corruption, malpractice and mismanagement of the funds provided to JSCA and a Public Interest Litigation seeking inquiry into the same is pending before the Hon'ble High of Jharkhand,” he claimed. Verma claimed Chaudhary was facing enquiry from the Central Vigilance Commission for alleged corruption.— PTI

Bangalore, APRIL 13
The critics might say that IPL is adding to the players’ burden in a packed international calendar but Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli said the T20 event actually helps them relax and enjoy themselves.

“The more we enjoy cricket, it will be that much better in IPL. In IPL there is a lot of enjoyment of players. Everybody is relaxed coming from international schedule. There is a good atmosphere and we will try to utilise it,” said the 25-year-old at the team’s jersey launch event.

Kohli, on a high after being named the player of the tournament in the recently-concluded World Twenty20, said he is aiming to take RCB to its maiden IPL title this season.

“This time around we will hope to go few more steps ahead and actually get that trophy. We have added a few more quality players in the side and I am sure we will come out with flying colours,” he said.

Augusta, April 13
Conditions were tricky for early starters on a lightning-fast, sun-baked Augusta National layout where a tightly bunched leaderboard was likely to create a gripping finish to the Masters on Sunday.

Only seven players were under par for the final round in the early going, Australian Steve Bowditch the best of them after eagling the par-five second and recording a birdie at the par-four third to get to one over for the tournament.

Most fans, however, were eagerly anticipating the later teeoffs with 13 players separated by just four strokes at the top of the leaderboard in the year’s opening major.

Bubba Watson, the 2012 champion, was joint pacesetter at five under with fellow American Jordan Spieth, who at 20 is trying to become the youngest player to win the Masters, putting him ahead of Tiger Woods who was 21 when he triumphed in 1997.

Georgia resident Matt Kuchar, who knows the Augusta National layout as well as anyone in the field and is seeking his first major victory, was a further shot back with Swede Jonas Blixt.

Pony-tailed Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, at the ripe age of 50 aiming to surpass Jack Nicklaus by becoming the oldest Masters champion, was at three under, along with 25-year-old American Rickie Fowler.

Among other players close to the lead heading into Sunday’s final round were 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk and former World No. 1 Lee Westwood, at two under, and reigning U.S. Open champion Justin Rose, a further stroke back. — Reuters

Meerut, APRIL 13
Athletics Federation of India on Sunday decided not to ratify Merlin K Joseph’s national-record bettering effort in women’s 100m dash last year, setting at rest the controversy regarding the matter.

Controversy had struck in National Open Athletics Championships in Ranchi in September last as Joseph`s new national record timing in women`s 100m dash was questioned by Rachita Mistry in whose name the mark had stood since 2000.

Joseph ran 11.35 secs in the semifinal heats to shatter Mistry’s 13-year-old national record of 11.38 secs created in Trivandrum in 2000. Joseph has a personal best of 11.75 secs before the National Open.

Mistry, an Olympian and a top sprinter in the 1990s, said she suspected either a faulty timing system or some people were playing mischief as such a gap in timings was hard to believe in 100m race. She had written a letter to the AFI to find out the correct position.

“After detailed deliberations in the general body meeting of AFI held here, it was decided NOT to RATIFY the 100m performance (11.35s) of Merlin K Joseph as a National Record due to doubts arised about the above mark,” the AFI said after its two-day Annual General Body Meeting.

The AFI also said it’s planning to host an international Grand Prix in India.

“The AFI is planning to bring a world-class event to India and we are already in touch with our counterparts in other countries and hopeful that they will send their top athletes to participate,” AFI President Adille Sumariwalla said in a release.

In appreciation of their efforts to promote athletics in India, the ONGC has also been awarded full membership in AFI during the GBM. Earlier, ONGC was an associate member of the federation.

In a major boost to the development of junior athletes’ training programme, the AFI appointed Dronacharya awardee J S Bhatia who mentored the likes of the legendary PT Usha and Asian Games gold medallist Sudha Singh, as the chief coach of the Indian junior athletics team. AFI also appointed Wazir Singh as the chief coach of the Indian youth athletics team.

The AFI also made an amendment in its constitution to define the word “activities” for its affiliated state units. This has been done to activate the state units and ensure that the athletics programme in the states run continuously and effectively.

“A slew of activities have been incorporated under the definition of activities, which is mandatory for all the affiliated units to carry out in the athletics calendar year. The voting rights of the state units will be withdrawn for three years if it fails to carry out the development activities under the new amendment.” — PTI

London, April 13
Premier League leaders Liverpool took a huge step towards becoming English champions for the first time in 24 years when they defeated third-placed Manchester City 3-2 at Anfield on Sunday for a tenth successive win.

The Merseyside club have not finished top since 1990, two years before the Premier League began.

Raheem Sterling and Martin Skrtel put them 2-0 up in 26 minutes before David Silva led a City revival. The Spaniard reduced the deficit and an own goal by Glen Johnson brought an equaliser only five minutes later.

But Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho drove in the winner after a mistake by City’s captain Vincent Kompany. Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson was sent off in added time and will miss three of the four remaining games. Liverpool are now seven points ahead of City, having played two games more, and five ahead of their next visitors Chelsea. It was an emotional day for the club, who commemorated 25 years since the Hillsborough disaster in which 96 of their supporters died at an FA Cup semifinal. In another match, Demba Ba helped Chelsea beat Swansea 1-0. This victory lifts Chelsea to within two points of Liverpool. Their next encounter is at Anfield.

Arsenal in FA Cup final

Arsenal rode their luck to beat holders Wigan Athletic 4-2 on penalties and reach the FA Cup final for the first time in nine years after their semifinal ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time at Wembley on Saturday. — Reuters

MUMBAI, APRIL 13
It will be a battle of equals when Uttar Pradesh and Baroda clash in the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament at the Wankhede stadium on Monday.

The two teams had entered the title round by topping their respective groups A and B in similar fashion, by virtue of finishing with the best net run rate in their pools after finishing level on points with another team. While UP edged out Goa in Rajkot, Baroda stuttered against Kerala in final game and went through on superior NRR. Both Uttar Pradesh and Baroda appear to be evenly matched, having won all their zonal ties to make it to the knockout stage. — PTI

New Delhi, April 13
After pulling off significant upsets in the semifinals of the Texas Open squash tournament, India’s fourth seed Dipika Pallikal and Egyptian qualifier Nour El Sherbini will contest in the final of the WSA Gold 50 event at The Downtown Club in Houston.

Former Asian junior champion Pallikal marched into the biggest Tour final of her career in sensational style. The 22-year-old world No.12 from Chennai battled for 75 minutes and endured three tie-break games to beat second seed Madeline Perry, the Irish number one ranked four places higher in the world, 11-7, 11-13, 13-11, 10-12, 11-4.

“It was another hard match, took a lot out of me. I knew she was going to come hard at me and was playing well of late. I was able to stick to my game plan and fight for every point,” Pallikal said.

The win, which levels her Tour head-to-head record against Perry to two-all, takes Pallikal into her first Tour final of the year and the 12th of her career.

El Sherbini maintained the magnificent form which saw the teenager become the youngest player in history to reach the WSA World Championship final last month when she scored a series of upsets in Malaysia — including the scalp of the world No. 1 Nicol David.

In her fifth Tour meeting with third seed Camille Serme, the 18-year-old from Alexandria defeated the world No.6 from France 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6 in 55 minutes to move into the seventh Tour final of her career.

The final will mark the third Tour meeting between Pallikal and El Sherbini since June 2010 — with Pallikal looking for her maiden win.

“Facing Sherbini will be harder. She is going to be very confident. I am hoping I pull one out of the bag. I have had a good tournament anyway and will try my best to end it on a high,” Pallikal said.

Semifinal results: Dipika Pallikal bt Madeline Perry 11-7, 11-13, 13-11, 10-12, 11-4; Nour El Sherbini bt Camille Serme 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6

— With agency inputs

London, April 13
Double Olympic champion Mo Farah toiled on his highly-anticipated marathon debut with the Briton trailing in eighth as Kenyans Wilson Kipsang and Edna Kiplagat secured London titles on Sunday.

Farah was given a “tough” baptism by the world’s best — finishing almost four minutes behind world record holder Kipsang on a sunny morning in the capital. The 32-year old Kenyan claimed a second London title with a course record two hours four minutes 29 seconds, pulling clear of compatriot Stanley Biwott who was 26 seconds back with Ethiopian Tsegaye Kebede third.

Edna Kiplagat won her first London title after finishing runner-up in the past two years, getting the better of compatriot Florence Kiplagat in the final 200 metres to win in two hours, 20 minutes and 21 seconds. — Reuters

Madrid, April 13
Barcelona’s nightmare week hit a new low when they followed up their Champions League exit with a shock 1-0 defeat at Granada on Saturday that left their bid for a fifth La Liga title in six years in serious jeopardy.

After Atletico Madrid dumped them out of Europe’s elite club competition on Wednesday, Barca sought a morale-boosting domestic win that would have put them two points clear at the top ahead of Atletico.

However, the Spanish champions again looked lethargic and short on ideas against a club with a fraction of their resources and surrendered second place to arch rivals Real Madrid, who thumped struggling Almeria 4-0 at the Bernabeu to draw level on 79 points with Atletico.

Atletico play at Barca in their final match of the season and will already be assured of their first Spanish league title since 1996, when current coach Diego Simeone was in the side, if they win their next five matches.

“The league is not in our own hands anymore,” Barca coach Gerardo Martino said.

“There is no reason to criticise the team, they gave it everything they had,” added the Argentine, who is in his first season in charge at the Nou Camp and now needs to lift his players for Wednesday’s King’s Cup final against Real.

“The ball did not want to go in and that’s that. We just weren’t up to scratch in taking our chances.”

Barca fell behind at Granada’s Nuevo Los Carmenes stadium when Alex Song lost possession in midfield in the 16th minute and Yacine Brahimi raced clear and fired past goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto.

They dominated the rest of the match but Granada, who are fighting to avoid relegation, held firm against waves of attacks and the Catalan giants’ second consecutive defeat will do little to dispel the impression of a club in crisis. — Reuters

Las Vegas, April 13
Manny Pacquiao scored a unanimous decision win over Timothy Bradley to regain the WBO welterweight title on Saturday and avenge a highly controversial loss to the American in June 2012.

Two judges scored the fight 116-112 for Pacquiao, while a third saw it as a 118-110 win for the Filipino. In their previous fight, Bradley was awarded a split decision victory that many observers felt Pacquiao had won clearly.

“He threw a lot of punches and I didn’t want to be careless,” said Pacquiao. “In the second half of the fight, I listened to my corner and they told me to work on the timing of my punches.”

Pacquiao added that his trainer Freddie Roach “told me to make adjustments and I did. Bradley was wild on the outside so I took it to the inside.”

The early rounds of the fight were explosive, with Pacquiao the aggressor and Bradley looking to land big counter right hands as the Filipino moved forward.

A wild third round saw both men exchanging vicious shots, a pair of lefts from Pacquiao being followed by an uppercut and a right hand from Bradley and a series of ripping body shots by the American.

Through five, Bradley (31-1, 12 KOs) appeared to be on top and Pacquiao looked uncertain how to land cleanly without exposing himself to big counters.

In the sixth, however, the momentum shifted.

Bradley’s output suddenly dropped and Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) adjusted his style to throw fast combinations and move out of the way before Bradley had the chance to load up. — Reuters

Singapore, April 13
Unseeded Indonesian Simon Santoso pulled off a major shock when he thrashed badminton’s world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei to win the Singapore Open for the first time on Sunday.

The 28-year-old, considered a rank outsider against Malaysia’s Lee, upset the form book in style with an emphatic 21-15, 21-10 victory in just 48 minutes in the final. Santoso reeled off nine straight points to stifle Lee’s second-game revival and take the match, dropping his racquet to the court and raising his arms in celebration in front of a bemused crowd.

The third Superseries tournament win for the 52nd-ranked Santoso cements a stirring comeback by the former world No. 3, who dropped out of the top 100 last year following back problems.

Earlier, Li Xuerui refused to speak to media after she lost the women’s final to her Chinese team-mate and arch-rival Wang Yihan for the second year in a row. Wang won 21-11, 21-19 — aided by two critical net points — after trailing the top seed for most of the second game. — Agencies

BRIEFLY

India may play Pakistan in UAE next year
Chandigarh: India may play a series against Pakistan in Middle East next year. A cricket website reports that the resumption of the cricketing ties between the archrivals is the result of Pakistan's conditional support for the ICC revamp. And it's not just one series that has been worked out between the two boards. The website says it's a part of the six series to be played between the two countries from 2015 to 2023. The PCB is now waiting for a final confirmation from the BCCI.

Goalless stalemate for Bagan, United
Kolkata: Mohun Bagan and United SC played out a drab goalless draw in an uninspiring display in their I-League fixture at the Kalyani Stadium on Sunday. United SC had the best chance in the second half when substitute Baldeep Singh’s header hit the cross piece as both the teams failed to produce a goal to take one point each. The result keeps Mohun Bagan (25 from 23) two points ahead of United SC (23 from 22) but both the teams are still not safe from relegation.

Aditya bows out of World Snooker qualifiers
Sheffield (UK): Aditya Mehta's dream run came to an end at the World Snooker qualifying rounds following a 5-10 defeat against Jamie Jones. Mehta struggled for form as he could not produce even a single break. He was level 3-3 with his opponent but eventually lost 4-108 (108) 62-46,38-67, 66-27, 25-108 (68) 1-40, 55-73, 38-89, (50) 27-64, 30-80, 75-24, 92-34, 0-82 (65), 47-54, 47-59.

On-track incident ends Karthikeyan's run
Suzuka Circuit: After a sensational start to his 2014 Super Formula season here with a front row qualifying result, Narain Karthikeyan's maiden weekend in the series came to a premature end after an on-track incident with eventual winner Loic Duval ended his chances of a top five finish. The Indian had qualified on the front row yesterday but had to start fifth after being slapped with a three-place grid penalty as he was adjudged to have impeded another car during free practice. “It has been a disappointing end to the weekend after a promising start. We should have started on the front row but were fifth on the grid and then the incident with Duval scrapped any remaining hopes”, said Narain. — Agencies