Paes not sure of his Davis Cup partner for doubles play

Tue, Sep 14 10 10:08 PM

Chennai, Sep 14 (PTI) Veteran Indian tennis player Leander Paes today said he is still unsure about his doubles partner in the crucial Davis Cup tie against Brazil starting here Friday. Without naming Mahesh Bhupati, Paes talked a lot about available options in the Indian team and said the non-playing captain S P Mishra would take the call as to who will partner him on second day of the tie on Saturday. "It is good to have options and it is going to be tough on the captain to decide. I have full confidence in S P Mishra whom I have known for many years. He has been our lucky captain and so it is up to him to decide," said Paes, who has scripted many memorable triumphs at the international levels. The most successful professional player of India, Paes let his emotions out taking pride on serving the country that he loves most. "For sure, this tie is something special for me. I still remember my first match in Davis Cup against Japan in Jaipur. It was 18-16 in the fifth set and we won the tie," he said on his five-set doubles match that he won along with Zeeshan Ali as India to thrash Japan. Within an hour of his arrival here this afternoon, Paes was at the SAF Games Tennis Stadium with other members of the Indian Davis Cup squad for a three-hour workout. Bhupathi was conspicuous by his absence since not having arrived here and thus Paes practised with Rohan Bopanna, whose morale is on the high having finished runner-up at the U S Open last Saturday. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association officials confirmed that Bhupathi would be arriving here by Jet Airways late tonight. Paes, who won his first ATP Grand-Slam Doubles title with Bhupathi at this same venue, paused a beat before recounting some of his greatest moments in Davis Cup when scribes reminded him that he is in to his 21st season in Davis Cup play.

Source: Published>

Houghton's boys face unknown rivals in Namibia

Published>Tue, Sep 14 10 10:02 PM

New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS) India have a tough task of facing unknown rivals in Nambia in their third international football friendly of the month here Wednesday at the Ambedkar Stadium.

India lost 0-1 to Thailand in Bangkok and in the return leg lost 1-2 here last week. In their last two matches, India were successful in getting the ball in the rival half for most part but they clearly lacked a finisher.

In the last match, it was only after the 70th minute when Bhaichung Bhutia came on as a substitute that the Indian team started creating some goal bound moves.

Against 115th ranked Namibia, India, ranked 138th in the FIFA rankings, will have a tough time if they don't get their act right. For Bob Houghton's boys it will be a chance to salvage some pride after two consecutive losses against Thailand.

Houghton said Tuesday on the eve of the match that he will replace forward Mohammad Rafi, who played his second international match last week, with Abhishek Yadav.

'Abhishek and Chhetri will start. Abhishek has played well in Portugal and I have never seen him in better form as he is now,' Houghton said.

Lack of experience clearly reflected on Rafi's game last week and Houghton was forced to replace him in the 70th minute Bhutia.

Houghton said that against Namibia, Bhutia will also come in but in the later stages of the game.

'I want Bhutia to reach his peak by November when we shift our base to Dubai for training,' said Houghton

Against Thailand, the midfield looked disoriented and with Renedy Singh still recovering from a hamstring injury, Clifford Miranda will start as left winger and Anthony Pereira will move to right flank.

Defence is also a worry for Houghton as central defender Anwar Ali and wing-back Surkumar Singh have been ruled out due to injuries.

Houghton is planning to play Syed Rahim Nabi in one of the wide positions to give his team more attacking options.

On unknown opposition Namibia, Houghton said: 'I don't have much idea about Namibia. In situations when you play unknown oppositions the best thing is not to try too much and stick to our original style of play.'

Namibia are without seven first team players for the match, but their Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet sounded confident that his boys will be tough to beat in the match. September 15 is not a FIFA match day, and the foreign-based players didn't get a clearance from their respective clubs for their national duty.

'We have left out three players who play in South African league, one is playing in Angola and three are in Europe. They are not with us here. But we are looking forward to Wednesday's match. India have qualified for AFC Asian Cup, so it will be a tough match,' Saintfiet said.

Saintfiet said that his team was looking for match practice as most of the squad have not played for four months since their domestic league have been postponed.

'We don't have much match practice as most of the players have not played after the league had a break four months ago. So we are happy to have come here and play an international friendly,' said the Belgian after his side's training session here.

Unlike India, Namibia's have played three international matches so far this year.

In two friendlies in March, they drew with South Africa 1-1, and held Bosnia and Herzegovina to a goalless draw and lost 1-3 to Gambia in the qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations earlier this month.

Source: Web Search

Gill snubs gold medalist wrestler Sushil Kumar's coach Satpal

Published>Tue, Sep 14 10 09:58 PM

New Delhi, Sep.14 (ANI): In a setback to wrestler Sushil Kumar's celebrations after winning gold medal in the world championship in Moscow, his coach Satpal Singh had to suffer embarrassment on Tuesday when Union Sports Minister M.S.Gill turned him away from a photo opportunity in the national capital.

Satpal Singh, a Dronacharya awardee, has been a highly respectful wrestler of the country. He was a Gold Medalist in 1982 Asian Games and a Bronze medalist in 1974 Asian Games.

The incident occurred in full media glare, as journalists were about to click a group photo of officials with Sushi Kumar at Gill's residence.

Gill asked the Satpal to step aside while he himself posed for the camera along with Sushil.

He later chose to invite Coach Yashwir, who accompanied the Indian team during the event in Moscow for the photo session while still keeping Satpal away from all the action.

"I don't know why he did that. You have to ask him, my job is to coach. I coached Sushil for so many years and I will continue to produce more wrestlers," said Satpal, Dronacharya awardee later.

Responding to the incident, Sushil Kumar said that he was hurt by MS Gill's actions.

"Satpal has been my coach for the past 13-14 years. He is coach to over 900 kids. If a coach is insulted then his pupil also feels insulted," Kumar said.

For MS Gill though it must have been a case of Deja vu, considering he had infamously snubbed Saina Nehwal's coach Gopi Chand when the two had come visiting him last year, asking only the second Indian to win the All England Championship to introduce himself, an NDTV report stated. (ANI)

Source: Web Search

Test cricket is still exciting: Sehwag

Published>Tue, Sep 14 10 09:32 PM

New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS) Test cricket may be losing popularity with Twenty20 catching the imagination of the younger generation, but swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag says the longer version of the game has never been more exciting than it is today.

'There used to be so many draws in Test matches that would keep the crowds away but things have changed. We are getting more and more results in Test cricket and even a target of 350 can be chased in a day in a Test match.

'Cricket has not changed. A few innovations have come to make it more attractive. The approach has changed in some ways. Once a total of 200 was considered a winning one in One-day cricket. Not any more,' Sehwag said on the changing trends in cricket.

Sehwag released a book 'Hamare Kaptan... Nayudu Se Dhoni tak...' penned by Surya Prakash Chaturvedi at a function held at the Indian Islamic Cultural centre Tuesday.

'It is nice to see that books are being written on our past heroes. It will help the current generation to know about our former greats. I will certainly read and share the information with my team-mates,' Sehwag said.

The book gives an insight on all the captains who have led India and Sehwag acknowledged there was need to preserve the history of the game.

'Such books record the happenings for posterity and I am glad to be a part of it. There are some names that I have not heard but then that's because we did not have access to information on former cricketers when we were growing up. Books like this will help us understand our cricketing past better. We would certainly want to know how our former captains led the teams, what were their tactics, how they batted, bowled.'

Sehwag congratulated wrestler Sushil Kumar on winning gold at the World Championship.

'It is a fantastic achievement. He also comes from Najafgarh and that makes it all the more memorable for me. We all should feel proud of him. His akhara was close to my house.'

Sehwag wished success to the Commonwealth Games.

'It is a great opportunity for everyone. I am sure the Games will be a great success. We all must support the Games.'

Later in the day, Sehwag was present at the launch of Timex range of watches to coincide with the World Cup next year.

'It helps to play at home. We have shown good form for some time and it would be great to carry this good form into the World Cup. The conditions do favour us and I don't think we would be under any pressure. Home advantage can be great for our motivation.

Source: Web Search

Mumbai Indians win toss, elect to bat

Tue, Sep 14 10 09:28 PM

Durban, Sep 14 (PTI) Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and elected to bat against South Australia in their second Champions League match here today. Mumbai Indians: S Dhawan, SR Tendulkar (C), AT Rayudu, JP Duminy, SS Tiwary, KA Pollard, DJ Bravo, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, SL Malinga, AG Murtaza. South Australia: DJ Harris, M Klinger*, GA Manou, CJ Ferguson, DT Christian, CJ Borgas, TLW Cooper, AW O''Brien, CB Bailey, GD Putland, SW Tait.

Source: Published>

Test cricket is still exciting: Sehwag

Published>Tue, Sep 14 10 09:24 PM

New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS) Test cricket may be losing popularity with Twenty20 catching the imagination of the younger generation, but swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag says the longer version of the game has never been more exciting than it is today.

'There used to be so many draws in Test matches that would keep the crowds away but things have changed. We are getting more and more results in Test cricket and even a target of 350 can be chased in a day in a Test match.

'Cricket has not changed. A few innovations have come to make it more attractive. The approach has changed in some ways. Once a total of 200 was considered a winning one in One-day cricket. Not any more,' Sehwag said on the changing trends in cricket.

Sehwag released a book 'Hamare Kaptan... Nayudu Se Dhoni tak...' penned by Surya Prakash Chaturvedi at a function held at the Indian Islamic Cultural centre Tuesday.

'It is nice to see that books are being written on our past heroes. It will help the current generation to know about our former greats. I will certainly read and share the information with my team-mates,' Sehwag said.

The book gives an insight on all the captains who have led India and Sehwag acknowledged there was need to preserve the history of the game.

'Such books record the happenings for posterity and I am glad to be a part of it. There are some names that I have not heard but then that's because we did not have access to information on former cricketers when we were growing up. Books like this will help us understand our cricketing past better. We would certainly want to know how our former captains led the teams, what were their tactics, how they batted, bowled.'

Sehwag congratulated wrestler Sushil Kumar on winning gold at the World Championship.

'It is a fantastic achievement. He also comes from Najafgarh and that makes it all the more memorable for me. We all should feel proud of him. His akhara was close to my house.'

Sehwag wished success to the Commonwealth Games.

'It is a great opportunity for everyone. I am sure the Games will be a great success. We all must support the Games.'

Later in the day, Sehwag was present at the launch of Timex range of watches to coincide with the World Cup next year.

'It helps to play at home. We have shown good form for some time and it would be great to carry this good form into the World Cup. The conditions do favour us and I don't think we would be under any pressure. Home advantage can be great for our motivation.

Source: Web Search

Rajevac quits Ghana for Saudi Arabian club job

Tue, Sep 14 10 09:12 PM

Milovan Rajevac has quit as coach of World Cup quarter-finalists Ghana after failing to agree a new contract and taken charge of Saudi Arabian club Al Ahly Jeddah instead.

The 56-year-old Serb signed an 18-month deal with Al Ahly, the Ghana Football Association said in a brief statement on Tuesday.

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) said last month Rajevac was close to signing a new contract.

"The GFA has officially been notified by Mr. Milovan Rajevac of his desire to take up a fresh challenge elsewhere," the GFA said.

"He relinquishes his position as head coach of the Black Stars after two years and the GFA would like to place on record our gratitude for his services and wish him all the best in his future career.

"Though we find his departure unfortunate after two years of great strides, we confirm the search for a new coach has begun."

The quietly-spoken Rajevac emerged from coaching anonymity to make a big impact during his two years in charge of the Black Stars.

Ghana qualified in style for the World Cup finals in South Africa and also reached the final of the African Nations Cup in Angola at the start of the year.

The team's charge to the last eight of the World Cup was all the more impressive as they were without midfield talisman, Chelsea's Michael Essien, through injury.

Rajevac's departure means all six coaches in charge of African teams at the World Cup have now left their posts. Algeria's Rabah Saadane resigned earlier this month while the coaches of Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and South Africa departed after the tournament.

Source: Published>