India Sports News

Ashutosh Singh banks on his rich form to cut into the Davis Cup team that will take on Uzbekistan in Delhi in February next year. "I am 25. But I have a feeling that I can make the cut for the Davis Cup. Whoever does well in the Grass Court championship stands a better chance. I am not giving in as yet," he said, after practice at the South Club Tuesday. Later in the day, Ashutosh won his singles match against Kaushik Das of Assam 6-1, 6-1 continuing with his form. "This has clearly been my best year. I was selected to represent the country in the India-Pakistan series and played in the Futures and ATP Challengers with reasonable success," the Delhi youth said.
Fifth among Indians on the latest ranking list at 540, Ashutosh has jumped 44 places after making the final of the $10,000 ITF Futures event at Lahore in October. "Earlier, my ranking was around 700. I improved a lot last year, entering the final of three Futures meets. But the memorable one was in Morocco where I defeated Prakash (Amritraj)," he said.
Coming from the family of tennis, the game has been his first love. "My grandfather Jaynarayan was a tennis coach, father Balaram- a Davis cupper and sister Shalini Thakur was a former national tennis champion. It is in my blood. I am passionate about it. It is my love for the game that keeps me going," he said.
Ashutosh want to take part in the Chennai Open after this event and he is well aware that a victory here will fetch him a wild card. "I wish to be there, but it depends on a few other things, other than my wishing for it. I hope I can live up to the expectations," he said.
Source:- http://www.headlinesindia.com/archive_html/19December2007_66233.html

Sandeep Michael scooped over goalkeeper Gurpreet to convert the last chance in the tie-breaker to help Bangalore Hi-Fliers win their opening match against defending champions Orissa Steelers in the fourth edition of the Premier Hockey League in Chandigarh on Friday night. In the regulation time, both the teams were locked 2-all and failed to break the deadlock in the 10-minute extra-time, forcing the match to go into penalty shootouts. In a thrilling and absorbing match, Bangalore had the upper hand with more penetrating moves in the first two quarters, but Orissa drew first blood.
Making the best use of a defensive lapse, Orissa shot ahead in the 25th minute. Eliazer Ekka wriggled out from Hi-Fliers' defender Len Aiyappa on top of the circle, turned around and sent in a blinder to beat Bharat Chetri in the Bangalore goal. However, Bangalore persisted with their attacks and earned a penalty corner in the 41st minute. A defender took Aiyappa's drag-flick on the body and another short corner was awarded. This time Aiyappa's power-packed flick to the roof of the net went in like a bullet.
The equaliser, which came in the 42nd minute, saw both the teams increase the tempo of the game and the huge crowd witnessed some spectacular action. Orissa took the lead once again in the 58th minute converting the third of their five penalty corners. Birender took the push and Ignace set the stage for William Xalxo, who sounded the board with a direct hit. Earlier today, Maratha Warriors thrashed Chennai Veerans 4-1 in a one-sided match.
Source:- http://www.headlinesindia.com/archive_html/22December2007_66491.html

Fresh thunderstorms played spoilsport today to deny India valuable match practice Melbourne with the second day of their three-day warm-up match against Victoria producing just 10 overs. After a delayed start owing to wet outfield caused by Thursday's downpour, the penultimate day's proceeding lasted about just 45 minutes, during which India lost Sourav Ganguly (59) and reached 133 for four before rain put paid to their hopes for a good practice ahead of the Test series against Australia. At stumps, Rahul Dravid was unbeaten on 38 and Yuvraj Singh, hoping to retain his place in the Test eleven, was giving him company on six. Allan Wise scalped Ganguly for his fourth wicket of the match.
Resuming on overnight score of 110 for three, Ganguly decided to go after the hosts. He clipped Wise through the mid-wicket region and then cut him for a four before the bowler had his revenge in the same over.
Source:- http://www.headlinesindia.com/archive_html/21December2007_66481.html

Rashid Khan walked away as the champion of the Sunfeast Western India Junior and Sub-Junior golf championship despite a seven-over 77 in the final round at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club (BPGC) in Mumbai today. Rashid who was 14-under par for three days and was looking to break the all time high of 19-under at the BPGC, ended up with seven-under par 273. Chikkarangappa emerged as the champion in the `B' category. The 16-year-old Rashid, who held a 13-stroke advantage over the rest of the field, began with a solid birdie on the par-5 opening hole. But he found the going tough as he progressed, making three bogeys on the fifth, eighth and ninth even as a motley holiday crowd was following the leader.
On the back nine, he over-shot the par-4 11th and made a double bogey. A little later, he lost one more stroke on the 14th, missing a five-footer par putt. Rashid who had put up a brilliant display in the first three rounds was far from his original burst. A birdie on the 12th came as a solace but did not last long as on the par-3 17th he three-putted for a bogey.However he was docked two strokes for moving the flagstick, which was about to obstruct his playing partner Chikkarangappa's putt while the ball was in motion. Hence he ended up with a treble for a disastrous final round of 77. "I did it in good intention but rules are rules. I have to abide by them," said a dejected Rashid. It was a mixed feeling for the youngster who is on a roll. "Although I did not like the way I finished, I am happy for back to back wins at the Nick Faldo Series and here at Sunfeast Western India," said the champion.
Source:- http://www.headlinesindia.com/archive_html/21December2007_66480.html

Continuing the mind game started by Indian skipper Anil Kumble calling Brad Hogg the weak link in Australian attack, Australia's middle order bulwark Michael Hussey retaliated saying his team has a special strategy to handle Indian bowlers in the forthcoming test series. Briefing the preparation of Aussies for the series against India Hussey said, his side has not left any stone unturned in their preparation and they would come hard at the Indians.
"We have done quite a bit of preparation: video footage and all. We have also faced them before. Different guys will have their own plans on how to handle different bowlers," said Hussey, a tower of strength in the middle order with his Bradmanesque average.
As for the pitch, Hussey conceded it was more in favour of batsmen these days at the MCG. "The pitches have changed. I believe it is a bit more batter-friendly. We will just have to wait until we get there to assess the conditions." Hussey's attention was then drawn to the fact that the tourists struggled on the opening day of the tour and that classy Rahul Dravid could be opening the innings in Tests.
Meanwhile, rain played spoilsport today in the three day warm-up match between India and Victoria. India were 133 for4 with Rahul Dravid (38) and Yuvraj Singh (6) at the stump before rain interupted the game.
Source:- http://www.headlinesindia.com/archive_html/21December2007_66462.html

The state of Jammu and Kashmir is all set to host the national football championship for the Santosh Trophy in May 2008, after a gap of 30 years, a top official of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) said today. "We are pretty satisfied with the way things are moving in the state for the tournament. The government is also keen to host the tournament, which will also boost the tourism in the state," AIFF vice-president Subrata Dutta, who was a part of the two-member inspection committee, told. The two-member team has also submitted a positive report on the preparation for the event earlier this week.
The report will be discussed in the AIFF executive committee meeting Saturday, and is likely to be passed in the annual general meeting on Sunday, said a top official. The north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, which has been hit by terrorism for the past two decades, was awarded the right to host the national championship in 2007. But interestingly the AIFF shifted the championship to Haryana from Srinagar because of infrastructure problems. Two major state associations Indian Football Association (IFA) of West Bengal and Goa Football Association (GFA) also expressed their apprehensions over security issues in the state.
"We have done our inspection in both Srinagar and Jammu and the construction works in the stadiums there are being done at a fast rate. We now have four dressing rooms in the Bakshi Stadium (Srinagar) and the Maulana Azad College ground (Jammu) is also in fine condition," said Dutta. "The Jammu and Kashmir Football Association has done a good job and I think that it has the capacity to host the Santosh Trophy," he added.
Briefing about the security arrangement, Dutta said, the state chief minister has assured that security won't be a problem for the organization of the tournament.
The last time the state hosted Santosh Trophy was in 1978-79 when Bengal defeated Goa in the final.
Source:- http://www.headlinesindia.com/archive_html/21December2007_66444.html

At a time when local football is going through its worst phase, former Indian Football Association (IFA) secretary and All India Football Federation (AIFF) vice-president Subrata Dutta has made it clear that he is unhappy with the poor maintenance of grounds in West Bengal. Dutta said, "The ground conditions here are poor. There is complete lack of infrastructure except for the little we see at Yuva Bharati Krirangan (YBK) and Barasat Stadium (with a capacity of 20,000) of late." He said even the Salt Lake Stadium, as YBK is commonly known, wears a dismal look, though it is famous for its 1,25,000 capacity. "The pitch has not been re-laid for the last two decades. The underground drainage has suffered too. The toilets leak, the seats are broken. As the IFA secretary, I had tried (to improve things), but in vain."
In fact, Dutta had tried to get Stadel Hotel to sponsor a family enclosure near the stadium's VIP zone with bucket seats, catering, sleek toilets and other amenities. This would have encouraged families to come for derby ties and the government would have earned some extra money too.
"But the property belongs to the government and they somehow did not show much interest. Let me bust another myth that the state has a stadium in almost every district as claimed by the sports department. Having a closed enclosure with a few stands doesn't make a stadium. You need to have dressing rooms, proper maintenance facilities and all that. More often than not these are reduced to grazing grounds for cows and goats, than for proper football," he said.
Asked why clubs don't promote their own stadium away from the maidan in the centre of the city, Dutta said, "What can you say. They are too engrossed with their clubs and tents. I had given them a proposal to make social clubs and run them as a profitable business and use the revenue to improve the infrastructure in their ground or buy a plot of land and develop it.
"In other countries, football clubs see their establishment as an entertainment business. People become members of the respective clubs, patronize them, sponsor events, buy merchandise, spend evenings at the club. It is a social spot. But here the idea has fallen flat. They have failed to create a brand image. The problem is the clubs are not run professionally. They are non-commercial ventures. A pastime and a game cannot improve if it is only an honorary service," he added.
Of the big three in Kolkata football, the East Bengal ground can hold 23,500 spectators, the Mohun Bagan ground 19,000 and the Mohammedan Sporting ground 10,000. The Mohun Bagan ground has floodlights. One of the best-maintained grounds in the state is in Kalyanai, about two hours from Kolkata. It has a modified clubhouse with plans for galleries.
Source:- http://www.headlinesindia.com/archive_html/21December2007_66436.html