Hockey : Diwakar scripts golden finish

BASKING IN GLORY: The jubilant Indian players after winning the junior Asia Cup in Hyderabad on Friday.

HYDERABAD: Diwakar Ram did not wilt under pressure and scripted a ‘golden finish’ in the fourth minute of extra time to help India lift the crown in the sixth junior Asia Cup hockey championship here on Friday.

The 20-year-old penalty corner specialist came up with two goals in the match to fashion India’s 3-2 win over Korea in the final.

Korea shot into the lead in the seventh minute when Nam Hyun Woo latched on to a short pass from Lee Dong Hyun on the left of the ‘D’ to slam the ball home. From then on, it was Korean domination all the way.
In good form

Korean goalkeeper Kim Jae Hyun was in great form. In the 16th minute, he blocked a rasping shot from Gurwinder Singh and when Roshan tried to score off the deflection, the goalkeeper reacted quickly to stop it. He repeated this when Chandi took another shot off another deflection.

At this stage, India had earned two penalty corners but both were wasted by Diwakar. Korea led 1-0 at the break.

On resumption, while the defenders Kim Seong Kyu and Kang Moon Kyu kept the Indian forwards at bay, Bae Jong Suk, Im Kyoung Ju, Kem Seong Kyu and Jeyon Byung Jin attacked the Indian citadel.

India’s regular custodian Sreejesh P. Raveendran had to be carried off on a stretcher after taking a powerful hit from Woo in the 40th minute.

When Sreejesh returned after 13 minutes, Woo scored with a diving effort off a centre from the left by Kim Seong Kyu to make it 2-0 for Korea.
Going on the offensive

In the 57th minute, Korea’s Jin was shown the yellow card for dangerous play. Capitalising on this, India launched a series of attacks, masterminded by Gurwinder and S.V. Sunil with support from the flanks from Gurbaj Singh and Ranjit Singh.

Pramod Kumar, in the withdrawn forward role, was equally good in this crucial phase.

In the 59th minute, Sunil latched on to a free hit from Diwakar close to the ‘D’ and deflected the ball home to keep India’s hopes alive.

Spurred on by that opportunistic effort, India went on the offensive. Amidst protests from the Korean camp, a penalty corner was awarded when a Korean defender committed a foul on the advancing Sunil.

Diwakar sounded the boards to level the match 2-2 in the 62nd minute. At the end of regulation time, the teams were locked 2-2.

In extra-time, with the golden goal rule in force, India went all out for the match-winner. The home team earned a penalty corner in the fourth minute.

To the delight of the boisterous crowd, Diwakar was bang on target to trigger wild celebrations in the Indian camp.

Earlier, Pakistan defeated Bangladesh 7-2 to settle for the bronze medal.
Dream come true

India’s chief coach A. K. Bansal termed the magnificent victory in the sixth junior Asia Cup final as a “dream come true.”

“We always knew that once the margin was reduced after Korea led 2-0, we could come back strongly. No doubt, the turning point was when the Koreans were reduced to 10 players,” Bansal said.

“Under pressure, they did make quite a few mistakes in the last 15 minutes. This was a truly team effort from India,” he added.

“We always looked to Diwakar Ram for match-winning efforts and he never disappointed us right through the tournament,” Bansal said while complimenting the drag-flicker who was the architect of India’s win.

“This is an important victory given the circumstances and the situation of Indian hockey. It should be a big morale-booster not just for the hockey players but for the administrators too,” Bansal said.

The results: Final: India 3 (Diwakar Ram 2, S.V. Sunil) bt Korea 2 (Nam Hyun Woo 2).

Third place match: Pakistan 7 bt Bangladesh 2.

Special awards: Top-scorers: Nam Hyun Woo (Kor) and Diwakar Ram (Ind), 9 goals each; Player of the tournament: Woo; Best goalkeeper: Sreejesh P. Raveendran (Ind); Most promising player: Muhammad Sairulnizam Rahmat (Sin); Fairplay Trophy: Singapore.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/

IHC is now Hockey India

HYDERABAD: Hockey India, the new name of Indian Hockey Confederation, will be the sole governing body for hockey (men and women) in India and the 2010 World Cup men’s hockey championship will be held in Delhi.

These decisions were taken at a meeting between the Indian Olympic Association representatives, headed by President Suresh Kalmadi, and the FIH, headed by its President Ms Els van Breda Vriesman, here on Friday.

“The IOA has agreed in principle to have Hockey India as a symbolic gesture to look ahead for a bright future. The official confirmation for this is expected at the IOA general assembly in November this year. This is a new beginning for the sport here,” Ms Vriesman said at a media briefing. “I don’t want to comment on the past. But look at a bright future,” she said to query on whether she was disappointed with the recent developments in Indian hockey.

The FIH chief also pointed out that if any profits accrue by hosting the World Cup, all the money would be spent on promoting the sport only. “The World Cup will be a joint-venture between IOA and the FIH,” she added.

“FIH has also decided in principle to host the men’s Champions Trophy in 2011 or 2012 in India subject to sponsorship and other arrangements and that a women’s tournament will be held in India in the next few years,” she said.

Suresh Kalmadi said that the Sports Authority of India has accepted Ric Charlesworth’s resignation as technical advisor to Indian hockey. “This ends Ric’s role in that capacity,” he added.

The IOA chief did not feel that by forming Hockey India there would be any legal problems from any side. “We are confident of moving ahead,” he said. “Mr. K. P. S. Gill will continue to be on the AHF (as vice-president) in his individual capacity and not as a representative of the country and complete the full term of four years,” Kalmadi said to a query.

“We are out here to revive Indian hockey and a decision to set a schedule for the elections and also on appointing a national coach will be taken after a critical review meeting with former India captains and internationals after the conclusion of the junior Asia Cup,” he said.

Kalmadi also said that as part of the efforts to give a definite shape to Hockey India, all the State Hockey Associations will be amalgamated over a period of time to be under one head. “It might take a long time but the process will begin very soon,” he said.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/

2010 Commonwealth championship in India

NEW DELHI: The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has assigned India to host the inaugural Commonwealth basketball championship in 2010.

At a function organised here on Saturday night, FIBA President Bob Elphinston announced that India had agreed to host the event for men in late July, months before the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

“Basketball was a part of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. But it is not there in the 2010 Games. So this is the next best possible thing from which young boys and girls in India can know about the game. It is going to be a wonderful opportunity for Indian basketball to grow further,” Elphinston told reporters.

Eight top teams will participate in the event and Australia, New Zealand, England, Nigeria and host India have confirmed participation.

Elphinston said the Indian Government and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) will decide on the venue and dates of the event.

After conducting the men’s event, the FIBA will organise the Commonwealth championship for women in 2012 in some other country.

BFI Secretary General Harish Sharma said they would leave no stone unturned to make the event a success.

“This is a proud moment for us. I thank FIBA for this. They thought we were capable of hosting it. As the Indian government has put basketball in special category, we will have no problem in providing the best facilities,” he said. — Sports Reporter

Source: http://www.hindu.com/

Advertisers gear up for the Games

Advertisers gear up for the Games

The Commonwealth Games Federation has allocated Rs 300 crore for advertising and promotion of the event over 3 years

The Commonwealth Games Federation has allocated Rs 300 crore for advertising and promotion of the event over 3 years

New Delhi: As preparations for Commonwealth Games 2010 to be held in the Capital gain momentum, the advertising world is also gearing to roll out a multimedia advertising campaign.

The Commonwealth Games Federation has allocated a sum of Rs 300 crore — the biggest account ever awarded by the government — for advertising and promotion of the event over 3 years.

JWT, Mercantile Advertising and Quantum Communications have been assigned the creative and media duties for the event.

Rohit Ohri, managing partner, JWT, said: “We are looking to create a buzz around the games not only at the national level, but also at a global level. The theme ‘Come out and play’ is a multidimensional thought aimed at mass mobilisation and creating a movement around the games.”

The tagline ‘Come Out and Play’ was revealed along with logo for the ceremony in January this year, which marked the ‘1000 Days To Go’ timeline for the games.

“We are working on a campaign that will inspire India to come out from her homes on the sports turf or even on the streets and invite the world to come and be a part of this sporting movement,” Ohri added.

The agencies are working out creatives aimed at attracting youth and moving beyond cricket. The first 18 months will be devoted to on ground activation and various contact programs. A school contact program has been designed to get children involved in the process and help them understand the dynamics of the sporting event.

The 3rd Youth Games to be held in Pune from October 12-18 will act as a trial event for the Commonwealth Games. “The Youth Games will mark the kick off for the progressive campaign. The campaign will go on air in the second half of 2009 and will communicate not only to India, but other countries as well,” Ohri said.

The games will be staged in India for the first time and will be India’s first big international sports event since the 1982 Asian Games.With India expecting over 10,000 sportsmen during the Commonwealth Games 2010, the agencies are also trying to promote India as a destination for watching sports.

“The aim is also to promote India as destination for sports tourism,” Ohri explained. During the last edition of Commonwealth Games in 2006, India had won 22 gold medals — sixteen of them coming from shooting — to finish fourth.

Source: http://news.in.msn.com/

Where’s the rage in tennis?

STEVE DILBECK, Los Angeles Daily News
Published: 23 hours ago

Now wasn’t that just so pleasant? Really, terrific tennis.

Two outstanding players in a truly dramatic Wimbledon final.

And they were just so polite, so sportsmanlike, so respectful.

Made me want to puke.

If I wanted to watch a love-in, I’d catch some old John Lennon and Yoko Ono footage. Would watch the classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

Anyone who truly believes the Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer final on Sunday harkens the beginning of a new golden age for tennis needs to lay off the sauce.

Tennis was at its peak in the 1970s and early 1980s. People watched, people cared, people were enthralled. Not just people who actually picked up a racquet, but the general sports fan.

The players were feisty. They had attitude and panache. Emotions streamed from their pores.

Jimmy Connors didn’t want to just beat you, he played like he wanted to rip your throat out. Ilie Nastase was a character nicknamed “Nasty” – by other players. Bjorn Borg was a European jet-setter who would crush you. John McEnroe was a volcano who could volley like no one alive.

They dated models and Playmates, started fashion lines, gave the bird to linesmen, invigorated crowds. They weren’t just players, they were revolutionaries.

They raged war on the court, not love. Mavericks who rocked the Country Club game and expanded the tennis audience. They played against type.

Nadal and Federer have watched the Lion King too many times. They’re Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas giving each other a sweet kiss at centre court.

Oh, please, stop. Are a couple of punches at the net really too much to ask? Can’t we get some honest cross-court venting, some semblance of demonstrative play, some ‘my supermodel is hotter than your supermodel’ battles?

I miss the crazies, the long-haired, volatile characters born of the ’60s who took tennis to a new level, who made it compelling for the Average Joe.

Then followed the numbing Boris Becker-Ivan Lendl-Pete Sampras-Federer period that succeeded in reducing tennis to a niche sport.

This is not progress, though I’d like to thank them all for freeing up the community courts.

This latest wave of champions has returned tennis to its genteel roots, which is not exactly called swelling your market place. Very classy, very aristocratic, very foreign.

Can we get a little edge back to our tennis? Some controlled rage? Some spark of individuality? One decent snarl?

Now, McEnroe sits in a television booth, so nice it feels gooey. Words must stick to him. It screams sellout.

His eyes used to almost explode from his face when he played. Now, he watches Sunday’s well-mannered cliffhanger and declares it the greatest match he’s ever seen.

Say what?

Better than his five-set thriller over Borg in the finals of the 1980 U.S. Open or his Wimbledon loss to Connors in ‘82 and to Borg in ‘80? I don’t think so.

Great tennis is more than just repeatedly making tremendous shots, which Nadal and Federer both did with amazing consistency Sunday. Their talent is unmistakable.

Sunday was a marathon, with two tennis artisans going at it until twilight. Very admirable.

They have all my respect, just not the corresponding interest. I don’t think a couple of polite Europeans are at the vanguard of a new tennis explosion.

Let’s get real, tennis is not going to return to the sporting masses behind Federer and Nadal. They’re great tennis players, but not the kind of guys you’d like to hang with. I know more interesting rocks.

Nadal, the Grunt King, has some glimmer of personality and he’s so young there’s always a chance he may develop into something interesting.

I long for a little attitude. Long for matchups intriguing beyond the double vs. the single backhand.

If I want to watch a demonstration of civility, I’ll take in an etiquette class. It’d be the polite thing to do.

Source: http://www.canada.com

Olympics Countdown

The Olympic Games is all set to go on stage in Beijing on August 8, 2008. As a curtain-raiser to the sporting extravaganza, your favourite magazine, Sportstar, beginning next week, will bring you three Countdown Issues followed by a Bumper. The Olympics specials, designed to capture the spirit of the Games, will delve into the past and also take a peek into the event set to unfold in the Chinese capital. They will carry a wealth of information including previews, profiles and eye-catching visuals.

Source: http://www.sportstaronnet.com/

One month to go: Beijing prepares to deliver Olympics

By Nick Mulvenney

BEIJING (Reuters) – With a month remaining until the opening ceremony of one of the most scrutinized Olympic Games in history, the time has come for Beijing to deliver on seven years of promises and billions of dollars spent.

On July 13, 2001, the state news agency Xinhua hailed the decision to award the Olympic Games to Beijing as being a “milestone in China’s rising international status and a historical event in the great renaissance of the Chinese nation.”

Six months ago, preparations were going to plan with gleaming new venues and infrastructure almost completely in place for the August 8-24 Games.

But violent unrest in Tibet in March followed by global anti-Chinese protests have marred Beijing’s final countdown to the Games. Moreover, the threat of terrorism and pollution have presented the Communist authorities with new challenges.

However, with the 31 venues completed and the army of migrant workers putting the finishing touches to a $40 billion upgrade of the city’s once-creaking infrastructure, organizers are upbeat.

“We are fully prepared for the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games,” organizing committee (BOCOG) vice president Jiang Xiaoyu said last week. “We are going to use the last 36 days to further perfect the arrangements.”

China’s rulers wanted to use the Games to promote internal stability and show off a confident, increasingly influential economic power to the rest of the world.

After the public relations disaster of the March 14 Tibet riots and the protest-disrupted international leg of the Olympic torch relay, some have questioned whether China’s leaders care anymore about external opinion.

“China wants the Olympics to be applauded by the international community and at the same time instill a sense of pride in the Chinese people,” said Jiang Qisheng of the China chapter of International PEN, an association founded to defend freedom of expression.

“But stability is more important. International applause is ranked only second. If forced to choose, China would rather have stability.”

The May 12 Sichuan earthquake and the genuine outpouring of emotion over the death of nearly 70,000 people altered some perceptions of China, turning the award of the Olympics “from obscene accolade to worthy reward” in the words of British commentator Simon Jenkins.

TERRORISM CONCERN

But visa restrictions for visitors, plans to rid Beijing of petitioners, the homeless and migrant workers as well as the tight control of the media on “sensitive” legs of the domestic torch relay point to obsessive stage-management.

China says it views terrorism as the biggest threat to the Games and a 100,000-strong anti-terrorism force is already on alert.

Rights groups say Beijing is using the threat of terrorism to suppress internal dissent, especially in the restive far-Western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang, which is home to more than 8 million Muslim Uighurs.

“We are worried that there will be an even more wide-scale crackdown on the Uighur people, especially over the next month,” said Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exiled World Uyghur Congress.

“China is using the final opportunity the Olympics presents to portray Uighurs to the international community as terrorists. We have always opposed China holding the Olympics. We are the biggest victims of it, even more so than the Tibetans.”

Free Tibet is asking British athletes to express support for its cause by making a “T for Tibet” sign during the Games, it said in a statement on Monday.

American, Dutch and Australian athletes have already indicated their intention to express their concerns about human rights during the Games.

ALGAE STENCH

The stench of the algae in the city of Qingdao, which will host the Olympic sailing events, has been a vivid reminder that environmental concerns still dog the Games.

Of more pressing concern to most athletes is the air quality in the capital and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said some endurance events might be rescheduled if the pollution presents a health risk.

The surrounding provinces of Hebei and Tianjin ordered factory closures this month and four others are also involved in the effort to keep the Beijing skies clear.

Beijing has spent more than 120 billion yuan on environmental improvements over the last decade and its own contingency plans will come into force mainly from July 20.

China’s athletes have continued to prepare for the Games away from the prying eyes of the media.

Life bans for two Olympic hopefuls caught doping this year — swimmer Ougang Kunpeng and wrestler Luo Meng — have left them in no doubt that the authorities do not want to lose face at their own party with any positive tests.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/

Rafael Nadal shows superhuman spirit

Tennis of this miraculously high quality has never been played so long and so late even on the most hallowed of courts

Has sport ever been so dramatic? Has a Wimbledon final, predicted to be one of the finest of all time, ever so outdone its’ billing? Has tennis of this miraculously high quality ever been played so long and so late on the most hallowed of courts?

For those fortunate enough to be inside Centre Court as darkness was falling and the luminous clock on the scoreboard ticked to 9.16 pm at almost the precise moment Rafael Nadal sunk ecstatically to the turf after Roger Federer’s final forehand thudded into the net, the memory will live with them to their dying day.

This truly was history being made and though the elements tried to intervene, they could not stop this becoming a masterpiece. The wind buffeted and blew, the rain came and darkness fell but still this was tennis of the very highest standard that mere mortals can only dream of recreating.

Not only is Nadal the first man to lift the trophies of the French Open, Queens Club and Wimbledon within the space of month. He also did it in the longest final ever played at the All England Club and, in his opinion, he overcame the greatest player in history.

Federer had his sights set on a sixth successive Wimbledon title, so beating the record he now has to share with Bjorn Borg. And there were moments during this great contest that the world no.1 did not just live up to his reputation, he further enhanced it.

Why was it Nadal eventually prevailed after 4 hours and 48 minutes of sheer drama that was in fact spread over nearly seven hours because of two cruel rain delays? Ultimately it was a question of which of these tennis superstars had the greater mental strength in a true battle royal.

Other aspects of course came into play, not least superior night vision. Surely if Nadal had not finally won 6-4,6-4,6-7,6-7,9-7 when he did, then the players would have been ushered off for the night to return after daylight had returned. Those who thought the conditions were dark as Andy Murray finally prevailed against Richard Gasquet six days earlier would have been amazed that such supreme tennis could be played in such conditions.

But Nadal is unquestionably a superhuman performer with the resolve and will that now makes it clear that anything is possible. He shrugged off the disappointment of seeing two \Championship points go to waste in the fourth set tie-break but then stood firm in the face of enormous pressure as Federer, of course intent on completing a comeback that would have demanded a rewriting of the history books

Nobody had battled back from a two set deficit to win the men’s final at Wimbledon since Henri Cochet beat his French compatriot Jean Borotra

81 years earlier. And no player had recovered from match points down to win the title since Bob Falkenberg beat John Bromwich in 1948.

The improvement in Nadal’s grass court game over the last few years is truly outstanding. Though he may have delivered just six aces compared to Federer’s 25, he still served supremely with 73% of his first deliveries getting into play. So many of these were hugely effective body serves making a telling return from the world’s paramount grass court expert virtually impossible. The fact Federer was successful on just one of 13 break point opportunities speaks volumes.

Surely now the rivalry that is already one of the most compelling in tennis history will continue and hopefully scale to new heights of excellence. But Nadal has not just brought to a close Federer’s imperious 65 match winning run on grass. He has established another step in the evolution of the game and the standard continues to rise and rise.

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/