At one point of time, I thought I will spoil the Indian party: Jai Bhagwan

Published>Thu, Mar 18 10 12:26 PM

New Delhi, March 18 -- For Jai Bhagwan, it cannot get bigger than this. Once an estranged boxer, who fled the National camp and thought of leaving the sport, bagging his maiden international gold at the XXX Energy Drinks Commonwealth Championships is a return to his roots. A boxer's tryst with destiny is fraught with blood and sweat. And, till the last punch is traded, no one can say for sure that the medal is won. On Wednesday, the torment Jai Bhagwan faced in the ring almost drained him. It made his steps heavy and the fiery punches turned cold. He even thought that the bout had slipped away. "In the second round, my opponent (Valention Knowles of the Bahamas) landed some solid combination of punches," said Jai Bhagwan. "With his formidable defence, he seemed impregnable. I thought I would be the only one spoiling India's party. Before me, three of my teammates had won gold and I was confident Vijender would also win," he said after the bout. In the third round, however, Jai Bhagwan went all out. "That's what I did," he said. "I fought with purpose and went after my opponent." Giving credit for his victory to his friend and guide, Vijender, Jai Bhagwan said, "He has given direction to my life and now, I want to win an Olympic medal." Like Jai Bhagwan, Amandeep and Parmajeet Samota also won their first international gold medals. "Last year, I did not get too many chances as Nanao Singh was the number one boxer. This year, after beating him, I secured a place in the team," explained Amandeep who ruled the 49kg bout. "The selectors and the chief coach chose me ahead of Nanao for the Championships and I am happy I didn't let them down." Amandeep missed the Beijing Olympic quota by a whisker in the second qualifier and he was not picked for the third qualifier because he skipped the national trials. The Mongolian boxer, whom he had defeated in the quarterfinals of the second qualifier, claimed silver at the Beijing Olympic Games.

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IPL surges on multiple delivery platforms

Published>Thu, Mar 18 10 12:22 PM

Cuttack, March 18 -- The commercial logic of the IPL keeps becoming more and more apparent. According to an official release, the opener had 19.9 million Indians glued to their TV screens. The connect between the teams and regions they notionally represent is also becoming stronger as the highest average viewer ship for the Kolkata Knight Riders versus the Deccan Chargers was in Kolkata and Hyderabad. The net too has seen interesting traffic for IPL. YouTube had eight million views for the first match while the official online site had 15 million exclusive page views on the first day. As such, despite cricket being a sport that has only nine nations with Test playing status, it appears that the format enjoys a global audience.

According to Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi various mobile operators estimated the SMS traffic during the match to be well over 12 million SMS.

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Commonwealth Games, a boon for Delhi: Suresh Kalmadi

Published>Thu, Mar 18 10 12:18 PM

New Delhi, Mar 18 (ANI): The Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CGOC), Suresh Kalmadi, has said the Commonwealth Games will be a boon for New Delhi.

Talking to reporters here on Thursday, Kalmadi said: "The Commonwealth Games to be staged later this year has been possible due to the liberal loan worth 1600 crore rupees advanced by the Government of India. So, this event will be a boon for New Delhi.

"The Organising Committee has the budget of 1600 crores. This money has been given to us as loan which we have to repay through sponsorships, through revenue, merchandising and ticketing. So, we have to return all the money we have got. And we are getting a lot of sponsors on board. There is going to be no expenses on our account to the government.

Whatever is happening, the stadiums, the roads, metro and airport is not just for the 15 days of the Games, but that is a legacy for the city of Delhi to enjoy," added Kalmadi.

Kalmadi further said the CGOC is confident about successfully conducting the games.

He also claimed that the game would leave behind world-class sporting infrastructure and allied civic facilities in the country. (ANI)

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TV babe Kirsty Gallacher rubbishes Tiger Woods link

Published>Thu, Mar 18 10 12:08 PM

London, March 18 (ANI): Scottish TV presenter Kirsty Gallacher has refuted claims linking her to Tiger Woods.

The beauty was upset after rumours buzzed online that she had an affair with the golfer.

"It was all speculation and it was incorrect. It was very upsetting," the Sun quoted her as saying.

Gallacher is the daughter of ex-Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher.

She is engaged to rugby star Paul Sampson. (ANI)

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Cricket tribunal to decide fate of Oz club players for racially abusing Indians

Published>Thu, Mar 18 10 11:52 AM

Melbourne, May 18 (ANI): Ten local cricketers in Australia will be handed down their punishment by a cricket tribunal for racially abusing six Indian players.

The Geelong Cricket Association launched a probe after receiving an official written complaint against 10 Thomson cricketers for alleged racial abuse of opposition Indian players playing for the Waurn Ponds Cricket Club on Sunday.

The complaint alleges six Waurn Ponds players of Indian decent were subjected to a series of racially motivated verbal attacks during fourth-grade qualifying final at Grinter Reserve No. 2.

Witnesses claimed some of the players were reduced to tears and were considering giving up the sport after the alleged taunts.

The claims are being taken so seriously that Cricket Victoria sent its code of conduct commissioner Ron Beazley to speak to the players involved before the hearing started officially in Geelong.

Geelong Cricket Association president Ron Dew said that the hearing continued until about 1 a.m. and that a finding would be delivered at about 7.30 p.m. tonight.

He said it was the first time the association had heard such charges and his association had been glad to accept the expertise of Beazley.

"He is the most experienced person in Australia to deal with this sort of issue," he said.

Last night's hearing was closed to the media, but Dew said that players from both teams were able to give their version of what happened during the game. (ANI)

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Woolmer remembered on third death anniversary

Published Thu, Mar 18 10 11:36 AM

Karachi, Mar 18 (PTI) Former Pakistan cricketers today paid tribute to coach Bob Woolmer, whose tragic death during the ODI World Cup in the West Indies exactly three years ago had left everybody stunned. Woolmer died on March 18 just a few hours after Pakistan''s shocking defeat at the hands of minnows Ireland and elimination from the mega-event. "What happened was tragic. Bob''s death came as a big shock for all of us even before we could recover from the defeat to Ireland," former Pakistan leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed said. Initially the Jamaican police had said they were probing a murder case but after three months they announced that the former England cricketer had died of natural causes. Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was the Pakistan captain in the World Cup and worked closely with Woolmer, said that the period spent in Jamaica after Woolmer''s death was the worst of his life. "We were treated like murder suspects and all sorts of accusations were made without anyone realising how close the players were to Woolmer," Inzamam said. "We worked as a team with Woolmer and there is no doubt that he was one of the best coaches I have seen in my career," he added. Danish Kaneria, who was a member of the World Cup squad, said that there was no doubt that Woolmer''s "shocking" death left the players shattered. .

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Tendulkar, Tiwary power Mumbai Indians to 218

Published>Thu, Mar 18 10 11:22 AM

New Delhi, March 17 -- Riding on Sachin Tendulkar (63) and Saurabh Towary's (61), Mumbai Indians post a total of 218 against Delhi Daredevils. Delhi Daredevils skipper Gautam Gambhir opts to field first as he retains the same XI while Mumbai Indians have K Pollard. Delhi Daredevils squad G Gambhir, S Ladda, AB de Villiers, T Dilshan, D Karthik, MF Maharoof, M Manhas, A Mishra, D Nannes, P Sangwan, V Sehwag. Mumbai Indians squad

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