‘Follow sports awards rules’
lucknow: The lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court Monday directed the union sports ministry not to deviate from the rules in giving away sports awards. The court, while hearing and disposing of a writ petition filed by Indian Police Service officer Amitabh Thakur and social activist Nutan Thakur, said the sports ministry was bound by rules laid down with regard to sports awards. The writ petition challenged the recommendation by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of Virat Kohli for the Arjuna Award and Sunil Gavaskar for the Dhyan Chand Award. A bench of Justice Devi Prasad Singh and Justice Ashok Pal Singh disposed of the petition, saying that the ministry was bound by its own rules for sports awards and cannot violate them. Petitioners’ counsel Asok Pande had argued that only a National Sports Federation (NSF) can make recommendations for the national sports awards. BCCI is not one of the 51 NSFs recognised by the ministry of sports and youth affairs, but a completely unrecognised private body which cannot make such recommendations, the court said.
‘New format good for game’
New Delhi: Star shuttlers of Krrish Delhi Smashers on Monday gave a thumbs up to the new scoring system for the USD one million Indian Badminton league (IBl) with their star icon Jwala Gutta saying it will make the game faster and more aggressive. The 29-year-old from Hyderabadi believes the new format in the IBl will make it an exciting tournament, throwing up some interesting results. “The format is different and anybody can win in this format and we have a good team. We played the format today at the practice. The shorter the game, the faster it becomes. It is going to be more aggressive and fast badminton,” said the Commonwealth Games gold medallist. “Even it is lee Chong Wei, we can pull it off in this format. Even if one is 7-0, one can turn the tables. The game can change. Of course it can go against us also, so it is going to be tricky,” Jwala added.
279 athletes flunked dope tests
New Delhi: More than 250 sportspersons have flunked dope tests conducted by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) in the last two years with powerlifters and weightlifters topping the drug offenders’ list. Relying to a question in the lok Sabha, Sports Minister Jitendra Singh stated that 279 sportspersons have returned positive for doping offence in the last two years. “The government and the National Anti-Doping Agency are working towards dope free sports in the country in association with stakeholders to rid sports of this menace and create a clean and healthy environment for sports in India,” the Minister stated.
World test for grapplers
New Delhi: Buoyed by their success in the Asian Junior Championships, young Indian grapplers would be eyeing a rich medal haul at the World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria starting on Monday. led by promising grappler, Mangal Kadyan, India have sent a 24-member contingent in the three styles -- Greco-Roman, men’s freestyle and women’s freestyle. The World Championships will be held at Arena Armeetz from August 13 to 18. India had won a whopping 17 medals -- three gold, five silver and nine bronze -- in the Asian championships held at Phuket, Thailand in June. The freestyle wrestlers had bagged the overall trophy ahead of heavyweights Iran.
Zim sink further financially
Harare: The Ashes may be widely regarded as the most important contest in cricket, but try telling that to the cash-strapped Zimbabwean side that recently hosted India for five one-day internationals. Zimbabweans were crushed 5-0 by the world’s top-ranked team, making it impossible to forget the primary objective of the series: to keep cricket alive in an ailing country. Zimbabwe Cricket’s financial statement for 2012 confirmed that its liabilities exceeded its assets by $8.36 million, and listed more than USD 15 million worth of loans — some of it from the ICC.
HIl appreciated globally
New Delhi: It is just one season old but Hero Hockey India league has drawn global appreciation and is important to revive the sport in the country, FIH President leandro Negre said on Monday. “The FIH is very clear about the importance of Hero HIl and that’s why we have allotted a special window to it” said Negre. “After the inaugural season, the Hero Hockey India league is appreciated globally by everyone and I am hopeful that the league will prove to be a new milestone for the future of Indian Hockey,” he added. Negre was here for the sixth Franchise workshop, which was attended by representatives from each of the five HIl franchises.