Court issues warrant against Dhoni
Anantapur: A local court on Tuesday issued a bailable warrant against the Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in connection with a private complaint which accuses him of hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus.The sessions court issued the warrant based on the complaint filed by Gopal Rao and Shyam Sunder, who reportedly belong to a Hindu right-wing organisation, and asked Dhoni to appear before it on or before July 16.In the complaint filed in June last year before a magistrate, Rao and Shyam Sunder had said that Dhoni was shown in the form of a Hindu deity on the cover page of a business magazine, holding among other things a shoe in his hand. This "hurt the religious sentiments", the complainants alleged.
Spain's exit was most shocking: Bhutia
New Delhi: Former Indian football captain Bhaichung Bhutia is shocked at the early exit of defending champions Spain and picked Germany as his favourite to go all the way to win the ongoing FIFA World Cup."I didn't expect Spain to go out so early. Nobody expected them to make a first-round exit. England were also in a difficult group. But the most shocking result was Spain getting out in the first round," Bhutia said on Tuesday."After watching the first round, I think Germany are very very strong," he said on the sidelines of 'Google Cafe' event.
HI threatens to skip Games
New Delhi: Hockey India on Tuesday threatened not to send men's and women's teams to Commonwealth and Asian Games citing lack of fund allocation from the government but Sports Authority of India downplayed it, saying that the issue will be sorted out as additional money will be given to HI.HI secretary general Narinder Batra said SAI has informed him that only Rs 31 lakh was left for hockey upto March 31, 2015 and that amount would not be sufficient to send teams to CWG and Asian Games.
1st round win for Ankita
Xi'an (China): Ankita Raina made a solid start to her singles campaign at the USD 50000 ITF Women's event here as the Indian number one thrashed Chinese wild card Mingyang liu 6-3 6-2 on Tuesday.Ankita opened up a 3-0 in the opening set but dropped her serve as liu reduced the margin to 2-3. A determined Ankita though kept playing hard and closed the set in her favour in the ninth game.In the second set, it was on serve till the fifth game. The Indian got the first break in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. With a solid hold she made it 5-2 and broke her rival in the next to advance to the second round.She next faces Japanese sixth seed Hiroko Kuwata, who beat China's Xinyun Han 6-2 6-2.
Edwards, Clarke try to pacify Associates Melbourne: Cricket Australia supremo Wally Edwards and ECB chairman Giles Clarke tried to pacify the increasingly restless associate and affiliate members of the ICC assuring good governance and greater benefits, on the first day of its Annual Conference here on Tuesday. According to ESPN Cricinfo, "Edwards and Clarke spoke on behalf of the boards of Australia and England at an informal meeting ahead of the official Associates & Affiliates gathering in the Jim Stynes Room." As per the website report, N Srinivasan, the ICC chairman-elect was not present during the meeting. It has been learnt that Edwards told members that the path was now open for cricket's second and third-tier nations to earn their way up the ladder through success on the field and sound governance off it. Tim Anderson, the ICC's head of global development, said the management of the governing body in Dubai had grown more at ease with plans for the next eight years after working at turning broad resolutions into more detailed blueprints.
IOA writes to Central & Delhi govts
New Delhi: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) today began the process of seeking government approval, required to mount a bid for hosting the 2019 Asian Games by writing to the Sports Ministry and Delhi lieutenant Governor. The Olympic Council of Asia had asked the IOA to furnish several bid documents, including approval from the Cabinet and the Delhi government, so that the country can complete the bidding process before July 1 deadline. "Myself and Secretary General (Rajeev Mehta) today wrote to Sports Ministry and Delhi government requesting for the governments' considered views on the Asian Games bid. Once the IOA receives the government's response, we will take up the issue further with the OCA," IOA President N Ramachandran told PTI on Tuesday.