Tainted Kalmadi, Chautala made IOA Life Presidents

Chennai, Dec 27, 2016, PTI:

Commonwealth Games corruption scandal tainted Suresh Kalmadi was today made the Life President of Indian Olympic Association in its Annual General Body Meeting here.

Another tainted official Abhay Singh Chautala was also made the Life President by the IOA.

Before Kalmadi and Chautala, only Vijay Kumar Malhotra, who served as acting IOA chief between 2011 and 2012, was made the Life President, according to IOA's official website.

Kalmadi served as IOA president from 1996 to 2011 and was jailed for 10 months for his involvement in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games corruption scandal but later released on bail.

The Pune-born administrator, also a former Congress Member of Parliament, was a powerful sports officials in his heydays. He was the president of Asian Athletics Association for 13 years from 2000 to 2013. He was last year made Life President of the Asian athletics body last year.

Kalmadi, now 72, was also a member of the powerful ruling council of the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) from 2001 to 2013.

Chautala served as the president of Indian Olympic Association from December 2012 to February 2014 when the IOA was suspended by the parent International Olympic Committee for fielding charge-sheeted candidates at the elections. His election as IOA chief was annulled by the IOC.

Only after the IOA Constitution was amended to ensure that charge-framed candidates are not allowed to contest elections, the IOC revoked the suspension on IOA in February 2014.

Chautala had served as president of erstwhile Indian Amateur Boxing Federation which was terminated from recognition in the world body AIBA in 2013 for possible manipulation in IABF elections.

Recently, he was elected as president of one rival faction of the Haryana Olympic Association, which was reportedly given recognition by the IOA.

Gujarat's Samit scales new summit

Jaipur, Dec 28, 2016, Agencies:

Gujarat’s 26-year-old opening batsman Samit Gohel broke a 117-year-old record in first-class cricket by notching up the highest score while carrying his bat through the innings of 359 not out during his team’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Odisha.

While Pakistan great Hanif Mohammed’s epic 499 remains the highest score by an opener in first-class cricket, no one has scored more than Gohel while remaining not out in his team’s score of 641 here.

Gohel in fact eclipsed the previous best of 357 not out by Surrey’s Bobby Abel against Somerset way back in 1899 at the Kensington Oval ground.

Gohel’s knock is the second 300-plus total by a Gujarat batsman this season after Priyank Panchal’s 314. Gohel’s innings was the second highest individual score in the second innings of a first-class match.

It was also the third longest in terms of number of minutes taken (964). This is also the fourth joint highest score by an Indian in the Ranji Trophy, Maharashtra batsman B B Nimbalkar’s unbeaten 443 in 1948-49 against Kathiawar remains the highest to this date.

Gohel’s 723-ball-knock had 45 boundaries and a six but the shy boy from Gujarat’s dairy hub Anand was unassuming.

“I did not know it was a world record. The idea was to bat as long as possible. Coach sir (Vijay Patel) and Parthiv bhai (skipper Parthiv Patel) ne bola thaa lamba khelo. I just tried to do that. I am happy that I could bat this long. Obviously this is the greatest day of my life. I am actually still not able to express myself,” the right-handed batsman said after his knock.

Azhar's ton boosts Pak on rain-hit second day

Dec 28, 2016, Melbourne, AFP

Opener hits unbeaten 139 as Aus pacers struggle

Opening batsman Azhar Ali led the way as Pakistan consolidated their first innings on a rain-hit second day of the second cricket Test against Australia here on Tuesday.
Only 50.3 overs were possible on the day after 50.5 overs were bowled on Monday’s opening day as rain again curtailed play. At the close after rain forced an early finish, the tourists were 310 for six with Azhar providing the foundations.

Azhar was unbeaten on 139 with Mohammad Amir hitting a breezy 28 off 23 balls with six fours trying to lift the scoring rate after the dismissals of Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed.

Azhar, playing in his 56th Test, raised his 12th Test century and third against Australia with two runs behind the wicket to fine leg.

Azhar’s hundred came off 218 balls in 338 minutes and consolidated his position as Pakistan’s leading runscorer this calendar year. At the close Azhar had scored 1089 runs for the fifth highest aggregate for the year.

The last Pakistan opener to carry his bat through a Test innings was Imran Farhat (117 not out) against New Zealand in Napier 2009. It has never been done in Pakistan’s Tests against Australia.

Only Mohsin Khan with scores of 152 and 149 back in 1983 has posted higher scores than Azhar as an opening batsman for Pakistan in Australia.

Shafiq reached 50 before he gave skipper Steve Smith his third catch of the innings ending an 115-run partnership with Azhar.

Jackson Bird got one ball to seam away and Shafiq was forced to play a shot and edged to Smith at second slip for his third wicket.

Shafiq, who scored a fighting 137 in Pakistan’s narrow loss in the first Gabba Test, faced 123 balls for his 18th Test half-century over three hours.

Josh Hazlewood got his reward for his nagging accuracy with the wicket of Sarfraz Ahmed for 10, snapped up by Matt Renshaw at first slip. Hazlewood sent down 26 overs for the miserly figures of two for 33 with 11 maidens. Mitchell Starc had problems with his front landing foot and struggled wicket-less for 77 runs off 23.2 overs.

Light rain sent the players from the field midway through the opening session, before play resumed and was then stopped again just before lunch.

score board

PAKISTAN (I Innings, O/n: 142-4):
Aslam c Smith b Lyon 9
Azhar (batting) 139
Azam c Smith b Hazlewood 23
Younis b Bird 21
Misbah c Maddinson b Bird 11
Shafiq c Smith b Bird 50
Sarfraz c Renshaw b Hazlewood 10
Amir (batting) 28
Extras (B-4, LB-9, W-5, NB-1) 19
Total (for 6 wkts, 101.2 overs) 310
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-60, 3-111, 4-125, 5-240, 6-268.
Bowling: Starc 23.2-6-77-0, Hazlewood 26-11-33-2, Bird 29-5-91-3, Lyon 17-1-69-1, Smith 3-0-9-0, Maddinson 3-0-18-0.

Minister lambasts IOA move

Dec 28, 2016, New Delhi, PTI

Sports Minister Vijay Goel on Tuesday lashed out at the Indian Olympic Association for making tainted Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala as life presidents of the sports body, saying it was “totally unacceptable” as both of them were facing serious criminal and corruption charges.

“We are shocked at the resolution passed by the IOA to make Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala as life presidents of IOA.

“This is totally unacceptable to us as both of them are facing serious corruption and criminal charges,” Goel told reporters at a press conference here.

Goel said that the ministry has sought details from the IOA and will take appropriate action after getting a report from the IOA top brass.

“We have sought details (from the IOA) and on receipt of a complete report, we shall review the situation and take appropriate action. Our government is committed to good governance and transparency in sports,” Goel said.

“Nothing is bigger than the government. The government will see how and when there will be interference, so that these people against whom criminal and corruption cases are pending are not associated with sports. We will take steps which are necessary,” he added.

Meanwhile, IOA Vice President Tarlochan Singh said the IOA does not need approval from anybody to name any person as its life president and today's decision was taken "unanimously" by the General House.

“IOA General Body does not need any clearance from anybody to appoint any person a life president or patron. It was within the rights of the IOA. It was a unanimous decision of the General House of the IOA.” 

Shubhang shines in Swastic Union (2) triumph

Dec 28, 2016, Bengaluru, DHNS

A fantastic bowling effort from Shubhang Hegde gave Swastic Union Cricket Club (2) an innings lead over Jawahar Sports Club (1) and with it the under-19 KSCA Group I, Division I, II, III inter-club title.
Resuming their first innings at 36 for four, Jawahar SC were derailed by left-arm spinner Shubhang’s seven for 15 as they folded for 136, handing their opponents a vital 126-run lead.

Devdutt Padikkal (100 not out) struck another ton in Swatic Union’s second hit as his side reached 164/3 before the players shook hands.

Brief scores: Swastic Union Cricket Club (2): 262 all out in 73.3 overs and 164/3 in 38.1 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 100 n.o., Sujay SS 28 n.o.) drew Jawahar Sports Club (1): 136 all out in 64.1 overs (Kishan Bedare 67, Akshaya 27; Shashank K 2-26, Shubhang Hegde 7-15).

Shray does star turn

Shray Singh produced an all-round show to spur Eminents Cricketers to a 69-run win over SJ Polytechnic CC in the KSCA Group I, Division V tournament for the Sri JB Mallaradhya Trophy. Shray top-scored with a 42 while Prajwal made a 41 to help Eminents reach 186 before being all out in 35 overs. Chiranjeevi (4/40), Sharath (3/50) and Akshay (2/8) were the wicket-takers for SJ Polytechnic.

Shray then performed well with the ball as well, grabbing 5/28 to play the lead role in dismissing SJ Polytechnic for 117 in 26.4 overs. Srinivas scalped 4/19.

Brief scores: Eminents Cricketers: 186 all out in 35 overs (Shray Singh 42, Prajwal 41; Sharath 3-50, Chiranjeevi 4-40, Akshay 2-8) bt SJ Polytechnic CC: 117 all out in 26.4 overs (Srinivas 4-19, Shray Singh 5-28).

Yankees Cricket Club: 119 all out in 38.2 overs (Abhishek 61; Prasen 3-24, Md Saleem 2-13) lt to United Cricketers: 120/3 in 29 overs (Jacon 33, Prasen 28, Saheer Sahu 29 n.o.).

Young Cricketers (2): 88 all out in 24 overs (Taarun Shridhar 36; Yashas GL 2-10, Shivaraj 5-20) lt to Coles Cricket Club: 91/3 in 16.4 overs (Yashaswin 32 n.o.; Bhoopathi 2-30).

Sir MVIT Cricket Club: 231 all out in 47.5 overs (Aman Rana 45, Shivam Kislay 39, Siddharth 49; Aaron 2-45, Mahesh G 4-48) bt YMCA Cricket Club (1): 192 all out in 40.5 overs (Pratik C 35, Mahesh G 78, PRashanth TR 34; Chetan 5-35).

Vasnathanagar Cricketers: 255/5 in 50 overs (Yuvaraj 34, Ashwin 30, Pramod 81 n.o., Tarun 27; Mahalinga 2-47, Anshuman 2-51) bt YMCA Cricket Club (3): 121 all out in 43.1 overs (Sundaresh 3-30, Prasanna 4-12).

Canara Union Cricket Club: 135 all out in 38.1 overs (Sri Harsha 37 n.o., Manjunath B 2-15, Raghu C 4-17) lt to Victory Cricket Club: 137/6 in 33.5 overs (Rohith K 40, C Raghu 26 n.o.; Ganesh Koteshwara 3-40).

Canares Cricket Club: 185/9 in 50 overs (Swaroop MS 36, Kashish 64; Pawan 2-27, Rangaswamy 3-17) bt Oriental Cricket Club: 155 all out in 40.4 overs (Vishnu 47, Ranganath 2-25, Naveen 5-40, Jeevan 2-8).

Bangalore United C C (2): 261/5 in 50 overs (Anirudh 47, Hemankith 28, Raunak 83, Santhosh 47 n.o.; Ravi 2-59) bt Young Cricketers (1): 204 all out in 43.1 overs (Dhruv 37, Sudpith 41, Atiq 52; Sulaman 2-36, Raunak 2-24, Aditya 2-40, Nagendra 2-35).

Bangalore Sports Cricket Club: 155 all out in 42.2 overs (Rahman 35, Prashanth 43 n.o.; Vasanth Kumar 3-35, Abhishek B 2-23) bt Prathibhe Talent Trust: 113 all out in 30 overs (Nagasimha 46 n.o.; Rajashekar 4-30, Venkatesh 2-27, Naresh 2-18).

Portugal top surprise stories of the season

Dec 28, 2016, Reuters

Football : Cristiano Ronaldo was the standout player for club and country while underdogs left telling impressions

Portugal emerged triumphant at Euro 2016 but it was surprise packages Wales and Iceland who supplied the best memories from the tournament in France.
Not many experts chose Fernando Santos' team as likely title winners at the start while punters would hardly have rushed to put money on his side when talisman Cristiano Ronaldo limped off in tears after 25 minutes of the July final against the hosts.

And had anyone asked fans of Swansea City whether Eder, who failed to score in 15 games for the English Premier League side before being farmed out to Lille, was a good bet to grab the winner they might have countered by saying there was more chance of Brexit followed by Donald Trump becoming US President.

But if 2016 taught us anything it is that unlikely characters can shape major events, on and off the football pitch.

Portugal's final triumph came despite only producing one shot on target in 90 minutes plus two more in extra-time, an underwhelming end to a largely forgettable tournament where 22 of the 55 matches were goalless at halftime.

Similarities were drawn between Portugal and the Greece team that chugged to victory 12 years earlier and it was Wales and Iceland, who reached the semifinals and quarterfinals respectively, who really captured the imagination of the Euro 2016 fans.

Iceland's followers entertained everyone with their unique 'Viking Thunder-Clap' celebration.

It was not all good news among the crowds, however, with violence marring the lead-up to Russia's game with England and several other unsavoury outbursts involving other countries.

England manager Roy Hodgson and Belgium coach Marc Wilmots paid with their jobs for failing to get the most out of their talented squads.

Italy's Antonio Conte used Euro 2016 as a springboard, quickly forgetting the disappointment of his team's quarterfinal defeat by Germany to finish the year strongly with English league leaders Chelsea.

Portugal's title success was particularly harsh on the player of the tournament, France forward Antoine Griezmann who produced several mesmerising performances and ended top scorer with six goals in seven games.

Less than two months earlier the same striker also lost out in the Champions League final with Atletico Madrid who went down on penalties to city rivals Real, Ronaldo this time taking centre stage to score the decisive penalty.

Ronaldo went on to bag a third honour in 2016, beating Barcelona rival Lionel Messi to win the Ballon d'Or for a fourth time.

Other winners in 2016 included Leicester City, who overcame odds of 5,000-1 to win their first top-tier title in England while Bayern Munich, Paris St Germain, Barcelona and Juventus were more predictable champions in Europe's other top leagues.

Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba left the club at the end of the season to rejoin former team Manchester United for a world record fee of 89.3 million pounds ($111.89 million).

United acquired a new manager in Jose Mourinho while Pep Guardiola took up residence at Manchester City as English football continued to draw the game's top coaching talent.

It also attracted many foreign investors with Chinese businessmen snapping up several clubs as a country not known for its football tradition established a major foothold in an increasingly globalised game.

At home the Chinese Super League emerged as a likely destination for top footballers with around 200 million pounds spent on the likes of Graziano Pelle and Hulk.

According to media reports, Brazilian forward Hulk is earning 340,000 pounds per week, a salary bettered only by Ronaldo and Messi.

Off the field, Gianni Infantino was elected president of soccer's governing body FIFA in place of the disgraced Sepp Blatter.

Infantino promised to "bring football back to FIFA" and also said he wanted to increase the number of teams that take part in the World Cup finals from 32 to 48.

Blues set the pace

Naveen Peter, Dec 28, 2016, DHNS

Looking back Football : Bengaluru FC's dream run in AFC Cup was the highlight for India

There’s no doubt that no football club in India has achieved what Bengaluru FC has managed in their short yet glorious time on the national scene. 

Three years since its inception, the club has grown from strength to strength with every passing day – setting new standards and benchmarks. It was no different in 2016, as the JSW-owned team rising above the mediocrity that was Indian football.

In their first year, they won the I-League and in the second, they clinched the Federation Cup. The third year was special for more than one reason.

The Bengaluru side not only managed to pocket their second league title, but also became the first-ever side from India to reach the final of the AFC Cup, the Europa League equivalent for the Asian clubs.

Though they couldn’t crown the season with a magical moment in Doha — the venue of the AFC Cup final — the fact that this side has flourished in what now seems like a graveyard of football clubs (three more clubs shut shop this year) tells you the enormity of the BFC feat.

In an uncertain environment littered with stories of false hopes and a national federation looking helpless on many aspects, Bengaluru have managed to take Indian football into territory unexplored previously by Indian teams.

BFC also generated a sense of pride and optimism around a sport beyond its territory. This was evident when Bengaluru took on Johor Darul Ta’zim in the semifinal second leg of the AFC Cup on October 18. Though the Bengaluru faithful are more than capable of creating an electric atmosphere at their fortress – the Sree Kantreerava Stadium — the semifinal saw a great number of fans from across the country rally behind Bengaluru as they became the first Indian side to reach the final of the tournament.

New coach

The club’s first head coach, Ashley Westwood, should be credited for laying down the blueprint for its philosophy, one which mirrors that of a European club. And this is one of the reasons why when Albert Roca, a former assistant coach at FC Barcelona, took over the reins after the domestic league this season, the transition was so smooth that it helped them reach the final of the AFC Cup.

If Bengaluru’s exploits were the highlights of the Indian football season, a handful of Goans clubs leaving the big stage was the low point of the year, once again proving that nothing in Indian football has a definite future.

While Salgaocar FC and Sporting Clube de Goa were the first clubs this year to pull out of the I-League, blaming the road map adopted by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) as the reason, former champions Dempo SC too joined them stating their inability to float a team in the premier domestic competition.

Two new clubs, Chennai City FC and Minerva Punjab FC, have been added to the I-League which begins next month, but what does the future hold for them when the much discussed merger between I-League and the Indian Super League (ISL) takes place after the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017 is still unknown.

The ISL, meanwhile, entered the third edition, with Atletico de Kolkata emerging champions for the second time, with victory over Kerala Blasters in the final.

For the national team, 2016 was better than the previous year. Though their campaign in the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers came to a tame end with a loss to Turkmenistan in March, a win over Laos in the play-off has assured them a place in the qualifiers of the AFC Asian Cup 2019, that gets under way from March, 2017.

And with the federation trusting Stephen Constantine to continue as the head coach, much will be expected of the side when they embark on the journey to book their place in the 2019 event.