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Asia’s best shuttlers to chase ranking points in Johor Baru
It is the last ranking tournament for the Asian players to gain points for qualification to the World Championships in Madrid in September. It is also the last tournament for Asian badminton giants China, Malaysia, Indonesia and South
Kore a to finalise their squads for the Thomas Cup-Uber Cup Finals in Japan from April 28-May 7.
As such, the Yonex-Sunrise Asian Badminton Championships (ABC) at the Bandaraya Indoor Stadium here from March 28-April 2 are all set to attract the top Asian shuttlers.
The deadline to collect points for the World Championships is May 31. The ABC will also be the first international tournament in Malaysia to use the new rally scoring format (the 21 points best-of-three games). This year’s championships offer a total prize money of $125,000 (RM475,000) with the men’s singles winner taking home $10,000 while the women’s singles champion will receive $8,625.
Schoolchildren in uniform will be allowed to watch the day matches for free. However, they will be charged the normal price for night matches.
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Sabina gets ‘high marks’ ahead of Cricket World Cup
Top officials of the International Cricket Council (ICC) have given Sabina Park “high marks” for the headway it has made almost a year before the start of the Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean. The ICC said its inspectors were “pleased with the progress” at the venue. Although Sabina Park was “three to four weeks behind schedule”, he said the inspectors, that included ICC consultant professor Eugéne van Vuuren and pitch and field consultant Andy Atkinson, were “encouraged” with developments and would give Sabina Park until May to “catch up”.
However, the ICC made it clear it wanted work to be more advanced before India arrived in Jamaica on May 18 for a practice match and two one-day internationals on May 20 and 21. Meanwhile, Chris Dehring, chief operations officer of ICC Cricket World Cup Inc, said he was “confident” about the systems in place and monitoring of the venue, and that the world would be “surprised” with the new-look Sabina Park.
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I will keep on playing: Sourav
Sourav Ganguly, 33, who was dropped for the series against England after two modest efforts with the bat in two appearances in the Test series against Pakistan in January, says he was
sac ked as captain and One-Day player in October due to poor batting form and a row with coach Greg Chappell. “I don’t think these are hard times for me,” he says. “You get dropped, it
happens, and then you get taken in again. I’m trying to make a comeback just like some others who got dropped after the Pakistan tour,” he said. Ganguly says he would prove himself in domestic tournaments, denying some reports that he planned to enter politics. “I’ve more than 15,000 runs in international cricket,” he says. “I will keep on playing.”
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I’m still not an all-rounder: Pathan
Irfan Pathan says he needed to score a couple of hundreds before being staking a claim to being an all-rounder. “I am still a bowler who can bat also. Getting wickets is important for me,” says Pathan.
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Gopichand joins hand with Mittal trust to groom champions
Former All England Badminton Champion Pullela Gopichand has joined hands with the Mittal champions trust to groom youngsters for the 2012 Olympics and other international meets. Gopi will be helped by Badminton Association of India and International Badminton Federation in his endeavour. Pullela Gopichand said the trust would give financial help to the tune of Rs 70-75 lakh for his academy, which will also spot promising youngsters to groom them with a target of getting medals at international events.
Gopi said that youngsters from any part of the country can vie for selections in this project and initially only 10-12 players will be selected in age group of 14-16 years.
I had to intervene because of tactical reasons. Aparna is a high ranked player and we wanted to her play here because she could beat top ranked player. She could not play today and the matter left to the team management.
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