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2009-02-06T00:39:00.000-08:00

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Golf: PGTI event tees off today

2009-02-02T21:47:00.001-08:00

The PGTI Players championship will be held at the Tollygunge Golf Club course here from Tuesday to Friday. The event offers Rs. 30 lakh in prize money.

This is the first leg of the 2009 PGTI Players championship, an annual series of four events wherein each zone of the country hosts one event every season.

The city is set to witness a fascinating contest as all the prominent names of Indian professional golf will be vying for honours.

The strong field includes Mukesh Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Shamim Khan, Rahul Ganapathy, Harendra Gupta, Arjun Singh and Harmeet Kahlon.

Former India cricketer, Ajay Jadeja, is set to make his debut as a professional golfer at this event

Tennis: Bhupathi looking to reign again

2009-02-02T21:44:00.000-08:00

In sport, 14 months can sometimes be a lifetime. It could be a journey from the verge of retirement to savouring the sweetness of triumph, from breakpoint to bounty. Mahesh Bhupathi has covered that distance.

In the winter of 2007, a little before the Bangalorean arrived at a Melbourne hospital to undergo back surgery, he had contemplated quitting the sport. So severe was the pain in his lower back that even the simplest of movements were a problem.

"It's not everyday that people return to play competitive sport after back surgery, I did contemplate quitting the sport," Bhupathi said on his return from Melbourne, where he made two finals at the Australian Open, winning the mixed doubles title with Sania Mirza.

A year after the surgery, at 34 years of age, Bhupathi equalled his best run in a Grand Slam. However, coming within striking distance of completing a career Slam in the men's doubles, and failing when tantalisingly close, was a blow for Bhupathi.

"If I manage to win the Australian Open doubles title I'll be happy," Bhupathi said earlier. "But if I go on to win the US Open this year I'll be equally happy. A Slam is a Slam. What I'm really excited about is that I'm fit and playing really good tennis."

After losing the men's doubles final, he had hit an emotional wall. "What people usually deal with in a week, we had only a few hours to face and handle," trainer Shyamal Vallabhjee, who has been instrumental in getting Bhupathi into top shape, said.

"He obviously wasn't happy after that loss. I wanted him to talk, get it out of his system. It was past midnight, almost 1.30 when we were done with the talking, and then I gave him his treatment and it was 3.30 by the time we were finished and he had another final the next day."

Tennis: Sania to miss Fed Cup tie again

2009-02-02T21:38:00.000-08:00

Once is accident, twice is co-incidence, thrice is natural law. We shall call it co-incidence as of now. Sania has injured herself and will not be playing for India in the Federation Cup to be held in Perth, Australia. She seem to have had an abdominal injury.

AITA has issued a press release stating the same. It must be recalled that Sania though part of the team last year, did not play a single game.

This really makes us wonder whether Sania is interested in playing for India or is she conserving herself so that she could concentrate on her individual game. However her untimely injuries only add to the suspicion that she is faking the injury.

Tennis: Yuki to focus more on men's circuit

2009-02-01T22:18:00.000-08:00

The fourth Indian to win a junior Grand Slam title and the first to do it at the Australian Open [Images], Yuki Bhambri on Saturday said he would now focus on graduating to the men's circuit.

"Even if I wouldn't have won it, I had already planned to focus more on men's tournaments, playing more in the men's circuit. I might still just play the Grand Slams," the 16-year-old top seed, who clinched the title after beating Germany's [Images] Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas 6-3, 6-1, said after the match.

The triumph put the Delhi-lad in a long list of former Australian Open junior champions who have made it big in the men's circuit including Andy Roddick [Images], Marcos Baghdatis [Images] and Gael Monfils.

The debilitating heat at the Melbourne Park may have left stalwarts like Novak Djokovic [Images] exhausted but Yuki said the searing temperature was no big deal for him.

"Being an Indian, in this way it's kind of helpful. You can't really get used to the heat, but you're playing in similar conditions," he said.

Asked how it feels to be the first Indian junior singles' title winner, Yuki said he wasn't aware of the fact when he stepped into the court for the final match.

"Winning the Australian Open is obviously a very big achievement, regardless of being the first Indian. I mean, that's actually news to me. But I dreamed of winning it, and it's come true," he said.

Yuki said he was initially nervous playing on the big courts at Melbourne Park but gradually got used to the large crowds and enjoyed the overwhelming atmosphere during the final.

"Well, I was actually quite nervous in the beginning. That was the first time actually playing on such a huge stadium. As the game and match progressed I felt much comfortable over there," Yuki said.

"I think the crowd's always backing you up. You're quite motivated to do well on these courts. You obviously enjoy playing in front of a lot of people," he added.

Yuki said he didn't know anything about his opponent and focussed on his own game rather than finding chinks in his German rival's armour in the title clash.

"Actually I hadn't seen or heard of him before. But, I mean, I knew a little bit about him. I had seen him play yesterday in the semis, so I knew a bit about him.

"I just wanted to focus on my game. I knew it was a big match, so whoever probably put more balls in the court would probably win the match. That was my aim, and to try and cut down unforced errors," he explained.

Yuki turned in a dominating performance to beat Georgoudas 6-3, 6-1 in only 57 minutes, overpowering his opponent with trademark forehand and volley tactics.

The win also made amends for the Indian's semi-final exit at the 2008 Australian Open, where he lost to eventual junior champion and local favourite Bernard Tomic.

Yuki was quick to control play from the very start, using his speed to force Georgoudas into a pace the German was clearly uncomfortable with.

Georgoudas found it next to impossible to win a point off the top seed's serve in the opening game. The second set followed a similar script and Yuki took hardly any time in going 2-0 up.

The Indian broke Georgoudas again in the sixth game, and other than a double fault in his final service game, he had no problems finishing the championship off.

Australian Open: Bhambri wins Aus Open Junior title

2009-02-01T22:14:00.000-08:00

Yuki Bhambri created history, becoming only the fourth Indian to win a junior Grand Slam singles title following his emphatic straight-set win over Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas of Germany [Images] in the boys' final in Melbourne on Saturday.

Top seed Yuki swept aside unseeded Georgousdas 6-3, 6-1 in 57 minutes to pocket his first Grand Slam singles title.

The other Indians in the elite list are Ramanathan Krishnan (1954 Junior Wimbledon [Images] champion), his son Ramesh Krishnan (1979) Wimbledon and French Open junior champion) and Leander Paes [Images] (1990 Junior Wimbledon and Junior US Open [Images] champion).

The Delhi [Images] boy, who lost in the semi-finals last year, was at his dominant best from the start and seemed determined to lift the title this time as he broke his German opponent in the fourth game of the opening set to go up 3-1 and then maintained his composure to seal the first set in 31 minutes.

With his nose ahead with a set lead, Yuki didn't look back and demolished Georgousdas 6-1 in just 26 minutes in the second set to register his first Slam title.

Yuki's dominance in the match was visible from the fact that he hit 29 winners as compared to his opponent's 21. He also converted four out of the seven break points and didn't provide a single window of opportunity to the German to break his serve.

Yuki, partnering Chinese Taipei's Liang-Chi Huang, also made it to the semi-finals of the boys doubles event but were shocked on Friday by Russian-Japanese pair of Mikhal Biryukov and Yasutaka Uchiyama 3-6, 1-6.

Australian Open: Bhupathi-Knowles lose Aus Open final

2009-02-01T22:11:00.000-08:00

Mahesh Bhupathi's seven-year Grand Slam title drought in men's doubles continued after the Indian and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles squandered a one-set lead to go down to Bob and Mike Bryan in a three-set final at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Saturday.

In a match which saw the third-seeded Indo-Bahamian pair's fortunes nose-dive after the opening set, the second-seeded American brothers showed remarkable resilience to come out triumphant 2-6, 7-5, 6-0.

It was a perfect start to the proceedings for Bhupathi and Knowles as they broke the Americans in the opening game before racing to a 3-1 lead. Bhupathi and Knowles broke the Bryans once again in the fifth game to wrap up the opener in just 27 minutes.

However, it all went downhill for them thereafter as Bryans roared back into the match. The second set went on serve and both the teams frittered away a break point each before the American edged past. Bob and Mike earned a couple of break points in the 12th game and this time they made no mistake, converting the chance to make it 1-1.

The third set completely belonged to the second seeds and they were simply unstoppable, breaking the Indo-Bahamian pair thrice to seal the match. It took Bryans just 23 minutes to brush aside the Indian challenge in the deciding set.

Bhupathi's doubles titles hopes may be over but he is still in contention for a title at the season's first Grand Slam as he has also made it to the mixed doubles final with Sania Mirza .

The duo takes on France's Nathalie Dechy and Andy Ram Israel in the final on Sunday.

Bhupathi last won a men's doubles Grand Slam title in 2002 when he teamed up with Max Mirnyi to lift the U S Open. He has never won the Australian Open men's doubles title and his other three Grand Slam titles in the event have come at the 1999 French Open and Wimbledon and the 2001 French Open. All three of these titles came with his now-estranged partner Leander Paes .

Punjab Gold Cup: India start on winning note

2009-02-01T22:09:00.000-08:00

India blanked New Zealand 2-0 to start their campaign in the four-nation Punjab Gold Cup hockey tournament on a winning note.

Skipper Sandeep Singh put the hosts ahead, converting a penalty-corner in the 18th minute and forward Shivendra Singh sealed victory with six minutes remaining.

In the second match of the day, Holland defeated World and Olympic [Images] champions Germany [Images] by an identical margin thanks to a field goal from Lucas Judge and a penalty-corner conversion by Jeroen Hertzberger.

Tennis: Sania-Bhupathi win Aus Open mixed doubles

2009-02-01T22:07:00.000-08:00

Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi won the mixed doubles title at the Australian Open , beating Nathalie Dechy (France ) and Andy Ram (Israel) 6-3, 6-1 in the final in Melbourne on Sunday afternoon.

The ace Indian pair thus made up for the disappointment of last year when they were beaten by Tiantian Sun and Nenad Zimonjic in the final.

While Sania picked her maiden Grand slam title in the process, Bhupathi swelled his Grand Slam title collection in mixed doubles to seven.

Before Sunday's triumph he won six mixed doubles crowns with different partners, the last also at the Australian Open in 2006 when he had partnered Swiss Martina Hingis [Images].

Sania and Bhupathi had an easier time than they may have expected. Ram was broken in the opening game and from then on there was nothing the French-Israeli pair could do to stop the Indians. Two more breaks, in the seventh and ninth games, and Sania and Bhupathi had the first set in their bag in 28 minutes.

The second set too was one-sided. Bhupathi kicked it off, winning at love. Then a break on Dechy's serve put the Indians high in the saddle at 3-1. Another break off Ram's serve and the Indians were cruising at 5-1.

Sania completed the formalities by serving out the seventh game for the set and match in 54 minutes.

On Saturday, Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles [Images] squandered a one-set lead and went down to Bob and Mike Bryan in the men's doubles final.

Punjab Gold Cup: India-Holland split points after playing a 4-4 draw

2009-02-01T22:03:00.000-08:00

In a hard fought match which saw fortunes fluctuating from one side to the other, India and Holland played out a pulsating 4-4 draw in the Punjab Gold Cup hockey tournament in Chandigarh on Sunday night.

Trailing 0-2 at one stage, Indians fought back strongly and made amends for their early defence lapses.

However, India let go a crucial chance when skipper Sandeep Singh failed to score from a penalty stroke.

Rob Reckers (16th minute) and Laurence Docherty (26th) had given their team a healthy 2-0 lead but Indians struck three goals in a row to erase the deficit and also took the lead.

Shivender Singh, who was declared man-of-the-match for scoring two goals, finished off a nice counter-attack with a superb goal, reducing the margin to 1-2 in the 29th minute.

Launching another attack, striker Prabhjot Singh deflected a nice pass from skipper Sandeep into the goal, equalising the scores in the 31st minute.

Prabhjot, elated at getting the equaliser, took off his shirt and waved it before the home crowds, which had turned out in good number to watch the contest.

With three minutes to go for the first half, Shivender was in thick of the action again hitting a diving reverse flick, penetrating the Dutch defence to take his team 3-2 up.

Dutch skipper Timme Hoyng scored the third goal for his team in the 48th minute scooping one over the goalkeeper's head.

Making full use of an error in the opposition defence in the 61st minute and with Dutch goalkeeper Mark Jenniskens a few steps outside the goal post, V Sunil struck for the hosts giving them a 4-3 lead.

Skipper Sandeep Singh squandered a sure opportunity to increase the lead when his team was awarded penalty stroke by German umpire Fabian Blasch.

The stroke was awarded when Shivender, who was trying to hit the ball into the goal from a good pass given to him from Arjun Hallapa, was obstructed by a Dutch defender.

Sandeep, though, could not convert the chance as he hit the ball wide.

Towards the end of the second half, Holland leveled the scores when Geert Jan Derikx hit from a rebound when the Dutch were awarded a penalty corner.

Holland, who had defeated world champions Germany [Images] 2-0 in their first match here yesterday, played attacking game right from the start.

They got rewarded immediately when Rob Reckers finished a good move by hitting a reverse flick. The visitors got another opportunity to increase the lead when they were awarded their first penalty corner.

However, as the ball got deflected from defender Vikram Pillay's stick on to his foot near the goal line, the umpire awarded a penalty stroke to the European Champions.

Laurence converted the chance without any fuss as he scooped the ball over goalkeeper Baljit Singh's head who had no clue and dived towards his right in vain.

India, who had defeated New Zealand [Images] yesterday in their first match, and Holland got one point each for the draw.

I League: Mumbai FC rally to beat East Bengal

2009-02-01T22:01:00.000-08:00

Mumbai FC pulled out all the stops to score a well-merited come-from-behind 2-1 victory over a listless East Bengal in a 13th round I-League match at the Cooperage inMumbai on Saturday.

They had earlier beaten the same opponents by a 1-0 margin in the first leg in Kolkata.

The Kolkata brigade took the lead through the evergreen Yakubu Yusif in the 13th minute from a penalty, awarded by Services referee A Rowan after striker Ishmael Addo was tugged down at the edge of the box by Kamaljeet Kumar. Rowan, who gave some strange decisions against Mumbai FC, later overlooked a couple of penalty incidents that could have gone the local team's way.

The home side drew level with a superb headed goal by India hitman Abhishek Yadav two minutes after resumption from a cross by medio Kuttymani.

Ghanaian striker Abel Hammond and man of the match then scored the match-winner after receiving a superb through pass from substitute Alex Ambrose to finish off a superb counter-attack in the 89th minute.

Mumbai FC move up to 22 points from their sixth win but continue to occupy fourth spot on the table. On the other hand, East Bengal, who crashed to their sixth defeat, remain in eighth place with 13 points.

Subhash Bhowmick's reign at the red & gold headquarters has begun inauspiciously in the second leg and the three-times NFL champions were outplayed for the greater part of the game. The timidity of the visitors was aggravated by the inefficacy of their star players like veteran Alvito D'Cunha, Yakubu and their colleagues.

Only when Sanju Pradhan came in for the Goan stalwart and Yakubu fell behind to essay the role of a playmaker that East Bengal begin to look threatening on the counter. But that too occasionally.

East Bengal did have a couple of occasions to swell their tally in the second half courtesy some slack defending by the locals but first Addo lobbed over the bar with Kalyan Chaubey out of his charge and then Yakubu hit weakly and straight to the custodian after a fumble by stopper back James Dissiramah.

Mumbai FC's 4-3-3 formation and strategy to play three robust strikers upfront paid off today unlike in their home match against Mohun Bagan a week ago. They were able to continually pressurize the East Bengal defence who had to keep an extra man (Meherajuddin Wadoo) behind to ward off the triple threat. This told on their attacking intent. The absence of Sunil Chhetri in the line-up, although he was present at the venue, also deprived the East Bengal attack of their bite.

While India goalkeeper Subrata Paul deserves credit for having kept East Bengal in he game with some vital saves and interceptions, he was at fault when he came out to meet the Kuttymani cross and missed, allowing Yadav to nod the ball in.

Mumbai FC did not rue the couple of chances missed by Felix Aboagye, especially when he shot weakly to Paul from point blank range just before the break. They were also lucky that midfielder Riston Rodrigues, who was rushed off to hospital after injuring his face while heading the ball away, recovered and is reportedly out of danger.

I League: Mahindra United down Chirag

2009-02-01T22:00:00.000-08:00

Mahindra United scored twice in the second half to blank Chirag United 2-0 in a 13th round encounter of the ONGC [Get Quote] I-league at the Yuva [Images] Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Sunday.

The Mumbai [Images] side drew first blood through Steven Dias and then settled the issue through Edeh Chidi, as the local side failed to convert their few chances.

The win helped Derrick Pereira's boys lift themselves from the relegation zone with 15 points from 13 matches, while Chirag remain stuck on 13 points.

While the first-half saw both teams having half-chances, the Mumbai outfit stepped up the momentum especially after their medio Izumi Arata was fouled by United > SC defender Goutam Debnath minutes after the changeover.

Having missed a free-kick in the first-half, Dias, Dias who was later adjudged man-of-the-match, took this one too from outside the box and cleanly found the net to give Mahindra United the lead in the 51st minute.

Izumi, in fact, was instrumental in creating the chance for the second goal in the 72nd minute when he took a shot from the left only to see it defected by the Chirag goalkeeper Somnath Khara.

Chidi, from the right, connected it nicely to beat Khara and complete the scoreline for his side.

Having conceded the goals, Subrata Bhattacharya's boys tried to step up the gas but failed to convert their half chances.

I League: JCT draw; Sporting Clube win

2009-02-01T21:58:00.000-08:00

JCT staged a strong second-half rally to hold Vasco 1-1 in an ONGC I-League match at the Guru Nanak stadium in Ludhiana on Saturday.

Agnelo Calaco had put Vasco ahead in the 25th minute with a powerful drive that beat JCT keeper Karanjit Singh.

JCT wasted a couple of chances thereafter but found the equalizer in the 62 minute after intense pressure when man of the match Baljit Saini broke free into the box, beat the goalkeeper and slotted the ball home.

JCT have 16 points after 13 matches while Vasco, who had shocked Sporting Clube de Goa [Images] last week, remain at the bottom with nine points from as many outings.

Sporting Clube beat Mohammedan Sporting

In Kolkata, Mohammedan Sporting were beaten 0-1 by league leaders Sporting Clube de Goa.

The Goan side scored the match-winner in the 16th minute through Joseph Pereira, who made the best of a lapse by Mohammedans goalkeeper Naseem Akhtar.

The victory swelled Sporting Clube's tally to 28 points, four points clear of second-placed Mohun Bagan.

After their seventh defeat Mohammedan Sporting remain in 11th place with 10 points.

I Leauge: Churchill rally from behind to hold Dempo 1-1 in I-League

2009-02-01T21:55:00.000-08:00

Churchill Brothers came from behind to hold Dempo to a 1-1 draw in the 13th round of the ONGC [Get Quote] I-league match played at the Nehru stadium in Margao on Sunday.

Churchill found the equaliser in the 72nd minute through Felix Chimaokwu after Dempo took the lead in the 45th minute through Anthony Pereira.

Dempo, who took time to settle down, nearly scored in the 36th minute but a Valeriano Rebelo long ranger hit the cross bar and went out.

The team, however, kept on the pressure and scored in the 45th minute as Valeriano Rebelo picked up Joaquim Abranches on the left with an overhead pass.

Rebelo controlled the ball and took a rasping shot that hit the cross bar and fell on the path of onrushing Anthony Pereira, who shot in to have Dempo leading 1-0 at half time.

Churchill started in the right earnest and had a couple of early scoring chances but Gouramangi Moirangthem and Chimaokwu lacked the direction to find the mark.

The second half belonged to Churchill who pressed hard to find the equaliser but found stiff resistance from a rival defence that kept Odafe Okolie on a tight lease.

However, they succeeded in the 72nd minute as a Naoba Singh pass was shot into the net from close by Chimaokwu.

Dempo came with counter attacks and had a glorious chance to take the lead, but an off-colour Ranty Martins fumbled to score off a cross from Rebelo.

Churchill's Odafe Okolie and Raju Yumnam were shown the yellow card by referee S Suresh.

With this match, Churchill, who now occupy the third place in the I-league, have 24 points from 13 matches while Dempo have collected 18 points from as many matches.

Football: I League: Barreto stars in Mohun Bagan win

2009-02-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

Peerless Jose Ramirez Barreto yet again showed why he is the kingpin of Indian football as he single-handedly helped Mohun Bagan notch a hard-fought 2-1 win over plucky Air-India in a 13th round I-League match at the Cooperage in Mumbai [Images] on Sunday.

The two sides had tied their first leg match 1-1.

The season's largest attendance saw the Brazilian man of the match unlock his bagful of magic tricks and his unparalleled shooting skills as he scored two magnificent goals in the 45th and 69th minutes to negate the lead that Subhas Singh had given the airmen in the 20th minute.

Karim Bencherifa's maroon & green outfit, who recorded their eighth win on the trot, a personal record for the Moroccan, now zoom up to 27 points and remain in hot pursuit of Sporting Clube de Goa [Images], who top the table with one more. The local side remain in sixth place with 17 points after their fourth loss.

Bimal Ghosh's gallant squad did not deserve to lose. They threw everything at the three-time champions and were unlucky that substitute Emmanuel Ovieghara struck the upright in the 80th minute as they pounded the Kolkata citadel for the equaliser.

However, Mohun Bagan, who also had their moments in the sun, held their composure and with stopper back Peter Odafe remaining as steady as a rock, the winners were able to ride out the barrage and escape to victory.

With skipper Baichung Bhutia out of sorts -- he played with a strapped right thigh -- and the wide men remaining withdrawn to negate Air-India's offensive intentions, it was Barreto who had to take the battle almost single-handedly to the opposition.

Air-India went into the lead through a pretty move, industrious medio Gouranga Biswas chesting down a lob from the right into the box to Kailash Patil who relayed it to Subhas and the Manipuri crashed it past Sangram Mukherjee in a flash.

The reverse was a wake-up call for the mariners. Brazilian pivot Marcos Pereira began taking on more of the workload and also threatening the rival goal with a free-kick and a thunderous volley that Arup Debnath fisted over for a corner in the 36th minute. The pressure ultimately paid off and Barreto finally found the target with a fierce header from his side's third flag kick taken by N S Manju.

Barreto then produced another classic finish for the matchwinner, his seventh goal in the tournament, after Ishfaq Ahmed made a searing run from the centre-line and laid the ball on a platter. The Brazilian then veered to the right and unleashed a sizzling grounder from a narrow angle which crashed into the far corner leaving Debnath stupefied.

Air-India suffered another set-back in added on time when their thrown in specialist Uttam Singh was sent off by referee O P Thakur from Jharkhand after he fouled James Singh a second time. He will miss his side's away match against East Bengal as a consequence.

Tennis: Australian Open: Sania and Mahesh is Mixed doubles final!

2009-01-30T01:04:00.001-08:00

Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi entered the mixed doubles final at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Friday.

The unseeded Indian pair got the better of Czechs Iveta Benesova and Lukas Dlouhy 6-4, 6-1 in a 54-minute semi-final encounter.

They will take on Nathalie Dechy of France and Andy Ram of Israel, who shocked the seventh seeded Spanish combination of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Tommy Robredo 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 in the other semi-final.

Sania and Bhupathi, who were runners-up at Melbourne Park last year, trailed 1-3 in the opening set before rallying to victory.

It was hardly the kind of start Sania and Bhupathi, who dropped just one set en route to the semis, would have wanted as Benesova and Dlouhy broke them in the opening game to race to a 3-1 lead. However, the Indians got their act together soon and broke back twice to take the first set in 32 minutes.

They continued in the same vein in the second set and broke thrice. Such was their hold over the proceedings that they did not face a single break-point in the second set, which they wrapped in a mere 22 minutes.

The win is double delight for Bhupathi, who along with Mark Knowles of the Bhamas has also made it to the men's doubles final, to be played on Saturday.

Bhupathi has six mixed doubles Grand Slam titles under his belt with different partners. His last mixed doubles Grand Slam crown was incidentally the Australian Open in 2006 when he had partnered Swiss Martina Hingis [Images]. Sania, however, is aiming for her maiden Grand Slam title.

Earlier, Venus and Serena Williams won the women's doubles title, beating Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova [Images] and Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-3 in the final.

The tenth-seeded American sisters captured their eighth Grand Slam doubles title in the process, having also won the Australian Open in 2001 and 2003.

Tennis: Bhupathi eyeing career Slam

2009-01-29T21:33:00.000-08:00

Mahesh Bhupathi on Thursday sought to downplay his being on the verge of a career Grand Slam and what could have been a scintillating summit clash against Leander Paes in the Australian Open.

“I still have one more match to go,” Bhupathi told The Telegraph from Melbourne after partnering Mark Knowles of the Bahamas to reach the men’s doubles final in the year’s first major.

Bhupathi and Knowles, seeded three, had a cakewalk in the semi-finals as they defeated Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Oliver Marach of Austria 6-3, 6-1.

The Indian has a Wimbledon, a US Open and two French Open titles under his belt, and conquering the Australian Open would put him in an exclusive club.

Bhupathi’s success was followed by the 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Paes and Lukas Dlouhy, of the Czech Republic, to American twins Bob and Mike Bryan in the other semi-final.

Asked if he had been looking forward to a clash against his estranged compatriot, Bhupathi said: “I am happy that I am in the final. I could not be worrying about who I would be playing against.”

The conditions have been extreme over the last couple of days in Melbourne with temperatures soaring to 42 degrees centigrade, but fortunately for Bhupathi and Knowles, the organisers closed the Rod Laver arena with the retractable roof.

The doubles final is scheduled for Saturday. Before that, Bhupathi has to play the mixed doubles semifinals on Friday when he and Sania Mirza will take on Dlouhy and Iveta Benesova.

There was more cheer for the Indian fans as Yuki Bhambri repeated his 2008 performance by reaching the boys’ singles semi-finals.

Unlike Bhupathi, the 16-year-old Bhambri had to toil under the sun for what was nevertheless a sweet 6-1, 7-5 victory over Richard Becker of Germany in the quarter finals.

The world No.2 from Delhi then combined with Chinese Taipei’s Liang-chi Huang to oust Julien Obry and Adrien Puget of France 7-6(7-4), 6-4 to reach the boys’ doubles semi-finals.

Puget has a chance to avenge his loss as he takes on Bhambri in the singles last-four tie.

“I was better prepared and more mature on the court this time compared to last year,” Bhambri, who won two Grade A titles — the Osaka Mayors Cup and the Orange Bowl — last season, said.

Tennis: Australian Open: Bhupathi-Knowles in final; Paes-Dlouhy lose in semis

2009-01-29T21:30:00.000-08:00

Mahesh Bhupathi earned a shot at his first Australian Open title after reaching the men's doubles final with Mark Knowles , but Leander Paes's wait continues after losing his semi-final alongside partner Lukas Dlouhy.

Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Knowles, seeded third, thrashed Lukasz Kubot [Images] and Oliver Marach 6-3, 6-1 to make the final of a Grand Slam event together for the first time since forging the partnership in 2008.

In the other semi-final, the fourth seeded Paes-Dlouhy pair lost 3-6, 3-6 to American second seeds Mike and Bob Bryan.

Bhupathi now has a chance to end his drought of men's doubles titles at a Grand Slam event. The last time he laid hands on a winner's trophy was in 2002 at the US Open.

The title will also complete Bhupathi's Grand Slam kitty, as only the Australian Open men's doubles title has eluded both Bhupathi and Paes.

They won the French Open and Wimbledon together but annexed the US Open with different partners.

Paes and his Czech partner's fight against the formidable Bryan brothers was over in just 54 minutes, ending Indian hopes of seeing two of its best doubles players fighting for the title.

Paes has not won a men's doubles title at a Grand Slam since winning the US Open in 2006 with Martin Damm [Images].

Earlier in the day, the third seed Indo-Bahamian pair proved too good for their unseeded Polish-Austrian opponents as it took them just 58 minutes to win the semi-final encounter.

The winners improved upon their last year's performance at the Open, where they lost in the semi-finals.

This is also for the second time that Bhupathi has reached the final of the Australian Open. The last time he made the final of the men's doubles at the Open was in 1999 with estranged partner Paes.

Bhupathi now has a chance to grab his fifth men's doubles Grand Slam title and 11th overall.

The last time he won a men's doubles title at a Grand Slam event was way back in 2002 at the US Open with Max Mirnyi .

Bhupathi-Knowles broke their opponents once in the first set to take a 1-0 lead and then outplayed them in the second.

They broke thrice, in the first, fifth and seventh games, in the second set to race away with the match.

Knowles hit a stunning forehand winner to earn a match-point which got converted when Marach's attempted winner flew over the baseline.

In the juniors' event, Yuki Bhambri continued his sizzling run as he made the semi-finals of both the singles and doubles as top seed.

In singles, world No 2 Yuki quelled a late challenge from Germany's Becker 6-1, 7-5 while in the doubles he and Chinese Taipei's Liang-Chi Huang edged past French fifth seeded pair of Adrien Puget and Julien Obry 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the quarter-finals.

The teen sensation had reached the semi-finals last year as well.

Tennis: Somdev crashes out of Carson Challenger

2009-01-29T21:29:00.000-08:00

Somdev Devvarman [Images] made a shock first round exit from the US $50,000 ATP Challenger series in Carson, United States, in both singles and doubles.

Somdev, seeded eighth, lost his opening singles match 1-6, 4-6 to unseeded American Scoville Jenkins.

However, Prakash Amritraj advanced to the second round after beating local wild card Lester Cook 7-6(3), 6-3.

He next faces fourth seed American Wayne Odesnik.

In the doubles event, Somdev and Ashutosh Singh went down fighting to the American pair of Brendan Levine Jesse 3-6, 5-7.

Harsh Mankad and Purav Raja, seeded fourth, advanced to the quarter-finals after a 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 win over Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Giovann Lapentti of Ecuador.

Prakash and American Scoville also bowed from the doubles, losing their opening encounter 4-6, 6-7 (4) to local wild card duo Rylan Rizza and Kaes Vant'Hof.

Football: Coventry no more interested in Chhetri

2009-01-29T21:28:00.000-08:00

English Championship club Coventry City will not pursue their interest with Indian striker Sunil Chhetri, the club's manager Chris Coleman revealed on Thursday.

Praising the East Bengal striker for his popularity in India, Coleman however said they cannot pursue their interest with Chhetri as he does not fit into their scheme of things.

"A lot was made of him coming over and I think he is going to go around a few clubs. He has had a few days with us but that is it," said Coleman.

"I understand he has a big reputation in India and he is a very nice young man but we won't be following up our initial interest," he was quoted as saying in itv.com.

It may be noted Chhetri was given a wide coverage in English media after he landed in Coventry for a weeklong trial.

After his first training session with the Sky Blues, he received a warm welcome by the Coventry players and the coaching staff.

"I am really optimistic and I am looking forward to the week. I just want to give 100 per cent. (Bhaichung) Bhutia has been an inspiration both on and off the field," Chhetri had said then.

"After him the flow of players has slowed down so hopefully more can start coming over to England [Images]. It would mean a lot to me and to players from India," he had said.

In fact, the national captain was also optimistic about Chhetri's chances.

Having had a stint with Bury FC, Bhutia had said, "I hope things work out for Sunil. It would interest youngsters in looking beyond India and ultimately if they manage it, they can contribute immensely to the national team set up."

Chess: Harika stays in race for GM norm

2009-01-29T21:26:00.000-08:00

World junior girls' champion D Harika beat English Grandmaster David Howell while Abhijeet Gupta and K Sasikiran suffered setbacks in the tenth round of the Corus chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands.

Sasikiran went down to Zahar Efimenko of Ukraine in Group 'B' while Abhijeet lost to Anish Giri in a Group 'C' match.

Harika kept herself in contention for a GM-norm, displaying fine attacking chess against Howell.

The Andhra girl, playing black in a Ruy Lopez opening, kept the Englishman under pressure and in his bid to force a spatial advantage, Howell blundered, allowing Harika to romp home in 48 moves. She is now tied for fourth place with 5.5 points in Group C.

Giving her company is compatriot Abhijeet, who suffered a jolt to Russian Giri, whose roots can be traced to India.

Abhijeet, playing black, blundered early against Giri in a Grunfeld defense game.

Giri managed to establish a minuscule advantage out of the opening and capitalised on a weak 15th move to reach a won middle game. Abhijeet sacrifice two pieces for a rook but it did not fetch much compensation.

The win took Giri to six points and third place.

Grandmaster Tiger Hillarp Person of Sweden stayed on top with 7.5 points after beating Frank Holzke of Germany [Images].

Top seed Wesley So of Philippines remained on his heels with seven points defeating Roeland Pruijessers of Holland.

Sasikiran seems to have hit a rough patch and is finding it difficult to extricate himself from it.

The loss to Efimenko further dented his rating and the top seed Indian is currently at the bottom of the pool in Group B with three points from 10 matches.

Sasikiran's form deserted him again as Efimenko proved superior in a Nimzo Indian defense game. The Indian was on the receiving end in the middle game after missing a tactical sequence that left his king exposed.

Efimenko directed his pieces towards the kind side and launched an attack that saw him cruise home in 41 moves.

Important Round 10 results:

Group 'B': Nigel Short (Eng, 6.5) drew with Alexander Motylev (Rus, 6); Rustam Masimdzhanov (Uzb, 6) bt Francisco Vallejo Pons (Esp, 5.5); Krishnan Sasikiran (Ind, 3) lost to Zahar Efimenko (Ukr, 5.5); Erwin L'Ami (Ned, 5) bt Jan Werle (Ned, 3); Dimitri Reindermann (Ned, 4) drew with David Navara (Cze, 6); Yifan Hou (Chn, 4) drew with Fabiano Caruana (Ita, 6); Andrei Volokitin (Ukr, 6) drew with Henrique Mecking (Bra, 3.5).

Group 'C': Tiger Hillarp Persson (Swe, 7.5) bt Frank Holzke (Ger, 5.5); Roeland Pruijsseres (Ned, 3.5) lost to Wesley So (Phi, 7); Anish Giri (Rus, 6) bt Abhijeet Gupta (Ind, 5.5); David Howell (Eng, 5.5) lost to D Harika (Ind, 5.5); Manuel Bosboom (Ned, 5.5) bt Ali Bitalzadeh (Ned, 3.5); Friso Nijboer (Ned, 3.5) lost to Manuel Leon Hoyos (Mex, 4); Oleg Romanishin (Ukr, 3) lost to Eduardo Itturizaga (Ven, 4.5).

I am playing my best, says Saina

2009-01-28T22:43:00.000-08:00

The junior World badminton champion and World No. 10, Saina Nehwal, feels that she is playing at her best at the moment and there is absolutely no pressure on her as she sets her sights high.

Saina, who has been signed by Herbalife, a health and nutrition product as a ‘Brand Ambassador’ here on Wednesday, said: “I am playing my best game now. Being World No. 10 doesn’t add any pressure and I am enjoying every bit of it and hope to break into the top five.”

Saina, however, said that while becoming a World No. 1 was a big dream, she has not set any time frame on that.

“At the level I am playing, there are a lot more experienced players and who are really good. It is going to be a tough act but I will keep doing my best.”

Training abroad

Saina also discounted the possibility of training abroad. “Personally, I don’t think I can do that. I enjoy training here.

“At Gopi Chand’s academy, I put seven to eight hours of training, which is not possible if I go abroad. We have all the facilities here and some of the best coaches in the world like Prakash Padukone, Vimal Kumar and of course my mentor Gopi Chand.”

“I did have a bit of pressure when I won the Philippines Open last season, following which there were a lot of expectations but I can now handle it. I do a lot of meditation and stay calm,” she said.

Game wise, she felt that everything was in place. “I am confident and perfecting myself in every way,” added Saina.

Asked whether it is the age of youth in badminton, Saina was quick to retort: “We youngsters are much fitter and faster but look at players like Zhang Ning, who have so much experience on their side.”

New points system

On the new points system in vogue in the game, Saina opined that it benefited both senior and junior players alike. “Senior players had the advantage of playing the longer version of the game and so they have the staying power while we the younger lot, with better tactics to suit the system, have been beating them.”

She rated Chinese champion Zhou Mi as her main rival.

Saina said that she now looks forward to the challenges ahead, playing in the All England, Swiss Open and later the World championship at Hyderabad.

“World championship is a big one for me, that too playing at home.

“I had great crowd support when I won the world juniors at Pune and I expect the same kind of backing from Hyderabadis,” said the champion.

Saina revises her goal, aims to crack top five by 2010

2009-01-28T22:38:00.001-08:00

Citing that she needs more experience in the international level, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal has now revised her target from being the numero uno to just breaking into the elite top five bracket by 2010.

"I had earlier said that I was aiming to be on the top but realistically to be among the first five will be fine with me," Saina told reporters.

"Right now, I am doing well and I am satisfied with my performance in the international tournaments. But I need more experience. Playing in different tournaments will be important," the 18-year-old teen added.

The current world number 10, Saina, who is training under her coach and former All England champion P Gopichand at his academy in Hyderabad, does not feel the need to train abroad.

"I think training in India is as good as training elsewhere as we have the best of facilities (in India)," the Beijing Olympic quarter-finalist said.

Referring to the World Badminton Championship to be held in Hyderabad in August, Saina said though she would have home advantage, she would not take the event lightly.

Tennis: Bhupathi, Knowles storm into Australian Open doubles finals

2009-01-28T22:34:00.000-08:00

The third-seeded duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles beat Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach 6-3, 6-1 to storm into doubles finals of Australian Open on Thursday.

The Indo-Bahamian duo of Bhupathi and Knowles comfortably crushed the Polish-Austrian duo in just 58 minutes making just two unforced errors.

Bhupathi-Knowles will now play the winner of the second semi-final between the fourth-seeded pair of Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes and the second-seaded Bryan brothers of the USA.

Some Sports are more equal than others

2009-01-27T23:57:00.000-08:00

There was a time when all sports were equal. A Lala Amarnath was probably as famous as a Dhyan Chand. It was said that you could write a letter to these stalwarts with just their name on it and you could be sure of having the letter delivered to their correct address.

Over a period of time, most other sports went back into the backwaters while Cricket
came to the forefront. Cricket was very cleverly marketed to a wide audience while most other sports failed to do that. The net result is there for eveyrone to see.

We have a situation where Saina Nehwal has to run around to get her passport, while a Dhoni gets a Z security cover. A Cricketer is a demi God while the rest are Children of lesser gods. Time and time again, this differentiation shows up. This is leading to a situation where the younger generation is more interested in playing cricket than any other sport. You cannot blame them, for there is more money to be made in Cricket than you can ever make in any other sport.

Consider this
The World of Carrom is dominated by Indians. So much so, Indians represent other countries too. Even better the reigning Women's World Champion is an Indian. So does Ilavazhagi drive in a fancy car ? Nopes, she barely ekes out a living in a Slum in Chennai.

Consider another case. The one of Limba Ram. A World Record holder, he missed the bronze by a whisker in the Barcelona Olympics. He is also the Coach of the Indian National Archery Team. So did you expect him to stay in a fancy bunglow ? Nopes, he stays in a Garage.

Now add to that the case of Vijender and Sushil Kumar. India had dreamed of an Olympic medal for years. Abhinav Bindra, Vijender and Sushil bought us those medals. While Abhinav Bindra gets the Padma awards, the other 2 get nothing. Abhinav is stinking rich enough to be bothered about awards, but the other 2 sure do need some recognition.

Why does this happen to sportsmen/women who represent sports other than Cricket ?
The answers are many.
1. Lack of commitment of those in power: Do you remember the movie Chak De, where the Women's Hockey Team had to play the Men's Hockey Team only to satisfy the whims of a few administrators. That might be reel life, but you can be assured that it is true in real life too. KP Singh Gills stranglehold over the Indian Hockey Federation brought the sport to a nadir. India for the first time failed to qualify for the Olympics. He was more interested in making his seat warm than promoting the sport.

2. Politics: Most associations are favourite haunts for Politicians. It doesnt matter to which party you belong to. It doesnt even matter if you know next to nothing about the sport. All you need to be is a politician. No wonder all the moneys are just spent for purposes other than sport.

3. Style over Substance: When you were young, you were taught that only the deserving win. Think again, all you need to have is style. Substance can go to hell. Sania Mirza is a great example of this syndrome. She is always in the news. In news for everything except for the sport that she plays. She has just won one tournament, has never gone beyond the 2nd round of most of the tournaments she participated in. Her only consistency is her inconsistency or shall we say "Consistently inconsistent". But she is the one who rakes the moolah with her ad contracts.

But look at Saina Nehwal who plays badminton. Plays consistently, is ranked the world number 10. Is modest, doesnt have a drawl in her speech. She is more interested in playing the game than playing outside the game. Yet she doesnt rake in the moolah. That is because she isnt seeing Shahid or talking about everything except her sport.
There are so many answers to this one question. But every answer raises more questions than it can probably answer. Unless steps are taken, you can be sure that every child born, will prefer a Cricket bat than any other sport. As they say some sports are more equal than others.

Chess:Sasikiran held by Motylev, Abhijeet slips to tied third

2009-01-27T22:08:00.000-08:00

Indian players had a disappointing outing at the Corus chess championship with Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran and D Harika settling for draws while Abhijeet Gupta went down to slip to the third spot.

Sasikiran played out a draw with Alexander Motylev in the eighth round in the 'B' group taking his tally to three points, last night.

Ahead of the second rest day Sasikiran could not get much to hope for with his white pieces as Motylev kept himself in contention in a Queen pawn game and after the dust subsided the players just had a level position on board.

The peace was signed in 32 moves.

In the 'C' group, Grandmaster Abhijeet went down to Grandmaster Friso Nijboer of Holland.

The loss dented Abhijeet's (4.5 points) chances considerably after Tiger Hillarp Person of Sweden managed to eke out a win against Mexican Manuel Leon Hoyos to emerge as sole leader with six points.

Persson has a one point lead over top seed Wesley So of the Philippines after he went down to Frank Holzke of Germany [Images].

Wesley stayed in sole second place with five points.

Abhijeet shares the third spot with David Howell of England [Images] and local hopeful Manuel Bosboom who played out a draw with D Harika (four points).

Playing the black side of a Ruy Lopez, Abhijeet was surprised early in the opening after sacrificing a pawn and did not get a chance to recover in the remaining part of the game.

Do we still have to plead for recognition, asks Sushil Kumar

2009-01-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

Olympic bronze medallist Sushil Kumar is disappointed after being ignored for the prestigious Padma awards.

"Last week an official from the Sports Ministry informed us that I and Vijender have been shortlisted for Padma Shri winners. But I was shocked when I heard that both of us were ignored for this prestigious award," the wrestler said on Monday.

"It really hurts when your performance at the highest level goes unrecognised. This shows that Olympic sports in the country is not taken seriously and only cricketers get recognition."

"Do we still have to plead for recognition even after winning Olympic medals?" Sushil wondered.

Speaking exclusively to TIMES NOW, Vijender Kumar said, "My dreams are shattered. The selection committee should be asked about what were the criteria, terms and conditions which we could not satisfy. I think people here love only cricket, not boxing and wrestling. If we don't get recognition then we will leave the sport to do something else."

Meanwhile, Akhil Kumar another Indian boxer too expressed disappointment and said that other athletes too deserve recognition.

Sushil's coach Yahbir Singh said they were expecting the Padma award for the wrestler.

"We were surprised after learning that Sushil and Vijender were not selected for the award. This is how we treat our champions?," he asked.

Though it was India's most successful Olympic performance ever, only shooter Abhinav Bindra, who won the nation's maiden individual Olympic gold medal, has been conferred with the Padma Bhushan.

Cricketers Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh, too, are in the list of Padma Shri awards, which has not gone well with the wrestling and boxing fraternity.

"Cricketers are given all the awards. What have they done this year to deserve the award? Even the world body of boxing has recognised India as upcoming power in the sport and it is a shame that we are treated in this manner at home," said a boxing official, declining to be named.

Tennis: Bhupathi-Knowles in doubles semi-finals

2009-01-27T22:03:00.000-08:00

Mahesh Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles sailed into the Australian Open doubles semi-finals, defeating Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco in searing conditions at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.

The third seeded Indo-Bahamian pair took 88 minutes to dispatch the Spanish duo 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in their quarter-final clash.

Lopez-Verdasco showed some resistance in the second set, winning it 6-2, but Bhupathi-Knowles eventually prevailed to move to the next level.

Among the juniors, top seed Yuki Bhambri moved to the third round after defeating Stephen Hoh of Australia 7-6(1), 6-0.

Earlier, Leander Paes, and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy advanced to the men's doubles quarter-finals defeating locals Paul Hanley and Jordan Kerr 6-2, 7-5 on Monday.

Tennis:Sania-Bhupathi storm into semi-final of Australian Open

2009-01-27T21:58:00.000-08:00

India's mixed doubles pair of Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi stormed into semi-final round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.

The Indian pair defeated Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak and Daniel Nestor 3-6, 6-4 (10-5).

The unseeded Sania-Bhupathi pair thrashed Australian duo of Anastasia Rodionova and Stephen Huss 6-1, 6-2 to storm into the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles even.

Chess: Sasikiran held by Motylev, Abhijeet slips to tied third

2009-01-26T22:59:00.000-08:00

Tennis: Australian Open: Paes-Dlouhy in men's doubles Australian Open quarter-finals

2009-01-26T22:49:00.000-08:00

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi advanced to the men's doubles quarter-finals with their respective partners after facile wins in the third round of the Australian Open on Monday.

While Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles defeated Nicolas Lapentti and Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4, Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy, seeded fourth, beat locals Paul Hanley and Jordan Kerr 6-2, 7-5. ( Watch )

Bhupathi-Knowles pair next faces the Spanish pair of Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco. Paes and Dlouhy will be up against Italians Simone Bolelli and Andreas Seppi.

The third seeds Bhupathi and Knowles took 70 minutes to dispatch the unseeded Ecuadorian-Spanish duo in their third round clash.

However, the winners were trifle patchy as they, in total, squandered six breakpoints in the match.

Bhupathi-Knowles broke their rivals thrice and saved two breakpoints enroute to the victory.

In contrast, Paes and Dlouhy were dominant throughout and did not face single break point in the match.

Among the juniors, Kaza Vinayak Sharma joined compatriot and top seed Yuki Bhambri in the boys singles second round after carving out a facile 6-4, 6-2 win over Sweden's Patrik Brydolf.

However, it was curtains for Sudarwa Sitaram, who lost his opening round clash 3-6, 4-6 to Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France.

The Indian challenge ended in the girls singles event with the defeat of Kyra Shroff, who suffered a 0-6, 3-6 mauling at the hands of Monika Tumova of Czech Republic.

The combination of Vinayak Sharma and Roanak Manuja fell in the first round of boys doubles after losing 6-7 (1), 0-6 in the first round.

In girls doubles, the Indian pair of Tanvi Shah and Rashmi Teltumbde went down fighting against Ester Goldfeld of America and Briton Hannah James.

They lost 4-6, 6-7 (5) in the first round. Shroff and her Canadian partner Eugenie Bouchard though advanced to second round after their opponents conceded their first round match. The Indo-Canadian pair had won the first set 6-1 when their opponents called it quits.

Tennis: Sania, Bhupathi, Paes on a winning run in Australian Open

2009-01-26T22:48:00.000-08:00

India's Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi powered into the Australian Open mixed doubles quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Australian pair Anastasia Rodionova and Stephen Huss.

Top seeds Leander Paes and Cara Black of Zimbabwe overcame a stiff challenge against Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Serb Nenad Zimonjic 6-4, 4-6, 10-7.

The U.S. Open champions next play Patty Schnyder of Switzerland and Wesley Moodie of South Africa, who defeated Russian Alisa Kleybanova and Brazilian Bruno Soares 6-3, 6-4.

Bhupathi and Sania, runners-up of the last edition, backed their accurate service games with efficient court-craft for a swift 5-0 lead in the first set.

The Australians fended off a set point to win their first game thanks to some forehand errors by Sania.

The Indians then served out the set after 23 minutes.

Sania and Bhupathi carried the same intensity in the second set, breaking their opponents twice with some brilliant slices over the net.

They will next meet the winner of match between the Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak and Daniel Nestor and Zi Yan of China and Mark Knowles of Bahamas in the quarterfinals.

In the juniors, boys top seed Yuki Bhambri had to toil hard for his 4-6, 6-1, 8-6 opening round win over German Sanchez Delfin of Mexico while Ronak Manuja went down fighting to Australian Jordan Szabo 6-7(3), 6-1, 11-13.

Yuki next meets Australian Stephen Hoh who beat American Harry Fowler 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

In the girls singles, India's Rashmi Teltumbde crashed out 2-6, 4-6 to Thai Nicha Lertpitaksinchai in the first round.

Football:Gray is the silver lining for Md. Sp.

2009-01-26T22:46:00.000-08:00

Eugene Gray struck in his first appearance for Mohammedan Sporting in the I-League to help the Calcutta club to a face-saving 1-1 draw against Air India at the Cooperage here on Sunday.

The hosts took the lead in the 18th minute through a solo effort by Subash Singh but Mohammedan Sporting, languishing in the relegation zone, offered a spirited fightback and the Liberian Gray headed in a ball from Feroz Wasim for the equaliser in the 61st minute.

Gray was signed as the long-injured Theodore Sunday’s replacement, and joined the Calcutta club only on Saturday after flying in from Indonesia where he was playing in the national league.

His arrival seemed to have a galvanising effect on a team that looked hopeless during a 3-0 loss to Mumbai FC at the same venue earlier in the week.

Although the outcome could have been different had Air India converted one more of the many opportunities they created, Mohammedan Sporting showed the spark that was missing in their earlier matches. They were the dominant side without doubt in the second half and they did well to hold on for a draw after being reduced to 10 men in the last quarter.

The match was marred by two red cards. Mohammedan Sporting’s Madhab Das was sent off after receiving a second yellow card in the 73rd minute while Michael Tayo of Air India was penalised for attempting a ‘hand of god’ in the dying minutes.

Das invited the referee’s attention after he kicked Air India’s Soccor Velho following a collision in the latter’s penalty area.

But Tayo’s action smacked of immaturity since he would miss the crucial match against Mohun Bagan next Sunday as a result of his red card.

TEAMS

Mohammedan Sporting: Naseem Akhtar, Prem V. Kumar, Madhab Das, Mike Okoro, Suroj Mondal (Satyajit Bose 55’), Eugene Gray, Sovan Chakraborty, Adewusi Adebayo, Rajib Ghosh, Amla Francis Nova (Bijoy Das 24’), Jothi Kumar (Mir Farooq Hyder 76’).

Air India: Arup Debnath, Napoleon Singh, Ravinder Singh, Uttam Kr Singh, Soccor Velho (Agnelo Picardo 77’), Subash Singh, Surojit Roy (Hringsolal Tomte 70’), Kailash Patil (Emanuel Olieveghara 66’), Amritpal Singh, Michael Tayo, Chukwuma Udofia.

Weightlifting: Lifter Kunjarani to make comeback at 40, aims CWG gold

2009-01-26T22:43:00.000-08:00

Having virtually disappeared from the scene after her gold-winning feat at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games three years ago, 40-year-old KLifter Kunjarani Devi. Kunjarani Devi now wants to defy age and trains her gun on defending her title in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.

The pint-sized 48kg lifter has won all the gold medals in the Commonwealth Games in her weight category after women's weightlifting was first introduced in Manchester in 2002.

She won three gold in Manchester where one medal each was allotted for snatch, clean and jerk, and total lift, before winning the yellow metal in Melbourne where only the total lift carried a medal.

Kunjarani said she is confident she would gain top form in the 20 months left for the Commonwealth Games at home.

"I have started serious training since December last year. I want to defend my gold in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and stand on the victory podium before my home crowd," she said in an interview.

Kunjarani will be 42 when the Commonwealth Games is held in October next year in Delhi, but the Manipuri lifter said her body is still in good shape and she is lifting a good weight in training.

"I know myself that I still have the capability to win gold in Delhi next year. My body has not said no I should not be doing this. I am lifting the minimum necessary weight from where you can go for more. Otherwise I would not have thought of making a comeback," said the Delhi-based Rajiv Khel Ratna awardee.

"My career-best has been the 190kg in Athens Olympics. That is still the best among Commonwealth lifters. I won gold with 166kg in Melbourne and I am lifting not much less than that now," explained the CRPF Deputy Commandant.

Kunjarani, who was last in action in the All India Police Games in Jalandhar in October 2006, though is not taking part in the Senior Nationals starting in Pune from January 28 because of the one-year ban that has been imposed on Police.

Five of the Police lifters flunked dope tests in the All India Police Games in Haryana last year which attracted one-year ban from the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

"I am targeting National Games in Jharkhand (to be held in June) for my comeback to competition mode. After that there are many national and international events lined up before the Delhi Commonwealth Games," she said.

"I have to take part in some national competitions otherwise IWF may not allow me to take part in CWG. So I will take part in the National Games," she said.

Kunjarani said she was concentrating more on the Delhi Games and not thinking much of the Asian Games in China - to be held after the Commonwealth Games - where the competition is much tougher.

"I am not thinking much about the Asian Games. I will concentrate on winning gold in Commonwealth Games," she said.

Kunjarani also feels that Indian women would dominate the lifting event in 2010 CWG.

"Except for one or two categories (out of seven) we should dominate. It should be better than Melbourne," she said.

She spends at least four hours a day training, out of which she devoted two hours lifting barbells at the CRPF headquarters here.

"Morning is one-hour outdoor warm up and running and then another one hour lifting barbells. In the evening I have another light warm up and then lifting again," she said.

Chess:Sasikiran beats Short in Corus chess

2009-01-22T22:56:00.000-08:00

Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran defeated Commonwealth champion and former World championship finalist Nigel Short of England in the fifth round of the 'B' group in the Corus International chess tournament, in Wijk Aan Zee (The Netherlands), on Thursday.

Sasikiran, who had a bad start with just one point from the first four games, proved his mettle against joint leader Short and the Indian now seems on a recovery path with 2 points from five games played so far.

Former World champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan emerged the new leader in the 14-player round-robin tournament after settling for a quick draw with Dutchman Dimitri Reindermann.

The other overnight leader -- Fabiano Caruana of Italy also met his nemesis in Zahar Efimenko of Ukraine.

Sasikiran got the better of Short, playing white, in a rather complicated game.

An early deviation in the Sicilian defense witnessed Short gaining a spatial advantage and good central control but the Indian kept himself in the hunt with timely counter attacking measures on the king side.

Short missed the thread of the position in the later part of the middle game and Sasikiran won an exchange that proved decisive in the end. It was an overwhelming attack on his king which forced Short to throw in the towel after 35 moves.

In 'C' group being played simultaneously, Grandmsater Abhijeet Gupta (2.5) bounced back with a victory over Holland's Manuel Bosboom.

Grandmaster Tiger HIlarp Persson of Sweden emerged as sole leader in this section with a clinical demolition of youngster Anish Giri of Russia

Round 5 Results

Group 'B': Nigel Short (Eng, 3) lost to Krishnan Sasikiran (Ind, 2); David Navara (Cze, 3) drew with Jan Werle (Ned, 2); Dimitri Reinderman (Ned, 2.5) drew with Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzb, 3.5); Alexander Motylev (Rus, 2.5) drew with Francisco Vallejo Pons (Esp, 2); Zahar Efimenko (Ukr, 3) bt Caruana Fabiano (Ita, 3); Henrique Mecking (Bra,1) drew with Erwin L'Ami (Ned, 2).

Group 'C': Eduardo Iturrizaga (Ven, 2.5) lost to Wesley So (Phi, 3.5); Oleg Romanishin (Ukr, 2) lost to David Howell (Eng, 3); Anish Giri (Rus, 2) lost to Toger Hillarp Persson (Swe, 4); Abhijeet Gupta (Ind, 2.5) bt Manuel Bosboom (Ned, 3).

Tennis: Australian Open: Bopanna-Nieminin in second round

2009-01-22T22:54:00.001-08:00

Indian Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna and his Finnish partner Jarko Nieminin advanced to the second round of the men's doubles round at the Australian Open , defeating the Spanish pair of Marcel Granollers and Sanitago Ventura 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in Melbourne on Friday.

Bopanna and Nieminin needed an hour and 13 minutes to dump their opponents.

Bopanna is third Indian to reach the second round in the event, joining Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi

The Indo-Finnish pair will next face Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador and Tommy Robredo of Spain in the second round.

Hockey: Argentina beat India, level hockey series

2009-01-22T22:53:00.000-08:00

The Indian hockey team succumbed to its second straight defeat, going down 2-4 in the final match, to allow Argentina level the four-match Test series, in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, on Friday.

A shaky defence and a profligate forward line let down India, as Sandeep Singh and his men squandered a 2-1 lead and conceded three second half goals to share honours in the four-match series, which they led 2-0 at the midway stage.

Bharat Chikara opened India's account in the seventh minute with a field goal before captain Sandeep Singh sounded the board from a penalty-corner set-piece.

Argentina struck in the 31st, 37th, 39th and 58th minutes through Matias Vila, Juan Gilardi, Facundo Callioni and Matias Paredes respectively to emerge winners at the Estadio Panamericano.

The Indian team kicked-off its campaign on a positive note, blanking the hosts 2-0 in the series opener and following it up with a narrow 3-2 win.

Trailing 0-2, Argentina staged a brilliant comeback in the second half of the series and beat India 2-0 in the third Test to stay afloat and eventually draw level with Friday's win.

The Indian team now leaves for Mumbai [Images] en route to Chandigarh for the Four-Nation Punjab Gold Cup later this month.

Apart from the hosts, the tournament will also feature Germany [Images], Holland and New Zealand

Football: Grudge Match for Mohun Bagan

2009-01-22T22:51:00.000-08:00

Revenge will be the underlying theme when Mohun Bagan take on Mumbai FC in a clash that kicks off the second phase of the I-League football championship here on Friday.

Bagan were humbled 1-2 by Mumbai FC at home and the Calcutta giants would be keen to set the record straight when the two teams face-off in the second leg tie at the Cooperage.

Certainly the circumstances have changed from what they were four months ago.

When Bagan entered the season opener, they were battle-weary after playing in the gruelling local league and some of their key players, including Bhaichung Bhutia, were carrying injuries. But on Friday they will go into the match fresh and fit after a welcome break.

Similarly, the hosts were unknown opponents at the start of the season but after 11 rounds, all their I-League opponents would have dissected their style and strategy and identified the chinks in their armour.

Crucially, Bagan overcame a poor start to the prestigious tournament and finished the first phase with six wins on the trot. The green-and-maroon brigade are currently placed second in the league table with 21 points.

According to many, the visitors are the favourites going into Friday’s match.

Mumbai FC coach David Booth was smart enough to accept the underdog tag. That way, the Englishman said, his players wouldn’t be carrying the burden of having to prove themselves once again.

“There is no pressure on us. Bagan have everything to win. They have to win the League, win this and that. We don’t have to do that,” he said.

Karim Bencharifa, Booth’s counterpart, was certainly not underestimating the hosts.

“When a team have 12 points and are placed fourth (in the standings), there can be no question about not respecting them,” the Moroccan said after the team’s practice session at the Cooperage.

Instead, the visiting coach chose to focus on his own team. “The three-week break we had was not a choice but a must for us… We divided our training into three parts,” he said.

“The first week we focused on getting back our fitness. The second we increased our intensity by having two sessions a day, and the third week we slowed down by coming back to the normal one-session-a-day programme.

“What happened in the first leg is history now. The players are fresh and high on confidence. The ground conditions are good. I don’t see why we can’t do well.”

Bagan will miss Rakesh Masih, the central midfielder, who has a double booking.

Badminton: BPCL women clinch title

2009-01-22T22:50:00.000-08:00

Saina Nehwal brings out the best in her younger opponents. Stretching the world No. 10 was Gayatri Vartak in the women’s team championship final of the PSPB inter-unit badminton tournament at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana on Thursday. Playing without the pressure of expectations, the Indian Oil Corporation shuttler from Pune emerged strong at the net and retrieved efficiently to make the crowd favourite slog for points.

Saina won the singles tie 21-14, 22-20 but not in a manner she would have liked. Later, Jwala Gutta covered up for Shruti Kurien’s tentative play to beat a gritty show from B.R. Meenakshi and Aparna Balan in the women’s doubles, clinching the team title for BPCL.

Saina mistimed her forehand smashes and found the rallies getting longer than expected in the first game. Gayatri, a trainee at the Prakash Padukone Academy (Bangalore), kept the bird in play, hit steep half-smashes and appeared comfortable at the net.

She kept pace with Saina in the second game right through till 18-18, drawing applause from fans rooting for the underdog before the latter got cracking towards the close.

The results: Women’s team final: BPCL bt IOC 2-1 (Saina Nehwal bt Gayatri Vartak 21-14, 22-20; Jwala Gutta & Shruti Kurien bt Aparna Balan & B.R. Meenakshi 21-17, 21-19; Jwala lost to Trupti Murgunde 0-3 retd.).

Women’s round robin: BPCL bt ONGC 3-0 (Saina bt Ruth Misha 21-10, 21-14; Jwala bt Ashwini Ponappa 21-18, 13-21, 22-20; Jwala & Shruti bt Ashwini & Nitya Sosale 21-13, 21-17).

IOC bt ONGC 2-1 (Trupti bt Ruth 17-21, 21-7, 22-20; Gayatri lost to Ashwini 12-21, 21-23; Meenakshi & Aparna bt Ashwini & Nitya 20-22, 21-18, 21-15).

Men’s (third Place): BPCL bt OIL 3-0 (Aditya Prakash bt S.D.S. Krishna 21-14, 21-15; Arvind Bhat bt Anshuman Hazarika 22-20, 21-15; Anup Sridhar & Arvind Bhat bt Krishna & Anshuman 21-17, 21-17).

Football: Uncertainty over Chetri trial

2009-01-22T22:49:00.000-08:00

India striker Sunil Chetri, who has been linked with Coventry City football club, was still not sure about his trial with the English club.

Talking to The Telegraph on Thursday, the diminutive East Bengal striker when enquired about the deal, said: “Look I am still not sure whether I am going there or not.”

According to the 24-year old footballer, the deal was still unclear to him and he had no idea about its future.

He, however, said that talks were on and hoped that everything would clear out by Saturday morning.

“Definitely talks are on between us but things still are not clear to me,” he said.

“I feel I would be able to tell what I will be doing by Saturday morning,” Sunil elaborated.

East Bengal have already allowed Sunil a one week off to appear for the trial.

Formula 1: Ecclestone confirms India F1 plans

2009-01-22T22:47:00.000-08:00

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone said on Thursday that he is "fully committed" to holding a Grand Prix in India in 2011.

Asked in a BBC interview whether the event was still going ahead, after the announcement last year that it would be delayed from 2010 to 2011, he said: "Of course, otherwise we wouldn't have entered into an agreement with them."

The Indian side was "fully committed and we are too," he said, blaming the delay on the calendar of global sporting events and because "we have got one or two contracts we have to fulfill."

The BBC reported that the land had not yet been bought for the track on the outskirts of New Delhi, but it was expected to be resolved in April.

India's ambitious F1 plans were first unveiled in June 2007 when the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said it had received a letter from Ecclestone allowing the country to host a race.

The deal was subject to meeting certain conditions, like building a track. Millions of Indians watch F1 on television, often with the same passion they reserve for the country's most popular sport, cricket.

"It's a large, large country with a big population and it's good for the sponsors, good for the car manufacturers and its good for everyone involved in Formula One to be in their country," Ecclestone said.

He added: "I doubt in India anything will be a rival to cricket, but let's see."

New Delhi seeks Commonwealth Games lifeline

2009-01-22T22:45:00.000-08:00

New Delhi's local government has sought heavy federal funding to complete projects for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, raising fears the economic meltdown could bite into the event. The state government in the Indian capital, due to stage the games from October 3-14 next year, has said it had run out of extra funds to keep infrastructure work going.

"The government has no extra funds to spend next fiscal," Delhi state finance minister AK Walia told the Times of India on Thursday.

The local administration has sought around 50 billion rupees ($1.02 billion) from the federal government to finish various Games-related work taken up by public bodies, the paper said.

"Of the total money required, the state has sought Rs. 500 crore this year for the games and about Rs. 2,000 crore each for the next two fiscals," Walia said.

He blamed a sharp revenue dip caused mainly by a decline in duty collection, as a result of a real estate value slump caused by the economic meltdown.

The event's organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi said a fortnight ago that the Games would overshoot its budget due to higher construction costs.

However, he had expressed confidence the various stadiums would be completed well before the Games.

The event, seen as a big advertisement for India's rapid economic growth, has been dogged by slow progress of work as well as a court petition over the location of the athletes' village.

Government figures in December estimated expenditure for the games at around $1.6 billion.

It includes money needed for infrastructure and the sum spent on the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games.

Squash: Chinappa in qualifying final

2009-01-22T01:42:00.000-08:00

India's highest ranked squash player Joshna Chinappa made it to the final qualifying of the main draw in the US $25,9000 Harrow Greenwich Open.

She came from behind to get the better of a fighting Alexandra Norman of England [Images] in Connecticut on Tuesday night.

The fifth seeded Indian, ranked 37 in the WISPA, takes on third seed, Aisling Blake (32 ranked) of Ireland in the final qualifying, to be held on Wednesday night.

Chinappa, seeded fifth in the qualifying event, had to exert every sinew against 68th ranked Norman before winning at 8-11, 13-11, 11-9, 19-21, 11-6 in 64 minutes.

The main draw of 16 for the tournament has a strong field, headed by world number 2 Natalie Grinham of Netherlands, the top seed, and second seeded Omeneya Abdel Kawy (7th).

Blake had defeated Larissa Stehenson of New Zealand [Images] 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 11-2, while top seed in qualifying Latasha Khan (USA) beat Tara Mullins of Canada [Images] 11-2, 11-7, 11-6.

Hockey: India lose 0-2 to Argentina

2009-01-22T01:39:00.000-08:00

Indian forwards squandered innumerable scoring chances to see the visitors go down 0-2 to Argentina in the third hockey Test at the Estadio Panamericano in Mar del Plata (Argentina) on Thursday.

However, by virtue of two back-to-back wins in the opening two Tests, the visitors lead the four-match series 2-1 with the fourth and final match to be played on Friday.

Matias Paredes (6th minute) and Lucas Vila (32nd minute) were the goal scorers for Argentina.

Irrespective of the result, it was Sandeep Singh's men who initiated the attack right from the word go only to see the Indian forwards missing as many as three chances in the first five minutes.

India could have broken the ice as early as in the second minute of the match but luck did not favour them. Shivendra Singh's shot from linkman Rajpal Singh's set up kissed the post and went wide.

Striker Deepak Thakur and Tushar Khandker immediately followed it up when they wasted golden opportunities to take the lead with only Argentine goalkeeper Juan Manuel Vivaldi to beat.

After the early hiccups, the Argentines regrouped themselves and started concerted raids on the Indian citadel with crafty manoeuvres from winger Ignacio Bergner and striker Tomas Argento.

In the sixth minute, Argentine forward Parades pounced on India skipper Sandeep's defensive lapse to shot the ball home with a reverse and give the hosts 1-0.

India as he was unable to control a long slap ball from Sandeep.

The Argentines slowly and steadily started to take control of the game with good co-ordination and ball control from their midfielders, backed up by some solid defending from Lopez and Gilardi.

Argentina doubled their lead in the 32nd minute through Vila who made no mistake in beating Indian goalkeeper Baljit Singh with a low flick on the right after the visitors conceded a penalty corner following a carried foul in the striking circle.

Minutes before half-time, India had a golden opportunity to reduce the lead from their first short corner of the match but Sandeep's dragflick was way over the bar.

After the changeover, India came out all guns blazing and mounted a few spirited attacks on the Argentine goal but on most occasions custodian Vivaldi came to the hosts' rescue.

An agile and athletic Vivaldi stood between India and goal in the second half as he foiled as many as four raids on his citadel.

Vivaldi first thwarted inside forward Bharat Chikara's from the left flank and then followed it up with an acrobatic save to keep away Prabhjot Singh from finding the net with a powerful shot from 45 degree angle.

In the later stages of the match, the Argentine goalkeeper also foiled Thakur and SV Sunil's attempts to give his side the first victory of the series.

Squash: Indian teams enter the semifinals

2009-01-22T01:35:00.000-08:00

The Indian boys’ team set up a semifinal date with Korea at the Asian junior squash championship, after it rallied to beat Hong Kong 2-1 in a group encounter here on Wednesday. The Indian girls’ team too entered the semifinals despite losing to Hong Kong.

For the boys, Karan Malik played out of his skin against Ngo Long Fung to equalise the tie, after Aditya Jagtap had gone down in straight games to boys’ top seed Leo Au in the opening match.

With the first four games shared between the two players, Malik practised restraint in the fifth to clinch it 11-7.

At 1-1, neither team looked forward to facing off against a strong Malaysian side in the semifinals, and a win to finish first in pool ’B’ became of overriding importance to both camps.

In came Ravi Dixit for the crucial third match and brushed aside Nelson Chan without dropping a game. Ravi’s win sent cheers through the Indian contingent, which was soon hushed as the Girls’ team met with an ugly turn of fate.

Dipika injured

Leading by two games to nil and all set for a win against Hong Kong’s Tsz Ling Liu, Dipika Pallikal hobbled out of her match in the third game due to a strained right hamstring.

The injury appeared obvious in the latter stages of the second game, as Dipika started to limp and only barely managed to close the game in her favour.

She started the third game going exclusively for winners, but the niggle ensured that the Hong Kong girl outran her and capitalised on the injury. Unable to play, Dipika withdrew after the third game to give Hong Kong a 1-0 lead in the tie.

Anaka rallies to win

Anaka Alkamony fought gallantly to churn out a win in five long games against Lee Ka Man, but Anwesha Reddy flattered to deceive in the decisive encounter. Playing against Tsz Wing, Anwesha went down in four games to hand Hong Kong the tie.

India, however, made the semifinals of the girls competition, where it will take on favourite Malaysia on Thursday. Korea with face Hong Kong in the other semifinal.

Later, the Indian team manager Cyrus Poncha said Dipika’s participation in Thursday’s semifnal was “doubtful”.

“She has consulted her doctor...though we are still waiting for the final word, her participation is doubtful," said Poncha.

"We still do not know the exact injury, but a muscle or hamstring tear is being suspected," added Cyrus.

The results:

Boys: India bt Hong Kong 2-1 (Aditya Jagtap lost to Leo Au 6-11, 8-11, 11-13; Karan Malik bt Ngo Long Fung 11-9, 5-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-7; Ravi Dixit bt Nelson Chan 11-7, 11-9, 11-8).

India bt Japan 3-0 (Aditya Jagtap bt Hayate Gunji 11-4, 11-8, 11-4; Karan Malik bt Ryosei Kobayashi 11-2, 11-5, 11-4; Paramit Singh bt Tomataka Endo 11-2, 11-9, 11-6).

Malaysia bt Korea 3-0 (Ivan Yuen bt Seung-Woo Jin 11-9, 11-8, 11-7; Muhd. Zulazri bt Seung-Cheul Han 11-13, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7; Ng Jo Wen bt Won-Suk Choi 5-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-4).

Girls: Hong Kong bt India 2-1 (Dipika Pallikal lost to Tsz Ling Liu 14-12, 11-8, 7-11 (retired); Anaka Alankamony bt Ka Man Lee 7-11, 12-10, 15-13, 10-12, 11-8; V. Anwesha Reddy lost to Tsz Wing Tong 6-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-13).

Korea bt China 3-0 (Sun-Mi Song bt Li Dongjin 11-2, 11-3, 11-1; Yeon-Soo Yang bt Lu Yao 11-0, 11-1, 11-3; Ji-Hyun Lee bt Gu Jinyue 11-3, 11-7, 11-4).

Malaysia bt Singapore 3-0 (Low Wee Nee bt Pamela Chua 11-9, 11-7, 11-4; Rachel Goh bt Sheril Yn Yang 11-4, 11-4, 11-5; Tan Yan Xin bt Mao SHi Hui 11-8, 9-11, 11-7).

Football: AIFF To Set-Up A Security Committee

2009-01-22T01:32:00.000-08:00

The All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) new executive committee met yesterday at the AIFF House, Delhi and decided to come up with a security committee especially after the Federation Cup fracas.

Scenes of fans throwing plastic and glass bottles on the pitch wasn’t unusual and the finals saw Mohun Bagan fans erupt to create a ruckus which even led to the trophy being cracked.

Before the Federation Cup final between Bagan and Dempo even kicked-off, one fan lost his life as he fell from one of the stands.

“Now, there will be a committee to review the security arrangements prior to a tournament,” informed Western India Football Association (WIFA assistant secretary Wali Mohamed.

Meanwhile, Nehru Cup is likely to be hosted by Delhi once again in August and there were also discussions on which side India would play against in April.

“Bahrain was one of the teams which was discussed but no decision has been taken yet,” said Wali.

The Durand Cup and IFA Shield shall take place in September and December respectively.

The list of 16 teams participating in the Second Division I-League has come out and there was some heated discussion on the same. AIFF vice-president A.R.Khaleel was miffed that no team was included from his home state Karnataka, especially with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) being left out.

“The committee said that they had decided the 16 teams and it wasn’t possible to include HAL,” added Wali.

Major Decisions in a gist:

63rd National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy : Tamil Nadu will host the 63rd edition of National Football championship for Santosh Trophy in the first week of May.

Sub Committees: AIFF’s sub committees will be formed next month. All state associations have been asked to nominate two members each for appointment for these sub committees.

IFA Shield and Durand Cup will be held in the month of September and December respectively.

GOAL Projects : Progress of FIFA GOAL projects in Sikkim ,Karnataka and Tsunami Project in Andaman & Nicobar were reviewed.

Allotment of All National /Age group tournaments: AIFF secretariat has been asked to prepare a blue print for the allotment of the tournaments. A blue print will be prepared and sent to all Member associations. The final venue allotment will be approved by the committee.

Second Division National Football League: Will kick off in the last week of February.

Groups & Venues:

Group A : ONGC , OIL India ,Camelia George Telegraph & Bengal Mumbai FC & Lajong FC

Group B : Amity United SC , Pune FC ,New Delhi Heroes ,Simla Youngs & SESA Football Academy

Group C : Salgaocar SC ,Viva SC , Happy Entertainment ,Malabar United FC ,Chandni FC & Travancore Titanium.

Tennis: Australian Open: Curtains on Sania's doubles campaign at Aus Open

2009-01-22T01:31:00.000-08:00

The Indo-US pair of Sania Mirza and Vania King made first round exit at the Australian Open after the pair of Russia's Vera Dushevina and Ukraine's Olga Savchuk crushed them 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 on Thursday.

Sania and King had a great start winning the first set but could not maintain the tempo and let their opponents get the better of them in the next two sets bowing out meekly.

Earlier, Sania Mirza crashed out of the Australian Open singles event on Wednesday after being hammered in straight sets by Russian 10th seed Nadia Petrova in the second round.

World number 11 Petrova took just 70 minutes to beat the 22-year-old Sania 6-3 6-2, bringing down the curtains on India's singles challenge in the process.

Tennis: Bhupathi-Knowles enter round 2 of Australian Open

2009-01-22T01:29:00.000-08:00

India's Mahesh Bhupathi and his doubles partner Mark Knowles have reached the second round of the men's doubles at the Australian Open. The duo beat Russia's Mikhail Youzhny and German Misha Zverev 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday.

The third seeded pair got a stranglehold on the proceedings early on in the game after breaking their opponent's serve twice to gain a 4-1 lead in the opening set.

However, Youzhny and Zverev bounced back as they first broke the serve in the fifth game and then went on to held their own to take the scoreline 4-3.

But it was too late by then as the Indo-Bahamas pair powered the next two games to seal the first set 6-3 in their favour.

Bhupati and Knowles will now meet Igor Kunitsyn and Dmitry Tursunov in the second round.

Golf: Joseph Chakola, Indian golf's latest hot talent

2009-01-20T22:14:00.000-08:00

Qualify for the US golf tour is very tough but even in India, making it to the pro tour can be quite a challenge.

Used to seeing his name above most others on the leaderboard as an amateur, Joseph Chakola had to spend much of last season seeing life from the deeper end after he turned pro.

Without a win since his Asian Games silver medal in 2006, Chakola was desperate for a berth on the Indian tour in the 2009 season and it showed, as he finished on top in the PGTI Qualifiers for the season ahead.

"It's huge for me personally because I haven't won a tournament since I was an amateur. It wasn't too good a season last year on the pro tour. Hopefully this is the beginning of good things to come," says Chakola.

Anirban Lahiri won the PGTI Q-School in 2008 and went on to give a big scare to the like of Jeev milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa by the end of the year. Experts believe that Joseph Chakola is similarly going to be the talent to watch out for in Indian golf in 2009.

PGTI's reputation as well as prize money is growing every year and its qualifiers have now become lucrative even for American, European and Australian players. Clearly, the Indian players couldn't have asked for more.

"I guess it is run professionally and looking at how it's grown since 2006 as I can see from Australia. I could potentially make a good living in India and plus the country appeals top me," says an Australian player Anthony Paul Choat.

"It helps them figure out the level of golf which they have to play and they get to understand who they are competing against at the national and international level," PGTI Director PGTI Director Padamjit Sandhu says.

And now, with the PGTI initiating financial support for the Emerging Player of every year, expect the competition to get even tougher from here on.

Coventry call for Chhetri

2009-01-20T22:12:00.000-08:00

Sunil Chhetri could be the second Indian after Bhaichung Bhutia and the first in seven years to play in England. The India striker is going to Coventry City later in the week apparently for a look and feel of the club.

Chhetri hasn't officially sought leave from East Bengal who resume in the I-League on Saturday against Chirag United and hence neither the player nor the club had any official reaction. Ditto coach Subhas Bhowmick. But sources at the club said Chhetri, on contract with East Bengal till the end of season with a clause that he can go abroad if the opportunity arises, is due to leave after Saturday's game.

East Bengal next play Mumbai FC away on January 31 and the coach is reportedly okay with missing his striker that game.

A teammate who didn't want to be named said Chhetri isn't going on trials but to "see the club and maybe even see a game." The player said Chhetri has an agent of Indian origin in England and that City have already seen video footage of the striker who had a good game against Bayern Munich II at home on Monday.

Known as the Bantams, City now play in the Championship, the second tier of English football and are 13th in the 24-team competition with nine wins. They are coached by Chris Coleman, a former Wales international and Fulham player who also coached Fulham from 2003-07 before joining Real Sociedad.

Hockey: India beat Argentina 3-2, take 2-0 lead

2009-01-20T22:10:00.001-08:00

India registered their second successive win, defeating Argentina 3-2 in the keenly-contested second hockey Test at the Estadio Panamericano in Mar del Plata (Argentina) on Tuesday to take a 2-0 lead in the four-match series.

India, who made a comeback to international hockey after almost a year, beat Argentine 2-1 in the first Test on Monday.

Centre-forward Shivendra Singh (12th min), Prabhjot Singh (40th min) and captain Sandeep Singh (59th min) scored the goals for the visitors while Mario Almada (13th) and Pedro Ibarra (46th) found the net for Argentina.

Eight-time Olympic [Images] champions, India, started from where they left on Monday and launched a flurry of attacks on the Argentine goal from the word go.

Indian forward line of Prabhjot, last match's goal scorer Deepak Thakur and Shivendra continuously unnerved the experienced Argentine defence with frequent raids while Tushar Khandker was exemplary on the left flank.

As early as in the fourth minute, India had a chance of taking the lead but Argentina goalkeeper Juan Manuel Vivaldi saved Shivendra's deflection from a Prabhjot set up.

For the second consecutive day, the Indian mid-fielders and linkmen Vikram Pillay, Rajpal Singh and VS Vinaya were outstanding at their work, setting up the forwards with accurately measured passes.

The constant pressure on the Argentina goal finally bore fruit in the 12th minute when Shivendra deflected home from a Sandeep set piece to give India a 1-0 lead after Argentine medio Tomas Argento obstructed Thakur just outside the box.

However, the lead was shortlived as the hosts equalised in the very next minute through wily Almada who was lurking dangerously around the Indian striking circle and was quick to wrong foot the Indian defence.

Minutes later, Thakur nearly put India ahead from a beautifully worked out sortie. Rajpal Singh orchestrated the move to set up Khandker, who in tandem with Prabhjot, dribbled past Argentine full backs Lopez and Ibarra to find Thakur, but custodian Vivaldi once again came to Argentina's rescue foiling the striker's attempt.

The hosts too were nippy in their attacks and forced two penalty corners in quick succession but squandered both.

In the 30th minute, India got a golden opportunity to surge ahead but Shivendra fumbled with only Argentine goalkeeper Vivaldi to beat.

Minutes before the half time, Khandker ensured that both the teams were locked at 1-1 at the half time with a goal line save after Argentina was awarded a shot corner following Sandeep's deliberate stick check.

India came out all guns blazing in the second half to regain the lead in the 40th minute off a counter attack set by Shivendra. Exhibiting classy baseline control and skills, Prabhjot and Khandker initiated the move and zeroed in before the former found the target to give the visitors 2-1.

Six minutes later the Indian's paid the price for their over aggression when Matias Rey stole the ball from Rajpal and sent a long overhead to unmarked Lucas Vila who took full advantage of Indian defender's casual attitude to set it up for Ibarra who made no mistake in levelling the scores.

In a bid to wrest the initiative, the contest turned fast and furious but skipper Sandeep eventually came up with the winner off a penalty corner in 59th minute when his powerful drag-flick convincingly beat Argentina custodian Vivaldi.

Although, Argentina tried hard to equalise, Indian defence stood their guard to thwart any last minute hiccup.

The third Test between the two sides will be played on Wednesday.

Badminton: Saina to play at Pune

2009-01-20T22:08:00.000-08:00

World No 10 Saina Nehwal will be the star attraction in the 29th Petroleum Sports Promotion Board's Inter-Unit Badminton Tournament beginning at PYC Hindu Gymkhana, Pune, from Wednesday.

In all about 110 players and officials will be participating in the five-day tournament, a release by organisers Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, said.

Besides, Saina who will represent the hosts and Chetan Anand (ONGC), there will also be participation from the likes of Anup Sridhar (BPCL), Aravind Bhat (BPCL), Nikhil Kanetkar (IOC), Rupesh Kumar (IOC), JBS Vidyadhar (IOC), Aditi Mutatkar (BPCL), Trupti Murgunde (IOC), BR Meenakshi (IOC), Jwala Gutta (BPCL) and Shruti Kurien (BPCL).

The meet will also have junior internationals like Sikki Reddy (IOC), Aditya Prakash (BPCL) and Guru Said Dutt (IOC).

The team championships for men, women and veterans will be held on the first two days and individual and doubles event for men, women and veterans will be held on the remaining three days.

All matches will be played on league-cum-knock out basis.

Badminton: Saina Nehwal to play in Pune Open

2009-01-20T22:06:00.000-08:00

Football: I League: Mumbai FC thrash Mohammedan Sporting 3-0

2009-01-20T22:04:00.000-08:00

Mumbai FC outclassed Mohammedan Sporting of Kolkata 3-0, after taking a two-goal lead at half time, in their first phase I-League football match that was postponed in the wake of November terror attacks in the city.

The promoted local outfit carried too many guns for the comfort of the struggling Kolkata side and scored through Riston Rodrigues (35th minute), Kalia Kulothungan (44th) and lanky substitute striker Abhishek Yadav (58th) in a one-sided encounter at the Cooperage Ground.

The victory boosted Mumbai FC's points tally to 19 from 11 matches, while the Mohammedans remained at the bottom of the ladder with nine points.

Mumbai FC never allowed their rivals to take a good look at their own goal for the major part of the proceedings with some resolute defending in which wing back Anas Edathodika stole the honours. The local team's Ghanaian duo -- Abel Hammond and Felix Aboagye -- also spelt constant danger to their rivals' citadel, with good support from Kulothungan and captain Sanjay Parte.

Mumbai FC caught the rival defence napping following a move on the left side after which the ball came to Riston Rodrigues who essayed a long-range shot that totally flummoxed Sporting's custodian Tungshang Achan who dived late to his left and allowed the ball to bulge the right corner of the net.

Just before half time, it was the turn of Kulothungan to slot in home from close off a short cross from Hammond on his left. The Ghanaian striker took control of a long free-kick and relayed to the unmarked Kulothungan to volley in.

Former international Yadav, who came in as substitute for K Aseem midway through the opening half, completed the tally following a fine, combined move with Hammond. Yadav surged down the middle and then relayed to the African striker on his left who hoodwinked a defender and relayed the ball back to the former to tap it in, 16 minutes before the end.

Fifteen minutes earlier Yadav's dangerous header off a corner kick was blocked well by Mohammedan custodian Achan. The Kolkata outfit, wearing their traditional black-and-white jersey, initiated some moves late in the match but just did not have enough firepower up front.

The only black spot in the Mumbai FC's display was the yellow card received by Edathodika towards the closing stages of the tie. Today's fine show should be a big boost for the local outfit who are taking on Kolkata giants and Federation Cup winners Mohun Bagan in their next tie on January 23.

Mohammedans clash with another Mumbai side Air India at the same venue on Sunday.

Mumbai FC outclassed Mohammedan Sporting of Kolkata 3-0, after taking a two-goal lead at half time, in their first phase I-League football match that was postponed in the wake of November terror attacks in the city.

The promoted local outfit carried too many guns for the comfort of the struggling Kolkata side and scored through Riston Rodrigues (35th minute), Kalia Kulothungan (44th) and lanky substitute striker Abhishek Yadav (58th) in a one-sided encounter at the Cooperage Ground.

The victory boosted Mumbai FC's points tally to 19 from 11 matches, while the Mohammedans remained at the bottom of the ladder with nine points.

Mumbai FC never allowed their rivals to take a good look at their own goal for the major part of the proceedings with some resolute defending in which wing back Anas Edathodika stole the honours. The local team's Ghanaian duo -- Abel Hammond and Felix Aboagye -- also spelt constant danger to their rivals' citadel, with good support from Kulothungan and captain Sanjay Parte.

Mumbai FC caught the rival defence napping following a move on the left side after which the ball came to Riston Rodrigues who essayed a long-range shot that totally flummoxed Sporting's custodian Tungshang Achan who dived late to his left and allowed the ball to bulge the right corner of the net.

Just before half time, it was the turn of Kulothungan to slot in home from close off a short cross from Hammond on his left. The Ghanaian striker took control of a long free-kick and relayed to the unmarked Kulothungan to volley in.

Former international Yadav, who came in as substitute for K Aseem midway through the opening half, completed the tally following a fine, combined move with Hammond. Yadav surged down the middle and then relayed to the African striker on his left who hoodwinked a defender and relayed the ball back to the former to tap it in, 16 minutes before the end.

Fifteen minutes earlier Yadav's dangerous header off a corner kick was blocked well by Mohammedan custodian Achan. The Kolkata outfit, wearing their traditional black-and-white jersey, initiated some moves late in the match but just did not have enough firepower up front.

The only black spot in the Mumbai FC's display was the yellow card received by Edathodika towards the closing stages of the tie. Today's fine show should be a big boost for the local outfit who are taking on Kolkata giants and Federation Cup winners Mohun Bagan in their next tie on January 23.

Mohammedans clash with another Mumbai side Air India at the same venue on Sunday.

Tennis: Sania loses in the second round. Dint we tell you that ?

2009-01-20T21:53:00.000-08:00

Sania stood true to her nick name "second round Sania". She lost her 2nd round match yet again. This time to Nadia Petrova. Othersports had questioned her ability to get beyond the 2nd round when she had breezed through the first round. And she proved us right yet again.

She lost the match in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. This again brings into question her ability to win tournaments. While she might have showed a lot of promise, her consistency is something to be looked at. She hasnt won a tournament in a long time, but yet manages to stay and hog the news for all reasons other than tennis.

Sania should take a break from her tennis and work on her skills as well as her mental game. She is woefully short on the mental game and skills too. It is time that she looks inward and start working on performing consistently.

Fortune favours Surya Shekhar Ganguly

2009-01-19T22:26:00.000-08:00

After a tense and long wait, a marginally favourable tie-break score tilted the scales in favour of National champion Surya Shekhar Ganguly and made him the champion of the seventh Parsvnath International Open chess tournament here on Monday.

After a long spell of suspense, Ganguly and Russia’s Mikhail Ulibin tied for the title with 8.5 points each. It then came down to their tie-break scores which was the aggregate of points scored by the opponents of each player.

Ganguly, who waited anxiously and kept an eye on the calculations made by the Chief Arbiter R. Anantharam, finally sported a triumphant smile when his title was confirmed. For the record, Ganguly’s tie-break score was 69 points to Ulibin’s 68.5.

Earlier, overnight leader Ganguly accepted P. Karthikeyan’s draw-offer after checking out the positions on the second and third boards. The 15-move helped Karthikeyan earn his second Grandmaster Norm and left Ganguly assured of a shared first spot. Ulibin managed to squeeze out a victory over Thejkumar to catch up with Ganguly in the title-race.

Playing it safe

As Ganguly explained, "I agreed to draw after I was sure that Neelotpal (Das) could not lose against (Petr) Kostenko. On the second board, the game between Thejkumar and Ulibin was also equal. Since I could not get any advantage out the opening against Karthikeyan, I decide to take the gamble and drew.

“Thereafter, I realised, some of opponents (in the previous rounds) like Arghyadip Das and Anup Deshmukh (down a queen) were not well placed. Sriram Jha also was battling against D. P. Singh. So I was very tense. But luckily for me, Arghyadip, Deshmukh, Jha and Deep Sengupta won helped my cause," said a delighted Ganguly after winning his first title in the Capital.

Ganguly, seeded three, received the trophy but shared the prize-money with Ulibin, seeded 11. Both players received Rs. 2,19,500 each. Kostenko, who won the first seven rounds, settled for the third spot after drawing with Neelotpal.

TN youngsters impress

It was heartening to see two Tamil Nadu youngsters and GM-norm makers, Karthikeyan and S. P. Sethuraman, along with GM Neelotpal and Southern Railway’s double GM norm-holder R.R. Laxman play way above their seedings to finish with eight points each to be in the elite top 8 bracket.

Prathamesh Mokal became the third player to make a GM-norm in the tournament when he defeated GM Dibyendu Barua in the final round. Pratik Roy became the third player to achieve an IM norm.

The results (Indians unless stated):

10th and final round: Surya Shekhar Ganguly (8.5) drew with P. Karthikeyan (8); Mikhail Ulibin (Rus, 8.5) bt M. S. Thejkumar (7.5); Neelotpal Das (8) drew with Petr Kostenko (Kaz, 8); Survajit Saha (7) lost to Yuriy Kuzubov (Ukr, 8); Evgeny Gleizerov (Rus, 7.5) drew with Pravin Thipsay (7.5); Abhijit Kunte (7.5) drew with Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury (7.5); Saidali Iuldachev (Uzb, 7) lost to S.P. Sethuraman (8); R. R. Laxman (8) bt K. Ratnakaran (7); Parimarjan Negi (7.5) bt G. B. Prakash (7).

Alexander Areshchenko (Ukr, 7.5) bt Dinesh Kumar Sharma (6); Yuri Solodovnichenko (Ukr, 7.5) bt Boris Arkhangels (Rus, 6.5); Himanshu Sharma (6.5) lost to Anuar Ismagambetov (Kaz, 8); S. Nitin (7) drew with Shukhrat Safin (Uzb, 7); Prathamesh Mokal (7.5) bt Dibyendu Barua (6.5); Swapnil Dhopade (7) drew with M. R. Lalith Babu (7); Justin Sarkar (USA, 6.5) lost to Arindam Mukherjee (7.5); Praveen Kumar (7.5) bt Vidit Gujarati (6.5); D.P. Singh (6.5) lost to Sriram Jha (7.5); R. Premnath (7.5) bt Niaz Murshed (Ban, 6.5); Shashikant Kutwal (7) drew with Amanov Zhanibek (Kaz, 7); Vishnu Prasanna (6.5) lost to Nurlan Ibrayev (Kaz, 7.5); Vinay Bhat (USA, 7) drew with Joydeep Dutta (7).

Final standings (with prize money): 1-2. Ganguly and Ulibin (Rs, 2,19,500 each); 3-9. Kostenko, Karthikeyan, Sethuraman, Kuzubov, Neelotpal, Laxman and Ismagambetov (Rs, 45,570 each); 10-19. Kunte, Jha, Negi, Chowdhury, Thejkumar, Gleizerov, Solodovnichenko, Mukherjee, Areshchenko and Ibrayev (Rs. 9,800 each).

Caught in a cycle of mistaken identity

2009-01-19T22:22:00.000-08:00

In the six years that Khwaiarkpam Bomcha Singh has spent in Mumbai after he moved to the city from Assam, not a single week has gone by without someone mistaking him for Chinese, Thai, Japanese or Nepali. His Mongolian features, which he says were "God's will'', in a sea of sharp-nosed and round-eyed Indians, brand him an `outsider', never mind that he was born on the same soil and under the same flag as those who so ignorantly question his nationality.

Singh, president of the Manipuri (Meitei) Association in Navi Mumbai, like many other North Easterners living in the city, are hardly surprised at Manipuri athlete L Aruna Devi being `missed' by the organisers of the Mumbai Marathon because of her `foreigner-like features'.

Though Aruna was the first Indian woman athlete to hit the finishing line, volunteers did not take her into account, mistaking her for South-East Asian and swooping down instead on another athlete from Delhi, who was sent to collect the prize money and medal. It was only post the podium that the organisers were seized of their error and they promised to hand Aruna the cheque and medal in two weeks.

The Eastern Railway employee, posted in Kolkata, ran the Mumbai Marathon for the first time. She told reporters that though she knew she had won, she was so exhausted after finishing the race that she headed straight for the rest room. When she felt better, she asked around and was told that the medal ceremony was already over.

"This speaks very poorly about the organisers, were they so ignorant?'' asks Singh, an ONGC employee who adds that there are more than 200 Manipuris spread across Vashi, Kalamboli, Thane and Nerul, many of whom work for oil companies and the merchant navy. A public apology from the organisers will make hundreds of North Easterners feel better. "A small gesture like that will do a great healing job for all of us who have to justify our nationality at every juncture,'' he says.

Dipen Rajkuwar, general secretary of the Assam Association of Mumbai, feels that if Mumbaikars spent a little more time learning about the diversity of India, they will not subscribe to stereotypes so easily. "Everyone knows a lot about American and English cultures but there is so much to learn about our own country. People's ignorance about the North Eastern can really hurt and is often very insulting,'' he says.

Kuwar, who has been in Mumbai for 15 years, says that he is not stunned by the Aruna gaffe at all. "We take it lightly because we know that many people are ignorant but those coming from remote villages feel very offended. In fact, they are very bitter,'' he says. The feeling of being isolated is so strong that when people from North Eastern staying in Mumbai go back home, they are greeted with phrases like, `Oh, he's come from India'.

Western Railway clerk Rani Bala, whose house Aruna stayed at, and who also ran in the marathon, feels that little can be done to change the mindset of people. "It was unfortunate but what can one do?'' she says. But Dhanbabu Singha, a Manipuri from Assam, is less resigned. "This is a very serious offence, action should be taken against the volunteers because there is evidence in terms of videography. So how could they have overlooked her feat?'' asks Singha, who works with the CBI and has lived in Mumbai for over 10 years.

Football :Yilmaz nets 3

2009-01-19T22:19:00.000-08:00

The visiting under-23 Bayern Munich side blanked East Bengal 5-1 in a practice match at their club ground on Monday.

Yilmaz, who scored the only goal against East Bengal on Saturday, netted in three goals while Muller and Stiier rounded off the tally for Bayern. Sunil Chetri scored the face-saving goal for the local club. The return of the national players made little difference to East Bengal’s performance as they looked helpless against their physically-superior opposition.

The visitors were leading 4-0 at the lemon break. The match was played for the full duration of 90 minutes.

Yilmaz started the scoring in the fourth minute with a grounder from the right of the top box. East Bengal goalkeeper Subrata Paul made a desperate effort to deny the German striker in the 26th minute, again from the right, but failed to stop it from going in.

The next minute Mueller scored a similar goal from the top box with a grounder.

Yilmaz completed his third, the fourth for his side, from a solo effort in the 41st minute. The forward beat a couple of East Bengal defenders with sheer pace, after receiving the ball near the centre line. He finished with a cool head past an advancing Paul.

East Bengal’s left-back Saumik Dey looked shaky and most of Bayern’s goals came from his side. The visitors replaced Yilmaz at the start of the second half, much to East Bengal’s relief.

The red-and-gold brigade’s goal came through a brilliant move between Sanju Pradhan and Sunil Chetri. Sanju speeded down the right flank and sent an immaculate cross for striker Sunil who didn’t make a mistake with his header. However, Sunil failed to convert a similar cross from Alvito D’ Cunha and headed straight into the Bayern goalkeeper’s hands.

Bayern increased their margin when Stieer’s overhead volley went in, after a terrible defensive lapse from Mehrajuddin Wadoo.

Coach Subhas Bhowmick didn’t sound too upset with the team’s performance.

“I’m happy. I’m looking at it positively. I wanted to see how my players combine,” Subhas said after the match.

East Bengal will start a residential camp at a Salt Lake hotel from Tuesday to strengthen the unity among the players.

Squash: Joshna loses in Liberty Bell Open final

2009-01-19T22:18:00.001-08:00

India's ace squash player Joshna Chinappa lost to top-seed Vanessa Atkinson of the Netherlands in the final of the US $11,100 Liberty Bell Open Championship in Philadelphia, US, on Monday.

Fourth-seed Chinappa (world rank 37), who scalped second-seed Jaclyn Hawkes of New Zealand in the semi-finals, was outplayed by Atkinson (ranked 11) 7-11, 7-11, 5-11.

"It was a good experience for me. I lost to a better player," Chinappa said after the match.

This was the first career meeting between Atkinson and Chinappa, who is incidentally playing her first championship in the circuit after a gap of nearly two months.

In her last competitive event, Chinappa had won the NSC Super Satellite (Grade-4) in Malaysia defeating Low Wee Wern 11-8, 11-7, 11-6.

'Already, am looking forward to the next Mumbai marathon'

2009-01-19T22:15:00.000-08:00

Since this was the first time I would be participating in the Mumbai Marathon, I wanted to enter in the Dream Run (6 km) But as I could run 5 km non-stop on the treadmill by August (the time of registration), my trainer urged me to register for the Half Marathon I thought he was kidding, but he said there was still time for the event and I could still train for the same

As a teenager, I was a sprinter and loved the 100 and 200 metres, but never imagined attempting a long distance run I guess it is more of mental training, endurance, and focus that one has to have to run long distance

Marathon day

The buzz at the starting point was amazing I did not realise how I completed the first three kms I took breaks but none was more than two minutes, as the crowd constantly kept egging the runners on While going down Peddar Road I realised that the way back would be a long ascend, which would hamper my timing So I stepped up the pace while going down and continuously ran for about 15 minutes till I reached Worli

This was what kept me going while coming back After the U-turn from Worli, I slowed down and started walking at bit Suddenly an elderly man crossed me and said, 'Come on, don't stop' I looked at him and said thanks He said that I had overtaken him four times, something I did not notice I told him to go ahead and I would overtake him a fifth time

I did overtake him a seventh time, while going up Peddar Road I did not think I would be able to run up the slope there, but I did When I reached Babulnath I took out a chocolate and thought that if this dude could reach me now, I would give him half of it But I had left him way behind by then and I guess he couldn't catch up with me again.

After the 15 km mark, it was really tough The weather was also sultry and I could see everyone around struggling by then And I was waiting to spot someone with a spray, but I did not want to stop as it would affect my timing

Once I went past the 19 km mark, I was sure I could complete the half marathon The last 500 meters surged more power in me I decided to sprint the last 100 meters, but stepped up the pace 200 metres from the finish When I finished I could barely speak There were a lot of people lying down in pain, and was glad I wasn't one of them

Training

I could run 5 km without stopping on the treadmill by August I continued this till October, when I was supposed to start training for the marathon From October, I started running on Juhu [Images] Beach on Saturdays This was initially for only an hour, and gradually it increased to two-and-a-half hours The rest of the days it was regular gym training, including two days of cardio and weight training

I was running about 9-10 kms every week towards the end The best part was that I was running on the beach and hence knew that there were slim chances of knee injuries Also, I was confident that my performance would improve on the road

Diet

It was a regular diet daily, but I ate loads of carb for 2-3 days before marathon day This was to make sure I would have enough of stamina for the whole course I had lots of water to keep myself hydrated before each running session.

Motivation

I was initially told that I would lose weight if I trained for the marathon, but soon realized that I was not losing much, though my body was toning beautifully Nevertheless, I took it as a challenge and today am proud to have completed the 21 kms run in 2 hours 49 minutes. My trainer, Rajesh Powar, clocked 1 hour 50 minutes.

Already, am looking forward to the next Mumbai marathon.

Boxer Akhil Kumar quits Railways

2009-01-19T22:12:00.000-08:00

Disheartened with the delay in his promotion, World Cup bronze medallist boxer Akhil Kumar has decided to resign from the Railways despite the officials claiming that his elevation has already been approved by the board.

"It's been a long frustrating wait which I can no longer carry on. I have been handed the letter of appointment by Haryana Police. Railways keep saying that they would promote me but have done nothing concrete. Therefore, I will resign on Tuesday," Akhil, who will take over as DSP in Haryana Police, said.

Railways Sports Promotion Board secretary Rakesh Yadav said RSPB was unaware of Akhil's decision.

"It's news to me. I have been in touch with him and he didn't say anything of this sort. But why would he resign? The board has already approved his promotion and may be it's just a delay in sending him the letter," he claimed.

To this, Akhil retorted, "If that's the case then let it be. I am not going back on my decision. I would say there are certain bad elements in Railways who are just not interested in working."

The bantam weight pugilist will resign after being employed with RSPB for nine years. Akhil joins Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh and another World Cup bronze medal winner Jitender Singh in the list of those resigning from RSPB, the reigning national champions.

"I thank the Railways for supporting me and taking care of me for nine long years but despite being the best sports promotion body in the country, they delay important matters like promotion endlessly," he added.

The 27-year-old started out as a group D employee before being promoted to group C after qualifying for the Athens Olympics. He got promoted to Grade II after his Melbourne Commonwealth Games gold medal and the subsequent Arjuna Award in 2006.

He has not been promoted since then despite winning a gold medal and the 'Best Boxer' trophy at the Asian Olympic qualifiers in Thailand, making the quarter-finals of the Beijing Olympics besides the bronze in the World Cup in Moscow last year.

"Being in Grade II is equivalent to being a senior clerk. There are athletes who have not given international performance like mine but they were promoted ahead of me. My case has been 'under consideration' for so long that I have run out of patience. Although, I must admit that I wanted to be with them," he said.

Railways coach Jaidev Bisht said he was disappointed with Akhil's decision. "It does affect the team... Vijender, Akhil and Jitu were important for the team but we have to move on and work on new talent, there is no other option," he said.

I League- Football: Mahindra defeat holders Dempo 3-1

2009-01-19T22:10:00.000-08:00

Mahindra, who had managed only nine points from 10 games, scored once in the first half through Mohammed Rafi in the 39th minute.

The hosts struck twice in the second session in the space of six minutes after the Goan outfit had equalised through Roberto Mendes in the 49th minute.

The last two goals for Mahindra, who have not lost to their Goan rivals since 2005, were scored by African imports, striker Edeh Chidi of Nigeria and Ivory Coast midfielder Pierre Douhou in the 78th and 84th minutes, respectively.

The victory, only their third in the League so far, took the local football club's tally to 12 while Dempo suffered their fourth loss in 10 matches to remain on 14 points.

Rafi, after missing two gilt-edged chances twice in the space of five minutes, made amends six minutes from the end of the first half when he calmly slotted in from close range following a lob from Chidi.

Chidi took control of the ball after it rebounded off Dempo goalkeeper VP Satish Kumar hands after he failed to collect a 35-yard pile-driver from Mahindra midfielder Sukhwinder Singh. He lobbed it for Rafi to open the scoring.

After Pierre shot over the bar from close range, Dempo drew level when a power packed shot from Nigerian striker Ranty Martins hit the underside of the bar and bounced back into play for Roberto to shoot in.

Body Building: HIV-positive Pradip scripts success story

2009-01-19T22:07:00.000-08:00

Khundrakpam Pradipkumar has once again scripted a positive story. The 40-year-old HIV-positive muscleman from Manipur bagged a bronze in the 9th All-India inter-state body-building championship in the 55-kg category in Trichur on Sunday night.

"I would have been much happier had I won the gold. But I am not heartbroken. I will work harder to win the Mr India championship to be held in April in West Bengal," Pradip told TOI from Trichur.

"I have proved that one can achieve everything through hard work and determination. My award is dedicated to all those HIV positive people who have always been stigmatized," said the diminutive body-builder from Khamnam Leirak.

"I owe a lot to my friend Momtomba Singh, the Mr Manipur 2008. He had always guided me. Besides, my family has been a guiding force and has arranged funds for my diet," he added.

"My son called me up after winning the bronze. I am very proud of him. We encourage him in whatever he wants to do in life," said a cheerful Mema Devi, mother of Pradip Kumar.

Pradip tested positive eight years ago and disclosed his status after winning the senior Mr Manipur title in the 60-kg category in Imphal in December 2007.

The following year, he finished sixth in the national competition in Meerut. A film based on his life, Mr Manipur, produced and directed by Aribam Syam Sharma, was screened at the annual MIAAC Film Festival in November 2008 in New York.

The Manipur Aids Control Society has selected Pradip as its brand ambassador to fight the scourge of HIV/AIDS in the state, which has over 30,000 HIV positive people, including 8,000 women. Incidentally, Manipur is one of the six states in the country which has a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS.

Tennis: Australian Open: Willl Sania break the 2nd round Jinx ?

2009-01-19T02:06:00.000-08:00

Sania Mirza survived a late onslaught from world number 61 Marta Domachowska in her 6-1, 6-4 win in the first round of the ladies singles Sania Mirza plays against Marta Domachowska on the opening day of the Australian Open. More Pictures of the Australian Open on Monday.

Sania raced away with the first set in just 25 minutes, breaking the Polish player thrice.

The Indian led 2-0 in the second set before Marta stepped on the gas, winning four games on the trot, breaking Sania in the third and fifth games.

From a comfortable 2-0, Sania found herself trailing 2-4 in no time.

Under pressure, the 22-year-old Hyderabadi got her act together and went on to win the next four games to seal the issue.

Sania broke Marta in the eighth and 10th games in the process.

Sania had lost to Marta in 2003 in their first meeting and now the face-to-face record stands 1-1.

Sania is making her return to singles competition on the WTA Tour, after being forced on the sidelines for four month with a wrist injury.

Sania suffered with injuries after a breakthrough 2005 when she reached the US Open fourth round.

Sania had a 2008 to forget with surgery on her right wrist in April ruining her season. She made brief comebacks before bowing out of the Beijing Olympics in tears.

But she is now hitting the ball harder than ever and hungry for success.

"It was a great way to begin after such a long break," Sania said after the match.

"I've not played a match in almost six months now ... I'm just happy to have come through."

Hockey: Thakur's brace helps India beat Argentina

2009-01-19T02:03:00.000-08:00

Deepak Thakur's brace scripted India's 2-1 win against Argentina in the first Test of the four-match Series at the Panam National Stadium at Mar del Plata on Monday.

The veteran Indian Oil striker sounded the boards on the 18th and 41st minutes, while Matias Paredes reduced the margin for Argentina in the 65th minute with a penalty corner deflection.

It was, however, the hosts who looked more attacking of the two sides as they forced their first penalty corner as early as in the fourth minute but Indian goalkeeper Baljit Singh foiled Juan Ignacio Gilardi's drag-flick.

India soon settled down with controlled midfield play from VS Vinaya and Gurbaj Singh constantly setting up forwards Rajpal Singh, Tushar Khandker and Prabhjot Singh.

India could have taken the lead in the seventh minute when Rajpal sent a sizzling cross to Thakur, whose deflection was well taken by Argentina goalkeeper Juan Manuel Vivaldi and off the rebound, Thakur shot wide.

Argentina attempted numerous forays with rapid interchanges and overheads but they were superbly checked by deep defender and old India warhorse Dilip Tirkey.

However, on one occasion, Mario Almada managed to get past Tirkey but Baljit dived to his right to bring off a spectacular save.

India finally took the lead in the 18th minute when Rajpal intercepted in the centre to set up Khandker. The wily Jhansi lad then pushed to the overlapping Prabhjot who dodged past two Argentine defenders releasing to Thakur who did not make any mistake this time.

Argentina soon had a couple of chances to restore parity from penalty corners but on both occasions, Baljit foiled Pedro Ibarra's flicks.

India nearly scored another goal in the 28th minute after the forwards combined to open Argentina's defence seams but custodian Vivaldi checked Thakur's deflection.

India earned their first penalty corner three minutes later after Gilardi had body-checked Shivendra Singh. The opportunity, however, went abegging as skipper Sandeep Singh could not beat Vivaldi with his power packed drag-flick.

Argentina picked up the match-pace in the second half and created spaces from their midfield where Lucas Rey and Tomas Argento fed accurately to the wings.

The hosts earned another penalty corner in the 37th minute after a soft giveaway by Rajpal. India was lucky to survive after Gilardi's go at the goal was stopped on the line by Khandker.

India found the mark again in the 41st minute after Sandeep Singh sent an accurate slapshot into the Argentine circle where it was not controlled by Facundo Callioni. The ever-ready Deepak Thakur seized the opportunity and pushed it past bewildered Vivaldi.

Thakur again led a sortie, which resulted in another penalty corner for India, The well-executed flick by Sandeep was saved on the line by Matias Vila to India's disappointment.

India conceded two more soft penalty corners as Sandeep Singh was found wanting in his defensive tackles. Argentina, however, could not capitalise as Baljit again stood out.

The uninterrupted attacks continued on India and Argentina finally reduced the margin when Paredes converted a penalty corner to make it 2-1.

The second test will be played at the same venue on Tuesday.

India Inc swaps Ferraris for sneakers

2009-01-18T22:19:00.000-08:00

They usually run to meet annual targets. But on Sunday, the city's corporate executives gathered in large numbers to do a spot of real running in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon.

Top honchos included the usual suspects like Anil Ambani and Anand Mahindra. While Mahindra ran with his colleagues for Nanhi Kali, an NGO that is dedicated to primary education of the underprivileged girl child, Anil Ambani ran for wife Tina Ambani's organisation, Harmony, which helps senior citizens.

There were also those weho were running for the first time, such as Y M Deosthalee of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Anand Kripalu of Cadbury India. S Ramadorai of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Ajay Srinivasan of the Aditya Birla Group and Dhaval Buch of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) also ran.

Every year, corporate executives participate to support causes espoused by various NGOs. This year, they had an added motive: supporting the spirit of Mumbai after it was buffeted by the attacks on November 26, 2008. As Mahindra, vice-chairman and MD, Mahindra & Mahindra, put it: "Every year the crowd shows up to express its spirit of oneness.

This year, its presence sends out a strong signal to the rest of the world that Mumbai is not going to get knocked down.'' Added Dhaval Buch, executive director, HUL: "I look forward to it every year, but this year was very special. It is a dedication to all those who gave up their lives to make ours safer.''

The enthusiasm among corporate participants was palpable. "Superb'' is how Deosthalee, chief financial officer, L&T, described his first experience of the corporate challenge run, which is a part of the Dream Run. "The reasons for participating were two: one that the cause for which we ran-Childline-was very good, and second, to demonstrate our solidarity with the victims of 26/11. It is to show that we are not cowed down,'' he declared. Kripalu, MD, Cadbury India, said, "This year we supported both Muktangan and Concern India for underprivileged children. But above all, I ran to support the spirit of Mumbai with a prayer for peace and happiness for the people in this wonderful city that we all call home.''

Mumbai's indomitable spirit was exemplified by N Chandrasekaran, the chief operations officer of TCS, who, despite spraining a thigh muscle, completed the full marathon. There were 1,200 TCS participants to cheer him on. The TCS employees supported the Society for the Rehabilitation of Crippled Children.

Last year, Standard Chartered's SG Marg branch employees had dressed up as Julius Caesar and his Roman army to wage a war against global warming. This year, they were dressed as the Pandavas to wage war against terror and incompetent politicians.

Those who have run marathons abroad were quite impressed with the Mumbai Marathon. Ajay Srinivasan, chief executive officer, financial services, Aditya Birla Group, participated in the Mumbai Marathon for the first time. He ran the Dream Run with his family in support of Shishu Anathalaya, an orphanage in Bangalore. Srinivasan had earlier run the 10km Hong Kong marathon. "Mumbai's people, their spirit, the music, the banners and the causes-all make this marathon very different and unique,'' he said.

For Renu Sud Karnad, joint managing director, HDFC Ltd, it was an "exhilarating and heartwarming experience''. Close to 200 HDFC-ites from Mumbai, Pune and Nashik participated along with their families for Save The Children India and HelpAge India. Around 90 employees from Piramal Healthcare ran for the NGO SEWA to promote the ‘helpyourbody’ campaign.

In the Corporate Sporting Challenge, LIC took top spot and the Bombay Stock Exchange came second.

Hockey: Indian boys get silver

2009-01-18T22:18:00.000-08:00

A late golden goal by Jason Donohoe dashed the Indian colts’ gold medal hopes as Diwakar Ram and his teammates went down to Australia 1-2 in a nail-biting final of the boys’ hockey event in the Australian Youth Olympics here on Sunday.

Bronze for girls’ team

The Indian girls, meanwhile, rose to the occasion and forced a 2-0 win over USA to bag the bronze medal. Rani Rampal and Ritu Rani Tindal scored in the 62nd and 68th minutes to help India secure bronze.

A disappointed Indian coach A.K. Bansal said: “I didn’t expect to lose. In all, we were the better side. We had more chances, more ball possession than the Australians, but I think luck did not favour us today.” — PTI

Marathon: And the award goes to the person who didn't win

2009-01-18T09:47:00.000-08:00

Organizers of the Sixth Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2009 were embarrassed when they mistakenly declared and felicitated a wrong person as the winner in the Indian women's category in the 42-km Main Marathon on Sunday afternoon.

As the 'wrong' person basked in glory on the specially erected podium, the right winner, Aruna Devi, from the north-eastern state of Manipur stepped forward and staked her claim to the title.

Upon verification, the organisers found her claim to be genuine, said a spokesman for Procam International, the promoters of the event.

"We apologized to her for the mistake. It should never have happened in the first place and it was entirely an error on our part," the spokesman told IANS after the matter was duly rectified.

Immediately, Aruna Devi's name was publicly announced as the real winner and she was felicitated in a separate ceremony and handed over the prize money: US$2,500 (Rs.100,000)

The spokesman said Aruna Devi took the faux-pas by the organisers in a sporting spirit and the matter ended amicably.

Leading Mumbaikars in the run included many celebrities like Anil Ambani, Soha Ali Khan, Gulshan Grover, Milind Soman, Arjun Rampal, Vinay Pathak, Shreyas Talpade, Rahul Bose, Om Puri, Tara Sharma, Lillete Dubey, Dolly Thakore, Anand Mahindra, Amit Chandra, Archana Chandra, Sanjeev Kapoor and Annabelle Mehta, to name a few.

The event brand ambassadors were Bollywood hunk John Abraham, three-time Olympic champions Gabriela Szabo and Gail Devers, and famous Moroccan long distance runner Hicham El Guerrouj, the spokesman said.

The Mumbai Police and Traffic Police, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), the state government, Indian Navy and other agencies were actively involved to make the event safe and successful.

Apart from the main title sponsor Standard Chartered Bank, the associate sponsor was Tata Consultancy Services. The event was held under the aegis of the Athletics Federation of India with technical coordination by Maharashtra Athletic Association and promoted by Procam International.

Sandeep not in favour of foreign coach

2009-01-18T09:46:00.001-08:00

Even as the ad-hoc committee for Indian hockey is one step away from naming a foreign coach for the senior national men's team, newly-appointed captain Sandeep Singh said home-grown coaches were capable enough to revive the game's lost glory.

After Australian Ric Charlesworth's resignation last year, the ad-hoc committee had named Harender Singh as the coach-in-charge with Ramandeep Singh and Romeo James as his assistants.

Sandeep said that players want Harender and Co. to continue with their jobs as he thought they were best suited to carry Indian hockey forward.

"In my opinion a foreign coach is not needed. But the ad-hoc committee has got experienced guys who think differently. But as far as the players are concerned, Harender Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Romeo James are doing a good job and they are taking the team forward," Sandeep said.

Sandeep's views were echoed by Ramandeep who feels Indian coaches need more exposure to prove their mettle.

"Indian coaches are as good as foreign coaches. They need exposure and they will prove themselves. If foreign coach is being called for then he should be assigned specific purpose," he said.

The ad-hoc selection committee seemed divided on the foreign coach issue with former India captain and selection panel member Dhanraj Pillay expressing his objection against naming a foreigner as the head coach of the team.

"Greats like Major Dhyan Chand, Mohd. Shahid, Zafar Iqbal and others have never had any training from foreigners, still they achieved big things. No doubt a foreign coach can take us forward and we should take their help, but not at all as a head coach," the former striker said.

Pillay was of the view that a foreign coach would be handy in improving the fitness level of the players.

"A foreign coach can mix both Asian and European style of hockey and that can help team to do well."

Spain's Jose Brasa is tipped as the favourite to be offered the job of senior team's coach. If Brasa accepts the offer, he would be the third foreigner to coach India.

German Gerard Rach and Charlesworth were the two foreign experts who had been assigned Indian senior team's reigns.

Shooting: Bindra may try competing in different shooting event

2009-01-18T09:44:00.000-08:00

Having reached the 'pinnacle' by claiming the Olympic gold in Beijing, shooter Abhinav Bindra is contemplating competing in a different shooting event.

"A gold medal in Olympics was the barrier. Had I won a silver or a bronze, there would have been more success to vie for. But having reached the pinnacle, it will be a completely new beginning now," the Olympic champion in 10m Air Rifle event said at a felicitation function on Thursday.

"I have no plan of changing my event, but I may do a little adventure and compete in another event apart from this," he said without specifying what his next competition would be.

"I have trained in other events before and considering giving it another shot. At the moment, I've started training, but I am not sure of the next competition.

"This year is a rest year in shooting calendar with no Olympic qualification for us. However, I will be looking forward to 2010 which will be the busiest year for us and there's, of course, the Commonwealth Games..."

On his expectation, he said, "I don't really expect much at the moment. I have achieved the goal I've pursued for 15 years. Whatever, I get from now on will be a bonus for me."

"In loss you learn a lot more. When you win there is not many aspects you can take it from. I had a goal, I just pursued it, I followed the path that will get me there. It's all about channelising energy," Bindra said.

Asked what he felt after winning the medal, Abhinav said, "It obviously was a nice feeling but at the same time, I also wondered why it took us so long to achieve an Olympic medal."

He said his success should be measured in how his Olympic triumph has changed the outlook towards sports.

"There is a big change in the attitude of the general people towards sports. Everybody's talking in terms of gold in Olympics. This to me is the most significant happening that my achievement has brought about," he said.

Asked about his view on national sport which has become a debate of late after former greats MAK Pataudi and Leslie Claudius rooted for cricket, Bindra said, "It really doesn't matter what the national sport is as long as there is improvement in the overall sporting standard. One cannot expect a marked improvement overnight.

"It will always take some time. But I do believe that in our endeavor to be one of the developed countries by 2020, rise in the sporting standard is imperative."

He said infrastructure in shooting was developing but more needed to be done.

"Now, we have a couple of world class shooting ranges ... like the one in Shiv Chhatrapati Sport Complex in Pune. It's one of the best I have ever seen. But having said, more needs to be done. Smaller shooting ranges need to be set up in smaller centres so that it will help budding shooters."

Bindra said the Mittal Championship Trust was helping upcoming talent like the current national record holder for women's 50-metre air rifle Lajja Goswami who was facing hurdles for getting the ammunition.

"The Mittal Championship Trust is trying to help her. Something positive may well result. No doubt, a lot needs to be done so that everyone can have access to this sport which is truly an expensive one," Bindra said.

Brace up for glamorous women boxers in the ring

2009-01-18T09:43:00.000-08:00

In a bid to get women’s boxing included in the 2012 London Olympics, the game’s governing body (AIBA) has decided to ‘sex up’ the sport. Taking a leaf out of beach-volleyball, which moved from T-shirts and long shorts to strictly-bikinis dress-code to beef up TRP ratings, the AIBA has commissioned some leading designers of the world with the job of creating a new dress code for the women boxers.

The AIBA is of the opinion that if it wants to make its ‘‘case stronger’’ in front of International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the upcoming meetings in June and October this year, it will have to present women’s boxing as a ‘‘popular sport".

And to popularise the sport, AIBA has realised it will have to make it ‘‘more attractive and viewer-friendly and not let the female boxers appear more like men in the ring" in order to achieve its end.

India’s MC MaryKom, the four-time women’s World boxing champion, laid out the pros and cons of the change in attire when the news was broken to her about AIBA’s intention. ‘‘I agree with the fact that our attire at the moment is boring and manly. And it irritates quite a few boxers because of it," the boxer told TOI from Imphal.

‘‘But the designers should keep in mind some of the conservative countries like India. Many boxers come from Mizoram and although they are quite cool with wearing trendy clothes in their normal lives, I’m sure they won’t be that comfortable when it comes to wearing ‘sexy dress’ in a sporting arena. I hope the AIBA will keep this in mind when it approves the design."

It might be recalled that Indian beach volleyball players refused to wear bikinis in the World Beach Volleyball tournament in Chennai last year because they thought it was ‘objectionable’. The players claimed that the skimpy outfits - mandatory dress - were against their tradition. As a result, the rules were relaxed for the Indian team and they were allowed to compete in T-shirts and long shorts.

‘‘AIBA’s argument on changing the dress-code in the recently-concluded meeting of Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) in China was that the women and men boxers look alike in the ring at the moment with their baggy-attires. Therefore the change of dress-code is essential," said PK Muralidharan Raja, secretary of the Indian Boxing Federation, who was present at the meeting.

‘‘It will help in grabbing more eyeballs which will in turn make the IOC look into the matter of including women’s boxing in Olympics with more seriousness. The fact is out of all the disciplines in the Olympics apart from boxing, every sport has women participating. The question is: Why should women’s boxing be left behind? In fact, in 1904 at St. Luis Games, women’s boxing was a demonstration event," Raja said.

The IOC has already looked into this matter and has proposed an initial plan of accepting 44 women boxers if the number of male boxers is correspondingly reduced from the present allotment of 286 at the Games. But it has not been finalised yet. The AIBA in the meantime is doing all it can to sell the dress code idea.

Tennis:I am hoping to win one this year: Yuki Bhambri

2009-01-18T09:42:00.000-08:00

While Somdev Devvarman is fast emerging as a new Indian tennis star, Yuki Bhambri is seen as another one in the making.

At 16, Yuki has the skills and the mental toughness to be a tactically sound player. Without these qualities he could not have won the prestigious Osaka Mayor Cup and then the highly rated Orange Bowl Tennis Championship to cap a phenomenal 2008.

The Delhi youngster, who first came into the limelight with his semi-final appearance in the junior section of the Australian Open last January, also became the World No. 2 to raise the expectations in the new year. He certainly does not lack the self-motivation and determination to do well.

After last year's thrilling experience, Yuki has worked hard for this edition at Melbourne Park and hopes to claim his maiden junior Grand Slam title.

"I am looking forward to the event as I am familiar with the conditions at the National Tennis Centre now, so I feel I have a chance."

"It will be tough though. Every player in top-50 is good and has the potential to beat anyone. But I will try and give my best in the (junior) Grand Slams. I am hoping to win one this year," Yuki said before leaving for Melbourne.

To draw a parallel, British tennis sensation Andy Murray won the US Open junior title when he was 17 and he was soon in the Davis Cup squad in 2004. In the next one year the Scot made the biggest jump by any player in the top 100 of the ATP rankings, shooting up a phenomenal 449 rungs to 65.

If Murray went to Sanchez-Casal Tennis Academy in Barcelona, Spain, when he was 15, Yuki, too, has been training at one of the best in the tennis business, Nick Bollettieri Centre, courtesy International Management Group (IMG), and says it has helped him improve his game.

"At Bollettieri, one gets to play different players. I hit against the top-100 guys including Ivo Karlovic and Kei Nishikori. You get the best of facilities and training as a player."

But the similarity ends there. While Murray grabbed all the opportunities that came his way, the young Indian champion is struggling to find sponsors to fund his travelling expenses as he prepares for the junior Australian Open, beginning January 26. He realises he is at the most crucial phase of his career.

"My parents are worried as my schedule is getting more and more hectic. AITA (All India Tennis Association) helps me for the Grand Slams but that is it. I approached quite a few sponsors but no one is willing to come forward. I don't understand why."

Yuki has a punishing regimen during the off-season and says it has helped him a lot, particularly in terms of fitness. "You need to be fit if you have to play long-drawn-out matches of over three hours."

"I have always been good from the baseline and I have worked on my serve and volley to tighten my game. My serve now has more punch and that helps in getting easy service points. If your serve is good, you can play without pressure."

If Murray won the Rose Bowl when he was 12, Yuki can take pride for winning the Orange Bowl in Miami in the under-18 category and also for reaching the doubles final partnering Chase Buchanan.

"It was a fantastic year. I reached Australian Open semis, I did well on the men's circuit in Chandigarh, Delhi, Malaysia. I won the Osaka Mayor and recorded my biggest victory in Orange Bowl. I performed beyond my expectations.

"In Orange bowl, I just wanted to play good tennis and compete with the best players in the world. Winning in the toughest tournaments in the world has given me immense confidence and put me among the best juniors in the world," said Yuki who took to tennis inspired by his two elder sisters Ankita and Sanaa, both national champions.

The Orange Bowl crown gave him the wild card for the qualifying event of the Nasdaq Open in Miami in March. Asked how he feels at the prospect of playing in a field packed with top players, Yuki said: "I am really excited. I will get to play against the best. It will tell me where I stand."

Despite all odds, Yuki is determined to rough it out and make a mark in tennis. He says he is keen on playing more on the men's circuit this year. "I intend to play more in futures and challengers. I feel I can do well."

Yuki knows that this is the year for bigger things for him and he is all keyed up.

UK national represents India

2009-01-18T09:41:00.001-08:00

Thumbing the nose at Centre’s "Indian only" policy and armed with a Delhi High Court order, a British national represented India at the Asian Junior Squash Championship that began in Chennai on Friday.

Protesting loudly against the breach caused by the HC order permitting the British national, Karm Kumar, to represent India, the Centre pleaded with a Bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam for an urgent hearing and a possible stay on the HC order.

However, the Bench said it was impossible to accommodate the Centre’s plea at the last minute and posted it for hearing on Monday, by which time it would be rendered void as the championship would be over on Sunday.

The sports ministry in December 2008 had dashed the hopes of Kumar, a junior squash player, to represent India at the championship by brandishing the new rule which said only Indians could represent the country in national and international events. However, Kumar scripted an exception to the rule through a favourable order from the Delhi HC.

Appearing for the Centre, advocate Rajshekhar Rao requested the apex court for an urgent listing of its appeal against the HC order and for a stay to stop Kumar from representing India at the Asian championship. Kumar, who holds a British passport, is of Indian origin and had challenged the decision of the Squash Racket Federation of India to restrict representation in the event to Indian sportspersons alone.

Incidentally, Kumar lost his first round match to Kamran Khan of Malaysia.

Melbourne ready to host 2010 CWG: Report

2009-01-18T09:39:00.000-08:00

Melbourne is ready to step in and host the 2010 Commonwealth Games if the event is pulled from New Delhi, a report said on Sunday.

The four-yearly Games, featuring 71 teams from Commonwealth countries, are due to be held in the Indian capital from October 3-14, 2010, but concerns remain over construction of its sporting and transport infrastructure.

Building delays have already forced this year's world badminton championships to be shifted to the southern city of Hyderabad.

In November, Commonwealth Games Federation co-ordination committee chairman Austin Sealy said India could miss out on hosting the Games if a dispute over the construction of the athletes' village was not resolved.

The Melbourne Age, citing senior sports officials, said the Victorian state government had discussed contingency plans to host the event which it last held just three years ago.

One of the officials, who declined to be named, said that while Melbourne had not been asked to step in, "if things don't improve (in Delhi), we will."

Another official added that if Delhi was unable to host the Games, Melbourne would likely be asked to do so.

"It would be an obvious thing to do. Melbourne had it last, so they know we've got the infrastructure and facilities," the official said.

But Lalit Bhanot, general secretary of the Delhi Games organising committee, bristled at the suggestions.

"There is no possibility of a shift in venue for the Commonwealth Games and there is no reason to do it," he told the newspaper.

"There should not be one percent of doubt about Delhi staging the Games."

Tennis: Hope Somdev's success translates into more top players: Sania

2009-01-18T09:38:00.000-08:00

His phenomenal performance at the Chennai Open has re-ignited the passion in the men's game in the country but Sania Mirza is hoping that Somdev Devvarman's success will do more than just help tennis shoot up the popularity chart.

Sania became a youth icon and inspired many youngsters to pick up racquets after a breakthrough 2005 season but finding no other Indian woman player in top-100 upsets her.

Somdev has raised hopes of a revival of men's tennis in the country. Some say Somdev's success will do to men's tennis in the country what Sania's success did to women's tennis but the Hyderabadi would not be content with just that happening.

"Actually, I hope it does more because although the game did become popular in India after my breakthrough year, we have still not produced another top-100 player in women's tennis," Sania said.

The next best Indian woman player after Sania on the WTA charts is Sunitha Rao, who is just on the verge of dropping out of top-200. Sunitha, who became ineligible to represent India after the introduction of the new sports policy, is currently placed 196.

It means that the ranking-gap between the two top players is almost 100 rungs and had it not been an injury-ridden 2008 for Sania the gap could have been much wider.

But Sania is hoping that men's tennis sees better days. Somdev, a two-time US Collegiate champion, made a sensational start to the season, successfully humbling the likes of Carlos Moya and Ivo Karlovic.

Sania too says that Somdev's coming off age is a big boost for the game in the country.

"It was a fantastic effort and a real shot in the arm for Indian tennis. I've known Somdev from our junior days and there cannot be a nicer person to be a flag-bearer of the game in our country," Sania, who will make a return to competitive singles tennis at Australian Open, said.

"I feel proud that another of my batch-mates has broken through in the world of international tennis," Sania added.

Sania herself is out of top-100 but that is not because of playing badly but because of not playing at all due to a wrist injury.

The diminutive Isha Lakhani at 361 on ranking chart is India's third highest ranked player at the moment, followed by Ankita (377) and Sanaa Bhambri (477).

Seasoned Rushmi Chakravarthi is languishing at 508 and Shikha Uberoi, who was also rendered ineligible to represent India as she holds a US Passport, is at 599.

Featuring in the top-10 Indians' list is Shalini Sahoo, who is way back at 684.

The picture is not at all healthy. Hence when Sania wishes that Somdev's success not only lifts the game but helps in getting more top-level players, her statement says a lot.

But what will make India get more players like Somdev, who with sheer grit can fight the fire.

The new tennis hero perhaps said it all when he rubbished the lack of facilities as a hindrance to players' development.

Somdev said one needs nothing but 'passion' for the game. He has been away from family, studying and playing in the United States.

And when asked how did he manage to focus on the game when he was living in a culture that can be very distractive for a youngster, he said, "I had my priorities right. I always wanted to be a tennis player so it was easy for me to stay focussed."

Tennis not affected by recession

2009-01-18T09:35:00.000-08:00

As the credit crunch bites deeper into the global economy, tennis has so far managed to escape the effects of the crisis and it will be business as usual when the Australian Open on Monday.

While Formula One, golf and soccer have all been hit by the financial downturn, tennis officials are adamant that only a world war, and not the current economic climate, would force the cancellation of one of its blue-riband events.

"The ITF has substantial reserves and we would be able to overcome any catastrophic failure of one of our big sponsors," International Tennis Federation commercial director Jan Menneken said.

"If one of them were to go into administration, we would be able to weather that storm for at least a substantial while.

"One thing is for sure, the Davis Cup and the other big events will happen no matter what, barring a World War III."

On Wednesday, the German Open women's tournament, scheduled to take place in Berlin in May, was scrapped but those connected with the event said the cancellation has nothing to do with the state of the economy.

As in many other sports, the car and banking industries have invested heavily in tennis, with South Korea's Kia Motors being one of the major sponsors of the Australian Open.

Whereas other sports are looking at making cutbacks to survive the recession, tennis has bucked the trend. On Saturday, Australian Open organisers announced a 12.3 percent increase in prize money on last year.

"The increase in prize money, even in these tough economic times, is a positive symbol of...rewarding the players for their role as a partner in the Open," said world number two Roger Federer .

REVENUE AGREEMENTS

There has been a 23 percent increase in prize money from 2008 to 2009 for the WTA events.

WTA chairman and CEO Larry Scott is confident investors would continue to keep faith with the tournaments as tennis offers an attractive business model.

"The beauty of tennis is that the major revenue agreements tend to be multi-year agreements and it is a global sport with diversified revenue so we are not going to be as hard hit as some other sports," Scott said, adding that about 20 percent of WTA events had a car company or financial service as its major sponsor.

"Each tournament has probably got between 15 to 20 revenue contracts as a minimum between sponsors, big hospitality purchasers, advertisers, broadcasters etc. Within the area of sponsorship, there are multiple sponsors.

"No one agreement having difficulty is going to put an event in jeopardy unless it's a title sponsor...which may hurt their profit margin one year but it won't put the event at risk."

Kris Dent, the ATP's head of corporate communications, added: "In November we commissioned a study to understand how they [tournaments] might be affected by the economic issue.

"[At the time], of the 63 tournaments, 48 had title sponsor deals with the remainder having supporting sponsor deals in place. Only six tournaments had not yet confirmed their major sponsorship deal for 2009 and two of those were extremely close.

TOUGH PERIODS

"We have seen a large number of existing sponsors renew three-year contracts with the ATP, companies such as Enel, Ricoh and South African Airways all have deals at or around US$ 20 million, and new sponsors have joined such as Barclays as the new five-year, $38-million sponsor of the ATP World Tour Finals."

Tennis also has the benefit of knowing that is has survived tough periods in the past.

"In Davis Cup we lost two major sponsors in one year [in the late 1990s] which was a big hit but it took us just a year to recover," ITF head of communications Barbara Travers said.

All three tennis bodies, the ITF, ATP and WTA, admit renewing contracts or finding new partners could be a challenge, especially for the lower-tier tournaments, if the recession continues for a long time.

A spokesman for the United States Tennis Association, which runs the US Open , said the real test would be to see: "What impact if any this will have on our ticket sales for 2009."

The women's tour, however, hopes its revenue-sharing platform will offer an attractive incentive to would-be sponsors.

The WTA has started the agreement with most of its 'premier level' tournaments this year. An increase or decrease in prize money will be based on a three-year average.

"Revenue sharing is an excellent idea as it aligns the economic interest of the players and the tournaments who are partners in this joint venture," explained Scott.

"If the economy for tennis is doing well...players should get their fair share. If the tournaments aren't doing well and they are suffering because of the economy, then there is no growth to be shared with the players. I think that's fair, aligns the interest and creates a deeper level of commitment between the players and tournaments."

Tennis: Sania to face Domachowska in round 1

2009-01-18T09:34:00.001-08:00

Sania Mirza will kick off her Australian Open campaign with a first round match against Marta Domachowska of Poland and might run into 10th seed Nadia Petrova she clears the hurdle in the first Grand Slam of the year.

Ranked a lowly 107th after her long injury layoff, Sania would take on world number 61 Domachowska hoping to get past the player who beat her in their only previous meeting in a hard-court tournament back in 2003.

Provided she emerges winner this time, Sania is likely to face Petrova who kicks off her campaign against unseeded Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.

Against Petrova, Sania has a 1-1 record, having beaten the Russian in San Diego in 2005 even though Petrova settled scores at Wimbledon in 2007.

Sania's best show so far in the Australian Open has been reaching the third round in 2005 and 2008.

Tennis: Paes-Lipsky go down in Auckland final

2009-01-18T09:31:00.000-08:00

Leander Paes and his American doubles partner Scott Lipsky went down in the final of the Auckland Open on Saturday.

They were beaten by top seeds Martin Damm of Czech Republic and Robert Lindstedt of Sweden 7-5, 6-4.

It was the 36-year-old Damm's 38th career doubles title, while Lindstedt has four.

Paes was in line for his 500th doubles win. By entering the final at Auckland, after a 6-3, 6-7(4), 10-7 win over Paul Hanley and Jordan Kerr of Australia [Images], he completed 499 victories.

Hockey: Diwakar saves the day for India colts

2009-01-18T09:30:00.000-08:00

Captain Diwakar Ram slammed four goals, including two late strikes, to help India eke out a 5-5 draw against Malaysia in an inconsequential final league match of the men's hockey event in the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney on Saturday.

In a high-scoring crowd stunner at the Hockey Centre, Sydney Olympic Park, Diwakar converted four penalty-corners to save the day for the Indians.

The two sides were level 3-3 at the interval, with Diwakar contributing two goals for India till then. He then converted two penalty-corners in the final nine minutes after his side was down 3-5 till the 61st minute.

The Indian colts will now take on Australia , whom they defeated in their earlier league encounter, in the summit clash on Sunday.

In the girls' event, India at last registered their first victory of the tournament, beating USA 2-0, though the result came too late as the eves were already out of contention for the summit clash after losing their first two matches.

They will be up against the same opponents, USA, in the bronze medal match.

In the pulsating boys' encounter, Malaysia shocked India in the early stages of the match when Abdul Gaffar found the net in the seventh minute from a penalty-corner.

Stung by the early goal, India came out all guns blazing and found the equaliser from Jay Karan's stick two minutes later and then Diwakar doubled the lead in the 19th minute.

However, Ahmad Tajuddin helped Malaysia level the scoreline in the 21st minute only to see the India skipper regain the lead three minutes later.

But Gaffar struck again for Malaysia in the 33rd minute to see both the teams go into the breather locked at 3-3.

Malaysia surprised the crowd with two quick goals in the opening minutes after the change of ends to make the score 5-3.

Down by two goals, India regrouped themselves and launched all out attack on the Malaysian goal but with little esult till the 61st minute when Diwakar sounded the board with a fiery drag-flick which the Malaysian custodian had no answer.

In the final minutes, Diwakar produced another gem of a drag-flick to find the all-important equaliser and save India from humiliation.

Although he was not disappointed with the result, coach A K Bansal admitted his wards were little complacent knowing that they had already made it to the final.

"It was not a tough match, but the boys made it tough as they were complacent. I had initially planned Diwakar won't take a single penalty-corner today but was forced to change the plan looking at the scoreline," Bansal said.

Asked what strategy he would implement against Australia in the final, he said, "The boys are playing very well but against Australia we have to play fast hockey from the beginning.

"Penalty-corner is our strong point but tomorrow our forwards have to play well and put pressure on the Australians from the word go."

In the inconsequential women's encounter between India and USA, Anuradha Thokchom (56^th minute) and Rani Ritu Tindal (69th) scored for India to give them their first points in the four-nation tournament.

Although the Indian eves displayed strong ball skills and coordination, it was the American girls who were hungry for possession, which they maintained throughout the game.

Golf: Atwal tied 68th at Sony Open

2009-01-18T09:28:00.000-08:00

Arjun Atwal could not arrest the slide and slumped to tied 68th after bringing home a third round card of two-over 72 in the Sony Open here.

The Orlando-based Indian, who got off to a sedate start in his first US PGA Tour this year with a one-under 69, faltered on the front nine for the second day on the trot and had to settle for his second successive over-par round, which took his tally to two-over 212.

A bogey treble on his front nine -- on the second, fourth and seventh holes -- had him reeling at three-over at the turn and the 10th hole birdie was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dull card as he signed off with a string of eight par shots.

At the top, Zach Johnson (200) grabbed the penultimate round lead with a four-under 66, just one shot ahead of David Toms (65), Shigeki Maruyama (68), Bryan Gay (68) and Nathan Green (69).

Golf: Flawless Jeev joins Jyoti to finish tied 26th at Abu Dhabi

2009-01-18T09:27:00.000-08:00

A flawless Jeev Milkha Singh signed off with his best card of the week to join compatriot Jyoti Randhawa and finish 26th in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship here on Sunday.

Shiv Kapur (286) also produced a blot-free final round of five-under 67, his best of the week, to finish tied 62nd.

Overnight tied 39th, Jeev played near-perfect golf today and blasted six birdies — three on each nine — to aggregate 11-under 277 for a share of the 26th place and a cheque of €13,751.

Despite an ominous start to his round in the form of an opening hole bogey, Randhawa was not too bad either. He bogeyed the 13th as well but birdies on the fifth, seventh, eighth, 11th and 18th took care of the rest and the Indian could not be denied a decent finish in the European Tour event.

Like Jeev, Shiv Kapur too managed to keep his card bogey-free and reeled off birdies on the second, fourth, 10th, 13th and 15th to improve his position.

At the top, newly-married Englishman Paul Casey's (267) final round card of 70 helped him survive a late scare to secure the title by a single shot from Louis Oosthuizen (64) and Martin Kaymer (67).

Squash: Dipika in Asian Junior squash final

2009-01-18T09:26:00.000-08:00

India's fast rising player, Dipika Pallikal kept the country's hopes alive making the girls final even as Ravi Dixit and Aditya Jagtap went down fighting to higher-rated players in their respective semi-finals of the 14th Asian Junior squash championship, here on Sunday.

Second-seeded Pallikal was in her usual form, showing aggression from the beginning of her semi-final encounter against Korean 3/4 seed Song Sung Mi.

However, the Indian, committed a number of unforced errors while trying to experiment before finally winning the tie 11-6, 11-4, 13-11 in 31 minutes.

Joshna will meet top-seed Low Wee Wern of Malaysia in the title round.

Wern overcame stiff resistance midway through the match to beat Liu Tsz Ling of Hong Kong 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 in 23 minutes.

In the boys' semi-finals, Dixit (5/8) warmed the hearts of the crowd with his wristy returns and intelligent drops from close to the wall but top-seed Leo Au of Hong Kong displayed his prowess well to win the match 13-11, 11-3, 11-6 in 39 minutes.

Jagtap (3/4) went down fighting to second-seed Ivan Yuen of Malaysia (ranked 127 on the PSA) 11-5, 11-5, 11-9.

In Monday's final, Pallikal, ranked 50 on the WISPA, needs to be more tactical and focused in avoiding unforced errors if she wants to avenge her recent loss to Wern in the British Open Junior championship.

In her semi-final on Sunday, Pallikal, for the third day in succession, was in control throughout but yielded unnecessary points trying to innovate certain returns against Song.

Having taken the first two games, Pallikal was tested time and again by Song.

Trailing 3-5, the Korean went on to lead 7-6. Pallikal played some scintillating winners after short rallies but the Korean always stretched herself.

Serving for the game (10-9), Song remained a spectator when Pallikal used the side wall at the back court to level the score and then went on to serve for the match with a forehand winner but yielded a point as she hit the tin on her forehand from back court.

Once again, Pallikal served for the match with an excellent cross court knee high winner and then angled her low forehand drive close to the right wall with Song pinned to the left side.

Trailing 4-5 in the first game, Wern was more focused and after making it 7-6, she never looked back.

However, in the second game, Ling was more authoritative in her counter-attack, particularly from the back court in leading 5-1 but it was short lived as Wern took little time in assessing the situation to her advantage. Then on, it was easy going for the Malaysian.

Semi-final results:

Boys: Leo Au (HKg) bt Ravi Dixit (Ind) 13-11, 11-3, 11-6 and Ivan Yuen (Mal) bt Aditya Japtap 11-5, 11-5, 11-9.

Girls: Low Wee Wern (Mal) bt Liu Tsz Ling (HKg) 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 and Dipika Pallikal (Ind) bt Song Sung Mi (Kor) 11-6, 11-4, 13-11.

Fitness advisor can make or mar marathon

2009-01-18T09:22:00.000-08:00

There was a time when personal fitness trainers catered only to celebrity marathon participants and the elite. But six years after it was first run, the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon has become the most anticipated test of stamina, flexibility and will power, for which tagging on to a personal nutritionist and trainer is the `in' thing. Recession hasn't hit the fitness market, with trainers sprouting everywhere.

While rates for personal trainers range between Rs 4,000-5,000 per month, elite trainers come for Rs 10,000-12,000 a month. But many of these self-proclaimed `personal trainers' can do more harm than help. While some do have the adequate qualifications and experience, others merely flaunt their BSc degrees and basic yoga courses to prospective clients.

Relationship manager Saakshi Khanna, who wanted to run the half-marathon, discovered it the hard way. The 32-year-old was on the lookout for a trainer after her `do-it-yourself' plan failed, but the internet threw up thousands of fitness professionals, many of whom were ready to drag her out of bed to practise. She randomly chose the trainer who lived closest to her home. He kicked off the session without profiling her body-type. A few jogs later, she developed a muscle strain.

Medical practitioners have long warned of the consequences of not training correct or eating right. In the past, the Mumbai Marathon has seen several participants confined to their homes for weeks because of muscle sprains, strokes or dehydration. Worse, last year 22-year-old engineering student and Chennai marathon participant M Santosh collapsed due to cardiac arrest and died at the finishing point.

Marathon trainer Rujuta Diwekar believes that not every body-building, muscle-culturing professional is qualified to train participants for Sunday's endurance race. The regime should start with stretches, warming-up, run training and cooling-down. A post-graduate in sports science and nutrition from the city's SNDT and IIT-B colleges, Diwekar has even trained Anil Ambani. "Most trainers have no background in biomechanics and physiology,'' she says, emphasising both theoretical learning and practical experience are important.

Diwekar says distinguishing between an experienced and bogus trainer is easy. "You know you are with a reliable instructor when he/she conducts a fitness assessment and helps you pick the right shoes.'' The process is called the wet-foot test, where an individual's foot-print is studied to determine the foot-type and the appropriate shoes advised. Diwekar says trainers need to study the mental state, working hours and lifestyle of the runner. A person with a weak heart or diabetes is warned against the long-distance route. "Ischemic heart disease has killed many marathoners in the past,'' claims Dr M Selvaraj, a physiotherapist with Talwalkar's.

Athlete co-coordinator and marathon coach Ian Ladbrooke of the UK, who conducted a workshop at Talwalkar's for trainers last year said, "They were made to apply their knowledge in practical sessions where we developed syndicates and made them practise, for which they were assessed and advised."

Just as incorrect training can ruin body posture and cause injury, poor nutrition can be equally debilitating. While some doctors prescribe a long list of medication, many trainer-nutritionists suggest high-protein, low-carb diets that adversely affect race performance.

Nutritionist Naini Setalvad says carbohydrates are essential for marathon athletes. "Skipping carbs is denying your body the energy it needs.Even tennis players prefer only eating bananas during matches, to ensure that they get instant energy,'' she says. Setalvad gives instances of how marathoners are made to consume pain killers. "It is appalling how some experts ask people to block pain signals and run,'' she says.

Tennis: Somdev needs to put on weight

2009-01-18T09:20:00.000-08:00

The era of high fives and Paes-Bhupathi chest bumps at the Chennai Open is over. It left a hopeless scene of Indian success. In 2009, 23-year-old Somdev Dev Varman, ranked 202, struck like a bolt from the blue and swept aside higher-ranked players all the way to the final.

Among the scalps was seasoned Carlos Moya, ranked 45, a former world No. 1 and French Open Champion, and the giant 6’10” Croat Ivo Karlovic, ranked 25. Somdev’s spectacular run came to an end in the final against the 6’6” Croat Cilic.

When the “never say die” Somdev, a set down and 5-2 in the second, fought back taking advantage of a nervous Cilic wobble, taking it to a tie-breaker, the ecstatic crowd went berserk.

But Cilic pulled up his socks and managed to come through. Had Cilic lost the second set, I would have fancied Somdev’s chances in the decider. But Somdev achieved enough to have Vijay Amritraj comparing him to Michael Chang who many years ago won the French Open.

We all got carried away by Somdev’s performance. At long last, Indian tennis, sliding into oblivion, had found a saviour. It sent the media into hyper-ventilating mode. Ramanathan Krishnan, the wise icon of Indian tennis, brought us all down to earth by saying that Somdev has had “one good week, he has 51 more to go.’

Somdev’s meteoric start in 2009 has taken him from 200 to 154 in the ATP rankings. The 200 to 100 in the rankings is dog-eat-dog territory. They are all strong, talented, very hungry and ready to kill or die for a match. To measure up and get past them, Somdev needs to be fitter, stronger and mentally tougher.

Since when I saw him last during the Davis Cup in Delhi in March, Somdev has improved a lot. He has improved his fitness, strength and service, but still has a long way to go to reach the top-most level. However, he seems to be on the right track. His placement and variation of service has improved considerably. He served 10 aces in the match against Moya.

But an additional 10 kph added to service power would make things easier for him. He had to work very hard to retrieve the angles Cilic made off his short returns. In spite of Somdev’s great mobility, Cilic was able to hit 26 winners.

If Somdev could have hit his shots a couple of yards deeper, the complexion of the match would have changed. Throughout the tournament, Somdev showed great resolve and mental toughness, qualities which will stand him in good stead in the years to come.

To sum up, Somdev needs to get more muscle on his body to increase the all-round power in his game and develop a winning shot. It can certainly be done. I remember Agassi who went from lean to an extra 8lbs of muscle in one year between Wimbledons. The 51 weeks ahead are fraught with unavoidable pitfalls which will be a searching tortuous test for Somdev.

Whether Somdev makes it or not, his contribution to Indian tennis is valuable. His behaviour was exemplary. No arguments, swear words, racket abuse, duels with the umpire but a silent searing focus could be seen in his eyes.

More significantly, his style of play, his willingness to fight and grind it out from the baseline will influence the style of play of our aspiring youngsters and wean them away from flashy premature slashes at the ball. The impatience, reluctance and inability to grind out the points have been the endemic weakness in the Indian style of play.

It is an insurmountable obstacle towards achieving higher rankings. Hopefully, our youngsters will imbibe of his sterling qualities. Somdev is a perfect role model.

National Games Deferred till June

2009-01-18T09:19:00.001-08:00

The 34th National Games, scheduled to be held in Jharkhand from February 15 after a series of postponements, has been rescheduled once again for June as the new stadiums and related sports infrastructure aren’t ready yet.

This, coupled with the uncertain political climate of the state, sealed it for the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) which has now looking at June 1–14 as the new dates.

The postponement is a huge blow to Jharkhand which was banking on the games to shore up its image and prove to the nation that it was capable of hosting a mega national event.

However, incompetent political leadership and poor monitoring of the construction work at the ambitious games village at Hotwar and other venues across the state, left no one in doubt that the games were heading for yet another postponement.

At a meeting today in New Delhi, chaired by IOA president Suresh Kalmadi and attended by officials of both the IOA and the Jharkhand Olympic Association (JOA), the ground realities of Jharkhand were discussed threadbare.

Confirming the decision, IOA director A.S.V. Prasad said given the situation in Jharkhand and with the sports infrastructure yet to be ready, it was easy to come to the decision.

“What can the IOA do if the required infrastructure is not complete?” Prasad said over telephone from New Delhi.

JOA president R.K. Anand said the games could not have been held in an incomplete stadium. “Things are clear. Games are not going to held in February. It will take some time to put the required infrastructure in place,” he added.

Even the Birsa Munda Stadium at Morabadi, the venue for football and rugby, would not have been ready for the games. “The playing surface will take a month-and-a-half to be ready,” commented a senior state sports official.

S.M. Hashmi, the organising secretary of the National Games Organising Committee (NGOC), however, preferred not to dwell on the delays and focussed on the political uncertainty as the main reason behind the shift. “Though we were ready to hold the games, the political uncertainty made it difficult to beautify the city and prepare roads,” he claimed.

The state’s sports fraternity, however, remained sceptical. “We don’t think infrastructure would be ready by then. Moreover, June is the peak of summer and isn’t exactly the best time to hold sports events,” said a Jamshedpur–based sports official.

Now, the NGOC is likely to face flak for having invited several sports officials from across the country to hold preparatory meetings, keeping the February 15 date in mind. All these meetings will have to be held all over again.

Mumbai Marathon: Kenyan athletes sweep top three positions at Mumbai Marathon

2009-01-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

Kenyan runners swept all the three positions in the men's open section at the Sixth Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon here Sunday.

Kenneth Mugara emerged champion with a new course record of two hours 11 minutes and 51 seconds, ahead of compatriots David Tarus (two hours 12 minutes and two seconds) and two time winner John Kelai (two hours 12 minutes and 23 seconds). India's Ram Singh stood fourth in the 42-km marathon.

The previous record of two hours 12 minutes and three seconds was set by Kenyan Daniel Rono in 2006.

Mugara bagged $31,000 while Tarus and Kelai were richer by $20,500 and $13,000 respectively. Singh won $10,000.

In the 21-km Half Marathon category, India's Surinder Singh emerged first in the men's section while Kavita Raut bagged the top honour in the wome Mugeran's category.

The race started amidst tight ground and air security cover provided by three helicopters, from the Mahapalika Marg, adjacent to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), one of the sites targeted by the terrorists in the Nov 26 attacks.

It wound its way up to Bandra's Swami Vivekanand Road, and from there returned to CST by the same route.

About 150 elite foreign athletes, including 52 women, took part in the full marathon that attracted 2,500 entrants.

The event was held under the aegis of the Athletics Federation of India with technical coordination by Maharashtra Athletic Association.

Hockey: Spain's Brasa tipped to be India's hockey coach

2009-01-18T09:16:00.000-08:00

The hunt for India's new hockey coach is almost over. Spain's Jose Manuel Brasa has emerged the frontrunner for the top job in Indian hockey.

Brasa is currently in India and has met officials of the ad-hoc committee running Indian hockey and has also given presentations to the Sports Ministry.

It is now upto him to decide on the job and if he agrees then he will take charge sometime in February.

Brasa is an International Hockey Federation (FIH) Master Coach and has completed FIH High Performance coaching course.

He had led the Spanish womens team to the Olympic gold at Barcelona Games in 1992.

"(It) Will be difficult for players, will be difficult for everybody. We have to work every day. We should travel less and work more at home and with scientific work we can approach the top teams in the world," Brasa told CNN-IBN about his plans.

India are without a full time coach after Joaquim Carvalho was sacked following the Olympic qualifying debacle in Chile.

After consultant Australian Ric Charlesworth's resignation in 2008, the ad-hoc committee had named MK Kaushik as the coach.

But the former international had to be released immediately after the Sports Ministry directed Kaushik to remain with the women’s national team.

At present Harender Singh is the coach-in-charge with Ramandeep Singh and Romeo James as his assistants.

Mumbai Marathon: Blind Japanese athlete to be part of Mumbai Marathon

2009-01-18T09:14:00.000-08:00

The Mumbai Marathon is just a day away and Japan's Yuichi Takahashi is getting ready to take part in it.

He does not have the ability to see, but he does have the determination to overcome this physical challenge, run and even to win Olympic medals.

Takahashi is in Mumbai for the upcoming marathon- but he took some time out to give running lessons to some special children.

The participants of the Mumbai Marathon will see a Jackie Chan lookalike running amongst them this yea.

However, Yuichi Takahashi is a hero in his own right. Having lost his eyesight in 1996, Takahashi decided not to abandon his passion for running and went on to represent Japan in the Beijing Paralympics but his sense of humour, belies his struggle.

Yuichi Takahashi, Japanese Athlete))(In japanese, wil para dub)

As long as you have a pair of shoes you can run..I didn't have much money at that time, so I thought I'll go for marathons!!

Football :It was a 60:40 game in favour of Hong Kong: Chhetri

2009-01-18T09:10:00.000-08:00

Sunil Chhetri was disappointed that his side went down only in the fag end of the game following India’s 2-1 loss to Hong Kong earlier this week and was forthright with his views.

Hong Kong had taken the lead in the 70th minute which was cut down by Indian skipper Bhaichung Bhutia 10 minutes later. An injury time winner by Wai Chiu left the Indians dumbfounded.

Speaking to Goal.com, the AFC Challenge Cup hero said, "In the end, we lost and it was really very sad. We conceded the goal in the 94th minute and that says it all."

Contrary to most reports in India which stated that Bob Houghton’s men had the upper hand for most parts of the game, Sunil gave his take on the same.

"I wouldn’t say the game was 50:50, rather it was 60:40 in favour of Hong Kong."

Sunil returned to Kolkata Friday evening and if East Bengal coach Subhash Bhowmick’s pre-match words are to be believed then, the national team players would be rested when his side take on Bayern Munich’s U-23 side.

Pool not cued in, poor cousin of billiards and snooker

2009-01-15T22:04:00.000-08:00

India boasts of an impressive assembly line of world champions in Billiards and to a lesser extent in snooker. Yet when it comes to the sport of pool, India finds itself at the very bottom.

Many ask as to why can't the Indian players make the transition from the green baize to the blue baize that covers the pool tables?

Alok Kumar is a veteran of 22 straight billiards and snooker nationals. So, it does feel strange as he pits himself against the next generation.

Alok is currently participating in the trials for selecting the Indian pool team for the Asian and World championships later this year, playing alongside others like national runners up Saurav Talwar who grew up idolosing him.

Pool is the 20-20 version of billiards and snooker. It's a game easy to learn and play, aided by the fact that pool parlours are found almost everywhere.

But despite India's rich heritage in cue sports the cupboard is bare when it comes to pool.

"I feel motivated once again to compete against these youngsters and I am trying hard to win against them. But it is proving to be a little difficult, though. My efforts will be to play consistently and aspire for great results," said Alok Kumar.

But the sport lacks good training programmes and that hinders our haul of medals at international levels like the Asian games and the professional circuit.

"Oh, we have many coaches for billiards and snooker. There are good experienced and veteran experts in India who can coach. But they do not think much of the sport of pool. So the remedy would be either to send our players for training abroad, or better yet, enlist coaches who can train our players here," added Alok Kumar.

"To perform at international levels, I think you have to completely get into one sport. Like being a snooker player, I am playing only snooker. That is not a problem. But for performance at international levels in pool, you have to devote full time to pool,"

offered Rafat Habib, a snooker player.

A few youngsters have started to buck the trend are focusing only on pool. But dominating the game like the billards players do, is a dream still faraway, say some.

Badminton: Korea Open: Saina and Bhat ousted

2009-01-15T22:03:00.000-08:00

Saina Nehwal bowed out of the Yonex Korea Super Series 2009 losing to Indonesia's Adrianti Firdasari in the second round, while mixed doubles duo of V Diju and Gwala Gutta upset the top seed to move into the quarter-finals, on Thursday.

Saina, the fifth seed, went down 21-18, 18-21, 12-21 in a match that lasted 47 minutes.

The Indian shuttler, who got walk-over against Canada's Charmaine Reid in the first round, used her powerful smashes to eke out a win in the first game but thereafter lost her way.

She faltered at the net and her smashes also let her down as she conceded the second game to allow her opponent to draw level.

In the decider, the top Indian woman shuttler could prove no match as she allowed Adrianti to open up a six-point lead early on which proved to be too difficult to match for Saina.

There was disappointment in the men's singles with lone Indian survivor Arvind Bhat losing to seventh-seed Przemyslaw Wacha of Poland in the second round.

Just like Saina, Bhat too went into the lead, winning the first game 21-11. But the Pole then fought back to level terms at 21-14.

The game was equally poised at 11-all before Bhat opened up a five point lead in the decider, but the Indian allowed Wacha to get back on level terms at 19-19 and he ultimately carried on the momentum to win the final game 23-21.

In mixed doubles, Diju and Gutta got rid of Indonesian pair Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir 10-21, 21-16, 21-9 and will meet eighth-seed Wijaya Rendra and Meiliana Jauhari of Indonesia in the quarter-finals.

The Indian pair went down meekly in the first game as their opponents raked up 10 consecutive points, thanks to their good coverage at the net and strong smashes.

But Diju and Gutta came back strongly to claim the second game and gave their opponents no chance in the decider. The Indians played hard and their net coverage and strong smashes left the Indonesians dazed.

Tennis: Sunitha crashes out of Aus Open qualifiers

2009-01-15T21:58:00.000-08:00

Indian challenge in the ladies singles event at the Australian Open [Images] will once again be confined only to Sania Mirza [Images] as Sunitha Rao crashed out of the qualifying event losing her first round match in Melbourne on Thursday.

Sunitha, India's second-highest-ranked player at 196, lost 3-6, 4-6 to America's Melanie Oudin, who is ranked 173 in the WTA list.

India's new tennis sensation Somdev Devvarman [Images], ranked 154th, will play his second round qualifying match on Friday against 207th ranked Lukasz Kubot of Poland.

Somdev had edged compatriot Prakash Amritraj while Kubot has defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France [Images] in their first round match.

The country needs to have a vision: Bindra

2009-01-15T21:54:00.000-08:00

Calcutta: Ace marksman Abhinav Bindra, who needs no introduction really, spoke to The Telegraph for at least half-an-hour on Thursday afternoon. The suave 26-year-old was, well, forthcoming.

The following are excerpts:

Q Five months after the Olympic gold, how much has life changed?

A (Grins) In a way a lot, in a way not at all... I’m still exactly the same person... The values I cherish are still the same... If there’s any change at all, then it’s mental... For 15 years, my goal had been to win an Olympic gold and, during that period, I didn’t think of a millimetre beyond the medal... I went about it in extreme fashion... That gold had been my only focus and, so, in a sense I’ve actually been left without a goal after Beijing!

How would you describe this phase?

One of transit... From one phase to another... I’m not sure what I’ll now be passionate about... I’m trying to see what my future could be like... I’m not sure of the next goal... However, I’ve just started to dream again and that’s good.

Are you completely off shooting?

I’ve resumed training and I trained for 40 hours last week... Initially, I wanted a longer break, but couldn’t keep myself away from the range for too long... I like the process of shooting... Of trying to improve each day... I like training... Before a fresh goal, it was important that I get into it again... The goals will come by themselves, I suppose, over a period of time. As I’ve told you earlier, 2009 isn’t an important year in terms of competitions, so it’s ideal as a period of transition for me.

Given that you are both world and Olympic champion in the 10m air rifle, could there be something more challenging to achieve?

Well, I’m fulfilled... The atmosphere that I grew up in, though, was one of complete negativity... Getting an individual Olympic gold was seen as almost unachievable... Fifteen years ago, had somebody said I’d win an Olympic gold, then I’d have replied that I wouldn’t want anything more... Today, in a sense, I’m starting afresh and I’m doing so because I like the process.

Moving away from sport, what’s the biggest challenge for India?

Good question... Security, I guess... The end-November terror strikes in Mumbai were the ones most talked about, but 2008 saw terrorist attacks in many major cities... So many lives got lost... Security, therefore, is a very big issue... I’m not an expert and I’m not part of decision-making, but I suppose war with Pakistan isn’t an option because both countries are nuclear... Even if it is, it has to be the last option... I’m sure war would have broken out, post-Mumbai, had India and Pakistan only had conventional weapons...

How do we quickly get our security act right?

Again, I’m no expert, but we definitely need to be in a position to prevent terror strikes... We look at the US and at Israel and marvel at the level of security there, but why not have something similar in India? I’d like the world to look at our country and marvel at our internal security... We should be the best and that’s a challenge for every Indian... (After a pause) Having been glued to the TV during the Mumbai operations, I must say I was quite disappointed to see some of the weaponry at the disposal of our forces... In fact, the lack of modern weapons was shocking.

Realistically, is there a quick-fix solution?

No... As in getting to do well in sport, a process has to be followed, but we should be moving forward instead of wasting too much time introspecting on what could have been done... The process may be slow, but you need to start and the country needs to have a vision... Have a vision and work towards that... I’m sure people in positions of responsibility are doing what they’re supposed to do.

There was fear all over after the terrorists struck in Mumbai. How did you react?

There was fear, of course... For some days after that, I stayed away from hotels... Not because of fear, but because going to a hotel wouldn’t have given me good vibes... It’s scary that while we’re talking (at The Park coffee shop), this afternoon, something could have happened…

Are we, as a nation, soft?

Generally, we Indians are soft... We accept things more easily... We forgive more easily... That’s our mindset, our approach... Some aspects should change, certainly in sport... No point being gentlemen losers! You aren’t in competition to make friends, you’re there to beat the other individual or the other team... You can’t be happy losing, you’ve got to be aggressive... Got to be a go-getter... You can either try to win or try and be friends, not both, I’m afraid.

What’s the other big challenge?

(Grins) I’d say sport... If we’re looking to be a developed nation by 2020, then we can’t just win two-three medals in the Olympics... Look at China, its first gold was in 1984, yet it’s such a powerhouse in this century... Sport, for me, is an integral part of nation building. It could be a hard task, but we’ve got to collectively work towards improving the standard... New Delhi is hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games, but the improvement in infrastructure there won’t benefit anybody outside the capital... There’s talk of bidding for the Olympics, but I’d be much happier if the money which would go into hosting an edition is spent on developing infrastructure across the country... There should be many small centres of excellence, giving sportsmen and women the chance to improve their skills and, in doing so, getting noticed. Vision is needed in sport as well... You’ve got to dream too... Dream big... At the moment, there’s recession globally, but we’ve been dreaming big in business and in other areas. Why not in sport?

Could you, at some point, act as mentor to sportspersons with Olympic aspirations?

Not sure that I’m qualified to act as one but, yes, I’m there to help anybody who wishes to learn from my experience. What I’d like to emphasise is that there’s no set way to success... There’s no formula as such and you’ve got to be flexible... Clearly, one has to find his or her own path... Find his or her own road to success... It’s not necessary that everybody has to follow what I did, they can pick up what helps them and try and pick up the good from others as well... Take the positives out of everybody.

Your message for youngsters?

Never ever give up, never... Most of my career has seen failures, not big successes... You’ve got to keep trying and you’ll either succeed or you’ll try again... I don’t think failure should leave you very disappointed or bring morale down... Failure is the stepping stone to success. Indeed, when you win, there’s not much that you can take out of it... It’s from failures that you learn.

The last one: Your thoughts on having shared the stage with fellow-icons Viswanathan Anand and Sourav Ganguly?

It was an honour... Anand and I spoke about Dortmund… He plays there and I’ve trained there... As for Sourav, I’ve been a fan of his... As captain, he changed the face of Indian cricket... Injected aggression... We’d been a soft team till then... Sourav took our cricket forward and the change in attitude brought about by him will, I’m sure, last forever.

Chess: Fischer is greatest ever, says Anand

2009-01-15T21:53:00.000-08:00

World Champion Viswanathan Anand picked Bobby Fischer as the greatest chess player ever and said he had had the good fortune of meeting the legendary player a couple of years back.

Addressing the media on the sidelines of a function here on Thursday, the world chess champion said Fischer had the greatest impact on the sport.

The following are excerpts:

His views on Bobby Fischer

Bobby Fischer was the greatest chess player who ever lived. He was a very special person, and I was fortunate to meet him two years ago... He passed away recently, now I consider that I was lucky to meet him.

His next target after becoming the world champion

I am going to focus on my next tournament, Linares, which I play next month.

His recipe for success

There’s no recipe for success. You have to find something that you love. Rest is how much you enjoy and practise.

His greatest achievement

Definitely winning the world championship… To win in Mexico and then retain it this time... It’s the pinnacle. I think this time I played better. I managed to prepare well. I also gauged the direction the matches were going to take. I won it comfortably. So it’s really a nice feeling.

On Surya Sekhar Ganguly

I have always found him very impressive. He is a very promising player. We have been working together for some years now. So, before the Bonn fight, I was very keen to have him on my team.

Not being able to beat Kasparov in a big match

It’s a pity but that’s life... It would have been nice to have a big match with him. But I haven’t had the chance to play Kasparov in the last few years.

Comparing Fischer and Kasparov

It’s difficult to compare... But, Fischer made the biggest impact on the game. Kasparov had a much longer reign from 1984 to 2005.

His greatest competitor

Five years ago, there was a huge difference between the three of us (Anand, Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov) and the rest. But now, only 30 points separate the top six players. In different years, there are different players...

The game in which he would like to compete with Bindra and Sourav

Sourav is best in taking off his shirt… Abhinav in shooting and we can’t play chess. May be cycling.

The status of chess in India

If you compare the situation 20 years back to today, I think a lot has improved. In 1987, there was only one GM... In 1990, we had a second one... Now we have 18... In age group championships, we are winning consistently...

The All India Chess Federation’s role

They (AICF) have done some good things. Now we have lots of tournaments. But perhaps AICF can do a lot more.

Tennis: Somdev crashes out of Aus Open qualifiers

2009-01-15T21:51:00.000-08:00

Somdev Devvarman, who put up a stellar show at Chennai Open by reaching the finals, crashed out of the qualifying event losing his second round match at the Australian Open.

Somdev, India's highest-ranked player at 154, lost 6-4, 4-6, 5-7 to Poland's Lukasz Kubot, who is ranked 207th in the ATP list.

Somdev had edged compatriot Prakash Amritraj while Kubot has defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France in their first round match.

Tennis: Sania-Francesca stunned at Hobart WTA event

2009-01-15T01:32:00.000-08:00

Sania Mirza and her doubles partner Francesca were stunned in straight sets by an unseeded Spaniard pair. Sania Mirza and Francesca Schiavone's were handed a straight-set defeat by Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja and Edina Gallovits of Romania at Sania Mirza returns to Anna Chakvetadze in the World Team Challenge in Hong Kong. the doubles event of the $220,000 Hobart International WTA tournament on Wednesday.

The fourth seed Indo-Italian pair lost 5-7, 1-6 to their unseeded opponents in the quarter-final of the hard court event.

Sania-Francesca could not convert any of the two breakpoints in the match while the winners capitalised on the three of the four chances.

Sania will get 70 ranking points for reaching the last-eight-pair stage.

The Indian now heads to Melbourne to compete in the Australian Open -- first grand slam of the year, beginning from January 19.

Tragedy of Limba Ram

2009-01-15T01:11:00.000-08:00

The next time you walk down a road , if you bump into someone shabby, penniless but with a familiar face, dont be surprised. You could probably be staring at a Asian Gold Medalist or a World Record holder in a sport that wasnt Cricket. It isnt surprising too.. The World Champ in Carrom, lives in a Slum in Chennai, a few Hockey Olympians have lived on streets.

Now add to that list, a name from the last decade. Limba Ram. A natural born athlete, Limba excelled in Archery. He missed winning the bronze in 1992 Olympics by a whisker, was a world record holder for sometime and he is the national Coach for He has been living in a Garage for the last couple of years because he couldnt afford a proper house.

While our federations leave no stone unturned in reaping benefits, they simply tend to ignore everyone else. So here we are having to see the national coach, a world record holder living in a Garage.

As they say "it happens only in India"

Football: Bhutia scores but India lose

2009-01-15T01:08:00.000-08:00

India went down 1-2 to hosts Hong Kong in a friendly at the Mong Kok Stadium on Wednesday.

According to reports reaching here, Hong Kong, who are ranked 10 places below India (142) in the latest Fifa rankings, dominated the outing and clinched the winner during injury time.

Watched by around 5,000 people, most of whom were Indians, the visitors were able to keep the rival strikers at bay for most part of the encounter.

India restored parity through Bhaichung Bhutia before Ng Wai Chiu beat custodian Subrata Paul inside the box in the 93rd minute.

Paul, however, had a great match under the bar and came up with some fine saves to thwart the Hong Kong strikers on several occasions.

It was India’s first defeat in an international match since they went down to the Maldives in the SAFF Cup final in Colombo last year.

India, who regained some of their lost prestige at the Asian level after winning the AFC Challenge Cup last August, were nowhere near their best on Wednesday and could have lost by a bigger margin.

The chilly weather also caused discomfort to the Indian boys.

After a barren first half, the hosts increased pressure and shot into the lead in the 70th minute through Yiu Chung Au.

India restored parity nine minutes later when skipper Bhutia found the net with a low shot after substitute Mahesh Gawli initiated the move from the defence.

“It was a balanced match and they could score the matchwinner only in the 93rd minute,” said coach Bob Houghton.

“Overall, our boys produced a decent performance.”

In the second half, India made three changes to the team, bringing in Mahesh Gawli, Rakesh Masih and Abhishek Yadav in place of Deepak Mondal, NP Pradeep and Sunil Chhetri, respectively.

Debutant Anthony Pereira had a good match and Bob Houghton kept him on for the entire duration.

The last time India met Hong Kong was in the Asian Games in Doha in 2006.The match ended 1-1.

INDIA TEAM

Subrata Paul; Deepak Mondal (Mahesh Gawli 57th), Gourmangi Singh and Anwar Ali; Steven Dias, NP Pradeep (Rakesh Masih, 57th), Climax Lawrence and Anthony Pereira; Sunil Chhetri (Abhishek Yadav, 88th) and Bhaichung Bhutia.

India look to Devvarman with hope

2009-01-15T01:05:00.000-08:00

A positive attitude, strong legs and practice sessions with Andy Roddick have turned Somdev Devvarman into the new hope of Indian tennis.

Devvarman jumped 48 places up the world rankings this week after reaching his first ATP Tour final in Chennai.

"Somdev's biggest strengths are his legs and his head," said twice Wimbledon quarter-finalist Vijay Amritraj as he commentated on the tournament. "It's a good sign."

Devvarman, who turned professional last year and is India's highest-ranked player, told reporters during the event that his recent improvement was due to a three-week practice session with American former world number one Roddick in December.

His coach says his biggest asset is his attitude.

"He may lose matches but never, ever have I seen him giving up," Jacek Wolicki told reporters last week.

ROBUST DISPLAY

The 23-year-old Devvarman, who is based in the United States, rose to 154 in the world after beating former world number one Carlos Moya and world number 25 Ivo Karlovic on his way to his first ATP final.

Wildcard Devvarman produced a robust display against Croatian Marin Cilic, ranked 27th last week, before being beaten 6-4 7-6 in the final.

"This is what we've been looking for for so many years now... This boy is a real find for us," doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi told the Times of India newspaper.

Bhupathi was one half of the "Indian Express" doubles team with Leander Paes which rose to number one in the world in 1999.

Atlanta Olympics bronze medallist Paes remains the last Indian to have won an ATP singles title, in Newport in 1998, the year he reached his career-best singles ranking of 73 and the last year that India played in the Davis Cup World Group.

SURFACE CHOICE

Devvarman's recent success has given India hope of rediscovering success in the Davis Cup.

"Yes, Somdev is our number one singles player and we'll definitely keep his interests in mind when we choose the surface for our home Davis Cup ties," said Bhupathi.

Somdev made his Davis Cup debut last year but lost all three of his matches. India are competing in the Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 this year after losing to Romania in the World Group play-offs in 2008.

Devvarman, twice U.S. collegiate champion after taking up a tennis scholarship at the University of Virginia, is playing in the Australian Open qualifiers this week and won his first match against Prakash Amritraj, the second-highest ranked Indian at 209.

Devvarman, born in the eastern state of Assam before his family moved to Chennai, will carry the hopes of a nation if he gets into next week's main draw.

"We were looking for a star and there he is," former India Davis Cup player and coach Akhtar Ali told Indian media.

Tennis: Chennai Open: Somdev stuns Carlos Moya

2009-01-08T02:46:00.000-08:00

India's Somdev Devvarman caused a major upset against two-time former champion and world number 42 Carlos Moya of Spain to storm into quarter-finals of Chennai Open ATP tournament on Thursday.

Somdev, who is ranked 202 on ATP charts, rallied to defeat sixth seeded Moya 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in a gruelling 131 minute second round encounter of the $ 450,000 event.

Moya was making his seventh appearance in the tournament with title wins in 2004 and 2005 and a final defeat at the hands of Croat Ivan Ljubicic in 2006. The Spaniard also lost a gruelling semi-final last year to compatriot Rafael Nadal

Somdev, who is unseeded here, next plays fourth seeded Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, who beat Tvo Minar of Czech Republic 6-1, 6-4 in another second round match.