LONDON, Aug 24: Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq’s disciplinary hearing could take place earlier than expected either before or during the one-day series against England, ICC said today. BBC Sport quoted an ICC spokesman as saying that cricket’s governing body did not want the charges .......more

Govt reviewing sports
policy: Aiyar

NEW DELHI, Aug 24: A small country like Cuba trains one lakh sportspersons and China 50 lakh per year as compared to 10,000 trained in India which has a population of a billion. .........more

Pak stands between
India and hockey gold

COLOMBO, Aug 24: Clarence Lobo’s wards have done everything right in the tournament so far, pumping in 15 goals in three matches to bulldoze ...more

Sania in 2nd round at
Forest Hills

NEW YORK, Aug 24: Sania Mirza breezed past American wildcard entrant Alexa Glatch 6-2, 6-3 to set up a second round clash with fourth seed Lourdes Lino .....more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Aug 24: Five consecutive goals of Vishal today guided Young Rovers to emphatic victory over Young Christian in the ongoing Junior League Football ......more

Sports activities getting
fresh lease of life: Peerzada

Excelsior Correspondent

Srinagar, Aug 24: Asserting that government is committed to expand sports infrastructure in the state, Minister for Sports .......more

SRML beat Jain School
in Boys Basketball

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Aug 24: SRML Higher Secondary School Jammu, JK Public School and BSF School ........more

5th B A Kitchloo Memorial
TT Tourney declared begins

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Aug 24: 5th B A Kitchloo Memorial Table Tennis Tournament was declared open by ........more

Govt reviewing sports policy: Aiyar

NEW DELHI, Aug 24: A small country like Cuba trains one lakh sportspersons and China 50 lakh per year as compared to 10,000 trained in India which has a population of a billion.

Giving these figures while replying to a question by Dr K Malaisamy in the Rajya Sabha today, Minister of Panchayati Raj and Youth Affairs and Sports Mani Shankar Aiyar said the country badly needed strengthening and restructuring of its sports programmes.

India has a large young population, over 70 crore , in the 0-35 age group, but such a huge number of young people were deprived of any access to organised sports, he said.

The minister said the Government was reviewing the sports policy in the context of the 11th plan and developments in the sphere of sports including the country’s desire to host various international mega events.

The ministry was also considering to promote a Panchayatai Raj Yuva Khel Abhiyan in collaboration with other stakeholders, including educational institutions, panchayati raj institutions, youth organisations and sports-related establishments. (UNI)

Pak stands between India and hockey gold

COLOMBO, Aug 24: Clarence Lobo’s wards have done everything right in the tournament so far, pumping in 15 goals in three matches to bulldoze their way to the finals and despite a revenge-thirsty Pakistan awaiting them in tomorrow’s final, India would be hoping to do an encore of their league match against the traditional arch-rivals.

The developmental side under Lobo has been in irresistible form in the tournament and they announced their arrival with a 2-0 win against formidable Pakistan, followed it up with a 9-1 Annihilation of Sri Lanka and then blanked Bangladesh 4-0 to storm into the final.

Pakistan, on the other hand, peaked late and beat Sri Lanka 8-1 for their passage to the finals where they would be baying for a revenge at the Nandimithra Ekanayake Ground in Matale.

The Indian forward line has been bang on target in this tournament, yielding, on an average five goals per match. The mid-field has worked like a well-oiled piston, while the rock-solid defence has conceded just one goal so far, that too was a result of a momentary lapse in concentration.

Raghunath’s penalty corner prowess has come as a morale booster and the youngster has scored in all three matches so far with his inch-perfect drag-flicks. In fact the youngster can well be picked for the World Cup bound team after drag-flicker Sandeep Singh was ruled out of the side after being shot in a freak accident on tuesday.

Tomorrow’s match will give Raghunath another opportunity to shine and stake his claim for Germany. Sandeep Michael and Dhananjay Mahadik are also among goals while Gurvinder Singh Chandi has looked ominous whenever he entered the rival defence. The forwards have been fed well by the midfield and gratefully they translated most of the chances into goals.

Meanwhile, the 0-2 defeat against the arch-rivals has not gone down well with the Pakistan camp, which is plotting a revenge, and they can’t have a better opportunity than tomorrow’s final.

Meanwhile, the Indian coach warned his wards against complacency and said things can go horribly wrong if they take it lightly tomorrow.

"Pakistan is always dangerous, especially when they are playing India. They will definitely go all out for a revenge tomorrow. We can underestimate them only at our peril.

"We have done well so far and played the best hockey in the tournament. But the boys need to continue it for another match. Otherwise a mistake tomorrow can undo all the good work. We won’t settle for anything less than the gold," he said.

"More than Pakistan, we need to guard against complacence. Things have gone our way so far but that doesn’t mean you can sit back and relax. Any India-Pakistan match is always a different proposition. Pre-tournament seeding and rankings go out of the window and you see a full-throttle battle between two belligerent sides. Tomorrow won’t be any different and we have to end on the right side of the match," he added. (UNI)

Sania in 2nd round at Forest Hills

NEW YORK, Aug 24: Sania Mirza breezed past American wildcard entrant Alexa Glatch 6-2, 6-3 to set up a second round clash with fourth seed Lourdes Lino Dominguez of Spain in the 74,800 dollar Forest Hills Open here.

The Indian hardly broke a sweat against the local favourite and outplayed her to move into the second round of the tier IV event.

Sania, who crashed out of the first round in last week’s Rogers Cup, dominated throughout and an improved serve saw the Indian easily overcome the challenge put forth by the American.

Meanwhile, Shikha Uberoi entered the second round of US Open qualifiers after a 7-6 (3), 6-2 win over Italian Sara Errani.

Shikha fought hard in the opening set, which stretched to the tie-breaker, and held her nerves to seize the momentum before storming thorugh the second set with ease. (UNI)

Junior League Football Championship
Vishal’s 5 goals guide Young Rovers to emphatic victory

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Aug 24: Five consecutive goals of Vishal today guided Young Rovers to emphatic victory over Young Christian in the ongoing Junior League Football Championship being played at GGM Science College grounds, here.

Though initial goals had made Young Rovers’ victory almost certain yet Vishal’s five consecutive goals in the second half made team’s victory more impressive.

The first goal of the match and of Young Rovers was made by Gulshan Kumar in the 7th minute. The goal was equalised by the Ashish of Young Christian in the 29th minute.

Within a timeframe of three minutes from 32nd to 35th minutes, Nadim made two goals and Rohit made one goal raising the Young Rovers’ score tally to four goals till first half of the match.

As the Young Christian were planning to ease out some pressure in the second half, Varun converted a free kick into goal in the 40th minute. All the hopes of the Young Christian were completely dashed when Vishal made five consecutive goals.

Last goal of the match was made by Mukesh of Young Rovers.

In the second match, Kartar Memorial Club beat Mohd Mussa Club by two goals to nil. Both the goals for the winning team were made by Sunil in the 18th and 44th minutes of the match.

Two players of the Mohd Mussa Club were shown yellow card during the match.

Both the matches were officiated by Suresh Gupta, Pankaj Sharma, Samsun and football coach Satpal Singh.

Within next two days, the Super League position will be cleared. Nagrota Club has already made it into the Super League of the Championship being organised by J&K Football Association.

Sports activities getting fresh lease of life: Peerzada

Excelsior Correspondent

Srinagar, Aug 24: Asserting that government is committed to expand sports infrastructure in the state, Minister for Sports Peerzada Mohammad Syed has said that sports activities are getting a fresh lease of life as sports person of rare repute from Jammu and Kashmir have emerged on the national scene during last few years.

He was speaking at the conclusion of Open Kashmir Table Tennis Tournament (Boys/Girls) organized by Jammu and Kashmir Table Tennis Association and sponsored by CRPF of Srinagar sector Nawakadal Women College today.

Peerzada said that there is no dearth of talent in J&K and government is keen to channelize the same by providing adequate infrastructure for every category of sport. He said "our target is to match the national and international standard." He however, said that it would take time to achieve this goal. He said the sport sector also suffered heavy damage over the years of turmoil but due to liberal funding from Centre and active support of the people reconstruction of the same has been taken up in a big way.

Referring to the success achieved by player of the state at national and international level Mehraj-u-din and Abid Ahmad in their respective games, Peerzada said that "we have to provide conducive atmosphere to other budding talent also so that they could make a mark in their respective fields". He appealed to all Sports loving individuals to work unitedly for achieving the desired results in this very important field.

Later Minister distributed awards among the winners among 117 Boys and Girls who took part in the tournament.

SRML beat Jain School in Boys Basketball

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Aug 24: SRML Higher Secondary School Jammu, JK Public School and BSF School defeated their respective opponents in the Boys Basketball Under-19 years event in the Inter-School Tournaments for boys and girls Under 14, 17 and 19 years being played at Mini-Stadium and District Police Lines Jammu.

In the Boys Basketball Under-19 years, SRML HSS defeated Jain HSS Jammu by 16-5 points while JK Public School trounced Model Academy by 25-6 points. In the third match of this category, BSF School beat SRML HSS by 42-36 points.

In Girls Basketball Under-19 years, JK Public School beat HSS Gandhi Nagar by 10-0 points while Girls HSS Mubarak Mandi beat Model Academy by 14-8 points.

In Handball Boys Under-19 years, SRML HSS Jammu beat HSS Gandhi Nagar by 10-9. Deeraj and Ajay scored maximum goals for the winning side. In the second match, HSS Bahufort beat SM Jain HSS Jammu by 10-2.

In the girls section, Presentation Convent School defeated HSS Mubarak Mandi by 5-4 in the first match while Presentation Convent School beat Girls HSS Shastri Nagar by 7-0 in the second match.

The events are being organised under the supervision of District Youth Services and Sports Officer Jammu B N Bhat.

5th B A Kitchloo Memorial TT Tourney declared begins

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Aug 24: 5th B A Kitchloo Memorial Table Tennis Tournament was declared open by MLA and National Conference Jammu province president Ajay Sadhotra in the Indoor Sports Complex of MA Stadium today.

The Tournament is being organised by J&K Table Tennis Association and sponsored by National Conference Jammu Urban Committee under the supervision of district president Jammu urban Chander Mohan Sharma. Several MLAs, former legislators and senior leaders of the National Conference were also present on the occasion.

In the Cadet Boys, Parth beat Dhaval Pargal by 13-11, 13-15, 11-5; Akshun defeated Pranab Handoo by 11-7, 11-9; Janu beat Vasu by 11-6, 11-7 and Shubam beat Bhuvan by 11-9, 7-11, 11-8; Akshum beat Parth by 6-11, 11-6, 12-10; Apoorv beat Janu by 11-4, 11-9; Sunmeet beat Shubam by 11-9, 11-8; Jyesh Singh beat Akushan by 11-6, 11-9 and Sunmeet beat Shivam by 11-3, 11-5.

In Sub Junior Boys, Sahil Mahajan beat Abhishek Kalsi by 12-10, 11-2; Lokesh Khanna beat Gurvinder by 11-7, 11-6; Karan Gupta beat Sanchit Jain by 11-9, 12-10; Janu beat Dhaval Pargal by 16-14, 21-19; Apoorv Sharma beat Pranab Handoo by 11-5, 11-7; Abhishek Arora beat Pallav Dubey by 11-9, 11-8; Mayank Bandral beat Parth Mahajan by 15-13, 11-6; Sunmeet beat Nitin by 11-6, 11-9; Akshun beat Sahil Manzoor by 11-8, 11-6; Ashish Jamwal beat Shubam Jalptra by 12-10, 11-9 and Ankit Kotwal beat Parath Sapru by 11-4, 6-11, 11-7.

In the Vetern Singles, Digpal Singh beat Mahesh by 11-4, 11-4, 11-8; Ashwani beat Narinder by 11-8, 11-6, 11-7; Raman beat V B Sadhotra by 11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 11-7; Jeet Raj Kalsi defeated Parshotam by 7-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 11-4 and Vikram Abrol defeated Raman by 11-2, 11-2, 7-11, 11-3.