hil to begin on January 21
New Delhi: The fifth edition of the Hockey India league (HIl) will begin on January 21 with a clash between Dabang Mumbai and Ranchi Rays in Mumbai. The semifinals will be played on February 25 while the final is scheduled for February 26. "The Finals weekend as is tradition will be hosted at the defending Champions home ground, in this case the Jaypee Punjab Warriors stadium at Chandigarh," a press relase stated. FIH President and HIl Chairman Narinder Dhruv Batra said, "We hope to raise the bar again this season, by increasing reach to more fans via innovative mediums as well as better revenues for players and sponsors."
‘379 failed dope tests in last 4 years’
New Delhi: Three hundred and seventy-nine Indian sportspersons were caught for doping in the last four years, the Parliament was told on Tuesday. In a written reply, Sports Minister Vijay Goel listed the number of dope offenders in the last four years, according to information received from National Anti-Doping Agency. 96 sportspersons returned positive in 2013 while the number of dope offenders in 2014 and 2015 were 95 and 120 respectively. Upto October this year, 68 sportspersons flunked dope tests, taking the total number of dope offenders in the last four years to 379. "The Government of India has framed National Sports Development Code (NSDC) of India, 2011 which has been effective from 31/01/2011 for healthy development of sports in the country. The NSFs are required to comply with the provisions of NSDC which includes strict compliance of the government guidelines to prevent unethical practices in sports such as doping," Goel said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
Wi complete 3-0 T20 whitewash
Mulapadu: Harmanpreet Kaur's half-century went in vain as West Indies eked out a 15-run victory over India to complete a 3-0 sweep of the T20I series. Opting to bat, West Indies scored a modest 139 for four from their allotted 20 overs but managed to restrict India to 124 for three. Chasing 140, India lost their top-order cheaply to be reeling at 32 for three in 5.5 overs with opener VR Vanitha getting run out for a duck, followed by Meghna Singh (19) and Smriti Mandhana (6). Veda Krishnamurthy (31 not out) and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (60 not out) then consolidated the innings and batted together till the end of the match, adding unbroken 92 runs for the fourth wicket. But the duo's effort was not enough to see the hosts through.
Training camp from today
Dehradun: KOOH Sports, India's premiere health and fitness company which uses sports as a primary vehicle for transformation, has announced that Andrew McGarry, a former Essex and England 'A' team player will be training the children at Abhimanyu Cricket Academy, Dehradun. KOOH Sports' Technical Experts and ECB level 'C'coach, Andrew McGarry will be training around 70 students in the training camp. The training session starts on Wednesday and will go on until November 27.