Narain Karthikeyan sizzling on the Zhuhai International Circuit, Team India zipped to its first A1 GP victory by winning the Feature Race on Sunday.
Having lost his status as Williams' test driver after the Formula One team jettisoned him earlier this week, Karthikeyan took the circuit by storm and raced to the chequered flag, quelling late charge from New Zealand and South Africa.
India thus became the 14th nation to record a win in A1GP.
Starting third in the grid, Karthikeyan stepped on the gas on lap 16 when Portugal slipped back, allowing India to trail Switzerland. And by lap 22, the gap between the Swiss and Indian car had been whittled down to 4.6 seconds.
In lap 26, Neel Jani of Team Switzerland developed a problem with the right rear tyre and had to bring the car into the pits, which allowed Karthikeyan to grab the lead.
Karthikeyan had winned the GP race which is held in China.
Kiwi Jonny Reid then closed down on the Indian with less than half a second separating them but Karthikeyan used all his experience of racing in the top flight and survived the late assault to drive his team to glory.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
FIRST A1 GP for India win by Karthikeyan,his Team
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Chopra out of Australian Masters golf
Daniel Chopra was edged out in the play-off by Australian star Aaron Baddeley, who won his first Australian Masters title on the fourth hole of a playoff at Huntingdale Golf Club.
The Australian Masters is a joint-sanctioned event between Australian and European PGA Tours.Chopra, who father is Indian and mother Swedish, started the day with a one shot lead. He seemed to have an edge till the 16th where he had a second birdie after one a little earlier on the 15th.
When Baddeley birdied 17th and Chopra slipped, they were both 13-under and Chopra needed an eight-foot putt for a par at the last to force the playoff with both players locked on 13-under.
The final day saw no less than five players shared the lead at one stage. Then Stuart Appleby moved clear with a few holes remaining before Chopra's two birdies gave him the edge but he faltered again and missed out on his maiden European Tour title.
Baddeley could have won on the first playoff hole but he missed an eight-footer for birdie. The two parred it the second time around and then Chopra made a difficult par putt on the third occasion to get into the fourth hole.
This time Baddeley got a par despite getting into trouble but Chopra three-putted and gave the title to Baddeley. Neither Chopra nor Baddeley were at their best and but Appleby seemed fine till the 18th.
Appleby looked to have his first Australian Masters in his pocket after going into lead with a birdie at the 12th. Then his challenge faltered with a double bogey and he ended on 11-under, two shots off the pace.
Jyoti and Ghei finish 17th, Scots win World Cup of golf
Jyoti Randhawa and Gaurav Ghei ended their Omega Mission Hills World Cup campaign with a modest one-under 71 that saw them finish tied 17th place after the four-day tournament.
The final round showing was way off their first and third round performances, but their second-round three-over 75 pulled them down badly.
The Scots, who started the final round one stroke back of the unheralded American duo, won the US$5 million team event with a par on the third hole of a sudden-death shoot-out at Mission Hills Golf Club. Victory was sweet for Scotland as it made up for last year's disappointment of finishing runner-up to Germany.
China enjoyed their best finish in the World Cup with trailblazers Zhang Lian-wei and Liang Wen-chong shooting a four-under-par 68 in the foursomes to finish tied 11th on a 17-under-par 271, eight shots behind winners Scotland.
They were the joint best Asian team alongside Korea's Lee Sung and Lee Seung-ho in the 28-team competition that will stay in Mission Hills for the next 12 years.
Montgomerie, 44, paid a tribute to 18-years younger Warren after the latter pulled off a pressure-packed 12-foot par save in the first extra hole to keep the Scots firmly in the tournament. Warren had also holed an eight-foot eagle putt on the 15th hole that propelled them to the top of the leaderboard.
Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin and Gregory Havret shot a flawless 67 to finish third, one shot shy of the play-off teams while England's Justin Rose and Ian Poulter, the pre-tournament favourites, settled for fourth place, also after a 67.
ICL races against time to put up cricket show
The Tau Devi Lal sports complex cricket stadium in Panchkula, a satellite town of Chandigarh located in Haryana, is nothing less than a battlefield these days.
There is a frenzy of activity at the cricket stadium of the imposing sports complex, located 15 km from here, named after Haryana's political patriarch and former deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal.
Except for the lush green outfield of the cricket ground and the square in the middle, there is a war-like atmosphere everywhere in this new stadium. The organisers are fighting against time to get things in order as the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) prepares for its maiden cricketing show from Nov 30.
An excited ICL chairman, the legendary Kapil Dev knows that a lot needs to be done as the day of the first Twenty-20 tournament nears.
"In a short span of time the ICL has undertaken significant revamping of the stadium. It has made various additions to the stadium to ensure an atmosphere of immensely enjoyable cricket carnival," said Kapil Dev, who broke into the international cricketing arena from this city in 1978.
New stands are being put up to increase the seating capacity of the ground to 6,000. Floodlights are being installed for day-night encounters. The pavilion building is being upgraded to include individual lockers and dressing rooms for players, umpires and match officials. A hi-tech broadcast studio is also being readied.
The production facilities will include 30-camera units with high technical specifications like hawk eye, zoomer, snickometer, speedgun and replays for third umpire.
The ICL - an Essel (Zee) group event - has taken the stadium here on a 10-year lease from the Haryana government. "We will provide world-class facilities here," ICL chief executive Ashish Kaul told IANS.
The organizers want to make the event a fun tournament. Ticket sales - Rs 100 for a single match and Rs 150 for two matches on the same day - have started here.
The state government is extending full cooperation to the ICL event with the state's sports minister Kiran Chaudhary stating that the event would be made a success.
All matches of the T-20 tournament, played between six teams, will be in the afternoon and evening. Five international players will feature in each team named after Indian cities. The remaining players in each team will be young cricketers who have signed up with ICL.
The teams are Chandigarh Lions, Mumbai Champs, Delhi Jets, Chennai Superstars, Hyderabad Heroes and Kolkata Tigers.
The matches will be telecast live on Zee Sports channel and Tony Greig, Dean Jones, Pat Symcox and Jeffery Thomson will be expert commentators.
National Football League becomes I-League
The premier club football league of the country, the National Football League (NFL) has taken another step towards putting Indian football on the rails of 'professionalism', and has assumed a new name called I-League.
The Oil and Natural Gas Cooperation (ONGC) sponsored league kicked off with a match between defending champion Dempo Sports Club and Salgaocar Sports Club at the Nehru Stadium in Margao.
Bollywood actor John Abraham, who stars in recently released Bollywood film "Dhan Dhana Dan Goal" with the game of football as its theme, started the event by kicking a football.
"Unfortunately, football has not picked up the way cricket has in the country. But I am sure that with the league and with all the promotion campaigns, football is going to pick up in the country," said John.
All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Priyaranjan Dasmusi said that football already pulls more crowds in West Bengal than cricket.
"In an international cricket match when India-Pakistan play, 60-70 thousand people gather at the Eden Gardens, but during the domestic football match of the Federation Cup and during the local league match of the East Bengal and Mohun Bagan around 100,000 people gather in Calcutta stadium," said Dasmunsi.
The I-League will retain the NFL home-away format but there will be a greater reward -- Rs. 50 lakh for the winner and Rs. 28 lakh for the runner-up -- to fight for. (ANI)
India to grassp the Delhi's Test required more 32 runs
India, chasing 203 to win the first Test against Pakistan, had scored 171 for three wickets in their second innings on the fourth day here Sunday, needing 32 more to win on the fifth and final day.
At the close of play, Sachin Tendulkar was batting on 32 (86 balls, 5x4s) and Sourav Ganguly was on 48 (61 balls, 8x4s). Both batted with assurance and authority and have so far added 78 for the fourth wicket.
Earlier, India bowled out Pakistan for 247 in their second innings, with Salman Butt being the top scorer with 67 and Anil Kumble taking three wickets at his favourite Ferozeshah Kotla.
Pakistan, who made 231 in the first innings, ended up with a lead of 202. India had made 276 in their first innings.
India's chase began inauspiciously as they lost Dinesh Karthik quickly for the second time in the match. He made nine in the first innings and one in the second and was caught behind both the times. Wasim Jaffer (53, 81 balls, 8x4s) and Rahul Dravid (34, 96 balls, 5x4s) did not let the early dismissal affect them as the duo contributed 82 for the second wicket.
But Jaffer and Dravid departed within nine runs of each other. Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar took all three wickets. His exceptional second spell, during which he dismissed Jaffer and Dravid, read 7-2-16-2.
Tendulkar and Ganguly then took charge. Unmindful of the fading light, Ganguly square cut leg-spinner Danish Kaneria for two successive fours to the delight of the packed stadium. And in the next over from pacer Mohammed Sami, Tendulkar flicked and Ganguly drove to bring up two more boundaries and that sent the spectators into ecstasy.
The day began with Pakistan at 212 for five. But Kamran Akmal, who was batting on 21 along with Misbah-ul-Haq (29) overnight, was out without any addition to his score.
Akmal, who is going through a poor run, tried to drive Zaheer Khan through the covers, but the angle of the delivery saw him slicing it to substitute Yuvraj Singh for straightforward catch at point. The sixth-wicket stand was broken after 52 runs.
Sohail Tanvir, the next batsman, who is left-hander did not last long as fell into the trap laid by Khan, mishooking into the hands of Harbhajan Singh at backward square leg.
Ganguly, in whom Kumble seemed to have a lot of faith, made it worse for Pakistan as he struck twice in three balls to dismiss Misbah-ul-Haq and Sami.
With first delivery with the second new ball, Ganguly got rid of the danger man Misbah-ul-Haq (45, 87 balls 2x4s, 2x6s). Misbah attempted his favourite lofted ondrive, but Dinesh Karthik ran backwards some ten metres from mid on to mid-wicket to take a brilliantly judged catch.
Misbah, despite not being well, played his role to perfection and emerged as the second highest scorer after Salman Butt's 67.
Off the next ball, Sami flicked a four off the military medium pacer, but Ganguly had his revenge the next delivery as the dogged batsman top-edged, going for massive drive, and was caught by Wasim Jaffer at mid-wicket.
Like in India's first innings, the last two wickets in the Pakistani innings fell to successive balls as Kaneria also was run out. Sachin Tendulkar's slightly off-target throw to wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who smartly broke the stumps with his back to them.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
PAES and DAMM make Masters cut
Status quo for Indians
All the top Indian players clung on to their positions in the latest WTA and ATP ranking lists released on Monday. While SANIA MIRZA maintained her 32nd position, Sunitha Rao did not see any change in her rank of 182nd on the WTA singles ranking chart.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
The Indian chess participants an unblemished record and earned their country the first gold medal of the second Asian Indoor Games here Saturday.
India had a spotless record with six wins in six games. The Indian team comprising Krishnan Sasikiran and Surya Sekhar Ganguly and World No. 2 woman Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika won all their matches to secure 12 points, with two points being given for each win.
With this gold medal, India completed a chess double at Asian Games and Asian Indoor Games. The Indian team had won the gold medal at Doha Asian Games last December. Sasikiran and Humpy have been part of both teams.
India's stars were Sasikiran and Harika. Sasi won five of his six games and lost only one to 22-year-old Bu Xianghi of China. Among the women, Harika totalled five points with four wins and two draws and was the only unbeaten Indian player.
Humpy had four wins, one draw and one unexpected loss to Catherine Perena of the Philippines. Ganguly totalled 3.5 points from six games with three wins, one draw and two losses.
The top four scorers in both men's and women's section advance to the semi-finals of the individual competition and Indians have Harika in the last four among women, while Sasikiran will be the country's big hope among men.
The team competition was mixed with two men and two women and India won each of their matches Friday, the first day of the Games, and then added two more wins over Kazhakhstan (2.5-1.5) and Indonesia (3.5-0.5) Saturday.
Bordeaux rallies to beat Valenciennes
Bordeaux rallied to beat Valenciennes 2-1 on Saturday with goals from Jussie and David Bellion and moved into third place in the French league.
Second-place Nancy wasted a chance to go first, drawing at bottom-side Metz 0-0.
Valenciennes opened the scoring with an own goal from Souleymane Diawara who deflected in a shot from Algeria international Yacine Bezzaz in the 34th minute.
Bordeaux leveled in the 37th after Brazilian forward Jussie converted a penalty kick.
David Bellion got his eighth goal this season to give the victory to Bordeaux, connecting with a corner kick in the 45th.
"The team showed its moral strength. It immediately reacted after conceding an unlucky goal," Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc said.
Bordeaux has 22 points from 12 games while Valenciennes dropped to ninth place with 18 points.
Lyon leads the league with 25 points from 11 games and visits Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday.
Nancy, which has 24 points, had the best chances against Metz but lacked the finishing touch to convert them.
Metz goalkeeper Christophe Marichez stopped a low header from Andre Luiz in the 16th minute off a free kick from Benjamin Gavanon.
Gavanon chested the ball down in the 28th before shooting straight into Marichez's arms.
Nancy nearly scored in the 83rd after a poor clearance but Puygrenier's diagonal shot went wide.
In Saturday's other games, it was: Sochaux 2, Marseille 1; Lorient 0, Nice 0; Saint-Etienne 0, Auxerre 0; Lille 0, Strasbourg 3; and Monaco 0, Caen 0.
Sochaux edged Marseille to grab its first win at home this season and move away from the relegation zone.
Badrinath, GauthamGambhir blaze to glory
The second day of the Challenger Series belonged to Subramaniam Badrinath (82 not out) and Gautam Gambhir (73). Both played elegantly to help India Red post a commanding 303 for 7 against India Green today, and thereby help their side to an 88-run win. India Red won with a bonus point and have already qualified for the finals. That leaves the two teams meeting tomorrow— Green and Blue — to decide on the other finalist. If India Blue wins tomorrow’s encounter they will qualify, or else it will boil down to the net run rate.
Both Gambhir and Badrinath seemed to be competing against each other. Interestingly Badrinath was drafted into the Indian team in place of Gambhir during the Australia series after the southpaw got injured. Now, Badrinath would like to retain his spot, while Gambhir would want to get his berth back when the selectors meet here tomorrow to pick the squad for the Pakistan series. And both, with equally good performances, have made the task of the five wise men a bit difficult.
Gambhir was more cautious to begin with, and then slowly started to attack the bowlers, just playing according to the situation to set the platform for a big total. During his 74-ball innings, Gambhir showed his class— playing shots on all sides of the wicket through his seven boundaries.
But just when he looked set for a century, an ambitious shot brought an end to his knock. Piyush Chawla, in his second over, tossed up on the middle and off, and the batsman, looking to hit over mid-wicket, guided the ball to Manoj Tiwary.
Badrinath, batting at No. 5, seemed to be continuing from his 41-run knock yesterday — middling the ball from the start and ensuring that the team didn’t lose the initiative given by Gambhir. He was though, a shade slower than Gambhir to reach the
50-mark. The Tamil Nadu player took 62 deliveries to Gambhir’s 58 but made up for it soon after, racing to 82 from 79 balls, including seven boundaries and a last ball six off Munaf Patel to take the total past 300.
In the initial part of his innings, Badrinath was playing second fiddle to the more attacking Virat Kohli (40 off 45 balls). The duo put on 85 runs for the fifth wicket before 18-year-old Delhi batsman was stumped by Parthiv Patel off Iqbal Abdulla. Kohli hit two huge sixes and a boundary. Later Paresh Patel played a cameo 12-ball 22 to give impetus to the scoring rate.
India Green, in reply, never looked in contention as they lost wickets at regular intervals even as the required run-rate kept mounting. Only Tiwary looked capable of guiding the ship with a steady 65 but lack of support from the other end didn’t help.
Selection is purely on merit: DILIP VENGSARKAR
Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar may be drawing criticism for being too harsh to Rahul Dravid by dropping him from the squad for the first two ODIs against Pakistan, but the man on the hot seat insisted that he picked the team "purely on merit".
"You cannot make everybody happy. Every time you have to pick the best combination, a winning combination. If we pick somebody, we are asked, 'Why did you pick him?' If we drop somebody, we are asked, 'Why did you drop him?' (But) it's how you take it.
"We pick a player on his form and fitness. And purely on merit. You watch cricket and you know how well the person is batting, whether he is in form or not,"
"When you pick a player it means you believe in him,unless he proves you wrong. But that is very rare," he said, adding "you can't put numbers to it.
For instance, say that if the player does not perform for five games, he is out. You cannot do that."
Asked if it was difficult to drop a senior player, Vengsarkar said, "there is nothing like senior, junior or middle-aged guys. Just because someone is a youngster, he won't be getting half-volleys in international cricket. Everyone has to be picked on merit, form and fitness."
On who would take the place of Rahul Dravid, who was a regular in the middle order, Vengsarkar said, "at this stage Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir are there and waiting in the wings are Manoj Tiwary, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma. So we have a lot of options".
World trap shooter Manavjit Singh won the individual gold and also helped India clinch the team gold at the 2007 Asian Clay Shooting Championship in a
Manavjit won the gold in a tiebreaker, beating Khaled of Kuwait, while two other teammates, Zorawar Singh and Anwer Sultan also grabbed the gold Friday,
"In the qualifying round, Khaled was leading with 120/125 points and Manavjit was at the second place with 118 points.
"In the finals, Manavjit shot 20 and Khaled 18. In the tie shoot, Manav won the gold and Khaled the silver medal. The bronze medal went to Singapore," it said.
India won the team gold with a total of 354/375 points.
NRAI also announced in a meeting held in Manila Saturday that the Asian Clay Shooting Federation will organize the next championship in Jaipur in February 2008.
DENIS WATSON leads Charles Schwab Cup
Denis Watson shot a 4-under 68 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over defending champion Jim Thorpe and Brad Bryant into the final round of the Champion Tour's season-ending Charles Schwab Championship.
He trailed by two strokes after 13 holes and went into No 18 a shot behind Thorpe, the 2003 and 2006 winner.
But Thorpe made a double bogey on the 412-yard, par-4 final hole to finish with a 69.
Watson had a 15-under 201 total.
Bryant, one of four players in contention for the Charles Schwab Cup race for a $1 million (euro700,000 million) annuity, matched his best round of the tournament, a 67 to close the gap behind Watson.
Bryant, who trails Loren Roberts in the Cup race by 697 points, can become just the second player to win both the season-finale and the Cup championship in the same season and needs to win on Sunday to have a chance. He will need some help.
At 6-under 210, Roberts was tied for 18th place. Jay Haas, 165 points behind Roberts, shot a 71 to reach 7 under.
Napoli beats Juventus
Maurizio Domizzi scored twice from the penalty spot on Saturday to lead Napoli over Juventus 3-1 in the Italian first division.
Walter Gargano got Napoli's other goal in the 50th, four minutes after Alessandro Del Piero put Juventus ahead 1-0.
Also on Saturday, Alessandro Rosina scored to help Torino beat Cagliari 2-0 for only its second victory in the league.
Inter Milan leads the Serie A with 20 points, followed by Juventus with 17, Fiorentina with 16, AS Roma with 15 and Napoli with 14. Torino has 11 points, three more than Cagliari.
On Sunday, Inter can extend its lead at sixth-place Palermo, while Fiorentina travels to Genoa and Roma faces a stern test at AC Milan.
Napoli conceded four goals in a 4-4 draw with AS Roma last week but it was much tighter at the back against Juventus, with a strong performance by Paolo Cannavaro - brother of Italy and Real Madrid defender Fabio Cannavaro.
"We closed down the space well," Napoli coach Eddy Reja said. "Despite playing with three forwards they had little freedom."
Sachin to be Test captain: Sources
Sachin Tendulkar has agreed to be captain for the next two test series against Pakistan and Australia, sources said.
Sachin's captaincy has been finalised but an announcement is likely only after November 8.
A debate has been raging for quite some time now, as to whether there should be different captains for the test and one day teams.
While M S Dhoni has been appreciated for the way he has captained the Twenty20 and one day teams, it really was a two horse race between Dhoni and Sachin for the test captaincy.
The 2007 India-Pakistan tennis series will be held in Pakistan next month, All India Tennis Association (AITA) announced here Saturday.
The six-day series will comprise two men's singles, one women's singles, one men's doubles and one mixed doubles match starting Nov 12. The AITA, however, did not name the venue.
The Indian team will comprise three boys - Aditya Madkekar, Vivek Shokeen and Ashutosh Singh - and two girls - Parija Maloo and Sonal Phadke.
Former India Davis Cupper Akhtar Ali is the team coach.
Dravid dropped, Sehwag recalled to play Pakistan
The national selectors are meeting tomorrow to pick the squad for the first two games of the ODI home series against Pakistan starting next month, but large-scale changes may be ruled out.
The selectors will spend some time on the question mark over former India captain Rahul Dravid, who finished the recent home ODI series against Australia — India lost 2-4 — with an average of 10.2. But it is believed that they will finally fall back on the age-old cricketing logic of ‘form being temporary and class permanent’.
It means that Dravid will stay as part of India’s Big 3 — along with Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. It also means that Dilip Vengsarkar and Co will have to turn a blind eye to the creditable batting performances they have been watching during the Challenger series in Ahmedabad.
Moving on, Gautam Gambhir, after his Man-of-the-Match performance against Australia in the T20 game and his 73 from 74 balls today for India Reds, seems certain to be redrafted in the side though that’s where the selectors will find themselves in a spot.
Before today, S Badrinath, who replaced the injured Gambhir during the Australia series, was expected to be the weak link but his fine showing for India Red today — 82 from 79 balls — has changed things. .
Adding another twist to the selection muddle is the return of Suresh Raina, who scored 92 from 100 balls in the only Challenger game he has played. And in case former opener Virender Sehwag happens to be among the runs for India Blues tomorrow, the selectors’ job will only get tougher.
Besides, Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik had come up with match-winning performances in India’s last two games at Mumbai against Australia — the seventh ODI and the Twenty20 game. And the pacers Zaheer Khan, RP Singh and S Sreesanth are automatic picks while Irfan Pathan has cemented his place as an all-rounder. But it’s learnt that UP’s bits-and-pieces player Praveen Kumar, who has now taken nine wickets from two games, will figure in the discussions tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Is this F1 season over?
Kimi Raikkonen may have to wait days and even weeks before the Ferrari driver can be absolutely certain that he is Formula One champion.
Even as the Finn celebrated a stunning victory against the odds in Sunday's Brazilian season-ender at Interlagos, rivals McLaren were preparing an appeal that could cast a cloud over his first title.
McLaren said on Sunday night it was ready to appeal a stewards' decision at the Brazilian Grand Prix, keeping alive Briton Lewis Hamilton's F1 title dream.
The team made the decision following the stewards' decision not to punish the BMW Sauber and Williams teams for using allegedly irregular fuel during Sunday's race, won by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen to claim the drivers' title. McLaren's decision to appeal now leaves the results of the drivers' world championship in a state of uncertainty.
If the FIA's International Court of Appeal overturns the stewards' decision and, more crucially, disqualifies the Williams and BMW Sauber drivers, then Hamilton will be elevated from seventh to fourth - giving him enough points to beat Raikkonen for the world championship.
McLaren officials notified the FIA of their intention to appeal the race stewards ' decision not to penalise BMW Sauber and Williams within an hour of the announcement, which had appeared to seal the championship for the Finn. The stewards ' decision also meant the original race result was confirmed and that Raikkonen was confirmed as champion.
He won the race and Hamilton, the 22-year-old British rookie who went into the final race with a four-point lead after leading the championship for six months, finished seventh.
That outcome left Raikkonen one point ahead of Hamilton for the season crown, denying the British racer a world championship in his rookie campaign.
Brazilian Grand Prix stewards' decided not to take action against BMW Sauber and Williams despite a report from the FIA technical delegate that stated temperatures of fuel samples taken from both cars of each team were outside the regulations.
McLaren have a week to decide whether to proceed but even then it is unlikely that they will be able to overturn Kimi's title.
Article 168 of the FIA's international sporting code makes clear that it remains up to the stewards to decide whether to move a driver up in the race classification. Drivers have been stripped of points in the past but allowed to keep their placing.
Raikkonen has seen it all before, hailed as a winner of the halted 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix only to have the victory taken away days later when it emerged that the timekeepers were wrong.
Upcoming Indian matches
Date | Time | Teams | Stadium | City | Match |
November 6, Tuesday | 09:00 IST | India v Pakistan | Nehru Stadium | Guwahati | First ODI |
November 9, Friday | 14:30 IST | India v Pakistan | Punjab CA Stadium | Mohali, Chandigarh | Second ODI |
November 11, Sunday | 09:00 IST | India v Pakistan | Green Park | Kanpur | Third ODI |
November 15, Thursday | 14:30 IST | India v Pakistan | Captain Roop Singh Stadium | Gwalior | Fourth ODI |
November 18, Sunday | 14:30 IST | India v Pakistan | Sawai Mansingh Stadium | Jaipur | Fifth ODI |
November 22 - 26 | 09:30 IST | India v Pakistan | Feroz Shah Kotla | Delhi | First Test |
November 30 - December 4 | 09:30 IST | India v Pakistan | Eden Gardens | Kolkata | Second Test |
December 8 - December 12 | 09:30 IST | India v Pakistan | M Chinnaswamy Stadium | Bangalore | Third Test |
Chawla replaces Kartik for Challenger Series
Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla has been inducted into the India Green team for the October 25-28 NKP Salve Challenger Series to be held at Ahmedabad.
"Murali Kartik has been given a rest. His place will be taken up by Piyush Chawla," said selection panel chief Dilip Vengsarkar on Monday.
Chawla suffered an ankle injury during India's triumphant campaign in the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa last month and missed the subsequent seven-match ODI series against Australia as well as the one-off Twenty20 International.
The injury to Chawla opened up a place for Kartik who, on his recall to the national team after 20-month banishment, grabbed the chance with both hands and bowled splendidly.
The left-arm spinner from Railways appears a certainty when the team for the ODI series against Pakistan commencing at Guwahati on November 5 is picked in Ahmedabad on October 27.
Dravid hails world champ Anand
Former Indian captain Rahul Dravid hailed the "Anand effect" at a function organised to felicitate the world chess champion here on Monday.
"Winning one World Championship in itself is phenomenal…he has come back to win another. It shows his determination, drive and mental strength. That in itself is a fantastic feat," Dravid said at the function.
"He has shown the way for others in the country. He is the first world champion in India. When you have someone to follow it becomes easy. But he had no one. He has done it on his own," Dravid said, showering praise on the Chennai-born 37-year-old World Champion.
"What I see here today is an Anand effect," he added.
Dravid, who was an hour late because of a delayed flight, told the gathering that when the All India Chess Federation President N Srinivasan invited him for the function he readily accepted because he wanted to meet the champion.
"I have followed his achievement with great pride. He is an inspiration not only for me, but for all Indians."
"He has been a fantastic role model for sportsmen...for all Indians. He has gone about with dignity, even after being a double world champion, which should be a lesson for all Indians," Dravid said.
Dravid also requested Anand to write a book on chess, which would not only be cherished by people who follow the game but also by people who want to succeed in life.
"You have been a huge inspiration to all of us," he said.
Nadal confirms for Chennai Open
World number two Rafael Nadal Images has confirmed his participation for the ATP Chennai Open, to be held at the SDAT Stadium, Nungambakkam from December 31, 2007 to January 6, 2008.
The Chennai Open has attracted a strong Spanish presence, with former French Open champion Carlos Moya Images an eternal favourite in the South Indian city. This will be Nadal's third appearance in the last five years in Chennai, though the Mallorcan has failed to win a title there.
"It feels great to be coming back to Chennai," Nadal said in a statement. "I like the crowd and their enthusiasm and support and they always push you to give your best.
"I lost in the semi-finals last time and I hope to win my first Chennai Open title this year. I had some injuries this year but Iam confident that I would make a good start to the New Year and improve my performance, playing in this tournament."
Nadal started his Chennai Open journey in 2004 (then Tata Open) as a young 16-year old. He lost to Frenchman Thierry Ascione in the first round but made his mark with his first career title, partnering with Spanish compatriot Tommy Robredo to win the doubles title.
Last year Nadal looked a little rusty before eventual winner Xavier Malisse of Belgium defeated him in the semi-final.
Tournament Director, Fernando Soler said, "Rafa is a special player and his confirmation at such an early stage re-affirms the popularity and importance Chennai Open has gathered in the ATP men's tour.
India's biggest haul at Military World Games
India came up with its biggest ever medal haul at the Military World Games, finishing with two gold, one silver and seven bronze medals in the fourth edition of the event which ended here Sunday.
However, a large majority of the 196 Indian athletes in 14 events did not get close to the top three places, and the men accounted for all the medals in the seven-day event.
It is noteworthy that India was able to make a mark with a haul of 10 medals in only their second time of entering the Games.
In the last edition in Catania (Italy), India had grabbed a lone bronze medal through boxer Kehanand Beliwal.
As has been the history in the games, Russia (38 gold, 26 silver and 27 bronze), China (35-21-11) and Germany (5-10-13) proved to be supreme finishing as top three medal winners in the Games, while India finished at 19th spot amongst the 48 countries of the 103 getting into the medal bracket.
The Games move to Brazil in 2011.
This time too, Indian boxers were the most impressive as they accounted for a gold and four bronze medals.
India's first gold medal was won by the sailors in the event held in Mumbai through R Mahesh and Giridhar Yadav in the Military Class race.
Jitender Singh got the first games medal for India in the 400m Hurdles event, and Manipuri boxer, P Narjit Singh, completed the tally with a superb golden effort in the bantamweight category.
Shooters Vijay Kumar, C K Choudhary, Pemba Tamana and Hambir Singh, all from the Army Marksmanship Unit in Mhow, claimed the silver medal in the 25m Centre Fire Pistol Team category and Chatholi Hamza won a 1500m bronze dashing the hopes of current Asian champion Mohammud Othman Shaween of Saudi Arabia.
Strains and tension of competing against higher ranked athletes did not deter Jitender as he survived a tight race to finish third ahead of Konstantinos Anastasiou of Greece, who was breathing down his neck.
Jitender's last ditch effort helped him win the bronze behind top notch runners Edress Hawsawi of Saudi Arabia and Jesus Salas of Brazil.
As for Hamza, it was definitely a superb effort since he raced against well-known Kenyans and Shaween. The Indian was bunched with Gideon Gathimba and Shadrack Korir, bronze medallist in the recent Osaka World Championships, and Shaween.
The best ever series in Test history
My stint as India coach may have begun with a home series against Zimbabwe, and everyone knew what was next. A few months later, with 15 straight Test wins under their belt, the Aussies were coming to conquer their 'final frontier'.
Shoulder surgery had ruled out Anil Kumble, which was a big blow during the Tests. Sourav Ganguly took me to a net during the Delhi Test versus Zimbabwe game to have a look at this kid called Harbhajan Singh. Bhajji was quiet and shy during those days, but he turned the ball a mile and it was obvious to see he was a special talent.
We got a group together for a 26-day conditioning camp in Chennai, and I was then struck by the self-belief of the boys. They appreciated just how tough the Australians were, but they were convinced that they could beat anyone at home, and that conviction was pretty unshakeable. Every minute of the camp was planned, we worked our backsides off during training under the intense Chennai sun, Anil coming along to stand at the nets and to help the spinners we had gathered there.
t was obvious Anil would have more useful things to tell them about spin bowling than a former New Zealand opening batsman. During indoor sessions, we discussed the Australian batsmen, formulated strategies and lived. It was a camp everyone enjoyed. Later, we could even boast that in Chennai when preparing for the Aussies, we had lived on fresh air, fruit juice and cricket.
We watched Australia's warm-up games against India 'A' and Mumbai and were gratified to see both the sides running the Aussies close. Well, they ran them closer than we did in the first Test anyway, which we lost in three days. But the game was a lot closer than its margin suggests.
McGrath and Gillespie bowled superbly to dismiss us for 173, but we had the Aussies at 99-5 before Gilchrist and Hayden launched their offensive. To compound my misery after the heavy defeat, I was congratulated in the hotel foyer for the Australian win. An Indian fan mistook me for a member of the Australian contingent, not exactly the show of faith I needed.
Nalbandian stuns Federer in Madrid
David Nalbandian announced his return from nearly 18 months of indifferent results as he stunned top seed Roger Federer 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Madrid Masters.
The upset win from the world number 25, who once stood among the elite, prevented a Swiss defence of the title he lifted here a year ago.
He became the second this season to defeat the top three players in the world - Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the same event. Djokovic did it as he won Montreal as well.
Nalbandian last won a title in May, 2006, on clay in Estoril. He lost the Madrid final in 2004 to Marat Safin.
After spending a year without a coach, the Argentine hooked up with Hernan Gumy and has been lifted his game since the summer.
Nalbandian had lost four matches against Federer since beating the Swiss for the Masters Cup title in Shanghai two years ago.
Sachin's ODI retirement not far off: Nadkarni
The time when Sachin Tendulkar quits one-day cricket is "not far off" as he has "indirectly" hinted at that, says Bapu Nadkarni, even though the legendary left-arm spinner backed him to play international cricket for two more years.
"He has actually come out with a statement, saying that 'my body is not the same' and that 'I am still trying to pull out (of that situation) as far as possible'. But the time (of his retirement) is not far off. He has already given it to you indirectly," Nadkarni told IANS here.
Nadkarni, 74, was referring to one of Tendulkar's television interviews in which he had admitted that he was feeling that it was difficult to recover for one-day internationals when compared to five-day Test matches.
Talking about the "big three" of Indian cricket - Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly - Nadkarni said that they still had steam to play international cricket.
"We have to keep them for some time, as long as they are fit enough to play. They should play for at least two more years. Obviously, they have to perform. One odd (unsatisfactory) performance here and there you have to concede. Even (Don) Bradman failed... everybody fails. People in the press should understand this," he said.
"They forget overnight all the performance put in by these gentlemen over the years. So if one series they fail, what's so bad? It's a game of cricket... unless, of course, you find them absolutely dull on the field, which is not accepted in present day cricket."
He particularly defended Rahul Dravid, who had a poor ODI series against Australia, a series that India lost 4-2 last week.
"A question in front of us is Dravid's. He is failing... it's okay, nothing wrong in it. I won't bother about it, as it's a small thing. What about the others? Are they playing consistently? They are not, and that's the problem and that has let us down in the series. This is the point for us to ponder," said the cricketer,who holds the world-record for bowling 23 successive maiden overs in Test cricket.
Sania Mirza slips to 32nd in WTA rankings
Slipping two places, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza was 32nd in the latest WTA Tour rankings released Monday. The 20-year-old, who has had to cut short her engagements because of a stomach muscle injury, however managed to stay in top-20 in the doubles, ranked 19th.
Sania will not be seen in action till the Hopman Cup, were she has earned a direct entry. The tournament begins Dec 30.
Belgian Justine Henin, who won her ninth WTA title in Zurich last week, continued her rule with Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova way behind in second and Serbia's Jelena Jankovic in the third spot. Jankovic's compatriot Ana Ivanovic was fourth followed by Russian Maria Sharapova at the fifth position.
In the ATP men's doubles rankings, Leander Paes was positioned at 17th and Mahesh Bhupathi at the 21st place.
Dhoni highest individual taxpayer in Jharkhand
India's cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who rules the hearts of millions of cricket fans, has also become the darling of the income tax department as he has emerged as the highest individual tax payer in Jharkhand.
According to sources in the income tax department, till Sep this year Dhoni has paid Rs.7.3 million as advance tax.
"Dhoni has emerged as highest tax payer in the current financial year. We expect that he will pay Rs.40 million as tax in fiscal 2007-2008," said an income tax official.
Dhoni is followed by two businessmen of West Singhbhum district.
This year, the income tax department has set a target to collect Rs.5.03 billion in taxes from the state.
According to official sources, the highest corporate taxpayer in the state is public sector unit Central Coalfield Ltd, which has recently been accorded "miniratna" status by the central government.
Jharkhand is meanwhile gearing up to welcome Dhoni home. He is likely to arrive in Ranchi on Wednesday.
McGrath asks Sreesanth to back antics with wickets
"You want your fast bowler to be aggressive. Giving blokes send-offs or sledging when you talk back I don't agree with, but that's up to the officials to sort out. At the end of the day you've got to be able to back it up," he said on the young Indian speedster.
"You can talk the talk but if you can't go out there and perform then you're not going to be around for very long."
Sreesanth has taken India by storm with his aggressive bowling but opinion is divided on his antics.
Right from his celebratory dance after hitting South African fast bowler Andre Nel for a huge six last year to Mammooty-like walks on the ground, he has provided much amusement to spectators. But it has come at a price.
Sreesanth has been censored on numerous occasions and even fined a few times.During the recently completed one-day international series in India, which Australia won 4-2, Sreesanth had some run-ins with burly Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds. And the fast bowler will be on the firing line when India tours Australia later this year.
McGrath warned the Indian medium pace not to get too carried away with his theatrics unless he can back it up out in the middle.
The last time India toured Australia in 2003-04, the Test series was drawn 1-1 although the home team was without McGrath (injured) and leg-spinner Shane Warne (suspended).
While both bowlers are also missing for this tour after retiring at the end of last season, McGrath believes India is still in for a torrid time at the hands of an Australian team about to enter a rebuilding phase.
"I think it's going to be an interesting and exciting time for Australian cricket with the young guys putting their hands up," said McGrath.
Hockey needs India to thrive: Charlesworth
Australian legend Ric Charlesworth believes "hockey needs India doing well to survive and thrive" and feels privileged to play a part in the renaissance of the eight-time Olympic champions.
The newly-appointed Technical Adviser of Indian hockey said the country is a minefield of talented players, who can be groomed to become world beaters again.
"India has now failed to perform for so long that the game [which I have always loved] is lesser, because we are missing the artistry and aesthetics that stamped the first part of the 20th century.
"Equally, hockey needs India doing well to survive and thrive worldwide. I believe India has the raw materials in skilled, clever and talented people to be outstanding again as a hockey nation. In hockey to play a part in the renaissance is a great challenge and I am privileged to have this opportunity," Charlesworth said.
Charlesworth, who till recently was working with the New Zealand images Cricket as a High Performance manager, said the first challenge after being "on the ground" in December would be to know the functioning of Indian hockey.
"Everyday will bring a new challenge...the immediate one will be to discover how hockey works in India...to watch, learn and listen and to construct with Indians a better way forward," said the former Australia hockey captain.
"I have one or two commitments [for a couple of weeks] that I have already agreed to before this assignment. After that I will be practically full time except for the occasional speaking engagement," he added.
The Aussie great said the deal with India is a result of years of negotiations, which could have been even longer without International Hockey Federation's 'Promoting Indian hockey' programme.
"Over some months and following considerable discussion it has been developed. Such things are seldom quick or easy and without FIH's programme for India it may have taken longer. The first contacts were back in 2002 and then after Athens," he said.
On the Indian men's team Asia Cup winning feat, Charlesworth said though the result could not be undermined, but the side needs more exposure.
"I still haven't seen the final game but the result was encouraging. Of course often in hockey the result can deceive but Korea are a quality team. Overall though we haven't played enough games this year, we need more exposure."
Sunday, October 14, 2007
IAAF investigating sanctions against Jones
The world governing athletics body is investigating what sanctions it can take against former triple Olympic champion Marion Jones after she admitted taking steroids before the 2000 Sydney Games. "What will happen with regards to the money? With regards to the medals? What will happen to the relays? These are good questions," International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) general secretary Pierre Weiss said on Saturday. American Jones has returned the five medals she won in Sydney after confessing she had used the designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), which was undetectable at the time. Speaking on the eve of the world road running championships, Weiss told reporters: "We are investigating the case, we have asked the US federation to make a report. We don't have the report yet, it will be complex." "We are really sad about what happened. She was the queen of our sport. And we have lost our queen." |
Karthikeyan to start 11th in second A1 GP race
Narain Karthikeyan will stand a good chance of winning morale-boosting points for Team India when he revs up from the 11th spot on the starting grid for Sunday's Feature Race in the second A1 GP race of the season.
In the qualification for Feature Race, Karthikeyan clocked 1:45.918 to finish 11th, with 1.269 seconds separating him from the Dutch car that won the pole position.
Accordingly, the Team India driver will start 11th on the starting grid for Sunday's Feature Race and 12th in Sprint.
Team India Chief Operating Officer Yohan Setna said that the team was banking on Karthikeyan's vast experience to win points in the Feature Race on Sunday.
"We are happy with today's result and it's not as bad as it looks," Setna said.
"Sprint being a short race, you actually have little scope to improve on your position. But in Feature, we stand good chance," he said.
"The weather promises to be fine tomorrow and race craft would come into play in the Feature Race. Narain has vast experience and he can pace it well. Strategy would play an important role and Narain's experience would count a lot tomorrow," he said.
The Indian team won a point at Zandvoort, the Netherlands after finishing 10th in the Sprint race.
Harika at second spot
Women GM and top seed D Harika kept herself in contention for the gold medal after beating compatriot Eesha Karavade in the ninth round of the World Junior Girls Chess Championship on Saturday.
The win helped Harika move to 7.5 points out of a possible 9 and she remained a half point behind Russian leader Vera Nebolsina.
Going by the points, it seems either Harika or Nebolsina will walk away with the title.
No other Indian girl was in medal contention after the defeat of Soumya Swaminathan and Mary Ann Gomes.
Sandeep shines in German League
Drag-flicker Sandeep Singh is making waves in the highly-competitive German League and has so far scored ten goals for his club Frankenthal.
Sandeep, who did not figure in the Asia Cup after falling in the bathroom and sustaining a minor injury, has completely recovered and is looking forward for a comeback to the Indian team.
"I have been training hard to earn my place in the Indian team and I am hopeful that my recent performance will help me," Sandeep said.
Armaan's historic win in Japan
Promising Indian driver Armaan Ebrahim on Sunday nailed a commanding win in the Grand Race of the Formula Renault V6 Asia Championship at the Autopolis circuit in Japan.
The circuit which had Formula 1 racing in it a decade ago is a drivers circuit with its fast and winding uphill and downhill corners.
The V6 Renault made its debut in Autopolis this year and Armaan goes down in the record books as the first winner of the Grand race in the V6 in Japan.
The 18-year-old Indian, who dominated the official practice session, started from 6th place and had his work cut out. A brilliant start saw him move into second place by lap one and Armaan started to close the gap on pole sitter James Winslow.
By lap 4 Armaan was on James's gearbox and by lap 5, he put the pressure on James to such an extent that the Englishman spun. Armaan took the lead and started to pull away with Karl Reindlinger from Australia behind him followed by Earl Bamber from New Zealand.
But James's managed to get back on track and was politely let ahead by his team mate Earl Bamber. In the meantime Armaan steadily pulled away from Karl and opened up more than 10 seconds of a lead. Armaan settled down and conserved the car, not wanting a repeat of the sprint race while James managed to pass Karl who was suffering with lack of rear grip, to finish second.
Armaan said it was a great win on a festival day.
"Firstly, I would like to wish everybody, Eid Mubarak. It was a great win and it was even better to win on a festive note," he said.
Champs all the way! (Australia )
Australia on Sunday relied on an all-round display to clinch the One-day series with a 18-run victory over India in the sixth One-dayer which saw the hosts frittering away a solid start and running out of steam in the slog overs.
After scoring a mammoth 317 for eight built around Andrew Symonds rollicking unbeaten 107, the Australians held their nerve to restrict the home team to 299 for seven and take an invincible 4-1 lead in the seven-match series.
The trusted opening pair of Sachin Tendulkar (72) and Sourav Ganguly (86) provided the foundation for the chase with a 140-run stand, but the Indians lost the plot in the middle overs to allow the asking rate to climb beyond manageable limits. (AFP Photo)
Tight security for Military Games
HYDERABAD: Players from America and its allied countries will be treated as special category from security point of view at the Fourth Military World Games beginning here from Sunday.
This additional security coverage to sportspersons from these countries, including those taking took part in the Iraq war, is being provided against the backdrop of increased threat perception due to recent terror strikes in the country by some religious fundamentalist organisations.
“Despite the threat perception, no country withdrew from the Games and teams from all the 107 countries which confirmed their participation earlier are coming here,” Cyberabad Police Commissioner S. Prabhakar Reddy said here.
With over 10,000 police personnel, including the Cyberabad police force, every inch of all the venues for the games, accommodation buildings and the routes has been screened. Even airborne security coverage is being provided using four military helicopters that would keep tab on the games festival.
The National Security Guards will assist the police and the military officials in this regard.
The IML and IIIT Guest Houses at Gachibowli are earmarked for ‘Safe Houses’ to shift the VVIPs in case of any emergency.
Claiming that ‘world-class’ security measures are being put in place, Mr. Reddy said no person would be allowed to get inside the venue without security screening. Entry is strictly by invitation and no one can walk into the venues during any time of the games festival. Except mobile phone, no spectator would be allowed to bring any article, even water bottles.
“They objects you bring along would have to be dumped outside if you want to go inside. We wouldn’t guarantee safety of those items,” the Commissioner said. Unlike other functions, there would be no relaxations with regard to timings for entry into the venues.
The spectators would not be allowed if they are late even by one minute for the ‘last time for parking and last time for seating.’
Road opening parties, posting of armed guards on roof top, installation of surveillance cameras at strategic places, checking by anti-sabotage teams and sniffer dogs would be used extensively as part of the security arrangements.