Bharat Rakshak

Am I asking for too much if I told the ddm to shut its sania-shop, all in the name of secularism and hiding the mess elsewhere, for awhile so that she can go fix her issues? Put her in spotlight and pain the eff out of her, that seems to be the idea. Enough, we perhaps need a chris crocker type ut vid: Leave sania alone!

Jai Bhagwan through to 2nd round in world boxing championships in Milan. Akhil's recurring hand injury means he loses. So now, the Beijing brigade minus Vijender has lost. Perhaps some lessons will be learnt, not sure if this has to do with moving among weight categories.

Hockey goalkeeper Baljit Singh, who is being treated in the USA for his injured eye, is progressing well and will go through another operation next week. According to a top official of the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the two operations conducted on Baljit went off successfully and he is recovering nicely. “The third operation will be done around September 8 as the doctors are trying to get back his normal eye pressure,” the SAI official said.

“Baljit’s retina has recovered and now he is able to differentiate between colours. This is a big improvement (from the time he left India),” the official added. The Sports Ministry is bearing all the expenses incurred on the goalkeeper’s treatment in the USA.

EUROPE TOUR REVIEW: Learning Curve leaps up (9/3/2009)

Indian senior men team returned home after the “preparatory tour” of Europe. Statistically, India lost 3 out of 4 outings. So, was this tour really helpful for the men in blue? S2h team talked to some key members of the touring side. They feel the defeats conceded in the tour didn’t matter much. “Coach had already made it clear that the tour was meant for the preparations for the home World Cup & Commonwealth Games” says Prabhjot.

“See, our main purpose was to learn and we had a good experience. We used to train in the morning and play matches in the evening, and that too when all the teams were gearing up for the European Championship. And I feel we played good hockey. But for the Spain leg, all the matches were very close.” adds Arjun. And how much did they learn? Prabhjot tells, “Coach had a certain strategy for the team and we played according to that. We lost some matches, that’s not very important. The important thing is that this tour will help us improve for the future. Team is in learning stage. We are learning quite a few things and enjoying it.”

Arjun sounds no different. He says that it is coach’s job to take the decisions regarding the tours and their importance or about the training schedule etc while players’ job is to follow him. " I am happy the way we followed coaches' decisions". Prabhjot seems pretty happy with the new coach. He feels that the European teams have a unique style of play, and to meet that bar, we need a foreign coach. “He is training us in the right direction, and we are enjoying that” says Prabhjot.

Talking of different style of play, does team India face any difficulty while working with a Spanish coach? Prabhjot disagrees. “All the European teams are very different from us. Every team has a unique style of play and we want to learn as much as we can to compete with them.” After competing with them in the previous tour, how much did India team gain? “We learnt a lot. We had this bad reputation of conceding goals in the last minutes, we improved on that. Rather we drew some matches after being 2-0, 3-0 down” says Prabhjot.

“Human beings are always learners. Playing some top-notch teams in a totally different atmosphere was a great learning experience. There were so many youngsters in the squad and all of us utilised this opportunity of learning new techniques” adds Arjun. Now, after this learning tour, everyone is talking about the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games, which are scheduled for the coming year on our soil. Being hosts, India will be the talking point, especially after so much turmoil at the administrative level. So, will India be able to put an impressive show? Both Prabhjot and Arjun are confident about it. “With the new coach, we are trying to learn plenty of new things. We will try to implement those, try to make our country proud of us” says the optimistic Prabhjot.

“Of course”, says Arjun in excitement, “those are big events and they are happening in India. So playing in front of the home crowd will give us an extra edge and we are sure we will do our best” he wraps up. We hope the coach proves some points, this learning process pay some dividends.

Mike Russel plays for Qatar now , what happened to the British tight-assed, we will keep our chin aright, comment?! Is Mike gonna do a Shaheen and change his name to Mohammed R-us-sil, that would be even cooler , paging that purveyor of purveyors, Shri Johann garu...

Written by Geet Sethi:

Qatar’s Mike Russell, the reigning and nine-time World professional billiards champion and India’s Dhruv Sitwala reaffirmed their stamp of authority in the ongoing 2009 World Professional Billiards Championship with emphatic victories over Ian Williamson and Michael Kreuziger respectively. Russell’s 889-269 win was laced with a break of 545, the highest of the event so far whilst Sitwala’s 957-154 victory saw him construct a fine effort of 405 in their second league matches at the Northern Snooker Centre, here in Leeds.

In Group ‘D’, I won an easy encounter against England’s Robert Hall 1329-206 late on Wednesday night, whilst Pankaj Advani, the current IBSF World Billiards Champion scored a fluent 1169-159 win over Austria’s Kreuziger on Thursday morning. With Advani, Sitwala and myself all in Group ‘D’, the outcome of each match now becomes crucial in case of a three-way tie. The early loss to Sitwala has injected an overdose of adrenalin into my system. Needing to score heavy to keep my points difference as high as possible, I compiled breaks of 111, 217, 91, 95, 99, 80, 90 and an unfinished 210 to average 66.5 in my match against Hall.

More importantly, the win by over 1100 points provides a comforting thought in case of that three-way tie. Advani, also realising this, performed with relentless consistency against Kreuziger to win by over 1000 points with runs of 133, 240, 154, 92, and 69. Due credit must be given to B. Bhaskar, who arrived into Heathrow from India early on Wednesday morning, caught the train to Leeds from Kings Cross at 11 a.m. and reached the venue at 2 p.m. and then played his first match against Sourav Kothari at 7 p.m. All this because his visa was rejected the first time due to insufficient documentation and he had to reapply for the same.

Peak physical condition

Clearly Bhaskar’s peak physical condition (he jogs 5km every morning for the last 10 years) helped him overcome the strain of a 16-hour journey from Bangalore to Leeds as he scored an emphatic 779-333 victory over Kothari with a 155 in his fifth visit, an 80 on his 13th visit and a praiseworthy 330 on his fourteenth visit. There’s a lot one must learn from the manner in which Bhaskar brushed aside the hardships he faced and focussed only on his match. Kothari was inexplicably all at sea initially, scoring only 29 points in the opening eleven visits. However he redeemed himself with a 202, which came as an immediate response to the 330 by Bhaskar. Bhaskar has sealed his place in the quarterfinal with a 529-295 victory over Gary Rogers this morning.

Goodwill qualifies

Martin Goodwill is the other cueist from this group to qualify for the last-eight stage. Goodwill had defeated Kothari on Wednesday morning by 20 points and later in the night he scored a 654-171 win over Gary Rogers. In a decisive Group ‘A’ encounter, Rupesh Shah overcame a two-day bout of flu and fever and his opponent Devendra Joshi by a 485-309 margin to have virtually qualified from the group. However, Shah has still to defeat Ian Williamson which given the latter’s form, should be just a formality. David Causier, the swashbuckling cueist from England and Peter Gilchrist from Singapore have both progressed unhampered in their league matches and will play each other to decide the No.1 and no.2 of the group.

I dont like the following, knowing the stuff Silvio Danailov & co puts out, but then this was always in the offing...

Bulgaria to bid for Anand-Topalov match

Bulgaria is set to make a whopping €3-million bid to host the 2010 World chess championship match between champion Viswanathan Anand and challenger Veselin Topalov. Bulgaria’s pride, World No. 1 Topalov and his manager Silvio Danailov met Prime Minister Boiko Borisov on Thursday to discuss the possibility of their country hosting the match. Minutes after the meeting, Danailov was quoted by noted website Chessdom as saying, “At the meeting, the Prime Minister has guaranteed €3 million for the organisation of the event. The official bid will be sent to the FIDE office by the Bulgarian Chess Federation (BCF).”

The break-up

The site also gave the break-up of the bid offered by Bulgaria: €2 million for prize-fund, €400,000 for FIDE taxes and €600,000 for organisational costs. Before the meeting, Danailov had expressed optimism over Bulgaria making a bid for the match, slated for April next year. “Being a host of such a match is an incredible opportunity for advertisement and PR of Bulgaria. Anand is the sportsperson of the century in India and very popular in all Asia. The matches for the World championship are sports, social, and political events. Hosting such a match can put Bulgaria ahead and will be very positive for tourism and other areas of the economy,” said Danailov.

Resounding success

It may be recalled that last year’s championship match between Anand and Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik was a resounding success. It was the most followed world title match in chess history. Current estimates suggest that each game of the Anand-Topalov match will be watched live by over five million internet users around the world. So far, neither the All India Chess Federation nor the Indian Government has shown any interest in hosting the multi-million dollar event.

Though FIDE is expecting bids from other countries, Bulgaria has surely emerged as the frontrunner to host the match. It is learnt that its Prime Minister has agreed to head the Organising Committee. The last date for accepting bids is September 30 and the FIDE is likely to disclose the name of the host latest by October 9.

Vijender, Th. Nanao Singh, Dinesh Kumar, Manpreet Singh and Jai Bhagwan in the pre-quarters of the world boxing championships.

India, after its Nehru cup win, goes to 149 in the latest FIFA rankings. Lebanon, to whom we lost the first match, is at 150. Did nt make any points for the final win, or the losses against Syria and Lebanon. Could have been in the top 140s, but for that loss to Lebanon. But thats ok, we are going for a silent period in schedule now. That will hurt more....

Ritwik Bhattacharya is making a steady climbdown in the psa rankings. He is now at 65 from 55 odd, 2 months back. Saurav stays steady at 32.

Murugappa Gold cup hockey begins in Madras soon. Lets see how it transpires.

Anand's team of seconds for the match against Topalov is clouded in mystery, so far so good. Peter Heine Nielsen and SS Ganguly are expected to be part of the efforts. Other 2 or 3 folks are not known.

Rohit Mahajan in Outlook writes,

It’s a positive story all right, so it might be a bit sordid to point out here that Force India switched their engines from Ferrari to Mercedes Benz at the end of the last season and, reportedly, owe Ferrari money.
.....
Now, this business of patriotism. Those who are getting worked up - due to nationalistic reasons – at Giancarlo’s “betrayal” would do well to find more about Force India. Apart from the money, there’s little that’s Indian in the team. Of the 28 key team personnel listed on their website, only one is from India – Mallya. Mercedes Benz supplies the engine, McLaren the gearbox. The drivers are European. Force India is the only team on the Formula One circuit that uses a country’s name. That’s not reason enough to rail against Fisichella for not rejecting his last chance to live a dream.

Cant disagree with his logic.
http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?261681

Th. Nanao is out, loses to the same Thai guy he lost to in the asian championships. Meanwhile,

Indian ace Pankaj Advani notched up a thrilling win over compatriot Dhruv Sitwala in the semifinal to set up a title clash with nine-time winner and defending champion Mark Russel in the World Professional Billiards Championships here. The 2008 IBSF World Billiards Champion, Advani edged past Sitwala 1037-972 in an extremely close match.

Advani took a slender lead forward to the second two hour session after a nip and tuck battle though out the encounter. With approximately 13 minutes left, the 24-year-old National Champion compiled a 142 game break to pip a much improved Sitwala.

In the other semifinal, compatriot Rupesh Shah squandered a first session lead and succumbed to his elementary mistakes to go down 880-1366 against the defending champion Russel. The first session went in Shah’s favour as he built up a lead of nearly 200 against Russel, but in the second session, the defending champion started to flow; His 166 and 267 game breaks further went on to consolidate his position. Shah could only manage a poor 272 total points in this session.

Cmon guys, this is THE world championships in pro billiards. Hope we see another world champion from India!

Pankaj Advani wins the world championships, but many reports I have seen show his opponent as Mark Russel, but I will go by Geet Sethi's word and the description of 9 time world champion to say definitively that he is Mike Russell, the thin-wiry chap from Ing-land of yore.

Pankaj Advani wins World Billiards Championship

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/spor ... 980049.cms

NEW DELHI: Indian ace Pankaj Advani beat defending champion Mark Russel to win the World Professional Pankaj Advani Billiards Championship-2009.

Advani beat the defending champion 2030-1253.

Advani became the second Indian to win the title in its 139th years of history; Geet Sethi was the first Indian to win the title in 1992.

Earlier, Advani notched up a thrilling win over compatriot Dhruv Sitwala in the semi-final to set up the title clash.

In the other semifinal, compatriot Rupesh Shah squandered a first session lead and succumbed to his elementary mistakes to go down 880-1366 against nine time-winner Russel.

Geet Sethi crashed out of the World professional billiards championship in a league match.

In a must-win last league match for both players, the Indian lost to compatriot and IBSF World billiards champion Pankaj Advani 482-818.(He beat Geet Sethi in ONGC IBSF tournament recently.)

We have a world champion and the DDM could nt even name his opponent in the final correctly. Hear it from the horse's mouth, Sri Geet Sethi....
http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/other-sp ... epage=true

Pankaj Advani is the 2009 World Professional Billiards Champion. In a surprising one-sided five-hour final, the 24-year-old outclassed the 41-year-old Mike Russell 2031-1253 to end a remarkable domination by the Englishman, who now lives and represents Qatar.

This shows that most of the DDM source their news content from some one source, and the mistake propagates with none of these newsbots even proof-checking basic stuff. So much for credibility...

Russell, who has won the title a record nine times and has been in the finals 17 times had given early glimpses of not being at his best in the last two matches.

All the eight times Mike lost the finals was to Geet Sethi, till yesterday.

Against other lesser-fancied opponents, Russell was never put under this kind of severe pressure. His deficits were always within 300 points. Visibly shaken by the ferocious start by his young opponent, Russell succumbed to the demons in his own mind.

In the last 20 years, never have I seen him so upset and frustrated at his own inability to reproduce the game which he knows so well. A solitary 193 on the 11th visit revealed his inability to score heavily and also revealed his fragile state of mind. The mid-match interval saw Advani with a commanding 1070-418 advantage.

Geet Sethi is just being his modest self, I remember watching a couple of finals in the early-90s, and boy o boy, Geet tarred Mike's ass both those times. Of course, the momentum shifted the other side too, and I remember seeing a 400+ break once by Mike and remember doing the "Geet will lose chant " for luck often enough, only to switch off the tv after a while.

While the baton had already passed to Pankaj Advani from the long line of Indian stalwart cueists in the order of Om Agarwal, Wilson Jones, Michael Ferreira, Ashok Sandilya and Geet Sethi, this is Pankaj's biggest win to date. No wonder, this news item is tucked in some far away corner of the sports column with idiot punter punted being the top story. Fck punter, here is Pankaj....

With this win, Advani holds the enviable record of being the current World Professional billiards champion, current IBSF World billiards champions, The Asian Games billiards champion, The Asian billiards champion and the National billiards champion. It is a phenomenal achievement to simultaneously hold all titles that the sport has to offer. And, all this at the age of 24.

While India has found a successor to Geet Sethi, Ing-land has seen its main man vacate his homeland for kaa-tar. Forget even finding a successor to folks such as Peter Gilchrist, Stephen Hendry and the like. Btw, what happened to Robbie Foldvari and Walt Lindrum's land, punting at the wheel perhaps? Just like crikkit and hockey (of old), billiards might have been a sports invented by armed officers and gentlemen in Old Ing-land, but the butter is on this side dear Anglais, that in short is how your tale will unfold this century. Wait for dear bakis to steal your bums, your jobs and then your cunt-ry... All the perfidy will bequeath you only the chakra of revenge, I am a-waiting.

^^^

I think they have moved to professional darts now... that sport has taken precedence over billiards since both cater to the same clientele over there.

The prize money in billiards had always been low when compared with snooker. The IBSF championships in Bangalore had a prize money of 50k INR. Just enough to get yourself a polished suit or book a one way flight ticket. Even still, I barely find one or two strong English players in either sport. Most of the folks turn out to be from, drumroll please, Scotland or Ireland. Club culture has induced a passion for 9-ball in both US and Ing-land. But all that does not discount the fact that billiards is the king of cue-sports, it is like a test match. Snooker is like one dayers and 9-ball is the Twenty-20.

I was taking a look at the rankings and many old names like Hendry, James Wattana, Marco Fu, Tony Drago etc. who were in the top league those days are floating as also-rans. Time really kills....

Btw, Geet Sethi used to be really good at snooker before he shifted full time to billiards. Same for Pankaj Advani. The psyche in India seems to be related to attention span, its a lot easier to focus on things for 6-8 hr games than short bursty ones. I had this opinion from a billiards & snooker coach I knew too.

In world boxing, the challenge is left to Dinesh Kumar and Vijender now, they are in the last-16 stage. Basically, this tour has showed how much there is still left to achieve on the world stage. The Olympics was close, but lot more needs to be done.

Yuki called up for Davis Cup

His recent successes on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) circuit has fetched teenage sensation Yuki Bhambri a place in the Indian Davis Cup squad for the crucial World Group play-off tie against South Africa scheduled from September 18 to 20. Yuki replaces Sanam Singh, a reserve player for the tie against Chinese Taipei, in the squad which remains unchanged otherwise. Somdev Devvarman, Rohan Bopanna, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are the other members of the squad, announced by All India Tennis Association (AITA).

S.P. Misra will continue as the non-playing captain while Nandan Bal will be coach of the team for the away tie. If India wins the tie, it will enter the World Group after a gap of 11 years. India advanced to the play-off tie after Australia forfeited the final-round rubber to be held in Chennai on security grounds. “Bopanna has recovered from the injury, so we have retained him in the squad. Whether Yuki would make his debut will be decided by the captain only,” said one of the selectors.

This over-age nonsense has to stop, right now (9/7/2009)

Hockey India has done the right thing. It has suspended the coaching camp for Under-18 boys because, to quote official version, 'preliminary medical tests have shown that most {other papers show 50} of the 55 selected probables were found overage". It is for the first time the hockey authorities at the top level have acknowledged the omni-present problem of over-age in India, and significantly have taken a step as extreme as suspending an ongoing camp. It is also a right measure on the part of Hockey India to acknowledge the truth instead of accepting and trying to hide the malaise.

We earnestly hope the over-age was the sole reason for scrapping the camp, not to cover up any other constraint. India can achieve nothing if the over-age problem is not solved. The boys at Bhopal were selected after trials were conducted on 3rd and 4th of this month, from nearly one hundred probables drawn from various hockey academies across the country. These shortlisted boys were to undergo two phases of training at Bhopal before the selection of the Indian team for the Asia Cup at Yangon, Myanmar in November. According to offcial media release, the officials have 'made it mandatory for the probables to undergo the medical test keeping in view growing complaints regarding players not declaring their correct age'.

Even many claim this year's Junior World Cup has been truly composed of players of right age, though fingers were pointed at one or two players. It is significant to note at least half a dozen players who played in the August 2008 Junior Asia Cup were dropped for the Junior World Cup to trim the entry of over-age players. Otherwise, technically they were eligible for the Singapore sojourn. OK, India did not do well at Singapore, but at least we had the satisfaction of sending right age players. The same trend thankfully now continues.

Indian coaches, like many others in our social set up, are greedy, find short-cut to fame. Some coaches somehow, even at the IT-controlled registration system, find a way to under-state or tamper with age. There are glaring examples where age remains constant till one lands in a good job!! Very unfortunately, even government paid coaches and governments schemes are not innocent. It is the greed of the local coaches and the administrators' casual attitude towards the coaches' dishonesty that have combined so venomously that the age-problem has become the undisputed Number One problem of Indian hockey. {well, I will differ with this statement, age problem is a symptom of a deeper chalta hai malaise, but then wtf, the rest of the Indic system is NOT a paragon of virtue either. Hockey only reflects the state of Indian society as it is today.}

This has grown unchecked because, the IHF never had a database. Right now an attempt has to be made to create a Players Database for different age groups, Academies and Centres of Excellence. If Hockey India, for instance, is serious about age problem, it has to right now publicize the list of players selected for the ill-fated camp. Secondly, participation in the said Asia Cup is a must. Efforts must be made to select right age players and the show must continue. Only then the purpose behind scrapping the camp will be truly served.

It is always difficult to determine exactly the age of players even with right medical aides and technology. {is nt bone marrow testing known to be reliable?} It will be all the more beneficial what method and mode was used this time to identify 'most of the 55 probables' were over-age.

For the love of god, I hope I dont jinx this one. Would have been nice to see Hesh vs Lee finals in both events, bad Hesh & Huber lost in straight sets in the semis.

Mixed doubles finals:
Carly Gullickson USA & Travis Parrott USA v
Cara Black ZIM (2) & Leander Paes IND (2)

Mens doubles semifinals:
Bob Bryan USA (1) & Mike Bryan USA (1) v
Lukas Dlouhy CZE (4) & Leander Paes IND (4)

Mahesh Bhupathi IND (3) & Mark Knowles BAH (3) v
Max Mirnyi BLR (5) & Andy Ram ISR (5)

Boys singles:
Yuki Bhambri IND (1) marching slow and steady.... Time has come for him to join Somdev in the mens round, hopefully this will be his last boys singles event.

Paes on target for double doubles celebration

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=r ... &type=lgns

There is something about Arthur Ashe Stadium that brings out the ‘A Game’ in Paes and on day 10 of the hardcourt major, he punched away a volley to secure a 6-4 3-6 7-6 win with his partner Lukas Dlouhy to knock out top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan.

“This crowd is just magic, I hope you show up again,” the 36-year-old Paes told the fans after raising his fists in celebration.

He won less than 24 hours after reaching the mixed doubles showpiece with Zimbabwean Cara Black.

Its a Hesh vs Lee showdown, hippeee.. most rags forgot to mention that its an "all-Indian final." A monumental error, but heh neanderthal brain works only slowly, let the blood re-apportion itself from unmentionable areas to the brain, it will take its time.

Vijender in semis, only Indian left in the medal rounds.

Vijender, the last hope

Mumbai: Dinesh Kumar failed to make the medal round after being outclassed by Russian Artur Beterbiev in the light heavyweight quarterfinal on Wednesday, leaving Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh as India's lone medal hope in the World Boxing Championships in Milan, Italy. Dinesh was trailing 3-5 after surviving three standing counts before a fourth count just over a minute into the second round prompted the referee to award the bout to Beterbiev. "A loss always hurts but I am happy to have at least reached the last-eight stage. It was going to be tough against Beterbiev, who is a World Cup gold medallist," Dinesh said.

A year after he broke India's Olympic jinx in boxing, Vijender is on the verge of ensuring the country's maiden medal at the Worlds. The top seed advanced to the quarterfinals with a hard-fought win over Steve Rolls on Tuesday night. The Beijing Games bronze medallist had a low-scoring 4-2 win over his Canadian opponent. His next opponent is Sergiy Dereyvanchenko of Ukraine.

Bryans fall in US Open doubles title defense -- By Brian Cleary

Among the men’s top doubles teams, it's so hard to gain an advantage against another team’s serve that matches are usually nail-biters, with one or two points able to dictate the momentum of a match. The last three times Mike and Bob Bryan squared off against Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy, the Bryans lived on the edge, and prevailed in tight matches, including last year’s US Open final, where they took the Indian-Czeck Republic team out in two tight tiebreakers, the last breaker going to 12-10 and enabling the Bryan to celebrate their second US Open title.

Today, however, that narrow difference between the two teams fell the other way. The two celebrated tandems played each other dead even, all the way to 6-6 in the third-set tiebreaker. But on Paes-Dlouhy’s sixth match point of the match, Dlouhy managed to get a lob over Bob Bryan’s head and allow his team to take over the net, setting up Paes for a winning volley and a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6) win. The tension in the match built slowly, and peaked in the third set tiebreaker. “[In the tiebreaker] we were just still going for our shots,’’ said Dlouhy, the youngster on the court at age 26. “We really believed we could win.’’

Paes and Dlouhy move into the final, where they will be going for their second Grand Slam title of 2009, having taken the French Open. It is the only title they’ve won all year, although they did reach the semis of the Australian Open together, where they lost to the Bryans. Paes will be going for two doubles titles this year—He’s also in the mixed doubles final with partner Cara Black. “I’m just taking it one day at a time,’’ Paes said, looking ahead to his two finals. “I’ve been blessed to have two great partners.”

Paes, the older statesman in this match at 35, and owner of nine Grand Slam doubles titles—five in men’s doubles and four in mixed—actually got off to a slow start. Early in the first set he missed six straight returns and a number of volleys. With the veteran serving at 2-3, 30-30, one of his miscues led to the Bryans only break point of the first set. But, in trouble, Paes pumped himself up and proceeded to hit a service winner and two volley winners to hold to 3-3. In the next game, it was Paes and and Dlouhy who found an opening, and they broke on Mike Bryan’s serve on the strength of two ripped backhand returns from the ad side by Dlouhy. At 5-4, Paes served out the set at love.

The Bryans regrouped in the second. Paes, serving at 1-2, missed an easy volley to bring the game to 30-30, and in a blink of an eye, the Bryans capitalized. Bob Bryan ripped a return at Paes feet to force an error, and then got the break off a Dlouhy botched overhead. The Bryans raced out to take the second 6-3, never facing a break point once they captured the lead. Tension built in the third. Dlouhy faced a break point on his serve in the 16-point first game, but Paes picked off a return for a volley winner to thwart the threat. The Bryans again had an opening with Paes serving at 3-3, 0-40, but Paes-Dlouhy managed to save four break points to stay on serve.

With Mike Bryan serving at 5-4 in the third, the Bryans saved a match point. But that would be the easy part. When the third set hit the breaker, the Bryans found themselves down 6-2. But with Dlouhy serving, Bob Bryan ripped a winning return up the line for a winner, and, with Paes serving at 6-5, Mike returned the favor, hitting a clutch cross-court return from his ad side and forcing Paes into a volley error. But Paes-Dlouhy held serve to go up 7-6, and closed out the match on their sixth match-point opportunity.

Going into this match, the Bryans, the 31-year-old twins and recent subjects of major profiles in the New York Times and New Yorker, hadn’t lost a set in their last 10 matches here at the Open, going back to their first round match in 2008. Owners of 54 doubles titles together, including seven Grand Slams, more than any other partnership now playing, they are bidding to one day surpass the most successful doubles team of all-time, Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge, who own 61 doubles titles, 11 of them Grand Slams.

That march toward history is temporarily stalled in New York in 2009.

Paes and Black lost the mixed doubles final 2-6 4-6 at the US Open just now. However, we have a guaranteed US Open winner in men's doubles, since Paes/Dlouhy are playing Bhupathi/Knowles.

India aims for center court - Yuki Bhambri aims for tennis elite

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 83502.html

As the top junior tennis player in the world took the stage at the U.S. Open in New York this week, even devout fans scratched their heads. Yuki Bhambri hails from India, a country whose professional tennis history is only slightly richer than America's record in cricket.

Mr. Bhambri's rise through the junior tennis ranks—he's the top seed at the U.S. Open's junior championship this week—has already made him famous. The 17-year-old with the long arms and the hollow chest is on billboards in Mumbai. "He's raw, he doesn't have the most beautiful strokes," said Nick Bollettieri, his coach and director of the IMG Tennis Academies in Bradenton, Fla. "But he has a very good head, and he knows how to play. He's smart."

Yuki Bhambri’s forehand helped him win the junior boys finals at the Australian Open in January.

His success is drawing attention to the possibilities of tennis in India—Rafael Nadal is starting an academy there—and has many noticing that the sport's power center is drifting east. After winning the prestigious Dunlop Orange Bowl tournament in Florida—the equivalent of the junior world championships—and the Australian Open junior title, Mr. Bhambri won four men's tournaments this year in India and is the top seed in the boys' draw at the U.S. Open in New York. He has his sights set on one last junior title before embarking on the men's tour full time.

For all his success, Mr. Bhambri is dealing with obstacles most other junior players don't have. In a culture that emphasizes study over sports, his mother, Sari, says her friends still remain suspicious of her son's pursuit. "People say to me, 'We hear about his tennis but how are his studies?" she says. "We've never thought studies were that important. Everyone else does."

Australians and Americans dominated the early years of professional tennis' modern era, followed by a wave of European stars in the 1970s and 1980s. While Americans had a resurgence in the 1990s, thanks to Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Jim Courier, the tennis wave continued to sweep eastward across Europe. Even with the dominance of Switzerland's Roger Federer and Mr. Nadal of Spain, Eastern European players now make up nearly 40% of the top 50 men and women in the world. Russian women accounted for 15 of the 128 spots at the U.S. Open this year, more than from any other country.

Now tennis is becoming popular in India, as well as in China, Taiwan and Japan. The best young players in those countries are following the Eastern Europeans' playbook, seeking out the best coaches wherever they may be. Earlier this year, India sent 40 of its best junior players to train at Mr. Bollettieri's IMG Academies on Florida's West coast; a half-dozen promising young players from China arrived in June. Kei Nishikori, Japan's top male player at the age of 19, spends several months each year at the academy; Akio Morita, whose family founded Sony, pays for young Japanese players to train there each year.

"We don't have those tennis coaches in India, so we don't have the knowledge yet," Sari Bhambri, explained after watching her son practice in Florida this summer. "And the sport keeps changing, so we have to come here."

It's probably only a matter of time before these countries begin producing a generation of players who can compete for the biggest championships, but they aren't quite there yet. China has three women ranked in the top 100 but no men. Japan has two top-100 women and one man, Mr. Nishikori, who is No. 98. India has just one woman and no men in the top 100; Mr. Bhambri is currently 507 in the men's rankings.

In the spring IMG signed South Korean boys Hyeon and Hong Chung, ages 12 and 15, to train at the company's tennis academy year round beginning this month. Hyeon Chung won two major 12-and-under international tournaments in Florida in December. Hong has already claimed two 18-and-under singles championships. Noppawan "Nok" Lertcheewakarn, of Thailand, won the Wimbledon Junior Girls singles and doubles championships, as well as the Junior Girls Doubles Championship at the French Open this year and at the U.S. Open last year.

The changing tastes of the sporting public in these countries has as much to do with world economics and access to the game as it does with power serves and top-spin forehands. As these countries have grown wealthier, tennis clubs have sprung up and equipment has become much more affordable to a much larger segment of the population.

India's Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won major doubles titles together, and they will play against each other in the U.S. Open men's doubles final this year. But neither reached the upper rungs of the singles game. Indian players have had success at the junior level—three others have won junior Grand Slam titles—but they've struggled in the pros. But he never reached the upper rungs of the men's singles game. The top Indian singles players at the Open this year, Sania Mirza on the women's side and Somdev Devvarman on the men's, each were ousted in the second round. Anil Khanna , secretary general of the All India Tennis Association , says India is making great strides.In 1998 there were eight Indians ranked among the world's top 2,000 men and women players; now there are 51.

Mr. Nishikori has never been ranked higher than 56th but has the status of a rock star in Japan, where he receives the sort of multimillion-dollar endorsement deals Americans get only if they crack the top five.

"Tennis players in Asia are superstars," says Olivier van Lindonk, an agent with IMG Worldwide, the parent company of IMG Academies. IMG represents nearly 100 top players including Venus Williams and Mssrs. Federer and Nadal. He adds, "That's why we go to the junior tournaments in Asia every year looking for the next great 14-year-old."

Mr. Khanna says the lack of Indian players in the top 100 is the result of a ranking system that favors countries in Europe, like Spain, that hold a lot of tournaments and dole out big prize money. "You can have the best coaches and trainers and the best courts, but unless you have a successful circuit of events in your country, no kid can be successful," Mr. Khanna said in an interview at R.K. Khanna Tennis Stadium, named after his late father.

Mr. Khanna, who is also president of the Asian Tennis Federation, says he's pushing the tennis authorities to allow India to host "closed" events, so that Asian players can earn money and ranking points without competing against top foreign players. "Protectionism has helped India in other sectors," Mr. Khanna said. "Why not have some protection in tennis?" He also wants the tennis bodies to reserve a few spots in each major tournament for certain regions of the world, regardless of their players' rankings—a move that would echo the affirmative action policies pervasive in Indian society. Over time, he said, Indian players will improve, if they're given a chance.

Raising money for tournaments in India is a challenge. Without big Indian stars who can galvanize local interest in the events, it is hard to entice advertisers. "Every time you have to go and beg," Mr. Khanna says.

Some young Indian players express frustration that they don't have access to more modern facilities. Karunuday Singh, an 18-year-old who was competing last week in a "futures" tournament in Delhi meant for entry-level pros, said he wasn't impressed with the courts of play at R.K. Khanna Stadium.

"Look around," Mr. Singh said, pointing out bumps in the courts, holes in the nets, the rusty fences and rocky dirt roads surrounding the facility. "What is this? Public courts in America are better than this. There isn't even a proper toilet here or a place to take a shower after a match." (He had just lost a close match, 7-5 in the third set, to Japan's Kento Takeuchi after the two suffered through the sweltering 100-degree heat.) The stadium is being overhauled for the Commonwealth Games, which India is hosting next year, but construction still has a long way to go.

Like many other promising Indian players, Mr. Singh has looked abroad for opportunities to improve his game. His coach is Paul Dale, a New Zealander now based in Bangkok who has trained many India and East Asian players over the years. And he is planning to attend the University of Illinois next January. Mr. Singh has moved up several hundred spots in the rankings since signing up full-time with Mr. Dale eight months ago, though he is still at No. 1367.

The most obvious gap between Indian players and the top players in the world is fitness, but Mr. Dale says they also need solid coaching to improve their mental approach and teach them to be more aggressive. "The Indian game is more about defense – it's about counterattacking and keeping the ball in," he said.

Mr. Dale says Mr. Bhambri is a special talent who has the full package – and a better shot than previous Indian stars at making it top the top of the game. "Yuki's got a lot more potential – he's one of those players that can make the game look easy, so long as he keeps getting the right advice," Mr. Dale said.

Vijay Armritraj, the Indian champion from the 1970s, said the biggest obstacles for Indians and other Asians is their size. Since they tend to be smaller and slighter on average than people in other parts of the world, they will have trouble advancing in a game where strength and power have become integral to success, Mr. Armritraj said. His culture's emphasis on education over athletics also doesn't help.

"People always ask why there aren't more great atheltes coming out of India," Mr. Armritraj said. "My answer is, you don't see a lot of great software engineers coming out of Spain."

Ms. Bhambri, a housewife, and her husband, a doctor, encouraged their son and two daughters to play tennis as young children. Yuki's two older sisters are also professionals though neither has been able to crack the top 100 in the world rankings.

For Yuki, his studies come after four hours of on-court practice, an hour in the gym, lunch, and a 90 minutes of match play. He started playing when he was five and by the time he was 14, there were only a few players in all of India good enough to hit with him.

His game won't overpower anyone yet. He is six-two with broad shoulders he will grow into, but for now he is just 160 pounds dripping wet and almost gangly looking. But he floats across the baseline with speed and grace, like the old Czechoslovakian baseliner Miloslav Mecir. He is rarely out of position and swings early, taking the ball on the rise, pushing his opponents onto their heels.

"My strength is my court craft, my anticipation," he says. "I'm working hard to put on muscle. I need to hit the ball harder. If you don't have a lot of strength, you can't survive."


Side note update: Yuki makes it to the quarters after winning 6-4, 6-3

Raj Singh Dungarpur passes away..

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/spor ... 002639.cms

Ameet wrote: His success is drawing attention to the possibilities of tennis in India—Rafael Nadal is starting an academy there—and has many noticing that the sport's power center is drifting east.

This Rafael nadal academy is a part of a concerted spanish mission to evangelize in the side. There is a whole buncha spanish folks in Anantapur district trying to help drought-ridden farmers and their families take to hickey v2.0. That plus, the now deceased Vincent Ferrer and his foundation has been pumping in so much cash into the Madras diocese for operations in TN and AP that they are no. 2 or 3 in the list of foreign bodies bringing cash to India, as per GoI reports. I posted quite a few links to these in the previous pages.
http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... 92#p679092
http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... 33#p686733

Two more recent datapoints to this issue:

Bangalore based Jude Felix Hockey Academy was are busy as usual on last Saturday. The boys were training, scored a goal. At that moment, more than half of theom drop their sticks and do a somersault, a sight that is ever to be beheld. The coaches remark that it’s important for the children to learn to celebrate.

I dont want to doubt Sri Felix's credentials for he has brilliantly led the Indian team in the past. What gets my attention is this:
http://stick2hockey.com/ViewArticle.asp ... leOID=3671

All coaches are volunteers. Khalid Modi – Goalkeeping coach, Sabu Varkey, Dominique Savio, John Verghese, Vinod Benedict, Dayalan, Bipin Fernandes, Anup Antony, Len Aiyappa and Shanmugham, myself.

All the above are non-Hindus including the Hindu-sounding Sri Shanmugham.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/10/stor ... 812000.htm
While I dont want to doubt each one's credentials, it could well be that a part of the funding is given only if the people who run the system are non-Hindus. Could be, so I would put the ball again in the funding court! The more I dig, the more datapoints add up...

The Jude Felix Hockey Academy, established in collaboration with the Lions Club and St. Mary's Orphanage, had a galaxy of stars descending on it for the academy inauguration. A panel of coaches will be training the boys throughout the year, based on the coaching manuals of Jude Felix. Around sixty children from the orphanage will be chosen among the 182 children. The academy will be open to all children aspiring to learn hockey. St. Mary's Orphanage is a Bangalore diocese-run institution with more than 180 boys.

http://www.sarnews.in/details.php?n=935

Sri Gill saab has put it in a politically correct lingo, so take that...
Growing FIH interference bad for Indian hockey: Gill
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/spor ... 978457.cms
Btw Gill himself has some issue with FIH regarding recognition to Hockey India and being ousted from IHF etc, so take his words for what it is worth. Forgetting the administrative jugalbandhi, whatever remains is the spanish agenda.

"For the last two-three years, FIH have been interfering in Indian hockey. They first sent (Ric) Charlesworth here. India was ranked fifth then and now we are at 12th position.

Next time, some spanish guy wants to help India in football, hockey or tennis etc., take a deeper look. Kaala daal mein kuch spanish hei!

Stan_Savljevic wrote:Vijender in semis, only Indian left in the medal rounds.

Vijender loses in the Semis to Uzbekistan’s Abbos Atoev

Force India finishes 4th in the F1 in Italy. Proves that last week's race in Belgium wasn't a fluke.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsp ... 253281.stm

Leander Paes' record in the grand slam doubles events this year:
Oz - SF, French - WON, Wimbledon - 1ST round, US - WON
Hesh's record:
Oz - RUP, French - 3RD round, Wimbledon - QF, US - RUP

Lee had an injury in the finals as did Mark Knowles, Hesh's partner. Bravo! Hope 2010 is better than 2009. If the Injun express can win it all on their own, that will be something to beat.

Centre moves to put MCD under Delhi govt

With Commonwealth Games 2010 fast approaching, the Centre has moved to reduce multiplicity of authorities in the city and bring the
Municipal Corporation of Delhi under the control of the Delhi government. Once the opinion of the Delhi government on the move is received, a notification will be issued to make the transition formal.

Classic 11th hour hurrying. Even GOI is not able to finalize a central nodal agency for 2010 Common Wealth Games.

davis cup news :
bopanna seeded #2 blows away RSA #1 de voest. I watched the last set rohan was in sublime form. incredible returns, untouchable aces ! he lost one due to repeated unforced error but otherwise was superb !! most of the games were decided with de voest on love !

earlier somdev won

S.DEVVARMAN (IND) def. I.VAN DER MERWE (RSA)
7-6(5) 6-3 6-4

Paes babu is nursing his injury, its not over till its over. Paens from my side tomorrow.... So its Bopanna & Hesh against the 2 Suud Afrikaners.

Anju George starts training again, eyes Doha Grand Priz

After being out of action for over a year due to an ankle injury, India’s ace long-jumper Anju Bobby George has resumed training once again but said she sees herself in competitive contention only next year. “I took a long break after the Olympics (in Beijing in August last year) because of my ankle injury. I was not even training. Now I have started a little slowly,” Anju told PTI here. Bronze medallist at the 2003 World Athletic Championship in Paris, Anju had a forgettable outing at Beijing, as she failed to qualify from the heats.

“There is some problem still. I have to tackle that. It (the ankle injury) has been with me for 10 years. I could not even walk (after the Beijing Olympics). It was that bad a situation,” she said. Anju said she would get back to competitive action with the Doha Grand Prix in May next year. She is also looking forward to the Commonwealth Games to be staged at home. While home conditions would favour her in the Commonwealth Games, she expects “good competition”, as there would be contenders from among some of the top six Olympians, who are expected to take part. After the Paris feat, Anju failed to match her 6.83 m effort, but she said her best is yet to come.

Feel really sorry for Baljit, knowing what it is he is going through...

Baljit to undergo another eye surgery

NEW DELHI: India's goalkeeper Baljit Singh, who is undergoing treatment in the United States for his injured eye, will go under the knife for the fourth time in Alabama on Monday. The doctors, treating the 28-year-old custodian, have decided to carry out another operation in order to regulate pressure on his right eye, which sustained a global rupture when he was struck by a golf ball during a training session at Pune in June this year.

"I had two surgeries done on my right eye. After about two weeks post operation, I was seeing shadows and within a week I was able to see images and colours. There has been improvement in my vision day by day and I am getting better," Baljit said. "But pressure in the right eye is low compared to the left, so doctors at the hospital have advised another operation to increase the pressure on the right eye. Silicon oil will be injected into my retina to increase the pressure," he added.

The operation is scheduled at 0030 IST. Baljit, who is being treated by renowned ophthalmologist Robert Morris in Alabama, has regained partial vision as his injured eye has been operated upon thrice, with the last being on September 8. "The doctors have assured me that after this operation, pressure on the right eye will gradually increase. After two weeks (following the operation), I will have marginally better vision," Baljit said.

Baljit GK: I am dying a new Death Every day, DNA

A freak injury nearly robbed Baljit Singh of his eyesight. While the hockey goalkeeper will get over the physical pain, it is the mental trauma that is killing him every single day of his life. Tushar Dutt finds out

Q: How are you feeling now? How is the treatment going on?

The treatment is going step by step. So far, I have had two surgeries. There is some improvement, no doubt. When I was discharged from AIIMS (New Delhi), I had a zero vision in the right eye. However, its around 10-15% now.

Q: What are the doctors saying?

I get daily updates from the doctors and authorities here. The rehabilitation programme is expected to take at least six months to complete. Even then, there is no guarantee about getting back 100% vision.

Q: Who is footing the bills? Is everything fine on the monetary front?

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is paying for the treatment and my expenses here. But, I am encountering some financial problems as my father and a friend have accompanied me. SAI is taking care of my fathers expenses but I am taking care of my friend.

Q: Didnt you ask SAI to sponsor your friend? I presume he is there to help your father?

After I landed in Alabama, I had a doctor from India with me. My father came here a few days later. But the doctor left as soon as my father joined me. This is the first time he has stepped out of Chandigarh. He wasnt able to communicate with the doctors here. Thats when we decided to have my friend here. We requested SAI to foot my friends expenses, but they refused. Ultimately, we had to get him here on our own as we had no choice. The expenses, which have gone beyond Rs 2 lakh now, are being borne by us.

Q: Apart from the treatment expenses, what support have you got from the Indian authorities?

This is the worst part. I have not received a single assurance call from the sports ministry, the Punjab government or the Centre. Nobody has promised a single penny for my future. Forget about the money, I havent even got a single condolence call or assurance, saying that we care for you. It is getting very depressing for me as the treatment is very slow and there is no guarantee for my future. I dont know if I ll be able to play again or not.

Q: You must be very disappointed.

Yes, of course. I have always played for the pride of my country. In hockey, a player survives only because he plays for national pride as there are no big bucks in the game. The only thing I expect now is the moral support from the authorities. I am not getting that. I am dying a new death every day.

Q: Do you think you are a victim of discrimination?

When Sachin Tendulkar was suffering from tennis elbow, everyone rushed to wish him good health. And mind you, his injury was curable. But when I got injured, no one even bothered to ask about my health. I have nothing against Sachin, and I respect him a lot. My point is that like Sachin, even we play for India. So why this discrimination? Yes, they (SAI) are paying for my treatment, lekin agar chot unhone di hai, toh ilaaj bhi unko hi karwana padega (if they have given caused the injury, then they will have to pay for that). I feel so bad that I did so much for my country and when I am going through trauma; my country is not there to support me. Bahut bura lagta hai (I feel very bad).

Q: Please go on…

They call hockey our national game, but they dont care about the players. They should have come up and said that tum ilaaj karwao, hum tumhare saath hain (You get the treatment done, we are with you).

Q: What have you thought about your future?

For me, hockey was everything since childhood. I did not pay attention on my studies as I wanted to focus on my dream of playing for the country. But today, I am not sure whether I will be able to play for India again. I dont know what my future will be as I am just a graduate and no one gives a job to a graduate these days. This is very sad as there is no guarantee for a sportspersons future in India. Here in the United States, even club players have a secure future. They are all insured and dont have to worry. But in India, this is not the case.

Q: If you get your vision back, will you play for the country again?

If I recover completely, I will be proud to play for the country again, but not for anyone else. Not for any state, not for any federation.

Interview Courtesy: DNA

Hockey India announces selection committee

Hockey India (HI) on Wednesday announced a new five-member selection committee, including two women, to pick various National teams for men and women. Olympian Col. Balbir Singh, a 1966 Bangkok Asian Games gold medallist, Olympian B.P. Govinda, a member of the 1975 World Cup-winning side and a former captain, Olympian Muneer Sait, Madhu Yadav, a 1982 Asian Games gold medallist and former India captain, and Sita Mehta (nee Gusain), a 2002 Commonwealth Games gold winner and also an ex-India skipper, form the new committee. The term of the selectors will be for one year.

“The previous committee was formed by the ad hoc body, which got dissolved. So there was the need to form a new selection committee,” HI Secretary Mohammad Aslam Khan said. “Worldwide there is one body for men and women and we have also done the same,” he said. Besides the above selectors, three government nominees -- Ajitpal Singh, Zafar Iqbal and Rupa Saini -- will be part of the committee.

I cant find any issue with the selection committee, it has impeccable credentials on paper, but I found a different take elsewhere.

Who selects the Selectors?

This is what a legend asked in the famous book of hockey. Ok, good question. This question perhaps has the distinction of never getting right answer. It cannot have an answer either. Because, the very question has been raised is a proof the answer is implicit. We indeed are in a different kind of situation. Do we need selectors at all? It might look a jarring note, but the poser has its own merit as well.

See what happened to five stalwarts who were touted as the future of hockey last year April. Aslam Sher Khan told every citizen in the country that hockey for the first time is managed by players. He obviously was elated being made the Selection Committee Chairman. In a fit of power jetlag, he even cancelled suspension of a player, certainly not his area of action. Only to be found a few months later how he himself been sidelined and shown the doors. Omnipresent Ajit Pal, a hockey selector on lease for 999 years, felt it is below his dignity to work (even if the selection of team for these gentleman can be categorized as work, even Best of Labour Commissioners won’t be able to distinguish the job they do is skilled or unskilled, if in case they decide the selection is a job) under his junior Aslam Sher Khan.

So, he mobilized all his energy to prevail upon the IOA to correct the historical blunder, and one fine morning A Rotation Policy was announced by the greatest sports administrator India has ever had – Suresh Kalmadi. The bickering made one thing clear. Whoever came to administer the sport, whatever their understanding of the sport they are supposed to govern, they clearly understood the mean minded and selfishness of the legends who masquerade as Selectors.

Then another legend – face of Indian hockey in the last two decades – Dhanraj Pillay openly said he wants to be a coach or player, certainly selection is not his option. It was clear he was made the Selectors without anyone bothering to hear his option. He came however as a selector, became manager for two tours and now the sack for which he is always used to. Ashok Kumar has long back stopped to sport the nomenclature of Selector.

What is left? Zafar Iqbal, one of the five Selectors announced after the adhoc Committee came into being. If our information is correct both Zafar Iqbal and Ajit Pal will be the government nominees, their super eligibility criteria for that being they are from Delhi, close to news, close to powers, have the unique habit of closing their eyes to what the Government does or pretend not doing. So, in the situation, what does one want to do right now?

Condemn the sacking of legends as Selectors? If so are you ready to give the sacked former stars passing mark as the excellent selectors? Only beneficiary in the complex situation is Hockey India. They are power usurpers, self-appointed Secretaries and Presidents. Can we therefore call their action of announcing new Selection Committee arbitrary? May be or may be not. But the important thing is unless selectors role is defined -- to spot talent at junior and domestic circuit, not just signing on the team list the manipulating coaches prop up during trails -- they are merely useful for government babus to push thro, not for hockey.

The coaches, the selectors are all former players. Knowingly or unknowingly they formed a vicious circle in the area of national senior team selection. Same person is coach in one stint, in the next as selector, so the give and take go on. However you defame Hockey India, the fact of matter is they never interfered in team selection, still our legendary selectors and coaches took us to fifth position in Asia Cup, girls fared badly in the Junior World Cup.

Therefore, no crocodile tears will be shed on their sacking – and also to the fact how the power usurpers make them dance to their tunes. They are at least courteous enough to say the present selectors are for one year. Sadly for hockey, more the things change, more things remain unchanged. It is not cynical view, but the fact.

Welcome Balbir, Welcome back Govinda. Welcome Munir. All these good friends of mine won’t take my calls for at lest next one year! And, it is as immaterial as they become selectors. Stars shine in the sky of Hockey India, and this is for sure. First ask Brasa, our national coach, whether he needs a posse of selectors. Every European coach will ask, who.

Note: Politiking is the name of the game. Col. Balbir is in to please Pargat Singh whose stature has improved after the merger of Punjab State Hockey Associations; Munir is to please FIH boss; Govinda's entry is HI's effort to keep the doors open for KPS Gill's faction -- and the question is what should be done to please hockey?

NaMo is now in-charge of leech body Gujarat Cricket Association. This cricket body is a tool to siphon crores of rupees into pockets and swiss accounts. This association was previously headed by Narhari Amin, one of the most corrupt Congressmen Gujarat saw. No wonder why NaMo has taken over it personally, and will now be pocketing all the ill gotten money.

Its time we impose regular income tax on all cricket bodies and also impose 1% wealth tax on the lands they own, and use this money to improve courts, Military, police etc. Giving subsidies to cricket bodies reduces funding to Military, courts and police and weakens this. This is a step only a traitor can support. I dont know what NaMo thinks about giving tax benefits to cricket bodies, but so far, he never raised the much needed patriotic demand that cricket bodies should be taxed like corporates. And it looks like he supports the traitoristic demand that cricket should be kept tax exempt. See see what he says on taxation over cricket in next few days.

Jeezus Christ, I am getting a heart attack following Somdev's match. He was a break ahead in the second set after losing the first, but he lost 2 games in a row and the tiebreak. I thought the SAfrican will be hard to quell with the momentum he pushed into the crowd, and that was true with games going on serve in the third set. Somehow magically SV pulled enough cash to win the third set. So its 1-2 to India, hope all the anti-jinx folks will converge and do us a favor.

Go Somdev, I cant stand this near-ha feeling anymore, win it, I will read the report later =)).

Ok hip hip hurray, Somdev wins the match and India the rubber 3-1. Yuki Bhambri to debut in DC, unless SP Misra goes completely bonkers. I would have liked to see Rohan Bopanna in the reverse match too, but thats that. MB got injured yesterday and put a spoke in the works, else we could have seen RB and YB play today.

In any case, re-entry into the world group in 12 years time. We will start the 2010 DC season against one of the 8 first rd losers of the 09 contest. We will be Asia-Oceania's sole representative in the world group as Uzbekistan, expectedly, lost out in the world gr playoffs. So that makes us Asia-Oceania's best. Well, fck the assie oiseaules, for they did nt turn up in India fearing a loss. Apart from that LP, MB, heal yourself and get back in peak health as we have bigger fish to fry next year. This win has been Somdev's best so-far, and we are back in contention in the world group shortly after our singles slot got boosted. Which just means that we were in the wilderness only because LP single-handedly was not enough to pull us through to the main stage. We came so close many a time and it was not enough, losing to Romania last year etc. But yes, this is THE arrival. All hail the next king, SD. He could not have been crowned the king, despite his exploits, till he pulled us back to the world stage of DC. To the Tripura's famed Debbarman family, thanks a ton for sending your kid to the US...

somdev won ?! I stopped watching after he lost two sets as the tension was too much for my old heart. shame on me for having too little faith.

hail the new heroes of Indian tennis !


p.s detailed description of match here.
http://www.thesportscampus.com/20090920 ... p-singles2

3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4. The second was a heart-breaker, the third was a nail-biter, the fifth (esp the first game of the set) was a painindabutt.

Why go elsewhere, the dc site has a live update =)).
http://www.daviscup.org/

Yuki it is, for the last match..

and he wins it comfortably 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. India win 4-1 and qualify for world group.

this fellow has a nice touch. I didn't know he is world junior #1 at the moment !

Ha! He was down 3-6 0-2 when i last checked. Nice.

Great !!! congrats to India, to Somdev and Yuki. I wasnt aware that in the 1974 DC we made it to the finals and gave a walkover win to SA due to some Apartheid crap. Way to go India.

suryag wrote: I wasnt aware that in the 1974 DC we made it to the finals and gave a walkover win to SA due to some Apartheid crap. Way to go India.

Yes, and thats why when ddm parrots (cpying reuters or other rubbish) we were the finalists in DC three times without understanding the context of the second finals we refused to participate in, it is like a firm slap to Vijay Amritraj & co.

Our ddm refuses to even claim normal stuff for us, otoh look at assie media. They say, we chose not to go to India because of terror and thats why we are still in the asia-oceania zone. What a blatant obfuscation of facts? We had world championships in badminton, we had Punjab gold cup, we had so many cricket events, world championships in billiards, and yet for these lord of the sea hewitt-type-pigs and their assorted cousins from englistan who withdrew during the badmintion worlds, they would whine and demand lord of the universe level security.

There is one other thing in this context. Have you ever seen VA or AA whine in the media saying "ah we could have won the 74 DC", no. Thats because policy decisions on real acidic matters are set by the GoI, no whine nothing. When GoI bankrolls your operations, you learn to not whine about things. Same for the citizenship issue which some lifafa journalists like toi still try to put Prakash Amritraj as Indian. The guy for heavens sake holds an amrikan citizenship and occupies a slot meant for 1.1 b Indians, sure let him give his citizenship and come do that, we will be happy to root for him. Else its hypocrisy and any lifafa person painting a different theme is indulging in thumbing their noses at GoI and they can do that cos GoI is NOT bankrolling their tripe. The other extreme is bcci, vis-a-vis the whereabouts clause. GoI is not bankrolling bcci and see what the bcci can say and get away with. Either make your own profits and dont depend on GoI and pay the right taxes or just shut up, thats the message GoI indulges in. But the bcci does not pay the right taxes because political scrooges continue to hold the power, so GoI is in a lose-lose situation all by its own making.

India will be drawn to meet one of the seeded teams in the Davis Cup World Group next year. The top eight ranked Davis Cup nations — Spain, US, Russia, Czech Republic, Argentina, Croatia, Israel and Germany, have been seeded in that order. India will play Spain, US and Czech Republic at home if it draws any one of them, while it would be an away tie against the other five, as Russia (1986), Argentina (1987), Croatia (1995) and Israel (1987) had played in Delhi the last time. India had played host to Germany in 1970 in Pune.

India has jumped up from 19th to 11th in the Davis Cup rankings, and finds itself ahead of such powerhouses as Switzerland, Serbia and Chile. Sweden, France, Belgium and Ecuador are the other teams that figure in the World Group of elite 16 nations. The Davis Cup draw will be made in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday.

Sports Minister M S Gill met the victorious Indian Davis Cup team and said his policy of allowing only Indian passport holders to represent the country contributed in shaping up the team. Hero of the play-off tie Somdev Devvaraman, upcoming youngster Yuki Bhambri and support staff members called on the Minister here on Tuesday. India beat South Africa 4-1, wining all the singles rubbers to storm into the elite World Group after 11 years on Sunday.

“I am happy, that my decision last year, to insist, that only those Indian players, who hold an Indian passport play for India, has led to success. Our former stars were fading,” Gill said. “Today, in Devvaraman, (Rohan) Bopanna, and Yuki Bhambri, we have a new team India that will carry Indian tennis forward, to new glories, in the years to come. I congratulate them,” he said. After the new policy was implemented, US passport holders like Prakash Amritraj, Sunitha Rao, sisters Shikha and Neha Uberoi were barred from representing the nation.

Pre-mature death of Kunti’s turf; officials watch it being eaten away and looted

The turf has not even been laid, but already the question of its utility and safety are being raised. And, definitely those were not without any reasons. It is a great idea to have turf in Kunti which in the past produced players of caliber in Gopal Bengra, of 1978 World Cup fame, but due to utter lack of fore-thought and planning the noble objective is lost, the work almost a non starter even after crore of public money have already been spent. The local government’s sports wing, and National Projects Construction Corporation are jointly implementing a scheme by which three turfs are laid in the state of Jharkhand. That they thought of one at Kunti as a great development plan. Kunti is a hockey hub in the hockey-conscious Jharkhand state – at least six gold medalists of Manchester Commonwealth Games are from this state. Tribals in particular aim for a career in sports, most of the hockey talents land in Army or Railways, who still recruit hockey players.

The project has been sanctioned two years ago. A Netherlands based company has sent the turf three months ago. With that the laying of the turf started. However, there are no compound walls or fence around the playing ground on which the turf is being laid. As a result, stray animals enter and spoil the portion of the turf – perhaps they thought grass is for cows!

Its not just animals are spoiling the show. Locals also devised way of using it, rather in their own way. They started cutting the turf and took away those portions home! What purpose will it serve is not known -- perhaps green carpet to receive guests -- but the fact of the matter is by now at least one third of the fresh turf is lost to such thieves. It was painful to see the visuals on the other day. Without security personnel and fence barrier, the costly turf – estimated to be around 2.5 crores – is being lost to both human and husbandary stocks. It is really pathetic how the government agencies could be so casual and we don't know what happened to great Indian babudom who boasts of taking care of every aspect of planning and execution.

Incidentally, it was hockey coach Jose Brasa who roped in Jesus Garcia Pallares as the physical trainer of Indian team but barely three months after his appointment, Pallares quit the job citing lack of professionalism in the working of the Sports Authority of India. An annoyed Brasa, however, termed his decision as a wrong one and said by doing so Pallares broke his own promise. "He took the wrong decision. Nobody take such a severe decision without notice. He broke the 30-day notice clause of his contract. He left me here alone without the support of any physical trainer and broke the word given to me," Brasa said.

Will Brasa shut his ass off and work with the SAI instead of using the media to score goals on his behalf for the people he brought in are as unreliable as the one and only drunkard coach Gerard Rach? That may be asking for too much. In that sense, RicC and JB are very similar, may be whining is THE white gene.

Sushil Kumar misses medal at World Championships

NEW DELHI: Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee and Olympic bronze medalist Sushil Kumar has missed out on a medal at the Wrestling World Championships in Denmark. Sushil, who took part in 66kg freestyle category at the event, was in top form in the opening rounds. The star wrestler, however could not continue his good performance when he met world number two Rasul Djukaev of Russia. Both scored a point apiece in the first round but Rasul took control in the second with seven points. Sushil bowed out 8-2. He then faced world number three Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu of Japan for the bronze but lost 5-0 to finish fifth. In 2007 Sushil Kumar made it to the quarter-finals of World Wrestling Championship.

Jay Sean aka Kamaljit Singh Jhooti now the most successful male UK urban artist in US chart history.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8269400.stm

Finally, the ddm has picked up the news
Ramesh Kumar creates history, bags bronze in World Wrestling
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/spor ... 049898.cms

Ex-players back Sushil Kumar
http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_ex ... ar_1292331

India are drawn to meet Russkies in the first round of World group in DC action next March. Supposed to be in Russia, in winter, in indoor clay court. Russkies are seeded no. 4. Hope MB and LP are fit, we need to fry the russkies this time round.

Folks,
I am trying to establish contact with Baljit Singh, the Indian goalkeeper who is now hospitalized in Alabama and on whom and his travails, I posted many a report here. I have contacted Tushar Dutt, the reporter at DNA India regarding what kind of help Baljit needs etc. I have an initial response from Tushar.

If someone is keen on taking this matter further on a personal level, please contact me at standuude AT yahoo DoT Com.

I talked with Tushar Dutt, the writer of the article from dna India on Baljit and Tushar told me that the article was primarily written so that GoI would respond to Baljit's needs. And so far, neither GoI nor IHF has done more than what they have offered before the article was written (what exactly they have offered is mentioned in the article). I may still get to speak with Baljit, lets see how it goes.

Apparently, Baljit is worried about what to do after the series of surgeries are over, no jobs, no future security nothing. And on top of that, he does nt have a 100% clear picture if he will be able to regain his vision, the surgeries are correcting his issues one by one and it is a painful laborious series of surgeries. The indication I received seemed to be that his hockey career is in serious question now. Jee, I am lost for words really, I dont know. Anyone has any ideas or constructive suggestions?!

Vijender becomes World Number 1

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/spor ... 067839.cms

http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_pt ... et_1295510

PT Usha cries after given the usual treatment by babus.