Asiad Athletics: Indian duo in men's 1500m finals

STAFF WRITER 9:51 HRS IST

Guangzhou, Nov 22 (PTI) The Indian duo of Hamza Chatholi and Sandeep Karan Singh qualified for the men's 1500m finals of the Asian Games after finishing fourth in their respective heats here today.

The 29-year-old Chatholi clocked 3:46.68 to be sixth overall. First four in each heat and the next four fastest advanced to the final which is scheduled to be held tomorrow.

Chatholi's personal best stands at 3:39.90, but his best effort this season has been 3:43.39.

Sandeep also finished fourth in his heat but ended up eighth overall with a qualifying time of 3:53.88.

The 24-year-old clocked his personal best of 3:43.39 this season only.

Sachin Tendulkar misses out on 50th Test century again

STAFF WRITER 9:52 HRS IST

Nagpur, Nov 22 (PTI) Sachin Tendulkar missed out on his much-anticipated 50th Test hundred yet again after being dismissed at 61 on the third day of the second cricket Test against New Zealand at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium here today.

Resuming at his overnight score of 57 runs, Tendulkar just added four runs to his innings.

The 37-year-old was dismissed by debutant pacer Andy McKay, whose short of a length delivery angled across Tendulkar and got an outside edge of his bat and flew straight to wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins, much to the disappointment of the fans.

Tendulkar will get a chance to achieve the feat again only next month in the three-match Test series against South Africa.

The first Test starts on December 16 at SuperSport Park, Centurion.

Sensex opens 170 points high in morning trade

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today opened over 170 points up on emergence of bargain buying by funds and investors in blue chip companies amid strong Asian cues.

The 30-share index rose by 170.53 points or 0.87 per cent to 19,755.97 points with all the sectoral indices trading in the positive territory. The index had lost 345.20 points in the previous session following deepening crisis over 2G spectrum allotment.

The National Stock Exchange index Nifty, too, moved up by 54.55 points or 0.90 per cent to 5,944.85 points.

Brokers said increased foreign fund inflows into equities and emergence of buying at lower levels by investors helped in Sensex recovery.

They said firming trend on the Asian bourses amid expectations of bail out of debt-ridden Ireland by the European Central Bank and IMF buoyed the trading sentiment.

In Asian markets, the Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was marginally down by 0.29 per cent while the Japanese Nikkei gained 1.10 per cent in the morning trade.

Read more: Sensex opens 170 points high in morning trade - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Sensex-opens-170-points-high-in-morning-trade/articleshow/6967831.cms#ixzz15z0yvKVK

India top points-table with four wins in a row

GUANGZHOU: Star drag-flicker Sandeep Singh continued his goal-scoring spree as India defeated Japan 3-2 for their fourth consecutive win and finished atop the points-table in group B of the Asian Games men's hockey competition, on Sunday.

Sandeep kept a cent per cent record in penalty corners today, converting the two short corners India earned in the day with precision in the 38th and 62nd minute to see his team finish the preliminary stage on an impressive note.

However, it was captain Rajpal Singh (31st minute) who drew parity for India after Japan had surged ahead with a Hiroki Sakamoto strike in the 21st minute.

And then seven minutes later Sandeep converted the first of his two set pieces with a fierce drag-flick to ensure his team a 2-1 lead at the breather.

Crossing over, both the teams struggled hard for goals till the 62nd minute when Sandeep once again was bang on target from India's second penalty corner.

Japan, however, pulled one back a minute later through another field strike from Sakamoto.

With four wins out of as many matches, India finished on top of Group B with 12 points, while arch-rivals Pakistan finished second with nine points.

India will now take on the second placed team from Group A -- the winners of the match between China or Malaysia later in the day -- in the semifinals on November 24 while Pakistan will be up against formidable Korea.

Read more: India top points-table with four wins in a row - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/16th-asian-games-2010/india-news/India-top-points-table-with-four-wins-in-a-row/articleshow/6964647.cms#ixzz15z0cKEK2

CBI's third big arrest for CWG mess

NEW DELHI: The noose appears to be tightening around Suresh Kalmadi with the CBI arresting another top Commonwealth Games official, M Jeychandren, for his alleged role in the Queen's Baton Relay scam. Jeychandren, as joint director-general of finance and accounts, was part of the empowered committee that finalized the controversial deal with London-based AM Films.

Two other members of that committee – Sanjay Mohindroo and T S Darbari – have been arrested and are believed to have implicated Jeychandren. The CBI has seized laptops and documents from Jeychandren's office and residence.

The CBI is also questioning Sudhir Verma, deputy director general (communication) of the Games Organizing Committee and part of the empowered panel that picked AM Films to install video screens at the venue at exorbitant rates.

Jeychandran will be produced in the CBI court on Monday, where the investigators might seek his remand to unearth the money trail in the CWG scam, CBI officials said.

With his arrested aides beginning to sing, trouble is brewing for the Organizing Committee chief himself. Darbari and Mohindroo reportedly told CBI that it was Kalmadi who entered into the deal with AM films and AM cars during the QBR in October 2009. Kalmadi will be questioned by CBI after his return from China.

The CBI claimed to have seized several documents, laptops and bank account details from Mohindroo and Darbari during its weeklong probe. While the agency is likely to seek further remand of Mohindroo on Monday, officials said Darbari was no longer needed for questioning. Based on the interrogation so far, CBI officials said it was the empowered committee of the OC which took the decision for release of payment for the QBR deals at the behest of Kalmadi. No tendering process was followed and no contract papers were given. The CBI had earlier accused the duo of forging the emails that were sent to bag the deal, which was signed by by Mohindroo, Jeychandran and Verma.

The CBI has also contacted Interpol and is in the process of sending Letters Rogatory (LR) to the United Kingdom for questioning Ashish Patel, who owns AM Films and AM Cars.

Read more: CBI's third big arrest for CWG mess - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/CBIs-third-big-arrest-for-CWG-mess/articleshow/6966712.cms#ixzz15z0JcZmO