Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

[Ameet]

deleted.

[Katare]

[Stan_Savljevic]

Kamaljit Singh Jhooti, known by his stage name Jay Sean (born 26 March 1981)[2][3][4] is a British Pop-R&B singer-songwriter from West London, England, best known for his hits "Stolen", "Eyes On You", "Ride It" and "Tonight" in UK. He has released two albums, Me Against Myself (2004) and My Own Way (2008). He was signed to Virgin Records and to Jayded Records.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Sean

The thread is titled Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry. Sure, some leeway should be there for all reasonably-Indian expats who dont take their furrin passports and tout it, no?!

[Tanaji]

More on the Commonwealth Games row

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_s ... 308748.stm

No idea if its really the case that there are serious deficiencies or the CW guy making a fuss. Somehow, Kalmadi is not a person that evokes confidence.

[Vipul]

Isnt it pathetic the way IOC and hence the Indian Govt by default has to give progress reports about the preparation of Commomwealth Games infrastructure to representatives of Pipsqueak countries? The way the officials of these countries are lording over india and giving advise, suggestions to shape up and it being lapped up by the GOI is disgusting.

The excuse of working on projects "in Democratic system" and "various govt agencies being involved" is simply not acceptable for the humiliation it is now resulting of giving excuses and progress reports to all and sundry.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Hickey v2.0 fanatics, rejoice!

While I stayed away, the Injun team seems to have beaten the canadians to pulp. Tennis scoreline 6-0 with 1 draw in the 7 match series . The Punjabi contingent in canada had a lot of fun cheering Sandeep Singh & co to a 6-0 scoreline. But unfortunately, SS was not the el-capitan of the ship as coach JB passed the mantle between different players in different matches. The one drawn match was when we led 4-2 with 5 minutes remaining only to concede two goals and draw the game, the Poznan nightmare again. JB was fury-personified on that day at Sardara Singh and SS was reported to have vowed 6-0 after that third match . And yes, Sardara Singh did end up as the man of the series for his inspired play in the rest of the series. Elsewhere, erstwhile no. 1 GK Baljeet is back in Chandigarh and vowing to make a comeback just like SS did. But for every SS, there is a Jugraj and this poster is worried about Baljeet. From what I figure, PSCB (Petroleum Sports Control Board) where Baljeet works may have threatened him of his job if he cannot play in the future . Financially, he seems to be doing so far so good. But personally, he seems to be a wreck. Only good news in this saga is Adrian D Souza has come back into the reckoning and jr GK Sreejesh is maturing faster than he normally would have.

I am actually not happy at the scoreline even if it is 6-0. I wanted 7-0 . No, this canadian team was NOT a junior team, it was full force. And even had a couple of Sikh canadians in the team . Canada is on paper ranked higher than India now, yet a 6-0 means something is cooking l affaire Jose Brasa. As a result, peace with the EJ & JB connekshun unless I back myself up with undeniable evidence .

Koneru Humpy and her father have taken AICF's H&D to furrin shores and I fail to gather their wisdom. Their takleef is against AICF secretary DV Sundar for DVS apparently did not want to create one rule for Humpy and another for others. KH for her part wanted her father to accompany her for every tour she went. DVS says AICF and GoI could nt fund their trips. KH and father retort saying, we did nt need the cash, we just need the visa and official sanction that we are part of the contingent and the takleef DVS has with us is because we refuse to take part in some arbit tournaments that DVS wants us to take part in. DVS retorts back saying these are the olympiads and other big ticket stuff and cant we expect the no. 1 player in India to play in these. KH comes back with, we agreed to participate in big ticket, it is the small ticket we refused. KH & papa have challenged DVS to a public debate in Hyd. While washing private undies in public is no fun, taking it to a third-rate chess-base that is waiting to act as the chini-buddy is even more shame. But what gets my goats is KAshok's statement that other countries are red-carpetting KH and she still chooses to play for India. Tick one more prima donna I refuse to cover henceforth, even if KH is 400% right. What is with Injun wimmen and expecting spoon-feeding esp if they are at the top? Sania, Saina, Mary Kom throwing tantrums after losing a match, Malleswari accusing IWF of bias when her friends and cohorts were caught pants down, now KH. I can at least justify PTU's crying in front of ndtv, I dont have words in anglais to describe these prima donnas.

CWG watchers: Please see the skyscraper city link Vasu posted on CWG infra updates thread, they are going at full swing. A superb job done by one "Abhinav" on that link, seems like people with inside info. Progress much the Indic way from what I can figure. But heh, racist oiseaules from the gora-desh are whining because they thought they could have GoI pay their paychecks during a time of economic downturn when their own countries have problems staying afloat. To top that they wanted to micromanage the progress. Good that Suresh Kalmadi & co showed the middle finger. This is a saas-bahu tele-thon, so expect googlies from both sides. But Delhi2010 will be better than Melbourne2006 or Londonistan2016 can ever be. Now if BRawman and co can get some spine and show the collective Indian derriere to the chini oiseaules when we bid for OG 2020, that will put a wide i-smile across my dorky face.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Shameless is a nice word, ban the whole lot has been my desperate plea. This bunch is going to shame India during cwg2010 unless of course they get banned before that, the latter being the most likely possibility.

Indian federation, facing ban, drops Asian meet

New Delhi: India's national weightlifting federation has pulled out of hosting the Asian junior meet in December as it faces a possible suspension following a spate of positive dope tests by its lifters. "We've declined to host it," Indian Weightlifting Federation secretary B.R.Gulati told Reuters on Tuesday. Seven Indian lifters, including international medallists, were caught in out-competition tests conducted last month by the international body as well as national anti-doping officials. The Indian federation, banned twice in the past over doping, faces another suspension that could keep the team out of the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi from Oct. 3-14, 2010.

"Under the present circumstance, the environment is not conducive (for the junior meet)," Gulati said. "The government certainly is not giving us any support at the moment and getting sponsors is also tough with this cloud hanging." {Wow, this is an excuse when the house is on fire, blame GoI. GoI will support you provided IWF can clean the house and throw the whole set of seniors as the Egyptian coach demanded. Instead IWF is powerless and toothless given that Malleswari & co earlier and the others now are ruining the country's image for short-term profits.}

The International Weighlifting Federation (IWF) executive board is expected to take a decision next month when it meets at the world championships in South Korea. "At that time if there is a ban or even a suspension for six months, we won't be able to host it," he said. "So we can't leave it till that stage." None of the lifters had submitted requests for B sample tests until the Tuesday deadline, he added. {Which means all of them are guilty according to wada guidelines. Luckily for India 2 of em were caught by the nada, the national doping prevention body and only 1 by wada. But thats just a technicality. Given the rampant use of doping drugs, these oiseaules will get caught sooner than later.}

India has repeatedly faced embarrassment due to doping among its lifters and the national body was banned in 2004 and 2006, because three or more lifters tested positive in a calendar year. Two of those caught this time face life bans, having been caught in the past. They are Shailaja Pujari, women's 75kg gold medallist at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and men's 56kg lifter Vicky Batta.

http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_in ... et_1303926

Two seek ‘B’ sample tests

Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI: Two of the five weightlifters who tested positive in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) tests have written to the Indian Weightlifting Federation seeking ‘B’ sample tests. “Harbhajan Singh and Vicky Batta have written for the ‘B’ sample testing. Two others have intimated by sending e-mails. All of them have been told that today (Tuesday) is the deadline,” Indian federation Secretary B.R. Gulati said.

Of the two who need to pay the “required amount of $500” for the ‘B’ sample testing, Harbhajan had already made the payment, according to Gulati.

Gulati said since one weightlifter — Rajesh Kumar — who tested positive was from the Army, his application should come in a “systematic” manner. “We have informed the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) about the progress and they might give extension in some cases,” Gulati said.

Asked about the Asian junior championships scheduled in Pune in December, Gulati said unless the hearing process was completed and a resolution was passed in the IWF Executive Board, in the wake of the recent spate of positive dope tests, the Indian federation was not supposed to hold the meet.

Earlier, Maharashtra had backed out of its commitment to host the meet in Pune, on the argument that a suspension or a fine on the Indian federation was imminent. The IWF is likely to take a decision on the Indian case at its executive meeting on November 18, prior to the World championships in Goyang, South Korea. It is, however, uncertain whether the hearing process of all the five lifters, who tested positive, would be completed by then.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/28/stories ... 161500.htm

Telegraph reports on the EB-MB craziness
5-finger revenge, served cold
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091026/j ... 658977.jsp

Mohun Bagan supporters can no longer be taunted with the “five-finger sign”; 1975 has become just another year. Die-hards who had vowed never to return to the Maidan since the 5-0 drubbing by sworn enemy East Bengal on Black September 29 that year — giving up a part of their existence — have had a weight lifted off their shoulders. Their club today exorcised a 34-year-old demon by pumping five goals past East Bengal for the first time in its history, winning an I-League derby 5-3.

Manish Banerjee, a Maidan veteran of 40 years, wept in joy: “It’s revenge. It’s pure magic. I won’t have to die with the shame.” The revenge may not have been perfect — East Bengal scored three goals and its supporters will no doubt point out the game was once poised 3-3 — but Bagan fans will not care today. For 34 years, no matter how many times Bagan beat its arch rival, how many tournaments it won, an East Bengal fan just had to say “1975” to end all debate.

Pratik Basu of Baranagar wasn’t even born in 1975 but knows all about it. “It has always been a thorn in our flesh. I was hoping for a win, but five goals!!! I’m not sure I shall see such a match in my life again.” The game saw the highest number of goals ever scored in a match in an 89-year-old rivalry — marked mostly by cautious 1-0 results — beating the 4-3 Bagan win in 2007. “I was so happy when the East Bengal stands began emptying after the fifth goal,” a man in Bagan colours returning from the stadium said.

That should answer those who think a Calcutta derby is not the same any more: after all, today’s four-goal hero was Edeh Chidi, a Nigerian — a possibility unthinkable 34 years ago when non-Indians did not play for Bagan. If the 1911 win against British side East York in the IFA Shield final has always been “Independence Day” to Bagan fans, today was surely “I-Day II”. It should be the opposite for East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick, one of the stars of the club’s 1975 victory who scored one and set up two. He now has to live with the pain of being the man who presided over the club’s loss of the most precious feather in its cap. “We beat them 5-0 then… today we lost 5-3 which means we lost by two goals,” he consoled himself.

Fans, however, care little for logic. The 1975 defeat had prodded a young Uma Kanta Paladhi to suicide; today East Bengal loyalist Shambhu Hajra, a man in his 40s from central Calcutta’s Palmer Bazar, suffered a heart attack and was fighting for his life at NRS Medical College. As East bengal fans blamed goaltender Abhra Mondal for the humiliation, Bhaskar Ganguly, the Bagan goalie who let in four of the goals that day in 1975, recalled: “It’s very difficult to recover from such a match. It will be tough for Abhra… he has to forget and move ahead.” Ganguly himself had moved on — to East Bengal and stardom — proving what Bagan fans now know: in sport, there’s always another day.

As a result of this "insult", Bhowmick quits as EB coach - De Ridder likely successor; Barreto out for 3 weeks

On Sunday Subhas Bhowmick was down, a day later he was out. Taking moral responsibility for East Bengal’s 3-5 drubbing at the hands of Mohun Bagan, Bhowmick’s days as red and gold brigade coach was over on Monday afternoon.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091027/j ... 662848.jsp
But but but, hold on pulease....
’75 win was different, says Thapa
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091027/j ... 662351.jsp

Shyam Thapa feels that had he converted the penalty on that September afternoon against Mohun Bagan, things would have been different. “I scored two goals in that famous 5-0 win but in hindsight I think the penalty miss made all the difference. Had I converted that the record would have been 6-0!” the TFA technical director said on Tuesday. The legend goes that East Bengal did not want to score from a penalty on that day and Thapa was advised not to score from the spot. “That’s not true. You tell me who would not want to score a goal. I think it’s just an anecdote the East Bengal fans use to taunt the Bagan supporters,” he said.

Have I seen this craziness elsewhere? Yes, in BD, in Mallu-land, in Goa and on nukkad often .

Elsewhere,

Rafi delighted about India call-up

Madambillath Mohammed Rafi was delighted when informed about his call-up to the Indian national team. The Mahindra United striker will be part of the senior national camp to be held in Goa from November 15. Rafi is one of the 22 probables named for the camp in preparation for the World Cup qualifiers and the 2011 Asian Cup. "I am really happy about the call-up to the India camp and it's my hard work in the I-League that gifted me the place in the probables list. The current Indian team is really good and I am looking forward to be part of the team in the coming Asian Cup," the Keralite told IndianFootball.Com.

Rafi was also thankful to his club coach David Booth for giving him the opportunity to play regularly in the I-League. "The coach gave me the opportunity to start in most of the matches so far and I even scored twice today. So it is increasing my confidence," he added. Rafi joined Mahindra United from SBT in 2006 along with his fellow teammate and current India midfielder Nadumparambil Pappachan Pradeep.

[Stan_Savljevic]

After the standard china-lollipopping his newspaper requires, S. Thyagarajan gets to the real matter.
http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/hockey/article39835.ece

7th womens Asia Cup - Bangkok

At Bangkok, China is placed in pool B along with India, former champion, and the two are expected to make the grade to last four. Put on boards in Seoul in 1985, the women’s Asia Cup has traversed a long course to project an identity of its won as the qualifying event for the World Cup. Korea has a shining record, winning three of the six editions (1985, 1993 and 1999), but the emergence of China and Japan as key constituents has pushed Korea down the hill to some extent. Now, Korea has to ward off a strong challenge from Japan, the holder, in Pool B.

It will be imprudent to dismiss India’s role in the event as uneventful. India won the eight-nation competition in 2004 on the home turf under the leadership of Surajlata Devi with M.K. Kaushik as the chief coach. Happily, Kaushik continues to be in the same role at the venue that should bring him pleasant memories of a gold medal win with the men’s team in the 1998 Asian Games.

India needs attention

Recent events lend hope to India attracting more than the usual attention this time. Not only has the team been well prepared for the challenge, but also shown results, notable one being the victory at the Champions Challenge II at Kazan. No less than five players in the present squad have more than 100 international caps, the topper being Surinder Kaur with 189 international appearances. Mamta Kharb, whose rise to fame came with the golden goal scored against England in the Commonwealth Games at Manchester in 2002, and the sharp attacker, Saba Anjum, constitute the striking force with Ritu Rani and Rani Rampaul rearing to go and prove their mettle. Rampaul, it must be recalled was the top scorer at Kazan.

Mid-fielder Asunta Lakra (sister of men’s international Brijendera Lakra) and defender Binita Toppo, have enough international exposure as does the goal-keeper Dipika Murty whose tally caps stands at 123.

11 teams in fray

Apart from the significance of being the denominator to identify the World Cup qualifier, the event also marks, for the first time, the number of teams competing entering double figures. There are now a total of 11 teams in the fray. While the top two will make the grade for next year’s World Cup, the teams placed in third, fourth and fifth positions are to compete in the three pre-world cup qualifiers to be held between January to April in 2010. .

The Pools:
A: China, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
B: Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea and Sri Lanka.

Thursday’s matches: Japan v Kazakhstan (12-30 p.m. IST), Korea v Sri Lanka (2-30 p.m.); Malaysia v Thailand (3 p.m.); India v Singapore (5 p.m.)

India has been doing fairely well at this genre of competition.

It reached the finals in 1999, won a bronze six years earlier and then won the title for the first time in 2004 incidentally under the training of present coach MK Kaushik.

After 2004, the event has been converted into an bi-annual event. India fared poorly in the last edition in 2007 at Hong Kong.

India has the bright chances of reaching the semis now unless it messes up its chances.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Ghosal aims top-20 rank to brighten CWG medal chances

NEW DELHI: India's top squash player Saurav Ghosal is aiming to break into the top 20 rankings in the world before the Commonwealth Games next year which he said would brighten his chances of winning a medal in the sporting extravaganza at home. "The Commonwealth Games is very important for me and I am doing everything I can to break into the top 20 before the event starts," Ghosal said. "Being top 20 in the world would give me a better draw and that would considerably help my chances of winning a medal for India," he said.

World number 32 Ghosal, however, is aware that the journey to fulfill his dreams would not be easy and he has to perform consistently at the professional circuit. "I have to continue to do well in the PSA circuit and am working hard both on and off the court to improve my game. I want to win a medal in the Commonwealth Games. It will be a brilliant achievement if I win a medal as the draw is going to be very tough. "Winning a medal is not going to be easy but I will do everything to win one. It's not out of my reach," Ghosal explained.

Ghosal is unhappy that the Indian players might not get enough practice on the squash courts to be used for the Games as the work is still underway at the venue. "I doubt if we will be able to play a great deal on the courts in Delhi before the Games because they are not ready yet. So, that's not ideal," Ghosal said. "But I think at the end of the day it is the job of the organising committee to get the venues completed in time and I'm sure they will get the job done eventually. My job is to train hard and play well so that I win a medal," said Ghosal, who will be next seen in action in the Kuwait Open starting from November 1.

Ghosal, who had recently clinched the Maharashtra Open men's title, said his game has improved a great deal in the last two years and he feels like a more complete player. "My game has improved a lot over the last two years and I feel like I'm a more complete player now. I have added a lot more variety and am now capable of playing different types of games depending on who I play. However, the learning never stops and I am learning every day and constantly adding new things to my game. I'm also physically much stronger now which helps me compete against the top players," he said exuding confidence. Ghosal will participate in the men's singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles category in the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Lajong whips up soccer mania - Rooting for home team, Shillong waits with bated breath for I-League ---- E.M. JOSE

Shillong, Oct. 28: Unless the heavens fall and the rivers start flowing backwards, Meghalaya’s principal secretary (home) Barkose Warjri is very sure that tomorrow afternoon he will be at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Polo Ground. But then, virtually all of Shillong is thinking the same way. In fact, the picturesque capital city was in the grip of soccer fever today on the eve of home team Lajong FC’s crucial match against giants Mohun Bagan in the I-League.

From roadside kiosks to government offices, the discussion everywhere centred around Lajong, the first team from the Northeast to play in the prestigious league. The Telegraph is one of the sponsors of Lajong FC. The team’s red jersey has The Telegraph written on the back. Interestingly, the support for Lajong FC has crossed national boundaries — so much so that the soccer bug has bitten even business delegations from foreign countries taking part in the ongoing 4th International Shillong Shopping Carnival.

Kamal Anwar from Egypt, a die-hard fan of the English Premier League team Arsenal, was today donning the red Lajong jersey in a show of support for the local team. “I am also a big fan of soccer and I don’t want to let go this opportunity to be part of the soccer carnival in the city,” he said. Anwar said he was looking forward to watching tomorrow’s match as well as Lajong’s third match at home against Salgaocar on November 2. Nazirudeen, a businessman from Bangladesh, is equally excited about tomorrow’s match. “I have watched many matches of Mohun Bagan and East Bengal and my favourite player is Bhaichung Bhutia. But there is nothing more exciting than watching a new team like Lajong, which is known to be very fearless, play against a much fancied opponent,” he said, showing off his red jersey.

The hype and expectation in Shillong — as well as in the entire Northeast — has risen manifold after Lajong drubbed Air India 3-0 in the first match here on October 18. Lajong FC general secretary Larsing Ming Sawian mirrored the mood in the state capital but also sounded a word of caution to the over 24,000 fans who will gather on the ground and those outside. “The mood in the team and in Shillong is upbeat. Tickets have been sold out three days in advance. But the match will be a big challenge for us as we will be taking on one of the giants of Indian football,” Ming said, not losing sight of the Herculean task in front of his team amid the hoopla surrounding the big match.

Bagan will be equally upbeat after their huge win against archrivals East Bengal in their last match. Both the Mohun Bagan and Lajong teams have six points each with two wins and two losses each. Warjri said Shillong has a huge number of soccer fans and tomorrow’s crowd will prove this fact. He should know, since he is a former president of the ITI Club in Bangalore, which also has a formidable football team. Warjri is also a vice-president of Shillong Sports Association.

The organisers are thrilled. All the 24,500 tickets have been sold out for the match, which is scheduled to start at 2.30pm. Police said they have made elaborate security arrangements in and around the stadium to prevent any unauthorised entry or disturbance.

[Stan_Savljevic]

PT Usha uvacha

The moment that has hurt me the most was when people pelted stones at my house at Payyoli (Kerala) after I went out in the preliminary round of the 400m hurdles at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Everyone wanted my blood. I was feeling so low that I shut myself up in my room, and I remember my mother getting worried and scared for me; it was then she decided that it was time for me to get married.

I was humiliated at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 too, where I was forced to sit in the gallery while a far lesser experienced runner replaced me in the 4x400m relay. It was embarrassing with athletes of other countries asking me why I was sitting there, while I should actually have been running on the track. I, however, wasn’t the only Indian embarrassed at the Centennial Olympic Stadium in Atlanta: the Indian women’s relay team was disqualified for crossing the track.

Another moment I would like to forget is from the SAF Games in Chennai in 1995. I was the captain of the Indian team and was carrying the National flag as our contingent was about to enter the Nehru Stadium. Then Shiny Wilson came along with a Government official; he told me that Shiny, and not me, was the captain and therefore I had to hand over the flag to her. And I could hear over the public address system the announcement that the Indian team was about to enter the stadium under the leadership of P. T. Usha; the announcer obviously hadn’t been informed of the last-minute change of captaincy. I told Shiny: “I never wanted to be the captain, it was thrust upon me; if you had said a word to me, I would have happily stepped aside for you.”

Somehow, I continue to be a target for some athletes, past and present. Some time back Anju George, on television, doubted my capabilities as an international athlete. I was disappointed to hear that and wondered if she knew that I had won four medals at Grand Prix meets in 1985 alone.

And recently, a couple of my former team-mates said I was too arrogant to mix with the rest of the team. Unwarranted comments like that hurt, yes. But I have been lucky to have had a career that has more than compensated for such forgettable moments.

http://www.sportstaronnet.com/stories/2 ... 502800.htm

Viewed from the perspective of the Asian athletics championships in Guangzhou, China, in November, some of the performances must have given encouraging inputs to the coaches and selectors, but they failed to hold out much hope for next year when the Commonwealth Games will be held at home, writes K. P. Mohan.

A handful of performances stood out in the 49th Open National athletics championships in Bhopal. The foremost among them was that by Tintu Luka, India’s emerging athletics star, in the 800 metres. After a gap, triple jumper Renjith Maheswary also struck top form and expressed the confidence that he was ready to touch 17 metres all over again. Viewed from the perspective of the Asian athletics championships in Guangzhou, China, in November, some of the performances must have given encouraging inputs to the coaches and selectors, but they failed to hold out much hope for next year when the Commonwealth Games will be held at home.

Luka’s first victory at the senior National level was memorable. She had to put everything into the final 150 metres when the more established Sushma Devi threatened to run away from her. Sinimole Paulose, surprisingly, was unable to keep pace with the duo in front of her. Luka’s 2:03.53 was the seventh best in Asia for the season. Bahrain’s 1500m world champion, Maryam Yousuf Jamal, tops with 1:59.98. There are three Japanese who have clocked better than Luka. Kazakh Margarita Matsko and reigning Asian champion Truong Thanh Hang of Vietnam are also above the Kerala girl.

If the field contains all the above-mentioned runners, Luka will have to produce something more spectacular than what she did in Bhopal in order to win a medal in Guangzhou, P. T. Usha’s trainee was well prepared for the National. “Normally she finds it difficult to respond during the last 100 metres. Here she was very strong,” said a proud Usha. As a coach, Usha was also recording a ‘first’ at the senior level. Luka had lost to Paulose in the Jamshedpur National in 2007 after leading up to the home straight. Again, she had lost to Paulose and Sushma last year in Kochi after she came first into the straight. Paulose was beaten to the fourth place this time by S. R. Bindu.

Usha wants her ward to concentrate on the 800 metres rather than go for the more glamorous one-lap event or to double up. Though Luka was the favourite in the 400 metres, too, in Bhopal, Manjeet Kaur easily beat her. “The effect of the 800 metres yesterday was evident,” said Chief National Coach Bahadur Singh. “Her legs were not moving,” commented Usha. Manjeet’s Indian season-leading time of 53.62s for the 400 metres came as a surprise. This was only her second competitive race this season, but the National record holder showed no signs of strain on the home straight. She said she was yet to recover from a back problem.

Manjeet had undergone a training stint in the US but on return home she was afflicted with chicken pox. Upon recovery she competed in the National sprints meet in Patiala to come second behind Mandeep Kaur. The latter dropped out of the field in the Nationals for reasons unknown. The rest looked rather ordinary. The coaches are banking on at least three runners clocking below 53 seconds by the time the Asian championships come around for India to retain its supremacy in the longer relay.

Renjith Maheswary’s transformation from a 17-plus triple jumper to a struggling 15.50-plus jumper and back again to a 16.60-plus jumper has been phenomenal. He had a start in England earlier in the season, but considered this meet as his first for the season. “I was aiming for at least 16.80 metres here,” said Renjith. He did 16.68m eventually and had one more jump over 16.60 metres. Renjith expressed his confidence that he would be reaching 17 metres by November in time for the Asian championships.

Three Chinese, Li Yanxi (17.27), Cao Shuo (17.13) and Wu Bo (17.06) are above 17 metres this season while Korean Kim Deok-Hyung (17.10) is also in that bracket. Renjith, even if he is able to reach 17 metres, can still find the going tough in Guangzhou. Outside of Luka and Renjith, the other notable efforts came from Joseph Abraham (400m hurdles), S. K. Mortaja (400m), Surendra Kumar Singh (5000m and 10,000m), Maha Singh (long jump), Om Prakash Singh (shot put), Om Narayan (javelin) and Seema Antil and Harwant Kaur (women’s discus).

Abraham was below his best for the season with his 50.26s for the intermediate hurdles, but he held out hope in the Asian championships context. His timing was within the top-15 in Asia this season, with 10 of them being Japanese. Abraham’s 49.59s in Chennai in May ranks fifth. Mortaja clocked a personal best 46.59s that is also a top-15 mark in Asia in the current lists. More than the timing he had the satisfaction of beating Bibin Mathew (46.78s) for the first time. Mathew said he was yet to get back into top shape after being down with a viral fever.

http://www.sportstaronnet.com/stories/2 ... 603000.htm

Steely resolve

Caddies turning golfers is nothing new. But not many of them continue with the same intensity. “They give up after a few failures. That mindset has to change,” says Chinnaswamy Muniyappa, the Indian Open champion, in a chat with Avinash Nair.

http://www.sportstaronnet.com/stories/2 ... 003400.htm

[Ameet]

Bollywood movies a bright spot for US cinema industry

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-c ... ?track=rss

Distributors of Bollywood and regional Indian films have been eager to broaden their global appeal, especially in the U.S., which accounts for as much as 70% of their movies' foreign box office.

In the last 18 months, Reliance has quietly assembled a group of 18 theaters around the country, with most offering a mix of Indian and Hollywood films and some, like the theater in San Jose, exclusively featuring Indian movies. The company now operates 181 screens in the U.S., ranking as the 25th-largest theater operator in the country.

[Rahul M]

Mohun Bagan supporters can no longer be taunted with the “five-finger sign”; 1975 has become just another year. Die-hards who had vowed never to return to the Maidan since the 5-0 drubbing by sworn enemy East Bengal on Black September 29 that year — giving up a part of their existence — have had a weight lifted off their shoulders. Their club today exorcised a 34-year-old demon by pumping five goals past East Bengal for the first time in its history, winning an I-League derby 5-3.

huh ! how can a 5-3 victory (effectively 2-0) be revenge for a 5-0 loss ? only in the minds of demented mohun baganis !

[Stan_Savljevic]

Asia cup hickey v2.0, India bt Singapore 13-0.

[ArmenT]

huh ! how can a 5-3 victory (effectively 2-0) be revenge for a 5-0 loss ? only in the minds of demented mohun baganis !

Clearly, Rahul M, you're a hilsa fish eater

For non-bongs, whenever East Bengal wins, the cost of hilsa fish goes up in Calcutta and whenever Mohun Bagan wins, cost of shrimp goes up.

[Stan_Savljevic]

CWG baton was designed to capture India’s uniqueness
http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/31/stories ... 021800.htm

Rolling Captain, Indian hockey is rocking guys

We won the Canada series convincingly. Coach Jose Brasa and the captain should be really proud of it. Hey, hang on. Who is the captain, by the way? Multiple captain theory is now on display. Much like cricket talk in the recent times. We had seven of them in Canada

Kolkata Knight Riders, Shah Rukh Khan and John Buchanan should ask Brasa for a cut after this one-sided win. After all, the IPL side showed the Spaniard a match-winning formula, by raking this in a big way. King Khan didn't use the theory in the last IPL even after having a public debate with Sunny Bhai. Hmm.. that's the reason KKR did so badly in South Africa!

But our hockey coach followed it, national team crushed the Mini-Punjab, which is rated higher than us, strictly by the FIH point system.

Well, the intensive post-mortem done by the hard-working S2h team concludes that Canada lost so badly to the not-so-great Indian side because:-

1. Number of NRI players in their squad was even less than the Noble Prize Winners from India (and many angry people in Punjab are going to file PILs in Punjab & Haryana High Court against it)

2. Canada has a player called Gabbar Singh, know name for villains in Indian cinema. And as you know, in 99 percent of Indian movies villain and his gang always loses (I left 1 percent as a tribute to SRK’s Don.)

3. The Canadians were so traditional, just had one captain in the whole of 7-match series! I mean, how they can be so old-timers. Just one captain? I can't believe it. I really sympathize with their captain, he would have beeen exhausted thoroughly captaining the bunch for so long! After all leading a side in a game like Hockey isn’t children’s play.

Abhay Sharma, coach of the Railways’ Cricket team echoes me in some respect. According to Sharma, hockey game is mostly controlled by the coach and the captain is just for name-sake. (Abhay ji, do you mean that the hockey captain is like a few ex-chief ministers in India?)

So, he thinks that this innovative idea isn’t that bad, though he would never experiment it with his team. Well, I completely buy Brasa’s theory (not because he is a foreigner and most of my country cousins swear by their name) because a few months later, even Sarvanjit Singh and so many other singhs would boast before their college teachers 'am ex-Indian skipper'. It might fetch some extra marks in the practicals. Wow! Even I should have played our national game.

I am extremely happy that I find some support from the hockey fraternity itself (of course for the different reason) Ajay Kumar Bansal, who is presently training the U-18 boys at the Soorma Bhopali’s land, agrees with Jose Brasa on a serious note. “In a test series, one is allowed to do such experiments and there is no harm doing this. Having the captain’s band in your arm fills you with the feeling of pride and responsibility and that helps in overall improvement in the player’s game. So next time, when another captain would ask anything to the ‘ex-captain’, the latter would understand his point of view better” says thoughtful Bansal.

We talked about the Bollywood movies’ trend earlier. There is another one --- happy ending. So I would like to end this piece with the same note to keep our tradition alive (well, that’s the only thing I can do) in a hope that whatever experiments our respected coach does, we hope that THE MOST IMPORTANT thing happens, and that is our national side does better in the future, KYONKI PICTURE ABHI BAAKI HAI MERE DOST.

http://stick2hockey.com/ViewArticle.asp ... leOID=3945

All that matters for India is a victory ---- S. Thyagarajan

M.K. Kaushik is a pragmatist. For India’s chief coach what matters is the mode with which a result is achieved than the outcome itself. He was the first to acknowledge that India huffed and puffed to secure a victory over Singapore in game one of Pool A in the Asia Cup women’s championship here on Thursday. The temptation to be carried away with the illusion of having accomplished big 13-0 could be high. But to be realistic, as coach Kaushik appears to be, is the best possible course is to analyze the verdict in a proper perspective and prepare for tougher tasks ahead. At the moment, India appears to be well on course for a semifinal berth, but that the fruit of the labour can be tasted only if the team makes it to the final to slot a place for the next World Cup at Rosario (Argentina). For this, India must overcome either Korea or Japan, the likely semifinalist.

By any reckoning, this is not beyond the ken of the Indians provided they rise to the occasion. On Thursday, despite the handsome result, the team was found wanting in acquiring the needed fluency and rhythm to be incisive enough to break the wall that Singapore defence surrounded itself with inside the circle. To be fair to the frontline stars like Jasjeet Handa, Surinder Kaur and Saba Anjum, every one of them strove to put in that extra punch but they were clearly phlegmatic, at least in the first half.

Talking of the positives, the start has been encouraging and for the second match scheduled tomorrow against the host, India needs to tighten up every area to enhance the striking and defending potential. India’s litmus test comes against China on Tuesday.

http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/hockey/article40842.ece
Did nt I tell you, its not a question of if but when? Sack the whole team, no weightlifting team for India. At least that way, we can save some cash that we are now paying as fines and getting the whole system black-marked. No to doping, no to weightlifting, get the whole set of idiots home.

Another weightlifter tests positive

Another weightlifter, Sunita Kumari of Punjab, has tested positive for a banned substance in tests conducted by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) in Pune last month. Confirming Sunita’s positive test, a top official of the Indian Weightlifting Federation told The Hindu on Friday that the athlete had been intimated about her returning positive. If Sunita opts for the ‘B’ sample test, then she has to apply for it by the first week of next month.

So far, eight weightlifters have tested positive for banned substances and the Indian federation faces a ban and/or a heavy fine by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). The penalty is likely to be decided by the IWF Executive Board, which meets on November 18, prior to the World championships in Goyang, South Korea. Earlier, Shailaja Pujari, Vijaya Devi, Vicky Batta, Rajesh Kumar and Harbhajan Singh had tested positive in tests conducted by the IWF/WADA. {This is just skimming the surface, if we count the number of dope-cheats over the last 8 years, I can show at least 25 people.}

Priyadarshini and S. Yamini returned ‘positive’ results in tests carried bout by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA). Pujari also tested positive in a NADA test. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has formed a committee under the chairmanship of K.P. Singh Deo to enquire into the matter and give its recommendations. The panel has held a few meetings and heard some of the ‘accused’ lifters.

Meanwhile, the Indian federation has started sending out demands of payment from the weightlifters who have tested positive. Each lifter, charged with a ‘positive’ test is being asked to pay a fine of Rs. 25,000 to the Indian federation and $5000 to the IWF within one month. In case the lifters fail to give the fine amount to be paid to the IWF, the Indian federation is likely to be saddled with the task of paying $30,000 (for six lifters in the event all of them are suspended) apart from any other fine the IWF may impose.

http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/other-sp ... e41121.ece
Jeev stuns world No.5 Westwood, but
Jeev crashes out of Volvo championship after successive defeats
http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/other-sp ... e41306.ece
http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/other-sp ... e40784.ece

[Stan_Savljevic]

Asia cup hockey, India bt Thailand 15-0. Take China on Tuesday and Malaysia next. Semi-finals is (expected) to be between Ind-Jap or Ind-S Kor. The finalists get direct entry to WC. Chak de Mamta Kharab, Surinder Kaur & co.

Early lookout for promising medal-boxers from the ongoing national championships. Mark these names, Chhote Lal, Suranjoy Singh, Thakcham Nanao Singh {the last two are well-known}

The results (all semifinals):
Lightfly: 48kg: Nanao Singh (SSCB) bt Sunil Shukla (Jha) 9-1; Paramjeet Singh (Chd) bt Amandeep Singh (RSPB) 2-2 (on count back).
Fly: 51kg: Santosh (Goa) bt Manoj Kumar (Tri) 4-0; Suranjoy Singh ((SSCB) bt M. Krishna (Cht) RSC 2nd round.
Bantam: 54kg: Kuldeep (Har) bt V. Durga Rao (Kar) 10-5; Santosh Singh (Jha) bt M. Venkatesh (RSPB) 2-0.
Feather: 57kg: Chote Lal (SSCB) bt Diwakar Prasad (RSPB) 4-4 (on count back); Mishal Lakra (Jha) bt Akshay Kumar (Del) 5-1.
Light: 60kg: Rakesh (Mah) w\o Rahul (Del); Vikas Malik (RSPB) bt Balbir Singh (BSF) 10-4.
Lightwelter: 64kg: Pradeep Kumar (Del) bt Lakhbir (Pun) 2-0; Balwinder (Har) bt Manoj Kumar (RSPB) 3-2.
Welter: 69kg: Dilbagh Singh (RSPB) bt Bhupender Singh (Man) 9-2; Vijay (Har) bt Jagvinder (Pun) 1-0.
Middle: 75kg: Kuldeep Singh (RSPB) bt Suresh Kumar (Chd) 12-2; Kulwant Singh (SSCB) bt Jagroop (Pun) 8-0.

[Rahul M]

huh ! how can a 5-3 victory (effectively 2-0) be revenge for a 5-0 loss ? only in the minds of demented mohun baganis !

Clearly, Rahul M, you're a hilsa fish eater

For non-bongs, whenever East Bengal wins, the cost of hilsa fish goes up in Calcutta and whenever Mohun Bagan wins, cost of shrimp goes up.

I think golda chingri is jumbo prawn rather than shrimp. (something to do with size of head or something)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2021/246 ... 9e10aa.jpg

unfortunately I tend to prefer it to hilsa !

incidentally, it's not unknown for MB supporters to arrive at the ground with a giant prawn hanging in their hands ! the hilsa in EB supporters' stand is usually replaced by a replica. (thankfully)

[Stan_Savljevic]

For those who did nt know, the National Games has now been postponed N times. Supposed to have been held in Jharkand, but the latest reason for postponement is the maoist menace, but the real reason is that all the officials are in Dilli getting the CWG preparations done. Its been a long time since we had a national games, Jharkand seems to be a curse in some sense, hope they get this one done in Ranchi asap, shifting it is going to be a hit below the belt for the Jharkand-ites.

New Games panel draws flak

Ranchi, Oct. 31: State sports associations have been crying foul over the changes made in the organising committee for the postponed 34th National Games. They alleged that vendetta had become the policy in a democratic set-up like the Jharkhand Olympic Association (JOA). Those who had been left out of the reconstituted National Games Organising Committee (NGOC), were former hockey international Savitry Purty, senior national wrestling coach Bhola Nath Singh, senior coach and state table tennis and fencing association secretary J.K. Sinha, senior JOA office-bearer Sheo Kumar Singh, women’s hockey association president Mridula Sinha, triathlon association secretary S.K. Pandey, equestrian association general secretary Kuldip Singh and Jayant Jaipal Singh.

Interestingly, none of them ever received any communication that they were no longer NGOC members. “No one ever told me or wrote to me regarding this,” said Mridula Sinha. Pandey, J.K Sinha and others echoed her. “The step was taken by the JOA because we had become the proverbial opposition in the supposedly democratic body. But why doesn’t the NGOC seek approval of the governor?” Sheo Kumar Singh alleged. NGOC organising secretary S.M. Hashmi said: “We have changed those who are associated with sports bodies and that is within JOA’s rights. For this, we do not need the governor’s permission.”

http://telegraphindia.com/1091101/jsp/j ... 685078.jsp

RACQUETMAN
He is the new sensation in Indian tennis who has powered India into the Davis Cup world group. A t2 chat with the 24-year-old Somdev Devvarman...
http://telegraphindia.com/1091026/jsp/e ... 656530.jsp

Twenty-one-year-old Chhote Lal of Services, who retained his featherweight title, was adjudged ‘best boxer’ of the Sahara 56th Senior National boxing championship for men, which concluded at the Saroornagar Indoor Stadium here on Sunday. The team championship went to Railways with 47 points while Services, with 45 points, was runner-up. Haryana, with 33 points, was third. In the featherweight final, Chhote Lal was in an aggressive mood from the word go as he forced his opponent Lakra to take a standing count in the very first minute. He continued his assault in the second round and piled up a lead of 8-1 before the referee stopped the contest.

First gold: Earlier in the light flyweight category, Nanao Singh gave Services its first gold with a 9-3 win over Paramjeet Singh of Chandigarh. In the flyweight category, Asian champion Suranjoy Singh had little difficulty in beating Santosh of Goa 6-0. Suranjoy was able to nullify the longer reach of his opponent by punching quickly. The bantamweight final was well-contested. In the third round, Haryana’s Kuldeep Singh was floored by a hard punch from Santosh Singh of Jharkhand but he managed to stage a recovery and win 7-3.

In the welterweight category, Dilbagh picked up his eighth National title when he defeated Vijay of Haryana 5-2. In the middleweight category, Kuldeep Singh of Railways was too fast and powerful for his opponent Kulwant Singh of Services. After leading 1-0 in the first round, Kuldeep increased the margin to 6-0 in the second round before winning handsomely at 15-4.

The results (finals): Light flyweight: 48 kg: Nanao Singh (SSCB) bt Paramjeet Singh (Chd) 9-3. Flyweight: 51 kg: Suranjoy Singh (SSCB) bt Santosh (Goa) 6-0. Bantamweight: 54 kg: Kuldeep Singh (Har) bt Santosh Singh (Jha) 7-3. Feather weight: 57 kg: Chhote Lal (SSCB) bt Mishal Lakhra (Jha) RSC 2nd round. Lightweight: 60 kg: Vikas Malik (RSPB) bt Rakesh Kalaskar (Mah) 2-2 - on count-back. Light welterweight: 64 kg: Pradeep Kumar (Del) bt Balwinder (Har) 4-1. Welterweight: 69 kg: Dilbagh Singh (RSPB) bt Vijay (Har) 5-2. Middleweight: 75 kg: Kuldeep Singh (RSPB) bt Kulwant Singh (SSCB) 15-4. Light heavyweight: 81 kg: Pramoj Kumar (Har) bt Vikas Singh (Del) 12-3. Heavyweight: 91 kg: Manpreet Singh (SSCB) bt Krishan Kumar (AIP) 20-6. Super heavy: 91 kg & above: Paramjeet Singh (RSPB) bt Naresh Singh (SSCB) 8-2. Team championship: 1. Railways (RSPB) 47 pts., 2. Services (SSCB) 45 pts., 3. Haryana 33 pts. Best boxer: Chhote Lal (SSCB). Best loser: Rakesh Kalaskar (Mah). Most promising boxer: S. Santosh Singh (Jhk).

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/02/stories ... 161700.htm

[Stan_Savljevic]

Now S. Thyagarajan who has a treble role of being the chicom's bunny in the Hindu stable, as media manager of the Indian team, and a honest reporter will have to find a bench to hide his verbiage and face.

India hold China in women's Asia Cup hockey

India produced a fine all-round show to hold formidable China 1-1 in their penultimate Group A match and inch towards a place in the semi-finals of the women's Asia Cup hockey in Bangkok on Tuesday. India now needs just a draw against Malaysia in their last group match on Wednesday to make it to the semi-finals. It was China who scored first when Liao Jia Hui found the mark in the 18th minute from the team's first penalty-corner. But Saba Anjum found got the equaliser in the 45th minute, also from a penalty-corner. India are unbeaten in the tournament, having previously routed Singapore and Thailand 13-0 and 15-0 respectively.

With two wins and a draw, both India and China have seven points each but Malaysia still have a chance of entering the semi-finals. On an overcast day, the Indian women made their intentions clear from the beginning and displayed aggressive hockey that forced the Chinese on the back foot. However, some wayward shooting by the forwards let them down. The attacking duo of Jasjeet Kaur and Rani Ramphal were off-colour, the former missing two easy chances.

With veteran Asunta Lakra outstanding in midfield, the Chinese were forced to operate through the flanks, only to find Mamta Kharab and Deepika Thakur, playing down the field, thwarting them repeatedly. After surviving the Indian onslaught in the first 10 minutes, China made full use of the first penalty-corner they earned, scoring from a variation in the 18th minute after captain Ma Yibo and Sun Zeng combined well to set it up for Hui, who coolly swept the ball to the right of India goalkeeper Deepika Murthy.

The change of ends seemed to have worked wonders for the Indians as 10 minutes into the second half Anjum drew parity through a penalty-corner variation. The result could have been different had custodian Savita, who replaced Murthy, not brought off some spectacular saves in the second half. India have never defeated China in the annals of the Asia Cup and must be disappointed after coming so close to breaking the jinx today. The disappointment was quite evident on chief coach M K Kaushik's face. "We could have won as we have definitely played better than China. But some of my players need to be more confident of themselves," the former India men's hockey team ace said after the match.

Yes, confidence is what Injuns need, screw the chini bums.

In other news, Soumya Swaminathan becomes the world women's junior champion. A creditable achievement. But last year we had swept almost every possible title. This time, I cant find a single person in the top 20 in the men's side of the events.

Good job by BCCI in banning the Services people. You cant sit in India and whine about security contrary to facts on the ground. And these guys are already in J&K protecting it, I dont understand this bakwaas on security issues.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Their ball possession was almost 90 percent. They penetrated the circle five to six times more than their rivals. Indian women got 8 penalty corners against one by Malaysia. yet, in the end of the day, India could only draw Malaysia. A heartwarming result for ever improving Malaysia and a heart break for India. Why the result, a draw against Malaysia, which gave the much needed point for india to move into the semifinal, is named here heart-break?

Not without reasons.

Today was the last day for the pool matches. Interestingly, India played the last game of the day. So, india new well before they set the ball rolling against Malaysia what is expected of them. India just needed three points to top the pool so that it can take on Japan in the semis. Because, Koreas topped the other pool with 15-0 drubbing of their last rival, Hong Kong. It made the Japanese task of topping the pool difficult.

India's record against Japan in the Asian circuit is reasonably good, with them in the semis India stood a chance to make it to the final. Entering final this year is very important as the finalists are given direct entry for the 2010 World Cup. Now that India could only earn a point in its last match, they have to face formidable Korean devils in the semis. It is almost lost case for India. {Wow, what a fatalistic presumption.}

India did everything except scoring. Seven out of eight penalty corners were frittered away with outdated striking option. Strictly speaking, India did not have any player good at penalty corners. With Japan's Seiko Muira and Seul Cheon of Korea going skywards, India looked pedestrian in this vital area of the game. Forwards, some of them are really good, in general lost control in side the circle, why that needless paniky. If Malaysia took lead so early, so what. Why can't you play a controlled and discipline game to take charge of the proceedings instead of shooting wayward at drop of hat.

For the hardworking stuff the likes of Deepika Thakur, Asunta Lakra, Mamta Kharab and Saba Anjum did in the midfield, the forwardline of Jasjeet, Rani Ramphal and Surinder Kaur was a let down. These stars again failed in the penalty corner rebounds. So, India came close to getting into World Cup but messed up the chances now with choosing to play the toughest opponent here, Korea. Only team to score more than 50 goals, with conceding just two, Koreans are far ahead of Indians in every department. It is going to be miraculous if India can defeat Korea and think of World Cup dream. {Miraculous indeed, it will be, if you believe in miracles. On the one hand, India draw China which S Thyagarajan claimed is a super-duper power esp given that it entered the OG finals last year, and yet K Arumugam reproduced ST on his website, and now the chinis have come close to sipping a defeat, there is lamentation at the fact that the Indian women cooled down knowing very well that they have to conserve energy for the Koreans or the Japanese. Why does KA believe that the Koreans will be so hard to beat is beyond me? He knows the system far better than I do, yet it is amazing to read the sense of hopelessness. Just to whip such hopelessness, I hope the Indian women will beat the Koreans by at least 3-4 goals. Will be a nice rub of the face on the ground at fatalism.}

India played so superbly against China the other day, why can't they sustain the momentum for some more days. {Why cant the same logic be extended to say that they can peak again against Korea? Maybe selective application of logic is not a nice thing to do, huh?!}

As Indian women hockey came down, it could have certainly marked a dawn for Malaysia on the other hand. {Yea, my posterior.} They really played a good game, came close to making it to the semis. {Yes, if you count the possibility of a malaysian victory as realistic, sure, they came close to making the semis onree. If you can give so much credit for your oppn team and whine endlessly about how bad we are doing, sky is too high for sale. Welcome to the semi-finals.}

http://stick2hockey.com/ViewArticle.asp ... leOID=3987

Sasikiran leads Indian challenge

NEW DELHI: Grandmaster K. Sasikiran heads the seven-man Indian brigade in the World Cup chess beginning at Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, on November 21. For the first time, the 128-player knockout tournament features so many Indians. As per the draw released by FIDE, Sasikiran opens his campaign against Erwin LAmi (Netherlands). Each round consists of two classical games with the players getting to play with white pieces once. In case of equal scores the winner is decided by rapid games or, if needed, blitz games. National champion Surya Shekhar Ganguly also plays a lesser-rated rival, having drawn Uzbekistan’s Anton Filipov in the opener.

First-round pairings involving Indians: K. Sasikiran (2664) Erwin LAmi (Ned, 2606); Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2654) Anton Filipov (Uzb, 2607); Sandipan Chanda (2623) Mikhail Kobalia (Rus, 2643); Parimarjan Negi (2620) Vadim Milov (Sui, 2652); Abhijeet Gupta (2578) Alexie Shirov (Esp, 2719); Sriram Jha (2497) Alexander Grischuk (Rus, 2736).

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/05/stories ... 061700.htm

PC is doing the right thing...

Chidambaram wants another Services match scheduled in Srinagar

Jammu: Union home minister P Chidambaram today said the Services Board must request the BCCI to schedule another cricket match in Srinagar although the team had forfeited its fixture against the Jammu and Kashmir team in the Bakshi stadium. With the Services pullout coming under attack, the minister of state for defence MM Pallamraju said the decision was taken at "lower level" and expressed readiness to send the team if the match is rescheduled.

"Whether that (forfeited match) will be possible, whether the forfeiture if final, I cannot say. But I have told the Defence Secretary if it was not possible to play this match in Srinagar, because it is already forfeited, the Services Board must request the BCCI to schedule another match in Srinagar," Chidambaram told reporters in Jagti, about 15km from here. He expressed his serious displeasure over the Services team pulling out of the Ranji trophy match in Srinagar and promised to see that a cricket match takes place there.

As the decision, citing security reasons, stirred up a raging political controversy, Chidambaram said had he been aware of the move, it would not not have happened. Appealing to everyone to put this incident behind accepting the apology of the Services Sports Board not not only to the people of Jammu and Kashmir but to everybody, the home minister said said any sports event scheduled for Srinagar will take place. "I will see that a cricket match takes place in Srinagar," he added.

Chidambaram said he was away in Deoband yesterday morning and when he returned the first thing he did was to take up the matter with the ministry of defence. "I expressed my serious displeasure," he said. The BCCI banned the Services from this year's Ranji trophy cricket season for skipping the match in the Bakshi stadium in Srinagar. The BCCI, however, said that a decision whether to lift the ban or not would be taken by the President after receiving and studying the apology by the Services.

The services team decision left the Union minister and president of Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association Farooq Abdullah angry and he had threatened to take up the matter with the prime minister, home minister and the defence minister. He said the Services team had negated the Government of India's positive assessment of state's security situation. Noting the sensitivity of the matter, BCCI promptly disqualified Services from this year's Ranji Trophy and said further action would be decided at its next working committee meeting. Jammu and Kashmir earned four points from this forfeited match and will now take on Haryana from November 10 to 13.

http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_ch ... ar_1307105

[SSridhar]

In other news, Soumya Swaminathan becomes the world women's junior champion. A creditable achievement. But last year we had swept almost every possible title. This time, I cant find a single person in the top 20 in the men's side of the events.

Indians standings: Open: 20. Lalith, 22. Karthikeyan, 24. Aswin, 40. Adhiban, 41. Shyam Sundar, 44. Vishnu.

Girls: 1. Soumya, 8. Padmini, 10. Kiran, 19. Mary, 34. Harini.

[Yayavar]

Good job by BCCI in banning the Services people. You cant sit in India and whine about security contrary to facts on the ground. And these guys are already in J&K protecting it, I dont understand this bakwaas on security issues.

Is the decision taken in the ministry/defence secretary or by actual serving officers?

[Stan_Savljevic]

Is the decision taken in the ministry/defence secretary or by actual serving officers?

Services team created a huge controversy after pulling out from their Ranji Trophy game against Jammu and Kashmir in Srinagar on Tuesday (November 3). But if defence reports are to be believed, an adverse intelligence advice stopped the military from sending its cricket team to Srinagar. However, it is not clear if the warning pertained to a specific attack or was generally about a possible adverse situation. The Ranji match, scheduled for Tuesday at the Sher-e-Kashmir stadium, was to be the first first-class cricket contest in the Valley in five years.

The Services team later apologised to the BCCI for the administrative slip up and sought new dates. It transpires that the team acted on an alert put out by the Military Intelligence after intelligence reports warned of a militant plan to mingle with spectators and disrupt the match in Srinagar.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/spor ... 195178.cms

[nelson]

Great guns blazing...
http://sports.rediff.com/report/2009/no ... -final.htm

Hope they win the Cup against China. That's on Sunday.

[Stan_Savljevic]

A 7-test Super Series was held between India and Canada at Victoria and Surrey in British Columbia, Canada, from October 9 - 24. This was India's first-ever tour to Canada for a test series. India won the 7-test series in a 6-0 whitewash, with one test being drawn. To Canada's credit, none of the matches were a blowout; they never lost by more than a margin of 2 goals in the 7-match series. On the flip side, not winning a single game in 7 attempts should be something to be concerned about.

Head Coach of the Canadian team, Alan Brahmst, does have some historical baggage with India. In the 1998 World Cup at Utrecht, after Canada shocked India 4-1, the then midfielder Alan Brahmst sweared and made obscene gestures at the Indian team following their match. Brahmst, along with the manager, Shiaz Virjee, had to send a written apology to the tournament director of the 1998 World Cup after that incident.

Per the Sports Goods Export Promotion Council (SGEPC), a body sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India exported Rs. 587 crores worth of sports goods in FY 2008-09, to which the Jalandhar-based sports industry alone contributed 60%-65%. Jalandhar has been home to the sports goods industry since partition, with over 1000 small-scale and and big units producing various categories of sports equipment. The industry provides direct and indirect employment to more than 1.5 lakh people.

The industry, which earns close to 60% from exports, is on the wane. Export orders for most of the manufacturers have dropped steeply due to the recession overseas. While manufacturing has not come to a grinding halt, a 30%- 50% fall in exports has brought the industry quite close to it. Says R. S. Rana, regional director of SGEPC, "Owing to fluctuations in the Australian dollar and British pound, we have suffered loss of 20% to 30% across the board."

Importers in Europe, the UK and other countries have asked sports manufacturers to delay the supply of material by three to six months. Even the domestic market has been hit by recession. Demand for sports goods in India has gone down by 25%. Ramesh C. Kohli, who has been manufacturing cricket bats under the Beat All Sports brand and hockey sticks under the Vampire brand for the last 55 years, says: "Sachin used to get his bats and gear made from us, but things have changed now. I cannot compete with the big brands who give millions to cricketers for endorsements. I am bringing in machines to increase efficiency in my factory. But I will not throw out the workers since they have been with me since I began."

[Sriman]

Asia Cup Hockey: India eves lose to China in final

Read more: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/spo ... z0WKScLuAZ

[Stan_Savljevic]

Whats next for the Indian mens hockey team.. Next month, we have

The PHF chief said that some tough games in the Champions Challenge which will feature teams like hosts Argentina, India and Belgium ......

Then, I hope this India-pak series does not fructify in any case.

Qasim, a former pakistani Olympian said that he is making efforts to line up a three-match Test series in Dubai against India this December. He said that the PHF is also planning to host a four-nation tournament in Lahore next January which he said will bring international hockey back to Pakistan.

Womens hockey roundup....
http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_ne ... up_1309478

Next target: World Cup

Mumbai: In September 2008, MK Kaushik was caught off guard when he was appointed coach of the men's national team. Trouble brewed when the Indian Women's Hockey Federation objected to the appointment and he eventually had to return to take charge of the women's team. A few players -- who chose to remain off the record that time -- even doubted his commitment to the women's team. But that, as they say, is all history. Ever since that controversy, Kaushik has let the results speak for himself, and his team. "I've always said that my commitment remains to whichever team I coach. I am with the women's team and I am loving every moment of it," Kaushik told DNA on Monday.

The women's team has had quite an eventful year. They won the Champions Challenge II followed by a silver medal-winning effort at the Asia Cup that concluded on Sunday, Kaushik is delighted with the way his team is performing. "The confidence was high ever since winning the Champions Challenge. The team has showed good mental strength and we have shown improvement with each passing match," the Olympian said.

Kaushik has his eyes set on the World Cup preparations now, for which his side clinched the berth after the final appearance in Bangkok. "Now that we have given ourselves so much time to prepare, we will identify areas of concern and start working on them," Kaushik said. "In the final against China, we played half as good as against South Korea. The difference was made there. After scoring the early goal, we allowed them to control and that was our mistake. But overall, I am satisfied with the way the girls have performed," he said.

The tournament, in many ways belonged to Subhadra Pradhan, who was adjudged the player of the series. The 23-year-old was well rewarded for her efficiency in the defence. Incidentally, Subhadra also played the 100th match of her career when she took the field against hosts Thailand. Meanwhile, Kaushik has asked for a psychologist and video analyst for the team to do even better in the future.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/10/stories ... 761600.htm

‘This feat is better than Kazan win’
The coach underlines the need for improvement in several areas

NEW DELHI: The 14th-ranked Indian women’s hockey team has achieved two significant successes this year. First, the Champions Challenge II title win in Kazan in June and then the second-place finish in the recently concluded Asia Cup in Bangkok. For coach M.K. Kaushik, ending up as the runner-up in the Thai capital carries more significance than emerging as the champion in Russia. “There were much better teams in the Asia Cup. China is No. 3 in the world, Japan (No. 6) had finished fifth in the previous World Cup and Korea is a good side. Apart from the second place finish, the big advantage is that we qualified for the World Cup next year,” Kaushik told The Hindu after the team’s arrival here from Bangkok on Monday.

Biggest relief

The biggest relief for Kaushik was that the team did not have to play the World Cup qualifier any more. “Playing the qualifier is more difficult than the World Cup itself as you compete with many teams who give their best to get through,” he said. Kaushik said the World Cup qualification would give enough time for the team to prepare for the main event. “Plus, it is a motivational factor for the side, which will play in other important meets like the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games next year,” he said.

The coach, however, underlined several areas where the girls need to work on. “A lot of improvement is needed. Penalty corner defence and conversion, counterattacks, constant inter-changing of positions, variations and making the strikers more efficient are the areas where we need to improve. The players are required to jell better,” Kaushik said.
Kaur satisfied

Indian captain Surinder Kaur was satisfied that the players carried out their responsibilities well. However, she agreed with Kaushik. “We need to better our scoring ability. Improvement is also needed in a few other areas,” she said. Recalling India’s miserable performance in the 2006 World Cup, Surinder hoped that the team would do much better next year. “Last time, our scoring was poor. This time, we are on the right track and should end up within the top five,” she said. Hockey India officials, including President A.K. Mattoo, were present at the airport to receive the team.

Somdev Dev Varman lost eight places to be ranked 124 in the latest Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings chart, released on Monday. Somdev’s wait to win his maiden title on the ATP circuit continued as he lost the final of the Charlottesville Challenger event to second seed Kevin Kim after an intense three-set battle on Sunday. According to information received here, third seed Somdev fought his heart out but eventually lost 4-6, 7-6(8), 4-6 in the $50,000 hard court event in the US.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Memorable day for Om Prakash

Om Prakash Singh, a strapping 22-year-old from Haryana, made a memorable debut in the Asian athletics championships by claiming the shot put gold on the second day of competitions at the Guangdong Olympic Stadium here on Wednesday. The day also saw three other medals for India, all bronze, as H.M. Jyothi (women’s 100m), Manjeet Kaur (women’s 400m) and Chatholi Hamza (men’s 1,500m) somewhat made up for disappointments elsewhere.

Great feeling

“It is a great feeling to win the gold on my debut in the senior championships,” said Om Prakash in the ‘mixed zone’ after the competition. He had literally outclassed the field with his fifth-round throw of 19.87 metres, his third best effort ever. The Indian was lying fourth after four rounds with a best of 19.01, his opening throw. He had two fouls after that and then a 19.00. “I knew I could produce a big throw anytime. And I had that in the fifth,” said Om Prakash, who fouled his last throw. Om Prakash had been in tremendous form this season, barring a brief slump in July. Coming into this competition, with seven performances over 19 metres, all achieved this season, the youngster was a confident competitor even in a tough field which contained the Asian record holder (21.13m) Abdulmajeed Al-Hebshi of Saudi Arabia. As it turned out, Al-Hebshi finished way below expectations, at fifth with just 18.89 metres. Chinese Taipei’s Chang Ming-Huang, who led till Om Prakash took over, came second with 19.34m while Chinese Zhang Jun took the bronze at 19.15.

Manjeet Kaur looked capable of grabbing a better medal than the bronze given the way she came into the home straight in the women’s 400 metres. She was level with Chinese Chen Lin before both were overtaken by Japanese Asami Tanno, the pre-race favourite. Tanno beat the Chinese over the last few metres, clocking 53.32 seconds for her first continental championships gold. Chen had the silver in 53.55 while Manjeet’s bronze came in 53.66.

Hamza also could have finished better than third in the men’s 1,500m, but his effort came rather too late on the home straight, allowing Sri Lankan Chaminda Wijekoon to take a rare silver for his country in the event. The gold in a slow, wait-and-watch race was expectedly claimed by Mohammed Othman Shahween of Saudi Arabia. He sprinted home from 200 metres out.

India’s fourth medal of the day came in the women’s 100m, Jyothi doing very well at the end to edge out Chinese Tao Yujia, clocking 11.60s, a personal best for the 26-year-old Andhra woman. It was her first medal at this level of competition and India’s first women’s sprint medal since 2000 when Saraswati Saha and Rachita Mistry had won silver and bronze. Jyothi had a wind-aided 11.54s in the Indian Grand Prix at Kochi earlier this season. Japanese Chisato Fukushima, so dominant in the earlier rounds, expectedly claimed the sprint gold, clocking 11.27s into a headwind of 1.0m/s. Vietnamese Vu Thi Huong won the silver in 11.50s.

http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/athletic ... e47069.ece

Kavita Raut picks up a bronze in 5000m

Kavita Raut opened India’s tally with a bronze as the Chinese showed its expected domination, winning two of the five gold medals at stake on the inaugural day of the 18th Asian athletics championships at the Guangdong Olympic Stadium here on Tuesday. Kavita posted a personal best of 16:05.90 in the 5000 metres, though she and coach Nikolai Snesarev were aiming for somewhere close to 15:40. In the given conditions, with humidity high, this was the best that the 24-year-old from Maharashtra could have hoped for.

Dramatic start

In what proved a dramatic start to the opening day’s track finals, Xue Fei provided the host with its first gold medal, snatching it away from Bahrain’s Tejitu Daba Chalchissa right at the post in the 5000m. Having taken a lead of around 30 metres with two laps left, Chalchissa, the recent Asian Indoor Games champion, was contend to relax in front, little realising what was happening behind her. Kavita was in second place with a lap to go, with the Chinese close behind. From about 130 metres to the finish, Kavita put in everything she had to maintain her position, after having kicked seemingly too early from around 300 metres out, but the Chinese was unrelenting. As she surged through the home straight, there was little that Kavita could do except to preserve her third place. By the time Chalchissa looked around as she neared the finish to see if anyone was threatening her, Xue Fei, the recent Chinese National Games champion, came charging through to beat her, 16:05.19 to 16:05.45. Jhuma Khatun, India’s second entry in the event, came seventh among nine runners in 17:13.10.

Surendra Singh was withdrawn from the men’s 5,000m to help him concentrate solely on the 10,000m.

Pramila withdraws

Pramila Aiyappa, lying sixth and last after three events in heptathlon with 2188 points, pulled up after 50 metres in the 200 metres, the fourth event, apparently because of an inury. Uzbek Yulia Tarasova led with 3624 points at the half-way stage. In women’s long jump, M.A. Prajusha (6.15m) and Reshmi Bose (6.13m) took the sixth and seventh places, well below their marks at home this season. The Indian sprinters, in both sections, exceeded expectations by qualifying for the semifinals scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Sathya Suresh clocked his second best ever at 10.55s in coming second in the third heat of the men’s 100 metres. In another heat, Abdul Najeeb Qureshi timed 10.60s in coming third and making the last-four grade. In the women’s 100 metres, H.M. Jyothi came second a heat in 11.72s while Sharadha Narayana finished third in another heat in 12.06s to progress. Japanese Chiasto Fukushima (11.37s) and Vietnamese Vu Thi Huong (11.70s) topped the qualifiers’ list.

Chatholi Hamza (3:46.24) qualified for the men’s 1500 metres final as the second fastest behind defending champion Mohammad Uthman Shaween of Saudi Arabia (3:44.82). Also making the grade was Sunil Kumar (3:47.90) who was fifth in a heat but qualified as one of the three ‘best losers’.

Bibin wins heats

In the quartermile, too, India had success with all the runners making the finals. In the men’s 400m, Bibin Mathew won one of the heats in 46.59s while Shakeh Mortaja was third in another heat in 46.98s. Japanese Yuzo Kanemaru, the Asian Games champion and the leader this season (45.16s), who is the favourite here, clocked 46.15s in winning his heat. In the women’s 400m, Mandeep Kaur (53.19s) and Manjeet Kaur (53.87s) came second in two different heats behind Japanse Asama Tanno (52.78s) and Chinese Chen Lin (53.68s) respectively.

http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/athletic ... e46543.ece

Manipur pugilists, a tough breed

"We are fighters... we hate to lose,” says 23-year-old Suranjoy Singh, one of the many young pugilists hailing from the North-Eastern state of Manipur. Suranjoy, a native of a small village called Uchiwalewirak, near Imphal, says Manipur is full of boxers and taekwondo enthusiasts. “We like any sport that involves physical contact, especially the martial arts. Boxing is very popular among young people (here), particularly after Dingko Singh won gold in Asian Games. It comes naturally to us,” says Suranjoy. Suranjoy himself rose to fame with his gold-winning achievement at the Asian Championship in fly weight category (51 kg) at Zhuahi, China earlier this year. He beat the local pugilist Li Chao in the final. Suranjoy’s title success ended a 15-year gold medal drought for India. Rajkumar Sangwan was the last Indian to win gold for India at the Asian Championships at Tehran in 1994.

Outlining his aspirations, the Services bo­xer says, “I want to win a medal in Olympics and World Championship. I think the gap between the Indian and international boxers is narrowing. We are good. It is all about confidence and luck.” Suranjoy, who impressed recently with his gold-winning run in the 56th National Boxing Championship in Hyderabad, said Vijender Singh “has changed the face of boxing” in India with his bronze winning efforts at Beijing Olympics and the World Amateur Championships in Milan.

Explaining his own first-round elimination at the World Championships in Milan, Suranjoy said, “I went with great hope, particularly after my performance in the Asian Championship. (But) I lost in the first round. It was a very disappointing outing. I think I was bit unlucky.” Despite Suranjoy’s disappointing show in Milan, his Cuban coach, BI Fernandez, firmly believes his ward has the potential to win an Olympic medal or even become a world champion. “He is an aggressive boxer. I like the way he trains and has good boxing sense. He is classy. He can be a world champion,” he says.

Though Suranjoy knows that his coach’s hi­gh opinion of him is true, he is also aware re­aching the top needs a lot of hard work. “We have to be skilful and energetic to fight the top boxers of the world. It is a power game. And it is also important to have a good defence. Speed is always necessary in boxing and the boxers have to do a lot of training for footwork. One has to be nimble-footed with enough endurance to outwit his opponent,” says Suranjoy. A fan of Mike Tyson, Suranjoy says he admires the American’s brute power and his “very strong punch.” “I like the way he knocked down his rivals. He liked to counter-attack. It was brutal and fatal,” says Suranjoy, who himself shows no mercy to opponents.

Boxing is in Suranjoy’s blood. His brother, Suronjit competed in the feather weight category. He won gold in a YMCA International meet at Delhi. “I was never into boxing initially. I was more interested in football and played for a club as a striker. But I got into boxing when my brother needed a sparring partner at home and I got attracted to the sport. Seeing my interest, my brother encouraged me to take to boxing,” recalls Suranjoy.

Ironically, Suronjit quit boxing because of accident and Suranjoy’s career blossomed. Clinching his first gold in the sub-junior category in the 2000 YMCA meet at Delhi, winning has become a habit for this attacking boxer. He was the best boxer in the 16th Sub-junior nationals and he was picked for the World Cadet championship. But he lost in the quarterfinals. That defeat made Suranjoy a more determined boxer. “I hate to lose,” says Suranjoy, who won gold in the 2003 National Games. Joining the Navy in 2003, Suranjoy scaled new heights and was bronze medallist in the 2004 junior world boxing. It was also in 2004 that he made heads turn, when he upset the Asian Games medallist Ali Qamar in the Senior National Championship.

Till his victory over Qamar, Suranjoy had been unbeaten in his weight category. But after the high point came the low point as Suranjoy faltered and his career ran into rough weather. “There was sudden loss of form. I was bewildered. I was out of the reckoning for three years before I bounced back last year. (Suranjoy won the National Championship). It was thanks to the efforts of GS Sandhu, Dinkgo Singh and others, who helped me regain confidence.” Since his comeback last year, Suranjoy has begun to unleash his full repertoire of punches. Clinically fast and solid, this Manipur lad is primed to go places.

The Suranjoy Singh story

* Suranjoy Singh gave India its first Asian Boxing Championship gold in 15 years at Zhuahi, China, in June, beating Li Chao of China 9-8 in a thrilling encounter.
* The last gold medal for India in the Asian Boxing Championship had come in the 1994 edition in Tehran when Rajkumar Sangwan finished on top in the super heavyweight category.
* The Manipur Governor gave a cash award of Rs 30,000 on Suranjoy’s return home with the coveted medal
* Suranjoy’s career collection, so far, includes nine gold, one silver and the same number of bronze medals in national-level competition.
* He was the best boxer in the 16th sub-junior nationals and he was picked for the World Cadet Championship where he lost in the quarterfinals.
* His brother, Suronjit, competed in the featherweight category and won gold in a YMCA international meet.
* Joining the Navy in 2003, Suranjoy scaled new heights, winning the gold in the 2004 World Junior Boxing C’ship.

http://expressbuzz.com/edition/story.as ... 9WGM=&SEO=

[Stan_Savljevic]

Seems like the shuffling has produced a new capitan for the team. I checked back and saw that we had the following capitans in the canada series.

7th: Rajpal Singh, won 3-2
6th: Sandeep Singh, won 3-1
5th: Rajpal Singh, won 3-1
4th: Dhananjay Mahadik, won 2-0
3rd: Tushar Khandker, drew 4-4 after leading 4-1, not to blame Sandeep Singh who scored a hat-trick.
2nd: Rajpal Singh, won 4-3
1st: Cant find a single report that names the skipper, so it must be Sandeep Singh, won 2-1

I get the feeling that Coach Jose Brasa feels that Sandeep Singh performs best when he is less stressed out without the captaincy mantle and Rajpal does best in capitaning the team. Sandeep may not feel that way, I guess. So despite all the brouhaha over rotating captaincy, it was basically a test of Rajpal Singh's captaincy skills with Dhananjay Mahadik, who coaches the Army team in Murugappa Trophy, ably at that, thrown into the mix and Tushar's letting a 4-1 slide to 4-4 may have sealed his fate. In any case, hope this move pays rich dividends....

Rajpal replaces Sandeep as Indian hockey captain

NEW DELHI: Rajpal Singh on Friday replaced Sandeep Singh as the captain of a 21-member Indian hockey team for the FIH Men's Champions Challenge I tournament in Salta, Argentina from December 6 to 13. Forward Rajpal will lead the Indian side in the eight-nation tournament, the winner of which will qualify for next year's elite Champions Trophy, a Hockey India release said.

The release did not, however, specify why Sandeep was being replaced by Rajpal for the important tournament. India have been drawn in Pool A with Belgium, China and New Zealand, while Pool B consists of hosts Argentina, Canada, Pakistan and South Africa. India will play their first group match against New Zealand on December 6 before taking on China (December eight) and Belgium (December 10). The semifinals and final will be played on December 12 and 13 respectively. The Indian team will leave for Madrid on November 23 for a one-week training-cum-competition tour en-route to Salta. {Once we had the spaniard coming to coach the team, we have been making far too many spanish trips, is that a harmless coincidence where the coach wants to double up spending time with his family when the Indian team gets some match practice, or is there something more sinister to it, well time will tell. I hope it is just the former.}

India last played the Champions Challenge at Boom, Belgium in 2007 where they finished fourth. They had won the inaugural edition of the tournament in Kuala Lumpur in 2002 and played in the Champions Trophy in Cologne, Germany, in 2003.

The Team:
Goalkeepers: Adrian D'Souza, PR Sreejesh.

Defenders: Sardar Singh, Sandeep Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Bharat Ajitesh Roy, Dhananjay Mahadik, V Raghunath.

Midfielders: Tushar Khandker, Arjun Halappa, Vikram Pillay, Roshan Minz, Danish Mujtaba, Vikas Sharma.

Forwards: Rajpal Singh (Capt), Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Shivendra Singh, Deepak Thakur, Sarwanjit Singh, Mandeep Antil, Prabhjot Singh.

Chief Coach: Jose Brasa.

National Coach: Harendra Singh.

Weird that Harendra Singh's position is mentioned as national coach. Where are the vid analysts and physio? They should be an official part of the team. They cant sit in the sidelines and they should be mentioned in the official list, they play a key role in ensuring victories in today's hickey v3.0. The change in mindset has to come from IHF or Hickey India as they call it now, admin-wallahs still view physios and vid analysts as some bullshitey profession, and how far off they are in this.

I can id zero faces in the new team, except the Coach as the title also says...

Under-18 Asia Cup: India in the fray, Bansal coach

Competition does not stop for Indian hockey. Indian men just came from a very successful Canada tour; women did well at the Asia Cup. Now the Under-18 team is ready for its Asia Cup, which is beginning at Myanmar today, the 11th November. There were controversies about the overage issue during the trials, but now, leaving everything behind, the teenage Indian team is all geared up to defend its title. India won the last U-18 Asia Cup that happened in 2001. {AHF folks dont want an u-18 cup, so much for their pompous claims for more spots in the WC and OG for asia.}

The team is totally new; almost all the players will be boarding the plane for the first time in life on 8th, and will reach Myanmar on 9th via Kolkata. But this team has one continuity - Ajay Kumar Bansal -- as coach of the U-18 Indian team. The coach of the successful Junior Asia Cup (Under-21) is not new to competitive hockey, both international and domestic circuits. So, he is expected to deliver at Myanmar.

He however, asks us to wait and watch. “See it’s a new team. No player has got the exposure of playing at the international level so far. So, it’s tough for them, pressure will be very high” says Bansal. He refuses to make any promise this time because he didn’t get ample time to spend with the boys. When asked about the planning, he stresses on wait-and-watch policy yet again. “All the teams will be new to each other. No one has seen the other players much except Pakistan, which toured Malaysia before this event. So, we will not go all out, but will try to find out the other teams’ policy first, and then we will make our plans” reveals Bansal. “We will reach there on 9th and our first match is on 11th. So in the mean time, we will try to arrange practice matches, if possible, and also, we will keep an eye on the other matches as well” he adds.

Pressure will be there on the Indian team, being a veteran coach, he is expected to have some tricks in the arena. Once during the 2008 Azlan Shah Cup, when the team’s morale was down because of their below average performance, coach Bansal took the team to a beach instead of making them work hard in practice session. This worked wonders, the team was in the finals. Will something similar happen this time as well? Bansal smiles, “Again, I am not making any promise. Yes, in Azlan Shah, team had plenty of inexperienced players and we managed to do well, but this time….let’s see! All I can say is that we will try to give our best, and I have a few players who are really confident and can do better in the future at higher levels.”

And who are they? “Manpreet Singh, captain of the team, plays well. There is guy Omi, from Uttar Pradesh, Aman Quershi, Chandan Singh- they all play well. We have a very good full back as Amit, who by chance, belongs to Dilip Tirkey’s village. They all are very confident players, and though we are in a tough group with Pakistan and Malaysia in the same pool, but will give our hundred percent” tells confident Bansal.

“Look, I am aiming for future. This team will tell us about the real mettle of the young lot and then we will have plenty of time to train them and now with the overage issue almost resolved, I am very hopeful that we are moving in the right direction for the betterment of the Indian hockey” he concludes.

The team:
Goalkeepers ---- P. Naveen Kumar, Upraj Singh
Full Backs ---- Amit Rohidas, Chandan Singh, Love Deep Singh
Midfielders ----- Sushil Xalxo, Barkat Singh, Manpreet Singh (Captain), Manmeet Raj Singh, Bachiter Singh, Devender Sunil Walmiki
Forwards ---- Arman Qureshi, Gurjant Singh, Naveen Sangwan, Sukhdev Singh, Talwinder Singh, Gunasekhar, Pramod Venkatramana

India are the defending champions of this tournament which was last played in 2001. The winner of this edition will qualify for the Youth Olympic Games to be held at Singapore in 2010. India is drawn in Group A with Pakistan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Chinese Taipei.

India's Pool matches are as under :
13 Nov. vs Sri Lanka
14 Nov. vs Malaysia
16 Nov. vs Pakistan
17 Nov. vs Chinese Taipei

Two observations... Have read that Punjabi hockey has gone to the dogs, if the u-18 composition is taken as a metric, hardly believable. In hindsight, I have heard Amit Rohidas name in either of the backpages of chindu or s2h. Belongs to Dilip Tirkey's village, and if you are wondering more, here we go:
http://stick2hockey.com/ViewArticle.asp ... leOID=4094

Dilip Tirkey Sows the seeds of Six-a-Side Hockey in Sundergarh

ROURKELA: Dilip Tirkey, the world’s most capped hockey player and icon of the tribals of Sundargarh district, has carved another role for himself as the initiator, mentor and propagator of six-a-side hockey in Orissa, Last year, to begin with he had organized successfully a six-a-side hockey tournament in the state’s capital Bhubaneswar to introduce the game in the state. But since the state’s entire hockey machinery is known to revolve around the tribal players of Sundargarh district, to which Dilip Tirkey himself belongs, it was more appropriate to introduce the game at the source –-- Sundargarh district. ‘Charity begins at home’ so he rightly chose his own village --- SAUNAMARA --- around 30 Km away from Sundargarh town, to introduce the concept, format and rules of the play to the local players.

Mohammed Aslam's resignation letter to Hockey India has this remark...

The other main concern being the continuous disturbance from office bearers of other major federation in the working of Hockey India. I am sure if the tables are turned and hockey India administrators start interfering in their federatiions or in any other federations it will not be taken well. This only caused serious delays in the smooth running of Hockey India and this is the cause of elections being delayed.

The players take three steps ahead, and the wusses that run the hockey administration keep fighting so that they can add a couple of lines to their CV, so that when push comes to shove, they can use this experience to get ahead in their political careers. What a loada crap... I shall openly call for tarring the faces of many of these morons. Yes, M-O-R-O-N-S, you read it right.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Anand takes on Aronian and Kramnik vs Ivanchuk in the final round of Tal Memorial. Anand and Ivanchuk are 1/2 a point behind K-man. Lets see the final round fireworks, I am looking for at least a shared 1st here. And yes, FIDE ratings suck big time. They are inflated and they can be skewed upwards without even playing the world champion or the ex-world champion often nuff. All you need to do is keep playing fellow-FIDE gunslingers and voila like the economy, your fide rating can skyrocket and blow up past 2900 sooner than you think. Thats called cooking the books, but thats par for the course with fide. Wonderful organization, but what else can be expected from the ex-SSR kooks that run the show today?

Joseph Abraham lived up to his promise, winning the silver in the 400-metre hurdles on the fourth day of the 18th Asian athletics championships here on Friday. It was India’s eighth medal in the meet and before a bitterly-cold night’s programme ended, woman discus thrower Krishna Poonia added a bronze to the tally. India was fourth in the standings, with a day to go.

There were a few close misses for India, but the most shattering experience was the eclipse of Tintu Luka in the women’s 800 metres. Unable to match the ‘kick’ that others came up with on the home straight, Luka finished sixth in 2:07.61.

Abraham ran a near-faultless race. If being on the outermost lane (8) was a disadvantage since he had no idea where the others were, the 28-year-old made light of it. By the half-way stage, even as Kenji Narisako, the eventual winner, gained a little, Abraham kept his poise and was almost together with the Japanese on the last hurdle. Through the final 40 metres it was tough for the Indian to hold off the threat posed by the former champion Sultan Mubarak Al-Nubi of Qatar. Abraham had come fourth in Amman two years ago when Kazakh Yevgeniy Melshenko had won. The defending champion finished fifth this time. Abraham said that he had changed his stride pattern after the World championships last August when he was disqualified for a hurdling infringement. “I was careful about it this time,” said the 28-year-old Indian who had a season best of 49.59s clocked in Chennai in May.

The expected results came about in women’s discus. What was unexpected was the challenge the Asian Games champion Song Aimin had to face from her Chinese teammate Ma Xuejun who opened with a 63.63 to practically destroy any Indian hope of gaining a better medal than bronze. Song Aimin had to pull out all her experience to prevail over her countrywoman with a last-round throw of 63.90. Krishna Poonia did well to go up to 59.84 in her second throw, her best in recent weeks, though her season best stood at 60.78 recorded in London last August.

Harwant Kaur, who made the squad on the strength of her Chennai inter-State performance (58.71) came fifth, behind Japanese Yuka Murofushi (55.14) with only 53.83 which was a surprise. She had three valid throws, all over 53 metres, and three fouls. Prakash Verma missed a medal in the men’s 800 metres by a hundredth of a second, a heart-breaking experience for the Delhi youngster. “Did I get a medal,” he kept asking several minutes after the final.

Defending his triple jump title, Renjith Maheswary missed a medal by a centimetre, reaching 16.48m in the last round. In an engrossing battle in decathlon, Bhartender Singh slipped and bounced back but eventually had to settle for the fourth place, faring poorly in pole vault (3.70m).

http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/athletic ... e48201.ece

[Stan_Savljevic]

I jinxed Anand

India win 3 medals on last day, finish 3rd at Asian Athletics

Guangzhou (China): Long distance runner Kavita Raut and women's 4x400m relay team won a silver each while men's 4x400m relay quartet bagged a bronze on the final day as India ended the Asian Athletics Championships at third position here today. India, who sent a 60-strong squad, ended the five-day competition at third with 12 medals (one gold, 4 silver, 7 bronze). China (18 gold, 19 silver, 10 bronze) and Japan (12 gold, 5 silver, 5 bronze) finished first and second respectively.

Raut, who had won a bronze in 5000m on the opening day, ran her personal best of 34:17.21 in the 1000m race. She gave a tough fight to 2009 Berlin World Championships marathon gold winner Xue Bai who won the race in 34:11.14. Raut, who was preferred to last edition medal winner Preeja Shridharan in both 5000m and 10000m, bettered her earlier personal best of 34:23.80. Compatriot Preeti Rao was seventh with an effort of 35:22.65. Another Chinese, Wang Jiali stood third with a last-gasp dash in 34:22.64.

The Indian women's quartet of Mandeep Kaur, Sini Jose, K Chitra Soman and Manjeet Kaur then fetched the country's second silver of the day in 3:31.62 behind China (3:31.08). Japan took the bronze at 3:31.95. The surprise package were the men's 4x400m relay quartet of Harpreet Singh, Bibin Mathew, VB Bineesh and Shaikh Mortaja who won a bronze, clocking 3:06.83. Japan (3:04.13) and China (3:06.60) won gold and silver respectively. The men's and women's 4x100m relay teams, however, flopped. The women's quartet were disqualified while the men's team of NB Gobbaragumpi, Sathya Suresh, Sameer Mon and Abdul Najeeb Qureshi finished fifth with a time of 39.58.

In women's high jump, Sahana Kumari was seventh with an effort of 1.80m. Surendra Kumar pulled out of the men's 10,000m race, which saw compatriot Sunil Kumar finishing sixth with a time of 29:28.73. Surendra did not take part in 5000m also. In men's javelin throw final, Narayan Om finished fourth by clearing a distance of 75.36m.

http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_in ... cs_1311739
World snooker inaugurated at Hyderabad
http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/other-sp ... e48791.ece

Andhra chief minister K. Rosaiah formally inaugurated the 35th IBSF world snooker tournament here on Saturday at an hour-long function which was also attended by union Information and Broadcasting minister Ambika Soni. There was a sizeable turnout at the massive Hyderabad International Convention Centre hall, the venue, with players dressed in their playing attire (bow-tie) in attendance.

[Stan_Savljevic]

So here it goes, the official reason why Sandeep was replaced...

Sandeep to miss Champions Challenge

Former skipper Sandeep Singh has been virtually ruled of the Champions Challenge tournament in Argentina following a severe back injury during the ongoing camp in Pune. "Sandeep has been advised 15 days rest," chief coach Jose Manuel Brasa said, but official confirmation is yet to be received. Brasa also said Sandeep did not perform well under pressure as a captain during the Canada series, which India won 6-0, saying that he was burdened with expectations. Rajpal Singh has replaced Sandeep as the captain but Brasa insisted it had nothing to do with the injury to the latter.

So we also know why we dont have a vid analyst yet....

He also pointed out that his demands for a video analyst, laptops for technical assistance and a sports psychologist when he took over the job haven't been fulfilled.

More shite follows...

Brasa appealed to Hockey India to take the Indian coaches on their payrolls. Brasa's deputy Harendra Singh and assistant coaches Romeo James and Ramandeep Singh were promised that their payments would be looked into after the sponsorship tussle with Sahara was solved. Now that the issue has been settled the coaches expect some headway is made on this issue.

So the only junket Harendra Singh is eligible for is being called "national coach" while the "chief coach" ponders on having a family-visit-cum-"practice" in royal Madrid

After playing three practice matches in Madrid, one against Spain's B side and two against a club team, the team will leave for Salta in Argentina for the Champions Challenge tournament.

Why should we play a B-team and two club teams and have a stopover in Madrid for that, begs any logic. If Brasa can blame Hockey India for all ills and woes, if he acts like an oiseaule to take a family-visit-break, then how can he blame others for dishonesty, either the intellectual kind or the common-sensical kind?
http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_br ... es_1312164
But more shite follows, hold on....

Sandeep will miss 2010 Hockey World Cup: Brasa

PUNE: Former Indian hockey captain Sandeep Singh will miss next year's World Cup in New Delhi due to a back injury, chief coach Jose Brasa said on Sunday. Sandeep, who was on Friday replaced as captain by Rajpal Singh but figured in the 22-member squad for the December 6-13 Champions Challenge I in Argentina, underwent an MRI scan on Saturday following which doctors advised him 10-day rest. "It's a back injury. He won't be able to play in the World Cup (Feb-March next year) but may be he will come back for the Commonwealth Games (in October next year)," Brasa told reporters.

"He went for a test yesterday. Doctors said he cannot get out of the bed for 10 days. He cannot even get up from the bed on his own," the 58-year old Spaniard said. Brasa said Rajpal was named captain in place of Sandeep because of the back injury which the team management knew after the Canada tour. "Following the team's tour to Europe and Canada, we had decided on Rajpal and Sandeep (as the two candidates for captaincy) but till the day before yesterday we weren't sure whether he (Sandeep) would be fit to go to Argentina," Brasa said.

Brasa hailed Sandeep as the best player of the team but felt the burden of captaincy has affected his game. "It's a pity Sandeep is injured. He is the best player in the team and the best drag-flicker in the world. He gives the team a huge advantage with his strength and coordination. But the pressure of captaincy has affected his game and his short corners. During the tours while Rajpal and Dhananjay Mahadik were skippers he was doing well. In one of the games he converted four out of five penalty corner flicks. But once he was made skipper he did not score any goals," Brasa said. "An important thing as a skipper is the capacity to lead the team. But before that you have to have the capacity to perform on the pitch."

Asked whether Sandeep's absence will weaken the team's defence, Brasa said, "We have other good players to take his place. It's okay we are going to miss the best player in the world but we can't cry over that. We are going to win with or without Sandeep. The team has many players who can win matches for India. Names are not important, what is important is the light blue shirt of India," he said.

The Indian team, currently training at Balewadi Sports Complex here, would leave from New Delhi on November 23 for Madrid for a one-week training-cum-competition tour en-route to Argentina. India will play their first group match against New Zealand on December 6 before taking on China (December eight) and Belgium (December 10).

http://stick2hockey.com/ViewArticle.asp ... leOID=4139
I dont know if I should laugh or cry over this one step up, two down for Team Yindia. Sandeep even missed the first two matches of the canada tour. Now that I remember, the captain of the first match of the canada tour cannot be Sandeep, it must have been Rajpal. But, someone please tell me s2h aint lying, this is fricking weird. Baljeet out and Sandeep also out. Where is the physiotherapist, I ask and HI is busy bickering over their trivial elections. God save Indian hockey....

[Asit P]

This is bad news indeed

[Stan_Savljevic]

Indian hockey starts looking more and more like the baki hickey association these days, god save the hickey...

Five players boycott national camp in Pune

Mumbai: Five players of the Indian hockey team have given the national camp a miss, allegedly due to a rift with the chief coach Jose Manuel Brasa. Prabodh Tirkey, Ignace Tirkey, Hari Prasad, Ravi Pal Singh and VS Vinay have not attended the national camp, which has been going on at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune since November 4. None of these players have been included in the Champions Challenge squad, despite all of them featuring in the four-nation European tour in July. They did not make the cut for the squad for the Test series against Canada, where Brasa said he was 'forced to make six experimental changes' to the squad that went for the European tour. Vinay, however, was named as one of the five standbys for Canada.

It is believed that there is a growing discontent within the team over the coaching method adopted by Brasa. "We are being taught how to hold a hockey stick. We are taught how to pass the ball, how to hit it...he may be from Spain, who are champions in hockey, but we are not that bad," fumes one of the discards. It is learnt through reliable sources that even Sandeep Singh had a major tiff with Brasa a week and a half ago. "Sandeep could not understand why he was being taught how to hold a stick after playing for so many years. He countered Brasa and a major argument started. Arjun Halappa had to intervene to calm things down," the source said. {I know DNA's reporter keeps in close touch with Baljeet Singh, so the source of this "reliable" news may be Sandeep through Baljeet to Tushar to this writer, or Tushar may have direct lines to Sandeep. In any case, point being, the reliable is not "reliable".}

"Brasa has a dictator style of functioning. The team trains for nearly 12 hours everyday. Today (Monday) we had our first day off since coming here on November 4. Where is the recovery period? Players are bound to be fatigued or be injured." Incidentally, Sandeep -- who Brasa feels is one of the best in the world -- was sacked as the captain just a few days after the tiff. {Hmmmm....}

However, in the letter to the coach and Hockey India all the players have cited 'personal commitments' as the reason to skip the camp. "We will speak to Hockey India officials. But is there a point of telling them anything? They themselves are in such a mess," the
player said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_fi ... ne_1312645
Long overdue move, every apparatchik who is responsible for this mess needs to be tarred publicly. And that includes the coaches, the administrators and the weightlifters, including the olympic medallist who has also been caught once or twice. How many times will these folks get caught, damn....

IWF executive committee resigns during emergency meet

NEW DELHI: Under intense pressure from Union Sports Minister MS Gill and the IOA following a series of dope flunks by country's lifters, entire executive committee of the Indian Weightlifting Federation resigned during its emergency meeting on Monday. According to sources, the resignation came after Indian Olympics Association President Suresh Kalmadi rang up the IWF headquarters here when its executive committee were holding an emergency meeting and told in clear terms that federation has to clean up the dope mess. The resignations come just two days before the International Weightlifting Federation decide on India's fate in its executive board meeting in Korea after six lifters returned positive for banned substances in out-of-competition tests.

"Kalmadi rang up the IWF President while the executive committee meeting was on and asked what the federation will do to clean up the doping mess and possible ban by international body. After that the whole executive committee of the IWF resigned and they have also informed their decision to the IOA," a highly placed source said. Earlier in the day, Gill lashed out at the IWF, saying they owed an explanation and an apology to the country {Thank you for making that statement Sri Gill} for the dope scandals that may invite a third international ban and also asked Kalmadi to clear the mess involving the lifters.

"Recently, a number of weightlifters tested positive for banned substances. That has brought shame to the country and IWF is facing international punishment. The senior IWF officials owe an explanation to the country and express regret for the dope offence by the lifters," Gill had said. "They (the weightlifting officials) should take moral responsibility and do whatever to eliminate doping from weightlifting," he added.

See also, http://telegraphindia.com/1091117/jsp/s ... 749963.jsp

The move by the IWF executive, unprecedented in the history of Indian sport, came only after it was clear that the international body, in its meeting to be held Wednesday in Gayong City in Korea, was gearing up to ban India for up to two years and impose a fine of $50,000 for the doping offences. As per the rules of the world body, if three or more weightlifters from a member nation fail dope tests within a 12-month period, the country is automatically banned for one-year or fined heavily.

India have been banned thrice before for their lifters failing dope tests. On one occasion, India had to pay a fine of $25,000. Despite this, a total of eight Indians weightlifters have failed dope tests over the past few months. It includes some of the top names like Monika Devi and Shailaja Pujari. Sources said the resignations came after the IWF officials were put under pressure by a section of the officials in the IOA and the IWF itself.

Even the four-member committee headed by K.P. Singh Deo, which was appointed by the IOA a few weeks back, said in its report that there should be a total change in the weightlifting body. The feeling is that the IWF is unlikely to avoid punishment from the international body although some people feel some leniency could be shown in light of the Commonwealth Games that is to be held in New Delhi next year.

My arse, these buggers will get caught in the CWG if left to participate and shame India more. Pack em their bags, let em go do the doping on their own privately. Ban the IWF please and spare us more heartache. Ban the whole set of oiseaules and anyone who utters the word weightlifting in Yindia. We need a three- to five-year break, a compulsory retirement for all the senior and intermediate lifters of today and a need to start afresh in the age-group 16-19, period. No other move will help Yindian weightlifting. In fact, this is the exact prescription the resigned Egyptian coach gave to the then MHRD. MS Gill sat on that and now whines, very wonderful.

Somdev Dev Varman moved up two spots to be at 122 in the latest Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings chart released on Monday. Compatriot Rohan Bopanna moved up 16 places to be ranked 395 with 95 points.

There we go, cross-border biss measures coming forth...

Meanwhile, the IPL has asked the Pakistan players to obtain an NoC from their board and government before November 20 if they are to take part in the IPL III.

[Stan_Savljevic]

My god.... Allow me to reconstruct these two reports the way I see it fit...
http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/hockey/article50885.ece
http://stick2hockey.com/ViewArticle.asp ... leOID=4169

When contacted, Sandeep told IANS that he would not like to discuss the “nature of his back problem till he talked to HI officials. “Please, I don’t want to talk about my back problem before I talk to HI officials,” he said.

So a guy who led the team in the 7-match series suddenly comes and says he cant play till WC is done. And we had zero indications this was coming. And then there is a senior players-revolt going on. A new capitan is on the block. HI President is flying all the way to cool down players. And we have the guy who has led the team from the front saying, he wont talk about his issues. Putting two and two together, Sandeep Singh is just fine. His "back problem" is just an indication that its either Sandeep or Brasa. And there may be a peace brokered by IHF, HI and SAI. But then, IHF cant throw away Brasa cos the spaniard oiseaules running FIH have made this Brasa thing a pre-conditionality for WC-hosting. So wtf is going on, put your heads down and watch the saas-bahu whinefest tar our hockey system. God save Indian hickey...

While Brasa announced that Sandeep will not be fit to play in the Champions Challenge, Mattoo said that the injury is not all that serious. Mattoo, however, hastened to add that he would not hazard a guess over Sandeep’s chances of playing in Argentina unless he talks to the coach and the players. “I have seen the doctor’s report on Sandeep’s injury which is not alarming.”

Asked whether Sandeep would play in the Champions Challenge, Mattoo said “I can’t say anything now, I have to talk to the coach as well as players in Pune.” Team physiotherapist Shrikant Iyengar said he has submitted his report with HI and he has nothing to say on the injury.

From he cant play till WC 2010 to he cant play in CC. What a climb-down... Like Subroto Bagchi quoted the mnc, "when Yindians say X, they dont mean X, they mean Y." Take that...

HI is also not exactly happy with Brasa going public over his demand for a psychologist and video analyst besides equipment. An HI insider conceded that fissures have developed in the team as some players are backing Brasa while others are finding fault with his coaching methods.

Brasa could nt get things done silently, thats a gora problem only the few like John Wright or GK could overcome. Every other bozo such as GC, RicC, Gerard Rach have fallen for this gora disease of whining endlessly. Brasa whined a bit, but then HI or IHF are not paragons of virtue either. Where are the fricking vid analysts? That is a question for which I would like an answer too.... I will echo s2h comments on this:

If the chief coach openly says he did not get the equipment or a technical hand such as psychologist, it is for the team’s cause. He is not demanding something for his personal use – but to build a cracking unit for which he is in this country for the first place.

Other players' comments:

“Why all these issues have cropped up now, after the captain has been replaced. If the players have problems they should thrash it out with the coach and HI, but they should not pull out of the camp as that would harm the team’s interests,” said another senior player on the condition of anonymity.

New captain Rajpal Singh refused to go into the issues raked up by his teammates, but said that they have no problem with the coach. “We have a good rapport with the coach both on and off the field,” he said.

But the real issue with SS is this?!

A source close to Sandeep said Brasa wanted the drag-flicker to use a longish, flat stick but the player is unwilling to make any change in his stick or the way he drag-flicks.

s2h: Indians, especially players have a tendency not to change a wee bit. If a player cannot change his attitude or style of play in the interest of the team, how will the fortune of our team change? If some players are not willing to co-operate, or they don’t like the new style of the new coach, they should silently withdraw from the scene without making a scene. We know well in both men and women’s team the player chose to play. They pick and chose tournaments, and play the ball if they like the coach lest there are so many ways by which one escapes.

Wow, is this a debate over the method of hockey rather than on the end of the training stint itself? Wonderful, we know little and info flows in tidbits. So hold on and watch this drama unfold in real-time.
One more piece falls in...

The players are also miffed with the appointment of Rajpal as the new captain, pointing out that he has little experience and has not been a regular member of the team. Sandeep has opted out of the ongoing camp because of a back injury and there is still some confusion about the seriousness of the injury and how long he will be out of the game.

http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_ho ... ue_1313480

[Stan_Savljevic]

Seems like the hockey saga has unravelled... What we know so far.
1) Sandeep Singh wont play in CC in Argentina and will "recover" at home. His participation in WC and beyond events is not under question.
2) Rajpal Singh will capitan the team instead.
3) The sub for SS in the CC qualifier is Diwakar Ram, the jr India stalwart, he should have been in the damn team much earlier. DR is an ace PC-specialist too, so we can hope that DR is an "able" replacement for SS.
4) AK Mattoo brokered a peace deal with the six people who were disenchanted with Jose Brasa's tactics. Thank god for that. According to this deal, future capitans will be considered based on "performance", the six wont interfere with Brasa's coaching techniques, and all will be more or less back to normal again.
5) Jose Brasa sees his power curtailed a bit and the sweet taste of a 6-0 canada series win has gone sour so quickly.
Overall, one step ahead, one step behind, and with the wranglings of Hockey India elections and lack of a vid analyst etc being sore-points, I hope this "friendly fire" does nt cause any sorta debacle in Salta, Argentina. Hope Sandeep Singh nurses his ego and comes back a-hungry, he is too good a player to be left behind even if Diwakar Ram is not a bad idea either. Diwakar is just past 21, so he really has a long career ahead of him. Look for him at Salta, there will be some fireworks from the PC spot for sure. Onwards...

PS: DNA India seems to have the pulse on internal rumblings a bit earlier than other portals and newspapers. S2h is what I will call "dil maange more" commentary. S Thyagarajan & co at Hindu can write real well cos they have been around for ages and seen stuff go down and come back. ToI is toilet trash, as usual.

[Stan_Savljevic]

Hockey to introduce video-referral system: FIH

Field hockey teams unhappy with an umpire’s ruling can now demand a video referral of the decision, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) said on Monday. Teams will be allowed one referral per match on the decision of umpires to award, or disallow, goals, penalty corners and penalty strokes. The team captain must request the review as soon as the incident takes place. If the referral goes in favour of the team asking for it, that team will be allowed one more referral for the rest of the match, the FIH said.

The system will be put on trial at the men’s Champions Trophy in Melbourne from November 28, before the FIH takes a decision on introducing it at the next World Cup in New Delhi in February-March. Match umpires can already consult an off-field colleague watching a video replay if they feel they may have erred in awarding or disallowing a goal. ‘The primary purpose of the video umpire is to reduce major errors which may impact upon the result of a match,’ FIH competitions committee chairman Ken Read said in a statement. ‘We will review the results of the trial following the Champions Trophy, with a view to having the best video umpire system in place for the Men’s and Women’s 2010 World Cups,’ he said.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/daw ... -fih-ha-06
S2h adds,

The Team Referrals trial will provide for a wider range of referral possibilities than for the Umpire Referrals, but are restricted to decisions within the 23 meter areas relating to the award (or non-award) of:
1. Goals
2. Penalty Strokes
3. Penalty Corners
The award of personal penalty cards may not be the subject of a Team Referral. The only person who can request a Team Referral is the captain (or his designated acting captain), who must indicate to the Umpire that he wishes to use his Team Referral. He must do so immediately after the incident or decision which is to be referred as well as confirming this verbally to the Umpire. The player requesting the Team Referral must inform the Umpire of the exact nature of the decision (or non-decision) that his team wishes to be reviewed. The Umpire will then request Video Umpire assistance and relay the necessary information by radio to the Video Umpire.

[Rahul M]

stan, did you miss this ?

http://trak.in/news/om-prakash-wins-gol ... hip/22488/

New Delhi, Nov 11 (IANS) India’s Om Prakash Singh won the men’s shot put gold while Manjeet Kaur won the bronze in the women’s 400 metres in the Asian Athletics Championship at Guangzhou in China, Wednesday.

According to information received here, Om Prakash won the gold with a throw of 19.87 metres.

In the women’s 400 meters, Manjeet took 53.66 seconds to finish behind Chen Li (53.55 secs) of China and Asami Tanno (53.32 secs) of Japan.

Source: Om Prakash wins gold, Manjeet Kaur gets bronze in Asian Championship asian athletics, chen li, om prakash, s 400, tanno

--------------------

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091122/j ... 770211.jsp

Sanam triumphs with maiden gold
A STAFF REPORTER

Calcutta: Isiah Rajendra Sanam won his maiden international gold in the men’s individual compound category of the 16th Asian Archery Championship in Bali Saturday.

According to an Archery Association of India release, the 15th-ranked Indian outsmarted his fourth-ranked Indonesian opponent Nyoman Puruhito with a 106-103 in the final, to clinch gold. The win earned Sanam a creditable double — team and individual gold medals.

[Stan_Savljevic]

I am waiting for the new sportstar edition cos I have nt seen anyone but Chindu cover the Asian athletics meet properly. I did nt even see a medal table in the online version of chindu...

[Stan_Savljevic]

Brasa and his methods

Combining Indian style of attacking with European style of defending, according to Jose Brasa, is the way forward. The chief coach is quite determined in his mission to take India to the top. By Nandakumar Marar.

http://www.sportstaronnet.com/stories/2 ... 301800.htm
Usain Bolt to light up Commonwealth Games
http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/article56773.ece
The Year the Davis Cup Felt Empty
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/sport ... ref=sports

Tuesday is the 35th anniversary of the most important tennis matches never to be played. In 1974, South Africa and India advanced to the final of the Davis Cup, which had been won by either the United States or Australia every year since 1936. But the Indian government boycotted the final in protest of South Africa’s system of apartheid.

While the rising tide of condemnation for South Africa’s minority-rule government complicated the team’s surprising run to the Davis Cup final, India’s path there included more on-court drama. After upsetting the defending champion, Australia, in an epic confrontation that set a record for games played, 327, India still had the Soviet Union standing in the way of a trip to the final.

The team was led by Vijay and Anand Amritraj, who were brothers and rivals. “I was always better than Vijay growing up,” said Anand Amritraj, who was two years older. “Then in ’73, he had a breakout year, and I was left in the dust.” With India leading the Soviet Union after the doubles, 2-1, Anand Amritraj clinched a berth in the final with a rousing five-set win over Teimuraz Kakulia. “It was two brothers taking their country to the final, which had never happened, and this was for a billion people,” Vijay Amritraj said. “It was past the goose-bump feeling.”

India’s celebration proved short-lived. South Africa defeated Italy to reach the final, and after weeks of speculation that a compromise might be reached to play at a neutral site, the Indian government decided to boycott the final. The decision, which most believe came from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, ceded the Cup to South Africa and came as a crushing disappointment for the players on both teams.

“At the end of the day, the Indian government was right,” Moore said. “If more countries had boycotted South Africa, maybe apartheid would have crashed down sooner.”

The Indian team is no less divided. “I think it was a bad call,” Anand Amritraj said. “The only time we had an excellent chance of winning the Davis Cup, we gave it away.” But Vijay Amritraj contended that the Indian government made the right move. “As a sportsman I was disappointed, but as an individual I took pride in the fact that my government made the right call,” he said.

Each side remains convinced that it would have won. “I felt then and I feel now that we would absolutely have beaten them,” said Moore, who lives in California and is a director of the Indian Wells tennis tournament. Anand Amritraj, who owns a tennis club in Bayshore, N.Y., disagreed, saying: “I think they’re definitely delusional. We would have won, 4-1.”

Dont worry Anand Amritraj, we will hold the DC sooner than you think. May be two years, or five, but when it happens, I will remember making an early prophecy .