Abusings will not stop my acheivment says Symonds

Australia's Andrew Symonds says he is ready to move on after suffering racist abuse from spectators during Thursday's fifth one-day international against India in Baroda.

The big all-rounder was subjected to monkey noises while he was fielding.

"You have to be pretty thick-skinned to survive in the Australian dressing room, let alone out on the paddock," Symonds was quoted as saying in Australian newspapers on Sunday.

"I am a pretty liberal sort of bloke but racism is a big issue in world sport, not just cricket.

"It is a sensitive issue and guys have been made an example of in the past, but what do you do in this instance if it's coming from the crowd? Life goes on."

Australia captain Ricky Ponting [Images], meanwhile, has called for the International Cricket Council to take action.

"I know the match referee knows about it, if the ICC [Images] gets it in the report they have to do something," he said. "Racism is unacceptable anywhere in the world, you don't expect it to happen when you step out on the field.

"We did not expect it and we do not expect it to happen again."

Tendulkar, Bhutia raise a racket

It was a festival of sports, as cricket and football joined hands to promote a game of tennis at the Sunfeast Open in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Former India cricket captain Sachin Tendulkar and current India football captain Baichung Bhutia lent their support to the event by lifting a tennis racquet and treating the fans to an unusual evening.

I am proud I was the only undefeated player'

It is always a pleasure to interview Vishwanathan Anand. Very rarely you come across such a warm and down-to-earth person, nay world champion!

Only a few months ago he took the world No 1 ranking; now he has the World crown. He had won it six years ago, but the latest triumph, in a tournament that featured eight of the world's top-ranked players, is certainly remarkable. But, then, Anand has a habit of conquering heights.

From Mexico, where the World Chess Championship was held, Anand and his wife Aruna have returned to Spain, where they live.

In an exclusive chat over telephone, Anand speaks to Shobha Warrier about the championship, Mexico, and the gift Aruna expects from him.

First, congratulations on winning the World Chess Championship.

Thanks a lot.

Sania-Schnyder lose in Moscow QF

Sania Mirza's challenge at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow ended after she bowed out of the doubles event as well on Thursday.

The Indian ace and her Swiss partner Patty Schnyder failed to make the most of opportunities and went down 3-6, 7-5, 7-10 to Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Liezel Huber of the United States in the quarter-finals.

Black-Huber saved nine of the 12 break points they faced in the one hour 33-minute contest to snatch a semi-final berth.

Sania had lost 3-6, 4-6 to Argentina's Gisela Dulko in the singles first round.

In Vienna, second seeds Leander Paes and Martin Damm face the American pair of Mardy Fish and Robby Ginepri in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

Chess: Vishwanathan Anand crowned undisputed world champion

India's Vishwanathan Anand, already the world's highest-ranked chess player, was crowned the undisputed World Chess Champion, after winning the world championship over 14 rounds in Mexico City. Anand had led the championship from the second day onwards, and replaced Vladimir Kramnik as the undisputed champion of the chess world. Playing with black pieces against Grischuk in the penultimate round, Anand did face a daunting challenge which he successfully overcame -- and then went on to draw against Peter Leko in the final round to comfortably take the title. Anand was also the official FIDE world champion in 2000 (and until 2002), but at that time the world title was split. This time around, there can be doubts or disputes over Anand's status as the world champion of chess -- as well as the game's highest-ranked player.

Indian Football (Soccer)

Being the number 2 sport in a country with over a Billion people, you would think that the National Football team would be pretty competitive. BUT, in past decades, the have literally sucked. Just like the Government, Roads, and Sanitation, there was no organization for Football either. This is the primary reason for being ranked 162 in the world! Don't people get embarrassed about this? I mean what's the point of having a whole Organization dedicated to National Football when the national team is ranked right below a country like Grenada with a population of 103 thousand or Andorra with a population of 72 thousand people.

This will all hopefully change starting August 17! The AIFF (All India Football Federation) is finally taking steps to improve the game in the country. The National Team has recently toured Portugal, where they played some Club teams and surprisingly...they did NOT lose! AND..The AIFF have brought back the ONGC Nehru International Cup to the country and they will be organizing India's First Professional Football League.

Indian Volleyball

Currently, in Kolkata, the 2nd Commonwealth Volleyball Championships are being held. There were supposed to be A LOT of competition at these games but this had been missing for the past few days. Now, the Indians will be playing Australia tomorrow in the semi-finals. Both sides have crushed their previous opponents up till now.

This shall be a very interesting match and hopefully, Indians will finally be able to say that we are better than the Aussies at one sport atleast. The Indians have a team that has the potential to be the top in all of Asia, according to their coach G E Sridharan.