Bangalore, January 03:Injury marred Hindustan Aeroneutics Sports
Club (HASC) surrendered to Salgaocar, Goa 0-1 in the seventh round
of I-League tie here today.
The solitary goal was a header by Francis Fernandes who superbly headed a pass given by the skipper and Japan midfielder Luciano Sobrosa in the 10th minute. Luciano was awarded man of the match with a prize money of Rs 5000.
Bangalore, January 03: Last edition runner up ONGC opened the campaign on a winning note defeating GAIL 3-0 in the 29th Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PBPB) Inter Unit Tournament which began at the KSHA Stadium here today.
All the goals were scored in the first half with Harpal Singh, Pramodh Kumar and Bikas Potto scoring in 2nd, 8th and 15th minute respectively in the Pool ‘A’ match.
In Pool ‘B’ match, BPCL defeated EIL 2-1 with Indian team striker Tushar
Khanderkhar and R S Rana scoring in 12th 24th minute.
Chennai, January 03: Indian Davis Cup star Rohan Bopanna today exuded confidence of getting past last year’s finalist Stanislaus Wawrinka in his first round match of the Aircel Chennai Open tennis tournament here tomorrow.
“Obviously it is going to be a tough match (against Wawrinka) for me. I had played him here last year. But it will be a different day tomorrow and I am looking forward to it,” Bopanna said.
“I will give it my best shot. I did better here during the Davis Cup. Hopefully, I will play in the same way and get a better result,” he added.
Auckland, January 03: India’s Sania Mirza Monday failed to enter the main draw of ASB Classic tennis tournament here and bowed out in the qualifiers.
The 141-ranked Indian lost 1-6, 7-6(7), 6-7(5) to Germany’s Sabine Lisicki in the last round.
Sania lost the first set in a jiffy before drawing parity. She was leading 5-2 in the final set tie-breaker before losing her way.
——–IANS
Sydney, January 03: Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who missed the final Ashes Test, will undergo a surgery on his fractured finger Tuesday.
Ponting will also be out of the Commonwealth Bank ODI series against England, but is expected to be fit in time for the World Cup starting Feb 19.
“Ricky had further X-rays today on his fractured finger which have shown that the bone fragment has further displaced and will not heal without surgery. As such Ricky will have surgery tomorrow,” said Cricket Australia physio therapist Alex Kountouris.
London, January 03: England opening batsman Alistair Cook dreams of leading the team after full-time captain Andrew Strauss quits.
Cook has been groomed as Strauss’ heir apparent for the past two years and stood in for him during England’s Bangladesh tour last spring.
Auckland, January 03: Maria Sharapova underlined her pulling power on Monday with Auckland Classic organisers confirming they had sold out all of the day sessions for the entire tournament just minutes before she stepped on court for her first round match.
A limited number of tickets for the three night sessions were left available, though all of Sharapova’s matches will be played during the day and organisers said it was the first time the tournament, with a total prize pool of just $ 220,000 (141,706 pounds), had been effectively sold out by the first day.
Sydney, January 03: Struggling with form in the ongoing Ashes series, England middle-order batsman Paul Collingwood has admitted that the fifth Test in Sydney could be his last.
Collingwood, playing his 67th Test, has made 70 runs in the series. He acknowledged it will be difficult to be in the side if he does not score here.
“My form during this series and most recently my latest failure in the fourth Test in Melbourne means the subject of my Test future was bound to be raised sooner or later,” Collingwood was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph.
New Delhi, January 03: Batting icon Sachin Tendulkar and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni were among the four Indian cricketers who found a place in former Australia captain Ian Chappell’s ‘2010 World XI’, which did not feature a single Aussie. Dashing opener Virender Sehwag and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan were the other two Indians in the XI, which features five South Africans.
Karachi, January 03: Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal have so far been unable to obtain a clean chit from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and remain doubtful to feature in the World Cup squad.
The duo has failed to provide convincing answers to queries by PCB’s integrity committee, well-placed sources were quoted as saying in The News Sunday.
Karachi, January 03: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi will meet board chairman Ijaz Butt at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) headquarters in Lahore Monday to finalise the probables for the 2011 World Cup and also the 15-man squad for the ODI series in New Zealand.
Afridi arrived in Lahore Friday night from Christchurch after the end of the three-match TWenty20 series for the meeting. He will leave Monday night to join the team in Hamilton for the first Test against New Zealand starting Jan 7.
New Delhi, January 02: Wing Commander (retd) P.K. Mahanand, a multifaceted sports personality, died here Sunday morning. He was 73. He is survived by his wife and three daughters.
Mahanand, who had been ailing for some time, breathed his last at the Army Hospital R&R.
A national weightlifter of repute, Mahanand had served Indian sport in various capacities, as an administrator, government observer coach, trainer, sports writer and radio and TV commentator.
He had been a vehement crusader against doping in weightlifting.
Kolkata, January 02: The Sports Journalists’ Federation of India (SJFI) Sunday condoled the death of noted sports journalist Pradeep Vijayakar in Mumbai.
Calling Vijaykar a writer ‘par excellence’, SJFI president S. Sabanayakan said, ‘Vijayakar, who was popular with young sports writers, was knowledgeable and committed to the profession.’
‘A writer par excellence, Vijayakar had the ability to tackle any sport with ease,’ Sabanayakan said in his condolence message.
Vijayakar, 59, died Saturday evening after batlling cancer. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Chennai, January 02: The Indian challenge in the qualifying rounds of the Aircel ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament ended here Sunday with the exit of Vishnu Vardhan, Karunuday Singh and Rupesh Roy.
Vardhan, who had scalped seeded Conor Niland Saturday, went down tamely to Ante Pavic 6-1, 6-4, while Singh and Roy also lost in straight sets in their second round matches.
The results (qualifying):
Chennai, January 02: There is a lot riding on top seed Tomas Berdych going into the Aircel ATP Chennai Open commencing here Monday and it has much to do with his credentials as the 2010 Wimbledon finalist, besides his World ranking of six.
The Indian hopes are firmly on unseeded Somdev Devvarman who is in the top half, where wild card and compatriot Rohan Bopanna plays third seed Stanlislas Wawrinka, also a wild card, in the first round.
Auckland, January 02: India’s Sania Mirza advanced to the third qualifying round of ASB Classic tennis here Sunday.
Sania, ranked 144th, beat Silvia Soler Espinoza of Spain 6-2, 6-2.
She next plays Germany’s Sabine Lisicki, who upset second-seeded Croat Mirjana Lucic 6-3, 6-4.
–Agencies
Karachi, January 02: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi will meet board chairman Ijaz Butt at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) headquarters in Lahore Monday to finalise the probables for the 2011 World Cup and also the 15-man squad for the ODI series in New Zealand.
Afridi arrived in Lahore Friday night from Christchurch after the end of the three-match TWenty20 series for the meeting. He will leave Monday night to join the team in Hamilton for the first Test against New Zealand starting Jan 7.
Melbourne, January 02: Usman Khawaja should get an opportunity to bat alongside stand-in captain Michael Clarke.
Usman Khawaja and Michael Beer will earn their first Test caps in the Ashes finale at the Sydney Cricket Ground after being named in the Australian XI by stand-in captain Michael Clarke.
New South Wales batsman Khawaja replaces injured skipper Ricky Ponting at number three in the line-up with Western Australia spinner Michael Beer picked as Australia’s only specialist tweaker.
Chennai, January 01: Vishnu Vardhan, the 23-year old from Andhra Pradesh, ousted third seeded Conor Niland of Ireland 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the second round of the qualifying tournament of the Aircel ATP Chennai Open tennis here Saturday.
Vardhan, ranked 386 as against 29-year old Conor’s 129, came up with a fine rearguard action to save two match points in the second set after losing the first, and then fought back from 2-4 in the decider third for a splendid victory in two hours 41 minutes.
Chennai, January 01: Top seed and title favourite Tomas Berdych, the World No.6 from the Czech Republic, will take on Portuguese journeyman and 101 ranked Frederico Gil in the first round of the Aircel ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament commencing here Monday.
Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon finalist, is the highest ranked player in the 32-man singles main draw that has defending champion and second seed Marin Cilic of Croatia taking on Japan’s Kei Nishikori, ranked 98, in his lung-opener.
Sydney, January 01: Australian vice-captain Brad Haddin Saturday admitted that the team’s performance in the ongoing Ashes series will remain unacceptable irrespective of whatever happens in the final Test starting here Monday.
Haddin said the results have been disappointing for the team as well as the fans. Australia are trailing 1-2 in the series against arch-rivals England and have lost the chance to regain the Ashes urn for the third consecutive time.
“No it does not,” Haddin told the Sydney Morning Herald when asked whether a win in Sydney would suffice for the Ashes loss.
Cape Town, January 01: India head into the final Test here Sunday with an eye to a historic series win in South Africa. After a humiliating defeat in the Centurion Test, India did well to score surprise victory in Durban and levelled the series. And now they are on the verge of creating history against the Proteas.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni knows that the win in Durban has boosted the confidence of the team and has made them believe that they can win a Test series in South Africa.
Cape Town, January 01: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said Saturday that the team is geared up for a historic series win in South Africa when they face the hosts in the third Test at the Newlands here Sunday.During the last series in 2006-07, India were faced with a similar situation when the series was levelled at 1-1, but lost the series 1-2.
London, January 01: Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh finds himself in a rather unflattering list with a British newspaper naming him as one of the ‘top 10 sporting egos’ of recent times.
Yuvraj, who has failed to find a place in India’s Test squad for some time, was described as a talented cricketer whose ego has been inflated by the moolah from the Indian Premier League.
“The Twitter biography says it all, really: ‘Cricketer, Celebrity, Entrepreneur, budding Philanthropist aka Yuvi’,” ‘Daily Telegraph’ said.
Melbourne, January 01: Out-of-form Ricky Ponting is facing the heat from all quarters after Australia failed to retain the Ashes from England but his former team-mate Glenn McGrath feels the Aussie skipper will beat Sachin Tendulkar for the record of maximum runs in Test cricket.
The former Australian pace spearhead was of the view that Ponting, 36, would finish his career with most runs in the history of Tests ahead of India’s champion batsman Tendulkar.
“I always had a lot of faith in Ricky (Ponting) as a captain and a bloke. I’d play under him any day of the week.