Italy's title defence off to stuttering start

Published>Tue, Jun 15 10 12:48 PM

Italy got their title defence off to a stuttering start today when they needed to come from a goal down to draw 1-1 with Paraguay in their World Cup opener.

The four-time champions came into the match at Green Point Stadium under pressure after a underwhelming build-up and they had to dig deep to salvage a point.

On a cold and wet night, the South Americans stunned Marcello Lippi's men by taking the lead on 39 minutes when Antolin Alcaraz outjumped ageing Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro and Daniele De Rossi to head home a cross.

De Rossi redeemed himself by grabbing the equaliser eight minutes into the second half, making the most of goalkeeper Justo Villar's failure to clear a corner to put the Italians back into the game.

Italy, who are often slow to start at big tournaments, turned up the heat after their goal and they could have had more, but Paraguay clung on to share the Group F spoils.

Italy had the first sniff of goal after five minutes when the ball bounced kindly for Riccardo Montolivo who shot on the half-volley but it was charged down by Paraguayan defenders.

Lippi's team were in charge early on, making all the running and looking dangerous on the break as the rain poured down.

Vincenzo Iaquinta sent in a teasing cross but Alberto Gilardino couldn't get his head on the end of it as they ramped up the pressure.

Paraguay only started to come alive on 20 minutes, and some good build-up saw Torres have a punt from distance only to see the ball squirm well wide.

At the other end Montolivo, playing in place of injured AC Milan playmaker Andrea Pirlo, broke free down the middle but could only deliver a weak shot that went straight at the Paraguay keeper. Laquinta was in the action again soon after and should have done better from inside the six yard box but was hounded off the ball before Alcaraz got the breakthrough by getting on the end of a Aureliano Torres cross.

Italy came out for the second-half without veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who apparently had a lower back problem.

Federico Marchetti replaced him and he was busy early on with Enrique Vera going close on 53 minutes.

Italy though started to take charge and Montolivo got a shot on target before they won the corner that led to the goal.

Simone Pepe curled the ball into the box and Villar failed to connect with his punch, leaving the unmarked Di Rossi to bury it in the back of the net.

The goal proved a tonic and they went close as they pressed for the winner, with Pepe having the best chance, only to see his powerful long range drive kept out by Villar.

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Somalia's Islamic militants kill two for watching football match

Published>Tue, Jun 15 10 12:08 PM

London, Jun 15 (ANI): Islamic militants have killed two Somali football fans after they caught them watching World Cup football matches.

The Hizbul Islam group militants stormed a house near the capital Mogadishu where people were watching Nigeria play Argentina on Saturday and killed two people.

The areas of southern and central Somalia controlled by the Islamic militants are under a strict version of Islam. The group also arrested ten people for watching the match.

The next night, another 30 people were arrested as they watched the Germany-Australia game in the town of Afgoye, The Telegraph reports.

Sheikh Mohamed Abdi Aros, a spokesman for the militants, said Somalia should respect their ban on the World Cup and focus on pursuing jihad.

"We are warning all the youth of Somalia not to dare watch these World Cup matches," he said.

"It is a waste of money and time and they will not benefit anything or get any experience by watching mad men jumping up and down," he added. (ANI)

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Hockey India elections next month

Published>Tue, Jun 15 10 11:42 AM

India, June 15 -- Hockey India on Monday announced that it would hold its elections in July. The body, which took the decision at its special general body meeting, though did not announce the dates for the polls. Close to 70 representatives from 29 member units attended the meeting, with SPS Tomar being the government observer. The special general body also ratified the affiliations given to 25 state units including Goa, Maharashtra, Punjab and Jharkhand.

The Delhi High Court had overruled on the manner in which the IHF had been derecognised to pave the way for HI.

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Early debut ruined my career: Nazir

Published Tue, Jun 15 10 11:26 AM

Karachi, Jun 15 (PTI) Discarded Pakistan opener Imran Nazir feels debuting internationally at a tender age of 17 damaged his career as he was neither technically sound nor mentally strong enough for the grind at that stage. Nazir was given his senior Pakistan cap at the age of 17 in 1999 in both Tests and one-dayers and he now rues that early induction into international cricket. "The truth is I was not ready for international cricket at time, my technique was faulty and I didn''t have the mental strength or understanding of the game," he said in an interview. "Now that I have began to understand how international cricket needs to be played I have been dropped from the national team," he said. Nazir, now 28, last appeared for Pakistan in Dubai in a Twenty20 series against England in February this year before being ignored for the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies. "I am a more mature batsman now and if I get a chance to play again for Pakistan I will play in sensible fashion and cement my place in the team. I am ready to curb my natural instincts to play again for Pakistan," Nazir said. Nazir said when he made his debut in 1999, he only knew how to play the cut and pull shots properly. "But now after a lot of ups and downs in 11 years of international cricket I realise a batsman with limited range of shots cannot survive. Plus your shot selection has to be sensible you must have the patience to wait for the bad ball to hit not try a slog on every ball that I used to do previously," Nazir said. Nazir, who has played eight Tests, 79 one-dayers and 16 Twenty20 matches, said he was working hard on his batting. "I would say a player must be given time in domestic cricket before he is blooded in international cricket. Give him time to adjust and understand the game," he added.

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Railways to promote Commonwealth Games throughout India

Published>Tue, Jun 15 10 10:16 AM

New Delhi, June 15 (IANS) Tracking the history of the Commonwealth Games and the contribution of Indian Railways to sports, a special train will this month begin a cross-country journey to inform and take visitors down memory lane through rare photographs and memorabilia.

The train, which will be flagged off by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee June 24 and will return on Oct 2, a day before the Commonwealth Games kick off, will stop for two-three days at selected stations.

Five coaches of the train will feature exhibitions on the Commonwealth Games, while five will focus on information and technology in railway operations. An eleventh bogey will be converted into a 100-ft-long travelling sports photo exhibition, curated by sports filmmaker Sunil Yash Kalra, who has also donated rare pictures from his collection of over 5,000 photos.

'The exhibition train with a focus on youth will promote sports and information technology. It will also promote the Commonwealth Games, its significance and other things about it,' a senior official of the railway ministry told IANS.

'In the Commonwealth exhibition section, we have focussed on India's participation in the Games over the years. We have also tried to explain what the Commonwealth Games are and the history behind it.'

The train, he added, details how the Commonwealth Games had evolved over the years. 'Besides there will be trophies and medals won by sportspersons associated with Indian Railways.'

In the information and technology exhibition, the effort is to show the usage of IT in railway operations.

'People will be able to have a glimpse of the exhibitions during the stoppage at a particular station for two-three days. The whole idea is to make the people aware about sports and the need for it.'

The 'nostalgia exhibition' curated by Kalra will showcase many photographs for the first time. It has pictures of sportspersons down the decades, from 1928 to 2010, said one of the organisers.

'There are around 70 rare pictures in the exhibition, of which the oldest is of Indian hockey team that won the hockey gold medal in 1928. Photographs of about 100 national sports award winners from the railways in the last 75 years is also there at the exhibition,' he told IANS.

As a sports filmmaker, Kalra has made the docudrama 'Women's Cricket - Poor Cousins of Million Dollar Babies'. He has also authored various research papers on feasibility of sports sponsorship in India.

The train will be painted in logos of the 19th edition of Commonwealth Games and also Indian Railways. It will return to the capital by Oct 2, a day before the start of the mega-sporting event.

The ministries of railways, sports, and information and technology have joined hands for showcasing the exhibition across the country.

The train is the culmination of a promise made by the railway minister when she had presented the rail budget on Feb 28.

'Indian Railways will be the lead partner of the Commonwealth Games being hosted by India this year. To mark this event and also to spread the message, the railways proposes to start a Commonwealth exhibition train,' Banerjee had said.

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INTERVIEW - U.S. Open win would trump Turnberry for Cink

Published>Tue, Jun 15 10 08:46 AM

Stewart Cink clinched his first major title by beating golfing great Tom Watson in a playoff for last year's British Open but victory at this week's U.S. Open would give him even greater pleasure.

"To come through here at a course like Pebble Beach, with all the history and all the champions' names, would mean the most to me," Cink, 37, told Reuters after playing nine holes in practice on Monday.

"This tournament, especially the way they have been setting it up lately, really identifies the best players."

American Cink tied for eighth when the U.S. Open was last held at Pebble Beach in 2000 and he described the set-up for this year's edition as "difficult but fair".

Although the spectacular coastal layout is renowned for its small greens, Cink felt the severely sloping fairways would present the toughest challenge this week.

"There are going to be some holes where probably less than 20 percent of the guys are going to hit in regulation," the six-times PGA Tour winner said.

"For instance, on the 10th hole, you can't just hit it down the right half of the fairway and expect your ball to stay in. You have to hit the left half of the fairway. Holes like that are not going to be very often birdie holes."

Cink has recorded three top-10s at the U.S. Open, the most painful at Southern Hills in 2001 when he double-bogeyed the final hole to end up one stroke shy of a two-way playoff.

ERASING MEMORIES

"Looking back on it, it probably took me longer than I thought it would to erase memories of that," he said.

"Once the confidence from playing well wore off, I entered a stretch that was probably the darkest of my career -- most of '02. I just wasn't very happy with the way I was playing."

Cink had been tied for the lead with eventual winner Retief Goosen of South Africa as the duo played the final hole at Southern Hills.

However the American missed the green with his five-iron approach before three-putting for double-bogey, missing the last from two feet.

"My mind was in the wrong place in '02 and a lot of that was directly related to what happened at Southern Hills because I felt like that was my identity," Cink said.

"And that really isn't the way you want to be identified as a golfer."

Last year's British Open at Turnberry, however, provided him with the perfect setting to bury his painful memories of Southern Hills.

Although Watson at the age of 59 was the fan favourite, Cink rolled in a 15-footer on the 72nd hole to draw level with his compatriot before clinching the title in a playoff.

"Southern Hills never came to my mind at all during Turnberry last year," he said. "Not one time until I was with the press afterwards and someone asked me about it.

"And I thought: 'Oh well, you're right. I have put that (memory) away.' It did linger with me for a little while but after Turnberry I think I was successful at silencing all those little demons in the head."

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Federer says shock defeat against Hewitt will not derail his Wimbledon preparations

Published>Mon, Jun 14 10 02:08 PM

London, June 14 (ANI): Champion tennis player Roger Federer has said that his defeat at the hands of Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the Gerry Weber Open final in Germany will not derail his Wimbledon preparations.

The Swiss star will walk out on the All-England Club Centre Court a week today looking for a record 17th Grand Slam.

Federer crashed 3-6 7-6 6-4 to Australia's Lleyton Hewitt in the final of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany.

He went into the match with a grass record of 76-1 - and that one loss was to Rafa Nadal in the Wimbledon final two years ago.

Federer - who won his previous 15 matches against Hewitt - said: "I was unfortunate not to come through, but the loss does not worry me."

"It was a good tournament for me. I've got to ensure I draw the right conclusions for Wimbledon," The Age quoted him, as saying.

Federer, 28, will return home to Switzerland for two days before heading to London on Wednesday. (ANI)

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