Sania, Paes win at Indian Wells

NEW DELHI, Mar 15: Sania Mirza made it to the third round of the elite USD 2,100,000 Pacific Life Open defeating Ukrainian Olga Savchuk in a tough three-setter.

Sania, ranked 32 in the world, lost the first set but recovered in time to record a 4-6 6-1 6-4 win over her 96th-ranked opponent at Indian Wells, California, in the United States.

The Hyderabad girl, who is seeded 21 in the tier I event, received a bye in the first round.

The Indian star is ranked seventh in the doubles draw. She and her partner, American Bethanie Mattek, will take on Belarus’ Tatiana Poutchek and Anastasia Rodionova of Russia in the second round.

The Indo-US pair had beaten Poland’s Klaudia Jans and Gabriela Navratilova of the Czech Republic 6-3 6-2 in their opening encounter.

In the USD 3,589,000 men’s Masters series event being held at the same venue, Leander Paes and his Australian partner Paul Hanley, seeded eight in the draw, defeated the Spanish duo of Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer 6-3 6-4 in the first round yesterday.

Sixth seeded Mahesh Bhupathi and Bahamas’ Mark Knowles face German Christopher Kas and Rogier Wassen of the Netherlands in their opening match. (PTI)

Charlesworth set to get a bigger role

NEW DELHI, Mar 15: Bowing to intense pressure from all quarters following India’s failure to qualify for the Olympics, the Indian Hockey Federation is now willing to assign a bigger role to Australian legend Ric Charlesworth who has been called to the capital for a meeting on Monday.

Charlesworth, a former captain and one of the hockey greats, was roped in by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to revive Indian hockey but the IHF had kept him way from the senior team, stating that his contract had not been finalised yet.

The decision to invite Charlesworth for a meeting has been taken by the sports ministry after consultations with IHF Chief K P S Gill, a development which is seen as a climbdown for the game’s governing body.

"The impasse of regularising the appointment of Ric Charlesworth will be finalised at a meeting here on Monday, Sports Ministry sources said here today.

"The signing of contract between Charlesworth, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs and the IHF will take place after the meeting", the sources said.

The matter has remained unresolved since Charlesworth had not responded to the proposals extended to him four months ago.

When contacted for his reaction, IHF Chief K P S Gill, told that the matter will be resolved in a few days.

"Yes. The matter will be resolved in a few days’ times. Since Charlesworth had not responded, the matter had remained unresolved".

"The Ministry officials have been saying as to how they could invite him when he had not even responded to their offer. They said that they cannot get him to visit India unless he sends his response", Gill said.

Gill also said that neither the Sports Ministry nor the IHF should be blamed or criticized for the delay since no response had come from Charlesworth.

"I have been asked by various people to speak to Sports Ministry officials, who told me that this is the situation. The matter has been pending for a long time. We are getting repeated emails from both Charlesworth and Bob Davidzon of FIH," he said.

Gill said the moment Charlesworth sent his response, the Sports Authority of India officials were requested to arrange tickets for him to come to India.

Both Gill and Sports Ministry officials hoped that the contract and the financial commitments would be finalised based on the negotiations during the meeting.

Charlesworth, meanwhile, confirmed having received a letter from the Sports Ministry to return to India.

"I will be there for the meeting. But if there are no changes in the system, there is no point in having me", he said.

"The entire process has been delayed and I feel my presence could have been useful in Santiago. The team’s preparations for the Olympic qualifiers was inadequate. Preparation is critical for any tournament", he added. (PTI)

Sehwag insists he has a balanced team, sans Ishant

NEW DELHI, Mar 15: Delhi Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag today insisted that his is a balanced side even though they could afford the Australian tour hero Ishant Sharma because of his "high price".

Sehwag said the gangling fast bowler was among players he listed but decided not to bid for him because the franchisee would not have got other top players the team wanted.

"We wanted Ishant but the team budget forced us to decide against going for him. His bid price had soared up. We have to spend a lot more on the icon player (Sehwag himself) and had we bid for him and we would not have got some other big stars," Sehwag said.

"I would not call it (not getting Ishant) a loss but it would have been great if he was in our team. I am happy that he was taken by Kolkata on a big sum," the dashing batsman said at a press conference to announce Hero Honda as official partner and sponsor.

Kingfisher will be the associate sponsor and sports shoes major Adidas the apparel sponsor.

Delhi Daredevils also approached local player left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra who was acquired by Sachin Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians. (PTI)

Smith snatches top spot from Tendulkar

DUBAI, Mar 15: A prolific series in Bangladesh allowed South African captain Graeme Smith to dethrone Sachin Tendulkar from the top spot in the ICC one-day batting rankings.

The left-hander was placed third in the rankings going into the three-match series against the minnows, but an aggregate of 199 runs not only won him the player of the series award but also earned him 39 ratings points which were enough for him to leapfrog Tendulkar as well as Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, who was placed second.

Smith is ranked 14th in the Test rankings and would like to lead from the front when the Proteas start a three-Test tour of India later this month.

Tendulkar’s stint at the top of the batting charts lasted less than two weeks. The 35-year-old had climbed to the top following his two matchwinning performances in the tri-series finals against Australia, which had pushed Ponting into second place.

India’s limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni held on to his 10th spot, while Yuvraj Singh is 17th.

The positions are unlikely to change for another couple of months before Australia goes head-to-head with the West Indies in the five-match ODI starting in Kingston on June 21.

South African A B De Villiers is the other batsman from his team in the top 10 after he jumped six places to ninth position.

In the bowlers’ rankings, South Africa’s Andre Nel, omitted from the Test squad to India, climbed 10 places to sixth place. Harbhajan Singh is the highest ranked Indian bowler at 19th spot. (PTI)

State Football Championship
Jammu United, Engineers, Jammu Sports (A),
DFA Poonch register wins

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 15: Jammu United, Engineers Football Club, Jammu Sports (A) and DFA Poonch notched up wins in the opening ties in the State Football Championship which commenced at Jammu University Football Field today.

The inaugural match between Jammu United vs DFA Rajouri was a lop sided affair in which Jammu United cruised past their opponents by 8-0 margin.

Sanjay Khajuria was the top scorer with three goals. The other goals were scored by Rajkumar, Pawan Kumar, Sunil Khajuria and Shashi Kumar.

The second match played between Engineers Football Club and DFA Udhampur proved to be another dull contest as Engineers prevailed over by 5-0 goals.

The goal scorers were Jagtar Singh, Kapil, Tushar (2) and Kapil.

In the third match, Jammu Sports (A) sealed a hard fought win against DFA Kathua by a solitary goal in an exciting contest.

Davion scored the decisive goal in the 69th minute.

The fourth match played between Kartar Memorial Club, Samba and DFA Poonch was a real thriller in which the latter got the better of former by 4-3 goals.

The match went right down to the wire which saw fortunes fluctuating from one team to the other and was eventually decided in a tie breaker after both teams levelled 2-2 in the allotted time.

The tournament has been organised by the J&K Football Association.

Earlier, the tournament was declared open by S P Vaid,IGP Crime and Railways.

T S Public School, Euro Kids celebrate
"Health is Wealth Day"

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 15: T S Public School and Euro Kids, Trikuta Nagar celebrated "Health is Wealth Day" at T S Mini Stadium, Taawishi College of Education, Channi Rama today.

Various sports events were held on the occasion which included judo-demonstration, Races, Tug-of-War etc.

MLA Gandhi Nagar, Raman Bhalla was the chief guest on the occasion who presided over the function.

Kamal Jamwal, Municipal Corporator, Channi Rama and Vijay Sethi, Ex-Joint Director, J&K Board of School Education were the guests of honour.

Prem Nath Malhotra and Dinesh Malhotra were also present. Suman Bhardwaj delivered the welcome speech.

Cultural items were also presented by the students on the occasion.

Later, the chief guest distributed prizes to the winners of the sports meet.

He on behalf of T S Group of Institution, Pooja Malhotra presented a cash prize of Rs 15,000 Amna Arora who secured first position in class 12th Board Examinations in the session 2005-06.

GCW Parade holds Annual Day function

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 15: The Annual Day cum Prize Distribution function of Government College for Women (GCW) Parade was held at college hall, here today.

Minister for Higher and Technical Education, Gulchain Singh Charak was the chief guest, while Commissioner Secretary, Pramod Jain, Director Colleges, N D Wani, Principals from other city colleges and former Principals of the college were also present on the occasion.

In his address, the Minister emphasized upon the college students to take inspiration from the President of the nation and play their role in development of the country with the dint of hard work, dedication and confidence.

He promised adequate funds for building a better auditorium in the college to serve the needs of the institution. Later, he released college publications and distributed prizes, trophies and certificates among the students who excelled in different spheres of activities during the session.

Earlier, programme began with the lighting of ceremonial lamp by the chief guest, which was followed by welcome address by Prof. Usha Jayee, Principal of the college.

She also presented the annual report of the college through power point presentation and highlighted all the achievements and advancements made by the college.

An impressive cultural programme was also held on the function.

FIFA accepts proposal for standard size football pitches

ZURICH, Mar 15: FIFA has accepted a proposal to standardise the size of international soccer pitches at all new stadiums in the world.

The world governing body’s executive committee yesterday adopted a new rule from the International Football Association Board to fix the pitch size at 105 metres by 68 metres.

The rule will not apply to existing stadiums, and it will not affect the international eligibility of giants stadium in east Rutherford, New Jersey, where the United States is negotiating to play Argentina in a friendly match on June 8.

Before the 1994 World Cup in the United States, FIFA said the giants stadium could accommodate a 103-by-63 metre pitch.

Also yesterday, FIFA restated its opposition to Bolivia playing international matches 3,600 metres above sea level in its capital city La Paz.

FIFA health regulations insist players and officials must acclimatise for at least two weeks before playing at altitudes above 3,000 metres.

The Bolivian national federation must now propose venues for its remaining home matches in south American qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.(AGENCIES)

England set New Zealand record target

WELLINGTON, Mar 15: England held a near impregnable lead of 421 runs in the second cricket Test against New Zealand as they reached 277 for nine at stumps on the third day here today.

The margin is already ahead of the current record winning fourth innings total in the history of Test cricket of 418.

When Paul Collingwood fell in the final over of the day, England did not immediately declare, indicating they want to milk the fourth morning for as many more runs as possible before the last wicket falls.

Collingwood, who posted his second half-century of the match reaching 59 before he went leg before wicket to Mark Gillespie, has been central to England’s bid to even the series after New Zealand won the first Test.

He scored 65 in the first innings where he featured in a telling 164-run stand for the sixth wicket with Tim Ambrose in what has become the match-turning partnership.

Apart from Ambrose’s first innings century, the England batsmen have largely failed to build scores of substance.

Alastair Cook’s 60, 44 from Andrew Strauss and 41 from Ian Bell were the only other notable performances in the second innings.

Marquee batsman Kevin Pietersen, who has had a lean tour of New Zealand, had reason to feel his luck had changed when on 10 umpire Rudi Koertzen turned down a close lbw appeal by Daniel Vettori.

Television replays suggested he was plumb in front, but it was short-lived relief as Pietersen only reached 17 before he was run out.

New Zealand fast bowler Chris Martin managed to get a fingertip to a return drive from Ian Bell and deflected the ball on to the stumps catching Pietersen out of his ground.

Had the New Zealand fielding been sharper the England total could have been much less.

Collingwood was on nought when he was dropped by Gillespie off Daniel Vettori, and the ball bounced off Gillespie’s arm and rolled over the boundary for four.

In the following over, Mathew Sinclair dropped a difficult chance from Bell on nine.

England, who had a 144-run lead on the first innings, started the day at four without loss in their second stand and went through to lunch with the solitary loss of Michael Vaughan for 13.

Cook, who was dropped by McCullum on five before hitting the first six of his 26-Test career, put on 106 with Strauss for the second wicket before both were dismissed early in the afternoon session.

Cook pushed forward to Kyle Mills and nicked the ball to Stephen Fleming at first slip and Strauss was bowled by Jacob Oram in the following over for four.

Ambrose was unable to reproduce his first innings heroics and made five from 23 balls before he was bowled by oram who finished the day with three for 44 off 20 overs.

Gillespie, although the most expensive of the New Zealand bowlers at four runs an over, had figures of two for 52. (AGENCIES)

Vijay Singh seizes control at Bay Hill

ORLANDO (USA), Mar 15: Vijay Singh recovered from a stomach virus to make a strong title defence by chipping in twice for a 5-under 65 and a two-shot lead over Carl Pettersson in the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Friday.

The 45-year-old Fijian looked like the model of athleticism on a day of grey clouds and occasional rain. Only a week ago, the virus caused him to lose 18 pounds in five days and forced him to take an unprecedented four days off from practicing.

"I’ve got a very heavy shirt on. I can see my ribs," said Singh, who was at 9-under 131. "I thought I was going to pull out of this tournament, but on Friday, I just started to hit a few (balls). And that was it."

What he could not see on the leaderboard was Tiger Woods, who has not been this far out of the lead since the British Open.

The world’s No 1 player also looked sick, but only after watching putts come up short on shoddy greens. Woods, trying to continue a winning streak that stretches all the way back to September, had to settle for nine straight pars to close out a 2-under 68. He was seven shots behind going into the weekend.

"I’ll have to play better and make a lot more putts that I have been," Woods said. "I just wasn’t swinging the club very well today. And when I did put myself in position to make a putt, I didn’t make them."

After hitting a tee shot on the 16th that stopped next to a grandstand on the 17th, Woods still had a 15-foot birdie putt that rolled and wiggled and bumped and eventually slid by the hole. By this point, he only smiled.

"Runs like a fairway," he said under a breath. (AGENCIES)

BCCI to fund five individual Olympic disciplines

MUMBAI, Mar 15: The cash rich BCCI today said it would officially announce the funding of the five disciplines of the Olympic sports by the end of this month and would restrict its help to only individual sports to start with.

BCCI Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Prof Ratnakar Shetty said the cricket board and the Sport Ministry are in talks and the modalities are being worked to ensure effective disbursement of funds and proper accountability.

"We will be forming a committee to ensure effective disbursement of funds to the federations for the player development and also regarding accountability so that the money is not misused," Shetty said here today.

However, he added at present the board would not come to the aid of team sports such as hockey or football which are in need of funding but were concentrating only on individual sports at present.

"The board is very clear about its stand and are keen on the player development for only individual sports."

The board has tied-up with the Sports Ministry to sponsor the development of sports persons in the areas of archery, boxing, judo, swimming and weightlifting.

The board and the ministry has also set aside Rs 25 crore for each of these sports for identifying talents and medal hopefuls for the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi in 2010 and also for the next Olympics 2012 in London.

Shetty said the number of committee members has not decided but it will contribute in identifying and selecting potential medal prospects. (PTI)

Dhoni & Co gave significant lift to Indian cricket: Roebuck

NEW DELHI, Mar 15: Celebrated cricket writer Peter Roebuck today said the rise of limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his side marked the latest phase of India’s elevation in world cricket.

Roebuck said Dhoni and his young team-mates heralded a new era for Indian cricket, which has emerged as a force which wanted to prove its worth.

"The first major stage was Sunil Gavaskar. He was seen as the voice of protest, ‘we will do it the Indian way.’ the next stage was Sachin Tendulkar, ‘I am comfortable with what I am.’ he is a great player who is graceful as well.

"The third phase was in Sydney (Test) with Dhoni, (Irfan) Pathan, Ishant (Sharma) and such people, who came from villages, backyards and outstations. It was an expression of democratic, passionate, committed and self-dependent India. It was a sense of true independence, not any protest against anybody," Roebuck said at the India Today conclave here.

The Australia-based Englishman said the Aussies and the Indians have a lot of things in common.

"They are rivals but also partners. They speak the same language."

Roebuck, however, cautioned India against getting overboard in their celebrations and thereby losing the momentum for the future.

"The challenge before India is to sustain their success and maintain their long cricketing culture. There should not be any delirium and going overboard in success. No confident nation does that. Dhoni did not get carried away in Brisbane (in tri-series final) as he knew it was a matter of three balls."

Making a passing remark on the Indian hockey team’s debacle in the Olympic qualifiers in Chile, Roebuck said Indian cricketers were looking forward to prove their worth in Australia.

"They thought ‘we expected the success, it was not a surprise.’ but the hockey team is not saying that yet."

Roebuck said the media which went overboard about the Sydney controversy should show some restraint in handling contentious issues.

"Sydney got a little bit carried away. The media, including me, should have shown some control. We pick up stories and the 24 hour TV channels also have not helped. We should be careful in handling contentious and aggravated issues," he added. (PTI)