Paes steps down as Davis Cup captain

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Months after being faced with a players' revolt spearheaded by his estranged partner Mahesh Bhupathi, Leander Paes on Tuesday stepped down as India's Davis Cup captain exactly a month ahead of the country's crucial World Group playoff tie against Romania. The AITA has appointed SP Misra, a former Davis Cup player and member of the Indian team which went into the Challenge Round in 1966, as the non-playing captain for the tie against Romania scheduled September 19 to 21. Paes has, however, retained his place in the team as player.

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"India's number one Davis Cupper Leander Paes informed Anil Khanna, Executive Vice President and Secretary General in a meeting held in Beijing just after the tennis event that he would like to step down as captain of the Indian Davis Cup Team for the tie against Romania," AITA said in a statement. AITA said Paes decided to step aside as "he wanted the best Davis Cup Team to represent the nation and did not want to leave any doubt in anyone's mind for their non-participation to represent the country in the biggest team event."

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Meanwhile, in a surprise move Somdev Devvarman, who made his Davis Cup debut in the April tie against Japan, has been drafted into the squad in place of Rohan Bopanna. "Somdev has been picked on the basis of his recent performance. Leander and Mahesh being our best doubles players, picked themselves into the squad. But Rohan has not been selected because Prakash and Somdev are in better form and are ranked higher than him," Khanna said, referring to Somdev's NCAA title win in the USA this year. "Of course, Rohan is more experienced but Somdev is in great form and we thought he would be a better choice.

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Current form and performance were the only criteria while selecting the team," he insisted. Paes' tenure as captain has been mired in controversy for the past one year with Bhupathi and players like Prakash Amritraj refusing to play under him, citing his critical attitude towards them in the press. "This man has taken the joy away from playing the Davis Cup," Amritraj had said ahead of the April tie against Japan, which India won to advance to the World Group playoff. Interestingly, Bopanna was not part of the revolt and had stated that he had no problem playing under Paes.

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Although Paes chose to maintain a stoic silence through the entire turmoil after that, the revolting players had apparently made it clear that they would not accept him as captain for the Romania tie. Paes holds the highest win-loss record for India having won 83 Davis Cup matches against 31 losses. In a career spanning over last 17 years he has played 44 Davis Cup ties and he took over as the playing captain of the Indian Davis Cup team after Ramesh Krishnan stepped down as non-playing captain. The tie against Romania will be played on red clay in Clubul Sportiv Progresul, Bucuresti there. The Team: Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Somdev Devvarman, Prakash Amritraj.

Olympic gold bigger than World Cup glory: Sandeep Patil

I felt goose pimples for the first time after 1983 when we won the World Cup at Lord's. Like millions of my countrymen, I watched Abhinav Bindra make history at Beijing and felt proud of the young man. His gold will change the way we look at sports. It is a great day for India and I say from the core of my heart that Abhinav Bindra's gold medal at the Beijing Olympics is a greater feat than India winning the World Cup in 1983.

Having said that, I think we need to also change the way we look at our cricket. Are we going to allow non-performers to continue or we would like to change or mindset and look ahead? The 1-2 Tests series loss to Sri Lanka is a lesson that can not be ignored and I firmly believe now is the time to decide. If I praise the cricketers when they do well then I also have the right to criticize them when they falter.

I am talking of the Fabulous Five of Indian cricket_Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble; three ex-captains and one current, all capable of taking good or bad decisions about the rest, but what about themselves? Why do they not apply the same yardstick to themselves and take a decision that will benefit Indian cricket. We are an emotional people but then at some point we have to take a step that should help the team and not just an individual.

The seniors presented a pitiable sight in Sri Lanka. I have seen them grow and conquer the cricket world. I have been associated with some of them from their under-19 days but it pains me to see them struggle, use their pad and not bat. I have supported their cause when they needed and I am sure they too understand the tough situation they find themselves in now. It is time for some serious introspection now.

Manoj Tiwary, S. Badrinath and Suresh Raina have been waiting for some time now. Would these youngsters be given the same platform to succeed as the seniors. I am not questioning the credentials of the seniors or their magnificent contribution to Indian cricket but is it not important to perform and perform consistently when you are saddled with the responsibility to guide the youngsters.

India Win AFC Challenge Cup 2008 (Football) & Qualified 2011 Asian Cup

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The Indian football team has some rising stars but one name that stands out is Delhi boy Sunil Chhetri who scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Tajikistan to lift the AFC Challenge cup final at the Dr. Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi. This win has qualified the Indian contingent for the 2011 Asian Cup in Doha.

The game started with both teams trying to get hold over the ball, but the Indians were able to take charge with Steven Dias and Sunil Chhetri combing to come close in the second minute. Samir Naik's over excitement saw him challenge for every ball but his enthusiasm was short lived after a talking by the referee. This, though did not take away his exhilaration as he annoyed the Tajakistan forward Dzhomikhon Muhidinov till he got fed up and put in a nasty challenge ironically blaming the Indian defender.

The referee handled the situation with much maturity in this one to one battle. India's first goal came from a Renedy Singh cross that was shot in by Bhaichung Bhutia to be deflected of the cross bar for Sunil Chhetri to tap it in from less than 5 yards out. The linesman though called for an offside but was overruled by the referee through a later decision. The Tajakistan players were furious and surrounded the referee hounding him. But, the goal stood.

Renedy played his part in the second goal as well with a pin point cross to Bhaichung Bhutia who made no mistake in burying the ball into the keeper's net. The Tajikistan players were unable to reply and only long shots towards Subrato Paul's goal saw the ball soaring high and not so pretty. Naim Nasarov came closest but was unlucky to hit the cross bar twice, beating the keeper both times. Once with a chance after a deflection but no Tajikistan player to pounce on it. India's third came in the 23rd minute with Sunil Chhetri turning and shooting past a stand still keeper.

Pradeep picked up an injury which gave way to Kashmir boy Mehrajuddin Wadoo whose thundering shot rattled the cross bar from 40 yards out. Tajikistan were able to pull one back just a minute from half time through Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev shot from 25 yards out. It was all India in the first half though and this must have made coach Bob Houghton a much happy and satisfied man. Two major tournaments in under a year must have added to Bob Houghton's credentials as a national team coach.

Sunil Chhetri finished his hat trick with a solo run from the half line to push the ball past the advancing keeper. Leaving the 20000 odd crowd in a state of sheer ecstasy. Final Score: 4-1Goalscorers India: Sunil Chhetri (9th, 23rd & 75th) and Bhaichung Bhutia (19th)

Sania slips to 35th in WTA rankings

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Sania Mirza's poor form has begun to take a toll on her rankings and the Indian ace has slipped a couple of rungs to 35th in the latest WTA list issued on Monday.Sania, who crashed out of first round of the WTA Bank of the West Classic after going down in straight sets to a British qualifier, has 803 points in the latest list.

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The Hyderabadi girl's doubles rankings have also taken a dip and she has dropped two notches to 20th with 1750 points this week.

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In the ATP doubles chart, Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes have held on to their 12th and 15th spot respectively despite their stunning first-round exit from the Indianapolis Championships last week.

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Rohan Bopanna, however, has experienced a fall and is down three places to 46th.In singles, Prakash Amritraj dropped a massive 17 rungs to 221 after his quarterfinal loss in the Challenger Series' tournament in Aptos, United States.

Hockey World Cup 2010 to host in Delhi

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The International Hockey Federation (FIH), the game's world governing body, on Friday formally awarded the hosting rights of 2010 men's World Cup to India.FIH President Els van Breda Vriesman, who met Indian Olympic Association President Suresh Kalmadi who is also the chairman of the ad-hoc committee which is running the game in the country, said the dates of the tournamanet would be declared later.

"FIH 2010 men's world cup has been confirmed and the venue for it is New Delhi, which will also host the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Dates for the men's world cup will be announced later," she told reporters here.The mega-event will be a joint venture between the FIH and the IOA, Vriesman said."Holding of the event will be a joint venture between FIH and IOA and the profits will be reinvested for promotion of India Hockey," she added.

The FIH, over a year ago, had proposed to stage the event in India, subject to various factors related to the game and infrastructure and after being satisfied with all that they announced that India would be the hosts.Vriesman also said that FIH has decided in principle to award the Men's Champions Trophy in 2011 or 2012 to India, subject to sponsorship and other arrangements, besides promising a Women's tournament in the country in the next few years.

Kalmadi disclosed that National Stadium would be the venue for the World Cup."The National Hockey Stadium in New Delhi will be the venue of the mega event. The stadium will also be the venue of hockey competition of Commonwealth Games in 2010," he said.

Fight in Junior Asia Cup hockey Ind & Pak

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Pakistan Thursday ruled out taking action against their players who were involved in a brawl during the semi-final against India in the Junior Asia Cup hockey being played in Indian city Hyderabad.

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Pakistan team's chief coach Jehangir Butt in a telephonic message here confirmed this. "So far we haven't received any notice from the tournament director Krishnamamurthy," said Butt, "and I believe the matter has been closed.

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"It was five minutes before half-time Wednesday when India were leading 1-0, that the players of both sides came to blows. Swiftly the officials of both the teams intervened and calm prevailed.

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India beat Pakistan 3-1 in the match to qualify for the final against Korea.Commenting on the incident, Asif Bajwa, secretary Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) said, "Such incidents do happen particularly when Pakistan and India are playing because the emotions run high.

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But once the match is over it's all normal as before. So, both Pakistan and India shouldn't fuss about it."However, Butt claimed that Polish umpire was unjustified in showing yellow card to Pakistan's midfielder Muhammad Irfan as it was he (Irfan) who was being deliberately pushed down rather violently by an Indian player, starting the whole brawl. He felt the Indian player should have also been shown the yellow card.