His passport seized after close to 12 hours of questioning by the Delhi Police, Rajasthan Royals owner Raj Kundra today lashed out at the media for making "stupid claims" on his alleged involvement in the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal.
     "Good morning woke up to news raj kundra faces the heat...Yes it's very hot in Mumbai. Media has misconstrued everything using unreliable sources. Try speaking to the Main guys at crime branch. Why does media hype things and make such stupid claims to sell news," Kundra tweeted after reports emerged that he had confessed to betting during questioning yesterday.
     "Is there an arrest warrant? I am back home in Mumbai. Kindly let Delhi crime branch do their work. Media stop using derogatory statements," he added.
     Kundra's passport has been seized by Delhi Police which questioned him in connection with the IPL spot-fixing scandal and allegations that he was into betting. Police have asked Kundra not to leave the country.
     Delhi ...

Kundra hits out at media after questioning in IPL scandal

PTI Automatic

Third seeded Indian pair of Divij Sharan and Purav Raja made it to the quarter-final of the ATP Challenger event in Furth, Germany after a hard-earned win  in the opening round.
     Left-handed Divij and Raja defeated Andrej Martin of Slovak Republic and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo of Chile 6-3 1-6 10-8 in the first round of the euro 30,000 clay court event.
     The Indians got an early break and raced to a 3-1 lead. Both the teams held serve after that and the Indians easily pocketed the set.
     However, their rivals regrouped and made a stunning comeback. They routed the Indians in the second set with two breaks, stretching the issue to a match tie-breaker.
     Now the Indians upped the ante and edged past Martin and Hans to clinch the issue.
     Divij and Raja next play Kevin Krawietz and Dominic Schulz of Germany in the quarter finals tomorrow.

Divij, Raja in quarters of Germany clay court Challenger

Former champions West Indies will lock horns with the incredibly unpredictable Pakistan in what promises to be a high-voltage group B Champions Trophy clash at the Oval here tomorrow.
     The Caribbean team, which won the title in 2004 besides finishing runners-up in 1998 and 2006, is high on star power with the intimidating presence of an in-form Chris Gayle being a massive confidence-booster.
     Pakistan, on the other hand, is a team full of greenhorns despite being led by the oldest player in the event -- a 39-year-old Misbah-ul-Haq.
     A look at the line-ups would make the West Indies slight favourites for tomorrow's match. Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard and Kemar Roach have the ability to just knock out the opposition attack with their power-hitting.
     In fact, the troika of Gayle, Pollard and Samuels displayed good form at the recent IPL and would be looking to carry the confidence into the Champions Trophy even though the format would be different. Skipper and ...

West Indies take on mercurial Pakistan in CT's group B opener

Jos Buttler made an unbeaten 47 off just 16 balls to set-up England's 34-run win over New Zealand in the third and final one-day international at Trent Bridge.
     Man-of-the-match Buttler yesterday needed a six off the last ball of England's innings to surpass Sri Lanka great Sanath Jayasuriya's 17-ball record for the fastest ODI fifty, set against Pakistan in Singapore in 1996.
     But instead he could only manage two off Tim Southee.
     Nevertheless the 22-year-old wicket-keeper's innings featured six fours and three sixes.
     The Black Caps still took the three-match series 2-1 after wins by five wickets and 86 runs at Lord's and Southampton respectively last week as England suffered their first home ODI series loss in four years.
     For England, victory stopped the rot ahead of their Champions Trophy opener against arch-rivals Australia at Edgbaston on Saturday.
     "Getting a win was very important and I thought we played pretty well," said England captain Alastair Cook 

Buttler stars as England stop Kiwi rot

Grandmaster-in-waiting V Vishnu Prasanna continued his dream run and held Argentine GM Sandro Mareco to a draw but Abhijeet Gupta suffered a shock defeat in the fifth round of the Grand Europe Albena International Chess Tournament here.
     Abhijeet, a former world junior champion, lost to Brazilian International Master Roberto Junio Brito Molina.
     The draw helped Vishnu stay in joint lead on 4.5 points out of a possible five and the Indian now shares the podium with Mareco, Armenian duo of Tigran Petrosian and Hrant Melkumyan; Vladislav Nevednichy of Roumania and legendry Grandmaster Evgeny Sveshnikov of Latvia.
     Ashwin Jayaram shares the seventh spot on four points. In his fifth round game, Jayaram got the better off Turkish Yakup Erturan.
     It was an otherwise sluggish day for the Indians as Anurag Mahamal shared the point with Grigor Grigorov of Bulgaria, Sagar Shah also achieved the same result against Danny Raznikov of Israel while Swapnil Dhopade also had to split ..

Vishnu holds Mareco; Gupta shocked by Molino

Former Bangladesh cricket coach Jamie Siddons says ex-captain Mohammad Ashraful shouldn't be judged too harshly for his involvement in match-fixing because he was likely ensnared by the "powerful beast of underworld gambling" at an early age.
     Siddons, who now coaches New Zealand's Wellington province, told the Dominion-Post newspaper he alerted the Bangladesh Cricket Board and International Cricket Council to the threat of spot fixing during his four-year term as Bangladesh coach from 2007 to 2011.
     Ashraful admitted to match- and spot-fixing in the Bangladesh Premier League after being suspended by the BCB on Tuesday. He is being investigated by the ICC.
     The Australian-born Siddons said he wasn't surprised to hear of Ashraful's involvement, saying "it's disappointing but I don't think it's surprising. It's a powerful beast the underworld gambling."
     Siddons said he "made my thoughts known a while ago to the (Bangladesh) cricket board and the ICC," warning of the ...

Ex-Bangladesh coach not surprised Ashraful fixing

The Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) today unveiled a new leadership structure after the resignation of its long-serving CEO Tim May by making Paul Marsh the Executive Chairman of the body.
     FICA President Jimmy Adams said Marsh was elected as Executive Chairman by Chief Executives of the individual player associations, with Ian Smith as Chief Operating Officer.
     "Mr. Marsh is the current Chief Executive of the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA), and will continue to operate in this capacity alongside his new role, which will involve him being accountable for FICA's performance and being the organisation's main spokesperson," FICA said in a statement.
     Smith has been the Legal Director of the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) since 2004 and has assisted May at FICA for the last few years. He will be responsible for the day to day operational management of FICA.
     Adams said the new appointments signalled a new chapter in FICA's .

FICA creates new leadership structure, Marsh named EC

Former Pakistani asylum-seeker Fawad Ahmed moved a step closer to playing in next month's Ashes series against England after being rushed into the Australia A squad for their tour of Britain today.
     The prospects of Ahmed, 31, playing for his adopted country improved dramatically when a bill to amend the Citizenship Act, which will help fast-track his application, passed through Australia's lower house of parliament Wednesday.
     "Fawad is a spin bowler of interest and we look forward to seeing how he performs for Australia A," chief selector John Inverarity said, expressing confidence his citizenship would soon be awarded.
     While the legislation still needs to go through the upper house, Cricket Australia said it appeared there was enough support for it to become law.
     The new legislation will give Australia's immigration minister the power to apply shorter residential requirements on some citizenship applicants, such as elite athletes with the potential to represent ...

Asylum-seeker Ahmed gets Australia call

The South African Cricketers' Association (SACA) has paid tribute to Tim May, who resigned as the chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA) citing frustration at the global governing body amid allegations of corruption in the game and backroom politicking.
     "Tim has done a great job for all of us. We shouldn't forget what it was like before FICA came along and before the establishment of our own players associations," said South Africa Test captain Graeme Smith.
     Tony Irish, chief executive of SACA, said May had set the benchmark for everyone.
     "When SACA got going as a players' association 11 years ago we didn't really know what we were getting into but we followed the path pioneered by Tim. He set the benchmark for all of us and he was the first leader to really stand up for players in cricket," said Irish.
     He also said May was unwavering in his approach to always putting the interests of the players, and the good of the game, 

South African cricketers pay tribute to May

The long, leafy main walkway at Roland Garros separated Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic as they played simultaneous French Open matches in different stadiums today.
	Now they'll go head to head.
	Both advanced to Friday's semifinals with victories in straight sets, finishing less than 10 minutes apart. Nadal routed Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3, 6-1, and shortly thereafter Djokovic eliminated 35-year-old Tommy Haas 6-3, 7-6 (5), 7-5.
	So much for the preliminaries to set up a much-anticipated rematch of last year's final, which Nadal won for a record seventh French Open title. He's bidding to become first man to win eight titles at the same Grand Slam event.
	Djokovic, ranked No 1 and the winner of six Grand Slam titles, seeks the only major championship he has yet to win. With two more victories he would become the eighth man to complete a career Grand Slam.
	The other semifinal matches Spaniard David Ferrer against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who's trying to become the first Frenchman in 30 ..

Djokovic, Nadal reach French Open semifinals

Ian Bell struck 82 and Jos Buttler powered a belligerent 47 not out off just 16 balls as England posted 287-6 against New Zealand in the third and final match in their one-day series today.
	With New Zealand looking to complete a 3-0 whitewash ahead of the forthcoming Champions Trophy, its attack was smashed to all corners of Trent Bridge with some crowd-pleasing big hitting by Buttler and Eoin Morgan (49) late in the innings.
	Opener Bell's knock came off just 96 balls as England finally found some form with the bat after being outplayed by the tourists in defeats at Lord's and Southampton.
	Paceman Mitchell McClenaghan had New Zealand's best figures of 3-54 off his 10 overs, his first wicket being England captain Alastair Cook for a duck.

England sets Kiwis target of 288 to win 3rd ODI

A day  before the commencement of the ICC Champions trophy 2013 in England, the Delhi High Court today directed ESPN channel to provide live signal of the international cricket tournament to Doordarshan without any commercial till the its further order.
     The One Day International cricket tournament is scheduled to be held in England from June 6 to 23.
     A vacation bench of justices Manmohan Singh and R V Easwar said in an interim order that "till the next date, we direct that the petitioner (ESPN) shall provide live signals which would be clean without any commercial to Doordarshan so that Doordarshan would be able to telecast the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 as per commitment and object of the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act".
    The bench also said the pleadings in the matter are yet to be completed and "the interim application as well as the writ petition be listed before the roster bench on July 12".
     The bench was hearing a petition filed by the TV 

HC asks ESPN to share feed of ICC Champions Trophy  with DD

South Africa captain AB de Villiers tried to put up a brave front as he informed that his premier fast bowler Dale Steyn is a doubtful starter against India in the opening group league encounter of the Champions Trophy here tomorrow.
     Steyn is suffering from a side strain and pulled out after bowling just five overs during a warm-up match against Pakistan at The Oval on Monday.
     "He (Steyn) is not looking good at all. We will reassess tonight and again tomorrow morning and it's still touch and go. It's not only one game and won't like to risk him," De Villiers told reporters here at the National Cricket Centre today.
     De Villiers however said he wasn't too worried with Steyn's absence.
     "We have the experience and the energy to do our best. Against India, we will come out like a pack of wolves," he said.
     Stating that the first 10-15 overs in every game will be crucial in the tournament, De Villiers said they are aware about the pros and cons of the Indian ...

Steyn is a doubtful starter vs India, says AB De Villiers

The South African cricketing fraternity today mourned the death of pioneering Indian-origin sportsman Mohamed Ismail 'Bree' Bulbulia.
     He was 91.
     Bulbulia was South Africa's first non-white umpire in the apartheid-era, when sport was forcibly segregated on racial lines, in the first Test against Kenya Asians in 1956.
     Popularly known as 'Bree', Bulbulia had also signed up the entire West Indian team for a South African tour in 1958 for the then princely sum of 5,000 pounds, but the tour was cancelled after the African National Congress in exile disapproved of it as the world applied sanctions against the white minority government.
     Bulbulia was buried the same evening in accordance with Muslim customs.

S Africans mourn death of pioneering cricketer Bree Bulbulia

Defending champion Saina Nehwal led the Indian charge as six of them reached pre-quarterfinals of Thailand Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament here today.
     Besides Saina, rising star Arundhati Pantawane advanced to the pre-quarterfinals in women's singles event while Anand Pawar, H S Prannoy, Sai Praneeth and K Srikanth also made it to the last 16 stage in men's section.
     World No 2 Saina didn't break much sweat as she prevailed over Shih Han Hung of Chinese Taipei 21-11 21-16 in a 29-minute match here.
     The 23-year-old from Hyderabad will next take on Febby Angguni of Indonesia in the second round tomorrow.
     Nagpur shuttler Arundhati saw off Min Ji Lee of Korea 14-21 21-9 21-15 in a 45-minute battle in the opening round. Arundhati will next meet the winner of fifth seed Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand and Yeni Asmarani of Indonesia.
     In men's singles, Praneeth scored an upset win over fourth-seed Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka of Indonesia 21-12 18-21 21-18 to enter 

Six Indians, including Saina, reach pre-quarters

While granting bail to actor Vindoo Dara Singh, Chennai Super Kings Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan, and six others in the IPL betting case, a local court here tore apart the Mumbai crime branch case, saying police have no evidence of forgery and cheating.
    Among the charges invoked by the police in the case, only forgery and cheating are non-bailable.
    "The prosecution has availed of ample opportunities to interrogate and collect the material but it is not in position to point out who was cheated by virtue of forged documents... The grounds are not sufficient to believe the forgery in the sense of making of false documents or entries in any official register or official documents to commit a fraud," Additional Magistrate M N Saleem said the 11-page bail order, passed yesterday.
    In Meiyappan's case, the court observed that prosecution had accepted that he was not involved in match-fixing or spot- fixing. "He knew no one other than Vindoo through whom he allegedly placed ...

No sufficient evidence against Vindoo, Gurunath: Court

Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka set up a mouth-watering French Open semi-final with hard-fought wins in their quarter-finals.
     The defending champion Russian, seeded second this year, survived a nightmare start to hold on to her crown for at least another day with a 0-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over tough Jelena Jankovic in a compelling quarter-final tie.
     World number three Azarenka, meanwhile, reached her first semi-final at Roland Garros when she defeated friend and former doubles partner, Maria Kirilenko of Russia, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.
     Sharapova and Azarenka have played each other 12 times with the Belarusian 7-5 ahead, although it will be their first meeting this year.
     The 26-year-old Russian was all over the place for a set and 30 minutes in her match against Jankovic, but with the Roland Garros exit door beckoning, she steadied her nerves enough to apply the firepower needed to derail the Serb's brave challenge.
     "She played such a great match from the beginning and 

Sharapova, Azarenka reach French Open semis

Olympians Sahana Kumari of Karnataka and Tintu Luka of Kerala won their respective events while Tamil Nadu long jumper Prem Kumar set a new meet record on the second day of the 53rd National Inter-State Senior Athletic Championships here today.
     Prem Kumar cleared 8m in his fifth and final jump to set a new meet record. Arshad of Karnataka (7.85m) was second while Ankit Sharma of Madhya Pradesh was third in 7.67m.
     Favourite Luka, watched by her mentor P T Usha, won the women's 800m race in 2min 04.14secs. She led all through the race and finished three seconds ahead of Gomathi of Tamil Nadu (2:07.33). Haryana's Sushma Devi (2:07.95s) was third.
     32-year-old Sahana, a mother of a seven-year-old girl, was the main attraction at high jump event and she won it with an effort of 1.88m. She, however, flopped in her all three attempts to reach her own mark of 1.92m, which is also the national record.
     Mallika Mondal of Bengal (1.74m) and N D Tintu of Kerala (1.68m) won the ..

Luka, Sahana win gold, long jumper Kumar sets new meet record

India's International Master Swayams Mishra shocked GM Timoshenko Georgy of Ukraine to take the joint second position at the conclusion of the penultimate round in the 6th Mumbai Mayor International Chess Tournament at the NSCI Stadium here today.
	Mishra (ELO 2406), from Odisha, played aggressively against higher ranked rival Timoshenko (ELO 2522). He unsettled his opponent by castling on the 9th move and preferred to keep his king in the centre to activate all his pieces.
	Timoshenko resigned in 30 moves, enabling Mishra to lie joint second in the race for the title that would be decided tomorrow.
	The top slot was occupied by three players with 8 points. Overnight leader, GM Pantasulaia Levan (ELO 2563) of Georgia, was joined by two others - top seed GM M Mekheil (ELO 2645) of Georgia and 2nd seed GM Amonatav Farrukh (ELO 2616) of Tajikistan.
	They were followed by GM Akashayraj KoreKore, Mishra and GM Andriasian Zaven (ELO 2608) of Armenia, who were tied on 7.5 points each.
	Kore .

IM Mishra upsets GM Timoshenko to move into joint 2nd

An internal probe report was today submitted to BCCI about IPL spot-fixing in which three players including S Sreesanth of Rajasthan Royals were arrested by the Delhi Police a fortnight ago.
	The fate of the report, which was completed without getting any access to the arrested players and complete evidence collected by the Delhi Police, was yet to be decided keeping in view the crisis that has engulfed the cricket board.
	BCCI had appointed R N Sawani, a former IPS officer who probed the 2000 match-fixing case, to submit its report to the Cricket Board after analysing the probe of Delhi and Mumbai police.
	The mandate of the probe was to examine allegation levelled by the Delhi Police against the three players and the three matches that have been listed by the Delhi Police, official sources said.
	However, the BCCI-appointed one-man probe team could not question the three players -- Sreesanth and Ajay Chandalia as they were in judicial custody whereas Ankeet Chavan was out on bail ...

Spot-fixing probe reoport given to BCCI

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar today said that wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has "done enough" in the two practice matches to earn his place in the playing XI against South Africa in the Champions Trophy in Cardiff tomorrow.
     "He (Dinesh Karthik) has to play tomorrow. He has rescued India twice in the practice matches. He has been in good form and has done enough to make his place in the side," Gavaskar said.
     Despite Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay failing to impress in the games against Sri Lanka and Australia, Gavaskar felt India should still go with regular openers against a strong South African bowling line-up.
     "I don't think India would want to unsettle their opening pair. They might have struggled in the practice matches but still they would require regular openers in seaming English conditions," Gavaskar said.
     "Openers will be crucial for the team. India will looking for a solid start from their openers. A good start will make things easier for the 

Page 5047 -