Colonel defends team selection
Unfazed by the criticism over the one-day squad sans Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid in some quarters, BCCI Chief Selector Dilip Vengsarkar has strongly defended the choice of players for the ODI tri-series in Australia.
“We have to look ahead. What is the point in picking up some players whose career would last just a couple of years?” Vengsarkar said.

Indian shooters strike it rich
Indian shooters won a rich haul of 16 medals which included seven gold, six silver and three bronze medals at the Hungarian Open which concluded on Tuesday, reports PTI from New Delhi.

Ace shooters PT Raghunath and Samaresh Jung had the best performance in the championships. Raghunath won gold medals in both the men’s air rifle matches with scores of 698.5 (594+104.5) and 692.8 (591+101.8) while Samresh Jung won a gold in the first match with a score of 680.2 (580+100.2) and shot 670.5 (574+96.5) to win the silver in the second match of the men’s air pistol event.

The other gold medal winners in the senior category included Suma Shirur who won the gold in the women’s air rifle 2nd match with a score of 499.0 (396+103.0) and Heena Sidhu who won the gold in women’s air pistol event with a score of 481.4 (383+98.4).

Karnataka have it easy
Karnataka made a winning start in both boys’ and girls’ event of the 10th Youth National volleyball championship at Burdwan, West Bengal.

Karnataka boys posted a straight-set 28-6, 25-18, 25-16 victory over Himachal Pradesh while the girls registered a thumping 25-17, 25-16, 25-12 win over Assam.

Royal Trophy cancelled
This year’s Asia versus Europe Royal Trophy has been cancelled and will resume early next year, organisers said on Tuesday, reports Reuters from Bangkok.

The Jan 11-13 contest was postponed following the death of Thai Princess Galyani Vadhana, the sister of revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who donated the trophy.

AFI reinstates Neelam Singh
Discus thrower Neelam Jaswant Singh, who served a two-year ban for failing a dope test in the 2005 world championships in Helsinki, was on Tuesday reinstated by the Athletics Federation of India, reports PTI from New Delhi.

“Neelam has been re-instated to compete in the national and international competitions after completing the reinstatement testing stipulated in IAAF Rule 40.12,” an AFI statement said.

Neelam, 37, the 2002 Busan Asian Games gold medallist, tested for the prohibited stimulant pemoline in Helsinki and served a ban from August 2005.

Kenyan runner killed in violence
Kenyan marathon runner Wesley Ngetich (34) has been shot and killed by a poisoned arrow, the second international athlete to die in post-election violence in the east African country, reports Reuters from Nairobi.

NuWare Green lift title
NuWare Green Team -- comprising current and former Tamil Nadu players -- defeated NuWare Royal Blue Team, made up of Karnataka players, by nine wickets to lift the NuWare Trophy on Monday, reports DHNS from Bangalore.

Batting first, Royal Blue put on 131 all out in 21.1 overs with Vijay Bharadwaj and C Raghu chipping in with 31 each. For Greens Suresh was the pick of the bowlers with a four for 15 haul.

Chasing a modest target, Greens replied with 107 for one in 14 overs with Suresh Kumar top-scoring with an unbeaten 51.  

Brief scores: NuWare Royal Blue Team (KSCA): 131 all out in 21.1 overs (Vijay Bharadwaj 31, C Raghu 31; Suresh 4-15, Purushotaman 2-0) lt to NuWare Green Team (TNCA): 107/1 in 14 overs (Suresh Kumar 51 n.o.).