Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 19 Mar 2010 21:41

Agent confirms plans for Indian showpiece football tournament

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... al&cc=5901

Super agent Pini Zahavi has confirmed to Soccernet that he has been approached over a proposed Indian showpiece tournament based on cricket's IPL.

Zahavi, who has been involved in big takeovers in England and recently fronted a £1 billion offer to buy Manchester United, was approached on Friday by Soccernet but has refused to comment.

Zahavi confirmed, though, that initial talks have begun over a role recruiting star players and that he has agreed to meet the backers of this remarkable concept in India.

Such is the secrecy behind this initiative that Zahavi has not been told any of the details of the meetings planned in India.

Zahavi has been sounded out by Chris Nathaniel, who represents a number of players' commercial deals, to meet the financial backers for the project in India. It is also hoped that Kia Joorabchian, who represents some of the big names in South American football such as Robinho, can help in establishing the competition.

The first stage of the blueprint is to attract star players who are out of contract and launch a two-month league, but there is enormous wealth in India and it would be hoped that it would eventual attract significant global attention.

India would view the Indian Football Premier League as a launching pad to bid for the 2026 or 2030 World Cup. It is understood that India will now also initiate a plan using the super agents to attract top clubs for friendly cups over the next two years.

Carl_T · Post by **Carl_T** » 19 Mar 2010 22:02

This is no good.

biswas · Post by **biswas** » 20 Mar 2010 13:57

Ameet wrote:Agent confirms plans for Indian showpiece football tournament

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... al&cc=5901

Super agent Pini Zahavi has confirmed to Soccernet that he has been approached over a proposed Indian showpiece tournament based on cricket's IPL.

Zahavi, who has been involved in big takeovers in England and recently fronted a £1 billion offer to buy Manchester United, was approached on Friday by Soccernet but has refused to comment.

Zahavi confirmed, though, that initial talks have begun over a role recruiting star players and that he has agreed to meet the backers of this remarkable concept in India.

Such is the secrecy behind this initiative that Zahavi has not been told any of the details of the meetings planned in India.

Zahavi has been sounded out by Chris Nathaniel, who represents a number of players' commercial deals, to meet the financial backers for the project in India. It is also hoped that Kia Joorabchian, who represents some of the big names in South American football such as Robinho, can help in establishing the competition.

The first stage of the blueprint is to attract star players who are out of contract and launch a two-month league, but there is enormous wealth in India and it would be hoped that it would eventual attract significant global attention.

India would view the Indian Football Premier League as a launching pad to bid for the 2026 or 2030 World Cup. It is understood that India will now also initiate a plan using the super agents to attract top clubs for friendly cups over the next two years.

I know WB has a good football/soccer culture, but all of India?

negi · Post by **negi** » 20 Mar 2010 21:04

^ Goa and Kerala too , and I guess its high time we have such a tournament for soccer as well .

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 20 Mar 2010 21:29

WB and goa are the two main epeicentres. followed by kerala and NE. TN, punjab and some other places also have decent infra.

Carl_T · Post by **Carl_T** » 20 Mar 2010 21:33

We need a professional league that is televised on weekends before we think of harebrained schemes such as this one or wet dreams like hosting the WC. The I league is a step in the right direction.

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 22 Mar 2010 03:30

The Indian film and TV industry contributed $6.2 billion to India's GDP

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/con ... a6c408da6f

The Indian film and TV industry contributed $6.2 billion to India's GDP in the financial year 2008-09 while employing 1.8 million people according to a report "Economic Contribution of Indian Film and TV Industry" launched Friday in New Delhi at the Asia Society Conference.

Commissioned by Mumbai-based Motion Picture Distributors Association (India), representing the MPA in India, the study was prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers India and measures the economic impacts created by the film and television industry, and combines them to determine the industry's total economic contribution.

negi · Post by **negi** » 22 Mar 2010 20:52

Stan saar must be doing lungi dance.

FIH to allocate one tournament to India every year

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 23 Mar 2010 05:43

negi wrote:Stan must be doing lungi dance

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... No, on the contrary, pissed to see fih exploiting the injun enthusiasm, whatever lil remains of it for making profits. and whatever lil remains is enough to push fih profits from india to the first place, followed by profits from the netherlands and argentina. fih knows which side their bread is buttered. On the contrary, the very same hi or whatever body that should exist is nowhere in sight now that the wc is over, the team has entirely disbanded and gone its ways now that wc is over, all the rage is spent-up and makes for one juvenile act of "we did nt get paid well" dance....

I think there is a lesson, the furriners know injun capabilities and exploit it, injuns dont.. rather the injuns who have the power dont.. strange exceptions such as lalit modi dont make the norm.

btw, what tournament are these fckers talking about? wc happens once in four years, champions trophy every year, olympics goes to the host country, this newly coined world championship of clubs is yet to see the light of day, is "asia" cup a world level tournament? why do we need a fih for that? i am kinda amused by wtf is india going to host??? the very same fih pushed the ct from india to KL and provided a special place for a no-name english team pre-santiago 2008. should i thank the fih fckjobs for the generosity? here is my lungi removed and a unwashed ass to these fih choo***

ps: Indian womens team in japan has no news, so much for world cup year for the women. Mamta Kharab, a part of the foursome that raised cash for the womens team is now injured. and everyone from tom, dick and harry has used that money collection exercise as an excuse to ignore mamta. so much for insecurity-depraved kiddo wannabes that run the hockey apparatus in india. even m.l.kaushik sir could nt give this female a call after her surgery. the team's main lynchpin in the last year's success was her and surinder kaur. if this strange stuff happens to mamta kharab, i wont be surprised if the whole hockey team dies off, whether the hi apparatus or vidya stokes the beatch will shed one drop of tear.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 23 Mar 2010 16:41

negi, here is what happened....

Only exception is Former FIH President Bredea Els van Vriesman’s vision. Around the Monchengladbach World Cup, she came out with a brain wave. She allotted the World Cup to India, and hoped to reap commercial benefits. Her vision worked.

Her model of World Cup – organizing by the FIH and on its own terms – turned out to be rewarding.

Normally the leading global sports organizations make the sponsorship deals public, like BCCI or IPL do in India, but the FIH in its wisdom chose to keep all the money matters under the wrap. We have to therefore do the speculative job, no other way to go. So, here is my observation on these.

Hero Hondo chipped in about Rs. 12 crores as main sponsor.

SAIL came out with Rs. 6 crore as Presenting Partner fee.

There were other four partners (like ING Insurance, Karbonn Mobiles etc), to the Hero Honda World Cup each parting a huge Rs. 1.5 to 2 Crores.

Gate collection exceeded at any case Rs.2.5 Crores

In all, the turn over for the World Cup is about Rs. 26 crores out of which the profit margin is expected to be in the order of 70 to 80 percent. It seems the host country got about 15 percent, rest going to the coffers of the FIH.

Hero Honda not only sponsored the event, but spent USD 5 million on popularizing the event, and about one fifth of that amount by presenting partner SAIL.

Daily awards to players, their momentos, cash and kind rewards from knock out stage onwards are all borne either by Hero Honda or SAIL.

The stadium use came at free of cost, transport buses, another main cost factor, came at subsidized rates. The coaching course, if that comes under world cup ambit, is a reasonable spend.

Main expenses for the organizers is flying, boarding and lodging of officials including umpires and local transport of teams.

Its pity the organizers spent not even single penny on popularizing the event like publicity; even opening and closing ceremonies were not organized on one pretext or other.

There was a sponsor for refreshments and drinks, no expenses on that count as well.

Even full stands for the final even as the host team was not there, total branding on the turfs, Delhi marked the first commercial success of hockey.

Whatever you call, this is another contribution of Indian hockey to the cause of world hockey.

And no fucing wonder the fih fckjobs want to allocate one shitty tournament to india every fcking four years. Well, you can understand my anger and why i choose to use fck N times.

vina · Post by **vina** » 24 Mar 2010 10:36

Hmm. Looks like the Dilli Gubmit, rolled back the cuts in VAT and hiked the price of LPG (depite all that , I am sure VAT and LPG are cheaper in Dilli than anywhere else in India), and sure enough, the leech like Dilli Billis are crawling out of the woodworks complaining that they are being taxed for the CW Games.

Er excuse me.. The REST OF INDIA is being taxed for the damned CW Games and Dilli Billi leeches get infra and facilities built with someone else's money! Ah, do we expect gratitude, no sirs.. More whining from those parasites and expectations of more Central grants and funds.

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 24 Mar 2010 23:53

Revenue of More Than One Billion Dollars by IPL in 2010 – Lalit Modi

http://www.latestsportsbuzz.com/?p=334

Today the IPL Commissioner - Lalit Modi said IPL (Indian Premier League) would get the income more than one billion this year, thanks to vast fan following across the world drawing attention of a large number of advertisers.

He said “The series is still on and we have not arrived at the final number… Yes, it will be more than a billion dollar i.e. about Rs 4,700 crore, this year … last IPL got USD 450 million”.

In addition he said “later, we would double every year,” Lalit Modi and stated that as long as the fans carry on to come to IPL, the tournament’s brand value would rise and hence the income.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 25 Mar 2010 10:58

Archers complain to Gill
http://telegraphindia.com/1100325/jsp/s ... 259464.jsp

Things happened so suddenly that even the sports officials didn’t have any answers. The seriousness of the matter could be understood when national coach Limba Ram, on behalf of the archers, handed a letter to the minister. It happened when Gill, after inaugurating the astroturf, posed for the customary photo session with the archery squad, preparing for the Commonwealth Games.

Suddenly the archers started complaining to him. “Sir hum logon ke liye foreign coach nahin hai. Exposure trips bhi nahin ho rahe hain. Allowances bhi thik thak nahin milte hain. Kuch kijiye sir (Sir, we don’t have a foreign coach; neither are we getting exposure trips. We don’t even get the allowances. Please do something.)”

Bob said India could never hope to qualify for the World Cup given the current condition. “We have only one stadium (in Chennai) in the country which can be used for Cup qualifying events,” he quipped.

India to bid for Olympic qualifying event

NEW DELHI: Inspired by the success of the Commonwealth boxing championship, the Indian Boxing Federation has decided to bid for the continental Olympic qualifying tournament to be held in 2011. IBF is positive that it will be able to prepare an impressive bid, according to IBF Secretary-General Col. P.K. Muralidharan Raja. Col. Raja said the federation was also examining the possibility of holding a major annual international event in India from next year. The IBF will try to make the tournament an International Boxing Association three-star or two-star event. This will give the home boxers the opportunity to fight before the home crowd and improve their performances.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 25 Mar 2010 11:42

Shivraj Singh Chauhan seems to be the sane force in the mess that is called Indian hockey.

Rs. 10-lac prize money Obaidullah Tournament starts today in Bhopal

Thanks to Madhya Pradesh Government, the vintage Obaidullah Khan Gold Cup has become the top prize money tournament of India. With winners purse of Rs. 5 lac, runners up Rs. 3 lac and the third Prize Rs 2 lac, the Obaidullah Cup has commenced in Bhopal today. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan was present on the opening match today. The tournament is played on knock out basis.

With about Rs. 5 lac as prize money in each Nehru Senior Cup and Junior Cup were so far the top billed prize money domestic tournaments in India. Obaidullah Cup, renewed with vigour this year, is played on the historic Aisbagh stadium, located in the heart of the hockey conscious city. Next tournament on the anvil is Bombay Gold Cup that starts in the first week of Next month in Mumbai Mahindra Hockey stadium.

Rupees One lac for each World Cup goal a reality.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan is ready to disburse rupees one lac each for each Indian goals scored in the recent World Cup. The team, which scored 15 goals, is to get Rs. 15 lac from Madhya Pradesh government. The chief minister himself announced this while inaugurating the 68th Obaidullah Khan Gold Cup tournament in Bhopal. It is to be seen how the purse will be shared by the Indian hockey team, as goal is just a reflection of team work, name of scorers are just for the sack of statistics.

This hockey lover chief minister in the recent past gave Rs. 1 crore towards the women hockey players who were then demanding gender parity with Hockey India. For a symbolic gesture, he also wore a black band on the occasion of him disbursing the said purse. The chief minister watched the full match between Punjab National Bank and Bharat Petroleum which the later won by a good score of 3-2. He also awarded the man of the match prize to BPCL's Birender Lakra.

While speaking on the occasion, the sport loving Chief Minister said that money is not a problem for developing hockey sport as his state budget is about Rs. 50k crores! During the opening ceremony, he also honoured Olympians like Mukhbain Singh, Harbinder Singh, Ajit Singh besides local heroes Ashok Kumar, Jalalludin Rizvi, Inam-ur-Rahman and Samir Dad.

I thought Aslam Sher Khan is from MP, no?! From wiki,

Aslam Sher Khan was born on 15 July 1953 to father Late Ahmed Sher Khan and mother Ahmedi in Bhopal, India. His father Ahmed Sher Khan represented India in 1936 at the Berlin Olympics.

Seems like that s2h report had missed (I hope unintentionally) ASK's name as can be seen from the report here:

Hockey stars Ajit Singh, Harwinder Singh, Ashok Dhyanchand, Ashok Dewan and local heroes Inam-ur-Rehman, Aslam Sher Khan, Sameer Dad and Jalaluddin Rizvi were felicitated at the function.

http://visionmp.com/cm-inaugurates-obai ... 114720254/
Some history:

Once a prominent fixture on the national hockey calendar, the gold cup was discontinued in 2002 due to deterioration in facilities at the Aishbagh and intense politicking in the faction-ridden Bhopal Hockey Association (BHA). Though traditionally organised by the BHA, the Gold Cup, this year, is being organised by the state government’s department of sports and youth welfare.

Thank god for the sensible folks, Obaidullah Khan Cup, Beighton Cup, Aga Khan Cup, Murugappa Gold Cup, Bombay Gold Cup, Surjit Memorial Tournament, KD Singh Babu Cup, Gurmeet Memorial Tournament -- these are the succor for hickey in India in the days gone by. And these are the only ones that remain today. The much anticipated PHL was a mirage in the desert, hope that reservoir turns up full soon.

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 26 Mar 2010 08:17

Kansas City’s Interest in Striker Makes Splash in India

http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/2 ... -in-india/

The Kansas City Wizards will announce Thursday night an agreement in principle with Sunil Chhetri, the India national team star and Dempo SC striker.

In terms of international celebrity or soccer pedigree, Chhetri is no David Beckham. He might not even be Landon Donovan. But in India, Chhetri’s move to Major League Soccer has generated so much interest in the sporting media that the Wizards have gone out of their way to accommodate reporters by setting up a news conference timed for the Indian news cycle.

Chhetri will appear at the Cerner headquarters in Kansas City (the health care technology firm’s founders are the Wizards’ principal owners) at 10:30 p.m. central, while a world away, as many as 250 Indian journalists will gather at the Cerner offices in Manyata, India, near Bangalore, for an audio and video feed from the United States

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 05 Apr 2010 01:03

India finish fourth, Malaysia win Asian Rugby Sevens

http://sify.com/news/india-finish-fourt ... ieebe.html

Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iran, Malaysia, Brunei, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, besides hosts India, took part in the championship which was essentially to test the facilities for the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games rugby competition.

The Indian team will fly back to Auckland April 20 to resume their training which they found highly useful during their three-week stint there before the championship.

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 05 Apr 2010 01:33

<football> saw the press conference on Youtube. He's been doing pretty well in the practice matches, and his International Transfer Certi's been cleared by FIFA. He's ready to play.

Here is a nice interview with Indian coach Bob Houghton. Says the only stadium he thinks is worth playing on in India is the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi. If each I-League team had a stadium like that, it would make a world of a difference to the level of the game in the country.

The good news is that there's plenty of international games that India will play during the year. Looking forward to them all. Hopefully we can move up from the sad 132.

Chhetri's success will see more Indians in MLS: Bob Houghton

Carl_T · Post by **Carl_T** » 05 Apr 2010 01:36

How big is TV viewership for the I-league? That's what will decide whether Indian football goes to the next level.

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 09 Apr 2010 21:51

India's No. 1 keeper to try out for Caps - Subrata Pal could be signed for 2011

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Indi ... story.html

The Vancouver Whitecaps plan to bring 23-year-old Indian national goalkeeper Subrata Pal to town for a tryout soon.

Pal has made 30 appearances for the Indian national team and currently plays for Pune FC of the Indian Football League first division.

Pal became India's No. 1 keeper in 2007 and backstopped the country to victory last year in the five-nation Nehru Cup tournament.

He was involved in a tragic incident at the 2004 Federation Cup final in India when Brazilian striker Cristiano Junior died after colliding with Pal while scoring a goal.

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 09 Apr 2010 21:53

Santoshi bags three medals at Asian Youth Weightlifting

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/spor ... 778898.cms

India opened their campaign in the Asian Youth Weightlifting Championships on a high note with 48kg woman lifter Matsa Santoshi winning a gold and two silver on the first day of the event in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Santoshi won gold in snatch with a lift of 68kg and added a silver in clean and jerk with an effort of 88kg.

Her total lift of 156kg fetched her a silver to end her event on three medals.

Santoshi had won gold in 44kg category in 2009 National Youth Championships and another yellow metal in 48kg in the National Junior Championships last year.

India are being represented by seven lifters in the Asian Youth Championships which ends on April 11.

On April 12, the Asian Junior Championships begins at the same venue and 12 lifters will represent the country in the event which ends on April 15.

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 12 Apr 2010 10:14

So sad only - PCB 'unhopeful' of bilateral India-Pak series in near future

http://news.oneindia.in/2010/04/11/pcbu ... futur.html

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 12 Apr 2010 13:26

it'll be great to see Subrata playing in the MLS as well. Good luck to them traveling back to India for the internationals. I think at least Subrata will be taking the flight back from the far east.

negi · Post by **negi** » 13 Apr 2010 00:53

Yippie SDREs beat the crap out of Bakis in Kabaddi .

http://sify.com/news/India-beat-Pakista ... aedha.html

Beating their arch rivals Pakistan by a huge margin of 58-24, India Monday won the first edition of the Kabaddi World Cup.

The final of this 10-day tournament was played here at jam-packed floodlit Guru Nanak Stadium.

Besides a glittering trophy, victorious Indian team received a cheque of Rs.1 crore whereas first Pakistan took home Rs.51 lakh.

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 13 Apr 2010 12:04

Sunil Chhetri added to Wizards roster: Youtube

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 14 Apr 2010 23:43

So how is Shashi Tharoor embroiled in IPL controversey?

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 14 Apr 2010 23:47

vasu, thanks for keeping us updated on the transfers. would be interesting to see how they cope.

ramana ji, no krikit in this thread please !

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 14 Apr 2010 23:59

Saina, Kashyap shine on a gloomy day for India at Badminton Asian Championship

http://www.littleabout.com/news/91591,s ... undup.html

Parupalli Kashyap showed his class to march into the pre-quarterfinals of men's singles while top seeds Saina Nehwal and the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V. Diju moved into the second round of the Badminton Asian Championships here Wednesday.

Aditi Mutatkar also moved into the second round of women's singles on an otherwise disappointing day for Indian shuttlers on the opening day of the main draw.

In fact, world No. 30 Kashyap, the top ranked Indian in men's singles after the pull out of Chetan Anand, saved the home side from embarrassment after nine players -- six in men's singles and three in women's singles -- tumbled out of the first two rounds of the competition.

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 16 Apr 2010 22:08

India's Chhetri brings rock-star status to Wizards

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/s ... dv17.1292/

Carl_T · Post by **Carl_T** » 17 Apr 2010 06:42

I hope he does well but I'm still wary on Chhetri, he's undersized and doesn't have the physical tools to play as a traditional no.9 type forward, so he'll need to be partnered up with someone bigger up front.

He'll also have to get used to a higher level of football in the US, both on terms of technique and physicality. That will take a few months before he's on the same wavelength with his teammates.

Rampy · Post by **Rampy** » 18 Apr 2010 08:35

Has anybody seen the BS "Sita sings in blue". I am so disgusted after seeing it

the background commentory was the worst. I am not sure how to show my disguest. Can we start some blog to put it down

I am sure they would not take such leverage with other epics

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 19 Apr 2010 04:19

Mera Bharat mahaan

Imagine if the top 50 power list of Indian Science contains just a handful of scientists, but is filled with Film Stars, Businessmen, Politicians and Administrators. Such a country's scientific talent will be a laughing stock of the world.

If you want to know what's wrong with Indian sport, just look at Sports Illustrated India's Top 50 power list of Indian sports.

# Nearly a third of the list (11 Businessmen, 3 Politicans, 2 Actors) comprises people who have nothing to do with sport
# India's lone Olympic gold medallist in the 100-year history of the Olympics - Abhinav Bhindra - is ranked a low 41 in the top 50
# India's god-given world-class chess talent - Visvanathan Anand - is ranked 18th in the power list
# There is not a single active hockey player in the list, but there are 7 administrators in the list
# There is just a single football player in the list (Baichung Bhutia at Nos. 30)
# Only 2 of the top 50 power list comprise women players (Saina at Nos. 37, Sania at Nos. 50), confirming Indian sports' gender inequality

Nos. Name Sport Primary Role
1 Sachin Tendulkar Cricket Player
2 Lalit Modi Cricket Businessman
3 Vijay Mallya Cricket Businessman
4 Sharad Pawar Cricket Politician/Minister
5 M. S. Dhoni Cricket Player
6 Shashank Manohar Cricket Administrator
7 M. S. Gill Sports Politician/Minister
8 N. Srinivasan Cricket Businessman
9 Manu Sawhney Sports Media Executive
10 Venu Nair Sports Sports Management
11 Harish Thawani Sports Media Executive
12 Suresh Kalmadi Sports Politician/Minister
13 Subroto Roy Sports Businessman
14 Rajiv Shukla Cricket Administrator
15 Pawan Munjal Sports Businessman
16 Manjit Singh Sports Media Executive
17 Krish Srikkanth Cricket Player/Selector
18 Vishwananthan Anand Chess Player
19 Mukesh Ambani Cricket Businessman
20 V. Ram Reddy Cricket Businessman
21 Manoj Badale Cricket Businessman
22 Srinivas Bommidala Cricket Businessman
23 Preity Zinta Cricket Actress
24 Randhir Singh Sports Administrator
25 Subhinder Singh Prem Sports Sportswear
26 Jeev Milkha Singh Golf Player
27 Ravi Krishnan Sports Sports Management
28 Shah Rukh Khan Cricket Actor
29 Jagmohan Dalmiya Cricket Administrator
30 Baichung Bhutia Football Player
31 Viren Rasquinha Sports Player/Sports Management
32 Manisha Malhotra Sports Player/Sports Management
33 Praful Patel Football Politician/Minister
34 Karti Chidambaran Tennis Administrator
35 Harsha Bhogle Sports Commentator
36 Col. M. Raja Boxing Administrator
37 Saina Nehwal Badminton Player
38 Leander Paes Tennis Player
39 Mahesh Bhupathi Tennis Player
40 Sunil Gavaskar Cricket Player, Commentator
41 Abhinav Bhindra Shooting Player
42 Vijendra Singh Boxing Player
43 Gary Kirsten Cricket Player, Coach
44 Gaj Singh Polo Administrator
45 Dr. Anant Joshi Sports Physiotherapist
46 Baldev Singh Hockey Player, Coach
47 M. A. M. Ramaswamy Racing Businessman
48 Churchill Alemao Football Politician/Minister
49 Srinivas Dempo Football Businessman
50 Sania Mirza Tennis Player

Comments: I do see Viren Rasquinha, former hickey player and isb grad. Think he is handling OGQ these days...

Surprising to see Col. Raja above Vijender Singh, wow. Where is the Bhiwani coach? Sania should go way above the 50 she stands at, the amount of dhimmedia attn she could garner with her choo__panthi deserves at least a top 10 finish, go girl.

Carl_T · Post by **Carl_T** » 19 Apr 2010 04:58

Neither Laxmi nor Sunil Mittal showed up eh.

Vikas · Post by **Vikas** » 19 Apr 2010 23:33

Ameet wrote:India's Chhetri brings rock-star status to Wizards

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/s ... dv17.1292/

Trust the Amricans to hype up things "not that I am complaining in this case". Absolutely loving it.

We've called him the Michael Jordan of India, but I don't think we still really appreciate how big he is,'' Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad said. "It's a country of 1 billion and everybody knows his name. That alone puts him a little different stratosphere.''

Soccer doesn't have nearly the fervent following in India as cricket does, but it's still much bigger there than in the U.S. An estimated 80 million viewers tune in to watch English Premier League games on TV and Indian national-team members are like national heroes

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 20 Apr 2010 23:27

Ananad vs Topalov

Schedule

April 21 – 18.00 EEST (15.00 UTC) - Official opening
April 23 – 15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC) - Game 1
April 24 – 15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC) - Game 2
April 25 – Rest Day
April 26 – 15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC) - Game 3
April 27 – 15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC) - Game 4
April 28 – Rest Day
April 29 – 15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC) - Game 5
April 30 – 15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC) - Game 6
May 1 – Rest Day
May 2 – 15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC) - Game 7
May 3 – 15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC) - Game 8
May 4 – Rest Day
May 5 – 15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC) - Game 9
May 6 – 15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC) - Game 10
May 7 – Rest Day
May 8 – 15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC) - Game 11
May 9 – Rest Day
May 10 – 15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC) - Game 12
May 11 – Rest Day
May 12 – Tie breaks

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 20 Apr 2010 23:30

And.....meanwhile Bulgarian federation declines Anand's request for postponement

Go Vishy....show the Bulgarians what you are made of....

derkonig · Post by **derkonig** » 23 Apr 2010 09:39

Archers sell off property to participate in nationals while INC continues to play narrow partisan politics

Congress ka (g)hath aam admi ke sath....

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 23 Apr 2010 20:58

Drama even before the matches begin, a report about the 40-hours trip Anand had to make to reach Sofia

How World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand travelled to Sofia The link has the route Anand had to take.

A volcanic trip – with the Lord of the Rings

Five countries, 2000 kilometres, about a million potholes, an unexpected ferry and the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. A report of a crazy road trip through Europe. – A team member reports

The van that transported the WC

Timisoara in Romania

... with long traffic lock-ups on narrow, wet highways

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 23 Apr 2010 21:18

The games have been postponed by one day.

Here is the WC schedule:

April 24 (9:00 am Lubbock time - U.S. central time) - Game 1
April 25 (7:00 am U.S. central time) - Game 2

April 26 - Rest Day

April 27 (7:00 am U.S. central time) - Game 3
April 28 (7:00 am U.S. central time) - Game 4

April 29 - Rest Day

April 30 - (7:00 am U.S. central time) - Game 5
May 1 - (7:00 am U.S. central time) - Game 6

May 2 - Rest Day

May 3 - (7:00 am U.S. central time) - Game 7
May 4 - (7:00 am U.S. central time) - Game 8

May 5 - Rest Day

May 6 - (7:00 am U.S. central time) - Game 9
May 7 - (7:00 am U.S. central time) - Game 10

May 8 - Rest Day

May 9 - (7:00 am U.S. central time) - Game 11

May 10 - Rest Day

May 11 - (7:00 am U.S. central time) - Game 12

May 12 - Rest Day

May 13 - Tie breaks

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 23 Apr 2010 21:37

In ambitious but medal-poor India, a growing quest for athletic success

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 06085.html

India is a rising economic power and a world leader in technology and brainpower, but its performance in international sports is as sad as the dingy pool where Sandeep Sejwal, one of the world's top swimmers, trains near a throng of splashing toddlers.

"The pool is crowded these days, but I try to tune everything out when I swim. . . . India needs me," said the curly-haired Sejwal, 21, the best hope for gold in a country that ranks dead last in Olympic medals per capita, behind Niger and Iraq.

The quest for athletic success has become a matter of national pride in this increasingly confident and prosperous country, which has garnered only one individual gold medal in Olympic history. The Indian government is pouring millions into efforts to produce world-class athletes and build state-of-the-art sports complexes.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 25 Apr 2010 03:42

Anand lost the first match