Sports

By IANS, New Delhi : The victorious Indian hockey team that won the Azlan Shah Cup returned here Monday. The team, led by Sandeep Singh, beat Malaysia 3-1 in the final Sunday to register their fourth title triumph after 13 years. However, the team met a tepid reception at the Indira Gandhi International airport. Had it not been for the media presence, the team's homecoming would have gone largely unnoticed. Skipper Sandeep Singh said the team is buoyed by their performance at Malaysia.

By Abhishek Roy, IANS,

By IANS, Mumbai : The disciplinary committee of the Indian cricket Board Friday decided to allow Lalit Modi, suspended Indian Premier League chairman, to be represented by his legal counsel at the hearing. Modi, who is facing disciplinary charges by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), asked the panel, through his attorney Mehmood Abdi that since he was out of the country, his counsel should be allowed to represent him. Modi has been charged on several counts ranging from financial irregularities to bid-rigging as chairman of the cash-rich IPL.

By DPA, London : European soccer body UEFA confirmed that Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney will not face any disciplinary action over an alleged stamp on AaB's Kasper Risgard last week. The incident occurred during United's 2-2 draw against the Danish champions last Wednesday. Rooney's studs clearly landed on Risgard's chest, but UEFA Monday decided the contact was accidental. A spokesman said: "UEFA will not open any disciplinary proceedings against Wayne Rooney."

By IANS, New Delhi : A team of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) started random tests of the players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) from Saturday. IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi said the WADA team would follow the rules of the International Cricket Council (ICC) while collecting the samples. "There will be random dope tests on players from today (Saturday)," Modi said. "The WADA team from Sweden has already come down. We don't know which team will be subjected to the tests first or which player's samples would be taken first.

By IANS, Hyderabad: India's top test cricketer V.V.S. Laxman Saturday announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect.

By IANS, Hyderabad: India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels winning most matches as an Indian Test captain is a collective effort and said the credit should go to all the team members.

By Paritosh Parasher, IANS,

By Sri Krishna IANS New Delhi : It was a meeting that International Football Federation (FIFA) President Sepp Blatter would long remember. For 45 minutes, President A P J Kalam held forth on the sport quoting profusely from a book by French soccer star Michel Platini and his "own dream" of popularizing the sport in India's 600,000 villages.

By IANS, Bangalore : An African student from Ivory Coast, who collapsed playing football for his college team Wednesday, died of cardiac arrest, the police said here Thursday quoting the autopsy report. “Attebi Djwrey Abale Albert Aguste, 26, faced a sudden death. He suffered a massive cardiac arrest just before half-time while playing for the Reddy Jana Sangha First Grade collage in the south zonal inter-college football match underway at the Central College grounds,” deputy commissioner of police B. Shivkumar told IANS.

By IANS,

New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday raised the Lalit Modi controversy in the Rajya Sabha, demanding a discussion and suspending the scheduled business on...

By DPA Hamburg : A late goal by Kevin Davies earned Bolton Wanderers a 2-2 draw at German league leaders Bayern Munich while Premiership sides Everton and Tottenham Hotspur both bagged away victories in UEFA Cup football. It was a less positive Thursday night for German clubs, with Bayern being held and both Nuremberg and Bayer Leverkusen losing. It followed another poor Champions League showing by the Bundesliga contingent, with defeats for Stuttgart and Werder Bremen and a draw for Schalke in matches Tuesday and Wednesday.

London: Sania Mirza combined with former world number one Martina Hingis late Saturday to win a thrilling women's doubles final in the 2015 edition...

By IANS, New Delhi : Defending champions Mohun Bagan have been clubbed with Mahindra United in the Federation Cup football tournament and will start their campaign Dec 21 against a qualifier in Guwahati. Sixteen teams have been divided in four groups for the final round of the tournament that will be played simultaneously in Guwahati and Silchar. Mohun Bagan, Mahindra, Chirag United are in Group B with a qualifier. 2007 champions East Bengal, JCT, Salagaocar and Viva Kerala are in Group A.

By DPA Vienna : Andy Roddick and James Blake overcame their issues with the clay court, posting wins to hand defending champions US a 2-0 lead over Austria in the Davis Cup World Group tennis. Roddick wrestled with the patchy indoor surface, spending four hours in defeating Jurgen Melzer 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 Friday. It went slightly more smoothly for Blake, who beat Austria's number one Stefan Koubek in a 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 comeback.

By Xinhua Birmingham : World No.1 Lin Dan sailed to a 21-17, 21-11 win over Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark while his fellow Chinese Bao Chunlai and Chen Jin also booked semi-final berths at the All England Badminton Championships here. Third-seeded Bao set up a meeting with Lin after beating another Dane Joachim Persson 21-11, 21-13 while Chen clinched a quick 21-14, 21-12 win against Indonesian veteran Sony Dwi Kuncoro Friday.

By IANS, East London : A packed Buffalo Park witnessed its last Indian Premier League (IPL) II match Friday evening. The Twenty20 cricket game between Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians was hailed as a resounding success after all its 14000 tickets were sold out. The fans turned out the despite rain in the cold weather, wrapping themselves in warm winter clothing. The tickets for the first match at East London May 1 were sold out, while for the second match May 4 only 8000-9000 tickets were sold.

By IANS, Mumbai: Chennai Super Kings made it to the finals of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a 38-run win over defending champions Deccan Chargers in the semi-finals at the D.Y. Patil Sports Complex here Thursday. Chasing a target of 143, Deccan Chargers were bowled out for 104 in 19.2 overs. Super Kings, 2008 finalists, will face Mumbai Indians in Sunday's final at the same venue.

By IANS, New Delhi: Delhi Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna Wednesday approved the seating, parking and communication plans for the Oct 3 opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The Oct 14 closing ceremony will also be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Khanna chaired the meeting of the inter-agency group on micro planning and discussed plans proposed by the Organising Committee of the Games, the Delhi Police and special advisor for the games Ramesh Narayanaswami.

By Asit Srivastavam, IANS, Lucknow : Guess where you can see some pulse-racing bullock cart races, gulli danda, kite-flying and other traditional Indian games? At the first-ever homegrown 'Rural Olympics' being organised in Uttar Pradesh later this month. What's more, winners will not be given medals or trophies but awards that can be useful to them every day like loads of ghee and cooking oil!

By IANS, Melbourne : Fast bowler Brett Lee, and all-rounders Shane Watson and Andrew Symonds were selected for the 15-member Australian squad for next month's Twenty20 World Cup in England. Twenty20 sensation David Warner of New South Wales has also been selected for his consistent performances in the shortest version of the game. Warner is currently playing for Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in South Africa. Ricky Ponting will lead the side while Michael Clarke will be his deputy.

By DPA, London : Chelsea staved off a valiant Liverpool fightback, drawing 4-4 on the night, and progressing to a Champions League semi-final date against Barcelona by a 7-5 aggregate. As Fabio Aurelio and Xabi Alonso struck for Liverpool before half-time Tuesday, Chelsea's 3-1 lead from last week's first leg was wiped out. Second-half strikes from Didier Drogba, Alex and Frank Lampard put Chelsea 3-2 up on the night.

By IANS, Johannesburg : The chairperson of 2010 Local Organising Committee said that Durban and not Johannesburg is the ideal city to host the opening ceremony of the 2010 football World Cup. "I wish the opening ceremony would be hosted here in Durban but that decision doesn't lie with me. The city has done tremendous work in preparing for the 2010 World Cup," Irvin Khoza, who is the chairperson of the committee, was quoted as saying by Mail and Guardian. Khoza was speaking on the occasion of the inauguration of the 350 metre-long arch of the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban.

By Jaideep Sarin, IANS Jalandhar (Punjab) : Every time a 'gora' (white man) was felled, raising the dust, there was a loud cheer. And every time the goras pinned down an Indian opponent, the applause was no less. This was the spectacle at a rural sports ground in Parasrampur village near here this weekend as a British Army team tried its hands with kabaddi, a traditional sport of Punjab.

By IANS, New Delhi : The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) has refunded Rs.3.6 million in gate collections to the spectators following Sunday's abandonment of the fifth ODI between India and Sri Lanka at the Ferozeshah Kotla. DDCA official Ravi Jain told IANS that Rs.2.6 million was refunded Tuesday and Rs.900,000 was paid back through different channels Wednesday. Asked about the losses DDCA suffered, Jain said: "The stadium has suffered serious losses. Chairs were broken and even the toilets were damaged. We are still calculating the losses."

By DPA Milan : Honduras striker David Suazo scored a brace in four minutes helping Inter Milan beat Livorno 2-0 to beef up their lead over second-place Roma in the Italian Serie A. After Saturday's win, Inter boast 59 points from 23 games with Roma trailing on 48 ahead of an evening big match away to Juventus, lying third on 44 points. Later in the afternoon, AC Milan drew 0-0 at struggling Parma in a game that saw defender Paolo Maldini come on in the second half to play his 1,000th official game.

By IANS, Colombo: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni Saturday came out in support of Zaheer Khan saying it was only a matter of time before the speedster regained his form.

By DPA, Freiburg (Germany) : Amnesty International began its own torch relay through Germany Saturday to draw attention to what it described as human rights breaches in China. The run, organised by university students, was set to last several weeks and pass through 25 German cities, starting Saturday in Freiburg im Breisgau in southwest Germany. It was modelled on the Olympic relay for this summer's Beijing Olympic Games. Pro-Tibet protests accompanied the official relay.

By NNN-Bernama,

By IANS, London : Scorecard of the World Twenty20 Group C match between Australia and the West Indies at the Kennington Oval here Saturday. Australia Shane Watson c Sarwan b Taylor 0 (3) David Warner c Benn b Bravo 63 (53) Ricky Ponting lbw b Taylor 0 (1) Michael Clarke c Benn b Edwards 2 (7) Brad Haddin c Benn b Pollard 24 (19) David Hussey c Fletcher b Bravo 27 (16) Michael Hussey not out 28 (15) Mitchell Johnson c Bravo b Edwards 9 (7) Brett Lee not out 1 (1) Extras: (b-1, lb-5, w-7, nb-2) 15 Total: (for seven wickets in 20 overs) 169

By IANS,

By DPA

London : Roger Federer wrapped up some unfinished business while Rafael Nadal schooled a senior playing Wimbledon for only the second time in seven years as the top pair rolled into the third round of the tournament.