Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

[Rahul M]

I wonder how the match up will sound like if she actually decides to use it.

serena williams vs Dr Sania Mirza !!

[Stan_Savljevic]

A last-minute equaliser from winger Pramod Kumar saved India the blushes as they drew 2-2 with world champions Argentina {Will the DDM stop calling Arg world champions -- at the under 21 stage, the team that won the WC is very different from the current one. Most people have matured and entered the seniors arena. Sandeep Singh is gone from the Indian side. These are different teams, different compositions. Duh - Dorks!!} in the third under-21 'Test' match at Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires. This was the second drawn encounter in the four-match series after India had won the opener on Monday. India led 1-0 at the breather but failed to score from six penalty corners and messed up their attack with over indulgence in individual play. {Another good old senior problem inherited by the juniors}

They were indeed lucky to get away with the draw. Skipper Diwakar Ram was totally off colour and could not strike from his drag-flicks. However, from his fourth attempt, Mandip Antil scored from a rebound by Argentina goalkeeper Ezequiel Olivero to give India the lead in the 32nd minute. Earlier, the Argentine defence held out and foiled the onslaughts from strikers Jay Karan and Pramod Kumar. Two crosses from Danish Mujtaba went abegging as they were too angular.

Host goalkeeper Olivero's good run under the bars continued as he repeatedly denied India the space to score. Even though India was the more dominant side in ball possession, their central mid-fielders Vivek and Vikas Sharma left enough gaps to enable Argentina to work their way into India's 23-meter area with short bursts of acceleration. Their efforts bore fruit when Guido Barreiros converted two penalty corners in the 64th and 67th minutes.

It appeared that India had thrown in the towel till a final sortie was mounted from the right. {Why dont the DDM say that they had thrown in the towel? Why say team India had thrown in the towel?! Did they get a conference call after the game from the team saying the team was throwing in one minute before?! Fricking idiots - a bunch of fatalist lunatics} Pramod succeeded in pushing the ball home after a crowded goalmouth scramble to restore parity. Coach AK Bansal was disappointed with the result but hoped that his boys would come good and play to their potential in the remaining games. {AK B should be disappointed, too many errors creeping in to the jrs game - they have left the series still open. They better seal the next match. Dont eff it up, guys! Dil maange series win} India will now play a one-off Test against Holland on Saturday. {DDM does nt know that there is one more test against Arg before Holland}

Another chess player withdraws from the FIDE cycle - Michael Adams now. If all the big shots are gone from the qual round, what will the FIDE do? Twiddle thumbs like they used to do!! Someone at Elista must be losing all the sleep he gained after Anand restored some sanity!

[Stan_Savljevic]

They are gunning for gold but the task seems easier said than done as the Indian boxing quartet of Akhil Kumar, Jitender Kumar, AL Lakra a
nd Dinesh Kumar brace up for a face-off with traditional powerhouses Cuba and Russia in the semi-finals of the AIBA World Cup on Saturday. "It's Cuba vs India in the semis but we are confident of doing well. All of us are fully fit and raring to go," Akhil (54kg), who faces Olympic silver medalist Yankiel Leon Alarcon, said.

Jitender (51kg) and Lakra (57kg) are also up against Cubans Hernandez Lafita and Idel Torriente respectively, while Dinesh (81kg) faces Russian Artur Beterbiev. The quartet has already made history at the event by ensuring an unprecedented four bronze medals, besides a prize money of $2,500 each. Their sensational performance has put India on the tied third spot in the overall standings behind Russia and Cuba.

Akhil, Jitender, Lakra and Dinesh have also combined to match the Cubans in the points-per-boxer-average due to the high scores they have so far managed. Oozing confidence ahead of the big day, the quartet is taking it easy on the rest day to not let pressure build on them. "We can't keep thinking about how big these bouts are. It's all about remaining calm. Our coaches -- GS Sandhu and Jaidev Bisht -- have worked really hard on us. Let's see how things pan out tomorrow," the 27-year-old Akhil said.

On a sidenote, the badminton world is seeing some dramatic flexing of arm.

China has stunned the badminton world by withdrawing all its players from next week's lucrative season-ending Super Series finals. In explaining the pull-out, China Badminton Association Secretary General Liu Fengyan cited "a hectic calendar, risk of aggravating injuries and an upcoming three-month training camp". It means the $500,000 tournament will be played without Olympic men's singles champion Lin Dan, men's doubles silver medallists Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, and women's doubles gold medallists Du Jing and Yu Yang. In the women's singles, Zhu Lin and Lu Lan are the notable absentees.

China will also not feature in the first two opening legs of the 2009 Super Series season in Malaysia (January 6-11) and South Korea (January 13-18). Badminton World Federation Secretary-General Stuart Borrie put a brave face on the snub. "We are disappointed that some of the top players will not be competing in this inaugural event," he said. "However, we still have a world class field of players. "The BWF is confident that the tournament will be a success and look forward to a great week of badminton ahead of us."

This could be because the BWF came up with a pre-tournament seeding for the grand-prix which was slightly different from the latest world rankings. The Chinese perhaps wanted an easier tournament and rankings based on OG performance or at least that performance weighed significantly. In any case, the power vacuum set off by this snub needs to be taken over by emerging markets like India. We already have two top 15s to boot and a few more up on the way. That is what is meant by emerging.

[Stan_Savljevic]

A pic of the Argentina bound hockey team
http://stick2hockey.com/photo/image308.jpg

A day after she considered herself lucky to qualify for the world’s top badminton tournament, teen sensation Saina Nehwal was in for a
rude shock when she was told by the regional passport office here that her passport could not be renewed before next Monday. Saina was jumping with joy on Thursday after hearing that she had been included in the main draw of the Yonex-Sunrise BWF World Super Series Masters Final to be held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, from December 18 to 21.

Little did she know that people of her own city would be so insensitive as to deny her the chance to play in the prestigious event. Saina had applied for the renewal of her passport on December 2 and was given a December 10 date for delivery. However, the RPO failed to keep its promise and ever since, Saina has been making rounds of the RPO. When she got the news of her qualification, she sought an appointment with the passport officer on Friday but her request was brushed aside, with the officer’s secretary telling her to come on Monday.

Deeply shocked, Saina told TOI that she had lost all hope of participating in the Masters Final. "I am terribly shocked. I will be missing a chance to participate in the best event in the world. Even if I manage to get the passport on Monday, I don’t think I can make it as I have to obtain a visa from Chennai," said Saina. Wondering how she could have persuaded the RPO staff, Saina said, "I told her I am the country’s top shuttler and this is a rare opportunity, but she would not listen. I was treated very badly. This is not the way to treat sportspersons. I am deeply hurt."

The 18-year-old is shaken because this opportunity comes at a time when she is in great form. "I am in great shape now. I thought I can do something great in this particular tournament," said Saina. Only the eight best players in the world make the cut for this $5 lakh prize money tournament, the highest ever, and Saina qualified after China pulled out all its players from the event.

Many consider physiotherapist Heath Matthews as one of the big catalysts behind Indian boxing’s ascendancy in the last three months. In
a chat with TOI from Moscow, the South African talks about helping Indian boxers recover from niggles and the sudden respect for them around the world. Excerpts:

Q. From the time you took over, fitness of the Indian boxers seems to have improved a great deal...
The fitness of these boxers was always good. After coming here, I sat down with coach GS Sandhu and other federation guys and using my medical expertise worked out on the areas that needed attention. We needed some fine-tuning to be done here and there so that we didn’t leave any gap unattended.

Q. Did you hit any kind of roadblock with the boxers when you took up this job?
The boxers were very keen right from the outset. It helped matters that I was working in a good team environment and also my style of operation suited the boxers. I didn’t come in and say that these are my excercises and now you got to follow this. We worked out the stuff that they were comfortable with.

Q. Fitness-wise, are our boxers up to international standards?
Our guys are as fit as any other top boxer in the world. And this can be understood much better when you come to a tournament. Over the last three months, I’ve seen other countries’ attitude change drastically towards the Indian boxers. There’s lot more respect. The way they greet us and give us a thumbs-up when we are going up in the ring, is a sight in itself. It is from these instances when you know that Indian boxing has arrived.

Q. Of the four boxers, was anyone carrying any niggle before the WC?
In fact, three of them had niggles. One even had an acute shoulder injury whereby he couldn’t lift his arm in front. That’s where a physio’s role comes into play. Injuries will always crop up. My job is to fix them quickly with maximum rest to the atheletes and at the same time keeping them fighting fit. I’m actually one of the weapons in the arsenal of the coach. The coach doesn’t have to worry about pushing his wards to the limit because he knows I’m there to take care if things go off-balance.

Q. Akhil said that it’s his "experience and will" rather than fitness that got him the success in this World Cup...
It has to be the combination that has got him the success. He has a vast amount of experience and at his age staying fit and boxing is very important. It’s no use having the experience and sitting in the sidelines, if you are not fit. Federer and Woods are never 100 percent but they are fighting fit. That’s what I’m trying to do with the boxers.

Q. Akhil was coming out of his wrist-operations when you took over... It must have been a challenge handling him?
Yeah, Akhil was in a very bad state and the majority thought his best days were behind him. But he was postive enough to fight against all odds. It wasn’t an easy thing to fix. It helped tremendously that Mittal Trust provided the finance. That’s why I consider Akhil winning his first fight in the Olympics, the high-point of my short-stint with Indian boxers. To make him fight again, took a hell lot of effort.

Seven Indians athletes made it to the top 50 of the latest IAAF individual rankings list with national champion woman discus thrower Krishna Poonia being the best placed at 15th spot. Poonia, who failed to reach the discus final in the Beijing Olympics, has teammate Harwant Kaur in 37th place, an Athletics Federation of India release stated. Among men, Beijing Olympian discus thrower Vikas Gowda was ranked 23rd while javelin thrower Anil Kumar Singh was at 36th place. Three heptathletes made it to the top 50 with G Pramila Aiyappa at 34th, JJ Shobha at 41st and Sushmita Singha Roy at 45th place. The women's 4x400m relay team were placed 21st, down from the 13th place they were at the Beijing Olympics.

Next time anyone from the dhimmedia or otherwise points to infrastructural issues in Delhi for the CWG or the Bombay attacks, point out the kettle calling the pot black. The west has its own financial mess to handle and they are the ones who are going to fold first. Call their bluff.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/13/stories ... 581700.htm

[Avinash R]

Saina will probably miss a major series due to passport problems.

[krishnan]

Curious as to why china pulled out all its players

[Rahul M]

passport has been re-issued.

[Nihat]

passport has been re-issued.

article for the above news

New Delhi: Chief Passport Officer, New Delhi, R Swaminathan has assured Saina Nehwal that her passport would be delivered to her on Saturday.

Swaminathan made the assurance when it was brought to his notice that Saina’s passport is caught in a bureaucratic wrangle and has not renewed by the Regional Passport Office of Hyderabad.

"Saina applied for the passport on December 2. It generally takes 15 days for reissuing a new passport. In this case seeing the urgency she should have applied through tatkal facility. I have spoken to the Hyderabad passport officer and now she will get the passport today itself," said Swaminathan.

Saina is scheduled to play in the BWF World Super Series Masters Final in Malaysia which starts from Thursday (December 18).

Her coach and former All-England champion Pullela Gopichand revealed that Saina, India's best badminton player and world No.10, was invited to the tournament after two Chinese players ranked higher than her pulled out.

"It will be really sad if she misses the event because it is a season ending top 8 event which she got through only after two Chinese girls pulled out on Thursday night. One thing is that she was there on Decembder10, yesterday and day before, so it is not that she went only after office hours. She has been making rounds of the passport office everday for the last three days," said Gopichand.

Earlier, Saina slammed Hyderabad RPO for not even allowing her to meet the concerned officer.

"The passport officer didn't even want to meet me and so I couldn't explain my case to him. The passport office refused to renew my passport and asked me to come on Monday. I requested him thrice but to no avail," Saina said.

She, however, said she is still hopeful of getting her passport in time to join seven other players at the BWF World Super Series Masters Final in Malaysia.

"I am in shock since yesterday. This is the highest tournament that an Indian player has got a chance to play. I will still try to make it to the tournament if I get the passport. I will go to Chennai and try and get the visa after that," she said.

"This does not happen to cricketers and film stars. Then why me? It's a very important tournament for me," she added.

According to reports, authorities had told Saina that her passport will not be renewed before next Monday.

Saina's renewed passport was to be issued by December 10 but the lapse on the part of the Regional Passport Office of Hyderabad may cost the badminton player one of the biggest opportunities of her career.

The BWF World Super Series Masters Final in Malaysia from December 18 to 21 allows only world's top eight players to participate.

When she got the news of her qualification, she sought an appointment with the passport officer on Friday but her request was brushed aside, with the officer’s secretary telling her to come on Monday.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Honestly, something does nt smell right about this Saina passport story. Not every piece of information has been given away -- thats what it smells like.

1) How many middle class people get their passports renewed by not using the tatkal scheme, esp those who are always jutting around between places left right and center? She has earned quite a bit of money. Tatkaal scheme costs 1500 INR more. A microscopic fraction of her earnings!!

2) Indian passport office allows renewal of passports up to 1 year before the expiry of passport date.

Reissue means an application for another passport in lieu of an existing one which has either expired or is about to expire. An applicant may apply for a new passport in lieu of an expired/ about to expire passport upto 3 years after and 1 year before the expiry of the Passport.

http://passport.gov.in/cpv/Forms.htm

3)

The applicant should have a passport valid for at least six months from the date of entry into Malaysia.

http://www.ivsource.com/Malaysia.htm

So why was Saina Nehwal sitting on her arse till the last day for renewal? It is common sense for people jutting around between places to renew their passports as soon as they can. Instead of that, she has been pissing around at the passport authorities cos they dont give a damn if she is Saina or Sania. Who the hell cares, does she get a crown cos she is world no 10? When the GoI authorities do favors for people, the same media tars them. When they dont, they still get tarred.

Despite all this dramabaazi, she is gonna leave a lot of pissed people at Shastri bhavan if she does nt do anything better than a first round loss. And ToI, NDTV etc, shame on you!! Creeps!!!

[vavinash]

http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.c ... 835115.cms

India draw with Argentina, clinch hockey Test series

In-form skipper Diwakar Prasad scored a brace as India rallied to draw 4-4 with Argentina in their final under-21 hockey Test to cli
nch the series 1-0 at Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires.

Apart from Diwakar, Danish Mujtaba and Jay Karan accounted for one goal each to help the team, which trailed 1-3 at half-time, draw parity on Saturday. India won the first match, while the remaining three ended level.

The visitors, who beat Holland on Friday, started briskly with good ball rotation and overlaps and the midfielders and forwards moving in tandem.

Their fluency was, however, checked by Argentina goalkeeper Federico Bermejillo as he blocked the initial attempts of Jay Karan and Pramod Kumar.

The visitors earned their first penalty corner in the seventh minute after an obstruction by Argentine defender Juan Manuel Pacheco.

Diwakar Ram unleashed his trademark low drag-flick which was latched on to by Danish Mujtaba on the rebound. The nippy Allahabad striker drew first blood to the delight of the Indian supporters.

Argentina immediately went into the offensive from their left flank and found the equaliser through a perfect deflection by Lucas Colombo in the 13th minute.

The hosts mounted pressure as Indian defenders Diwakar and Innocent Kullu committed unforced errors. In another sortie from the left they took the lead when unmarked Juan Cruz Agulleiro fired a rasping reverse past goalkeeper Mrinal Chaubey in the 18th minute.

India were unable to thwart the Argentina attacks and looked out of sorts as their rivals penetrated with regularity.

Agulleriro was again on target 10 minutes later, this time diving to a measured centre past the hapless Chaubey as Argentina took a convincing 3-1 lead at the crossover.

However, India showed a rare fightback in the second half as they not only wiped off the deficit but went into the lead.

Their fluency and flair resurfaced as they accelerated, orchestrating sparkling maneuvers in the Argentine 23-meter area. India were awarded their second penalty corner after the ball struck the foot of Felipe Oleastro.

Diwakar made no mistake in the 39th minute to reduce the margin. India continued to dominate but the third goal eluded them as custodian Bermejillo foiled attempts of Mandip Antil, Mujtaba and Jay Karan.

The Indian captain again added his name to the scorers sheet in the 59th minute from a penalty corner to make it 3-3.

As the match entered the final 10 minutes, both the teams threw caution to the winds and robust tackles held centrestage.

Argentina went on the offensive, but Belsajar Horo's interception resulted in a turnover which was executed by Jay Karan to perfection to give India a 4-3 lead in the 61st minute.

India should have increased their tally shortly after that but Antil preferred to push to the goalkeeper's pads rather than pass to unmarked Jay Karan in the middle of the circle.

Stung by this reversal Argentina looked for the equaliser and succeeded in getting a penalty corner hotly protested by India and also resulting with a yellow card for first rusher Manjeet Kullu.

Argentina captain Martin Gebhardt converted it with seconds on the clock. Indian coach AK Bansal said he was happy with the overall showing of his wards as they remained unbeaten on the tour.

"This quality exposure against top international teams was extremely beneficial in the build up for the Junior World Cup in Singapore and Malaysia next year," he said.

He further stated that they would try to rectify the errors in their next tournament in Australia in January.

[vavinash]

http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.c ... 831568.cms

On song India beat Holland 3-2

ARGENTINA: Captain Diwakar Ram struck a brace as an energetic India exhibited flair and fluency to beat Holland 3-2 in the under-21 hoc
key 'Test' match at Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires on Saturday.

India draw 2-2 with Argentina

Diwakar scored with the dragflicks in the 17th and 51st minutes while right winger Mandip Antil scored a field goal in the 24th minute.

India were in total command of the proceedings with dominant midfield play and ball possession as they rapidly interchanged positions and baffled the Dutch with superb off the ball moves. They led 2-0 at the lemon break.

Holland got both goals from penalty corners in the 43rd minute and at the stroke of full time.

India brought in Belsajar Horo and Amardeep Ekka in the central midfield replacing Vivek and Vikas Sharma. The hard working Horo controlled his space with elan not only with his accurate distribution but also timely interceptions to deny Holland create sorties.

Manjeet Kullu and Birendra Lakra lent good support on the lines keeping a tight man to man vigil. India repeatedly tore past the Dutch defence as Danish Mujtaba, Jay Karan and Mandip Antil engineered numerous attacks.

They should have taken an early lead but Jay Karan failed to connect a sitter from winger Dharamvir Singh.

This was followed by Mujtaba's attempt, but he shot wide.

Diwakar opened the account for India from the first of his three penalty corners with a low flick to the left of goalkeeper Sam Van Der Ven.

[Suraj]

All four Indian boxers were defeated in the World Cup boxing semifinals, unfortunately. They faced strong Cuban opponents (except one, who faced a Russian). However, the margins were quite narrow, and in Akhil Kumar's case, they were even on points (4-4), with the Cuban winning on some countback.

One must see this in the proper context, however. Until 2008, India had a total of two world cup medals, bronzes in 1990 (Zoram Thanga) and in 1994 (Devarajan). Now we have tripled that count to six. The next step is to work methodically on breaking through the last barrier, from the top 8 level to world leader level. In any case, the rise of our boxers has been meteoric, from okay Asiad level performance in 2006 to so many medals at world level within two years.

Coach G S Sandhu confirms the boxers' performance:
Cubans were scared of us: Sandhu

"The Cubans were scared of us. They avoided close-quarter bouts. I'm extremely happy about it. We lost two bouts - 6:3 and +4:4 of Jitender Kumar and Akhil Kumar respectively - on close margins," Sandhu told TOI from Mexico, before his wards collected the medals on Sunday.

"It's really great. I can't believe the boys are going back with four medals from the World Cup. I expected two medals utmost. But four? Not really. Obviously, I expected a silver or a gold from Akhil. According to me, with an individual score of 9-7 after the fight, I thought the fight should've been awarded to Akhil. But he was unlucky."

For many, it has been a pleasant surprise to see the meteoric rise of Indian boxing, especially in the past year. Sandhu provided the reason behind it. "We (the boxing community) have been following a system for the last few years. This success is a result of that. Abhay Singh Chautala (president, IBF) and PK Murlidharan Raja (secretary) and SAI of Delhi and Patiala have all worked together to put boxing where it is.

A target of multiple gold/silvers at both New Delhi (Commonwealth Games) and Guangzhou (Asiad) 2010 would be a good start.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Important pointers from the just concluded jr hockey series:
1) The gora umps cheat, and thats their profession. The Indian jrs need to get used to it cos they are going to see it again and again in case the jrs make the big stage of sr level hockey.
2) Last minute loss in concentration costed India a sure-fire win in the 4th game against Arg and threatened the decisive games against Arg and Netherlands. It should also be said that the last min equalizer in the 3rd game against Arg saved our skin.
3) The juniors are capable of physical play against the most physical teams in their backyards.
4) Jay Karan seems like a new promise.
5) Diwakar Ram and Mandeep Antil seem to be quite polished from all that has been spoken about them. AK Bansal is a treasure that needs to be safeguarded from the pain in the butt hockey admin-log.
6) The core of the Indian jr team for the next yr's jr world cup is now well-set. There will be a four nation tournament in Australia in Jan. The Indians are the firm favorites for the next yr jr world cup.
7) Now, coming to the seniors, they have hardly had any experience tours. They dont even have a coach. So all this points to is that the interim ad hoc committee has given up hope on them. Sad to speak, thats what the indications are like. They tried to breathe in MK Kaushik into the team. But Vidya Stokes pulled her wool and undid everything. In some sense, there is hopelessness and given up feeling in the ad hoc comm vis-a-vis the sr team and they are putting all their bets on the jrs. While long term prospects are great for this cut and run method, we might see some pain in the short term. Do not expect any Champions challenge win in 2009 with this attitude. But in the 2010+ era, post CWG, if all goes well you might see some real fireworks. The 2010 Asiad may be an eye-sore or a fresh breath of air depending on how many jrs transition into the sr team. But the 2012 London OG seems a mouth-watering prospect. Netherlands, Arg, Spain, Aus, Ger etc all are expected to push their 2005-bound jrs into the sr team at that time. So things are looking up.

Anup Sridhar speaketh

Anup Sridhar says his ankle injury would have healed faster had he given the Beijing Olympics a miss, but insisted that he doesn’t regret playing in the world’s biggest sporting extravaganza. “It would’ve healed quicker if I’d given the Olympics a miss, especially since I then wouldn’t have taken a cortisone shot which delays complete recovery,” Sridhar, lost in the second round in the Beijing Games, said.

“But I had a shot at the biggest competition in the world and if I had to do things over I would still go ahead with the cortisone shot and participate in the Olympics Games,” he added. Though his dream of representing India at the Olympics materialised, what followed was a prolonged period of frustration as he was forced to stay away from the court for more than three months owing to his injury. “It has been a very tough time in my life. My whole life revolves around badminton and if I’m not even sure of getting back to full fitness, that’s a very hard thing to deal with.

“I haven’t been out of the court for even two weeks at a stretch in the last three years or so and this has been the hardest thing for me,” Sridhar said. “Initially after getting back from Beijing, I tried to get fit a bit too quickly and paid the price for it. I even tried taking rest for a few weeks but that didn’t help either. I’ve been forced to figure things out for myself like who’s the right doctor to consult, what kind of treatment routine to follow etc. So that has made it quite hard,” he said.

“I think I have been forgotten to a large extent, but more than that the thing bothers me is that I have not been able to reach my goals for the year,”. But I guess, at the end of it all, I am stronger in my mind than I was before and I know that this will show on the court when I get back to playing,” Sridhar added. Although yet to regain full fitness, Sridhar is gearing up for the 2009 season and hopes to play in the forthcoming super series in January.

“At the moment, the strength and stability of my ankle are back to normal, it’s the mobility of the ankle that still needs a lot of improvement. I am planning to play in the two Super Series events (the Malaysian and Korean Super Series in January 2009),” Sridhar said. “I know it will not be too easy to get back to my original level, but it is hard to say when that will happen as I have never been injured before. After the two tournaments in January, I’ll decide further,” he added.

“Initially I will go easy on myself as far as results go, maybe for the first few tournaments that I play. But I have always set myself high standards and I have some big things I want to achieve next year,” Sridhar said. His injury lay-off has also taken a toll on his world ranking as he has slipped from World No. 14 to 45 according to the latest BWF ranking. However, Sridhar remains unperturbed.

Good to see that the shooters are not skipping national events

Big names like World Cup gold winner Ronjan Sodhi and veteran Mansher Singh will be the star attraction at the 52nd National shooting championships in shotgun events that begin at the Oases ranges here on Monday. Sodhi, who matched two world records in the double trap competition of the ISSF World Cup in Belgrade in June but was unable to get a wildcard for the Beijing Olympics, will try to use this opportunity as a platform to warm up for the elite international competitions. His keenness to do well here can be gauged from the fact that he has been stationed here more than a week to have good practice.

Trap shooter Mansher, a let down at the Beijing Olympics, will be looking to regain his confidence. Around 200 shooters will participate in three events — trap, double trap and skeet. Besides Sodhi, two other shooters, Vikram Bhatnagar and last year’s junior National champion Ajay Mittal, will be the medal contenders in double trap in the absence of Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

In men’s trap event, where World Champion and holder Manavjit Singh Sandhu is missing from the starting line-up, Anwar Sultan, Zorawar Singh Sandhu and Amarjeet Singh are expected to give a tough fight to Mansher. Amit Sanghi and along with fellow industrialist Naveen Jindal, are expected to provide some good competition. Mehraj Khan will also be watched with interest. Asian shotgun championship silver medallist Shagun Chowdhary, Shreyasi Singh and Bharti Singh will be the main contenders in women’s trap while young Saina Sheikh holds promise in skeet.

The field has some promising youngsters. Arsher Noria (double trap), D. Kynan Chenai (trap) — winners in the Commonwealth Youth Games at Pune in October — and Girdhar P. Singh are capable of shooting some exciting scores. The men’s trap event will be held on Monday and Tuesday, followed by the double trap on Thursday. Skeet for men and women is slated for December 20 and 21. Women’s trap will take place on December 21. In each category, the shooters will go through a qualification round from which top six shooters for fight for the medals.

FIDE: The fissures exposed by the stand-up act (Part I)

Grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk refused to submit a urine sample for a drug test at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden and is now considered guilty of doping. The world of chess is outraged that he could face a two-year ban.

Professional chess player Vassily Ivanchuk, born in Berezhany, Ukraine in 1969, has been a grandmaster for the past 20 years and is currently ranked third in the world. The man with black hair and bedroom eyes is known as "Big Chucky" by his fellow chess players. Why? Because, after losing a game, he goes into the forest at night and howls at the moon to drive out the demons. Because he walks around in shorts in freezing temperatures. Because he likes to sit in dark rooms. Because he usually looks at the ceiling instead of the board during a chess match. Because he tries to fold the oversized winner's check handed out after a tournament down to pocket size. And because he, as World Champion Visvanathan Anand says, lives on "Planet Ivanchuk."

Who knows what was going through Ivanchuk's head when, on Nov. 25 in Dresden, the last day of the Chess Olympiad, he lost to Gata Kamsky? What we do know, however, is that when the game against the American ended, a judge asked Ivanchuk to submit to a drug test. Instead, he stormed out of the room in the conference center, kicked a concrete pillar in the lobby, pounded a countertop in the cafeteria with his fists and then vanished into the coatroom. Throughout this performance, he was followed by a handful of officials. No one could convince Ivanchuk to provide a small amount of urine for the test. And because refusal is treated as a positive test result, he is now considered guilty of doping and could be barred from professional chess for two years.

The moment Chinese GM Wang Yue meets a decent opponent, he loses his 82 game winning streak. So much for his 82 game streak. Speaks a lot about their cooking style.

[Stan_Savljevic]

On November 18, on the hallowed turf of Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, the Salaam Bombay Hockey Academy was formally launched by Mir Ranjan Negi. The Academy is a joint project of the Abhi Sports Foundation, established in memory of Negi's late son, and the Salaam Bombay Foundation, which was founded by Padmini Somani in 2002. The Academy is presently operating from the premises of Guru Nanak School, Sion Kolivada, Mumbai.

"I have been dreaming about this for the last three years. But it involved a lot of things to finally make it happen. First and foremost was the tough task of motivating parents to send their children to the academy. Opening an academy is easy, but sustaining it is difficult. So I approached an NGO, the Salaam Bombay Foundation, and they have been a great help," says Negi. Though it was officially launched on November 18, the academy began its activities about a month back. "As many as 60 girls from three schools are currently training at the academy in two daily sessions. I showed them the movie 'Chak De India', I narrated to them my own story, I called the actors who had acted in 'Chak De' to talk to the little girls. I want them to eat, drink, live hockey."

Negi outlined his future plans: "I plan to open at least 20 such academies in and around Mumbai over the next one year. The foundation has already adopted 20 girls in Kolhapur and Sangli, and provides them with expert guidance, better facilities and funding. Many corporates have shown interest to support the initiative. I will involve Bollywood too. In these trying times, hockey surely could do with a dose of glamour." Besides Maharashtra, Negi has tied up with the Maharana Pratap Sports College for promotion of hockey in his home state of Uttarakhand. Negi hails from Majkhali in Almora district in Uttarakhand.

Negi's Abhi Foundation has adopted the hockey team of Mumbai's Don Bosco Wadala Shelter - whose players include street children, orphans and runaway boys. Negi was instrumental in getting this team to play in the lower division of Mumbai Hockey Association's league last season. 15-year-old Madhu Siddaraju, who landed at the Don Bosco shelter after running away from home, is the shelter's goalkeeper. "I too want to be a great goalkeeper like Negi saab", says Madhu, who slept and begged at Churchgate railway Station before moving to the shelter.

Madhu's playmate Kamlesh Kumar Pal dares to dream big after coming in touch with Negi. "He has always been helpful to us, he visits our shelter and inspires us to be a winner, both on and off the hockey field," says the 15-year-old, whose parents died in a road accident six years ago. Kamlesh too was seriously injured in the accident and was bed-ridden for a year. After being ill-treated by his own relatives, he ran away to Mumbai and spent a few days at Andheri railway station, before somebody informed me about the shelter. "Since the day I picked up a hockey stick, things have changed for me," says Kamlesh. The director of the shelter, Fr. Lloyd Rodrigues, says he has seen the positive change in the lives of the children since they started playing hockey. "We want to make these kids self-dependent and want them to lead a good life. Sports can help us achieve our objective. And with a person like Negi involved, the kids have a great guide," he says.

Ask Negi if the children have it in them to make it big on the hockey field and he smiles in reply. "I have seen these kids, they are willing to learn. If I can make actresses appear like national level hockey players on screen, why not these kids."

Up and coming Indian motor racer Armaan Ebrahim will compete in next year's F2 Series which is being promoted by the FIA, the world body of motorsports, and billed as the feeder series to Formula One. F2 Series organiser and former F1 driver Jonathan Palmer of Motorsport Vision Ltd confirmed the signing of Armaan for the championship, which starts in April next year. Armaan joined drivers such as Julian Jousse from France who finished second overall in the World Series Renault and Robert Wickens, a junior Red Bull driver who won a couple of A1GP races in 2007-08, who have been the first few contracted drivers with F2.

The F2 series, which was conceptualised by FIA for those drivers who cannot afford huge budgets required for GP2 and World Series Renault, will consist of eight rounds with 16 races across Europe. It starts in April with the official test days and the races start in May 2009 and finishes in November. The winner of the F2 Championship will get a test drive with the Williams Formula One team and the top three winners will be awarded a F1 license by the FIA. Armaan, who is undergoing training in Singapore after his very first test in the new Ferrari powered car in Sepang, for A1GP Team India said it was a welcome development for a racer like him who could not find enough sponsors for GP2 Series or World Series Renault Championship.

"The F2 Championship is a bold and revolutionary concept and a very beneficial concept for most drivers including myself. I wanted to try to do the GP2 Series or the World Series by Renault for 2009. "But had only a 5 per cent chance to find the budgets for those championships as neither am I from a wealthy family, nor are such huge sums of sponsorship money available in India for an upcoming racing driver.

Broken birds affected the progress of the men’s trap qualification rounds on the opening day of the 52nd National shotgun championship at the Oases range here on Monday. The scheduled rounds in one of the ranges could not be completed after four-time Olympian Mansher Singh, who colpleted 50 shots, complained of bad light. The other big sufferer of the day was Raninder Singh, who had 19 broken birds — including 11 in a row — in his share. He shot a perfect round of 25 despite the hurdles. However, Organising Secretary of the event, Sushil Chowdhary, said the clay birds could have broken during transportation. “All the birds are imported and could have broken on the way,” he said. “We will try to rectify it.”

The star of the day was Anwer Sultan, who led the pack after scoring a commendable perfect 25 in range ‘B’. He shot well despite the distraction and was strongly positioned to make the cut for the final. “It was a good day for me. I am in good form, I have to shoot well tomorrow as well. You cannot take things for granted. Any day, anybody can shoot better and win,” he said. On Tuesday, the remaining qualification rounds of the trap event will be completed in the morning session and the final will be held in the afternoon.

Leading shooters:
Trap: Anwer Sultan (71), Darius Chenai (70), Anirudh Singh (69), Naib Khan (69), Raninder Singh (68), Zorawar Singh (68), Birendeep Singh Sodhi (66).

Eleven months ago, Yuki Bhambri, was fervently wishing and hoping to make a mark in the world of tennis. The beginning was ominous: a semi-final appearance at the Australian Open. The end has been even better. Yuki won his second Grade A event in a row to win the Orange Bowl title and with it laid claim to the world No.2 ranking.

On Sunday, Yuki beat Jarmere Jenkins 6-1, 6-3 in the final of the Orange Bowl, the biggest event after the Grand Slams for juniors and avenged the disappointment of missing out on the numero uno rank to Tsung Hua Yang, the junior French Open champion. The cream on the cake being that he became the first Indian - boy or girl - to win the Orange Bowl. Yuki also reached the doubles finals but lost.

Basking in the praise of his coaches and peers at the Nick Bolletieri Tennis Academy a day later, Yuki found it hard to hide his pleasure and slight twang. "I'm thrilled. It's almost like a dream. This is the Orange Bowl, the biggest event after the Slams. It just goes to show that I'm on the right track. I've exceeded my own expectations," he said, sounding pleased as punch.

The constant drone of "congrats" and "hellos" punctuated the conversation. It's clear that this win, coupled with his stellar performance at the Osaka Mayor's Cup, has elevated his impression in the eyes of the who's who at the NBTA. "My coach here is very happy and he has told me that I'm going to be promoted, get to play with the top 100 guys now," Yuki, coached by Aditya Sachdeva in Delhi, said.

The transformation of Yuki has been a slow and steady process and in the Delhi boy's own words, it's a makeover in process. In the final against Jenkins, Yuki had Jenkins confused with wise shot selection, drop shots and lobs. "Little changes in my game have made a big difference. This year I've changed my serve action. I can grind it out and have also really worked hard on my net game. But most importantly, it was when I started believing in myself, after Mexico, that the wins started coming," he explained. Apart from winning a bowl full of oranges, Yuki has also got his hands on a qualifying wild card for the Sony Ericsson Open in March. For Yuki, from now on, the journey only gets tougher. He will cease to be a junior player, except for the Grand Slams.

Gagan Narang has finally been able to leave behind the disappointment of the Beijing Olympics after shooting the perfect score for the
third time in less than six months as he again hit 400 at the German shooting league, Bundesliga. Gagan, who had missed a final berth by a whisker in the Olympics this August, scored 400/400 against Jamie Beyerele of the USA who shot 397 in the air rifle event. He had shot down the world record of 600/600 in July in Germany and a perfect 400 late last month at the Bundesliga.

"Shooting perfect is always high because we always strive for perfection. For me it's even better than winning a medal, and now l feel very happy to shoot three perfect scores in a very short period. These scores have also helped me in forgetting about the Beijing disappointment," Gagan said. The league has a 40 shot format common to both men and women. "In today's match I knew Jamie had one point less than me as I had a 100 in the first series and she a 99. Then after she shot the second 9 I decided to keep the lead and not give away any points.

"Jamie is a slow shooter and if she did not shoot any nines I would have to shoot one to build the pressure on her but she gave me a 2 point lead after which I decided to just go on without letting any gaps." Gagan had earlier shot a perfect score of 400 against Karin Prediger of the Petersaurach club. "It is tough to beat a shooter like Gagan who shoots perfect scores, he is just too good," said Jamie after the match. With this win Gagan's team Affalterbach beat Germania Prittlebach 4-1 to enter the knock-out stage of the league where four teams each from north and south will compete in a place called Coburg.

Gagan is now being termed as the best shooter of Bundesliga ahead of German world record holder Sonja Fileshifter. Gagan, meanwhile, feels the new rule change brought about by the ISSF (International Shooting Sports Federation) - those tying for the last place have to go through a play-off to determine the finalist - would have helped him qualify for the title round in Beijing. However, it was the count back rule in the Olympics that dashed Gagan's hopes. "This new rule would have certainly given me a very good chance to enter the finals but in sports the rules are always the same for everyone. This year is about to end and Beijing Games is already a past. I am looking forward to the year ahead and working towards my next target," said the ace Indian shooter.

To sustain the current run of success in Indian boxing and to further improve till 2012 Olympics, the Indian Boxing Federation (IBF) and Mittal Champions Trust (MCT) are mulling the prospect of coming together to put up a world-class boxing centre. Heath Matthews - contracted with the MCT and also the physio of the Indian boxing team - pitched this idea to the federation a few months back. A concrete plan is yet to be laid down but the initial indicators are in the affirmative.

"I know the heights which the Indian boxers can achieve and the facility that they need from the time that I've spent with them. I've a dream of building a world-class facility for these boxers,” said Matthews. "It's going to be a place where there will be world-class coaching and medical expertise. It will also be a place where apart from giving the boxers the accomodation," he said. PK Murlidharan Raja, the secretary of the Indian boxing federation, confirmed this and said that the plan is in the pipeline. "We're open to this kind of offer from the MIT. They've helped us a great deal...The formalities are yet to be worked out. There was a proposal from them when they had asked us to set up the centre a year back for which they would've funded. It's still very much on the agenda."

Raja also pointed out the locations where he would like the centre to come up. "Bhiwani will be the place where we would ideally like to build up this foundation, followed by Manipur. Bhiwani because there are about 3000 enthusiasts there and Manipur because it's the fertile belt of the boxers considering MC Mary Kom and Dingko Singh hail from there." Till the time the project is finalised, Matthews is keeping his fingers crossed. "It's a ground-swelling performance that the Indians have put up over the last few months so I'm hoping that the Federation accepts the proposals. We've already started discussing things like not building stadiums but cost-effective training centres, renovating the existing training grounds from scratch. I've seen facilities around the world and I've the ambition of making it one step better than the best."

Matthews also stated that this project will be an add-on for the talented lot of coaches and boxers that India has. "Don't get me wrong. It's not that India has any shortage of talent. I've studied the Russians and the Cubans and our coaches don't do things differently than the other coaches of the world. But we still need to bring some people with specific knowledge from abroad to train these coaches in India. To sustain the success that we've been achieving over the last few months we need to lay down a long-term plan."

Even fellow-ummahites are deserting bakisatan

After cricket and hockey, it's now the turn of Pakistan tennis to suffer because of the security situation. The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) received a rude shock when Davis Cup bosses informed on Monday that they have decided to shift Pakistan's Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group-II tie against Oman next March from Lahore because of security worries.

Now that said, I dont want to see the bakis in India either. Keep as far away from the plague as possible. Safe for em, safe for us. Besides that, we dont want to give free practice to these bakis when they cant get any practice in their bloody country either. Let em suffer and rot in hell. Its a good idea to invite runners like Korea or even a second string Malaysian team. Say no to bakis - IHF get your head right please. No more bullshit camaraderie with bakisatan despite a vaunted history. Its a war of ideas. Its either us or them, nothing in between. We two cannot live side by side in peace. Either they get destroyed due to their volition, or we will arrange an appointment for that. Nothing else is bargainable in this regard....

Pakistan will take a decision on whether to tour India for a double-leg tournament in Chandigarh and Jalandhar after meeting with Indian hockey officials on the sidelines of the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) Congress in Kuala Lumpur later this week. Asif Bajwa, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary, said on Monday that he will be meeting Aslam Khan, the chief of Indian Hockey Federation's ad-hoc committee in Kuala Lumpur ahead of the AHF Congress to be held December 20.

Bajwa, a former Olympian who will be leaving for Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, said that Pakistan will only take a final decision on whether to play in the four-nation tournament in India after carefully studying the situation. "We want to play in the tournament but will see whether the situation is okay to visit India," he said. Last month, Pakistan had confirmed its participation in the four-nation double header to be played in Chandigarh and Jalandhar next February. World and Olympic champions Germany, Holland and host India are the other teams featuring in the event.

However, the PHF later said it will reconsider the decision to send its team to India because of the strained relations between the two countries in the wake of last month's Mumbai's terror attacks. Bajwa said his team is aiming to regain the Asia Cup next summer in Dubai and needs top quality matches to prepare itself. "It's very important that we play against top teams like Germany and Holland," said Bajwa, also a former Pakistan coach.

Not everything seems with Indian badminton. One lie by Saina followed by another..... For good measure they are all cheating GoI or its extended organs!!

A day after TOI reported on the goof-up by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) which saw two shuttlers travel to Italy on the government's expense despite their names not featuring in the qualifying draw of the $15,000 Challenger (December 9-12) in Roma, the federation has decided to refund the money to the government. Clarifying the BAI's stance, chief national coach Gopi Chand told TOI on Sunday, "Arun Vishnu and Tarun Reddy were third on the reserve list in the men's doubles category. They had a chance of making it to the qualifying draw which is why they travelled to Italy. We took a risk but it didn't pay off."

Asked if it made sense to take a risk when government's money was involved, the former All England champion said, "we will refund the entire amount spent on the duo's travel and stay in Italy to the government." Gopi added, "as soon as we got to know that Arun and Tarun hadn't made it to the qualifying draw, we tried to put them on the next flight to India. However, there were no tickets available and so they came back with the rest of the eight-member Indian team."

[Stan_Savljevic]

Vavinash,
If you remember some time back, I said that Force India is NOT Indic yet and has India only in its name. Here is another confirmation. Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandok, Armaan Ebrahim -- I guess at least one of them at least deserve a shot, forget a spot! Vijay Mallya is hoodwinking Indians by using India in the name of his team. A rose is a rose! Knowing Vijay Mallya, hoping that this team will transform to something remotely Indic is a pipedream!

Force India chairman Vijay Mallya on Tuesday made it clear that Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok do not figure in his scheme of things as his Formula One outfit is a 'professional' side and there is no point in having an Indian driver just for the heck of it. "Narain Karthikeyan in my Formula One context does not fit in. It is simple. I have not confirmed anything about Karun (Chandhok) either. Karun is like my own son. I have not broken the rules of the team and announced anything in relation to Karun," Mallya said.

"The team is totally professional and run professionally. Whatever the team needs is going to be done. There is no compulsion to put an Indian driver for the sake of having an Indian driver," he said. {So what does India have to do with this team?! There are so many F-1 teams, no one puts their country name on the team, so why is V Mallya acting too smart? Having the cake and eating it too, eh?!} Mallya, however, said that he would launch a programme next year in the Indian soil to nurture raw talents. {Thanks, but no thanks}

"I would love to have an Indian driver and will be launching a compressive programme in 2009 to have identification. If we see youngsters with talent, Force India is going to pay all the way through to international karting to single seater racing into GP-2 format. {And thats where the buck will stop, the actual F-1 spots are deserved for the so professional ones!} "We will first of all tie up with several go karting tracks in India, which has progressed significantly in our country and we do have really some good tracks in India. Using those tracks, we will import internationally recognised and acclaimed go karts and invite kids to drive," he said. {V Mallya is in this purely for the sake of bizness, all this Force and India are all rhetoric. Anyone celebrating any win of Force India as something Indic, IF it happens, is making a big mistake.}

http://racing.timesofindia.indiatimes.c ... 847550.cms

India's best bantam weight boxer for the past six years, Olympian Akhil Kumar on Tuesday said he would go up a division next year to vacate the 54kg category for his protege Jitender Kumar (51kg). Talking to PTI on his return after winning a bronze medal at the World Cup in Moscow, Akhil said he didn't want to block Jitender's progress. Besides, Akhil said, he was also having trouble maintaining the bantam weight for quite some time.

"I am changing to feather weight (57kg). Jitu is very close to me and he also needs to change from fly weight (51kg) to bantam weight," Akhil said. "I cannot be standing in his way," he added. "Besides, I believe my results and fitness level would be better in feather weight division," said the 27-year-old Haryana pugilist. "And if we compete in the same division, Jitu will thrash me. He is the stronger between us," quipped Akhil, an Olympic quarterfinalist.

Maintaining fly weight was becoming a headache for Jitender as well and the diminutive 22-year-old boxer said he does not fancy starving in order to retain his weight. "It's a tough task. Lot of dietary issues are involved. I cannot starve myself to maintain weight," explained the chirpy boxer, who also won a bronze in Moscow. The change will, however, be slow and under the watchful eyes of the coaching staff and chief coach G S Sandhu admitted that Akhil and Jitender needed a change in their divisions.

"I know Akhil is tired of maintaining bantam weight and the same goes for Jitu. I will speak to them during the national camp next month and then we will decide," he said. Assistant coach Jaidev Bisht said the duo would have to first test themselves in a few invitational events before finally making up their mind. "They will first try themselves at a few not-so-important events and then they will know whether they are good enough in new categories. Their bodies will tell which category they are best suited to," he said.

The boxers' South African physio Heath Matthews said the duo should go up a division if it translates into better results. "We are looking to maximise the boxers' performance. If going up a division helps their performance, then why not? My job is just to take care of their fitness and if they think, going up helps that, then I am OK with it," he said. The man most likely to be affected by Akhil's decision to change weight division is A L Lakra, the bronze medallist in the World Cup, but he says he ready to compete for his place in the team. "It doesn't worry me. I am not going to leave my weight. I am ready to compete for my place. Rest the coaches will balance," he said.

Akhil and Jitender, meanwhile, decided to distribute a share of their World Cup prize money of USD 2,500 each to the coaching staff comprising -- Sandhu, Bisht, Ramanand and C Kuttappa. "We will give USD 500 to each of them as these people matter the most. They wipe our and blood and sweat and put in the effort to prepare us for the toughest in the world. They are the unsung heroes. And it is our way of acknowledging what they are doing for us," said Akhil. "I have decided to give my medal to Mittal Champions Trust as souvenir for supporting me through my darkest days of injury and wilderness," he said.

World No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia will head a strong field in the $450,000 ATP Chennai Open Tennis tournament to be held here from Jan 5-11. Davydenko who ended the year on a high, reaching the finals of the Masters in Shanghai, is joined by World No. 13 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who won the 2008 Beijing Olympics Gold medal in doubles partnering Roger Federer.

Also in the draw are: World No. 23 Marin Cilic (Croatia), Ivo Karlovic (Croatia, No.26), Wimbledon semi-finalist Rainer Schuettler (Germany, No.33), former Chennai Open champion Carlos Moya (Spain, No.42), and Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia, No.44) who incidentally stopped Moya from winning a hat-trick of titles in 2006. Other well-known players include Janko Tipsarevic ( Serbia, No. 49), Marcel Granollers (Spain, No. 56), Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain, No.62) Fabio Fognini (Italy, No. 88) and Ivo Minar (Croatia, No. 97).

The Chennai Open will also see the return of Davis Cuppers Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes who will be playing with their respective partners Mark Knowles (Bahamas) and Lukas Dlouhy (Czech Republic). Giving them tough competition will be the Bryan bothers - Mike and Bob - who until recently were ranked as the World No. 1 doubles pair. India's top two ranked players Somdev Devvarman (201) and Prakash Amritraj (203) have been given the wildcards as also Dlouhy (Czech Republic, 195).

Federation Cup football is reaching the semi-final stage

18-Dec-08: Dempo Sports Club vs Churchill Brothers SC (15.15 IST)
18-Dec-08: East Bengal Club vs Mohun Bagan AC (18.30 IST)

Interview with NP Pradeep, a star in the Indian football team. Slightly dated...

Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep, better known as NP Pradeep, hails from a small village named Moolamattam in Kerala and he has had a long journey in his still young football career... But the journey was more than fruitful, as Pradeep is one of India's rising football stars! The young Keralite has made his way to the Indian national team and has shown several outstanding performances in the last few years.

IndianFootball.Com Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director Chris Punnakkattu Daniel had the opportunity to interview Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep about his career, the current situation of football in the country, his private life and the upcoming AFC Challenge Cup 2008. Enjoy reading...!

THE INTERVIEW
IndianFootball.Com - Naduparambil Pappachan PradeepChris: You have played an influential role in the Indian national team in the last two years and you have been dubbed as India’s “rising star” by many fans and journalists! How would you rate your performances in the last few years and your progress at national and international level?

Pradeep: I am just concentrated on my game and trying to improve myself and I feel that there is still a long way to go.

Chris: The Indian national team is coached by Englishman Bob Houghton. Did Houghton influence your style of football? If yes, where and how did he change your style?

Pradeep: Yes of course he influenced my style of football. Earlier I used to play as left wing back, but Bob brought me in the attacking midfield which gave me more opportunity to score and I feel much more comfortable playing in the midfield.

Chris: You had many great moments, while wearing the national jersey, but what was the most memorable moment of your international career so far? And what is the ultimate goal you want to reach in your football career?

Pradeep: The success achieved by the team as a whole during the Nehru cup last year was the most memorable moment of my career. There are no ultimate goals in a profession, still my dream is to play in the English Premier League.

Chris: Indian football is making its wave around the globe and European clubs are targeting India as their next market. Do you think that such ventures will benefit Indian football and especially the footballers?

Pradeep: If these foreign clubs are interested to raise the standards of Indian football and also the footballers then it’s a good idea and definitely India football will be befitting but if it is just selling and marketing for their own clubs, then it does no favours to Indian football, its just a market for them.

IndianFootball.Com - Naduparambil Pappachan PradeepChris: You have been to Europe with the Indian national team and had the opportunity to play some matches there. Would you be interested to play club football in Europe, if offered a contract by a European outfit? And which country would you prefer to play, if you had the chance to chose?

Pradeep: If given a chance I would love to play in England.

Chris: The IndianFootball.Com users are based across the globe and some of them know very little about Indian football and their stars. So we would like to use this chance to introduce your person to these new fans out there!
Please tell us more about your background! Where do you and your parents hail from? Where did you grow up and which schools did you attend?

Pradeep: I am basically from a village named Moolamattam in Idukki district of Kerala state. I grew up in my village and studied in the Government Higher Secondary School in my village and later attended Kerala Verma College in Thrissur district.

Chris: When did you realise your interest in football and how did you start off to kick the ball? Whom did you turn to for guidance?

Pradeep: I was playing football since childhood but I was spotted in the district under-14 team by Mr. Salim Kutty (coach of Unity Soccer Thodupuzha) and later joined State Bank Travancore in Thiruvananthapuram. SBT Coach Najeeb has always been a source of guidance for me.

Chris: What made you lean towards football as compared to other sports especially cricket?

Pradeep: In the village all the children of my age used to play football in the small ground near my house, and I slowly and gradually developed the inclination towards the game.

IndianFootball.Com - Naduparambil Pappachan PradeepChris: How did your parents react to your passion towards football and did they support you in you endeavour of playing football?

Pradeep: My parents always wanted me to play football and have always supported me!

Chris: When did you join your first football club and how was the feedback about your football talent?

Pradeep: I joined SBT in the year 2000-01 and I was just 17 years old that time and the coaches were very happy with the way I used to play.

Chris: Were there any particular players you looked up to as a child?

Pradeep: Yes, IM Vijayan and Jo Paul Ancheri were my role models as a child.

Chris: Playing for the country is always a great honour for a sportsman and it helps a lot to mature as a pro-footballer. But how did your national team career influence your private life?

Pradeep: Yes it is. It’s everyone’s dream to play for his country. I feel very proud and honoured to play for my country. Apart from that I am known as NP Pradeep today because of playing for India and I feel good about it.

Chris: How would you describe yourself to someone else? What is your personality like and what are your strengths and weaknesses?

Pradeep: People say I am shy. I personally think I speak less and I can’t relate well with people… Maybe I am little introvert. My family is my strength and I don’t let anything to be my weakness.

Chris: Please tell us more about your hobbies and interest?

Pradeep: Listening devotional songs, shopping, chatting with friends… Playing volleyball at times.

IndianFootball.Com - Naduparambil Pappachan PradeepChris: What music do you listen to and which are your favourites TV shows and movies?

Pradeep: Action movies… Reality shows for time pass.

Chris: You’re one of the players from Kerala who made it big in the national team and there are several talented Malayalees playing at different clubs in the country. But club football in Kerala is having a tough time and they have been not able make a consistent impact at the national level in the recent years. The state team has failed in the latest edition of the Santosh Trophy and Malayalee football fans are missing their identity at national level… Where do you see Kerala football at the moment?

Pradeep: Nowadays everyone is very much career oriented… Nobody wants to take risks… On the other hand infrastructure and training facilities too are not good enough there… I hope in the near future the scenario will change and young players will be more confident to come to play professional football.

Chris: What has to be done to improve football in Kerala and to leave a mark at national level?

Pradeep: We don’t get chances to play tournaments other than Santosh Trophy and to improve football here we need to qualify for I-League… And I think clubs are doing there best to make it realize.

Chris: Let’s get back to the national level! Please give us your thoughts of the status quo of Indian football! Where does Indian football stand now compared to other Asian nations?

Pradeep: We are improving but still we have long way to go…

Chris: Where do you see the deficits compared to other nations and what has to be done to improve the standard in short-, medium- and long-term?

Pradeep: We have poor infrastructure… Very few good football grounds… Also we need more good football academies… We need different development programs for youth… And good marketing for football.

Chris: Your next assignment will be the AFC Challenge Cup at Hyderabad with the Indian national team. Do you think India has the potential to win the title and to clinch a direct qualification for the next AFC Cup in 2011? Which teams will be toughest opponents in the tournament?

Pradeep: Yes, definitely. We have the potential, but there are many good teams like North Korea and Tajikistan but we will definitely give them good competition.

IndianFootball.Com - Naduparambil Pappachan PradeepChris: What will be the key to play a successful AFC Challenge Cup? Which players will be influential and what is your personal goal for this tournament?

Pradeep: Football is a team game. We will do our best and concentrate to play well.

Chris: We are coming to the end of this interview and I would like to ask you a last question –
Did you know about IndianFootball.Com before this interview and what do you think about our work to promote Indian football?

Pradeep: You are doing a good job! I know about this website long before. Just keep working as you do in order to encourage and promote the game in our country.

Chris: Finally we would like to give you a chance to send out a message to everyone reading this interview!

Pradeep: Cheer for India… Cheer for football!!!

Chris: Thanks a lot for taking some time to do this interview with IndianFootball.Com!

[vavinash]

Force India is just a dutch company with an Indian owner. Period. I am not sure anyone in India supports it.

[Singha]

F1 deserves a merciful death.

[Stan_Savljevic]

F1 deserves a merciful death.

Given the financial meltdown, there will be a hiatus for a year or two. And teams that tout Indian names/connections wont rush in to fill the vacuum. The Chinese also seem unwilling to get more stranglehold given their woes.

Chinese Grand Prix officials are weighing up whether or not to extend their Formula One contract beyond 2010, with the race's future in the balance because of the huge costs of holding the event. The race in Shanghai arrived onto the F1 calendar with huge fanfare in 2004, but poor ticket sales and suggestions that title sponsor Sinopec will not renew for next year have left question marks over the race's future.

A senior track official told news agency AFP that there was a chance the race could be dropped once the current contract runs out in 2010. Qiu Weichang, deputy director of the Shanghai Administration of Sports, was quoted as saying: "We're doing the assessment. By next year we should be able to give you an answer." He added: "We want to create a win-win situation, for our side and for Bernie (Ecclestone) and the F1 organisers as well. If this is something we can do, and our cooperation is very happy and smooth, we will consider it.

"Of course we would like at least to break even. But there are two factors, one is the assessment the other part is the win-win situation that we can create." Future costs for Shanghai could also increase if Ecclestone puts pressure on race organisers to turn the event into a night race in a bid to boost European television audiences. Qiu said he was not convinced such a move was right for China. "In Singapore... holding the event at night is a good way to attract tourists to a small country," he said. "It's obviously enlightened us quite a bit but we will decide based on our own situation what we're going to do to attract fans. "I think Singapore is hosting this event in their own unique way but we have our own situation."

Shanghai, China's biggest city, spent $240m (£161m) building a track suitable for F1 and has hosted a Grand Prix since 2004. It has a contract with F1 until 2010 and is said by F1 insiders to pay about $50m (£34m) annually for the race. But the event has not proved popular with local people and attendances have been poor - even with some spectators being transported in specifically to give the appearance of a fuller venue.

The event has been lucrative for F1 commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone, who is believed to charge China some of the highest fees to host a race. China is one of a string of locations which have joined the F1 circuit at a heavy cost in recent years in an attempt to boost their global image, joining the likes of Malaysia, Bahrain and Singapore on the calendar.

Asia is a growth area for F1. Abu Dhabi is to host its first race in 2009, with South Korea and India scheduled to follow suit in 2010 and 2011. China has already ditched its MotoGP race, which was also held at Shanghai.

India should stop dreaming of underwriting F-1. We dont have that much interest that people will go and see the sport. No Indians participating either. Most of the courses are so far out of the city limits too. In TN, there is a course called Irungattu kottai, very far for the normally sane person to be expected to go and see a F-1 race.

[Tanaji]

At the risk of hurting sentiments, I never could see the wisdom in watching cars go around in circles for umpteen number of times. The only thing that is worse than F1 is NASCAR....

The only thing exciting (to me) in that is the technical aspect: it is fascinating to read about the lengths the teams go to shave off even a tenth of a second by various engineering methods.

JMT onleee.

Drag races, thats something!

[Stan_Savljevic]

At the risk of hurting sentiments, I never could see the wisdom in watching cars go around in circles for umpteen number of times. The only thing that is worse than F1 is NASCAR....

The only thing exciting (to me) in that is the technical aspect: it is fascinating to read about the lengths the teams go to shave off even a tenth of a second by various engineering methods. JMT onleee. Drag races, thats something!

I have been to a couple of Indi-500s, and I always see a huge crowd. On paper, its a painful exercise - the drive, finding cheap parking, finding cheap food, cheap beer, the ear pain, the uncomfortable seats which would put an airplane seat to shame, the sheer stupidity of drunken fans, the extremely unsafe drive out of the race with drunk drivers etc. All the issues one would find in an American ballgame or a basketball/football game, but more extreme cos F-1 brings in the more crazy/rowdy crowd.

That said, much of the Indiana crowd view the event as something to be proud of, a tradition so to speak. Its also a family get-together, whatever that means. Since people drive here for quite a distance anyway, its not weird to think of a 200 mile drive just to see a race. Besides that, the craze behind Danica Patrick is something to be seen before commented upon. Whatever antics Danica does, people follow it here, more so in Indi-land. She collided with a couple of back-riders and got involved in a spat with Milka Duno, and everyone was glued in to that. In Indi-land, they know their F-1 much better than they know their president. Thats not an understatement.

Admitted F-1 is far more sophisticated and cultured than Nascar, its hard to hope for an attraction like Danica in F-1. Ayrton Senna seemed to be the last cult figure. Michael Schumacher, Raikkonen, Coulthard, Villeneuve and of late Hamilton etc dont seem to connect much with the audience. Given that, its hard to expect folks to pain themselves to death and go and see an event, more so in emerging markets like India. F-1 has always been a middle class+ sport, so the middle class needs to derive some element of passion in an event like this. Either an Indian in the race, or a cult icon, or a battle thats worth watching (Senna vs Schumacher types). Reproducing all this in F-1, at least very quickly, is close to hoping against hope. Serious cricket competition will ensure that F-1 is a loss in India. So unless someone like Vijay Mallya wants to blow his cash and his cash alone on some fancy things, there is no rational reason for bringing F-1 to India. Certainly no tax-payer cash or tax breaks for these companies. Let them do it on their own backs unless they create an economy of scale, no point underwriting these folks.

The Chinese, if they can eke out a Yao Ming types, can commandeer hoi polloi in China to come and see F-1 races. But the popularity that basketball has in China is hard to reproduce for more elite sports like F-1. So F-1 is screwed in the short run, unless they choose not to shoot themselves in their foot by alienating Indic people. And Bernie Ecclestone needs to realize that the goose is cooked in Oirope with the meltdown and he needs to get more audience elsewhere. The realization will come in slowly, it always does.

[Singha]

we can spend the money on upgrading regular roads, power and hotels - will bring in much more sustained tourism than a 2 week travelling circus.

F1 and euro football seem to be the favourite sports of the mumbai
financial 'set' though. let them pay the cash to build the F1 circuit. not one
paisa of Govt money should be spent on it.

[Stan_Savljevic]

India's junior hockey team is on the right track with a never-say-die attitude and the ability to handle pressure being the main strengths, according to coach A K Bansal who said the "exceptional performance" in Argentina augurs well for the country's hockey future. Under Bansal, the junior national team has displayed impressive performance this year in the international circuit -- first the Junior Asia Cup triumph in Hyderabad which booked their place in next year's Junior World Cup in Malaysia and Singapore and the most recent was a 1-0 victory over World Champions Argentina in a four-match Test series.

In their Argentina sojourn, the junior team also defeated Netherlands in one-off Test and coach Bansal feels what acted in his boys favour is the ability to handle pressure. "The boys played exceptionally well. It was a good exposure trip. Unlike, earlier teams they never gave up till the last minute which bore fruit," Bansal told PTI after arriving from Argentina here today.

"In the last game against Argentina, we were trailing {DDM translation or is this AK B uvacha. For we trailed in the 3rd game against Argentina, we led the last game till the last minute and had them equalize. If its AK B uvacha, I am kinda worried.... } but the boys didn't give up and got the equaliser. Even, they displayed the same attitude during the Asia Cup which was crucial to our success," he said.

Before embarking on the tour, the coach hoped that the series will give India a chance to learn the tricks and trade of power hockey, but he was astonished to see his boys giving the mighty Argentines a run for their money. {Why is he surprised, this is not the same Arg team that won the world jr cup 3 yrs back? Does he not know enough to believe in our team?! He sounded the same even before the tour, like a ghost had slapped him in his sleep.}

Side note: Orissa has up and coming talent in hockey is all we can read from the following piece.

SAIL Hockey Academy, Rourkela stunned the star studded Orissa Icons, Bhubaneswar, in the title clash of the inaugural floodlight six-a-side hockey tournament played at the Kalinga stadium, Bhubaneswar on 11th December. The youthful SHA team recorded a shocking 5-4 victory over Orissa Icons which had players like Dilip Tirkey, Prabodh Tirkey, Lazarus Barla and William Xalxo in its rank.

With this victory SAIL Hockey Academy not only lifted the trophy but also they avenged their defeat suffered at the hands of Icons at the league stage. Academy team did not themselves to cow down by big names and they matched move to move of Icons team. They intensely fought against the ‘National Stars’ and before one minute of the final whistle match was stood at 4-4.

In the last minute a clever and coordinated move by SAIL team settled the match in their favour when Jerom Lakra scored the winning goal. For SAIL Skipper Amardeep Ekka and Sanjib Barla scored two goals each. For Orissa Icons Prabodh Tirkey struck three times and Ayub Kerketta scored another goal. In the semifainal matches SAIL Hockey Academy had beaten Centre for Excellency, Panposh 3-2 while in another semifinal match Orissa Icons routed the East Coast Railways 8-2. Indian skipper Prabodh Tirkey with the help of a hat trick had scored 5 goals in this match.

The three day tournament which was inaugurated on 9th December had a total of six teams in the fray. They were divided into two groups. The first phase was played on the league basis. In group one SAIL Hockey Academy began its campaign by beating Sports Hostel, Panposh 4-2. But they lost to Orissa Icons 1-3 to finish the table at the second position. Orissa Icons topped the table with two victories, 2nd being against sports hostel team 10-2. In group two Centre for Excellency, Panposh topped the table. They beat Orissa Police 11-0 and East Cost Railways 5-1. EC Railways bagged second position with a victory over Orissa Police 3-0.

Former national skipper Dilip Tirkey along with Prabodh Tirkey, Lazarus Barla and William Xalxo initiated this idea to hold a six-a-side hockey tournament in the capital to give a boost to hockey in the state. BSNL and HI-Tech came forward to prop up the project by agreeing to sponsor the tournament. The winners got Rs.10000/- along with the trophy while runners up became richer by Rs.7000/-. Amardeep Ekka of SAIL Hockey Academy was declared as the player of the tournament.

[brar]

hi guys,
I Was wondering if anyone had any information regarding the upcoming PHL season for 2009. Last I heard that PHL was to be played in February instead of January but nothing after that. I am really worried because I need to book my Airline tickets for India and would like to know what month/s it is being held.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Lets look at a list: Aisam-ul-Haq Qureishi, the tennis player from pakistan, will not get a wild-card in any good high profile event such as the Madras open. That could have been reserved for an upcoming Indian player, no the Indian lawn tennis association wanted to act as the mehmaan and host the paki player. The visa office, in its capacity as the adjudicator of who enters the country, decided it wont change the rules just cos he is Aisam. Same as it did with Saina a week or ten days back. Good riddance 1.

The paki hockey team wont get a chance to play Netherlands and Germany anytime soon. Noone is visiting their moth-eaten country. The Punjab hockey association in a mehmaanish gesture invited the bakis. And they are happy to do a tit for tat. Good riddance 2. We dont need you, in fact the PHA in consultations with the IHF should have had two Indian teams, a senior team and a junior team. Exposure trip, anyone? Inside India that too? But common sense was the last thing that should have been expected from IHF. They wanted to bend over backwards and invite some rascals and those rascals act as if they are the next best thing after sliced bread, we dont need you bakis.

Squash, Gone are the days when Jansher and Jahangir ruled the roost. Now the best Indian on the PSA charts has a similar ranking as the best baki ranked player. Sid Suchde, Ritwik, Saurav Ghosal etc are not walk-over types for Aamir Atlas or the Jahangir Khan ki cousin types. If the bakis dont come, there are the canadians, the english, the egyptians and more. Its a PSA tier-1 event, the bakis stand to loose more by not coming. Good riddance 3.

Any other sport, cricket, Thanks I would rather not watch the bakis play us and help them make money and fund the terror infrastructure in India by donating zakat. For all the bravado from mujahids in their team that India cannot be considered the best team till they beat the bakis , consider the issue closed. Bombay episode has opened a deep response in the establishment, and the bakis have to pay, overtly or covertly. Bravado, fluster etc are just that, we dont need you. We are calling your bluff. Pull out if you can or want to. And dont come to our country if you can.

In a tit-for-tat response, Sports Ministry has virtually prompted the Government to pull out from upcoming sporting events in India, who decided against touring Pakistan for a cricket series citing a diplomatic stand-off following the recent Mumbai terror attacks. Pakistan's Federal Secretary of Sports Ashraf Khan has described the situation as "so hot" and said it was not advisable for the players to tour India in the current circumstances.

Pakistan is scheduled to take part in a four-nation hockey series to be played in Chandigarh and Jalandhar next February after it's squash team has a chance to defend Asian junior title in Chennai on January 16. "Allowing our squash and hockey players to leave for India will be too risky at the moment as the gravity of the situation does not allow us to send our sports teams there," Ashraf was quoted as saying in the 'Dawn'.

Asked if security was a concern or it was a tit-for-tat response, Ashraf admitted that it was in reply to India scrapping its tour of Pakistan. "The situation is so hot that I don't think it will be advisable for Pakistan team to tour India, particularly when Indians have refused to come to Pakistan. So, we have to look at that but yes, we have not taken final decision," he told a television channel.

Selection trials for senior team is underway at Bhopal. Indian team for Argentina Test Series is likely to be selected after two days of trails. According to sources, three out of five selectors, have already witnessed morning selection trails today (24th Dec.). Ashok Kumar and his Air India counterpart Zafar Iqbal are absent. Aslam Sher Khan, Ajit Pal Singh and Dhanraj Pillay are already in Bhopal. Selector Ashok Kumar is nowadays Bhopal based, and we don't know why he is not attending the trails.

Presently about 40 players are in the camp. Pending any official information on either selection or any other relevant details, it is guessed that the list is likely to be pruned exactly half. Harendera is the chief coach. In my last trip to Ludhiana, I was told former Olympian Ramandeep Singh has also joined the coaching camp at Bhopal. Both junior and senior camps are simultaneously going on in Bhopal. It could not be conclusively ascertained whether Ramandeep is with the senior or junior team.

It is worthwhile to mention here tomorrow is Christmas, and there are adequate number of Christians in the camp. Christmas being the most important festival, they are deprived of the festival atmosphere, which is avoidable. We saw in 2004 India played a test match on Christmas eve and for the first time India lost a Test series to France. In 2006, when current coach Harendera was at the helm, a camp was held even on Diwali Day!! Is it not high time we do things taking players' sentiments into account?

According to a leading newspaper in India, the following candidates are in contention for the top job in India, the National Chief coach for men. They are:
Knut Jorgen Stubdal (Norway)
Rune Gulliksen (Norway)
Marieke van Doorn (Netherlands)
Maurits Hendriks (Netherlands)
Wim van Heumen (Netherlands)
Taco van den Honer (Netherlands) {Former PC expert from the Netherlands team of the 90s}
Marc Lammers (Netherlands) {Former midfielder from the Neth team of the 90s}
Bram Lomans (Netherlands) {Former midfielder from the Neth team of the 90s}

If the above list is indeed true, its amusing to see n Dutch players stacked up against two Norwegians. And ahem, when did the Norwegians start playing hockey?! The first Norwegian name sounds Dutch and the second Norwegian name sounds Swedish. If so, its even more weird. What happened to AK Bansal or even Harendra Singh?! Are they not considered? What happened to the plan to console IWHF and bring in MK Kaushik, cmon he is the best coach we could have at this stage?!

[Stan_Savljevic]

Finally, Narain is opening his mouth and dumps Vijay Mallya to the trashcan

India's first Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan said he was never interested in joining Force India and criticised team co-owner Vijay Mallya for saying no Indian was good enough to drive in F1. "I spent a frustrating time with Jordan, where I had a car that just could not perform. I have no desire to be with another pedestrian team that's low on performance and loud on talk," Karthikeyan said. {What a loss of H&D for the pedestrian team! A SDRE Injun calling two F-1 teams pedestrian, what a loss of H&D for FIA too!!}

Indian billionaire Mallya bought into the Spyker team last year and renamed it Force India. He told the newspaper recently that neither Karthikeyan nor the country's next hope Karun Chandhok were good enough for his team. Force India failed to score a point in its first season and confirmed this month that Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and German Adrian Sutil will race for them again in 2009.

"I never even approached Mallya. The vibes from the camp have been extremely negative and I want to make it clear that I am not interested in driving for Force India," Karthikeyan said. Karthikeyan, who in 2005 became his country's first F1 driver, has been driving in the A1 Grand Prix series with some success and is hoping to find a way back into F1. "Spyker offered me a drive in August 2007. I declined as the team was going nowhere," said Karthikeyan, who was a tester for Williams for two seasons.

"Except in F1, where machine matters more than man, I have won races in every championship that I have participated in," he added. Asked for his response to Karthikeyan's comments, Mallya said: "Everyone is welcome to their views." {How can someone retort without opening their loud-asses to NK's kicks in the backside? At least Vijay Mallya did nt do a Setalwad}

[Vipul]

Sri Lanka to back India, not to tour Pak.

Sri Lanka is unlikely to tour Pakistan with authorities reconsidering sacked Cricket Board Chairman Arjuna Ranatunga's (in pic) decision of supporting India's stance of not touring that country following the recent terror attacks in Mumbai.

We're with India

"We follow a pro-India policy. We know the circumstances in which the Indian tour to Pakistan was called off. The tour (of Sri Lanka to Pakistan) is unlikely," top sources said.

When contacted, Sri Lankan Sports and Recreation Minister Gamini Lokuge said he would hold discussions with the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the issue.

"We are reconsidering the decisions taken by Arjuna Ranatunga," Lokuge said adding that the Foreign Ministry would also be consulted on the proposed tour.

U-turn

Earlier, Ranatunga, who was sacked as the SLC Chairman on Tuesday, had last week confirmed the cricket team's visit to Pakistan after the Bangladesh cricket series. He had said that they had a duty as a friendly neighbour to help out Pakistan when it needed them.

The Pakistan Cricket Board had sent an invitation to the Sri Lankans after the Indian government pulled the plug on its cricket team's tour of Pakistan, scheduled to start from January 4.

Pakistan being isolated

Pakistan has been desperate to play Tests at home as the national team has gone without a series since December last year due to security concerns raised by other nations.

Pakistan also played just 21 One-day Internationals this year, many of them against weak opponents like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

Altaf said Sri Lanka's confirmation had come at a very good time as Pakistan needed to revive international cricket activities at home. Pakistan last played a Test match in December last year, against India in Bangalore.

As a sequel to the Mumbai terror attack which killed more than 180 people, Indian government had asked the Board of Cricket Control in India to call off the tour to Pakistan beginning next month.

[Stan_Savljevic]

All kindsa contradictory news reports are coming on this SL tour. We may have to wait a day or two before someone scoops that the tour is off. One report quoted Gamini Lokuge as saying "90% tour likely". Another says the PCB folks are meeting the SLC board members in an ACC meeting. Miandad has been seen pleading SLC folks to ok tour, why would he plead now in case something is not cooking? At the end of the day, the decision may be a political one. The buck stops at either the sports ministry or even higher, at Mahinda Rajapakse's foot. But in case SLC prohibits their team, there are going to be n reports about how they acquiesced yet again to BCCI etc. All the Ranatunga fans and India-baiters will appear out of the woodwork singing paens about how "SL has no international crikkit till the T20 world cup in June." Either the $70 million baksheesh or the second IPL season should shut the main contenders. Dont know if BCCI is prepared to shell out 70m in this time of financial turmoil. They can possibly renegotiate a smaller baksheesh, possibly. But letting the SL tour go through will be a huge mistake. It is a "you are with us or against us" moment for SLC.

Getting rid of Ranatunga's machinations may take a while though. He has had a few SL umpires regularly officiate in Pakiland and vice versa. All these bakwaas chai biskoot sessions may take a while to subside. Time is ripe for the SLC to be a part of the South zone calculus and revive M J Gopalan trophy at the Ranji level.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Finally, a policy that is at least clear in intent, meaning and specifics instead of running around like headless monkeys

The government slammed the door on foreign-based players like Prakash Amritraj and Sunitha Rao and made it clear that only Indian citizens would represent the country in international events. "The Government has decided that, henceforth, players who are Indian citizens only can avail themselves of government assistance to represent the country in the national teams representing the country," a government release said on Friday.

The decision leaves the tennis quartet of Prakash Amritraj, Sunitha Rao, Shikha and Neha Uberoi-- all US citizens -- at a crossroad even though Shikha is believed to be ready to surrender her American passport to continue playing for India. Junior squash player Karm Kumar, who holds a British passport, recently challenged the Squash Racket Federation of India's (SRFI) decision to restrict the representation of the country only to Indian citizens in the Delhi High Court.

Asked by the High Court to formulate a uniform policy on the vexed issue, the government decided to consult the National Sports Federations and the Indian Olympic Association before deciding to restrict representation of the country only to the Indian citizens. "The majority opinion has emerged in favour of restricting the representation of India in international sports events to players who are citizens of India. Some federations have not offered any comments on the matter and have indicated that they would adhere to the policy laid down by the Government in this regard," the statement read.

"...the entire matter has been carefully examined in Government and after taking into account all relevant considerations, including the general and specific rights conferred upon PIOs and OCIs as also other considerations such as the limited availability of resources to invest in building world class athletes and the long term interests of the country to emerge as a front-runner in the field of sports, the Government has taken the decision to provide assistance only to those players who have Indian Citizenship," the statement said. "The IOA and all the recognised NSFs have been advised accordingly," it added.

The move already has ruffled some feathers even though the government is not really perturbed. {Thats ToI sensationalization} "The entire hue and cry is a storm in a tea cup," a Sports Ministry source said. "The issue is being raised only by four tennis and a junior squash player, who live either in the US or UK and swear allegiance to either American or British flag and not the tri-colour. "The Sports Ministry's duty is to promote Indian talent from the hinterlands who would swear allegiance to the Indian flag," he added.

He said the Ministry took the IOA in confidence and feedbacks were sought from all NSFs as well. "We issued two communications on November 4 and then again on December 1 to IOA and all the federations. In the second, we also told them that in case we don't receive any communication from them, it would be presumed that they have no comments to offer. "After obtaining support of the majority of the federations, we took the decision of restricting the representation of the country to the Indian citizens only," he said.

On whether IOA supported the move, he said, "IOA didn't send any feedback and as our last communication made it clear, no communication was perceived as they have nothing to offer." The official said PIO (People of Indian Origin) and OIC (Overseas Citizens of India) are economic benefits given by the government of India and PIO does not get any right of dual citizenship. "Even the Indian law or constitution does not provide for. Whenever the benefit of dual citizenship is given by the Government of India, the Ministry would look afresh into the new situation," he added.

According to him, players who are either PIO or OIC should prove their mettle by representing the country they are citizens of. "Giving a slot to PIO or OIC player amounts to back door entry in a competition, in which he or she is not otherwise good enough to represent the country of which he or she is a citizen. "The new policy will encourage the available talents within the country to enhance a sense of belonging and patriotism and will encourage many more to improve their performance to get the slot in the future to represent the country," he added.

Some sanity from the hockey officials finally

Terming Pakistan's decision to pull out of the four-nation hockey tournament in India as 'expected one', the Indian Olympic Association
-appointed ad-hoc said in current scenario playing hockey with Pakistan was not at all advisable. Pakistan was scheduled to take part in a four-nation hockey event to be played in Chandigarh and Jalandhar next February invloving Netherlands, Germany and hosts India as the other teams. However, in-a-tit-for-tat response, Pakistan governement has hinted that it will not send its national team for the tournament after India shunned their cricket tour following last month's Mumbai terror attacks that killed nearly 180 people.

Confirming that Pakistan has opted out of the tournament, IOA President and ad-hoc committe Chairman, Suresh Kalmadi said, the organisers would be roping in another foreign team in place of Pakistan. {Why not two Indian teams, a senior one and a junior one? Suresh Kalmadi, please consider the above as a viable option. Good for Indian hockey in the long run, no extra cost per se, same level of competition that a furrin team can offer, please please consider this option.} "Pakistan is not playing . We are in process of inviting another foreign team, " Kalmadi said.

Asked whether the withdrawal came as a shock to the ad-hoc committee, he replied in negative. "It was not at all shocking. In fact it was expected move. We did not send our junior team there in November due to security concerns. I think we have to wait till the things cool down. In present circumstanses we should not tour Pakistan or vise versa." he said. Former Olympians Aslam Sher Khan and Dhanraj Pillay, who are also members of Indian hockey's ad-hoc selection committee, opined that the present tension between the two countries will definitely have an impact on biliteral sporting ties.

"Pakistan is saying that it is highly unlikely that the governement would allow sportspersons to visit India for international events. I think we should not invite them either. We must not play hockey with Pakistan for the time being." said Pillay. Aslam said there is no security concern in India and it has been proved with the English cricket team's recent test tour. "We did not send our junior hockey team to Pakistan as there were genuine security concerns. Although it is not the case in India.

"If India is unsafe it is due to Pakistan only. Pakistani terrorists are killing our people. Pakistan still need proof while the terrorist himself is saying that he is a Pakistani. Life of our countrymen is the topmost priority, sports can take backseat." he said. {Ghee shakkar, for this crystal clarity. I am so happy to hear this finally from the former players.} Aslam, however, feels that lack of Indo-Pak hockey was not good for the sport in both the countries, while Kalmadi and Pillay believe that in short term it will not affect. {Yes, and to top that the bakis play rather poor hockey. Let em stew in their own damn juices. Let India play fast running teams like the Oiropeans. What do the bakis have to offer us, except for the same brand of Indian subcontinent hockey, which we are good at? We need runners, the game has changed, and testing ourselves against sprinting hockey teams is the way to go, given that FIH rules are not going to be changed anytime soon.}

[Stan_Savljevic]

The positives and negatives from Indian sport in 2008:

1) Small-town boxers hogging the limelight, first at the pre-Olympic tournaments, then the Olympics, then the World Cup boxing... Yet, after all that, noone clearly remembers many of these very same boxers. 2009 promises to be bright, yet unappreciated by Indians in a broad sense of the word.
2) Golf -- Jeev Milkha Singh's tremendous form and winning the Asian top awards, Poor form of Jyoti Randhawa, and the flanks. 2009 may be the year the first Indian major winner arises, yet for all the money golf brings in, the economic turbulence has a major impact on the trajectory of the world sport and Indian golf in general.
3) Cue sports -- Once again, it was a Pankaj Advani show even though he lost the world snooker finals. Geet Sethi plays a bit and part role these days. We need more flanksmen like Subash Agarwal of old... Its once again going to be an Advani show in 2009. The pipeline seems rather empty.
4) Badminton -- While most people remember only Saina Nehwal and her climb to world no 10, on the men's side Anup Sridhar was rocking hard before injury let him low. Now Chetan Anand is world 15 on the men's side. Its a bright time to be an Indian badminton fan. 2009 may witness Saina climb to be in the top 3, and a top 8 men's badminton player comes about. But injury worries force me to hedge my bets. The future is super promising though....

5) Tennis -- Just one thing to note of: Somdev Dev Varman's rise to be no 1 in men's tennis. Just like Leander's rise was unnoticed, this is something people will recall years down the line. Now with Prakash Amritraj no longer eligible to represent India, its all a Somdev show from now on. We need Somdev to rise further, get better in singles and we need a flanker to cover him up for the other singles slot in DC matches. I was not overly enthusiastic with Prakash Amritraj and co as they have been sticking around for way too long with all the things uttered and yet nothing on the field. Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander are still reasonably strong in the doubles somuchso that they are STILL the no 1 doubles team in India. That just speaks volumes about the work left to fill the void they have created by their separation. Mahesh's tennis coaching and his business enterprise are creating new and unseen opportunities for jr players.
6) Hockey: The promise and potential showed by jr hockey players is immense. They have showed us time and again that India has the in-house talent. Lotsa jr players coming from the Chattisgarh, Jharkand, Orissa parts apart from old strongholds like Jallandhar, Patiala, Sundergarh and Coorg. The senior team has more or less floundered with a lack of direction from the top administration and the lack of a coach. Arising like a phoenix from historic lows of the Santiago meltdown and the consistent referee bias against us, we will see a new and promising Indian hockey in the future spearheaded by the juniors. 2009 promises to be promising, but given that the administration is like a parliament house with too much noise and too many tantrums, I am keeping my fingers crossed. Onwards is the only way to go, we are already deep down and nowhere further to go down.

7) Football: 2008 has seen historic opportunities for Indian football. We have seen the first time an Indian team qualified for the Asian championship regulars in 40 yrs time-frame. The I-league is going great guns but with crazy fan following restricted to Goa, Bengal, Kerala and some NE states, the universality and appeal of this game needs a firm makeover. While I was not entirely enamored with Bob Houghton's tenure to start with, he has showed that he can bring a change in the attitude. His job has been made a lot easier by the arrival (or rather maturation) of folks like NP Pradeep, Sunil Chettri, Steven Dias, Climax Lawrence, Rennedy Singh etc along with the ever-ready presence of Baichung. Baichung intends to start a new academy for jr footballers in Sikkim and he promises to channel talent from the NE into the mainstream arena. 2009 promises to be brighter than 2008, but we need to start playing higher ranked players consistently in our goal to climb the top 100 bracket in FIFA list.
Weightlifting: This is one sport where everything has been negative. Consistent dope cheats, getting caught in most events, jealousy and cheapness as witnessed in the Monika Devi episode, the same damn administration still around, 2009 promises to bring us historic lows in terms of tarnishing the name of India in the doping annals of IOA history.

9) Chess: With Vishy winning the WC and becoming the un-apostrophed and unambiguous world champion, India promises to tread further in the goal of being in the top 3 nations of world chess. We have the men's world champion, the mens and womens jr world champions from India. Only Koneru Humpy missed out by losing in the womens chess championship semis. The flank is great, but people need to start playing higher up the FIDE charts. Not play just around their mark. As of now, everyone except the Indians seem to be keen on playing the skewed FIDE ratings list. But with changes promised in the ratings (Rp and Rc) for 2009 and henceforth, all these playing will be more manageable. But 2009 promises to produce more chaos with the one-handed decisions of FIDE. Everywhere except Anand. Anand is due to play T-man or Kamsky in 2009 and shut them off for a long time. While I would like Anand to play Kamsky and venge the Sanghi Nagar episode, I also want him to feather T-man and shut the irritating Bulgarians for a while. 2009 promises to be exciting and chaotic -- just like our saas bahu whinefests in desi dramas.
10) Shooting: From bringing India's first individual gold in beijing to world champions, this is a sport that has proceeded from the old Karni Singh days to hoi polloi sports with a lot of promise. While most people tune in regularly for olympic updates, things happen in the background. We have not heard from Abhinav Bindra if he is starting practice for 2012 yet. Or not at all. I know that the bronze medallist in 2008 has started practicing on day 1 of the 2012 cycle. Acquiring sophisticated rifles and bullets seems an issue that is vexing. Hunger and thirst seems to be the key factors behind the success of this sport, nothing more nothing less.

11) Sports like swimming, athletics etc promise long term prospects, but nothing immediate in the short term for 2009. Wrestling, despite the bronze at 2008, seems unrespected, under-reported, and thriving in oblivion. The akharas of Uttarakhand and nearby areas are still rotting and in need of help, attention and support. A lot of patience and werewithal is expected from the hoi polloi armchair fan. Some other sports like table tennis promise to be heart-breakers.

Yet India is India, oblivious to its heroes, oblivious to its enemies, oblivious to calamities, catastrophes or cataclysms, surviving day-by-day, hour-by-hour at times, until a new hero arises to save us from the deep throes of revolution and war, only to be quickly forgotten in the chalta-hai attitude of the teeming masses that follows predictably. Blame them, at our own peril, for they have far better things in life to do like feeding themselves once a day or more, if possible, getting an education worthy of its name, if possible, getting a life worthy of its value, if possible and more. Despite all that, silently, unannounced, unnoticed, change is a-happening. Unlike the loud mouthed and carnal neighbors to our north, change is a-happening here, at an Indic pace -- permanent, unblemished in terms of purpose, unruffled by might or right, untethered to boundaries and unforgiving in direction. Not for nothing do they call the elephant the real king of the jungle.

12) Finally cricket, everyone follows this sport regularly and affectionately. So I will say nothing about it. We all know what is happening.....

[Stan_Savljevic]

Pakistan announced a cpl of days back the institution of an Asian champions trophy with it hosting the first edition. S2h presents a flashback....

Flash Back:
Venue: Mayor Radhakrishan Hockey Stadium, Chennai, India
Location: Media Room in the first floor
Occasion: Time between two Semifinals of the Asia Cup
Date: 8.9.2007
Actors: 1. Asian Hockey Federation Secretary General P.Alagendra 2. Then Indian Hockey Federation President, KPS Gill.
Announcement: Asian Hockey Federation has decided to introduce Asian Champions Trophy. India will host first three editions starting from 2009. I thank IHF Chief KPS Gill for suggesting such a tournament and then coming forward to host.
Impact: All Indian newspapers carried out the item next day; while the television channels did their best.
Humour: Gill was taking a nap even as Alagendra was announcing this (please believe me, media had enough laughter)

Neither does the Asian Hockey Federation nor the Ad hoc Committee (India) bring out any communication, enabling us to know the official version.

Till then let us say what we know:
If the Asian Champions Trophy had indeed been allotted to Pakistan much against earlier allotment to India, announcement of which was made in August 2007, reaffirmed again at Hyderabad (India) during the AHF meeting (July 2008), then it is another case of the present Ad hoc Committee letting us down.

I dug up one Indian article about this episode...
http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/10/stories ... 442100.htm

[Stan_Savljevic]

UK's Guardian and Reuters are creating unnecessary ruckus about non-Indian citizens participation in OG and other international events.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/feedarticle/8169151

Someone needs to tell them shut the eff up given the following.

I checked the rules that US olympic committee suggests:

Although many IFs allow non-citizens to compete in their international events, the IOC Charter (IOC Charter, Rule 42) and the PASO regulations (PASO Regulations, Section IV) and the IPC Handbook (IPC Handbook, Chapter 2, Section 3.1) mandate that athletes must be a national of the country they represent in the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, the Pan American Games and the Parapan American Games.

The USOC Bylaws under Article XIX, Section 19.2 states that “Any tryouts organized directly or indirectly under authority of any NGB or PSO shall be open only to athletes who are citizens of the United States at the time of selection and eligible under the rules of the International Olympic Committee, Pan American Sports Organization or International Paralympic Committee for selection for membership on the United States Olympic, Pan American or Paralympic Games Team.”

http://assets.teamusa.org/assets/docume ... _2008_.pdf

Gymnasts are eligible for consideration provided they are:
1.6.1. A British Citizen
1.6.2. A minimum of 18 years old in the year of competition
1.6.3. A BG member in good standing

Most people probably encounter foreign countries through their sports teams more often than in any other way. We create even greater confusion here, since practice varies between different sports. In most older sports (e.g. rugby) there are teams representing the historic nations of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. In others (e.g. soccer) there are separate teams for Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. There may also be teams representing the whole of the British Isles (rugby again). It is only in the Olympic Games, where participation is strictly on the basis of nationality, and in sports focussed on the Olympics, such as track and field athletics, that a UK or "British" team is likely to feature. As a final curiosity, our leading cricket team, although always called "England", actually represents England and Wales. Scotland and Ireland have their own teams.

http://www.british-gymnastics.org/site/ ... &Itemid=27
http://alt-usage-english.org/whatistheuk.html

So why is the Guardian pontificating to Indians about who is to participate and who not? It is the right of the GoI to decide and they have. So Guardian to shut its derriere and walk off... And Randhir Singh, despite all his shooting accomplishments, should know when to voice dissent and when not to, and who to and who not to.

[Stan_Savljevic]

The spin in the desi media on the citizenship issue should ideally go in the psy-ops thread, but lets analyze them here.

Prakash Amritraj may be known as an Indian around the world, but not in India, as long as he does not procure an Indian passport, as per the latest guideline of the Union Sports Ministry. {There cannot be a more blatant start to an article than this. As per any government, a citizen is someone who has that country's passport. Noone is questioning Prakash Amritraj's patriotism, but then there are uniform rules and regulations. Since the judiciary goaded the relevant administration to formulate a uniform law, the GoI in its capacity formulated its own after much discussion which it sees to be in its best interests in the long term. They have even provided a clause for revisiting this rule in case of changes to the citizenship act. So what is the takleef with the chindu? Who is calling Prakash Amritraj a non-Indian? He can feel safe and secure if thats his opinion on this matter. Its a question of shelling out GoI cash for training, slots given to Indian citizens etc that is under question. Would the chindu welcome it if Tendulkar played for USA and not India?! Would the chindu welcome it if Abhinav Bindra shot a gold for USSR or UK?!}

Reacting to the new ruling, the captain of the Indian Davis Cup team, S.P. Misra, said that the choice would obviously be restricted now. “It is a government policy, and I have nothing to comment on it. However, I can say that instead of rotating three players for the two singles slots depending on the surface etc., our choice is restricted to two at the moment,” said Misra, as he highlighted the disadvantage the Indian team would face, owing to the ineligibility of Prakash to represent the country following the new ruling.

The former Davis Cup team coach, Akhtar Ali, also had nothing to say against the government policy. Akhtar quoted the example of 1974 when the Indian team gave a walkover in the Davis Cup final against South Africa because it was required to do as per the government policy. “We had a good chance to win the Davis Cup final then. But we had to obey the government policy. It is the same now,” said Akhtar. {Yes, GoI formulates policies in the long term strategic interests of India, period. No more questions or opinionating in public. The recourse is go to the judiciary and re-examine rules and regulations. Do it if you have takleef. Dont decide what is not your job by sitting in the media!}

It may be interesting to note that the All India Tennis Association (AITA) was ready to give $70,000 per year for Sunitha Rao, about five years ago, if she agreed to play for India in Fed Cup etc. Her father not only wanted $100,000 per year, but also about Rs. five crore, when the whole idea fizzled out. {And rightly so. I remember this episode. The thinking was any gain obtained by shelling out so much money is not worth it, when it should be an honor to play for the Indian flag.}

Much later, Sunitha was only too happy to represent India unconditionally. She played a stupendous doubles second round in the Beijing Olympics with Sania Mirza, against the top-seeded Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia. In the last Asian Games in Doha, Shikha Uberoi played a key role along with Sania Mirza in winning the team silver.

A pillar of strength for Indian tennis over the years, the 10-time Grand Slam champion Mahesh Bhupathi said that it was a “little bizarre” for the government to come up with such a policy that would affect the chances of the Indian Davis Cup team. {He sees only his Davis cup team, he does nt care about policies or precedents or legal issues that may arise. Unfortunately, GoI does nt have that leeway. As simple as that.}

“We have a Davis Cup tie coming up soon, and Prakash is our No.1 player on grass at home. It is unfair to him to spring a rule like that. The government has to find a solution so that we have the best team,” said Bhupathi. {Yes sir, but dont players playing for the Indian flag realize that they should be citizens?! Is that allowed with the US Davis cup team? How about GB? Greg Rusedski, the last player I remember who had these issues was a dual citizen of Canada and UK. India does not have this option. Sorry, thats policy.}

The AITA Secretary General, Anil Khanna, may have been disillusioned about the current low international rankings of Shikha and Sunitha, not to mention the revolting acts of Prakash in recent Davis Cup ties, to really be able to muster enthusiasm to fight their case with the government. {Why blame A Khanna snidely for his abilities or inabilities? Why apportion blame to him? Does chindu think that if A Khanna had pushed P Amritraj's case that GoI would have formed a better policy?} “The AITA had replied to the government that we have three players who will be affected by such an order and at the same time AITA would abide by the policy of the government in the larger interest of Indian sport,” said a statement from the AITA Secretary General.

On a more positive note, the statement further says, “the new policy has been discussed and the Honourable Minister of Sports has agreed to have a re-look at the participation rights, if a possibility exists for dual citizenships for players. In case a player is willing to change his passport, he/she will obviously not be in any difficulty in representing India in Davis Cup and Fed Cup, and the government would welcome the same.” The ball is in the court of the players. {Obviously} It remains to be seen whether they rush to the passport office or the Supreme Court.

Two-time Olympian Sahu Mewalal, who guided India to the 1951 Asian Games title with his solitary goal, died at the SSKM Hospital here late on Friday night. He was 82 and is survived by 64-year-old wife Laxmi Devi Lal, a son and two daughters. The funeral was held at Kalighat on Saturday and a small procession went through his former clubs Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Aryans Club and BNR.

Diwakar Ram will lead the 16-member Indian junior hockey team for the Australian Youth Olympic Festival four-nation tournament to be held in Sydney from January 14 to 18. The other teams in the tournament are Australia, Great Britain and Malaysia. India’s participation in this tournament is in keeping with the ad hoc committee’s plans for maximum competitions and exposure for the team before the junior World Cup in Singapore and Malaysia in June 2009. All matches will be played at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney.

The team: Goalkeepers: Mrinal Chaubey, C. Santosh Kumar; full backs: Diwakar Ram (capt.), Innocent Kullu, Manjeet Kullu; midfielders: Birender Lakra, Vivek, Vikas Sharma, Belsajar Horo, Amardeep Ekka; forwards: Pramod Kumar, Mandip Antil, Jay Karan, Mohammad Amir Khan, Danish Mujtaba and Dharamvir Singh.

Stand-byes: Hari Kripal Yadav, Jagwant Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Karamjit Singh and Mohd. Asif Khan.

Officials: Rajeev Mehta (co-convenor ad hoc committee); A.K. Bansal (chief coach); Clarence Lobo (coach); R.C. Trivedi (physiotherapist)

Heroes of the last golden patch Indian hockey has had -- that was when India won four out of six tournaments including the first ever Asia Cup in 2003 - have been recalled. Premier Hockey League hero Arjun Halappa, workhorse Vikram Pillay -- he must be happy his younger brother Vikas also made the cut -- Vinaya, Hari Prasad, Deepak Thakur are back in the reckoning. Giving a semblance of activity, which was conspicuous for its absence, the Ad-hoc Committee running the hockey affairs in the country has announced the team for the Punjab Gold Cup to be held in Jalandhar
late next month.

Goalkeepers: Baljit Singh, Adrian D'Souza

Full Backs: Dilip Tirkey, Sandeep Singh, V. Raghunath

Midfielders: Gurbaj Singh, V.S. Vinaya, Sardara Singh, Vikram Pillay, Prabodh Tirkey, Vikas Pillay

Forwards: Rajpal Singh, Tushar Khandkar, Prabhjot Singh, Deepak Thakur, Bharat Chhikara, Arjun Halappa, Shivendra Singh, S.V. Sunil, Ravi Pal Singh, Sarwanjit Singh, Hari Prasad

Standbyes: P.R. Sreejesh, Bharat Chetri, William Xalxo, Samir Baxla, Ajitesh Rai, Ignace Tirkey, Senthil Kumar, Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Birender Lakra, Bikas Toppo, Roshan Minz, Osaf ur Rehman

Officials: Harendra Singh (Coach in Charge), Ramandeep Singh (Coach), Romeo James (Coach), Srikant Iyengar (Physiotherapist), M.V. Mathai (Trainer)

PR Sreejesh seems to have jumped from the juniors to the seniors. He did not go to Argentina due to lack of form. Diwakar Ram is still in the juniors side. I believe the logic is he is still eligible to play in the 2009 world cup and so let him stay there till that event is over. Once its over, we may see Diwakar in the senior squad.

Finally, someone remembers Dingko Singh

The country has forgotten Dingko Singh, who won India a gold medal in Bangkok Games in 1998. A week after New Year's Day, Dingko will only turn 30 and that probably compounds the romance and the tragedy of the boxer's story - Akhil Kumar, the current braveheart, is 27, and by no means a late bloomer. A maverick boxer far ahead of his time in terms of technique, it was Dingko's talent and audacious arrogance in the ring that set him apart from the rest. A technical catalyst, his boxing serves as the reference point for the change in Indian technical approach that was adopted post-Athens 2004, benefits of which are being reaped by the current lot.

"What he did came naturally to him, but all the boxers today are trained to fight like Dingko," said a boxing federation official, adding that there was no better method to adopt to score than Dingko's technique. "Suddenly, in four years time, we began winning," he adds.

Coaches at SAI centres across the country still turn eloquent over his famed reaction time and speed, but temperamental to the point of disbelief, Dingko probably could not have burned brighter. Injuries began to take a toll and four years ago he made his exit. As the country prepared for the Athens Olympics, a brief news item said he had lost in the first round of the Hissar Nationals - an event in which he would usually sleepwalk to victory.

Today, a much-mellowed Dingko himself is busy completing a National Institute of Sports (NIS) coach diploma. "Only he can impart that speed and the locked elbow punch," says a fellow coach, adding, "We can't lose him anymore."

Sent to an orphange in Imphal as a kid since his mother couldn't raise six children, Dingko took to boxing to channelise his anger. Back home in Imphal, he caused scores of girls and boys alike to suddenly throng the Zen-master-like Imbocha Singh's boxing classes at the sprawling Khuman Lampak SAI Centre of Excellence, making it the cradle of the sport before Bhiwani replaced it.

Dingko remains the reason why multi-world champion, Mary Kom still dissolves into giggles at the every mention of her hero's name, like a schoolgirl talking about her favourite movie star. The Manipuri unabashedly admits that it was Dingko's 1998 gold that spurred her to take up boxing.

"I miss running with the tricolour after winning boxing tournaments," says Dingko, adding, "Maybe one day my son Dingson will do it. He's only eight, but seems keen." There is a pause on the phone line, and then he asks. "Do you know what Dingson means? Son of Dingko," he laughs. Dingko Singh is much-mellowed now but the arrogance remains. Good to know some things don't change.

More about Mewalal

Former Olympian footballer and lethal striker Sahu Mewalal, 82, passed away at a state-run city hospital early on Saturday. He was suffering from old age complications. Fans and former players paid rich tribute to him when his hearse was brought to his Hastings residence. Mohun Bagan, Aryan, East Bengal, BNR and Veterans Club also paid last homage to the legendary footballer. Former Olympian and India captain Samar Banerjee, Dronacharya award winner Syed Nayeemuddin, Arun Ghosh, Biswajit Bhattacharya, Kartick Seth and Kabir Bose were among others who accompanied the cortege as it touched various locations on the Maidan.

Recollecting his association with Mewalal, Banerjee said: "He was older than me but used to call me Captain Saab. He was a great human being and used to treat his teammates as his brothers." Both Nayeemuddin and Ghosh, however, lamented that the legendary footballer didn't get his due in lifetime.

"He deserved much more honour than what he got," said Nayeemuddin. "He was a legend in his time. The state government might have taken care of his needs in his post-retirement life but as one who gave India so many glories, his success and experience should have been used much more constructively in Indian football. It's a regret that the present generation is hardly aware of his feats," Ghosh pointed out.

Sports minister Subhas Chakraborty promised that the footballer's wife would get the state government's pension from here on. Former India captain Chuni Goswami fondly recollected his first captain. "I made my international debut under Mewalal in 1955 when India played an exhibition match against China in New Delhi. He was a master of the volley and a very popular footballer. I had the privilege of sharing a room with him when we had gone to Mexico to watch the 1986 World Cup," Goswami recalled.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Recall of stars a beginning of a new thinking? (12/28/2008)

Whenever regime change occurs in the Indian Hockey Federation, the national team goes in for overhaul with the resultant recall of stars. The process of recall after each regime change has become so routine that it could well be termed a ritual or even a PR exercise. Mostly, the recalls, necessary or unnecessary, hardly sent right message to the public at large.

Firstly, the flurry of recalls sounds as if the ills of the by-gone regime were due to faulty team selection, which need not be the sole truth. Teams may have lost a crucial tournament because of mishandling by a coach or the alike. IHF regime changes are necessitated because of maladministration, not because of selection hassles. Secondly, most IHF regimes were thrown out due to insensitivity and failure or miscalculation from the part of incompetent coach. In this context, recalls diverted the real issues such as competent coaching and lack of vision in administration.

The situation now in the Indian hockey is different. Here, the regime changed not now but nine months ago. So the recent recall of stars, from Deepak Thakur to Hariprasad cannot be termed as an PR Exercise, even if there is attempt existed to that effect that won’t carry weight. Only one recall that was often mentioned in the wake of Chile Olympic Qualifier was of Sandeep Singh. That issue was settled by the wrecker in chief KPS Gill himself. Sandeep was taken in for the Sonepat camp at the insistence of Junior Coach AK Bansal even before the IOA disgraced him by dissolving the IHF. Gill has thus denied the obvious joy for the new regime.

Therefore, now we, in a cool atmosphere, with no tags attached, can have a look at the team that was announced by Harender Singh whom the Ad-hoc Committee officially terms Coach-in-Charge. Harender was often on record that he would accord top priority to fitness and form, keeping targets in 2010 in mind. Good. Viewed from this perspective, the recall of Deepak Thakur, Arjun Halappa, Vikram Pillay and Hari Prasad merit serious assessment.

Deepak was dropped exactly 33 months ago. Arjun Halappa and Hari Prasad 24 months ago whereas in the case of medio Vikram Pillay it was 27 months ago. VS Vinaya also comes in the list of long hiatus from international duty, but made his comeback after Chile Olympic Qualifier – in the double leg Australia 4-Nation. It is heartening Arjun Halappa’s worth was recognized. Arjun is an asset in the team, not for his artistic skills, but also for holding and pepping up the game. He is also tireless, brainy and prime mover. Deepak’s focus has been questioned by Rajinder Singh Jr, coach in the large part of 2005. He needs to prove his worth on the big stage. The big gap he had since the Commonwealth Games will weigh on his ambition. He must have regained some of the form, lest he would not haven been in.

That four of the five comebacks (including Vinaya) are from the domestic outfit that coach Harendra is from, the onus lies on the shoulders of the foursome to prove their choice is demanding on form. There is no doubt they will prove so. In all, there is a theory floating amidst a group of players that the 2001 Junior World Cup Goldies are purposefully targeted. All these players, barring Vinaya, are from the famed Hobart Heroes Hall of Fame. Their selection now should now assuage them. Now that they have got a chance, they need to prove themselves yet again, having played so many tournaments in the past won’t cut much ice.

We, who sit the seat of judgment, need to wait, wait our chances to witness them in true arenas before accepting or negating the choices made. So, s2h keeps its eyes and ears open, wishing all the selected a happy outing. If you leave out the five, most others in the team are on expected line, luckily no vendetta seemed to have been played. Continuance of Bharat Chikara, Baljit Singh, V Raghunath, Sardara Singh, Rajpal Singh, Prabhjot Singh – all obvious choice of Joaquim Carvalho – accentuates the policy of continuance.

One’s heart bleeds for William Xalxo and Ignace Tirkey in particular and their stand by status need a closer look. You either need them or not. There seem to be a dilemma. They are within the system and let us wait for the final word on the talented duo.

Brief profiles of GenNext 22:
Adrian D'Souza: goalkeeper, Caps 89, Last International played: 2008 Azlan Shah Cup
Arjun Halappa: Forward Caps 162, Goals 27, Last International played: 2006 Asian Games
Baljit Singh, goalkeeper, Caps 28, Last International played: 2008 Australia 4-Nations
Bharat Chikara, forward, Caps 20, Goals: 1, Last International played: 2008 Olympic Qualifier
Deepak Thakur, forward, Caps To be, Goals 69, Last International played: 2006 Commonwealth Games
Dilip Tirkey, defender, Caps 357, Last International played: 2008 Olympic Qualifier
Gurbaj Singh, midfielder, Caps 31, Goals: 1, Last International played: 2008 Azlan Shah Cup
Hari Prasad, forward, Caps: 59, Goals: 6 Last International played: 2006 Asian Games
Prabodh Tirkey, midfielder, Caps 101, Goals: 1, Last International played: 2008 Olympic Qualifier
Prabhjot Singh, forward, Goals: 62, Last International played: 2008 Australia 4-Nations
Rajpal Singh, forward, Caps 66, Goals: 28, Last International played: 2008 Australia 4-Nations
Ravi Pal Singh, forward, Caps 7, Goals: 0, Last International played: 2008 Australia 4-Nations
V. Raghunath, defender, Caps 50, Goals: 40, Last International played: 2008 Azlan Shah Cup
Sandeep Singh, defender, Caps 77, Goals: 42, Last International played: 2008 Azlan Shah Cup
Shivender Singh, forward, Caps 64, Goals: 32, Last International played: 2008 Azlan Shah Cup
Sardara Singh Caps 57, Goals: 3, Last International played: 2008 Azlan Shah Cup
Sarwanjit Singh, forward, Caps 9, Goals: 0, Last International played: 2008 Azlan Shah Cup
SV Sunil, forward, Caps 20, Goals: 6, Last International played: 2008 Azlan Shah Cup
Tushar Khandkar, forward, Caps 137, Goals: 32, Last International played: 2008 Australia 4-Nations
Vikas Pillay: Punjab Gold Cup (yet to come)
Vikram Pillay: Caps 128 Goals 5, Last International played: 2006 World Cup
VS Vinaya Caps 82, Goals: 2, Last International played: 2008 Australia 4-Nations

[vavinash]

Sasikiran moves upto 25 with rating of 2711. Harikrishna is at 2673 and needs to break into 2700

http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/31/stories ... 711800.htm

Sasikiran triumphs

Chennai: India’s K. Sasikiran raced to one of his career best titles when he drew the final round game against Bulgarian Aleksander Delchev to win the City of Pamplona international chess tournament by an impressive one point margin in Spain on Monday.

Sasikiran, ranked World No. 35, gained nine Elo points from this tournament. He played at 2795 Elo and the result would take him into the 2700+ rating club once again.

Requiring a draw in the final round for his maiden title at Pamplona, Sasikiran played the Slav defence with the black pieces and earned a 46-move draw in a fully fought encounter against Delchev to finish on five points from seven games.

Sasikiran is expected to reach a career high rating in the January 2009 list mainly with gains from his good performance in the Croatian League which gave him 18.30 Elo points.

[mnag]

http://cricket.ndtv.com/cricket/ndtvcri ... &site=ndtv

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has incurred losses to the tune of Rs 120 crore this fiscal year mainly due to the November 26 terror attacks.

"BCCI has incurred a loss of Rs 120 crore due to the cancellation of the Pakistan tour, Champions League that was to be held in the month of December and the two one day matches against England due to the terror attacks," a BCCI source said on Friday.

http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes. ... 928733.cms

MUMBAI: As if the alarm bells tolled by the economic slowdown and the terrorist attacks on Mumbai are not enough, the Indian cricket board is facing
another problem: a kind of mini war with its own sponsors.

According to well-placed sources, the BCCI's key sponsors and partners have defaulted in their payments and both are blaming each other for this mess. ''Yes, Sahara, Nike and broadcasters Nimbus have not paid their scheduled dues,'' a senior BCCI official told TOI. "The Working Committee will take up this matter at its meeting tomorrow (Saturday). We will be treating it as a very serious thing," he warned.

Incidentally, this comes just after BCCI's declaration that it stood to lose more than Rs 100 crore this year thanks to the recent developments. As is well-known, the Champions League was postponed, two One-dayers against England called off while the tour to Pakistan has been cancelled. All three have added to hit BCCI where it hurts most

[Stan_Savljevic]

MAK Pataudi, Jr has done us all a favor in bringing the issue: "Replace hockey with cricket as our national game." Thanks Pataudi sir, but hockey should and will remain India's iconic sport, irrespective of how many people believe so otherwise. The history and laurels this game has brought to this country are non-pareil even by cricket's famous standards. 8 Olympic golds, 1 World championship -- unrecognized by armchair pundits of course, multiple Asian/CW games medals -- well, one can claim cricket has not been an olympic sport. But that just is the problem, you see, cricket is played by 8 countries when hockey is played by infinitely more. Certainly our tradition and ways in hockey are far superior to anyone there was, has been or will be. Thats not just my opinion, thats the opinion of any rational and common-sensical spectator of the game. So thanks for the debate, but the debate got lost for cricket even before the debate started. When cricket is a medalling sport, lets restart this conversation.

In other news, a promising start to the new year for hockey.

The Mittal Champions Trust, which supports and trains top Indian athletes in various disciplines, has long had hockey in its plans. Unfortunately for MCT, they’ve been unable to take their plans forward as Indian hockey is in a state of limbo with no national federation to coordinate with. Manisha Malhotra, CEO MCT, told TOI, "In a team sport you have to work with the national federation. In hockey, right now, they have an ad hoc committee (appointed by the IOA), but that could change in the next six months. If a new set of people take over they may not want to work with us just because we were working with the old team." Hockey has been on the MCT shortlist for the last six months, but outside of their own planning and brainstorming, Mittal hasn’t been able to take it forward. Manisha reckons that they should be able to put their plans to work in the next couple of months.

Ramana, what you had asked for is happening without Mr Joe Public contributing explicitly. More power to taxing Mr Joe Public and using a small fraction of the wealth to hockey.

A passionate call to all the hockey fans, arise awake and stop not.

About ten new synthetic turf grounds were laid – and a plan for 40 six-a-side turf grounds have truly taken off – all in 2008. By the end of this year (2009), for instance, three new turfs will be available in Delhi and six around its periphery. This is mentioned just to bring home the point that what’s in store for us even in one city. Government of Haryana will alone lay 8 turfs in 2009. The state has already five. If you look around most of the provinces in the country, nearly the same thing is happening, and why?

The country is really shaken over the fact that enough is not done for hockey, enough to keep its vibrant tradition ticking. This realization has come in the political and bureaucratic set ups. I am sure about it. Government of India has earmarked a whopping 28 crores for training men and women hockey teams till 2010 Commonwealth Games. This amount will be, I suppose, more than what the whole of Europe spends on hockey annually! These are all, on economic parlance, pointers towards our governments make their bailout package for our hockey that is facing both recession and meltdown -- of our own making. Government of Punjab is committed to spend around Rs.3 crore each year to host the Punjab Gold Cup. World Cup hockey has been confirmed for India. These are just some samples.

We have no reasons to be pessimistic. If we are still so, it is wrong -- better get rid of it in the good of hockey. There is every reason to be optimistic. Because, there are enough good things happening around us. Yes, we expected a lot with the exit of previous regime. The newcomers did not measure upto our expectations. Historically speaking, regimes changes never occurred overnight. It took three years for MAM Ramasamy to unseat the invisible hand of Ashwini Kumar in the mid 70s. It is just to quote the past, an example, certainly not to sing antithesis tune to the optimists. At the same time we are equally aware that India won it’s only world cup when an ad-hoc set up was running our hockey. The Indian Hockey federation not being in place is an academic exercise if the alternative arms including the ad-hoc committee work with a purpose. Not all presidents of the IHF have gone the way gentleman RN Prasad left the scene once it is made out to him that he is no longer needed. So, give benefit doubt to the adhoc committee. Let them perform or pave way for someone else to come into the administration constitutionally.

One thing we miss in the whole scenario is the will of the people:

It is you and me. We love the game. We follow it passionately. We pray for our teams’ successes. We live and die with its fortunes—almost.

Stop here. Think for a while differently.

Is the emotional connect and the sentimental attachment alone are all what you can offer? You are capable of just this only? No. Definitely not. You can do more. You cannot afford to be idle and remain a watcher – merely, no more.

You are a concerned citizen of India. You are concerned when India is at war, or when a terror strikes us. You come out of the homes, lit a candle, sign on the street posters, and find numerous ways to express your emotions and feelings. We saw this on a phenomenal scale in Mumbai after 26/11, our own 9/11. Yes, your voice was heard world over. The nation saluted the spirit shown by you all.

Now hockey needs you. A game that gave you so much pleasure, so much to savour about, so much passion, that it needs you. Only thing is you don’t know this. Because, you are not aware of your worth to hockey. You think you are only a fan, a keen watcher, and assume no role to you beyond this.

You can contribute to the game. It is possible. Don’t be stuck with the pessimistic virus. It will un-immune you. It will take neither you nor your game any further.

A professor in Amritsar goes to the schools and talks to the principals and headmasters, get invited to the schools’ morning assembly, where he speaks about hockey. He motivates the admins and the students to bother about hockey. He eggs them on to start hockey in their premises. He has so far done it so in 17 schools in the span of just three months – with more than expected response. A passionate Delhite trains 60 to 70 boys and girls, all poorest of poor sections, every week end; he has been doing it so for so many years. Bawa Patel’s untiring legs haven’t stopped spotting Virens in Mumbai.

When they all can, why can’t others -- you and me?

Have we ever spared a minute and thought about what we can offer to hockey? Why we have to look up to the likes of Gills, Ajit Pals and Aslams to deliver – all the time. If hockey wins, we savour more than those in running the hockey affairs. Are we not therefore supposed to be more responsible and accountable for what we do -- or rather what we don’t do?

Are others duty-bound to make you happy? That too in public life? If you think so you are an idealist, not a common man. Why can’t we be an another Randhawa of Amritsar, Mahesh Dayal of Delhi or Bawa of Bombay – or of your own in different and distinct style.

We need not sacrifice our lives, our fortunes -- but only a day or half in the week ends. That can do wonders for hockey. If you in case want to contribute to hockey and don’t know how to go about it, please believe me -- and in yourself -- there are many ways how you can fulfill this urge.

You can form a small group with like-minded people or friends and start getting involved with hockey. You can form a team or motivate others to form a team in the school next door, or a team in your locality, something like this. You yourself go and play the game on the park or the street, and enjoy it barbeque style. Or, you or your friends can interact with your state or city hockey teams, invite hockey players to your Resident Welfare Association functions, or School’s sports day functions and much more like this. There is no need for funds, no administrative approvals to stand connected with hockey. What is needed is your will and time that too on your leisure spells and holidays.

If you are still clueless or not satisfied as to what you can do for the betterment of hockey, just look around. Keep eyes and ears open. If you cannot do it for any reasons, but would like to join others, yes, that is also a good option. I can help you in this regard. Speak to me. Or, write to me. Email or sms. I, and the volunteers with me, can help you, advise you and if possible take you in our fold.

Do it something for hockey on your own with your own friends and hockey fans at your own city or village. We can help you, we want to do such things. If you can’t, I invite you to join us in whatever we intend to for the betterment of hockey.

If you really love the game and you have a heart for it, for heavens sake don’t just sit at home and rue about it. It is time to dream and say, “Yes. I have a hockey dream”.

Time has come for you, people who love the game, to come out and contribute. Never hesitate to contribute, don’t be afraid of doing some good for some good cause. If we can contribute something, we gain moral strength to appraise, apprise, criticize and comment on non-performers. If we don’t contribute, don’t involve with hockey effectively, we lose the moral right to accuse others of non-performance, including the non-delivering players, coaches and administrators. You are capable of contributing. You are capable of making others hear your voice.

Are you ready?

My Contact: editorATstick2hockeyDOTcom or hockeybookATgmailDOTcom, Mob. (New Delhi) 9811662081

In a rare blend of sport and philanthropy, former Indian hockey captain Jude Felix announced the launch of an academy that will help underprivileged children. After its formal inauguration on Saturday, the Jude Felix Hockey Academy in association with the St. Mary’s Orphanage in Cooke Town, will help 60 children pick up the rudiments of India’s national sport. “It has been a long-time dream to help under-privileged and now is the time for it. There are 182 children at the orphanage and we plan to train children in three age-groups of 8, 10 and 12 in batches of twenty each. “There will be four coaches and I will monitor the progress closely,” said Jude at a press conference here on Friday.

Jude said that the academy is still searching for funds. “I am grateful to the Lions Club officials who speeded up my dreams and helped me in setting up this academy and they have promised that they will help raise the funds and I hope corporates will chip in. “I also thank priest Fr. John Anthony for all his support and for backing hockey. Our academy has got affiliation from the Karnataka State Hockey Association and in the future I hope that players from this academy go on to play for the state and country,” Jude said. Meanwhile the Lions Club officials reiterated their commitment to the academy which will swing into action on Saturday evening with a friendly hockey match in which many former International players will participate.

Former India cricket captain Rahul Dravid is also expected to play the match. Former India hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay and Tony Fernandes, who has instituted a scholarship in his name for the academy, will be the guests of honour during the inauguration while Fr. John Anthony will be the chief guest. “We now have a decent play field but gradually we are dreaming about having an astro-turf,” said Jude.

Some more on Pataudis, a hard hitting slam

Pataudi Pariwar’s treachery of hockey continues unabated even today

If a person is selected to represent the country, that too, giving the honour of not even undergoing selection trails while others are sweating it out for the same, the person who is so honoured should be grateful. But it was not in the case of Pataudi Sr. Pataudi Sr. who was studying in Oxford University in London, was selected for the 1928 Olympic hockey team. He did not undergo any trials even as others were put in the hard grind in the Provincial Hockey Tournament in Kolkatta. Teams from Lahore, Delhi Central Province, Bengal had to show their mettle to get into the India’s first Olympic hockey team. Even Dhyan Chand had to undergo trials at that point of time.

But what happened alter? Pataudi Sr. did not even bother to go to Amsterdam, mere two-hours boat drive away from where he was stationed then. What was the reason this gentle man did not go? Research points to the fact that this Nawab (prince) did not like an ordinary citizen (Jaipal Singh) given the captaincy mantle. Not only that. This Nawab did so much politicking that the dejected Jaipal Singh, who also taken in the team straight from Oxford, had to return midway through the Olympics.

What his father did to hockey was not enough, his son, which every Indian loves because of his cricketing exploits, continues the treachery trait. Recently, he articulated that hockey Should be removed from National Game and the only game he seems to know (other than showpiece polo), cricket, should be put in that spot. The point here is, National Games are not made every drop of a hat. What hockey achieved and why it has become our national sport despite the treachery of people like his father, can never be reversed, under-estimated or repeated.

They all luxuriate in all glory of our past national wealth, and never contribute to present day sports. Only thing I came across Pataudi Jr.'s name was when he was arrested by police in Haryana a couple of years ago for poaching endangered animals. He was put behind the bar and was later released. The case is going on still. Now he is targeting another endangered species, hockey. It is time let us all save our endangered species from such historical poachers.

It is not by the likes of Princes and Kings – they only luxuriated and served the British, who made hockey our national game. It is humble persons like Dhyan Chand, Roop Singh, Gurmit Singh, they all made country proud by excelling in hockey. They only proved India can do, and defeat Hitler’s hockey team 8-1 in the final. As long British was ruling us, they ran away from the Olympics not to lose to a colonial country. That’s why -- and because of many other similar reasons, hockey is our national, essentially for the achievement in the pre-Independent India when the likes of Pataudi Sr.'s were undermining and subverting hockey for personal ego and prejudices.

Now poachers of different kind have almost made many of our forests tiger-free. Can we then afford to call Tiger is snot our national animal. Isn't quite ironical that this large-mouthed Pataudi is called Tiger? Soon we will have only Tigers of this nature, who are accused of poaching deers, not the real ones.

Squash

National champion Saurav Ghosal has moved up three spots to reach 36 as per the January PSA rankings. No Indian player has at any time reached this high in the world rankings. Ritwik Bhattacharya is placed at 57 while Siddharth Suchde moves into the top 100 for the first time (97). On the distaff side, the latest WISPA rankings show Joshna Chinappa’s rise to 37 and Dipika Pallikal to 51.

The other Indian rankings: Men: Naresh Kumar (153), Gaurav Nandrajog (157), Harinder Pal Sandhu (181) and Parth Sharma (324). Women: Anwesha Reddy (173), Surbhi Misra (207).

The past week saw the passing away of Shri Premjit Lall, a doyen of Indian tennis. He, along with, Ramanathan Krishnan, Jaideep Mukherjea, SP Misra and Shyam Minotra formed the famous Indian quintet that put a spoke in the works to the famous Aussie quartet many a time (Newcombe, Fraser, Laver, Emerson). He was a mentor of sorts to Vijay Amritraj and many others long since forgotten.

This last year has seen also the passing away of Shri Shyam Minotra, a part of the quintet, Shri Shew Mewalal, Indian football icon of the 60s, Shri Virendra “Monty” Merchant, TT star of the 60s and 70s. RIP folks!

[Ardeshir]

Stanji, that article about the Pataudis was really well written - harsh, blunt and to the point ! Where was this published?

[Rahul M]

it would be shahu mewalal stan. and he died virtually penniless in a city that claims to be a football loving one !
a monthly Rs 6000 pension was being arranged for him starting from jan.....
this is how we treat someone from Indian football's golden era. at least BCCI has got its act together in these areas.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Prasant ji, the article is from here
http://stick2hockey.com/ViewArticle.asp ... leOID=2618
S2h is a one-stop hockey source, a bit slow and banal at times, but nevertheless a good source.

it would be shahu mewalal stan. and he died virtually penniless in a city that claims to be a football loving one !
a monthly Rs 6000 pension was being arranged for him starting from jan.....
this is how we treat someone from Indian football's golden era. at least BCCI has got its act together in these areas.

Rahul M see this article.
http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.c ... 904910.cms

[Rahul M]

thanks for the article stan.
well, I think this may be a problem with bengali pronunciation.
I am reasonably well versed with football history and having avidly followed football reporting for more than a decade now I have never come across this version of his name in bengali media, in reports by people who thought of him really highly.

nor so in the special reports on football history that I've read or from anecdotes.
I think he was always sahu mewalal to the kolkata crowd and this version of his name at least does not stem from ignorance of the man himself.

while this kind of twisting of a player's name is unfortunate, it's not uncommon.

bhaichung bhutia for example was wrongly referred to as baichung for the first 5 years of his career and it is still prevalent.

JMT.