sportsfantacy

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 06:40:00 +0000

Agnes Szavay - News and More

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 18:01:00 +0000

Nationality: HUN (Hungary)
Birthdate: December 29, 1988
Birthplace: Kiskunhalas, Hungary
Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Turned Pro: Pro (2004)
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
2009 Ranking: 39

Coached by Jozsef Bolskay and Zoltan Kuharsky ... Introduced to tennis at age 6 by parents at local tennis club ... Mother, Terezia Dasko, is a teacher and coa ...

victoria azarenka

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 17:52:00 +0000

Coached by Antonio Van Grichen
Favorite shot is backhand; favorite surface is hard
Introduced to tennis at age 7 by mother; mother is Alla; father is Fedor; has one brother, Max
Speaks Belarusian, English, Russian
Enjoys listening to music (especially hip-hop, rap and R&B), spending time with friends, reading
Favorite city is hometown of Minsk; spends most of her time living and training in Scottsdale now; is friends with NHL star Nikolay Khabibulin and his family, who also live in Scottsdale; has lived there approximately three years
Admires Roger Federer for professionalism on and off court.

victoria azarenka collapsed

Asian Games closing today . . .

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 05:57:00 +0000

GUANGZHOU: Just five gold medals to be presented Saturday provided a rather slow-paced denouement for the Asian Games , an event the Olympic Council of Asia president referred to as ``one of the best ever.''

While Zhou Chunxiu won the women's marathon, giving China its 198th gold medal of the games, and Myanmar took the men's doubles final in the sport of sepak takraw, giving the country its first, OCA chief Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah told a closing news conference that even a military conflict on the Korean peninsula during the games could not damage the event's image.

Al-Sabah said Korean athletes ``stood shoulder-to-shoulder to compete'' despite North and South Korea waging a military skirmish last Tuesday.

Closing ceremony will held at Haixinsha Island in the Pearl River.

Boat shaped stadium in this Island will be the venue of these celebrations.

The time of starting the Closing ceremony of 16th Asian Games is 20:06.

During Closing ceremony , the Flag handover to Incheon 2014 for the 17th Asian Games (Asiad) will also take place.

Famous Pop singer of Asia , Rain will be giving a performance during the closing ceremony of 2010 Asian Games.

There is a festival mood all over China , especially in Guangzhou.

Universal Love is the theme selected by the Guangzhou Asian Games Authorities.

On 12th November Opening ceremony of Asian games was conducted at the Haixinsha Island.

Tickets for the 2010 Asian Games Closing ceremony will cost around 2000 to 8000 yuans.

Guangzhou will be using weather controlling techniques to prevent rain from destroying the fun of Asian Games opening and closing ceremonies.

More than 7000 Chinese people including students will be performing programs during the Closing ceremony.

Lot of VVIP's will be coming to China during the games. So high security has been ensured in all parts of the country to prevent any kind of terrorist attacks.

Ten Sports channel will telecast the closing ceremony live at 4:00 pm on November 27 th.

The athletes who came from various Asian Countries and spectators from all over the world will be saying good bye to Guanghozu on 27th November 2010.

China has decided to make the sent off ceremony marvelous.

At Guanghozu in the Haixinsha Island , the famous Indian singer Ravi K Tripathi will be giving a performance in which he will present an Indian and Chinese song.

AR Rahman's Jai Ho will be the another main attraction of the Asian Games closing ceremony.

With the ending of the 16th Asian games , the Host country China has been in the top list of the Asian Games Medal Tally list.

Preparations for the Guangzhou Asian Games closing ceremonies;

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 17:41:00 +0000

look at this orderly and uniform military training!

On October 2, the “goodwill hostesses” for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Guangzhou Asian games have begun their military training under the guidance of an drill sergeant. The selection of the Guangzhou Asian Games goodwill hostesses for the opening and closing ceremonies took place at Guangzhou’s Changlong holiday resort, with the 100 goodwill hostess candidates selected from across the country in 13 different competition areas undergoing 15 days of training, with 45 of them going on to become the goodwill hostesses that will lead participating delegations as they enter the stadiums during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Guangzhou Asian Games.

Preparations for the Guangzhou Asian Games closing ceremonies;

Chinese forces hard train for Asian Games 2010 Read more: http://entertainment.ezinemark.com/chinese-forces-hard-train-for-asian-games-2010-773665065163.html#ixzz16PXymUNK Under Creative Commons License: Attribution No Derivatives

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 17:36:00 +0000

The Asian Games is a tournament taking place every four years among Asian athletes. Officially known as Asiad, it is regarded to be the second largest multi-sport event only after the Olympics. The Asian Games 2010 are set to be held in Guangzhou, China between November 12th and November 27th. The opening ceremony directed by Chen Weiya will begin on November 12th on Haixinsha Island in Pearl River. This year, athletics from all over Asia will compete in 476 events (42 sports), which make it the largest event in the history of the Games. He assisted director Zhang Yimou at the Olympics 2008 in Beijing.

To make sure the security of Asian Games 2010, the Governor of Guangdong Province has installed more than 2.6 million surveillance cameras. In addition, China’s armed forces are taking part in a hard physical training at Dongguan Drill Base. Their duty is to ensure strict security so that there will be no mistakes during the Games. It is reported that Guangzhou authority has invested $29 million in security for the event. Several regulations including fines for smoking in public have been introduced. For instance, those who are caught lighting up will be charged about $7.6.

Below you will have chance to see extraordinary images showing how hard Chinese soldiers are training for the upcoming Asian Games in November.

The anti-terrorism drill session at Dongguan Drill Base

A group of six soldiers are training with a log

The extreme physical training is to ensure strict security during the event

China’s armed forces with extreme physical training missions

The Governor of Guangdong Province hopes no mistakes to be made during the Games

The Guangzhou police authority has spent $29 million in security

Beside the physical training, the drills consists of fake rescue missions

The Asian Games is held every four years involved athletes all over Asia

The Asian Games 2010 are scheduled to occur in Guangzhou, China from November 12th to November 27th.

Ceremonial hostesses’ good looks like flowers, curvaceous figures amaze Korean athletes

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 17:33:00 +0000

19th evening, the Guangzhou Asian Games baseball final began in the Guangdong Olympic Sports Center. In the end, the Doha Asian Games champions Chinese Taipei team lost 3 to 9 against the Beijing Olympic Games champion Korea team, unable to defend their title. Four years ago at the Doha Asian Games, the Korean team successively lost to the Chinese Taipei and Japanese teams, ultimately only winning a bronze medal. With this year’s Asian Games, the Korean team did its best to field its best players, including American Major Baseball League’s Choo Shin-Soo and Japanese Nippon Pro-Baseball League’s Kim Tae-Kyun and others all brought together in one team, and have been called by the media as “history’s most powerful lineup.”

India record its best-ever medal haul in Asian Games

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 17:29:00 +0000

Guangzhou: India created history by recording their best-ever performance in Asian Games with 64 medals, including a record 14 gold, with star boxer Vijender Singh providing the icing on the cake by bringing the last yellow metal on the penultimate day here on Friday.

The men's and women's kabaddi teams expectedly maintained their supremacy by clinching the gold before the women's 4x400m quartet and Vijender (75kg) bagged a yellow metal each on the most productive day for India in the mega-event.

With the addition of 11 more medals today, India's tally climbed to a record 14 gold, 17 silver and 33 bronze (total 64), the biggest ever haul in the Asian Games so far, to jump to the sixth place.

India's best medal haul till date was recorded in the 1982 Games in Delhi when they had won 13 gold, 19 silver and 25 bronze for an overall tally of 57. India had finished 10 in the last edition of the Games in Doha with a tally of 10-17-26.

India have now completed their engagements in the Games and their final standing will depend after the completion of the six events -- men's and women's marathon, men's and women's doubles sepaktakraw finals and women's volleyball final -- tomorrow.

China leads the medal table with 197 gold, 117 silver and 98 bronze (total 412), followed by South Korea (74-63-91) and Japan (47-73-94) at second and third respectively.

While the kabaddi teams did not sweat much to keep their reputation intact in rather lopsided finals, Vijender made amends for his bronze-finish in Commonwealth Games with a gold here while compatriots Santosh Kumar (64) and Manpreet Singh (91kg) settled for a silver each.

Preeja, Sudha tear formbook apart to create history

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 17:30:00 +0000

From Rajeev K, Guangzhou, Nov 21, DH News Service:
Standing on top of the podium, Preeja Sreedharan struggled hard to keep her tears in check.

Cry, she didn’t, but her face truly captured the story of a gutsy run that tore the formbook to shreds at the Aoti Main Stadium on Sunday. An Indian winning the women’s 10000M gold at the Asian Games was unthinkable till Sunday. Indians winning gold and silver would have been beyond the wildest of dreams. That is exactly what happened on the day, with Preeja producing a national record breaking performance and Kavita Raut following her home in second position, stunning a 70,000-strong Sunday crowd. The opening day of the athletics programme had more surprises in store from India with Sudha Singh delivering their second gold medal of the night in the women’s 3000M steeplechase, edging out China’s Jin Yuan in an exciting finish. The women’s 10000M was introduced into the Asian Games programme at Seoul in 1986 and no Indian had won a medal in the event till Sunday. Preeja and Kavita had other ideas on a warm evening but they had a tough task in store with the field boasting of a clutch of champion performers. Defending champion Kayoki Fukushi, ninth at the World Championships last year and the season‘s leader with 31:29.03, led the Japanese challenge while Bai Xue, world marathon champion and the Asian champion in this event, was China’s best bet. Also featuring was Bahrain’s Shitaya Eshete Habtegebrel, a former Ethiopian. Clear leader But as the race unfolded, there was no clear leader even though it was Fukushi who led the runners through the first 2000 metres. Hikari Yoshimoto, the other Japanese in the fray and Shitaya got into the picture with the Indians staying close to the leaders. With two laps to go, Shitaya surged ahead and Preeja followed. Yoshimoto tried to keep the Japan challenge going but at the bell, it was the Bahraini who was in front. Preeja, showing a sprinting ability not often witnessed, then swung into action and pulled away decisively. Shitaya had another shock in store as Kavita surged ahead for the silver. Preeja timed 31:50.47, bettering her own national record of 32:49.47 while Kavita (31:51.44) also came under that mark. “I am thankful to all those who prayed and supported me, I was always confident of this success” said the 28-year-old Preeja, who was in tears just a month back after a bout of fever had deprived her of a chance to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games. “This medal is for my brother and mother,” added the Railway employee, who lost her father early and endured several hardships to reach this level. Sudha Singh was another surprise winner, timing a national record of 9:55.67 in the event that is making its debut here. China’s Jin Yuan closed in menacingly in the final few metres and even celebrated prematurely at the finish, but that fraction of a second cost her as the Indian nicked the gold. “I didn’t expect the gold, the Chinese runner put huge pressure on me,” said Sudha, who hails from Rae Bareilli in Uttar Pradesh. India’s great day was also good news for coach Nikolai Snesarev, with all the three medalists coming from his stable. “I have a bunch of dedicated girls, they worked very hard over the last four months,” said Snesarev, a hard taskmaster if ever there was one. In other events, India’s HM Jyothi qualified to the 100M semifinals, clocking 12.04 seconds. Abdul Najeeb Qureshi and KK Rane also progressed into the semifinals. Manjeet Kaur and Mandeep Kaur made the final of the women’s 400M while SK Mortaja (47.75) and Bibin Mathew (46.93) missed out in the men’s quarter mile. Results: Men: 5000M: Mahbeen Ali Hasan (Bahrain) 13:47.86, 1; James Kwalia Kurui (Qatar) 13:48.55, 2; Felix Kiore (Qatar) 13:49.31, 3. Sunil Kumar (India) 14:01.76, 8. Hammer throw: Dilshod Nazarov (Tajikistan) 76.44 metres, 1; Kaveh Mousavi (Iran) 68.90, 2; Hiroaki Doi (Japan) 68.72, 3. 20Km walk: Wang Hao (China) 1:20:50, 1; Chu Yafei (China) 1:21:57, 2; Kim Hyunsub (South Korea) 1:22:47, 3. Harminder Singh (India) 1:26:33, 6; Baljinder Singh (India) 1:28:06, 7. Women: 10000M: Preeja Sreedharan (India) 31:50.47 (National record. Old: 32:04.41) 1; Kavita Raut (India) 31: 51.44, 2; Shitaya Eshete Habtegebrel (Bahrain) 31:53.27, 3. 3000M steeplechase: Sudha Singh (India) 9:55.67, 1; Jin Yuan (China) 9:55.71, 2; Minori Hayakari (Japan) 10:01.25, 3; OP Jaisha (India) 10:18.97, 5. Shot put: Li Ling (China) 19.94 metres, 1; Lijiao Gong (China) 19.67, 2; Lee Mi Young (South Korea) 17.51, 3.

Asian Games: Golfers, sailors clinch silver as India bag four medals Read more: Asian Games: Golfers, sailors clinch silver as India bag four medals

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 15:12:00 +0000

GUANGZHOU: Golfers and sailors contributed to the medal collection by fetching a silver each while cueist Aditya Mehta and squash player Saurav Ghosal bagged bronze as India dipped to the 14th position on the medal table on the eighth day of competitions in the 16th Asian Games on Saturday.

The men's hockey team had a good day as they pipped arch rivals Pakistan 3-2 to cruise into the semifinals while the tennis players assured India of at least three more medals alongwith star pugilists Vijender Singh and Suranjoy Singh who stormed into the semifinals.

But the failure to win enough medals, particularly gold, resulted in India slipping to 14th position in the medal rostrum, their lowest spot in the competitions so far.

With the addition of four more medals, India's medal tally climbed to two gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze. India had finished tenth on the medals table in the last Asian Games in Doha with a tally of 10-17-26.

There was no let-up in China's stranglehold in the Games as they continued their gold harvest to maintain their position atop the table with a whopping tally of 137-64-66. South Korea (52-43-56) and Japan (29-52-55) were in the second and third position respectively.

The quartet of Rashid Khan (72), Abhijit Singh Chadha (76), Abhinav Lohan (72) and Rahul Bajaj (72) won a silver with a combine four-day score of 10-over 874 to give the first medal for the country from golf.

The Indian sailing team comprising Balraj, Balakrishna Helegaonkar, Atool Sinha, Farokh Tarapore and Sekhar Singh Yadav also had their moment of glory when they clinched the silver in the open match racing event.

The two bronze medals came through Aditya Mehta who lost his snooker singles semifinal encounter and Sourav Ghoshal, who lost in the semifinals of squash singles event.

The women's hockey team also kept themselves on course for a bronze medal with a thumping 6-0 win over Kazakhstan in their penultimate round robin match.

The golfers provided the spark by winning the silver in the team event. However, in the individual competitions, in which Shiv Kapur won a gold in the 2002 edition, the Indians could not make much of a mark.

Rashid was highest-placed at tied fourth with a total of three-under 285. Abhinav was tied ninth with a four-day tally of three-over 291. Rahul was way down at tied 39th after totalling 22-over 310.

In men's snooker singles, Aditya had to settle for a bronze after losing to Chun Marco Fu Ka of Hong Kong 1-4 in the semifinals. His bronze was India's fourth medal from cue sports, including a gold won by Pankaj Advani in the billiards event.

The other two medals were in men's snooker team event (silver) and men's 8-ball pool (bronze by Alok Kumar).

Tennis assured three more medals with Sania Mirza scoring an upset 6-2, 6-3 win over second seed Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand to enter the semifinals while the duo of Somdev Devvarman and Sanam Singh also made it to the last four stage in men's doubles.

Sania then combined with Vishnu Vardhan to assure a bronze in the mixed doubles event as their fourth seeded Taipei rivals -- Chia Jung Chuang and Yi Chu-Huan -- retired mid-way.

Unseeded Sania, a silver medallist at 2006 Asian Games in Doha and also at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, relied on her power-packed strokes to beat the Thai, who once figured in top-20 and now stands at number 58 in the world.

The world number 166 Indian will next face third seed and world number 69 Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan.

Somdev, who has already won a bronze in men's team event, and Sanam beat the Chinese pair of Yan Bai and Zhang Ze 6-2, 6-4 in men's doubles quarterfinals.

The Indian men's hockey team notched up their fourth straight win over traditional rivals Pakistan this year with a 3-2 victory in a group B match to book a semifinal berth.

Penalty corner specialist Sandeep Singh struck twice in the third and 48th minutes while Dharamvir Singh netted a field goal in between to ensure India's third successive victory in Group B.

Rehan Butt (fourth) and Shakeel Abbasi (43rd minute) scored for Pakistan. Both the goals conceded by Rajpal Singh-led India were off defensive errors.

With twelve points in their kitty, India are sitting on top of the table with one match to go against Japan on Sunday.

Indian boxers also continued to sizzle with Vijender Singh (75kg) demolishing Korea's Deokjin Cho to enter the semifinals and assure himself of at least a bronze medal.

The 25-year-old Olympic and World Championship bronze-medallist got the better of Cho 13-2 in a one-sided contest at the Foshan Gymnasium to take the total number of Indian boxers in semifinals to three -- the other two being Dinesh Kumar (81kg) and Paramjeet Samota (+91kg).

The dashing Haryana-pugilist, who won a bronze in the previous Asian Games in Doha, will now face Mohammad Sattapour of Iran in the semifinals.

Another pugilist Amandeep Singh blanked Pakistan's Muhammad Waseem to make the light flyweight 49kg quarterfinals while Suranjoy pulled off a hard-fought 4-2 triumph over Uzbekistan's Shahriyor Isakov.

In squash, Saurav Ghosal settled for a bronze medal after losing his semifinal clash to top-seed Mohammad Azlan Iskandar of Malaysia in the men's singles..

World ranked 25 Ghosal waged a grim battle against an opponent ranked ten places higher than him in the world chart to eventually lose 5-11, 11-6, 5-11, 10-12 at the Town Gymnasium.

India's male archers struggled to find their bearings on and were placed fourth in the qualification stage.

The Indian quartet of Rahul Banerjee, Tarundeep Rai, Mangal Singh Champia and Jayanta Talukdar totalled 3996, way behind champions Korea's new Games record score of 4114, which gave them the lead on the first day of the two-day men's event.

In handball, the Indian men notched up their first win with a 56-22 victory over Mongolia but that was not enough for them to advance to the knock-out round.

India's women hoopsters suffered their second consecutive defeat, losing 44-98 to South Korea in their Group A preliminary match while women spikers continued to flounder and were outplayed 0-3 by Japan.

Indian cyclists, however, failed to lift themselves from their dismal show so far with Sombir finishing 15th in the men's Individual Time Trial while Sunita Devi signing off 10th in the women's section of the same event.

Sombir clocked 1:16:45.24sec in the 53.4km race, covered in three laps of 17.8km each.

Sunita, on the other hand, returned a timing of 56:00.87sec in the women's race which covers a distance of 35.6km in two laps of 17.8km each.

India's campaign in the taekwondo competitions ended on a dismal note as Sunil Kumar and Kamineni Srilakshmi crashed out of their respective events.

Read more: Asian Games: Golfers, sailors clinch silver as India bag four medals - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/16th-asian-games-2010/india-news/Asian-Games-Golfers-sailors-clinch-silver-as-India-bag-four-medals/articleshow/6961096.cms#ixzz15psfZLUS

Oksana Baiul

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 07:21:00 +0000

Oksana Baiul

Date of Birth

16 November 1977, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine]

Birth Name

Oksana Sergeyevna Baiul

Nickname

Marusia
The Swan of Odessa
Ksusha

Height

5' 4" (1.63 m)

Mini Biography

Only child of Sergei and Marina Baiul. Her father abandoned the family when she was 2, and she began skating at 4. Her grandfather, grandmother, and mother all died within 3 years, and Oksana was alone at 13. She moved in with her new skating coach, and trained for the Ukranian National Championships and 1993 World Championships, both of which she won. In 1994, she won the Olympic gold medal, after injuring herself during a practice session. After the Olympics, she moved to the United States, and has skated in professional tours, such as Stars on Ice, since her Olympic victory. After a battle with alcohol, Oksana is now sober and training in Richmond, Virginia. She hopes to regain her amateur skating status and compete in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has written 2 books, "Oksana, My Own Story" and "Secrets of Skating".

Trivia

Arrested for drunk driving. [January 1997]

Won Olympic gold medal for figure skating. [1994]

Silver Medal, 1994 European Figure Skating Championships

Gold Medal, 1993 World Figure Skating Championships

Reunited with her father, Sergei, during the summer of 2003.

Her performance in "Ice Wars 10: North America vs. The World", marked her return to figure skating after a two-year hiatus.

She became engaged to be married to clothing manufacturer, Gene Sinuk, in the summer of 2004.

Has her own clothing line, The Oksana Baiul Collection.

Is an only child.

Skated in the 2008 Stars on Ice Tour. This tour was the first ever to go to Puerto Rico.

Broke off her engagement to Gene Sinuk in 2005.

Where Are They Now

(January 2008) Hato Rey, San Juan, Puerto Rico with the Stars on Ice Tour. (Coliseo de Puerto Rico Jose Miguel Agrelot: Jan 26 and 27, 2008)

Oksana Baiul, Sexy Sport Stars, skating stars,

WONG Wan Yiu Biography

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 07:04:00 +0000

Cycling Road - WONG Wan Yiu Jamie - Biography

WONG Wan Yiu Jamie
NOC : Hong Kong, China
Gender: Women
Birth Date: 04/11/1986
Height ( m / in): 1.64/5'4''
Weight ( Kg / lbs): 54/119
Events Inscribed:
Women's Individual Time Trial
Women's Individual Road Race

WONG Wan Yiu Biography

Games-Brave Wong takes painful route to cycling silver

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Hong Kong's Wong Wan Yiu weeps as she sits in a wheelchair after winning the silver medal in the final of the women's Points Race in16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010. Wong crashed then continued in the race to win the silver medal.

(Reuters) - Hong Kong rider Wong Wan Yiu defined sporting bravery at the Asian Games on Tuesday after she grabbed a silver medal despite sustaining a suspected broken arm in the Guangzhou Velodrome.

Two pile-ups marred the women's points race. While China's Liu Xin avoided the carnage to take gold, medical staff rushed to the aid of riders as Japan's Mayuko Hagiwara and China's Tang Kerong left the Velodrome on stretchers.

Wong picked herself up, though, remounted and rode through the pain to collect an unlikely silver medal.

"I never thought of giving up," she said in tears after being helped to the podium.

"The women's point race won't be an event in the 2012 London Olympic Games, so this is the last time for me to compete for a gold medal in the women's points race in big games like the Asian Games. It is very important to me."

Wong gingerly held her arm as she sobbed in pain during the national anthem.

"In order to make her stand firm on the platform we had to use a board to support her," said her coach Shen Jinkang.

"She suffered a lot but she is really strong. It is a miracle that she finished the race."

No such miracles were evident at the swimming pool, where the natural order remained stubbornly set as Park Tae-Hwan romped home in the 400 metres freestyle for his second title.

The South Korean pin-up boy burst away from silver medalist Sun Yang and Asian record holder Zhang Lin to leave the Chinese choking back tears on the podium.

"It feels good to have led the whole race and end it with a good time," said Park, who only had one complaint after joyously draping himself in his national flag. "I fell short of the Asian record. I regret that a little."

Park, who now has five Asian Games titles, will still compete in the men's 100 and 1,500 metres freestyle but played down his chances of another top podium spot.

"I don't have 100 percent confidence and it's a tough one, but I'll do my best," he said.

China's swimmers still clinched five out of seven titles on Tuesday to leave their fans thrilled and Japan's swimmers deflated with only two days left in the competition.

Ryosuki Irie's 100m backstroke gold, his second after defending his 200m title, was the lone positive on another forgettable night for the Japanese, who shared 16 gold medals apiece with the Chinese in the pool at Doha, but have managed only five here to the hosts' 19.

Asian Games chess: Harika gets bronze

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:06:00 +0000

Guangzhou, Nov 16 (IANS) India's Harika Dronavalli defeated Iran's Sukandar Irine Kharisma in the final and ninth round to win bronze in the women's individual chess at the Asian Games here Tuesday.

China's Hou Yifan and Zhao Xue, both grand masters, claimed the gold and silver.

Top seed Hou won eight rounds and drew one to score 8.5 points. Zhao won seven matches, drew one and lost one to finish with 7.5 points. International Master Harika, with five wins, one loss and three draws, scored 6.5 points to come third.

In the men's section, Krishnan Sasikaran, who was in sight of a medal overnight, lost both his matches Tuesday to toppled to ninth place with 5.5 points.

Harika, who was lying fourth Monday, split points with compatriot Tania Sachdev and then playing with black pieces, she defeated Sukandar in the ninth round to move to the third place.

Harika had drawn with Nguyen Pham Le Thao of Vietnam Monday in the seventh round to take her score to five points.

Her medal chances were high after she held the strongest woman player in the world, Hou in the sixth round, after beating Atousa Pourkashiyan of Iran in the fifth.

Tania was also on five points overnight after seven rounds, following victories over Altanulzi Enkhtuul and Batchimeg Tuvshintugs of Mongolia in the last two rounds.

The two Indians after drawing their match Tuesday, were on 5.5 points.

But Tania lost to Hou in the last round Tuesday, to finish at sixth place with 5.5 points.

In the men's individual section, Surya Sekhar Ganguly came fifth with six points, winning six matches and losing three while Sasikaran came ninth with four wins, three draws and two losses. Kasimdzhanov Rustam of Uzbekistan won gold while Vietnam's Le Quang Liem returned with silver. China's Bu Xiangzhi claimed the bronze.

Sasikaran was tied with two others after seven rounds, with 5.5 points, Monday. But he lost both his matches Tuesday to go out of medal contention.

The Indian grand master first went down to Quang Liem and then Xiangzhi.

Surya Sekhar won his eighth round in the morning beating So Wesley of the Philippines, but then lost to Kazakhstan's Kazhgaleyev Murtas.

Asian Games: Four bronzes for India on day four

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:43:00 +0000

Guangzhou, Nov 16 (IANS) Gymnast Ashish Kumar, swimmer Virdhawal Khade, chess International Master Harika Dronavalli and wushu exponent Bimoljit Singh Tuesday claimed a bronze apiece for India at the Asian Games on a day boxer Suranjoy Singh and paddlers Sharath-Saha advanced into the next round. Kumar's was India's first Asiad medal in the sport, while Khade's came after 24 years.

India were assured of at least a silver in women's wushu with Sandhyarani Devi moving into the finals of the event.

India defeated Vietnam 3-0 in their last group match to book a place in the quarterfinals of the men's volleyball competition.

The men's football team and the women's hockey teams, however, suffered humiliating 0-5 and 0-3 losses, both to Japan, with the former being knocked out of the tournament.

Commonwealth Games gold medallists Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa lost to second-seeded Chinese Tian Qin and Zhao Yunlei 10-21, 5-21 in the women's doubles pre-quarterfinals. Earlier in the day, they had advanced to the last 16 stage when Thailand's Savitree Amitrapai and P. Munkitchokecharoen retired after losing the first game 13-21.

India's medal-winning streak in cue sports came to a halt with Dharmender Singh Lily, Alok Kumar and Manan Chandra crashing out of their respective events.

In cycling, medal hope Mahita Mohan came a dismal ninth while Suchitra Devi Konsam could not finish the women's points race finals, while in the men's keirin, O. Bikram Singh and Prince Herbert Sara Hylem came second in their respective repechage and qualified for round two.

India's judo campaign also ended.

After four days of competitions, India slipped to ninth place in the medal's tally with a mere 12, comprising one gold, four silver and seven bronze.

China head the table with 133 medals (77-28-28), followed by South Korea-66 (22-17-27) and Japan-78 (15-34-29). North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are the other countries above India.

Ashish Kumar's bronze came in the men's gymnastics floor final with an aggregate score of 14.92 behind gold winner Chenglong Zhang of China (15.40) and South Korean Soo Myun Kim (15.40), who won the silver.

Khade, who narrowly missed the bronze in the 50 metre freestyle event Monday, clocked 24.31 seconds for his third-place finish.

Jiawei Zhou (23.66 secs) won the gold while the silver went to Japan's Masayuki Kishida (24.13 secs).

Harika, with five wins, two losses and one draw, scored 5.5 points to come third in the women's individual chess event, where Chinese top seed Hou Yifan won the gold and compatriot Zhao Xue claimed the silver.

In the men's section, Krishnan Sasikaran, who was in sight of a medal overnight, lost both his matches Tuesday to be toppled to ninth place with 5.5 points.

Bimoljit lost 0-2 to Iranian Mohsen Mohammadseifi in the semifinal of the men's wushu event and settled for the bronze medal. In the women's event, Sandhyarani won 8-1 against Paloy Barckkham of Laos in the semifinal at the Nansha Gymnasium. She will face Iran's Khadijeh Azadpour in Wednesday's final.

Suranjoy Singh won 7-2 against Thailand's Chatchai Butdee, taking a 1-0 lead in the first round and blanking the Thai in the second when he opened up a 4-0 lead.

Butdee, however, managed to get two points in the final round, but Suranjoy rained blows and won the bout 7-2.

Sharath Kamal and Subhajit Saha entered the prequarters of the men's doubles table tennis with a comfortable 11-7, 11-4, 11-7 victory over H. Albahrani and M. Alenezy of Kuwait.

Sharath and Saha, who won the doubles gold in the Delhi Commonwealth Games, next face tough opponents in South Koreans Jungwoo Lee and Sang Eun Ho in the round of 16 Thursday.

However, it was the end of the road for Sharath in the mixed doubles -- he was partnering Shamini Kumaresan and lost in the pre-quarterfinals. The duo went down 12-10, 4-11, 11-8, 2-11, 6-11 to the Japanese pair of Seiya Kishikawa and Ai Fukuhara.

The other Indian men's doubles pair of Soumyadeep Roy and Anthony Amalraj failed to get past Cheung Yuk and Li Ching of Hong Kong and lost 5-11, 5-11, 7-11.

The men's singles and women's doubles first round matches will be played Wednesday.

India's judo campaign ended after Tombi Devi and Navjot Chana bowed out in the quarter-finals.

Tombi, who was a medal hope along with judo World Cup bronze medallist Kalpana Devi, failed to score a point against Jung Yeon Chung and lost 0/110 in the women's 48kg category. The contest lasted two minutes at the Huagong Gymnasium.

Navjot also lost his men's 60 kg quarter-final 0/120 to Rishod Sobirov of Uzbekistan in little less than three minutes.

Cricket's future in doubt at Asiad

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 18:30:00 +0000

Guangzhou: With India's no show making cricket's debut in the Asian Games a tame affair, the sport's future in the event seems in doubt and desperate efforts were on to save it from being left out of the 2014 edition in Incheon, South Korea.

The Indian Cricket Board's refusal to send teams for the 16th Asian Games, where the sport would make its debut in the Twenty20 format, has now created doubts over whether it would be a part of the 2014 roster.

The doubts over cricket's axing have grown after 2014 hosts Incheon kept cricket out of the list of events they proposed on Thursday.

Sources said the Asian Cricket Council is making last-ditch efforts to retain the sport on the Asian Games schedule.

The BCCI had cited prior international commitments as the reason for not sending the team here for the Games starting on Saturday.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) had last year stated that a maximum of 35 sports -- 28 Olympic and seven others -- would be part of the Asian Games roster.

Incheon wants to include baseball, bowling, kabaddi, sepaktakraw, softball, squash and wushu apart from the 28 from the 2016 Olympics roster.

Cricket's last appearance at a multi-sport event was at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

China's Asian Games opens

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 18:13:00 +0000

Fireworks, dancing and pageantry were all in evidence tonight as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao officially opened the Asian Games in Guangzhou.

The colourful celebrations are taking place along the Pearl River in tribute to the southern Chinese region's seafaring heritage.

The event featured more than 6,000 performers in a ship-like stadium with a stage covered in water, that was specially built for the opening night on the tiny Haixinsha island, just off the mainland.

In keeping with the nautical theme, athletes arrived at the venue after a cruise down the river in 45 boats decorated with LED lights.

Performers set sail during the opening ceremony of the 16th Asian Games on Haixinsha Island along the Pearl River in Guangzhou city

Entertainers dressed in red and carrying drums circle a gold structure

Japanese athletes stand on a boat floating down the Pearl River

Women in wide hats carry red lanterns during the opening celebrations

The scale of the celebrations is clear to see here with performers waiting to greet the 'ship'

Dancers draped in green lights create a spooky, underwater feel

A firework display lights up the sky above the Pearl River

Be-frocked dancers surround a maypole structure during the extravaganza

Jet ski riders zip through the surf, caught in an other-worldly pink glow

Athletes from North Korea cheer on as the celebrations unfold

The Iranian team march as cheerleaders rattle tambourines

Deepika and Siddharth Mallya are not hiding it anymore

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:40:00 +0000

Deepika Padukone and Siddharth Mallya appear to (quite literally) be going to town with their relationship!

Guess they don't want to be discreet anymore and are more than happy to pose for photogs when together. Miss Malini got her hands on these candid pics of B-Town's newest couple at a private function in Goa.

Instead of being coy and hiding their faces, the lovebirds preferred giving their best profiles to the person clicking!

PS: Notice Deepika's hand on Mallya Jr's thigh putting him at ease!

Tintu Luka Indian Athlete

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 12:50:00 +0000

Tintu Luka, Leader in womens 800 metre

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 12:33:00 +0000

Kenya's Winny Chebbet (C) crashes as New Zealand's Nikki Hamblin (L) and India's Tintu Luka compete during the 800m women final of the Track and Field competition of the XIXCommonwealth Games on October 11, 2010 in New Delhi. enya's Nancy Langat added the 800m gold medal to the 1,500m title she had already won when she crossed in 2:00.01 at the Commonwealth Games, New Zealand's Nikki Hamblin took silver and Canada's Diane Cumminswon the bronze.

800m final during theCommonwealth Games at theJawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, India, Monday, Oct. 11, 2010.

DELHI, INDIA - OCTOBER 10: Tintu Luka of India (1432) crosses the line to win her Women's 800 Metres semi final at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium during day seven of the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Gameson October 10, 2010 in Delhi, India.

Its a Jumbo Team India for Asian Games

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 12:29:00 +0000

NEW DELHI: All the Commonwealth Games medallists, except for woman discus thrower Seema Antil, were named in India's 69-strong athletics squad for the Asian Games starting in Guangzhou, China from November 12.

The Athletics Federation of India decided to send a big squad, the largest among 36 disciplines India will take part in the Asian Games, following the unprecedented success in the Commonwealth Games last month.

India had won 12 medals (two gold, three silver and seven bronze) in the Commonwealth Games, the best ever performance by the country in the history of CWG.

The squad also has shot putter Saurabh Vij who had tested positive for banned stimulant methylhexaneamine and whose case is pending before a National Anti-Doping panel.

National record holder Antil, who had won a bronze in the CWG, missed out on the Asian Games bus as a country can name only two athletes in an event.

Krishna Poonia and Harwant Kaur, who had won gold and silver respectively in a clean sweep in the women's discus throw event in the CWG, were in the China-bound squad.

"In the CWG, we were allowed to field three athletes in an event but in the Asian Games there is a restriction of two athletes in an event. So, Antil missed out," AFI secretary Ravinder Chaudhry said.

"Indian athletics team is ready to continue the CWG good show in the Asian Games. We are sending our best 69 athletes including all the medal winners of Commonwealth Games. We had a good season at the national athletics front this year and now the focus has turned towards the Asian Games," he said.

All the 69 athletes named for the Asian Games were in the CWG squad.

Besides Poonia, the only Indian woman athlete to win an individual gold in the Commonwealth Games, and Kaur, the women's 4X400m quartet of Sini Jose, AC Ashwini, Manjeet Kaur and Mandeep Kaur, who won gold in the CWG, are also in the Asian Games squad.

The China-bound squad has the CWG-bronze winning women's 4x100m relay team of Geetha Satti, Srabani Nanda, P K Priya and H M Jyothi. It also has CWG bronze-winning men's 4X100m relay quartet of Rahamatulla Molla, Krishnakumar Rane, Shammer Mon and Mohd Abdul Qureshi.

Other CWG medal winners in the Asian Games squad are Kavita Raut (womens' 10,000m race), Harminder Singh (men's 20km race walk), Renjith Maheswary (men's triple jump), MA Prajusha (women's long jump), Kashinath Naik (men's javelin throw), Vikas Gowda (men's discus throw).

Asian leader in women's 800m race Tintu Luka is also in the squad.

The Squad:

Men: Abdul Najeeb Qureshi (100m & 4X100m); Rahamatullamolla (4X100m); Suresh Sathiya (200m & 4X100m); Shameer Mon (4X100m); Ritesh Anand (4X100m); Krishna Kumar Rane (100m); B G Nagaraj (4X100m); Dharambir (200m); Bibin Mathew (400m & 4X400m); Shake Mortaja (400m & 4X400m); J Premanand (4X400m); V B Bineesh (4X400m); Jithin Paul (4X400m); Kunhi Mohammed (4X400m); Fransis Sagyaraj (800m); Sajeesh Joseph (800m); Sandeep Karan Singh (1500m); Chatholi Hamza (1500m); Sunil Kumar (5000m & 10,000m); Suresh Kumar (10,000m); Elam Singh (3000m Steeple Chase); T Siddhant (110m Hurdle); Joseph Abraham (400m Hurdles); Ankit Sharma (Long Jump); Maha Singh (Long Jump); Renjith Maheswary (Triple Jump); Amarjeet Singh (Triple Jump); Hari Shankar Roy (High Jump); Nikhil Chitrasu (High Jump); Om Prakash (Shot Put); Saurabh Vij (Shot Put); Vikash Gowda (Discus Throw); Kashinath Naik (Javelin Throw); Rajinder Singh (Javelin Throw); Bhartinder Singh (Decathlon); P J Vinod (Decathlon); Harminder Singh (20km Walk); Baljinder Singh (20km Walk); Ram Singh Yadav (Marathon).

Women: H M Jyothi (100m & 4X100m); S Geetha (200m & 4X100m relay); Srabani Nanda (4X100m); P K Priya (4X100m); Arjina Khatun (4X100m); Rebbca Jose (4X100m); T Mary Thomas (200m); Manjit Kaur (400m & 4X400m); Mandeep Kaur (400m & 4X400m); Ashwini A C (400m Hurdles & 4X400m); Sini Jose (4X400m); Chitra K Soman (4X400m); Juana Murmu (400m Hurdles & 4X400m); Tintu Luka (800m); Sinimol Paulose (800m); Jhuma Khatun (1500m); O P Jaisha (1500m & 3000m Steeplechase); Kaavita Raut (5000m & 10,000m); Preeja Sreedharan (5000m & 10,000m); Sudha Singh (3000m Steeplechase) G Gayathry (100m Hurdle); M A Prajusha (Long Jump & Triple Jump); Mayookha Johny (Long Jump & Triple Jump); Sahana Kumari (High Jump); Krishna Poonia (Discus Throw); Harwant Kaur (Discus Throw); S Saraswathi (Javelin Throw); Hardeep Kaur (Hammer Throw); G G Promilla (Heptathlon); Sushmita Singha Roy (Heptathlon).

Read more: Poonia, Gowda, Prajusha in Asian Games athletics squad - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/events-tournaments/2010-asian-games/Poonia-Gowda-Prajusha-in-Asian-Games-athletics-squad/articleshow/6896433.cms#ixzz14sl4flG3

China expects to top Asian Games medals tally

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 12:22:00 +0000

Senior Chinese sports officials don’t envisage much change to the status quo at the Asian Games amid initial moves to overhaul the state-run sports system that has propelled the country to the top.

Xiao Tian, vice president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, declined to give a specific medals goal for Guangzhou 2010 but said the delegation of nearly 1,000 athletes is targeting more medals than it won at Doha four years ago.

China was a long way clear in 2006, collecting 316 medals, including 166 gold. South Korea placed second with 58 gold.

That continued a run of table-topping finishes for Chinese teams that began at the 9th Asian Games at New Delhi in 1982. China only rejoined the continental games in 1974 at Tehran, where it finished third.

Xiao said changes are needed to the country’s Soviet-style sports system that developed rapidly in the 1980s, in which young children selected for their athletic potential and specific physical traits are funnelled into sports schools. The emphasis has been training those young athletes for years in the program with the singular goal of “winning glory for the country.”

China has traditionally focused on sports that awarded multiple medals and which authorities thought their athletes could quickly dominate - such as diving and gymnastics.

Meanwhile, sports such as basketball, volleyball and football have lagged behind foreign competition which has benefited from quicker development because of commercialization, Xiao said.

“Before, we had an all—state system that worked very well, but now professional sports and market economy are linked. These two systems have different operational mechanisms,” he said.”

“The development of the three ‘big ball’ sports (basketball, volleyball, football) as well as golf, tennis and sailing are areas where we need to reform and explore,” he told reporters.

Yao Ming’s All-Star status in the NBA has focussed international attention on Chinese basketball, while players such as Li Na have drawn attention to China’s potential in women’s tennis.

With growing possibilities for lucrative sponsorship and endorsement contracts, some high-profile Chinese athletes have started employing private or international coaches and managers rather than rely on the Chinese system.

And there’s scope for that to expand to other Olympic and non-Olympic sports as non-government funding flows in.

In the meantime, there’s few who doubt China’s ability to dominate the competition in Guangzhou. Its Asian Games delegation is young, with an average age of 24, but will be led by 34 Olympic champions from sports such as gymnastics, diving and table tennis.

“Ever since the Beijing Olympics we have added a lot of new athletes to the team,” Xiao said. “A lot of old athletes are going out and a lot of new blood coming in. It’s a test to the young athletes.”

Jenson Button, McLaren driver with his girl friend

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 06:48:00 +0000

Button praises driver in gun escape

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 06:41:00 +0000

Formula One world champion Jenson Button hailed the swift actions of his police driver after being confronted by an armed gang in Sao Paulo.

Button, his father John, manager Richard Goddard and trainer Mike Collier escaped unharmed following Saturday night's frightening attack that occurred on their return to their hotel after the qualifying session for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The quartet managed to flee the machine-gun wielding assailants as their police protector used the armoured Mercedes he was driving to barge his way through several vehicles.

"We were going back from the track and were outside a shanty town and moving slowly on a busy road," Button told the Mail on Sunday.

"I saw a dog come out, which was very cute. The next thing I saw was a man with a gun. I said 'isn't that a gun?' and as soon as I said that, the driver angled the car and floored it. That's when we saw six men, all of them brandishing machine guns.

"My driver was a legend. He bounced off about five cars. We were driving over the top of them. It was very scary.

"I don't know whether they knew who it was they were ambushing. But I am glad I didn't have my girlfriend Jessica (Michibata) with me. She would have been terrified."

Mr Goddard also praised the officer assigned to protect them, an action purposefully instigated by McLaren given the level of gun crime in Sao Paulo, one of South America's most violent cities. He said: "We were very lucky to have a police driver looking after us because he got us out of what could have been quite a frightening situation.

"The real positive thing to take out of it is that we are all fine and we're all able to look back on it and see it for what it was.

"Obviously from our perspective, luckily it wasn't a lot worse, and luckily the sharp actions of our police driver forcing his way through the traffic like he did was great."

Jenson Button in attempted car-jacking in Sao Paulo

noreply@blogger.com (പത്രക്കാരന്‍) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 06:32:00 +0000

Jenson Button, the defending Formula One World Champion, has described how he was threatened by men brandishing machine guns in an attempted car-jacking in Sao Paulo.

The British driver was travelling back from the qualifying round of the Brazilian Grand Prix, in which he is competing today, when six men surrounded his black Mercedes B-Class, which is fitted with bullet-proof glass.

He was with his father, John, his trainer, Mike Collier, and manager Richard Goddard and was travelling past the entrance to one of the city’s “favelas”, or shanty towns.

“It was pretty terrifying,” Button said. “We were moving pretty slowly in traffic just outside when we pulled up outside the entrance to one of the favelas. I saw a dog and remarked 'Oh, cute dog’ when about six men came out. One of them appeared to be holding a truncheon.

“Then I said 'hey, isn’t that a gun?’ and as soon as I said that our driver angled the car and just floored it. He was a complete legend. We bounced off about five cars. We were literally driving over the top of them.

“It looked like we may have been targeted.”

Button, 30, qualified in 11th position for today’s race, which is the penultimate competition of the season.

Button is not expected to retain his title, which could be won today by Fernando Alonso.

Brazil’s favelas are notoriously lawless and crime-ridden shanty towns which have grown up on the edge of the country’s major cities.

The harsh life in the slums was depicted in the Oscar nominated 2002 film City of God.