Hockey India has inducted Vidarbha Hockey Association as an associate member.
     HI now has 12 associate members, with 29 affiliated members and two other State Olympic Association members.
     With this inclusion, Vidarbha Hockey Association can take part in all the National Championships to be conducted by HI in future.
     "I welcome Vidarbha Hockey Association for their entry into Hockey India as an associate member. Vidharba Hockey Association who have their own grounds, needs to make best use of their facilities and produce more and more players. Hockey India will give its full support to Vidarbha Hockey Association for the development of the sport in their areas," HI secretary general Narinder Batra said in a statement.
     "I am hopeful that Vidarbha Hockey Association will put in its best efforts to promote the game at grass-root level by organising more and more tournaments in Nagpur and nearby areas," he said.
     Vidarbha Hockey Association has produced some good ...

HI inducts Vidarbha Hockey Association in its fold

PTI Automatic

Handed defeats in their respective tournament-openers, Pakistan and South Africa would be fighting to stay alive in the ICC Champions Trophy when they take on each other in their second group B match here tomorrow.
     While Pakistan lost their opening match to the West Indies in a low-scoring cliffhanger, South Africa were beaten by India by 26 runs.
     Tomorrow's match will be a shootout of sorts for both the teams and it is the South Africans, who are looking more vulnerable, despite the well-known unpredictability of the Pakistanis.
     The Proteas are faced with the challenge of playing Pakistan without two of their main strike bowlers as Morne Morkel has gone back home due to injury, while Dale Steyn remains a "work in progress" on the fitness front.
     The update on Steyn is still not quite clear after the the world's No.1 fast bowler was injured during a warm-up match against Pakistan at the Oval last Monday after bowling just five overs. Pakistan went on to win the game 

Pakistan, South Africa in battle of survival in CT

K Srikanth became the latest badminton sensation to emerge from India as he lifted his maiden men's singles title with a stunning straight-game triumph over top-seeded local favourite Boonsak Ponsana at the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold here today.
     The 20-year-old from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh beat world number eight Ponsana 21-16 21-12 in a 34-minute match to script the biggest win of his still nascent career.
     "When I went into the court, I was pretty okay. I was not thinking anything. He was the local guy and the court was also with him. I knew I had a 50-50 chance even though he is world number eight," the excited youngster told PTI.
     "I just wanted to give my 100 per cent. I was focusing on one point at a time and I knew it was all about who plays well on that particular day," he said.
     The 13th-seeded Indian matched his fancied rival in all departments of the game in what turned out to be a lop-sided contest.
     "The win has not sunk in. I am still pretty ...

Srikanth stuns Ponsana to lift Thailand Open Grand Prix

Indian badminton welcomed its newest star as a little-known K Srikanth lifted his maiden men's singles title with a stunning straight-game triumph over world number eight and top-seeded local favourite Boonsak Ponsana at the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold here today.
     The 20-year-old from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh beat Ponsana 21-16 21-12 in a 34-minute match to script the biggest win of his still nascent career.
     The 13th-seeded Indian matched his fancied rival in all departments of the game in what turned out to be a lop-sided contest.
     The first game went neck and neck before Srikanth broke free after being locked 15-15. He notched up six consecutive points to win the game.
     The second game was a completely one-sided affair with Srikanth scoring with ease. The Indian sent down nine smashes against his rival's three to stamp his authority in the match.
     Ponsana had a two-point lead to start with Srikanth made amends quite quickly to reel off eight successive points ..

Srikanth wins Thailand Open Grand Prix

Crisis-ridden Rajasthan Royals and its under-fire co-owner Raj Kundra's future hangs in balance as the BCCI's Emergent Working Committee meets here tomorrow to deliberate on the IPL spot-fixing and betting scam and take action, if required.
     The Board's head of the interim arrangement, Jagmohan Dalimya, was forced to call the meeting after the Delhi Police claimed that Kundra, a minority shareholder in Rajasthan Royal, has confessed to betting during the IPL matches.
     The BCCI is under immense pressure to take a tough stand in a bid to restore the credibility of the IPL which has taken a severe beating following the scandals.
     "The entire Raj Kundra issue will be discussed at length. The members may also recommend that he should be suspended till the probe is completed. If he is found guilty, action will be taken. If he gets a clean chit, he can return to the position", a top BCCI official said.
     If the charges are proved, Rajasthan Royals face the prospect of being ...

RR, Kundra to dominate BCCI emergent WC meet

His confidence getting a boost after a first-class debut in Sri Lanka, the third generation cricketer of the legendary Amarnath clan, Digvijay, is now eargerly waiting to make a breakthrough in India starting with a camp at the MRF Pace Foundation from June 14.
     The 22-year-old, who is yet to achieve prominence here, has grown in confidence after he got his  "biggest breakthrough" in the academy last year.
     "It was the biggest breakthrough in life. Facing quality bowlers was great experience. 12 out of 14 bowlers practicing there were from different the IPL teams. I have been invited to another bowling camp starting from June 14. I am eagerly waiting for it," Digvijay told PTI in an interview.
     In February this year, Digvijay made his first-class debut while playing for Badureliya Sports Club, a Sri Lankan domestic side.
     Batting at number four, Digvijay enjoyed moderate success, scoring 138 runs in the four matches, but the exposure of rubbing shoulders with Sri ...

Digvijay eagerly waiting for MRF academy stint (with pics)

Australian cricket captain George Bailey was fined 20 per cent of his match fee, while his teammates were docked 10 per cent of their earnings for maintaining a slow over-rate during their ICC Champions Trophy opener against England here.
     "The Australia team has been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during its Group A match in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 against England at Edgbaston on Saturday," the ICC said in a statement.
     Match Referee Javagal Srinath imposed the fines after Bailey's side was ruled to be one over short of its target at the end of the match when time allowances were taken into consideration.
     "In accordance with ICC Code of Conduct for players and player support personnel, and in particular the regulations contained therein governing minor over-rate offences, players are fined 10 per cent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount," the ICC stated.
     Therefore, .

Australia fined for maintaining a slow over-rate

Top-ranked American twins Bob and Mike Bryan won their record 14th major doubles title by defeating Michael Llodra and Nicolas Mahut of France 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4) in the French Open men's doubles final today.
	In the tiebreaker, the Bryan brothers rallied from 4-2 down to clinch the victory when Mahut sent a forehand wide. The Bryans won their only other French Open in 2003. They lost in the final in 2005, 2006 and 2012.
	When they won the Australian Open this year, they broke a tie for most doubles majors with Australian greats John Newcombe and Tony Roche.
	Llodra and Mahut were bidding to become the first Frenchmen to win the doubles since Yannick Noah and Henri Leconte in 1984.
	The Bryans overcame a partisan crowd, who encouraged Llodra and Mahut, who were playing only their second Grand Slam tournament together. Their lack of understanding sometimes showed as Llodra shouted "yours" or "mine" to his partner.
	In the first set, the Bryans put pressure on Llodra's serve in the ...

Bryans win men's doubles title at French Open

Australia's stand-in skipper George Bailey today said they could not get the momentum going as their batting let them down against England in their Champions Trophy opener, here today.
     "We couldn't get any momentum and well done to England - they restricted us well. The scoreline flattered us a little; it was the batting which let us down," said Bailey, who was the top-scorer with a 55 off 69 balls for Australia.
     "It was a batting wicket but it slowed in the end. If it continues to be dry, we need to consider a spinner.
     "We need to get the balance right, we need to get partnership going, that needs to be addressed. We have to turn around things," added Bailey, whose team was restricted to 221-9 while chasing 270 to win.
     He, however, felt that his bowlers did a good job in restricting England to 269-6.
     "From 1 for 170 we did a really job to pull it back with the ball," he said.
     Asked about James Faulkner, who scored an unbeaten 54 down the order, Bailey ...

Batting let us down: Bailey

Ian Bell cracked a responsible 91 and James Anderson scalped three wickets as England dished out a disciplined allround performance to notch up a convincing 48-run victory over Australia in their Group A match of the Champions Trophy here today.
     Riding on Bell's half-century, England first posted a challenging 269 for six, despite some good bowling by the Australian bowlers, after electing to bat.
     The hosts then returned to tighenten the noose around Australia's neck with a very disciplined bowling display and eventually restricted the visitors for 221-9 in their 50 overs at Edgbaston here.
     Seamer James Anderson became the highest wicket-taker in one-day cricket for England during his three-wicket haul as he along with Tim Bresnan (2/45) and Stuart Broad (1/35) put Australia under trememdous pressure.
     Spinners James Tredwell (1/51) and part-time spinners Joe Root (1/20) and Ravi Bopara (1/34) also supported the pacers well and didn't allow the Aussies to free their 

England notches up convincing win over Australia in CT

England defeated Australia by 48 runs in their Group A match of the Champions Trophy at Edgbaston, here today.
     Brief scores:
     England: 269 for 6 in 50 overs (Ian Bell 91, Ravi Bopara 46 not out; Clint McKay 2/38, James Faulkner).
     Australia: 221 for 9 in 50 overs (George Bailey 55, James Faulkner	54 not out; James Anderson 3/29).

England beat Australia by 48 runs

After being beaten hands down by India in the opening game, South Africa coach Gary Kirsten is hoping for reversal of trend as they take on Pakistan in a must-win game in Birmingham on Monday.
     Both teams have lost their first group B ICC Champions Trophy fixtures.
     With one eye on Dale Steyn's fitness, South Africa coach Gary Kirsten feels losing against India could turn out to be a good omen for the Proteas.
     "Generally, what we do is play very well and then lose, so maybe it's not a bad thing that we haven't fired yet. I like to think of that as a bit of an omen," Kirsten said in Birmingham on Saturday.
     "But the problem with this competition is that we can't have another bad game because then we're out of the competition," he added.
     South Africa lost their first game India by 26 runs in Cardiff and the 1998 Champions Trophy winners cannot afford to drop more points. Kirsten is still upbeat despite the fact that Steyn is still not sure to play.
     "I've been .

Can't afford to have another bad game: Kirsten

Unpredicted rain put drivers including experienced JK Tyre-sponsored Karamjit Singh in a fix and lined up an interesting finish in the INRC (Round- 2) Rally of Maharashtra tomorrow.
     After six stages today, the Malaysian did well to climb up the ladder and stay saddled in No 2 position. The final day on the morrow has three stages lined up.
     Malaysian champion Karamjit (co-driver Jagdev Singh) trailed Gaurav Gill  by 1 minute and 13 seconds after posting 59 minutes 19.0 seconds for the seven stages, including the (Super Special Stage) that was run in and around Dadasaheb Phalke Smarak on Friday.
     "It was a difficult day today. The car is extremely good and much better than Proton I drive back home. But rain made it extremely difficult in the Beta stage as we had wrong tyres on the car as weather forecast was dry, but conditions changed suddenly after the stage began."
     Karamjit was the third driver to start the stage behind Amrittrajit Ghosh and Gaurav Gill and that ...

Rally of Nashik: Karamjit hot on Gill's tail

Serena Williams won her second French Open title on Saturday, 11 years after her first triumph, defeating title-holder Maria Sharapova 6-4 6-4 in a brief, but high-quality final.
     It was the 31-year-old American's 16th Grand Slam title win, taking her to within two of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova who are tied for fourth on the all-time list.
     And it underscored her near total domination of the women's game, having won three of the last four Grand Slam titles -- at Wimbledon, the US and French Opens -- and reaching the quarter-finals at the Australian Open.
     For Sharapova, it was a 10th straight loss to her American nemesis dating back to 2004 when she defeated her in the Wimbledon final and the WTA Championships when she was just 17-years-old.
     "It was very difficult today. After 11 years (since last win) and now I have 16 (Grand Slam titles)," said Williams, addressing the crowd in French.
     "But I want to come back next year because I adore Paris and I ...

Serena reigns supreme in Paris

Sriram Balaji won double crown at the B.R. Adityan GNC ITF Mens Futures Tennis Championships here tonight beating Jeevan Neduncheziyan to clinch singles crown and later partnered him to down Arun Prakash and Keith Patrick Crowley to win the men's doubles title as well.
     Balaji beat Jeevan  6-7(6) 6-4 6-0 in the men's singles while they came bacl together later to beat  R Arun Prakash and South African Keith Patrick Crowley 6-2 6-7(6) 10-5.
     Sriram and Jeevan, both of whom train at the Schuttler Waske Tennis University in Germany, knew each other's game and started confidently.
     Both served powerfully and held their respective serve till scores were 3-3 all. Jeevan then broke Sriram conceding only one point. In the next game, Jeevan's serve cracked and was broken at love.
     The set moved to a tie-break. Sriram took an early lead 4-1 only to concede it gradually and the score levelled at 4 all. Sriram faltered and Jeevan hung on bravely to win the tie break 8-6 and the ...

Sriram wins double crown at ITF Futures Meet

Andhra Pradesh Volleyball Association secretary V. Ravikantha Reddy was today suspended from the body for his "unilateral" style of functioning.
     "I am suspending the secretary for taking unilateral decisions. The emergency executive council meeting of the Association called by me on June 16 here will ratify the suspension," said APVA president S. Kodandaramaiah.
	The action came close on the heels of Reddy temporarily suspending the affiliation of the Vizag District Volleyball Association (VDVA) to APVA for alleged financial irregularities and acting against the interest and the benefits of APVA.
	"As APVA president, I have the powers to suspend the secretary. However, the secretary has no powers to suspend the district associations without discussing the matter in executive council and general body meeting of the body," Kodandaramaiah said.
	Reddy in a letter to VDVA had cited "financial irregularities" by VDVA in organising and conducting an international tournament held in the 

APVA president suspends secretary Ravikantha Reddy

Delhi drubbed Andhra Pradesh 4-1 to enter the quarter-finals of the 3rd Hockey India Junior Men National Championships here today.
     After conceding an early goal, Delhi came from behind and scored four goals in the other half in the Pool D match played at Moti Lal Nehru Sports Complex, Rai.
     The turning point of the match came when Jugraj Singh scored the opening goal in the 36th minute after which Delhi scored three other goals. Deepak Kumar, Inder Pal Singh and Manish Sharma scored a goal each for Delhi.
     In Pool B, Tamil Nadu easily defeated Jammu & Kashmir 3-0. This was the second lost for Jammu & Kashmir in a row.
     In Pool H, Chandigarh thrashed Tripura 10-2 in their opening league match. Sahepreet scored three goals for Chandigarh.
     In the other match of Pool H, Hockey Maharashtra mauled Goa 22-0. Ashutosh Lingesh scored six goals.

Delhi in quarter-finals of Junior Hockey Nationals

Around 300 fencers and officials from across the country will participate in the 5th National Fencing Federation Cup for men & women which is scheduled to be held from June 24th to 26th at the Multipurpose Indoor hall at Punjabi University here.
     Punjab Fencing Association and Punjabi University under the auspicious of Fencing Association of India is organizing the event, also known as Late Arun Kumar Vij Memorial Trophy.
     Services Sports Control Boards, Shashtra Seema Bal, AP, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab, J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Chhattisgarh, Pondicherry, Tamilnadu, Uttrakhand, Maharashtra, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh qualified in the men and women section for this Championship on the basis of Senior National Fencing Championship which was held at Rohtak, Haryana from February 9th to 13th.
     In the Championship, all the participants and officials will be provided free boarding and lodging. All the matches will be played ...

National Fencing Federation Cup to be held from June 24th-26th

Australian bowlers made an impressive comeback to restrict England to 269 for six despite Ian Bell's responsible knock of 91 in an opening group A league encounter of the Champions Trophy here today.
     Bell, who recently scored 82 against New Zealand in the final match of the ODI series, kept the momentum going as he planned his innings perfectly but his dismissal led to a middle-order collapse which stopped England well short of the 300-run mark which looked inevitable at one stage.
     Bell's partnership of 111 with Jonathan Trott, who made 43, was the backbone of the English innings as Ravi Bopara (46 no, 3x4, 1x6) struck a few meaty blows in the end. He added 56 runs for the unbroken seventh wicket stand with Tim Bresnan (19 no) after England were reduced to 213 for six.
     Seamers Clint Mckay (2/38) and James Faulkner (2/48) were the most successful bowlers.
     During his 115-ball innings, Bell hit seven boundaries and seldom did he hit any rash stroke.
     Opting to ...

Bell scores 91 as Australia restrict England to 269/6

India today suffered a shock defeat at the hands of unfancied United Arab Emirates in the 11th round robin match of the open category in the 17th Bridge Federation of India and Middle East (BFAME) Championship here today.
     India lost by 8-22 Victory Points (VP).
     Despite the loss, their first in the meet so far, India continued to lead the field with 222 VPs.
     India had overwhelmed Pakistan by 24-6 VPs in the ninth round before drubbing Kuwait by 25-2 VPs.
     Commenting on India's defeat Balakrishnan Prabhakar, one of the Indian players, said, "We faultered in bidding and also defended poorly. Hopefully we would be able to improve our performance in the next four rounds."
     Bangladesh stayed put at second place with 209 VPs. They are followed by Bahrain (182), Sri Lanka (156), UAE (154) and Kuwait (129).
     Defending champions Pakistan remained at the bottom with 118 VPs. They managed to earn their first victory today when they beat Kuwait by 21-9 VPs.
     After ...

India stunned by UAE in BFAME Bridge Championship

England posted a challenging 269 for six against Australia in their Group A match of the Champions Trophy at Edgbaston, here today.
     Brief scores:
     England: 269 for 6 in 50 overs (Ian Bell 91, Ravi Bopara 46 not out; Clint McKay 2/38, James Faulkner).

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