Early blow for Rajasthan

Published>Thu, Apr 01 10 02:01 PM

New Delhi, March 31 -- Charged up after their last win at the Feroze Shah Kotla, the Delhi Daredevils opt to bat against the Rajasthan Royals in their eighth game in New Delhi. Delhi Daredevils skipper Gautam Gambhir won the toss and elected to bat against Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League match at the Feroze shah Kotla Stadium here today. The Delhi side left out injured pacer Dirk Nannes, replacing him with Sri Lankan Farveez Maharoof, while Sarabjit Ladda was preferred over Rajat Bhatia. Rajasthan have retained the same playing eleven that played in the last match against Chennai Super Kings on March 28. Teams: Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag, David Warner, Gautam Gambhir (c), Paul Collingwood, Umesh Yadav, Amit Mishra, Sarabit Ladda, Kader Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Andrew McDonald, Parvez Maharoof. Rajasthan Royals: Shane Warne (C), Faiz Fazal, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Michael Lumb, Sumit Narwal, Naman Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, Shaun Tait, Siddharth Trivedi, Adam Voges and Paras Dogra.

TV Umpire: Sanjay Hazare.

Source: Web Search

Joshna, Dipika bag squash title

Published>Thu, Apr 01 10 01:55 PM

Manchester, April 1 (IANS) India's Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal won the International Manchester Doubles squash title here Wednesday, defeating Donna Urquhart (world no 20) and Kasey Brown (10) of Australia 11-10, 3-11, 11-10 in 72 minutes.

It was a close first game with both pairs playing steady and safe squash. The game could have gone either way. However, it went in India's pocket with just a stroke for an Aussie playing a loose shot and not moving out of the way.

The second game was a different story with the Indian pair playing loose shots coupled with too many unforced errors.

The Indians redeemed themselves in the third and fought point for point with save lengths and opportunistic attacking shots.

Dipika won the last point with an unbelievable trickle boast much to the relief and delight of the cheering Indian contingent.

In the men's events, Saurav Ghosal and Harinder Pal Singh finished eighth, Ritwik Bhattacharya and Sandeep Jangra 11th and Gaurav Nandrajog and Siddharth Suchde 14th.

In the mixed doubles, Harinder and Joshna lost 2-1 to Nicol David and Ong Beng Hee from Malaysia to finish fourth while Ghosal and Dipika beat the Australian pair of Cameron Pilley and Kasey Brown 2-1 to finish fifth.

Source: Web Search

Three down Chennai need 23 in 20

Published>Thu, Apr 01 10 01:45 PM

Chennai, March 31 -- With England's hard-hitters Kevin Pietersen and Cameroon White back in the squad, the Royal Challengers Bangalore chose to bat against the Chennai Super Kings in their seventh match in Chennai. With the help of another half century by Jacques Kallis, the visiting team put up a decent 161 for 4 wickets in 20 overs. Though the host team's effort on the field was not too laudable, their bowelers maintained a steady line and length to restrict run-flow of the maruading Challengers in the last five overs. Uthappa, who was dropped on 0, scored 21 off 13 balls, while Virat Kohli scored a quickfire 34. Pietersen too got the feel of the pitch in the last few overs and added 23 runs to the Bangalore's total. For the hosts, Sadab Jakati picked up two wickets giving away just 17 runs in his stipulated 4 overs. Though Muttiah Muralitharan failed to pick up a wicket, he kept the scoring down with his economical bowling. Jacques Kallis struck a 49-ball 52 to help Royal Challengers Bangalore post a competitive 161 for four against Chennai Super Kings in their Indian Premier League match here today. Kallis, who struck seven fours during his innings, got good support from Virat Kohli (34 off 24) as the duo added 63 runs for the third wicket before the latter fell to Chennai spinner Shadab Jakati in the 16th over. Kohli cracked three fours and a huge six during his stay in the middle. Englishman Kevin Pietersen (32 not out off 14 balls) and Australian Cameron White (21 not out off 13 balls) - both playing their first IPL III matches - were the other main contributors. Opting to bat first at M Chidambaram Stadium, Bangalore suffered an early loss in the third over when opener Manish Pandey (5) fell prey to paceman Thilan Thushara. Despite the early blow, the visitors maintained a good run rate thanks to a quick 42-run second-wicket partnership between Kallis and Robin Uthappa, who made 21 off just 13 balls with the help of two sixes and a four. Jakati struck in the seventh over for his first wicket removing a dangerous looking Uthappa, following which Kohli paired up with Kallis. Kallis and Kohli played sensible cricket finding the gaps for one and twos while hitting the loose deliveries for boundaries. After the fall of Kallis and Kohli, Englishman Kevin Pietersen and Cameron White - both playing their first IPL III matches - carried the tempo till the end of the innings.

For Chennai, Jakati took two wickets giving away 17 runs while Thushara scalped one for 30.

Source: Web Search

Delhi Daredevils beat Rajasthan Royals by 67 runs

Published>Thu, Apr 01 10 01:31 PM

New Delhi, March 31 -- Once upon a time, a young man named Dinesh Karthik lost his way on the path to Indian superstardom because of some explosive batting. Not his, but that of M.S. Dhoni. India, with a continual love affair with all that is flamboyant, paid homage at the altar of a newborn star, and Karthik, himself young and of no mean talent, moved into the shadows. On Wednesday night at the Kotla though, the man who's been an on-again, off-again stopgap arrangement for India exploded in front of a capacity crowd that might just forget about him before the next game. Yet, over this one-night stand, the magic all came from Karthik's bat, even while the crowd lapped it up -- crazy, delirious, even hungry for more. With Sehwag, Gambhir and Warner in their arsenal, Karthik isn't exactly the stuff Delhi dreams are traditionally made of. But a 6 & 6 off Sumit Narwal and a sequence of 4, 4, 4 off Shaun Tait in the closing overs changed all that. He hit Narwal, who had snared dangermen Warner and Sehwag with perfect deliveries, for two straight sixes and then whacked Warne's key striker, Tait, for those fours. Till then, the match was evenly poised. At the end of 15 overs, the Daredevils were 120 for 4. It wasn't looking enough. But Karthik then switched gears and, with some support from Andrew MacDonald, wreaked havoc. The next five overs got the hosts 68 runs, while Karthik finished with 69 off 38 balls, out off the innings' last ball. Just like Warner the other day, he tilted the balance in Delhi's favour even before the next innings had begun. And when it did, it was messy. Michael Lumb was back early, as were Faiz Fazal and Naman Ojha - the last beaten by a perfect leg-spinner from Amit Mishra, who was in fine form. When Yusuf Pathan was caught by blink-and-he's-there Warner - he took four catches and effected a run out - it was all over. Shilpa Shetty's smile was gone and her boys were 67 short, slowly ground into the Kotla dust. Teams: Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag, David Warner, Gautam Gambhir (c), Paul Collingwood, Umesh Yadav, Amit Mishra, Sarabit Ladda, Kader Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Andrew McDonald, Parvez Maharoof. Rajasthan Royals: Shane Warne (C), Faiz Fazal, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Michael Lumb, Sumit Narwal, Naman Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, Shaun Tait, Siddharth Trivedi, Adam Voges and Paras Dogra.

TV Umpire: Sanjay Hazare.

Source: Web Search

INTERVIEW - Common consensus needed to go forward - expert

Published>Thu, Apr 01 10 01:15 PM

Top sports organizations need to agree on a common solution for testing their athletes for performance-enhancing substances like human growth hormone (HGH), a veteran anti-doping authority told Reuters.

Dr. Don Catlin, chief executive of Anti-Doping Research Inc, said the National Football League, Major League Baseball, World Anti-Doping Agency, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and other agencies should meet and discuss where drug testing is headed.

Catlin, who began his career in anti-doping by founding the Olympic drug testing lab for the 1984 Los Angeles Games, is hoping to organize the summit.

"If we can get together the key people in the same room and speak frankly about the issues we all face we can agree on solutions and move things forward," Catlin said during a telephone interview.

"We came up with the idea (for a summit) after I kept seeing the articles with all this rancour and reasons why things weren't getting done. I think if we can put those things aside, we'll be able to make progress."

According to Catlin, any interested parties need to make an effort to cut through the roadblocks, financial challenges and bickering that he said has hampered the quest for a HGH test that can be administered by all sporting organizations.

Currently, a blood test is the only way to detect HGH. The Olympic sports use it and the Australian Football League said they will soon use it as well. North American professional sports leagues do not test for HGH.

Catlin, who gained fame for his work developing tests for previously undetectable steroids and forms of erythropoietin, or EPO, -- a blood booster -- said developing a test to be used to sanction athletes has two distinct stages.

The first step, he said, is establishing scientific proof that the athlete has taken a prohibited substance. The second step is validating that test so it is considered "bulletproof" by the legal community.

"It can't just be the courts who decide whether or not a test is valid," Catlin said. "The science has to be solid. You can't have any ambiguity or ways for lawyers to raise doubts."

FIRST POSITIVE TEST

Earlier this month British rugby league player Terry Newton became the first athlete to be sanctioned after giving the first positive test for HGH from a blood sample in any sport. Newton was suspended for two years.

The response to this breakthrough was mixed as the Olympic community lauded it as proof that HGH could be detected, while the NFL and MLB said blood tests could not be easily enforced.

Catlin is not unsympathetic to concerns that blood testing is less desirable than urine testing, but he said that does not mean professional leagues should not use blood testing now in an attempt to deter the use of HGH by athletes.

To find the common ground necessary to get to that point and to put together a plan that most, if not all, the sports groups can agree upon requires the key individuals in those organizations to get together and work out their differences.

"There are a lot of intelligent, creative people working in the field and to solve the difficult issues that we face today, we have to have them all pulling in the same direction," said Catlin.

"Maybe a meeting like this can help that happen. I don't know, but it's worth a try."

Source: Web Search

PTF chief hopes to see Sania playing for Pakistan

Published Thu, Apr 01 10 12:59 PM

Karachi, Apr 1 (PTI) Pakistan Tennis Federation chief Dilawar Abbas wants Sania Mirza to play for Pakistan after her marriage with former cricket captain Shoaib Malik later this month. Sania intends to continue playing for India even after tying the knot with Shoaib on April 15 in Hyderabad but Abbas said she should give playing for Pakistan a thought. "It is great news for our tennis community that Sania Mirza is getting married to Shoaib Malik. We welcome her and hope that she would become a Pakistani national and play for us in future. She has a great future ahead and we would be delighted if she plays for Pakistan," Abbas told ''The News''. "Asian women traditionally follow their husbands which is why I''m hopeful that someday she would be inspired by Shoaib to play for Pakistan," he added. The 23-year-old Sania, who is the most successful woman tennis player from the sub-continent, will settle down with Shoaib in Dubai post marriage. Abbas said even if she decides to continue playing for India, Sania can still help her husband''s country by promoting the game among women here. "She can encourage our girls to take up tennis, she can inspire them to become world class players," he said. "We would hope that Sania would lend a helping hand to women''s tennis in Pakistan," he added. Abbas suggested that Sania team up with Pakistan''s number one tennis player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi in the mixed doubles circuit. "Both Sania and Aisam are really good doubles players. I believe that their team would not just achieve great results internationally but will also help bridge the gap between India and Pakistan," he said.

Source: Web Search

Sania denied visa for Sialkot, reception likely in Lahore

Published>Thu, Apr 01 10 12:55 PM

Karachi, Apr.1 (ANI): The Pakistan High Commission has denied tennis star Sania Mirza a visa for Sialkot, the home town of Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik where a reception (Valima) was to be held after the couple's marriage.

Sania has only got visa for Lahore and Karachi following which the reception is likely to be shifted to Lahore.

Sania and Shoaib will tie the knot on April 11 in Hyderabad while their wedding reception is slated to be held in Dubai on April 15, where the sports couple would be staying after marriage.

They are not the first 'celebrity' cross-border couple. Former Pakistan Test opener Mohsin Khan had married Bollywood actress Reena Roy in the 1980s, but the marriage didn't last long.

Sania has also clarified that she was not making any political statement by marrying Malik. (ANI)

Source: Web Search