New Delhi, June 20:In a major embarrassment for Indian rugby, the team was left a player short against Uzbekistan in the Asian 5 Nation Tournament in Lahore today after some army members failed to get clearance for the Pakistan trip.

India, the top-ranked side in the tournament, could muster only 12 recognised players and two more had to be borrowed from the management before the 14-member team ultimately went down to the unfancied Uzbekistan 23-17.

But the vice-president of the Indian Rugby Football Union Aga Hussain did put up a brave front and said that the players fought a hard game.

“14 players taking field in a 75 minute game was indeed very brave. And I am proud of the team. They were held the opposition at 17-17 for quite sometime till Uzbekistan got two penalties and bagged six points in the process,” Hussain said.

Hussain also defended the absence of players which accounted for the debacle.

“Any army personnel travelling abroad requires clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs. But the situation is so fluid at the moment that the clearance could not be obtained and hence half the team could not travel” he said.

Hussain also refused to play the blame game and said, “We had given sufficient intimation but it sometimes happens with army clearance, so it’s just an unfortunate case and we blame nobody.”

Hussain though hopes to field a full 15-member squad against hosts Pakistan on Sunday with one of the junior members soon expected to join the side.

“We will have 15 boys that will take the field as there have been no major injuries. And one of our players, who stayed back in Delhi for his interview will join the team soon after getting visa,” he said. (PTI)

Sao Paulo, June 20: Star Uruguay striker Luis Suarez sent England on the brink of an early elimination from the World Cup with a double strike in his side’s 2-1 dramatic win while Colombia qualified for the knock-out round for the first time in 24 years here.

Suarez, who did not play in his side’s shock 1-3 loss against Costa Rica, returned from a knee surgery last month to haunt the country where he plays club football for Liverpool to score in the 39th and 85th minutes and keep Uruguay afloat in the tournament.

England, on the other hand, were still winless from two matches having lost to Italy 1-2 in their opening match. Their fate, however, will be decided by the other remaining matches in Group D.

England now face the prospect of making one of the earliest returns to home from a World Cup. They had also crashed out of the first stage in 1950 and 1958.

The dramatic match at the Arena Corinthians looked like heading for a draw with England equalising through Wayne Rooney’s maiden World Cup goal in his third tournament appearance and 10th match.

England even threatened to score the winning goal as they applied immense pressure on the Uruguay goal after the Rooney strike. But it was not to be the day of England, and a mistake by captain Steven Gerrard, who could not clear a long kick by Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera properly, sent his Liverpool team-mate Suarez in the clear to send the ball past England goalie and bury it into the net.

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

KATRA, June 20:  7th Annual Ramnagar-Birnu Kesari Vishal Dangal was organized by Birnu Dangal Committee in collaboration with J&K Indian Style Wrestling Association was held at Birnu (Chowki), Ramnagar, here today.
The event was held under the over all  supervision of president J&K Indian Style  Wrestling  Association, Shiv Kumar Sharma and Deepak Anand.
60 bouts were played in the one day Vishal Dangal where wrestlers from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and J&K participated.
The first main bout was fought between Wrestler Sandeep of Mehar Singh Akhara Rohtak in Haryana and wrestler Arvind of Banaras. This bout, which lasted for 23 minutes was won by wrestler Sandeep. Winner Sandeep was awarded with cash prize of Rs 9,000 along with traditional Patta and memento by chief guest Prof Sukhnam Chand and Shiv Kumar Sharma, who presided over the function, while runners-up wrestler Arvind got Rs 7,000 by Deepak Anand and SHO  Ramnagar, Deepak Pathania. Prize money of Rs 16,000 for the 1st malli was contributed by Marchu Ram.

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, June 20: 10 days innovative Summer Camp concluded at DPS Udhampur, today.
The main activities of the Camp were dance, martial arts, art and craft and sports events.
Special activities included horse riding, pottery making, splash pool, shooting, magic show, visit to Air Force Station and picnic.
Students took part in varieties of fulfilled activities under the guidance of specialized trainers and experts.
Children experienced great joy and motivation in learning new techniques and creative art work. Students were given certificates for completing the Camp successfully.
School Management lauded the efforts of the staff members for holding the Camp in a befitting manner.
Speaking on the occasion, School Principal, Sanjeev Pradhan said that such Camps develop the kinesthetic skills like special intelligence and help in overall development of the child. He also said more skill based activities will be added in next Camp.
Vice-Principal, Sucheta Gupta also spoke on the occasion.

Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, June 20: Pallanwalla defeated Kanachak team in the final match of the Volleyball Tournament, organized by Peer Baba Club, Marh from June 8 to June 19, 2014, here.
Anil Singh of Pallanwala was the star performer, who earned maximum points to help his team win the title. He was declared man of the match for his brilliant performance.
Rajveer Singh, State secretary of Youth Congress was the chief guest, while Payar Singh, Sarpanch Halqa Marh was the guest of honour.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Rajveer said that youth is the main stake holder in the development of the nation, adding that sports can inculcate in them the spirit of unity and cooperation among each other.

London, June 20: Defending champion Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, the man he beat in 2013 to capture Britain’s first Wimbledon title in 77 years, today landed in the same half of this year’s draw, leaving Roger Federer the biggest winner.

Murray, who has been seeded three, could face top-seeded Djokovic in the last four while seven-time champion Federer, the fourth seed, is scheduled to renew his rivalry with world number one Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals.

But Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion, has been seeded second this year after losing in the first round in 2013 and getting knocked out in the second round 12 months earlier.

The 28-year-old Spaniard, who won a ninth French Open earlier this month, has already expressed fears over whether or not his famously brittle knees will stand up to two weeks of grasscourt tennis.

His mood will not have been helped by the draw which lined him up for a possible second round clash against big-hitting Czech Lukas Rosol who knocked him out in 2012.

Nadal starts against Slovakia’s Martin Klizan with big-serving Ivo Karlovic a potential third round foe.

Murray, now coached by former Wimbledon women’s champion Amelie Mauresmo, will start his title defence on Monday against Belgium’s world number 104, David Goffin.

Murray could face a quarter-final against seventh seed Spaniard David Ferrer, who has been battling injury, or Queen’s Club champion and 11th seed Grigor Dimitrov.

Top seed Djokovic, the 2011 champion, will meet Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan, also on Monday, with the Serb possibly facing France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round and former runner-up Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals.

Czech veteran Radek Stepanek, who beat Murray at last week’s Queen’s Club event, could be a second round opponent.

Federer and Nadal will begin their campaigns on Tuesday.

Federer, looking to break free from his seven-title tie with Pete Sampras, opens against Paolo Lorenzi of Italy and could then face Julien Benneteau or Gilles Muller. (Agencies)