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Sports (ਖ਼ੇਡ-ਸੰਸਾਰ)

A 2-1 victory

Wednesday, 10 March 2010 10:46
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soccerManchester City striker Carlos Tevez scored twice against former club Manchester United to clinch a 2-1 victory in the first leg of their League Cup semifinal on Tuesday.

Tevez, who defected from United in the offseason, drove home a penalty just before halftime to cancel out Ryan Giggs' close-range tap-in for the holders.

The striker exploited gaps in the United defense in the second half to grab his 12th goal in his last 11 games.

"Obviously the talk was about Carlos before the game," City midfielder Gareth Barry said. "And he did his talking on the pitch with a great performance."

Tevez celebrated by cuppng his ears - the same gesture he directed at United manager Alex Ferguson toward the end of last season after scoring against City when his Old Trafford days were already numbered.

"We played well and dominated the match. We were reasonably in control but we had a mad five minutes before halftime that brought them back into the game," Ferguson said. "With the crowd at Old Trafford and the occasion and what is at stake we will be OK."

While the League Cup is the lowest priority for most topflight clubs, City is hoping to mark the start of its big-spending revolution by reaching its first final since the 1981 FA Cup and winning its first title since the 1976 League Cup.

Now City has to protect its 2-1 lead in the second leg at Old Trafford next Wednesday. The winner will play either Aston Villa or Blackburn in the Feb. 28 final at Wembley. Villa has a 1-0 advantage going into Wednesday's second leg.

Manager Roberto Mancini took the bold step of leaving inconsistent forward Robinho on the bench just like in Saturday's 2-0 loss at Everton - the first blot on the Italian's record since taking charge last month.

The fear of losing to its neighbor saw Ferguson deploy a stronger team than the younger ones sent out in the earlier rounds. The 36-year-old midfielder Giggs and Edwin van der Sar, who was three years the Welshman's senior, both started at Eastlands.

And United looked most threatening in the opening exchanges. Patrice Evra charged into the box after shrugging off Shaun Wright-Phillips and sent a low cross into the six-meter (yard) box for Wayne Rooney, only for Dedryck Boyata to make a vital close-range block.

The 19-year-old Boyata made his senior debut at Middlesbrough only earlier this season, but was entrusted with partnering Micah Richards in central defense.

United took just 17 minutes to find a breakthrough. Anderson passed to Antonio Valencia on the right touchline and after stepping inside Craig Bellamy, the winger crossed to the near post. City goalkeeper Shay Given pushed away Rooney's initial connection from close range, but Giggs was primed to tap home the rebound from two meters (yards). It was Gigg's first goal in a Manchester derby for 14 years.

The goal spurred City into putting more pressure on the visitors. Nigel de Jong came close to leveling when he forced Van der Sar into a fine one-handed save from 30 meters (yards).

And Craig Bellamy's pace was causing problems for United right back Rafael da Silva. When da Silva tugged at Bellamy as he entered the box, referee Mike Dean awarded a penalty, which Tevez slammed into the net three minutes before halftime.

"It is the kind of decision that has gone against us tonight but could go for us on another day," Ferguson said.

City looked more lethal after the break - and went ahead in the 65th minute.

When Van der Sar only half-cleared Bellamy's corner, Pablo Zabaleta's off-target effort was turned back into the danger area by Vincent Kompany and Tevez headed home.

City clung on to the victory despite United's relentless attacking as the home fans chanted "Fergie, Fergie sign him up," just as the United faithful had bellowed in the final matches of last season.
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Clean up your act: FIH urges Hockey India

Wednesday, 10 March 2010 10:46
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india_hockeyNew Delhi, Jan 19 (UNI) With barely six weeks to go for the World Cup, the FIH today again expressed displeasure with the confusion over Hockey India (HI) afiliation for several state units. With affiliation of quite a few state units clouded by controversy, FIH observer Antonio Von Ondarza, who had earlier criticised the bickerings in the Indian hockey establishment, once again urged Hockey India (HI) to clean up its act. ''We are aware of what is going on. We are not happy. We want the Hockey India and the different state units to sort out their problems before the elections which are due to be held on February 7,'' Ondarza told reporters here. ''The Hockey India should ensure that there are no problems for the smooth conduct of the elections and that we can have a smooth and successful World Cup,'' he added. Pointing out that India has a rich tradition of democracy, Ondarza hoped that the elections will be fair and free of unwanted incidents and controversies. ''India has a rich tradition of democracy. We urge all the parties concered to ensure that this tradition is maintained see that the elections are conducted in a free and fair manner,'' he stated. ''Indian hockey has already had quite considerable bad publicity. It has been in the news in the recent past for all the wrong reasons. We don't want any more such things. ''India is an important member of the world hockey family. If Indian hockey is strong, it will be good for world hockey,'' he added. With work in the National Stadium - the main venue for the World Cup yet to be fully completed, the critics have been quite vocal over the tardy preparations by the HI. However, Ondarza, who had visited the National Stadium earlier today along with FIH president Leandro Negre and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) chief Suresh Kalmadi, expressed his satisfaction with the ongoing preparations and was quite confident that the World Cup will prove to be a grand success. ''The preparations are quite good. Hockey India is doing a fine job. We had visited the stadium this morning and we are quite happy with all the arangements,'' he asserted.
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Kabaddi the sport

Wednesday, 10 March 2010 10:46
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UK_kabaddi_4

Kabaddi (sometimes written Kabbadi or Kabadi) is a team sport that originated in South Asia. Two teams occupy opposite halves of a field and take turns sending a "raider" into the other half, in order to win points by tagging or wrestling members of the opposing team; the raider then tries to return to his own half, holding his breath during the whole raid.

Origin

The origin of Kabaddi can be traced to pre-historic times when man learned how to defend in groups against animals or attack weaker animals individually or in groups for survival and food. Though Kabaddi is primarily an South Asian game, not much is known about its origins. There is, however, concrete evidence that the game is 4,000 years old.[citation needed] Another theory states that the sport is actually inspired by the way Abhimanyu tried to break the Kaurava formation (Chakravyuha) but failed. Kabaddi also is about attacking the opponent formation and returning safely.

There is a popular belief that Kabaddi originated in the South Indian State of Tamil Nadu. A folk history of the game tells that it developed from a game of tag between two young boys - the rule of holding one's breath being added later.[citation needed] The game is known by many names, all of Tamil origin: Kabaddi, Sadugudu, Gudugudu, Palinjadugudu and Sadugoodatthi. The word 'Kabaddi' could have originated from the Tamil words 'kai' (hand) and 'pidi' (catch).

[edit] Federations

The Kabaddi Federation of India (KFI) was founded in 1950, and it compiled a standard set of rules. The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) was founded in 1973 . The AKFI has given new shape to the rules and it has also the rights of modification in the rules. The Asian Kabaddi Federation was founded under the chairmanship of Sharad Pawar.

Kabaddi is a very popular game in Bangladesh, especially in the villages it is also called the 'game of rural Bengal'. In some areas Kabaddi is also known as Ha-du-du. But despite its popularity Ha-du-du had no definite rules and it used to be played with different rules in different areas. Ha-du-du was given the name Kabaddi and the status of National Game of Bangladesh in 1972 .

Bangladesh Amateur Kabaddi Federation was formed in 1973 . It framed rules and regulations for the game. Bangladesh first played a Kabaddi test in 1974 with a visiting Indian team, which played test matches with the district teams of Dhaka, Tangail, Dinajpur, Jessore, Faridpur and Comilla . In 1978, the Asian Amateur Kabaddi Federation was formed at a conference of delegates from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan in the Indian town of Villai .

In 1979, a return test between Bangladesh and India was held at different places of India including Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Punjab. The Asian Kabaddi Championship was successfully arranged in 1980 and India emerged as the champion and Bangladesh as the runners-up. Bangladesh became runners-up again in 1985 in Asian Kabaddi Championship held in Jaipur, India. The other teams included in the tournament were Nepal, Malaysia and Japan. Kabaddi was played as a demonstration sport at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. The game was included for the first time in Asian Games held in Beijing in 1990. Eight countries took part including India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. India won the gold medal and has since won gold at the following three Asian Games in Hiroshima in 1994, Bangkok in 1998 and Busan in 2002.

Players at the competitive level are usually well-built, strong and also at the same time need to be swift, agile and have high levels of stamina and endurance to be good at all aspects of the game. There is a lot of strategizing which forms part of the gameplay and the players need to be in prime mental and physical condition to successfully participate in a game of kabaddi, else serious injuries may often result.

Kabaddi is popular throughout South Asia, and has also spread to Southeast Asia, Japan and Iran. It is the national game of Bangladesh where it is known as হাডুডু Haḍuḍu. It is the state game of Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra in India. It is played by the British Army for fun, to keep fit and as an enticement to recruit soldiers from the British Asian community.[1]

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