Defending champions Goa beat Karnataka 1-0

Thu, Jul 29 10 08:58 PM

Kolkata, July 29 (PTI) Substitute Cavin Lobo scored an injury time goal to help reigning champions Goa pip Karnataka 1-0 and begin their title defence positively in the quarterfinal league of the 64th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy at Yuba Bharati Krirangan here. Lobo, who replaced Milagres Gonsalves in the 55th minute, scored the decisive goal in the 90+1st minute to help Goa pocket three points in Group A, which also has Punjab and Services. Karnataka had an opportunity to take the uppherhand in the third minute but forward Ngurneilal Hmar''s header came off the horizontal cross bar. Soon, both the sides switched to playing watchfully with the first-half resulting in a goalless stalemate. New to the conditions, Goa struggled to find their rhythm and their turning point came only in the hour-mark when the Sporting Clube de Goa midfielder was brought in by coach Mariano Dias. Lobo had some fine attempts but only to see his strikes go in vain with either luck or pluck favouring Karnataka. He got at least three fine chances but the ball hit the horizontal bar or Karnataka goalkeeper Nagendra became the stumbling block. But in the dying moments, Lobo struck a fine angular shot beyond Nagendra''s reach to hand his side a fine win.

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Abbas overlooked for Pakistan's CWG and Asian Games squads

Published>Thu, Jul 29 10 08:46 PM

Karachi, July 29 (IANS) Pakistan's hockey selectors Thursday ignored veteran drag-flick ace Sohail Abbas for the preliminary squad for this year's Commonwealth Games in Delhi and Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

A 25-man provisional squad was named by the national selection committee for a series of training camps ahead of the two major events.

The seasoned defender, who holds the record for the highest number of goals in international hockey, apparently paid the price for skipping a training camp earlier this summer.

However, Pakistan's chief selector Hanif Khan tried to make it clear that Sohail's omission had nothing to do with his decision to skip the training camp.

'We haven't selected Sohail Abbas because we don't need him any more,' said Hanif, an Olympian. Hanif stressed that Pakistan has a number of youngsters capable enough to fill in for Sohail.

'We have found some good young boys on our team's Europe tour especially Muhammad Tauseeq who converted penalty corners in matches against Holland and Spain earlier this month,' said Hanif.

Meanwhile, Sohail who recently returned home from Dhaka after featuring in the Bangladesh League is featuring in the Quaid-e-Azam Gold Cup Hockey Tournament - a major domestic event - in Karachi. He has been in prolific form, scoring four goals in two matches in the event so far.

Preliminary squad: Salman Akbar (Lahore), Imran Shah (HBL), Zeeshan Ashraf (NBP), Muhammad Imran (Army), Muhammad Irfan (PIA), Waseem Ahmad (WAPDA), Muhammad Rashid (Navy), Fareed Ahmad (HBL), Muhammad Tauseeq (NBP), Kashif Javed (NBP), Rehan Butt (WAPDA), Shakeel Abbasi (SSGC), Abdul Haseem Khan (NBP), Shafqat Rasool (PIA), Muhammad Rizwan (Army), Muhammad Waqas (WAPDA), Muhammad Umar Bhutta (HBL), Imran Butt (PIA), Muhammad Khalid Bhatti (HBL), Tasawar Abbas (Police), Abdul Ghaffar (Customs), Waqas Akbar (PIA), Muhammad Zubair (PIA), Shahbaz Ali (HBL) and Mohsin Bilal (PQA).

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Vijender aiming for gold in CWG

Thu, Jul 29 10 08:42 PM

Chandigarh, Jul 29 (PTI) Beijing Olympics bronze medallist puglist Vijender Singh today said he was looking forward to the upcoming Commonwealth Games and was training hard for the mega sporting event to be held in Delhi from October 3-14. "We cannot afford to underestimate anyone. All the countries will bring their best in the Games, but we will get good competition from the boxers of African nations, United Kingdom and Australia," Vijender, who is hoping to shift to some other weight category in the forthcoming World series of boxing, told reporters here. The ace puglist, who is currently attending the boxing camp at NIS, Patiala, said he has fully recovered from his wrist injury and was aiming for top spot in CWG. "We are practicing on the new boxing ring with world-class facilities. I have recovered from my wrist injury and now I am concentrating more on my fitness. My aim is to perform well and to clinch the gold in the 75kg weight category," said Vijender, who is also one of the six brand ambassadors of the Games. In the last edition of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, India grabbed five medals in boxing, including Akhil Kumar''s gold and two silver and bronze medals.

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Tendulkar gives thumbs down to UDRS, prefers Hot Spot

Thu, Jul 29 10 08:22 PM

T V Sriram Colombo, Jul 29 (PTI) The Umpire Decision Review System may have its share of supporters but Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar today gave a thumbs down to UDRS, saying he was not fully convinced with the controversial referral system. Tendulkar said instead of UDRS, he was more in favour of the usage of new ''Hot-Spot'' technology, which is an infra-red imaging system used in cricket to determine whether the ball has struck the batsman, bat or pad. "I am not fully convinced with the referral system (UDRS). When I was here last time I was not convinced with many decisions. I did not feel comfortable, it was an experiement which I felt," Tendulkar told reporters here after notching up his fifth double hundred in Tests. "I would rather go with the Hot Spot because that establishes the contact between the bat and the bowl. That it is far better system according to me. The Hot Spot is much better," he said. The UDRS has recently got some supporters in Australian captain Ricky Ponting, Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan and former ICC umpire Rudi Koertzen, who called for the use of the system in every Test match. Tendulkar guided India with a classy 203 and helped his side end day four of the second Test at 669 for nine in reply to Sri Lanka''s first innings score of 642 for four declared at a placid Sinhalese Sports Club wicket. "When I was in the middle, it was important to go for a partnership and I am happy the way we played well. I was tempted to play my shots but at that time the match was at a critical situation and we had to hang in there," said the champion batsman. With over 1300 runs scored in four days at the loss of just 13 wickets, he said the SSC wicket was not an ideal pitch for Test cricket. "From a batsmen''s point of view the pitch is definitely the best in the world. It is a batting paradise but it is not result oriented. It is a tough track to bowl on," Tendulkar said. Although he is 37, Tendulkar is still going strong and the right-hander said it is his love for the game that keeps him fresh and rejuvenated all the time. "I am enjoying every bit of it. I don''t count the number of runs that I scored. It is nice to score runs and I am enjoying as much being in the middle as it is being in the past. It is fantastic," he said. More PTI TVS SSC MRM

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Rs.11,490 crore spent on Games: Government

Published>Thu, Jul 29 10 08:16 PM

New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) The expenditure being incurred for the Commonwealth Games is around Rs.11,490 crore, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister M.S.Gill Thursday told parliament.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha to nominated member Mani Shankar Aiyar, Gill gave the detailed breakup of the expenditure.

'The central government has approved funds to the tune of Rs.2,394 crore to the organising committee for the conduct of Commonwealth Games 2010, including for overlays, timing, scoring and result system and sports equipment,' he said.

An amount of Rs.4,460 crore has been approved for upgradation, renovation and creation of sports infrastructure, while Rs.2,800 crore have been provided through ministry of home affairs for upgradation of sports and city infrastructure.

In reply to another question, the sports minister said that all Commonwealth Games venues were complete except a weight lifting stadium at Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex which will be completed by July 31 and a table tennis stadium at the Yamuna Sports Complex which will be completed by Aug 15.

Both central and Delhi governments have been attacked on escalating cost of the Commonwealth Games. Slamming the government, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party said that the cost incurred for the Commonwealth Games was to the tune of $17.5 billion, compared to $1 billion incurred in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

Even Aiyar, a former sports and youth affairs minister in the first United Progressive Alliance government, recently termed the games a wastage of money.

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Torres says he's committed to spearheading Liverpool's revival

Published>Thu, Jul 29 10 08:06 PM

London, July 29 (ANI): Spanish striker Fernando Torres has told Liverpool that he will shun the prospect of lucrative moves away from Anfield and is committed to spearheading the club's revival.

"Torres has told us he is looking forward to playing for Liverpool next season," the Daily Express quoted Hodgson, as saying.

He was speaking as the side flys out to Macedonia today for the first competitive game in charge against FK Rabotnicki in the Europa League qualifier tomorrow.

Hodgson and Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow flew out to Spain last week to try to convince Torres that his future remains on Merseyside.

Hodgson said: "As far as I know he is looking forward to coming back here on Monday. He is enjoying a holiday - a well-deserved break as he has not had one for three years - spending a lot of time with his family and keeping a low profile." (ANI)

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Indian athletes to lose on home advantage: CGF CEO Hooper

Thu, Jul 29 10 07:56 PM

New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) Delay in the completion of the Commonwealth Games venues will rob the Indian athletes of the vital home advantage, Commonwealth Games Federation CEO Mike Hooper said today. Hooper, who visited the Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium, venue for Games'' opening and closing ceremonies, said that players are losing out on getting a hang of the stadiums and that will hurt India''s medal prospects. "They are going to lose on vital home advantage. They should have been given access earlier. Their medal prospect will get affected," Hooper said. "Venue handovers have been missed on various occasions and that''s not a new thing. But I''ll say, don''t look back, look ahead. It''s time to put our foot right. It''s time to look ahead," said Hooper. Delhi had promised that most facilities for the Games would be completed by the end of last year. That deadline was extended to March 31 and then to June 30. Three pivotal projects - the main Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, the aquatic complex and the athletes'' village - all missed the June deadline. On the issue of a young swimmer Priyanka Banerjee tripping on a loose grill and hurting herself at a Test event at the Talkatora stadium, now called S P Mukherjee stadium, Hooper said such incidents need to be redressed immediately. "I heard that a swimmer hurt her ankle. You need to look into all those things. Correct it," he said. The Test event, National Federation Cup, was held to demonstrate that the swimming complex was Games-ready. Hooper, however, refused to react on the Central Vigilance Committee report which pointed at rampant corruption in the construction of stadiums. "I have no idea about that. I heard that CVC is looking into it. It''s not a matter with CGF," he said. The CVC report cites instances of corrupt practices in awarding stadium construction contracts to companies. The report clearly points at rampant corruption in the contracts. On the remodelled Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium, which is holding a three-day Asian Athletics meet, Hooper said, "It''s an impressive venue with lot of improvement made in 6-8 weeks. It''s going well." PTI SHN MRM

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