Sports bar

IHF nationals begin today

Thirty four teams are expected to take part in the 63rd senior national men’s hockey championships in Bhopal. The meet,under the aegis of the IHF,will begin on July 4 and the final is slated for July 17. The top eight teams would also qualify for the Federation Cup,officials said. However,most institutional teams,barring CISF,ITBP and ONGC have refrained from sending their teams for the championships. Hockey India has already warned of action against participating teams.

India lose in Asian netball

The Indian girls could not maintain their winning momentum and suffered a 34-47 defeat against Sri Lanka in a preliminary league round match at the 7th Asian Youth Netball Championship. The Indians,who beat Thailand on Saturday,failed to hold their nerves at crucial moments and suffered a 5-16,12-8,5-9,12-14 defeat. Meanwhile,Singapore beat Hong Kong 66-19 (16-1,19-6,13-5,18-7),while Thailand suffered their second straight defeat in as many days,losing to Malaysia 104-10 (28-1,21-6,29-1,26-2) at the Thyagaraj Stadium.

Jeev finishes tied 6th

Jeev Milkha Singh carded a three-under 68 to total five-under 279 and finish tied sixth at the French Open golf. Jeev,who carded an identical score in the third round to be placed tied 26th at the beginning of the final round,kept his cool to book a top-10 finish. Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez held his nerve in a three-way playoff with compatriot Alejandro Canizaresto and Italy’s Francesco Molinari to win the title.

Meanwhile,Arjun Atwal failed to break par and settled for a modest one-over 71 to slip six places to tied 20th after the penultimate round of the AT&T Nationals tournament.

Petacchi wins Stage One

Italy’s Alessandro Petacchi won the first stage of the Tour de France,a 223.5-km ride from Rotterdam on Sunday. Australia’s Mark Renshaw was second and Norway’s Thor Hushovd came home third. Swiss Fabian Cancellara retained the overall lead. The stage finish was marred by three collective crashes involving many of the race favourites,including Mark Cavendish and Cancellara.

Injured Harris to return home

Australian fast bowler Ryan Harris will fly back home after suffering a knee injury,forcing Cricket Australia to sumon a replacement ahead of the T20 and one-day series against Pakistan. “Ryan Harris injured his right knee during the fifth one-day international against England,” said Australia physio Alex Kountouris. “He will take no further part in the Twenty20 or Test matches against Pakistan in England and will return to Australia for further assessment.” CA was yet to announce a replacement for Harris.

Pietersen,Swann rested

England have ruled Kevin Pietersen out of the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh starting Thursday after picking up a thigh injury. The selectors named a 13-man squad on Sunday with Graeme Swann rested and Yorkshire seamer Ajmal Shahzad retaining his place. Off-spinner James Tredwell and batsman Jonathan Trott join an otherwise unchanged squad from the one that beat Australia 3-2 in the five match series just ended.

Akhtar escapes punishment

Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has escaped the ignominy of being sent back home from England after he refused to sign the new code of conduct for players enforced by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Akhtar’s stand was that since he was not a centrally contracted player,he is not bound by the code. “Eventually manager Yawar Saeed threatened to send him home from England if he didn’t sign the code of conduct,” sources said. Skipper Shahid Afridi played the role of mediator and convinced Shoaib to sign the code of conduct.