Sports News: General

Islamabad, Nov 21 (PTI) Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt has got verbal assurances from the government that it would have no objections regarding the national players travelling to India for the Indian Premier League next year. After attending a hearing of the Public accounts committee here today, Butt said he had also spoken to IPL commissioner Lalit Modi last night.

Duliajan (Assam), Nov 21 (PTI) North Imphal Sporting Association (NISA) defeated Arhima Club of Meghalaya 2-1 in the extra-time to emerge champions in Group D (North-East Zone) knock-out phase and make it to the next round of Federation Cup football qualifiers here.

Mumbai, Nov 21 (PTI) Former India stumper Chandrakant Pandit is all set to be the coach of the India squad which would be defending its title in the ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup scheduled in New Zealand from January 15-30.

Mumbai, Nov 21 (PTI) Holders Mumbai have retained the squad that defeated Himachal Pradesh at home for their Ranji Trophy fourth round Elite Division league tie against Railways to be held at Delhi from November 24-27.

Chandigarh, Nov 21 (IANS) A defeat in the last match of Ranji Trophy league proved dear to Punjab captain Ankur Kakkar as he was dropped from the squad that was announced here Saturday evening.

Hyderabad, Nov 21 (IANS) Over the next few days, the chaff will be separated from the grain and the men from the boys as the ONGC-IBSF World snooker championship flows into the 'business end' Sunday.

New Delhi, Nov 21 (IANS) The controversy surrounding Sandeep Singh's fitness has finally been put at rest. The drag flicker has now been ruled out with a back problem from the Champions Challenge hockey tournament, thus confirming the fears of coach Jose Brasa, whose announcement about Sandeep's fitness raised a storm.

Chandigarh, Nov 21 (IANS) In order to promote sports and sportspersons in the state, the Haryana government Saturday announced the setting up of a state sports fund.

Siem Reap (Cambodia), Nov 21 (IANS) Shiv Kapur endured a frustrating day on the greens as he managed just one birdie while giving away three bogeys to end up with a 74 that dropped him from overnight tied second to tied sixth at the end of the third round of the Cambodian Open golf here Saturday.

Dubai, Nov 21 (IANS) A much-improved performance with the putter made all the difference as Jeev Milkha Singh despite two bogeys came back with a four-under 68 that saw him move up from tied 22nd to 15th at the end of the third round of the Dubai World Championships golf here Saturday.

Chikmagalur (Karnataka), Nov 21 (IANS) The 2009 Speed-Indian National Rally Championship leader Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) of Team MRF topped the time charts at the end of the rain-affected first Leg of the Coffee Day Rally of Chikmagalur, the concluding round of the series, here Saturday.

Kolkata, Nov 21 (IANS) India's Isiah Rajendra Sanam won his maiden international gold medal in the men's individual compound event of the 16th Asian archery championship at Bali, Indonesia Saturday.

Sydney, Nov 21 (IANS) Former Australian Test stars are yet to be convinced of Michael Clarke's leadership skills and insisted that Ricky Ponting must lead Australia to England for Ashes revenge in 2013.

The Green Park stadium at Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh is all set to host the second cricket test match between India and Sri Lanka.

New Delhi, Nov 21 (IANS) Commander Dilip Dhonde of the Indian Navy, the first Indian to attempt to circumnavigate the world alone, Saturday reached Christchurch in New Zealand after covering 9,000 nautical miles.

London, Nov 21(ANI): Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has silenced critics who have claimed that Manchester City can nick the Reds' place in the top four of the Premier League table.

London, Nov 21(ANI): Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal has reacted to the claims made by former American player Andre Agassi about taking crystal meth in 1997 and lying about it to an independent doping tribunal to save his skin

London, Nov 21(ANI): British tennis player Andy Murray has said that winning in tennis is much more important to him, and that he is not motivated by the money that is on offer.

Pune, Nov 21 (IANS) Sixth-seeded and 237th-ranked Rika Fujiwara of Japan defeated 189th-ranked and third-seeded Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to lift the $50,000 NECC-ITF Women's tennis trophy here Saturday.

London, Nov. 21 (ANI): David Beckham has revealed that the attraction of spending quality time with his family was the main reason that kept him committed at Galaxy, despite his under-whelming, injury-plagued start in Las Angles.