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ICC record doesn’t encourage excessive optimism LONDON, May 1: LONDON, May 1: Recent history does not encourage excessive optimism that the International Cricket Council (ICC) will deal swiftly and effectively with the match-fixing scandal threatening the international game’s credibility.......more Prabhakar says he has
revealed name to MUMBAI, May 1: Former India all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar claims he has revealed the name of the teammate who....more Sydney torch to SYDNEY, May 1: The Sydney Olympic torch will get a full South Pacific welcome when it arrives in Oceania this month after arriving on a flight from .....more Lewis’ easy victory does little for boxing: Grant NEW YORK, May 1: Michael Grant said Lennox Lewis knocked him off his equilibrium when he knocked him down in the first round at Madison Square ....more |
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PTC XI beat KV I to lift Open Distt Football Cup Excelsior Sports Correspondent UDHAMPUR, Apr 1: Police Training College (PTC) XI outplayed Kendriya Vidyalaya ...more Ajay accompanying Indian team as manager Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Apr 1: Ajay Sharma, 17 times state champion and general secretary...more Mini, Sub-junir Badminton
Tourney Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Apr 1: The final position have been cleared in the Mini groups with the ....more Ist Gurdeep Memorial
Veterans' Cricket Tourney Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Apr 1: Fine unbeaten half-century by Ravi Kant clinched easy four wickets victory for the Veterans’ Cricket ....more |
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ICC record doesn’t encourage excessive optimism LONDON, May 1: Recent history does not encourage excessive optimism that the International Cricket Council (ICC) will deal swiftly and effectively with the match-fixing scandal threatening the international game’s credibility. Cricket’s international guardians start a two-day meeting at Lord’s tomorrow to decide their response to a host of match-fixing allegations, including South Africa captain Hansie Cronje’s admission that he took up to 15,000 dollars from a bookmaker. Cronje and three of his team mates have also been charged by Indian police with involvement in match-fixing during a one-day series in March. The four deny the allegations. The most damning indictment of the ICC’s inaction in the biggest crisis to hit the main summer game of the British commonwealth had been its decision to help cover up confessions from Australians Shane Warne and Mark Waugh that they took money from an Indian bookmaker to provide pitch and weather information during a 1994 tour of Sri Lanka. In December 1998 the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) were forced to admit they had secretly fined the two Australians. The ICC said they had been informed and agreed to keep the affair under wraps. Natthew Engel, editor of Wisden, keeper of the game’s records and conscience, was outraged. "Cricket-watchers have never had much faith in the game’s administrators," Engel wrote in the 1999 annual. "But what they expect is incompetence, not cynicism." Engel’s comments carry added resonance after the disturbing events of the opening months of the new millennium. On April 7 Delhi’s Joint Commissioner of Police, K K Paul, charged Cronje, Herschelle Gibbs, Pieter Strydom and Nicky Boje with involvement in match-fixing. Four days later Cronje was sacked after saying he had not been entirely honest in his denials. Bacher reveals Cronje took money United Cricket Board of South Africa Managing Director Ali Bacher told a news conference Cronje had accepted 10-15,000 from a local South African and an Indian bookmaker during a triangular series with Zimbabwe and England in March. Cronje, who has since gone into hiding, admitted giving the information to the bookmaker but repeated his denials of match-fixing. Since Bacher’s unexpected disclosure the allegations have come thick and fast. Bacher, himself, in a statement seen by his detractors as an effort to deflect attention from South Africa, alleged two matches in last year’s World Cup had been fixed, although he later back-tracked on his highly inflammatory claim. Of more significance is a report by Pakistan Judge Malik Qayyum into corruption in Pakistan cricket. The potentially explosive investigation into allegations that Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmed and Wasim Akram helped fix matches has not been released, to the judge’s displeasure. It is now expected to be tabled at the ICC’s annual meeting next month. Sympathy can not be entirely withheld from the ICC delegates who gather at cricket’s spiritual home tomorrow. Newspapers throughout the British commonwealth have published daily reports of alleged approaches by bookmakers but hard proof of match-fixing has been lacking. The difficulty for the ICC will be to distinguish rumour from fact and, to this end, Chief Executive David Richards has floated the idea of an amnesty for players presenting evidence of corruption. In a transcript of a television interview to be broadcast on today, Richards said an amnesty might be the way to move forward. "We might have to do that in a discreet fashion," Richards said. "We might have to give an amnesty for people to bring forward that information." Anything would be better than the present corrosive climate of mistrust, innuendo and suspicion. (REUTERS) |
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Prabhakar says he has revealed name to big gun in Govt MUMBAI, May 1: Former India all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar claims he has revealed the name of the teammate who allegedly offered him Rs 25 lakh to underperform in the 1994 Singer Cup series in Sri Lanka to a "big gun in Government", without disclosing who the big shot is. In his column "yorker" in the website "cricketnext.Com", the Delhi-based Prabhakar says it was "something I have been waiting for". "Someone well-placed in the Government will bear me out when I say that I will have no hesitation in naming the senior teammate who offered me rs 25 lakh to under-act in the Singer Cup game against Pakistan in Colombo in 1994. He has already heard me name the central character in the drama," he says. Sports Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa’s announcement in Parliament on Friday last that CBI would be asked to find out if any Indian cricketers or officials have been involved in match-fixing "comes as a relief", he says. Prabhakar also writes in the article that Dhindsa promised him security cover when he met the minister hours before the announcement was made in the Parliament and assured him that he (Prabhakar) would extend all co-operation to the investigating agency. In return, Dhindsa promised him not only security cover but also to get the cricket board to release his benevolent fund that "it has held back", Prabhakar says in the article. (PTI) |
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Sydney torch to get full pacific tour SYDNEY, May 1: The Sydney Olympic torch will get a full South Pacific welcome when it arrives in Oceania this month after arriving on a flight from greece to guam. Torch relay organisers said today that the torch, which is to be lit in Olympia on May 10, will arrive in Guam on Monday, May 22. It will then visit 11 South Pacific nations and travel 17,000 km around Oceania before flying into uluru, the monolithic ayers rock, on June 8. On the way, the torch will be carried by 30 different canoes, including full-scale war canoes, through regions where a total of 929 different languages are spoken. It will ride on Nauru’s famous "phosphate train", arrive by helicopter at the foot of Papua new Guinea’s infamous Kokoda Trail, and compete for attention with traditional fireknife dancers in Samoa. It will twice cross the international dateline, meaning that it will enjoy Monday May 29 twice — first in vanuatu and then in Samoa. The torch will also visit the two newest olympic nations, Palau and the federated states of Micronesia. Its last stop before Australia will be New Zealand, where it will be skied down from queenstown’s coronet peak. The torch will then go on a 100-day tour of Australia before its entry into the Sydney Olympic stadium during the opening ceremony on September 15. Oceania itinerary: May 22, Guam May 23, Palau May 24, Federated States of Micronesia May 25, Nauru May 26, Solomon Islands May 27, Papua New Guinea May 29, Vanuatu May 29, Samoa May 30, American Samoa May 31 Cook Islands June 2, Tonga June 3, Fiji, June 5-7, New Zealand June 8, Australia. (REUTERS) |
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Lewis’ easy victory does little for boxing: Grant NEW YORK, May 1: Michael Grant said Lennox Lewis knocked him off his equilibrium when he knocked him down in the first round at Madison Square Garden. Lewis’ ridiculously easy victory over the American on Saturday didn’t do much for the equilibrium of boxing either. While Lewis won the fight by slamming home a right uppercut to knock Grant out in the second round after putting down the American twice in the first round and forcing an eight count that may or may not have been counted as another knockdown, the bout pointed up the sorry state of the heavyweight division and boxing. For as the big men go, very often so goes boxing. And the big men are not going very well these days. Grant simply did not belong anywhere near a heavyweight title fight. That he was the number 2 contender in both the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and the World Boxing Council (WBC) and number five in the World Boxing Association (WBA) speaks volumes about the poor health of the sport. That’s not to say that Lewis didn’t do his job on Saturday. He quickly took advantage of grant’s amateurishly wild swings to finally put him out of his misery, made off with 10 million dollars and did not get hurt. That makes the night a success for him. But where do Lewis, the heavyweights and boxing go from here? Lewis says he would like to fight mike tyson, but isn’t holding his breath. "I’m sure there’s an opportunity out there for me and him. I’m the man at the top and he knows where to find me," said Lewis. Tyson does not appear to be in any hurry to fight again. After several postponements he is now scheduled to fight Lou Savarese June 24 somewhere in Europe, where he was exiled professionally after his last few fights were marred by ugly incidents that turned off fans and corporate sponsors. Nevertheless, if Tyson just appears to straighten out his life in and out of the ring, he still will be the biggest draw of the sport. But without a rehabilitated Tyson, or someone else on the horizon who can generate excitement in the sport, there likely will be more of the same one-sided contests like Lewis-Grant to grease the slide of the boxing’s popularity. Emanuel Steward, Lewis’ highly-respected trainer said there are no promising heavyweights on the horizon, prompting him to predict that the 34-year-old Lewis (36-1-1) could dominated the division for 3-4 more years. They could be 3-4 boring years. Lewis is simply not exiting in or out of the ring. There was little buzz in the runup to the fight, and Madison Squa Re Garden was not sold out. Of the 19,000 seats 17,234 were sold, even according to the garden’s figures. Steward has admitted that his fighter has not impressed American fans and that he needed an impressive performance against grant to convince them that he is a great fighter. "I’m very satisfied. Lennox did what I knew he could do," steward said after Saturday’s fight. "Lennox Lewis was definitely aggressive enough for me tonight and in a smart way, and I’m real happy." Steward may be, but fans of exciting competitive fights found little to be happy about on Saturday. And they may find little to get enthused about with Lewis’ next fight. Shortly after Saturday’s execution of Grant, Lewis’ handlers said the Briton will put his ibf and wbc titles he retained against grant up against South African Frans Botha in England in July. While certainly better schooled than Grant - - who isn’t? — the slow-footed, ponderously punching Botha is not likely to have a much different fate than grant had in Madison square garden on Saturday. After demolishing the 27-year old grant (now 31-1), who was paid about 4 million dollars for showing up, Lewis insisted that, "I’m out there to prove i’m the best fighter on the planet and I’m not going to duck anyone." But Saturday, through no fault of his own, he proved nothing. And while Lewis wasn’t exactly ducking other fighters he did seem to be bobbing and weaving around the subject of fighting David Tua, the hard-jawed, hard-punching fireplug from New Zealand who is the IBF’s number one contender. Lewis said he thought tua of new zealand, deserved a title shot before John Ruiz, the WBA’s top contender. But the 6-5 (1.95 m) Lewis quickly added that he thought the 5-10 (1.8 m) tua was "too short for me." Lewis did not add that tua, unlike grant, is also a well-schooled fighter who punches very hard. Ruiz is set to fight Evander Holyfield in June for the vacant WBA title in June. Lewis lost that crown on a US federal court ruling that said Lewis was obligated to fight Ruiz under an agreement the Briton had signed to fight the WBA’s number-one contender. If Lewis’ appeal of the decision fails as is likely, he probably will have to fight the winner of Holyfield-Ruiz to get back his WBA title. The possibility of that fight does not seem to excite many people. "Every time I step into the ring," said Lewis after knocking out Grant, "I just have to improve upon myself." An abysmal Grant didn’t give lewis a chance to improve on anything other than to prove he can hit a heavy bag Disgui Sed as a boxer. The question is how will boxing improve itself? (REUTERS) |
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PTC XI beat KV I to lift Open Distt Football Cup Excelsior Sports Correspondent UDHAMPUR, Apr 1: Police Training College (PTC) XI outplayed Kendriya Vidyalaya No. I by three goals to one in the final of the Open District Football Championship organised by the Supersonic Football Club, here today. Though the first goal came through the KV XI in the 8th minutes of the match through Amar Kumar, who kicked the ball right into the net after getting an accurate pass from right corner of the box, but, the lead was soon equalised by Wazir of the PTC in the 15th minutes. Thereafter, a tough fight was witnessed from both the sides which ultimately favoured the PTC, who scored the remaining two goals for the winners came in the dying minutes of the match to make it a 3-1 victory. Nazir Ahmed of the Police Training College got the best player of the tournament award, whereas, Amar Kumar was declared as best in the final. Mr Farooq Ahmed Bhat of the PTC was presented with the beat coach trophy. The final was officiated by Messrs Rahul Dev and Amit Raina. Mr Ashok Kumar, District Youth Services and Sports Officer, was the chief guest in the valedictory function of the week-long championship. He also gave away winners and runners-up trophies. Besides trophies, both the teams were honoured with the gold and silver medals by the organisers. Mr Ashok appreciated the organiser for holding football tournament, which he said was a exposure for the young side of the KV I, who reached the final level and fought well to a better side of PTC. Those assisted in the successful conduct of the Championship included Dr Narinder Singh Butyal, Sunil George, Vikas Gupta, Sharad Baru, Ashok Baru, Gurinder Singh, Rajeev Sharma, Rakesh Baru and Pintoo Jamwal. In all, eight teams took part in the championship. |
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Ajay accompanying Indian team as manager Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Apr 1: Ajay Sharma, 17 times state champion and general secretary of the Jammu and Kashmir Table Tennis Association have been appointed as manager of the Indian team taking part in the Asian Table Tennis Championship. The championship which will start tomorrow at Qatar will be held upto May 8. The Indian team is comprised of four men and four women and one manager and one coach, Mr Kamlesh Mehta. |
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Mini, Sub-junir Badminton
Tourney Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Apr 1: The final position have been cleared in the Mini groups with the entry of Divya Manhas and Vipul Saini in the boys and Nishu Kalhotra and Venika Saini in the girls categories in the ongoing Mini and Sub-junior Badminton Tournament being held at Multi-purpose Indoor halls, MA Stadium, here today. Earlier, in the semi-finals of the boys, Divya Manhas beat Varun Saini 15-0, 15-0, while Vipul Saini outplayed Sameer 15-12, 15-6. In the quarter-finals, Divya Manhas beat Sandeep Singh 15-0, 15-1; Vipul beat Ridhyam 15-0,15-1; Sameer beat Lokesh Sharma 15-2, 15-0 and Varun Saini beat Sahil Sharma 15-11, 15-10. In the girls singles semi-finals, Nishu Kalhotra beat Vandhana in easy straight sets of 11-0, 11-1 and Venika Saini beat Anshumali 11-4, 11-9 to reach the final position. In the previous round of quarters, Nishu Kalhotra beat Pooja 11-2, 11-0; Vandhana beat Munisha 11-0, 11-1; Anshumali beat Sonali Sharma 11-6, 11-4 and Venika beat Diksha 11-3, 11-2. In the Mini-boys doubles, the pairs of Divya and Vipul and Sameer and Varun have reached the finals position. In the semi-finals of the same group, Divya and Vipul beat the pair of Tarun and Varun in straight sets of 15-0,15-4, while in another semi-final Sameer and Varun defeated Sahil and Lokesh 13-15, 15-11 and 15-12. In the first quarters round of Mini-boys doubles, Varun and Tarun beat Sahil and Vishal 15-11, 15-4, while the pair of Lokesh and Sahil defeated Sandeep and Ridhyam 15-9, 15-9. In the sub-junior girls singles final, Madhi Jolly will take on Samarika Manhas. In the semis, Madhvi had defeated Charoo 11-2, 11-3 and Samarika down Nishu 11-0, 11-2. Whereas, in two quarter-finals, Charoo got walkover against Anshumali, while Nishu beat Venika 11-6, 11-4. Ist Gurdeep Memorial
Veterans' Cricket Tourney Excelsior Sports Correspondent JAMMU, Apr 1: Fine unbeaten half-century by Ravi Kant clinched easy four wickets victory for the Veterans’ Cricket Club (VCC) over Akhnoor Cricket Club (ACC) in the ongoing Ist Gurdeep Singh Bagru Memorial Cricket Tournament being held at Parade ground, here today. Batting first after winning the toss, ACC could score 139 runs in 24.1 overs losing all their wickets. In reply, VCC chased the required target in just 20 overs for the loss of six wickets, thus winning the match by four wickets, sparing five overs. Akhnoor Club had made a bad start, but Deepak, who came a number six position brought the score to a logical conclusion. He scored fine 56 off mere 41 deliveries with the help of ten boundaries. While, the other good scorers were Bindu and Prem, who contributed 12 runs each. From VCC, Krishan was the most economical bowler, who took three wickets for eight runs in 3.1 overs, while Ravi Kant clinched three for 32 in five overs. Batting second, opener Virinder made a good start for VCC, but had a small stay on the wicket. He scored 30 in 18 balls with four boundaries and one six. But, thanks to the unbeatable 52 off 51 balls including seven boundaries by Ravi Kant which made it an easy victory for the VCC. However, both these batsmen got little support from the other end and as the highest scorer accept these two batsmen was Krishan Kumar, who scored 11. Dalbir Singh was the highest wicket taker from ACC with three wickets for 24 in five overs. Ravi Kant was declared as man of the match for his fine knock of 52 runs. Messrs M R Zahoor and Pawan officiated the match. SCOREBOARD ACC Ranjit c Ashok b Rajinder 0 Romesh c Mohinder b Rajender 7 Rajinder c Krishan b N Amla 6 Pankaj c Mohinder b Ashok 5 Dalbir Singh b Ashok Dutta 3 Deepak c & b Krishan 56 Joginder b Ravi Kant 1 Bindu lbw Ravi Kant 12 Vinod c Vikram b Ravi Kant 0 Prem lbw Krishan 12 Prem n o 1 Extras 26 Total (all out in 24.1 overs) 139 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-15, 3-30, 4-42, 5-49, 6-64, 7-79, 8-95, 9-129, 10-139. Bowling: Rajinder 5-0-24-2; Neeraj Amla 5-0-34-1; Ashok Dutta 5-0-15-2; Ravi Kant 5-0-32-3; Virinder Sharma 1-0-16-0; Krishan 3.1-0-8-2. VCC Virinder b Vinod 30 Ashok Dutta c Deepak b Dalbir Singh 5 Vikram Singh c Romesh b Dalbir Singh 0 Ravi Kumar not out 52 Neeraj c Ranjit b Dalbir 10 Mohinder Singh b Pankaj 5 Krishan Kumar b Pankaj 11 Mohan Lal not out 3 Shashi dnb Rajinder dnb Sanjay dnb Extras 24 Total (for six in 20 overs) 140 Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-30, 3-40, 4-77, 5-98, 6-124. Bowling: Vinod 5-0-25-1; Joginder 2-0-29-0; Dalbir Singh 5-0-24-3; Pankaj 4-0-8-2; Bindoo 1-0-14-0; Deepak 2-0-25-0; Rajinder 1-0-15-0. |
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