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DC GROUP A At Munich, Germany: Bayern Munich (GER) 0 Bordeaux (FRA) 2 (Gourcuff 37, Chamakh 89): At Ramat Gan, Israel: Maccabi Haifa (ISR) 0 Juventus (ITA) 1 (Camoranesi 45+2) GROUP B At Manchester, England: Manchester United (ENG) 3 (Owen 29, Scholes 84, Valencia 90+2) CSKA Moscow (RUS) 3 (Dzagoev 25, Krasic 31, V. Berezutsky 47); At Istanbul, Turkey: Besiktas (TUR) 0 VfL Wolfsburg (GER) 3 (Misimovic 14, Gentner 80, Dzeko 87) GROUP C At Milan, Italy: AC Milan (ITA) 1 (Ronaldinho 35-pen) Real Madrid (ESP) 1 (Benzema 29); At Marseille, France: Marseille (FRA) 6 (Aegerter 3-o.g., Abriel 11, Niang 52, Hilton 80, Cheyrou 87, Brandao 90) FC Zurich (SUI) 1 (Alphonse 31) GROUP D At Nicosia: APOEL Nicosia (CYP) 0 FC Porto (POR) 1 (Radamel Falcao Garcia 84); At Madrid: Atletico Madrid (ESP) 2 (Aguero 66, 90) Chelsea (ENG) 2 (Drogba 82, 88).
—AFP
United, Chelsea seal berths
MAXIN MATHEW DC | BENGALURU
Nov. 4: FIFA’s much-vaunted Goal programme, which aims to promote football around the world by developing technical centres, football schools and artificial turfs, cemented its roots in India on Wednesday with the foundation laying ceremony of the International Academy at the Bangalore Football Stadium. A rivetting fusion of panchavadyam and bagpipes welcomed Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and All India Football Federation (AIFF) president and Civil Aviations minister Praful Patel to the beautifully decked up southern wing of the stadium, where the academy is set to come up. After a soulful invocation by the students of Karnataka Vidya Shala, Patel and Yeddyurappa lit the ceremonial lamp and unveiled the foundation stone. Patel then praised the Karnataka State Football Association (KSFA), which under the leadership of president A.R. Khaleel, had worked relentlessly in promoting the sport in the state. “The AIFF has taken upon itself to improve the standard of football and infrastructure in the country and is deeply honoured to have an international academy in this city filled with great love and future for the sport,” Patel said. The minister then urged Yeddyurappa to recognise the efforts taken by the state body to develop the sport
side trail second-placed Juventus by four points in Group A with two matches remaining. Chelsea came from 1-0 down to draw 2-2 with Atletico Madrid Didier Drogba scoring both goals on his return from a three-match Champions League suspension. “It was a good game but frustrating because we didn’t win it,” said Drogba. United had to come from even further behind as they trailed 3-1 late into the match against CSKA Moscow at Old Trafford
Toyota pulls out of F1
Mary Kom, Kavita claim gold Shock for
Tokyo, Nov. 4: Toyota withdrew from Formula One with immediate effect on Wednesday, leaving Japan without a team in motorsport’s premier series. Company president Akio Toyoda apologised for the team’s failure to record a single race victory since joining F1 in 2002 despite an estimated annual budget of around $300 million (181 million pounds). “It was a very difficult but unavoidable decision,” Toyoda told a news conference in Tokyo. “Since last year as the economic climate worsened we have been struggling with the question of whether to continue in F1. “We are pulling out of Formula One completely. I offer my deepest apologies to Toyota’s many fans for not being able to achieve the results we had targeted.” Cologne-based Toyota’s departure as a team and engine supplier deals another major blow to the sport after Japan’s number two carmaker Honda quit the series last December. —Reuters
AP as AI, Maha win DC CORRESPONDENT BENGALURU
Peamwilai of Thailand before going down 2-3. Meanwhile, W Sandh-
yarani fetched a bronze in women’s 56 kg wushu. She lost her semifinal match against Iran’s Maryam Tavakoli 0-2.
Bronze for Khade Virdhawal Khade was the lone bright spark for Indian swimming as all the others disappointed. Khade, competing in the 50m freestyle tied for the bronze with a timing of 22.45 seconds. In the 200M individual medley, Rehan Poncha finished seventh in 2:03.04
Djokovic makes winning debut Basel, Switzerland, Nov 4: Novak Djokovic made a winning debut on Tuesday at the Swiss Indoors as the Serbian claimed a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Andreas Beck in the tennis stronghold of Roger Federer. Czech Jan Hernych extended the misery of Australian qualifier Peter Luczak, who sank deeper into a rut with a third straight loss in the first round, 6-3, 6-4. Swiss hopes fared well, with Marco Chiudinelli rallying from a final-set deficit to overhaul German eighth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-5.
Murray advances In Valencia, Britain’s world number four Andy Murray had an easy return to action on Tuesday as he eased into the second round of the Valencia Open with a 6-3, 61 victory over qualifier Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain. The 22-year-old has been
TENNIS ROUND-UP out of action for the past six weeks.
Amritraj in quarters
Prakash Amritraj overcame a second set lapse to beat Andis Juska 6-1 2-6 7-6(4) and book a quarterfinal berth in the ATP Challenger event in Chuncheon, Korea. Meanwhile, fourth seed Purav Raja and Sadik Kadir scored an easy 6-3 6-2 win over Greg Jones of Australia and Pavel Snobel of Czech Republic to enter the doubles semifinals.
Somdev survives Somdev Devvarman survived a scare from wild card Denes Lukacs while Sanam Singh pulled off an upset win over sixth seed Grega Zemlja to make a stupendous start to the ATP Challenger event in Charlottesville in the United States. Third seed Somdev had to dig deep to prevail over his Hungarian opponent 6-3 2-6
Chandra loses
Nov. 4: Reigning champions Andhra Pradesh suffered a double whammy in the National junior badminton championship at Mandya on Wednesday. The fancied AP shuttlers were in for a shock as the Air India boys defeated them 2-1 in a hard-fought final. Sai Praneeth won his encounter but Sumeeth Reddy went down to Hirak Jyoti Neog 17-21, 21-17, 21-18. To compound their misery, the AP girls lost to Maharashtra 2-1.
Manan Chandra kept his medal hopes alive in the 15Red snooker event even as he lost the semifnals in a close encounter. In the semifinal, he was leading 3-2 till halfway but he soon lost the plot and made some potting errors to give away the match to his opponent Nadeer Khan Sultani 3-4. Chandra lost 75-17 64-73 16-68 44-42 52-42 22-62 36-54 to Sultani. —Agencies
Results (final): Boys (Narang Cup): Air India bt AP 2-1 (H.S. Prannoy lost to B Sai Praneeth 1221, 17-21; H.S. Prannoy/K. Pranav Chopra bt B. Sai Praneeth/B. Sumeet Reddy 21-17, 21-4; Hirak Jyoti Neog bt B. Sumeet Reddy 17-21, 21-17, 21-18); Girls (Shafi Quereshi Cup): Maharashtra btAP 2-1 (Saee Purandare lost to N. Sikki Reddy 12-21, 10-21; Prajakta Sawant /Gauri Ghate Bt. N. Sikki Reddy/P.V. Sindhu 21-13, 18-21, 21-19; Sanyogitha Ghorpade bt. P.V. Sindhu 21-14. 21-19).
Mary Kom
ASIAN INDOOR GAMES reputation of the Indian. Kom not only held off the Vietnamese but scored two crucial points to the local opponent’s one to win the bout 8-6. Kavita fetched India’s second gold in boxing by defeating Khassenova Saida of Kazhakstan 8-4 in a close final bout in 64 kg. In contrast, L Sarita Devi lost her 54 kg final bout 7-9 against Zhang Qin of China at the final round. Usha started a low scoring bout well against Laopeam
seille thrashed FC Zurich 61 to stand just a point behind the duo. Milan and Real shared the spoils at the San Siro, with both goals coming in the first half. Karim Benzema got his first goal in seven matches for the visitors before Ronaldinho drew Milan level from the penalty spot. Milan’s Brazilian coach Leonardo said a draw was probably the right result. “If we look only at the first half, Real played very well, they had many chances but in the second I was a bit disappointed because we deserved to win,” he said. —AFP
FIFA academy will put city on the world map
Paris, Nov. 4: English giants Chelsea and Manchester United made hard work of it but ended up coming from behind to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages on Tuesday. French champions Bordeaux joined them as they earned an impressive 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich in Munich, while Porto can also look forward to Champions League football in the spring after winning 1-0 at APOEL Nicosia. However, things look stark for Bayern and their Champions League-winning coach Louis van Gaal as his
Hanoi, Nov 4: Four-time world champion M.C Mary Kom staved off a stiff resistance from local pugilist Hoa Nguyen Thi to win the 46 kg title as India won two gold and as many silver medals in women’s boxing of the third Asian Indoor Games here on Wednesday. Kavita Goyat (64kg) won the second gold for India while L. Sarita Devi (54 kg) and N Usha (57kg) bagged a silver each. Mary Kom had to dig dip in her vast experience against the Vietnamese who was not intimidated by the
before two goals levelled matters and pushed them through. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was relieved to have progressed but was left less than happy by the referee’s performance, especially over a penalty that was not awarded for a trip on Darren Fletcher the Scottish midfielder being booked instead. AC Milan and Real Madrid’s group has become one of the tightest as the two giants fought out a 1-1 draw in Milan, while rivals Mar-
7-5 in his opening clash. Sanam, who entered the event as a qualifier, claimed the scalp of sixth seed Slovakian with a 6-2 5-7 6-4 win. Meanwhile, top seeded pair of Harsh Mankad and Treat Conard Huey suffered a shock first round defeat. —Agencies
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● CM ANNOUNCES GRANT OF RS 5 CRORE TO KSFA; FOUNDATION STONE LAID
RESULTS
Manchester United's Michael Owen (left) scores against CSKA Moscow in Manchester on Tuesday.
Bengaluru ● Thursday ● 5 November 2009
minutes while the 4x50M medley relay team ended fourth. In the women’s event of the same category, the Indian girls finished with the wooden spoon.
Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa (left) and AIFF president Praful Patel at the foundation laying ceremony in Bengaluru on Wednesday. —R. Samuel
and help it with more land and financial aid. “The KSFA is the only association in India to have its own football stadium and the government has always been supportive of their cause. Therefore I request Mr Yeddyurappa to release a grant of at least Rs 10-15 crore to upgrade the stadium and facilities and make land available either in Bengaluru or Mysore,” Patel added. Yeddyurappa complied with the request, but not entirely. “The academy is a matter of great pride for the state and shows the importance Karnataka football has in the country. Acting on Mr Patel’s request, the state government has decided to grant
The academy is a matter of great pride for the state and shows the importance Karnataka football has in the country. — B.S. Yeddyurappa Rs 5 crore towards the development of the sport and the money will be released as soon as possible,” he said. State sports minister Goolihatti Shekar and Asian Football Federation vice-president Manilal Fernando gave the ceremony a pass. Finally, AIFF secretary Albert Colaco said it was a privilege to ‘be the only nation to have been granted eight artificial turf projects by FIFA’ and urged the academy to generate several talented young-
sters in the future. As reported earlier, India will have FIFA academies in Sikkim and Bengaluru and an AIFF-aided tsunami project in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Set to be completed in about 12-14 months, the project estimated at Rs 3 crore, will feature a state-ofthe-art academy with nearly 60 talented footballers from the state as well as the country to be trained by FIFAappointed coaches.
Pathetic facilities: Patel DC CORRESPONDENT BENGALURU
Nov. 4: Describing the present infrastructural facilities for football in India as ‘shameful’, All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) new supremo Praful Patel promised a hard-hitting, concrete plan to lift the profile of the sport. Patel promised improved facilities, promotion of youth football and a talented national squad as it prepares for the AFC Asian Cup in 2011. Excerpts: On the International Academy and its functioning: As of now, the plan is to select 40-60 trainees but selections will continue in national tournaments, and if there is talent, we will update the plan. Our focus is on U-15 kids who will be monitored till they are 18 or 19 and then moved to other academies, which we hope to have by that time. Each trainee will be given at least two years of training with the academy. On the standard of football in the country: The very fact that we send our national team to train in Dubai and Barcelona shows our pathetic infrastructure. It’s a shame. There is mass support for football in places like Kolkata and Goa but nothing substantial. There is a ray of hope in Bengaluru that something can be done. I’m confident that once all facilities are improved and modernised, one of the best matches scheduled to be played in India will be given to Bengaluru to host. If a new beginning has to be made, why not from Bengaluru? On his mode of approach: We have a long way to go and it can be done. The national
A model of the FIFA academy.
—DC
team needs to better its FIFA rankings and needs more exposure. For that we have charted a detailed plan which will include more international and national friendlies, camps and training stints. This will help in our runup to the AFC Asian Cup in 2011 (which India has qualified for after 24 years) where a successful result will definitely give a boost to the sport in the country. On the Indian cricket board’s Rs 25-crore grant and sponsors: BCCI’s generous act of giving (us) a Rs. 25 crore grant is definitely a great step towards building football’s future in India. The money (which will be given in two installments of Rs 12.5 crore each) will be judiciously utilised in conducting national-level camps, tourneys and improving available infrastructure. We need to popularise football at par with cricket. As far as sponsors are concerned, we are looking for more involvement from corporate companies as only public sector companies will not be enough.