New Delhi, August 29, 2009:President Pratibha Patil presented the National Sports awards in New Delhi on Saturday, with Beijing Olympic bronze medallists boxer Vijender Singh and wrestler Sushil Kumar and four-time world boxing champion Mangte Chungneijang Marykom getting the Khel Ratna award at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
It was the first time since the inception of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991 that three sportspersons were given the country's highest sporting honour.
Marykom was the first to receive the newly designed statuette from the president followed by Vijender and Sushil amid loud cheers at the majestic Ashok Hall.
Besides the trio, 15 sportspersons were awarded Arjuna Awards.
Badminton sensation Saina Nehwal, trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi, who equalled the world record, were among the Arjuna winners. Gautam Gambhir, who had a terrific season last year, was the only cricketer to get the award.
Olympic medallist Sushil's coach Satpal and former All England Badminton champion and Saina`s coach Pullela Gopichand were presented the Dronacharya Award.
The prize money for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyanchand Awards have been increased this year.
Khel Ratna prize money has been raised from Rs 500,000 to Rs 750,000. The prize money for the Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyanchand Awards has been increased from Rs 300,000 to Rs 500,000.
The government instituted this year a new award, Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, to recognise the contribution made to sports by entities other than sportspersons and coaches.
Under the new category, Railways got the award for Employment of Sportsperson and Sports Welfare Measures. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee received the award.
TATA Steel bagged two awards for Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar. They got it for Community Sports Identification and Nurturing of Budding Young Talent, and Establishment and Management of Sports Academies of Excellence.
List of awardees:
Rajiv Khel Ratna:
M C Marykom (boxer), Vijender Kumar (boxer) and Sushil Kumar (wrestling)
Arjuna Award:
Mangal Singh Champia (archery), Sinimol Paulose (athletics), Saina Nehwal (badminton), L Sarita Devi (boxing), Tania Sachdeva (chess), Gautam Gambhir (cricket), Ignatius Tirkey (hockey), Surinder Kaur (hockey), Pankaj Shirsat (kabaddi), Satish Joshi (rowing), Ranjan Sodhi (shooting), Poulami Ghatak (table tennis), Yogeshwar Dutt (wrestling), G L Yadav (yachting), Parul Parmar (badminton disabled)
Dronacharya Award:
Baldev Singh (hockey), Jaidev Bisht (boxing), Satpal (wrestling) and Pullela Gopichand (badminton)
Dhyanchand Award:
Ishar Singh Deol (athletics), Satbir Singh Dahya (wrestling).
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar
Community Sports Identification and Nurturing of Budding Young Talent: TATA Steel Ltd
Establishment and Management of Sports Academies of Excellence: TATA Steel Ltd
Employment of Sportspersons and sports welfare measures: Railways Sports Promotion Board
'Two nineties are disappointing, I'll take the runs' - Jayawardene
August 29, 2009: Mahela Jayawardene's success at the SSC has become a creature of habit. This is, after all, a man who has averaged 79. 58 with 2467 runs in his 22 Tests at the venue. When he missed a century in the first innings by eight runs, there was an air of inevitability that Jayawardene would get there in the second innings, seeing as Sri Lanka would definitely try and bat New Zealand out of this Test.
Instead, Jayawardene put himself into the record books for a reason that left him bittersweet at the end of the day. Falling in the nineties again, and to the same bowler (Iain O'Brien) and with a similar shot, Jayawardene become just the fifth player - and first Asian - to make two nineties in a Test.
"I have always wanted to put effort into spending time at the crease and at the end of the day, while two nineties are disappointing, I'll take the runs," Jayawardene said. "The first innings was more disappointing, though. If we had gone through and got a big score then probably we would have been in a much better situation."
Surely you jest, Mahela? The way New Zealand have batted all tour, Sri Lanka would have surely been comfortable with a first-innings score of 416. When he walked out in the second innings, it was with a determined stride and from the start you sensed he was checking in for a while. This is a batsman who, once settled, is unlikely to get out against such bowling and in such conditions.
To the spinners, on a wearing track, Jayawardene's preferred shots were off the back foot, going right back to hit the ball on top of the bounce either behind point or to square leg. He played several such shots off Daniel Vettori and Jeetan Patel. Against the seamers, there were wristy flicks and delicate dabs and copybook cover-drives. Until he poked at one from Iain O'Brien on 96, Jayawardene had batted with faultless assurance.
"Whenever I go out it is to do well. Keeping consistency is something I've thrived on," he said. "I wanted to get a hundred in the second innings but I got a peach of a delivery. You can't always help it."
Jayawardene has been the center of Sri Lanka's batting archipelago since the retirements of Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga, and has consistently proven himself a batsman with the temperament and the strokes for big scores. Since giving up the captaincy, Jayawardene said his approach had not changed. "I've always said I've taken captaincy and batting separately. My contribution is important but right now I don't have captaincy responsibility. I am 32 and hopefully I have three or four years of my best time where I learn a lot and push myself harder."
Jayawardene's efforts have put Sri Lanka into a winning position and its now just about wrapping things up. If Jayawardene's role with the bat numbed New Zealand into submission, then the left-arm spinner Rangana Herath's four wickets had the tourists puzzled. Herath, after being dropped for Ajantha Mendis in Galle, has continued his rich vein of form with seven wickets so far in the Test. Four came today in a spell in which Herath bowled better than Test cricket's highest wicket-taker at the other end.
"We've invested in Rangana for some time. He's been our second best spinner for quite some time now before Ajantha came into the scene," Jayawardene said. "He's been around for a while and we've had belief in him. Now he's put his hand up and said 'I'm capable of handling that No. 1 spot once Murali leaves'. With the experience Rangana has, he will probably be our best spinner for some time."
Fisichella celebrates amazing pole for Force India
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS: Italian veteran Giancarlo Fisichella could hardly stop smiling with joy Saturday as he celebrated what he described as "an unbelievable pole position" for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.
The 36-year-old Roman, who delivered Force India's first ever pole with a stunning lap in the closing stages of an equally-surprising qualifying session riddled with shocks and drama, said he never expected to achieve such a result for the team.
It was the first time that Fisichella had made it through to the top ten shootout, his first pole since the Malaysian Grand Prix of 2006 and the fourth of his long 14-years career.
He said: "It is unbelievable, I didn't expect pole position, especially after yesterday. I was quite surprised because there was a lot of understeer and the measures of downforce levels were not good for us.
"But we worked through the problems this morning and the car was much better, and in qualifying it was much better than expected. For me, it is amazing.
"I was quickest in Q1, fourth in Q2, and then pole position. It is fantastic, I am so happy. I didn't expect that result, so I am really happy and looking forward to tomorrow. I feel so confident."
He added: "This is one of the my favourite circuits, I did well in the past and I was sure to be competitive this year but I didn't expect to be on pole.
"I am so happy for myself, for the team, my engineers, everybody. They did a fantastic job, and we have made a fantastic step forward, especially from the last race. Considering our budget, I didn't expect that!
"We were confident for sure to be top 15, and maybe top 10, but to be on pole position we didn't expect that. In Q1 I was quick, in Q2 fourth quickest so we played to do pole and I am on pole!!"
Fisichella admitted his team had opted for an aggressive fuel strategy but, after setting the fourth fastest time in the second qualifying segment, the Italian is adamant his car still has strong race pace.
"Actually I think we are a little bit aggressive," he said. "We knew for the top three it was important to do that, but don't forget I was fourth quickest in Q2. We are not so slow."
Fisichella has been heavily linked with a move to Ferrari for next month's Italian Grand Prix as a replacement for struggling fellow-Italian test driver Luca Badoer, who himself is a stand-in for injured Brazilian star Felipe Massa.
But after this performance he may have to say he will stay with Force India - because they are the team with greatest potential.
Former Pakistan players happy with out-of court settlement
August 29, 2009:Former Pakistan players have welcomed the Pakistan Cricket Board's decision not to take the legal route against the ICC after the country was stripped of its 2011 World Cup games over security issues.
At a meeting in Dubai between the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt and ICC president David Morgan, it was decided that Pakistan would retain its hosting fee of US$ 10.5 million. In addition, the PCB expects a further US$ 18 million as compensation.
Former captain Moin Khan felt that legal action would have complicated things further for the PCB, which has been adversely affected by pull-outs by international teams in the last two years.
"I think it is always wise to resolve issues through negotiations," Moin told PTI. "I don't know who advised the PCB to file a legal challenge in the first place. But at least now Pakistan will get some good money from the World Cup."
Zaheer Abbas said the Lahore attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers had given the ICC enough reason to shift the matches out of Pakistan.
"No team is willing to play in Pakistan at the moment because of security issues," Zaheer said. "So it would have been futile to even go for a full legal challenge against the ICC who have adequate justification for moving the matches out of Pakistan. There is a general sympathy for us in international cricket and we should use that to our advantage."
Former wicketkeeper Rashid Latif expressed similar sentiments. "I always felt the ICC would give us plenty of concessions and compensation for shifting the World Cup matches," Latif said. "There is sympathy for Pakistan cricket everywhere."
But former opening batsmen Aamer Sohail wasn't pleased that the PCB had opted for an out-of-court settlement, saying that it would set a bad precedent.
"I think we have sent a wrong message to everyone," Sohail said. "The most important thing right now for us to get teams to resume touring Pakistan as soon as possible and by agreeing to surrender our World Cup matches we will give out the wrong message."
India fail Syrian 'test', lose 0-1
New Delhi, Aug 29 (PTI): Defending champions India sans star striker Bhaichung Bhutia failed to impress as they went down 0-1 to Syria in their inconsequential last round-robin match of the Nehru Cup international football tournament here today.
Having already qualified for Monday's final against the same opponents, India rested Bhutia, who had received a yellow card in the tournament opener against Lebanon.
His strike partner Sunil Chhetri was also brought in the last 10 minutes of the game as India started without four first XI players.
For Syria, who also started without four of their main players, including star striker Mohammad Al Zeno, defender Ali Dyab scored the all-important goal in the 19th minute in the match seen as the dress rehearsal for Monday's summit clash.
Indian Premier League, IMG part ways
August 29, 2009 (New Delhi):It seems there is yet another controversy brewing in Indian cricket, and the latest casualty of the fight between the BCCI bosses and Lalit Modi is the International Management Group or IMG.
The IMG had come up with the format of the tournament and has been conducting it for the last two years. Incidentally, the BCCI bosses thought that they were over-charging the board for organising the league, as result the board's profit from IPL were going southwards.
Also BCCI is not happy with IPL having given compensation to two franchises, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for last year's Champions League T20 that had got cancelled.
The contract with IMG was only for conducting IPL and not for Champions League T20. So IPL has been asked to let go of IMG.
Team India take long look at short ball
BANGALORE: Indian team coach Gary Kirsten had promised that the intensity in training would be high in the short preparatory camp ahead of the tri series in Sri Lanka.
True to his word, Day Two of the four-day camp was intense, with Friday morning devoted to fitness and fielding drills, which at times were neatly combined to keep away boredom, while the afternoon saw the batsmen and bowlers face off at the nets. The nets were certainly interesting, more so with extra attention being given to playing the short ball.
After the fitness assessments were done with on Day One, Kirsten, asked specifically if the short ball would figure prominently during training had said: "That might be one of it, but there might be a whole lot others. Within what we do in this team, in terms of our game plans, our training, our structures, we try and cover every base that we need to cover to make sure we give ourselves best chance of success."
Yes, a lot of bases were covered in terms of fielding, with the short pick up and throw, slip catching, et all figuring but when it came down to the net session at the National Cricket Academy, it was clear that it was the short ball that was being given a lot of thought.
The short ball session for each batsman was seemingly split into two parts. In the beginning, the batsman had to duck and weave his way out as either the bowling machine or the tennis racquet and ball were put to use to send down fast serves that grew big on the batsmen. After that, it was about hitting the short ball, pulling or hooking whenever the line was middle and leg, while still leaving it when the line was on or outside off stump. The training was for 50-over ODIs, where the dot ball is not always frowned upon, so it did make sense to practice both the leave and the shots.
Skipper MS Dhoni was happiest when the time came to smash the ball. He had not been found wanting when he had to leave the ball, his quick reflexes, more than any real technique, coming to the fore.
Dhoni had also looked to be in good touch when just prior to coming into the short ball net he had faced up to RP Singh, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh and Yusuf Pathan in the regular net. There too he wasn't struggling to come to terms with the ball dug in, pulling and cutting the quickish RP with some ferocity (Ishant Sharma was the quickest but he didn't bowl to Dhoni).
The most impressive batting on the day came from comeback man Rahul Dravid. He seemed to be in prime form and though it was a given that he would excel at the ‘short ball net', the number of times the ball found the middle of his blade when he was up against the bowlers, made for pleasant watching.
The same was not the case with Sachin Tendulkar, who for some time at least, struggled. May 21, 2009 was when Tendulkar played his last game (for Mumbai Indians) and since then he's been enjoying the rare break and it showed. Harbhajan was the bowler he struggled most against, the offie teasing him with flight and winning more battles than he lost.
Tendulkar, however, is not the sort who believes too much in batting at the nets. However, if there was reason to worry as far as the batsmen were concerned, it had to with the struggles of Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan when it came to tackling bouncers. Both showed a tendency to take their eyes off the ball most times and thus found it tough to cope.
Kirsten spent a lot of time with both, patiently explaining the best way to deal with the stuff that no batsman likes but has to endure anyway as a professional hazard. Of course, it is important to remember that the nets always provide some sort of a claustrophobic feeling and is never a true or full indicator of ability.
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