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/