Scheme to find Oly medal hopes
New Delhi: With an aim to increase India's medal tally in 2016 and 2020 Olympics, the Sports Ministry has decided to start a "Target Mission Olympic Podium Scheme" and an elite athletes identification committee, which will include sporting greats Rahul Dravid and Abhinav Bindra among others. The scheme will be promoted by National Sports Development fund and will support India's best medal prospects for Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics and other major sporting events up to 2020 games. Sports Ministry sources said that it has also been decided to constitute a TOP scheme elite athletes identification committee under BJP MP and executive member of IOA Anurag Thakur. Apart from former cricket captain Dravid and Olympics gold medal winning shooter Bindra, the eight-member committee also consists of national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand, Director General of SAI (Sports Authority of India), Joint Secretary sports, MYAS, CEO of Mittal Champions Trust Manisha Malhotra and Amrit Mathur as convener. The committee will evaluate and select around 75 to 100 talented potential medal prospects with 25-30 on watch list for 2016 and 2020 Olympics. The focused disciplines will be athletics, archery, badminton, boxing, wrestling and shooting which have been India's best medal hopes so far.
Sania tweets on Shoaib-Tino fight
New Delhi: Indian tennis star Sania Mirza made no reservations in showing support for husband Shoaib Malik after the Pakistan cricketer had an ugly altercation with West Indian pacer Tino Best in the ongoing Caribbean Premier league. Sania tweeted that she wished Shoaib had hit Tino when the two players nearly came to blows at the Kensington Oval in a T20 match between Barbados Tridents and St. lucia Zouks. Mirza wrote on her Twitter page, "Racial abusing on a cricket fieldIJdisgusting.I knw @realshoaibmalik didn't hit him but how I wish he would hav! #tinobest #idiot (sic)." Shoaib, batting for St. lucia, during his 49-run knock came into physical contact with Barbados pacer Best after hitting the bowler for two boundaries. The players not only exchanged abuses on the field but reportedly continued the fight in the hotel premises, where the teams were staying. The CPl organisers have fined the players hefty match fees after the on-field indiscipline.
ljungberg joins ISl
New Delhi: The much-anticipated Indian Super league has got a further shot in the arm, this time from a Gunner, as Arsenal legend Freddie ljungberg signed a deal with the franchise-based event with an aim to give Indian football a taste of English Premier league. "Even though I am retired, when this opportunity came up I was really excited to be involved. Indian football is such a growing market and this is a great opportunity for me to take my knowledge of the English Premier league over to India to help launch the league," ljungberg, who will be one of the marquee players in the league, said.
I am still a mystery: Ajmal
Karachi: Pakistan's top spin bowler Saeed Ajmal says his bowling still remains a mystery for many batsmen since they can't read his 'doosra'. Brushing aside concerns over his bowling form in recent times, Ajmal said every bowler has ups and downs in his career but it does not mean he is finished as a bowler. "I don't think my mystery as a spinner has finished," Ajmal told reporters in lahore. "More batsmen tend to read my Doosra and know I will bowl them this delivery but I still get them out and that is something that gives me lot of satisfaction,"
Mercedes fastest in practice
Budapest: lewis Hamilton posted the fastest time in the first and second practices for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Friday, with Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg second. Hamilton's best lap of 1 minute, 24.482 seconds was 0.238 seconds faster than Rosberg's in the second session. The Mercedes drivers, who have won nine of the 10 races this season, were the only ones finishing below 1:25 and were over a second faster than in the first practice. Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel was third. Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso was fourth in the second practice, nearly a second off Hamilton's pace, followed by Kevin Magnussen of Mclaren, Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari, Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull and surging Valtteri Bottas of Williams. Gaining pole position for Sunday's race is considered a huge plus on the twisting Hungaroring circuit, where passing opportunities are very limited. Hamilton is looking to win his third race in a row and his fifth overall on this track.
‘Happy to play ODIs before WC’
Karachi: Pakistan's Test and one-day captain, Misbah-ul-Haq is happy that his team will get to play around 17 one-day internationals before the World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand. "I am glad to see that a lot of ODIs have been pencilled into our coming series with Sri lanka, Australia and New Zealand. It means we have the platform available to us to gain a winning momentum for the World Cup," Misbah said on Friday. But the senior batsman also admitted that it was also good for Pakistan's younger players that the team will play three Test series against this oppositions. "It is a true that many of our players have not had the same exposure of Test cricket as they have had in limited overs cricket when you compare the schedule of some of the other teams. So it is going to be a tough challenge for us trying to do well and win these Test matches," he added.