'Lenin's death will leave a big void in compound archery'

Published>Mon, Oct 25 10 06:58 PM

New Delhi, Oct 25 (IANS) The tragic death of coach Cherukuri Lenin is a huge loss for the country's archers, feels Commonwealth Games medallists Rahul Banerjee and Jayanta Talukdar.

The 25-year-old Lenin died in a road accident near his hometown Vijaywada in wee hours of Sunday.

Though Rahul and Jayanta are recurve archers, they knew Lenin, a compound specialist, as a teammate.

Lenin later took to coaching with his father Cherukuri Satyanayana in Vijaywada and was also part of the Indian coaching staff during the Oct 3-14 Games. His students included upcoming archers from Andhra Pradesh and other parts of southern India.

Rahul, who won a individual gold and a team bronze in the Games, credited Lenin for the medals India got in the compound event. Compound archers Ritul Chatterjee and Chittiboma Jignes were both coached by Lenin and notched up silver medals in the Games.

'His death is a great loss for the new and the current lot of compound archers. It is because of him that we saw a lot of archers doing well from the southern part of our country,' Rahul told IANS.

Jayanta, who won two bronze medals in the Games, concurs.

'In a way, Lenin was looking after the archers of south India. He was giving training at the grassroot level and also to the established archers, something that is not done by other coaches. I wonder what will happen to the state of compound archery in India.'

Incidentally, Lenin's sister Volga also died in a road accident five years ago and father Satyanarayana set up an archery academy in her memory. Lenin was the head coach of Volga Archery Academy.

As an international archer, Lenin will be best remembered for the gold he won during the 2005 Asian Championships in New Delhi and a silver in the Asian Grand Prix the same year.

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+Kohinoor Wish+ claims the S Ramakrishnam Raju Memorial cup

Mon, Oct 25 10 06:22 PM

Hyderabad, Oct 25 (PTI) Prasad R trained +Kohinoor Wish+ ably ridden by A Imran K Claimed the Sri S Ramakrishnam Raju Memorial Cup (about) 1400 Metres for Category I horses on the concluding day of the 28-day Hyderabad Monsoon Races held here today. Trainers Prasad R and D Netto and jockeys A Imran K and Kiran Naidu scored a double each. Five first favourites obliged in a card of eight events. .

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Nicely maturing Bode sees future as a wine-maker

Published>Mon, Oct 25 10 06:18 PM

Olympic ski champion Bode Miller, who once confessed to racing with a hangover, is now thinking of a future steeped in the business of drinking.

The larger-than-life American has no immediate thoughts of quitting top level alpine racing -- he is having too much fun -- but said he planned a future as a professional wine-maker when he finally laid down his skis.

The 33-year-old super-combined Olympic champion bought land near his home town of Franconia, New Hampshire, with this project in mind and is still conducting studies to find out what sort of wine the land can produce.

"We still have quite a bit of time to make a decision and it will take many years for the vines to grow as well. It's a matter of patience," he said.

Patience was never the twice World Cup champion's main strength, another sign that he is coming of age after a career which has made him the best-known skier of his generation thanks to a style bordering on reckless and often outspoken statements.

There were none of the latter at the weekend as he concentrated on his new off-piste focus.

"We have hot summers but autumn is relatively short, meaning the vine will not benefit from as many sunny days as you get in California or Oregon who produce great wines," he said.

As a result, Miller wines will probably be sweeter wines similar to Austrian or Alsace whites.

'HAVE FUN'

Studying the land and the characteristics of a hillside -- with snow of it -- have been his trade for a long time and the man who has won 32 World Cup races in his career is hoping to add a couple to his record this season.

"I still have fun out there on the slopes so I didn't see any reason to stop," he told a media conference before the season opener in the Austrian resort of Soelden at the weekend, which was finally cancelled.

The American, who had been struggling in technical events lately, was in the top 15 after the first run.

The Miller nouveau owes a lot to the birth of his two-year-old daughter Dacey and his three 2010 Olympic medals -- gold, silver and bronze -- also helped silence critics at February's Vancouver Games.

Based in San Diego in the off-season, he bought a small yacht to cruise the Californian coastline with his daughter after the Olympics.

The American lives in a bus during the World Cup season in Europe and a ship when in California.

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Rooney snubbed by away supporters at Stoke

Published>Mon, Oct 25 10 05:58 PM

London, Oct 25(ANI): Manchester United fans snubbed striker Wayne Rooney by refusing to sing his name during the club's Premier League match against Stoke City.

Rooney was the only name missing as the 3,500 away supporters sang about a host of other United legends, including George Best, Eric Cantona and Cristiano Ronaldo, the Sun reports.

It was clearly their way to show disgust at the way the striker negotiated his new five-year contract.

Meawhile, Stoke City fans taunted their United rivals by singing: "Robbed by a Scouser, you're getting robbed by a Scouser."

They also chanted: "You're s**t, Rooney says you are."

Rooney missed the clash, won by United 2-1, due to an ankle injury.

In a dramatic change of events, Rooney - who wanted to leave United earlier this week - ended doubts over his future by signing a new five-year contract.

The striker, who was previously on 90,000 pounds per week, is now understood to be earning a basic salary in excess of 150,000 pounds per week.

He is now the highest-paid player at United, overtaking defender Rio Ferdinand. (ANI)

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PCB was warned about shady players well in advance: Tauqir Zia

Published>Mon, Oct 25 10 05:52 PM

Karachi, Oct 25 (ANI): Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Tauqir Zia has revealed that the board was notified before the team's tour of England that the International Cricket Council (ICC) had noticed some irregularities in the SMS accounts of six or seven players.

Zia made these claims in an interview with an Australian radio channel, The News reported.

The PCB was informed well in time before Pakistan played against Australia and England in July and August this year, he said, indicating that the board should have been watchful during the England series, which ultimately saw three key Pakistani players being implicated in a spot-fixing scandal.

The ex-chief also claimed that he was once approached by a front man of bookies to select a player who was allegedly involved in match-rigging.

"I was a serving army officer and there's a gentleman who rings me up and says "so and so should be included in the team because he fixes matches and we get money," Zia said, talking about the incident.So I said you are threatening a man in uniform...you go to hell and that man is not going to be put in the team. And he never was included in the side," he added. (ANI)

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Rooney's decision to stay massive boost to Man U's title chances: Terry

Published>Mon, Oct 25 10 05:08 PM

London, Oct 25(ANI): Chelsea defender John Terry believes that Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney's decision to stay back would be a massive boost to the club.

In a dramatic change of events, Rooney - who wanted to leave United earlier this week - performed an incredible U-turn over his future by signing a new five-year contract.

"I think Wayne staying will boost them and make it harder for us. On the back of what has happened United will probably go and spend in January and at the end of the season," the Sun quoted Terry, as saying.

Terry also thinks that Rooney's decision will make life difficult for the reigning Premier League champions

"The fact that clubs haven't been buying because of what's happened financially in the world has maybe helped Chelsea in the last few years. Wazza staying is massive for them," Terry said.

Rooney, who was previously on 90,000 pounds per week, is now understood to be earning a basic salary in excess of 150,000 pounds per week.

The 25-year-old is now the highest-paid player at United, overtaking defender Rio Ferdinand. (ANI)

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Gambhir, Ishant return to squad; no place for Yuvraj again

Mon, Oct 25 10 05:06 PM

Chennai, Oct 25 (PTI) Left handed opener Gautam Gambhir and paceman Ishant Sharma returned after injury lay-offs as the national selectors today announced a full strength 15-member Test squad for next month''s series against New Zealand. Gambhir and Ishant, who had to sit out of the second and final Test against Australia at Bangalore because of injury, have recovered sufficiently to be named in the squad, which has no new faces. While upcoming batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has been retained, two other youngsters Abhinav Mukund and Jaidev Unadkat have been left out of the team announced by the BCCI after a meeting of the selection committee here. Out-of-form Yuvraj Singh again failed to find favour in the Test squad, with the selectors opting for Suresh Raina and Pujara as the middle-order batsmen, both of whom have done reasonably well when provided with the opportunity. The team, to be captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has three fast bowlers in Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth and Ishant and three specialist spinners comprising Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha. The Indian batting order looks formidable as it has stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag, who have all been in fine nick in recent times. The return of Gambhir, who was laid low by a knee injury, means that opener Murali Vijay will have to sit out of the series commencing November 4 in Ahmadabad. "The team has performed extremely well against the Australians in both the Tests and One day series, particularly the Bangalore Test. Our junior players have gelled well in the middle-order with the seniors. Our bowlers have done a remarkable job. "Going by this, we have picked the team for all the three tests. I am confident that our players will continue their victory march," BCCI chief selector Kris Srikkanth told reporters here. "Our bench strength has come good and it was there for all to witness. This is a good sign for Indian cricket. Like it is said that the best player win, I must say let the best team (India) win," Srikkanth said adding the team for the one-day series will be picked later. Dhoni did not attend the meeting but he was consulted over phone by the five-member selection panel. (More) PTI RE SHN MRM

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