Sania gets engaged; rules out early retirement

New Delhi, May 29: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza has got engaged to a Hyderabad-based businessman but her family has ruled out an immediate wedding or early retirement for the star.

The 22-year-old, who is the most successful woman tennis player of the country, will continue playing the game and her father Imran Mirza said it will take a while before the two families decide on when the wedding would take place.

“This is to confirm that Sania Mirza is engaged to Mr. Muhammad Sohrab Mirza, whose family hails from the city of Hyderabad. Although not related, the two families have had friendly ties for several decades. However, the wedding is not expected to take place for a while,” Imran Mirza said.

“I would like to state that the news appearing in certain sections of the media about the two maternal grandmothers having fixed the liaison is baseless. It has also been wrongly projected that Sania is contemplating early retirement from tennis. These reports are absolutely untrue,” he said.

Sania’s career has been marred by injuries and countless controversies but despite the off-court woes, she has been the lone flag-bearer of Indian women’s tennis internationally.

Sania was the first Indian to win a WTA singles title and earlier this year added an elusive Grand Slam title to her kitty when she combined with Mahesh Bhupathi to win the mixed doubles event at the Australian Open.
Sania is currently in Paris playing the French Open. (PTI)

3 more Indians in Jr boxing quarters

NEW DELHI, May 26: Three other Indian boxers made the quarter-finals of World Junior Championships but the team also suffered its first defeat of the event in Yerevan, Armenia.
After Gaurav Bhiduri (48kg), Namit Bahadur (50kg) and Sandeep’s (46kg) pre-quarterfinal wins on Monday, the Indian presence in the quarters is now six-strong.

In a nerve-wrecking contest, Kuldeep (57kg) defeated Andrei Mikhailov of Belarus 9-8.
After the opening two minutes went neck and neck, Kuldeep trailed Mikhailov 5-6 at the end of the second round.

Tied 8-8 just 20 seconds before the close of bout, Kuldeep sneaked past his opponent by a point. Kuldeep faces Georgia's Aleko Chadashvilli in his last-eight stage bout. In bantam weight, Vikas Khatri scored an 8-2 win over Poland’s Przemyslaw Runowski to enter the quarterfinals.

Both the boxers couldn’t score a point in the first round and most part of the second round. Ricardas opened his account first and took a 1-0 lead in the second round.

Mandeep restored parity in the deciding third round but just 10 seconds before the end of bout, Ricardas managed to land a scoring blow to edge out the Indian.

Late last night, Shiva Thapa from Asom (52kg) made the quarters after notching a comfortable 9-2 win over Ukraine’s Yuriy Shestak. The Hyder Aliyev Cup gold medallist Indian will now take on Israel’s Makhlin Stanislav. (PTI)

Umpires’ course begins

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, May 24 - The Level-I course for the umpires of Assam Cricket Association began at the Hotel Prag Continental here today.

The course has been sponsored by the Indian cricket board (BCCI) in a bid to improve the standard of umpiring in the country.

Three BCCI officials, games development manager Stanley Saldanha, former international umpire and BCCI’s umpire educator SK Bansal and another educator BS Bhatti will impart training to the State umpires during the four-day course.

Inaugurating the course Saldanha, who was also a first class cricketer said, the laws of the games would be discussed thoroughly by the educators so that the participating umpires will understand all the basics of the cricketing laws. He also urged all the participating umpires to take the course seriously and professionally as from such course they can learn much about the game and can develop their confidence. He also elaborately explained about the importance of an umpire during the game. He also advised the umpires to conduct as many matches as they can in order to improve their standard.

The former international umpire SK Bansal, while speaking on the occasion, regretted that although India is a leading cricket playing country, it doesn’t have a single ICC panel umpire. He promised to discuss all the laws elaborately and to help the participating umpires through his practical experiences.

Assam Cricket Association secretary Bikash Baruah welcomed the BCCI officials and the State umpires. Former international umpire Suren Ram Phookun, who has been appointed as coordinator for this programme, also spoke on the occasion and appealed the trainee umpires to go through the laws properly and improve their body language while on the field.

ACA vice president Bhakti Medhi presided over the function while other officials treasurer Ghanashyam Baruah, joint secretary Bishnu Ram Nunisa, umpires, board secretary Md Khalique, Imdad Hussain, Dilip Nandy were also present on the occasion.

Altogether 25 umpires from different districts are participating in the course which will be concluded on May 27 with an examination. ASSAM TRIBUNE

Lensmen lift media football trophy

Staff reporter
GUWAHATI, May 24 - Photo Journalists Association retained the Harendra Nath Baruah Memorial Football Championship beating Pratidin 2-0 in an exciting final match here at the Nehru Stadium today. The lensmen dominated the proceedings from the beginning and pumped in the first goal in the 13th minute. The goal was scored by Pitambar Newar.

Till the first half, the lensmen were leading 1-0.

In the second half, though Pratidin displayed some good skills and created a few openings, their lack of finishing did them in the crunch moments. The lensmen, on their part, excelled in man-to-man marking and checked the movements of the Pratidin forwards successfully. In the 25th minute, Nripen Rajbongshi netted the second goal of the match for the Photo journalists, sealing the fate of the encounter. Although the Pratidin boys pressed hard for success, a goal eluded them.

Earlier, en route to the final, the Photo journalists had got the better of Doordarshan and DY-365.

Pitambar and Nripen were the pick of the players during the tournament, netting three goals each.

The football tourney of the Airtel North East Sports Festival started on May 21.

Meanwhile, the Badaruddin Ahmed Memorial Table Tennis would begin from tomorrow. Teams from Nagaland, Manipur have already arrived. ASSAM TRIBUNE

Somdev Devvarman loses in French Open qualifiers final

Paris: India No.1 Somdev Devvarman was decimated by third-seeded Brazilian Marcos Daniel 6-0, 6-1 in the French Open tennis qualifiers final here on Friday. Daniel, who won the clay court Challenger at Zagreb last week, dominated from the start, breaking the 138th-ranked Indian five times during the 58 minute match. Somdev, on the other hand, struggled with his serve, his first serve accuracy being only 30 per cent. Somdev, 24, however had his opportunities, earning as many as five break points but he failed to convert any. The Indian hit only nine winners as compared to Daniel’s 30. Daniel, ranked 96, had also eliminated India’s Prakash Amritraj in the first round. (Agencies)

Isha, Rushmi crash out to end Indian challenge

MUMBAI: Second seed Isha Lakhani and fourth seed Rushmi Chakravarti crashed out of the $10,000 ITF Womens Futures Tennis Tournament losing on Thursda y in the quarter-finals to less fancied rivals and bringing an end to the Indian challenge in singles.

The left-handed Isha, ranked 460 in the world, was shocked 7-5, 7-5 in a 100-minute battle by Japanese qualifier Moe Kawatoko on the hard courts of the Shivaji Park Gymkhana. The national number 5 squandered early breaks in both the sets.

Veteran Rushmi was also beaten in straight sets, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), in one hour and 45 minutes by her eighth seeded Chinese rival Chun-Yan He.

Moe will meet unseeded Seo-Kyung Kang of Korea, who knocked out unseeded Alisa Ogorodova of Uzbekistan 6-3, 6-1 in another quarter final, in the semi-final.

Chun-Yan would clash with top seed Anastasia Malhotra of Japan, who overpowered fifth seed Yoon-Young Jeong of Korea 6-4, 6-2, in the other semi-final.

Isha got off to a good start in both the sets, with a service break in hand, before being broken the 10th and 12th games of both the sets by her Japanese rival Moe.

Somdev in French Open qualifying finals

PARIS: Somdev Devvarman inched closer to making the French Open main draw after entering the final round of qualifiers with a hard-fought three-set win over Britain's Alex Bogdanovic on Thursday.

The Indian, seeded 26th in the qualifiers, beat Alex 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-4 in a marathon encounter lasting two hours and 40 minutes.

Somdev will next take on Brazilian third seed Marcos Daniel in the final round.

After racing away with the opening set in 30 minutes, Somdev had to fend off a tough challenge from Bogdanovic.

In a 70-minute long second set, Somdev and Bogdanovic broke each other twice. However, the Brit held his nerve in the tie-breaker to draw level and take the match in to a third set.

The decider was equally well-contested as Bogdanovic broke Somdev twice. The Indian fumbled on several occasions but managed to convert three of the 14 break points he got to edge past his gritty rival.

http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Somdev-in-French-Open-qualifying-finals/articleshow/4561422.cms

Media sports fest begins

SPORTS REPORTER
GUWAHATI, May 21 – The Airtel North East Sports Festival, organized by the Assam Sports Journalist Association got under way at the Nehru Stadium here with the Harendra Nath Baruah Memorial seven-a-side football tournament.

Altogether six matches were played today in two grounds prepared by the organizers. Shillong Press Club, NETV, Dy 365, Doordarshan Guwahati, Janasadharan and Agradoot won their respective matches and with today’s victories all the teams entered into the quarterfinal stage.

Shillong defeated Assam Tribune while NETV downed The Sentinel. Dy 365 and Doordarshan won their matches against Dainik Batori and Janambhumi respectively while in the last two matches Janasadharan got the better of Amar Asom and Agradoot beat Asomiya Khabor.

The tournament was inaugurated by Director of Sports Sanjib Gohain Baruah in a colourful opening ceremony. Joint Director, Sports Rajib Prakash Baruah and Airtel official Tridip Sarma were also present on the occasion as guests. Altogether 14 teams are participating in the knock-out championship which will be concluded on May 24.

Today’s matches (Q/F): Photo Journalists vs Doordarshan; NETV vs Dy 365; Shillong Press Club vs Amar Asom; Pratidin vs Agradoot. ASSAM TRIBUNE

Federer stuns Nadal to win Madrid Masters

MADRID: Roger Federer defeated world number one Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-4 to win the Madrid Masters on Sunday to strike a timely early blow in his campaiSwitzerland's Roger Federer celebrates after winning the Madrid Open final against Spain's Rafael Nadal in Madrid.

His win ended a five-match losing streak against the Spaniard, a run which included three Grand Slam finals and ended Nadal's 33-match winning streak on clay, a run stretching back over a year to the Rome second round in 2008.

Federer fired two aces, his fifth and sixth of the afternoon to wrap up the victory and lift his record in finals against his Spanish rival to 5-11.

Federer heads into the French Open starting in a week with a huge confidence boost after finally defeating the rival who stripped him of his Wimbledon title last summer.

Nadal, who had won claycourt titles in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome this spring, was visibly jaded from his semi-final on Saturday when he needed over four hours to defeat Novak Djokovic.

http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4543732.cms

Somdev to lead Indian challenge in French Open qualifiers

PARIS: He is not sizzling on the tennis courts these days but Somdev Devvarman will once again carry the Indian hopes when he strives to make the men's singles main draw of the French Open -- the second Grand Slam of the year.

Somdev, India's number one and world number 138, has been seeded 26th in the qualifying event and will open his campaign against Brazil's world number 223 Joao Souza.

Prakash Amritraj is also in the fray but has been handed a tough draw as he is up against third seed and world number 96 Brazilian Daniel Marcos.

In the first Grand Slam of the year -- Australian Open-- Somdev had beaten Prakash in the first round but lost in the second to Poland's Lukasz Kubot.

Since making a spectacular start to the season at Chennai Open, where he finished runner-up, Somdev is struggling on the courts and has hardly reached the later stages of various ATP Challenger Tour events he competed in.

Meanwhile, the seasoned duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will present their challenge in the men's doubles while Sania Mirza as usual will be the sole Indian player in the women's competitions in the clay court event.

http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Somdev-to-lead-challenge-in-French-qualifiers/articleshow/4551817.cms

Bhutia decides to leave Bagan

Kolkata, May 18: Bhaichung Bhutia today decided to part ways with Mohun Bagan in retaliation to the club's decision to serve him a show cause letter recently for missing the club's practice and an exhibition match in Jalpaiguri.

“I don’t want to play for Mohun Bagan anymore,” said the India skipper.
Bhutia, who reached here last night after taking part in a reality show, said the show cause letter was a publicity gimmick.

“It (the show cause) was a publicity gimmick. It could have been handled better. Anjan Mitra just needed to call me up,” said Bhutia, who led Mohun Bagan this season.

The star striker said he has been asked to reconsider but it’s unlikely he would do so.
“It’s good for both of us to part ways. They are telling me to rethink but at the moment I have only one stand. I don’t have any motivation left in me to play for Mohun Bagan,” said Bhutia. However, it remains to be seen whether the side plays like a unit especially on the backdrop of the recent stand-off between captain Bhaichung Bhutia and Mohun Bagan. Having been show caused by the club on May 13 for alleged irregularities, Bhutia was barred from the team’s practice and was asked to reply to charges within 48 hours. But the India captain, away in Mumbai in connection with a dance reality show, did not reply to the show cause.

Both the coach and club general secretary Anjan Mitra could not give a clear indication whether the ace striker would be available for the match. In such circumstances, the mood of the Mohun Bagan players will prove crucial. (PTI)

Kapur, Chowrasia slip to 35th, 69th

Baltray, Ireland, May 17: India’s Shiv Kapur and SSP Chowrasia turned in over-par cards to slip to the tied 35th and tied 69th positions, respectively, after the penultimate round of the third Irish Open golf tournament here.

On a windy day at the County Louth Golf Club, Kapur managed to card a four-over 76 to take his total to three-under 213, while Chowrasia will have to remain content with a seven-over 79 to be three-over overall.

Getting off to a subdued start, Kapur parred the first eight holes before dropping a stroke on the ninth to make the turn at one-over.

He bogeyed the 11th and 13th, followed by a birdie on the 16th but a double-bogey on the 17th crashed any hopes of a late revival and Kapur finished on a disappointing note.
It was not Chowrasia's day also.

Playing his back-nine first, the Kolkata-pro stuttered to a hat-trick of bogeys starting from the 10th to 13th, and his woes were multiplied with consecutive bogies on the 17th and 18th.
He could not come up with a good front-nine either as he dropped three strokes against a lone birdie.

Local favourite Shane Lowry (71) and Englishman Robert Rock (69) shared the top position with identical totals of 16-under 200. The pair were locked together on 16-under-par 200 after Rock rolled in a 20-footer to birdie the last hole while the 22-year-old Irish amateur carded a three-putt bogey yesterday.

Lowry shot a 71 while Rock returned a 69 on the windswept County Louth links as they moved two strokes clear of Swede Johan Edfors (68).

“I’m disappointed to finish like that but I’m still in the lead going into the final round and I can’t ask for much more,” Lowry told reporters.

“If I play the way I have all week I still have a good chance tomorrow.” After strong winds caused golf balls to move on the greens and led to a five-hour suspension of play, overnight leader Lowry worked hard to stay in front of the professionals. The youngster went three shots ahead by the turn but ran out of steam on the final green. (Agencies)

India secure 5th place in Asia Cup

Kuantan, Malaysia, May 15: Tushar Khandekar scored a brace as India thrashed Japan 5-1 to finish fifth in the Asia Cup hockey tournament at the Wisma Belia stadium here today.

For India, who led 2-1 at half time, Khandekar (64th, 69th min) scored a couple of goals, while captain Sandeep Singh (22nd min), Rajpal Singh (1st min) and Prabodh Singh (66th min) were target once each.
For Japan the lone goal came through Hiroki Sakamoto just three minutes before the lemon break.
India, who spanked Bangladesh 11-1 in their last encounter yesterday, took less than a minute to get themselves on the board as a field attempt from Rajpal Singh put them in the lead.

Captain Sandeep Singh then extended the lead with his trademark penalty corner flick that gave his team a 2-0 lead in the 22nd minute, but Hiroki Sakamoto reduced the deficit for Japan three minutes before half time.

Trailing 1-2 at half-time, Japan launched a wave attack but soon after ran out of steam as India took control of the game and scored at a fast pace in the dying moments of the game.

The defending champions scored three goals in the final 10 minutes through Khandker and Prabodh Singh to secure a comfortable win.

With this win, India’s campaign at the Asia Cup came to an end as they had earlier failed to make it to the semi-finals with a 2-3 defeat against arch-rivals Pakistan and a 2-2 draw against China.
China and Malaysia will play for third spot tomorrow, while Pakistan and Korea will also fight it out against each other with the winner getting the only spot available in next year’s World Cup in New Delhi. (Agencies)

Barcelona lift King’s Cup

Valencia (Spain), May 14: Barcelona came from behind to thrash hapless Athletic Bilbao 4-1 in the final of the Spanish King’s Cup on Wednesday, thus winning their first trophy since 2006.
Gaizka Toquero gave outsiders Bilbao a shock early lead, but Barca then took control and won with handsome goals from Yaya Toure, Lionel Messi, Bojan Krkic and Xavi.

Barca captain Carles Puyol said that “we have been strong all season ... now we have to continue and try to achieve more things.”

Fellow defender Gerard Pique expressed the hope that “this will be the start of important things for us”.

Toquero, for his part, admitted that Barcelona had been “superior to us”, and expressed his thanks “to all our wonderful fans who have made the trip”.

The impressive win keeps Barca on course for an unprecedented “treble” of cup, league and Champions League.

They need just one point from their last three games to clinch the league, then face Manchester United in the Champions final May 27.

Barca now have 25 cups to their name, two more than Bilbao, who have not won the trophy since 1984.

Around 25,000 Bilbao fans made the trip to Valencia, outnumbering the Barca supporters by almost two to one. Their moment of glory came after just nine minutes, when Toquero got in front of Xavi and Dani Alves and made it 1-0 by heading in a Fran Yeste corner.

Barca seemed surprised by Bilbao’s intensity and aggression. They looked uncomfortable until the 30th minute, when Toure equalised against the run of play. The powerful African - again playing centre-half in the absence of Rafa Marquez and Eric Abidal - beat three opponents and scored with a surprising near-post drive.

From then on Barca were firmly in the driving seat, with Bilbao pushed back well into their own half. Three goals in an electric nine-minute spell finished off the gallant Basques. In the 54th minute Messi made it 2-1 with a left-foot drive, after Bilbao keeper Gorka Iraizoz had parried a shot from Eto’o.

Three minutes later teenager Bojan made it 3-1 with a calm side-footed shot that went in off the far post. Then Xavi completed the rout with one of his trademark classy free-kicks.
Josep Guardiola’s side continued to dominate at the end, and Eto’o twice came close to adding a fifth goal. (IANS)

India beat Bulgaria to secure promotion to Group 2

Guangzhou: India trounced Bulgaria 3-0 in a Group 3 play-off to secure a promotion to Group 2 of the Sudirman Cup badminton championship here on Thursday. This is the first time that India qualified to Group 2 of the world mixed team badminton championship since the tournament started in 1989. India were in terrific form in the tournament and topped Group 3B winning all three ties to reach the promotional play-off. Bulgaria, who emerged as the Group 3A topper with two wins, had no answers to the in-form Indian shuttlers. Saina Nehwal outclassed Linda Zetchiri 21-14, 21-17 in the women’s singles. In men’s doubles, Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas got the better of Vladimir Metodiev and Yulian Hristov 21-13, 21-11. Arvind Bhat, however, faced a tough time against Krasimir Yankov in the men’s singles. Bhat lost the first game but recovered in time to prevail 16-21, 21-19, 21-19 and wrap up victory for India. In the last edition in 2007, India reached the promotional play-off with a depleted side but lost to France. (IANS)

Pak govt backs PCB on legal challenge against ICC

Pak govt backs PCB on legal challenge against ICC

Karachi, May 13 (PTI) The Pakistan government has backed the PCB's legal challenge against the International Cricket Council for taking away the co-hosting rights of the 2011 World Cup from the country due to security concerns.

"The board never consulted us before filing this legal challenge. But we support the move as we also believe there was no justification for shifting the World Cup matches out of Pakistan with so much time left for the World Cup," Pakistan's sports minister Pir Aftab Shah Jillani said.

Jillani said the board was an independent body and aware of its responsibilities.

"They can take decisions which are in the interest of Pakistan cricket," he said..

Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ejaz Butt has denied allegations that he took a unilateral decision to mount a legal challenge against the ICC decision.

"No this is not true. We have kept all the other officials and governing council members abreast of all developments and I briefed them several times in Dubai and Abu Dhabi on this issue," Butt said. PTI

India to start Asia Cup hunt

Kuantan (Malaysia), May 8: High on form and confidence after last month’s Azlan Shah triumph, defending champion India will start as overwhelming favourites in the seven-nation Asia Cup hockey tournament thats gets underway here tomorrow.

However, India’s road to the title won’t be a cakewalk as the event will provide Asia’s top hockey nations an opportunity to book their place in the 2010 World Cup to be held in New Delhi.
India, the winners of the title twice in 2003 and 2007, will have to face off stiff competition from South Korea, Malaysia, three-time champions Pakistan, Japan and China, who will be vying for the lone place in the 2010 World Cup available from the tournament.

Although, the eight-time Olympic champions have secured their ticket to the World Cup as the host nation, coach-in-charge Harendra Singh has warned against complacency creeping in among the players and said he won’t settle for anything less than gold.

“We are here to win and nothing else matters. As hosts we are assured of a place in the 2010 World Cup. But we want to show that we are the top team in Asia. We want to earn our place as champions. So there is no question of us taking it easy,” he said.

Unlike the Azlan Shah Cup, the Asia Cup field is more tough and will be a test of character for the Indians and Harendra asserted that consistency is one thing which he would be eyeing in the tournament. “The field is tough and competition will be more. We have to play consistent hockey throughout the tournament and take one match at a time,” he said.

The coach-in-charge said his boys would continue to play attacking hockey as the team boasts of one of the best forward line-ups in world hockey.

He also said that the team has worked upon the grey areas during the training camp in Bhopal, especially on their habit of conceding late goals.

“We have worked on our weaknesses during the traning camp and we are confident of rectifying that during the Asia Cup.”

According to the International Hockey Federation’s ranking, India are the third-highest ranked team in the tournament, behind South Korea and Pakistan and Harendra said the Asia Cup triumph will not only act as a motivation for the team, but will also help them climb the ladder in world rankings. “If we win the Asia Cup we will move up in the world ranking and that will be our motivation.” India will open their campaign against minnows Bangaldesh tomorrow and looking at their form and stature in world hockey, the Sandeep Singh-led side would surely eye a big win against their next-door neighbours to give a perfect start to their title defence journey. (IANS)