By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net

Bhopal: The Muslim Education and Career Promotion Society, (MECAPS), on Tuesday felicitated the bright upcoming cricketer of the city Ajitesh Argal, a member of India's Under-19 World Cup triumphant squad, who was Man of the Match in the summit clash when it pinned down South Africa to claim the title.

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By IANS Kolkata : Goa's men's team clinched the gold in the 22nd National Taekwondo Championship that concluded here Saturday night. The Goa team - comprising Prithvi Tamang, Dipak Debnath, Khusi Ram Chaudhury, Shera Kotkany, Arjun Senapati and Sidba Sidak - won the men's team Tuls, while Karnataka (Sr.) and Delhi took the silver and bronze respectively. Meanwhile, in the individual Tuls' individual category, the gold went to Siddharth of Karnataka in the men's division and Jyotsna Singh of Delhi in the women's section.

By IANS Brisbane : While giving an "insight" into Australian cricketers' idiosyncrasies, Andrew Symonds says Michael Clarke loves his jeans, Michael Hussey has "two personalities" and Brett Lee "cops it over that Indian song he recorded" recently with Asha Bhosle. In his column, which appeared in Sunday Mail here, Symonds describes the 12 players, including himself, just before Australia's first Test against India starting in Melbourne Wednesday.

By Mohammed Siddique, TwoCircles.net, Hyderabad: Mir Mohtesham Ali Khan, the acclaimed body builder from Hyderabad, has brought the rare honor to the country by winning Bronze medal at the Musclemania World Tour competition, the highly respected world bodybuilding championship in Las Vegas, Nevada.

By IANS, Lucknow : Players at the Uttar Pradesh Table Tennis Academy (UPTTA) here in Lucknow are learning the skills of the game from a robot. "The new coach, the robot, is teaching the players about strokes, styles, techniques and drills to make them learn more about the wonderful sport of table tennis," said Parag Agarwal, a coach with UPTTA. UPTTA officials said the China made robot, costing about Rs.85,000, was best suited for practice sessions as it acted like a second player of the game, responding to its opponent's backhand and forehand strokes with different styles.

By A.M. Aarif Jokatte for TwoCircles.net, Jeddah: Indian Consul General Sayeed Ahmed Baba inaugurated the Healthy Life Happy Life football tournament, which is part of the ongoing health awareness campaign, run by India Fraternity Forum Jeddah. Ten teams representing different states of the country will be vying for the supremacy in the six-week-long tournament held in three grounds, Kaki, Madaen Fahd and the one near Bader Bakery. Final matches will be played on 19th March.

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By IANS, Chandigarh : Poverty and lack of opportunities forced aspiring cricketer Ravi Varma to leave his home here in 2004 and go to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). After years of juggling a job at an Abu Dhabi car rental shop with playing for a local cricket team, he has now been chosen for the Gulf nation's official squad. "I have no words to express my happiness. Ravi playing international cricket is a dream come true for all of us. We are praying that he will help his team win all the matches," Ravi's father Kishori Lal, who runs a small cycle repair shop, told IANS.

By Alkesh Sharma, IANS, Chandigarh : It has been a long term investment and now the Chandigarh Football-Hockey Academy is beginning to show results. Started in 2000 by the government for children from all over northern India who are talented in sports, the academy is now producing players who can compete at national and international levels.

By DPA, Rome : Inter Milan snatched a 2-1 win over hosts Siena as Brazil defender Douglas Maicon scored a brace to give his side a nine-point lead over second-place Juventus in the Serie A football. Inter now have 42 points from 17 games as the Serie A gears up for a three-week winter break. Maicon put the champions ahead before Frenchman Houssine Kharja levelled for the Tuscany hosts late into the first half and secured the Serie A champions' win with seven minutes left.

By IANS, Belo Horzionte (Brazil): After almost three years of re-construction, Belo Horizonte's majestic Mineirao stadium, a venue for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, has finally reopened to the public.

By IANS, New Delhi : Former Davis Cupper and Asian Games medallist Shyam Minotra died Tuesday after a prolonged battle with cancer, the All India Tennis Association said. Minotra, 62, was a widower and left behind his only son. A tennis player of great talent, Minotra could beat any top star on his day, and his scalps included the great Romanian Ille Nastase. He was a part of the Davis Cup team in the 1960s, and gave India the Asian Championship doubles title along with S P Mishra defeating Premjit Lal and Jaideep Mukerjea.

By IANS, Dhaka : Bangladeshi swimming hero Arun Nandi, who set a record by swimming for 90 hours in a Kolkata lake in 1971, has died at age 68. A leading daily has paid tributes to him and said his feat had drawn world attention to the country's freedom movement that year. The Daily Star newspaper, in an editorial Tuesday, said the legendary swimmer has left behind "the glorious saga of a man's unflinching determination to endure any ordeal to uphold the cause of his nation".

By Alkesh Sharma, IANS, Chandigarh : Dipak Patel and Jeetan Patel played for New Zealand in cricket, and now Priyesh Bhana, also of Indian origin, made his international debut for the national hockey team in the four-nation Punjab Gold Cup tournament here Saturday against India. Born and brought up in Auckland, Bhana's ancestors hailed from Machaad in Gujarat and he is planning to visit his ancestral village.

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By TCN News, Aligarh : A formula racing car prepared by the 22-member engineering student team of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has been judged as...

By IANS Ludhiana : The Jagatjit Cotton Textile (JCT) Mills football club will shift base to Hoshairpur from Phagwara, home to the team from almost three decades. New practice facilties, expected to be ready by the month end, have come up as part of JCT's stadium project at their Hoshiarpur plant, close to Himachal Pradesh. Finishing touches are being given to the players' residential quarters before the team makes the move.

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By IANS Chennai : Teenager Ashwin Sundar yet again underlined his versatility with three podium finishes in two classes as the first round of the JK Tyre National Racing championship kick-started the 2008 motor sports season here Sunday. Making his debut in the Formula Rolon-Chevrolet class, Ashwin, the 18-year-old from Chennai, won the first race with a command performance and finished third in the next round for which the grid was reversed for the top six finishers of the previous outing.

By IANS, Kazan (Russia) : Rani Rampal scored four goals as Indian women crushed Belgium 6-3 to win the inaugural Champions Challenge II hockey tournament here Saturday. Rani, who emerged as the tournament's top scorer with eight goals, struck in the 17th, 38th, 44th and 54th minutes. Besides, Saba Anjum (20th min) and Thokchom Chanchan (49th min) scored a goal each. Skipper Valerie Vermeersch (40th, 52nd) and Boon Jill (55th) scored for Belgium.

By IANS, New Delhi : India's young talent Vishesh Bhriguvanshi was named the 'Most Valuable Player' of the Basketball without Borders Asia camp, which concluded here Sunday. Dong Hanlin from China won the Frequent Flyer Award, recording the highest jump amongst all campers while the DHL Playmaker award went to Joseph Zaloum from Lebanon. Xu Tao from China was given the sportsmanship award. The three-day camp of National Basketball Association (NBA), the first such event in India concluded with the All Star Game.

By Mutaz Alshabrawi, KUNA, Kuwait : A law passed in 404 BC stipulated that sportsmen and their coaches had to participate naked in the Olympic Games, to force women to stay away after Kalipatera disguised herself as a man to enter the stadium and watch her son compete. Women found violating this order were thrown off the mountain, and as this sixth part of the KUNA report will show, women were not only banned from participating in the games, but also from entering the city of Olympics -- all except the priestess of the temple and her virgins.

By IANS, Nalchik (Russia) : As Koneru Humpy progresses towards the women's world title, Indian chess is on the cusp of a unique record of having all four world champions at the same time. She has played superbly and is coming to form as was evident with her 2-0 win over China's Shen Yang to move into semi-finals. Humpy, who says she has grown up dreaming of becoming a World Champion is now close to realising it.

By IANS, New Delhi : India's legendary goalkeeper Peter Thangaraj passed away in Bokaro Monday night following a heart-attack. He was 74. Thangaraj, nicknamed 'lamp post' during his playing days, is survived by his wife, a son and three daughters. He belonged to the golden era of India football and was part of the team that won gold in the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta and finished runners-up in the 1964 Asia Cup in Tel Aviv. Thangaraj also played in the 1956 Melbourne and 1960 Rome Olympics. India finished fourth in Melbourne, which remained its best performance in the mega event.

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali New Delhi, Jan 25 (IANS) Delhi should thank their unsung physiotherapist Prathi Badrinath as much as their players for winning the Ranji Trophy last week. The physiotherapist worked for long hours daily throughout the season, often well past midnight, to keep the players physically fit and mentally relaxed. Badrinath had to work on some serious injuries to key players Virender Sehwag (groin), Gautam Gambhir (shoulder and groin), Ishant Sharma (shoulder) and the latest pace bowling sensation Pradeep Sangwan (ankle) and ensure that they were match-fit.

By Zehra Shafi, IANS,

By IANS Chennai : North Bengal will face Andhra Pradesh in the cadet girls' title clash of the 69th Junior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships. In the semis here Wednesday, Andhra defeated Tamil Nadu 3-0 while North Bengal thrashed Kerala by a similar scoreline. The following are the results of the matches played: Cadet Girls (Semi Finals):

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By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net, Miami: Chia-Jung Chuang and Sania Mirza defeated eighth seeded doubles pair of Maria Kirilenko of Russia and Flavia Pennetta of Italy in the second round doubles match at Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. It was a hard won victory by the Taiwanese-Indian pair who came up from behind to win 4-6,7-6,(5) 10-4.

By IANS Mumbai : Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines will pay the Indian Premier League (IPL) Rs.106 crores (Rs.1.06 billion or $26.17 million) to sponsor the umpires for five years for the Twenty20 tournament beginning next month. While announcing the deal here Thursday, Lalit Modi, IPL chairman and commissioner, said that the airline would be known as the Umpire Partner for the eight-team tournament.

By Xinhua New York : Following are the title winners at the $19.6-million US Open tennis tournament that ended Sunday: Men's Singles: Roger Federer (Switzerland) Women's Singles: Justine Henin (Belgium) Men's Doubles: Simon Aspelin (Sweden) and Julian Knowle (Austria) Women's Doubles: Nathalie Dechy (France) and Dinara Safina (Russia) Mixed Doubles: Viktoria Azarenka (Belarus) and Max Mirnyi (Belarus)

By IANS, Kolkata : The play in the fourth One-dayer between India and Sri Lanka was disrupted for 26 minutes after lights of one of the four floodlight towers at the Eden Gardens went off during the Sri Lankan innings here Thursday. Sri Lanka were 307 for six in 49.2 overs (5.58 pm) when the floodlight tower at the High Court end went off, halting play. A spokesman of the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) told IANS that it was not their fault and power supply was uninterrupted.

By IANS, Ranchi: Delhi swimmer Richa Mishra Saturday bagged two silver medals to finish with a rich haul of 16 medals in the 34th National Games.

By IANS, Shimla : An army expedition has traversed the Manirang Pass at a height of 18,600 feet in Himachal Pradesh after a gap of 10 years, an official said Wednesday. The pass connects the tribal belt of Pooh in Kinnaur district with Kaza in Lahaul and Spiti district. The 14-member expedition of the 24th Battalion of the Punjab Regiment was led by Major Rajeev Kumar and Naib Subedar Baldev Singh. Covering a distance of 117 km, the pass was scaled from the southern side in 10 days.

By IANS Kolkata : An emergency working committee meeting of East Bengal club Wednesday appointed Monoranjan Bhattacharya as Subrata Bhattacharya's successor as the team coach, to resurrect the team which is currently languishing in the ninth spot in the 10-team I-League football tournament. The meeting, which was called to stem the rot in the club in the relegation zone, began at 5.30 pm and lasted over two hours before the formal announcement was made.

By IANS, New Delhi : Former India footballer Mariappa Kempaiah, who played in the 1956 and the 1960 Olympics, passed away in Bangalore, Wednesday. He was 75 and is survived by his wife, one son and two daughters. Kempaiah, a competent midfielder, played a crucial role in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, where India finished fourth, losing to Bulgaria in the play-off for third place. He was also in the 1960 Rome Olympic squad, where India again finished fourth, India's best-ever showing at the quadrennial event.

By IANS, New Delhi : Mahendra Singh Dhoni was conferred the nation's highest sporting honour Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna while eleven sportspersons received the Arjuna award from President Pratibha Patil at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here Friday. Dhoni, who is leading the team in Sri Lanka one-day series, was not present at the award ceremony and his father Pan Singh accepted the honour on his behalf. The Khel Ratna carries a medal, a ceremonial dress, the scroll of honour and a cash prize of Rs. 500,000.

By Mayabhushan Nagvenkar, IANS, Panaji : Legendary Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama would be a proud man if only he could come back from beyond to Goa's shores once again, with the erstwhile Portuguese colony in the throes of World Cup football fever these days. Like in the case of most World Cup and European Cup tournaments before 2010, Goa has painted itself red and green, the colours of the Portuguese national football team.

By IANS, New Delhi : A glorious chapter in Indian football ended as legendary goalkeeper Peter Thangaraj, nicknamed "Lampost" for his towering height, passed away Monday night in Bokaro following a massive heart attack. He was 74 and is survived by wife, a son and three daughters. "Monday morning he complained of chest pain and we got him admitted in the Bokaro General Hospital. By night the pain became accute and he suffered a massive heart attack and passed away at 11.30pm," Helen, Thangaraj's daughter, told IANS Tuesday.

By Yang Qingchuan, Xinhua, Washington : The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles was probably the most impressive of the many Olympics the US has hosted. That's not only because it was the first Olympic Games that really made profits, but also because it was congestion-free in a city that had been notorious for its traffic snarls. It was a miracle because when the 1984 Games were to start, Los Angeles had more motor vehicles than any other metropolises around the world.

By IANS, Mumbai : M.S. Dhoni, captain of the Chennai Super Kings, is all set to go down in history as the first Indian crooning cricketer. He will sing a rap number in Hindi for his Indian Premier League team. Dhoni will sing the song for a music album the Reliance ADAG's BIG Music is bringing out as part of its association with IPL. The album will be in Tamil, but there will also be a Hindi version, of which the Dhoni-rendered number will be the highlight. The album will comprise the official IPL theme song and a victory anthem for the M.S. Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings.

By IANS, Thiruvananthapuram: After a nearly three-year-long legal battle, the Kerala government Saturday took over the Trivandrum Golf Club (TGC) and its 9-hole course situated in the heart of this capital city. Armed with an interim Supreme Court judgment, Thiruvananthapuram Tahsildar Madhu Janardhanan led a team of revenue department officials to take possession of the club. The officials had given a notice to the club's office bearers Friday to vacate the premises.

By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,

By Minu Jain, IANS,

By IANS, Panaji : Goa will host the first round of the MRF National Supercross Championship Sunday, which is expected to see nearly 100 riders spread over six categories participating in the event. Speaking to reporters Friday, chairman of the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India (FMCI) Shyam Kothari said that the event was being held for the eighth year in succession and the Goa edition would be followed by legs in Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Pune and Jaipur.

By DPA, Sao Paulo : Brazil coach Carlos Dunga praised the recent form of the veteran striker Ronaldo, but refused to say whether the forward would return to the national team. "You will have to wait till May 21," Dunga said. Dunga is expected to give his list for the South American World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Paraguay and for the Confederations Cup May 21. However, Dunga made it clear that he is impressed with Ronaldo's comeback, a day after the striker scored a brace in Corinthians' 2-0 win over Atletico Paranaense.

By IANS/AKI, Rome : AS Roma striker Adriano was named the worst player in Italy's top football league for the third time Monday after Serie A fans voted for him to win the Golden Bin prize.

By Paras Ramoutar

IANS

Port of Spain : Ramnaresh Sarwan has become the fourth player of Indian origin to captain the West Indies cricket since the game was introduced here more than 120 years ago.