Bedi was an ordinary bowler: Muralitharan

Published>Wed, Jul 28 10 10:22 PM

Colombo, July 28 (IANS) Sri Lanka's legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan Wednesday hit back at his most vocal critic Bishan Singh Bedi for the first time, terming the former India captain an 'ordinary' bowler.

Muralitharan, who retired from Test cricket earlier this month with a record 800 wickets, said Bedi had no right to comment on him.

'Bedi needs to look into the mirror. What he has done can be achieved by any ordinary bowler today. The few wickets that he has taken is not a major feat. There are 30-40 bowlers today who have done that with ease. He is making all these comments on me because he wants to be popular,' CNN-IBM quoted Muralitharan as saying.

Bedi has been calling the Sri Lankan a 'chucker' ever since he was charged for incorrect action by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1995.

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Courts stay HI election, FIH official holds out a veiled threat

Published>Wed, Jul 28 10 09:58 PM

New Delhi, July 28 (IANS) International Hockey Federation (FIH) vice president Antonio Von Ondarza Wednesday held out a veiled threat of sanctions if Hockey India (HI) does not hold its election by July 31, the deadline set by the world body.

Though Ondaza did not spell out the sanctions, it is clear that India's participation in women's hockey World Cup at Rosario, Argentina from Aug 30 can be in jeopardy after the Delhi and Bombay High Court stayed the election which was to be held Wednesday.

Ondarza, however, said 'sanctioning the athletes' is the last thing the FIH wants.

The IHF functionary has significantly reminded all stake holders of hockey in the country that the FIH had derecognised the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) way back in 2000 and how could it be the recognised body here.

There was an air of uncertainty when HI members walked in for the general body meeting and as the chair was about to call the election it was served the Bombay High Court's order staying the election for three weeks on a petition by the Mumbai Hockey Association (MHA).

By the evening, the Delhi High Court, which had asked the government Tuesday to issue a clarification that HI is a private body as IHF is the only recognised federation to run the sport in the country, stayed the elections following sports ministry's failure to do so. The High Court had lifted the suspension on IHF.

The sports ministry told the court that it recognises both the HI and K.P.S Gill-led IHF. The court said it was a violation of the guideline that there can be only one recognised body for the sport and stayed the elections till further orders.

Ondarza, who is also the FIH's observer for the election, was at his wits' end explaining the situation arising out of the court orders.

'Hockey is not being played on the field but in the courts. I do not know where we are heading to. There seems no end to it.'

'July 31 is the deadline for HI to hold the election and after that HI will not be part of FIH statutes. But I cannot take a decision, I have to consult. We have our rules and regulations and we have to answer our stakeholders. We had given provisional acceptance to HI till July 31. The deadline ends in a couple of days, we do not know what is going to happen.

Asked whether India will be barred from participating in the women's World Cup as FIH had warned HI, Ondarza said: 'We are here for the good of the athletes. We do not want to impose sanctions, but we have to do something. All I can say is that the ball is in the court of India today. I ask everyone, the government, the courts, the lawyers and all the stakeholders to set the ball rolling. We do not want to take any drastic steps, have your elections immediately.'

'In the last two years we have gone from one deadline to another. The world cup was a success and we have plans for Indian hockey to get back to its glorious past.

'I have come here so many times. We have put all our efforts, but every time something happens in the court.'

'I am flabbergasted. We have de-recognised IHF way back in 2000 because of its failure to unify the men's and women's units so how can they be the recognised body,' said Ondarza.

'Indian Hockey Confederation (IHC) was formed but only on paper. It never functioned properly and there were other problems with it. There were so many communications from both sides. We are not here to look into all these things.'

'We told HI to hold the election before World Cup, but it was not done. We even thought of moving the World Cup, but it was not possible to make a last minute change. HI said it will complete the process by July 31 and we thought there was ample time and accepted it.'

Meanwhile, HI is planning to move the Supreme Court 'expedetiously' in a couple of days.

'We are moving the Supreme Court within Friday against the Bombay High Court's stay order. There are other court cases in almost every state. We will ask the Supreme Court to take up all the cases,' said HI counsel Hitesh Jain.

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50-50 chance for Australia in Ashes: Steve Waugh

Published>Wed, Jul 28 10 09:28 PM

New Delhi, July 28 (IANS) Australian great Steve Waugh said Wednesday that both England and Australia have equal chance of winning the Ashes cricket series starting in November.

The former captain admitted that the Australian team has lost its aura of invincibility that it once had, but still the series against arch-rivals England will be evenly contested.

'Honestly, Australia are no more a dominant side in world cricket. There is still some (dominance) left for the Ashes but I see a 50-50 chance for both teams in winning the trophy. Though Australia might have a slight home advantage,' said Waugh, on the sidelines of a promotional event here.

Australia thrashed England 5-0 the last time the Ashes were contested down under in 2006. England returned the favour by winning the home series in 2008.

'The competition is getting tougher and it is good for the game. In my view, Australia, England, South Africa, India and Sri Lanka are the top five teams in the world. It is very hard to dominate cricket these days,' said Waugh.

On Australia's aura of invincibility coming to an end, Waugh added: 'The Australian team dominated the sport from 1995 to 2005-06. It is not the case anymore. The intimidation factor is missing in the current team. However, it still remains a strong team, especially in the one-day format.'

He also feels that Pakistan's recent victory against Australia in the second test match is good for the game.

'I am disappointed that Australia lost but Pakistan's win is a good sign for the game. Mohammed Amer bowled magnificently in the series and he will be the next bowling super star,' he said.

The Ashes series will start Nov 25 with the first test at Gabba.

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Bolt to face Gay and Powell in Stockholm

Wed, Jul 28 10 09:18 PM

Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt and top sprint rivals Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell will meet for the first time this year in a 100 metres showdown at the Stockholm Diamond League meeting next week.

The clash on Aug. 6 will be the first including Jamaican Bolt, American Gay and Bolt's compatriot Powell since they took gold, silver and bronze at the 2009 Berlin world championships, meeting director Rajne Soderberg told Reuters on Wednesday.

It will match the three fastest men of all-time with Bolt the world record holder at 9.58 seconds, followed by Gay (9.69) and Powell (9.72).

"The last time Usain ran here Asafa beat him just before the 2008 Beijing Olympics," Soderberg said by telephone. "I think it was the only (100 metres) race he has lost in his (professional) life so he probably wants to come back for revenge.

Bolt has beaten Gay in both of their 100 metres races. He holds an 8-1 edge over Powell, the loss coming in the 2008 Stockholm meeting.

Weeks later, Bolt set world records in the 100 and 200 and helped Jamaica eclipse the 4x100 record at Beijing. He went on to break both sprint records at last year's world championships.

Powell and Gay had already been scheduled to take part in the meeting and negotiations to include Bolt began several weeks ago, Soderberg said.

"He (Bolt) had missed a couple of races (with injury) and did not want to run more 200 metres, so it is a great honour to have him. This will increase interest in the meeting for the future and (talk of the race) will linger on for years."

The three also will meet in the Diamond League final at Brussels on Aug. 27.

Source: Published>

MCD yet to start upgrading road near Karni Singh Stadium

Wed, Jul 28 10 09:08 PM

New Delhi, July 28 (PTI) With the Commonwealth Games just two months away, MCD is yet to commence improvement and strengthening of a road leading to the shooting venue of the mega sports event. A proposal on upgrading the road near Karni Singh Stadium in Tughlakabad, pending for over two years, was postponed by a meeting of the MCD Standing Committee today after the area councillor raised objections. Councillor Sarita Chaudhary wants that the widening of the road also be done along with the improvement, but MCD officials argue that this will involve cutting of trees and a prolonged procedural delay. For work to begin, the Standing Committee needs to give its approval following which the proposal will be sent to the MCD House. MCD officials insist that the area where road widening is being proposed by the councilor is part of the southern ridge. "It will take a lot of time to get clearance related to the Indian Forest Act as the road widening will involve felling at least 1,000 trees. As not much time is left for the Games, the proposal for improving the existing road should be allowed. The road widening project can be taken up later," said a senior MCD official. Chaudhary said road widening is important as it will help ease the traffic congestion in the area. "It is not that trees were not cut for any Games projects in Delhi. If we cut some trees, will can plant double the number. But traffic situation is very bad on the stretch and widening of the road is quite important. I have been raising this issue for the last so many years but nothing is being done," she said. PTI SDG

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Petacchi stays silent as he meets doping investigators

Wed, Jul 28 10 08:38 PM

Italian Alessandro Petacchi, the points classification winner in the recent Tour de France, stayed silent on Wednesday when he met police investigating if he has committed a new doping offence.

"He wanted to speak but I preferred that he kept the right to remain silent," his lawyer Virginio Angelini told reporters after the meeting in Florence.

Petacchi said he was innocent when news broke about the probe during the Tour and his Lampre team said they would stick by him as he is innocent until proven guilty.

Police have not specified what Petacchi is accused of but raided his house in April as part of a long-running probe into doping in Italian sport.

The 36-year-old was banned in 2007 for using excess salbutamol, which he blamed on the overuse of an asthma inhaler.

Italian cycling has been riddled with high-profile doping cases in recent years.

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Wankhede stadium renovation not behind schedule: BCCI

Wed, Jul 28 10 08:22 PM

New Delhi, Jul 28 (PTI) The BCCI today dismissed media reports that renovation at Mumbai''s Wankhede stadium was running behind schedule and claimed the venue would be ready in time for next year''s cricket World Cup final. Board Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty said in a statement that Wankhede Stadium will be ready by December 31 and there was no truth in the report that DY Patil Stadium has been kept as a standby venue. "As the Tournament Director of ICC CWC-2011, I would like to place on record that the ICC Committee, keeping track of the preparedness of the World Cup venues, is satisfied with the progress of the work at the Wankhede Stadium," Shetty said. "The stadium would be ready by end of December 2010 which is the deadline given to Mumbai Cricket Association. The central Organising Committee of ICC CWC-2011 has not taken any decision regarding D Y Patil ground as an altenative venue," he said. The report has said that the Wankhede Stadium would miss the November 30 deadline and that the Cricket Board has decided to keep much-in-shape DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai as standby to avoid any last minute glitches.

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