India's young batsmen will face some Australian chin-music when they two teams square off in the second and final warm-up game on a newly-laid pitch at the Swalec Stadium here tomorrow.
     In a series of warm-up matches planned by the ICC, both teams come off comprehensive wins as India prepare for their Champions Trophy opener against South Africa on June 6.
     The sun has been beating down at Cardiff and the groundmen are happy that their "new" strip should have a bit for both batsmen and bowlers.
     Australia have a little edge going into Tuesday's day-match having beaten the West Indies in a warm-up game here on June 1.
     Chasing 257 for a win, Australian batsmen knocked off the winning runs losing just four wickets with more than 10 overs to spare.
     India are also coming off a resounding win against Sri Lanka in Birmingham on Saturday. Twin tons by middle-order generals Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik helped India overhaul a victory target of 334 by five wickets, but .

It's Indian batsmen vs Aussie bowlers in 2nd warm-up tie

PTI Automatic

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) said today it was delaying indefinitely the live implementation of line-call review technology to address "last-minute issues" that have cropped up in testing.
     Line-calls are a flashpoint in badminton, with players often complaining about officials making erroneous or biased decisions, and the sport plans to follow tennis and football in using technology to reduce the risk of human error.
     After testing its system in the Malaysian Open this year and last month's Sudirman Cup in Kuala Lumpur, the sport's world governing body had planned to go live at next week's Indonesia Open.
     Instead, the BWF "will continue testing the line-call technology in an effort to resolve some last-minute issues which arose during the recent testing", it said in a statement.
     BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund was quoted saying the testing would continue at the Indonesia event. No new date for a live roll-out was given.
     But Lund said the BWF was ...

BWF postpones use of review technology

The Visakhapatnam District Olympic Association will attempt a new world record of the largest-ever 'Olympic Day Run' on June 23, organisers said today.
	The VDOA, in association with the local administration and others, will be celebrating the Olympic Day by organising a rally ensuring participation of one lakh people, they said.
	"Besides common people, prominent sportstars namely ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, cricketer VVS Laxman, shooter Gagan Narang, tennis star Sania Mirza, Tollywood celebrities, politicians and industrialists will participate in the 5-km run," said VDOA president and convener of the event, T Harsha Vardhana Prasad.
	Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy will flag off the run from the Andhra University College of Engineering ground, which culminates at RK Beach.
	Andhra Pradesh Olympic Association (APOA) will be organising the annual Olympic festival on the occasion.
	Olympic Day Run event has been organised to mark the creation of the International Olympic Committee ..

Vizag body aims world record for largest Olympic Day Run

The Indian weightlifting team, which won a whopping 27 medals in the recently-concluded Asian Youth Championships at Doha, was today felicitated by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) here.
     The Indian team, comprising of eight boys and seven girls, bagged 13 gold, seven silver and an equal number of bronze medals in the meet that took place from May 28 to June 1 in the Qatari capital.
     "It is indeed a brilliant performance by our young players. I acknowledge the efforts made by the Weightlifting Federation of India and SAI in making this happen by picking up the right players," said SAI Director General Jiji Thomson at the felicitation function.
     "It is a rare feat and first time in the history of Indian weightlifting. This performance is par excellence as our young players competed against Asian and world giants like China, Korea and Japan and 27 medals is a great performance," he added.
     Thomson said the SAI had spent nearly Rs 5.20 crore on junior age categories in 

SAI felicitates weightlifters for good show in Youth C'ships

Top seed Sriram Balaji dropped a set before prevailing over young Neeraj Elangovan in the main draw of the BR Adityan GNC ITF Men's Futures (second leg) Tennis Championships which begin at the Gandhinagar Club here today.
     Sriram demolished Neeraj in the first set but in second set the latter found his groove and served and stroked powerfully to bounce back at 6-3. However, Sriram got back his bearing once again to win the third set and the match.
     In another tie, Karunuday Singh, seeded 8, had to use his experience to fend off some resistance from the young talented left hander P Saradhi Adavelly.
     In two more singles main draw matches, Toshihide Matsui, seeded 6, brushed away qualifier Fahad Mohammed while Jatin Dahiya got the better of Rakshit Rishi.
     Men's Singles:
     N Sriram Balaji (IND) [1] Bt. Neeraj Elangovan (IND) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1; Jatin Dahiya (IND) Bt. Rakshit Rishi (IND) 6-2, 6-3; Toshihide Matsui (JPN) [4] Bt. Fahad Mohammed (IND) 6-4, 6-1; Karunuday Singh 

Balaji beat Neeraj in ITF Men's Futures

Jose Mourinho has been appointed as Chelsea manager for a second time, the Premier League club confirmed today.
     Following weeks of speculation, the 50-year-old Portuguese has signed a four-year contract with the club he previously coached between 2004 and 2007.
     "I am delighted to welcome Jose back to Chelsea. His continued success, drive and ambition made him the outstanding candidate," said chief executive Ron Gourlay in a statement published on the Chelsea website.
	"It is our aim to keep the club moving forward to achieve greater success in the future and Jose is our number one choice as we believe he is the right manager to do just that.
	"He was and remains a hugely popular figure at the club and everyone here looks forward to working with him again."
	Mourinho arrives from Real Madrid, where an initially fruitful three-year spell ended in acrimony following an unsuccessful league title defence, a semi-final exit in the Champions League, and the alienation of senior ...

Mourinho returns as Chelsea manager - club

Association of Indian Universities and Karnataka registered victories in their respective league matches in the 3rd Hockey India Senior Men National Championship at Major Dhyan Chand Polygrass Hockey Stadium, Pimpri here today.
     Association of Indian Universities thrashed Gujarat 19-1 in their Pool A league match.
     Razin Kandulana (4, 8, 17, 18, 23 min) scored five goals, Manjinder Singh (12, 55), Gurjant Singh (14, 42), Hardeep Singh (27, 68), Jaskaran Singh (50, 65), Ramandeep Singh( 57, 64) netted two each, while Gurpreet Singh (5 min), Ravisher Singh (27 min), Satinder Dalal (33 min), Jaswinder Singh (54 min) hit the net once each.
     For Gujarat, Ankit Thakur (46 min) scored the lone goal.
     In Pool C, Karnataka hammered Goa 20-0.
     Karnataka scored through M G Poonacha (5, 53, 57 min), Bidappa B S (8, 63 min), Nikkin Thimmaiah (13, 20 min), Muddappa M K (14, 39, 61, 62 min), Mohan Muthanna (26, 31 min), MB Aiyappa (43, 49 min), SK Uthappa (44, 67, 69 min), ...

Big wins for Association of Indian Universities and Karnataka

Defending champion Saina Nehwal will have her eyes firmly set on the coveted women's singles crown while Ajay Jayaram and Sourabh Verma will lead the Indian charge in men's singles when the Thailand Grand Prix Gold begins with the qualifiers here tomorrow.
     Back in action after skipping the Sudirman Cup because of a freak toe injury, top seed Saina will have her task cut out as she opens her campaign against Shih Han Hung of Chinese Taipei in the main draw of the women's singles on Wednesday.
     The world number two Indian will have an easy run till the quarterfinals where he is expected to meet local player and third seed Porntip Buranaprasertuk, who is ranked 13 in the world.
     However, it will be only in the finals where the 23-year-old from Hyderabad is likely to face her toughest opponent in Thai star Ratchanok Intanon, who has been in red-hot form and has the record of beating Saina twice in the last two encounters.
     The event will devoid of Chinese attractions.
    

Saina looks to defend title; Ajay, Sourabh start in Thai GP

Banning after match parties during the Indian Premier League could be one of the solutions to cleanse cricket, according to BCCI's Working Group chief Jagmohan Dalmiya who today promised to leave no stone unturned to restore the credibility of the game.
     Addressing his first press conference since taking over charge from N Srinivasan who stepped aside, Dalmiya said that he will make all efforts to achieve the ultimate goal so that "the good name of cricket is retained".
     Asked whether he would consider banning after match parties in the IPL as part of his cleaning up process, he said, "One of the possibility could be that.
     "I don't have any medicine that you get instant result. We don't have any such kind of a magic. We will try our best," he said.
     The 73-year-old Dalmiya made it clear that he had powers to fill up vacancies in the Board and will await a final response from Ajay Shirke before taking decisions.
     "They (Jagdale and Shirke) were given 24 hours time. 

Dalmiya promises to clean up cricket

Terming the BCCI's emergency meeting at Chennai a "farce", former Board chief and Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) president I S Bindra today said that his crusade against wrongdoings would continue.
     "It is a difficult fight but then other sports internationally have, to a large extent, succeeded in battling the monster. It has to be a relentless fight and it has to be fought with conviction and zero tolerance," Bindra was quoted as saying on his website, www.Isbindra.Com.
     He said that a majority of cricket fans were disappointed with the outcome of the so-called emergency meeting of BCCI's working committee yesterday.
     "I can only offer my sympathies to them (fans). Frankly, at the end of it all, I had a sinking feeling and felt why at all did I travel down south in this excruciating heat, catching a flight at six," Bindra said.
     He said that it was a colossal waste of Board's money and time of the members as well as of the huge posse of media which waited in ...

My fight against wrongdoings in BCCI will continue: Bindra

International Master Ravichandran Siddharth of Tamil Nadu (ELO 2361) stunned GM Fodor Tamas of Hungary (ELO 2475) in the Rs 21.5-lakh prize money 6th Mumbai Mayor International Chess Tournament hosted by the National Sports Club of India here today.
     Unheralded Sameer Kathmale of Maharashtra (ELO 2325) also scored an upset win over Indian IM Karthikeyan P (ELO 2415) that helped him to move into joint second lead along with Siddharth with six points along with six others after eight rounds.
     Overnight leaders - GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil (ELO 2654) and GM Pentasulaia Levan (ELO 2563) - both from Georgia, agreed for a quick draw thus maintaining their half point slender lead with 6.5 points apiece.
     GM Amonatov Farrukh (ELO 2616) of Tajakhstan, GM Papin Vasily (ELO 2552) of Russia and GM Petrosian Davit (ELO 2436) of Armenia, who were trailing the leaders by half a point, could not convert their games into wins.
     IM Siddharth overcame GM Tamas in a game of Slav Defence ...

Mumbai Mayor Intl Chess: Siddharth, Kathmale score upset wins

Chelsea FC College Academy head coach Julian Hart says their main aim was to develop football in India and instill in the country's young talent passion about the sport.
     Hart was speaking after the football club's three-day clinic came to an end.
     "Our main motive here is development of football. It is about bringing out the passion in them to take football seriously," Hart said.
     "We wanted to interact with as many children as possible to point them in the right direction."
     Hart said it was important to have football-based schools.
     "It's very important to have education and football-based schools, so that children can do academics and sport side by side. If a player shows exceptional talent then it's the school's duty to nurture that talent," said Hart.
     The clinic, held from May 31-June 2, was preceded by a two-day scouting camp on May 25-26 at the Modern School.
     Close to 400 kids from leading schools in the city attended the camp at the Ambedkar ...

Motive is football development in India: Chelsea academy

The quest for a foreign coach for Indian gymnastics has finally made some headway with two candidates submitting their applications for the top post to the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
     "The process has already started. We have received two applications for the coaching job. We are evaluating their resumes. At this point, I can't tell you the names but country's gymnasts will soon have a foreign coach," SAI DG Jiji Thomson said.
     Even before the competitions in the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games could start, the Indian contingent was rocked by a controversy with the foreign coach of the gymnastic squad, Vladmir Chertkov deserting the team after he was barred from taking part in the opening ceremony.
     "We are aware of this and will soon announce the name of a foreign coach. We will recommend a name to the Sports Ministry for its approval," Thomson said.
     Thomson said the SAI will provide the country's gymnasts with best training facilities by holding preparatory camps ..

Indian gymnasts set to get new foreign coach

Punjab, Sports Authority of India and Karnataka started their campaign on a winning note in the 3rd Hockey India Junior Men National Championship here today.
     Punjab defeated Kerala 13-0 in their opening league match in pool A. Punjab scored through Parvinder Singh (7, 13 51, 53, 59 min), Gaganpreet Singh (23, 44), Harsahib Singh (32), Gurinder Singh (38), Vikramjit Singh (46), Ajit Pandit (50), Gujrant Singh (63) and Lovepreet Singh (66).
     In the other pool A match, Jharkhand beat Mumbai Hockey Association Limited 3-0. Jharkhand scored through Sumanta (41), Rahul (66) and Sanjay (69).
     Sports Authority of India beat Manipur 11-1 in their pool E league match. Sandeep Kumar Singh scored six goals for SAI.
     In the other pool E match, Karnataka registered their first win as they defeated Rajasthan 13-0. Karnataka scored through Jitender (7, 52, 56), Sanjib (14), Shreyash (18, 38), Shaik Adil (31), Rakesh (33, 54, 59), Shesha Gowda (24, 38), Suras Singh (49) and Anjaneya ..

Punjab, SAI, Karnataka start campaign on winning note

Volatile Russian Mikhail Youzhny smashed the same racquet nine times on Monday, sending splinters spiralling into the air and ball boys running for cover in a stunning French Open meltdown.
     Youzhny boiled over after he slipped a set and 3-0 down to Tommy Haas in the last-16 at Roland Garros with the random act of violence becoming an instant YouTube hit.
     "You try and do all you can to help yourself. I tried it this way, but it doesn't help really," said 29-year-old Youzhny, who slumped to a 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 defeat to Haas on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
     Youzhny is notorious on tour for his hair-trigger temper.
     At Miami in 2008, playing Spain's Nicolas Almagro, he smashed his racquet on his head so violently that blood poured onto the court.
     He insisted that his racquet sponsor, Head, will not be concerned about the damage.
     "I have been with Head for 20 years. You want me to go to another company and break their racquets?," he said.
     Youzhny's racquet-smashing .

Youzhny smashes same racquet nine times

The sports management firm that manages Mahendra Singh Dhoni today clarified that the India skipper holds no stake in the company, putting to rest speculations about a possible conflict of interest.
     It was reported in the media that Dhoni has a 15 per cent stake in Rhiti Sports which also manages Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Pragyan Ojha, besides the Indian captain.
     However, the firm made it clear that Dhoni was a shareholder only for a brief period, and currently has no stake.
     "As on date, MSD holds no shareholding in Rhiti Sports Management (P) Ltd. However, it is made clear that shareholding was allotted to MSD on 22.03.2013 only to secure certain old outstandings which were due for more than one year.
     "Further, the payments were cleared in April 2013 and the shareholding was transferred back to promoter of the company on 26.04.2013," Rhiti Sports chairman Arun Pandey said in a statement.
     In 2010, Dhoni signed up with Rhiti Sports reportedly for Rs 210 

Dhoni holds no shareholding in Rhiti Sports: Firm

The BCCI will have to search for a new interim secretary and treasurer after Sanjay Jagdale and Ajay Shirke refused to reconsider their resignation tendered in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal that has rocked Indian cricket.
     "They (Jagdale and Shirke) have informed that they are not coming back," joint secretary Anurag Thakur told PTI today.
     With Jagdale and Shirke's refusal to come back, it will be a blow for Jagmohan Dalmiya led working group to function smoothly.
     As of now Thakur will be the acting secretary of the BCCI.
     "I will be carrying out the function of BCCI secretary till the time we convene a Special General Body Meeting. In order to elect or select a new secretary and treasurer, we need to hold a Special General Body meeting," Thakur explained.
     Asked about the allegation levelled by former BCCI president Inderjit Singh Bindra who termed the working committee meeting as "worse than match fixing," Thakur said "I don't wish to make any comments."
 

Jagdale, Shirke are not coming back: Jt Secy Thakur

Infrastructure major Jindal Group will develop a state-of-the-art training-cum-excellence centre in Hisar for athletes in collaboration with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) as part of Public-Private initiative.
     The initiative to develop modern training centre is part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity being undertaken by the firm.
     The SAI will look after the selection and training part of the athletes while infrastructure upgradation and maintenance will be taken care by Jindal Group.
     "The SAI is actively considering the proposal by the Jindal Group to develop SAI's Hisar Centre under first-of-its-kind Public-Private Partnership as part of their CSR initiative. It will be an important step towards providing world class sporting infrastructure to the athletes," said SAI DG Jiji Thomson.
     Development of sports infrastructure requires large investments backed by corporate support and PPP is a one point solution where private sector can bring in the ..

Jindal Group to develop SAI's Hisar centre as PPP initiative

Promising paddler Sutirtha Mukherjee beat compatriot Manika Batra to win the girls' singles title at the Slovak Junior Open in Senec, Slovakia as India rounded off its best-ever show in an international event by bagging four gold and two silver medals.
     For India, a gold each came in the junior doubles event (boys and girls) on the final day of the competition yesterday, besides two medals (gold and silver) in the girls' singles.
     Manika, who was a finalist in the singles of the Commonwealth Championships here last month, comfortably won the first game 11-3.
     But 15-year-old Sutirtha made a strong comeback to get the better off Manika 3-11 11-6 11-6 11-8 11-9 and clinch the singles' crown.
     Earlier in the day, Sutirtha and Manika paired up to bag another gold for India as they defeated Pauline Chasselin and Audrey Zarif of France in the final of the girls' doubles category 7-11 11-6 11-6 6-11 11-8.
     Sudhanshu Grover and Abhishek Yadav accounted for the Brazilian ...

Sutirtha win singles title in Slovak Junior ITTF Open

The Delhi High Court has set aside a trial court order restraining six office bearers of Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) from discharging their functions saying it was not sustainable in the eyes of law.
	The relief came for DDCA joint secretaries Ravi Jain, Ravinder Manchanda, Subhash Sharma, Vivek Gupta and also members of Executive Committee Ashok Sharma and S K Chaudhary, who had challenged the trial court's March 13 order.
	Justice V K Shali directed the trial court to decide the case on merits after going through the evidence produced by both sides and directed them to appear before the lower court on July 30.
	"I feel that the order passed by the learned trial court is not sustainable in the eyes of law and the same is set aside. Both the appeals are allowed. The matter is directed to be decided by the trial court on merits, after permitting the parties to adduce evidence with regard to the merits of the case," Justice Shali said.
	The two appeals were filed by ...

HC sets aside restrain order against 6 DDCA members

Punjab Cricket Association President I S Bindra today said that he fully stood by his claim that Sri Lankan Board had withdrawn a report which had mentioned an Indian player allegedly violating anti-corruption rules during the 2010 tour on pressure from the BCCI.
     "I have seen the press release issued by Sri Lankan Board of June 3 contradicting my assertion made in my blog dated 1st June. I reiterate and fully stand by what I had said," Bindra said in statement after SLC refuted his claims.
     "I would like the ICC or any other independent body to hold a probe into the matter and take action on the basis of this probe. I undertake to provide full information and details to an independent probing agency," he said.
     Earlier in the day, SLC refuted Bindra's claims that a BCCI official had arm-twisted the Sri Lankan Board to withdraw a report which had mentioned an Indian player allegedly violating anti-corruption regulations during the Indian tour in 2010.
     "Sri Lanka ...

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