Chandigarh, July 06: Chandigarh is all set to host its first ever marathon in February and the administration here is projecting it as a big tourism-oriented sports event.
Plans to host the Chandigarh Marathon-2010 were finalised in a meeting held here Monday under the chairmanship of home secretary Ram Niwas.
The marathon, which covers 42.195 kilometres, will cover the neighbouring towns of Mohali and Panchkula.
New Delhi, July 06: Ronak Manuja and Vikram Reddy advanced while Aditya Madkekar fell short in the first round of the $15,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament at the DLTA complex here Monday.
Madkekar gave third seed Hyun-woo Nam of South Korea a fright before losing 2-6, 6-1, 3-6. Nam next plays the winner of the match between Uzbek Vaja Uzakov and qualifier Karunuday Singh.
Cardiff, July 06: Brett Lee will miss the first two Ashes Tests owing to a rib injury, media reports said here today.
Battling a lower side strain, Lee missed today’s training session and had to be rushed to a hospital here for scans, according to a ‘Cricinfo’ report.
Apparently, Lee stretched himself in the warm-up match against England Lions in Worcester, taking six for 76 in that game.
“He has a sore left rib, but we won’t know the extent of it until the scans are back,” an Australian team spokesman was quoted as saying.
“We’re in a holding pattern until then,” he added.
Madrid, July 06: Cristiano Ronaldo was undergoing medical test on Monday at Real Madrid before being introduced later in the day as the club’s latest signing before thousands of fans, completing a deal that makes him the most expensive player in the world.
The 2008 FIFA world player of the year is expected to get a hero’s welcome when he dons Real’s jersey for the first time at a ceremony at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium which is scheduled to get underway at 9 pm (1900 GMT).
London, July 06: Andrew Flintoff admits he found being England captain a struggle.
The Lancashire all-rounder first skippered England in India in 2006 when he stepped into the breach because neither Michael Vaughan nor Marcus Trescothick were available.
–Agenices
London, July 06: Andrew Strauss will emphasise the need for England to remain calm amid the excitement and intensity of the Ashes as they prepare for the start of the first npower Test on Wednesday.
The England captain is eager for his side to hit the ground running with an aggressive brand of cricket which will lift the crowd in Cardiff and set them on course to emulate the 2005 triumph over Australia.
–Agencies
New Delhi, July 06: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has criticised the Indian cricket board for showing reluctance to schedule a bilateral series.
The Future Tours Programme draft does not include a single bilateral series between the archrivals, even though the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had promised earlier that the two nations would meet at least once a year.
New Delhi, July 06: Syed Kirmani is not ready to call the current crop the best Indian team ever but the former stumper believes Mahendra Singh Dhoni leads the best national side since the 1990s.
Kirmani hailed Dhoni and his men, who beat the West Indies 2-1 to win their fifth ODI series on the trot. Asked if he would be tempted to call it the best Indian side ever, Kirmani refused to oblige.
“I won’t say this is the best India team ever,” said the stumper-batsman.
Dubai, July 06: It was India one-two in the ICC ODI Rankings as dashing left-hander Yuvraj Singh zoomed to a career best second place, topped by his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Despite winning the four-match series against the West Indies, there was, however, no such good news for India as Dhoni’s men missed a chance to reclaim the second spot in the ICC ODI Championship and remained third.
India needed to win all their matches against the West Indies but they went down in the second tie at Sabina Park even though it could not deny them a 2-1 series win in the Caribbeans.
Madrid, July 06: Cristiano Ronaldo flew into Madrid at lunchtime on Monday, in order to prepare for what promised to be a spectacular presentation to the Real fans on Monday night.
Around 80,000 “Madridista” fans were expected to pack Real’s Estadio Santiago Bernabeu to welcome Ronaldo, world football’s most expensive player, to the club.
London, July 06: Arsenal have said that they are ready to sell midfielder Cesc Fabregas for 40 million pounds.
“If Arsenal receive a bid in the region of 40 million pounds there will be an enormous pressure to sell,” The Sun quoted a Gunner’s insider, as saying.
Barcelona and Real Madrid are said to be interested in making a bid for Fabregas.
Barca president Joan Laporta signalled his intention to make an offer last week.
Bethesda, July 06: Tiger Woods turned a Hunter into the hunted on Sunday, stalking his prey for several holes before pouncing on a rare birdie chance to win the PGA National by one stroke over Hunter Mahan.
World number one Woods sank a tension-packed 20-foot birdie putt on the par-5 16th hole to seize the lead, then added two routine pars to capture his 68th career title and third of the season in his final British Open tuneup.
New Delhi, July 06: A second-round loss at the Wimbledon championships cost Sania Mirza seven places in the WTA singles ranking as the Indian slipped to 85 but maintained her 37th position in the doubles list.
A failed bid at Wimbledon also affected Somdev Devvarman’s and Prakash Amrittraj’s rankings as the former lost three places to be 132 and latter went down by five spots to be at 159.
Somdev had lost his first qualifying round and Prakash faltered in the third and final round.
Karachi, July 06: Pakistan Cricket Board has offered central contracts to opener Imran Nazir, senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq who
have returned to mainstream after snapping ties with the ‘rebel’ Indian Cricket League.
The PCB has given A category central contracts to Yousuf and Razzaq while Nazir, who has been cleared recently to play for the national team again, got a C category central contract.
St Lucia, July 06: Senior Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf has rated his comeback century against Sri Lanka in the first Test at Galle as the most memorable and important innings of his career.
Yousuf, who made a triumphant return to the Pakistan team with his 24th career century, said he rated his hundred very high as he was under lot of pressure to perform and prove himself.
New Delhi, July 06: Rahul Dravid has been named among the Indian team probabales for the ICC Champions Trophy in September this year.
The all-India senior selection committee at its meeting held in Chennai today selected 30 players for the tournament to be held in South Africa.
—–Agencies
Johannesburg, July 06: Tens of thousands of construction workers at the sites of several 2010 World Cup stadiums and related building projects in South Africa are set to down tools over pay beginning on Wednesday, their union said Monday. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the union to which construction workers belong, said the threatened strike by around 70,000 workers would go ahead after the Labour Court granted them the right to strike Monday.
New Delhi, July 06: They struggle to make ends meet but dream of donning the national colours and playing hockey. For the girls in Haryana’s Shahbad town, the sport is a key to social security and a comfortable lifestyle.
The town in the historical Kurekshetra district, which is barely a four-hour drive from the national capital, is a budding nursery for women’s hockey and has produced a steady stream of players in the past decade or so. Around 25 internationals have made their mark in the national team so far and the list is even bigger in domestic competitions.
London, July 06: We thought we had seen everything when Roger Federer lost in the greatest final in Wimbledon history 12 months ago, but the Swiss returned to Centre Court last night to emerge triumphant after another extraordinary ending to the world’s most famous tennis tournament.
Melbourne, July 06: Australia’s first Test preparations have been thrown into chaos with Brett Lee complaining of pain down his left side. Lee was absent from Australia’s training session on Monday at Sophia Gardens while going to London for scans on the injury.
A team spokesman said the extent of Lee’s problem would be known by Monday night or Tuesday morning. However, just two days out from the first Ashes Test, he seems almost certainly out of the opening game and his future in the remainder of the series may also be under threat.
St Lucia, July 06: A fiery mid-afternoon spell from Mohammad Aamer and stable, stock bowling from Younis Khan (yes, Younis Khan) unhinged Sri Lanka’s middle-order and left them struggling to set Pakistan a fighting target on a pitch that has assisted fast bowlers more than spinners.
While Aamer has been the revelation of this match, Younis proved to be the wild card yet again after breaking two vital partnerships in the first innings.
London, July 06: Angry with himself for yet another disciplinary transgression, England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff plans to take out the pent up frustration on Australia during the Ashes starting on Wednesday.
Flintoff had missed a team bus during a weekend trip to Belgium recently, which had upset the England management.
Flintoff himself is no less unhappy with his conduct but has vowed to make amends by tormenting Australia with both bat and ball.
Gros Islet, July 06: Yuvraj Singh is the backbone of India’s batting line-up, said skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni lauding his deputy’s contribution in the 2-1 series triumph over the West Indies.
“He is the backbone of our batting line up. Coming in at number four he always takes up the responsibility and sets up the platform for the batsmen down the order to contribute,” Mr. Dhoni said after the fourth and final match was abandoned due to rain.
“When he sets himself up, rest assured he is in for a big score,” Mr. Dhoni, who was adjudged the Man of the Series, said.
London, July 06: Pakistan’s intent to seek legal recourse on hosting rights issues may have cast a shadow on the 2011 World Cup but the ICC today made it clear that there was no risk of the event being shifted out of the Indian sub-continent.
Pakistan’s share of 14 matches has been allotted to other three co-hosts and the strife-torn country has threatened to take legal action against the move.
London, July 06: Simon Jones is an anxious man as he waits to find out his fate with Worcestershire. Jones is out of contract at the end of this season and despite a long list of injuries he has said he is “desperate” to stay with the county.
Jones, who has been dogged by injury since he was forced to miss the final Test of the 2005 Ashes series, underwent surgery on his knee in April and at the time it was expected he would be able to play the second half of the summer. Then in June the results of scans delivered further bad news that Jones was out for the season.