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India
Win Azlan Shah Bronze
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A
fine brace by Hari Prasad guided India to
a 3-2 win over New Zealand in the playoff
for the third place in the 15th Sultan Azlan
Shah eight-nation hockey tournament here
today. It was India's first podium finish
since 2000 when they finished third behind
Pakistan and Korea. In a hard-fought game,
India, who led 2-1 at the break, found their
star in Hari Prasad who scored twice in
the 8th and 35th minutes while drag-flick
specialist Sandeep Singh converted a penalty
corner in the 43rd that proved to be the
match-winner. The Black Sticks stayed in
the match right through after Simon Child
put them ahead in the 7th minute and Hayden
Shaw found the mark from a 39th minute penalty
corner to put his team on level terms. The
Indians also owed their victory to goalkeeper
Adrian D'Souza who stopped at least four
clear goals and also wing half-backs V S
Vinaya (right) and Prabhodh Tirkey (left),
both of whom had an outstanding game today.
India should have finished the first-half
in a far more comfortable position but for
some poor finishing by the forwards and
also a loss of concentration by the deep
defence. The Indians repeatedly breached
the fragile Kiwi defence only to break down
inside the striking circle due to wrong
passing or positional play. In the sixth
minute, Arjun Halappa pounced on a deflection
and fired the ball onto the boards. Even
though TV replays showed that the ball was
inside the striking circle, Korean umpire
Jung Min Jang disallowed the goal saying
the hit was not taken from inside the D.
Courtesy:
The Pioneer, June 26, 2006
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India
survived some anxious moments before romping
home to a 5-2 victory over hosts Malaysia
in the 15th Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament
at the Bukit Jalil Stadium here today. Leading
3-0 by the 39th minute in the Pool A match,
India stumbled to let in two goals before
regaining their composure and registering
a convincing win in their second match of
the eight-nation tournament. Hari Prasad
(13), Gagan Ajit Singh (22, 56), Sandeep
Singh (39) and Tushar Khandekar (54) scored
for the Indians who had lost their opener
to Australia 4-1. The Malaysians, scored
through Azlan Misron (44) and Jiwa Mohan
(47), but wasted five of the six penalty
corners they earned. The first-half clearly
belonged to the Indians who survived an
early attempt by Chua Boon Huat and four
penalty corners to control the proceedings.
Hari Prasad scored by capping a fine right-wing
move between Tejbir Singh and Arjun Halappa,
who made the final pass. Later, Gagan found
the target from a rebound after a penalty
corner drive came off goalkeeper Kumar Subramaniam.
Crossing over, the Indians upped their tally
on a Sandeep Singh penalty corner conversion
before turning defensive and allowing the
Malaysians back into the match. Misron's
penalty corner conversion buoyed the hosts
and almost immediately Mohan deflected Abdul
Jalil's pass following a huge mix-up in
the Indian defense. But, India came surging
back with Khandekar finding the net on the
second attempt with a reverse hit from a
Sandeep Singh pass. Then Gagan flicked home
a penalty stroke after a stick-check on
Shivendra Singh by goalkeeper Subramaniam.
Courtesy:
The Statesman, June 20, 2006
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India's
Cup of Soccer Viewers Brimming Over
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How
pervasive do you think the World Cup fever
is in India? Initiative Media's Viewer Track
has compiled data to suggest that the opening
match for the FIFA World Cup '06 between
Germany and Costa Rica drew on average nine
lakh Indian TV viewers. The first half had
10 lakh tuning in, while the second half
had eight lakh. This, by far, has been the
highest in India among all the other matches
played and is nearly four times the viewership
of the previous world cup. Says Lynn D'Souza,
director (media services), Lintas Media
Group: "The viewership numbers are certainly
higher than all other sports barring cricket,
which gets 20-30 lakh viewers." Ms D'Souza
also expects the viewership to be higher
as the World Cup enters the knock-out stages.
Barring the opening match, the most-viewed
fixture was that between France and Switzerland,
which attracted some seven lakh viewers.
The average viewership per match stood at
close to 4.5 lakh, but the second half of
every match saw a drop of 25% compared to
the first half. Late-night matches, with
the exception of Brazil vs Croatia, had
fewer viewers. Sweden vs Paraguay had the
least number of viewers, with a little under
one lakh watching the late-night game.
Courtesy:
Economic Times, June 19, 2006
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Indians
began their title defense at the SAIL South
Asian junior table tennis championships
in style, spanking Nepal with identical
3-0 margins in both the categories here
today. However, the two neighbouring nations
made it to the last four in both categories
as Bangladesh were yet to arrive owing to
visa problems. In the boys' event, India's
top ranked paddler Aniket Koparkar gave
the hosts a sweeping start with a fluent
11-9, 11-8, 11-4 victory over Ajay Suwal
of Nepal at the Netaji Indoor stadium. Sanil
Shetty then defeated Nepal's Amarlal Malla
11-4, 11-8, 11-9 before Koparkar combined
with Devesh Karia to breeze past Suwal and
Deep Saun 11-4, 11-2, 11-6, to seal the
Group A tie for India. On the distaff side,
Neha Agarwal proved too formidable for Nepal's
Kamala and coasted to a 11-5, 11-3, 11-4
win with an aggressive display in a Group
A round robin league match. The hosts' K
Shamini snuffed out a feeble challenge from
Nepalese girl Swechchha Nambang 11-9, 11-6,
11-4, to give India a 2-0 lead. The doubles
combination of Aslesha Bodas and Shamini
then wrapped up the tie after overcoming
resistance from Kamala and Swechchha 11-4,
11-4, 8-11, 11-5. In cadet girls singles,
India's Ankit Das, Sreya Ghosh and Shruti
Tanlnekar sailed into the semi-final. Ankit
prevailed 11-9 8-11 11-5 11-2 over Nepal's
Kamla Pokherel, while Sreya got the better
of Maldives' Mariam Sana 11-8 11-6 11-8
in quarter-final outings. Shruti had little
difficulty in showing the door to Sri Lanka's
Shruti Talnekar.
Courtesy:
The Statesman, June 18, 2006
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Soccer
Fever: India Inc Heads For Germany
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Work
Hard 'n' Play Hard", seems to be the latest
boom-period mantra for India Inc. High-flying
Corporate India - encompassing media and
entertainment, IT and even the hard-core
manufacturing sector - form a major chunk
of Indian population visiting Germany for
the FIFA World Cup 2006. Though Germany
is also a favourite this summer among the
average Indian holidayer - hoping to catch
up on the excitement, if not the matches,
of the World Cup - destinations like Turkey,
Greece, Jordan and Australia have sprung
up as the new hot spots this summer. Travel
industry insiders reveal that increased
connectivity and lower fares have turned
out to be bigger attraction than World Cup
itself for the average Indian traveller.
But for Corporate India, it's World Cup,
and World Cup alone. Samsung alone has sent
40 of its dealers from Kerala, West Bengal
and Goa - states known to be great football
fans - to be part of the World Cup matches.
And travel industry sources say companies
are offering incentive tours to Germany
to their top performing officials. "Germany
is the hottest destination for corporate
incentive tours this summer," says Sankalp
Garg, manager (marketing), at FCM Travels.
"We have issued 150 packages to various
clients. While the middle-management is
being sent to watch the league matches,
the top-management and CEOs are going to
be part of finals," he adds. SOTC has also
sold over 1,000 World Cup packages this
summer. "It's a never-before high. The enquiry
levels for FIFA 2006 is far higher than
any series in the past," says SOTC CEO Sunil
Gupta. "In comparison, we had managed to
sell only 250 packages for the 2002 World
Cup in South Korea." "Corporate India would
easily account for nearly two-third of the
rush from India. It's reached a state where
even the flights are flying choc-a-block
now, leave alone finding decent hotel bookings,"
adds Manav Kapur of Onkar International
Travels. But, the average Indian traveller,
industry officials say, is now trying to
explore newer destinations. "The first-timers
or new overseas travellers are still visiting
Southeast Asia, with Thailand, Singapore,
Malaysia and Sri Lanka remaining usual favourites.
But the seasoned traveller is now heading
beyond the traditional hot spots of Europe,"
says Indo Asian Leisure Services director
Gajendra Singh Punwar. Bookings made in
April and May - for long haul and short
haul destinations - have shown a 22% growth
year-on-year and total overseas travel is
expected to witness a 30-35% surge by end
of the summer vacations. "Overall improvement
in the economy has also pushed this higher
spend on travel and entertainment among
Indians... With air connectivity improving,
Turkey, Jordan and Australia are emerging
as preferred destinations this summer,"
adds Punwar.
Courtesy:
Times of India, June 12, 2006
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Virender
Sehwag in Scintillating Form
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Super-charged
by a 147-ball 142 from Virender Sehwag,
India reached 230 for two wickets at tea
on the first day of the second Test at the
Beusejour Cricket Ground on Saturday. Earlier,
Messrs Trumper, Macartney, Bradman and Majid
nearly found themselves a member for their
exclusive club as Sehwag hot-footed to within
a run of a century before lunch. The opener
promptly reached his 12th hundred - off
78 balls - in the over after the food break.
But, Sehwag had to endure a hairy moment
in the final minutes of the first session.
A passage of play between overs 17 and 22
that saw the opener face just seven balls
left him on 93. An edge over slip and a
hoicked single took him to 98. He almost
ran himself out off the last ball before
the break; relieved at having made it, he
passed up the overthrow, and left a touch
disappointed. Two loose strokes outside
the off-stump after lunch, which India entered
at 140 for no loss in 25 overs, cost Jaffer
and Laxman dear. The Indian captain earlier
won his second toss of the series. Considering
the clumps of grass on the playing strip,
and with no one certain how it would turn
out, the decision to bat was brave. As the
first hour panned out, the choice began
to look fortuitous. The pitch-much like
the baddie removing his scary mask to poor
effect-showed itself to be a dud. On this
surface, only magic deliveries and stupid
shots stood any chance of cutting short
a batsman's tenure. The first wasn't forthcoming;
Sehwag didn't offer the second. He instead
volunteered strokes that provoked sharp
intakes of breathe all round. The twelfth
over off the innings-delivered by Dwayne
Bravo-went for twenty off his bat. Sehwag
had back-cut and glided, cover-driven and
glanced his way to 44 off 32 balls when
he chanced upon Bravo. A noticeable difference
in Sehwag's batting on Saturday morning
was a larger forward stride-something he
had discussed with Chappell on Friday. India's
50 came in the tenth over, the 100 arrived
in the 17th, the 150 happened in the 29th.
The one thing that might have helped-sharp
rising deliveries into his ribs-didn't materialize
for the combination of a slow track and
bowlers lacking genuine pace didn't allow
it.
Courtesy:
The Hindu, June 11, 2006
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India
Wrest Back Initiative
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ST
JOHN'S, June 5: Continuing from where he
left off at stumps on the third day ~ 113
not out Wasim Jaffer had indelibly stamped
his authority on the West Indian bowlers
before he got out on the verge of tea after
scoring his career best knock of 212. Captain
Rahul Dravid scored a well composed 62 before
he was caught in the deep off the bowling
of Dave Mohammed. At tea, India were 378
for four, a lead of 248 runs with Yuvraj
Singh batting on 14 and Mohammed Kaif yet
to open his account. The last time a Test
was decided at the Antigua Recreation Ground
three years ago the West Indies amassed
a record fourth innings score of 418 to
beat Australia by three wickets. While this
time the pitch may not be such a belter
a few deliveries have kept low already India's
destination had to be a surplus of at least
350, perhaps 400, to nullify any danger
of losing the match. Technically, Jaffer
and Dravid were each dropped in the morning
off Dwayne Bravo. Both times, Chris Gayle,
the lone slip, was the unsuccessful catcher.
But it would be harsh to harp on this, because
in either instance the ball only touched
the fieldsman's finger tips, low down to
his right in the case of the Mumbaikar,
over his head when it came to the Indian
skipper. Colleymore and Ian Bradshaw, however,
beat a tiring Jaffer several times outside
the off-stump with the second new ball.
India went into lunch on 308 for two. The
West Indies missed the speedy round-arm
services of Fidel Edwards, diagnosed as
having suffered a hamstring injury. Nevertheless,
it was fine consolidation from 147 for two
when VVS Laxman fell on a wicket still generating
a bit of bounce. The star of the third day
was Jaffer. Not only did he produce his
maiden double hundred in four Tests at a
timely juncture, but the quality of his
effort left the 300-strong crowd gushing
with admiration. It was an impeccable yet
scintillating display, all the more heart-warming
because he not merely exhibited the technique
and temperament of an opener, but a wristy
flair, whipping the ball away to the fence
whenever a bowler erred the slightest in
line or length. If he can continue in this
vein, he would solve India's perennial problem
of stability at the top of the order. As
a solitary Indian flag draped the railing
of the Andy Roberts Stand, Jaffer emerged
to meet media minutes after taking off his
pads after close of play yesterday. Riding
on the adrenaline of a triumph, he was happy
to satisfy an incessant volley of questions.
Intriguingly, he said, he had hardly batted
between the England series and this tour
because of a shin surgery. All he had done
was to prepare himself "mentally" for this
trip.
Courtesy:
The Statesman, June 06, 2006
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