Athletics federation announces 92-member squad for CWG

Published>Tue, Aug 31 10 08:52 PM

New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS) The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) Tuesday announced a 92-member squad for the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games.

The Indian athletes will compete in 45 of the 46 events during the Games. India will not be participating in the women's pole-vault as it is still far from matching the international standards.

The final team for men and women 20km event and relay will be decided later and it will take the number of athletes to 142. The selection of athletes for all the four relays will take place after Sep 15.

'As per the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) rules, we can select the entries for the relay from our 92-man squad, so the entries will be filled for everyone,' AFI officiating officer Ravinder Chaudhry said.

'Also, according to IAAF we can choose the team 15 days before the Games, so we have kept more players and will select the final team after assessing their performance later.'

Chaudhry said they are expecting more medals from women athletes in the October Games.

'Women athletes have a better chance than their men counterparts. We are expecting good performance from women in discuss throw, 4x 400m relay, triple jump, 800m and 10,000m event while from men in shot-put, discuss and triple jump,' he said.

Chaudhry said that legendry athlete P.T. Usha's student Tintu Luka, who ran her personal best of 2:00.79 to finish eighth in the 800m race in the final leg of the Diamond League series in Brussels, Belgium, will be one of the stars to look out for.

In the men's 800 metres, Pankaj Dimri will the one to look out for, he said.

The teams for Asian Games will be finalised on the basis of their performance in Commonwealth Games.

Team (men):

100m, 4x100m: Abdul Najib Qureshi, B.G. Nagaraj, Krishna Kumar Rane, Hemant Kirulkar Rahamattulla Molla, Shameer mon, Ritesh Anand, Manikandaraj, S. Sathya

200m: Dharambir Haryana, Abdul Najib Qureshi,

400m, 4x400m: Kunhi Mohammad, Vinay Chaudhry, J. Premanand, Harpreet Singh, V.B. Bineesh, Jithin Paul, Bibin Mathew , S.K. Mortaja,

800m: Pankaj Dimri, P. Francis Sagayaraj, Manjit Singh

1500m: Sandeep Karan Singh, C. Hamza

5000m: Sunil Singh, Sandeep Batham

10,000m: Sunil Singh

110m Hurdles: Siddhanth Thingalaya

400m Hurdles: Joseph Abraham

3000m Steeplechase: Elam Singh, Ramachandran

Marathon: Bining L.

Shotput: Om Prakash, Sourav Vij

Discus: Vikas Gowda

Javelin: Kashi Nath Karnataka, Samareet Singh

Hammer: Chandrodaya Narayan

Long Jump: Maha Singh, Ankit Sharma, Hari Krishnan M

Triple Jump: Renjith Maheshwari, Amarjit Singh

High Jump: Nikhil Chitrasau, Hari Shanker Roy

Pole Vault: Gajanan Upadhyay

Decathlon: Bhartinder Singh, P.J. Vinod

Team (women):

100m, 4x100m: S. Geetha, H.M. Jyothi, P.K. Priya. Sarbani Nanda, Rebecca Jose, Nirupama Sunderraj, Arjina Khatun, Ch Shanthi

200m: H.M. Jyothi, S. Geetha

400m, 4x400m: Mandeep Kaur, Jaunu Murmu, Ashwini AC, Sini Jose, Tiana Mary Thomas, Chitra K. Soman, Mridula K, MR Poovamma, Priyanka Panwar, Manjit Kaur

800m: Tintu Luka, Sinimol Paulose

1500m: Shushma Devi Haryana, Jhuma Khatun West Bengal, O.P. Jaisha

5000m: Kavita Raut, Preeja Sreedharan Kerala, Laita Babar

10000m: Preeja Sreedharan, Kavita Raut

100m Hurdle: G. Gayathry

400m Hurdle: Jauna Murmu, Ashwani AC Karnataka

3000m Steeplechase: O.P. Jaisha, Sudha Singh, Priyanka Patel

Marathon: Sukanya Mall Singh

Discus: Krishna Poonia, Harwant Kaur, Seema Antil

Shotput: Manpreet Kaur

Javelin: Saraswathi S.

Hammer: Hardeep Kaur

Long Jump: Mayookha Johny, Prajusha MA, Reshmi Bose

Triple Jump: Mayookha Johny, Prajusha MA, G. Gayathri

High Jump: Kavya Muthanna, Sahana Kumari

Heptathlon: Promila Aiyappa, Sushmita Singha Roy, Navpreet Kaur

Source: Web Search

Three more arrest in ''spot-fixing'' scam involving Pak players

Tue, Aug 31 10 08:48 PM

London, Aug 31 (PTI) Three more arrests have been made by the Customs investigators in connection with the ''spot-fixing'' scandal involving Pakistani cricketers. Two men and a woman, all from London, were questioned last night as part of an investigation into money laundering before being released on bail, HM Revenue and Customs said in a statement. Sky TV reported that a 35-year-old woman from the Croydon area along with a 49-year-old man in North London were arrested to investigate a second, separate, criminal investigation into allegations of cricket match fixing. "Mazhar Majeed, the Pakistan players'' agent and fixer at the centre of the News of the World story was re-arrested by the customs service as part of a connected investigation into money laundering. He was released only today," Sky TV said. Majeed was arrested by the Scotland Yard on Saturday over allegations of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers. All three were questioned by customs investigators around suspicion of money laundering in connection with cricket match fixing and were released on bail. Majeed has been bailed to appear before police at a future date. He is alleged to have offered the bribes. News of the arrests emerged as three of the Pakistan cricketers at the centre of the scandal -- pace duo Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir and Test skipper Salman Butt -- were summoned to London to meet officials. They will meet the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt and the country''s High Commisioner tomorrow. The players are then expected to return to the squad in Somerset. World cricket was rocked by the spot-fixing scam after ''News of the World'' posted a ''sting operation'' video showing an alleged fixer Mazhar Majeed making bowlers Aamir and Asif bowl deliberate no-balls during the fourth Test against England at Lord''s. British investigators are also probing the involvement of Salman Butt, from whose hotel room 50,000 pounds was reportedly recovered by police.

Source: Published>

Chowrasia hopes to turn things at Omega Masters

Tue, Aug 31 10 08:38 PM

Crans Montana (Switzerland), Aug 31 (PTI) Struggling with his form, Indian golfer SSP Chowrasia today said he hopes to regain his magical short game and turn his season around at the Omega European Masters starting here on Thursday. The diminutive Indian is amongst a strong line-up of Asian Tour stars, including compatriots Jyoti Randhawa, Anirban Lahiri, Gaganjeet Bhullar and Shiv Kapur, who will feature at the USd 2.8 million event co-sanctioned with the European Tour at the Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club. Since his career breakthrough two years ago when he won the Indian Masters, the 32-year-old has struggled to reproduce his winning form and blamed poor putting for his woes. "My game is feeling okay. I''ve put in a lot of work in the last few years and changed my swing a bit. I''ve improved on my ball striking but my putting is not so good now. I''ve been missing a few short putts. My strong point is gone. I hope it''ll come back soon," said Chowrasia. Nicknamed Chip-putt-sia by the Indian media for his short game prowess, he has changed at least three different putters this season and is contemplating another switch this week. "The greens here are tricky. Reading the lines is a problem," said Chowrasia. "When I play in Europe, I see that my shots and swing is not much different from the top players but they are winning tournaments. My putting has let me down since last year. I''m thinking of changing putter again this week." Despite languishing in 173rd place on the European Tour''s Order of Merit and 34th on the Asian Tour''s ranking, Chowrasia is confident he can haul himself into the safety zone when his winner''s exemption expires at the end of this season. A return to the stunning Crans-sur-Sierre course has put him at ease as he prepares to challenge the likes of British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen of South African, Australian legend Greg Norman and Asia''s top stars Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand and countryman Jeev Milkha Singh. "It''s a nice course. I like this place and it''s so beautiful out there. The course is tricky but it''s fairly short which will suit my game nicely," said Chowrasia, who is the son of a greenskeeper. "This is the final year of my exemption on both Tours but one or two good tournaments will help me keep my card. I''ll aim for a good finish this week as I feel good about this place," he added. After the high of being in the Swiss Alps, Chowrasia will return to Asia next week to compete in the inaugural Handa Singapore Classic at the Orchid Country Club and also the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open in Japan. "I always like competing on the Asian Tour as that was where I started my career. I''m hoping to play well again as I feel my swing is good." PTI ATK

Source: Published>

Biggest ever Indian track and field squad announced for CWG

Tue, Aug 31 10 08:22 PM

New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) India today named the biggest ever track and field squad in Commonwealth Games as Athletics Federation of India announced 90 athletes for the October 3-14 multi-sport event here with almost all big names making the cut. The squad, which have 46 men and 44 women, will compete in 45 out of 46 track and field events. No athlete has been named for pole vault. The athletes for 20km walk, both men and women, will be announced later. "It''s the biggest Indian athletics squad in Commonwealth Games. We are the host country and we are expecting the highest number of medals also this time. We are expecting six to eight medals," AFI officiating Secretary Ravinder Chaudhry told PTI. "We will prune the four relay squads but with the naming of 20km walk for men and women, the total number will remain more or less 90. We will announce the 20km walk teams after September 15 and prune the relay teams also. Under international rules, we can do so 15 days before the Games," he said. Chaudhry said the squad have a few athletes who have not crossed the qualifying standard set by the AFI. "We have named a very few athletes as token entry, those who do not touch the qualifying mark. We are doing that as we are the host country," he added. The squad was announced after three meetings of Selection Committee, which was chaired by Gurbachan Singh Randhawa and attended by other members Adille Sumariwala, Anusuya Bai, Bahadur Singh, Gopal Saini, Parveen Jolly and Chaudhry. The athletes were selected based on their performances from April this year till the Inter-State Athletics Meet held at Patiala early this month. The events from which India can win medals include men''s and women''s discus throw, women''s 4X400m relay, men''s shot put, men''s and women''s triple jump and women''s 800m. US-based national record holder Vikas Gowda was the lone entrant and medal prospect in men''s discus while a medal can also be expected from Krishna Poonia, Harwant Kaur and Seema Antil in women''s discus throw. Om Prakash is another medal prospect in men''s shot put and he has been named along with Sourav Vij. National record holder Renjith Maheswari and Mayookha Johny are medal prospects in men''s and women''s triple jump. Women middle distance runner Tintu Luka, a protege of legendary P T Usha, has improved a lot in 800m race and she is another medal prospect. National record holder Sinimole Paulose has also been named in the same event. Other top Indian performers in the squad include Chatholi Hamza (men''s 1500m), Pankaj Dimri (men''s 800m), Joseph Abraham (men''s 400m Hurdles), Hari Shankar Roy (men''s high jump) and Preeja Sreedharan (women''s 10,000m).

Source: Published>

Valencia take Stankevicius on loan from Sampdoria

Tue, Aug 31 10 08:18 PM

Valencia have agreed to sign Lithuania defender Marius Stankevicius on loan from Sampdoria this season.

"He's a strong player, good at bringing the ball out and capable of playing in a number of defensive positions," technical secretary Braulio Vazquez told the club's website (www.valenciacf.com) on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old Stankevicius, who will join up with his new team mates after the forthcoming international break, played for Sevilla on loan last season.

Source: Published>

Three more arrest in ''spot-fixing'' scam involving Pak players

Tue, Aug 31 10 08:08 PM

London, Aug 31 (PTI) Three more arrests have been made by the Customs investigators in connection with the ''spot-fixing'' scandal involving Pakistani cricketers. Two men and a woman, all from London, were questioned last night as part of an investigation into money laundering before being released on bail, HM Revenue and Customs said in a statement. Sky TV reported that a 35-year-old woman from the Croydon area along with a 49-year-old man in North London were arrested to investigate a second, separate, criminal investigation into allegations of cricket match fixing. "Mazhar Majeed, the Pakistan players'' agent and fixer at the centre of the News of the World story was re-arrested by the customs service as part of a connected investigation into money laundering. He was released only today," Sky TV said. Majeed was arrested by the Scotland Yard on Saturday over allegations of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers. All three were questioned by customs investigators around suspicion of money laundering in connection with cricket match fixing and were released on bail. Majeed has been bailed to appear before police at a future date. He is alleged to have offered the bribes. News of the arrests emerged as three of the Pakistan cricketers at the centre of the scandal -- pace duo Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir and Test skipper Salman Butt -- were summoned to London to meet officials. They will meet the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt and the country''s High Commisioner tomorrow. The players are then expected to return to the squad in Somerset. World cricket was rocked by the spot-fixing scam after ''News of the World'' posted a ''sting operation'' video showing an alleged fixer Mazhar Majeed making bowlers Aamir and Asif bowl deliberate no-balls during the fourth Test against England at Lord''s. British investigators are also probing the involvement of Salman Butt, from whose hotel room 50,000 pounds was reportedly recovered by police.

Source: Published>

Pietersen announces his ouster from squad via Twitter

Tue, Aug 31 10 07:52 PM

London, Aug 31 (PTI) Even as ECB plans to ban English cricketers from using social networking sites, former captain Kevin Pietersen used ''Twitter'' to announce his ouster from England''s ODI and Twenty20 squads against Pakistan next month. The dashing right-handed batsman has failed to score a century in any form of cricket for the last 18 months and was facing the axe for quite sometime now. "Yup... Done for rest of summerMan of the World Cup T20 and dropped from the T20 side too. Its a f**k up," Pietersen wrote on his twitter page in reponse to the queries of the rumours of him being dropped, according to the ''Metro'' newspaper. "However, The tweet was removed from his Twitter feed almost immediately - although it is not clear if it was originally sent in error or if he had a change of heart about announcing the news publicly," the newspaper reported. Pietersen also said that he has signed a deal to play for county side Surrey after quitting Hampshire this season. Australian cricketer Phil Hughes had also announced his ouster from the national team during the Ashes last summer via Twitter. Interestingly, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is planning to ban English cricketers from social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook while on national duty. "England''s cricketers are facing a ban from social networking websites Twitter and Facebook," a ''Daily Mail'' report had said.

Source: Published>