Jothikumaran
shown accepting bribe, resigns
NEW DELHI, Apr 21: Indian hockey today
plunged into a fresh controversy with its
secretary general K Jothikumaran
resigning hours after a sting operation
by a television news channel showed him
accepting bribe money to get a player
included in the senior team.
Soon after
‘Headlines Today’ beamed the
sting operation Jothikumaran called up
IHF President K P S Gill and informed him
that he had resigned from the post which
he had occupied for close to 15 years.
The
channel said in a release that its
special investigation team found that the
selection process in hockey was not
"always fair, the current
administration is highly corrupt and that
IHF president Gill is oblivious of the
corrupt practices of his
colleagues."
The
channel claimed that after receiving a
cash payment of Rs two lakhs and taking a
promise of another Rs three lakhs to be
given to his man in Delhi, Jothikumaran
assured the channel’s team of
getting a player picked up for the senior
hockey team for the Azlan Shah Hockey
tournament next month.
It claimed
that the bribe money was given to him in
a five star hotel in Delhi in two
instalments on April 10 and 11.
Jothikumaran,
who could not be immediately contacted
after the news broke out, later denied
that he had resorted to any corrupt deals
and said he had accpeted the money under
the impression that it was for a proposal
for conducting a big tournament.
"I
was genuinely under the impression that a
proposal for conducting a big tournament
on the lines of Azlan Shah tournament was
being debated with me by the reporters of
‘Aaj Tak’ and ‘Headlines
Today’. At no point of time did I
raise anything about selection,"
Jothikumaran told.
"The
money they allege that I had taken was in
my opinion to meet the initial expenses
for organising the event in India on the
same lines of Azlan Shah
tournament," said Jothikumaran.
Gill
reacted sharply to the issue, saying
Jothikumaran was in no way involved in
the selection process and it was
surprising that he promised a place in
the national team for the particular
player.
"It
is shameful and I have no words to
condemn such an act," he said.
"Jothikumaran
talked to me over phone and informed me
that he has resigned from the post of IHF
and will not be associated with the
Federation until his name is cleared from
the alleged incident," Gill later
added.
Gill said
the team for the Azlan Shah was scheduled
to be selected tomorrow and
Jothikumaran’s claim that he could
include the player was wrong.
New Sports
Minister M S Gill was also quick to
react.
"I
have just seen the video being shown on
Aaj Tak television channel about
Jothikumaran, Secretary of IHF. While a
detailed inquiry must be held in the
shortest possible time by appropriate
authority, I am of the firm view that
Jothikumaran must immediately resign from
his office," he said.
The
channel also showed transcripts of a
telephone conversation where Jothikumaran
is heard assuring the party that he would
try to get the player included in the
senior team for the Azlan Shah.
Jothikumaran
told the party to keep the matter
confidential till the formal announcement
is made on the team.
Former
Olympians Pargat Singh and Dhanraj Pillay
were furious and pillay in fact went on
to claim that Jothikumaran had pushed
Adam Sinclair in the 2004 Athens Olympic
team using his clout.
"I
can tell you that this boy did not know
how to hit the ball but Jothikumaran got
him in and the then coach Gerard Rach
tutored him thrice a day to teach him the
basics," he said. (PTI)
India
need to win against Belgium
KAZAN (Russia), Apr 21:
With
their fate for a berth in the Beijing
Olympics hanging in balance, India have
their tasks cut out when they take on
Belgium in the women’s hockey
Olympic qualifiers here tomorrow.
The
Indians started the tournament with a
comfortable 3-1 victory over hosts Russia
in their opening match but suffered a big
setback in the second match when they
went down 1-2 to Netherlands Antilles
yesterday.
The defeat
will no doubt put enormous pressure on
the Indian players who have no option but
to pull up their socks and win against
Belgium to remain in contention for a
spot in the Beijing Olympics.
The USA
were currently on top of the table with
six points, having a better goal ratio
than Netherlands Antilles who too have
six points.
India find
themselves in the fourth position in the
six-nation qualifiers with three points
from two games. Belgium also had three
points from as many matches but occupied
the third position on account of a better
goal difference.
Lowly
France and Russia were yet to secure a
single point and were at the bottom of
the table.
The rest
day today has given coach M K Kaushik
some time to devise the strategies for
the crucial game and the former Olympian
was hoping that his wards would be able
to deliver the goods when it mattered
most.
"In
the last match against Netherlands
Antilles, the opposition had the
advantage of physique and they succeeded
in blocking our moves. We cannot afford
to make mistakes tomorrow," Kaushik
said.
The
failure to convert the penalty corners
has been a worrying factor and captain
Mamta Kharab has acknowledged that her
team had to do much better in this
department to be able to counter the
other teams.
"We
have to do better with penalty corners.
We have to try and convert as many as
possible. We are working hard on this
aspect of the game and I hope we put up a
better show", she said.
The
presence of the legendary Ric
Charlesworth should come handy for the
Indians as the Australian expert has
loads of experience to plug the loopholes
ahead of the crucial match.
Charlesworth,
who has been formally appointed as the
technical advisor following the men
team’s failure to qualify for the
Olympics, will now have a big role to
play to bring the campaign back on track.
Charlesworth
and Kaushik will have to give a serious
thought to the composition of the team
against Belgium who are known to be a
fighting unit capable of turning the
table on any fancied team on their day.
India’s
forward line has hardly been consistent
in the two matches so far and much will
depend on how they perform tomorrow.
The young
Rani Devi, the 15-year-old rookie who has
already made an impression with two goals
in the tournament, has a big role to play
while the experienced Jasjeet Kaur and
Pritam Rani Siwach also have the
abilities to score the goals.(PTI)
Sachin
retains 2nd spot in ICC rankings
DUBAI, Apr 21: India’s Sachin
Tendulkar retained his second spot in the
Reliance Mobile ICC rankings for ODI
batsmen, while Sri Lanka’s Muttiah
Muralitharan slipped out of the top 10
bowlers for the first time in over a
decade as Shahid Afridi of Pakistan makes
his way in to the top 10 bowlers.
Murlitharan,
who was last out of the top 10 ODI
bowlers’ in July 1997, has now
slipped one place behind Afridi who is at
the 10th spot.
Pakistan’s
pace quartet of Mohammad Asif (24th),
Sohail Tanvir (26th), Umar Gul (21st) and
Iftikhar Anjum (27th) have also made
movement in the right direction in the
bowlers’ list West Indies’
Jerome Taylor has moved up two places to
eighth spot whereas Dwayne Bravo gained
19 places to sit at 27th spot.
New
Zealand captain Daniel Vettori is heading
the bowlers’ rankings followed by
pacer Nathan Bracken of Australia.
A
sensational performance by West
Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul
against Sri Lanka in which he hit
Chaminda Vaas for 10 runs off the last
two balls has earned him five places to
sit at the fifth spot along with Matthew
Hayden of Australia.
Pakistan’s
Salman Butt was another big mover in the
batting list as he jumped from 53rd place
to 23rd position after his
record-breaking series against Bangladesh
in which he hit 451 runs.
There were
no other major changes in the ODI
rankings for batsmen as South African
captain Graeme Smith leads the chart
followed by Tendulkar at second and
Australian skipper Ricky Ponting at the
third position.
In the
Reliance Mobile ICC rankings ODI
championship table, Sri Lanka’s 0-2
loss against West Indies dropped two
ratings points while Pakistan is at the
fifth place and gained one rating point
for its 5-0 victory against Bangladesh.
Sri Lanka
is now at the sixth place with England on
105 points but remains ahead of Paul
Collingwood’s side when the ratings
are calculated to decimal points.
Pakistan
has narrowed the gap with fourth-placed
India to three ratings points whereas
West Indies has secured two ratings
points and now has 99 points, six behind
Sri Lanka and England. (UNI)
Archery
World Cup
India grabds team bronze
in Men's even
NEW DELHI, Apr 21: Indian archers had
impressive performances in the Archery
World Cup at Porec (Croatia) from April
15-19, with Rahul Bannerjee winning the
gold medal while India grabbed the team
bronze in the men’s recurve event.
Rahul
displayed his best ever individual
performance in the Olympic elimination
round, defeating Weiss Johan of Denmark
and Rohbberg of Germany in the 1/32 and
1/16 matches respectively.
After
beating compatriot Mangal Singh Champia
by a comfortable nine point margin in the
1/8 elimination round, Rahul outplayed
Wan Aziz Wmk of Malaysia in the
quarterfinal.
In the
semifinal, Rahul waged a grim battle
against defending champion Park Kim of
South Korea, fighting to the final arrow
before clinching victory with a three
point margin (110 vs 107).
Rahul,
however, lost the final to Girouille of
France and had to settle for the silver.
In the
men’s team recurve event, the Indian
trio of Rahul Bannerjee, Jayanta Talukdar
and Mangal Singh Champia pipped France
(220 v 213) in a tight encounter to win
the bronze medal.
They had
pipped Germany (224 vs 212), Ukraine (226
vs 219) while losing to Italy (226 vs
225) in the earlier rounds.
In the
womens’ recurve segment, l Bmbayla
Devi and Pranitha Devi put up impressive
individual performances.
Bombayla
Devi lost the qurterfinal in the
tie-breaker to Mospinek of Poland while
Pranitha Vardineni eliminated Geargia and
Great Britain archers in the first two
rounds.
In the
compound event however, the men and women
archers disappointed with only Jhanu
Iansdah reaching the quarterfinal. (UNI)
J&K
bikers excel in Shimla Motor Cycle Racing
Challenge
Excelsior
Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 21: J&K Motor Cycle
racing team comprised Sanjay Sharma and
Pardeep Majotra finished first and second
respectively in the "Shimla Motor
Cycle Racing Challenger" and have
also qualified for the 3rd round.
In the 2nd
round of the "Shimla Motor Cycle
Racing Challenger", Sanjay Sharma
(130 CC to 260 CC) finished first with a
timing of 9.44 minutes covering a total
distance of 7.7 kms.
Pardeep
Majotra (130 CC delta) on the other hand
secured second position with a timing of
9.54 minutes.
Both the
bikers were participated under the banner
of J&K Motor Sports Association
(JKMSA).
Udhampur
girl selected for London School
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 21: Udhampur girl
brought laurels for the State for being
selected to attend one academic term in
UK in a student exchange programme
between India and UK.
The
programme will be sponsored by the
prestigious Milfield School in London.
An
outstanding student of Welham Girls
School at Dehradun, Urvi Agarwal had
appeared for the ICSE board (10th class)
examinations.
Urvi has
already been awarded the International
Award for Young People by the Duke of
Edinburgh for adventure activities and
community service.
She (Urvi)
is a daughter of Director of
Sher-i-Kashmir Police Academy IGP Naveen
Aggarwal
Deccan
Chargers take on daredevils on home turf
today
HYDERABAD, Apr 21: After a narrow
defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders,
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers would be aiming
to register their first win in the Indian
Premier League as they host Delhi
Daredevils here tomorrow.
The home
side will have a big advantage in their
game against the Delhi outfit as
explosive Pakistani import Shahid Afridi
will join the team for tomorrow’s
clash at Rajiv Gandhi international
stadium.
Apart from
Afridi, the chargers have a strong
batting line-up consisting of captain VVS
Laxman, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Y
Venugopal Rao, Rohit Sharma and Ranji
players D B Ravi Teja and Kalyan Krishna.
The
bowling department also looks impressive
with the presence of Scott Styris,
Chaminda Vaas, R P Singh and talented
Hyderabad left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha,
who took crucial wickets of Sourav
Ganguly and Mohd Hafeez in their first
match against the Knight Riders.
The Delhi
Daredevils led by Virender Sehwag are on
a high after their convincing victory
over Rajasthan Royals in Delhi.
The
Daredevils will have the likes of A B De
Villiers, Shoaib Malik, Mohammed Asif,
Tillakratne Dilshan and Abdul Razzak
— who missed the first match against
the Rajasthan team — will join the
squad.
The Rajiv
Gandhi stadium is braced up for the
occasion with the light towers becoming
formally functional last week. With a
capacity to accommodate 40,000
spectators, the venue is going to have
its share of the high voltage
entertainment dished so far in the IPL.
(PTI)
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