Bollywood lends glamour to Sahara Sports Awards eve

Sun, Oct 31 10 04:38 PM

Mumbai, Oct 31 (PTI) Performances by Bollywood stars dominated the function to honour sportspersons at the second Sahara Sports Awards function here last night but athletes too let their hair down, joining the movie stars on the stage to shake a leg with them. Superstar Shahrukh Khan enthralled the gathering with his one-liners, Sania Mirza made debut as a compere while glamour girls Kareena Kapoor, Prachi Desai, Jacqueline Fernandez, Sonakshi Sinha set the stage on fire performing to their hit numbers at the Bandra-Kurla Complex here last night. The sportspersons too were not to be left far behind as present and former hockey skippers Rajpal Singh and Sandeep Singh took dialogue delivery lessons from Shahrukh, who made them repeat some famous dialogues from ''Chakde India'', with a humorous tinge. Beijing Olympic Games bronze-medallist Vijender Singh too tried his hands in acting as he gave a Haryanvi touch to Shahkrukh''s dialogues from ''Kal Ho Na Ho''. Kerala pacer S Sreesanth, who has often displayed his dancing skills, performed to a medley along with glamour girls of Indian badminton -- Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa, the Commonwealth Games gold medallists. One of the highlights of the evening was when Shahrukh made the the past and present greats of Indian cricket - Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, and Anil Kumble, amongst others, do a jig on the stage. More PTI VKV RRN AT

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''I am clean, not bothered by undercover or overcover agents''

Sun, Oct 31 10 04:22 PM

Mumbai, Oct 31 (PTI) Wielding the mike with as much gusto as he does the bat, dashing Indian opener Virender Sehwag today said he was least concerned about a radical move by the cricket authorities to send undercover agents to players posing as illegal bookmakers. "I am not bothered whether they are undercover or overcover. I am clean. Only those who have something to hide need be concerned. I know my role and goals," said Sehwag at a media conference today. He was reacting to Australian media reports saying that the International Cricket Council was considering such a plan to root out allegations of corruption that has rocked Pakistan cricket. The ICC agents will approach cricketers to see if they report the encounters and players who do not report the approaches would be penalised under the anti-corruption code, with sanctions ranging from warnings to fines and suspensions, an Australian newspaper had reported. "We are thinking of setting up our own approaches to players, to see if they report it, we will think out of the box," ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat told the newspaper adding that it was only a tentative plan. Sehwag was effusive in his praise of Gary Kirsten, who was recently hailed by his idol Sachin Tendulkar, and said the former South Africa opener never tried to change his style of batting and always encouraged him. (More) PTI SSR VKV PM

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'Problem with cricket administration in Indian sub-continent'

Published>Sun, Oct 31 10 04:16 PM

Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who missed out on becoming the ICC President after being refused support by the Asian bloc and Zimbabwe, feels there is a "problem with the administration of cricket" in parts of the Indian subcontinent and the African nation.

"I think there is a problem with the administration of cricket in some parts of the cricketing world," Howard was quoted as saying by 'The Sydney Morning Herald'.

"I hasten to say not Australia - I think the cricket administration in Australia is very good. I think there is a problem in parts of the Indian subcontinent and clearly there is a problem in Zimbabwe, which is not entirely unrelated to the circumstances affecting me," he added.

Howard had to controversially back out of the race for the top job when he was refused support by the Asian nations and Zimbabwe earlier this year.

The lack of support for Howard was due to his controversial political past. He had even called Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan a chucker during his tenure as Aussie Prime Minister.

The former Prime Minister, who is a self-confessed cricket tragic, rated Australian skipper Ricky Ponting as the best Australian batsman since the legendary Don Bradman. "It's very, very hard to say any Australian batsman since Bradman has been better than Ricky Ponting," he said.

"I think Ponting is a great batsman. I think he plays the hook shot brilliantly and I wish him luck against the old enemy," he added.

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Atwal ends tied 26th in Asia Pacific Classic

Sun, Oct 31 10 03:52 PM

Kuala Lumpur, Oct 31 (PTI) Indian golfer Arjun Atwal returned an erratic two-under 69 in the final round to rise a rung and sign off tied 26th in the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic here today. Atwal ended his campaign with a total of seven-under 277 in the Asian and PGA Tour co-sanctioned event. The Orlando-based player started well with a birdie on the second hole but stumbled soon after by dropping a double bogey on the fourth. Another birdie and a bogey later, Atwal made the turn one-over. The back-nine turned out to be better with Atwal picking up four birdies -- including a brace in the closing two holes -- against just one birdie to round off on a positive note. American Ben Crane (69) clinched the title with a total of 18-under 266.

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India may find going tough at Asian Games

Published>Sun, Oct 31 10 03:36 PM

New Delhi, Oct 31 (IANS) After a historic second place at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games, Indian athletes may find it tough to replicate the success at the next big multi-discipline event - the Nov 12-27 Asian Games at Guangzhou, China.

India won 101 medals, including 38 gold, at the Commonwealth Games barely a fortnight ago. But its best at any Asian Games was in the inaugural event here in 1951 in New Delhi, when they finished second with 29 medals, including 15 gold.

In the last edition four years ago in Doha, India topped the 50-medal mark only the second time but finished eighth with 54 medals, 10 of which were gold.

At Guangzhou, India's medal chances are in shooting, wrestling and athletics, but can they peak a second time within a month of their exhaustive stint at the Commonwealth Games?

At the Commonwealth Games, India shooters bagged 30 medals, including 14 gold, while wrestlers won 19, including 10 gold. India had a surprisingly good haul from the track and field, winning two gold in a haul of 12 medals.

National shooting coach Sunny Thomas feels it will be difficult for the Indians to repeat the Commonwealth Games performance at the Asian Games.

'It would be unfair to expect the shooters to perform in Guangzhou as well as they did in the New Delhi Games. Then the level of competition will be much higher in China, considering the presence of heavyweights like China, Japan and South Korea. One should not expect the medal count to be anywhere near that of the Commonwealth Games.' said Thomas.

'In the 2006 Commonwealth Games, we won 27 medals, including 16 golds, but in the Doha Asian Games, our medals tally came down to 13, of which three were gold. I don't want to predict anything, but can assure that our shooters will try to give their best,' he said.

Wrestling also swelled India's medals tally at the Commonwealth Games, but national coach Hargobind Singh knows it will be a different ball game in Guangzhou. In the Doha Asian Games, India won six medals in wrestling -- one silver and five bronze medals.

'We would be aiming to maintain our performance and win at least six medals. Though a lot would depend on the draw because the world's top wrestlers would be there at the Asian Games. In almost every category, there are two world championships medallists. In some categories there are even three. Countries like Iran, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan are the world's best in wrestling,' he said.

'Also our first target this year was the Commonwealth Games and there is not even a month's time before the Asian Games. Once you perform at your peak, it will take some time to get back to shape,' said Hargobind, lamenting the absence of World Champion Sushil Kumar, who pulled out with a shoulder injury.

'We surely missed one gold as Sushil Kumar will not be there. But I can say this is a better team than the one at Doha. The good thing about this team is that every wrestler is a medal prospect. We will be competing in all the 18 categories and we just hope that the draw is in our favour,' he said.

There was an unprecedented medal haul in athletics as well, but to put it in perspective the performances would not compare favourably with the best in the region.

However, the women's 4x400m relay team, which won the gold at Doha, and triple jumper Renjith Maheswary are the best contenders for gold. The women's relay team, which won the gold at the Commonwealth Games, with a timing of 3:27.77 stands out in Asia. Bronze medallist Renjith's 17.07 m is the best mark by an Asian this season.

Discus thrower Krishna Poonia's 61.51 metre, that fetched her the Commonwealth gold, has been bettered by 20 other women in the world this season (her season's best, 63.69 m, recorded in the US, ranks 10th).

In tennis, sans Leander Paes, India will find it hard to defend the mixed doubles and the men's doubles gold medals they won four years ago. Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won the men's doubles gold while Paes and Sania Mirza won the mixed doubles event.

This time Paes has decided to skip the Asian Games as he has qualified for the World Tour Finals in London and even Bhupathi is yet to confirm his participation as he is trying to book his London berth. Sania Mirza and Somdev Devvarman will keep India's hope alive in the singles.

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Sehwag in favour of UDRS for series in South Africa

Sun, Oct 31 10 03:26 PM

Mumbai, Oct 31 (PTI) The BCCI is opposed to it but Indian opener Virender Sehwag today gave a big thumbs up to the controversial Umpires Decision Review System which has not been favoured even by his idol Sachin Tendulkar. "I am a big fan of UDRS. I want it to be there for the India-New Zealand series, India-South Africa series and in the World Cup. But this is my personal opinion," said the star India opener at a media conference here today. Sehwag, who has been signed up by cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar''s company Professional Management Group in a five-year deal for handling his endorsements, said that he favoured the UDRS as he had got the rough end of the umpiring stick on a few occasions in the past. "I was given out two times when I was not out and in such a situation could have gone in for a referral that would have helped me continue to bat," said the opener, who often makes attack his first form of defence. Tendulkar, whom Sehwag described as his idol, has consistently been opposed to UDRS as he is not certain the technology has become fool-proof to depend on it for the TV umpire to take a referral call on appeals involving more than close run-outs, stumpings and bump ball "catches". India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has also been not in favour of the UDRS but another senior cricketer Rahul Dravid had recently expressed his support for the referrals. The Indian cricket board has also consistently opposed its introduction in bilateral series after the team got the rough end of the referrals in the series in Sri Lanka in 2008, when Dhoni took a break. (More) PTI SSR VKV PM

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India to focus on upcoming New Zealand test series: Tendulkar

Published>Sun, Oct 31 10 02:36 PM

Mumbai, October 31 (ANI): Little Master,Sachin Tendulkar in Mumbai on Saturday said that it is important to build the winning momentum before the 2011 World Cup and currently he is focusing on the upcoming cricket Test series against New Zealand.Talking to media persons on the sidelines of brand endorsement ceremony,he said that after the recent win against Australia it is now time to focus on the New Zealand series.

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