Srinath
appointed match referee for
England-New Zealand ODI series
DUBAI, Apr 29: The International
Cricket Council has announced that former
Indian pace spearhead Javagal Srinath
will oversee the five-match ODI series
between England and New Zealand as match
referee that gets underway from June 15
at the riverside ground,
Chester-le-Street.
The ICC
also announced the umpires and match
referee for the upcoming test and ODI
series in England and West Indies.
Ranjan
Madugalle will be the match referee
during the three-test series between
England and New Zealand which gets
underway on May 15 at Lord’s,
London.
Simon
Taufel and Steve Bucknor will stand in
the first test. The second test at Old
Trafford, Manchester, to take place
between may 23-27, will see Taufel
accompany Darrell Hair who is making a
comeback to the international level.
The third
and final test of the series takes place
at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, starting on
June 5. Hair and Bucknor will be the
on-field umpires.
Six days
after the scheduled conclusion of the
third test, the five-match ODI series
will get underway at the riverside
ground, Chester-le-Street.
Steve
Davis will stand in each ODI along with a
local appointment.
Meanwhile,
a three-test and five-ODI series between
the West Indies and Australia will
kick-off with the first test on May 22 at
Sabina Park, Jamaica. Roshan Mahanama
will be the match referee for the entire
series.
The first
test will be umpired by Aleem Dar of
Pakistan and Russell Tiffin.
The second
test in Antigua will be umpired by Mark
Benson and Tiffin while the third test in
Barbados will have Benson and Dar
standing in the middle.
The
attention will then shift to the ODIs.
These will all be umpired by Asad Rauf
who will stand along with local
appointments. (UNI)
IHF’s
suspension a positive, necessary step: MS
Gill
NEW DELHI, Apr 29: Giving the
thumbs-up to the IOA’s decision to
suspend the Indian Hockey Federation
(IHF), Sports Minister M S Gill today
welcomed the verdict saying it was a
"necessary step".
"The
decision regarding the Indian Hockey
Federation, taken last evening by the
Executive Committee of the Indian Olympic
Association (IOA), was necessary,"
Mr Gill said in a statement.
He hoped
that the new five-member selection
committee headed by Aslam Sher Khan will
help in revamping the current state of
Indian hockey so that the sport regains
its lost glory.
"It
was a unanimous decision and in my
judgment appropriate in the given
situation. I have carefully noted the
composition of the new Selection
Committee. I would hope that they work in
unison, and for the best interest of the
hockey and youth of India," he
stated.
"In
my judgment, it will also be necessary,
to have a compact, well chosen and
efficient new administration for the IHF.
I am confident the IOA will address
this," he added.
Earlier,
following K Jothikumaran’s shocking
video in which he was caught in camera
accepting bribe, Mr Gill had asked the
IHF chief to step down from his post.
Mr Gill
said the Sports Ministry had approved the
laying of 12 new Astroturfs in the
country, a project which will cost Rs 42
crore.
Work for
the establishment of astroturfs in
another eight places is at different
stages of completion while the
replacement of old astroturfs at NIS
Patiala and Kolkata is underway.
By the end
of 2009, India will have 30 Astroturfs
spread across the country for the
promotion of hockey. (UNI)
Sidelined
players will get a chance : Aslam Sher
Khan
NEW DELHI, Apr 29: Top players who
were ignored during KPS Gill’s
tenure as IHF chief will be given a
chance to prove their worth again,
according to new Chairman of selection
panel Aslam Sher Khan who says he will
adopt "an altogether different
approach" to revive Indian hockey.
Khan, a
former player and national selector who
had resigned owing to differences with
IHF administration on selection process,
said he had his own plans to get Indian
hockey back on track and will seek to
bring transparency and professionalism in
the selection process.
"Earlier
there used to be a bunch of 50-60 players
and teams were selected as if they are
playing musical chair. There have been
instances when a player was selected for
an international event despite he not
having played even in domestic hockey.
This will not happen now and we will
select the team after several rounds of
trials," he told in an interview
today.
He also
said players like Gagan Ajit Singh, Len
Aiyappa, and Arjun Halappa, who were
sidelined during Gill’s term, would
be taken into consideration during team
selection.
"For
the first time in history, former players
are involved in Indian hockey
administration. We will try to bring back
it’s old glory. Our first priority
will be to make the administration
accountable and to bring transparency in
team selection process," Khan said.
The
selection panel, led by Khan, also
includes former Olympians Zafar Iqbal,
Ashok Kumar, Ajit Pal Singh and Dhanraj
Pillay. It was formed after the Indian
Olympic Association suspended the IHF and
appointed an ad-hoc committee in its
place.
The
"unanimous" decision to suspend
IHF was taken following the sting
operation which caught Secretary K
Jothikumaran purportedly accepting bribe
to select a player in the national team.
About his
plans to uplift the morale of players,
Khan replied their morale would
automatically be high after the the end
of the Gill regime.
"Now
they will not have any insecurities.
Otherwise, they never knew who is going
to be the next target of Gill saab, who
ruined the career of several talented
players," said the former Olympian.
He said he
wants the Indian team to be a united and
powerful force as shown in bollywood
flick ‘Chak De India’.
"We
have to make a Team India as you have
seen in bollywood blockbuster ‘Chak
De India’. There are players from
several part of the country. We have to
unite them to make a powerful
force," he said.
"We
don’t have any competition with
cricket. We will try to popularise hockey
through better performance at
international level. It’s also
neccessary to host international
tournaments," he said .
He also
indicated that Indian hockey team will
now play less international events
overseas.
"It
is not neccessary to play each and every
tournament. It hurts when we lose. We
will now select tournaments and prepare
for that accordingly," said Khan.
(PTI)
Delhi
has edge over Bangalore in IPL tie
NEW DELHI, Apr 29: Stung by reverses
in their previous outing, two wounded
sides are about to collide head-on when
Delhi Daredevils host Bangalore Royal
Challengers in the Indian Premier League
here tomorrow.
With
Virender Sehwag at the helm, Delhi
ruthlessly crushed Rajasthan Royals and
Deccan Chargers before Yuvraj
Singh’s Kings XI Punjab threw in the
proverbial spanner on Sunday at Mohali to
snap the string.
And if
Delhi lost momentum with the defeat,
Rahul Dravid’s men are yet to find
it. After the plastering by Brendon
McCullum in the opening match against
Kolkata Knight Riders, the five-wicket
win against the winless Mumbai Indians
brought back smiles, which vanished again
with back-to-back defeats against
Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings.
Dravid,
however, can find some solace in the fact
that against the table-topper Chennai
side, the Bangalore boys almost pulled
off a win before falling 13 runs short.
When they
take the field tomorrow, the visitors
would do whatever it takes to avert a
similar heartbreak, while the hosts would
try to shrug off their last match’s
defeat and bounce back in the reckoning.
The
Daredevils have played three matches so
far, winning two and losing one to occupy
fourth place in the chart with four
points, while the Bangalore side —
with three defeats and a lone win so far
— languish in seventh place in the
eight-team event with just two points
against their name.
South
African speed merchant Dale Steyn has
added firepower to the Bangalore attack
and the Protea pacer would be asking
uncomfortable questions with his
mid-140kmph snorters.
Delhi,
however, looked far from worried and in
fact their all-rounder Rajat Bhatia went
on to claim that last match’s defeat
may, in fact, prove a blessing in
disguise.
"This
is a long tournament and I think the
defeat actually helped us identify
certain grey areas and address those
issue," Bhatia explained.
Sehwag and
Gautam Gambhir will hope to provide the
fireworks upfront, while Shikhar Dhawan
too has been impressive so far. And in
case steyn and co rock Delhi’s boat,
Shoaib Malik, Manoj Tiwary, Bhatia and
Dinesh Karthik can steady the innings.
(PTI)
State
Sport Climbing Championship from May 3
Excelsior
Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 29: The Mountaineering
Association of J&K in collaboration
with MNDP School, R S Pura is going to
organise 8th J&K State Sport Climbing
Championship from May 3 to 4 at MNDP
School.
About 300
climbers drawn from various districts of
the State are likely to participate in
the said championship.
The
competitions shall be held in both lead
and speed climbing in five categories
which included Sub Junior (born on or
after 1995), Youth-B (1994,1993), Youth-A
1992-1991), Juniors (1990,1989) and Open
Category (1988 and earlier).
The
climbers desirous to take part in the
championship should send their
nominations alongwith registration fee of
Rs 100 to M/S Everest Traders, Last Morh,
Gandhi Nagar.
On spot
registration will also also be done at
MNDP School, R S Pura on May 3 from 7.30
am to 8 am.
National
and zonal medal winners as well as State
champions are exempted from registration
fee.
Dr C K
Khajuria, a qualified judge in sport
climbing and also general secretary of
the Association shall be the president of
the jury in the competition while Sumit
Khajuria and Dr Shayam Magotra are the
organising secretary and medical officer
of the said championship.
MIET
celebrates Sports Day
Excelsior
Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 29: The Department of
Master of Computer Applications (MCA) of
Model Institute of Engineering and
Technology (MIET), Kot Bhalwal celebrated
Sports Day in the college premises today.
Prof S K
Sharma, Principal, MIET was the chief
guest on the occasion. Prof Indu
Gandotra, HoD, Department of MCA and Dr
Arun K Gupta, Director, MIET alongwith
heads and faculty members of various
departments were also present.
Besides
participating in different sports events
such as judo, taekwondo, chess, table
tennis, carrom and cricket, the students
of MCA Department showcased their skills
in dancing, singing, skit, rangoli,
collage making and poetry writing.
Vikrant
Joshi clinched the appreciation prize in
taekwondo while Neha Mahajan and Prachi
bagged top honours in judo.
2nd
semester students won the cricket match
wherein Mukesh Verma was adjudged man of
the match.
Adarsh and
Ujjwal secured first positions in chess
and carrom whereas Vikrant Joshi finished
first in table tennis.
Monika
Saini was declared winner in rangoli and
collage making. The other winners
included Himshika, Anjali Verma, Prachi
Gupta, Vandana, Monika Parihar, Mariyam
and Rupali.
"Guludu
Da Behya" was adjudged the best skit
enacted by the 2nd semester students.
Rupali
Sharma’s poetry in Dogri received
applauds from the audience. Arti Kotru,
Lecturer, MCA, compared the proceedings
and presented the vote of thanks.
Chief
coach Biswajeet joins J&K team
Excelsior
Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 29: The ongoing
preparations of J&K football team for
the coveted National Football
Championship-Santosh Trophy received a
major boost as chief coach Biswajeet
Bhattacharya has joined the team.
The team
had a gruelling practice sessions
(morning and evening) today under the
guidance of Biswajeet who arrived in
Srinagar on Sunday.
According
to B A Shah, chief spokesman of J&K
Football Association, the coach also had
a thorough interaction with the players
soon after arrival.
Hailing
from West Bengal, Biswajeet Bhattacharya
was a vital cog in the national football
team and had represented the team in
various national and international
tournaments in his illustrious career.
He was a
member of the Indian football team in the
20th Asian Youth Football tournament held
at Dhaka in 1978 followed by 1979 in
China where he led the team.
Bhattacharya
also holds to his credit the title of
best player in the Great Wall Football
Tournament held in China in 1984.
He
represented the Kolkata team in the
Santosh Trophy championship from 1979 to
1987 and got an opportunity to lead the
team in his last stint.
Bhattacharya’s
other important participations:
1981:
Invitation Football Tournament (Dubai).
1982:
Merteka Football Tournament (Malaysia),
Asian Games (Delhi) and President Cup
Football Tournament in Seoul (South
Korea).
1983:
President Gold Cup Football Tournament
(Bangladesh) and Pre-Olympic Group.
1984: 3rd
Nehru Gold Cup Football Tournament
(Kolkata) and 8th Asian Games (Kolkata).
1985:
Nehru Gold Cup.
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