Hleb to miss Liverpool clash with leg injury

Wed, Sep 08 10 09:27 PM

Birmingham City midfielder Aleksandr Hleb will miss Sunday's Premier League match against Liverpool with a leg injury he sustained while playing for his country in a Euro 2012 qualifier.

The Belarus captain was substituted midway through the second half of Tuesday's Group D match against Romania.

"His injury is not too serious but Hleb said to me that he definitely would be unable to play on Sunday," Belarus coach Bernd Stange told local media.

"He should be able to return to action sometime next week. He just needs some rest and have some physiotherapy to be 100 percent healthy."

Hleb joined Birmingham on a one-year loan deal last month after a disappointing spell at Barcelona.

Source: Published>

India go down 1-2 to Thailand in football friendly

Published>Wed, Sep 08 10 09:07 PM

New Delhi, Sep 8 (IANS) India went down 1-2 to Thailand in the return leg of their friendly international football match at the Ambedkar Stadium here Wednesday.

Winothai Teerathap and Keawsombat Keerati were on target for Thailand while N.P. Pradeep scored from a goalmouth melee the solitary goal for India.

In the first leg in Bangkok, India had lost 0-1 to Thailand.

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Snooker World No.1 Higgins banned for six months

Published>Wed, Sep 08 10 08:57 PM

London, Sep 8 (IANS) Snooker World number one John Higgins was banned for six months and fined 75,000 pounds Wednesday for breaching betting rules but has been cleared of match-fixing charges.

Higgins was suspended by World Snooker in May after the News of the World alleged that he and his manager Pat Mooney had agreed at a meeting in Kiev to lose frames in four matches in return for 261,000 pounds, the Guardian reported.

Subsequently, the World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn suspended Higgins and vowed to clean up the sport when the story was published. However, Mooney and Higgins protested their innocence, claiming they felt intimidated and would have gone along with anything in order to get home.

At the hearing, Higgins admitted 'intentionally giving the impression to others that they were agreeing to act in breach of the betting rules' and failing to report the matter to World Snooker.

However the more serious charges of 'agreeing or offering' to accept bribes and 'agreeing to engage in corrupt or fraudulent conduct' were withdrawn following the two-day hearing in London.

His manager Mooney has been banned from further involvement in snooker for life.

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Kalmadi to welcome Queen''s Baton in Pune tomorrow

Wed, Sep 08 10 08:53 PM

Mumbai, Sep 8 (PTI) Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi, who has been battling various charges of corruption in the lead-up to next month''s mega-event, would be on his home turf of Pune tomorrow to receive the Queen''s Baton when it reaches the city. Among the prominent yesteryear sportspersons who would take part in the Baton Relay in Pune are Olympians - boxer Manoj Pingle, hockey player Ajit Lakra, marathoner Balkrishan Akodkar and wrestler Maruti Adkar, a release said today. Former tennis players Gaurav Natekar and Nitin Kirtane, ex-wrestler Kaka Pawar and former boxers Harishchandra Birajdar and Gopal Devang are also set to take part. Pune district Zilla Parishad President Savita Dagde will receive the baton along with the state District Collector on the border of Pune district near Sarola village. The main function is to take place at the Bharti Vidyapeeth where Pune MP and Kalmadi, also the Indian Olympic Association chief, would be present to welcome the Baton, the release said. The Pune leg would mark the 76th day of the 100-day QBR journey in India. The Relay had commenced mid-August in Hyderabad and has already covered Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andaman-Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Kerala and Karnataka before entering Maharashtra through Kolhapur. The Baton will travel to Mumbai by sea on September 10 before carrying on with its onward journey and reach Vadodara in Gujarat on September 13.

Source: Published>

Essex Police clears Kaneria''s name in fixing: Lawyer

Wed, Sep 08 10 08:37 PM

Karachi, Sep 8 (PTI) Scandal-hit Pakistan has something to cheer with lawyer of Danish Kaneria claiming that the Test spinner has been give a clean chit by the Essex Police which was investigating the cricketer''s role in an alleged rigged County match. Ever since the news broke last year that Essex Police was questioning two Essex players for match-fixing during a Pro-40 match against Durham last September, name of Kaneria was doing the rounds for being one of the two in media. The police never took any player''s name but media reports said they were Kaneria and Marvyn Westfield. Kaneria''s lawyer in England Furqan Anwar said his client has been cleared in the case. "The Essex police has cleared Danish as they didn''t find any concrete evidence to support the allegations against him," Anwar told PTI. Anwar said that his client had been under lot of stress because of the allegations. "He is free to do anything and he is obviously relieved. I will be talking to him soon to find out if he has any intention of filing damages," Anwar said. Kaneria''s clearance comes at a time when Pakistan cricket is facing a major spot-fixing and betting scandal which broke out last month during the Lord''s Test. Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers, Mohammad Aamir and Mohammad Asif were suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for their alleged involvement in the scam. The Scotland Yard and ICC anti-corruption unit are investigating into the case and all three have been questioned at the Kilburn police station. Kaneria was allowed to play for Essex this season until September 15 by the police while they were conducting investigations into the betting allegations. Kaneria said he would not make any comments on the case and was just relieved to be cleared of any charges. "It has been a trying time for me and my family but I am grateful to all those people at Essex who supported me in this time. I just want to focus on my cricket and getting back to playing for Pakistan," he said. The leg-spinner was surprisingly released from the touring Pakistan team in England because of poor form after the first Test against.

Source: Published>

India to make F1 debut in October next year

Wed, Sep 08 10 08:23 PM

Paris, Sep 8 (PTI) India will host its first ever Formula One Grand Prix on October 30 next year, the world governing body of the game FIA announced today, ending the country''s long wait to become a part of the F1 calendar. India will stage the 18th Grand Prix on the 20-race calender, released by the FIA after a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council here. However, the Indian GP is subject to FIA homologation. India''s F1 race will be held at Jaypee Group Circuit, which is under construction now in Greater Noida, about 50 kilometres from the national capital New Delhi. In October, 2007, the FIA signed a Rs 1600 crore contract with JPSK Sports Private Limited to organise an F1 race in India. The estimated cost to develop the 5.15 km circuit is about USD 215 million with a seating capacity of 150,000. The construction work is expected to be complete by June 2011. The 2011 season will begin with Bahrain Grand Prix on March 13 and conclude on November 27 in Brazil. The FIA decided to continue the championship with 12 teams till the 2012 season, saying they could not find a team "A number of interested parties expressed their interest. It was considered that none of the candidates met the requirements to be granted an entry into the Championship. Consequently, the allocation of the 13th team will not be granted," a statement on FIA website said.

Source: Published>

Tiger Woods' 'mistresses' almost run into each other in Malibu restaurant

Published>Wed, Sep 08 10 08:17 PM

New York, Sep 08 (ANI): Two alleged mistresses of Tiger Woods, Rachel Uchitel and Jamie Grubbs, almost ran into each other in California.

According to a spy at Rande Gerber's Cafi Habana in Malibu, Grubbs, Los Angeles cocktail waitress, came in for lunch the other day with an unidentified man.

Right after they left, Uchitel came in with a group of friends who were all drinking, but she abstained.

Maybe she's keeping it sober after her stint on "Celebrity Rehab," reports the New York Post. (ANI)

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