Sports

Kolkata, July 08:Sourav Ganguly Wednesday indicated his willingness to enter the Bengal cricket administration but parried a query on whether he will contest the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) polls later this month.

‘I want to remain attached to Bengal cricket,’ the former Indian captain told reporters on his 38th birthday.

Ganguly, who retired from international cricket eight months back, said now he could serve Bengal cricket in a ‘new role’.

Ganguly did not reply when asked whether he would throw his hat in the ring for the president’s post in the coming CAB elections.

New Delhi, July 08: Videocon Industries Ltd. has bought the franchise rights for India in the high-profile World Series of Boxing (WSB), starting in September.

The electronic major has decided that Delhi will be India’s host city. It will also be among the 12 teams from Asia, Europe and America in the WSB, the ambitious professional series of International Boxing Association (AIBA) on the lines of cricket’s Indian Premier League. The 12 teams will fight it out on home and away basis.

Islamabad, July 08: Controversial Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar appears to be heading for another confrontation with the cricket authorities after threatening to take legal action against the national team management.

Shoaib, a centrally contracted player with the Pakistan Cricket Board, has appeared on a television talk show to be aired on late Tuesday night in which he has apparently made statements that are likely to upset authorities once again.

Dubai, July 08: Pakistan senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf, who returned to international cricket with a cracking century against Sri Lanka in the first Test, zoomed to the number one spot in the latest ICC Test Rankings. Returning to Pakistan cricket after a one and half years gap after snapping ties with rebel Indian Cricket League, Yousuf announced his arrival by hitting a pivotal 112 in the first innings at Galle.

Mumbai, July 08: A triumphant Indian team returned home from a successful Caribbean tour, winning its fifth consecutive one day international series, in the wee hours here on early Wednesday.

The squad boarded a connecting flight from London, which landed at approximately 0100 hours at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.

Most of the players barring — skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, all-rounder Abhishek Nair and batsman Rohit Sharma — managed to avoid the media glare and sneaked through the backdoor.

Kolkata, July 08: As Sourav Ganguly celebrates his 37th birthday on Wednesday, the former Indian skipper is all set to start a new innings, only this time it’s off the field.

According to reports, Ganguly is being projected as a candidate for the president’s post in the Cricket Association of Bengal; that would see him slug it out for the top post against one time mentor Jagmohan Dalmiya.

Reports also suggest that the Prince of Kolkata, as he is popularly known, could be the East Zone’s candidate for the post of BCCI president in 2014.

New Delhi, July 08: The cat is out of the bag, officially. After putting up a brave front for months, the government on Tuesday admitted in Parliament that there have been lapses in preparing venues for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

But it asserted that the projects would be completed well in time.

Madrid, July 07: A capacity crowd of close to 80,000 people welcomed Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid on Monday, setting a new world record for a turnout at the presentation of a footballer, club officials said.

“I am very happy to be here,” the 24-year-old Portuguese winger told cheering fans at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the Spanish capital after completing his much-desired move to the club from Manchester United.

Bern, July 07: CAS blocks FIFA punishment for Egypt goalkeeper El HadaryLausannne, Switzerland – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) granted Tuesday a stay of the execution of a FIFA decision to hand a four-month ban to Egypt international Essam El Hadary, pending a final ruling of the goalkeeper’s appeal.

In April of this year, FIFA banned Swiss club FC Sion from signing any new players until the end of the 2009-10 season because El Hadary had been signed before his contract with Al-Ahly had expired.

Cardiff, July 07: Australia captain Ricky Ponting wants his inexperienced pace attack to make their mark in Ashes history after fast bowler Brett Lee was ruled out of the first cricket Test against England.

Lee was forced to withdraw less than 48 hours before tomorrow’s series opener with England here at Sophia Gardens after damaging an abdominal muscle in his left side.

Now the 32-year-old, who has taken 310 wickets in 76 Tests, could be out until at least the third match of the series at Edgbaston.

New Jersy, July 07: Former skating champ Nicole Bobek has been charged. She has been busted on drug charges. Nicole Bobek is 31 years old and she made her first appearance in court on Monday regarding the drug bust.

Basically, Nicole is from Jersey but last week she was arrested from Florida. In Hudson County. she was trying to sell the drugs. We have often saw cases, in which athletes used drugs to enhance their performance level but now athletes are sell drugs for recreational purposes as well.

London, July 07:Sheffield United have suspended goalkeeper Paddy Kenny after the Ireland international failed a drug test, the Championship club confirmed Tuesday.

A urine sample taken from the 31-year-old after Sheffield United’s play-off semi-final match against Preston in May returned positive for the banned stimulant ephedrine.

We can confirm that Paddy Kenny has been suspended by the club,” a United spokesman said.

“This is an ongoing, confidential matter and as such we are unable to comment further.”

Galle, July 07: As if the shock 50-run loss to Sri Lanka was not enough, Pakistan were today fined for maintaining a slow over-rate in the first Test here.

ICC match referee Alan Hurst imposed the fines after Younis Khan’s side was ruled to be one over short of its target at the end of Sri Lanka innings when time allowances were taken into consideration.

Younis was fined 10 per cent of his match fee while his team-mates received five per cent fines for violating Section J of the ICC Code of Conduct.

New Delhi, July 07: Dune Kossatz, Genna Cloud and Dunay Nortje – the three winners of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Miss Bollywood contest in South Africa – are set to make their debut in tinsel town with “24×7 Raftaar”.

All the three South Africans, who were chosen during the five-week Twenty20 extravaganza in April, will be seen together in Percept Picture Company’s (PPC) movie along with Indian actors Emraan Hashmi, Aditya Pancholi, Neha Dhupia and Sagarika Ghatge, said a press release from the film production company.

Mumbai, July 07: A five-member Indian team, along with two coaches, left on Tuesday from Delhi to take part in an international women’s boxing tournament at St. Petersberg in Russia from Wednesday.

Asian champion Kalpana Choudhary (48 kg) of Assam, who is also a bronze medal winner in the 2005 world championship, would lead the Indian challenge in the tournament, which concludes on July 11, a media release from the Indian Boxing Federation said on Tuesday.

Mumbai, July 07: The list of 30 probables for the Indian squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy ODI tournament was announced amid much fanfare on Monday. The most pleasantly surprising aspect for the supporters of Rahul Dravid was his inclusion in the outfit.

Rahul Dravid finds himself back in the ODI reckoning after the former captain was named in India`s 30-member probables list for the Champions Trophy on Monday.

Cardiff, July 07: A sore- left rib muscles has thrown Australia’s Ashes campaign in troubled waters after their ace paceman Brett Lee was ruled out of first two Tests.

Australia face an anxious wait over the fitness of fast bowler Brett Lee for Wednesday`s first Ashes Test against England after he suffered a rib injury. A scan later revealed a sore rib and threw away Lee’s chances of making a comeback on a grand stage.

Galle, July 07: Debutants Mohammad Aamer and Saeed Ajmal combined to wreck Sri Lanka’s batting and put Pakistan on the road to victory in the first cricket Test.

The pace-spin duo grabbed three wickets each as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 217 in their second innings on the third day, leaving Pakistan a modest victory target of 168 runs.

The tourists, who have never lost a Test series in Sri Lanka, ended the day at 71-2 and have two days to score the remaining 97 runs with eight wickets in hand for a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Wimbledon, July 07: Roger Federer certainly is not ready to stop at a record 15 Grand Slam titles.

Still, he figures his recent run of success is about as good as it gets: a first French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam and tie Pete Sampras with 14 major championships, followed immediately by a sixth Wimbledon trophy for No. 15 overall.

Madrid, July 07: A capacity crowd of close to 80,000 people welcomed Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid on Monday, setting a new record for turnout at the presentation of a footballer, club officials said.

“I am very happy to be here,” the 24-year-old Portuguese winger told cheering fans at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in the Spanish capital after completing his much-desired move to the club from Manchester United.

Auckland, July 07: Fast bowler Shane Bond has been recalled to the New Zealand national squad for their tour of Sri Lanka starting next month.

Bond, who has only just rejoined the international fold after cutting his ties with the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League (ICL) was included in New Zealand’s one-day and Twenty20 squad but overlooked for the tests.

Wary about his lack of match practice, the national selectors instead picked Bond for the New Zealand A tour of India, which will be held at the same time as the Sri Lanka tests, to get himself fit for the limited-overs matches.

Wimbledon, July 06: Serena Williams won a pair of Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon, just like her sister Venus did last year.

Serena added the women’s doubles title to her take at this year’s tournament, teaming with big sister Venus to beat Rennae Stubbs and Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6(4), 6-4 on Saturday.

It is their fourth Wimbledon title together, part of their haul of nine Grand Slam women’s doubles championships.

“There’s nothing like winning a title with your sister,” said Serena, who has won 11 major singles titles. “It’s really a good feeling.”

London, July 06: Reigning 50-over world champions Australia, have been ranked below Bangladesh for next year’s World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, organisers announced Sunday. Seedings are based primarily on the results of last month’s second edition of the tournament in England, which saw Pakistan, losing finalists in 2007, beat Sri Lanka at Lord’s to take the trophy.

New Delhi, July 06: A six-member Indian boxing team left for Russia Monday to participate in the Magomed-Salam Umakhanov Memorial Boxing Championship starting Tuesday.

The team comprises Amandeep Singh (48 kg) and Kuldeep Singh (75) from Punjab, Akshay Kumar (57) from Delhi, Jai Singh Patil (69) and Manpreet Singh (91) from the Services, and Jasveer Singh (81) from the Railways.

In addition to these six boxers, chief coach Shiv Singh, coach Ramanand, referee and judge R. Rajendran have accompanied the team.

–IANS–

New Delhi, July 06: Leander Paes stayed in the sixth place while Mahesh Bhupathi gained one spot to eighth in the Association of Tennis Professional (ATP) doubles rankings released Monday.

French Open champions Paes and Czech Republic’s Lukas Dlouhy had a disastrous Wimbledon outing, stunned by American James Blake and Mardy Fish in the first round.

Bhupathi and Mark Knowles of the Bahamas made it to the quarterfinal where they lost to South African Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman of Belgium.