Sydney, July 13:

Five-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Ian Thorpe for the first time publicly confirmed that he is gay during a television interview today, ending years of speculation about his sexuality.

Thorpe, who had long denied that he was gay, told British talk show host Michael Parkinson in an interview broadcast on Australia’s Channel 10 that he just recently realized the truth about himself.

“I’m not straight,” Thorpe said. “And this is only something that very recently — we’re talking in the past two weeks — I’ve been comfortable telling the closest people around me exactly that.”

For years, Thorpe took great pains to hide his sexuality. In his 2012 autobiography, “This Is Me,” Thorpe wrote, “For the record, I am not gay and all of my sexual experiences have been straight. I’m attracted to women, I love children, and aspire to have a family one day.”

Thorpe, 31, said being asked about his sexuality by journalists when he was just a teenager forced him to adopt a defensive attitude toward the issue. He was too young to know whether he was gay or straight, and said he responded that he was straight to avoid teasing from classmates. Things spiraled from there.

“I felt the lie had become so big that I didn’t want people to question my integrity,” he said. “And a little bit of ego comes into this; I didn’t want people to question … have I lied about everything?”

Now, he says, he wishes he had come out sooner.

“I’m comfortable saying I’m a gay man,” he said. “And I don’t want young people to feel the same way that I did. You can grow up, you can be comfortable and you can be gay.” Part of his reluctance to come out, he said, was fear of letting his family and his fans down.

“I wanted to make my family proud. I wanted to make my nation proud of me. And part of me didn’t know if Australia wanted its champion to be gay,” he said. “But I’m telling not only Australia, but I’m telling the world, that I am.”

Thorpe added that he is looking forward to living his life openly, without the burden of carrying a secret. He wants to find a partner, he said, and start a family.

Thorpe retired from swimming in 2012 after winning five Olympic gold medals, three silvers, and one bronze, and setting 22 world records. (Agencies)

Brasilia, July 13:

Brazil lost its face, its pride one more time in the space of four days after the Netherlands embarrassed the hosts 3-0 in the third-place play-off match of the World Cup, as boos and jeers from the fans dressed in canary yellow reverberated across the Estadio Nacional here.

Coming off the devastating 7-1 hammering to Germany in the semifinals, the humiliation for the hosts was complete on the eve of the grand finale.

Captain Robin van Persie (3rd minute), Daley Blind (17th) and Georginio Wijnaldum (90+1) found the target for the Netherlands, the result only adding to the already gloomy mood of thousands of home fans as they left the stadium deeply dejected.

Van Persie started the scoring for the Netherlands after he converted from the spot barely few minutes into the game.

Arjen Robben was the one credited with getting the Netherlands the penalty after he was pulled by host skipper Thiago Silva, who returned after missing the German massacre due to double bookings.

The Manchester United player calmly slotted in the ball, high above Julio Cesar’s dive. This was van Persie’s fourth goal in six appearances in the ongoing tournament.

There was though a hint of doubt over if Robben was dragged inside the box.

Lack of discretion on part of stopper David Luiz, who is headed for Paris Saint-Germain FC on a world record 50 million pound, led to the second goal.

In what turned out to be a horrible piece of defending, Luiz’s feeble header from a cross landed on the path of Daley Blind, who promptly volleyed it in to make the scoreline 2-0 for the Oranje, in the process scoring his maiden international goal.

Wijnaldum added to the home team’s woes when he successfully launched his right-footer into the net in the added time.

Oscar looked to be the most impressive Brazilian player on the field and embarked on a mazy run before launching into a shot from the edge of the box, but Jasper Cillessen was equal to the task at the post. (PTI)

Nottingham, July 13:

Calling the stalemate here a “good Test match” for his team, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today singled out Stuart Binny as one who could fill in the seaming all-rounder’s slot in the near future.

Binny struck a match-saving 78 on his debut as India overcame some anxious moments to manage a draw in the first cricket Test against England.

“Overall there was a lot of positives for us. We needed a partnership this morning and we got it. It was a good Test match for us, we managed to put pressure on them and then we held up well when we were under pressure,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Binny made a mark with a memorable performance as he not only pulled India out of the woods but also took his side to a lead of more than 300 runs to shut the door on England at Trent Bridge.

And Dhoni said: “We haven’t had a seaming allrounder but Stuart Binny can be someone who can really contribute for us in the future.”

He had no regrets about leaving out Ravichandran Ashwin from the playing XI.

“I don’t regret not playing R Ashwin because there was no help for the spinner. We had good combinations and I was happy with the bowling attack. I don’t think I could have changed much when (Joe) Root and (Jimmy) Anderson were going, we tried a few things but the ball got soft and the bowlers go tired and I don’t think there was much else we could have done.”

Root and Andreson shared a world-record 10th wicket partnership to bail England out of a precarious situation yesterday.

“A lot of youngsters have played really well. We wanted to see what kind of fight they are putting in and we’re pleased,” Dhoni said.

England captain Alastair Cook was full of praise for Root, who notched up a big century in the hosts’ first innings.

“In this game we had a poor session, losing six wickets on a really good pitch. Thankfully we got out of it. Joe Root has come back really well, leading the time and marshalling those partnerships,” Cook said. (PTI)

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, July 13: Superb all-round show by Satish Kumar helped Rainawari Cricket Club (RCC) Srinagar to drub star-studded Azad Cricket Club by 39 runs to lift the title trophy of the 1st Titu Memorial T20 Cricket Tournament, organized by Azad Cricket Club at Middle School ground, Satwari here today.
Minister for Housing, Horticulture, Culture and Youth Services and Sports, Raman Bhalla was the chief guest on the valedictory function, who distributed prizes among the winners and runners-up teams.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Bhalla said that developing sports infrastructure to promote games and sports in the State is the priority of the Government.
He further said that as a reward for their performances at National and International scene, the appointment orders were issued to 25 outstanding sportspersons, with 22 from Jammu province recently.
Mr Bhalla said that the stadiums have been developed in Bhour Camp and Raipur Satwari recently and Rs 10 crore project of Indoor Complex is being developed in Jammu, adding that the pavilion and seating arrangement will be established at Middle School ground, Satwari soon.
Prominent among others present on the occasion were Rumal Singh, Momin Latif and Harmeet Singh, organizing secretary of the Tournament.
Earlier, winning the toss and batting first, RCC Srinagar scored a decent total of 179 runs in the stipulated 20 overs. Satish Kumar was the top scorer with 67 runs off 46 balls, studded with 6 delectable boundaries and 6 massive sixes, while Ishan Gupta and Amandeep Singh contributed quick-fire 38 and 26 runs to the total respectively. For Azad Club, Pardeep Bali and Vishal bagged 2 wickets each, while Jatin Wadhawan and Raman Dutta claimed one wicket each.
In reply, Azad Cricket Club, managed to score 140 runs in the stipulated 20 overs, losing 8 wickets in the process, thus lost the match by 39 runs. Surinder was the top scorer with 26 runs, while Amit Billowria contributed 19 runs to the total. Ashwani Bhat and Gagan (Shinku) chipped in with 14 runs each. For RCC, Satish Kumar took 3 wickets, while Rahul Mussa and Amandeep Singh bagged 2 wickets each. Vimarsh Kaw and skipper Kuldeep Kumar claimed one wicket each. Satish was adjudged man of the match, man of the series and best bowler of the Tournament, while Sahil Singh was declared best batsman of the Tournament. Amit Sharma was awarded for scoring a magnificent century in the Tournament.
16 teams participated in this month long cricketing extravaganza.

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, July 13: Sub Junior boys and girls Selection Chess Tournament, organized by Jammu District Chess Association concluded at ACE Chess Academy, Trikuta Nagar, here.
Rajan Sharma, Divisional Sports Officer Jammu was chief guest on the occasion.
Atul Kumar Gupta, joint secretary All India Chess Federation and president All J&K Chess Association, Baldev Raj, vice president,Taranvir Singh Gujral, coordinator and Advocate Rakesh Sadhotra were also present on the occasion.
Bindu Pathania, FIDE Arbiter was the chief arbiter of this event.
She is one among only 10 women arbiters in the Country.
The players who were selected to represent J&K State in the forthcoming Sub Junior National to be held at Kerala from August 4 to August 14, 2014 included Soham Kamotra, Aryan, Kanav Gupta, Dewang Gupta, Yaksh Chopra, Angad Singh, Meenal Gupta, Arushi Kotwal, Avni Gupta, Arushi Sharma, Shruti Choudhary and Palak.

     Coimbatore, July 13:

Overnight leaders Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif, in a Mahindra XUV 500, today won the JK Tyre-powered Rally of Coimbatore, the second round of the FMSCI-Indian Rally Championship (IRC), by over two minutes.

Karnataka’s Arjun Rao and Satish Rajagopal, in a VW Polo, bagged the second place overall and the top spot in the IRC 1600 category, while reigning Asia Pacific champion Gill’s Mahindra Adventure teammates Sunny Sidhu and P V Srinivas Murthy were third.

During the run over the two Special Stages of 26.10 kms and 12.65 kms in Leg 2, Gill, winner of the opening round in Nashik last month, chose to drive cautiously.

“I didn’t want to take any risks as I already had a good lead overnight,” Gill said.

“I wanted to hold on to the lead and it just so happened that I was fastest in both the stages today,” added India’s top rally driver.

While the top three overnight leaders finished in that order, Team Yokohama’s Vikram Devadasen and Shrikanth, in a VW Polo, turned in faster times in both Super Stages to finish fourth overall ahead of their Team Yokohama mates Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Bhatt in a Mitsubishi Cedia.

Kantharaj and Bhatt topped the IRC 2000cc class, while Devadasen and Shrikanth finished second in the IRC 1600cc category.

Arjun Rao and Sathish were returning to action after missing the opening round in Nashik and the pair, winners of the INRC 1600 class last season and second in the overall category, turned in another impressive show.

B Raghu Nandan and K Suraj topped the FMSCI 1600cc Cup category.

Yesterday, 10 cars retired during leg one, including reigning National champion Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik following mechanical problems. (PTI)