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Bahadur keeps fingers crossed
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Good days for sports, too?
Bolt fit and raring to go
Dry pitch, green pitch: why it was so
Rs 24 crore spent in ISL players’ draft
HC agrees to hear PIL to declare BCCI as national sports body
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Bahadur keeps fingers crossed
The chief coach of the Indian athletics squad, Bahadur Singh, has seen it all – he’s a two-time Asian Games champion, he’s been the Indian coach for 18 years. Yet, it’s possible to detect signs of anxiety in his voice, his face, as he discusses India’s medal prospects at the Commonwealth Games. India’s not an athletics superpower; at the Commonwealth Games, athletics is one of the most competitive events. A medal here would require world-class performance and meticulous planning. Bahadur knows all this. He also knows very well that his team won’t match the haul it made at home in 2010, when athletics yielded 12 medals to India, including two gold. “There would be perhaps five-six medals fewer than what we won (12) the last time,” Bahadur says. This is because India is not competing in certain events in which it won in 2010 (the 4x100 and the women's 10,000m for instance), or some events have been dropped (the walk events). He’s very reluctant to speculate about the number of medals India could win, though on cajoling he’s willing to name the events in which India would have a “good chance”. He says one good possibility is the women’s 4x400m relay team. “We have done some good work and we believe our women’s 4x400m relay team will win a medal,” he said. “Poovamma has been doing very well of late. In fact, she has been running around 52sec. For the first time, someone among our girls has clocked this after almost 10 years.” Poovamma’s pace makes it easy for the coach – she’d anchor the relay team. The first leg will be run by Debashree Mazumdar. “We have Poovamma, Debashree, Rattandeep Kaur, Anilda Thomas, and even Tintu Luka,” Bahadur says. Ashwini Akkunji is also entered in the 4x400 event, but she’ll be running her 400m hurdles the same day. “So we might not add her in the team,” he says. Like Ashwini, Tintu Luka is entered in two events – 4x400 and 800m. Luka won’t run the 4x400m heats but is certain to figure in the final. “We couldn’t have run her in the heats because her pet event – 800m – is just after the relay heats, the same days. She will do well in 800m. But the next day she will be ready for the relay,” says Bahadur. He’s hopeful about Ashwini – who was part of the 4x400m relay team that won the gold in New Delhi – winning a medal in the 400m hurdles as she seems to be in good form. During practice she has performed very well... I think she should win a medal,” Bahadur adds. He’s also hopeful about a good show from the Indian discus throwers – Vikas Gowda, Krishna Poonia and Seema Punia (nee Antil). “I believe they are going to bring us some medals, too,” he says. Bahadur also discusses the case of Sachin Roby, part of the men’s 4x400 relay team who is down with jaundice and won’t see action in Glasgow. “He is suffering from Hepatitis A, and he is still with us at present,” says Bahadur. “He couldn’t have contacted the disease in Patiala during the national camp because if that had happened, others too would have contracted the same disease.” There’s nothing suspicious about the withdrawal of Roby? “There’s no doping here for sure,” says Bahadur.
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PMO wants better use of Delhi CWG stadia
Another legacy of the New Delhi CWG was the big and expensive infrastructure made at the cost of hundreds of crores of rupees, which hasn’t been put to any use after the Games. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), though, has got interested in this particular issue. Hira Ballabh, Executive Director of Finance & Stadia at the Sports Authority of India (SAI), has asked various national sports federations to give it their views about how to best utilise the facilities. “Optimum utilisation of the various facilities developed in the stadia at Delhi has been a matter of concern for SAI,” the letter states, and goes on to say that the utilisation of built-up area, particularly in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Indira Gandhi Stadium and Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, is an area of concern. “The PMO has desired that the suggestions of sports bodies may also be obtained in this regard,” the letter says. When contacted, Ballabh said that while the SAI had been asking the NSFs for their views on how to best use the infrastructure, this is the first time they’ve done it formally. “This is a problem for every country that has hosted a big event,” he said. “The most-used stadium in the world is the Amsterdam Arena, which is used for 80 days a year.” "Before the CWG, the stadia were occupied by different federations and they had to move out for construction and renovation," he added. "But we can't give it to them on rent now as the last time many did not pay the rent and the huge electricity bills. There is also the possibility that we may not get the space back when we need it if we give it to someone on long-term basis."
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Good days for sports, too?
Glasgow, July 23 Another legacy of the New Delhi CWG was the big and expensive infrastructure made at the cost of hundreds of crores of rupees, which hasn’t been put to any use after the Games. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), though, has got interested in this particular issue. Hira Ballabh, Executive Director of Finance & Stadia at the Sports Authority of India (SAI), has asked various national sports federations to give it their views about how to best utilise the facilities. This is not any regular letter. This comes due to the intervention of the PMO. “Optimum utilisation of the various facilities developed in the stadia at Delhi has been a matter of concern for Sports Authority of India (SAI),” the letter states, and goes on to say that the utilisation of built-up area, particularly in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Indira Gandhi Stadium and Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, is an area of concern. “The Prime Minister’s Office has desired that the suggestions of sports bodies may also be obtained in this regard,” the letter says. When contacted, Ballabh said that while the SAI had been asking the NSFs for their views on how to best use the infrastructure, this is the first time they’ve done it formally. The request became urgent because of the involvement of the PMO. Optimum use of the infrastructure is not a problem peculiar to India, he said. “This is a problem for every country that has hosted a big event,” he said. “The most-used stadium in the world is the Amsterdam Arena, which is used for 80 days a year.” “Before the CWG, the stadia were occupied by different federations and they had to move out for construction and renovation,” he added. |
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Hockey girls face lowly Canada
Glasgow, July 23 One of the emerging stars, the young Rani Rampal, says the team is planning and practising well. "We're working on our strategy and its execution," she says. The Indian girls take on Canada in their first Pool A match tomorrow. Canada is not a particularly formidable opposition - they're ranked 22nd in the world against India's 13th position. The last time the two teams played, in 2010, India won 4-0. Playing against Canada raises the possibility that India would make a great start to boost their confidence. The others teams in Pool A are world No. 4 New Zealand, No. 11 South Africa and the lowly Trinidad and Tobago, world No. 31. India, thus, have a fair chance of progressing to the semifinal. India coach Neil Hawgood does want the girls to guard against complacency. "While the team is young, the kind of effort they put up in the recent Malaysian Tour gives me reason to be proud of them, and also the confidence that we will deliver our best performance here," Hawgood said. "I am confident that the girls will play well tomorrow, but I am still keeping my fingers crossed," he added. "Canada would fight, they want to prove a point… Their captain and forward Kate Gillis will be their key player tomorrow." Judokas hopeful Judo is back in the CWG after a gap of 12 years; India had won two medals in the 1990 CWG in Auckland, and two more in the 2002 CWG at Manchester. Five Indian players will be in action tomorrow — Navjot Chana (60kg) and Manjeet Nandal (66kg) in the men's competition and Sushila Likmabam (48kg), Kalpana Thoudam (52kg) and Shivani (57kg) will be in action among the women. The Indians are hoping for at least two medals tomorrow. Sushila, who comes from Manipur, is already attracting some attention. "The local media and judokas have been making inquiries about her," says MM Jaiswal, manager of the Indian team. "She is one of the best judokas in our team and we are expecting a medal from her." The 14-member Indian team — seven men and an equal number of women — are in good shape. Lifters confident India's first medal of CWG 2012 could come on the first day of the competition tomorrow, in one of the weightlifting events. Khumukchan Sanjita and S Mirabai Chanu will see action in the 48kg category, and are likely to perform medal-winning lifts. "I'm confident that we would win medals in this category," said coach Hansa Sharma.
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Bolt fit and raring to go
The Jamaican, who missed nine weeks of training after surgery on his left foot in March, told Reuters he is back in sub 10-second shape after training twice a day to get ready for the event in Glasgow. "It's been rough, but I've been through it a couple times so I know what it takes to get back so I'm just pushing on and working towards what's necessary for this season," Bolt told Reuters on Tuesday morning during a training session. His coach Glen Mills said that twice a day workouts were necessary to get Bolt ready to compete after he missed a lot of foundation work. "We usually train in the morning when it is necessary, but it's not the routine," Mills said, noting that this year's setback was a bit more severe than 2012 leading up to the London Olympics. "Usain has lost quite a significant amount of training time and in his desire to at least run a couple races in the summer, in order to get in the sufficient amount of sessions, we have to double up training morning and evening," Mills said. The lanky sprinter, who also has eight world championship gold medals in his collection, said the surgery was necessary in this off year. "I went to see my doctor and he said the best thing to do was to actually get the surgery done because it would bother me over my career, so it was best to get it done now, so I just did it because I considered this my off season. It definitely one of those things so I got it out of the way and right now I'm just trying to get back and that's the key right now and that's the focus," Bolt said. The 27-year-old, who has penciled in four 100m races over the next six weeks, says he did not want to miss the Commonwealth Games. "I really wanted to run at the Commonwealths Games over the yearsand although I got injured I see where I can run the 4x100 I see where I'm getting back into shape to actually compete in the 4x100" Bolt said, adding that he did not want to take anyone's spot in the 100m having missed the trials. "I'm going there for my fans and I'm going there to show that I'm getting back into shape and they can look for great things now and for the years to come," he said. |
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Tendulkar factor adds to pressure on Sindhu
Sri Lanka’s cycling team took to the open road for training at the Commonwealth Games but prompted a police response as they rode along one of Scotland’s busiest motorways on Wednesday. Four cyclists, wearing Sri Lankan team training jerseys, travelled along the M74, braving 70 mile per hour traffic and the wrath of Scottish police since bicycles are banned on motorways. They were spotted by English triathlete and Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee, who tweeted a picture of them. Police stopped the quartet near the exit for Motherwell and Hamilton after calls from concerned motorists and informed them that they were breaking the law. Sally Pearson doubtful for Glasgow 100m
Olympic champion Sally Pearson of Australia says she’s a doubtful starter for the 100 meters at the Commonwealth Games due to hamstring problems, though she still hopes to compete in her specialty 100-meter hurdles event. The 100 meter is scheduled for Monday while the hurdles final will be on Aug 2, the second-to-last day of the games. “The latest I can pull out is 48 hours, and right now it is more likely I am going to. I’ve had a few discussions with my coach and we’re really at the stage where I can’t do two events.” The Australian is also the 2011 world hurdles champion. Queen’s horse Estimate tests positive for morphine Queen Elizabeth’s racehorse Estimate, the 2013 Ascot Gold Cup winner, has tested positive for the banned substance morphine, Buckingham Palace said on Tuesday. Estimate was one of five horses under various trainers who were found by the British Horseracing Authority to be affected. “On Thursday 17th July the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) announced that a number of post-race samples, obtained from recent race meetings, had been found to indicate the presence of morphine, which is a prohibited substance on race days,” John Warren, the Queen’s bloodstock and racing advisor, said in a statement. “Initial indications are that the positive test resulted from the consumption of a contaminated feed product.”
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BFI, Ministry take up Sikh cagers’ matter with FIBA
New Delhi, July 23 On July 12, when India were about to play against Japan, Punjab hoopsters Amritpal Singh and Amjyot Singh were asked to take-off their headgear by the tournament organisers. Both the players were informed that they were breaking the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rules and were not allowed to play with their headgear. “We are shocked and outraged. We have asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to issue necessary guidelines to the international sports ederations so that such incidents do not take place again,” Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said. “Our government respects all religions and will do everything to ensure that their sentiments do not get hurt. Wearing a turban does not affect fair play and has not been objected to in international sports championships. Therefore, the latest incident has surprised and shocked us,” the minister added. Referees officiating at the Asia Cup reportedly told the two players that they were violating Article 4.4.2 of the FIBA rules, which states that “Players shall not wear equipment (objects) that may cause injury to other players. Headgear, hair accessories and jewellery are not permitted.” Amritpal and Amjyot took off their headgear, tied their hair back, and returned to the game 15 minutes after it started. The Indian team ended up losing to Japan by 23 points. “I played at the Asian Basketball Championships in Wuhan, China, in September 2011 wearing headgear. No one stopped me or complained about the headgear at that time. Even in last year’s Asian Championship in Manila and Lusofonia Games in Goa, I played wearing headgear. I don’t know what happened this time,” Amritpal told The Tribune over phone. Amjyot said they played the remaining six matches at the Asia Cup without the headgear and tied their hair with a band. “The whole incident has hurt our religious sentiments. It’s an insult to our religion,” he said. Basketball Federation of India (BFI) secretary general, Ajay Sud informed that BFI senior vice-president K Govind Raj has raised the matter at the Annual General Assembly of the FIBA Asia at Doha. “BFI has also written a strongly-worded letter to the FIBA technical committee expressing its anguish over the issue,” Sud said. Indian Olympic Association senior vice-president, Tarlochan Singh, termed the incident as “most unfortunate” and urged the Indian ambassador in China to take up the matter with the local organizers. Bishan Singh Bedi called the incident a plain and obnoxious ignorance on the part of organisers in China. “They have no right to organise any tournament if they are so ignorant about social customs of other countries. We should not make it a religious issue out of it but it’s an issue of our pride, our custom. This was so disgraceful,” Bedi said. Another of India’s left-armer Maninder Singh echoed Bedi’s sentiments. “All these countries holding such important tournaments got to realise that Sikhism is a religion in India. If you can’t, then you don’t deserve to host these tournaments in your country,” said Maninder. Amritpal hurt
Amritsar: Still feeling hurt for not being allowed to wear a ‘patka’ by the International Basketball Federation during the Asia Cup, Amritpal Singh said the authorities should have respected their religious sentiments. “I had to style my hair into a ponytail and wear my ‘patka’ like a bandana during the matches as our repeated pleas to the authorities fell on deaf ears,” said Amritpal, who returned home to Rayya near Amritsar, today.
— TNS |
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Dry pitch, green pitch: why it was so
London, July 23 The pitch was dry, slow and the cricket was not attractive. An ICC report criticised the track. Various experts around the country stated that the pitch was dry because the outfield had been ‘sanded’ so grounds could dry quickly and prevent wash-outs of matches. But according to one of the more senior groundsmen in the UK, this theory is baseless and “utter nonsense”. “Yes, the outfields have sand but the square blocks will always hold moisture, for it has got clay in it. As long as there is proper irrigation on the square, sand cannot suck water out of the square because of the presence of clay. A square can pull water from the wet outfield, but not the other way.” The pitch at Nottingham was a dry surface from two days before the match, as mentioned by MS Dhoni. It is still unclear why the pitch was not watered. One reason could be that it was already very moist underneath and too dry at the top; else, the grass on it had browned out too early as it was cut too short. Or, they were under instructions not to water it. But for the Lord’s Test, the pitch was nourished with green grass. Two days out, the pitch was covered on a constant basis (so that it could retain moisture), and it was brushed on the eve of the match. He said that the pitch for the third Test at the Rose Bowl in Southampton and for the one at Old Trafford in Manchester will likely have more pace and carry than the previous two pitches.
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Nibali gains more ground
St Lary Pla D’adet, July 23 Majka was the best climber on the 17th stage, a brutal 124.5-km trek from St Gaudens featuring four tough ascents, and extended his lead over Nibali and Spain’s Joaquim Rodriguez in the mountain classification. The win was his second stage victory after prevailing on the 14th stage in the Alps, and a third in four stages for Tinkoff-Saxo after leader Alberto Contador crashed out. Italian Giovanni Visconti was second with Nibali taking third place to extend his overall race lead to over five minutes. Nibali leads Spain’s Alejandro Valverde by 5:26 with Thibaut Pinot in third place overall, six minutes off the pace.
— Reuters |
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Rs 24 crore spent in ISL players’ draft
Mumbai, July 23 During the two-day draft, 84 domestic footballers were picked by the franchises. The break-up of the amount spent by the six franchises, which took part in the draft is: Athletico de Kolkata (Rs 3.91 crore), Delhi Dynamos (Rs 2.81 crore), Kerala Blasters (Rs 3.31 crore), Bengaluru (Rs 3.04 crore), Mumbai (Rs 3.76 crore) and Pune (Rs 3.19 crore). The remaining amount was spent by the other two franchises — Goa and North East United FC.
— PTI |
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HC agrees to hear PIL to declare BCCI as national sports body
New Delhi, July 23 An NGO, Association for Social and Humanitarian Affairs, had, in 2013, filed the PIL seeking a direction that BCCI be taken over by the Union Sports Ministry. It had also sought banning of the Indian Premier League till foolproof corrective measures are taken to stop alleged corrupt practices in it.
— PTI |
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Glasgow, July 23
Kingston, July 23
India’s Venkata Pusarla Sindhu has to contend not only with the hopes of her nation but the pressure of impressing her most famous fan in the Commonwealth Games badminton competition. The 19-year-old knows that her country’s most well-known sportsman, cricket great Sachin Tendulkar, will be taking a keen interest when she competes in the women’s singles in Glasgow. The master batsman and leading run-scorer in test history presented her with a car when she became the first Indian to win the junior Asian Championship in 2012. “I met him (Tendulkar) and he gave me a car, I was very happy,” Sindhu said. “He said, ‘well done’ and he congratulated me. It was a real surprise.” Sinhu, the top seed, is among the favourites to win gold in Glasgow after her Indian team mate and defending Commonwealth Games champion Saina Nehwal withdrew due to injury. “You can give your best, but sometimes your strokes won’t go and it’s not your day,” she said. “Even though some of the players are not up to your level, from the first point you have to play your game and finish it off. You should not take anything lightly.”
