Sania-Bhupathi in Australian Open mixed doubles final

Sania-Bhupathi in Australian Open mixed doubles final
Melbourne, Jan 30 (PTI) Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi overcame a sluggish start to sail into the Australian Open mixed doubles finals for second consecutive year as they beat Czechs Iveta Benesova and Lukas Dlouhy in straight sets here today.The Indians, who were runner-up at the Melbourne Park last year, trailed 1-3 in the opening set before storming back to seal the issue in 54 minutes.In the summit clash, they will take on the unseeded French-Israeli combine of Nathalie Dechy and Andy Ram, who stunned seventh seeded Spaniards Anabel Medina Garrigues and Tommy Robredo 7-6 (9/7) 6-4.It was hardly the kind of start Sania and Bhupathi, who have dropped just one set en route to the semis, would have wanted as Benesova and Dlouhy broke them in the opening game to race to a 1-3 lead.However, the Indians got their act together soon after and broke back twice to take the first set in 32 minutes.Sania and Bhupathi continued their dominance in the second set and broke their rivals thrice.Such was their hold over the proceedings that the Indians did not face a single break point in the second set, which they wrapped up in a mere 22 minutes.The win makes it a double delight for Bhupathi, who along with Bahamas' Mark Knowles, has also made the men's doubles finals to be played tomorrow.Bhupathi has six mixed doubles Grand Slam titles under his belt with different partners.His last mixed doubles Grand Slam was incidentally the Australian Open in 2006 when he had partnered Swiss Martina Hingis. Sania, however, would be aiming for her maiden Slam title. PTI

Dambulla hundred one of my best against India: Jayasuriya

Dambulla hundred one of my best against India: Jayasuriya
Colombo, Jan 30 (PTI) His team may have ended up on the losing side but explosive Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya says he would rate the century in Dambulla as one of the finest he has hit against India."It (the century) will be the one I remember most among all the hundreds that I have scored against them (India)," Jayasuriya told PTI.At 39 years of age, the left-hander from Matara broke former England opener Geoff Boycott's record as the oldest man to score a century with his 28th ton in Dambulla."I think my 107 on Wednesday was good because I was playing to meet the team's demands. The ball was seaming mostly in the morning and we did not have the best of starts when Dilshan got run out," Jayasuriya said.Asked to name his best innings against India, the left-hander said, "there is nothing like my 151 not out." He mauled the Indians to all parts of the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in May 1997.All Indian bowlers including Anil Kumble and the present bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad were put to sword in an innings lasting under two hours. PTI

State shuttlers for NE Fest

State shuttlers for NE Fest Sports reporter GUWAHATI, Jan 29 – The Assam Badminton Association has selected an eight-member team for the North East Sports Festival to be held at Agartala from February 4.The teams: (Men) Anirban Chetia (capt), Dibyajyoti Bora, Nikhilesh Sarma, Anshuman Bora. (Women) Krishna Deka Raja, Anjali Kalita, Krishti Das (capt), Dimpal Hazarika.

Silchar 262/9 vs Guwahati

Silchar 262/9 vs Guwahati
Sports Reporter GUWAHATI, Jan 29 – Host Silchar scored a commendable 262 for nine in 90 overs in their first innings in the Senior Inter District Cricket Championship at Satindra Mohan Dev Stadium, Silchar today.Electing to bat first the Silchar batsmen made good use of the batting-friendly strip. Ranji player Deepak Sharma was the top scorer with 79 while Raju Das 48, Rehan Mazumder (42) and Vishal Tyagi (41 batting) were the other notable contributors. For Guwahati Chanakya Sarma and Chandan Das were the leading wicket taker with three victims.Brief scores: Silchar 1st innings 262 for 9 (Deepak Sharma 79, Raju Das 48, Rehan Mazumder 42, Vishal Tyagi 41, Chanakya Sarma 3/84, Chandan Das 3/42, Bhaskarjyoti Barman 2/63).

Roger Federer storms into final

Federer storms into final
Switzerland's Roger Federer blasted Andy Roddick off-court in another fearsome display to reach the Australian Open final and stay on course for a record-tying 14th Grand Slam title ton today.The second seed absorbed Roddick's serve and dominated the rallies to take it 6-2, 7-5, 7-5, with arch-rival Rafael Nadal playing Fernando Verdasco in the all-Spanish second semi-final on Friday.Federer, now in his 18th Grand Slam final, has not lost any of his three previous Australian Open title matches and continues his unbeaten record against Roddick in Major tournaments. “Andy's been playing really playing well so I knew I had a tough match ahead of me,” Federer said. “I thought I played really well tonight because Andy played good too, so it was fun.”Nadal is hot favourite for his semi with Verdasco, raising the prospect of a mouth-watering sixth Grand Slam final between the world's top two players and long-time rivals.“People sort of forgot about him leading up to the Australian Open,” Federer said of Nadal. “But he’s showing why he’s the best player in the world. I would love to play him in the final, that's for sure,” he said.

Serena to face Safina for Open title and No.1 ranking

MELBOURNE, Jan 29 (AFP): Serena Williams will gun for her 10th Grand Slam title and the world number one ranking against Dinara Safina in the Australian Open final after they both came through tough clashes today. With the roof of the Rod Laver Arena closed as temperatures soared to a sweltering 44.3 C (111.7 F), Williams is hitting form at the right time as she ended Elena Dementieva’s 15-match winning streak 6-3, 6-4. The American second seed, who has won the title here three times, threw off the service problems that have dogged her throughout the tournament for a convincing victory to set up a Safina showdown. Third-seeded Safina lost her only Grand Slam final at last year’s French Open but looks capable of making the breakthrough after battling past fellow Russian and seventh seed Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 7-6 (7/4). Adding spice to Saturday’s decider is the chance to claim the world’s top ranking, with the winner dethroning Jelena Jankovic who crashed out in the fourth round. The odds were against Williams with Dementieva on a hot win streak this year, but the American blasted 10 aces as the Russian’s service game fell apart. “It means a lot, I have to go one more and obviously I want to win,” said Williams, 28. “I’m excited that I’m playing really consistent, you know, consistently at least making it to the finals of Grand Slams. So that’s exciting, too.” Williams has not been at her best during the tournament and has admitted she was rusty, which made today’s win all the more pleasing.“I definitely served better. It’s so important to serve well against her because she’s a really good returner,” she said. “I moved better and I was definitely more consistent and I kept my cool.” It was heartbreaking for Dementieva, who was eliminated in a Grand Slam semi-final for the third straight time as her elusive maiden Major title again slipped from her grasp. “Well, I just had a good run, you know, from the beginning of the year,” said the 27-year-old, who has now failed to make a Grand Slam final in 41 attempts.

OILFC maul Assam Police Blues in Premier League

By our Sports Reporter source: sentinel assam

GUWAHATI, Jan 28: A fine hattrick from foreign recruit Ezekiel forced Assam Police Blues to suffer a shocking defeat against Oil India Limited Football Club (OILFC) in the State Premier League Soccer Tournament match held at the Nehru Stadium on Wednesday. The Duliajan outfit blanked Assam Police Blues 6-0.The best four teams of the State are taking part in the main round of the premier league but nobody expected that there would so much differences between the two teams which are among the top four in the State. Even the coach of OILFC, Subrata Bhattacharjee, admitted after the match that the result was beyond expectation.The Nehru Stadium today probably witnessed a tsunami of a sort on the field. The initial stage of the match didn’t give any sign that OILFC is going to play some magical soccer in the match. But once Subrata made a few tactical changes in the team combination, OILFC became tough to handle and the side pumped in five goals in a span of just 13 minutes. There is no doubt that all departments of OILFC showed some gusty performance in today’s match. But the name of the two foreign recruits—Stephen and Ezekiel—should be taken separately as both were instrumental to give their team the big win. All six goals were scored by this two foreign recruits.It was Stephen who opened the flood gates for OILFC in the 32nd minute and later he added another two in the 35th and 81st minutes. Ezekiel got his hattrick scoring three consecutive goals in the 38th, 42nd and 45th minutes. Ezekiel’s second goal was the best one in the match as he outpaced two opponent defenders with sheer speed and placed the ball into the net.Talking to The Sentinel after the match, the coach of OILFC Subrata Bhattacharjee admitted that they were expecting a win in the match but never thought that the difference would be so big. “They are a good side but on the basis of assessment of our earlier performance we were optimistic that we would be able to win the game. But frankly speaking, we never thought the margin to be so big.” On the other hand, the coach of Assam Police Blues Tosen Bora was speechless during the post match briefing. In a brief interaction with the press he said, “I could say only one thing and that is we let the opponents pump in too many goals.”There would be no match on Thursday. On Friday ASEBSC will play against Assam Police Blues.

Global investors should not see Satyam as a "red flag": Nath

Davos, Jan 28 (PTI) The regulatory mechanism in India may be strengthened in view of the Satyam episode, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said, but added that the global economy should not view this single incident as a "red flag".
In an interview to BBC Hardtalk, Nath said the edifice of India is based on its performance over the last 10-12 years. There are huge investments from all parts of Europe and the US, and the investors are not looking at this as a red flag.

Nath further said the reconstituted board of the company comprises experts and eminent persons and the regulatory mechanism could be strengthened based on the investigations in Satyam. He, however, disagreed that the fraud was being perpetrated for too long.

When pointed out that the previous board also had very eminent people, Nath said, "They depended on the auditors and I don't think the board can get into the micro (management) of a company ... No board in the world is engaged in micro management of (a) company." Asked whether the Satyam episode would dampen investor sentiment across the world, he said around 60 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies are invested in India. "I think it's (because of) the confidence that they have in India ...," he added.

On the point that independent directors and shareholders are reluctant to raise issues before the company's founder, Nath said, "It's as true as false as it is in Europe and the US. In fact, the Indian Companies Act is tougher ... Besides we have to prove more as an (up-and-coming) economy." PTI

Sania-Bhupathi in mixed doubles semis; Yuki in junior QFs

Melbourne, Jan 28 (PTI) Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi rallied to beat Canadians Aleksandra Wozniak and Daniel Nestor to seal a semifinal berth in the mixed doubles event of the Australian Open here today.
The unseeded Indian pair overcame a first-set lapse to carve out a 3-6 6-4 10-5 win in one hour and 15 minutes.

Among the juniors, top seed Yuki Bhambri extended his winning run to quarterfinals after defeating 13th seed Croat Dino Marcan 6-3 6-1 in the pre-quarterfinals of the boys singles competition.

Sania and Bhupathi, the runners-up here last year, dropped their serve twice in the first set and wasted one break point to hand the opener to their opponents.

In the next set, they missed chances aplenty but were successful in converting three breakpoints out of the seven to make it one set all.

In the super-tie breaker, the Indians held their nerves to emerge winners.

They next face the Czech pair of Iveta Benesova and Lukas Dlouhy. PTI

Bhupathi-Knowles in men’s doubles semis; Paes-Black out

MELBOURNE, Jan 27 (PTI): On a sweet & sour day for India, Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles cruised into the semifinals of men’s doubles but the top-seeded mixed doubles pair of Leander Paes and Cara Black were shocked in the second round of the Australian Open here today.

The third-seeded Indo-Bahamian duo of Bhupathi and Knowles overcame a second set deficit to beat the Spanish pair of Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in one hour and 28 minutes.

The quarterfinal clash saw Bhupathi and Knowles break the Spanish pair thrice while dropping their own serve twice.

The winners played a controlled game, committing just four unforced errors to 11 of their opponents. They next play Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Oliver Marach of Austria.

However, Paes and Black, the reigning US Open champions, were outplayed 1-6, 5-7 by the unseeded Swiss-South African combine in just 64 minutes.

The winners broke Paes and Black twice each in both the sets while the Indo-Zimbabwean pair could break their rivals only once in the second set.

Among the juniors, top seed Yuki Bhambri continued his impressive showing as he reached the pre-quarterfinals of the singles and quarterfinals of the doubles with Chinese Taipei’s Liang-Chi Huang.

Bhupathi-Knowles in men's doubles semis; Paes-Black out

Melbourne, Jan 27 (PTI) On a sweet-sour day for India, Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles cruised into the semifinals of men's doubles but the top-seeded mixed doubles pair of Leander Paes and Cara Black were shocked in the second round of the Australian Open here today.The third-seeded Indo-Bahamian duo of Bhupathi and Knowles overcame a second set deficit to beat the Spanish pair of Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco 6-1 2-6 6-4 in one hour and 28 minutes.The quarterfinal clash saw Bhupathi and Knowles break the Spanish pair thrice while dropping their own serve twice.The winners played a controlled game, committing just four unforced errors to 11 of their opponents. They next play Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Oliver Marach of Austria.However, Paes and Black, the reigning US Open champions, were outplayed 1-6 5-7 by the unseeded Swiss-South African combine in just 64 minutes.The winners broke Paes and Black twice each in both the sets while the Indo-Zimbabwean pair could break their rivals only once in the second set.Among the juniors, top seed Yuki Bhambri continued his impressive showing as he reached the pre-quarterfinals of the singles and quarterfinals of the doubles with Chinese Taipei's Liang-Chi Huang. PTI

Abhinav awarded Padma Bhushan; Dhoni, Harbhajan get Padmashree

Abhinav awarded Padma Bhushan; Dhoni, Harbhajan get Padmashree

New Delhi, Jan 25: Shooter Abhinav Bindra was today awarded Padma Bhushan for fetching India’s first individual Olympic gold medal while four other sportspersons, including cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, got Padmashree for their achievements in their respective fields.Besides Abhinav and Dhoni, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, World Billiards Champion Pankaj Advani and former hockey player Balbir Singh Khullar were among Padma awardees.The 26-year-old Abhinav, who won the gold in the men's 10-meter air rifle event at the Beijing Games, became the first-ever to achieve the feat in 108-year history of India in Olympics.Abhinav, also the winner of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -- the country’s highest sporting honour way back in 2002, is among 30 others from all walks of life to win the Padma Bhushan.Dhoni and Harbhajan were honoured for their exploits at the highest level in the sport of cricket.Advani has won the world title in Billiards for three times besides being former snooker champion.Dhoni and Advani have also won the Khel Ratna in 2008 and 2006 respectively.Former hockey player Balbir Singh Khullar were among the 93 eminent personalities named for Padmashree. (PTI)

Bhupathi in doubles third round

Bhupathi in doubles third round

Melbourne, Jan 24: Mahesh Bhupathi continued his surge in the Australian Open doubles as he advanced to the third round with partner Mark Knowles of the Bahamas at the Melbourne Park here on Saturday.Third seeded Bhupathi and Knowles overcame a spirited challenge from Russians Igor Kunitsyn and Dmitry Tursunov 7-5, 7-5 in an hour-and-a-half.The duo will clash with Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador and Spain’s Tommy Robredo, who eased past India’s Rohan Bopanna and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-4, 6-4 in an hour-long encounter.Bhupathi’s former partner, Leander Paes is already in the third round with Czech Lukas Dlouhy and will next meet Paul Hanley and Jordan Kerr of Australia.Bhupathi and Knowles converted four of their nine break points. They got seven break points and managed to convert two to take the first set in 50 minutes. Kunitsyn and Tursunov made 12 unforced errors and could convert only one of their five break points to make things easier for their opponents.In the second set, Bhupathi and Knowles broke Kunitsyn and Tursunov twice and conceded their serve once to close out the set in 42 minutes. Bhupathi and Knowles have enjoyed success last year and won three titles in seven finals. They are both past Australian Open finalists. Knowles won in 2002 with Daniel Nestor, with whom he also finished as runners-up in 1995 and 2003. Bhupathi reached the final in 1999 with Paes. (IANS)

Top Indian paddlers to play in Guwahati

Top Indian paddlers to play in Guwahati
By our Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, Jan 23: Several top ranked players of the country would be seen in action in Guwahati during the forthcoming XXIX PSPB Inter Unit Table Tennis Championship which will get under way at the Deshbhakta Tarun Ram Phukan Indoor stadium on January 28. The tournament would conclude on February 1.

Talking to the mediapersons, the secretary of the organizing committee Tridib Duvarah said that around 100 paddlers from different petroleum companies like IOCL, ONGCL, HPCL, BPCL, MRPL, NRL, BRPL, GAIL, OIL will take part in the championship. He also released the name of the top paddlers of the country who are expected to take part in the championship and list included Olympian and four times national champion Sharath Kamal, Subhrajit Saha, Montu Ghosh, Mouma Das, Poulomi Ghatak, Soumyadeep Roy and many others.

Duvarah also added that the championship would be held in nine different categories.
The press conference was also attended by General Manager (PLS) of OIL and the president of the organizing committee BK Borah and the chief manager, administration (PS) Capt L C Baruah, who also holds the post of working president in the organizing committee. Both the top officials of the OIL said that in future the organization would try to promote the young talents of this region.

ASEBSC, OILFC emerge group toppers:

Assam State Electricity Board Sports Club (ASEBSC) and OILFC emerged as group champions in the preliminary round of the State Premier League Soccer tournament which concluded in two separate venues on Saturday. ASEBSC defeated Assam Police Blues by a solitary goal in the last match of group ‘A’ which was held at the Nehru stadium. On the other hand, in the group ‘B’ match held at Tinsukia, OILFC beat Assam Riffles 2-0 to bag the top spot in that group.
The match between Assam Police Blues and ASEBSC was well contested and on many occasions Assam Police Blues came closer to scoring.

ASEBSC too contested equally well in the match and unless they didn’t waste easy opportunities they could have won the match by a bigger margin.
The only goal of the match came in the 20th minute of the first half. Nitu Narzary scored the goal with a brilliant shot after collecting the ball from Bijoy Das who after a good move made a well measured centre towards the goal of Assam Police Blues.
Meanwhile, at Tinsukia, OILFC kept their slate clean beating Assam Riffles 2-0 in the last group league match.

ASEBSC to face AR in opener:

The Assam Football Association has released the fixture of the first two main round matches of the Premier Soccer League which will get under way at the Nehru stadium in Guwahati on January 27. The secretary of the Assam Football Association Ankur Dutta said that the earlier schedule of the main round has been revised and the schedule of the rest of the matches would be announced later. As per the new schedule, the main round of the championship would get under way on January 27 with the match between ASEBSC and Assam Riffles. In the second match on January 28, Assam Police Blues will play against OILFC.

Bhaskar shines with ball:

Guwahati scored 210 runs to take a first innings lead against Sivsagar in the elite group match of the Senior Inter-District Cricket tournament which got under way at Silchar on Saturday. Sivasagar who batted first in the match, were bowled out for 209 run in 82.3 overs. Rajinder Lal was the top scorer for Sivasagar who played a well knock of 59 runs. Sumit Ranjan Das (37) and Vickey Bharali (36) were the other major contributors. Bhaskarjyoti Barman once again came out with fine spell for Guwahati and he picked up four wickets for 72 runs. Chandan Das and Bitap Mahanta claimed two wickets each for 18 and 35 runs respectively. Guwahati will start their first innings on Sunday.

Paes, Bhupathi cruise in doubles; Sania crashes out

Paes, Bhupathi cruise in doubles; Sania crashes out

men’s doubles event at the Australian Open along with their respective partners, while Sania Mirza went down in her opening clash of the women’s doubles here today.

The third seeded duo of Bhupathi and Mark Knowles of Bahamas converted five of the 12 break points that came their way as they overpowered Mikhail Youzhny of Russia and Mischa Zvererv of Germany 6-3, 6-2.

They will take on the Russian pair of Igor Kunitsyn and Dmitry Tursunov in the second round.

Fourth seeds Paes and Lukas Dlouhy fought back from a set down to register a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Yves Allegro of Switzerland and Fabrice Santoro of France.

Allegro and Santoro forced as many as seven break points and converted two of those to take the first set in just 34 minutes.

However, Paes-Dlouhy staged a strong comeback and converted five of the six break points in the next two sets to claim victory in an hour and 26 minutes.

They will next face Fabio Fognini of Italy and Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia in the second round.

In the women’s event, Sania continued with her poor from post injury as she and her American partner Vania King went down to Verra Dushevina of Russia and Olga Savchuka of Ukraine 6-4, 1-6, 1-6 in the first round.

Sania will hope to leave her mark in the mixed doubles where she will team up with Bhupathi against sixth seeds Kveta Peschke and Pavel Vizner of the Czech Republic in the first round.

Meanwhile, the top seeded pair of Paes and Cara Black of Zimbabwe will play Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia. (Agencies)

Major upsets in junior tennis:

Major upsets in junior tennis:

Unseeded Lalruasaka of Mizoram caused an upset by defeating top-seed Partha Konwar of Jorhat 6-0 in the boy’s singles (under 14 years) pre-quarter final while Vanlal Rauta too made an upset by beating second-seed Parikshit Smani of Jorhat 6-3 in the boy’s singles (under 12 years) quarterfinal in the Oil India All Assam Junior Tennis Tournament played at Duliajan on Thursday. All the finals matches will be played on Friday which would be followed by the closing ceremony.

Results: Boy’s singles (under 12 years) Quarterfinal – Vishal Vivek Saikia bt Rishik Dutta 6-5, Subhankar Paul bt Animesh Sarma 6-3, Akrashish Talukdar bt Bijoy Mohanty 6-1, Vanlal Rauta bt Parikshit Somani 6-3.

Boy’s singles (under 14 years)

Pre-quarterfinal – Lalruatsaka bt Partha Konwar 6-0, Abhinandan Das bt Archis Borthakur 6-1, Subhankar Paul bt Trishant Talukdar 6-2, Innocent Lalrindika bt Anuresh Karmakar 6-2, Lalrammaiwa bt. Lalmalsawma 6-0, Manash Gogoi bt Rishik Dutta 6-3, Parikshit Somani bt Ruben Krishmattraya 6-3, Bedabrata Mohan bt Zathlangliana 6-2.

Boy’s singles (under 18 years) Pre-quarterfinal – Sabir Hussain bt Wasim Akhtar Ahmed 6-4, Sudhanta Mohanty bt Sidhartha Borgohain 6-0, Alok Tripathy bt Icirailee 6-0, Bikram Barua bt Izaz Ahmed 6-2.

Girl’s singles (under 18 years) Pre-quarterfinal – Sanghamitra Thakur bt Manmayuri Saikia 5-0, Manaswini Hazarika bt Meghna Dowerah 5-1, Upasana Nath bt Mitaksara Medhi 5-1, Nishigandga Misra bt Neha Roy 5-2, Sunita Mohanty bt Dpisikha Boro 5-1, Jyotishmita Khaund bt HT Lalengmawi 5-2, Somaya Begum bt Amrita Nath 5-2. (Correspondent, Tinsukia)

OILFC, Lajong FC in 2nd Division National League

By our Sports Reporter
GUWAHATI, Jan 22: Oil India Limited Football Club retained their position in the Second division National Football League which will kick off in February. On the other hand, Lajong Football Club of Shillong will make their maiden entry in the competition this year.

A meeting of the executive committee of the All India Football Federation was held on Wednesday in New Delhi and the teams for the forthcoming league was finalized in that meeting. The preliminary round of the tournament would be held in three clusters in three different venues. Asom will host the cluster ‘A’ matches where both OILFC and Lajong FC have been placed along with three other teams.

On the other hand, the cluster matches of group ‘B’ and ‘C’ would be held at Gurgaon and Kerala respectively. The top two teams of each group will qualify for the main round.

The secretary of the Assam Football Association Ankur Dutta while talking to The Sentinel over telephone from New Delhi said that the venue of the group ‘A’ matches of the Second Division National League would be decided very soon. It has been learnt that Guwahati and Silchar are the frontrunner for the venue of that cluster. Meanwhile, the meeting also decided to hold the 63rd edition of the Santosh Trophy Soccer Championship in the first week of May and the Tamil Nadu Football Association will host the championship.

Groups & Venues
Group A — Venue : Asom:

Teams : ONGC , OIL India, Camelia George Telegraph & Bengal , Mumbai FC & Lajong FC

Group B—Venue: Gurgaon :
Teams : Amity United SC, Pune FC, New Delhi Heroes, Simla Youngs and SESA Football Academy

Group C—Venue: Kerala
Teams: Salgaocar SC, Viva SC, Happy Entertainment , Malabar United FC ,Chandni FC and Travancore Titanium.

No rift in ad hoc committee: Kalmadi

No rift in ad hoc committee: Kalmadi

New Delhi, Jan 20: The IOA president Suresh Kalmadi today downplayed the claims that there was any rift within the hockey’s ad-hoc committee, which was brought to notice by Randhir Singh, who resigned from the panel citing his unhappiness with the way the game was being run in the country.

Speaking to mediapersons here after a meeting with the ad-hoc committee and selectors, Kalmadi, who is the chairman of the panel said, “We are all together and there is no rift in the ad-hoc committee.” “It was just that I was handling the ad-hoc committee and Randhir decided to handle other things.”

“We are very happy with the way our hockey team has been performing and this was a routine meeting,” Kalmadi added.

Randhir, who had alleged that there was lack of transparency and accountability within the members, said all the issues he had with the members have been settled in today’s meeting.
He, however, made it clear that he attended today’s meeting as part of the committee member and was in no mood to take back his resignation as the general secretary.

“We had a meeting of ad-hoc committee and the selection committee today where certain issues were raised by both sides.” “My resignation still stands but the ad-hoc committee is part and parcel of IOA and being an IOA official I am still associated with the committee.” (Agencies)

Dulal Hazarika passes away

Dulal Hazarika passes away:
The former secretary of the Assam Football Association Dulal Hazarika died at Dibrugarh on Sunday. He was 85 years old. Hazarika, who was in touch with the different sports association, was the secretary of the Assam Football Association between 1955-1958. The secretary of the Assam Football Association Ankur Dutta has condeled the death of Hazarika. (Sports Reporter) source: sentinel assam

OIL junior tennis starts

OIL junior tennis starts:
The Oil India All Assam Junior Tennis Tournament 2008-09 got underway today at Zaloni Club Tennis Courts here. The 35-year-old tennis tournament is being sponsored by Oil India Limited (OIL). Altogether 220 players from various parts of the region are taking part in the tournament which is played in boy’s singles under 12, 14, 18 years and girls singles under 14 years.
Sri Paresh Khaund, executive director (SS&SB), OIL inaugurated the tournament Smt Susan Das Choudhury former national tennis champion and eminent sports personality attended the function as guest of honour. Sri Kuladhar Deka, chairman, organizing committee, welcomed the gathering.

Only boy’s singles under 12 years category matches were held on the inaugural day.
Results: Vishal Saikia bt Krizan Kashyap, Mridanka Gayan bt Abhipal Sarma, Abhigyan Bhuyan bt Kaustav Kakoti, Debraj Sarma bt Anurag Borah, Arnabian Lahkar bt Partha Dutta, Asetso Khate bt Akashjyoti Das, Aditya Phukan bt Abinash Gogoi, Rishik Dutta bt Rohan Gogoi, Animesh Sarma bt Kritartha Hazarika, Rajeel Barua bt Sagar Bora, Danish Ahmed bt Krishnak Das, Mansash P Kuli bt Arunoday Buragohain, Akshay Jajodia bt Md Zaheed, Arnab Lakshi Barua bt Purnajit Bhowmil, Tahagat Tulsi Gogoi bt Mohsin Ali, Subhan Kar Paul bt Rituraj Gogoi, Vijay Mohanty bt Nishad Sahu, Herolal Rinpuia bt Nilutal Barua, Bhaskar Gogoi bt Farhad Haque, Subhranil Padmapati bt Debanuj Phukan, Kalyan Samua bt Abhik Ranjan Das, Arkashish Talukdar bt Manjit Das, Udish Borpujari bt Udit Gogoi, Swagat Barua bt Puberun Boruah. (From our Tinsukia Correspondent) source: sentinel assam

ASEB make flying start, FCI drubbed

Sports reporter
GUWAHATI, Jan 18 – Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) Sports Club made a flying start in the OIL Assam State Premier League with a thumping 6-2 victory against 9th Assam Police Battalion Sports Club at the Nehru Stadium here today.

In the Tinsukia cluster Assam Rifles handed a 5-0 drubbing to Food Corporation of India (FCI) Sports Club.

ASEB-AP Bn: The city cluster match between local outfit ASEB and 9th AP Bn was a totally one-sided affair. Although the cops made a valiant effort in the later part of the match to make a comeback into the game, it was too late.

The GSA super league champions ASEB went 4-0 ahead at the 48th minute of the match maintaining total control in all the departments. But the policemen suddenly got their form and reduced the margin to 4-2 at the 81st minute. But it was not enough to boost team and they conceded two more goals in the remaining part.

Lack of experience cost the policemen dear as their defenders miserably failed to counter the fast moving and well-combined ASEB attacking line comprising of seasoned players like Sanjeeva Rongpi, Bikash Narjinary, Debashus Kundu, Monikanta Brahma.

Bikash opened the floodgate in the 29th minute Sanjeeva and Monikanta netted one each in the 38th and 45th minutes respectively.

With a comfortable 3-0 lead at the break, the local boys started the second session with same spirit and fired the fourth salvo in the 48th minute through Sanjeeva.

But, just after one minute Shyam Murah reduced the margin making a one-two pass with Amulya Das. It was a beautiful move down the middle, which caught the ASEB defenders in wrong foot.

Shyam struck again in the 81st minute with a firm drive from top of the box. The second goal forced the ASEB players to wake up from the slumber and in the remaining part substitute Prabin Kumar Brahma and Bijoy Das completed the drubbing in the 88th and 90th minutes respectively.

Assam Rifles-FCI: Like the city match, the Tinsukia encounter was also one-sided. Making full use of the toothless defense of the FCI side, the riflemen pumped as many as five goals.

Bulu Jigdung (16th and 47th minute) and U Kami (65th and 88th) scored two goals each while Abel Sema (86th minute) were the goal getters for the winning team. source: assam tribune

National Games postponed again

By our Sports Reporter
GUWAHATI, Jan 17 : It is just like a bolt from the blue for the different State sports associations who have started their preparation for the 34th National Games with the Indian Olympic Association today postponing the event once again. The reason behind is that Jharkhand is not still ready to host the Games.

The IOA’s decision to postpone the Games has already sparked a controversy and questions have been raised as to how the IOA earlier gave a green signal for the Games to start from February 15 when a lot of infrastructure work is still incomplete.

Jharkhand was awarded the Games in 2002 and the event was scheduled for 2007 but kept getting delayed and was later scheduled for December 2008. It was again postponed on the request of the organizing committee of the Jharkhand National Games and the event was rescheduled from February 15.

It may be mentioned here that few national sports associations has raised strong objection to hold the Games in February as they were not satisfied with the different venues.

A meeting of the IOA’s steering committee was held on Saturday in New Delhi and the meeting reviewed the State’s preparations for the Games to be held in Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad’ Later it was decided that the State is not ready to host the tournament because necessary infrastructure was not in place. Now the Games are slated for June. It may be mentioned here that like the other States, Asom too had started its preparation for the Jharkhand National Games and the Assam Olympic Association has already announced the name of Premadhar Sharma, the veteran sports organizer, as the chef de mission of the Asom contingent. The Asom Government too announced cash incentives for the medal winning athletes in the Jharkhand Games. When contacted, the chef de mission of Asom contingent Premadhar Sharma said, “We know that the Games have been postponed and we are now waiting an official communique from the Indian Olympic Association.” source: sentinel assam

Dibrugarh 187 for 3, Karimganj 137

Correspondent
DIBRUGARH, Jan 15 – Dibrugarh were 187 for three in reply to Karimganj’s first innings total of 137 in the Elite Division Senior Inter District Cricket match here today.

Skipper Saurav Bhagawati and opener Utpal Deka were at the crease with 93 and 42 respectively. Situ Das was other notable contributor with 30.

Earlier, opting to bat first, the visitors were in trouble from the initial stage and finally were bundled for 137 in 36 overs.

Brief scores: Karimganj 1st innings 137: (Sanjib Choudhury 49, Dipnashu Patra 21). Dibrugarh 1st innings 187/3: (Saurav Bhagawati 93 batting, Utpal Deka 42 batting, Situ Das 30, Pranjit Roy 2/44, Deepak Punia 1/35). source: assam tribune

ONGC, Bharat Petroleum win

ONGC, Dehradun and Bharat Petroleum Company Limited won their respective matches in the men’s event of the 13th National League Volleyball Championship which got under way at Duliajan on Thursday. In the first match, ONGC defeated Bramhaputra Club by 3-0 while in the second game Bharat Petroleum Company Limited defeated Kolkata Volleyball Club by identical margin.

Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated by PC Khaund, Executive Director of OIL. The inaugural function was also attended by the Deputy Commissioner of Dibrugarh, Ashutosh Agnihotri, technical convener of Volleyball Federation of India B Mukherjee and secretary of the Assam Volleyball Association Bhupen Choudhury (From our Reporter, Tinsukia)

Assam archers off to an impressive start

Correspondent ITANAGAR, Jan 13 – The women archers of Assam, Binuma Brahma and Pratibha Bodo, began their State’s campaign on an impressive note by winning the second and third places respectively in the inaugural day round of women’s 50 meters archery event at the 16th Senior National Archery Championship that commenced at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Naharlagun today. Nitu Ingole of Maharashtra won the top position.While Maharashtra’s Ingole scored 313 points out of 360 points to win the event, Assam’s Binuma and Pratibha scored 308 and 299 points to be adjudged second and third respectively.In the men’s 50 meters event, Gwimalo Baro of Madhya Pradesh came up with flying colours to get the first spot. He won the inaugural day round by scoring 332 points out of total 360 points, while Amit Rajendra Kalaskar of Jharkhand scored 331 points and Ghasiram Besra of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) scored 330 points to get second and third positions respectively.Altogether 33 teams comprising of 217 archers from various states, including host Arunachal Pradesh, are vying for the top honours in the three-day-long Championship that would continue till January 15 next.While a 12-member team of host Arunachal is participating in the championship, neighbour Assam has sent a ten-member team, comprising six boys and four girls. The host team is pining hope on P Thourani Devi, who has won many medals in national level tournaments.Her coach, Ekashini Devi said that Thourani is the state’s best medal prospect. source: assam tribune

Challenge of the final frontier of football

Ten years ago a young man named Baichung Bhutia made the unlikely journey from Bengal to Bury, becoming the first Indian to play professional football outside his homeland.
Bhutia, the captain of the Indian national team, saw himself as a pioneer. Bury congratulated themselves on a coup that would allow them to tap into the Asian market – the Asian population of their town, that is, rather than dreaming of kids wandering around the streets of Mumbai and Calcutta wearing Bury shirts.
It was an anticlimax. For all his talent, Bhutia struggled to adapt to the physical demands of English football and scored only 3 goals in 46 appearances. Bury confessed that the “Bhutia Bounce” had not materialised. When his contract expired at the end of the 2001-02 season, he returned to India.
India is regarded by many as football’s final frontier. The leading Premier League clubs have, between them, visited and enjoyed considerable commercial success in China, Japan, South Korea, South Africa and Nigeria. India is ranked 143 in the world, which makes them only the 20th best national team in Asia.
source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5484933.ece